--- title: "The Tyrannicide · Τυραννοκτόνος" author: "Lucian" translator: "Austin Morris Harmon" languages: [grc, en] shelf: "Classical Greek" section: 1 of 1 url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-tyrannicide/1/ cite: "Lucian, tr. Austin Morris Harmon, The Tyrannicide · Τυραννοκτόνος, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-tyrannicide/1/" --- # The Tyrannicide · Τυραννοκτόνος *Lucian, tr. Austin Morris Harmon* A declamation: a man kills the tyrant’s son, the tyrant kills himself; who earns the reward? > Greek: ed. Austin Morris Harmon, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0062.tlg051, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: Austin Morris Harmon, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0062.tlg051.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 1. Sections 1–22 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-tyrannicide/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-tyrannicide/1/#p-N [¶0] 0. A man went to the Acropolis to slay the tyrant. He did not find him, but slew his son and left his sword in the body. When the tyrant came and saw his son already dead, he slew himself with the same sword. The man who went up and slew the tyrant’s son claims the reward for slaying the tyrant. > Greek: 0. ἀνῆλθεν τις ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀποκτενῶν τὸν τυραννον· αὐτὸν μὲν οὐχ εὗρεν, τὸν δε υἱὸν αὐτοὺ ἀποκτείνας κατέλιπε τὸ ξίφος ἐν τῷ σώματι. ἐλθὼν ὁ τύραννος καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἰδὼν ἤδη νεκρὸν τῷ αὐτῷ ζίφει, ἑαυτὸν ἀπέκτεινεν. αἰτεῖ ὁ ἀνελθὼν καὶ τὸν τοῦ τυράννου υἱὸν ἀνελὼν γέρας ὡς τνραννοκτόνος. [¶1] 1. Two tyrants, gentlemen of the jury, have been done to death by me in a single day, one already past his prime, the other in the ripeness of his years and in better case to take up wrongdoing in his turn. Yet I have come to claim but one reward for both, as the only tyrant-slayer of all time who has done away with two malefactors at a single blow, killing the son with the sword and the father by means of his affection for his son. The tyrant has paid us a sufficient penalty for what he did, for while he still lived he saw his son, prematurely slain, in the toils of death, and at last (a thing incomparably strange) he himself was constrained to become his own executioner. And his son not only met death at my hands, but even after death assisted me to slay another; for though while he still lived he shared his father’s crimes, after his death he slew his father as best he might. > Greek: 1. δύο τυράννους ἀποκτείνας, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, μιᾶς ἡμέρας, τὸν μὲν ἤδη παρηβηκότα, τὸν δὲ ἀκμάζοντα καὶ πρὸς διαδοχὴν τῶν ἀδικημάτων ἑτοιμότερον, ἥκω μίαν ὅμως ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέροις αἰτήσων δωρεὰν μόνος τῶν πώποτε τυραννοκτόνων πληγῇ μιᾷ δύο πονηροὺς ἀποσκευασάμενος καὶ φονεύσας τὸν μὲν παῖδα τῷ ξίφει, τὸν πατέρα δὲ τῇ πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν φιλοστοργίᾳ. ὁ μὲν οὖν τύραννος ἀνθʼ ὧν ἐποίησεν ἱκανὴν ἡμῖν δέδωκε τιμωρίαν, ζῶν μὲν τὸν υἱὸν ἐπιδὼν προανῃρημένον παρὰ τὴν τελευτήν, τελευταῖον δὲ ἠναγκασμένος, τὸ παραδοξότατον, αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ γενέσθαι τυραννοκτόνος. ὁ παῖς δὲ ὁ ἐκείνου τέθνηκεν μὲν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ, ὑπηρέτησε δέ μοι καὶ ἀποθανὼν πρὸς ἄλλον φόνον, ζῶν μὲν συναδικῶν τῷ πατρί, μετὰ θάνατον δὲ πατροκτονήσας, ὡς ἐδύνατο. [¶2] 2. It was I, then, who put an end to the tyranny, and the sword that accomplished everything was mine. But I inverted the order of executions, and made an innovation in the method of putting criminals to death, for I myself destroyed the stronger, the one capable of self-defence, and resigned the old man to my unaided sword. > Greek: 2. τὴν μὲν οὖν τυραννίδα ὁ παύσας εἰμὶ ἐγὼ καὶ τὸ ξίφος ὃ πάντα εἴργασται ἐμόν, τὴν δὲ τάξιν ἐνήλλαξα τῶν φόνων καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἐκαινοτόμησα τῆς τῶν πονηρῶν τελευτῆς, τὸν μὲν ἰσχυρότερον καὶ ἀμύνασθαι δυνάμενον αὐτὸς ἀνελών, τὸν γέροντα δὲ μόνῳ παραχωρήσας τῷ ξίφει. [¶3] 3. It was my thought, therefore, that I should get for this a still more generous gift from you, and should receive rewards to match the number of the slain, because I had freed you not only from your present ills, but from your expectation of those that were to come, and had accorded you established liberty, since no successor in wrongdoing had been left alive. But now there is danger that after all these achievements I may come away from you unrewarded and may be the only one to be excluded from the recompense afforded by those laws which I maintained. My adversary here seems to me to be taking this course, not, as he says, because of his concern for the interests of the state, but because of his grief over the dead men, and in the endeavour to avenge them upon the man who caused their death. > Greek: 3. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν καὶ περιττότερόν τι ἐπὶ τούτοις ᾤμην γενήσεσθαί μοι παρʼ ὑμῶν καὶ δωρεὰς λήψεσθαι ἰσαρίθμους τοῖς ἀνῃρημένοις, ὡς ἂν οὐ τῶν παρόντων ἀπαλλάξας ὑμᾶς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς τῶν μελλόντων κακῶν ἐλπίδος, καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν βέβαιον παρασχών, οὐδενὸς παραλελειμμένου κληρονόμου τῶν ἀδικημάτων· μεταξὺ δὲ κινδυνεύω τοσαῦτα κατορθώσας ἀγέραστος ἀπελθεῖν παρʼ ὑμῶν καὶ μόνος στερέσθαι τῆς παρὰ τῶν νόμων ἀμοιβῆς, οὓς διεφύλαξα. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀντιλέγων οὑτοσὶ δοκεῖ μοι οὐ κηδόμενος, ὥς φησι, τῶν κοινῶν αὐτὸ ποιεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς τετελευτηκόσι λελυπημένος καὶ ἀμυνόμενος τὸν ἐκείνοις τοῦ θανάτου αἴτιον γεγενημένον. [¶4] 4. On your part, however, gentlemen of the jury, bear with me for a moment while I recount the history of their tyranny, although you know it well; for then you can appreciate the greatness of my benefaction and you yourselves will be more exultant, thinking of all that you have escaped. It is not as it has often before been with others; it is not a simple tyranny and a single slavery that we have endured, nor a single master’s caprice that we have borne. Nay, of all those who have ever experienced such adversity we alone had two masters instead of one and were torn asunder, unlucky folk! between two sets of wrongs. The elder man was more moderate by far, less acrimonious in his fits of anger, less hasty in his punishments, and less headlong in his desires, because by now his age was staying the excessive violence of his impulses and curbing his appetite for pleasures. It was said, indeed, that he was reluctantly impelled to begin his wrongdoings by his son, since he himself was not at all tyrannical but yielded to the other. For he was excessively devoted to his children, as he has shown, and his son was all the world to him; so he gave way to him, did the wrongs that he bade, punished the men whom he designated, served him in all things, and in a word was tyrannised by him, and was mere minister to his son’s desires. > Greek: 4. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀνάσχεσθέ μου, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, πρὸς ὀλίγον τὰ ἐν τῇ τυραννίδι καίπερ εἰδόσιν ὑμῖν ἀκριβῶς διηγουμένου· καὶ γὰρ τὸ μέγεθος οὕτω μάθοιτʼ ἂν τῆς εὐεργεσίας τῆς ἐμῆς, καὶ αὐτοὶ μᾶλλον εὐφρανεῖσθε λογιζόμενοι ὧν ἀπηλλάγητε. οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἄλλοις τισὶν ἤδη συνέβη πολλάκις, ἁπλῆν καὶ ἡμεῖς τυραννίδα καὶ μίαν δουλείαν ὑπεμείναμεν, οὐδὲ ἑνὸς ὑπηνέγκαμεν ἐπιθυμίαν δεσπότου, ἀλλὰ μόνοι τῶν πώποτε τὰ ὅμοια δυστυχησάντων δύο ἀνθʼ ἑνὸς τυράννους εἴχομεν καὶ πρὸς διττὰ οἱ δυστυχεῖς ἀδικήματα διῃρούμεθα. μετριώτερος δὲ ὁ πρεσβύτης ἦν παρὰ πολὺ καὶ πρὸς τὰς ὀργὰς ἠπιώτερος καὶ πρὸς τὰς κολάσεις ἀμβλύτερος καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐπιθυμίας βραδύτερος, ὡς ἂν ἤδη τῆς ἡλικίας τὸ μὲν σφοδρότερον τῆς ὁρμῆς ἐπεχούσης, τὰς δὲ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὀρέξεις χαλιναγωγούσης. καὶ πρός γε τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν ἀδικημάτων ὑπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ἄκων προσῆχθαι ἐλέγετο, οὐ πάνυ τυραννικὸς αὐτὸς ὤν, ἀλλʼ εἴκων ἐκείνῳ· φιλότεκνος γὰρ ἐς ὑπερβολὴν ἐγένετο, ὡς ἔδειξεν, καὶ πάντα ὁ παῖς ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐκείνῳ ἐπείθετο καὶ ἠδίκει ὅσα κελεύοι καὶ ἐκόλαζεν οὓς προστάττοι καὶ πάντα ὑπηρέτει, καὶ ὅλως ἐτυραννεῖτο ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ δορυφόρος τῶν τοῦ παιδὸς ἐπιθυμιῶν ἦν. [¶5] 5. The young man conceded the honour to him by right of age and abstained from the name of sovereignty, but only from that; he was the substance and the mainspring of the tyranny. He gave the government its assurance and security, and he alone reaped the profit of its crimes. It was he who kept their guardsmen together, who maintained their defences in strength, who terrorised their subjects and extirpated conspirators; it was he who plucked lads from their homes, who made a mockery of marriages; it was for him that maids were carried off; and whatever deeds of blood there were, whatever banishments, confiscations of property, applications of torture, and outrages—all these were a young man’s emprises. The old man followed him and shared his wrongdoing, and had but praise for his son’s misdeeds. So the thing became unendurable to us; for when the desires of the will acquire the licence of sovereignty, they recognise no limit to wrongdoing. > Greek: 5. ὁ νεανίας δὲ τῆς μὲν τιμῆς παρεχώρει καθʼ ἡλικίαν ἐκείνῳ καὶ μόνου ἐξίστατο τοῦ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὀνόματος, τὸ δʼ ἔργον τῆς τυραννίδος καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον αὐτὸς ἦν, καὶ τὸ μὲν πιστὸν καὶ ἀσφαλὲς ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ παρεῖχε τῇ δυναστείᾳ, τὴν δὲ ἀπόλαυσιν μόνος ἐκαρποῦτο τῶν ἀδικημάτων. ἐκεῖνος ἦν ὁ τοὺς δορυφόρους συνέχων, ὁ τὴν φρουρὰν κρατύνων, ὁ τοὺς τυραννουμένους φοβῶν, ὁ τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας ἐκκόπτων, ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοὺς ἐφήβους ἀνασπῶν, ὁ ἐνυβρίζων τοῖς γάμοις· ἐκείνῳ αἱ παρθένοι ἀνήγοντο, καὶ εἴ τινες σφαγαὶ καὶ εἴ τινες φυγαὶ καὶ χρημάτων ἀφαιρέσεις καὶ βάσανοι καὶ ὕβρεις, πάντα ταῦτα τολμήματα ἦν νεανικά. ὁ γέρων δὲ ἐκείνῳ ἠκολούθει καὶ συνηδίκει καὶ ἐπῄνει μόνον τὰ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀδικήματα, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἡμῖν ἀφόρητον καθειστήκει· ὅταν γὰρ αἱ τῆς γνώμης ἐπιθυμίαι τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐξουσίαν προσλάβωσιν, οὐδένα ὅρον ποιοῦνται τῶν ἀδικημάτων. [¶6] 6. What hurt us most was to know that our slavery would be long, nay unending, that our city would be handed down by succession from despot to despot, and that our folk would be the heritage of villains. To other peoples it is no slight comfort to think, and to tell one another, “But it will stop soon,” “But he will die soon, and in a little while we shall be free.’ In their case, however, there was no such comfort; we saw the successor to the sovereignty already at hand. Therefore not one of the brave men who entertained the same purpose as myself even ventured to make an attempt. Liberty was wholly despaired of, and the tyranny was thought invincible, because any attempt would be directed against so many. > Greek: 6. μάλιστα δὲ ἐκεῖνο ἐλύπει, τὸ εἰδέναι μακράν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀΐδιον, τὴν δουλείαν ἐσομένην καὶ ἐκ διαδοχῆς παραδοθησομένην τὴν πόλιν ἄλλοτε ἄλλῳ δεσπότῃ καὶ πονηρῶν κληρονόμημα γενησόμενον τὸν δῆμον· ὡς τοῖς γε ἄλλοις οὐ μικρά τις ἐλπὶς αὕτη, τὸ λογίζεσθαι καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγειν, ἀλλʼ ἤδη παύσεται, ἀλλʼ ἤδη τεθνήξετα καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγον ἐλεύθεροι γενησόμεθα. ἐπʼ ἐκείνων δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἠλπίζετο, ἀλλὰ ἑωρῶμεν ἤδη ἕτοιμον τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς διάδοχον. τοιγαροῦν οὐδʼ ἐπιχειρεῖν τις ἐτόλμα τῶν γεννικῶν καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐμοὶ προαιρουμένων, ἀλλʼ ἀπέγνωστο παντάπασιν ἡ ἐλευθερία καὶ ἄμαχος ἡ τυραννὶς ἐδόκει, πρὸς τοσούτους ἐσομένης τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως. [¶7] 7. This, however, did not frighten me; I did not draw back when I estimated the difficulty of the achievement, nor play the coward in the face of danger. Alone, alone, I climbed the hill to front the tyranny that was so strong and many-headed—yet, not alone but with my sword that shared the fray with me and in its turn was tyrant-slayer too. I had my death in prospect, but sought to purchase our common liberty with the shedding of my own blood. I met the first guard-post, routed the guardsmen with no little difficulty, slew whomsoever I encountered, destroyed whatsoever blocked my path. Then I assailed the very forefront of my tasks, the sole strength of the tyranny, the cause of our calamities. I came upon the warden of the citadel, I saw him offer a brave defence and hold out against many wounds; and yet I slew him. > Greek: 7. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐμὲ ταῦτα ἐφόβησεν οὐδὲ τὸ δυσχερὲς τῆς πράξεως λογισάμενος ἀπώκνησα οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν κίνδυνον ἀπεδειλίασα, μόνος δέ, μόνος πρὸς οὕτως ἰσχυρὰν καὶ πολλὴν τυραννίδα, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ μόνος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ ξίφους ἀνῄειν τοῦ συμμεμαχημένου καὶ τὸ μέρος συντετυραννοκτονηκότος, πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν μὲν τὴν τελευτὴν ἔχων, ἀλλαξόμενος δὲ ὅμως τὴν κοινὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς σφαγῆς τῆς ἐμῆς. ἐντυχὼν δὲ τῇ πρώτῃ φρουρᾷ καὶ τρεψάμενος οὐ ῥᾳδίως τοὺς δορυφόρους καὶ τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα κτείνων καὶ τὸ ἀνθιστάμενον πᾶν διαφθείρων ἐπὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον αὐτὸ τῶν ἔργων ἱέμην, ἐπὶ τὴν μόνην τῆς τυραννίδος ἰσχύν, ἐπὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τῶν ἡμετέρων συμφορῶν· καὶ ἐπιστὰς τῷ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως φρουρίῳ καὶ ἰδὼν γεννικῶς ἀμυνόμενον καὶ ἀνθιστάμενον πολλοῖς τραύμασιν ὅμως ἀπέκτεινα. [¶8] 8. The tyranny, therefore, had at last been overthrown, my undertaking had attained fulfilment, and from that moment we all were free. Only an old man still remained, unarmed, his guards lost, that mighty henchman of his gone, deserted, no longer even worthy of a valiant arm. Thereupon, gentlemen of the jury, I thus reasoned with myself; “All has gone well for me, everything is accomplished, my success is complete. How shall the survivor be punished? Of me and my right hand he is unworthy, particularly if his slaying were to follow a glorious, daring, valiant deed, dishonouring that other mortal thrust. He must seek a fitting executioner, a change of fate, and not profit by having the same one. Let him behold, suffer his punishment, have the sword lying at hand; I commit the rest to him.” This plan formed, I myself withdrew, and he, as I had presaged, carried through with it, slew the tyrant, supplied the ending to my lay. > Greek: 8. καὶ ἡ μὲν τυραννὶς ἤδη καθῄρητο, καὶ πέρας εἶχέ μοι τὸ τόλμημα, καὶ τὸ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου πάντες ἦμεν ἐλεύθεροι, ἐλείπετο δὲ γέρων ἔτι μόνος, ἄνοπλος, ἀποβεβληκὼς τοὺς φύλακας, ἀπολωλεκὼς τὸν μέγαν ἐκεῖνον ἑαυτοῦ δορυφόρον, ἔρημος, οὐδὲ γενναίας ἔτι χειρὸς ἄξιος. ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐλογιζόμην· πάντʼ ἔχει μοι καλῶς, πάντα πέπρακται, πάντα κατώρθωται. τίνα ἂν ὁ περίλοιπος κολασθείη τρόπον; ἐμοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἀνάξιός ἐστι καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς δεξιᾶς, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπʼ ἔργῳ λαμπρῷ καὶ νεανικῷ καὶ γενναίῳ ἀνῃρημένος, καταισχύνων κἀκείνην τὴν σφαγήν· ἄξιον δέ τινα δεῖ ζητῆσαι δήμιον, ἀλλαγὴν συμφορᾶς, μηδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν κερδαίνειν. ἰδέτω, κολασθήτω, παρακείμενον ἐχέτω τὸ ξίφος· τούτῳ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐντέλλομαι. ταῦτα βουλευσάμενος αὐτὸς μὲν ἐκποδὼν ἀπηλλαττόμην, ὁ δέ, ὅπερ ἐγὼ προὐμαντευσάμην, διεπράξατο καὶ ἐτυραννοκτόνησεν καὶ τέλος ἐπέθηκε τῷ ἐμῷ δράματι. [¶9] 9. I am here, then, to bring you democracy, to notify all that they may now take heart, and to herald the glad tidings of liberty. Even now you are enjoying the results of my achievements. The acropolis, as you see, is empty of malefactors, and nobody issues orders; you may bestow honours, sit in judgement, and plead your cases in accordance with the laws. All this has come about for you through me and my bold deed, and in consequence of slaying that one man, after which his father could no longer continue in life. Therefore I request that you give me the reward which is my due, not because I am greedy or avaricious, or because it was my purpose to benefit my native land for hire, but because I wish that my achievements should be confirmed by the donative and that my undertaking should escape misrepresentation and loss of glory on the ground that it was not fully executed and has been pronounced unworthy of a reward. > Greek: 9. πάρειμι οὖν κομίζων ὑμῖν τὴν δημοκρατίαν καὶ θαρρεῖν ἤδη προκηρύττων ἅπασι καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν εὐαγγελιζόμενος. ἤδη οὖν ἀπολαύετε τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἐμῶν. κενὴ μέν, ὡς ὁρᾶτε, πονηρῶν ἡ ἀκρόπολις, ἐπιτάττει δὲ οὐδείς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμᾶν ἔξεστι καὶ δικάζειν καὶ ἀντιλέγειν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, καὶ πάντα ταῦτα γεγένηται διʼ ἐμὲ ὑμῖν καὶ διὰ τὴν τόλμαν τὴν ἐμήν, κἀκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἐκείνου