προσιὼν ἐλευθέρᾳ, τὸν αὐχμὸν τῶν τριχῶν οὐκ ἀνεχομένῃ, ὥσπερ οἱ κουρέων
ἀποροῦντες ἄκαρτος καὶ βαθυγένειος εἰσέδραμον· ἐνόμισας ἂν Σμικρίνην ὁρᾶν
ἢ Θρασυλέοντα, δύσκολον πρεσβύτην ἢ στρατιώτην ἀνόητον, ἐξὸν φανῆναι τῷ
καλλωπισμῷ παῖδα ὡραῖον καὶ γενέσθαι μειράκιον, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἡλικίαν, τὸν
τρόπον γε [D] καὶ τὴν ἁβρότητα τοῦ προσώπου. “Οὐκ οἶσθα ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλεῖν,
οὐδ᾽ ἐπαινέτης εἶ τοῦ Θεόγνιδος, οὐδὲ μιμῇ τὸν ἀφομοιούμενον ταῖς πέτραις
πολύπουν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ λεγομένη Μυκόνιος ἀγροικία τε καὶ ἀμαθία καὶ ἀβελτηρία
πρὸς πάντας ἐπιτηδεύεται παρὰ σοῦ. λέληθέ σε ὅτι(726) πολλοῦ δεῖ ταῦτα
εἶναι Κελτοὶ καὶ Θρᾷκες καὶ Ἰλλυριοί; οὐχ ὁρᾷς, ὁπόσα μὲν ἐν τῇ πόλει
ταύτῃ καπηλεῖα; [350] σὺ δὲ ἀπεχθάνῃ τοῖς καπήλοις οὐ ξυγχωρῶν ὁπόσου
βούλονται πωλεῖν αὐτοὺς(727) τῷ δήμῳ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια καὶ τοῖς ἐπιδημοῦσιν. οἱ
δὲ τοὺς κεκτημένους τὴν γῆν αἰτιῶνται. σὺ δὲ καὶ τούτους ἐχθροὺς ποιεῖ
σαυτῷ τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν ἀναγκάζων. οἱ δὲ ἐν τέλει τῆς πόλεως ἀμφοῖν
μετέχοντες ταῖν ζημίαιν, ὥσπερ οἶιμαι πρότερον ἔχαριρον διχόθεν
καρπούμενοι τὰς ὠφελείας, [B] καὶ ὡς κεκτημένοι καὶ ὡς καπηλεύοντες, τὰ
νῦν εἰκότως λυποῦνται δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρων ἀφῃρημένοι τὰς ἐπικερδείας. ὁ δὲ τῶν
Σύρων δῆμος οὐκ ἔχων μεθύειν οὐδὲ κορδακίζειν ἄχθεται. σὺ δὲ σῖτον ἄφθονον
παρέχων οἴει τρέφειν αὐτοὺς ἱκανῶς. ἐκεῖνο δέ σου χαρίεν, ὅτι οὐδὲ ὅπως
ἰχθὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει πετραῖος ἔσται σκοπεῖς· ἀλλὰ καὶ πρῴην μεμφομένου τινός,
ὡς οὔτε ἰχθυδίων οὔτε ὀρνίθων πολλῶν εὑρισκομένων ἐν ἀγορᾷ, [C] τωθαστικὸν
μάλα ἐγέλασας, ἄρτου καὶ οἴνου καὶ ἐλαίου τῇ σώφρονι πόλει δεῖν φάμενος,
κρεῶν δ᾽ ἤδη τῇ τρυφώσῃ· τὸ γὰρ καὶ ἰχθύων καὶ ὀρνιθίων λόγον ποιεῖσθαι
πέρα τρυφῆς εἶναι καὶ ἧς οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐν Ἰθάκῃ μνηστῆρσι μετῆν ἀσελγείας. ὅτῳ
δὲ οὐκ ἐν ἡδονῇ κρέα ὕεια καὶ προβάτεια σιτεῖσθαι, τῶν ὀσπρίων ἁπτόμενος
εὖ πράξει. ταῦτα ἐνόμισας Θρᾳξὶ νομοθετεῖν [D] τοῖς σεαυτοῦ πολίταις ἢ
τοῖς ἀναισθήτοις Γαλάταις, οἵ σε ἐπαιδοτρίβησαν καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ‘πρίνινον,
σφενδάμνινον,’ οὐκέτι μέντοι καὶ ‘Μαραθωνομάχον,’ ἀλλ᾽ Ἀχαρνέα μὲν ἐξ
ἡμισείας, ἀηδῆ δ᾽ ἄνδρα παντάπασι καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἄχαριν. οὐ κρεῖττον ἦν
ὀδωδέναι μύρων τὴν ἀγορὰν βαδίζοντός σου καὶ παῖδας ἡγεῖσθαι καλούς, εἰς
οὓς ἀποβλέψουσιν οἱ πολῖται, καὶ χοροὺς γυναικῶν, ὁποῖοι παρ᾽ ἡμῖν
ἵστανται καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν;”
(But now I come to ponder the matter I find that I have committed yet
other terrible sins. For though I was coming to a free city which cannot
tolerate unkempt hair, I entered it unshaven and with a long beard, like
