Letter 483: If this man arriving from Cyprus had not stood in your way, surely another would have come from Euboea or Scyros.

To Adamantius. (356 AD) If this man arriving from Cyprus had not stood in your way, surely another would have come from Euboea or Scyros. I do not mean that you lied this time, but that even without this excuse, you would not have lacked something to blame. And yet you love me more than Telemachus's father loved Ithaca [Odysseus]. Fine — I will not fight you about the affection. But that laziness, which I have seen in abundance in you, will not let you sail even on a raft, let alone step beyond the gates. All those labors, all those speeches, that tongue trained to race — all of this will benefit you someday. Better to put it that way. Do you really think loving me is enough for your livelihood? That it is utter absurdity to love another but not yourself — you do not see this? Come now, you who know how to speak but refuse to — choose to speak! There are courts aplenty in many places, some greater, some lesser. If you desire the greater ones, come here, make yourself great, and gladden us. This way you will also spur your relatives on, nearby, by both deed and word.

Ἀδαμαντίῳ. (356) Εἰ δὲ μὴ οὗτος ἥκων ἐκ Κύπρου κώλυμά σοι κατέστη, πάντως ἄν ἕτερος ἧκεν ἐξ Εὐβοίας ἢ Σκύρου. λέγω δὴ οὐχ ὡς ἐψεύσω τοῦτο δὴ τὸ νῦν, ἀλλ’ ὡς, εἰ καὶ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἠπόρεις ὅ τι ἂν ᾐτιῶ. καίτοι φιλεῖς μὲν ἐμὲ πλέον ἢ τὴν Ἰθάκην ὁ τοῦ Τηλεμάχου πατήρ. ἔστω γάρ, καὶ οὐ μα- χοῦμαί σοι περὶ τοῦ φίλτρου, τὸ δὲ τῆς ἀργίας, ἣν ἐν σοὶ πολλὴν ἐνεῖδον, οὐκ ἐᾷ σε μὴ ὅτι πλεῖν ἐπὶ σχεδίας, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ προελθεῖν τῶν πυλῶν. πολλοὶ δὲ ἱδρῶτες ἐκεῖνοι καὶ λόγοι καὶ γλῶττα μετέχουσα δρόμου, πάντα ταῦτα μέλλει σε ὀνήσειν· οὕτω γὰρ εἰπεῖν βέλτιον. εἶτα νομίζεις ὡς ἀρκεῖ σοι πρὸς τὸν βίον τὸ φιλεῖν με, ὅτι δὲ πολλῆς ἀτοπίας ἄλλον μὲν φι- λεῖν, αὑτὸν δὲ μή, τοῦτο δὴ οὐχ ὁρᾷς. ἀλλ’, ὦ λέγειν εἰδὼς μέν, οὐκ ἐθέλων δέ, βουλήθητι λέγειν. πάντως δὲ πολλὰ πολ- λαχοῦ δικαστήρια, τὰ μὲν μείζω, τὰ δὲ ἐλάττω. σὺ δ’, εἰ τῶν μειζόνων ἔρως, ἥκειν ἐνθάδε καὶ σαυτὸν ποιεῖν μέγαν καὶ ἡμᾶς εὐφραίνειν. οὕτως δὲ καὶ τοὺς συγγενεῖς ἐγγύθεν παρ- οξυνεῖς καὶ ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ.