§567χώραν τοῖς παροξυσμοῖς.
will not give space to their passions.
πῶς γὰρ οὐχ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄτοπον εἰς μὲν τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος λόγους πάντας ἂν ὡσαύτως ἔχειν, εἰ δεήσειεν, εἰς δʼ αὐτὸ τὸ σῶσαι τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τῇ τῶν λόγων εὐφημίᾳ περὶ αὐτῆς ἔχειν χρῆσθαι μὴ τολμᾶν ταυτὸν φρονῆσαι, ἀλλʼ ἔργῳ μὲν ἀπολλύειν, λόγῳ δὲ κοσμεῖν, καὶ τὴν Κλεομένους τοῦ Λακωνικοῦ νίκην ἀναμένειν, ὃς τὸ αὑτοῦ σῶμα κατεχόρδευσεν ἐκ ποδῶν ἀρξάμενος;
For how is it not truly absurd that, while everyone would likewise agree with the speeches made on behalf of the homeland if it were necessary, they do not dare to have the same mind regarding the saving of the homeland itself and employing fair words about it, but in deed destroy it while in word adorning it, and await the victory of Cleomenes the Laconian, who cut up his own body starting from his feet?
ἢ τί πρὸς θεῶν οἴεσθε, εἰ τοῦτον ἕκαστος προθέμενοι τὸν ὅρον, ὅταν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐκποδὼν ποιήσηται, τότε σωφρονῆσαι;
Or, by the gods, what do you think will remain if each of you sets this limit: to be wise only when you have put your enemies out of the way?
ἆρʼ ἄλλο τι λείπεσθαι ἢ τοσούτων ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν ἕνα καὶ μίαν λειφθῆναι, καθάπερ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ λέγουσι;
Will anything else be left than for one man and one woman of so many men and women to remain, just as they say of those from the flood?
καὶ τί τῶν γυναικῶν διοίσετε τῶν τὸν Πενθέα διασπασαμένων, ὅταν αὐτοὶ τὸ κοινὸν σῶμα τῆς πόλεως ταῖς ὑμετέραις αὐτῶν χερσὶ διασπάσησθε;
And how will you differ from the women who tore Pentheus to pieces, when you yourselves tear apart the common body of the city with your own hands?
δεῖ δὲ τοὺς μὲν πεπονθότας τὰ μὲν συμβεβηκότα καιρῷ τινι καὶ τύχῃ δοῦναι, τούτου δὲ μηδὲν μεῖζον κέρδος ἡγεῖσθαι, τοὺς δʼ αὖ δεδρακότας οἷς μὲν ἔπραξαν αἰσχύνεσθαι, μὴ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι, τῷ δὲ ἑκόντας ὑπάρξαι τῆς ὁμονοίας λῦσαι τὰ πρότερα ἀποχρῶντα, μισθὸν ἐκείνων θεμένους τὸ μὴ δοῦναι δίκην, νομίσαντας λαμβάνειν.
Those who have suffered must attribute past events to some occasion and fortune, and consider no gain greater than this; while those who have done the deeds must be ashamed of what they did and not be ambitious, and by willingly initiating concord, it is sufficient to cancel the past, setting their escape from punishment as their reward and believing that they are receiving it.
ἡγοῦμαι δὲ τοσαῦτα ἐνεῖναι κακὰ τῇ στάσει ὥσθʼ ὑπὲρ μὲν ἄλλου τινὸς εἴ τις βούλοιτο ἀποτρέπειν, προσήκειν ὅσα βλάπτοι λέγειν, ὑπὲρ δὲ τούτου πᾶν τοὐναντίον λυσιτελεῖν σιωπᾶν μᾶλλον ἢ κινεῖν τὴν μνήμην ὧν ἕκαστοι πεπόνθασιν, ὅστις μὴ τοὐναντίον οὗ βούλεται μέλλει ποιήσειν.
