# Orationes 66-8

Dio Chrysostomus, Orationes, (15)πρὸς ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΣ.. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/dio-chrysostomus-soph/orationes/66-8

ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν κιθαρῳδῶν τῶν παρʼ ὑμῖν ἕτερον τοιοῦτόν τινα λόγον. τὰ γὰρ ζῷα ἐν τῇ συνουσίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὸν Ὀρφέα τὰ μὲνἄλλα ἥδεσθαι μόνον καὶ ἐκπεπλῆχθαι, μιμεῖσθαι δὲ μηδὲν ἐπιχειρεῖν· τῶν κυνῶν δὲ ἐνίους, οἷα δὴ γένος ἀναιδὲς καὶ περίεργον ἐπιθέσθαι τῇ μουσικῇ, καὶ μελετᾶν τότʼ εὐθὺς ἀπιόντας καθʼ αὑτοὺς καὶ τὰ εἴδη μεταβαλόντας εἰς ἀνθρώπους διαφυλάττειν τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν. εἶναι δὲ τοῦτο αὐτὸ τὸ γένος τῶν κιθαρῳδῶν· διὸ μὴδύνασθαι παντάπασιν ἐκβῆναι τὴν αὑτῶν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ μικρὸν μέν τι διασῴζειν τῆς Ὀρφέως διδασκαλίας, τὸ πολὺ δʼ αὐτοῖς ἐμμένειν κύνειον τοῦ μέλους. ταῦτα μὲν ἐκεῖνος ἔπαιζεν ὁ Φρύξ.

---

Dio Chrysostom, Orationes, ed. Hans Friedrich August von Arnim. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0612.tlg001.local001/.