Texte grec :
| [18,0] ΠΕΡΙ ΛΟΓΟΥ ΑΣΚΗΣΕΩΣ.
(18,1) Πολλάκις ἐπαινέσας τὸν σὸν τρόπον ὡς ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ καὶ
ἀξίου πρωτεύειν ἐν τοῖς ἀρίστοις, οὐδέποτε πρότερον ἐθαύμασα
ὡς νῦν. τὸ γὰρ ἡλικίας τε ἐν τῷ ἀκμαιοτάτῳ ὄντα καὶ δυνάμει
οὐδενὸς λειπόμενον καὶ ἄφθονα κεκτημένον, καὶ πάσης ἐξουσίας
οὔσης δι´ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς τρυφᾶν, ὅμως ἔτι παιδείας ὀρέγεσθαι
καὶ φιλοκαλεῖν περὶ τὴν τῶν λόγων ἐμπειρίαν καὶ μὴ ὀκνεῖν, μηδὲ
εἰ πονεῖν δέοι, σφόδρα μοι ἔδοξε γενναίας ψυχῆς καὶ οὐ φιλοτίμου
μόνον, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὄντι φιλοσόφου ἔργον εἶναι. καὶ γὰρ τῶν παλαιῶν
οἱ ἄριστοι οὐ μόνον ἀκμάζειν μανθάνοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ γηράσκειν
ἔφασκον.
(18,2) πάνυ δὲ σύ μοι δοκεῖς φρονεῖν, ἡγούμενος πολιτικῷ
ἀνδρὶ δεῖν λόγων ἐμπειρίας τε καὶ δυνάμεως. καὶ γὰρ πρὸς τὸ
ἀγαπᾶσθαι καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἰσχύειν καὶ πρὸς τὸ τιμᾶσθαι καὶ πρὸς
τὸ μὴ καταφρονεῖσθαι πλείστη ἀπὸ τούτου ὠφέλεια. τίνι μὲν
γὰρ μᾶλλον ἄνθρωποι δείσαντες θαρροῦσιν ἢ λόγῳ; τίνι δὲ ἐξυβρίζοντες
καὶ ἐπαιρόμενοι καθαιροῦνται καὶ κολάζονται; τίνι δὲ ἐπιθυμιῶν
ἀπέχονται; τίνα δὲ νουθετοῦντα πρᾳότερον φέρουσιν ἢ
οὗ λόγῳ εὐφραίνονται;
(18,3) πολλάκις οὖν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν
ἀναλίσκοντας μὲν ἑτέρους καὶ χαριζομένους καὶ ἀναθήμασι κοσμοῦντας, ἐπαινουμένους δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας, ὡς καὶ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων
αἰτίους. διὸ καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν οἱ ἀρχαιότατοι καὶ παρὰ θεῶν τὴν
ποίησιν λαβόντες οὔτε τοὺς ἰσχυροὺς οὔτε τοὺς καλοὺς ὡς θεοὺς
ἔφασαν ὁρᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοὺς λέγοντας. ὅτι μὲν δὴ ταῦτα καὶ
συνεώρακας καὶ ἐπιχειρεῖς πράττειν, ἐπαινῶ σε καὶ θαυμάζω.
(18,4) χάριν
δὲ οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν οἶδα ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ, ὅτι με πρὸς τὴν διάνοιαν
ταύτην καὶ τὸ ἐγχείρημα χρήσιμον σαυτῷ νενόμικας. μέχρι νῦν
μὲν γάρ, ὥσπερ τις ἔφη τῶν παλαιῶν αὑτῷ ἱκανὸς εἶναι μάντις,
κἀγὼ ἐξαρκεῖν ᾤμην ἐμαυτῷ περὶ τοὺς λόγους, μόγις καὶ τοῦτο.
