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- | A LITTLE | + | A little |
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- | ' | + | ' |
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- | 'Ah, you lucky man!' I exclaimed; 'you are like the winner of the three miles, who had washed off the dust, and could amuse himself for the rest of the day. He was minded to crack a story with the wrestler, when thewrestling | + | 'Ah, you lucky man!' I exclaimed; 'you are like the winner of the three miles, who had washed off the dust, and could amuse himself for the rest of the day. He was minded to crack a story with the wrestler, when the wrestling |
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- | 'Ah, you probably consider Demosthenes of much less account than Homer. //You// are very proud of your eulogy | + | 'Ah, you probably consider Demosthenes of much less account than Homer. //You// are very proud of your eulogy |
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- | ' | + | ' |
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- | 'I love too to study his feelings and moods and transitions, | + | 'I love too to study his feelings and moods and transitions, |
==== 7 ==== | ==== 7 ==== | ||
- | 'It has often struck me about Demosthenes--for I will tell the whole truth out--that that looser of the bonds of speechrebukes | + | 'It has often struck me about Demosthenes--for I will tell the whole truth out--that that looser of the bonds of speech rebukes |
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- | 'As often as I read Demosthenes, | + | 'As often as I read Demosthenes, |
==== 9 ==== | ==== 9 ==== | ||
- | 'None the less, I consider my task of a Homeric encomium twice as difficult as your praise of Demosthenes; | + | 'None the less, I consider my task of a Homeric encomium twice as difficult as your praise of Demosthenes; |
Debate and strife had not divided men; | Debate and strife had not divided men; | ||
- | but as it is, they give him for a country Ios or Colophon or Cumae, Chios, Smyrna, or EgyptianThebes, or half a hundred other places; his father may be Macon the Lydian, or he may be a river; his mother is nowMelanope, | + | but as it is, they give him for a country Ios or Colophon or Cumae, Chios, Smyrna, or Egyptian Thebes, or half a hundred other places; his father may be Macon the Lydian, or he may be a river; his mother is nowMelanope, |
==== 10 ==== | ==== 10 ==== | ||
- | 'Your work, now, can be reeled smoothly off out of hand; you have your definite known facts; the butcher' | + | 'Your work, now, can be reeled smoothly off out of hand; you have your definite known facts; the butcher' |
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- | 'Well then, let Athens go; but your discourse at once finds another support in his father' | + | 'Well then, let Athens go; but your discourse at once finds another support in his father' |
==== 12 ==== | ==== 12 ==== | ||
- | ' | + | ' |
==== 13 ==== | ==== 13 ==== | ||
- | 'And so, my dear sir, your way is open to a disquisition upon the two kinds of human love, the one sprung of a desirethat | + | 'And so, my dear sir, your way is open to a disquisition upon the two kinds of human love, the one sprung of a desire that is like the sea, outrageous, fierce, stormily rocking the soul; it is a true sea wave, which the earthly Aphrodite |
==== 14 ==== | ==== 14 ==== | ||
- | 'Love will find out the way, though that way involve a shaven | + | 'Love will find out the way, though that way involve a shaven |
==== 15 ==== | ==== 15 ==== | ||
- | Callisthenes remarked of Aeschylus that he wrote his tragedies in wine, which lent vigour and warmth to his work. WithDemosthenes it was otherwise; he composed not on wine but on water; whence the witticism of Demades, that most men' | + | Callisthenes remarked of Aeschylus that he wrote his tragedies in wine, which lent vigour and warmth to his work. WithDemosthenes it was otherwise; he composed not on wine but on water; whence the witticism of Demades, that most men' |
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- | 'But when you come to your hero's acts of humanity, his pecuniary sacrifices, his grand political achievements ' (and hewas going on in full swing to the rest of the catalogue, when I interrupted, | + | 'But when you come to your hero's acts of humanity, his pecuniary sacrifices, his grand political achievements ' (and he was going on in full swing to the rest of the catalogue, when I interrupted, |
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- | 'I believe you think, my good man,' I protested, 'that I have never had the deeds of Demosthenes drummed into me; Ishould | + | 'I believe you think, my good man,' I protested, 'that I have never had the deeds of Demosthenes drummed into me; I should |
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- | 'But now here is another great advantage that I consider you have over me. The poetic faculty has a single aim; fromwhich | + | 'But now here is another great advantage that I consider you have over me. The poetic faculty has a single aim; from which it follows that Homer' |
