Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [13] For though Euboea is truly a venerable island, still who among you ever was able to endure dwelling in a rugged land, or being neighbour to narrow waters and subjected to many shifts of condition, more numerous than the shifts of current in the strait? At one moment you must needs endure the Boeotians and the stupidity of the Thebans, and the next it was the Athenians, who treated you no longer as sons, but rather as slaves. So it came to pass that the goddess took and established you here, with one of her hands contriving and directing the voyage, and with the other abundantly providing and bestowing her fruits.

  Now the idea in what yet remains to say it is difficult to portray.

  [14] χαλεπόν ἐστιν. ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ τύχη: πρὸς σὲ γὰρ δικαίως ἂν ἴσως ῥηθείη ὁ λόγος: εἴ μέ τις ὑψηλὸν ἄρας ἄγοι μετέωρον ἐπί τινων ἢ Πηγάσου νώτων ἢ Πέλοπος πτηνῶν ἁρμάτων ὑποτείνων τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν καὶ τὰς πόλεις, οὐκ ἂν τὴν Λυδῶν ἑλοίμην τρυφὴν οὔτ̓ εὐτέλειαν τὴν Ἀττικὴν οὔτε πενίαν Λακωνικὴν οὔτε Κρότωνα: πένονται γάρ: οὔτε Σύβαριν, ὅτι οὐ πονοῦσιν, οὔτε Σκύθας, ὅτι οὐ γεωργοῦσιν, οὔτε Αἰγυπτίους, ὅτι ἄλλοις γεωργοῦσιν:

  [14] But as for me, O Mistress Fortune — for to thee, no doubt, my words would justly be addressed — if some one should raise me aloft and transport me through the sky, either, as it were, on the back of some Pegasus or in some winged car of Pelops, offering me the whole earth and its cities, neither would I choose the luxury of Lydia or the thrift of Attica or the meagre living of Laconia, nor would I choose Croton or Sybaris, because they do not toil, or the Scythians, because they do not farm, or the Egyptians, because they farm for others,

  [15] καὶ Λιβύην, ὅθι τ̓ ἄρνες ἄφαρ κεραοὶ τελέθουσιν: εὐτυχία ποιμένων. οὐ Θήβας Αἰγυπτίας, αἵθ̓ ἑκατόμπυλοί εἰσι, διηκόσιοι δ̓ ἀν̓ ἑκάστην ἀνέρες ἐξοιχνεῦσι σὺν ἵπποισιν καὶ ὄχεσφιν: ἱπποκόμων βίος καὶ πυλωρῶν. Δήλῳ δή ποτε τοῖον Ἀπόλλωνος παρὰ βωμῷ φοίνικος νέον ἔρνος ἀνερχόμενον ἐνόησα. οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μοι βωμὸς θύειν οὐκ ἔχοντι, οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μοι φυτὰ τρέφειν με μὴ δυνάμενα. [p. 152] τρηχεἶ, ἀλλ̓ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος: οὔτε τραχεῖα αὕτη καὶ κουροτρόφος.

  [15] And Libya, where the lambs have horns at birth —

  a shepherd’s haven! No, I would not choose Egyptian Thebes,

  Which hath a hundred gates, and at each one

  Two hundred men go forth with chariots and steeds —

  a life for grooms and gate-keepers!

  In Delos such a tree I once did see

  Beside Apollo’s altar —

  an altar does not satisfy my wants, since I have naught to sacrifice thereon; no more do trees, if they afford no food.

  ’tis rugged, yet a goodly nurse of youth —

  This land not only is not rugged but a nurse of youth besides.

