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diff --git a/78147-0.txt b/78147-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..544dc37 --- /dev/null +++ b/78147-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21065 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78147 *** + +Transcriber’s notes: + +Italic text is marked _thus_. +Spaced gesperrt text is marked ~thus~. + +The spelling, hyphenation, punctuation and accentuation are as the +original, except for apparent typographical errors which have been +corrected. + + + + +[Illustration: _Venus weeping over the body of Adonis._ + +_From the painting by Emanuel Benner._] + + + + +PLUTARCH’S ESSAYS AND MISCELLANIES + + Comprising all his Works Collected + under the Title of “Morals” · Translated + from the Greek by Several Hands + Corrected and Revised by WILLIAM + W. GOODWIN, Ph.D., Professor of + Greek Literature in Harvard University + In Five Volumes · Volume Two + +[Illustration: HONOS ET VIRTVS] + + + BOSTON · LITTLE, BROWN + AND COMPANY · MCMXI + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, + By Little, Brown, and Company, + In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. + + Copyright, 1898, 1905, + By Little, Brown, and Company. + + + Printers + S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, U. S. A. + + + + + CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND. + + WITH THE TRANSLATORS’ NAMES. + + + THE BANQUET OF THE SEVEN WISE MEN. + + By Roger Davis, A.M. + + Periander prepares the banquet, 4. A question proposed to Bias of + Priene, 4. Thales ascertained the height of one of the pyramids, and + how, 5. Need of preparation for an entertainment, 6. Conversation by + the way, 6, 7. Arrival of the company, 7. Anacharsis the Scythian; + Eumetis, 8. The seat assigned to a person a frivolous consideration, + 9. A prodigy: a child born of a mare, 10. The explanation, 11. Esop + relates the fable of the Lydian mule, 11. The frugality of Periander, + 12. Anacharsis is questioned respecting the Scythians, 12. A letter + is read from Amasis, king of Egypt, proposing a question, 13. Bias + suggests an answer to the question, 14. The seven wise men, in turn, + reply to the question how a people should be governed, 15. The + discussion continued, 16, 17. Answers to other questions, 17, 18. + Riddles and their solutions, 19, 20. How should a state be governed? + 20. How to govern a house, 21, 22. Talk about drinking wine, 23. + The end is worth more than the means, 24. The end of drinking is to + nourish and increase friendship, 24. What measure of outward good + should be regarded as sufficient, 26. A spare diet, as recommended + by Hesiod, 27. Extremes to be avoided, 28. Enjoy freely what we + have, but with moderation, 29. A necessity for eating and drinking, + 31. But fatal distempers often ensue, 32. The story of Arion and + the dolphins, 33-36. The story of Hesiod and the dolphins, 36, 37. + Another story about dolphins, 38. The creatures obey the impulse of + God, 39. Μηδὲν ἄγαν, “Do not overdo,” 40, + 41. + + + HOW A YOUNG MAN OUGHT TO HEAR POEMS. + + By Simon Ford, D.D. + + Young people are fond of fiction, 42. The danger hence arising, + 42, 43. We would not interdict to them the reading of poetry, 44. + But give them wholesome advice touching the matter, 45. Poets deal + much in fiction: it belongs to the very essence of poetry, 46. This + contributes greatly to the entertainment of the reader, 46. Evident + absurdities must be rejected, 47. Do not receive as literal truth + what the poets say of the gods or of the departed, 48. Poetry is + an imitative art: the exactness of the imitation, even of a foul + action, gives pleasure, 50. If odious and abominable conduct is + to be represented in poetry, the expression must correspond, 51. + But the poets, especially Homer, signify their disapproval of such + conduct, 52, 53. They often introduce evil examples to promote + moral improvement, 55. The contradictions among poets lessen the + credit of what they say, and thus diminish the possible danger, 55. + The poets often furnish antidotes to the poison they deal out, 57, + 58. We may also quote the philosophers against the poets, 59. In + using the names of the gods, the poets often mean only the powers + of nature, or fortune, or some second cause, 61, 62. They often use + words tropically, and then are not to be taken in the literal sense, + 64, 65. Poetry requires variety, hence it never represents the same + persons, not even the gods, as uniformly virtuous or prosperous, 66, + 67. Therefore the young man must not approve or admire every thing + which is said of the heroes of poetry, 68. Instance, Achilles and + Agamemnon, 69. Several passages in Homer criticised, 69-72. Criticism + on Sophocles, 72. More criticisms and explanations of the Iliad, + 74-84, 89, 90. Young men may be taught good morals, and how they + differ from bad, by the poets, _ib._ Boys may learn something + useful even from passages wicked and absurd, 83. We may show young + persons how passages in the poets, of good tendency, are confirmed by + the language of philosophers, 91. Plato and the poets sometimes speak + alike, 92. Thus may poetry and philosophy be reconciled, 93, 94. + + + OF ENVY AND HATRED + + By Mr. P. Lancaster, of Baliol College in Oxford + + Envy and Hatred are alike opposed to Benevolence, 95. Yet they are + distinct passions, 95. Their points of difference, 95, _et seq._ + Hatred regards the hated person as evil; envy regards only the + felicity of others, 95. Hatred may be directed against brutes; envy + is directed only against man, 96. Brutes may hate but never envy + brutes, 96. Envy is always unjust; hatred is often just, 96. Hatred + increases as the object grows worse; envy rises higher as the object + increases in virtue, 97. Envy often ceases when the object has risen + to supreme power; hatred never ceases, 98. + + + HOW TO KNOW A FLATTERER FROM A FRIEND + + By Mr. Tullie, of Queen’s College + + Self-love and self-admiration expose a man to the attempts of + flatterers, 100. Mean, poor, and worthless people are not flattered, + but those of a generous and noble nature, 101. In the choice of + friends, let us be wary, yet not over scrupulous, 102. A parasite + who is cringing and obsequious is not difficult of detection, 103. + The great danger is from those who personate the true friend, yet + are selfish and insincere, 104. True friendship arises from a + conformity of tempers and dispositions, 105. The flatterer attempts + such a conformity, 106. It is not natural and uniform, but a mere + disguise, 107. The flatterer is mutable and inconstant, 109. He only + reflects the humors of other men, 109. The true friend imitates + and commends only what is worthy, 110. The flatterer copies the + faults and blemishes of friends, 110, 111. He pretends to have the + same diseases, 111. And to suffer the same ill-treatment, 112. + Counterfeiting the good qualities of a friend, he yields him the + pre-eminence, 112. The flatterer often overdoes, in the effort to + make himself agreeable, 114. The true friend is sometimes under the + necessity of giving pain, 115. The flatterer deals out undeserved + encomium, against which our own conscience protests, 116. Sometimes + he utters praise as if he heard it from a third person, 119. + Sometimes he flatters men in their vices by deriding the contrary + virtues, 119, 120. There is a silent flattery, as when a man yields + his place to another, 121. The parasite praises the man of money, + 122. His censures, if he deliver any, fall upon venial faults, not + on real crimes, 124. He flatters, even while pretending to blame, + 125. Men, are flattered when reproved for faults directly the + reverse of their real ones, 126. The friend aims at the improvement + of our character; the flatterer works on our weak spots, 128, 129. + The friend is open-hearted and natural; the flatterer ceremonious + and obsequious, 130. The real friend will assist in no dishonest + endeavor: the flatterer has no scruples about the proposal, 131, + 132, 134, 135. The kindness of a friend is without parade; that of + a flatterer is attended with bustle and show, 133. The flatterer + reminds us of his past services; the true friend never, 134. An + accurate self-knowledge defends against flattery, 137, 138. We + have no need of flattery, 138. Causeless censure may be equally + mischievous with causeless praise, 138. How to avoid causeless + reprehension of others, 139, et seq. Eliminate from the affair + all self-interest, 140. Free our speech from reproachful words, + 141. Deliver ourselves with seriousness and dignity, 142. Make our + reproofs seasonable, 143. The prosperous need reproof rather than the + afflicted, 144. When is severe reproof allowable? 145. Reprove not + in presence of another, 148; especially not before inferiors, 149. A + reprover should not himself need reproof, 150. In reproving, confess + our own fault, 150. Mix with the reproof a little praise, 151. If + reproved, do not retort on your monitor, 152. Reprove only on weighty + occasions, 152. Avoid a fault-finding, captious habit, 153. Reproof + is not offensive, when kindly administered, 154. Reprove with caution + and moderation, 155. Care should be used to leave with the reproof a + salutary impression, 156. + + + THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO LIVE PLEASURABLY ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINE + OF EPICURUS. + + By William Baxter, Gent. + + Four interlocutors discourse respecting this doctrine, 157-203. What + had been said by a favorer of Epicurus, 157, 158. What the Epicurean + doctrine is, 159. It recognizes no pleasure but that which is derived + from the senses, 160. Objections to this doctrine, 160, _et + seq._ Pains, as well as pleasures, enter through the senses, and + these are keenly felt, 161. Bodily pleasure is feeble and soon over, + 161. The remembrance of past pleasure only stimulates desire for + more, 163; and this produces a restless habit, 164. No man can safely + count on a continuance of what he now enjoys, 165. Hence there must + be constant disquiet, 166. A wicked course contributes nothing to + assurance of continual enjoyment, 166. Our very bodily constitution + places us in constant peril, 167. To escape evil, the Epicureans + say, is the supreme good; but this is simply impossible, 167. If it + were possible, it would not raise us above the brutes, 168, 169. + Freedom from bodily pain is a trivial affair, 169. The Epicurean + philosophy rejects the idea of God and of future retribution; this + costs effort; the brutes who never had this idea have advantage over + the followers of Epicurus, 170. Intellectual enjoyments greatly + superior to sensual pleasures, 171. There is great enjoyment in + knowledge, 171. An acquaintance with works of genius affords great + pleasure, 172. The mathematics afford unspeakable delight, 173. + Instances of this in the cases of Eudoxus, Pythagoras, Archimedes, + and others, 174. Such pleasures are far superior and more intense + than sensual enjoyments, 174. The Epicurean philosophy eschews these + higher and purer delights, 175; and in old age it has nothing left, + 176. Epicurus disallows music, 177, 178. He would deprive the mind + of its own proper good, and drag it down to the level of the body, + 179. The highest good consists in action, 180; especially beneficent + action, 180, 181. The pleasures recognized by Epicureans are base + and ignoble, 182. They make the stomach the centre, 183. A noble + nature despises such pleasures, 184, 185. Great and generous actions + are never forgotten, 186; but the memory of sensual gratification + is transient, 186. A good reputation affords high satisfaction, + 187. This cannot be enjoyed by idle and debauched persons, 188. The + Epicureans leave us no hope from God, 189. The fear and worship of + God, even when joined with superstition, keep down wickedness and + afford much pleasure, 190. This pleasure is shared alike by rich and + poor, 191; but Epicureans deny it to themselves, 191. The Deity can + neither do nor suffer wrong, 192. Therefore a friend of God must + be happy, 193. Of such a satisfaction the followers of Epicurus + would deprive us, 194. According to them, death is the extinction + of our being,—a gloomy prospect, 195. All men shrink at the idea + of annihilation, 197. A dark hereafter is better than none, 198. + Epicureanism extinguishes hope and virtue, 199. The hope of another + and better life gives additional comfort to the present, 200. Of all + this hope and enjoyment the Epicurean doctrine deprives us, and thus + debases and contracts our nature, 202, 203. + + + ROMAN QUESTIONS. + + By Isaac Chauncy, of the College of Physicians, London. + + 1. Why do the Romans require a new-married woman to touch fire and + water? 204. 2. Why do they light, at nuptials, five torches? 204. 3, + 4. Questions about Diana’s temples, 205. 5. Why do persons falsely + reported as dead, on their return home from foreign parts, not enter + by the door? 206. 6. Why do women kiss their relations? 207. 7. + Why are husbands and wives forbidden to receive presents from each + other? 208. 8. Why may they not receive a gift from a son-in-law or + father-in-law? 209. 9. Why do husbands returning from remote parts + send to acquaint their wives of their approach? 209. 10. Why do + men in divine service cover their heads, &c.? 209. 11. Why do they + sacrifice to Saturn with head uncovered? 210. 12. Why do they esteem + Saturn the father of truth? 211. 13. Why do they sacrifice to Honor + bareheaded? 211. 14. Why do sons appear at their parents’ funerals + with covered heads, &c.? 211. 15. Why do Romans not sacrifice to the + god Terminus? 212. 16. Why must not maid-servants enter the temple of + Matuta? 212. 17. Why do not women supplicate this goddess in behalf + of their children? 213. 18. Why do the rich pay tithes to Hercules? + 213. 19. Why does the Roman year begin in January? 213. 20. Why is + not myrtle brought into the temple of Bona Dea? 214. 21. Why is + worship paid to the woodpecker? 215. 22. Why is Janus described as + double-faced? 215. 23. Why are funeral things sold in the temple of + Venus Libitina? 216. 24. Explain the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, 216. + 25. Why are the days after the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, considered + unlucky? 217. 26. Why is white sometimes worn as a sign of mourning? + 219. 27. Why are walls reputed sacred but not the gates? 219. 28. + Why are children forbidden to swear by Hercules within doors? 220. + 29. Why must not the new-married woman step over the threshold but + be carried? 221. 30. Why is she to say, “Where thou art Caius, I am + Caia”? 221. 31. Why is the name Thalassius sung at nuptials? 221. + 32. Why are effigies of men, in some cases, called Argives? 222. + 33. Why did not men in ancient times sup abroad without their sons? + 222. 34. Why were funeral rites performed in December instead of + February? 223. 35. Why is worship paid to the harlot Laurentia? 223. + 36. Why is one gate at Rome known as the Window? 224. 37. Why are + spoils taken in war allowed to decay? 225. 38. Why was divination + prohibited after the month of August? 225. 39. Why is it unlawful + for a man not yet mustered into the army to slay an enemy? 226. 40. + Why was it unlawful to anoint a priest of Jupiter in the open air? + 226. 41. Why on the ancient coin was Janus stamped, with a ship on + the reverse? 228. 42. Why is the temple of Saturn used as the public + treasury? 228. 43. Why must ambassadors go to Saturn’s temple, and + be there registered? 229. 44. Why must not priests of Jupiter swear? + 229. 45. Why at the feast of Venus is wine so freely used? 230. 46. + Why would the ancients have the temple of Horta to stand always open? + 230. 47. Why did Romulus build the temple of Vulcan without the city? + 231. 48. Why were garlands used in the Consualia? 231. 49. Why did + candidates for office appear without tunics? 232. 50. Why did the + priest of Jupiter, on the death of his wife, resign his office? 232. + 51. Why is a dog set before the Lares, and why are the Lares covered + with dogs’ skins? 233. 52. Why is a dog sacrificed to Geneta, &c.? + 233. 53. Why, at the Capitoline games, are Sardians offered for + sale by a crier? 234. 54. Why is the flesh-market called Macellum? + 234. 55. Why do the minstrels wear women’s apparel on the Ides of + January? 234. 56. Why is it supposed that matrons built the temple + of Carmenta? 235. 57. Why is milk plentifully used in the women’s + sacrifice to Rumina? 236. 58. Why are some senators called Patres, + and others Patres Conscripti? 236. 59. Why was one altar common to + Hercules and the Muses? 236. 60. Why, of the two altars of Hercules, + do the women not partake of the greater? 237. 61. Why is the name + of the tutelary god of Rome not allowed to be mentioned? 237. 62. + Why of the Feciales was the Pater Patratus accounted the chief? 238. + 63. Why is the Rex Sacrorum forbidden to bear civil office? 238. 64. + Why after eating must something always be left on the table? 239. + 65. The first congress with a wife, why must it be in the dark? 239. + 66. Why was a horse-race round called Flaminia? 239. 67. Whence the + name _lictors_? 239. 68. Why do the Luperci sacrifice a dog? + 240. 69. Why upon the Septimontium are chariots not drawn by a pair + of horses? 240. 70. Why are convicted thieves called Furciferi? 241. + 71. Why is hay bound to the horns of unruly oxen? 241. 72. Why must + the lanterns of soothsayers be open at the top? 242. 73. Why were + priests, afflicted with sores, forbidden to use divination? 242. 74. + Why did Servius Tullius build a temple of Small Fortune? 243. 75. + Why did the Romans not extinguish a candle? 243. 76. Why were little + moons worn on the shoes? 244. 77. Why was the year Jupiter’s, but + the month Juno’s? 244. 78. Why in soothsaying is _sinister_ + fortunate? 245. 79. Why might the bones of one who had triumphed be + brought into the city? 246. 80. Why were the consuls requested not to + come to the supper of the triumpher? 246. 81. Why did not the tribune + wear purple? 246. 82. Why, before the chief officers, were the axes + carried bound up in rods? 247. 83. Why did the Romans forbid a human + sacrifice to barbarians, and offer one themselves? 248. 84. Why does + the Roman day begin at midnight? 249. 85. Why of old were women not + suffered to grind or to cook? 250. 86. Why are there no marriages in + May? 250. 87. Why is the hair of a bride parted with a spear? 251. + 88. Why is the money for public plays called _lucar_? 251. 89. + Why is the Quirinalia called the Feast of Fools? 251. 90. Why, at + a sacrifice to Hercules, was no other god mentioned, &c.? 252. 91. + Why might not patricians dwell about the Capitol? 252. 92. Why is + a garland of oak-leaves put on him who saves a citizen in battle? + 252. 93. Why are vultures used in soothsaying? 253. 94. Why is the + temple of Aesculapius placed without the city? 254. 95. Why must + chaste people abstain from pulse? 254. 96. Why are Vestal Virgins, + when unchaste, buried alive? 254. 97. Why, at a horse-race, is the + winning horse sacrificed to Mars, &c.? 255. 98. Why do the censors + begin their official work by feeding the sacred geese? 255. 99. Why + are augurs never deprived of office? 256. 100. Why, at the Ides of + August, do the servants feast and the free-women wait on them? 257. + 101. Why are boys decorated with the necklace called _bulla_? + 257. 102. Why do boys receive names at nine days old, and girls at + eight? 258. 103. Why are those whose fathers are not known called + _Spurius_? 258. 104. Why was Bacchus called Liber Pater? 259. + 105. Why are widows married on holidays, but not virgins? 259. 106. + Why do the Romans worship Fortuna Primigenia? 260. 107. Whence the + term _histriones_? 260. 108. Why are marriages between persons + near akin not practised? 260. 109. Why must not the chief priest of + Jupiter touch meal or leaven? 261. 110. Why is he forbidden to touch + raw flesh? 261. 111. Why is he forbidden to touch or name dog or + goat? 262. 112. Why is he forbidden to touch ivy, or to pass under + vine branches? 263. 113. Why is he forbidden to bear civil office? + 264. + + + GREEK QUESTIONS. + + By the Same Hand. + + 1. Who are they at Epidaurus called Κονίποδες and Ἄρτυνοι? 265. 2. + What woman did the Cumans call Onobatis? 265. 3. Who is the + Ὑπεκκαύστρια among the Solenses? 266. 4. Who + are the Ἀμνήμονες among the Cnidians, and who is the Ἀφεστήρ? 266. + 5. Who were the Χρηστοί among the Arcadians and Lacedaemonians? + 266. 6. Who is Κριθολόγος among the Opuntians? 266. 7. What sort of + clouds are the Ploiades? 266. 8. Who is called Platychaetas among the + Boeotians? 267. 9. Who at Delphi is called Ὁσιωτήρ? 267. 10. What is + Phyxemelum? 268. 11. Who are the Ἀποσφενδόνητοι? 268. 12. What was + Charila among the Delphians? 268. 13. What is the beggars’ meat among + the Aenianes? 270. 14. Who were the Coliads among the Ithacans? what + was a φάγιλος? 271. 15. What is the wooden dog among the Locrians? + 271. 16. What thing do the Megarians call ἀφάβρωμα? 272. 17. Who was + called δορύξενος? 272. 18. What is παλιντοκία? 273. 19. What is the + Anthedon of which Pythia speaks? 273. 20. What is meant at Priene by + darkness at the Oak? 274. 21. Who in Crete were called Κατακαῦται? + 274. 22. What was the Sepulchre of the Boys at Chalcedon? 275. 23. + Who at Argos are Μιξαρχαγέτας and Ἐλάσιοι? 276. 24. What at Argos + is ἔγκνισμα? 276. 25. Who are Ἀλάστωρ, Ἀλιτήριος, and Παλαμναῖος? + 276. 26. What is the meaning of a verse sung by certain virgins of + Aenos? 276. 27. Why at Rhodes does the crier never enter the chapel + of Ocridion? 277. 28. Why at Tenedos does no piper enter the temple, + nor must Achilles be named there? 277. 29. Who was the πωλήτης at + Epidamnus? 278. 30. What is the shore of Araenus, in Thrace? 278. + 31. Why at the feast of Ceres do the women of Eretria roast meat by + the sun? 279. 32. Who at Miletus were the Ἀειναῦται? 279. 33. Why + do the Chalcidians call a certain place Ἀκμαίων Λέσχη? 279. 34. Who + was he that sacrificed an ox to his benefactor? 280. 35. Why did the + Bottiaean maids sing, “Let us go to Athens”? 280. 36. Why do the + Eleian women in their hymns say, “O Bacchus, come with an ox foot”? + 281. 37. Why is a place at Tanagra called Achilleum? 281. 38. Who + among the Boeotians were the Ψολόεις, and the Ὀλεῖαι? 282. 39. Why + do the Arcadians stone those who go willingly into the Lycaeum, &c.? + 282. 40. Who is Eunostus, the hero of Tanagra, and why may not women + enter his grove? 283. 41. How came there to be a river in Boeotia + called Scamander? 284. 42. Whence the saying, “Let this prevail”? + 285. 43. Why is the city of the Ithacans called Alalcomenae? 285. + 44. Who are the Monophagi in Aegina? 286. 45. Why does a statue of + Jupiter in Caria carry an axe and not a thunderbolt? 286. 46. Why + do the Trallians call the pulse ὄροβος καθαρτής? 287. 47. Why do + the Eleans say, “worse than Sambicus”? 287. 48. Why is the temple + of Ulysses at Lacedaemon near the monument of Leucippides? 287. 49. + Why do the women of Chalcedon, on meeting other women’s husbands, + cover one cheek? 288. 50. Why do the Argives bring their sheep to the + grove of Agenor, &c.? 289. 51. Why did the Argive boys in sport call + themselves Ballacrades? 289. 52. Why do the men of Elis lead their + mares out of their borders, &c.? 289. 53. Why was it a custom amongst + the Gnossians that they who borrowed money upon usury should snatch + it up and run away? 289. 54. Why in Samos do they call upon Venus of + Dexicreon? 289. 55. Why in Samos, when they sacrifice to Mercury, do + they allow stealing? 290. 56. Why in Samos is there a place called + Πάναιμα? 290. 57. Why in Samos was the Andron called Pedetes? 290. + 58. Why is the priest of Hercules in Cos clothed in women’s apparel? + 291. 59. Whence the race of Hamaxocylists in Megara? 292. + + + OF THE LOVE OF WEALTH. + + By Mr. Patrick, of the Charterhouse. + + True happiness is not to be bought and sold; wealth will not procure + it, 294. The love of money does not cease on the acquisition of + money, 295. A man who has much is intent on getting more, 296. He + does not need more, but to be relieved of some part of what he has, + 296. To possess money, and not to use it, is a distemper of the + mind, 297. The love of wealth is never satisfied, 298. It makes of a + man a miserable slave, 299. Such men are always in want, 297, _et + seq._ They excite aversion in the beholders, 299. They lay up + wealth for their children, 300; who impatiently expect their decease, + 301. What is the use of riches? 302. Riches need not be coveted, + since our real wants are easily supplied, 303. If there were nobody + to see a display of riches besides their possessor, their chief value + would cease, 304. When nobody looks on, riches signify nothing, 305. + + + HOW A MAN MAY INOFFENSIVELY PRAISE HIMSELF WITHOUT BEING LIABLE TO + ENVY. + + By Mr. Lancaster, Fellow of Baliol College in Oxford. + + An arrogant boaster is universally condemned, 306. Yet there are + times when a man may fitly praise himself, 307. A man may vindicate + his worthy acts when maligned by others, 309. Instances of this + in Pericles, Pelopidas, Epaminondas, 309. A man grappling with + ill-fortune may vindicate himself, 310. A man may do it, if treated + ungratefully, 311. Or if unjustly accused of evil acts, 312. A man + may indirectly praise himself by praising others who are of similar + character, 313. Envy may be forestalled by giving the credit of our + good actions to Fortune or to God, 314; and by admissions of partial + wrong in our character or conduct, 316, 317. We may praise ourselves + when it seems to be for the advantage of others, 318; and when by so + doing we may silence an insolent and blustering man, 319. When evil + conduct is praised, and we may attract the attention of the company + to a worthier example, 320. In general we should avoid talking about + ourselves, 321. This habit engenders boasting and vain-glory, 322. It + leads to the disparagement of others, 323. We should hear our praises + uttered with modesty and caution, 324; otherwise we incur disgrace, + 325. + + + CONCERNING THE PROCREATION OF THE SOUL, AS DISCOURSED IN TIMAEUS. + + By John Philips, Gent. + + Opinion of Plato concerning the soul, 326. Quotation from the Timaeus + of Plato, 326. Opinions of Xenocrates and Crantor, 327. Plato held + the eternity of matter, 328, 353. Nature of the soul, according + to Plato, 329, 330. The material of which the world was formed, + originally a shapeless mass existing from eternity, 331. It was + arranged in perfect and beautiful forms by God, 331, 336. The soul + of the world, 332, 351. Origin of evil, 333, 334. Reconciliation of + Plato with himself, 335-337. His real meaning, 337. The four original + elements of all created, corporeal things, 337. The soul is both + created and uncreated, 338. The subject illustrated by geometry and + the doctrine of ratios, 339-345. And by the musical scale, 345-349. + Relation of spirit to matter, 350. The opinion of those philosophers + refuted who make the soul a compound of both, 351. The soul of the + world, what? 352. The divisible and the indivisible: the Other and + the Same, 326, 350, 354, _et seq._ The four elements, how + related, 355. Generation, what? 356. Two discordant principles rule + the world,—Fate or Necessity, and Intelligence or Wisdom, 357, 358. + The soul is not altogether the workmanship of the Deity, 359. Another + illustration from geometry, 360. Illustration from the planetary + system, 361, 362. And from musical science, 361, 367. + + + THAT A PHILOSOPHER OUGHT CHIEFLY TO CONVERSE WITH GREAT MEN. + + By Knightly Chetwood. + + Instruction in philosophy not to be denied to men of quality, 368. + The true idea of philosophy, 369. If useful to any, it may be + especially useful to men who lead and govern, 370. Absurdity of the + contrary supposition, 371. Great value of true philosophy, 372. + Reputation valuable to a philosopher as a means of usefulness, 373. A + philosopher will delight in giving his instructions where they will + have the widest influence, 374, 375. Even an ordinary mechanic would + be pleased if he knew his machine would be put to a noble use, 376. + + + A DISCOURSE CONCERNING SOCRATES’S DAEMON. + + By Mr. Creech. + + Introduction, 378. Supposed conversation among some friends + respecting affairs at Thebes, at the period of the return of the + exiles, 379-382. About Pelopidas, Epaminondas, Charon, Archias, + Leontidas, Lysanoridas, 381, 382. Plan for liberating Thebes from + the Spartan rule, 382. Strange portents and omens, 383-385. Recourse + to Egypt for the interpretation of a strange, antiquated writing, + 383-385. The writing interpreted, 386. Folly of superstition, 387. + Socrates pursued a more rational method, 387. What shall we think + of his Daemon? 388. Was it some trifling thing, as an omen or a + sneeze? 389, 391. It could be nothing but sound judgment, 390. A + stranger from Italy introduced, 392. His account of affairs at + Metapontum, 393. Lysis had escaped from massacre at Metapontum, and + been hospitably received at Thebes, 394. Theanor, the stranger, + offers money in requital for the kindness bestowed on Lysis, 394. + The offer refused, and why, 395. Discourse of Epaminondas thereon, + 396-398. Epaminondas has a good Daemon, 399. The conversation turns + on the liberation of Thebes from the Spartan garrison, 400. Fear that + the plot is discovered, 401. Dreams and omens, 401, 402. The Daemon + of Socrates again, 403, 404. A strong impression made on the mind + of some extraordinary man is from a Daemon, like that of Socrates, + 406. A romantic dream related, 407-411. A descent into the infernal + regions, 409. Daemons are seen there; their connection with human + beings on earth, 410, 411. The Pythagorean philosophy respecting + dreams, daemons, and sacred impulses, 412, 413. Epaminondas refuses + to kill any citizen without process of law, 414. Slaughter of the + Spartan commanders and liberation of Thebes, 414-423. + + + OF CURIOSITY, OR AN OVER-BUSY INQUISITIVENESS INTO THINGS IMPERTINENT. + + By Maurice Wheeler, Late of Christ Church, Oxon. + + Uncomfortable houses may be so altered as to be made comfortable, + 424. In like manner, we may so change our personal habits as to + become agreeable to ourselves and others, 425. One habit needing + to be changed may be that of a vain curiosity, 425. Let us make a + thorough self-inspection, 426. Those who eagerly pry into the affairs + of others are apt to be ignorant of themselves, 427, 428. It is rude + and indecent to intrude into the private concerns of others, 429. It + is also attended with danger, 430. Curiosity may be wisely and safely + indulged by inquiries into the phenomena of nature and the history + of great events, 431. But such things do not satisfy a perverse + and prurient curiosity, 432. Such curiosity proceeds from spite or + envy, 432. People so inclined search into matters which men wish to + keep secret, 433. Such people cannot endure the quiet of a country + life, 434. They eagerly inquire for news, 434. We carefully guard + ourselves against inquisitive persons, 435. The practice procures + its own punishment, 437. To cure ourselves of the habit of idle + curiosity, forbear to notice little things, 438. Do not peep in at + doors and windows, 439. Do not mix with low people, 441. Do not look + at beautiful women, 442. Restrain the impulse of curiosity, even in + lawful things, 443. Spies and informers, even when employed by the + government, are always hated, 444. + + + HOW A MAN MAY BE SENSIBLE OF HIS PROGRESS IN VIRTUE. + + By Mr. Tod, of University College in Oxford. + + There can be no progress in virtue while habits of wrong-doing + continue unchanged, 446. A change from vice to virtue is not + instantaneous, it must be progressive, 447. The opinion of the + Stoics confuted that all men are equally vicious, 448. As there are + degrees of moral improvement, they are easily discernible, 449. + Constant endeavors to be good may inspire confidence of success, 450. + It is a good sign if our efforts after moral improvement become more + intense and constant, 451. And if difficulties gradually disappear, + 452. Examples given, 453. It is a good sign if the ridicule or + opposition of friends do not induce us to leave our studies, 454. + What may evince proficiency in virtue, 455. Many fail of advantage + from the study of philosophy, 456. In hearing lectures or reading, + attend to things spoken rather than the words, 457. Do not read + merely to admire the style, 457. Be more ready to hear than to + speak, 459. Maintain an unruffled temper, 459. Cultivate presence of + mind, 460. Be guided by truth rather than ostentation, 461. Exercise + self-restraint, 461; and moderation, 462. Cultivate a serious spirit, + 463. Be willing to receive admonition, 464, 465. When in the wrong, + willingly acknowledge it, 466. Effects of careful and persistent + training, 468. Pleasant dreams indicate proficiency in virtue, 469. + Not only love and admire but imitate virtuous examples, 470. Let + some virtuous example ever be in our thoughts, 472. Cultivate the + acquaintance of the wise and good, 473. Carefully avoid every fault, + 474. + + + OF FORTUNE + + By William Baxter, Gent. + + Does Fortune rule the affairs of men? 475. What influence could + it have in the affairs of Aristides, Scipio, Alexander, and men + like them? 475. Are there not such things as wisdom, justice, + moderation, and fortitude? 476. And are not these qualities of + supreme importance? 477. Were it not for our reason, we should be far + inferior to the brutes, 478. What place has Fortune in the affairs of + carpenters, artists, and painters? 479. If reason and good counsel + are of service in the mechanic arts, why not in affairs of state? 480. + + + OF VIRTUE AND VICE + + By the Same Hand. + + As our clothing does not impart heat to our bodies, so ample + possessions cannot make us happy, 482. Virtue can make any condition + in life pleasant and delightful, 483. A man’s vices inflict on him + misery which he cannot avoid, 483. They allow him no rest, day or + night, 484. Worldly abundance only aggravates the disorders of the + mind, 484. Virtue makes a man happy anywhere, 485. + + + CONJUGAL PRECEPTS + + By John Philips, Gent. + + Introduction, 486. Avoid the first occasions of discord, 487. + There should be a conformity of tastes and manners, 488. The wife + must prefer the society of her husband to that of all others, 488. + The husband must avoid a morose, imperious behavior, 489. Let all + things be managed with the consent of both parties, 489. The wife, + if limited in expenses, must cheerfully submit, 490. She must not + chide her husband before others, 490. She should study to reflect + his character, 490. She should share his recreations and his cares, + 491. If the husband takes another woman on an excursion of pleasure, + let not the wife show anger, 491. The caresses of conjugal life + should be proffered by the husband only, 492. A wife must have no + private friendships, 492. _Meum et tuum_ must have no place + in married life, 493. The petty altercations of man and wife, if + of daily occurrence, render the connection insupportable, 494. The + parties immediately concerned can best tell where the shoe pinches, + 494. A wife wins her husband’s affection most readily by sweetness + of disposition, 494. The wife should make a proper use of her + mirror, 495. A woman is adorned more by discretion, humility, and + modesty, than by gold or diamonds, 495. Anger and reproach should be + banished from the household, 496. A wife must not be a slut, 496. She + should avoid affectation and being over nice, 497. She should avoid + extravagance in dress, 497. She should guard her lips in the hearing + of strangers, 498. She must not attempt to control her husband, + 498. The husband’s government must be that of love, 498. The wife + should so gain her husband’s love as not to lessen his affection + for his mother, 499. When the husband is in a passion, it is best + for the wife to hold her peace, 500. Women are rarely jealous of + their husbands when other women let them alone, 501. Let the husband + abstain from unlawful embraces, 503. Let him respect and honor his + wife, 504. Concluding counsels 505-507. + + + INDEX + + + + + PLUTARCH’S MORALS. + + + + + PLUTARCH’S MORALS. + + VOL. II. + + + + +THE BANQUET OF THE SEVEN WISE MEN. + +THE SEVEN,—SOLON, BIAS, THALES, ANACHARSIS, CLEOBULUS, PITTACUS, +CHILO.[1] + +NILOXENUS, EUMETIS, ALEXIDEMUS, PERIANDER, ARDALUS, ESOP, CLEODEMUS, +MNESIPHILUS, CHERSIAS, GORGIAS, DIOCLES. + + +DIOCLES TO NICARCHUS. + +1. No wonder, my friend Nicarchus, to find old truths so disguised, +and the words and actions of men so grossly misrepresented and lamely +delivered, seeing people are so disposed to give ear and credit to +fictions of yesterday’s standing. For there were not merely seven +present at that feast, as you were informed; there were more than +double the number. I was there myself in person and familiarly +acquainted with Periander (my art had gained me his acquaintance); and +Thales boarded at my house, at the request and upon the recommendation +of Periander. Whoever then gave you that account of our feast did it +very badly; it is plain he did it upon hearsay, and that he was not +there among us. Now, since we are together and at leisure, and possibly +we may not live to find an opportunity so convenient another time, I +will (seeing you desire it) give you a faithful account of the whole +proceedings at that meeting. + + +2. Periander had prepared a dinner for us, not in the town, but in a +dining-hall at Lechaeum which stands close to the temple of Venus, to +whom there was a sacrifice that day. For having neglected the duty +ever since his mother died for love, he was resolved now to atone +for the omission, being warned so to do by the dreams of Melissa. In +order thereunto, there was provided a rich chariot for every one of +the guests. It was summer-time, and every part of the way quite to +the seaside was hardly passable, by reason of throngs of people and +whole clouds of dust. As soon as Thales espied the chariot waiting +at the door, he smilingly discharged it, and we walked through the +fields to avoid the press and noise. There was in our company a third +person, Niloxenus a Naucratian, an eminent man, who was very intimately +acquainted with Solon and Thales in Egypt; he had a message to deliver +to Bias, and a letter sealed, the contents whereof he knew not; only +he guessed it contained a second question to be resolved by Bias, +and in case Bias undertook not to answer it, he had in commission to +impart it to the wisest men in Greece. What a fortune is this (quoth +Niloxenus) to find you all together! This paper (showing it us) I am +bringing to the banquet. Thales replied, after his wonted smiling way, +If it contains any hard question, away with it to Priene. Bias will +resolve it with the same readiness he did your former problem. What +problem was that? quoth he. Why, saith Thales, a certain person sent +him a beast for sacrifice with this command, that he should return him +that part of his flesh which was best and worst; our philosopher very +gravely and wisely pulled out the tongue of the beast, and sent it to +the donor;—which single act procured him the name and reputation of +a very wise man. It was not this act alone that advanced him in the +estimation of the world, quoth Niloxenus; but he joyfully embraces what +you so carefully shun, the acquaintance and friendship of kings and +great men; and whereas he honors you for divers great accomplishments, +he particularly admires you for this invention, that with little labor +and no help of any mathematical instrument you took so truly the height +of one of the pyramids; for fixing your staff erect at the point of +the shadow which the pyramid cast, two triangles being thus made by +the tangent rays of the sun, you demonstrated that what proportion one +shadow had to the other, such the pyramid bore to the stick. + +But, as I said, you are accused of being a hater of kings, and certain +back friends of yours have presented Amasis with a paper of yours +stuffed with sentences reproachful to majesty; as for instance, being +at a certain time asked by Molpagoras the Ionian, what the most absurd +thing was you had observed in your notice, you replied, An old king. +Another time, in a dispute that happened in your company about the +nature of beasts, you affirmed that of wild beasts, a king, of tame, a +flatterer was the worst. Such apophthegms must needs be unacceptable to +kings, who pretend there is vast difference between them and tyrants. +This was Pittacus’s reply to Myrsilus, and it was spoken in jest, quoth +Thales; nor was it an old king I said I should marvel at, but an old +pilot. In this mistake, however, I am much of the youth’s mind who, +throwing a stone at a bitch, hit his stepmother, adding, Not so bad. I +therefore esteemed Solon a very wise and good man, when I understood he +refused empire; and if Pittacus had not taken upon himself a monarchy, +he had never exclaimed, O ye Gods! how hard a matter it is to be good! +And Periander, however he seems to be sick of his father’s disease, +is yet to be commended that he gives ear to wholesome discourses +and converses only with wise and good men, rejecting the advice of +Thrasybulus my countryman, who would have persuaded him to chop off +the heads of his nobility. For a prince that chooses rather to govern +slaves than freemen is like a foolish farmer, who throws his wheat and +barley in the streets, to fill his barns with swarms of locusts and +whole cages of birds. For government has one good thing to make amends +for the many evils attending it, namely, honor and glory, provided the +ruler rules good men because he is better than they, and great men +seeming to be greater than they. But he that having ascended the throne +minds only his own interest and ease, remitting all care and concern +for the welfare of the subject, is fitter to tend sheep or to drive +horses or to feed cattle than to govern men of reason. + +But this stranger (continues he) has engaged us in a deal of +impertinent chat, for we have neglected to speak or offer any discourse +suitable to the occasion and end of our meeting; for doubtless it +becomes the guest, as well as the host, to make preparation beforehand. +It is reported that the Sybarites used to invite their neighbors’ +wives a whole twelve-month before to their entertainments, that they +might have convenient time to trim and adorn themselves; for my part, +I am of opinion, that he who would feast as he should ought to allow +himself more time for preparation than they, it being a more difficult +matter to compose the mind into an agreeable temper than to fit one’s +clothes for the outward ornament of the body. For a prudent man comes +not hither only to fill his belly, as if he were to fill a bottle, +but to be sometimes grave and serious, sometimes pleasant, sometimes +to listen to others, and sometimes to speak himself what may benefit +or divert the company, if the meeting is intended for any good use or +purpose. For if the victuals be not good, men may let them alone, or if +the wine be bad, men may use water; but for a weak-headed, impertinent, +unmannerly, shallow fellow-commoner there is no cure; he mars all the +mirth and music, and spoils the best entertainment in the world. +And it will be no easy business to rid one’s self of a sullen temper +when once entertained; since we find divers men, affronted in their +debauches, have yet remembered the provocation to their dying day, +the spite remaining like a surfeit arising from wrong done or anger +conceived in drinking wine. Wherefore Chilo did very well and wisely; +for when he was invited yesterday, he would not promise to come till +he had a particular given him of all their names who were to meet him. +For, quoth he, if my business calls me to sea or I am pressed to serve +my prince in his wars, there is a necessity upon me to rest contented +with whatever company I fall into, though never so unsuitable to my +quality or disagreeable to my nature and humor; but voluntarily and +needlessly to associate myself with any riffraff rabble would ill +become any man pretending to but common discretion. + +The Egyptian skeleton which they brought into their feasts and exposed +to the view of their guests, with this advice, that they should not in +their merriment forget they would shortly be themselves such as that +was,—though it was a sight not so acceptable (as may be supposed),—had +yet this conveniency and use, to incite the spectators not to luxury +and drunkenness but to mutual love and friendship, persuading them not +to protract a life in itself short and uncertain by a tedious course of +wickedness. + +3. In discourses of this kind we spent our time by the way, and were +now come to the house. Here Thales would not be washed, for he had but +a while before anointed himself; wherefore he took a round to view the +horse-race and the wrestling-place, and the grove upon the water-side, +which was neatly trimmed and beautified by Periander; this he did, not +so much to satisfy his own curiosity (for he seldom or never admired +any thing he saw), but that he might not disoblige Periander or seem +to overlook or despise the glory and magnificence of our host. Of the +rest every one, after he had anointed and washed himself, the servants +introduced into a particular room, purposely fitted and prepared for +the men; they were guided thither through a porch, in which Anacharsis +sat, and there was a certain young lady with him arranging his hair. +This lady stepping forward to welcome Thales, he saluted her most +courteously, and smiling said: Madam, make the stranger fair and +pleasant, so that, being (as he is) the mildest man in the world, he +may not be fearful and hideous for us to look on. When I was curious +to enquire who this lady was whom Thales thus complimented, he said, +Do you not yet know the wise and famous Eumetis?—for so her father +calls her, though others call her after her father’s name Cleobulina. +Doubtless, saith Niloxenus, they call her by this name to commend her +judgment and wit, and her reach into the more abstruse and recondite +part of learning; for I have myself in Egypt seen and read some +problems first started and discussed by her. Not so, saith Thales, +for she plays with these as men do with cockal-bones, and encounters +boldly all she meets, without study or premeditation; she is a person +of an admirable understanding, of a politic capacious mind, of a very +obliging conversation, and one that by her rhetoric and the sweetness +of her temper prevails upon her father to govern his subjects with +the greatest mildness in the world. How popular she is appears, saith +Niloxenus, plainly to any that observes her pleasant innocent garb. But +pray, continues he, wherefore is it that she shows such tenderness and +affection to Anacharsis? Because, replied Thales, he is a temperate and +learned man, who fully and freely makes known to her those mysterious +ways of dieting and physicing the sick which are now in use among the +Scythians; and I doubt not she now coaxes and courts the old gentleman +at the rate you see, taking this opportunity to discourse with him and +learn something of him. + +As we were come near the dining-room, Alexidemus the Milesian, a +bastard son of Thrasybulus the Tyrant, met us. He seemed to be +disturbed, and in an angry tone muttered to himself some words which +we could not distinctly hear; but espying Thales, and recovering +himself out of his disorder, he complained how Periander had put an +insufferable affront upon him. He would not permit me, saith he, to +go to sea, though I earnestly importuned him, but he would press me +to dine with him. And when I came as invited, he assigned me a seat +unbecoming my person and character, Aeolians and islanders and others +of inferior rank being placed above me; whence it is easy to infer how +meanly he thinks of my father, and it is undeniable how this affront +put upon me rebounds disgracefully in my parent’s face. Say you so? +quoth Thales, are you afraid lest the place lessen or diminish your +honor and worth, as the Egyptians commonly hold the stars are magnified +or lessened according to their higher or lower place and position? +And are you more foolish than that Spartan who, when the prefect of +the music had appointed him to sit in the lowest seat in the choir, +replied, This is prudently done, for this is the ready way to bring +this seat into repute and esteem? It is a frivolous consideration, +where or below whom we sit; and it is a wiser part to adapt ourselves +to the judgment and humor of our right and left hand man and the +rest of the company, that we may approve ourselves worthy of their +friendship, when they find we take no pet at our host, but are rather +pleased to be placed near such good company. And whosoever is disturbed +upon the account of his place seems to be more angry with his neighbor +than with his host, but certainly is very troublesome and nauseous to +both. + +These are fine words, and no more, quoth Alexidemus, for I observe you, +the wisest of men, as ambitious as other men; and having said thus, +he passed by us doggedly and trooped off. Thales, seeing us admiring +the innocence of the man, declared he was a fellow naturally of a +blockish, stupid disposition; for when he was a boy, he took a parcel +of rich perfume that was presented to Thrasybulus and poured it into a +large bowl, and mixing it with a quantity of wine, he drank it off and +was ever hated for it. As Thales was talking after this fashion, in +comes a servant and tells us it was Periander’s pleasure we would come +in and inform him what we thought of a certain creature brought into +his presence that instant, whether it were so born by chance or were +a prodigy and omen;—himself seeming mightily affected and concerned, +for he judged his sacrifice polluted by it. At the same time he walked +before us into a certain house adjoining to his garden-wall, where we +found a young beardless shepherd, tolerably handsome, who having opened +a leathern bag produced and showed us a child born (as he averred) of +a mare. His upper part, as far as his neck and his hands, was of human +shape, and the rest of his body resembled a perfect horse; his cry was +like that of a child newly born. As soon as Niloxenus saw it, he cried +out, The Gods deliver us; and away he fled as one sadly affrighted. +But Thales eyed the shepherd a considerable while, and then smiling +(for it was his way to jeer me perpetually about my art) says he, I +doubt not, Diocles, but you have been all this time seeking for some +expiatory offering, and intending to call to your aid those Gods whose +province and work it is to avert evils from men, as if some great and +grievous thing had happened. Why not? quoth I, for undoubtedly this +prodigy portends sedition and war, and I fear the dire portents thereof +may extend to myself, my wife, and my children, and prove all our ruin; +since, before I have atoned for my former fault, the Goddess gives us +this second evidence and proof of her displeasure. Thales replied never +a word, but laughing went out of the house. Periander, meeting him +at the door, enquired what we thought of that creature; he dismissed +me, and taking Periander by the hand, said, Whatsoever Diodes shall +persuade you to do, do it at your best leisure; but I advise you either +not to have such young men to keep your mares, or to give them leave +to marry. When Periander heard him out, he seemed infinitely pleased, +for he laughed outright, and hugging Thales in his arms he kissed him; +then saith he, O Diocles, I am apt to think the worst is over, and what +this prodigy portended is now at an end; for do you not apprehend what +a loss we have sustained in the want of Alexidemus’s good company at +supper? + +4. When we entered into the house, Thales raising his voice enquired +where it was his worship refused to be placed; which being shown him, +he sat himself in that very place, and prayed us to sit down by him, +and said, I would gladly give any money to have an opportunity to +sit and eat with Ardalus. This Ardalus was a Troezenian by birth, by +profession a minstrel, and a priest of the Ardalian Muses, whose temple +old Ardalus had founded and dedicated. Here Esop, who was sent from +Croesus to visit Periander, and withal to consult the oracle at Delphi, +sitting by and beneath Solon upon a low stool, told the company this +fable: A Lydian mule, viewing his own picture in a river, and admiring +the bigness and beauty of his body, raises his crest; he waxes proud, +resolving to imitate the horse in his gait and running; but presently, +recollecting his extraction, how that his father was but an ass at +best, he stops his career and checks his own haughtiness and bravery. +Chilo replied, after his short laconic way, You are slow and yet try to +run, in imitation of your mule. + +Amidst these discourses in comes Melissa and sits her down by +Periander; Eumetis followed and came in as we were at supper; then +Thales calls to me (I sat me down above Bias), Why do you not make +Bias acquainted with the problems sent him from the King by Niloxenus +this second time, that he may soberly and warily weigh them? Bias +answered, I have been already scared with that news. I have known that +Bacchus is otherwise a powerful God, and for his wisdom is termed +λύσιος, that is, _the interpreter_; therefore I shall undertake +it when my belly is full of wine. Thus they jested and reparteed and +played one upon another all the while they sat at table. Observing +the unwonted frugality of Periander at this time, I considered with +myself that the entertainment of wise and good men is a piece of good +husbandry, and that so far from enhancing a man’s expenses in truth it +serves to save charge, the charge (to wit) of costly foreign unguents +and junkets, and the waste of the richest wines, which Periander’s +state and greatness required him every day in his ordinary treats to +expend. Such costly provisions were useless here, and Periander’s +wisdom appeared in his frugality. Moreover, his lady had laid aside her +richer habit, and appeared in an ordinary, but a very becoming dress. + +5. Supper now ended, and Melissa having distributed the garlands, we +offered sacrifice; and when the minstrel had played us a tune or two, +she withdrew. Then Ardalus enquired of Anacharsis, if there were women +fiddlers at Scythia. He suddenly and smartly replied, There are no +vines there. Ardalus asked a second question, whether the Scythians had +any Gods among them. Yes, quoth Anacharsis, and they understand what +men say to them; nor are the Scythians of the Grecian opinion (however +these last may be the better orators), that the Gods are better +pleased with the sounds of flutes and pipes than with the voice of +men. My friend, saith Esop, what would you say if you saw our present +pipe-makers throw away the bones of fawns and hind-calves, to use those +of asses, affirming they yield the sweeter and more melodious sound? +Whereupon Cleobulina made one of her riddles about the Phrygian flute, +... in regard to the sound, and wondered that an ass, a gross animal +and no lover of music, should yet afford bones so fit for harmony. +Therefore it is doubtless, quoth Niloxenus, that the people of Busiris +accuse us Naucratians of folly for using pipes made of asses’ bones, it +being an insufferable fault in any of them to listen to the flute or +cornet, the sound thereof being (as they esteem it) so like the braying +of an ass; and you know an ass is hateful to the Egyptians on account +of Typhon. + +6. There happening here a short silence, Periander, observing Niloxenus +willing but not daring to speak, said: I cannot but commend the +civility of those magistrates who give audience first to strangers +and afterwards to their own citizens; wherefore I judge it convenient +that we inhabitants and neighbors should proceed no farther at +present in our discourse, and that now attention be given to those +royal propositions sent us from Egypt, which the worthy Niloxenus +is commissioned to deliver to Bias, who desires that he and we may +scan and examine them together. And Bias said: For where or in what +company would a man more joyfully adventure to give his opinion than +here in this? And since it is his Majesty’s pleasure that I should +give my judgment first, in obedience to his commands I will do so, and +afterwards they shall come to every one of you in order. + +Then Niloxenus delivered the paper to Bias, who broke up the seal and +commanded it to be read in all their hearing. The contents were these:— + + Amasis the king of Egypt, to Bias, the wisest of the Grecians, + greeting. There is a contest between my brother of Ethiopia and + myself about wisdom; and being baffled in divers other particulars, + he now demands of me a thing absurd and impracticable; for he + requires me to drink up the ocean dry. If I be able to read this + his riddle, divers cities and towns now in his possession are to be + annexed to my kingdom; but if I cannot resolve this hard sentence, + and give him the right meaning thereof, he requires of me my right + to all the towns bordering upon Elephantina. Consider with speed the + premises, and let me receive your thoughts by Niloxenus. Pray lose no + time. If in any thing I can be serviceable to your city or friends, + you may command me. Farewell. + +Bias, having perused and for a little time meditated upon the letter, +and whispering Cleobulus in the ear (he sat by him), exclaimed: What a +narration is here, O Niloxenus! Will Amasis, who governs so many men +and is seized of so many flourishing territories, drink up the ocean +for the gain of a few paltry, beggarly villages? Niloxenus replied +with a smile: Consider, good sir, what is to be done, if he will obey. +Why then, said Bias, let Amasis require the Ethiopian king to stop the +streams which from all parts flow and empty themselves in the ocean, +until he have drunk out the whole remainder; for I conceive he means +the present waters, not those which shall flow into it hereafter. +Niloxenus was so overjoyed at this answer, that he could not contain +himself. He hugged and kissed the author, and the whole company liked +his opinion admirably well; and Chilo laughing desired Niloxenus to get +aboard immediately before the sea was consumed, and tell his master he +should mind more how to render his government sweet and potable to his +people, than how to swallow such a quantity of salt water. For Bias, he +told him, understands these things very well, and knows how to oblige +your lord with very useful instructions, which if he vouchsafe to +attend, he shall no more need a golden basin to wash his feet, to gain +respect from his subjects; all will love and honor him for his virtue, +though he were ten thousand times more hateful to them than he is. +It were well and worthily done, quoth Periander, if all of us did pay +him our first-fruits in this kind by the poll (as Homer said). Such a +course would bring him an accession of profit greater than the whole +profit of the voyage, besides being of no little use to ourselves. + +7. To this point it is fit that Solon should first speak, quoth Chilo, +not only because he is the eldest in the company and therefore sits +uppermost at table, but because he governs and gives laws to the +amplest and most complete and flourishing republic in the world, that +of Athens. Here Niloxenus whispered me in the ear: O Diocles, saith he, +how many reports fly about and are believed, and how some men delight +in lies which they either feign of their own heads or most greedily +swallow from the mouths of others. In Egypt I heard it reported how +Chilo had renounced all friendship and correspondence with Solon, +because he maintained the mutability of laws. A ridiculous fiction, +quoth I, for then he and we must have renounced Lycurgus, who changed +the laws and indeed the whole government of Sparta. + +Solon, pausing awhile, gave his opinion in these words: I conceive that +monarch, whether king or tyrant, were infinitely to be commended, who +would exchange his monarchy for a commonwealth. Bias subjoined, And who +would be first and foremost in conforming to the laws of his country. +Thales added, I reckon that prince happy, who, being old, dies in his +bed a natural death. Fourthly, Anacharsis, If he alone be a wise man. +Fifthly, Cleobulus said, If he trust none of his courtiers. Sixthly, +Pittacus spake thus, If he could cause his subjects to have fear not +of him but for him. Lastly, Chilo concluded thus, A magistrate ought +to have thoughts, purposes, and resolutions not mean and earthly, but +divine and immortal. + +When all had given in their judgments upon this point, we requested +Periander he would condescend to give the company the satisfaction to +let them know his thoughts upon the same head. Disorder and discontent +appearing in his countenance, he said, These opinions are enough to +scare any wise man from affecting empire. These things, saith Esop +after his fault-finding way, ought rather to have been discussed +privately among ourselves, lest we be accounted antimonarchical while +we desire to be esteemed friends and loyal counsellors. Solon, gently +clapping him upon the shoulder and smiling, answered: Do you not +perceive that any one would make a king more moderate and a tyrant +more favorable, who should persuade him that it is better not to reign +than to reign? Then we must believe you before the oracle delivered +unto you, quoth Esop, which pronounced that city happy that heard but +one crier. Yes, quoth Solon, and Athens, though now a commonwealth, +hath but one crier and one magistrate, and that is the law, though +the government be democratical; but you, my friend, have been so +accustomed to the croaking of ravens and the prating of jays, that you +do not hear your own voice. For you maintain it to be the happiness +of a city to be under the command of one man, and yet account it the +praise of a feast if liberty is allowed every man to speak his mind +freely upon what subject he pleases. But you have not prohibited your +servants’ drunkenness, as you have forbidden them to love or to use dry +ointments. Solon laughed at this; but Cleodorus the physician said: To +use dry ointment is like talking when a man is drenched with wine; both +are very pleasant. Therefore, saith Chilo, it concerns men the more +carefully to avoid it. Esop proceeds, Thales seemed to imply that he +should soon grow old. + +8. Periander said laughing: We suffer deservedly, for, before we have +perfected our animadversions and remarks upon the letter, we are fallen +upon disputes so strangely foreign to the matter under consideration; +and therefore I pray, Niloxenus, read out the remainder of your lord’s +letter, and slip not this opportunity to receive what satisfaction +all that are present shall be able to give you. The command of the +king of Ethiopia, says Niloxenus, is no more and no less than (to +use Archilochus’s phrase) a broken scytale; that is, the meaning is +inscrutable and cannot be found out. But your friend Amasis was more +gentle and civil in his queries; for he commanded him only to resolve +him what was most ancient, most beautiful, greatest, wisest, most +common, and withal, what was most profitable, most pernicious, most +strong, and most easy. Did he resolve and answer every one of these +questions? He did, quoth Niloxenus, and do you judge of his answers +and the soundness thereof: and it is my prince’s purpose not to +misrepresent his responses and condemn unjustly what he saith well, so, +where he finds him under a mistake, not to suffer that to pass without +correction. His answers to the foresaid questions I will read to +you.—What is most ancient? Time. What is greatest? The World. What is +wisest? Truth. What is most beautiful? The light. What is most common? +Death. What is most profitable? God. What is most pernicious? An evil +genius. What is strongest? Fortune. What is most easy? That which is +pleasant. + +9. When Niloxenus had read out these answers, there was a short silence +among them; by and by Thales desires Niloxenus to inform him if Amasis +approved of these answers. Niloxenus said, he liked some and disliked +others. There is not one of them right and sound, quoth Thales, but +all are full of wretched folly and ignorance. As for instance, how can +that be most ancient whereof part is past, part is now present, and +part is yet to come; every man knows it is younger than ourselves and +our actions. As to his answer that truth is the most wise thing, it is +as incongruous as if he had affirmed the light to be an eye; if he +judged the light to be the most beautiful, how could he overlook the +sun; as to his solutions concerning the Gods and evil geniuses, they +are full of presumption and peril. What he saith of Fortune is void +of sense, for her inconstancy and fickleness proceeds from want of +strength and power. Nor is death the most common thing; the living are +still at liberty, it hath not arrested them. But lest we be censured as +having a faculty to find fault only, we will lay down our opinions of +these things, and compare them with those of the Ethiopian; and I offer +myself first, if Niloxenus pleases, to deliver my opinion on every one +singly, and I will relate both questions and answers in that method +and order in which they were sent to Ethiopia and read to us. What is +most ancient? Thales answered, God, for he had no beginning. What is +greatest? Place; the world contains all other things, this surrounds +and contains the world. What is most beautiful? The world; for whatever +is framed artificially and methodically is a part of it. What is most +wise? Time; for it has found out some things already, it will find out +the rest in due time. What is most common? Hope; for they that want +other things are masters of this. What is most profitable? Virtue; for +by a right managery of other things she makes them all beneficial and +advantageous. What is most pernicious? Vice; for it depraves the best +things we enjoy. What is the most strong? Necessity; for this alone is +insuperable. What is most easy? That which is most agreeable to nature; +for pleasures themselves are sometimes tedious and nauseating. + +10. All the consult approved of Thales’s solutions. Then Cleodemus +said: My friend Niloxenus, it becomes kings to propound and resolve +such questions; but the insolence of that barbarian who would have +Amasis drink the sea would have been better fitted by such a smart +reprimand as Pittacus gave Alyattes, who sent an imperious letter to +the Lesbians. He made him no answer, except to bid him spend his time +in eating his hot bread and onions. + +Periander here assumed the discourse, and said: It was the manner of +the ancient Grecians heretofore, O Cleodemus, to propound doubts to one +another; and it hath been told us, that the most famous and eminent +poets once met at the grave of Amphidamas in Chalcis. This Amphidamas +was a leading citizen, one that had perpetual wars with the Eretrians, +and at last lost his life in one of the battles fought for the +possession of the Lelantine plain. Now, because the writings of those +poets were composed in verse, and so made the argument more knotty and +the decision more difficult, and the great names of the antagonists, +Homer and Hesiod, whose excellence was so well known, made the umpires +timorous and shy to determine; they therefore betook themselves to +these sorts of questions, and Homer, says Lesches, propounded this +riddle:— + + Tell me, O Muse, what never was + And never yet shall be. + +Hesiod answered readily and extempore in this wise:— + + When steeds with sounding hoof, to win + The prize, shall run amain; + And at the tomb of mighty Jove + Their chariots break in twain. + +For this reply he was infinitely commended and won the tripod. Pray +tell me, quoth Cleodemus, what difference there is between these +riddles and those of Eumetis, which she frames and invents to recreate +herself with as much pleasure as other virgins make nets and girdles? +They may be fit to offer and puzzle women withal; but for men to beat +their brains to find out their mystery would be mighty ridiculous. +Eumetis looked like one that had a great mind to reply; but her modesty +would not permit her, for her face was filled with blushes. But Esop in +her vindication asked: Is it not much more ridiculous that all present +cannot resolve the riddle she propounded to us before supper? This was +as follows:— + + A man I saw, who by his fire + Did set a piece of brass + Fast to a man, so that it seemed + To him it welded was. + +Can you tell me, said he, how to construe this, and what the sense of +it may be? No, said Cleodemus, nor do I care to know what it means. And +yet, quoth Esop, no man understands this thing better and practises +it more judiciously and successfully than yourself. If you deny it, I +have my witnesses ready; for there are your cupping-glasses. Cleodemus +laughed outright; for of all the physicians in his time, none used +cupping-glasses like him, he being a person that by his frequent and +fortunate application thereof brought them first into request in the +world. + +11. Mnesiphilus the Athenian, a friend and favorite of Solon’s, said: +O Periander, our discourse, as our wine, ought to be distributed not +according to our power or priority, but freely and equally, as in +a popular state; for what hath been already discoursed concerning +kingdoms and empires signifies little to us who live in a democracy. +Wherefore I judge it convenient that every one of you beginning with +Solon, should freely and impartially declare his sense of a popular +state. The motion pleased all the company; then saith Solon: My friend +Mnesiphilus, you heard, together with the rest of this good company, +my opinion concerning republics; but since you are willing to hear +it again, I hold that city or state happy and most likely to remain +democratic, in which those that are not personally injured are yet as +forward to question and correct wrong-doers as that person who is more +immediately wronged. Bias added, Where all fear the law as they fear a +tyrant. Thirdly, Thales said, Where the citizens are neither too rich +nor too poor. Fourthly, Anacharsis said, Where, though in all other +respects they are equal, yet virtuous men are advanced and vicious +persons degraded. Fifthly, Cleobulus said, Where the rulers fear +reproof and shame more than the law. Sixthly, Pittacus said, Where bad +men are prohibited from ruling, and good men from not ruling. Chilo, +pausing a little while, determined that the best and most durable +state was where the subject minded the law most and the orators least. +Periander concluded with his opinion, that all of them would best +approve that democracy which came next and was likest to an aristocracy. + +12. When they had ended this discourse, I begged they would condescend +to direct me how to govern a house; for they were few who had cities +and kingdoms to govern, compared with those who had houses and families +to manage. Esop laughed and said: I hope you except Anacharsis out +of your number; for having no house, he glories because he can be +contented with a chariot only, as they say the sun is whirled about +from one end of the heavens to the other in his chariot. Therefore, +saith Anacharsis, he alone, or he principally, is most free among the +Gods, and ever at his own liberty and dispose. He governs all, and is +governed and subject to none, but he rides and reigns; and you know not +how magnificent and capacious his chariot is; if you did, you would +not thus floutingly compare it with our Scythian chariots. For you +seem in my apprehension to call these coverings made of wood and mud +houses, as if you should call the shell and not the living creature a +snail. Therefore you laughed when Solon told you how, when he viewed +Croesus’s palace and found it richly and gloriously furnished, he yet +could not yield he lived happily until he had tried the inward and +invisible state of his mind; for a man’s felicity consists not in the +outward and visible favors and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward +and unseen perfections and riches of the mind. And you seem to have +forgot your own fable of the fox, who, contending with the leopard as +to which was beset with more colors and spots, and having referred the +matter in controversy to the arbitration of an umpire, desired him to +consider not so much the outside as the inside; for, saith he, I have +more various and different fetches and tricks in my mind than he has +marks or spots in his body. You regard only the handiwork of carpenters +and masons and stone-cutters, and call this a house; not what one hath +within, his children, his wife, his friends and attendants, with whom +if a man lived in an emmet’s bed or a bird’s nest, enjoying in common +the ordinary comforts of life, this man may be affirmed to live a happy +and a fortunate life. + +This is the answer I purpose to return Esop, quoth Anacharsis, and +I tender it to Diocles as my share in this discourse; only let the +rest give in their opinions, if they please. Solon thought that house +most happy where the estate was got without injustice, kept without +distrust, and spent without repentance. Bias said, That house is happy +where the master does freely and voluntarily at home what the law +compels him to do abroad. Thales held that house most happy where the +master had most leisure and respite from business. Cleobulus said, That +in which the master is more beloved than feared. Pittacus said, That +is most happy where superfluities are not required and necessaries are +not wanting. Chilo added, That house is most happy where the master +rules as a monarch in his kingdom. And he proceeded, When a certain +Lacedaemonian desired Lycurgus to establish a democracy in the city, Go +you, friend, replied he, and try the experiment first in your own house. + +13. When they had all given in their opinions upon this point, Eumetis +and Melissa withdrew. Then Periander called for a large bowl full of +wine, and drank to Chilo; and Chilo likewise drank to Bias. Ardalus +then standing up called to Esop, and said: Will you not hand the cup +to your friends at this end of the table, when you behold those +persons there swilling up all that good liquor, and imparting none to +us here, as if the cup were that of Bathycles. But this cup, quoth +Esop, is no public cup, it hath stood so long by Solon’s trenchard. +Then Pittacus called to Mnesiphilus: Why, saith he, does not Solon +drink, but act in contradiction to his own verses?— + + I love that ruby God, whose blessings flow + In tides, to recreate my thirsty maw; + Venus I court, the Muses I adore, + Who give us wine and pleasures evermore. + +Anacharsis subjoined: He fears your severe law, my friend Pittacus, +wherein you decreed the drunkard a double punishment. You seem, said +Pittacus, a little to fear the penalty, who have adventured heretofore, +and now again before my face, to break that law and to demand a crown +for the reward of your debauch. Why not, quoth Anacharsis, when there +is a reward promised to the hardest drinker? Why should I not demand +my reward, having drunk down all my fellows?—or inform me of any other +end men drive at in drinking much wine, but to be drunk. Pittacus +laughed at this reply, and Esop told them this fable: The wolf, seeing +a parcel of shepherds in their booth feeding upon a lamb, approaching +near them,—What a bustle and noise and uproar would you have made, +saith he, if I had but done what you do! Chilo said: Esop hath very +justly revenged himself upon us, who awhile ago stopped his mouth; now +he observes how we prevented Mnesiphilus’s discourse, when the question +was put why Solon did not drink up his wine. + +Mnesiphilus then spake to this effect: I know this to be the opinion +of Solon, that in every art and faculty, divine and human, the work +which is done is more desired than the instrument wherewith it is done, +and the end than the means conducing to that end; as, for instance, +a weaver thinks a cloak or coat more properly his work than the +ordering of his shuttles or the divers motions of his beams. A smith +minds the soldering of his irons and the sharpening of the axe more +than those little things preparatory to these main matters, as the +kindling of the coals and getting ready the stone-dust. Yet farther, +a carpenter would justly blame us, if we should affirm it is not his +work to build houses or ships but to bore holes or to make mortar; and +the Muses would be implacably incensed with him that should say their +business is only to make harps, pipes, and such musical instruments, +not the institution and correction of manners and the government of +those men’s passions who are lovers of singing and masters of music. +And agreeably copulation is not the work of Venus, nor is drunkenness +that of Bacchus; but love and friendship, affection and familiarity, +which are begot and improved by the means of these. Solon terms these +works divine, and he professes he loves and now prosecutes them in +his declining years as vigorously as ever in his youthful days. That +mutual love between man and wife is the work of Venus, the greatness +of the pleasure affecting their bodies mixes and melts their very +souls; divers others, having little or no acquaintance before, have yet +contracted a firm and lasting friendship over a glass of wine, which +like fire softened and melted their tempers, and disposed them for a +happy union. But in such a company, and of such men as Periander hath +invited, there is no need of can and chalice, but the Muses themselves +throwing a subject of discourse among you, as it were a sober cup, +wherein is contained much of delight and drollery and seriousness +too, do hereby provoke, nourish, and increase friendship among you, +suffering the can to rest quietly upon the bowl, contrary to the rule +which Hesiod[2] gives for those who have more skill for carousing than +for discoursing, + + Though all the rest with stated rules we bound, + Unmix’d, unmeasured, are thy goblets crown’d:[3] + +for it was the old Greek way, as Homer here tells us, to drink one to +another in course and order. So Ajax gave a share of his meat to his +next neighbor. + +When Mnesiphilus had discoursed after this manner, in comes Chersias +the poet, whom Periander had lately pardoned and received into favor +upon Chilo’s mediation. Saith Chersias: Does not Jupiter distribute +to the Gods their proportion and dividend sparingly and severally, as +Agamemnon did to his commanders when his guests drank to one another? +If, O Chersias, quoth Cleodemus, as you narrate, certain doves bring +him his ambrosia every meal, flying with a world of hardship through +the rocks called _Planctae_ (or _wandering_), can you blame +him for his sparingness and frugality and dealing out to his guests by +measure? + +14. I am satisfied, quoth Chersias, and since we are fallen upon our +old discourse of housekeeping, which of the company can remember what +remains to be said thereof? There remains, if I mistake not, to show +what that measure is which may content any man. Cleobulus answered: The +law has prescribed a measure for wise men; but as touching fools, I +will tell you a story I once heard my mother relate to my brother. On a +certain time the moon begged of her mother a coat that would fit her. +How can that be done, quoth the mother, for sometimes you are full, +sometimes the one-half of you seems lost and perished, sometimes only +a pair of horns appear. So, my Chersias, to the desires of a foolish +immoderate man no certain measure can be fitted; for, according to +the ebbings and flowings of his lust and appetite, and the frequent +or seldom casualties that befall him, accordingly his necessities +ebb or flow, not unlike Esop’s dog, who, being pinched and ready to +starve with cold in winter, was of mind to build himself a house; but +when summer came on, he lay all along upon the ground, and stretching +himself in the sun thought himself monstrous big, and thought it a +needless thing and besides no small piece of work to build him a house +proportionable to that bulk and bigness. And do you not observe, O +Chersias, continues he, many poor men,—how one while they pinch their +bellies, upon what short commons they live, how sparing and niggardly +and miserable they are; and another while you may observe the same +men as distrustful and covetous withal, as if the plenty of city and +country, the riches of king and kingdom were not sufficient to preserve +them from want and beggary. + +When Chersias had concluded this discourse, Cleodemus began thus: We +see you that are wise men possessing these outward goods after an +unequal manner. Good sweet sir, answered Cleobulus, the law weaver-like +hath distributed to every man a fitting, decent, adequate portion, +and in your profession your reason does what the law does here,—when +you feed, or diet, or physic your patient, you give not an equal +quantity to all, but what you judge to be convenient for each in his +circumstances. Ardalus enquires: I pray what law compels our friend and +Solon’s host, Epimenides, to abstain from all other victuals, and to +content himself with a little composition of his own, which the Greeks +call ἄλιμος (_hunger-relieving_)? This he takes into his mouth and +chews, and eats neither dinner nor supper. This instance obliged the +whole company to be a little while silent, until Thales in a jesting +way replied, that Epimenides did very wisely, for hereby he saved the +trouble and charge of grinding and boiling his food, as Pittacus did. +I myself sojourning at Lesbos overheard my landlady, as she was very +busy at her hand-mill, singing as she used to do at her work, “Grind +mill; grind mill; for even Pittacus, the prince of great Mitylene, +grinds.”[4] Quoth Solon: Ardalus, I wonder you have not read the law +of Epimenides’s frugality in Hesiod’s writings, who prescribes him and +others this spare diet; for he was the person that gratified Epimenides +with the seeds of this nutriment, when he directed him to enquire how +great benefit a man might receive by mallows and asphodel.