Hiero
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Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz.
Hiero
by Xenophon
Translation by H. G. Dakyns
Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 B.C. He was a
pupil of Socrates. He marched with the Spartans,
and was exiled from Athens. Sparta gave him land
and property in Scillus, where he lived for many
years before having to move once more, to settle
in Corinth. He died in 354 B.C.
PREPARER'S NOTE
This was typed from Dakyns' series, "The Works of Xenophon," a
four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though
there is doubt about some of these) is:
Work Number of books
The Anabasis 7
The Hellenica 7
The Cyropaedia 8
The Memorabilia 4
The Symposium 1
The Economist 1
On Horsemanship 1
The Sportsman 1
The Cavalry General 1
The Apology 1
On Revenues 1
The Hiero 1
The Agesilaus 1
The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2
Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into
English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The
diacritical marks have been lost.
Hiero
by Xenophon
Translation by H. G. Dakyns
The Hiero is an imaginary dialogue, c. 474 B.C.,
between Simonides of Ceos, the poet; and Hieron,
of Syracuse and Gela, the despot.
HIERO, or "THE TYRANT"
A Discourse on Despotic Rule
I
Once upon a time Simonides the poet paid a visit to Hiero the
"tyrant,"[1] and when both obtained the liesure requisite, Simonides
began this conversation:
[1] Or, "came to the court of the despotic monarch Hiero." For the
"dramatis personae" see Dr. Holden's Introduction to the "Hieron"
of Xenophon.
Would you be pleased to give me information, Hiero, upon certain
matters, as to which it is likely you have greater knowledge than
myself?[2]
[2] Or, "would you oblige me by explaining certain matters, as to
which your knowledge naturally transcends my own?"
And pray, what sort of things may those be (answered Hiero), of which
I can have greater knowledge than yourself, who are so wise a man?
I know (replied the poet) that you were once a private person,[3] and
are now a monarch. It is but likely, therefore, that having tested
both conditions,[4] you should know better than myself, wherein the
life of the despotic ruler differs from the life of any ordinary
person, looking to the sum of joys and sorrows to which flesh is heir.
[3] Or, "a common citizen," "an ordinary mortal," "a private
individual."
[4] Or, "having experienced both lots in life, both forms of
existence."
Would it not be simpler (Hiero replied) if you, on your side,[5] who
are still to-day a private person, would refresh my memory by
recalling the various circumstances of an ordinary mortal's life? With
these before me,[6] I should be better able to describe the points of
difference which exist between the one life and the other.
[5] Simonides is still in the chrysalis or grub condition of private
citizenship; he has not broken the shell as yet of ordinary
manhood.
[6] Lit. "in that case, I think I should best be able to point out the
'differentia' of either."
Thus it was that Simonides spoke first: Well then, as to private
persons, for my part I observe,[7] or seem to have observed, that we
are liable to various pains and pleasures, in the shape of sights,
sounds, odours, meats, and drinks, which are conveyed through certain
avenues of sense--to wit, the eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth. And there
are other pleasures, those named of Aphrodite, of which the channels
are well known. While as to degree of heat and cold, things hard and
soft, things light and heavy, the sense appealed to here, I venture to
believe, is that of the whole body;[8] whereby we discern these
opposites, and derive from them now pain, now pleasure. But with
regard to things named good and evil,[9] it appears to me that
sometimes the mind (or soul) itself is the sole instrument by which we
register our pains and pleasures; whilst at other times such pains and
pleasures are derived conjointly through both soul and body.[10] There
are some pleasures, further, if I may trust my own sensations, which
are conveyed in sleep, though how and by what means and when
precisely, are matters as to which I am still more conscious of my
ignorance. Nor is it to be wondered at perhaps, if the perceptions of
waking life in some way strike more clearly on our senses than do
those of sleep.[11]
[7] Or, "if I may trust my powers of observation I would say that
common men are capable of pains and pleasures conveyed through
certain avenues of sense, as sight through our eyes, sounds
through our ears, smells through our noses, and meats and drinks
through our mouths."
