And Hegesander relates that Hiero the tyrant was also rather weak in his eyes; and that his friends who supped with him made mistakes in the dishes on purpose, in order to let him set them right, and to give him an opportunity of appearing clearer-sighted than the rest. And Hegesander says that Euclides, who was surnamed Seutlus, (and he too was a parasite,) once when a great quantity of sow-thistles (σόγκος) was set before him at a banquet, said, "Capaneus, who is introduced by Euripides in his Suppliant Women, was a very witty man—Detesting tables where there was too much pride (ὄγκος).But those who were the leaders of the people at Athens, says he, in the Chrernonidean war, flattered the Athenians, and said, “that everything else was common to all the Greeks; but that the Athenians were the only men who knew the road which leads to heaven.” And Satyrus, in his Lives, says that Anaxarchus, the Eudæmonical philosopher, was one of the flatterers of Alexander; and that he once, when on a journey in company with the king, when a violent and terrible thunderstorm took place, so as to frighten everybody, said—“Was it you, O Alexander, son of Jupiter, who caused this?” And that he laughed and said—“Not I; for I do not wish to be formidable, as you make me out; you also desire me to have brought to me at supper the heads of satraps and kings.” And Aristobulus of Cassandria says that Dioxippus the Athenian, a pancratiast, once when Alexander was wounded and when the blood flowed, said—'Tis ichor, such as flows from the blessed gods.
Ἡγήσανδρος δ’ ἱστορεῖ καὶ Ἱέρωνα τὸν τύραννον ἀμβλύτερον κατὰ τὰς ὄψεις γενέσθαι καὶ τοὺς συνδειπνοῦντας τῶν φίλων ἔχειν ἐπίτηδες διαμαρτάνοντας τῶν ἐδεσμάτων ἵν’ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ χειραγωγῶνται καὶ δοκῇ τῶν ἄλλων ὀξυδερκέστερος εἶναι. Εὐκλείδην δέ φησιν Ἡγήσανδρος τὸν Σεῦτλον ἐπικαλούμενον παράσιτος δ’ ἦν καὶ οὗτος παραθέντος τινὸς αὐτῷ πλείους σόγκους ἐν δείπνῳ,ὁ Καπανεύς, ἔφη, ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐριπίδου εἰσαγόμενος ἐν ταῖς Ἱκέτισιν ὑπεραστεῖος ἦν μισῶν τραπέζαις ὅστις ἐξογκοῖτ’ ἄγαν.οἱ δὲ δημαγωγοῦντες, φησίν, Ἀθήνησι κατὰ τὸν Χρεμωνίδειον πόλεμον κολακεύοντες τοὺς Ἀθηναίους τἄλλα μὲν ἔφασκον πάντα εἶναι κοινὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τὴν δ’ ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνθρώπους φέρουσαν ὁδὸν Ἀθηναίους εἰδέναι μόνους. Σάτυρος δ’ ἐν τοῖς βίοις Ἀνάξαρχόν φησι τὸν εὐδαιμονικὸν φιλόσοφον ἕνα τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου γενέσθαι κολάκων καὶ συνοδεύοντα τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἐπεὶ ἐγένετό ποτε βροντὴ ἰσχυρὰ καὶ ἐξαίσιος ὡς πάντας πτῆξαι, εἰπεῖν μή τι σὺ τοιοῦτον ἐποίησας, Ἀλέξανδρε, ὁ τοῦ Διός; τὸν δὲ γελάσαντα εἰπεῖν οὐ γὰρ φοβερὸς βούλομαι εἶναι, καθάπερ σύ με διδάσκεις ὁ τὰς τῶν σατραπῶν καὶ βασιλέων κελεύων με δειπνοῦντα προσφέρεσθαι κεφαλάς. Ἀριστόβουλος δέ φησιν ὁ Κασσανδρεὺς Διώξιππον τὸν Ἀθηναῖον παγκρατιαστὴν τρωθέντος ποτὲ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ αἵματος ῥέοντος εἰπεῖν ἰχὼρ οἷόσπερ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν.
And Epicrates the Athenian, having gone on an embassy to the king, according to the statement of Hegesander, and having received many presents from him, was not ashamed to flatter the king openly and boldly, so as even to say that the best way was not to choose nine archons every year, but nine ambassadors to the king. But I wonder at the Athenians, how they allowed him to make such a speech without bringing him to trial, and yet fined Demades ten talents, because he thought Alexander a god; and they put Evagoras to death, because when he went as ambassador to the king he adored him. And Timon the Phliasian, in the third book of his Silli, says that Ariston the Chian, an acquaintance and pupil of Zeno the Citiean, was a flatterer of Persæus the philosopher, because he was a companion of Antigonus the king. But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that Nicesias the flatterer of Alexender, when he saw the king in convulsions from some medicine which he had taken, said—“O king, what must we do when even you gods suffer in this manner?” and that Alexender, scarcely looking up, said—“What sort of gods? I a afraid rather we are hated by the gods.” And in his twenty eighth book the same Phylarchus says that Apollophanes was a flatterer of Antigonus who was surnamed Epitropu, who took Lacedæmon, and who used to say that the forte of Antigonus Alexandrized.
Ἐπικράτης δ’ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος πρὸς βασιλέα πρεσβεύσας, ὥς φησιν Ἡγήσανδρος, καὶ πολλὰ δῶρα παρ’ ἐκείνου λαβὼν οὐκ ᾐσχύνετο κολακεύων οὕτως φανερῶς καὶ τολμηρῶς τὸν βασιλέα ὡς καὶ εἰπεῖν δεῖν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν οὐκ ἐννέα ἄρχοντας, ἀλλ’ ἐννέα πρέσβεις αἱρεῖσθαι πρὸς βασιλέα, θαυμάζω δὲ ἔγωγε τῶν Ἀθηναίων πῶς τοῦτον μὲν ἄκριτον εἴασαν, Δημάδην δὲ δέκα ταλάντοις ἐζημίωσαν ὅτι θεὸν εἰσηγήσατο Ἀλέξανδρον, καὶ Τιμαγόραν δ’ ἀπέκτειναν ὅτι πρεσβεύων ὡς βασιλέα προσεκύνησεν αὐτόν. Τίμων ὁ Φλιάσιος ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ τῶν σίλλων Ἀρίστωνά φησι τὸν Χῖον, Ζήνωνος δὲ τοῦ Κιτιέως γνώριμον, κόλακα γενέσθαι Περσαίου τοῦ φιλοσόφου, ὅτι ἦν ἑταῖρος Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ βασιλέως. Φύλαρχος δὲ ἐν σ᾽ἱστοριῶν Νικησίαν φησὶ τὸν Ἀλεξάνδρου κόλακα θεασάμενον τὸν βασιλέα σπαρασσόμενον ὑφ’ οὗ εἰλήφει φαρμάκου εἰπεῖν ὦ βασιλεῦ, τί δεῖ ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς, ὅτε καὶ ὑμεῖς οἱ θεοὶ τοιαῦτα πάσχετε; καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον μόλις ἀναβλέψαντα, ποῖοι θεοί; φῆσαι, φοβοῦμαι μή τι θεοῖσιν ἐχθροί. ἐν δὲ τῇ ὀγδόῃ καὶ εἰκοστῇ ὁ αὐτὸς Φύλαρχος Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ κληθέντος Ἐπιτρόπου τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἑλόντος κόλακα γενέσθαι Ἀπολλοφάνη τὸν εἰπόντα τὴν Ἀντιγόνου τύχην ἀλεξανδρίζειν.
But Euphantus, in the fourth book of his Histories, says that Callicrates was a flatterer of Ptolemy, the third king of Egypt, who was so subtle a flatterer that he not only bore an image of Ulysses on his seal, but that he also gave his children the names of Telegonus and Anticlea. And Polybius, in the thirteenth book of his Histories says that Heraclides the Tarentine was a flatterer of the Philip whose power was destroyed by the Romans; and that, it was he who overturned his whole kingdom. And in his fourteenth book, he says that Philo was a flatterer of Agathocles the son of Œnanthe, and the companion of the king Ptolemy Philopator. And Baton of Sinope relates, in his book bout the tyranny of Hieronymus, that Thraso, who was surnamed Carcharus, was the flatterer of Hieronymus the tyrant of Syracuse, saying that he every day used to drink a great quantity of unmixed wine. But another flatterer, by name Osis, caused Thraso to be put to death by Hieronymus; ad he persuaded Hieronymus himself to assume the diadem, and the purple and all the rest of the royal apparel, which Dionysius the tyrant was accustomed to wear. And Agatharchides, in the thirtieth book of his Histories, says—"Hæresippus the Spartanwas a man of no moderate iniquity, not even putting on any appearance of goodness; but having very persuasive flattering language, and being a very clever man at paying court to the rich as long as their fortune lasted. Such also was Heraclides the Maronite, the flatterer of Seuthes the king of the Thracians, who is mentioned by Xenophon in the seventh book of the Anabasis.
