Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [34] οὐκοῦν, ὡς ἔφην, τούς τε πλησίον ἀναστρεφομένους τελετῆς τινος πρὸς ταῖς εἰσόδοις εἰκὸς τό γε τοσοῦτον τῶν ἔνδοθεν αἰσθάνεσθαί τινος, ἤτοι ῥήματος ἐκβοηθέντος ἑνὸς μυστικοῦ ἢ πυρὸς ὑπερφανέντος, καὶ τοῖς ποιηταῖς ἐνίοτε, λέγω δὲ τοῖς πάνυ ἀρχαίοις, φωνή τις ἐκ Μουσῶν ἀφίκετο βραχεῖα καί πού τις ἐπίπνοια θείας φύσεώς τε καὶ ἀληθείας, καθάπερ αὐγὴ πυρὸς ἐξ ἀφανοῦς λάμψαντος: ἃ ἔπασχον ἐκ Μουσῶν καὶ κατείχοντο Ὅμηρός τε καὶ

  [34] So, as I was saying, it is reasonable to suppose that not only do those who busy themselves near some ritual, hard by the entrance to the sanctuary, gain some inkling of what is going on within, when either a lone mystic phrase rings out loudly, or fire appears above the enclosure, but also that there comes sometimes to the poets — I mean the very ancient poets — some utterance from the Muses, however brief, some inspiration of divine nature and of divine truth, like a flash of fire from the invisible. This is what happened to Homer and Hesiod when they were possessed by the Muses.

  [35] Ἡσίοδος. οἱ δὲ μετ̓ ἐκείνους ὕστερον ἐπὶ σκηνὰς καὶ θέατρα τὴν αὑτῶν σοφίαν ἀγαγόντες ἀμύητοι ἀμυήτοις πολλάκις ἐξέφερον ἀτελῆ παραδείγματα ὀργίων: θαυμαζόμενοι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἐπεχείρουν αὐτοὶ τελεῖν τὸν ὄχλον, τῷ ὄντι βακχείων τινὰς σκηνὰς ἀκαλύπτους πηξάμενοι ἔν τισι τραγικαῖς τριόδοις. οὗτοι δ̓ οὖν πάντες οἱ ποιηταὶ κατὰ ταὐτὰ τὸν πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον θεὸν πατέρα καλοῦσι συλλήβδην ἅπαντος τοῦ λογικοῦ γένους καὶ δὴ

  [35] But the poets who came after them in later days, bringing to stage and theatre naught but their own wisdom, uninitiate addressing initiate, have ofttimes disclosed imperfect patterns of holy rites; but, being applauded by the multitude, they tried in their own right to initiate the mob, actually, as we might say, building open booths for Bacchic rites at tragic crossroads.

  “Yet all these poets in precisely the same fashion call the first and greatest god Father of the whole rational family collectively, yes, and King besides.

  [36] καὶ βασιλέα. οἷς πειθόμενοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι Διὸς βασιλέως ἱδρύονται βωμούς, καὶ δὴ καὶ πατέρα αὐτὸν οὐκ ὀκνοῦσι προσαγορεύειν τινὲς ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς, ὡς τοιαύτης τινὸς ἀρχῆς καὶ συστάσεως οὔσης τοῦ παντός. ὥστε ταύτῃ γε οὐδὲ οἶκον δοκοῦσί μοι ὀκνῆσαι ἂν ἀποφήνασθαι τοῦ Διὸς τὸν ἅπαντα κόσμον, εἴπερ ἐστὶ πατὴρ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ νὴ Δία πόλιν, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς προσεικάζομεν κατὰ τὴν [p. 11]

  [36] And trusting to these poets men erect altars to Zeus the King and, what is more, some do not hesitate even to call him Father in their prayers, believing that there exists some such government and organization of the universe as that. Therefore, from that standpoint at least, it seems to me, they would not hesitate to apply the term ‘home of Zeus’ to the entire universe — if indeed he is father of all who live in it — yes, by Zeus, and his ‘city’ too, our Stoic similitude, to suggest the greater office of the god.

