Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [6] μυριάδες τεθνήκασιν ὑπὲρ τούτου τοῦ ῥάκους. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ διὰ χρυσοῦν πρόβατον ἀνάστατον συνέβη γενέσθαι τηλικαύτην οἰκίαν τὴν Πέλοπος οἱ τραγῳδοί φασιν. καὶ κατεκόπη μὲν τὰ τοῦ Θυέστου τέκνα, τῇ Πελοπίᾳ δὲ ὁ πατὴρ ἐμίχθη καὶ τὸν Αἴγισθον ἔσπειρεν: οὗτος δ̓ ἀπέκτεινε μὲν μετὰ τῆς Κλυταιμνήστρας τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα τὸν ποιμένα τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, κἀκείνην Ὀρέστης ὁ υἱός, καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσας εὐθὺς ἐμαίνετο. τούτοις δὲ οὐκ ἄξιον ἀπιστεῖν, ἃ γέγραπται μὲν οὐχ ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων ἀνδρῶν, Εὐριπίδου καὶ Σοφοκλέους, λέγεται δὲ ἐν μέσοις τοῖς θεάτροις: ἔτι δὲ ἰδεῖν ἔστιν ἑτέραν οἰκίαν συντριβεῖσαν πλουσιωτέραν ἐκείνης διὰ γλῶτταν καὶ νὴ Δία

  [6] Why, because of a golden lamb it came to pass that a mighty house like that of Pelops was overturned, as we learn from the tragic poets. And not only were the children of Thyestes cut in pieces, but Pelopia’s father lay with her and begot Aegistheus; and Aegistheus with Clytemnestra’s aid slew Agamemnon, “the shepherd of the Achaeans”; and then Clytemnestra’s son Orestes slew her, and, having done so, he straightway went mad. One should not disbelieve these things, for they have been recorded by no ordinary men — Euripides and Sophocles — and also are recited in the midst of the theatres. Furthermore, one may behold another house, more affluent than that of Pelops, which has been ruined because of a tongue, and, in sooth, another house which is now in jeopardy.

  [7] ἑτέραν κινδυνεύουσαν. τοιούτων δὲ τῶν κατὰ τὴν δόξαν ὄντων καὶ μυρίων ἄλλων ἀτοπωτέρων πῶς οὐχὶ τῷ παντὶ δυσχερέστερος ὁ πρὸς ταύτην κεχηνὼς τοῦ πρὸς ἄλλ̓ ὁτιοῦν ἐπτοημένου; τὸν φίλοψον εἷς ἰχθὺς ἀποπίμπλησι καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτὸν κωλύσειεν ἥδεσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν: ὁμοίως ὁ πρὸς παῖδας ἀθλίως ἔχων, ἐὰν εἰς ὡραῖον ἐμπέσῃ, τοῦτον ἕνα ὄντα θεραπεύει, καὶ πολλάκις μικροῦ κατειργάσατο. τὸν οἰνόφλυγα ἓν Θάσιον κατέπλησε, καὶ πιὼν Ἐνδυμίωνος ἥδιον καθεύδει: τῷ δοξοκόπῳ δὲ οὐκ ἂν εἷς ἐπαινῶν ἐξαρκέσειεν,

  [7] But such being the accompaniments of notoriety, yes, and countless others even more absurd, why is not he who gapes hungrily in that direction altogether more disgusting than the person who is distraught with passion for anything else at all? The gourmet is satisfied with a single fish and none of his enemies would interfere with his enjoyment of it; similarly he who is a pitiable victim of lust for boys, if he comes upon a handsome lad, devotes himself to this one only and often prevails upon him at a small cost. A single jar of Thasian wine is all the drunkard can hold, and when he has swallowed it he sleeps more sweetly than Endymion; yet your notoriety-seeker would not be satisfied with the praise of just one person, nay, not even with that of a thousand on many instances.

