Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [44] ὡς οἷόν τε ἰσχύοντι καὶ ἀκμαίῳ. τὸν γοῦν Ἡρακλέα φασίν, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἰάσασθαι τὸ σῶμα ὑπὸ νόσου δεινῆς κατεχόμενον, τοὺς υἱοὺς καλέσαι πρώτους κελεύοντα ὑποπρῆσαι λαμπροτάτῳ πυρί: τῶν δὲ ὀκνούντων καὶ ἀποστρεφομένων, λοιδορεῖν αὐτοὺς ὡς μαλακούς τε καὶ ἀναξίους αὑτοῦ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ μᾶλλον ἐοικότας, λέγοντα, ὡς ὁ ποιητής φησι, ποῖ μεταστρέφεσθ̓, ὦ κακοὶ καὶ ἀνάξιοι τῆς ἐμῆς σπορᾶς, Αἰτωλίδος ἀγάλματα μητρός;

  [44] For example, they say of Heracles, that when he was unable to heal his body, which had become the victim of a dread malady, he called his sons first of all and ordered them to set fire to him with the most brilliant flame; but when they were reluctant and shrank from the ordeal, he abused them as weaklings and unworthy of him and more like their mother, saying, in the words of the poet,

  Whither away, ye cravens and disgrace

  To my engendering, ye likenesses

  Of her, your mother, whom Aetolia bore?

  [45] οὐκοῦν αὑτῷ πρώτῳ χρὴ καὶ τοῖς φιλτάτοις καὶ ἐγγυτάτω μετὰ πλείστης παρρησίας τε καὶ ἐλευθερίας προσφέρεσθαι, μηδὲν ἀποκνοῦντα μηδὲ ὑφιέμενον ἐν τοῖς λόγοις. πολὺ γὰρ χεῖρον καὶ διεφθαρμένου σώματος καὶ νοσοῦντος ψυχὴ διεφθαρμένη, μὰ Δία οὐχ ὑπὸ φαρμάκων χριστῶν ἢ ποτῶν οὐδὲ ὑπὸ ἰοῦ τινος διεσθίοντος, ἀλλ̓ ὑπό τε ἀγνοίας καὶ πονηρίας καὶ ὕβρεως καὶ φθόνου δὴ καὶ λύπης καὶ μυρίων ἐπιθυμιῶν. τοῦτο τὸ νόσημα καὶ τὸ πάθος χαλεπώτερον ἐκείνου καὶ πολὺ μείζονος καὶ λαμπροτέρου δεόμενον ἐμπρησμοῦ: ἐφ̓ ἣν ἴασιν καὶ ἀπόλυσιν χρὴ παρακαλεῖν ἀπροφασίστως καὶ πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ξυγγενῆ καὶ ἀλλότριον καὶ πολίτην καὶ ξένον. [p. 220]

  [45] Therefore toward oneself first of all, and all toward one’s nearest and dearest, one must behave with fullest frankness and independence, showing no reluctance or yielding in one’s words. For far worse than a corrupt and diseased body is a soul which is corrupt, not, I swear, because of salves or potions or some consuming poison, but rather because of ignorance and depravity and insolence, yes, and jealousy and grief and unnumbered desires. This disease and ailment is more grievous than that of Heracles and requires a far greater and more flaming cautery; and to this healing and release one must summon without demur father or son, kinsman or outsider, citizen or alien.

  THE SEVENTY-NINTH DISCOURSE: ON WEALTH

  ΠΕΡΙ ΠΛΟΥΤΟΥ.

  THE SEVENTY-NINTH DISCOURSE: ON WEALTH

  The title of this Discourse as preserved in Parisinus 2985 is περὶ πλούτου τῶν ἐν Κιλικίᾳ, but the other manuscripts give merely περὶ πλούτου. What is the explanation of the additional phrase contained in the Paris manuscript? Cilicia is not named in the document before us, and a careful scrutiny of the speech fails to reveal any clear clue to the place of its delivery. One may reasonably infer from the choice of subject that Dio was addressing an audience in some wealthy city. His opening sentence might suggest Rome as the setting, but, were that the case, one may question whether he would have identified himself with his hearers as he does in § 5. The logical conclusion would seem to be that the scribe of the Paris manuscript has preserved for us a genuine tradition, based upon some memorandum left by the author, or else, possibly, upon the circumstances attending the discovery of the speech by his editor.

  Assuming the accuracy of the title referred to, one would naturally think of Tarsus as the city in which Dio was speaking, for two of the speeches in our collection were certainly delivered in that city (33 and 34), and Dio calls Tarsus “the greatest of all the cities of Cilicia and a metropolis from the outset” (Or. 34.7).