men who are at a loss for a barber. One would have thought it was some
Smicrines(728) he saw, or some Thrasyleon, some ill‐tempered old man or
crazy soldier, when by beautifying myself I might have appeared as a
blooming boy and transformed myself into a youth, if not in years, at any
rate in manners and effeminacy of features. “You do not know,” you answer,
“how to mix with people, and cannot approve of the maxim of Theognis,(729)
for you do not imitate the polypus which takes on the colours of the
rocks. Nay rather you behave to all men with the proverbial Myconian(730)
boorishness and ignorance and stupidity. Are you not aware that we here
are far from being Celts or Thracians or Illyrians? Do you not see what a
number of shops there are in this city? But you are hated by the
shopkeepers because you do not allow them to sell provisions to the common
people and those who are visiting the city at a price as high as they
please. The shopkeepers blame the landowners for the high prices; but you
make these men also your enemies, by compelling them to do what is just.
Again, those who hold office in the city are subject to both penalties; I
mean that just as, before you came, they obviously used to enjoy profits
from both sources, both as landowners and as shopkeepers, so naturally
they are now aggrieved on both accounts, since they have been robbed of
their profits from both sources. Then the whole body of Syrian citizens
are discontented because they cannot get drunk and dance the cordax.(731)
You, however, think that you are feeding them well enough if you provide
them with plenty of corn. Another charming thing about you is that you do
not even take care that the city shall have shell‐fish. Nay more, when
someone complained the other day that neither shell‐fish nor much poultry
could be found in the market, you laughed very maliciously and said that a
well‐conducted city needs bread, wine and olive oil, but meat only when it
is growing luxurious.(732) For you said that even to speak of fish and
poultry is the extreme of luxury and of profligacy such as was beyond the
reach of even the suitors in Ithaca; and that anyone who did not enjoy
eating pork and mutton(733) would fare very well if he took to
vegetables.(734) You must have thought that you were laying down these
rules for Thracians, your own fellow‐citizens, or for the uncultured
people of Gaul who—so much the worse for us!—trained you to be ‘a heart of
maple, a heart of oak,’ though not indeed ‘one who fought at
Marathon’(735) also, but rather to be half of you an Acharnian and
altogether an unpleasant person and an ungracious fellow. Would it not be
better that the market place should be fragrant with myrrh when you walk
there and that you should be followed by a troop of handsome boys at whom
the citizens could stare, and by choruses of women like those that exhibit
themselves every day in our city?”)