[5] Do you +believe, said Periander, that Hesiod meant this literally; or rather +that, being himself a great admirer of parsimony, he hereby intended +to exhort men to use a mean and spare diet, as most healthful and +pleasant? For the chewing of mallows is very wholesome, and the stalk +of asphodel is very luscious; but this “expeller of hunger and thirst” +I take to be rather physic than natural food, consisting of honey and +I know not what barbarian cheese, and of many and costly seeds fetched +from foreign parts. If to make up this composition so many ingredients +were requisite, and so difficult to come by and so expensive, Hesiod +might as well have kept his breath to cool his pottage, and never +blessed the world with the discovery. And yet I admire how your host, +when he went to perform the great purification for the Delians not long +since, could overlook the monuments and patterns of the first aliment +which the people brought into the temple,—and, among other cheap +fruits such as grow of themselves, the mallows and the asphodel; the +usefulness and innocency whereof Hesiod seemed in his work to magnify. +Not only that, quoth Anacharsis, but he affirms both plants to be great +restoratives. You are in the right, quoth Cleodemus; for it is evident +Hesiod was no ordinary physician, who could discourse so learnedly +and judiciously of diet, of the nature of wines, and of the virtue of +waters and baths, and of women, the proper times for procreation, and +the site and position of infants in the womb; insomuch, that (as I take +it) Esop deserves much more the name of Hesiod’s scholar and disciple +than Epimenides, whose great and excellent wisdom the fable of the +nightingale and hawk demonstrates. But I would gladly hear Solon’s +opinion in this matter; for having sojourned long at Athens and being +familiarly acquainted with Epimenides, it is more than probable he +might learn of him the grounds upon which he accustomed himself to so +spare a diet. + +15. To what purpose, said Solon, should I trouble him or myself to +make enquiry in a matter so plain? For if it be a blessing next to the +greatest to need little victuals, then it is the greatest felicity to +need none at all. If I may have leave to deliver my opinion, quoth +Cleodemus, I must profess myself of a different judgment, especially +now we sit at table; for as soon as the meat is taken away, we have +removed what belongs to those Gods that are the patrons of friendship +and hospitality. As upon the removal of the earth, quoth Thales, +there must needs follow an universal confusion of all things, so +in forbidding men meat, there must needs follow the dispersion and +dissolution of the family, the sacred fire, the cups, the feasts and +entertainments, which are the principal and most innocent diversions +of mankind; and so all the comforts of society are at end. For to men +of business some recreation is necessary, and the preparation and use +of victuals conduces much thereunto. Again, to be without victuals +would tend to the destruction of husbandry, for want whereof the +earth would soon be overgrown with weeds, and through the sloth of +men overflowed with waters. And together with this, all arts would +fail which are supported and encouraged hereby; nay, more, take away +hospitality and the use of victuals, and the worship and honor of the +Gods will sink and perish; the sun will have but small and the moon +yet smaller reverence, if they afford men only light and heat. And who +will build an altar or offer sacrifice to Jupiter Pluvius, or to Ceres +the patroness of husbandmen, or to Neptune the preserver of plants and +trees? Or how can Bacchus be any longer termed the donor of all good +things, if men make no further use of the good things he gives? What +shall men sacrifice? What first-fruits shall they offer? In short, the +subversion and confusion of the greatest blessings attend this opinion. +Promiscuously and indefatigably to pursue all sorts of pleasures +I own to be brutish, and to avoid all with a suitable aversion +equally blockish; let the mind then freely enjoy such pleasures as +are agreeable to its nature and temper. But for the body, there is +certainly no pleasure more harmless and commendable and fitting than +that which springs from a plentiful table,—which is granted by all men; +for, placing this in the middle, men converse with one another and +share in the provision. As to the pleasures of the bed, men use these +in the dark, reputing the use thereof no less shameful and beastly than +the total disuse of the pleasures of the table. + +Cleodemus having finished this long harangue, I began to this effect. +You omit one thing, my friend, how they that decry food decry sleep +too, and they that declaim against sleep declaim against dreams in +the same breath, and so destroy the primitive and ancient way of +divination. Add to this, that our whole life will be of one form and +fashion, and our soul enclosed in a body to no purpose; many and those +the principal parts thereof are naturally so formed and fashioned as +to be organs of nutriment; so the tongue, the teeth, the stomach, and +the liver, whereof none are idle, none framed for other use, so that +whosoever hath no need of nutriment has no need of his body; that is, +in other words, no man hath any need of himself, for every man hath a +body of his own. This I have thought fit to offer in vindication of our +bellies; if Solon or any other has any thing to object to what I have +said, I am willing to hear him. + +16. Yea, doubtless, replies Solon, or we may be reputed more +injudicious than the Egyptians. For when any person dies among them, +they open him and show him so dissected to the sun; his guts they throw +into the river, to the remaining parts they allow a decent burial, for +they think the body now pure and clean; and to speak truly, they are +the foulest parts of the body, and like that lower hell crammed with +dead carcasses and at the same time flowing with offensive rivers, such +as flame with fire and are disturbed with tempests. No live creature +feeds upon another living creature, but we first take away their lives, +and in that action we do them great wrong; forasmuch as whatsoever +is transmuted and turned into another loseth the nature which it had +before, and is corrupted that it may become nourishment to the others. +Now the very plants have life in them,—that is clear and manifest, for +we perceive they grow and spread. But to abstain from eating flesh (as +they say Orpheus of old did) is more a pretence than a real avoiding +of an injury proceeding from the just use of meat. One way there is, +and but one way, whereby a man may avoid offence, namely by being +contented with his own, not coveting what belongs to his neighbor. But +if a man’s circumstances be such and so hard that he cannot subsist +without wronging another man, the fault is God’s, not his. The case +being such with some persons, I would fain learn if it be not advisable +to destroy, at the same time with injustice, these instruments of +injustice, the belly, stomach, and liver, which have no sense of +justice or appetite to honesty, and therefore may be fitly compared to +your cook’s implements, his knives and his caldrons, or to a baker’s +chimney and bins and kneading-tubs. Verily one may observe the souls of +some men confined to their bodies, as to a house of correction, barely +to do the drudgery and to serve the necessities thereof. It was our own +case but even now. While we minded our meat and our bellies, we had +neither eyes to see nor ears to hear; but now the table is taken away, +we are free to discourse among ourselves and to enjoy one another; +and now our bellies are full, we have nothing else to do or care for. +And if this condition and state wherein we at present are would last +our whole life, we having no wants to fear nor riches to covet (for a +desire of superfluities attends a desire of necessaries), would not our +lives be much more comfortable and life itself much more desirable? + +Yea, but Cleodemus stiffly maintains the necessity of eating and +drinking, else we shall want tables and cups, and shall not be able +to sacrifice to Ceres and Proserpina. By a parity of reason there +is a necessity there should be contentions and wars, that men may +have bulwarks and citadels and fortifications by land, fleets and +navies abroad at sea, and that having slain hundreds, we may offer +sacrifices (called Hecatomphonia) after the Messenian manner. By this +reason we shall find men grudging their own health, for (they will +say) there will be no need of down or feather beds unless they are +sick; and so those healing Gods, and particularly Esculapius, will be +vast sufferers, for they will infallibly lose so many fat and rich +sacrifices yearly. Nay, the art of chirurgery will perish, and all +those ingenious instruments that have been invented for the cure of +man will lie by useless and insignificant. And what great difference +is there between this and that? For meat is a medicine against hunger, +and such as keep a regular diet are said to cure themselves,—I mean +such as use meat not for wantonness but of necessity. For it is plain, +the prejudices we receive by feeding far surmount the pleasures. And +the pleasure of eating fills a very little place in our bodies and very +little time. But why should I trouble you or myself with a catalogue of +the many vexations which attend that man who is necessitated to provide +for a family, and the many difficulties which distract him in his +undertaking? For my part, I verily believe Homer had an eye to this +very thing, when, to prove the immortality of the Gods, he made use of +this very argument, that they were such because they used no victuals; + + For not the bread of man their life sustains, + Nor wine’s inflaming juice supplies their veins;[6] + +intimating meat to be the cause of death as well as the means of +sustaining and supporting life. From hence proceed divers fatal +distempers caused much more by fulness than by fasting; and to digest +what we have eaten proves frequently a harder matter than to provide +and procure what we eat. And when we solicitously enquire beforehand +what we should do or how we should employ ourselves if we had not such +care and business to take up our time, this is as if Danaus’s daughters +should trouble their heads to know what they should do if they had no +sieves to fill with water. We drudge and toil for necessaries, for want +of better and nobler business. As slaves then who have gained their +freedom do now and then those drudgeries and discharge those servile +employments and offices for their own benefit which they undertook +heretofore for their masters’ advantage, so the mind of man, which at +present is enslaved to the body and the service thereof, when once it +becomes free from this slavery, will take care of itself, and spend its +time in contemplation of truth without distraction or disturbance. Such +were our discourses upon this head, O Nicarchus. + +17. And before Solon had fully finished, in came Gorvias, Periander’s +brother, who was just returned from Taenarum, whither he had been sent +by the advice of the oracle to sacrifice to Neptune and to conduct +a deputation. Upon his entrance we welcomed him home; and Periander +having among the rest saluted him, Gorgias sat by him upon a bed, and +privately whispered something to his brother which we could not hear. +Periander by his various gestures and motions discovered different +affections; sometimes he seemed sad and melancholic, by and by +disturbed and angry; frequently he looked as doubtful and distrustful +men use to do; awhile after he lifts up his eyes as is usual with men +in a maze. At last recovering himself, saith he, I have a mind to +impart to you the contents of this embassy; but I scarce dare do it, +remembering Thales’s aphorism, how things impossible or incredible +are to be concealed and only things credible and probable are to be +related. Bias answered, I crave leave to explain Thales’s saying, We +may distrust enemies, even though they speak things credible, and trust +friends, even though they relate things incredible; and I suppose by +enemies he meant vicious men and foolish, and by friends, wise and good +men. Then, brother Gorgias, quoth Periander, I pray relate the whole +story particularly. + +18. Gorgias in obedience to his brother’s command began his story thus:— + +When we had fasted now for three days and offered sacrifice upon each +of those days, we were all resolved to sit up the third night and +spend it in pastime and dancing. The moon shone very bright upon the +water, and the sea was exceeding calm and still; this we saw, for we +sported ourselves upon the shore. Being thus taken up, all of a sudden +we espied a wonderful spectacle off at sea, making with incredible +expedition to the adjoining promontory. The violence of the motion made +the sea foam again, and the noise was so loud, that the whole company +forsook their sport and ran together toward the place, admiring what +the matter should be. Before we could make a full discovery of the +whole, the motion was so rapid, we perceived divers dolphins, some +swimming in a ring or circle, others hastening amain to that part of +the shore which was most smooth, and others following after and (as it +were) bringing up the rear. In the middle there was a certain heap +which we could perceive above the water; but we could not distinctly +apprehend what it was, till drawing near the shore we saw all the +dolphins flocking together, and having made near the land they safely +surrendered their charge, and left out of danger a man breathing and +shaking himself. They returned to the promontory, and there seemed +to rejoice more than before for this their fortunate undertaking. +Divers in the company were affrighted and ran away; myself and a few +more took courage, and went on to see and satisfy ourselves what this +unusual matter might be; there we found and instantly knew our old +acquaintance Arion the musician, who told us his name. He wore that +very garment he used when he strove for mastery. We brought him into +our tent and found he had received no damage in his passage, save only +a little lassitude by the violence of the motion. He told us the whole +story of his adventure,—a story incredible to all but such as saw +it with their eyes. He told us how, when he had determined to leave +Italy, being hastened away by Periander’s letters, he went aboard a +Corinthian merchantman then in port and ready to sail; being off at +sea with the winds favorable, he observed the seamen bent to ruin him, +and the master of the vessel told him as much, and that they purposed +to execute their design upon him that very night. In this distress, +the poor man (as if inspired by his good Genius) girds about him his +heretofore victorious, now his funeral cloak, with a brave resolution +to compose and sing his own epitaph, as the swans when they apprehend +the approaches of death are reported to do. Being thus habited, he +told the seamen he was minded to commit the protection of himself and +his fellow-passengers to the providence of the Gods in a Pythian song; +then standing upon the poop near the side of the vessel, and having +invoked the help and assistance of all the sea Gods, he strikes up +briskly and sings to his harp. Before he had half finished his carol, +the sun set, and he could discern Peloponnesus before him. The seamen +thought it tedious to tarry for the night, wherefore they resolved to +murder him immediately, to which purpose they unsheathed their swords. +Seeing this, and beholding the master standing with his face covered, +he leaped into the sea as far as he could; but before his body sunk he +found himself supported by dolphins. At first he was surprised with +care and trouble; but by and by, finding himself marching forward +with much ease and security, and observing a whole shoal of dolphins +flocking about him and joyfully contending which should appear most +forward and serviceable in his preservation, and discerning the vessel +at a considerable distance behind, he apprehended the nimbleness of +his porters; then, and not till then, his fears forsook him, and he +professed he was neither so fearful of death nor desirous of life as +he was full of ambitious desire to reach the haven of safety, that +he might show to all men that he stood in the grace and favor of the +Gods, and that he might himself believe more firmly than ever before +in their being and goodness. In his passage, as he lifted up his eyes +toward heaven, and beheld the stars glittering and twinkling and the +moon full and glorious, and the sea calm all about her as she seemed +to rise out of it, and yielding him (as it were) a beaten track; he +declared, he thought God’s justice had more eyes than one, and that +with these many eyes the Gods beheld what was acted here below both by +sea and land. With such contemplations he performed his voyage less +anxiously, which much abated the tediousness thereof and was a comfort +and refreshment to him in his solitude and danger. At last, arriving +near the promontory which was both steep and high, and fearing danger +in a straight course and direct line, they unanimously veered about, +and making to shore with a little compass for security, they delivered +Arion to us in safety, so that he plainly perceived and with thanks +acknowledged a Providence. + +When Arion had finished this narrative of his escape, I asked him +(quoth Gorgias) whither the ship was bound; he told me for Corinth, +but it would not be there very suddenly, for when he leaped out of the +ship and was carried (as he conceived) about five hundred furlongs, he +perceived a calm, which must needs much retard their arrival who were +aboard. Gorgias added that, having learned the names of the pilot and +master and the colors of the ship, he immediately despatched out ships +and soldiers to examine all the ports, all this while keeping Arion +concealed, lest the criminals should upon notice of his deliverance +escape the pursuit of justice. This action happened very luckily, as if +it were directed by the power of the Gods; for as soon as he arrived at +Corinth, news was brought him that the same ship was in port, and that +his party had seized it and secured all the men, merchants and others. +Whereupon Periander commended Gorgias’s discretion and zeal, desiring +him to proceed and lose no time, but immediately to clap them in close +prison, and to suffer none to come at them to give the least notice of +Arion’s miraculous escape. + +19. Gentlemen, quoth Esop, I remember you derided my dialogue of the +daws and crows; and now you can admire and believe as improbable a +story of dolphins. You are mightily out, said I, for this is no new +story which we believe, but it is recorded in the annals of Ino and +Athamas above a thousand years ago. These passages are supernatural, +quoth Solon, and much above our reason; what befell Hesiod is of a +lower kind, and more proper for our discourse, and if you have not +heard of it before, it is worth your hearing. + +Hesiod was once entertained at the same house in Locris with a certain +Milesian. In this his sojourning time it happened the gentleman’s +daughter was got with child by the Milesian; which being discovered, +the whole family concluded Hesiod, if not guilty, must be privy to the +fact. His innocence was but a weak fence against their jealousy and +aspersions; and therefore, rashly censuring him guilty, the brothers +of the woman waylaid him in his return home, and slew him and his +companion Troilus near the temple of Nemean Jove in Locris. Their +carcasses they threw into the sea; that of Troilus was carried into the +river Daphnus, and rested upon a certain rock compassed with waters, +just above the surface of the sea, which rock bears his name to this +day. The body of Hesiod was no sooner fallen upon the surface of the +water, but a company of dolphins received it, and conveyed it to Rhium +and Molycria. It happened the Locrians were assembled at Rhium that +day to feast and make merry, according to the custom which continues +still among them. As soon as they perceived a carcass floating or +rather swimming towards them, they hastened, not without admiration, to +see what it was; and knowing the body to be Hesiod’s, they instantly +resolved to find out the murderers. It proved an easy discovery. After +conviction they threw them headlong alive into the sea, and ordered +their houses to be demolished to the very foundations. The body they +buried in the grove of the temple of Jove, that no foreigner might find +it out; the reason of this act was that the Orchomenians had searched +far and near for it at the instigation of the oracle, who promised them +the greatest felicity if they could get the bones of Hesiod and bury +them in their city. Now if dolphins are so favorable to dead men, it is +very probable they have a strong affection for the living, especially +for such as delight in music, whether vocal or instrumental. And this +we know undoubtedly, that these creatures delight infinitely in music; +they love it, and if any man sings or plays as he sails along in fair +weather, they will quietly swim by the side of the ship, and listen +till the music is ended. When children bathe in the water and sport +themselves, you shall have a parcel of them flock together and sport +and swim by them; and they may do it the more securely, since it is a +breach of the law of Nature to hurt them. You never heard of any man +that fishes for them purposely or hurts them wilfully, unless falling +into the nets they spoil the sport, and so, like naughty children, are +corrected for their misdemeanors. I very well remember the Lesbians +told me how a maid of their town was preserved from drowning by them. + +20. It was a very true story, quoth Pittacus, and there are divers +still alive who will attest it, if need be. The builders or founders +of Lesbos were commanded by the oracle to sail till they came to a +haven called Mesogaeum, there they should sacrifice a bull to Neptune, +and for the honor of Amphitrite and the sea-nymphs they should offer a +virgin. The principal persons in this colony were seven in number; the +eighth was one Echelaus by name, and appointed head of the rest by the +oracle himself; and he was a bachelor. A daughter of one of these seven +was to be sacrificed, but who it should be was to be decided by lot, +and the lot fell upon Smintheus’s sister. Her they dressed most richly, +and so apparelled they conveyed her in abundance of state to the +water-side, and having composed a prayer for her, they were now ready +to throw her overboard. There was in the company a certain ingenuous +young gentleman whose name was Enalus; he was desperately in love with +this young lady, and his love prompted him to endeavor all he could for +her preservation, or at least to perish in the attempt. In the very +moment she was to be cast away, he clasps her in his arms and throws +himself and her together into the sea. Shortly after there was a flying +report they were both conveyed safe to land. A while after Enalus was +seen at Lesbos, who gave out they were preserved by dolphins. I could +tell you stories more incredible than these, such as would amuse some +and please others; but it is impossible to command men’s faith. The sea +was so tempestuous and rough, the people were afraid to come too near +the waters, when Enalus arrived. A number of polypuses followed him +even to Neptune’s temple, the biggest and strongest of which carried a +great stone. This Enalus dedicated, and this stone is therefore called +Enalus to this day. To be short and to speak all in a few words,—he +that knows how to distinguish between the impossible and the unusual, +to make a difference between the unlikely and the absurd, to be neither +too credulous nor too distrustful,—he hath learned your lesson, Do not +overdo.[7] + +21. Anacharsis after all this discourse spake to this purpose: Since +Thales has asserted the being of a soul in all the principal and most +noble parts of the universe, it is no wonder that the most commendable +acts are governed by an over-ruling Power; for, as the body is the +organ of the soul, so the soul is an instrument in the hand of God. +Now as the body has many motions of its own proceeding from itself, +but the best and most from the soul, so the soul acts some things by +its own power, but in most things it is subordinate to the will and +power of God, whose glorious instrument it is. To me it seems highly +unreasonable—and I should be but too apt to censure the wisdom of the +Gods, if I were convinced—that they use fire, and water, and wind, and +clouds, and rain for the preservation and welfare of some and for the +detriment and destruction of others, while at the same time they make +no use of living creatures that are doubtless more serviceable to their +ends than bows are to the Scythians or harps or pipes to the Greeks. + +Chersias the poet broke off this discourse, and told the company of +divers that were miraculously preserved to his certain knowledge, and +more particularly of Cypselus, Periander’s father, who being newly +born, his adversary sent a party of bloody fellows to murder him. They +found the child in his nurse’s arms, and seeing him smile innocently +upon them, they had not the heart to hurt him, and so departed; but +presently recalling themselves and considering the peremptoriness of +their orders, they returned and searched for him, but could not find +him, for his mother had hid him very carefully in a chest.[8] When +he came to years of discretion, and understood the greatness of his +former danger and deliverance, he consecrated a chapel at Delphi to +Apollo, by whose care he conceived himself preserved from crying in +that critical time, and by his cries from betraying his own life. +Pittacus, addressing his discourse to Periander, said: It is well done +of Chersias to make mention of that chapel, for this brings to my +mind a question I several times purposed to ask you but still forgot, +namely,—To what intent all those frogs were carved upon the palm-tree +before the door, and how they affect either the Deity or the dedicator? +Periander remitted him to Chersias for answer, as a person better +versed in these matters, for he was present when Cypselus consecrated +the chapel. But Chersias smiling would not satisfy them, until they +resolved him the meaning of these aphorisms; “Do not overdo,” “Know +thyself,” but particularly and principally this,—which had scared +divers from wedlock and others from suretyship and others from speaking +at all,—“Promise, and you are ruined.” What need we to explain to you +these, when you yourself have so mightily magnified Esop’s comment +upon each of them. Esop replied: When Chersias is disposed to jest +with me upon these subjects, and to jest in earnest, he is pleased to +father such sayings and sentences upon Homer, who, bringing in Hector +furiously flying upon others, yet at another time represents him as +flying from Ajax son of Telamon,[9]—an argument that Hector knew +himself. And Homer made Ulysses approve the saying “Do not overdo,” +when he besought his friend Diomedes not to commend him too much nor +yet to censure him too much. And for suretyship he exposes it as a +matter unsafe, nay highly dangerous, saying that to be bound for +idle and wicked men is full of hazard.[10] To confirm this, Chersias +reported how Jupiter had thrown Ate headlong out of heaven, because she +was by when he made the promise about the birth of Hercules whereby he +was circumvented. + +Here Solon interrupted: I am of this mind, that we now give ear to the +most wise Homer,— + + But now the night extends her awful shade: + The Goddess parts you: be the night obeyed.[11] + +If it please the company then, let us sacrifice to the Muses, to +Neptune, and to Amphitrite, and so bid each adieu for this night. + +This was the conclusion of that meeting, my dear Nicarchus. + + + + +HOW A YOUNG MAN OUGHT TO HEAR POEMS. + + +1. It may be allowed to be a question fit for the determination of +those concerning whom Cato said, Their palates are more sensitive than +their hearts, whether that saying of Philoxenus the poet be true or no. +The most savory flesh is that which is no flesh, and fish that is no +fish. Yet this to me, Marcus Sedatus, is out of question, that those +precepts of philosophy which seem not to be delivered with a designed +gravity, such as becomes philosophers, take most with persons that are +very young, and meet with a more ready acceptance and compliance from +them. Whence it is that they do not only read through Esop’s fables +and the fictions of poets and the Abaris of Heraclides and Ariston’s +Lyco; but they also read such doctrines as relate to the souls of men, +if something fabulous be mixed with them, with an excess of pleasure +that borders on enthusiasm. Wherefore we are not only to govern their +appetites in the delights of eating and drinking, but also (and much +more) to inure them to a like temperance in reading and hearing, that, +while they make use of pleasure as a sauce, they may pursue that which +is wholesome and profitable in those things which they read. For +neither can a city be secure if but one gate be left open to receive +the enemy, though all the rest be shut; nor a young man safe, though he +be sufficiently fortified against the assaults of all other pleasures, +whilst he is without any guard against those of the ear. Yea, the +nearer the commerce is betwixt the delights of that sense and those +of the mind and reason, by so much the more, when he lies open on that +side, is he apt to be debauched and corrupted thereby. Seeing therefore +we cannot (and perhaps would not if we could) debar young men of the +size of my Soclarus and thy Cleander altogether from the reading of +poets, yet let us keep the stricter guard upon them, as those who need +a guide to direct them in their reading more than in their walks. Upon +which consideration, I find myself disposed to send thee at present +in writing that discourse concerning Poetry which I had lately an +occasion to deliver by word of mouth; that, when thou hast read it over +thyself, thou mayst also make such use of it, if thou judgest it may be +serviceable to that purpose, as those which are engaged to drink hard +do of amethysts (or preservatives against drunkenness),—that is, that +thou mayst communicate it to Cleander, to prepossess him therewith; +seeing he is naturally endowed with a brisk, piercing, and daring wit, +and therefore more prone to be inveigled by that sort of study. + +They say of the fish called polypus that + + His head in one respect is very good, + But in another very naughty food; + +because, though it be very luscious to eat, yet it is thought to +disturb the fancy with frightful and confused dreams. And the like +observation may be made concerning poetry, that it affords sweet and +withal wholesome nourishment to the minds of young men, but yet it +contains likewise no less matter of disturbance and emotion to them +that want a right conduct in the study thereof. For of it also, as well +as of Egypt, may it be said that (to those who will use it) + + Its over-fertile and luxuriant field + Medicines and poisons intermixt doth yield; + +for therein + + Love with soft passions and rich language drest + Oft steals the heart out of th’ ingenuous breast.[12] + +And indeed such only are endangered thereby, for the charms of that +art ordinarily affect not those that are downright sots and naturally +incapable of learning. Wherefore, when Simonides was asked why of all +men he could not deceive the Thessalians, his answer was, Because they +are not so well bred as to be capable of being cajoled by me. And +Gorgias used to call tragical poems cheats, wherein he that did cheat +was juster than he that did not cheat, and he that was cheated was +wiser than he that was not cheated. + +It deserves therefore our consideration, whether we shall put young +men into Epicurus’s boat,—wherein, having their ears stopped with wax, +as those of the men of Ithaca were, they shall be obliged to sail by +and not so much as touch at poetry,—or rather keep a guard on them, +so as to oblige their judgments by principles of right reason to use +it aright, and preserve them from being seduced to their hurt by that +which affords them so much delight. For neither did Lycurgus, the +valiant son of Dryas (as Homer[13] calls him) act like a man of sound +reason in the course which he took to reform his people that were much +inclined to drunkenness, by travelling up and down to destroy all the +vines in the country; whereas he should have ordered that every vine +should have a well of water near it, that (as Plato saith) the drunken +deity might be reduced to temperance by a sober one. For water mixed +with wine takes away the hurtful spirits, while it leaves the useful +ones in it. Neither should we cut down or destroy the Muses’ vine, +poetry; but where we perceive it luxuriates and grows wild through +an ungoverned appetite of applause, there ought we to prune away or +keep under the fabulous and theatrical branches thereof; and where we +find any of the Graces linked to any of the Muses,—that is, where the +lusciousness and tempting charms of language are not altogether barren +and unprofitable,—there let us bring in philosophy to incorporate with +it. + +For as, where the mandrake grows near the vine and so communicates +something of its force thereto, the wine that is made of its grapes +makes the sleep of those that drink it more refreshing; so doth the +tempering poetry with the principles of philosophy and allaying their +roughness with its fictions render the study of them more easy and +the relish of them more grateful to young learners. Wherefore those +that would give their minds to philosophical studies are not obliged +to avoid poetry altogether, but rather to prepare themselves for +philosophy by poems, accustoming themselves to search for and embrace +that which may profit in that which pleaseth them, and rejecting +and discarding that wherein they find nothing of this nature. For +this discrimination is the first step to learning; and when this is +attained, then, according to what Sophocles saith,— + + To have begun well what we do intend + Gives hope and prospect of as good an end. + +2. Let us therefore in the first place possess those whom we initiate +in the study of poetry with this notion (as one which they ought always +to have at hand), that + + ’Tis frequently the poet’s guise + To intermingle truth with lies;— + +which they do sometimes with and sometimes against their wills. They +do it with their wills, because they find strict truth too rigid to +comply with that sweetness and gracefulness of expression, which most +are taken with, so readily as fiction doth. For real truth, though it +disgust never so much, must be told as it is, without alteration; but +that which is feigned in a discourse can easily yield and shift its +garb from the distasteful to that which is more pleasing. And indeed, +neither the measures nor the tropes nor the grandeur of words nor the +aptness of metaphors nor the harmony of the composition gives such +a degree of elegance and gracefulness to a poem as a well-ordered +and artificial fiction doth. But as in pictures the colors are more +delightful to the eye than the lines, because those give them a nearer +resemblance to the persons they were made for, and render them the +more apt to deceive the beholder; so in poems we are more apt to be +smitten and fall in love with a probable fiction than with the greatest +accuracy that can be observed in measures and phrases, where there is +nothing fabulous or fictitious joined with it. Wherefore Socrates, +being induced by some dreams to attempt something in poetry, and +finding himself unapt, by reason that he had all his lifetime been +the champion of severe truth, to hammer out of his own invention a +likely fiction, made choice of Esop’s fables to turn into verse; as +judging nothing to be true poetry that had in it nothing of falsehood. +For though we have known some sacrifices performed without pipes and +dances, yet we own no poetry which is utterly destitute of fable and +fiction. Whence the verses of Empedocles and Parmenides, the Theriaca +of Nicander, and the sentences of Theognis, are rather to be accounted +speeches than poems, which, that they might not walk contemptibly on +foot, have borrowed from poetry the chariot of verse, to convey them +the more creditably through the world. Whensoever therefore any thing +is spoken in poems by any noted and eminently famous man, concerning +Gods or Daemons or virtue, that is absurd or harsh, he that takes such +sayings for truths is thereby misled in his apprehension and corrupted +with an erroneous opinion. But he that constantly keeps in his mind and +maintains as his principle that the witchcraft of poetry consists in +fiction, he that can at all turns accost it in this language,— + + Riddle of art! like which no sphinx beguiles; + Whose face on one side frowns while th’ other smiles! + Why cheat’st thou, with pretence to make us wise, + And bid’st sage precepts in a fool’s disguise?— + +such a one, I say, will take no harm by it, nor admit from it any +absurd thing into his belief. But when he meets in poetry with +expressions of Neptune’s rending the earth to pieces and discovering +the infernal regions,[14] he will be able to check his fears of the +reality of any such accident; and he will rebuke himself for his anger +against Apollo for the chief commander of the Greeks,— + + Whom at a banquet, whiles he sings his praise + And speaks him fair, yet treacherously he slays.[15] + +Yea, he will repress his tears for Achilles and Agamemnon, while +they are represented as mourning after their death, and stretching +forth their limber and feeble hands to express their desire to live +again. And if at any time the charms of poetry transport him into any +disquieting passions, he will quickly say to himself, as Homer very +elegantly (considering the propension of women to listen after fables) +says in his Necyia, or relation of the state of the dead,— + + But from the dark dominions speed thy way, + And climb the steep ascent to upper day; + To thy chaste bride the wondrous story tell, + The woes, the horrors, and the laws of hell.[16] + +Such things as I have touched upon are those which the poets willingly +feign. But more there are which they do not feign, but believing them +themselves as their own proper judgments, they put fictitious colors +upon them to ingratiate them to us. As when Homer says of Jupiter,— + + Jove lifts the golden balances, that show + The fates of mortal men, and things below. + Here each contending hero’s lot he tries, + And weighs with equal hand their destinies. + Low sinks the scale surcharged with Hector’s fate; + Heavy with death it sinks, and hell receives the weight.[17] + +To this fable Aeschylus hath accommodated a whole tragedy which he +calls Psychostasia, wherein he introduceth Thetis and Aurora standing +by Jupiter’s balances, and deprecating each of them the death of her +son engaged in a duel. Now there is no man but sees that this fable +is a creature of the poet’s fancy, designed to delight or scare the +reader. But this other passage,— + + Great Jove is made the treasurer of wars;[18] + +and this other also,— + + When a God means a noble house to raze, + He frames one rather than he’ll want a cause:[19] + +these passages, I say, express the judgment and belief of poets +who thereby discover and suggest to us the ignorant or mistaken +apprehensions they had of the Deities. Moreover, almost every one +knows nowadays, that the portentous fancies and contrivances of +stories concerning the state of the dead are accommodated to popular +apprehensions,—that the spectres and phantasms of burning rivers and +horrid regions and terrible tortures expressed by frightful names are +all mixed with fable and fiction, as poison with food; and that neither +Homer nor Pindar nor Sophocles ever believed themselves when they wrote +at this rate:— + + There endless floods of shady darkness stream + From the vast caves, where mother Night doth teem; + +and, + + There ghosts o’er the vast ocean’s waves did glide, + By the Leucadian promontory’s side;[20] + +and, + + There from th’ unfathomed gulf th’ infernal lake + Through narrow straits recurring tides doth make. + +And yet, as many of them as deplore death as a lamentable thing, or the +want of burial after death as a calamitous condition, are wont to break +out into expressions of this nature:— + + O pass not by, my friend; nor leave me here + Without a grave, and on that grave a tear;[21] + +and, + + Then to the ghosts the mournful soul did fly, + Sore grieved in midst of youth and strength to die;[22] + +and again, + + ’Tis sweet to see the light. O spare me then, + Till I arrive at th’ usual age of men: + Nor force my unfledged soul from hence, to know + The doleful state of dismal shades below.[23] + +These, I say, are the speeches of men persuaded of these things, as +being possessed by erroneous opinions; and therefore they touch us the +more nearly and torment us inwardly, because we ourselves are full of +the same impotent passion from which they were uttered. To fortify +us therefore against expressions of this nature, let this principle +continually ring in our ears, that poetry is not at all solicitous to +keep to the strict measure of truth. And indeed, as to what that truth +in these matters is, even those men themselves who make it their only +study to learn and search it out confess that they can hardly discover +any certain footsteps to guide them in that enquiry. Let us therefore +have these verses of Empedocles, in this case, at hand:— + + No sight of man’s so clear, no ear so quick, + No mind so piercing, that’s not here to seek; + +as also those of Xenophanes:— + + The truth about the Gods and world, no man + E’er was or shall be that determine can; + +and lastly, that passage concerning Socrates, in Plato, where he by the +solemnity of an oath disclaims all knowledge of those things. For those +who perceive that the searching into such matters makes the heads of +philosophers themselves giddy cannot but be the less inclined to regard +what poets say concerning them. + +3. And we shall fix our young man yet the more if, when we enter him +in the poets, we first describe poetry to him, and tell him that it +is an imitating art and doth in many respects correspond to painting; +not only acquainting him with that common saying, that poetry is vocal +painting and painting silent poetry, but teaching him, moreover, +that when we see a lizard or an ape or the face of a Thersites in a +picture, we are surprised with pleasure and wonder at it, not because +of any beauty in the things, but for the likeness of the draught. For +it is repugnant to the nature of that which is itself foul to be at +the same time fair; and therefore it is the imitation—be the thing +imitated beautiful or ugly—that, in case it do express it to the life, +is commended; and on the contrary, if the imitation make a foul thing +to appear fair, it is dispraised because it observes not decency and +likeness. Now some painters there are that paint uncomely actions; as +Timotheus drew Medea killing her children; Theon, Orestes murdering +his mother; and Parrhasius, Ulysses counterfeiting madness; yea, +Chaerephanes expressed in picture the unchaste converse of women with +men. Now in such cases a young man is to be familiarly acquainted with +this notion, that, when men praise such pictures, they praise not the +actions represented but only the painter’s art, which doth so lively +express what was designed in them. Wherefore, in like manner, seeing +poetry many times describes by imitation foul actions and unseemly +passions and manners, the young student must not in such descriptions +(although performed never so artificially and commendably) believe +all that is said as true or embrace it as good, but give its due +commendation so far only as it suits the subject treated of. For as, +when we hear the grunting of hogs and the shrieking of pulleys and the +rustling of wind and the roaring of seas, we are, it may be, disturbed +and displeased, and yet when we hear any one imitating these or the +like noises handsomely (as Parmenio did that of an hog, and Theodorus +that of a pulley), we are well pleased; and as we avoid (as an +unpleasing spectacle) the sight of sick persons and of a lazar full of +ulcers, and yet are delighted to be spectators of the Philoctetes of +Aristophon and the Jocasta of Silanion, wherein such wasting and dying +persons are well acted; so must the young scholar, when he reads in a +poem of Thersites the buffoon or Sisyphus the whoremaster or Batrachus +the bawd speaking or doing any thing, so praise the artificial managery +of the poet, adapting the expressions to the persons, as withal to look +on the discourses and actions so expressed as odious and abominable. +For the goodness of things themselves differs much from the goodness +of the imitation of them; the goodness of the latter consisting only +in propriety and aptness to represent the former. Whence to foul +actions foul expressions are most suitable and proper. As the shoes +of Demonides the cripple (which, when he had lost them, he wished +might suit the feet of him that stole them) were but unhandsome shoes, +but yet fit for the man they were made for; so we may say of such +expressions as these:— + + ’Tis worth the while an unjust act to own, + When it sets him that does it on a throne;[24] + + Get the repute of Just for a disguise, + And in it do all things whence gain may rise, + + A talent dowry! Could I close my eyes + In sleep, or live, if thee I should despise? + And should I not in hell tormented be, + Could I be guilty of profaning thee?[25] + +These, it is true, are wicked as well as false speeches, but yet are +decent enough in the mouth of an Eteocles, an Ixion, and an old griping +usurer. If therefore we mind our children that the poets write not +such things as praising and approving them, but do really account +them base and vicious and therefore accommodate such speeches to +base and vicious persons, they will never be damnified by them from +the esteem they have of the poets in whom they meet with them. But, +on the contrary, the suspicions insinuated into them of the persons +will render the words and actions ascribed to them suspected for evil, +because proceeding from such evil men. And of this nature is Homer’s +representation of Paris, when he describes him running out of the +battle into Helen’s bed. For in that he attributes no such indecent act +to any other, but only to that incontinent and adulterous person, he +evidently declares that he intends that relation to import a disgrace +and reproach to such intemperance. + +4. In such passages therefore we are carefully to observe whether or +not the poet himself do anywhere give any intimation that he dislikes +the things he makes such persons say; which, in the prologue to his +Thais Menander does, in these words:— + + Therefore, my Muse, describe me now a whore, + Fair, bold, and furnished with a nimble tongue; + One that ne’er scruples to do lovers wrong; + That always craves, and denied shuts her door; + That truly loves no man, yet, for her ends, + Affection true to every man pretends. + +But Homer of all the poets does it best. For he doth beforehand, as it +were, bespeak dislike of the evil things and approbation of the good +things he utters. Of the latter take these instances:— + + He readily did the occasion take, + And sweet and comfortable words he spake;[26] + + By him he stood, and with soft speeches quelled + The wrath which in his heated bosom swelled.[27] + +And for the former, he so performs it as in a manner solemnly to forbid +us to use or heed such speeches as those he mentions, as being foolish +and wicked. For example, being to tell us how uncivilly Agamemnon +treated the priest, he premises these words of his own,— + + Not so Atrides: he with kingly pride + Repulsed the sacred sire, and thus replied;[28] + +intimating the insolency and unbecomingness of his answer. And when he +attributes this passionate speech to Achilles,— + + O monster, mix’d of insolence and fear, + Thou dog in forehead, and in heart a deer![29] + +he accompanies it with this censure,— + + Nor yet the rage his boiling breast forsook, + Which thus redoubling on Atrides broke;[30] + +for it was unlikely that speaking in such anger he should observe any +rules of decency. + +And he passeth like censures on actions. As on Achilles’s foul usage of +Hector’s carcass,— + + Gloomy he said, and (horrible to view) + Before the bier the bleeding Hector threw.[31] + +And in like manner he doth very decently shut up relations of things +said or done, by adding some sentence wherein he declares his judgment +of them. As when he personates some of the Gods saying, on the occasion +of the adultery of Mars and Venus discovered by Vulcan’s artifice,— + + See the swift God o’ertaken by the lame! + Thus ill acts prosper not, but end in shame.[32] + +And thus concerning Hecter’s insolent boasting he says,— + + With such big words his mind proud Hector eased, + But venerable Juno he displeased.[33] + +And when he speaks of Pandarus’s shooting, he adds,— + + He heard, and madly at the motion pleased, + His polish’d bow with hasty rashness seized.[34] + +Now these verbal intimations of the minds and judgments of poets are +not difficult to be understood by any one that will heedfully observe +them. But besides these, they give us other hints from actions. As +Euripides is reported, when some blamed him for bringing such an +impious and flagitious villain as Ixion upon the stage, to have given +this answer: But yet I brought him not off till I had fastened him to +a torturing wheel. This same way of teaching by mute actions is to be +found in Homer also, affording us useful contemplations upon those very +fables which are usually most disliked in him. These some men offer +force to, that they may reduce them to allegories (which the ancients +called ὑπόνοιαι), and tell us that Venus committing adultery with Mars, +discovered by the Sun, is to be understood thus: that when the star +called Venus is in conjunction with that which hath the name of Mars, +bastardly births are produced, and by the Sun’s rising and discovering +them they are not concealed. So will they have Juno’s dressing herself +so accurately to tempt Jupiter, and her making use of the girdle of +Venus to inflame his love, to be nothing else but the purification of +that part of the air which draweth nearest to the nature of fire. As +if we were not told the meaning of those fables far better by the poet +himself. For he teacheth us in that of Venus, if we heed it, that light +music and wanton songs and discourses which suggest to men obscene +fancies debauch their manners, and incline them to an unmanly way of +living in luxury and wantonness, of continually haunting the company of +women, and of being + + Given to fashions, that their garb may please, + Hot baths, and couches where they loll at ease. + +And therefore also he brings in Ulysses directing the musician thus,— + + Leave this, and sing the horse, out of whose womb + The gallant knights that conquered Troy did come;[35] + +evidently teaching us that poets and musicians ought to receive the +arguments of their songs from sober and understanding men. And in the +other fable of Juno he excellently shows that the conversation of women +with men, and the favors they receive from them procured by sorcery, +witchcraft, or other unlawful arts, are not only short, unstable, and +soon cloying, but also in the issue easily turned to loathing and +displeasure, when once the pleasure is over. For so Jupiter there +threatens Juno, when he tells her,— + + Hear this, remember, and our fury dread, + Nor pull the unwilling vengeance on thy head; + Lest arts and blandishments successless prove + Thy soft deceits and well dissembled love.[36] + +For the fiction and representation of evil acts, when it withal +acquaints us with the shame and damage befalling the doers, hurts not +but rather profits him that reads them. For which end philosophers +make use of examples for our instruction and correction out of +historical collections; and poets do the very same thing, but with this +difference, that they invent fabulous examples themselves. There was +one Melanthius, who (whether in jest or earnest he said it, it matters +not much) affirmed that the city of Athens owed its preservation to +the dissensions and factions that were among the orators, giving +withal this reason for his assertion, that thereby they were kept from +inclining all of them to one side, so that by means of the differences +among those statesmen there were always some that drew the saw the +right way for the defeating of destructive counsels. And thus it is +too in the contradictions among poets, which, by lessening the credit +of what they say, render them the less powerful to do mischief; and +therefore, when comparing one saying with another we discover their +contrariety, we ought to adhere to the better side. As in these +instances:— + + The Gods, my son, deceive poor men oft-times. + _Ans._ ’Tis easy, sir, on God to lay our crimes. + + ’Tis comfort to thee to be rich, is’t not! + _Ans._ No, sir, ’tis bad to be a wealthy sot. + + Die rather than such toilsome pains to take. + _Ans._ To call God’s service toil’s a foul mistake. + +Such contrarieties as these are easily solved, if (as I said) we teach +youth to judge aright and to give the better saying preference. But if +we chance to meet with any absurd passages without any others at their +heels to confute them, we are then to overthrow them with such others +as elsewhere are to be found in the author. Nor must we be offended +with the poet or grieved at him, but only at the speeches themselves, +which he utters either according to the vulgar manner of speaking or, +it may be, but in drollery. So, when thou readest in Homer of Gods +thrown out of heaven headlong one by another, or Gods wounded by men +and quarrelling and brawling with each other, thou mayest readily, if +thou wilt, say to him,— + + Sure thy invention here was sorely out, + Or thou hadst said far better things, no doubt;[37] + +yea, and thou dost so elsewhere, and according as thou thinkest, to +wit, in these passages of thine:— + + The Gods, removed from all that men doth grieve, + A quiet and contented life do live. + + Herein the immortal Gods for ever blest + Feel endless joys and undisturbed rest. + + The Gods, who have themselves no cause to grieve, + For wretched man a web of sorrow weave.[38] + +For these argue sound and true opinions of the Gods; but those other +were only feigned to raise passions in men. Again, when Euripides +speaks at this rate,— + + The Gods are better than we men by far, + And yet by them we oft deceived are,— + +we may do well to quote him elsewhere against himself, where he says +better,— + + If Gods do wrong, surely no Gods there are. + +So also, when Pindar saith bitterly and keenly, + + No law forbids us any thing to do, + Whereby a mischief may befall a foe, + +tell him: But, Pindar, thou thyself sayest elsewhere, + + The pleasure which injurious acts attends + Always in bitter consequences ends. + +And when Sophocles speaks thus, + + Sweet is the gain, wherein to lie and cheat + Adds the repute of wit to what we get, + +tell him: But we have heard thee say far otherwise, + + When the account’s cast up, the gain’s but poor + Which by a lying tongue augments the store. + +And as to what he saith of riches, to wit + + Wealth, where it minds to go, meets with no stay; + For where it finds not, it can make a way; + Many fair offers doth the poor let go, + And lose his prize because his purse is low; + The fair tongue makes, where wealth can purchase it, + The foul face beautiful, the fool a wit:— + +here the reader may set in opposition divers other sayings of the same +author. For example, + + From honor poverty doth not debar, + Where poor men virtuous and deserving are. + + Whate’er fools think, a man is ne’er the worse + If he be wise, though with an empty purse + + The comfort which he gets who wealth enjoys, + The vexing care by which ’tis kept destroys. + +And Menander also somewhere magnifies a voluptuous life, and inflames +the minds of vain persons with these amorous strains, + + The glorious sun no living thing doth see, + But what’s a slave to love as well as we. + +But yet elsewhere, on the other side, he fastens on us and pulls us +back to the love of virtue, and checks the rage of lust, when he says +thus, + + The life that is dishonorably spent, + Be it ne’er so pleasant, yields no true content. + +For these lines are contrary to the former, as they are also better and +more profitable; so that by comparing them considerately one cannot but +either be inclined to the better side, or at least flag in the belief +of the worse. + +But now, supposing that any of the poets themselves afford no such +correcting passages to solve what they have said amiss, it will then be +advisable to confront them with the contrary sayings of other famous +men, and therewith to sway the scales of our judgment to the better +side. As, when Alexis tempts to debauchery in these verses, + + The wise man knows what of all things is best, + Whilst choosing pleasure he slights all the rest. + He thinks life’s joys complete in these three sorts, + To drink and eat, and follow wanton sports; + And what besides seems to pretend to pleasure, + If it betide him, counts it over measure, + +we must remember that Socrates said the contrary, to wit: Bad men live +that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they +may live. And against the man that wrote in this manner, + + He that designs to encounter with a knave, + An equal stock of knavery must have, + +seeing he herein advises us to follow other vicious examples, that of +Diogenes may well be returned, who being asked by what means a man +might revenge himself upon his enemy, answered, By becoming himself a +good and honest man. And the same Diogenes may be quoted also against +Sophocles, who, writing thus of the sacred mysteries, caused great +grief and despair to multitudes of men: + + Most happy they whose eyes are blest to see + The mysteries which here contained be, + Before they die! For only they have joy + In th’ other world; the rest all ills annoy. + +This passage being read to Diogenes, What then! says he, shall the +condition of Pataecion, the notorious robber, after death be better +than that of Epaminondas, merely for his being initiated in these +mysteries? In like manner, when one Timotheus on the theatre, in the +praise of the Goddess Diana, called her furious, raging, possessed, +mad, Cinesias presently cried out to him aloud, May thy daughter, +Timotheus, be such a Goddess! And witty also was that of Bion to +Theognis, who said,— + + One can not say nor do, if poor he be; + His tongue is bound to th’ peace, as well as he.[39] + +How comes it to pass then, said he, Theognis, that thou thyself being +so poor pratest and gratest our ears in this manner? + +5. Nor are we to omit in our reading those hints which, from some +other words or phrases bordering on those that offend us, may help to +rectify our apprehensions. But as physicians use cantharides, believing +that, though their bodies be deadly poison, yet their feet and wings +are medicinal and can even kill the poison of the flies themselves, so +must we deal with poems. If any noun or verb near at hand may assist to +the correction of any such saying, and preserve us from putting a bad +construction upon it, we should take hold of it and employ it to assist +a more favorable interpretation. As some do in reference to those +verses of Homer,— + + Sorrows and tears most commonly are seen + To be the Gods’ rewards to wretched men:— + + The Gods, who have no cause themselves to grieve, + For wretched man a web of sorrow weave.[40] + +For, they say, he says not of men simply, or of all men, that the Gods +weave for them the fatal web of a sorrowful life; but he affirms it +only of foolish and imprudent men, whom, because their vices make them +such, he therefore calls wretched and miserable. + +6. Another way whereby those passages which are suspicious in poets +may be transferred to a better sense may be taken from the common +use of words, which a young man ought indeed to be more exercised in +than in the use of strange and obscure terms. For it will be a point +of philology which it will not be unpleasant to him to understand, +that when he meets with ῥιγεδανή in a poet, that word signifies an +_evil death_; for the Macedonians use the word δάνος to signify +_death_. So the Aeolians call victory gotten by patient endurance +of hardships καμμονίη; and the Dryopians call daemons πόποι. + +But of all things it is most necessary, and no less profitable if +we design to receive profit and not hurt from the poets, that we +understand how they make use of the names of Gods, as also of the terms +of Evil and Good; and what they mean by Fortune and Fate; and whether +these words be always taken by them in one and the same sense or rather +in various senses, as also many other words are. For so the word οἶκος +sometimes signifies a _material house_, as, Into the high-roofed +house; and sometimes _estate_, as, My house is devoured. So +the word βίοτος sometimes signifies _life_, and sometimes +_wealth_. And ἀλύειν is sometimes taken for being _uneasy_ +and _disquieted in mind_, as in + + Ὡς ἔφαθ’· ἡ δ’ ~ἀλύουσ~’ ἀπεβήσατο, + τείρετο δ’ αἰνῶς,[41] + +and elsewhere for boasting and rejoicing, as in + + Ἢ ~ἀλύεις~, ὅτι Ἶρον ἐνίκησας τὸν ἀλήτην.[42] + +In like manner θοάζειν signifies either _to move_, as in Euripides +when he saith, + + Κῆτος ~θοάζον~ ἐκ Ἀτλαντικῆς ἁλός,— + +or _to sit_, as in Sophocles when he writes thus, + + Τίνας πόθ’ ἕδρας τάσδε μοι ~θοάζετε~, + Ἱκτηρίοις κλάδοισιν ἐξεστεμμένοι.[43] + +It is elegant also when they adapt to the present matter, as +grammarians teach, the use of words which are commonly of another +signification. As here:— + + Νῆ’ ὀλίγην αἰνεῖν, μεγάλῃ δ’ ἐνὶ φορτία θέσθαι. + +For here αἰνεῖν signifies _to praise_ (instead of ἐπαινεῖν), and +_to praise_ is used for _to refuse_. So in conversation it +is common with us to say, καλῶς ἔχει, _it is well_ (i.e., _No, +I thank you_), and to bid any thing _fare well_ (χαίρειν); +by which forms of speech we refuse a thing which we do not want, or +receive it not, but still with a civil compliment. So also some say +that Proserpina is called ἐπαινή in the notion of παραιτητή, _to be +deprecated_, because death is by all men shunned. + +And the like distinction of words we ought to observe also in things +more weighty and serious. To begin with the Gods, we should teach our +youth that poets, when they use the names of Gods, sometimes mean +properly the Divine Beings so called, but otherwhiles understand +by those names certain powers of which the Gods are the donors and +authors, they having first led us into the use of them by their own +practice. As when Archilochus prays, + + King Vulcan, hear thy suppliant, and grant + That which thou’rt wont to give and I to want, + +it is plain that he means the God himself whom he invokes. But when +elsewhere he bewails the drowning of his sister’s husband, who had not +obtained lawful burial, and says, + + Had Vulcan his fair limbs to ashes turned, + I for his loss had with less passion mourned, + +he gives the name of Vulcan to the fire and not to the Deity. Again, +Euripides, when he says, + + No; by great Jove I swear, enthroned on high, + And bloody Mars,[44] + +means the Gods themselves who bare those names. But when Sophocles +saith, + + Blind Mars doth mortal men’s affairs confound, + As the swine’s snout doth quite deface the ground, + +we are to understand the word Mars to denote not the God so called, but +war. And by the same word we are to understand also weapons made of +hardened brass, in those verses of Homer, + + These are the gallant men whose noble blood + Keen Mars did shed near swift Scamander’s flood.[45] + +Wherefore, in conformity to the instances given, we must conceive and +bear in mind that by the names of Jupiter also sometimes they mean the +God himself, sometimes Fortune, and oftentimes also Fate. For when they +say,— + + Great Jupiter, who from the lofty hill + Of Ida govern’st all the world at will;[46] + + That wrath which hurled to Pluto’s gloomy realm + The souls of mighty chiefs:— + Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove;[47] + + For who (but who himself too fondly loves) + Dares lay his wisdom in the scale with Jove’s?— + +they understand Jupiter himself. But when they ascribe the event of all +things done to Jupiter as the cause, saying of him,— + + Many brave souls to hell Achilles sent, + And Jove’s design accomplished in th’ event,— + +they mean by Jove no more but Fate. For the poet doth not conceive that +God contrives mischief against mankind, but he soundly declares the +mere necessity of the things themselves, to wit, that prosperity and +victory are destined by Fate to cities and armies and commanders who +govern themselves with sobriety, but if they give way to passions and +commit errors, thereby dividing and crumbling themselves into factions, +as those of whom the poet speaks did, they do unhandsome actions, +and thereby create great disturbances, such as are attended with sad +consequences. + + For to all unadvised acts, in fine, + The Fates unhappy issues do assign.[48] + +But when Hesiod brings in Prometheus thus counselling his brother +Epimetheus, + + Brother, if Jove to thee a present make, + Take heed that from his hands thou nothing take,[49] + +he useth the name of Jove to express Fortune; for he calls the good +things which come by her (such as riches, and marriages, and empires, +and indeed all external things the enjoyment whereof is unprofitable +to them who know not how to use them well) the gifts of Jove. And +therefore he adviseth Epimetheus (an ill man, and a fool withal) to +stand in fear of and to guard himself from prosperity, as that which +would be hurtful and destructive to him. + +Again, where he saith, + + Reproach thou not a man for being poor; + His poverty’s God’s gift, as is thy store,[50] + +he calls that which befalls men by Fortune God’s gift, and intimates +that it is an unworthy thing to reproach any man for that poverty which +he falls into by Fortune, whereas poverty is then only a matter of +disgrace and reproach when it is attendant on sloth and idleness, or +wantonness and prodigality. For, before the name of Fortune was used, +they knew there was a powerful cause, which moved irregularly and +unlimitedly and with such a force that no human reason could avoid it; +and this cause they called by the names of Gods. So we are wont to call +divers things and qualities and discourses, and even men themselves, +divine. And thus may we rectify many such sayings concerning Jupiter as +would otherwise seem very absurd. As these, for instance:— + + Before Jove’s door two fatal hogsheads, filled + With human fortunes, good and bad luck yield:— + + Of violated oaths Jove took no care, + But spitefully both parties crushed by war:— + + To Greeks and Trojans both this was the rise + Of mischief, suitable to Jove’s device.[51] + +These passages we are to interpret as spoken concerning Fortune or +Fate, of the causality of both which no account can be given by us, +nor do their effects fall under our power. But where any thing is said +of Jupiter that is suitable, rational, and probable, there we are to +conceive that the names of that God is used properly. As in these +instances:— + + Through others’ ranks he conquering did range, + But shunned with Ajax any blows t’ exchange; + But Jove’s displeasure on him he had brought, + Had he with one so much his better fought.[52] + + For though great matters are Jove’s special care, + Small things t’ inferior daemons trusted are + +And other words there are which the poets remove and translate +from their proper sense by accommodation to various things, which +deserve also our serious notice. Such a one, for instance, is ἀρετή, +_virtue_. For because virtue does not only render men prudent, +just, and good, both in their words and deeds, but also oftentimes +purchaseth to them honor and power, therefore they call likewise these +by that name. So we are wont to call both the olive-tree and the fruit +ἐλαία, and the oak-tree and its acorn φηγός, communicating the name of +the one to the other. Therefore, when our young man reads in the poets +such passages as these,— + + This law th’ immortal Gods to us have set, + That none arrive at virtue but by sweat;[53] + + The adverse troops then did the Grecians stout + By their mere virtue profligate and rout;[54] + + If now the Fates determined have our death, + To virtue we’ll consign our parting breath;— + +let him presently conceive that these things are spoken of that most +excellent and divine habit in us which we understand to be no other +than right reason, or the highest attainment of the reasonable nature, +and most agreeable to the constitution thereof. And again, when he +reads this. + + Of virtue Jupiter to one gives more, + And lessens, when he lifts, another’s store; + +and this, + + Virtue and honor upon wealth attend;[55] + +let him not sit down in an astonishing admiration of rich men, as if +they were enabled by their wealth to purchase virtue, nor let him +imagine that it is in the power of Fortune to increase or lessen his +own wisdom; but let him conceive that the poet by virtue meant either +glory or power or prosperity or something of like import. For poets +use the same ambiguity also in the word κακότης, _evil_, which +sometimes in them properly signifies a wicked and malicious disposition +of mind, as in that of Hesiod, + + Evil is soon acquired; for everywhere + There’s plenty on’t and t’all men’s dwellings near;[56] + +and sometimes some evil accident or misfortune, as when Homer says, + + Sore evils, when they haunt us in our prime, + Hasten old age on us before our time.[57] + +So also in the word εὐδαιμονία, he would be sorely deceived who should +imagine that, wheresoever he meets with it in poets, it means (as it +does in philosophy) a perfect habitual enjoyment of all good things or +the leading a life every way agreeable to Nature, and that they do not +withal by the abuse of such words call rich men happy or blessed, and +power or glory felicity. For, though Homer rightly useth terms of that +nature in this passage,— + + Though of such great estates I am possest, + Yet with true inward joy I am not blest;[58] + +and Menander in this,— + + So great’s th’ estate I am endowed withal. + All say I’m rich, but none me happy call;— + +yet Euripides discourseth more confusedly and perplexedly when he +writes after this manner,— + + May I ne’er live that grievous blessed life;— + + But tell me, man, why valuest thou go high + Th’ unjust beatitude of tyranny?[59] + +except, as I said, we allow him the use of these words in a +metaphorical and abusive sense. But enough hath been spoken of these +matters. + +7. Nevertheless, this principle is not once only but often to be +inculcated and pressed on young men, that poetry, when it undertakes +a fictitious argument by way of imitation, though it make use of such +ornament and illustration as suit the actions and manners treated +of, yet disclaims not all likelihood of truth, seeing the force of +imitation, in order to the persuading of men, lies in probability. +Wherefore such imitation as does not altogether shake hands with truth +carries along with it certain signs of virtue and vice mixed together +in the actions which it doth represent. And of this nature is Homer’s +poetry, which totally bids adieu to Stoicism, the principles whereof +will not admit any vice to come near where virtue is, nor virtue to +have any thing to do where any vice lodgeth, but affirms that he that +is not a wise man can do nothing well, and he that is so can do nothing +amiss. Thus they determine in the schools. But in human actions and the +affairs of common life the judgment of Euripides is verified, that + + Virtue and vice ne’er separately exist, + But in the same acts with each other twist.[60] + +Next, it is to be observed that poetry, waiving the truth of things, +does most labor to beautify its fictions with variety and multiplicity +of contrivance. For variety bestows upon fable all that is pathetical, +unusual, and surprising, and thereby makes it more taking and graceful; +whereas what is void of variety is unsuitable to the nature of fable, +and so raiseth no passions at all. Upon which design of variety it +is, that the poets never represent the same persons always victorious +or prosperous or acting with the same constant tenor of virtue;—yea, +even the Gods themselves, when they engage in human actions, are not +represented as free from passions and errors;—lest, for the want of +some difficulties and cross passages, their poems should be destitute +of that briskness which is requisite to move and astonish the minds of +men. + +8. These things therefore so standing, we should, when we enter a young +man into the study of the poets, endeavor to free his mind from that +degree of esteem of the good and great personages in them described +as may incline him to think them to be mirrors of wisdom and justice, +the chief of princes, and the exemplary measures of all virtue and +goodness. For he will receive much prejudice, if he shall approve and +admire all that comes from such persons as great, if he dislike nothing +in them himself, nor will endure to hear others blame them, though for +such words and actions as the following passages import:— + + Oh! would to all the immortal powers above, + Apollo, Pallas, and almighty Jove! + That not one Trojan might be left alive, + And not a Greek of all the race survive. + Might only we the vast destruction shun, + And only we destroy the accursed town! + + Her breast all gore, with lamentable cries, + The bleeding innocent Cassandra dies, + Murdered by Clytemnestra’s faithless hand: + + Lie with thy father’s whore, my mother said, + That she th’ old man may loathe; and I obeyed. + + Of all the Gods, O father Jove, there’s none + Thus given to mischief but thyself alone.[61] + +Our young man is to be taught not to commend such things as these, +no, nor to show the nimbleness of his wit or subtlety in maintaining +an argument by finding out plausible colors and pretences to varnish +over a bad matter. But we should teach him rather to judge that +poetry is an imitation of the manners and lives of such men as are +not perfectly pure and unblamable, but such as are tinctured with +passions, misled by false opinions, and muffled with ignorance; though +oftentimes they may, by the help of a good natural temper, change them +for better qualities. For the young man’s mind, being thus prepared +and disposed, will receive no damage by such passages when he meets +with them in poems, but will on the one side be elevated with rapture +at those things which are well said or done, and on the other, will +not entertain but dislike those which are of a contrary character. But +he that admires and is transported with every thing, as having his +judgment enslaved by the esteem he hath for the names of heroes, will +be unawares wheedled into many evil things, and be guilty of the same +folly with those who imitate the crookedness of Plato or the lisping +of Aristotle. Neither must he carry himself timorously herein, nor, +like a superstitious person in a temple, tremblingly adore all he meets +with; but use himself to such confidence as may enable him openly to +pronounce, This was ill or incongruously said, and, That was bravely +and gallantly spoken. For example, Achilles in Homer, being offended at +the spinning out that war by delays, wherein he was desirous by feats +of arms to purchase to himself glory, calls the soldiers together when +there was an epidemical disease among them. But having himself some +smattering skill in physic, and perceiving after the ninth day, which +useth to be decretory in such cases, that the disease was no usual one +nor proceeding from ordinary causes, when he stands up to speak, he +waives applying himself to the soldiers, and addresseth himself as a +councillor to the general, thus:— + + Why leave we not the fatal Trojan shore, + And measure back the seas we cross’d before?[62] + +And he spake well, and with due moderation and decorum. But when the +soothsayer Chalcas had told him that he feared the wrath of the most +potent among the Grecians, after an oath that while he lived no man +should lay violent hands on him, he adds, but not with like wisdom and +moderation, + + Not e’en the chief by whom our hosts are led, + The king of kings, shall touch that sacred head; + +in which speech he declares his low opinion or rather his contempt of +his chief commander. And then, being farther provoked, he drew his +weapon with a design to kill him, which attempt was neither good nor +expedient. And therefore by and by he repented his rashness,— + + He said, observant of the blue-eyed maid; + Then in the sheath returned the shining blade; + +wherein again he did rightly and worthily, in that, though he could not +altogether quell his passion, yet he restrained and reduced it under +the command of reason, before it brake forth into such an irreparable +act of mischief. Again, even Agamemnon himself talks in that assembly +ridiculously, but carries himself more gravely and more like a prince +in the matter of Chryseis. For whereas Achilles, when his Briseis was +taken away from him, + + In sullenness withdraws from all his friends, + And in his tent his time lamenting spends; + +Agamemnon himself hands into the ship, delivers to her friends, and so +sends from him, the woman concerning whom a little before he declared +that he loved her better than his wife; and in that action did nothing +unbecoming or savoring of fond affection. Also Phoenix, when his father +bitterly cursed him for having to do with one that was his own harlot, +says, + + Him in my rage I purposed to have killed, + But that my hand some God in kindness held; + And minded me that Greeks would taunting say, + Lo, here’s the man that did his father slay. + +It is true that Aristarchus was afraid to permit these verses to stand +in the poet, and therefore censured them to be expunged. But they were +inserted by Homer very aptly to the occasion of Phoenix’s instructing +Achilles what a pernicious thing anger is, and what foul acts men do by +its instigation, while they are capable neither of making use of their +own reason nor of hearing the counsel of others. To which end he also +introduceth Meleager at first highly offended with his citizens, and +afterwards pacified; justly therein reprehending disordered passions, +and praising it as a good and profitable thing not to yield to them, +but to resist and overcome them, and to repent when one hath been +overcome by them. + +Now in these instances the difference is manifest. But where a like +clear judgment cannot be passed, there we are to settle the young +man’s mind thus, by way of distinction. If Nausicaa, having cast her +eyes upon Ulysses, a stranger, and feeling the same passion for him as +Calypso had before, did (as one that was ripe for a husband) out of +wantonness talk with her maidens at this foolish rate,— + + O Heaven! in my connubial hour decree + This man my spouse, or such a spouse as he![63] + +she is blameworthy for her impudence and incontinence. But if, +perceiving the man’s breeding by his discourse, and admiring the +prudence of his addresses, she rather wisheth to have such a one for a +husband than a merchant or a dancing gallant of her fellow-citizens, +she is to be commended. And when Ulysses is represented as rejoicing +at Penelope’s jocular conversation with her wooers, and at their +presenting her with rich garments and other ornaments, + + Because she cunningly the fools cajoled. + And bartered light words for their heavy gold;[64] + +if that joy were occasioned by greediness and covetousness, he +discovers himself to be a more sordid prostituter of his own wife than +Poliager is wont to be represented on the stage to have been, of whom +it is said,— + + Happy man he, whose wife, like Capricorn, + Stores him with riches from a golden horn! + +But if through foresight he thought thereby to get them the more within +his power, as being lulled asleep in security for the future by the +hopes she gave them at present, this rejoicing, joined with confidence +in his wife, was rational. Again, when he is brought in numbering the +goods which the Phaeacians had set on shore together with himself and +departed; if indeed, being himself left in such a solitude, so ignorant +where he was, and having no security there for his own person, he is +yet solicitous for his goods, lest + + The sly Phaeacians, when they stole to sea, + Had stolen some part of what they brought away;[65] + +the covetousness of the man deserved in truth to be pitied, or +rather abhorred. But if, as some say in his defence, being doubtful +whether or no the place where he was landed were Ithaca, he made use +of the just tale of his goods to infer thence the honesty of the +Phaeacians,—because it was not likely they would expose him in a +strange place and leave him there with his goods by him untouched, so +as to get nothing by their dishonesty,—then he makes use of a very fit +test for this purpose, and deserves commendation for his wisdom in +that action. Some also there are who find fault with that passage of +the putting him on shore when he was asleep, if it really so happened, +and they tell us that the people of Tuscany have still a traditional +story among them concerning Ulysses, that he was naturally sleepy, and +therefore a man whom many men could not freely converse with. But if +his sleep was but feigned, and he made use of this pretence only of +a natural infirmity, by counterfeiting a nap, to hide the strait he +was in at that time in his thoughts, betwixt the shame of sending away +the Phaeacians without giving them a friendly collation and hospitable +gifts, and the fear he had of being discovered to his enemies by the +treating such a company of men together, they then approve it. + +Now, by showing young men these things, we shall preserve them from +being carried away to any corruption in their manners, and dispose +them to the election and imitation of those that are good, as being +before instructed readily to disapprove those and commend these. But +this ought with the most care to be done in the reading of tragedies +wherein probable and subtle speeches are made use of in the most foul +and wicked actions. For that is not always true which Sophocles saith, +that + + From naughty acts good words can ne’er proceed. + +For even he himself is wont to apply pleasant reasonings and plausible +arguments to those manners and actions which are wicked or unbecoming. +And in another of his fellow-tragedians, we may see even Phaedra +herself represented as justifying her unlawful affection for Hippolytus +by accusing Theseus of ill-carriage towards her. And in his Troades, +he allows Helen the same liberty of speech against Hecuba, whom she +judgeth to be more worthy of punishment than herself for her adultery, +because she was the mother of Paris that tempted her thereto. A young +man therefore must not be accustomed to think any thing of that nature +handsomely or wittily spoken, nor to be pleased with such colorable +inventions; but rather more to abhor such words as tend to the defence +of wanton acts than the very acts themselves. + +9. And lastly, it will be useful likewise to enquire into the cause why +each thing is said. For so Cato, when he was a boy, though he was wont +to be very observant of all his master’s commands, yet withal used to +ask the cause or reason why he so commanded. But poets are not to be +obeyed as pedagogues and lawgivers are, except they have reason to back +what they say. And that they will not want, when they speak well; and +if they speak ill, what they say will appear vain and frivolous. But +nowadays most young men very briskly demand the reason of such trivial +speeches as these, and enquire in what sense they are spoken: + + It bodes ill luck, when vessels you set up, + To place the ladle on the mixing-cup. + + Who from his chariot to another’s leaps, + Seldom his seat without a combat keeps.[66] + +But to those of greater moment they give credence without examination, +as to those that follow: + + The boldest men are daunted oftentimes, + When they’re reproached with their parents’ crimes:[67] + + When any man is crushed by adverse fate, + His spirit should be low as his estate. + +And yet such speeches relate to manners, and disquiet men’s lives +by begetting in them evil opinions and unworthy sentiments, except +they have learned to return answer to each of them thus: “Wherefore +is it necessary that a man who is crushed by adverse fate should +have a dejected spirit? Yea, why rather should he not struggle +against Fortune, and raise himself above the pressures of his low +circumstances? Why, if I myself be a good and wise son of an evil and +foolish father, does it not rather become me to bear myself confidently +upon the account of my own virtue, than to be dejected and dispirited +because of my father’s defects?” For he that can encounter such +speeches and oppose them after this manner, not yielding himself up to +be overset with the blast of every saying, but approving that speech of +Heraclitus, that + + Whate’er is said, though void of sense and wit, + The size of a fool’s intellect doth fit, + +will reject many such things as falsely and idly spoken. + +10. These things therefore may be of use to preserve us from the +hurt we might get by the study of poems. Now, as on a vine the +fruit oftentimes lies shadowed and hidden under its large leaves +and luxuriant branches, so in the poet’s phrases and fictions that +encompass them there are also many profitable and useful things +concealed from the view of young men. This, however, ought not to be +suffered; nor should we be led away from things themselves thus, but +rather adhere to such of them as tend to the promoting of virtue and +the well forming of our manners. It will not be altogether useless +therefore, to treat briefly in the next place of passages of that +nature. Wherein I intend to touch only at some particulars, leaving +all longer discourses, and the trimming up and furnishing them with +a multitude of instances, to those who write more for show and +ostentation. + +First, therefore, let our young man be taught to understand good and +bad manners and persons, and from thence apply his mind to the words +and deeds which the poet decently assigns to either of them. For +example, Achilles, though in some wrath, speaks to Agamemnon thus +decently: + + Nor, when we take a Trojan town, can I + With thee in spoils and splendid prizes vie;[68] + +whereas Thersites to the same person speaks reproachfully in this +manner:— + + ’Tis thine whate’er the warrior’s breast inflames, + The golden spoil, and thine the lovely dames. + With all the wealth our wars and blood bestow, + Thy tents are crowded and thy chests o’erflow. + +Again, Achilles thus:— + + Whene’er, by Jove’s decree, our conquering powers + Shall humble to the dust Troy’s lofty towers; + +but Thersites thus:— + + Whom I or some Greek else as captive bring. + +Again, Diomedes, when Agamemnon taking a view of the army spoke +reproachfully to him, + + To his hard words forbore to make reply, + For the respect he bare to majesty; + +whereas Sthenelus, a man of small note, replies on him thus:— + + Sir, when you know the truth, what need to lie? + For with our fathers we for valor vie. + +Now the observation of such difference will teach the young man +the decency of a modest and moderate temper, and the unbecoming +nauseousness of the contrary vices of boasting and cracking of a man’s +own worth. And it is worth while also to take notice of the demeanor of +Agamemnon in the same passage. For he passeth by Sthenelus unspoken to; +but perceiving Ulysses to be offended, he neglects not him, but applies +himself to answer him:— + + Struck with his generous wrath, the king replies.[69] + +For to have apologized to every one had been too servile and +misbecoming the dignity of his person; whereas equally to have +neglected every one had been an act of insolence and imprudence. And +very handsome it is that Diomedes, though in the heat of the battle he +answers the king only with silence, yet after the battle was over useth +more liberty towards him, speaking thus:— + + You called me coward, sir, before the Greeks. + +It is expedient also to take notice of the different carriage of a wise +man and of a soothsayer popularly courting the multitude. For Chalcas +very unseasonably makes no scruple to traduce the king before the +people, as having been the cause of the pestilence that was befallen +them. But Nestor, intending to bring in a discourse concerning the +reconciling Achilles to him, that he might not seem to charge Agamemnon +before the multitude with the miscarriage his passion had occasioned, +only adviseth him thus:— + + But thou, O king, to council call the old.... + Wise weighty counsels aid a state distress’d, + And such a monarch as can choose the best; + +which done, accordingly after supper he sends his ambassadors. Now this +speech of Nestor tended to the rectifying of what he had before done +amiss; but that of Chalcas, only to accuse and disparage him. + +There is likewise consideration to be had of the different manners +of nations, such as these. The Trojans enter into battle with loud +outcries and great fierceness; but in the army of the Greeks, + + Sedate and silent move the numerous bands; + No sound, no whisper, but the chief’s commands; + Those only heard, with awe the rest obey. + +For when soldiers are about to engage an enemy, the awe they stand in +of their officers is an argument both of courage and obedience. For +which purpose Plato teacheth us that we ought to inure ourselves to +fear blame and disgrace more than labor and danger. And Cato was wont +to say that he liked men that were apt to blush better than those that +looked pale. + +Moreover, there is a particular character to be noted of the men who +undertake for any action. For Dolon thus promiseth:— + + I’ll pass through all their host in a disguise + To their flag-ship, where she at anchor lies. + +But Diomedes promiseth nothing, but only tells them he shall fear +the less if they send a companion with him; whereby is intimated, +that discreet foresight is Grecian and civil, but rash confidence is +barbarous and evil; and the former is therefore to be imitated, and the +latter to be avoided. + +It is a matter too of no unprofitable consideration, how the minds +of the Trojans and of Hector too were affected when he and Ajax were +about to engage in a single combat. For Aeschylus, when, upon one of +the fighters at fisticuffs in the Isthmian games receiving a blow on +the face, there was made a great outcry among the people, said: “What +a thing is practice! See how the lookers-on only cry out, but the man +that received the stroke is silent.” But when the poet tells us, that +the Greeks rejoiced when they saw Ajax in his glistering armor, but + + The Trojans’ knees for very fear did quake, + And even Hector’s heart began to ache;[70] + +who is there that wonders not at this difference,—when the heart of +him that was to run the risk of the combat only beats inwardly, as if +he were to undertake a mere wrestling or running match, but the very +bodies of the spectators tremble and shake, out of the kindness and +fear which they had for their king? + +In the same poet also we may observe the difference betwixt the humor +of a coward and a valiant man. For Thersites + + Against Achilles a great malice had, + And wise Ulysses he did hate as bad; + +but Ajax is always represented as friendly to Achilles; and +particularly he speaks thus to Hector concerning him:— + + Hector! approach my arm, and singly know + What strength thou hast, and what the Grecian foe. + Achilles shuns the fight; yet some there are + Not void of soul, and not unskill’d in war: + +wherein he insinuates the high commendation of that valiant man. And in +what follows, he speaks like handsome things of his fellow-soldiers in +general, thus:— + + Whole troops of heroes Greece has yet to boast, + And sends thee one, a sample of her host; + +wherein he doth not boast himself to be the only or the best champion, +but one of those, among many others, who were fit to undertake that +combat. + +What hath been said is sufficient upon the point of dissimilitudes; +except we think fit to add this, that many of the Trojans came into the +enemy’s power alive, but none of the Grecians; and that many of the +Trojans supplicated to their enemies,—as (for instance) Adrastus, the +sons of Antimachus, Lycaon,—and even Hector himself entreats Achilles +for a sepulture; but not one of these doth so, as judging it barbarous +to supplicate to a foe in the field, and more Greek-like either to +conquer or die. + +11. But as, in the same plant, the bee feeds on the flower, the goat +on the bud, the hog on the root, and other living creatures on the +seed and the fruit; so in reading of poems, one man singleth out the +historical part, another dwells upon the elegancy and fit disposal of +words, as Aristophanes says of Euripides,— + + His gallant language runs so smooth and round, + That I am ravisht with th’ harmonious sound;[71] + +but others, to whom this part of my discourse is directed, mind only +such things as are useful to the bettering of manners. And such we are +to put in mind that it is an absurd thing, that those who delight in +fables should not let any thing slip them of the vain and extravagant +stories they find in poets, and that those who affect language should +pass by nothing that is elegantly and floridly expressed; and that +only the lovers of honor and virtue, who apply themselves to the study +of poems not for delight but for instruction’s sake, should slightly +and negligently observe what is spoken in them relating to valor, +temperance, or justice. Of this nature is the following:— + + And stand we deedless, O eternal shame! + Till Hector’s arm involve the ships in flame? + Haste, let us join, and combat side by side.[72] + +For to see a man of the greatest wisdom in danger of being totally cut +off with all those that take part with him, and yet affected less with +fear of death than of shame and dishonor, must needs excite in a young +man a passionate affection for virtue. And this, + + Joyed was the Goddess, for she much did prize + A man that was alike both just and wise, + +teacheth us to infer that the Deity delights not in a rich or a proper +or a strong man, but in one that is furnished with wisdom and justice. +Again, when the same Goddess (Minerva) saith that the reason why she +did not desert or neglect Ulysses was that he was + + Gentle, of ready wit, of prudent mind, + +she therein tells us that, of all things pertaining to us, nothing +is dear to the Gods and divine but our virtue, seeing like naturally +delights in like. + +And seeing, moreover, that it both seemeth and really is a great thing +to be able to moderate a man’s anger, but a greater by far to guard +a man’s self beforehand by prudence, that he fall not into it nor be +surprised by it, therefore also such passages as tend that way are not +slightly to be represented to the readers; for example, that Achilles +himself—who was a man of no great forbearance, nor inclined to such +meekness—yet warns Priam to be calm and not to provoke him, thus, + + Move me no more (Achilles thus replies, + While kindling anger sparkled in his eyes), + Nor seek by tears my steady soul to bend: + To yield thy Hector I myself intend: + Cease; lest, neglectful of high Jove’s command, + I show thee, king, thou tread’st on hostile land; + +and that he himself first washeth and decently covereth the body of +Hector and then puts it into a chariot, to prevent his father’s seeing +it so unworthily mangled as it was,— + + Lest the unhappy sire, + Provoked to passion, once more rouse to ire + The stern Pelides; and nor sacred age, + Nor Jove’s command, should check the rising rage. + +For it is a piece of admirable prudence for a man so prone to anger, +as being by nature hasty and furious, to understand himself so well as +to set a guard upon his own inclinations, and by avoiding provocations +to keep his passion at due distance by the use of reason, lest he +should be unawares surprised by it. And after the same manner must the +man that is apt to be drunken forearm himself against that vice; and +he that is given to wantonness, against lust, as Agesilaus refused to +receive a kiss from a beautiful person addressing to him, and Cyrus +would not so much as endure to see Panthea. Whereas, on the contrary, +those that are not virtuously bred are wont to gather fuel to inflame +their passions, and voluntarily to abandon themselves to those +temptations to which of themselves they are endangered. But Ulysses +does not only restrain his own anger, but (perceiving by the discourse +of his son Telemachus, that through indignation conceived against such +evil men he was greatly provoked) he blunts his passion too beforehand, +and composeth him to calmness and patience, thus:— + + There, if base scorn insult my reverend age, + Bear it, my son! repress thy rising rage. + If outraged, cease that outrage to repel; + Bear it, my son! howe’er thy heart rebel. + +For as men are not wont to put bridles on their horses when they are +running in full speed, but bring them bridled beforehand to the race; +so do they use to preoccupy and predispose the minds of those persons +with rational considerations to enable them to encounter passion, whom +they perceive to be too mettlesome and unmanageable upon the sight of +provoking objects. + +Furthermore, the young man is not altogether to neglect names +themselves when he meets with them; though he is not obliged to give +much heed to such idle descants as those of Cleanthes, who, while he +professeth himself an interpreter, plays the trifler, as in these +passages of Homer: Ζεῦ πάτερ Ἴδηθεν μεδέων, and Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε.[73] +For he will needs read the last two of these words joined into one, and +make them ἀναδωδωναῖε; for that the air evaporated from the earth by +exhalation (ἀνάδοσις) is so called. Yea, and Chrysippus too, though he +does not so trifle, yet is very jejune, while he hunts after improbable +etymologies. As when he will need force the words εὐρύοπα Κρονίδην to +import Jupiter’s excellent faculty in speaking and powerfulness to +persuade thereby. + +But such things as these are fitter to be left to the examination of +grammarians; and we are rather to insist upon such passages as are both +profitable and persuasive. Such, for instance, as these:— + + My early youth was bred to martial pains, + My soul impels me to the embattled plains! + + How skill’d he was in each obliging art; + The mildest manners, and the gentlest heart.[74] + +For while the author tells us that fortitude may be taught, and that an +obliging and graceful way of conversing with others is to be gotten by +art and the use of reason, he exhorts us not to neglect the improvement +of ourselves, but by observing our teachers’ instructions to learn a +becoming carriage, as knowing that clownishness and cowardice argue +ill-breeding and ignorance. And very suitable to what hath been said is +that which is said of Jupiter and Neptune:— + + Gods of one source, of one ethereal race, + Alike divine, and heaven their native place; + But Jove the greater; first born of the skies, + And more than men or Gods supremely wise.[75] + +For the poet therein pronounceth wisdom to be the most divine and royal +quality of all; as placing therein the greatest excellency of Jupiter +himself, and judging all virtues else to be necessarily consequent +thereunto. We are also to accustom a young man attentively to hear such +things as these:— + + Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies + And sure he will, for wisdom never lies: + + The praise of wisdom, in thy youth obtain’d, + An act so rash, Antilochus, has stain’d: + + Say, is it just, my friend, that Hector’s ear + From such a warrior such a speech should hear? + I deemed thee once the wisest of thy kind, + But ill this insult suits a prudent mind.[76] + +These speeches teach us that it is beneath wise men to lie or to deal +otherwise than fairly, even in games, or to blame other men without +just cause. And when the poet attributes Pindarus’s violation of the +truce to his folly, he withal declares his judgment that a wise man +will not be guilty of an unjust action. The like may we also infer +concerning continence, taking our ground for it from these passages:— + + For him Antaea burn’d with lawless flame, + And strove to tempt him from the paths of fame. + In vain she tempted the relentless youth, + Endued with wisdom, sacred fear, and truth: + + At first, with worthy shame and decent pride, + The royal dame his lawless suit denied! + For virtue’s image yet possessed her mind:[77] + +in which speeches the poet assigns wisdom to be the cause of +continence. And when in exhortations made to encourage soldiers to +fight, he speaks in this manner:— + + What mean you, Lycians? Stand! O stand, for shame! + + Yet each reflect who prizes fame or breath, + On endless infamy, on instant death; + For, lo! the fated time, the appointed shore; + Hark! the gates burst, the brazen barriers roar![78] + +he seems to intimate that continent men are valiant men; because they +fear the shame of base actions, and can trample on pleasures and stand +their ground in the greatest hazards. Whence Timotheus, in the play +called Persae, takes occasion handsomely to exhort the Grecians thus:— + + Brave soldiers of just shame in awe should stand; + For the blushing face oft helps the fighting hand. + +And Aeschylus also makes it a point of wisdom not to be blown up with +pride when a man is honored, nor to be moved or elevated with the +acclamations of a multitude, writing thus of Amphiaraus:— + + His shield no emblem bears; his generous soul + Wishes to be, not to appear, the best; + While the deep furrows of his noble mind + Harvests of wise and prudent counsel bear.[79] + +For it is the part of a wise man to value himself upon the +consciousness of his own true worth and excellency. + +Whereas, therefore, all inward perfections are reducible to wisdom, it +appears that all sorts of virtue and learning are included in it. + +12. Again, boys may be instructed, by reading the poets as they ought, +to draw something that is useful and profitable even from those +passages that are most suspected as wicked and absurd; as the bee is +taught by Nature to gather the sweetest and most pleasant honey from +the harshest flowers and sharpest thorns. It does indeed at the first +blush cast a shrewd suspicion on Agamemnon of taking a bribe, when +Homer tells us that he discharged that rich man from the wars who +presented him with his fleet mare Aethe:— + + Whom rich Echepolus, more rich than brave, + To ’scape the wars, to Agamemnon gave + (Aethe her name), at home to end his days; + Base wealth preferring to eternal praise.