Chapter VII: The Grecian Orators (2)

Now, after we were all arrested and the prison doors were
shut at night, there came the mother of one man, the sister
of another, and the wife and children of another. Then they
wept and bewailed their misfortunes. And Charmides, a
cousin of my own age, who had been brought up in our home
from childhood, said to me: "Andocides, you see how great
our calamity is. Although, then, heretofore, I had no wish
to speak or to give you pain, yet I am now constrained to
do so by our present evil. For all your friends and
associates, except us, your relations, have either been put
to death of the reasons on account of which we now perish,
or have gone into exile, thereby condemning themselves. If,
then, you know anything of this matter, tell it, and save
first yourself, then your father, whom you ought to love
exceedingly, then your brother-in-law, who married your
only sister, then the rest of your numerous kinsmen and
relatives, and finally me, who never grieved you in my
whole life, but have ever been most eager to do whatever
was for your interest."

Now when Charmides had said this, judges, and each of the
others besought and supplicated me, I reflected how unhappy
I was to have fallen into such misfortune. Was I to see my
kinsman put to death unjustly and their property
confiscated, and see those who were in no sense to blame
for what had been done have their names inscribed on
columns as impious sinners against the gods? Was I further
to see three hundred Athenians perish undeservedly, the
city involved in calamity, and the citizens suspicious of
one another? Was I, I ask, to sit by idly, and see all
this, or was it my place to tell the people of Athens what
I had heard from Euphiletus himself, the man who committed
the outrage? I further reflected, judges, that of those who
had wrought the deed of shame some had been put to death on
the information of Teucrus, and others, having gone into
exile, had sentence of death passed upon them in their
absence. Four remained, who had not been informed against
by Teucrus,--Panaetius, Chaeredamus, Diacritus, and
Lysistratus. These men above all seemed likely to have been
confederates of those against whom Diocleides had informed,
since they were their intimate friends. For these men,
then, safety was never secure; but over my own relatives
hung certain destruction, unless some one told the people
of Athens the actual facts. It seemed to me, therefore,
better to deprive these four men of their country, who are
still alive and have returned to enjoy their patrimony,
than to see my own suffer an unjust death. Such were my
reflections.

If now any of you, judges, had a preconceived idea that I
have information to ruin these men and save myself--an
assertion that my enemies make in their attempt to asperse
my character--examine that idea in the light of the facts.
For I must now give a truthful account of my doings in the
presence of the very men who perpetrated the crime and then
fled. They know best whether I lie or speak the truth, and
may confute me, if they can, in the course of my speech;
for I appeal to them. But you must learn the facts. For in
this trial, judges, nothing is so important for me as that,
if acquitted, I should be acquitted with honor; and,
further, that the general public should understand my whole
conduct to have been absolutely free from baseness or
cowardice. I told what I had heard from Euphiletus through
solicitude for my friends and kinsmen, through solicitude
for the whole city, with courage and not cowardice. If,
then, this is so, I ask you to acquit me and not to think
me base.

Now consider--for a judge ought to examine the facts by a
human standard, as if the misfortune had been his own--what
would any one of you have done? If it had been a question
of death with honor or life with shame, you might condemn
my conduct as cowardice. And yet many would have chosen
life in preference to an honorable death. But here the case
was the very reverse: by keeping silent I must have
perished ignominiously in my innocence, and must also have
permitted the destruction of my father, of my
brother-in-law, of all my cousins and relations, whom I and
no one else threatened with death, by concealing the guilt
of others. The falsehoods of Diocleides had sent them to
prison; their only hope of deliverance lay in the Athenians
learning the whole truth. I was in danger, therefore, of
becoming their murderer, if I failed to tell you what I had
heard. I was also in danger of destroying three hundred
Athenians, and of involving Athens in the most serious
evils. This, then, was the prospect, if I were silent.

How different the prospect if I had made known the truth!
Then I should save myself, my father, and my kinsmen, and
should deliver the city from dangers and misfortunes.
Accordingly four men who participated in the crime were
driven into exile through me. I had nothing, however, to do
with the death or exile of the men against whom Teucrus had
laid information. Considering all this, judges, I concluded
that the least of the pressing evils was to tell the whole
truth, and, by convicting Diocleides of falsifying, to have
him punished--a man who sought to ruin us unjustly by
deceiving the city, and who, for so doing, was proclaimed a
public benefactor and received money from the state. I
therefore told the Senate that I knew the men who did the
act; that, while we were at a banquet, Euphiletus suggested
this scheme, which was not carried out then on account of
my opposition; but that later, when I had fallen from my
horse in the Cynosarges, and had broken my collar-bone and
cut my head, so that I had to be carried home on a
stretcher, Euphiletus, seeing my condition, told his
confederates that I had agreed to coöperate with them and
would mutilate the Hermes by the Phorbanteum. Thus did he
deceive them. Yet on that very account the Hermes near my
father's house, dedicated by the Aegean tribe, is, as you
all know, the only one in Athens not mutilated; for that
task, as Euphiletus told his companions, was assigned to
me. When they found this out, they were furious, because I
knew of the deed without having had a hand in it. On the
following day Meletus and Euphiletus came to me and said:
"We have done the deed, Andocides. And if you think fit to
remain silent, you will have our friendship as heretofore;
otherwise our enmity will be more effectual than any
friendship you can make by betraying us." Thereupon I told
them that I considered Euphiletus a villain, and that they
ought to feel furious, not because I knew it, but because
they had done the abominable deed. In support of this
statement I gave my own slave for the torture, to prove
that I had been ill and unable even to leave my bed; and
the Presidents received the female slaves for examination
in the house from which the conspirators set forth to begin
their work. After the Senate and the commission of inquiry
found out that everything was just as I had stated, they
summoned Diocleides. No words were wasted. He at once
admitted that he had lied, and asked to be spared on
condition of revealing the men who had put him up to it. He
said they were Alcibaides of the deme of Phegeus and
Amiantus from Aegina; both of whom fled in fear. After you
had heard this you imprisoned Diocleides and put him to
death, but delivered my relatives from destruction--all on
my account. Moreover you allowed the exiles to return; and
you yourselves were freed from great dangers and evils.

