[13,20] καίτοι τραγῳδοὺς ἑκάστοτε ὁρᾶτε τοῖς Διονυσίοις καὶ ἐλεεῖτε τὰ ἀτυχήματα τῶν ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις ἀνθρώπων· ἀλλ´ ὅμως οὐδέποτε ἐνεθυμήθητε ὅτι οὐ περὶ τοὺς ἀγραμμάτους οὐδὲ περὶ τοὺς ἀπᾴδοντας οὐδὲ τοὺς οὐκ εἰδότας παλαίειν γίγνεται τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα, οὐδὲ ὅτι πένης τίς ἐστιν, οὐδεὶς ἕνεκα τούτου τραγῳδίαν ἐδίδαξεν. τοὐναντίον γὰρ περὶ τοὺς Ἀτρέας καὶ τοὺς Ἀγαμέμνονας καὶ τοὺς Οἰδίποδας ἴδοι τις ἂν πάσας τὰς τραγῳδίας, οἳ πλεῖστα ἐκέκτηντο χρήματα χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ γῆς καὶ βοσκημάτων· καὶ δὴ τῷ (21) δυστυχεστάτῳ αὐτῶν γενέσθαι φασὶ χρυσοῦν πρόβατον. καὶ μὴν ὁ Θάμυρίς γε εὖ μάλα ἐπιστάμενος κιθαρίζειν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰς τὰς Μούσας ἐρίζων περὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας, ἐτυφλώθη διὰ τοῦτο καὶ προσέτι ἀπέμαθε τὴν κιθαριστικήν. καὶ τὸν Παλαμήδην οὐδὲν ὤνησεν αὐτὸν εὑρόντα τὰ γράμματα πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀδίκως ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν τῶν ὑπ´ αὐτοῦ παιδευθέντων καταλευσθέντα ἀποθανεῖν· ἀλλ´ ἕως μὲν ἦσαν ἀγράμματοι καὶ ἀμαθεῖς τούτου τοῦ μαθήματος, ζῆν αὐτὸν εἴων· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τούς τε ἄλλους ἐδίδαξε γράμματα καὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας δῆλον ὅτι πρώτους, καὶ μετὰ τῶν γραμμάτων τοὺς φρυκτοὺς ὅπως χρὴ ἀνέχειν καὶ ἀριθμεῖν τὸ πλῆθος, ἐπεὶ πρότερον οὐκ ᾔδεσαν οὐδὲ καλῶς ἀριθμῆσαι τὸν ὄχλον, ὥσπερ οἱ ποιμένες τὰ πρόβατα, τηνικαῦτα σοφώτεροι γενόμενοι καὶ ἀμείνους (22) ἀπέκτειναν αὐτόν. εἰ δέ γε, ἔφη, τοὺς ῥήτορας οἴεσθε ἱκανοὺς εἶναι πρὸς τὸ βουλεύεσθαι καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων τέχνην ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ποιεῖν, θαυμάζω ὅτι οὐ καὶ δικάζειν ἐκείνοις ἐπετρέψατε ὑπὲρ τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀλλ´ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ὅπως οὐκ, εἰ δικαιοτάτους καὶ ἀρίστους ὑπειλήφατε, καὶ τὰ χρήματα ἐκείνοις ἐπετρέψατε διαχειρίζειν. ὅμοιον γὰρ ἂν ποιήσαιτε ὥσπερ εἰ κυβερνήτας καὶ ναυάρχους τῶν τριήρων ἀποδείξαιτε τοὺς τριηρίτας ἢ τοὺς κελευστάς. (23) εἰ δὲ δή τις λέγοι τῶν πολιτικῶν τε καὶ ῥητόρων πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι ταύτῃ μέντοι τῇ παιδεύσει χρώμενοι Ἀθηναῖοι Περσῶν ἐπιστρατευσάντων τοσαύταις μυριάσιν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν δὶς ἐφεξῆς καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον δύναμιν καὶ στρατηγοὺς ἀποστείλαντος τοῦ βασιλέως, ὕστερον δὲ αὐτοῦ Ξέρξου παραγενομένου μετὰ παντὸς τοῦ πλήθους τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν, ἅπαντας τούτους ἐνίκησαν καὶ πανταχοῦ περιῆσαν αὐτῶν καὶ τῷ βουλεύεσθαι καὶ τῷ μάχεσθαι. καίτοι πῶς ἂν ἠδύναντο περιεῖναι τηλικαύτης παρασκευῆς καὶ τοσούτου πλήθους μὴ διαφέροντες κατ´ ἀρετήν; ἢ πῶς ἂν ἀρετῇ διέφερον μὴ τῆς ἀρίστης παιδείας τυγχάνοντες, (24) ἀλλὰ φαύλης καὶ ἀνωφελοῦς; πρὸς τὸν τοιαῦτα εἰπόντα ἔλεγεν ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνοι ἦλθον παιδείαν οὐδεμίαν παιδευθέντες οὐδὲ ἐπιστάμενοι βουλεύεσθαι περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀλλὰ τοξεύειν τε καὶ ἱππεύειν καὶ θηρᾶν μεμελετηκότες, καὶ τὸ γυμνοῦσθαι τὸ σῶμα αἴσχιστον αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει καὶ τὸ πτύειν ἐν τῷ φανερῷ· ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοὺς οὐδὲν ἔμελλεν ὀνήσειν· ὥστε οὐδ´ ἦν στρατηγὸς ἐκείνων οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ βασιλεύς, ἀλλὰ μυριάδες ἀνθρώπων ἀμύθητοι πάντων ἀφρόνων καὶ κακοδαιμόνων. εἷς δέ τις ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπῆρχεν ὀρθὴν ἔχων τιάραν καὶ ἐπὶ θρόνου χρυσοῦ καθίζων, ὑφ´ οὗ πάντες ὥσπερ ὑπὸ δαίμονος ἠλαύνοντο πρὸς βίαν, οἱ μὲν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν, οἱ δὲ κατὰ τῶν ὀρῶν, καὶ μαστιγούμενοι καὶ δεδιότες καὶ ὠθούμενοι καὶ τρέμοντες ἠναγκάζοντο ἀποθνῄσκειν.