Εὔφαντος δ’ ἐν τετάρτῃ ἱστοριῶν Πτολεμαίου φησὶ τοῦ τρίτου βασιλεύσαντος Αἰγύπτου κόλακα γενέσθαι Καλλικράτην, ὃς οὕτω δεινὸς ἦν ὡς μὴ μόνον Ὀδυσσέως εἰκόνα ἐν τῇ σφραγῖδι περιφέρειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὀνόματα θέσθαι Τηλέγονον καὶ Ἀντίκλειαν. Πολύβιος δ’ ἐν τῇ τρισκαιδεκάτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν Φιλίππου τοῦ καταλυθέντος ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων κόλακα γενέσθαι ʽ Ἡρακλείδην τὸν Ταραντῖνον τὸν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν ἀνατρέψαντα· ἐν δὲ τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ Ἀγαθοκλέους τοῦ Οἰνάνθης υἱοῦ, ἑταίρου δὲ τοῦ Φιλοπάτορος βασιλέως Φίλωνα. Ἱερωνύμου δὲ τοῦ Συρακοσίων τυράννου Θράσωνα τὸν Κάρχαρον ἐπικαλούμενον Βάτων ὁ Σινωπεὺς ἱστορεῖ ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἱερωνύμου τυραννίδος, προσφέρεσθαι φάσκων αὐτὸν ἑκάστοτε πολὺν ἄκρατον. τοῦτον δ’ ἐποίησεν ἀναιρεθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἱερωνύμου ἕτερος κόλαξ Σῶσις ὄνομα· καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Ἱερώνυμον ἀνέπεισεν διάδημά τε ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ τὴν πορφύραν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν διασκευὴν ἣν ἐφόρει Διονύσιος ὁ τύραννος. Ἀγαθαρχίδης δ’ ἐν τῇ τριακοστῇ τῶν ἱστοριῶν Αἱρήσιππος, φησίν, ὁ Σπαρτιάτης, ἄνθρωπος οὐ μετρίως φαῦλος οὐδὲ δοκῶν χρηστὸς εἶναι, πιθανὸν δ’ ἔχων ἐν κολακείᾳ λόγον καὶ θεραπεῦσαι τοὺς εὐπόρους μέχρι τῆς τύχης δεινός. τοιοῦτος ἦν καὶ Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Μαρωνείτης ὁ Σεύθου τοῦ Θρᾳκῶν βασιλέως κόλαξ, οὗ μνημονεύει Ξενοφῶν ἐν ζ’ Ἀναβάσεως.
But Theopompus, in the eighteenth book of his Histories, speaking of Nicostratus the Argive, and saying how he flattered the Persian king, writes as follows—"But how can we think Nicostratus the Argive anything but a wicked man? who, when he was president of the city of Argos, and when he had received all the distinctions of family, and riches, and large estates from his ancestors, surpassed all men in his flatteries and attentions to the king, outrunning not only those who bore a part in that expedition, but even all who had lived before; for in the first place, he was so anxious for honours from the barbarian, that, wishing to please him more and to be more trusted by him, he brought his son to the king, a thing which no one else will ever be found to have done. And then, every day when he was about to go to supper he had a table set apart, to which he gave the name of the Table of the King's Deity, loading it with meat and all other requisites; hearing that those who live at the doors of the royal palace among the Persians do the same thing, and thinking that by this courtier-like attention he should get more from the king. For he was exceedingly covetous, and not scrupulous as to the means he employed forgetting money, so that indeed no one was ever less so. And Lysimachus was a flatterer and the tutor of Attalus the king, a man whom Callimachus sets down as a Theodorean, but Hermippus sets him down in the list of the disciples of Theophrastus. And this man wrote books also about the education of Attalus, full of every kind of adulation imaginable. But Polybius, in the eighth book of his Histories, says, “Cavarus the Gaul, who was in other respects a good man, was depraved by Sostratus the flatterer, who was a Chalcedonian by birth.”
Θεόπομπος δ’ ἐν ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῃ ἱστοριῶν περὶ Νικοστράτου Ἀργείου λέγων ὡς ἐκολάκευε τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα γράφει καὶ ταῦτα· Νικόστρατον δὲ τὸν Ἀργεῖον πῶς οὐ χρὴ ] φαῦλον νομίζειν, ὃς προστάτης γενόμενος τῆς Ἀργείων πόλεως καὶ παραλαβὼν καὶ γένος καὶ χρήματα καὶ πολλὴν οὐσίαν παρὰ τῶν προγόνων ἅπαντας ὑπερεβάλετο τῇ κολακείᾳ καὶ ταῖς θεραπείαις οὐ μόνον τοὺς τῆς τότε στρατείας μετασχόντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν γενομένους, πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἠγάπησε τὴν παρὰ τοῦ βαρβάρου τιμὴν ὥστε βουλόμενος ἀρέσκειν καὶ πιστεύεσθαι μᾶλλον ἀνεκόμισε πρὸς βασιλέα, τὸν υἱόν· τῶν ἄλλων οὐδεὶς πώποτε φανήσεται ποιήσας. ἔπειτα καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, ὁπότε μέλλοι δειπνεῖν, τράπεζαν παρετίθει χωρὶς ὀνομάζων τῷ δαίμονι τῷ βασιλέως, ἐμπλήσας σίτου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιτηδείων, ἀκούων μὲν τοῦτο ποιεῖν καὶ τῶν Περσῶν τοὺς περὶ τὰς θύρας διατρίβοντας, οἰόμενος δὲ διὰ τῆς θεραπείας ταύτης χρηματιεῖσθαι μᾶλλον παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως· ἦν γὰρ αἰσχροκερδὴς καὶ χρημάτων ὡς οὐκοἶδ’ εἴ τις ἕτερος ἥττων. Ἀττάλου δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐγένετο κόλαξ καὶ διδάσκαλος Λυσίμαχος, ὃν Καλλίμαχος μὲν Θεοδώρειον ἀναγράφει, Ἕρμιππος δ’ ἐν τοῖς Θεοφράστου μαθηταῖς καταλέγει, οὗτος δ’ ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ περὶ τῆς Ἀττάλου παιδείας συγγέγραφε βίβλους πᾶσαν κολακείαν ἐμφαινούσας. Πολύβιος δ᾽ ἐν ὀγδόῃ ἱστοριῶν Καύαρος, φησίν, ὁ Γαλάτης ὢν ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ὑπὸ Σωστράτου τοῦ κόλακος διεστρέφετο, ὃς ἦν Χαλκηδόνιος γένος.
Nicolaus, in the hundred and fourteenth book of his Histories, says that Andromachus of Carrhæ was a flatterer of Licinius Crassus, who commanded the expedition against the Parthians; and that Crassus communicated all his designs to him, and was, in consequence, betrayed to the Parthians by him, and so destroyed. But Andromachus was not allowed by the deity to escape unpunished. For having obtained, as the reward of his conduct, the sovereignty over his native place Carrhæ, he behaved with such cruelty and violence that he was burnt with his whole family by the Carrhans. And Posidonius the Apamean, who was afterwards surnamed Rhodius, in the fourth book of his Histories, says that Hierax of Antioch, who used formerly to accompany the singers called Lysiodi on the flute, afterwards became a terrible flatterer of Ptolemy, seventh king of Egypt of that name, who was also surnamed Euergetes; and that h had the very greatest influence over him, as also he had with Ptolemy Philometor, though he was afterwards put to death by him. And Nicolaus the Peripatetic states that Sosipater was a flatterer of Mithridates, a man who was by trade a conjurer. And Theopompus, in the ninth book of his History of Grecian Affairs, says that Athenæus the Eretrian was a flatterer and servant of Sisyphus the tyrant of Pharsalus.
