Panathenaicus (1-5)

When I was younger, I elected not to write the kind of discourse which deals with myths[*] nor that which abounds in marvels and fictions,[*] although the majority of people are more delighted with this literature than with that which is devoted to their welfare and safety;[*] nor did I choose the kind which recounts the ancient deeds and wars of the Hellenes, although I am aware that this is deservedly praised,[*] nor, again, that which gives the impression of having been composed in a plain and simple manner and is lacking in all the refinements of style,[*] which those who are clever at conducting law-suits urge our young men tocultivate,

especially if they wish to have the advantage over their adversaries.[*] No, I left all these to others and devoted my own efforts to giving advice on the true interests of Athens and of the rest of the Hellenes,[*] writing in a style rich in many telling points, in contrasted and balanced phrases not a few,[*] and in the other figures of speech which give brilliance to oratory[*] and compel the approbation and applause of the audience.

Now, however, I have completely given up these devices of rhetoric.[*] For I do not think it is becoming to the ninety-four years which I have lived nor, in general, to men whose hair has at length turned to grey[*] to continue to speak in this fashion, but rather in the manner which every man, should he so desire, would hope to command, although no man can easily attain it without hard work and close application.

I have said this at the beginning in order that if the discourse which is now about to be presented to the public should appear to some to be more feeble[*] than those which have been published in former years, they may not compare it in the matter of rhetorical variety and finish to my former compositions but may judge it in relation to the subject matter which I have deemed appropriate to the present occasion.

I intend to discuss the achievements of Athens and the virtues of our ancestors, although I shall not begin with them but with a statement of my personal experience, since it is more urgent, I think, to begin with this. For notwithstanding that I strive to live in a manner above reproach and without offence to others, I am continually being misrepresented by obscure and worthless sophists and being judged by the general public, not by what I really am, but by what they hear from others.[*]