Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [7] Yes, it is a fine thing, just as it is with a well-trained chorus, for men to sing together one and the same tune, and not, like a bad musical instrument, to be discordant, emitting two kinds of notes and sounds as a result of twofold and varied natures, for in such discord, I venture to say, there is found not only contempt and misfortune but also utter impotence both among themselves and in their dealings with the proconsuls. For no one can readily hear what is being said either when choruses are discordant or when cities are at variance. Again, just as it is not possible, I fancy, for persons sailing in one ship each to obtain safety separately, but rather all together, so it is also with men who are members of one state.

  [8] οὐδὲ τοὺς συμπολιτευομένους. πρέπει δὲ ὑμῖν παιδείᾳ διαφέροντας καὶ φύσει καὶ τῷ ὄντι καθαρῶς ὄντας Ἕλληνας ἐν αὐτῷ τούτῳ τὴν γενναιότητα ἐπιδεικνύναι. πολλὰ δ̓ ἂν οἶμαι περὶ τούτων ἔλεγον καὶ πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ὑποθέσεως, εἰ μὴ τό τε σῶμα κομιδῇ φαύλως εἶχον ὑμᾶς τε, ὅπερ ἔφην, οὐχ ἑώρων διενεχθέντας. οὐδὲ γὰρ γέγονεν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ φύεται παῤ ὑμῖν τοῦτο τὸ νόσημα, ἀλλὰ ἴσως βραχεῖά τις ὑποψία, ἧς καθάπερ ὀφθαλμίας παρὰ τῶν ἐγγὺς ἀπελαύσαμεν. εἴωθε δὲ τοῦτο συμβαίνειν καὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ πολλάκις: τοῦ βυθοῦ κλυσθέντος ἰσχυρῶς καὶ χειμῶνος ἔξω

  [8] And it becomes you, since you excel in cultivation and in natural gifts and are in fact pure Hellenes, to display your nobility in this very thing.

  I might go on to say a great deal on these topics, I believe, and things commensurate with the importance of the subject before us, were it not that I am in quite poor health, and also, as I was saying, if I did not observe that your condition is not permanent. For no incident has yet happened, nor does this malady thrive among you, but it is possibly a slight attack of distrust, which, like sore eyes, we have caught from our neighbours. But this is a thing which often befalls the sea too — when the depths have been violently disturbed and there has been a storm at sea, often there are faint signs of the disturbance in the harbours also.

  [9] γενομένου πολλάκις ἀδήλως ἐπεσήμηνε καὶ τοῖς λιμέσιν. οἴεσθε ἀγορᾶς καὶ θεάτρου καὶ γυμνασίων καὶ στοῶν καὶ χρημάτων εἶναί τι ὄφελος τοῖς στασιάζουσιν; οὐ ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ ποιοῦντα πόλιν καλήν, ἀλλὰ σωφροσύνη, φιλία, τὸ πιστεύειν ἀλλήλοις. ὅταν δὲ τὴν βουλὴν ψέγητε, τοὺς προεστῶτας, τοὺς ἐξειλεγμένους, οὐχ αὑτοὺς ψέγετε; εἰ γὰρ οἱ βελτίους ὑμῶν εἰσι πονηροί, τί δεῖ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὑπολαβεῖν; ,ἡμεῖς ἄρα τὰ αὑτῶν ἀπολέσωμεν;῾ οὐθείς φησιν: ἀλλ̓ εὖ ἴστε ὅτι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς πόλεσίν ἐστι χρήματα δημόσια, καὶ ταῦτα ἔχουσιν ἔνιοι, τινὲς μὲν δἰ ἄγνοιαν, τινὲς δὲ ἄλλως: καὶ δεῖ προνοεῖν καὶ σῴζειν, οὐ μέντοι μετὰ ἔχθρας οὐδὲ μετὰ διαφορᾶς. οὗτοι φιλοτιμοῦνται, πολλάκις ὑμῖν παῤ αὑτῶν

