Plutarch, De gloria Atheniensium, ed. Frank Cole Babbitt, 3

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[3] πλὴν ὁ Σιμωνίδης τὴν μὲν ζωγραφίαν ποίησιν σιωπῶσαν προσαγορεύει, ¹ τὴν δὲ ποίησιν ζωγραφίαν λαλοῦσαν. ἃς γάρ οἱ ζωγράφοι πράξεις ὡς γιγνομένας δεικνύουσι, ταύτας οἱ λόγοι γεγενημένας 347a διηγοῦνται καὶ συγγράφουσιν. εἰ δʼ οἱ μὲν χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασιν, οἱ δʼ ὀνόμασι καὶ λέξεσι ταὐτὰ ² δηλοῦσιν, ὕλῃ καὶ τρόποις μιμήσεως διαφέρουσι, τέλος δʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἓν ὑπόκειται, καὶ τῶν ἱστορικῶν κράτιστος ὁ τὴν διήγησιν ὥσπερ γραφὴν πάθεσι καὶ προσώποις εἰδωλοποιήσας. ὁ δʼ οὗν ³ Θουκυδίδης ἀεὶ τῷ λόγῳ πρὸς ταύτην ἁμιλλᾶται τὴν ἐνάργειαν αν, οἷον θεατὴν ποιῆσαι τὸν ἀκροατὴν καὶ τὰ γιγνόμενα περὶ τοὺς ὁρῶντας ἐκπληκτικὰ καὶ ταρακτικὰ πάθη τοῖς ἀναγινώσκουσιν ἐνεργάσασθαι λιχνευόμενος. ὁ γὰρ παρὰ τὴν ῥαχίαν 347b αὐτὴν ⁴ τῆς Πύλου παρατάττων τοὺς Ἀθηναίους Δημοσθένης, καί. ὁ δʼ τὸν κυβερνήτην ἐπισπέρχων Βρασίδας ἐξοκέλλειν καί, χωρῶν ἐπί, τὴν ἀποβάθραν ⁵ καὶ τραυματιζόμενος καὶ λιποφυχῶν ⁶ καὶ ἀποκλίνων εἰς τὴν παρεξειρεσίαν, καὶ οἱ πεζομαχοῦντες μὲν ἐκ θαλάττης Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ναυμαχοῦντες δʼ ἀπὸ γῆς Ἀθηναῖοι· καὶ πάλιν ὁ ἐν τοῖς Σικελικοῖς ἐκ τῆς γῆς πεζὸς ἀμφοτέρων, ἰσορρόπου τῆς ναυμαχίας καθεστηκυίας, ἄληκτον ⁷ ἀγῶνα καὶ ξύντασιν ⁸ τῆς γνώμης ἔχων διὰ τὰς συντάξεις, καὶ, ⁹ διὰ τὸ ἀκρίτως ¹⁰ συνεχὲς τῆς ἁμίλλης καὶ τοῖς 347c σώμασιν αὐτοῖς ἴσα τῇ δόξῃ περιδεῶς συναπονεύων¹¹ τῇ διαθέσει καὶ τῇ διατυπώσει τῶν γινομένων γραφικῆς ἐναργείας ἐστίν. ¹² ὣστʼ εἰ τοὺς ζωγραφοῦντας οὐκ ἄξιον παραβάλλειν τοῖς στρατηγοῖς, μηδὲ τοὺς ἱστοροῦντας παραβάλλωμεν.

