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VIII.

DEMOSTHENES

Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes and Cleobulê daughter of Gylon, was of the deme Paeania. He was left an orphan at the age of seven years¹ by his father, along with his five-year-old sister, and lived during his minority with his mother. Some say that he went to school to Isocrates, but most authorities say that he went to Isaeus of Chalcis, who was a pupil of Isocrates living in Athens. He imitated Thucydides and also the philosopher Plato, whose instruction, some say, he followed with especial zeal. But Hegesias of Magnesia says that he asked his attendant to let him hear Callistratus of Aphidna, son of Empedus, a noted orator who had been a commander of cavalry and had set up the altar to Hermes-of-the-Market² and was about to address the popular assembly; and Demosthenes, when he had heard him speak, fell in love with oratory. Demosthenes heard him, it is true, for only a short time, as long as Callistratus remained in Athens; but when he had been banished to Thrace and Demosthenes had finished his service as ephebe,³ he went over to Isocrates and Plato; then he took Isaeus into his house and for four years exerted himself to imitate his speeches. But Ctesibius says in his work On Philosophy that through Callias of Syracuse he obtained the speeches of Zethus of Amphipolis and through Charicles of Carystus those of Alcidamas and that he studied them thoroughly.

When he attained his majority, because he received from his guardians less than was right, he brought them to trial for their administration, in the archonship of Timocrates.⁴ There were three of them: Aphobus, Therippides, and Demophon or Demeas, and he accused the last-named especially, since he was his mother’s brother.⁵ He fixed the penalty in each suit at ten talents, and he obtained conviction of all three defendants; but he exacted no part of the penalty, for he let them off, some for money and some as an act of grace. When Aristophon⁶ at last on account of age resigned political leadership, Demosthenes was even made choregus.⁷ And wThen Meidias of the deme of Anagyros struck him as he was performing his duties in the theatre as choregus, he sued him for the act, but on receipt of three thousand drachmas he dropped the suit. They say that when he was still a young man he withdrew into a cave and studied there, shaving half of his head to keep himself from going out; also that he slept on a narrow bed in order to get up quickly, and that since he could not pronounce the sound of R he learned to do so by hard work, and since in declaiming for practice he made an awkward movement with his shoulder, he put an end to the habit by fastening a spit or, as some say, a dagger from the ceiling to make him through fear keep his shoulder motionless. They say, too, that as he progressed in his ability to speak he had a mirror made as large as himself and kept his eyes on it while practising, that he might correct his faults; and that he used to go down to the shore at Phalerum and address his remarks to the roar of the waves, that he might not be disconcerted if the people should ever make a disturbance; and that because he was short of breath he paid Neoptolemus the actor ten thousand drachmas to teach him to speak whole paragraphs without taking breath.

And when he entered upon political life, finding that the public men of the city were divided into two parties, one favouring Philip and the other addressing the populace in defence of liberty, he enrolled himself among those opposed to Philip and always constantly advised the people to support the cause of those peoples which were in danger of being subjected by Philip, in which policy he was associated with Hypereides, Nausicles, Polyeuctus, and Diotimus; and thus he also brought the Thebans, Euboeans, Corcyraeans, Corinthians, Boeotians, and many others into alliance with the Athenians. Once he was hissed out of the assembly and was walking home feeling discouraged; but Eunomus of the deme Thria, who was already an old man, happened to meet him and encouraged him, and more than anyone else the actor Andronicus,⁸ by telling him that his words were excellent but that his delivery was deficient, and then Andronicus declaimed from memory the speech which Demosthenes had delivered in the assembly; whereupon Demosthenes was convinced and put himself in the hands of Andronicus. Therefore when someone asked him what was the first thing in oratory, he replied Delivery, and what the second, Delivery, and the third, Delivery.⁹ And when he spoke again in the assemblies he was hissed for some new-fangled expressions, so that Antiphanes and Timocles made fun of him in their comedies,

By earth, by founts, by rivers, and by floods,¹⁰

for it was by swearing in this way that he had caused an uproar in the assembly. He used also to swear by Asclepius, putting the accent on the third syllable from the end, though it is properly on the final syllable; and he offered, a proof that he was right, for he said that the god was mild ( epios). For this also he often provoked a clamour from the audience. But by going to school to Eubulides the Milesian philosopher he corrected all his faults. Once when he was at the Olympic festival and heard Lamachus of Tereina reading a eulogy of Philip and Alexander fand decrying the Thebans and Olynthians, he stood up and quoted the words of the ancient poets testifying to the glorious deeds of the Thebans and Olynthians, with the result that Lamachus was silenced and fled from the festival. And Philip said to those who reported to him the public speeches of Demosthenes against him, I myself, if I had heard Demosthenes speak, would have elected the man general to carry on the war against me. And Philip used to say that Demosthenes’ speeches were like soldiers because of their warlike power, but those of Isocrates were like athletes, because they afforded pleasure like that of a show.

When he was thirty-seven years old, reckoning from the archonship of Dexitheus¹¹ to that of Callimachus,¹² who was in office when an embassy came from the Olynthians asking for help because they were being hard pressed by Philip in the war, he persuaded the Athenians to send the help; but in the following year, in which Plato died,¹³ Philip overthrew the Olynthians. Xenophon, the follower of Socrates, knew him either in his youth or in his prime; for Xenophon’s Hellenica ended with the battle of Mantineia and the archonship of Charicles,¹⁴ and Demosthenes had already before that time, in the archonship of Timocrates,¹⁵ caused the conviction of his guardians. When Aeschines fled after his condemnation,¹⁶ he followed him on horseback, and Aeschines, thinking he was arresting him, fell at his feet and covered his head, but Demosthenes raised him up, encouraged him, and gave him a talent of silver. And he advised the people to support a force of mercenaries at Thasos, and sailed out as commander of a trireme on that occasion. After he had been in charge of the food supply he was accused of embezzlement but was acquitted. When Philip had taken Elateia Demosthenes himself went out with those who fought at Chaeroneia,¹⁷ on which occasion it appears that he deserted his post, and that, as he was running away, a bramble-bush caught his cloak, whereupon he turned and said, Take me alive. And he had as a device on his shield the words With good fortune.¹⁸ However, he delivered the funeral address for those who fell.¹⁹ And after that, directing his efforts to the improvement of the city and being elected commissioner in charge of the fortifications, he contributed out of his own pocket the funds expended, amounting to one hundred minae; he also presented ten thousand drachmas²⁰ for sacred envoys,²¹ and he made a cruise in a trireme to the allied cities collecting money. For these activities he was crowned many times, on earlier occasions on motions offered by Demomeles, Aristonicus, and Hypereides with golden crowns, and the last time on the motion of Ctesiphon; and when the decree granting this honour was attacked as illegal by Diodotus and Aeschines, he was so successful in his defence that the accuser did not receive one-fifth of the votes.

And at a later time, when Alexander was campaigning in Asia and Harpalus²² came fleeing to Athens with money, at first Demosthenes kept him from being admitted, but after he had entered the harbour, Demosthenes accepted one thousand darics and changed his attitude, and when the Athenians wished to surrender the man to Antipater, he spoke against it and made a motion that Harpalus deposit the money on the Acropolis without even stating the amount to the people; and although Harpalus stated that he had brought with him seven hundred talents, that which was taken up to the Acropolis was found to amount to only three hundred and fifty or a little more, as Philochorus says. And after this, when Harpalus escaped from the prison in which he was being kept until a representative of Alexander should arrive, and had gone to Crete or, as some say, to Taenarum in Laconia, Demosthenes was accused of bribe-taking and of having this reason for not mentioning the amount of the money taken up or the carelessness of the guard. He was brought to trial by Hypereides, Pytheas, Menesaechmus, Himeraeus, and Patrocles, and they obtained his conviction by the Senate of the Areopagus; and after his conviction he went into exile, not being able to pay back five times the amount (he was accused of having accepted thirty talents), or, as some say, he did not wait for the trial. After this time the Athenians sent Polyeuctus as envoy to the commonwealth of the Arcadians in order to detach them from their alliance with the Macedonians, and when Polyeuctus was unable to persuade them, Demosthenes appeared to help him and did persuade them. For this he was admired, and after some time he was permitted to return, a decree in his favour having been passed and a trireme dispatched to bring him. When the Athenians passed a decree proposed by his cousin Demon of Paeania that he should use the thirty talents which he owed in adorning the altar of Zeus the Saviour at Peiraeus and should then be absolved, he returned on those conditions to public life.

