Hiero Part 2

(47) Reading {au}. "If we do know anything it is this, that," etc.

(48) Or, "do oftenest issue from treacherous make-believe of warmest friends.h.i.+p." Cf. Grote, "H. G." xi. 288; "h.e.l.l." VI. iv. 36.

II

To these arguments Simonides replied: Yes, but the topics you have named are to my thinking trifles; drops, as it were, in the wide ocean. How many men, I wonder, have I seen myself, men in the deepest sense, (1) true men, who choose to fare but ill in respect of meats and drinks and delicacies; ay, and what is more, they voluntarily abstain from s.e.xual pleasures. No! it is in quite a different sphere, which I will name at once, that you so far transcend us private citizens. (2) It is in your vast designs, your swift achievements; it is in the overflowing wealth of your possessions; your horses, excellent for breed and mettle; the choice beauty of your arms; the exquisite finery of your wives; the gorgeous palaces in which you dwell, and these, too, furnished with the costliest works of art; add to which the throng of your retainers, courtiers, followers, not in number only but accomplishments a most princely retinue; and lastly, but not least of all, in your supreme ability at once to afflict your foes and benefit your friends.

(1) Lit. "many among those reputed to be men." Cf. "Cyrop." V. v. 33; "h.e.l.l." i. 24, "their hero"; and below, viii. 3. Aristoph. "Ach."

78, {oi barbaroi gar andras egountai monous} {tous pleista dunamenous phagein te kai piein}: "To the Barbarians 'tis the test of manhood: there the great drinkers are the greatest men"

(Frere); id. "Knights," 179; "Clouds," 823; so Latin "vir." See Holden ad loc.

(2) "Us lesser mortals."

To all which Hiero made answer: That the majority of men, Simonides, should be deluded by the glamour of a despotism in no respect astonishes me, since it is the very essence of the crowd, if I am not mistaken, to rush wildly to conjecture touching the happiness or wretchedness of people at first sight.

Now the nature of a tyrrany is such: it presents, nay flaunts, a show of costliest possessions unfolded to the general gaze, which rivets the attention; (3) but the real troubles in the souls of monarchs it keeps concealed in those hid chambers where lie stowed away the happiness and the unhappiness of mankind.

(3) There is some redundancy in the phraseology.

I repeat then, I little marvel that the mult.i.tude should be blinded in this matter. But that you others also, you who are held to see with the mind's eye more clearly than with the eye of sense the ma.s.s of circ.u.mstances, (4) should share its ignorance, does indeed excite my wonderment. Now, I know it all too plainly from my own experience, Simonides, and I a.s.sure you, the tyrant is one who has the smallest share of life's blessings, whilst of its greater miseries he possesses most.

(4) Lit. "the majority of things"; al. "the thousand details of a thing."

For instance, if peace is held to be a mighty blessing to mankind, then of peace despotic monarchs are scant sharers. Or is war a curse? If so, of this particular pest your monarch shares the largest moiety. For, look you, the private citizen, unless his city-state should chance to be engaged in some common war, (5) is free to travel wheresoe'er he chooses without fear of being done to death, whereas the tyrant cannot stir without setting his foot on hostile territory. At any rate, nothing will persuade him but he must go through life armed, and on all occasions drag about with him armed satellites. In the next place, the private citizen, even during an expedition into hostile territory, (6) can comfort himself in the reflection that as soon as he gets back home he will be safe from further peril. Whereas the tyrant knows precisely the reverse; as soon as he arrives in his own city, he will find himself in the centre of hostility at once. Or let us suppose that an invading army, superior in force, is marching against a city: however much the weaker population, whilst they are still outside their walls, may feel the stress of danger, yet once within their trenches one and all expect to find themselves in absolute security. But the tyrant is not out of danger, even when he has pa.s.sed the portals of his palace. Nay! there of all places most, he feels, he must maintain the strictist watch. (7) Again, to the private citizen there will come eventually, either through truce or terms of peace, respite from war; but for the tyrant, the day of peace will never dawn. What peace can he have with those over whom he exercises his despotic sway? (8) Nor have the terms of truce been yet devised, on which the despotic ruler may rely with confidence. (9)

(5) {koinon}, i.e. making demands upon the energies of all the citizens in common, as opposed to the personal character of war as conducted by a despot = "public," "patriotic," "national" war. Al.

borne by the particular {polis} as member of a league, whether of states united for the time being in a {summakhia}, or permanently in a confederacy = a "federal" war.