And I believe that there are so many evils in civil strife that, if anyone wished to turn someone away on behalf of another matter, it would be proper to speak of all the harm it does; but on behalf of this, it is altogether more profitable to keep silence than to stir up the memory of what each has suffered, unless one is going to do the very opposite of what he wishes.
ἀλλʼ οὕς γε ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἑτέρου τις ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι λόγους τῆς ὁμονοίας, εἰσὶ μὲν ἤδη μυρίοι, ὅμως δὲ χρὴ τοὺς ἐπῳδοὺς μιμήσασθαι, οἳ τὰς αὐτὰς φωνὰς φθεγγόμενοι πολλάκις οὕτως ἀνύτειν δοκοῦσι.
But indeed, the speeches that one could make on behalf of the other side, that of concord, are already countless; nevertheless, we must imitate the enchanters, who, by uttering the same words many times, seem to achieve their purpose.
μόνη μὲν γὰρ τὰς ἐκ Διὸς ὥρας βεβαιοῖ, μόνη δὲ ἅπαντα ἐπισφραγίζεται, τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν χώραν γεωργίαις κοσμοῦσα καὶ τῶν τε ὑπαρχόντων ἐπικαρπίας καὶ ἑτέρων κτῆσιν διδοῦσα, τὰ δʼ ἐν τῇ πόλει κατʼ εὐχὴν ἄγουσα, διʼ ἣν γάμοι τε ὡραῖοι καὶ ἐκδιδόναι καὶ λαμβάνειν εἰς οὕς τις βούλεται καὶ ὅθεν βούλεται, καὶ παίδων τροφαὶ καὶ παιδεία κατὰ τοὺς πατρίους νόμους, καὶ ὑπὲρ γυναικῶν ἄδεια καὶ πίστεις §568συμβολαίων, καὶ ξένων ὑποδοχαὶ καὶ θεῶν θεραπεῖαι καὶ πρόσοδοι καὶ χοροὶ καὶ θυμηδίαι, ἔτι δὲ ἐκκλησίαι καὶ βουλευτήρια, ἃ θεῶν ἡ πρεσβυτάτη συνάγει Θέμις, καὶ πένησιν ἀφορμαὶ βίου καὶ πλουσίοις ἀπόλαυσις τῶν ὄντων, καὶ πρεσβύταις γηροκομηθῆναι καὶ νέοις ἐν κόσμῳ ζῆν, καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον δὴ τοῦτο πάντα κοινὰ, ὥσπερ τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φῶς, ὑφʼ ᾧ σωζόμεθα.
For concord alone makes firm the seasons from Zeus, and alone seals everything, adorning the countryside with farming, giving the harvest of existing things and the acquisition of others, and leading affairs in the city according to our prayers, through which there are timely marriages, and giving and taking in marriage with whomsoever one wishes and from whomsoever one wishes, and the rearing and education of children according to ancestral laws, and security for women, and trust in covenants, and hospitality for strangers, and service of the gods, and processions, choruses, and festivals, and moreover assemblies and council-chambers, which Themis, the eldest of the gods, brings together, and resources of life for the poor, and enjoyment of their possessions for the rich, and care of the aged, and orderly life for the youth, and this which is called "all things in common," like the light of the sun under which we are preserved.
καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἄλογον τῶν μὲν πολιτευομένων τούτους μάλιστα ἐπαινεῖν οἵτινες ἂν πλείστας ὑμῖν τὰς εὐφροσύνας παρασκευάζωσιν, ἢ θεάματα ἀνευρίσκοντες, ἢ χρήματα νέμοντες, ἢ κοσμοῦντες ἑνί γέ τῳ τρόπῳ τὴν πόλιν, αὐτοὺς δὲ τοσούτων ἀγαθῶν ἑκόντας ἀποστατεῖν, ὥσπερ ἄλλοις τισὶν, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς λυμαινομένους;
Yet how is it not unreasonable that, while you praise most of all those politicians who prepare the most pleasures for you, either by inventing spectacles or distributing money or adorning the city in some way, you yourselves willingly withdraw from so many blessings, as if you were harming others and not yourselves?