  [16] δέσποιν̓ ἁπασῶν πότνἰ Ἀθηναίων πόλι: μὴ λέγε, ἄνθρωπε. οὐκέτ̓ εἰσὶν ἐκεῖνοι δεσπόται. ὡς καὶ καλόν σου φαίνεται τὸ νεώριον. ἀλλὰ μεθ̓ Ἑλλήσποντον καὶ Λύσανδρον αἰσχρόν. — καλὸς δ̓ ὁ Πειραεύς: ἔτι γὰρ μετὰ τῶν τειχῶν αὐτὸν βλέπεις: ἄλση δὲ τίς πω τοιάδ̓ ἔσχ̓ ἄλλη πόλις; εἶχε μέν, δῃωθεῖσα δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ συμφοραῖς γυνή ἀπεκείρατο. καὶ τοὐρανοῦ γ̓, ὥς φασιν, ἐστὶν ἐν καλῷ. καὶ πῶς, οἵ γε λοιμώττουσι καὶ νοσοῦσι καὶ τὸ πλέον αὐτῶν

  [16] O Athens, august mistress of them all!

  Say not so, fellow: those Athenians no more are masters.

  How beauteous too thy shipyard is to view.

  Nay, rather say ugly, after the Hellespont and Lysander.

  Peiraeus is a lovely sight.

  Yes, for your mind’s eye still sees it with its walls.

  What other city yet obtained such groves!

  It did have, yes, but it was ravaged and, like a woman in her mourning, it had its tresses shorn.

  For climate, so they say, ’tis nobly set.

  Indeed! how so, since they are subject to plague and sickness, and more of them are slain by their climate than by the foe?

  [17] ἀπόλλυται μέρος ὑπὸ τῶν ἀέρων ἢ τῶν πολεμίων; καὶ μή τις ἀχθέσθω, διότι οὕτως τῶν πατέρων ἐμνημόνευσα. τῶν μὲν γὰρ πρωτείων οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως τύχοιμεν μὴ τοῖς πρώτοις ἁμιλλώμενοι. ἀλλὰ καὶ παλαιός τις στρατιώτης ὡς γεγονὼς τοῦ πατρὸς κρείσσων ἐσεμνύνετο, καὶ οὐδὲ Ἀθηναίοις αἰσχρὸν πατράσιν οὖσιν ὑπὸ τῶν παίδων ἡττωμένοις. τῆς γὰρ ὑμετέρας μεθέξουσιν ἀρετῆς κατὰ τὴν αὑτῶν ἐλαττούμενοι. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἂν εἰδείητε τούτων ἁπάντων τῇ τύχῃ τὴν χάριν καὶ τοῦ γένους, ὅτι Ἕλληνες, καὶ τῆς μεταβολῆς, ὅτι ἐκ πενήτων εὐδαίμονες; Σωκράτης γοῦν ἐπὶ πολλοῖς

  [17] Now let no one be vexed that I speak thus of his forebears. We could not attain first rank in any other way than by competing with those who are first. Why, not only did a certain warrior of old take pride in having proved superior to his sire, but even for the Athenians it is no disgrace, ancestors of ours though they be, to be outstript by their sons. For they will share your merit while being surpassed in their own. How, then, could you help being grateful to Fortune for all this — both for parentage, in that you are Greek, and for your changed condition, in that, though once poor, you now are prosperous? Socrates, at any rate, counted himself fortunate for many reasons — not only because he was a rational being, but also because he was an Athenian.

  [18] αὑτὸν ἐμακάριζε, καὶ ὅτι ζῷον λογικὸν καὶ ὅτι Ἀθηναῖος. Διογένης δὲ ὁ κύων ἀγροίκως καὶ τέλεον οὐ πολιτικῶς ηὔχει κατὰ τῆς τύχης, ὡς πολλὰ μὲν βέλη ἐφιείσης αὐτῷ ὡς σκοπῷ, τυχεῖν δὲ μὴ δυναμένης. οὐ φέρω θρασυνόμενον οὕτω φιλόσοφον. μὴ καταψεύδου [p. 153] τῆς τύχης: οὐ τοξεύει γάρ σε, ὅτι οὐ βούλεται: θελούσῃ δὲ τῇ τύχῃ πανταχοῦ ῥᾴδιον. καὶ τὰ μὲν σύντομα ἐκεῖνα οὐ λέγω, τὰ Λακωνικά, τοὺς δουλεύοντας Πέρσαις καὶ τὸν ἐν Κορίνθῳ Διονύσιον καὶ τὴν Σωκράτους καταδίκην καὶ τὴν Ξενοφῶντος φυγὴν καὶ τὸν Φερεκύδους θάνατον καὶ τὴν δυσδαιμονίαν τὴν Ἀναξάρχου: ἀλλ̓ αὐτοῦ τούτου τοῦ χαλεποῦ σκοποῦ πόσοις ἔτυχε τοξεύμασιν; φυγάδα σε ἐποίησεν, εἰς Ἀθήνας ἤγαγεν, Ἀντισθένει προυξένησεν, εἰς Κρήτην ἐπώλησεν. εἰ δέ σοι τὸν τῦφον βακτηρία καὶ πήρα περιτίθησι καὶ λεπτὸς καὶ ἀφελὴς βίος, ἴσθι καὶ τούτων τῇ τύχῃ

