μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς ἡ νύμφη, τίς δὲ ἧν ὁ τῆς πομπῆς τρόπος, ἁρμάτων καὶ ἵππων
καὶ ὀχημάτων παντοδαπῶν χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ ὀρειχάλκῳ μετὰ τῆς ἀρίστης
τέχνης εἰργασμένων, ἴστω παιδικῶν σφόδρα ἀκουσμάτων ἐπιθυμῶν· [111]
καθάπερ γὰρ οἶμαι κιθαρῳδοῦ τινος δεξιοῦ τὴν τέχνην· ἔστω δέ, εἰ βούλει,
Τέρπανδρος οὗτος ἢ ὁ Μηθυμναῖος ἐκεῖνος, ὃν δὴ λόγος ἔχει δαιμονίᾳ πομπῇ
χρησάμενον φιλομουσοτέρου τοῦ δελφῖνος τυχεῖν ἢ τῶν ξυμπλεόντων, καὶ ἐπὶ
τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἄκραν κομισθῆναι· ἔθελγε γὰρ οἶμαι τοὺς δυστυχεῖς ναύτας ὅσα
ἐκεῖνος ἀπὸ τῆς τέχνης εἰργάσατο, αὐτῆς δὲ ἐκείνης ὑπερεώρων καὶ οὐδεμίαν
ὤραν ἐποιοῦντο τῆς μουσικῆς· [B] εἰ δὴ οὖν τις τοῖν ἀνδροῖν ἐκείνοιν τὸν
κράτιστον ἐπιλεξάμενος καὶ ἀποδοὺς τὸν περὶ τὸ σῶμα κόσμον τῇ τέχνῃ
πρέποντα εἶτα ἐς θέατρον παραγάγοι παντοδαπῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ
παίδων φύσει τε καὶ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτηδεύμασι διαφερόντων, οὐκ
ἂν οἴεσθε τοὺς μὲν παῖδας καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν(524) ὁπόσοι τοιοῦτοι
εἰς τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὴν κιθάραν ἀποβλέποντας ἐκπεπλῆχθαι δεινῶς πρὸς τὴν
ὄψιν, τῶν ἀνδρῶν δὲ τοὺς ἀμαθεστέρους καὶ γυναικῶν πλὴν σφόδρα ὀλίγων ἅπαν
τὸ πλῆθος ἡδονῇ [C] καὶ λύπῃ κρίνειν τὰ κρούματα, μουσικὸν δὲ ἄνδρα, τοὺς
νόμους(525) ἐξεπιστάμενον τῆς τέχνης, οὔτε μιγνύμενα τὰ μέλη τῆς ἡδονῆς
χάριν φαύλως ἀνέχεσθαι, δυσχεραίνειν τε(526) καὶ εἰ(527) τοὺς τρόπους τῆς
μουσικῆς διαφθείροι καὶ εἰ ταῖς ἁρμονίαις μὴ δεόντως χρῷτο μηδὲ ἑπομένως
τοῖς νόμοις τῆς ἀληθινῆς καὶ θείας μουσικῆς; ὁρῶν δὲ ἐμμένοντα τοῖς
νομισθεῖσι καὶ οὐ κίβδηλον ἡδονήν, καθαρὰν δὲ [D] καὶ ἀκήρατον τοῖς
θεαταῖς ἐνεργασάμενον ἄπεισι τοῦτον ἐπαινῶν καὶ ἐκπληττόμενος, ὄτι δὴ σὺν
τέχνῃ μηδὲν ἀδικῶν τὰς Μούσας τῷ θεάτρῳ ξυγγέγονε. τὸν δὲ τὴν ἁλουργίδα
καὶ τὴν κιθάραν ἐπαινοῦντα ληρεῖν οἴεται καὶ ἀνοηταίνειν· καὶ εἰ διὰ
πλείονων(528) τὰ τοιαῦτα διηγεῖται, λέξει τε ἡδίστῃ κοσμῶν καὶ ἐπιλεαίνων
τὸ φαῦλον καὶ ἀγεννὲς τῶν διηγημάτων, γελοιότερον νομίζει [112] τῶν
ἀποτορνείειν τὰς κέγχρους ἐπιχειρούντων, καθάπερ οἶμαι φασὶ τὸν Μυρμηκίδην
ἀντιταττόμενον τῇ Φειδίου τέχνῃ. οὔκουν οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἑκόντες αὑτοὺς ταύταις
ὑποθήσομεν ταῖς αἰτίαις, ἱματίων πολυτελῶν καὶ δώρων παντοίων ὅρμων τε καὶ
στεφάνων κατάλογον τῶν ἐκ βασιλέως μακρόν τινα τοῦτον ᾄδοντες, οὐδὲ ὡς
ἀπήντων οἱ δῆμοι δεξιούμενοι καὶ χαίροντες, οὐδὲ ὅσα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκείνην
λαμπρὰ καὶ ζηλωτὰ γέγονε καὶ ἐνομίσθη. [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τῶν βασιλείων εἴσω
παρῆλθε καὶ τῆς ἐπωνυμίας ταύτης ἠξιώθη, τί πρῶτον ἔργον ἐκείνης γέγονε,
καὶ αὖθις δεύτερον, καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τρίτον, καὶ πολλὰ δὴ μάλα τὸ ἐντεῦθεν; οὐ
γάρ, εἰ σφόδρα λέγειν ἐθέλοιμι καὶ μακρὰς ὑπὲρ τούτων βίβλους ξυντιθέναι,
ἀρκέσειν ὑπολαμβάνω τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἔργων, ὅσα ἐκείνῃ φρόνησιν καὶ πρᾳότητα
καὶ σωφροσύνην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπιείκειάν τε καὶ ἐλευθεριότητα [C] καὶ
τὰς ἄλλας ἀρετὰς ἐξεμαρτύρησε λαμπρότερον, ἢ νῦν ὁ παρὼν περὶ αὐτῆς λόγος
δηλοῦν ἐπιχειρεῖ καὶ ἐκδιδάσκειν τοὺς πάλαι διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐγνωκότας. οὐ
μὴν ἐπειδὴ ἐκεῖνο δυσχερές, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀδύνατον ἐφάνη, παντελῶς ἄξιον ὑπὲρ
ἁπάντων ἀποσιωπῆσαι, πειράσθαι δὲ εἰς δύναμιν φράζειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς
μὲν φρονήσεως ποιεῖσθαι σημεῖον καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς πάσης, ὅτι τὸν
γήμαντα διέθηκεν οὕτω περὶ αὑτὴν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἄξιον γυναῖκα καλὴν καὶ
γενναίαν.
(But should any haply desire to hear of such things as how the bride was