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- | You, I dare say, are in the same quandary. Logic and life, rhetoric and philosophy, popularity and death--ay, | + | You, I dare say, are in the same quandary. Logic and life, rhetoric and philosophy, popularity and death--ay, |
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- | The maze is quite easy to escape from, though; you have only to take hold of one single clue, no matter which--hisoratory, if you will, so that it is taken by itself--, and stick to that one throughout your present discourse. You willhave | + | The maze is quite easy to escape from, though; you have only to take hold of one single clue, no matter which--his oratory, if you will, so that it is taken by itself--, and stick to that one throughout your present discourse. You will have ample material; his oratory is not of the Periclean type. Pericles could lighten and thunder, and he could hit the right nail on the head; so much tradition tells us; but we have nothing to judge for ourselves by, no doubt because, |
==== 21 ==== | ==== 21 ==== | ||
- | Or if you prefer his character, or his policy, it will be well to isolate some particular detail--if you are greedy | + | Or if you prefer his character, or his policy, it will be well to isolate some particular detail--if you are greedy |
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- | When Thersagoras had finished this harangue, I remarked: 'Your intention is plain; I am to be convinced that you are morethan | + | When Thersagoras had finished this harangue, I remarked: 'Your intention is plain; I am to be convinced that you are more than a good poet; so you have constructed your prose Demosthenes as a pendant to your verse Homer.' |
- | 'You have been prescribing for the troubles that would attend a first attempt; unfortunately it is years and years sinceI | + | 'You have been prescribing for the troubles that would attend a first attempt; unfortunately it is years and years since I got through that stage, and your remedies are quite out of date.' 'Why, then,' he exclaimed, 'the cure is complete; |
==== 23 ==== | ==== 23 ==== | ||
- | 'Ah, but then I have set my heart upon reversing the feat that Anniceris of Cyrene exhibited to Plato and his friends. | + | 'Ah, but then I have set my heart upon reversing the feat that Anniceris of Cyrene exhibited to Plato and his friends. |
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- | ' | + | ' |
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- | 'Oh, do not say that,' said I; 'off goes my burden of care, and I am at your service. Perhaps when you have got over yourown | + | 'Oh, do not say that,' said I; 'off goes my burden of care, and I am at your service. Perhaps when you have got over your own pains of child-birth you will show more feeling for my delicate state.' |
- | He liked the offer, we settled down on a convenient stone step, and I listened to some excellent poetry. In the middle | + | He liked the offer, we settled down on a convenient stone step, and I listened to some excellent poetry. In the middle |
- | I was delighted with it at the time, and took considerable trouble to secure it; it has just come into my head that Ihave it at home. It contains, among details of Antipater' | + | I was delighted with it at the time, and took considerable trouble to secure it; it has just come into my head that I have it at home. It contains, among details of Antipater' |
==== 27 ==== | ==== 27 ==== | ||
- | He read to the end, we stayed long enough for me to give the poem its meed of praise, and then adjourned to his house,where after some search the book was found. I took it away with me, and on further acquaintance was so much impressed by itthat | + | He read to the end, we stayed long enough for me to give the poem its meed of praise, and then adjourned to his house, where after some search the book was found. I took it away with me, and on further acquaintance was so much impressed by it that I shall do no editing, but read it you //totidem verbis//. Asclepius is not less honoured if his worshippers, |
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- | This book, then (the part of the state records that concerns us is the conversation I shall give you)--the book informsus | + | This book, then (the part of the state records that concerns us is the conversation I shall give you)--the book informs us that Archias' |
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- | //Ar//. Was it not your charge that we should use no force at first? Yet indeed we should have fared no better if wehad; we did intend it. | + | //Ar//. Was it not your charge that we should use no force at first? Yet indeed we should have fared no better if we had; we did intend it. |
//Ant//. You did not well, even in the intention; it may be your violence killed him. | //Ant//. You did not well, even in the intention; it may be your violence killed him. | ||
- | //Ar//. No, we killed him not; but if we could not persuade him, there was nothing for it but force. But, O King,how had you been the better off, if he had come alive? you could have done no more than kill him. | + | //Ar//. No, we killed him not; but if we could not persuade him, there was nothing for it but force. But, O King, how had you been the better off, if he had come alive? you could have done no more than kill him. |