Λικιννίου δὲ Κράσσου τοῦ ἐπὶ Πάρθους στρατεύσαντος κόλακά φησι γενέσθαι Νικόλαος ἐν τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ πρὸς ταῖς ἑκατὸν Ἀνδρόμαχον τὸν Καρρηνόν, ᾧ τὸν Κράσσον πάντα ἀνακοινούμενον προδοθῆναι Πάρθοις ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπολέσθαι. οὐκ ἀτιμώρητος δ’ ὑπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου παρείθη ὁ Ἀνδρόμαχος. μισθὸν γὰρ λαβὼν τῆς πράξεως τὸ τυραννεῖν Καρρῶν τῆς πατρίδος διὰ τὴν ὠμότητα καὶ βίαν ὑπὸ τῶν Καρρηνῶν πανοικίᾳ ἐνεπρήσθη· Ποσειδώνιος δ’ ὁ Ἀπαμεύς, ὕστερον δὲ Ῥόδιος χρηματίσας, ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν Ἱέρακά φησι τὸν Ἀντιοχέα πρότερον λυσιῳδοῖς ὑπαυλοῦντα ὕστερον γενέσθαι κόλακα δεινὸν Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἑβδόμου βασιλέως τοῦ καὶ Εὐεργέτου ἐπικληθέντος καὶ τὰ μέγιστα δυνηθέντα παρ’ αὐτῷ, καθάπερ καὶ παρὰ τῷ Φιλομήτορι, ὕστερον ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ διαφθαρῆναι. Μιθριδάτου δ’ ἀναγράφει κόλακα Σωσίπατρον ἄνθρωπον γόητα Νικόλαος ὁ περιπατητικός, Θεόπομπος δ’ ἐν τῇ ἐνάτῃ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν Σισύφου φησὶ τοῦ Φαρσαλίου κόλακα καὶ ὑπηρέτην γενέσθαι Ἀθήναιον τὸν Ἐρετριέα.
The whole populace of the Athenians, too, was very notorious for the height to which it pushed its flattery; accordingly, Demochares the cousin of Demosthenes the orator, in the twentieth book of his Histories, speaking of the flattery practised by the Athenians towards Demetrius Poliorcetes, and saying that he himself did not at all like it, writes as follows—“And some of these things annoyed him greatly, as they well might. And, indeed, other parts of their conduct were utterly mean and disgraceful. They consecrated temples to Leæna Venus and Lamia Venus, and they erected altars and shrines as if to heroes, and instituted libations in honour of Burichus, and Adeimantus, and Oxythemis, his flatterers. And poems were sung in honour of all these people, so that even Demetrius himself was astonished at what they did, and said that in his time there was not one Athenian of a great or vigorous mind.” The Thebans also flattered Demetrius, as Polemo relates in the treatise on the Ornamented Portico at Sicyon; and they, too, erected a temple to Lamia Venus. But she was one of Demetrius's mistresses, as also was Leæna. So that why should we wonder at the Athenians, who stooped even to become flatterers of flatterers, singing pæans and hymns to Demetrius himself? Accordingly Demochares, in the twenty-first book of his Histories, says—“And the Athenians received Demetrius when he came from Leucadia and Corcyra to Athens, not only with frankincense, and crowns, and libations of wine, but they even went out to meet him with hymns, and choruses, and ithyphalli, and dancing and singing, and they stood in front of him in multitudes, dancing and singing, and saying that he was the only true god, and that all the rest of the gods were either asleep, or gone away to a distance, or were no god at all. And they called him the son of Neptune and Venus, for he was eminent for beauty, and affable to all men with a natural courtesy and gentleness of manner. And they fell at his feet and addressed supplications and prayers to him.”
διαβόητος δὲ ἐγένετο ἐπὶ κολακείᾳ καὶ ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων δῆμος. Δημοχάρης γοῦν ὁ Δημοσθένους τοῦ ῥήτορος ἀνεψιὸς ἐν τῇ εἰκοστῇ τῶν ἱστοριῶν διηγούμενος περὶ ἧς ἐποιοῦντο οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι κολακείας πρὸς τὸν Πολιορκητὴν Δημήτριον καὶ ὅτι τοῦτ’ οὐκ ἦν ἐκείνῳ βουλομένῳ, γράφει οὕτως· ἐλύπει μὲν καὶ τούτων ἔνια αὐτόν, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ μὴν ἄλλα καὶ ἄλλα γε παντελῶς αἰσχρὰ καὶ ταπεινά, Λεαίνης μὲν καὶ Λαμίας ι Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὰ· καὶ Βουρίχου καὶ Ἀδειμάντου καὶ Ὀξυθέμιδος τῶν κολάκων αὐτοῦ καὶ βωμοὶ καὶ ἡρῷα καὶ σπονδαί. τούτων ἑκάστῳ καὶ παιᾶνες ᾔδοντο, ὥστε καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Δημήτριον θαυμάζειν ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις καὶ λέγειν ὅτι ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ οὐδεὶς Ἀθηναίων γέγονε μέγας καὶ ἁδρὸς τὴν ψυχήν. καὶ Θηβαῖοι δὲ κολακεύοντες τὸν Δημήτριον, ὥς φησι Πολέμων ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς ποικίλης στοᾶς τῆς ἐν Σικυῶνι, ἱδρύσαντο ναὸν Ἀφροδίτης Λαμίας, ἐρωμένη δ’ ἦν αὕτη τοῦ Δημητρίου καθάπερ καὶ ἡ Λέαινα, τί οὖν παράδοξον οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι οἱ τῶν κολάκων κόλακες ἐποίησαν εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν Δημήτριον παιᾶνας καὶ προσόδια ᾄδοντες; φησὶ γοῦν ὁ Δημοχάρης ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ καὶ εἰκοστῇ γράφων ἐπανελθόντα δὲ τὸν Δημήτριον ἀπὸ τῆς Λευκάδος καὶ Κερκύρας εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐδέχοντο οὐ μόνον θυμιῶντες καὶ στεφανοῦντες καὶ οἰνοχοοῦντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσοδιακοὶ χοροὶ καὶ ἰθύφαλλοι μετ’ ὀρχήσεως καὶ ᾠδῆς ἀπήντων αὐτῷ καὶ ἐφιστάμενοι κατὰ τοὺς ὄχλους ᾖδον ὀρχούμενοι καὶ ἐπᾴδοντες ὡς εἴη μόνος θεὸς ἀληθινός, οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι καθεύδουσιν ἢ ἀποδημοῦσιν ἢ οὐκ εἰσίν, γεγονὼς δ’ εἴη ἐκ Ποσειδῶνος καὶ Ἀφροδίτης, τῷ δὲ κάλλει διάφορος καὶ τῇ πρὸς πάντας φιλανθρωπίᾳ κοινός, δεόμενοι δὲ αὐτοῦ ἱκέτευον, φησί, καὶ προσηύχοντο.
