scorner of everything human and divine, but reverent towards sacred
things, like Diogenes. For he obeyed the Pythian oracle nor did he repent
of his obedience. But if anyone supposes that because he did not visit the
temples or worship statues or altars this is a sign of impiety, he does
not think rightly. For Diogenes possessed nothing that is usually offered,
incense or libations or money to buy them with. But if he held right
opinions about the gods, that in itself was enough. For he worshipped them
with his whole soul, thus offering them as I think the most precious of
his possessions, the dedication of his soul through his thoughts. Let not
the Cynic be shameless, but led by reason let him first make subservient
to himself the emotional part of his soul so that he may entirely do away
with it and not even be aware that he is superior to pleasures. For it is
nobler to attain to this, I mean to complete ignorance whether one has any
such emotions. And this comes to us only through training. And that none
may think I say this at random I will add for your benefit a few lines
from the lighter verse of Crates:(95))
Μνημοσύνης καὶ Ζηνὸς Ὀλυμπίου ἀγλαὰ τέκνα,
Μοῦσαι Πιερίδες, κλῦτέ μοι εὐχομένῳ·
Χόρτον ἀεὶ συνεχῶς δότε γαστέρι, ἥτε μοι αἰεὶ
Χωρὶς δουλοσύνης λιτὸν ἔθηκε βίον.
(“Glorious children of Memory and Olympian Zeus, ye Muses of
Pieria, hearken to my prayer! Give me without ceasing victuals for
my belly which has always made my life frugal and free from
slavery....”)
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Ὠφέλιμον δὲ φίλοις, μὴ γλυκερὸν τίθετε.
Χρήματα δ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλω συνάγειν κλυτά, κανθάρου ὄλβον(96)
[200] Μύρμηκός τ᾽ ἄφενος χρήματα μαιόμενος,
Ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνης μετέχειν καὶ πλοῦτον ἀγείρειν(97)
Εὔφορον, εὔκτητον, τίμιον εἰς ἀρετήν.
Τῶν δὲ τυχὼν Ἑρμῆν καὶ Μούσας ἱλάσομ᾽ ἁγνάς.
Οὐ δαπάναις τρυφεραῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀρεταῖς ὁσίαις.
(“To my friends make me useful rather than agreeable. As for money
I desire not to amass conspicuous wealth, seeking after the wealth
of the beetle or the substance of the ant; nay, I desire to
possess justice and to collect riches that are easily carried,
easily acquired, of great avail for virtue. If I may but win these
I will propitiate Hermes and the holy Muses not with costly
dainties but with pious virtues.”)
εἰ χρή σοι περὶ [B] τούτων γράφειν, ἔχω πλείονα τοῦ ἀνδρός. ἐντυχὼν δὲ τῷ
Χαιρωνεῖ Πλουτάρχῳ τὸν Κράτητος ἀναγράψαντι βίον οὐδὲν ἐκ παρέργου
μανθάνειν δεήσει τὸν ἄνδρα.
(If it be of any use to write for you about such things I could recite
still more maxims by this same Crates. But if you will read Plutarch of
Chaeronea, who wrote his _Life_, there will be no need for you to learn
his character superficially from me.)
Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπανίωμεν ἐπ᾽ ἐκεῖνο πάλιν, ὅτι χρὴ τὸν ἀρχόμενον κυνίζειν [C] αὑτῷ
πρότερον ἐπιτιμᾶν πικρῶς καὶ ἐξελέγχειν καὶ μὴ κολακεύειν, ἀλλὰ ἐξετάζειν
ὅ,τι μάλιστα αὑτὸν ἀκριβῶς, εἰ τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῶν σιτίων χαίρει, εἰ
στρωμνῆς δεῖται μαλακῆς, εἰ τιμῆς ἢ δόξης ἐστὶν ἥττων, εἰ τοῦτο ζηλοῖ τὸ
περιβλέπεσθαι καί, εἰ καὶ κενὸν εἴη, τίμιον ὅμως νομίζει. μηδὲ εἰς
συμπεριφορὰν ὄχλων [D] καθυφείσθω,(98) γενέσθω δὲ τρυφῆς μηδὲ ἄκρῳ, φασί,
τῷ δακτύλωι, ἕως ἂν αὐτὴν παντελῶς πατήσῃ. τότε ἤδη καὶ τῶν τοιούτων, ἂν
προσπίπτῃ, θιγεῖν οὐδὲν κωλύει. ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ταύρων ἀκούω τοὺς
ἀσθενεστέρους ἐξίστασθαι τῆς ἀγέλης καὶ καθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς νεμομένους ἀγείρειν
τὴν ἰσχὺν ἐν μέρει καὶ κατ᾽ ὀλίγον, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ἐπιέναι καὶ προκαλεῖσθαι
καὶ τῆς ἀγέλης ἀμφισβητεῖν τοῖς προκατέχουσιν, ὡς μᾶλλον ἀξιωτέρους
προΐστασθαι. ὅστις οὖν κυνίζειν ἐθέλει μήτε τὸν τρίβωνα [201] μήτε τὴν
πήραν μήτε τὴν βακτηρίαν καὶ τὴν κόμην ἀγαπάτω μόνον, ἵν᾽ ὥσπερ ἐν κώμῃ
βαδίζῃ κουρείων καὶ διδασκαλείων ἐνδεεῖ ἄκαρτος καὶ ἀγράμματος, ἀλλὰ τὸν
λόγον ἀντὶ τοῦ σκήπτρον καὶ τὴν ἔνστασιν ἀντὶ τῆς πήρας τῆς κυνικῆς
ὑπολαμβανέτω φιλοσοφίας γνωρίσματα. παρρησίᾳ δὲ χρηστέον αὐτῷ πρῶτον
ὁπόσου πέφυκεν ἄξιος ἐπιδειξαμένῳ, ὥσπερ οἶμαι Κράτης καὶ Διογένης, οἵ
πᾶσαν μὲν ἀπειλὴν τύχης καὶ [B] εἴτε παιδιὰν εἴτε παροινίαν χρὴ φάναι
τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχον τοῦ δυσκόλως ἐνεγκεῖν, ὥστε ἁλοὺς μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν
καταποντιστῶν ὁ Διογένης ἔπαιζεν, ὁ Κράτης δὲ ἐδημοσίευε τὴν οὐσίαν, εἶτα
τὸ σῶμα βλαβεὶς ἔσκωπτεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν χωλότητα τοῦ σκέλους καὶ τὸ κυρτὸν
τῶν ὤμων, ἐπορεύετο δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν φίλων ἑστίας ἄκλητος καὶ(99)
κεκλημένος, διαλλάσσων τοὺς οἰκειοτάτους ἀλλήλοις, εἴποτε στασιάζοντας
αἴσθοιτο, ἐπετίμα δὲ οὐ μετὰ πικρίας, [C] ἀλλὰ μετὰ χάριτος, οὐχ ἵνα
συκοφαντεῖν δοκῇ τοὺς σωφρονισθέντας, ὠφελεῖν δὲ ἐθέλων αὐτούς τε ἐκείνους
καὶ τοὺς ἀκούοντας.
(But let me go back to what I said before, that he who is entering on the
career of a Cynic ought first censure severely and cross‐examine himself,
and without any self‐flattery ask himself the following questions in
precise terms: whether he enjoys expensive food; whether he cannot do
without a soft bed; whether he is the slave of rewards and the opinion of
men; whether it is his ambition to attract public notice and even though
that be an empty honour(100) he still thinks it worth while. Nevertheless
he must not let himself drift with the current of the mob or touch vulgar
pleasure even with the tip of his finger, as the saying is, until he has
succeeded in trampling on it; then and not before he may permit himself to
dip into that sort of thing if it come his way. For instance I am told
that bulls which are weaker than the rest separate themselves from the
herd and pasture alone while they store up their strength in every part of
their bodies by degrees, until they rejoin the herd in good condition, and
then they challenge its leaders to contend with them, in confidence that
they are more fit to take the lead. Therefore let him who wishes to be a
Cynic philosopher not adopt merely their long cloak or wallet or staff or
their way of wearing the hair, as though he were like a man walking
unshaved and illiterate in a village that lacked barbers’ shops and
schools, but let him consider that reason rather than a staff and a
certain plan of life rather than a wallet are the mintmarks of the Cynic
philosophy. And freedom of speech he must not employ until he have first
proved how much he is worth, as I believe was the case with Crates and
Diogenes. For they were so far from bearing with a bad grace any threat of
fortune, whether one call such threats caprice or wanton insult, that once
when he had been captured by pirates Diogenes joked with them; as for
Crates he gave his property to the state, and being physically deformed he
made fun of his own lame leg and hunched shoulders. But when his friends
gave an entertainment he used to go, whether invited or not,(101) and
would reconcile his nearest friends if he learned that they had
quarrelled. He used to reprove them not harshly but with a charming manner
and not so as to seem to persecute those whom he wished to reform, but as
though he wished to be of use both to them and to the bystanders.)
Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο ῆν τὸ προηγούμενον αὐτοῖς τέλος· ἀλλ᾽, ὅπερ ἔφην, ἐσκόπουν
ὅπως αὐτοὶ μὲν εὐδαιμονήσουσιν,(102) ἔμελε δὲ αὐτοῖς τῶν ἄλλων τοσοῦτον
ὅσον ξυνίεσαν οἶμαι φύσει κοινωνικὸν καὶ πολιτικὸν ζῷον τὸν ἄνθρωπον
εἶναι, καὶ τοὺς συμπολιτευομένους ὠφέλησαν οὐ τοῖς παραδείγμασι μόνον,
ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λόγοις. [D] ὅστις οὖν ἂν ἐθέλῃ Κυνικὸς εἶναι καὶ σπουδαῖος
ἀνήρ, αὑτοῦ πρότερον ἐπιμεληθείς, ὥσπερ Διογένης καὶ Κράτης ἐξελαυνέτω μὲν
τῆς ψυχῆς ἅπαντα ἐκ πάσης τὰ πάθη, ὀρθῷ δὲ ἐπιτρέψας τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν λόγῳ
καὶ νῷ κυβερνάσθω. κεφάλαιον γὰρ ἦν, ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, τοῦτο τῆς Διογένους
φιλοσοφίας.
(Yet this was not the chief end and aim of those Cynics, but as I said
their main concern was how they might themselves attain to happiness and,
as I think, they occupied themselves with other men only in so far as they
comprehended that man is by nature a social and political animal; and so
they aided their fellow‐citizens, not only by practising but by preaching
as well. Then let him who wishes to be a Cynic, earnest and sincere, first
take himself in hand like Diogenes and Crates, and expel from his own soul
and from every part of it all passions and desires, and entrust all his
affairs to reason and intelligence and steer his course by them. For this
in my opinion was the sum and substance of the philosophy of Diogenes.)
Εἰ δὲ ἑταίρᾳ ποτὲ προσῆλθεν ὁ ἀνήρ· καίτοι καὶ τοῦτο τυχὸν ἅπαξ ἢ οὐδὲ
ἅπαξ ἐγένετο· ὅταν ἡμῖν [202] τὰ ἄλλα κατὰ τὸν Διογένη γένηται σπουδαῖος,
ἂν αὐτῷ(103) φανῇ καὶ τοιοῦτόν τι δρᾶν(104) φανερῶς ἐν ὀφθαλμοὶς πάντων,
οὐ μεμψόμεθα οὐδὲ αἰτιασόμεθα. πρότερον μέντοι τὴν Διογένους ἡμῖν
ἐπιδειξάμενος εὐμάθειαν καὶ τὴν ἀγχίνοιαν καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν
ἐλευθερίαν, αὐτάρκειαν, δικαιοσύνην, σωφροσύνην, εὐλάβειαν, χάριν,
προσοχήν, ὡς μηδὲν εἰκῇ μηδὲ μάτην μηδὲ ἀλόγως ποιεῖν· [B] ἐπεὶ καὶ ταῦτα
τῆς Διογένους ἐστὶ φιλοσοφίας οἰκεῖα· πατείτω τῦφον, καταπαιζέτω τῶν τὰ
μὲν ἀναγκαῖα τῆς φύσεως ἔργα κρυπτόντων ἐν σκότῳ· φημὶ δὲ τῶν περιττωμάτων
τὰς ἐκκρίσεις· ἐν μέσαις δὲ ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐπιτηδευόντων τὰ
βιαιότατα καὶ μηδὲν ἡμῶν οἰκεῖα τῇ φύσει, χρημάτων ἁρπαγάς, συκοφαντίας,
γραφὰς ἀδίκους, διώξεις ἄλλων τοιούτων συρφετωδῶν πραγμάτων. ἐπεὶ καὶ
Διογένης εἴτε [C] ἀπέπαρδεν εἴτε ἀπεπάτησεν εἴτε ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον ἔπραξεν,
ὥσπερ οὖν λέγουσιν, ἐν ἀγορᾷ, τὸν ἐκείνων πατῶν τῦφον ἐποίει, διδάσκων
αὐτούς, ὅτι πολλῷ φαυλότερα καὶ χαλεπώτερα τούτων ἐπιτηδεύουσι. τὰ μὲν γάρ
ἐστιν ἡμῖν πᾶσι κατὰ φύσιν, τὰ δὲ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν οὐδενί, πάντα δὲ ἐκ
διαστροφῆς ἐπιτηδεύεται.
