§14ἐνίοτε μέντοι καὶ ὁ ἀκροώμενος αὐτὸς ὑποβάλλει τῆς διαβολῆς τὰς ἀφορμάς, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνου τρόπον οἱ κακοήθεις αὐτοὶ ἁρμοζόμενοι εὐστοχοῦσιν.
Sometimes, however, the listener himself suggests the occasions for the slander, and the malicious ones, by adapting themselves to his character, hit the mark.
ἢν μὲν γὰρ ζηλότυπον αὐτὸν ὄντα ἴδωσι, Διένευσε, φασί, τῇ γυναικί σου παρὰ τὸ δεῖπνον καὶ ἀπιδὼν ἐς αὐτὴν ἐστέναξε, καὶ ἡ Στρατονίκη πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐ μάλα ἀηδῶς· καὶ ὅλως ἐρωτικαί τινες καὶ μοιχικαὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν αἱ διαβολαί.
For if they see him to be jealous, they say, "He nodded to your wife during dinner, and looking at her, he sighed; and Stratonice was not at all displeased with him," and in general, any slanders of an amorous and adulterous nature are directed at him.
ἢν δὲ ποιητικὸς ᾖ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μέγα φρονῇ, Μὰ Δίʼ ἐχλεύασέ σου Φιλόξενος τὰ ἔπη καὶ διέσυρε καὶ ἄμετρα εἶπεν αὐτὰ καὶ κακοσύνθετα. πρὸς δὲ τὸν εὐσεβῆ καὶ φιλόθεον ὡς ἄθεος καὶ ἀνόσιος ὁ φίλος διαβάλλεται καὶ ὡς τὸ θεῖον παρωθούμενος καὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἀρνούμενος· ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας εὐθὺς μύωπι διὰ τοῦ ὠτὸς τυπεὶς διακέκαυται ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς καὶ ἀπέστραπται τὸν φίλον οὐ περιμείνας τὸν ἀκριβῆ ἔλεγχον.
But if he is poetic and prides himself on this, they say, "By Zeus, Philoxenus mocked your verses, tore them to pieces, and said they were without meter and poorly composed." And to the pious and god-loving man, his friend is slandered as godless and unholy, and as casting aside the divine and denying providence; and the listener, immediately stung through his ear as if by a gadfly, is inflamed, as is natural, and turns away from his friend, without waiting for an accurate investigation.
§15ὅλως γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπινοοῦσι καὶ λέγουσιν, ἃ μάλιστα ἴσασιν ἐς ὀργὴν δυνάμενα προκαλέσασθαι τὸν ἀκροώμενον, καὶ ἔνθα τρωτός ἐστιν ἕκαστος ἐπιστάμενοι, ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνο τοξεύουσι καὶ ἀκοντίζουσιν ἐς αὐτό, ὥστε τῇ παραυτίκα ὀργῇ τεταραγμένον μηκέτι σχολὴν ἄγειν τῇ ἐξετάσει τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλὰ κἂν θέλῃ τις ἀπολογεῖσθαι, μὴ προσίεσθαι, τῷ παραδόξῳ τῆς ἀκροάσεως ὡς ἀληθεῖ προκατειλημμένον.
For in general they devise and speak such things which they know are best able to provoke the listener to anger; and knowing where each is vulnerable, they shoot at that spot and hurl their darts into it, so that, disturbed by immediate anger, he no longer has leisure for the examination of truth, but even if someone wishes to defend himself, he does not admit him, having been pre-occupied by the unexpectedness of what he heard as though it were true.
§16ἀνυσιμώτατον γὰρ τὸ εἶδος τῆς διαβολῆς τὸ ὑπεναντίον τῆς τοῦ ἀκούοντος ἐπιθυμίας, ὁπότε καὶ παρὰ Πτολεμαίῳ τῷ Διονύσῳ ἐπικληθέντι ἐγένετό τις ὃς διέβαλλε τὸν Πλατωνικὸν Δημήτριον, ὅτι ὕδωρ τε πίνει καὶ μόνος τῶν ἄλλων γυναικεῖα οὐκ ἐνεδύσατο ἐν τοῖς Διονυσίοις· καὶ εἴ γε μὴ κληθεὶς ἕωθεν ἔπιέ τε πάντων ὁρώντων καὶ λαβὼν ταραντινίδιον ἐκυμβάλισε καὶ προσωρχήσατο, ἀπολώλει ἂν ὡς οὐχ ἡδόμενος τῷ βίῳ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀλλʼ ἀντισοφιστὴς ὢν καὶ ἀντίτεχνος τῆς Πτολεμαίου τρυφῆς.
For the most effective kind of slander is that which is contrary to the listener's desire, which once occurred also in the court of Ptolemy who was surnamed Dionysus, when someone slandered the Platonist Demetrius, because he drank water and was the only one of the others who did not put on women's clothes during the Dionysia; and if indeed, when summoned early in the morning, he had not drunk in the sight of all, and taking a Tarentine robe, played the cymbals and danced, he would have perished as not being pleased with the king's life, but being a counter-sophist and rival in art to the luxury of Ptolemy.