When Antipater was shut up in Lamia by the Greeks, and the Athenians were making thankofferings for the good news, he said to his friend Agesistratus that he did not agree with the rest about these matters, for, he said, I know that the Greeks have both the knowledge and the strength for a stadium dash²³ in warfare, but cannot hold out for a long-distance run. When Antipater had taken Pharsalus and threatened to besiege the Athenians unless they surrendered the orators, Demosthenes left the city and fled first to Aegina to sit as suppliant in the sanctuary of Aeacus, but was frightened and changed over to Calauria; and when the Athenians voted to surrender the orators including himself, he took his seat as a suppliant there in the temple of Poseidon. And when Archias,²⁴ nicknamed Exile Hunter, who had been a pupil of the orator Anaximenes, came to fetch him and urged him to leave his sanctuary, indicating that Antipater would receive him as a friend, he said, Your acting in tragedy was not convincing to me, nor will your advice be convincing now; and when Archias tried to use force, the authorities of the city prevented him, and Demosthenes said, I took refuge in Calauria, not to save my life, but to convict the Macedonians of using force even against the sanctuaries of the gods, and asking for writing materials he wrote - so Demetrius of Magnesia says - the distich which was later inscribed by the Athenians upon his statue:

Had you possessed but the strength, Demosthenes, like to your spirit;

Never would Macedon’s war Greece to submission have brought.²⁵

The statue, a work of Polyeuctus, is placed near the Roped-off Enclosure²⁶ and the altar of the Twelve Gods. But according to some authorities he was found to have written Demosthenes to Antipater, greeting.²⁷ Philochorus²⁸ says that he died by drinking poison, but Satyrus the historian says that the pen with which he began to write the letter was poisoned, and he died by sucking it; and Eratosthenes says that for a long time he wore a poisoned bracelet on his arm through fear of the Macedonians. There are those who say that he died by holding his breath, but others assert that it was by sucking poison from his seal ring. He lived, according to those who give the higher number, seventy years, according to those who giye the lower, sixty-seven. He was active in politics twenty-two years.

When Philip died,²⁹ Demosthenes came out from his house dressed in a white garment, in spite of the fact that his daughter had lately died, thus showing his joy at the death of the Macedonian.³⁰ He also assisted the Thebans when they were at war with Alexander, and he always encouraged the rest of the Greeks; for which reason Alexander after razing Thebes demanded him of the Athenians and threatened them if they should refuse to surrender him. And when Alexander was making war on the Persians and called upon the Athenians for a naval force, he spoke against it, saying that it was not clear whether Alexander would not employ the force against those who furnished it.

He left two sons by one wife of noble family, daughter of a certain Heliodorus; and he had one daughter who died unmarried while still a child. He had also a sister to whom and her husband Laches of Leuconoë his nephew Demochares was born, a man both brave in war and inferior to none in political speeches. There is a statue of him in the Prytaneum,³¹ the first on the right as you go in towards the hearth, wearing both a cloak and a sword; for he is said to have worn this costume in addressing the people when Antipater was demanding the surrender of the orators. At a later time the Athenians voted maintenance in the Prytaneum to the relatives of Demosthenes and erected to him after his death the statue in the Market-place,³² in the archonship of Gorgias.³³ The grants to him were requested by his nephew Demochares, for whom in turn his son Laches, son of Demochares, of Leuconoê, asked in the archonship of Pytharatus,³⁴ the tenth year after, for grants extending to the erection of the statue in the Market-place, maintenance in the Prytaneum for Demochares and his eldest descendant in perpetuity, and front seats at all competitive spectacles. And the decrees in favour of both are inscribed, but the statue of Demochares mentioned above was transferred to the Prytaneum.

Sixty-five genuine speeches of Demosthenes are current. Some say that he lived a dissolute life, wearing women’s clothes and indulging in revels on every occasion, on which account he was nicknamed Batalus³⁵; but others say that this was a diminutive derived from the name of his nurse and was given to him in reproach. And Diogenes the Cynic, seeing him once in a tavern looking ashamed and trying to withdraw from sight, said, The more you withdraw, the more you will be in the tavern. And he jeered at him, saying that in his speeches he was a Scythian, but in battle a city man. He received money from Ephialtes also, one of the politicians, who had been on an embassy to the King of Persia and came secretly bringing funds for distribution among the politicians for the purpose of stirring up the war against Philip; and they say that he received a private bribe of three thousand darics from the King. He arrested a certain Anaxilas of Oreus, who had been a guest-friend of his, subjected him to torture as a spy, and when he confessed nothing proposed a decree that he be handed over to the executioners. And once when he was being prevented by the Athenians from speaking in the assembly, he said that he only wished to speak briefly to them, and when they became silent he said, A young man in the summer time hired an ass to go from the city to Megara. When noon came and the sun was blazing fiercely, both he and the owner of the ass wished to lie down in its shadow. Each tried to prevent the other from so doing, the owner maintaining that he had rented him the ass, not its shadow, and the one who had hired the ass that he had complete rights in him. When he had said this, he began to go away; and when the Athenians stopped him and asked him to tell the rest of the tale, he said, You are willing to listen when I speak about the shadow of an ass,³⁶ but when I speak of serious matters, you refuse. Once when Polus the actor told him that he received a talent as pay for acting two days, he replied, And I five talents for being silent one day. And when his voice failed in the assembly and the people jeered at him, he said It is actors who should be judged by their voices, but statesmen by their opinions. And when Epicles rebuked him for always preparing his speeches, he said, I should be ashamed to speak off-hand to such a great people. They say that he never put out his lamp until he was fifty years old - polishing his speeches. And he says himself that he was a waterdrinker.³⁷ Lysias the orator was acquainted with him, and Isocrates saw him engaged in public affairs until the battle of Chaeroneia, as did some of the Socratic philosophers. He delivered most of his speeches extemporaneously, as he was well endowed for that by nature.³⁸ The first who moved that he be crowned with a crown of gold was Aristonicus of Anagyrus, son of Nicophanes, but Diondas prevented it by an affidavit.

Vitae decem oratorum. Plutarch. Harold North Fowler (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Lives of the Ten Orators (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. X. Fowler, Harold North, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τῶν δέκα ἡτόρων Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. V. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.) — 8 focus

