Texte grec :
[33,0] ΤΑΡΣΙΚΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ.
(1) Ἐγὼ θαυμάζω τί ποτ´ ἐστὶ τὸ ὑμέτερον καὶ τί προσδοκῶντες ἢ
βουλόμενοι τοὺς τοιούτους ἀνθρώπους διαλέγεσθαι ὑμῖν ζητεῖτε, πότερον
εὐφώνους οἴεσθε εἶναι καὶ φθέγγεσθαι ἥδιον τῶν ἄλλων, ἔπειτα
ὥσπερ ὀρνέων ποθεῖτε ἀκούειν μελῳδούντων ὑμῖν ἢ δύναμιν
ἄλλην ἔχειν ἔν τε ὀνόμασι καὶ διανοήμασι δριμυτέρας τινὸς πειθοῦς
καὶ τῷ ὄντι δεινῆς, ἣν καλεῖτε ῥητορικήν, ἔν τε ἀγοραῖς καὶ περὶ
τὸ βῆμα δυναστεύουσαν, ἤ τινα ἔπαινον καθ´ αὑτῶν ἀκούσεσθαι
οἰόμενοι καὶ δημόσιον ὕμνον τῆς πόλεως, περί τε Περσέως καὶ
Ἡρακλέους καὶ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τῆς τριαίνης καὶ περὶ χρησμῶν
τῶν γενομένων, καὶ ὥς ἐστε Ἕλληνες καὶ Ἀργεῖοι καὶ ἔτι βελτίους,
(2) καὶ ἀρχηγοὺς ἔχετε ἥρωας καὶ ἡμιθέους, μᾶλλον δὲ Τιτᾶνας· ἔτι
δὲ οἶμαι περί τε τῆς χώρας καὶ τῶν ὀρῶν τῶν κατ´ αὐτὴν καὶ
τοῦδε τοῦ Κύδνου, ὡς δεξιώτατος ἁπάντων ποταμῶν καὶ κάλλιστος,
οἵ τε ἀπ´ αὐτοῦ πίνοντες ἀφνειοὶ καὶ μακάριοι καθ´ Ὅμηρον.
ταῦτα γὰρ ἐστὶ μὲν ἀληθῆ, καὶ συνεχῶς αὐτὰ ἀκούετε τῶν
τε ποιητῶν ἐν μέτροις καὶ ἄλλων ἀνδρῶν αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἔργον πεποιημένων
ἐγκωμιάζειν, δεῖται δὲ μεγάλης τινὸς παρασκευῆς καὶ δυνάμεως.
(3) τί οὖν ἡμᾶς ἐλπίζετε ἐρεῖν; ἢ τί μάλιστα ἀκοῦσαι σπεύδετε
παρὰ ἀνδρῶν οὐκ εὐτραπέλων οὐδὲ πρὸς χάριν ὁμιλεῖν εἰδότων
οὐδὲ αἱμύλων οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τρυφῆς ἰόντων ἐπὶ τοὺς λόγους; ὅτι μὲν
γὰρ οὐ χρήματα ἐλπίζοντες παρ´ ἡμῶν οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι δῶρον καὶ
πάνυ ἐπίσταμαι. φέρε οὖν ἔγωγε εἴπω τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ὑπόνοιαν.
(4) δοκεῖτέ μοι πολλάκις ἀκηκοέναι θείων ἀνθρώπων, οἳ πάντα εἰδέναι
φασὶ καὶ περὶ πάντων ἐρεῖν ᾗ διατέτακται καὶ τίνα ἔχει φύσιν,
περί τε ἀνθρώπων καὶ δαιμόνων καὶ {περὶ} θεῶν, ἔτι δὲ γῆς καὶ
οὐρανοῦ καὶ θαλάττης, καὶ περὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων
ἄστρων, καὶ περὶ τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, καὶ περὶ φθορᾶς καὶ
γενέσεως καὶ μυρίων ἄλλων. ἔπειτ´ οἶμαι προσελθόντες ὑμῶν
πυνθάνονται τί βούλεσθε αὐτοὺς εἰπεῖν καὶ περὶ τίνος, κατὰ τὸν Πίνδαρον,
Ἰσμηνὸν ἢ χρυσηλάκατον Μελίαν ἢ Κάδμον·
ὅ, τι δ´ ἂν ἀξιώσητε ὑμεῖς, ἔνθεν ἑλὼν ἄθρουν καὶ πολὺν ἀφήσει
τὸν λόγον, ὥσπερ τι ῥεῦμα ἄφθονον ἐν αὐτῷ κατακεκλειμένον.
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Traduction française :
[33,0] THE THIRTY-THIRD, OR FIRST TARSIC DISCOURSE.
(1) I WONDER what on earth is your purpose, and what
your expectation or desire, in seeking to have such
persons as myself discourse for you. Do you think
us to be sweet-voiced and more pleasant of utterance
than the rest, so that, as if we were song-birds, you
long to hear us make melody for you ; or do you
believe that we possess a different power in word and
thought alike, a power of persuasion that is keener and
truly formidable, which you call rhetoric, a power
that holds sway both in the forum and on the rostrum ;
or is it because you expect to hear some laudation
directed at yourselves, some patriotic hymn in
praise of your city, all about Perseus and Heracles
and the Lord of the Trident and the oracles that you
have received, and how you are Hellenes, yes,
Argives or even better, and how you have as founders
heroes and demigods—or, I should say, Titans ?
You may even, methinks, expect to hear a eulogy of
your land and of the mountains it contains and of
yonder Cydnus, how it is the most kindly of all
rivers and the most beautiful and how those who drink
its waters are 'affluent and blessed,' to use the words
of Homer. For such praise is true indeed and you
are constantly hearing it both from the poets in their
verse and from other men also who have made it
their business to pronounce encomia; but that sort
of performance requires ample preparation and the
gift of eloquence. What, then, do you expect us to
say ? Or what above all are you eager to hear from
men who are not of nimble wit and know not how
to make gratification the aim of their discourse,
who are not flatterers nor moved by insolence to
mount the platform ? For that you are not expecting
money from us nor any other contribution, I am
well aware.
Weil then, let me state my own suspicions. You
seem to me to have listened frequently to marvellous
men, who claim to know all things, and regarding all
things to be able to tell how they have been appointed
and what their nature is, their repertoire including,
not only human beings and demigods, but gods, yes,
and even the earth, the sky, the sea, the sun and
moon and other stars—in fact the entire universe —
and also the processes of corruption and generation
and ten thousand other things. And then, methinks,
they come to you and ask you what you want them to
say and upon what topic—as Pindar puts it,
"Ismenus or Melia of the golden distaff or noble Cadmus" ;
and whatsoever you may deem suitable, the speaker
starts from there and pours forth a steady and copious
flood of speech, like some abundant river that has
been dammed up within him.
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