  [8] ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ χίλιοι πολλάκις. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ῥᾷόν ἐστι μεταχειρίσασθαι τὸ χαλεπώτατον μειράκιον τοῦ μετριωτάτου δήμου τίς οὐκ ἂν φήσειεν; ὅσῳ μέντοι προχωρεῖ τὸ τῆς δόξης ἐπὶ πλέον, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον οὐκ ἔστιν ὕπνου λαχεῖν: ἀλλ̓ ὥσπερ οἱ φρενιτίζοντες, ἀεὶ μετέωρος οὗτος καὶ νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ̓ ἡμέραν. ῾νὴ Δἴ, ἀλλ̓ ἐκείνους ἰδεῖν ἔστιν περὶ τὸν οἶνον καὶ τὰς ἑταίρας καὶ τὰ ὀπτανεῖἀ τῷ τοιούτῳ δὲ οὐκ ἀνάγκη πολὺ μὲν ὄψον ἀγοράζειν, πολὺν δὲ οἶνον; αὐλητὰς δὲ καὶ μίμους καὶ κιθαριστὰς καὶ θαυματοποιοὺς συνακτέον, ἔτι δὲ πύκτας καὶ παγκρατιαστὰς καὶ παλαιστὰς καὶ δρομεῖς καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔθνος, εἴ γε μὴ μέλλει φαύλως μηδὲ

  [8] Who would not agree that it is easier to handle the most difficult youth than the most moderate community? And yet the farther the craze for notoriety progresses, so much the more impossible it is to get any sleep; instead, like the victims of delirium, your seeker after fame is always up in the air both night and day. “Right, by Heaven,” somebody may say, “but you can see those other chaps busy with their wine and their mistresses and their kitchens.” Yes, but does not the seeker after fame find it necessary to buy a lot of food and wine? And he must collect flute-players and mimes and harpists and jugglers and, more than that, pugilists and pancratiasts and wrestlers and runners and all that tribe — at least unless he intends to entertain the mob in a cheap and beggarly manner.

  [9] ἀγεννῶς ἑστιάσειν τὸ πλῆθος. τοιοῦτος μὲν γὰρ οὐδεὶς πώποτε [p. 163] τῶν ὀψοφάγων γέγονεν, ὅστις ἐπεθύμησε λέοντος ἀγρίου ἢ ταύρων ἑκατόν: οἱ δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀρέσκειν ἐθέλοντες οὐ μόνον τούτων ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ἀλλ̓ ὅσων οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν ἔστιν. οὐ γὰρ ὀλίγοις λίνοις, φασίν, ἢ δυσὶν ἢ τρισὶν ἑταίραις οὐδὲ δέκα Λεσβίσι θηρεύεται δόξα καὶ δῆμος ὅλος εἰς πειθὼ καὶ φιλίαν ἄγεται, μυρίων ἀντιπραττόντων: ἀλλὰ ἀνάγκη πόλεως ἀκολασίαν ἔχειν καὶ φιλῳδὸν καὶ φιλοχορευτὴν καὶ φιλοπότην καὶ ὀψοφάγον εἶναι καὶ πάντα δὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα μὴ ὡς ἕνα ἄνδρα, ἀλλὰ μυρίους ἢ δὶς μυρίους ἢ

  [9] For though there has never been a gourmet so voracious as to crave a savage lion or a hundred bulls, those who wish to please the masses crave not merely the things just listed but things too numerous to mention. For “not with a few nets,” as the saying goes, or with two or three harlots, or even with ten Lesbian girls, is popularity hunted and a whole community rendered obedient and friendly, since thousands are competing for it; nay, he who courts popular favour must have a whole city’s licentiousness and be a devotee of singing, of dancing, of drinking, of eating, and, indeed, of all such things, not as one single individual, but rather as ten thousand or twenty thousand or a hundred thousand, in keeping with the size of the city whose favour he is courting.

