§21Πολύστρατος
οὐχ ἅπασαν· ἔτι γὰρ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἐπαίνων περιλείπεται.
Polystratus: Not the whole; for the greatest of praises still remains.
λέγω δὲ τὸ ἐν τηλικούτῳ ὄγκῳ γενομένην αὐτὴν μήτε τῦφον ἐπὶ τῇ εὐπραξίᾳ περιβαλέσθαι μήτε ὑπὲρ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον μέτρον ἐπαρθῆναι πιστεύσασαν τῇ τύχῃ, φυλάττειν δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἰσοπέδου ἑαυτὴν μηδὲν ἀπειρόκαλον ἢ φορτικὸν φρονοῦσαν καὶ τοῖς προσιοῦσιν δημοτικῶς τε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου προσφέρεσθαι καὶ δεξιώσεις καὶ φιλοφροσύνας φιλοφρονεῖσθαι τοσούτῳ ἡδίους τοῖς προσομιλοῦσιν, ὅσῳ καὶ παρὰ μείζονος ὅμως γιγνόμεναι οὐδὲν τραγικὸν ἐμφαίνουσιν.
I mean her not wrapping herself in vanity over her prosperity though being in such a high station, nor being lifted up beyond the human measure through trusting in fortune, but keeping herself on the level ground, thinking nothing tasteless or vulgar, and behaving toward those who approach her both popularly and as an equal, and showing greetings and kindnesses which are so much the sweeter to those who converse with her, inasmuch as, though coming from a greater person, they nevertheless show nothing theatrical.
ὡς ὁπόσοι τῷ μέγα δύνασθαι μὴ πρὸς ὑπεροψίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς εὐποιίαν ἐχρήσαντο, οὗτοι καὶ ἄξιοι μάλιστα τῶν παρὰ τῆς τύχης δοθέντων ἀγαθῶν ὤφθησαν, καὶ μόνοι ἂν οὗτοι δικαίως τὸ ἐπίφθονον διαφύγοιεν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἂν φθονήσειε τῷ ὑπερέχοντι, ἢν μετριάζοντα ἐπὶ τοῖς εὐτυχήμασιν αὐτὸν ὁρᾷ καὶ μὴ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ὁμήρου Ἄτην ἐκείνην ἐπʼ ἀνδρῶν κράατα βεβηκότα καὶ τὸ ὑποδεέστερον πατοῦντα·
For those who have used their great power not for arrogance but for beneficence have appeared most worthy of the good things given by fortune, and these alone could justly escape envy; for no one would envy the superior person if he sees him being moderate in his successes and not, like Homer's famous Ate, walking on the heads of men and treading upon the inferior.
ὅπερ οἱ ταπεινοὶ τὰς γνώμας πάσχουσιν ἀπειροκαλίᾳ τῆς ψυχῆς· ἐπειδὰν γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἡ τύχη μηδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐλπίσαντας ἄφνω ἀναβιβάσῃ εἰς πτηνόν τι καὶ μετάρσιον ὄχημα, οὐ μένουσιν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων οὐδʼ ἀφορῶσιν κάτω, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ ἄναντες βιάζονται.
This is what those who are lowly in their minds suffer from the tastelessness of their soul; for whenever fortune, when they expected no such thing, suddenly elevates them into some winged and lofty chariot, they do not remain on what they have nor look down, but always force their way toward the steep.
τοιγαροῦν ὥσπερ ὁ Ἴκαρος, τακέντος αὐτοῖς τάχιστα τοῦ κηροῦ καὶ τῶν πτερῶν περιρρυέντων, γέλωτα ὀφλισκάνουσιν ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν εἰς πελάγη καὶ κλύδωνα ἐμπίπτοντες·
Therefore, just like Icarus, as soon as their wax melts and their wings fall off, they incur laughter, falling headlong into the seas and surges.
ὅσοι δὲ κατὰ τὸν Δαίδαλον ἐχρήσαντο τοῖς πτεροῖς καὶ μὴ πάνυ ἐπήρθησαν, εἰδότες ὅτι ἐκ κηροῦ ἦν αὐτοῖς πεποιημένα, ἐταμιεύσαντο δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τὴν φορὰν καὶ ἠγάπησαν ὑψηλότεροι μόνον τῶν κυμάτων ἐνεχθέντες, ὥστε μέντοι νοτίζεσθαι αὐτοῖς ἀεὶ τὰ πτερὰ καὶ μὴ παρέχειν αὐτὰ μόνῳ τῷ ἡλίῳ, οὗτοι δὲ ἀσφαλῶς τε ἅμα καὶ σωφρόνως διέπτησαν·
But those who, like Daedalus, used their wings and were not altogether lifted up, knowing that they were made of wax, and regulated their flight according to the human measure and were content to be carried only a little higher than the waves, so that their wings were always moistened and they did not expose them to the sun alone, these flew through both safely and prudently.
