Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [3] Int. Why, what additional proof have you in Homer of the character of the woman? At any rate he has not depicted her as doing or saying anything, but rather as being silently handed over to her father.

  Dio. What! Could one not deduce her faculties of mind from what took place in connexion with her, provided one were to consider the matter in a manner not wholly superficial and foolish?

  Int. Perhaps.

  Dio. Are we, then, to suppose that against the wishes of his daughter Chryses came into the camp, bearing the fillets of the god along with the ransom, and besought the assembly and the kings to release her, or, on the contrary, was it because she kept begging her father to aid her if he could?

  [4] δύναιτο, βοηθεῖν; εἰ γὰρ ἔστεργε τοῖς παροῦσιν ἡ Χρυσηὶς καὶ τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονι συνεῖναι ἠβούλετο, οὐδέποτ̓ ἂν εἵλετο Χρύσης ἅμα τὴν θυγατέρα λυπῶν τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ὅπως εἶχε πρὸς αὐτήν. τὸ γὰρ συνεῖναι τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν Χρυσηίδα στεργομένην οὐχ ἧττον τῷ Χρύσῃ συνέφερεν. καὶ γὰρ ἡ χώρα καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐγεγόνει, κακεῖνος ἦν αὐτῶν

  [4] For if Chryseïs was content with her situation and wished to live with Agamemnon, Chryses would never have chosen at one and the same time to grieve his daughter and to incur the malice of the king, not being unaware of the king’s feelings toward her. For it was no less to the interest of Chryses that Chryseïs should live with the king, so long as he was fond of her, since the priest’s country, his sanctuary, and he himself had come under the sway of the Achaeans, and Agamemnon was their sovereign.

  [5] κύριος. ἔτι δὲ πῶς παραχρῆμα μὲν ἁλούσης οὔτε ἦλθεν οὔτε ἐμέμνητο περὶ λύτρων, ὅτε εἰκὸς ἦν χαλεπώτερον φέρειν, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον τῆς μὲν λύπης ἐλάττονος γεγενημένης, συνηθείας δὲ πρὸς τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα πλείονος; δεκάτῳ γὰρ ἔτει τῆς πολιορκίας ταῦτα συμβῆναί φησιν ὁ ποιητής, τὰ περὶ τὴν ἄφιξιν τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ τὴν κομιδὴν τῶν λύτρων. τὰς δὲ περιοίκους πόλεις καὶ τὰς ἐλάττονας εἰκὸς ἦν εὐθὺς ἁλῶναι κατ̓ ἀρχὰς τοῦ πολέμου, ὧν ὑπῆρχεν ἡ Χρῦσα καὶ τὸ ἱερόν. — Οὐκοῦν ὁ λόγος οὗτος πολλὴν ἀτοπίαν ἐπιδείκνυσι τῆς Χρυσηίδος, τὸ πρότερον μὲν αἰχμάλωτον οὖσαν ἀνέχεσθαι, προσφάτως στερομένην τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς πατρίδος,

  [5] And, besides, how is it that immediately after her capture, at a time when she might be expected to be in greater distress, Chryses neither came nor made any mention of ransom, but rather some time later, at a time when her grief had diminished and her intimacy with Agamemnon had increased? For the poet says these things took place in the tenth year of the siege — I mean the coming of the priest and the bringing of the ransom — while it is reasonable to suppose that the cities in the neighbourhood of Troy, and especially the smaller ones, would have been taken in the very beginning of the war, and it is to this group that Chrysa and its sanctuary belonged.

  Int. Then this reasoning of yours attributes to Chryseïs very singular conduct, in that formerly she endured her lot as a captive, though newly robbed of her father and her country, but after ten years had passed she took it hard.

  [6] διελθόντων δὲ δέκα ἐτῶν χαλεπῶς φέρειν. — Δ. Εἴ γε καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀκούσειας: οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν τυχόντα ἐραστὴν ἅπαξ γενόμενον ἡδὺ ἀπολιπεῖν ταῖς ἐλευθέραις, μή τι γε τὸν ἐνδοξότατον καὶ πλουσιώτατον, βασιλέα μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ξυμπάντων, μεγίστην δὲ ἔχοντα δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς τότε ἀνθρώποις, κύριον δὲ οὐ μόνον ἐκείνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς πατρίδος, ἐλπίζοντα δὲ κρατήσειν ὀλίγου χρόνου καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ῾τὸ γὰρ Ἴλιον φαύλως εἶχεν ἐκ πολλοῦ, καὶ μόλις διεφύλαττον αὐτὴν τὴν πόλιν, ἐπεξῄει δὲ οὐδεὶς εἰς μάχην̓, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ παρέργως ἔχοντος πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀλλὰ καὶ φανερῶς ὁμολογοῦντος προτιμᾶν τῆς αὑτοῦ γυναικός. τοσαῦτα ἀποπτύουσαν καὶ τηλικαῦτα ἀγαθά, καὶ τὸ μέγιστον [p. 139] ἐραστὴν οὐ μόνον βασιλέα μέγαν καὶ ἀνδρεῖον ἐν ὀλίγοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ νέον καὶ καλόν, ὥς φησιν Ὅμηρος τῷ Διὶ προσεικάζων αὐτόν, ἔπειτα εἰς ἑαλωκυῖαν ἀφικέσθαι τὴν πατρίδα καὶ συνοικεῖν ἑνὶ τῶν δούλων τῶν Ἀγαμέμνονος, εἴ γε ἔμελλε γαμεῖσθαι τῶν