bidden to come from Macedonia with her mother, and what was the manner of
the cavalcade, of the chariots and horses and carriages of all sorts,
decorated with gold and silver and copper of the finest workmanship, let
me tell him that it is extremely childish of him to wish to hear such
things. It is like the case of some player on the cithara who is an
accomplished artist—let us say if you please Terpander or he of
Methymna(529) of whom the story goes that he enjoyed a divine escort and
found that the dolphin cared more for music than did his fellow‐voyagers,
and was thus conveyed safely to the Laconian promontory.(530) For though
he did indeed charm those miserable sailors by his skilful performance,
yet they despised his art and paid no heed to his music. Now, as I was
going to say, if some one were to choose the best of those two musicians,
and were to clothe him in the raiment suited to his art, and were then to
bring him into a theatre full of men, women and children of all sorts,
varying in temperament and age and habits besides, do you not suppose that
the children and those of the men and women who had childish tastes would
gaze at his dress and his lyre, and be marvellously smitten with his
appearance, while the more ignorant of the men, and the whole crowd of
women, except a very few, would judge his playing simply by the criterion
of pleasure or the reverse; whereas a musical man who understood the rules
of the art would not endure that the melodies should be wrongly mixed for
the sake of giving pleasure, but would resent it if the player did not
preserve the modes of the music and did not use the harmonies properly,
and conformably to the laws of genuine and inspired music? But if he saw
that he was faithful to the principles of his art and produced in the
audience a pleasure that was not spurious but pure and uncontaminated, he
would go home praising the musician, and filled with admiration because
his performance in the theatre was artistic and did the Muses no wrong.
But such a man thinks that anyone who praises the purple raiment and the
lyre is foolish and out of his mind, while, if he goes on to give full
details about such outward things, adorning them with an agreeable style
and smoothing away all that is worthless and vulgar in the tale, then the
critic thinks him more ridiculous than those who try to carve cherry‐
stones,(531) as I believe is related of Myrmecides(532) who thus sought to
rival the art of Pheidias. And so neither will I, if I can help it, lay
myself open to this charge by reciting the long list of costly robes and
gifts of all kinds and necklaces and garlands that were sent by the
Emperor, nor how the folk in each place came to meet her with welcome and
rejoicing, nor all the glorious and auspicious incidents that occurred on
that journey, and were reported. But when she entered the palace and was
honoured with her imperial title, what was the first thing she did and
then the second and the third and the many actions that followed? For
however much I might wish to tell of them and to compose lengthy volumes
about them, I think that, for the majority, those of her deeds will be
sufficient that more conspicuously witnessed to her wisdom and clemency
and modesty and benevolence and goodness and generosity and her other
virtues, than does now the present account of her, which tries to
enlighten and instruct those who have long known it all from personal
experience. For it would not be at all proper, merely because the task has
proved to be difficult or rather impossible, to keep silence about the
whole, but one should rather try, as far as one can, to tell about those
deeds, and to bring forward as a proof of her wisdom and of all her other
virtues the fact that she made her husband regard her as it is fitting
that he should regard a beautiful and noble wife.)