[351] Ἐμὲ δὲ ὑγρὸν βλέπειν ῥιπτοῦντα πανταχοῦ τὰ ὄμματα, ὅπως ὑμῖν καλός,
οὔτι τὴν ψυχήν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσωπον ὀφθείην, ὁ τρόπος οὐ συγχωρεῖ. ἔστι γάρ,
ὡς ὑμεῖς κρίνετε, ψυχῆς ἀληθινὸν κάλλος ὑγρότης βίου. ἐμὲ δὲ ὁ παιδαγωγὸς
ἐδίδασκεν εἰς γῆν βλέπειν ἐς διδασκάλου φοιτῶντα· θέατρον δ᾽ οὐκ εἶδον
πρὶν μᾶλλον κομῆσαι τῆς κεφαλῆς τὸ γένειον, ἐν ἐκείνῳ δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας ἰδίᾳ
μὲν καὶ κατ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν οὐδέποτε, τρίτον δὲ ἢ τέταρτον, εὖ ἴστε, [B] Πατρόκλῳ
ἐπίηρα φέρων ἄρχων ἐπέταττεν οἰκεῖος ὢν ἐμοὶ καὶ ἀναγκαῖος· ἐτύγχανον δὲ
ἰδιώτης ἔτι· σύγγνωτε οὖν ἐμοί· δίδωμι γὰρ ὃν ἀντ᾽ ἐμοῦ δικαιότερον
μισήσετε τὸν φιλαπεχθήμονα παιδαγωγόν, ὅς με καὶ τότε ἐλύπει μίαν ὁδὸν
ἰέναι διδάσκων καὶ νῦν αἴτιος ἐστί μοι τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀπεχθείας, [C]
ἐνεργασάμενος τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ ὥσπερ ἐντυπώσας ὅπερ ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἐβουλόμην τότε,
ὁ δὲ ὡς δή τι χαρίεν ποιῶν μάλα προθύμως ἐνετίθει, καλῶν οἶμαι σεμνότητα
τὴν ἀγροικίαν καὶ σωφροσύνην τὴν ἀναισθησίαν, ἀνδρείαν δὲ τὸ μὴ εἴκειν
ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις μηδ᾽ εὐδαίμονα ταύτῃ γίνεσθαι. ἔφη δέ μοι πολλάκις, εὖ
ἴστε, ναὶ μὰ Δία καὶ μούσας, ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ἔτι παιδαρίῳ κομιδῇ, Μή σε
παραπειθέτω τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν ἐπὶ τὰ θέατρα [D] φερόμενον ὀρεχθῆναί
ποτε ταυτησὶ τῆς θέας. ἱπποδρομίας ἐπιθυμεῖς; ἔστι παρ᾽ Ὁμήρῳ δεξιώτατα
πεποιημένη· λαβὼν ἐπέξιθι τὸ βιβλίον. τοὺς παντομίμους ἀκούεις ὀρχηστάς;
ἔα χαίρειν αὐτούς· ἀνδρικώτερον παρὰ τοῖς Φαίαξιν ὀρχεῖται τὰ μειράκια· σὺ
δ᾽ ἔχεις κιθαρῳδὸν τὸν Φήμιον καὶ ᾠδὸν τὸν Δημόδοκον. ἔστι καὶ φυτὰ παρ᾽
αὐτῷ πολλὰ τερπνότερα ἀκοῦσαι τῶν ὁρωμένων·
(No, my temperament does not allow me to look wanton, casting my eyes in
all directions in order that in your sight I may appear beautiful, not
indeed in soul but in face. For, in your judgment, true beauty of soul
consists in a wanton life. I, however, was taught by my tutor to look on
the ground when I was on my way to school; and as for a theatre, I never
saw one until I had more hair on my chin than on my head,(736) and even at
that age it was never on my own account and by my own wish, but three or
four times, you must know, the governor who was my kinsman and near
relative, “doing a favour to Patroclus,” ordered me to attend; it was
while I was still a private individual.(737) Therefore forgive me. For I
hand over to you instead of myself one whom you will more justly detest, I
mean that curmudgeon my tutor who even then used to harass me by teaching
me to walk in one straight path(738) and now he is responsible for my
quarrel with you. It was he who wrought in my soul and as it were carved
therein what I did not then desire, though he was very zealous in
implanting it, as though he were producing some charming characteristic;
and boorishness he called dignity, lack of taste he called sobriety, and
not yielding to one’s desires or achieving happiness by that means he
called manliness. I assure you, by Zeus and the Muses, that while I was
still a mere boy my tutor would often say to me: “Never let the crowd of
your playmates who flock to the theatres lead you into the mistake of
craving for such spectacles as these. Have you a passion for horse races?