(6) "Even if serving on a campaign in the enemy's country."

(7) Or, "he has to exercise the utmost vigilance."

(8) "With those who are 'absolutely governed,' not to say tyrannically ruled."

(9) Or, "which the tyrant may accept in faith and go his way rejoicing."

Wars doubtless there are, (10) wars waged by states and wars waged by autocratic monarchs against those whom they have forcibly enslaved, and in respect of these wars there is no hards.h.i.+p which any member of the states at war (11) can suffer but the tyrant will feel it also. That is to say, both must alike be under arms, keep guard, run risks; and whatever the pains of defeat may be, they are equally sustained by both.

Up to this point there is no distinction. The "bitters" are equal. But when we come to estimate the "sweets" derivable from warfare between states, (12) the parallel ceases. The tyrant, if he shared the pains before, no longer shares the pleasures now. What happens when a state has gained the mastery in battle over her antagonist? It would be hard (I take it) to describe the joy of that occurrence: joy in the rout, joy in the pursuit, joy in the slaughter of their enemies; and in what language shall I describe the exultation of these warriors at their feats of arms? With what a.s.sumption they bind on their brows the glittering wreath of glory; (13) with what mirth and jollity congratulate themselves on having raised their city to newer heights of fame. Each several citizen claims to have shared in the plan of the campaign, (14) and to have slain the largest number. Indeed it would be hard to find where false embellishment will not creep in, (15) the number stated to be the slain exceeding that of those that actually perished. So truly glorious a thing it seems to them to have won a great victory. (16)

(10) Lit. "and further, wars there are, waged against forcibly-subjected populations whether by free states"--e.g.

of Olynthus, "h.e.l.l." V. ii. 23, or Athens against her "subject allies" during the Pel. war--"or by despotic rules"--Jason of Pherae ("h.e.l.l." VI.) Al. "wars waged by free states against free states, and wars waged by tyrants against enslaved peoples."

(11) Does {o en tais polesi} = "the citizen"? So some commentators; or (sub. {polemos}) = "the war among states" (see Hartman, op. cit.

p. 248)? in which case transl. "all the hards.h.i.+ps involved in international war come home to the tyrant also." The same obscurity attaches to {oi en tais polesi} below (the commonly adopted emend. of the MS. {oi sunontes polesi}) = "the citizens,"

or else = "international wars."

(12) "The pleasures incidental to warfare between states"; al. "the sweets which citizens engaged in warfare as against rival states can count upon."

(13) Reading {a.n.a.lambanousin}, or, if after Cobet, etc., {lambanousin}, transl. "what brilliant honour, what bright credit they a.s.sume."

(14) "To have played his part in counsel." See "Anab." pa.s.sim, and M.

Taine, "Essais de Critique," "Xenophon," p. 128.

(15) Lit. "they do not indulge in false additions, pretending to have put more enemies to death than actually fell."

(16) Cf. "Hipparch," viii. 11; "Cyrop." VIII. iii. 25; "Thuc." i. 49.

But the tyrant, when he forebodes, or possibly perceives in actual fact, some opposition brewing, and puts the suspects (17) to the sword, knows he will not thereby promote the welfare of the state collectively. The cold clear fact is, he will have fewer subjects to rule over. (18) How can he show a cheerful countenance? (19) how magnify himself on his achievement? On the contrary, his desire is to lessen the proportions of what has taken place, as far as may be. He will apologise for what he does, even in the doing of it, letting it appear that what he has wrought at least was innocent; (20) so little does his conduct seem n.o.ble even to himself. And when those he dreaded are safely in their graves, he is not one whit more confident of spirit, but still more on his guard than heretofore. That is the kind of war with which the tyrant is beset from day to day continually, as I do prove. (21)

(17) See Hold. (crit. app.); Hartman, op. cit. p. 260.

