§9ἡ δʼ Εὐριπίδειος Ἰνὼ παρρησίαν ἄγουσα περὶ αὑτῆς εἰδέναι φησὶ
"σιγᾶν θʼ ὅπου δεῖ καὶ λέγειν ἵνʼ ἀσφαλές. "
οἱ γὰρ εὐγενοῦς καὶ βασιλικῆς τῷ ὄντι παιδείας τυχόντες πρῶτον σιγᾶν εἶτα λαλεῖν μανθάνουσιν.
Euripides’ Ino, speaking frankly, says that she knows about herself: "How to keep silent where necessary, and to speak where it is safe." For those who have received a truly noble and kingly education learn first to be silent and then to speak.
Ἀντίγονος γοῦν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκεῖνος, ἐρωτήσαντος αὐτὸν τοῦ υἱοῦ πηνίκα μέλλουσιν ἀναζευγνύειν,
τί δέδοικας;
At any rate, that famous king Antigonus, when his son asked him when they were going to strike camp, said, "What are you afraid of?
εἶπε
μὴ μόνος οὐκ ἀκούσῃς τῆς σάλπιγγος; οὐκ ἄρα φωνὴν ἐπίστευεν ἀπόρρητον ᾧ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀπολείπειν ἔμελλεν;
Is it that you alone will not hear the trumpet?" Was he then not trusting his voice—a secret—to the one to whom he was going to leave his kingdom?
ἐδίδασκε μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν ἐγκρατῶς ἔχειν πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ πεφυλαγμένως.
No, rather he was teaching him to be self-controlled and cautious regarding such matters.
Μέτελλος δʼ ὁ γέρων ἕτερόν τι τοιοῦτον ἐπερωτώμενος ἐπὶ στρατείας
εἰ
φησὶν
ᾤμην τὸν χιτῶνά μοι συνειδέναι τοῦτο τἀπόρρητον, ἀποδυσάμενος ἂν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ ἔθηκα
Εὐμένης δʼ ἀκούσας ἐπέρχεσθαι Κρατερὸν οὐδενὶ τῶν φίλων ἔφρασεν, ἀλλʼ ἐψεύσατο Νεοπτόλεμον εἶναι·
And Metellus the elder, being asked another such question on a campaign, said, "If I thought that my tunic were conscious of this secret, I would strip it off and put it on the fire." And Eumenes, having heard that Craterus was approaching, told none of his friends, but lied that it was Neoptolemus; for the soldiers despised the latter, but admired the former's reputation and loved his valor.
τούτου γὰρ οἱ στρατιῶται κατεφρόνουν, ἐκείνου δὲ καὶ τὴν δόξαν ἐθαύμαζον καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἠγάπων. ἔγνω δʼ οὐδεὶς ἄλλος, ἀλλὰ συμβαλόντες ἐκράτησαν καὶ ἀπέκτειναν αὐτὸν ἀγνοοῦντες καὶ νεκρὸν ἐπέγνωσαν.
And no one else knew, but joining battle they prevailed and killed him without knowing, and recognized him only when he was a corpse.
οὕτως ἐστρατήγησεν ἡ σιωπὴ τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ τηλικοῦτον ἀνταγωνιστὴν ἀπέκρυψεν· ὥστʼ αὐτὸν τοὺς φίλους μὴ προειπόντα θαυμάζειν μᾶλλον ἢ μέμφεσθαι·
Thus silence generaled the contest and concealed such a great adversary, with the result that his friends, though he had not told them beforehand, admired him rather than blamed him.
κἂν μέμφηται δέ τις, ἐγκαλεῖσθαι βέλτιόν ἐστι σωθέντα διʼ ἀπιστίαν ἢ κατηγορεῖν ἀπολλύμενον διὰ τὸ πιστεῦσαι.
And even if someone should blame him, it is better to be accused when saved through distrust, than to accuse while perishing because of having trusted.
§10τίς δʼ ὅλως ἑαυτῷ παρρησίαν ἀπολέλοιπε κατὰ τοῦ μὴ σιωπήσαντος;
Who in short has left himself any freedom of speech against the one who did not keep silent?
εἰ γὰρ ἀγνοεῖσθαι τὸν λόγον ἔδει, κακῶς ἐλέχθη πρὸς ἄλλον· εἰ δʼ ἀφεὶς ἐκ σεαυτοῦ κατέχεις ἐν ἑτέρῳ τἀπόρρητον, εἰς ἀλλοτρίαν πίστιν καταπέφευγας τὴν σεαυτοῦ προέμενος.
