Letter 969: Libanius asks Heracleianus to receive Diphilus despite missed opportunities for a prior meeting.
This is Diphilus, Danaus' son, doing what his father did: teaching, as Danaus did. I could say that he is even better than his father, but it is enough to say he is no worse. By bringing the old poets into young souls, he is himself a good poet, giving his listeners reason to say of him what Homer says of Demodocus. Diphilus has often come to your house, while others have not even been able to see you once. Separate what belongs to intention from what belongs to chance, and you will not say that the man has been negligent or has betrayed his own interests. Even though he has not seen you before, receive him as you would if he had often been in your company. You will honor Diphilus without losing anything, since he will sing of your administration and its beauty. Administrations like yours need fine voices, through which the memory of their actions becomes immortal. Know that by delighting both Palestine, where he gives his lectures, and those over whom you preside, among whom he was born, he will make them say, if anyone asks what they are proudest of, Danaus and Diphilus.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
1. Οὗτός ἐστι Δίφιλος ὁ Δαναοῦ τὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ποιῶν, διδάσκων ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος, καὶ ἦν μέν μοι καὶ βελτίω τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν, ἀρκεῖ δὲ μὴ χείρω. τοὺς παλαιοὺς δὲ ποιητὰς εἰς τὰς τῶν νέων ψυχὰς εἰσάγων καὶ αὐτός ἐστι ποιητὴς ἀγαθός, ὡς παρέχειν πρὸς αὐτὸν τοῖς ἀκούουσι λέγειν ἃ πρὸς τὸν Δημόδοκον ἔφη τις παρ᾽ Ὁμήρῳ. 2. Δίφιλος δὲ τῶν μὲν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν σου πολλάκις ἐστὶν ἐλθόντων, τῶν δὲ οὐδ᾽ ἅπαξ ἰδεῖν σε δυνηθέντων. χώριζε τοίνυν τά τε τῆς γνώμης τά τε τῆς τύχης καὶ οὐ φήσεις ἐρρᾳθυμηκέναι τὸν ἄνδρα οὐδὲ τῶν αὑτῷ συμφερόντων γεγενῆσθαι προδότην. ἐχέτω τοίνυν καὶ οὐκ ἰδών σε πρότερον, ὥσπερ ἄν, εἰ καὶ πολλάκις ἦν ὡμιληκώς. 3. τιμήσεις δὲ Δίφιλον οὐκ ἀμισθὶ μέλλων γε αὐτὸν ἕξειν ἄδοντα τὴν σὴν ἀρχήν, ἧς δὴ τὸ κάλλος ὁρᾷ. ταῖς δὲ τοιαύταις ἀρχαῖς δεῖ δήπου καὶ στομάτων καλῶν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἀθάνατος ἡ μνήμη γίγνεται τοῖς πράγμασιν. 4. ἴσθι δὲ ἐν τοῖς περὶ τοῦτον καὶ Παλαιστίνην εὐφρανῶν, ἐν ᾗ ποιεῖται τὰς συνουσίας, κἀκείνους οἷς ἐφέστηκας, ἐν οἷς ἔφυ· οὓς εἴ τις ἔροιτο, τίνι μεγίστῳ φιλοτιμοῦνται, Δαναὸν ἐροῦσι καὶ Δίφιλον.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch8 t258 reviewed v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/download/foerster-libanii-opera/Foerster%20%281922%29%2C%20Libanii%20opera%2011_djvu.xml
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