ὅλως γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπινοοῦσι καὶ λέγουσιν, ἃ μάλιστα ἴσασιν ἐς ὀργὴν δυνάμενα προκαλέσασθαι τὸν ἀκροώμενον, καὶ ἔνθα τρωτός ἐστιν ἕκαστος ἐπιστάμενοι, ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνο τοξεύουσι καὶ ἀκοντίζουσιν ἐς αὐτό, ὥστε τῇ παραυτίκα ὀργῇ τεταραγμένον μηκέτι σχολὴν ἄγειν τῇ ἐξετάσει τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλὰ κἂν θέλῃ τις ἀπολογεῖσθαι, μὴ προσίεσθαι, τῷ παραδόξῳ τῆς ἀκροάσεως ὡς ἀληθεῖ προκατειλημμένον.
ἀνυσιμώτατον γὰρ τὸ εἶδος τῆς διαβολῆς τὸ ὑπεναντίον τῆς τοῦ ἀκούοντος ἐπιθυμίας, ὁπότε καὶ παρὰ Πτολεμαίῳ τῷ Διονύσῳ ἐπικληθέντι ἐγένετό τις ὃς διέβαλλε τὸν Πλατωνικὸν Δημήτριον, ὅτι ὕδωρ τε πίνει καὶ μόνος τῶν ἄλλων γυναικεῖα οὐκ ἐνεδύσατο ἐν τοῖς Διονυσίοις· καὶ εἴ γε μὴ κληθεὶς ἕωθεν ἔπιέ τε πάντων ὁρώντων καὶ λαβὼν ταραντινίδιον ἐκυμβάλισε καὶ προσωρχήσατο, ἀπολώλει ἂν ὡς οὐχ ἡδόμενος τῷ βίῳ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀλλʼ ἀντισοφιστὴς ὢν καὶ ἀντίτεχνος τῆς Πτολεμαίου τρυφῆς.
παρὰ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ μεγίστη ποτὲ πασῶν ἦν διαβολή, εἰ λέγοιτο τις μὴ σέβειν μηδὲ προσκυνεῖν τὸν Ἡφαιστίωνα· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἀπέθανεν Ἡφαιστίων, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος Ἀλέξανδρος ἐβουλήθη προσθεῖναι καὶ τοῦτο τῇ λοιπῇ μεγαλουργίᾳ καὶ θεὸν χειροτονῆσαι τὸν τετελευτηκότα. εὐθὺς οὖν νεώς τε ἀνέστησαν αἱ πόλεις καὶ τεμένη καθιδρύετο καὶ βωμοὶ καὶ θυσίαι καὶ ἑορταὶ τῷ καινῷ τούτῳ θεῷ ἐπετελοῦντο, καὶ ὁ μέγιστος ὅρκος ἦν ἅπασιν Ἡφαιστίων. εἰ δέ τις ἢ μειδιάσειε πρὸς τὰ γινόμενα ἢ μὴ φαίνοιτο πάνυ εὐσεβῶν, θάνατος ἐπέκειτο ἡ ζημία. ὑπολαμβάνοντες δὲ οἱ κόλακες τὴν μειρακιώδη ταύτην τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐπιθυμίαν προσεξέκαιον εὐθὺς καὶ ἀνεζωπύρουν ὀνείρατα διηγούμενοι τοῦ Ἡφαιστίωνος, ἐπιφανείας τινὰς καὶ ἰάματα προσάπτοντες αὐτῷ καὶ μαντείας ἐπιφημίζοντες· καὶ τέλος ἔθυον παρέδρῳ καὶ ἀλεξικάκῳ θεῷ. ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος ἥδετό τε ἀκούων καὶ τᾶ τελευταῖα ἐπίστευε καὶ μέγα ἐφρόνει ὡσανεὶ οὐ θεοῦ παῖς ὢν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεοὺς ποιεῖν δυνάμενος. πόσους τοίνυν οἰώμεθα τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου φίλων παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς Ἡφαιστίωνος θειότητος, διαβληθέντας ὡς οὐ τιμῶσι τὸν κοινὸν ἁπάντων θεόν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξελαθέντας καὶ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως εὐνοίας ἐκπεσόντας;
In a word, they invent and say the kind of thing that they know will be most irritating to their hearer, and having a full knowledge of his vulnerable point, concentrate their fire upon it; he is to be too much flustered by rage to have time for investigation; the very surprise of what he is told is to be so convincing to him that he will not hear, even if his friend is willing to plead.