[80] + +Yet, as saith Aristotle, it was well done of him to prefer a good +beast before such a man. For, the truth is, a dog or ass is of more +value than a timorous and cowardly man that wallows in wealth and +luxury. Again, Thetis seems to do indecently, when she exhorts her son +to follow his pleasures and minds him of companying with women. But +even here, on the other side, the continency of Achilles is worthy +to be considered; who, though he dearly loved Briseis—newly returned +to him too,—yet, when he knew his life to be near its end, does not +hasten to the fruition of pleasures, nor, when he mourns for his friend +Patroclus, does he (as most men are wont) shut himself up from all +business and neglect his duty, but only bars himself from recreations +for his sorrow’s sake, while yet he gives himself up to action and +military employments. And Archilochus is not praiseworthy either, who, +in the midst of his mourning for his sister’s husband drowned in the +sea, contrives to dispel his grief by drinking and merriment. And yet +he gives this plausible reason to justify that practice of his, + + To drink and dance, rather than mourn, I choose; + Nor wrong I him, whom mourning can’t reduce. + +For, if he judged himself to do nothing amiss when he followed sports +and banquets, sure, we shall not do worse, if in whatever circumstances +we follow the study of philosophy, or manage public affairs, or go to +the market or to the Academy, or follow our husbandry. Wherefore those +corrections also are not to be rejected which Cleanthes and Antisthenes +have made use of. For Antisthenes, seeing the Athenians all in a tumult +in the theatre, and justly, upon the pronunciation of this verse,— + + Except what men think base, there’s nothing ill,[81] + +presently subjoined this corrective, + + What’s base is base,—believe men what they will. + +And Cleanthes, hearing this passage concerning wealth: + + Great is th’ advantage that great wealth attends, + For oft with it we purchase health and friends;[82] + +presently altered it thus: + + Great disadvantage oft attends on wealth; + We purchase whores with’t and destroy our health. + +And Zeno corrected that of Sophocles, + + The man that in a tyrant’s palace dwells + His liberty for’s entertainment sells, + +after this manner: + + No: if he came in free, he cannot lose + His liberty, though in a tyrant’s house; + +meaning by a free man one that is undaunted and magnanimous, and one of +a spirit too great to stoop beneath itself. And why may not we also, +by some such acclamations as those, call off young men to the better +side, by using some things spoken by poets after the same manner? For +example, it is said, + + ’Tis all that in this life one can require, + To hit the mark he aims at in desire. + +To which we may reply thus: + + ’Tis false; except one level his desire + At what’s expedient, and no more require. + +For it is an unhappy thing and not to be wished, for a man to obtain +and be master of what he desires if it be inexpedient. Again this +saying, + + Thou, Agamemnon, must thyself prepare + Of joy and grief by turns to take thy share: + Thy father, Atreus, sure, ne’er thee begat, + To be an unchanged favorite of Fate:[83] + +we may thus invert: + + Thy father, Atreus, never thee begat, + To be an unchanged favorite of Fate: + Therefore, if moderate thy fortunes are, + Thou shouldst rejoice always, and grief forbear. + +Again it is said, + + Alas! this ill comes from the powers divine, + That oft we see what’s good, yet it decline.[84] + +Yea, rather, say we, it is a brutish and irrational and wretched fault +of ours, that when we understand better things, we are carried away +to the pursuit of those which are worse, through our intemperance and +effeminacy. Again, one says, + + ’Tis not the teacher’s speech but practice moves.[85] + +Yea, rather, say we, both the speech and practice,—or the practice +by the means of speech,—as the horse is managed with the bridle, and +the ship with the helm. For virtue hath no instrument so suitable and +agreeable to human nature to work on men withal, as that of rational +discourse. Again, we meet with this character of some person: + + A. Is he more prone to male or female loves? + B. He’s flexible both ways, where beauty moves. + +But it had been better said thus: + + He’s flexible to both, where virtue moves. + +For it is no commendation of a man’s dexterity to be tossed up and down +as pleasure and beauty move him, but an argument rather of a weak and +unstable disposition. Once more, this speech, + + Religion damps the courage of our minds, + And ev’n wise men to cowardice inclines, + +is by no means to be allowed; but rather the contrary, + + Religion truly fortifies men’s minds, + And a wise man to valiant acts inclines, + +and gives not occasion of fear to any but weak and foolish persons and +such as are ungrateful to the Deity, who are apt to look on that divine +power and principle which is the cause of all good with suspicion and +jealousy, as being hurtful unto them. And so much for that which I call +correction of poets’ sayings. + +13. There is yet another way of improving poems, taught us well by +Chrysippus; which is, by accommodation of any saying, to transfer that +which is useful and serviceable in it to divers things of the same +kind. For whereas Hesiod saith, + + If but a cow be lost, the common fame + Upon the next ill neighbor lays the blame;[86] + +the same may be applied to a man’s dog or ass or any other beast of his +which is liable to the like mischance. Again, Euripides saith, + + How can that man be called a slave, who slights + Ev’n death itself, which servile spirits frights? + +the like whereof may be said of hard labor or painful sickness. For as +physicians, finding by experience the force of any medicine in the cure +of some one disease, make use of it by accommodation, proportionably to +every other disease of affinity thereto, so are we to deal with such +speeches as are of a common import and apt to communicate their value +to other things; we must not confine them to that one thing only to +which they were at first adapted, but transfer them to all other of +like nature, and accustom young men by many parallel instances to see +the communicableness of them, and exercise the promptness of their wits +in such applications. So that when Menander says, + + Happy is he who wealth and wisdom hath, + +they may be able to judge that the same is fitly applicable to glory +and authority and eloquence also. And the reproof which Ulysses gives +Achilles, when he found him sitting in Scyrus in the apartment of the +young ladies, + + Thou, who from noblest Greeks deriv’st thy race, + Dost thou with spinning wool thy birth disgrace? + +may be as well given to the prodigal, to him that undertakes any +dishonest way of living, yea, to the slothful and unlearned person, +thus: + + Thou, who from noblest Greeks deriv’st thy race, + Dost thou with fuddling thy great birth disgrace? + +or dost thou spend thy time in dicing, or quail-striking,[87] or deal +in adulterate wares or griping usury, not minding any thing that is +great and worthy thy noble extraction? So when they read, + + For Wealth, the God most serve, I little care, + Since the worst men his favors often wear,[88] + +they may be able to infer, therefore, as little regard is to be had to +glory and bodily beauty and princely robes and priestly garlands, all +which also we see to be the enjoyments of very bad men. Again, when +they read this passage, + + A coward father propagates his vice, + And gets a son heir to his cowardice, + +they may in truth apply the same to intemperance, to superstition, +to envy, and all other diseases of men’s minds. Again, whereas it is +handsomely said of Homer, + + Unhappy Paris, fairest to behold! + +and + + Hector, of noble form,[89] + +for herein he shows that a man who hath no greater excellency than +that of beauty to commend him deserves to have it mentioned with +contempt and ignominy,—such expressions we should make use of in like +cases to repress the insolence of such as bear themselves high upon +the account of such things as are of no real value, and to teach young +men to look upon such compellations as “O thou richest of men,” and “O +thou that excellest in feasting, in multitudes of attendants, in herds +of cattle, yea, and in eloquent speaking itself,” to be (as they are +indeed) expressions that import reproach and infamy. For, in truth, a +man that designs to excel ought to endeavor it in those things that are +in themselves most excellent, and to become chief in the chiefest, and +great in the greatest things. Whereas glory that ariseth from things +in themselves small and inconsiderable is inglorious and contemptible. +To mind us whereof we shall never be at a loss for instances, if, in +reading Homer especially, we observe how he applieth the expressions +that import praise or disgrace; wherein we have clear proof that he +makes small account of the good things either of the body or Fortune. +And first of all, in meetings and salutations, men do not call others +fair or rich or strong, but use such terms of commendation as these: + + Son of Laertes, from great Jove deriving + Thy pedigree, and skilled in wise contriving; + + Hector, thou son of Priam, whose advice + With wisest Jove’s men count of equal price; + + Achilles, son of Peleus, whom all story + Shall mention as the Grecians’ greatest glory; + + Divine Patroclus, for thy worth thou art, + Of all the friends I have, lodged next my heart.[90] + +And moreover, when they speak disgracefully of any person, they touch +not at bodily defects, but direct all their reproaches to vicious +actions; as for instance. + + A dogged-looking, drunken beast thou art, + And in thy bosom hast a deer’s faint heart; + + Ajax, at brawling valiant still, + Whose tongue is used to speaking ill; + + A tongue so loose hung, and so vain withal, + Idomeneus, becomes thee not at all; + + Ajax, thy tongue doth oft offend; + For of thy boasting there’s no end.[91] + +Lastly, when Ulysses reproacheth Thersites, he objecteth not to him his +lameness nor his baldness nor his hunched back, but the vicious quality +of indiscreet babbling. On the other side, when Juno means to express a +dalliance or motherly fondness to her son Vulcan, she courts him with +an epithet taken from his halting, thus, + + Rouse thee, my limping son![92] + +In this instance, Homer does (as it were) deride those who are ashamed +of their lameness or blindness, as not thinking any thing a disgrace +that is not in itself disgraceful, nor any person liable to a reproach +for that which is not imputable to himself but to Fortune. These two +great advantages may be made by those who frequently study poets;—the +learning moderation, to keep them from unseasonable and foolish +reproaching others with their misfortunes, when they themselves enjoy a +constant current of prosperity; and magnanimity, that under variety of +accidents they be not dejected nor disturbed, but meekly bear the being +scoffed at, reproached, and drolled upon. Especially, let them have +that saying of Philemon ready at hand in such cases: + + That spirit’s well in tune, whose sweet repose + No railer’s tongue can ever discompose. + +And yet, if one that so rails do himself deserve reprehension, thou +mayst take occasion to retort upon him his own vices and inordinate +passions; as when Adrastus in the tragedy is assaulted thus by Alcmaeon. + + Thy sister’s one that did her husband kill, + +he returns him this answer, + + But thou thyself thy mother’s blood did spill. + +For as they who scourge a man’s garments do not touch the body, so +those that turn other men’s evil fortunes or mean births to matter +of reproach do only with vanity and folly enough lash their external +circumstances, but touch not their internal part, the soul, nor those +things which truly need correction and reproof. + +14. Moreover, as we have above taught you to abate and lessen the +credit of evil and hurtful poems by setting in opposition to them +the famous speeches and sentences of such worthy men as have managed +public affairs, so will it be useful to us, where we find any things +in them of civil and profitable import, to improve and strengthen +them by testimonies and proofs taken from philosophers, withal giving +these the credit of being the first inventors of them. For this is +both just and profitable to be done, seeing by this means such sayings +receive an additional strength and esteem, when it appears that what +is spoken on the stage or sung to the harp or occurs in a scholar’s +lesson is agreeable to the doctrines of Pythagoras and Plato, and that +the sentences of Chilo and Bias tend to the same issue with those +that are found in the authors which children read. Therefore must we +industriously show them that these poetical sentences, + + Not these, O daughter, are thy proper cares, + Thee milder arts befit, and softer wars; + Sweet smiles are thine, and kind endearing charms; + To Mars and Pallas leave the deeds of arms; + + Jove’s angry with thee, when thy unmanaged rage + With those that overmatch thee doth engage;[93] + +differ not in substance but bear plainly the same sense with that +philosophical sentence, Know thyself. And these, + + Fools, who by wrong seek to augment their store, + And know not how much half than all is more; + + Of counsel giv’n to mischievous intents, + The man that gives it most of all repents;[94] + +are of near kin to what we find in the determination of Plato, in his +books entitled Gorgias and Concerning the Commonwealth, to wit, that it +is worse to do than to suffer injury, and that a man more endamageth +himself, when he hurts another, than he would be damnified if he were +the sufferer. And that of Aeschylus, + + Cheer up, friend; sorrows, when they highest climb, + What they exceed in measure want in time, + +we must inform them, is but the same famous sentence which is so much +admired in Epicurus, that great griefs are but short, and those that +are of long continuance are but small. The former clause whereof is +that which Aeschylus here saith expressly, and the latter but the +consequent of that. For if a great and intense sorrow do not last, then +that which doth last is not great nor hard to be borne. And those words +of Thespis, + + Seest not how Jove,—because he cannot lie + Nor vaunt nor laugh at impious drollery, + And pleasure’s charms are things to him unknown,— + Among the Gods wears the imperial crown? + +wherein differ they from what Plato says, that the divine nature is +seated far from both joy and grief? And that saying of Bacchylides, + + Virtue alone doth lasting honor gain, + But men of wretched souls oft wealth attain; + +and those of Euripides much of the same import. + + Hence temperance in my esteem excels, + Because it constantly with good men dwells; + + How much soe’er to honor thou aspire, + And strive by riches virtue to acquire, + Still shall thy lot to good men wretched seem; + +do they not evidently confirm to us what the philosophers say of riches +and other external good things, that without virtue they are fruitless +and unprofitable enjoyments? + +Now thus to accommodate and reconcile poetry to the doctrines of +philosophy strips it of its fabulous and personated parts, and makes +those things which it delivers usefully to acquire also the reputation +of gravity; and over and above, it inclines the soul of a young man to +receive the impressions of philosophical precepts. For he will hereby +be enabled to come to them not altogether destitute of some sort of +relish of them, not as to things that he has heard nothing of before, +nor with an head confusedly full of the false notions which he hath +sucked in from the daily tattle of his mother and nurse,—yea, sometimes +too of his father and pedant,—who have been wont to speak of rich men +as the happy men and mention them always with honor, and to express +themselves concerning death and pain with horror, and to look on virtue +without riches and glory as a thing of nought and not to be desired. +Whence it comes to pass, that when such youths first do hear things of +a quite contrary nature from philosophers, they are surprised with a +kind of amazement, trouble, and stupid astonishment, which makes them +afraid to entertain or endure them, except they be dealt with as those +who come out of very great darkness into the light of the bright sun, +that is, be first accustomed for a while to behold those doctrines +in fabulous authors, as in a kind of false light, which hath but a +moderate brightness and is easy to be looked on and borne without +disturbance to the weak sight. For having before heard or read from +poets such things as these are,— + + Mourn at one’s birth, as th’ inlet t’ all that grieves; + But joy at death, as that which man relieves; + + Of worldly things a mortal needs but twain; + The spring supplies his drink, the earth his grain: + + O tyranny, to barbarous nations dear! + + This in all human happiness is chief, + To know as little as we can of grief;[95] + +they are the less disturbed and offended when they hear from +philosophers that no man ought to be much concerned about death; that +the riches of nature are defined and limited; that the happiness of +man’s life doth not consist in the abundance of wealth or vastness +of employments or height of authority and power, but in freedom from +sorrow, in moderation of passions, and in such a temper of mind as +measures all things by the use of Nature. + +Wherefore, upon all these accounts, as well as for all the reasons +before mentioned, youth stands in need of good government to manage +it in the reading of poetry, that being free from all prejudicate +opinions, and rather instructed beforehand in conformity thereunto, it +may with more calmness, friendliness, and familiarity pass from thence +to the study of philosophy. + + + + +OF ENVY AND HATRED. + + +1. Envy and hatred are passions so like each other that they are +often taken for the same. And generally, vice has (as it were) many +hooks, whereby it gives unto those passions that hang thereto many +opportunities to be twisted and entangled with one another; for as +differing diseases of the body agree in many like causes and effects, +so do the disturbances of the mind. He who is in prosperity is equally +an occasion of grief to the envious and to the malicious man; therefore +we look upon benevolence, which is a willing our neighbor’s good, as +an opposite to both envy and hatred, and fancy these two to be the +same because they have a contrary purpose to that of love. But their +resemblances make them not so much one as their unlikeness makes +them distinct. Therefore we endeavor to describe each of them apart, +beginning at the original of either passion. + +2. Hatred proceeds from an opinion that the person we hate is evil, +if not generally so, at least in particular to us. For they who think +themselves injured are apt to hate the author of their wrong; yea, even +those who are reputed injurious or malicious to others than ourselves +we usually nauseate and abhor. But envy has only one sort of object, +the felicity of others. Whence it becomes infinite, and, like an evil +or diseased eye, is offended with every thing that is bright. On the +other hand, hatred is always determined by the subject it adheres to. + +3. Secondly, hatred may be conceived even against brutes; for there are +some men who have an antipathy to cats or beetles or toads or serpents. +Germanicus could endure neither the crowing nor the sight of a cock; +and the Persian Magi were killers of mice, as creatures which they +both hated themselves and accounted odious to God. In like manner also +all the Arabians and Ethiopians abhor them. But envy is purely a human +passion, and directed only against man. + +4. Envy is not likely to be found among brutes, whose fancies are not +moved by the apprehensions of each other’s good or evil; neither can +they be spirited with the notions of glorious or dishonorable, by which +envy is chiefly stirred up. Yet they have mutual hatred; they kill each +other, and wage most incredible wars. The eagles and the dragons fight, +the crows and the owls, yea, the little titmouse and linnet; insomuch +that it is said, the very blood of these creatures, when slain, will by +no means be mixed; but though you would temper them together, they will +immediately separate again. The lion also vehemently hates the cock, +and the elephant the hog; but this probably proceeds from fear; for +what they fear, the same are they inclined to hate. + +We see then herein a great difference betwixt envy and hate, that the +one is natural to brutes, but they are not at all capable of the other. + +5. Further, envy is always unjust; for none wrong by being happy, and +upon this sole account they are envied. But hatred is often just; for +there are some men so much to be avoided and disliked, that we should +judge those worthy to be hated themselves who do not shun and detest +them. And of this it is no weak evidence, that many will acknowledge +they hate, but none will confess they envy; and hatred of the evil is +registered amongst laudable things. + +Therefore, as some were commending Charillus, the nephew of +Lycurgus and king of Sparta, for his universally mild and gentle +disposition,—How, answered his colleague, can Charillus be a virtuous +person, who is pleasing even to the vicious? So the poet too, when he +had variously and with an infinite curiosity described the deformities +of Thersites’s body, easily couched all the baseness of his manners in +a word,— + + Most hateful to Achilles and Ulysses too; + +for to be an enemy to the good is the greatest extravagance of vice. + +Men will deny the envy; and when it is alleged, will feign a thousand +excuses, pretending they were angry, or that they feared or hated the +person, cloaking envy with the name of any passion they can think of, +and concealing it as the most loathsome sickness of the soul. + +6. Moreover, these disturbances of the mind, like plants, must be +nourished and augmented by the same roots from which they spring; +therefore hatred increases as the persons hated grow worse, while +envy swells bigger as the envied rise higher in the true braveries of +virtue. Upon this consideration Themistocles, whilst he was yet young, +said that he had done nothing gallant, for he was not yet envied. And +we know that, as the cantharis is most busy with ripe fruits and roses +in their beauty, so envy is most employed about the eminently good and +those who are glorious in their places and esteem. + +Again, extreme badness makes hatred more vehement and bitter. The +Athenians therefore had so utter an abhorrence of those who accused +Socrates, that they would neither lend them fire, nor answer them any +question, nor wash with them in the same water, but commanded the +servants to pour it out as polluted; till these sycophants, no longer +able to bear up under the pressure of this hatred, put an end to their +own lives. + +Yet envy often gives place to the splendor of a matchless prosperity. +For it is not likely that any envied Alexander or Cyrus, when they +arrived at the height of their conquests and became lords of all. But +as the sun, where he passes highest and sends down his beams most +directly, has none or very little shadow, so they who are exalted to +the meridian of fortune, shining aloof over the head of envy, have +scarce any thing of their brightness eclipsed, while envy retires, +being driven away by the brightness overspreading it. + +On the contrary, hatred is not vanquished by the greatness and glory +of its objects. For though Alexander had not one to envy him, yet he +had many haters, by whose treacheries at last he fell. So, on the other +side, misfortunes cause envy to cease, but take not enmity away; for +men will be malicious even toward abject enemies, but none envy the +distressed. However, what was said by one of our Sophists, that the +envious are tenderly inclinable to pity, is true; and in this appears +a great unlikeness of these passions, that hatred leaves neither the +happy nor the miserable, but envy becomes languid when its object has +either prosperity or adversity in excess. + +7. We shall better understand this from the poising them together. + +Men let go their enmity and hatred, when either they are persuaded they +were not injured at all, or if they now believe them to be good whom +before they hated as evil, or, lastly, when they are appeased by the +insinuations of a benefit received. For as Thucydides saith, A later +service or good turn, if it be done at the right moment, will take away +the ill resenting of a former fault, though this was greater than the +recompense.[96] + +Yet the first of these removes not envy, for men will persist in +this vice, though they know they are not wronged; and the two latter +(the esteem or credit of a person, and the bestowing a favor) do +exasperate it more. For they most envy the virtuous, as those who are +in possession of the chiefest good; and when they receive a kindness +from any in prosperity, it is with reluctance, as though they grudged +them not only the power but the will of conferring it; the one of which +comes from their happy fortune, the other from their virtue. Both are +good. Therefore envy is an entirely distinct affection from hatred, +since, as we see, the very things that appease the one only rouse and +exasperate the other. + +8. Now let us consider a little the inclination and bent of either +passion. + +The design of hatred is to endamage; and hence they define it, an +insidious desire and purpose of doing hurt. But envy aims not at this. +Many envy their familiars and kinsfolk, but have no thoughts of their +ruin nor of so much as bringing any troubles upon them; only their +felicity is a burden. Though they will perhaps diminish their glory and +splendor what they can, yet they endeavor not their utter subversion; +being, as it were, content to pull down so much only of an high stately +house as hindered the light and obscured them with too great a shade. + + + + +HOW TO KNOW A FLATTERER FROM A FRIEND. + +To Antiochus Philopappus. + + +1. PLATO is of opinion that it is very pardonable in a man to +acknowledge that he has any extraordinary passion for himself; and yet +the humor is attended with this ill consequent, besides several others, +that it renders us incapable of making a right judgment of ourselves. +For our affections usually blind our discerning faculties, unless we +have learned to raise them above the sordid level of things congenial +and familiar to us, to those which are truly noble and excellent in +themselves. And hence it is that we are so frequently exposed to the +attempts of a parasite, under the disguise and vizard of a friend. For +self-love, that grand flatterer within, willingly entertains another +from without, who will but soothe up and second the man in the good +opinions he has conceived of himself. For he who deservedly lies +under the character of one that loves to be flattered is doubtless +sufficiently fond of himself; and through abundance of complaisance to +his own person, not only wishes but thinks himself master of all those +perfections which may recommend him to others. And though indeed it be +laudable enough to covet such accomplishments, yet is it altogether +unsafe for any man to fancy them inherent in him. + +Now, if truth be a ray of the divinity, as Plato says it is, and the +source of all the good that derives upon either Gods or men, then +certainly the flatterer must be looked upon as a public enemy to all +the Gods, and especially to Apollo; for he always acts counter to that +celebrated oracle of his, Know thyself, endeavoring to make every man +his own cheat, by keeping him ignorant of the good and ill qualities +that are in him; whereupon the good never arrive at perfection, and the +ill grow incorrigible. + +2. Did flattery, indeed, as most other misfortunes do, generally +or altogether wait on the debauched and ignoble part of mankind, +the mischief were of less consequence, and might admit of an easier +prevention. But, as worms breed most in sweet and tender woods, +so usually the most obliging, the most brave and generous tempers +readiliest receive and longest entertain the flattering insect that +hangs and grows upon them. And since, to use Simonides’s expression, +it is not for persons of a narrow fortune, but for gentlemen of +estates, to keep a good stable of horses; so never saw we flattery the +attendant of the poor, the inglorious and inconsiderable plebeian, but +of the grandees of the world, the distemper and bane of great families +and affairs, the plague in kings’ chambers, and the ruin of their +kingdoms. Therefore it is a business of no small importance, and one +which requires no ordinary circumspection, so to be able to know a +flatterer in every shape he assumes, that the counterfeit resemblance +some time or other bring not true friendship itself into suspicion and +disrepute. For parasites,—like lice, which desert a dying man, whose +palled and vapid blood can feed them no longer,—never intermix in dry +and insipid business where there is nothing to be got; but prey upon a +noble quarry, the ministers of state and potentates of the earth, and +afterwards lousily shirk off, if the greatness of their fortune chance +to leave them. But it will not be wisdom in us to stay till such fatal +junctures, and then try the experiment, which will not only be useless +but dangerous and hurtful; for it is a deplorable thing for a man to +find himself then destitute of friends, when he most wants them, and +has no opportunity either of exchanging his false and faithless friend +for a fast and honest one. And therefore we should rather try our +friend, as we do our money, whether or not he be passable and current, +before we need him. For it is not enough to discover the cheat to our +cost, but we must so understand the flatterer, that he put no cheat +upon us; otherwise we should act like those who must needs take poison +to know its strength, and foolishly hazard their lives to inform their +judgment. And as we cannot approve of this carelessness, so neither +can we of that too scrupulous humor of those who, taking the measures +of true friendship only from the bare honesty and usefulness of the +man, immediately suspect a pleasant and easy conversation for a cheat. +For a friend is not a dull tasteless thing, nor does the decorum of +friendship consist in sourness and austerity of temper, but its very +port and gravity is soft and amiable,— + + Where Love and all the Graces do reside.[97] + +For it is not only a comfort to the afflicted, + + To enjoy the courtesy of his kindest friend,[98] + +as Euripides speaks; but friendship extends itself to both fortunes, as +well brightens and adorns prosperity as allays the sorrows that attend +adversity. And as Evenus used to say that fire makes the best sauce, +so friendship, wherewith God has seasoned the circumstances of our +mortality, gives a relish to every condition, renders them all easy, +sweet, and agreeable enough. And indeed, did not the laws of friendship +admit of a little pleasantry and good humor, why should the parasite +insinuate himself under that disguise? And yet he, as counterfeit gold +imitates the brightness and lustre of the true, always puts on the +easiness and freedom of a friend, is always pleasant and obliging, and +ready to comply with the humor of his company. And therefore it is +no way reasonable either, to look upon every just character that is +given us as a piece of flattery; for certainly a due and seasonable +commendation is as much the duty of one friend to another as a +pertinent and serious reprehension; nay indeed, a sour querulous temper +is perfectly repugnant to the laws of friendship and conversation; +whereas a man takes a chiding patiently from a friend who is as ready +to praise his virtues as to animadvert upon his vices, willingly +persuading himself that mere necessity obliged him to reprimand, whom +kindness had first moved to commend. + +3. Why then, some may say, it is infinitely difficult at this rate +to distinguish a flatterer from a friend, since there is no apparent +difference either betwixt the satisfaction they create or the praises +they bestow. Nay, it is observable, that a parasite is frequently +more obsequious and obliging than a friend himself. Well, the way +then to discover the disparity? Why, I will tell you; if you would +learn the character of a true subtle flatterer, who nicks his point +_secundum artem_, you must not, with the vulgar, mistake those +sordid smell-feasts and poor trencher-slaves for your men, who begin to +prate as soon as they have washed their hands in order to dinner, as +one says of them, and ere they are well warmed with a good cut of the +first dish and a glass of wine, betray the narrow soul that acts them +by the nauseous and fulsome buffoonery they vent at table. For sure +it needed no great sagacity to detect the flattery of Melanthius, the +parasite of Alexander of Pherae, who, being asked how his master was +murdered, made answer, With a thrust which went in at his side, but +into my belly. Nor must we, again, confine our notions of flatterers to +those sharping fellows who ply about rich men’s tables, whom neither +fire nor sword nor porter can keep from supper; nor yet to such as were +those female parasites of Cyprus, who going into Syria were nick-named +Steps, because they cringed so to the great ladies of that country that +they mounted their chariots on their backs. + +4. Well, but after all, who is this flatterer then, whom we ought so +industriously to avoid? + +I answer: He who neither professes nor seems to flatter; who never +haunts your kitchen, is never observed to watch the dial that he may +nick your supper-time; who won’t drink to excess, but will keep his +brains about him; who is prying and inquisitive, would mix in your +business, and wind himself into your secrets: in short, he who acts +the friend, not with the air of a comedian or a satirist, but with the +port and gravity of a tragedian. For, as Plato says, It is the height +of injustice to appear just and be really a knave. So are we to look +upon those flatterers as most dangerous who walk not barefaced but in +disguise, who make no sport but mind their business; for these often +personate the true and sincere friend so exactly, that it is enough +to make him fall under the like suspicion of a cheat, unless we be +extremely curious in remarking the difference betwixt them. It is +storied of Gobryas (one of the Persian nobility, who joined with Darius +against the Magi), that he pursued one of them into a dark room, and +there fell upon him; during the scuffle Darius came in and drew upon +the enemy, but durst not push at him, lest perhaps he might wound his +confederate Gobryas with the thrust; whereupon Gobryas bade him, rather +than fail, run both through together. But since we can by no means +admit of that vulgar saying, Let my friend perish, so my enemy perish +with him, but had rather still endeavor at the discovery of a parasite +from a friend, notwithstanding the nearness of the resemblance, we +ought to use our utmost care, lest at any time we indifferently reject +the good with the bad, or unadvisedly retain the bad with the good, the +friend and flatterer together. For as those wild grains which usually +grow up with wheat, and are of the same figure and bigness with it, +are not easily winnowed from it,—for they either cannot pass through +the holes of the sieve, if narrow, or pass together with the wheat, +if larger,—so is it infinitely difficult to distinguish flattery from +friendship, because the one so exquisitely mixes with all the passions, +humors, interests, and inclinations of the other. + +5. Now because the enjoyment of a friend is attended with the +greatest satisfaction incident to humanity, therefore the flatterer +always endeavors to entrap us by rendering his conversation highly +pleasant and agreeable. Again, because all acts of kindness and mutual +beneficence are the constant attendants upon true friendship (on which +account we usually say, A friend is more necessary than fire or water), +therefore the flatterer is ready upon every occasion to obtrude his +service upon you, and will with an indefatigable bustle and zeal seek +to oblige you if he can. + +In the next place, the parasite observes that all true friendship takes +its origin from a concurrence of like humors and inclinations, and that +the same passions, the same aversions and desires, are the first cement +of a true and lasting friendship. He therefore composes his nature, +like unformed matter, striving to fit and adapt it by imitation to the +person on whom he designs, that it may be pliant and yielding to any +impression that he shall think fit to stamp upon it; and, in fine, he +so neatly resembles the original, that one would swear,— + + Sure thou the very Achilles art, and not his son. + +But the most exquisite fineness of a flatterer consists in his +imitation of that freedom of discourse which friends particularly use +in mutually reprehending each other. For finding that men usually +take it for what it really is, the natural language of friendship, as +peculiar to it as certain notes or voices are to certain animals, and +that, on the contrary, a shy sheepish reservedness looks both rude and +unfriendly, he lets not even this proper character of a friend escape +his imitation. But as skilful cooks use to correct luscious meats with +sharp and poignant sauce, that they may not be so apt to overcharge +the stomach; so he seasons his flattery now and then with a little +smartness and severity, lest the fulsomeness of repeated dissimulation +should pall and cloy the company. And yet his reprehensions always +carry something in them that looks not true and genuine; he seems to +do it, but with a kind of a sneering and grinning countenance at the +best; and though his reproofs may possibly tickle the ear, yet they +never strike effectually upon the heart. On these accounts then it is +as difficult to discern a flatterer from a friend, as to know those +animals again which always wear the livery of the last thing they touch +upon. And therefore, since he puts so easily upon us under the disguise +and appearance of a friend, it will be our business at present to +unmask the hypocrite, and show him in other men’s shapes and colors, as +Plato speaks, since he has none properly his own. + +6. Well then, let us enquire regularly into this affair. We have +already asserted, that friendship generally takes its rise from a +conformity of tempers and dispositions, whereby different persons come +to have the same taste of the like humors, customs, studies, exercises, +and employs, as these following verses import:— + + Old men with old, and boys with boys agree; + And women’s clack with women’s company. + Men that are crazy, full of sores and pain, + Love to diseased persons to complain. + And they who labor under adverse fate, + Tell their sad stories to th’ unfortunate. + +The flatterer then, observing how congenial it is to our natures +to delight in the conversation of those who are, as it were, the +counterpart of ourselves, makes his first approaches to our affections +at this avenue, where he gradually advances (like one making towards a +wild beast in a pasture, with a design to tame and bring it to hand) by +accommodating himself to the same studies, business, and color of life +with the person upon whom he designs, till at last the latter gives +him an opportunity to catch him, and becomes tractable by the man who +strokes him. All this while the flatterer falls foul upon those courses +of life, persons, and things he perceives his cully to disapprove, and +again as extravagantly commends those he is pleased to honor with his +approbation, still persuading him that his choice and dislike are the +results of a solid and discerning judgment and not of passion. + +7. Well, then, by what signs or tokens shall we be able to know this +counterfeit copy of ourselves from a true and genuine likeness? + +In the first place, we must accurately remark upon the whole tenor of +his life and conversation, whether or not the resemblance he pretends +to the original be of any continuance, natural and easy, and all of +a piece; whether he square his actions according to any one steady +and uniform model, as becomes an ingenuous lover of conversation and +friendship, which is all of one thread, and still like itself; for this +is a true friend indeed. But the flatterer, who has no principles in +him, and leads not a life properly his own, but forms and moulds it +according to the various humors and caprices of those he designs to +bubble, is never one and the same man, but a mere dapple or trimmer, +who changes shapes with his company, like water that always turns and +winds itself into the figure of the channel through which it flows. +Apes, it seems, are usually caught by their antic mimicry of the +motions and gesticulations of men; and yet the men themselves are +trepanned by the same craft of imitation in a flatterer, who adapts +himself to their several humors, fencing and wrestling with one, +singing and dancing with another. If he is in chase of a spark that +delights in a pack of dogs, he follows him at the heels, hollowing +almost like Phaedra, + + O what a pleasure ’tis, ye Gods, to wind + The shrill-mouthed horn and chase the dappled hind;[99] + +and yet the hunter himself is the game he designs for the toils. If +he be in pursuit of some bookish young gentleman, then he is always +a poring, he nourishes his reverend beard down to his heels, wears a +tattered cloak, affects the careless indifference of a philosopher, and +can now discourse of nothing under Plato’s triangles and rectangles. If +he chance to fall into the acquaintance of a drunken, idle debauchee +who has got an estate, + + Then sly Ulysses throws away his rags,[100] + +puts off his long robe, mows down his fruitless crop of beard, drinks +briskly, laughs modishly on the walks, and drolls handsomely upon +the philosophical fops of the town. And thus, they say, it happened +at Syracuse; for when Plato first arrived there and Dionysius was +wonderfully hot upon the study of philosophy, all the areas in the +king’s palace were full of nothing but dust and sand, by reason of the +great concourse of geometricians who came to draw their figures and +demonstrate there. But no sooner was Plato in disgrace at court, and +Dionysius finally fallen from philosophy to wine and women, trifles +and intemperance, than learning fell into a general disrepute, and +the whole body of the people, as if bewitched by some Circe or other, +became universally stupid, idle, and infatuated. Besides this, I +appeal to the practices of men notorious for flattery and popularity +to back my observation. Witness he who topped them all, Alcibiades, +who, when he dwelt at Athens, was as arch and witty as any Athenian +of them all, kept his stable of horses, played the good fellow, and +was universally obliging; and yet the same man at Sparta shaved close +to the skin, wore his cloak, and never bathed but in cold water. When +he sojourned in Thrace, he drank and fought like a Thracian; and +again, in Tissaphernes’s company in Asia, he acted the part of a soft, +arrogant, and voluptuous Asiatic. And thus, by an easy compliance +with the humors and customs of the people amongst whom he conversed, +he made himself master of their affections and interests. So did not +the brave Epaminondas nor Agesilaus, who, though they had to do with +great variety of men and manners, and cities of vastly different +politics, were still the same men, and everywhere, through the whole +circle of their conversation, maintained a port and character worthy of +themselves. And so was Plato the same man at Syracuse that he was in +the Academy, the same in Dionysius’s court that he was in Dion’s. + +8. But he who will take the pains to act the dissembler himself, by +interchangeably decrying and extolling the same things, discourses, and +ways of living, will easily perceive that the opinions of a flatterer +are as mutable and inconstant as the colors of a polypus, that he is +never consonant to himself nor properly his own man; that all his +passions, his love and hatred, his joy and sorrow, are borrowed and +counterfeit; and that, in a word, like a mirror, he only receives +and represents the several faces or images of other men’s affections +and humors. Do but discommend one of your acquaintance a little in +his company, and he will tell you it is a wonder you never found him +out all this while, for his part he never fancied him in his life. +Change but your style and commend him, he presently swears you oblige +him in it, gives you a thousand thanks for the gentleman’s sake, and +believes your character of him to be just. Tell him you have thoughts +of altering your course of life, as for instance, to retire from all +public employs to privacy and ease; he immediately wishes that he had +retreated long ago from the hurry and drudgery of business and the +odium that attends it. Seem but again inclinable to an active life; Why +now, says he, you speak like yourself; leisure and ease are sweet, it +is true, but withal mean and inglorious. When you have thus trepanned +him, it would be proper to cashier him with some such reply as this:— + + How now, my friend! What, quite another man![101] + +I abhor a fellow who servilely complies with whatsoever I propose, and +keeps pace with me in all my motions,—my shadow can do that better than +yourself,—but my friend must deal plainly and impartially, and assist +me faithfully with his judgment. And thus you see one way of discerning +a flatterer from a friend. + +9. Another difference observable betwixt them in the resemblance they +bear to each other is, that a true friend will not rashly commend +nor imitate every thing, but only what really deserves it; for, as +Sophocles says, + + He shares with him his loves, but not his hates,[102] + +and will scorn to bear any part with him in any base and dishonorable +actions, unless, as people sometimes catch blear eyes, he may +chance insensibly to contract some ill habit or other by the very +contagion of familiarity and conversation. Thus they say Plato’s +acquaintance learned his stoop, Aristotle’s his lisp, and Alexander’s +the inclination of his neck and the rapidity of his speech. For +some persons, ere they are aware, get a touch of the humors and +infirmities of those with whom they converse. But now as a true friend +endeavors only to copy the fairest originals, so, on the contrary, +the flatterer, like the chameleon, which puts on all colors but the +innocent white, being unable to reach those strokes of virtue which +are worth his imitation, takes care that no failure or imperfection +escape him. As unskilful painters, when they cannot hit the features +and air of a face, content themselves with the faint resemblance +in a wrinkle, a wart, or a scar, so he takes up with his friend’s +intemperance, superstition, cholericness, severity to his servants, +distrust of his relations and domestics or the like. For, besides +that a natural propensity to evil inclines him always to follow the +worst examples, he imagines his assuming other men’s vices will best +secure him from the suspicion of being disaffected towards them; for +their fidelity is often suspected who seem dissatisfied with faults +and wish a reformation. Which very thing lost Dion in the good opinion +of Dionysius, Samius in Philip’s, Cleomenes in Ptolemy’s, and at last +proved the occasion of their ruin. And therefore the flatterer pretends +not only to the good humor of a companion, but to the faithfulness of +a friend too, and would be thought to have so great a respect for you +that he cannot be disgusted at the very worst of your actions, being +indeed of the same make and constitution with yourself. Hence you shall +have him pretend a share in the most common casualties that befall +another, nay, in complaisance, feign even diseases themselves. In +company of those who are thick of hearing, he is presently half deaf, +and with the dim-sighted can see no more than they do. So the parasites +about Dionysius at an entertainment, to humor his blindness, stumbled +one upon another and jostled the dishes off his table. + +But there are others who refine upon the former by a pretended +fellow-suffering in the more private concernments of life, whereby they +wriggle themselves deeper into the affections of those they flatter; +as, if they find a man unhappily married, or distrustful of his +children or domestics, they spare not their own family, but immediately +entertain you with some lamentable story of the hard fortune they have +met with in their children, their wife, their servants, or relations. +For, by the parallel circumstances they pretend to, they seem more +passionately concerned for the misfortunes of their friends, who, as if +they had already received some pawn and assurance of their fidelity, +blab forth those secrets which they cannot afterwards handsomely +retract, and dare not betray the least distrust of their new confidant +for the future. I myself knew a man who turned his wife out of doors +because a gentleman of his acquaintance divorced his, though the latter +lady smelt the intrigue afterwards by the messages the flatterer sent +to his wife after the pretended divorce and the private visits he was +observed to make her. So little did he understand the flatterer who +took these following verses for the description of a crab rather than +his:— + + The shapeless thing’s all over paunch and gut: + Who can the monster’s mighty hunger glut? + It crawls on teeth, and with a watchful eye + Does into every secret corner pry. + +For this is the true portraiture of those sharpers, who, as Eupolis +speaks, sponge upon their acquaintance for a dinner. + +10. But we will reserve these remarks for a more proper place. In +the mean time I must not omit the other artifice observable in his +imitation, which is this: that if at any time he counterfeit the good +qualities of his friend, he immediately yields him the pre-eminence; +whereas there is no competition, no emulation or envy amongst true +friends, but whether they are equally accomplished or not, they bear +the same even unconcerned temper of mind towards each other. But the +flatterer, remembering that he is but to act another’s part, pretends +only to such strokes as fall short of the original, and is willing to +confess himself outdone in any thing but his vices, wherein alone he +claims the precedency to himself; as, if the man he is to wheedle be +difficult and morose, he is quite overrun with choler; if something +superstitious, he is a perfect enthusiast; if a little in love, for +his part he is most desperately smitten. I laughed heartily at such a +passage, says one; But I had like to have died with laughter, says the +other. But now in speaking of any laudable qualities, he inverts his +style; as, I can run fast enough, says he, but you perfectly fly. I can +sit an horse tolerably well, but alas! what’s that to this Hippocentaur +for good horsemanship? I have a tolerable good genius for poetry, and +am none of the worst versifiers of the age; + + But thunder is the language of you Gods, not mine. + +And thus at the same time he obliges his friend both in approving of +his abilities by his owning of them, and in confessing him incomparable +in his way by himself coming short of his example. These then are the +distinguishing characters of a friend and flatterer, as far as concerns +the counterfeit resemblance betwixt them. + +11. But because, as we have before observed, it is common to them both +to please (for a good man is no less taken with the company of his +friends than an ill one is with a flatterer’s), let us discriminate +them here too. And the way will be to have an eye to the end to +which they direct the satisfaction they create, which may be thus +illustrated. Your perfumed oils have a fine odoriferous scent, and so, +it may be, have some medicines too; but with this difference, that +the former are prepared barely for the gratification of the sense, +whilst the other, besides their odor, purge, heal, and fatten. Again, +the colors used by painters are certainly very florid and the mixture +agreeable; and yet so it is in some medicinal compositions too. Wherein +then lies the difference? Why, in the end or use for which they are +designed, the one purely for pleasure the other for profit. In like +manner the civilities of one friend to another, besides the main point +of their honesty and mutual advantage, are always attended with an +overplus of delight and satisfaction. Nay, they can now and then +indulge themselves the liberty of an innocent diversion, a collation, +or a glass of wine, and, believe me, can be as cheerful and jocund as +the best; all which they use only as sauce, to give a relish to the +more serious and weighty concernments of life. To which purpose was +that of the poet, + + With pleasing chat they did delight each other; + +as likewise this too, + + Nothing could part our pleasure or our love.[103] + +But the whole business and design of a flatterer is continually to +entertain the company with some pastime or other, a little jest, a +story well told, or a comical action; and, in a word, he thinks he can +never overact the diverting part of conversation. Whereas the true +friend, proposing no other end to himself than the bare discharge of +his duty, is sometimes pleasant, and as often, it may be, disagreeable, +neither solicitously coveting the one, nor industriously avoiding the +other, if he judge it the more seasonable and expedient. For as a +physician, if need require, will throw in a little saffron or spikenard +to qualify his patient’s dose, and will now and then bathe him and feed +him up curiously, and yet again another time will prescribe him castor, + + Or poley, which the strongest scent doth yield + Of all the physic plants which clothe the field, + +or perhaps will oblige him to drink an infusion of hellebore,—proposing +neither the deliciousness of the one nor the nauseousness of the other +as his scope and design, but only conducting him by these different +methods to one and the same end, the recovery of his health,—in like +manner the real friend sometimes leads his man gently on to virtue by +kindness, by pleasing and extolling him, as he in Homer, + + Dear Teucer, thou who art in high command + Thus draw the bow with thy unerring hand; + +and as another speaking of Ulysses, + + How can I doubt, while great Ulysses stands + To lend his counsel and assist our hands? + +and again, when he sees correction requisite, he will check him +severely, as, + + Whither, O Menelaus, wouldst thou run, + And tempt a fate which prudence bids thee shun?[104] + +and perhaps he is forced another time to second his words with actions, +as Menedemus reclaimed his friend Asclepiades’s son, a dissolute and +debauched young gentleman, by shutting his doors upon him and not +vouchsafing to speak to him. And Arcesilaus forbade Battus his school +for having abused Cleanthes in a comedy of his, but after he had made +satisfaction and an acknowledgment of his fault, took him into favor +again. For we ought to grieve and afflict our friend with design merely +of serving him, not of making a rupture betwixt us, and must apply our +reprehensions only as pungent and acute medicines, with no other intent +than the recovery of the patient. And therefore a friend—like a skilful +musician who, to tune his instrument, winds up one string and lets +down another—grants some things and refuses others according as their +honesty or usefulness prompt him, whereby he often pleases, but is sure +always to profit; whereas the parasite, who is continually upon the +same humoring string, knows not how to let fall a cross word or commit +a disobliging action, but servilely complies with all your desires, +and is always in the tune you ask for. And therefore, as Xenophon +reports of Agesilaus that he took some delight in being praised by +those who would upon occasion dispraise him too, so ought we to judge +that only he rejoices and pleases us really as a friend, who will, +when need requires, thwart and contradict us; we must suspect their +conversation who aim at nothing but our gratification, without the +least intermixture of reprehension; and indeed we ought to have ready +upon such occasions that repartee of a Lacedaemonian who, hearing King +Charillus highly extolled for an excellent person, asked, How he could +be so good a man, who was never severe to an ill one? + +12. They tell us that gad-flies creep into the ears of bulls, and ticks +into those of dogs. But I am sure the parasite lays so close siege and +sticks so fast to the ears of the ambitious with the repeated praises +of their worth, that it is no easy matter to shake him off again. And +therefore it highly concerns them to have their apprehensions awake +and upon the guard, critically to remark whether the high characters +such men lavish out are intended for the person or the thing they would +be thought to commend. And we may indeed suppose them more peculiarly +designed for the things themselves, if they bestow them on persons +absent rather than present; if they covet and aspire after the same +qualities themselves which they magnify in others; if they admire the +same perfections in the rest of mankind as well as in us, and are never +found to falter and belie, either in word or action, the sentiments +they have owned. And, what is the surest criterion in this case, we +are to examine whether or no we are not really troubled at or ashamed +of the commission of those very things for which they applaud us, and +could not wish that we had said or acted the quite contrary; for our +own consciences, which are above the reach of passion and will not be +put upon by all the sly artifices of flattery, will witness against us +and spurn at an undeserved commendation. But I know not how it comes +to pass, that several persons had rather be pitied than comforted in +adversity; and when they have committed a fault, look upon those as +enemies and informers who endeavor to chide and lecture them into a +sense of their guilt, but caress and embrace them as friends who soothe +them up in their vices. Indeed they who continue their applauses to so +inconsiderable a thing as a single action, a wise saying, or a smart +jest, do only a little present mischief; but they who from single acts +proceed to debauch even the habits of the mind with their immoderate +praises are like those treacherous servants who, not content to rob +the common heap in the granary, filch even that which was chosen +and reserved for seed. For, whilst they entitle vice to the name of +virtue, they corrupt that prolific principle of action, the genius +and disposition of the soul, and poison the fountain whence the whole +stream of life derives. Thucydides observes, that in the time of war +and sedition the names of good and evil are wont to be confounded +according to men’s judgment of circumstances; as, fool-hardiness is +called a generous espousal of a friend’s quarrel, a provident delay +is nicknamed cowardice, modesty a mere pretext for unmanliness, a +prudent slow inspection into things downright laziness.[105] In like +manner, if you observe it, a flatterer terms a profuse man liberal, +a timorous man wary, a mad fellow quick and prompt, a stingy miser +frugal, an amorous youngster kind and good-natured, a passionate proud +fool stout, and a mean-spirited slave courteous and observing. As +Plato somewhere remarks, that a lover who is always a flatterer of his +beloved object styles a flat nose lovely and graceful, an hawk nose +princely, the black manly, and the fair the offspring of the Gods; and +observes particularly that the appellation of honey-pale is nothing but +the daub of a gallant who is willing to set off his mistress’s pale +complexion.[106] Now indeed an ugly fellow bantered into an opinion +that he is handsome, or a little man magnified into tall and portly, +cannot lie long under the mistake nor receive any great injury by the +cheat; but when vice is extolled by the name of virtue, so that a man +is induced to sin not only without regret but with joy and triumph, +and is hardened beyond the modesty of a blush for his enormities, this +sort of flattery, I say, has been fatal even to whole kingdoms. It +was this that ruined Sicily, by styling the tyranny of Dionysius and +Phalaris nothing but justice and a hatred of villanous practices. It +was this that overthrew Egypt, by palliating the king’s effeminacy, +his yellings, his enthusiastic rants, and his beating of drums, with +the more plausible names of true religion and the worship of the +Gods. It was this that had very nigh ruined the stanch Roman temper, +by extenuating the voluptuousness, the luxury, the sumptuous shows, +and public profuseness of Antony, into the softer terms of humanity, +good nature, and the generosity of a gentleman who knew how to use the +greatness of his fortune. What but the charms of flattery made Ptolemy +turn piper and fiddler? What else put on Nero’s buskins and brought +him on the stage? Have we not known several princes, if they sung a +tolerable treble, termed Apollos; when they drank stoutly, styled +Bacchuses; and upon wrestling, fencing, or the like, immediately dubbed +by the name of Hercules, and hurried on by those empty titles to the +commission of those acts which were infinitely beneath the dignity of +their character? + +13. And therefore it will be then more especially our concern to look +about us when a flatterer is upon the strain of praising; which he is +sensible enough of, and accordingly avoids all occasion of suspicion +when he attacks us on that side. If indeed he meets with a tawdry fop, +or a dull country clown in a leathern jacket, he plays upon him with +all the liberty imaginable; as Struthias by way of flattery insulted +and triumphed over the sottishness of Bias, when he told him that he +had out-drunk King Alexander himself, and that he was ready to die of +laughter at his encounter with the Cyprian. But if he chance to fall +upon an apprehensive man, who can presently smoke a design, especially +if he thinks he has an eye upon him and stands upon his guard, he does +not immediately assault him with an open panegyric, but first fetches a +compass, and softly winds about him, till he has in some measure tamed +the untractable creature and brought it to his hand. For he either +tells him what high characters he has heard of him abroad (introducing, +as the rhetoricians do, some third person), how upon the exchange the +other day he happily overheard some strangers and persons of great +gravity and worth, who spake extreme honorably of him and professed +themselves much his admirers; or else he forges some frivolous and +false accusation of him, and then coming in all haste, as if he had +heard it really reported, asks him seriously, if he can call to mind +where he said or did such a thing. And immediately upon his denial of +the matter of fact, which he has reason enough to expect, he takes +occasion to fall upon the subject of his commendation; I wondered +indeed, says he, to hear that you should calumniate your friend, who +never used to speak ill of your enemies; that you should endeavor to +rob another man of his estate, who so generously spend your own. + +14. Others again, like painters who enhance the lustre and beauty +of a curious piece by the shades which surround it, slyly extol and +encourage men in their vices by deriding and railing at their contrary +virtues. Thus, in the company of the debauched, the covetous, and the +extortioner, they run down temperance and modesty as mere rusticity; +and justice and contentment with our present condition argue nothing in +their phrase but a dastardly spirit and an impotence to action. If they +fall into the acquaintance of lubbers who love laziness and ease, they +stick not to explode the necessary administration of public affairs +as a troublesome intermeddling in other men’s business, and a desire +to bear office as an useless empty thirst after a name. To wheedle in +with an orator, they scout a philosopher; and who so gracious as they +with the jilts of the town, by laughing at wives who are faithful to +their husbands’ beds as impotent and country-bred? And, what is the +most egregious stratagem of all the rest, the flatterer shall traduce +himself rather than want a fair opportunity to commend another; as +wrestlers put their body in a low posture, that they may the better +worst their adversaries. I am a very coward at sea, says he, impatient +of any fatigue, and cannot digest the least ill language; but my good +friend here fears no colors, can endure all hardness, is an admirable +good man, bears all things with great patience and evenness of temper. +If he meets with one who abounds in his own sense and affects to +appear rigid and singular in his judgment, and, as an argument of the +rectitude and steadiness thereof, is always telling you of that of +Homer, + + Let not your praise or dispraise lavish be, + Good Diomedes, when you speak of me,[107] + +he applies a new engine to move this great weight. To such a one he +imparts some of his private concerns, as being willing to advise with +the ablest counsel: he has indeed a more intimate acquaintance with +others, but he was forced to trouble him at present: for to whom should +we poor witless men have recourse (says he) when we stand in need of +advice? Or whom else should we trust? And as soon as he has delivered +his opinion, whether it be to the purpose or not, he takes his leave of +him with a seeming satisfaction, as if he had received an answer from +an oracle. Again, if he perceives a man pretends to be master of a +style, he presently presents him with something of his own composing, +requesting him to peruse and correct it. Thus Mithridates could no +sooner set up for a physician, than some of his acquaintance desired to +be cut and cauterized by him,—a piece of flattery that extended beyond +the fallacy of bare words,—they imagining that he must needs take it as +an argument of their great opinion of his skill, that they durst trust +themselves in his hands. + + For things divine take many shapes.[108] + +Now to discover the cheat which these insinuations of our own worth +might put upon us (a thing that requires no ordinary circumspection), +the best way will be to give him a very absurd advice, and to +animadvert as impertinently as may be upon his works when he submits +them to your censure. For if he makes no reply, but grants and approves +of all you assert, and applauds every period with the eulogy of Very +right! Incomparably well!—then you have trepanned him, and it is plain +that, though + + He counsel asked, he played another game, + To swell you with the opinion of a name. + +15. But to proceed. As some have defined painting to be mute poetry, so +there is a sort of silent flattery which has its peculiar commendation. +For as hunters are then surest of their game when they pass under the +disguise of travellers, shepherds or husbandmen, and seem not at all +intent upon their sport; so the eulogies of a parasite never take more +effectually than when he seems least of all to commend you. For he who +rises up to a rich man when he comes in company, or who, having begun +a motion in the Senate, suddenly breaks off and gives some leading man +the liberty of speaking his sense first in the point, such a man’s +silence more effectually shows the deference he pays the other’s +judgment than if he had avowedly proclaimed it. And hereupon you shall +have them always placed in the boxes at the play-house, and perched +upon the highest seats at other public entertainments; not that they +think them suitable to their quality, but merely for the opportunity of +gratifying great men by giving them place. Hence it is likewise, that +they open first in all solemn and public assemblies, only that they +may give place to another as an abler speaker, and they retract their +opinion immediately, if any person of authority, riches, or quality +contradict them. So that you may perceive all their concessions, +cringes, and respects to be but mere courtship and complaisance, by +this easy observation, that they are usually paid to riches, honor, or +the like, rather than to age, art, virtue, or other personal endowments. + +Thus dealt not Apelles with Megabyzus (one of the Persian nobility), +who pretending once to talk I know not what about lines, shades, and +other things peculiar to his art, the painter could not but take him +up, telling him that his apprentices yonder, who were grinding colors, +gazed strangely upon him, admiring his gold and purple ornaments, while +he held his tongue, but now could not choose but titter to hear him +offer at a discourse upon an argument so much out of his sphere. And +when Croesus asked Solon his opinion of felicity, he told him flatly, +that he looked upon Tellus, an honest though obscure Athenian, and +Biton and Cleobis, as happier than he. But the flatterer will have +kings, governors, and men of estates, not only the most signally happy, +but the most eminently knowing, the most virtuous, and the most prudent +of mankind. + +16. And now some cannot endure to hear the Stoics, who centre all +true riches, generosity, nobility, and royalty itself in the person +of a wise man; but with the flatterer it is the man of money that is +both orator and poet, and, if he pleases, painter and fiddler too, +a good wrestler, an excellent footman, or any thing, for they never +stand with him for the victory in those engagements; as Crisson, +who had the honor to run with Alexander, let him designedly win the +race, which the king being told of afterwards was highly disgusted +at him. And therefore I like the observation of Carneades, who used +to say that young princes and noblemen never arrived to a tolerable +perfection in any thing they learned, except riding; for their +preceptors spoil them at school by extolling all their performances, +and their wrestling-masters by always taking the foil; whereas the +horse, who knows no distinction betwixt a private man and a magistrate, +betwixt the rich and the poor, will certainly throw his rider if he +knows not how to sit him, let him be of what quality he pleases. And +therefore it was but impertinently said of Bion upon this subject, that +he who could praise his ground into a good crop were to blame if he +bestowed any other tillage upon it. ’Tis granted: nor is it improper +to commend a man, if you do him any real kindness thereby. But here is +the disparity: that a field cannot be made worse by any commendations +bestowed upon it, whereas a man immoderately praised is puffed up, +burst, and ruined by it. + +17. Thus much then for the point of praising; proceed we in the next +place to treat of freedom in their reprehensions. And indeed, it were +but reasonable that,—as Patroclus put on Achilles’s armor and led his +war-horse out into the field, yet durst not for all that venture to +wield his spear,—so, though the flatterer wear all the other badges +and ensigns of a friend, he should not dare to counterfeit the plain +frankness of his discourse, as being “a great, massy, and substantial +weapon,” peculiar to him.[109] + +But because, to avoid that scandal and offence which their drunken +bouts, their little jests, and ludicrous babling humor might otherwise +create, they sometimes put on the face of gravity, and flatter under +the vizard of a frown, dropping in now and then a word of correction +and reproof, let us examine this cheat too amongst the rest. + +And indeed I can compare that trifling insignificant liberty of speech +to which he pretends to nothing better than that sham Hercules which +Menander introduces in one of his comedies, with a light hollow club +upon his shoulder; for, as women’s pillows, which seem sufficiently +stuffed to bear up their heads, yield and sink under their weight, +so this counterfeit freedom in a flatterer’s conversation swells +big and promises fair, that when it shrinks and contracts itself +it may draw those in with it who lay any stress upon its outward +appearance. Whereas the genuine and friendly reprehension fixes upon +real criminals, causing them grief and trouble indeed, but only what +is wholesome and salutary; like honey that corrodes but yet cleanses +the ulcerous parts of the body, and is otherwise both pleasant and +profitable. But of this in its proper place. We shall discourse at +present of the flatterer who affects a morose, angry, and inexorable +behavior towards all but those upon whom he designs, is peevish and +difficult towards his servants, animadverts severely upon the failures +of his relations and domestics, neither admires nor respects a stranger +but superciliously contemns him, pardons no man, but by stories and +complaints exasperates one against another, thinking by these means to +acquire the character of an irreconcilable enemy to all manner of vice, +that he may be thought one who would not spare his favorites themselves +upon occasion, and would neither act nor speak any thing out of a mean +and dastardly complaisance. + +And if at any time he undertakes his friend, he feigns himself a mere +stranger to his real and considerable crimes; but if he catch him in +some petty trifling peccadillo, there he takes his occasion to rant +him terribly and thunder him severely off; as, if he see any of his +goods out of order, if his house be not very convenient, if his beard +be not shaven or his clothes unfashionable, if his dog or his horse +be not well looked after. But if he slight his parents, neglect his +children, treat his wife scornfully, his friends and acquaintance +disrespectfully, and squander away his estate, here he dares not open +his mouth, and it is the safest way to hold his tongue. Just as if the +master of a wrestling-school should indulge his young champion scholar +in drinking and wenching, and yet rattle him about his oil-cruise and +body-brush; or as if a schoolmaster should severely reprove a boy +for some little fault in his pen or writing-book, but take no notice +of the barbarisms and solecisms in his language. For the parasite is +like him who hearing a ridiculous impertinent orator finds no fault +with his discourse but delivery, blaming him only for having hurt his +throat with drinking cold water; or like one who, being to peruse and +correct some pitiful scribble, falls foul only upon the coarseness of +the paper and the blots and negligence of the transcriber. Thus the +parasites about Ptolemy, when he pretended to learning, would wrangle +with him till midnight about the propriety of an expression, a verse, +or a story; but not a word all this while of his cruelty, insults, +superstition, and oppressions of the people. Just as if a chirurgeon +should pare a man’s nails or cut his hair, to cure him of a fistula, +wen, or other carnous excrescence. + +18. But there are others behind, who outdo all the subtlety of +the former, such as can claw and please, even whilst they seem to +reprehend. Thus when Alexander had bestowed some considerable reward +upon a jester, Agis the Argive, through mere envy and vexation, cried +out upon it as a most absurd action; which the king overhearing, he +turned him about in great indignation at the insolence, saying, What’s +that you prate, sirrah? Why truly, replied the man, I must confess, +I am not a little troubled to observe, that all you great men who +are descended from Jupiter take a strange delight in flatterers and +buffoons; for as Hercules had his Cercopians and Bacchus his Silenuses +about him, so I see your majesty is pleased to have a regard for such +pleasant fellows too. And one time when Tiberius Caesar was present +at the senate, there stood up a certain fawning counsellor, asserting +that all free-born subjects ought to have the liberty of speaking their +sense freely, and should not dissemble or conceal any thing that they +might conceive beneficial to the public; who, having thus awakened the +attention of his audience, silence being made, and Tiberius impatient +to hear the sequel of the man’s discourse, pursued it in this manner: +I must tell you of a fault, Caesar, said he, for which we universally +blame you, though no man yet has taken the confidence to speak it +openly. You neglect yourself, endanger your sacred person by your too +much labor and care, night and day, for the public. And he having +harangued several things to the same effect, it is reported that +Cassius Severus the orator subjoined: This man’s freedom of speech will +ruin him. + +19. Such artifices as these, I confess, are not very pernicious, but +there remains one of a most dangerous consequence to weak men; and that +is when a flatterer fastens those vices upon them which are directly +contrary to those they are really guilty of. As Himerius, an Athenian +parasite, upbraided one of the most miserable and stingy misers of the +whole town with carelessness and prodigality, telling him he was afraid +he should live to see the day when both he and his children should go +a begging. Or, on the contrary, when they object niggardliness and +parsimony to one that is lavish and profuse, as Titus Petronius did +to Nero. Or when they advise arbitrary and tyrannical princes to lay +aside their too much moderation and their unprofitable and unseasonable +clemency. And like to these are they who shall pretend to be afraid of +a half-witted idiot, as of some notable shrewd fellow; and shall tax +an ill-natured censorious man, if at any time he speak honorably of +a person of worth, of being too lavish in his commendations. You are +always, say they, praising men that deserve it not; for who is he, or +what remarkable thing did he ever say or do? But they have yet a more +signal opportunity of exercising their talent, when they meet with any +difference betwixt lovers or friends; for if they see brothers quarrel, +or children despise their parents, or husbands jealous of their +wives, they neither admonish them nor blame them for it, but inflame +the difference. You don’t understand yourself, say they; you are the +occasion of all this clutter by your own soft and submissive behavior. +If there chance to have happened some little love-skirmish betwixt a +miss and her gallant, then the flatterer interposes boldly and adds +fresh fuel to the expiring flame, taking the gentleman to task, and +telling him how many things he has done which looked a little hard, +were not kind, and deserved a chiding. + + Ungrateful man! can you forget her charms, + And former soft embraces in her arms?[110] + +Thus Antony’s friends persuaded him, when he was smitten with his +beloved Cleopatra, that she doted on him, still calling him haughty and +hard-hearted man. She, said they, has stripped herself of the glories +of a crown and former grandeur, and now languishes with the love of +you, attending the motion of your camp in the poor sordid figure of a +concubine. + + But you have steeled your heart, and can unmoved + Behold her grief, whom once you so much loved.[111] + +Now he was strangely pleased to hear of his little unkindness to his +mistress, and was more taken with such a chiding than with the highest +character they could have given him; but was not sensible that, +under the color of a friendly admonition, they really corrupted and +debauched him. For such a rebuke as this is just like the bites of a +lecherous woman, for it only tickles and provokes, and pleases even +whilst it pains you. And as pure wine taken singly is an excellent +antidote against hemlock, but if mixed with it renders the poison +incurable, because the heat of the wine quickens its circulation to the +heart; so some rascally fellows, knowing very well that the liberty of +reproving a friend is a quality very hardly compatible with flattery, +and, as I may say, the best remedy against it, mix them both together, +and flatter you under the very color and pretext of reprimanding you. + +Upon the whole thereof, Bias seems not to have answered him very +pertinently, who asked him which he thought was the most hurtful +animal, when he replied, Of wild creatures a tyrant, and of tame +ones a flatterer. For he might have answered more accurately, that +some flatterers indeed are tame creatures, those shirks who ply +about your bath and your table; but they whose calumnies, malignity, +and inquisitive meddling humor, like so many gins and snares, reach +the ladies’ very closets and bed-chambers, are wild, savage, and +untractable. + +20. Now one way of arming ourselves against these assaults will be +always to remember that,—since our souls are made up of two different +parts, the one sincere, honest, and reasonable, the other brutish, +false, and governed by passion,—the friend always adapts his advice +and admonitions to the improvement of the better part (like a good +physician, who preserves and advances an healthful constitution where +he finds it), whilst the flatterer claws and tickles the irrational +part of the man only, debauching it from the rules of right reason by +the repeated suggestion of soft and sensual delights. For as there are +some sorts of meat which assimilate neither with the blood nor with +the spirits, and invigorate neither the nerves nor the marrow, but +only provoke lust, swell the paunch, and breed putrid flabby flesh; +so he who shall give himself the labor to observe will find that the +discourses of a flatterer contribute nothing to the improvement of +our prudence and understanding, but either only entertain us with +the pleasure of some love-intrigue, or make us indiscreetly angry or +envious, or blow us up into an empty troublesome opinion of ourselves, +or increase our sorrows by pretending to share in them; or else they +exasperate any inbred naughtiness that is in us, or our illiberality +or distrustfulness, making them harsh, timorous, and jealous, with +idle malicious stories, hints, and conjectures of his own. For he +always fastens upon and pampers some distemper of the mind, growing, +like a botch or bile, upon its inflamed or putrid part only. Are you +angry? Revenge yourself, says he. Covet you any thing? Have it. Are you +afraid? Fly. Suspect you this or that? Believe it. + +But if we find it something difficult to discover him in these attempts +upon our passions, because they often violently overpower all the +forces of our reason to the contrary, we may then trace him in other +instances of his knavery; for he always acts consonant to himself. As, +if you are afraid of a surfeit and thereupon are in suspense about your +bath and diet, a friend indeed will advise you to act cautiously and +take care of your health; but the flatterer persuades you to the bath, +bids you feed freely and not starve yourself with mortification. If he +observes you want briskness and spirit for action, as being unwilling +to undergo the fatigue of a journey or a voyage, he will tell you +presently, there is no haste; the business may be well enough deferred, +or else transacted by proxy. If at any time you have promised to lend +or give a friend a sum of money, and upon second thoughts gladly +would, and yet are ashamed to retract your word, the flatterer puts +his advice in the worse scale, and inclines the balance to the saving +side, and strips you of your squeamish modesty, telling you that you +ought not to be so prodigal, who live at great expense and have others +to relieve besides him. And therefore, unless we be mere strangers to +ourselves,—to our own covetousness, shamelessness, or timidity,—the +flatterer cannot easily escape our discovery; for he is the great +patron of these disorderly passions, endeavoring always to wind us up +to excesses of this kind. But enough of this. + +21. Let us in the next place discourse of the useful and kind offices +which the flatterer seems cheerfully ready upon every occasion to +perform, thereby rendering the disparity betwixt him and the true +friend extremely perplexed and intricate. + +For the temper of a friend, like the language of truth, is (as +Euripides says) sincere, natural, without paint or varnish; but that +of a flatterer, as it is corrupt and diseased in itself, so stands +in need of many curious and exquisite remedies to correct it.[112] +And therefore you shall have friends upon an accidental rencounter, +without either giving or receiving a formal salute, content themselves +to speak their mutual kindness and familiarity in a nod and a smile; +but the flatterer pursues you, runs to meet you, and extends his hand +long before he comes at you; and if you chance but to see and salute +him first, he swears you must excuse his rudeness, and will produce +you witness that he did not see you, if you please. Thus again, a +friend dwells not upon every trifling punctilio, is not ceremonious +and punctual in the transacting of business, is not inquisitive, and +does not intrude into every piece of service; but the parasite is all +obedience, all perpetual indefatigable industry, admits no rival in his +services, but will wait your commands, which if you lay not upon him, +he seems mightily afflicted, the unhappiest man in the world! + +22. Now these observations are argument enough to convince a man of any +tolerable sense, that the friendship such men pretend to is not really +virtuous and chaste, but rather a sort of impudent whorish love that +obtrudes its embraces upon you. + +But, to be more particular, let us first examine the disparity betwixt +their promises. For our forefathers well observed, that the offers of a +friend run in such terms as these: + + If I can serve you, sir, if your request + Be feasible by me, I’ll do my best; + +but the flatterer’s thus: + + Command me freely what you will, I’ll do it.[113] + +For the comedians introduce such brave promises as these: + + Come, sir, let me but fight that fellow there; + I’ll beat him soft as sponge or jellies are. + +Besides, no real friend will assist in the execution of a design, +unless, being first advised with, he approve of it as either honest or +useful. Whereas the flatterer, though permitted to consult and give his +opinion about an undertaking, not only out of a paltry desire to comply +with and gratify his friend at any rate, but lest he should be looked +upon as disaffected to the business, servilely closes with and advances +his proposal, how unreasonable soever. For there are few rich men or +princes of this mind: + + Give me a friend, though a poor beggar he, + Or meaner than the meanest beggar be, + If he his thoughts but freely will impart, + And boldly speak the language of his heart;[114] + +for they, like actors in a tragedy, must have a chorus of their friends +to join with them in the concert, or else the claps of the pit to +encourage them. Whereupon Merope in the tragedy speaks thus: + + Make choice of those for friends, who never knew + The arts of wheedling and betraying you; + But those poor rascals never entertain, + Who please you only with design to gain.[115] + +But alas! they invert the counsel, and abominate those who deal +freely with them and advise them obstinately for the best, whilst +pitiful cringing cheats and impostors are admitted not only into their +houses, but into their affections and the nearest concernments of +their life. You shall have some of them indeed more plain and simple +than the rest, who confess themselves unworthy to consult about such +weighty affairs, but are ready to serve you in the executive part +of a design. But the more subtle hypocrite comes in at the consult, +knits his brows, declares his consent by the gravity of a look or a +nod, but speaks never a word, unless perchance, when the great man +delivers his opinion, he cries, Lord! sir, you prevented me; I was just +going to say so. For, as the mathematicians tell us that surfaces and +lines, which are incorporeal and creatures of the understanding only, +are neither bended nor moved nor extended of themselves, but are so +affected together with the bodies whose extremities they are; so you +shall observe the flatterer attends only the motion of another’s sense, +opinion, or passion, without any principle of action in himself. So +that the disparity betwixt them thus far is easily discernible. + +And yet more easily in the manner they perform their good offices. For +the kindnesses of a friend, like an animate creature, have their most +proper virtues deep within, without any parade or pageantry on the +outside. Nay, many times, as a faithful physician cures his patient +when he least knows of it, so a true friend, either present or absent, +as occasion serves, is solicitous about your concerns, when perhaps +you know nothing of it. Such was the excellent Arcesilaus, as in his +other actions, so particularly in his kindness to Apelles, native of +Chios, whom finding extremely indigent in his sickness, he repeated +his visit to him with twenty drachms in his pocket; and sitting by his +bedside, You have got nothing here, said he, but Empedocles’s elements, +fire, water, earth, and the surrounding air; neither, methinks, do you +lie easily. And with that, stirring up his pillow, he put the money +privately under his head; which when the good old woman his nurse found +and in great wonder acquainted Apelles with, Aye, says he, smiling a +little, this is a piece of Arcesilaus’s thievery. And the saying that +children resemble their parents is found true also in philosophy. +For when Cephisocrates was impeached of high treason, and Lacydes, +an intimate acquaintance of Arcesilaus, with several others of his +friends, stood by him at his trial, the counsel for the state desired +that the prisoner’s ring, wherein lay the principal evidence against +him, might be produced in court; which Cephisocrates hearing dropped +it softly off his finger, and Lacydes observing it set his foot upon +it and buried it in the ground. Whereupon being acquitted, and going +afterwards to pay his respects and thanks to his judges, one of them +(who, it seems, had taken notice of the passages) told him that his +thanks were owing to Lacydes, and so related the whole story, when yet +Lacydes had never mentioned it. + +Thus I am verily persuaded the Gods confer several benefits upon us +which we are not sensible of, upon no other motive in the world than +the mere pleasure and satisfaction they take in acts of kindness and +beneficence. + +But on the contrary, the seemingly good offices of a flatterer +have nothing of that sincerity and integrity, that simplicity and +ingenuousness, which recommend a kindness, but are always attended +with bustle and noise, hurry, sweat and contracting the brow, to +enhance your opinion of the great pains he has taken for you; like a +picture drawn in gaudy colors, with folded torn garments, and full of +angles and wrinkles, to make us believe it an elaborate piece and done +to the life. + +Besides, the flatterer is so extremely troublesome in recounting the +weary steps he has taken, the cares he has had upon him, the persons he +has been forced to disoblige, with a thousand other inconveniencies he +has labored under upon your account, that you will be apt to say, The +business was never worth all this din and clutter about it. + +For a kindness once upbraided loses its grace, turns a burden, and +becomes intolerable. But the flatterer not only reproaches us with his +services already past, but at the very instant of their performance; +whereas, if a friend be obliged to speak of any civility done another, +he modestly mentions it indeed, but attributes nothing to himself. +Thus, when the Lacedaemonians supplied the people of Smyrna in great +scarcity of provisions, and they gratefully resented and extolled the +kindness; Why, replied the Spartans, it was no such great matter, we +only robbed ourselves and our cattle of a dinner. For a favor thus +bestowed is not only free and ingenuous, but more acceptable to the +receiver, because he imagines his benefactor conferred it on him +without any great prejudice to himself. + +23. But the temper of a flatterer is discernible from that of a +friend not only in the easiness of his promises and the troublesome +impertinence that attends his good offices, but more signally in this, +that the one is ready to promote any base and unworthy action, the +other those only which are fair and honest. The one labors to please, +the other to profit you. For a friend must not, as Gorgias would have +him, beg another’s assistance in a just undertaking, and then think to +compensate the civility by contributing to several that are unjust. + + In wisdom, not in folly, should they join. + +And if, after all, he cannot prevail upon him, he may disengage himself +with the reply of Phocion to Antipater; Sir, I cannot be both your +friend and your flatterer,—that is, Your friend and not your friend +at the same time. For we ought to be assistant to him in his honest +endeavors indeed, but not in his knaveries; in his counsels, not in +his tricks; in appearing as evidence for him, but not in a cheat; +and must bear a share in his misfortunes, but not in his acts of +injustice. For if a man ought not to be as much as conscious of any +unworthiness in his friend, how much less will it become him to partake +in it? Therefore, as the Lacedaemonians, defeated and treating of +articles of peace with Antipater, prayed him to command them any thing, +howsoever grievous and burthensome to the subject, provided it were not +base and dishonorable; so a friend, if you want his assistance in a +chargeable, dangerous, and laborious enterprise, embarks in the design +cheerfully and without reserve; but if such as will not stand with +his reputation and honor, he fairly desires to be excused. Whereas, +on the contrary, if you offer to put a flatterer upon a difficult or +hazardous employment, he shuffles you off and begs your pardon. For but +sound him, as you rap a vessel to try whether it be whole or cracked, +full or empty; and he shams you off with the noise of some paltry, +frivolous excuses. But engage him in any mean, sordid, and inglorious +service, abuse him, kick him, trample on him, he bears all patiently +and knows no affront. For as the ape, who cannot keep the house like +a dog or bear a burden like an horse or plough like an ox, serves to +be abused, to play the buffoon, and to make sport; so the parasite, +who can neither plead your cause nor be your counsel nor espouse your +quarrel, as being averse from all painful and good offices, denies you +in nothing that may contribute to your pleasure, turns pander to your +lust, pimps for a whore, provides you an handsome entertainment, looks +that your bill be reasonable, and sneaks to your miss; but he shall +treat your relations with disrespect and impudently turn your wife out +of doors, if you commission him. So that you may easily discover him in +this particular. For put him upon the most base and dirty actions; he +will not spare his own pains, provided he can but gratify you. + +24. There remains yet another way to discover him by his inclinations +towards your intimates and familiars. For there is nothing more +agreeable to a true and cordial acquaintance than to love and to be +beloved with many; and therefore he always sedulously endeavors to +gain his friend the affections and esteem of other men. For being +of opinion that all things ought to be in common amongst friends, +he thinks nothing ought to be more so than they themselves. But the +faithless, the adulterate friend of base alloy, who is conscious to +himself of the disservice he does true friendship by that false coin +of it which he puts upon us, is naturally full of emulation and envy, +even towards those of his own profession, endeavoring to outdo them in +their common talent of babbling and buffoonery, whilst he reveres and +cringes to his betters, whom he dares no more vie with than a footman +with a Lydian chariot, or lead (to use Simonides’s expression) with +refined gold. Therefore this light and empty counterfeit, finding he +wants weight when put into the balance against a solid and substantial +friend, endeavors to remove him as far as he can, like him who, having +painted a cock extremely ill, commanded his servant to take the +original out of sight; and if he cannot compass his design, then he +proceeds to compliment and ceremony, pretending outwardly to admire +him as a person far beyond himself, whilst by secret calumnies he +blackens and undermines him. And if these chance to have galled and +fretted him only and have not thoroughly done their work, then he +betakes himself to the advice of Medius, that arch parasite and enemy +to the Macedonian nobility, and chief of all that numerous train which +Alexander entertained in his court. This man taught his disciples to +slander boldly and push home their calumnies; for, though the wound +might probably be cured and skinned over again, yet the teeth of +slander would be sure to leave a scar behind them. By these scars, or +(to speak more properly) gangrenes and cancers of false accusations, +fell the brave Callisthenes, Parmenio, and Philotas; whilst Alexander +himself became an easy prey to an Agnon, Bagoas, Agesias, and +Demetrius, who tricked him up like a barbarian statue, and paid the +mortal the adoration due to a God. So great a charm is flattery, and, +as it seems, the greatest with those we think the greatest men; for +the exalted thoughts they entertain of themselves, and the desire of a +universal concurrence in the same opinion from others, both add courage +to the flatterer and credit to his impostures. Hills and mountains +indeed are not easily taken by stratagem or ambuscade; but a weak mind, +swollen big and lofty by fortune, birth, or the like, lies naked to the +assaults of every mean and petty aggressor. + +25. And therefore we repeat here what we advised at our entrance into +this discourse, that we cashier every vain opinion of ourselves and +all self-love. For their inbred flattery only disposes and prepares +us to a more favorable reception of that from without. For, if we did +but square out actions according to the famous oracular precept of +knowing ourselves, rate things according to their true intrinsic value, +and withal, reflecting upon our own nature and education, consider +what gross imperfections and failures mix with our words, actions, +and affections, we should not lie so open to the attempts of every +flatterer who designs upon us. For even Alexander himself, being +reminded of his mortality by two things especially, the necessity of +sleep and the use of women, began to stagger in the opinion they had +made him conceive of his godhead. And did we in like manner but take an +impartial survey of those troubles, lapses, and infirmities incident to +our nature, we should find we stood in no need of a friend to praise +and extol our virtues, but of one rather that would chide and reprimand +us for our vices. For first, there are but few who will venture to deal +thus roundly and impartially with their friends, and fewer yet who +know the art of it, men generally mistaking railing and ill language +for a decent and friendly reproof. And then a chiding, like any other +physic, if ill-timed, racks and torments you to no purpose, and works +in a manner the same effect with pain that flattery does with pleasure. +For an unseasonable reprehension may be equally mischievous with an +unseasonable commendation, and force your friend to throw himself upon +the flatterer; like water which, leaving the too precipitous and rugged +hills, rolls down upon the humble valleys below. And therefore we ought +to qualify and allay the sharpness of our reproofs with a due temper of +candor and moderation,—as we would soften light which is too powerful +for a distempered eye,—lest our friends, being plagued and ranted upon +every trivial occasion, should at last fly to the flatterer’s shade for +their ease and quiet. For all vice, Philopappus, is to be corrected +by an intermediate virtue, and not by its contrary extreme, as some +do who, to shake off that sheepish bashfulness which hangs upon their +natures, learn to be impudent; to lay aside their country breeding, +endeavor to be comical; to avoid the imputation of softness and +cowardice, turn bullies; out of an abhorrence of superstition, commence +atheists; and rather than be reputed fools, play the knave; forcing +their inclinations, like a crooked stick, to the opposite extreme for +want of skill to set them straight. + +But it is highly rude to endeavor to avoid the suspicion of flattery +by only being insignificantly troublesome, and it argues an ungenteel, +unconversable temper in a man to show his just abhorrency of mean +and servile ends in his friendship only by a sour and disagreeable +behavior; like the freedman in the comedy, who would needs persuade +himself that his railing accusation fell within the limits of that +freedom in discourse which every one had right to with his equals. +Since therefore it is absurd to incur the suspicion of a flatterer by +an over-obliging and obsequious humor, and as absurd, on the other +hand, in endeavoring to decline it by an immoderate latitude in our +apprehensions, to lose the enjoyments and salutary admonitions of a +friendly conversation, and since the measures of what is just and +proper in this, as in other things, are to be taken from decency and +moderation; the nature of the argument seems to require me to conclude +it with a discourse upon this subject. + +26. Now seeing this liberty of animadverting on other men’s failures is +liable to so many exceptions, let us in the first place carefully purge +it from all mixture of self-love and interest, lest any private motive, +injury, grudge, or dissatisfaction of our own should seem to incite us +to the undertaking. For such a chiding as this would not pass for an +effect of kindness but of passion, and looks more like complaint than +an admonition; for the latter has always something in it that sounds +kind and yet awful, whereas the other betrays only a selfish and narrow +disposition. And therefore we usually honor and revere our monitor, but +contemn and recriminate upon a querulous accuser. As Agamemnon could by +no means digest the moderate censures of Achilles, yet bore well enough +with the severer reprimand of Ulysses, + + O were thy sway the curse of meaner powers, + And thou the shame of any host but ours![116] + +being satisfied of his wisdom and good intentions; for he rated him +purely upon the account of the public, the other upon his own. And +Achilles himself, though of a rough and untractable disposition and +ready enough to find faults where there were none,[117] yet heard +Patroclus patiently when he ranted him thus: + + Unpitying man! no Peleus caused thy birth, + Nor did the tender Thetis bring thee forth; + But rocks, hard as thy heart, and th’ angry sea, + Clubbed to produce a monstrous man like thee.