hiero-第7章
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liable; Sinmonides; which I will name to you。 It is this。 Tyrants no
less than ordinary mortals can distinguish merit。 The orderly;'1' the
wise; the just and upright; they freely recognise; but instead of
admiring them; they are afraid of themthe courageous; lest they
should venture something for the sake of freedom; the wise; lest they
invent some subtle mischief;'2' the just and upright; lest the
multitude should take a fancy to be led by them。
'1' The same epithets occur in Aristoph。 〃Plut。〃 89:
{ego gar on meirakion epeiles' oti
os tous dikaious kai sophous kai kosmious
monous badioimen。}
Stob。 gives for {kasmious} {alkimous}。
'2' Or; 〃for fear of machinations。〃 But the word is suggestive of
mechanical inventions also; like those of Archimedes in connection
with a later Hiero (see Plut。 〃Marcel。〃 xv。 foll。); or of
Lionardo; or of Michael Angelo (Symonds; 〃Renaissance in Italy;〃
〃The Fine Arts;〃 pp。 315; 393)。
And when he has secretly and silently made away with all such people
through terror; whom has he to fall back upon to be of use to him;
save only the unjust; the incontinent; and the slavish…natured?'3' Of
these; the unjust can be trusted as sharing the tyrant's terror lest
the cities should some day win their freedom and lay strong hands upon
them; the incontinent; as satisfied with momentary license; and the
slavish…natured; for the simple reason that they have not themselves
the slightest aspiration after freedom。'4'
'3' Or; 〃the dishonest; the lascivious; and the servile。〃
'4' 〃They have no aspiration even to be free;〃 〃they are content to
wallow in the slough of despond。〃 The {adikoi} (unjust) correspond
to the {dikaioi} (just); {akrateis} (incontinent) to the {sophoi}
(wise) (Breit。 cf。 〃Mem。〃 III。 ix。 4; {sophian de kai sophrosunen
ou diorizen}); {andrapododeis} (servile) to the {kasmioi};
{andreioi} (orderly; courageous)。
This; then; I say; appears to me a sore affliction; that we should
look upon the one set as good men; and yet be forced to lean upon the
other。
And further; even a tyrant cannot but be something of a patriota
lover of that state; without which he can neither hope for safety nor
prosperity。 On the other hand; his tyrrany; the exigencies of despotic
rule; compel him to incriminate his fatherland。'5' To train his
citizens to soldiery; to render them brave warriors; and well armed;
confers no pleasure on him; rather he will take delight to make his
foreigners more formidable than those to whom the state belongs; and
these foreigners he will depend on as his body…guard。
'5' Or; 〃depreciate the land which gave him birth。〃 Holden cf。
〃Cyrop。〃 VII。 ii。 22。 See Sturz; s。v。
Nay more; not even in the years of plenty;'6' when abundance of all
blessings reigns; not even then may the tyrant's heart rejoice amid
the general joy; for the greater the indigence of the community the
humbler he will find them: that is his theory。
'6' 〃In good seasons;〃 〃seasons of prosperity。〃 Cf。 Aristot。 〃Pol。〃 v。
6。 17。
VI
He continued: I desire to make known to you; Simonides;'1' those
divers pleasures which were mine whilst I was still a private citizen;
but of which to…day; nay; from the moment I became a tyrant; I find
myself deprived。 In those days I consorted with my friends and
fellows; to our mutual delectation;'2' or; if I craved for
quietude;'3' I chose myself for my companion。 Gaily the hours flitted
at our drinking…parties; ofttimes till we had drowned such cares and
troubles as are common to the life of man in Lethe's bowl;'4' or
ofttimes till we had steeped our souls in song and dance'5' and
revelry; ofttimes till the flame of passion kindled in the breasts of
my companions and my own。'6' But now; welladay; I am deprived of those
who took delight in me; because I have slaves instead of friends as my
companions; I am robbed of my once delightful intercourse with them;
because I discern no vestige of goodwill towards me in their looks。
And as to the wine…cup and slumberthese I guard against; even as a
man might guard against an ambuscade。 Think only! to dread a crowd; to
dread solitude; to dread the absence of a guard; to dread the very
guards that guard; to shrink from having those about one's self
unarmed; and yet to hate the sight of armed attendants。 Can you
conceive a more troublesome circumstance?'7' But that is not all。 To
place more confidence in foreigners than in your fellow…citizens; nay;
in barbarians than in Hellenes; to be consumed with a desire to keep
freemen slaves and yet to be driven; will he nill he; to make slaves
free; are not all these the symptoms of a mind distracted and amazed
with terror?
'1' Or; 〃I wish I could disclose to you (he added) those heart…easing
joys。〃 For {euphrosunas} cf。 〃Od。〃 vi。 156; Aesch。 〃P。 V。〃 540;
Eur。 〃Bacch。〃 376。 A favourite word with our author; see 〃Ages。〃
ix。 4; 〃Cyrop。〃 passim; 〃Mem。〃 III。 viii。 10; 〃Econ。〃 ix。 12。
'2' Lit。 〃delighting I in them and they in me。〃
'3' Or; 〃when I sought tranquility I was my own companion。〃
'4' Or; 〃in sheer forgetfulness。〃
'5' Or; 〃absorbed our souls in song and festal cheer and dance。〃 Cf。
〃Od。〃 viii。 248; 249; {aiei d' emin dais te phile kitharis te
khoroi te} | {eimata t' exemoiba loetra te therma kau eunai}; 〃and
dear to us ever is the banquet and the harp and the dance; and
changes of raiment; and the warm bath; and love and sleep〃
(Butcher and Lang)。
'6' Reading as vulg。 {epithumias}。 Breit。 cf。 〃Mem。〃 III。 ix。 7; Plat。
〃Phaed。〃 116 E; 〃he has eaten and drunk and enjoyed the society of
his beloved〃 (Jowett)。 See 〃Symp。〃 the finale; or if; after Weiske
and Cobet; {euthumias}; transl。 〃to the general hilarity of myself
and the whole company〃 (cf。 〃Cyrop。〃 I。 iii。 12; IV。 v。 7); but
this is surely a bathos rhetorically。
'7' Or; 〃a worse perplexity。〃 See 〃Hell。〃 VII。 iii。 8。
For terror; you know; not only is a source of pain indwelling in the
breast itself; but; ever in close attendance; shadowing the path;'8'
becomes the destroyer of all sweet joys。
'8' Reading {sumparakolouthon lumeon}。 Stob。 gives {sumparomarton
lumanter}。 For the sentiment cf。 〃Cyrop。〃 III。 i。 25。
And if you know anything of war; Simonides; and war's alarms; if it
was your fortune ever to be posted close to the enemy's lines;'9' try
to recall to mind what sort of meals you made at those times; with
what sort of slumber you courted rest。 Be assured; there are no pains
you then experienced; no horrors to compare with those that crowd upon
the despot; who sees or seems to see fierce eyes of enemies glare at
him; not face to face alone; but from every side。
'9' Or; 〃in the van of battle; opposite the hostile lines。〃
He had spoken so far; when Simonides took up the thread of the
discourse; replying: Excellently put。 A part I must admit; of what you
say; since war is terrible。 Yet; Hiero; you forget。 When we; at any
rate; are out campaigning; we have a custom; we place sentinels at the
outposts; and when the watch is set; we take our suppers and turn in
undauntedly。
And Hiero answered: Yes; I can well believe you; for the laws are the
true outposts;'10' who guard the sentinels; keeping their fears alive