[72,5] οὐ τοίνυν κατὰ τοῦτο μόνον ξυνήθης αὐτοῖς ἡ ὄψις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα ὁρῶσιν ἐν τοῖς ναοῖς, οἷον Διὸς καὶ Ποσειδῶνος καὶ ἄλλων πολλῶν θεῶν ἀγάλματα, ἐν τοιαύτῃ διαθέσει τοῦ σχήματος. παρὰ μὲν γὰρ Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ Φοίνιξι καὶ ἑτέροις τισὶ τῶν βαρβάρων οὐχ ὁ αὐτὸς τύπος τῶν ἀγαλμάτων, ὥσπερ οἶμαι παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ διαφέρων. ἐνθάδε δὲ ὁ αὐτός ἐστιν. καὶ ἀνδρῶν εἰκόνας ὁρῶσι πολιτῶν τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς, στρατηγῶν καὶ βασιλέων οὕτως ἀνακειμένας, γένεια (6) καθεικότων. ἀλλὰ τί δεῖ ταῦτα λέγειν; σχεδὸν γάρ τι καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ πλείους ὁμοίως πρὸς τοῦτο ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς ἡ ξυνήθεια ἀποκωλύει τὸ μὴ οὐκ ἐρεσχηλεῖν μηδὲ ὑβρίζειν, ἐπειδάν τινα ἴδωσι τοιοῦτον, λέγω δὲ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ ἀδόξων, οὓς μὴ δεδοίκασιν ὡς ἱκανοὺς ἀμύνεσθαι· ἐπεὶ τούς γε τοιούτους σχεδὸν δυσωποῦνται καὶ θαυμάζουσιν. τυχὸν οὖν τοιοῦτόν ἐστι τὸ γιγνόμενον. τοὺς μὲν ναύτας καὶ τοὺς γεωργοὺς καὶ ποιμένας, ἔτι δὲ Πέρσας καὶ Νασάμωνας, οὐκ οἴονται καταφρονεῖν αὑτῶν οὐδὲ εἶναι πρὸς αὑτοὺς οὐδένα ἐκείνοις (7) λόγον, ὅθεν οὐδὲν φροντίζουσιν. τοὺς μέντοι φιλοσόφους ὑπονοοῦσιν, ὡς καταφρονοῦντας αὐτῶν καὶ καταγιγνώσκοντας πολλὴν ἀμαθίαν καὶ δυστυχίαν, καὶ ὅτι φανερῶς μὲν οὐ καταγελῶσιν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ παρ´ αὑτοῖς οὕτως ἔχουσιν, ὡς πάντας ἀθλίους ὄντας τοὺς ἀπαιδεύτους, ἀρξαμένους ἀπὸ τῶν πλουσίων δὴ καὶ μακαρίων δοκούντων, οὓς αὐτοὶ ζηλοῦσι καὶ σμικρὸν διαφέρειν οἴονται τῶν θεῶν εὐδαιμονίας ἕνεκεν· καὶ ὅτι ἀτιμάζουσι καὶ διαγελῶσι τοὺς πολυτελῶς ἐσθίοντάς τε καὶ πίνοντας καὶ καθεύδειν μαλακῶς βουλομένους καὶ μετὰ γυναικῶν ἑκάστοτε ὡραίων καὶ παίδων ἀναπαύεσθαι καὶ πολλὰ χρήματα ἔχειν καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ πολλοῦ ὄχλου καὶ περιβλέπεσθαι· ὧν οὐδὲν ἡγοῦνται μεῖζον οὐδὲ (8) κάλλιον. διὰ δὴ ταύτην τὴν ὑποψίαν δυσχεραίνουσι τοὺς μὴ ταὐτὰ σφίσι θαυμάζοντας μηδὲ τιμῶντας μηδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ἔχοντας διάνοιαν. οὐκοῦν προκαταλαμβάνουσιν αὐτοὶ λοιδοροῦντες καὶ τωθάζοντες, ὡς ἀθλίους καὶ ἀνοήτους, εἰδότες ὅτι εἰ μὲν τούτους ἀποφανοῦσιν ἄφρονας καὶ μαινομένους, ἅμα καὶ αὑτοὺς ἀποδείξουσι σωφρονοῦντας καὶ νοῦν ἔχοντας· εἰ δὲ παραχωρήσουσιν, ὡς τούτων ἃ χρὴ γιγνωσκόντων καὶ πολλοῦ ἀξίων, ἅμα καὶ αὑτοὺς ὁμολογήσουσι δυστυχεῖς καὶ ἀναισθήτους καὶ οὐδὲν (9) εἰδότας ἁπλῶς ὧν προσήκει ἀνθρώπους ἐλευθέρους εἰδέναι. ἔτι δὲ ἐὰν μέν τινα ἴδωσιν ὡς ναύτην ἐσταλμένον, ἴσασι τοῦτον πλευσούμενον, κἂν ὡς γεωργὸν ἕτερον, γεωργήσοντα· τόν γε μὴν ποιμένος ἔχοντα στολὴν ἴσασι καὶ τοῦτον ὅτι ἄπεισιν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ περὶ ἐκεῖνα διατρίψει, ὥστε ὑπ´ οὐδενὸς λυπούμενοι τούτων ἐῶσιν αὐτούς· ὅταν δέ τινα ἴδωσι τὸ σχῆμα ἔχοντα τὸ τοῦ φιλοσόφου, λογίζονται ὅτι οὗτος οὔτε πρὸς τὸ πλεῖν {ἐστιν} οὔτε πρὸς γεωργίαν οὔτε προβάτων ἕνεκεν οὕτως ἔσταλται, ἀλλ´ ἐπ´ ἀνθρώπους παρεσκεύασται, ὡς νουθετήσων τε καὶ ἐξελέγξων καὶ οὐδέν τι θωπεύσων οὐδένα αὐτῶν οὐδὲ φεισόμενος οὐδενός, τοὐναντίον δὲ κολάσων ὡς ἂν δύνηται αὐτοὺς μάλιστα τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἐπιδείξων οἷοί εἰσιν.

