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[10,27] τὸν δὲ Ὀρέστην καὶ αὐτὸν δήπου ὁρᾷς ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις
ἐγκαλοῦντα τῷ θεῷ καὶ μεμφόμενον, ὁπότε μαίνοιτο, ὡς
συμβουλεύσαντος ἐκείνου τὴν μητέρα ἀποκτεῖναι. καί τοι μὴ νόμιζε
τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα χαλεπόν τι ἢ αἰσχρὸν προστάξαι τοῖς ἐρωτῶσιν
αὐτόν. ἀλλ´ ὅπερ εἶπον, χρῆσθαι τῷ θεῷ ἀδύνατοι ὄντες, ἔπειτα
ἐπιχειροῦντες, οὐχ αὑτούς, ἀλλ´ ἐκεῖνον αἰτιῶνται. σὺ οὖν, ἐάν
μοι πεισθῇς, φυλάξῃ, καὶ πρότερον προθυμήσῃ γνῶναι σεαυτόν,
ἔπειτα φρονήσας, ἐὰν δοκῇ σοι, τότε ἤδη μαντεύσῃ.
| [10,27] As for Orestes, I presume you see him also in
tragic performances inveighing against the god in
his fits of madness, and accusing him as though he
had counselled him to slay his mother. But do not
imagine that Apollo ever ordered those that consult
him to commit any dreadful or disgraceful act. It
is as I said : although men are incapable of `using'
the god, they go ahead, try, and then blame him
and not themselves.
"You, then, if you follow my advice, will take
heed and aim first to know yourself; afterwards,
having found wisdom, you will then, if it be your
pleasure, consult the oracle.
| [10,28] ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαί σε μηδὲν δεήσεσθαι μαντείας νοῦν ἔχοντα.
καὶ γὰρ δὴ ὅρα, ἐάν σε κελεύσῃ γράφειν καὶ ἀναγιγνώσκειν ὀρθῶς
μὴ γραμματικὸν ὄντα, οὐ δυνήσῃ. γράμματα δὲ εἰδώς, καὶ μὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
κελεύοντος κατὰ τρόπον γράψεις καὶ ἀναγνώσῃ. ὁμοίως δὲ ἄλλο ὁτιοῦν
πράττειν, ἐὰν συμβουλεύσῃ σοι μὴ ἐπισταμένῳ, οὐχ οἷός τε ἔσει. καὶ
ζῆν ὀρθῶς οὐ δυνήσῃ μὴ ἐπιστάμενος, οὐδ´ ἂν κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν
ἑκάστην τὸν Ἀπόλλω ἐνοχλῇς καὶ σοὶ μόνῳ σχολάζῃ. νοῦν δὲ ἔχων
γνώσῃ ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ ὅ, τι σοι πρακτέον ἐστὶ καὶ ὅπως.
| [10,28] For I am persuaded that you will have no need of consulting
oracles if you have intelligence. Why just consider ! If the
god bids you to read and write correctly when you
have no knowledge of letters, you will not be able
to do so; but if you know your letters, you will
read and write well enough, even without any command
from the god. In the same way, if he advises
you to do anything else when you do not know
how, you will not be in a condition to obey. You
will not be able to live properly, either, if you do
not know how, even though you importune Apollo
day after day and he gives you all his time. But
if possessed of intelligence, you will know of yourself
what you ought to do and how to go about it.
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