Aristides Orationes 55
EN Lat Orig
Orationes 55
§1 Ὁμήρῳ μὲν εἰς τὴν σύνοδον τῶν χειμάρρων εἴρηται τῶν δέ τε τηλόθι δοῦπον ἐν οὔρεσιν ἔκλυε ποιμήν· καὶ φρίξαντα δή φησιν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον εἰσελαύνειν τὰς ὄϊς· ἐγὼ δὲ καίτοι τοσοῦτον ὑμῶν ἀπέχων τὸ νῦν ἀκούσας τοῦ ὕδατος τὴν εἰσβολὴν καὶ ὅσον τι κόσμου προσγέγονε τῇ πόλει, οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν ἡσυχάζειν ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς, ἀλλʼ ἐφθεγγόμην τε ἐφθεγγόμην καὶ τοῦ σώματος ᾐσθανόμην ἐλαφροτέρου καὶ χαρᾶς ἀπῆν οὐδέν, δυοῖν δʼ ἡμέραιν πρότερον πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι· οὐ γὰρ χεῖρον ἴσως πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν· ἀκούσεσθε γὰρ ἡδέως τοῦ θεοῦ χάριν τοῦ προδείξαντος καὶ ἅμα τῆς εὐφημίας· ὄψις ὀνειράτων γενομένη μοι ὡσπερεὶ διπλασίαν ἐδείκνυε τὴν πόλιν, χωρίον τε δή τινος προσθήκῃ πεπορισμένου συνεχῶς πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ δημοσίων δὴ κόσμων προσγενομένων παραπλησίων μάλιστά πως τοῖς περὶ τὸν φίλιον. διὰ ταῦτʼ οὖν ὄναρ τε ἐγανύμην καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀνέστην, ἐλάμβανον εἰς ἀγαθὸν τῇ τε πόλει καὶ ἐμαυτῷ. τριταία δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀγγελία παρὰ ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἀφικνεῖται φράζουσα καὶ δὴ πᾶσαν ὑμῖν τὴν Ἀσίαν συνεορτάζειν τῆς περὶ πάντα ἀγαθῆς τύχης. εἶναι γὰρ τὸ ὕδωρ πλήθει τε πλεῖστον καὶ κάλλει κάλλιστον ὅσων ἔλαχον πόλεις. ἦγον οὖν οὐχ ὅσον ἠρινὴν ἡμέραν, ἀλλʼ οἵαν εἰκὸς ἄγειν Διός τε εὐαγγελίου καὶ Ἀσκληπιοῦ σωτῆρος πανταχῆ τιμῶντος. καὶ συνέχαιρον δὴ τῇ πόλει μὲν τῶν προσγεγονότων, ἐμαυτῷ δὲ ὡς ἠξιώθην προακοῦσαι, δῆλον ὅτι ὡς οὐδενὸς ἧττον ἐμοὶ τῆς πόλεως προσῆκον. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἐλογιζόμην ὡς τὸ μὲν χαίρειν κοινὸν ἁπάντων καὶ ἀνδρῶν καὶ παιδαρίων καὶ γυναικῶν, ἅτε τῆς ὄψεως προξενούσης τὴν ἡδονὴν, λόγῳ δὲ ἐπικοσμῆσαι τὴν τῶν Νυμφῶν δόσιν τάχα ἄν τινος εἴη τῶν περὶ τὸν Παιᾶνα διατριψάντων καὶ τῶν ἐπιταχθέντων τῶν ἐν λόγοις. ἀνεμιμνησκόμην δὲ τῶν ποιητῶν, ὅτι Νύμφας καὶ Μούσας ἀεί πως συνάγουσι. καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν ὡς χορηγὸν ἀεὶ προσαγορεύουσι τῶν Νυμφῶν· καὶ πάλιν γε Ἀπόλλωνα χορηγὸν Μουσῶν· δʼ αὐτὸς οὗτος ὑμῖν θεὸς καλλιτέκνου προσηγορίαν εἶχε, τοῦ πατρὸς ἕνεκα. ἁπανταχῆ δὴ πρέπον τε καὶ οὐκ ἄωρον ἐφαίνετο τῇ τῶν Νυμφῶν χάριτι συγκεράσαι τὴν παρὰ τῆς μουσικῆς. πᾶσι γὰρ ἂν προσήκοντα πράττειν οἷς εἶπον θεοῖς. ἐξ ἀρχῆς δʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, τὰ κάλλιστα ἐδόθη τῇ πόλει καὶ παρὰ θεῶν καὶ παρὰ ἀνθρώπων. τοῦτο μοι πρεσβύτατοι δαιμόνων ἐνταῦθα λέγονται γενέσθαι Κάβειροι, καὶ τελεταὶ τούτοις καὶ μυστήρια, τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν ἔχειν πεπίστευται ὥστε χειμώνων τε ἐξαισίων ......
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Dindorf 1829
Dindorf, Reimer, 1829 · 1829
The Editor

Wilhelm Dindorf (1802–1883) was a prolific German classical scholar based in Leipzig who, together with his brother Ludwig, edited an extraordinary range of Greek texts. Wilhelm produced editions of the Greek orators, historians, and poets for multiple publishers including the Oxford University Press and Teubner. His output was vast — he edited Aristophanes, Sophocles, Euripides, Demosthenes, Harpocration, and many others. Though some of his editions have been superseded, Dindorf's work was foundational for 19th-century classical scholarship and many of his texts remained in scholarly use well into the 20th century.

About This Edition

Dindorf's editions, produced in the mid-19th century, represent an important stage in the history of classical textual criticism — after the great manuscript discoveries of the early 1800s but before the systematic stemmatics of the late 19th century. His texts are generally reliable but reflect the editorial methods of their time: relatively sparing apparatus criticus, and editorial choices sometimes influenced more by taste than by strict manuscript analysis. Where more modern critical editions exist, those should generally be preferred, but for many minor authors and texts Dindorf's edition remains the most recent or the most accessible.

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