σὺ δέ με ἐπαίρεις καὶ θαρρεῖν ἀναπείθεις, εἰ ἀνδρὶ καὶ παιδείας
ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἥκοντι καὶ τηλικούτῳ δύναμαι χρήσιμος εἶναι. δυναίμην
δ´ ἂν τυχόν, ὥσπερ ὁδὸν ἰόντι μάλα ἰσχυρῷ καὶ ἀκμάζοντι
παῖς ἤ τις πρεσβύτης ἐνίοτε νομεὺς ἐπίτομον δείξας ἢ καὶ λεωφόρον,
ἣν οὐκ ἔτυχεν εἰδώς.
(18,5) ἀλλ´ ἵνα μὴ πολλὰ πρὸ τοῦ πράγματος, ἤδη οἷς προσέταξας
ἐγχειρητέον. μειρακίῳ μὲν οὖν ἢ νέῳ ἀνδρὶ τοῦ τε πράττειν ἀποχωρῆσαι βουλομένῳ καὶ πρὸς ἀσκήσει γενέσθαι καὶ δύναμιν περιποιήσασθαι
ἐναγώνιον ἑτέρων ἔργων τε καὶ πράξεων δεῖ. σὺ δὲ
οὔτε ἄπειρος τοῦ ἔργου οὔτε ἀπολιπεῖν τὸ πράττειν δύνασαι οὔτε
χρῄζεις δικανικῆς δυνάμεώς τε καὶ δεινότητος, ἀλλὰ τῆς πολιτικῷ
ἀνδρὶ πρεπούσης τε ἅμα καὶ ἀρκούσης.
(18,6) τοῦτο μὲν δὴ πρῶτον ἴσθι,
ὅτι οὐ δεῖ σοι πόνου καὶ ταλαιπωρίας—τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ πολὺ
ἀσκήσαντι ταῦτα ἐπὶ πλεῖστον προάγει, τῷ δὲ ἐπ´ ὀλίγον χρησαμένῳ
συλλήψει τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ ὀκνηρὰν ποιεῖ προσφέρεσθαι, καθάπερ
τοὺς ἀσυνήθεις περὶ σώματος ἄσκησιν εἴ τις κοπώσειε βαρυτέροις
γυμνασίοις, ἀσθενεστέρους ἐποίησεν—ἀλλὰ ὥσπερ τοῖς
ἀήθεσι τοῦ πονεῖν σώμασιν ἀλείψεως δεῖ μᾶλλον καὶ κινήσεως
συμμέτρου ἢ γυμνασίας, οὕτω σοὶ περὶ τοὺς λόγους ἐπιμελείας
ἐστὶ χρεία μᾶλλον ἡδονῇ μεμιγμένης ἢ ἀσκήσεως καὶ πόνου.
τῶν μὲν δὴ ποιητῶν συμβουλεύσαιμ´ ἄν σοι Μενάνδρῳ τε τῶν
κωμικῶν μὴ παρέργως ἐντυγχάνειν καὶ Εὐριπίδῃ τῶν τραγικῶν,
καὶ τούτοις μὴ οὕτως, αὐτὸν ἀναγιγνώσκοντα, ἀλλὰ δι´ ἑτέρων
ἐπισταμένων μάλιστα μὲν καὶ ἡδέως, εἰ δ´ οὖν, ἀλύπως ὑποκρίνασθαι·
πλείων γὰρ ἡ αἴσθησις ἀπαλλαγέντι τῆς περὶ τὸ ἀναγιγνώσκειν ἀσχολίας.
(18,7) καὶ μηδεὶς τῶν σοφωτέρων αἰτιάσηταί με ὡς
προκρίναντα τῆς ἀρχαίας κωμῳδίας τὴν Μενάνδρου ἢ τῶν ἀρχαίων
τραγῳδῶν Εὐριπίδην· οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ ἰατροὶ τὰς πολυτελεστάτας τροφὰς
συντάττουσι τοῖς θεραπείας δεομένοις, ἀλλὰ τὰς ὠφελίμους.
