Pseudo-Diogenic Epistles Testimony 19

Πυθαγόρας ἑαυτὸν ἔλεγεν Εὔφορβον γεγενῆσθαι τὸν Πάνθου, ἐγὼ δὲ νέον ἐμαυτὸν ἐπέγνων Ἀγαμέμνονα· σκῆπτρόν τε γάρ ἐστί μου τὸ βάκτρον καὶ χλαμὺς ὁ διπλοῦς τρίβων, ἡ δὲ πήρα παρὰ δέρματος ἀλλαγὴν ἀσπίς. εἰ δὲ μὴ καρηκομόω, ** νέος ἦν ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων, γέρων δ’ ἂν γενόμενος ἐψιλοκόρρησε. τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἄξιον καὶ φρονεῖν καὶ λέγειν πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸς ἔφα λέγοντα.

Pythagoras said that he had once been Euphorbus, son of Panthous. I have recognized myself as a new Agamemnon: my stick is a scepter, my doubled coarse cloak a chlamys, and my pouch, by exchange for a hide, a shield. If I do not wear my hair long, [...]. Agamemnon was young, but had he grown old he would have cropped his hair short. Such are the things it is fitting both to think and to say to the man who says, "He himself said it."

Pythagore disait avoir été Euphorbe, fils de Panthoos. Moi, je me suis reconnu comme un nouvel Agamemnon: mon bâton est un sceptre, mon manteau grossier plié en deux est une chlamyde, et ma besace, substituée à une peau, est un bouclier. Si je ne porte pas les cheveux longs, ** Agamemnon était jeune; devenu vieux, il se serait rasé le crâne. Voilà ce qu’il convient de penser et de dire à celui qui répète: «Lui-même l’a dit.»