φόνου, μεθʼ ὃν οὐκέτι ζῆν πατὴρ ἐδύνατο. ἀξιῶ δʼ οὖν ἐπὶ τούτοις τὴν ὀφειλομένην δοθῆναί μοι παρʼ ὑμῶν δωρεάν, οὐ φιλοκερδὴς οὐδὲ μικρολόγος τις ὢν οὐδὲ ἐπὶ μισθῷ τὴν πατρίδα εὐεργετεῖν προῃρημένος, ἀλλὰ βεβαιωθῆναί μοι βουλόμενος τὰ κατορθώματα τῇ δωρεᾷ καὶ μὴ διαβληθῆναι μηδὲ ἄδοξον γενέσθαι τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν τὴν ἐμὴν ὡς ἀτελῆ καὶ γέρως ἀναξίαν κεκριμένην. [¶10] 10. This man, however, opposes my plea, and says that I am acting unreasonably in desiring to be honoured and to receive the gift, since I am not a tyrant-slayer, and have not accomplished anything in the eyes of the law; that my achievement is in some respect insufficient for claiming the reward. I ask him, therefore: “What more do you demand of me? Did I not form the purpose? Did I not climb the hill? DidI not slay? Did I not bring liberty? Does anyone issue orders? Does anyone give commands? Does any lord and master utter threats? Did any of the malefactors escape me? Youcannot say so. No, everything is full of peace, we have all our laws, liberty is manifest, democracy is made safe, marriages are free from outrage, boys are free from fear, maidens are secure, and the city is celebrating its common good fortune. Who, then, is responsible for it all? Who stopped all that and caused all this? If there is anyone who deserves to be honoured in preference to me, I yield the guerdon, I resign the gift. But if I alone accomplished it all, making the venture, incurring the risks, going up to the citadel, taking life, inflicting punishment, wreaking vengeance upon them through one another, why do you misrepresent my achievements? Why, pray, do you make the people ungrateful towards me?” > Greek: 10. οὑτοσὶ δὲ ἀντιλέγει καὶ φησὶν οὐκ εὔλογον ποιεῖν με τιμᾶσθαι θέλοντα καὶ δωρεὰν λαμβάνειν· οὐ γὰρ εἶναι τυραννοκτόνον οὐδὲ πεπρᾶχθαί μοί τι κατὰ τὸν νόμον, ἀλλʼ ἐνδεῖν τι τῷ ἔργῳ τῷ ἐμῷ πρὸς ἀπαίτησιν τῆς δωρεᾶς. πυνθάνομαι τοίνυν αὐτοῦ, τί λοιπὸν ἀπαιτεῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν; οὐκ ἠβουλήθην; οὐκ ἀνῆλθον; οὐκ ἐφόνευσα; οὐκ ἠλευθέρωσα; μή τις ἐπιτάττει; μή τις κελεύει; μή τις ἀπειλεῖ δεσπότης; μή τίς με τῶν κακούργων διέφυγεν; οὐκ ἂν εἴποις. ἀλλὰ πάντα εἰρήνης μεστὰ καὶ πάντες οἱ νόμοι καὶ ἐλευθερία σαφὴς καὶ δημοκρατία βέβαιος καὶ γάμοι ἀνύβριστοι καὶ παῖδες ἀδεεῖς καὶ παρθένοι ἀσφαλεῖς καὶ ἑορτάζουσα τὴν κοινὴν εὐτυχίαν ἡ πόλις. τίς οὖν ὁ τούτων ἁπάντων αἴτιος; τίς ὁ ἐκεῖνα μὲν παύσας, τὰ δὲ παρεσχημένος; εἰ γάρ τίς ἐστι πρὸ ἐμοῦ τιμᾶσθαι δίκαιος, παραχωρῶ τοῦ γέρως, ἐξίσταμαι τῆς δωρεᾶς. εἰ δὲ μόνος ἐγὼ πάντα διεπραξάμην τολμῶν καὶ κινδυνεύων, ἀνιών, ἀναιρῶν, κολάζων, διʼ ἀλλήλων τιμωρούμενος, τί μου διαβάλλεις τὰ κατορθώματα; τί δὲ ἀχάριστον πρός με τὸν δῆμον ποιεῖς εἶναι; [¶11] 11. “Because you did not slay the tyrant himself; and the law bestows the reward upon the slayer of a tyrant!” Is there any difference, tell me, between slaying him and causing his death? For my part I think there is none. All that the lawgiver had in view was simply liberty, democracy, freedom from dire ills. He bestowed honour upon this, he considered this worthy of compensation; and you cannot say that it has come about otherwise than through me. For if I caused a death which made it impossible for that man to live, I myself accomplished his slaying. The deed was mine, the hand was his. Then quibble no longer about the manner of his end; do not enquire how he died, but whether he no longer lives, whether his no longer living is due to me. Otherwise, it seems to me that you will be likely to carry your enquiry still further, to the point of carping at your benefactors if one of them should do the killing with a stone or a staff or in some other way, and not with a sword. What if I had starved the tyrant out of his hold and thus occasioned the necessity of his death? Would you in that case require me to have killed him with my own hand, or say that I failed in any respect of satisfying the law, even though the malefactor had been done to death more cruelly? Enquire into one thing only, demand this alone, disturb yourself about this alone, whether any one of the villains is left, any expectation of fearfulness, any reminder of our woes. If everything is uncontaminated and peaceful, only a cheat would wish to utilise the manner of accomplishing what has been done in order to take away the gratuity for the hard-won results. > Greek: 11. οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐφόνευσας τὸν τύραννον· ὁ δὲ νόμος τυραννοκτόνῳ δίδωσιν τὴν δωρεάν. διαφέρει δέ, εἰπέ μοι, τί ἢ αὐτὸν ἀνελεῖν ἢ τοῦ θανάτου παρασχεῖν τὴν αἰτίαν; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν οἶμαι· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μόνον ὁ νομοθέτης εἶδεν, τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, τὴν δημοκρατίαν, τὴν τῶν δεινῶν ἀπαλλαγήν. τοῦτʼ ἐτίμησεν, τοῦτʼ ἄξιον ἀμοιβῆς ὑπέλαβεν, ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν εἴποις μὴ διʼ ἐμὲ γεγενῆσθαι. εἰ γὰρ ἐφόνευσα διʼ ὃν ἐκεῖνος ζῆν οὐκ ἐδύνατο, αὐτὸς εἴργασμαι τὴν σφαγήν. ἐμὸς ὁ φόνος, ἡ χεὶρ ἐκείνου. μὴ τοίνυν ἀκριβολογοῦ ἔτι περὶ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς τελευτῆς μηδὲ ἐξέταζε ὅπως ἀπέθανεν, ἀλλʼ εἰ μηκέτʼ ἐστίν, εἰ δι’ ἐμὲ τὸ μηκέτʼ εἶναι ἔχει· ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνο προσεξετάσειν μοι δοκεῖς καὶ συκοφαντήσειν τοὺς εὐεργέτας, εἴ τις μὴ ξίφει, ἀλλὰ λίθῳ ἢ ξύλῳ ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ τρόπῳ ἀπέκτεινεν. τί δέ, εἰ λιμῷ ἐξεπολιόρκησα τὸν τύραννον τὴν ἀνάγκην τῆς τελευτῆς παρέχων, ἀπῄτεις ἂν καὶ τότε παρʼ ἐμοῦ αὐτόχειρα τὴν σφαγήν, ἢ ἐνδεῖν ἔλεγές μοί τι πρὸς τὸν νόμον, καὶ ταῦτα χαλεπώτερον τοῦ κακούργου πεφονευμένου; ἓν μόνον ἐξέταζε, τοῦτο ἀπαίτει, τοῦτο πολυπραγμόνει, τίς τῶν πονηρῶν λείπεται, ἢ τίς ἐλπὶς τοῦ φόβου ἢ τί ὑπόμνημα τῶν συμφορῶν; εἰ δὲ καθαρὰ πάντα καὶ εἰρηνικά, συκοφαντοῦντός ἐστιν τῷ τρόπῳ τῶν πεπραγμένων χρώμενον ἀποστερεῖν