τὴν τοίνυν ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχην ἀπήγγειλεν, ὡς μὲν Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς ἱστορεῖ, Θέρσιππος ὁ Ἐροιεύς ¹³ · οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι λέγουσιν Εὐκλέα, δραμόντα σὺν τοῖς ὅπλοις ¹⁴ θερμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς μάχης καὶ ταῖς θύραις ἐμπεσόντα τῶν πρώτων, ¹⁵ τοσοῦτο μόνον εἰπεῖν, χαίρετε· νικῶμεν, ¹⁶ εἶτʼ εὐθὺς ἐκπνεῦσαι. πλὴν οὗτος μὲν αὐτάγγελος ἧκε τῆς μάχης ἀγωνιστὴς γενόμενος. φέρε δʼ εἴ τις ὑπὲρ 347d λόφου τινὸς ἢ σκοπῆς αἰπόλων ἢ βοτήρων τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἄπωθεν γενόμενος θεατὴς, καὶ κατιδὼν τὸ μέγα καὶ παντὸς λόγου μεῖζον ἐκεῖνο ἔργον ἧκεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἄτρωτος ἄγγελος καὶ ἀναίμακτος, εἶτʼ ἠξίου τιμὰς ἔχειν ἃς Κυνέγειρος ¹⁷ ἔσχεν, ἃς Καλλίμαχος, ἃς Πολύζηλος, ὅτι τὰς τούτων ἀριστείας καὶ τραύματα καὶ θανάτους ἀπήγγειλεν· ἆρ’ οὐκ ἂν ἐδόκει πᾶσαν ὑπερβάλλειν ἀναίδειαν; ὃπου γε Λακεδαιμονίους φασὶ τῷ τὴν ἐν Μαντινείᾳ φράσαντι νίκην, ἣν Θουκυδίδης ἱστόρηκεν, εὐαγγέλιον ἐκ φιδιτίου κρέας ἀποστεῖλαι. ¹⁸ μὴν οἱ συγγράφοντες ἐξάγγελοί τινές εἰσι τῶν πράξεων εὔφωνοι καὶ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἐξικνούμενοι, οἷς εὐαγγέλιον 347e ὀφείλουσιν οἱ πρώτως ἐντυγχάνοντες καὶ ἱστοροῦντες. ἀμέλει δὲ καὶ ἐγκωμιάζονται μνημονευόμενοι καὶ ἀναγινωσκόμενοι διὰ τοὺς κατορθώσαντας· οὐ γὰρ οἱ λόγοι ποιοῦσι τὰς πράξεις ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς πράξεις ¹⁹ καὶ ἀκοῆς ἀξιοῦνται.

De gloria Atheniensium. Plutarch. ed. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Current edition Perseus

Πότερον Ἀθηναῖοι κατὰ πόλεμον ἢ κατὰ σοφίαν ἐνδοξότεροι (Greek) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Πότερον Ἀθηναῖοι κατὰ πόλεμον ἢ κατὰ σοφίαν ἐνδοξότεροι Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig. Teubner, 1889.) — 3 focus

