ὡς φίλοις χρῶ, μηδὲ αὐτοὺς οἰκέτας μηδὲ θεράποντας νόμιζε, πρόσιθι δὲ
αὐτοῖς ἐλευθέρως τε καὶ ἁπλούστατα καὶ γενναίως, μὴ λέγων μὲν ἄλλα, φρονῶν
δὲ ἕτερα περὶ αὐτῶν. ὁρᾷς ὅτι καὶ τοῦτον τὸν κληρονόμον τοῦτο ἐπέτριψεν, ἡ
πρὸς τοὺς φίλους ἀπιστία; φίλει τοὺς ἀρχομένους ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς σέ· τὰ πρὸς
ἡμᾶς ἡγείσθω σοι τῶν καλῶν ἁπάντων· [D] ἐσμὲν γάρ σου καὶ εὐεργεταὶ καὶ
φίλοι καὶ σωτῆρες. ἀκούσας ταῦτα ὁ νεανίσκος διεχύθη καὶ δῆλος ἦν ἅπαντα
ἤδη τοῖς θεοῖς πειθόμενος. Ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι, ἔφη, πορεύου μετὰ ἀγαθῆς ἐλπίδος.
ἡμεῖς γάρ σοι πανταχοῦ συνεσόμεθα ἐγώ τε καὶ Ἀθηνᾶ καὶ Ἑρμῆς ὅδε καὶ σὺν
ἡμῖν οἱ θεοὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ πᾶν
πανταχοῦ τὸ θεῖον γένος, ἕως ἂν τά τε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὅσιος ᾖς καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς
φίλους πιστὸς καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ὑπηκόους φιλάνθρωπος, [234] ἄρχων αὐτῶν καὶ
ἡγούμενος ἐπὶ τὰ βέλτιστα· ἀλλὰ μήτε ταῖς σεαυτοῦ μήτε ταῖς ἐκείνων(258)
ἐπιθυμίαις δουλεύων ὑπεικάθηις. ἔχων οὖν τὴν πανοπλίαν,(259) ἣν ἐκόμισας
πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἄπιθι προσλαβὼν ταύτην μὲν τὴν δᾷδα παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἵνα σοι καὶ ἐν
τῇ γῇ φῶς λάμπῃ μέγα καὶ μηδὲν ἐπιποθῇς τῶν τῇδε, ταυτησὶ δὲ Ἀθενᾶς τῆς
καλῆς τό τε Γοργόνειον καὶ τὸ κράνος· πολλὰ γάρ, ὁρᾷς, ἐστὶν αὐτῇ, καὶ
δίδωσιν οἷς ἂν ἐθέλῃ. [B] δώσει δέ σοι καὶ Ἑρμῆς χρυσῆν ῥάβδον. ἔρχου οὖν
τῇ πανοπλίᾳ κοσμηθεὶς ταύτῃ διὰ πάσης μὲν γῆς, διὰ πάσης δὲ θαλάττης,
ἀμετακινήτως τοῖς ἡμετέροις πειθόμενος νόμοις, καὶ μηδείς σε μήτε ἀνδρῶν
μήτε γυναικῶν, μήτε τῶν οἰκείων μήτε τῶν ξένων ἀναπείσῃ τῶν ἐντολῶν(260)
ἐκλαθέσθαι τῶν ἡμετέρων. ἐμμένων γὰρ αὐταῖς ἡμῖν μὲν ἔσῃ φίλος καὶ τίμιος,
αἰδοῖος δὲ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἡμῶν ὑπηρέταις, φοβερὸς δὲ ἀνθρώποις πονηροῖς καὶ
κακοδαίμοσιν. [C] ἴσθι δὲ σεαυτῷ τὰ σαρκία δεδόσθαι τῆς λειτουργίας ἕνεκα
ταυτησί. βουλόμεθα γάρ σοι τὴν προγονικὴν οἰκίαν αἰδοῖ τῶν προγόνων
ἀποκαθῆραι. μέμνησο οὖν, ὅτι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀθάνατον ἔχεις καὶ ἔκγονον
ἡμετέραν, ἑπόμενός τε ἡμῖν ὅτι θεὸς ἔσῃ καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον ὄψει σὺν ἡμῖν
πατέρα.