  [10] δεκάκις, ἡλίκης ἄν ποτε ἐραστὴς ᾖ πόλεως. ἀεὶ δ̓ ἂν παρὰ τῷ τοιούτῳ καταλάβοις αὐλῶν συρίγγων τ̓ ἐνοπὴν ὅμαδόν τ̓ ἀνθρώπων. παρὰ δὲ πλήθουσι τράπεζαι σίτου καὶ κρειῶν, μέθυ δ̓ ἐκ κρητήρων οἰνοχόοι φορέουσι. κνισῆεν δέ τε δῶμα περιστεναχίζεται αὐλῇ ἤματα, νύκτας δ̓ αὖτε παῤ αἰδοίῃς ἀλόχοισιν οὐδέποθ̓ εὕδουσιν, οὐδ̓ ἂν πάνυ πολλοὺς ὑποστορέσωνται τάπητας.

  [10] At such a person’s house you will always find

  The shrill of flute and pipes, the din of men.

  And at his house tables are laden with bread and meat, and from mixing-bowls cupbearers bear drink.

  By day the hall with fatty savour reeks

  And makes the court to echo with its din,

  While in the night, beside their wives revered —

  they neve
r sleep, not though they spread beneath them very many rugs.

  [11] ὥστε τούς γε φιλόπαιδας καὶ σφόδρα οἶμαι μακαρίζειν αὑτοὺς τοῖς φιλοδόξοις παραβάλλοντας, ὅταν αὐτοὶ μὲν ὄρτυγας ζητῶσιν ἢ ἀλεκτρυόνα ἢ ἀηδόνιον, τοῖς δὲ ὁρῶσιν ἀνάγκην οὖσαν Ἀμοιβέα ἢ Πῶλον ζητεῖν ἢ τῶν Ὀλυμπίασι νενικηκότων τινὰ πέντε μισθοῦσθαι ταλάντων. καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν ἕνα τὸν παιδαγωγὸν ἢ τὸν ἀκόλουθον ἐγάστρισαν: οἱ δὲ ἂν μὴ τοὐλάχιστον ἑκατὸν τῆς ἡμέρας πολυτελῶς ἑστιάσωσιν οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ὄφελος. τοῖς μὲν οὖν κάμνουσιν ἡσυχίας προνοοῦσιν οἱ θεραπεύοντες, ὅπως καθεύδωσι: τοῖς δὲ δοξοκόποις, ὅταν ἡσυχίας τυγχάνωσι, τότε μάλιστα

  [11] Thus the boy-lovers, I fancy, count themselves extremely fortunate as they compare themselves with the popularity-seekers, seeing that they themselves seek only quails or a cock or a tiny nightingale, while those others, they observe, must needs seek some Amoebeus or Polus or hire some Olympic victor for a fee of five talents. Moreover, while they themselves have filled the belly of one man, the tutor or the attendant of the lad, the others, unless they provide a sumptuous banquet for at least a hundred daily, derive no advantage at all.

  Again, when men are ill, their attendants provide quiet for them so that they may sleep; but with the popularity-seekers, whenever they do obtain a bit of quiet, that is the time above all when sleep will not come.

  [12] ὕπνος οὐκ ἔπεισιν. οἱ μὲν οὖν χρημάτων ἢ γένους ἐπιτυχόντες ἢ τινος [p. 164] τῶν τοιούτων ἢ σώματος εὐτονίας ἢ λαλιὰν γοῦν περιποιησάμενοι, καθάπερ ἐπτερωμένοι μόνον οὐ κατ̓ ἄστρων φέρονται, δημαγωγοί τε καὶ ξεναγοὶ καὶ σοφισταὶ λεγόμενοι, δήμους καὶ σατράπας καὶ μαθητὰς θηρεύοντες: τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ἕκαστος τῶν μηδεμίαν χορηγίαν ἐχόντων, ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς νόσου κρατουμένων, περιέρχεται πρὸς ἕτερον ζῶν καὶ τί περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγει τις φροντίζων, κἂν μὲν εὐφημήσῃ τις, ὡς οἴεται, μακάριος καὶ φαιδρός, εἰ δὲ μή, ταπεινός τε καὶ κατηφὴς καὶ τοιοῦτον αὑτὸν εἶναι νομίζων ὁποῖον ἂν εἴπῃ τις. καὶ δίαιταν μὲν ἢ δίκην ἂν ἔχῃ πρός τινα, οὐκ ἀξιοῖ τὸν διαιτητὴν ἢ τὸν δικαστὴν τοῖς τυχοῦσι προσέχειν μάρτυσιν, αὐτὸς

