24.19

The defendant closes the argument section of the speech by addressing a final accusation that he runs a business whose clientele are unsavory.  

The second attack on the defendant’s character involves his occupation. According to the challenger, the defendant’s workshop is frequented by a quite disreputable group of men, which suggests that the workshop was a gambling den or gathering spot for sycophants and scam artists. [read full essay]

συλλέγεσθαί φησιν ἀνθρώπους ὡς ἐμὲ πονηροὺς καὶ πολλούς, οἳ...: “he states that disreputable men assemble at my shop and many men, who....” Hosting such a gathering was not illegal, though a citizen’s character could be part of the consideration given by the Council in a public examination (Dinarchus 2.17; Adeyele 1983). By highlighting this accusation the defendant seeks to divert the attention of the Council away from the main charge that he ran a successful commercial business.

συλλέγεσθαί: the position of the verb early in the syntax of the sentence places emphasis on the rather benign act of men congregating, rather than on their character or the purpose of the gathering itself. The verb, which possibly echoes the language of the challenger, includes the sense of planned and coordinated assembly and thus may have been chosen originally by the challenger to underscore the premeditated nature of the gathering.

ὡς ἐμὲ: “at my shop,” lit. “to me.” Extended meaning in context to refer to the defendant’s shop (metonymy). Prepositional use of ὡς + acc. = movement towards the object of the preposition, which is a person not a place (LSJ ὡς III).

πονηροὺς καὶ πολλούς: reversal of the usual ordering of the coordination with καί of πολύς and another qualitative adjective (Denniston GP 290). Emphasis placed on the purported notoriety of the defendant’s clientele.

τὰ μὲν ἑαυτῶν: “their own assets.” ἑαυτῶν = use of reflexive genitive pronoun as reflexive possessive adjective.

ἐπιβουλεύουσιν: “they plot against.” The verb takes the dative as its object.

τοῖς δὲ τὰ σφέτερα σῴζειν βουλομένοις: “the men who wish to preserve their assets.” Substantive participle with a supplementary infinitive phrase.

βουλομένοις ἐπιβουλεύουσιν: In contrast to the subject matter, Lysias ends this sentence with a pleasant combination of sounds and rhythm: the proliferation of ο and ε, the assonance of βου and the nearly hexametric run of dactyls and spondees (- xx - xx - - - x).

ἐνθυμήθητε: “pay close attention,” < ἐνθυμέομαι, 2nd pl. mid./pass. aor. subj., a command.

οὐδὲν ἐμοῦ κατηγορεῖ μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν ἄλλων: “he in no way speaks against me any more than the others.” In expressions “X accuses/speaks against Y” that feature the verb κατηγορέω, the person accused is in the genitive. Note the adverbial use of οὐδὲν, “in no way” or “not at all”

ὅσοι τέχνας ἔχουσιν: i.e. craftsmen.

τῶν ὡς ἐμὲ εἰσιόντων: “the men who come to my shop.” Supply κατηγορεῖ from the previous clause. On the prepositional use of ὡς as movement towards, see the note on ὡς ἐμὲ earlier in this chapter.

τῶν ὡς τοὺς ἄλλους δημιουργούς: supply εἰσιόντων.