ἀλλὰ δαιμονίας ἐκφάνσεως κατὰ τί τοῖς ἀνθρωπικοῖς προσέοικεν; ἡ μήτηρ
αὐτὸν κύουσα, φασίν, ὑπὸ τῆς Ἥρας ζηλοτυπούσης ἐξαπατηθεῖσα τὸν ἐραστὴν
ἐξελιπάρησεν ἥκειν, ὡς παρὰ τὴν γαμετὴν εἴωθε φοιτᾶν, πρὸς ἑαυτήν· εἶτα
οὐκ ἀνασχόμενον τὸ σωμάτιον τῶν κτυπημάτων(194) τοῦ Διὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ κεραυνοῦ
κατεφλέγετο. πάντων δ᾽ ὁμοῦ πυρουμένων, Ἑρμῇ κελεύσας ὁ Ζεὺς ἁρπάσαι τὸν
Διόνυσον καὶ τεμὼν τὸν αὑτοῦ μηρὸν ἐρράπτει· εἶτα ἐκεῖθεν, ἡνίκα
ἐτελεσφορήθη τὸ βρέφος, [C] ὠδίνων ὁ Ζεὺς ἐπὶ τὰς νύμφας ἔρχεται· τὸ Λῦθι
ῥάμμα δὲ αὗται τῷ μηρῷ προσεπᾴδουσαι τὸν διθύραμβον ἡμῖν εῖς φῶς
προήγαγον· εἶτα ἐμάνη, φασίν, ὁ θεὸς ὑπὸ τῆς Ἥρας, ἔπαυσε δ᾽ αὐτῷ τὴν
νόσον ἡ Μήτηρ τῶν θεῶν, ὁ δὲ ἦν αὐτίκα θεός. εἵποντο γοῦν οὐ Λίχας αὐτῷ
καθάπερ Ἡρακλεῖ οὐδὲ Ἰόλεως οὐδὲ Τελαμὼν οὐδ᾽ Ὕλας οὐδ᾽ Ἄβδηρος, ἀλλὰ
Σάτυροι καὶ Βακχαὶ [D] καὶ Πᾶνες καὶ δαιμόνων στρατιά. ὁρᾷς ὅπως ἀνθρωπικὴ
μὲν ἡ σπορὰ διὰ τῶν κεραυνίων, ἡ δ᾽ ἀποκύησις ἀνθρωπικωτέρα, ἀμφοῖν δὲ
τοῖν εἰρημένοιν προσομοιότερα τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις τὰ ἔργα; τί οὖν οὐ
καταβάλλοντες τὸν λῆρον ἐκεῖνο πρῶτον ὑπὲρ τούτων ἴσμεν, ὡς Σεμέλη σοφὴ τὰ
θεῖα; παῖς γὰρ ἦν Κάδμου τοῦ Φοίνικος, τούτοις δὲ καὶ ὁ θεὸς σοφίαν
μαρτυρεῖ
(As for the commonly received legend about the birth of Dionysus, which
was in fact no birth but a divine manifestation, in what respect was it
like the birth of men? While he was still in his mother’s womb she, as the
story goes, was beguiled by jealous Hera to entreat her lover to visit her
as he was wont to visit his spouse. And then her frail body could not
endure the thunders of Zeus and began to be consumed by the lightning. But
when everything there was being devoured by flames, Zeus bade Hermes
snatch Dionysus forth, and he cut open his own thigh and sewed the babe
therein.(195) Then in due course when the time was ripe for the child’s
birth, Zeus in the pangs of travail came to the nymphs, and they by their
song over the thigh “Undo the stitching”(196) brought to light for us the
dithyramb. Whereupon the god was driven mad by Hera, but the Mother of the
Gods healed him of his sickness and he straightway became a god. And he
had for followers not, like Heracles, Lichas for instance or Iolaus or
Telamon or Hylas or Abderos, but Satyrs, Bacchanals, Pans and a whole host
of lesser divinities. Do you perceive how much of human there is in this
generation through the fire of a thunderbolt, that his delivery is even
more human, and that his deeds, even more than these two that we have
mentioned, resemble those of human beings? Now why do we not set aside all
this nonsense and recognise herein first the fact that Semele was wise in
sacred things? For she was the daughter of Phoenician Cadmus, and the god
himself bears witness to the wisdom of the Phoenicians(197) when he says)
Πολλὰς καὶ Φοίνικες ὁδοὺς μακάρων ἐδάησαν
(“The Phoenicians too have learned many of the roads travelled by
the blessed gods.”(198))
λέγων. [221] αἰσθέσθαι οὖν μοι δοκεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ τούτου πρώτη παρ᾽ Ἕλλησι καὶ
