Texte grec :
| [9] ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΟΥ ΜΕΜΝΟΝΟΣ ΑΓΑΛΜΑ.
Ἐθέλω δέ σοι καὶ τὸ Μέμνονος ἀφηγήσασθαι
θαῦμα· καὶ γὰρ ὄντως παράδοξος ἡ τέχνη καὶ κρείττων
ἀνθρωπίνης χειρός. τοῦ Τιθωνοῦ Μέμνονος εἰκὼν ἦν
ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ ἐκ λίθου πεποιημένη, οὐ μὴν ἐν τοῖς
οἰκείοις ὅροις ἔμενε λίθος ὢν οὐδὲ τὸ τῆς φύσεως
σιγηλὸν ἠνείχετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίθος ὢν εἶχεν ἐξουσίαν
φωνῆς· νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἀνίσχουσαν τὴν Ἡμέραν
προσεφθέγγετο ἐπισημαίνων τῇ φωνῇ τὴν χαρὰν καὶ ἐπὶ
ταῖς τῆς μητρὸς παρουσίαις φαιδρυνόμενος, νῦν δὲ
ἀποκλινομένης εἰς νύκτα ἐλεεινόν τι καὶ ἀλγεινὸν
ἔστενε πρὸς τὴν ἀπουσίαν ἀνιώμενος. ἠπόρει δὲ
οὐδὲ δακρύων ὁ λίθος, ἀλλ´ εἶχεν ὑπηρετούμενα τῇ
βουλήσει καὶ ταῦτα καὶ ἦν Μεμνόνιος ἡ εἰκὼν μόνῳ
μὲν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου διαλλάττειν μοι δοκεῖ σώματι,
ὑπὸ δὲ ψυχῆς τινος καὶ ὁμοίας προαιρέσεως ἀγομένη
κατηυθύνετο. εἶχε γοῦν ἐγκεκραμένα καὶ τὰ λυποῦντα
καὶ πάλιν ἡδονῆς αἴσθησις αὐτὸν κατελάμβανεν
ὑπ´ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν παθῶν πληττόμενον καὶ ἡ μὲν
φύσις τὴν λίθων γένεσιν ἄφθογγον παρήγαγε καὶ
κωφὴν καὶ μήτε ὑπὸ λύπης ἐθέλουσαν διοικεῖσθαι
μήτε εἰδυῖαν ἡσθῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσαις τύχαις ἄτρωτον,
ἐκείνῳ δὲ τῷ Μέμνονος λίθῳ καὶ ἡδονὴν παρέδωκεν ἡ
τέχνη καὶ πέτραν ἀνέμιξεν ἀλγεινῷ καὶ μόνην
ταύτην ἐπιστάμεθα τὴν τέχνην νοήματα τῷ λίθῳ καὶ
φωνὴν ἐνθεῖσαν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Δαίδαλος μέχρι μὲν
κινήσεως ἐνεανιεύετο καὶ δύναμιν εἶχεν ἡ ἐκείνου
τέχνη ἐξιστάναι τὰς ὕλας καὶ εἰς χορείαν κινεῖν, ἀμήχανον
δὲ ἦν καὶ παντελῶς ἄπορον καὶ φωνῆς μέτοχα
πραγματεύεσθαι τὰ ποιήματα, αἱ δὲ Αἰθιόπων χεῖρες
πόρους τῶν ἀμηχάνων ἐξεῦρον καὶ τὴν ἀφθογγίαν
ἐξενίκησαν τοῦ λίθου. ἐκείνῳ τῷ Μέμνονι καὶ τὴν
Ἠχὼ λόγος ἀντηχεῖν, ὁπότε φθέγγοιτο, καὶ γοερὸν
μὲν στενάζοντι γοερὸν ἀντιπέμπειν μέλος, εὐπαθοῦντι
δὲ ἀνταποδιδόναι τὴν ἠχὴν ἀντίμιμον. ἐκεῖνο τὸ
δημιούργημα καὶ τῇ Ἡμέρᾳ τὰς ἀνίας ἐκοίμιζε καὶ οὐκ
εἴα μαστεύειν τὸν παῖδα, ὡς ἂν ἀντιτιθείσης αὐτῷ τῆς Αἰθιόπων
τέχνης τὸν ἐκ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ἀφανισθέντα Μέμνονα.
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Traduction française :
| [9] ON THE STATUE OF MEMNON.
I wish to describe to you the miracle of Memnon
also ; for the art it displayed was truly incredible
and beyond the power of human hand. There was
in Ethiopia an image of Memnon, the son of
Tithonus, made of marble ; however, stone though
it was, it did not abide within its proper limits nor
endure the silence imposed on it by nature, but
stone though it was it had the power of speech.
For at one time it saluted the rising Day, by its
voice giving token of its joy and expressing delight
at the arrival of its mother ; and again, as day
declined to night, it uttered piteous and mournful
groans in grief at her departure. Nor yet was the
marble at a loss for tears, but they too were at hand
to serve its will. The statue of Memnon, as it seems
to me, differed from a human being only in its body,
but it was directed and guided by a kind of soul and
by a will like that of man. At any rate it both had
grief in its composition and again it was possessed
by a feeling of pleasure according as it was affected
by each emotion. Though nature had made all
stones from the beginning voiceless and mute and
both unwilling to be under the control of grief and
also unaware of the meaning of joy, but rather immune
to all the darts of chance, yet to that stone of
Memnon art had imparted pleasure and had mingled
the sense of pain in the rock; and this is the only
work of art of which we know that has implanted in
the stone perceptions and a voice. Daedalus did
indeed boldly advance as far as motion, and the
products of his art had power to transcend the
materials of which they were made and to move in
the dance; but it was impossible and absolutely out
of the question for him to make statues that could
speak. Yet the hands of Aethiopians discovered
means to accomplish the impossible, and they overcame
the inability of stone to speak. The story runs
that Echo answered this Memnon when it spoke,
uttering a mournful note in response to its mournful
lament and returning a mimicking sound in response
to its expressions of joy. The statue in question
both lulled to rest the sorrows of Day and caused her
to abandon her search for her son, as though the art
of the Aethiopians were compensating her by means
of the statue for the Memnon who had been snatched
away from her by fate.
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