(Then mighty Helios took up the tale and said, “When thou hast chosen thy
friends treat them as friends and do not regard them as thy servants and
attendants, but let thy conduct towards them be generous, candid, and
honourable: say not one thing about them while thou thinkest another. Thou
seest that it was treachery to his friends that destroyed this heir. Love
thy subjects even as we love thee. Prefer our worship to all other
blessings. For we are thy benefactors and friends and preservers.” At
these words the youth became calm and showed plainly that he was already
obedient in all things to the gods. “Come,” said Helios, “now depart with
good hope. For everywhere we shall be with thee, even I and Athene and
Hermes here, and with us all the gods that are on Olympus or in the air or
on earth and the whole race of gods everywhere, so long as thou art pious
towards us and loyal to thy friends, and humane towards thy subjects,
ruling them and guiding them to what is best. But never yield to thy own
passions or become the slave of theirs. Keep the armour that thou hast
brought hither, and depart, but first receive from me this torch so that
even on earth a great light may shine for thee and that thou mayst not
long for the things of earth. And from fair Athene here receive an aegis
and helmet. For as thou seest she has many, and she gives them to whom she
will. And Hermes too will give thee a golden wand. Go then thus adorned in
full armour over sea and land, steadfastly obeying our laws, and let no
man or woman or kinsman or foreigner persuade thee to neglect our
commands. For while thou dost abide by them thou wilt be loved and
honoured by us and respected by our good servants and formidable to the
wicked and impious. Know that a mortal frame was given to thee that thou
mightest discharge these duties. For we desire, out of respect for thy
ancestor to cleanse the house of thy forefathers. Remember therefore that
thou hast an immortal soul that is our offspring, and that if thou dost
follow us thou shalt be a god and with us shalt behold our father.”)
Τοῦτο εἴτε μῦθος εἴτε ἀληθής ἐστι λόγος οὐκ οἶδα. τὸ παρὰ σοῦ δὲ
πεποιημένον, τίνα βούλει τὸν Πᾶνα, [D] τίνα δὲ εἶναι τὸν Δία, εἰ μὴ
τοῦτο,(261) ὡς ἐσμὲν ἐγώ τε καὶ σύ, σὺ μὲν ὁ Ζεύς, ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ Πάν; ὢ τοῦ
γελοίου Ψευδόπανος, γελοιοτέρου μέντοι νὴ τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν τοῦ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ
Διὸς ἀνθρώπου. ταῦτα οὐκ ἔστιν ἀτεχνῶς ἐκ μαινομένου(262) στόματος οὔτι
τὴν ἔνθεον, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἔκπληκτον μανίαν; οὐκ οἶσθα, ὅτι καὶ ὁ Σαλμωνεὺς
ἔδωκεν [235] ὑπὲρ τούτων τοῖς θεοῖς δίκην, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὢν ἐπεχείρει Ζεὺς
εἶναι; τὸ δὲ ἐκ τῶν Ἡσιόδου λεγόμενον ὑπὲρ τῶν ὀνομασάντων ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς
τῶν θεῶν ὀνόμασιν, Ἥρας τε καὶ Διός, εἰ μήπω καὶ νῦν ἀκήκοας, ἔχω σοι
συγγνῶναι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπαιδοτριβήθης καλῶς οὐδὲ ἔτυχες καθηγεμόνος, ὁποίου
περὶ τοὺς ποιητὰς ἐγὼ τουτουὶ τοῦ φιλοσόφου, μεθ᾽ ὃν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόθυρα τῆς
φιλοσοφίας ἦλθον ὑπ᾽ ἀνδρὶ τελεσθησόμενος, ὃν νενόμικα τῶν [B] κατ᾽
ἐμαυτὸν πάντων διαφέρειν. ὁ δέ με πρὸ πάντων ἀρετὴν ἀσκεῖν καὶ θεοὺς
ἁπάντων τῶν καλῶν νομίζειν ἡγεμόνας ἐδίδασκεν. εἰ μὲν οὖν τι προὔργου
πεποίηκεν, αὐτὸς ἂν εἰδείη καὶ πρὸ τούτου γε οἱ βασιλεῖς θεοί· τουτὶ δὲ
ἐξῄρει τὸ μανιῶδες καὶ θρασύ, καὶ ἐπειρᾶτό με ποιεῖν ἐμαυτοῦ
σωφρονέστερον. ἐγὼ δὲ καίπερ, ὡς οἶσθα, τοῖς ἔξωθεν πλεονεκτήμασιν
ἐπτερωμένος ὑπέταξα [C] ὅμως ἐμαυτὸν τῷ καθηγεμόνι καὶ τοῖς ἐκείνου φίλοις
καὶ ἡλικιώταις καὶ συμφοιτηταῖς, καὶ ὧν ἤκουον ἐπαινουμένων παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ,
τούτων ἔσπευδον ἀκροατὴς εἶναι, καὶ βιβλία ταῦτα ἀνεγίγνωσκον, ὁπόσα αὐτὸς
δοκιμάσειεν.