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- | //Ant//. Peace, Archias! methinks you comprehend neither the nature of Demosthenes, | + | //Ant//. Peace, Archias! methinks you comprehend neither the nature of Demosthenes, |
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//Ar//. How.? was Demosthenes not our enemy of enemies? | //Ar//. How.? was Demosthenes not our enemy of enemies? | ||
- | //Ant//. Not in the eyes of one who cares for an honourable nature, and loves a sincere consistent character. | + | //Ant//. Not in the eyes of one who cares for an honourable nature, and loves a sincere consistent character. |
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- | Yet to that I give but a secondary place, as a tool the man used. It was the man himself I marvelled at, his spirit | + | Yet to that I give but a secondary place, as a tool the man used. It was the man himself I marvelled at, his spirit |
- | //actors. All the tribe of them are down for gold, timber, rents, cattle, land, in Boeotia if not inMacedonia// | + | //actors. All the tribe of them are down for gold, timber, rents, cattle, land, in Boeotia if not in Macedonia// |
==== 34 ==== | ==== 34 ==== | ||
- | //This is the way I look at it, Parmenio. An Athenian who// //speaking in Athens prefers me to his country | + | //This is the way I look at it, Parmenio. An Athenian who// //speaking in Athens prefers me to his country |
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- | That was to Parmenio; and he said much the same to me. At the time of the Athenian expedition under Diopithes, I was veryanxious, but Philip laughed at me heartily, and said: //Are you afraid of these town-bred generals and their men? Theirfleet, their Piraeus, their docks, I snap my fingers at them. What is to be looked for from people whose worship is ofDionysus, whose life is in feasting and dancing? If Demosthenes, | + | That was to Parmenio; and he said much the same to me. At the time of the Athenian expedition under Diopithes, I was very anxious, but Philip laughed at me heartily, and said: //Are you afraid of these town-bred generals and their men? Their fleet, their Piraeus, their docks, I snap my fingers at them. What is to be looked for from people whose worship is of Dionysus, whose life is in feasting and dancing? If Demosthenes, |
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- | //He rouses his reluctant countrymen out of their opiate sleep, applies to their indolence the knife and cautery | + | //He rouses his reluctant countrymen out of their opiate sleep, applies to their indolence the knife and cautery |
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- | //This is the direction your fears should take, Antipater; never mind all the war-ships and all the fleets. WhatThemistocles and Pericles were to the Athens of old, that is Demosthenes to Athens | + | //This is the direction your fears should take, Antipater; never mind all the war-ships and all the fleets. WhatThemistocles and Pericles were to the Athens of old, that is Demosthenes to Athens |
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- | This was his tone about Demosthenes on many other occasions too; he put it down as one of his debts to fortune | + | This was his tone about Demosthenes on many other occasions too; he put it down as one of his debts to fortune |
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- | He never ceased to speak thus about Demosthenes. If any one told him the Athenian democracy was a formidable rival,' | + | He never ceased to speak thus about Demosthenes. If anyone |
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- | Such was Philip' | + | Such was Philip' |
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- | //But you// (said Aristotle) //confuse him with an Eubulus, a Phrynon//, //a Philocrates, | + | //But you// (said Aristotle) //confuse him with an Eubulus, a Phrynon//, //a Philocrates, |
- | //lavished his inheritance half on needy Athenians and half on Athens; you vainly imagine that you can intimidate | + | //lavished his inheritance half on needy Athenians and half on Athens; you vainly imagine that you can intimidate |
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- | All this it was, Archias, that made me long to have him with me, to hear from his own lips what he thought about thestate | + | All this it was, Archias, that made me long to have him with me, to hear from his own lips what he thought about the state of things, and be able at any time of need, abandoning the flatterers who infest us, to hear the plain words of an independent |
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- | //Ar//. O King, your other ends you might have gained, but that you would have told him to no purpose; his love ofAthens | + | //Ar//. O King, your other ends you might have gained, but that you would have told him to no purpose; his love of Athens |
//Ant//. It was so indeed; ’twere vain to deny it. But how died he? | //Ant//. It was so indeed; ’twere vain to deny it. But how died he? | ||