Demochares, then, has said all this about the adulatory spirit and conduct of the Athenians. And Duris the Samian, in the twenty-second book of his Histories, has given the very ithyphallic hymn which they addressed to him—Behold the greatest of the gods and dearestAre come to this city,For here Demeter and Demetrius arePresent in season.She indeed comes to duly celebrateThe sacred mysteriesOf her most holy daughter—he is presentJoyful and beautiful,As a god ought to be, with smiling faceShowering his blessings round.How noble doth he look! his friends around,Himself the centre.His friends resemble the bright lesser stars,Himself is Phœbus.Hail, ever-mighty Neptune's mightier son;Hail, son of Venus.For other gods do at a distance keep,Or have no ears,Or no existence; and they heed not us—But you are present,Not made of wood or stone, a genuine god.We pray to thee.First of all give us peace, O dearest god—For you are lord of peace—And crush for us yourself, for you've the power,'This odious Sphinx;Which now destroys not Thebes alone, but Greece—The whole of Greece—I mean th' Aetolian, who, like her of old,Sits on a rock,And tears and crushes all our wretched bodies.Nor can we him resist.For all th' Aetolians plunder all their neighbours;And now they stretch afarTheir lion hands; but crush them, mighty lord,Or send some ŒdipusWho shall this Sphinx hurl down from off his precipice,Or starve him justly.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Δημοχάρης τοσαῦτα εἴρηκε περὶ τῆς Ἀθηναίων κολακείας· Δοῦρις δ’ ὁ Σάμιος ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ εἰκοστῇ τῶν ἱστοριῶν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἰθύφαλλον· … ὡς οἱ μέγιστοι τῶν θεῶν καὶ φίλτατοι τῇ πόλει πάρεισιν ἐνταῦθα γὰρ Δήμητρα καὶ Δημήτριον ἅμα παρῆγ’ ὁ καιρός, χἠ μὲν τὰ σεμνὰ τῆς Κόρης μυστήρια ἔρχεθ’ ἵνα ποιήσῃ, ὁ δ’ ἱλαρός, ὥσπερ τὸν θεὸν δεῖ, καὶ καλὸς καὶ γελῶν πάρεστι. σεμνόν τι φαίνεθ᾽, οἱ φίλοι πάντες κύκλῳ, ἐν μέσοισι δ’ αὐτός, ὅμοιον ὥσπερ οἱ φίλοι μὲν ἀστέρες, ἥλιος δ’ ἐκεῖνος, ὦ τοῦ κρατίστου παῖ Ποσειδῶνος θεοῦ, χαῖρε, κἀφροδίτης. ἄλλοι μὲν ἢ μακρὰν γὰρ ἀπέχουσιν θεοὶ ἢ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ὦτα ἢ οὐκ εἰσὶν ἢ οὐ προσέχουσιν ἡμῖν οὐδὲ ἕν, σὲ δὲ παρόνθ’ ὁρῶμεν, οὐ ξύλινον οὐδὲ λίθινον, ἀλλ’ ἀληθινόν. εὐχόμεσθα δή σοι· πρῶτον μὲν εἰρήνην ποίησον, φίλτατε· κύριος γὰρ εἶ σύ. τὴν δ’ οὐχὶ Θηβῶν, ἀλλ’ ὅλης τῆς Ἑλλάδος Σφίγγα περικρατοῦσαν, ὁ Αἰτωλὸς ὅστις ἐπὶ πέτρας καθήμενος, ὥσπερ ἡ παλαιά, τὰ σώμαθ’ ἡμῶν πάντ’ ἀναρπάσας φέρει, κοὐκ ἔχω μάχεσθαι Αἰτωλικὸν γὰρ ἁρπάσαι τὰ τῶν πέλας, νῦν δὲ καὶ τὰ πόρρω· μάλιστα μὲν δὴ κόλασον αὐτός· εἰ δὲ μή, τὴν Σφίγγα ταύτην ὅστις ἢ κατακρημνιεῖ ἢ σπίλον ποιήσει.
This is what was sung by the nation which once fought at Marathon, and they sang it not only in public, but in their private houses-men who had once put a man to death for offering adoration to the king of Persia, ad who had slain countless myriads of barbarians. Therefore, Alexis, in his Apothecary or Cratevas, introduces a person pledging one of the guests in a cup of wine, and represents him as saying—Boy, give a larger cup, and pour thereinFour cyathi of strong and friendly drink,In honour of all present. Then you shall addThree more for love; one for the victory,The glorious victory of King Antigonus,Another for the young Demetrius.* * * * And presently he adds—Bring a third cup in honour now of Venus,The lovely Venus. Hail, my friends and guests;I drink this cup to the success of all of you.
ταῦτ’ ᾖδον οἱ Μαραθωνομάχοι οὐ δημοσίᾳ, μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατ’ οἰκίαν, οἱ τὸν προσκυνήσαντα τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα ἀποκτείναντες, οἱ τὰς ἀναρίθμους μυριάδας τῶν βαρβάρων φονεύσαντες. Ἄλεξις γοῦν ἐν Φαρμακοπώλῃ ἢ Κρατείᾳ προπίνοντά τινα εἰσαγαγὼν ἑνὶ τῶν συμποτῶν καὶ λέγοντα ποιεῖ τάδε· παῖ, τὴν μεγάλην δός, ὑποχέας φιλίας κυάθους τῶν συμπαρόντων· τέτταρας, τοὺς τρεῖς δ’ ἐγὼ Σωτῆρσιν ἀποδώσεις θεοῖς, ἕν’ Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ βασιλέως νίκης καλῶς, καὶ τοῦ νεανίσκου κύαθον Δημητρίου … φέρε τὸν τρίτον φίλας Ἀφροδίτης, χαίρετ᾽, ἄνδρες συμπόται, ὅσων ἀγαθῶν τὴν κύλικα μεστὴν πίομαι.
Such were the Athenians at that time, after flattery, that worst of wild beasts, had inspired their city with frenzy, that city which once the Pythia entitled the Hearth of Greece, and which Theopompus, who hated them, called the Prytaneum of Greece; he who said in other places that Athens was full of drunken flatterers, and sailors, and pickpockets, and also of false witnesses, sycophants, and false accusers. And it is my opinion that it was they who introduced all the flattery which we have been speaking of, like a storm, or other infliction, sent on men by the gods; concerning which Diogenes said, very elegantly—“That it was much better to go ἐς κόρακας than ἐς κόλακας, who eat up all the good men while they are still alive;” and, accordingly, Anaxilas says, in his Young Woman—The flatterers are worms which prey uponAll who have money; for they make an entranceInto the heart of a good guileless man,And take their seat there, and devour it,Till they have drain'd it like the husk of wheat,And leave the shell; and then attack some other.And Plato says, in his Phædrus—“Nature has mingled some pleasure which is not entirely inelegant in its character of a flatterer, though he is an odious beast, and a great injury to a state.” And Theophrastus, in his treatise on Flattery, says that Myrtis the priest, the Argive, taking by the ear Cleonymus (who was a dancer and also a flatterer, and who often used to come and sit by him and his fellow-judges, and who was anxious to be seen in company with those who were thought of consideration in the city), and dragging him out of-the assembly, said to him in the hearing of many people, You shall not dance here, and you shall not hear us. And Diphilus, in his Marriage, says—A flatterer destroysBy his pernicious speechesBoth general and prince,Both private friends and states;He pleases for a while,But causes lasting ruin.And now this evil habitHas spread among the people,Our courts are all diseased,And all is done by favour.So that the Thessalians did well who razed the city which was called Colaceia (Flattery), which the Melians used to inhabit, as Theopompus relates in the thirtieth book of his History.
τοιοῦτοι τότ’ ἐγένοντο οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι κολακείας θηρίου χαλεπωτάτου λύσσαν ἐμβαλούσης αὐτῶν τῇ πόλει· ἣν ὁ μὲν Πύθιος ἑστίαν τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀνεκήρυξε, πρυτανεῖον δὲ Ἑλλάδος ὁ δυσμενέστατος Θεόπομπος ὁ φήσας ἐν ἄλλοις πλήρεις εἶναι τὰς Ἀθήνας Διονυσοκολάκων καὶ ναυτῶν καὶ λωποδυτῶν, ἔτι δὲ ψευδομαρτύρων καὶ συκοφαντῶν καὶ ψευδοκλητήρων. οὓς ἐγὼ πείθομαι ὡς ἐπομβρίαν ἤ τι δεινὸν ἐκ θεοῦ τὴν προειρημένην πᾶσαν εἰσηγήσασθαι κολακείαν. περὶ ἧς καλῶς ὁ Διογένης ἔλεγε πολὺ κρεῖττον εἶναι ἐς κόρακας ἀπελθεῖν ἢ ἐς κόλακας, οἳ ζῶντας ἔτι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς τῶν ἀνδρῶν κατεσθίουσι. φησὶ γοῦν καὶ Ἀναξίλας ἐν …,· οἱ κόλακές εἰσι τῶν ἐχόντων οὐσίας σκώληκες. εἰς οὖν ἄκακον ἀνθρώπου τρόπον εἰσδὺς ἕκαστος ἐσθίει καθήμενος, ἕως ἂν ὥσπερ πυρὸν ἀποδείξῃ κενόν. ἔπειθ’ ὁ μὲν λέμμ’ ἐστίν, ὁ δ’ ἕτερον δάκνει. Πλάτων τ’ ἐν Φαίδρῳ φησί· κόλακι, δεινῷ θηρίῳ καὶ βλάβῃ μεγάλῃ, ὅμως ἐπέμιξεν ἡ φύσις ἡδονήν τινα οὐκ ἄμουσον Θεόφραστος δ’ ἐν τῷ περὶ κολακείας φησὶν ὡς Μύρτις ὁ Ἀργεῖος Κλεώνυμον τὸν χορευτὴν ἅμα καὶ κόλακα προσκαθίζοντα πολλάκις αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς συνδικάζουσι, βουλόμενον δὲ καὶ μετὰ τῶν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐνδόξων ὁρᾶσθαι, λαβόμενος τοῦ ὠτὸς καὶ ἕλκων αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ συνεδρίου πολλῶν παρόντων εἶπεν οὐ χορεύσεις ἐνθάδε οὐδ’ ἁμῶν ἀκούσει. Δίφιλος δ’ ἐν Γάμῳ φησὶν ὁ γὰρ κόλαξ καὶ στρατηγὸν καὶ δυνάστην καὶ φίλους καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἀνατρέπει λόγῳ κακούργῳ μικρὸν ἡδύνας χρόνον. νῦν δὲ καὶ καχεξία τις ὑποδέδυκε τοὺς ὄχλους,, αἱ κρίσεις θ’ ἡμῶν νοσοῦσι, καὶ τὸ πρὸς χάριν πολύ. διὸ καὶ Θετταλοὶ καλῶς ποιήσαντες κατέσκαψαν τὴν καλουμένην πόλιν Κολακείαν, ἣν Μηλιεῖς ἐνέμοντο, ὥς φησι Θεόπομπος ἐν τῇ τριακοστῇ.