[3] πλὴν ὁ Σιμωνίδης τὴν μὲν ζωγραφίαν ποίησιν 5 σιωπῶσαν προσαγορεύει, τὴν δὲ ποίησιν ζωγραφίαν λαλοῦσαν. ἃς γὰρ οἱ ζωγράφοι πράξεις ὡς γιγνομένας δεικνύουσι, ταύτας οἱ λόγοι γεγενημένας 347a διηγοῦνται καὶ συγγράφουσιν. εἰ δʼ οἱ μὲν χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασιν οἱ δʼ ὀνόμασι καὶ λέξεσι ταὐτὰ ¹ 10 δηλοῦσιν, ὕλῃ καὶ τρόποις μιμήσεως διαφέρουσι, τέλος δʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἓν ὑπόκειται, καὶ τῶν ἱστορικῶν κράτιστος ὁ τὴν διήγησιν ὥσπερ γραφὴν πάθεσι καὶ προσώποις εἰδωλοποιήσας. ὁ γοῦν Θουκυδίδης ² ἀεὶ τῷ λόγῳ πρὸς ταύτην ἁμιλλᾶται τὴν ἐνάργειαν, οἷον 15 θεατὴν ποιῆσαι τὸν ἀκροατὴν καὶ τὰ γιγνόμενα περὶ τοὺς ὁρῶντας ἐκπληκτικὰ καὶ ταρακτικὰ πάθη τοῖς ἀναγιγνώσκουσιν ἐνεργάσασθαι λιχνευόμενος. ὁ γὰρ παρὰ τὴν Ῥαχίαν αὐτὴν ³ τῆς Πύλου παρατάττων τοὺς 347b Ἀθηναίους Δημοσθένης καὶ ὁ τὸν κυβερνήτην ἐπισπέρχων 20 Βρασίδας ἐξοκέλλειν καὶ χωρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν βάθραν ⁴ καὶ τραυματιζόμενος καὶ λιποψυχῶν ⁵ καὶ ἀποκλίνων εἰς τὴν παρεξειρεσίαν, καὶ οἱ πεζομαχοῦντες μὲν ἐκ θαλάττης Λακεδαιμόνιοι ναυμαχοῦντες δʼ ἀπὸ γῆς Ἀθηναῖοι· καὶ πάλιν ὁ ἐν τοῖς Σικελικοῖς 25 ἐκ τῆς γῆς πεζὸς ἀμφοτέρων, ἰσορρόπου τῆς ναυμαχίας καθεστηκυίας, ἄλαστον ⁶ ἀγῶνα καὶ σύντασιν ⁷ τῆς γνώμης ἔχων διὰ τὰς συντάξεις, ὡς ⁸ συνεχὲς τῆς ἁμίλλης καὶ τοῖς σώμασιν αὐτοῖς ἴσα τῇ δόξῃ 347c περιδεῶς συναπονεύειν⁹ τῇ διαθέσει ¹⁰ καὶ τῇ διατυπώσει τῶν γιγνομένων γραφικῆς ἐναργείας . ¹¹ ὥστʼ 5 εἰ τοὺς ζωγραφοῦντας οὐκ ἄξιον παραβάλλειν τοῖς στρατηγοῖς, μηδὲ τοὺς ἱστοροῦντας παραβάλλωμεν. ¹² τὴν τοίνυν ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχην ἀπήγγειλεν, ὡς μὲν Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς ἱστορεῖ, Θέρσιππος ὁ Ἐρωεύς· ¹³ οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι λέγουσιν Εὐκλέα, δραμόντα σὺν τοῖς 10 ὅπλοις θερμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς μάχης καὶ ταῖς θύραις ἐμπεσόντα τῶν πρώτων, ¹⁴ τοσοῦτο μόνον εἰπεῖν χαίρετε 347d καὶ χαίρομεν¹⁵ εἶτʼ εὐθὺς ἐκπνεῦσαι. πλὴν οὗτος μὲν αὐτάγγελος ἧκε τῆς μάχης ἀγωνιστὴς γενόμενος. φέρε δʼ εἴ τις ὑπὲρ λόφου τινὸς ἢ σκοπῆς αἰπόλων 15 ἢ βοτήρων τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἄπωθεν γενόμενος θεατὴς, καὶ κατιδὼν τὸ μέγα καὶ παντὸς λόγου μεῖζον ἐκεῖνο ἔργον ἧκεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἄτρωτος ἄγγελος καὶ ἀναίμακτος, εἶτʼ ἠξίου τιμὰς ἔχειν ἃς Κυνέγειρος ¹⁶ ἔσχεν, ἃς Καλλίμαχος, ἃς Πολύζηλος ὅτι τὰς τούτων ἀριστείας 20 καὶ τραύματα καὶ θανάτους ἀπήγγειλεν· ἆρʼ οὐκ ἂν ἐδόκει πᾶσαν ὑπερβάλλειν ἀναίδειαν, ὅπου γε Λακεδαιμονίους φασὶ τῷ τὴν ἐν Μαντινείᾳ φράσαντι νίκην, ἣν Θουκυδίδης ¹⁷ ἱστόρηκεν, εὐαγγέλιον ἐκ φιδιτίου κρέας ἀποστεῖλαι; ¹⁸ καὶ μὴν οἱ συγγράφοντες 347e ἐξάγγελοί τινές εἰσι τῶν πράξεων εὔφωνοι καὶ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἐξικνούμενοι, οἷς εὐαγγέλιον ὀφείλουσιν οἱ πρώτως ἐντυγχάνοντες 5 καὶ ἱστοροῦντες. ἀμέλει δὲ καὶ ἐγκωμιάζονται μνημονευόμενοι καὶ ἀναγιγνωσκόμενοι διὰ τοὺς κατορθώσαντας· οὐ γὰρ οἱ λόγοι ποιοῦσι τὰς πράξεις ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς πράξεις ¹⁹ καὶ ἀκοῆς ἀξιοῦνται.