[118] + +For as Hyperides the orator desired the Athenians to consider not only +whether his reflections were sharp, but also whether his sharpness +was disinterested and incorrupt; so the reproofs of a friend, if they +proceed from a sincere and disinterested affection, create veneration, +awe, and confusion in the criminal to whom they are addressed. And if +he once perceive that his friend, waiving all offences against himself, +chides him purely for those committed against others, he can never +hold out against the force of so powerful a rebuke; for the sweet and +obliging temper of his monitor gives a keener edge to his admonitions. +And therefore it has been wisely said, that especially in heats and +differences with our friends we ought to have a peculiar regard to +their honor and interest. Nor is it a less argument of friendship, +for a man who is laid aside and out of favor himself to turn advocate +in behalf of another equally despised and neglected; as Plato being +in disgrace with Dionysius begged audience of him, which he readily +granting in expectation of being entertained with an account of his +grievances, Plato addressed himself to him after this manner: Sir, +said he, if you were informed there were a certain ruffian come over +into your island of Sicily with design to attempt upon your majesty’s +person, but for want of an opportunity could not execute the villany, +would you suffer him to go off unpunished? No, by no means, Plato, +replied the king; for we ought to detest and revenge not only the overt +acts but the malicious intentions of our enemies. Well then, on the +other hand, said Plato, if there should come a person to court out of +pure kindness and ambition to serve your majesty, and you would not +give him an opportunity of expressing it, were it reasonable to dismiss +him with scorn and disrespect? Whom do you mean, said Dionysius? Why, +Aeschines, replied Plato, as honest and excellent a person as any in +the school of Socrates, and of a very edifying conversation; who, +having exposed himself to the difficulties of a tedious voyage that +he might enjoy the happiness of a philosophical converse with your +majesty, has met with nothing but contempt in return to the kindness +he intended. This friendly and generous temper of mind so strangely +affected Dionysius, that he hugged and embraced Plato, and treated +Aeschines with a great deal of honor and magnificence. + +27. In the next place, let us free our discourse from all contumelious +language, all laughter, mockery, and scurrility, which spoil the relish +of our reprehensions. For, as when a chirurgeon makes an incision in +the flesh he uses decent neatness and dexterity in the operation, +without the affected and superfluous gesticulations of a quack or +mountebank, so the lancing the sores of a friend may admit indeed of a +little humor and urbanity, but that so qualified that it spoil not the +seriousness and gravity requisite to the work. For boldness, insolence, +and ill language destroy its force and efficacy. And therefore the +fiddler reparteed handsomely enough upon Philip, when he undertook to +dispute with him about the touch upon his instrument: God forbid that +your majesty should be so unhappy as to understand a fiddle better than +I do. But Epicharmus was too blunt upon Hiero, who invited him to +supper a little after he had put some of his acquaintance to death, +when he replied, Aye, but you could not invite me the other day to the +sacrifice of my friends. And so was Antiphon too rude in his reflection +upon Dionysius, when, on occasion of a discourse about the best sort +of bronze, he told him that was the best in his opinion of which +the Athenians made statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton. For these +scurrilous abusive jests are most certainly disagreeable and pain to +no purpose, being but the product of an intemperate wit, and betraying +the enmity and ill-nature of him who takes the liberty to use them; +and whosoever allows himself in them does but wantonly sport about the +brink of that pit which one day will swallow him up. For Antiphon was +afterward executed under Dionysius; and Timagenes was in disgrace with +Augustus Caesar, not for any extravagant freedom in his discourse, +but only because he had taken up a foolish custom of never talking +seriously but always scurrilously at every entertainment and walk where +the emperor desired his company,— + + Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim;[119] + +alleging the pleasantness of his humor as the cause of his favor at +court. + +Thus you shall meet with several smart and satirical reflections in a +comedy; but the mixture of jest and fool in the play, like ill sauce to +good meat, abates their poignancy and renders them insignificant; so +that, upon the whole, the poet acquires only the character of a saucy +and foul-mouthed buffoon, and the auditors lose that advantage which +they might otherwise reap from remarks of that nature. + +We may do well therefore to reserve our jollity and mirth for more +suitable occasions, but we must by all means be serious and candid in +our admonitions; which, if they be upon important points, must be so +animated with our gestures, passion, and eagerness of voice, as to give +them weight and credit and so awaken a tender concern in the persons to +whom they are addressed. + +We are again to time our reproofs as seasonably as we can; for a +mistake in the opportunities, as it is of ill consequence in all +other things, is so peculiarly in our reprehensions. And therefore, I +presume, it is manifest, we ought not to fall foul upon men in their +drink. For first, he who broaches any sour disagreeable discourse +amidst the pleasantry and good humor of friends casts a cloud over the +serenity of the company, and acts counter to the God Lysius,[120] who, +as Pindar words it, unties the band of all our cares. Besides, such +unseasonable remonstrances are not without danger; for wine is apt to +warm men into passion, and make them quarrel at the freedom you take. +And in short, it is no argument of any brave and generous, but rather +of an unmanly temper, not to dare to speak one’s sense when men are +sober, but to keep barking like a cowardly cur at table. And therefore +we need not enlarge any further upon this topic. + +28. But because several persons neither will nor dare take their +friends to task whilst they thrive and flourish in the world, looking +upon prosperity as a state above the reach of a rebuke, but pour forth +their invectives like a river that has overflown its banks, insulting +and trampling upon them, when Fortune has already laid them at their +feet, out of a sort of satisfaction to see their former state and +grandeur reduced to the same level of fortune with themselves; it may +not be improper to discourse a little upon this argument, and make some +reply to that question of Euripides,— + + What need is there of friends when Fortune smiles?[121] + +I answer, to lower those lofty and extravagant thoughts which are +usually incident to that condition; for wisdom in conjunction with +prosperity is a rare talent and the lot of but few. Therefore most +men stand in need of a borrowed prudence, to depress the tumors that +attend an exuberant felicity; but when the turn of Fortune itself has +abated the swelling, a man’s very circumstances are sufficient of +themselves to read him a lecture of repentance, so that all other grave +and austere corrections are then superfluous and impertinent; and it +is on the contrary more proper in such traverses of Fortune to enjoy +the company of a compassionate friend,[122] who will administer some +comfort to the afflicted and buoy him up under the pressure of his +affairs. So Xenophon relates that the presence of Clearchus, a person +of a courteous and obliging aspect, gave new life and courage to his +soldiers in the heat of a battle or any other difficult rencounter. +But he who chides and upbraids a man in distress, like him who applies +a medicine for clearing the sight to a distempered and inflamed eye, +neither works a cure nor allays the pain, but only adds anger to his +sorrows and exasperates the patient. A man in health indeed will digest +a friendly lecture for his wenching, drinking, idleness, continual +recreations and bathing, or unseasonable eating; but for a sick man +to be told that all this comes of his intemperance, voluptuousness, +high feeding, or whoring, is utterly insupportable and worse than the +disease itself. O impertinent man! will such a one say, the physicians +prescribe me castor and scammony, and I am just making my last will +and testament, and do you lie railing and preaching to me lectures +of philosophy? And thus men in adversity stand more in need of our +humanity and relief than of sharp and sententious reprimands. For +neither will a nurse immediately scold at her child that is fallen, +but first help him up, wash him, and put him in order again, and +then chide and whip him. They tell us a story to this purpose of +Demetrius Phalereus, that, when he dwelt an exile at Thebes in mean +beggarly circumstances, he was once extremely concerned to observe +the philosopher Crates making towards him, expecting to be treated by +him with all the roughness of a cynical behavior. But when Crates had +addressed himself courteously to him, and discoursed him upon the point +of exile, endeavoring to convince him that it had nothing miserable or +uneasy in it, but on the contrary rather rescued him from the nice and +hazardous management of public affairs,—advising him withal to repose +his confidence in himself and his own conscience,—Demetrius was so +taken and encouraged by his discourse, that he is reported to have said +to his friends, Cursed be those employs which robbed me so long of the +acquaintance of such an excellent person. For + + Soft, friendly words revive th’ afflicted soul; + But sharp rebukes are only for a fool. + +And this is the way of generous and ingenuous friends. But they who +servilely admire you in prosperity,—like old fractures and sprains, +which (as Demosthenes[123] speaks) always ache and pain us when +some fresh disease has befallen the body,—stick close to you in the +revolution of your fortune, and rejoice and enjoy the change. Whereas, +if a man must needs have a remembrancer of a calamity which his own +indiscretion hath pulled upon him, it is enough you put him in mind +that he owes it not to your advice, for you often dissuaded him from +the undertaking.[124] + +29. Well then, you say, when is a keen reprehension allowable, and when +may we chide a friend severely indeed? I answer, when some important +occasion requires it, as the stopping him in the career of his +voluptuousness, anger, or insolence, the repressing his covetous humor +or any other foolish habit. Thus dealt Solon with Croesus, puffed up +and debauched with the uncertain greatness of his fortune, when he +bade him look to the end. Thus Socrates humbled Alcibiades, forced him +into unfeigned tears, and turned his heart, when he argued the case +with him. Such, again, were the remonstrances and admonitions of Cyrus +to Cyaxares, and of Plato to Dion, who, when the lustre and greatness +of his achievements had fixed all men’s eyes upon him, wished him to +beware of arrogance and self-conceit, as the readiest way to make all +men abandon him. And Speusippus wrote to him, not to pride himself in +the little applauses of women and children, but to take care to adorn +Sicily with religion, justice, and wholesome laws, that he might render +the Academy great and illustrious. So did not Euctus and Eulaeus, +two of Perseus’s favorites; who fawned upon and complied with him as +obsequiously as any courtier of them all during the success of his +arms, but after his defeat at Pydna by the Romans inveighed bitterly +against him, reminding him of his past faults, till the man out of +mere anger and vexation stabbed them both on the spot. And so much +concerning the timing our reproofs in general. + +30. Now there are several other accidental occasions administered +by our friends themselves, which a person heartily solicitous for +their interest will lay hold of. Thus some have taken an opportunity +of censuring them freely from a question they have asked, from the +relation of a story, or the praise or dispraise of the same actions in +other men which they themselves have committed. + +Thus, they tell us, Demaratus coming from Corinth into Macedonia when +Philip and his queen and son were at odds, and being after a gracious +reception asked by the king what good understanding there was among the +Grecians, replied, as being an old friend and acquaintance of his, Aye, +by all means, sir, it highly becomes your majesty to enquire about the +concord betwixt the Athenians and Peloponnesians, when you suffer your +own family to be the scene of so much discord and contention. And as +pert was that of Diogenes, who, entering Philip’s camp as he was going +to make war upon the Grecians, was seized upon and brought before the +king, who not knowing him asked him if he was a spy. Why, yes truly, +said he, I am a spy upon your folly and imprudence, who without any +necessity upon you are come hither to expose your kingdoms and your +life to the uncertain decision of the cast of a die. This may perhaps +seem a little too biting and satirical. + +31. Another seasonable opportunity of reproving your friend for his +vices is when some third person has already mortified him upon the same +account. For a courteous and obliging man will dexterously silence his +accuser, and then take him privately to task himself, advising him—if +for no other reason, yet to abate the insolence of his enemies—to +manage himself more prudently for the future. For how could they open +their mouths against you, what could they have to reproach you with, +if you would but reform such and such vices which render you obnoxious +to their censure? And by this means the offence that was given lies at +his door who roughly upbraided him; whilst the advantage he reaps is +attributed to the person who candidly advised him. But there are some +who have got yet a genteeler way of chiding, and that is, by chastising +others for faults which they know their friends really stand guilty +of. As my master Ammonius, perceiving once at his afternoon lecture +that some of his scholars had dined more plentifully than became the +moderation of students, immediately commanded one of his freedmen +to take his own son and whip him. For what? says he. The youngster, +forsooth, must needs have vinegar sauce to his meat; and with that +casting his eye upon us, he gave us to understand that we likewise were +concerned in the reprehension. + +32. Again, we must be cautious how we rebuke a friend in company, +always remembering the repartee made upon Plato on that account. For +Socrates having fallen one day very severely upon an acquaintance of +his at table, Plato could not forbear to take him up, saying, Had it +not been more proper, sir, to have spoken these things in private? To +which Socrates instantly replied, And had it not been more proper for +you to have told me so in private too? And they say, Pythagoras one +time ranted a friend of his so terribly before company, that the poor +young man went and hanged himself; from which time the philosopher +would never chide any man in the presence of another. For the discovery +and cure of a vice, like that of a scandalous disease, ought to be in +secret, and not like a public show transacted upon the theatre; for it +is no way the part of a friend, but a mere cheat and trick, for one man +to recommend himself to the standers-by and seek for reputation from +the failures of another, like mountebank chirurgeons, who perform their +operations on a stage to gain the greater practice. But besides the +disgrace that attends a reproof of this nature (a thing that will never +work any cure), we are likewise to consider that vice is naturally +obstinate and loves to dispute its ground. For what Euripides says is +true not only of love, + + The more ’tis checked, the more it presses on, + +but of any other imperfection. If you lay a man open publicly for it +and tell all, you are so far from reforming him that you force him +to brave it out. And therefore, as Plato advises that old men who +would teach the younger fry reverence should learn to revere them +first, so certainly modestly to reprimand is the way to meet with a +modest return. For he who warily attacks the criminal works upon his +good nature by his own, and so insensibly undermines his vices. And +therefore it would be much more proper to observe the rule in Homer + + To whisper softly in the ear, + Lest standers-by should chance to hear.[125] + +But above all, we ought not to discover the imperfections of an husband +before his wife, nor of a father before his children, nor of a lover in +company of his mistress, nor of masters in presence of their scholars, +or the like; for it touches a man to the quick to be rebuked before +those whom he would have think honorably of him. And I verily believe +that it was not so much the heat of the wine as the sting of too public +a reprehension, that enraged Alexander against Clitus. And Aristomenes, +Ptolemy’s preceptor, lost himself by awaking the king, who had dropped +asleep one time at an audience of foreign embassadors; for the court +parasites immediately took this occasion to express their pretendedly +deep resentments of the disgrace done his majesty, suggesting that, +if indeed the cares of the government had brought a little seasonable +drowsiness upon him, he might have been told of it in private, but +should not have had rude hands laid upon his person before so great an +assembly; which so affected the king, that he presently sent the poor +man a draught of poison, and made him drink it up. And Aristophanes +says, Cleon blamed him for railing at Athens before strangers,[126] +whereby he incensed the Athenians against him. And therefore they +who aim at the interest and reformation of their friends rather than +ostentation and popularity, ought amongst other things to beware of +exposing them too publicly. + +Again, what Thucydides[127] makes the Corinthians say of themselves, +that they were persons every way qualified for the reprehension of +other men, ought to be the character of every one who sets up for a +monitor. For, as Lysander replied upon a certain Megarian, who in a +council of allies and confederates had spoken boldly in behalf of +Greece, This style of yours, sir, needs a state to back it; so he who +takes upon him the liberty of a censor must be a man of a regular +conversation himself,—one like Plato, whose life was a continued +lecture to Speusippus, or Xenocrates, who, casting his eye one time +upon the dissolute Polemon at a disputation, reformed him with the very +awfulness of his looks. Whereas the remonstrance of a lewd whiffling +fellow will certainly meet with no better entertainment than that of +the old proverbial repartee, + + Physician, heal thyself.[128] + +33. But because several accidental emergencies in conversation will now +and then invite a man, though bad enough himself, to correct others, +the most dexterous way of doing it will be to involve ourselves in the +same guilt with those we reprehend; as in this passage of Homer, + + Fie, what’s the matter, Diomede, that we + Have now forgot our former gallantry? + +and in this other, + + We are not worth one single Hector all.[129] + +Thus Socrates would handsomely twit the young men with their ignorance +by professing his own, pretending for his part he had need with them +to study morality and make more accurate enquiries into the truth of +things. For a confession of the same guilt, and a seeming endeavor to +reform ourselves as well as our friends, gives credit to the reprimand +and recommends it to their affections. But he who gravely magnifies +himself, whilst he imperiously detracts from others, as being a man +forsooth of no imperfections, unless his age or a celebrated reputation +indeed commands our attention, is only impertinent and troublesome +to no purpose. And therefore it was not without reason that Phoenix, +checking Achilles for his intemperate anger, confessed his own +unhappiness in that particular, how he had like once to have slain his +own father through a transport of passion had not the scandalous name +of parricide held his hands;[130] that the hero might not imagine he +took that liberty with him because he had never offended in the like +kind himself. For such inoffensive reproofs leave a deeper impress +behind them, when they seem the result of sympathy rather than contempt. + +But because a mind subject to the disorders of passion, like an +inflamed eye that cannot bear a great and glaring light, is impatient +of a rebuke, without some temperament to qualify and allay its +poignancy, therefore the best remedy in this case will be to dash it +with a little praise, as in the following: + + Think, and subdue! on dastards dead to fame + I waste no anger, for they feel no shame; + But you, the pride, the flower of all our host, + My heart weeps blood to see your glory lost! + + Where, Pandarus, are all thy honors now, + Thy winged arrows and unerring bow, + Thy matchless skill, thy yet unrivall’d fame + And boasted glory of the Lycian name![131] + +And such rebukes as these are also most effectual in reclaiming those +that are ready to fall into gross enormities: + + O where are Oedipus and all his riddles now? + +and + + Is this the speech of daring Hercules?[132] + +For a mixture of both together not only abates and takes off from that +roughness and command which a blunt reprehension seems to carry along +with it, but raises in a man a generous emulation of himself, whilst +the remembrance of his past virtues shames him out of his present vices +and makes him propose his former actions for his future example. But +if you compare him with other men, as with his fellow-citizens, his +contemporaries, or relations, then vice, which loves to dispute the +victory, renders him uneasy and impatient under the comparison, and +will be apt to make him grumble, and in an huff bid you be gone then +to his betters and not trouble him any longer. And therefore we ought +not to fall upon other men’s commendations before him whom we take the +liberty to rebuke, unless indeed they be his parents; as Agamemnon in +Homer,— + + Ah! how unlike his sire is Tydeus’ son![133] + +and Ulysses in the tragedy called the Scyrians, speaking to Achilles,— + + Dost thou, who sprang from a brave Grecian race + By spinning thy great ancestors disgrace? + +34. It is in the next place very improper for a man immediately to +retort or recriminate upon his monitor; for this is the way to occasion +heats and animosities betwixt them, and will speak him rather impatient +of any reproof at all than desirous to recompensate the kindness of one +with another. And therefore it is better to take his chiding patiently +for the present; and if he chance afterwards to commit a fault worth +your remarking upon, you have then an opportunity of repaying him in +his own coin. For being reminded, without the least intimation of +a former pique or dissatisfaction, that he himself did not use to +overlook the slips of his friend, he will receive the remonstrance +favorably at your hands, as being the return of kindness rather than of +anger and resentment. + +35. Moreover, as Thucydides[134] says that he is a wise man who +will not venture to incur odium except for matters of the highest +concernment, so, when we do undertake the ungrateful office of censor, +it ought to be only upon weighty and important occasions. For he +who is peevish and angry at everybody and upon every trivial fault, +acting rather with the imperious pedantry of a schoolmaster than the +discretion of a friend, blunts the edge of his reprehensions in matters +of an higher nature, by squandering, like an unskilful physician, that +keen and bitter but necessary and sovereign remedy of his reproofs +upon many slight distempers that require not so exquisite a cure. And +therefore a wise man will industriously avoid the character of being a +person who is always chiding and delights in finding faults. Besides +that, whosoever is of that little humor that animadverts upon every +trifling peccadillo only affords his friend a fairer occasion of being +even with him one time or another for his grosser immoralities. As +Philotimus the physician, visiting a patient of his who was troubled +with an inflammation in his liver, but showed him his forefinger, +told him: Sir, your distemper is not a whitlow. In like manner we may +take occasion now and then to reply upon a man who carps at trifles +in another,—his diversions, pleasantries, or a glass of wine,—Let the +gentleman rather, sir, turn off his whore and leave off his dicing; +for otherwise he is an admirable person. For he who is dispensed with +in smaller matters more willingly gives his friend the liberty of +reprimanding him for greater. But there is neither child nor brother +nor servant himself able to endure a man of a busy inquisitive +humor, who brawls perpetually, and is sour and unpleasant upon every +inconsiderable occasion. + +36. But since a weak and foolish friend, as Euripides says of old age, +has its strong as well as its feeble part, we ought to observe both, +and cheerfully extol the one before we fall foul upon the other. For as +we first soften iron in the fire and then dip it in water, to harden +it into a due consistence; so, after we have warmed and mollified +our friend by a just commendation of his virtues, we may then safely +temper him with a moderate reprehension of his vices. We may then say, +Are these actions comparable to the other? Do you not perceive the +advantages of a virtuous life? This is what we who are your friends +require of you. These are properly your own actions, for which nature +designed you; but for the other, + + Let them for ever from you banished be, + To desert mountains or the raging sea.[135] + +For as a prudent physician had rather recover his patient with sleep +and good diet than with castor and scammony, so a candid friend, a +good father or schoolmaster, will choose to reform men’s manners by +commendations rather than reproofs. For nothing in the world renders +our corrections so inoffensive and withal so useful as to address +ourselves to the delinquent in a kind, affectionate manner. And +therefore we ought not to deal roughly with him upon his denial of the +matter of fact, nor hinder him from making his just vindication; but we +should rather handsomely help him out in his apology and mollify the +matter. As Hector to his brother Paris, + + Unhappy man, by passion overruled;[136] + +suggesting that he did not quit the field, in his encounter with +Menelaus, out of cowardice, but mere anger and indignation. And Nestor +speaks thus to Agamemnon. + + You only yielded to the great impulse.[137] + +For to tell a man that he did such a thing through ignorance or +inadvertency is, in my opinion, a much more genteel expression than +bluntly to say, “You have dealt unjustly or acted basely by me.” And to +advise a man not to quarrel with his brother is more civil than to say, +“Don’t you envy and malign him.” And “Keep not company with that woman +who debauches you” is softer language than “Don’t you debauch her.” + +And thus you see with what caution and moderation we must reprehend +our friends in reclaiming them from vices to which they are already +subjected; whilst the prevention of them doth require a clear contrary +method. For when we are to divert them from the commission of a crime, +or to check a violent and headstrong passion, or to push on and excite +a phlegmatic lazy humor to great things, we may then ascribe their +failings to as dishonorable causes as we please. + +Thus Ulysses, when he would awaken the courage of Achilles, in one of +the tragedies of Sophocles, tells him, that it was not the business of +a supper that put him in such a fret, as he pretended, but because he +was now arrived within sight of the walls of Troy. And when Achilles, +in a great chafe at the affront, swore he would sail back again with +his squadron and leave him to himself, Ulysses came upon him again with +this rejoinder + + Come, sir, ’tis not for this you’d sail away; + But Hector’s near, it is not safe to stay + +And thus, by representing to the bold and valiant the danger of being +reputed a coward, to the temperate and sober that of being thought +a debauchee, and to the liberal and magnificent the chance of being +called stingy and sordid, we spur them on to brave actions and divert +them from base and ignominious ones. + +Indeed, when a thing is once done and past remedy, we ought to qualify +and attemperate our reproofs, and commiserate rather than reprimand. +But if it be a business of pure prevention, of stopping a friend in +the career of his irregularities, our applications must be vehement, +inexorable, and indefatigable; for this is the proper season for a +man to show himself a true monitor and a friend indeed. But we see +that even enemies reprove each other for faults already committed. As +Diogenes said pertinently enough to this purpose, that he who would +act wisely ought to be surrounded either with good friends or flagrant +enemies; for the one always teach us well, and the other as constantly +accuse us if we do ill. + +But certainly it is much more eligible to forbear the commission of a +fault by hearkening to the good advice of our friends, than afterwards +to repent of it by reason of the obloquy of our enemies. And therefore, +if for no other reason, we ought to apply our reprehensions with a +great deal of art and dexterity, because they are the most sovereign +physic that a friend can prescribe, and require not only a due mixture +of ingredients in the preparation of them but a seasonable juncture for +the patient to take them in. + +37. But because, as it has been before observed, reproofs usually carry +something of trouble and vexation along with them, we must imitate +skilful physicians, who, when they have made an incision in the flesh, +leave it not open to the smart and torment that attends it, but chafe +and foment it to assuage the pain. So he who would admonish dexterously +must not immediately give a man over to the sting and anguish of his +reprehensions, but endeavor to skin over the sore with a more mild +and diverting converse; like stone-cutters, who, when they have made +a fracture in their statues, polish and brighten them afterwards. But +if we leave them in pain with their wounds and resentments, and (as it +were) with the scars of our reproofs yet green upon them, they will +hardly be brought to admit of any lenitive we shall offer for the +future. And therefore they who will take upon them to admonish their +friends ought especially to observe this main point, not to leave +them immediately upon it, nor abruptly break off the conference with +disobliging and bitter expressions. + + + + +THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO LIVE PLEASURABLY ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINE +OF EPICURUS. + +PLUTARCH, ZEUXIPPUS, THEON, ARISTODEMUS. + + +1. Epicurus’s great confidant and familiar, Colotes, set forth a book +with this title to it, that according to the tenets of the other +philosophers it is impossible to live. Now what occurred to me then +to say against him, in the defence of those philosophers, hath been +already put into writing by me. But since upon breaking up of our +lecture several things have happened to be spoken afterwards in the +walks in further opposition to his party, I thought it not amiss to +recollect them also, if for no other reason, yet for this one, that +those who will needs be contradicting other men may see that they ought +not to run cursorily over the discourses and writings of those they +would disprove, nor by tearing out one word here and another there, or +by falling foul upon particular passages without the books, to impose +upon the ignorant and unlearned. + +2. Now as we were leaving the school to take a walk (as our manner is) +in the place of exercise, Zeuxippus began to us: In my opinion, said +he, the debate was managed on our side with more softness and less +freedom than was fitting. I am sure, Heraclides sufficiently signified +his disgust at us at parting, for handling Epicurus and Metrodorus +more roughly than they deserved. Yet you may remember, replied Theon, +how you told them that Colotes himself, compared with the rhetoric of +those two gentlemen, would appear the complaisantest man alive; for +when they have raked together the lewdest terms of ignominy the tongue +of man ever used, as buffooneries, trollings, arrogancies, whorings, +assassinations, whining counterfeits, vile seducers, and blockheads, +they faintly throw them in the faces of Aristotle, Socrates, +Pythagoras, Protagoras, Theophrastus, Heraclides, Hipparchus, and which +not, even of the best and most celebrated authorities. So that, should +they pass for very knowing men upon all other accounts, yet their very +calumnies and reviling language would bespeak them at the greatest +distance from philosophy imaginable. For emulation can never enter that +God-like consort, nor such fretfulness as wants resolution to conceal +its own resentments. Aristodemus then subjoined: Heraclides, you know, +is a great philologist; and that may be the reason why he made Epicurus +those amends for the poetic din (so that party style poetry) and for +the fooleries of Homer; or else, it may be, it was because Metrodorus +had libelled that poet in so many books. But let us let these gentlemen +pass at present, Zeuxippus, and rather return to what was charged +upon the philosophers in the beginning of our discourse, that it is +impossible to live according to their tenets. And I see not why we two +may not despatch this affair betwixt us, with the good assistance of +Theon; for I find this gentleman (meaning me) is already tired. Then +Theon said to him, + + Our fellows have that garland from us won; + +therefore, if you please, + + Let’s fix another goal, and at that run.[138] + +We will even prosecute them at the suit of the philosophers, in the +following form: We’ll prove, if we can, that it is impossible to live +a pleasurable life according to their tenets. Bless me! said I to him, +smiling, you seem to me to level your foot at the very bellies of the +men, and to design to enter the list with them for their lives, whilst +you go about to rob them thus of their pleasure, and they cry out to +you, + + “Forbear, we’re no good boxers, sir; + +no, nor good pleaders, nor good senators, nor good magistrates either; + + Our proper talent is to eat and drink,[139] + +and to excite such tender and delicate motions in our bodies as may +chafe our imaginations to some jolly delight or gayety.” And therefore +you seem to me not so much to take off (as I may say) the pleasurable +part, as to deprive the men of their very lives, while you will not +leave them to live pleasurably. Nay then, said Theon, if you think so +well of this subject-matter, why do you not set in hand to it? By all +means, said I, I am for this, and shall not only hear but answer you +too, if you shall require it. But I must leave it to you to take the +lead. + +Then, after Theon had spoken something to excuse himself, Aristodemus +said: When we had so short and fair a cut to our design, how have you +blocked up the way before us, by preventing us from joining issue with +the faction at the very first upon the single point of honesty! For you +must grant, it can be no easy matter to drive men already possessed +that pleasure is their utmost good yet to believe a life of pleasure +impossible to be attained. But now the truth is, that just when they +failed of living honestly they failed also of living pleasurably; for +to live pleasurably without living honestly is even by themselves +allowed inconsistent. + +3. Theon then said: We may probably resume the consideration of that in +the process of our discourse; in the interim we will make use of their +concessions. Now they suppose their last good to lie about the belly +and such other conveyances of the body as let in pleasure and not +pain; and are of opinion, that all the brave and ingenious inventions +that ever have been were contrived at first for the pleasure of the +belly, or the good hope of compassing such pleasure,—as the sage +Metrodorus informs us. By which, my good friend, it is very plain, +they found their pleasure in a poor, rotten, and unsure thing, and +one that is equally perforated for pains, by the very passages they +receive their pleasures by; or rather indeed, that admits pleasure but +by a few, but pain by all its parts. For the whole of pleasure is in a +manner in the joints, nerves, feet, and hands; and these are oft the +seats of very grievous and lamentable distempers, as gouts, corroding +rheums, gangrenes, and putrid ulcers. And if you apply to yourself the +exquisitest of perfumes or gusts, you will find but some one small part +of your body is finely and delicately touched, while the rest are many +times filled with anguish and complaints. Besides, there is no part +of us proof against fire, sword, teeth, or scourges, or insensible +of dolors and aches; yea, heats, colds, and fevers sink into all our +parts alike. But pleasures, like gales of soft wind, move simpering, +one towards one extreme of the body and another towards another, and +then go off in a vapor. Nor are they of any long durance, but, as so +many glancing meteors, they are no sooner kindled in the body than they +are quenched by it. As to pain, Aeschylus’s Philoctetes affords us a +sufficient testimony: + + The cruel viper ne’er will quit my foot; + Her dire envenomed teeth have there ta’en root. + +For pain will not troll off as pleasure doth, nor imitate it in its +pleasing and tickling touches. But as the clover twists its perplexed +and winding roots into the earth, and through its coarseness abides +there a long time; so pain disperses and entangles its hooks and roots +in the body, and continues there, not for a day or a night, but for +several seasons of years, if not for some revolutions of Olympiads, +nor scarce ever departs unless struck out by other pains, as by +stronger nails. For who ever drank so long as those that are in a fever +are adry? Or who was ever so long eating as those that are besieged +suffer hunger? Or where are there any that are so long solaced with +the conversation of friends as tyrants are racking and tormenting? +Now all this is owing to the baseness of the body and its natural +incapacity for a pleasurable life; for it bears pains better than it +doth pleasures, and with respect to those is firm and hardy, but with +respect to these is feeble and soon palled. To which add, that if we +are minded to discourse on a life of pleasure, these men won’t give +us leave to go on, but will presently confess themselves that the +pleasures of the body are but short, or rather indeed but of a moment’s +continuance; if they do not design to banter us or else speak out of +vanity, when Metrodorus tells us, We many times spit at the pleasures +of the body, and Epicurus saith, A wise man, when he is sick, many +times laughs at the very extremity of his distemper. + +With what consistence then can those that account the pains of the body +so light and easy think so highly of its pleasures? For should we allow +them not to come behind its pains either in duration or magnitude, they +would not yet have their being without them. For Epicurus hath made +the removal of all that pains the common definition of all pleasure; +as if Nature had intended to advance the pleasurable part only to the +destruction of the painful, but would not have it improved any further +in magnitude, and as if she only diverted herself with certain useless +diversifications after she hath once arrived to an abolition of pain. +But now the passage to this, conjoined with an appetence which is the +measure of pleasure, is extremely short and soon over. And therefore +the sense of their narrow entertainment here hath obliged them to +transplant their last end from the body, as from a poor and lean soil, +to the mind, in hopes of enjoying there, as it were, large pastures and +fair meadows of delights and satisfactions. + + For Ithaca is no fit place + For mettled steeds to run a race.[140] + +Neither can the joys of our poor bodies be smooth and equal; but on the +contrary they must be coarse and harsh, and immixed with much that is +displeasing and inflamed. + +4. Zeuxippus then said: And do you not think then they take the right +course to begin at the body, where they observe pleasure to have its +first rise, and thence to pass to the mind as the more stable and sure +part, there to complete and crown the whole? + +They do, by Jove, I said; and if, after removing thither, they have +indeed found something more consummate than before, they take a course +too as well agreeing with nature as becoming men adorned with both +contemplative and civil knowledge. But if after all this you still +hear them cry out, and protest that the mind of man can receive no +satisfaction or tranquillity from any thing under Heaven but the +pleasures of the body either in possession or expectance, and that +these are its proper and only good, can you forbear thinking they make +use of the soul but as a funnel for the body, while they mellow their +pleasure by shifting it from one vessel to another, as they rack wine +out of an old and leaky vessel into a new one and there let it grow +old, and then imagine they have performed some extraordinary and very +fine thing? True indeed, time may both keep and recover wine that hath +thus been drawn off; but the mind, receiving but the remembrance only +of past pleasure, like a kind of scent, retains that and no more. For +as soon as it hath given one hiss in the body, it immediately expires, +and that little of it that stays behind in the memory is but flat and +like a queasy fume; as if a man should lay up and treasure in his +fancy what he either ate or drank yesterday, that he may have recourse +to that when he wants fresh fare. See now how much more temperate the +Cyrenaics are, who, though they have drunk out of the same bottle with +Epicurus, yet will not allow men so much as to practise their amours by +candle-light, but only under the covert of the dark, for fear seeing +should fasten too quick an impression of the images of such actions +upon the fancy and thereby too frequently inflame the desire. But these +gentlemen account it the highest accomplishment of a philosopher to +have a clear and retentive memory of all the various figures, passions, +and touches of past pleasure. We will not now say, they present us with +nothing worthy the name of philosophy, while they leave the refuse of +pleasure in their wise man’s mind, as if it could be a lodging for +bodies; but that it is impossible such things as these should make a +man live pleasurably, I think is abundantly manifest from hence. + +For it will not perhaps seem strange if I assert, that the memory of +pleasure past brings no pleasure with it if it seemed but little in +the very enjoyment, or to men of such abstinence as to account it for +their benefit to retire from its first approaches; when even the most +amazed and sensual admirers of corporeal delights remain no longer in +their gaudy and pleasant humor than their pleasure lasts them. What +remains is but an empty shadow and dream of that pleasure that hath now +taken wing and is fled from them and that serves but for fuel to foment +their untamed desires. Like as in those that dream they are adry or +in love, their unaccomplished pleasures and enjoyments do but excite +the inclination to a greater keenness. Nor indeed can the remembrance +of past enjoyments afford them any real contentment at all, but must +serve only, with the help of a quick desire, to raise up very much of +outrage and stinging pain out of the remains of a feeble and befooling +pleasure. Neither doth it befit men of continence and sobriety to +exercise their thoughts about such poor things, or to do what one +twitted Carneades with, to reckon, as out of a diurnal, how oft they +have lain with Hedia or Leontion, or where they last drank Thasian +wine, or at what twentieth-day feast they had a costly supper. For +such transport and captivatedness of the mind to its own remembrances +as this is would show a deplorable and bestial restlessness and raving +towards the present and hoped-for acts of pleasure. And therefore I +cannot but look upon the sense of these inconveniences as the true +cause of their retiring at last to a freedom from pain and a firm +state of body; as if living pleasurably could lie in bare imagining +this either past or future to some persons. True indeed it is, “that a +sound state of body and a good assurance of its continuing must needs +afford a most transcending and solid satisfaction to all men capable of +reasoning.” + +5. But yet look first what work they make, while they course this +same thing—whether it be pleasure, exemption from pain, or good +health—up and down, first from the body to the mind, and then back +again from the mind to the body, being compelled to return it to +its first origin, lest it should run out and so give them the slip. +Thus they pitch the pleasure of the body (as Epicurus says) upon the +complacent joy in the mind, and yet conclude again with the good +hopes that complacent joy hath in bodily pleasure. Indeed what wonder +is it if, when the foundation shakes, the superstructure totter? Or +that there should be no sure hope nor unshaken joy in a matter that +suffers so great concussion and changes as continually attend a body +exposed to so many violences and strokes from without, and having +within it the origins of such evils as human reason cannot avert? For +if it could, no understanding man would ever fall under stranguries, +gripes, consumptions, or dropsies; with some of which Epicurus +himself did conflict and Polyaenus with others, while others of them +were the deaths of Neocles and Agathobulus. And this we mention not +to disparage them, knowing very well that Pherecydes and Heraclitus, +both very excellent persons, labored under very uncouth and calamitous +distempers. We only beg of them, if they will own their own diseases +and not by noisy rants and popular harangues incur the imputation of +false bravery, either not to take the health of the whole body for +the ground of their content, or else not to say that men under the +extremities of dolors and diseases can yet rally and be pleasant. +For a sound and hale constitution of body is indeed a thing that +often happens, but a firm and steadfast assurance of its continuance +can never befall any intelligent mind. But as at sea (according to +Aeschylus) + + Night to the ablest pilot trouble brings,[141] + +and so will a calm too, for no man knows what will be,—so likewise is +it impossible for a soul that dwells in a healthful body, and that +places her good in the hopes she hath of that body, to perfect her +voyage here without frights or waves. For man’s mind hath not, like the +sea, its tempests and storms only from without it, but it also raises +up from within far more and greater disturbances. And a man may with +more reason look for constant fair weather in the midst of winter than +for perpetual exemption from afflictions in his body. For what else +hath given the poets occasion to term us creatures of a day, uncertain +and unfixed, and to liken our lives to leaves that both spring and fall +in the compass of a summer, but the unhappy, calamitous, and sickly +condition of the body, whose very utmost good we are warned to dread +and prevent? For an exquisite habit, Hippocrates saith, is slippery and +hazardous. And + + He that but now looked jolly, plump, and stout, + Like a star shot by Jove, is now gone out; + +as it is in Euripides. And it is a vulgar persuasion, that very +handsome persons, when looked upon, oft suffer damage by envy and an +evil eye; for (it is said) a body at its utmost vigor will through +delicacy very soon admit of changes. + +6. But now that these men are miserably unprovided for an undisturbed +life, you may discern even from what they themselves advance against +others. For they say that those who commit wickedness and incur the +displeasure of the laws live in constant misery and fear, for, though +they may perhaps attain to privacy, yet it is impossible they should +ever be well assured of that privacy; whence the ever-impending fear of +the future will not permit them to have either complacency or assurance +in their present circumstances. But they consider not how they speak +all this against themselves. For a sound and healthy state of body +they may indeed oftentimes possess, but that they should ever be well +assured of its continuance is impossible; and they must of necessity be +in constant disquiet and pain for the body with respect to futurity, +never succeeding in attaining to that firm and steadfast assurance +from it which they expect. But to do no wickedness will contribute +nothing to our assurance; for it is not suffering justly but suffering +in itself that is dismaying. Nor can it be a matter of trouble to +be engaged in villanies one’s self, and not afflictive to suffer by +the villanies of others. Neither can it be said that the tyranny of +Lachares was less, if it was not more, calamitous to the Athenians, +and that of Dionysius to the Syracusans, than they were to the tyrants +themselves; for it was disturbing that made them be disturbed; and +their first oppressing and pestering of others gave them occasion to +expect to suffer ill themselves. Why should a man recount the outrages +of rabbles, the barbarities of thieves, or the villanies of inheritors, +or yet the contagions of airs and the concursions of seas, by which +Epicurus (as himself writeth) was in his voyage to Lampsacus within +very little of drowning? The very composition of the body—it containing +in it the matter of all diseases, and (to use a pleasantry of the +vulgar) cutting thongs for the beast out of its own hide, I mean pains +out of the body—is sufficient to render life perilous and uneasy, and +that to the good as well as to the bad, if they have learned to place +their complacence and assurance in the body and the hopes they have +of it, and in nothing else; as Epicurus hath written, as well in many +other of his discourses as in that of Man’s End. + +7. They therefore assign not only a treacherous and unsure ground of +their pleasurable living, but also one in all respects despicable and +little, if the escaping of evils be the matter of their complacence +and last good. But now they tell us, nothing else can be so much as +imagined, and nature hath no other place to bestow her good in but only +that out of which her evil hath been driven; as Metrodorus speaks in +his book against the Sophists. So that this single thing, to escape +evil, he says, is the supreme good; for there is no room to lodge this +good in where nothing of what is painful and afflicting goes out. +Like unto this is that of Epicurus, where he saith: The very essence +of good arises from the escaping of bad, and a man’s recollecting, +considering, and rejoicing within himself that this hath befallen him. +For what occasions transcending joy (he saith) is some great impending +evil escaped; and in this lies the very nature and essence of good, if +a man attain unto it aright, and contain himself when he hath done, +and not ramble and prate idly about it. Oh the rare satisfaction and +felicity these men enjoy, that can thus rejoice for having undergone no +evil and endured neither sorrow nor pain! Have they not reason, think +you, to value themselves for such things as these, and to talk as they +are wont when they style themselves immortals and equals to Gods?—and +when, through the excessiveness and transcendency of the blessed things +they enjoy, they rave even to the degree of whooping and hollowing for +very satisfaction that, to the shame of all mortals, they have been the +only men that could find out this celestial and divine good that lies +in an exemption from all evil? So that their beatitude differs little +from that of swine and sheep, while they place it in a mere tolerable +and contented state, either of the body, or of the mind upon the body’s +account. For even the wiser and more ingenious sort of brutes do not +esteem escaping of evil their last end; but when they have taken their +repast, they are disposed next by fulness to singing, and they divert +themselves with swimming and flying; and their gayety and sprightliness +prompt them to entertain themselves with attempting to counterfeit all +sorts of voices and notes; and then they make their caresses to one +another, by skipping and dancing one towards another; nature inciting +them, after they have escaped evil, to look after some good, or rather +to shake off what they find uneasy and disagreeing, as an impediment to +their pursuit of something better and more congenial. + +8. For what we cannot be without deserves not the name of good; but +that which claims our desire and preference must be something beyond a +bare escape from evil. And so, by Jove, must that be too that is either +agreeing or congenial to us, according to Plato, who will not allow us +to give the name of pleasures to the bare departures of sorrows and +pains, but would have us look upon them rather as obscure draughts +and mixtures of agreeing and disagreeing, as of black and white, +while the extremes would advance themselves to a middle temperament. +But oftentimes unskilfulness and ignorance of the true nature of the +extreme occasions some to mistake the middle temperament for the +extreme and outmost part. Thus do Epicurus and Metrodorus, while +they make avoiding of evil to be the very essence and consummation +of good, and so receive but as it were the satisfaction of slaves or +of rogues newly discharged the gaol, who are well enough contented +if they may but wash and supple their sores and the stripes they +received by whipping, but never in their lives had one taste or sight +of a generous, clean, unmixed, and unulcerated joy. For it follows +not that, if it be vexatious to have one’s body itch or one’s eyes to +run, it must be therefore a blessing to scratch one’s self, and to +wipe one’s eye with a rag; nor that, if it be bad to be dejected or +dismayed at divine matters or to be discomposed with the relations of +hell, therefore the bare avoiding of all this must be some happy and +amiable thing. The truth is, these men’s opinion, though it pretends so +far to outgo that of the vulgar, allows their joy but a straight and +narrow compass to toss and tumble in, while it extends it but to an +exemption from the fear of hell, and so makes that the top of acquired +wisdom which is doubtless natural to the brutes. For if freedom from +bodily pain be still the same, whether it come by endeavor or by +nature, neither then is an undisturbed state of mind the greater for +being attained to by industry than if it came by nature. Though a man +may with good reason maintain that to be the more confirmed habit of +the mind which naturally admits of no disorder, than that which by +application and judgment eschews it. + +But let us suppose them both equal; they will yet appear not one jot +superior to the beasts for being unconcerned at the stories of hell +and the legends of the Gods, and for not expecting endless sorrows +and everlasting torments hereafter. For it is Epicurus himself that +tells us that, had our surmises about celestial things and our foolish +apprehensions of death and the pains that ensue it given us no +disquiet, we had not then needed to contemplate nature for our relief. +For neither have the brutes any weak surmises of the Gods or fond +opinions about things after death to disorder themselves with; nor +have they as much as imagination or notion that there is any thing in +these to be dreaded. I confess, had they left us the benign providence +of God as a presumption, wise men might then seem, by reason of their +good hopes from thence, to have something towards a pleasurable life +that beasts have not. But now, since they have made it the scope of +all their discourses of God that they may not fear him, but may be +eased of all concern about him, I much question whether those that +never thought at all of him have not this in a more confirmed degree +than they that have learned to think he can do no harm. For if they +were never freed from superstition, they never fell into it; and if +they never laid aside a disturbing conceit of God, they never took one +up. The like may be said as to hell and the future state. For though +neither the Epicurean nor the brute can hope for any good thence; yet +such as have no forethought of death at all cannot but be less amused +and scared with what comes after it than they that betake themselves +to the principle that death is nothing to us. But something to them it +must be, at least so far as they concern themselves to reason about it +and contemplate it; but the beasts are wholly exempted from thinking +of what appertains not to them; and if they fly from blows, wounds, +and slaughters, they fear no more in death than is dismaying to the +Epicurean himself. + +9. Such then are the things they boast to have attained by their +philosophy. Let us now see what those are they deprive themselves of +and chase away from them. For those diffusions of the mind that arise +from the body, and the pleasing condition of the body, if they be +but moderate, appear to have nothing in them that is either great or +considerable; but if they be excessive, besides their being vain and +uncertain, they are also importune and petulant; nor should a man term +them either mental satisfactions or gayeties, but rather corporeal +gratifications, they being at best but the simperings and effeminacies +of the mind. But now such as justly deserve the names of complacencies +and joys are wholly refined from their contraries, and are immixed with +neither vexation, remorse, nor repentance; and their good is congenial +to the mind and truly mental and genuine, and not superinduced. Nor is +it devoid of reason, but most rational, as springing either from that +in the mind that is contemplative and enquiring, or else from that part +of it that is active and heroic. How many and how great satisfactions +either of these affords us, he that would can never relate. But to +hint briefly at some of them. We have the historians before us, which, +though they find us many and delightful exercises, still leave our +desire after truth insatiate and uncloyed with pleasure, through which +even lies are not without their grace. Yea, tales and poetic fictions, +while they cannot gain upon our belief, have something in them that is +charming to us. + +10. For do but think with yourself, with what a sting we read Plato’s +Atlantic and the conclusion of the Iliad, and how we hanker and gape +after the rest of the tale, as when some beautiful temple or theatre +is shut up. But now the informing of ourselves with the truth herself +is a thing so delectable and lovely as if our very life and being +were for the sake of knowing. And the darkest and grimmest things in +death are its oblivion, ignorance, and obscurity. Whence, by Jove, it +is that almost all mankind encounter with those that would destroy +the sense of the departed, as placing the very whole of their life, +being, and satisfaction solely in the sensible and knowing part of the +mind. For even the things that grieve and afflict us yet afford us a +sort of pleasure in the hearing. And it is often seen that those that +are disordered by what is told them, even to the degree of weeping, +notwithstanding require the telling of it. So he in the tragedy who is +told, + + Alas! I now the very worst must tell, + +replies, + + I dread to hear it too, but I must hear.[142] + +But this may seem perhaps a sort of intemperateness of delight in +knowing every thing, and as it were a stream violently bearing down the +reasoning faculty. But now, when a story that hath in it nothing that +is troubling and afflictive treats of great and heroic enterprises with +a potency and grace of style such as we find in Herodotus’s Grecian and +in Xenophon’s Persian history, or in what, + + Inspired by heavenly Gods, sage Homer sung, + +or in the Travels of Eudoxus, the Foundations and Republics of +Aristotle, and the Lives of Famous Men compiled by Aristoxenus;—these +will not only bring us exceeding much and great contentment, but such +also as is clean and secure from repentance. And who could take greater +satisfaction either in eating when a-hungry or drinking when a-dry +amongst the Phaeacians, than in going over Ulysses’s relation of his +own voyage and rambles? And what man could be better pleased with the +embraces of the most exquisite beauty, than with sitting up all night +to read over what Xenophon hath written of Panthea, or Aristobulus of +Timoclea, or Theopompus of Thebe? + +11. But now these appertain all solely to the mind. But they chase +away from them the delights that accrue from the mathematics also. +Though the satisfactions we receive from history have in them something +simple and equal; but those that come from geometry, astronomy, and +music inveigle and allure us with a sort of nimbleness and variety, and +want nothing that is tempting and engaging; their figures attracting +us as so many charms, whereof whoever hath once tasted, if he be but +competently skilled, will run about singing that in Sophocles, + + I’m mad; the Muses with new rage inspire me. + I’ll mount the hill; my lyre, my numbers fire me.[143] + +Nor doth Thamyras break out into poetic raptures upon any other score; +nor, by Jove, Eudoxus, Aristarchus, or Archimedes. And when the lovers +of the art of painting are so enamored with the charmingness of their +own performances, that Nicias, as he was drawing the Evocation of +Ghosts in Homer, often asked his servants whether he had dined or no, +and when King Ptolemy had sent him threescore talents for his piece, +after it was finished, he neither would accept the money nor part with +his work; what and how great satisfactions may we then suppose to have +been reaped from geometry and astronomy by Euclid when he wrote his +Dioptrics, by Philippus when he had perfected his demonstration of the +figure of the moon, by Archimedes when with the help of a certain angle +he had found the sun’s diameter to make the same part of the largest +circle that that angle made of four right angles, and by Apollonius and +Aristarchus who were the inventors of some other things of the like +nature? The bare contemplating and comprehending of these now engender +in the learners both unspeakable delights and a marvellous height of +spirit. And it doth in no wise beseem me, by comparing with these the +fulsome debauchees of victualling-houses and stews, to contaminate +Helicon and the Muses,— + + Where swain his flock ne’er fed, + Nor tree by hatchet bled.[144] + +But these are the verdant and untrampled pastures of ingenious bees; +but those are more like the mange of lecherous boars and he-goats. +And though a voluptuous temper of mind be naturally fantastic and +precipitate, yet never any yet sacrificed an ox for joy that he +had gained his will of his mistress; nor did any ever wish to die +immediately, might he but once satiate himself with the costly dishes +and comfits at the table of his prince. But now Eudoxus wished he might +stand by the sun, and inform himself of the figure, magnitude, and +beauty of that luminary, though he were, like Phaethon, consumed by +it. And Pythagoras offered an ox in sacrifice for having completed the +lines of a certain geometric diagram; as Apollodotus tells us, + + When the famed lines Pythagoras devised, + For which a splendid ox he sacrificed. + +Whether it was that by which he showed that the [square of the] line +that regards the right angle in a triangle is equivalent to the +[squares of the] two lines that contain that angle, or the problem +about the area of the parabolic section of a cone. And Archimedes’s +servants were forced to hale him away from his draughts, to be anointed +in the bath; but he notwithstanding drew the lines upon his belly with +his strigil. And when, as he was washing (as the story goes of him), he +thought of a manner of computing the proportion of gold in King Hiero’s +crown by seeing the water flowing over the bathing-stool, he leaped up +as one possessed or inspired, crying, “I have found it” (εὕρηκα); which +after he had several times repeated, he went his way. But we never yet +heard of a glutton that exclaimed with such vehemence, “I have eaten,” +or of an amorous gallant that ever cried, “I have kissed,” among the +many millions of dissolute debauchees that both this and preceding +ages have produced. Yea, we abominate those that make mention of their +great suppers with too luscious a gust, as men overmuch taken with mean +and abject delights. But we find ourselves in one and the same ecstasy +with Eudoxus, Archimedes, and Hipparchus; and we readily give assent +to Plato when he saith of the mathematics, that while ignorance and +unskilledness make men despise them, they still thrive notwithstanding +by reason of their charmingness, in despite of contempt. + +12. These then so great and so many pleasures, that run like perpetual +springs and rills, these men decline and avoid; nor will they permit +those that put in among them so much as to take a taste of them, but +bid them hoist up the little sails of their paltry cock-boats and fly +from them. Nay, they all, both he and she philosophers, beg and entreat +Pythocles, for dear Epicurus’s sake, not to affect or make such account +of the sciences called liberal. And when they cry up and defend one +Apelles, they write of him that he kept himself clean by refraining +himself all along from the mathematics. But as to history—to pass +over their aversedness to other kinds of compositions—I shall only +present you with the words of Metrodorus, who in his treatise of the +Poets writes thus: Wherefore let it never disturb you, if you know not +either what side Hector was of, or the first verses in Homer’s Poem, or +again what is in its middle. But that the pleasures of the body spend +themselves like the winds called Etesian or Anniversary, and utterly +determine when once age is past its vigor, Epicurus himself was not +insensible; and therefore he makes it a problematic question, whether +a sage philosopher, when he is an old man and disabled for enjoyment, +may not still be recreated with having handsome girls to feel and grope +him, being not, it seems, of the mind of old Sophocles, who thanked God +he had at length escaped from this kind of pleasure, as from an untame +and furious master. But, in my opinion, it would be more advisable for +these sensual lechers, when they see that age will dry up so many of +their pleasures, and that, as Euripides saith, + +Dame Venus is to ancient men a foe,[145] in the first place to collect +and lay up in store, as against a siege, these other pleasures, as a +sort of provision that will not impair and decay; that then, after +they have celebrated the venereal festivals of life, they may spend +a cleanly after-feast in reading over the historians and poets, or +else in problems of music and geometry. For it would never have come +into their minds so much as to think of these purblind and toothless +gropings and spurtings of lechery, had they but learned, if nothing +more, to write comments upon Homer or Euripides, as Aristotle, +Heraclides, and Dicaearchus did. But I verily persuade myself that +their neglecting to take care for such provisions as these, and finding +all the other things they employed themselves in (as they use to say +of virtue) but insipid and dry, and being wholly set upon pleasure, +and the body no longer supplying them with it, give them occasion to +stoop to do things both mean and shameful in themselves and unbecoming +their age; as well when they refresh their memories with their former +pleasures and serve themselves of old ones (as it were) long since dead +and laid up in pickle for the purpose, when they cannot have fresh +ones, as when again they offer violence to nature by suscitating and +kindling in their decayed bodies, as in cold embers, other new ones +equally senseless, they having not, it seems, their minds stored with +any congenial pleasure that is worth the rejoicing at. + +13. As to the other delights of the mind, we have already treated +of them, as they occurred to us. But their aversedness and dislike +to music, that affords us so great delights and such charming +satisfactions, a man could not forget if he would, by reason of the +inconsistency of what Epicurus saith, when he pronounceth in his book +called his Doubts that his wise man ought to be a lover of public +spectacles and to delight above any other man in the music and shows +of the Bacchanals; and yet he will not admit of music problems or +of the critical enquiries of philologists, no, not so much as at a +compotation. Yea, he advises such princes as are lovers of the Muses +rather to entertain themselves at their feasts either with some +narration of military adventures or with the importune scurrilities +of drolls and buffoons, than to engage in disputes about music or in +questions of poetry. For this very thing he had the face to write in +his treatise of Monarchy, as if he were writing to Sardanapalus, or to +Nanarus satrap of Babylon. For neither would a Hiero nor an Attalus +nor an Archelaus be persuaded to make a Euripides, a Simonides, a +Melanippides, a Crates, or a Diodotus rise up from their tables, and +to place such scaramuchios in their rooms as a Cardax, an Agrias, or +a Callias, or fellows like Thrasonides and Thrasyleon, to make people +disorder the house with hollowing and clapping. Had the great Ptolemy, +who was the first that formed a consort of musicians, but met with +these excellent and royal admonitions, would he not, think you, have +thus addressed himself to the Samians: + + O Muse, whence art thou thus maligned? + +For certainly it can never belong to any Athenian to be in such enmity +and hostility with the Muses. But + + No animal accurst by Jove + Music’s sweet charms can ever love.[146] + +What sayest thou now, Epicurus? Wilt thou get thee up betimes in +the morning, and go to the theatre to hear the harpers and flutists +play? But if a Theophrastus discourse at the table of Concords, or an +Aristoxenus of Varieties, or if an Aristophanes play the critic upon +Homer, wilt thou presently, for very dislike and abhorrence, clap both +thy hands upon thy ears? And do they not hereby make the Scythian +king Ateas more musical than this comes to, who, when he heard that +admirable flutist Ismenias, detained then by him as a prisoner of war, +playing upon the flute at a compotation, swore he had rather hear his +own horse neigh? And do they not also profess themselves to stand at an +implacable and irreconcilable defiance with whatever is generous and +becoming? And indeed what do they ever embrace or affect that is either +genteel or regardable, when it hath nothing of pleasure to accompany +it? And would it not far less affect a pleasurable way of living, to be +disgusted with perfumes and odors, like beetles and vultures, than to +shun and abhor the conversation of learned critics and musicians? For +what flute or harp ready tuned for a lesson, or + + What sweetest consort e’er with artful noise, + Warbled by softest tongue and best tuned voice, + +ever gave Epicurus and Metrodorus such content as the disputes and +precepts about consorts gave Aristotle, Theophrastus, Hieronymus, +and Dicaearchus? And also the problems about flutes, rhythms, and +harmonies; as, for instance, why the slenderer of two flutes of the +same longitude should speak flatter?—why, if you raise the pipe, will +all its notes be sharp; and flat again, if you lower it?—and why, +when clapped to another, will it sound flatter; and sharper again, +when taken from it?—why also, if you scatter chaff or dust about the +orchestra of a theatre, will the sound be softened?—and why, when one +would have set up a bronze Alexander for a frontispiece to a stage +at Pella, did the architect advise to the contrary, because it would +spoil the actors’ voices?—and why, of the several kinds of music, will +the chromatic diffuse and the harmonic compose the mind? But now the +several humors of poets, their differing turns and forms of style, and +the solutions of their difficult places, have conjoined with a sort of +dignity and politeness somewhat also that is extremely agreeable and +charming; insomuch that to me they seem to do what was once said by +Xenophon, to make a man even forget the joys of love, so powerful and +overcoming is the pleasure they bring us. + +14. Of all this these gentlemen have not the least share, nor do they +so much as pretend or desire to have any. But while they are sinking +and depressing their contemplative part into the body, and dragging it +down by their sensual and intemperate appetites, as by so many weights +of lead, they make themselves appear little better than hostlers or +graziers that still ply their cattle with hay, straw, or grass, looking +upon such provender as the properest and meetest food for them. And is +it not even thus they would swill the mind with the pleasures of the +body, as hogherds do their swine, while they will not allow it can be +gay any longer than it is hoping, feeling, or remembering something +that refers to the body; but will not have it either to receive or seek +for any congenial joy or satisfaction from within itself? Though what +can be more absurd and unreasonable than—when there are two things that +go to make up the man, a body and a soul, and the soul besides hath +the prerogative of governing—that the body should have its peculiar, +natural, and proper good, and the soul none at all, but must sit +gazing at the body and simper at its passions, as if she were pleased +and affected with them, though indeed she be all the while wholly +untouched and unconcerned, as having nothing of her own to choose, +desire, or take delight in? For they should either pull off the vizor +quite, and say plainly that man is all body (as some of them do, that +take away all mental being), or, if they will allow us to have two +distinct natures, they should then leave to each its proper good and +evil, agreeable and disagreeable; as we find it to be with our senses, +each of which is peculiarly adapted to its own sensible, though they +all very strangely intercommune one with another. Now the intellect is +the proper sense of the mind; and therefore that it should have no +congenial speculation, movement, or affection of its own, the attaining +to which should be matter of complacency to it, is the most irrational +thing in the world, if I have not, by Jove, unwittingly done the men +wrong, and been myself imposed upon by some that may perhaps have +calumniated them. + +15. Then I said to him: If we may be your judges, you have not; yea, +we must acquit you of having offered them the least indignity; and +therefore pray despatch the rest of your discourse with assurance. How! +said he, and shall not Aristodemus then succeed me, if you are tired +out yourself? Aristodemus said: With all my heart, when you are as much +tired as he is; but since you are yet in your vigor, pray make use of +yourself, my noble friend, and don’t think to pretend weariness. Theon +then replied: What is yet behind, I must confess, is very easy; it +being but to go over the several pleasures contained in that part of +life that consists in action. Now themselves somewhere say that there +is far more satisfaction in doing than in receiving good; and good may +be done many times, it is true, by words, but the most and greatest +part of good consists in action, as the very name of beneficence tells +us and they themselves also attest. For you may remember, continued he, +we heard this gentleman tell us but now what words Epicurus uttered, +and what letters he sent to his friends, applauding and magnifying +Metrodorus,—how bravely and like a spark he quitted the city and went +down to the port to relieve Mithrus the Syrian,—and this, though +Metrodorus did not then do any thing at all. What and how great then +may we presume the pleasures of Plato to have been, when Dion by the +measures he gave him deposed the tyrant Dionysius and set Sicily at +liberty? And what the pleasures of Aristotle, when he rebuilt his +native city Stagira, then levelled with the ground, and brought back +its exiled inhabitants? And what the pleasures of Theophrastus and of +Phidias, when they cut off the tyrants of their respective countries? +For what need a man recount to you, who so well know it, how many +particular persons they relieved, not by sending them a little wheat +or a measure of meal (as Epicurus did to some of his friends), but by +procuring restoration to the banished, liberty to the imprisoned, and +restitution of wives and children to those that had been bereft of +them? But a man could not, if he would, pass by the sottish stupidity +of the man who, though he tramples under foot and vilifies the great +and generous actions of Themistocles and Miltiades, yet writes these +very words to his friends about himself: “You have given a very gallant +and noble testimony of your care of me in the provision of corn you +have made for me, and have declared your affection to me by signs +that mount to the very skies.” So that, should a man but take that +poor parcel of corn out of the great philosopher’s epistle, it might +seem to be the recital of some letter of thanks for the delivery or +preservation of all Greece or of the commons of Athens. + +16. We will now forbear to mention that Nature requires very large and +chargeable provisions to be made for accomplishing the pleasures of the +body; nor can the height of delicacy be had in barley bread and lentil +pottage. But voluptuous and sensual appetites expect costly dishes, +Thasian wines, perfumed unguents, and varieties of pastry works, + + And cakes by female hands wrought artfully, + Well steep’d in th’ liquor of the gold-wing’d bee;[147] + +and besides all this, handsome young lassies too, such as Leontion, +Boidion, Hedia, and Nicedion, that were wont to roam about in +Epicurus’s philosophic garden. But now such joys as suit the mind must +undoubtedly be grounded upon a grandeur of actions and a splendor of +worthy deeds, if men would not seem little, ungenerous, and puerile, +but on the contrary, bulky, firm, and brave. But for a man to be elated +with pleasures, as Epicurus is, like tarpaulins upon the festivals of +Venus, and to vaunt himself that, when he was sick of an ascites, he +notwithstanding called his friends together to certain collations and +grudged not his dropsy the satisfaction of good liquors, and that, +when he called to remembrance the last words of Neocles, he was melted +with a peculiar sort of joy intermixed with tears,—no man in his right +senses would call these true joys or satisfactions. Nay, I will be bold +to say that, if such a thing as that they call a sardonic or grinning +laughter can happen to the mind, it is to be found in these forcings +and crying laughters. But if any will needs have them still called by +the name of joys and satisfactions, let him but yet think how far they +are exceeded by the pleasures that here ensue: + + Our counsels have proud Sparta’s glory clipt; + +and + + Stranger, this is his country Rome’s great star; + +and again this, + + I know not which to guess thee, man or God. + +Now when I set before my eyes the brave achievements of Thrasybulus and +Pelopidas, of Aristides engaged at Plataea and Miltiades at Marathon, +I am here constrained with Herodotus to declare it my opinion, that +in an active state of life the pleasure far exceeds the glory. And +Epaminondas herein bears me witness also, when he saith (as is +reported of him), that the greatest satisfaction he ever received in +his life was that his father and mother had lived to see the trophy +set up at Leuctra when himself was general. Let us then compare +with Epaminondas’s Epicurus’s mother, rejoicing that she had lived +to see her son cooping himself up in a little garden, and getting +children in common with Polyaenus upon the strumpet of Cyzicus. As +for Metrodorus’s mother and sister, how extravagantly rejoiced they +were at his nuptials appears by the letters he wrote to his brother +in answer to his; that is, out of his own books. Nay, they tell us +bellowing that they have not only lived a life of pleasure, but also +exult and sing hymns in the praise of their own living. Now, when our +servants celebrate the festivals of Saturn or go in procession at the +time of the rural bacchanals, you would scarcely brook the hollowing +and din they make, should the intemperateness of their joy and their +insensibleness of decorum make them act and speak such things as these: + + Lean down, boy! why dost sit! let’s tope like mad! + Here’s belly-timber store; ne’er spare it, lad. + Straight these huzza like wild. One fills up drink; + Another plaits a wreath, and crowns the brink + O’ th’ teeming bowl. Then to the verdant bays + All chant rude carols in Apollo’s praise; + While one his door with drunken fury smites, + Till he from bed his pretty consort frights. + +And are not Metrodorus’s words something like to these when he writes +to his brother thus: It is none of our business to preserve the Greeks, +or to get them to bestow garlands upon us for our wit, but to eat well +and drink good wine, Timocrates, so as not to offend but pleasure our +stomachs. And he saith again, in some other place in the same epistles: +How gay and how assured was I, when I had once learned of Epicurus +the true way of gratifying my stomach; for, believe me, philosopher +Timocrates, our prime good lies at the stomach. + +17. In brief, these men draw out the dimensions of their pleasures +like a circle, about the stomach as a centre. And the truth is, it is +impossible for those men ever to participate of generous and princely +joy, such as enkindles a height of spirit in us and sends forth to all +mankind an unmade hilarity and calm serenity, that have taken up a sort +of life that is confined, unsocial, inhuman, and uninspired towards +the esteem of the world and the love of mankind. For the soul of man +is not an abject, little, and ungenerous thing, nor doth it extend its +desires (as polyps do their claws) unto eatables only,—yea, these are +in an instant of time taken off by the least plenitude,—but when its +efforts towards what is brave and generous and the honors and caresses +that accrue therefrom are now in their consummate vigor, this life’s +duration cannot limit them, but the desire of glory and the love of +mankind grasp at whole eternity, and wrestle with such actions and +charms as bring with them an ineffable pleasure, and such as good men, +though never so fain, cannot decline, they meeting and accosting them +on all sides and surrounding them about, while their being beneficial +to many occasions joy to themselves. + + As he passes through the throngs in the city, + All gaze upon him as some Deity.