(Therefore, though I think that many of the other qualities of Penelope are worthy of praise, this I admire beyond all, that she so entirely persuaded her husband to love and cherish her, that he despised, we are told, unions with goddesses, and equally rejected an alliance with the Phaeacians. And yet they were all in love with him, Calypso, Circe, Nausicaa. And they had very beautiful palaces and gardens and parks withal, planted with wide-spreading and shady trees, and meadows gay with flowers, in which soft grass grew deep: “And four fountains in a row flowed with shining water.”[533])
Κρῆναι δ᾽ ἑξείης πίσυρες ῥέον ὕδατι λευκῷ· καὶ ἐτεθήλει περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἡμερὶς ἡβώωσα[534] σταφυλῆς οἶμαι τῆς γενναίας, βριθομένη τοῖς βότρυσι· καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Φαίαξιν ἕτερα τοιαῦτα, πλὴν ὅσῳ πολυτελέστερα, [B] ἅτε οἶμαι ποιητὰ ξὺν τέχνῃ, τῆς τῶν αὐτοφυῶν ἄλαττον μετεῖχε χάριτος καὶ ἧττον εἶναι ἐδόκει ἐκείνων ἐράσμια. τῆς [pg 302] τρυφῆς δὲ αὖ καὶ τοῦ πλούτου καὶ προσέτι τῆς περὶ τὰς νήσους ἐκείνας εἰρήνης καὶ ἡσυχίας τίνα οὐκ ἂν ἡττηθῆναι δοκεῖτε[535] τοσούτους ἀνατλάντα πόνους καὶ κινδύνους καὶ ἔτι ὑφορώμενον δεινότερα[536] πείσεσθαι, τὰ μὲν ἐν θαλάττῃ τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτῆς, [C] πρὸς ἑκατὸν νεανίσκους ἡβῶντας εὖ μάλα μόνον ἀγωνίζεσθαι μέλλοντα, ὅπερ οὐδὲ ἐν Τροίᾳ ἐκείνῳ ποτὲ συνηνέχθη; εἴ τις οὖν ἔροιτο τὸν Ὀδυσσέα παίζων ὧδέ πως· τί ποτε, ὦ σοφώτατε ῥῆτορ ἦ στρατηγὲ ἦ ὅ τι χρή σε ὀνομάζειν, τοσούτους ἑκὼν ὑπέμεινας πόνους, ἐξὸν εἶναι ὄλβιον καὶ εὐδαίμονα, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἀθάνατον εἴ τι χρὴ ταῖς ἐπαγγελίαις Καλυψοῦς πιστεύειν, σὺ δὲ ἑλόμενος τὰ χείρω πρὸ τῶν βελτιόνων τοσούτους σαυτῷ προστέθεικας πόνους, οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ Σχερίᾳ καταμεῖναι ἐθελήσας, [D] ἐξὸν ἐκεῖ που παυσάμενον τῆς πλάνης καὶ τῶν κινδύνων ἀπηλλάχθαι· σὺ δὲ ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ἔγνως στρατεύεσθαι καὶ ἄθλους δή τινας καὶ ἀποδημίαν ἑτέραν ἐκτελεῖν οὔτι τῆς πρόσθεν, ὥς γε τὸ εἰκὸς ἀπονωτέραν οὐδὲ κουφοτέραν. τί δὴ οὖν οἴεσθε πρὸς ταῦτα ἐκεῖνον εἰπεῖν ἔχειν; ἆρ᾽ οὐχ ὅτι τῇ Πηνελόπῃ συνεῖναι ἐθέλων τοὺς ἄθλους αὐτῇ καὶ τὰς στρατείας χαρίεντα διηγήματα φέρειν ὑπέλαβε; ταῦτά τοι καὶ τὴν μητέρα πεποίηκεν αὐτῷ παραινοῦσαν μεμνῆσθαι πάντων, [114] ὧν τε εἶδε θεαμάτων καὶ ὧν ἤκουσεν ἀκουσμάτων,
(And a lusty wild vine bloomed about her dwelling,[537] with bunches of excellent grapes, laden with clusters. And at the Phaeacian court there were the same things, except that they were more costly, seeing that, as I suppose, they were made by art, and hence had less charm and seemed less lovely than those that were of natural growth. Now to all that luxury and wealth, and moreover to the peace and quiet that surrounded those islands, who do you think would not have succumbed, especially one who had endured so great toils and dangers and expected that he would have to suffer still more terrible hardships, partly by sea and partly in his own house, since he had to fight all alone against a hundred youths in their prime, a thing