Panegyricus isocrates sayings

μετριότητας, τὸν δ᾿ ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενον λέγειν 12ἁπλῶς οὐκ ἂν δυνάμενον εἰπεῖν. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν οὐ λελήθασιν ὅτι τούτους ἐπαινοῦσιν ὧν ἐγγὺς αὐτοὶ τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες· ἐμοὶ δ᾿ οὐδὲν πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐκείνους ἐστί, τοὺς οὐδὲν ἀποδεξομένους τῶν εἰκῇ λεγομένων, ἀλλὰ δυσχερανοῦντας καὶ ζητήσοντας ἰδεῖν τι τοιοῦτον ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς, οἷον παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις οὐχ εὑρήσουσιν. πρὸς οὓς ἔτι μικρὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ θρασυνάμενος, ἤδη περὶ τοῦ πράγματος ποιήσομαι τοὺς λόγους. 13τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλους ἐν τοῖς προοιμίοις ὁρῶ καταπραΰνοντας τοὺς ἀκροατάς, καὶ προφασιζομένους ὑπὲρ τῶν μελλόντων ῥηθήσεσθαι, καὶ λέγοντας τοὺς μὲν ὡς ἐξ ὑπογυίου γέγονεν αὐτοῖς ἡ παρασκευή, τοὺς δ᾿ ὡς χαλεπόν ἐστιν ἴσους τοὺς λόγους 14τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ἔργων ἐξευρεῖν. ἐγὼ δ᾿ ἢν μὴ καὶ τοῦ πράγματος ἀξίως εἴπω καὶ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ καὶ τοῦ χρόνου, μὴ μόνον τοῦ περὶ τὸν λόγον ἡμῖν διατριφθέντος ἀλλὰ καὶ σύμπαντος οὗ βεβίωκα, παρακελεύομαι μηδεμίαν συγγνώμην ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ καταγελᾶν καὶ καταφρονεῖν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὅ τι τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἄξιός εἰμι πάσχειν, εἴπερ μηδὲν διαφέρων οὕτω μεγάλας ποιοῦμαι τὰς ὑποσχέσεις.

Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἰδίων ταῦτά μοι προειρήσθω. 15περὶ δὲ τῶν κοινῶν, ὅσοι μὲν εὐθὺς ἐπελθόντες διδάσκουσιν ὡς χρὴ διαλυσαμένους τὰς πρὸς ἡμᾶς

they themselves saw clearly the happy mean, while the man who knows how to speak elegantly could not speak simply and plainly if he chose. Now these people deceive no one; clearly they praise those who are near their own level. I, for my part, am not concerned with such men, but rather with those who will not tolerate, but will resent, any carelessness of phrase, and will seek to find in my speeches a quality which they will not discover in others. Addressing myself to these, I shall proceed with my theme, after first vaunting a little further my own powers. For I observe that the other orators in their introductions seek to conciliate their hearers and make excuses for the speeches which they are about to deliver, sometimes alleging that their preparatio

Greek rhetorician and writer (436–338 BC)

For the philosopher, see Socrates.

Isocrates (; Ancient Greek: Ἰσοκράτης[isokrátɛ̂ːs]; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and written works.

Greek rhetoric is commonly traced to Corax of Syracuse, who first formulated a set of rhetorical rules in the fifth century BC. His pupil Tisias was influential in the development of the rhetoric of the courtroom, and by some accounts was the teacher of Isocrates. Within two generations, rhetoric had become an important art, its growth driven by social and political changes such as democracy and courts of law. Isocrates starved himself to death, two years before his 100th birthday.

Early life and influences

Isocrates was born into a prosperous family in Athens at the height of Athens' power shortly before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). Suda writes that Isocrates was the son of Theodorus who owned a workshop that manufactured aulos. His mother's name was Heduto. He had a sister and three brothers; two of the brothers were Tisippos (Ancient Greek: Τίσιππος) and Theomnestos (Ancient Greek: Θεόμνηστος).

Isocrates received a first-rate education. "He is reported to have studied with several prominent teachers, including Tisias (one of the traditional founders of rhetoric), the sophists Prodicus and Gorgias, and the moderate oligarchTheramenes, and to have associated with Socrates, but these reports may reflect later views of his intellectual roots more than historical fact".

He passed his youth in a period following the death of Pericles, a time in which "wealth – both public and private – was dissipated", and "political decision were ill-conceived and violent" according to the 2020 Encyclopedia Britannic

Πρῶτον μὲν γάρ, ἐξ ὧν ἄν τις καταφρονήσειε τῶν λεγομένων ὡς ἀρχαίων ὄντων, ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν τούτων εἰκότως ἂν καὶ τὰς πράξεις γεγενῆσθαι νομίσειεν· διὰ γὰρ τὸ πολλοὺς εἰρηκέναι καὶ πάντας ἀκηκοέναι προσήκει μὴ καινὰ μὲν πιστὰ δὲ δοκεῖν εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα περὶ αὐτῶν. ἔπειτ᾿ οὐ μόνον ἐνταῦθα καταφυγεῖν ἔχομεν, ὅτι τὸν λόγον καὶ τὴν φήμην ἐκ πολλοῦ παρειλήφαμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σημείοις μείζοσιν ἢ τούτοις ἔστιν ἡμῖν 31χρήσασθαι περὶ αὐτῶν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ πλεῖσται τῶν πόλεων ὑπόμνημα τῆς παλαιᾶς εὐεργεσίας ἀπαρχὰς τοῦ σίτου καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ὡς ἡμᾶς ἀποπέμπουσι, ταῖς δ᾿ ἐκλειπούσαις πολλάκις ἡ Πυθία προσέταξεν ἀποφέρειν τὰ μέρη τῶν καρπῶν καὶ ποιεῖν πρὸς τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν τὰ πάτρια. καίτοι περὶ τίνων χρὴ μᾶλλον πιστεύειν [47]ἢ περὶ ὧν ὅ τε θεὸς ἀναιρεῖ καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων συνδοκεῖ, καὶ τά τε πάλαι ῥηθέντα τοῖς παροῦσιν ἔργοις συμμαρτυρεῖ, καὶ τὰ νῦν γιγνόμενα τοῖς ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνων εἰρημένοις ὁμολογεῖ; 32χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, ἢν ἅπαντα ταῦτ᾿ ἐάσαντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς σκοπῶμεν, εὑρήσομεν ὅτι τὸν βίον οἱ πρῶτοι φανέντες ἐπὶ γῆς οὐκ εὐθὺς οὕτως ὥσπερ νῦν ἔχοντα κατέλαβον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτοὶ συνεπορίσαντο. τίνας οὖν χρὴ μᾶλλον νομίζειν ἢ

In the first place, the very ground on which we might disparage the story, namely that it is ancient, would naturally lead us to believe that the events actually came to pass; for because many have told and all have heard the story which describes them, it is reasonable to regard this not, to be sure, as recent, yet withal as worthy of our faith. In the next place, we are not obliged to take refuge in the mere fact that we have received the account and the report from remote times; on the contrary, we are able to adduce even greater proofs than this regarding what took place. For most of the Hellenic cities, in memory of our ancient services, send us each year the first-fruits of the harvest, and those who neglect to do so have often been admonished by the Pythian priestess to pay us our due portion of their crops and to observe in relatio