That slander, indeed, is especially effective which is unwelcome; Demetrius the Platonic was reported to Ptolemy Dionysus for a water drinker, and for the only man who had declined to put on female attire at the Dionysia. He was summoned next morning, and had to drink in public, dress up in gauze, clash and dance to the cymbals, or he would have been put to death for disapproving the King’s life, and setting up for a critic of his luxurious ways.
At Alexander’s court there was no more fatal imputation than that of refusing worship and adoration to Hephaestion. Alexander had been so fond of him that to appoint him a God after his death was, for such a worker of marvels, nothing out of the way. The various cities at once built temples to him, holy ground was consecrated, altars, offerings and festivals instituted to this new divinity; if a man would be believed, he must swear by Hephaestion. For smiling at these proceedings, or showing the slightest lack of reverence, the penalty was death. The flatterers cherished, fanned, and put the bellows to this childish fancy of Alexander’s; they had visions and manifestations of Hephaestion to relate; they invented cures and attributed oracles to him; they did not stop short of doing sacrifice to this God of Help and Protection. Alexander was delighted, and ended by believing in it all; it gratified his vanity to think that he was now not only a God’s son, but a God-maker. It would be interesting to know how many of his friends in those days found that what the new divinity did for them was to supply a charge of irreverence on which they might be dismissed and deprived of the King’s favour.
τότε καὶ Ἀγαθοκλῆς ὁ Σάμιος ταξιαρχῶν παρʼ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ καὶ τιμώμενος παρʼ αὐτοῦ μικροῦ δεῖν συγκαθείρχθη λέοντι διαβληθεὶς ὅτι δακρύσειε παριὼν τὸν Ἡφαιστίωνος τάφον. ἀλλʼ ἐκείνῳ μὲν βοηθῆσαι λέγεται Περδίκκας ἐπομοσάμενος κατὰ πάντων θεῶν καὶ κατὰ Ἡφαιστίωνος, ὅτι δὴ κυνηγετοῦντί οἱ φανέντα ἐναργῆ τὸν θεὸν ἐπισκῆψαι εἰπεῖν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ φείσασθαι Ἀγαθοκλέους· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἀπιστοῦντα οὐδὲ ὡς ἐπὶ νεκρῷ δακρῦσαι, ἀλλὰ τῆς πάλαι συνηθείας μνημονεύσαντα.
ἡ δʼ οὖν κολακεία καὶ ἡ διαβολὴ τότε μάλιστα χώραν ἔσχε πρὸς τὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου πάθος συντιθεμένη· καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν πολιορκίᾳ οὐκ ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ καὶ ἀπόκρημνα καὶ ἀσφαλῆ τοῦ τείχους προσίασιν οἱ πολέμιοι, ἀλλʼ ᾗ ἂν ἀφύλακτόν τι μέρος ἢ σαθρὸν αἴσθωνται ἢ ταπεινόν, ἐπὶ τοῦτο πάσῃ δυνάμει χωροῦσιν ὡς ῥᾷστα παρεισδῦναι καὶ ἑλεῖν δυνάμενοι, οὕτω καὶ οἱ διαβάλλοντες ὅ τι ἂν ἀσθενὲς ἴδωσι τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ὑπόσαθρον καὶ εὐεπίβατον, τούτῳ προσβάλλουσι καὶ προσάγουσι τὰς μηχανάς, καὶ τέλος ἐκπολιορκοῦσι μηδενὸς ἀντιταττομένου μηδὲ τὴν ἔφοδον αἰσθομένου. εἶτʼ ἐπειδὰν ἐντὸς ἅπαξ τῶν τειχῶν γένωνται, πυρπολοῦσι πάντα καὶ παίουσι καὶ σφάττουσι καὶ ἐξελαύνουσιν, οἷα εἰκὸς ἁλισκομένης ψυχῆς καὶ ἐξηνδραποδισμένης ἔργα εἶναι.