  [18] Diogenes the Cynic, on the other hand, with boorishness and downright discourtesy was wont to rail at Fortune, claiming that, though she shot many shafts with him
as her target, she could not hit him. I cannot endure a philosopher’s behaving so brazenly. Do not lie about Fortune, Diogenes, for the reason why she does not shoot you is that she has no wish to do so; on the contrary, if Fortune did wish it, she could easily hit you wherever you might be. While I do not use those “pithy laconic expressions” — slaves to the Persians, Dionysius at Corinth, Socrates’ condemnation, Xenophon’s exile, Pherecydes’ death, luck of Anaxarchus — still, let me ask you, with how many shafts has she hit this difficult mark itself? She made you an exile; she brought you to Athens; she introduced you to Antisthenes; she sold you into Crete. But if staff and wallet and a meagre, simple mode of living serve you as a cloak of affectation, you have Fortune to thank even for these things, for it is by grace of Fortune that you practise philosophy.

  [19] τὴν χάριν: κατὰ τύχην γὰρ φιλοσοφεῖς. ἦν δὲ καὶ Τιμόθεος Ἀθηναίων στρατηγός, ὃς πάντα εὐτύχει καὶ σκωπτόμενος οὐκ ἠνείχετο, καί ποτέ τι καὶ κατὰ τῆς τύχης ἐθρασύνετο καὶ πάλιν δυστυχεῖν ἤρξατο. τίς ἄν ποτε ἤλπισεν Ἰνδῶν ἄρξειν κουρέα, Λυδῶν βασιλεύσειν ποιμένα, τῆς Ἀσίας ἡγεμονεύσειν γυναῖκα; ὅτι τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἀποκτενεῖ χιτὼν καὶ γυνή, ὅτι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον δοῦλος καὶ κύλιξ; ἔχει γὰρ ἐν αὑτῇ πλεῖστον ἀεὶ τὸ βασιλικόν, καὶ τοὺς παρὰ φύσιν δ̓ ἐπαιρομένους καθαιρεῖ. πολλὰ γοῦν Ἀλέξανδρος τολμηρὰ

  [19] Again, there was once an Athenian general, Timotheüs, who was fortunate in everything and could not stand being made the butt of jokes; and one day he committed some act of effrontery against Fortune, and in turn he began to be unfortunate. Who would ever have expected that a barber would become ruler of the Indians; that a shepherd would become king of the Lydians; that a woman would become leader of Asia; that a tunic and a woman would cause the death of Heracles; that a slave and a goblet would cause the death of Alexander? The explanation is that Fortune has within herself the essence of royalty ever in fullest measure, and she destroys those who exalt themselves unduly. For instance, Alexander did many daring things —

  [20] ἔπρασσεν. οὐκ ἔφερεν υἱὸς Φιλίππου λεγόμενος, τοῦ Διὸς κατεψεύδετο, τῶν Διοσκόρων κατεφρόνει, τὸν Διόνυσον ἐλοιδόρει, καίτοι γε ἀφθόνως οὕτως αὐτοῦ τοῖς δώροις χρώμενος: ἀπέκτεινε δὲ καὶ Κλεῖτον τὸν σοφεν καὶ Φιλώταν τὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸν γέροντα Παρμενίωνα καὶ τὸν διδάσκαλον Καλλισθένην καὶ Αριστοτέλην ἐμέλλησε καὶ Ἀντίπατρον ἐβουλεύσατο. τοιγαροῦν ζῶντα αὐτὸν ὁμολογεῖν

  [20] he could not stand being called the son of Philip; he lied about Zeus; he scorned the Dioscuri; he abused Dionysus, though indulging so lavishly in that god’s gifts. Moreover, he slew his saviour Cleitus, the handsome Philotas, the aged Parmenion, his teacher Callisthenes; he aimed to slay Aristotle and had planned the death of Antipater. Therefore Fortune made him while yet alive admit that he was a human being.