- | //Ar//. O King, there is further wonder in store for you. We who have had the scene before our eyes are as startledand | + | //Ar//. O King, there is further wonder in store for you. We who have had the scene before our eyes are as startled and as unbelieving yet as when we saw it. He must long ago have determined how to die; his preparation shows it. He was seated |
//Ant//. Ay? and what were they? | //Ant//. Ay? and what were they? | ||
- | //Ar//. Long and kindly I urged him, with promises on your part, not that I looked to see them kept (for I knew notthen, and took you to be wroth with him), but in hopes they might prevail. | + | //Ar//. Long and kindly I urged him, with promises on your part, not that I looked to see them kept (for I knew not then, and took you to be wroth with him), but in hopes they might prevail. |
- | //Ant//. And what hearing did he give them? Keep nothing back; I would I were there now, hearing him with my own ears; failing which, do you hide nothing from me. ’Tis worth much to learn the bearing of a true manin the last moments of his life, whether he gave way and played the coward, or kept his course unfaltering even to theend. | + | //Ant//. And what hearing did he give them? Keep nothing back; I would I were there now, hearing him with my own ears; failing which, do you hide nothing from me. ’Tis worth much to learn the bearing of a true man in the last moments of his life, whether he gave way and played the coward, or kept his course unfaltering even to the end. |
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- | //Ar//. Ah, in him was no bending to the storm; how far from it! With a smiling allusion to my former life, he toldme | + | //Ar//. Ah, in him was no bending to the storm; how far from it! With a smiling allusion to my former life, he told me I was not actor enough to make your lies convincing. |
//Ant//. Ha? he left life for want of belief in my promises? | //Ant//. Ha? he left life for want of belief in my promises? | ||
- | //Ar//. Not so; hear to the end, and you will see his distrust was not all for you. Since you bid me speak, O King,he told me there was no oath that could bind a Macedonian; it was nothing strange that they should use against | + | //Ar//. Not so; hear to the end, and you will see his distrust was not all for you. Since you bid me speak, O King, he told me there was no oath that could bind a Macedonian; it was nothing strange that they should use against |
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- | //Life were a thing to be desired, Archias, were it purchased for// //me by the power of Piraeus (a war-ship, | + | //Life were a thing to be desired, Archias, were it purchased for// //me by the power of Piraeus (a war-ship, |
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- | //But if the island empire and the sea may not save me, I ask my safety from the Posidon at whose altar and under whosesanctuary | + | //But if the island empire and the sea may not save me, I ask my safety from the Posidon at whose altar and under whose sanctuary |
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- | //She was but a girl; and shall Demosthenes choose an unseemly life before a seemly death, and forget what Xenocratesand | + | //She was but a girl; and shall Demosthenes choose an unseemly life before a seemly death, and forget what Xenocrates and Plato have said of immortality?// |
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- | Then I was minded to hale him off by force. Which when he observed, I saw him smile and glance at the God.// | + | Then I was minded to hale him off by force. Which when he observed, I saw him smile and glance at the God.// |
- | //and Macedonians, | + | //and Macedonians, |
==== 49 ==== | ==== 49 ==== | ||
- | //And then, Lay no hand upon me. Be it not mine to bring// //outrage upon the temple; I will but greet the God,and follow of my free will. And for me, I put reliance upon this, and when he lifted his hand to his mouth, I thought it wasbut | + | //And then, Lay no hand upon me. Be it not mine to bring// //outrage upon the temple; I will but greet the God, and follow of my free will. And for me, I put reliance upon this, and when he lifted his hand to his mouth, I thought it was but to do obeisance// |
//Ant//. And it was indeed--? | //Ant//. And it was indeed--? | ||
- | //Ar//. We put his servant to the question later, and learned from her that he had long had poison by him, to givehim | + | //Ar//. We put his servant to the question later, and learned from her that he had long had poison by him, to give him liberty by parting soul from body. He had not yet passed the holy threshold, when he fixed his eye on me and said: ' |
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And with that farewell he parted. So ends, O King, the siege of Demosthenes. | And with that farewell he parted. So ends, O King, the siege of Demosthenes. | ||
- | //Ant//. Archias, that was Demosthenes. Hail to that unconquerable soul! how lofty the spirit, how republican | + | //Ant//. Archias, that was Demosthenes. Hail to that unconquerable soul! how lofty the spirit, how republican |
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home/texts_and_library/dialogues/demosthenes.1562629194.txt.gz · Last modified: 2019/07/08 18:39 by frank