νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτάνετε τὸ Ἀθηναίων ποτὲ ἁμάρτημα. τοῦ γὰρ Ἀπόλλωνος 
εἰπόντος, εἰ θέλουσιν ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει γενέσθαι, τὸ κάλλιστον 
ἐμβάλλειν τοῖς ὠσὶ τῶν παίδων, οἱ δὲ τρήσαντες τὸ ἕτερον χρυσίον ἐνέβαλον,
 οὐ συνέντες τοῦ θεοῦ. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ κόραις μᾶλλον ἔπρεπε καὶ παισὶ Λυδῶν ἢ 
Φρυγῶν· Ἑλλήνων δὲ παισί, καὶ ταῦτα θεοῦ προστάξαντος, οὐκ ἄλλο ἥρμοζεν ἢ 
παιδεία καὶ λόγος, ὧν οἱ τυχόντες εἰκότως {ἄν} ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ γίγνονται καὶ 
σωτῆρες τῶν πόλεων.

For nowadays, you know, you make the mistake which the Athenians once made. I 
mean, when Apollo said that, if they wished to have good men as citizens, they 
should put that which was best into the ears of their boys, they pierced one of the 
ears of each and inserted a bit of gold, not understanding what the god intended. In 
fact such an ornament was suitable rather for girls and for sons of Lydians and 
Phrygians, whereas for sons of Greeks, especially since a god had given the 
command, nothing else was suitable but education and reason, for it is natural that 
those who get these blessings should prove to be good men and saviours of the state.

Trad. anglaise : J.W. COHOON - H. Lamar CROSBY, Dio Chrysostom. 
 Vol. III. London, Heinemann, 1940