[148] + +For he that can so affect and move other men as to fill them with joy +and rapture, and to make them long to touch him and salute him, cannot +but appear even to a blind man to possess and enjoy very extraordinary +satisfactions in himself. And hence it comes that such men are both +indefatigable and undaunted in serving the public, and we still hear +some such words from them: + + Thy father got thee for the common good; + +and + + Let’s not give off to benefit mankind. + +But what need I instance in those that are consummately good? For if +to one of the middling rank of bad men, when he is just a dying, he +that hath the power over him (whether his God or prince) should but +allow one hour more, upon condition that, after he hath spent that +either in some generous action or in sensual enjoyment, he should then +presently die, who would in this time choose rather to accompany with +Lais or drink Ariusian wine, than to despatch Archias and restore the +Thebans to their liberties? For my part I believe none would. For I +see that even common sword-players, if they are not utter brutes and +savages, but Greek born, when they are to enter the list, though there +be many and very costly dishes set before them, yet take more content +in employing their time in commending their poor wives to some of +their friends, yea, and in conferring freedom on their slaves, than +in gratifying their stomachs. But should the pleasures of the body be +allowed to have some extraordinary matter in them, this would yet be +common to men of action and business. + + For they can eat good meat, and red wine drink,[149] + +aye, and entertain themselves with their friends, and perhaps with +a greater relish too, after their engagements and hard services,—as +did Alexander and Agesilaus, and (by Jove) Phocion and Epaminondas +too,—than these gentlemen who anoint themselves by the fireside, and +are gingerly rocked about the streets in sedans. Yea, those make but +small account of such pleasures as these, as being comprised in those +greater ones. For why should a man mention Epaminondas’s denying to +sup with one, when he saw the preparations made were above the man’s +estate, but frankly telling his friend, “I thought you had intended +a sacrifice and not a debauch,” when Alexander himself refused Queen +Ada’s cooks, telling her he had better ones of his own, to wit, +travelling by night for his dinner, and a light dinner for his supper, +and when Philoxenus writing to him about some handsome boys, and +desiring to know of him whether he would have him buy them for him, +was within a small matter of being discharged his office for it? And +yet who might better have them than he? But as Hippocrates saith that +of two pains the lesser is obscured by the greater, so the pleasures +that accrue from action and the love of glory, while they cheer and +refresh the mind, do by their transcendency and grandeur obliterate and +extinguish the inferior satisfactions of the body. + +18. If then the remembering of former good things (as they affirm) be +that which most contributes to a pleasurable living, not one of us will +then credit Epicurus when he tells us that, while he was dying away in +the midst of the strongest agonies and distempers, he yet bore himself +up with the memory of the pleasures he formerly enjoyed. For a man +may better see the resemblance of his own face in a troubled deep or +a storm, than a smooth and smiling remembrance of past pleasure in a +body tortured with such lancing and rending pains. But now the memories +of past actions no man can put from him that would. For did Alexander, +think you, (or indeed could he possibly) forget the fight at Arbela? +Or Pelopidas the tyrant Leontiadas? Or Themistocles the engagement at +Salamis? For the Athenians to this very day keep an annual festival +for the battle at Marathon, and the Thebans for that at Leuctra; +and so, by Jove, do we ourselves (as you very well know) for that +which Daiphantus gained at Hyampolis, and all Phocis is filled with +sacrifices and public honors. Nor is there any of us that is better +satisfied with what himself hath either eaten or drunk than he is with +what they have achieved. It is very easy then to imagine what great +content, satisfaction, and joy accompanied the authors of these actions +in their lifetime, when the very memory of them hath not yet after five +hundred years and more lost its rejoicing power. The truth is, Epicurus +himself allows there are some pleasures derived from fame. And indeed +why should he not, when he himself had such a furious lechery and +wriggling after glory as made him not only to disown his masters and +scuffle about syllables and accents with his fellow-pedant Democritus +(whose doctrines he stole verbatim), and to tell his disciples there +never was a wise man in the world besides himself, but also to put it +in writing how Colotes performed adoration to him, as he was one day +philosophizing, by touching his knees, and that his own brother Neocles +was used from a child to say, “There neither is, nor ever was in the +world, a wiser man than Epicurus,” and that his mother had just so many +atoms within her as, when they came together, must have produced a +complete wise man? May not a man then—as Callicratidas once said of the +Athenian admiral Conon, that he whored the sea—as well say of Epicurus +that he basely and covertly forces and ravishes Fame, by not enjoying +her publicly but ruffling and debauching her in a corner? For as men’s +bodies are oft necessitated by famine, for want of other food, to prey +against nature upon themselves, a like mischief to this does vain-glory +create in men’s minds, forcing them, when they hunger after praise and +cannot obtain it from other men, at last to commend themselves. + +19. And do not they then that stand so well affected towards applause +and fame themselves own they cast away very extraordinary pleasures, +when they decline magistrature, public offices, and the favor and +confidences of princes, from whom Democritus once said the grandest +blessings of human life are derived? For he will never induce any +mortal to believe, that he that could so highly value and please +himself with the attestation of his brother Neocles and the adoration +of his friend Colotes would not, were he clapped by all the Greeks at +the Olympiads, go quite out of his wits and even hollow for joy, or +rather indeed be elated in the manner spoken of by Sophocles, + + Puffed like the down of a gray-headed thistle. + +If it be a pleasing thing then to be of a good fame, it is on the +contrary afflictive to be of an ill one; and it is most certain that +nothing in the world can be more infamous than want of friendship, +idleness, atheism, debauchery, and negligence. Now these are looked +upon by all men except themselves as inseparable companions of their +party. But unjustly, some one may say. Be it so then; for we consider +not now the truth of the charge, but what fame and reputation they +are of in the world. And we shall forbear at present to mention the +many books that have been written to defame them, and the blackening +decrees made against them by several republics; for that would look +like bitterness. But if the answers of oracles, the providence of the +Gods, and the tenderness and affection of parents to their issue,—if +civil policy, military order, and the office of magistracy be things +to be looked upon as deservedly esteemed and celebrated, it must of +necessity then be allowed also, that they that tell us it is none of +their business to preserve the Greeks, but they must eat and drink so +as not to offend but pleasure their stomachs, are base and ignominious +persons, and that their being reputed such must needs extremely humble +them and make their lives untoward to them, if they take honor and a +good name for any part of their satisfaction. + +20. When Theon had thus spoken, we thought good to break up our walk +to rest us awhile (as we were wont to do) upon the benches. Nor did +we continue any long space in our silence at what was spoken; for +Zeuxippus, taking his hint from what had been said, spake to us: Who +will make up that of the discourse which is yet behind? For it hath +not yet received its due conclusion; and this gentleman, by mentioning +divination and providence, did in my opinion suggest as much to us; +for these people boast that these very things contribute in no small +degree to the providing of their lives with pleasure, serenity, +and assurance; so that there must be something said to these too. +Aristodemus subjoined then and said: As to pleasure, I think there hath +been enough said already to evince that, supposing their doctrine to +be successful and to attain its own design, it yet doth but ease us of +fear and a certain superstitious persuasion, but helps us not to any +comfort or joy from the Gods at all; nay, while it brings us to such a +state as to be neither disquieted nor pleased with them, it doth but +render us in the same manner affected towards them as we are towards +the Scythians or Hyrcanians, from whom we expect neither good nor harm. +But if something more must yet be added to what hath been already +spoken, I think I may very well take it from themselves. And in the +first place, they quarrel extremely with those that would take away +all sorrowing, weeping, and sighing for the death of friends, and tell +them that such unconcernedness as arrives to an insensibility proceeds +from some other worse cause, to wit, inhumanity, excessive vain-glory, +or prodigious fierceness, and that therefore it would be better to be +a little concerned and affected, yea, and to liquor one’s eyes and +be melted, with other pretty things of the like kind, which they use +foppishly to affect and counterfeit, that they may be thought tender +and loving-hearted people. For just in this manner Epicurus expressed +himself upon the occasion of the death of Hegesianax, when he wrote to +Dositheus the father and to Pyrson the brother of the deceased person; +for I fortuned very lately to run over his epistles. And I say, in +imitation of them, that atheism is no less an evil than inhumanity and +vain-glory, and into this they would lead us who take away with God’s +anger the comfort we might derive from him. For it would be much better +for us to have something of the unsuiting passion of dauntedness and +fear conjoined and intermixed with our sentiments of a Deity, than +while we fly from it, to leave ourselves neither hope, comfort, nor +assurance in the enjoyment of our good things, nor any recourse to God +in our adversity and misfortunes. + +21. We ought, it is true, to remove superstition from the persuasion +we have of the Gods, as we would the gum from our eyes; but if that +be impossible, we must not root out and extinguish with it the belief +which the most have of the Gods; nor is that a dismaying and sour +one either, as these gentlemen feign, while they libel and abuse the +blessed Providence, representing her as a hobgoblin or as some fell and +tragic fury. Yea, I must tell you, there are some in the world that +fear God in an excess, for whom yet it would not be better not so to +fear him. For, while they dread him as a governor that is gentle to the +good and severe to the bad, and are by this one fear, which makes them +not to need many others, freed from doing ill and brought to keep their +wickedness with them in quiet and (as it were) in an enfeebled languor, +they come hereby to have less disquiet than those that indulge the +practice of it and are rash and daring in it, and then presently after +fear and repent of it. Now that disposition of mind which the greater +and ignorant part of mankind, that are not utterly bad, are of towards +God, hath, it is very true, conjoined with the regard and honor they +pay him, a kind of anguish and astonished dread, which is also called +superstition; but ten thousand times more and greater than this are the +good hope and true joy that attend it, which both implore and receive +the whole benefit of prosperity and good success from the Gods only. +And this is manifest by the greatest tokens that can be; for neither do +the discourses of those that wait at the temples, nor the good times +of our solemn festivals, nor any other actions or sights more recreate +and delight us than what we see and do about the Gods ourselves, while +we assist at the public ceremonies, and join in the sacred balls, and +attend at the sacrifices and initiations. For the mind is not then +sorrowful, demiss, and heavy, as she would be if she were addressing +to certain tyrants or cruel torturers; but on the contrary, where she +is most apprehensive and fullest persuaded the Divinity is present, +there she most of all throws off sorrows, tears, and pensiveness, and +lets herself loose to what is pleasing and agreeable, to the very +degree of tipsiness, frolic, and laughter. In amorous concerns, as the +poet said once, + + When old man and old wife think of love’s fires, + Their frozen breasts will swell with new desires; + +but now in the public processions and sacrifices not only the old man +and the old wife, nor yet the poor and mean man only, but also + + The dusty thick-legged drab that turns the mill, + +and household-slaves and day-laborers, are strangely elevated and +transported with mirth and jovialty. Rich men as well as princes are +used at certain times to make public entertainments and to keep open +houses; but the feasts they make at the solemnities and sacrifices, +when they now apprehend their minds to approach nearest the Divinity, +have conjoined with the honor and veneration which they pay him a +much more transcending pleasure and satisfaction. Of this, he that +hath renounced God’s providence hath not the least share; for what +recreates and cheers us at the festivals is not the store of good wine +and roast meat, but the good hope and persuasion that God is there +present and propitious to us, and kindly accepts of what we do. From +some of our festivals we exclude the flute and garland; but if God be +not present at the sacrifice, as the solemnity of the banquet, the rest +is but unhallowed, unfeast-like, and uninspired. Indeed the whole is +but ungrateful and irksome to such a man; for he asks for nothing at +all, but only acts his prayers and adorations for fear of the public, +and utters expressions contradictory to his philosophy. And when he +sacrifices, he stands by and looks upon the priest as he kills the +offering but as he doth upon a butcher; and when he hath done, he goes +his way, saying with Menander, + + To bribe the Gods I sacrificed my best, + But they ne’er minded me nor my request. + +For such a mien Epicurus would have us to put on, and neither to envy +nor to incur the hatred of the common sort by doing ourselves with +displeasure what others do with delight. For, as Evenus saith, + + No man can love what he is made to do. + +For which very reason they think the superstitious are not pleased +in their minds but in fear while they attend at the sacrifices and +mysteries; though they themselves are in no better condition, if they +do the same things out of fear, and partake not either of as great good +hope as the others do, but are only fearful and uneasy lest they should +come to be discovered cheating and abusing the public, upon whose +account it is that they compose the books they write about the Gods and +the Divine Nature, + + Involved, with nothing truly said, + But all around enveloped; + +hiding out of fear the real opinions they contain. + +22. And now, after the two former ranks of ill and common men, we +will in the third place consider the best sort and most beloved of +the Gods, and what great satisfactions they receive from their clean +and generous sentiments of the Deity, to wit, that he is the Prince +of all good things and the Parent of all things brave, and can no +more do an unworthy thing than he can be made to suffer it. For he is +good, and he that is good can upon no account fall into envy, fear, +anger, or hatred; for it is not proper to a hot thing to cool, but to +heat; nor to a good thing to do harm. Now anger is by nature at the +farthest distance imaginable from complacency, and spleenishness from +placidness, and animosity and turbulence from humanity and kindness. +For the latter of these proceed from generosity and fortitude, but +the former from impotency and baseness. The Deity is not therefore +constrained by either anger or kindnesses; but that is because it is +natural to it to be kind and aiding, and unnatural to be angry and +hurtful. But the great Jove, whose mansion is in heaven and who drives +his winged chariot, is the first that descends downwards and orders +all things and takes the care of them. But of the other Gods one is +surnamed the Distributer, and another the Mild, and a third the Averter +of Evil. And according to Pindar, + + Apollo was by mighty Jove designed + Of all the Gods to be to man most kind. + +And Diogenes saith, that all things are the Gods’, and friends have +all things common, and good men are the Gods’ friends; and therefore +it is impossible either that a man beloved of the Gods should not be +happy, or that a wise and a just man should not be beloved of the Gods. +Can you think then that they that take away Providence need any other +chastisement, or that they have not a sufficient one already, when +they root out of themselves such vast satisfaction and joy as we that +stand thus affected towards the Deity have? Metrodorus, Polyaenus, +and Aristobulus were the confidence and rejoicing of Epicurus; the +better part of whom he all his lifetime either attended upon in their +sicknesses or lamented at their deaths. So did Lycurgus, when he was +saluted by the Delphic prophetess, + + Dear friend to heavenly Jove and all the Gods. + +And did Socrates when he believed that a certain Divinity was used +out of kindness to discourse him, and Pindar when he heard Pan sing +one of the sonnets he had composed, but a little rejoice, think you? +Or Phormio, when he thought he had treated Castor and Pollux at his +house? Or Sophocles, when he entertained Aesculapius, as both he +himself believed, and others too, that thought the same with him by +reason of the apparition that then happened? What opinion Hermogenes +had of the Gods is well worth the recounting in his very own words. +“For these Gods,” saith he, “who know all things and can do all things, +are so friendly and loving to me that, because they take care of me, I +never escape them either by night or by day, wherever I go or whatever +I am about. And because they know beforehand what issue every thing +will have, they signify it to me by sending angels, voices, dreams, and +presages.” + +23. Very amiable things must those be that come to us from the +Gods; but when these very things come by the Gods too, this is what +occasions vast satisfaction and unspeakable assurance, a sublimity of +mind and a joy that, like a smiling brightness, doth as it were gild +over our good things with a glory. But now those that are persuaded +otherwise obstruct the very sweetest part of their prosperity, and +leave themselves nothing to turn to in their adversity; but when they +are in distress, look only to this one refuge and port, dissolution +and insensibility; just as if in a storm or tempest at sea, some one +should, to hearten the rest, stand up and say to them: Gentlemen, +the ship hath never a pilot in it, nor will Castor and Pollux come +themselves to assuage the violence of the beating waves or to lay the +swift careers of the winds; yet I can assure you there is nothing at +all to be dreaded in all this, for the vessel will be immediately +swallowed up by the sea, or else will very quickly fall off and be +dashed in pieces against the rocks. For this is Epicurus’s way of +discourse to persons under grievous distempers and excessive pains. +Dost thou hope for any good from the Gods for thy piety? It is thy +vanity; for the blessed and incorruptible Being is not constrained by +either angers or kindnesses. Dost thou fancy something better after +this life than what thou hast here? Thou dost but deceive thyself; +for what is dissolved hath no sense, and that which hath no sense is +nothing to us. Aye; but how comes it then, my good friend, that you bid +me eat and be merry? Why, by Jove, because he that is in a great storm +cannot be far off a shipwreck; and your extreme peril will soon land +you upon Death’s strand. Though yet a passenger at sea, when he is got +off from a shattered ship, will still buoy himself up with some little +hope that he may drive his body to some shore and get out by swimming; +but now the poor soul, according to these men’s philosophy. + + Has no escape beyond the hoary main.[150] + +Yea, she presently evaporates, disperses, and perishes, even before the +body itself; so that it seems her great and excessive rejoicing must be +only for having learned this one sage and divine maxim, that all her +misfortunes will at last determine in her own destruction, dissolution, +and annihilation. + +24. But (said he, looking upon me) I should be impertinent, should +I say any thing upon this subject, when we have heard you but now +discourse so fully against those that would persuade us that Epicurus’s +doctrine about the soul renders men more disposed and better pleased to +die than Plato’s doth. Zeuxippus therefore subjoined and said: And must +our present debate be left then unfinished because of that? Or shall we +be afraid to oppose that divine oracle to Epicurus? No, by no means, I +said; and Empedocles tells us that + + What’s very good claims to be heard twice. + +Therefore we must apply ourselves again to Theon; for I think he was +present at our former discourse; and moreover, he is a young man, and +needs not fear being charged by these young gentlemen with having a bad +memory. + +25. Then Theon, like one constrained, said: Well then, if you will +needs have me to go on with the discourse, I will not do as you did, +Aristodemus. For you were shy of repeating what this gentleman spoke, +but I shall not scruple to make use of what you have said; for I think +indeed you did very well divide mankind into three ranks; the first of +wicked and very bad men, the second of the vulgar and common sort, and +the third of good and wise men. The wicked and bad sort then, while +they dread any kind of divine vengeance and punishment at all, and are +by this deterred from doing mischief, and thereby enjoy the greater +quiet, will live both in more pleasure and in less disturbance for it. +And Epicurus is of opinion that the only proper means to keep men from +doing ill is the fear of punishments. So that we should cram them with +more and more superstition still, and raise up against them terrors, +chasms, frights, and surmises, both from heaven and earth, if their +being amazed with such things as these will make them become the more +tame and gentle. For it is more for their benefit to be restrained from +criminal actions by the fear of what comes after death, than to commit +them and then to live in perpetual danger and fear. + +26. As to the vulgar sort, besides their fear of what is in hell, the +hope they have conceived of an eternity from the tales and fictions +of the ancients, and their great desire of being, which is both the +earliest and the strongest of all, exceed in pleasure and sweet content +of mind that childish dread. And therefore, when they lose their +children, wives or friends, they would rather have them be somewhere +and still remain, though in misery, than that they should be quite +destroyed, dissolved, and reduced to nothing. And they are pleased when +they hear it said of a dying person, that he goes away or departs, +and such other words as intimate death to be the soul’s remove and not +destruction. And they sometimes speak thus: + + But I’ll even there think on my dearest friend;[151] + +and thus + + What’s your command to Hector? Let me know; + Or to your dear old Priam shall I go?[152] + +And (there arising hereupon an erroneous deviation) they are the +better pleased when they bury with their departed friends such arms, +implements, or clothes as were most familiar to them in their lifetime; +as Minos did the Cretan flutes with Glaucus, + + Made of the shanks of a dead brindled fawn + +And if they do but imagine they either ask or desire any thing of +them, they are glad when they give it them. Thus Periander burnt his +queen’s attire with her, because he thought she had asked for it and +complained she was a-cold. Nor doth an Aeacus, an Ascalaphus, or an +Acheron much disorder them whom they have often gratified with balls, +shows, and music of every sort. But now all men shrink from that face +of death which carries with it insensibility, oblivion, and extinction +of knowledge, as being dismal, grim, and dark. And they are discomposed +when they hear it said of any one, he is perished, or he is gone, or he +is no more; and they show great uneasiness when they hear such words as +these: + + Go to the wood-clad earth he must, + And there lie shrivelled into dust, + And ne’er more laugh or drink, or hear + The charming sounds of flute or lyre; + +and these. + + But from our lips the vital spirit fled + Returns no more to wake the silent dead.[153] + +27. Wherefore they must needs cut the very throats of them that shall +with Epicurus tell them, We men were born once for all, and we cannot +be born twice, but our not being must last for ever. For this will +bring them to slight their present good as little, or rather indeed as +nothing at all compared with everlastingness, and therefore to let it +pass unenjoyed and to become wholly negligent of virtue and action, +as men disheartened and brought to a contempt of themselves, as being +but as it were of one day’s continuance and uncertain, and born for no +considerable purpose. For insensibility, dissolution, and the conceit +that what hath no sense is nothing to us, do not at all abate the fear +of death, but rather help to confirm it; for this very thing is it that +nature most dreads,— + + But may you all return to mould and wet,[154] + +to wit, the dissolution of the soul into what is without knowledge or +sense. Now, while Epicurus would have this to be a separation into +atoms and void, he doth but further cut off all hope of immortality; +to compass which (I can scarce refrain from saying) all men and women +would be well contented to be worried by Cerberus, and to carry water +into the tub full of holes, so they might but continue in being and not +be exterminated. Though (as I said before) there are not very many that +stand in fear of these things, they being but the tenets of old women +and the fabulous stories of mothers and nurses,—and even they that do +fear them yet believe that certain rites of initiation and purgation +will relieve them, by which being cleansed they shall play and dance +in hell for ever, in company with those that have the privilege of a +bright light, clear air, and the use of speech,—still to be deprived of +living disturbs all both young and old. For it seems that we + + Impatient love the light that shines on earth,[155] + +as Euripides saith. Nor are we easy or without regret when we hear this: + + Him speaking thus th’ eternal brightness leaves, + Where night the wearied steeds of day receives. + +28. And therefore it is very plain that with the belief of immortality +they take away the sweetest and greatest hopes the vulgar sort have. +And what shall we then think they take away from the good and those +that have led pious and just lives, who expect no ill after death, but +on the contrary most glorious and divine things? For, in the first +place, champions are not used to receive the garland before they have +performed their exercises, but after they have contested and proved +victorious; in like manner is it with those that are persuaded that +good men have the prize of their conquests after this life is ended; +it is marvellous to think to what a pitch of grandeur their virtue +raises their spirits upon the contemplation of those hopes, among the +which this is one, that they shall one day see those men that are now +insolent by reason of their wealth and power, and that foolishly flout +at their betters, undergo just punishment. In the next place, none of +the lovers of truth and the contemplation of being have here their fill +of them; they having but a watery and puddled reason to speculate with, +as it were, through the fog and mist of the body; and yet they still +look upwards like birds, as ready to take their flight to the spacious +and bright region, and endeavor to make their souls expedite and +light from things mortal, using philosophy as a study and preparation +for death. Thus I account death a truly great and accomplished good +thing; the soul being to live there a real life, which here lives not +a waking life, but suffers things most resembling dreams. If then (as +Epicurus saith) the remembrance of a dead friend be a thing every way +complacent; we may easily from thence imagine how great a joy they +deprive themselves of who think they do but embrace and pursue the +phantoms and shades of their deceased familiars, that have in them +neither knowledge nor sense, but who never expect to be with them +again, or to see their dear father and dear mother and sweet wife, nor +have any hopes of that familiarity and dear converse they have that +think of the soul with Pythagoras, Plato, and Homer. Now what their +sort of passion is like to was hinted at by Homer, when he threw into +the midst of the soldiers, as they were engaged, the shade of Aeneas, +as if he had been dead, and afterwards again presented his friends with +him himself, + + Coming alive and well, as brisk as ever; + +at which, he saith, + + They all were overjoyed.[156] + +And should not we then,—when reason shows us that a real converse with +persons departed this life may be had, and that he that loves may both +feel and be with the party that affects and loves him,—relinquish these +men that cannot so much as cast off all those airy shades and outside +barks for which they are all their time in lamentation and fresh +afflictions? + +29. Moreover, they that look upon death as the commencement of another +and better life, if they enjoy good things, are the better pleased with +them, as expecting much greater hereafter; but if they have not things +here to their minds, they do not much grumble at it, but the hopes of +those good and excellent things that are after death contain in them +such ineffable pleasures and expectances, that they wipe off and wholly +obliterate every defect and every offence from the mind, which, as on +a road or rather indeed in a short deviation out of the road, bears +whatever befalls it with great ease and moderation. But now, as to +those to whom life ends in insensibility and dissolution,—since death +brings to them no removal of evils, though it is afflicting in both +conditions, yet is it more so to those that live prosperously than to +such as undergo adversity. For it cuts the latter but from an uncertain +hope of doing better hereafter; but it deprives the former of a certain +good, to wit, their pleasurable living. And as those medicinal potions +that are not grateful to the palate but yet necessary give sick men +ease, but rake and hurt the well; just so, in my opinion, doth the +philosophy of Epicurus, which promises to those that live miserably +no happiness in death, and to those that do well an utter extinction +and dissolution of the mind, while it quite obstructs the comfort and +solace of the grave and wise and those that abound with good things, by +throwing them down from a happy living into a deprivation of both life +and being. From hence then it is manifest, that the contemplation of +the loss of good things will afflict us in as great a measure as either +the firm hope or present enjoyment of them delights us. + +30. Yea, themselves tell us, that the contemplation of future +dissolution leaves them one most assured and complacent good, to wit, +freedom from anxious surmises of incessant and endless evils, and +that Epicurus’s doctrine effects this by stopping the fear of death +by the belief in the soul’s dissolution. If then deliverance from the +expectation of infinite evils be a matter of greatest complacence, +how comes it not to be afflictive to be bereft of eternal good things +and to miss of the highest and most consummate felicity? For not to +be can be good for neither condition, but is on the contrary both +against nature and ungrateful to all that have a being. But those it +eases of the evils of life through the evils of death have, it is very +true, the want of sense to comfort them, while they, as it were, make +their escape from life. But, on the other hand, they that change +from good things to nothing seem to me to have the most dismaying end +of all, it putting a period to their happiness. For Nature doth not +fear insensibility as the entrance upon some new thing, but because +it is the privation of our present good things. For to say that the +destruction of all that we call ours toucheth us not is absurd, for +it toucheth us already by the very apprehension. And insensibility +afflicts not those that are not, but those that are, when they think +what damage they shall sustain by it in the loss of their beings +and in being suffered never to emerge from annihilation. Wherefore +it is neither the dog Cerberus nor the river Cocytus that has made +our fear of death boundless; but the threatened danger of not being, +representing it as impossible for such as are once extinct to shift +back again into being. For we cannot be born twice, and our not being +must last for ever; as Epicurus speaks. For if our end be in not being, +and that be infinite and unalterable, then hath privation of good found +out an eternal evil, to wit, a never ending insensibleness. Herodotus +was much wiser, when he said that God, having given men a taste of the +sweets of life, seems to be envious in this regard,[157] and especially +to those that conceit themselves happy, to whom pleasure is but a bait +for sorrow, they being but permitted to taste of what they must be +deprived of. For what solace or fruition or exultation would not the +perpetual injected thought of the soul’s being dispersed into infinity, +as into a certain huge and vast ocean, extinguish and quell in those +that found their amiable good and beatitude in pleasure? But if it be +true (as Epicurus thinks it is) that most men die in very acute pain, +then is the fear of death in all respects inconsolable; it bringing us +through evils unto a deprivation of good. + +31. And yet they are never wearied with their brawling and dunning +of all persons to take the escape of evil for a good, and yet not to +repute privation of good for an evil. But they still confess what +we have asserted, that death hath in it nothing of either good hope +or solace, but that all that is complacent and good is then wholly +extinguished; at which time those men look for many amiable, great, and +divine things, that conceive the minds of men to be unperishable and +immortal, or at least to go about in certain long revolutions of times, +being one while upon earth and another while in heaven, until they are +at last dissolved with the universe and then, together with the sun +and moon, sublimed into an intellective fire. So large a field and one +of so great pleasures Epicurus wholly cuts off, when he destroys (as +hath been said) the hopes and graces we should derive from the Gods, +and by that extinguishes both in our speculative capacity the desire of +knowledge, and in our active the love of glory, and confines and abases +our nature to a poor narrow thing, and that not cleanly neither, to +wit, the content the mind receives by the body, as if it were capable +of no higher good than the escape of evil. + + + + +ROMAN QUESTIONS. + + +_Question 1._ Wherefore do the Romans require a new-married woman +to touch fire and water? + +_Solution._ Is it not for one of these reasons; amongst elements +and principles, one is masculine and the other feminine;—one (fire) +hath in it the principles of motion, the other (water) hath the faculty +of a subject and matter? Or is it because fire refines and water +cleanseth, and a married wife ought to continue pure and chaste? Or is +it because fire without moisture doth not nourish, but is adust, and +water destitute of heat is barren and sluggish; so both the male and +female apart are of no force, but a conjunction of both in marriage +completes society? Or is the meaning that they must never forsake each +other, but must communicate in every fortune, and although there be no +goods, yet they may participate with each other in fire and water? + +_Question 2._ Why do they light at nuptials five torches, neither +more nor less, which they call waxen tapers? + +_Solution._ Whether it be (as Varro saith) that the Praetors use +three, but more are permitted to the Aediles, and married persons do +light the fire at the Aediles’ torches? Or is it that, having use of +many numbers, the odd number was reckoned better and perfecter upon +other accounts, and therefore more adapted to matrimony? For the even +number admits of division, and the equal parts of opposition and +repugnancy, whenas the odd cannot be divided, but being divided into +parts leaves always an inequality. The number five is most matrimonial +of odd numbers, for three is the first odd and two is the first even, +of which five is compounded, as of male and female. + +Or rather, because light is a sign of generation, and it is natural to +a woman, for the most part, to bring forth so far as five successively, +and therefore they use five torches? Or is it because they suppose that +married persons have occasion for five Gods, Nuptial Jupiter, Nuptial +Juno, Venus, Suada, and above all the rest Diana, whom women invocate +in their travail and child-bed sickness? + +_Question 3._ What is the reason that, seeing there are so many +of Diana’s temples in Rome, the men refrain going into that only which +stands in Patrician Street? + +_Solution._ Is it upon the account of the fabulous story, that a +certain man, ravishing a woman that was there worshipping the Goddess, +was torn in pieces by dogs; and hence this superstitious practice +arose, that men enter not in? + +_Question 4._ Why do they in all other temples of Diana ordinarily +nail up stags’ horns against the wall, whenas in that of the Aventine +they nail up the horns of cattle? + +_Solution._ Was it to put them in mind of an old casualty? For it +is said, that among the Sabines one Antro Coratius had a very comely +cow, far excelling all others in handsomeness and largeness, and was +told by a certain diviner that whoever should offer up that cow in +sacrifice to Diana on the Aventine, his city was determined by fate to +be the greatest in the world and have dominion over all Italy. This +man came to Rome, with an intention to sacrifice his cow there; but +a servant acquainted King Servius privately with this privacy, and +the king making it known to Cornelius the priest, Cornelius strictly +commands Antro to wash in Tiber before he sacrificed, for the law +requires men so to do who would sacrifice acceptably. Wherefore, +whilst Antro went to wash, Servius took the opportunity to sacrifice +the cow to the Goddess, and nailed up the horns to the wall in the +temple. These things are storied by Juba and Varro, only Varro hath not +described Antro by that name, neither doth he say that the Sabine was +choused by Cornelius the priest, but by the sexton. + +_Question 5._ Wherefore is it that those that are falsely reported +to be dead in foreign countries, when they return, they receive not by +the doors, but getting up to the roof of the house, they let them in +that way? + +_Solution._ Verily the account which Varro gives of this matter +is altogether fabulous. For he saith, in the Sicilian war, when there +was a great naval fight, and a very false report was rumored concerning +many as if they were slain, all of them returning home in a little +time died. But as one of them was going to enter in at his doors, they +shut together against him of their own accord, neither could they be +opened by any that attempted it. This man, falling in a sleep before +the doors, saw an apparition in his sleep advising him to let himself +down from the roof into the house, and doing so, he lived happily and +became an old man; and hence the custom was confirmed to after ages. +But consider if these things be not conformable to some usages of the +Greeks. For they do not esteem those pure nor keep them company nor +suffer them to approach their sacrifices, for whom any funeral was +carried forth or sepulchre made as if they were dead; and they say +that Aristinus, being one that was become an object of this sort of +superstition, sent to Delphi to beg and beseech of the God a resolution +of the anxieties and troubles which he had by reason of the custom then +in force. Pythia answered thus;— + + The sacred rites t’ which child-bed folks conform, + See that thou do to blessed Gods perform. + +Aristinus, well understanding the meaning of the oracle, puts himself +into the women’s hands, to be washed and wrapped in swaddling clouts, +and sucks the breasts, in the same manner as when he was newly born; +and thus all others do, and such are called Hysteropotmi (i.e. those +for whom a funeral was made while living). But some say that these +ceremonies were before Aristinus, and that the custom was ancient. +Wherefore it is not to be wondered at, if the Romans, when once they +suppose a man buried and to have his lot among the dead, do not think +it lawful for him to go in at the door whereat they that are about to +sacrifice do go out or those that have sacrificed do enter in, but +bid them ascend aloft into the air, and thence descend into the open +court of the house. For they constantly offer their sacrifices of +purification in this open court. + +_Question 6._ Wherefore do women salute their relations with their +mouth? + +_Solution._ What if it should be (as many suppose) that women were +forbid to drink wine; therefore that those that drank it might not be +undiscovered, but convicted when they met with their acquaintance, +kissing became a custom? Or is it for the reason which Aristotle the +philosopher hath told us? Even that thing which was commonly reported +and said to be done in many places, it seems, was enterprised by the +Trojan women in the confines of Italy. For after the men arrived and +went ashore, the women set the ships on fire, earnestly longing to +be discharged of their roving and seafaring condition; but dreading +their husbands’ displeasure, they fell on saluting their kindred and +acquaintance that met them, by kissing and embracing; whereupon the +husbands’ anger being appeased and they reconciled, they used for the +future this kind of compliment towards them. Or rather might this +usage be granted to women as a thing that gained them reputation and +interest, if they appeared hereby to have many and good kindred and +acquaintance? Or was it that, it being unlawful to marry kinswomen, +a courteous behavior might proceed so far as a kiss, and this was +retained only as a significant sign of kindred and a note of a familiar +converse among them? For in former time they did not marry women nigh +by blood,—as now they marry not aunts or sisters,—but of late they +allowed the marrying of cousins for the following reason. A certain +man, mean in estate, but on the other hand an honest and a popular man +among the citizens, designed to marry his cousin being an heiress, +and to get an estate by her. Upon this account he was accused; but +the people took little notice of the accusation, and absolved him of +the fault, enacting by vote that it might be lawful for any man to +marry so far as cousins, but prohibited it to all higher degrees of +consanguinity. + +_Question 7._ Why is a husband forbid to receive a gift from his +wife, and a wife from her husband? + +_Solution._ What if the reason be as Solon writes it,—describing +gifts to be peculiar to dying persons, unless a man being entangled by +necessity or wheedled by a woman be enslaved to force which constrains +him, or to pleasure which persuades him,—that thus the gifts of +husbands and wives became suspected? Or is it that they reputed a gift +the basest sign of benevolence (for strangers and they that have no +love for us do give us presents), and so took away such a piece of +flattery from marriage, that to love and be beloved should be devoid of +mercenariness, should be spontaneous and for its own sake, and not for +any thing else? Or because women, being corrupted by receiving gifts, +are thereby especially brought to admit strangers, did it seem to be +a weighty thing to require them to love their own husbands that give +them nothing? Or was it because all things ought to be common between +them, the husbands’ goods being the wives’, and the wives’ goods the +husbands’? For he that accepts that which is given learns thereby to +esteem that which is not given the property of another; so that, by +giving but a little to each other, they strip each other of all. + +_Question 8._ Why were they prohibited from taking a gift of a +son-in-law or of a father-in-law? + +_Solution._ Is it not of a son-in-law, that a man may not +seem to convey a gift to his wife by his father’s hands? and of a +father-in-law, because it seems just that he that doth not give should +not receive? + +_Question 9._ Wherefore is it that they that have wives at home, +if they be returning out of the country or from any remote parts, do +send a messenger before, to acquaint them that they be at hand? + +_Solution._ Is not this an argument that a man believes his +wife to be no idle gossip, whereas to come upon her suddenly and +unexpectedly has a show as though he came hastily to catch her and +observe her behavior? Or do they send the good tidings of their coming +beforehand, as to them that are desirous of them and expect them? +Or rather is it that they desire to enquire concerning their wives +whether they are in health, and that they may find them at home looking +for them? Or because, when the husbands are wanting, the women have +more family concerns and business upon their hands, and there are +more dissensions and hurly-burly among those that are within doors; +therefore, that the wife may free herself from these things and give a +calm and pleasant reception to her husband, she hath forewarning of his +coming? + +_Question 10._ Wherefore do men in divine service cover their +heads; but if they meet any honorable personages when they have their +cloaks on their heads, they are uncovered? + +_Solution._ The latter part of the question seems to augment the +difficulty of the former. If now the story told of Aeneas be true, that +whilst Diomedes was passing by he offered a sacrifice with his head +covered, it is rational and consequent that, while we cover our heads +before our enemies, when we meet our friends and good men we should +be uncovered. This behavior before the Gods therefore is not their +peculiar right, but accidental, continuing to be observed since that +example of Aeneas. + +If there is any thing further to be said, consider whether we ought not +to enquire only after the reason why men in divine service are covered, +the other being the consequence of it. For they that are uncovered +before men of greater power do not thereby ascribe honor unto them, but +rather remove envy from them, that they might not seem to demand or to +endure the same kind of reverence which the Gods have, or to rejoice +that they are served in the same manner as they. But they worship the +Gods in this manner, either showing their unworthiness in all humility +by the covering of the head, or rather fearing that some unlucky and +ominous voice should come to them from abroad whilst they are praying; +therefore they pluck up their cloaks about their ears. That they +strictly observed these things is manifest in this, that when they went +to consult the oracle, they made a great din all about by the tinkling +of brass kettles. Or is it as Castor saith, that the Roman usages were +conformable to the Pythagoric notion that the daemon within us stands +in need of the Gods without us, and we make supplication to them with a +covered head, intimating the body’s hiding and absconding of the soul? + +_Question 11._ Why do they sacrifice to Saturn with an uncovered +head? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that, whereas Aeneas hath +instituted the covering of the head in divine service, Saturn’s +sacrifice was much more ancient? Or is it that they are covered before +celestial Gods, but reckon Saturn an infernal and terrestrial God? Or +is it that nothing of the truth ought to be obscure and darkened, and +the Romans repute Saturn to be the father of truth? + +_Question 12._ Why do they esteem Saturn the father of truth? + +_Solution._ Is it not the reason that some philosophers believe +that Κρόνος (_Saturn_) is the same with Χρόνος (_time_), and +time finds out truth? Or is it for that which was fabled of Saturn’s +age, that it was most just and most likely to participate of truth? + +_Question 13._ Why do they sacrifice to Honor (a God so-called) +with a bare head? + +_Solution._ Is it because glory is splendid, illustrious, and +unveiled, for which cause men are uncovered before good and honorable +persons; and for this reason they thus worship the God that bears the +name of honor? + +_Question 14._ Why do sons carry forth their parents at funerals +with covered heads, but the daughters with uncovered and dishevelled +hair? + +_Solution._ Is the reason because fathers ought to be honored by +their sons as Gods, but be lamented by their daughters as dead, and +so the law hath distributed to both their proper part? Or is it that +what is not the fashion is fit for mourning? For it is more customary +for women to appear publicly with covered heads, and for men with +uncovered. Yea, among the Greeks, when any sad calamity befalls them, +the women are polled close but the men wear their hair long, because +the usual fashion for men is to be polled and for women to wear their +hair long. Or was it enacted that sons should be covered, for the +reason we have above mentioned (for verily, saith Varro, they surround +their fathers’ sepulchres at funerals, reverencing them as the temples +of the Gods; and having burnt their parents, when they first meet with +a bone, they say the deceased person is deified), but for women was it +not lawful to cover their heads at funerals? History now tells us that +the first that put away his wife was Spurius Carbilius, by reason of +barrenness; the second was Sulpicius Gallus, seeing her pluck up her +garments to cover her head; the third was Publius Sempronius, because +she looked upon the funeral games. + +_Question 15._ What is the reason that, esteeming Terminus a +God (to whom they offer their Terminalia), they sacrifice no living +creature to him? + +_Solution._ Was it that Romulus set no bounds to the country, +that it might be lawful for a man to make excursions, to rob, and to +reckon every part of the country his own (as the Spartan said) wherever +he should pitch his spear; but Numa Pompilius, being a just man and a +good commonwealthsman and a philosopher, set the boundaries towards the +neighboring countries, and dedicated those boundaries to Terminus as +the bishop and protector both of friendship and of peace, and it was +his opinion that it ought to be preserved pure and undefiled from blood +and slaughter? + +_Question 16._ Why is it that the temple of Matuta is not to be +gone into by maid-servants; but the ladies bring in one only, and her +they box and cuff? + +_Solution._ If to baste this maid be a sign that they ought not +to enter, then they prohibit others according to the fable. For Ino, +being jealous of her husband’s loving the servant-maid, is reported to +have fell outrageously upon her son. The Grecians say the maid was of +an Aetolian family, and was called Antiphera. Therefore with us also in +Chaeronea the sexton, standing before the temple of Leucothea (Matuta) +holding a wand in his hand, makes proclamation that no man-servant nor +maid-servant, neither man nor woman Aetolian, should enter in. + +_Question 17._ Why do they not supplicate this Goddess for good +things for their own children, but for their brethren’s and sisters’ +children? + +_Solution._ Was it because Ino was a lover of her sister and +nursed up her children, but had hard fortune in her own children? Or +otherwise, in that it is a moral and good custom, and makes provision +of much benevolence towards relations? + +_Question 18._ Why do many of the richer sort pay tithe of their +estates to Hercules? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that Hercules sacrificed the tenth +part of Geryon’s oxen at Rome? Or that he freed the Romans from the +decimation under the Etrurians? Or that these things have no sufficient +ground of credit from history, but that they sacrificed bountifully to +Hercules, as to a certain monstrous glutton and gormandizer of good +cheer? Or did they rather do it, restraining extravagant riches as a +nuisance to the commonwealth, as it were to diminish something of that +thriving constitution that grows up to the highest pitch of corpulency; +being of opinion that Hercules was most of all honored with and +rejoiced in these frugalities and contractions of abundance, and that +he himself was frugal, content with a little, and every way sparing in +his way of living? + +_Question 19._ Why do they take the month of January for the +beginning of the new year? + +_Solution._ Anciently March was reckoned the first, as is plain +by many other marks and especially by this, that the fifth month from +March was called Quintilis, and the sixth Sextilis, and so forward +to the last. December was so called, being reckoned the tenth from +March; hence it came to pass that some are of opinion and do affirm +that the Romans formerly did not complete the year with twelve months, +but with ten only, allotting to some of the months above thirty days. +But others give us an account that, as December is the tenth from +March, January is the eleventh and February the twelfth; in which month +they use purifications, and perform funeral rites for the deceased +upon the finishing of the year; but this order of the months being +changed, they now make January the first, because on the first day +of this month (which day they call the Kalends of January) the first +consuls were constituted, the kings being deposed. But some speak +with a greater probability, which say that Romulus, being a warlike +and martial man and reputing himself the son of Mars, set March in +the front of all the months, and named it from Mars; but Numa again, +being a peaceable prince and ambitious to bring off the citizens from +warlike achievements, set them upon husbandry, gave the pre-eminence +to January, and brought Janus into a great reputation, as he was more +addicted to civil government and husbandry than to warlike affairs. Now +consider whether Numa hath not pitched upon a beginning of the year +most suitable to our natural disposition. For there is nothing at all +in the whole circumvolution of things naturally first or last, but by +law or custom some appoint one beginning of time, some another; but +they do best who take this beginning from after the winter solstice, +when the sun, ceasing to make any further progress, returns and +converts his course again to us. For there is then a kind of tropic +in nature itself, which verily increaseth the time of light to us and +shortens the time of darkness, and makes the Lord and Ruler of the +whole current of nature to approach nearer to us. + +_Question 20._ When the women beautify the temple of the Goddess +appropriate to women, which they call Bona, why do they bring no myrtle +into the house, although they be zealous of using all budding and +flowering vegetables? + +_Solution._ Is not the reason (as the fabulous write the story) +this, that the wife of Faulius a diviner, having drunk wine secretly +and being discovered, was whipped by her husband with myrtle rods; +hence the women bring in no myrtle, but offer to her a drink-offering +of wine, which they call milk? Or is it this, that, as they abstain +from many things, so especially they reserve themselves chaste from all +things that appertain to venery when they perform that divine service; +for they do not only turn their husbands out of doors but banish from +the house every male kind, when they exercise this canonical obedience +to their Goddess. They therefore reject myrtle as an abomination, it +being consecrated to Venus; and the Venus whom at this day they call +Murcia they anciently called Myrtia, as it would seem. + +_Question 21._ Why do the Latins worship a woodpecker, and all of +them abstain strictly from this bird? + +_Solution._ Is it because one Picus by the enchantments of his +wife transformed himself, and becoming a woodpecker uttered oracles, +and gave oraculous answers to them that enquired? Or, if this be +altogether incredible and monstrous, there is another of the romantic +stories more probable, about Romulus and Remus, when they were exposed +in the open field, that not only a she-wolf gave them suck, but a +certain woodpecker flying to them fed them; for even now it is very +usual that in meads and groves where a woodpecker is found there is +also a wolf, as Nigidius writes. Or rather, as they deem other birds +sacred to various Gods, so do they deem this sacred to Mars? For it is +a daring and fierce bird, and hath so strong a beak as to drill an oak +to the heart by pecking, and cause it to fall. + +_Question 22._ Why are they of opinion that Janus was +double-faced, and do describe and paint him so? + +_Solution._ Was it because he was a native Greek of Perrhaebia +(as they story it), and going down into Italy and cohabiting with the +barbarians of the country, changed his language and way of living? Or +rather because he persuaded those people of Italy that were savage and +lawless to a civil life, in that he converted them to husbandry and +formed them into commonwealths? + +_Question 23._ Why do they sell things which pertain to funerals +in the temple of Libitina, seeing they are of opinion that Libitina is +Venus? + +_Solution._ Was it that this was one of the wise institutions of +King Numa, that they might learn not to esteem these things irksome +nor fly from them as a defilement? Or rather is it to put us in +mind that whatever is born must die, there being one Goddess that +presides over them that are born and those that die? And at Delphi +there is the statue of Venus Epitymbia (on a tomb), to which at their +drink-offerings they call forth the ghosts of the deceased. + +_Question 24._ Why have they three beginnings and appointed +periods in the months which have not the same interval of days between? + +_Solution._ What if it be this (as Juba writes), that on the +Kalends the magistrates called (καλεῖν) the people, and proclaimed +the Nones for the fifth, while the Ides they esteemed an holy day? Or +rather that they who define time by the variations of the moon have +observed that the moon comes under three greatest variations monthly; +the first is when it is obscured, making a conjunction with the sun; +the second is when it gets out of the rays of the sun and makes her +first appearance after the sun is down; the third is at her fulness, +when it is full moon. They call her disappearance and obscurity the +Kalends, for every thing hid and privy they call _clam_, and +_celare_ is to hide. The first appearance they call the Nones, by +a most fit notation of names, it being the new moon (novilunium); for +they call it new moon as we do. Ides are so called either by reason +of the fairness and clear form (εἶδος) of the moon standing forth in +her complete splendor, or from the name of Jupiter (Διός). But in this +matter we are not to search for the exact number of days, nor to abuse +this approximate mode of reckoning; seeing that even at this day, when +the science of astronomy has made so great increase, the inequality +of the motion and course of the moon surpasseth all experience of +mathematicians and cannot be reduced to any certain rule of reason. + +_Question 25._ Why do they determine that the days after the +Kalends, Nones, and Ides are unfit to travel or go a long journey in? + +_Solution._ Was it (as most men think, and Livy tells us) because +on the next day after the Ides of Quintilis (which they now call July), +the tribunes of the soldiery marching forth, the army was conquered +by the Gauls in a battle about the river Allia and lost the city, +whereupon this day was reckoned unlucky; and superstition (as it loves +to do) extended this observation further, and subjected the next days +after the Nones and Kalends to the same scrupulosity? Or what if this +notion meet with much contradiction? For it was on another day they +were defeated in battle, which they call Alliensis (from the river) and +greatly abominate is unsuccessful; and whereas there be many unlucky +days, they do not observe them in all the months alike, but every one +in the month it happens in, and it is most improbable that all the next +days after the Nones and Kalends simply considered should contract +this superstition. Consider now whether—as they consecrated the first +of the months to the Olympic Gods, and the second to the infernals, +wherein they solemnize some purifications and funeral rites to the +ghosts of the deceased—they have so constituted the three which have +been spoken of, as it were, the chief and principal days for festival +and holy days, designating the next following these to daemons and +deceased persons, which days they esteemed unfortunate and unfit for +action. And also the Grecians, worshipping their Gods at the new +of the moon, dedicated the next day to heroes and daemons, and the +second of the cups was mingled on the behalf of the male and female +heroes. Moreover, time is altogether a number; and unity, which is the +foundation of a number, is of a divine nature. The number next is two, +opposite to the first, and is the first of even numbers. But an even +number is defective, imperfect, and indefinite; as again an odd number +is determinate, definite, and complete. Therefore the Nones succeed +the Kalends on the fifth day, the Ides follow the Nones on the ninth, +for odd numbers do determine the beginnings. But those even numbers +which are next after the beginnings have not that pre-eminence nor +influence; hence on such days they take not any actions or journey in +hand. Wherefore that of Themistocles hath reason in it. “The Day after +the feast contended with the Feast-day, saying that the Feast-day had +much labor and toil, but she (the Day after the feast) afforded the +fruition of the provision made for the Feast-day, with much leisure and +quietness. The Feast-day answered after this wise: Thou speakest truth; +but if I had not been, neither hadst thou been.” These things spake +Themistocles to the Athenian officers of the army, who succeeded him, +signifying that they could never have made any figure in the world had +not he saved the city. + +Since therefore every action and journey worth our diligent management +requires necessary provision and preparation, but the Romans of old +made no family provision on feast-days, nor were careful for any thing +but that they might attend divine service,—and this they did with all +their might, as even now the priests enjoin them in their proclamations +when they proceed to the sacrifices,—in like manner they did not rush +presently after their festival solemnities upon a journey or any +enterprise (because they were unprovided), but finished that day in +contriving domestic affairs and fitting themselves for the intended +occasion abroad. And as even at this day, after they have said their +prayers and finished their devotion, they are wont to stay and sit +still in the temples, so they did not join working days immediately to +holy days, but made some interval and distance between them, secular +affairs bringing many troubles and distractions along with them. + +_Question 26._ Why do women wear for mourning white mantles and +white kerchiefs? + +_Solution._ What if they do this in conformity to the Magi, who, +as they say, standing in defiance of death and darkness, do fortify +themselves with bright and splendid robes? Or, as the dead corpse is +wrapped in white, so do they judge it meet that the relations should be +conformable thereto? For they beautify the body so, since they cannot +the soul; wherefore they wish to follow it as having gone before, pure +and white, being dismissed after it hath fought a great and various +warfare. Or is it that what is very mean and plain is most becoming +in these things? For garments dyed of a color argue either luxury or +vanity. Neither may we say less of black than of sea-green or purple, +“Verily garments are deceitful, and so are colors.” And a thing that +is naturally black is not dyed by art but by nature, and is blended +with an intermixed shade. It is white only therefore that is sincere, +unmixed, free from the impurity of a dye, and inimitable; therefore +most proper to those that are buried. For one that is dead is become +simple, unmixed, and pure, freed from the body no otherwise than from +a tingeing poison. In Argos they wear white in mourning, as Socrates +saith, vestments rinsed in water. + +_Question 27._ Why do they repute every wall immaculate and +sacred, but the gates not so? + +_Solution._ Is it (as Varro hath wrote) that the wall is to be +accounted sacred, that they might defend it cheerfully and even lay +down their lives for it? Upon this very account it appears that Romulus +slew his brother, because he attempted to leap over a sacred and +inaccessible place, and to render it transcendible and profane; but it +could not possibly be that the gates should be kept sacred, through +which they carried many things that necessity required, even dead +corpses. When they built a city from the foundation, they marked out +with a plough the place on which they intended to build it, yoking a +bull and a cow together; but when they did set out the bounds of the +walls, measuring the space of the gates, they lifted up the ploughshare +and carried the plough over it, believing that all the ploughed part +should be sacred and inviolable. + +_Question 28._ Why do they prohibit the children to swear by +Hercules within doors, but command them to go out of doors to do it? + +_Solution._ Is the reason (as some say) that they are of opinion +that Hercules was not delighted in a domestic life, but chose rather +to live abroad in the fields? Or rather because he was none of their +native country Gods, but a foreigner? For neither do they swear by +Bacchus within doors, he being a foreigner, if it be he whom the Greeks +call Dionysus. Or what if these things are uttered in sport to amuse +children; and is this, on the contrary, for a restraint of a frivolous +and rash oath, as Favorinus saith? For that which is done, as it were, +with preparation causes delay and deliberation. If a man judges as +Favorinus doth of the things recorded about Hercules, it would seem +that this was not common to other Gods, but peculiar to him; for +history tells us that he had such a religious veneration for an oath, +that he swore but once only to Phyleus, son of Augeas. Wherefore the +Pythia upbraids the Lacedaemonians with such swearing, as though it +would be more laudable and better to pay their vows than to swear. + +_Question 29._ Why do they not permit the new married woman +herself to step over the threshold of the house, but the bridemen lift +her over? + +_Solution._ What if the reason be that they, taking their first +wives by force, brought them thus into their houses, when they went +not in of their own accord? Or is it that they will have them seem to +enter into that place as by force, not willingly, where they are about +to lose their virginity? Or is it a significant ceremony to show that +she is not to go out or leave her dwelling-place till she is forced, +even as she goes in by force? For with us also in Boeotia they burn +the axletree of a cart before the doors, intimating that the spouse is +bound to remain there, the instrument of carriage being destroyed. + +_Question 30._ Why do the bridemen that bring in the bride require +her to say, “Where thou Caius art, there am I Caia”? + +_Solution._ What if the reason be that by mutual agreement she +enters presently upon participation of all things, even to share in +the government, and that this is the meaning of it, Where thou art +lord and master of the family, there am I also dame and mistress of +the family; while these common names they use promiscuously, as the +lawyers do Caius, Seius, Lucius, Titius, and the philosophers use the +names of Dion and Theon? Or is it from Caia Secilia, an honest and good +woman, married to one of Tarquinius’s sons, who had her statue of brass +erected in the temple of Sancus? On this statue were anciently hanged +sandals and spindles, as significant memorials of her housewifery and +industry. + +_Question 31._ Why is that so much celebrated name Thalassius sung +at nuptials? + +_Solution._ Is it not from wool-spinning? For the Romans call +the Greek τάλαρος (_wool-basket_) _talasus_. Moreover, when +they have introduced the bride, they spread a fleece under her; and +she, having brought in with her a distaff and a spindle, all behangs +her husband’s door with woollen yarn? Or it may be true, as historians +report, that there was a certain young man famous in military +achievements, and also an honest man, whose name was Thalassius; now +when the Romans seized by force on the Sabine daughters coming to +see the theatric shows, a comely virgin for beauty was brought to +Thalassius by some of the common sort of people and retainers to him, +crying out aloud (that they might go the more securely, and that none +might stop them or take the wench from them) that she was carried +as a wife to Thalassius; upon which the rest of the rabble, greatly +honoring Thalassius, followed on and accompanied them with their loud +acclamations, praying for and praising Thalassius; that proving a +fortunate match, it became a custom to others at nuptials to call over +Thalassius, as the Greeks do Hymenaeus.[158] + +_Question 32._ Why do they that throw the effigies of men from a +wooden bridge into the river, in the month of May, about the full moon, +call those images Argives? + +_Solution._ Was it that the barbarians that of old inhabited about +that place did in this manner destroy the Grecians which they took? Or +did their so much admired Hercules reform their practice of killing +strangers, and teach them this custom of representing their devilish +practice by casting in of images? The ancients have usually called all +Grecians Argives. Or else it may be that, since the Arcadians esteemed +the Argives open enemies by reason of neighborhood, they that belonged +to Evander, flying from Greece and taking up their situation in Italy, +kept up that malignity and enmity. + +_Question 33._ Why would they not in ancient times sup abroad +without their sons, whilst they were in nonage? + +_Solution._ Was not this custom brought in by Lycurgus, when he +introduced the boys to the public mess, that they might be inured +to use of pleasures modestly, not savagely and rudely, having their +superiors by them as overseers and observers? Verily it is of no small +concernment that parents should carry themselves with all gravity +and sobriety in the presence of their children. For when old men are +debauched, it will necessarily follow (as Plato saith) that young men +will be most debauched. + +_Question 34._ What is the reason that, when the other Romans +did offer their offerings and libations to the dead in the month of +February, Decimus Brutus (as Cicero saith) did it in December? He +verily was the first who, entering upon Lusitania, passed from thence +with his army over the river Lethe. + +_Solution._ May it not be that, as many were wont to perform +funeral rites in the latter part of the day and end of the month, it is +rational to believe that at the return of the year and end of the month +also he would honor the dead? For December is the last month. Or were +those adorations paid to the infernal Gods, and was it the season of +the year to honor them when all sorts of fruits had attained ripeness? +Or is it because they move the earth at the beginning of seed-time, +and it is most meet then to remember the ghosts below? Or is it that +this month is by the Romans consecrated to Saturn, whom they reckon to +be one of the infernal Gods and not of the supernal? Or that whilst +the great feast of Saturnals did last, thought to be attended with the +greatest feasting and voluptuous enjoyments, it was judged meet to crop +off some first-fruits of these for the dead? Or what if it be a mere +lie that only Brutus did sacrifice to the dead in this month, since +they solemnize funeral rites for Laurentia and offer drink-offerings at +her tomb in the month of December? + +_Question 35._ Why do they adore Laurentia so much, seeing she was +a strumpet? + +_Solution._ They say that Acca Laurentia, the nurse of Romulus, +was diverse from this, and her they ascribe honor to in the month of +April. But this other Laurentia, they say, was surnamed Fabula, and +she became noted on this occasion. A certain sexton that belonged to +Hercules, as it seems, leading an idle life, used to spend most of his +days at draughts and dice; and on a certain time, when it happened +that none of those that were wont to play with him and partake of his +sport were present, being very uneasy in himself, he challenged the +God to play a game at dice with him for this wager, that if he got the +game he should receive some boon from the God, if he lost it he would +provide a supper for the God and a pretty wench for him to lie with. +Whereupon choosing two dice, one for himself and the other for the +God, and throwing them, he lost the game; upon which, abiding by his +challenge, he prepared a very splendid table for the God, and picking +up Laurentia, a notorious harlot, he set her down to the good cheer; +and when he had made a bed for her in the temple, he departed and shut +the doors after him. The report went that Hercules came, but had not +to do with her after the usual manner of men, and commanded her to go +forth early in the morning into the market-place, and whomsoever she +first happened to meet with, him she should especially set her heart +upon and procure him to be her copemate. Laurentia accordingly arising +and going forth happened to meet with a certain rich man, a stale +bachelor, whose name was Taruntius. He lying with her made her whilst +he lived the governess of his house, and his heiress when he died; some +time after, she died and left her estate to the city, and therefore +they have her in so great a reputation. + +_Question 36._ Why do they call one gate at Rome the Window, just +by which is the bed-chamber of Fortune, so called? + +_Solution._ Was it because Servius, who became the most successful +king, was believed to have conversed with Fortune, who came in to him +at a window? Or may this be but a fable; and was it that Tarquinius +Priscus the king dying, his wife Tanaquil, being a discreet and royal +woman, putting her head out at a window, propounded Servius to the +citizens, and persuaded them to proclaim him king; and that this place +had the name of it? + +_Question 37._ Why is it that, of the things dedicated to the +Gods, the law permits only the spoils taken in war to be neglected and +by time to fall into decay, and permits them not to have any veneration +nor reparation? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that men may be of opinion that +the renown of ancestors fades away, and may always be seeking after +some fresh monument of fortitude? Or rather because time wears out the +marks of contention with our enemies, and to restore and renew them +were invidious and malicious? Neither among the Greeks are those men +renowned who were the first erectors of stone or brass trophies. + +_Question 38._ Why did Q. Metellus, being a high priest and +otherwise reputed a wise man and a statesman, prohibit the use of +divination from birds after the Sextile month, now called August? + +_Solution._ Is it not that—as we make such observations about noon +or early in the day, and also in the beginning or middle of the month +(when the moon is new or increasing), but beware of the times of the +days or month’s decline as unlucky—so he also was of opinion that the +time of year after eight months was, as it were, the evening of the +year, when it declined and hastened towards an end? Or is it because +they must use thriving and full-grown birds? For such are in summer; +but towards autumn some are moulting and sickly, others chickens and +unfledged, others altogether vanished and fled out of the country by +reason of the season of the year. + +_Question 39._ Why is it unlawful for such as are not mustered +(although they be otherwise conversant in the army) to slay an enemy or +wound him? + +_Solution._ This thing Cato Senior hath made clear in a certain +epistle, writing to his son and commanding him, if he be discharged of +the army having fulfilled his time there, to return; but if he stay, to +take commission from the general to march forth in order to wounding +and slaying the enemy. Is it the reason, that necessity alone can give +warrant for the killing of a man, while he that doth this illegally and +without commission is a murderer? Therefore Cyrus commended Chrysantas +that, when he was about to slay an enemy and had lifted up his scimitar +to take his blow, hearing a retreat sounded, he let the man alone and +smote him not, as being prohibited. Or is it that, if a man conflicts +and fights with his enemies and falls under a consternation, he ought +to be liable to answer for it, and not escape punishment? For verily +he doth not advantage his side so much by smiting and wounding him, +as he doth mischief by turning his back and flying. Therefore he that +is disbanded is freed from martial laws; but when he doth petition +to perform the office of a soldier, he doth again subject himself to +military discipline and put himself under the command of his general. + +_Question 40._ Wherefore was it unlawful for a priest of Jupiter +to be anointed abroad in the air? + +_Solution._ Was it not because it was neither honest nor decent to +strip the sons naked whilst the father looked on, nor the son-in-law +whilst the father-in-law looked on? Neither in ancient times did they +wash together. Verily Jupiter is the father, and that which is abroad +in the open air may be especially said to be as it were in the sight +of Jupiter. Or is it thus? As it is a profane thing for him to strip +himself naked in the temple or holy place, so did they reverence the +open air and firmament, as being full of Gods and Daemons? Wherefore we +do many necessary things within doors, hiding and covering ourselves in +our houses from the sight of the Gods. Or is it that some things are +enjoined to the priest only, other things to all by a law delivered by +the priest? With us (in Boeotia) to wear a crown, to wear long hair, +to carry iron arms, and not to enter the Phocian borders are peculiar, +proper pieces of the magistrate’s service; but not to taste autumnal +fruits before the autumnal equinox, and not to cut a vine before the +spring equinox, are things required of all by the magistrate. For each +of these has its season. After the same manner (as it appears) among +the Romans it is peculiar to the priest neither to make use of a horse, +nor to be absent from home in a journey more than three nights, nor to +put off his cap, on which account he is called Flamen.[159] Many other +things are enjoined to all sorts of men by the priest; of which one is +not to be anointed abroad in the open air. For the Romans have a great +prejudice against dry unction; and they are of opinion that nothing +hath been so great a cause to the Grecians of slavery and effeminacy as +their fencing and wrestling schools, insinuating so much debauchery and +idleness into the citizens, yea, vicious sloth and buggery; yea, that +they destroyed the very bodies of youths with sleeping, perambulations, +dancing, and delicious feeding, whereby they insensibly fell from the +use of arms, and instead of being good soldiers and horsemen, loved to +be called nimble, good wrestlers, and pretty men. It is hard for them +to avoid these mischiefs who are unclothed in the open air; but they +that are anointed within doors and cure themselves at home do commit +none of these vices. + +_Question 41._ Why had the ancient coin on one side the image of +double-faced Janus stamped, and on the other side the stern or stem of +a ship? + +_Solution._ What if it be (as they commonly say) in honor of +Saturn, that sailed over into Italy in a ship? Or, if this be no more +than what may be said of many others besides (for Janus, Evander, and +Aeneas all came by sea into Italy), a man may take this to be more +probable: whereas some things serve for the beauty of a city, some +things for necessary accommodation, the greatest part of the things +that beautify a city is a good constitution of government, and the +greatest part for necessary accommodation is good trading; whereas +now Janus had erected a good frame of government among them, reducing +them to a sober manner of life, and the river being navigable afforded +plenty of all necessary commodities, bringing them in partly from the +sea and partly from the out-borders of the country, their coin had a +significant stamp, on one side the double-faced head of the legislator +(as hath been said) by reason of the change made by him in their +affairs, and on the other a small ship because of the river. They used +also another sort of coin, having engraven on it an ox, a sheep, and a +sow, to show that they traded most in such cattle, and got their riches +from these; hence were many of the names among the ancients derived, as +Suillii, Bubulci, and Porcii, as Fenestella tells us. + +_Question 42._ Why do they use the temple of Saturn for a chamber +of public treasury, as also an office of record for contracts? + +_Solution._ Is not this the reason, because this saying hath +obtained credit, that there was no avarice or injustice among men while +Saturn ruled, but faith and righteousness? Or was it that this God +presided over the fruits of the field and husbandry? For the sickle +signified as much, and not, as Antimachus was persuaded and wrote with +Hesiod,— + + With crooked falk Saturn ’gainst heavens fought, + Cut off his father’s privities, foul bout. + +Money is produced from plenty of fruit and the vent of them, therefore +they make Saturn the author and preserver of their felicity. That +which confirms this is that the conventions assembled every ninth day +in the market-place (which they call Nundinae) they reckon sacred to +Saturn, because the abundance of fruit gave the first occasion of +buying and selling. Or are these things far-fetched, and was the first +that contrived this Saturnine chamber of bank Valerius Publicola, upon +the suppression of the kings, being persuaded it was a strong place, +conspicuous, and not easily undermined by treachery? + +_Question 43._ Wherefore did ambassadors, from whencesoever +they came to Rome, go to Saturn’s temple, and there have their names +recorded before the treasurers? + +_Solution._ Was this the cause, that Saturn was a foreigner, and +therefore much rejoiced in strangers? Or is this better resolved by +history? Anciently (as it seems) the quaestors sent entertainment to +the ambassadors (they called the present _lautia_), they took care +also of the sick, and buried their dead out of their public stock; +but now of late, because of the multitude of ambassadors that come, +that expense is left off; yet it remains still in use to bring the +ambassadors unto the treasurers, that their names may be recorded. + +_Question 44._ Why is it not lawful for Jupiter’s priests to swear? + +_Solution._ Is it not the reason, that an oath is a kind of test +imposed on a free people, but the body and mind of a priest ought +to be free from imposition? Or is it not unlikely that he will be +disbelieved in smaller matters, who is entrusted with divine and +greater? Or is it that every oath concludes with an execration of +perjury? And an execration is a fearful and a grievous thing. Hence +neither is it thought fit that priests should curse others. Wherefore +the priestess at Athens was commended for refusing to curse Alcibiades, +when the people required her to do it; for she said, I am a praying +not a cursing priestess. Or is it that the danger of perjury is of a +public nature, if a perjured and impious person presides in offering up +prayers and sacrifices on the behalf of the city? + +_Question 45._ Why is it that in the solemn feast called Veneralia +they let wine run so freely out of the temple of Venus? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason (as some say), that Mezentius the +Etrurian general sent to make a league with Aeneas, upon the condition +that he might have a yearly tribute of wine; Aeneas refusing, Mezentius +engaged to the Etrurians that he would take the wine by force of arms +and give it to them; Aeneas, hearing of his promise, devoted his wine +to the Gods, and after the victory he gathered in the vintage, and +poured it forth before the temple of Venus? Or is this a teaching +ceremony, that we should feast with sobriety and not excess, as if +the Gods were better pleased with the spillers of wine than with the +drinkers of it? + +_Question 46._ Wherefore would the ancients have the temple of +Horta to stand always open? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason (as Antistius Labeo hath told us), +that _hortari_ signifies _to quicken one to an action_, that +Horta is such a Goddess as exhorts and excites to good things, and that +they suppose therefore that she ought always to be in business, never +procrastinate, therefore not to be shut up or locked? Or is it rather +that Hora, as now they call her (the first syllable pronounced long), +being a kind of an active and busy Goddess, very circumspect and +careful, they were of opinion that she was never lazy nor neglectful +of human affairs? Or is it that this is a Greek name, as many others +of them are, and signifies a Goddess that always oversees and inspects +affairs; and that therefore she has her temple always open, as one that +never slumbers nor sleeps? But if Labeo deduceth _Hora_ aright +from _hortari_, consider whether _orator_ may not rather be +said to be derived from thence,—since the orator, being an exhorting +and exciting person, is a counsellor or leader of the people,—and not +from imprecation and prayer (_orando_), as some say. + +_Question 47._ Why did Romulus build the temple of Vulcan without +the city? + +_Solution._ What if it were by reason of that fabled grudge which +Vulcan had against Mars for the sake of Venus, that Romulus, being +reputed the son of Mars, would not make Vulcan a cohabitant of the +same house or city with him? Or may this be a silly reason; and was +that temple at first built by Romulus for a senate house and a privy +council, for him to consult on state affairs together with Tatius, +where they might be retired with the senators, and sit in consultation +about matters quietly without interruption from the multitude? Or was +it that Rome was formerly in danger of being burnt from heaven; and he +thought good to adore that God, but to place his habitation without the +city? + +_Question 48._ Wherefore did they, in the feasts called Consualia, +put garlands on the horses and asses, and take these beasts off from +all work? + +_Solution._ Was it not because they celebrated that feast to +Neptune the cavalier, who was called Consus, and the ass takes part +and share with the horse in his rest from labor? Or was it that, after +navigation came in and traffic by sea, there succeeded a kind of ease +and leisure to the cattle in some kind or other? + +_Question 49._ Wherefore was it a custom among the candidates for +magistracy to present themselves in their togas without tunics, as Cato +tells us? + +_Solution._ Was it not that they should not carry money in their +bosoms to buy votes with? Or is it that they preferred no man as fit +for the magistracy for the sake of his birth, riches, or honors, but +for his wounds and scars; and that these might be visible to them that +came about them, they came without tunics to the elections? Or, as +by courteous behavior, supplication, and submission, so by humbling +themselves in nakedness did they gain on the affections of the common +people? + +_Question 50._ Why did the Flamen Dialis (Jupiter’s priest), when +his wife died, lay down his priestly dignity, as Ateius tells us? + +_Solution._ Is it not for this reason, because he that marries +a wife and loses her after marriage is more unfortunate than he that +never took a wife; for the family of a married man is completed, but +the family of him that is married and loseth his wife is not only +incomplete but mutilated? Or is it because his wife joins with the +husband in consecration (as there are many sacred rites that ought +not to be performed unless the wife be present), but to marry another +immediately after he hath lost the former wife is not perhaps easy to +do, and besides is not convenient? Hence it was not lawful formerly to +put away a wife, nor is it at this present lawful; except that Domitian +in our remembrance, being petitioned, granted it. The priests were +present at this dissolution of marriage, doing many terrible, strange, +and uncouth actions. But thou wilt wonder less, if thou art informed by +history that, when one of the censors died, his partner was required +to lay down his place. When Livius Drusus died, Aemilius Scaurus his +colleague would not abandon his government before one of the tribunes +of the people committed him to prison. + +_Question 51._ Why is a dog set before the Lares, whom they +properly call Praestites, while the Lares themselves are covered with +dogs’ skins? + +_Solution._ Is it that Praestites are they that preside, and it +is fit that presidents should be keepers, and should be frightful to +strangers (as dogs are) but mild and gentle to those of the family? Or +is it rather what some Romans assert, that—as some philosophers who +follow Chrysippus are of the opinion that evil spirits wander up and +down, which the Gods do use as public executioners of unholy and wicked +men—so the Lares are a certain sort of furious and revengeful daemons, +that are observers of men’s lives and families, and are here clothed +with dogs’ skins and have a dog sitting by them, as being sagacious to +hunt upon the foot and to prosecute wicked men? + +_Question 52._ Why do they sacrifice a dog to Mana Geneta, and +pray that no home-born should become good? + +_Solution._ Is the reason that Geneta is a deity that is employed +about the generation and purgation of corruptible things? For this word +signifies a certain flux (i.e. _Mana_ from _manare_) and +generation, or a flowing generation; for as the Greeks do sacrifice a +dog to Hecate, so do the Romans to Geneta on the behalf of the natives +of the house. Moreover, Socrates saith that the Argives do sacrifice a +dog to Eilioneia (Lucina) to procure a facility of delivery. But what +if the prayer be not made for men, but for dogs puppied at home, that +none of them should be good; for dogs ought to be currish and fierce? +Or is it that they that are deceased are pleasantly called good; and +hence, speaking mystically in their prayer, they signify their desire +that no home-born should die? Neither ought this to seem strange; for +Aristotle says that it is written in the treaty of the Arcadians with +the Lacedaemonians that none of the Tegeates should be “made good” on +account of aid rendered to the party of the Lacedaemonians, i.e. that +none should be slain. + +_Question 53._ Why is it that to this very day, while they hold +the games at the Capitol, they set Sardians to sale by a crier, and +a certain old man goes before in way of derision, carrying a child’s +bauble about his neck, which they call bulla? + +_Solution._ Was it because a people of the Tuscans called Veientes +maintained a fight a long time with Romulus, and he took this city +last of all, and exposed them and their king to sale by an outcry, +upbraiding him with his madness and folly? And since the Tuscans were +Lydians at first, and Sardis was the metropolis of the Lydians, so they +set the Veientes to sale under the name of Sardians, and to this day +they keep up the custom in a way of pastime. + +_Question 54._ Why do they call the flesh-market Macellum? + +_Solution._ Was it not by corrupting the word μάγειρος, _a +cook_, as with many other words, that the custom hath prevailed? +For _c_ and _g_ are nigh akin to one another, and _g_ +came more lately into use, being inserted among the other letters by +Sp. Carbilius; and now by lispers and stammerers _l_ is pronounced +instead of _r_. Or this matter may be made clear by a story. It +is reported, that at Rome there was a stout man, a robber, who had +robbed many, and being taken with much difficulty, was brought to +condign punishment: his name was Macellus, out of whose riches a public +meat-market was built, which bare his name. + +_Question 55._ Why are the minstrels allowed to go about the city +on the Ides of January, wearing women’s apparel? + +_Solution._ Is it for the reason here rehearsed? This sort of men +(as it seems) had great privileges accruing to them from the grant of +King Numa, by reason of his godly devotion; which things afterward +being taken from them when the Decemviri managed the government, they +forsook the city. Whereupon there was a search made for them, and one +of the priests, offering sacrifice without music, made a superstitious +scruple of so doing. And when they returned not upon invitation, but +led their lives in Tibur, a certain freedman told the magistrates +privately that he would undertake to bring them. And providing a +plentiful feast, as if he had sacrificed to the Gods, he invited the +minstrels; women-kind was present also, with whom they revelled all +night, sporting and dancing. There on a sudden the man began a speech, +and being surprised with a fright, as if his patron had come in upon +him, persuaded the pipers to ascend the caravans that were covered all +over with skins, saying he would carry them back to Tibur. But this +whole business was but a trepan; for he wheeling about the caravan, +and they perceiving nothing by reason of wine and darkness, he very +cunningly brought them all into Rome by the morning. Most of them, by +reason of the night-revel and the drink that they were in, happened to +be clothed in flowered women’s robes; whereupon, being prevailed upon +by the magistrates and reconciled, it was decreed that they should go +up and down the city on that day, habited after this manner. + +_Question 56._ Why are they of opinion that matrons first built +the temple of Carmenta, and at this day do they worship her most? + +_Solution._ There is a certain tradition that, when the women +were prohibited by the senate from the use of chariots drawn by a +pair of horses, they conspired together not to be got with child and +breed children, and in this manner to be revenged on their husbands +until they revoked the decree and gratified them; which being done, +children were begot, and the women, becoming good breeders and very +fruitful, built the temple of Carmenta. Some say that Carmenta was +Evander’s mother, and going into Italy was called Themis, but as some +say, Nicostrata; who, when she sang forth oracles in verse, was called +Carmenta by the Latins; for they call verses _carmina_. There are +some of opinion that Carmenta was a Destiny, therefore the matrons +sacrifice to her. But the etymology of the word is from _carens +mente_ (_beside herself_), by reason of divine raptures. Hence +Carmenta had not her name from carmina; but contrariwise, her verses +were called carmina from her, because being inspired she sang her +oracles in verse. + +_Question 57._ What is the reason that, when the women do +sacrifice to Rumina, they pour forth milk plentifully on the +sacrifices, but offer no wine? + +_Solution._ Is it because the Latins call a breast _ruma_, +and that tree (as they say) is called _ruminalis_ under which the +she-wolf drew forth her breast to Romulus? And as we call those women +that bring up children with milk from the breast breast-women, so did +Rumina—who was a wet nurse, a dry nurse, and a rearer of children—not +permit wine, as being hurtful to the infants. + +_Question 58._ Why do they call some senators Patres Conscripti, +and others only Patres? + +_Solution._ Is not this the reason, that those that were first +constituted by Romulus they called Patres and Patricians, as being +gentlemen who could show their pedigree; but those that were elected +afterwards from among the commonalty they called Patres Conscripti? + +_Question 59._ Why was one altar common to Hercules and the Muses? + +_Solution._ Was it because Hercules taught letters first to +Evander’s people, as Juba tells us? And it was esteemed an honorable +action of those that taught their friends and relations; for it was +but of late that they began to teach for hire. The first that opened a +grammar school was Spurius Carbilius, a freeman of Carbilius, the first +that divorced his wife. + +_Question 60._ What is the reason that, of Hercules’s two altars, +the women do not partake or taste of the things offered on the greater? + +_Solution._ Is it not because Carmenta’s women came too late for +the sacrifices? The same thing happened also to the Pinarii; whence +they were excluded from the sacrificial feast, and fasting while others +were feasting, they were called Pinarii (from πεινάω). Or is it upon +the account of that fabulous story of the coat and Dejaneira? + +_Question 61._ What is the reason that it’s forbidden to +mention, enquire after, or name the chief tutelary and guardian God +of Rome, whether male or female?