  [12] Now those who have been blessed with riches or ancestry or the like or with physical or mental excellence or who, at any rate, have acquired a glib tongue, these, as if endowed with wings, are all but carried to the stars, being called leaders of the people and condottieri and sophists, courting communities and satraps and pupils; but of the others, who have no adventitious backing but are victims of the same malady, each goes about living his life with his eye on somebody else and concerned about what people are saying of him, and if people speak well of him, as he imagines, he is a happy man, cheerful of countenance, but otherwise he is depressed and downcast and considers himself but the sort of man they say he is. Again, if he is involved in litigation with any one before an arbitrator or a judge, he does not expect the arbitrator or the judge to heed chance witnesses, and yet he himself in matters which concern himself regards all and sundry as worthy of credence.

  [13] δ̓ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ πάντας ἀξιόχρεως ἡγεῖται. τί δὴ κακοδαιμονέστερον ἀνθρώπων ἐπ̓ ἄλλοις κειμένων καὶ τὸν ἀπαντῶντα κύριον ἐχόντων, πρὸς ὃν ἀεὶ βλέπειν ἀνάγκη καὶ σκοπεῖν τὸ πρόσωπον ἑκάστου, καθάπερ τοῖς οἰκέταις τὸ τῶν δεσποτῶν; πᾶσα μὲν οὖν ἐστι δουλεία χαλεπή: τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ τύχης ἐν οἰκίᾳ τοιαύτῃ δουλεύοντας, ἐν ᾗ δύο ἢ τρεῖς δεσπόται, καὶ ταῦτα ταῖς τε ἡλικίαις καὶ ταῖς φύσεσι διάφοροι ῾λέγω δὲ πρεσβύτης ἀνελεύθερος καὶ τούτου παῖδες νεανίσκοι πίνειν καὶ σπαθᾶν θέλοντες᾿ τίς οὐκ ἂν τῶν ἄλλων οἰκετῶν ὁμολογήσειεν ἀθλιωτέρους, ὅταν τοσούτους δέῃ θεραπεύειν, καὶ

  [13] What, then, is more ill-starred than human beings who are at the mercy of others and in the power of any one who meets them, always compelled to keep their eye on him and to watch his countenance, just as slaves must watch the countenance of their masters? Now any servitude is hard, but those whom fate has doomed to servitude in a house in which there are two or three masters, and masters, too, who differ in both age and disposition — for example, a niggardly old man and that man’s youthful sons, bent on drinking and extravagance — who would not agree that slaves so placed are more wretched than the others, seeing that they must serve so many masters, each of whom desires and orders something different?

  But suppose a person were to be slave of a community consisting of old and young, of poor and rich, of wastrels and misers, what would the condition of such a person be? Again, methinks, if a man of wealth were forced to live in the kind of city in which all were free to plunder the possessions of their neighbours and there were no allow to prevent it, he would renounce his wealth forthwith, no matter if he had surpassed all the world in avarice. This, in fact, is the case with popularity to-day.

  [14] τούτων ἕκαστον ἄλλο τι βουλόμενον καὶ προστάττοντα; εἰ δέ τις δημόσιος οἰκέτης εἴη, πρεσβυτῶν ἢ νεανίσκων, πενήτων, πλουσίων, ἀσώτων, φιλαργύρων, ποῖός τις ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος εἴη; οἶμαι δὲ, εἴ τις ἐν τοιαύτῃ πόλει χρήματα ἔχων ἠναγκάζετο βιοῦν, ἐν ᾗ πᾶσιν ἐξῆν ἁρπάζειν τὰ τοῦ πέλας καὶ μηδεὶς νόμος ἐκώλυε, παραχρῆμα ἂν ἀπέστη τῶν χρημάτων, εἰ καὶ φιλαργυρίᾳ τοὺς πώποτε ὑπερβεβλήκει. τοῦτο δὴ νῦν ἐπὶ τῆς δόξης ἐστίν. ἐφεῖται γὰρ εἰς ταύτην τῷ βουλομένῳ τινὰ βλάπτειν καὶ πολίτῃ καὶ ξένῳ καὶ μετοίκῳ.