Translations (2)

Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom? Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 3 focus

[3] Simonides, however, calls painting inarticulate poetry and poetry articulate painting:¹ for the actions which painters portray as taking place at the moment literature narrates and records after they have taken place. Even though artists with colour and design, and writers with words and phrases, represent the same subjects, they differ in the material and the manner of their imitation; and yet the underlying end and aim of both is one and the same; the most effective historian is he who, by a vivid representation of emotions and characters, makes his narration like a painting. Assuredly Thucydides² is always striving for this vividness in his writing, since it is his desire to make the reader a spectator, as it were, and to produce vividly in the minds of those who peruse his narrative the emotions of amazement and consternation which were experienced by those who beheld them. For he tells how Demosthenes³ is drawing up the Athenians at the very edge of the breakwater at Pylos, and Brasidas is urging on his pilot to beach the ship, and is hurrying to the landing-plank, and is wounded and falls fainting on the forward-deck; and the Spartans are fighting an infantry engagement from the sea, while the Athenians wage a naval battle from the land. Again, in his account of the Sicilian⁴ expedition: The armies of both sides on the land, as long as the fighting at sea is evenly balanced, are enduring an unceasing struggle and tension of mind because of their battling forces; and because of the continued indecisiveness of the struggle they accompany it in an extremity of fear, with their very bodies swaying in sympathy with their opinion of the outcome. Such a description is characterized by pictorial vividness both in its arrangement and in its power of description; so, if it be unworthy to compare painters with generals, let us not compare historians either.

Again, the news of the battle of Marathon Thersippus of Eroeadae brought back, as Heracleides Pontieus relates; but most historians declare that it was Eucles who ran in full armour, hot from the battle, and, bursting in at the doors of the first men of the State, could only say, Hail! we are victorious!⁵ and straightway expired. Yet this man carne as a self-sent messenger regarding a battle in which he himself had fought; but suppose that some goatherd or shepherd upon a hill or a height had been a distant spectator of the contest and had looked down upon that great event, too great for any tongue to teli, and had come to the city as a messenger, a man who had not felt a wound nor shed a drop of blood, and yet had insisted that he have such honours as Cynegeirus received, or Callimachus, or Polyzelus, because, forsooth, he had reported their deeds of valour, their wounds and death; would he not have been thought of surpassing impudence? Why, as we are told, the Spartans merely sent meat from the public commons to the man who brought glad tidings of the victory in Mantineia which Thucydides⁶ describes! And indeed the compilers of histories are, as it were, reporters of great exploits who are gifted with the faculty of felicitous speech, and achieve success in their writing through the beauty and force of their narration; and to them those who first encountered and recorded the events are indebted for a pleasing retelling of them. We may be sure that such writers are lauded also merely through being remembered and read because of the men who won success; for the words do not create the deeds, but because of the deeds they are also deemed worthy of being read.