τὴν ἐσομένην ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν προαγορεύσασα κινῆσαι μὲν
θᾶττον ἢ προσῆκον ἦν τινὰ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ὀργίων, οὐκ ἀνασχομένη τὸν
εἱμαρμένον περιμεῖναι χρόνον, εἶτα ἀναλωθῆναι πρὸς τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ῥυέντος
ἐπ᾽ αὐτήν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐδέδοκτο τῷ Διὶ κοινῇ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐνδοῦναι ἀρχὴν
καταστάσεως ἑτέρας καὶ μεταβαλεῖν(199) αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ νομαδικοῦ βίου πρὸς
[B] τὸν ἡμερώτερον, ἐξ Ἰνδῶν ὁ Διόνυσος αὔτοπτος ἐφαίνετο δαίμων,
ἐπιφοιτῶν τὰς πόλεις, ἄγων μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ στρατιὰν πολλὴν δαιμονίων
τινῶν(200) καὶ διδοὺς ἀνθρώποις κοινῇ μὲν ἅπασι σύμβολον τῆς ἐπιφανείας
αὐτοῦ τὸ τῆς ἡμερίδος φυτόν, ὑφ᾽ οὗ μοι δοκοῦσιν, ἐξημερωθέντων αὐτοῖς τῶν
περὶ τὸν βίον, Ἕλληνες τῆς ἐπωνυμίας αὐτὸ ταύτης ἀξιῶσαι, μητέρα δ᾽ αὐτοῦ
προσειπεῖν τὴν Σεμέλην διὰ τὴν πρόρρησιν, ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τιμῶντος
αὐτήν, [C] ἅτε πρώτην ἱερόφαντιν τῆς ἔτι μελλούσης ἐπιφοιτήσεως.
(I think then that she was the first among the Greeks to perceive that
there was to be before long a visible manifestation of this god, and that
she foretold it, and then that, sooner than was fitting, she gave the
signal for certain of the mystic rites connected with his worship, because
she had not the patience to wait for the appointed time, and thus she was
consumed by the fire that fell upon her. But when it was the will of Zeus
to bestow on all mankind in common a new order of things, and to make them
pass from the nomadic to a more civilised mode of life, Dionysus came from
India and revealed himself as very god made visible, visiting the cities
of men and leading with him a great host of beings in some sort divine;
and everywhere he bestowed on all men in common as the symbol of his
manifestation the plant of “the gentle vine”; and since their lives were
made more gentle by it the Greeks as I think gave it that name;(201) and
they called Semele the mother of Dionysus because of the prediction that
she had made, but also because the god honoured her as having been the
first prophetess of his advent while it was yet to be.)
Οὔσης δέ, ὡς ἄν τις ἀκριβῶς σκοπῶν ἐξετάσειε, τῆς ἱστορίας τοιαύτης, οἱ
τὸν Διόνυσον ὅστις ποτ᾽ ἐστὶ θεῶν ζητοῦντες τἀληθὲς ἔχον ὡς ἔφην εἰς μῦθον
διεσκεύασαν, αἰνιττόμενοι τήν τε οὐσίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς
παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ κύησιν καὶ τὸν ἀγέννητον αὐτοῦ τόκον ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ(202) .....
ἐν τῷ παντί, καὶ τἆλλα ἐφεξῆς ὅσα τοῦ ζητεῖν ἦν ἄξια,(203) φράζειν δέ γ᾽
οὐ ῥᾴδια ἐμοί, τυχὸν μὲν [D] καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀγνοεῖν ἔτι περὶ αὐτῶν τὸ ἀκριβές,
τυχὸν δὲ καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντι τὸν κρύφιον ἅμα καὶ φανερὸν θεὸν ὥσπερ ἐν θεάτρῳ
προβάλλειν ἀκοαῖς ἀνεξετάστοις καὶ διανοίαις ἐπὶ πάντα μάλλον ἢ τὸ
φιλοσοφεῖν τετραμμέναις.