ὅπερ καὶ ταύτην ἄν τις μάλιστα ἐπαινέσειε.
This is what one might praise most in her.
τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἄξιον παρὰ πάντων ἀπολαμβάνει τὸν καρπόν, εὐχομένων ταῦτά τε αὐτῇ παραμεῖναι τὰ πτερὰ καὶ ἔτι πλείω ἐπιρρεῖν τἀγαθά.
Therefore she also receives the worthy fruit from all, who pray that these wings may remain with her and that still more good things may flow in.
§22Λυκῖνος
καὶ οὕτως, ὦ Πολύστρατε, γιγνέσθω· ἀξία γὰρ οὐ τὸ σῶμα μόνον ὥσπερ ἡ Ἑλένη καλὴ οὖσα„ καλλίω δὲ καὶ ἐρασμιωτέραν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν σκέπουσα.
Lycinus: And so let it be, Polystratus; for she is worthy, being beautiful not in body alone like Helen, but sheltering beneath it a soul more beautiful and lovely.
ἔπρεπε δὲ καὶ βασιλεῖ τῷ μεγάλῳ χρηστῷ καὶ ἡμέρῳ ὄντι καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀγαθῶν, ὁπόσα ἐστὶν αὐτῷ, εὐδαιμονῆσαι, ὡς ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ φῦναι γυναῖκα τοιαύτην καὶ συνοῦσαν αὐτῷ ποθεῖν αὐτόν·
And it was fitting for the great king, who is kind and gentle, to be happy in this also, along with the other good things he has, namely, that in his time such a woman was born and, being with him, desires him.
οὐ γὰρ μικρὸν τοῦτο εὐδαιμόνημα, γυνὴ περὶ ἧς ἄν τις εὐλόγως τὸ Ὁμηρικὸν ἐκεῖνο εἴποι, χρυσείῃ μὲν αὐτὴν Ἀφροδίτῃ ἐρίζειν τὸ κάλλος, ἔργα δὲ αὐτῇ Ἀθηναίῃ ἰσοφαρίζειν.
For this is no small happiness, a woman of whom one might reasonably say that Homeric line, that she rivals golden Aphrodite in beauty, and equals Athena in her works.
γυναικῶν γὰρ συνόλως οὐκ ἄν τις παραβληθείη αὐτῇ
οὐ δέμας οὐδὲ φυήν,
φησὶν Ὅμηρος,
οὔτʼ ἂρ φρένας οὔτε τι ἔργα. §23Πολύστρατος
ἀληθῆ φής, ὦ Λυκῖνε· ὥστε εἰ δοκεῖ, ἀναμίξαντες ἤδη τὰς εἰκόνας, ἥν τε σὺ ἀνέπλασας τὴν τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἃς ἐγὼ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐγραψάμην, μίαν ἐξ ἁπασῶν συνθέντες εἰς βιβλίον καταθέμενοι παρέχωμεν ἅπασι θαυμάζειν τοῖς τε νῦν οὖσι καὶ τοῖς ἐν ὑστέρῳ ἐσομένοις.
For among women as a whole, no one could be compared to her, 'neither in form nor in stature,' as Homer says, 'nor in mind nor in any works.' Polystratus: You speak the truth, Lycinus; so that if it seems good, let us now mix the portraits, both the one of the body which you modeled and those of the soul which I painted, and composing one out of them all, let us deposit it in a book and offer it to all to admire, both those who are now and those who will be hereafter.
μονιμωτέρα γοῦν τῶν Ἀπελλοῦ καὶ Παρρασίου καὶ Πολυγνώτου γένοιτʼ ἄν, καὶ αὐτῇ ἐκεινῇ παρὰ πολὺ τῶν τοιούτων κεχαρισμένη, ὅσῳ μὴ ξύλου καὶ κηροῦ καὶ χρωμάτων πεποίηται, ἀλλὰ ταῖς παρὰ Μουσῶν ἐπιπνοίαις εἴκασται, ἥπερ ἀκριβεστάτη εἰκὼν γένοιτʼ ἂν σώματος κάλλος καὶ ψυχῆς ἀρετὴν ἅμα ἐμφανίζουσα.
It would indeed be more lasting than those of Apelles, Parrhasius, and Polygnotus, and far more pleasing to her herself than such things, inasmuch as it is not made of wood, wax, and colors, but is likened by the inspirations from the Muses, which would be the most precise portrait, displaying at once the beauty of the body and the virtue of the soul.