  [9] Do you imagine there is any advantage in market or theatre or gymnasia or colonnade or wealth for men who are at variance? These are not the things which make a city beautiful, but rather self-control, friendship, mutual trust. But when you find fault with the Council, with the leaders of the government, with the duly elected officials, are you not finding fault with yourselves? For if the better men among you are base, what should one assume regarding the others? “Shall we, then, lose what belongs to us?” some one retorts. No one is suggesting that; on the contrary, you may rest assured that in all our cities there are public funds, and a few persons have these funds in their possession, some through ignorance and some otherwise; and it is necessary to take precautions and try to recover these funds, yet not with hatred or wrangling.

  [10] εἰσενηνόχασιν. πείθετε αὐτούς, παρακαλεῖτε: ἂν ἀντιτείνωσι, δικαιολογεῖσθε πρὸς μόνους μηθενὸς παρόντος ἔξωθεν. οὐχ ὑμεῖς ἐστε οἱ πολλάκις ἐπαινοῦντες ἡμᾶς δἰ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας, τοὺς μὲν ἀριστεῖς λέγοντες, τοὺς δὲ Ὀλυμπίους, τοὺς δὲ σωτῆρας, τοὺς δὲ [p. 91] τροφέας; εἶτα πρὸς Διὸς καὶ θεῶν παῤ αὑτοῖς ψευδομαρτυριῶν ἁλώσεσθε, καὶ πότερον νῦν ταῦτα ὀργιζόμενοι λέγετε ἤ τότε ἐκεῖνα κολακεύοντες, καὶ νῦν ἀπατώμενοι μᾶλλον ἤ τότε ἐξαπατῶντες. οὐ παύσεσθε τῆς ταραχῆς καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι πάνυ χαρίεντας ἔχετε πολίτας καὶ πόλιν δυναμένην εἶναι μακαρίαν; ἣν ἐγὼ πολλὰ δύναμαι σὺν τοῖς θεοῖς ἀγαθὰ ποιῆσαι, τούτους ἔχων συναγωνιζομένους,

  [10] These men are generous; they have often made contributions to you out of their own resources. Use persuasion on them, appeal to them; if they are stubborn, urge the justice of your claims before them privately, with no outsider present. Is it not you who often praise us all day long, calling some of us nobles, some Olympians, some saviours, some foster-parents? Then, by all that’s holy, are you going to be convicted of false witness in your own household, and is it anger which now prompts your words, or was it flattery then; and is it that you are the victims of deception now, or were you guilty of deception then? Will you not cease your turbulence and recognize that you have fellow citizens of refinement and a city that can be prosperous? I can accomplish many things, if Heaven wills, with these men as my helpers; however, I cite the proverb, one man is no man.

  [11] λέγων τὸ τῆς παροιμίας ,εἷς ἀνὴρ οὐδεὶς ἀνήρ.῾ ἀλλ̓ ἴσως ἐδυσχεράνατε ὅτι οὐκ ἐγένετο τὸ ἔργον. γίγνεται καὶ σφόδρα ἔσται ταχέως, μάλιστα τούτων προθυμουμένων καὶ σπουδαζόντων, ἐὰν ἑκοντὶ διδῶσιν: οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄκοντες ὑμῖν ὑπέσχοντο. διὰ τί δὲ παρὰ τούτων μὲν ἀπαιτεῖτε, παῤ ἐμοῦ δὲ οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖτε; ὅτι δοκῶ παρεσχηκέναι ὑμῖν; ἔπειτα οἴεσθέ με τοῦτο ἐμποιεῖν, εἰ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ πατρίδα τιμιωτέραν ἐποίησα, χρημάτων τινὰ ἀφορμὴν παρασχών ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν βουλευτικῶν καὶ νὴ Δία ἀπὸ τῶν προσόδων ηὐξημένων διὰ τὴν διοίκησιν; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὅμοιά ἐστιν ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ ηὐξάμην ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, οἱ θεοὶ δὲ ἐποίησαν. κἂν πάλιν δυνηθῶ, ποιήσω πάλιν ῾δυνήσομαι δὲ μεθ̓ ὑμῶν, φίλους