(Now since this is the historical truth of these events if they are
accurately considered and examined, those who sought to discover what sort
of god Dionysus is worked into a myth the truth which is as I said, and
expressed in an allegory both the essential nature of the god and his
conception in his father Zeus among the intelligible gods, and further his
birth independently of generation in this our world.(204) ... in the whole
universe, and in their proper order all those other facts which are well
worth studying but too difficult for me at any rate to describe; partly
perhaps because I am still ignorant of the precise truth about them,(205)
but perhaps also because I am unwilling to exhibit as in a theatre this
god who is at once hidden and manifest, and that, too, to ears that have
not sought after truth and to minds disposed to anything rather than the
study of philosophy.)
Ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων ἴστω Διόνυσος αὐτός, ᾧ καὶ προσεύχομαι τάς τε ἐμὰς
καὶ τὰς ὑμετέρας ἐκβακχεῦσαι φρένας ἐπὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ τῶν θεῶν γνῶσιν, ὡς ἂν
μὴ πολὺν ἀβάκχευτοι χρόνον τῷ θεῷ μένοντες [222] ὁπόσα ὁ Πενθεὺς(206)
πάθωμεν, ἴσως μὲν καὶ ζῶντες, πάντως δὲ ἀπαλλαγέντες τοῦ σώματος. ὅτῳ γὰρ
ἂν(207) μὴ τὸ πεπληθυσμένον τῆς ζωῆς ὑπὸ τῆς ἑνοειδοῦς καὶ ἐν τῷ μεριστῷ
παντελῶς ἀδιαιρέτου ὅλης τε ἐν πᾶσιν ἀμιγοῦς προüπαρχούσης οὐσίας τοῦ
Διονύσου τελεσιουργηθῇ(208) διὰ τῆς περὶ τὸν θεὸν ἐνθέου βακχείας, τούτῳ
κίνδυνος ἐπὶ πολλὰ ῥυῆναι τὴν ζωήν, ῥυεῖσαν δὲ διεσπάσθαι καὶ
διασπασθεῖσαν οἴχεσθαι· [B] τὸ δὲ ῥυεῖσαν καὶ διασπασθεῖσαν μὴ προσέχων
τις τοῖς ῥήμασιν ὑδάτιον μηδὲ λίνου μήρινθον ἀκροάσθω, ξυνιέτω δὲ τὰ
λεγόμενα τρόπον ἄλλον, ὃν Πλάτων, ὃν Πλωτίνος, ὃν Πορφύριος, ὃν ὁ
δαιμόνιος Ἰάμβλιχος. ὃς δ᾽ ἂν μὴ ταύτῃ ποιῇ, γελάσεται μέν, ἴστω μέντοι
Σαρδώνιον γελῶν ἔρημος ὢν ἀεὶ τῆς τῶν θεῶν γνώσεως, ἧς ἀντάξιον οὐδὲ τὸ
πᾶσαν ὁμοῦ μετὰ τῆς τῶν Ῥωμαίων [C] ἐπιτροπεῦσαι τὴν βαρβάρων ἔγωγε θείμην
ἄν, οὐ μὰ τὸν ἐμὸν δεσπότην Ἥλιον. ἀλλά με πάλιν οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅστις θεῶν ἐπὶ
ταῦτ᾽ ἐβάκχευσεν οὐ προελόμενον.
(However let Dionysus himself decide about these things, though I do
indeed implore him to inspire my mind and yours with his own sacred frenzy
for the true knowledge of the gods, so that we may not by remaining too
long uninspired by him have to suffer the fate of Pentheus, perhaps even
while we are alive, but most certainly after death has freed us from the
body. For he in whom the abundance of life has not been perfected by the
essential nature of Dionysus, uniform and wholly indivisible as it is in
the divisible world and pre‐existing whole and unmixed in all things, he I
say who has not been perfected by means of the Bacchic and divine frenzy
for the god, runs the risk that his life may flow into too many channels,
and as it flows be torn to shreds, and hence come to naught. But when I
say “flow” or “torn to shreds” no one must consider the bare meaning of
the words and suppose that I mean a mere trickle of water or a thread of
linen, but he must understand these words in another sense, that used by
Plato, Plotinus, Porphyry and the inspired Iamblichus. One who does not
interpret them thus will laugh at them no doubt, but let me assure him
that it will be a Sardonic laugh,(209) since he will be forever deprived
of that knowledge of the gods which I hold to be more precious than to
rule over the whole world, Roman and barbarian put together, yea, I swear
it by my lord Helios. But again some god or other and no choice of my own
has made me rave with this Bacchic frenzy.)