(Now whether this be a fable or a true narrative I cannot say. But in your
composition, whom do you mean by Pan, and whom by Zeus unless you and I
are they, that is, you are Zeus and I am Pan? What an absurd counterfeit
Pan! But you are still more absurd, by Asclepius, and very far indeed from
being Zeus! Is not all this the utterance of a mouth that foams with
morbid rather than inspired madness?(263) Do you not know that
Salmoneus(264) in his day was punished by the gods for just this, for
attempting, though a mortal man, to play the part of Zeus? Then too there
is the account in Hesiod’s poems of those who styled themselves by the
names of the gods, even of Hera and of Zeus, but if you have not heard of
it till this moment I can excuse you for that. For you have not been well
educated, nor did fate bestow on you such a guide to the poets as I had—I
mean this philosopher(265) now present: and later on I arrived at the
threshold of philosophy to be initiated therein by the teaching of
one(266) whom I consider superior to all the men of my own time. He used
to teach me to practise virtue before all else, and to regard the gods as
my guides to all that is good. Now whether he accomplished anything of
real profit he himself must determine, or rather the ruling gods; but at
least he purged me of such infatuate folly and insolence as yours, and
tried to make me more temperate than I was by nature. And though, as you
know, I was armed(267) with great external advantages, nevertheless I
submitted myself to my preceptor and to his friends and compeers and the
philosophers of his school, and I was eager to be instructed by all whose
praises I heard uttered by him, and I read all the books that he
approved.)
οὕτως ἡμεῖς ὑφ᾽ ἡγεμόσι τελούμενοι, φιλοσόφῳ μὲν τῷ τὰ τῆς προπαιδείας με
τελέσαντι, φιλοσοφωτάτῳ δὲ τῷ τὰ πρόθυρα τῆς φιλοσοφίας δείξαντι, σμικρὰ
μὲν διὰ τὰς ἔξωθεν ἡμῖν προσπεσούσας ἀσχολίας, [D] ὅμως δ᾽ οὖν ἀπελαύσαμεν
τῆς ὀρθῆς ἀγωγῆς, οὐ τὴν σύντομον, ἣν σὺ φής, ἀλλὰ τὴν κύκλῳ πορευθέντες·
καίτοι νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν οἶμαι ὅτι σου συντομωτέραν ἐτραπόμην.
ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῆς, εἰ μὴ φορτικὸν εἰπεῖν, ἐπὶ τοῖς προθύροις ἕστηκα, σὺ δὲ
καὶ τῶν προθύρων εἶ πόρρω. σοὶ δὲ ἀρετῆς ἢ τοῖς σοῖς ἀδελφοῖς—, ἀφελὼν δὲ
τὸ δύσφημον τὸ λειπόμενον αὐτὸς ἀναπλήρωσον· εἰ βούλει δέ, καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν
αὐτὸ ἀνάσχου πρᾴως λεγόμενον,—τίς μετουσία; [236] πᾶσιν ἐπιτιμᾷς αὐτὸς
οὐδὲν ἄξιον ἐπαίνου πράττων, ἐπαινεῖς φορτικῶς ὡς οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀμαθεστάτων
ῥητόρων, οἷς διὰ τὴν τῶν λόγων ἀπορίαν καὶ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν εὑρεῖν ἐκ τῶν
παρόντων ὅ, τι φῶσιν, ἡ Δῆλος ἐπέρχεται καὶ ἡ Λητὼ μετὰ τῶν παίδων, εἶτα
κύκνοι λιγυρὸν ᾄδοντες καὶ ἐπηχοῦντα αὐτοῖς τὰ δένδρα, λειμῶνές τε
ἔνδροσοι μαλακῆς πόας καὶ βαθείας πλήρεις, ἥ τε ἐκ τῶν ἀνθέων ὀδμὴ καὶ τὸ
ἔαρ αὐτὸ καί τινες εἰκόνες τοιαῦται. [B] ποῦ τοῦτο Ἰσοκράτης ἐν τοῖς
ἐγκωμιαστικοῖς ἐποίησε λόγοις; ποῦ δὲ τῶν παλαιῶν τις ἀνδρῶν, οἳ ταῖς
Μούσαις ἐτελοῦντο γνησίως, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ νῦν; ἀφίημι δὲ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἵνα
μὴ καὶ πρὸς τούτους ἀπεχθανόμενος ἅμα τοῖς τε φαυλοτάτοις τῶν Κυνικῶν καὶ
τῶν ῥητόρων προσκρούσαιμι· ὡς ἔμοιγε πρός τε τοὺς κρατίστους τῶν Κυνικῶν,
εἴ τις ἄρα ἔστι νῦν τοιοῦτος, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς γενναίους ῥήτοράς [C] ἐστι
φίλα(268) πάντα. τῶν μὲν δὴ τοιούτων λόγων, εἰ καὶ πολὺ πλῆθος ἐπιρρεῖ·
καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅσον οὐχὶ λέγειν ἐθέλων τις ἐκ πάνυ δαψιλοῦς ἀντλήσειεν ἂν
πίθου· τῆς προκειμένης ἡμῖν ἀσχολίας ἕνεκεν ἀφέξομαι. μικρὰ δὲ ἔτι τῷ λόγῳ
προσθεὶς ὥσπερ ὀφλήματι τὸ ἐνδέον ἐπ᾽ [D] ἄλλο τι τρέψομαι, ταυτηνὶ τὴν
ξυγγραφὴν αὐτοῦ που πληρώσας.
(Thus then I was initiated by those guides, in the first place by a
philosopher who trained me in the preparatory discipline, and next by that
most perfect philosopher who revealed to me the entrance to philosophy;
and though I achieved but little on account of the engrossing affairs that
overwhelmed me from without, still for all that I have had the benefit of
right training, and have not travelled by the short road as you say you
have, but have gone all the way round. Though indeed I call the gods to
witness, I believe that the road I took was really a shorter road to
virtue than yours. For I, at any rate, if I may say so without bad taste,
am standing at the entrance, whereas you are a long way even from the
entrance. “But as for virtue, you and your brethren—,”(269) omit the ill‐
sounding phrase and fill in the blank yourself! Or rather if you please,
bear with me when I “put it mildly”(270)—“what part or lot have you in
it?” You criticise everybody, though you yourself do nothing to deserve
praise; your praises are in worse taste than those of the most ignorant
rhetoricians. They, because they have nothing to say and cannot invent
anything from the matter in hand, are always dragging in Delos and Leto
with her children, and then “swans singing their shrill song and the trees
that echo them,” and “dewy meadows full of soft, deep grass,” and the
“scent of flowers,” and “the season of spring,” and other figures of the
same sort.(271) When did Isocrates ever do this in his panegyrics? Or when
did anyone of those ancient writers who were genuine votaries of the
Muses, and not like the writers of to‐day? However, I omit what I might
add, lest I should make them also my enemies, and offend at once the most
worthless Cynics and the most worthless rhetoricians. Though indeed I have
nothing but friendly feelings for the really virtuous Cynics, if indeed
there be any such nowadays, and also for all honest rhetoricians. But
though a vast number of illustrations of this sort flow into my mind—for
anyone who desired to use them could certainly draw from an ample
jar(272)—I shall refrain because of the present pressure of business.
