hiero-第6章
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mistrusted still be lief and dear?'2'
'1' 〃How can he; whose faith's discredited; the moral bankrupt 。 。 。〃
'2' Or; 〃the trusty knight and serving…man。〃 Cf。 〃Morte d'Arthur;〃
xxi。 5; King Arthur and Sir Bedivere。
Well; then; of this frank confidence in others the tyrant has the
scantiest share。'3' Seeing his life is such; he cannot even trust his
meats and drinks; but he must bid his serving…men before the feast
begins; or ever the libation to the gods is poured;'4' to taste the
viands; out of sheer mistrust there may be mischief lurking in the cup
or platter。'5'
'3' Or; 〃from this 。 。 。 is almost absolutely debarred。〃
'4' 〃Or ever grace is said。〃
'5' Cf。 〃Cyrop。〃 I。 iii。 4。
Once more; the rest of mankind find in their fatherland a treasure
worth all else beside。 The citizens form their own body…guard'6'
without pay or service…money against slaves and against evil…doers。 It
is theirs to see that none of themselves; no citizen; shall perish by
a violent death。 And they have advanced so far along the path of
guardianship'7' that in many cases they have framed a law to the
effect that 〃not the associate even of one who is blood…guilty shall
be accounted pure。〃 So that; by reason of their fatherland;'8' each
several citizen can live at quiet and secure。
'6' 〃Are their own 'satellites;' spear…bearers。〃 Cf。 Thuc。 i。 130;
Herod。 ii。 168; vii。 127。
'7' 〃Pushed so far the principle of mutual self…aid。〃
'8' 〃Thanks to the blessing of a fatherland each citizen may spend his
days in peace and safety。〃
But for the tyrant it is again exactly the reverse。'9' Instead of
aiding or avenging their despotic lord; cities bestow large honours on
the slayer of a tyrant; ay; and in lieu of excommunicating the
tyrannicide from sacred shrines;'10' as is the case with murderers of
private citizens; they set up statues of the doers of such deeds'11'
in temples。
'9' 〃Matters are once more reversed precisely;〃 〃it is all 'topsy…
turvy。'〃
'10' 〃And sacrifices。〃 Cf。 Dem。 〃c。 Lept。〃 137; {en toinun tois peri
touton nomois o Drakon 。 。 。 katharon diorisen einai}。 〃Now in the
laws upon this subject; Draco; although he strove to make it
fearful and dreadful for a man to slay another; and ordained that
the homicide should be excluded from lustrations; cups; and drink…
offerings; from the temples and the market…place; specifying
everything by which he thought most effectually to restrain people
from such a practice; still did not abolish the rule of justice;
but laid down the cases in which it should be lawful to kill; and
declared that the killer under such circumstances should be deemed
pure〃 (C。 R。 Kennedy)。
'11' e。g。 Harmodius and Aristogeiton。 See Dem。 loc。 cit。 138: 〃The
same rewards that you gave to Harmodius and Aristogiton;〃
concerning whom Simonides himself wrote a votive couplet:
{'E meg' 'Athenaioisi phoos geneth' enik' 'Aristogeiton
'Ipparkhon kteine kai 'Armodios。}
But if you imagine that the tyrant; because he has more possessions
than the private person; does for that reason derive greater pleasure
from them; this is not so either; Simonides; but it is with tyrants as
with athletes。 Just as the athlete feels no glow of satisfaction in
asserting his superiority over amateurs;'12' but annoyance rather when
he sustains defeat at the hands of any real antagonist; so; too; the
tyrant finds little consolation in the fact'13' that he is evidently
richer than the private citizen。 What he feels is pain; when he
reflects that he has less himself than other monarchs。 These he holds
to be his true antagonists; these are his rivals in the race for
wealth。
'12' Or; 〃It gives no pleasure to the athlete to win victories over
amateurs。〃 See 〃Mem。〃 III。 viii。 7。
'13' Or; 〃each time it is brought home to him that;〃 etc。
Nor does the tyrant attain the object of his heart's desire more
quickly than do humbler mortals theirs。 For consider; what are their
objects of ambition? The private citizen has set his heart; it may be;
on a house; a farm; a servant。 The tyrant hankers after cities; or
wide territory; or harbours; or formidable citadels; things far more
troublesome and more perilous to achieve than are the pettier
ambitions of lesser men。
And hence it is; moreover; that you will find but few'14' private
persons paupers by comparison with the large number of tyrants who
deserve the title;'15' since the criterion of enough; or too much; is
not fixed by mere arithmetic; but relatively to the needs of the
individual。'16' In other words; whatever exceeds sufficiency is much;
and what falls short of that is little。'17'
'14' Reading as vulg。 {alla mentoi kai penetas opsei oukh outos
oligous ton idioton os pollous ton turannon}。 Lit。 〃however that
may be; you will see not so few private persons in a state of
penury as many despots。〃 Breitenbach del。 {oukh}; and transl。;
〃Daher weist du auch in dem Masse wenige Arme unter den Privat…
leuten finden; als viele unter den Tyrannen。〃 Stob。; {penetas
opsei oligous ton idioton; pollous de ton turannon}。 Stob。 MS。
Par。; {alla mentoi kai plousious opsei oukh outos oligous ton
idioton os penetas pollous ton turannon}。 See Holden ad loc。 and
crit。 n。
'15' Cf。 〃Mem。〃 IV。 ii。 37。
'16' Or; 〃not by the number of things we have; but in reference to the
use we make of them。〃 Cf。 〃Anab。〃 VII。 vii。 36。
'17' Dr。 Holden aptly cf。 Addison; 〃The Spectator;〃 No。 574; on the
text 〃Non possidentem multa vocaveris recte beatum 。 。 。〃
And on this principle the tyrant; with his multiplicity of goods; is
less well provided to meet necessary expenses than the private person;
since the latter can always cut down his expenditure to suit his daily
needs in any way he chooses; but the tyrant cannot do so; seeing that
the largest expenses of a monarch are also the most necessary; being
devoted to various methods of safeguarding his life; and to cut down
any of them would be little less than suicidal。'18'
'18' Or; 〃and to curtail these would seem to be self…slaughter。〃
Or; to put it differently; why should any one expend compassion on a
man; as if he were a beggar; who has it in his power to satisfy by
just and honest means his every need?'19' Surely it would be more
appropriate to call that man a wretched starveling beggar rather; who
through lack of means is driven to live by ugly shifts and base
contrivances。
'19' i。e。 〃to expend compassion on a man who; etc。; were surely a
pathetic fallacy。〃 Al。 〃Is not the man who has it in his power;
etc。; far above being pitied?〃
Now it is your tyrant who is perpetually driven to iniquitous
spoilation of temples and human beings; through chronic need of money
wherewith to meet inevitable expenses; since he is forced to feed and
support an army (even in times of peace) no less than if there were
actual war; or else he signs his own death…warrant。'20'
'20' 〃A daily; hourly constraint is laid upon him to support an army
as in war time; orwrite his epitaph!〃
V
But there is yet another sore affliction to which the tyrant is
liable; Sinmonides; which I will name to you。 It is this。 Tyrants no
less tha