  [21] ἠνάγκασεν ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ἦν. τρωθεὶς γοῦν πρὸς τοὺς φίλους, Ἀλλὰ τοῦτό γε οὐκ ἰχώρ ἐστιν, ἔφη, τὸ ῥέον, ἀλλὰ αἷμα [p. 154] ἀληθινόν. ἀποθνῄσκων δὲ καὶ πάνυ ὡμολόγησε μεγάλην τινὰ οὖσαν καὶ ἀνίκητον ὡς ἀληθῶς τὴν τύχην. ἐκεῖνος γοῦν ὁ ἐκφυγὼν καὶ τὸ Θηβαίων ὁπλιτικὸν καὶ τὸ Θεσσαλῶν ἱππικὸν καὶ τοὺς ἀκοντιστὰς Αἰτωλοὺς καὶ τοὺς μαχαιροφόρους Θρᾷκας καὶ τοὺς μαχίμους Πέρσας καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀμάχων Μήδων γένος καὶ ὄρη μεγάλα καὶ ποταμοὺς ἀδιαβάτους καὶ κρημνοὺς ἀνυπερβάτους καὶ Δαρεῖον καὶ Πῶρον καὶ πολλὰ ἄλλα ἐθνῶν καὶ βασιλέων ὀνόματα, ἐν Βαβυλῶνι

  [21] At any rate when he had been wounded he said to his friends, “Why, this fluid which I behold is not ichor but real blood!” But by his dying he admitted fully that Fortune is a mighty being and truly invincible. At any rate after escaping from the Theban hoplites, the Thessalian cavalry, the Aetolian javelin-throwers, the Thracians with their daggers, the martial Persians, the tribe of irresistible Medes, from lofty mountains, impassable rivers, unscalable cliffs, from Darius, Porus, and many other tribes and kings I might name, yet in Babylon, remote from battle and from wounds, our warrior died!

  [22] ἄνευ μάχης καὶ τραυμάτων ὁ στρατιώτης ἔθνῃσκε. τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν τοὺς διαδεξαμένους τὴν βασιλείαν ἢ τοὺς ἐπ̓ ἐκείνοις γενομένους καὶ τὰ ἀλαζονικὰ αὐτῶν ὀνόματα, κεραυνοὺς καὶ πολιορκητὰς καὶ ἀετοὺς καὶ θεούς; ὧν τὸν μὲν ὁ θάνατος ἤλεγξεν: ὁ δὲ ὑψηλοτέραν εὗρε τὴν τύχην, καίτοι πεζὴν δοκῶν: ὁ δὲ πολιορκητὴς Δημήτριος αἰχμάλωτος γενόμενος ἐξ οἴνου καὶ μέθης ἀτίμως ἀπέθανεν, ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης πολιορκούμενος. τί οὖν οἱ τύραννοι μέγα φρονοῦσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς τείχεσι; τί δὲ Ἀμφίων ᾄδει; τί δὲ Δηιόκης πονεῖ; τί δὲ Σεμίραμις οἰκοδομεῖ; τί δὲ ὁ Ἀπόλλων μισθαρνεῖ; τί δὲ μετὰ τοῦ λέοντος Μήλης τὸ τεῖχος περιέρχεται; κρατήσει γὰρ Μήδων Κῦρος καὶ Βαβυλωνίων Ζώπυρος καὶ Σάρδεων Μάρδος

  [22] But what should one say of those who took over his empire, or of those who followed after them, with their braggart titles — Thunderbolts, Takers-of-cities, Eagles, Gods? One of the lot death proved mistaken; another found Fortune to be a loftier being than himself, though he had considered her pedestrian; our Taker-of-cities, Demetrius, was taken captive and died a shameful death from wine and drunkenness, beleaguered as he was by Fortune! Why, then, are tyrants proud of their ramparts? Why does Amphion sing, Deïoces toil, Semiramis build, Apollo work for hire, Meles encompass the wall with his lion? For Cyrus will master the Medes, Zopyrus the Babylonians, a Mardian Sardis, and the horse Troy!

