Part 11

Ἡμῖν δὲ ἐπανιτέον ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀφρικανὸν καὶ τὸν Λαίλιον. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀνῄρητο μὲν ἡ Καρχηδὼν καὶ τὰ περὶ [C] τὴν Λιβύην ἅπαντα τῆς Ῥώμης ἐγεγόνει δοῦλα, πέμπει μὲν Ἀφρικανὸς τὸν Λαίλιον· ἀνήγετο δὲ ἐκεῖνος εὐαγγέλια τῇ πατρίδι φέρων· καὶ ὁ Σκηπίων ἤχθετο μὲν ἀπολειπόμενος τοῦ φίλου, οὐ μὴν ἀπαραμύθητον αὑτῷ τὸ πάθος ᾤετο. καὶ τὸν Λαίλιον δὲ δυσχεραίνειν εἰκός, ἐπειδὴ μόνος ἀνήγετο, οὐ μὴν ἀφόρητον ἐποιεῖτο τὴν συμφοράν. ἔπλει καὶ Κάτων ἀπολιπὼν οἴκοι τοὺς αὑτοῦ συνήθεις, καὶ Πυθαγόρας, καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Δημόκριτος οὐδένα παραλαβόντες κοινωνὸν τῆς ὁδοῦ, [D] καίτοι πολλοὺς οἴκοι τῶν φιλτάτων ἀπολιμπάνοντες. ἐστρατεύσατο καὶ Περικλῆς ἐπὶ τὴν Σάμον οὐκ ἄγων τὸν Ἀναξαγόραν, καὶ τὴν Εὔβοιαν παρεστήσατο ταῖς μὲν ἐκείνου βουλαῖς, ἐπεπαίδευτο γὰρ ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνῳ, τὸ σῶμα δὲ οὐκ ἐφελκόμενος ὥσπερ ἄλλο [246] τι τῶν ἀναγκαίων πρὸς τὰς μάχας. καίτοι καὶ τοῦτον ἄκοντα, φασίν, Ἀθηναῖοι τῆς πρὸς τὸν διδάσκαλον ἀπέστησαν συνουσίας. ἀλλ᾽ ἔφερεν ὡς ἀνὴρ ἔμφρων ὢν(322) τὴν ἄνοιαν τῶν αὑτοῦ πολιτῶν ἐγκρατῶς καὶ πρᾴως. καὶ γὰρ ἀνάγκῃ τῇ πατρίδι καθάπερ μητρὶ δικαίως μὲν οὔ, χαλεπῶς δὲ ὅμως ἐχούσῃ πρὸς τὴν συνουσίαν αὐτῶν, εἴκειν ᾤετο χρῆναι, ταῦτα, ὡς εἰκός, λογιζόμενος· ἀκούειν δὲ χρὴ τῶν ἑξῆς ὡς τοῦ Περικλέους αὐτοῦ· Ἐμοὶ πόλις μέν ἐστι καὶ πατρὶς ὁ κόσμος, καὶ φίλοι θεοὶ καὶ δαίμονες καὶ πάντες [B] ὅσοι καὶ ὁπουοῦν(323) σπουδαῖοι. χρὴ δὲ καὶ τὴν οὗ(324) γεγόναμεν τιμᾶν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο θεῖός ἐστι νόμος, καὶ πείθεσθαί γε οἷς ἂν ἐπιτάττῃ καὶ μὴ βιάζεσθαι μηδέ, ὅ φησιν ἡ παροιμία, πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν· ἀπαραίτητον γάρ ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον ζυγὸν τῆς ἀνάγκης. οὐ μὴν ὀδυρτέον οὐδὲ θρηνητέον ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐπιτάττει τραχύτερον, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρᾶγμα λογιστέον αὐτό. νῦν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι τὸν Ἀναξαγόραν ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν κελεύει, [C] καὶ τὸν ἄριστον οὐκ ὀψόμεθα τῶν ἑταίρων, δι᾽ ὃν ἠχθόμην μὲν τῇ νυκτί, ὅτι μοι τὸν φίλον οὐκ ἐδείκνυεν, ἡμέρᾳ δὲ καὶ ἡλίῳ χάριν ἠπιστάμην, ὅτι μοι παρεῖχεν ὁρᾶν οὗ μάλιστα ἤρων. ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ὄμματά σοι δέδωκεν ἡ φύσις, ὦ Περίκλεις, μόνον ὥσπερ τοῖς θηρίοις(325), οὐδὲν ἀπεικός ἐστι σε διαφερόντως ἄχθεσθαι· [D] εἰ δέ σοι ψυχὴν ἐνέπνευσε καὶ νοῦν ἐνῆκεν, ὑφ᾽ οὗ τὰ μὲν πολλὰ τῶν γεγενημένων καίπερ οὐ παρόντα νῦν ὁρᾷς διὰ τῆς μνήμης, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων ὁ λογισμὸς ἀνευρίσκων ὥσπερ ὄμμασιν ὁρᾶν προσβάλλει τῷ νῷ, καὶ τῶν ἐνεστώτων οὐ τὰ πρὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων ἡ φαντασία μόνον ἀποτυπουμένη δίδωσιν αὐτῷ κρίνειν καὶ καθορᾶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πόρρω καὶ μυριάσι σταδίων ἀπῳκισμένα τῶν γενομένων παρὰ πόδα [247] καὶ πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν δείκνυσιν ἐναργέστερον, τί χρὴ τοσοῦτον ἀνιᾶσθαι καὶ σχετλίως φέρειν; ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἀμάρτυρος ὁ λόγος ἐστί μοι,

