Isocrates, Panathenaicus, George Norlin (Translator), 271

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[271] Why, then, have I gone into these matters? Not because I think that I should ask indulgence for the things which I have discussed—for I do not feel that I have spoken of them in a manner to require this—but because I desire both to relate my personal experiences and to commend those among my hearers who not only applaud this speech but prefer, as more weighty and more worthy of serious study, discourses which are composed for instruction and, at the same time, with finished art¹ to others which are written for display or for the law-courts,² and who prefer for the same reason discourses which aim at the truth to those which seek to lead astray the opinions of their auditors, and discourses which rebuke our faults and admonish³ us to those which are spoken for our pleasure and gratification.⁴

Panathenaicus. Isocrates. George Norlin (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1928.

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Current edition Perseus

Panathenaicus (English) (IIsocrates, Vol 2. Norlin, George, translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Παναθηναικός Perseus (Isocrates, Vol 2. Norlin, George, editor. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1929 (printing).) — 271 focus

[271]
τίνος οὖν ἕνεκα ταῦτα διῆλθον; οὐ συγγνώμης τυχεῖν ἀξιῶν ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰρημένων, οὐ γὰρ οὕτως οἴομαι διειλέχθαι περὶ αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ δηλῶσαι βουλόμενος τά τε περὶ ἐμὲ γεγενημένα, καὶ τῶν ἀκροατῶν ἐπαινέσαι μὲν τοὺς τόν τε λόγον ἀποδεχομένους τοῦτον καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σπουδαιοτέρους καὶ φιλοσοφωτέρους εἶναι νομίζοντας τούς τε διδασκαλικοὺς¹ καὶ τεχνικοὺς τῶν πρὸς τὰς ἐπιδείξεις καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας γεγραμμένων, καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἀληθείας στοχαζομένους τῶν τὰς δόξας τῶν ἀκροωμένων παρακρούεσθαι ζητούντων, καὶ τοὺς ἐπιπλήττοντας τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις καὶ νουθετοῦντας τῶν πρὸς ἡδονὴν καὶ χάριν λεγομένων,

Notes on the current edition

Panathenaicus

1. Such as this discourse or the Panegyricus. See Isoc. 4.11 .

2. Speeches which were written for display—epideictic oratory—are composed with finish but are not instructive. See General Introduction. Speeches written for the law-courts, on the other hand, lack the refinements of style and aim to pervert the truth. See General Introduction.

3. Such as the Isoc. 8 . See Isoc. 15.62 .

4. Cf. Isoc. 2.54 .

Isocrates Panathenaicus 271

George Norlin (Translator)

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