Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [27] καὶ πρᾶξαι καὶ παθεῖν. ἡ δὲ τῶν ἐγγὺς οὕτως καὶ ὁμόρων διαφορὰ καὶ τὸ μῖσος οὐδενὶ ἄλλῳ ἔοικεν ἢ στάσει μιᾶς πόλεως, ὅπου καὶ γάμων κοινωνία πολλοῖς καὶ συμβολαίων καὶ τὸ ἀφικνεῖσθαι παῤ ἀλλήλους σχεδόν τι καθ̓ ἑκάστην τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ συγγενεῖς εἶναι καὶ συνήθεις καὶ ξένους τρόπον τινὰ ἀλλήλοις ἅπαντας. παροικοῦσα δὲ πόλις ἐχθρὰ καὶ δυσμενὴς λυπηρὸν πάντα τρόπον καὶ δυσομίλητον, ὥσπερ εὔνους καὶ φίλη συμφέρον

  [27] But the wrangling and hatred of men who are such near neighbours, yes, who share common borders, is like nothing else than insurrection in a single city, since many have ties both of marriage and of business, and there is almost daily visiting back and forth, and the inhabitants are all related and intimate and, as one might say, on terms of hospitality with one another. But a neighbouring city that is at enmity and ill disposed is a grievous thing in every way and hard to get along with, even as a city that is well disposed and friendly is beneficial and much to be desired.

  [28] καὶ ἀγαπητόν. ἐνθυμεῖσθε δὲ ὅσῳ μὲν ἥδιον ἀποδημεῖν πρὸς τοὺς πέλας οἰκείως ἔχοντας, ἀλλὰ μἠ ἐχθρῶς, ὅσῳ δὲ βέλτιον τοὺς ἐπιξενουμένους ὑποδέχεσθαι χωρὶς ὑποψίας, ἐν δὲ ταῖς κοιναῖς πανηγύρεσι καὶ θεῶν ἑορταῖς καὶ θέαις ὅσῳ κρεῖττον καὶ σωφρονέστερον ἀναμίγνυσθαι συνθύοντας ἀλλήλοις καὶ συνευχομένους,

  [28] Furthermore, consider how much more pleasant it is to visit one’s neighbours when they are on terms of intimacy and not of hostility, and how much better it is for those who are entertained away from home to be received without distrust, and how much better and more sensible it is at the common religious gatherings and festivals and spectacles to mingle together, joining with one another in common sacrifice and prayer, rather than the opposite, cursing and abusing one another.

  [29] ἀλλὰ μὴ τοὐναντίον καταρωμένους καὶ βλασφημοῦντας. αἱ δὲ ἐπιβοήσεις ἑκατέρου τοῦ πλήθους ἐν τοῖς σταδίοις καὶ τοῖς θεάτροις πόσον διαφέρουσι μετὰ ἐπαίνου γιγνόμεναι καὶ πολλῆς εὐφημίας τῶν μετὰ μίσους καὶ λοιδορίας; οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων [p. 54] ἐπιεικῶν οὐδὲ πόλεων σωφρόνων, μᾶλλον δὲ ἑταιρῶν ἀσχημόνων ἀπὸ οἰκήματος ἑκατέρας οὐδὲν αἰσχυνομένων ῥῆμα ἀκόλαστον εἰπεῖν, ᾗ φησιν Ὅμηρος,

  αἵ τε χολωσάμεναι ἀγορῆς ἐς μέσσον ἰοῦσαι

  νεικεῦς᾿ ἀλλήλῃσι, χόλος δέ τε καὶ τὰ κελεύει.

  [29] And how different are the shouts of the partisans of each of two cities in the stadium and the theatre, when uttered in praise and generous acclamation, from the cries which are uttered in hatred and abuse! For these outbreaks are not for reasonable men or well-behaved cities, but rather for indecent harlots, who are not at all ashamed to utter licentious phrases, each from her respective chamber, as Homer puts it,

  Who in a rage to mid-assembly go

  And bandy insults, so their choler bids.

  [30] πόσου δὴ ταῦτά ἐστι τὸ μὴ πάσχειν; πόσῳ δὲ πλείονος τὸ μὴ ποιεῖν; ποῖον δ̓ ἂν τοσοῦτον γένοιτο χρημάτων πλῆθος ἢ χώρας μέγεθος ἀνθ̓ οὗ προσήκει τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας ἀνθρώπους ἀντικαταλλάξασθαι τὴν καθ̓ ἡμέραν εὐφημίαν, τὸ πρεπόντως μὲν θεᾶσθαι, προθύμως δὲ ἀποδημεῖν; καὶ μὴν τά γε τῆς χώρας καὶ τὰ τῆς θαλάττης καὶ τὰ τῶν ὀρῶν ἐξ ἅπαντος ὑμᾶς εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ συνάγει καὶ μὴ βουλομένους καὶ ἀναγκάζει χρήσασθαι ἀλλήλοις. ἐκεῖνοί τε γὰρ δέονται τῆς παῤ ἡμῶν ὕλης καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἔχομεν οὔτε εἰσαγαγέσθαι δἰ ἑτέρου λιμένος

