Eupolis the oath is nothing beyond an oath; and the Athenians to whom it
is addressed are still prosperous, and in need of no consolation.
Moreover, the poet does not, like Demosthenes, swear by the departed
heroes as deities, so as to engender in his audience a just conception
of their valour, but diverges from the champions to the battle--a mere
lifeless thing. But Demosthenes has so skilfully managed the oath that
in addressing his countrymen after the defeat of Chaeronea he takes out
of their minds all sense of disaster; and at the same time, while
proving that no mistake has been made, he holds up an example, confirms
his arguments by an oath, and makes his praise of the dead an incentive
to the living.

[Footnote 2: In his (lost) “Demis.”]

4
And to rebut a possible objection which occurred to him--“Can you,
Demosthenes, whose policy ended in defeat, swear by a victory?”--the
orator proceeds to measure his language, choosing his very words so as
to give no handle to opponents, thus showing us that even in our most
inspired moments reason ought to hold the reins.[3] Let us mark his
words: “Those who _faced the foe_ at Marathon; those who _fought in the
sea-fights_ of Salamis and Artemisium; those who _stood in the ranks_ at
Plataea.” Note that he nowhere says “those who _conquered_,” artfully
suppressing any word which might hint at the successful issue of those
battles, which would have spoilt the parallel with Chaeronea. And for
the same reason he steals a march on his audience, adding immediately:
“All of whom, Aeschines,--not those who were successful only,--were
buried by the state at the public expense.”

[Footnote 3: Lit. “That even in the midst of the revels of Bacchus