Wherefore, judges, you ought to pity me in my misfortune;
nay, you ought to hold me in honor for what I have done.
When Euphiletus proposed the most traitorous of all
compacts, I opposed him, and upbraided him as he deserved.
Yet I concealed the crime of the conspirators, even when
some were put to death and others driven into exile through
the information laid by Teucrus. Only after we were
imprisoned and on the point of being put to death through
the instrumentality of Diocleides, did I denounce the four
conspirators--Panaetius, Diacritus, Lysistratus, and
Chaeredemus. These men, I admit, were driven into exile on
my account. But my act saved my father, my brother-in-law,
three cousins, and seven other relatives, all of whom were
about to suffer an unjust death. These now behold the light
of day on my account, and they frankly admit it. Moreover,
the man who threw the whole city into confusion and
involved it in the greatest dangers has been convicted.
Finally you have been delivered from great dangers and
freed from suspicion, one against another.

Recall, now, judges, whether I speak the truth, and do
those of you who know, enlighten the rest. And do you,
clerk, call the persons themselves who were released
through me; for they know and can tell you best. This is
so, judges; as they will come up and testify as long as you
care to listen. . . .

And now, gentlemen, when you are about to pronounce final
judgment, there are certain things you should call to mind.
Remember that you now enjoy among all the Greeks the
enviable reputation of being not only brave on the field of
battle, but wise in the council chamber, since you attend
not so much to the punishment of past misdeeds as to the
future security of the State and the concord of its
citizens. Other States as well as ours have had their share
of evils. But the peaceful settlement of civil discord is
the triumph of the best and wisest peoples. Since, then,
you have the admiration of all nations, hostile as well as
friendly, take care that you do not deprive your city of
its fair fame, or create the impression that your success
is due rather to chance than deliberation.

I ask you further to have the same opinion of me that you
have of my ancestors. Give me the chance to follow their
example. They occupy a place in the memory of their
countrymen by the side of the greatest benefactors of the
State. They served their country nobly and well, chiefly
through good will to you, and with the further purpose
that, if ever they or their descendants should fall into
misfortune, they might find favor and pardon with you.
Forget them not; for once their meritorious deeds served
our city in a time of need. When our navy was annihilated
at Aegospotami, and many were bent on the destruction of
Athens, the Spartans decided to save the city through
respect for the memory of those men who had fought for the
liberty of all Greece. Since, then, our city was saved
through the merits of my ancestors; for to the deeds that
saved our city my ancestors contributed no small part.
Share with me, then, the salvation that you received from
the Greeks.

Consider, also, if you save me, what manner of citizen you
will have in me. Once rich and affluent, I have been
reduced to penury and want through no fault of mine, but
through calamities that befell our city. Since then I have
earned my livelihood in an honest way, toiling with my
hands and brain. Many friends, I have, too; among them
kings and great men of the world, whose friendship you will
share with me.

If, on the other hand, you destroy me, there will be no one
left to perpetuate our name and family. And yet the home of
Andocides and Leogoras is no disgrace to Athens. But great
will be the disgrace if I am in exile, and Cleophon, the
lyremaker, dwells in the house of my fathers--a house whose
walls are decked with trophies taken by my ancestors from
the enemies of their country.

Though my ancestors be dead, let their memory still live,
and fancy that you see their shades solemnly pleading in my
behalf. For whom else have I to plead for me? My father? He
is dead. Brothers? I have none. Children? None have yet
been born to me.

Do you, then, be to me father, brother, children. To you I
flee for refuge; you I supplicate and beseech. Turn then,
in supplication to yourselves, and grant me life and safety.

LYSIAS

Lysias, while he never attained Athenian citizenship, resided most of his life at Athens, and took an important and intimate part in the affairs of that city while it was a democracy. The ancient historians place his birth at 459 B.C., and his death at 378 B.C., but modern critics would place his birth at about 440 B.C., and his death at 380 B.C. Thirty-four orations are ascribed to Lysias, but the authenticity of several of them is questionable. His style is simple and clear, at the same time possessing force and vividness of expression.