  [37] μείζονα ἀρχήν. βασιλεία γὰρ πόλει μᾶλλον ἢ οἴκῳ πρεπόντως ἂν λέγοιτο. οὐ γὰρ δὴ βασιλέα εἰπόντες τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ὅλων οὐκ ἂν βασιλεύεσθαι τὸ ὅλον ὁμολογοῖεν οὐδὲ βασιλεύεσθαι φήσαντες οὐκ ἂν πολιτεύεσθαι φαῖεν οὐδὲ εἶναι πολιτείαν βασιλικὴν τοῦ παντός. πολιτείαν δ̓ αὖ συγχωροῦντες πόλιν οὐκ ἂν ἀποτρέποιντο

  [37] For kingship is a word more appropriate to a city than to a home. For surely men would not apply the term King to him who is over all and then refuse to admit that the whole is governed by a king, nor would they admit that they are governed by a king and then deny that they are members of a state or that there is a kingly administration of the universe. And again, conceding ‘administration,’ they would not balk at accepting ‘city,’ or something very like it, as descriptive of that which is administered.

  [38] ὁμολογεῖν ἤ τι τούτῳ παραπλήσιον τὸ πολιτευόμενον. ὅδε μὲν οὖν ὁ τῶν φιλοσόφων λόγος, ἀγαθὴν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον ἀποδεικνὺς κοινωνίαν δαιμόνων καὶ ἀνθρώπων, μεταδιδοὺς νόμου καὶ πολιτείας οὐ τοῖς τυχοῦσι τῶν ζῴων, ἀλλ̓ ὅσοις μέτεστι λόγου καὶ φρονήσεως, πολὺ κρείττω καὶ δικαιοτέραν τῆς Λακωνικῆς νομοθεσίας εἰσηγούμενος, καθ̓ ἣν οὐδὲ ὑπάρχει τοῖς Εἵλωσι γενέσθαι Σπαρτιάταις: ὅθεν δὴ καὶ διατελοῦσιν ἐπιβουλεύοντες τῇ Σπάρτῃ.

  [38] “This, then, is the theory of the philosophers, a theory which sets up a noble and benevolent fellowship of gods and men which gives a share in law and citizenship, not to all living beings whatsoever, but only to such as have a share in reason and intellect, introducing a far better and more righteous code than that of Sparta, in accordance with which the Helots have no prospect of ever becoming Spartans, and consequently are constantly plotting against Sparta.

  [39] ἕτερος δὲ μῦθος ἐν ἀπορρήτοις τελεταῖς ὑπὸ μάγων ἀνδρῶν ᾄδεται θαυμαζόμενος, οἳ τὸν θεὸν τοῦτον ὑμνοῦσιν ὡς τέλειόν τε καὶ πρῶτον ἡνίοχον τοῦ τελειοτάτου ἅρματος. τὸ γὰρ Ἡλίου ἅρμα νεώτερόν φασιν εἶναι πρὸς ἐκεῖνο κρινόμενον, φανερὸν δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς, ἅτε προδήλου γιγνομένης τῆς φορᾶς. ὅθεν κοινῆς φήμης τυγχάνειν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀπὸ πρώτων σχεδόν τι τῶν ποιητῶν τῶν ἀνατολὰς καὶ δύσεις ἑκάστοτε λεγόντων κατὰ ταὐτὰ πάντων ἐξηγουμένων ζευγνυμένους τε τοὺς ἵππους καὶ τὸν Ἥλιον αὐτὸν ἐπιβαίνοντα

  [39] “Moreover, there is besides a myth which arouses admiration as sung in secret rites by the Magi, who extol this god of ours as being the perfect and original driver of the most perfect chariot. For the chariot of Helius, they claim, is relatively recent when compared with that of Zeus, though visible to the many because its course is run in full view. Therefore, they say, the chariot of Helius has enjoyed a reputation with all mankind, since the poets, beginning practically with the earliest times, so it would seem, are always telling of its rising and its setting, all in the same manner describing the yoking of the horses and Helius himself mounting his car.

