Demosthenes, The Erotic Essay, Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator), 50

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[50] and of general sagacity in the laws which the majority of the Greeks continue using to this day. Yet in spite of these great claims to distinction he set his heart upon nothing as much as becoming one of the Seven Sages,¹ believing that philosophy was no reproach but that it brought honor to those who pursued it, having been no less wise in this very judgement than in the others in which he showed himself superior.

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.) — 50 focus

[50] τῆς δʼ ἄλλης συνέσεως τοὺς νόμους, οἷς ἔτι καὶ νῦν οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων χρώμενοι διατελοῦσιν, ὅμως τοσούτων αὐτῷ καλῶν ὑπαρχόντων, ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ μᾶλλον ἐσπούδασεν ἢ τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφιστῶν ὅπως γένηται, νομίζων τὴν φιλοσοφίαν οὐκ ὄνειδος, ἀλλὰ τιμὴν τοῖς χρωμένοις φέρειν, καλῶς ἐγνωκὼς αὐτὸ τοῦτʼ οὐχ ἧττον ἢ καὶ τἄλλʼ ἐφʼ οἷς διήνεγκεν.

Notes on the current edition

The Erotic Essay

1. This statement is absurd. The legend of the Seven Sages became current only in the fourth century: Plat. Prot. 343a . In Isoc. 15.235 also Solon is called one of the seven sophists. Originally this term suggested no disrespect.

Demosthenes The Erotic Essay 50

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

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