[61,0] ΧΡΥΣΗΙΣ. (1) (Dion) Ἐπεὶ τυγχάνεις οὐ φαύλως ἐπαινοῦσα Ὅμηρον οὐδὲ ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοὶ πιστεύουσα τῇ δόξῃ προσποιῇ θαυμάζειν· ὃ δὲ δεινότατός ἐστιν, ᾔσθησαι τοῦ ποιητοῦ, τὴν περὶ τὰ πάθη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐμπειρίαν· τἄλλα μὲν ἐάσωμεν, εἰ ἐθέλεις, τὰ νῦν, τὰ τῶν βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν, περὶ δὲ μιᾶς γυναικὸς σκεψώμεθα τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, ὁποίαν τινὰ πεποίηκε τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ ἱερέως, ἧς εὐθὺς ἐμνήσθη κατ´ ἀρχὰς τῆς ποιήσεως. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἀγαμέμνων οὐ μόνον τὸ εἶδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἐπαινεῖν ἔοικε τῆς παιδίσκης. λέγει γὰρ ὡς οὐδὲν εἴη τὰς φρένας χείρων τῆς αὐτοῦ γυναικός· (2) δῆλον δὲ ὡς ἐκείνην οἰόμενος νοῦν ἔχειν. (Interlocutrice) Τί δέ; οὐκ ἄλλως τοῦτο εἴρηκε διὰ τὸν ἔρωτα ἀπατώμενος; (Dion) Ἰδεῖν ἄξιον· καίτοι χαλεπώτατον πείθειν τοὺς ἐρῶντας. καὶ γὰρ ὑπονοοῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ ὀργίζονται ῥᾳδίως, καὶ οὐδέποτέ φασιν ἀγαπᾶσθαι κατ´ ἀξίαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐρωμένων, ἄλλως τε ὅταν ὦσι κρείττους τοσοῦτον καὶ συνόντες μετ´ ἐξουσίας. (Interlocutrice) Ταῦτα δέ φημι συμβαίνειν τοῖς φαύλοις ἐρασταῖς. (Dion) Εἴτε οὖν σπουδαῖος ἦν ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων, ὀρθῶς ἐγίγνωσκε περὶ αὐτῆς, εἴτε τοῖς πολλοῖς ὅμοιος, οὐ ῥᾴδιον φαύλην οὖσαν ἀρέσαι τὸν τοιοῦτον, ὥστε ἀγαθὴν ὑπολαβεῖν. (3) φέρε δὴ καὶ τἄλλα ἴδωμεν. (Interlocutrice) Καὶ τίνα ἄλλην ἀπόδειξιν ἔχεις παρά γε Ὁμήρῳ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς γυναικός; οὐδὲν γοῦν πεποίηκεν αὐτὴν πράττουσαν ἢ λέγουσαν, ἀλλὰ σιγῇ τῷ πατρὶ διδομένην. (Dion) Τί γάρ; ἐκ τῶν γενομένων περὶ αὐτὴν οὐκ ἄν τις συμβάλοι τὴν διάνοιαν μὴ πάνυ ἁπλῶς μηδὲ εὐήθως σκοπῶν; (Interlocutrice) Ἴσως. (Interlocutrice) Πότερον οὖν οἰώμεθα τὸν Χρύσην ἀκούσης τῆς θυγατρὸς εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐλθεῖν μετὰ λύτρων ἅμα τὰ στέμματα κομίζοντα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἱκετεύειν καὶ τοὺς βασιλέας ἀφιέναι αὐτήν, ἢ τοὐναντίον ἐκείνης δεομένης τοῦ πατρός, εἴ τι (4) δύναιτο, βοηθεῖν; εἰ γὰρ ἔστεργε τοῖς παροῦσιν ἡ Χρυσηὶς καὶ τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονι συνεῖναι ἠβούλετο, οὐδέποτ´ ἂν εἵλετο Χρύσης ἅμα τὴν θυγατέρα λυπῶν τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ὅπως εἶχε πρὸς αὐτήν. τὸ γὰρ συνεῖναι τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν Χρυσηίδα στεργομένην οὐχ ἧττον τῷ Χρύσῃ συνέφερεν. καὶ γὰρ ἡ χώρα καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐγεγόνει, κἀκεῖνος ἦν αὐτῶν κύριος.

[61,0] THE SIXTY-FIRST DISCOURSE : CHRYSEÏS. (1) (Dion) Since, as it happens, you praise Homer in no ordinary manner and you do not, like most persons, merely pretend to admire him, trusting to his reputation, but instead have discerned that quality in the poet in which he is most effective, his acquaintance with the passions of mankind, let us, if you please, pass by all else for the moment. the fortunes of kings and generals, and turn our attention to just one woman among the captives, aiming to discover how the poet has depicted the daughter of the priest whom he has mentioned at the very beginning of his poem. For Agamemnon seems to praise not only the beauty but also the character of the young woman, for he says that she is in no wise inferior in mind to his own wife —clearly believing that Clytemnestra has intelligence. (2) (Interlocutrice) What of it ? Has he not said this thoughtlessly, beguiled by his infatuation ? (Dion) That is worth looking into ; and yet it is very difficult to convince men who are in love, for most of them are suspicious and easily angered, and they never admit that they are loved as they deserve by their beloved, especially when they are so superior in station to the objects of their passion and associate with them by virtue of authority. (Interlocutrice) That kind of thing, in my opinion, happens with lovers of the low sort. (Dion) Well then, if Agamemnon was of the superior kind, he was right in his appraisal of the girl ; but if he was no better than most men, it is not easy for a woman of low degree to please a man like him to the point of taking her to be noble. Well now, let us examine also the other points. (3) (Interlocutrice) Why, what additional proof have you in Homer of the character of the woman ? At any rate he has not depicted her as doing or saying anything, but rather as being silently handed over to her father. (Dion) What ! could one not deduce her faculties of mind from what took place in connexion with her, provided one were to consider the matter in a manner not wholly superficial and foolish ? (Interlocutrice) Perhaps. (Dion) Are we, then, to suppose that against the wishes of his daughter Chryses came into the camp, bearing the fillets of the god along with the ransom, and besought the assembly and the kings to release her, or, on the contrary, was it because she kept begging her father to aid her if he could ? (4) For if Chryseïs was content with her situation and wished to live with Agamemnon, Chryses would never have chosen at one and the same time to grieve his daughter and to incur the malice of the king, not being unaware of the king's feelings toward her. For it was no less to the interest of Chryses that Chryseïs should live with the king, so long as he was fond of her, since the priest's country, his sanctuary, and he himself had come under the sway of the Achaeans, and Agamemnon was their sovereign.