(Let me go back now to Africanus and Laelius. When Carthage had been destroyed(326) and all Libya made subject to Rome, Africanus sent Laelius home and he embarked to carry the good news to their fatherland. And Scipio was grieved at the separation from his friend, but he did not think his sorrow inconsolable. Laelius too was probably afflicted at having to embark alone, but he did not regard it as an insupportable calamity. Cato also made a voyage and left his intimate friends at home, and so did Pythagoras and Plato and Democritus, and they took with them no companion on their travels, though they left behind them at home many whom they dearly loved. Pericles also set out on his campaign against Samos without taking Anaxagoras, and he conquered Euboea by following the latter’s advice, for he had been trained by his teaching: but the philosopher himself he did not drag in his train as though he were part of the equipment needed for battle. And yet in his case too we are told that much against his will the Athenians separated him from the society of his teacher. But wise man that he was, he bore the folly of his fellow‐ citizens with fortitude and mildness. Indeed he thought that he must of necessity bow to his country’s will when, as a mother might, however unjustly, she still resented their close friendship; and he probably reasoned as follows. (You must take what I say next as the very words of Pericles.(327)) “The whole world is my city and fatherland, and my friends are the gods and lesser divinities and all good men whoever and wherever they may be. Yet it is right to respect also the country where I was born, since this is the divine law, and to obey all her commands and not oppose them, or as the proverb says kick against the pricks. For inexorable, as the saying goes, is the yoke of necessity. But we must not even complain or lament when her commands are harsher than usual, but rather consider the matter as it actually is. She now orders Anaxagoras to leave me and I shall see no more my best friend, on whose account the night was hateful to me because it did not allow me to see my friend, but I was grateful to daylight and the sun because they allowed me to see him whom I loved best.(328) But, Pericles, if nature had given you eyes only as she has to wild beasts, it would be natural enough for you to feel excessive grief. But since she has breathed into you a soul, and implanted in you intelligence by means of which you now behold in memory many past events, though they are no longer before you: and further since your reasoning power discovers many future events and reveals them as it were to the eyes of your mind; and again your imagination sketches for you not only those present events which are going on under your eyes and allows you to judge and survey them, but also reveals to you things at a distance and many thousand stades(329) removed more clearly than what is going on at your feet and before your eyes, what need is there for such grief and resentment? And to show that I have authority for what I say,)

Νοῦς ὁρῇ καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει

(‘The mind sees and the mind hears,’)