which had never happened to him even in the land of Troy? Now if someone in jest were to question Odysseus somewhat in this fashion: “Why, O most wise orator or general, or whatever one must call you, did you endure so many toils, when you might have been prosperous and happy and perhaps even immortal, if one may at all believe the promises of Calypso? But you chose the worse instead of the better, and imposed on yourself all those hardships[538] and refused to remain even in Scheria, though you might surely have rested there from your wandering and been delivered from your perils; but behold you resolved to carry on the war in your own house and to perform feats of valour and to accomplish a second journey, not less toilsome, as seemed likely, nor easier than the first!” What answer then do you think he would give to this? Would he not answer that he longed always to be with Penelope, and that those contests and campaigns he purposed to take back to her as a pleasant tale to tell? For this reason, then, he makes his mother exhort him to remember everything, all the sights he saw and all the things he heard, and then she says:)
ἵνα καὶ μετόπισθε τεῇ εἴπῃσθα γυναικί,
(“So that in the days to come thou mayst tell it to thy wife.”[539])
φησίν. ὁ δὲ οὐδενὸς ἐπιλαθόμενος, ἐπειδὴ πρῶτον ἀφίκετο καὶ τῶν μειρακίων ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια κωμαζόντων ἐκράτει ξὺν δίκῃ, πάντα ἀθρόως αὐτῇ διηγεῖτο, ὅσα τε ἔδρασε καὶ ὅσα ἀνέτλη, καὶ εἰ δὴ τι ἄλλο ὑπὸ τῶν χρησμῶν ἀναπειθόμενος ἐκτελεῖν διενοεῖτο· ἀπόρρητον δὲ ἐποιεῖτο πρὸς αὐτὴν οὐδὲ ἕν, [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἠξίου κοινωνὸν γίγνεσθαι τῶν βουλευμάτων καὶ ὅ,τι πρακτέον εἴη συννοεῖν καὶ συνεξευρίσκειν. ἆρα τοῦτο ὑμῖν τῆς Πηνελόπης ὀλίγον ἐγκώμιον δοκεῖ, ἢ ἤδη[540] τις ἄλλη τὴν ἐκείνης ἀρετὴν ὑπερβαλλομένη γαμετή τε οὖσα βασιλέως ἀνδρείου καὶ μεγαλοψύχου καὶ σώφρονος τοσαύτην εὔνοιαν ἐνεποίησεν αὑτῆς τῷ γήμαντι, [C] συγκερασαμένη τῇ παρὰ τῶν ἐρώτων ἐπιπνεομένῃ φιλίᾳ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀρετῆς καθάπερ ῥεῦμα θεῖον ἐπιφερομένην ταῖς ἀγαθαῖς καὶ γενναίαις ψυχαῖς; δύο γὰρ δὴ τώδε τινὲ πίθω[541] φιλίας ἔστον, ὧν ἥδε κατ᾽ ἴσον ἀρυσαμένη βουλευμάτων τε αὐτῷ γέγονε κοινωνὸς καὶ πρᾷον ὄντα φύσει τὸν βασιλέα καὶ χρηστὸν καὶ εὐγνώμονα πρὸς ἃ πέφυκε παρακαλεῖ μᾶλλον πρεπόντως καὶ πρὸς συγγνώμην τὴν δίκην τρέπει. ὥστε οὐκ ἂν τις εἰπεῖν ἔχοι, ὅτωι γέγονεν ἡ βασιλὶς ἥδε ἐν δίκῃ τυχὸν ἢ καὶ παρὰ δίκην αἰτία τιμωρίας καὶ κολάσεως μικρᾶς ἢ μείζονος. [D] Ἀθήνησι μὲν οὖν φασιν, ὅτε τοῖς πατρίοις ἔθεσιν ἐχρῶντο καὶ ἔζων τοῖς οἰκείοις πειθόμενοι νόμοις μεγάλην καὶ πολυάνθρωπον οἰκοῦντες πόλιν, εἴ ποτε τῶν δικαζόντων [pg 306] αἱ ψῆφοι κατ᾽ ἴσον γένοιντο τοῖς φεύγουσι πρὸς τοὺς διώκοντας, τὴν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπιτιθεμένην τῷ τὴν δίκην ὀφλήσειν μέλλοντι ἀπολύειν ἄμφω τῆς αἰτίας, [115] τὸν μὲν ἐπάγοντα τὴν κατηγορίαν τοῦ δοκεῖν εἶναι συκοφάντην, τὸν δέ, ὡς εἰκός, τοῦ δοκεῖν ἔνοχον εἶναι τῷ πονηρεύματι. τοῦτον δὴ φιλάνθρωπον ὄντα καὶ χαρίεντα τὸν νόμον ἐπὶ τῶν δικῶν, ἃς βασιλεὺς κρίνει, σωζόμενον πρᾳότερον αὕτη καθίστησιν. οὗ γὰρ ἂν ὁ φεύγων παρ᾽ ὀλίγον ἔλθῃ τὴν ἴσην ἐν ταῖς ψήφοις λαχεῖν, πείθει, τὴν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ δέησιν προσθεῖσα καὶ ἱκετηρίαν, ἀφεῖναι πάντως τῆς αἰτίας. ὁ δὲ ἑκὼν ἑκόντι τῷ θυμῷ χαρίζεται τὰ τοιαῦτα, [B] καὶ οὐ, καθάπερ Ὅμηρός φησι τὸν Δία ἐκβιαζόμενον παρὰ τῆς γαμετῆς ὁμολογεῖν[542] ὅ,τι ξυγχωροίη,[543] δίδωσιν ἑκὼν ἀέκοντί γε θυμῷ. καὶ τυχὸν οὐκ ἄτοπον χαλεπῶς καὶ μόλις τὰ τοιαῦτα ξυγχωρεῖν κατὰ ἀνδρῶν ὑβριστῶν καὶ ἀλαζόνων. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ[544] γὰρ εἰ σφόδρα ἐπιτήδειοί τινές εἰσι πάσχειν κακῶς καὶ κολάζεσθαι, τούτους ἐκ παντὸς ἀπολέσθαι χρεών· ὃ δὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς ἥδε ξυννοοῦσα κακὸν μὲν οὐδὲν ἐκέλευσεν οὔτε ἄλλο ποτε οὔτε[545] [C] κόλασιν οὔτε τιμωρίαν ἐπαγαγεῖν οὐχ ὅπως βασιλείᾳ τινὸς ἢ πόλει, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ οἰκίᾳ μιᾷ τῶν πολιτῶν. προσθείην δ᾽ ἂν ἔγωγε θαρρῶν εὖ μάλα ὅτι μηδὲν [pg 308] ψεῦδός φημι, ὡς οὐδὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἢ γυναικὸς μιᾶς ἔστιν αὐτὴν αἰτιᾶσθαι ξυμφορᾶς τῳ τῆς τυχούσης, ἀγαθὰ δὲ ὅσα καὶ οὕστινας δρᾷ καὶ ἔδρασεν, ἡδέως ἂν ὑμῖν τὰ πλεῖστα ἐξαριθμησαίμην καθ᾽ ἕκαστα ἀπαγγέλλων, ὡς ὅδε μὲν τὸν πατρῷον δι᾽ ἐκείνην νέμεται κλῆρον, ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἀπηλλάγη τιμωρίας, [D] ὀφλήσας τοῖς νὀμοις, ἄλλος συκοφαντίαν διέφυγε, παρ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐλθὼν κινδύνου, τιμῆς δὲ ἔτυχον καὶ ἀρχῆς μυρίοι. καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις ἐμὲ ψεύδεσθαι τῶν ἁπάντων φήσει, εἰ καὶ ὀνομαστὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας μὴ καταλέγοιμι. ἀλλ᾽ ὀκνῶ, μή τισιν ἐξονειδίζειν δόξω τὰς συμφορὰς καὶ οὐκ ἔπαινον τῶν ταύτης ἀγαθῶν, κατάλογον δὲ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων συγγράφειν ἀτυχημάτων. τοσούτων δὲ ἔργων μηδὲν παρασχέσθαι μηδὲ εἰς τὸ ἐμφανὲς ἄγειν [116] τεκμήριον κενόν πως εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ ἐς ἀπιστίαν ἄγει[546] τὸν ἔπαινον. οὐκοῦν ἐκεῖνα παραιτησάμενος, ὁπόσα γ᾽ ἐμοί τε εἰπεῖν ἀνεπίφθονον ταύτῃ τε ἀκούειν καλὰ λέγοιμ᾽ ἂν ἤδη.
(And indeed he forgot nothing, and no sooner had he come home and vanquished, as was just, the youths who caroused in the palace, than he related all to her without pause, all that he had achieved and endured, and all else that, obeying the oracles, he purposed still to accomplish.[547] And from her he kept nothing secret, but chose that she should be the partner of his counsels and should help him to plan and contrive what he must do. And do you think this a trifling tribute to Penelope, or is there not now found to be yet another woman whose virtue surpasses hers, and who, as the consort of a brave, magnanimous and prudent Emperor, has won as great affection from her husband, since she has mingled with the tenderness that is inspired by love that other which good and noble souls derive from their own virtue, whence it flows like a sacred fount? For there are two jars,[548] so to speak, of these two kinds of human affection, and Eusebia drew in equal measure from both, and so has come to be the partner of her husband's