μηχανήματα δὲ αὐτοῖς κατὰ τοῦ ἀκούοντος ἥ τε ἀπάτη καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος καὶ ἡ ἐπιορκία καὶ προσλιπάρησις καὶ ἀναισχυντία καὶ ἄλλα μυρία ῥᾳδιουργήματα. ἡ δὲ δὴ μεγίστη πασῶν ἡ κολακεία ἐστί, συγγενής, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀδελφή τις οὖσα τῆς διαβολῆς. οὐδεὶς γοῦν οὕτω γεννάδας ἐστὶ καὶ ἀδαμάντινον τεῖχος τῆς ψυχῆς προβεβλημένος, ὃς οὐκ ἂν ἐνδοίη πρὸς τὰς τῆς κολακείας προσβολάς, καὶ ταῦτα ὑπορυττούσης καὶ τοὺς θεμελίους ὑφαιρούσης τῆς διαβολῆς.
καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐκτὸς ταῦτα. ἔνδοθεν δὲ πολλαὶ προδοσίαι συναγωνίζονται τὰς χεῖρας ὀρέγουσαι καὶ τὰς πύλας ἀναπετῶσαι καὶ πάντα τρόπον τῇ ἁλώσει τοῦ ἀκούοντος συμπροθυμούμεναι. πρῶτον μὲν τὸ φιλόκαινον, ὃ φύσει πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὑπάρχει, καὶ τὸ ἁψίκορον, ἔπειτα δὲ τὸ πρὸς τὰ παράδοξα τῶν ἀκουσμάτων ἑπόμενον. οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἡδόμεθα πάντες λαθρηδὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ οὖς λεγόμενα καὶ μεστὰ ὑπονοίας ἀκούοντες· οἶδα γοῦν τινας οὕτως ἡδέως γαργαλιζομένους τὰ ὦτα ὑπὸ τῶν διαβολῶν ὥσπερ τοὺς πτεροῖς κνωμένους.
Agathocles of Samos was a valued officer of his, who very narrowly escaped being thrown into a lion’s cage; the offence reported against him was shedding tears as he passed Hephaestion’s tomb. The tale goes that he was saved by Perdiccas, who swore, by all the Gods and Hephaestion, that the God had appeared plainly to him as he was hunting, and charged him to bid Alexander spare Agathocles: his tears had meant neither scepticism nor mourning, but been merely a tribute to the friendship that was gone.
Flattery and slander had just then their opportunity in Alexander’s emotional condition. In a siege, the assailants do not attempt a part of the defences that is high, precipitous, or solid; they direct all their force at some rotten, low, or neglected point, expecting to get in and effect the capture most easily so. Similarly the slanderer finds out where the soul is weak or corrupt or accessible, there makes his assault, there applies his engines, or effects an entry at a point where there are no defenders to mark his approach. Once in, he soon has all in flames; fire and sword and devastation clear out the previous occupants; how else should it be when a soul is captured and enslaved?
His siege-train includes deceit, falsehood, perjury, insinuation, effrontery, and a thousand other moral laxities. But the chief of them all is Flattery, the blood relation, the sister indeed, of Slander. No heart so high, so fenced with adamant, but Flattery will master it, with the aid of Slander undermining and sapping its foundations.
