p???µ???? d? t???? e? ?a? a?t?? ???? t?? ????a ?eas?µe???, ???, ?f?, 
???´ ???????µe???. ?a? ?? ????as? te ?a? ??et? a?t?? t??a? ???? t??? 
??ta????st??. 
(8,12) ? d? ?spe? e???e? ?p?ß???a?, ???? ?a?ep?t?t???, e?pe, ?a? ?µa??t?t???, 
??? ??de?? d??ata? ??t?ß???a? t?? ???????, ?? µ??t?? d?at?????ta? ? 
pa?a???ta? ? d?ap?d??ta? ??d? p??te???ta? ?a? ????t????ta? ?a? d?s?e???ta? 
{???? t??? s?f???????ta?}.
...

(8,15) ??µa? ??? a?t??? t?? ??? ?tt??a ????? ??e??. ? d? ???? ? ?e??a??? 
??e?ta? t??? p????? ??ta????st?? µe??st???, ?a? t??t??? ?e? f??e? µ??es?a? ?a? 
t?? ???ta ?a? t?? ?µ??a?, ??? ?p?? se?????, ?spe? a? a??e?, ??d? ??t???? ?a? 
p?t???, ???? ?p?? e?da?µ???a? ?a? ??et?? pa?? p??ta t?? ß???, ??? ?ta? 
??e??? p??e?p?s?? ? ????????? ? t? ?????? Tetta???, µ?d??a a?t?? 
f?ß??µe??? µ?d? e???µe??? ???? ?a?e??, 
(8,16) ???? p???a???µe??? ?fe??? ?pa?ta?, ?a? ??µ? f????e?????ta ?a? ???e? 
?a? d???? ?p?µ????ta, ??? d?? µast????µe??? ?a?te?e?? ?a? teµ??µe??? ?a? 
?a?µe??? µ?d?? µa?a??? ??d?d??ta? pe??a? d? ?a? f???? ?a? ?d???a? ?a? t? 
t??a?ta µ?d?? ??e?s?a? de???? a?t?, ???? p??? ???fa, ?a? p??????? pa??e??
?? a?t??? t?? ??d?a t?? t??e???, ?spe? ?? pa?de? t??? ?st?a??????
?a? ta?? sfa??a?? ta?? p?????a??.


 

And when a certain man asked whether he too came to see the contest, he said, "No, 
but to take part." Then when the man laughed and asked him who his competitors 
were, 12 he said with that customary glance  of his: "The toughest there are and the 
hardest to beat, men whom no Greek can look straight in the eye; not competitors, 
however, who sprint, or wrestle or jump, not those that box, throw the spear, and 
hurl the discus, but those that chasten a man."
...

But the noble man holds his hardships to be his greatest antagonists, and with them 
he is ever wont to battle day and night, not to win a sprig of parsley  as so many 
goats might do, nor for a bit of wild olive,  or of pine,  but to win happiness and 
virtue throughout all the days of his life, and not merely when the Eleans make 
proclamation, or the Corinthians, or the Thessalian assembly.  He is afraid of none of 
those opponents nor does he pray to draw another antagonist, 16 but challenges 
them one after another, grappling with hunger and cold, withstanding thirst, and 
disclosing no weakness even though he must endure the lash or give his body to be 
cut or burned. Hunting, exile, loss of reputation, and the like have no terrors for him; 
nay, he holds them as mere trifles, and while in their very grip the perfect man is 
often as sportive as boys with their dice and their coloured balls.


Trad. anglaise : J.W. COHOON - H. Lamar CROSBY, Dio Chrysostom.  
 Vol. II. London, Heinemann, 1939