  [30] How much, then, is it worth to avoid experiencing these things? How much more to avoid inflicting them on others? What amount of money or extent of territory would be such as to warrant sensible men in bartering therefor the seemly language of their daily lives, their becoming conduct at spectacles, and their readiness to go abroad? Furthermore, the very land and sea and mountains in every way bring you people together and, even if you did not wish it, compel you to deal with one another. For not only do the Apameians need our timber and many other things as well, but we ourselves have no other harbour through which to import foreign goods or to export our own domestic products.

  [31] οὔτε ἐκπέμψαι τὰ γιγνόμενα παῤ ἡμῖν. πῶς οὖν οὐχ ἁπάντων δυστυχέστατον ὠνεῖσθαι μὲν ἑκάστους παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ φίλων, ἀποδίδοσθαι δὲ τοῖς μισοῦσι, κατάγεσθαι δὲ παρὰ τοῖς βαρυνομένοις, ὑποδέχεσθαι δὲ τοὺς λοιδοροῦντας, συνεστιᾶσθαι δὲ ἐνίοτε τοῖς ἀλλοτριωτάτοις: ἐὰν δὲ πλοίου τις ἐπιβαίνῃ, σαφῶς εἰδέναι καὶ τὸν κυβερνήτην καὶ τοὺς ναύτας ἅπαντας καταρωμένους, τὸ δὲ πάντων ἀηδέστατον ὅραμα ἐχθρῶν, τοῦτο ἀεί ποτε ὁρᾶν καὶ πλέοντας καὶ βαδίζοντας, καὶ τούτοις ἀεὶ πλείστοις κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς ἀπαντᾶν, πονηρὸν καὶ δυσχερῆ σύμβολον, ὥστε πάντως εἰπόντα τι παρελθεῖν

  [31] Is it not, then, most unfortunate that each should have to buy from men who are not friends and sell to men who hate them, to enter the port of men who are irked at their presence, to afford hospitality to men who revile them, and at times to recline at a banquet next to men who are most hostile to them; if one takes passage on a ship, to know clearly that both the skipper and all his crew are muttering curses at him; and to have ever before one’s eyes, whether sailing or walking, the most distasteful sight of all, that of enemies, and always to encounter such persons in greatest numbers on one’s travels — an evil and disagreeable omen — as the result of which one is absolutely sure to have said something disagreeable or to have heard it said about himself as he passes by?

  [32] ἢ ἀκούσαντα δυσχερές. ὥστε ἔγωγε ἐνεθυμούμην πολλάκις τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀμαθίαν καὶ διαφθοράν, ὅτι τῶν σφόδρα ἀδόξων καὶ φαυλοτάτων ζῴων χείρους εἰσὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωποι πολλάκις ἐντυχόντες ἀλλήλοις μάχονται καὶ λοιδορηθέντες ἀπίασιν: οἱ δὲ μύρμηκες οὕτω πυκνοὶ βαδίζοντες οὐδέποτε ἠνώχλησαν ἀλλήλους, ἀλλὰ πάνυ πρᾴως ἐντυχάνουσι καὶ παρίασι

  [32] So I have often reflected on the folly and the corruption of mankind, noting that men are spiritually inferior to the most despised and meanest creatures. For human beings often come to blows on meeting one another, and before they part they have exchanged abusive language; yet the ants, although they go about in such swarms, never bother one another, but quite amicably meet and pass and assist each other.

  [33]
καὶ βοηθοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις. καὶ μὴν τὸ νῦν συμβεβηκὸς περὶ τὴν [p. 55] ἡμετέραν πόλιν τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς ἅπτεται πολλῶν καὶ κνίζει τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας, ὅτι δὴ τὰς δίκας ὑμεῖς ἀποδέχεσθε καὶ παῤ ὑμῖν αὐτοὺς ἀνάγκη κρίνεσθαι: χρὴ δὲ δἰ αὐτὸ μᾶλλον φιλανθρώπως ἔχειν καὶ μὴ παρέχειν ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιφθόνους. αὐτίκα οἱ πρέσβεις οἱ χειροτονηθέντες ἐπὶ τοῦτο τὸ πρᾶγμα πόθεν ἀπίασιν; οὐκ ἐκεῖθεν; οὐ παρὰ τῶν ἐχθίστων ἀναχθήσονται πλέοντες καὶ χρήσονται τῷ λιμένι τῆς ἐχθρᾶς πόλεως; ἢ κύκλῳ περιίασιν, ὥσπερ χαλεπῆς καὶ ἀβάτου τῆς ἐγγὺς ἡμῖν θαλάττης; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοῖς πρότερον διαφερομένοις πρὸς τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας ταῦτα ἡγοῦμαι χαλεπώτερα καὶ βαρύτερα τοῦ λαβόντας ὅπλα βαδίζειν εἰς τὴν χώραν ἢ προσβάλλειν τοῖς τείχεσιν ἢ τὰ δένδρα κόπτειν ἢ τῷ καρπῷ πῦρ