There is one in Homer,(739) very cleverly described. Take the book and
study it. Do you hear them talking about dancers in pantomime? Leave them
alone! Among the Phaeacians the youths dance in more manly fashion. And
for citharode(740) you have Phemius; for singer Demodocus. Moreover there
are in Homer many plants more delightful to hear of than those that we can
see:)
Δήλῳ δή ποτε τοῖον Ἀπόλλωνος παρὰ βωμὸν
[352] Φοίνικος νέον ἔρνος ἀνερχόμενον ἐνόησα.
(‘Even so did I once see the young shoot of a date palm springing
up near the altar of Apollo on Delos.’(741))
καὶ ἡ δενδρήεσσα τῆς Καλυψοῦς νῆσος καὶ τὰ τῆς Κίρκης σπήλαια καὶ ὁ
Ἀλκίνου κῆπος· εὖ ἴσθι, τούτων οὐδὲν ὄψει τερπνότερον.
(“And consider the wooded island of Calypso and the caves of Circe and the
garden of Alcinous; be assured that you will never see anything more
delightful than these.”)
Ἆρα ποθεῖτε καὶ τοὔνομα ὑμῖν φράσω τοῦ παιδαγωγοῦ, καὶ ὅστις ὢν γένος
ταῦτα ἔλεγε; βάρβαρος νὴ θεοὺς καὶ θεάς, Σκύθης μὲν τὸ γένος, ὁμώνυμος δὲ
τοῦ τὸν Ξέρξην ἀναπείσαντος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα στρατεῦσαι, καὶ τὸ πολυθρύλητον
τοῦτο δὴ [B] πρὸ μηνῶν μὲν εἴκοσι προσκυνούμενον ὄνομα, νυνὶ δὲ
προφερόμενον ἀντ᾽ ἀδικήματος καὶ ὀνείδους, εὐνοῦχος ἦν, ὑπὸ τὠμῷ
τεθραμμένος πάππῳ, τὴν μητέρα τὴν ἐμὴν ὅπως ἀγάγοι διὰ τῶν Ὁμήρου καὶ
Ἡσιόδου ποιημάτων. ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐκείνη πρῶτον ἐμὲ καὶ μόνον τεκοῦσα μησὶν
ὕστερον ὀλίγοις ἐτελεύτησεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀμήτορος παρθένου πολλῶν [C] συμφορῶν
ἐκκλαπεῖσα κόρη καὶ νέα, μετ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ἕβδομον αὐτῷ παρεδόθην. οὗτος ἐξ
ἐκείνου ταῦτα ἀνέπεισεν ἄγων ἐς διδασκάλου μίαν ὁδόν· ἄλλην δ᾽ οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς
εἰδέναι θέλων οὔτ᾽ ἐμοὶ βαδίζειν ξυγχωρῶν ἐποίησεν ἀπεχθάνεσθαί με πᾶσιν
ὑμῖν. ἀλλ᾽, εἰ δοκεῖ, σπεισώμεθα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐγώ τε καὶ ὑμεῖς τὴν ἀπέχθειαν
λύσαντες. οὔτε γὰρ ἠπίστατο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀφιξόμενον οὔτ᾽, εἰ τὰ μάλιστα
φοιτᾶν μέλλοιμι, [D] ὅτι καὶ ἄρχων προσεδόκα, καὶ τοσαύτην ἀρχήν, ὅσην
ἔδωκαν οἱ θεοί, πολλὰ ὁμοῦ βιασάμενοι, πείσθητέ μοι, καὶ τὸν διδόντα καὶ
τὸν δεχόμενον. ἐῴκει γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐδέτερος ἐθέλειν οὔτε ὁ διδοὺς τὴν τιμὴν ἢ
χάριν ἢ ὅ,τι φίλον ὑμῖν αὐτὸ ὀνομάζειν δοῦναι, καὶ ὁ λαμβάνων, ὡς ἴσασιν
οἱ θεοὶ πάντες, ἀληθῶς ἠρνεῖτο. καὶ δὴ τοῦτο μὲν ὅπῃ τοῖς θεοῖς φίλον ἔχει
τε καὰ ἕξει. τυχὸν δὲ ὁ παιδαγωγὸς εἰ προύγνω τοῦτο, [353] πολλὴν ἂν
ἐποιήσατο προμήθειαν, ὅπως ὅ,τι μάλιστα ὑμῖν φανείην κεχαρισμένος.