οὗ δὲ ἕνεκεν ἔφην αὐτά· κατὰ μὲν τὴν διάνοιαν ἀπεμφαίνοντες ὅταν οἱ μῦθοι
γίγνωνται περὶ τῶν θείων, αὐτόθεν ἡμῖν ὥσπερ βοῶσι καὶ διαμαρτύρονται μὴ
πιστεύειν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸ λεληθὸς σκοπεῖν καὶ διερευνᾶσθαι. τοσούτῳ δ᾽ ἐστὶ
κρεῖττον ἐν τούτοις τοῦ σεμνοῦ τὸ ἀπεμφαῖνον, ὅσῳ διὰ μὲν ἐκείνου καλοὺς
λίαν καὶ μεγάλους καὶ ἀγαθούς, [D] ἀνθρώπους δὲ ὅμως τοὺς θεοὺς κίνδυνος
νομίσαι, διὰ δὲ τῶν ἀπεμφαινόντων ὑπεριδόντας τῶν ἐν τῷ φανερῷ λεγομένων
ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξῃρημένην αὐτῶν οὐσίαν καὶ ὑπερέχουσαν πάντα τὰ ὄντα καθαρὰν
νόησιν ἐλπὶς ἀναδραμεῖν.
(To go back then to what led me to say all this. Whenever myths on sacred
subjects are incongruous in thought, by that very fact they cry aloud, as
it were, and summon us not to believe them literally but to study and
track down their hidden meaning. And in such myths the incongruous element
is even more valuable than the serious and straightforward, the more so
that when the latter is used there is risk of our regarding the gods as
exceedingly great and noble and good certainly, but still as human beings,
whereas when the meaning is expressed incongruous there is some hope that
men will neglect the more obvious sense of the words, and that pure
intelligence may rise to the comprehension of the distinctive nature of
the gods that transcends all existing things.)
[223] Αἴτιαι μὲν οὖν αὗται τοῦ τὴν τελεστικὴν καὶ μυσταγωγὸν φιλοσοφίαν τὰ
μὲν ῥήματα παντὸς μᾶλλον εὐαγῆ καὶ σεμνὰ προφέρεσθαι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν
ἀλλοιοτέραν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξήγησιν τῶν τοιούτων. ὁ δὲ τῆς τῶν ἠθῶν
ἐπανορθώσεως ἕνεκα τοὺς λόγους πλάττων καὶ μύθους παράγων δράτω(210) τοῦτο
μὴ πρὸς ἄνδρας, ἀλλὰ πρὸς παῖδας ἤτοι καθ᾽ ἡλικίαν ἢ τῷ φρονεῖν, πάντως δὲ
τῶν λόγων τούτων δεομένους. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἡμεῖς σοι παῖδες ἐφάνημεν εἴτε [B]
ἐγὼ εἴτε Ἀνατόλιος οὑτοσί, συγκαταρίθμει δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὸν Μεμμόριον καὶ
τὸν Σαλούστιον, πρὸς τούτοις δέ, εἰ βούλει, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἑξῆς,
Ἀντικύρας σοι δεῖ· τί γὰρ ἂν ἀκκίζοιτί τις; ἐπεὶ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν καὶ πρὸς
αὐτοῦ τοῦ μύθου, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦ κοινῇ πάντων βασιλέως Ἡλίου, τί σοι μέγα ἢ
μικρὸν πεποίηται ἔργον; τίνι παρέστης ἀγωνιζομένῳ μετὰ τοὺ δικαίου; τίνα
ἐθεράπευσας πενθοῦντα, [C] τῷ λόγῳ διδάξας, ὅτι μὴ κακὸν ὁ θάνατος μήτε τῷ
παθόντι μήτε τοῖς οἰκείοις αὐτοῦ; τίς δ᾽ αἰτιάσεταί σε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ
μειρακίσκος σωφροσύνης, ὅτι πεποίηκας αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀσώτου σώφρονα καὶ καλὸν οὐ
τὸ σῶμα μόνον, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον τὴν ψυχὴν φαίνεσθαι; τίνα δὲ ἄσκησιν
ἐποιήσω τοῦ βίου; τί δέ σοι ἄξιον τῆς Διογένους βακτηρίας ἢ ναὶ μὰ Δία τῆς
παρρησίας πεποίηται; ἔργον οἴει μέγα βακτηρίαν λαβεῖν ἢ τρίχας ἀνεῖναι,
