[6] ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΕΝ ΣΙΚΥΩΝΙ ΑΓΑΛΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΙΡΟΥ. Ἐθέλω δέ σοι καὶ τὸ Λυσίππου δημιούργημα τῷ λόγῳ παραστῆσαι, ὅπερ ἀγαλμάτων κάλλιστον ὁ δημιουργὸς τεχνησάμενος Σικυωνίοις εἰς θέαν προὔθηκε. Καιρὸς ἦν εἰς ἄγαλμα τετυπωμένος ἐκ χαλκοῦ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν ἁμιλλωμένης τῆς τέχνης. παῖς δὲ ἦν ὁ Καιρὸς ἡβῶν ἐκ κεφαλῆς ἐς πόδας ἐπανθῶν τὸ τῆς ἥβης ἄνθος. ἦν δὲ τὴν μὲν ὄψιν ὡραῖος σείων ἴουλον καὶ ζεφύρῳ τινάσσειν, πρὸς ὃ βούλοιτο καταλιπὼν τὴν κόμην ἄνετον, τὴν δὲ χρόαν εἶχεν ἀνθηρὰν τῇ λαμπηδόνι τοῦ σώματος τὰ ἄνθη δηλῶν. ἦν δὲ Διονύσῳ κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον ἐμφερής· τὰ μὲν γὰρ μέτωπα χάρισιν ἔστιλβεν, αἱ παρειαὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰς ἄνθος ἐρευθόμεναι νεοτήσιον ὡραίζοντο ἐπιβάλλουσαι τοῖς ὄμμασιν ἁπαλὸν ἐρύθημα, εἱστήκει δὲ ἐπί τινος σφαίρας ἐπ´ ἄκρων τῶν ταρσῶν βεβηκὼς ἐπτερωμένος τὼ πόδε. ἐπεφύκει δὲ οὐ νενομισμένως ἡ θρίξ, ἀλλ´ ἡ μὲν κόμη κατὰ τῶν ὀφρύων ὑφέρπουσα ταῖς παρειαῖς ἐπέσειε τὸν βόστρυχον, τὰ δὲ ὄπισθεν ἦν τοῦ Καιροῦ πλοκάμων ἐλεύθερα μόνην τὴν ἐκ γενέσεως βλάστην ἐπιφαίνοντα τῆς τριχός. ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν ἀφασίᾳ πληγέντες πρὸς τὴν θέαν εἱστήκειμεν τὸν χαλκὸν ὁρῶντες ἔργα φύσεως μηχανώμενον καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἐκβαίνοντα τάξεως· χαλκὸς μὲν γὰρ ὢν ἠρυθραίνετο, σκληρὸς δὲ ὢν τὴν φύσιν διεχεῖτο μαλακῶς εἴκων τῇ τέχνῃ πρὸς ὃ βούλοιτο, σπανίζων δὲ αἰσθήσεως ζωτικῆς ἔνοικον ἔχειν ἐπιστοῦτο τὴν αἴσθησιν καὶ ὄντως ἐστήρικτο πάγιον τὸν ταρσὸν ἐρείσας, ἑστὼς δὲ ὁρμῆς ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ἐδείκνυτο καί σοι τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἠπάτα, ὡς καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ πρόσω κυριεύων φορᾶς, καὶ παρὰ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ λαβὼν καὶ τὴν ἀέριον λῆξιν τέμνειν εἰ βούλοιτο ταῖς πτέρυξι. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἡμῖν θαῦμα τοιοῦτον ἦν, εἷς δέ τις τῶν περὶ τὰς τέχνας σοφῶν καὶ εἰδότων σὺν αἰσθήσει τεχνικωτέρᾳ τὰ τῶν δημιουργῶν ἀνιχνεύειν θαύματα καὶ λογισμὸν ἐπῇδε τῷ τεχνήματι, τὴν τοῦ καιροῦ δύναμιν ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ σῳζομένην ἐξηγούμενος· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πτέρωμα τῶν ταρσῶν αἰνίττεσθαι τὴν ὀξύτητα, καὶ ὡς τὸν πολὺν ἀνελίττων αἰῶνα φέρεται ταῖς ὥραις ἐποχούμενος, τὴν δὲ ἐπανθοῦσαν ὥραν, ὅτι πᾶν εὔκαιρον τὸ ὡραῖον καὶ μόνος κάλλους δημιουργὸς ὁ καιρός, τὸ δὲ ἀπηνθηκὸς ἅπαν ἔξω τῆς καιροῦ φύσεως, τὴν δὲ κατὰ τοῦ μετώπου κόμην, ὅτι προσιόντος μὲν αὐτοῦ λαβέσθαι ῥᾴδιον, παρελθόντος δὲ ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀκμὴ συνεξέρχεται καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὀλιγωρηθέντα λαβεῖν τὸν καιρόν.

[6] ON THE STATUE OF OPPORTUNITY AT SICYON. I desire to set before you in words the creation of Lysippus also, the most beautiful of statues, which the artist wrought and set up for the Sicyonians to look upon. Opportunity was represented in a statue of bronze, in which art vied with nature. Opportunity was a youth, from head to foot resplendent with the bloom of youth. He was beautiful to look upon as he waved his downy beard and left his hair unconfined for the south wind to toss wherever it would ; and he had a blooming complexion, showing by its brilliancy the bloom of his body. He closely resembled Dionysus ; for his forehead glistened with graves, and his cheeks, reddening to youthful bloom, were radiantly beautiful, conveying to the beholder's eye a delicate blush. - And he stood poised on the tips of his toes on a sphere, and his feet werewinged. His hair did not grow in the he customary way, but its locks, creeping clown - over the eyebrows, let the curl fall upon his cheeks, while the back of the head of Opportunity was without tresses, showing only the first indications of sprouting hair. We stood speechless at the sight when we saw the bronze accomplishing the deeds of nature and departing from its own proper province. For though it was bronze it blushed ; and though it was hard by nature, it melted into softness, yielding to all the purposes of art ; and though it was void of living sensation, it inspired the belief that it had sensation dwelling within it ; and it really was stationary, resting its foot firmly on the ground, but though it was standing, it nevertheless gave evidence of possessing the power of rapid motion; and it deceived your eyes into thinking that it not only was capable of advancing forward, but that it had received from the artist even the power to cleave with its wings, if it so wished, the aerial domain. Such was the marvel, as it seemed to us; but a man who was skilled in the arts and who, with a deeper perception of art, knew how to track down the marvels of craftsmen, applied reasoning to the artist's creation, explaining the significance of Opportunity as faithfully portrayed in the statue : the wings on his feet, he told us, suggested his swiftness, and that, borne by the seasons, he goes rolling on through all eternity ; and as to his youthful beauty, that beauty is always opportune and that Opportunity is the only artificer of beauty, whereas that of which the beauty has withered has no part in the nature of Opportunity ; he also explained that the lock of hair on his forehead indicated that while he is easy to catch as he approaches, yet, when he has once passed by, the moment for action has likewise expired, and that, if opportunity has been neglected, it cannot be recovered.