The oration here given was delivered in Athens in 403 B.C., and is considered the best of his speeches that have come down to us. Eratosthenes was one of the Thirty Tyrants who decreed the death of the brother of Lysias.

_Against Eratosthenes_ (403 B.C.). It is an easy matter, O
Athenians, to begin this accusation. But to end it without
doing injustice to the cause will be attended with no small
difficulty. For the crimes of Eratosthenes are not only too
atrocious to describe, but too many to enumerate. No
exaggeration can exceed, and within the time assigned for
this discourse it is impossible fully to represent them.
This trial, too, is attended with another singularity. In
other causes it is usual to ask the accusers: "What is your
resentment against the defendants?" But here you must ask
the defendant: "What was your resentment against your
country? What malice did you bear your fellow citizens? Why
did you rage with unbridled fury against the state itself?"

The time has now indeed come, Athenians, when, insensible
to pity and tenderness, you must be armed with just
severity against Eratosthenes and his associates. What
avails it to have conquered them in the field, if you be
overcome by them in your councils? Do not show them more
favor for what they boast they will perform, than
resentment for what they have already committed. Nor, after
having been at so much pains to become masters of their
persons, allow them to escape without suffering that
punishment which you once sought to inflict; but prove
yourselves worthy of that good fortune which has given you
power over your enemies.

The contest is very unequal between Eratosthenes and you.
Formerly he was both judge and accuser; but we, even while
we accuse, must at the same time make our defense. Those
who were innocent he put to death without trial. To those
who are guilty we allow the benefit of law, even though no
adequate punishment can ever be inflicted. For should we
sacrifice them and their children, would this compensate
for the murder of your fathers, your sons, and your
brothers? Should we deprive them of their property, would
this indemnify the individuals whom they have beggared, or
the State which they have plundered? Though they can not
suffer a punishment adequate to their demerit, they ought
not, surely, on this account, to escape. Yet how matchless
is the effrontery of Eratosthenes, who, being now judged by
the very persons whom he formerly injured, still ventures
to make his defense before the witnesses of his crimes.
What can show more evidently the contempt in which he holds
you, or the confidence which he reposes in others?

Let me now conclude with laying before you the miseries to
which you were reduced, that you may see the necessity of
taking punishment on the authors of them. And first, you
who remained in the city, consider the severity of their
government. You were reduced to such a situation as to be
forced to carry on a war, in which, if you were conquered,
you partook indeed of the same liberty with the conquerors;
but if you proved victorious, you remained under the
slavery of your magistrates. As to you of the Piraeus, you
will remember that though you never lost your arms in the
battles which you fought, yet you suffered by these men
what your foreign enemies could never accomplish, and at
home, in times of peace, were disarmed by your fellow
citizens. By them you were banished from the country left
you by your fathers. Their rage, knowing no abatement,
pursued you abroad, and drove you from one territory to
another. Recall the cruel indignities which you suffered;
how you were dragged from the tribunal and the altars; how
no place, however sacred, could shelter you against their
violence. Others, torn from their wives, their children,
their parents, after putting an end to their miserable
lives, were deprived of funeral rites; for these tyrants
imagined their government so firmly established that even
the vengeance of the gods was unable to shake it.

But it is impossible for one, or in the course of one
trial, to enumerate the means which were employed to
undermine the power of this state, the arsenals which were
demolished, the temples sold or profaned, the citizens
banished or murdered, and those whose dead bodies were
impiously left uninterred. Those citizens now watch your
decree, uncertain whether you will prove accomplices of
their death or avengers of their murder. I shall desist
from any further accusations. You have heard, you have
seen, you have experienced. Decide then!

ISOCRATES

Isocrates, one of the greatest of the great men who lived between 500 and 300 B.C., and made Greece famous for literary and oratorical preëminence, owes his renown not to his ability as a deliverer of speeches, but as a constructor of them, and as a teacher of rhetoric and oratory. He understood the principles of vocal expression perfectly, but he was of a retiring nature and lacked volume of voice, the latter being a particularly serious drawback because of the necessity of speaking in the open before vast concourses of people. He withdrew from active participation in the public life of Athens, and opened a school in that city for the training of orators. Isaeus, the teacher of Demosthenes, was one of his pupils. Isocrates was born in 436 B.C., and died at the age of ninety-eight.

_Encomium on Evagoras._ When I saw, O Nicocles, that you
were honoring the tomb of your father, not only with
numerous and magnificent offerings, according to custom,
but also with dances, musical exhibitions, and athletic
contests, as well as with horse races and trireme races, on
a scale that left no possibility of their being surpassed,
I thought that Evagoras, if the dead have any feeling of
what happens on earth, while accepting this offering
favorably, and beholding with joy your filial regard for
him and your magnificence, would feel far greater gratitude
to any one who could show himself capable of worthily
describing his mode of life and the dangers he had
undergone than to any one else; for we shall find that
ambitious and high-souled men not only prefer praise to
such honors, but choose a glorious death in preference to
life, and are more jealous of their reputation than of
their existence, shrinking from nothing in order to leave
behind a remembrance of themselves that shall never die.