  [11] But possibly you were displeased that the work has not been completed. It is going forward, and it will be completed very speedily, especially with the enthusiastic and earnest interest of these men, provided they give willingly; for you know they were not unwilling when they gave their promise. But why do you demand payment from these men and not from me? Because I am supposed to have made payment to you already? Then do you regard it as my doing, if I have made my own fatherland more highly esteemed by providing some working capital, as it were, from the Council fees, and, and by Zeus, from increase in income
brought about through the revision of our finances? Why, these matters are as if I had prayed in your behalf, while the gods did the work.

  [12] ἔχων τοὺς ἐνθάδἐ καὶ οὐδὲν ὑμῖν λογιοῦμαι τῶν τοιούτων. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ γονεῖς τοῖς τέκνοις ἀντὶ τῶν ἀναλωμάτων τὰς εὐχὰς λογίζονται. οἴεσθε ὅτι περὶ στοᾶς ἦν ἂν ἐμοὶ λόγος ἤ ἄλλου τινός, εἰ ἑώρων ὑμᾶς διαφερομένους; ἀλλὰ τοῦτό γε ὅμοιον ἦν ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἄνθρωπον νοσοῦντα καὶ φρενίτιδι ἐχόμενον, δέον οἶμαι καταπλάσαι κατακλίναντα, ὁ δὲ ἀλείφοι μύρῳ καὶ προσφέροι στέφανον: ταῦτα ἐκ περιουσίας ἐστὶ τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσι, τοῖς μηδὲν ἔχουσι κακόν. οὐκ οἴεσθε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, ὅτ̓ ἐστασίαζον καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπήγοντο καὶ προεδίδοσαν ἀλλήλους οἱ ταλαίπωροι, καὶ τὰ Προπύλαια ἔχειν καὶ τὸν Παρθενῶνα καὶ τὰς στοὰς καὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ; ἀλλὰ οἰμώζουσιν αὐτοῖς μεῖζον ἐπήχει τὰ Προπύλαια καὶ τὰ νεώρια [p. 92]

  [12] Aye, and if I am able to do it again I will do it again. And I shall be able to do so with confidence, provided I have the friendship of the people of Prusa, and I shall not charge you anything for such efforts. For neither do parents charge to the account of their children the prayers offered in their behalf. Do you imagine I should be speaking of a colonnade or anything else, if I saw you wrangling? Why, that would be just as if, when a man is ill and suffering from brain fever, though the proper treatment, no doubt, would be to put him to bed and apply a poultice, one were to rub him with perfume and administer a garland! These things are a luxury for the well, for those who have no affliction. Do not you suppose that at the time when the Athenians were in the grip of civil war and had brought upon themselves the enemy and were betraying one another — poor devils! — they had both the Propylaea and the Parthenon and the colonnades and Peiraeus? Aye, but the Propylaea and the dockyards and the Peiraeus itself only echoed the more loudly to their cries.

