---
title: "Declamations and Orations: Oration 7 (Areopagitic, or Liberation Oration)"
title_greek: "Μελέται καὶ Λόγοι, Ἀρεοπαγιτικὸς ἢ Ἐλευθερωτικός"
author: Himerius the Sophist
eul_wid: siy-aj
eul_aid: siy
canonical: "https://eulogikon.org/works/himerius-declamations-orations-oration-7-siy-aj"
lang: grc
period: Late Antique
dialect: Attic
content_hash: "sha256:7bdafd13f6d13cb93e8b463274f9840cf07ebb72f5f113196a43bed17d218af8"
content_modified_at: "2026-10-23"
license: "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"
---

# Declamations and Orations: Oration 7 (Areopagitic, or Liberation Oration)

*Μελέται καὶ Λόγοι, Ἀρεοπαγιτικὸς ἢ Ἐλευθερωτικός*

**Author:** Himerius the Sophist

**eul_wid:** `siy-aj` · [HTML page](https://eulogikon.org/works/himerius-declamations-orations-oration-7-siy-aj)

## Text

Part of [Declamations and Orations](/works/himerius-declamations-orations-siy-ac)

`7`

Ἀρεοπαγιτικὸς ἢ ἐλευθερωτικός.

Ἄνδρες οἱ καὶ θεοῖς ὑπὲρ νίκης πάλαι, καὶ νῦν Ἀθηναίοις ὑπὲρ ἐλευθερίας δικάζοντες ...

Οὐκοῦν τῷ νόμῳ πειθόμενος, τὰ τῆς χρείας μόνης φθέγξομαι ῥήματα ... ἐγὼ καὶ σοφιστὴς ἐγενόμην παρʼ ὑμῖν καὶ πατήρ· εἰ σοφιστὴς δεξιός, ὑμεῖς ἐπίστασθε· λέγω γὰρ ἀεί, καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν πολιτείαν ἔχει τὰ θέατρα· εἰ πατὴρ Ἀττικός, ἡ παροῦσα δείκνυσι πρόφασις· οὐ γὰρ ἀνέχομαι τὸν Ἀθηναίων παῖδα μὴ προσαγορεύειν ἐλεύθερον· πιστεύω καὶ πρὸ ἥβης τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῷ παιδί. ἐμός ἐστιν, Ἀθηναῖός ἐστι, πόλεως καὶ πλέον τιμώσης τὸ κοινὸν γῆρας ἢ τὸ τῶν πατέρων ἕτεροι ...

Οὗτός ἐστιν ἐκ Πλουτάρχου, διʼ οὗ πάντας ὑμεῖς παιδεύετε· οὗτος ἐκ Μινουκιανοῦ, τοῦ διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φωνῆς πολλοὺς πολλάκις ἐλευθερώσαντος· τὸν ἐκ Νικαγόρου προσήγαγον ὑμῖν, τὸν ἐξ ἐμαυτοῦ. σοφιστῶν ὑμῖν καὶ φιλοσόφων λέγω κατάλογον, Ἀττικὴν ὄντως εὐγένειαν ...

Ἀφῆκα πολλάκις τὰς τοῦ σοφιστοῦ φωνάς, νῦν τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς ἀφίημι ...

Ἐδώκατέ μοι παῖδα διʼ Ἀττικοῦ γένους, λάβετε τοῦτον καὶ διὰ τῆς ψήφου τῆς ὑμετέρας ἐλεύθερον. οὐκοῦν ἄφετέ μοι τῇ ψήφῳ τὸν παῖδα καὶ φωνὴν ἐλευθέριον συνεπηχήσατε, ἵνα ὡς Ἀθηναῖος—ἴσον γὰρ εἰπεῖν ἐλεύθερος—καὶ λέγῃ καὶ γράφῃ παρʼ ὑμῖν, κἂν οἱ θεοὶ βούλωνται, καὶ πολιτεύηται.

## License and provenance

Eulogikon publishes public-domain Greek texts in cleaned, structured, readable form and makes no copyright claim over that preparation (Public Domain Mark 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/). Cite as `eul_wid: siy-aj`.