§17παρὰ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ μεγίστη ποτὲ πασῶν ἦν διαβολή, εἰ λέγοιτο τις μὴ σέβειν μηδὲ προσκυνεῖν τὸν Ἡφαιστίωνα· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἀπέθανεν Ἡφαιστίων, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος Ἀλέξανδρος ἐβουλήθη προσθεῖναι καὶ τοῦτο τῇ λοιπῇ μεγαλουργίᾳ καὶ θεὸν χειροτονῆσαι τὸν τετελευτηκότα.
And in the court of Alexander, the greatest slander of all was once if someone was said not to worship nor to make obeisance to Hephaestion; for when Hephaestion died, Alexander, out of his love, wished to add this also to his other great deeds and to elect the deceased a god.
εὐθὺς οὖν νεώς τε ἀνέστησαν αἱ πόλεις καὶ τεμένη καθιδρύετο καὶ βωμοὶ καὶ θυσίαι καὶ ἑορταὶ τῷ καινῷ τούτῳ θεῷ ἐπετελοῦντο, καὶ ὁ μέγιστος ὅρκος ἦν ἅπασιν Ἡφαιστίων.
Immediately, therefore, cities erected temples, sacred precincts were dedicated, and altars, sacrifices, and festivals were performed for this new god, and the greatest oath for all was Hephaestion.
εἰ δέ τις ἢ μειδιάσειε πρὸς τὰ γινόμενα ἢ μὴ φαίνοιτο πάνυ εὐσεβῶν, θάνατος ἐπέκειτο ἡ ζημία.
And if anyone should either smile at what was happening or not appear to be entirely pious, death was the penalty imposed.
ὑπολαμβάνοντες δὲ οἱ κόλακες τὴν μειρακιώδη ταύτην τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐπιθυμίαν προσεξέκαιον εὐθὺς καὶ ἀνεζωπύρουν ὀνείρατα διηγούμενοι τοῦ Ἡφαιστίωνος, ἐπιφανείας τινὰς καὶ ἰάματα προσάπτοντες αὐτῷ καὶ μαντείας ἐπιφημίζοντες· καὶ τέλος ἔθυον παρέδρῳ καὶ ἀλεξικάκῳ θεῷ.
The flatterers, taking up this childish desire of Alexander, immediately fanned the flame and rekindled it by telling dreams of Hephaestion, attributing certain epiphanies and healings to him, and assigning prophecies to him; and in the end they sacrificed to him as a companion and averter-of-evil god.
ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος ἥδετό τε ἀκούων καὶ τᾶ τελευταῖα ἐπίστευε καὶ μέγα ἐφρόνει ὡσανεὶ οὐ θεοῦ παῖς ὢν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεοὺς ποιεῖν δυνάμενος.
And Alexander was pleased to hear this, and in the end believed it, and felt proud as though he were not only the son of a god but also able to make gods.
πόσους τοίνυν οἰώμεθα τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου φίλων παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς Ἡφαιστίωνος θειότητος, διαβληθέντας ὡς οὐ τιμῶσι τὸν κοινὸν ἁπάντων θεόν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξελαθέντας καὶ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως εὐνοίας ἐκπεσόντας;
How many, then, of Alexander's friends do we suppose during that time suffered from Hephaestion's divinity, having been slandered as not honoring the common god of all, and for this reason driven out and falling from the king's goodwill?
§18τότε καὶ Ἀγαθοκλῆς ὁ Σάμιος ταξιαρχῶν παρʼ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ καὶ τιμώμενος παρʼ αὐτοῦ μικροῦ δεῖν συγκαθείρχθη λέοντι διαβληθεὶς ὅτι δακρύσειε παριὼν τὸν Ἡφαιστίωνος τάφον.
At that time, Agathocles of Samos also, who was a commander under Alexander and honored by him, was within a narrow margin of being shut up with a lion, having been slandered because he had wept as he passed by the tomb of Hephaestion.
ἀλλʼ ἐκείνῳ μὲν βοηθῆσαι λέγεται Περδίκκας ἐπομοσάμενος κατὰ πάντων θεῶν καὶ κατὰ Ἡφαιστίωνος, ὅτι δὴ κυνηγετοῦντί οἱ φανέντα ἐναργῆ τὸν θεὸν ἐπισκῆψαι εἰπεῖν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ φείσασθαι Ἀγαθοκλέους· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἀπιστοῦντα οὐδὲ ὡς ἐπὶ νεκρῷ δακρῦσαι, ἀλλὰ τῆς πάλαι συνηθείας μνημονεύσαντα.
But Perdiccas is said to have helped him by swearing by all the gods and by Hephaestion, that indeed while he was hunting, the god, appearing clearly, commanded him to tell Alexander to spare Agathocles; for he had wept not as disbelieving, nor as for a dead man, but remembering their old intimacy.