§27#127.
27.
Πρεσβευτικὸς Θεσσαλοῦ Ἱπποκράτους υἱοῦ.
Embassy Speech of Thessalus, son of Hippocrates.
Προσήκειν ἡγέομαι, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν καθιστάμενον ἐς ὑμέας καὶ μὴ γινωσκόμενον παντὶ τῷ πλήθει, πρῶτον δηλῶσαι μὲν ὅστις καὶ ὅθεν ἐστὶ, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν ἄλλων λόγων ἅπτεσθαι.
I think it is proper, O men of Athens, for one who presents himself before you and is not known to the whole multitude, first to make clear who and from where he is, and after this to touch upon his other arguments.
Ἐμοὶ μὲν πατὴρ Ἱπποκράτης, ὃ ὑμεῖς γινώσκετε ἐν ἰητρικῇ ἡλίκην δύναμιν ἔχει.
My father is Hippocrates, who, as you know, has great influence in medicine.
Οὔνομα δὲ Θεσσαλός· γινώσκομαι δὲ κᾀγὼ οὐκ ἐν δευτέροις ὑμέων, οὐδ’ ὀλίγοις, πατρὶς δέ μοι Κῶς, ἣν ὅπως ὑμῖν οἰκείη ἐστὶν ἐξ ἀρχαίων, ἕτεροι ἐροῦσιν οἵ τινες ἱστορίην ἐξηγήσασθαι δυνατώτεροι.
My name is Thessalus; and I too am known to you, not as second-rate, nor to a few, and my homeland is Cos, which, as to how it has been close to you from ancient times, others will tell who are more capable of explaining history.
Ἦλθον δὲ πεμφθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς, τέσσαρας ἔχων εὐεργεσίας εἰπεῖν παρ’ ἡμῶν εἰς ὑμᾶς γεγενημένας· τὴν μέν τινα παλαιὰν ἐπὶ τῶν προγόνων, κοινὴν ἐς ἅπαντας τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας, ὧν ὑμέες οὐκ ἐλαχίστη μοῖρα· τὴν δὲ ἑτέρην ἔτι μείζω ταύτης καὶ διικνουμένην ἐς Ἑλλήνων τοὺς πλείστους· καὶ αὗται μὲν φανήσονται τῆς πόλιος καὶ τῶν προγόνων τῶν ἐμῶν ἐοῦσαι· ἡ δὲ τρίτη τοῦ πατρὸς ἰδίη, καὶ τηλικαύτη ὅσην εἷς ἀνὴρ οὐδεὶς ὑμῖν τε καὶ πολλοῖς Ἑλλήνων κατέθετο· ἡ δ’ ὑστάτη τῶν τεσσάρων κοινὴ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐμὴ, καὶ οὐκ ἔτι ἐς πλείονας, ἀλλ’ ἐς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς διικνεομένη, ἣ πρὸς μὲν τὰς προτέρας εὐεργεσίας μικρὴ ἂν φανείη, πρὸς δὲ ἑτέρων χάριτας μετρεομένη μεγάλη.
And I have come, sent by my father, having four benefits to speak of that have been rendered from us to you: one of them is ancient, in the time of our ancestors, common to all the Amphictyons, of whom you are not the least part; the second is even greater than this and extends to the majority of the Greeks; and these will appear to belong to my city and to my ancestors; the third is my father's own, and so great that no single man has ever deposited such a thing for you and for many of the Greeks; and the last of the four is common to my father and me, and no longer extends to more, but to you yourselves, which would appear small compared to the former benefits, but great when measured against the favors of others.
Αἱ μὲν δὴ εὐεργεσίαι τοιαῦται οὕτως ἔχουσιν ἃς ἔφην εἶναι, ὡς συνελόντι εἰπεῖν, δεῖ δὲ μὴ μοῦνον φάναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποδεῖξαι ὡς εἰσὶν ἀληθέες.
Now, the benefits are such as I said they were, to speak in summary, but it is necessary not only to say so, but also to demonstrate that they are true.