  The argument of our Discourse is, in brief, that wealth confers upon its owners no desirable distinction, possesses no real utility, is transitory in nature, and leads to vulgar extravagance, in the course of which Celts, Indians, Iberians, Arabs, and Babylonians “take tribute” from the stupid and self-indulgent persons who covet their exotic products. That for which a city really merits commendation and congratulation is the excellence of its laws, the probity of its citizens, and the moderation of its rulers.

  [1] Φέρε πρὸς θεῶν, ἐπὶ τίνι μάλιστα θαυμάζειν καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ μέγα φρονεῖν καὶ μακαρίζειν ἄξιον πόλιν ἁπασῶν μεγίστην καὶ δυνατωτάτην; πότερον ἐπὶ νόμων ἀρετῇ καὶ πολιτῶν ἐπιεικείᾳ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ τῶν ἀρχόντων, ἢ ταῦτα μὲν μικρὰ καὶ οὐδενὸς ἄξια καὶ ῥᾴδια τοῖς τυχοῦσιν, ἐπὶ δὲ ἀνθρώπων πλήθει καὶ ἀγορᾶς ἀφθονίᾳ καὶ τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων δεῖ μακαρίζειν αὐτὴν καὶ τοῖς Σήρων καὶ Βαβυλωνίων ὑφάσμασι, καὶ ὅτι χρυσῷ τὰς οἰκίας ἐρέπτουσι, καὶ μεστὰ πάντα ἀργύρου καὶ ἠλέκτρου καὶ ἐλέφαντος, ὁποῖα Όμηρος εἴρηκε τὰ Ἀλκινόου καὶ τὰ Μενελάου βασίλεια ὑπερβάλλων τό τε ἀληθὲς καὶ τὸ δυνατὸν σχεδόν, οὕτως ἅπασαν ἠσκημένην τὴν πόλιν: καὶ νὴ Δία ἐπὶ ταῖς γραφαῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀνδριᾶσιν, ὧν οὐδὲν ὤνησε τοὺς πρότερον ἔχοντας, ἀλλὰ παῤ ὧν ἐκεῖνα ἐκομίσθη, τούτους ἴδοι τις ἂν δούλους καὶ ταπεινοὺς καὶ

  The Seventy-ninth Discourse: On Wealth

  Come now, in Heaven’s name do tell me: on what account above all is it fitting to admire, yes, to feel proud of and to congratulate, a city which is the greatest and most powerful of all? Is it for excellence of laws, for probity of citizens, and for moderation of its rulers; or are these things trifles and worthless and easy to come by for ordinary people, and is it rather for multitude of inhabitants, lavishness of market-place, and sumptuousness of its edifices that one should congratulate it, for its Syrian and Babylonian fabrics, and because its citizens roof their houses with gold and the whole place teems with silver and amber and ivory, like the palaces of Alcinoüs and Menelaüs which Homer has described — overstepping the reality and the possibility too, one may venture to suggest — the city, I mean, having been equipped throughout in that fashion? Would it be, in Heaven’s name, for its paintings and its statues, none of which had been of any service to their former owners; on the contrary, those from whom these things were obtained would be found to be slaves, of low estate, and poor?

  [2] πένητας; εἰ γὰρ γὰρ ἦν ὄφελός τι χαλκοῦ καλῶς κεκραμένου καὶ κρατήρων καὶ βωμῶν καὶ θυμιατηρίων περιττῶς εἰργασμένων, ἡ Κορινθίων πόλις ἂν εὐδαίμων ἦν καὶ πολὺν ᾠκεῖτο ἂν χρόνον, σῴζουσα τοὺς ἑαυτῆς οἰκήτορας καὶ πολίτας: εἰ δ̓ αὖ λίθων εὐχρόων καὶ ποικίλων, ἡ Τηίων ἢ Καρυστίων καί τινων Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Φρυγῶν, παῤ οἷς ἐστι τὰ ὄρη ποικίλα: ἀκούω δ̓ ἔγωγε τῶν ὀρῶν τὰς πάνυ παλαιὰς τῆς αὐτῆς εἶναι πέτρας: ἀλλ̓ ὅμ
ως οὐδενός εἰσι βελτίους οὐδ̓ εὐτυχέστεροι τῶν πάνυ ταπεινῶν τε

  [2] For example, if there were any utility in bronze well blended and in mixing-bowls and altars and censers of cunning workmanship, the Corinthians’ city would have been prosperous and have long maintained its existence as a state, safeguarding its own settlers and citizens. And again, if there were utility in beautifully coloured and variegated marbles, the same statement could be made about the cities of Teos and Carystus, as well as about certain Egyptian and Phrygian cities in whose vicinity the mountains are of variegated stone — in fact, I hear that among their sarcophagi the very ancient ones are of this same rock — yet, for all that, they are no better or more fortunate than any of the very lowly and pitiful cities.

