§86εἰς ταυτὸν τοὺς ὁμοτέχνους αὐτῶν συναγαγόντας παρὰ τούτου κελεύειν μανθάνειν ἃ χρὴ περὶ αὐτῶν φρονεῖν καὶ λέγειν.
(they would all) have gathered their fellow craftsmen to the same place and bidden them learn from him what they ought to think and say about them.
ἐγέλων δʼ ἔγωγε ἐπὶ τοῖς τὸν Πλάτωνα προϊσταμένοις καὶ περὶ τοῦτον μόνον φιλοσοφοῦσιν, ὁ δὲ τῷ Πλάτωνι παντὸς ἄλλου μᾶλλον γνώμην ἐμὴν κεχαρισμένος.
For my part, I used to laugh at those who put Plato forward and philosophized about him alone, but he, in my opinion, was more pleasing to Plato than anyone else.
καὶ τοσοῦτον τοὺς ἄλλους ἐνίκα ποιηταῖς, λογογράφοις, ἅπασι τοῖς ἄνθεσιν ὅσοις αἱ ὧραι, φασὶ, φύουσι.
And he so far surpassed others in poets, prose writers, and all the blossoms which they say the seasons produce.
καὶ μὴν τοῦτό γε οὔθʼ ὑμᾶς λανθάνειν εἰκὸς οὔτε τοὺς ὕστερον ὡς καλὰ μὲν καὶ ἃ γράψας κατέλιπε καὶ βελτίονα τῶν ὁμοφύλων πάντων.
Indeed, this is not likely to escape either you or those who come after, that even the things he wrote and left behind are beautiful and better than those of all his compatriots.
ὅμως δὲ μικρὰ ἄττα εἴδωλα τῆς ἐκείνου παιδείας τε καὶ γνώμης.
Nevertheless, they are but some small images of his education and mind.
τοσοῦτον ἐνίκα ταῖς συνουσίαις ὥστʼ ἔμοιγε τὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος αὐτοῦ παρίστασθαι, παιδιὰν εἶναι δοκεῖν τὰ ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι πρὸς τὰς ὁμιλίας αὐτὰς τῶν σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν· ὥστε τοῦτό γε μήποτε οἰηθῇ τις ἐκ τούτων ὄψεσθαι πάντα τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον· καίτοι τὸ τῆς Ὁμηρικῆς συγγραφῆς ἀποχρῶν καὶ ταύτῃ κόσμος εἶναι πολλαχῆ.
He so far excelled in his classes that the very thought of Plato himself occurred to me, namely that the things in writing seem to be mere play compared to the actual conversations of wise men; so that let no one ever think to see the whole Alexander from these; though his writing on the Homeric work is sufficient and in many ways an ornament for him.
δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὸ Αἰσώπου πρᾶγμα κομψὸν μέν τι γενέσθαι καὶ σοφὸν, τῇ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου παιδείᾳ παραβαλεῖν παιδιά· ἐπεὶ πόστον μέρος ἦν τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ Αἰσώπου σοφὰ, τοσοῦτον τὰ δεύτερα τῶν πρώτων ὑμῖν βελτίω ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ γῆ.
And it seems to me that the matter of Aesop was indeed something elegant and wise, but compared to the education of Alexander it was mere play; since how small a part of Alexander's wisdom was that of Aesop, by so much did the earth bring forth for you the second things as better than the first.
θαυμαστὸν δὲ καὶ τοῦτο. μόνῳ γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸ δαιμόνιον πάνθʼ ὁμαλῶς συμμετρησάμενον φαίνεται, σῶμα μὲν κάλλιστον καὶ ἰσχυρότατον καὶ ὑγιεινότατον καὶ γεραρώτατον.
And this too is wonderful; for to him alone the divine power seems to have portioned out all things equally: a body most beautiful, strong, healthy, and majestic.
οὔκουν ἔμοιγε κριτῇ οὐδεὶς οὕτως ὡραῖος καὶ καλὸς ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἐν μυχῷ τοῦ γήρως.
At least, with me as judge, no one was so youthful and beautiful as he in the very depths of old age.
ψυχὴ δὲ ἡμερωτάτη καὶ παντὸς καλοῦ φυὴν μετεσχηκυῖα, παιδεία δὲ εἰς ὑπερβολὴν καὶ δόξα πρὸς ἀξίαν καὶ τιμαὶ παρʼ ἰδιωτῶν καὶ παρὰ βασιλέων παραπλήσιαι κατὰ τὴν ἑκατέρων τάξιν· καὶ κλῆρος οἴκου προϊὼν ἀεὶ καὶ πόνοι μετὰ ῥᾳστώνης καὶ βίου πέρατα μήκιστα, ὡς δʼ εἰπεῖν, πᾶν εἶδος εὐχῆς συνεληλυθὸς, καὶ τὸ δίκαιον θεωρούμενον μετὰ τῆς τύχης.
His soul was most gentle and shared in the nature of every good thing, his education was to excess, his glory was according to his worth, and the honors from private citizens and from emperors were similar according to the rank of each; his household inheritance was ever advancing, his labors were accompanied by ease, and the span of his life was longest, and, so to speak, every kind of prayer was met, and justice was seen hand in hand with fortune.
§87καίτοι πάντα τὸν αὐτὸν λαβεῖν ἐδόκει μέχρι τούτου τῶν ἀδυνάτων εἶναι, ὁ δὲ ἢ τῶν γε δὴ πλείστων ἀνὴρ εἷς τυχὼν φαίνεται.
And yet, to obtain all these things was thought until now to be among the impossible for the same man, but he appears to have been the one man who obtained all, or at least the greatest part of them.
γνοίη δʼ ἄν τις ἐξετάσας ἓν μόνον αὐτοῦ τὸ περὶ τὴν συνουσίαν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς βασιλέας καὶ παραθεὶς τὴν Ἀριστοτέλους πρὸς Φίλιππον καὶ Ἀλέξανδρον γενομένην.
Anyone would know this if he examined just one thing about him, his association with the emperors, and compared it with that of Aristotle with Philip and Alexander.
ὡς ἡ μὲν ἐκείνου οὐ παντάπασιν ἀναίτιος τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ἀλλʼ ἐδόκει τοῖς ἀνταγωνισταῖς καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις συνεῖναι τοῦ κοινοῦ γένους, ἡ δὲ τούτου μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως τὴν εὐδοξίαν εἶχεν.
For that of the former was not entirely blameless to the Greeks, but he seemed to his rivals and enemies to associate with the enemies of the common race, while that of the latter held high repute along with influence.
οὐ γὰρ δυσμενέσι καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἀλλʼ εὐεργέταις, οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τῷ κοινῷ κακῷ τῶν ὁμοφύλων συνῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τῷ μηδὲν ἐναντιοῦσθαι καὶ ὠφελῶν εἴ τι δυνατὸν ἀεὶ τὸν εἰς χρείαν ἐλθόντα τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ δημοσίᾳ πᾶσιν ἀντὶ προξένου κοινοῦ καθεστηκώς.
For he did not associate with the ill-disposed and enemies of the Greeks, but with benefactors, nor did he associate for the common harm of his compatriots, but in addition to opposing nothing, he always helped as far as possible any of the Greeks who came into need, and stood publicly as a common patron for all.
τὴν δʼ αὖ Πλάτωνος πρὸς Διονύσιον, ὄντα μὲν δή που τὸν Διονύσιον ὅστις ὤφθη καλῶς ὕστερον ἐν Κορίνθῳ.
On the other hand, as for Plato’s association with Dionysius—Dionysius being, I suppose, the one who was later seen in such a state in Corinth.
ἀλλʼ ἐῶ τοῦτο.
But I pass this over.
ἀλλʼ ὅ γε ἐβουλόμην εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς ὁμιλίας, ὅτι γενναίαν μὲν, εὐτυχῆ δὲ οὐκ ἔξεστι προσειπεῖν, αὐτῷ δὲ ὑπῆρξεν ἀμφότερα, καὶ βούλεσθαι τὰ βέλτιστα ἀεὶ καὶ τυγχάνειν.
Yet what I wanted to say about his association is that, while one cannot call theirs both noble and fortunate, to him both belonged, both to desire always the best and to attain it.
καὶ γὰρ οὖν οὐ ῥᾴδιον εὑρεῖν ὁποτέρῳ τῷ γένει μᾶλλον ἀνὴρ τίμιος, πότερα τῷ Ῥωμαίων, ἢ τῷ Ἑλληνικῷ, οὕτω πολλοῦ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἄξιον παρέσχεν ἑαυτόν.
Indeed, it is not easy to find in which of the two races the man was more honored, whether the Roman or the Greek, so valuable did he present himself to the rulers.
ἐν τίσι δὲ ἀνθρώπων οὐκ εἰκὸς ἐκείνου λόγον εἶναι καὶ πάλαι καὶ νῦν;
Among what people is it not natural that there should be talk of him both of old and now?
τίνες οὕτως ἐπʼ ἐσχάτοις οἰκοῦσι;
Who live so far at the ends of the earth?
τίνες οὕτω τῶν καλῶν ἀναίσθητοι;
Who are so insensible to beautiful things?
τίς οὐ δακρύσει τῆς φήμης ἐπελθούσης;
Who will not weep when the rumor of his death arrives?
καὶ γὰρ εἰ καθʼ ὥραν ὁ θάνατος, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῖς γε Ἕλλησιν ὡραῖον ἀνδρὸς τοιούτου στερηθῆναι.
For even if his death was in due season, yet it is not a seasonal thing for the Greeks to be deprived of such a man.
ἦ που νῦν ἅπασα μὲν ποίησις ἀπήνθηκε, πᾶσα δὲ συγγραφὴ συνέσταλται, πάντα δʼ ὑπολέλοιπε τὸν ἐξηγητὴν καὶ προστάτην οὐκ ἔχοντα, χήρα δʼ ἡ τέχνη.
Surely now all poetry has lost its blossom, and all prose writing has shrunk, and everything has declined, having no interpreter and protector, and art is widowed.
συνέσταλται δʼ ἀναγκαίως μικρὰ μικρῶς τοῖς πολλοῖς.
And of necessity it has shrunk into something small and insignificant for the many.
ὃ δέ φησιν Ἀριστοφάνης περὶ Αἰσχύλου σκότον εἶναι τεθνηκότος, τοῦτʼ ἄξιον καὶ περὶ τούτου νῦν εἰπεῖν
What Aristophanes says about Aeschylus, that there is darkness now that he is dead, is worthy to be said about this man too.