Panathenaicus

When I was younger, I elected not to write the kind of discourse which deals with myths[*](See General Introduction p. 22. Yet he deals with the legend of Demeter in Isoc. 4 and with that of Heracles in Isoc. 5, and, half playfully, he goes into the stories of Helen and Busiris in the discourses devoted to them. See General Introduction.) nor that which abounds in marvels and fictions,[*](Cf. Isoc. 10.4 ff., Vol. III., L.C.L.) although the majority of people are more delighted with this literature than with that which is devoted to their welfare and safety;[*](See Isoc. 7.1.) nor did I choose the kind which recounts the ancient deeds and wars of the Hellenes, although I am aware that this is deservedly praised,[*](One of his pupils, Theopompus, was a historian. For Isocrates' attitude to the historians see Blass, Die attische Beredsamkeit 2. p. 49.) nor, again, that which gives the impression of having been composed in a plain and simple manner and is lacking in all the refinements of style,[*](For the plain style affected by the forensic orators, notably Lysias, see Jebb, Attic Orators1. pp. 159 ff. Cf. Isoc. 4.) which those who are clever at conducting law-suits urge our young men tocultivate,

especially if they wish to have the advantage over their adversaries.[*](Isocrates despised this kind of writing. See General Introduction.) No, I left all these to others and devoted my own efforts to giving advice on the true interests of Athens and of the rest of the Hellenes,[*](See General Introduction.) writing in a style rich in many telling points, in contrasted and balanced phrases not a few,[*](The Gorgian figures, antithesis and parisosis, which Dionysius of Halicarnassus complained (Dion. Hal. Isoc. 14) were excessively used in the Isoc. 4.71-81.) and in the other figures of speech which give brilliance to oratory[*](See General Introduction.) and compel the approbation and applause of the audience.

Now, however, I have completely given up these devices of rhetoric.[*](An exaggeration. They abound in this discourse, but his earlier efforts were more ornate. Cf. Isoc. 5.27-28, and Isoc. 15.195.) For I do not think it is becoming to the ninety-four years which I have lived nor, in general, to men whose hair has at length turned to grey[*](An echo of Plat. Apol. 17.) to continue to speak in this fashion, but rather in the manner which every man, should he so desire, would hope to command, although no man can easily attain it without hard work and close application.

I have said this at the beginning in order that if the discourse which is now about to be presented to the public should appear to some to be more feeble[*](Cf. same apology in Isoc. 5.149; Isoc. 15.9; Isoc. Letter 6.6.) than those which have been published in former years, they may not compare it in the matter of rhetorical variety and finish to my former compositions but may judge it in relation to the subject matter which I have deemed appropriate to the present occasion.

I intend to discuss the achievements of Athens and the virtues of our ancestors, although I shall not begin with them but with a statement of my personal experience, since it is more urgent, I think, to begin with this. For notwithstanding that I strive to live in a manner above reproach and without offence to others, I am continually being misrepresented by obscure and worthless sophists and being judged by the general public, not by what I really am, but by what they hear from others.[*](Cf. Isoc. 15.4-8.)

I wish, therefore, to preface my discussion with a word about myself and about those who have this attitude towards me, in order that, if only it lies within my power to do so, I may put an end to the abuse of my calumniators and give to the public a clear understanding of the work to which I am devoted. For if I succeed in setting forth a true picture of this in my discourse, I hope not only that I myself may pass the rest of my days free from annoyance but that my present audience will give better attention to the discourse which is about to be delivered.

I am not going to hesitate to tell you frankly of the confusion which now comes into my thoughts, of the strangeness of my feelings on the present occasion, and of my perplexity as to whether I am doing anything to the purpose. For I have had my share of the greatest goods of life—the things which all men would pray the gods to have as their portion:[*](For the “greatest goods” cf. Plat. Laws 631c; Aristot. Rh. 1.5; and Herrick's rendering of the famous Greek skolion: “Health is the first good lent to men;/A gentle disposition then;/Next, to be rich by no by-wayes;/Lastly, with friends t'enjoy our dayes.”) first of all, I have enjoyed health both of body and of soul, not in common degree, but in equal measure with those who have been most blessed in these respects;[*](Cf. Bacchyl. 1.27 ff. (Bacchyl. 1.55 ff., Jebb's edition): ei) d' u(giei/gas qnato\s e)w\n e)/laxen, zw/ein t' a)p' oi)kei/wn e)/xei, prw/tois e)ri/zei.) secondly, I have been in comfortable circumstances, so that I have not lacked for any of the moderate satisfactions nor for those that a sensible man would desire;

and, lastly, I have been ranked, not among those who are despised or ignored, but among those whom the most cultivated of the Hellenes will recall and talk about as men of consequence and worth. And yet, although I have been blessed with all these gifts, some in surpassing, others in sufficient measure, I am not content to live on these terms; on the contrary, my old age is so morose and captious and discontented that I have oftentimes before this found fault with my nature,