—which prohibition they confirm with +a superstitious tradition, reporting that Valerius Soranus perished +miserably for uttering that name. + +_Solution._ Is this the reason (as some Roman histories tell us), +that there are certain kinds of evocations and enchantments, with which +they are wont to entice away the Gods of their enemies, and to cause +theirs to come and dwell with them; and they feared lest this mischief +should befall them from others? As the Tyrians are said to bind fast +their images with cords, but others, when they will send any of them +to washing or purifying, require sureties for their return; so did the +Romans reckon they had their God in most safe and secure custody, he +being unexpressible and unknown? Or, as Homer hath versified, + + The earth all Gods in common have?[160] + +that men might worship and reverence all Gods that have the earth in +common, so did the ancient Romans obscure the Lord of their Salvation, +requiring that not only this but all Gods should be reverenced by the +citizens? + +_Question 62._ Why among them that were called Feciales (in +Greek, peace-makers) was he that was named Pater Patratus accounted +the chiefest? But this must be one who hath his father living, and +children of his own; and he hath even at this time a certain privilege +and trust, for the Praetors commit to those men’s trust the persons +of those who, by reason of comeliness and beauty, stand in need of an +exact and chaste guardianship. + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that they must be such whose +children reverence them, and who reverence their parents? Or doth the +name itself suggest a reason? For _patratum_ will have a thing to +be complete and finished; for he whose lot it is to be a father whilst +his father liveth is (as it were) perfecter than others. Or is it that +he ought to be overseer of oaths and peace, and (according to Homer) to +see before and behind? He is such a one especially, who hath a son for +whom he consults, and a father with whom he consults. + +_Question 63._ Why is he that is called Rex Sacrorum (who is king +of priests) forbid either to take upon him a civil office or to make an +oration to the people? + +_Solution._ Was it that of old the kings did perform the most and +greatest sacred rites and offered sacrifices together with the priests; +but when they kept not within the bounds of moderation and became proud +and insolent, most of the Grecians, depriving them of their authority, +left to them only this part of their office, to sacrifice to the Gods; +but the Romans, casting out kings altogether, gave the charge of the +sacrifice to another, enjoining him neither to meddle with public +affairs nor to hold office, so that they might seem to be subject to +royalty only in their sacrifices, and to endure the name of king only +with respect to the Gods? Hence there is a certain sacrifice kept by +tradition in the market-place near the Comitia, which as soon as the +king (i.e. the chief priest) hath offered, he immediately withdraws +himself by flight out of the market-place. + +_Question 64._ Why do they not suffer the table to be quite voided +when it’s taken away, but will have something always to remain upon it? + +_Solution._ What if it be that they would intimate that something +of our present enjoyments should be left for the future, and that +to-day we should be mindful of to-morrow? Or that they reckon it a +piece of manners to repress and restrain the appetite in our present +fruitions? For they less desire absent things, who are accustomed to +abstain from those that are present. Or was it a custom of courtesy +towards household servants? For they do not love so much to take as to +partake, deeming that they hold a kind of communion with their masters +at the table. Or is it that no sacred thing ought to be suffered to be +empty? And the table is a sacred thing. + +_Question 65._ Why doth not a man lie at first with a bride in the +light, but when it is dark? + +_Solution._ Is it not for modesty’s sake, for at the first +congress he looks upon her as a stranger to him? Or is it that he may +be inured to go into his own wife with modesty? Or, as Solon hath +written, “Let the bride go into the bed-chamber gnawing a quince, +that the first salutation be not harsh and ungrateful.” So did the +Roman lawgiver command that, if there should be any thing absurd and +unpleasant in her body, she should hide it? Or was it intended to cast +infamy upon the unlawful use of venery by causing that the lawful +should have certain signs of modesty attending it? + +_Question 66._ Why was one of the horse-race rounds called +Flaminia? + +_Solution._ Is it because, when Flaminius, one of the ancients, +bestowed a field on the city, they employed its revenue on the +horse-races, and with the overplus money built the way which they call +Flaminia? + +_Question 67._ Why do they call the rod-bearers lictors? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, because these men were wont to +bind desperate bullies, and they followed Romulus carrying thongs in +their bosoms? The vulgar Romans say _alligare_, _to bind_, +when the more refined in speech say _ligare_. Or is now _c_ +inserted, when formerly they called them _litores_, being +_liturgi_, ministers for public service; for λῇτον until this day +is writ for _public_ in many of the Grecian laws, which scarce any +is ignorant of. + +_Question 68._ Why do the Luperci sacrifice a dog? The Luperci +are they that run up and down naked (saving only their girdles) in the +Lupercal plays, and slash all that they meet with a whip. + +_Solution._ Is it not because these feats are done for the +purification of the city? For they call the month February, and indeed +the very day Februatus, and the habit of whipping with thongs they call +_februare_, the word signifying _to cleanse_. And to speak +the truth, all the Grecians have used, and some do use to this very +day, a slain dog for an expiatory sacrifice; and among other sacrifices +of purification, they offer whelps to Hecate, and sprinkle those that +need cleansing with the puppy’s blood, calling this kind of purifying +puppification. Or is it that _lupus_ is λύκος, _a wolf_, and +Lupercalia are Lycaea; but a dog is at enmity with a wolf, therefore is +sacrificed on the Lycaean festivals? Or is it because the dogs do bark +at and perplex the Luperci as they scout about the city? Or is it that +this sacrifice is offered to Pan, and Pan loves dogs because of his +herds of goats. + +_Question 69._ Why, upon the festival called Septimontium, +did they observe to abstain from the use of chariots drawn by a +pair of horses; and even until now, do they that regard antiquity +still abstain? They do observe the Septimontium feast in honor of +the addition of the seventh hill to the city, upon which it became +Septicollis, seven-hilled Rome. + +_Solution._ What if it be (as some of the Romans conjecture) +because the parts of the city are not as yet everywhere connected? Or +if this conceit be nothing to the purpose, what if it be that, when the +great work of building the city was finished and they determined to +cease the increasing of the city any further, they rested themselves +and rested the cattle that bore a share in the labor with them, and +provided accordingly that they might participate of the holiday by rest +from labor? Or was it that they would have all the citizens always +present for the solemnity and return of a festival, especially that +which was observed in remembrance of the compact uniting the parts of +the city; and that none should desert the city for whose sake the feast +is kept, they were not allowed to use their yoke chariots that day? + +_Question 70._ Why do they call those Furciferi which are convict +of thefts or any other of those slavish crimes? + +_Solution._ Was it this (which was an argument of the severity of +the ancients), that whenever any convicted his servant of any villany, +he enjoined him to carry the forked piece of timber that is under the +cart (the tongue of the cart), and to go with it through the next +villages and neighborhood, to be seen of all, that they might distrust +him and be aware of him for the future? This piece of wood we call a +prop, the Romans call it _furca_, _a fork_; hence he that +carries it about is called _furcifer_, _a fork-bearer_. + +_Question 71._ Why do they bind hay about the horns of oxen that +are wont to push, that they may be shunned by him that meets them? + +_Solution._ It is that by reason of gormandizing and stuffing +their guts oxen, asses, horses, and men become mischievous, as +Sophocles somewhere saith. + + Like full-fed colt thou kickest up heels, + From stuffed paunch, cheeks, and full meals? + +Therefore the Romans say that M. Crassus had hay about his horns, for +they that were turbulent men in the commonwealth were wont to stand +in awe of him as a revengeful man and one scarce to be meddled with; +although afterwards it was said again, that Caesar had taken away +Crassus’s hay, being the first man of the republic that withstood and +affronted him. + +_Question 72._ Why would they have the lanthorns of the +soothsaying priests (which formerly they called Auspices, and now +Augures) to be always open at top, and no cover to be put upon them? + +_Solution._ Is it as the Pythagoreans do, who make little things +symbols of great matters,—as forbidding to sit down upon a bushel +and to stir up the fire with a sword,—so that the ancients used many +enigmatical ceremonies, especially about their priests, and such was +this of the lanthorn? For the lanthorn is like the body encompassing +the soul, the soul being the light withinside, and the understanding +and judgment ought to be always open and quick-sighted, and never to be +shut up or blown out. And when the winds blow, the birds are unsettled +and do not afford sound prognostics, by reason of their wandering and +irregularity in flying; by this usage therefore they teach that their +soothsayers must not prognosticate when there are high winds, but in +still and calm weather, when they can use their open lanthorns. + +_Question 73._ Why were priests that had sores about them forbid +to use divination. + +_Solution._ Is not this a significant sign that, whilst they are +employed about divine matters, they ought not to be in any pain, nor +have any sore or passion in their minds, but to be cheerful, sincere, +and without distraction? Or it is but rational, if no man may offer a +victim that hath a sore, nor use such birds for soothsaying, that much +more they should themselves be free from these blemishes, and be clean, +sincere, and sound, when they go about to inspect divine prodigies; +for an ulcer seems to be a mutilation and defilement of the body. + +_Question 74._ Why did Servius Tullius build a temple of Small +Fortune, whom they call Brevis? + +_Solution._ Was it because he was of a mean original and in a +low condition, being born of a captive woman, and by fortune came to +be king of Rome? Or did not that change of his condition manifest the +greatness rather than the smallness of his fortune? But Servius most +of all of them seems to ascribe divine influence to Fortune, giving +thereby a reputation to all his enterprises. For he did not only +build temples of Hopeful Fortune, of Fortune that averteth evil, of +Mild, Primogenial, and Masculine Fortune; but there is a temple also +of Private Fortune, another of Regardful Fortune, another of Hopeful +Fortune, and the fourth of Virgin Fortune. But why should any one +mention any more names, seeing there is a temple also of Ensnaring +Fortune, which they name Viscata, as it were ensnaring us when we are +as yet afar off, and enforcing us upon business.[161] Consider this +now, whether it be that Servius found that great matters are effected +by a small piece of Fortune, and that it often falls out that great +things are effected by some or do come to nought by a small thing +being done or not done. He built therefore a temple of Small Fortune, +teaching us to take care of our business, and not contemn things that +happen by reason of their smallness. + +_Question 75._ Why did they not extinguish a candle, but suffer it +to burn out of its own accord. + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that they adored it as being +related and akin to unquenchable and eternal fire? Or is it a +significant ceremony, teaching us that we are not to kill and destroy +any animated creature that is harmless, fire being as it were an +animal? For it both needs nourishment and moves itself, and when it is +extinguished it makes a noise as if it were then slain? Or doth this +usage instruct us that we ought not to make waste of fire or water, +or any other necessary thing that we have a super-abundance of, but +suffer those that have need to use them, leaving them to others when we +ourselves have no further use for them? + +_Question 76._ Why do they that would be preferred before others +in gentility wear little moons on their shoes? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason (as Castor saith), that this is +a symbol of the place of habitation that is said to be in the moon, +signifying that after death souls should have the moon under their +feet again? Or was this a fashion of renown among families of greatest +antiquity, as were the Arcadians of Evander’s posterity, that were +called men born before the moon (προσέληνοι)? Or is this, like many +other customs, to put men who are lofty and high-minded in mind of the +mutability of human affairs to either side, setting the moon before +them as an example, + + When first she comes from dark to light, + Trimming, her face becomes fair bright, + Increasing, till she’s full in sight; + Declining then, leaves nought but night?[162] + +Or was this for a doctrine of obedience to authority,—that they would +have us not discontented under it; but, as the moon doth willingly obey +her superior and conform unto him, always vamping after the rays of the +sun (as Parmenides hath it), so they that are subjects to any prince +should be contented with their lower station, in the enjoyment of power +and dignity derived from him? + +_Question 77._ Why are they of an opinion that the year is +Jupiter’s, but the months Juno’s? + +_Solution._ Is it because Jupiter and Juno reign over the +invisible Gods, who are no otherwise seen but by the eyes of our +understanding, but the Sun and Moon over the visible? And the Sun +verily causeth the year, and the Moon the months. Neither ought we to +think that they are bare images of them, but the Sun is Jupiter himself +materially, and the Moon Juno herself materially. Therefore they name +her Juno (_a juvenescendo_, the name signifying a thing that is +new or grows young) from the nature of the Moon; and they call her +Lucina (as it were _bright_ or _shining_), and they are of +opinion that she helps women in their travail-pains. Whence is that of +the poets: + + By azure heaven beset with stars, + By th’ moon that hastens births; + +for they suppose that women have the easiest travail at the full of the +moon. + +_Question 78._ What is the reason that a bird called +_sinister_ in soothsaying is fortunate? + +_Solution._ What if this be not true, but the dialect deludes +so many? For they render ἀριστερόν _sinistrum_; but to permit a +thing is _sinere_, and they say _sine_ when they desire a +thing to be permitted; therefore a prognostic permitting an action +(being _sinisterium_) the vulgar do understand and call amiss +_sinistrum_. Or is it as Dionysius saith, that when Ascanius, +the son of Aeneas, had pitched battle against Mezentius, a flash of +lightning portending victory (as they prognosticated) came on his +left hand, and for the future they observed it so; or, as some others +say, that this happened to Aeneas? Moreover, the Thebans routing and +conquering their enemies by the left wing of the army at Leuctra, they +continued in all battles to give the left wing the pre-eminence. Or is +it rather as Juba thinks, that to those that look toward the east the +north is on the left hand, which verily some make the right hand and +superior part of the world? Consider whether the soothsayers do not, +as it were, corroborate left-hand things, as the weaker by nature, +and do intimate as if they introduced a supply of that defect of power +that is in them. Or is it that they think that things terrestrial and +mortal stand directly over against heavenly and divine things, and do +conjecture that the things which to us are on the left hand the Gods +send down from their right hand? + +_Question 79._ Why was it lawful to bring the bones of one that +had triumphed (after he was dead and burnt) into the city and lay them +there, as Pyrrho the Liparaean hath told us? + +_Solution._ Was it for the honor they had for the deceased? For +they granted that not only generals and other eminent persons, but also +their offspring, should be buried in the market-place, for example, +Valerius and Fabricius. And they say, when the posterity of these +persons died, they were brought into the market-place, and a burning +firebrand was put under them and immediately taken away; and thus all +that might have caused envy was avoided, and the right to the honor was +fully confirmed. + +_Question 80._ Why did they that publicly feasted the triumphers +humbly request the consuls, and by messengers sent beseech them, not to +come to their supper? + +_Solution._ Was it that it was necessary to give the supreme place +and most honorable entertainment to the triumpher, and wait upon him +home after supper; whereas, the consuls being present, they might do +such things to none other but them? + +_Question 81._ Why did not the tribune of the people wear a purple +garment, whenas each of the other magistrates wore one? + +_Solution._ What if the tribune is not a magistrate at all? For he +neither hath lictors, nor sitting in tribunal doth he determine causes; +neither do the tribunes, as the rest, enter upon their office at the +beginning of the year, nor do they cease when a dictator is chosen; +but as if they translated all magistratic power to themselves, they +continue still, being (as it were) no magistrates, but holding another +kind of rank. And as some rhetoricians will not have a prohibition to +be judicial proceeding, seeing it doth something contrary to judicial +proceeding,—for the one brings in an action at law and gives judgment +upon it, but the other nonsuits it and dismisseth the cause,—after +the like manner they are of opinion that tribuneship is rather a curb +to magistracy, and that it is an order standing in opposition to +government rather than a piece of government itself; for the tribune’s +office and authority is to withstand the magistrate’s authority, even +to curtail his extravagant power. Perhaps these and similar reasons +may be mere ingenious devices; but in truth, since tribuneship takes +its original from the people, popularity is its stronghold, and it is +a great thing not to carry it above the rest of the people, but to be +like the citizens they have to do with in gesture, habit, and diet. +State indeed becomes a consul and a praetor; but as for a tribune (as +Caius Curio saith), he must be one that even is trampled upon, not +grave in countenance, nor difficult of access, nor harsh to the rabble, +but more tractable to them than to others. Hence it was decreed that +the tribune’s doors should not be shut, but be open night and day +as a haven and place of refuge for distressed people. And the more +condescending his outward deportment is, by so much the more doth he +increase in his power; for they dignify him as one of public use, and +to be resorted to of all sorts even as an altar; therefore by the +reverence they give him, he is sacred, holy, and inviolable; and when +he makes a public progress, it is a law that every one should cleanse +and purify the body as defiled. + +_Question 82._ Why before the chief officers are rods carried +bound together, with the axes fastened to them? + +_Solution._ What if it be a significant ceremony, to show that a +magistrate’s anger ought not to be rash and ungrounded? Or is it that, +while the rods are leisurely unloosing, they make deliberation and +delay in their anger, so that oftentimes they change their sentence as +to the punishment? Now, whereas some sort of crimes are curable, some +incurable, rods correct the corrigible, but the axes are to cut off the +incorrigible. + +_Question 83._ What is the reason that the Romans, when they were +informed that the barbarians called Bletonesians had sacrificed a man +to the Gods, sent for their magistrates to punish them; but when they +made it appear that they did it in obedience to a certain law, they +dismissed them, but prohibited the like action for the future; whenas +they themselves, not many years preceding, buried two men and two women +alive in the Forum Boarium, two of whom were Greeks and two Gauls? +For it seems absurd to do this themselves, and yet to reprimand the +barbarians as if they were committing profaneness. + +_Solution._ What if this be the reason, that they reckoned it +profane to sacrifice a man to the Gods, but necessary to do so to the +Daemons? Or were they of opinion that they sinned that did such things +by custom or law; but as for themselves, they did it being enjoined +to it by the Sibylline books? For it is reported that one Elvia, a +virgin, riding on horseback was struck with lightning and cast from +her horse, and the horse was found lying uncovered and she naked, as +if on set purpose; her clothes had been turned up from her secret +parts, also her shoes, rings, and head-gear all lay scattered up and +down, here and there; her tongue also was hanging out of her mouth. +And when the diviners declared that it was an intolerable disgrace to +the holy virgins that it should be published, and that some part of +the abuse did touch the cavaliers, a servant of a certain barbarian +cavalier informed, that three vestal virgins, Aemilia, Licinia, and +Martia, about the same time had been deflowered, and for a long time +played the whores with some men, among whom was Butetius, the said +informer’s master. The virgins being convict were punished; and the +fact appearing heinous, it was thought meet that the priest should +consult the Sibylline books, where there were oracles found foretelling +these things would come to pass for mischief to the republic, and +enjoining them—in order to avert the impending calamity—to provide two +Grecians and two Gauls, and bury them alive in that place, in order to +the appeasing some alien and foreign Daemons. + +_Question 84._ Why do they take the beginning of the day from the +midnight? + +_Solution._ Is the reason that the commonweal had a military +constitution at the first? For many matters of concern on military +expeditions are managed by night. Or did they make sunrising the +beginning of business, and the night the preparation for it? For men +ought to come prepared to action, and not to be in preparation when +they should be doing,—as Myso is reported to have said to Chilo the +Wise, when he was making a fan in winter. Or as the noontide to many is +the time for finishing public and weighty affairs, so did it seem meet +to make midnight the beginning? This hath this confirmation, that a +Roman governor would make no league or confederation in the afternoon. +Or is it impossible to take the beginning and end of the day from +sunrising to sunsetting? For, as the vulgar measure the beginning of +the day by sense to be the first appearance of the sun, and take the +first beginning of the night to be the complete withdrawment of the sun +from sight, we shall thus have no equinoctial day; but the night which +we suppose comes nearest in equality to the day will be manifestly +shorter than the day by the diameter of the sun. Which absurdity the +mathematicians, going about to solve, have determined that, where the +centre of the sun toucheth the horizon, there is the true parting +point between day and night. But this contradicts sense; for it must +follow that whilst there is much light above the earth, yea, the sun +illuminating us, we will not for all this confess it to be day, but +must say that it is still night. Whereas then it is hard to take the +beginning of the day from the rising and setting of the sun, by reason +of the forementioned absurdities, it remains to take the zenith and the +nadir for the beginning. The last is best, for the sun’s course from +noon is by way of declination from us; but from midnight he takes his +course towards us, as sunrising comes on. + +_Question 85._ Wherefore did they not in ancient times suffer +women to grind or play the cook? + +_Solution._ Haply, because they remembered the covenant that +they made with the Sabines; for after they had robbed them of their +daughters, and fighting many battles became reconciled, among other +articles of agreement this was recorded, that a wife was not to grind +nor play the cook for a Roman husband. + +_Question 86._ Why do they not marry wives in the month of May? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that because May is between April +and June,—concerning which months they have an opinion that that is +sacred to Venus, this to Juno, both of them being nuptial Gods,—they +either take an opportunity a little before May, or tarry till it be +over? Or is it that in this month they offer the greatest expiatory +sacrifice, now casting the images of men from a bridge into the river, +and formerly men themselves? Moreover, it is by law required that the +Flaminica, the reputed priestess of Juno, should be most sourly sullen +during the time, and neither wash nor trim up herself. Or is it because +many of the Latins in this month offer oblations unto the dead? And +therefore perhaps they worship Mercury in this month, which from Maia +derives its name? Or, as some say, is May derived from elder age +(maior) and Juno from younger (iunior)? For youth is more suitable to +matrimony, as Euripides hath said, + + Old age the Cyprian queen must ever shun, + And Venus from old men in scorn doth run. + +Therefore they marry not in May, but tarry till June, which is +presently after May. + +_Question 87._ Why do they part the hair of women when they are +married with the point of a spear? + +_Solution._ What if it be a significant ceremony, showing that +they took their first wives in marriage by force of arms and war? +Or is it that they may instruct them that they are to dwell with +husbands that are soldiers and warriors, and that they should put on +such ornamental attire as is not luxurious or lascivious, but plain? +So Lycurgus commanded that all the gates and tops of houses should be +built with saw and hatchet, and no other sort of workmen’s instrument +should be used about them; yea, he rejected all gayety and superfluity. +Or doth this action parabolically intimate divorce, as that marriage +can be dissolved only by the sword? Or is it that most of these nuptial +ceremonies relate to Juno? For a spear is decreed sacred to Juno, and +most of her statues are supported by a spear, and she is surnamed +Quiritis, and a spear of old was called _quiris_, wherefore they +surname Mars Quirinus? + +_Question 88._ Why do they call the money that is laid out upon +the public plays _lucar_? + +_Solution._ Is it because there are many groves consecrated to the +Gods about the city, which they call _luci_, and the revenue of +these they expend upon the said plays? + +_Question 89._ Why do they call the Quirinalia the Feast of Fools? + +_Solution._ Was it because they set apart that day for those that +were unacquainted with their own curiae, as Juba saith? Or was it for +them that did not sacrifice with their tribes, as the rest did, in the +Fornicalia, by reason of business or long journeys or ignorance, so +that it was allowed to them to solemnize that feast upon this day? + +_Question 90._ What is the reason that, when there is a sacrifice +to Hercules, they mention no other God and no dog appears within the +enclosure, as Varro saith? + +_Solution._ Is the reason of their naming no other God, because +they are of opinion that Hercules was but a half God? And, as some say, +Evander built an altar to him and brought him a sacrifice, whilst he +was yet here among men. And of all creatures he had most enmity to a +dog, for this creature always held him hard to it, as did Cerberus; and +that which most of all prejudiced him was that, when Oeonus, the son +of Licymnius, was slain for a dog’s sake by the Hippocoontidae, he was +necessitated to take up the cudgels, and lost many of his friends and +his brother Iphicles. + +_Question 91._ Why was it unlawful for the patricians to dwell +about the Capitol? + +_Solution._ Was it because M. Manlius, whilst he dwelt there, +affected arbitrary government; upon whose account the family came under +an oath of abjuration that no Manlius should for the future bear the +name of Marcus? Or was this an ancient suspicion? For the potent men +would never leave calumniating Publicola, a most popular man, nor would +the common people leave fearing him till he had plucked down his house, +which seemed to hang over the market-place. + +_Question 92._ Why do they put on a garland of oaken leaves on him +that saves a citizen in battle? + +_Solution._ Is it because it is easy to find an oak everywhere +in the military expeditions? Or is it because a crown is sacred to +Jupiter and Juno, who in their opinion are the city guardians? Or was +it an ancient custom among the Arcadians, who are something akin to the +oak? For they repute themselves the first men produced of the earth, as +the oak among the vegetables. + +_Question 93._ Why do they for the most part use vultures for +soothsaying? + +_Solution._ Was this the reason, because twelve vultures appeared +to Romulus upon the building of Rome? Or because of all birds this is +least frequent and familiar? For it is not easy to meet with young +vultures, but they fly to us unexpectedly from some remote parts; +therefore the sight of them is portentous. Or haply they learned this +from Hercules, if Herodotus speak true that Hercules rejoiced most in +the beginning of an enterprise at the sight of a vulture, being of +opinion that a vulture was the justest of all birds of prey. For first, +he meddles not with any living creature, neither doth he destroy any +thing that hath breath in it, as eagles, hawks, and other fowls do that +prey by night, but lives only upon dead carcasses; and next, he passeth +by all those of his kind, for none ever saw a vulture feeding on a +bird, as eagles and hawks do, which for the most part pursue birds like +themselves, and slay them, even as Aeschylus hath it, + + A bird that preys on birds, how can’t be clean? + +And verily this bird is not pernicious to men, for it neither destroys +fruits nor plants, nor is hurtful to any tame animal. Moreover if it +be (as the Egyptians fabulously pretend) that the whole kind of them +is of the female sex, and that they conceive by the reception of the +east wind into their bodies, as the trees do by receiving the west +wind, it is most probable that very certain and sound prognostics may +be made from them; whereas in other birds (there being so many rapines, +flights, and pursuits about copulation) there are great disturbances +and uncertainties attending them. + +_Question 94._ For what reason is the temple of Aesculapius placed +without the city? + +_Solution._ Was it because they reckoned it a wholesomer kind of +living without the city than within? For the Greeks have placed the +edifices belonging to Aesculapius for the most part on high places, +where the air is pure and clear. Or is it that they suppose this God +was fetched from Epidaurus? For the temple of Aesculapius is not close +by that city, but at a great distance from it. Or is it that, by a +serpent that went on shore out of a trireme galley into the island and +disappeared, they think the God himself intimated to them the place of +building his temple? + +_Question 95._ Why was it ordained that they that were to live +chaste should abstain from pulse? + +_Solution._ Did they, like the Pythagoreans, abominate beans for +the causes which are alleged, and the lathyrus and erebinthus as being +named from Lethe and Erebus? Or was it because they used pulse for +the most part in their funeral feasts and invocations of the dead? Or +rather was it because they should bring empty and slender bodies to +their purifications and expiations? For pulse are windy, and cause a +great deal of excrements that require purging off. Or is it because +they irritate lechery, by reason of their flatulent and windy nature? + +_Question 96._ Why do they inflict no other punishment on Vestal +Virgins, when they are defiled, than burying them alive? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, because they burn the dead, and to +bury her by fire who hath not preserved sacred the divine fire would be +unjust? Or was it that they judged it a wicked act to cut off a person +sanctified by the greatest ceremonial purification, and to lay hands on +a holy woman; and therefore they contrived a machine for her to die in +of herself, and let her down into a vault made under ground, where was +placed a candle burning, also some bread and milk and water, and then +the den was covered with earth on top? Neither by this execrable manner +of devoting them are they exempt from superstition; but to this day the +priests going to the place perform purgatory rites. + +_Question 97._ What is the reason that, at the horse-race on the +Ides of December, the lucky horse that beats is sacrificed as sacred +to Mars; and a certain man, cutting off his tail, brings it to a place +called Regia, and besmears the altar with the blood of it; but for the +head, one party coming down from the way called Sacred, and others from +the Suburra, do fight? + +_Solution._ Whether was it (as some say) that, reckoning that Troy +was taken by a horse, they punish a horse, as being the + + Renowned Trojan race commixt with Latin boys? + +Or is it because a horse is a fierce, warlike, and martial beast, +therefore they do sacrifice to the Gods the things that are most +acceptable and suitable; and he that conquers is offered, because +victory and prowess doth belong to that God? Or is it rather because to +stand in battle is the work of God, and they that keep their ranks and +files do conquer those that do not keep them but fly, and swiftness of +foot is punished as the maintenance of cowardice; so that hereby it is +significantly taught that there is no safety to them that run away? + +_Question 98._ What is the reason that the censors entering upon +their office do nothing before they have contracted for providing meat +for the sacred geese, and for polishing the statue? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that they begin with those +things that savor of most frugality, and such things as want not much +charge and trouble? Or is it in grateful commemoration of what these +creatures did of old, when the Gauls invaded Rome and the barbarians +scaled the walls of the Capitol by night? For the geese were sensible +of it when the dogs were asleep, and they with their gaggling awaked +the watch? Or, seeing the censors are the conservers of such things as +are of greatest and most necessary concern,—to oversee and narrowly +inspect the public sacrifices, and the lives, manners, and diet of +men,—do they presently set before their consideration the most vigilant +creature, and by the watchfulness of these instruct the citizens not to +disregard or neglect sacred things? As for the polishing of the statue, +it is necessary, for the minium (wherewith they of old colored the +statues) soon fades. + +_Question 99._ What is the reason that of the other priests they +depose any one that is condemned or banished, and substitute another in +his room; but remove not the augur from his priesthood so long as he +lives, though he be convicted of the greatest crimes? They call them +augurs who are employed in soothsaying. + +_Solution._ Is the reason (as some say) that they will have none +to know the mysteries of the priests who is not a priest? Or that the +augur is bound by oath to discover to none the management of sacred +things; therefore they refuse to absolve him from his oath, when he is +reduced to a private capacity? Or is it that the name of augur is not a +title of honor and dignity, but of skill and art? It would therefore be +the like case to depose a musician from being a musician or a physician +from being a physician, with that of prohibiting a diviner from being a +diviner; seeing they cannot take away his faculty, though they deprive +him of the title. Moreover they do not substitute augurs, because they +will keep to the number of augurs that were at the beginning. + +_Question 100._ What is the reason that in the Ides of August +(which at first they called Sextilis) all the men-servants and +maid-servants do feast, but the free women make it most of their +business to wash and purge their heads? + +_Solution._ Was it that King Servius about this day was born of +a captive maid-servant, and hence the servants have a vacation time +from work; and that rinsing the head was a thing that took its original +from a custom of the maid-servants upon the account of the feast, and +finally passed also into the free women? + +_Question 101._ Why do they finify their boys with necklaces, +which they call _bullae_? + +_Solution._ What if this were for the honor of the wives which +were taken by force? For as many other things, so this might be one +of the injunctions laid on their posterity. Or did they it in honor +of Tarquin’s manhood? For it is reported of him that, whilst he was +but a boy, being engaged in a battle against the Latins and Tuscans, +charging his enemies, he fell from his horse; yet animating those +Romans which were engaged in the charge, he led them on courageously. +The enemies were put to a remarkable rout, and sixteen thousand were +slain; whereupon he had this badge of honor bestowed upon him by +his father the king. Or was it that by the ancients it was neither +lewd nor dishonorable to love beautiful slaves (as now the comedies +testify), but that they resolvedly abstained from free-born servants; +and lest, by coming accidentally on naked boys, they should ignorantly +transgress, the free boys wore this mark of distinction? Or was this +a protector of good order, and after a manner a curb of incontinency; +they being ashamed to pretend to manhood before they have put off +the badge of children? That which they say who follow Varro is not +probable, that _boule_ by the Aeolians is called _bolla_, +and this is put about children as a teaching sign of good counsel. But +consider whether they do not wear it for the moon’s sake. For the +visible face of the moon, when it is halved, is not spherical, but +shaped like a lentil or a quoit; and (as Empedocles supposeth) so is +also the side that is turned away from us. + +_Question 102._ Why do they name boys when they are nine days old, +and girls when they are eight? + +_Solution._ Perhaps it’s a natural reason, that girls are +forwarder, for the female grows up and comes to full stature and +perfection before the male. But they take the day after the seventh, +because the seventh is dangerous to infants by reason of the +navel-string; for with many it falls off at seven days, and until it +falls off, an infant is more like a plant than an animal. Or is it, +as the Pythagoreans reckon, that the even number is the feminine, +and the odd number the masculine? For it is a fruitful number, and +excels the even in respect of its composition. And if these numbers be +divided into units, the even, like a female, hath an empty space in +the middle; the odd number always leaves a segment full in the middle, +wherefore this is fit to be compared to the male, that to the female. +Or is it thus, that of all numbers nine is the first square number made +of three, which is an odd and perfect number, but eight is the first +cube made of two, an even number; whence a male ought to be square, +superexcelling, and complete; but a woman, like a cube, constant, a +good housewife, and no gadding gossip? This also may be added that, +as eight is a cube from the root two, and nine a square from the root +three, so the female makes use of two names, and the males of three. + +_Question 103._ Why do they call those whose fathers are not known +_Spurius_? + +_Solution._ It is not verily—as the Grecians suppose and as the +rhetoricians say in their determinations—because they are begot of some +promiscuous and common seed (as the Greeks say σπόρος). But Spurius is +found among first names, as Sextus, Decimus, Caius. But the Romans do +not write all the letters of the first name; but either one letter, as +T. for Titus, L. for Lucius, M. for Marcus; or two letters, as Ti. for +Tiberius, Cn. for Cnaeus; or three, as Sex. for Sextus, and Ser. for +Servius. Now Spurius is of those that are written with two letters, +Sp. But with these same letters they write _without father_, S. +for _sine_, and P. for _patre_, which truly hath caused the +mistake. Moreover, we may meet with another reason, but it is more +absurd. They say, that the Sabines called the privities of a woman +_spurius_; and therefore they call him so, by way of reproach, who +is born of a woman unmarried and unespoused. + +_Question 104._ Why did they call Bacchus Liber Pater? + +_Solution._ Was the reason because they make him, as it were, +the father of liberty to tipplers? For most men become very audacious +and are filled with too much licentious prattle, by reason of too +much drink. Or is this it, that he hath supplied them with a libamen, +a drink-offering? Or is it, as Alexander hath said, that Bacchus is +called Eleutherius from his having his abode about Eleutherae, a city +of Boeotia? + +_Question 105._ For what cause was it, that on high holidays it +was not a custom for virgins to marry, but widows did marry then? + +_Solution._ Is the reason, as Varro saith, that virgins, forsooth, +are married weeping, but women with joyful glee, and people are to +do nothing of a holiday with a heavy heart nor by compulsion? Or +rather is it because it is decent for virgins to marry with more than +a few present, but for widows to marry with a great many present is +indecent? For the first marriage is zealously affected, the second to +be deprecated; yea, they are ashamed to marry a second husband while +their first husband lives, and they grieve at doing so even when he is +dead. Hence they are pleased more with silence than with tumults and +pompous doings; and the feasts do attract the generality of people to +them, so that they cannot be at leisure on holidays for such wedding +solemnities. Or was it that they that robbed the Sabines of their +daughters that were virgins on the feast-day raised thereby a war, and +looked therefore upon it as unlucky to marry virgins on holidays? + +_Question 106._ Why do the Romans worship Fortuna Primigenia? + +_Solution._ Was it because Servius, being by Fortune born of +a servant-maid, came to rule king in Rome with great splendor? And +this is the supposition of most Romans. Or rather is it that Fortune +hath bestowed on Rome itself its very original and birth? Or may not +this matter require a more natural and philosophical reason, even +that Fortune is the original of all things and that Nature itself is +produced out of things that come by Fortune, when events that come by +chance fall into an order among themselves? + +_Question 107._ Why do the Romans call the artists who appear in +the worship of Bacchus _histriones_? + +_Solution._ Is it for the reason which C. Rufus tells us? For he +says, that in ancient time, C. Sulpicius and Licinius Stolo, being +consuls, a pestilence raging in Rome, all the actors upon the stage +were cut off; wherefore, upon the request of the Romans, many and good +artists came from Etruria, among whom he that excelled in fame and had +been longest experienced on the public stages was called Histrus, and +from him they named all the stage-players. + +_Question 108._ Why do not men marry women that are near akin? + +_Solution._ Is this the reason, that they design by marriage to +augment their family concerns and to procure many relations, by giving +wives to strangers and marrying wives out of other families? Or do +they suspect that the contentions that would happen among relations +upon marriage would destroy even natural rights? Or is it that, +considering that wives by reason of weakness stand in need of many +helpers, they would not have near akin marry together, that their own +kindred might stand by them when their husbands wrong them? + +_Question 109._ Why is it not lawful for the high priest of +Jupiter, which they call Flamen Dialis, to touch meal or leaven? + +_Solution._ Is it because meal is imperfect and crude nourishment? +For the wheat neither hath continued what it was, neither is it made +into bread as it must be; but it hath lost the faculty of seed, and +hath not attained to usefulness for food. Wherefore the poet hath +named meal, by a metaphor, _mill-murdered_ (μυλήφατον), as if the +corn were spoiled and destroyed by grinding. Leaven, as it is made by +corruption, corrupts the mass that it is mingled with, for it is made +thereby looser and weaker; and fermentation is a kind of corruption, +which, if it be over much, makes the bread sour and spoils it. + +_Question 110._ Why is the same high priest forbid to touch raw +flesh? + +_Solution._ Is it because custom makes them averse enough to +raw flesh? Or is it that the same reason that makes them averse to +meal doth also make them averse to flesh; for it is neither a living +creature nor dressed food? Roasting or boiling, being an alteration and +change, doth change its form; but fresh and raw flesh offers not a pure +and unpolluted object to the eye, but such as is offensive to the eye, +and like that of a raw wound. + +_Question 111._ Why do they require the priest to abstain from a +dog and a goat, and neither to touch or name them? + +_Solution._ Was it that they abominated the lasciviousness and +stink of a goat, or that they suspected it to be a diseased creature? +For it seems this animal is more seized with the falling sickness +than other creatures, and is contagious to them that eat or touch it +while it hath this disease; they say, the cause is the straightness +of the windpipe, often intercepting the breath, a sign of which they +make the smallness of their voice to be; for it happens to men that +are epileptical, that they utter a voice sounding much like the bleat +of a goat. Now in a dog there may be less of lasciviousness and of an +ill scent; although some say that dogs are not permitted to go into +the high streets of Athens—no, not into the island Delos—by reason of +their open coition; as if kine, swine, and horses did use coition in +bed-chambers, and not openly and lawlessly. They do not know the true +reason,—that, because a dog is a quarrelsome creature, they therefore +expel dogs out of sanctuaries and sacred temples, giving safe access to +suppliants for refuge. Wherefore it is very likely that the priest of +Jupiter, being (as it were) an animated and sacred image, granted for +refuge to petitioners and suppliants, doth banish or fright away none. +For which cause a couch was set for him in the porch of the house, and +they that fell on their knees before him had indemnity from stripes +or punishment that day; and if one in fetters came and addressed him, +he was unloosed, and his fetters were not laid down by the door but +thrown from the roof. It would be therefore no advantage that he should +carry himself so mild and courteous, if there were a dog at the door, +scaring and frighting them that petitioned for sanctuary. Neither did +the ancients at all repute this creature clean; for he is offered in +sacrifice to none of the celestial Gods, but being sent to Hecate, +an infernal Goddess, at the three cross-ways for a supper, takes a +share in averting calamities and in expiations. In Lacedaemon they cut +puppies in pieces to Mars, that most cruel God. In Boeotia public +expiation is made by passing between the parts of a dog divided in +twain. But the Romans sacrifice a dog in the cleansing month, on the +festival which they call Lupercalia. Hence it was not without cause, to +prohibit them whose charge it was to worship the highest and holiest +God from making a dog familiar and customed to them. + +_Question 112._ What is the reason that the priest of Jupiter is +forbid to touch an ivy, or to pass over that way that is overspread +with vine branches? + +_Solution._ Is it not of the like nature with those precepts of +Pythagoras, not to eat in a chair, not to sit upon a measure called +a choenix, and not to step over a broom? For the Pythagoreans do not +dread and refrain from these things, but they prohibit other things by +these. Now to go under a vine hath reference to wine, because it is +not lawful for a priest to be drunk. For the wine is above the heads +of those that are drunk, and they are depraved and debased thereby; +whereas it is requisite that they should be above pleasure and conquer +it, but not be subdued by it. As for the ivy,—it being unfruitful and +useless to men, as also infirm, and by reason of its infirmity standing +in need of other trees to climb upon, though by its shadow and sight +of its greenness it doth bewitch the vulgar,—what if they judge it not +convenient to nourish it about a house because it bringeth no profit, +or to suffer it to clasp about any thing, seeing it is so hurtful to +plants that bear it up, while it sticketh fast in the ground? Hence ivy +is forbidden at the Olympic festivals, and neither at Athens in Juno’s +sacrifices, nor at Thebes in those belonging to Venus, can any wild ivy +be seen; though in the Agrionia and Nyctelia (which are services to +Bacchus for the most part performed in the dark) it is to be found. Or +was this a symbol of the prohibition of revels and sports of Bacchus? +For women that were addicted to Bacchanal sports presently ran to +the ivy and plucked it off, tearing it in pieces with their hands and +gnawing it with their mouths, so that they are not altogether to be +disbelieved that say it hath a spirit in it that stirreth and moveth to +madness, transporting and bereaving of the senses, and that alone by +itself it introduceth drunkenness without wine to those that have an +easy inclination to enthusiasm. + +_Question 113._ Why are not these priests allowed to take upon +them or attempt civil authority, while they have a lictor and a curule +chair for honor’s sake, and in some sort of consolation for their being +excluded from magistracies? + +_Solution._ Was it because in some places of Greece the dignity +of priesthood was equal with kingship, and therefore they designated +not ordinary persons to be priests? Or was it rather,—since they +have appointed office-employments, whereas the charge of kings is +unmethodical and indefinite,—that it would not be possible, if both +fell out at the same time, that he should be able to attend both, but +he must of necessity neglect one (both pressing together upon him), +sometimes neglecting the worship of God, and sometimes injuring the +subjects? Or else, seeing that there is no less necessity than power +attending the administration of civil government, and that the ruler +of the people (as Hippocrates saith of the physician) doth see weighty +matters and hath to do with weighty matters, and from other men’s +calamities procures troubles peculiar to himself, did they think him +not sacred enough to sacrifice to the Gods and manage the sacrifices +who had been present at the condemnation and execution of citizens, and +often of some of his own kindred and family, as happened to Brutus? + + + + +GREEK QUESTIONS. + + +_Question 1._ Who are they at Epidaurus called Κονίποδες and +Ἄρτυνοι? + +_Solution._ The managers of the affairs of the commonwealth were +one hundred and eighty men; out of these they elected senators, which +they called ἄρτυνοι. The most part of the common people were conversant +in husbandry; these they called κονίποδες, because (as may be supposed) +they were known by their dirty feet when they came into the city. + +_Question 2._ What woman was that among the Cumans called Onobatis? + +_Solution._ This was one of the women taken in adultery, which +they brought into the market-place, and set her upon a certain stone +to be seen of all; from thence they took her and set her on ass-back, +and led her round about the city, and afterwards set her up again upon +the stone; the rest of her life she led under disgrace. Her they called +Onobatis (the woman that rode upon an ass); hence they abominated the +stone as unclean. There was also a certain magistrate among them, +called Phylactes (a conservator); he that had this office kept the +prison for the rest of his time; but at the nocturnal convention of +the senators he came into the council, and laying hands on the kings +led them forth, and detained them in custody until the senate had +determined concerning them, by a vote given in private, whether they +had acted unrighteously or not. + +_Question 3._ Who is the Ὑπεκκαύστρια among the Solenses? + +_Solution._ They call the she-priest of Minerva so, because she +offers certain sacrifices and oblations for the averting of impending +calamities. + +_Question 4._ Who are the Ἀμνήμονες among the Cnidians, and who is +the Ἀφεστήρ? + +_Solution._ The sixty select men chosen from among the nobles, +whom they used as overseers and principal counsellors for life in +matters of greatest concern, they called Amnemones (as a man may +suppose) because they were not accountable to any for what they did, +or verily (in my opinion) rather because they were men carrying much +business in their memories. And he that put questions to vote was +called Aphester. + +_Question 5._ Who were the Χρηστοί among the Arcadians and +Lacedaemonians? + +_Solution._ When the Lacedaemonians were agreed with the +Tegeats, they made a league with them, and set up a common pillar on +the river Alpheus, upon which this is written, among other things, +“Drive out the Messenians from your borders, and make none of them +χρηστοί, _good_.” Aristotle interpreting this saith, that none +of the Tegeats ought to be slain that endeavored to bring aid to the +Lacedaemonians. + +_Question 6._ Who is Κριθολόγος among the Opuntians? + +_Solution._ The most of the Greeks did use barley at their ancient +sacrifices, when the citizens offered their first-fruits; now they +called him Crithologus who presided over the sacrifices and received +the first-fruits. They had two priests, one that had the chief charge +of the divine things, the other of daemonic affairs. + +_Question 7._ What sort of clouds are the Ploiades? + +_Solution._ Showering clouds which were carried up and down +were, for the most part, called Ploiades, as Theophrastus hath said +expressly in his fourth book of Meteors: “Whereas indeed the Ploiades +are those clouds which have a consistency and are not so movable, but +as to color white, which discover a kind of different matter, neither +very watery nor very windy.” + +_Question 8._ Who is called Platychaetas among the Boeotians? + +_Solution._ They that had many neighboring houses or bordering +fields were so called in the Aeolic dialect, as having wide +domains.[163] I will add one saying out of the Thesmophylacian law, +seeing there are many.... + +_Question 9._ Who is he among the people of Delphi who is called +Ὁσιωτήρ? And why do they call one of the months Bysius? + +_Solution._ They call the slain sacrifice Ὁσιωτήρ when the ὅσιος +(_the holy one_) is declared. There are five of these holy ones +for life, and these transact many things with the prophets, and +sacrifice together with them, supposing that they are descended from +Deucalion. The month Bysius, as many think, is the same as Φύσιος +(_natural_), for it is in the beginning of the spring, when +most things do sprout and put forth buds. But this is not the true +reason. For the Delphians do not use _b_ for _ph_ (as the +Macedonians, who say Bilippus, Balacrus, and Beronica, for Philippus, +Phalacrus, and Pheronica), but instead of _p_; they for the most +part saying βατεῖν for πατεῖν, and βικρόν for πικρόν. +Therefore they say Bysius for Pysius, because in that month they +enquire of and consult their God Apollo. This is their genuine and +country way of speaking. For in that month an oracle is given forth, +and they call that week the nativity of Apollo, and the name is +Polythous, not because of their baking a sort of cakes called Pthides, +but because then their oracle is full of answers and prophecies. For +it is but of late that oraculous answers were given to the enquirers +every month. In former times Pythia gave answers only once a year, +which was on this day, as Callisthenes and Anaxandridas have told us. + +_Question 10._ What is Phyxemelum? + +_Solution._ It is one of the small plants that creep upon the +ground, upon whose branches the cattle treading do hinder, hurt, +and spoil their growth. Where therefore they have attained some +considerable bigness by growth, and escaped the injury of those that +use to feed upon them, they are called φυξίμηλα (i.e. that have escaped +the danger of cattle), of which Aeschylus is witness. + +_Question 11._ Who are the Ἀποσφενδόνητοι? + +_Solution._ The Eretrians inhabited the island of Corcyra. But +when Charicrates set sail from Corinth with a considerable strength +and overcame them in battle, the Eretrians took shipping and sailed to +their native country; of which thing the inhabitants of that country +having timely notice, gave them a repulse, and by slinging stones at +them impeded their landing. Now being not able either to persuade or +force their way, seeing the multitude was implacably bent against them, +they sailed into Thrace and took possession of that country, where +they say Metho first inhabited, of whose offspring Orpheus was. The +city therefore they call Methone, and of the neighboring inhabitants +the men are called Aposphendoneti, i.e. they that were repulsed with +sling-stones. + +_Question 12._ What was Charila among the Delphians? + +_Solution._ The Delphians solemnized three nonennial feasts in +regular order, of which they call one Stepterium, another Herois, +and the third Charila. The Stepterium represents by imitation the +fight which Apollo had with Python, and both his flight and pursuit +after the fight unto Tempe. For some say that he fled, as needing +purification by reason of the slaughter; others say that he pursued +Python wounded, and flying along the highway which they now call +Sacred, he just missed of being present at his death; for he found him +just dead of his wound, and buried by his son, whose name was Aix, as +they say. Stepterium therefore is the representation of these or some +such things. But as to Herois, it hath for the most part a mysterious +reason which the Thyades are acquainted with; but by the things that +are publicly acted one may conjecture it to be the calling up of Semele +from the lower world. Concerning Charila, they fable some such things +as these. A famine by reason of drought seized the Delphians, who +came with their wives and children as suppliants to the king’s gate, +whereupon he distributed meal and pulse to the better known among them, +for there was not sufficient for all. A little orphan girl yet coming +and importuning him, he beat her with his shoe, and threw his shoe in +her face. She indeed was a poor wandering beggar-wench, but was not +of an ignoble disposition; therefore withdrawing herself, she untied +her girdle and hanged herself. The famine hereupon increasing and many +diseases accompanying it, Pythia gives answer to the king, that the +maid Charila who slew herself must be expiated. They with much ado at +last discovering that this was the maid’s name which was smitten with a +shoe, they instituted a certain sacrifice mixed with expiatory rites, +which they yet solemnize to this day every ninth year. Whereat the king +presides, distributing meal and pulse to all strangers and citizens +(for they introduce a kind of an effigy of the wench Charila); and when +all have received their doles, the king smites the idol with his shoe. +Upon this the governess of the Thyades takes up the image and carries +it away to some rocky place, and there putting a halter about its +neck, they bury it in the place where they buried Charila when she had +strangled herself. + +_Question 13._ What is the beggars’ meat among the Aenianes? + +_Solution._ Many have been the removes of the Aenianes. First +they inhabited the plain of Dotion; thence they were expelled by the +Lapithae to the Aethices; from thence they betook themselves to a +region of Molossia about the Aous, where they were called Paravaeans; +afterward they took possession of Cirrha; they had no sooner landed +at Cirrha (Apollo so commanding their king Oenoclus) but they went +down to the country bordering on the river Inachus, inhabited by the +Inachians and Achaeans. There was an oracle given to the latter, that +they would lose all their country if they should part with any of +it,—and to the Aenianes, that they would hold it if they should take it +of such as freely resigned it. Temo, a noted man among the Aenianes, +putting on rags and a scrip, like a beggar, addressed himself to the +Inachians; the king, in a way of reproach and scorn, gave him a clod +of earth. He receives it and puts it up into his scrip, and absconds +himself, making much of his dole; for he presently forsakes the +country, begging no more. The old men wondering at this, the oracle +came fresh to their remembrance; and going to the king, they told him +that he ought not to slight this man, nor suffer him to escape. Temo +well perceiving their designs, hastens his flight, and as he fled, +vowed a hecatomb to Apollo. Upon this occasion the kings fought hand +to hand; and when Phemius, the king of the Aenianes, saw Hyperochus, +the king of the Inachians, charging him with a dog at his heels, he +said he dealt not fairly to bring a second with him to fight him; +whereupon Hyperochus going to drive away the dog, and turning himself +about in order to throw a stone at the dog, Phemius slays him. Thus the +Aenianes possessed themselves of that region, expelling the Inachians +and Achaeans; but they reverence that stone as sacred, and sacrifice +to it, wrapping it in the fat of the victim. And when they offer a +hecatomb to Apollo, they sacrifice an ox to Jupiter, a choice part of +which they distribute to Temo’s posterity, and call it the beggars’ +flesh. + +_Question 14._ Who were the Coliads among the Ithacans? And what +was a φάγιλος? + +_Solution._ After the slaughter of the suitors, some near +related to the deceased made head against Ulysses. Neoptolemus, being +introduced by both parties as an arbitrator, determined that Ulysses +should remove and hasten out of Cephalenia, Zacynthus, and Ithaca, +because of the blood that he had shed there; but that the friends and +relations of the suitors should pay a yearly mulct to Ulysses, for the +wrong done to his family. Ulysses therefore passed over into Italy; +the mulct he devoted to his son, and commanded the Ithacans to pay it. +The mulct was meal, wine, honey-combs, oil, salt, and for victims the +better grown of the _phagili_. Aristotle saith _phagilus_ +was a lamb. And Telemachus, setting Eumaeus and his people at liberty, +placed them among the citizens; and the family of the Coliads is +descended from Eumaeus, and that of the Bucolians from Philoetius. + +_Question 15._ What is the wooden dog among the Locrians? + +_Solution._ Locrus was the son of Fuscius, the son of Amphictyon. +Of him and Cabya came Locrus, with whom his father falling into +contention, and gathering after him a great number of citizens, +consulted the oracle about transplanting a colony. The oracle told him +that there he should build a city, where he should happen to be bit by +a wooden dog. He, wafting over the sea unto the next shore, trod upon +a cynosbatus (a sweet brier), and being sorely pained with the prick, +he spent many days there; in which time considering the nature of the +country, he built Physcus and Hyantheia, and other towns which the +Ozolian Locrians inhabited. Some say that the Locrians were called +Ozolians (strong-scented people) from Nessus—others again from Python +the serpent—cast up there by the surf of the sea, and putrefying upon +the shore. And some say that the men wore pelts and ram-goat skins, +living for the most part among the herds of goats, and therefore were +strong-scented. Others contrariwise say that the country brought forth +many flowers, and that this name was from their sweet odor; among them +that assert this is Archytas the Amphissean, who hath wrote thus: + + Macyna crowned with vines fragrant and sweet. + +_Question 16._ What manner of thing is that among the Megarians +called ἀφάβρωμα? + +_Solution._ Nisus, of whom Nisaea had its name, in the time of his +reign married Abrota of Boeotia, the daughter of Onchestus and sister +of Megareus, a woman (as it seems) excelling in prudence and singularly +modest. When she died, the Megarians cordially lamented her; and Nisus, +willing to perpetuate her memory and renown, gave command that the +Megarian women should dress in apparel like unto that which she wore, +and that dress they called for her sake aphabroma. And verily it is +manifest that the oracle countenanced the veneration of this woman; for +when the Megarian women would often have altered their garments, the +oracle prohibited it. + +_Question 17._ Who was called δορύξενος? + +_Solution._ The country of Megaris was anciently settled in +villages, the inhabitants being divided into five parts; and they +were called Heraenians, Piraenians, Megarians, Cynosurians, and +Tripodiscaeans. These the Corinthians drew into a civil war, for they +always contrived to bring the Megarians into their power. Yet they +waged war with much moderation and neighborly designs; for no man did +at all injure the husbandman, and there was a stated ransom determined +for all that were taken captives. And this they received after the +release of the prisoner, and not before; but he that took the captive +prisoner brought him home, gave him entertainment, and then gave him +liberty to depart to his own house. Wherefore he that brought in the +price of his ransom was applauded, and remained the friend of him that +received it, and was called _doryxenus_, from his being a captive +by the spear; but he that dealt fraudulently was reputed an unjust and +unfaithful person, not only by the enemy but by his fellow-citizens +also. + +_Question 18._ What is παλιντοκία? + +_Solution._ When the Megarians had expelled Theagenes the tyrant, +they managed the commonweal for some time with moderation. But then +(to speak with Plato), when their orators had filled out to them, even +to excess, the pure strong wine of liberty, they became altogether +corrupt, and the poor carried themselves insolently toward the richer +sort in this among other things, that they entered into their houses +and demanded that they might be feasted and sumptuously treated. But +where they prevailed not, they used violence and abusive behavior, and +at last enacted a law to enable them to fetch back from the usurers +the use-money which at any time they had paid, calling the execution +thereof _palintocia_, i.e. the returning of use-money. + +_Question 19._ What is the Anthedon of which Pythia speaks, + + Drink wine on th’ lees, Anthedon’s not thy home? + +For Anthedon in Boeotia did not produce much wine. + +_Solution._ Of old they called Calauria Irene from a woman Irene, +which they fable to be the daughter of Neptune and Melanthea, the +daughter of Alpheus. Afterwards, when the people of Anthes and Hyperes +planted there, they called the island Anthedonia and Hyperia. The +oracle, as Aristotle saith, was this: + + Drink wine on th’ lees, Anthedon’s not thy home, + Nor sacred Hypera where thou drank’st pure wine. + +Thus Aristotle; but Mnasigeiton saith that Anthus, who was brother to +Hypera, was lost when he was an infant, and Hypera rambling about to +find him, came at Pherae to Acastus (or Adrastus), where by chance he +found Anthus serving as a wine-drawer. There while they were feasting, +the boy bringing a cup of wine to his sister, he knew her, and said to +her softly, + + Drink wine on th’ lees, Anthedon’s not thy home. + +_Question 20._ What is that darkness at the oak, spoken of in +Priene? + +_Solution._ The Samians and Prienians waging war with each other, +as at other times they sufficiently injured each other, so at a certain +great fight the Prienians slew a thousand of the Samians. Seven years +after, fighting with the Milesians at the said oak, they lost all +the principal and chief of their citizens together, at the time when +Bias the Wise (who was sent ambassador from Priene to Samos) was +famous. This grievous and sad calamity befalling the women, there was +established an execration and oath—to be taken about matters of the +greatest concern—by “the Darkness at the Oak,” because their children, +fathers, and husbands were there slain. + +_Question 21._ Who were they among the Cretans called Κατακαῦται? + +_Solution._ They say that the Tyrrhenians took away by force from +Brauron the daughters and wives of the Athenians, at the time when +they inhabited Lemnos and Imbros; from whence being driven they came +to Laconia, and fell into a commixture with that people, even so far +as to beget children on the native women. Thus, by reason of jealousy +and calumnies, they were again constrained to leave Laconia, and with +their wives and children to waft over into Crete, having Pollis and +his brother their governors. There waging war with the inhabitants +of Crete, they were fain to permit many of them that were slain in +battle to lie unburied; in that at first they had no leisure, by reason +of the war and peril they were in, and afterwards they shunned the +touching of the dead corpses, being corrupted by time and putrefied. +Therefore Pollis contrived to bestow certain dignities, privileges, and +immunities, some on the priests of the Gods, and some on the buriers +of the dead, consecrating their honors to the infernal Deities, that +they should remain perpetual to them. Then he divided to his brother a +share by lot. The first he named priests, the others _catacautae_ +(burners). But as to the government, each of them managed it apart, +and had, among other tranquillities, an immunity from those injurious +practices which other Cretans were wont to exercise towards one another +privily; for they neither wronged them, nor filched or robbed any thing +from them. + +_Question 22._ What was the Sepulchre of the Boys at Chalcedon? + +_Solution._ Cothus and Arclus the sons of Zuthus came to Euboea +to dwell, the Aeolians possessing the greatest part of the island at +that time. The oracle told Cothus, that he should prosper and conquer +his enemies if he bought the country. Therefore, going on shore a +little after, he happened to meet with some children playing by the +seaside; whereupon he fell to play with them, conforming himself to +their humors and showing them many outlandish toys. Seeing the children +very desirous to have these, he refused to give them any upon any other +terms than to receive land for them. The boys, taking up some earth +from the ground, gave it to him, receiving the toys, and departed. The +Aeolians perceiving what was done,—and the enemies sailing in upon +them,—moved by indignation and grief, slew the children and buried them +near the wayside that goes from the city to the Euripus; and that +place is called the Sepulchre of the Boys. + +_Question 23._ Who is Μιξαρχαγέτας in Argos? And who are the +Ἐλάσιοι? + +_Solution._ They call Castor Mixarchagetas, and are of opinion +that he was buried in the country; but they worship Pollux as one of +the celestial Deities. Those which they supposed were able to drive +away the falling sickness, they called Elasii (expellers), esteeming +them to be of the posterity of Alexida the daughter of Amphiaraus. + +_Question 24._ What is that which is called ἔγκνισμα by the +Argives? + +_Solution._ It was a custom among those that lost any of their +kindred or acquaintance, presently after mourning to sacrifice to +Apollo, and thirty days after to Mercury. For they are of opinion that, +as the earth receives the bodies of the deceased, so Mercury receives +their souls. Giving then barley to Apollo’s minister, they take the +flesh of the sacrifice, and extinguishing the fire as polluted but +kindling it again afresh, they boil this flesh, calling it ἔγκνισμα. + +_Question 25._ Who are Ἀλάστωρ, Ἀλιτήριος, and Παλαμναῖος? + +_Solution._ For we must not give credit to those that say that +such are called _aliterii_ who, in the time of dearth, watch the +miller (ἀλοῦντα ἐπιτηροῦντες) and steal the corn. But he was called +Alastor who did exploits not to be forgotten (ἄληστα) but to be had +in remembrance for a long time. Aliterius is he whom we should avoid +(ἀλεύασθαι) and observe upon the account of his knavery. Such things +(saith Socrates) were engraven in plates of brass. + +_Question 26._ What is the meaning of this, that the virgins that +follow those that lead the ox from Aenos to Cassiopaea sing, till they +approach the borders, in this manner, + + To native country dear O may ye ne’er return? + +_Solution._ The Aenianes, being first driven out by the Lapithae, +took up their habitation about Aethacia, and then about Molossis and +Cassiopaea. But the country affording no staple commodity, and being +ill bestead with troublesome neighbors, they went into the Cirraean +plain, under the conduct of Oenoclus their king. And when there were +great droughts there, by warning from an oracle (as they say) they +stoned Oenoclus; and betaking themselves to ramble again, they came +into this country which they now possess, being very pleasant and +fruitful. Whence with good reason they pray to the Gods that they may +never return again to their ancient native country, but may abide where +they are in prosperity. + +_Question 27._ What is the reason that at Rhodes the crier never +enters into the chapel of Ocridion? + +_Solution._ Was it because Ochimus espoused his daughter Cydippe +to Ocridion? But Cercaphus, who was brother to Ochimus, falling in love +with the maid, persuaded the crier (for it was the custom to fetch the +brides by the crier) to bring her to him when she should be delivered +to him. This being accordingly done, Cercaphus got the maid and fled; +afterwards, when Ochimus was grown old, he returned. Wherefore it was +enacted by the Rhodians that a crier should not enter into the chapel +of Ocridion, because of the injustice done by him. + +_Question 28._ What is the reason that at Tenedos a piper might +not go into the temple of Tenes, and that no mention might be made of +Achilles in that temple? + +_Solution._ Was it because, when his step-mother accused Tenes +that he would have lain with her, Molpus a piper bore false witness +against him; whereupon Tenes took occasion to fly into Tenedos with his +sister? And they say that Achilles was strictly charged by Thetis his +mother not to slay Tenes, as one that was much respected by Apollo, +and that the Goddess committed the trust to one of the household +servants that he should take special care and put him in mind of it, +lest Achilles should kill Tenes at unawares. But when Achilles made +an incursion into Tenedos and pursued the sister of Tenes, being very +fair, Tenes met him and defended his sister; whereupon she escaped, +but Tenes was slain. Achilles, knowing him as he fell down dead, slew +his own servant, because he being present did not admonish him to the +contrary. He buried Tenes, whose temple now remains, into which no +piper enters, nor is Achilles named there. + +_Question 29._ Who was the πωλήτης amongst the Epidamnians? + +_Solution._ The Epidamnians, who were neighboring to the +Illyrians, perceiving that the citizens that had frequent commerce +with them were debauched, and fearing an innovation, made choice of an +approved man yearly from amongst them, who should deal as a factor with +the barbarians in all matters of trade and traffic, managing the whole +business of dealing and commerce on the behalf of all the citizens; and +this man was called _poletes_, or the seller. + +_Question 30._ What is the shore of Araenus in Thrace? + +_Solution._ The Andrians and Chalcidians sailing into Thrace to +get them a seat, the city Sane being betrayed was delivered up to +them both in common; and being told that Acanthus was deserted by the +barbarians, they sent two spies thither. These approaching the city +and perceiving all the enemies to be fled, the Chalcidian outruns +the other, intending to seize the city for the Chalcidians; but the +Andrian, finding himself not able to overtake him, darts his lance and +fixeth it exactly in the gates, and saith that he had first seized the +city for the Andrians. Hence a great contention arising, they agreed +together without a war to make the Erythraeans, Samians, and Parians +umpires in all matters of controversy between them. The Erythraeans and +Samians brought in the verdict for the Andrians, but the Parians for +the Chalcidians; hence the Andrians about this place bound themselves +under a curse, that they would not give wives in marriage to the +Parians nor take wives of them. Therefore they called the place the +Shore of Araenus (i.e. of the curse), whereas before it was called the +Shore of the Dragon. + +_Question 31._ In the solemn feasts to the honor of Ceres, why do +the Eretrian women roast their meat not at the fire, but by the sun; +and why do they not call upon Kalligeneia? + +_Solution._ Was it because it came in course to the women which +Agamemnon carried captive from Troy to solemnize a feast to Ceres in +this place, and while they were so doing, a fair wind arose, and they +suddenly made sail, leaving the sacrifices imperfect. + +_Question 32._ Who were the Ἀειναῦται amongst the Milesians? + +_Solution._ The tyrants Thoas and Damasenor being deposed, two +factions got the government of the city, one of which was called +Ploutis, the other Cheiromacha, and the potent men prevailing, they +settled the state affairs in the association. And when they would sit +in council about matters of greatest concern, they went on ship-board +and launched out to a great distance from the shore; and when they were +agreed upon a point in debate, they sailed back again, and upon this +account were called ἀειναῦται (_perpetual mariners_). + +_Question 33._ Why do the Chalcidians call a certain place about +Pyrsopius the Ἀκμαίων Λέσχη, _the Youth’s Conventicle_? + +_Solution._ They say that Nauplius, being persecuted by the +Achaeans, addressed himself to the Chalcidians for redress, making +his defence against the accusation and recriminating on the Achaeans. +Whereupon the Chalcidians, refusing to deliver him into their hands +lest he should be slain by treachery, granted him a guard of lusty +young men, and appointed their post in that place where they had mutual +society together and guarded Nauplius. + +_Question 34._ Who was he that sacrificed an ox to his benefactor? + +_Solution._ In a haven of Ithaca there was a pirate ship, in which +happened to be an old man who had earthen pots holding pitch. It fell +out that an Ithacan skipper named Pyrrhias put into this port, who +ransomed the old man upon free cost, only upon his supplication and +out of commiseration towards him, and at the request of the old man +he purchased also some of his tar-pots. The pirates departing and all +fear of danger over, the old fellow brings Pyrrhias to his earthen +pots, and shows him a great deal of gold and silver blended amongst +the pitch; whereupon Pyrrhias attaining to great riches treated the +old man well in all respects, and sacrificed an ox to him. Hence they +say proverbially that none hath sacrificed an ox to his benefactor but +Pyrrhias. + +_Question 35._ Why was there a custom amongst the Bottiaean maids, +as they danced, to sing, “Let us go to Athens”? + +_Solution._ It is reported that the Cretans (in payment of a vow) +sent the firstlings of men to Delphi; but when such as were sent found +no plentiful provision there, they departed from thence in search of +a plantation, and first sat down at Japygia. From thence they went +and possessed that part of Thrace which now they have, Athenians +being mixed with them; for it is probable that Minos did not destroy +those young men which the Athenians sent in a way of tribute, but +only detained them in servitude. Some that were descended from these +and were accounted Cretans were sent with others to Delphi; so the +Bottiaean daughters, in remembrance of their pedigree, sing on their +feast-days, “Let us go to Athens.” + +_Question 36._ Why do the Eleian women in their hymns beseech +Bacchus that he will come to their help with an ox’s foot? The hymns +run thus: “Come, O hero Bacchus, to thy holy temple placed by the sea; +hasten with the Graces to thy temple with a neat’s foot.” Then they +re-double this, “O worthy Bull”! + +_Solution._ Was it because some call Bacchus Bull-begot, and +some Bull? Or as some say ox-foot for a great foot; as the poet saith +ox-eye for a great eye, and βουλάϊος for haughty? Or is it rather, +because the foot of an ox is innocent and his bearing horns on his +head is pernicious, that so they desire the God may come to them mild +and harmless? Or is it because many men are of opinion that this God +presides over ploughing and sowing? + +_Question 37._ What is the meaning of that place at Tanagra, +before the city, called Achilleum? For it is reported that the city had +rather enmity than kindness for Achilles, in that he took Stratonice, +the mother of Poemander, by force of arms, and slew Acestor the son of +Ephippus. + +_Solution._ Now Poemander the father of Ephippus (whilst the +region of Tanagra was still inhabited by villagers), being besieged in +Stephon (a village so called) by the Achaeans because he refused to +aid them in the wars, left that country the same night, and fortified +Poemandria. Policrithus the architect coming in, disparaging his works +and making a ridicule of them, leaped over the ditch; Poemander, +falling into a rage, catched up a great stone suddenly to throw at +him, which had been hid there a great while, lying over some sacred +nocturnal relics. This Poemander hurling rashly slung, and missing +Policrithus, slew his own son Leucippus. He was then forced by law +to depart out of Boeotia and become a wandering and begging pilgrim; +neither was that easy for him to do, because of the incursions which +the Achaeans made into the region of Tanagra. Wherefore he sent +Ephippus his son to beg aid of Achilles. He by persuasion prevailed +with Achilles to come, with Tlepolemus the son of Hercules, and with +Peneleos the son of Hippalcmus, all of them their kindred. By these +Poemander was introduced into Chalcis, and was absolved by Elephenor +from the murder; he ascribed great honor to these men, and assigned +groves to each of them, of which this kept the name of Achilles’s Grove. + +_Question 38._ Who amongst the Boeotians were the Ψολόεις, and who +the Ὀλεῖαι? + +_Solution._ They say that Minos’s daughters—Leucippe, Arsinoe, +and Alcathoe—falling mad, had a greedy appetite for man’s flesh, +and accordingly cast lots for their children. Whereupon it fell to +Leucippe’s lot to produce her son Hippasus to be cut in pieces. The +husbands of these women, that were clothed in coarse apparel by reason +of sorrow and grief, were called Psoloeis, the women Ὀλεῖαι, that is +ὀλοαί (_destructive_). And to this day the Orchomenians call +their posterity so. And it is so ordered that, in the yearly feast +called Agrionia, there is a flight and pursuit of them by the priest +of Bacchus, with a drawn sword in his hand. It is lawful for him to +slay any of them that he takes, and Zoilus a priest of our time slew +one. This thing proved unlucky to them; for Zoilus, sickening upon a +wound that he got, wasted away for a long time and died; whereupon +the Orchomenians, falling under public accusations and condemnations, +removed the priesthood from their family, and made choice of the best +man in the whole multitude. + +_Question 39._ Why do the Arcadians stone those that go willingly +into the Lycaeum, while those that go in ignorantly they carry forth to +Eleutherae? + +_Solution._ Is it on the ground that they gained their liberty by +being thus absolved, that the story has gained credit? And is this +saying “to Eleutherae” the same as “into the region of security,” +or “thou shalt come to the seat of pleasure”? Or is the reason to +be rendered according to that fabulous story, that of all the sons +of Lycaon Eleuther and Lebadus alone were free from that conspiracy +against Jupiter, and fled into Boeotia, where the Lebadenses use the +like civil polity to that of the Arcadians, and therefore they send +them to Eleutherae that enter unwittingly into the inaccessible temple +of Jupiter? Or is it (as Architimus saith in his remarks on Arcadia) +that some that went into the Lycaeum unawares were delivered up to the +Phliasians by the Arcadians, and by the Phliasians to the Megarians, +and by the Megarians to the Thebans which inhabit about Eleutherae, +where they are detained under rain, thunder, and other direful +judgments from Heaven; and upon this account some say this place was +called Eleutherae. But the report is not true that he that enters into +the Lycaeum casts no shadow, though it hath had a firm belief. And +what if this be the reason of that report, that the air converted into +clouds looks darkly on them that go in? Or that he that goes in falls +down dead?