[8] Cf. Cic. "de N. D." ii. 56, S. 141.
[9] Reading {edesthai te kai lupeisthai . . .} or if with Breit
reading {ote d' au lupeisthai}, transl. "then as to good and evil
we are affected pleasurably or painfully, as the case may be:
sometimes, if I am right in my conclusion, through the mind itself
alone; at other times . . ."
[10] Or, "they are mental partly, partly physical."
[11] Lit. "the incidents of waking life present sensations of a more
vivid character."
To this statement Hiero made answer: And I, for my part, O Simonides,
would find it hard to state, outside the list of things which you have
named yourself, in what respect the despot can have other channels of
perception.[12] So that up to this point I do not see that the
despotic life differs in any way at all from that of common people.
[12] i.e. "being like constituted, the autocratic person has no other
sources of perception: he has no claim to a wider gamut of
sensation, and consequently thus far there is not a pin to choose
between the life of the despot and that of a private person."
Then Simonides: Only in this respect it surely differs, in that the
pleasures which the "tyrant" enjoys through all these several avenues
of sense are many times more numerous, and the pains he suffers are
far fewer.
To which Hiero: Nay, that is not so, Simonides, take my word for it;
the fact is rather that the pleasures of the despot are far fewer than
those of people in a humbler condition, and his pains not only far
more numerous, but more intense.
That sounds incredible (exclaimed Simonides); if it were really so,
how do you explain the passionate desire commonly displayed to wield
the tyrant's sceptre, and that too on the part of persons reputed to
be the ablest of men? Why should all men envy the despotic monarch?
For the all-sufficient reason (he replied) that they form conclusions
on the matter without experience of the two conditions. And I will try
to prove to you the truth of what I say, beginning with the faculty of
vision, which, unless my memory betrays me, was your starting-point.
Well then, when I come to reason[13] on the matter, first of all I
find that, as regards the class of objects of which these orbs of
vision are the channel,[14] the despot has the disadvantage. Every
region of the world, each country on this fair earth, presents objects
worthy of contemplation, in quest of which the ordinary citizen will
visit, as the humour takes him, now some city [for the sake of
spectacles],[15] or again, the great national assemblies,[16] where
sights most fitted to entrance the gaze of multitudes would seem to be
collected.[17] But the despot has neither part nor lot in these high
festivals,[18] seeing it is not safe for him to go where he will find
himself at the mercy of the assembled crowds;[19] nor are his home
affairs in such security that he can leave them to the guardianship of
others, whilst he visits foreign parts. A twofold apprehension haunts
him:[20] he will be robbed of his throne, and at the same time be
powerless to take vengeance on his wrongdoer.[21]
[13] {logizomenos}, "to apply my moral algebra."
[14] {en tois dia tes opseos theamasi}. See Hartman, "An. Xen. Nova,"
p. 246. {theamasi} = "spectacular effects," is perhaps a gloss on
"all objects apprehensible through vision." Holden (crit. app.)
would rather omit {dia tes opseos} with Schneid.
[15] The words are perhaps a gloss.
[16] e.g. the games at Olympia, or the great Dionysia at Athens, etc.
[17] Omitting {einai}, or if with Breit. {dokei einai . . .
sunageiresthai}, transl. "in which it is recognised that sights
are to be seen best fitted to enchain the eyes and congregate vast
masses." For other emendations see Holden, crit. app.; Hartm. op.
cit. p. 258.
[18] "Religious embassies"; it. "Theories." See Thuc. vi. 16; "Mem."
IV. viii. 2.
[19] Lit. "not stronger than those present."
[20] Or, "The dread oppresses him, he may be deprived of his empire
and yet be powerless."
[21] Cf. Plat. "Rep." ix. 579 B: "His soul is dainty and greedy; and
yet he only of all men is never allowed to go on a journey, or to
see things which other free men desire to see; but he lives in his
hole like a woman hidden in the house, and is jealous of any other
citizen who goes into foreign parts and sees things of interest"
(Jowett).