Ὥστε ἔγωγε τῆς Πηνελόπης πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα νομίσας ἐπαίνων ἄξια [D] τοῦτο ἐν
τοῖς μάλιστα θαυμάζω, ὅτι δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα λίαν ἔπειθε στέργειν καὶ ἀγαπᾶν
αὑτὴν ὑπερορῶντα μέν, ὡς φασί, δαιμονίων γάμων, ἀτιμάζοντα δὲ οὐ μεῖον τὴν
τῶν Φαιάκων ξυγγένειαν. Καίτοι γε εἶχον αὐτοῦ πᾶσαι ἐρωτικῶς, Καλυψὼ καὶ
Κίρκη καὶ Ναυσικάα· καὶ ἦν αὐταῖς τὰ βασίλεια πάγκαλα, κήπων τινῶν [113]
καὶ παραδείσων ἐν αὐτοῖς πεφυτευμένων μάλα ἀμφιλαφέσι καὶ κατασκίοις τοῖς
δένδρεσι, λειμῶνές τε ἄνθεσι ποικίλοις καὶ μαλακῇ τῆ πόᾳ βρύοντες·
(Therefore, though I think that many of the other qualities of Penelope
are worthy of praise, this I admire beyond all, that she so entirely
persuaded her husband to love and cherish her, that he despised, we are
told, unions with goddesses, and equally rejected an alliance with the
Phaeacians. And yet they were all in love with him, Calypso, Circe,
Nausicaa. And they had very beautiful palaces and gardens and parks
withal, planted with wide‐spreading and shady trees, and meadows gay with
flowers, in which soft grass grew deep: “And four fountains in a row
flowed with shining water.”(533))
Κρῆναι δ᾽ ἑξείης πίσυρες ῥέον ὕδατι λευκῷ· καὶ ἐτεθήλει περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν
ἡμερὶς ἡβώωσα(534) σταφυλῆς οἶμαι τῆς γενναίας, βριθομένη τοῖς βότρυσι·
καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Φαίαξιν ἕτερα τοιαῦτα, πλὴν ὅσῳ πολυτελέστερα, [B] ἅτε οἶμαι
ποιητὰ ξὺν τέχνῃ, τῆς τῶν αὐτοφυῶν ἄλαττον μετεῖχε χάριτος καὶ ἧττον εἶναι
ἐδόκει ἐκείνων ἐράσμια. τῆς τρυφῆς δὲ αὖ καὶ τοῦ πλούτου καὶ προσέτι τῆς
περὶ τὰς νήσους ἐκείνας εἰρήνης καὶ ἡσυχίας τίνα οὐκ ἂν ἡττηθῆναι
δοκεῖτε(535) τοσούτους ἀνατλάντα πόνους καὶ κινδύνους καὶ ἔτι ὑφορώμενον
δεινότερα(536) πείσεσθαι, τὰ μὲν ἐν θαλάττῃ τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτῆς,
[C] πρὸς ἑκατὸν νεανίσκους ἡβῶντας εὖ μάλα μόνον ἀγωνίζεσθαι μέλλοντα,
ὅπερ οὐδὲ ἐν Τροίᾳ ἐκείνῳ ποτὲ συνηνέχθη; εἴ τις οὖν ἔροιτο τὸν Ὀδυσσέα
παίζων ὧδέ πως· τί ποτε, ὦ σοφώτατε ῥῆτορ ἦ στρατηγὲ ἦ ὅ τι χρή σε
ὀνομάζειν, τοσούτους ἑκὼν ὑπέμεινας πόνους, ἐξὸν εἶναι ὄλβιον καὶ
εὐδαίμονα, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἀθάνατον εἴ τι χρὴ ταῖς ἐπαγγελίαις Καλυψοῦς
πιστεύειν, σὺ δὲ ἑλόμενος τὰ χείρω πρὸ τῶν βελτιόνων τοσούτους σαυτῷ
προστέθεικας πόνους, οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ Σχερίᾳ καταμεῖναι ἐθελήσας, [D] ἐξὸν ἐκεῖ
που παυσάμενον τῆς πλάνης καὶ τῶν κινδύνων ἀπηλλάχθαι· σὺ δὲ ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς
οἰκίας ἔγνως στρατεύεσθαι καὶ ἄθλους δή τινας καὶ ἀποδημίαν ἑτέραν
ἐκτελεῖν οὔτι τῆς πρόσθεν, ὥς γε τὸ εἰκὸς ἀπονωτέραν οὐδὲ κουφοτέραν. τί
δὴ οὖν οἴεσθε πρὸς ταῦτα ἐκεῖνον εἰπεῖν ἔχειν; ἆρ᾽ οὐχ ὅτι τῇ Πηνελόπῃ