[13,20] But although you every year see the tragic performances at the Dionysia and pity the misfortunes of the characters in the exhibitions of tragedies, yet in spite of this you have never reflected that it is not the illiterate or the singers who sing out of tune or those who do not know how to wrestle to whom these evils happen, nor has anyone ever brought out a tragedy about a man simply because he is poor. Quite the contrary ! It is heroes like Atreus, Agamemnon, and Oedipus who form the subject of all the tragedies, as anyone may see, men who possessed a wealth of gold and silver and land and cattle ; and indeed, for the most unfortunate of them they say a golden sheep was born. And again, even Thamyris, who was very proficient in playing the cithara and strove with the Muses themselves for the prize in music, was blinded because of this and unlearned the art of playing the cithara in the bargain. And his invention of the letters of the alphabet availed Palamedes naught to save him from suffering injustice at the hands of the very Achaeans who had been instructed by him and from being put to death by stoning. But as long as they were unlettered and unacquainted with this special learning of his, they permitted him to live. When, however, he had taught the others to read and write, and the Atreidae of course first of all, and along with their letters had shown them how to raise bale-fires and how to count the host—for previously they had not known how to count the multitude properly, as shepherds do their sheep —as soon as they had become more clever and proficient, then it was that they slew him. (22) "But if you really think," said he, "that the orators are qualified to deliberate and that their profession is competent to make men good, I am surprised that you have not entrusted the deciding of questions of state to them instead of to your own selves ; and why, if you regard them as the best and most just of men, you have not allowed them to manage your finances also. No, for you would be acting just as if you were to appoint the marines or boatswains to be the helmsmen and captains of your triremes !" (23) Then if one of the public men and orators said to him in reply : "Anyhow it was this education that the Athenians had received and were using at the time when the Persians came with so many myriads against their city twice in succession, and against the rest of Greece : on the first occasion when the Persian king sent an army and generals, and later when Xerxes came in person with all the hosts of Asia ; but nevertheless they conquered all these, and everywhere proved superior to them both in planning and in fighting. And yet how would they have been able to prevail over so great an armament and over so mighty a host, if they had not been superior in the qualities of valour ? Or how would they have been superior in such excellence, if they had not enjoyed the most excellent education, but a poor and useless one ? (24) In answer to anyone using such arguments he would reply that neither had their enemies received any education before they came, nor did they know how to deliberate about affairs of state, but had simply been trained to shoot and ride and hunt, while they thought exposure of the body the most shameful thing, and spitting in public. "But those things," he said "were destined to avail them not at all ; with the result that there was not even a general over them nor yet a king, but there were simply countless myriads of men, all foolish and doomed to an evil fate. However, there was one among them who had the right to wear his tiara upright and to sit upon a golden throne, by whom all were driven on by compulsion, as if by an evil spirit, some into the sea and some down from the hills ; while scourged by the lash, in terror, and jostling one another and trembling, they were forced to die.