δεῖ τοίνυν ὥσπερ ζωγράφου τινὸς εἰκόνας ἀμφοῖν προτεθεικότος βλέποντας ἐναλλὰξ εἰς ἑκατέραν, ἢ καὶ ποιητοῦ τινος διηγουμένου, ὡς ἡ μὲν εὐσχήμων καὶ εὐπαγὴς καὶ εὔχρους καὶ εὔχαρις καὶ ὁμολογοῦσα ἑαυτῇ διὰ πάντων ἀκριβῶς ἐκ θεῶν ἥκουσα ἐπὶ γῆν, ἡ δʼ ἑτέρα θεαμάτων πάντων πικρότατον, τὴν μὲν κεφαλὴν ὑπτία, τὰ δὲ χείλη πελιδνὴ, τοὺς δὲ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀπεστραμμένη, διεφθαρμένη, ἐξῳδηκυῖα, δάκρυσι νεορράντοις ἀεὶ συνεχομένη, τὼ χεῖρε ἀκρατὴς, τὸ ξίφος εἴσω πρὸς τὸ στῆθος φέρουσα, ἐπὶ λεπτῶν τῶν ποδῶν καὶ σκολιῶν αἰωρουμένη, περὶ δὲ αὐτὴν ὥσπερ δίκτυον ἐν κύκλῳ ζόφος καὶ σκότος, ὑφʼ ὧν τὰ πολλὰ μνήμασιν ἀνθʼ ἱερῶν ἐνδιαιτᾶται.
We must therefore, just as if some painter had set before us the portraits of both, look alternately at each, or as some poet describes: the one is graceful, well-built, healthy-complexioned, pleasing, and in perfect harmony with herself in all things, having come down from the gods to the earth; while the other is the bitterest of all spectacles, with her head thrown back, her lips pale, her eyes turned away, wasted away, swollen, always plagued by freshly shed tears, her hands powerless, bringing her sword inward toward her chest, hovering on thin and crooked feet, and around her a net-like darkness and gloom in a circle, under which she dwells mostly in tombs instead of temples.
πρὸς ταῦτα χρὴ βλέποντας οὕτω τὴν αἵρεσιν ποιεῖσθαι, δοκιμάζοντας ἐπὶ σχολῆς ὁποτέρᾳ βέλτιον συνεῖναι.
Looking at these things, we must make our choice, examining at our leisure which of the two it is better to live with.
καὶ μὴν ἅπασι μὲν ἀνθρώποις τοῦ παντὸς ἄξιον σπουδάζειν ὑπὲρ τῆς ὁμονοίας· ὅσῳ δὲ ὑμῖν μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων οὐ πολλοῦ λόγου δεῖξαι, οἳ τὸ μὲν ἀρχαῖον ἐστὲ Δωριεῖς ἐκ Πελοποννήσου, μόνοι δὲ εἰς τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Ἕλληνες διὰ παντὸς, Ἡρακλείδαις δὲ καὶ Ἀσκληπιάδαις ἀρχηγέταις καὶ βασιλεῦσι κέχρησθε.
Indeed, for all men it is worth everything to be zealous for concord; but how much more for you than all others requires little argument to show, you who are anciently Dorians from the Peloponnese, the only Greeks who have remained so continuously to this day, and who have had the Heracleidae and Asclepiadae as founders and kings.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἡ πόλις ὑμῶν καλλίστη τῶν Ἑλληνίδων διὰ πάσης τῆς κατασκευῆς.
In addition to these things, your city is the most beautiful of Greek cities in its entire structure.
καίτοι δεινὸν τῶν μὲν σωμάτων τῶν καλῶν καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις πλείω τὴν πρόνοιαν εἶναι, ὑμᾶς δὲ
Yet it is a terrible thing if, while greater care is shown even by strangers for beautiful bodies, you