However I have still somewhat to add to my discourse, like the balance of
a debt, and before I turn to other matters let me complete this treatise.)
Τίς οὖν ἡ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν εὐλάβεια περὶ τὰ τῶν θεῶν ὀνόματα, τίς δὲ ἡ
Πλάτωνος; ποταπὸς δὲ ἦν ἐν τούτοις Ἀριστοτέλης; ἆρ᾽ οὐκ ἄξιον αὐτὸ ἰδεῖν;
ἢ τὸν μὲν Σάμιον οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ τοιοῦτον γενέσθαι; καὶ γὰρ οὔτε τὸ ὀνόματα
θεῶν ἐν τῆς σφραγῖδι φορεῖν ἐπέτρεπεν οὔτε τὸ ὅρκῳ χρῆσθαι προπετῶς τοῖς
τῶν θεῶν ὀνόμασιν. εἰ δὲ νῦν λέγοιμι, [237] ὅτι καὶ εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐπορεύθη
καὶ Πέρσας εἶδε καὶ πανταχοῦ πάντα ἐπειράθη τὰ μυστήρια τῶν θεῶν
ἐποπτεῦσαι καὶ τελεσθῆναι παντοίας πανταχοῦ τελετάς, ἐρῶ μὲν ἴσως ἄγνωστά
σοι, γνώριμα μέντοι καὶ σαφῆ τοῖς πολλοῖς. ἀλλὰ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἄκουε· τὸ δ᾽
ἐμὸν δέος, ὦ Πρώταρχε, πρὸς τὰ τῶν θεῶν ὀνόματα οὐκ ἔστι κατ᾽ ἄνθρωπον,
ἀλλὰ πέρα τοῦ μεγίστου φόβου. καὶ νῦν τὴν μὲν Ἀφροδίτην, ὅπῃ ἐκείνῃ φίλον,
ταύτῃ προσαγορεύω· [B] τὴν δ᾽ ἡδονὴν οἶδα ὡς ἔστι ποικίλον· ταῦτα ἐν
Φιλήβῳ λέγεται, καὶ τοιαῦτα ἕτερα πάλιν ἐν Τιμαίῳ· πιστεύειν γὰρ ἁπλῶς
ἀξιοῖ καὶ χωρὶς ἀποδείξεως λεγομένοις, ὅσα ὑπὲρ τῶν θεῶν φασιν οἱ ποιηταί.
ταῦτα δὲ παρέθηκα, μή ποτέ σοι παράσχῃ πρόφασιν, ὥσπερ οἶμαι τῶν
Πλατωνικῶν πολλοῖς, ὁ Σωκράτης εἴρων ὢν φύσει τὴν Πλατωνικὴν ἀτιμάσαι
δόξαν. ἐκεῖ γὰρ οὐχ [C] ὁ Σωκράτης, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Τίμαιος ταῦτα λέγει ἥκιστα ὢν
εἴρων. καίτοι τοῦτό γέ ἐστιν οὐχ ὑγιὲς μὴ τὰ λεγόμενα ἐξετάζειν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς
λέγοντας, καὶ τὸ πρὸς τίνας οἱ λόγοι γίγνονται. βούλει δῆτα(273) τὸ μετὰ
τοῦτο τὴν πάνσοφον ὑπαγορεύσω σειρῆνα, τὸν τοῦ λογίου τύπον Ἑρμοῦ, τὸν τῷ
Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ ταῖς Μούσαις φίλον; ἐκεῖνος ἀξιοῖ τοὺς ἐπερωτῶντας ἢ ζητεῖν
ὅλως ἐπιχειροῦντας, εἰ θεοί εἰσιν, οὐχ ὡς ἀνθρώπους ἀποκρίσεως τυγχάνειν,
ἀλλ᾽ ὡς [D] τὰ θηρία κολάσεως. εἰ δὲ ἀνεγνώκεις τὸν συστατικὸν(274) αὐτοῦ
λόγον, ὃς ὥσπερ τῆς Πλάτωνος, οὕτω δὴ(275) καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου διατριβῆς
προυγέγραπτο, ἔγνως ἂν πρὸ πάντων, ὅτι τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς εὐσεβεῖς εἶναι
καὶ μεμυῆσθαι πάντα τὰ μυστήρια καὶ τετελέσθαι τὰς ἁγιωτάτας τελετὰς καὶ
διὰ πάντων τῶν μαθημάτων ἦχθαι τοῖς εἴσω τοῦ περιπάτου βαδίζουσι
προηγόρευτο.(276)
(I ask you then what reverence for the names of the gods was shown by the
Pythagoreans and by Plato? What was Aristotle’s attitude in these matters?
