[61,5] ἔτι δὲ πῶς παραχρῆμα μὲν ἁλούσης οὔτε ἦλθεν οὔτε ἐμέμνητο περὶ λύτρων, ὅτε εἰκὸς ἦν χαλεπώτερον φέρειν, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον τῆς μὲν λύπης ἐλάττονος γεγενημένης, συνηθείας δὲ πρὸς τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα πλείονος; δεκάτῳ γὰρ ἔτει τῆς πολιορκίας ταῦτα συμβῆναί φησιν ὁ ποιητής, τὰ περὶ τὴν ἄφιξιν τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ τὴν κομιδὴν τῶν λύτρων. τὰς δὲ περιοίκους πόλεις καὶ τὰς ἐλάττονας εἰκὸς ἦν εὐθὺς ἁλῶναι κατ´ ἀρχὰς τοῦ πολέμου, ὧν ὑπῆρχεν ἡ Χρῦσα καὶ τὸ ἱερόν. (Interlocutrice) Οὐκοῦν ὁ λόγος οὗτος πολλὴν ἀτοπίαν ἐπιδείκνυσι τῆς Χρυσηίδος, τὸ πρότερον μὲν αἰχμάλωτον οὖσαν ἀνέχεσθαι, προσφάτως στερομένην τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς πατρίδος, (6) διελθόντων δὲ δέκα ἐτῶν χαλεπῶς φέρειν. (Dion) Εἴ γε καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀκούσειας· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν τυχόντα ἐραστὴν ἅπαξ γενόμενον ἡδὺ ἀπολιπεῖν ταῖς ἐλευθέραις, μή τι γε τὸν ἐνδοξότατον καὶ πλουσιώτατον, βασιλέα μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ξυμπάντων, μεγίστην δὲ ἔχοντα δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς τότε ἀνθρώποις, κύριον δὲ οὐ μόνον ἐκείνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς πατρίδος, ἐλπίζοντα δὲ κρατήσειν ὀλίγου χρόνου καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας (τὸ γὰρ Ἴλιον φαύλως εἶχεν ἐκ πολλοῦ, καὶ μόλις διεφύλαττον αὐτὴν τὴν πόλιν, ἐπεξῄει δὲ οὐδεὶς εἰς μάχην), καὶ ταῦτα οὐ παρέργως ἔχοντος πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀλλὰ καὶ φανερῶς ὁμολογοῦντος προτιμᾶν τῆς αὑτοῦ γυναικός. τοσαῦτα ἀποπτύουσαν καὶ τηλικαῦτα ἀγαθά, καὶ τὸ μέγιστον ἐραστὴν οὐ μόνον βασιλέα μέγαν καὶ ἀνδρεῖον ἐν ὀλίγοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ νέον καὶ καλόν, ὥς φησιν Ὅμηρος τῷ Διὶ προσεικάζων αὐτόν, ἔπειτα εἰς ἑαλωκυῖαν ἀφικέσθαι τὴν πατρίδα καὶ συνοικεῖν ἑνὶ τῶν δούλων τῶν Ἀγαμέμνονος, εἴ γε ἔμελλε γαμεῖσθαι τῶν (7) ἐγχωρίων τινί, πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον; τὸ γὰρ αἰχμάλωτον εἶναι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μὴ στέργειν τὸν λαβόντα οὐχ ἱκανόν. ἡ γοῦν Βρισηὶς ἀγαπᾶν ἔοικε τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, καὶ ταῦτα ὅν φησιν ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφούς. τῷ δὲ Ἀγαμέμνονι τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ἐπέπρακτο περὶ τὴν Χρυσηίδα. (Interlocutrice) Καλῶς. οὐκοῦν ἐκ τῶν λόγων τούτων οὐκ ἐβουλήθη Χρυσηὶς ἀποπεμφθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος, ἀλλὰ Χρύσης ταῦτα ἔπραττε καθ´ αὑτόν· ἢ εἴπερ ἐβούλετο, ἀφρονεστέρα (8) ἂν εἴη, καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐναντίον εἶπας ἢ ὑπέσχου. (Dion) Ἀλλ´ οὖν μηδὲ δίκην δικάσῃς, φασί, πρὶν ἀμφοτέρων ἀκοῦσαι. λέγεις δὴ σοφὸν ὄντα τὸν Ὅμηρον; (Interlocutrice) Ἴσως. (Dion) Οὐκοῦν τὰ μὲν αὐτὸν λέγειν {οἴου}, τὰ δὲ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι καταλιπεῖν αἰσθάνεσθαι. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ τῶν πάνυ ἀδήλων ἐστίν. ἡ γὰρ Χρυσηὶς κατ´ ἀρχὰς μέν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἠγάπα μένειν παρὰ τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονι δι´ ἃς εἶπον αἰτίας καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς ᾔδει χάριν, ὅτι μηδενὶ δοθείη τῶν ἀδοξοτέρων, ἀλλὰ τῷ πάντων βασιλεῖ, κἀκεῖνος οὐκ ἀμελῶς ἔχοι πρὸς (9) αὐτήν· ὥστε οὐκ ἔπραττε περὶ λύτρων. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἤκουε τὰ περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ὁποῖα ἦν, ὡς χαλεπά, καὶ τὴν ὠμότητα τῆς Κλυταιμνήστρας καὶ τὸ θράσος, ἐνταῦθα ἐφοβεῖτο τὴν εἰς τὸ Ἄργος ἄφιξιν. καὶ τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον παρέμενε στέργουσα ἴσως τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα· ὅτε δὲ ἦν πρὸς τέλει ὁ πόλεμος καὶ διέρρει λόγος ὡς οὐκέτι δυνήσονται πλείω χρόνον ἀντέχειν οἱ Τρῶες, οὐ περιέμεινε τοῦ Ἰλίου τὴν ἅλωσιν. ᾔδει γὰρ ὡς τὸ πολὺ τοὺς νικῶντας ὑπερηφάνους γιγνομένους καὶ τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν τότε μᾶλλον ἰσχύουσαν τὴν περὶ τὸν θεόν, ὅταν πολεμῶσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι.