  [33] Again, that which has now come to pass regarding our city in truth touches intimately many people and irritates without exception those who are not from Prusa, because it is you who hear their law-suits and it is in your city that they must stand trial; then you ought on that account to be the more gracious and not make yourselves obnoxious. For example, from what place will envoys chosen for this function set out? Will it not be from Apameia? Will they not set out on their voyage from the shores of their bitterest foes, and use the harbour of the enemy’s city? Or will they make a detour around it, as if the sea at our doors were difficult and inaccessible? As for me, I believe that those also who in days gone by were at variance with their neighbours found such incidents harder to bear and more grievous than that people should take up arms and invade their country or attack their fortifications or cut down their trees or set fire to their crops.

  [34] ἐνιέναι. τούτων γὰρ οἶμαι χαλεπῶν ὄντων, τῷ παντὶ χαλεπώτερόν ἐστιν, ἀφ̓ ὧν γίγνεται, τὸ τῆς ἔχθρας καὶ τὸ τοῦ μίσους. οὐ γὰρ ἔστι φανῆναί ποτε ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ πράγματος ὠφέλιμον οὐδὲ χρηστόν. ὅ τε γὰρ τῆς ἔχθρας καρπὸς ἁπάντων πικρότατος καὶ δριμύτατος, ὥσπερ οἶμαι τοὐναντίον ὁ τῆς εὐνοίας ἥδιστος καὶ λυσιτελέστατος. τὸ γὰρ μηδέποτε εἴκειν μηδὲ παραχωρεῖν τῷ πλησίον, λέγω δὲ χωρὶς αἰσχύνης, μηδὲ τῶν μὲν τυγχάνειν αὐτούς, τὰ δὲ παριέναι τοῖς ἄλλοις, οὐκ ἀνδρεῖόν ἐστιν, ὥσπερ οἴονταί

  [34] For although, in my opinion, such actions are hard to bear, altogether harder to bear are the passions of enmity and hatred which cause them. For from such activity as this nothing beneficial or useful can ever possibly come to pass. For the fruit of enmity is most bitter of all and most stinging, just as, methinks, its opposite, the fruit of goodwill, is most palatable and profitable. For the unwillingness ever to yield or make concessions to our neighbour — that is, without a feeling of humiliation — or while receiving some things ourselves, to concede some to the others, is not manly conduct, as some imagine, but, on the contrary, senseless and stupid.

  [35] τινες, οὐδὲ μεγαλόφρον, ἀλλ̓ ἀνόητον καὶ ἀμαθές. οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τοῦ ξύμπαντος οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ θείων καὶ μακαρίων αἰώνιον τάξιν καὶ ὁμόνοιαν καὶ σωφροσύνην, ἧς οὔτε κάλλιον οὔτε σεμνότερον οὐδὲν οἷόν τ̓ ἐπινοῆσαι; πρὸς δὲ αὖ τῶν λεγομένων στοιχείων, ἀέρος καὶ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος καὶ πυρός, τὴν ἀσφαλῆ καὶ δικαίαν δἰ αἰῶνος ἁρμονίαν, μεθ̓ ὅσης εὐγνωμοσύνης καὶ μετριότητος διαμένειν πέφυκεν αὐτά τε σῳζόμενα καὶ σῴζοντα τὸν

  [35] Do you not see in the heavens as a whole and in the divine and blessed beings that dwell therein an order and concord and self-control which is eternal, than which it is impossible to conceive of anything either more beautiful or more august? Furthermore, do you not see also the stable, righteous, everlasting concord of the elements, as they are called — air and earth and water and fire — with what reasonableness and moderation it is their nature to continue, not only to be preserved themselves, but also to preserve the entire universe?