(And now do you want me to tell you also my tutor’s name and the
nationality of the man who used to say these things? He was a barbarian,
by the gods and goddesses; by birth he was a Scythian, and he had the same
name(742) as the man who persuaded Xerxes to invade Greece. Moreover he
was a eunuch, a word which, twenty months ago,(743) was constantly heard
and revered, though it is now applied as an insult and a term of abuse. He
had been brought up under the patronage of my grandfather, in order that
he might instruct my mother(744) in the poems of Homer and Hesiod. And
since she, after giving birth to me her first and only child, died a few
months later, snatched away while she was still a young girl by the
motherless maiden(745) from so many misfortunes that were to come, I was
handed over to him after my seventh year. From that time he won me over to
these views of his, and led me to school by one straight path; and since
neither he himself desired to know any other nor allowed me to travel by
any other path, it is he who has caused me to be hated by all of you.
However, if you agree, let us make a truce with him, you and I, and make
an end of our quarrel. For he neither knew that I should visit you nor did
he anticipate that, even supposing I was likely to come here, it would be
as a ruler, and that too over so great an empire as the gods bestowed on
me; though they did not do so, believe me, without using great compulsion
both towards him who offered and him who accepted it. For neither of us
had the air of being willing; since he who offered that honour or favour
or whatever you may please to call it, was unwilling to bestow it, while
he who received it was sincere in steadily refusing it. This matter,
however, is and shall be as the gods will. But perhaps if my tutor had
foreseen this he would have exercised much forethought to the end that I
might, as far as possible, seem agreeable in your eyes.)
Εἶτα οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἀποθέσθαι νῦν καὶ μεταμαθεῖν εἴ τι πρότερον ἡμῖν ἄγροικον
ἦθος ἐνετράφη; Ἔθος, φασί, δευτέρη φύσις· φύσει μάχεσθαι δ᾽ ἔργον, ἐτῶν
τριάκοντα μελέτην ἀφεῖναι παγχάλεπον ἄλλως τε καὶ μετὰ τοσαύτης
ἐγγενομένην τῆς χαλεπότητος· ἐμοὶ δὲ ἤδη πλείω τούτων ἐστίν. Εἶεν· [B]
ἀλλὰ τί παθὼν αὐτὸς ἐπιχειρεῖς ἀκροᾶσθαι περὶ τῶν συμβολαίων καὶ δικάζειν;
οὐ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τοῦτό σε ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ἐδίδασκεν, ὃς οὐδ᾽ εἰ ἄρξεις ἠπίστατο.
