§4.1#1Ἰσοκράτης Θεοδώρου μὲν ἦν παῖς τοῦ Ἐρχιέως τῶν μετρίων πολιτῶν, θεράποντας αὐλοποιοὺς κεκτημένου καὶ εὐπορήσαντος ἀπὸ τούτων, ὡς καὶ χορηγῆσαι καὶ παιδεῦσαι τοὺς υἱούς· ἦσαν γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ ἄλλοι, Τελέσιππος καὶ Διόμνηστος· ἦν δὲ καὶ θυγάτριον·
Isocrates was the son of Theodorus of Erchia, who was among the citizens of moderate means, possessing slaves who were flute-makers and having prospered from them, so that he both served as choragus and educated his sons; for he had also others, Telesippus and Diomnestus; and there was also a little daughter.
ὅθεν εἰς τοὺς αὐλοὺς κεκωμῴδηται ὑπʼ Ἀριστοφάνους καὶ Στράττιδος.
Whence he was caricatured in comedy because of the flutes by Aristophanes and Strattis.
γενόμενος δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὀγδοηκοστὴν ἕκτην ὀλυμπιάδα Λυσιμάχου Μυρρινουσίου ἄρχοντος, νεώτερος μὲν Λυσίου δυσὶ καὶ εἴκοσιν ἔτεσι, πρεσβύτερος δὲ Πλάτωνος ἑπτά, παῖς μὲν ὢν ἐπαιδεύετο οὐδενὸς ἧττον Ἀθηναίων, ἀκροώμενος Προδίκου τε τοῦ Κείου καὶ Γοργίου τοῦ Λεοντίνου καὶ Τισίου τοῦ Συρακουσίου καὶ Θηραμένους τοῦ ῥήτορος·
Having been born during the eighty-sixth Olympiad in the archonship of Lysimachus of Myrrhinus, being twenty-two years younger than Lysias and seven years older than Plato, while he was a boy he was educated no less than any of the Athenians, listening to Prodicus of Ceos, Gorgias of Leontini, Tisias of Syracuse, and Theramenes the rhetorician.
οὗ καὶ συλλαμβανομένου ὑπὸ τῶν τριάκοντα καὶ φυγόντος ἐπὶ τὴν Βουλαίαν Ἑστίαν, ἁπάντων καταπεπληγμένων, μόνος ἀνέστη βοηθήσων καὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἐσίγησε κατʼ ἀρχάς, ἔπειτα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ παρῃτήθη, εἰπόντος ὀδυνηρότερον αὐτῷ συμβήσεσθαι εἴ τις τῶν φίλων ἀπολαύσει τῆς συμφορᾶς·
When this man was being arrested by the Thirty and fled to the Hestia of the Council, while everyone else was struck with terror, Isocrates alone stood up to help him, and at first remained silent for a long time, but then was begged off by Theramenes himself, who said that it would happen to be more painful to him if any of his friends should share in his misfortune.
καὶ ἐκείνου τινὰς οὔσας τέχνας αὐτῷ φασι συμπραγματεύσασθαι, ἡνίκα ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις ἐσυκοφαντεῖτο, αἳ εἰσιν ἐπιγεγραμμέναι Βότωνος.
And they say that Isocrates helped him compose certain rhetorical arts when Theramenes was being harassed in the courts, which are inscribed with the name of Boton.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἠνδρώθη, τῶν μὲν πολιτικῶν πραγμάτων ἀπέσχετο ἰσχνόφωνὸς τʼ ὢν καὶ εὐλαβὴς τὸν τρόπον καὶ τὰ πατρῷα· ἀποβεβληκὼς ἐν τῷ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους πολέμῳ· ἄλλοις δὲ μεμελετηκὼς φαίνεται, ἕνα δὲ μόνον εἰπὼν λόγον,, τὸν περὶ τῆς Ἀντιδόσεως.
But when he became a man, he abstained from political affairs, being weak-voiced and cautious in character, and having lost his ancestral property in the war against the Lacedaemonians; but he appears to have composed speeches for others, and to have delivered only one speech himself, the one *On the Antidosis*.
διατριβὴν δὲ συστησάμενος, ἐπὶ τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ γράφειν ἃ διανοηθείη ἐτράπετο, καὶ τόν τε Πανηγυρικὸν λόγον καί τινας ἄλλους τῶν συμβουλευτικῶν, οὓς μὲν αὐτὸς γράφων ἀνεγίνωσκεν οὓς δʼ ἑτέροις παρεσκεύαζεν, ἡγούμενος οὕτως ἐπὶ τὸ τὰ δέοντα φρονεῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας προτρέψεσθαι.
Having established a school, he turned to philosophy and writing what he thought out, and composed both the *Panegyricus* and certain others of his advisory speeches, some of which he himself wrote and read aloud, and others of which he prepared for others, believing that in this way he would exhort the Greeks to reflect on what was necessary.
