Letter 244: The sons of Caesarius did not make a bad decision in the first place when they entrusted themselves to a...

To Iphicrates. (358/59) Well, the sons of Caesarius were not ill-advised in the first place when they entrusted themselves to a rhetorician, and now too may they find with me, O Muses, something of such a kind that they will be reminded of a certain proverb. What this proverb is, you perhaps see, but for me it is not seemly to say. And laughing at your defense, which you were making although no one was accusing you, I laughed again, because I found you afraid lest the young men should not reap the full benefit, on the ground that they have come to us through others. For if I considered them enemies, I would have shut them out; but having received them as friends, I would be doing myself harm if I did not do these men whatever good I am able to do. Diomedes too would have been ridiculous, if, having taken the horses of Aeneas, instead of caring for them he made them worse both in other respects and by not giving them fodder, reproaching them because they had formerly been Aeneas'. But Zeus, who cared for the horses-for he himself had given the breed-would have said: O son of Tydeus, you destroy what is your own, if you neglect these who are yours and who carry you and crown you when you are victorious, and not the horses of Anchises' son.

Ἰφικράτει. (358/59) Ἀλλ’ οὔτε τὰ πρῶτα κακῶς ἐβουλεύθη τοῖς Καισαρίου παισὶ ῥήτορι δεδωκόσιν αὑτοὺς νῦν τε εὕροιεν, ὦ Μοῦσαι, παρ’ ἐμοί τι τοιοῦτον, ὑφ’ οὗ μνησθήσονται παροιμίας τινός. ἥτις δὲ αὕτη, σὺ μὲν ἴσως ὁρᾷς, ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ καλὸν λέγειν. γε- λῶν δέ σου πρὸς τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἣν ἐποιοῦ κατηγοροῦντος οὐ- δενός, πάλιν ἐγέλων, ὅτι σε εὕρισκον φοβούμενον μὴ οὐ τοῦ παντὸς ἀπολαύσωσιν οἱ νέοι τῷ δι’ ἄλλων παρ’ ἡμᾶς ἥκειν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐχθροὺς ἡγούμην, ἀπέκλειον ἄν δεξάμενος δὲ ὡς φίλους ἐμαυτὸν ἂν ποιοίην κακῶς, εἰ μὴ τούτους ἀγαθόν, ὅ τι ἂν δύνωμαι. γελοῖος δ’ ἂν ἦν καὶ Διομήδης, εἰ τοὺς ἵππους Αἰνείου λαβὼν ἀντὶ τοῦ θεραπεύειν ἐποίει χείρους τῇ τε ἄλλη καὶ χιλὸν οὐ διδοὺς ἐγκαλῶν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι ἦσαν Αἰ- νείου πρότερον. ἀλλ’ εἶπεν ἂν ὁ Ζεύς, ᾧ τῶν ἵππων ἔμελε, καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐδεδώκει τὸ γένος, ὅτι ὦ παῖ Τυδέως, τὰ σαυτοῦ φθείρεις, ἢν τούτων ἀμελῇς, οἳ σοί τέ εἰσι καὶ σὲ φέρουσι καὶ στεφανοῦσι νικῶντες, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τὸν Ἀγχίσου.