  [13] καὶ ὁ Πειραιεὺς αὐτός. καίτοι μεγάλη καὶ πολυάνθρωπος πόλις στασιάζουσα καὶ κακῶς φρονοῦσα δύναται χρόνον τινὰ ἐνεγκεῖν τὴν δυστυχίαν: ἀλλ̓ ὅμως καὶ ταῦτα ὁρᾶτε ὁποῖά ἐστιν. οὐ κατηγοροῦσιν ἀλλήλων, οὐκ ἐξελαύνουσιν, οὐ τοὺς μὲν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν εἰσάγουσιν καὶ ἑτέρους ἐξάγουσιν; οὐχ ὥσπερ ἐν σεισμῷ πάντα κινεῖται καὶ πάντα μετέωρά ἐστι καὶ οὐθὲν βέβαιον; οὐκ εἰς τοῦτο ἥκουσιν ὥστε μὴ ἀρκεῖσθαι τοῖς αὑτῶν ἡγεμόσιν, ἀλλ̓ ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς ἀνιάτοις νοσήμασι, δέονται ξένων ἰατρῶν, καὶ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τῶν χαλεπῶν ἵππων γιγνόμενόν ἐστιν: ὅταν ὁ χαλινὸς μὴ κατισχύῃ, ψάλιον αὐτοῖς ἔξωθεν ἐμβάλλεται. ἐμοὶ δὲ μέλει μὲν καὶ τοῦ καθ̓ ὑμᾶς, μέλει δὲ καὶ τοῦ κατ̓

  [13] And yet a great and populous city suffering from civil war and folly can for a time endure its misfortune; still you can see how terrible even such things are. Do not the Athenians accuse one another, do they not drive men into exile, do they not put one party into the Council and drive out the other? Is not everything subject to upheaval as in an earthquake, everything unsettled, nothing stable? They have reached the point of not being satisfied with their own leaders, but, just as in the case of incurable diseases, require physicians from abroad. Then comes what happens with intractable horses — when the bit fails to hold them in check, a curb is put upon them from without.

  [14] ἐμαυτόν. εἰ γὰρ φιλόσοφος πολιτείας ἁψάμενος οὐκ ἐδυνήθη παρέχειν ὁμονοοῦσαν πόλιν, τοῦτο δεινὸν ἤδη καὶ ἄφυκτον, ὥσπερ εἰ ναυπηγὸς ἐν νηὶ πλέων μὴ παρέχοι τὴν ναῦν πλέουσαν, καὶ εἰ κυβερνήτης φάσκων εἶναι πρὸς αὐτὸ τὸ κῦμα ἀποκλίνοι, ἢ λαβὼν οἰκίαν οἰκοδόμος, ὁρῶν πίπτουσαν, ὁ δὲ τούτου μὲν ἀμελοῖ, κονιῶν δὲ καὶ χρίων οἴοιτό τι ποιεῖν. εἴ μοι προέκειτο νῦν ὑπὲρ ὁμονοίας λέγειν, εἶπον ἂν πολλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων καὶ περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων παθημάτων: ὅτι τὰ θεῖα ταῦτα καὶ μεγάλα ὁμονοίας τυγχάνει δεόμενα καὶ φιλίας: εἰ δὲ μή, κίνδυνος ἀπολέσθαι καὶ φθαρῆναι τῷ καλῷ τούτῳ δημιουργήματι τῷ κόσμῳ.

  [14] My concern is partly indeed for you, but partly also for myself. For if, when a philosopher has taken a government in hand, he proves unable to produce a united city, this is indeed a shocking state of affairs, one admitting no escape, just as if a shipwright while sailing in a ship should fail to render the ship seaworthy, or as if a man who claimed to be a pilot should swerve toward the wave itself, or as if a builder should obtain a house and, seeing that it was falling to decay, should disregard this fact but, giving it a coat of stucco and a wash of colour, should imagine that he is achieving something.

  If my purpose on this occasion were to speak in behalf of concord, I should have had a good deal to say about not only human experiences but celestial also, to the effect that these divine and grand creations, as it happens, require concord and friendship; otherwise there is danger of ruin and destruction for this beautiful work of the creator, the universe.

