§4.1Ἐπεὶ δοκεῖ σοι πυνθάνεσθαι περὶ Κλεοκράτους, ὅστις ἐστὶν ὁ Κλεοκράτης, ἄκουε· παύσῃ γὰρ οὐ προῖκαʼ πολυπραγμονῶν, οὐδʼ ἄπει πρὶν μακρᾶς ἀκοῦσαι διηγήσεως.
Since you seem to want to inquire about Cleocrates, as to who Cleocrates is, listen; for you will not cease your inquisitiveness for free, nor will you depart before hearing a long narrative.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ γένος ἐστὶν ἀπάντων ἀνδρῶν Ἐλλήνων οὐκ ἐν ἀφανεστάτοις, Ἀρίφρονα τὸν ἐκ Δαμαγήτου εἴ που πυνθάνοιο, ὅν που καὶ ὁ μέγας αἴρει Πίνδαρος.
For his family is not among the least distinguished of all Greek men, if you should happen to inquire about Ariphron the son of Damagetus, whom even the great Pindar extols.
ἀλλʼ ὅπως μὴ γέλωτα ὀφλισκάνῃς ζητῶν, ὅστις ἐστὶν ὁ Πίνδαρος.
But take care lest you incur ridicule by asking who Pindar is.
§4.2τουτὶ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαι ὅτι καὶ παρὰ Μαντίᾳ τῷ γραμματιστῇ ἄμα ἐμοί ποτε ἔμαθες· καὶ εἰ μηδενὸς ἔτι τῶν παρὰ Μαντίᾳ μνημονεύεις, ἐν γοῦν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις Μελανώπου ἑκάστοτε ἀκούεις λέγοντος,
ὡ ταὶ λιπαραὶ καὶ ἀοίδιμοι ἁλιάδος ἔρεισμʼ Ἀθᾶναι; §4.3καὶ ὅτι Πινδάρου τοῦ Θηβαίου τὸ ἔπος τοῦτό ἐστι, καὶ ὅτι ἐζημίωσκν αὐτὸν Θη βαῖοι τοῦτο ποιήσαντα τὸ ἔπος, οἷ δὲ ἡμέτεροι πρόγονοι διπλῆν αὐτῷ τὴν ζημίαν ἀπέδοσαν μετὰ τοῦ καὶ εἰκόνι χαλκῇ τιμῆσαι· καὶ ἥν αὕτη καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἔτι, πρὸ τῆς βασιλείου στοᾶς καθήμενος ἐνδύματι καὶ λύρᾳ ὁ Πίνδαρος, διάδημα ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν γονάτων ἀνειλιγμένον βιβλίον.
For I think you once learned this along with me in the school of Mantias the elementary teacher; and even if you no longer remember any of the things at Mantias' school, at least in the assemblies you hear Melanopus saying on each occasion: "O shiny and renowned in song, bulwark of the sea, Athens!" And you know both that this verse belongs to Pindar of Thebes, and that the Thebans fined him for composing this verse, while our ancestors paid him double the fine, along with honoring him with a bronze statue; and this statue still exists even down to our day, Pindar sitting before the Royal Stoa with a garment and a lyre, having a diadem and an unrolled book upon his knees.
§4.4οὖτος δὴ ὁ Πίνδαρος Δαμάγητον ἄδει ἐκεῖνον, εἰς ὅν ἀνατείνει τὸ Κλεοκράτους γένος.
This very Pindar sings of that Damagetus, to whom the family of Cleocrates traces its origin.
λέγει δέ που ὁ αὐτὸς Πίνδαρος καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸὺς Διαγορείους καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν πρεσβῦτιν, ἧς τὸ μητρῷον γένος αὐτοῦ ἄπτεται.
And the same Pindar also speaks somewhere of the story of the Diagoreans and of the old woman, with whom his maternal family is connected.
