[61]
Then is not this,
gentlemen of the jury, a shocking and intolerable position? On the one hand,
chorus-masters, who think that such a course might bring them victory and who
have in many cases spent all their substance on their public services, have
never dared to lay hands even on one whom the law permits them to touch, but
show such caution, such piety, such moderation that, in spite of their
expenditure and their eager competition, they restrain themselves and respect
your wishes and your zeal for the festival. Meidias, on the other hand, a
private individual who has been put to no expense, just because he has fallen
foul of a man whom he hates—a man, remember, who is spending his money
as chorus-master and who has full rights of citizenship—insults him
and strikes him and cares nothing for the festival, for the laws, for your
opinion, or for the god's honor.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
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