ἔγνω μὲν οὖν κρύφα τὴν τοῦ Φιλίππου τελευτὴν ὁ Δημοσθένης, προκαταλαμβάνων δὲ τὸ θαρρεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ μέλλοντα τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, προῆλθε φαιδρὸς εἰς τὴν βουλήν ὡς ὄναρ ἑωρακὼς ἀφʼ οὗ τι μέγα προσδοκᾶν Ἀθηναίοις ἀγαθόν καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ παρῆσαν οἱ τὸν Φιλίππου θάνατον ἀπαγγέλλοντες. εὐθὺς οὖν ἔθυον εὐαγγέλια καὶ στεφανοῦν ἐψηφίσαντο Παυσανίαν.
Now, Demosthenes had secret intelligence of Philip’s death, and by way of inspiring the Athenians with courage for the future, he came forth to the council with a glad countenance, declaring that he had a dream which led him to expect some great blessing for Athens; and not long afterwards the messengers came with tidings of Philip’s death. At once, then, the Athenians proceeded to make thank-offerings for glad tidings and voted a crown for Pausanias.
καὶ προῆλθεν ὁ Δημοσθένης ἔχων λαμπρὸν ἱμάτιον ἐστεφανωμένος, ἑβδόμην ἡμέραν τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ τεθνηκυίας, ὡς ὁ Αἰσχίνης φησί λοιδορῶν ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ κατηγορῶν αὐτοῦ μισοτεκνίαν, αὐτὸς ὢν ἀγεννὴς καὶ μαλακός, εἰ τὰ πένθη καὶ τοὺς ὀδυρμοὺς ἡμέρου καὶ φιλοστόργου ψυχῆς ἐποιεῖτο σημεῖα, τὸ δὲ ἀλύπως φέρειν ταῦτα καὶ πρᾴως ἀπεδοκίμαζεν.
And Demosthenes came forth in public dressed in a splendid robe and wearing a garland on his head, although his daughter had died only six days before, as Aeschines says, who rails at him for this and denounces him as an unnatural father. And yet Aeschines himself was of a weak and ungenerous nature, if he considered mournings and lamentations as the signs of an affectionate spirit, but condemned the bearing of such losses serenely and without repining.
ἐγὼ δʼ, ὡς μὲν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ βασιλέως ἡμέρως οὕτω καὶ φιλανθρώπως ἐν οἷς ηὐτύχησε χρησαμένου πταίσασιν αὐτοῖς στεφανηφορεῖν καλῶς εἶχε καὶ θύειν, οὐκ ἄν εἴποιμι· πρὸς γὰρ τῷ νεμεσητῷ καὶ ἀγεννές, ζῶντα μὲν τιμᾶν καὶ ποιεῖσθαι πολίτην, πεσόντος δʼ ὑφʼ ἑτέρου μὴ φέρειν τὴν χαρὰν μετρίως, ἀλλʼ ἐπισκιρτᾶν τῷ νεκρῷ καὶ παιωνίζειν, ὥσπερ αὐτοὺς ἀνδραγαθήσαντας·
For my own part, I cannot say that it was honourable in the Athenians to crown themselves with garlands and offer sacrifices to the gods on the death of a king who, in the midst of his successes, had treated them so mildly and humanely in their reverses; for besides provoking the indignation of the gods, it was also an ignoble thing to honour him while he was alive and make him a citizen of Athens, but when he had fallen by another’s hand to set no bounds to their joy, nay, to leap as it were, upon the dead, and sing paeans of victory, as if they themselves had wrought a deed of valour.
ὅτι μέντοι τὰς οἴκοι τύχας καὶ δάκρυα καὶ ὀδυρμοὺς ἀπολιπὼν ταῖς γυναιξὶν ὁ Δημοσθένης, ἃ τῇ πόλει συμφέρειν ᾤετο, ταῦτʼ ἔπραττεν, ἐπαινῶ, καὶ τίθεμαι πολιτικῆς καὶ ἀνδρώδους ψυχῆς ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν ἱστάμενον καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα πάθη καὶ πράγματα τοῖς δημοσίοις ἐπανέχοντα τηρεῖν τὸ ἀξίωμα πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς ὑποκριτὰς τῶν βασιλικῶν καὶ τυραννικῶν προσώπων, οὓς ὁρῶμεν οὔτε κλαίοντας οὔτε γελῶντας ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις ὡς αὐτοὶ θέλουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ὁ ἀγὼν ἀπαιτεῖ πρὸς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν.
