[31,10] τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ἀγασθείη τῆς σοφίας τὴν πόλιν; ἀλλ´ οἶμαι πολλὰ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ γιγνομένων {καὶ} μετὰ πόνου πλείονος καὶ δαπάνης οὐ σμικρᾶς ἔστι προῖκα καὶ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως ποιεῖν, εἴ τις ἀμελεῖ τοῦ προσήκοντος καὶ τοῦ πράττειν ἀληθῶς. οἷον εὐθὺς τὰς θυσίας, ἃς ἑκάστοτε τελοῦμεν τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔστι μὴ θύσαντας φάσκειν τεθυκέναι, μόνον, ἂν δοκῇ, στεφανωσαμένους καὶ τῷ βωμῷ προσελθόντας {καὶ τῶν οὐλῶν θιγγάνοντας καὶ τἄλλα ποιοῦντας ὡς ἐφ´ ἱερουργίας}. τί δ´; οὐχὶ ταὐτὸ ἱερεῖον ἅπασιν ἐν κύκλῳ τοῖς ἀγάλμασι προσάγοντας, τῷ τοῦ Διός, τῷ τοῦ Ἡλίου, τῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, καὶ πανταχῇ κατασπείσαντας πᾶσιν οἴεσθαι τεθυκέναι τοῖς θεοῖς οὐ ῥᾴδιον; (31,11) τίς δ´ ὁ κωλύσων; ἐὰν δὲ δὴ βωμὸν ἢ ναὸν νῦν τινος ἱδρύσασθαι θελήσωμεν· καὶ γὰρ εἰ πάντων εἰσὶ παρ´ ὑμῖν {τῶν θεῶν}, οὐκ ἀδύνατον οἶμαι καὶ κρείττω κατασκευάσαι τοῦ πρότερον καὶ διὰ πλειόνων τιμᾶν προελέσθαι τὸν αὐτόν· ἆρ´ οὐχ ἕτοιμον ἐξοικίσαι τινὰ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν ἢ μετενεγκεῖν τι τῶν ἤδη καθιερωμένων; ἢ καὶ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἀλλάξαι μόνον, ὃ νῦν ποιοῦμεν; καίτοι τὸν μὲν Ἀπόλλω καὶ τὸν Ἥλιον καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον ἔνιοί φασιν εἶναι τὸν αὐτόν, καὶ ὑμεῖς οὕτω νομίζετε, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἁπλῶς τοὺς θεοὺς πάντας εἰς μίαν τινὰ ἰσχὺν καὶ δύναμιν συνάγουσιν, ὥστε μηδὲν διαφέρειν τὸ τοῦτον ἢ ἐκεῖνον τιμᾶν. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐθέν ἐστι τοιοῦτον· ἀλλ´ ὁ διδοὺς τὰ τοῦδε ἑτέρῳ τοῦτον ἀφῄρηται τῶν ἑαυτοῦ. (31,12) νὴ Δία, ἀλλ´ οὐχ ὅμοιον τὸ παραβαίνειν τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. οὐδ´ ἐγώ φημι. παραβαίνειν δὲ ὅμως ἔστι καὶ τὰ πρὸς τούτους, ὅταν τις αὐτοῖς μὴ ὑγιῶς προσφέρηται, μηδὲ τοὺς μὲν εἰληφότας ἐῶν ἔχειν ἅ γε δικαίως ἔλαβον, τοῖς δὲ ἀξίοις δόξασι τῶν αὐτῶν ὅ φησιν ὄντως διδούς, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἀποστερῶν τῆς δωρεᾶς, τοὺς δὲ ὥσπερ ἐνεδρεύων καὶ παραλογιζόμενος. (31,13) ἡ μὲν οὖν φύσις τοῦ πράγματος ὁμοία καὶ τὸ ποιεῖν ὁτιοῦν μετὰ ἀπάτης καὶ φενακισμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης μικρολογίας ταὐτό· διαφέρει δ´, ὅτι τὰ μὲν περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς γιγνόμενα μὴ δεόντως ἀσεβήματα καλεῖται, τὰ δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀδικήματα. τούτων τὴν μὲν ἀσέβειαν ἔστω μὴ προσεῖναι τῷ νῦν ἐξεταζομένῳ πράγματι· τὸ λοιπὸν δέ, εἰ μὴ δοκεῖ φυλακῆς ὑμῖν ἄξιον, ἀφείσθω. (31,14) καίτοι καὶ τὴν ἀσέβειαν εὕροι τις ἂν ἴσως τῷ τοιούτῳ προσοῦσαν· λέγω δὲ οὐ περὶ ὑμῶν οὐδὲ περὶ τῆς πόλεως· οὔτε γὰρ ὑμῖν ποτε ἔδοξεν οὔτε δημοσίᾳ γέγονεν· ἀλλ´ αὐτὸ σκοπῶν κατ´ ἰδίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα. τὰ γὰρ περὶ τοὺς κατοιχομένους γιγνόμενα οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀσεβήματα κέκληται καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης τυγχάνει παρὰ τοῖς νόμοις, εἰς οὓς ἄν ποτε ᾖ. τὸ δ´ εἰς ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς καὶ τῆς πόλεως εὐεργέτας ὑβρίζειν καὶ τὰς τιμὰς αὐτῶν καταλύειν καὶ τὴν μνήμην ἀναιρεῖν ἐγὼ μὲν οὐχ ὁρῶ πῶς ἂν