[2,35] τῷ παντὶ γὰρ κρείττων οὗτος κόσμος τῶν ἱερῶν ἢ σμαράγδων καὶ σαρδίων καὶ ὀνύχων, οἷος ἦν ὁ Σαρδαναπάλου περὶ Νίνον. οὐ γὰρ βασιλέως τὰ τοιαῦτα φιλοτιμήματα οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλ´ ἀνοήτου μὲν παίγνια κόρης, ἀκολάστου δὲ γυναικός. (36) οὔκουν οὐδὲ Ἀθηναίους οὕτως, ἔφη, ζηλῶ τῆς δαπάνης καὶ πολυτελείας τῆς περὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ ὅσον τῶν ἔργων ἃ ἔπραξαν οἱ πρότερον· τὸν γὰρ ἀκινάκην τὸν Μαρδονίου πολὺ σεμνότερον καὶ κρεῖττον ἀνάθημα ἔχουσιν καὶ τὰς Λακώνων ἀσπίδας τῶν ἐν Πύλῳ ποτὲ ἁλόντων ἢ τὰ προπύλαια τῆς ἀκροπόλεως καὶ τὸ Ὀλύμπιον ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἢ μυρίων ταλάντων. (37) Οὐκοῦν, ἦ δ´ ὃς ὁ Φίλιππος, ἐνταῦθα τὸν Ὅμηρον οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις ἐπαινεῖν. τὰ γὰρ τοῦ Ἀλκίνου βασίλεια, ἀνδρὸς Ἕλληνος καὶ νησιώτου, διεκόσμησεν οὐ μόνον κήποις καὶ φυτοῖς καὶ ὕδασιν, ὡς ἥδιστα ἐνοικεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγάλμασι χρυσοῖς. ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον τὴν τοῦ Μενελάου οἴκησιν, καὶ ταῦτα ἀπὸ στρατείας ἥκοντος, ἆρ´ οὐ Περσικήν τινα καὶ Μηδικὴν ἐξηγεῖται, σχεδόν τε οὐ πολὺ ἀποδέουσαν Σεμιράμιδος ἢ Δαρείου τε καὶ Ξέρξου τῶν βασιλείων; (38) φησὶ γοῦν, ὥστε γὰρ ἠελίου αἴγλη πέλεν ἠὲ σελήνης δῶμα καθ´ ὑψερεφὲς Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο χρυσοῦ τ´ ἠλέκτρου τε καὶ ἀργύρου ἠδ´ ἐλέφαντος. (39) τοῖς γὰρ Τρωικοῖς σκύλοις ἐχρῆν μᾶλλον λάμπειν αὐτὸ ἢ τούτοις κατά γε τὴν σὴν διάνοιαν. καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἐπισχών, Οὐκ ἔγωγε, εἶπε, τὸν Ὅμηρον ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ ἀναπολόγητον· ἴσως γὰρ πρὸς τὸν τοῦ Μενελάου τρόπον ἐποίησε τὰ βασίλεια, ὅν φησι μόνον εἶναι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν μαλθακὸν αἰχμητήν.

[2,35] For such adornment of sacred places is altogether superior to jasper, carnelian, and onyx, with which Sardanapallus bedecked Nineveh. Indeed, such ostentation is by no means seemly for a king though it may furnish amusement to some silly girl or extravagant woman. And so I do not envy the Athenians, either, so much for the extravagant way they embellished their city and their temples as for the deeds their forefathers wrought ; for in the sword of Mardonius and the shields of the Spartans who were captured at Pylos they have a far grander and more excellent dedication to the gods than they have in the Propylaea of the Acropolis and in the Olympieum, which cost more than ten thousand talents." (37) "In this particular, then," said Philip, "you could not endorse Homer; for he has embellished the palace of Alcinoüs, a Greek and an islander, not only with gardens and orchards and fountains, and thus made it a most charming home, but with statues of gold also. Nay, more, does he not describe the dwelling of Menelaus, for all that he had just got back from a campaign, as though it were some Persian or Median establishment, almost equalling the palaces of Semiramis, or of Darius and Xerxes? He says, for instance : `A radiance bright, as of the sun or moon, Throughout the high-roofed halls of Atreus' son Did shine.' The sheen of bronze, Of gold, of silver, and of ivory.' (39) And yet, according to your conception, it should have shone, not with such materials, but rather with Trojan spoils ! " Here Alexander checked him and said, "I have no notion at all of letting Homer go undefended. For it is possible that he described the palace of Menelaus to accord with his character, since he is the only one of the Achaeans whom he makes out to be a faint-hearted warrior.