Each one of those great men seemed to him, in the words
of Archilochus, to have been
"A man, who served the grisly god of arms,
Yet well could comprehend the Muses's charms."
The tutelary goddess of Athens herself, he remarked, presided equally
over war and over domestic administration, and was worshipped under
both attributes.
VIII. With this object in view Phokion invariably used his political
influence in favour of peace, but nevertheless was elected
general[624] more times not only than any of his contemporaries, but
also than any of his predecessors: yet he never canvassed his
countrymen or made any effort to obtain the office, though he did not
refuse to fill it at his country's bidding. All historians admit that
he was elected general five-and-forty times, and never once missed
being elected, since even when he was absent the Athenians used to
send for him to come home and be elected; so that his enemies used to
wonder that Phokion, who always thwarted the Athenians and never
flattered them either by word or deed, should be favoured by them, and
were wont to say that the Athenians in their hours of relaxation used
to amuse themselves by listening to the speeches of their more lively
and brilliant orators, just as royal personages are said to amuse
themselves with their favourites after dinner, but that they made
their appointments to public offices in a sober and earnest spirit,
choosing for that purpose the most severe and sensible man in Athens,
and the one too, who alone, or at any rate more than any one else, was
in the habit of opposing their impulses and wishes.
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