132
Consider also what a disgrace it is to sit idly by and see Asia flourishing more than Europe and the barbarians enjoying a greater prosperitySee Isoc. 4.132, 184, 187. than the Hellenes; and, what is more, to see those who derive their power from Cyrus, who as a child was cast out by his mother on the public highway, addressed by the title of “The Great King,” while the descendants of Heracles, who because of his virtue was exalted by his father to the rank of a god,See Isoc. 1.50. are addressed by meaner titlesThe Spartan kings are merely “kings,” while the Persian king is “The Great King.” than they. We must not allow this state of affairs to go on; no, we must change and reverse it entirely.
133
Rest assured that I should never have attempted to persuade you to undertake this at all had power and wealth been the only things which I saw would come of it; for I think that you already have more than enough of such things, and that any man is beyond measure insatiable who deliberately chooses the extreme hazard of either winning these prizes or losing his life.
134
No, it is not with a view to the acquisition of wealth and power that I urge this course, but in the belief that by means of these you will win a name of surpassing greatness and glory. Bear in mind that while we all possess bodies that are mortal, yet by virtue of good will and praise and good report and memory which keeps pace with the passage of time we partake of immortalityCf. Isoc. 2.37.— a boon for which we may well strive with all our might and suffer any hardship whatsoever.
