discerning that man is an animal, which he did not know, and whatever else belongs to this, lest I make a further example of the foolish, or of the one not drawing the bow toward the target, as is the custom for archers, nor hastening to send the arrow at it, but making his shots here and there and missing the mark. I for my part would say that he should read who has accurately examined the parts of the speech and understands the whole body in detail (since Plato also likened speech to an animal; and he added to it a head and hands and wisely bestowed all the other parts. which indeed the pupils of rhetoric are accustomed to call proems and narrations, arguments and foundations and epilogues, refutations and arrangements), that one who knows the opportune time for exhortation, for counsel, for dissuasion, for antithesis, for refutation, who knows how to celebrate fittingly, but is also able to contradict forensically and to distinguish properly and to construct periods and to lengthen the clause and to double the noun and to show the periphrasis and to declare the functions of the proems and the anaphoras, to form the isocola and the swift and the disjointed and the asyndetic, that one who knows how to make the clause stand by itself †perhaps omissions through the speech† and the verbs of existence and the things often understood from context, to give pause at the ends of speeches and to establish the delivery fittingly and to seal the thought appropriately. Such a man indeed I have observed, now elevating the diction and bringing up the meaning, now interpreting the speech and composing the nouns, but breaking up the periods and giving pause to the clauses and doing and working the rest fittingly, since even the common man, who is called by all the vulgar herd, has been able to string together a long speech, but is utterly unable to analyze it into verb and noun and these into syllables and those into letters. And so when I, having observed this man, then beheld him, he often appeared to me not the same man, even though it was he, but like some Libyan beast he was skillfully metamorphosed and remolded and changed his face into unlike forms, just as the story goes that Proteus changed into many and various shapes, although the metamorphosis was not similar to these, nor the reshaping of the form and the dissimilarity of the reality; but this is altogether the result of a soul easily molded and a mind compliant toward all that is most beautiful. For the mind indeed (for grant me to philosophize a little) being a partaker of divine substance is like some smoothed wax, and if it has not been caught in the bodily fetter and bound inextricably by this, nor has made itself a slave and subject, but has preserved the masterly dignity which it received from above (I mean its intangibility and its uncircumscribability and its ability to pervade everywhere and through all things and whatever a philosophical account brings), it is fit for every good thing and is able to take the impression of whatever it wishes. Indeed, Philo figuratively names this a spring rising from below and watering the whole face of the earth; and he says it is a heavenly plant and calls it an inhabitant of paradise and honors this alone with inspiration. But if I have given this to the soul (I mean its aptitude for imitation) and have offered it as something exceptional, this too is not without reason; for our nature first moves the body, and this is moved by the soul, and this by the mind, and God leads the mind; therefore, what things the mind has practiced, these it has inscribed on tablets of the soul. And just as the philosophers say that the first mover is unmoved, so indeed also this man (I mean the wonderful and venerable man) is inimitable in all things and incomparable. But we must return again to the point from which we digressed; for even if the force of the speech has led us astray somewhere else, still I turn back again to the subject at hand. I was seeing him, at any rate