καὶ εἰ μὴ σφόδρα γδεῖν ποιητῶν ὑπέρφρονα ὄντα σε, καὶ τὰ ἀγοραῖα ταῦτα καὶ τὰ ἀπολέσαντα ἡμᾶς ἐπιτηδεύματα μᾶλλον περιέποντα, κἂν ἀποχρῆν ὑπελάμβανόν σε ὑπομνῆσαι μόνον τὰ περὶ τοὺς Διαγορείους εἶπὼν ἔπη Πινδάρου· νυνὶ δὲ οἶδα, ὅτι μάτην σοι αὐτὰ λέξομεν.
And if I did not know well that you are extremely contemptuous of poets, and rather devote yourself to these market-place pursuits that have ruined us, I would have supposed it sufficient merely to remind you by speaking of the verses of Pindar concerning the Diagoreans; but now I know that we shall speak them to you in vain.
§4.5δοκεῖ οὖν μοι ἀνάγκη εἶναι διηγήσασθαί σοι τὸ διήγημα τοῦτο· ἄξιον γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι, εἰ καὶ μὴ προσῆκον Κλεοκράτει.
Therefore, it seems necessary to me to relate this story to you; for it is worth hearing, even if it is not directly relevant to Cleocrates.
λέγεται γὰρ γυνή ποτε πρεσβῦτις Ὀλυμιπίασι παρελθοῦσα εἰς τὸ στάδιον ἑστάναι τε ἅμα τοῖς ἀνδράσι καὶ θεάσασθαι τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους, ἐπιστάντων δὲ αὐτῇ τῶν Ἑλλανοδικῶν, ὅτι ἐτόλμησε παρελθεῖν εἰς τὸ στάδιον, ἀποκρίνασθαι
τίνι γὰρ ἄλλῃ τοῦτο γυναικὶ δέδωκε καυχήσασθαι οὗτος ὁ θεός, ὅτι καὶ πατέρα καὶ τρεῖς ἀδελφοὺς Ὀλυμπιονίκας ἔχοι καὶ υἱὸν ἐπʼ Ὀλύμπια ἄγοι; §4.6ταύτης οὖν τῆς πρεσβύτιδος καὶ τούτου τοῦ γένους ἀπορρώξ ἐστιν ὁ Κλεοκράτης, ὡς ἔστι μᾶλλον πάντων ἢ αὐτοῦ πυθέσθαι.
For it is said that once an old woman at Olympia entered the stadium and stood together with the men to watch the competitors, and when the Hellanodikai confronted her because she dared to enter the stadium, she replied: "For to what other woman has this god granted to boast that she has both a father and three brothers who are Olympic victors, and is bringing a son to the Olympic games?" Therefore Cleocrates is an offshoot of this old woman and this family, as can be learned from anyone rather than from himself.
καὶ πλείω μὲν οὐ βούλομαι λέγειν, μὴ οὐ μηνῦσαί σοι, ὅπερ ἠξίωσας, ὅστις ἐστὶν ὁ Κλεοκράτης, βούλεσθαι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγκεκωμιακέναι αὐτόν, ὥσπερ καὶ Θρασύμαχος τὸν ξένον, συντετάχθαι καὶ ἀποτίνειν ταύτην τὴν χάριν τοῦ λαμπρῶς ἑστιᾶσθαι δοκῶ.
And I do not wish to say more, lest I should seem not only to wish to inform you of what you requested—who Cleocrates is—but also to have composed a panegyric on him, just as Thrasymachus did for his guest, and to be paying this favor because I believe I have been splendidly entertained.
τοσοῦτον μέντοι εἴποιμ’ ἄν, ὅτι ἡ πρεσβῦτις ἐκείνη, ε τοῦτον ἐγνώκει τὸν Κλεοκράτη, πολὑ ἄν μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς πέντε Ὀλυμπιονίκαις ἐσεμνύνετο.
However, I would say this much: that if that old woman had known this Cleocrates, she would have prided herself far more on him than on the five Olympic victors.