Δεινὸς δὲ ἀνέπεισε γέρων, ὃν καὶ ὑμειῖς ὡς ὄντα μάλιστα αἰτιώτατον τῶν
ἐμῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὀρθῶς ποιοῦντες ξυλλοιδορεῖτέ μοι, καὶ τοῦτον δ᾽, εὖ
ἴστε, ὑπ᾽ ἄλλων ἐξηπατημένον. ὀνόματα ἥκει πρὸς ὑμᾶς πολλάκις κωμῳδούμενα,
Πλάτων καὶ Σωκράτης καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ Θεόφραστος. [C] ἐκείνοις ὁ γέρων
οὗτος πεισθεὶς ὑπ᾽ ἀφροσύνης, ἔπειτα ἐμὲ νέον εὑρών, ἐραστὴν λόγων,
ἀνέπεισεν, ὡς, εἰ τὰ πάντα ἐκείνων ζηλωτὴς γενοίμην, ἀμείνων ἔσομαι τῶν
μὲν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἴσως οὐδενός· οὐ γὰρ εἶναί μοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν ἅμιλλαν·
ἐμαυτοῦ δὲ πάντως. ἐγὼ δέ· οὐ γὰρ εἶχον ὅ,τι ποιῶ· πεισθεὶς οὐκέτι δύναμαι
μεταθέσθαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐθέλων πολλάκις, [D] ἀλλ᾽ ὀνειδίζω μὲν ἐμαυτῷ, διότι
μὴ ποιῶ πᾶσιν ἄδειαν(746) ἁπάντων ἀδικημάτων· ὕπεισι δέ με ἐκ τῶν Πλάτωνος
ὅσα ὁ Ἀθηναῖος διεξῆλθε ξένος, “Τίμιος μὲν δὴ καὶ ὁ μηδὲν ἀδικῶν, ὁ δὲ
μηδ᾽ ἐπιτρέπων τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν ἀδικεῖν πλέον ἢ διπλασίας τιμῆς ἄξιος
ἐκείνου· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἑνός, ὁ δὲ πολλῶν ἀντάξιος ἑτέρων, μηνύων τὴν τῶν ἄλλων
τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἀδικίαν. ὁ δὲ καὶ συγκολάζων εἰς δύναμιν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν,
[354] ὁ μέγας ἀνὴρ ἐν πόλει καὶ τέλειος, οὗτος ἀναγορευέσθω νικηφόρος
ἀρετῆς. τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τοῦτον ἔπαινον καὶ περὶ σωφροσύνης χρὴ λέγειν καὶ
περὶ φρονήσεως καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἀγαθά τις κέκτηται, δυνατὰ μὴ μόνον αὐτὸν
ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοις μεταδιδόναι.”
(What then, you will ask, is it not possible even now for me to lay aside
my character, and to repent of the boorish temper that was bred in me in
earlier days? Habit, as the saying goes, is second nature. But to fight
with nature is hard; and to shake off the training of thirty years is very
difficult, especially when it was carried on with such painful effort, and
I am already more than thirty years old. “Well and good,” you answer, “but
what is the matter with you that you try to hear and decide cases about
contracts? For surely your tutor did not teach you this also, since he did
not even know whether you would govern.” Yes, it was that terrible old man
who convinced me that I ought to do so; and you also do well to help me to
abuse him, since he is of all men most responsible for my way of life;
though he too, you must know, had in his turn been misled by others.
Theirs are names that you have often met when they are ridiculed in
Comedy—I mean Plato and Socrates, Aristotle and Theophrastus. This old man
in his folly was first convinced by them, and then he got hold of me,
since I was young and loved literature, and convinced me that if I would
emulate those famous men in all things I should become better, not perhaps
than other men—for it was not with them that I had to compete—but
certainly better than my former self. Accordingly, since I had no choice
in the matter, I obeyed him, and now I am no longer able to change my
character, though indeed I often wish I could, and I blame myself for not
granting to all men impunity for all wrong‐doing. But then the words of
the Athenian stranger in Plato occur to my mind: “Though he who does no
wrong himself is worthy of honour, he who does not allow the wicked to do
wrong is worthy of more than twice as much honour. For whereas the former
is responsible for one man only, the latter is responsible for many others
besides himself, when he reports to the magistrates the wrong‐doing of the
rest. And he who as far as he can helps the magistrates to punish wrong‐
doers, himself being the great and powerful man in the city, let him I say
be proclaimed as winner of the prize for virtue. And we ought to utter the
same eulogy with regard to temperance also, and wisdom and all the other
good qualities that such a man possesses, and which are such that he is
able not only to have them himself but also to impart them to other
men.”(747))
Ταῦτα ἐδίδασκέ με νομίζων ἰδιώτην ἔσεσθαι· [B] καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ προύγνω ταύτην