  [6] Dio. Yes, at least if you listen to what else I have to say; for it is not pleasant for free women to abandon even an ordinary man, once he has become their lover, to say nothing of the most illustrious and wealthy man, king of all the Greeks, a man who held the greatest power of all among the men of that day, who had authority over not merely Chryseïs but her father and her country too, and who expected in a short time to become lord of Asia as well — for Ilium had long been in a bad way and its people were having difficulty in defending the city itself and no one went out for battle. And observe also that the king had no casual regard for her, but even openly admitted that he preferred her to his own wife. That she should spurn such numerous and exceptional advantages, and in particular a lover who was not only a great king and had few who vied with him in valour, but was also young and handsome, as Homer says in comparing him to Zeus, and that she should then go to her native land, now a prize of war, and live as the wife of one of Agamemnon’s slaves — that is, assuming that she would wed one of the men of the district — is not that singular?

  [7] ἐγχωρίων τινί, πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον; τὸ γὰρ αἰχμάλωτον εἶναι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μὴ στέργειν τὸν λαβόντα οὐχ ἱκανόν. ἡ γοῦν Βρισηὶς ἀγαπᾶν ἔοικε τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, καὶ ταῦτα ὅν φησιν ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφούς. τῷ δὲ Ἀγαμέμνονι τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ἐπέπρακτο περὶ τὴν Χρυσηίδα. — Καλῶς. οὐκοῦν ἐκ τῶν λόγων τούτων οὐκ ἐβουλήθη Χρυσηὶς ἀποπεμφθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος, ἀλλὰ Χρύσης ταῦτα ἔπραττε καθ̓ αὑτόν: ἢ εἴπερ ἐβούλετο, ἀφρονεστέρα

  [7] For that she was a prisoner of war and for that reason did not care for the man who got her is not enough to explain her conduct. At any rate Briseïs apparently loved Achilles, and that although, as she declares, it was he who slew her husband and her brothers. But as for Agamemnon, nothing like that had been done regarding Chryseïs.

  Int. Very good. Then from this line of reasoning it follows that Chryseïs did not wish to be parted from Agamemnon, but that Chryses was conducting these negotiations independently; or else, if indeed she did wish it, she would be rather foolish and the case you have made out it contrary to what you promised.

  [8] ἂν εἴη, καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐναντίον εἶπας ἢ ὑπέσχου. — Δ. Ἀλλ̓ οὖν μηδὲ δίκην δικάσῃς, φασί, πρὶν
ἀμφοτέρων ἀκοῦσαι. λέγεις δὴ σοφὸν ὄντα τὸν Ὅμηρον; — Ἴσως. — Δ. Οὐκοῦν τὰ μὲν αὐτὸν λέγειν οἴου, τὰ δὲ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι καταλιπεῖν αἰσθάνεσθαι. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ τῶν πάνυ ἀδήλων ἐστίν. ἡ γὰρ Χρυσηὶς κατ̓ ἀρχὰς μέν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἠγάπα μένειν παρὰ τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονι δἰ ἃς εἶπον αἰτίας καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς ᾔδει χάριν, ὅτι μηδενὶ δοθείη τῶν ἀδοξοτέρων, ἀλλὰ τῷ πάντων βασιλεῖ, κἀκεῖνος οὐκ ἀμελῶς ἔχοι πρὸς

  [8] Dio. Well now, as the saying goes, do not judge a case before you hear both sides. Of course you speak of Homer as being a man of wisdom?

  Int. Possibly.

  Dio. Then you should assume that he tells some things but leaves others to the perception of his readers. But this is not one of the very obscure instances. For Chryseïs at the outset apparently was content to remain with Agamemnon for the reasons I have named, and she was grateful to the gods that she had not been given to any of the less illustrious persons, but rather to the king of all, and also that he was not indifferent toward her; and so she made no move regarding ransom.