φησὶν ὁ Σικελιώτης, οὕτως ὀξὺ χρῆμα καὶ τάχει χρώμενον ἀμηχάνῳ, ὥσθ᾽ ὅταν τινὰ τῶν δαιμόνων Ὄμηρος ἐθέλῃ κεχρημένον ἀπίστῳ πορείας ἐπιδεῖξαι τάχει,

(says the Sicilian;(330) and mind is a thing so acute and endowed with such amazing speed that when Homer wishes to show us one of the gods employing incredible speed in travelling he says:)

Ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἀΐξῃ νόος ἀνέρος

(‘As when the mind of a man darts swiftly.’(331))

φησί. [B] τούτῳ τοι χρώμενος ῥᾷστα μὲν Ἀθήνηθεν ὄψει τὸν ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ, ῥᾷστα δὲ ἐκ Κελτῶν τὸν ἐν Ἰλλυριοῖς καὶ Θρᾴκῃ, καὶ τὸν ἐν Κελτοῖς ἐκ Θρᾴκης καὶ Ἰλλυριῶν. καὶ γὰρ οὐδ᾽, ὥσπερ τοῖς φυτοῖς οὐκ ἔνι σώζεσθαι τὴν συνήθη χώραν μεταβάλλουσιν, ὅταν ἡ τῶν ὡρῶν ᾖ κράσις ἐναντία, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συμβαίνει τόπον ἐκ τόπου μεταβάλλουσιν ἢ διαφθείρεσθαι παντελῶς ἢ τὸν τρόπον ἀμείβειν καὶ μετατίθεσθαι περὶ ὧν ὀρθῶς πρόσθεν ἐγνώκεσαν. [C] οὔκουν οὐδὲ τὴν εὔνοιαν ἀμβλυτέραν ἔχειν εἰκός, εἰ μὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀγαπᾶν καὶ στέργειν· ἕπεται γὰρ ὕβρις μὲν κόρῳ, ἔρως δὲ ἐνδείᾳ. καὶ ταύτῃ τοίνυν ἕξομεν βέλτιον, ἐπιτεινομένης ἡμῖν τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους εὐνοίας, καθέξομέν τε ἀλλήλους ἐν ταῖς ἑαυτῶν διανοίαις ἱδρυμένους ὥσπερ ἀγάλματα. καὶ νῦν μὲν ἐγὼ τὸν Ἀναξαγόραν, αὖθις δὲ ἐκεῖνος ὄψεται ἐμέ· κωλύει δὲ οὐδὲν [D] καὶ ἅμα βλέπειν ἀλλήλους, οὐχὶ σαρκία καὶ νεῦρα καὶ μορφῆς τύπωμα, στέρνα τε ἐξεικασμένα πρὸς ἀρχέτυπον σώματος· καίτοι καὶ τοῦτο κωλύει τυχὸν οὐδὲν ταῖς διανοίαις ἡμῶν ἐμφαίνεσθαι· ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὰς πράξεις καὶ τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὰς ὁμιλίας καὶ τὰς ἐντεύξεις, ἃς πολλάκις ἐποιησάμεθα μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων, οὐκ ἀμούσως ὑμνοῦντες παιδείαν καὶ δικαιοσύνην καὶ τὸν ἐπιτροπεύοντα νοῦν τὰ θνητὰ καὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, [248] καὶ περὶ πολιτείας καὶ νόμων καὶ τρόπων ἀρετῆς καὶ χρηστῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων διεξιόντες, ὅσα γε ἡμῖν ἐπῄει(332) ἐν καιρῷ τούτων μεμνημένοις. ταῦτα ἐννοοῦντες, τούτοις τρεφόμενοι τοῖς εἰδώλοις τυχὸν οὐκ ὀνείρων νυκτέρων(333) ἰνδάλμασι προσέξομεν οὐδὲ κενὰ καὶ μάταια προσβαλεῖ τῷ νῷ φαντάσματα πονηρῶς ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ σώματος κράσεως αἴσθησις διακειμένη. οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὴν παραληψόμεθα τὴν αἴσθησιν ὑπουργεῖν ἡμῖν καὶ ὑπηρετεῖσθαι· [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἀποφυγὼν αὐτὴν ὁ νοῦς ἐμμελετήσει τούτοις πρὸς κατανόησιν καὶ συνεθισμὸν τῶν ἀσωμάτων διεγειρόμενος· νῷ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τῷ κρείττονι σύνεσμεν, καὶ τὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀποφυγόντα καὶ διεστηκότα τῷ τόπῳ, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ δεόμενα τόπου ὁρᾶν τε καὶ αἱρεῖν πεφύκαμεν, ὅσοις ἀξίως βεβίωται τῆς τοιαύτης θέας, ἐννοοῦντες αὐτὴν καὶ συναπτόμενοι.

