The Sportsman
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Xenophon >> The Sportsman
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[12] L. Dind. cf. Eur. "Heracl." 370, {tou tauta kalos an eie} | {para
g' eu phronousin}.
[13] {paraggelmata}. Cf. Aesch. "Ag." 480, "telegraph"; Lys. 121. 32;
Dem. 569. 1; "words of command"; Dion. H. "De Comp." 248,
"instructions, precepts."
[14] {enthumemata}.
Nor would I have you envy or imitate those either who recklessly
pursue the path of self-aggrandisement,[15] whether in private or in
public life; but consider well[16] that the best of men,[17] the true
nobility, are discovered by their virtues;[18] they are a laborious
upwards-striving race; whilst the base are in evil plight[19] and are
discovered by their demerits.[20] Since in proportion as they rob the
private citizen of his means and despoil the state[21] they are less
serviceable with a view to the public safety than any private
citizen;[22] and what can be worse or more disgraceful for purposes of
war than the bodily form of people so incapable of toil?[23] Think of
huntsmen by contrast, surrendering to the common weal person and
property alike in perfect condition for service of the citizens. They
have both a battle to wage certainly: only the one set are for
attacking beasts; and the other their own friends.[24] And naturally
the assailant of his own friends does not win the general esteem;[25]
whilst the huntsman in attacking a wild beast may win renown. If
successful in his capture, he was won a victory over a hostile brood;
or failing, in the first place, it is a feather in his cap that his
attempt is made against enemies of the whole community; and secondly,
that it is not to the detriment of man nor for love of gain that the
field is taken; and thirdly, as the outcome of the very attempt, the
hunter is improved in many respects, and all the wiser: by what means
we will explain. Were it not for the very excess of his pains, his
well-reasoned devices, his manifold precautions, he would never
capture the quarry at all; since the antagonists he deals with are
doing battle for bare life and in their native haunts,[26] and are
consequently in great force. So that if he fails to overmatch the
beasts by a zest for toil transcending theirs and plentiful
intelligence, the huntsman's labours are in vain.
[15] Or, "surrender themselves heedlessly to the ways of self-
seeking." But the phraseology here seems to savour of extreme
youth, or else senility.
[16] {enthumethenta}. Query, in reference to {enthumemata} above?
[17] Reading {andron}. For the vulg. {auton} see Schneid. ad loc., who
suggests {ton aston}.
[18] "Recognisable for the better."
[19] "They are not famous but infamous"; "the bad fare as their name
suggests" (i.e. badly).
[20] "Recognisable for the worse."
[21] Or, "what with private extortionsand public peculation."
[22] {ton idioton}, "laymen," I suppose, as opposed to "professional"
lawyers or politicians.
[23] "What with their incapacity for hard work, their physique for
purposes of war is a mockery and a sham."
[24] Cf. Plat. "Soph."
[25] Or, "earns but an evil reputation in the world."
[26] "They are being bearded in their dens."
I go back to my proposition then. Those self-seeking politicians, who
want to feather their own nests,[27] practise to win victories over
their own side, but the sportsman confines himself to the common
enemy. This training of theirs renders the one set more able to cope
with the foreign foe, the others far less able. The hunting of the one
is carried on with self-restraint, of the others with effrontery. The
one can look down with contempt upon maliciousness and sordid love of
gain, the other cannot. The very speech and intonation of the one has
melody, of the other harshness. And with regard to things divine, the
one set know no obstacle to their impiety, the others are of all men
the most pious. Indeed ancient tales affirm[28] that the very gods
themselves take joy in this work[29] as actors and spectators. So
that,[30] with due reflection on these things, the young who act upon
my admonitions will be found, perchance, beloved of heaven and
reverent of soul, checked by the thought that some one of the gods is
eyeing their performance.[31]
[27] Or, "Those people who would fain have the lion's share in the
state."
[28] Or, "an ancient story obtains."
[29] Sc. "of the chase."
[30] Or {uparkhein} = "it may be considered as given." Scheid. cf.
"Pol. Ath." iii. 9, {oste uparkhein demokratian einai}.
[31] Lit. "that the things in question are beheld by some divinity."
These are the youths who will prove a blessing to their parents, and
not to their parents only but to the whole state; to every citizen
alike and individual friend.
Nay, what has sex to do with it? It is not only men enamoured of the
chase that have become heroes, but among women there are also to whom
our lady Artemis has granted a like boon--Atalanta, and Procris, and
many another huntress fair.
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