  [3] καὶ ἀθλίων. εἰ δέ γε ὠφέλει τὸ κεκτῆσθαι χρυσίον, οὐδὲν ἐκώλυεν Αἰθίοπας τοὺς ἄνω μακαριωτάτους εἶναι δοκεῖν, ὅπου τὸ χρυσίον ἀτιμότερον ἢ παῤ ἡμῖν ὁ μόλιβδος, καί φασιν αὐτόθι τοὺς κακούργους ἐν παχείαις χρυσοῦ δεδέσθαι πέδαις, ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲν ἧττόν εἰσι δεσμῶται καὶ πονηροὶ καὶ ἄδικοι. τὸ δὲ μακαρίζειν τοὺς πλουσίους καὶ πολλὰ χρήματα ἔχοντας, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα μηδὲν διαφέροντας [p. 221] τῶν πάνυ φαύλων, ὅμοιον ὡς εἴ τις τοὺς ἐκεῖ δεσμώτας ἰδὼν προϊόντας ἐκ τῆς εἱρκτῆς ἐζήλου, καὶ πάντων εὐδαιμονέστατον

  [3] Furthermore, if it were advantageous to possess gold, there was nothing to prevent the Ethiopians of the interior from being deemed most fortunate, for in their land gold is less highly prized than lead is with us, and it is said that in that region the criminals have been bound with heavy fetters of gold, yet they are none the less prisoners and depraved and evildoers. But to congratulate the wealthy and men of great riches, when in all other respects they are no better than very ordinary folk, is as if, on seeing the prisoners of Ethiopia emerge from their prison, one were to envy them and judge the most fortunate of all to be the one with the heaviest fetters.

  [4] ἔκρινε τὸν ἔχοντα τὰς μείζους πέδας. εἰ δὲ ἐλέφας θαυμαστὸν κτῆμα καὶ περιμάχητον, Ἰνδοὶ πολὺ πάντων ὀλβιώτατοι καὶ ἄριστοι, παῤ οἷς ἔρριπται τὰ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ὀστᾶ καὶ οὐδεὶς πρόσεισιν, ὥσπερ ἐνθάδε τὰ τῶν βοῶν τε καὶ ὄνων: καὶ πολλαχοῦ φασιν ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις ἐνοικοδομεῖσθαι τὰ κρανία τῶν ἐλεφάντων αὐτοῖς ὀδοῦσιν. τί δὲ χρὴ περὶ Κελτῶν λέγειν, ὅπου φασὶ ποταμόν τινα καταφέρειν τὸ ἤλεκτρον καὶ πολὺ πανταχοῦ κεῖσθαι παρὰ ταῖς ὄχθαις ἐκβεβρασμένον, ὥσπερ αἱ ψῆφοι παῤ ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῶν αἰγιαλῶν; καὶ πρότερον μὲν οἱ παῖδες παίζοντες διερρίπτουν: νῦν δὲ κἀκεῖνοι συλλέγουσι καὶ φυλάττουσιν αὐτό, παῤ ἡμῶν μεμαθηκότες

  [4] Again, if ivory is a marvellous possession and worth fighting for, the Indians are of all men most blest and pre-eminent by far, for in their land the bones of the elephants are tossed aside and no one troubles to go near them, just as in our land the bones of cattle and of asses are treated; they even say that in many places the skulls of the elephants, tusks and all, are built into their house walls. But what should we say of the Celts, in whose country, according to report, a certain river carries the amber down with its waters and the amber is found in abundance everywhere by the river banks, cast ashore like the pebbles on the beaches in our country? Indeed, in days gone by their children at play used to toss it about, though now they too collect and treasure it, having learned from us how fortunate they are.

  [5] ὅτι εἰσὶν εὐδαίμονες. ἆρα ἐνθυμεῖσθε ὅτι πάντες οὗτοι, λέγω δὲ τοὺς Κελτοὺς καὶ Ἰνδοὺς καὶ Ἴβηρας καὶ Ἄραβας καὶ Βαβυλωνίους, φόρους παῤ ἡμῶν λαμβάνουσιν, οὐ τῆς χώρας οὐδὲ τῶν βοσκημάτων, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀνοίας τῆς ἡμετέρας: οὐ γάρ, ἂν μὲν τοῖς ὅπλοις κρατήσαντές τινες ἀναγκάσωσιν αὑτοῖς ἀργύριον ὑποτελεῖν τοὺς ἡττημένους, τοῦτο ὀνομάζεται φόρος, καὶ ἔστιν ἀνθρώπων οὐ σφόδρα εὐτυχῶν οὐδὲ ἀνδρείων δασμὸν ἑτέροις παρέχειν: ἐὰν δέ τινες, μήτε ἐπιστρατευσαμένου μηδενὸς μήτε ἀναγκάσαντος, δἰ εὐήθειαν δὲ καὶ τρυφήν, ὃ περὶ πλείστου ποιοῦνται ἁπάντων, ἀργύριον πέμπωσιν ἑκόντες, διὰ μακρᾶς μὲν ὁδοῦ, πολλῆς δὲ θαλάττης τοῖς μηδὲ ἐπιβῆναι ῥᾳδίως δυναμένοις τῆς ἡμετέρας γῆς,