ἐκ Διός μοι τὴν τύχην ἐσομένην, εἰς ἣν νῦν ὁ θεὸς φέρων κατέστησεν. ἐγὼ δὲ
αἰσχυνόμενος ἄρχων ἰδιώτου φαυλότερος εἶναι λέληθα ἐμαυτόν, οὐδὲν δέον,
ὑμῖν τῆς ἀγροικίας μεταδιδοὺς τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ. καί με ἕτερος τῶν Πλάτωνος
νόμων ὑπομνησθέντα ἐμαυτοῦ πεποίηκεν ἀπεχθάνεσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὅς φησι δεῖν
αἰδῶ καὶ σωφροσύνην ἀσκεῖν τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους, [C] ἵνα τὰ
πλήθη πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀποβλέποντα κοσμῆται. μόνῳ οὖν μοι, μᾶλλον δὲ ξὺν
ὀλίγοις ἐπιτηδεύοντι νῦν τοῦτο πρὸς θάτερα περιέστη καὶ γέγονεν οὐκ
ἀπεικότως ἐν ὀνείδει. ἑπτὰ γάρ ἐσμεν οἵδε παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ξένοι νεήλυδες, εἷς δὲ
καὶ πολίτης ὑμέτερος, Ἑρμῇ φίλος καὶ ἐμοί, λόγων ἀγαθὸς δημιουργός, οἷς
οὐδέν ἐστι πρός τινα συμβόλαιον, οὐδ᾽ ἄλλην ὁδὸν βαδίζομεν ἦ πρὸς τὰ τῶν
θεῶν ἱερά, [D] καὶ ὀλιγάκις, οὐ πάντες, εἰς τὰ θέατρα, πεποιημένοι τὸ
δυσκλεέστατον τῶν ἔργων καὶ ἐπονειδιστότατον(748) τοῦ βίου τέλος·
ἐπιτρέψουσί μοι πάντως οἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων σοφοὶ φάναι τι τῶν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν
ἐπιπολαζόντων· οὐ γὰρ ἔχω πῶς ἂν αὐτὸ μᾶλλον ἐνδειξαίμην· ἐπὶ τῆς
μεσιτείας αὑτοὺς ἐτάξαμεν, οὕτω περὶ πολλοῦ ποιούμεθα τὸ προσκρούειν ὑμῖν
καὶ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι, δέον ἀρέσκειν καὶ θωπεύειν. ὁ δεῖνα ἐβιάσατο τὸν δεῖνα.
Τί τοῦτο, ὦ μῶρε, πρὸς σέ; κοινωνεῖν ἐξὸν μετ᾽ εὐνοίας τῶν ἀδικημάτων,
ἀφεὶς τὸ κέρδος ἔχθραν ἐπαναιρῇ, [355] καὶ τοῦτο ποιῶν ὀρθῶς οἴει ποιεῖν
καὶ φρονεῖν ὑπὲρ τῶν σεαυτοῦ. λογίσασθαι ἐχρῆν, ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἀδικουμένων
οὐδεὶς αἰτιᾶται τοὺς ἄρχοντας, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀδικήσαντα, ὁ δ᾽ ἀδικῶν εἶτα
εἰργόμενος, ἀφεὶς μέμφεσθαι τὸν ἀδικούμενον, εἰς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τρέπει τὸ
ἄχθος.
(These things he taught me when he thought that I should be a private
citizen. For he certainly did not foresee that there would be assigned to
me by Zeus this lot in life to which the god has now brought me and has
set me therein. But I, because I was ashamed to be less virtuous as a
ruler than I had been as a private citizen, have unconsciously given you
the benefit of my own boorishness, though there was no necessity. And
another of Plato’s laws has made me take thought for myself and so become
hateful in your eyes: I mean the law which says that those who govern, and
also the older men, ought to train themselves in respect for others and in
self‐control, in order that the masses may look to them and so order their
own lives aright. Now since I alone, or rather in company with a few
others, am now pursuing this course, it has had a very different result
and has naturally become a reproach against me. For we here are only seven
persons, strangers and newcomers in your city,—though indeed one of our
number is a fellow‐citizen of yours, a man dear to Hermes and to me, an
excellent craftsman of discourses.(749) And we have business dealings with
no man, nor do we go by any road that does not lead to the temples of the
gods; and seldom, and then not all of us, do we go to the theatres, since
we have adopted the most inglorious line of conduct and the most unpopular
aim and end of life. The wise men of Greece will surely allow me to repeat
some of the sayings current among you; for I have no better way of
illustrating what I mean. We have stationed ourselves in the middle of the
road, so highly do we prize the opportunity to collide with you and to be
disliked, when we ought rather to try to please and flatter you. “So‐and‐
so has oppressed So‐and‐so.” “Fool! What business is it of yours? When it
was in your power to win his good‐will by becoming the partner in his
wrong‐doing, you first let the profit go, and incur hatred besides; and
when you do this you think that you are doing right and are wise about
your own affairs. You ought to have taken into account that, when men are
wronged, not one of them ever blames the magistrates but only the man who
has wronged him; but the man who seeks to do wrong and is prevented from
it, far from blaming his proposed victim, turns his grievance against the
magistrates.)