That is what goes on outside. But within there are traitorous parties working to the same end, stretching hands of help to the attack, opening the gates, and doing their utmost to bring the capture about. There are those ever-present human frailties, fickleness and satiety; there is the appetite for the surprising. We all delight, I cannot tell why, in whisperings and insinuations. I know people whose ears are as agreeably titillated with slander as their skin with a feather.
Supported by all these allies, the attack prevails; victory is hardly in doubt for a moment; there is no defence or resistance to the assault; the hearer surrenders without reluctance, and the slandered knows nothing of what is going on; as when a town is stormed by night, he has his throat cut in his sleep.
ἐπειδὰν τοίνυν ὑπὸ τούτων ἁπάντων συμμαχούμενοι προσπέσωσι, κατὰ κράτος αἱροῦσιν, οἶμαι, καὶ οὐδὲ δυσχερὴς ἡ νίκη γένοιτʼ ἂν μηδενὸς ἀντιπαραταττομένου μηδὲ ἀμυνομένου τὰς προσβολάς, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν ἀκούοντος ἑκόντος ἑαυτὸν ἐνδιδόντος, τοῦ διαβαλλομένου δὲ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἀγνοοῦντος· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν νυκτὶ πόλεως ἁλούσης καθεύδοντες οἱ διαβαλλόμενοι φονεύονται.
καὶ τὸ πάντων οἴκτιστον, ὁ μὲν οὐκ εἰδὼς τὰ γεγενημένα προσέρχεται τῷ φίλῳ φαιδρὸς ἅτε μηδὲν ἑαυτῷ φαῦλον συνεπιστάμενος καὶ τὰ συνήθη λέγει καὶ ποιεῖ, παντὶ τρόπῳ ὁ ἄθλιος ἐνηδρευμένος· ὁ δὲ ἢν μὲν ἔχῃ τι γενναῖον καὶ ἐλεύθερον καὶ παρρησιαστικόν, εὐθὺς ἐξέρρηξε τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ τὸν θυμὸν ἐξέχεε, καὶ τέλος τὴν ἀπολογίαν προσιέμενος ἔγνω μάτην κατὰ τοῦ φίλου παρωξυμμένος.
ἢν δὲ ἀγεννέστερος καὶ ταπεινότερος, προσίεται μὲν καὶ προσμειδιᾷ τοῖς χείλεσιν ἄκροις, μισεῖ δὲ καὶ λάθρᾳ τοὺς ὀδόντας διαπρίει καί, ὡς ὁ ποιητής φησι, βυσσοδομεύει τὴν ὀργήν. οὗ δὴ ἐγὼ οὐδὲν οἶμαι ἀδικώτερον οὐδὲ δουλοπρεπέστερον, ἐνδακόντα τὸ χεῖλος ὑποτρέφειν τὴν χολὴν καὶ τὸ μῖσος ἐν αὑτῷ κατάκλειστον αὔξειν ἕτερα μὲν κεύθοντα ἐνὶ φρεσίν, ἄλλα δὲ λέγοντα καὶ ὑποκρινόμενον ἱλαρῷ καὶ κωμικῷ τῷ προσώπῳ μάλα περιπαθῆ τινα καὶ ἰοῦ γέμουσαν τραγῳδίαν. μάλιστα δὲ τοῦτο πάσχουσιν, ἐπειδὰν πάλαι φίλος ὁ ἐνδιαβάλλων δοκῶν εἶναι τῷ ἐνδιαβαλλομένῳ ποιῆται ὅμως· τότε γὰρ οὐδὲ φωνὴν ἀκούειν ἔτι θέλουσι τῶν διαβαλλομένων ἢ τῶν ἀπολογουμένων, τὸ ἀξιόπιστον τῆς κατηγορίας ἐκ τῆς πάλαι δοκούσης φιλίας προειληφότες, οὐδὲ τοῦτο λογιζόμενοι, ὅτι πολλαὶ πολλάκις ἐν τοῖς φιλτάτοις μίσους παραπίπτουσιν αἰτίαι τοὺς ἄλλους λανθάνουσαι· καὶ ἐνίοτε οἷς αὐτός τις ἔνοχός ἐστι, ταυτὶ φθάσας κατηγόρησε τοῦ πλησίον ἐκφυγεῖν οὕτω πειρώμενος τὴν διαβολήν. καὶ ὅλως ἐχθρὸν μὲν οὐδεὶς ἂν τολμήσειε διαβαλεῖν· ἄπιστος γὰρ αὐτόθι ἡ κατηγορία πρόδηλον ἔχουσα τὴν αἰτίαν· τοῖς δοκοῦσι δὲ μάλιστα φίλοις ἐπιχειροῦσι τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἀκούοντας εὔνοιαν ἐμφῆναι προαιρούμενοι, ὅτι ἐπὶ τῷ ἐκείνων συμφέροντι οὐδὲ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων ἀπέσχοντο.
εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἳ κἂν μάθωσιν ὕστερον ἀδίκως διαβεβλημένους παρʼ αὐτοῖς τοὺς φίλους, ὅμως ὑπʼ αἰσχύνης ὧν ἐπίστευσαν οὐδʼ ἔτι προσίεσθαι οὐδὲ προσβλέπειν τολμῶσιν αὐτοῖς ὥσπερ ἠδικημένοι, ὅτι μηδὲν ἀδικοῦντας ἐπέγνωσαν.
The most pitiful thing is when, all unconscious of how matters stand, he comes to his friend with a cheerful countenance, having nothing to be ashamed of, and talks and behaves as usual, just as if the toils were not all round him. Then if the other has any nobility or generous spirit of fair play in him, he gives vent to his anger and pours out his soul; after which he allows him to answer, and so finds out how he has been abused.
But if he is mean and ignoble, he receives him with a lip smile, while he is gnashing his teeth in covert rage, wrathfully brooding in the soul’s dark depth, as the poet describes it. I know nothing so characteristic of a warped slavish nature as to bite the lip while you nurse your spite and cultivate your secret hatred, one thing in your heart and another on your tongue, playing with the gay looks of comedy a lamentable sinister tragedy. This is especially apt to occur, when the slander comes from one who is known for an old friend of the slandered. When that is the case, a man pays no attention to anything the victim or his apologists may say; that old friendship affords a sufficient presumption of truth; he forgets that estrangements, unknown to outsiders, constantly part the greatest friends; and sometimes a man will try to escape the consequences of his own faults by attributing similar ones to his neighbour and getting his denunciation in first. It may be taken, indeed, that no one will venture to slander an enemy; that is too unconvincing; the motive is so obvious. It is the supposed friend that is the most promising object, the idea being to give your hearer absolute proof of your devotion to him by sacrificing your dearest to his interests.
It must be added that there are persons who, if they subsequently learn that they have condemned a friend in error, are too much ashamed of that error to receive or look him in the face again; you might suppose the discovery of his innocence was a personal injury to them.
τοιγαροῦν πολλῶν κακῶν ὁ βίος ἐπλήσθη ὑπὸ τῶν οὕτω ῥᾳδίως καὶ ἀνεξετάστως πεπιστευμένων διαβολῶν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ Ἄντεια τεθναίης (φησίν), ὦ Προῖτʼ, ἢ κάκτανε Βελλεροφόντην, / ὅς μʼ ἔθελεν φιλότητι μιγήμεναι οὐκ ἐθελούσῃ / αὐτὴ προτέρα ἐπιχειρήσασα καὶ ὑπεροφθεῖσα. καὶ μικροῦ ὁ νεανίας ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὴν Χίμαιραν συμπλοκῇ διεφθάρη ἐπιτίμιον σωφροσύνης ὑποσχὼν καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ξένον αἰδοῦς ὑπὸ μάχλου γυναικὸς ἐπιβεβουλευμένος. ἡ δὲ Φαίδρα, κἀκείνη τὰ ὅμοια κατειποῦσα τοῦ προγόνου, ἐπάρατον ἐποίησε τὸν Ἱππόλυτον γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς οὐδέν, ὦ θεοί, οὐδὲν ἀνόσιον εἰργασμένον.