Whether the Athenians Were More Renowned For Their Warlike Achievements or For Their Learning Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Smith, R, translator. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company, 1874.) — 3 focus

[3] Though indeed Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting. For those actions which painters set forth as they were doing, those history relates when they were done. And what the one sets forth in colors and figures, the other relates in words and sentences; only they differ in the materials and manner of imitation. However, both aim at the same end, and he is accounted the best historian, who can make the most lively descriptions both of persons and passions. Therefore Thucydides always drives at this perspicuity, to make the hearer (as it were) a spectator, and to inculcate the same passions and perturbations of mind into his readers as they were in who beheld the causes of those effects. For Demosthenes embattling the Athenians near the rocky shore of Pylos; Brasidas hastening the pilot to run the ship aground, then going to the rowers’ seats, then wounded and fainting, sinking down in that part of the vessel where the oars could not trouble him; the land fight of the Spartans from the sea, and the sea engagement of the Athenians from the land; then again in the Sicilian war, both a land fight and sea engagement, so fought that neither had the better,¹ So that if we may not compare painters with generals, neither must we equal historians to them.

Thersippus of Eroeadae brought the first news of the victory at Marathon, as Heraclides of Pontus relates. But most report that Eucles, running armed with his wounds reeking from the fight, and falling through the door into the first house he met, expired with only these words in his mouth, God save ye, we are well. Now this man brought the news himself of the success of a fight wherein he was present in person. But suppose that ally of the goat-keepers or herd-men had beheld the combat from some high hill at a distance, and seeing the success of that great achievement, greater than by words can be expressed, should have come to the city without any wound or blood about him, and should have claimed the honors done to Cynaegirus, Callimachus, and Polyzelus, for giving an account of their wounds, their bravery and deaths, wouldst thou not have thought him impudent above impudence itself; seeing that the Lacedaemonians gave the messenger that brought the news of the victory at Mantinea ² no other reward than a quantity of victuals from the public mess? But historians are (as it were) well-voiced relators of the actions of great men, who add grace and beauty and dint of wit to their relations, and to whom they that first light upon them and read them are indebted for their pleasing tidings. And being read, they are applauded for transmitting to posterity the actions of those that do bravely. For words do not make actions, though we give them the hearing.

Notes on the current edition

Πότερον Ἀθηναῖοι κατὰ πόλεμον ἢ κατὰ σοφίαν ἐνδοξότεροι

1. προσαγορεύει] προσαγορεύων all MSS. except E.

2. ταὐτὰWyttenbach: ταῦτα.

3. δ᾽οὖν Helmbold: γοῦν.

4. αὐτὴν Reiske from Thucydides, iv. 10: αὐτῆς.

5. ἀποβάθραν Bernardakis from Thucydides, iv. 12: βάθραν.

6. λιποψυχῶν Dübner (as in Thucydides, iv. 12): λειποψυχῶν.

7. ἄληκτον F.C.B.: πολὺν τὸν Thucydides, vii. 71: ἄπλετονS.A. Naber: θαυμαστον H. Richards: ἄλαστον.

8. ξύντασιν Reiske: σύνταξιν.

9. καὶadded by F.C.B.

10. διὰ τὸ ἀκρίτωςadded from Thucydides, vii. 71: ὡς.

11. συναπονεύων Madvig, adapted from συναπονεύοντες ibid.: συμπνέων

12. ἐστινaded by F.C.B.

13. ἘροιεύςXylander: Ἐροιάδης Kirchner, Prosopogr. Attica; ἘρχιεύςWilamowitz-Möllendorff: ἐρωεύς.

14. ὅπλοιςLeonicus: ὁπλίταις.

15. πρώτων] πρυτάνεωνCobet.

16. νικῶμενCobet, from Lucian, Pro lapsu inter salutandum,3: καὶ χαίρομεν.

17. ΚυνέγειροςBernardakis and van Herwerden: κυναίγειρος.

18. ἀποστεῖλαιXylander: ἀπέστειλαν. In the Life of Agesilaüs, chap. xxxiii., ἄλλο δ᾽οὐδέν is added at the end.

19. ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς πράξειςadded by Madvig; Pohlenz would add ἀλλ᾽αὖτοὶ γίνονται διὰ τὰς πράξεις.

Plutarch De gloria Atheniensium 3

ed. Frank Cole Babbitt

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