ἐθέλειν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς πεπονημένοις δωρεάν. [¶12] 12. I remember, moreover, this statement in the laws (unless, by reason of our protracted slavery, I have forgotten what is said in them), that there are two sorts of responsibility for manslaughter, and if, without taking life himself or doing the deed with his own hand, a man has necessitated and given rise to the killing, the law requires that in this case too he himself receive the same punishment—quite justly, for it was unwilling to be worsted by his deed through his immunity. It would be irrelevant, therefore, to enquire into the manner of the killing. Can it, then, be that you think fit to punish as a murderer one who has taken life in this manner, and are not willing under any circumstances to acquit him, yet when a man has conferred a boon upon the city in the same way, you do not propose to hold him worthy of the same treatment as your benefactors? > Greek: 12. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο μέμνημαι διηγορευμένον ἐν τοῖς νόμοις (ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ διὰ τὴν πολλὴν δουλείαν ἐπιλέλησμαι τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς εἰρημένων) αἰτίας θανάτου εἶναι διττάς, καὶ εἴ τις μὴ αὐτὸς μὲν ἀπέκτεινε μηδὲ τῇ χειρὶ ἔδρασεν τὸ ἔργον, ἠνάγκασεν δὲ καὶ παρέσχεν ἀφορμὴν τοῦ φόνου, τὰ ἴσα καὶ τοῦτον ἀξιοῖ ὁ νόμος αὐτὸν ἀντικολάζεσθαι — μάλα δικαίως· οὐ γὰρ ἠβούλετο τοῦ πεπραγμένου ἥσσων γίνεσθαι τῷ τῆς ἀδείας· καὶ περιττὴ λοιπὸν ἡ ἐξέτασις τοῦ τρόπου τῆς σφαγῆς. εἶτα τὸν μὲν οὕτως ἀποκτείναντα κολάζειν ὡς ἀνδροφόνον δικαιοῖς καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἀφεῖσθαι θέλεις, τὸν δὲ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τούτῳ τρόπον εὖ πεποιηκότα τὴν πόλιν οὐ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀξιώσεις τοῖς εὐεργέταις; [¶13] 13. For you cannot even say that I did it at haphazard, and that a result followed which chanced to be beneficial, without my having intended it. What else did I fear after the stronger was slain, and why did I leave the sword in my victim if I did not absolutely prefigure exactly what would come to pass! You have no answer, unless you maintain that the dead man was not a tyrant and did not have that name; and that the city would not have been glad to make many presents on his account if he should lose his life. But you cannot say so. Can it be that, now the tyrant has been slain, you are going to refuse the reward to the man who caused his death? What pettiness! Does it concern you how he died, as long as you enjoy your liberty? Do you demand any greater boon of the man who gave back your democracy? “But the law,” you say, “‘scrutinises only the main point in the facts of the case, ignoring all the incidentals and raising no further question!” What! was there not once a man who obtained the guerdon of a tyrannicide by just driving a tyrant into exile? Quite rightly, too; for he bestowed liberty in exchange for slavery. But what I have wrought is not exile, or expectation of a second uprising, but complete abolition, extinction of the entire line, extirpation, root and branch, of the whole menace. > Greek: 13. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο ἂν ἔχοις λέγειν, ὡς ἐγὼ μὲν ἁπλῶς αὐτὸ ἔπραξα, ἠκολούθησε δέ τι τέλος ἄλλως χρηστόν, ἐμοῦ μὴ θελήσαντος. τί γὰρ ἔτι ἐδεδίειν τοῦ ἰσχυροτέρου πεφονευμένου; τί δὲ κατέλιπον τὸ ξίφος ἐν τῇ σφαγῇ, εἰ μὴ πάντως τὸ ἐσόμενον αὐτὸ προεμαντευόμην; ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ τοῦτο φής, ὡς οὐ τύραννος ὁ τεθνεὼς ἦν οὐδὲ ταύτην εἶχε τὴν προσηγορίαν, οὐδὲ δωρεὰς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ πολλάς, εἰ ἀποθάνοι, ἡδέως ἂν ὑμεῖς ἐδώκατε. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν εἴποις. Εἶτα τοῦ τυράννου πεφονευμένου τῷ τὴν αἰτίαν παρασχόντι τῆς σφαγῆς οὐκ ἀποδώσεις τὴν δωρεάν; ὢ τῆς πολυπραγμοσύνης. μέλει δέ σοι, πῶς ἀπέθανεν, ἀπολαύοντι τῆς ἐλευθερίας, ἢ τὸν τὴν δημοκρατίαν ἀποδεδωκότα περιττότερόν τι προσαπαιτεῖς; καίτοι ὅ γε νόμος, ὡς φής, τὸ κεφάλαιον ἐξετάζει τῶν πεπραγμένων, τὰ διὰ μέσου δὲ πάντα ἐᾷ καὶ οὐκέτι πολυπραγμονεῖ. τί γάρ; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐξελάσας τις τύραννον ἤδη τιμὴν ἔλαβεν τυραννοκτόνου; καὶ μάλα δικαίως· ἐλευθερίαν γὰρ κἀκεῖνος ἀντὶ δουλείας παρέσχηται. τὸ δʼ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ γεγενημένον οὐ φυγὴ οὐδὲ δευτέρας ἐπαναστάσεως ἐλπίς, ἀλλὰ παντελὴς καθαίρεσις καὶ πανωλεθρία παντὸς τοῦ γένους καὶ ῥιζόθεν τὸ δεινὸν ἅπαν ἐκκεκομμένον. [¶14] 14. Do, in the name of the gods, make a full enquiry, if you like, from beginning to end, and see whether anything that affects the law has been left undone, and whether any qualification is wanting that a tyrant-slayer ought to have. In the first place, one must have at the outset a will that is valiant, patriotic, disposed to run risks for the common weal, and ready to purchase by its own extinction the deliverance of the people. Then did I fall short of that, play the weakling, or, my purpose formed, shrink from any of the risks that lay ahead? You cannot say so. Then confine your attention for a moment to this point, and imagine that simply on account of my willing and planning all this, even if the result had not been favourable, I presented myself and demanded that in consequence of the intention itself I should receive a guerdon as a benefactor. Because I myself had not the power and someone else, coming after me, had slain the tyrant, would it be unreasonable, tell me, or absurd to give it me? Above all, if I said: “Gentlemen, I wanted it, willed it, undertook it, essayed it; simply for my intention I deserve to be honoured,” what answer would you have made in that case? > Greek: 14. καί μοι πρὸς θεῶν ἤδη ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἐς τέλος, εἰ δοκεῖ, πάντα ἐξετάσατε, εἴ τι τῶν πρὸς τὸν νόμον παραλέλειπται καὶ εἰ ἐνδεῖ τι τῶν προσεῖναι ὀφειλόντων τυραννοκτόνῳ. πρῶτα μὲν δὴ γνώμην προϋπάρχειν χρὴ γενναίαν