Humanitext Reader

Libanius · Oration 44 To Eustathius Karas §1-4

Praise of Stathios's Education and Gentle Character

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

The author praises the Carian rhetorician Stathios for choosing the pursuit of wisdom in Athens over a military life, highlighting his successful orations in Phoenicia and Palestine, and his exceptionally gentle character.

§1## XLIV. ## ΕΙΣ ΣTAΘION ΤΟΝ ΚΑΡΑ. ὑπεσχόμην ἐπαινέσεσθαι τὸν χθὲς τὰ λεγόμένα μοι τιμήσαντα τῷ ῥήματι.
## XLIV. ## TO STATHIOS THE CARIAN. I promised to praise the man who yesterday honored what I said with his word.
καὶ πρὶν ὃς ἦν εἰδέναι, τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἐποιησάμην ὡς, εἰ καὶ νεώτερος εἴη, τοῦτο ποιήσων.
And before knowing who he was, I made the promise, intending to do this even if he should be quite young.
ἔπειτα ἀνὴρ ἀνεφαίνετο καὶ οὗτος ἐν τῇ Ἀθηναίων ἐσθῆτι.
Then, he too appeared as a man in the Athenian dress.
καὶ ἦν ἐν κέρδει τὸ τοιοῦδε εἶναι τὸ ῥῆμα.
And it was to my advantage that his speech was of such a quality.
τῷ Διὶ τοίνυν ἑπόμενος οὐ ψεύσομαι ἃ ὑπεσχόμην. 2.
Therefore, following Zeus, I shall not be false to what I promised. 2.
Ἀλλὰ Ι πρῶτον μὲν ὑμᾶς διδάξω τὸν ἐκ Καρίας Ἀθήναζε τοῦδε πλοῦν ὃν ἔπλευσεν ἐπὶ κτήσει σοφίας ὄντων μὲν τῶν μέγα εἶναι λεγόντων τοὺς νόμους, ὄντων δὲ τῶν ὑμνούντων τὸν ἐν ὅπλοις βίον.
But first I will inform you of this man's voyage from Caria to Athens, which he made for the acquisition of wisdom, while there are some who say that the laws are great, and others who sing the praises of the life in arms.
τῷ δὲ τὸ κάλλος ἄρα τῶν λόγων μᾶλλον ἐδόκει στίλβειν ὀμφαλοῦ τε ἀσπίδος χρυσίου τε τοῦ παρὰ τῶν νόμων.
But to him, it seems, the beauty of speeches shone more than the boss of a shield and the gold that comes from the laws.
ἥκων δὲ ἐφ’ ὅπερ ἧκεν ἔδρα.
And having arrived for the very purpose he came for, he ran his course.
λόγοι μὲν ἐν ἡμέραις, λόγοι δὲ ἐν νυξί.
Words by day, words by night.
μάχας δὲ εἴα χαίρειν καὶ μαχομένους ἠλέει καὶ τούτων γε αὐτῶν μᾶλλον ὅσοι νίκαις ἐφιλοτιμοῦντο Μουσῶν τε ἀλλοτρίαις καὶ λωνος Μουσηγέτου.
He bade battles farewell, and pitied those who fought, and of these very men, especially those who took pride in victories foreign to the Muses and Apollo Leader of the Muses.
§3τῷ δὲ οὐδεμία συμβολὴ τὰς χεῖρας ἐπὶ ῥόπαλον ἢ ξίφος ἀπὸ τῶν βίβλων μετήνεγκεν.
No conflict transferred his hands from books to a club or a sword.
αἰ δὲ ἦσαν πολλαὶ πολλῶν, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ τῶν ἡμετέρων, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔφησεν, ἠμέλει.
And these books were many, of many authors, since, as he himself said, he did not neglect even our own works.
καί ποτε ὁ μὲν πρὸς τοῦ διδασκαλείου ταῖς θύραις ἀνεγίνωσκε μενος, τὸν δὲ διδάσκαλον, καὶ γὰρ ἦν ὁ ἀγγείλας, θυμοῦ τε τοῦτο καὶ ὀργῆς ἐνέπλησε, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα οὐκ ἀκίνδυνον, ἡδὺς δὲ ὅμως ὁ κίνδυνος, εἰ ποιοῦντα ἀμείνω τὴν ψυχὴν δεήσει τι καὶ παθεῖν.
And once, while he was reading in secret near the doors of the school, this filled the teacher with wrath and anger (for there was someone who reported it), and the matter was not without danger, but yet the danger was sweet, if, in making one's soul better, it should be necessary also to suffer something.
§4ἐπεὶ | δὲ ἤδη ῥήτωρ τε ἦν καὶ οἷος πόνους καὶ ποιεῖν καὶ διδόναι, ἐλευθερίας ἐπιθυμίᾳ φεύγει μὲν τούσδε τοὺς πόνους, θεάτροις δὲ διαγέγονε χρώμενος.
And when he was already both a rhetorician and capable of both producing and giving labors, out of a desire for freedom he fled these labors, and spent his time frequenting the theaters.
καὶ αὐτῷ μυρία μὲν ἐν Φοινίκων ἐπεδείχθη πόλεσι, πολλὰ δὲ ἐν Παλαιστίνης ἄστεσιν.
And by him countless speeches were delivered in the cities of the Phoenicians, and many in the towns of Palestine.
οὗ δὴ καὶ πολίτης ἡμἐτερος ἐφεστὼς δυνάμεσιν ἠγάπησέ τε αὐτὸν καὶ κατεῖδεν ἀκριβῶς καὶ ὅπως καρπώσεται τοὺς λόγους, ἐποίησε πρέποντα τῷ γένει δρῶν.
Where indeed our fellow citizen in command of forces loved him and observed him accurately, and in order that he might reap the fruit of his words, he acted in a manner fitting his descent.
Μουσῶν γὰρ Περσεὺς ὁμοπάτριος ἀδελφός, ἐξ οὗπερ οὗτοι. 5.
For Perseus, from whom these people are descended, is the brother of the Muses by the same father. 5.
Τὸν α Κᾶρα δὲ δεῖ πιστεύειν καὶ ὑμᾶς ἐπ’ ἄκρον ἔρχεσθαι τῆς τέχνης, εἰ καὶ μήπω τυγχάνετε λέγοντος ἀκηκοότες.
And you too must believe that the Carian has reached the height of his art, even if you have not yet happened to hear him speaking.
ἐκ γὰρ δὴ τῆς ἀκροάσεως ἑωράκατε τὸν ῥήτορα.
For indeed, from the hearing you have seen the rhetorician.
οὕτω πᾶν τὸ λεγόμενον τοῦ προσήκοντος ἠξίου.
So much did he deem everything spoken worthy of what is fitting.
εἰκὸς τοίνυν αὐτὸν καὶ ὁπόταν ἐργάζηται λόγον, τοῦ προσήκοντος τυγχάνειν φεύγοντά τε ἃ χρὴ καὶ διώκοντα ἃ προσήκει.
It is likely, therefore, that whenever he composes a speech, he also achieves what is fitting, avoiding what one must avoid and pursuing what is appropriate.
λόγων δὲ δύναμιν ἐσχηκὼς ἐπιεικείᾳ κεκόσμηκε τὴν ψυχὴν ὀργῆς τε ὅτι πλεῖστον ἀπέχων ὀργὰς ἂν ἑτέρων ἐνέγκαι εὖ μάλα φωνή τε αὐτῷ πρᾳοτέρα τό τε πρόσωπον ἐν μειδιάματος μέτρῳ συνουσίαι τε αἰ πρῶται φιλίας ἀπεργαζόμεναι.
And having acquired the power of speech, he has adorned his soul with gentleness; and being as far removed from anger as possible, he would bear the anger of others very well; his voice is very mild, his face is kept within the measure of a smile, and his first meetings produce friendship.
ὅτῳ γὰρ ἐγγύς τε ἔλθοι καὶ κατασταίη πλησίον καὶ μικρὰ διαλεχθείη, τοῦτον εὐθὺς ἔλαβέ τε καὶ ἔχει.
For whomsoever he might approach, stand near, and converse with even a little, him he has immediately captured and holds.