διαγινώσκοντα ὅτι τοι ζῷον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, τὸ ὁποῖον ἠγνοηκότα καὶ ὅσα τούτῳ πρόσεστιν ἕτερα, ἵνα μὴ πλέον παραδειγματίσω τοὺς ἄφρονας, ἢ καὶ τὸν μὴ κατὰ σκοποῦ τὸ τόξον ἐντείνοντα, ὥσπερ νόμος ἐστὶ τοῖς βάλλουσι, μηδὲ τὸ βέλος πέμπειν πρὸς τοῦτον σπεύδοντα, ἀλλ' ὧδε κἀκεῖ τὰς ἀφέσεις ποιούμενον καὶ τοῦ εἰκότος διαμαρτάνοντα. ἔγωγ' οὖν ἐκεῖνον ἀναγινώσκειν εἴποιμι ἂν τὸν καὶ τὰ μέρη τοῦ λόγου διακριβώσαντα καὶ τὸ ὅλον σῶμα λεπτομερῶς ἐπιστάμενον (ἐπεὶ καὶ ζῴῳ τὸν λόγον Πλάτων παρείκασε· κεφαλήν τε καὶ χεῖρας τούτῳ προσέθετο καὶ τἆλλα πάντα σοφῶς ἐχαρίσατο. ἃ δὴ προοίμια καὶ διηγήσεις, κατασκευάς τε καὶ βάσεις καὶ ἐπιλόγους, διασκευὰς καὶ οἰκονομίας οἱ λόγου τρόφιμοι συνήθως ἐπονομάζουσιν), ἐκεῖνον τὸν προτροπῆς μὲν εἰδότα καιρόν, τὸν συμβουλῆς, τὸν ἀποτροπῆς, τὸν ἀντιθέσεως, τὸν ἐπιλύσεως, τὸν πανηγυρίσαι μὲν εἰκότως γινώσκοντα, δικανικῶς δὲ ἀντειπεῖν ἱκανὸν καὶ διαστεῖλαι δεόντως καὶ περιόδους στρέψαι καὶ μακρῦναι τὸ κῶλον καὶ διπλῶσαι τὸ ὄνομα καὶ τὴν περι βολὴν δεῖξαι καὶ τὰς ἐνεργείας τῶν προοιμίων καὶ τὰς ἀναφορὰς δηλῶσαι, τὰ ἰσοκατάληκτά τε τυπῶσαι καὶ τὰ γοργὰ καὶ τὰ κομματικὰ καὶ ἀσύνδετα, ἐκεῖνον τὸν καθ' ἑαυτὸ στῆσαι τὸ κόμμα γινώσκοντα †διὰ τοῦ λόγου ἴσως ἐλλείμματα† καὶ τὰ ὑπαρκτικὰ ῥήματα καὶ τὰ πολλάκις ἔξωθεν συνεξακουόμενα τὰ τέλη τε τῶν λόγων ἐπαναπαῦσαι καὶ στῆσαι τὰς ὑποκρίσεις δεόντως καὶ προσφόρως ἐπισφραγίσαι τὴν ἔννοιαν. ὁποῖον δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον τεθέαμαι, νῦν μὲν τὴν λέξιν ἐπαίροντα καὶ τὴν ἔννοιαν ἐπανάγοντα, νῦν δὲ τὸν λόγον διερμηνεύοντα καὶ συντιθέντα μὲν τὰ ὀνόματα, τὰς περιόδους δὲ λύοντα καὶ τὰ κῶλα διαναπαύοντα καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πρεπόντως ποιοῦντα καὶ ἐργαζόμενον, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ πολὺς ἄνθρωπος, ὁ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀγελαῖος ὀνομαζόμενος, εἴρειν μὲν λόγον μακρὸν δεδύνηται, τοῦτον δὲ ἀναλῦσαι εἰς ῥῆμα καὶ ὄνομα καὶ ταῦτα εἰς συλλαβὰς κἀκείνας εἰς στοιχεῖα πάντως ἀδυνατεῖ. Ὡς δ' οὖν ἐγὼ τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἀποσκοπεύσας τηνικαῦτα τεθέαμαι, οὐχ ὁ αὐτός μοι πολλάκις, κἂν αὐτός, κατεφαίνετο, ἀλλ' οἷά τι Λιβυκὸν θηρίον τεχνικῶς μετεμορφοῦτο καὶ διεπλάττετο καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον εἰς ἰδέας ἀνομοίους μετήλλαττεν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸν Πρωτέα λόγος εἰς εἴδη πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ διαλλάττεσθαι, κἂν οὐχ ὁμοία τούτοις ἡ μεταμόρ φωσις οὐδὲ τοῦ σχήματος ἡ μετάπλασις καὶ ἡ ἀνομοιότης τοῦ πράγματος· τοῦτο δὲ πάντως ψυχῆς εὐτυπώτου πέφυκεν ἀποτέλεσμα καὶ γνώμης εὐείκτου πρὸς πάντα τὰ κάλλιστα. ὁ γάρ τοι νοῦς (δότε γάρ μοι καὶ φιλοσοφῆσαι μικρόν) θείας οὐσίας μέτοχος ὢν κηρὸς ὥσπερ τις λελειωμέ νος ἐστί, καὶ ὅ γε μὴ τῇ σωματικῇ πέδῃ καταληφθεὶς καὶ ὑπὸ ταύτῃ δεσμευθεὶς ἄφυκτα μηδὲ δοῦλον ἑαυτὸν ποιήσας καὶ ὑποχείριον, ἀλλὰ τὸ δεσποτικὸν τηρήσας ἀξίωμα ὅπερ ἄνωθεν εἴληφε (τὸ ἀναφὲς φημὶ καὶ τὸ ἀπερίγραπτον καὶ τὸ πανταχοῦ καὶ διὰ πάντων διήκειν καὶ ὅσα λόγος φέρει φιλόσοφος), πρὸς πᾶν καλόν ἐστιν ἐπιτήδειος καὶ ἀπομάττειν ὃ βεβούληται δύναται. τοῦτον γοῦν καὶ πηγὴν τροπικῶς ὁ Φίλων ἐπονο μάζει κάτωθεν μὲν ἀναβαίνουσαν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἅπαν τῆς γῆς καταρ δεύουσαν· καὶ φυτὸν οὐράνιον εἶναι λέγει καὶ οἰκήτορα τοῦ παραδείσου καλεῖ καὶ τοῦτον μόνον τῇ ἐμπνεύσει τιμᾷ. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο τῇ ψυχῇ δέδωκα (λέγω δὴ τὸ εὐμίμητον) καὶ ὡς ἐξαιρετόν τι ταύτῃ παρέσχηκα, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦτο λόγου χωρίς· ἡ γὰρ ἡμετέρα φύσις τὸ σῶμα μὲν κινεῖ πρώτως, αὕτη δὲ κεκίνηται παρὰ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ αὕτη παρὰ τοῦ νοῦ καὶ τοῦτον ἄγει θεός· ἃ γοῦν ὁ νοῦς ἐμελέτησε ταῦτα πλαξὶ κατέγραψε ψυχικαῖς. ὥσπερ δὲ τὸ πρώτως κινοῦν ἀκίνητον λέγουσιν οἱ φιλόσοφοι, οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὗτος (ὁ θαυμαστός φημι καὶ σεβάσμιος ἄνθρωπος) ἀμίμητός ἐστιν ἐν ἅπασι καὶ ἀσύγκριτος. Ἀλλ' ἐπανιτέον αὖθις ὅθεν ἐξέβημεν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ λόγου ῥύμη ἑτέρωθί που παρήγαγεν, ἀλλ' ἐπαναστρέφω πάλιν πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον. ἑώρων γοῦν αὐτὸν