  [40] τοῦ δίφρου. τὸ δὲ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ τέλειον ἅρμα τὸ Διὸς οὐδεὶς ἄρα ὕμνησεν ἀξίως τῶν τῇδε οὔτε Ὅμηρος οὔτε Ἡσίοδος, ἀλλὰ Ζωροάστρης καὶ μάγων παῖδες ᾄδουσι παῤ ἐκείνου μαθόντες: ὃν Πέρσαι λέγουσιν ἔρωτι σοφίας καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἀποχωρήσαντα τῶν ἄλλων καθ̓ αὑτὸν ἐν ὄρει τινὶ ζῆν: ἔπειτα ἁφθῆναι τὸ ὄ�
�ος πυρὸς ἄνωθεν πολλοῦ κατασκήψαντος συνεχῶς τε κάεσθαι. τὸν οὖν βασιλέα σὺν τοῖς ἐλλογιμωτάτοις Περσῶν ἀφικνεῖσθαι πλησίον, βουλόμενον εὔξασθαι τῷ θεῷ: καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἀπαθῆ, φανέντα δὲ αὐτοῖς ἵλεων θαρρεῖν κελεῦσαι καὶ θῦσαι θυσίας τινάς,

  [40] “But the mighty, perfect chariot of Zeus has never been praised as it deserves by any of the poets of our land, either by Homer or by Hesiod; and yet Zoroaster sings of it, as do the children of the Magi, who learned the song from him. For the Persians say that Zoroaster, because of a passion for wisdom and justice, deserted his fellows and dwelt by himself on a certain mountain; and they say that thereupon the mountain caught fire, a mighty flame descending from the sky above, and that it burned unceasingly. So then the king and the most distinguished of his Persians drew near for the purpose of praying to the god; and Zoroaster came forth from the fire unscathed, and, showing himself gracious toward them, bade them to be of good cheer and to offer certain sacrifices in recognition of the god’s having come to that place.

  [41] ὡς ἥκοντος εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦ θεοῦ. συγγίγνεσθαί τε μετὰ ταῦτα οὐχ ἅπασιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἄριστα πρὸς ἀλήθειαν πεφυκόσι καὶ τοῦ [p. 12] θεοῦ ξυνιέναι δυναμένοις, οὓς Πέρσαι μάγους ἐκάλεσαν, ἐπισταμένους θεραπεύειν τὸ δαιμόνιον, οὐχ ὡς Ἕλληνες ἀγνοίᾳ τοῦ ὀνόματος οὕτως ὀνομάζουσιν ἀνθρώπους γόητας. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ τά τε ἄλλα δρῶσι κατὰ λόγους ἱεροὺς καὶ δὴ τῷ Διὶ τρέφουσιν ἅρμα Νισαίων ἵππων: οἱ δέ εἰσι κάλλιστοι καὶ μέγιστοι τῶν κατὰ τὴν

  [41] And thereafter, so they say, Zoroaster has associated, not with them all, but only with such as are best endowed with regard to the truth, and are best able to understand the god, men whom the Persians have named Magi, that is to say, people who know how to cultivate the divine power, not like the Greeks, who in their ignorance use the term to denote wizards. And all else that those Magi do is in accordance with sacred sayings, and in particular they maintain for Zeus a team of Nisaean horses — and these horses are the finest and largest to be found in Asia — but for Helius they maintain only a single horse.