(So if you employ your mind you will easily from Athens see one who is in Ionia; and from the country of the Celts one who is in Illyria or Thrace; and from Thrace or Illyria one who is in the country of the Celts. And moreover, though plants if removed from their native soil when the weather and the season are unfavourable cannot be kept alive, it is not so with men, who can remove from one place to another without completely deteriorating or changing their character and deviating from the right principles that they had before adopted. It is therefore unlikely that our affection will become blunted, if indeed we do not love and cherish each other the more for the separation. For ‘wantonness attends on satiety,’(334) but love and longing on want. So in this respect we shall be better off if our affection tends to increase, and we shall keep one another firmly set in our minds like holy images. And one moment I shall see Anaxagoras, and the next he will see me. Though nothing prevents our seeing one another at the same instant; I do not mean our flesh and sinews and ‘bodily outline and breasts in the likeness’(335) of the bodily original—though perhaps there is no reason why these too should not become visible to our minds—but I mean our virtue, our deeds and words, our intercourse, and those conversations which we so often held with one another, when in perfect harmony we sang the praises of education and justice and mind that governs all things mortal and human: when too we discussed the art of government, and law, and the different ways of being virtuous and the noblest pursuits, everything in short that occurred to us when, as occasion served, we mentioned these subjects. If we reflect on these things and nourish ourselves with these images, we shall probably pay no heed to the ‘visions of dreams in the night,’(336) nor will the senses corrupted by the alloy of the body exhibit to our minds empty and vain phantoms. For we shall not employ the senses at all to assist and minister to us, but our minds will have escaped from them and so will be exercised on the themes I have mentioned and aroused to comprehend and associate with things incorporeal. For by the mind we commune even with God, and by its aid we are enabled to see and to grasp things that escape the senses and are far apart in space, or rather have no need of space: that is to say, all of us who have lived so as to deserve such a vision, conceiving it in the mind and laying hold thereof.”)

Ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν Περικλῆς, ἅτε δὴ μεγαλόφρων ἀνὴρ [C] καὶ τραφεὶς ἐλευθέρως ἐν ἐλευθέρᾳ τῇ πόλει, ὑψηλοτέροις ἐψυχαγώγει λόγοις αὑτόν· ἐγὼ δὲ γεγονὼς ἐκ τῶν οἷοι νῦν βροτοί εἰσιν ἀνθρωπικωτέροις ἐμαυτὸν θέλγω καὶ παράγω λόγοις, καὶ τὸ λίαν πικρὸν ἀφαιρῶ τῆς λύπης, πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ἀεί μοι προσπιπτόντων ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματος δυσχερῶν τε [D] καὶ ἀτόπων φαντασμάτων ἐφαρμόζειν τινὰ παραμυθίαν πειρώμενος, ὥσπερ ἐπῳδὴν θηρίου δήγματι δάκνοντος αὐτὴν ἔσω τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν καὶ τὰς φρένας. ἐκεῖνό τοι πρῶτόν ἐστί μοι τῶν φαινομένων δυσχερῶν. νῦν ἐγὼ μόνος ἀπολελείψομαι καθαρᾶς ἐνδεὴς ὁμιλίας καὶ ἐλευθέρας ἐντεύξεως· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι μοι τέως ὅτῳ διαλέξομαι θαρρῶν ὁμοίως. πότερον οὖν οὐδ᾽ ἐμαυτῷ διαλέγεσθαι ῥᾴδιόν ἐστί μοι; ἀλλ᾽ ἀφαιρήσεταί μέ τις καὶ τὴν ἔννοιαν καὶ προσαναγκάσει νοεῖν ἕτερα καὶ θαυμάζειν παρ᾽ ἃ βούλομαι; ἢ τοῦτο μέν ἐστι τέρας ἤδη καὶ προσόμοιον τῷ γράφειν ἐφ᾽ ὕδατος καὶ τῷ λίθον ἕψειν καὶ τῷ ἱπταμένων ὀρνίθων ἐρευνᾶν ἴχνη τῆς πτήσεως; οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ [249] τούτων ἡμᾶς οὐδεὶς ἀφαιρεῖται, συνεσόμεθα δήπουθεν αὐτοί πως ἑαυτοῖς, ἴσως δὲ καὶ ὁ δαίμων ὑποθήσεταί τι χρηστόν· οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἄνδρα ἑαυτὸν ἐπιτρέψαντα τῷ κρείττονι παντάπασιν ἀμεληθῆναι καὶ καταλειφθῆναι παντελῶς ἔρημον· ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ θεὸς χεῖρα ἑὴν ὑπερέσχε [B] καὶ θάρσος ἐνδίδωσ(337) καὶ μένος ἐμπνεῖ καὶ τὰ πρακτέα τίθησιν ἐπὶ νοῦν καὶ τῶν μὴ πρακτέων ἀφίστησιν. εἵπετό τοι καὶ Σωκράτει δαιμονία φωνὴ κωλύουσα πράττειν ὅσα μὴ χρεὼν ἦν· φησὶ δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρος ὑπὲρ Ἀχιλλέως· τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκεν, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰς ἐννοίας ἡμῶν ἐγείροντος, ὅταν ἐπιστρέψας ὁ νοῦς εἰς ἑαυτὸν αὑτῷ τε πρότερον ξυγγένηται καὶ τῷ θεῷ δι ἑαυτοῦ μόνου, [C] κωλυδόομενος ὑπ᾽ οὐδενοός. οὐ γὰρ ἀκοῆς ὁ νοῦς δεῖται πρὸς τὸ μαθεῖν οὐδὲ μὴν ὁ θεὸς φωνῆς πρὸς τὸ διδάξαι τὰ δέοντα· ἀλλ᾽ αἰσθήσεως ἔξω πάσης ἀπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος ἡ μετουσία γίνεται τῷ νῷ· τίνα μὲν τρόπον καὶ ὅπως οὐ σχολὴ νῦν ἐπεξιέναι, τὸ δ᾽ ὅτι γίνεται δῆλον(338) καὶ σαφεῖς οἱ μάρτυρες, οὐκ ἄδοξοί τινες οὐδ᾽ ἐν τῇ Μεγαρέως [D] ἄξιοι τάττεσθαι μερίδι, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀπενεγκαμένων ἐπὶ σοφία τὰ πρωτεῖα.(339)

(Ah, but Pericles, inasmuch as he was a man of lofty soul and was bred as became a free man in a free city, could solace himself with such sublime arguments, whereas I, born of such men as now are,(340) must beguile and console myself with arguments more human; and thus I assuage the excessive bitterness of my sorrow, since I constantly endeavour to devise some comfort for the anxious and uneasy ideas which keep assailing me as they arise from this event, like a charm against some wild beast that is gnawing into my very vitals(341) and my soul. And first and foremost of the hardships that I shall have to face is this, that now I shall be bereft of our guileless intercourse and unreserved conversation. For I have no one now to whom I can talk with anything like the same confidence. What, you say, cannot I easily converse with myself? Nay, will not some one rob me even of my thoughts, and besides compel me to think differently, and to admire what I prefer not to admire? Or does this robbery amount to a prodigy unimaginable, like writing on water or boiling a stone,(342) or tracing the track of the flight of birds on the wing? Well then since no one can deprive us of our thoughts, we shall surely commune with ourselves in some fashion, and perhaps God will suggest some alleviation. For it is not likely that he who entrusts himself to God will be utterly neglected and left wholly desolate. But over him God stretches his hand,(343) endues him with strength, inspires him with courage, and puts into his mind what he must do. We know too how a divine voice accompanied Socrates and prevented him from doing what he ought not. And Homer also says of Achilles, “She put the thought in his mind,”(344) implying that it is God who suggests our thoughts when the mind turns inwards and first communes with itself, and then with God alone by itself, hindered by nothing external. For the mind needs no ears to learn with, still less does God need a voice to teach us our duty: but apart from all sense‐perception, communion with God is vouchsafed to the mind. How and in what manner I have not now leisure to inquire, but that this does happen is evident, and there are sure witnesses thereof—men not obscure or only fit to be classed with the Megarians,(345)—but such as have borne the palm for wisdom.)

Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ χρὴ προσδοκᾶν καὶ θεὸν ἡμῖν παρέσεσθαι πάντως καὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς αὑτοῖς συνέσεσθαι, τὸ λίαν δυσχερὲς ἀφαιρετέον ἐστι τῆς λύπης. ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα μόνον ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καθειργμένον ἑπτὰ τοὺς πάντας ἐνιαυτούς, εἶτ᾽ ὀδυρόμενον, τῆς μὲν ἄλλης ἐπαινῶ καρτερίας, τῶν θρήνων δὲ οὐκ ἄγαμαι. [250] τί γὰρ ὄφελος πόντον ἐπ᾽ ἰχθυόεντα δέρκεσθαι καὶ λείβειν δάκρυα; τὸ δὲ μὴ προέσθαι μηδ᾽ ἀπαγορεῦσαι πρὸς τὴν τύχην, ἀλλ᾽ ἄνδρα μέχρις ἐσχάτων γενέσθαι πόνων(346) καὶ κινδύνων, τοῦτο ἔμοιγε φαίνεται μεῖζον ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον. οὐ δὴ δίκαιον ἐπαινεῖν μὲν αὐτούς, μὴ μιμεῖσθαι δέ, οὐδὲ νομίζειν, ὡς ἐκείνοις μὲν ὁ θεὸς προθύμως συνελάμβανε, [B] τοὺς δὲ νῦν περιόψεται τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁρῶν ἀντιποιουμένους, δι᾽ ἥνπερ ἄρα κἀκείνοις ἔχαιρεν· οὐ γὰρ διὰ τὸ κάλλος τοῦ σώματος, ἐπεί τοι τὸν Νιρέα μᾶλλον ἐχρῆν ἀγαπᾶσθαι, οὐδὲ διὰ τὴν ἰσχύν, ἀπείρῳ γὰρ ὅσῳ Λαιστρυγόνες καὶ Κύκλωπες ἦσαν αὐτοῦ κρείττους, οὐδὲ διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον, οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἔμεινεν ἀπόρθητος Τροία. τί δὲ δεῖ πράγματα ἔχειν αὐτὸν ἐπιζητοῦντα τὴν αἰτίαν, δι ἣν Ὀδυσσέα φησὶν [C] ὁ ποιητὴς θεοφιλῆ, αὐτοῦ γε ἐξὸν ἀκούειν;

(It follows therefore that since we may expect that God will be present with us in all our doings, and that we shall again renew our intercourse, our grief must lose its sharpest sting. For indeed in the case of Odysseus(347) too, who was imprisoned on the island for all those seven years and then bewailed his lot, I applaud him for his fortitude on other occasions, but I do not approve those lamentations. For of what avail was it for him to gaze on the fishy sea and shed tears?(348) Never to abandon hope and despair of one’s fate, but to play the hero in the extremes of toil and danger, does indeed seem to me more than can be expected of any human being. But it is not right to praise and not to imitate the Homeric heroes, or to think that whereas God was ever ready to assist them he will disregard the men of our day, if he sees that they are striving to attain that very virtue for which he favoured those others. For it was not physical beauty that he favoured, since in that case Nireus(349) would have been more approved; nor strength, for the Laëstrygons(350) and the Cyclops were infinitely stronger than Odysseus; nor riches, for had that been so Troy would never have been sacked. But why should I myself labour to discover the reason why the poet says that Odysseus was beloved by the gods, when we can hear it from himself? It was)

Οὕνεκ᾽ ἐπητής ἐσσι καὶ ἀγχίνοος καὶ ἐχέφρων.