[72,5] Moreover, it is not for the above reason alone that this spectacle is familiar to them, nay, they also have before their eyes the statues in the temples—as, for example, statues of Zeus and Poseidon and many other gods—arrayed in this type of costume. For while among Egyptians and Phoenicians and certain other barbarians you do not find the same type of statues as you do, I believe, among the Greeks, but far different, here you find the same. Likenesses of men too, citizens of your city, they have before their eyes both in the market-place and in the temples, likenesses of generals and kings set up in this guise with flowing beards. But why need I tell all this ? For I might almost say that most of the Greeks also feel as you do about this matter, and their familiarity with the sight does not keep them from teasing or even insulting whenever they spy a man of that appearance—I mean, whenever they see one of the common sort of no repute, whom they do not fear as being able to retaliate ; for of course those who have that ability they virtually look upon with veneration and awe ! Well, possibly what goes on is like this : the sailors and the farmers and shepherds, yes, and the Persians and Nasamonians too, the people believe do not look down on them or have any concern with them, and so they do not give them a thought. (7) The philosophers, however, they view with misgivings, suspecting that they scorn them and attribute to them vast ignorance and misfortune ; and they suspect that, though the philosophers do not laugh at them in public, privately among themselves they view them in that light, holding that the unenlightened are all pitiable creatures, beginning, in fact, with those who are reputed to be rich and prosperous, persons whom these mockers themselves envy and believe to be little different from the gods in felicity ; furthermore, they suspect that these philosophers disparage and ridicule them as being extravagant in eating and drinking, as wanting a soft bed to sleep on and the company of young women and boys whenever they repose, and plenty of money, and to be admired and looked up to by the mob, things which they believe to be more important and better than anything else. (8) Because of this suspicion they of course dislike those who do not admire or prize the same things as they do and do not hold the same opinion about the things of chief importance. Therefore they seize for themselves the initiative in reviling and jeering at the philosophers as being luckless and foolish, knowing that if they succeed in showing that the philosophers are senseless and daft they will at the same time also prove themselves to be prudent and sensible ; whereas if they give way to them, recognizing that the philosophers know what they should and are highly estimable, at the same time they will be admitting that they themselves are luckless and thick-witted and know absolutely none of the things free men should. (9) Again, if they see a man rigged out as a sailor, they know that he is about to put to sea, and if they see some one else rigged out as a farmer, they know that he is about to engage in farming, and of course they know also that he who is clad in shepherd's garb is on his way to his sheep and will spend his time attending to them, and so, since they are not irritated by any of these, they let them alone ; but when they see a man in the garb of the philosopher, they reason in his case that it is not for sailing or for farming or for tending sheep that he is thus arrayed, but rather that he has got himself ready to deal with human beings, aiming to admonish them and put them to the test and not to flatter or to spare any one of them, but, on the contrary, aiming to reprove them to the best of his ability by his words and to show what sort of persons they are.