§14τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ λόγον ἔχει ἥ τε τοῦ λόγου δύναμις πρὸς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς τάξιν ἥ τε τῶν φαρμάκων τάξις πρὸς τὴν τῶν σωμάτων φύσιν.
The relation that the power of speech has to the order of the soul is the same as the relation that the order of drugs has to the nature of bodies.
ὥσπερ γὰρ τῶν φαρμάκων ἄλλους ἄλλα χυμοὺς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἐξάγει, καὶ τὰ μὲν νόσου τὰ δὲ βίου παύει, οὕτω καὶ τῶν λόγων οἱ μὲν ἐλύπησαν, οἱ δὲ ἔτερψαν, οἱ δὲ ἐφόβησαν, οἱ δὲ εἰς θάρσος κατέστησαν τοὺς ἀκούοντας, οἱ δὲ πειθοῖ τινι κακῇ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐφαρμάκευσαν καὶ ἐξεγοήτευσαν.
For just as different drugs expel different humors from the body, and some put an end to disease and others to life, so too of speeches, some cause grief, some delight, some frighten, some establish the hearers in confidence, and some drug and bewitch the soul with a certain evil persuasion.
§15Καὶ ὅτι μέν, εἰ λόγῳ ἐπείσθη, οὐκ ἠδίκησεν ἀλλ᾿ ἠτύχησεν, εἴρηται· τὴν δὲ τετάρτην αἰτίαν τῷ τετάρτῳ λόγῳ διέξειμι.
And that she did no wrong but suffered misfortune, if she was persuaded by speech, has been said; but I will go through the fourth cause with a fourth argument.
εἰ γὰρ ἔρως ἦν ὁ ταῦτα πάντα πράξας, οὐ χαλεπῶς διαφεύξεται τὴν τῆς λεγομένης γεγονέναι ἁμαρτίας αἰτίαν.
For if it was love that did all these things, she will not with difficulty escape the blame of the error said to have occurred.
ἃ γὰρ ὁρῶμεν, ἔχει φύσιν οὐχ ἣν ἡμεῖς θέλομεν ἀλλ᾿ ἣν ἕκαστον ἔτυχε· διὰ δὲ τῆς ὄψεως ἡ ψυχὴ κἀν τοῖς τρόποις τυποῦται.
For the things we see have a nature, not which we wish, but which each happens to have; and through sight the soul is molded even in its character.
§16αὐτίκα γὰρ ὅταν πολέμια σώματα πολέμιον ἐπὶ πολεμίοις ὁπλισθῇ κόσμον χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου, τοῦ μὲν ἀλεξητήριον τοῦ δὲ προβλήματα, εὐθέως ἡ ὄψις ἐταράχθη καὶ ἐτάραξε τὴν ψυχήν, ὥστε πολλάκις τοῦ κινδύνου μέλλοντος φεύγουσιν ἐκπλαγέντες ἰσχυρῶς·
For instance, when hostile armies arm themselves with a hostile equipment of bronze and iron against hostile foes—some for defense and some for protection—immediately sight is troubled, and it troubles the soul, so that often, though the danger is yet to come, people flee, being strongly terrified.
ἡ γὰρ ἀλήθεια τοῦ νόμου διὰ τὸν φόβον ἐξῳκίσθη τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως, ἥτις ἐλθοῦσα ἐποίησεν ἀμελῆσαι καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ τοῦ διὰ τὸν νόμον κρινομένου καὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τοῦ διὰ τὴν νίκην γιγνομένου.
For the truth of the law is banished because of the fear that comes from sight, which, when it arrives, makes one neglect both the beautiful judged by the law and the good that comes through victory.
§17ἤδη δέ τινες ἰδόντες φοβερὰ καὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐν τῷ παρόντι χρόνῳ φρονήματος ἐξέστησαν· οὕτως ἀπέσβεσε καὶ ἐξήλασεν ὁ φόβος τὸ νόημα.
And already some, upon seeing terrifying things, have lost their present presence of mind in the present time; so utterly did fear extinguish and drive out thought.
πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ματαίοις πόνοις καὶ δειναῖς νόσοις καὶ δυσιάτοις μανίαις περιέπεσον· οὕτως εἰκόνας τῶν ὁρωμένων πραγμάτων ἡ ὄψις ἐνέγραψεν ἐν τῷ φρονήματι.