καὶ φιλόπολιν καὶ πρὸ τῶν κοινῶν κινδυνεύειν ἐθέλουσαν καὶ τῷ οἰκείῳ θανάτῳ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν σωτηρίαν ὠνησομένην. ἆρʼ οὖν πρὸς τοῦτο ἐνεδέησα, ἐμαλακίσθην, ἢ προελόμενός τινα τῶν διὰ μέσου κινδύνων ἀπώκνησα; οὐκ ἂν εἴποις. μένε τοίνυν ἐπὶ τούτου ἔτι μόνου καὶ νόμιζε τοῦ θελῆσαι μόνον καὶ τοῦ βουλεύσασθαι ταῦτα, εἰ καὶ μὴ χρηστὸν ἀποβεβήκει, ἔκ γε τῆς γνώμης αὐτῆς καταστάντα με γέρας ἀξιοῦν ὡς εὐεργέτην λαμβάνειν. ἐμοῦ μὲν οὐ δυνηθέντος, ἄλλου δὲ μετʼ ἐμὲ τετυραννοκτονηκότος, ἄλογον, εἰπέ μοι, ἢ ἀγνῶμον ἦν παρασχεῖν; καὶ μάλιστα εἰ ἔλεγον, ἄνδρες, ἐβουλόμην, ἠθέλησα, ἐπεχείρησα, ἐπειράθην· τῆς γνώμης μόνης ἄξιός εἰμι τιμᾶσθαι, τί ἂν ἀπεκρίνω τότε; [¶15] 15. But as things are, that is not what I say; no, I climbed the acropolis, I put myself in peril, I accomplished untold labours before I slew the young man. For you must not suppose that the affair was so easy and simple—to pass a guard, to overpower men-at-arms, to rout so many by myself; no, this is quite the mightiest obstacle in the slaying of a tyrant, and the principal of its achievements. For of course it is not the tyrant himself that is mighty and impregnable and indomitable, but what guards and maintains his tyranny; if anyone conquers all this, he has attained complete success, and what remains is trivial. Of course the approach to the tyrants would not have been open to me if I had not overpowered all the guards and henchmen about them, conquering all these to begin with. I add nothing further, but once more confine myself to this point: I overpowered the outposts, conquered the bodyguards, rendered the tyrant unprotected, unarmed, defenceless. Does it seem to you that I deserve honour for that, or do you further demand of me the shedding of his blood? > Greek: 15. νῦν δὲ οὐ τοῦτό φημι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνῆλθον καὶ ἐκινδύνευσα καὶ μυρία πρὸ τῆς τοῦ νεανίσκου σφαγῆς ἐπόνησα· μὴ γὰρ οὕτω ῥᾷστον μηδὲ εὐχερὲς ὑπολάβητε εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα, φρουρὰν ὑπερβῆναι καὶ δορυφόρων κρατῆσαι καὶ τρέψασθαι τοσούτους μόνον, ἀλλὰ σχεδὸν τὸ μέγιστον ἐν τῇ τυραννοκτονίᾳ καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν ἔργων τοῦτό ἐστιν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ αὐτός γε ὁ τύραννος μέγα καὶ δυσάλωτον καὶ δυσκατέργαστόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ φρουροῦντα καὶ συνέχοντα τὴν τυραννίδα, ἅ τις ἂν νικήσῃ, πάντα οὗτος κατώρθωσεν, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ὀλίγον. τὸ δὴ ἄχρι τῶν τυράννων προελθεῖν οὐκ ἂν ὑπῆρξέ μοι, μὴ οὐχὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτοὺς φυλάκων καὶ δορυφόρων ἁπάντων κεκρατηκότι κἀκείνους ἅπαντας προνενικηκότι. οὐδὲν ἔτι προστίθημι, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τούτων αὖθις μένω· φυλακῆς ἐκράτησα, δορυφόρους ἐνίκησα, τὸν τύραννον ἀφύλακτον, ἄνοπλον, γυμνὸν ἀπέδωκα. τιμῆς ἄξιος ἐπὶ τούτοις εἶναί σοι δοκῶ, ἢ ἔτι ἀπαιτεῖς παρʼ ἐμοῦ τὸν φόνον; [¶16] 16. But even if you require bloodshed, that is not wanting either, and I am not unstained with blood; on the contrary, I have done a great and valiant deed in that I slew a young man in the fullness of his strength, terrible to all, through whom that other was unassailed by plots, on whom alone he relied, who sufficed him instead of many guardsmen. Then am I not deserving of a reward, man? Am I to be devoid of honours for such deeds? What if I had killed a bodyguard, or some henchman of the tyrant, or a valued slave? Would not even this have seemed a great thing, to go up and slay one of the tyrant’s friends in the midst of the citadel, in the midst of arms? But as it is, look at the slain man himself! He was a tyrant’s son, nay more, a harsher tyrant, an inexorable despot, a more cruel chastiser, a more violent oppressor; what is most important, he was heir and successor to everything, and capable of prolonging vastly the duration of our misery. > Greek: 16. ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ φόνον ζητεῖς, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐνδεῖ, οὐδὲ ἀναίμακτός εἰμι, ἀλλʼ εἴργασμαι μεγάλην καὶ γενναίαν σφαγὴν νεανίσκου ἀκμάζοντος καὶ πᾶσι φοβεροῦ, διʼ ὃν ἀνεπιβούλευτος κἀκεῖνος ἦν, ᾧ μόνῳ ἐθάρρει, ὃς ἀντὶ πολλῶν ἤρκει δορυφόρων. ἆρʼ οὖν οὐκ ἄξιος, ὦ οὗτος, δωρεᾶς, ἀλλὰ ἄτιμος ἐπὶ τηλικούτοις γένωμαι; τί γάρ, εἰ δορυφόρον ἕνα, τί δʼ εἰ ὑπηρέτην τινὰ τοῦ τυράννου ἀπέκτεινα, τί δʼ εἰ οἰκέτην τίμιον, οὐ μέγα ἂν ἔδοξεν καὶ τοῦτο, ἀνελθόντα ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἀκροπόλει, ἐν μέσοις τοῖς ὅπλοις φόνον τινὸς ἐργάσασθαι τῶν τοῦ τυράννου φίλων; νῦν δὲ καὶ τὸν πεφονευμένον αὐτὸν ἰδέ. υἱὸς ἦν τυράννου, μᾶλλον δὲ τύραννος χαλεπώτερος καὶ δεσπότης ἀπαραίτητος καὶ κολαστὴς ὠμότερος καὶ ὑβριστὴς βιαιότερος, τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, κληρονόμος τῶν ὅλων καὶ διάδοχος καὶ ἐπὶ πολὺ παρατεῖναι τὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας συμφορᾶς δυνάμενος. [¶17] 17. Suppose, if you will, that this was my sole achievement—that the tyrant has made his escape and is still alive. Well and good, I demand a guerdon for this. What do you all say? Will you not vouchsafe it? Did you not view the son, too, with concern? Was he notadespot? Was he not cruel, unendurable? As it is, however, think of the crowning feat itself. What this man requires of me I accomplished in the best possible way. I killed the tyrant by killing someone else, not directly nor at a single blow, which would have been his fondest prayer after misdeeds so monstrous. No, first I tortured him with profound grief, displayed full in his view. all that was dearest to him lying exposed in pitiable case, a son in his youth, wicked, to be sure, but in the fullness of his strength and the image of his sire, befouled with blocd and gore. Those are the wounds of fathers, those the swords of tyrannicides who deal justly, that is the death deserved by savage tyrants, that the requital befitting