παραβολὴ δὲ τὰ Σωκρατικά, οἷον εἴ τις λέγοι ὅτι οὐ (5) δεῖ κληρωτοὺς ἄρχειν·
ὅμοιον γὰρ ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις τοὺς (6) ἀθλητὰς κληροίη μὴ οἳ δύνανται ἀγωνίζεσθαι ἀλλ’ οἳ ἂν (7) λάχωσιν, ἢ τῶν πλωτήρων ὅντινα δεῖ κυβερνᾶν κληρώσειεν, (8) ὡς δέον τὸν λαχόντα ἀλλὰ μὴ τὸν ἐπιστάμενον.
λόγος δέ, οἷος (9) ὁ Στησιχόρου περὶ Φαλάριδος καὶ <ὁ> Αἰσώπου ὑπὲρ τοῦ δημα(10)γωγοῦ.
Στησίχορος μὲν γὰρ ἑλομένων στρατηγὸν αὐτοκράτορα (11) τῶν Ἱμεραίων Φάλαριν καὶ μελλόντων φυλακὴν διδόναι τοῦ (12) σώματος, τἆλλα διαλεχθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς λόγον ὡς ἵππος (13) κατεῖχε λειμῶνα μόνος,
ἐλθόντος δ’ ἐλάφου καὶ διαφθείροντος (14) τὴν νομὴν βουλόμενος τιμωρήσασθαι τὸν ἔλαφον ἠρώτα τινὰ (15) ἄνθρωπον εἰ δύναιτ’ ἂν μετ’ αὐτοῦ τιμωρήσασθαι τὸν ἔλαφον,
(16) ὁ δ’ ἔφησεν, ἐὰν λάβῃ χαλινὸν καὶ αὐτὸς ἀναβῇ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν (17) ἔχων ἀκόντια·
συνομολογήσας δὲ καὶ ἀναβάντος ἀντὶ τοῦ (18) τιμωρήσασθαι αὐτὸς ἐδούλευσε τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ.
“οὕτω δὲ καὶ (19) ὑμεῖς”, ἔφη, “ὁρᾶτε μὴ βουλόμενοι τοὺς πολεμίους τιμωρή(20)σασθαι τὸ αὐτὸ πάθητε τῷ ἵππῳ·
τὸν μὲν γὰρ χαλινὸν ἔχετε (21) ἤδη, ἑλόμενοι στρατηγὸν αὐτοκράτορα·
ἑὰν δὲ φυλακὴν δῶτε (22) καὶ ἀναβῆναι ἐάσητε, δουλεύσετε ἤδη Φαλάριδι”.
Αἴσωπος δὲ (23) ἐν Σάμῳ δημηγορῶν κρινομένου δημαγωγοῦ περὶ θανάτου ἔφη
(24) ἀλώπεκα διαβαίνουσαν ποταμὸν ἀπωσθῆναι εἰς φάραγγα,
οὐ (25) δυναμένην δὲ ἐκβῆναι πολὺν χρόνον κακοπαθεῖν καὶ κυνοραι(26)στὰς πολλοὺς ἔχεσθαι αὐτῆς,
ἐχῖνον δὲ πλανώμενον, ὡς εἶδεν (27) αὐτήν, κατοικτείραντα ἐρωτᾶν εἰ ἀφέλοι αὐτῆς τοὺς κυνοραι(28)στάς, τὴν δὲ οὐκ ἐᾶν·
ἐρομένου δὲ διὰ τί, “ὅτι οὗτοι μὲν” φάναι (29) “ἤδη μου πλήρεις εἰσὶ καὶ ὀλίγον ἕλκουσιν αἷμα, ἐὰν δὲ τούτους (30) ἀφέλητε, ἕτεροι ἐλθόντες πεινῶντες ἐκπιοῦνταί μου τὸ λοιπὸν (31) αἷμα”.
“ἀτὰρ καὶ ὑμᾶς, ἄνδρες Σάμιοι, οὗτος μὲν οὐδὲν ἔτι (32) βλάψει (πλούσιος γάρ ἐστιν),
ἐὰν δὲ τοῦτον ἀποκτείνητε, ἕτεροι (1394a1) ἥξουσι πένητες, οἳ ὑμᾶς ἀναλώσουσι τὰ λοιπὰ κλέπτοντες.” (2)
εἰσὶ δ’ οἱ λόγοι δημηγορικοί, καὶ ἔχουσιν ἀγαθὸν τοῦτο, (3) ὅτι πράγματα μὲν εὑρεῖν ὅμοια γεγενημένα χαλεπόν, λόγους (4) δὲ ῥᾷον·
ποιῆσαι γὰρ δεῖ ὥσπερ καὶ παραβολάς, ἄν τις (5) δύνηται τὸ ὅμοιον ὁρᾶν, ὅπερ ῥᾷόν ἐστιν ἐκ φιλοσοφίας.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The illustrative parallel is the sort of argument Socrates used: e.g. ’Public officials ought not to be selected by lot.
That is like using the lot to select athletes, instead of choosing those who are fit for the contest; or using the lot to select a steersman from among a ship’s crew, as if we ought to take the man on whom the lot falls, and not the man who knows most about it.’
Instances of the fable are that of Stesichorus about Phalaris, and that of Aesop in defence of the popular leader.
When the people of Himera had made Phalaris military dictator, and were going to give him a bodyguard, Stesichorus wound up a long talk by telling them the fable of the horse who had a field all to himself.
Presently there came a stag and began to spoil his pasturage. The horse, wishing to revenge himself on the stag, asked a man if he could help him to do so.
The man said, ‘Yes, if you will let me bridle you and get on to your back with javelins in my hand’.
The horse agreed, and the man mounted; but instead of getting his revenge on the stag, the horse found himself the slave of the man.
’You too’, said Stesichorus, ‘take care lest your desire for revenge on your enemies, you meet the same fate as the horse.
By making Phalaris military dictator, you have already let yourselves be bridled.
If you let him get on to your backs by giving him a bodyguard, from that moment you will be his slaves.’
Aesop, defending before the assembly at Samos a poular leader who was being tried for his life, told this story:
A fox, in crossing a river, was swept into a hole in the rocks;
and, not being able to get out, suffered miseries for a long time through the swarms of fleas that fastened on her.
A hedgehog, while roaming around, noticed the fox; and feeling sorry for her asked if he might remove the fleas. But the fox declined the offer;
and when the hedgehog asked why, she replied, ‘These fleas are by this time full of me and not sucking much blood; if you take them away, others will come with fresh appetites and drink up all the blood I have left.’
‘So, men of Samos’, said Aesop, ‘my client will do you no further harm; he is wealthy already.
But if you put him to death, others will come along who are not rich, and their peculations will empty your treasury completely.’
Fables are suitable for addresses to popular assemblies; and they have one advantage—they are comparatively easy to invent, whereas it is hard to find parallels among actual past events.
You will in fact frame them just as you frame illustrative parallels: all you require is the power of thinking out your analogy, a power developed by intellectual training.