ναί, φήσει τις· ἀλλʼ ἀξιόπιστός ἐστιν ἐνίοτε ὁ διαβάλλων ἀνὴρ τά τε ἄλλα δίκαιος καὶ συνετὸς εἶναι δοκῶν, καὶ ἐχρῆν προσέχειν αὐτῷ ἅτε μηδὲν ἂν τοιοῦτο κακουργήσαντι. ἆρʼ οὖν τοῦ Ἀριστείδου ἔστι τις δικαιότερος; ἀλλʼ ὅμως κἀκεῖνος συνέστη ἐπὶ τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα καὶ συμπαρώξυνε τὸν δῆμον, ἧς, φασίν, ἐκεῖνος πολιτικῆς φιλοτιμίας ὑποκεκνισμένος. δίκαιος μὲν γὰρ ὡς πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους Ἀριστείδης, ἄνθρωπος δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν καὶ χολὴν εἶχε, καὶ ἠγάπα τινὰ καὶ ἐμίσει.
καὶ εἴ γε ἀληθής ἐστιν ὁ περὶ τοῦ Παλαμήδους λόγος, ὁ συνετώτατος τῶν Ἀχαιῶν κἀν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄριστος τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ ἐνέδραν ὑπὸ φθόνου φαίνεται συντεθεικὼς κατὰ ἀνδρὸς ὁμαίμου καὶ φίλου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν αὐτὸν κίνδυνον ἐκπεπλευκότος· οὕτως ἔμφυτον ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἡ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἁμαρτία.
τί γὰρ ἄν τις ἢ τὸν Σωκράτην λέγοι τὸν ἀδίκως πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους διαβεβλημένον ὡς ἀσεβῆ καὶ ἐπίβουλον; ἢ τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα ἢ τὸν Μιλτιάδην, τοὺς μετὰ τηλικαύτας νίκας ἐπὶ προδοσίᾳ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ὑπόπτους γενομένους; μυρία γὰρ τὰ παραδείγματα καὶ σχεδὸν τὰ πλεῖστα ἤδη γνώριμα.
It is not, then, too much to say that life is made miserable by these lightly and incuriously credited slanders. Antea said to Proetus, after she had solicited and been scorned by Bellerophon:
Die thou the death, if thou slay not the man That so would have enforc’d my chastity!
By the machinations of this lascivious woman, the young man came near perishing in his combat with the Chimera, as the penalty for continence and loyalty to his host. And Phaedra, who made a similar charge against her stepson, succeeded in bringing down upon Hippolytus a father’s curse, though God knows how innocent he was.
‘Ah, yes,’ I fancy some one objecting; ‘but the traducer sometimes deserves credit, being known for a just and a wise man; then he ought to be listened to, as one incapable of villany.’ What? was there ever a juster man than Aristides? yet he led the opposition to Themistocles and incited the people against him, pricked by the same political ambition as he. Aristides was a just man in all other relations; but he was human, he had a gall, he was open to likes and dislikes.
And if the story of Palamedes is true, the wisest of the Greeks, a great man in other respects too, stands convicted of hatching that insidious plot; the ties that bind kinsmen, friends, and comrades in danger, had to yield to jealousy. To be a man is to be subject to this temptation.
It is superfluous to refer to Socrates, misrepresented to the Athenians as an impious plotter, to Themistocles or Miltiades, suspected after all their victories of betraying Greece; such examples are innumerable, and most of them familiar.
