Texte grec :
| [4,80] ὁ δὲ ἴδιος ἑκάστου νοῦς, οὗτός ἐστι δαίμων τοῦ ἔχοντος ἀνδρός,
ἀγαθὸς μὲν ὁ τοῦ φρονίμου καὶ ἀγαθοῦ δαίμων, πονηρὸς δὲ
ὁ τοῦ πονηροῦ, ὡσαύτως δὲ ἐλεύθερος μὲν ὁ τοῦ ἐλευθέρου,
δοῦλος δὲ ὁ τοῦ δούλου, καὶ βασιλικὸς μὲν ὁ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ
(81) καὶ μεγαλόφρονος, ταπεινὸς δὲ ὁ τοῦ ταπεινοῦ καὶ ἀγεννοῦς. ἵνα
δέ, ἔφη, μὴ καθ´ ἓν ἕκαστον ἐπιὼν πολύ τι πλῆθος ἐπάγωμαι
λόγων, ἐρῶ τοὺς κοινοτάτους καὶ φανερωτάτους δαίμονας, ὑφ´ ὧν
ἅπαντες, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἐλαύνονται τύραννοι καὶ ἰδιῶται καὶ πλούσιοι
καὶ πένητες καὶ ὅλα ἔθνη καὶ πόλεις. ἐνταῦθα δὴ πάντα ἀνεὶς
(82) κάλων μάλα ὑψηλῶς καὶ ἀδεῶς τὸν ἑξῆς διεπέραινε λόγον.
Πολλαὶ μέν, ὦ παῖ Φιλίππου, περὶ πάντα κακίαι τε καὶ
διαφθοραὶ τῶν ἀθλίων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τοσαῦται σχεδὸν ὅσας οὐ
δυνατὸν διελθεῖν. τῷ ὄντι γὰρ κατὰ τὸν ποιητὴν
οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδ´ εἰπεῖν ἔπος
οὐδὲ πάθος οὐδὲ συμφορὰν θεήλατον,
ἧς οὐκ ἂν ἄραιτ´ ἄχθος ἀνθρώπου φύσις.
(83) τριῶν δὲ ἐπικρατούντων, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, βίων, εἰς οὓς μάλιστα
ἐμπίπτουσιν οἱ πολλοί, μὰ Δί´ οὐ μετὰ λογισμοῦ σκεψάμενοι καὶ
δοκιμάσαντες, ἀλόγῳ δὲ ὁρμῇ καὶ τύχῃ προσενεχθέντες, τοσούτους
φατέον εἶναι καὶ δαίμονας, οἷς συνέπονται καὶ λατρεύουσιν ὁ πολὺς
καὶ ἀμαθὴς ὅμιλος, ἄλλοι ἄλλῳ, καθάπερ ἡγεμόνι πονηρῷ καὶ
(84) μαινομένῳ πονηρὸς καὶ ἀσελγὴς θίασος. ἔστι δὲ τούτων ὧν ἔφην
βίων ὁ μὲν ἡδυπαθὴς καὶ τρυφερὸς περὶ τὰς τοῦ σώματος ἡδονάς,
ὁ δ´ αὖ φιλοχρήματος καὶ φιλόπλουτος, ὁ δὲ τρίτος ἀμφοτέρων
ἐπιφανέστερός τε καὶ μᾶλλον τεταραγμένος, ὁ φιλότιμος καὶ φιλόδοξος,
ἐκδηλοτέραν καὶ σφοδροτέραν ἐπιδεικνύμενος τὴν ταραχὴν
καὶ τὴν μανίαν, ἐξαπατῶν αὑτόν, ὡς καλοῦ δή τινος ἐραστήν.
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Traduction française :
| [4,80] and that each one 's intelligence—this and nothing more —
is the guiding spirit of its owner, that the wise and
good man's spirit is good, the evil man's evil, and
likewise the free man's is free, the slave's slavish,
the kingly and high-minded man's kingly, the abject
and base man's abject. "However, not to provoke
a tedious discussion,"he continued, "by taking up
each separate point, I shall mention the commonest
and most noticeable spirits by which everybody,
generally speaking, is actuated—tyrants and
private citizens, rich and poor, whole nations and
cities." Thereupon he let out all his sails and delivered
the following discourse with great loftiness and courage.
(82) "Many, thou son of Philip, are the vices and corrupting
influences that in all circumstances beset
wretched man, and they are well-nigh more numerous
than tongue can tell. For in truth, as the poet says,
'No word is there so fraught with fear to speak,
Nor sorrow, nor calamity god-sent,
But mortal man might bear the weight thereof."
(83) " Now as there are, roughly speaking, three prevailing
types of lives which the majority usually
adopt, not after thoughtful consideration and
testing, I assure you, but because they are carried
away by chance and thoughtless impulse, we must
affirm that there is just the same number of spirits
whom the great mass of foolish humanity follows and
serves—some men one spirit and some another —
just as a wicked and wanton troop follows a wicked
and frenzied leader. Of these types of lives which
I have mentioned, the first is luxurious and self-indulgent
as regards bodily pleasures, the second, in
its turn, is acquisitive and avaricious, while the third
is more conspicuous and more disordered than the
other two—I mean the one that loves honour and
glory—and it manifests a more evident and violent
disorder or frenzy, deluding itself into believing
that it is enamoured of some noble ideal.
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