misdeeds so great. To die forthwith, to know nothing, to see no such spectacle has in it nothing worthy of a tyrant’s punishment. > Greek: 17. βούλει τοῦτο μόνον πεπρᾶχθαί μοι, ζῆν δὲ ἔτι τὸν τύραννον διαπεφευγότα; γέρας δὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις αἰτῶ. τί φατέ; οὐ δώσετε; οὐχὶ κἀκεῖνον ὑφεωρᾶσθε· οὐ δεσπότης; οὐ βαρύς; οὐκ ἀφόρητος ἦν; νῦν δὲ καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον αὐτὸ ἐννοήσατε· ὃ γὰρ οὗτος ἀπαιτεῖ παρʼ ἐμοῦ, τοῦτο ὡς ἐνῆν ἄριστα διεπραξάμην, καὶ τὸν τύραννον ἀπέκτεινα ἑτέρῳ φόνῳ, οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ πληγῇ μιᾷ, ὅπερ εὐκταιότατον ἦν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τηλικούτοις ἀδικήμασιν, ἀλλὰ λύπῃ προβασανίσας πολλῇ καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς δείξας τὰ φίλτατα οἰκτρῶς προκείμενα, υἱὸν ἐν ἡλικίᾳ, εἰ καὶ πονηρόν, ἀλλʼ οὖν καὶ ἀκμάζοντα καὶ ὅμοιον τῷ πατρί, αἵματος καὶ λύθρου ἐμπεπλησμένον. ταῦτʼ ἔστι πατέρων τὰ τραύματα, ταῦτα ξίφη δικαίων τυραννοκτόνων, οὗτος θάνατος ἄξιος ὠμῶν τυράννων, αὕτη τιμωρία πρέπουσα τοσούτοις ἀδικήμασιν· τὸ δʼ εὐθὺς ἀποθανεῖν, τὸ δʼ ἀγνοῆσαι, τὸ δὲ μηδὲν τοιοῦτο θέαμα ἰδεῖν, οὐδὲν ἔχει τυραννικῆς κολάσεως ἄξιον. [¶18] 18. For I was not unaware, man—I was not unaware, nor was anyone else, how much love he had for his son, and that he would not have wanted to outlive him even a little while. To be sure, all fathers no doubt have such feelings toward their children; ‘but in his case there was something more than in the case of others; naturally, for he discerned that it was his son who alone cherished and guarded the tyranny, who alone faced danger in his father’s stead, and gave security to his rule. Consequently I knew that he would lay down his life at once, if not through his love, then at all events through his despair, considering that there was no profit in life now that the security derived from his son had been abolished. I encompassed him, therefore, with all manner of toils at once—his nature, his grief, his despair, his misgivings about the future; I used these allies against him, and forced him to that final decision. He has gone to his death childless, griefstricken, in sorrow and in tears, after mourning but a little while, it is true, yet long enough for a father; gone (and that is most horrible) by his own hand, the most pitiable of deaths, far more bitter than as if it should come about at the hand of another. > Greek: 18. οὐ γὰρ ἠγνόουν, ὦ οὗτος, οὐκ ἠγνόουν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδείς, ὅσην ἐκεῖνος εὔνοιαν πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν εἶχεν καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἠξίωσεν ἐπιβιῶναι οὐδʼ ὀλίγον αὐτῷ χρόνον. πάντες μὲν γὰρ πατέρες ἴσως πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας τοιοῦτοι, ὁ δὲ καὶ περιττότερόν τι τῶν ἄλλων εἶχεν, εἰκότως, ὁρῶν μόνον ἐκεῖνον κηδεμόνα καὶ φύλακα τῆς τυραννίδος καὶ μόνον προκινδυνεύοντα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν τῇ ἀρχῇ παρεχόμενον. ὥστε εἰ καὶ μὴ διὰ τὴν εὔνοιαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀπόγνωσιν εὐθὺς ἠπιστάμην τεθνηξόμενον αὐτὸν καὶ λογιούμενον ὡς οὐδὲν ἔτι τοῦ ζῆν ὄφελος τῆς ἐκ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀσφαλείας καθῃρημένης. ἅπαντα τοίνυν αὐτῷ ἀθρόα περιέστησα, τὴν φύσιν, τὴν λύπην, τὴν ἀπόγνωσιν, τὸν φόβον, τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν μελλόντων... ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐχρησάμην τοῖς συμμάχοις καὶ πρὸς τὴν τελευταίαν ἐκείνην σκέψιν κατηνάγκασα. ἀπέθανεν ὑμῖν ἄτεκνος, λελυπημένος, ὀδυρόμενος, δακρύων, πεπενθηκὼς πένθος ὀλιγοχρόνιον μέν, ἀλλʼ ἱκανὸν πατρί, καὶ τὸ δεινότατον, αὐτὸς ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ, ὅσπερ θανάτων οἴκτιστος καὶ πολλῷ χαλεπώτερος ἢ εἰ ὑπʼ ἄλλου γίγνοιτο. [¶19] 19. Where is my sword? Does anyone else recognise this? Was this any other man’s weapon? Who carried it up to the citadel? Who preceded the tyrant in its use? Who commissioned it against him? Good sword, partner and promoter of my successes, after so many perils, after so many slayings, we are disregarded and thought unworthy of a reward! If it were for the sword alone that I sought the meed of honour trom you—if I were pleading: “Gentlemen, when the tyrant wished to die and at the moment found himself unarmed, this sword of mine served him and did its part in every way towards the attainment of liberty—account it worthy of honour and reward,” would you not have requited the owner of a possession so valuable to the state? Would you not have recorded him among your benefactors? Would you not have enshrined the sword among your hallowed treasures? Would you not have worshipped it along with the gods? > Greek: 19. ποῦ μοι τὸ ξίφος; μή τις ἄλλος τοῦτο γνωρίζει; μή τινος ἄλλου ὅπλον τοῦτο ἦν; τίς αὐτὸ ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀνεκόμισε; πρὸ τοῦ τυράννου τίς ἐχρήσατο; τίς αὐτὸ ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνον ἀπέστειλεν; ὦ ξίφος κοινωνὸν καὶ διάδοχον τῶν ἐμῶν κατορθωμάτων, μετὰ τοσούτους κινδύνους, μετὰ τοσούτους φόνους ἀμελούμεθα καὶ ἀνάξιοι δοκοῦμεν δωρεᾶς. εἰ γὰρ ὑπὲρ μόνου τούτου τὴν τιμὴν ᾔτουν παρʼ ὑμῶν, εἰ γὰρ ἔλεγον, ἄνδρες, ἀποθανεῖν ἐθελήσαντι τῷ τυράννῳ καὶ ἀνόπλῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ καιροῦ κατειλημμένῳ ξίφος τοῦτο ἐμὸν ὑπηρέτησε καὶ πρὸς τὸ τέλος τῆς ἐλευθερίας συνήργησε πάντῃ, τοῦτο τιμῆς τε καὶ δωρεᾶς ἄξιον νομίσατε, δεσπότην οὕτω δημοτικοῦ κτήματος οὐκ ἂν ἠμείψασθε; οὐκ ἂν ἐν τοῖς εὐεργέταις ἀνεγράψατε; οὐκ ἂν τὸ ξίφος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀνεθήκατε; οὐκ ἂν μετὰ τῶν θεῶν κἀκεῖνο προσεκυνήσατε; [¶20] 20. Now then, imagine, I beg you, what the tyrant no doubt did and what he said before his end. When I sought to slay the son and wounded him again and again in those parts of his body which could be seen, that so I might grieve the parent most, that so I might rend his heart