And many have fallen into vain labors, dreadful diseases, and hard-to-cure madnesses; so utterly did sight engrave the images of the things seen in the mind.
καὶ τὰ μὲν δειματοῦντα πολλὰ μὲν παραλείπεται, ὅμοια δ᾿ ἐστὶ τὰ παραλειπόμενα οἷάπερ τὰ λεγόμενα.
And many terrifying things are omitted, but the omitted things are just like those that have been mentioned.
§18ἀλλὰ μὴν οἱ γραφεῖς ὅταν ἐκ πολλῶν χρωμάτων καὶ σωμάτων ἓν σῶμα καὶ σχῆμα τελείως ἀπεργάσωνται, τέρπουσι τὴν ὄψιν.
But indeed, when painters completely fashion a single body and form from many colors and bodies, they delight the sight.
ἡ δὲ τῶν ἀνδριάντων ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἐργασία ὅσην ἡδονὴν παρέσχετο τοῖς ὄμμασιν! οὕτω τὰ μὲν λυπεῖν τὰ δὲ ποθεῖν ποιεῖν πέφυκε τὴν ὄψιν.
And how much pleasure does the creation of statues and the production of images provide to the eyes! Thus some things are by nature made to grieve the sight, and others to make it long.
πολλὰ δὲ πολλοῖς πολλῶν ἔρωτα καὶ πόθον ἐνεργάζεται πραγμάτων καὶ σωμάτων.
And many things implant in many people love and longing for many affairs and bodies.
§19εἰ οὖν τῷ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου σώματι τὸ τῆς Ἑλένης ὄμμα ἡσθὲν προθυμίαν καὶ ἅμιλλαν ἔρωτος τῇ ψυχῇ παρέδωκε, τί θαυμαστόν;
If, therefore, Helen's eye, pleased by the body of Alexander, delivered to her soul an eagerness and conflict of love, what is wonderful?
ὃς εἰ μὲν θεὸς ὢν ἔχει θεῶν θείαν δύναμιν, πῶς ἂν ὁ ἥσσων εἴη τοῦτον ἀπώσασθαι καὶ ἀμύνασθαι δυνατός;
If love, being a god, has the divine power of gods, how could a weaker being be able to reject and ward this off?
εἰ δ᾿ ἐστὶν ἀνθρώπινον νόσημα καὶ ψυχῆς ἀγνόημα, οὐχ ὡς ἁμάρτημα μεμπτέον ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀτύχημα νομιστέον· ἦλθε γὰρ οἷς ἦλθε τύχης ἀγρεύμασιν, οὐ γνώμης βουλεύμασι, καὶ ἔρωτος ἀνάγκαις, οὐ τέχνης παρασκευαῖς.
But if it is a human disease and an ignorance of the soul, it must not be blamed as an error but must be considered a misfortune; for she came to it by the snares of fortune, not by the counsels of the mind.
§20Πῶς οὖν χρὴ δίκαιον ἡγήσασθαι τὸν τῆς· Ἑλένης μῶμον, ἥτις εἴτ᾿ ἐρασθεῖσα εἴτε λόγῳ πεισθεῖσα εἴτε βίᾳ ἁρπασθεῖσα εἴτε ὑπὸ θείας ἀνάγκης ἀναγκασθεῖσα ἔπραξεν ἃ ἔπραξε, πάντως διαφεύγει τὴν αἰτίαν;
How then is it right to consider the blame of Helen just, who, whether she did what she did because she was in love, or persuaded by speech, or ravished by force, or constrained by divine necessity, completely escapes the blame?
§21Ἀφεῖλον τῷ λόγῳ δύσκλειαν γυναικός, ἐνέμεινα τῷ νόμῳ ὃν ἐθέμην ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ λόγου, ἐπειράθην καταλῦσαι μώμου ἀδικίαν καὶ δόξης ἀμαθίαν, ἐβουλήθην γράψαι τὸν λόγον Ἑλένης μὲν ἐγκώμιον, ἐμὸν δὲ παίγνιον.
I have by speech removed a woman's ill repute, I have abided by the rule I set for myself at the beginning of the speech, I have attempted to dissolve the injustice of blame and the ignorance of opinion, and I wished to write the speech as an encomium for Helen, and a plaything for myself.