Texte grec :
| [33,20] μή τι οὖν ὤνησεν αὐτοὺς ἢ τοῦ πλούτου τὸ μέγεθος ἢ τῶν ὑπηκόων
ἢ τῶν συμμάχων τὸ πλῆθος ἢ τῶν πεδίων ἢ τῆς Ἴδης τὸ κάλλος ἢ τοῦ
Σιμόεντος ἢ τοῦ Ξάνθου τοῦ δινήεντος,
ὃν ἀθάνατος τέκετο Ζεύς.
καίτοι φησὶ καὶ πηγάς τινας πάνυ καλὰς ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ, τὴν
μὲν ἀλεεινὴν καὶ σφόδρα προσηνοῦς ὕδατος, ὥστε καὶ καπνὸν ἀπ´
αὐτῆς ἐγείρεσθαι, τὴν δ´ ἐοικυῖαν τῇ ψυχρότητι κρυστάλλῳ τοῦ
θέρους, ὥστε καὶ θέρους καὶ χειμῶνος μὴ δυσχερῶς πλύνειν τὰς
(21) καλὰς Τρώων θυγατέρας. οὐ μόνον δὲ πλούτῳ καὶ χώρας ἀρετῇ
καὶ πλήθει διέφερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωποι κάλλιστοι παρ´ αὐτοῖς
ἐγίγνοντο, καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες, καὶ ἵπποι τάχιστοι, καὶ θεοφιλεῖς
ἐδόκουν εἶναι, καὶ τείχει καρτερωτάτῳ περιπεφραγμένοι
ἦσαν. {τὸ μέν γε τεῖχος αὐτοῖς Ποσειδῶνος ἔργον ἦν καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος.
ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον πόλεων ἐκείνην ἔφη μάλιστα
ἀγαπῆσαι. τάχος δ´ ἵππων, ὥστε ἐπ´ ἄκρων θεῖν τῶν σταχύων.
ἐπὶ κάλλει δὲ Γανυμήδην ὁ Ζεὺς ἐποιήσατο οἰνοχόον. Ἀλεξάνδρῳ
δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπηκολούθησεν ἡ ἀρίστη τῶν ἐκεῖθεν γυναικῶν.
τὴν δὲ Κασσάνδραν Ὅμηρος οὔ φησι λείπεσθαι τῆς Ἀφροδίτης τὸ εἶδος.}
(22) ἀλλ´ ὅμως, ἐπειδὴ τρυφὴ καὶ ὕβρις εἰσῆλθεν αὐτοὺς καὶ παιδείας
καὶ σωφροσύνης οὐδὲν ᾤοντο δεῖσθαι, πολὺ πάντων ἀτυχέστατοι
γεγόνασιν. οὐχ ἡ σύμπασα χθὼν ταῖς συμφοραῖς αὐτῶν διατεθρύληται;
καὶ οὐδὲν ὤνησεν αὐτοὺς οὔτε τῶν ἵππων τὸ τάχος οὔτε
ὁ Ζεὺς οὔτε ὁ Γανυμήδης, ἀλλ´ ὑπ´ ἀνδρὸς ἐξ οὕτω λυπρᾶς καὶ
ἀδόξου πόλεως ἀπώλοντο, καὶ ἴσχυσεν ὁ τῆς Ἰθάκης πολίτης περιγενέσθαι
τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἰλίου πάντων, καὶ τὴν εὐρυάγυιαν ἅπασαν
(23) πορθῆσαι καὶ ἀνελεῖν; οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδ´ οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἔτι τοὺς
ἀσελγεῖς καὶ ἄφρονας καὶ ἀκολάστους καὶ πρὸς ὕβριν ἐγκλίνοντας
καὶ ῥᾳθυμίαν καὶ τρυφήν. ὥστε μὴ τούτοις θαρρεῖτε μηδὲ ἀποδέχεσθε
τὸν συνηδόμενον ὑμῖν καὶ θαυμάζοντα λόγον μηδὲ τοὺς
δεινοὺς ἐγκωμιάζειν· οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἐξαπατῶσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ μάτην
ἐπαίρουσιν, ὥσπερ νηπίους παῖδας· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, ὃς ὑμῖν δείξει
τι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ πρῶτον ἁπάντων, ἂν δύνηται, παρασκευάσει
φρονεῖν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι τούτων ἕνεκεν, ὧν εἶπον, οὐκ ἐστὲ εὐδαίμονες,
οὐδ´ ἂν ὁ Νεῖλος ὑμῶν διέρχηται τὴν πόλιν τῆς Κασταλίας
γενόμενος διαυγέστερος, οὐδ´ ἂν ὁ Πακτωλὸς ἐνθάδε φανεὶς
μὴ κατὰ ψῆγμα τὸ χρυσίον ὑμῖν φέρῃ, καθάπερ φασὶ Λυδοῖς πρότερον,
ἀλλ´ ἄθρουν ὥσπερ ἰλύν, μηδ´ ἂν Αἴγυπτον ἢ Βαβυλῶνα
(24) τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων ὑπερβάλλησθε. εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα
δύναται ποιεῖν ἀνθρώπους μακαρίους, ποταμὸς ἢ κρᾶσις ἀέρος ἢ
τόπος γῆς ἢ καὶ θαλάττης {λιμένες} ἢ ναὸς ἢ τεῖχος, οὐκ ἔστιν
εἰπεῖν ὅσων λείπεσθε. Βυζαντίους ἐκείνους ἀκούετε παρ´ αὐτὸν
οἰκοῦντας τὸν Πόντον, μικρὸν ἔξω τοῦ στόματος, αὐτομάτων ἰχθύων
αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐκπιπτόντων ἐνίοτε· ἀλλ´ ὅμως οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι
διὰ τὸν ἰχθῦν εὐδαίμονας Βυζαντίους, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοὺς λάρους, οὐδὲ
Αἰγυπτίους διὰ τὸν Νεῖλον οὐδὲ Βαβυλωνίους διὰ τὸ τεῖχος.
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Traduction française :
