IV. ΤΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΩΝ ΘΕΩΝ ΣΗΜΕΙΑ. ὅσα μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τεκμηρίων καὶ μαρτυριών οἷά τε ἦν ἀποδειχθῆναι, ἀκηκόατε· χρὴ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν σημείοις γενομένοις εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐχ ἥκιστα τεκμηραμένους ψηφίζεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ τὰ τῆς πόλεως κοινὰ τούτοις μάλιστα πιστεύοντες ἀσφαλῶς διαπράσσεσθε, τοῦτο μὲν τὰ εἰς τοὺς κιν δύνους ἥκοντα, τοῦτο δὲ εἰς τὰ ἔξω τῶν κινδύνων. χρὴ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὰ ἴδια ταῦτα μέγιστα καὶ πιστότατα ἡγεῖσθαι. οἶμαι γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἐπίστασθαι ὅτι πολλοὶ ἤδη ἄνθρωποι μὴ καθαροὶ χεῖρας ἢ ἄλλο τι μίασμα ἔχοντες συνεισβάντες εἰς τὸ πλοῖον συναπώλεσαν μετὰ τῆς αὑτῶν ψυχῆς τοὺς ὁσίως διακειμένους τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεούς· τοῦτο δὲ ἤδη ἑτέρους ἀπολομένους μὲν οὔ, κινδυνεύσαντας δὲ τοὺς ἐσχάτους κινδύνους διὰ τοὺς τοιούτους ἀνθρώπους· τοῦτο δὲ ἱεροῖς παραστάντες πολλοὶ δὴ καταφανεῖς ἐγένοντο οὐχ ὅσιοι ὄντες καὶ διακωλύοντες τὰ ἱερὰ μὴ γίγνεσθαι τὰ νομιζόμενα. ἐμοὶ τοίνυν ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις τὰ ἐναντία ἐγένετο. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ὅσοις συνέπλευσα, καλλίστοις ἐχρήσαντο πλοῖς· τοῦτο δὲ ὅπου ἱεροῖς παρέστην, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπου οὐχὶ κάλλιστα τὰ ἱερὰ ἐγένετο. ἃ ἐγὼ ἀξιῶ μεγάλα μοι τεκμήρια εἶναι τῆς αἰτίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ μου οὗτοι κατηγοροῦσι. ANTIPHON, De Caede Herodis, 3 81-83. IV. THE GODS WITNESSES TO MEN'S Such proofs as could be furnished on grounds of human probability and evidence, you have already heard. But those further signs which have been sent by the gods ought, in such a matter, to have no slight influence on the verdict. It is mainly by reliance on the gods that you direct with safety the interests of the commonweal, whether those interests are running their appointed dangers, or stand clear of peril. And in private concerns also the teaching of the gods ought to be deemed most important and most sure. You are doubtless aware that, in many instances, men redhanded or otherwise polluted have, by entering the same ship, involved in their own destruction those who were pure in their relations to the gods-that others, escaping death, have incurred the extremity of danger through the presence of such men. Very many, again, on standing beside the sacrifice have been discovered to be impure, and obstructive of the usual rites. In all such cases an opposite fortune has been mine. In the first place, all who have sailed with me have enjoyed most favourable voyages: in the next, whenever I have assisted at a sacrifice, it has in every instance been most favourable. These facts I claim as strong evidence touching the present charge and the falsity of the prosecutor's accusations. R. C. J. V. ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΠΕΡΙΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΤΑΦΙΟΥ. δοκεῖ δέ μοι δηλοῦν ἀνδρὸς ἀρετὴν πρώτη τε μηνύ ουσα καὶ τελευταία βεβαιοῦσα ἡ νῦν τῶνδε καταστροφή. καὶ γὰρ τοῖς τἄλλα χείροσι δίκαιον τὴν ἐς τοὺς πολέμους ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἀνδραγαθίαν προτίθεσθαι ἀγαθῷ γὰρ κακὸν ἀφανίσαντες κοινῶς μᾶλλον ὠφέλησαν ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ἔβλαψαν. τῶνδε δὲ οὔτε πλούτῳ τις τὴν ἔτι ἀπόλαυσιν προτιμήσας ἐμαλακίσθη οὔτε πενίας ἐλπίδι ὡς κἂν ἔτι διαφυγὼν αὐτὴν