συνεῖναι ἐθέλων τοὺς ἄθλους αὐτῇ καὶ τὰς στρατείας χαρίεντα διηγήματα
φέρειν ὑπέλαβε; ταῦτά τοι καὶ τὴν μητέρα πεποίηκεν αὐτῷ παραινοῦσαν
μεμνῆσθαι πάντων, [114] ὧν τε εἶδε θεαμάτων καὶ ὧν ἤκουσεν ἀκουσμάτων,
(And a lusty wild vine bloomed about her dwelling,(537) with bunches of
excellent grapes, laden with clusters. And at the Phaeacian court there
were the same things, except that they were more costly, seeing that, as I
suppose, they were made by art, and hence had less charm and seemed less
lovely than those that were of natural growth. Now to all that luxury and
wealth, and moreover to the peace and quiet that surrounded those islands,
who do you think would not have succumbed, especially one who had endured
so great toils and dangers and expected that he would have to suffer still
more terrible hardships, partly by sea and partly in his own house, since
he had to fight all alone against a hundred youths in their prime, a thing
which had never happened to him even in the land of Troy? Now if someone
in jest were to question Odysseus somewhat in this fashion: “Why, O most
wise orator or general, or whatever one must call you, did you endure so
many toils, when you might have been prosperous and happy and perhaps even
immortal, if one may at all believe the promises of Calypso? But you chose
the worse instead of the better, and imposed on yourself all those
hardships(538) and refused to remain even in Scheria, though you might
surely have rested there from your wandering and been delivered from your
perils; but behold you resolved to carry on the war in your own house and
to perform feats of valour and to accomplish a second journey, not less
toilsome, as seemed likely, nor easier than the first!” What answer then
do you think he would give to this? Would he not answer that he longed
always to be with Penelope, and that those contests and campaigns he
purposed to take back to her as a pleasant tale to tell? For this reason,
then, he makes his mother exhort him to remember everything, all the
sights he saw and all the things he heard, and then she says:)
ἵνα καὶ μετόπισθε τεῇ εἴπῃσθα γυναικί,
(“So that in the days to come thou mayst tell it to thy
wife.”(539))
φησίν. ὁ δὲ οὐδενὸς ἐπιλαθόμενος, ἐπειδὴ πρῶτον ἀφίκετο καὶ τῶν μειρακίων
ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια κωμαζόντων ἐκράτει ξὺν δίκῃ, πάντα ἀθρόως αὐτῇ διηγεῖτο,
ὅσα τε ἔδρασε καὶ ὅσα ἀνέτλη, καὶ εἰ δὴ τι ἄλλο ὑπὸ τῶν χρησμῶν
ἀναπειθόμενος ἐκτελεῖν διενοεῖτο· ἀπόρρητον δὲ ἐποιεῖτο πρὸς αὐτὴν οὐδὲ
ἕν, [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἠξίου κοινωνὸν γίγνεσθαι τῶν βουλευμάτων καὶ ὅ,τι πρακτέον
εἴη συννοεῖν καὶ συνεξευρίσκειν. ἆρα τοῦτο ὑμῖν τῆς Πηνελόπης ὀλίγον
ἐγκώμιον δοκεῖ, ἢ ἤδη(540) τις ἄλλη τὴν ἐκείνης ἀρετὴν ὑπερβαλλομένη
γαμετή τε οὖσα βασιλέως ἀνδρείου καὶ μεγαλοψύχου καὶ σώφρονος τοσαύτην