(And if Diogenes did sometimes visit a courtesan—though even this happened
only once perhaps or not even once—let him who would be a Cynic first
satisfy us that he is, like Diogenes, a man of solid worth, and then if he
see fit to do that sort of thing openly and in the sight of all men, we
shall not reproach him with it or accuse him. First however we must see
him display the ability to learn and the quick wit of Diogenes, and in all
other relations he must show the same independence, self‐sufficiency,
justice, moderation, piety, gratitude, and the same extreme carefulness
not to act at random or without a purpose or irrationally. For these too
are characteristic of the philosophy of Diogenes. Then let him trample on
vaingloriousness, let him ridicule those who though they conceal in
darkness the necessary functions of our nature—for instance the secretion
of what is superfluous—yet in the centre of the market‐place and of our
cities carry on practices that are most brutal and by no means akin to our
nature, for instance robbery of money, false accusations, unjust
indictments, and the pursuit of other rascally business of the same sort.
On the other hand when Diogenes made unseemly noises or obeyed the call of
nature or did anything else of that sort in the market‐place, as they say
he did, he did so because he was trying to trample on the conceit of the
men I have just mentioned, and to teach them that their practices were far
more sordid and insupportable than his own. For what he did was in
accordance with the nature of all of us, but theirs accorded with no man’s
real nature, one may say, but were all due to moral depravity.)
Ἀλλ᾽ οἱ νῦν τοῦ Διογένους ζηλωταὶ τὸ ῥᾷστον καὶ κουφότατον ἑλόμενοι τὸ
κρεῖττον οὐκ εἶδον· σύ τε ἐκείνων [D] εἶναι σεμνότερος ἐθέλων ἀπεπλανήθης
τοσοῦτον τῆς Διογένους προαιρέσεως, ὥστε αὐτὸν ἐλεεινὸν ἐνόμισας. εἰ δὲ
τούτοις μὲν ἠπίστεις ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς λεγομένοις, ὃν οἱ πάντες Ἕλληνες τότε
ἐθαύμασαν μετὰ Σωκράτη καὶ Πυθαγόραν ἐπὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ Ἀριστοτέλους, οὗ
γέγονεν ἀκροατῆς ὁ τοῦ σωφρονεστάτου καὶ συνετωτάτου Ζήνωνος καθηγεμών,
οὓς οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν ἅπαντας ἀπατηθῆναι περὶ ἀνδρὸς οὕτω φαύλου, ὁποῖον σὺ
διακωμῳδεῖς, [203] ὦ βέλτιστε, ἴσως ἄν τι πλέον ἐσκόπησας περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ
πορρωτέρω προῆλθες τῆς ἐμπειρίας τἀνδρός. τίνα γὰρ οὐκ ἐξέπληξε τῶν
Ἑλλήνων ἡ Διογένους καρτερία, βασιλικῆς οὐκ ἔξω μεγαλοψυχίας οὖσα, καὶ
φιλοπονία; ἐκάθευδεν ἁνὴρ ἐπὶ στιβάδος ἐν τῷ πίθῳ βέλτιον ἢ μέγας βασιλεὺς
ὑπὸ τοῖς ἐπιχρύσοις ὀρόφοις ἐν τῇ μαλθακῇ κλίνῃ, ἤσθιε τὴν μᾶζαν ἥδιον ἢ
σὺ νῦν τὰς Σικελικὰς [B] ἐσθίεις τραπέζας, ἐλούετο ψυχρῇ(105) τὸ σῶμα πρὸς
ἀέρα ξηραίνων ἀντὶ τῶν ὀθονίων, οἷς σὺ ἀπομάττῃ, φιλοσοφώτατε. πάνυ σοι
προσήκει κωμῳδεῖν ἐκεῖνον, ὅτι κατειργάσω τὸν Ξέρξην, ὡς ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς, ἢ
τὸν Δαρεῖον, ὡς ὁ Μακεδὼν Ἀλέξανδρος. εἰ σμικρὰ τὰς βίβλους ἀνελίττων
ἐμελέτας ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς οἱ πολιτικοὶ καὶ πολυπράγμονες, ἔγνως ἄν, ὅπως
Ἀλέξανδρος ἀγασθῆναι λέγεται τὴν Διογένους μεγαλοψυχίαν. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔστι σοι
τούτων οὐδέν, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, σπουδαῖον· πόθεν; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ· γυναικῶν
ἀθλίων τεθαύμακας φιλονεικῶν(106) βίον.