Is it not worth while to pay attention to this? Or surely no one will deny
that he of Samos(277) was reverent? For he did not even allow the names of
the gods to be used on a seal, nor oaths to be rashly uttered in the names
of the gods. And if I should go on to say that he also travelled to Egypt
and visited Persia, and everywhere endeavoured to be admitted to the inner
mysteries of the gods and everywhere to be initiated into every kind of
rite, I shall be saying what is familiar and obvious to most people,
though you may not have heard of it. However, listen to what Plato says:
“But for my part, Protarchus, I feel a more than human awe, indeed a fear
beyond expression, of the names of the gods. Now therefore I will address
Aphrodite by whatever name pleases her best; though as for pleasure, I
know that it has many forms.” This is what he says in the Philebus(278)
and he says the same sort of thing again in the Timaeus.(279) For he says
that we ought to believe directly and without proof what we are told, I
mean what the poets say about the gods. And I have brought forward this
passage for fear that Socrates may furnish you with an excuse,—as I
believe he does to many Platonists because of his natural tendency to
irony,—to slight the doctrine of Plato. For it is not Socrates who is
speaking here, but Timaeus, who had not the least tendency to irony.
Though for that matter it is not a sound principle to enquire who says a
thing and to whom, rather than the actual words. But now will you allow me
to cite next that all‐wise Siren, the living image of Hermes the god of
eloquence, the man dear to Apollo and the Muses?(280) Well, he declares
that all who raise the question or seek to enquire at all whether gods
exist ought not to be answered as though they were men but to be chastised
as wild beasts. And if you had read that introductory sentence which was
inscribed over the entrance to his school, like Plato’s, you would most
surely know that those who entered the Lyceum were warned to be reverent
to the gods, to be initiated into all the mysteries, to take part in the
most sacred ceremonies, and to be instructed in knowledge of every kind.)
[238] Σὺ δὲ ὅπως ἡμῖν μὴ τὸν Διογένη προβαλὼν ὥσπερ τι μορμολυκεῖον
ἐκφοβήσεις.(281) οὐ γὰρ ἐμυήθη, φασίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸν προτρεπόμενον
μυηθῆναι, Γελοῖον, εἶπεν, ὦ νεανίσκε, εἰ τοὺς μὲν τελώνας οἴει ταύτης
ἕνεκα τῆς τελετῆς κοινωνήσειν τοῖς ὁσίοις τῶν ἐν ᾅδου καλῶν, Ἀγησίλαον δὲ
καὶ Ἐπαμεινώνδαν ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ κείσεσθαι. τοῦτο, ὦ νεανίσκε, βαθὺ λίαν
ἐστὶ καὶ δεόμενον ἐξηγήσεως, [B] ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, μείζονος, ὁποίας(282)
ἡμῖν αὐταὶ δοῖεν αἱ θεαὶ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν; νομίζω δὲ αὐτὴν ἤδη καὶ δεδόσθαι.