[D] καὶ περινοστεῖν τὰς πόλεις καὶ τὰ στρατόπεδα, καὶ τοῖς μὲν βελτίστοις
λοιδορεῖσθαι, τοὺς δὲ χειρίστους θεραπεύειν; εἰπὲ πρὸς τοῦ Διὸς καὶ πρὸς
τουτωνὶ τῶν ἀκροωμένων, οἷ δι᾽ ὑμᾶς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐκτρέπονται, ἀνθ᾽ ὅτου
πρὸς μὲν τὸν μακαρίτην Κωνστάντιον εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἦλθες, οὐκέτι μέντοι καὶ
μέχρι τῶν Γαλλιῶν; καίτοι πορευθεὶς πρὸς ἡμᾶς, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, ξυνεῖναι
γοῦν σου τῆς φωνῆς μᾶλλον δυναμένῳ πλησιάζειν ἔμελλες ἀνθρώπῳ. [224] τί δὲ
καὶ τὸ περιθοιτᾶν πανταχοῦ καὶ παρέχειν πράγματα ταῖς ἡμιόνοις; ἀκούω δὲ
ἔγωγε καὶ τοῖς τὰς ἡμιόνους ἐλαύνουσιν, οἳ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς ἢ τοὺς στρατιώτας
πεφρίκασι· χρῆσθαι γὰρ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ξύλοις(211) ἀκούω τινὰς ὑμῶν
χαλεπώτερον ἢ τοῖς ξίφεσιν ἐκεῖνοι. γίγνεσθε οὖν αὐτοῖς εἰκότως
φοβερώτεροι. πάλαι μὲν οὖν ὑμῖν ἐθέρμην ἐγὼ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, [B] νυνὶ δὲ
αὐτὸ ἔοικα καὶ γράψειν. ἀποτακτιστάς τινας ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ δυσσεβεῖς
Γαλιλαῖοι· τούτων οἱ πλείους μικρὰ προέμενοι πολλὰ πάνυ, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ
πάντα πανταχόθεν ξυγκομίζουσι, καὶ προσκτῶνται(212) τὸ τιμᾶσθαι καὶ
δορυφορεῖσθαι καὶ θεραπεύεσθαι. τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ τὸ ὑμέτερον ἔργον ἐστί,
πλὴν ἴσως τοῦ χρηματίζεσθαι. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ παρ᾽ ὑμᾶς γίγνεται, παρ᾽ ἡμᾶς δέ·
συνετώτεροι γάρ ἐσμεν τῶν ἀνοήτων ἐκείνων· ἴσως δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ὑμῖν
εἶναι πρόσχημα τοῦ φορολογεῖν εὐπροσώπως, [C] ὁποῖον ἐκείνοις, ἣν λέγουσιν
οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως ἐλεημοσύνην, τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα γε πάντα ἐστὶν ὑμῖν τε κἀκείνοις
παραπλήσια. καταλελοίπατε τὴν πατρίδα ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνοι, περιφοιτᾶτε πάντη καὶ
τὸ στρατόπεδον διωχλήσατε μᾶλλον ἐκείνων καὶ ἰταμώτερον· οἱ μὲν γὰρ
καλούμενοι, ὑμεῖς δὲ καὶ ἀπελαυνόμενοι. καὶ τί χρηστὸν ἐκ τούτων ὑμῖν
ἐγένετο, [D] μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἄλλοις; ἀνῆλθεν ὁ Ἀσκληπιάδης, εἶτα ὁ
Σερηνιανός, εἶτα ὁ Χύτρων, εἶτα οὐκ οἶδα παιδάριον ὅ, τι ξανθὸν καὶ
εὔμηκες, εἶτα σύ, καὶ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἄλλοι δὶς τοσοῦτοι. τί οὖν ἐκ τῆς ὑμετέρας
ἀνόδου γέγονεν ἀγαθόν, ὦ λῷστοι; τίς ᾔσθετο πόλις ἢ τίς ἰδιώτης τῆς
ὑμετέρας παρρησίας; οὐκ ἀφρόνως μὲν τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἵλεσθε τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν οὐδὲ
ἰδεῖν ὑμᾶς θέλοντα βασιλέα πορείαν, ἀνελθόντες δὲ ἀφρονέστερον αὐτῇ καὶ
ἀμαθέστερον καὶ μανιωδέστερον ἐχρήσασθε, κολακεύσαντες ἅμα καὶ
ὑλακτήσαντες καὶ βιβλία δόντες [225] καὶ ταῦτα προσαχθῆναι(213)
προσλιπαρήσαντες; οὐδένα ὑμῶν οἶμαι ἐγὼ τοσαυτάκις εἰς φιλοόοφου φοιτῆσαι,
ὁσάκις εἰς ἀντιγραφέως, ὥστε ὑμῖν Ἀκαδήμεια καὶ Λύκειον ἀντὶ τῆς Ποικίλης
τε ἦν τῶν βασιλείων τὰ πρόθυρα.