(“Because thou art so wary, so ready of wit, so prudent.”(351))

δῆλον οὖν ὡς, εἴπερ ἡμῖν ταῦτα προσγένοιτο, τὸ κρεῖττον οὐκ ἐλλείψει τὰ παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸν δοθέντα πάλαι ποτὲ Λακεδαιμονίοις χρησμὸν καλούμενός τε καὶ ἄκλητος ὁ θεὸς παρέσται.

(It is therefore evident that if we have these qualities in addition, God on His side will not fail us, but in the words of the oracle once given of old to the Lacedaemonians, “Invoked or not invoked, God will be present with us.”(352))

[D] Τούτοις ἐμαυτὸν ψυχαγωγήσας ἐπ᾽ ἐκεῖνο τὸ μέρος ἄπειμι πάλιν, ὃ δοκεῖ τῇ μὲν ἀληθείᾳ μικρὸν εἶναι, πρὸς δόξαν δὲ ὅμως οὐκ ἀγεννές. Ὁμήρου τοί φασι δεῖσθαι καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον, οὐ δήπου συνόντος, ἀλλὰ κηρύττοντος ὥσπερ Ἀχιλλέα καὶ Πάτροκλον καὶ Αἴαντας ἄμφω καὶ τὸν Ἀντίλοχον. ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν ὑπερορῶν ἀεὶ τῶν παρόντων, ἐφιέμενος δὲ τῶν ἀπόντων οὐκ ἠγάπα τοῖς καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν οὐδὲ ἠρκεῖτο τοῖς δοθεῖσι· καὶ εἴπερ ἔτυχεν Ὁμήρου, [251] τὴν Ἀπόλλωνος ἴσως ἂν ἐπόθησε λύραν, ᾗ τοῖς Πηλέως ἐκεῖνος ἐφύμνησε γάμοις, οὐ τῆς Ὁμήρου συνέσεως τοῦτο πλάσμα νομίσας, ἀλλ᾽ ἀληθὲς ἔργον ἐνυφανθὲν τοῖς ἔπεσιν, ὥσπερ οἶμαι τὸ

(Now that I have consoled myself with these arguments I will go back to that other consideration which, though it seems trivial, nevertheless is generally esteemed to be not ignoble. Even Alexander, we are told, felt a need for Homer, not, of course, to be his companion, but to be his herald, as he was for Achilles and Patroclus and the two Ajaxes and Antilochus. But Alexander, ever despising what he had and longing for what he had not, could never be content with his contemporaries or be satisfied with the gifts that had been granted to him. And even if Homer had fallen to his lot he would probably have coveted the lyre of Apollo on which the god played at the nuptials of Peleus;(353) and he would not have regarded it as an invention of Homer’s genius but an actual fact that had been woven into the epic, as when for instance Homer says,)

Ἠὼς μὲν κροκόπεπλος ἐκίδνατο πᾶσαν ἐπ᾽ αἶαν

(“Now Dawn with her saffron robe was spread over the whole earth”;(354))

καὶ

(and)

Ἡέλιος δ᾽ ἀνόρουσε

(“Then uprose the Sun”;(355))

καὶ

(and)

Κρήτη τις γαῖ᾽ ἐστί,

(“There is a land called Crete”;(356))

καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτά φασιν οἱ ποιηταί, δῆλα καὶ ἐναργῆ τὰ μὲν ὄντα καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἕτι, τὰ δὲ γιγνόμενα.

(or other similar statements of poets about plain and palpable things partly existing to this very day, partly still happening.)