πολὺ δ´ ἂν ἔργον εἴη τὸ λέγειν ὅσα ἀπὸ τούτων χρήσιμα· ἥ τε
γὰρ τοῦ Μενάνδρου μίμησις ἅπαντος ἤθους καὶ χάριτος πᾶσαν
ὑπερβέβληκε τὴν δεινότητα τῶν παλαιῶν κωμικῶν, ἥ τε Εὐριπίδου
προσήνεια καὶ πιθανότης τοῦ μὲν τραγικοῦ ἀναστήματος καὶ ἀξιώματος
τυχὸν οὐκ ἂν τελέως ἐφικνοῖτο, πολιτικῷ δὲ ἀνδρὶ πάνυ
ὠφέλιμος, ἔτι δὲ ἤθη καὶ πάθη δεινὸς πληρῶσαι, καὶ γνώμας πρὸς
ἅπαντα ὠφελίμους καταμίγνυσι τοῖς ποιήμασιν, ἅτε φιλοσοφίας
οὐκ ἄπειρος ὤν.
(18,8) Ὅμηρος δὲ καὶ πρῶτος καὶ μέσος καὶ ὕστατος
παντὶ παιδὶ καὶ ἀνδρὶ καὶ γέροντι, τοσοῦτον ἀφ´ αὑτοῦ διδοὺς
ὅσον ἕκαστος δύναται λαβεῖν. μέλη δὲ καὶ ἐλεγεῖα καὶ ἴαμβοι
καὶ διθύραμβοι τῷ μὲν σχολὴν ἄγοντι πολλοῦ ἄξια· τῷ δὲ
πράττειν τε καὶ ἅμα {τὰς πράξεις} καὶ τοὺς λόγους αὔξειν διανοουμένῳ
οὐκ ἂν εἴη πρὸς αὐτὰ σχολή.
(18,9) τοῖς δ´ ἱστορικοῖς
διὰ πολλὰ ἀνάγκη τὸν πολιτικὸν ἄνδρα μετὰ σπουδῆς ἐντυγχάνειν,
ὅτι καὶ ἄνευ τῶν λόγων τὸ ἔμπειρον εἶναι πράξεων καὶ εὐτυχιῶν
καὶ δυστυχιῶν οὐ κατὰ λόγον μόνον, ἀλλὰ ἐνίοτε καὶ παρὰ
λόγον ἀνδράσι τε καὶ πόλεσι συμβαινουσῶν σφόδρα ἀναγκαῖον πολιτικῷ
ἀνδρὶ καὶ τὰ κοινὰ πράττειν προαιρουμένῳ. ὁ γὰρ πλεῖστα
ἑτέροις συμβάντα ἐπιστάμενος ἄριστα οἷς αὐτὸς ἐγχειρεῖ διαπράξεται
καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων ἀσφαλῶς διάξει καὶ οὔτε εὖ πράττων
παρὰ μέτρον ἐπαρθήσεται, δυσπραγίαν τε πᾶσαν οἴσει γενναίως
διὰ τὸ μηδ´ ἐν οἷς εὖ ἔπραττεν ἀνεννόητος εἶναι τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ ἐναντίον
μεταβολῆς.
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Traduction française :
| [18,0] The Eighteenth Discourse:
On Training for Public Speaking (Sur l'exercice de parler en public).
1 Although I had often praised your character as that of a good man who is worthy to be first among the best, yet I never admired it before as I do now. For that a man in the very prime of life and second to no one in influence, who possesses great wealth and has every opportunity to live in luxury by day and night, should in spite of all this reach out for education also and be eager to acquire training in eloquent speaking, and should display no hesitation even if it should cost toil, seems to me to give proof of an extraordinarily noble soul and one not only ambitious, but in very truth devoted to wisdom. And for that matter the best of the ancients said that they went on learning not only in the prime of life but also as they grew old. 2 And you, as it seems to me, are altogether wise in believing that a statesman needs experience and training in public speaking and in eloquence. For it is true that this will prove of very great help toward making him beloved and influential and esteemed instead of being looked down upon. For when men are afraid, what does more to inspire them than the spoken word? And when they wax insolent and uplifted in spirit, what more effectively brings them down and chastens (p215) them? What has greater influence in keeping them from indulging their desires? Whose admonitions do they endure more meekly than the man's whose speech delights them? 3 Time and again, at any rate, there may be seen in our cities one group of men spending, handing out largess, adorning their city with dedications, but the orators who support these measures getting the applause, as though they and not the others had brought these things about. For this same reason the poets of the earliest times, who received their gift of poetry from the gods, never spoke of either the strong or the beautiful as being 'looked upon as gods,' but reserved this praise for the orators. So it is because you not only have observed all this, but are also endeavouring to put it into practice that I commend and admire you.