εὔνοιαν ἐνεποίησεν αὑτῆς τῷ γήμαντι, [C] συγκερασαμένη τῇ παρὰ τῶν ἐρώτων
ἐπιπνεομένῃ φιλίᾳ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀρετῆς καθάπερ ῥεῦμα θεῖον ἐπιφερομένην ταῖς
ἀγαθαῖς καὶ γενναίαις ψυχαῖς; δύο γὰρ δὴ τώδε τινὲ πίθω(541) φιλίας ἔστον,
ὧν ἥδε κατ᾽ ἴσον ἀρυσαμένη βουλευμάτων τε αὐτῷ γέγονε κοινωνὸς καὶ πρᾷον
ὄντα φύσει τὸν βασιλέα καὶ χρηστὸν καὶ εὐγνώμονα πρὸς ἃ πέφυκε παρακαλεῖ
μᾶλλον πρεπόντως καὶ πρὸς συγγνώμην τὴν δίκην τρέπει. ὥστε οὐκ ἂν τις
εἰπεῖν ἔχοι, ὅτωι γέγονεν ἡ βασιλὶς ἥδε ἐν δίκῃ τυχὸν ἢ καὶ παρὰ δίκην
αἰτία τιμωρίας καὶ κολάσεως μικρᾶς ἢ μείζονος. [D] Ἀθήνησι μὲν οὖν φασιν,
ὅτε τοῖς πατρίοις ἔθεσιν ἐχρῶντο καὶ ἔζων τοῖς οἰκείοις πειθόμενοι νόμοις
μεγάλην καὶ πολυάνθρωπον οἰκοῦντες πόλιν, εἴ ποτε τῶν δικαζόντων αἱ ψῆφοι
κατ᾽ ἴσον γένοιντο τοῖς φεύγουσι πρὸς τοὺς διώκοντας, τὴν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς
ἐπιτιθεμένην τῷ τὴν δίκην ὀφλήσειν μέλλοντι ἀπολύειν ἄμφω τῆς αἰτίας,
[115] τὸν μὲν ἐπάγοντα τὴν κατηγορίαν τοῦ δοκεῖν εἶναι συκοφάντην, τὸν δέ,
ὡς εἰκός, τοῦ δοκεῖν ἔνοχον εἶναι τῷ πονηρεύματι. τοῦτον δὴ φιλάνθρωπον
ὄντα καὶ χαρίεντα τὸν νόμον ἐπὶ τῶν δικῶν, ἃς βασιλεὺς κρίνει, σωζόμενον
πρᾳότερον αὕτη καθίστησιν. οὗ γὰρ ἂν ὁ φεύγων παρ᾽ ὀλίγον ἔλθῃ τὴν ἴσην ἐν
ταῖς ψήφοις λαχεῖν, πείθει, τὴν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ δέησιν προσθεῖσα καὶ ἱκετηρίαν,
ἀφεῖναι πάντως τῆς αἰτίας. ὁ δὲ ἑκὼν ἑκόντι τῷ θυμῷ χαρίζεται τὰ τοιαῦτα,
[B] καὶ οὐ, καθάπερ Ὅμηρός φησι τὸν Δία ἐκβιαζόμενον παρὰ τῆς γαμετῆς
ὁμολογεῖν(542) ὅ,τι ξυγχωροίη,(543) δίδωσιν ἑκὼν ἀέκοντί γε θυμῷ. καὶ
τυχὸν οὐκ ἄτοπον χαλεπῶς καὶ μόλις τὰ τοιαῦτα ξυγχωρεῖν κατὰ ἀνδρῶν
ὑβριστῶν καὶ ἀλαζόνων. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ(544) γὰρ εἰ σφόδρα ἐπιτήδειοί τινές εἰσι
πάσχειν κακῶς καὶ κολάζεσθαι, τούτους ἐκ παντὸς ἀπολέσθαι χρεών· ὃ δὴ καὶ
ἡ βασιλὶς ἥδε ξυννοοῦσα κακὸν μὲν οὐδὲν ἐκέλευσεν οὔτε ἄλλο ποτε οὔτε(545)
[C] κόλασιν οὔτε τιμωρίαν ἐπαγαγεῖν οὐχ ὅπως βασιλείᾳ τινὸς ἢ πόλει, ἀλλ᾽
οὐδὲ οἰκίᾳ μιᾷ τῶν πολιτῶν. προσθείην δ᾽ ἂν ἔγωγε θαρρῶν εὖ μάλα ὅτι μηδὲν
ψεῦδός φημι, ὡς οὐδὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἢ γυναικὸς μιᾶς ἔστιν αὐτὴν αἰτιᾶσθαι
ξυμφορᾶς τῳ τῆς τυχούσης, ἀγαθὰ δὲ ὅσα καὶ οὕστινας δρᾷ καὶ ἔδρασεν, ἡδέως
ἂν ὑμῖν τὰ πλεῖστα ἐξαριθμησαίμην καθ᾽ ἕκαστα ἀπαγγέλλων, ὡς ὅδε μὲν τὸν
πατρῷον δι᾽ ἐκείνην νέμεται κλῆρον, ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἀπηλλάγη τιμωρίας, [D]
ὀφλήσας τοῖς νὀμοις, ἄλλος συκοφαντίαν διέφυγε, παρ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐλθὼν
κινδύνου, τιμῆς δὲ ἔτυχον καὶ ἀρχῆς μυρίοι. καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις ἐμὲ
ψεύδεσθαι τῶν ἁπάντων φήσει, εἰ καὶ ὀνομαστὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας μὴ καταλέγοιμι.
