Texte grec :
| [32,40] ὁρῶ γὰρ ἔγωγε οὐ μόνον Ἕλληνας παρ´ ὑμῖν οὐδ´ Ἰταλοὺς οὐδὲ
ἀπὸ τῶν πλησίον Συρίας, Λιβύης, Κιλικίας, οὐδὲ τοὺς ὑπὲρ ἐκείνους Αἰθίοπας
οὐδὲ Ἄραβας ἀλλὰ καὶ Βακτρίους καὶ Σκύθας καὶ Πέρσας καὶ Ἰνδῶν τινας,
οἳ συνθεῶνται καὶ πάρεισιν ἑκάστοτε ὑμῖν· ὥστε ὑμεῖς μὲν ἀκούετε
ἑνός, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, κιθαρῳδοῦ, καὶ τούτου συνήθους, ἀκούεσθε
δὲ ὑπὸ μυρίων ἐθνῶν οὐκ ἐπισταμένων ὑμᾶς, καὶ ὁρᾶτε μὲν τρεῖς
ἢ τέτταρας ἡνιόχους, ὁρᾶσθε δὲ ὑπὸ τοσούτων μὲν Ἑλλήνων,
τοσούτων δὲ βαρβάρων. τί οὖν οἴεσθε τούτους ἐπὶ γῆς πέρατα
ἐλθόντας λέγειν; οὐχ ὡς πόλιν εἴδομεν τὰ μὲν ἄλλα θαυμαστὴν
καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θεαμάτων πάντων κρεῖττον θέαμα, κόσμῳ
τε ἱερῶν καὶ πλήθει πολιτῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων περιουσίᾳ, πάντα
ἀκριβῶς διεξιόντας ὡς ἂν δύνωνται τοῖς αὑτῶν, ἃ καὶ μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν
εἶπον, τὰ τοῦ Νείλου καὶ τῆς χώρας καὶ τῆς θαλάττης
καὶ τὸ μέγιστον τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ θεοῦ· μαινομένην δὲ ὑπὸ
ᾠδῆς καὶ δρόμων ἱππικῶν καὶ μηδὲν ἄξιον πράττουσαν ἐν τούτοις
ἑαυτῆς; οἱ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι θύοντες μέν εἰσι μέτριοι καὶ βαδίζοντες
καθ´ αὑτοὺς καὶ τἄλλα πράττοντες· ὅταν δὲ εἰς τὸ θέατρον εἰσέλθωσιν ἢ τὸ
στάδιον, ὥσπερ φαρμάκων αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖ κατορωρυγμένων, οὐδὲν οἴδασι τῶν
προτέρων οὐδὲ αἰσχύνονται λέγειν ἢ ποιεῖν
ὅ,τι ἂν αὐτοῖς ἐπέλθῃ. τὸ δὲ πάντων χαλεπώτατον, ἐσπουδακότες
περὶ τὴν θέαν οὐχ ὁρῶσι καὶ ἀκούειν ἐθέλοντες οὐκ ἀκούουσι,
σαφῶς ἐξεστηκότες καὶ παρανοοῦντες, οὐκ ἄνδρες μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ
παῖδες καὶ γύναια. ἐπειδὰν δὲ παύσηται τὸ δεινὸν καὶ διαλυθῶσι,
τὸ μὲν ἀκμαιότερον ἔσβεσται τῆς ταραχῆς· ἔτι δὲ ἔν τε συνόδοις
καὶ στενωποῖς μένει καὶ δι´ ὅλης τῆς πόλεως ἐπὶ συχνὰς ἡμέρας·
καθάπερ ἐμπρησμοῦ μεγάλου λήξαντος ἰδεῖν ἔστι μέχρι πολλοῦ
τήν τε λιγνὺν καὶ μέρη τινὰ φλεγόμενα. καίτοι τάχα ἐρεῖ τις τῶν
Περσῶν ἢ τῶν Βακτρίων, ὡς αὐτοὶ μὲν ἴσασιν ἱππεύειν καὶ σχεδὸν
ἄριστοι δοκοῦσιν ἱππεῖς· τὸ γὰρ πρᾶγμα ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐλευθερίας
ἐπιτηδεύουσιν· ἀλλ´ ὅμως οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον {οὐδ´ αὖ ὅμοιον}
πεπόνθασιν· ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐδεπώποτε αὐτοὶ θιγόντες οὐδ´ ἐπιβάντες
ἵππων οὐ δύνασθε κατέχειν αὑτοὺς, ἀλλ´ ἐστὲ ὅμοιοι χωλοῖς ὑπὲρ
δρόμου ἐρίζουσιν. τοιγαροῦν δειλοὶ ὄντες καὶ ἀστράτευτοι πολλὰς
ἤδη νενικήκατε ἱππομαχίας.
