§409ὡς ἀηδέστατα πάντων;
As the most unpleasant of all?
ἆρʼ οὐχ οἵτινες μέγιστοι καὶ σεμνότατοι καὶ ἅμα τῆς ἁρμονίας ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἥκοντες;
Is it not rather those which are the largest, the most majestic, and at the same time have reached the highest degree of structural harmony?
ναῦς δὲ τίς αἱρετὴ καὶ πλείστην ἔχουσα τοῖς ἐπιβάταις εὐθυμίαν τε καὶ ἡδονήν;
And what kind of ship is desirable and brings the greatest cheer and pleasure to its passengers?
πότερον ἡ διεφθαρμένη καὶ ἐρρωγυῖα καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀντλίας δυομένη κάτω, ἢ πολὺ τοὐναντίον ἥτις ὡς ἀκριβέστατα καὶ στεγανώτατα ἔχει καὶ πόρρωθεν ἤσκηται ἐπιθεῖν τοῖς κύμασιν;
Is it the one that is ruined, broken, and sinking to the bottom because of the bilge-water, or, much to the contrary, the one that is most precise, watertight, and has been prepared beforehand to ride upon the waves?
εἶτʼ ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων οὕτως ἕκαστον τὸν αὑτοῦ λόγον σῶζον ὡς πλείστους ἄγει καὶ πείθει, ἐπὶ δʼ αὐτῶν τῶν λόγων πῶς ὦ πρὸς θεῶν φήσομεν;
If, then, in the case of other things, each, by preserving its own proper nature, leads and persuades the greatest number of people, how, by the gods, shall we speak in the case of speeches themselves?
καὶ μὴν εἰ μὲν ἄλλου του χάριν ὁ λόγος εὑρέθη, μὴ τοῦ πείθειν, ἴσως ἄν τις ἀμφισβήτησις ἦν·
And indeed, if speech had been invented for the sake of something else, and not for persuading, there would perhaps be some dispute.
ὅτε δʼ ἐστὶν εὔδηλον ὡς ἐφʼ ἓν τοῦτο ἅπασα ἡ τῆς λογικῆς δυνάμεως ἕξις ὥρμηται, δυοῖν ἀνάγκη δή που θάτερον, ἢ μὴ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν μηδʼ ἱκανῶς τὸν λόγον, ἢ ὁμοῦ βέλτιστόν τε εἶναι καὶ κρατεῖν τῶν ἀκουόντων.
But since it is clear that the entire state of the rational power is directed toward this one thing, one of two things is surely necessary: either that speech is not correct or sufficient, or that it is at once the best and masters those who hear.
ὥστʼ οὐδὲν δεῖ διαφθείρειν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κρατεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τὰ μηχανήματα αἱρεῖν πέφυκε, κἂν μηδεὶς εἰδῇ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐξ ὅτων καὶ ὅπως συνετέθη, οὕτω λόγος εὖ συντεθεὶς τὸ αὑτοῦ δρᾷ, κἂν τοῖς ἀπειροτάτοις ἐντύχῃ.
Therefore, there is no need to corrupt it for the sake of mastering; rather, just as siege engines are by nature made to capture, even if none of the enemy knows from what materials and how they were constructed, so a speech well-constructed performs its own work, even if it encounters the most inexperienced.
θαυμάζω δὲ, εἰ οἶνον μὲν καὶ σῖτον καὶ ἔλαιον καὶ μέλι καὶ κρέα καὶ τραγήματα καὶ γάλα καὶ χρήματα καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ξύλα καὶ λίθους οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς ἡδίω φήσειε τὰ διεφθαρμένα τῶν ἀδιαφθόρων, λόγους δὲ τοὺς ὡς καθαρώτατα καὶ εἰλικρινέστατα ἔχοντας ἀηδεστέρους εἶναι τῶν διεφθαρμένων.
And I wonder, if no one would say that corrupted wine, corn, oil, honey, meat, cakes, milk, wealth, water, wood, and stones are more pleasant than those that are uncorrupted, how speeches that are in the purest and most sincere state could be more unpleasant than those that are corrupted.
οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς ταῦτα φήσειε, καὶ ταῦθʼ ὅτι οὐ τοῦ παραδόξου λέγεται χάριν, ἀλλʼ ἀμήχανον ἄλλως ἔχειν, αὐτὰ κατηγορεῖ.
No one would say these things; and indeed, that these things are not said for the sake of paradox, but because it is impossible to be otherwise, is testified by the facts themselves.
τίς ἄριστος ἐπῶν ποιητής;
Who is the best poet of epic verses?
Ὅμηρος.
Homer.
τίς δʼ ὡς πλείστους ἀνθρώπων ἀρέσκει καὶ τῷ μάλιστα χαίρουσιν;
And who pleases the greatest number of men, and in whom do they rejoice the most?
ἢ τοῦτό γε καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ προείδετο;
Or did he himself foresee this about himself?