through the first sight, he raised a doleful cry, calling his parent to him, not to aid him or share the conflict—for he knew him to be old and weak—but to behold his own calamities. Before I slipped away, I had myself composed the whole plot of the tragedy, but had left to the actor the body, the stage-setting, the sword, and the remainder of the play. When the other made his appearance and saw his only son with but little breath in him, bloodied, covered with gore, his wounds close together, numerous, and vital, he raised this cry: “My child, we are destroyed, assassinated, fallen victims to the tyrant-slayer! Where is the executioner? For what purpose is he keeping me, for what purpose reserving me, now that I am already destroyed through you, my child? Or is it perhaps that he contemns me as an old man, and also by his dilatoriness (since I must be punished) protracts my death and makes my execution longer?” > Greek: 20. νῦν μοι ἐννοήσατε οἷα πεποιηκέναι εἰκὸς τὸν τύραννον, οἷα δὲ εἰρηκέναι πρὸ τῆς τελευτῆς· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ φονευόμενος καὶ τιτρωσκόμενος πολλοῖς τραύμασιν ἐς τὰ φανερὰ τοῦ σώματος, ὡς ἂν μάλιστα λυπήσειν ἔμελλον τὸν γεγεννηκότα, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τῆς πρώτης θέας διασπαράξειν, ὁ μὲν ἀνεβόησεν οἰκτρόν, ἐπιβοώμενος τὸν γεγεννηκότα οὐ βοηθὸν οὐδὲ σύμμαχον — ᾔδει γὰρ πρεσβύτην ὄντα καὶ ἀσθενῆ — ἀλλὰ θεατὴν τῶν οἰκείων κακῶν· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἀπηλλαττόμην ποιητὴς μὲν τῆς ὅλης τραγῳδίας γεγενημένος, καταλιπὼν δὲ τῷ ὑποκριτῇ τὸν νεκρὸν καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ τὸ ξίφος καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ δράματος· ἐπιστὰς δὲ ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἰδὼν υἱὸν ὃν εἶχεν μόνον ὀλίγον ἐμπνέοντα, ᾑμαγμένον, ἐμπεπλησμένον τοῦ φόνου καὶ τὰ τραύματα συνεχῆ καὶ πολλὰ καὶ καίρια, ἀνεβόησεν τοῦτο· τέκνον, ἀνηρήμεθα, πεφονεύμεθα, τετυραννοκτονήμεθα, ποῦ ὁ σφαγεύς; τίνι με τηρεῖ; τίνι με φυλάττει διὰ σοῦ, τέκνον, προανῃρημένον; ἢ μή τι ὡς γέροντος ὑπερφρονεῖ, καὶ τῇ βραδυτῆτι, κολάζειν δέον, καὶ παρατείνει μοι τὸν φόνον καὶ μακροτέραν μοι τὴν σφαγὴν ποιεῖ; [¶21] 21. With these words he sought a sword; for he was unarmed on account of his complete reliance upon his son. But that too was not wanting; long beforehand, that too had been provided by me and left behind for the bold deed that was to come. So, withdrawing the sword from the victim, plucking it from the wound, he said: “A little while ago you gave me death; now give me repose, Osword. Come to console a mourning father; lighten the task of an aged hand beset by adversity; let my blood; be tyrant-slayer to me; quit me of my woe. Had I but encountered you first! had I but inverted the order of deaths! I should have perished; but simply as tyrant—but thinking still that I should have an avenger, while now I die as one who is childless, as one who can hardly so much as find a man to take his life!” Thereupon he hastened his despatch, trembling, incapable, craving it, to be sure, but lacking the strength to serve his bold purpose. > Greek: 21. καὶ ταῦτα λέγων ἐζήτει τὸ ξίφος· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἄνοπλος ἦν διὰ τὸ πάντα τῷ παιδὶ θαρρεῖν. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐνεδέησεν, πάλαι δὲ ἦν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ τοῦτο προπαρεσκευασμένον καὶ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον τόλμημα καταλελειμμένον. ἀποσπάσας δὴ τῆς σφαγῆς καὶ τοῦ τραύματος ἐξελὼν τὸ ξίφος φησί, πρὸ μικροῦ μέν με ἀπέκτεινας, νῦν δὲ ἀνάπαυσον, ξίφος. πατρὶ πενθοῦντι παραμύθιον ἐλθὲ καὶ πρεσβυτικῇ χειρὶ δυστυχούσῃ συναγώνισαι. ἀπόσφαξον, τυραννοκτόνησον καὶ τοῦ πενθεῖν ἀπάλλαξον. εἴθε πρῶτός σοι ἐνέτυχον, εἴθε τὴν τάξιν προὔλαβον τοῦ φόνου. ἀπέθανον ἄν, ἀλλʼ ὡς τύραννος μόνον, ἀλλʼ ἔτι νομίζων ἕξειν ἔκδικον· νῦν δὲ ὡς ἄτεκνος, νῦν δὲ ὡς οὐδὲ φονέως εὐπορῶν. Καὶ ταῦτα ἅμα λέγων ἐπῆγε τὴν σφαγὴν τρέμων, οὐ δυνάμενος, ἐπιθυμῶν μέν, ἀσθενῶν δὲ πρὸς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν τοῦ τολμήματος. [¶22] 22. How many punishments were there in all this? How many wounds? How many deaths? How many tyrant-slayings? How many rewards? And at the end you have all seen not only the young man exposed in death (no slight accomplishment or easy to achieve), but the old man prostrate upon him, you have seen the blood of both intermingled (that thank-offering for liberty and for victory), and the havoc of my sword; aye, the sword itself between them both, evincing that it has not been unworthy of its owner and testifying that it served me faithfully. Had this been done by me, it would be less of an achievement; but now it is more splendid by reason of its novelty. It is I, to be sure, who overthrew the entire tyranny; but the performance has been distributed among many people as in a play; the leading part was played by me, the second by the son, the third by the tyrant himself, and the sword served all. > Greek: 22. πόσαι κολάσεις ταῦτα; πόσα τραύματα; πόσοι θάνατοι; πόσαι τυραννοκτονίαι; πόσαι δωρεαί; καὶ τέλος ἑωράκατε πάντες τὸν μὲν νεανίαν προκείμενον, οὐδὲ μικρὸν οὐδʼ εὐκαταγώνιστον ἔργον, τὸν πρεσβύτην δὲ αὐτῷ περικεχυμένον καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἀμφοῖν ἀνακεκραμένον, τὴν ἐλευθέριον ἐκείνην καὶ ἐπινίκιον σπονδήν, καὶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ ξίφους τοῦ ἐμοῦ, αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ξίφος ἐν μέσῳ ἀμφοτέρων, ἐπιδεικνύμενον ὡς οὐκ ἀνάξιον γεγένηται τοῦ δεσπότου καὶ μαρτυρόμενον ὅτι μοι πιστῶς διηκονήσατο. τοῦτο ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ γενόμενον μικρότερον ἦν· νῦν δὲ λαμπρότερόν ἐστι τῇ καινότητι. καὶ ὁ μὲν καθελὼν τὴν τυραννίδα πᾶσαν εἰμὶ ἐγώ· μεμέρισται δὲ ἐς πολλοὺς τὸ ἔργον ὥσπερ ἐν δράματι· καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἐγὼ ὑπεκρινάμην, τὰ δεύτερα δὲ ὁ παῖς, τὰ τρίτα δὲ ὁ τύραννος αὐτός, τὸ ξίφος δὲ πᾶσιν ὑπηρέτησεν.