Δημήτριος
Demetrius, Demetrios
Translated by Malcolm Heath9 May 2000Vetting: high11 revisions
Translation
Son of Phanostratus, of Phalerum (Phalerum is a harbour in Attica);1 he was called Phanus at first;2 a Peripatetic philosopher. He wrote on philosophy, history, rhetoric and politics, and about poets. He studied with Theophrastus,3 and was a demagogue in Athens. He composed numerous books. He was so handsome that the slander arose that he had been the beloved of Neon,4 and he was called by some Lampeto and Charitoblepharus.5 He rose to great glory and power, but because of envy he was out-witted; he was exiled by the Athenians, and went to Egypt, where he lived with Ptolemy Soter; he died of an asp's bite, and was buried in the Busirite nome, near to Diospolis in the marshes.6
When7 the father of Demetrius Poliorcetes8 was an old man, the hopes of the kingdom brought to him in succession both command and the good will of the masses. He was outstanding in beauty and stature, and when arrayed in the royal armour he was distinguished and awe-inspiring, a fact by which he created high expectations in most people. Moreover, he had a certain mildness, appropriate to a young king, by which he excited everyone's enthusiasm, so that even people who were not enlisted came together to hear him, sympathetically anxious on account of his youth and the imminent crisis because of their partisanship.
When7 the father of Demetrius Poliorcetes8 was an old man, the hopes of the kingdom brought to him in succession both command and the good will of the masses. He was outstanding in beauty and stature, and when arrayed in the royal armour he was distinguished and awe-inspiring, a fact by which he created high expectations in most people. Moreover, he had a certain mildness, appropriate to a young king, by which he excited everyone's enthusiasm, so that even people who were not enlisted came together to hear him, sympathetically anxious on account of his youth and the imminent crisis because of their partisanship.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Δημήτριος, Φανοστράτου, Φαληρεύς [Φάληρον δὲ λιμὴν τῆς Ἀττικῆσ], ὃς τὸ πρῶτον Φανὸς ἐκαλεῖτο· φιλόσοφος Περιπατητικός. γέγραφε φιλόσοφά τε καὶ ἱστορικὰ καὶ ῥητορικὰ καὶ πολιτικὰ καὶ περὶ ποιητῶν. ἠκροάσατο δὲ Θεοφράστου καὶ δημαγωγὸς Ἀθήνησι γέγονε. συνέγραψε δὲ συχνὰ βιβλία. οὕτως ἦν δὲ σφόδρα εὐπρεπὴς ὡς καὶ διαβολὴν λαβεῖν, ὅτι γέγονεν ἐρώμενος Νέωνος, καὶ προσαγορευθῆναι ὑπό τινων αὐτὸν Λαμπετὼ καὶ Χαριτοβλέφαρον. εἰς μέγα δὲ ἀρθεὶς δόξης καὶ ἐπικρατείας ὑπὸ τοῦ φθόνου κατεστρατηγήθη καὶ ἐξελαθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἦλθε καὶ παρὰ τῷ Σωτῆρι Πτολεμαίῳ διατρίβων δηχθεὶς ὑπὸ ἀσπίδος ἀπέθανε καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν τῷ Βουσιρίτῃ νομῷ, πλησίον Διοσπόλεως τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι. τοῦ πατρὸς δὲ ἤδη γεγηρακότος Δημητρίου τοῦ Πολιορκητοῦ, αἱ τῆς βασιλείας ἐλπίδες ἐς τὴν τούτου διαδοχὴν ἦγον ἅμα τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὅπλων εὔνοιαν. ἦν δὲ τῷ κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει διάφορος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ κεκοσμημένος ὅπλοις βασιλικοῖς εἶχε πολλὴν ὑπεροχὴν καὶ κατάπληξιν, δι' ἧς εἰς ἐλπίδας ἁδρὰς ἦγε τοὺς πολλούς· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις πραότης τις ἦν περὶ αὐτόν, ἁρμόζουσα νέῳ βασιλεῖ, δι' ἧς εἰς προθυμίαν ἐξεκαλεῖτο πάντας ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἐκτὸς τάξεως συνδραμεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν, συναγωνιῶντας τῇ νεότητι καὶ τῇ μελλούσῃ γίνεσθαι κρίσει διὰ τῆς παρατάξεως.