τί οὖν χρὴ καὶ ποιεῖν τόν γε νοῦν ἔχοντα ἢ ἀρετῆς ἢ ἀληθείας ἀμφισβητοῦντα; ὅπερ, οἶμαι, καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν τῷ περὶ Σειρήνων μύθῳ ᾐνίξατο παραπλεῖν κελεύσας τὰς ὀλεθρίους ταύτας τῶν ἀκουσμάτων ἡδονὰς καὶ ἀποφράττειν τὰ ὦτα καὶ μὴ ἀνέδην αὐτὰ ἀναπεταννύειν τοῖς πάθει προειλημμένοις, ἀλλʼ ἐπιστήσαντα ἀκριβῆ θυρωρὸν τὸν λογισμὸν ἅπασι τοῖς λεγομένοις τὰ μὲν ἄξια προσίεσθαι καὶ παραβάλλεσθαι, τὰ φαῦλα δὲ ἀποκλείειν καὶ ἀπωθεῖν· καὶ γὰρ ἂν εἴη γελοῖον τῆς μὲν οἰκίας θυρωροὺς καθιστάναι, τὰ ὦτα δὲ καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἀνεῳγμένα ἐᾶν.
ἐπειδὰν τοίνυν τοιαῦτα προσίῃ τις λέγων, αὐτὸ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ χρὴ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐξετάζειν, μήτε ἡλικίαν τοῦ λέγοντος ὁρῶντα μήτε τὸν ἄλλον βίον μήτε τὴν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἀγχίνοιαν. ὅσῳ γάρ τις πιθανώτερος, τοσούτῳ ἐπιμελεστέρας δεῖται τῆς ἐξετάσεως. οὐ δεῖ τοίνυν πιστεύειν ἀλλοτρίᾳ κρίσει, μᾶλλον δὲ μίσει τοῦ κατηγοροῦντος, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἐξέτασιν φυλακτέον τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀποδόντα καὶ τῷ διαβάλλοντι τὸν φθόνον καὶ ἐν φανερῷ ποιησάμενον τὸν ἔλεγχον τῆς ἑκατέρου διανοίας, καὶ μισεῖν οὕτω καὶ ἀγαπᾶν τὸν δεδοκιμασμένον. πρὶν δὲ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι ἐκ τῆς πρώτης διαβολῆς κεκινημένον, Ἡράκλεις, ὡς μειρακιῶδες καὶ ταπεινὸν καὶ πάντων οὐχ ἥκιστα ἄδικον.
ἀλλὰ τούτων ἁπάντων αἴτιον, ὅπερ ἐν ἀρχῇ ἔφημεν, ἡ ἄγνοια καὶ τὸ ἐν σκότῳ που εἶναι τὸν ἑκάστου τρόπον· ὡς εἴ γε θεῶν τις ἀποκαλύψειεν ἡμῶν τοὺς βίους, οἴχοιτο ἂν φεύγουσα ἐς τὸ βάραθρον ἡ διαβολὴ χώραν οὐκ ἔχουσα, ὡς ἂν πεφωτισμένων τῶν πραγμάτων ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας.
What, then, should a man of sense do, when he finds one friend’s virtue pitted against another’s truth? Why, surely, learn from Homer’s parable of the Sirens; he advises sailing past these ear-charmers; we should stuff up our ears; we should not open them freely to the prejudiced, but station there a competent hall-porter in the shape of Judgement, who shall inspect every vocal visitor, and take it on himself to admit the worthy, but shut the door in the face of others. How absurd to have such an official at our house door, and leave our ears and understandings open to intrusion!
So, when any one comes to you with a tale, examine it on its merits, regardless of the informant’s age, general conduct, or skill in speech. The more plausible he is, the greater need of care. Never trust another’s judgement—it may be in reality only his dislike—but reserve the inquiry to yourself; let envy, if such it was, recoil upon the backbiter, your trial of the two men’s characters be an open one, and your award of contempt and approval deliberate. To award them earlier, carried away by the first word of slander—why, God bless me, how puerile and mean and iniquitous it all is!
And the cause of it, as we started with saying, is ignorance, and the mystery that conceals men’s characters. Would some God unveil all lives to us, Slander would retire discomfited to the bottomless pit; for the illumination of truth would be over all.
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