Texte grec :
| [4,125] ἐχέτω δὴ καὶ οὗτος ἡμῖν ὁ δαίμων τέλος,
ἵνα μὴ νῦν στολάς τε καὶ μορφὰς προστιθέντες αὐτῷ καὶ τἄλλα
τὰ προσήκοντα πολὺν καὶ ἄπειρον εἰσφερώμεθα λόγων ὄχλον.
(126) εἴη δ´ ἂν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἦθος, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ περιλαβεῖν, φιλόνικον,
ἀνόητον, χαῦνον, ἀλαζονείᾳ καὶ ζηλοτυπίᾳ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις
ἔγγιστα χαλεποῖς καὶ ἀγρίοις πάθεσιν. ἅπαντα γὰρ ταῦτα φιλοτίμῳ
τρόπῳ ψυχῆς ἀκοινώνητα καὶ ἄγρια καὶ χαλεπὰ ἀνάγκη πᾶσα
συνέπεσθαι, ἔτι δὲ αὐτὸν πολὺ μεταλλάττειν καὶ ἀνώμαλον ἔχειν
τὴν διάνοιαν, ἅτε ἀνωμάλῳ δουλεύοντα καὶ προσέχοντα πράγματι,
πυκνότερον καὶ συνεχέστερον ἢ τοὺς κυνηγέτας φασὶ χαίροντα καὶ
λυπούμενον· ἐκείνοις γὰρ δὴ μάλιστα τοῦτο πλεῖστον καὶ συνεχέστατον
συμβαίνειν λέγουσι, φαινομένης τε καὶ ἀπολλυμένης τῆς
(128) ἄγρας· ὅταν μὲν γὰρ εὐδοκιμήσεις τε καὶ ἔπαινοι συμβαίνωσιν
αὐτοῖς, ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ τοιούτου ἀνδρὸς αὔξει καὶ βλαστάνει καὶ θαυμαστὸν
ἴσχει μέγεθος, καθάπερ Ἀθήνησί φασι τὸν ἱερὸν τῆς ἐλαίας
θαλλὸν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ βλαστῆσαι καὶ τέλειον γενέσθαι· ταχὺ δὲ
αὖ πάλιν συστέλλεται καὶ ταπεινοῦται καὶ φθίνει, ψόγου τινὸς
(129) προσπεσόντος ἢ δυσφημίας. ἀπάτη δὲ καὶ τούτῳ παρέπεται τῷ
δαίμονι ἁπασῶν πιθανωτάτη. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἡ τοῦ φιλαργύρου καὶ
φιληδόνου λαμπρὸν μὲν οὐδὲν λόγῳ ἐδύναντο ὑποσχέσθαι, οὐδ´ ὡς
ἐπὶ σεμνὰ καὶ λαμπρὰ προήγαγον τοὺς ἀπατωμένους ὑπ´ αὐτῶν,
ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ὄνομα ἐπεφήμιζον καὶ προσετίθεσαν,
οὕτως ἡ τοῦδε ἀπάτη, ἀλλ´ ἐπᾴδουσα καὶ γοητεύουσά φησι
φιλόκαλον αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ ὡς ἐπ´ ἀρετήν τινα ἢ εὔκλειαν ἄγει τὴν δόξαν.
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Traduction française :
| [4,125] " Let us, then, come to an end with this spirit,
too, for I should prefer at the present time not to
provide him with clothing and shape, and his other
appurtenances, and thus add a great and endless
throng of words. Put briefly, then, he could be
characterized as contentious, foolish, and conceited,
and a prey to vainglory, jealousy, and all such difficult
and savage emotions. For it is quite inevitable that
all these unsociable and savage and difficult feelings
should accompany the honour-seeking type of soul,
and it is natural that he should change his mind often
and be inconsistentinasmuch as he serves and courts
so fickle a thingalternating between joy and sorrow
more often and continuously than hunters are said
to do. For they say this is their especial and most
continuous expérience, when they sight the game and
then lose it again. So it is with the ambitious :
When good repute and praise corne their way, their
souls are magnified and swell and show a wondrous
burgeoning, just like the shoot of the sacred olive
that they tell of at Athens, which swelled and grew
to full size in a single day. But, alas ! they soon
wither again and droop and die when censure and
obloquy overtake them. And Delusion, the most convincing
thing imaginable, besets this spirit also. For
while the miser's delusion and the hedonist's were not
able to promise them definitely a brilliant fruition, and
did not open the door for their dupes to exalted and
splendid destinies, but merely whispered and suggested
to them the names of the blessings in
prospect, it is otherwise with the Delusion of ambition.
Fascinating her victim with her charms and
spells, she tells him he is a lover of all that is good
and leads him towards notoriety as to some virtue
or fair renown.
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