Δημοσθένης

[1] Δημοσθένης Δημοσθένους καὶ Κλεοβούλης τῆς Γύλωνος θυγατρός, τῶν δὲ δήμων Παιανιεύς, καταλειφθεὶς; ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐτῶν ἑπτὰ μετʼ ἀδελφῆς 844b πενταέτιδος τὸν μὲν τῆς ὀρφανίας χρόνον παρὰ τῇ μητρὶ διῆγε, σχολάζων Ἰσοκράτει ὥς τινες ἔφασαν, ὡς δʼ οἱ πλεῖστοι Ἰσαίῳ τῷ Χαλκιδεῖ, ὃς ἦν Ἰσοκράτους μαθητής, διάγοντι ἐν Ἀθήναις, ζηλῶν Θουκυδίδην καὶ Πλάτωνα τὸν φιλόσοφον, ᾧ τινες 5 εἶπον προηγουμένως αὐτὸν σχολάσαι. ὡς δʼ Ἡγησίας ὁ Μάγνης φησίν, ἐδεήθη τοῦ παιδαγωγοῦ, ἵνα Καλλιστράτου Ἐμπέδου Ἀφιδναίου, ῥήτορος δοκίμου καὶ ἱππαρχήσαντος καὶ ἀναθέντος τὸν βωμὸν τῷ Ἑρμῇ τῷ ἀγοραίῳ, μέλλοντος ἐν τῷ δήμῳ λέγειν, 10 ἀκούσῃ ἀκούσας δʼ ἐραστὴς ἐγένετο τῶν λόγων. 844c καὶ τούτου μὲν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον ἤκουσεν, ἕως ἐπεδήμει. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ὁ μὲν ἔφυγεν εἰς Θρᾴκην ὁ δʼ ἐγεγόνει ἐξ ἐφήβων; τηνικαῦτα παρέβαλεν Ἰσοκράτει καὶ Πλάτωνι· εἶτα καὶ Ἰσαῖον ἀναλαβὼν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν 15 τετραετῆ χρόνον αὑτὸν διεπόνησε, μιμούμενος αὐτοῦ τοὺς λόγους. ὡς δὲ Κτησίβιός φησιν ἐν τῷ περὶ φιλοσοφίας, διὰ Καλλίου τοῦ Συρακουσίου πορίσας τοὺς Ζήθου τοῦ Ἀμφιπολίτου λόγους, διὰ δὲ Χαρικλέους τοῦ Καρυστίου τοὺς Ἀλκιδάμαντος, διέλαβεν 20 αὐτούς. τελειωθεὶς δέ, ἐλάττω παρὰ τῶν ἐπιτρόπων παραλαβών, ἔκρινεν αὐτοὺς ἐπιτροπῆς ἐπὶ Τιμοκράτους ἄρχοντος, τρεῖς ὄντας, Ἄφοβον Θηριππίδην 844d Δημοφῶντα ἢ Δημέαν καὶ μάλιστα τούτου κατηγόρησεν ἀδελφοῦ τῆς μητρὸς ὄντος, δέκα τάλαντα τίμημα ἑκάστῃ τῶν δικῶν ἐπιγραψάμενος· καὶ εἷλεν αὐτούς τῆς δὲ καταδίκης οὐδὲν ἐπράξατο, τοὺς μὲν 5 ἀφεὶς ἀργυρίου τοὺς δὲ καὶ χάριτος. Ἀριστοφῶντος δʼ ἤδη τὴν προστασίαν διὰ γῆρας καταλιπόντος, καὶ χορηγὸς ἐγένετο. Μειδίαν δὲ τὸν Ἀναγυράσιον πλήξαντα αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ χορηγοῦντα εἰς κρίσιν καταστήσας, λαβὼν τρισχιλίας ἀφῆκε τῆς δίκης 10 λέγουσι δʼ αὐτὸν ἔτι νέον ὄντα εἰς σπήλαιον ἀπιέναι κἀκεῖ φιλολογεῖν τὸ ἣμισυ τῆς κεφαλῆς; ξυράμενον, ἵνα μὴ προέρχοιτο· καὶ ἐπὶ στενῆς κλίνης κοιμᾶσθαι, 844e ἵνα διὰ ταχέων ἀνίστηται· τό τε ῥῶ μὴ δυνάμενον λέγειν ἐκπονῆσαι, καὶ τὸν ὦμον ἐν τῷ μελετᾶν 15 κινοῦντα ἀπρεπῶς καταπαῦσαι, παραρτήσαντα ὀβελίσκον ἢ ὥς τινες ξιφίδιον ἐκ τῆς ὀροφῆς, ἵνα φοβούμενος ἠρεμοίη. προβαίνοντα δὲ κατὰ τὴν τῶν λόγων ἰσχὺν ἔσοπτρον ἰσομέγεθες αὑτῷ κατασκευάσαι καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ἀφορῶντα μελετᾶν, ἵνʼ ἐπανορθώσηται 20 τὰ ἐλλείποντα· καὶ κατιόντα ἐπὶ τὸ Φαληρικὸν 844f πρὸς τὰς τῶν κυμάτων ἐμβολὰς τὰς σκέψεις ποιεῖσθαι, ἵνʼ, εἴ ποτε θορυβοίη ὁ δῆμος, μὴ ἐκσταίη · τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος αὐτῷ ἐνδέοντος, Νεοπτολέμῳ τῷ ὑποκριτῇ μυρίας δοῦναι, ἵνʼ ὅλας περιόδους ἀπνεύστως λέγῃ. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῷ πολιτεύεσθαι προσῆλθεν, εἰς δύο διῃρημένων τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ τῶν μὲν φιλιππιζόντων τῶν δʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας δημηγορούντων, τὴν τῶν ἀντιπολιτευομένων 5 Φιλίππῳ τάξιν εἵλετο· καὶ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου διετέλεσε συμβουλεύων τοῖς κινδυνεύουσιν ὑπὸ Φιλίππῳ γενέσθαι βοηθεῖν, συμπολιτευόμενος Ὑπερείδῃ 845a Ναυσικλεῖ Πολυεύκτῳ Διοτίμῳ· διὸ καὶ συμμάχους τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἐποίησε Θηβαίους Εὐβοεῖς 10 Κερκυραίους Κορινθίους Βοιωτούς, καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους πρὸς τούτοις. ἐκπεσὼν δὲ ποτʼ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας καὶ ἀθυμῶν ἐβάδιζεν οἴκοι· συντυχὼν δʼ αὐτῷ Εὔνομος ὁ Θριάσιος πρεσβύτης ἤδη ὢν προετρέψατο τὸν Δημοσθένη, μάλιστα δʼ ὁ ὑποκριτὴς 15 Ἀνδρόνικος εἰπὼν ὡς οἱ μὲν λόγοι καλῶς ἔχοιεν λείποι δʼ αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς ὑποκρίσεως, ἀπεμνημόνευσέ 845b τε τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λελεγμένων· καὶ δὴ πιστεύσαντα τὸν Δημοσθένη παραδοῦναι αὑτὸν τῷ Ἀνδρονίκῳ. ὅθεν ἐρομένου αὐτὸν 20 τινος τί πρῶτον ἐν ῥητορικῇ, εἶπεν ὑπόκρισις καὶ τί δεύτερον ὑπόκρισις· καὶ τί τρίτον ὑπόκρισισ. προελθὼν δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησίας, νεωτερικῶς τινα λέγων διεσύρετο, ὡς κωμῳδηθῆναι αὐτὸν ὑπʼ Ἀντιφάνους καὶ Τιμοκλέους 25

