Texte grec :
| [32,60] ἆρά γε μὴ Λακεδαιμονίους μιμεῖσθε; φασὶ γοῦν αὐτοὺς τὸ ἀρχαῖον
πρὸς αὐλὸν πολεμεῖν· ὑμεῖς δὲ πρὸς κιθάραν αὐτὸ δρᾶτε. ἢ βούλεσθε, ἐπειδὴ
τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τοὺς δήμους κἀγὼ παρέβαλον, Νέρωνι φαίνεσθαι τὴν αὐτὴν
ἔχοντες νόσον; ἀλλ´ οὐδ´ ἐκεῖνον ὤνησεν ἡ λίαν ἐμπειρία περὶ τοῦτο καὶ
σπουδή. καὶ πόσῳ κρεῖττον μιμεῖσθαι τὸν νῦν ἄρχοντα παιδείᾳ
καὶ λόγῳ προσέχοντα; οὐκ ἀποθήσεσθε τὴν αἰσχρὰν ταύτην καὶ
ἄμετρον φιλοτιμίαν; οὐ φυλάξεσθε τοὺς ἄλλους σκώπτοντες καὶ
ταῦτα ἐν ἀνθρώποις, εἰ θεμιτὸν εἰπεῖν, οὐδὲν μέγα οὐδὲ θαυμαστὸν
ἔχουσιν; εἰ γὰρ Ἰσμηνίας ηὔλει παρ´ ὑμῖν ἢ Τιμόθεος
ᾖδεν ὁ παλαιὸς ἢ Ἀρίων, ὑφ´ οὗ λέγουσιν ᾄδοντος ἐν τῷ πελάγει
τοὺς δελφῖνας ἀφικέσθαι πρὸς τὴν ναῦν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐκπεσόντα αὐτὸν
κατὰ τύχην τινὰ ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ σῶσαι, πῶς ἂν διέκεισθε; τούτων μὲν γάρ
ἐστιν οὐδεὶς Ἀμφίων οὐδὲ Ὀρφεύς· ὁ
μὲν γὰρ υἱὸς ἦν Μούσης, οἱ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἀμουσίας αὐτῆς γεγόνασι·
διαθρύψαντες 〈γὰρ〉 καὶ κατάξαντες τὸ σεμνὸν τοῦ μέλους καὶ πάντα
τρόπον λωβησάμενοι τὴν ἀρχαίαν μουσικήν—τίς γὰρ αὐτῶν ᾠδὴν
τέλειον ἢ γενναῖον ῥυθμὸν οἷός τε εἰπεῖν; —ἀλλὰ ᾄσματα γυναικῶν
καὶ κρούματα ὀρχηστῶν καὶ παροινίας τερετισμάτων ὥσπερ
κακοὶ καὶ περίεργοι μάγειροι συντρίψαντες {τοὺς νόμους} ἰδιώτας
καὶ λίχνους ἀκροατὰς κινοῦσιν. τοιγαροῦν οὐκ ἀπὸ κύκνων οὐδὲ
ἀηδόνων ὁ ζῆλος αὐτῶν ὠνόμασται παρ´ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ´, ὡς
ἔοικε, κνυζηθμοῖς καὶ ὑλαγμοῖς εἰκάζετε. καίτοι φιλοσόφους
μὲν ᾔδειν οὕτως καλουμένους, κιθαρῳδοὶ δὲ Κυνικοὶ παρὰ μόνοις
ὑμῖν γεγόνασιν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἀμφίων πρὸς τὸ μέλος, ὥς φασιν,
ἤγειρε καὶ ἐπύργου τὴν πόλιν· οὗτοι δὲ ἀνατρέπουσι καὶ καταλύουσιν.
καὶ μὴν ὅ γε Ὀρφεὺς τὰ θηρία ἡμέρου καὶ μουσικὰ ἐποίει
διὰ τῆς ᾠδῆς· οὗτοι δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀνθρώπους ὄντας, ἀγρίους πεποιήκασι καὶ
ἀπαιδεύτους. ἔχω δὲ καὶ ἄλλον εἰπεῖν λόγον ἀνθρώπου Φρυγὸς ἀκούσας,
Αἰσώπου συγγενοῦς, δεῦρο ἐπιδημήσαντος, ὃν εἰς Ὀρφέα καὶ ὑμᾶς ἔλεγεν.
ἔστι δὲ τῶν ὑμετέρων σκωμμάτων ἀτοπώτερος καὶ μακρότερος. σκοπεῖτε
οὖν, εἰ βούλεσθε
ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ μὴ δυσχεράνητε. ἔφη τοίνυν ἐκεῖνος περί τε Θρᾴκην
καὶ Μακεδονίαν τὸν Ὀρφέα μελῳδεῖν, καθάπερ εἴρηται, κἀκεῖ τὰ
ζῷα προσιέναι αὐτῷ, πολύ τι πλῆθος οἶμαι {τῶν} πάντων θηρίων.