(In our own day, however, the imitators of Diogenes have chosen only what
is easiest and least burdensome and have failed to see his nobler side.
And as for you, in your desire to be more dignified than those early
Cynics you have strayed so far from Diogenes’ plan of life that you
thought him an object of pity. But if you did not believe all this that I
say about a man whom all the Greeks in the generation of Plato and
Aristotle admired next to Socrates and Pythagoras, a man whose pupil was
the teacher of the most modest and most wise Zeno,—and it is not likely
that they were all deceived about a man as contemptible as you make him
out to be in your travesty,—well, in that case, my dear sir, perhaps you
might have studied his character more carefully and you would have
progressed further in your knowledge of the man. Was there, I ask, a
single Greek who was not amazed by the endurance of Diogenes and by his
perseverance, which had in it a truly royal greatness of soul? The man
used to sleep in his jar on a bed of leaves more soundly than the Great
King on his soft couch under a gilded roof; he used to eat his crust(107)
with a better appetite than you now eat your Sicilian courses(108); he
used to bathe his body in cold water and dry himself in the open air
instead of with the linen towels with which you rub yourself down, my most
philosophic friend! It becomes you well to ridicule him because, I
suppose, like Themistocles you conquered Xerxes, or Darius like Alexander
of Macedon. But if you had the least habit of reading books as I do,
though I am a statesman and engrossed in public affairs, you would know
how much Alexander is said to have admired Diogenes’ greatness of soul.
But you care little, I suppose, for any of these things. How should you
care? Far from it!(109) You admire and emulate the life of wretched
women.)
Εἰ μὲν οὖν ὁ λόγος τι πλέον ἐποίησεν, οὐκ ἐμὸν μᾶλλον ἢ σόν ἐστι κέρδος·
εἰ δὲ οὐδὲν περαίνομεν ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀπνευστὶ τὸ δὴ
λεγόμενον συνείραντες· ἔστι γὰρ πάρεργον ἡμέραιν δυοῖν, ὡς ἴσασιν αἱ
Μοῦσαι, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ σὺ(110) αὐτός· παραμενέτω μέν σοι ὁπόσα πρόσθεν
ἐγνώκεις, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐ μεταμελήσει τῆς εἰς τὸν ἄνδρα εὐφημίας.
(However, if my discourse has improved you at all you will have gained
more than I. But even if I accomplish nothing at the moment by writing on
such a great subject thus hastily, and, as the saying is, without taking
breath(111)—for I gave to it only the leisure of two days, as the Muses or
rather you yourself will bear me witness—then do you abide by your former
opinions, but I at any rate shall never regret having spoken of that great
man with due reverence.)