σκοπεῖτε δὲ μὴ περὶ ὑμῶν ἀληθέστερον
οὗτοι λέγωσιν ἢ περὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων Ἀνάχαρσιν τὸν Σκύθην φασὶν εἰπεῖν·
ἐδόκει μὲν γὰρ εἶναι τῶν σοφῶν· ἧκε δὲ εἰς
τὴν Ἑλλάδα θεασόμενος οἶμαι τά τε ἔθη καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους·
ἔλεγεν οὖν ὡς ἔστιν ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀποδεδειγμένον
χωρίον, ἐν ᾧ μαίνονται καθ´ ἡμέραν, τὸ γυμνάσιον λέγων· ἐπειδὰν
γὰρ ἐλθόντες ἀποδύσωνται, χρίονται φαρμάκῳ. τοῦτο δὲ ἔφη κινεῖν
αὐτοῖς τὴν μανίαν. εὐθὺς γὰρ οἱ μὲν τρέχουσιν, οἱ δὲ καταβάλλουσιν ἀλλήλους,
οἱ δὲ τὼ χεῖρε ἀνατείναντες μάχονται πρὸς οὐδένα ἀνθρώπων, οἱ δὲ παίονται.
ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες, ἀποξυσάμενοι τὸ φάρμακον αὐτίκα σωφρονοῦσι,
καὶ φιλικῶς αὑτοῖς ἤδη
ἔχοντες βαδίζουσι κάτω ὁρῶντες, αἰσχυνόμενοι τοῖς πεπραγμένοις.
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Traduction française :
| [32,40] For I behold among you, not merely Greeks and Italians
and people from neighbouring Syria, Libya, Cilicia,
nor yet Ethiopians and Arabs from more distant regions,
but even Bactrians and Scythians and Persians and a few
Indians, and all these help to make up the audience
in your theatre and sit beside you on each occasion;
therefore, while you, perchance, are listening to a
single harpist, and that too a man with whom you
are well acquainted, you are being listened to by
countless peoples who do not know you ; and while
you are watching three or four charioteers, you yourselves
are being watched by countless Greeks and barbarians as well.
What, then, do you suppose those people say when
they have returned to their homes at the ends of the
earth? Do they not say: " We have seen a city
that in most respects is admirable and a spectacle
that surpasses all human spectacles, with regard
both to beauty of sanctuaries and multitude of
inhabitants and abundance of all that man requires,"
going on to describe to their fellow-citizens as
accurately as possible all the things that I myself
named a short while ago—all about the Nile, the
land, and the sea, and in particular the epiphany of
the god ; " and yet," they will add, " it is a city that
is mad over music and horse-races and in these
matters behaves in a manner entirely unworthy of
itself. For the Alexandrians are moderate enough
when they offer sacrifice or stroll by themselves or
engage in their other pursuits ; but when they
enter the theatre or the stadium, just as if drugs
that would madden them lay buried there, they lose
all consciousness of their former state and are not
ashamed to say or do anything that occurs to them.
And what is most distressing of all is that, despite
their interest in the show, they do not really see, and,
though they wish to hear, they do not hear, being
evidently out of their senses and deranged—not only
men, but even women and children. And when the
dreadful exhibition is over and they are dismissed,
although the more violent aspect of their disorder
has been extinguished, still at street-corners and in
alley-ways the malady continues throughout the
entire city for several days; just as when a mighty
conflagration has died down, you can see for a long
time, not only the smoke, but also some portions of
the buildings still aflame." Moreover, some Persian
or Bactrian is likely to say : " We ourselves know
how to ride horses and are held to be just about the
best in horsemanship " — for they cultivate that
art for the defence of their empire and independence—
" but for all that we have never behaved that
way or anything like it "; whereas you, who have
never handled a horse or mounted one yourselves, are
unable to restrain yourselves, but are like lame men
squabbling over a foot-race. That may explain why,
cowards and slackers though you are, you have won
so many cavalry battles in the past !
And take heed lest these people prove to have
spoken more truthfully about you than Anacharsis
the Scythian is said to have spoken about the
Greeks—for he was held to be one of the sages, and
he came to Greece, I suppose, to observe the customs
and the people. Anacharsis said that in each city of
the Greeks there is a place set apart in which they
act insanely day after day—meaning the gymnasium
—for when they go there and strip off their clothes,
they smear themselves with a drug (olive oil). "And this,"
said he, " arouses the madness in them; for
immediately some run, others throw each other
down, others put up their hands and fight an
imaginary foe, and others submit to blows. And
when they have behaved in that fashion," said he,
" they scrape off the drug and straightway are sane
again and, now on friendly terms with one another,
they walk with downcast glance, being ashamed at
what has occurred."
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