—for the Pythagoreans say that the souls of the deceased do +neither give a shadow nor wink. Or is it that the sun only makes a +shadow, and the law bereaveth him that entereth here of the sight of +the sun? Though this they speak enigmatically; for verily he that goes +in is called Elaphus, _a stag_. Hence the Lacedaemonians delivered +up to the Arcadians Cantharion the Arcadian, who went over to the +Eleans whilst they waged war with the Arcadians, passing with his booty +through the inaccessible temple, and fled to Sparta when the war was +ended; the oracle requiring them to restore the stag. + +_Question 40._ Who is Eunostus, the hero of Tanagra; and what is +the reason that women may not enter into his grove? + +_Solution._ Eunostus was the son of Elieus who came of Cephisus +and Scias, but they say received his name from Eunosta, the nymph that +brought him up. This man was honest and just, and no less temperate and +austere. They say that Ochna his niece fell in love with him, who was +one of the daughters of Colonus; and when he perceived that she tempted +him to lie with her, manifesting his indignation he went and accused +her to her brethren. But she had cried Whore first and provoked her +brethren, Echimus, Leon, and Bucolus, to kill Eunostus, by her false +suggestion that he would have forced her; wherefore these laid wait for +the young man and slew him, upon which Elieus secured them. Now Ochna +growing penitent and full of terror, as well to discharge the grief +she had for her beloved as out of commiseration towards her brethren, +confesses the whole truth to Elieus, and he declares it to Colonus, +who condemned them. Whereupon Ochna’s brethren fled, but she broke her +neck from some high place, as Myrtis the Anthedonian poetess hath told +us. Therefore he kept the tomb and grove of Eunostus from the access +and approach of women, insomuch that upon earthquakes, droughts, and +other portents that often there happened, the Tanagrians made diligent +search whether any woman had not by stealth got nigh to that place. +And there are some (of whom Clidamus, a man of great fame, is one) +who report that Eunostus met them as he was going to the sea to wash +himself because a woman had entered into his grove. Diocles also, in +his Treatise concerning Shrines, relates the edict of the Tanagrians +upon the things that Clidamus declared. + +_Question 41._ Whence is it that in Boeotia there is a river at +Eleon called Scamander? + +_Solution._ Deimachus, the son of Eleon and intimate friend of +Hercules, bore his part in the siege of Troy. But the war proving +long (as it seems), he took to him Glaucia the daughter of Scamander +who had fallen in love with him, and got her with child: soon after, +fighting against the Trojans, he was slain. Glaucia, fearing that she +might be apprehended, fled to Hercules, and acquainted him with her +late affection towards Deimachus, and the familiarity she had with +him. Hercules, both out of commiseration to the woman, as also for joy +that there was an offspring left of so good a man and his intimate +acquaintance, took Glaucia on shipboard; and when she was delivered of +a son, brought her into Boeotia, and committed her and her child to the +care of Eleon. The son was named Scamander, and came to reign over that +country. He called the river Inachus by his own name Scamander, and +the next rivulet he named from his mother Glaucia; but the fountain he +called Acidusa by his own wife’s name, by whom he had three daughters, +which they have a veneration for to this day, styling them virgins. + +_Question 42._ Whence was that proverbial speech, “Let this +prevail”? + +_Solution._ Dinon the Tarentine general, being a man well skilled +in military affairs, when the citizens manifested their dislike of +a certain opinion of his by lifting up of hands, as the crier was +declaring the majority of votes, stretched forth his right hand and +said, This is better. Thus Theophrastus hath told the story; and +Apollodorus in his Rhytinus adds this: When the crier had said, ‘These +are the most suffrages;’ ‘Aye, but,’ saith Dinon, ‘these are the best,’ +and ratifies the suffrages of the minority. + +_Question 43._ Why is the city of the Ithacans called Alalcomenae? + +_Solution._ It is affirmed by most, that it was because Anticlea +in the time of her virginity was forcibly seized upon by Sisyphus, and +brought forth Ulysses. But Ister the Alexandrian hath acquainted us in +his memoirs, that Anticlea was married to Laertes, and being brought +to a place about the Alalcomeneum in Boeotia, was delivered of Ulysses; +and therefore Ulysses called the city of Ithaca by the same name, to +renew the memory of the place in which he had been born. + +_Question 44._ Who are the _Monophagi_ in Aegina? + +_Solution._ Many of the Aeginetans that fought against Troy were +slain in those wars, but more of them by storm in the voyaging by +sea. The relations therefore receiving those few that were left, and +observing the other citizens overwhelmed with sorrow and grief, thought +it not convenient to make any public appearances of joy or to sacrifice +to the Gods; but every one entertained privately in his own house +his relations that were escaped with feasts and entertainments, they +themselves giving attendance to their fathers, kinsfolks, brethren, +and acquaintance, none of other families being admitted thereto. Hence +in imitation of these they celebrate a sacrifice to Neptune, which is +called the Thiasi, in which they revel without any noise, each family +apart by itself, for the space of sixteen days, without any servant +attending them; then offering sacrifices to Venus, they finish this +solemn feast. Upon this account they are called Monophagi, i.e. such as +feed apart by themselves. + +_Question 45._ What is the reason that the statue of Labradean +Jupiter in Caria is made so as to hold an axe lifted up, and not a +sceptre or thunderbolt. + +_Solution._ Because Hercules slaying Hippolyta, and taking away +from her amongst other weapons her pole-axe, presented it to Omphale. +After Omphale the kings of the Lydians carried it, as part of the +sacred regalities which they took by succession, until Candaules, +disdaining it, gave it to one of his favorites to carry. But afterwards +Gyges revolting waged war against him; Arselis also came to the aid +of Gyges from the Mylassians with a great strength, slew Candaules +with his favorite, and carried away the pole-axe into Caria with other +spoils; where furbishing up the statue of Jupiter, he put the axe into +his hand and called it the Labradean God,—for the Lydians call an axe +_labra_. + +_Question 46._ What is the reason that the Trallians call the +pulse ὄροβος by the name καθαρτής (i.e. _purifying_), and use it +especially in expiations and purifications. + +_Solution._ Was it because the Leleges and Minyae, in former times +driving out the Trallians, possessed themselves of the city and that +country, and afterwards the Trallians returned and conquered them; and +as many of the Leleges as were not slain or fled, but by reason of +indigency and weakness were left there, they made no account of whether +they lived or died, and therefore enacted a law that any Trallian that +slew one of the Minyae or Leleges should be guiltless, provided only +that he paid a measure of this pulse to the relatives of the slain +person? + +_Question 47._ Why is it spoken by way of proverb amongst the +Eleans, “Thou sufferest worse things than Sambicus”? + +_Solution._ It is said that one Sambicus an Elean, having many +comrades with him, did break off many of the devoted bronze offerings +placed in Olympia and disposed of them, and at length robbed the +temple of Diana the Bishopess (which temple is in Elis, and is called +Aristarchaeum]. Presently after the committing of this sacrilege, he +was taken and tormented the space of a year, being examined concerning +all his accessories, and so died; hence this proverb arose from his +suffering. + +_Question 48._ Why is the temple of Ulysses in Lacedaemon built +hard by the monument of the Leucippides? + +_Solution._ One Ergiaeus, of the posterity of Diomedes, by the +persuasion of Temenus stole the Palladium from Argos, Leager being +conscious of and accessory to the felony, for he was one of the +intimates of Temenus. Afterward Leager, by reason of a feud betwixt him +and Temenus, went over into Lacedaemon and transported the Palladium +thither. The kings receive him readily, and place the Palladium next to +the temple of the Leucippides, and sending to Delphi consult the oracle +about its safety and preservation. The oracle answered that they must +make one of them that stole it the keeper of it. So they erected there +the monument of Ulysses, especially since they supposed that hero was +related to the city by the marriage of Penelope. + +_Question 49._ What is the reason that it is a custom amongst the +Chalcedonian women, that, if at any time they happen to meet with other +women’s husbands, especially magistrates, they cover one cheek? + +_Solution._ The Chalcedonians warred against the Bithynians, being +provoked thereto by every kind of injury. And Zipoetus being king of +the Bithynians, they brought out all their forces, with the addition of +Thracian auxiliaries, and were wasting the country with fire and sword. +Zipoetus then pitching his camp against them at a place called Phalium, +the Chalcedonians, fighting ill through desperateness and disorder, +lost about eight thousand soldiers, but were not all cut off, Zipoetus +in favor of the Byzantines yielding to a cessation of arms. Now, there +being a great scarcity of men in the city of Chalcedon, most of the +women were necessitated to marry their freedmen and aliens; others that +chose widowhood rather than marriage to such, if they had any occasion +to go before judges or magistrates, managed their own affairs, only +withdrawing their veil from one side of their face. Then the married +women, imitating these as their betters, for modesty’s sake took up the +same custom. + +_Question 50._ Why do the Argives bring their sheep to the grove +of Agenor to take ram? + +_Solution._ Was it because Agenor took care to have the fairest +sheep, and of all kings possessed the most flocks of sheep? + +_Question 51._ Why did the Argive boys on a certain feast-day call +themselves Ballacrades in sport? + +_Solution._ Was it because they report that the first people +that were brought by Inachus out of the countries into the plains, +lived upon ἀχράδες, i.e. _wild pears_? But wild pears were first +discovered by the Grecians in Peloponnesus, while that country was +called Apia, whence wild pears came afterwards to be called ἄπιοι. + +_Question 52._ For what reason do the men of Elis lead their mares +out of their borders when they would have them leaped by their horses? + +_Solution._ Was it that of all kings Oenomaus was the greatest +lover of horses, and being most fond of this creature, imprecated many +and great curses upon horses that should leap mares in Elis; wherefore +the people, fearing his curse, do abominate this thing? + +_Question 53._ What was the reason of the custom amongst the +Gnossians, that those who borrowed money upon usury should snatch it +and run away? + +_Solution._ Was it that, in case they should attempt to defraud +the usurers, they might be liable for the violence, and thereby receive +further punishment? + +_Question 54._ What is the cause that in Samos they call upon +Venus of Dexicreon? + +_Solution._ Was this the reason, that the women of Samos, by +lasciviousness and bawdry falling into great debauchery, were reformed +by Dexicreon, a mountebank, using some charms towards them? Or was it +because Dexicreon, being the master of a ship, and sailing to Cyprus on +a trading voyage, and being about to take in his lading, was commanded +by Venus to lade with water and nothing else, and sail back with all +possible speed? Being persuaded hereto, he took in much water and +set sail immediately; still winds and a calm detaining him, he sold +his water to merchants and seamen distressed with thirst, whereby he +gathered up much money; from which he erected a statue to Venus, and +called it by his own name. If this story be true, it is manifest that +the Goddess intended not only the enriching of one man, but the saving +of many alive by one man. + +_Question 55._ What is the reason that amongst the Samians, when +they sacrifice to Mercury the munificent, they suffer a man to filch +and steal garments if he will? + +_Solution._ Because, when at the command of the oracle they +transplanted themselves from that island into Mycale, they lived ten +years upon robbery; and after this, sailing back again into their +island, they conquered their enemies. + +_Question 56._ Whence is that place in the island Samos called +Panaema (Πάναιμα)? + +_Solution._ Was it because the Amazons, flying before Bacchus +from the coasts of Ephesus, fell upon Samos, and thereupon Bacchus +rigging up his ships wafted over, and joining battle slew abundance of +them about that place, which, by reason of the plenty of blood spilled +there, the beholders by way of admiration called Panaema? Some say +that this slaughter was about Phloeum, and show their bones there; but +others say also that Phloeum was rent off from Samos by the dreadful +and hideous cry that was uttered at their death. + +_Question 57._ Upon what account was the Andron in Samos called +Pedetes? + +_Solution._ The Geomori got the government into their hands, +after Demoteles was slain, and after the dissolution of his monarchial +constitution. At this time the Megarians waged war with the +Perinthians, being a Samian colony, and brought fetters with them (as +they say) to put on the captives. When the Geomori were acquainted +with these proceedings, they immediately sent aid, sending forth nine +commanders and manning thirty ships, two of which, launching forth and +lying before the haven, were destroyed with lightning. The commanders, +proceeding on their voyage in the rest, subdued the Megarians, and took +six hundred of them alive. They were so elevated with this victory, +that they meditated the subversion of this Geomoran oligarchy; but +the occasion was given by the states themselves writing to them that +they should bring the Megarian captives bound in their own fetters. +When they received these letters, they showed them privately to the +Megarians, persuading them to concur with them in a conspiracy to +procure the people’s liberty. A consult was held in common between them +about this matter, and they decided that the best way was to beat off +the rings from the fetters, and put them on the legs of the Megarians, +and fasten them with thongs to their girdles, that they might not +fall off nor being loose hinder them in their going. Accordingly they +accoutred the men in this manner, and giving each of them a scimitar, +they soon sailed back to Samos and landed, and accordingly led the +Megarians through the market-place to the council-house, where all +the Geomori were sitting together. Then, the sign being given, the +Megarians fell on and slew those men. Whereupon, the city being set at +liberty, they admitted the Megarians (as many as would) into the number +of citizens, and erecting a magnificent edifice, hung up the fetters +(πέδαι) in it. From this the house was named Πεδήτης. + +_Question 58._ What is the reason that the chief priest of +Hercules in Antimachia at Cos, when he manageth the sacrifice, is +clothed in women’s apparel, and wears a mitre upon his head? + +_Solution._ Hercules, setting sail from Troy with six ships, +was attacked by a storm, and lost all his ships but one, with which +only he was forced by the wind upon the coast of Cos, and fell upon a +place called Laceter, saving nothing besides his men and armor. There +happening to meet with a flock of sheep, he requested one ram of the +shepherd (the man was called Antagoras), who, being a robust-bodied +young man, challenged Hercules to fight with him; and if he were +worsted, Hercules should carry away the ram. As soon as this fellow +engaged with Hercules, the Meropes came in to the aid of Antagoras; +and the Grecians coming in to assist Hercules, a great fight ensued. +Whereat (they say) Hercules, overpowered by the multitude, betook +himself for refuge to a Thracian woman, and was concealed by disguising +himself in woman’s apparel. But when afterwards, conquering the Meropes +and passing under purification, he married the daughter of Alciopus, he +put on a flowery robe. Hence the priests offer sacrifices in the place +where the battle was fought, and the bridegrooms are clothed in women’s +apparel when they receive their brides. + +_Question 59._ Whence was the race of Hamaxocylists in Megara? + +_Solution._ In that licentious democracy under which the +demanding back of interest money paid to usurers[164] was introduced +and sacrilege was permitted, the Peloponnesians went on a pilgrimage +to Delphi through the borders of Megara, and lodged in Aegira by the +lake-side with their wives and children, in their caravans, as they +best could. There a resolute drunken company of the Megarians in a +riotous and cruel manner overturned their wagons, and overwhelmed +them in the lake; so that many of the pilgrims were drowned. The +Megarians indeed, by reason of the disorder of the government, +neglected the punishment of this wickedness; but the Amphictyons, +taking into consideration the sanctity of this pilgrimage, punished +the actors of this villany, some with banishment, some with death. +Hence the posterity of these villains were called Ἁμαξοκυλισταί, i.e. +_overturners of wagons_. + + + + +OF THE LOVE OF WEALTH. + + +1. Hippomachus, a master of the exercises, when some were commending +a tall man that had long hands as one that promised fair to be good +at fisticuffs, replied, A fit man indeed, if the victor’s laurel were +to be hanged up aloft, and should be his that could best reach it and +take it down. We may say the same to those that esteem so extravagantly +and repute it so great a felicity to possess fair fields, stately +mansion-houses, and a great deal of money lying by them,—that they +were in the right, if happiness were to be bought and sold. You may +see indeed many persons that choose rather to be rich and at the same +time very miserable, than to part with their money and become happy. +But, alas! indolency and repose of spirit, magnanimity, constancy, +resolution, and contentment of mind,—these are not a money-purchase. +Being wealthy is not despising wealth; nor is possessing things +superfluous the same as not needing things superfluous. + +2. From what other evils then can riches free us, if they deliver us +not even from an inordinate desire of them? It is true, indeed, that by +drinking men allay their thirst after drink, and by eating they satisfy +their longings after food, and he that said, + + Bestow a coat, of your good will, + On poor Hipponax cold and chill + +if more clothes had been heaped on than he needed, would have thrown +them off, as being ill at ease. But the love of money is not abated by +having silver and gold; neither do covetous desires cease by possessing +still more. But one may say to wealth, as to an insolent quack, + + Thy physic’s nought, and makes my illness worse. + +When this distemper seizes a man that wants only bread and a house to +put his head in, ordinary raiment and such victuals as come first to +hand, it fills him with eager desires after gold and silver, ivory and +emeralds, hounds and horses; thus taking off the appetite, and carrying +it from things that are necessary after things that are troublesome and +unusual, hard to come by, and unprofitable when obtained. For no man is +poor as to what nature requires and what suffices it; no man takes up +money on use to buy meal or cheese, bread or olives; but you may see +one man run into debt for the purchase of a sumptuous house, another +for an adjoining olive-yard, another for corn-fields or vineyards, +another for Galatian mules, and another by a vain expense, + + For horses fitly paired, with prancing feet + To draw the empty chariots through the street,[165] + +has been plunged over head and ears into contracts and use-money, pawns +and mortgages. Moreover, as they that use to drink after they have +quenched their thirst, and to eat after their hunger is satisfied, +vomit up even what they took when they were athirst or hungry; so they +that covet things useless and superfluous, enjoy not even those that +are necessary. This is the character of these men. + +3. As for those that spend nothing although they possess much, and yet +are always craving more, they may still more increase our wonder at +their folly, especially when one calls to mind that of Aristippus, who +was wont to say, that when a man eats and drinks liberally and yet is +never the nearer being filled, he presently goes to the physician and +enquires what is his disease and his indisposition and how he may get +rid of it; but if one that has five beds desires ten, and having ten +tables is for purchasing as many more, and having land and money in +good store is not at all filled, but still is bent, even breaking his +natural rest, upon getting more, and when he has never so much never +has enough, this man thinks he has no need of a physician to cure him +and to show him from what cause his distemper arises. Indeed, when a +man is athirst that hath not drunk at all, we expect that upon his +drinking his thirstiness should cease; but as for him that drinks and +drinks and so goes on without giving over, we do not think such a one +needs further repletion, but evacuation; and we advise him by all means +to vomit, as knowing that his trouble proceeds not from the want of any +thing, but from some sharp humor or preternatural heat that is within +him. + +Among those persons, therefore, that are for increasing their substance +and getting more, he that is poor and indigent may perhaps give over +his cares when he has got a house or found a treasure, or, by a +friend’s help, has paid his debts and his creditors have discharged +him. But as for him that, having more than enough, yet still desires to +have more, it is not gold nor silver, not horses, sheep, or oxen, that +can cure him of this disease, but he needs evacuation and purgation. +For his distemper is not penury and want, but an insatiable desire +and thirst after riches, proceeding from a depraved and inconsiderate +judgment of things, which if it be not plucked out of men’s minds, like +a thing twisting across and contracting them, they will always be in +want of superfluities, that is, be craving things they have no need of. + +4. When a physician visits a patient that has thrown himself upon his +bed and lies there groaning and refusing to eat, he feels his pulse and +asks him some questions; and finding that he is not at all feverish, +he tells him it is his mind that is distempered, and goes his way. When +we see therefore a man pining away for more means and sighing sadly +at any expenses, forbearing no sordid or painful course that brings +him gain, when yet he hath houses and lands, herds and slaves, and +clothes enough, what shall we call this man’s disease but poverty of +mind? For as for want of money, one friend, as Menander says, by being +a benefactor to him can cure it; but as to this other of the mind, all +a man’s friends, living or dead, cannot satisfy it. It was therefore a +good saying of Solon concerning such persons: + + Those men that after wealth aspire + Set no fixed bounds to their desire. + +To those indeed that are wise, the riches that Nature requires are +limited, and confined within the compass of their real needs, as within +a circle drawn from a centre at a certain distance. + +There is also this particular mischief in the love of wealth, that this +desire hinders and opposes its own satisfaction, which other desires +do procure. For no man abstains from a good morsel because he loves +dainties, nor from wine because he thirsts after wine, as these men +abstain from using money because they love money. Does it not look +like madness and a piteous distemper, for a man not to make use of a +garment because he shakes with cold, to refuse to eat bread because he +is ready to famish with hunger, and not to use wealth because he is +greedy of getting it? This is the evil case that Thrasonides describes: +“I have such a thing within by me, I have it in my power, and I will +this thing (like those that are madly in love), but I do it not. When I +have locked and sealed up all, or have told out so much to the usurers +and tradesmen, I scrape together and hunt after more; I quarrel and +contend with the servants, the ploughmen and debtors. O Apollo, hast +thou ever seen a more wretched man, or any lover more miserable?” + +5. Sophocles being asked by one whether he was able yet to company with +a woman; Heavens defend, said he, I have got my liberty, and by means +of my old age have escaped those mad and furious masters. For it is +very fit and becoming that, when our pleasures leave us, those desires +should do so too, which, as Alcaeus says, + + ’Twas never any man’s good hap + Nor woman’s wholly to escape. + +But it is otherwise in the love of wealth, which, like a hard and +severe mistress, compels us to get what it forbids us to enjoy, and +excites an appetite but denies the pleasure of its gratification. +Stratonicus wittily abused the Rhodians for their profuseness, when +he said that they builded their houses as if they were immortal, but +provided for their tables as if they were to live but a little while. +So covetous men seem to be profuse by what they possess, when they +are sordid wretches if you consider what they use and enjoy; for they +endure labor, but taste no pleasure. + +Demades once came to Phocion’s house and surprised him as he was at +dinner; and when he saw his frugal and slender diet, I much wonder, +Phocion, says he, that you should manage state affairs, and can dine as +you do. For this orator himself pleaded causes and harangued the people +only for his gut; and looking upon Athens as affording too little a +supply for his luxury, he fetched his provisions from Macedonia. For +which cause Antipater, seeing him when he was an old man, compared him +to a sacrifice when all was over and there remained nothing of the +beast but only the tongue and the stomach. But who would not wonder +at thee, O wretched man, who, being able to live as thou dost,—so +sordidly, so unlike a man, bestowing nothing on anybody, being currish +to thy friends, and without any ambition to serve the public,—yet +afflictest thyself and watchest whole nights, hirest out thy labors, +liest at catch for inheritances, crouchest to every one, when thou art +so well provided by thy sordid parsimony to live at ease? + +It is reported of a certain Byzantine, that, surprising a whoremaster +with his wife that was very hard-favored, he cried out, O wretch, +what compelled thee to do this?—for her dowry is my solace. It is +necessary for kings, for procurators under them, for those that covet +pre-eminence and rule over cities, that they should heap up treasure; +they are forced through ambition, pride, and vain-glory to make feasts, +to gratify friends, to maintain a retinue, to send presents, to feed +armies, to purchase gladiators. But thou hast so much business lying +upon thy hand, tormentest thyself, tumblest up and down, and all this +while livest the life of a snail in thy shell through parsimony, and +endurest all hardships, receiving no advantage at all; just like the +bath-keeper’s ass, that carries the wood and fuel for the fires and +is always filled with the smoke and ashes of the stove, but itself is +neither bathed nor warmed, washed nor cleansed there. + +6. I have said enough of this sort of covetousness, which makes a man +live the life of an ass or ant. But there is another sort of it which +is more savage, that calumniates and gets inheritance by bad arts, that +pries into other men’s affairs, that is full of thoughtfulness and +cares, counting how many of their friends are yet alive, and after all +enjoying nothing of what by all these arts has been heaped up. + +As therefore we have a greater aversion and hatred against vipers, +poisonous flies, and spiders than against bears and lions, because +they kill and destroy men, but serve themselves no farther of their +carcasses, which they do not feed upon as those other wild beasts do; +so they that become bad and ill men through sordidness and parsimony +deserve more of our abhorrence than those that prove such by luxurious +living and excess, for they deprive others of what they are neither +able nor inclined to make use of themselves. Hence it is that the +luxurious, when they are rich and well provided, give some truce to +their debaucheries; as Demosthenes said to some that were of opinion +that Demades ceased to be an ill man. Now, says he, you see him full +and glutted, like lions, that then hunt not after prey. But as for the +others, who in the management of affairs propose no end to themselves +either of pleasure or profit, their covetous desires have no truce or +cessation, they being always empty and standing in need of all things. + +7. But some perhaps may plead on their behalf, that these men keep and +hoard up their wealth for their children and heirs,—to whom they part +with nothing whilst they are alive; but, like those mice that live in +mines and pick up and eat the golden sands and ore, you cannot come by +any of that gold, till you anatomize them to find it after they are +dead. But to what end, I pray, would they leave such a deal of money +and a great estate to their children and heirs? That they forsooth may +preserve it also for others, and those others in like manner shall hand +it down to their children (just like those earthen pipes the potters +make for a water-course, which retain none of the water themselves, +but one pipe only conveys it to the next), till some informing false +accuser or tyrant appears and cuts off this keeper in trust, and when +his breath is stopped, derives and diverts the course of his wealth +into another channel; or, as they say, till some one that is the most +wicked of the race devours and consumes all that those who went before +him had preserved. For not only, as Euripides says, + + Children from slaves derived and baser blood + Prove prodigal and lewd, none come to good; + +but it is as true of the children of the parsimonious; as Diogenes +wittily abused this sort of men, when he said that it was better to +be a certain Megarian’s ram than his son. For, under the pretence of +training them up and instructing them, they undo and pervert them, +implanting in them their own love of money and meanness of spirit, and +erecting as it were a fortress for the securing their inheritance in +the minds of their heirs. + +For the instructions and lessons they give them are such as these: Gain +as much and spend as little as may be; value yourself according to what +you are worth. But certainly this is not to instruct, but to contract +and sew them up, just like a purse, the better to conceal and keep what +is put into it. The purse indeed becomes foul and musty after money +is put up in it; but the children of the covetous, before they are +enriched by their parents, are replenished with covetous desires which +they derive from them. And indeed they pay them a deserved reward for +their instructions, not loving them because they shall receive a great +estate from them, but hating them because they have it not so soon as +they fain would. For being taught to admire nothing but wealth, nor +knowing any other end of living but to get a great estate, they account +the life of their parents to be a hindrance to that of their own, and +fancy so much time is taken from their own age as is added to theirs. +Wherefore, whilst their parents are yet living, they secretly always +steal their pleasures; and what they bestow upon their friends or spend +upon their lusts, and even what they give to their teachers, is fetched +as it were from another’s estate, not from their own. + +But when their parents are dead and they are once possessed of their +keys and seals, then their way of living is of another fashion, and +they put on another face and aspect, grave, severe, and morose. You +hear no more of their former pastimes, nor of exercises with the ball +and in wrestling, nor of the Academy or the Lyceum; but they are +wholly taken up in examining the servants, looking over writings, in +debating matters with those that receive or owe them money. Their +hurry of business and thoughtfulness will not give them leave to +dine, and they are forced to make the night their time of bathing; +the gymnastic schools in which they were educated and the water of +Dirce are neglected. If any man ask him, Will you not go and hear the +philosopher? How can I, says he, now that my father is dead? I am not +at leisure. O miserable wretch! What has thy father left thee to be +compared with what he has taken from thee, thy leisure and thy liberty? +And yet it is not so much he that hath done it, as the wealth that +flows round thee and overpowers thee, which, like the women Hesiod +speaks of, + + Thee without firebrands burns, and unawares + Resigns thee up to dotage and gray hairs,[166] + +bringing on thy soul those cares—like untimely wrinkles and old +age—that spring from covetous desires and multiplicity of business, +that shrivel up all thy vigor and gayety, all sense of honor, all +kindness and humanity within thee. + +8. But some will say, Do you not see rich men live splendidly and spend +high? To whom we answer: Dost thou not hear what Aristotle says, that +some there are that do not use wealth, and some that abuse it? For +neither sort do what is fit and becoming; but what the one sort possess +does neither advantage nor adorn them, and what the other sort have +does both hurt and dishonor them. + +But let us further consider, What is the use of riches, for which men +so much admire them? Is it the enjoyment of what suffices nature? Alas! +in this respect the wealthy have no advantage of those that are of a +meaner fortune; but wealth (as Theophrastus says) is really no wealth +and need not be coveted, if Callias, the richest man of Athens, and +Ismenias, the wealthiest of Thebes, made use but of the same things +that Socrates and Epaminondas did. For as Agathon sent away the music +from the room where he feasted to the women’s apartment, contenting +himself with the discourses of his guests, so you would reject and +send away the purple beds and the high prized tables and all other +superfluous things, should you see that the rich make use of the same +things with the poor. + +I do not mean thou shouldst presently + + Hang up the rudder in the smoke at ease, + And let the mules’ and oxen’s labor cease;[167] + +but much rather the impertinent labor of goldsmiths, turners, +perfumers, and cooks, when thou resolvest wisely and soberly to banish +all useless things. + +But if the things that suffice nature lie in common among those +that have and those that want riches,—if rich men pride themselves +only in things superfluous, and thou art ready to praise Scopas of +Thessaly, who, when one begged somewhat of him he had in his house, as +a superfluous thing he had no use for, made answer, “But we rich men +count our felicity and happiness to lie in these superfluities, and not +in those necessary things,”—if your case be thus, have a care you do +not seem like one that magnifies and prefers a pomp and public show at +a festival before life itself. + +Our country’s feast of Bacchus was in old time celebrated in a more +homely manner, though with great mirth and jollity. One carried in +procession a vessel of wine and a branch of a vine, afterwards followed +one leading a goat, another followed him bearing a basket of dried +figs, and after all came a phallus. But all these are now despised and +out of date, the procession being made with golden vessels and costly +garments, driving of chariots and persons in masquerade. And just thus +the things that are necessary and useful in riches are swallowed up by +those that are unprofitable and superfluous. + +9. The most of us commit the mistake of Telemachus. For he through +inexperience, or rather want of good taste, when he saw Nestor’s house +furnished with beds and tables, garments and carpets, and well stored +with sweet and pleasant wine, did not look upon him as so happy a man +in being thus well provided with things necessary and useful; but when +he beheld the ivory, gold, and amber in Menelaus’s house, he cried out +in amazement:— + + Such, and not nobler, in the realms above, + My wonder dictates is the dome of Jove.[168] + +Whereas Socrates or Diogenes would have said rather:— + + What vain, vexatious, useless things I’ve seen, + And good for nothing but to move one’s spleen. + +Thou fool, what is it thou sayest? When thou oughtest to have stripped +thy wife of her purple and gaudy attire, that she might cease to live +luxuriously and to run mad after strangers and their fashions, instead +of this, dost thou adorn and beautify thy house, that it may appear +like a theatre or a stage to all comers? + +10. The happiness riches pretend to is such that it depends upon +spectators and witnesses; else it would signify nothing at all. But it +is quite otherwise when we consider temperance or philosophy, or such +knowledge of the Gods as is requisite. For these, though unknown to all +other mortals, communicate a peculiar light and great splendor within +the soul, and cause a joy that dwells with it as an inmate, whilst it +enjoys the chiefest good, though neither Gods nor men may be privy to +it. Such a thing is truth, virtue, or the beauty of geometrical and +astrological sciences; and do riches, with their bravery and necklaces +and all that gaudery that pleases girls, deserve to be compared with +any of these? When nobody observes and looks on, riches are truly blind +and deprived of light. For if a rich man makes a meal with his wife or +familiars alone, he makes no stir about magnificent tables to eat on +or golden cups to drink in, but uses those that come next to hand; and +his wife, without any gold or purple to adorn her, presents herself in +a plain dress. But when he makes a feast,—that is, when the pomp and +theatre is to be fitted and prepared, and the scene of riches is to +enter,— + + Then from the ships, with costly goods full fraught, + The trevets and the caldrons straight are brought;[169] + +then they provide lamps, and much ado is made about the drinking-cups, +they put the cup-bearers into a new dress, they bring forth whatever +is made of gold and silver or set with precious stones, thus plainly +declaring that they would be looked upon by all for rich men. But even +though he should eat his meal alone, he wants hilarity of mind and that +contentment which alone makes a feast. + + + + +HOW A MAN MAY INOFFENSIVELY PRAISE HIMSELF WITHOUT BEING LIABLE TO ENVY. + + +1. He that talks big and arrogantly of himself, Herculanus, is +universally condemned as a troublesome and ill-bred companion. But the +most, even of those who in words mightily declaim against him, seem to +applaud him in their actions. Euripides could say, + + If speech grew scarce, and at great rates were sold, + Commend himself what lavish fellow would? + But since the infinite treasure of the air + Praise gratis yields, none truth or falsehood spare; + Suffering no damage, though they give their ware. + +Yet he often brings in his heroes intolerably boasting, and stuffs +their most tragical adventures and passions with improper discourses of +themselves. So Pindar declares, + + Unseasonably to glory + Makes harmony with fury;[170] + +but he forbears not to extol his own raptures, which indeed, by the +confession of all men, are worthy of the noblest praise. + +But those who are crowned for mastery in the games or in the learned +combats have others to celebrate their victories, that the people’s +ears be not grated with the harsh noises of self-applause. And +Timotheus is justly censured as unskilfully and irregularly setting +forth his conquest of Phrynis, when he thus proudly boasted it in +writing: Happy man wast thou, Timotheus, when the crier proclaimed, +‘The Milesian Timotheus hath vanquished the son of Carbo, the soft +Ionian poet.’ + +It is true then, as Xenophon says, The most pleasant sound that a man +can hear is his own praise in another’s mouth; but the most odious +thing unto others is a man commending himself. For we brand them as +impudent who commend themselves, it becoming them to be modest though +they were praised by others; and we account them unjust in arrogating +that to themselves which another has the sole propriety of bestowing on +them. Besides, if we then are silent, we seem either angry or envious; +but if we second their discourse, we are presently entangled and forced +to contribute more than we intended, speaking to men’s faces what +sounds well only behind their backs; and so we undertake rather the +base work of drudging flattery than any real offices of true honor. + +2. Yet, however, there is a time when a statesman may be the subject of +his own discourse, and give a free relation of things he has worthily +done or said, as well as other truths; taking care that it be not +merely for favor or reputation, but upon some emergent occasion, and +especially, when the deeds achieved by him or the parts that be in +him be good and honest, then he is not to forbear and say merely that +he hath done so or else much like. There is indeed a praise of this +kind which bears very excellent and lovely fruit, from whose seeds +arise many of the same species very much meliorated and improved. And +therefore it is that the wise statesman seeks glory not as the reward +or solace of his virtue, nor embraces it merely as the companion of his +achievements, but because the being accounted an honorable person and +gallant man affords a thousand opportunities of compassing many and +more desirable things. For it is easy and delightful to be of use to +those who are apt to believe and love us; whereas, if a man lie under +calumnies and suspicions, he cannot exert his virtue to the benefit of +others without committing a kind of violence upon them. + +There may also be more reasons than these, which we must enquire into, +that, while we endeavor to avert a frivolous and nauseous applauding of +ourselves, we chance not to omit that sort which may be truly useful. + +3. The praise therefore is vain which a man heaps on himself to provoke +others also to praise him, and is chiefly contemptible, as proceeding +from an importunate and unseasonable affectation of esteem. + +For as they who are ready to die for food are compelled against nature +to gnaw off their own flesh, and thus put a miserable end to their +famine; so they who mortally hunger after praise, unless some one +afford them a little scantling alms of commendation, do violate the +laws of decency, shamelessly endeavoring to supply those wants by an +unnatural extolling of themselves. + +But when they do not on the bare consideration of themselves hunt +applause, but strive to obscure the worth of others, by fighting +against their praises and opposing their own works and practices to +theirs, they add to their vanity an envious and abhorred baseness. He +who thrusts his foot into another’s dance is stigmatized with a proverb +as a ridiculous and pragmatical clown; but upon envy and jealousy to +thrust ourselves between the praises of others, or to interrupt the +same with our own self praise, is a thing that we ought equally to +beware of. Neither should we allow others to praise us at such a time, +but frankly yield the honor to those who are then celebrated, if their +merit be real; and though the persons be vicious or unworthy, yet must +we not take from them by setting up ourselves; but rather on the other +hand we must reprove the unskilful applauders, and demonstrate their +encomiums to be improperly and dangerously conferred. It is plain that +these errors must be avoided. + +4. But self-praise is not liable to disgrace or blame when it is +delicately handled by way of apology to remove a calumny or accusation. +Thus Pericles: But ye are angry at me, a man inferior to none, whether +it be in the understanding or interpreting of necessary things; +a man who am a lover of my country, and above the meannesses of +bribes. For, in speaking with this gallantry of himself, he was not +only free from arrogance, vanity, and ambition, but he demonstrated +the greatness and spirit of that virtue which could not be dejected +itself, and even humbled and tamed the haughtiness of envy. Such men +as these will hardly be condemned; but those who would vote against +them are won over to their cause, do receive infinite satisfaction, +and are agreeably inspirited with this noble boasting, especially +if that bravery be steady, and the ground firm on which it stands. +This history does frequently discover. For, when the Theban generals +accused Pelopidas and Epaminondas that, the time for their office as +Boeotarchs being expired, they did not forthwith give up their power, +but made an incursion into Laconia and repaired and re-peopled Messene, +Pelopidas, submitting himself and making many lowly entreaties, very +hardly obtained his absolution; but Epaminondas loftily glorying in +those actions, and at last declaring he would willingly be put to +death so that they would set up his accusation, “Epaminondas hath +wasted Laconia, hath settled Messene, and happily united Arcadia into +one state, against our will,” they admired him, and the citizens, +wondering at the cheerful greatness of his courage, dismissed him with +unspeakable pleasantness and satisfaction. + +Therefore, when Agamemnon thus reproached Diomedes, + + O son of Tydeus!—he whose strength could tame + The bounding steeds, in arms a mighty name,— + Canst thou remote the mingling hosts descry, + With hands inactive and a careless eye? + +Sthenelus is not to be much condemned for saying, + + Ourselves much greater than our ancestors + We boast;[171] + +for Sthenelus had not been calumniated himself, but he only patronized +his abused friend; and so the cause excused that freedom of speech, +which seemed otherwise to have something of the glorioso. + +But Cicero’s magnifying his diligence and prudence in Catiline’s trial +was not very pleasing to the Romans; yet when Scipio said, they ought +not to judge Scipio, who had enstated them in the power of judging all +men, they ascended crowned to the Capitol, and sacrificed with him. For +Cicero was not necessitated to this, but merely spurred by the desire +of glory; while the danger wherein Scipio stood delivered him from envy. + +5. Now talking after an high and glorious manner proves advantageous, +not only to persons in danger of the law or such like eminent distress, +but to those also who are clouded in a dull series of misfortunes; and +that more properly than when they appear splendid in the world. For +what addition can words make to those who already seem possessed of +real glory, and do lie indulging and basking in her beams? But those +who at present are incapable of ambition, if they express themselves +loftily, seem only to bear up against the storms of Fortune, to +undergird the greatness of their souls, and to shun that pity and +commiseration which supposes a shipwrecked and forlorn condition. +As therefore those who in walking affect a stiffness of body and a +stretched-out neck are accounted effeminate and foppish, but are +commended if in fencing and fighting they keep themselves erect and +steady; so the man grappling with ill fortune, if he raise himself to +resist her, + + Like some stout boxer, ready with his blow,[172] + +and by a bravery of speech transform himself from abject and miserable +to bold and noble, is not to be censured as obstinate and audacious, +but honored as invincible and great. So, although Homer described +Patroclus in the happinesses of his life as smooth and without envy, +yet in death he makes him have something of the bravo, and a soldier’s +gallant roughness: + + Had twenty mortals, each thy match in might, + Opposed me fairly, they had sunk in fight.[173] + +So Phocion, though otherwise very mild, after the sentence passed on +him, showed the greatness of his mind in many respects; particularly +to one of his fellow-sufferers, who miserably cried out and bewailed +his misfortune, What, says he, is it not a pleasure to thee to die with +Phocion? + +6. Further, a man of state has not less but greater liberty to speak +any thing of himself when his merits are rewarded with injurious and +unkind returns. Achilles usually gave the Gods their glory, and spoke +modestly in this manner: + + Whene’er, by Jove’s decree, our conquering powers + Shall humble to the dust Troy’s lofty towers. + +But when he was unhandsomely reproached and aspersed with contumelies, +he added swelling words to his anger, and these in his own applause: + + I sacked twelve ample cities on the main; + +and also these: + + It was not thus, when, at my sight amazed, + Troy saw and trembled, as this helmet blazed.[174] + +For apologies claim a great liberty of speech and boasting, as +considerable parts of their defence. + +Themistocles also, having been guilty of nothing distasteful either in +his words or actions, yet perceiving the Athenians glutted with him and +beginning to neglect him, forbore not to say: Why, O ye happy people, +do ye weary out yourselves by still receiving benefits from the same +hands? Upon every storm you fly to the same tree for shelter; yet, when +it is fair again, you despoil it of its leaves as you go away. + +7. They therefore who are injured usually recount their good actions to +the ingrate. And, if they also praise those excellences which others +are pleased to condemn, they are not only pardonable but altogether +without blame. For it is evident they do not reproach others, but +apologize for themselves. + +This gave Demosthenes a glorious freedom, yet allayed the offensive +brightness of his own praises, which almost everywhere shine through +his whole Oration on the Crown, in which he extols those embassies and +decrees which were so much objected against him. + +8. Not much unlike this is the insinuating delicacy of an antithesis, +when a person, being accused for any thing as a crime, demonstrates its +opposite to be base and vicious. So Lycurgus, being upbraided by the +Athenians for stopping a sycophant’s mouth with money, said: And what +kind of citizen do you then take me to be, who, having so long managed +the affairs of the republic amongst you, am at last found rather to +have given than to have received money unjustly? And Cicero, Metellus +objecting he had cast more by his evidence against them than ever he +had acquitted by his pleading for them, replies: Who therefore will not +freely declare that Cicero has more honesty and faith than eloquence? +Many expressions of this nature are in Demosthenes; particularly, +But who might not justly have slain me, if I had endeavored in word +only to sully the honors and glorious titles which the city hath? Or, +What, think you, would those vile fellows have said, if, whilst I had +been curiously poring on other things, the cities had rejected our +alliance?[175] And all his forementioned oration ingeniously dresses +these antitheses and solutions of cases with the subtle ornaments of +his own praise. + +9. But this may very profitably be learned therein, that, delicately +tempering the encomiums of his auditors with the things relating to +himself, he secures himself from being liable to envy, nor becomes +suspected of self-love. There he relates in what manner the Athenians +behaved themselves to the Euboeans, in what manner to the Thebans, and +what benefits they conferred upon those of Byzantium and Chersonesus; +in all which he confesses his part was only that of their minister or +steward. Thus by a rhetorical deceit, he finely and insensibly instils +his own praises into his hearers, who pleasingly hang upon his words, +and rejoice at the commemoration of those worthy deeds. Now this joy is +immediately seconded by admiration, and admiration is succeeded by a +liking and love of that person who so wisely administered the affairs. +This Epaminondas seems to have considered, when reviled by Meneclidas, +as though he had an higher opinion of himself than ever Agamemnon had. +If it be so, says he, Thebans, ’tis you have puffed me up; you, by +whose help alone I overthrew the Lacedaemonian empire in one day. + +10. But since for the most part men are exceedingly displeased with +those who are the trumpeters of their own fame, but if they sound +forth another’s, are delighted and give them cheerful acclamations; +it is hence grown a frequent custom amongst orators, by a seasonable +extolling those who have like purposes, actions, and manner of life +with theirs, to assure and wheedle over the auditory to themselves. +For the hearers know that, though the panegyrist solemnizes another’s +worth, he has yet the same endowments of virtue, so that his encomiums +will redound to himself. For as he who reproaches any man for faults +of which he himself is guilty cannot but perceive he principally +upbraids himself, so the virtuous, by giving applauses to the virtuous, +offer their own praises to the apprehensive, who will presently cry +out, And are not you one of these? Therefore Alexander honoring +Hercules, and Androcottus again honoring Alexander, in effect proposed +themselves to be in like manner honored by others. So Dionysius +scoffing Gelon, and calling him the Gelos (or laughing-stock) of +Sicily, was not aware that through envy he had happened to infringe the +greatness of his own authority and power. + +11. These things the man of state must know and observe. Now those +who are forced upon their own praises are the more excusable, if they +arrogate not the causes wholly to themselves, but ascribe them in part +to Fortune and in part to God. Achilles therefore said: + + Since now at length the powerful will of heaven + The dire destroyer to our arm has given.[176] + +And Timoleon did well, who erected a fane to Fortune, and dedicated +his house to the Good Genius, to whom he referred the felicity of his +attempts. But best of all, Python of Aenos, after he had slain Cotys, +coming to Athens and perceiving the orators very busy in applauding +him to the people, which displeased many and stirred them up to envy, +thus speaks: These things, ye Athenians, some of the Gods have done; +our hands were only the instruments of their work. Sylla also prevented +envy by perpetually praising Fortune, not his own prowess; and at last +surnamed himself Epaphroditus, in acknowledgment that his success +proceeded from the care of Venus. For men will more readily impute a +defeat to chance or the pleasure of some God than to the virtue of +the conqueror; for the one they think to be a good not pertinent to +the conqueror, but the other to be a proper defect of their own, +which proceedeth from themselves. The laws therefore of Zaleucus were +received by the Locrians with the more willingness and delight, because +he had told them Minerva constantly appeared to him and dictated and +instructed him in those laws, and that they were none of them his own +inventions. + +12. This kind of excuses may be framed as convenient remedies or +preventions when we have to do with persons of a difficult or +envious humor. But it is not amiss to use some little revocations +or corrections of what may seem spoken to our praise, before those +who are of a sedate and composed temper. If any commend us as those +who have learning, riches, or authority, we should hinder them from +choosing such topics, and rather desire of them, if they can, to +take notice of us as innocent, good, and useful. Thus we do not so +much confer as transfer praises, and seem not to be puffed up with +our applauders, but rather to be offended that they have not praised +conveniently and for truly meritorious things. We hide also inferior +with better qualifications; yet not as desiring to be commended, but +as teaching to commend aright. Such forms as these may be referred +hither: It is true, I have not walled the city with stones or brick; +but if you will view my fortifications, you shall find armor, and +horses, and confederates.[177] But more apt is that of Pericles. When +his friends bewailed him in the extremities of death, they put him +in mind of his authority and the great offices he had discharged, as +also what victories, trophies, and cities he had left the Athenians; +but he, raising himself a little, reproved them as fixing only upon +common encomiums, and enlarging rather on those of fortune than on +those of virtue, whereas they neglected the greatest matter, which was +more peculiar to himself,—that he had never been the occasion of any +Athenian’s wearing black. And hence the orator may learn, if he be a +good man, to transfer the eulogiums of his eloquence to his virtuous +life and manners; and the commander who is admired and applauded for +his conduct and happy fortune in the wars may freely propose his +clemency or justice as more worthy to be praised. Nay, further, it +becomes even an emperor, upon a profusion of such glutting praises as +flatterers are commonly guilty of, to say something of this nature: + + No God am I. Why do ye equal me + Thus to th’ immortal powers.[178] + +If you know me well, let my justice or temperance, my equanimity or +humanity, be rather spoken of. For even envy herself can easily concede +the lesser honors to him who refuses the greater; nor will it rob +any of true encomiums, not to expect false and vain ones. Therefore +several princes, who permitted not themselves to be called Gods or +the offspring of the Gods, have yet assumed the titles Philadelphus, +Philometor, Evergetes, or Theophilus; and were never offended when they +were honored with those glorious yet human appellations. + +Again, they who in their writings and sayings are absolute votaries +to wisdom by no means will be called σοφοί (or wise men), but can +presently swallow the epithet of philosophers (or lovers of wisdom), or +that of proficients, or any other easy name which sounds not big nor +exposes them to envy; and so they beget and preserve a good esteem. But +your rhetorical sophisters, whilst in their orations they gape for the +extraordinary acclamations of divine, angelical, wonderful, lose even +those common ones of manly or pretty well. + +13. Now as skilful painters, that they may not offend those that have +weak eyes, allay their over-bright and gaudy colors by tempering +them with darker; so there are some who will not represent their own +praises altogether glaring and immoderately splendid, but cast in +some defects, some scapes or slight faults, to take away the danger of +displeasure or envy. Epeus intolerably brags of his skill in boxing. + + I’ll crush my adversary’s body, break his bones; + +yet he would seem to qualify all with this, + + Is’t not enough that I’m in fight unskilled?[179] + +But, to say truth, to excuse his arrogance with so base a confession is +ridiculous. He then who would be an exact man corrects himself for his +forgetfulness, ignorance, ambition, or eagerness for certain knowledge +and discourses. So does Ulysses when he says of the Sirens, + + Thus the sweet charmers warbled o’er the main, + My soul takes wing to meet the heavenly strain; + I give the sign, and struggle to be free; + +and again, when he sang of his visit to the Cyclops, + + Their wholesome counsel rashly I declined, + Curious to view the man of monstrous kind, + And try what social rites a savage lends.[180] + +And for the most part it is a good antidote against envy, to mix +amongst our praises those faults that are not altogether ungenerous and +base. Therefore many temper them not only with confessions of poverty +or unskilfulness, but even of vile descent. So Agathocles, carousing +amongst the Sicilian youth in golden bowls very curiously wrought, +commanded earthen pots to be brought in. See (says he) what diligence, +laboriousness, and fortitude can do! Once we made muggen jugs, but now +vessels of gold. For his original was so mean and contemptible, that +it was thought he had served in a potter’s shop who at last governed +almost all Sicily. + +14. These are the outward preventions or remedies against diseases +that may arise from the speaking of one’s self. There are some others +inward, which Cato has recourse to when he tells us he was envied for +neglecting his domestic affairs and being vigilant whole nights in +those of his country. So with this: + + How shall I boast, who grew so easily, + Though mustered ’mongst the common soldiery; + Great in my fortune as the bravest be? + +And this: + + But I am loath to lose past labor’s gains; + Nor will retreat from a fresh troop of pains.[181] + +For as they who obtain great possessions of houses or lands gratis and +with little difficulty are under the eye of envy, but not if their +purchases were troublesome and dear, so it is with them who arrive at +honor and applause. + +15. Well then, since it is evident we may praise ourselves not only +inoffensively and without being liable to envy, but with great +advantage too; that we may seem not to do this for itself, but for a +further and better end, first consider whether it may prove for the +instruction of the company, by exciting them to a virtuous emulation. +For so Nestor’s relation of his own achievements inflamed Patroclus +and nine others with a vehement desire of single combat; and we know +the counsel that brings persuasive deeds as well as words, a lively +exemplar, and an immediate familiar incentive, insouls a man with +courage, moves, yea, vehemently spurs him up to such a resolution of +mind as cannot doubt the possibility and success of the attempt. This +was the reason of that chorus in Lacedaemon consisting of boys, young +men, and old men, which thus sang in parts:— + + Old Men. Once we were young, and bold and strong. + + Boys. And we shall be no less ere long. + + Young Men. We now are such; behold us, if you will.[182] + +Well and politicly in this public entertainment did the legislator +propose to the youth obvious and domestic examples of such as had +already performed the things he exhorted them to. + +16. Moreover, it is not only available for the exciting of a generous +emulation, but sometimes requisite for the silencing and taming an +insolent and audacious man, to talk a little gloriously of one’s self. +As Nestor in this: + + I have conversed with men more gallant far + Than you; much your superiors they in all things were, + Nor did they ever to contemn me dare.[183] + +And Aristotle writes to Alexander, that not only those who have mighty +empires may think highly of themselves, but they also who have worthy +thoughts and notions of the Gods. Such a remark as this is also +profitable against enemies, and recalls the spirits: + + Weak sons of misery our strength oppose.[184] + +And such a reflection as that of Agesilaus, who said concerning +the king of Persia, when he heard him called the Great: And who is +greater than I, unless he be more just? So Epaminondas answered the +Lacedaemonians, when they had spun out a long accusation against the +Thebans: I see then we have forced you out of your wonted humor of +short speech. + +The like to these are proper against adversaries; but amongst our +friends and fellow-citizens a seasonable glorying is good not only to +humble and throw down their haughtiness, but if they be fearful or +astonished, to fetch back their courage and teach them to rally up +themselves again. Therefore Cyrus in perils and battles talked at a +thundering rate, but otherwise was mild and gentle in discourse. And +Antigonus the Second generally was modest and free from blustering; but +at the sea-fight at Cos,—one of his friends saying, See you not how +much greater the number of the enemy’s ships is than ours?—he answers, +And for how many ships dost thou reckon me? + +This Homer seems to have considered, who makes Ulysses, when his +friends were dismayed at the noise and horrible waves of Charybdis, +immind them of his former stratagems and valor: + + O friends! O often tried in adverse storms! + With ills familiar in more dreadful forms! + Deep in the dire Cyclopean den you lay, + Yet safe return’d,—Ulysses led the way.[185] + +For this kind of praise is not such as the haranguers to the people +or sophistical beggars use, nor those who affect popular humming and +applause; but a necessary pledge of that courage and conduct which +must be given to hearten up our friends. For we know that opinion +and confidence in him whom we esteem endued with the fortitude and +experience of a complete captain is, in the crisis of a battle, no +small advantage to the obtaining of the day. + +17. We have before declared the opposing of himself to the reputation +and credit of another to be altogether unbefitting a worthy man; but +where a vicious praise becomes hurtful and corruptive, creating an +earnestness after evil things or an evil purpose in great matters, +it is not unprofitable to refuse it; but it becomes us to direct the +minds of the company towards better sentiments of things, showing them +the difference. For certainly any one will be pleased when he sees +many voluntarily abstaining from the vices they heard cried down and +reproved; but if baseness be well accounted of, and honor be made to +attend on him who pursues pleasure or avarice, where is the nature so +happily strong that can resist, much less conquer, the temptation? +Therefore a generous and discreet person must set himself against +the praises, not of evil men, but of evil actions; for this kind of +commendation perverts the judgments of men, and miserably leads them +to imitate and emulate unworthy practices as laudable. But they may +be easily bewrayed by confronting them with opposite truths. Theodorus +the tragedian is reported to have said to Satyrus the comedian, It is +not so wonderful an art to move the theatre’s laughter as to force its +tears. But if some philosopher should have retorted, Aye; but, friend, +it is not so fit and seemly to make men weep, as to remove and free +them from their sorrows, it is likely by this odd way of commending +himself he would have delighted his hearer, and endeavored to alter +or secure his judgment. So Zeno knew how to speak for himself, when +the great number of Theophrastus’s scholars was opposed to the fewness +of his, saying, His chorus is indeed greater than mine, but mine is +sweeter. And Phocion, while Leosthenes yet prospered, being asked by +the orators what good he had done the city, replies: Nothing but this, +that in my government of you there have been no funeral orations, but +all the deceased were buried in the sepulchres of their ancestors. So +Crates, by way of antithesis to this epitaph of the glutton, + + What I have eat is mine; in words my will + I’ve had, and of my lust have took my fill, + +well opposes these, + + What I have learnt is mine; I’ve had my thought, + And me the Muses noble truths have taught. + +This kind of praise is amiable and advantageous, teaching to admire and +love convenient and profitable things instead of the superfluous and +vain. Thus much for the stating of the question, in what cases and how +far self-praise may be inoffensive. + +18. Now the order of the discourse requires to show how an uncomely and +unseasonable affectation of praise may be avoided. Discourse of a man’s +self usually sallies from self-love, as from its fort, and is there +observed to lay wait, even in those who are vulgarly thought free +enough from ambition. Therefore, as it is one of the rules of health to +avoid dangerous and unwholesome places, or being in them to take the +greater care, so ought there to be a like rule concerning converse and +speaking of one’s self. For this kind of talk has slippery occasions, +into which we unawares and indiscernibly are apt to fall. + +For first (as is above said), ambition usually intrudes into the +praises of others with some flourishing remarks to adorn herself. For +let a person be commended by his equal or inferior, the mind of the +ambitious is tickled and rubbed at the hearing of his praise, and +immediately he is hurried by an intemperate desire and precipitation +after the like; as the appetite of the hungry is sharpened by seeing +others eat. + +19. In the second place, the story of men’s prosperous actions +naturally carries them into the humor of boasting; and joy so far +transports them, that they swell with their own words when they would +give you a relation of their victories or their success in the business +of the state, or of their other publicly applauded actions or orations, +and find it difficult to contain themselves and preserve a mean. In +which kind of error it is observable that soldiers and mariners are +most entangled. Nor is it infrequent with those who return from the +government of provinces and the management of great affairs. Such as +these, when mention is once made of illustrious and royal personages, +presently thrust in some eulogies of themselves, as proceeding from +the favor and kind opinion of those princes: and then they fancy they +seem not at all to have praised themselves, but to have given only a +bare account what great men have said honorably of them. So another +sort, little different from these, think they are not discerned when +they tell you all the familiarities of kings and emperors with them and +their particular applying themselves to them in discourse, and appear +to recount them, not as thereby intending their own honor, but as +bringing in considerable evidences of singular affability and humanity +in persons so exceeding great. + +We see then what reason we have to look narrowly to ourselves, that, +whilst we confer praises on others, we give no ground for suspicion +that we make them but the vehicles of our own, and that, “in pretending +to celebrate Patroclus,” under his name we mean romantically ourselves. + +20. Further, that kind of discourse which consists in dispraising and +finding fault is dangerous, and yields opportunity to those that watch +it for the magnifying their own little worth. Of this old men are +inclinable to be guilty, when, by chastising and debasing others for +their vices, they exalt themselves as wonderfully great in the opposite +virtues. Indeed to these there must be a very large concession, if +they be reverend not only in age, but in virtue and place; for it is +not altogether an unprofitable way, since it may sometimes create an +extraordinary zeal and emulation of honor in those who are thus spurred +up. But otherwise that sort of humor is carefully to be shunned; for +reproof is often bitter, and wants a great deal of caution to sweeten +and correct it. Now this is not done by the tempering our own praises +with the reprehension of another; for he is an unworthy and odious +fellow who seeks his own credit through any man’s disgrace, basely +endeavoring to build a slight reputation of his virtue upon the +discovery of another’s crimes. + +21. Lastly, as they who are naturally inclined to a dangerous sort of +laughter,—which is a kind of violent passion or disease,—must preserve +especially the smooth parts of the body from tickling incentives, which +cause these parts to yield and relent, thus provoking the passion; so +they whose minds are soft and propense to the desires of reputation +must carefully beware that they be not precipitated by the ticklings +of another’s praises into a vaporing of themselves. They ought rather +to blush, if they hear themselves commended, and not put on a brazen +face. They ought modestly and handsomely to reprove their applauders as +having honored them too much, and not chide them for having been too +sparing in their praise. Yet in this many offend, putting those who +speak advantageously of them in mind of more things of the same nature; +endeavoring to make a huge heap of creditable actions, till by what +they themselves add they spoil all that their friends have conferred to +the promoting their esteem. + +Some there are who flatter themselves, till they are stupidly puffed +up; others allure a man to talk of himself, and take him by casting +some little gilded temptation in his way; and another sort for a little +sport will be putting questions, as those in Menander to the silly +braggadocio soldier: + + How did you get this wound? + By a furious dart. + For heaven’s sake, how? + As from my scaling ladder + I mounted the proud walls. See here! Behold! + Then I proceed to show my wound + With earnest look; but they spoiled all with laughter. + +22. We must be watchful in all these cases, that we neither of +ourselves drop into our own inconvenient praises, nor be hooked into +them by others. Now the best and most certain way of security is to +look back upon such as we can remember guilty of this fault, and to +consider how absurd and ugly it is accounted by all men, and that +hardly any thing is in converse a greater disturbance than this. + +Hence it is that, though there be no other quality in such persons +unpleasing, yet, as if Nature had taught us to abhor and fly it, we +hasten out to get a little fresh air; and even the very parasite and +indigent flatterers are uneasy, when the wealthy and great men by whose +scraps they live begin to admire and extol themselves; nay, they give +out that they pay the greatest portion of the shot, when they must give +ear to such vanities. Therefore he in Menander cries out, + + They kill me—I am a macerated guest— + With their wise sayings and their soldier’s brags; + How base these gloriosos are! + +But these faults are not only to be objected against common soldiers +and upstarts who detain others with gaudy and proud relations of their +own actions, but also against sophists, philosophers, and commanders +who grow full of themselves and talk at a fastuous rate. Therefore it +is fit we still remember that another’s dispraise always accompanies +the indiscreet praises of ourselves; that the end of vain-glory is +disgrace; and that, as Demosthenes tells us, the company will both be +offended and judge otherwise of us than we would have them.[186] Let +us then forbear to talk of ourselves, unless the profit that we or our +hearers may thence probably reap be considerably great. + + + + +CONCERNING THE PROCREATION OF THE SOUL AS DISCOURSED IN TIMAEUS.[187] + +THE FATHER TO AUTOBULUS AND PLUTARCH WISHETH HEALTH. + + +1. Since it is your opinion that it would be requisite for me to +collect together what I have discoursed and written dispersedly in +several treatises explaining, as we apprehended his sense and meaning, +what opinion Plato had concerning the soul, as requiring a particular +commentary by itself; therefore I have compiled this discourse, +which asks for your consideration and pardon not only because the +matter itself is by no means easy to be handled, but also because the +doctrines herein contained are somewhat contrary to those held by most +of the Platonic philosophers. And I will first rehearse the words as +they run originally in the text itself of Timaeus.[188] + +“There being one substance not admitting of division, but continuing +still the same, and another liable to be divided among several bodies, +out of both these he produced for a middle mixture a third sort of +Substance, partaking of the nature of the Same and of the nature of the +Other, and placed it in the midst between that which was indivisible +and that which was subject to be corporeally divided. Then taking all +three, he blended them into one form, forcibly adapting to the Same +the nature of the Other, not readily condescending to a mixture. Now +when he had thus mixed them with the Substance, and reduced the three +into one, he again divided this whole matter into so many parts as were +thought to be necessary; every one of these parts being composed of the +Same, the Other, and the Substance. And thus he began his division.” + +By the way, it would be an endless toil to recite the contentions and +disputes that have from hence arisen among his interpreters, and to you +indeed superfluous, who are not ignorant yourselves of the greatest +part. + +But seeing that Xenocrates won to his opinions several of the most +eminent philosophers, while he defined the substance of the soul to be +number moved by itself; and that many adhered to Crantor the Solian, +who affirmed the soul to consist partly of an essence perceptible to +the mind, partly of a nature concerned with sensible things and subject +to opinions; I am apt to believe that the perspicuity of these matters +clearly dilucidated will afford you a fair entrance into the knowledge +of the rest. + +2. Nor does either of the two conjectures require many words of +explanation. For the one side pretends that by the mixture of the +divisible and indivisible substance no other thing is meant than the +generation or original of number, seeing that the unit is undividable +but multitude is subject to division; however, that out of these is +begot number, unity terminating plurality and putting a period to +infinity, which they call the unlimited binary. This binary Zaratas, +the scholar of Pythagoras, named the mother, but the unit the father +of number; and therefore he believed those numbers were the best which +approached nearest in resemblance to the unit. Nevertheless, this +number cannot be said to be the soul; for it neither has the power +to move, neither can it be moved. But the Same and the Other being +blended together, of which one is the original of motion and mutation, +the other of rest and stability, from these two springs the soul, which +is no less active or passive itself to stay or to be stayed, than to +move or to be moved. + +But the followers of Crantor, supposing the proper function of the +soul to consist in judging of those things which are discernible to +the understanding and those which are liable to sense, as also of the +differences and similitudes of these things, as well in themselves as +in reference one to another, allege the soul to be composed of all, +to the end she may have a true knowledge of the whole. Now the things +of which the All is composed are fourfold,—the intelligible nature, +always immutable and still the same, and the sensitive nature, which +is passive and subject to alteration; and also the nature of the Same, +and the nature of the Other, in regard the two former in some measure +participate also of diversity and identity. + +3. All these philosophers likewise equally hold that the soul neither +derives its beginning from time nor is the product of generation, but +that it is endued with several faculties and virtues, into which Plato, +as it were, melting and dissolving its substance for contemplation’s +sake, supposes it in his discourse to have had its original from +procreation and mixture. + +The same was his opinion concerning the world; for he knew it to be +uncreated and without end, but not perceiving it so easy to apprehend +how the structure was reared, or by what order and government +supported, unless by admitting its beginning and the causes thereto +concurring, he followed that method to instruct himself. These things +being thus generally by them laid down, Eudorus will allow to neither +side any share of probability; and indeed to me they both seem to have +wandered from the opinion of Plato, if we intend to make the most +likely rule our guide,—which is not to advance our own conceits, +but to come as close as we can to his sense and meaning. Now as to +this same mixture (as they call it) of the intelligible and sensitive +substance, no reason appears why it should be more the original of the +soul than of any other thing that ye can name. For the whole world +itself and every one of its parts pretend to no other composition +than of a sensitive and an intelligible substance, of which the one +affords matter and foundation, the other form and figure to the whole +mass. And then again, whate’er there is of material substance, framed +and structured by participation and assimilation of the intelligible +nature is not only to be felt but visible to the eye; whenas the soul +still soars above the reach of all natural apprehension. Neither did +Plato ever assert the soul to be number, but a perpetually self-moving +nature, the fountain and principle of motion. Only he embellished and +adorned the substance of it with number, proportion, and harmony; +as being a subject capable of receiving the most goodly form which +those ornaments could produce. So that I cannot believe it to be the +same thing to compose the soul according to number, and to affirm the +soul to be number itself. Nor can it be said to be harmony because +harmoniously composed, as he has clearly demonstrated in his Treatise +of the Soul. But plain it is, that those philosophers understood not +the meaning of the Same and the Other. For they tell us how the Same +contributes rest, the Other motion toward the generation of the soul. +Though Plato himself, in his treatise entitled the Sophist, disposes +and distinguishes Essence, the Same, the Other, together with Motion +and Rest, as being five things altogether differing one from another +and void of mutual affinity. + +4. But these men are generally, as the most part of Plato’s readers, +timorous and vainly perplexed, using all their endeavors by wresting +and tormenting his sense to conceal and hide what he has written, +as if it were some terrible novelty not fit for public view, that +the world and the soul neither had their beginning and composition +from eternity, nor had their essence from a boundless immensity of +time,—of which we have particularly spoken already. So that now it +shall suffice to say no more than this, that these writers confound and +smother (if they do not rather utterly abolish) his eager contest and +dispute in behalf of the Gods, wherein Plato confesses himself to have +been transported with an ambitious zeal, even beyond the strength of +his years, against the atheists of his time. For if the world had no +beginning, Plato’s opinion vanishes,—that the soul, much elder than the +body, is the principle of all motion and alteration, or (to use his own +words) their chieftain and first efficient cause, whose mansion is in +Nature’s secret retirements. But what the soul is what the body, and +why the soul is said to have been elder than the body, shall be made +appear in the progress of this discourse. The ignorance of this seems +to have been the occasion of much doubt and incredulity in reference to +the true opinion. + +5. First therefore, I shall propose my own sentiments concerning these +things, desiring to gain credit no otherwise than by the most probable +strength of arguments, explaining and reconciling to the utmost of +my ability truth and paradox together; after which I shall apply +both the explication and demonstration to the words of the text. In +my opinion then the business lies thus. The world, saith Heraclitus, +neither did any one of all the Gods nor any mortal man create,—as if +he had been afraid that, not being able to make out the creation by a +Deity, we should be constrained to acknowledge some man to have been +the architect of the universe. But certainly far better it is, in +submission to Plato’s judgment, to avow, both in discourse and in our +songs of praise, that the glory of the structure belongs to God,—for +the frame itself is the most beautiful of all masterpieces, and God the +most illustrious of all causes,—but that the substance and materials +were not created, but always ready at the ordering and disposal of the +Omnipotent Builder, to give it form and figure, as near as might be, +approaching to his own resemblance. For the creation was not out of +nothing, but out of matter wanting beauty and perfection, like the rude +materials of a house, a garment, or a statue, lying first in shapeless +confusion. For before the creation of the world there was nothing but +a confused heap; yet was that confused heap neither without a body, +without motion, nor without a soul. The corporeal part was without form +or consistence, and the moving part stupid and headlong; and this was +the disorder of a soul not guided by reason. God neither incorporated +that which is incorporeal, nor conveyed a soul into that which had +none before; like a person either musical or poetical, who does not +make either the voice or the movement, but only reduces the voice with +harmony, and graces the movement with proper measures. Thus God did not +make the tangible and resistant solidity of the corporeal substance, +nor the imaginative or moving faculties of the soul; but taking these +two principles as they lay ready at hand,—the one obscure and dark, the +other turbulent and senseless, both imperfect without the bounds of +order and decency,—he disposed, digested, and embellished the confused +mass, so that he brought to perfection a most absolute and glorious +creature. Therefore the substance of the body is no other than that +all-receiving Nature, the seat and nurse of all created beings. + +6. But the substance of the soul, in Philebus, he called an infinite +being, the privation of number and proportion; having neither +period nor measure either of diminution or excess or distinction or +dissimilitude. But as to that order which he alleges in Timaeus to +be the mixture of nature with the indivisible substance, but which +being applied to bodies becomes liable to division,—he would not have +it thought to be a bulk made up by units or points, nor longitude +and breadth, which are qualities more consentaneous to bodies +than to the soul, but that disorderly unlimited principle, moving +both itself and other substances, that which he frequently calls +necessity, and which within his treatise of laws he openly styles +the disorderly, ill-acting, or harm-doing soul. For such was this +soul of herself; but at length she came to partake of understanding, +ratiocination, and harmony, that she might be the soul of the world. +Now that all-receiving principle of matter enjoyed both magnitude, +space, and distance; but beauty, form, and measure of proportion it +had none. However, all these it obtained, to the end that, when it +came to be thus embellished and adorned, it might assume the form +of all the various bodies and organs of the earth, the sea, the +heavens, the stars, and of all those infinite varieties of plants +and living creatures. Now as for those who attribute to this matter, +and not to the soul, that which in Timaeus is called necessity, in +Philebus vast disproportion and unlimited exorbitancy of diminution +and excess,—they can never maintain it to be the cause of disorder, +since Plato always alleges that same matter to be without any form or +figures, and altogether destitute of any quality or effectual virtue +properly belonging to it; comparing it to such oils as have no scent +at all, which the perfumers mix in their tinctures. For there is no +likelihood that Plato would suppose that to be the cause and principle +of evil which is altogether void of quality in itself, sluggish, and +never to be roused on to action, and yet at the same time brand this +immensity with the harsh epithets of base and mischievous, and call it +necessity repugnant and contumaciously rebellious against God. For +this same necessity, which renverses heaven (to use his own phrase +in his Politicus) and turns it the quite contrary way from decency +and symmetry, together with innate concupiscence, and that inbred +confusion of ancient nature, hurly-burly’d with all manner of disorder, +before they were wrought and kneaded into the graceful decorum of +the world,—whence came they to be conveyed into several varieties of +forms and beings, if the subject, which is the first matter, were void +of all quality whatsoever and deprived of all efficient cause; more +especially the Architect being so good of himself, and intending a +frame the nearest approaching to his own perfections? For besides these +there is no third principle. And indeed, we should stumble into the +perplexed intricacies of the Stoics, should we advance evil into the +world out of nonentity, without either any preceding cause or effect of +generation, in regard that among those principles that have a being, +it is not probable that either real good or that which is destitute of +all manner of quality should afford birth or substance to evil. But +Plato escaped those pitfalls into which they blundered who came after +him; who, neglecting what he carefully embraced, the third principle +and energetic virtue in the middle between God and the first matter, +maintain the most absurd of arguments, affirming the nature of evils +to have crept in spontaneously and adventitiously, I know not how nor +by what strange accidents. And yet they will not allow an atom of +Epicurus so much as a moment’s liberty to shift in its station, which, +as they say, would infer motion out of nonentity without any impulsive +cause; nevertheless themselves presuming all this while to affirm that +vice and wickedness, together with a thousand other incongruities and +vexations afflicting the body, of which no cause can be ascribed to any +of the principles, came into being (as it were) “by consequence.” + +7. Plato however does not so; who, despoiling the first matter of +all manner of distinction, and separating from God, as far as it is +possible, the causes of evil, has thus delivered himself concerning +the world, in his Politicus. “The world,” saith he, “received from the +Illustrious Builder all things beautiful and lovely; but whatsoever +happens to be noxious and irregular in heaven, it derives from its +ancient habit and disposition, and conveys them into the several +creatures.” And a little farther in the same treatise he saith: “In +process of time, when oblivion had encroached upon the world, the +distemper of its ancient confusion more prevailed, and the hazard +is, lest being dissolved it should again be sunk and plunged into +the immense abyss of its former irregularity.” But there can be no +dissimilitude in the first matter, as being void of quality and +distinction. + +Of which when Eudemus with several others was altogether ignorant, he +seems deridingly to cavil with Plato, and taxes him with asserting the +first matter to be the cause, the root, and principle of all evil, +which he had at other times so frequently dignified with the tender +appellations of mother and nurse. Whereas Plato gives to matter only +the titles of the mother and nurse; but the cause of evil he makes +to be the moving force residing within it, not governed by order and +reason, though not without a soul neither, which, in his treatise of +the Laws, he calls expressly the soul repugnant and in hostility with +that other propitiously and kindly acting. For though the soul be the +principle of motion, yet is it the understanding and intelligence which +measures that motion by order and harmony, and is the cause of both. +For God could not have brought to rest mere sleepy and sluggish matter, +but he brought it to rest when it had been troubled and disquieted by +a senseless and stupid cause. Neither did he infuse into nature the +principles of alteration and affections; but when it was under the +pressure of those unruly disorders and alterations, he discharged it +of its manifold enormities and irregularities, making use of symmetry, +proportion, and number. For these are the most proper instruments, not +by alteration and lawless motion to distract the several beings with +passions and distinctions, but rather to render them fixed and stable, +and nearest in their composition to those things that in themselves +continue still the same upon the equal poise of diuturnity. And this, +in my judgment, is the sense and meaning of Plato. + +8. Of which the easy reconciliation of his seeming incongruities and +contradiction of himself may serve for the first proof. For indeed no +men of judgment would have objected to the most Bacchanalian sophister, +more especially to Plato, the guilt of so much inconvenience and +impudent rashness in a discourse by him so elaborately studied, as to +affirm the same nature in one place never to have been created, in +another to have been the effects of generation;—in Phaedrus to assert +the soul eternal, in Timaeus to subject it to procreation. The words +in Phaedrus need no repetition, as being familiar to nearly every one, +wherein he proves the soul to be incorruptible in regard it never had a +beginning, and to have never had a beginning because it moves itself. +But in Timaeus, “God,” saith he, “did not make the soul a junior to +the body, as now we labor to prove it to have been subsequent to the +body. For he would never have suffered the more ancient, because linked +and coupled with the younger, to have been governed by it; only we, +guided I know not how by chance and inconsiderate rashness, frame odd +kind of notions to ourselves. But God most certainly composed the soul +excelling the body both in seniority of origin and in power, to be +mistress and governess of her inferior servant.”[189] And then again +he adds, how that the soul, being turned upon herself, began the divine +beginning of an eternal and prudent life. “Now,” saith he, “the body +of heaven became visible; but the soul being invisible, nevertheless +participating of ratiocination and harmony, by the best of intelligible +and eternal beings she was made the best of things created.”[190] Here +then he determines God to be the best of sempiternal beings, the soul +to be the most excellent of temporal existences. By which apparent +distinction and antithesis he denies that the soul is eternal, and that +it never had a beginning. + +9. And now what other or better reconciliation of these seeming +contrarieties than his own explanation, to those that are willing +to apprehend it? For he declares to have been without beginning the +never procreated soul, that moved all things confusedly and in an +irregular manner before the creation of the world. But as for that +which God composed out of this and that other permanent and choicest +substance, making it both prudent and orderly, and adding of his own, +as if it were for form and beauty’s sake, intellect to sense, and +order to motion, and which he constituted prince and chieftain of +the whole,—that he acknowledges to have had a beginning and to have +proceeded from generation. Thus he likewise pronounces the body of the +world in one respect to be eternal and without beginning, in another +sense to be the work of creation. To which purpose, where he says +that the visible structure, never in repose at first but restless in +a confused and tempestuous motion, was at length by the hand of God +disposed and ranged into majestic order,—where he says that the four +elements, fire and water, earth and air, before the stately pile was by +them embellished and adorned, caused a prodigious fever and shivering +ague in the whole mass of matter, that labored under the combats of +their unequal mixtures, by his urging these things, he gives those +bodies room in the vast abyss before the fabric of the universe. + +Again, when he says that the body was younger than the soul, and that +the world was created, as being of a corporeal substance that may +be seen and felt,—which sort of substances must necessarily have a +beginning and be created,—it is evidently demonstrable from thence that +he ascribes original creation to the nature of bodies. But he is far +from being repugnant or contradictory to himself in these sublimest +mysteries. For he does not contend, that the same body was created +by God or after the same manner, and yet that it was before it had +a being,—which would have been to act the part of a juggler; but he +instructs us what we ought to understand by generations and creation. +Therefore, says he, at first all these things were void of measure and +proportion; but when God first began to beautify the whole, the fire +and water, earth and air, having perhaps some prints and footsteps of +their forms, lay in a huddle jumbled all together,—as probable it is +that all things are, where God is absent,—which then he reduced to a +comely perfection varied by number and order. Moreover, having told us +before that it was a work not of one but of a twofold proportion to +bind and fasten the bulky immensity of the whole, which was both solid +and of a prodigious profundity, he then comes to declare how God, after +he had placed the water and the earth in the midst between the fire and +the air, incontinently closed up the heavens into a circular form. Out +of these materials, saith he, being four in number, was the body of the +world created, agreeing in proportion, and so amicably corresponding +together, that being thus embodied and confined within their proper +bounds, it is impossible that any dissolution should happen from their +own contending force, unless he that riveted the whole frame should +go about again to rend it in pieces;—most apparently teaching us, +that God was not the parent and architect of the corporeal substance +only, or of the bulk and matter, but of the beauty and symmetry and +similitude that adorned and graced the whole. The same we are to +believe, he thought, concerning the soul; that there is one which +neither was created by God nor is the soul of the world, but a certain +self-moving and restless efficacy of a giddy and disorderly agitation +and impetuosity, irrational and subject to opinion; while the other is +that which God himself, having accoutred and adorned it with suitable +numbers and proportions, has made queen regent of the created world, +herself the product of creation also. + +10. Now that Plato had this belief concerning these things, and did +not for contemplation’s sake lay down these suppositions concerning +the creation of the world and the soul,—this, among many others, seems +to be an evident signification that, as to the soul, he avers it to be +both created and not created, but as to the world, he always maintains +that it had a beginning and was created, never that it was uncreated +and eternal. What necessity therefore of bringing any testimonies out +of Timaeus? For the whole treatise, from the beginning to the end, +discourses of nothing else but of the creation of the world. As for +the rest, we find that Timaeus, in his Atlantic, addressing himself +in prayer to the Deity, calls God that being which of old existed +in his works, but now was apparent to reason. In his Politicus, his +Parmenidean guest acknowledges that the world, which was the handiwork +of God, is replenished with several good things, and that, if there be +any thing in it which is vicious and offensive, it comes by mixture +of its former incongruous and irrational habit. But Socrates, in the +Politics, beginning to discourse of number, which some call by the name +of wedlock, says: “The created Divinity has a circular period, which +is, as it were, enchased and involved in a certain perfect number;” +meaning in that place by created Divinity no other than the world +itself. + + * * * * * + +11. The first pair of these numbers consists of one and two, the second +of three and four, the third of five and six; neither of which pairs +make a tetragonal number, either by themselves or joined with any other +figures. The fourth consists of seven and eight, which, being added all +together, produce a tetragonal number of thirty-six. But the quaternary +of numbers set down by Plato have a more perfect generation, of even +numbers multiplied by even distances, and of odd by uneven distances. +This quaternary contains the unit, the common original of all even and +odd numbers. Subsequent to which are two and three, the first plane +numbers; then four and nine, the first squares; and next eight and +twenty-seven, the first cubical numbers (not counting the unit). Whence +it is apparent, that his intention was not that the numbers should be +placed in a direct line one above another, but apart and oppositely one +against the other, the even by themselves, and the odd by themselves, +according to the scheme here given. In this manner similar numbers will +be joined together, which will produce other remarkable numbers, as +well by addition as by multiplication. + + 1 2 + 3 4 + 5 6 + 7 8 + +[Illustration: + + 1 + /\ + / \ + 2 / 5 \ 3 + / \ + 4 / 13 \ 9 + / \ + 8 / 35 \ 27 + - - - - - - - - +] + +12. By addition thus: two and three make five, four and nine make +thirteen, eight and twenty-seven make thirty-five. Of all which numbers +the Pythagoreans called five the nourisher, that is to say, the +breeding or fostering sound, believing a fifth to be the first of all +the intervals of tones which could be sounded. But as for thirteen, +they called it the remainder, despairing, as Plato himself did, of +being ever able to divide a tone into equal parts. Then five and +thirty they named harmony, as consisting of the two cubes eight and +twenty-seven, the first that rise from an odd and an even number, as +also of the four numbers, six, eight, nine, and twelve, comprehending +both harmonical and arithmetical proportion. Which nevertheless will be +more conspicuous, being made out in a scheme to the eye. + +[Illustration] + +Admit a right-angled parallelogram, A B C D, the lesser side of which +A B consists of five, the longer side A C contains seven squares. Let +the lesser division be unequally divided into two and three squares, +marked by E; and the larger division in two unequal divisions more of +three and four squares, marked by F. Thus A E F G comprehends six, E B +G I nine, F G C H eight, and G I H D twelve. By this means the whole +parallelogram, containing thirty-five little square areas, comprehends +all the proportions of the first concords of music in the number of +these little squares. For six is exceeded by eight in a sesquiterce +proportion (3: 4), wherein the diatessaron is comprehended. And six is +exceeded by nine in a sesquialter proportion (2: 3), wherein also is +included the fifth. Six is exceeded by twelve in duple proportion (1: +2), containing the octave; and then lastly, there is the sesquioctave +proportion of a tone in eight to nine. And therefore they call that +number which comprehends all these proportions harmony. This number +is 35, which being multiplied by 6, the product is 210, which is the +number of days, they say, which brings those infants to perfection that +are born at the seventh month’s end. + +13. To proceed by way of multiplication,—twice 3 make 6, and 4 +times 9 thirty-six, and 8 times 27 produce 216. Thus six appears to +be a perfect number, as being equal in its parts; and it is called +matrimony, by reason of the mixture of the first even and odd. Moreover +it is composed of the original number, which is one, of the first +even number, which is two, and the first odd number, which is three. +Then for 36, it is the first number which is as well quadrangular as +triangular, being quadrangular from 6, and triangular from 8.