μὰ γῆν μὰ κρήνας μὰ ποταμοὺς μὰ νάματα

ὀμόσας δὲ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἐν τῷ δήμῳ θόρυβον ἐκίνησεν. ὤμνυε δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἀσκληπιόν, προπαροξύνων Ἀσκλήπιον· καὶ παρεδείκνυεν 1 αὑτὸν ὀρθῶς λέγοντα· εἶναι γὰρ τὸν θεὸν ἤπιον· καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ 5 845c πολλάκις ἐθορυβήθη. σχολάσας δʼ Εὐβουλίδῃ τῷ διαλεκτικῷ Μιλησίῳ ἐπηνωρθώσατο πάντα. γενόμενος δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ὀλυμπιακῇ πανηγύρει καὶ ἀκούσας Λαμάχου τοῦ Τερειναίου Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐγκώμιον ἀναγινώσκοντος Θηβαίων δὲ καὶ 10 Ὀλυνθίων κατατρέχοντος, παραναστὰς ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν μαρτυρίας προηνέγκατο περὶ τῶν Θηβαίοις καὶ Ὀλυνθίοις καλῶς πραχθέντων, ὡς παύσασθαί τε τὸ λοιπὸν τὸν Λάμαχον καὶ φυγεῖν ἐκ τῆς πανηγύρεως 845d Φίλιππον δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀναφέροντας αὐτῷ τὰς κατʼ 15 αὐτοῦ δημηγορίας εἰπεῖν ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ἂν ἀκούων λέγοντος Δημοσθένους ἐχειροτόνησα τὸν ἄνδρα πρὸς τὸν κατʼ ἐμοῦ πόλεμον ἐκάλει δὲ τοὺς μὲν αὐτοῦ λόγους ὁμοίους τοῖς στρατιώταις διὰ τὴν πολεμικὴν δύναμιν, τοὺς δʼ Ἰσοκράτους τοῖς ἀθληταῖς· τέρψιν 20 γὰρ παρέχειν αὐτοὺς θεατρικήν. ἑπτὰ δὲ. καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτη γεγονώς, λογιζομένοις ἀπὸ Δεξιθέου εἰς Καλλίμαχον, ἐφʼ οὗ πρὸς Ὀλυνθίων ἧκε πρεσβεία περὶ τῆς βοηθείας, ἐπεὶ ἐπιέζοντο ὑπὸ Φιλίππου τῷ 845e πολέμῳ, ἔπεισεν ἐκπέμψαι τὴν βοήθειαν· τῷ δʼ ἑξῆς, 25 ἐφʼ οὗ Πλάτων ἐτελεύτησε, Φίλιππος Ὀλυνθίους κατεστρέψατο. ἔγνω δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ Ξενοφῶν ὁ Σωκρατικὸς ἢ ἀρχόμενον ἢ ἀκμάζοντα· τῷ μὲν γὰρ τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ ἐτελεῖτο τὰ περὶ τὴν ἐν Μαντινείᾳ μάχην, ἄρχοντα δὲ Χαρικλείδην ὁ δὲ πρότερον ἐπὶ Τιμοκράτους εἷλε τοὺς ἐπιτρόπους. φεύγοντος δʼ Αἰσχίνου μετὰ τὴν καταδίκην, ἵππῳ κατεδίωξεν 5 αὐτόν· τοῦ δʼ οἰηθέντος αὐτὸν συλλαμβάνεσθαι καὶ προσπεσόντος καὶ συγκαλυψαμένου, ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν 845f παρεμυθήσατο καὶ τάλαντον ἔδωκεν ἀργυρίου. καὶ συνεβούλευσε δὲ τῷ δήμῳ ξενικὸν ἐν Θάσῳ τρέφειν, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τριηράρχης ἐξέπλευσε. σιτώνης 10 δὲ γενόμενος καὶ κατηγορηθεὶς κλοπῆς ἀφείθη. Φιλίππου δʼ Ἐλάτειαν καταλαβομένου καὶ αὐτὸς τοῖς ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ μαχεσαμένοις συνεξῆλθεν ὅτε καὶ δοκεῖ τὴν τάξιν λιπεῖν, φεύγοντος δʼ αὐτοῦ βάτον ἐπιλαβέσθαι τῆς χλαμύδος, τὸν δʼ ἐπιστραφέντα 15 εἰπεῖν ζώγρει. εἶχε δὲ καὶ ἐπίσημον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀσπίδος ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ εἶπε μέντοι τὸν ἐπιτάφιον ἐπὶ τοῖς πεσοῦσι. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν ἐπισκευὴν τῆς πόλεως τῇ ἐπιμελείᾳ προσελθὼν καὶ τῶν τειχῶν ἐπιμελητὴς χειροτονηθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας 20 846a εἰσήνεγκε τὸ ἀναλωθὲν ἀργύριον, μνᾶς ἑκατόν ἐπέδωκε δὲ καὶ θεωροῖς μυρίας τριήρους τʼ ἐπιβὰς περιέπλευσε τοὺς συμμάχους ἀργυρολογῶν. ἐφʼ οἷς πολλάκις ἐστεφανώθη, πρότερον μὲν ὑπὸ Δημομελοῦς Ἀριστονίκου Ὑπερείδου χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ, τελευταῖον δʼ ὑπὸ Κτησιφῶντος· καὶ γραφέντος τοῦ ψηφίσματος παρανόμων ὑπὸ Διοδότου καὶ Αἰσχίνου, ἀπολογούμενος ἐνίκησεν, ὥστε τὸ πέμπτον μέρος 5 τῶν ψήφων τὸν διώκοντα μὴ μεταλαβεῖν. ὕστερον δʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν στρατευομένου καὶ φυγόντος Ἁρπάλου μετὰ χρημάτων εἰς Ἀθήνας, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκώλυσεν αὐτὸν εἰσδεχθῆναι· ἐπειδὴ δʼ εἰσέπλευσε, λαβὼν Δαρεικοὺς χιλίους μετετάξατο· 10 846b βουλομένων τʼ Ἀθηναίων Ἀντιπάτρῳ παραδοῦναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀντεῖπεν, ἔγραψὲ τʼ ἀποθέσθαι τὰ χρήματα εἰς ἀκρόπολιν μηδὲ τῷ δήμῳ τὸν ἀριθμὸν εἰπόντα· φήσαντος δʼ Ἁρπάλου ἑπτακόσια συγκατακομίσαι τάλαντα τὰ ἀνενεχθέντα εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, 15 εὑρέθη τριακόσια καὶ πεντήκοντα ἢ ὀλίγῳ πλείονα ὥς φησι Φιλόχορος· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα φυγόντος Ἁρπάλου ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, ἐν ᾧ ἐφυλάσσετο, μέχρις ἂν ἀφίκηταί τις παρʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου, καὶ πορευθέντος εἰς τὴν Κρήτην ἢ ὡς ἔνιοι ἐπὶ Ταίναρον τῆς Λακωνικῆς, 20 αἰτίαν ἔσχεν ὁ Δημοσθένης δωροδοκίας, 846c ὡς διὰ τοῦτο μήτε τὸν τῶν ἀνακομισθέντων μεμηνυκὼς μήτε τὴν τῶν φυλασσόντων ἀμέλειαν. εἰσαχθεὶς δʼ εἰς δικαστήριον ὑπὸ Ὑπερείδου Πυθέου Μενεσαίχμου Ἱμεραίου Πατροκλέους, οἳ ἐποίησαν καταγνῶναι αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλήν, καὶ ἁλοὺς ἔφυγε, πενταπλασίονα ἀποτῖσαι μὴ δυνάμενος 5 ʽ εἶχε δʼ αἰτίαν τριάκοντα τάλαντα λαβεῖν̓, ἢ ὡς ἔνιοι οὐχ ὑπομείνας τὴν κρίσιν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον τῶν Ἀθηναίων Πολύευκτον πεμψάντων 846d πρεσβευτὴν πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Ἀρκάδων, ὥστʼ ἀποστῆναι αὐτοὺς τῆς τῶν Μακεδόνων συμμαχίας, 10 καὶ τοῦ Πολυεύκτου πεῖσαι μὴ δυναμένου, ἐπιφανεὶς Δημοσθένης καὶ συνειπὼν ἔπεισεν. ἐφʼ ᾧ θαυμασθεὶς μετὰ χρόνον τινὰ κάθοδον εὕρατο, ψηφίσματος γραφέντος καὶ τριήρους ἀποσταλείσης. τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων ψηφισαμένων οἷς ὤφειλε τριάκοντα 15 ταλάντοις κοσμῆσαι αὐτὸν τὸν βωμὸν τοῦ σωτῆρος Διὸς ἐν Πειραιεῖ καὶ ἀφεῖσθαι, τοῦτο γράψαντος τὸ ψήφισμα Δήμωνος Παιανιέως, ὃς ἦν ἀνεψιὸς αὐτῷ, πάλιν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἦν πολιτευόμενος. Ἀντιπάτρου δʼ εἰς Λάμειαν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων συγκλεισθέντος 20 846e τῶν Ἀθηναίων εὐαγγέλια θυόντων, πρός τινα τῶν ἑταίρων Ἀγησίστρατον ἔφη οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἔχειν τοῖς ἄλλοις περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπίσταμαι γάρ εἰπεῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας στάδιον μὲν πολεμεῖν καὶ εἰδότας καὶ δυναμένους, δόλιχον δʼ οὐκέτι Φάρσαλον δʼ ἑλόντος Ἀντιπάτρου καὶ, πολιορκήσειν ἀπειλοῦντος Ἀθηναίους, εἰ μὴ τοὺς ῥήτορας ἐκδοίησαν, καταλιπὼν ὁ Δημοσθένης τὴν πόλιν ἔφυγε πρῶτον μὲν εἰς Αἴγιναν ἐπὶ τὸ Αἰάκειον 5 καθεδούμενος, φοβηθεὶς δʼ εἰς Καλαυρίαν μετέστη. ἐκδιδόναι δὲ τοὺς ῥήτορας τῶν Ἀθηναίων ψηφισαμένων 846f κἀκεῖνον, καθέζετο ἱκέτης ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερῷ· ἐλθόντος δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν Ἀρχίου τοῦ Φυγαδοθήρου ἐπικαλουμένου, ὃς παρέβαλεν Ἀναξιμένει 10 τῷ ῥήτορι καὶ πείθοντος αὐτὸν ἀναστῆναι, ὡς φίλον Ἀντιπάτρῳ γενησόμενον, εἶπεν ὅτι οὔτε, ὅτε ἐτραγῴδεις, ἔπειθές με οὔτε νῦν πείσεις συμβουλεύων τοῦ δʼ ἐπιχειροῦντος βιάζεσθαι, ἐκώλυσαν αὐτὸν οἱ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν· καὶ Δημοσθένης ἔφη οὐ 15 σωτηρίας δεόμενος κατέφυγον εἰς Καλαυρίαν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐλέγξων Μακεδόνας καὶ τὰ τῶν θεῶν βιασομένους,· 847a αἰτήσας τε γραμματεῖον ἔγραψεν, ὡς μὲν Δημήτριος ὁ Μάγνης φησί, τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ ἐλεγεῖον, ἐπιγεγραμμένον ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων 20 ὕστερον