Notes

  1. p.353καὶ πρὶν ὃς ἦν εἰδέναι — The conjunction πρὶν normally takes an infinitive (eἰδέναι) when the main clause is affirmative. Here, the indirect question clause introduced by the relative pronoun ὅς ("who he was") is embedded as the object of the infinitive. The relative pronoun ὅς is fronted from the standard word order of πρὶν εἰδέναι ὅς ἦν.
  2. p.354τῷ δὲ τὸ κάλλος ἄρα τῶν λόγων — The dative τῷ functions as a demonstrative pronoun ("to him") in contrast with the preceding ὄντων μὲν... ὄντων δὲ..., serving as a dative of judgment (or dative of reference) depending on the verb ἐδόκει.
  3. p.354καὶ ποιεῖν καὶ διδόναι — Modifying πόνους (labors), this phrase means that the rhetorician is capable of both "producing labors" (crafting arguments) and "giving/imposing them" (either imposing intellectual labor on others or offering his own labor). It is interpreted as a coordinated infinitive structure.
  4. p.355ἐποίησε πρέποντα τῷ γένει δρῶν — The participle δρῶν (by doing/acting) expresses means or manner and modifies the main verb ἐποίησε. The phrase πρέποντα τῷ γένει (things fitting his descent) is the accusative neuter plural object of δρῶν, yielding the structure "doing things fitting his descent, he acted."
  5. p.355ὀργὰς ἂν ἑτέρων ἐνέγκαι — The combination of the particle ἂν with the aorist optative ἐνέγκαι expresses potentiality ("would bear" / "could endure"). It emphasizes his capacity, due to his extremely gentle character, to easily tolerate the anger of others.

Cite this passage

Libanius, Oration 44 To Eustathius Karas §1-4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2200.tlg00444.humanitext-grc1:1-4

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