The Orations of Lysias | Page 6

for bereft of these, slavery is their fate, while in the others a desire springs up to emulate the wisdom of their ancestors.
61. But I have been led off to lament for all Greece; but it is fitting to remember these men both in private and in public, who hated slavery and fought for justice and struggled for the democracy, and having made all men their enemies they went to the Piraeus, not compelled by law, but impelled by instinct, imitating in fresh dangers the valor of their ancestors, (62) and by their own courage securing the city as a common possession for the rest also, choosing death and liberty rather than life and slavery, no less through shame of their lack of success than through anger at their enemies, preferring to die in their own country to living in a foreign land, having as allies oaths and agreements, and as enemies both the former ones and their own citizens. 63. But not fearing the number of their opponents, but risking their own lives, they set up a trophy to their enemies, and as evidence of their valor they buried the Lacedaemonians near this memorial. For they proved the city great and not small, and rendered it harmonious and not dissentious, and erected the walls instead of pulling them down. 64. And those of them who returned, showing plans like the deeds of those who lie here, devoted themselves not to the punishment of their enemies but the safety of the city, and neither being able to suffer encroachment on their privileges nor desiring to have more, give a share of their freedom even to those wishing to be in slavery, but they were not willing to share their slavery. 65. And with the bravest and most glorious deeds they repelled the charges against them, that the city met with disaster, not by their cowardice nor the enemy's valor. For if in dissension with one another they could enter their own country in spite of the presence of the Peloponnesians and their other enemies, evidently if they had been agreed they would have made a stand against them.
66. So those are admired by all men for their perils at the Piraeus. And it is also fitting to praise those lying here, who aiding the people and fighting for our safety, regarded valor as their country and so ended life. For this the city bewailed them and gave them a public funeral and granted them to have for all time the same honor as the citizens.
67. Those who are now buried, aiding the Corinthians who were wronged by their old friends, became renewed allies, not sharing the ideas of the Lacedaemonians, (for they envied their good fortunes, while the former pitied them when wronged, not remembering the previous hostility, but caring more for the present friendship) made evident to all men their own valor. 68. For they dared, trying to make Greece great, not only to incur danger for their own safety but to die for the liberty of their enemies; for they fought with Sparta's allies for their freedom. And when victorious they thought them worthy of the same privileges which they enjoyed, and if unsuccessful they would have fastened slavery firmly on the Peloponnesians.
69. As they so conducted themselves their life was pitiful, and their death desired; but these lived and died praised, being brought up in the virtues of their ancestors, and on becoming men they kept their fame untarnished and exhibited their own valor. 70. For they brought many benefits to their country, and made good the ill-successes of others, and carried war far from their own land. And they ended their lives as the good should die, having paid what is due to the country and leaving grief for those who trained them. 71. So it is fitting for the living to bewail these men and pity themselves and pity their relatives in future. For what pleasure will there be left them after these men are buried, who from their belief in the importance of virtue before all else lose their lives, made their wives widows and their children orphans, and rendered desolate their brothers, fathers and mothers. 72. For their many sufferings, I envy the children who are too young to know of what sort of parents they are bereft, and I pity their parents who are too old to forget their trial. 73. For what could be more terrible than this, to have and bring up children, and in old age become helpless and without hope, become friendless and without resources, and be pitied by the same ones who once envied them, and have death seem more to be desired than life? The braver men they were, the greater the grief for those left