ἄλλως ὀνομάζοιτο· ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὺς ζῶντας εὐεργέτας οἱ ἀδικοῦντες οὐκ ἂν εὐλόγως εἶεν ἀπηλλαγμένοι τοῦδε τοῦ ὀνείδους. (31,15) οἱ γοῦν περὶ τοὺς γονεῖς ἐξαμαρτάνοντες, ὅτι τῆς πρώτης καὶ μεγίστης ὑπῆρξαν εὐεργεσίας εἰς ἡμᾶς, εἰκότως ἀσεβεῖν δοκοῦσιν. καὶ τὸ μὲν τῶν θεῶν ἴστε δήπουθεν, ὅτι κἂν σπείσῃ τις αὐτοῖς κἂν θυμιάσῃ μόνον κἂν προσάψηται, μεθ´ ἧς μέντοι προσήκει διανοίας, οὐθὲν ἔλαττον πεποίηκεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ δεῖται τῶν τοιούτων οὐθενὸς ἴσως ὁ θεὸς οἷον ἀγαλμάτων ἢ θυσιῶν· ἄλλως δὲ οὐ μάτην γίγνεται ταῦτα, τὴν προθυμίαν ἡμῶν καὶ τὴν διάθεσιν ἐμφαινόντων πρὸς αὐτούς. (31,16) οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι δέονται καὶ στεφάνου καὶ εἰκόνος καὶ προεδρίας καὶ τοῦ μνημονεύεσθαι. καὶ πολλοὶ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ἤδη τεθνήκασιν, ὅπως ἀνδριάντος τύχωσι καὶ κηρύγματος ἢ τιμῆς ἑτέρας καὶ τοῖς αὖθις καταλίπωσι δόξαν τινὰ ἐπιεικῆ καὶ μνήμην ἑαυτῶν. εἰ γοῦν τις ὑμῶν πύθοιτο, ἁπάντων τῶν τοιούτων ἀνῃρημένων καὶ μηδεμιᾶς εἰς ὕστερον μνήμης ἀπολειπομένης μηδὲ ἐπαίνου τῶν εὖ πραχθέντων, εἰ καὶ πολλοστὸν ἡγεῖσθε μέρος ἂν γεγονέναι τῶν θαυμαζομένων παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνδρῶν ἢ τῶν ἐν πολέμῳ ποτὲ προθύμως ἠγωνισμένων ἢ τῶν τυράννους καθῃρηκότων ἢ τῶν ἑαυτοὺς ἢ τέκνα προειμένων ἕνεκα κοινῆς σωτηρίας ἢ τῶν πόνους μεγάλους πονησάντων ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀρετῆς, ὥσπερ Ἡρακλέα φασὶ καὶ Θησέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἡμιθέους ποτὲ καὶ ἥρωας, οὐκ ἂν οὐθένα εἰπεῖν οἶμαι. (31,17) τὸ γὰρ προκαλούμενον ἕκαστον καὶ κινδύνων καταφρονεῖν καὶ πόνους ὑπομένειν καὶ τὸν μεθ´ ἡδονῆς καὶ ῥᾳθυμίας ὑπερορᾶν βίον οὐκ ἂν ἄλλο τις εὕροι παρά γε τοῖς πλείοσι. τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ποιοῦν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας ἔμπροσθεν εὑρίσκεσθαι τετρωμένους καὶ μὴ μεταστραφέντας οἴχεσθαι, πολλάκις ἑτοίμου τῆς σωτηρίας ἀποκειμένης. διὰ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ ποιητὴς τὸν Ἀχιλλέα μὴ θελῆσαι γηράσαντα ἀποθανεῖν οἴκοι, καὶ τὸν Ἕκτορα μόνον στῆναι πρὸ τῆς πόλεως, εἰ δέοι, πᾶσι μαχούμενον. (31,18) τοῦτο ἦν τὸ ποιῆσαν Λακεδαιμονίων τινὰς ἐν τοῖς στενοῖς ἀντιτάξασθαι πρὸς τοσαύτας Περσῶν μυριάδας. τοῦτο ἐποίησε τοὺς ὑμετέρους προγόνους ἅπασαν γῆν καὶ θάλατταν ἐμπλῆσαι τροπαίων καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς Ἑλλάδος τρόπον τινὰ ἐσβεσμένης μόνους ὑμᾶς ἐφ´ αὑτοῖς διαφυλάξαι τὸ κοινὸν ἀξίωμα τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἰς τὸν νῦν παρόντα χρόνον. ὅθεν εἰκότως μοι δοκεῖτε μεῖζον ἁπάντων ἐκείνων φρονεῖν. (31,19) οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους εὐτυχήσαντες καὶ λαμπροὶ φανέντες τὰ λοιπὰ ἐξήμαρτον, φθόνου μᾶλλον καὶ ἀνοίας καὶ φιλονικίας ἤπερ ἀρετῆς ἐπίδειξιν ποιούμενοι, μέχρι μηδενὸς ἔξωθεν ἐνοχλοῦντος αὐτοὶ παρείθησαν καὶ πάντα ἤδη τὸν βουλόμενον εἶναι δεσπότην ἐκάλουν. ὑμεῖς δὲ τοσούτους πολέμους κατωρθωκότες ἅπαντας οὐχ ἧττον καλῶς ἀνείλεσθε ἢ γενναίως ἐπολεμήσατε·

