Texte grec :
| [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.
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Traduction française :
| [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.
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