But Phylarchus says, that those Athenians who settled in Lemnos were great flatterers, mentioning them as such in the thirteenth book of his History. For that they, wishing to display their gratitude to the descendants of Seleucus and Antiochus, because Seleucus not only delivered them when they were severely oppressed by Lysimachus, but also restored both their cities to them,—they, I say, the Athenians in Lemnos, not only erected temples to Seleucus, but also to his son Antiochus; and they have given to the cup, which at their feasts is offered at the end of the banquet, the name of the cup of Seleucus the Saviour. Now some people, perverting the proper name, call this flattery ἀρέσκεια, complaisance; as Anaxandrides does in his Samian, where he says—For flattery is now complaisance call'd.But those who devote themselves to flattery are not aware that that art is one which flourishes only a short time. Accordingly, Alexis says in his Liar—A flatterer's life but a brief space endures,For no one likes a hoary parasite.And Clearchus the Solensian, in the first book of his Amatory treatises, says—“No flatterer is constant in his friendship. For time destroys the falsehood of his pretences, and a lover is only a flatterer and a pretended friend on account of youth or beauty.” One of the flatterers of Demetrius the king was Adeimantus of Lampsacus, who having built a temple in Thriæ, and placed statues in it, called it the temple of Phila Venus, and called the place itself Philæum, from Phila the mother of Demetrius; as we are told by Dionysius the son of Tryphon, in the tenth book of his treatise on Names.
κόλακας δ’ εἶναί φησι Φύλαρχος καὶ τοὺς ἐν Λήμνῳ κατοικοῦντας Ἀθηναίων ἐν τῇ τρισκαιδεκάτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν χάριν γὰρ ἀποδιδόντας τοῖς Σελεύκου καὶ Ἀντιόχου ἀπογόνοις, ἐπεὶ αὐτοὺς ὁ Σέλευκος πικρῶς ἐπιστατουμένους ὑπὸ Λυσιμάχου οὐ μόνον ἐξείλετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς πόλεις αὐτοῖς ἀπέδωκεν ἀμφοτέρας, οἱ Λημνόθεν Ἀθηναῖοι οὐ μόνον ναοὺς κατεσκεύασαν τοῦ Σελεύκου, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἀντιόχου· καὶ τὸν ἐπιχεόμενον κύαθον ἐν ταῖς συνουσίαις Σελεύκου σωτῆρος καλοῦσι. ταύτην δὲ τὴν κολακείαν τινὲς ἐκτρεπόμενοι τοὔνομα ἀρέσκειαν προσαγορεύουσιν, ὡς καὶ Ἀναξανδρίδης ἐν Σαμίᾳ· τὸ γὰρ κολακεύειν νῦν ἀρέσκειν ὄνομ’ ἔχει. οὐκ ἐπίστανται δὲ οἱ τὴν κολακείαν μεταχειριζόμενοι ὥς ἐστιν αὕτη ἡ τέχνη ὀλιγοχρόνιος. Ἄλεξις γοῦν φησιν ἐν Ψευδομένῳ· κόλακος δὲ βίος μικρὸν χρόνον ἀνθεῖ· οὐδεὶς γὰρ χαίρει πολιοκροτάφῳ παρασίτῳ. Κλέαρχος δ’ ὁ Σολεὺς ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν Ἐρωτικῶν· κόλαξ μὲν οὐδείς, φησί, διαρκεῖ πρὸς φιλίαν. καταναλίσκει γὰρ ὁ χρόνος τὸ τοῦ προσποιήματος αὐτῶν ψεῦδος. ὁ δ’ ἐραστὴς κόλαξ ἐστὶ φιλίας δι’ ὥραν ἢ κάλλος. τῶν δὲ Δημητρίου τοῦ βασιλέως κολάκων οἱ περὶ Ἀδείμαντον τὸν Λαμψακηνὸν νεὼν κατασκευασάμενοι καὶ ἀγάλματα ἱδρυσάμενοι Θριῆσιν ὠνόμασαν Φίλας Ἀφροδίτης καὶ τὸν τόπον Φιλαῖον ἐκάλεσαν ἀπὸ τῆς Δημητρίου Φίλας, ὥς φησι Διονύσιος ὁ τοῦ Τρύφωνος ἐν τῷ δεκάτῳ περὶ ὀνομάτων.
But Clearchus the Solensian, in his book which is inscribed Gergithius, tells us whence the origin of the name flatterer is derived; and mentioning Gergithius himself, from whom the treatise has its name, he says that he was one of Alexander's flatterers; and he tells the story thus—“That flattery debases the characters of the flatterers, making them apt to despise whoever they associate with; and a proof of this is, that they endure everything, well knowing what they dare do. And those who are flattered by them, being puffed up by their adulation, they make foolish and empty-headed, and cause them to believe that they, and everything belonging to them, are of a higher order than other people.” And ten proceeding to mention a certain young man, a Paphian by birth, but a king by the caprice of fortune, he says—"This young man (and he does not mention his name) used out of his preposterous luxury to lie on a couch with silver feet, with a smooth Sardian carpet spread under it of the most expensive description. And over him was thrown a piece of purple cloth, edged with a scarlet fringe; and he had three pillows under his head made of the finest linen, and of purple colour, by which he kept himself cool. And under his feet he had two pillows of the kind called Dorian, of a bright crimson colour; and on all this he lay himself, clad in a white robe.
Κλέαρχος δ’ ὁ Σολεὺς ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ Γεργιθίῳ καὶ πόθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τοῦ ὀνόματος τῶν κολάκων παρῆλθε διηγεῖται καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Γεργίθιον ὑποτιθέμενος, ἀφ’ οὗ τὸ βιβλίον ἔχει τὴν ἐπιγραφήν, ἕνα γεγονότα τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου κολάκων, διηγεῖται δὲ οὕτως, τὴν κολακείαν ταπεινὰ ποιεῖν τὰ ἤθη τῶν κολάκων καταφρονητικῶν ὄντων τῶν περὶ αὐτούς, σημεῖον δὲ τὸ πᾶν ὑπομένειν εἰδότας οἷα τολμῶσι. τὰ δὲ τῶν κολακευομένων ἐμφυσωμένων τῇ κολακείᾳ, χαύνους καὶ κενοὺς ποιοῦντα, πάντων ἐν ὑπεροχῇ παρ’ αὐτοῖς ὑπολαμβάνεσθαι κατασκευάζεσθαι. ἑξῆς τε διηγούμενος περί τινος μειρακίου Παφίου μὲν τὸ γένος, βασιλέως δὲ τὴν τύχην τοῦτο, φησί, τὸ μειράκιον οὐ λέγων αὐτοῦ τοὔνομα κατέκειτο δι’ ὑπερβάλλουσαν τρυφὴν ἐπὶ ἀργυρόποδος κλίνης ὑπεστρωμένης Σαρδιανῇ ψιλοτάπιδι τῶν πάνυ πολυτελῶν. ἐπεβέβλητο δ’ αὐτῷ πορφυροῦν ἀμφίταπον ἀμοργίνῳ καλύμματι περιειλημμένον. προσκεφάλαια δ’ εἶχε τρία μὲν ὑπὸ τῇ κεφαλῇ βύσσινα παραλουργῆ, δι’ ὧν ἠμύνετο τὸ καῦμα, δύο δ’ ὑπὸ τοῖς ποσὶ ὑσγινοβαφῆ τῶν Δωρικῶν καλουμένων ἐφ’ ὧν κατέκειτο ἐν λευκῇ χλανίδι.