Now, expensive displays produce none of these results, but
are merely an indication of wealth; those who are engaged
in liberal pursuits and other branches of rivalry, by
displaying, some their strength, and others their skill,
increase their reputation; but a discourse that could
worthily describe the acts of Evagoras would cause his
noble qualities to be ever remembered amongst all mankind.

Other writers ought accordingly to have praised those who
showed themselves distinguished in their own days, in order
that both those who are able to embellish the deeds of
others by their eloquence, speaking in the presence of
those who were acquainted with the facts, might have
adhered to the truth concerning them, and that the younger
generation might be more eagerly disposed to virtue,
feeling convinced that they will be more highly praised
than those to whom they show themselves superior.

At the present time, who could help being disheartened at
seeing those who lived in the times of the Trojan wars, and
even earlier, celebrated in songs and tragedies, when he
knows beforehand that he himself, even if he surpass their
noble deeds, will never be deemed worthy of such eulogies?
The cause of this is jealousy, the only good of which is
that it is the greatest curse to those who are actuated by
it. For some men are naturally so peevish that they would
rather hear men praised, as to whom they do not feel sure
that they ever existed, than those at whose hands they
themselves have received benefits.

Men of sense ought not to be the slaves of the folly of
such men, but, while despising them, they ought at the same
time to accustom others to listen to matters which ought to
be spoken of, especially since we know that the arts and
everything else are advanced, not by those who abide by
established customs, but by those who correct and, from
time to time, venture to alter anything that is
unsatisfactory.

I know that the task I am proposing to myself is a
difficult one--to eulogize the good qualities of a man in
prose. A most convincing proof of this is that, while those
who are engaged in the study of philosophy are ever ready
to speak about many other subjects of various kinds, none
of them has ever yet attempted to compose a treatise on a
subject like this.

When a boy, he was distinguished for beauty, strength, and
modesty, the most becoming qualities at such an age. In
proof of which witnesses could be produced: of his modesty,
those of the citizens who were brought up with him; of his
beauty, all who saw him; of his strength, the contests in
which he surpassed his compeers.

When he grew to man's estate, all these qualities were
proportionately enhanced, and in addition to them he
acquired courage, wisdom, and uprightness, and these in no
small measure, as is the case with some others, but each of
them in the highest degree.

For he was so distinguished for his bodily and mental
excellence, that, whenever any of the reigning princes of
the time saw him, they were amazed and became alarmed for
their rule, thinking it impossible that a man of such
talents would continue to live in the position of a private
individual, and whenever they considered his character they
felt such confidence in him, that they were convinced that
he would assist them if any one ventured to attack them.

In spite of such changes of opinion concerning him, they
were in neither case mistaken; for he neither remained a
private individual, nor, on the other hand, did them
injury, but the Deity watched over him so carefully in
order that he might gain the kingdom honorably, that
everything which could not be done without involving
impiety was carried out by another's hands, while all the
means by which it was possible to acquire the kingdom
without impiety or injustice he reserved for Evagoras. For
one of the nobles plotted against and slew the tyrant, and
afterwards attempted to seize Evagoras, feeling convinced
that he would not be able to secure his authority unless he
got him out of the way.

Evagoras, however, escaped this peril and, having got safe
to Soli in Cilicia, did not show the same feeling as those
who are overtaken by like misfortunes. Others, even those
who have been driven from sovereign power, have their
spirits broken by the weight of their misfortunes; but
Evagoras rose to such greatness of soul, that, although he
had all along lived as a private individual, at the moment
when he was compelled to flee, he felt that he was destined
to rule.

Despising vagabond exiles, unwilling to attempt to secure
his return by means of strangers, and to be under the
necessity of courting those inferior to himself, he seized
this opportunity, as befits all who desire to act in a
spirit of piety and to act in self-defense rather than to
be the first to inflict an injury, and made up his mind
either to succeed in acquiring the kingdom or to die in the
attempt if he failed. Accordingly, having got together
fifty men (on the highest estimate), he made preparations
to return to his country in company with them.

From this it would be easy to recognize his natural force
of character and the reputation he enjoyed amongst others;
for, when he was on the point of setting sail with so small
a force on so vast an undertaking, and when all kinds of
perils stared him in the face, he did not lose heart
himself, nor did any of those whom he had invited to assist
him think fit to shrink from dangers, but, as if they were
following a god, all stood by their promises, while he
showed himself as confident as if he had a stronger force
at his command than his adversaries, or knew the result
beforehand.

This is evident from what he did; for, after he had landed
on the island, he did not think it necessary to occupy any
strong position, and, after providing for the safety of his
person, to wait and see whether any of the citizens would
come to his assistance; but, without delay, just as he was,
on that eventful night he broke open a gate in the wall,
and leading his companions through the gap, attacked the
royal residence.

There is no need to waste time in telling of the confusion
that ensues at such moments, the terror of the assaulted,
and his exhortations to his comrades; but, when the
supporters of the tyrant resisted him, while the rest of
the citizens looked on and kept quiet, fearing, on the one
hand, the authority of their rule, and, on the other, the
valor of Evagoras; he did not abandon the conflict,
engaging either in single combat against numbers, or with
few supporters against the whole of the enemy's forces,
until he had captured the palace, punished his enemies,
succored his friends, and finally recovered for his family
its ancestral honors, and made himself ruler of the city.