διαμαρτάνων δὲ τῆς προαιρέσεως, τούτων μὲν ἀπέστη σχολῆς δʼ ἡγεῖτο, ὣς τινές φασι, πρῶτον ἐπὶ· Χίου, μαθητὰς ἔχων ἐννέα· ὅτε καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν μισθὸν ἀριθμούμενον εἶπε δακρύσας ὡς
ἐπέγνων ἐμαυτὸν νῦν τούτοις πεπραμένον
ὡμίλει δὲ τοῖς βουλομένοις, χωρίσας πρῶτος τοὺς ἐριστικοὺς λόγους τῶν πολιτικῶν, περὶ οὓς ἐσπούδασε.
But failing in his purpose, he withdrew from these things and directed a school, as some say, first at Chios, having nine pupils; at which time, when he saw his fee being counted out, he said with tears: "I have recognized that I am now sold to these men." And he associated with those who wished, being the first to separate eristic discourses from political ones, in which he was deeply engaged.
καὶ ἀρχὰς δὲ καὶ περὶ τὴν Χίον κατέστησε καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τῇ πατρίδι πολιτείαν· ἀργύριόν τε ὅσον οὐδεὶς σοφιστῶν εὐπόρησεν, ὡς καὶ τριηραρχῆσαι.
And he also established magistracies in Chios and the same form of government as in his fatherland; and he acquired as much money as no other of the sophists did, so that he even served as a trierarch.
ἀκροαταὶ δʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένοντο· εἰς ἑκατόν; ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ Κόνωνος, σὺν ᾧ καὶ πολλὰς πόλεις ἐπῆλθε, συντιθεὶς τὰς πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ὑπὸ Τιμοθέου πεμπομένας ἐπιστολάς· ὅθεν ἐδωρήσατο αὐτῷ τάλαντον τῶν ἀπὸ Σάμου περιγενομένων.
And his pupils numbered up to one hundred, including many others and especially Timotheus the son of Conon, with whom he also visited many cities, composing the letters sent by Timotheus to the Athenians; for which reason Timotheus presented him with a talent from the surplus obtained from Samos.
ἐμαθήτευσε δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ Θεόπομπος ὁ Χῖος, καὶ Ἔφορος ὁ Κυμαῖος καὶ Ἀσκληπιάδης ὁ τὰ τραγῳδούμενα συγγράψας καὶ Θεοδέκτης ὁ Φασηλίτης· ,ὁ τὰς τραγῳδίας ὕστερον γράψας, οὗ ἐστι τὸ μνῆμα ἐπὶ τὴν Κυαμῖτιν πορευομένοις κατὰ τὴν ἱερὰν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐπʼ Ἐλευσῖνα, τὰ νῦν κατερηρειμμένον· ἔνθα καὶ τοὺς ἐνδόξους τῶν ποιητῶν ἀνέστησε σὺν αὐτῷ, ὧν Ὅμηρος ὁ ποιητὴς σῴζεται μόνος· Λεώδαμὸς τʼ Ἀθηναῖος καὶ Λάκριτος ὁ νομοθέτης Ἀθηναίοις· ὡς δὲ τινές φασι, καὶ Ὑπερείδης καὶ Ἰσαῖος.
And there also studied under him Theopompus of Chios, Ephorus of Cyme, Asclepiades who compiled the plots of tragedies, and Theodectes of Phaselis, who later wrote tragedies, whose tomb is on the way to Cyamitis along the Sacred Way to Eleusis, which is now in ruins; where he also set up statues of the famous poets along with him, of which only that of Homer the poet survives; and Leodamas the Athenian, and Lacritus the lawgiver for the Athenians; and as some say, also Hyperides and Isaeus.
καὶ Δημοσθένη δʼ ἔτι ῥητορεύοντί φασι μετὰ σπουδῆς προσελθεῖν αὐτῷ, καὶ χιλίας μὲν ἃς εἰσεπράττετο οὐκ ἔχειν φάναι παρασχεῖν, διακοσίας δὲ δώσειν, ἐφʼ ᾧ τε τὸ πέμπτον μέρος ἐκμαθεῖν τὸν δʼ ἀποκρίνασθαι ὡς
οὐ τεμαχίζομεν Δημόσθενες, τὴν πραγματείαν ὥσπερ δὲ τοὺς καλοὺς ἰχθῦς ὅλους πωλοῦμεν, οὕτω κἀγώ σοι, εἰ βούλοιο μαθητεύειν, ὁλόκληρον ἀποδώσομαι τὴν τέχνην
ἐτελεύτα δʼ ἐπὶ Χαιρώνδου ἄρχοντος, ἀπαγγελθέντων τῶν περὶ Χαιρώνειαν ἐν τῇ Ἱπποκράτους; παλαίστρᾳ πυθόμενος, ἐξαγαγὼν αὑτὸν τοῦ βίου τέτταρσιν ἡμέραις διὰ τοῦ σιτίων ἀποσχέσθαι, προειπὼν τρεῖς ἀρχὰς δραμάτων Εὐριπίδου
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Δαναὸς ὁ πεντήκοντα θυγατέρων πατήρ
Πέλοψ ὁ Ταντάλειος εἰς Πῖσαν μολών· Σιδώνιὸν ποτʼ ἄστυ Κάδμος ἐκλιπών
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ὀκτὼ καὶ ἐνενήκοντα ἔτη βιοὺς ἢ ὥς τινες ἑκατόν, οὐχ ὑπομείνας τετράκις ἰδεῖν τὴν Ἑλλάδα καταδουλουμένην· πρὸ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἢ ὥς τινες πρὸ τεσσάρων ἐτῶν τῆς τελευτῆς συγγράψας τὸν Παναθηναϊκόν.