  [36] ἅπαντα κόσμον; σκοπεῖτε γάρ, εἰ καί τισι δόξει μετέωρος ὁ, λόγος καὶ οὐ πάνυ τι ὑμῖν συμπαθής, ὅτι ταῦτα πεφυκότα ἄφθαρτα καὶ θεῖα καὶ τοῦ πρώτου καὶ μεγίστου γνώμῃ καὶ δυνάμει κυβερνώμενα θεοῦ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐκ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα φιλίας καὶ [p. 56] ὁμονοίας σῴζεσθαι φιλεῖ, τά τε ἰσχυρότερα καὶ μείζω καὶ τὰ ἐλάττω δὴ δοκοῦντα. ταύτης δὲ τῆς κοινωνίας διαλυθείσης καὶ στάσεως ἐπιγενομένης οὐχ οὕτως ἀνώλεθρος οὐδὲ ἄφθαρτος αὐτῶν ἡ φύσις, ὥστε μὴ ταραχθῆναι καὶ τὴν ἀμήχανόν τε καὶ ἄπιστον,

  [36] For even if the doctrine will seem to some an airy fancy and one possessing no affinity at all with yourselves, you should observe that these things, being by nature indestructible and divine and regulated by the purpose and power of the first and greatest god, are wont to be preserved as a result of their mutual friendship and concord for ever, not only the more powerful and greater, but also those reputed to be the weaker. But were this partnership to be dissolved and to be followed by sedition, their nature is not so indestructible or incorruptible as to escape being thrown into confusion and being subjected to what is termed the inconceivable and incredible destruction, from existence to non-existence.

  [37] ὥς φασιν, ὑπομεῖναι φθορὰν ἐκ τοῦ ὄντος εἰς τὸ μὴ ὄν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ λεγομένη παρὰ τοῖς σοφοῖς ἐπικράτησις αἰθέρος, ἐν ᾧ τὸ βασιλεῦον καὶ τὸ κυριώτατον τῆς ψυχικῆς δυνάμεως ὂν οὐκ ἀποτρέπονται πῦρ ὀνομάζειν πολλάκις, ὅρῳ τε καὶ πρᾴως γιγνομένη ἔν τισι χρόνοις τεταγμένοις, μετὰ πάσης φιλίας καὶ ὁμονοίας ἔοικε συμβαίνειν. ἡ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων πλεονεξία καὶ διαφορὰ παρανόμως γιγνομένη τὸν ἔσχατον ἔχει κίνδυνον ὀλέθρου, περὶ τῶν ὅλων οὔποτε ἐσόμενον διὰ τὸ πᾶσαν εἰρήνην καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχειν καὶ πανταχοῦ πάντα δουλεύειν καὶ ξυνακολουθεῖν

  [37] For the predominance of the ether of which the wise men speak — the ether wherein the ruling and supreme element of its spiritual power they often do not shrink from calling fire — taking place as it does with limitation and gentleness within certain appointed cycles, occurs no doubt with entire friendship and concord. On the other hand, the greed and strife of all else, manifesting itself in violation of law, contains the utmost risk of ruin, a ruin destined never to engulf the entire universe for the reason that complete peace and righteousness are present in it and all things everywhere serve and attend upon the law of reason, obeying and yielding to i
t.

  [38] εὐγνώμονι νόμῳ πειθόμενα καὶ εἴκοντα. οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τοῦτο μὲν ἥλιον νυκτὶ μεθιστάμενον καὶ παρέχοντα ἀνατεῖλαι τοῖς ἀφανεστέροις ἄστροις, τοῦτο δὲ σελήνην ἐῶντα καταλάμψαι τὴν ἅπασαν γῆν ἐν ἐρημίᾳ τοῦ κρείττονος φωτός; τοῦτο δὲ ἄστρα ὑποχωροῦντα ἡλίῳ καὶ μηδὲν ἡγούμενα πάσχειν μηδὲ ἀπόλλυσθαι διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμιν; τοῦτο δὲ αὖ τὸν ἥλιον περὶ μέσην ἐνίοτε ἡμέραν ἐπισκοτούμενον σελήνης ὑποδραμούσης, ᾗ τὸ φῶς αὐτὸς δίδωσι, πολλάκις γε μὴν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσθενεστάτων νεφῶν ἀποκρυπτόμενον ἤ τινος ἀραιᾶς ὁμίχλης περί τε λίμνας καὶ ποταμοὺς ἱσταμένης, ὡς ἔσθ̓ ὅτε μὲν εἴργεσθαι παντελῶς, ἐνίοτε δὲ

  [38] For example, do you not observe how the sun gives place to night, permitting the more obscure heavenly bodies to rise and shine, and again how it allows the moon to flood with light the whole earth during the absence of the greater luminary? And again, how the stars make way for the sun and do not feel they are being mistreated or destroyed through that god’s power? And again, how the sun sometimes about mid-day is darkened when the moon passes over it — the moon to which he himself gives his light — and furthermore, how the sun often is hidden by the most tenuous clouds or by some thin vapor arising near ponds and rivers, so that at times the sun is completely shut in, while at other times it sends its ray through the vapour thin and feeble?