Texte grec :
| [3,0] ΠΕΡΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ.
Σωκράτης Ἀθήνησι, πρεσβύτης ἀνὴρ καὶ πένης, ὃν καὶ σὺ
γιγνώσκεις ἀκοῇ πρὸ πάνυ πολλῶν ἐτῶν γενόμενον, πυθομένου
τινὸς εἰ εὐδαίμονα νομίζοι τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα, Τυχόν, εἶπεν,
εὐδαίμων· οὐκ ἔφη δὲ αὐτὸς εἰδέναι διὰ τὸ μὴ συγγενέσθαι αὐτῷ
μηδὲ γιγνώσκειν ὁποῖός ἐστι τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς οὐκ ἀλλαχόθεν οἶμαι
γιγνόμενον τὸ εὐδαιμονεῖν, ἀπὸ χρυσωμάτων ἢ πόλεων ἢ χώρας ἢ
ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων, ἑκάστῳ δὲ παρά τε αὑτοῦ καὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ διανοίας.
(2) ὁ μὲν οὖν Σωκράτης, ὅτι ἐτύγχανεν ἄπειρος ὢν τοῦ Πέρσου
τῆς ψυχῆς, ἄπειρος ἡγεῖτο εἶναι καὶ τῆς εὐδαιμονίας αὐτοῦ. ἐγὼ
δέ, ὦ γενναῖε αὐτοκράτορ, παραγέγονά σοι, καὶ τυχὸν οὐδενὸς ἧττον
ἔμπειρός εἰμι τῆς σῆς φύσεως, ὅτι τυγχάνεις χαίρων ἀληθείᾳ καὶ
παρρησίᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ θωπείᾳ καὶ ἀπάτῃ.
(3) αὐτίκα τὰς μὲν ἀλόγους
ἡδονὰς ὑποπτεύεις, καθάπερ ἀνθρώπους κόλακας, τοὺς δὲ πόνους
ὑπομένεις, ἐλέγχους ὑπολαμβάνων εἶναι τῆς ἀρετῆς. ἐπειδὴ δὲ
ὁρῶ σε, αὐτοκράτορ, ἐντυγχάνοντα τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἀνδράσι καὶ
συνιέντα φρονίμων καὶ ἀκριβῶν λόγων, φημὶ δὴ σαφῶς ἄνδρα εἶναι
μακάριον, τὸν μεγίστην μὲν ἔχοντα δύναμιν μετὰ τοὺς θεούς, κάλλιστα
δὲ τῷ δύνασθαι χρώμενον.
(4) ᾧ γὰρ ἐξὸν ἁπάντων μὲν ἀπολαύειν τῶν
ἡδέων, μηδενὸς δὲ πειρᾶσθαι τῶν ἐπιπόνων, ῥᾳθυμοῦντα δὲ ὡς
οἷόν τε βιοτεύειν, συνελόντι δὲ εἰπεῖν, πράττοντα ὅ, τι βούλεται,
οὐ μόνον κωλύοντος οὐδενὸς {ὅ,τι βούλεται} ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπαινούντων
ἁπάντων,
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Traduction française :
| [3,0] THE THIRD DISCOURSE ON KINGSHIP.
WHEN Socrates, who, as you also know by tradition,
lived many years ago, was passing his old age in
poverty at Athens, he was asked by someone whether
he considered the Persian king a happy man, and
replied, " Perhaps so "; but he added that he did
not really know, since he had never met him and had
no knowledge of his character, implying, no doubt,
that a man's happiness is not determined by any
external possessions, such as gold plate, cities or
lands, for example, or other human beings, but in
each case by his own self and his own character.
(2) Now Socrates thought that because he did not
know the Persian king's inner life, he did not know
his state of happiness either. I, however, most noble
Prince, have been in your company and am perhaps
as well acquainted with your character as anyone,
and know that you delight in truth and frankness
rather than in flattery and guile. To begin with, you
suspect irrational pleasures just as you do flattering
men, and you endure hardship because you believe
that it puts virtue to the test. And when I see you,
O Prince, perusing the works of the ancients and
comprehending their wise and close reasoning, I maintain
that you are clearly a blessed man in that you wield a
power second only to that of the gods and nevertheless
use that power most nobly. For the man who
may taste of everything that is sweet and avoid
everything that is bitter, who may pass his life in the
utmost case, who, in a word, may follow his own
sweet will, not only without let or hindrance but with
the approval of all
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