[31,10] Who, pray, from this point of view, could help admiring the cleverness of your city? But I imagine that many things in life which require both special effort and no little expense can be done without cost and quite easily, if one disregards propriety and sincerity. Take, for instance, the sacrifices which we duly offer to the gods: it is possible simply to say they have been offered without offering them, merely, if you please, putting on our wreaths and approaching the altar, and then touching the barley groats and performing all the other rites as we do in an act of worship. And here is an idea! We (p17) might lead the same sacrificial victim up to all the statues in turn: to that of Zeus, to that of Helius, to Athena's, and after pouring libations at each one, make believe that we have sacrificed to all the gods — would not that be easy? 11 Who is going to prevent our doing this? And if we wish now to set up an altar or a temple to some god — for even though altars of all the gods are to be found among you, I take it that it is not impossible both to build a better altar than the last one you built and also deliberately to honour the same god by a greater number of them — is it not quite feasible to dispossess one of the other gods, or to shift one that has been already consecrated? Or else simply to alter the inscription — exactly as we are now doing? Indeed, some do maintain that Apollo, Helius, and Dionysus are one and the same, and this is your view, and many people even go so far as to combine all the gods and make of them one single force and power, so that it makes no difference at all whether you are honouring this one or that one. But where men are concerned the situation is not at all like that; on the contrary, whoever gives A's goods to B robs A of what is rightfully his. 12 "Yes, by Zeus," someone says, "but there is no similarity between violating our obligation towards the gods and that toward men." Neither do I say there is. But still it is possible to violate one's obligation towards men also, when one does not deal honestly with them, when one does not even permit those who have received anything to keep what they have justly acquired, or actually gives what the giver asserts he is giving to those who have been considered worthy of the same reward, but deprives the one class of their gift and deceives and (p19) hoodwinks the other. 13 Now the essential nature of the act is the same, and doing anything whatever with deceit and trickery and the extreme of niggardliness amounts to the same thing; but there is this difference, that unseemly actions in what concerns the gods are called impiety, whereas such conduct when done by men to one another is called injustice. Of these two terms let it be conceded that impiety does not attach to the practice under examination; and henceforth, unless it seems to you worth guarding against, let this matter be dropped. 14 And yet even impiety might perhaps be found to attach to such conduct — I am not speaking about you nor about your city, for you have never formally approved nor has the practice ever been officially sanctioned; I am considering the act in and of itself from the private point of view — for is it not true that wrong treatment of those who have passed away is rightly called impiety and is given this designation in our laws, no matter who those are against whom such acts are committed? But to commit an outrage against good men who have been the benefactors of the state, to annul the honours given them and to blot out their remembrance, I for my part do not see how that could be otherwise termed. 