(18) Cf. "Mem." I. ii. 38.

(19) Cf. "Anab." II. vi. 11; "h.e.l.l." VI. iv. 16.

(20) "Not of malice prepense."

(21) Or, "Such then, as I describe it, is the type of war," etc.

III

Turn now and contemplate the sort of friends.h.i.+p whereof it is given to tyrants to partake. And first, let us examine with ourselves and see if friends.h.i.+p is truly a great boon to mortal man.

How fares it with the man who is beloved of friends? See with what gladness his friends and lovers hail his advent! delight to do him kindness! long for him when he is absent from them! (1) and welcome him most gladly on his return! (2) In any good which shall betide him they rejoice together; or if they see him overtaken by misfortune, they rush to his a.s.sistance as one man. (3)

(1) Reading {an ate}, or if {an apie}, transl. "have yearning hearts when he must leave them."

(2) See Anton Rubinstein, "Die Musik and ihre Meister," p. 8, "Some Remarks on Beethoven's Sonata Op. 81."

(3) Cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 24 for a repet.i.tion of the sentiment and phraseology.

Nay! it has not escaped the observation of states and governments that friends.h.i.+p is the greatest boon, the sweetest happiness which men may taste. At any rate, the custom holds (4) in many states "to slay the adulterer" alone of all "with impunity," (5) for this reason clearly that such miscreants are held to be destroyers of that friends.h.i.+p (6) which binds the woman to the husband. Since where by some untoward chance a woman suffers violation of her chast.i.ty, (7) husbands do not the less honour them, as far as that goes, provided true affection still appear unsullied. (8)

(4) Lit. "many of the states have a law and custom to," etc. Cf. "Pol.

Lac." ii. 4.

(5) Cf. Plat. "Laws," 874 C, "if a man find his wife suffering violence he may kill the violator and be guiltless in the eye of the law." Dem. "in Aristocr." 53, {ean tis apokteine en athlois akon... e epi damarti, k.t.l.... touton eneka me pheugein kteinanta}.

(6) See Lys. "de caed Eratosth." S. 32 f., {outos, o andres, tous biazomenous elattonos zemias axious egesato einai e tous peithontas. ton men gar thanaton kategno, tois de diplen epoiese ten blaben, egoumenos tous men diaprattomenous bia upo ton biasthenton miseisthai, tous de peisantas outos aution tas psukhas diaphtheirein ost' oikeioteras autois poiein tas allotrias gunaikas e tois andrasi kai pasan ep' ekeinois ten oikian gegonenai kai tous paidas adelous einai opoteron tugkhanousin ontes, ton andron e ton moikhon. anth' on o ton nomon t.i.theis thanaton autois epoiese ten zemian}. Cf. "Cyrop." III. i. 39; "Symp." viii. 20; Plut. "Sol." xxiii., {olos de pleisten ekhein atopian oi peri ton gunaikon nomoi to Soloni dokousi. moikhon men gar anelein tio labonti dedoken, ean d' arpase tis eleutheran gunaika kai biasetai zemian ekaton drakhmas etaxe' kan proagogeue drakhmas aikosi, plen osai pephasmenos polountai, legon de tas etairas. autai gar emphanos phoitosi pros tous didontas}, "Solon's laws in general about women are his strangest, for he permitted any one to kill an adulterer that found him in the act; but if any one forced a free woman, a hundred drachmas was the fine; if he enticed her, twenty;--except those that sell themselves openly, that is, harlots, who go openly to those that hire them" (Clough, i. p. 190).

(7) Or, "fall a victim to pa.s.sion through some calamity," "commit a breach of chast.i.ty." Cf. Aristot. "H. A." VII. i. 9.

(8) Or, "if true affection still retain its virgin purity." As to this extraordinary pa.s.sage, see Hartman, op. cit. p. 242 foll.