(These then are the reasons why that branch of philosophy which is
connected with initiation and the doctrines of the Mysteries ought by all
means to be expressed in devout and serious language, while as regards the
thought the narrative may be expounded in a style that has stranger
qualities. But one who is inventing tales for the purpose of reforming
morals and inserts myths therein, does so not for men but for those who
are children whether in years or intelligence, and who on all accounts
stand in need of such tales. If, however, you took us for children, me,
for instance, or Anatolius here, and you may reckon with us Memmorius also
and Sallust and add if you please all the others in due order, then you
need a voyage to Anticyra.(214) For why should one pretend to be polite?
Tell me, I ask, in the name of the gods, and of myth itself, or rather in
the name of Helios the King of all the universe, what have you ever
accomplished, great or small? When did you ever champion one who was
resisting oppression and had right on his side? When did you ever comfort
the mourner and teach him by your arguments that death is not an evil
either for him who has suffered it or for his friends? What youth will
ever give you the credit for his temperance, and say that you have made
him show himself sober instead of dissolute, and beautiful not merely in
body but far more in soul? What strenuous discipline have you ever
embraced? What have you ever done to make you worthy of the staff of
Diogenes or still more, by Zeus, of his freedom of speech? Do you really
think it so great an achievement to carry a staff and let your hair grow,
and haunt cities and camps uttering calumnies against the noblest men, and
flattering the vilest? Tell me in the name of Zeus and of this audience
now present, who are disgusted with philosophy because of men of your
sort, why was it that you visited the late Emperor Constantius in Italy
but could not travel as far as Gaul? And yet if you had come to me you
would at any rate have associated with one who was better able to
comprehend your language. What do you gain by travelling about in all
directions and wearing out the very mules you ride? Yes, and I hear that
you wear out the mule drivers as well, and that they dread the sight of
you Cynics even more than of soldiers. For I am told that some of you
belabour them more cruelly with your staffs than do the soldiers with
their swords, so that they are naturally more afraid of you. Long ago I
gave you a nickname and now I think I will write it down. It is
“monks,”(215) a name applied to certain persons by the impious Galilaeans.
They are for the most part men who by making small sacrifices gain much or
rather everything from all sources, and in addition secure honour, crowds
of attendants and flattery. Something like that is your method, except
perhaps for uttering divine revelations: but this is not your custom,
though it is ours; for we are wiser than those insensate men. And perhaps
too there is this difference that you have no excuse for levying tribute
on specious pretexts as they do; which they call “alms,” whatever that may
mean. But in all other respects your habits and theirs are very much
alike. Like them you have abandoned your country, you wander about all
over the world, and you gave more trouble than they did at my
headquarters, and were more insolent. For they were at any rate invited to
come, but you we tried to drive away. And what good have you, or rather,
what have the rest of us derived from all this? First arrived Asclepiades,
then Serenianus, then Chytron, then a tall boy with yellow hair—I don’t
know his name—then you, and with you all twice as many more. And now, my
good sirs, what good has come from your journey? What city or individual
has had any experience of your alleged freedom of speech? Was it not
foolish of you to choose in the first place to make this journey to an
Emperor who did not even wish to set eyes on you? And when you had
arrived, did you not behave even more foolishly and ignorantly and
insanely in flattering and barking at me in the same breath, and offering
me your books, and moreover imploring that they should be taken to me? I
do not believe that any one of you ever visited a philosopher’s school as
diligently as you did my secretary: in fact the entrance to the Palace
stood for you in place of the Academy and the Lyceum and the Portico.)