I think, even if I were to mention nothing else, but were
to break off my discourse at this point, it would be easy
to appreciate the valor of Evagoras and the greatness of
his achievements; however, I hope that I shall be able to
present both even more clearly in what I am going to say.

For while, in all ages, wo many have acquired sovereign
power, no one will be shown to have gained this high
position more honorably than Evagoras. If we were to
compare the deeds of Evagoras with those of each of his
predecessors individually, such details would perhaps be
unsuitable to the occasion, while time would be
insufficient for their recital; but if, selecting the most
famous of these men, we examine them in the light of his
actions, we shall be able to investigate the matter equally
well, and at the same time to discuss it more briefly.

Who would not prefer the perils of Evagoras to the lot of
those who inherited kingdoms from their fathers? For no one
is so indifferent to fame that he would choose to receive
such power from his ancestors rather than to acquire it, as
he did, and to bequeath it to his children. Further,
amongst the returns of princes to their thrones that took
place in old times, those are most famous which we hear of
from the poets; for they not only inform us of the most
renowned of all that have taken place, but add new ones out
of their own imaginations. None of them, however, has
invented the story of a prince who, after having undergone
such fearful and terrible dangers, has returned to his own
country; but most of them are represented as having
regained possession of their kingdoms by chance, others as
having overcome their enemies by perfidy and intrigue.

Amongst those who lived afterwards (and perhaps more than
all) Cyrus, who deprived the Medes of their rule and
acquired it for the Persians, is the object of most general
admiration. But, whereas, Cyrus conquered the army of the
Medes with that of the Persians, an achievement which many
(whether Hellenes or barbarians) could easily accomplish,
Evagoras undoubtedly carried out the greater part of what
has been mentioned by his own unaided energy and valor.

In the next place, it is not yet certain, from the
expedition of Cyrus, that he would have faced the perils of
Evagoras, while it is obvious, from the achievements of the
latter, that he would readily have attempted the same
undertakings as Cyrus. Further, while Evagoras acted in
everything in accordance with rectitude and justice,
several of the acts of Cyrus were not in accordance with
religion; for the former merely destroyed his enemies, the
latter slew his mother's father. Wherefore, if any were
content to judge, not the greatness of events, but the good
qualities of each, they would rightly praise Evagoras more
than Cyrus.

But--if I am to speak briefly and without reserve, without
fear of jealousy, and with the utmost frankness--no one,
whether mortal, demigod, or immortal, will be found to have
acquired his kingdom more honorably, more gloriously, or
more piously than he did. One would feel still more
confident of this if, disbelieving what I have said, he
were to attempt to investigate how each obtained supreme
power. For it will be manifest that I am not in any way
desirous of exaggerating, but that I have spoken with such
assurance concerning him because the facts which I state
are true.

Even if he had gained distinction only for unimportant
enterprises, it were fitting that he should be considered
worthy of praise in proportion; but, as it is, all would
allow that supreme power is the greatest, the most august,
and most coveted of all blessings, human and divine. Who
then, whether poet, orator, or inventor of words, could
extol in a manner worthy of his achievements one who has
gained the most glorious prize that exists by most glorious
deeds?

However, while superior in these respects, he will not be
found to have been inferior in others, but, in the first
place, although naturally gifted with most admirable
judgment, and able to carry out his undertakings most
successfully, he did not think it right to act carelessly
or on the spur of the moment in the conduct of affairs, but
occupied most of his time in acquiring information, in
reflection, and deliberation, thinking that, if he
thoroughly developed his intellect, his rule would be in
like manner glorious, and looking with surprise upon those
who, while exercising care in everything else for the sake
of the mind, took no thought for the intelligence itself.

In the next place, his opinion of events was consistent;
for, since he saw that those who look best after realities
suffer the least annoyance, and that true recreation
consists not in idleness, but in success that is due to
continuous toil, he left nothing unexamined, but had such
thorough acquaintance with the condition of affairs, and
the character of each of the citizens, that neither did
those who plotted against him take him unawares, nor were
the respectable citizens unknown to him, but all were
treated as they deserved; for he neither punished nor
rewarded them in accordance with what he heard from others,
but formed his judgment of them from his own personal
knowledge.

But, while he busied himself in the care of such matters,
he never made a single mistake in regard to any of the
events of everyday life, but carried on the administration
of the city in such a spirit of piety and humanity that
those who visited the island envied the power of Evagoras
less than those who were subject to his rule; for he
consistently avoided treating any one with injustice, but
honored the virtuous, and, while ruling all vigorously,
punished the wrongdoers in strict accordance with justice;
having no need of counsellors, but, nevertheless,
consulting his friends; often making concessions to his
intimates, but in everything showing himself superior to
his enemies; preserving his dignity, not by knitted brows,
but by his manner of life; not behaving irregularly or
capriciously in anything, but preserving consistency in
word as well as in deed; priding himself, not on the
successes that were due to chance, but those due to his own
efforts; bringing his friends under his influence by
kindness, and subduing the rest by his greatness of soul;
terrible, not by the number of his punishments, but by the
superiority of his intellect over that of the rest;
controlling his pleasures, but not led by them; gaining
much leisure by little labor, but never neglecting
important business for the sake of short-lived ease; and,
in general, omitting none of the fitting attributes of
kings, he selected the best from each form of political
activity; a popular champion by reason of his care for the
interests of the people, an able administrator in his
management of the state generally, a thorough general in
his resourcefulness in the face of danger, and a thorough
monarch from his pre-eminence in all these qualities. That
such were his attributes, and even more than these, it is
easy to learn from his acts themselves.