  [42] Ἀσίαν: τῷ δέ γε Ἡλίῳ ἕνα ἵππον. ἐξηγοῦνται δὲ τὸν μῦθον οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ παῤ ἡμῖν προφῆται τῶν Μουσῶν ἕκαστα φράζουσι μετὰ πολλῆς πειθοῦς, ἀλλὰ μάλα αὐθαδῶς. εἶναι γὰρ δὴ τοῦ ξύμπαντος μίαν ἀγωγήν τε καὶ ἡνιόχησιν ὑπὸ τῆς ἄκρας ἐμπειρίας τε καὶ ῥώμης γιγνομένην ἀεί, καὶ ταύτην ἄπαυστον ἐν ἀπαύστοις αἰῶνος περιόδοις. τοὺς δὲ Ἡλίου καὶ Σελήνης δρόμους, καθάπερ εἶπον, μερῶν εἶναι κινήσεις, ὅθεν ὑπ̓ ἀνθρώπων ὁρᾶσθαι σαφέστερον. τῆς δὲ τοῦ ξύμπαντος κινήσεως καὶ φορᾶς μὴ ξυνιέναι

  [42] “These Magi narrate their myth, not in the manner of our prophets of the Muses, who merely present each detail with much plausibility, but rather with stubborn insistence upon its truthfulness. For they assert that the universe is constantly being propelled and driven along a single path, as by a charioteer endowed with highest skill and power, and that this movement goes on unceasingly in unceasing cycles of time. And the coursing of Helius and Selenê, according to their account, is the movement of portions of the whole, and for that reason it is more clearly perceived by mankind. And they add that the movement and revolution of the universe as a whole is not perceptible to the majority of mankind, but that, on the contrary, they are ignorant of the magnitude of this contest.

  [43] τοὺς πολλούς, ἀλλ̓ ἀγνοεῖν τὸ μέγεθος τοῦδε τοῦ ἀγῶνος. τὸ δὴ μετὰ τοῦτο αἰσχύνομαι φράζειν τῶν ἵππων πέρι καὶ τῆς ἡνιοχήσεως, ὅπως ἐξηγούμενοι λέγουσιν, οὐ πάνυ τι φροντίζοντες ὅμοιόν σφισι γίγνεσθαι πανταχῇ τὸ τῆς εἰκόνος. ἴσως γὰρ ἂν φαινοίμην ἄτοπος παρὰ Ἑλληνικά τε καὶ χαρίεντα ᾄσματα βαρβαρικὸν ᾆσμα ἐπᾴδων: ὅμως δὲ τολμητέον. φασὶ τῶν ἵππων τὸν πρῶτον ἄνωθεν ἀπείρῳ διαφέρειν κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει καὶ ταχυτῆτι, ἅτε ἔξωθεν περιτρέχοντα τὸ μήκιστον τοῦ δρόμου, αὐτοῦ Ζηνὸς ἱερόν: πτηνὸν δὲ εἶναι: τὴν δὲ χρόαν λαμπρόν, αὐγῆς τῆς καθαρωτάτης: τὸν δὲ Ἥλιον ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν Σελήνην σημεῖα προφανῆ ὁρᾶσθαι, ὥσπερ οἶμαι καὶ τῶνδε τῶν ἵππων ἐστὶ σημεῖα, τὰ μὲν μηνοειδῆ, τὰ δὲ

  [43] “What follows regarding the horses and their driving I really am ashamed to tell in the manner in which the Magi set it forth in their narrative, since they are not very much concerned to secure consistency at all points in their presentation of the picture. In fact, quite possibly I may appear absurd when, in contrast with Greek lays of grace and charm, I chant one that is barbarian; but still I must make the venture.

  “According to the Magi, that one of the horses which is the highest in the heavens is immeasurably superior in beauty, size, and speed, since it has the outside track and runs the longest course, a horse sacred to Zeus himself. Furthermore, it is a winged creature, brilliant in colour with the brilliance of the purest flame; and in it Helius and Selenê are to be seen as conspicuous signs or marks — like, I fancy, the marks which horses bear here on earth, some crescent-shaped and some of other patterns.