ORATION VII
Introduction to Oration VII
The Seventh Oration is directed against the Cynic Heracleios, who had
ventured to recite before an audience when Julian was present a myth or
allegory in which the gods were irreverently handled. Julian raises the
question whether fables and myths are suitable for a Cynic discourse. He
names the regular divisions of philosophy and decides that the use of
myths may properly be allowed only to ethical philosophers and writers on
theology: that myth is intended always as a means of religious teaching
and should be addressed to children and those whose intellect does not
allow them to envisage the truth without some such assistance. In
Sallust’s treatise _On the Gods and the World_ he gives much the same
account of the proper function of myths and divides them into five
species, giving examples of each. “To wish to teach the whole truth about
the gods to all produces contempt in the foolish, because they cannot
understand, and lack of zeal in the good; whereas to conceal the truth by
myths prevents the contempt of the foolish and compels the good to
practise philosophy.”(112) This is precisely the opinion of Julian as
expressed in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Orations. Though both Julian and
Sallust explain the myths away they are never rationalistic, and never
offer the least excuse for scepticism. Julian’s explanation of the Semele
myth,(113) which makes Semele an inspired prophetess and not the mother of
Dionysus, tends to the greater glory of the god. The conclusion is that
Heracleios should not have used myth at all, but in any case he used the
wrong sort and wrote in the wrong spirit. He should have used such a myth
as that composed by Prodicus the sophist on the Choice of Heracles at the
Crossroads, an allegory which is more than once cited by Julian and was a
favourite illustration in later Greek literature.(114)
To show Heraclius what he might have written with propriety Julian adds a
parable of his own modelled on that of Prodicus. In this he himself plays
the part of a second Heracles, and takes the opportunity to vilify
Constantius and point out his own mission of reformer and restorer of
order and religion to the Empire. Throughout the parable there are
striking resemblances with the First Oration of Dio Chrysostom, and
Asmus(115) has made a detailed comparison of the two writers to prove that
Julian wrote with Dio before him. In many of these parallels both Julian
and Dio can be traced to a common classical source, usually Plato, but
there is no doubt that Julian was thoroughly familiar with the work of Dio
and often used the same illustrations. Themistius(116) however uses the
Prodicus myth in much the same words as Dio, and it is imitated also by
Maximus of Tyre.(117)
In conclusion Julian praises the earlier Cynics and criticises the later,
in much the same words as he had used in the Sixth Oration.
[204] ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ
(Julian, Emperor)
ΠΡΟΣ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΝ ΚΥΝΙΚΟΝ
(To the Cynic Heracleios)
ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΩΣ ΚΥΝΙΣΤΕΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΙ ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΤΩ ΚΥΝΙ ΜΥΘΟΥΣ ΠΛΑΤΤΕΙΝ
(How a Cynic Ought to Behave, and Whether it is Proper For Him to Compose
Myths)
Ἦ πολλὰ γίνεται ἐν μακρῷ χρόνῳ· τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς κωμῳδίας ἀκηκοότι μοι πρῴην
ἐπῆλθεν ἐκβοῆσαι, ὁπηνίκα παρακληθέντες ἠκροώμεθα κυνὸς οὔτι τορὸν οὐδὲ
γενναῖον ὑλακτοῦντος, ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ αἱ τίτθαι μύθους ᾄδοντος καὶ οὐδὲ τούτους
ὑγιῶς διατιθεμένου. παραχρῆμα μὲν οὖν ἐπῆλθέ μοι διαναστάντι διαλῦσαι τὸν
σύλλογον· [B] ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐχρῆν ὥσπερ ἐν θεάτρῳ κωμῳδουμένων Ἡρακλέους καὶ
Διονύσου παρὰ τῶν κωμῳδῶν ἀκούειν, οὐ τοῦ λέγοντος, ἀλλὰ τῶν συνειλεγμένων
χάριν ὑπέμεινα, μάλλον δέ, εἰ χρή τι καὶ νεανικώτερον εἰπεῖν, ἡμῶν αὐτῶν
ἕνεκα καὶ τοῦ μὴ δοκεῖν ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας μᾶλλον [C] ἢ διανοίας εὐσεβοῦς
καὶ λελογισμένης, ὥσπερ αἱ πελειάδες, ὑπὸ τῶν ῥηματίων σοβηθεὶς ἀναπτῆναι.