Perhaps you will retort: "Why should he trouble to go abroad to seek
for such things? They are sure to come to him, although he stops at
home." Yes, Simonides, that is so far true; a small percentage of them
no doubt will, and this scant moiety will be sold at so high a price
to the despotic monarch, that the exhibitor of the merest trifle looks
to receive from the imperial pocket, within the briefest interval, ten
times more than he can hope to win from all the rest of mankind in a
lifetime; and then he will be off.[22]
[22] Lit. "to get from the tyrant all in a moment many times more than
he will earn from all the rest of mankind in a whole lifetime, and
depart."
To which Simonides: Well, granted you have the worst of it in sights
and sightseeing; yet, you must admit you are large gainers through the
sense of hearing; you who are never stinted of that sweetest of all
sounds,[23] the voice of praise, since all around you are for ever
praising everything you do and everything you say. Whilst, conversely,
to that most harsh and grating of all sounds, the language of abuse,
your ears are sealed, since no one cares to speak evil against a
monarch to his face.
[23] Cf. Cic. "pro Arch." 20, "Themistoclem illum dixisse aiunt cum ex
eo quaereretur, 'quod acroama aut cujus vocem libentissime
audiret': 'ejus, a quo sua virtus optime praedicaretur.'"
Then Hiero: And what pleasure do you suppose mere abstinence from evil
words implies, when it is an open secret that those silent persons are
cherishing all evil thoughts against the tyrant?[24] What mirth, do
you imagine, is to be extracted from their panegyrics who are
suspected of bestowing praise out of mere flattery?
[24] "One knows plainly that these dumb attendants stand there like
mutes, but harbour every evil thought against their autocratic
lord."
Simonides made answer: Yes, I must indeed admit, I do concede to you,
that praise alone is sweetest which is breathed from lips of free men
absolutely free. But, look you, here is a point: you will find it hard
to persuade another, that you despots, within the limits of those
things whereby we one and all sustain our bodies, in respect, that is,
of meats and drinks, have not a far wider range of pleasures.
Yes, Simonides (he answered), and what is more, I know the explanation
of the common verdict. The majority have come to the conclusion that
we monarchs eat and drink with greater pleasure than do ordinary
people, because they have got the notion, they themselves would make a
better dinner off the viands served at our tables than their own. And
doubtless some break in the monotony gives a fillip of pleasure. And
that explains why folk in general look forward with pleasure to high
days and holy days--mankind at large, but not the despot; his well-
stocked table groaning from day to day under its weight of viands
admits of no state occasions. So that, as far as this particular
pleasure, to begin with, goes, the pleasure of anticipation, the
monarch is at disadvantage compared with private people.
And in the next place (he continued), I am sure your own experience
will bear me out so far: the more viands set before a man at table
(beyond what are sufficient),[25] the more quickly will satiety of
eating overtake him. So that in actual duration of the pleasure, he
with his many dishes has less to boast of than the moderate liver.
[25] {ta peritta ton ikanon}. These words Hartm. op. cit. p. 254,
regards as an excrescence.
Yes, but good gracious! surely (broke in Simonides), during the actual
time,[26] before the appetite is cloyed, the gastronomic pleasure
derived from the costlier bill of fare far exceeds that of the cheaper
dinner-table.
[26] Lit. "so long as the soul (i.e. the appetite) accepts with
pleasure the viands"; i.e. there's an interval, at any rate,
during which "such as my soul delights in" can still apply and for
so long.
But, as a matter of plain logic (Hiero retorted), should you not say,
the greater the pleasure a man feels in any business, the more
enthusiastic his devotion to it?
That is quite true (he answered).
Hiero. Then have you ever noticed that crowned heads display more
pleasure in attacking the bill of fare provided them, than private
persons theirs?
No, rather the reverse (the poet answered); if anything, they show a
less degree of gusto,[27] unless they are vastly libelled.