ἀλλ᾽ ὀκνῶ, μή τισιν ἐξονειδίζειν δόξω τὰς συμφορὰς καὶ οὐκ ἔπαινον τῶν
ταύτης ἀγαθῶν, κατάλογον δὲ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων συγγράφειν ἀτυχημάτων. τοσούτων
δὲ ἔργων μηδὲν παρασχέσθαι μηδὲ εἰς τὸ ἐμφανὲς ἄγειν [116] τεκμήριον κενόν
πως εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ ἐς ἀπιστίαν ἄγει(546) τὸν ἔπαινον. οὐκοῦν ἐκεῖνα
παραιτησάμενος, ὁπόσα γ᾽ ἐμοί τε εἰπεῖν ἀνεπίφθονον ταύτῃ τε ἀκούειν καλὰ
λέγοιμ᾽ ἂν ἤδη.
(And indeed he forgot nothing, and no sooner had he come home and
vanquished, as was just, the youths who caroused in the palace, than he
related all to her without pause, all that he had achieved and endured,
and all else that, obeying the oracles, he purposed still to
accomplish.(547) And from her he kept nothing secret, but chose that she
should be the partner of his counsels and should help him to plan and
contrive what he must do. And do you think this a trifling tribute to
Penelope, or is there not now found to be yet another woman whose virtue
surpasses hers, and who, as the consort of a brave, magnanimous and
prudent Emperor, has won as great affection from her husband, since she
has mingled with the tenderness that is inspired by love that other which
good and noble souls derive from their own virtue, whence it flows like a
sacred fount? For there are two jars,(548) so to speak, of these two kinds
of human affection, and Eusebia drew in equal measure from both, and so
has come to be the partner of her husband’s counsels, and though the
Emperor is by nature merciful, good and wise, she encourages him to follow
yet more becomingly his natural bent, and ever turns justice to mercy. So
that no one could ever cite a case in which this Empress, whether with
justice, as might happen, or unjustly, has ever been the cause of
punishment or chastisement either great or small. Now we are told that at
Athens, in the days when they employed their ancestral customs and lived
in obedience to their own laws, as the inhabitants of a great and humane
city, whenever the votes of the jurymen were cast evenly for defendant and
plaintiff, the vote of Athene(549) was awarded to him who would have
incurred the penalty, and thus both were acquitted of guilt, he who had
brought the accusation, of the reputation of sycophant, and the defendant,
naturally, of the guilt of the crime. Now this humane and gracious custom
is kept up in the suits which the Emperor judges, but Eusebia’s mercy goes
further. For whenever the defendant comes near to obtaining an equal
number of votes, she persuades the Emperor, adding her request and
entreaty on his behalf, to acquit the man entirely of the charge. And of
free will with willing heart he grants the boon, and does not give it as
Homer says Zeus, constrained by his wife, agreed as to what he should
concede to her “of free will but with soul unwilling.”(550) And perhaps it
is not strange that he should concede this pardon reluctantly and under
protest in the case of the violent and depraved. But not even when men
richly deserve to suffer and be punished ought they to be utterly ruined.
Now since the Empress recognises this, she has never bidden him inflict
any injury of any kind, or any punishment or chastisement even on a single
household of the citizens, much less on a whole kingdom or city. And I
might add, with the utmost confidence that I am speaking the absolute
truth, that in the case of no man or woman is it possible to charge her
with any misfortune that has happened, but all the benefits that she
confers and has conferred, and on whom, I would gladly recount in as many
cases as possible, and report them one by one, how for instance this man,
thanks to her, enjoys his ancestral estate, and that man has been saved
from punishment, though he was guilty in the eyes of the law, how a third
escaped a malicious prosecution, though he came within an ace of the
danger, how countless persons have received honour and office at her
hands. And on this subject there is no one of them all who will assert
that I speak falsely, even though I should not give a list of those
persons by name. But this I hesitate to do, lest I should seem to some to
be reproaching them with their sufferings, and to be composing not so much
an encomium of her good deeds as a catalogue of the misfortunes of others.