[61,5] And, besides, how is it that immediately after her capture, at a time when she might be expected to be in greater distress, Chryses neither came nor made any mention of ransom, but rather some time after, at a time when her grief had diminished and her intimacy with Agamemnon had increased ? For the poet says these things took place in the tenth year of the siege — I mean the coming of the priest and the bringing of the ransom—while it is reasonable to suppose that the cities in the neighbourhood of Troy, and especially the smaller ones, would have been taken in the very beginning of the war, and it is to this group that Chrysa and its sanctuary belonged. (Interlocutrice) Then this reasoning of yours attributes to Chryseïs very singular conduct, in that formerly she endured her lot as a captive, though newly robbed of her father and her country, but after ten years had passed she took it hard. (6) (Dion) Yes, at least if you listen to what else I have to say ; for it is not pleasant for free women to abandon even an ordinary man, once he has become their lover, to say nothing of the most illustrious and wealthy man, king of all the Greeks, a man who held the greatest power of all among the men of that day, who had authority over not merely Chryseïs but her father and her country too, and who expected in a short time to become lord of Asia as well—for Ilium had long been in a bad way and its people were having difficulty in defending the city itself and no one went out for battle. And observe also that the king had no casual regard for her, but even openly admitted that he preferred her to his own wife. That she should spurn such numerous and exceptional advantages, and in particular a lover who was not only a great king and had few who vied with him in valour, but was also young and handsome, as Homer says in comparing him to Zeus, and that she should then go to her native land, now a prize of war, and live as the wife of one of Agamemnon's slaves—that is, assuming that she would wed one of the men of the district—is not that singular ? (7) For that she was a prisoner of war and for that reason did not care for the man who got her is not enough to explain her conduet. At any rate Briseïs apparently loved Achilles, and that although, as she declares, it was he who slew her husband and her brothers. But as for Agamemnon, nothing like that had been done regarding Chryseïs. (Interlocutrice) Very good. Then from this lino of reasoning it follows that Chryseïs did not wish to be parted from Agamemnon, but that Chryses was conducting these negotiations independently ; or else, if indeed she did wish it, she would be rather foolish and the case you have made out is contrary to what you promised. (8) (Dion) Well now, as the saying goes, do not judge a case before you hear both sides. Of course you speak of Homer as being a man of wisdom ? (Interlocutrice) Possibly. (Dion) Then you should assume that he tells some things but leaves others to the perception of his readers. But this is not one of the very obscure instances. For Chryseïs at the outset apparently was content to remain with Agamemnon for the reasons I have named, and she was grateful to the gods that she had not been given to any of the less illustrious persons, but rather to the king of all, and also that he was not indifferent toward her ; and so she made no move regarding ransom. But when she heard what conditions were like in the house of Agamemnon, how disagreeable they were, and when she heard also about the cruelty of Clytemnestra and about her boldness, then she looked with dread to her arrival in Argos. Moreover, although she had hitherto remained with Agamemnon, possibly for love of him, still when the war was near its close and a report was current that the Trojans no longer would be able to hold out, she did not wait for the capture of Ilium. For she knew that in general men who are victorious grow arrogant, and that the time when religious scruples are more potent is when men are at war.