εἴπερ ἴσην ῥώμην γνώμῃ, Δημόσθενες, ἔσχες,

οὔποτʼ ἂν Ἑλλήνων ἦρξεν Ἄρης Μακεδών.

κεῖται δʼ ἡ εἰκὼν πλησίον τοῦ περισχοινίσματος καὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τῶν δώδεκα θεῶν, ὑπὸ Πολυεύκτου πεποιημένη. 25 ὡς δʼ ἔνιοί φασι, τοῦτο εὑρέθη γεγραμμένον Δημοσθένης Ἀντιπάτρῳ χαίρειν ἀποθανεῖν δʼ αὐτὸν Φιλόχορος μέν φησι φάρμακον πιόντα Σάτυρος δʼ ὁ συγγραφεὺς τὸν κάλαμον πεφαρμάχθαι, 847b ᾧ γράφειν ἤρξατο τὴν ἐπιστολήν, οὗ γευσάμενον 5 ἀποθανεῖν· Ἐρατοσθένης δʼ ἐκ πολλοῦ δεδοικότα Μακεδόνας περὶ τῷ βραχίονι κρίκον περικεῖσθαι πεφαρμαγμένον. εἰσὶ δʼ οἵ φασι συσχόντα αὐτὸν τὸ πνεῦμα ἀποθανεῖν· οἱ δʼ εἶπον τοῦ κατὰ τὴν σφραγῖδα φαρμάκου γευσάμενον. ἐβίω δʼ ὡς 10 μὲν οἱ τὰ πλείω λέγουσιν ἔτη ἑβδομήκοντα, ὡς δʼ οἱ τὰ ἐλάττω, ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑξήκοντα. ἐπολιτεύσατο δὲ δύο καὶ εἴκοσιν. ἡνίκα δὲ Φίλιππος ἐτεθνήκει, λαμπρὰν ἐσθῆτα προῆλθεν ἔχων, καίτοι τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ νεωστὶ τετελευτηκυίας, ἐφηδόμενος τῷ 15 τοῦ Μακεδόνος θανάτῳ. συνήργησε δὲ καὶ Θηβαίοις 847c πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον πολεμοῦσι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας ἐπέρρωσεν ἀεί· διόπερ Θήβας κατασκάψας ἐξῄτει παρʼ Ἀθηναίων Ἀλέξανδρος αὐτόν, ἀπειλῶν, εἰ μὴ δοίησαν. στρατευομένῳ δʼ αὐτῷ ἐπὶ Πέρσας 20 καὶ αἰτοῦντι ναυτικὸν παρʼ Ἀθηναίων ἀντεῖπεν, ἄδηλον εἰπών, εἰ οὐ κατὰ τῶν παρασχόντων χρήσεται. κατέλιπε δὲ δύο παῖδας ἐκ μιᾶς γυναικὸς τῶν εὐδοκίμων, Ἡλιοδώρου τινὸς θυγατρός· θυγατέρα δὲ μίαν ἔσχεν, ἣ παῖς ἔτι οὖσα πρὸ γάμου 25 ἐτελεύτησεν εἶχε δὲ καὶ ἀδελφήν, ἐξ ἧς καὶ Λάχου Λευκονοέως ἀδελφιδοῦς αὐτῷ Δημοχάρης ἐγένετο, ἀνὴρ καὶ κατὰ πόλεμον ἀγαθὸς καὶ κατὰ τοὺς πολιτικοὺς 847d λόγους οὐδενὸς χείρων. ἔστι δʼ αὐτοῦ εἰκὼν ἐν τῷ πρυτανείῳ εἰσιόντων πρὸς τὴν ἑστίαν 5 ἐν δεξιᾷ ὁ πρῶτος περιεζωσμένος ἅμα τῷ ἱματίῳ καὶ ξίφος· οὕτω γὰρ · δημηγορῆσαι λέγεται, ἡνίκα Ἀντίπατρος ἐξῄτει τοὺς ῥήτορας. χρόνῳ δʼ ὕστερον Ἀθηναῖοι σίτησὶν τʼ ἐν πρυτανείῳ τοῖς συγγενέσι τοῦ Δημοσθένους ἔδοσαν καὶ αὐτῷ τετελευτηκότι 10 τὴν εἰκόνα ἀνέθεσαν ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἐπὶ Γοργίου ἄρχοντος, αἰτησαμένου αὐτῷ τὰς δωρεὰς τοῦ ἀδελφιδοῦ Δημοχάρους· ᾧ καὶ αὐτῷ πάλιν ὁ υἱὸς Λάχης ·. Δημοχάρους Λευκονοεὺς ᾐτήσατο δωρεὰς ἐπὶ Πυθαράτου 847e ἄρχοντος, δεκάτῳ ὕστερον ἔτει, εἰς τὴν 15 τῆς εἰκόνος στάσιν ἐν ἀγορᾷ καὶ σίτησιν ἐν πρυτανείῳ αὐτῷ τε καὶ ἐκγόνων ἀεὶ τῷ πρεσβυτάτῳ καὶ προεδρίαν ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς ἀγῶσι. καὶ ἔστι τὰ ψηφίσματα ὑπὲρ ἀμφοτέρων ἀναγεγραμμένα, ἡ δʼ εἰκὼν τοῦ Δημοχάρους εἰς τὸ πρυτανεῖον μετεκομίσθη, 20 περὶ ἧς προείρηται. φέρονται δʼ αὐτοῦ λόγοι γνήσιοι ἑξήκοντα πέντε. φασὶ δέ τινες καὶ ἀσώτως αὐτὸν βιῶναι, γυναικείαις τʼ ἐσθῆσι χρώμενον καὶ κωμάζοντα ἑκάστοτε, ὅθεν Βάταλον ἐπικληθῆναι· οἱ δʼ ὑποκοριστικῶς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀνόματος 25 847f τῆς τροφοῦ λέγουσιν αὐτὸν οὕτω λελοιδορῆσθαι. Διογένης δʼ ὁ κύων θεασάμενος αὐτὸν ποτʼ ἐν καπηλείῳ αἰσχυνόμενον καὶ ὑποχωροῦντα, εἶπεν ὅσῳ μᾶλλον ὑποχωρεῖς, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ἐν τῷ καπηλείῳ ἔσῃ. ἔλεγε δʼ αὐτὸν παρασκώπτων ἐν μὲν τοῖς λόγοις Σκύθην εἶναι, ἐν δὲ ταῖς μάχαις 5 ἀστικόν. ἔλαβε δὲ καὶ παρʼ Ἐφιάλτου χρυσίον ἑνὸς τῶν δημαγωγῶν, ὃς πρεσβεύσας πρὸς βασιλέα χρήματα φέρων ἧκε λάθρα, ὅπως διανείμας τοῖς δημαγωγοῖς τὸν πρὸς Φίλιππον ἐξάψῃ πόλεμον· καὶ ἰδίᾳ 848a αὐτὸν δωροδοκῆσαι παρὰ βασιλέως φασὶ δαρεικοὺς 10 τρισχιλίους. Ἀναξίλαν δέ τινα Ὠρείτην, ξένον αὐτοῦ γεγονότα, συλλαβὼν ἐβασάνιζεν ὡς κατάσκοπον, οὐδὲν δʼ ἐξειπόντα ἐψηφίσατο τοῖς ἕνδεκα παραδοῦναι. λέγειν δέ ποτε κωλυόμενος ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ βραχὺ ἔφη βούλεσθαι πρὸς 15 αὐτοὺς εἰπεῖν, τῶν δὲ σιωπησάντων νεανίας εἶπε θέρους ὥρᾳ ἐμισθώσατο ἐξ ἄστεος, ὄνον Μέγαράδε· μεσούσης δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ σφοδρῶς φλέγοντος τοῦ ἡλίου, ἑκάτερος αὐτῶν ἐβούλετο ὑποδύεσθαι ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν εἶργον δʼ ἀλλήλους, ὁ μὲν μεμισθωκέναι 20 848b τὸν ὄνον οὐ τὴν σκιὰν λέγων, ὁ δὲ μεμισθωμένος τὴν πᾶσαν ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν· καὶ ταῦτʼ εἰπὼν ἀπῄει. τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων ἐπισχόντων καὶ δεομένων πέρας ἐπιθεῖναι τῷ λόγῳ, εἶθʼ ὑπὲρ μὲν ὄνου σκιᾶς ἔφη βούλεσθε ἀκούειν, λέγοντος, δὲ 25 ὑπὲρ σπουδαίων πραγμάτων οὐ βούλεσθε; Πώλου δέ ποτε τοῦ ὑποκριτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰπόντος, ὅτι δυσὶν ἡμέραις ἀγωνισάμενος τάλαντον λάβοι μισθὸν ἐγὼ δʼ εἶπε πέντε τάλαντα, μίαν ἡμέραν σιωπήσας. παραφθαρεὶς δὲ τὴν φωνὴν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ 5 καὶ θορυβηθεὶς τοὺς ὑποκριτὰς ἔφη δεῖν κρίνειν ἐκ τῆς φωνῆς τοὺς δὲ ῥήτορας ἐκ τῆς γνώμης. 848c ὀνειδίσαντος δʼ αὐτὸν Ἐπικλέους ὅτι ἀεὶ σκέπτοιτο, αἰσχυνοίμην γὰρ ἄν εἶπεν εἰ τηλικούτῳ δήμῳ συμβουλεύων αὐτοσχεδιάζοιμι ἱστοροῦσι δʼ ὡς 10 οὐδὲ λύχνον ἔσβεσεν, ἄχρι πεντήκοντα ἐτῶν ἐγένετο, διακριβῶν τοὺς λόγους. αὐτὸς δέ φησιν ὑδροποσίᾳ χρήσασθαι. ἔγνω δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ Λυσίας ὁ ῥήτωρ καὶ Ἰσοκράτης εἶδε πολιτευόμενον ἄχρι τῆς ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ μάχης, καί τινες τῶν Σωκρατικῶν 15 φιλοσόφων. τοὺς δὲ πλείστους λόγους εἶπεν 848d αὐτοσχεδιάσας, εὖ πρὸς αὐτὸ πεφυκώς. πρῶτος δʼ ἔγραψε στεφανωθῆναι αὐτὸν χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ Ἀριστόνικος; Νικοφάνους Ἀναγυράσιος, ὑπωμόσατο 20 δὲ Διώνδας.