[27] "No, not more pleasure, but exceptional fastidiousness, if what
people say is true." {agleukesteron}, said ap. Suid. to be a
Sicilian word = "more sourly."
Well (Hiero continued), and all these wonderfully-made dishes which
are set before the tyrant, or nine-tenths of them, perhaps you have
observed, are combinations of things acid to the taste, or pungent, or
astringent, or akin to these?[28]
[28] Lit. "and their congeners," "their analogues," e.g. "curries,
pickles, bitters, peppery condiments."
To be sure they are (he answered), unnatural viands, one and all, in
my opinion, most alien to ordinary palates.[29]
[29] Or, "unsuited to man's taste," "'caviare to the general' I name
them."
Hiero. In fact, these condiments can only be regarded as the
cravings[30] of a stomach weakened by luxurious living; since I am
quite sure that keen appetites (and you, I fancy, know it well too)
have not the slightest need for all these delicate made things.
[30] Cf. Plat. "Laws," 687 C; "Hipp." ii. 44. Lit. "can you in fact
regard these condiments as other than . . ." See Holden ad loc.
(ed. 1888); Hartm. op. cit. p. 259, suggests {enthumemata},
"inventions."
It is true, at any rate (observed Simonides), about those costly
perfumes, with which your persons are anointed, that your neighbours
rather than yourselves extract enjoyment from them; just as the
unpleasant odour of some meats is not so obvious to the eater as to
those who come in contact with him.
Hiero. Good, and on this principle we say of meats, that he who is
provided with all sorts on all occasions brings no appetite to any of
them. He rather to whom these things are rarities, that is the man
who, when some unfamiliar thing is put before him, will take his fill
of it with pleasure.[31]
[31] {meta kharas}. Cf. Aesch. Fr. 237, {stomatos en prote khara}, of
a hungry man; "Od." xvii. 603.
It looks very much (interposed Simonides) as if the sole pleasure left
you to explain the vulgar ambition to wear a crown, must be that named
after Aphrodite. For in this field it is your privilege to consort
with whatever fairest fair your eyes may light on.
Hiero. Nay, now you have named that one thing of all others, take my
word for it, in which we princes are worse off than lesser people.[32]
[32] Reading {saph' isthi}, or if as Cobet conj. {saphestata}, transl.
"are at a disadvantage most clearly by comparison with ordinary
folk."
To name marriage first. I presume a marriage[33] which is contracted
with some great family, superior in wealth and influence, bears away
the palm, since it confers upon the bridegroom not pleasure only but
distinction.[34] Next comes the marriage made with equals; and last,
wedlock with inferiors, which is apt to be regarded as degrading and
disserviceable.
[33] Cf. "Hunting," i. 9. Holden cf. Eur. "Rhes." 168; "Androm." 1255.
[34] Cf. Dem. "in Lept." S. 69, p. 499. See Plat. "Rep." 553 C.
Now for the application: a despotic monarch, unless he weds some
foreign bride, is forced to choose a wife from those beneath him, so
that the height of satisfaction is denied him.[35]
[35] Al. "supreme content, the quintessential bliss, is quite unknown
to him."
The tender service of the proudest-souled of women, wifely rendered,
how superlatively charming![36] and by contrast, how little welcome is
such ministration where the wife is but a slave--when present, barely
noticed; or if lacking, what fell pains and passions will it not
engender!
[36] Or, "the gentle ministrations of loftiest-thoughted women and
fair wives possess a charm past telling, but from slaves, if
tendered, the reverse of welcome, or if not forthcoming . . ."
And if we come to masculine attachments, still more than in those
whose end is procreation, the tyrant finds himself defrauded of such
mirthfulness,[37] poor monarch! Since all of us are well aware, I
fancy, that for highest satisfaction,[38] amorous deeds need love's
strong passion.[39]
[37] "Joys sacred to that goddess fair and free in Heaven yclept
Euphrosyne."