"And all the monarchs who have at any time reigned in Cyprus have encouraged a race of nobly-born flatterers as useful to them; for they are a possession very appropriate to tyrants. And no one ever knows them (any more the they do the judges of the Areopagus), either how many they are, or who they are, except that perhaps some of the most eminent may be known or suspected. And the flatterers at Salamis are divided into two classes with reference to their families; and it is from the flatterers in Salamis that all the rest of the flatterers in the other parts of Cyprus are derived; and one of these two classes is called the Gergini, and the other the Promalanges. Of which, the Gergini mingle with the people in the city, and go about as eavesdroppers and spies in the workshops and the market-places; and whatever they hear, they report every day to those who are called their Principals. But the Promalanges, being a sort of superior investigators, inquire more particularly into all that is reported by the Gergini which appears worthy of being investigated; and the way in which they conduct themselves to- wards every one is so artificial and gentle, that, as it seems to me, and as they themselves allege, the very seed of notable flatterers has been spread by them over all the places at a distance. Nor do they pride themselves slightly on their skill, because they are greatly honoured by the kings; but they say that one of the Gergini, being a descendant of those Trojans whom Teucer took as slaves, having selected them from the captives, and then brought and settled in Cyprus, going along-the sea-coast with a few companions, sailed towards Aeolis, in order to seek out and re-establish the country of his ancestors; and that he, taking some Mysians to himself, inhabited a city near the Trojan Ida, which was formerly called Gergina, from the name of the inhabitants, but is now called Gergitha. For some of the party being, as it seems, separated from this expedition, stopped in Cymæa, being by birth a Cretan race, and not from the Thessalian Tricca, as some have affirmed,—men whose ignorance I take to be beyond the skill of all the descendants of Aesculapius to cure.
παραδεδεγμένοι δ’ εἰσὶ πάντες οἱ κατὰ τὴν Κύπρον μόναρχοι τὸ τῶν εὐγενῶν κολάκων γένος ὡς χρήσιμον πάνυ γὰρ τὸ κτῆμα τυραννικόν ἐστι. καὶ τούτων οἷον Ἀρεοπαγιτῶν τινων οὔτε τὸ πλῆθος οὔτε τὰς ὄψεις ἔξω τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων οἶδεν οὐδείς. διῃρημένων δὲ διχῇ κατὰ συγγένειαν τῶν ἐν τῇ Σαλαμῖνι κολάκων, ἀφ’ ὧν εἰσιν οἱ κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην Κύπρον κόλακες, τοὺς μὲν Γεργίνους, τοὺς δὲ Προμάλαγγας προσαγορεύουσιν ὧν οἱ μὲν Γεργίνοι συναναμιγνύμενοι τοῖς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἔν τε τοῖς ἐργαστηρίοις καὶ ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ὠτακουστοῦσι κατασκόπων ἔχοντες τάξιν, ὅ τι δ’ ἂν ἀκούσωσιν ἀναφέρουσιν ἑκάστης ἡμέρας πρὸς τοὺς καλουμένους ἄνακτας. οἱ δὲ Προμάλαγγες ζητοῦσιν ἄν τι τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν Γεργίνων προσαγγελθέντων ἀξιον εἶναι ζητήσεως δόξῃ, ὄντες τινὲς ἐρευνηταί. καὶ τούτων οὕτως ἔντεχνος καὶ πιθανὴ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἡ ἔντευξις ὥστ’ ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, καθάπερ καὶ αὐτοί φασι, παρ’ ἐκείνων εἰς τοὺς ἔξω τόπους διαδεδόσθαι τὸ σπέρμα τῶν ἐλλογίμων κολάκων καὶ γὰρ οὐχ οἷον μετρίως ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι σεμνύνονται διὰ τὸ τετιμῆσθαι παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ λέγουσιν ὅτι τῶν Γεργίνων τις ἀπόγονος ὢν τῶν Τρώων ἐκείνων οὓς Τεῦκρος ἀπὸ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων κατακτησάμενος εἰς Κύπρον ἔχων ἀπῴκησεν, οὗτος διὰ τῆς παραλίας μετ’ ὀλίγων στείλας ἐπὶ τῆς Αἰολίδος κατὰ πύστιν ἅμα, καὶ οἰκισμὸν τῆς τῶν προγόνων χώρας πόλιν οἰκίσειε περὶ τὴν Τρωικὴν Ἴδην συμπαραλαβών τινας τῶν Μυσῶν, ἣ πάλαι μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους Γέργινα, νῦν δὲ Γέργιθα κέκληται. τούτου γάρ, ὡς ἔοικε, τοῦ στόλου τινὲς ἀποσπασθέντες ἐν τῇ Κυμαίᾳ κατέσχον ἐκ Κύπρου τό γένος ὄντες, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐκ τῆς Θετταλικῆς Τρίκκης, καθάπερ τινὲς εἰρήκασιν, ὧν ἰατρεῦσαι τὴν ἄγνοιαν οὐδ’ Ἀσκληπιάδαις τοῦτό γε νομίζω δεδόσθαι.
“There were also in this country, in the time of Glutus the Carian, women attaching themselves to the Queens, who were called flatterers; and a few of them who were left crossed the sea, and were sent for to the wives of Artabazus and Mentor, and instead of κολακίδες were called κλιμακίδες from this circumstance. By way of making themselves agreeable to those who had sent for them, they made a ladder (κλίμακια) of themselves, in such a manner that there was a way of ascending over their backs, and also a way of descending, for their mistresses when they drove out in chariots: to such a pitch of luxury, not to say of miserable helplessness, did they bring those silly women by their contrivance therefore, they themselves, when they were compelled by fortune to quit that very luxurious way of living, lived with great hardship in their old age. And the others who had received these habits from us, when they were deprived of their authority came to Macedonia; and the customs which they taught to the wives and princesses of the great men in that country by their association with them, it is not decent even to mention farther than this, that practising magic arts themselves, and being the objects of them when practised by others, they did not spare even the places of the greatest resort, but they became complete vagabonds, and the very scum of the streets, polluted with all sorts of abominations. Such and so great are the evils which seem to be engendered by flattery in the case of all people who admit from their own inclination and predisposition to be flattered.”
γεγόνασι δὲ παρ’ ἡμῖν καὶ ἐπὶ Γλοῦ τοῦ Καρὸς καὶ γυναῖκες ὑπὸ τὰς ἀνάσσας αἱ προσαγορευθεῖσαι κολακίδες. ἀφ’ ὧν ὑπολιπεῖς τινες εἰς τὸ πέραν ἀφικόμεναι μετάπεμπτοι πρός τε τὰς Ἀρταβάζου καὶ τὰς Μέντορος γυναῖκας κλιμακίδες μετωνομάσθησαν ἀπὸ τοιαύτης πράξεως· ταῖς μεταπεμψαμέναις ἀρεσκευόμεναι κλίμακα κατεσκεύαζον ἐξ ἑαυτῶν οὕτως ὥστ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς νώτοις αὐτῶν τὴν ἀνάβασιν γίγνεσθαι καὶ τὴν κατάβασιν ταῖς ἐπὶ τῶν ἁμαξῶν ὀχουμέναις. εἰς τοῦτο τρυφῆς, ἵνα μὴ ἀθλιότητος εἴπω, προηγάγοντο τεχνώμεναι τὰς ἀφρονεστάτας. τοιγαροῦν αὗται μὲν ἐκ τῶν λίαν μαλακῶν ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης μεταβιβασθεῖσαι σκληρῶς ἐβίωσαν ἐπὶ γήρως, αἱ δέ, τῶν παρ’ ἡμῖν ταῦτα διαδεξαμένων, ἐκπεσοῦσαι τῆς ἐξουσίας κατῆραν εἰς Μακεδονίαν καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐκεῖ κυρίας τε καὶ βασιλίδας ὃν τρόπον ταῖς ὁμιλίαις διέθεσαν οὐδὲ λέγειν καλόν, πλὴν ὅτι μαγευόμεναι καὶ μαγεύουσαι ταυροπόλοι καὶ τριοδίτιδες αὗται πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἐγένοντο, πλήρεις πάντων ἀποκαθαρμάτων. τοσούτων ἔοικε καὶ τοιούτων ἡ κολακεία κακῶν αἰτία γενέσθαι τοῖς διὰ τὸ κολακεύεσθαι προσδεξαμένοις αὐτήν.