Οὐκ ἀπάξετε ταῦτα; οὐ καταβαλεῖτε νῦν γοῦν, εἰ καὶ μὴ πρότερον, ὅτε ὑμῖν
οὐδέν ἐστι πλέον ἀπὸ τῆς κόμης καὶ τῆς βακτηρίας; πῶς δὲ καὶ γέγονεν ὑφ᾽
ὑμῶν εὐκαταφρόνητος ἡ φιλοσοφία; τῶν ῥητορικῶν [B] οἱ δυσμαθέστατοι καὶ
οὐδ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἑρμοῦ τὴν γλῶτταν ἐκκαθαρθῆναι δυνάμενοι,
φρενωθῆναι δὲ οὐδὲ πρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς σὺν τῷ Ἑρμῇ, τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς
ἀγοραίου καὶ περιτρεχούσης ἁρπάσαντες ἐντρεχείας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐν παροιμίᾳ
περιφερόμενον αὐτὸ γιγνώσκουσι τὸ ὅτι βότρυς πρὸς βότρυν πεπαίνεται·
ὁρμῶσιν ἐπὶ τὸν Κυνισμόν· βακτηρία, τρίβων, [C] κόμη, τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἀμαθία,
θράσος, ἰταμότης καὶ πάντα ἁπλῶς τὰ τοιαῦτα. τὴν σύντομον, φασίν, ὁδὸν καὶ
σύντονον ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἰέναι(216) ὄφελον καὶ ὑμεῖς τὴν μακρὰν ἐπορεύεσθε·
ῥᾷον ἂν δι᾽ ἐκείνης ἢ διὰ ταύτης ἤλθετε. οὐκ ἴστε, ὅτι μεγάλας ἔχουσιν αἱ
σύντομοι τὰς χαλεπότητας; καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς λεωφόροις ὁ μὲν τὴν σύντομον
ἐλθεῖν δυνηθεὶς ῥᾷον ἐκπερίεισι τὴν κύκλῳ, οὐκέτι μέντοι τὸ ἀνάπαλιν ὁ
κύκλῳ πορευθεὶς ἔλθοι ἂν πάντως [D] καὶ τὴν ἐπίτομον, οὕτω δὴ(217) καὶ ἐν
τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ τέλος τέ ἑστι καὶ ἀρχὴ μία γνῶναί τε ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀφομοιωθῆναι
τοῖς θεοῖς· ἀρχὴ μὲν οὖν ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι, τέλος δὲ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς κρείττονας
ὁμοιότης.
(Have done with all this nonsense! At any rate lay it aside now if not
before, when you can get no advantage from your long hair and your staff.
Shall I tell you how you have caused philosophy to be lightly esteemed? It
is because the most ignorant of the rhetoricians, those whose tongues not
King Hermes himself could purify, and who could not be made wise by Athene
herself with the aid of Hermes, having picked up their knowledge from
their industry in frequenting public places,—for they do not know the
truth of the current proverb, “Grape ripens near grape”(218)—then all rush
into Cynicism. They adopt the staff, the cloak, the long hair, the
ignorance that goes with these, the impudence, the insolence, and in a
word everything of the sort. They say that they are travelling the short
and ready road to virtue.(219) I would that you were going by the longer!
For you would more easily arrive by that road than by this of yours. Are
you not aware that short cuts usually involve one in great difficulties?
For just as is the case with the public roads, a traveller who is able to
take a short cut will more easily than other men go all the way round,
whereas it does not at all follow that he who went round could always go
the short cut, so too in philosophy the end and the beginning are one,
namely, to know oneself and to become like the gods. That is to say, the
first principle is self‐knowledge, and the end of conduct is the
resemblance to the higher powers.)
