Demosthenes, The Erotic Essay, Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator), 48

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[48] And do not make any such assumption as this, that in speaking these words I am presumably offering to teach you any of these branches myself, for I should feel no shame in saying that there is still much I need myself to learn, and that I have chosen rather to be a contender in political life than a teacher of the other arts.¹ Not that in disavowing these subjects of instruction I am impugning the reputation of those who have chosen the profession of sophist, but my reason is that the truth of the matter happens to be as follows:

The Erotic Essay. Demosthenes. Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator). London. 1949.

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Current edition Perseus

The Erotic Essay (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. VII: Funeral Speech, Erotic Essay, LX, LXI, Exordia and Letters. DeWitt, Norman W. and Norman J., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949 (printing).)

Editions (1)

ἐρωτικὸς Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. III. Rennie, W., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931.) — 48 focus

[48] μηδὲν δʼ ὑπολάβῃς τοιοῦτον, ὡς ἄρʼ ἐγὼ ταῦτʼ εἴρηκα διδάξειν αὐτὸς ἐπαγγελλόμενός σέ τι τούτων· οὐ γὰρ ἂν αἰσχυνθείην εἰπὼν ὅτι πολλὰ μαθεῖν αὐτὸς ἔτι δέομαι, καὶ μᾶλλον ἀγωνιστὴς προῄρημαι τῶν πολιτικῶν ἢ διδάσκαλος εἶναι τῶν ἄλλων. οὐχ ὡς ἀναινόμενος δὲ ταῦτα διορθοῦμαι τὴν τῶν σοφιστεύειν ἑλομένων δόξαν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι τἀληθὲς τοῦτον ἔχον τυγχάνει τὸν τρόπον·

Notes on the current edition

The Erotic Essay

1. This self-characterization has been thought by some to point to Androtion as the author, but the grounds seem slight to Blass, p. 407 and note 2.

Demosthenes The Erotic Essay 48

Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator)

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