§36ὦ πολλὰ δὴ πολλάκις ἐν νυξί τε καὶ ἡμέραις ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ κληθεὶς ὑφʼ ἡμῶν, Ἀσκληπιὲ δέσποτα, ὡς ἀσμένοις καὶ ὑπερποθοῦσιν ἔδωκας ἡμῖν οἷον ἐκ πελάγους πολλοῦ καὶ κατηφείας λιμένος τε λαβέσθαι γαληνοῦ καὶ προσειπεῖν τὴν κοινὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἑστίαν, ἧς ἀτέλεστος μὲν οὐδεὶς δή που τῶν ὑφʼ ἡλίῳ, διισχυρίσασθαι δὲ ἔστιν ὡς Ἑλλήνων γε οὐδείς πω πλείω μέχρι τοῦδε ἀπέλαυσε.
O Lord Asclepius, who have been called upon by us so very many times, both by night and by day, in private and in public, how gladly, and with what great longing, did you grant us, as if from a vast sea and despondency, to lay hold of a calm harbor and to salute the common hearth of mankind, of which surely no one under the sun is without share, and of which it can be asserted that no Greek up to this point has ever enjoyed more than I have.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ σφόδρα εἰωθότι ταῦτα ἐμοὶ λέγειν, ὀκνητέον γε οὐδὲν μᾶλλον.
For indeed, even if I am extremely accustomed to saying these things, there is no more reason to hesitate.
οὔκουν τάς γε προσρήσεις τὰς ἐφʼ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτας ἐλλείπομεν φεύγοντες τὴν συνήθειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο φυλάττομεν, ὅτι εἰθίσθημεν §37ἐξ ἀρχῆς.
Therefore we do not omit these daily greetings, fleeing from custom, but preserve them for this very reason, that we have been accustomed from the beginning.
ἐμοὶ δὲ ἐπιμελὴς μὲν δή που καὶ ἡ διὰ τῶν θυμάτων τε καὶ θυμιαμάτων χάρις τε καὶ τιμὴ, εἴτε κατὰ τὴν Ἡσιόδου παραίνεσιν γιγνομένη εἴτε καὶ προθυμότερον τῆς δυνάμεως.
For my part, the gratitude and honor shown through sacrifices and incense is surely my concern, whether it is done according to the exhortation of Hesiod or even more eagerly than my power allows.
ἡ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ λόγου μοι πολὺ δὴ μάλιστα προσήκειν φαίνεται.
But that which is based on speech seems to me by far most fitting.
εἰ γὰρ οὖν ὅλως μὲν κέρδος ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ βίου καὶ ὡσπερεὶ κεφάλαιον ἡ περὶ τοὺς λόγους διατριβὴ, τῶν δὲ λόγων οἱ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἀναγκαιότατοι, φαίνεται δὲ ἡμῖν γε καὶ τὸ κατʼ αὐτοὺς τοὺς λόγους παρʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ γενόμενον, οὔτε τῷ θεῷ καλλίων χάρις, οἶμαι, τῆς ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων οὔτε τοῖς λόγοις ἔχοιμεν ἂν εἰς ὅ τι κρεῖττον χρησαίμεθα.
For if, in general, occupation with speech is a gain and as it were the capital of life for a human being, and of speeches those concerning the gods are most necessary, and it appears to us that our very capacity for speech has come from the god himself, there is no more beautiful gratitude for the god, I think, than that based on speech, nor could we use speech for any better purpose.
καὶ δὴ λέγωμεν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἀρξάμενοι, κοινὰ μὲν οἶδʼ ὅτι καὶ βοώμενα, πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
And so let us speak, beginning from the beginning, things that are, as I know, common and widely proclaimed—for how could they not be?
τοσούτῳ δʼ ἡμῖν δικαιότερα, ὅσῳ προστιθέντες καὶ πλεονάζοντες ταῖς θεραπείαις ἀμείνους ἂν εἴημεν ἢ παραλείποντες ἃ μηδεὶς τῶν πάντων ἀξιοῖ σιγᾶν.
But they are so much more just for us, as by adding to and exceeding in our worship we should be better than by omitting what no one of all people thinks fit to keep silent.