And yet, not to cite any of these acts of hers, and to bring no proof of
them before the public seems perhaps to imply that they are lacking, and
brings discredit on my encomium. Accordingly, to deprecate that charge, I
shall relate so much as it is not invidious for me to speak or for her to
hear.)
Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ γήμαντος εὔνοιαν τηλαυγέστατον πρόσωπον, κατὰ τὸν σοφὸν
Πίνδαρον, ἀρχομένη τῶν ἔργων ἔθετο, γένος τε ἅπαν καὶ ξυγγενεῖς εὐθὺς
ἐνέπλησε τιμῆς, τοὺς μὲν ἤδη γνωρίμους καὶ πρεσβυτέρους ἐπὶ μειζόνων
τάττουσα πράξεων καὶ ἀποφήνασα μακαρίους καὶ ζηλωτοὺς βασιλεῖ τ᾽ ἐποίησε
φίλους καὶ τῆς εὐτυχίας τῆς παρούσης ἔδωκε τὴν ἀρχήν. [B] καὶ γὰρ εἴ τῳ
δοκοῦσιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἀληθές, δι᾽ αὑτοὺς τίμιοι, ταύτῃ γε οἶμαι προσθήσει
τὸν ἔπαινον· δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι μὴ τῇ τοῦ γένους κοινωνίᾳ μόνον, πολὺ δὲ πλέον
ἀρετῇ φαίνεται νέμουσα· οὗ μεῖζον οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως τις ἐγκώμιον ἐρεῖ. περὶ
μὲν τούσδε γέγονε τοιάδε. ὅσοι δὲ ἀγνῶτες ἔτι διὰ νεότητα τοῦ γνωρισθῆναι
καὶ ὁπωσοῦν ἐδέοντο, [C] τούτοις ἐλάττονας διένειμε τιμάς. ἀπέλιπε δὲ
οὐδὲν εὐεργετοῦσα ξύμπαντας. καὶ οὐ τοὺς ξυγγενεῖς μόνον τοσαῦτα ἔδρασεν
ἀγαθά, ξενίαν δὲ ὅτῳ πρὸς τοὺς ἐκείνης πατέρας ὑπάρξασαν ἔγνω, οὐκ
ἀνόνητον ἀφῆκε τοῖς κτησαμένοις, τιμᾷ δὲ οἶμαι καὶ τούτους καθάπερ
ξυγγενεῖς, καὶ ὅσους τοῦ πατρὸς ἐνόμισε φίλους, [D] ἅπασιν ἔνειμε τῆς
φιλίας ἔπαθλα θαυμαστά.
(When she had, in the beginning, secured her husband’s good‐will for her
actions like a “frontage shining from afar,” to use the words of the great
poet Pindar,(551) she forthwith showered honours on all her family and
kinsfolk, appointing to more important functions those who had already
been tested and were of mature age, and making them seem fortunate and
enviable, and she won for them the Emperor’s friendship and laid the
foundation of their present prosperity. And if anyone thinks, what is in
fact true, that on their own account they are worthy of honour, he will
applaud her all the more. For it is evident that it was their merit, far
more than the ties of kinship, that she rewarded; and one could hardly pay
her a higher compliment than that. Such then was her treatment of these.
And to all who, since they were still obscure on account of their youth,
needed recognition of any sort, she awarded lesser honours. In fact she
left nothing undone to help one and all. And not only on her kinsfolk has
she conferred such benefits, but whenever she learned that ties of
friendship used to exist with her ancestors, she has not allowed it to be
unprofitable to those who owned such ties, but she honours them, I
understand, no less than her own kinsfolk, and to all whom she regards as
her father’s friends she dispensed wonderful rewards for their
friendship.)