πλεῖστα δὲ ἐν αὐτοῖς εἶναι τούς τε ὄρνιθας καὶ τὰ πρόβατα. τοὺς
μὲν γὰρ λέοντας καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα διὰ τὴν ἀλκὴν καὶ τὴν ἀγριότητα
δυσπιστότερα εἶναι, καὶ τὰ μὲν οὐδ´ ὅλως πελάζειν, τὰ δ´ εὐθὺς
ἀποχωρεῖν, οὐχ ἡδόμενα τῷ μέλει. τὰ δὲ πτηνὰ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα
μᾶλλόν τε προσιέναι καὶ μηκέτ´ ἀπαλλάττεσθαι· τὰ μὲν οἶμαι
διὰ τὸ εὔηθες καὶ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, τῶν δὲ ὀρνίθων μουσικὸν
δήπου τὸ γένος αὐτὸ καὶ φιλῳδόν. ζῶντος μὲν οὖν Ὀρφέως συνέπεσθαι
αὐτῷ πανταχόθεν ἀκούοντα {αὐτοῦ} ὁμοῦ καὶ νεμόμενα·
καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον ἔν τε τοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ περὶ τὰς νάπας τὰ πολλὰ διατρίβειν·
ἀποθανόντος δὲ ἐρημωθέντα ὀδύρεσθαι καὶ χαλεπῶς φέρειν· ὥστε τὴν
μητέρα αὐτοῦ Καλλιόπην διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν
εὔνοιαν καὶ φιλίαν αἰτησαμένην παρὰ Διὸς τὰ σώματα αὐτῶν
μεταβαλεῖν εἰς ἀνθρώπων τύπον, τὰς μέντοι ψυχὰς διαμένειν,
οἷαι πρότερον ἦσαν.
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Traduction française :
| [32,60] Surely it is not the Spartans you are imitating, is
it ? It is said, you know, that in olden days they
made war to the accompaniment of the pipe ; but
your warfare is to the accompaniment of the harp.
Or do you desire—for I myself have compared king
with commons —do you, I ask, desire to be thought
afflicted with the same disease as Nero ? Why, not
even he profited by his intimate acquaintance with
music and his devotion to it. And how much better
it would be to imitate the present ruler in his devotion
to culture and reason ! Will you not discard that
disgraceful and immoderate craving for notoriety ? Will
you not be cautious about poking fun at everybody
else, and, what is more, before persons who, if I may
say so, have nothing great or wonderful to boast of?
For if an Ismenias were piping in your presence or a
Timotheus of early times were singing or an Arion,
at whose song, according to tradition, the dolphins in
the deep flocked to his ship and afterwards, when he
had plunged overboard, rescued him by lucky chance
and brought him safe ashore — if those artists were
performing for you, what would be your state of
mind ? For among these performers here there is no
Amphion and no Orpheus either; for Orpheus was
the son of a Muse, but these are unmusical offspring
of Disharmony herself, having perverted and
shattered the majesty of song and in every way
outraged the grand old art of the Muses.
For who of the lot can produce a finished song or a
noble rhythm ? Nay, it is a potpourri of effeminate
ditties and music-hall strummings of the lyre and the
drunken excesses of monsters which, like villainous
cooks with an itch for novelty, they mash together
to form their arias and thus excite an ignorant and
avid audience. Accordingly not from swans or nightingales
has their passion got its name with you, but
rather, as it seems, you liken it to the whining and
howling of dogs ; and yet, while I knew that there
are philosophers called Cynics, harpists of that canine
breed have been produced in Alexandria alone. So
while Amphion to the accompaniment of his melody,
according to the tale, built the walls and towers of his
city, these creatures are engaged in the work of
overturning and destroying. And as for Orpheus, by
his song he tamed the savage beasts and made them
sensitive to harmony; yet these performers here
have turned you human beings into savages and
made you insensible to culture.
And I have, furthermore, a story to tell that I heard
front a Phrygian, a kinsman of Aesop's, who paid a
visit here, a story that he told about Orpheus and
yourselves. However, that story is more weird and
lengthier than your jokes. Consider, therefore, if
you wish to hear it, and don't be vexed if I tell it.
Weil then, the man from Phrygia said that Orpheus
sang his songs throughout Thrace and Macedonia, as
we have been told, and that the creatures there
came up to him—a great company, I imagine, of all
the animals. " And," he continued, " most numerous
among them were the birds and the sheep. For the
lions and other animals of that sort were more distrustful
because of their strength and savage nature,
and some would not even come near him, while others
immediately withdrew, not being pleased with the
music ; but the feathered creatures and the sheep not
only came to him more readily but also did not leave
him afterwards—the sheep, no doubt, because of their
guilelessness and fondness for human society, while
the birds, of course, are a musical tribe themselves
and fond of song. So then, as long as Orpheus was
alive they followed him from every quarter, listening
as they fed—for indeed he spent his time for the most
part on the mountains and about the glens ; but when
he died, in their desolation they wailed and were
distressed ; and so it came about that the mother of
Orpheus, Calliope, because of her goodwill and
affection toward her son, begged Zeus to change
their bodies into human form ; yet their souls
remained as they had been before."
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