Ἀσκληπιοῦ δυνάμεις μεγάλαι τε καὶ πολλαὶ, μᾶλλον δʼ ἅπασαι, οὐχ ὅσον ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος χωρεῖ.
The powers of Asclepius are great and many, or rather they are all, more than the life of mankind can contain.
καὶ Διὸς Ἀσκληπιοῦ νεὼν οὐκ ἄλλως οἱ τῇδε ἱδρύσαντο.
And it was not without reason that the people here established a temple of Zeus Asclepius.
ἀλλʼ εἴπερ ἐμοὶ σαφὴς ὁ διδάσκαλος, εἰκὸς δὲ παντὸς μᾶλλον, ἐν ὅτῳ δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐδίδαξε τρόπῳ καὶ ὅπως ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς λόγοις εἴρηται, οὗτός ἐσθʼ ὁ τὸ πᾶν ἄγων καὶ νέμων σωτὴρ τῶν ὅλων καὶ φύλαξ τῶν ἀθανάτων, εἰ δὲ θέλεις τραγικώτερον εἰπεῖν, ἔφορος οἰάκων, σώζων τά τε ὄντα ἀεὶ καὶ τὰ γιγνόμενα.
But if my teacher is clear to me—and this is more likely than anything—and in whatever way he taught this and how it is said in the Sacred Tales, this is the one who guides and dispenses the universe, the savior of the whole and guardian of the immortals, or if you wish to speak more tragically, the overseer of the rudders, preserving both the things that always exist and those that come into being.
εἰ δʼ Ἀπόλλωνος παῖδα καὶ τρίτον ἀπὸ Διὸς νομίζομεν αὐτὸν, αὖθις αὖ καὶ συνάπτομεν τοῖς ὀνόμασιν, ἐπεί τοι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Δία γενέσθαι λέγουσί ποτε, πάλιν δὲ αὐτὸν ἀποφαίνουσιν ὄντα τῶν ὄντων πατέρα καὶ ποιητήν.
And if we consider him the son of Apollo and third from Zeus, we connect them again in turn by their names, since indeed they say that Zeus himself once came into being, and yet again they show him to be the father and maker of all things.
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν, ὥς φησι Πλάτων, ὅπως αὐτοῖς τοῖς θεοῖς φίλον ἐχέτω καὶ λεγέσθω.
But let these matters, as Plato says, be and be spoken of in whatever way is pleasing to the gods themselves.
ἐπανέλθωμεν δὲ ὅθεν ἐξέβημεν.
Let us return to where we digressed.
πάσας ἔχων ὁ θεὸς τὰς δυνάμεις διὰ πάντων ἄρα εὐεργετεῖν προείλετο τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἑκάστῳ τὰ προσήκοντα ἀποδιδούς.
The god, possessing all powers, chose indeed to benefit mankind through all things, rendering to each what is fitting.
μεγίστην δὲ καὶ κοινοτάτην §38εὐεργεσίαν εἰς ἅπαντας κατέθετο ἀθάνατον ποιήσας τὸ γένος τῇ διαδοχῇ, γάμους τε καὶ παίδων γενέσεις καὶ τροφῶν ἀφορμὰς καὶ πόρους διὰ τῆς ὑγιείας ἐργασάμενος.
And he bestowed the greatest and most common benefit upon all, making our race immortal by succession, and producing marriages, births of children, and resources and provisions for nourishment through health.
τὰ δʼ ἐν μέρει πρὸς ἄνδρα ὁρῶν ἤδη διεδίδου, οἷον δὴ τέχνας καὶ ἐπιτηδεύματα καὶ βίους πάντας, κοινῷ τινι φαρμάκῳ πρὸς ἅπαντας πόνους καὶ πράξεις πάσας τῇ ὑγιείᾳ χρώμενος.
On the other hand, looking at individual matters, he already distributed to each man, such as arts, occupations, and all modes of life, using health as a common remedy for all labors and all actions.
ἰατρεῖα δʼ εἰς τὸ μέσον κατεστήσατο, καὶ φιλοτεχνεῖν ἀνέθηκεν ἑαυτῷ νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, ὑπὲρ εὐθυμίας τῶν ἀεὶ δεομένων τε καὶ δεησομένων.
