Miscellanies 6.2.20

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Orators copy one another's phrases, from Thucydides and Demosthenes on Marathon to the stock openings of courtroom speeches.

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Greek text · Stählin 2:438–439

Ναὶ μὴν Θουκυδίδου λέγοντος Μαραθῶνί τε μόνοι προκινδυνεῦσαι Δημοσθένης εἶπεν· μὰ τοὺς ἐν Μαραθῶνι προκινδυνεύσαντας. Οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνα παραπέμψομαι· Κρατίνου ἐν Πυτίνῃ εἰπόντος· τὴν μὲν παρασκευὴν ἴσως γινώσκετε, Ἀνδοκίδης ὁ ῥήτωρ λέγει· τὴν μὲν παρασκευήν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῶν ἐμῶν σχεδόν τι πάντες εἴσεσθε. ὁμοίως καὶ Νικίας ἐν τῷ πρὸς Λυσίαν ὑπὲρ παρακαταθήκης τὴν μὲν παρασκευὴν καὶ τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἀντιδίκων ὁρᾶτε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, φησίν, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Αἰσχίνης λέγει· τὴν μὲν παρασκευὴν ὁρᾶτε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ τὴν παράταξιν. Πάλιν Δημοσθένους εἰπόντος ὅση μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, σπουδὴ περὶ τουτονὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ παραγγελία γέγονεν, σχεδὸν οἶμαι πάντας ὑμᾶς ᾐσθῆσθαι Φιλῖνος τε ὁμοίως· ὅση μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, σπουδὴ καὶ παράταξις γεγένηται περὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα τουτονί, οὐδʼ ἕνα ὑμῶν ἀγνοεῖν ἡγοῦμαι.

English · Claude translation

Indeed, when Thucydides said: “At Marathon we alone faced the danger in front,” Demosthenes said: “No, by those who faced the danger in front at Marathon.” Nor shall I pass over these: when Cratinus said in the Wine Flask: “You know, perhaps, the preparation,” Andocides the orator says: “The preparation, gentlemen of the jury, and the zeal of my enemies, you will almost all know.” Likewise Nicias too, in his speech against Lysias concerning a deposit, says: “You see the preparation and the zeal of my opponents, gentlemen of the jury,” and after him Aeschines says: “You see the preparation, men of Athens, and the battle array.” Again, when Demosthenes said: “How much zeal, men of Athens, and how much canvassing there has been about this trial, I think nearly all of you have perceived,” Philinus likewise says: “How much zeal and battle array, gentlemen of the jury, has been made about this trial, I think not one of you is unaware.”

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:438–439 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Extrabiblical texts

Thucydides (Thucydides, History) · quotation, medium confidence
Demosthenes (Demosthenes (orations)) · quotation, medium confidence

Notes

Translation notes

The sources are Thucydides 1.73.4, Demosthenes, On the Crown 208 and On the False Embassy 1, Andocides, On the Mysteries 1, Aeschines, On the Embassy 1, and fragments of Cratinus (Wine Flask), Nicias, and Philinus.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.2.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/2/20/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.2.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/2/20/).

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