Texte grec :
| [1,10] πολλοὶ μὲν οὖν κατὰ φιλοσοφίαν λόγοι
καὶ πάντες ἀκοῆς ἄξιοι καὶ θαυμαστὴν ὠφέλειαν ἔχοντες τοῖς μὴ
παρέργως ἀκροωμένοις· ἀλλὰ δεῖ τὸν ἐγγύς τε καὶ μάλιστα ἁψόμενον
ἀνευρόντας καὶ παρακαλέσαντας Πειθώ τε καὶ Μούσας καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα
ὡς δυνατὸν προθύμως διελθεῖν.
(11) φέρε εἴπωμεν τά τε ἤθη καὶ τὴν διάθεσιν τοῦ χρηστοῦ βασιλέως,
ἐν βραχεῖ περιλαμβάνοντες ὡς ἔνεστιν,
ᾧ ἔδωκε Κρόνου παῖς ἀγκυλομήτεω
σκῆπτρόν τ´ ἠδὲ θέμιστας, ἵνα σφίσι βουλεύῃσιν.
(12) πάνυ γὰρ οὖν καλῶς σὺν ἄλλοις πλείοσιν Ὅμηρος, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, καὶ
τοῦτο ἔφη, ὡς οὐχ ἅπαντας παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς ἔχοντας τὸ σκῆπτρον
οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ταύτην, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸν ἀγαθόν, οὐδὲ ἐπ´ ἄλλοις
τισὶ δικαίοις ἢ τῷ βουλεύεσθαι καὶ φροντίζειν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀρχομένων,
(13) οὐχ ὥστε ἀκολασταίνειν καὶ σπαθᾶν, ἀνοίας καὶ ὕβρεως καὶ
ὑπερηφανίας καὶ πάσης ἀνομίας {ἐμπιμπλάμενόν τε καὶ} ἀποπιμπλάντα
ἐξ ἅπαντος αὑτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν τεταραγμένην ὀργαῖς τε καὶ
λύπαις καὶ φόβοις καὶ ἡδοναῖς καὶ παντοίαις ἐπιθυμίαις, ἀλλ´ ὡς
οἷόν τε προσέχοντα τὸν νοῦν αὑτῷ καὶ τοῖς ὑπηκόοις, νομέα καὶ
ποιμένα τῷ ὄντι τῶν λαῶν γιγνόμενον, οὐχ ἑστιάτορα καὶ δαιτυμόνα,
ὡς ἔφη τις. ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ οὐδὲ καθεύδειν αὐτὸν ἀξιοῖ δι´ ὅλης
τῆς νυκτός, ὡς οὐκ οὖσαν αὐτῷ σχολὴν ῥᾳθυμεῖν.
(14) ταῦτα γάρ φησι καὶ Ὅμηρος ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις σοφοῖς τε καὶ ἀληθέσιν
ἀνδράσιν, ὡς οὐδείς ποτε πονηρὸς καὶ ἀκόλαστος καὶ φιλοχρήματος οὔτε
αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι δυνατὸς ἄρχων οὐδ´ ἐγκρατὴς οὔτε τῶν
ἄλλων οὐδενός, οὐδ´ ἔσται ποτὲ ἐκεῖνος βασιλεύς, οὐδ´ ἂν πάντες
φῶσιν Ἕλληνες καὶ βάρβαροι καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες, καὶ μὴ μόνον
ἄνθρωποι θαυμάζωσιν αὐτὸν καὶ ὑπακούωσιν, ἀλλ´ οἵ τε ὄρνιθες
πετόμενοι καὶ τὰ θηρία ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι μηδὲν ἧττον τῶν ἀνθρώπων
συγχωρῇ τε καὶ ποιῇ τὸ προσταττόμενον.
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Traduction française :
| [1,10] Many, however, are the themes of philosophy, and
all are worth hearing and marvellously profitable for
any who listen with more than casual attention ;
but since we have found as our hearer one who is near
at hand and ready eagerly to grasp our words, we
must summon to our aid Persuasion, the Muses,
and Apollo, and pursue our task with the greatest
possible devotion.
Let me state, then, what are the characteristics
and disposition of the ideal king, summarizing them
as briefly as possible—the king
" to whom the son Of Saturn gives the sceptre, making him
The lawgiver, that he may rule the rest."
Now it seems to me that Homer was quite right
in this as in many other sayings, for it implies
that not every king derives his sceptre or this royal
office from Zeus, but only the good king, and that
he receives it on no other title than that he shall
plan and study the welfare of his subjects ; he is
not to become licentious or profligate, stuffing and
gorging with folly, insolence, arrogance, and all
manner of lawlessness, by any and every means
within his power, a soul perturbed by anger, pain,
fear, pleasure, and lusts of every kind, but to the
best of his ability he is to devote his attention to
himself and his subjects, becoming indeed a guide
and shepherd of his people, not, as someone has
said, a caterer and banqueter at their expense.
Nay, he ought to be just such a man as to think
that he should not sleep at all the whole night
through as having no leisure for idieness. Homer,
too, in agreement with all other wise and truthful men,
says that no wicked or licentious or avaricious person
can ever become a competent ruler or master either
of himself or of anybody else, nor will such a man
ever be a king even though all the world, both
Greeks and barbarians, men and women, affirm the
contrary, yea, though not only men admire and
obey him, but the birds of the air and the wild beasts
on the mountains no less than men submit to him
and do his bidding.
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