Texte grec :
| [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.
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Traduction française :
| [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.
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