Ἐγὲ δέ, ἐπειδή μοι τεκμηρίων καθάπερ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ τὸν λόγον ὁρῶ δεόμενον,
αὐτὸς ὑμῖν ἐμαυτὸν τούτων ἐκείνῳ(552) μάρτυρα καὶ ἐπαινέτην παρέξομαι·
ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως μου μή ποτε ὑπιδόμενοι τὴν μαρτυρίαν πρὶν ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν λόγων
διαταράττησθε, ὄμνυμι ὑμῖν, ὡς οὐδὲν ψεῦδος οὐδὲ πλάσμα ἐρῶ· ὑμεῖς δὲ κἂν
ἀνωμότῳ ἐπιστεύσατε πάντα οὐ κολακείας ἕνεκα λέγειν(553). [117] ἔχω γὰρ
ἤδη τοῦ θεοῦ διδόντος καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἅπαντα τὰ ἀγαθά, αὐτῆς γε οἶμαι καὶ
ταύτης(554) ξυμπροθυμουμένης, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἄν τις κολακεύων ἅπαντα ἀφείη
ῥήματα, ὥστε, εἰ μὲν πρὸ τούτων ἔλεγον, ἴσως ἐχρῆν ὀρρωδεῖν τὴν ἄδικον
ὑποψίαν· νῦν δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ γεγονὼς τῇ τύχῃ καὶ ἀπομνημονεύων τῶν ἐκείνης εἰς
ἐμαυτὸν ἔργων παρέξομαι ὑμῖν εὐγνωμοσύνης μὲν ἐμαυτοῦ σημεῖον, μαρτύριον
δὲ ἀληθὲς τῶν ἐκείνης ἔργων. [B] πυνθάνομαι γὰρ δὴ καὶ Δαρεῖον, ἕως ἔτι
δορυφόρος ἦν τοῦ Περσῶν μονάρχου, τῷ Σαμίῳ ξένῳ περὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον
συμβαλεῖν φεύγοντι τὴν αὑτοῦ, καὶ λαβόντα φοινικίδα τινὰ δῶρον, οὗ σφόδρα
ἐπεθύμει, τὴν Σαμίων ὕστερον ἀντιδοῦναι τυραννίδα, ὁπηνίκα, οἶμαι, τῆς
Ἀσίας ἁπάσης κύριος κατέστη. εἰ δὴ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς πολλὰ μὲν παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, ὅτε
ἔτι ζῆν ἐξῆν ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ, τὰ μέγιστα δὲ δι᾽ αὐτὴν παρὰ τοῦ γενναίου [C] καὶ
μεγαλόφρονος βασιλέως λαβὼν ὁμολογοίην τοῦ μὲν ἀντιδοῦναι τὴν ἴσην
λείπεσθαι· ἔχει γάρ, οἶμαι, ξύμπαντα παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ καὶ ἡμῖν χαρισαμένου
λαβοῦσα· τῷ βούλεσθαι δὲ τὴν μνήμην ἀθάνατον αὐτῇ τῶν ἔργων γενέσθαι καὶ
ἐς ὑμᾶς ταῦτα ἀπαγγέλλειν τυχὸν οὐκ ἀγνωμονέστερος φανοῦμαι τοῦ Πέρσου,
εἴπερ εἰς τὴν γνώμην ὁρῶντα χρὴ κρίνειν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὅτῳ παρέσχεν ἡ τύχη
πολλαπλάσιον ἀποτῖσαι τὸ εὐεργέτημα.
(But since I see that my account is in need of proofs, just as in a law‐
court, I will offer myself to bear witness on its behalf to these actions
and to applaud them. But lest you should mistrust my evidence and cause a
disturbance before you have heard what I have to say, I swear that I will
tell you no falsehood or fiction; although you would have believed, even
without an oath, that I am saying all this without intent to flatter. For
I already possess, by the grace of God and the Emperor, and because the
Empress too was zealous in my behalf, all those blessings to gain which a
flatterer would leave nothing unsaid, so that, if I were speaking before
obtaining these, perhaps I should have to dread that unjust suspicion. But
as it is, since this is the state of my fortunes, I will recall her
conduct to me, and at the same time give you a proof of my own right‐
mindedness and truthful evidence of her good deeds. I have heard that
Darius, while he was still in the bodyguard of the Persian monarch,(555)
met, in Egypt, a Samian stranger(556) who was an exile from his own
country, and accepted from him the gift of a scarlet cloak to which Darius
had taken a great fancy, and that later on, in the days when, I
understand, he had become the master of all Asia, he gave him in return
the tyranny of Samos. And now suppose that I acknowledge that, though I
received many kindnesses at Eusebia’s hands, at a time when I was still
permitted to live in peaceful obscurity, and many also, by her
intercession, from our noble and magnanimous Emperor, I must needs fall
short of making an equal return; for as I know, she possesses everything
already, as the gift of him who was so generous to myself; yet since I
desire that the memory of her good deeds should be immortal, and since I
am relating them to you, perhaps I shall not be thought less mindful of my
debt than the Persian, seeing that in forming a judgment it is to the
intention that one must look, and not to an instance in which fortune
granted a man the power to repay his obligation many times over.)