Texte grec :
| [12,62] εἰ δ´ ὑμῖν ἐπαίτιός εἰμι τοῦ σχήματος, οὐκ ἂν φθάνοιτε
Ὁμήρῳ πρότερον χαλεπῶς ἔχοντες· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ οὐ μόνον μορφὴν
ἐγγύτατα τῆς δημιουργίας ἐμιμήσατο, χαίτας τε ὀνομάζων τοῦ
θεοῦ, ἔτι δὲ ἀνθερεῶνα εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ποιήσεως, ὅτε φησὶν ἱκετεύειν τὴν
Θέτιν ὑπὲρ τιμῆς τοῦ παιδός· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις
ὁμιλίας τε καὶ βουλεύσεις καὶ δημηγορίας τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔτι δὲ ἐξ Ἴδης
ἀφίξεις πρὸς οὐρανὸν καὶ Ὄλυμπον, ὕπνους τε καὶ συμπόσια καὶ
μίξεις, μάλα μὲν ὑψηλῶς σύμπαντα κοσμῶν τοῖς ἔπεσιν, ὅμως δὲ
ἐχόμενα θνητῆς ὁμοιότητος. καὶ δή γε καὶ ὁπότε ἐτόλμησεν Ἀγαμέμνονα
προσεικάσαι τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς κυριωτάτοις μέρεσιν εἰπών,
ὄμματα καὶ κεφαλὴν ἴκελος Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ. τὸ δέ γε τῆς ἐμῆς ἐργασίας
οὐκ ἄν τις οὐδὲ μανείς τινι ἀφομοιώσειεν {οὐδὲ} θνητῷ,
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Traduction française :
| [12,62] "But if you find fault with me for the human
figure, you should make haste to be angry with
Homer first ; for he not only represented a form most
nearly like this statue of mine by mentioning the
flowing locks of the god and the chin too at the very
beginning of his poem, when he says that Thetis
made supplication for the bestowal of honour upon
her son; but in addition to these things he ascribes
to the gods meetings and counsellings and harangues,
then also journeyings from Ida to the heavens and
Olympus, and sleep-scenes and drinking-bouts and
love-embraces, clothing everything in very lofty
poetical language and yet keeping close to mortal
likeness. And the most striking instance of this is
when he ventured to liken Agamemnon to the god
in respect to the most distinctive features by saying,
"His eye and lofty brow the counterpart
Of Zeus, the Lord of thunder".
But as to the product of my workmanship nobody,
not even an insane person, would liken it to any
mortal man soever,
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