Ἀρχὴν οὖν τῷ λόγῳ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν ὑπουργιῶν ποιήσομαι, τὰ δὲ ἀρχαιότατα πρῶτα λέξω, ἐν οἷς τάχ’ ἄν με καταλάβοιτε μακρότερα καὶ μυθωδέστερα εἰπεῖν· ποθεῖ δέ πως ἀρχαίως λέγεσθαι.
Therefore, I will make the beginning of my speech the beginning of our services, and I will first speak of the oldest things, in which you might perhaps find me speaking at greater length and more mythically; but antiquity somehow desires to be spoken of in an ancient manner.
Ἦν γὰρ χρόνος ὅτ’ ἦν Κρίσαιον ἔθνος, ἐῴκεον μὲν περὶ τὸ Πυθικὸν ἱερὸν, γῆν δ’ εἶχον ἥ γε νῦν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι καθιέρωται· καλέεται δὲ τὸ μὲν Κρίσαιον πεδίον ᾧ Λοκροὶ παροικέουσι καὶ ᾧ Μέλαινα πρόσεισι· τὸ δὲ Κίρφιον ὅρος, ᾧ Φωκέες παράκεινται.
For there was a time when there was the Crisaean nation; they lived around the Pythian temple, and they held the land which is now dedicated to Apollo; the part where the Locrians live nearby and which Melaena approaches is called the Crisaean plain, and the mountain adjacent to which the Phocians lie is Kirphis.
Οὗτοι δὲ οἱ Κρίσαιοι γενόμενοι τότε πολλοὶ καὶ ἰσχυροὶ καὶ πλούσιοι, τουτέοις τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἐπὶ κακῷ ἐχρήσαντο· ἐξυβρίσαντες γὰρ πολλὰ δεινὰ καὶ παράνομα εἰργάσαντο, ἐς τὸν θεὸν ἀσεβοῦντες, Δελφοὺς καταδουλούμενοι, προσοίκους ληϊζόμενοι, θεωροὺς συλέοντες, γυναῖκάς τε καὶ παῖδας ἀγινέοντες, καὶ εἰς τὰ σώματα ἐξυβρίζοντες.
These Crisaeans, having then become numerous, strong, and wealthy, used these advantages for evil; for showing arrogance, they committed many terrible and unlawful deeds, acting impiously toward the god, enslaving the Delphians, plundering their neighbors, robbing the sacred envoys, carrying away women and children, and committing outrages against their persons.
Ἀνθ’ ὧν Ἀμφικτύονες ὀργισθέντες, καὶ στράτευμα ἐς τὴν γῆν ἐμβαλόντες αὐτέων, καὶ μάχῃ νικήσαντες, τὴν χώρην ἐδῄουν καὶ τὰς πόλιας ἐπόρθουν.
In return for which, the Amphictyons being angered, and having thrown an army into their land, and having conquered them in battle, ravaged the territory and plundered the cities.
Ἔνθα πολλὰ καὶ ἀνόσια ποιήσαντες σχετλίως ἀπήντησαν, καὶ οὐ μείω ὧν ἔπραξαν τίνοντες· μακαριστοὶ δ’ ἦσαν αὐτέων οἱ ἐν χερσὶ τελευτήσαντες, δεύτεροι δὲ οἱ δορυάλωτοι γενόμενοι, οἵ τε ἐς ἑτέρην χώρην καὶ πόλιας ἐπεραιώθησαν· τὰ γὰρ σφέτερα κακὰ οὐκ εἶχον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς· οἱ δὲ αὐτοῦ μείναντες τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἀτυχέστατοι ἦσαν, ὅσοι ᾐκίζοντο ἐν χώρῃ τῇ ἑωυτῶν ξὺν γυναιξὶ καὶ τέκνοις, ἀγρούς τε καὶ ἄστεα πυρὶ παραδιδόμενα ἐθεώρουν· ἔτι δὲ τουτέων κάκιον διῆγον οἱ ἐν τοῖς τείχεσι διαρκέοντες, ὁκότε τῶν εἰρημένων κακῶν ἃ μὲν ἔβλεπον, ἃ δ’ ἐπυνθάνοντο, πλέον ἀκούοντες τῶν ἀληθέων· οὕτω γάρ που ἔθος γίνεσθαι· καὶ δὴ κακὰς ἐλπίδας σωτηρίης εἶχον.