  [9] αὐτήν: ὥστε οὐκ ἔπραττε περὶ λύτρων. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἤκουε τὰ περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ὁποῖα ἦν, ὡς χαλεπά, καὶ τὴν ὠμότητα τῆς Κλυταιμνήστρας καὶ τὸ θράσος, ἐνταῦθα ἐφοβεῖτο τὴν εἰς τὸ Ἄργος ἄφιξιν. καὶ τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον παρέμενε στέργουσα ἴσως τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα: ὅτε δὲ ἦν πρὸς τέλει ὁ πόλεμος καὶ διέρρει λόγος ὡς οὐκέτι δυνήσονται πλείω χρόνον ἀντέχειν οἱ Τρῶες, οὐ περιέμεινε τοῦ Ἰλίου τὴν ἅλωσιν. ᾔδει γὰρ ὡς τὸ πολὺ τοὺς νικῶντας ὑπερηφάνους γιγνομένους καὶ τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν τότε μᾶλλον ἰσχύουσαν τὴν περὶ τὸν θεόν, ὅταν πολεμῶσιν

  [9] But when she heard what conditions were like in the house of Agamemnon, how disagreeable they were, and what she heard also about the cruelty of Clytemnestra and about her boldness, then she looked with dread to her arrival in Argos. Moreover, although she had hitherto remained with Agamemnon, possibly for love of him, still when the war was near its close and a report was current that the Trojans no longer would be able to hold out, she did not wait for the capture of Ilium. For she knew that in general men who are victorious grow arrogant, and that the time when religious scruples are more potent is when men are at war.

  [10] οἱ ἄνθρωποι. διὰ ταῦτα ἐκάλει τότε τὸν πατέρα καὶ δεῖσθαι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐκέλευεν: ἐπυνθάνετο γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὅτι ἐγυναικοκρατοῦντο οἱ Ἀτρεῖδαι καὶ μεῖζον ἐφρόνουν τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων αἱ [p. 140] γυναῖκες, οὐκ ἐπὶ κάλλει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὑταῖς νομιζουσαι προσήκειν μᾶλλον. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ Πελοπίδας τε εἶναι καὶ ἐπήλυδας τῆς Ἑλλάδος, αὐταὶ δὲ Ἀχαιίδες, Τυνδάρεω θυγατέρες καὶ Λήδας. ὁ δὲ Τυνδάρεως ἔνδοξος ἦν καὶ βασιλεὺς τῆς Σπάρτης, ὥστε καὶ τὴν Ἑλένην διὰ τοῦτο ἐμνήστευσαν οἱ ἄριστοι τῶν

  [10] For these reasons at that juncture she summoned her father and bade him entreat the Achaeans; for she learned, it would appear, that the Atreidae were dominated by their wives and that the wives felt themselves superior to these men, not alone because of their beauty, but also because they believed that the right to rule belonged rather to themselves. For the Atreidae were descendants of Pelops and newcomers in Greece, whereas they themselves were women of Achaia, daughters of Tyndareüs and Leda. Now Tyndareüs had been illustrious and king of Sparta, and so not only had Helen on this account been courted by the noblest among the Greeks, but they had sworn to render aid in case of need.

  [11] Ἑλλήνων καὶ βοηθήσειν ὤμοσαν. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀδελφαὶ Κάστορος καὶ Πολυδεύκους ἦσαν, οἳ Διὸς παῖδες ἐνομίσθησαν καὶ θεοὶ μέχρι νῦν πᾶσι δοκοῦσι διὰ τὴν δύναμιν ἣν τότε ἔσχον. τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ προεῖχον: τῶν δὲ ἔξω Πελοποννήσου μεγίστη δύναμις ἦν ἡ περὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας, καὶ ταύτην καθεῖλον ἐπιστρατεύσαντες Θησέως βασιλεύοντος. ἔτι δὲ ἀνεψιὸς ἐγεγόνει αὐτοῖς Μελέαγρος ὁ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἄριστος. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἴσως οὐκ ἠπίστατο ἡ Χρυσηίς, τὸ δὲ φρόνημα ἤκουε τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ τὴν Ἑλένην ἐπεγίγνωσκεν, ὅσον ὑπερεῖχε τοῦ ἀνδρός: ὥστε ἐπειδὴ τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν μεγάλα ἤκουε διά τε χώρας ἀρετὴν καὶ πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων καὶ χρημάτων, κατεφρόνησεν οὐ τοῦ Μενελάου μόνον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ τε Ἀγαμέμνονος καὶ ξυμπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος, καὶ ταῦτα

  [11] Besides, these women were sisters of Castor and Polydeuces, who had come to be regarded as sons of Zeus, and who to this day are deemed gods by all men because of the power they acquired at that time. For not only were they pre-eminent among the dwellers in the Peloponnese, but among those outside the Peloponnese the greatest power was that of Athens, and Castor and Polydeuces had overwhelmed that city in a campaign which they made in the reign of Theseus. Furthermore, Meleager, the noblest among the Greeks, had been a cousin of theirs.