HYPERIDES

Hyperides, born in 396 B.C., and died in 322 B.C., was a pupil in philosophy of Plato, and studied oratory under Isocrates. He was at one time a close associate and follower of Demosthenes, but later disagreed with him on matters pertaining to the state, and took part in the prosecution that finally drove Demosthenes into exile. Hyperides was famed for the charm of his delivery, being esteemed by many equal to Demosthenes in this respect, and for the brilliancy and quickness of his wit.

_Speech Against Athenogenes._ [Hyperides' client, whose
name does not appear, desired to obtain a boy slave, who,
with his father and brother, was the property of
Athenogenes. The plaintiff proposed to purchase the liberty
of the boy in question, while Athenogenes, aided by
Antigona, lured the purchaser, by false representations,
into buying all three slaves with their liabilities, which
he pretended were but trifling. After the bargain was
completed the plaintiff found that the slaves had brought
him debts enough to compass his ruin; he therefore brought
suit against Athenogenes and engaged Hyperides as counsel.
The following speech, of which some fragments are missing,
presents a satisfactory example of the orator's style. The
opening sentences are lost. What is here given is but an
extract from the speech]:

Gentlemen, you have heard the whole story in all its
details. Possibly, however, Athenogenes will plead, when
his turn comes, that the law declares all agreements
between man and man to be binding. Just agreements, my dear
sir. Unjust ones, on the contrary, it declares shall not be
binding. I will make this clearer to you from the actual
words of the laws. You need not be surprised at my
acquaintance with them. You have brought me to such a pass
and have filled me with such a fear of being ruined by you
and your cleverness that I made it my first and main duty
to search and study the laws night and day.

Now one law forbids falsehood in the market-place, and a
very excellent injunction it is, in my opinion; yet you
have, in open market, concluded a contract with me to my
detriment by means of falsehoods. For if you can show that
you told me beforehand of all the loans and debts, or that
you mentioned in the contract the full amount of them, as I
have since found it to be, I will abandon the prosecution
and confess that I have done you an injustice.

There is, however, also a second law bearing on this point,
which relates to bargains between individuals by verbal
agreements. It provides that "when a party sells a slave he
shall declare beforehand if he has any blemish; if he omit
to do so, he shall be compelled to make restitution." If,
then, the vendor of a slave can be compelled to make
restitution because he has omitted to mention some chance
infirmity, is it possible that you should be free to refuse
responsibility for the fraudulent bargain which you have
deliberately devised? Moreover, an epileptic slave does not
involve in ruin all the rest of his owner's property,
whereas Midas, whom you sold to me, has ruined, not me
alone, but even my friends as well.

And now, Athenogenes, proceed to consider how the law
stands, not only with respect to slaves, but also
concerning free men. Even you, I suppose, know that
children born of a lawfully betrothed wife are legitimate.
The lawgiver, however, was not content with merely
providing that a wife should be betrothed by her father or
brother, in order to establish legitimacy. On the contrary,
he expressly enacts that "if a man shall give a woman in
betrothal justly and equitably, the children born of such
marriage shall be legitimate," but not if he betroths her
on false representations and inequitable terms. Thus the
law makes just betrothals valid, and unjust ones it
declares invalid.

Again, the law relating to testaments is of a similar
nature. It enacts that a man may dispose of his own
property as he pleases, "provided that he be not
disqualified by old age or disease or insanity, or by
influenced by a woman's persuasions, and that he be not in
bonds or under any other constraint." In circumstances,
then, in which marriages and testaments relating solely to
a man's own property are invalidated, how can it be right
to maintain the validity of such an agreement as I have
described, which was drawn up by Athenogenes in order to
steal property belonging to me?

Can it be right that the disposition of one's property by
will should be nullified if it is made under the
persuasions of a woman, while, if I am persuaded by
Athenogenes' mistress and am entrapped by them into making
this agreement, I am thereby to be ruined, in spite of the
express support which is given me by the law? Can you
actually dare to rest your case on the contract of which
you and your mistress procured the signature by fraud,
which is also the very ground on which I am now charging
you with conspiracy, since my belief in your good faith
induced me to accept the conditions which you proposed? You
are not content with having got the forty minas which I
paid for the slaves, but you must needs plunder me of five
talents in addition, plucking me like a bird taken in a
snare. To this end you have the face to say that you could
not inform me of the amount of the debts which Midas had
contracted, because you had not the time to ascertain it.
Why, gentlemen, I, who brought absolute inexperience into
the arrangement of commercial matters, had not the
slightest difficulty in learning the whole amount of the
debts and the loans within three months; but he, with an
hereditary experience of three generations in the business
of perfumery; he, who was at his place in the market every
day of this life; he, who owned three shops and had his
accounts made up every month, he, forsooth, was not aware
of the debts! He is no fool in other matters, but in his
dealings with his slave it appears he at once became a mere
idiot, knowing of some of the debts, while others, he says,
he did not know of--those, I take it, which he did not want
to know of. Such a contention, gentlemen, is not a defense,
but an admission that he has no sound defense to offer. If
he states that he was not aware of the debts, it is plain
that he cannot at the same time plead that he told me all
about them; and it is palpably unjust to require me to
discharge debts of the existence of which the vendor never
informed me.