However, for leaving his domestic misfortunes and tears and lamentations to the women and going about such business as he thought advantageous to the city, I commend Demosthenes, and I hold it to be the part of a statesmanlike and manly spirit to keep ever in view the good of the community, to find support for domestic sorrows and concerns in the public welfare, and to preserve one’s dignity far more than actors do when they take the parts of kings and tyrants; for these, as we see in the theatres, neither weep nor laugh according to their own inclinations, but as the subject of the action demands.
χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, εἰ δεῖ τὸν ἀτυχήσαντα μὴ περιορᾶν ἀπαρηγόρητον ἐν τῷ πάθει κείμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγοις χρῆσθαι κουφίζουσι καὶ πρὸς ἡδίω πράγματα τρέπειν τὴν διάνοιαν, ὥσπερ οἱ τοὺς ὀφθαλμιῶντας ἀπὸ τῶν λαμπρῶν καὶ ἀντιτύπων ἐπὶ τὰ χλωρὰ καὶ μαλακὰ χρώματα τὴν ὄψιν ἀπάγειν κελεύοντες, πόθεν ἄν τις ἐπαγάγοιτο βελτίω παρηγορίαν ἢ πατρίδος εὐτυχούσης ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν παθῶν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα σύγκρασιν ποριζόμενος τοῖς βελτίοσιν ἀφανίζουσαν τὰ χείρω; ταῦτα μὲν οὖν εἰπεῖν προήχθημεν ὁρῶντες ἐπικλῶντα πολλοὺς καὶ ἀποθηλύνοντα τὸν Αἰσχίνην τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ πρὸς οἶκτον.
And apart from these considerations, if it is our duty not to allow the unfortunate to lie comfortless in his sorrow, but to address him with cheering words and turn his thoughts to pleasanter things (like those who tell people with sore eyes to withdraw their gaze from bright and hard colours and fix it upon those which are soft and green), how can a man obtain better consolation for his domestic griefs than by blending them with the general welfare of a prosperous country, thus making the better things obscure the worse? These things, then, I have been led to say on seeing that many have their hearts softened to effeminate pity by this discourse of Aeschines.
αἱ δὲ πόλεις πάλιν τοῦ Δημοσθένους ἀναρριπίζοντος αὐτάς συνίσταντο. καὶ Θηβαῖοι μὲν ἐπέθεντο τῇ φρουρᾷ καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνεῖλον, ὅπλα τοῦ Δημοσθένους αὐτοῖς συμπαρασκευάσαντος, Ἀθηναῖοι δʼ ὡς πολεμήσοντες μετʼ αὐτῶν παρεσκευάζοντο.
The cities of Greece, under the initiations of Demosthenes, now formed themselves into a league again. The Thebans, whom Demosthenes had helped to provide with arms, fell upon their Macedonian garrison and slew many of them; while the Athenians made preparations to go to war along with them.
καὶ τὸ βῆμα κατεῖχεν ὁ Δημοσθένης, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Ἀσίᾳ στρατηγοὺς τοῦ βασιλέως ἔγραφε τὸν ἐκεῖθεν ἐπεγείρων πόλεμον Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, παῖδα καὶ Μαργίτην ἀποκαλῶν αὐτόν, ἐπεὶ μέντοι τὰ περὶ τὴν χώραν θέμενος παρῆν αὐτὸς μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν, ἐξεκέκοπτο μὲν ἡ θρασύτης τῶν Ἀθηναίων καὶ ὁ Δημοσθένης ἀπεσβήκει, Θηβαῖοι δὲ προδοθέντες ὑπʼ ἐκείνων ἠγωνίσαντο καθʼ αὑτοὺς καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀπέβαλον.
Demosthenes reigned supreme in the assembly, and wrote letters to the King’s generals in Asia stirring them up to make war upon Alexander, whom he called a boy and a Margites. When, however, Alexander had settled the affairs of his own country and came in person with his forces into Boeotia, prone lay the courage of the Athenians, and Demosthenes was extinguished, while the Thebans, betrayed by their allies, fought by themselves and lost their city.
