I
Once upon a time Simonides the poet paid a visit to Hiero the
"tyrant,"[1] and when both obtained the liesure requisite, Simonides began
this conversation:
[1] Or, "came to the court of the despotic monarch Hiero." For the
"dramatis personae" see Dr. Holden\'s Introduction to the "Hieron" of
Xenophon.
Would you be pleased to give me information, Hiero, upon certain
matters, as to which it is likely you have greater knowledge than
myself?[2]
[2] Or, "would you oblige me by explaining certain matters, as to
which your knowledge naturally transcends my own?"
And pray, what sort of things may those be (answered Hiero), of which
I can have greater knowledge than yourself, who are so wise a man?
I know (replied the poet) that you were once a private person,[3] and
are now a monarch. It is but likely, therefore, that having tested both
conditions,[4] you should know better than myself, wherein the life of the
despotic ruler differs from the life of any ordinary person, looking to the
sum of joys and sorrows to which flesh is heir.
[3] Or, "a common citizen," "an ordinary mortal," "a private
individual."
[4] Or, "having experienced both lots in life, both forms of
existence."
Would it not be simpler (Hiero replied) if you, on your side,[5] who
are still to-day a private person, would refresh my memory by recalling
the various circumstances of an ordinary mortal\'s life? With these before
me,[6] I should be better able to describe the points of difference which
exist between the one life and the other.
[5] Simonides is still in the chrysalis or grub condition of private
citizenship; he has not broken the shell as yet of ordinary manhood.
[6] Lit. "in that case, I think I should best be able to point out the
\'differentia\' of either."