There, having done many unholy things, they met with a wretched fate, paying a penalty not less than what they had done; those of them who died in hand-to-hand combat were blessed, and second were those who became prisoners of war, who were carried away to other lands and cities; for they did not have their own misfortunes before their eyes; but those of the prisoners who remained there were most unfortunate, as many as were tortured in their own land with their wives and children, and watched their fields and towns being delivered to the fire; and still worse off than these were those who held out inside the walls, whenever they saw some of the said evils and heard of others, hearing more than the truth; for so, I suppose, it is accustomed to happen; and indeed they had bad hopes of salvation.
Ἦν δέ σφι πόλις ἐγγὺς τούτου τοῦ τόπου μεγίστη, ὅκου νῦν ὁ ἱππικὸς ἀγὼν τίθεται, ἧς τὰ τείχη ἐπεσκευάζοντο, καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων πόλεων διαφεύγοντας ἐδέχοντο, τὰ δὲ ἀχρεῖα ἐξέβαλον καὶ τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ἐσεκομίζοντο, καὶ διενοοῦντο ὑπομένειν, ἐλπίσαντες μήτε ἐχθρῶν μάχῃ τὴν πόλιν αἱρεθῆναι μήτε κατὰ μῆκος χρόνου.
And they had a city near this place, the largest, where the equestrian contest is now held, whose walls they repaired, and they received those who fled from the other cities, cast out useless things, brought in necessary things, and intended to hold out, hoping that the city would be taken neither by battle of the enemies nor by length of time.
Οἱ δ’ Ἀμφικτύονες τὰ ἄλλα τε καθεῖλον, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει φρούριον ποιησάμενοι καὶ ἐς πολιορκίην σκευάσαντες, τὸ ἄλλο στράτευμα κατὰ πόλιας ἀφῆκαν.
But the Amphictyons destroyed the other cities, and having made a fort against this city and prepared for a siege, they dismissed the rest of the army to their cities.
Προϊόντος δὲ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ λοιμοῦ ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐμπεσόντος καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν νοσεόντων, τινῶν δὲ καὶ ἀποθνησκόντων, τῶν δὲ καὶ ἐκλειπόντων τὸ φρούριον διὰ τὴν νοῦσον, οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες ἐταράσσοντο, καὶ ἄλλοι ἄλλα ἐβουλεύοντο· φιλεῖ δὲ τὰ κοινὰ οὕτω πως γίνεσθαι·
As time went on and a plague fell upon the camp, and the soldiers were falling sick and some were dying, and others were leaving the fort because of the disease, the Amphictyons were thrown into confusion, and different people advised different things; for public affairs are accustomed to happen in this way; and finally, being vexed at the suffering and acknowledging their own weakness, they committed the matter to the god and asked what they must do.
τέλος δὲ ἀγανακτέοντες τῷ πάθει καὶ αὑτοὺς γνωσιμαχήσαντες, τῷ θεῷ ἐπέτρεψαν καὶ ἤροντο ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν, Ὁ δ’ ἐκέλευσε πολεμεῖν, καὶ ὑπισχνεῖτο κρατήσειν, ἢν ἐς Κῶ ἐλθόντες ἐλάφου παῖδα ἐς ἐπικουρίην ἀγάγωνται ξὺν χρυσῷ σπεύσαντες, ὡς μὴ πρότερον οἱ Κρισαῖοι ἐν τῷ ἀδύτῳ τὸν τρίποδα συλήσωσιν· εἰ δὲ μὴ, τὴν πόλιν οὐχ ἁλώσεσθαι.
And he ordered them to make war, and promised that they would conquer, if they went to Cos and quickly brought the "child of a deer" for help with gold, so that the Crisaeans might not first plunder the tripod in the adytum; otherwise, the city would not be taken.