And he established clinics in public, and enjoined upon himself to work diligently night and day for the good cheer of those who are and will always be in need.
ἄλλοι μὲν οὖν ἄλλα ᾁδουσί τε καὶ ᾁσονται τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, ἐγὼ δὲ τῶν εἰς ἐμαυτὸν οὑτωσὶ μνησθῆναι βούλομαι.
Now others sing and will sing of other things for all time, but I wish to mention those things that relate to myself in this way.
εἰσὶν οἵ φασιν ἀναστῆναι κείμενοι, ὁμολογούμενα δή που λέγοντες καὶ πάλαι τῷ θεῷ μελετώμενα.
There are those who say they have stood up after lying ill, speaking of things surely acknowledged and long practiced by the god.
ἡμεῖς τοίνυν οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ῥᾴδιον εἰπεῖν ὁσάκις τῆς εὐεργεσίας ταύτης ἐτύχομεν.
We, therefore, have received this benefit not once, but indeed it is not easy to say how many times.
ἔτι καὶ χρόνους ἔστιν οἷς ἐπέδωκεν ἐκ προρρήσεως· τούτων ἡμεῖς ἐσμέν· τοῦτο γὰρ εἰπεῖν ἀλυπότατον.
Moreover, there are some to whom he granted additional years of life by prediction; of these we are one, for to say this is the least offensive.
ἀλλὰ καὶ μέλη τοῦ σώματος αἰτιῶνταί τινες, καὶ ἄνδρες λέγω καὶ γυναῖκες, προνοίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ γενέσθαι σφίσι, τῶν παρὰ τῆς φύσεως διαφθαρέντων.
But also some, both men and women, claim that parts of their body, which had been destroyed by nature, were restored to them by the providence of the god.
καὶ καταλέγουσιν ἄλλος ἄλλο τι, οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ στόματος οὑτωσὶ φράζοντες, οἱ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀναθήμασιν ἐξηγούμενοι.
And they enumerate, each some different thing, some speaking from the mouth in this way, others explaining in their dedications.
ἡμῖν τοίνυν οὐχὶ μέρος τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλʼ ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα συνθείς τε καὶ συμπήξας αὐτὸς ἔδωκε δωρεὰν, ὥσπερ Προμηθεὺς τἀρχαῖα λέγεται συμπλάσαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον.
For us, therefore, he did not restore a part of the body, but having himself put together and constructed our entire body, he gave it as a gift, just as Prometheus is said in ancient times to have fashioned man.
πολλὰς ὀδύνας τε καὶ ἀλγηδόνας καὶ ἀπορίας μεθημερινάς τε καὶ νυκτερινὰς ἀφεῖλε πολλοῖς, οὐ μὲν οὖν ἔχοι τις ἂν εἰπεῖν ὅσοις.
He has removed many pains, sufferings, and distresses by day and by night from many people, indeed one could not say from how many.
τὰς δέ γε ἡμετέρας περὶ ταῦτα τρικυμίας αὐτὸς μὲν ἄριστα σύνοιδεν, αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ παύσας φαίνεται.
But our own tempests in these matters he himself knows best, and he himself is seen to have brought them to an end.
καὶ μὴν τό γε παράδοξον πλεῖστον ἐν τοῖς ὁράμασι τοῦ θεοῦ, οἷον τὸν μὲν γύψου πίνειν, τὸν δὲ κωνείου, τὸν δὲ γυμνοῦσθαι καὶ λούειν ψυχρῷ, θέρμης οὐδʼ ὅλως, ὡς ἄν τις δόξαι, δεόμενον.
And indeed, the greatest paradox is in the visions of the god, such as that one should drink plaster, another hemlock, and another strip and bathe in cold water, when he is in no way, as one might think, in need of warmth.
ἡμᾶς τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον τετίμηκε, κατάρρους καὶ ψύξεις ποταμοῖς καὶ θαλάττῃ παύων,
Us, then, he has honored in this way too, stopping catarrhs and chills by rivers and the sea,