counsels, and though the Emperor is by nature merciful, good and wise, she encourages him to follow yet more becomingly his natural bent, and ever turns justice to mercy. So that no one could ever cite a case in which this Empress, whether with justice, as might happen, or unjustly, has ever been the cause of punishment or chastisement either great or small. Now we are told that at Athens, in the days when they employed their ancestral customs and lived in obedience to their own laws, as the inhabitants of a great and humane city, whenever the votes of the jurymen were cast evenly for defendant and plaintiff, the vote of Athene[549] was awarded to him who would have incurred the penalty, and thus both were acquitted of guilt, he who had brought the accusation, of the reputation of sycophant, and the defendant, naturally, of the guilt of the crime. Now this humane and gracious custom is kept up in the suits which the Emperor judges, but Eusebia's mercy goes further. For whenever the defendant comes near to obtaining an equal number of votes, she persuades the Emperor, adding her request and entreaty on his behalf, to acquit the man entirely of the charge. And of free will with willing heart he grants the boon, and does not give it as Homer says Zeus, constrained by his wife, agreed as to what he should concede to her “of free will but with soul unwilling.”[550] And perhaps it is not strange that he should concede this pardon reluctantly and under protest in the case of the violent and depraved. But not even when men richly deserve to suffer and be punished ought they to be utterly ruined. Now since the Empress recognises this, she has never bidden him inflict any injury of any kind, or any punishment or chastisement even on a single household of the citizens, much less on a whole kingdom or city. And I might add, with the utmost confidence that I am speaking the absolute truth, that in the case of no man or woman is it possible to charge her with any misfortune that has happened, but all the benefits that she confers and has conferred, and on whom, I would gladly recount in as many cases as possible, and report them one by one, how for instance this man, thanks to her, enjoys his ancestral estate, and that man has been saved from punishment, though he was guilty in the eyes of the law, how a third escaped a malicious prosecution, though he came within an ace of the danger, how countless persons have received honour and office at her hands. And on this subject there is no one of them all who will assert that I speak falsely, even though I should not give a list of those persons by name. But this I hesitate to do, lest I should seem to some to be reproaching them with their sufferings, and to be composing not so much an encomium of her good deeds as a catalogue of the misfortunes of others. And yet, not to cite any of these acts of hers, and to bring no proof of them before the public seems perhaps to imply that they are lacking, and brings discredit on my encomium. Accordingly, to deprecate that charge, I shall relate so much as it is not invidious for me to speak or for her to hear.)
Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ γήμαντος εὔνοιαν τηλαυγέστατον πρόσωπον, κατὰ τὸν σοφὸν Πίνδαρον, ἀρχομένη τῶν ἔργων ἔθετο, γένος τε ἅπαν καὶ ξυγγενεῖς εὐθὺς ἐνέπλησε τιμῆς, τοὺς μὲν ἤδη γνωρίμους καὶ πρεσβυτέρους ἐπὶ μειζόνων τάττουσα πράξεων καὶ ἀποφήνασα μακαρίους καὶ ζηλωτοὺς βασιλεῖ τ᾽ ἐποίησε φίλους καὶ τῆς εὐτυχίας τῆς παρούσης ἔδωκε τὴν ἀρχήν. [B] καὶ [pg 310] γὰρ εἴ τῳ δοκοῦσιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἀληθές, δι᾽ αὑτοὺς τίμιοι, ταύτῃ γε οἶμαι προσθήσει τὸν ἔπαινον· δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι μὴ τῇ τοῦ γένους κοινωνίᾳ μόνον, πολὺ δὲ πλέον ἀρετῇ φαίνεται νέμουσα· οὗ μεῖζον οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως τις ἐγκώμιον ἐρεῖ. περὶ μὲν τούσδε γέγονε τοιάδε. ὅσοι δὲ ἀγνῶτες ἔτι διὰ νεότητα τοῦ γνωρισθῆναι καὶ ὁπωσοῦν ἐδέοντο, [C] τούτοις ἐλάττονας διένειμε τιμάς. ἀπέλιπε δὲ οὐδὲν εὐεργετοῦσα ξύμπαντας. καὶ οὐ τοὺς ξυγγενεῖς μόνον τοσαῦτα ἔδρασεν ἀγαθά, ξενίαν δὲ ὅτῳ πρὸς τοὺς ἐκείνης πατέρας ὑπάρξασαν ἔγνω, οὐκ ἀνόνητον ἀφῆκε τοῖς κτησαμένοις, τιμᾷ δὲ οἶμαι καὶ τούτους καθάπερ ξυγγενεῖς, καὶ ὅσους τοῦ πατρὸς ἐνόμισε φίλους, [D] ἅπασιν ἔνειμε τῆς φιλίας ἔπαθλα θαυμαστά.
(When she had, in the beginning, secured her husband's good-will for her actions like a “frontage shining from afar,” to use the words of the great poet Pindar,[551] she forthwith showered honours on all her family and kinsfolk, appointing to more important functions those who had already been tested and were of mature age, and making them seem fortunate and enviable, and she won for them the Emperor's friendship and laid the foundation of their present prosperity. And if anyone thinks, what is in fact true, that on their own account they are worthy of honour, he will applaud her all the more. For it is evident that it was their merit, far more than the ties of kinship, that she rewarded; and one could hardly pay her a higher compliment than that. Such then was her treatment of these. And to all who, since they were still obscure on account of their youth, needed recognition of any sort, she awarded lesser honours. In fact she left nothing undone to help one and all. And not only on her kinsfolk has she conferred such benefits, but whenever she learned that ties of friendship used to exist with her ancestors, she has not allowed it to be unprofitable to those who owned such ties, but she honours them, I understand, no less than her own kinsfolk, and to all whom she regards as her father's friends she dispensed wonderful rewards for their friendship.)