[B] Ἀλλὰ τῷ μὲν εἴτε μέγεθος ἀρετῆς ὑπερέχον(357) καὶ τῶν προσόντων ἀγαθῶν οὐδαμῶς ἐλάττων σύνεσις εἰς τοσαύτην ἐπιθυμίαν τὴν ψυχὴν ἐξῆγεν, ὥστε μειζόνων ἢ κατὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ὀρέγεσθαι,(358) εἴθ᾽ ὑπερβολή τις ἀνδρείας καὶ θάρσους εἰς ἀλαζονείαν ἄγουσα(359) καὶ πρὸς αὐθάδειαν βλέπουσα, ἀφείσθω σκοπεῖν ἐν κοινῷ τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐπαινεῖν ἢ ψέγειν αὐτόν, [C] εἴ τις ἄρα καὶ ταύτης ὑπολαμβάνει τῆς μερίδος προσήκειν ἐκείνῳ. ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἀγαπῶντες ἀεὶ καὶ τῶν ἀπόντων ἥκιστα μεταποιούμενοι στέργομεν μέν, ὁπόταν ὁ κήρυξ ἐπαινῇ, θεατής τε καὶ συναγωνιστὴς πάντων ἡμῖν γεγονώς, μὴ τοὺς λόγους παραδεξάμενος εἰς χάριν καὶ ἀπέχθειαν εἰκῇ πεπλασμένους· ἀρκεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ φιλεῖν ὁμολογῶν μόνον, ἐς δὲ τὰ ἄλλα σιωπηλότερος ὢν καὶ τῶν Πυθαγόρᾳ τελεσθέντων.

(But in Alexander’s case, whether a superabundance of virtue and an intelligence that matched the advantages with which he was endowed exalted his soul to such heights of ambition that he aimed at greater achievements than are within the scope of other men; or whether the cause was an excess of courage and valour that led him into ostentation and bordered on sinful pride, must be left as a general topic for consideration by those who desire to write either a panegyric of him or a criticism; if indeed anyone thinks that criticism also can properly be applied to him. I on the contrary can always be content with what I have and am the last to covet what I have not, and so am well content when my praises are uttered by a herald who has been an eyewitness and comrade‐in‐arms in all that I have done; and who has never admitted any statements invented at random out of partiality or prejudice. And it is enough for me if he only admit his love for me, though on all else he were more silent than those initiated by Pythagoras.)

[D] Ἐνταῦθα ὑπέρχεταί μοι καὶ τὸ θρυλούμενον, ὡς οὐκ εἰς Ἰλλυριοὺς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς Θρᾷκας ἀφίξῃ καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἐκείνην οἰκοῦντας Ἕλληνας, ἐν οἷς γενομένῳ μοι καὶ τραφέντι πολὺς ἐντέτηκεν ἔρως ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ χωρίων καὶ πόλεων. ἴσως δὲ οὐ φαῦλος οὐδὲ ἐκείνων ἐναπολέλειπται ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἔρως ἡμῶν, οἷς εὖ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι τὸ λεγόμενον ἀσπάσιος [252] ἐλθὼν ἂν γένοιο, δικαίαν ἀμοιβὴν ἀντιδιδοὺς αὐτοῖς ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡμᾶς ἀπολέλοιπας ἐνθάδε. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οὐχ ὡς εὐχόμενος· ἐπεὶ τό γε ἰέναι πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὴν αὐτὴν ταχέως ἄμεινον· ἀλλ᾽ ὡς, εἰ γένοιτο, καὶ πρὸς τοῦθ᾽ ἕξων οὐκ ἀπαραμυθήτως οὐδὲ ἀψυχαγωγήτως ἐννοῶ, συγχαίρων ἐκείνοις, ὅτι σε παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ὄψονται. Κελτοῖς γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν ἤδη διὰ σὲ συντάττω, ἄνδρα εἰς τοὺς πρώτους τῶν Ἑλλήνων τελοῦντα καὶ κατ᾽ εὐνομίαν καὶ κατὰ [B] ἀρετὴν τὴν ἄλλην, καὶ ῥητορείαν ἄκρον καὶ φιλοσοφίας οὐκ ἄπειρον, ἧς Ἕλληνες μόνοι τὰ κράτιστα μετεληλύθασι, λόγῳ τἀληθές, ὥσπερ οὖν πέφυκε, θηρεύσαντες, οὐκ ἀπίστοις μύθοις οὐδὲ παραδόξῳ τερατείᾳ προσέχειν ἡμᾶς, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, ἐάσαντες.