4 And I acknowledge on my own behalf a gratitude beyond the ordinary because you have believed that I could be useful to you in carrying out this purpose and this endeavour. For up to the present, as one of the writers of old said that he was 'a good enough prophet for his own self,' so I too considered that I should do well enough for myself in oratory, though barely even that. But you elate me and persuade me to take courage, in the hope that I can be of use to one who not only has attained so high a degree of culture, but is also as gifted as yourself. And perhaps I could, just as a boy or some aged herdsman might, be useful to a strong and vigorous (p217) wayfarer in pointing out a shorter road or a beaten track of which he did not happen to know.
5 But to cut my preface short, I must at once endeavour to carry out your instructions.
For a mere lad, now, or a young man who wishes to withdraw from political life and devote himself to training and to the acquisition of forensic ability, there is need of a different regimen in both tasks and activities. But you are not unacquainted with the task, nor are you able to forsake the political career, nor is it the eloquence and effectiveness of a pleader in the courts of law of which you stand in need, but rather that which is alike fitting and sufficient for a statesman. 6 So first of all, you should know that you have no need of toil or exacting labour; for although, when a man has already undergone a great deal of training, these contribute very greatly to his progress, yet if he has had only a little, they will lessen his confidence and make him diffident about getting into action; just as with athletes who are unaccustomed to the training of the body, such training weakens them if they become fatigued by exercises which are too severe. But just as bodies unaccustomed to toil need anointing and moderate exercise rather than the training of the gymnasium, so you in preparing yourself for public speaking have need of diligence which has a tempering of pleasure rather than laborious training.
(p219) So let us consider the poets: I would counsel you to read Menander of the writers of Comedy quite carefully, and Euripides of the writers of Tragedy, and to do so, not casually by reading them to yourself, but by having them read to you by others, preferably by men who know how to render the lines pleasurably, but at any rate so as not to offend. For the effect is enhanced when one is relieved of the preoccupation of reading. 7 And let no one of the more 'advanced' critics chide me for selecting Menander's plays in preference to the Old Comedy, or Euripides in preference to the earlier writers of Tragedy. For physicians do not prescribe the most costly diet for their patients, but that which is salutary. Now it would be a long task to enumerate all the advantages to be derived from these writers; indeed, not only has Menander's portrayal of every character and every charming trait surpassed all the skill of the early writers of Comedy, but the suavity and plausibility of Euripides, while perhaps not completely attaining to the grandeur of the tragic poet's way of deifying his characters, or to his high dignity, are very useful for the man in public life; and furthermore, he cleverly fills his plays with an abundance of characters and moving incidents, and strews them with maxims useful on all occasions, since he was not without acquaintance with philosophy.
8 But Homer comes first and in the middle and last, in that he gives of himself to every boy and adult and old man just as much as each of them can take. (p221) Lyric and elegiac poetry too, and iambics and dithyrambs are very valuable for the man of leisure, but the man who intends to have a public career and at the same time to increase the scope of his activities and the effectiveness of his oratory, will have no time for them. 9 But the historians for many reasons the statesman must read attentively, because, even apart from the speeches they contain, it is most essential that the statesman, the man who chooses to conduct public affairs, should be acquainted with measures and successes and failures, which happen not only in accordance with reasonable expectation, but also at times contrary thereto, to both men and states. And the reason for this statement is that it is the man with the widest knowledge of what had happened to others who will best carry out his own undertakings, and, so far as it is possible, safely, while every reverse he will bear nobly because of the fact that even in his successes he was never unaware of the possibility of a change to the opposite fortune.
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