φαίνεται γὰρ ὁ Διογένης οὐχ, ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς ἀξιοῦτε, δυσσεβής, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνοις,
ὧν μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐπεμνήσθην, προσόμοιος. ἀπιδὼν γὰρ εἰς τὴν περίστασιν τὴν
καταλαβοῦσαν αὐτόν, εἶτα εἰς τὰς ἐντολὰς βλέπων τοῦ Πυθίου καὶ
συνιεὶς(283) ὅτι τὸν μυούμενον ἐχρῆν πολιτογραφηθῆναι πρότερον καὶ
Ἀθηναῖον, [C] εἰ καὶ μὴ φύσει, τῷ νόμῳ γε γενέσθαι, τοῦτο ἔφυγεν, οὐ τὸ
μυηθῆναι, νομίζων αὑτὸν εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου πολίτην, καὶ ταῖς ὅλαις τῶν θεῶν
οὐσίαις, αἳ τὸν ὅλον κοινῇ κόσμον ἐπιτροπεύουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ ταῖς τὰ μέρη
κατανειμαμέναις αὐτοῦ, διὰ μεγαλοφροσύνην ἀξιῶν συμπολιτεύεσθαι· τό τε
νόμιμον οὐ παρέβη αἰδοῖ τῶν θεῶν, καίτοι τἆλλα πατῶν καὶ παραχαράττων·
αὑτόν [D] τε οὐκ ἐπανήγαγεν, ὄθεν ἄσμενος ἠλευθέρωτο. τί δ᾽ ἦν τοῦτο; τὸ
πόλεως μιᾶς δουλεῦσαι νόμοις ἑαυτόν τε ὑποθεῖναι τούτῳ, ὅπερ ἦν ἀνάγκη
παθεῖν Ἀθηναίῳ γενομένῳ. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἔμελλεν ὁ τῶν θεῶν ἕνεκεν εἰς
Ὀλυμπίαν βαδίζων, ὁ τῷ Πυθίῳ πεισθεὶς καὶ φιλοσοφήσας ὥσπερ Σωκράτης· φησὶ
γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς εἶναι Πύθιον οἴκοι παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ, ὅθεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἡ ὁρμὴ πρὸς
φιλοσοφίαν ἐγένετο· [239] παριέναι τῶν ἀνακτόρων εἴσω καὶ μάλα ἀσμένως, εἰ
μὴ τοῦτο ἐξέκλινε τὸ ὑποθεῖναι νόμοις ἑαυτὸν καὶ δοῦλον ἀποφῆναι
πολιτείας; ἀλλὰ διὰ τί μὴ ταύτην αὐτὴν εἶπε τὴν αἰτίαν, ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων δὲ
τὴν παραιρουμένην οὐ σμικρὰ τῆς τῶν μυστηρίων σεμνότητος; ἴσως μὲν ἄν τις
τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ Πυθαγόρᾳ μάλιστα ἐπισκήψειεν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς λογιζόμενος. οὔτε
γὰρ ῥητέον πάντα ἐστίν, αὐτῶν τε οἶμαι τούτων, ὧν θέμις φάναι, ἔνια πρὸς
τοὺς πολλοὺς σιωπητέον εἶναί μοι φαίνεται. [B] φανερὰ δὲ ὅμως ἐστὶ καὶ
τούτων ἡ αἰτία. κατανοήσας γὰρ ἀμελοῦντα μὲν τῆς περὶ τὸν βίον ὀρθότητος,
ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ μεμυῆσθαι μέγα φρονοῦντα(284) τὸν παραινοῦντα αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα,
σωφρονίζων ἅμα καὶ διδάσκων αὐτόν, ὅτι τοῖς(285) μέν, οἷς ἀξίως τοῦ
μυηθῆναι βεβίωται, καὶ μὴ μυηθεῖσιν οἱ θεοὶ [C] τὰς ἀμοιβὰς ἀκεραίους
φυλάττουσι, τοῖς δὲ μοχθηροῖς οὐδέν ἐστι πλέον, κἂν εἴσω τῶν ἱερῶν
εἰσφρήσωσι περιβόλων. ἢ γὰρ οὐ ταῦτα καὶ ὁ ἱεροφάντης προαγορεύει, ὅστις
χεῖρα μὴ καθαρὸς καὶ ὅντινα μὴ χρή, τούτοις ἀπαγορεύων μὴ μυεῖσθαι;
(And do not try to frighten me by bringing forward Diogenes as a sort of
bogey. He was never initiated, they tell us, and replied to some one who
once advised him to be initiated: “It is absurd of you, my young friend,
to think that any tax‐gatherer, if only he be initiated, can share in the
rewards of the just in the next world, while Agesilaus and Epameinondas
are doomed to lie in the mire.”(286) Now this, my young friend, is a very
hard saying and, I am persuaded, calls for more profound discussion. May
the goddesses themselves grant us understanding thereof! Though indeed I
think that has already been bestowed by them. For it is evident that
Diogenes was not impious, as you aver, but resembled those philosophers
whom I mentioned a moment ago. For having regard to the circumstances in
which his lot was cast, and next paying heed to the commands of the
Pythian god, and knowing that the candidate for initiation must first be
registered as an Athenian citizen, and if he be not an Athenian by birth
must first become one by law, it was this he avoided, not initiation,
because he considered that he was a citizen of the world; and moreover
such was the greatness of his soul that he thought he ought to associate