Betacode
*dhmh/trios, *fanostra/tou, *falhreu/s [*fa/lhron de\ limh\n th=s *)attikh=s], o(\s to\ prw=ton *fano\s e)kalei=to: filo/sofos *peripathtiko/s. ge/grafe filo/sofa/ te kai\ i(storika\ kai\ r(htorika\ kai\ politika\ kai\ peri\ poihtw=n. h)kroa/sato de\ *qeofra/stou kai\ dhmagwgo\s *)aqh/nhsi ge/gone. sune/graye de\ suxna\ bibli/a. ou(/tws h)=n de\ sfo/dra eu)preph\s w(s kai\ diabolh\n labei=n, o(/ti ge/gonen e)rw/menos *ne/wnos, kai\ prosagoreuqh=nai u(po/ tinwn au)to\n *lampetw\ kai\ *xaritoble/faron. ei)s me/ga de\ a)rqei\s do/chs kai\ e)pikratei/as u(po\ tou= fqo/nou katestrathgh/qh kai\ e)celaqei\s u(po\ *)aqhnai/wn ei)s *ai)/gupton h)=lqe kai\ para\ tw=| *swth=ri *ptolemai/w| diatri/bwn dhxqei\s u(po\ a)spi/dos a)pe/qane kai\ e)ta/fh e)n tw=| *bousiri/th| nomw=|, plhsi/on *diospo/lews th=s e)n toi=s e(/lesi. tou= patro\s de\ h)/dh geghrako/tos *dhmhtri/ou tou= *poliorkhtou=, ai( th=s basilei/as e)lpi/des e)s th\n tou/tou diadoxh\n h)=gon a(/ma th\n a)rxh\n kai\ th\n tw=n o(/plwn eu)/noian. h)=n de\ tw=| ka/llei kai\ mege/qei dia/foros, e)/ti de\ kai\ kekosmhme/nos o(/plois basilikoi=s ei)=xe pollh\n u(peroxh\n kai\ kata/plhcin, di' h(=s ei)s e)lpi/das a(dra\s h)=ge tou\s pollou/s: pro\s de\ tou/tois prao/ths tis h)=n peri\ au)to/n, a(rmo/zousa ne/w| basilei=, di' h(=s ei)s proqumi/an e)cekalei=to pa/ntas w(/ste kai\ tou\s e)kto\s ta/cews sundramei=n e)pi\ th\n a)kro/asin, sunagwniw=ntas th=| neo/thti kai\ th=| mellou/sh| gi/nesqai kri/sei dia\ th=s parata/cews.
Notes (8)
- C4/early 3 BC. See generally RE Demetrios(85); NP Demetrios(4); OCD4 Demetrius(3); FGrH 228.↩
- 1cf. phi 46. ↩
- 2This clause perhaps refers to Phanostratus, not Demetrius himself: so e.g. J.K. Davies, Athenian Propertied Families 600-300 BC (Oxford 1971). In any event, Davies points out that Phanos is a typical slave's name, which ties in with other allegations (in Diogenes Laertius 5.76 and elsewhere) that the family was of servile origin ↩
- 3[theta 199] Theophrastus = 18.5 FHS&G. ↩
- 4Differently in Diog.Laert. 5.76: the name is not Neon but Kleon. However, the same relationship between the two men -- Demetrius the younger -- is being described:
u(po\ *Kle/wnos peponqe/nai is translated by R.D. Hicks in the Loeb edition as 'suffered violence from Cleon', but more precisely the verbpa/sxein here should be understood as submitting to homoerotic advances; cf. K.J. Dover, Greek Homosexuality (London 1978) 140 n.7. ↩- 5Lampito in Diog.Laert. 5.76. Either way, these two (nick)names refer to the beauty of his eyes. ↩
- 6The foregoing = Demetrius 2 SOD (P. Stork, J.M. van Ophuijsen, T. Dorandi, "Demetrius of Phalerum: the sources, text, and translation," in W. Fortenbaugh and E. Schütrumpf (eds), Demetrius of Phalerum: Text, Translation and Discussion, New Brunswick, NJ, 2000, 1-310.) ↩
- 7This material comes from Diodorus Siculus 19.81.3-4 (via Excerpta Constantiniana EV I 249.12-21). ↩
- 8Demetrius Poliorcetes, king of Macedon: RE Demetrios(33); NP Demetrios(2); OCD3 Demetrius(4). His father was Antigonus.
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Revision history11 revisions · last 18 Jul 2016
- tweaked translation — Catharine Roth
- tweaks to tr; more notes — David Whitehead
- updated a ref — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- activated x-ref; more keywords — David Whitehead
- augmented note — Philip Rance
- — David Mirhady
- more keywords — David Whitehead
- supplied headword; rearranged notes; added keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- —
- —
- Translated — Malcolm Heath