Letter 279

To Demetrius. (359/360) I displayed both speeches -- both of them in full: the recent combative one and the older laudatory one. You thought I had taken fright at some jackdaw's noise and chosen silence, and that I had behaved badly toward my own uncle. But that is not how it is. The parts that posed no danger to share publicly were delivered before many listeners. But the third section of the speech required trusted friends, and I read it to a small group behind closed doors, asking them, if anything struck them as fine, to admire it in silence and not rouse a crowd with their shouting. And so far -- I touch wood [literally "I bow to Adrasteia," the goddess of retribution] -- no cause for fear has leaked out. You want to know what the danger is? My uncle's bold action snatched the city from the grip of the man then in power -- you know how furious he was. It was impossible to show the magnitude of my uncle's help without also showing the magnitude of that man's cruelty. And that has been shown...

Δημητρίῳ. (359/60) Ἄμφω μὲν ἔδειξα τὼ λόγω καὶ ὅλω γε ἄμφω τὼ λόγω, τὸν μὲν νῦν τὸν μαχόμενον, τὸν δὲ πάλαι τὸν ἐπαινοῦντα· σὺ δὲ ᾤου με δείσαντα κολοιοῦ τινος θόρυβον ᾑρῆσθαι σιγᾶν καὶ γεγενῆσθαι κακὸν περὶ τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ θεῖον. τὸ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει, ἀλλ’ ἃ μὲν οὐκ εἶχε κίνδυνον εἰς πολλοὺς ἐκφέ- ρειν, ἐν πολλοῖς εἴρηται· τοῦ λόγου δὲ ἡ τρίτη μοῖρα φίλων ἐδεῖτο σαφῶν, οὓς ὀλίγοις δεξάμενος τοῖς βάθροις κλείσας τὰς θύρας ἀνέγνων δεόμενος αὐτῶν, εἴ τι φαίνοιτο καλόν, σιγῇ θαυμάζειν μηδὲ τῇ βοῇ πολλοὺς ἐγείρειν. καὶ μέχρι γε τοῦ παρόντος, προσκυνῶ δὲ Ἀδράστειαν, φόβος οὐδεὶς ἐξέφυ. τί τὸ φοβοῦν, ἀκοῦσαι ποθεῖς; ἐξήρπασε τοῦ τότε κρα- τοῦντος θασγάνιος τὴν πόλιν οἶσθ’ ὅπως ζέοντος. οὐκ ἦν οὖν τὴν τοῦδε βοήθειαν δεῖξαι μεγάλην μὴ τὴν ὠμότητα δεί- ξαντα τὴν ἐκείνου μεγάλην. δέδεικται δή, καὶ ὁ λόγος ὧν εἰκὸς τετύχηκεν. ἀλλ’ ἔστι δέος μὴ τῷ μὲν λόγῳ τὸ μέρος ἔχῃ καλῶς, τὸ καλὸν δὲ τοῦτο κακὸν τέκῃ τῷ ποιητῇ δύναται γὰρ καὶ τεθνεὼς ἐκεῖνος διὰ τοῦ ζῶντος. ὅστις οὖν οὐκ ἐπι- θυμεῖ βαράθρου, κρύψαι λόγον αἱρήσεται μᾶλλον ἢ διδοὺς τρέμειν. τουτὶ μὲν οὖν ἀναβολῇ δεδόσθω, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον δέξῃ δι’ ἀνδρὸς ἀρίστου τῶν παρ’ ἡμῖν, οὗ πρότερος οὐδεὶς ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸ βουληθῆναι λαβεῖν. ταυτὶ δέ σοι, δι’ ὧν ἡμιλ- λησάμην πρός τι τῶν Δημοσθένους, καὶ προάγωνε δύο, ὁ μὲν ὃν ᾔτεις, ὁ δὲ ἴσως οὐκ ἀνιάσων.