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thus it began: O wretched ones, why do you sit? 10.29 And this expressly refutes his ignorance. For if he had truly foreknown the victory, he would not have called them wretched, surely, but thrice-blessed; for they defeated one thousand two hundred triremes and three hundred myriads of men. Victorious, therefore, and exceedingly renowned, but not wretched and thrice-miserable, were those 10.30 who raised a memorable and much-celebrated trophy. Then he urged flight upon them, foretelling the weakness of the city's guardian; for he said, 'Pallas is not able to appease Olympian Zeus, though she entreats him with many words.' But what follows is directly contrary to this. For after saying that Zeus is not persuaded by the suppliant Athena, as if having changed his mind he said again: 'To Tritogeneia a wooden wall does wide-seeing Zeus grant.' 10.31 And to those whose hopes were on a razor's edge he did not concisely show any clear path to follow; but he overshadowed his own ignorance with the ambiguity of the oracles, fearing the detection of the false- 10.32 hood. Similar also is the end of the oracle itself: 'O divine Salamis, you will destroy the children of women, either when Demeter is scattered or when she is gathered.' For he did not know, it seems, as he showed, who would die, whether they were Persians or Athenians. For this reason he mentioned only 'of women,' but was silent about their nation; and the phrase 'when Demeter is scattered or when she is gathered' is from one who is completely ignorant of the time of the victory. But in this case Themistocles, using both intelligence and courage, did not allow the falsehood of the oracle to be completely refuted; indeed he showed the Athenians to be not wretched, but fortunate. 10.33 But to the Lacedaemonians and the Cnidians his oracles brought defeat to the one, and slavery to the other. And he takes pride in having given to Lycurgus the lawgiver those most savage and shameful laws. For to him when he came to Delphi he said these things: 'You have come, O Lycurgus, to my rich shrine, dear to Zeus and to all who have Olympian homes. I am in doubt whether to prophesy you a god or a man; but yet I rather expect a god, O Lycurgus. You have come seeking good laws; and I will give them to you.' 10.34 And what sort of laws he established, we have declared in the discourse before this one. For he legislated the expulsion of foreigners and intemperate loves of boys and unlawful intercourse of women, and he overturned the laws of marriage. But the wisest and most musical prophet himself said he had given these laws, and calls him who legislated these things a god, and confesses he does not know whether he should call him a god or a man; and wishing to give the more honorable title, he did not 10.35 give it as a god, but said 'I expect' as a man. He also praises the Lacedaemonian women for mixing without fear with whomever they wish, and says: 'Of all the earth Pelasgian Argos is best, Thracian horses, and Lacedaemonian women, and men who drink the water of fair Arethusa.' 