| [33,20] Did Troy receive any benefit from
either the magnitude of its wealth, or the number of
its subjects or allies, or the beauty of its fields, or of
Mt. Ida or Simoïs or 'eddying Xanthus',
"whom Zeus the immortal created" ?
And yet the poet says that there were also certain
springs of rare beauty in the suburbs, one that was
warm and whose waters were most pleasant, such that
steam actually rose from it, and the other as cold as
ice, even in summer, so that both in summer and in
winter the lovely daughters of the Trojans could do
their washing without discomfort. And not only
were the Trojans distinguished for wealth and
richness of soil and number of inhabitants, but
also human beings born at Troy were very
beautiful, both men and women, horses were very
fleet, the people were held to be dear to the
gods, and they were fenced about with a circuit-wall
most strong—in fact that wall of theirs was the
work of Poseidon and Apollo. Moreover, Zeus
declared that of all the cities beneath the sun he
loved that city most. Such was the fleetness of their
steeds that they could run upon the tips of the heads
of grain, such the beauty of Ganymede that he
was made the cupbearer of Zeus ; and Alexander
lured away from Greece the noblest woman of that
land ; as for Cassandra, Homer declares that she
was not inferior to Aphroditê in beauty.
(22) But despite all that, because luxury and insolence
came among them and they thought they had no
need of culture and sobriety, they have become
by far the most unfortunate of all men. Has not
the whole earth been filled with the tale of their
disasters ? Yea, neither the speed of their horses nor
Zeus nor Ganymede availed them aught, but a man
from a city so wretched and obscure destroyed them,
and that citizen of Ithaca was able to overcome the
men of Ilium one and all and to pillage utterly and
destroy the `wide-wayed land.'
(23) Aye, the gods no longer love men who are wanton
and senseless and unrestrained and inclined toward
insolence and laziness and luxury. Therefore, rely
not on these speakers of yours and do not accept their
words of congratulation and admiration or the
men themselves who are so clever at singing praises ;
for they only deceive and vainly excite you like
foolish children; but rather welcome the man who
will point out to you some of your faults, and will first
of all, if he can, enable you to think, because such
things as I have named do not make you blessed, not
even if the mighty Nile itself should flow through
your city with waters clearer than Castalia ; not even
if Pactolus, appearing here, should bear to you its
gold, not grain by grain, as they say it used to do for
the Lydians in days gone by, but in a mass like mud ;
not even if you should surpass Egypt and Babylon in
the costliness of your buildings. For if these are
the things which can make men blessed—rivers or
climate or situation or even harbours opening on the
sea or temples or fortifications—it is impossible to
list the cities that surpass you.
You are told that the people of Byzantium yonder,
who dwell close beside the Pontus itself but a short
distance outside its entrance (reap much profit from
their situation), since from time to time fish are
thrown out upon their shores without man's intervention ;
but still no one would call Byzantines
blessed beeause of the fish—unless he would say the
same of cormorants—nor would he call Egyptians
blessed because of the Nile, or Babylonians because
of their wall.
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