  [14] For in that respect licence has been granted to any one who so desires, whether citizen or alien or foreign resident, to injure any one.

  [15] τοῖς ἀτίμοις ἀβίωτος εὐλόγως ὁ βίος φαίνεται, καὶ πολλοὶ μᾶλλον αἱροῦνται θάνατον ἢ ζῆν τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν ἀποβαλόντες, ὅτι τῷ ἐθελήσαντι τύπτειν ἔξεστι καὶ κόλασις οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία τοῦ προπηλακίζοντος. οὐκοῦν τὸν δοξοκόπον ἅπασιν ἔξεστι τύπτειν τῷ παντὶ [p. 165] χαλεπωτέρας πληγὰς τῶν εἰς τὸ σῶμα καίτοι τοὺς μὲν ἀτίμους οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις ῥᾳδίως ὑπό τινος τοῦτο πάσχοντας: τὸ γὰρ νεμεσητὸν οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ τὸν φθόνον εὐλαβοῦνται καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἐκ τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων αὐτοῖς οὐδείς ἐστι κίνδυνος. τοῦ δὲ βλασφημεῖν μάλιστα τοὺς δοκοῦντας ἐνδόξους οὐδεὶς φείδεται οὐδὲ ἀδύνατος<
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  [15] To the disfranchised life seems with good reason not worth living, and many choose death rather than life after losing their citizenship, for whoever so desires is free to strike them and there exists no private means of punishing him who treats them with contumely. Well then, all are free to give the popularity-seeker blows altogether more grievous than those which are dealt the body. Yet the disfranchised, one would find, are not lightly subjected to this treatment by any one; for most men are on their guard against righteous indignation and ill will, and, finally, the disfranchised have naught to fear from any who are weaker than they. When it comes to vituperation, however, especially vituperation of those who are thought to enjoy esteem, no one forbears, and no one is so powerless as not to be able to utter some telling phrase.

  [16] οὐδεὶς οὕτως, ὅστις οὐκ ἂν ἰσχύσαι ῥῆμα εἰπεῖν. τοιγαροῦν μέτριός τις τῶν ἀρχαίων συνεχῶς τινος αὐτῷ προσφέροντος τοιούτους λόγους, Εἰ μὴ παύσῃ κακῶς ἀκούων ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, κἀγώ, φησιν, ὑπὲρ σοῦ κακῶς ἀκούσομαι. βέλτιον δὲ ἴσως ἦν μηδὲ εἰ λέγει τὴν ἀρχὴν προσποιεῖσθαι. τὸν οἰκέτην πολλάκις ἀνειμένον καὶ παίζοντα ὁ δεσπότης περιπεσὼν κλαίειν ἐποίησε: τὸν δὲ τῆς δόξης ἥττονα ὁ βουλόμενος ἑνὶ ῥήματι συνέστειλεν. εἴ τις ἐπῳδὰς ἠπίστατο τοιαύτας παρὰ τῆς Μηδείας μαθὼν ἢ παρὰ τῶν Θετταλῶν, ὥστε φθεγγόμενος τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὓς ἤθελε ποιεῖν κλαίειν καὶ ὀδυνᾶσθαι μηδενὸς κακοῦ παρόντος, οὐκ ἂν ἐδόκει τυραννὶς εἶναι ἡ τούτου δύναμις; πρὸς οὖν τὸν ἐπὶ δόξῃ κεχαυνωμένον οὐκ ἔστιν