Ἐξὸν οὖν ὑπὸ τῆς εὐλογιστίας ταύτης ἀπέχεσθαι μὲν τοῦ τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν
ἀναγκάζειν, ἐπιτρέψαι δ᾽ ἑκάστῳ πράττειν ὅ, τι [B] ἂν ἐθέλῃ καὶ δυνατὸς ᾖ·
τὸ γὰρ τῆς πόλεως ἦθος οἶμαι τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ἐλεύθερον λίαν· σὺ δὲ οὐ
ξυνεὶς ἄρχεσθαι αὐτοὺς μετὰ φρονήσεως ἀξιοῖς; οὐδ᾽ ἀπέβλεψας ὅση καὶ μέχρι
τῶν ὄνων ἐστὶν ἐλευθερία παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν καμήλων; ἄγουσί τοι καὶ
ταύτας οἱ μισθωτοὶ διὰ τῶν στοῶν ὥσπερ τὰς νύμφας· οἱ γὰρ ὑπαίθριοι
στενωποὶ καὶ αἱ πλατεῖαι τῶν ὁδῶν οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτῳ δήπου πεποίηνται, τῷ
χρῆσθαι αὐταῖς τοὺς κανθηλίους, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖναι μὲν αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο κόσμου
τινὸς ἕνεκα πρόκεινται καὶ πολυτελείας, [C] χρῆσθαι δὲ ὑπ᾽ ἐλευθερίας οἱ
ὄνοι βούλονται ταῖς στοαῖς, εἴργει δ᾽ αὐτοὺς οὐδεὶς οὐδενός, ἵνα μὴ τὴν
ἐλευθερίαν ἀφέληται· οὕτως ἡ πόλις ἐστὶν ἐλευθέρα. σὺ δὲ ἀξιοῖς τοὺς ἐν
αὐτῇ νεανίσκους ἄγειν ἡσυχίαν καὶ μάλιστα μὲν φρονεῖν ὅ, τι σοι φίλον, εἰ
δὲ μή, φθέγγεσθαι ὅσων ἂν ἡδέως ἀκούσῃς.(750) οἱ δὲ ὑπ᾽ ἐλευθερίας εἰώθασι
κωμάζειν, ἀεὶ μὲν ἐπιεικῶς αὐτὸ ποιοῦντες, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἑορταῖς πλέον.
(“Then when it was in your power by the aid of this careful reasoning to
refrain from compelling us to do what is just; when you might have allowed
every man to do whatever he pleases and has the power to do,—for the
temper of the city is surely like that, excessively independent—do you
then, I say, fail to understand this and assert that the citizens ought to
be wisely governed? Have you not even observed what great independence
exists among the citizens, even down to the very asses and camels? The men
who hire them out lead even these animals through the porticoes as though
they were brides. For the unroofed alleys and the broad highways were
certainly not made for the use of pack‐asses, but they are provided merely
for show and as an extravagance; but in their independence the asses
prefer to use the porticoes, and no one keeps them out of any one of
these, for fear he should be robbing them of their independence; so
independent is our city! And yet you think that even the charming youths
in the city ought to keep quiet and, if possible, think whatever you like,
but at any rate utter only what is agreeable for you to hear! But it is
their independence that makes them hold revels; and this they always do
handsomely, but during the festivals they revel more than usual.”)