For if the words ought to have been kept secret, it was badly spoken to another; but if, having let it go from yourself, you would keep the secret in another, you have fled to another’s trustworthiness, having abandoned your own.
κἂν μὲν ἐκεῖνος ὅμοιός σοι γένηται, δικαίως ἀπόλωλας· ἂν δὲ βελτίων, σῴζῃ παραλόγως ἕτερον εὑρὼν ὑπὲρ σεαυτὸν πιστότερον.
And if indeed that person becomes like you, you have justly perished; but if better, you are saved contrary to expectation, having found another more trustworthy than yourself.
ἀλλὰ
φίλος οὗτος ἐμοί. τούτῳ δʼ ἕτερός τις, ᾧ πιστεύσει καὶ οὗτος ὡς ἐγὼ τούτῳ· κἀκεῖνος ἄλλῳ πάλιν· εἶθʼ οὕτως ἐπιγονὴν λαμβάνει καὶ πολλαπλασιασμόν, εἰρομένης τῆς ἀκρασίας, ὁ λόγος.
But you say, "This man is my friend." But this friend has another friend, whom he will trust just as I trusted him, and that one again another; and so the story, through the continuity of incontinence, gains offspring and multiplication.
ὡς γὰρ ἡ μονὰς οὐκ ἐκβαίνει τὸν ἑαυτῆς ὅρον ἀλλʼ ἅπαξ τὸ ἓν μένει, διὸ κέκληται μονάς· ἡ δὲ δυὰς ἀρχὴ διαφορᾶς ἀόριστος· εὐθὺς γὰρ ἑαυτὴν ἐξίστησι τῷ διπλασιασμῷ εἰς τὸ πλῆθος τρεπομένη· οὕτω λόγος ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ καταμένων ἀπόρρητος ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐστιν· ἂν δʼ εἰς ἕτερον ἐκβῇ φήμης ἔσχε τάξιν.
For just as the monad does not go out of its own limit, but remains once one, wherefore it is called monad; but the dyad is the indefinite beginning of difference, for it immediately departs from itself by doubling, turning into a multitude; so a story remaining in the first person is truly a secret, but if it goes out to another, it takes the rank of a rumor.
ἔπεα
γάρ
πτερόεντα
φησὶν ὁ ποιητής οὔτε γὰρ πτηνὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ἀφέντα ῥᾴδιόν ἐστιν αὖθις κατασχεῖν, οὔτε λόγον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος προέμενον κρατῆσαι καὶ συλλαβεῖν δυνατόν, ἀλλὰ φέρεται
"λαιψηρὰ κυκλώσας πτερά"
διʼ ἄλλων ἐπʼ ἄλλους σκιδνάμενος.
"For words are winged," says the poet; for neither is a bird, once let go from the hands, easy to catch again, nor is a word, once let go from the mouth, possible to master and arrest, but it flies, "circling with swift wings," dispersing from some to others.
νεὼς μὲν γὰρ ἁρπαγείσης ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἐπιλαμβάνονται, σπείραις καὶ ἀγκύραις τὸ τάχος ἀμβλύνοντες· τοῦ λόγου δʼ ὥσπερ ἐκ λιμένων ἐκδραμόντος οὐκ ἔστιν ὅρμος οὐδʼ ἀγκυροβόλιον, ἀλλὰ ψόφῳ πολλῷ καὶ ἤχῳ φερόμενος προσέρρηξε καὶ κατέδυσεν εἰς μέγαν τινὰ καὶ δεινὸν τὸν φθεγξάμενον κίνδυνον.
For when a ship is snatched by the wind, they take hold of it, blunting its speed with ropes and anchors; but when a word has run out as if from a harbor, there is no anchorage nor mooring-ground, but carried with much noise and echo, it dashes and sinks the speaker into some great and terrible danger.
"
μικροῦ γὰρ ἐκ λαμπτῆρος Ἰδαῖον λέπας
πρήσειεν ἄν τις· καὶ πρὸς ἄνδρʼ εἰπὼν ἕνα,
πύθοιντʼ ἂν ἀστοὶ πάντες. "
"For from a small lamp one might set fire to the mountain of Ida; and by speaking to a single man, all the citizens might learn."