θορύβου δὲ μεγάλου τοὺς Ἀθηναίους περιεστῶτος, ἀπεστάλη μὲν ὁ Δημοσθένης αἱρεθεὶς μεθʼ ἑτέρων πρεσβευτὴς πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον, δείσας δὲ τὴν ὀργὴν ἐκ τοῦ Κιθαιρῶνος ἀνεχώρησεν ὀπίσω καὶ τὴν πρεσβείαν ἀφῆκεν. εὐθὺς δʼ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἐξῄτει πέμπων τῶν δημαγωγῶν δέκα μὲν, ὡς Ἰδομενεὺς καὶ Δοῦρις εἰρήκασιν, ὀκτὼ δʼ, ὡς οἱ πλεῖστοι καὶ δοκιμώτατοι τῶν συγγραφέων, τούσδε, Δημοσθένην, Πολύευκτον, Ἐφιάλτην, Λυκοῦργον, Μοιροκλέα, Δήμωνα, Καλλισθένην, Χαρίδημον.
Then, in the midst of the great confusion which reigned at Athens, Demosthenes was chosen and sent with others as an ambassador to Alexander, but fearing the wrath of the king he turned back at Cithaeron and abandoned the embassy. Then straightway Alexander sent to Athens a demand for the surrender to him of ten of their popular leaders, according to Idomeneus and Duris, but according to the most and most reputable writers, only eight, namely, Demosthenes, Polyeuctus, Ephialtes, Lycurgus, Moerocles, Demon, Callisthenes, and Charidemus.
ὅτε καὶ τὸν περὶ τῶν προβάτων λόγον ὁ Δημοσθένης προσῆψε τῷ δήμῳ, ἃ τοῖς λύκοις τοὺς κύνας ἐξέδωκε, διηγησάμενος αὑτὸν μὲν εἴκασε καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ κυσὶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου μαχομένοις, Ἀλέξανδρον δὲ τὸν Μακεδόνα μονόλυκον προσηγόρευσεν. ἔτι δʼ, ὥσπερ, ἔφη, τοὺς ἐμπόρους ὁρῶμεν, ὅταν ἐν τρυβλίῳ δεῖγμα περιφέρωσι, διʼ ὀλίγων πυρῶν τοὺς πολλοὺς πιπράσκοντας, οὕτως ἐν ἡμῖν λανθάνετε πάντας αὑτοὺς συνεκδιδόντες.
It was on this occasion that Demosthenes told the Athenians the story of how the sheep surrendered their dogs to the wolves, comparing himself and his fellow-orators to dogs fighting in defence of the people, and calling Alexander the Macedonian arch-wolf. Moreover, he said further: Just as grain-merchants sell their whole stock by means of a few kernels of wheat which they carry about with them in a bowl as a sample, so in surrendering us you unwittingly surrender also yourselves, all of you.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Ἀριστόβουλος ὁ Κασσανδρεὺς ἱστόρηκε. βουλευομένων δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων καὶ διαπορούντων, ὁ Δημάδης λαβὼν πέντε τάλαντα παρὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ὡμολόγησε πρεσβεύσειν καὶ δεήσεσθαι τοῦ βασιλέως ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, εἴτε τῇ φιλίᾳ πιστεύων, εἴτε προσδοκῶν μεστὸν εὑρήσειν ὥσπερ λέοντα φόνου κεκορεσμένον. ἔπεισε δʼ οὖν καὶ παρῃτήσατο τοὺς ἄνδρας ὁ Δημάδης, καὶ διήλλαξεν αὐτῷ τὴν πόλιν.
Such, then, is the account which Aristobulus of Cassandreia has given. The Athenians were deliberating on this demand and were at a loss how to treat it, when Demades, for five talents which he had received from the men demanded, agreed to go on an embassy to the king and entreat him in their behalf; either because he relied on the friendship of Alexander, or because he expected to find him sated, like a lion glutted with slaughter. At any rate, Demades persuaded the king to let the men off, and reconciled him with the city.
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