15 Why, even those who wrong living benefactors cannot reasonably be clear of this reproach. At any rate those who wrong their parents, because these were the authors of the first and greatest benefaction to us, are quite fairly held guilty of impiety. And as for the gods, you know, I presume, that whether a person makes a libation to them or merely offers incense or approaches them, so long as his spirit is right, he has done his full (p21) duty; for perhaps God requires no such thing as images or sacrifices at all. But in any event these acts are not ineffectual, because we thereby show our zeal and our disposition towards the gods. 16 But when we come to men, they require crowns, images, the right of precedence, and being kept in remembrance; and many in times past have even given up their lives just in order that they might get a statue and have their name announced by the herald or receive some other honour and leave to succeeding generations a fair name and remembrance of themselves. At any rate, if anyone should inquire of you, all things such as these having been taken away and no remembrance being left for future times nor commendation given for deeds well done, whether you think there would have been even the smallest fraction of men who are admired by all the world either because they had fought zealously in some war, or had slain tyrants, or had sacrificed themselves or their children in behalf of the common weal, or had undergone great labours for virtue's sake, as they say Heracles did, and Theseus and the other semi-divine heroes of the past, no man here among you, I think, would answer yes. 17 For you will find that there is nothing else, at least in the case of the great majority, that incites every man to despise danger, to endure toils, and to scorn the life of pleasure and ease. This is the reason why brave men are (p23) found on the battlefield wounded in front instead of having turned and fled, though safety was often ready at hand. This is what the poet gives as Achilles' reason for refusing to grow old and die at home, and for Hector's standing alone in defence of his city, ready if need be to fight against the entire host. This is what made a mere handful of Spartans stand in the narrow pass against so many myriads of Persians. 18 It was this which made your ancestors fill every land and sea with their monuments of victory, and when the rest of Hellas in a sense had been blotted out, to guard the national honour of the Hellenes by their unaided efforts up to the present time.9 For this reason I think that you are justified in feeling greater pride than all the rest of them taken together. 19 For whereas the others at the beginning did win successes against the barbarians and made themselves a brilliant name, for the rest they failed by giving a display of jealousy, folly, and quarrelsomeness rather than of virtue, until, although no foreign power was troubling them, they deteriorated of themselves and finally invited anyone who wished to be their master. But you Rhodians, who have won so many wars, have settled them all no less honourably than you have gallantly waged them.