Translations (1)

Lives of the Ten Orators Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Barcroft, Charles, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 8 focus

VIII.

DEMOSTHENES.

DEMOSTHENES, the son of Demosthenes by Cleobule, the daughter of Gylon, was a Paeanian by descent. He was left an orphan by his father, when he was but seven years old, together with a sister of the age of five. Being kept by his mother during his nonage, he went to school to Isocrates, say some; but the generality are of opinion that he was pupil to Isaeus the Chalcidian, who lived in Athens and was Isocrates’s scholar. He imitated Thucydides and Plato, and some affirm that he more especially attended the school of Plato. Hegesias the Magnesian writes, that he entreated his master’s leave to go to hear Callistratus the son of Empaedus, an Amphidnean, a noble orator, and sometime commander of a troop of horse, who had dedicated an altar to Mercury Agoraeos, and was to make an oration to the people. And when he heard him, he became a lover of oratory, and so long as he continued at Athens, remained his disciple.

But Callistratus being soon banished to Thrace, and Demosthenes arrived at some years of maturity, he joined with Isocrates and Plato. After this, he took Isaeus into his house, and for the space of four years labored very hard in imitation of his orations. Though Ctesibius in his book of philosophy affirms that, by the help of Callias the Syracusan, he got the orations of Zoilus the Amphipolite, and by the assistance of Charicles the Carystian those also of Alcidamas, and devoted himself to the imitation of them. When he came to age, in the year of Timocrates¹ he called his tutors and guardians to account for their maladministration, in not allowing him what was fitting and requisite out of his estate. And these tutors or guardians were three, Aphobus, Therippides, and Demophbn (or Demeas), the last of whom, being his uncle, he charged more severely than the other two. He arrested each of them in an action of ten talents, and cast them, but did not exact of them what the law had given him, releasing some for money and others for favor.

When Aristophon, by reason of his age, could not hold the office any longer, he was chosen choregus, or overseer of the dances. During the execution of which office, Midias the Anagyrasian striking him as he was ordering the dances in the theatre, he sued him upon it, but let fall his suit upon Midias’s paying him three thousand drachms.

It is reported of him that, while he was a youth, he confined himself to a den or cave, and there studied his orations, and shaved half of his head that he might not be allured to divert himself from it; and that he lay upon a very narrow bed, that he might awake and rise the sooner. And for that he could not very well pronounce the letter R, he accustomed himself very much to that, that he might master it if possible; and using likewise an unseemly motion of his shoulder when he spake at any time, he remedied that by a spit (or, as some say, a sword) stuck in the ceiling just over his shoulder, that the fear of being pricked with it might break him of that indecent gesture. They report of him further that, when he could declaim pretty well, he had a sort of mirror made as big as himself, and used always in declaiming to look in that, to the end that he might see and correct what was amiss. He used likewise at some certain times to go down to the Phalerian shore, to the end that, being accustomed to the surges and noise of the waves, he might not be daunted by the clamors of the people, when he should at any time declaim in public. And being naturally short-winded, he gave Neoptolemus a player ten thousand drachms to teach him to pronounce long sentences in one breath.

Afterwards, betaking himself to the affairs of the commonwealth, and finding the people divided into two different factions, one in favor of Philip, and the other standing for the liberty and properties of the people, he took part with them that opposed Philip, and always persuaded the citizens to help those who were in danger and trouble by Philip’s oppression; taking for his companions in council Hyperides, Nausicles, Polyeuctus, and Diotimus; and then he drew the Thebans, Euboeans, Corcyraeans, Corinthians, Boeotians, and many more into a league with the Athenians. Being in the assembly one day and his memory failing him, his oration was hissed; which made him return home very heavy and melancholy; and being met by Eunomus the Thriasian, an old man, by him he was comforted and encouraged. But he was chiefly animated by Andronicus the player, who told him that his orations were excellent, but that he wanted something of action, thereupon rehearsing certain places out of his oration which he had delivered in that same assembly. Unto which Demosthenes gave good ear and credit, and he then betook himself to Andronicus. And therefore, when he was afterwards asked what was the first part of oratory, he answered, Action; and which was the second, he replied, Action; and which was the third, he still answered, Action. Another time, declaiming publicly, and using expressions too youthful for one of his years and gravity, he was laughed at, and ridiculed by the comedians, Antiphanes and Timocles, who in derision used to repeat such phrases as these, as uttered by him:

By the earth, by the fountains, by the rivers, by the floods!

