Dio Chrysostom
καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐδόκει μοι μᾶλλον ἑνὸς σοῦ παρόντος ἂν εὐλαβηθῆναι ὅ τι εἴπεν1 ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων.
Δ. Οὐ πρὸς ἀλλότριον ἀναγνώσῃ, ὦ βέλτιστε, καὶ ἅμα οὐ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν ποθῶ γνῶναι τοσοῦτον ὅσον τὴν διάνοιαν ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἔλεγεν, εἰ τῷ ὄντι εὐθύμως καὶ θαρρῶν ἀπέθνησκεν.
Τ. Ἀλλ᾿ ἔστι ταῦτα·
Τὰ μὲν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς οὕτω γέγονεν ὡς ἔδοξε τῷ θεῷ, χρὴ δὲ μηδὲν τῶν ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνου γιγνομένων χαλεπὸν ἡγεῖσθαι μηδὲ δυσχερῶς φέρειν, ὡς παραινοῦσιν ἄλλοι τε σοφοὶ καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα Ὅμηρος, λέγων μηδαμῇ ἀπόβλητα εἶναι ἀνθρώποις τὰ θεῶν δῶρα, καλῶς ὀνομάζων δῶρα τὰ ἔργα τῶν θεῶν, ὡς ἅπαντα ἀγαθὰ ὄντα καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἀγαθῷ 9γιγνόμενα. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὕτω φρονῶ καὶ δέχομαι πρᾴως τὴν πεπρωμένην, οὐκ ἐν ἑτέρῳ καιρῷ ταῦτα λέγων, ἀλλὰ παρούσης τε αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ὁρῶν οὕτως ἐγγύθεν. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐμοὶ πιστεύοντες, ἐπειδὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ὑμῶν ἐπεμελήθην ἀληθείας, καθ᾿ ὅσον οἷοί τέ ἐστε, μὴ συγχωρεῖτε τῇ ἀλγηδόνι, ὡς μηδενὸς ἐμοὶ δεινοῦ συμβεβηκότος, μηδὲ εἴ τις ἐπὶ τὸν δυσχερέστατον ἔλθοι τῶν λόγων.
Thirtieth Discourse: Charidemus
really thought that he would have been more careful in what he said, had you been the only one present, than he was with all the rest there.
Dio. It is no outsider that you will be reading to, my good friend; and, at the same time, it is not the style that I am anxious to observe so much as what his state of mind was as revealed by what he said, whether he was really of good cheer and courageous on his deathbed.
Tim. Well, here it is:1
“What has happened to me has happened in accordance with God’s will; and we should not consider anything that he brings to pass as harsh, nor bear it with repining: so wise men advise us,2 and Homer not least when he says that the gifts of the gods to man should not be spurned by man3—rightly calling the acts of the gods ‘gifts,’ as being all good and done for a good purpose.4 As for me, this is my feeling, and I accept the decree of fate calmly, saying this, not at any ordinary time, but when that fate itself is present, and I see my end so near at hand. And do you, I pray, believe me, since I have had even greater concern for the truth than for you, and, so far as in you lies, do not give way to your grief, knowing that nothing terrible has befallen me; no, not even if one offers the explanation of death which is the most difficult to accept.