1. Turn next to friendship, and behold how despots share in it. First let us consider whether friendship is a great blessing to mankind.
1. φιλίας δʼ αὖ καταθέασαι ὡς κοινωνοῦσιν οἱ τύραννοι. πρῶτον μὲν εἰ μέγα ἀγαθὸν ἀνθρώποις ἡ φιλία, τοῦτο ἐπισκεψώμεθα.
2. When a man is loved by friends, I take it, they rejoice at his presence, delight to do him good, miss him when he is absent, greet him most joyfully on his return, rejoice with him in his good fortune, unite in aiding him when they see him tripping.
2. ὃς γὰρ ἂν φιλῆται δήπου ὑπό τινων, ἡδέως μὲν τοῦτον οἱ φιλοῦντες παρόντα ὁρῶσιν, ἡδέως δʼ εὖ ποιοῦσι, ποθοῦσι δέ, ἤν που ἀπῇ, ἥδιστα δὲ πάλιν προσιόντα δέχονται, συνήδονται δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ ἀγαθοῖς, συνεπικουροῦσι δέ, ἐάν τι σφαλλόμενον ὁρῶσιν.
3. Even states are not blind to the fact that friendship is a very great blessing, and very delightful to men. At any rate, many states have a law that adulterers only may be put to death with impunity, obviously for this reason, because they believe them to be destroyers of the wife’s friendship with her husband;
3. οὐ μὲν δὴ λέληθεν οὐδὲ τὰς πόλεις ὅτι ἡ φιλία μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν ⟨καὶ⟩ ἥδιστον ἀνθρώποις ἐστί· μόνους γοῦν τοὺς μοιχοὺς νομίζουσι πολλαὶ τῶν πόλεων νηποινεὶ ἀποκτείνειν, δῆλον ὅτι διὰ ταῦτα ὅτι λυμαντῆρας αὐτοὺς νομίζουσι τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν φιλίας πρὸς τοὺς ἄνδρας εἶναι.
4. although, when a woman’s lapse is the result of some accident, husbands do not honour their wives any less on that account, provided that wives seem to reserve their affection unblemished.
4. ἐπεὶ ὅταν γε ἀφροδισιασθῇ κατὰ συμφοράν τινα γυνή, οὐδὲν ἧττον τούτου ἕνεκεν τιμῶσιν αὐτὰς οἱ ἄνδρες, ἐάνπερ ἡ φιλία δοκῇ αὐταῖς ἀκήρατος διαμένειν·
5. In my judgment, to be loved is a blessing so precious that I believe good things fall literally of themselves on him who is loved from gods and men alike.
5. τοσοῦτον δέ τι ἀγαθὸν κρίνω ἔγωγε τὸ φιλεῖσθαι εἶναι ὥστε νομίζω τῷ ὄντι αὐτόματα τἀγαθὰ τῷ φιλουμένῳ γίγνεσθαι καὶ παρὰ θεῶν καὶ παρὰ ἀνθρώπων·
6. Such, then, is the nature of this possession—a possession wherein despots above all other men are stinted. If you want to know that I am speaking the truth, Simonides, consider the question in this way.
6. καὶ τούτου τοίνυν τοῦ κτήματος τοιούτου ὄντος μειονεκτοῦσιν οἱ τύραννοι πάντων μάλιστα. εἰ δὲ βούλει, ὦ Σιμωνίδη, εἰδέναι ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω, ὧδε ἐπίσκεψαι.
7. The firmest friendships, I take it, are supposed to be those that unite parents to children, children to parents, wives to husbands, comrades to comrades.
7. βεβαιόταται μὲν γὰρ δήπου δοκοῦσι φιλίαι εἶναι γονεῦσι πρὸς παῖδας καὶ παισὶ πρὸς γονέας καὶ ἀδελφοῖς πρὸς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ γυναιξὶ πρὸς ἄνδρας καὶ ἑταίροις πρὸς ἑταίρους·
8. Now you will find, if you will but observe, that private citizens are, in fact, loved most deeply by these. But what of despots? Many have slain their own children; many have themselves been murdered by their children; many brothers, partners in despotism, have perished by each other’s hand; many have been destroyed even by their own wives, aye, and by comrades whom they accounted their closest friends.
8. εἰ τοίνυν ἐθέλεις κατανοεῖν, εὑρήσεις τοὺς μὲν ἰδιώτας ὑπὸ τούτων μάλιστα φιλουμένους, τοὺς δὲ τυράννους πολλοὺς μὲν παῖδας ἑαυτῶν ἀπεκτονότας, πολλοὺς δʼ ὑπὸ παίδων αὐτοὺς ἀπολωλότας, πολλοὺς δὲ ἀδελφοὺς ἐν τυραννίσιν ἀλληλοφόνους γεγενημένους, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ γυναικῶν τῶν ἑαυτῶν τυράννους διεφθαρμένους καὶ ὑπὸ ἑταίρων γε τῶν μάλιστα δοκούντων φίλων εἶναι.
9. Seeing, then, that they are so hated by those who are bound by natural ties and constrained by custom to love them most, how are we to suppose that they are loved by any other being?
9. οἵτινες οὖν ὑπὸ τῶν φύσει πεφυκότων μάλιστα φιλεῖν καὶ νόμῳ συνηναγκασμένων οὕτω μισοῦνται, πῶς ὑπʼ ἄλλου γέ τινος οἴεσθαι χρὴ αὐτοὺς φιλεῖσθαι;