Ἐγὲ δέ, ἐπειδή μοι τεκμηρίων καθάπερ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ τὸν λόγον ὁρῶ δεόμενον, αὐτὸς ὑμῖν ἐμαυτὸν τούτων ἐκείνῳ[552] μάρτυρα καὶ ἐπαινέτην παρέξομαι· ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως μου μή ποτε ὑπιδόμενοι τὴν μαρτυρίαν πρὶν ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν λόγων διαταράττησθε, ὄμνυμι ὑμῖν, ὡς οὐδὲν ψεῦδος οὐδὲ πλάσμα ἐρῶ· ὑμεῖς δὲ κἂν ἀνωμότῳ ἐπιστεύσατε πάντα οὐ κολακείας ἕνεκα λέγειν[553]. [117] ἔχω γὰρ ἤδη τοῦ θεοῦ διδόντος καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἅπαντα τὰ ἀγαθά, αὐτῆς γε οἶμαι καὶ ταύτης[554] ξυμπροθυμουμένης, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἄν τις κολακεύων ἅπαντα ἀφείη [pg 312] ῥήματα, ὥστε, εἰ μὲν πρὸ τούτων ἔλεγον, ἴσως ἐχρῆν ὀρρωδεῖν τὴν ἄδικον ὑποψίαν· νῦν δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ γεγονὼς τῇ τύχῃ καὶ ἀπομνημονεύων τῶν ἐκείνης εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ἔργων παρέξομαι ὑμῖν εὐγνωμοσύνης μὲν ἐμαυτοῦ σημεῖον, μαρτύριον δὲ ἀληθὲς τῶν ἐκείνης ἔργων. [B] πυνθάνομαι γὰρ δὴ καὶ Δαρεῖον, ἕως ἔτι δορυφόρος ἦν τοῦ Περσῶν μονάρχου, τῷ Σαμίῳ ξένῳ περὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον συμβαλεῖν φεύγοντι τὴν αὑτοῦ, καὶ λαβόντα φοινικίδα τινὰ δῶρον, οὗ σφόδρα ἐπεθύμει, τὴν Σαμίων ὕστερον ἀντιδοῦναι τυραννίδα, ὁπηνίκα, οἶμαι, τῆς Ἀσίας ἁπάσης κύριος κατέστη. εἰ δὴ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς πολλὰ μὲν παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, ὅτε ἔτι ζῆν ἐξῆν ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ, τὰ μέγιστα δὲ δι᾽ αὐτὴν παρὰ τοῦ γενναίου [C] καὶ μεγαλόφρονος βασιλέως λαβὼν ὁμολογοίην τοῦ μὲν ἀντιδοῦναι τὴν ἴσην λείπεσθαι· ἔχει γάρ, οἶμαι, ξύμπαντα παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ καὶ ἡμῖν χαρισαμένου λαβοῦσα· τῷ βούλεσθαι δὲ τὴν μνήμην ἀθάνατον αὐτῇ τῶν ἔργων γενέσθαι καὶ ἐς ὑμᾶς ταῦτα ἀπαγγέλλειν τυχὸν οὐκ ἀγνωμονέστερος φανοῦμαι τοῦ Πέρσου, εἴπερ εἰς τὴν γνώμην ὁρῶντα χρὴ κρίνειν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὅτῳ παρέσχεν ἡ τύχη πολλαπλάσιον ἀποτῖσαι τὸ εὐεργέτημα.