  [23] καὶ Τροίας ὁ ἵππος. μεγάλη γὰρ ῥοπή, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ ὅλον, εἶπέ τις, ἡ τύχη. αὕτη καὶ Πίνδαρον εὗρεν ἐκκείμενον ἐν Βοιωτίᾳ καὶ Τήλεφον ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς Ῥωμαίων ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ: καὶ τῷ μὲν ἔπεμψε μελίττας, τοῖς δὲ ποιμένας, Τηλέφῳ δὲ ἔλαφον, Κύρῳ δὲ ἢ κύνα ἢ γυναῖκα. Εὐμένης ἦν ἁμαξέως υἱός, ἀλλ̓ ὅμως βασιλεὺς ἐγένετο, Ἡρακλῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου παῖς, ἀλλ̓ οὐκ ἐβασίλευσεν: ἄταφος γοῦν Ὀλυμπιάδι ἐκομίσθη, καὶ πενθήσασα αὐτὸν καὶ αὐτὴ

  [23] Yes, as some one has put it, Fortune is a great weight in the scales, or rather the whole thing. She found the infant Pindar lying exposed in Boeotia, Telephus in Arcadia, the kings of Rome in Italy; and to Pindar she sent honey-bees, to the kings of Rome shepherds, to Telephus a deer, and to Cyrus either a dog or a woman. Eumenes was a wagoner’s son, but for all that he became king; Heracles was Alexander’s son, yet he did not become king; in fact, his body, denied the rites of burial, was brought to O
lympias, and after mourning for him she too died, a god’s mother, forsooth!

  [24] ἐτελεύτησεν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ θεοῦ. Δαρείου δὲ ἡ μήτηρ καὶ Ἀλέξανδρον προσεκύνησε καὶ τὸ ἀτιμότερον Ἡφαιστίωνα. τί δὲ ὁ Λιβύων βασιλεύς; οὐ πεντακοσίας μὲν πόλεις Ῥωμαίων ἐπόρθησεν; ἐπάρας [p. 155] δὲ τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν αὑτοῦ τοῖς πολίταις ἔδειξε Ῥωμαϊκῶν σφραγίδων ἀνάπλεων, ὧν ἑκάστην εἶχεν ἀπὸ πολεμίων σκῦλον ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ πεφονευμένων; ταῦτα δὲ πάντα δράσας ἀτίμως ἀπέθανε,

  [24] Moreover the mother of Darius made obeisance, not merely to Alexander, but, what is more disgraceful, to Hephaestion. What about the king of the Libyans? Did he not sack five hundred cities of the Romans? Did he not lift up his tunic and display it to his fellow townsmen filled with Roman finger rings, each of which he had as loot from foes he had slaughtered? yet after he had done all this he met an ignominious death, having contended much with Fortune all in vain.

  [25] μάτην πολλὰ φιλονικήσας πρὸς τὴν τύχην. διόπερ μοι δοκοῦσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰ μεγάλα πάντα τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιτρέπειν τῇ τύχῃ, κληρωτὰς τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ στρατηγίας ποιούμενοι: καὶ ἀδελφοὶ κτῆσιν αὑτῶν οὕτως διανέμονται. ἔδει δὲ ἄρα καὶ τὸν Πολυνείκην, εἴπερ καλῶς ἐβουλεύετο, κλήρῳ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν περὶ τῆς βασιλείας λαχεῖν: νυνὶ δὲ αὐτός τε ἀπέθανε καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν προσαπώλεσεν, ἡλικίᾳ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπιτρέψας, οὐ τύχῃ.