Well, then, Athenogenes, I think it is tolerably plain on
many grounds, that you knew of Midas' debts, and not the
least from that fact that you demanded. . . .[2]

If, however, you did not inform me of the total amount of
the debts simply because you did not know it yourself, and
I entered into the contract under the belief that what I
had heard from you was the full sum of them, which of us
ought in fairness to be liable for them--I, who purchased
the property after their contraction, or you who originally
received the sums borrowed? In my opinion it should be you;
but if we differ on this point let the law be our arbiter.
The law was not made either by infatuated lovers or by men
engaged in conspiracy against their neighbor's property,
but by the most public-spirited of statesmen, Solon. Solon,
knowing that sales of property are common in the city,
enacted a law--and one universally admitted to be just--to
the effect that fines and expenditures incurred by slaves
should be discharged by the master for whom they work. And
this is only reasonable; for if a slave effect a good
stroke of business or establish a flourishing industry, it
is his master who reaps the profit of it. You, however,
pass over the law in silence, and are eloquent about the
iniquity of breaking contracts. Whereas Solon held that a
law was more valid than a temporary ordinance, however just
that ordinance might be, you demand that a fraudulent
contract should outweigh all laws and all justice alike.

I am told, however, that the defendant has another plea in
reserve, and will argue that I brought all this mischief on
my own head by disregarding his advice. He will declare
that he offered to let me take the two boys, but that he
urged me to leave Midas to him and not to buy him. I,
however, he says, refused and insisted on buying all three.
And this, they say, he intends to plead before a court such
as the present! His object, of course, is to assume the
appearance of fair dealing, but he must have forgotten that
he will not be addressing an audience of fools, but one
quite capable of seeing through his shameless effrontery.
Let me tell you the actual facts, and you will see that
they are of a piece with the rest of the conduct of himself
and his confederate. He sent the boy, whom I mentioned just
now, to me, to say that he could not be mine unless I
bought his father and his brother as well as himself. I had
actually assented to this and promised to pay the price for
all three of them, when Athenogenes, thinking that he now
had the upper hand and wishing me to have as much trouble
as possible, came to some of my friends. . . .[3]

Now I am no professional perfume-seller, neither have I
learned any other trade. I simply till the land which my
father gave me. It was solely by this man's craft that I
was entrapped into the sale. Which is more probable on the
face of things, Athenogenes, that I was coveting your
business (a business of which I had no sort of experience),
or that you and your mistress were plotting to get my
money? I certainly think the design was on your
side. . . .[4]

Further, at the time of the war against Philip he left the
city shortly before the battle, and instead of marching out
with us to Chaeronea he migrated to Troezen. By so doing he
broke the law which enacts that if a man migrates from the
city during time of war he shall be liable to impeachment
and summary arrest whenever he returns. His action shows
that he had made up his mind that the city would escape
peril, while he laid ours under sentence of death; and he
corroborated this by not marrying his daughters here in
Athens, but giving them to husbands in Troezen. . . .[5]

So while he has broken the general covenant which every
citizen makes with his state, he lays stress on the private
covenant which he made with me, apparently expecting people
to believe that a man who is indifferent to justice in his
dealings with you would have been careful to observe it in
his dealings with me! Why, so universal and impartial was
he in his want of principle that, when he had gone to
Troezen, and the people of Troezen had conferred their
citizenship upon him, he put himself under the directions
of Mnesias of Argos, and having been appointed archon by
his means, expelled the citizens from their own city. They
will prove this to you themselves, since they are living
here in exile. You, gentlemen, gave them an asylum when
they were expelled from their country, you gave them your
citizenship, who shared with them every privilege that you
possess. You remembered the service which they had rendered
to you more than a hundred and fifty years ago, during the
war with Persia, and you recognized the duty of helping in
the hour of their misfortune those who had aided you in the
hour of your peril. But this scoundrel, this deserter from
Athens who had procured admission as a citizen of Troezen,
when once his position was thus secured, cared nothing for
either the State or the welfare of the citizens, but
behaved with the utmost barbarity towards the city which
had granted him its hospitality. . . .[6]

To prove the truth of these assertions the clerk shall read
to you, first, the law which forbids resident aliens to
migrate in time of war; secondly, the evidence of the
Troezenians; and finally the ordinance which these same
Troezenians passed in your honor, in return for which you
gave them asylum here and conferred your citizenship upon
them. Read.