  [15] ἀλλ̓ ἴσως μακρολογῶ, δέον βαδίζειν καὶ παρακαλεῖν τὸν ἡγεμόνα. τοσοῦτον δὴ μόνον ἐρῶ: οὐκ αἰσχρόν ἐστιν, εἰ μέλιτται μὲν ὁμονοοῦσι, καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐδέποτε ἑώρακεν ἑσμὸν στασιάζοντα καὶ μαχόμενον αὑτῷ: συνεργάζονται δὲ καὶ ζῶσιν ἅμα, καὶ παρέχουσαι τὴν τροφὴν αὑταῖς καὶ χρώμεναι . . . τί οὖν; οὐχὶ κἀκεῖ γίγνονται κηφῆνές τινες λεγόμενοι χαλεποὶ καὶ κατεσθίοντες τὸ μέλι; νὴ Δία, γίγνονται μέν: ὅμως δὲ καὶ τούτους πολλάκις ἐῶσιν οἱ γεωργοί, μὴ βουλόμενοι ταράττειν τὸν ἑσμόν, καὶ βέλτιον νομίζουσι [p. 93]

  [15] But perhaps I am talking too long, when I should instead go and call the proconsul to our meeting. Accordingly I shall say only this much more — is it not disgraceful that bees are of one mind and no one has ever seen a swarm that is factious and fights against itself, but, on the contrary, they both work and live together, providing food for one another and using it as well? “What!” some one objects, “do we not find there too bees that are called drones, annoying creatures which devour the honey?” Yes, by Heaven, we do indeed; but still the farmers often tolerate even them, not wishing to disturb the hive, and believe it better to waste some of the honey rather than to throw all the bees into confusion.

  [16] παραναλίσκειν τοῦ μέλιτος ἢ πάσας θορυβῆσαι τὰς μελίττας. οὐ μέντοι παῤ ἡμῖν τυχὸν οὐδείς ἐστι κηφὴν ἀργός, βομβῶν σαθρόν, γευόμενος τοῦ μέλιτος. καὶ μέντοι καὶ μύρμηκας πανὺ ἡδέως ἰδεῖν ἔστιν, ὅπως μὲν οἰκ�
�ῦσι μετ̓ ἀλλήλων εὐκόλως, ὅπως δὲ ἐξίασιν, ὅπως δὲ τὰ βάρη μεταλαμβάνουσιν, ὅπως δὲ παραχωροῦσιν ἀλλήλοις τῶν ὁδῶν. οὔκουν αἰσχρὸν ἀνθρώπους ὄντας ἀφρονεστέρους εἶναι θηρίων οὕτω σμικρῶν καὶ ἀφρόνων; ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἄλλως ἐρρήθη τρόπον τινά. στάσιν δὲ οὔτε ὀνομάζειν ἄξιον παῤ ἡμῖν

  [16] But at Prusa, it may be, there are no lazy drones, buzzing in impotence, sipping the honey. Again, it is a great delight to observe the ants, how they go forth from the nest, how they aid one another with their loads, and how they yield the trails to one another. Is it not disgraceful, then, as I was saying, that human beings should be more unintelligent than wild creatures which are so tiny and unintelligent?

  Now this which I have been saying is in a way just idle talk. And civil strife does not deserve even to be named among us, and let no man mention it.

  [17] μήτε λεγέτω μηδείς. ἀλλά μοι δοκεῖ περικαθήραντας τὴν πόλιν μὴ σκίλλῃ μηδὲ ὕδατι, πολὺ δὲ καθαρωτέρῳ χρήματι τῷ λόγῳ κοινῇ πράττειν τὰ λοιπά, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀγορανόμων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φροντίζειν καὶ τὴν βουλὴν παρακαλεῖν πρὸς ταῦτα, ἵνα, ὥσπερ εἴωθε, προνοῇ τῆς πόλεως: ἔσται γὰρ ὑμῖν πάνυ ῥᾴδια. τοῦτο δὲ ἄξιον ὑμῖν σπουδάσαι καὶ διὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα, ὃν πεποιήκατε, ἵνα μὴ λαβόντες ἄπειρον ἄνθρωπον ἔπειτα ἐν κλύδωνι καὶ σάλῳ ἐᾶτε.