διαλεγόμενος γὰρ ταῖς Δηλιάσι καὶ καταλύων τὸ προοίμιον, εἴ τις ἔροιθʼ ὑμᾶς, φησὶν
"ὦ κοῦραι, τίς δʼ ὕμμιν ἀνὴρ ἥδιστος ἀοιδῶν
ἐνθάδε πωλεῖται καὶ τέῳ τέρπεσθε μάλιστα," §410"ὑμεῖς δʼ εὖ μάλα πᾶσαι ἀποκρίνασθʼ εὐφήμως,
τυφλὸς ἀνὴρ, οἰκεῖ δὲ Χίῳ ἐνὶ παιπαλοέσσῃ. "
πάλιν εἰς τραγῳδίαν τίνες ἐνδοξότατοι καὶ πᾶσιν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τοῖς κριταῖς νικῶντες;
For when speaking to the Delian maidens and bringing his prelude to a close, he says, if anyone should ask you: "O maidens, what man is the sweetest of singers to you who comes here, and in whom do you delight the most?" "And do you all respond right well with fair words: 'A blind man, and he dwells in rocky Chios.'" Again, in tragedy, who are the most famous and victorious, so to speak, in the eyes of all the judges?
οἶμαι μὲν, οἱ βέλτιστοι Σοφοκλῆς, Αἰσχύλος, Εὐριπίδης.
I think the best: Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides.
μὴ γάρ τις τούτων μάλιστα, ἀλλʼ ὅτι γε ὑπὲρ πάντας οὗτοι τοὺς ἄλλους.
For it is not a question of which of these is the most so, but that they are indeed above all the others.
ῥητόρων δὲ τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς τίς γνωριμώτατος καὶ θαυμαστότατος καὶ μέγιστον ὄνομα ἔχων ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς;
And of the orators down to our time, who is the most well-known, the most admired, and has the greatest reputation among the multitude?
ὁ πλεῖστον ὑπερσχὼν τῷ καλῷ τῷ περὶ τοὺς λόγους.
The one who has excelled the most in the beauty concerning speeches.
πάντες ὧν μέγιστα ὀνόματα ἐπὶ τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἀντὶ μαρτύρων εἰσί μοι.
All those who have the greatest names in their own fields serve as witnesses for me.
νὴ Δίʼ, εἴποι τις ἂν, ἀλλʼ ἠκολούθησαν οἱ πολλοὶ τῇ δόξῃ τῶν ὀλίγων καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὰς ψήφους ἐνεγκόντων. οὐ διαφέρομαι.
"By Zeus," someone might say, "but the multitude followed the opinion of the few who cast their votes accurately from the beginning." I do not disagree.
ἀλλʼ οὖν τοῦτό γʼ εὔδηλον ὅτι κἀν τοῖς ὀλίγοις κἀν τοῖς πολλοῖς εὐδοκιμεῖν ἀνάγκη τὰ βελτίω, καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ὅσῳ περ ἂν ᾖ τελεώτερα.
But at any rate, this is clear, that both among the few and among the multitude, the better things must necessarily win high repute, and so much the more as they are more perfect.
ἔτι δʼ εἰ τοσοῦτόν ἐστι τὸ κράτος τῶν ἀκριβεστάτων, ὥστε καὶ ἑτέρους εὐδοκιμεῖν, οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ παρασκευάζοντες ἀφʼ ὧν ἂν κρίνωσι, πῶς οὐ πανταχῆ τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἰσχυρόν;
Furthermore, if the power of the most precise is so great that others also win repute, and these are the ones who provide the standards from which people judge, how is precision not powerful in every way?
ἢ τί δεῖ τοὺς ἀκριβεστάτους θεραπεύειν ἀφέντα τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀρέσκειν ζητεῖν, οἳ τῶν ἀκριβεστάτων εἰσὶν, οὐχ αὑτῶν;
Or why is there any need to seek to please the multitude, neglecting to cultivate the most precise, since the multitude belongs to the most precise, and not to themselves?
ἐκείνως μὲν γὰρ ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων κριθησόμεθα καὶ θαυμασθησόμεθα, οὕτω δὲ ὑπʼ οὐδετέρων σχεδὸν εἴπερ μηδὲν ἰσχυρόν ἐστι τῶν πολλῶν.
For in the former way we shall be judged and admired by both, but in the latter way by almost neither, if indeed the multitude has no strength of its own.
ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τί φημί;
But what am I saying?
καὶ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἕπεσθαι τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ καθʼ αὑτοὺς εὐθὺς μοίρᾳ τινὶ θείᾳ τὰ κράτιστα θαυμάζειν.
The multitude both follows the best and immediately, by some divine dispensation, admires the strongest on their own.
καὶ γὰρ ἂν εἴη παγγέλοιον, εἰ διʼ ἑτέρων μὲν ἀκριβῶν ἴσασι τοὺς ἀκριβεῖς, αὐτοὶ δʼ ἀγνοοῦσι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν κρίνοντας αὐτῶν ἀντικρίνουσιν αὐτοὶ βελτίους ἑαυτῶν εἶναι, τοὺς δʼ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὰ κράτιστα δεικνύντας οὐ θαυμάσονται, οἳ μετὰ τῆς ἐπιστήμης καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ πείθειν οὖσαν κέκτηνται.
For it would be utterly ridiculous if, while they know the precise through other precise judges, they themselves are ignorant, and while they acknowledge those who judge for them to be better than themselves, they should not admire those who display the strongest things from the beginning, who possess along with knowledge also the power of persuasion.
οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐ φήσει ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχειν.
There is no one who will not say that this is so.
καίτοι κἂν εἰ μὴ συναμφοτέρους ἄγειν ἐξῆν, τό γε τῶν βελτίστων μέρος αἱρετώτερον οἶμαι τοῖς εἰς βελτίους ἀξιοῦσι τελεῖν·
And yet, even if it were not possible to lead both together, the part of the best is, I think, more desirable for those who deem themselves worthy to be counted among the better.