[_The law, the evidence, and the ordinance are read._]

Now take the deposition of his own relative. . . .

You know of what manner he conspired against me, and how he
has been found a traitor against your state; how he
despaired of your safety and abandoned the commonweal in
the hour of danger; and how he has made homeless many of
those to whom he migrated. Will you not then punish this
scoundrel, now that you have him in your power? And for
myself, gentlemen, I implore you not to refuse me your
protection. Reflect that your decision in this case is a
matter of life or death for me, while an adverse verdict
will inflect no very serious loss upon him. . . . Remember,
gentlemen, the oath that you have taken and the laws that
have been read in your ears, and give sentence against him
in accordance with the justice that you have been sworn to
observe.

ISAEUS

Isaeus, the pupil of Isocrates and the teacher of Demosthenes, was born about 420 B.C., but it is disputed as to whether he was born a Chalcidian or an Athenian. He is famous for his mastery of argumentative oratory, and appears to have studied Lysias attentively, because of the similarity of their styles. Lysias, however, used closely the divisions of a speech, such as introduction, argument, and epilogue, whereas Isaeus avoided formal arrangement of his matter and depended on his argumentative skill for convincing his hearers. He died about the year 370 B.C. Eleven of his speeches, dealing mainly with the law of inheritance, have come down to us.

_Menexenus and Others Against Dicaeogenes and Leochares._
[Dicaeogenes, whose estate was in dispute, had four
sisters, all of whom were married and had issue. When he
died without children, his uncle, Proxenus, produced a will
by which the deceased appeared to have left a third part of
his estate to his cousin, Dicaeogenes. This cousin, not
content with a share, insisted that he had a right to the
whole, and, having set up another will in his own favor,
took possession of the remaining two-thirds of the
property. This belonged to the sisters of the deceased, who
proved the second will to be a forgery; upon this
Dicaeogenes undertook to restore the two-thirds without
diminution, and one Leochares was his surety; but on their
refusal to perform their promise, the nephews of the elder
Dicaeogenes began a suit against them for the performance
of their agreement.]

We had imagined, judges, that all agreements made in court
concerning this dispute would have been specifically
performed; for when Dicaeogenes disclaimed the remaining
two-thirds of this estate, and was bound, together with his
surety, to restore them without any controversy, on the
faith of this assurance we gave a release of our demands;
but now, since he refuses to perform his engagement, we
bring our complaint, conformably to the oath which we have
taken, against both him and his surety, Leochares.

[The Oath]

That we swore truly, both Cephisodotus, who stands near me,
perfectly knows, and the evidence, which we shall adduce,
will clearly demonstrate. Read the depositions.

[Evidence]

You have heard the testimony of these witnesses, and I am
persuaded that even Leochares himself will not venture to
assert that they are perjured; but he will have recourse
perhaps to this defense, that Dicaeogenes has fully
performed his agreement, and that his own office of surety
is completely satisfied. If he allege this, he will speak
untruly and will easily be confuted; for the clerk shall
read to you a schedule of all the effects which
Dicaeogenes, the son of Menexenus, left behind him,
together with an inventory of those which the defendant
unjustly took; and if he affirms that our uncle neither had
them in his lifetime nor left them to us at his death, let
him prove his assertion; or if he insists that the goods
were indeed ours, but that we had them returned to us, let
him call a single witness to that fact; as we have produced
evidence on our part that Dicaeogenes promised to give us
back the two-thirds of what the son of Menexenus possessed,
and that Leochares undertook to see him perform his
promise. This is the ground of our action, and this we have
sworn to be true. Let the oath be read.

[The Oath]

Now, judges, if the defendants intended only to clear
themselves of this charge, what has already been said would
be sufficient to ensure my success; but, since they are
prepared to enter once more into the merits of the question
concerning the inheritance, I am desirous to inform you on
our side of all the transactions in our family; that, being
apprised of the truth, and not deluded by their artifices,
you may give a sentence agreeable to reason and justice.

Menexenus our grandfather had one son named Dicaeogenes,
and four daughters, of whom Polyaratus my father married
one; another was taken by Democles of Phrearrhi; a third by
Cephisophon of Paeania; and the fourth was espoused by
Theopompus the father of Cephisodotus. Our uncle
Dicaeogenes, having sailed to Cnidos in the Parhalian
galley, was slain in a sea fight; and, as he left no
children, Proxenus the defendant's father brought a will to
our parents, in which his son was adopted by the deceased
and appointed heir to a third part of his fortune; this
part our parents, unable at that time to contest the
validity of the will permitted him to take; and each of the
daughters of Menexenus, as we shall prove by the testimony
of persons then present, had a decree for her share of the
residue.

When they had thus divided the inheritance and had bound
themselves by oath to acquiesce in the division, each
person possessed his allotment for twelve years; in which
time, though the courts were frequently open for the
administration of justice, not one of these men thought of
alleging any unfairness in the transaction; until, when the
state was afflicted with troubles and seditions, this
Dicaeogenes was persuaded by Melas the Egyptian, to whom he
used to submit on other occasions, to demand from us all
our uncle's fortune and to assert that he was appointed
heir to the whole.