[2] ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΒΑΚΧΗΣ ΑΓΑΛΜΑ. Οὐ ποιητῶν καὶ λογοποιῶν μόνον ἐπιπνέονται τέχναι ἐπὶ τὰς γλώττας ἐκ θεῶν θειασμοῦ πεσόντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν δημιουργῶν αἱ χεῖρες θειοτέρων πνευμάτων ἐράνοις ληφθεῖσαι κάτοχα καὶ μεστὰ μανίας προφητεύουσι τὰ ποιήματα· ὁ γὰρ δὴ Σκόπας, ὥσπερ ἔκ τινος ἐπιπνοίας κινηθεὶς εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἀγάλματος δημιουργίαν τὴν θεοφορίαν ἐφῆκεν. τί δὲ ὑμῖν οὐκ ἄνωθεν τὸν ἐνθουσιασμὸν τῆς τέχνης διηγοῦμαι; ἦν βάκχης ἄγαλμα ἐκ λίθου Παρίου πεποιημένον ἀλλαττόμενον πρὸς τὴν ὄντως βάκχην. ἐν γὰρ τῇ οἰκείᾳ τάξει μένων ὁ λίθος τὸν ἐν λίθοις νόμον ἐκβαίνειν ἐδόκει· τὸ μὲν γὰρ φαινόμενον ὄντως ἦν εἴδωλον, ἡ τέχνη δ´ εἰς τὸ ὄντως ὂν ἀπήγαγε τὴν μίμησιν. εἶδες ἂν ὅτι καὶ στερεὸς ὢν εἰς τὴν τοῦ θήλεος εἰκασίαν ἐμαλάττετο γοργότητος διορθουμένης τὸ θῆλυ καὶ εἰς ἐξουσίαν ἀμοιρῶν κινήσεως ᾔδει βακχεύεσθαι καὶ τῷ θεῷ εἰσιόντι τὰ ἔνδον ὑπήχει. πρόσωπόν γε μὴν ἰδόντες ὑπὸ ἀφασίας ἔστημεν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ αἰσθήσεως συνείπετο δήλωμα μὴ παρούσης αἰσθήσεως, καὶ βάκχης ἐκβακχεύων θειασμὸς ἐμηνύετο θειασμοῦ μὴ πλήττοντος καὶ ὅσα φέρει μανίας οἰστρῶσα ψυχὴ τοσαῦτα πάθους διέλαμπε τεκμήρια ὑπὸ τῆς τέχνης ἀρρήτῳ λόγῳ κραθέντα. ἀνεῖτο δὲ ἡ κόμη ζεφύρῳ σοβεῖν καὶ εἰς τριχὸς ἄνθησιν ὑπεσχίζετο, ὃ δὴ καὶ μάλιστα τὸν λογισμὸν ὑπεξίστη, ὅτι καὶ τριχὸς λεπτότητι λίθος ὢν ἐπείθετο καὶ πλοκάμων ὑπήκουσεν μιμήμασιν καὶ τῆς ζωτικῆς ἕξεως γεγυμνωμένος τὸ ζωτικὸν εἶχεν. ἔφης ἂν ὅτι καὶ αὐξήσεως ἀφορμὰς ἡ τέχνη συνήγαγεν· οὕτως καὶ τὸ ὁρώμενον ἄπιστον καὶ τὸ μὴ πιστὸν ὁρώμενον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ χεῖρας ἐνεργοὺς ἐπεδείκνυτο - οὐ γὰρ τὸν βακχικὸν ἐτίνασσε θύρσον, ἀλλά τι σφάγιον ἔφερεν ὥσπερ εὐάζουσα, πικροτέρας μανίας σύμβολον· τὸ δὲ ἦν χιμαίρας τι πλάσμα πελιδνὸν τὴν χρόαν· καὶ γὰρ τὸ τεθνηκὸς ὁ λίθος ὑπεδύετο - καὶ μίαν οὖσαν τὴν ὕλην εἰς θανάτου καὶ ζωῆς διῄρει μίμησιν, τὴν μὲν ἔμπνουν στήσασα καὶ οἷον ὀρεγομένην Κιθαιρῶνος, τὴν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ βακχικοῦ θανατωθεῖσαν οἴστρου καὶ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἀπομαραίνουσαν τὴν ἀκμήν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Σκόπας καὶ τὰς ἀψύχους εἰδωλοποιῶν γενέσεις δημιουργὸς ἀληθείας ἦν καὶ τοῖς σώμασι τῆς ὕλης ἀπετυποῦτο τὰ θαύματα, ὁ δὲ τὰ ἐν λόγοις διαπλάττων Δημοσθένης ἀγάλματα μικροῦ καὶ λόγων ἔδειξεν εἶδος αἰσθητὸν τοῖς νοῦ καὶ φρονήσεως γεννήμασι συγκεραννὺς τὰ τῆς τέχνης φάρμακα. καὶ γνώσεσθε δὲ αὐτίκα, ὡς οὐδὲ τῆς οἴκοθεν κινήσεως ἐστέρηται τὸ εἰς θεωρίαν προκείμενον ἄγαλμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁμοῦ δεσπόζει καὶ ἐν τῷ χαρακτῆρι σῴζει τὸν γεννήτορα.

[2] ON THE STATUE OF A BACCHANTE. It is not the art of poets and writers of prose alone that is inspired when divine power from the gods falls on their tongues, nay, the hands of sculptors also, when they are seized by the gift of a more divine inspiration, give utterance to creations that are possessed and full of madness. So Scopas, moved as it were by some inspiration, imparted to the production of this statue the divine frenzy within him. Why should I not describe to you from the beginning the inspiration of this work of art ? A statue of a Bacchante, wrought from Parian marble, bas been transformed into a real Bacchante. For the stone, while retaining its own nature, yet seemed to depart from the law which governs stone ; what one saw was really an image, but art carried imitation over into actual reality. You might have seen that, hard though it was, it became soft to the semblance of the feminine, its vigour, however, correcting the femininity, and that, though it had no power to move, it knew how to leap in Bacchic dance and would respond to the god when he entered into its inner being. When we saw the face we stood speechless ; so manifest upon it was the evidence of sense perception, though perception was not present ; so clear an intimation was given of a Bacchante's divine possession stirring Bacchic frenzy though no such possession aroused it; and so strikingly there shone from it, fashioned by art in a manner not to be described, all the signs of passion which a soul goaded by madness displays. The hair fell free to be tossed by the wind and was divided to show the glory of each strand, which thing indeed most transcended reason, seeing that, stone though the material was, it lent itself to the lightness of hair and yielded to imitation of locks of hair, and though void of the faculty of life, it nevertheless had vitality. Indeed you might say that art has brought to its aid the impulses of growing life, so unbelievable is what you see, so visible is what you do not believe. Nay, it actually showed hands in motion—for it was not waving the Bacchic thyrsus, but it carried a victim as if it were uttering the Evian cry, the token of a more poignant madness ; and the figure of the kid was livid in colour, for the stone assumed the appearance of dead flesh ; and though the material was one and the same it severally imitated life and death, for it made one part instinct with life and as though eager for Cithaeron, and another part brought to death by Bacchic frenzy, its keen senses withered away. Thus Scopas fashioning creatures without life was an artificer of truth and imprinted miracles on bodies made of inanimate matter ; while Demosthenes, fashioning images in words, almost made visible a form of words by mingling the medicaments of art with the creations of mind and intelligence. You will recognize at once that the image set up to be gazed at has not been deprived of its native power of movement ; nay, that it at the same time is master of and by its outward configuration keeps alive its own creator.