Ὅστις οὖν Κυνικὸς εἶναι ἐθέλει, πάντων ὑπεριδὼν τῶν νομισμάτων καὶ τῶν
ἀνθρωπίνων δοξῶν, εἰς ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἐπέστραπται πρότερον. ἐκείνῳ τὸ
χρυσίον οὐκ ἔστι χρυσίον, οὐχ ἡ ψάμμος ψάμμος, εἰ πρὸς ἀμοιβήν τις αὐτὰ
ἀξετάζοι καὶ τῆς ἀξίας αὐτῶν ἐπιτρέψειεν αὐτῷ τιμητῇ γενέσθαι· [226] γῆν
γὰρ αὐτὰ οἶδεν ἀμφότερα. τὸ σπανιώτερον δὲ καὶ τὸ ῥᾷον ἀνθρώπων εἶναι
κενοδοξίας ταῦτα καὶ ἀμαθίας νενόμικεν ἔργα· τὸ αἰσχρὸν ἢ καλὸν οὐκ ἐν
τοῖς ἐπαινουμένοις ἢ ψεγομένοις τίθεται, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῇ φύσει· φεύγει τὰς
περιττ`ας τροφάς· ἀποστρέφεται δὲ τὰ ἀφροδίσια. βιαζομένου δὲ τοῦ σώματος,
οὐ δόξῃ προστέτηκεν οὐδὲ περιμένει τὸν μάγειρον καὶ τὰ ὑποτρίμματα καὶ τὴν
κνίσσαν, οὐδὲ τὴν Φρύνην οὐδὲ τὴν Λαΐδα οὐδὲ τὴν τοῦ δεῖνος(220)
περιβλέπεται γαμετὴν οὐδὲ [B] τὸ θυγάτριον οὐδὲ τὴν θεράπαιναν· ἀλλ᾽ ὡς
ἔνι μάλιστα ἐκ τῶν προστυχόντων ἀποπλήσας τὴν θεραπείαν τοῦ σώματος καὶ τὸ
ἐνοχλοῦν ἐξ αὐτοῦ παρωσάμενος, ἄνωθεν ἐκ τῆς Ὀλύμπου κορυφῆς ἐπιβλέπει
τοὺς ἄλλους
(Therefore he who desires to be a Cynic despises all the usages and
opinions of men, and turns his mind first of all to himself and the god.
For him gold is not gold or sand sand, if one enquire into their value
with a view to exchanging them, and leave it to him to rate them at their
proper worth: for he knows that both of them are but earth. And the fact
that one is scarcer and the other easier to obtain he thinks is merely the
result of the vanity and ignorance of mankind. He will judge of the
baseness or nobility of an action, not by the applause or blame of men but
by its intrinsic nature. He avoids any excess in food, and renounces the
pleasures of love. When he is forced to obey the needs of the body he is
not the slave of opinion, nor does he wait for a cook and sauces and a
savoury smell, nor does he ever look about for Phryne or Lais or So‐and‐
so’s wife or young daughter or serving‐maid. But as far as possible he
satisfies his body’s needs with whatever comes to hand, and by thrusting
aside all hindrances derived from the body he contemplates from above,
from the peaks of Olympus, other men who are)
Ἄτης ἐν λειμῶνι κατὰ σκότον ἠλάσκοντας,
(“Wandering in darkness in the meadow of Ate,”(221))
ὑπὲρ ὀλίγων παντάπασιν ἀπολαύσεων ὑπομένοντας ὅσα οὐδὲ παρὰ τὸν Κωκυτὸν
καὶ τὸν Ἀχέροντα θρυλοῦσιν οἱ κομψότεροι τῶν ποιητῶν. ἡ σύντομος ὁδός
ἐστιν αὕτη. [C] δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀθρόως ἐκστῆναι ἑαυτοῦ καὶ γνῶναι, ὅτι θεῖός
ἐστι, καὶ τὸν νοῦν μὲν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀτρύτως καὶ ἀμετακινήτως συνέχειν ἐν
τοῖς θείοις καὶ ἀχράντοις καὶ καθαροῖς νοήμασιν, ὀλιγωρεῖν δὲ πάντη τοῦ
σώματος καὶ νομίζειν αὐτὸ κατὰ τὸν Ἡράκλειτον κοπρίων ἐκβλητότερον, ἐκ τοῦ
ῥᾴστου δὲ αὑτῷ τὰς θεραπείας ἀποπληροῦν, ἕως ἂν ὁ θεὸς ὥσπερ ὀργάνῳ τῷ
σώματι χρῆσθαι ἐπιτάττῃ.