That the power of the tongue
is no match for the eyes, one can learn by comparing





 

the story of the Sirens with the one about the
Gorgons. The Sirens charmed passing voyagers by
making music and working on them with songs, and
held them long when they put in. In short, their
performance only exacted a delay, and no doubt one
or another voyager went by them, neglecting their
music. On the contrary, the beauty of the Gorgons, °
being extremely powerful and affecting the very
vitals of the soul, stunned its beholdersand made
them speechless, so that, as the story has it and
everyone says, they turned to stone in wonder.
For this reason I count what my opponent said
to you a moment ago about the peacock a plea for
my side: surely his attractiveness is in his looks,
not in his voice! If anybody should match a nightingale or a swan against him, letting them sing -
and showing the peacock silent while they were
singing, I “know well that your soul would go
over to him, bidding a long farewell to their songs.
So invincible, it seems, is the delight of the eyes!
 

If you wish, I will produce you a witness in the
person of a sage, who will testify on the spot that
what one sees is far more effective than what
one hears. Crier, summon in person Herodotus, son
‘of Lyxus, of Halicarnassus. Since he has been
so kind as to comply, let him take the stand and
give his testimony. Suffer him to speak to you in
Ionic, to which he is accustomed.
“'Master Point o’ View telleth ye true herein.
Believe whatso he sayeth to this matter, esteeming
sight over hearing, for in sooth ears be less trusty
than eyes.’
 Only the last clause is really Herodotean (I, 8, 3). 


 

“Do you hear what the witness says, that he gives
the palm to sight? With reason, for words are
winged and go flying off the instant they have left
the lips, while the beauty of things seen is always
present and lasting and entices the spectator, will
he, nill he.