§1Ἐβουλόμην ἂν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν δικάζειν οἵπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι παρῆσαν· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι ἐμὲ μὲν ἔδει σιωπᾶν, τούτῳ δ᾿ οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν πλέον λέγοντι·
I could have wished that the very same men who were present during the events were also judging us; for I know that, in that case, I should have remained silent, and this man would have gained nothing more by speaking.
νῦν δὲ οἱ μὲν παραγενόμενοι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῖς ἄπεισιν, ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ οὐδὲν εἰδότες δικάζετε.
But as it is, those who were present at the deeds themselves are absent, and you, who know nothing, are judging.
καίτοι ποία τις ἂν δίκη δικαστῶν μὴ εἰδότων γένοιτο, καὶ ταῦτα διὰ λόγων;
And yet, what kind of trial could there be with judges who know nothing, especially when it is conducted through words?
τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα ἐγίγνετο ἔργῳ.
But the matter itself was carried out in deed.
§2Τὸ μὲν οὖν σῶμα τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως ἐκόμισα ἐγὼ φέρων, τὰ δὲ ὅπλα ὅδε, ἐπιστάμενος ὅτι οὐ τῶν ὅπλων μᾶλλον ἐπεθύμουν οἱ Τρῶες ἀλλὰ τοῦ νεκροῦ κρατῆσαι.
Therefore, I carried and brought the body of Achilles, while this man brought the armor, knowing well that the Trojans did not desire to possess the armor so much as to master the corpse.
τοῦ μὲν γὰρ εἰ ἐκράτησαν, ᾐκίσαντό τε ἂν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὰ λύτρα τοῦ Ἕκτορος ἐκομίσαντο· τὰ δὲ ὅπλα τάδε οὐκ ἂν ἀνέθεσαν §3τοῖς θεοῖς ἀλλ᾿ ἀπέκρυψαν, δεδιότες τόνδε τὸν ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα, ὃς καὶ πρότερον ἱεροσυλήσας αὐτῶν το ἄγαλμα τῆς θεοῦ νύκτωρ ὥσπερ τι καλὸν ἐργασάμενος ἐπεδείκνυτο τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς.
For if they had mastered the latter, they would have desecrated the body and recovered the ransom of Hector; but these arms they would not have dedicated to the gods, but would have hidden them away, fearing this "brave" man, who even previously, having stolen their statue of the goddess by night, showed it off to the Achaeans as if he had performed some noble deed.
κἀγὼ μὲν ἀξιῶ λαβεῖν ἵν᾿ ἀποδῶ τὰ ὅπλα τοῖς φίλοις, οὗτος δὲ ἵν᾿ ἀποδῶται, ἐπεὶ χρῆσθαί γε αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἂν τολμήσειε·
And I demand to receive the armor in order to give it back to our friends, whereas this man demands it in order to sell it, since he would never dare to use it.
δειλὸς γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐπισήμοις ὅπλοις χρήσαιτο, εἰδὼς ὅτι τὴν δειλίαν αὐτοῦ ἐκφαίνει τὰ ὅπλα.
For no coward would use marked armor, knowing that the armor exposes his cowardice.
§4Σχεδὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἅπαντα ὅμοια.
Indeed, almost everything is similar.
οἵ τε γὰρ διαθέντες τὸν ἀγῶνα φάσκοντες εἶναι βασιλεῖς περὶ ἀρετῆς κρίνειν ἐπέτρεψαν ἄλλοις, οἵ τε οὐδὲν εἰδότες δικάσειν ὑπισχνεῖσθε περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἴστε.
For both those who arranged the contest, claiming to be kings, entrusted the judgment concerning virtue to others, and you, who know nothing, promise to judge concerning things you do not know.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπίσταμαι τοῦτο, ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἂν βασιλεὺς ἱκανὸς ὢν περὶ ἀρετῆς κρίνειν ἐπιτρέψειεν ἄλλοις μᾶλλον ἤπερ ἀγαθὸς ἰατρὸς διαγνῶναι νοσήματα ἄλλῳ παρείη.
But I know this, that no king who is capable of judging concerning virtue would entrust it to others, any more than a good physician would leave the diagnosis of diseases to someone else.
§5Καὶ εἰ μὲν ἦν μοι πρὸς ἄνδρα ὁμοιότροπον, οὐδ᾿ ἂν ἡττᾶσθαί μοι διέφερε· νῦν δ᾿ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ διαφέρει πλέον ἐμοῦ καὶ τοῦδε.
And if my contest were against a man of similar character, even being defeated would make no difference to me; but as it is, there is nothing that differs more than I and this man.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅ τι ἂν δράσειε φανερῶς, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ἂν λάθρᾳ τολμήσαιμι πρᾶξαι.
For there is nothing that he would do openly, whereas I would never dare to do anything in secret.
κἀγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἀνασχοίμην κακῶς ἀκούων, οὐδὲ γὰρ κακῶς πάσχων, ὁ δὲ κἂν κρεμάμενος, εἰ κερδαίνειν τι μέλλοι·
And I would not tolerate being ill-spoken of, nor indeed being ill-treated, but he would tolerate it even if he were hung up, if he were about to gain something.
§6ὅστις γε μαστιγοῦν παρεῖχε τοῖς δούλοις καὶ τύπτειν ξύλοις τὰ νῶτα καὶ πυγμαῖς τὸ πρόσωπον, κἄπειτα περιβαλόμενος ῥάκη, τῆς νυκτὸς εἰς τὸ τεῖχος εἰσδὺς τῶν πολεμίων, ἱεροσυλήσας ἀπῆλθε.
A man who allowed himself to be whipped by slaves, to have his back beaten with sticks and his face with fists, and then, wrapping himself in rags, slipped inside the enemy's wall by night and went away after committing sacrilege.
καὶ ταῦτα ὁμολογήσει ποιεῖν, ἴσως δὲ καὶ πείσει λέγων ὡς καλῶς πέπρακται.
And he will admit to doing these things, and perhaps he will even persuade you by saying that they were well done.
ἔπειτα τῶν Ἀχιλλέως ὅπλων ὅδε ὁ μαστιγίας καὶ ἱερόσυλος ἀξιοῖ κρατῆσαι;
Will this whipped slave and temple-robber then demand to possess the armor of Achilles?
§7Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὑμῖν λέγω τοῖς οὐδὲν εἰδόσι κριταῖς καὶ δικασταῖς, μὴ εἰς τοὺς λόγους σκοπεῖν περὶ ἀρετῆς κρίνοντας, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς τὰ ἔργα μᾶλλον.
Therefore, I say to you, judges and arbiters who know nothing, not to look to words when judging virtue, but rather to deeds.
καὶ γὰρ ὁ πόλεμος οὐ λόγῳ κρίνεται ἀλλ᾿ ἔργῳ· οὐδ᾿ ἀντιλέγειν ἔξεστι πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους, ἀλλ᾿ ἢ μαχομένους δεῖ κρατεῖν ἢ δουλεύειν σιωπῇ.
For war is not decided by word but by deed; nor is it possible to argue against the enemy, but we must either conquer by fighting or serve in silence.
πρὸς ταῦτα ἀθρεῖτε καὶ σκοπεῖτε· ὡς, εἰ μὴ δικάσετε καλῶς, γνώσεσθε ὅτι οὐδεμίαν ἔχει §8λόγος πρὸς ἔργον ἰσχύν, οὐδ᾿ ἔστιν ὑμᾶς ὅ τι λέγων ἁνὴρ ὠφελήσει, εἴσεσθε δὲ ἀκριβῶς ὅτι δι᾿ ἀπορίαν ἔργων πολλοὶ καὶ μακροὶ λόγοι λέγονται.
Look to these things and consider them; for if you do not judge well, you will know that word has no power against deed, nor is there anything a man can say that will help you, but you will know precisely that many long words are spoken because of a lack of deeds.
ἀλλ᾿ ἢ λέγετε ὅτι οὐ ξυνίετε τὰ λεγόμενα, καὶ ἀνίστασθε, ἢ δικάζετε ὀρθῶς.
Either say that you do not understand what is being said and rise up, or judge rightly.
καὶ ταῦτα μὴ κρύβδην φέρετε, ἀλλὰ φανερῶς, ἵνα γνῶτε ὅτι καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς δικάζουσι δοτέα δίκη ἐστίν, ἂν μὴ δικάσωσιν ὀρθῶς.
And do not cast your votes in secret, but openly, so that you may know that a penalty must be paid even by the judges themselves, if they do not judge rightly.
κἄπειτ᾿ ἴσως γνώσεσθε ὅτι οὐ κριταὶ τῶν λεγομένων ἀλλὰ δοξασταὶ κάθησθε.
And then perhaps you will know that you sit not as judges of what is said, but as mere guessers.
§9ἐγὼ δὲ διαγιγνώσκειν μὲν ὑμῖν περὶ ἐμοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν ἐπιτρέπω, διαδοξάζειν δὲ ἅπασιν ἀπαγορεύω, καὶ ταῦτα περὶ ἀνδρὸς ὃς οὐχ ἑκὼν ἀλλ᾿ ἄκων ἀφῖκται εἰς Τροίαν, καὶ περὶ ἐμοῦ ὃς πρῶτος ἀεὶ καὶ μόνος ἄνευ τείχους τέταγμαι.
I permit you to judge concerning me and my affairs, but I forbid everyone to speculate, especially concerning a man who came to Troy not voluntarily but against his will, and concerning me, who have always been stationed first and alone without a wall.