[33,5] ἔπειθ´ ὑμεῖς ἀκούοντες τὸ μὲν ἐξετάζειν καθ´ ἕκαστον ἢ ἀπιστεῖν ἀνδρὶ σοφῷ φαῦλον ἡγεῖσθε καὶ ἄκαιρον, ἄλλως δὲ τῇ ῥώμῃ καὶ τῇ ταχυτῆτι τῶν λόγων ἐπαίρεσθε καὶ πάνυ χαίρετε ἀπνευστὶ ξυνείροντος τοσοῦτον ὄχλον ῥημάτων, καὶ πεπόνθατε ὅμοιον τοῖς ὁρῶσι τοὺς ἵππους τοὺς ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος θέοντας· οὐδὲν ὠφελούμενοι θαυμάζετε {δὲ} ὅμως καὶ μακάριόν φατε κτῆμα. καίτοι καὶ τοῖς ἵπποις ἰδεῖν ἔστιν οὐ τοὺς δεσπότας χρωμένους πολλάκις, ἀλλὰ (6) φαῦλον ἀνδράποδον. ἡ μὲν οὖν τοιάδε ἀκρόασις θεωρία τις οὖσα καὶ πομπὴ παραπλήσιον ἔχει τι ταῖς ἐπιδείξεσι τῶν καλουμένων ἰατρῶν, οἳ προκαθίζοντες ἐν τῷ μέσῳ ξυμβολὰς ἄρθρων καὶ ὀστέων συνθέσεις καὶ παραθέσεις καὶ τοιαῦθ´ ἕτερα ἐπεξίασι, πόρους καὶ πνεύματα καὶ διηθήσεις. οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ κεχήνασι καὶ κεκήληνται τῶν παιδίων μᾶλλον. ὁ δ´ ἀληθὴς ἰατρὸς οὐκ ἔστι τοιοῦτος οὐδὲ οὕτως διαλέγεται τοῖς ὄντως δεομένοις· πόθεν; ἀλλὰ προσέταξε τί δεῖ ποιεῖν, καὶ φαγεῖν βουλόμενον ἢ πιεῖν ἐκώλυσε, καὶ (7) λαβὼν ἔτεμεν ἀφεστηκός τι τοῦ σώματος. ὥσπερ οὖν εἰ συνελθόντες οἱ κάμνοντες εἶτ´ ἐπὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐπεκώμαζον καὶ κωθωνίζεσθαι ἠξίουν, οὐκ ἂν αὐτοῖς κατ´ ἐλπίδα τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀπήντησεν, ἀλλ´ ἴσως ἠγανάκτουν πρὸς τὴν ὑποδοχήν, ταὐτό μοι πεπονθέναι δοκοῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ ξυνιόντες ἐπὶ τὸν τοιοῦτον καὶ λέγειν κελεύοντες, ἄγευστοι δῆλον ὅτι τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας ὄντες λόγων, ἔπειθ´ ἡδύ τι καὶ προσηνὲς ἀκούσεσθαι προσδοκῶντες. {φέρε δὴ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν, ἆρα ἀνέξεσθε, εἰ μὴ πάνυ τις τῇ παρρησίᾳ χρῷτο μηδὲ ἐπὶ πάντα ἔρχοιτο τὰ προσόντα ὑμῖν, ἀλλ´ ἓν εἴποι τι μόνον ἢ (8) δεύτερον; σκοπεῖτε δὴ μὴ ταὐτὸ πάσχητε Ἰλιεῦσιν ἐκείνοις, οἳ τραγῳδόν τινα ἐπιδημήσαντα ἠνώχλουν, ἐπιδείξασθαι κελεύοντες· ὁ δὲ ἐᾶν αὐτοὺς ἠξίου καὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν. ὅσῳ γὰρ ἄν, ἔφη, κρεῖττον ἀγωνίσωμαι, τοσούτῳ φανήσεσθε ὑμεῖς ἀτυχέστεροι. τὸν οὖν φιλόσοφον κρεῖττόν ἐστι τοῖς πολλοῖς σιωπῶντα ἐᾶν.} (9) σκοπεῖτε δὲ τὸ πρᾶγμα οἷόν ἐστιν. Ἀθηναῖοι γὰρ εἰωθότες ἀκούειν κακῶς, καὶ νὴ Δία ἐπ´ αὐτὸ τοῦτο συνιόντες εἰς τὸ θέατρον ὡς λοιδορηθησόμενοι, καὶ προτεθεικότες ἀγῶνα καὶ νίκην τοῖς ἄμεινον αὐτὸ πράττουσιν, οὐκ αὐτοὶ τοῦτο εὑρόντες, ἀλλὰ τοῦ θεοῦ συμβουλεύσαντος, Ἀριστοφάνους μὲν ἤκουον καὶ Κρατίνου καὶ Πλάτωνος, καὶ τούτους οὐδὲν κακὸν ἐποίησαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ Σωκράτης ἄνευ σκηνῆς καὶ ἰκρίων ἐποίει τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πρόσταγμα, οὐ κορδακίζων οὐδὲ τερετίζων, οὐχ ὑπέμειναν.

[33,5] Then, as you listen, the thought of testing his several statements or of distrusting such a learned man seems to you to be shabby treatment and inopportune, nay, you are heedlessly elated by the power and the speed of his delivery and are very happy, as, without a pause for breath, he strings together such a multitude of phrases, and you are affected very much as are those who gaze at horses running at a gallop—though not at all benefited by the experience, still you are full of admiration and exclaim, "What a marvellous thing to own!" And yet in the case of the horses it is frequently not the owners who may be seen handling the reins, but rather some worthless slave. (6) Well then, the sort of recitation of which I speak, being a kind of spectacle or parade, has some resemblance to the exhibitions of the so-called physicians, who seat themselves conspicuously before us and give a detailed account of the union of joints, the combination and juxtaposition of boues, and other topics of that sort, such as pores and respirations and excretions. And the crowd is all agape with admiration and more enchanted than a swarm of children. But the genuine physician is not like that, nor does he discourse in that fashion for the benefit of those who actually need medical attention--of course not-- but instead he prescribes what should be done, and if a man wants to eat or drink, he stops him, or he takes his scalpel and lances some abscess of the body. Just as, therefore, in case the sick were to assemble and then proceed to serenade the physician and call for a drinking-bout, the outcome would not meet their expectation, nay, they might well be annoyed at their reception, such it seems to me, is the situation of the masses when they gather before a man like me and bid him make a speech, obviously never having sampled the words of truth and consequently expecting to hear something sweet and pleasant. Come then, tell me, in heaven's name, will you be indulgent toward a speaker, provided he is not wholly outspoken and does not touch upon all the ailments that afflict you, but rather confines himself to just one item or maybe two? Take care, I warn you, lest you meet with the same experience as those people of Ilium, who, when a certain tragic actor paid them a visit, annoyed him by demanding an exhibition of his skill, until he finally bade them to let him alone and keep quiet. " For," said he, " the better my performance, so much the more hapless will you appear." So, then, with the philosopher, it is better for the masses to let him hold his tongue. But consider what the situation is. The Athenians, for example, being accustomed to hearing themselves abused, and, on my word, frequenting the theatre for the express purpose of hearing themselves abused, and, having established a contest with a prize for the most proficient in that sort of thing—not having hit upon the idea by themselves but acting upon the advice of the god —used to listen to Aristophanes and Cratinus and Plato and inflicted no punishment on them. But when Socrates without the protection of stage and benches undertook to carry out the instructions of his god, indulging in no vulgar dances or idiotie piping, they would not endure it.