10.36 He also called Archilochus, who became a most shameful poet, famous and immortal; and he said to his father: 'Immortal and famous, O Telesicles, shall your son be among men.' 10.37 And to Homer he said: 'Blessed and ill-fated,' the one on account of his subsequent blindness, the other on account of his poetry, which he supposed to be excellent in all respects; on account of which Plato, having anointed him with myrrh like the swallows, sent him away from the city he had constructed. 10.38 He also ordered Cleomedes the boxer to be deemed worthy of divine honor: 'Last of the heroes,' he says, 'is Cleomedes of Astypalaea, whom you must honor with sacrifices as being no longer mortal.' And how many bloody murders this man dared, we have already said before. 10.39 And to the Methymnaeans he gave this oracle: 'But it will be much better for the inhabitants of Methymna if they honor the phallic head of Dionysus.' And the wisest of the gods, whom the poets named Phoebus, as being pure and undefiled, does not blush at having delivered an oracle that the prepuce of Dionysus be honored. 10.40 This one did not defend his own temple when it was being set on fire, but said that it had received this lot from the Fates, and he sang a monody, lamenting the disaster. But I will state the end of this:

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οὕτως ἤρξατο· ὦ μέλεοι, τί κάθησθε; 10.29 τοῦτο δὲ διαρρήδην αὐτοῦ διελέγχει τὴν ἄγνοιαν. Εἰ γὰρ ἀληθῶς προεγνώκει τὴν νίκην, οὐ μελέους ἂν αὐτοὺς δήπουθεν, ἀλλὰ τρισολβίους ἐκάλεσε· διακοσίας γάρ τοι πρὸς ταῖς χιλίαις τριήρεις καὶ τριακοσίας ἀνδρῶν ἐνίκησαν μυριάδας. Νικηφόροι τοίνυν καὶ λίαν ὀνομαστότατοι, ἀλλ' οὐ μέλεοι καὶ τρισάθλιοι, οἱ 10.30 ἀοίδιμον καὶ πολυθρύλητον ἀναστήσαντες τρόπαιον. Εἶτα φυγὴν αὐτοῖς παρεγγύησε, τὴν τῆς πολιούχου προμηνύσας ἀσθένειαν· οὐ δύναται γὰρ ἔφη Παλλὰς ∆ί' Ὀλύμπιον ἐξιλάσασθαι, λισσομένη πολλοῖσι λόγοις. Τούτῳ δὲ ἄντικρυς ἐναντίον τὸ ἐφεξῆς. Εἰπὼν γάρ, ὡς ὁ Ζεὺς οὐ πείθεται ποτνιωμένῃ τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ, ὥσπερ μεταμεληθεὶς ἔφη πάλιν· τεῖχος Τριτογενεῖ ξύλινον διδοῖ εὐρύοπα Ζεύς. 10.31 Καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ ξυροῦ ἀκμῆς ἔχουσι τὰς ἐλπίδας οὐκ ἐπέδειξε ξυντόμως σαφῆ τινα πορείας ὁδόν· ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀμαθίαν τῷ τῶν χρησμῶν ξυνεσκίασεν ἀμφιβόλῳ, τοῦ ψεύδους τὰ φώρια δει 10.32 μαίνων. Παραπλήσιον δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ χρησμοῦ τὸ τέλος· ὦ θεία Σαλαμίς, ἀπολεῖς δὲ σὺ τέκνα γυναικῶν, ἤ που σκιδναμένης ∆ημήτερος ἢ συνιούσης. Ἠγνόει γάρ που, ὡς ἔδειξε, τοὺς τεθνηξομένους, εἴτε Πέρσαι εἶεν, εἴτε Ἀθηναῖοι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γυναικῶν ἐμνήσθη μόνων, τὸ δὲ τούτων ἔθνος ἐσίγησεν· καὶ τὸ "σκιδναμένης δὲ ∆ημήτερος ἢ συνιούσης" ἀγνοοῦντός ἐστι παντελῶς τὸν τῆς νίκης καιρόν. Ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα μὲν ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς, καὶ ξυνέσει καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ χρη σάμενος, οὐκ εἴασε τοῦ χρησμοῦ παντελῶς διελεγχθῆναι τὸ ψεῦδος· οὐ μὴν καὶ μελέους τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, ἀλλ' εὐδαίμονας 10.33 ἔδειξεν. Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ καὶ Κνιδίοις οἱ τούτου χρησμοὶ τοῖς μὲν ἧτταν, τοῖς δὲ δουλείαν προὐξένησαν. Λυκούργῳ δὲ τῷ νομοθέτῃ τοὺς ὠμοτάτους ἐκείνους καὶ αἰσχροτάτους νόμους δεδωκέναι φιλοτιμεῖται. Εἰς γὰρ ∆ελφοὺς ἀφικομένῳ ταῦτα ἔφη· ἥκεις, ὦ Λυκόεργε, ἐμὸν ποτὶ πίονα νηόν, Ζηνὶ φίλος καὶ πᾶσιν Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσιν. ∆ίζω ἤ σε θεὸν μαντεύσομαι ἢ ἄνθρωπον· ἀλλ' ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον θεὸν ἔλπομαι, ὦ Λυκόεργε. ἥκεις εὐνομίην διζήμενος· αὐτὰρ ἐγώ τοι δώσω. 10.34 Ὁποίους δὲ οὗτος τέθεικε νόμους, ἐν τῇ πρὸ ταύτης δεδηλώκα μεν διαλέξει. Ξενηλασίας γὰρ ἐνομοθέτησε καὶ παίδων ἔρωτας ἀκολάστους καὶ γυναικῶν ὁμιλίας ἀθέσμους, καὶ τοὺς γαμηλίους ἀνατέτραφε νόμους. Ἀλλ' ὁ σοφώτατος καὶ μουσικώτατος μάντις αὐτὸς ἔφη τούτους δεδωκέναι τοὺς νόμους καὶ θεὸν καλεῖ τὸν ταῦτα νομοθετήσαντα καὶ ἀγνοεῖν ὁμολογεῖ, πότερον χρὴ θεὸν αὐτὸν καλεῖν ἢ ἄνθρωπον· καὶ τὸ τιμιώτερον δοῦναι θελήσας, οὐ 10.35 δέδωκεν ὡς θεός, ἀλλ' "ἔλπομαι" εἶπεν ὡς ἄνθρωπος. Οὗτος καὶ τὰς Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπαινεῖ γυναῖκας ἀδεῶς οἷς ἂν ἐθέλωσι μιγνυμένας καί φησιν· γαίης μὲν πάσης τὸ Πελασγικὸν Ἄργος ἄμεινον, ἵπποι Θρηΐκιαι, Λακεδαιμόνιαι δὲ γυναῖκες, ἄνδρες δ' οἳ πίνουσιν ὕδωρ καλῆς Ἀρεθούσης. 10.36 Οὗτος καὶ τὸν Ἀρχίλοχον, αἰσχρότατον γενόμενον ποιητήν, ἀοίδιμον προσηγόρευσε καὶ ἀθάνατον· καὶ πρὸς τὸν τοῦδε ἔφη πατέρα· ἀθάνατός σοι παῖς καὶ ἀοίδιμος, ὦ Τελεσίκλεις, ἔσσετ' ἐν ἀνθρώποις. 10.37 Καὶ τῷ Ὁμήρῳ ἔφη· "Ὄλβιε καὶ δύσδαιμον," τὸ μὲν διὰ τὴν ἐπιγενομένην τυφλότητα, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὴν ποίησιν, ἣν κατὰ πάντα εὖ ἔχειν ὑπέλαβε· δι' ἣν αὐτὸν ὁ Πλάτων μύρῳ κατὰ τὰς χελιδόνας ἀλείψας, τῆς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ξυντεθείσης ἀπέπεμψε πόλεως. 10.38 Οὗτος καὶ Κλεομήδη τὸν πύκτην θείας ἐκέλευσεν ἀξιοῦσθαι τιμῆς· ὕστατος ἡρώων, φησί , Κλεομήδης Ἀστυπαλαιεύς, ὃν θυσίαις τιμᾶσθ' ὡς οὐκέτι θνητὸν ἐόντα. Ὅσας δὲ οὗτος μιαιφονίας τετόλμηκεν, ἤδη πρόσθεν εἰρήκαμεν. 10.39 Καὶ Μηθυμναίοις δὲ τοῦτον ἔδωκε τὸν χρησμόν· ἀλλά κε Μηθύμνης ναέταις πολὺ λώϊον ἔσται, φαλληνὸν τιμῶσι ∆ιωνύσοιο κάρηνον. Καὶ οὐκ ἐρυθριᾷ τῶν θεῶν ὁ σοφώτατος, ὃν Φοῖβον οἱ ποιηταὶ προσωνόμαζον, ὡς δὴ ἁγνὸν καὶ ἀμίαντον, τοῦ ∆ιονύσου τὸ ἀκρο 10.40 πόσθιον τιμᾶσθαι χρησμῳδήσας. Οὗτος ἐμπιπραμένῳ μὲν οὐκ ἐπήμυνε τῷ οἰκείῳ νεῷ, ἔφη δὲ τοῦτον παρὰ τῶν Μοιρῶν εἰλη φέναι τὸν κλῆρον καὶ μονῳδίαν ᾖσε, τὸ πάθος ὀλοφυρόμενος. Ἐγὼ δὲ ταύτης τὸ τέλος ἐρῶ·