πλουτήσειεν ἀναβολὴν τοῦ δεινοῦ ἐποιήσατο· τὴν δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων τιμωρίαν ποθεινοτέραν αὐτῶν λαβόντες καὶ κινδύνων ἅμα τόνδε κάλλιστον νομίσαντες ἐβουλήθησαν μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ τοὺς μὲν τιμωρεῖσθαι, τῶν δὲ ἐφίεσθαι, ἐλπίδι μὲν τὸ ἀφανὲς τοῦ κατορθώσειν ἐπιτρέψαντες, ἔργῳ δὲ περὶ τοῦ ἤδη ὁρωμένου σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἀξιοῦντες πεποιθέναι, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸ ἀμύνεσθαι καὶ παθεῖν μᾶλ λον ἡγησάμενοι ἢ τὸ ἐνδόντες σώζεσθαι τὸ μὲν αἰσχρὸν τοῦ λόγου ἔφυγον τὸ δ ̓ ἔργον τῷ σώματι ὑπέμειναν, καὶ δι ̓ ἐλαχίστου καιροῦ τύχης ἅμα ἀκμῇ τῆς δόξης μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ δέους ἀπηλλάγησαν. THUKYDIDES, II. 42. V. FROM THE FUNERAL ORATION OF I find a true illustration of manly worth--whether it be as a first manifestation, or as a crowning proof-in the final scene of these men's lives. And right it is for men otherwise inglorious to shield their fatherland with the virtues of the warrior; for so they hide their evil in their good, and help their country as soldiers more than they hurt her as men. Not one of these was unnerved by his wealth or by the ambition for its prolonged enjoyment. Not one, tempted by the poor man's hope that he will yet struggle out of his poverty into wealth, declined the instant peril. They had formed a wish, dearer than those desires, for the chastisement of their enemies; they believed that no venture could be nobler than theirs; they were content to make that venture, to deal that chastisement, to battle for those desires, committing to hope the uncertain issue, but, for what confronted them, resolved to trust themselves; and when the danger came, believing that to strike and suffer was better than to yield and be spared, they guarded their memories from shame by standing the ordeal with their lives; and in one instant, at the supreme moment of their fortune, passed from the place, not of their fear, but of their fame. R. C. J. VI. ΠΕΡΙΚΛΗΣ. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἡσυχάζοντάς τε καὶ τὸ ναυτικὸν θεραπεύοντας καὶ ἀρχὴν μὴ ἐπικτωμένους ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ μηδὲ τῇ πόλει κινδυνεύοντας ἔφη περιέσεσθαι· οἱ δὲ ταῦτά τε πάντα ἐς τοὐναντίον ἔπραξαν, καὶ ἄλλα ἔξω τοῦ πολέμου δοκοῦντα εἶναι κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας φιλοτιμίας καὶ ἴδια κέρδη κακῶς ἔς τε σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ξυμμάχους ἐπολίτευσαν, ἃ κατορθούμενα μὲν τοῖς ἰδιώταις τιμὴ καὶ ὠφελία μᾶλλον ἦν, σφαλέντα δὲ τῇ πόλει ἐς τὸν πόλεμον βλάβη καθίστατο. αἴτιον δ ̓ ἦν, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος μὲν δυνατὸς ὢν τῷ τε ἀξιώματι καὶ τῇ γνώμῃ, χρημάτων τε διαφανῶς ἀδωρότατος γενόμενος, κατεῖχε τὸ πλῆθος ἐλευθέρως, καὶ οὐκ ἤγετο μᾶλλον ὑπ ̓ αὐτοῦ ἢ αὐτὸς ἦγε διὰ τὸ μὴ κτώμενος ἐξ οὐ προσηκόντων τὴν δύναμιν πρὸς ἡδονήν τι λέγειν, ἀλλ ̓ ἔχων ἐπ ̓ ἀξιώσει καὶ πρὸς ὀργήν τι ἀντειπεῖν. ὁπότε γοῦν αἴσθοιτό τι αὐτοὺς παρὰ καιρὸν ὕβρει θαρσοῦντας, λέγων κατέπλησσεν ἐπὶ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι, καὶ δεδιότας αὖ αλόγως ἀντικαθίστη πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸ θαρσεῖν. ἐγίγνετό τε λόγῳ μὲν δημοκρατία, ἔργῳ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἀνδρὸς ἀρχή. οἱ δὲ ὕστερον, ἴσοι αὐτοὶ μᾶλλον πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὄντες καὶ ὀρεγόμενοι τοῦ πρῶτος ἕκαστος γίγνεσθαι, ἐτράποντο καθ ̓ ἡδονὰς τῷ δήμῳ καὶ τὰ πράγματα ἐνδιδόναι. THUKYDIDES, II. 65. |