For having sworn thus in presence of the people, he raised a tumult about him. He likewise used to swear by Asclepius, and accented the second syllable ( Ἀσκλήπιος)² through some mistake, and yet afterwards defended it; for this Asclepius, he said, was called ἤπιος that is a mild God. This also often caused him to be interrupted. But all these things he reformed in time, being sometime conversant with Eubulides, the Milesian philosopher. Being on a time present at the Olympic games, and hearing Lamachus the Myrrhinaean sound the praises of Philip and of Alexander the Great, his son, and decry the cowardice of the Thebans and Olynthians, he stood up in their defence against him, and from the ancient poets he proclaimed the great and noble achievements of the Thebans and Olynthians; and so elegantly he behaved himself in this affair, that he at once silenced Lamachus, and made him convey himself immediately out of the assembly. And even Philip himself, when he had heard what harangues he made against him, replied, that if he had heard him, he should have chosen him general in the war against himself. He was used to compare Demosthenes’s orations to soldiers, for the force they carried along with them; but the orations of Isocrates to fencers, because of the theatrical delight that accompanied them.

Being about the age of seven and thirty, reckoning from Dexitheus to Callimachus,³—in whose time the Olynthians sent to beg aid of the Athenians against Philip, who then made war upon them,—he persuaded them to answer the Olynthians’ request; but in the following year, in which Plato died,⁴ Philip overthrew and destroyed the Olynthians. Xenophon also, the scholar of Socrates, had some knowledge of Demosthenes, either at his first rise, or at least when he was most famous and flourishing; for he wrote the Acts of the Greeks, as touching what passed at the battle of Mantinea, in the year of Chariclides;⁵ our Demosthenes having sometime before overthrown his guardians in a suit he had commenced against them, in the year of Timocrates. When Aeschines, being condemned, fled from Athens, Demosthenes hearing of it took horse and rode after him; which Aeschines understanding, and fearing to be apprehended again, he came out to meet Demosthenes, and fell at his feet, covered his face, and begged his mercy; upon which Demosthenes bid him stand up, be assured of his favor, and as a pledge of it, gave him a talent of silver. He advised the people to maintain a company of mercenary soldiers in Thasos, and thither sailed himself as captain of the galleys. Another time, being entrusted to buy corn, he was accused of defrauding the city, but cleared himself of the accusation and was acquitted. When Philip had seized upon Elatea, Demosthenes with others went to the war of Chaeronea, where he is said to have deserted his colors; and flying away, a bramble caught hold of his vest behind, when turning about in haste, thinking an enemy had overtaken him, he cried out, Save my life, and say what shall be my ransom. On his buckler he had engraven for his motto, To Good Fortune. And it was he that made the oration at the funerals of such as died in that battle.

After these things, he bent his whole care and study for the reparation of the city and wall; and being chosen commissary for repairing the walls, besides what money he expended out the city stock, he laid out of his own at least a hundred minas. And besides this, he gave ten thousand drachms to the festival fund; and taking ship, he sailed from coast to coast to collect money of the allies; for which he was often by Demotelus, Aristonicus, and Hyperides crowned with golden crowns, and afterwards by Ctesiphon. Which last decree had like to have been retracted, Diodotus and Aeschines endeavoring to prove it to be contrary to the laws; but he defended himself so well against their allegations, that he overcame all difficulties, his enemies not having the fifth part of the votes of the judges.

After this, when Alexander the Great made his expedition into Asia, and Harpalus fled to Athens with a great sum of money, at first he would not let him be entertained, but afterwards, Harpalus being landed and having given him a thousand darics he was of another mind; and when the Athenians determined to deliver Harpalus up to Antipater, he opposed it, proposing to deposit the money in the Citadel, still without declaring the amount to the people. Thereupon Harpalus declared that he had brought with him from Asia seven hundred talents, and that this sum had been deposited in the Citadel; but only three hundred and fifty or a little more could be found, as Philochorus relates. But when Harpalus broke out of the prison wherein he was kept till some person should come from Alexander, and was escaped into Crete,—or, as some will have it, into Taenarum in Laconia,—Demosthenes was accused that he had received from him a sum of money, and that therefore he had not given a true account of the sum delivered to him, nor had impeached the negligence of the keepers. So he was judicially cited by Hyperides, Pytheus, Menesaechmus, Himeraeus, and Patrocles, who prosecuted him so severely as to cause him to be condemned in the court of Areopagus; and being condemned, he went into exile, not being able to pay fivefold; for he was accused of receiving thirty talents. Others say, that he would not run the risk of a trial, but went into banishment before the day came. After this tempest was over, when the Athenians sent Polyeuctus to the republic of Arcadia to draw them off from the alliance with the Macedonians, he not succeeding, Demosthenes appeared to second him, where he reasoned so effectually that he easily prevailed. Which procured him so much credit and esteem, that after some time a galley was dispatched to call him home again. And the Athenians decreed that, whereas he owed the state thirty talents, as a fine laid on him for the misdemeanor he was accused of, he should be excused for only building an altar to Jupiter Servator in the Piraeus; which decree was first proposed by Demon his near kinsman. This being agreed on, he returned to the administration of affairs in the commonwealth again.

But when Antipater was blocked up in Lamia, and the Athenians offered sacrifices for the happy news, he happened, being talking with Agesistratus, one of his intimate friends, to say, that his judgment concerning the state of affairs did not jump with other men’s, for that he knew the Greeks were brisk and ready enough to run a short course but not to hold on a long race. When Antipater had taken Pharsalus, and threatened to besiege Athens itself if they refused to deliver up such orators as had declaimed against him, Demosthenes, suspecting himself to be one of the number, left the city, and fled first into Aegina, that he might take sanctuary in the temple of Aeacus; but being afraid to trust himself long there, he went over to Calauria; and when the Athenians had decreed to deliver up those orators, and him especially as one of them, he continued a suppliant in the temple of Neptune. When Archias came thither,—who, from his office of pursuing fugitives, was called Phygadotheres and was the scholar of Anaximines the orator,—when he, I say, came to him, and persuaded him to go with him, telling him that no doubt he should be received by Antipater as a friend, he replied: When you played a part in a tragedy, you could not persuade me to believe you the person you represented; no more shall you now persuade me by your counsel. And when Archias endeavored to force him thence, the townsmen would not suffer it. And Demosthenes told them, that he did not flee to Calauria to save his life, but that he might convince the Macedonians of their violence committed even against the Gods themselves. And with that he called for a writing-table; and if we may credit Demetrius the Magnesian, on that he wrote a distich, which afterwards the Athenians caused to be affixed to his statue; and it was to this purpose:

Hadst thou, Demosthenes, an outward force

Great as thy inward magnanimity,

Greece should not wear the Macedonian yoke.

This statue, made by Polyeuctus, is placed near the cloister where the altar of the twelve Gods is erected. Some say this writing was found: Demosthenes to Antipater, Greeting. Philochorus tells us that he died by drinking of poison; and Satyrus the historiographer will have it, that the pen was poisoned with which he wrote his epistle, and putting it into his mouth, soon after he tasted it he died. Eratosthenes is of another opinion, that being in continual fear of the Macedonians, he wore a poisoned bracelet on his arms. Others say again, that he died with holding his breath; and others, lastly, say that he carried strong poison in his signet. He lived to the age of seventy, according to those who give the highest number,—of sixty-seven, according to other statements. And he was in public life two and twenty years.

When King Philip was dead, he appeared publicly in a glorious robe or mantle, as rejoicing for his death, though he but just before mourned for his daughter. He assisted the Thebans likewise against Alexander, and animated all the other Greeks. So that when Alexander had conquered Thebes, he demanded Demosthenes of the Athenians, threatening them if they refused to deliver him. When he went against Persia, demanding ships of the Athenians, Demosthenes opposed it, saying, who can assure us that he will not use those ships we should send him against ourselves?

He left behind him two sons by one wife, the daughter of one Heliodorus, a principal citizen. He had but one daughter, who died unmarried, being but a child. A sister too he had, who married with Laches of Leuconoe, his kinsman, and to him bore Demochares, who proved inferior to none in his time for eloquence, conduct, and courage. His statue is still standing in the Prytaneum, the first on the right as you approach the altar, clothed with a mantle and girt with a sword, because in this habit he delivered an oration to the people, when Antipater demanded of them their orators.