  [44] ἀλλοῖα. ταῦτα δὲ ὑφ̓ ἡμῶν ὁρᾶσθαι συνεστραμμένα, καθάπερ ἐν αὐγῇ λαμπρᾷ φλογὸς σπινθῆρας ἰσχυροὺς διαθέοντας, ἰδίαν δὲ κίνησιν ἔχειν καθ̓ αὑτά. καὶ τἄλλα ἄστρα δἰ ἐκείνου φαινόμενα καὶ ξύμπαντα ἐκείνου πεφυκότα μέρη τὰ μὲν περιφέρεσθαι σὺν αὐτῷ μίαν ταύτην ἔχοντα κίνησιν, τὰ δὲ ἄλλους θεῖν δρόμους. τυγχάνειν δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ταῦτα μὲν ἰδίου ἕκαστον ὀνόματος: [p. 13] τὰ δὲ ἄλλα κατὰ πλῆθος ἀθρόα, διανενεμημένα εἴς τινα

  [44] And they say that these ‘marks’ appear to us to be in close array, as it were great sparks of fire darting about in the midst of brilliant light, and yet that each has its own independent motion. Furthermore, the other stars also which are visible through that Horse of Zeus, one and all being natural parts of it, in some instances revolve along with it and have the same motion, and in others follow different tracks. And they add that among men these stars which are associated with the Horse of Zeus have each its own particular name; whereas the rest are treated collectively in groups, distributed so as to form certain figures or patterns.

  [45] σχήματα καὶ μορφάς. ὁ μὲν δὴ λαμπρότατος ἵππος καὶ ποικιλώτατος αὐτῷ τε Διὶ προσφιλέστατος, ὧδέ πως ὑμνούμενος ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν, θυσίας τε καὶ τιμὰς ἅτε πρῶτος εἰκότως πρώτας ἔλαχεν: δεύτερος δὲ μετ̓ ἐκεῖνον ἁπτόμενος αὐτοῦ καὶ πλησιώτατος Ἥρας ἐπώνυ
μος, εὐήνιος καὶ μαλακός, πολὺ δὲ ἥττων κατά τε ῥώμην καὶ τάχος. χροιὰν δὲ τῇ μὲν αὑτοῦ φύσει μέλας, φαιδρύνεται δὲ ἀεὶ τὸ καταλαμπόμενον Ἡλίῳ: τὸ δὲ σκιασθὲν ἐν τῇ περιφορᾷ

  [45] “Well then, the horse that is most brilliant and most spangled with stars and dearest to Zeus himself, being praised by the Magi in their hymns for some such attributes as these, quite properly stands first in sacrifice and worship as being truly first. Next in order after that, in closest contact with the Horse of Zeus, comes one that bears the name of Hera, a horse obedient to the rein and gentle, but far inferior in strength and speed. In colour this horse is of its own nature black, but that portion which receives the light of Helius is regularly bright, whereas where it is in shadow in its revolution it has its own proper colour.

  [46] τὴν αὑτοῦ μεταλαμβάνει τῆς χρόας ἰδέαν. τρίτος Ποσειδῶνος ἱερός, τοῦ δευτέρου βραδύτερος. τούτου δὲ μυθολογοῦσιν εἴδωλον οἱ ποιηταὶ γενέσθαι παῤ ἀνθρώποις, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ὅντινα ὀνομάζουσι Πήγασον, καί φασιν ἀνεῖναι κρήνην ἐν Κορίνθῳ χαράξαντα τῇ ὁπλῇ. ὁ δὲ δὴ τέταρτος εἰκάσαι πάντων ἀτοπώτατος, στερεός τε καὶ ἀκίνητος, οὐχ ὅπως πτερωτός, ἐπώνυμος Ἑστίας. ὅμως δὲ οὐκ ἀποτρέπονται τῆς εἰκόνος, ἀλλὰ ἐνεζεῦχθαί φασι καὶ τοῦτον τῷ ἅρματι, μένειν δὲ κατὰ χώραν χαλινὸν ἀδάμαντος ἐνδακόντα.