  [5] Are you aware that all these peoples — the Celts, Indians, Iberians, Arabs, and Babylonians — exact tribute from us, not from our land or from our flocks and herds, but from our own folly? For if, when by force of arms any people get the upper hand and compel the vanquished to pay them silver, this is called tribute, and it is a sign that people are not very fortunate or brave if they pay tribute to others, then is it not true that if, though no one has attacked or compelled them, but because of stupidity and self-indulgence, a certain people take that which they prize most highly, silver, and of their own volition send it over a long road and across a vast expanse of sea to those who cannot easily even set foot upon our soil, such conduct is altogether more cowardly and disgraceful?

  [6] οὐ τῷ παντὶ κάκιόν τε καὶ αἴσχιον τὸ γιγνόμενον; πλὴν ὅτι λίθους μικροὺς καὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ νὴ Δία θηρίων ὀστᾶ διδόντες λαμβάνουσιν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον, ἀντὶ χρηστῶν ἄχρηστα ἀντικαταλλαττόμενοι. μάλιστα δὲ θαυμάζω πολλάκις ἐννοῶν ὅτι Μῆδοι μὲν τὰ Σύρων λαβόντες ἠγάπων καὶ ἔχαιρον, Πέρσαι δὲ τὰ Μήδων, Μακεδόνες δὲ τὰ Περσῶν, καὶ τότε ᾤοντο εὐτυχεῖς γεγονέναι καὶ πράττειν ἄμεινον, ὅτε εἶχον τὰ τῶν ἀθλίων καὶ δυστυχούντων κτήματα. ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἄλλως ἔγωγε ληρῶν εἶπον, ἀλλ̓ ὅτι τῶν [p. 222] τοιούτων, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἔχουσι τὴν πᾶσαν σπουδὴν καὶ ἐφ̓ οἷς θαυμάζουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ τοὺς κεκτημένους, οὐδέν ἐστιν ὄφελος, ἀλλ̓ οὐδεμιᾶς ἄξια δραχμῆς τὰ σύμπαντα: οὐδ̓ ἂν γένοιντο ἄνθρωποί ποτε εὐδαίμονες ἀνόητοι καὶ ἄφρονες, οὐδ̓ ἂν τὸν ἐν Σούσοις παράδεισον οἰκήσωσιν, ὃς ἦν, ὥς φασι, μετέωρος ἅπας.

  [6] Except for one thing, that to offer tiny, fragile pebbles and, forsooth, bones of wild beasts when they take our silver and gold, exchanging useless things for useful! But I am often most astonished when I reflect that the Medes were well content, yes, delighted at having got the Syrian riches, and the Persians in turn at having got that of the Medes, and the Macedonians that of the Persians, and that they thought they had at last become Fortune’s darlings and were more prosperous at the moment when they had in their possession what once had belonged to those wretched and unfortunate peoples.

  But these words I hav
e spoken, not in a spirit of idle folly, but because such goods, on the possession of which they have set their hearts and for which most men admire those who have acquired them, are good for nothing, nay, are not worth a single drachma when lumped together; nor can human beings ever become fortunate if ignorant and empty-headed, not even if they make the park at Susa their dwelling-place, a park which was, we are told, wholly up in the air.

  THE EIGHTIETH DISCOURSE: ON FREEDOM

  ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΚΙΛΙΚΙΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑΣ.

  THE EIGHTIETH DISCOURSE: ON FREEDOM

  Conditions surrounding the Greek title of this Discourse are the opposite of those noted in connexion with that of the one preceding, for in the present instance all manuscripts except Parisinus 2985 add the phrase τῶν ἐν Κιλικίᾳ. What was said in the Introduction to Or. regarding the problem presented by that phrase is equally appropriate here, for once more we get no clue to the place of delivery.

  The freedom which the speaker has chosen as his theme is the freedom which characterizes himself, the philosopher — freedom to come and go as suits his fancy, freedom from the anxieties and inconveniencies that harass mankind at large, freedom from the temptations which assail seekers after riches or fame or self-indulgence. Such freedom belongs to him who leads the simple life, obedient to the ordinances of Zeus rather than to those of some imperfect, earthly law-giver. This creed is abundantly fortified with illustrations drawn from Greek myth and history.