ἐγὼ δ´ ὑμῖν βούλομαι Λακεδαιμονίων ἔργον εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι προσηνέχθησαν 
ἀνδρὶ κιθαρῳδῷ θαυμαζομένῳ τότε ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν. ὅτι γὰρ λίαν ἡδὺς ἐδόκει 
καὶ περιττὸς εἶναι, μὰ Δί´ οὐκ ἐτίμησαν αὐτόν, ἀλλ´ ἀφείλοντο τὴν κιθάραν καὶ 
τὰς χορδὰς ἐξέτεμον, ἀπιέναι προειπόντες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν τὸ
 πρᾶγμα οὕτως ὑφεωρῶντο, καὶ ἐφύλαττον τὰ ὦτα, ὡς ἂν μὴ διαφθαρῶσιν 
αἱ ἀκοαὶ μηδὲ τρυφερώτεραι γένωνται τοῦ δέοντος·

But I want to tell you something that happened at Sparta, how the people of that land 
behaved toward a harpist who was much in vogue among the Greeks in those days. 
Just because this harpist had the reputation of being very charming and unusual, 
they did not, by Zeus, honour him, but instead they took his harp from him, cut 
away the strings, and ordered him to leave their city. Such, you see, were the 
misgivings the Spartans entertained regarding his calling and such the care they took 
of their ears, lest their hearing be corrupted or become more fastidious than was 
fitting ;

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