Texte grec :
| [4,77] Ὑπὲρ ἀναγκαίων καὶ κοινῶν πραγμάτων
τοὺς λόγους μέλλων πρὸς ὑμᾶς ποιεῖσθαι, ἄνδρες πολῖται,
περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ πρῶτον ὀλίγα βούλομαι προειπεῖν·
ἴσως γάρ τισιν ὑμῶν, μᾶλλον δ´ ἀκριβῶς οἶδ´ ὅτι πολλοῖς
τεταράχθαι δόξω τὴν διάνοιαν, ἀνὴρ οὐ φρενήρης περὶ
τῶν μεγίστων ἐπιχειρῶν λέγειν, ᾧ κηδεμόνων οὐχ
ὑγιαίνοντι δεῖ. ἴστε δὴ τὴν κοινὴν ὑπόληψιν, ἣν περὶ
ἐμοῦ πάντες εἴχετε ὡς ἠλιθίου, ψευδῆ γενομένην καὶ
οὐχ ὑπ´ ἄλλου τινὸς κατασκευασθεῖσαν, ἀλλ´ ὑπ´ ἐμοῦ.
ὁ δ´ ἀναγκάσας με μήθ´ ὡς ἡ φύσις ἠξίου μήθ´ ὡς
ἥρμοττέ μοι ζῆν, ἀλλ´ ὡς Ταρκυνίῳ τ´ ἦν βουλομένῳ
κἀμοὶ συνοίσειν ἔδοξεν, ὁ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς φόβος ἦν.
πατέρα γάρ μου Ταρκύνιος ἀποκτείνας ἅμα τῷ παραλαβεῖν
τὴν ἀρχήν, ἵνα τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ κατάσχοι
πολλὴν σφόδρα οὖσαν, καὶ ἀδελφὸν πρεσβύτερον, ὃς
ἔμελλε τιμωρήσειν τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦ πατρός, εἰ μὴ γένοιτο
ἐκποδῶν, ἀφανεῖ θανάτῳ διαχρησάμενος, οὐδ´
ἐμοῦ δῆλος ἦν φεισόμενος ἐρήμου τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων
γεγονότος, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἐπίθετον ἐσκηψάμην μωρίαν.
τοῦτό με τὸ πλάσμα πιστευθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ τυράννου μὴ
ταὐτὰ παθεῖν ἐκείνοις ἐρρύσατο καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος
διασέσωκε χρόνου· νῦν δ´ αὐτὸ πρῶτον, ἥκει γὰρ
ὁ καιρός, ὃν εὐχόμην τε καὶ προσεδεχόμην, πέμπτον
ἤδη τοῦτο καὶ εἰκοστὸν ἔτος φυλάξας ἀποτίθεμαι.
καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ ἐμοῦ τοσαῦτα.
|
|
Traduction française :
| [4,77] "Citizens, as I am going to speak to you upon urgent matters of general interest,
I desire first to say a few words about myself. For by some, perhaps, or more
accurately, as I know, by many of you, I shall be thought to be disordered in my
intellect when I, a man of unsound mind, attempt to speak upon matters of the
greatest importance — a man who, as being not mentally sound, has need of
guardians. Know, then, that the general opinion you all entertained of me as of a fool
was false and contrived by me and by me alone. That which compelled me to live, not
as my nature demanded or as beseemed me, but as was agreeable to Tarquinius and
seemed likely to be to my own advantage, was the fear I felt for my life. For my father
was put to death by Tarquinius upon his accession to the sovereignty, in order that he
might possess himself of his property, which was very considerable, and my elder
brother, who would have avenged his father's death if he had not been put out of the
way, was secretly murdered by the tyrant; nor was it clear that he would spare me,
either, now left destitute of my nearest relations, if I had not pretended a folly that
was not genuine. This fiction, finding credit with the tyrant, saved me from the same
treatment that they had experienced and has preserved me to this day; but since the
time has come at last which I have prayed for and looked forward to, I am now laying
it aside for the first time, after maintaining it for twenty-five years. So much
concerning myself.
|
|