ἔμενον δὲ ἐκεῖνο πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν εἰπὼν
(“Truly with the lapse of time many things come to pass!”(118) This verse
I have heard in a comedy and the other day I was tempted to proclaim it
aloud, when by invitation we attended the lecture of a Cynic whose barking
was neither distinct nor noble; but he was crooning myths as nurses do,
and even these he did not compose in any profitable fashion. For a moment
my impulse was to rise and break up the meeting. But though I had to
listen as one does when Heracles and Dionysus are being caricatured in the
theatre by comic poets,(119) I bore it to the end, not for the speaker’s
sake but for the sake of the audience, or rather, if I may presume to say
so, it was still more for my own sake, so that I might not seem to be
moved by superstition rather than by a pious and rational sentiment and to
be scared into flight by his miserable words like a timid dove. So I
stayed and repeated to myself the famous line)
Τέτλαθι δή, κραδίη, καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾽ ἔτλης,
(“Bear it my heart: yea thou didst of yore endure things yet more
shameful.”(120))
ἀνάσχου καὶ κυνὸς ληροῦντος ὀλίγον ἡμέρας μόριον, οὐ πρῶτον ἀκούεις τῶν
θεῶν βλασφημουμένων, οὐχ οὕτω τὰ κοινὰ πράττομεν καλῶς, οὐχ οὕτω τῶν ἰδίων
ἕνεκα σωφρονοῦμεν, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ εὐτυχεῖς [205] ἐσμεν, ὥστε τὰς ἀκοὰς
καθαρὰς ἔχειν ἢ τὸ τελευταῖον γοῦν τὰ ὄμματα μὴ κεχράνθαι τοῖς παντοδαποῖς
τουτουὶ τοῦ σιδηροῦ γένους ἀσεβήμασιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὥσπερ ἐνδεεῖς ἡμᾶς τῶν
τοιούτων κακῶν ἀνέπλησεν οὐκ εὐαγῶν ὁ κύων ῥημάτων τὸν ἄριστον τῶν θεῶν
ὀνομάσας, ὡς μήποτε ὤφελε μήτ᾽ ἐκεῖνος εἰπεῖν μήτε ἡμεῖς ἀκοῦσαι, δεῦρο
πειραθῶμεν αὐτὸν ἐφ᾽ ὑμῶν διδάξαι, [B] πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τῷ κυνὶ λόγους
μᾶλλον ἢ μύθους προσήκει γράφειν, εἶτα ὁποίας καὶ τίνας χρὴ ποιεῖσθαι τὰς
διασκευὰς τῶν μύθων, εἴ τι ἄρα καὶ φιλοσοφία προσδεῖται τῆς μυθογραφίας,
ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς εὐλαβείας ὀλίγα διαλέξομαι· τοῦτο γάρ
μοι καὶ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς παρόδου γέγονεν αἴτιον καίπερ οὐκ ὄντι συγγραφικῷ καὶ
τὸ ἐν τῷ πλήθει λέγειν ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐπαχθῶν καὶ σοφιστικῶν τὸν
ἔμπροσθεν [C] χρόνον παραιτησαμένῳ. μικρὰ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μύθου καθάπερ τινὰ
γενεαλογίαν ἴσως οὐκ ἀνάρμοστον ἐμοί τε φάναι ὑμῖν τε ἀκοῦσαι.
(Endure for the brief fraction of a day even a babbling Cynic! It is not
the first time that thou hast had to hear the gods blasphemed! Our state
is not so well governed, our private life is not so virtuous, in a word we
are not so favoured by fortune that we can keep our ears pure or at any
rate our eyes at least undefiled by the many and various impieties of this
iron race. And now as though we had not enough of such vileness this Cynic
fills our ears with his blasphemies, and has uttered the name of the
highest of the gods in such wise as would he had never spoken nor I heard!
But since he has done this, come, let me in your presence try to teach him
this lesson; first that it is more becoming for a Cynic to write
discourses than myths; secondly, what sort of adaptations of the myths he
ought to make, if indeed philosophy really needs mythology at all; and
finally I shall have a few words to say about reverence for the gods. For
it is with this aim that I appear before you, I who have no talent for
writing and who have hitherto avoided addressing the general public, as I
have avoided all else that is tedious and sophistical. But perhaps it is
not unsuitable for me to say and for you to hear a few words about myth in
general as a sort of genealogy of that kind of writing.)
Τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀρχὴν ὁπόθεν ηὑρέθη καὶ ὅστις ὁ πρῶτος ἐπιχειρήσας τὸ ψεῦδος
πιθανῶς συνθεῖναι πρὸς ὠφέλειαν ἢ ψυχαγωγίαν τῶν ἀκροωμώνων, οὐ μᾶλλον
εὔροι τις ἂν ἢ εἴ τις ἐπιχειρήσειε τὸν πρῶτον πταρόντα ἢ χρεμψάμενον
ἀναζητεῖν. εἰ δέ, [D] ὥσπερ ἱππεῖς ἐν Θράκῃ καὶ Θετταλίᾳ, τοξόται δὲ καὶ
τὰ κουφότερα τῶν ὅπλων ἐν Ἰνδίᾳ καὶ Κρήτῃ καὶ Καρίᾳ ἀνεφάνη,(121) τῇ φύσει
τῆς χώρας ἀκολουθούντων οἶμαι τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων, οὕτω τις ὑπολαμβάνει καὶ
ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων πραγμάτων, ἐν οἷς ἕκαστα τιμᾶται, μάλιστα παρὰ τούτων αὐτὰ
καὶ πρῶτον ηὑρῆσθαι· τῶν ἀγελαίων ἔοικεν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι [206] τό γε ἐξ
ἀρχῆς ὁ μύθος εὕρημα, καὶ διαμένει ἐξ ἐκείνου μέχρι καὶ νῦν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς
πολιτευόμενον τὸ πρᾶγμα ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀκροαμάτων, αὐλὸς καὶ κιθάρα,
τέρψεως ἕνεκα καὶ ψυχαγωγίας. ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ(122) ὄρνιθες ἵπτασθαι καὶ νεῖν
οἱ(123) ἰχθύες αἵ τε ἔλαφοι θεῖν ἐπειδὴ πεφύκασιν οὐδὲν τοῦ διδαχθῆναι
προσδέονται, κἂν δήσῃ τις κἂν καθείρξῃ, πειρᾶται ὅμως χρῆσθαι τούτοις τοῖς
μορίοις, πρὸς ἃ σύνοιδεν αὑτοῖς πεφυκόσι, ταυτὶ τὰ ζῷα, οὕτως οἶμαι καὶ τὸ
τῶν ἀνθρώπων [B] γένος οὐκ ἄλλο τι τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχον ἢ λόγον καὶ ἐπιστήμην
ὥσπερ ἐγκαθειργμένην, ὃ δὴ καὶ λέγουσιν οἱ σοφοὶ δέναμιν, ἐπὶ τὸ μανθάνειν
τε(124) καὶ ζητεῖν καὶ πολυπραγμονεῖν, ὡς πρὸς οἰκειότατον ἑαυτῷ τῶν
ἔργων, τρέπεται· καὶ ὅτῳ μὲν εὐμενὴς θεὸς ταχέως ἔλυσε τὰ δεσμὰ καὶ τὴν
δύναμιν εἰς ἐνέργειαν ἤγαγε, τούτῳ πάρεστιν εὐθὺς ἐπιστήμη, τοῖς
δεδεμένοις δὲ ἔτι, [C] καθάπερ οἶμαι Ἰξίων νεφέλῃ τινὶ(125) ἀντὶ τῆς θεοῦ
λέγεται παραναπαύσασθαι, τούτοις ἀντ᾽ ἀληθοῦς ψευδὴς(126) ἐντέτηκε δόξα·
γίνεται γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν αὐτοῖς(127) τὰ ὑπηνέμια καὶ τερατώδη ταυτὶ τῆς
ἀληθοῦς ἐπιστήμης οἷον εἴδωλα ἄττα καὶ σκιαί· πράττουσι γοῦν πρὸ τῆς τῶν
ἀληθῶν ἐπιστήμης τὰ ψεύδη καὶ διδάσκουσί γε μάλα προθύμως καὶ μανθάνουσιν
ὥσπερ οἶμαι χρηστόν τι καὶ θαυμαστόν. εἰ δ᾽ ὅλως χρή τι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν τοὺς
μύθους τὸ πρῶτον [D] πλασάντων ἀπολογήσασθαι, δοκοῦσί μοι ταῖς τῶν παιδίων
ψυχαῖς, ὥσπερ αἱ τίτθαι περὶ τὰς ὀδοντοφυïας κνησιῶσιν αἰτοῖς σκύτινα ἄττα
προσαρτῶσι(128) ταῖν χεροῖν, ἵνα αὐτῶν παραμυθήσωνται τὸ πάθος, οὕτω δὲ
καὶ οὗτοι τῷ ψυχαρίῳ πτεροφυοῦντι καὶ ποθοῦντι πλέον εἰδέναι τι,
διδάσκεσθαι δὲ οὔπω τἀληθῆ δυναμένῳ ταῦτα ἐποχετεύειν, ὥσπερ ἄρδοντες
ἄρουραν διψῶσαν, ἵνα δὴ οἶμαι αὐτῶν τὸν γαργαλισμὸν καὶ τὴν ὀδύνην
παραμυθήσωνται.