And a little further Clearchus goes on as follows:— "But still a man may have a right to find fault with that young man for the way in which he used those things, as I have said before. For his slaves stood in short tunics a little behind the couch: and as there are now three men on whose account all this discussion has been originated, and as all these men are men who have separate names among us, the one sat on the couch close to his feet, letting the feet of the young man rest upon his knees, and covering them with a thin cloth; and what he did further is plain enough, even if I do not mention it. And this servant is called by the natives Parabystus, because he works his way into the company of those men even who do not willingly receive him, by the very skilful character of his flatteries. The second was one sitting on a certain chair which was placed close to the couch; and he, holding by the hand of the young mar, as he let it almost drop, and clinging to it, kept on rubbing it, and taking each of his fingers in turn he rubbed it and stretched it, so that the man appeared to have said a very with thing who first gave that officer the name of Sicya. The third, however, was the most noble of all, and was called Theer (or the wild beast), who was indeed the principal person of the whole body, and who stood at his master's head, and shared his linen pillows, lying upon them in a most friendly manner, And with his left hand he kept smoothing the hair of the young man, and with his right hand he kept moving up and down a Phocæan fan, so as to please him while waving it, without force enough to brush anything away. On which account, it appears to me, that some high-born god must have been angry with him and have sent a fly to attack the young man, a fly like that with whose audacity Homer says that Minerva inspired Menelaus, so vigorous and fearless was it in disposition. “So when the young man was stung, this man uttered such a loud scream in his behalf, and was so indignant, that on account of his hatred to one fly he banished the whole tribe of flies from his house: from which it is quite plain that he appointed this servant for this especial purpose.” But Leucon, the tyrant of Pontus, was a different kind of man, who when he knew that many of his friends had been plundered by one of the flatterers whom he had about him, perceiving that the man was calumniating some one of his remaining friends, said, “I swear by the gods that I would kill you if a tyrannical government did not stand in need of bad men.” And Antiphanes the comic writer, in his Soldier, gives a similar account of the luxury of the kings in Cyprus. And he represents one of them as asking a soldier these questions—A. Tell me now, you had lived some time in CyprusSay you not so?B. Yes, all the time of the war.A. In what part most especially? tell me that.B. In Paphos, where you should have seen the luxuryThat did exist, or you could not believe it.A. What kind of luxury?B. The king was fann'dWhile at his supper by young turtle-dovesAnd by nought else.A. How mean you? never mindMy own affairs, but let me ask you this.B. He was anointed with a luscious ointmentBrought up from Syria, made of some rich fruitWhich they do say doves love to feed upon.They were attracted by the scent and flewAround the royal temples; and had daredTo seat themselves upon the monarch's head,But that the boys who sat around with sticksDid keep them at a slight and easy distance.And so they did not perch, but hover'd round,Neither too far nor yet too near, still fluttering,So that they raised a gentle breeze to blowNot harshly on the forehead of the king.
προελθὼν δὲ πάλιν ὁ Κλέαρχος καὶ τάδε φησίν ἀλλ’ ἤδη τῇ τούτων χρείᾳ μέμψαιτ’ ἄν τις τὸ μειράκιον, ὥσπερ εἶπον. οἱ μὲν γὰρ παῖδες μικρὸν ἄπωθεν τῆς κλίνης ἐν χιτωνίσκοις ἕστασαν τριῶν δ’ ὄντων ἀνδρῶν, δι’ οὓς δὴ νῦν ὁ πᾶς λόγος ἐνέστηκε, καὶ τούτων ὄντων ἐπωνύμων παρ’ ἡμῖν ὁ μὲν εἷς ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης πρὸς ποδῶν καθῆστο τοὺς τοῦ μειρακίου πόδας ἐπὶ τοῖς αὑτοῦ γόνασι λεπτῷ λῃδίῳ συνημφιακώς· ὃ δὲ ἐποίει δήπου καὶ ι μὴ λέγοντος οὐκ ἄδηλον καλεῖται δ’ οὗτος ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων Παράβυστος διὰ τὸ καὶ τῶν μὴ παραδεχομένων ὅμως τεχνικώτατα κολακεύων παρεμπίπτειν ἐς τὰς ὁμιλίας, ἅτερος δ’ ἦν ἐπί τινος δίφρου κειμένου παρ’ αὐτὴν τὴν κλίνην καὶ τοῦ νεανίσκου τὴν χεῖρα παρεικότος ἐκκρεμάμενος ταύτης καὶ προσπεπτωκὼς κατέψηχέ τε καὶ τῶν δακτύλων ἕκαστον ἐν μέρει διαλαμβάνων εἷλκέ τε καὶ ἐξέτεινεν ὥστε τὸν πρῶτον αὐτὸν ἐπονομάσαντα Σικύαν εὐστόχως εἰρηκέναι δοκεῖν. ὁ δὲ τρίτος ὁ Θήρ ὁ γενναιότατος, ὅσπερ ἦν τῆς ὑπηρεσίας πρωταγωνιστής, προσεστηκὼς αὐτῷ κατὰ κεφαλὴν μετεῖχε τῶν βυσσίνων προσκεφαλαίων ἀποκεκλιμένος εἰς αὐτὰ πάνυ φιλικῶς· καὶ τῇ μὲν ἀριστερᾷ τὸ τοῦ μειρακίου τριχωμάτιον ἐπικοσμῶν, τῇ δεξιᾷ δὲ Φωκαικὸν ψῆγμά τι διακινῶν καὶ αἰωρῶν ἡδὺς ἦν, ἀλλ’ οὖν καὶ μυίας ἀποσοβῶν. διὸ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν αὐτῷ δαίμων τις ἐλευθέριος νεμεσήσας ἐφίησι τῷ μειρακίῳ μυῖαν, οὐκ ἄλλην ἢ ᾽ κείνην ἧς καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν φησιν Ὅμηρος ἐνεῖναι τῷ Μενελάῳ τὸ θάρσος· οὕτως ἦν ἐρρωμένη καὶ ἄφοβος τὴν ψυχήν. δηχθέντος δὲ τοῦ μειρακίου τηλικοῦτον ἀνέκραγεν ἅνθρωπος ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου καὶ οὕτως ἠγανάκτησεν ὥστε διὰ τὴν πρὸς μίαν ἔχθραν ἁπάσας ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ἤλαυνεν. ὅθεν καὶ φανερὸς ἐγένετο πρὸς τούτῳ τεταχὼς αὑτόν ἀλλ’ οὐ Λεύκων τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ Ποντικὸς τύραννος, ὃς ἐπεὶ συχνοὺς τῶν φίλων ᾔσθετο σεσυλημένους ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ αὑτὸν τινος κολάκων, συνιδὼν τὸν ἄνθρωπον διαβάλλοντά τινα τῶν λοιπῶν φίλων ἀπέκτεινα ἄν, εἶπέν, σε νὴ τοὺς θεούς, εἰ μὴ πονηρῶν ἀνδρῶν ἡ τυραννὶς ἐδεῖτο. Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ὁ κωμῳδιοποιὸς ἐν Στρατιώτῃ τὰ ὅμοια λέγει περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐν Κύπρῳ βασιλέων τρυφῆς. ποιεῖ δέ τινα ἀναπυνθανόμενον στρατιώτου τάδε· ἐν Κύπρῳ φής, εἰπέ μοι, διήγετε πολὺν χρόνον; β. τὸν πάνθ’ ἕως ἦν ὁ πόλεμος. α. ἐν τίνι τόπῳ μάλιστα; λέγε γάρ. β. ἐν Πάφῳ· οὗ πρᾶγμα τρυφερὸν διαφερόντως ἦν ἰδεῖν, ἄλλως τ’ ἄπιστον. α. ποῖον; β. ἐρριπίζετο ὑπὸ τῶν περιστερῶν, ὑπ’ ἄλλου δ’ οὐδενὸς δειπνῶν ὁ βασιλεύς. α. πῶς; ἐάσας τἄλλα γὰρ ἐρήσομαί σε τοῦθ᾽. β. ὅπως; ἠλείφετο ἐκ τῆς Συρίας ἥκοντι τοιούτῳ μύρῳ καρποῦ σύχν’ οἵου φασὶ τὰς περιστερὰς τρώγειν. διὰ τὴν ὀσμὴν δὲ τούτου πετόμεναι παρῆσαν οἷαί τ’ ἦσαν ἐπικαθιζάνειν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν παῖδες δὲ παρακαθήμενοι ἐσόβουν. ἀπαίρουσαι δὲ μικρόν, οὐ πολύ, τὸ μήτ’ ἐκεῖσε μήτε δεῦρο παντελῶς, οὕτως ἀνερρίπιζον ὥστε σύμμετρον αὐτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα, μὴ περίσκληρον ποιεῖν.
