§75ἡ μὲν ἐπίδειξις οὐδαμῶς εὐτυχὴς οὐδὲ κατʼ ἐλπίδας, ἀναγκαία δὲ τῆς τε πόλεως ἕνεκα καὶ τῶν οἰκείων τῶν Ἐτεωνέως καὶ προσέτι γε ἡμῶν αὐτῶν παραμυθίας.
This display is by no means fortunate nor according to our hopes, but it is necessary for the sake of both the city and the relatives of Eteoneus, and furthermore for our own consolation.
οἶμαι δʼ εἰ καὶ μήπω πρόσθεν θρῆνοι κατʼ ἀνθρώπους ἐνομίσθησαν, νῦν γε ἐπὶ τῷδε δικαίως ἂν ἄρξασθαι.
And I think that even if lamentations had never before been established among men, now at least for this man they would justly be initiated.
τί γὰρ οὐκ ἄν τις ὀδύραιτο;
For what indeed would one not lament?
πότερον τὴν ἡλικίαν ἣν ἔχων οἴχεται καὶ τὴν ἀνδρείαν ἣ κέκρυπται κακῶς, ἢ τὴν σωφροσύνην ἧς οὐδʼ ἂν παράδειγμα ῥᾳδίως εὕροι τις, ἢ τὰς ἐλπίδας ὧν στέρεται μὲν αὐτὸς, στέρονται δὲ οἰκέται καὶ φίλοι καὶ πόλις καὶ πᾶν ὅσον εἰς τὴν νῦν Ἀσίαν τελεῖ;
Whether the youth which he had when he departed, and the courage which has been unworthily hidden, or the temperance of which one could not easily find an example, or the hopes of which he himself is deprived, and of which his household, friends, city, and all that belongs to present-day Asia are deprived?
ποῖος ταῦτα Σιμωνίδης θρηνήσει;
What kind of Simonides will lament these things?
τίς Πίνδαρος ποῖον μέλος ἢ λόγον τοιοῦτον ἐξευρών;
What Pindar, having found such a song or speech?
τίς Στησίχορος ἄξιον φθέγξεται τοιούτου πάθους;
What Stesichorus will utter a sound worthy of such a calamity?
ποία δὲ δύσηρις Θετταλὴ τοσοῦτον πένθος ἐπένθησεν ἐπʼ Ἀντιόχῳ τελευτήσαντι, ὅσον νῦν μητρὶ τῇ τούτου πένθος πρόκειται;
And what contentious Thessalian woman lamented so great a grief over the deceased Antiochus as the grief which now lies before this man's mother?
οὐ μὴν §76ἀρκέσει σιωπῇ θρηνεῖν, οὐδʼ ὅσον βοῶντας τοὔνομα, ἀλλά τι καὶ κόσμου τῷ θρήνῳ προσέσται.
Nevertheless, it will not suffice to lament in silence, nor merely to cry out his name, but some adornment must also belong to the lamentation.
τί γὰρ καὶ φοβηθησόμεθα μὴ λέγοντες ψευσώμεθα οὗ τὸ μὲν γένος τοσοῦτον πρῶτον ἔν τε τῇ πόλει καὶ τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, ὥστε μηδʼ ἂν ἕνʼ ἀμφισβητῆσαι·
For why indeed should we fear that by speaking we might tell a falsehood, when his family is so pre-eminent both in the city and in Asia that not a single person would dispute it?
πάντες γὰρ ὡς εἰπεῖν καθʼ ἕνα πρωτεύουσι·
For almost all of them, so to speak, are leaders one by one.
καὶ μὴν τῷ γε πρὸς πατρὸς τὸ πρὸς μητρὸς ἐφάμιλλον.
Moreover, the mother's side is a match for the father's.
αὐτοὶ δὲ οἱ γονεῖς ὁ μὲν ἀνδρῶν γνωριμώτατος, ἡ δὲ γυναικῶν σωφρονεστάτη, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς παίδων τῶν αὑτῆς ἐπιμέλειαν κρείττων ἢ γυνή.
The parents themselves were, the one the most renowned of men, the other the most temperate of women, and indeed superior to a woman in the care of her own children.
τροφὴ δὲ καὶ φύσις ἀξία τῆς γενέσεως, ᾧ γε τροφὸς μὲν καὶ φύλαξ ἡ μήτηρ, σῶμα δὲ καὶ ψυχὴ πρέποντα ἀλλήλοις.
His upbringing and nature were worthy of his birth, for whom his mother was nurse and guardian, and his body and soul were suited to one another.
ἰδεῖν μέν γε κάλλιστος καὶ μέγιστος καὶ τελεώτατος τῶν ἐν τῇ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ πλεῖστον ἡδονῆς τῷ θεωμένῳ προσβάλλων, τὸν δὲ τρόπον κοσμιώτατος καὶ ἐλευθεριώτατος, μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ μετʼ ἀφελείας ἐμπρέπων, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἦν εἰκάσαι πότερον παῖς ἐστιν ἢ νεανίας ἢ πρεσβύτης.
To look upon, he was the most beautiful, the tallest, and the most perfect of those of his age, and afforded the greatest pleasure to the beholder; in his character, he was the most orderly and the most noble, outstanding in magnificence combined with simplicity, so that it was impossible to guess whether he was a boy, a youth, or an old man.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀποίητον παιδὸς, ἡ δὲ ἀκμὴ νεανίου, φρόνησις δὲ πρεσβύτου.
For he had the unaffectedness of a child, the prime of a youth, and the wisdom of an old man.
ἦν δʼ ἀγασθῆναι τῆς μὲν συνέσεως τὸ μηδαμῆ θρασὺ μηδὲ ἰταμὸν μηδὲ αὔθαδες, ἀλλʼ ἐν σχολαίῳ τῷ ἤθει τὸ ἀγχίνουν εἶναι, τῆς δʼ αὖ σωφροσύνης τὸ μηδαμῆ νωθρὸν μηδὲ ὕπτιον μηδὲ ναρκῶδες, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ὥρας ἠρινῆς εὖ κεκραμένης ἐξ ἴσου τὴν ὀξύτητα τῇ πραότητι καθεστάναι, καὶ μήτε τὴν σωφροσύνην μήτε τὴν χάριν εἰς ἄλληλα βλάπτεσθαι.
It was indeed admirable that in his understanding there was nothing bold, headlong, or stubborn, but that quick-wittedness existed in a calm character; and on the other hand, that in his temperance there was nothing sluggish, slack, or torpid, but that, as if in a well-blended spring season, its sharpness was established on equal terms with its gentleness, and neither his temperance nor his grace was harmed by one another.
ὅς γε τῆς μὲν μητρὸς οὕτως εἴχετο ὥσπερ οἱ πρὸς τῷ μαστῷ παῖδες, τὸν δὲ ἀδελφὸν ὡς παῖδα ἠσπάζετο, τῶν δὲ μαθημάτων οὕτως εἴχετο ὥσπερ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἄλλως αὐτὸν ζῆν.
He clung to his mother just as children at the breast, embraced his brother as a child, and clung to his studies as though it were not possible for him to live otherwise.
ἃ δʼ ἤκουσε παραχρῆμα ἠπίστατο, ἰδὼν δʼ εὐθὺς ἂν ἔγνω ποῖός τις ἀνὴρ καὶ πότερον ἀσπάζεσθαι χρὴ ἢ φυλάττεσθαι.
What he heard, he understood immediately, and when he saw someone, he would straightway recognize what kind of man he was, and whether one ought to welcome him or be on one's guard against him.
νομίσας δʼ εὖ ἔχειν τὸ
And thinking it to be well...