[38] For {polu diapherontos} cf. Browning ("Abt Vogler"), not indeed
of Aphrodisia conjoined with Eros, but of the musician's gift:
That out of three sounds he frame not a fourth sound, but a
star.
[39] i.e. "Eros, the Lord of Passion, must lend his hand." "But," he
proceeds, "the god is coy; he has little liking for the breasts of
kings. He is more likely to be found in the cottage of the peasant
than the king's palace."
But least of all is true love's passion wont to lodge in the hearts of
monarchs, for love delights not to swoop on ready prey; he needs the
lure of expectation.[40]
[40] Or, "even on the heels of hoped-for bliss he follows."
Well then, just as a man who has never tasted thirst can hardly be
said to know the joy of drinking,[41] so he who has never tasted
Passion is ignorant of Aphrodite's sweetest sweets.
[41] Reading with Holden (after H. Steph.) {osper oun an tis . . .} or
with Hartm. (op. cit. p. 259) {osper ouk an tis . . .}
So Hiero ended.
Simonides answered laughingly: How say you, Hiero? What is that?
Love's strong passion for his soul's beloved incapable of springing up
in any monarch's heart? What of your own passion for Dailochus,
surnamed of men "most beautiful"?
Hiero. That is easily explained, Simonides. What I most desire of him
is no ready spoil, as men might reckon it, but rather what it is least
of all the privilege of a tyrant to obtain.[42] I say it truly, I--the
love I bear Dailochus is of this high sort. All that the constitution
of our souls and bodies possibly compels a man to ask for at the hands
of beauty, that my fantasy desires of him; but what my fantasy
demands, I do most earnestly desire to obtain from willing hands and
under seal of true affection. To clutch it forcibly were as far from
my desire as to do myself some mortal mischief.
[42] Lit. "of tyrant to achieve," a met. from the chase. Cf.
"Hunting," xii. 22.
Were he my enemy, to wrest some spoil from his unwilling hands would
be an exquisite pleasure, to my thinking. But of all sweet favours the
sweetest to my notion is the free-will offering of a man's beloved.
For instance, how sweet the responsive glance of love for love; how
sweet the questions and the answers;[43] and, most sweet of all, most
love-enkindling, the battles and the strifes of faithful lovers.[44]
But to enjoy[45] one's love perforce (he added) resembles more an act
of robbery, in my judgment, than love's pastime. And, indeed, the
robber derives some satisfaction from the spoils he wins and from the
pain he causes to the man he hates. But to seek pleasure in the pain
of one we love devoutly, to kiss and to be hated, to touch[46] and to
be loathed--can one conceive a state of things more odious or more
pitiful? For, it is a certainty, the ordinary person may accept at
once each service rendered by the object of his love as a sign and
token of kindliness inspired by affection, since he knows such
ministry is free from all compulsion. Whilst to the tyrant, the
confidence that he is loved is quite foreclosed. On the contrary,[47]
we know for certain that service rendered through terror will
stimulate as far as possible the ministrations of affection. And it is
a fact, that plots and conspiracies against despotic rulers are
oftenest hatched by those who most of all pretend to love them.[48]
[43] "The 'innere Unterhaltung'"; the {oarismos}. Cf. Milton, "P. L.":
With thee conversing, I forget all time.
[44] Cf. Ter. "Andr." iii. 3. 23, "amantium irae amoris
intergratiost."
[45] "To make booty of."
[46] For {aptesthai} L. & S. cf. Plat. "Laws," 840 A; Aristot. "H. A."
v. 14. 27; Ep. 1 Cor. vii. 1.
[47] Reading {au}. "If we do know anything it is this, that," etc.
[48] Or, "do oftenest issue from treacherous make-believe of warmest
friendship." Cf. Grote, "H. G." xi. 288; "Hell." 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 sexual 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;
"Hell." 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 multitude 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 mass of
circumstances,[4] should share its ignorance, does indeed excite my
wonderment. Now, I know it all too plainly from my own experience,
Simonides, and I assure 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 passed 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]