§4.20.1ἐπειδὴ δὲ κοινῇ τὸ τῶν Ἀρκάδων ἔθνος ἔχει τινὰ παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐπʼ ἀρετῇ φήμην, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσι καὶ βίοις φιλοξενίαν καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν, μάλιστα δὲ διὰ τὴν εἰς τὸ θεῖον εὐσέβειαν, §4.20.2ἄξιον βραχὺ διαπορῆσαι περὶ τῆς Κυναιθέων ἀγριότητος, πῶς ὄντες ὁμολογουμένως Ἀρκάδες τοσοῦτο κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς καιροὺς διήνεγκαν τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ὠμότητι καὶ παρανομίᾳ.
Since the Arcadian nation as a whole has a certain reputation for virtue among all the Greeks, not only on account of their hospitality and humanity in their manners and lives, but especially on account of their piety towards the divine, it is worth while to raise a brief question concerning the savagery of the Cynaethians, how, being confessedly Arcadians, they differed so much at that time from the rest of the Greeks in cruelty and lawlessness.
§4.20.3δοκοῦσι δέ μοι, διότι τὰ καλῶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐπινενοημένα καὶ φυσικῶς συντεθεωρημένα περὶ πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν Ἀρκαδίαν, ταῦτα δὴ πρῶτοι καὶ μόνοι τῶν Ἀρκάδων ἐγκατέλιπον.
They seem to me to have done so because they were the first and only ones of the Arcadians to abandon those customs which had been excellently devised by the ancients and naturally observed for all the inhabitants of Arcadia.
μουσικὴν γάρ, §4.20.4τήν γʼ ἀληθῶς μουσικήν, πᾶσι μὲν ἀνθρώποις ὄφελος ἀσκεῖν, Ἀρκάσι δὲ καὶ ἀναγκαῖον.
For music, at least true music, is useful for all men to practice, but for Arcadians it is even necessary.
οὐ γὰρ ἡγητέον μουσικήν, §4.20.5ὡς Ἔφορός φησιν ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ τῆς ὅλης πραγματείας, οὐδαμῶς ἁρμόζοντα λόγον αὑτῷ ῥίψας, ἐπʼ ἀπάτῃ καὶ γοητείᾳ παρεισῆχθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, §4.20.6οὐδὲ τοὺς παλαιοὺς Κρητῶν καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων αὐλὸν καὶ ῥυθμὸν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἀντὶ σάλπιγγος εἰκῇ νομιστέον εἰσαγαγεῖν, §4.20.7οὐδὲ τοὺς πρώτους Ἀρκάδων εἰς τὴν ὅλην πολιτείαν τὴν μουσικὴν παραλαβεῖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὥστε μὴ μόνον παισὶν οὖσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ νεανίσκοις γενομένοις ἕως τριάκοντʼ ἐτῶν κατʼ ἀνάγκην σύντροφον ποιεῖν αὐτήν, τἄλλα τοῖς βίοις ὄντας αὐστηροτάτους.
For we must not suppose that music, as Ephorus says in the preface to his entire work, tossing out a statement by no means fitting for himself, was introduced to mankind for the purpose of deception and sorcery, nor must we think that the ancient Cretans and Lacedaemonians introduced the flute and rhythm into war instead of the trumpet without reason, nor that the first Arcadians adopted music into their entire constitution to such an extent that they made it their constant companion by necessity, not only when they were children but also when they had become young men up to thirty years of age, though being otherwise most austere in their lives.
§4.20.8ταῦτα γὰρ πᾶσίν ἐστι γνώριμα καὶ συνήθη, διότι σχεδὸν παρὰ μόνοις Ἀρκάσι πρῶτον μὲν οἱ παῖδες ἐκ νηπίων ᾄδειν ἐθίζονται κατὰ νόμους τοὺς ὕμνους καὶ παιᾶνας, οἷς ἕκαστοι κατὰ τὰ πάτρια τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους ἥρωας καὶ θεοὺς ὑμνοῦσι· §4.20.9μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς Φιλοξένου καὶ Τιμοθέου νόμους μανθάνοντες πολλῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ χορεύουσι κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν τοῖς Διονυσιακοῖς αὐληταῖς ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις, οἱ μὲν παῖδες τοὺς παιδικοὺς ἀγῶνας, οἱ δὲ νεανίσκοι τοὺς τῶν ἀνδρῶν λεγομένους.
For these things are known and customary to all, that almost among the Arcadians alone, first of all, the children are accustomed from infancy to sing according to the rules the hymns and paeans, by which each, according to ancestral custom, hymns their local heroes and gods; and after this, learning the songs of Philoxenus and Timotheus, they dance with great emulation every year for the Dionysian flute-players in the theaters, the children in what are called the children's contests, and the young men in those of the men.
§4.20.10ὁμοίως γε μὴν καὶ παρʼ ὅλον τὸν βίον τὰς ἀγωγὰς τὰς ἐν ταῖς συνουσίαις οὐχ οὕτως ποιοῦνται διὰ τῶν ἐπεισάκτων ἀκροαμάτων ὡς διʼ αὑτῶν, ἀνὰ μέρος ᾄδειν ἀλλήλοις προστάττοντες.
In like manner also throughout their whole life, they conduct their entertainments in social gatherings not so much by means of imported amusements as by themselves, commanding one another to sing in turn.
§4.20.11καὶ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων μαθημάτων ἀρνηθῆναί τι μὴ γινώσκειν οὐδὲν αἰσχρὸν ἡγοῦνται, τήν γε μὴν ᾠδὴν οὔτʼ ἀρνηθῆναι δύνανται διὰ τὸ κατʼ ἀνάγκην πάντας μανθάνειν, οὔθʼ ὁμολογοῦντες ἀποτρίβεσθαι διὰ τὸ τῶν αἰσχρῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς νομίζεσθαι τοῦτο.
And while they do not consider it any disgrace to deny knowledge of other subjects, they cannot deny song because they all learn it of necessity, nor can they refuse when they acknowledge it because this is considered among them to be disgraceful.
§4.20.12καὶ μὴν ἐμβατήρια μετʼ αὐλοῦ καὶ τάξεως ἀσκοῦντες, ἔτι δʼ ὀρχήσεις ἐκπονοῦντες μετὰ κοινῆς ἐπιστροφῆς καὶ δαπάνης κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις ἐπιδείκνυνται τοῖς αὑτῶν πολίταις
And indeed, practicing marching songs with the flute and in order, and furthermore practicing dances with public training and expense, they exhibit them every year in the theaters to their own citizens.