And they say that Demosthenes also came to him with eagerness while Isocrates was still teaching, and said that he did not have the thousand drachmas which Isocrates charged to pay, but would give two hundred, on condition of learning a fifth part; and that Isocrates replied that: "We do not carve up our business, Demosthenes; but just as we sell fine fish whole, so I also, if you wish to be my pupil, will deliver the art to you whole and entire." And he died in the archonship of Chairondas; having learned of the events at Chaeronea which were reported while he was in the palaestra of Hippocrates, he removed himself from life within four days by abstaining from food, having first recited the openings of three dramas of Euripides: "Danaus, the father of fifty daughters..." "Pelops, son of Tantalus, having come to Pisa..." "Cadmus, having once left the Sidonian city..." having lived ninety-eight years, or as some say, one hundred, not enduring to see Greece enslaved for the fourth time; and he wrote the *Panathenaicus* one year, or as some say, four years before his death.
τὸν δὲ Πανηγυρικὸν ἔτεσι δέκα συνέθηκεν, οἱ δὲ δεκαπέντε λέγουσιν, ὃν μετενηνοχέναι ἐκ τῶν Γοργίου τοῦ Λεοντίνου καὶ Λυσίου τὸν δὲ περὶ τῆς Ἀντιδόσεως δύο καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη γεγονώς· τοὺς δὲ πρὸς Φίλιππον ὀλίγῳ πρότερον τοῦ θανάτου.
And he composed the *Panegyricus* in ten years, though some say fifteen, which they say he transferred from the works of Gorgias of Leontini and Lysias; and the one *On the Antidosis* when he was eighty-two years old; and those *To Philip* shortly before his death.
ἐγένετο δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ παῖς; Ἀφαρεὺς πρεσβύτῃ ὄντι ἐκ Πλαθάνης τῆς Ἱππίου τοῦ ῥήτορος ποιητός, τῶν δὲ τῆς γυναικὸς τριῶν παίδων ὁ νεώτατος.
And in his old age he had an adopted son, Aphareus, who was a poet, born to Platane, the daughter of Hippias the rhetorician, and who was the youngest of his wife's three children.
εὐπόρησε δʼ ἱκανῶς οὐ μόνον ἀργύριον εἰσπράττων τοὺς γνωρίμους, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ Νικοκλέους τοῦ Κυπρίων βασιλέως, ὃς· ἦν υἱὸς Εὐαγόρου, εἴκοσι τάλαντα λαβὼν ὑπὲρ τοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν γραφέντος λόγου ἐφʼ οἷς φθονηθεὶς τρὶς προεβλήθη τριηραρχεῖν, καὶ δὶς μὲν ἀσθένειαν σκηψάμενος διὰ τοῦ παιδὸς παρῃτήσατο, τὸ δὲ τρίτον ὑποστὰς ἀνήλωσεν οὐκ ὀλίγα.
And he became sufficiently wealthy, not only by collecting money from his pupils, but also by receiving twenty talents from Nicocles, the king of the Cyprians, who was the son of Evagoras, for the speech written for him; for which things, being envied, he was nominated three times to serve as trierarch, and twice having pleaded illness he excused himself through his son, but the third time he undertook it and spent no small sum.
πρὸς δὲ τὸν εἰπόντα πατέρα ὡς οὐδὲν ἀλλʼ ἢ ἀνδράποδον συνέπεμψε τῷ παιδίῳ
τοιγαροῦν
ἔφη
ἄπιθι· δύο γὰρ ἀνθʼ ἑνὸς ἕξεις ἀνδράποδα
ἠγωνίσατο δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ Μαυσώλῳ τεθέντα ὑπʼ Ἀρτεμισίας ἀγῶνα· τὸ δʼ ἐγκώμιον οὐ σῴζεται.
And to a father who said that he had sent with his boy nothing but a slave, Isocrates replied: "Go then; for you will have two slaves instead of one." He also competed in the contest established by Artemisia for Mausolus; but the panegyric does not survive.
ἐποίησε δὲ καὶ εἰς Ἑλένην ἐγκώμιον καὶ Ἀρεοπαγιτικόν.
He also composed a panegyric on Helen, and the *Areopagiticus*.
ἐξελθεῖν δὲ τοῦ βίου οἱ μὲν ἐναταῖόν φασι σίτων
And some say that he departed from life on the ninth day from food