Pol.) are derived from Marsyas who
taught them, and these, whether they are played by a great master or by a
miserable flute-girl, have a power which no others have; they alone possess
the soul and reveal the wants of those who have need of gods and mysteries,
because they are divine. But you produce the same effect with your words
only, and do not require the flute: that is the difference between you and
him. When we hear any other speaker, even a very good one, he produces
absolutely no effect upon us, or not much, whereas the mere fragments of
you and your words, even at second-hand, and however imperfectly repeated,
amaze and possess the souls of every man, woman, and child who comes within
hearing of them. And if I were not afraid that you would think me
hopelessly drunk, I would have sworn as well as spoken to the influence
which they have always had and still have over me. For my heart leaps
within me more than that of any Corybantian reveller, and my eyes rain
tears when I hear them. And I observe that many others are affected in the
same manner.
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