Afterwards, in process of time, the Athenians decreed nourishment to be given to the kindred of Demosthenes in the Prytaneum, and likewise set up a statue to his memory, when he was dead, in the market, in the year of Gorgias,⁶ which honors were paid him at the request of Demochares his sister’s son. And ten years after, Laches, the son of Demochares of Leuconoe, in the year of Pytharatus, required the same honor for himself, that his statue should be set up in the market, and that both he and the eldest of his line for the future should have their allowance in the Prytaneum, and the highest room at all public shows. These decrees concerning both of them are engrossed, and to be found among the statute laws. The statue of Demochares, of which we have spoken before, was afterwards removed out of the market into the Prytaneum.

There are extant sixty-five orations which are truly his. Some report of him, that he lived a very dissolute and vicious life, appearing often in women’s apparel, and being frequently conversant at masks and revellings, whence he was surnamed Batalus; though others say, that this was a pet name given him by his nurse, and that from this he was called Batalus in derision. Diogenes the Cynic espying him one day in a victualling-house, he was very much ashamed, and to shun him, went to withdraw; but Diogenes called after him, and told him, The more you shrink inward, the more you will be in the tavern. The same Diogenes once upon the banter said of him, that in his orations he was a Scythian, but in war a delicate nice citizen. He was one of them who received gold of Ephialtes, one of the popular orators, who, being sent in an embassy to the king of Persia, took money privily, and distributed it among the orators of Athens, that they might use their utmost endeavors to kindle and inflame the war against Philip; and it is said of Demosthenes, that he for his part had at once three thousand darics of the king. He apprehended one Anaxilas of Oreus, who had been his friend, and caused him to be tortured for a spy; and when he would confess nothing, he procured a decree that he should be delivered to the eleven executioners.

When once at a meeting of the Athenians they would not suffer him to speak, he told them he had but a short story to tell them. Upon which all being silent, thus he began: A certain youth, said he, hired an ass in summer time, to go from hence to Megara. About noon, when the sun was very hot, and both he that hired the ass and the owner were desirous of sitting in the shade of the ass, they each thrust the other away,—the owner arguing that he let him only his ass and not the shadow, and the other replying that, since he had hired the ass, all that belonged to him was at his dispose. Having said thus, he seemed to go his way. But the Athenians willing now to hear his story out, called him back, and desired him to proceed. To whom he replied: How comes it to pass that ye are so desirous of hearing a story of the shadow of an ass, and refuse to give ear to matters of greater moment? Polus the player boasting to him that he had gotten a whole talent by playing but two days, he answered, and I have gotten five talents by being silent but one day. One day his voice failing him when he was declaiming publicly, being hissed, he cried out to the people, saying, Ye are to judge of players, indeed, by their voice, but of orators by the gravity of their sentences.

Epicles upbraiding him for his premeditating what he was to say, he replied, I should be ashamed to speak what comes uppermost to so great an assembly. They say of him that he never put out his lamp—that is, never ceased polishing his orations—until he was fifty years old. He says of himself, that he drank always fair water. Lysias the orator was acquainted with him; and Isocrates knew him concerned in the management of public affairs till the battle of Chaeronea; as also some of the Socratical sect. [He delivered most of his orations extempore, Nature having well qualified him for it.]⁷ The first that proposed the crowning him with a coronet of gold was Aristonicus, the son of Nicophanes, the Anagyrasian; though Diondas interposed with an indictment.

Notes on the current edition

The Lives of the Ten Orators

1. He was born in 384 b.c.; cf. Orations xxx. 15 and xxi. 154.

2. The bronze Hermes Agoraios was ἐν μέσῇ τῇ ἀγορᾷ (schol. Aristoph. Eq. 297; Cf. Paus. i. 15. 1) and παρὰ τὴν ποικίλην (Lucian, Iup. Trag. 33).

3. i.e. at the age of twenty. This service, designed to be a training for citizenship, lasted two years.

4. 364-363 b.c.

5. This is incorrect. The author seems to have confused Demophon and his father Demeas. Demosthenes accused Aphobus chiefly, and Aphobus was his cousin, not his uncle. Cf. Demosthenes, xxix. ( Against Aphobus for False Witness) 59, also 6 and 20; xxviii. ( Against Aphobus II.) 15; xxvii. ( Against Aphobus I.) 4.

6. Aristophon, a second-rate but influential politician, was especially active in the decade preceding the choregia of Demosthenes, but no connexion can be perceived between his retirement and Demosthenes’ choregia. He lived to be nearly 100 years old ( ἤδη).

7. An indication of Demosthenes’ restored fortune. The choregus was a wealthy man who equipped the chorus for dramas and superintended its training.

8. A tragic actor of the first part of the fourth century b.c. See O’Connor, Chapters in the History of Actors and Acting in Ancient Greece, p. 78. Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes, chap. vii. assigns to Satyrus about the same relation to the orator’s training as is here assigned to Andronicus.

9. On the meaning, broader than that of our delivery, in Greek rhetoric see Aristotle, Rhetoric, iii., ad init.

10. Kock, Com. Att. Frag. ii. p. 128, no. 296. For Demosthenes’ metrical oath here parodied see Life of Demosthenes, chap. vii.

11. 385-384 b.c.

12. 349-348 b.c.

13. 348-347 b.c.

14. 363-362 b.c.

15. 324-323 b.c.

16. Aeschines brought a suit on grounds of illegality against Ctesiphon, who proposed in 336 b.c. that Demosthenes be honoured by the city with a golden crown. The case was tried in 330 b.c., when Aeschines delivered his oration Against Ctesiphon and Demosthenes his oration On the Crown. Aeschines received less than one-fifth of the votes of the dicasts, and was therefore condemned to pay a fine of 1000 drachmas and to forfeit the right to bring any similar suit.

17. In 338 b.c., when Philip destroyed the independence of Greece.

18. Apparently a jest in connexion with the story of his cowardice.

19. This indicates that he had not disgraced himself.

20. On these contributions Cf. Aeschines, iii. ( Against Ctesiphon) 17, and Demosthenes, xviii. ( On the Crown) 118.

21. Delegations sent to sacred places to attend festivals and the like.

22. Harpalus, treasurer of Alexander, embezzled a large sum and fled first to Tarsus, then, in 324 b.c., to Greece.

23. A stadium was about equal to a furlong and was the usual short-distance run. The dolichos was twenty stadia.

24. This Archias was a tragic actor recorded as victor at the Lenaea circa 330 b.c. in I.G. ii.² 2325 n. Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes, chap. xxviii. names several other prominent Athenians hunted down by him, among them Hypereides. Cf. p. 441 below. Another version of Demosthenes’ retort to Archias is given ibid. 29.

25. See Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec. ii. p. 331.

26. This was a large area in the Market Place which was enclosed at ostracisms, and perhaps at other times, within a barrier of rope for the better control of the popular assembly. Since the contiguous altar of the Twelve Gods has recently ( vide Shear in Hesperia, iv. pp. 355 ff.) been uncovered in the northern part of the Agora, this enclosure can no longer, with Judeich ( Topographie von Athen ², p. 250), be placed in the south-west area, on the slopes of the Areopagus.

27. These were the words usually employed at the beginning of letters.

28. Müller, Frag. Hist. Graec. i. p. 407.

29. 336 b.c.

30. See Life of Demosthenes, chap. xxii.

31. The Prytaneum was the building in which the Prytanes who formed the executive committee of the Senate held their meetings. Maintenance in the Prytaneum was often voted in recognition of service to the state.

32. See above, 847 a.

33. 280-279 b.c.

34. 271-270 b.c.

35. Cf. Aeschines, i. ( Against Timarchus) 131. The nickname is also said to refer to his stammering.

36. An ass’s shadow was proverbial for things utterly trivial.

37. Demosthenes, vi. ( Second Philippic) 30; xix. ( False Legation) 46.

38. This does not agree with what has been said above about his preparing all his speeches.

Plutarch Vitae decem oratorum 8

Harold North Fowler (Translator)

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