  Now though Chryseïs did not know these things, she did hear of the proud spirit of the women, and she learned how far above her husband Helen stood — so far that, when Helen heard of the great advantages of Asia, due alike to excellence of soil and size of population and abundance of riches, she came to scorn, not only Menelaüs, but Agamemnon too and Greece as a whole and she chose the one in preference to the other.

  [12] εἵλετο ἀντ̓ ἐκείνων. ὁ μὲν οὖν Μενέλαος καὶ πρότερον ὑπεῖκε περὶ πάντων τῇ Ἑλένῃ καὶ ὕστερον εἰληφὼς αἰχμάλωτον ὅμως ἐθεράπευεν: ὁ δὲ Ἀγαμέμνων διὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπαιρόμενος τὴν Κλυταιμνήστραν ἠτίμασεν, ὥστε δῆλον ἦν ὅτι οὐκ ἀνέξοιντο ἀλλήλων, ἀλλ̓ ἔσοιτο τοιαῦτα σχεδὸν ὁποῖα συνέπεσεν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα ἥδετο λέγοντος τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἡ Χρυσηίς, καὶ ταῦτα φανερῶς ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, ὅτι προτιμᾷ τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτὴν καὶ οὐδὲν

  [12] Now Menelaüs had been accustomed to yield to Helen in everything before her elopement, and also, when later he took her captive, he was kind to her in spite of all; but Agamemnon, puffed up because of his position as commander, had disparaged Clytemnestra, and so it was clear that they were not going to get along well together, but that instead there would be just about such actions as came to pass. Nor was Chryseïs pleased when Agamemnon said what he did, moreover publicly in the assembly of the Achaeans, namely, that he prized her more than his own wife and thought her not inferior to her, for Chryseïs knew that such talk breeds envy and jealousy.

  [13] ἡγοῖτο χείρονα: φθόνον γὰρ καὶ ζηλοτυπ
ίαν ᾔδει φέροντα. καὶ νὴ Δία τὸν τρόπον ἑώρα τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ὅτι οὐ βέβαιος ἀλλὰ ὑπερήφανος εἴη καὶ ὑβριστής, καὶ τί ποιήσει πρὸς αὑτὴν αἰχμάλωτον οὖσαν ἐλογίζετο παυσάμενος τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, ὅπου γε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γυναικός, βασιλίδος τε οὔσης καὶ παῖδας ἐξ αὐτῆς πεποιημένος, οὕτως ὀλιγώρως ἐμνημόνευεν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀνόητοι χαίρουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐρασταῖς, ὅταν φαίνωνται τὰς ἄλλας ἀτιμάζοντες: αἱ δὲ νοῦν ἔχουσαι τὴν φύσιν ὁρῶσι τοῦ ταῦτα ποιοῦντος ἢ λέγοντος.

  [13] Then too, she observed Agamemnon’s character and saw that he was not stable but arrogant and overbearing, and she calculated what he would do to her, a captive, when he ceased to desire her, seeing that he referred to his wife, queen though she was and the mother of his children, in such disparaging terms. For though foolish women delight in their lovers when they are seen to disparage all other women, those who are sensible discern the true nature of the man who acts or talks that way.

  [14] ἅμα δὲ καὶ πρὸς αὑτὴν ᾐσθάνετο αὐτὸν ὑβριστικῶς ἔχειν, [p. 141] καὶ ταῦτα ὅτε μάλιστα ἤρα. τὸ γὰρ οὕτως ἀπελάσαι τὸν Χρύσην πατέρα τῆς ἐρωμένης καὶ μὴ φείσασθαι δἰ αὐτὴν καὶ οὐχ ὅπως παραμυθήσασθαι τὸν πρεσβύτην εἰπόντα ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῦ τῇ θυγατρὶ δεινὸν εἴη, τοὐναντίον δὲ μὴ μόνον ἐκείνῳ ἀπειλεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Χρυσηίδα ἀτιμάζειν λέγοντα, τὴν δ̓ ἐγὼ οὐ λύσω πρίν μιν καὶ γῆρας ἔπεισιν ἡμετέρῳ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ ἐν Ἄργεϊ, τηλόθι πάτρης, ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένην καὶ ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιόωσαν, πόσης τινὸς ὑπερηφανίας; τί γὰρ ἂν ὕστερον ἐποίησεν, ὅτε ἐρῶν οὕτως ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς διαλέγεται; ταῦτα οὖν φυλάξασθαι καὶ προϊδεῖν