himself with the divine nature of all the gods who in common govern the
whole universe, and not only with those whose functions are limited to
certain portions of it. And out of reverence for the gods he did not
transgress their laws, though he trampled on all other opinions and tried
to give a new stamp to the common currency. And he did not return to that
servitude from which he had joyfully been released. What servitude do I
mean? I mean that he would not enslave himself to the laws of a single
city and submit himself to all that must needs befall one who had become
an Athenian citizen. For is it likely that a man who in order to honour
the gods journeyed to Olympia, and like Socrates embraced philosophy in
obedience to the Pythian oracle,—for he says himself that at home and in
private he received the commands of that oracle and hence came his impulse
to philosophy(287)—is it likely I say that such a man would not very
gladly have entered the temples of the gods but for the fact that he was
trying to avoid submitting himself to any set of laws and making himself
the slave of any one constitution? But why, you will say, did he not
assign this reason, but on the contrary a reason that detracted not a
little from the dignity of the Mysteries? Perhaps one might bring this
same reproach against Pythagoras as well, but the reasoning would be
incorrect. For everything ought not to be told, nay more, even of those
things that we are permitted to declare, some, it seems to me, we ought to
refrain from uttering to the vulgar crowd.(288) However the explanation in
this case is obvious. For since he perceived that the man who exhorted him
to be initiated neglected to regulate his own life aright, though he
prided himself on having been initiated, Diogenes wished at the same time
to reform his morals and to teach him that the gods reserve their rewards
without stint for those whose lives have earned them the right to be
initiated, even though they have not gone through the ceremony, whereas
the wicked gain nothing by penetrating within the sacred precincts. For
this is what the hierophant proclaims, when he refuses the rite of
initiation to him “whose hands are not pure or who for any reason ought
not!(289)”)
Τί πέρας ἡμῖν ἔσται τῶν λόγων, εἰ ταῦτα μήπω σε πείθει;
(But where would this discourse end if you are still unconvinced by what I
have said?)
ORATION VIII
Introduction to Oration VIII
The Eighth Oration is a “speech of consolation” (παραμυθητικὸς λόγος), a
familiar type of Sophistic composition. In consequence of the attacks on
Sallust by sycophants at court, and moreover jealous of his friendship
with Julian, Constantius ordered him to leave Gaul. In this discourse,
which was written before the open rupture with Constantius, Julian alludes
only once and respectfully to his cousin. But Asmus thinks he can detect
in it a general resemblance to the Thirteenth Oration of Dio Chrysostom,
where Dio tries to comfort himself for his banishment by the tyrant
Domitian, and that Sallust was expected to appreciate this and the veiled
attack on Constantius. Julian addresses the discourse to himself, but it
was no doubt sent to Sallust.
After Julian’s accession Sallust was made prefect in 362 and consul in
363. He was the author of a manifesto of Neo‐Platonism, the treatise _On
the Gods and the World_, and to him was dedicated Julian’s Fourth
Oration.(290)
ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ
(Julian, Emperor)
[240] ΕΠΙ ΤΗΙ ΕΞΟΔΩΙ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΑΘΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΣΑΛΟΥΣΤΙΟΥ ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΗΤΙΚΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΕΑΥΤΟΝ
(A Consolation to Himself Upon The Departure of the Excellent Sallust)