The flatterer (κόλαξ) of that young man whom we have been speaking of must have been a μαλακοκόλαξ, (a soft flatterer,) as Clearchus says. For besides flattering such a man as that, he invents a regular gait and dress harmonizing with that of those who receive the flattery, folding his arms and wrapping himself up in a small cloak; on which account some men call him Paranconistes, and some call him a Repository of Attitudes. For really a flatterer does seem to be the very same person with Proteus himself. Accordingly he changes into nearly every sort of person, not only in form, but also in his discourse, so very varied in voice he is. But Androcydes the physician said that flattery had its name (κολάκεια) from becoming glued (ἀπὸ τοῦ προσκολλᾶσθαι) to men's acquaintance. But it appears to me that they were named from their facility; because a flatterer will undergo anything, like a person who stoops down to carry another on his back, by reason of his natural disposition, not being annoyed at anything, however disgraceful it may be. And a man will not be much out who calls the life of that young Cyprian a wet one. And Alexis says that there were many tutors and teachers of that kind of life at Athens, speaking thus in his Pyraunus—I wish'd to try another style of life,Which all men are accustom'd to call wet.So walking three days in the Ceramicus,I found it may be thirty skilful teachersOf the aforesaid life, from one single school.And Crobylus says in his Female Deserter—The wetness of your life amazes me,For men do call intemperance now wetness.
εἴη οὖν ἂν ὁ τοῦ προειρημένου μειρακίου κόλαξ μαλακοκόλαξ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Κλέαρχος· πρὸς γάρ τοι τῷ οὕτω κολακεύειν καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τῶν κολακευομένων ἐπακολουθῶν ἀποπλάττεται παραγκωνίζων καὶ σπαργανῶν ἑαυτόν τοῖς τριβωναρίοις. ὅθεν αὐτὸν οἱ μὲν παραγκωνιστήν, οἱ δὲ σχηματοθήκην καλοῦσι. κατ’ ἀλήθειαν γὰρ ὁ κόλαξ ἔοικεν εἶναι τῷ Πρωτεῖ ὁ αὐτός. γίγνεται γοῦν παντοδαπὸς οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν μορφήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς λόγους· οὕτω ποικιλόφωνός τις ἐστίν. Ἀνδροκύδης δ’ ὁ ἰατρὸς ἔλεγε τὴν κολακείαν ἔχειν τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ προσκολλᾶσθαι ταῖς ὁμιλίαις ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ διὰ τὴν εὐκολίαν τε καὶ τὴν εὐχέρειαν ὅτι πάντα ὑποδύεται, ὡς δή τις ὑποστατικὸς νωταγωγῶν τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ἤθει καὶ οὐ βαρυνόμενος οὐδενὶ τῶν αἰσχρῶν. οὐκ ἂν διαμάρτοι δέ τις τὸν τοῦ μειρακίου τούτου τοῦ Κυπρίου βίον ὑγρὸν ὀνομάζων οὗ πολλοὺς καὶ διδασκάλους φησὶν εἶναι Ἀθήνησιν Ἄλεξις ἐν Πυραύνῳ λέγων οὕτως· πεῖραν ἐπεθύμουν θατέρου βίου λαβεῖν, ὃν πάντες εἰώθασιν ὀνομάζειν ὑγρόν. τρεῖς ἐν Κεραμεικῷ περιπατήσας ἡμέρας διδασκάλους ἐξεῦρον οὗ λέγω βίου ἴσως τριάκοντ’ ἀφ’ ἑνὸς ἐργαστηρίου. καὶ Κρώβυλος ἐν Ἀπολιπούσῃ· πάλιν ἡ τοῦ βίου ὑγρότης μέ σου τέθλιφε· τὴν ἀσωτίαν ὑγρότητα γὰρ νῦν προσαγορεύουσίν τινες.
And Antiphanes, in his Lemnian Women, lays it down that flattery is a kind of art, where he says—Is there, or can there be an art more pleasing,Or any source of gain more sure and gainfulThan well-judged flattery? Why does the painterTake so much pains and get so out of temper?Why does the farmer undergo such risks?Indeed all men are full of care and trouble.But life for us is full of fun and laughter.For where the greatest business is amusement,To laugh and joke and drink full cups of wine,Is not that pleasant't How can one deny?'Tis the next thing to being rich oneself. But Menander, in his play called the Flatterer, has given us the character of one as carefully and faithfully as it was possible to manage it: as also Diphilus has of a parasite in his Telesias. And Alexis, in his Liar, has introduced a flatterer speaking in the following manner—By the Olympian Jove and by MinervaI am a happy man. And not aloneBecause I'm going to a wedding dinner,But because I shall burst, an it please God.And would that I might meet with such a death.And it seems to me, my friends, that that fine epicure would not have scrupled to quote from the Omphale of Ion the tragedian, and to say—For I must speak of a yearly feastAs if it came round every day.
Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Λημνίαις τέχνην τινὰ εἶναι ὑποτίθεται τὴν κολακείαν ἐν οἷς λέγει· εἶτ’ ἔστιν ἢ γένοιτ’ ἂν ἡδίων τέχνη ἢ πρόσοδος ἄλλη τοῦ κολακεύειν εὐφυῶς; ὁ ζωγράφος πονεῖ τι καὶ πικραίνεται, ὁ γεωργὸς … … ἐν ὅσοις ἐστὶ κινδύνοις πάλιν πρόσεστι πᾶσιν ἐπιμέλεια καὶ πόνος. ἡμῖν δὲ μετὰ γέλωτος ὁ βίος καὶ τρυφῆς· οὗ γὰρ τὸ μέγιστον ἔργον ἐστὶ παιδιά, ἁδρὸν γελάσαι, σκῶψαὶ τιν᾽, ἐμπιεῖν πολύν, οὐχ ἡδύ; ἐμοὶ μὲν μετὰ τὸ πλουτεῖν δεύτερον. κεχαρακτήρικε δὲ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἐπιμελῶς τὸν κόλακα Μένανδρος ἐν τῷ ὁμωνύμῳ δράματι, ὡς καὶ τὸν παράσιτον Δίφιλος ἐν Τελεσίᾳ. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν Καταψευδομένῳ λέγοντά τινα κόλακα τοιαῦτα παρεισάγων φησίν εὐδαίμων ἐγώ, μὰ τὸν Δία τὸν Ὀλύμπιον καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν, οὐχ ὅτι ἐν τοῖς γάμοισιν, ἄνδρες, εὐωχήσομαι, ἀλλ’ ὅτι διαρραγήσομ’ ἂν θεὸς θέλῃ; τούτου δέ μοι γένοιτο τοῦ θανάτου τυχεῖν. δοκεῖ δέ μοι οὗτος, ἄνδρες φίλοι, ὁ καλὸς γάστρις οὐκ ἂν ὠκνηκέναι εἰπεῖν καὶ τὰ ἐξ Ὀμφάλης Ἴωνος τοῦ τραγῳδιοποιοῦ· ἐνιαυσίαν γὰρ δεῖ με τὴν ἑορτὴν ἄγειν.