[191] The +same number arises from the multiplication of the first two square +numbers, 4 and 9; as also from the addition of the three cubical +numbers, 1, 8, and 27, which being put together make up 36. Lastly, +you have a parallelogram with unequal sides, by the multiplication of +12 by 3, or 9 by 4. Take then the numbers of the sides of all these +figures, the 6 of the square, the 8 of the triangle, the 9 for the one +parallelogram, and the 12 for the other; and there you will find the +proportions of all the concords. For 12 to 9 will be a fourth, as nete +to paramese. To eight it will prove a fifth, as nete to mese. To six it +will be an octave, as nete to hypate. And the two hundred and sixteen +is the cubical number proceeding from six which is its root, and so +equal to its own perimeter. + +14. Now these numbers aforesaid being endued with all these properties, +the last of them, which is 27, has this peculiar to itself, that it +is equal to all those that precede together; besides, that it is the +periodical number of the days wherein the moon finishes her monthly +course; the Pythagoreans make it to be the tone of all the harmonical +intervals. On the other side, they call thirteen the remainder, in +regard it misses a unit to be half of twenty-seven. Now that these +numbers comprehend the proportions of harmonical concord, is easily +made apparent. For the proportion of 2 to 1 is duple, which contains +the diapason; as the proportion of 3 to 2 sesquialter, which embraces +the fifth; and the proportion of 4 to 3 sesquiterce, which comprehends +the diatessaron; the proportion of 9 to 3 triple, including the +diapason and diapente; and that of 8 to 2 quadruple, comprehending the +double diapason. Lastly, there is the sesquioctave in 8 to 9, which +makes the interval of a single tone. If then the unit, which is common, +be counted as well to the even as the odd numbers, the whole series +will be equal to the sum of the decade. For the even numbers[192] (1 ++ 2 + 4 + 8) give 15, the triangular number of five. On the other +side, take the odd numbers, 1, 3, 9, and 27, and the sum is 40; by +which numbers the skilful measure all musical intervals, of which they +call one a diesis, and the other a tone. Which number of 40 proceeds +from the force of the quaternary number by multiplication. For every +one of the first four numbers being by itself multiplied by four, the +products will be 4, 8, 12, 16, which being added all together make 40, +comprehending all the proportions of harmony. For 16 is a sesquiterce +to 12, duple to 8, and quadruple to 4. Again, 12 holds a sesquialter +proportion to 8, and triple to 4. In these proportions are contained +the intervals of the diatessaron, diapente, diapason, and double +diapason. Moreover, the number 40 is equal to the two first tetragons +and the two first cubes being taken both together. For the first +tetragons are 1 and 4, the first cubes are 8 and 27, which being added +together make 40. Whence it appears that the Platonic quaternary is +much more perfect and fuller of variety than the Pythagoric. + +15. But since the numbers proposed did not afford space sufficient for +the middle intervals, therefore there was a necessity to allow larger +bounds for the proportions. And now we are to tell you what those +bounds and middle spaces are. And first, concerning the medieties (or +mean terms); of which that which equally exceeds and is exceeded by +the same number is called arithmetical; the other, which exceeds and +is exceeded by the same proportional part of the extremes, is called +sub-contrary. Now the extremes and the middle of an arithmetical +mediety are 6, 9, 12. For 9 exceeds 6 as it is exceeded by 12, that +is to say, by the number three. The extremes and middle of the +sub-contrary are 6, 8, 12, where 8 exceeds 6 by 2, and 12 exceeds 8 +by 4; yet 2 is equally the third of 6, as 4 is the third of 12. So +that in the arithmetical mediety the middle exceeds and is exceeded +by the same number; but in the sub contrary mediety, the middle term +wants of one of the extremes, and exceeds the other by the same part +of each extreme; for in the first 3 is the third part of the mean; but +in the latter 4 and 2 are third parts each of a different extreme. +Whence it is called sub-contrary. This they also call harmonic, as +being that whose middle and extremes afford the first concords; that is +to say, between the highest and lowermost lies the diapason, between +the highest and the middle lies the diapente, and between the middle +and lowermost lies the fourth or diatessaron. For suppose the highest +extreme to be placed at nete and the lowermost at hypate, the middle +will fall upon mese, making a fifth to the uppermost extreme, but a +fourth to the lowermost. So that nete answers to 12, mese to 8, and +hypate to 6. + +16. Now the more readily to find out these means Eudorus hath taught +us an easy method. For after you have proposed the extremities, if you +take the half part of each and add them together, the product shall be +the middle, alike in both duple and triple proportions, in arithmetical +mediety. But as for sub-contrary mediety, in duple proportion, first +having fixed the extremes, take the third part of the lesser and the +half of the larger extreme, and the addition of both together shall +be the middle; in triple proportion, the half of the lesser and the +third part of the larger extreme shall be the mean. As for example, in +triple proportion, let 6 be the least extreme, and 18 the biggest; if +you take 3 which is the half of 6, and 6 which is the third part of +18, the product by addition will be 9, exceeding and exceeded by the +same proportional parts of the extremes. In this manner the mediums are +found out; and these are so to be disposed and placed as to fill up the +duple and triple intervals. Now of these proposed numbers, some have no +middle space, others have not sufficient. Being therefore so augmented +that the same proportions may remain, they will afford sufficient space +for the aforesaid mediums. To which purpose, instead of a unit they +choose the six, as being the first number including in itself a half +and third part, and so multiplying all the figures below it and above +it by 6, they make sufficient room to receive the mediums, both in +double and triple distances, as in the example below:— + + 12 2 | | 3 18 + 24 4 | 6 | 9 54 + 48 8 | | 27 162 + +Now Plato laid down this for a position, that the intervals of +sesquialters, sesquiterces, and sesquioctaves having once arisen from +these connections in the first spaces, the Deity filled up all the +sesquiterce intervals with sesquioctaves, leaving a part of each, so +that the interval left of the part should bear the numerical proportion +of 256 to 243.[193] From these words of Plato they were constrained +to enlarge their numbers and make them bigger. Now there must be two +numbers following in order in sesquioctave proportion. But the six +does not contain a sesquioctave; and if it should be cut up into parts +and the units bruised into fractions, this would strangely perplex +the study of these things. Therefore the occasion itself advised +multiplication; so that, as in changes in the musical scale, the whole +scheme was extended in agreement with the first (or base) number. +Eudorus therefore, imitating Crantor, made choice of 384 for his +first number, being the product of 64 multiplied by 6; which way of +proceeding the number 64 led them to, having for its sesquioctave 72. +But it is more agreeable to the words of Plato to introduce the half of +384. For the remainder of that will bear a sesquioctave proportion in +those numbers which Plato mentions, 256 and 243, if we make use of 192 +for the first number. But if the same number be made choice of doubled, +the remainder (or leimma) will have the same proportion, but the +numbers will be doubled, i.e. 512 and 486. For 256 is in sesquiterce +proportion to 192, as 512 to 384. Neither was Crantor’s reduction of +the proportions to this number without reason, which made his followers +willing to pursue it; in regard that 64 is both the square of the +first cube, and the cube of the first square; and being multiplied by +3, the first odd and trigonal, and the first perfect and sesquialter +number, it produces 192, which also has its sesquioctave, as we shall +demonstrate. + +17. But first of all, we shall better understand what this leimma or +remainder is and what was the opinion of Plato, if we do but call +to mind what was frequently bandied in the Pythagorean schools. For +interval in music is all that space which is comprehended by two sounds +varied in pitch. Of which intervals, that which is called a tone is +the full excess of diapente above diatessaron; and this being divided +into two parts, according to the opinion of the musicians, makes two +intervals, both which they call a semitone. But the Pythagoreans, +despairing to divide a tone into equal parts, and therefore perceiving +the two divisions to be unequal, called the lesser leimma (or defect), +as being lesser than the half. Therefore some there are who make the +diatessaron, which is one of the concords, to consist of two tones and +a half; others, of two tones and leimma. In which case sense seems +to govern the musicians, and demonstration the mathematicians. The +proof by demonstration is thus made out. For it is certain from the +observation of instruments that the diapason has double proportion, +the diapente a sesquialter, the diatessaron a sesquiterce, and the +tone a sesquioctave proportion. Now the truth of this will easily +appear upon examination, by hanging two weights double in proportion +to two strings, or by making two pipes of equal hollowness double in +length, the one to the other. For the bigger of the pipes will yield +the deep sound, as hypate to nete; and of the two strings, that which +is extended by the double weight will be acuter than the other, as nete +to hypate; and this is a diapason. In the same manner two longitudes +or ponderosities, being taken in the proportion of 3: 2, will produce +a diapente; and three to four will yield a diatessaron; of which the +latter carries a sesquiterce, the former a sesquialter proportion. +But if the same inequality of weight or length be so ordered as nine +to eight, it will produce a tonic interval, no perfect concord, but +harmonical enough; in regard the strings being struck one after another +will yield so many musical and pleasing sounds, but all together a +dull and ungrateful noise. But if they are touched in consort, either +single or together, thence a delightful melody will charm the ear. Nor +is all this less demonstrable by reason. For in music, the diapason +is composed of the diapente and diatessaron. But in numbers, the +duple is compounded of the sesquialter and sesquiterce. For 12 is a +sesquiterce to 9, but a sesquialter to 8, and a duple to 6. Therefore +is the duple proportion composed of the sesquialter and sesquiterce, +as the diapason of the diapente and diatessaron. For here the diapente +exceeds the diatessaron by a tone; there the sesquialter exceeds +the sesquiterce by a sesquioctave. Whence it is apparent that the +diapason carries a double proportion, the diapente a sesquialter, the +diatessaron a sesquiterce, and the tone a sesquioctave. + +18. This being thus demonstrated, let us see whether the sesquioctave +will admit a division into two equal parts; which if it will not do, +neither will a tone. However, in regard that 9 and 8, which make the +first sesquioctave, have no middle interval, but both being doubled, +the space that falls between causes two intervals, thence it is +apparent that, if those distances were equal, the sesquioctave also +might be divided into equal parts. Now the double of 9 is 18, that +of 8 is 16, the intermedium 17; by which means one of the intervals +becomes larger, the other lesser; for the first is that of 18 to 17, +the second that of 17 to 16. Thus the sesquioctave proportion not being +to be otherwise than unequally divided, consequently neither will the +tone admit of an equal division. So that neither of these two sections +of a divided tone is to be called a semitone, but according as the +mathematicians name it, the remainder. And this is that which Plato +means, when he says, that God, having filled up the sesquiterces with +sesquioctaves, left a part of each; of which the proportion is the same +as of 256 to 243. For admit a diatessaron in two numbers comprehending +sesquiterce proportion, that is to say, in 256 and 192; of which two +numbers, let the lesser 192 be applied to the lowermost extreme, and +the bigger number 256 to the uppermost extreme of the tetrachord. +Whence we shall demonstrate that, this space being filled up by two +sesquioctaves, such an interval remains as lies between the numbers 256 +and 243. For the lower string being forced a full tone upward, which is +a sesquioctave, it makes 216; and being screwed another tone upward it +makes 243. Which 243 exceeds 216 by 27, and 216 exceeds 192 by 24. And +then again of these two numbers, 27 is the eighth of 216, and 24 the +eighth of 192. So the biggest of these two numbers is a sesquioctave +to the middle, and the middle to the least; and the distance from the +least to the biggest, that is from 192 to 243, consists of two tones +filled up with two sesquioctaves. Which being subtracted, the remaining +interval of the whole between 243 and 256 is 13, for which reason they +called this number the remainder. And thus I am apt to believe the +meaning and opinion of Plato to be most exactly explained in these +numbers. + +19. Others, placing the two extremes of the diatessaron, the acute part +in 288, and the lower sound in 216, in all the rest observe the same +proportions, only that they take the remainder between the two middle +intervals. For the base, being forced up a whole tone, makes 243; and +the upper note, screwed downward a full tone, begets 256. Moreover 243 +carries a sesquioctave proportion to 216, and 288 to 256; so that each +of the intervals contains a full tone, and the residue is that which +remains between 243 and 256, which is not a semitone, but something +less. For 288 exceeds 256 by 32, and 243 exceeds 216 by 27; but 256 +exceeds 243 by 13. Now this excess is less than half of the former. So +it is plain that the diatessaron consists of two tones and the residue, +not of two tones and a half. Let this suffice for the demonstration of +these things. Nor is it a difficult thing to believe, by what has been +already said, wherefore Plato, after he had asserted that the intervals +of sesquialter, sesquiterce, and sesquioctave had arisen, when he comes +to fill up the intervals of sesquiterces with sesquioctaves, makes +not the least mention of sesquialters; for that the sesquialter is +soon filled up, by adding the sesquiterce to the sesquioctave, or the +sesquioctave to the sesquiterce. + +20. Having therefore shown the manner how to fill up the intervals, +and to place and dispose the medieties, had never any person taken the +same pains before, I should have recommended the further consideration +of it to the recreation of your fancies; but in regard that several +most excellent musicians have made it their business to unfold these +mysteries with a diligence more than usually exact,—more especially +Crantor, Clearchus, and Theodorus, all born in Soli,—it shall suffice +only to show how these men differed among themselves. For Theodorus, +varying from the other two, and not observing two distinct files or +rows of numbers, but placing the duples and triples in a direct line +one before another, grounds himself upon that division of the substance +which Plato calls the division in length, making two parts (as it were) +out of one, not four out of two. Then he says, that the interposition +of the mediums ought to take place in that manner, to avoid the trouble +and confusion which must arise from transferring out of the first +duple into the first triple the intervals which are ordained for the +supplement of both.... But as for those who take Crantor’s part, they +so dispose their numbers as to place planes with planes, tetragons with +tetragons, cubes with cubes, opposite to one another, not taking them +in file, but alternatively odd to even. [Here is some great defect in +the original.] + +21. ... Which, being in themselves permanently the same, afford the +form and species; but being subject to corporeal division, they become +the matter and subject to receive the other’s impression, the common +mixture being completed out of both. Now the indivisible substance, +which is always one and the same, is not to be thought to be incapable +of division by reason of its smallness, like the most minute of bodies, +called atoms. But as it is unmixed, and not to be any way affected, +but pure and altogether of one sort, it is said not to consist of +parts, but to be indivisible. By means of which purity, when it comes +in any manner whatsoever to approach and gently touch compounded +divisible and differing substances, all their variety ceases and they +crowd together into one habit by sympathy and similitude. If now any +one will call that substance which admits corporeal separation matter, +as a nature subject to the former and partaking of it, the use of +that equivocal term will nothing disadvantage our discourse. But they +are under a mistake that believe the corporeal to be blended with the +indivisible matter. First, for that Plato does not here make use of any +one of its names; whereas in other places he calls it the receptacle +and nurse, capable of both receiving and fostering the vast infinity +of created beings; not divisible among bodies, but rather the body +itself parted and divided into single individuals. Then again, what +difference would there be between the creation of the world and that +of the soul, if the composition of each proceeded from both matter and +the intelligible essence? Certainly Plato, as endeavoring to separate +the generation of the body from that of the soul, tells us that the +corporeal part was by God seated and deposited within it, and that +it was outwardly covered and enveloped by it; and after he had thus +wrought the soul to its perfection out of proportion, he then proceeds +to this argument concerning matter, of which he had no occasion to make +mention before when he was producing the soul, as being that which had +not its existence from matter. + +22. The same may be said against the followers of Posidonius. For they +seem not altogether to separate the soul from matter; but imagining +the essence of limitations to be divisible in reference to bodies, +and intermixing it with the intelligible essence, they defined the +soul to be an idea (or essential form) of that which has extension in +every direction, subsisting in an harmonical proportion of numbers. +For (they say) all mathematical objects are disposed between the first +intelligible and sensible beings; and since the soul contains the +sempiternal nature of things intelligible and the pathetic nature of +things subjected to sense, it seems but rational that it should consist +of a substance between both. But they were ignorant that God, when +the soul was already brought to perfection, afterwards making use of +the limitations of bodies to form and shape the matter, confined and +environed the dissipated and fleeting substance within the compass of +certain surfaces composed of triangles adapted together. And it is +even more absurd to make the soul an idea. For the soul is always in +motion; the idea is incapable of motion; the one never to be mixed with +that which is subjected to sense, the other wrought into the substance +of the body. Moreover, God could be said only to imitate an idea, as +his pattern; but he was the artificer of the soul, as of a work of +perfection. Now enough has been already said to show that Plato does +not assert number to be the substance of the soul, only that it is +ordered and proportioned by number. + +23. However this is a common argument against both the former +opinions, that neither in corporeal limits nor in numbers there is +the least footstep or appearance of that power by which the soul +assumes to itself to judge of what is subject to sense. For it was +the participation of the intelligible principle that endued it with +understanding and the perceiving faculty. But as for opinion, belief, +imagination, and its being affected with qualities relating to the +body, no man could ever dream that they proceeded simply either from +units, or lines, or surfaces. For not only the souls of mortals have +a power to judge of what is subject to sense; but the soul of the +world also, says Plato, “when it revolves upon itself, and happens +once to touch upon any fluid and roving substance or upon any thing +indivisible, then being moved throughout its whole self, it gives +notice with what this or that thing is identical, to what heterogeneal, +and in what relations especially and in what manner it happens to be +and to be affected towards each created thing.”[194] Here he gives at +the same time an intimation of the ten Categories or Predicaments; but +afterwards he gives us a clearer manifestation of these things. “For +when true reason,” says he, “is fixed upon what is subject to sense, +and the circle of the Other, observing a just and equal motion, conveys +its intelligence to the whole soul, then both opinion and belief +become steadfast and certain; on the other side, when it is settled +upon ratiocination, and the circle of the Same, turning readily and +easily, furnishes its intimations, then of necessity knowledge arrives +to perfection. And indeed, whoever shall affirm that any thing in +which these two operations take place is any thing besides a soul, may +deservedly be thought to speak any thing rather than the truth.” + +From whence then does the soul enjoy this motion whereby it comprehends +what is subject to sense, different from that other intelligible motion +which ends in knowledge? This is a difficult task to resolve, unless +we steadfastly assert that Plato here did not compose the soul, so +singly considered, but the soul of the world also, of the parts above +mentioned,—of the more worthy indivisible substance, and of the less +worthy divisible in reference to bodies. And this soul of the world is +no other than that motion which gives heat and vigor to thought and +fancy, and sympathizes with what is subject to sense, not created, but +existing from eternity, like the other soul. For Nature, which had +the power of understanding, had also the power of opining. But the +intelligible power is subject neither to motion nor affection, being +established upon a substance that is still the same. The other is +movable and fleeting, as being engaged to an unstable, fluctuating, and +disunited matter. In regard the sensible substance was so far from any +order, that it was without shape and boundless. So that the power which +is fixed in this was capable of producing no clear and well-grounded +notions and no certain or well-ordered movements, but only sleepy +dreams and deliriums, which amuse and trouble corporeal stupidity; +unless by accident they lighted upon the more worthy substance. For +it was in the middle between the sensible and discerning faculty, and +had a nature conformable and agreeable to both; from the sensible +apprehending substance, and borrowing from judgment its power of +discerning things intelligible. + +24. And this the express words of Plato declare. “For this is my +opinion,” saith he, “in short, that being, place, and generation were +three distinct things even before the heavens were created.”[195] By +place he means matter, as being the seat and receptacle; by being or +existence, the intelligible nature; and by generation, the world not +being yet created, he designs only that substance which was subject to +change and motion, disposed between the forming cause and the thing +formed, transmitting hither those shapes and figures which were there +contrived and moulded. For which reason it was called divisible; +there being a necessity of distributing sense to the sensitive, and +imagination to the imaginative faculty. For the sensitive motion, being +proper to the soul, directs itself to that which is outwardly sensible. +As for the understanding, it was fixed and immovable of itself, but +being settled in the soul and becoming its lord and governor, it turns +upon itself, and accomplishes a circular motion about that which is +always permanent, chiefly laboring to apply itself to the eternally +durable substance. With great difficulty therefore did they admit +a conjunction, till the divisible at length intermixing with the +indivisible, and the restlessly hurried with the sleepy and motionless, +constrained the Other to meet and join with the Same. Yet the Other was +not motion, as neither was the Same stability, but the principle of +distinction and diversity. For both the one and the other proceed from +a different principle; the Same from the unit, the Other from the duad; +and these were first intermixed with the soul, being fastened and bound +together by number, proportion, and harmonical mediums; so that the +Other being riveted into the Same begets diversity and disagreement; +and the Same being fermented into the Other produces order. And this +is apparent from the first powers of the soul, which are judgment and +motion. Motion immediately shows itself in the heavens, giving us an +example of diversity in identity by the circumvolution of the fixed +stars, and of identity in diversity by the order of the planets. For +in them the Same bears the chiefest sway; in terrestrial bodies, +the contrary principle. Judgment has two principles,—understanding +from the Same, to judge of things in general, and sense from the +Other, to judge of things in particular. Reason is a mixture of both, +becoming intellect in reference to things intelligible, and opinion +in things subject to sense; making use of the interdisposed organs +of imagination and memory, of which these in the Same produce the +Other, and those in the Other make the Same. For understanding is the +motion of the considerative faculty about that which is permanent and +stable. Opinion is a continuance of the perceptive faculty upon that +which is continually in motion. But as for fancy or imagination, being +a connection of opinion with sense, the Same has placed it in the +memory; and the Other moves it again in the difference between past and +present, touching at the same time upon diversity and identity. + +25. But now let us take a draught of the corresponding composition +of the soul from the structure of the body of the universe. There we +find fire and earth, whose nature is such as not to admit of mixture +one with another but with great difficulty, or rather is altogether +obstinately refractory to mixture and constancy. God therefore, placing +air and water in the middle between both,—the air next the fire, the +water next the earth,—first of all tempered the middlemost one with +another, and next, by the assistance of these two, he brought the +two extreme elements not only to mix with the middlemost, but also +to a mutual closure or conjunction between themselves. Then he drew +together those contrary powers and opposing extremes, the Same and the +Other, not immediately, the one adjoining to the other, but placing +other substances between; the indivisible next the Same, and the +divisible next the Other, disposing each to each in convenient order, +and mixing the extremes with the middlemost. After which manner he +interweaved and tissued the whole into the form and composition of the +soul, completing, as far as it was possible, similitude out of things +different and various, and one out of many. Therefore it is alleged by +some, that Plato erroneously affirmed the nature of the Other to be an +enemy to mixture, as being not only capable to receive it, but a friend +of change. Whereas that should have been rather said of the nature of +the Same; which, being stable and an utter adversary to mutability, is +so far from an easy and willing condescension to mixture, that it flies +and abhors it, to the end it may preserve itself pure and free from +alteration. But they who make these objections against Plato betray +their own ignorance, not understanding that the Same is the idea (or +essential form) of those things that always continue in the same state +and condition, and that the Other is the idea of those things which are +subject to be variously affected; and that it is the peculiar nature +of the one to disjoin and separate into many parts whatever it happens +to lay hold upon, and of the other to cement and assimilate scattered +substances, till they resume one particular form and efficacy. + +26. And these are the powers and virtues of the soul of the universe. +And when they once enter into the organs of corruptible bodies, being +themselves incorruptible, there the form of the binary and boundless +principle shows itself most briskly, while that of the unmixed and +purer principle lies as it were dormant in obscurity. And thus +it happens, that a man shall rarely observe any human passion or +motion of the understanding, void of reason, where there shall not +something appear either of desire or emulation, joy or grief. Several +philosophers therefore will have the passions to be so many sorts of +reasonings, seeing that desire, grief, and anger are all the effects +of judgment. Others allege the virtues themselves to be derived from +passions; fortitude depending on fear, temperance on voluptuousness, +and justice on love of gain. Now the soul being both speculative and +practical, contemplating as well generals as particulars, and seeming +to comprehend the one by the assistance of the intellect and the +other by the aid of sense, common reason, which encounters the Same +in the Other and the Other in the Same, endeavors by certain limits +and distinctions to separate one from many and the divisible from the +indivisible; but she cannot accomplish her design nor be purely in one +or the other, in regard the principles are so oddly interwoven and +intermixed and confusedly huddled together. + +For this reason did God constitute a receptacle for the Same and the +Other, out of the indivisible and divisible substance, to the end there +might be order in variety. Now this was generation. For without this +the Same could have no variety, and therefore no motion or generation; +and the Other could have no order, and therefore no consistence or +generation. For should we grant the Same to be different from the +Other, and the Other to be the Same with itself, such a commixture +would produce nothing generative, but would want a third something, +like matter, to receive both and be disposed of by both. And this is +that matter which God first composed, when he bounded the movable +nature of bodies by the steadfastness of things intelligible. + +27. Now then, as voice, merely voice, is only an insignificant and +brutish noise, but speech is the expression of the mind by significant +utterance; as harmony consists of sounds and intervals,—a sound being +always one and the same, and an interval being the difference and +diversity of sounds, while both being mixed together produce air and +melody;—thus the passive nature of the soul was without limits and +unstable, but afterwards became determinate, when limits were set and a +certain form was given to the divisible and manifold variety of motion. +Thus having comprised the Same and the Other, by the similitudes and +dissimilitudes of numbers which produce concord out of disagreement, it +becomes the life of the world, sober and prudent, harmony itself, and +reason overruling necessity mixed with persuasion. This necessity is by +most men called fate or destiny, by Empedocles friendship and discord, +by Heraclitus the opposite straining harmony of the world, as of a +bow or harp, by Parmenides light and darkness, by Anaxagoras mind and +infinity, by Zoroaster God and Daemon, naming one Oromasdes, the other +Arimanius. Though as for Euripides, he makes use of the disjunctive +erroneously for the copulative, where he says, + + Jove, whether he be + Necessity, that Nature’s force controls, + Or the intelligence of human souls + +For, indeed, the powers which bear dominion over the universe are +necessity and wisdom. This is that therefore which the Egyptians +intimate in their fables, feigning that, when Horus was punished and +dismembered, he bequeathed his spirit and blood to his father, but his +flesh and his fat to his mother. There is no part of the soul which +remains pure and unmixed, or separate from the rest; for, according +to the opinion of Heraclitus, “harmony latent is of greater value +than that which is visible,” as being that wherein the blending Deity +concealed and sunk all varieties and dissimilitudes. Nevertheless, +there appears in the irrational part a turbulent and boisterous +temerity; in the rational part, an orderly and well-marshalled +prudence; in the sensitive part, the constraint of necessity; but in +the understanding, entire and perfect command of itself. The limiting +and bounding power sympathizes with the whole and the indivisible, +by reason of the nearness of their relations; on the other side, +the dividing power fixes itself upon particulars, by virtue of the +divisible substance; and the whole rejoices at the mutation of the Same +by means of the Other, as occasion requires. In the like manner, the +various inclinations of men to virtue and vice, to pleasure and toil, +as also the enthusiasms and raptures of lovers, the combats of honor +with lustful desires, plainly demonstrate the mixture of the divine and +impassible with the moral and corporeal part; of which Plato himself +calls the one concupiscence of pleasures, natural to ourselves; the +other an opinion introduced from without, aspiring to the chiefest +good. For passible qualities of the soul arise from herself; but she +participates of understanding, as being infused from without, by the +more worthy principle. + +28. Nor is the celestial nature privileged from this double society +and communion. For sometimes it is seen to incline one way or the +other, but it is set right again by the more powerful revolution of +the Same, and governs the world. Nay, there shall come a time, as it +has happened already, when the world’s moving wisdom shall grow dull +and drowsy, drowned in oblivion of its own duty; while that which +is familiar and agreeable to the body from the beginning draws and +winds back the right-hand motion of the universe, causing the wheels +to go slow and heavy. Yet shall it not be able to dash in pieces the +whole movement, for that the better part, rousing and recollecting +herself and observing the pattern and exemplar of God, shall with +his aid reduce all things again into their former order. Thus it is +demonstrable by many proofs, that the soul was not altogether the +workmanship of the Deity, but that having in itself a certain portion +of innate evil, it was by him digested and beautified who limited +infinity by unity, to the end it might be a substance within the +compass of certain limits; intermixing order and mutation, variety and +resemblance, by the force of the Same and the Other; and lastly working +into all these, as far as it was possible, a mutual community and +friendship by the assistance of numbers and harmony. + +29. Concerning which things, although you have heard frequent +discourses, and have likewise read several arguments and disputes +committed to writing upon the same subjects, it will not be amiss for +me also to give a short account, after a brief repetition of Plato’s +own words. “God,” said he, “in the first place withdrew one part from +the whole; which done, he took away the double of that; then a third +part, sesquialter in proportion to the second, and triple to the first; +then a fourth part, double to the second; next a fifth part, being the +triple of the third; then a sixth, eight times the first; and lastly a +seventh, being twenty-seven times the first. This done, he filled up +the duple and triple intervals, retrenching also from thence certain +other particles, and placing them in the midst of those intervals; so +that in every interval there might be two medieties, the one exceeding +and being exceeded by one and the same part of the extremes, the other +exceeding and being exceeded by the same number. Now in regard that +from these connections in the first spaces there arose the intervals +of sesquialters, sesquiterces, and sesquioctaves, he filled up all the +sesquiterce intervals with sesquioctaves, leaving a part of each, so +that the interval left of the part might bear the numerical proportion +of 256 to 243.”[196] + +Here the question will be first concerning the quantity, next +concerning the order, and in the third place concerning the force and +virtue of the numbers. As to the quantity, we are to consider which he +takes in the double and triple intervals. As to the order, whether they +are to be placed in one row, according to the direction of Theodorus, +or (as Crantor will have them) in the form of a _Λ_, placing the +unit at the top, and the duples and triples apart by themselves in two +several files. Lastly, we are to examine of what use and virtue they +are in the structure and composition of the soul. + +30. As to the first, we shall relinquish the opinion of those who +affirm that it is enough, in proportions, to consider the nature of +the intervals, and of the medieties which fill up their vacancies; and +that the demonstration can be made out for any numbers whatsoever that +have spaces sufficient to receive the aforesaid proportions. For this +being granted, it makes the demonstration obscure, without the help of +schemes, and drives us from another theory, which carries with it a +delight not unbecoming philosophy. + + 1 + 2 3 + 4 9 + 8 27 + +Beginning therefore from the unit, let us place the duples and triples +apart; and there will be on the one side, 2, 4, 8; on the other 3, 9, +27;—seven numbers in all, proceeding forward by multiplication four +steps from the unit, which is assumed as the common base.... For not +only here, but upon other occasions, the sympathy of the quaternary +number with the septenary is apparent. There is this peculiar to that +tetractys or quaternary number thirty six, so much celebrated by the +Pythagoreans, which is more particularly worthy admiration,—that it is +composed of the first four even numbers and the first four odd numbers; +and it is the fourth connection made of numbers put together in order. +The first connection is of one and two; the second of odd numbers.... +For placing the unit, which is common to both, before, he first takes +eight and then twenty-seven, as it were pointing out with the finger +where to place each particular sort. + +[These places are so depraved in the original, that the sense is lost.] + +But it belongs to others to explain these things more accurately and +distinctly; while we content ourselves with only what remains, as +peculiarly proper to the subject in hand. + +31. For it was not out of vain-glory, to boast his skill in the +mathematical sciences, that Plato inserted in a treatise of natural +philosophy this discourse of harmonical and arithmetical medieties, but +believing them both apt and convenient to demonstrate the structure and +composition of the soul. For some there are who seek these proportions +in the swift motions of the spheres of the planets; others rather in +the distances, others in the magnitude of the stars; others, more +accurate and nice in their enquiry, seek for the same proportions in +the diameters of the epicycles; as if the Supreme Architect, for the +sake of these, had adapted the soul, divided into seven parts, to +the celestial bodies. Many also there are, who hither transfer the +inventions of the Pythagoreans, tripling the distances of bodies from +the middle. This is done by placing the unit next the fire; three next +the Antichthon, or earth which is opposite to our earth; nine next the +Earth; 27 next the Moon; 81 next to Mercury; 243 upon Venus; and 729 +upon the Sun. The last (729) is both a tetragonal and cubical number, +whence it is, that they also call the sun a tetragon and a cube. By +this way of tripling they also reduce the other stars to proportion. +But these people may be thought to dote and to wander very much from +reason, if there be any use of geometrical demonstration, since by +their mistakes we find that the most probable proofs proceed from +thence; and although geometers do not always make out their positions +exactly, yet they approach the nearest to truth when they say that the +diameter of the sun, compared with the diameter of the earth, bears +the proportion of 12 to 1; while the diameter of the earth to that of +the moon carries a triple proportion. And for that which appears to be +the least of the fixed stars, the diameter of it is no less than the +third part of the diameter of the earth, and the whole globe of the +earth to the whole globe of the moon is as twenty-seven to one. The +diameters of Venus and the earth bear a duple, the globes or spheres +of both an octave proportion. The width of the shadow which causes an +eclipse holds a triple proportion to the diameter of the moon; and the +deviation of the moon from the middle of the signs, either to the one +or the other side, is a twelfth part. Her positions as to the sun, +either in triangular or quadrangular distances, give her the form when +she appears as in the first quarter and gibbous; but when she comes +to be quite round, that is, when she has run through half the signs, +she then makes (as it were) a kind of diapason harmony with six notes. +But in regard the motions of the sun are slowest when he arrives at +the solstices, and swiftest when he comes to the equinoxes, by which +he takes from the day or adds to the night, the proportion holds thus. +For the first thirty days after the winter solstice, he adds to the +day a sixth part of the length whereby the longest night exceeds +the shortest; the next thirty days he adds a third part; to all the +rest till the equinox he adds a half; and so by sextuple and triple +distances he makes even the irregularity of time. + +Moreover, the Chaldaeans make the spring to hold the proportion of a +diatessaron to autumn; of a diapente to the winter, and of a diapason +to the summer. But if Euripides rightly divides the year, where he says, + + Four months the parching heats of summer reign, + And four of hoary winter’s cold complain; + Two months doth vernal pride the fields array, + And two months more to autumn tribute pay, + +then the seasons shall be said to change in octave proportion. + +Others there are, who fancy the earth to be in the lowest string of the +harp, called proslambanomenos; and so proceeding, they place the moon +in hypate, Mercury and Venus in the diatoni and lichani; the sun they +likewise place in mese, as in the midst of the diapason, a fifth above +the earth and a fourth from the sphere of the fixed stars. + +32. But neither doth this pleasant conceit of the latter come near the +truth, neither do the former attain perfect accuracy. However, they +who will not allow the latter to depend upon Plato’s sentiments will +yet grant the former to partake of musical proportions; so that, there +being five tetrachords, called ὑπάτων, μέσων, συνημμένων, διεζευγμένων, +and ὑπερβολαίων, in these five distances they place all the planets; +making the first tetrachord from the Moon to the Sun and the planets +which move with the Sun, that is, Mercury and Venus; the next from the +Sun to the fiery planet of Mars; the third between this and Jupiter; +the fourth from thence to Saturn; and the fifth from Saturn to the +sphere of the fixed stars. So that the sounds and notes which bound +the five tetrachords bear the same proportion with the intervals +of the planets. Still further, we know that the ancient musicians +had two notes called hypate, three called nete, one mese, and one +paramese, thus confining their scale to seven standing notes, equal +in number to the number of the planets. But the moderns, adding the +proslambanomenos, which is a full tone in descent from hypate, have +multiplied the scheme into the double diapason, and thereby confounded +the natural order of the concords; for the diapente happens to be +before the diatessaron, with the addition of the whole tone in the +bass. Whereas Plato makes his addition in the upper part; for in his +Republic[197] he says, that every one of the eight spheres rolls about +a Siren which is fixed upon each of the tuneful globes, and that they +all sing one counterpoint without diversity of modulation, taking +every one their peculiar concords, which together complete a melodious +consort. + +These Sirens sing for their pleasure divine and heavenly tunes, and +accompany their sacred circuit and dance with an harmonious song of +eight notes. Nor was there necessity of a fuller chorus, in regard that +within the confines of eight notes lay the first bounds and limits of +all duple and triple proportions; the unit being added to both the even +and odd numbers. And certainly from hence it was that the ancients +raised their invention of nine Muses; of which eight were employed in +celestial affairs, as Plato said; the ninth was to take care of things +terrestrial, and to reduce and reform the inequality and confusion of +error and jarring variance. + +33. Now then consider whether the soul does not roll and turn and +manage the heavens and the celestial bodies by means of those +harmonious concords and equal motions that are wrought and fermented +within her, being herself most wise and most just. And such she became +by virtue of harmonical proportions, whose images representing things +incorporeal are imprinted into the discernible and visible parts and +bodies of the world. But the chief and most predominating power is +visibly mixed in the soul, which renders her harmonious and obedient +to herself, the other parts unanimously yielding to her as the most +supreme and the divinest part of all. For the Sovereign Artificer and +Creator finding a strange disorder and erroneous confusion in the +motions of the decomposed and unruly soul, which was still at variance +with herself, some things he divided and separated, others he brought +together and reconciled to a mutual sympathy, making use of harmony and +numbers. By virtue of which, the slightest and meanest of insensible +substances, even stocks and stones, the rinds of trees, and sometimes +even the rennets of beasts, by various mixtures, compositions, and +temperatures, may become the charming objects of the sight, or afford +most pleasing perfumes and wholesome medicaments for the relief of +mankind, or be wrought and hollowed to send forth pleasing musical +sounds. And for this reason it was that Zeno of Citium encouraged and +persuaded youth to frequent the theatres, there to observe the variety +of melodious sounds that proceeded from horns or cornets, wooden +hautboys, flutes and reeds, or any other musical instruments to which +the contrivance of art had rightly applied the reason of number and +proportion. Not that we will here maintain, with the Pythagoreans, that +all things resemble number, for that requires a long discourse to prove +it. But where mutual society and sympathy arise out of discord and +dissimilitude, that the cause of this is moderation and order, produced +by the power of harmony and number, was a thing not concealed even from +the poets. And these give to what is friendly and kind the epithet +“evenly fitted;” while, on the other side, men of rugged and malicious +dispositions they called “unevenly tempered,” as if enmity and discord +were nothing but a sort of a disproportion. For this reason, he who +writes Pindar’s elegy gives him this encomium, + + To foreigners agreeable, to citizens a friend;[198] + +the poet plainly inferring complacency of humor and the aptitude of a +person to fit himself to all tempers to be an excellency aspiring to +virtue itself. Which Pindar himself also testifies, saying of Cadmus, +that he listened to true music from Apollo himself.[199] Nor must we +believe that the theologists, who were the most ancient philosophers, +ordered the pictures and statues of the Gods to be made with musical +instruments in their hands because they thought the Gods no better than +pipers or harpers, but to signify that no work was so becoming to the +Gods as accord and harmony. + +Now then, as it would be absurd and ridiculous for any man to search +for sesquiterces, sesquialters, and duples in the neck, or belly, +or sides of a lute or harp,—though every one of these must also be +allowed their symmetry of length and thickness,—the harmony and +proportion of concords being to be sought for in the sound; so it +is most probable that the bodies of the stars, the distances of +spheres, and the swiftness of the motions and revolutions, have their +sundry proportions, as well one to another as to the whole fabric, +like instruments of music well set and tuned, though the measure of +the quantity be unknown to us. However, we are to imagine that the +principal effect and efficacy of these numbers and proportions, which +the Supreme Architect made use of, is that same agreement, harmony, and +consent of the soul with itself, by means of which she replenished the +heavens themselves, when she came to actuate and perform her office +there, with so many infinite beauties, and by which she governs the +earth by virtue of the several seasons, and other alterations wisely +and artificially measured and varied as well for the generation as +preservation of all terrestrial productions. + + + + +THAT A PHILOSOPHER OUGHT CHIEFLY TO CONVERSE WITH GREAT MEN.[200] + + +1. The resolution which you have taken to enter into the friendship +and familiarity of Sorcanus, that by the frequent opportunities of +conversing with him you may cultivate and improve a soil which gives +such early promises of a plentiful harvest, is an undertaking which +will not only oblige his relations and friends, but redound very much +to the advantage of the public; and (notwithstanding the peevish +censures of some morose or ignorant people) it is so far from being an +argument of an aspiring and vain-glorious temper, that it shows you to +be a lover of virtue and good manners, and a zealous promoter of the +common interest of mankind. + +They themselves are rather to be accused of an indirect but more +vehement sort of ambition, who would not upon any terms be found in the +company or so much as be seen to give a civil salute to a person of +quality. For how unreasonable would it be to enforce a well-disposed +young gentleman, and one who needs the direction of a wise governor, +to such complaints as these: “Would that I might change myself from +a Pericles or a Cato to a cobbler like Simon or a grammarian like +Dionysius, that I might like them have the conversation of such a man +as Socrates, enjoy his company, and hear his instructive lessons of +morality.” + +So far, I am sure, was Aristo of Chios from being of their humor, that +when he was censured for exposing and prostituting the dignity of +philosophy by his freedom to all comers, he answered, that he could +wish that Nature had given understanding to wild beasts, that they +too might be capable of being his hearers. Shall we then deny that +privilege to men of interest and power, which this good man would have +communicated (if it had been possible) to the brute beasts? But these +men have taken a false notion of philosophy, they make it much like the +art of statuary, whose business it is to carve out a lifeless image in +the most exact figure and proportions, and then to raise it upon its +pedestal, where it is to continue for ever. The true philosophy is of a +quite different nature; it is a spring and principle of motion wherever +it comes; it makes men active and industrious, it sets every wheel and +faculty a going, it stores our minds with axioms and rules by which to +make a sound judgment, it determines the will to the choice of what +is honorable and just; and it wings all our faculties to the swiftest +prosecution of it. It is accompanied with an elevation and nobleness +of mind, joined with a coolness and sweetness of behavior, and backed +with a becoming assurance and inflexible resolution. And from this +diffusiveness of the nature of good it follows, that the best and most +accomplished men are inclined to converse with persons of the highest +condition. Indeed a physician, if he have any good nature and sense of +honor, would be more ready to cure an eye which is to see and watch +for a great many thousands, than that of a private person; how much +more then ought a philosopher to form and fashion, to rectify and cure +the soul of such a one, who is (if I may so express it) to inform the +body politic,—who is to think and understand for so many others, to +be in so great measure the rule of reason, the standard of law, and +model of behavior, by which all the rest will square and direct their +actions? Suppose a man to have a talent at finding out springs and +contriving of aqueducts (a piece of skill for which Hercules and other +of the ancients are much celebrated in history), surely he could not so +satisfactorily employ himself in sinking a well or deriving water to +some private seat or contemptible cottage, as in supplying conduits to +some fair and populous city, in relieving an army just perishing with +thirst, or in refreshing and adorning with fountains and cool streams +the beautiful gardens of some glorious monarch. There is a passage of +Homer very pertinent to this purpose, in which he calls Minos Διὸς +μεγάλου ὀαριστήν ὀαριστήν, which, as Plato interprets it, signifies _the +disciple and companion of Jupiter_. For it were beneath his dignity +indeed to teach private men, such as care only for a family or indulge +their useless speculations; but kings are scholars worthy the tuition +of a God, who, when they are well advised, just, good, and magnanimous, +never fail to procure the peace and prosperity of all their subjects. +The naturalists tell us that the eryngium hath such a property with +it, that if one of the flock do but taste it, all the rest will stand +stock still in the same place till the shepherd hath taken it out +of its mouth. Such quickness of action does it have, pervading and +spreading itself over every thing that is near it, as if it were fire. +The effects of philosophy, however, are different according to the +difference of inclinations in men. If indeed it lights on one who loves +a dull and inactive sort of life, that makes himself the centre and +the little conveniences of life the circumference of all his thoughts, +such a one does contract the sphere of her activity, so that having +only made easy and comfortable the life of a single person, it fails +and dies with him; but when it finds a man of a ruling genius, one +fitted for conversation and able to grapple with the difficulties of +public business, if it once possess him with principles of honesty, +honor, and religion, it takes a compendious method, by doing good to +one, to oblige a great part of mankind. Such was the effect of the +conversation of Anaxagoras with Pericles, of Plato with Dion, and of +Pythagoras with the principal statesmen of all Italy. Cato himself took +a voyage, when he had the concern of an expedition lying upon him, to +see and hear Athenodorus; and Scipio sent for Panaetius, when he was +commissioned by the senate “to take a survey alike of the outrages +and the good order which were practised in their provinces,”[201] as +Posidonius observes. Now what a pretty sort of return would it have +been in Panaetius to send word back,—“If indeed you were in a private +capacity, John a Nokes or John a Stiles, that had a mind to get into +some obscure corner or cell, to state cases and resolve syllogisms, I +should very gladly have accepted your invitation; but now, because you +are the son of Paulus Aemilius who was twice consul, and grandson of +that Scipio who was surnamed from his conquest of Hannibal and Africa, +I cannot with honor hold any conversation with you!” + +2. The objections which they bring from the two kinds of discourse, one +of which is mental, the other expressed in words or interpretative of +the former, are so stale and pedantical, that they are best answered by +laughter or silence; and we merely quote the old saying, “I knew this +before Theognis was born.” However, thus much shall be said, that the +end of them both is friendship,—in the first case with ourselves, in +the second case with another. For he that hath attained to virtue by +the methods of philosophy hath his mind all in tune and good temper; +he is not struck with those reproaches of conscience, which cause the +acutest sense of pain and are the natural punishments of our follies; +but he enjoys (the great prerogative of a good man) to be always easy +and in amity with himself. + + No factious lusts reason’s just power control, + Nor kindle civil discord in his soul. + +His passion does not stand in defiance to his reason, nor do his +reasonings cross and thwart one the other, but he is always consistent +with himself. But the very joys of wicked men are tumultuary and +confused, like those who dwell in the borders of two great empires at +variance, always insecure, and in perpetual alarms; whilst a good man +enjoys an uninterrupted peace and serenity of mind, which excels the +other not only in duration, but in sense of pleasure too. As for the +other sort of discourse, that which consists in expression of itself +to others, Pindar says very well, that it was not mercenary in old +time, nor indeed is it so now; but by the baseness and ambition of a +few it is made use of to serve their poor secular interests. For if +the poets represent Venus herself as much offended with those who make +a trade and traffic of the passion of love, how much more reasonably +may we suppose that Urania and Clio and Calliope have an indignation +against those who set learning and philosophy to sale? Certainly the +gifts and endowments of the Muses ought to be privileged from such mean +considerations. + +If indeed some have made fame and reputation one of the ends of their +studies, they used it only as an instrument to get friends; since we +find by common observation that men praise only those whom they love. +If they sought its own praise, they were as much mistaken as Ixion +when he embraced a cloud instead of Juno; for there is nothing so +fleeting, so changeable, and so inconstant as popular applause; it is +but a pompous shadow, and hath no manner of solidity and duration in +it. But a wise man, if he design to engage in business and matters of +state, will so far aim at fame and popularity as that he may be better +enabled to benefit others; for it is a difficult and very unpleasant +task to do good to those who are disaffected to our persons. It is the +good opinion men have of us which disposes men to give credit to our +doctrine. As light is a greater good to those who see others by it +than to those who only are seen, so is honor of a greater benefit to +those who behold it than to those whose glory is beheld. But even one +who withdraws himself from the noise of the world, who loves privacy +and indulges his own thoughts, will show that respect to the good word +of the people which Hippolytus did to Venus,—though he abstain from +her mysteries, he will pay his devotions at a distance;[202] but he +will not be so cynical and sullen as not to hear with gladness the +commendations of virtuous men like himself; he will neither engage +himself in a restless pursuit of wealth, interest, or honor, nor will +he on the other hand be so rustic and insensible as to refuse them in +a moderate degree, when they fairly come in his way; in like manner he +will not court and follow handsome and beautiful youth, but will rather +choose such as are of a teachable disposition, of a gentle behavior, +and lovers of learning. The charms and graces of youth will not make +a philosopher shy of their conversation, when the endowments of their +minds are answerable to the features of their bodies. The case is the +same when greatness of place and fortune concur with a well-disposed +mind in the same person; he will not therefore forbear loving and +respecting such a one, nor be afraid of the name of a courtier, nor +think it a curse that such attendance and dependence should be his fate. + + They that strive most Dame Venus to eschew + Do fault as much as they who her pursue.[203] + +The application is easy to the matter in hand. + +A philosopher therefore, if he is of a retired humor, will not shun +such persons; while one who generously designs his studies for the +public advantage will cheerfully embrace their advances of friendship, +will not force them after a troublesome manner to hear him, will +lay aside his scholastical terms and distinctions, and will rejoice +to discourse and pass his time with them when they are willing and +disposed. + + 3. I plough the spacious Berecynthian fields, + Full six days’ journey wide,[204] + +says one boastingly in the poet; the same man, if he were as much a +lover of mankind as of husbandry, would much rather bestow his pains on +such a farm, the fruits of which would serve a great number, than to +be always dressing the olive-yard of some cynical malecontent, which, +when all was done, would scarce yield oil enough to dress a salad or +to supply his lamp in the long winter evenings. Epicurus himself, who +places happiness in the profoundest quiet and sluggish inactivity, as +the only secure harbor from the storms of this troublesome world, could +not but confess that it is both more noble and delightful to do than to +receive a kindness;[205] for there is nothing which produces so humane +and genuine a sort of pleasure as that of doing good. He who first +gave the names to the three Graces well understood this, for they all +signify delectation and joy,[206] and these surely are far greater and +purer in him who does the good turn. This is so evidently true, that +we all receive good turns blushing and with some confusion, but we are +always gay and well pleased when we are conferring one. + +If then it is so pleasant to do good to a few, how are their hearts +dilated with joy who are benefactors to whole cities, provinces, and +kingdoms? And such benefactors are they who instil good principles into +those upon whom so many millions do depend. On the other hand, those +who debauch the minds of great men—as sycophants, false informers, and +flatterers, worse than both, manifestly do—are the centre of all the +curses of a nation, as men who do not only infuse deadly poison into +the cistern of a private house, but into the public springs of which +so many thousands are to drink. The people therefore laughed at the +hangers-on of Callias, whom, as Eupolis says, neither fire nor brass +nor steel could keep from supping with him; but as for the favorites +of those execrable tyrants Apollodorus, Phalaris, and Dionysius, they +racked them, they flayed them alive, they roasted them at slow fires, +they looked on them as the very pests of society and disgraces of +human nature; for to debauch a simple person is indeed an ill thing, +but to corrupt a prince is an infinite mischief. In like manner, he +who instructs an ordinary man makes him to pass his life decently and +with comfort; but he who instructs a prince, by correcting his errors +and clearing his understanding, is a philosopher for the public, by +rectifying the very mould and model by which whole nations are formed +and regulated. It is the custom of all nations to pay a peculiar honor +and deference to their priests; and the reason of it is, because they +do not only pray for good things for themselves, their own families and +friends, but for whole communities, for the whole state of mankind. +Yet we are not so fond as to think that the priests cause the Gods to +be givers of good things, or inspire a vein of beneficence into them; +but they only make their supplications to a being which of itself is +inclinable to answer their requests. But in this a good tutor hath +the privilege above the priests,—he effectually renders a prince more +disposed to actions of justice, moderation, and mercy, and therefore +hath a greater satisfaction of mind when he reflects upon it. + +4. For my own part, I cannot but think that an ordinary mechanic—for +instance, a maker of musical instruments—would be much more attentive +and pleased at his work, if he knew that his harp would be touched by +the famous Amphion, and in his hand serve for the builder of Thebes, +or if that Thales had bespoke it, who was so great a master that +by the force of his music he pacified a popular tumult amongst the +Lacedaemonians. A good-natured shipwright would ply his work more +heartily, if he were making the steerage for the admiral galley of +Themistocles when he fought for the liberty of Greece, or of Pompey +when he went on his expedition against the pirates: what ecstasy of +delight then must a philosopher be in, when he reflects that his +scholar is a man of authority, a prince or great potentate, that he is +employed in so public a work, giving laws to him who is to give laws to +a whole nation, who is to punish vice, and to reward the virtuous with +riches and honor? The builder of the Argo certainly would have been +mightily pleased, if he had known what noble mariners were to row in +his ship, and that at last she should be translated into heaven; and a +carpenter would not be half so much pleased to make a coach or plough, +as to make the tablets on which Solon’s laws were to be engraved. In +like manner the discourses and rules of philosophy, being once deeply +stamped and imprinted on the minds of great personages, will stick so +close, that the prince shall seem no other than justice incarnate and +animated law. This was the design of Plato’s voyage into Sicily,—he +hoped that the lectures of his philosophy would serve for laws to +Dionysius, and bring his affairs again into a good posture. But the +soul of that unfortunate prince was like paper scribbled all over with +the characters of vice; its piercing and corroding quality had stained +quite through, and sunk into the very substance of his soul. Whereas, +if such persons are to profit by sage lessons, they must be taken when +they are at full speed. + + + + +A DISCOURSE CONCERNING SOCRATES’S DAEMON. + +CAPHISIAS, TIMOTHEUS, ARCHIDAMUS, CHILDREN OF ARCHINUS, LYSITHIDES, +OTHER COMPANIONS. + + +1. I heard lately, Caphisias, a neat saying of a painter, comprised in +a similitude upon those that came to view his pictures. For he said, +the ignorant and unskilful were like those that saluted a whole company +together, but the curious and knowing like those that complimented each +single person; for the former take no exact, but only one general view +of the performance; but those that with judgment examine part by part +take notice of every stroke that is either well or ill done in the +whole picture. The duller and lazy sort are abundantly satisfied with a +short account and upshot of any business. But he that is of a generous +and noble temper, that is fitted to be a spectator of virtue, as of a +curious piece of art, is more delighted with the particulars. For, upon +a general view, much of fortune is discovered; but when the particulars +are examined, then appear the art and contrivance, the boldness in +conquering intervening accidents, and the reason that was mixed with +and tempered the heat and fury of the undertakers. Suppose us to be +of this sort, and give us an account of the whole design, how from +the very beginning it was carried on, what company you kept, and what +particular discourse you had that day;—a thing so much desired, that +I protest I would willingly go to Thebes to be informed, did not the +Athenians already suspect me to lean too much to the Boeotian interest. + +Caphisias. Indeed Archidamus, your kind eagerness after this +story is so obliging, that, putting myself above all business (as +Pindar says), I should have come on purpose to give you a relation. +But since I am now come upon an embassy, and have nothing to do until +I receive an answer to my memorial, to be uncivil and not to satisfy +the request of an obliging friend would revive the old reproach that +hath been cast upon the Boeotians for morose sullenness and hating good +discourse, a reproach which began to die in the time of Socrates. But +as for the rest of the company, pray sir, are they at leisure to hear +such a story?—for I must be very long, since you enjoin me to add the +particular discourses that passed between us. + +Arch. You do not know the men, Caphisias, though they are +worthy your acquaintance; men of good families, and no enemies to +you. This is Lysithides, Thrasybulus’s nephew; this Timotheus, the +son of Conon; these Archinus’s sons; and all the rest my very good +acquaintance, so that you need not doubt a favorable and obliging +audience. + +Caph. Very well; but where shall I begin the story? How much +of these affairs are you acquainted with already? + +Arch. We know, Caphisias, how matters stood at Thebes before +the exiles returned,—how Archias, Leontidas, and their associates, +having persuaded Phoebidas the Spartan in the time of peace to surprise +that castle, banished some of the citizens, awed others, took the +power into their own hands, and tyrannized against all equity and +law. We understood Melon’s and Pelopidas’s designs, having (as you +know) entertained them, and having conversed with them ever since they +were banished. We knew likewise that the Spartans fined Phoebidas for +taking the Cadmea, and in their expedition to Olynthus cashiered +him; but sent a stronger garrison, under Lysinoridas and two more, to +command the castle; and further, that Ismenias presently after his +trial was basely murdered. For Gorgidas wrote constantly to the exiles, +and sent them all the news; so that you have nothing to do but only to +inform us in the particulars of your friends’ return and the seizing of +the tyrants. + +2. Caph. In those days, Archidamus, all that were concerned +in the design, as often as our business required, used to meet at +Simmias’s house, who then lay lame of a blow upon his shin. This we +covered with a pretence of meeting for improvement and philosophical +discourse, and, to take off all suspicion, we many times invited +Archias and Leontidas, who were not altogether averse to such +conversation. Besides, Simmias, having been a long time abroad and +conversant with different nations, was lately returned to Thebes, full +of all sorts of stories and strange relations. To him Archias, when +free from business, would resort with the youth of Thebes, and sit and +hear with a great deal of delight; being better pleased to see us mind +philosophy and learning than their illegal actions. Now the same day in +which it was agreed that about night the exiles should come privately +to town, a messenger, whom none of us all but Charon knew, came from +them by Pherenicus’s order, and told us that twelve of the youngest of +the exiles were now hunting on the mountain Cithaeron, and designed +to come at night, and that he was sent to deliver this and to know in +whose house they should be received, that as soon as they entered they +might go directly thither. This startling us, Charon put an end to all +our doubts by offering to receive them in his house. With this answer +the messenger returned. + +3. But Theocritus the soothsayer, grasping me by the hand, and looking +on Charon that went just before us, said: That Charon, Caphisias, is +no philosopher, nor so general nor so acute a scholar as thy brother +Epaminondas, and yet you see that, Nature leading him, under the +direction of the law, to noble actions, he willingly ventures on the +greatest danger for the benefit of his country; but Epaminondas, who +thinks he knows more of virtue than any of the Boeotians, is dull and +inactive; and though opportunity presents, though there cannot be a +fairer occasion, and though he is fitted to embrace it, yet he refuseth +to join, and will not make one in this generous attempt. And I replied: +Courageous Theocritus, we do what upon mature deliberation we have +approved, but Epaminondas, being of a contrary opinion and thinking it +better not to take this course, rationally complies with his judgment, +whilst he refuseth to meddle in those matters which his reason upon +our desire cannot approve, and to which his nature is averse. Nor can +I think it prudent to force a physician to use fire and a lancet, that +promiseth to cure the disease without them. What, said Theocritus, doth +he not approve of our method? No, I replied, he would have no citizens +put to death without a trial at law; but if we would endeavor to free +our country without slaughter and bloodshed, none would more readily +comply; but since we slight his reasons and follow our own course, he +desires to be excused, to be guiltless of the blood and slaughter of +his citizens, and to be permitted to watch an opportunity when he may +deliver his country according to equity and right. For this action +may go too far, Pherenicus, it is true, and Pelopidas may assault the +bad men and the oppressors of the people; but Eumolpidas and Samidas, +men of extraordinary heat and violence, prevailing in the night, will +hardly sheathe their swords until they have filled the whole city with +slaughter and cut in pieces many of the chief men. + +4. Anaxidorus, overhearing this discourse of mine to Theocritus (for +he was just by), bade us be cautious, for Archias with Lysanoridas the +Spartan were coming from the castle directly towards us. Upon this +advice we left off; and Archias, calling Theocritus aside together with +Lysanoridas, privately discoursed him a long while, so that we were +very much afraid lest they had some suspicion or notice of our design, +and examined Theocritus about it. In the mean time Phyllidas (you know +him, Archidamus) who was then secretary to Archias the general, who +knew of the exiles coming and was one of the associates, taking me +by the hand, as he used to do, before the company, found fault with +the late exercises and wrestling he had seen; but afterwards leading +me aside, he enquired after the exiles, and asked whether they were +resolved to be punctual to the day. And upon my assuring that they +were, then he replied, I have very luckily provided a feast to-day to +treat Archias, make him drunk, and then deliver him an easy prey to +the invaders. Excellently contrived, Phyllidas, said I, and prithee +endeavor to draw all or most of our enemies together. That, said he, is +very hard, nay, rather impossible; for Archias, being in hopes of the +company of some noble women there, will not yield that Leontidas should +be present, so that it will be necessary to divide the associates into +two companies, that we may surprise both the houses. For, Archias and +Leontidas being taken off, I suppose the others will presently fly, +or staying make no stir, being very well satisfied if they can be +permitted to be safe and quiet. So, said I, we will order it; but about +what, I wonder, are they discoursing with Theocritus? And Phyllidas +replied, I cannot certainly tell, but I have heard that some omens and +oracles portend great disasters and calamities to Sparta; and perhaps +they consult him about those matters. Theocritus had just left them, +when Phidolaus the Haliartian meeting us said: Simmias would have you +stay here a little while, for he is interceding with Leontidas for +Amphitheus, and begs that instead of dying, according to the sentence, +he may be banished. + +5. Well, said Theocritus, this happens very opportunely, for I had +a mind to ask what was seen and what found in Alcmena’s tomb lately +opened amongst you, for perhaps, sir, you were present when Agesilaus +sent to fetch the relics to Sparta. And Phidolaus replied: Indeed I +was not present at the opening of the grave, for I was not delegated, +being extremely concerned and very angry with my fellow-citizens +for permitting it to be done. There were found no relics of a body; +but a small brazen bracelet, and two earthen pipkins full of earth, +which now by length of time was grown very hard and petrified. Upon +the monument there was a brazen plate full of strange, because very +ancient, letters; for though, when the plate was washed, all the +strokes were very easily perceived, yet nobody could make any thing +of them; for they were a particular, barbarous, and very like the +Egyptian character. And therefore Agesilaus, as the story goes, sent +a transcript of them to the king of Egypt, desiring him to show them +to the priests, and if they understood them, to send him the meaning +and interpretation. But perhaps in this matter Simmias can inform us, +for at that time he studied their philosophy and frequently conversed +with the priests upon that account. The Haliartii believe the great +scarcity and overflowing of the pool that followed were not effects of +chance, but a particular judgment upon them for permitting the grave +to be opened. And Theocritus, after a little pause, said: Nay, there +seem some judgments to hang over the Lacedaemonians themselves, as +those omens about which Lysanoridas just now discoursed me portend. +And now he is gone to Haliartus to fill up the grave again, and, as +the oracle directs, to make some oblations to Alcmena and Aleus; but +who this Aleus is, he cannot tell. And as soon as he returns, he must +endeavor to find the sepulchre of Dirce, which not one of the Thebans +themselves, besides the captains of the horse, knows; for he that goes +out of his office leads his successor to the place alone, and in the +dark; there they offer some sacrifices, but without fire, and leaving +no mark behind them, they separate from one another, and come home +again in the dark. So that I believe, Phidolaus, it will be no easy +matter for him to discover it. For most of those that have been duly +elected to that office are now in exile; nay, all besides Gorgidas and +Plato; and they will never ask those, for they are afraid of them. And +our present officers are invested in the castle with the spear only and +the seal, but know nothing of the tomb, and cannot direct him. + +6. Whilst Theocritus was speaking, Leontidas and his friends went out; +and we going in saluted Simmias, sitting upon his couch, very much +troubled because his petition was denied. He, looking up upon us, +cried out: Good God! The savage barbarity of these men! And was it not +an excellent remark of Thales, who, when his friends asked him, upon +his return from his long travels, what strange news he brought home, +replied, “I have seen a tyrant an old man.” For even he that hath +received no particular injury, yet disliking their stiff pride and +haughty carriage, becomes an enemy to all lawless and unaccountable +powers. But Heaven perhaps will take these things into consideration. +But, Caphisias, do you know that stranger that came lately hither, +who he is? And I replied, I do not know whom you mean. Why, said he, +Leontidas told me that there was a man at night seen to rise out of +Lysis’s tomb, with great pomp and a long train of attendants, and that +he had lodged there all night upon beds made of leaves and boughs; for +the next morning such were discovered there, with some relics of burnt +sacrifices and some milk-oblations; and that in the morning he enquired +of every one he met, whether he should find Polymnis’s sons at home. I +wonder, said I, who it is, for by your description I guess him to be no +mean man. + +7. Well, said Phidolaus, when he comes we will entertain him; but at +the present, Simmias, if you know any thing more of those letters +about which we were talking, pray let us have it; for it is said that +the Egyptian priests took into consideration the writing of a certain +table which Agesilaus had from us when he opened Alcmena’s tomb. As for +the table, replied Simmias, I know nothing of it; but Agetoridas the +Spartan came to Memphis with letters from Agesilaus to Chonouphis the +priest, whilst I, Plato, and Ellopio the Peparethian, studied together +at his house. He came by order of the king, who enjoined Chonouphis, +if he understood the writing, to send him the interpretation with all +speed. And he in three days’ study, having collected all the different +sorts of characters that could be found in the old books, wrote back +to the king and likewise told us, that the writing enjoined the Greeks +to institute games in honor of the Muses; that the characters were +such as were used in the time of Proteus, and that Hercules, the son +of Amphitryo, then learned them; and that the Gods by this admonished +the Greeks to live peaceably and at quiet, to contend in philosophy +to the honor of the Muses, and, laying aside their arms, to determine +what is right and just by reason and discourse. We then thought that +Chonouphis spoke right; and that opinion was confirmed when, as we were +sailing from Egypt, about Caria some Delians met us, who desired Plato, +being well skilled in geometry, to solve an odd oracle lately delivered +by Apollo. The oracle was this: “Then the Delians and all the other +Greeks should enjoy some respite from their present evils, when they +had doubled the altar at Delos.” They, not comprehending the meaning +of the words, after many ridiculous endeavors (for each of the sides +being doubled, they had framed a body, instead of twice, eight times +as big) made application to Plato to clear the difficulty. He, calling +to mind what the Egyptian had told him, said that the God was merry +upon the Greeks, who despised learning; that he severely reflected on +their ignorance, and admonished them to apply themselves to the deepest +parts of geometry; for this was not to be done by a dull short-sighted +intellect, but one exactly skilled in the natures and properties of +lines; it required skill to find the true proportion by which alone a +body of a cubic figure can be doubled, all its dimensions being equally +increased. He said that Eudoxus the Cnidian or Helico the Cyzicenian +might do this for them; but that was not the thing desired by the God; +for by this oracle he enjoined all the Greeks to leave off war and +contention, and apply themselves to study, and, by learning and arts +moderating the passions, to live peaceably with one another, and profit +the community. + +8. Whilst Simmias was speaking, my father Polymnis came in, and sitting +down by him said: Epaminondas desires you and the rest of the company, +unless some urgent business requires your attendance, to stay for +him here a little while, designing to bring you acquainted with this +stranger, who is a very worthy man; and the design upon which he comes +is very genteel and honorable. He is a Pythagorean of the Italian sect, +and comes hither to make some offerings to old Lysis at his tomb, +according to divers dreams and very notable appearances that he hath +seen. He hath brought a good sum of money with him, and thinks himself +bound to satisfy Epaminondas for keeping Lysis in his old age; and is +very eager, though we are neither willing nor desire him, to relieve +his poverty. And Simmias, glad at this news, replied: You tell me, +sir, of a wonderful man and worthy professor of philosophy; but why +doth he not come directly to us? I think, said my father, he lay all +night at Lysis’s tomb; and therefore Epaminondas hath now led him to +the Ismenus to wash; and when that is done, they will be here. For +before he came to our house, he lodged at the tomb, intending to take +up the relics of the body and transport them into Italy, if some genius +at night should not advise him to forbear. + +9. As soon as my father had ended this discourse, Galaxidorus cried +out: Good Gods! how hard a matter is it to find a man pure from vanity +and superstition! For some are betrayed into those fooleries by their +ignorance and weakness; others, that they may be thought extraordinary +men and favorites of Heaven, refer all their actions to some divine +admonition pretending dreams, visions, and the like surprising +fooleries for every thing they do. This method indeed is advantageous +to those that intend to settle a commonwealth, or are forced to keep +themselves up against a rude and ungovernable multitude; for by this +bridle of superstition they might manage and reform the vulgar; but +these pretences seem not only unbecoming philosophy, but quite opposite +to all those fine promises she makes. For having promised to teach us +by reason what is good and profitable, falling back again to the Gods +as the principle of all our actions, she seems to despise reason, and +disgrace that demonstration which is her peculiar glory; and she relies +on dreams and visions, in which the worst of men are oftentimes as +happy as the best. And therefore your Socrates, Simmias, in my opinion +followed the most philosophical and rational method of instructions, +choosing that plain and easy way as the most genteel and friendly unto +truth, and scattering to the sophisters of the age all those vain +pretences which are as it were the smoke of philosophy. And Theocritus +taking him up said: What, Galaxidorus, and hath Meletus persuaded you +that Socrates contemned all divine things?—for that was part of his +accusation. Divine things! by no means, replied Galaxidorus; but having +received philosophy from Pythagoras and Empedocles, full of dreams, +fables, superstitions, and perfect raving, he endeavored to bring +wisdom and things together, and make truth consist with sober sense. + +10. Be it so, rejoined Theocritus, but what shall we think of his +Daemon? Was it a mere juggle? Indeed, nothing that is told of +Pythagoras regarding divination seems to me so great and divine. +For, in my mind, as Homer makes Minerva to stand by Ulysses in all +dangers, so the Daemon joined to Socrates even from his cradle some +vision to guide him in all the actions of his life; which going before +him, shed a light upon hidden and obscure matters and such as could +not be discovered by unassisted human understanding; of such things +the Daemon often discoursed with him, presiding over and by divine +instinct directing his intentions. More and greater things perhaps +you may learn from Simmias and other companions of Socrates; but once +when I was present, as I went to Euthyphron the soothsayer’s, it +happened, Simmias,—for you remember it,—that Socrates walked up to +Symbolum and the house of Andocides, all the way asking questions and +jocosely perplexing Euthyphron. When standing still upon a sudden and +persuading us to do the like, he mused a pretty while, and then turning +about walked through Trunk-makers’ Street, calling back his friends +that walked before him, affirming that it was his Daemon’s will and +admonition. Many turned back, amongst whom I, holding Euthyphron, was +one; but some of the youths keeping on the straight way, on purpose (as +it were) to confute Socrates’s Daemon, took along with them Charillus +the piper, who came in my company to Athens to see Cebes. Now as they +were walking through Gravers’ Row, near the court-houses, a herd of +dirty swine met them; and being too many for the street and running +against one another, they overthrew some that could not get out of +the way, and dirted others; and Charillus came home with his legs and +clothes very dirty; so that now and then in merriment they would think +on Socrates’s Daemon, wondering that it never forsook the man, and that +Heaven took such particular care of him. + +11. Then Galaxidorus: And do you think, Theocritus, that Socrates’s +Daemon had some peculiar and extraordinary power? And was it not that +this man had by experience confirmed some part of the common necessity +which made him, in all obscure and inevident matters, add some weight +to the reason that was on one side? For as one grain doth not incline +the balance by itself, yet added to one of two weights that are of +equal poise, makes the whole incline to that part; thus an omen or +the like sign may of itself be too light to draw a grave and settled +resolution to any action, yet when two equal reasons draw on either +side, if that is added to one, the doubt together with the equality is +taken off, so that a motion and inclination to that side is presently +produced. Then my father continuing the discourse said: You yourself, +Galaxidorus, have heard a Megarian, who had it from Terpsion, say that +Socrates’s Daemon was nothing else but the sneezing either of himself +or others; for if another sneezed, either before, behind him, or on his +right hand, then he pursued his design and went on to action; but if on +the left hand, he desisted. One sort of sneezing confirmed him whilst +deliberating and not fully resolved; another stopped him when already +upon action. But indeed it seems strange that, if sneezing was his only +sign, he should not acquaint his familiars with it, but pretend that +it was a Daemon that encouraged or forbade him. For that this should +proceed from vanity or conceit is not agreeable to the veracity and +simplicity of the man; for in those we knew him to be truly great, +and far above the generality of mankind. Nor is it likely so grave +and wise a man should be disturbed at a casual sound or sneezing, +and upon that account leave off what he was about, and give over his +premeditated resolutions. Besides all, Socrates’s resolution seems +to be altogether vigorous and steady, as begun upon right principles +and mature judgment. Thus he voluntarily lived poor all his life, +though he had friends that would have been very glad and very willing +to relieve him; he still kept close to philosophy, notwithstanding +all the discouragements he met with; and at last, when his friends +endeavored and very ingeniously contrived his escape, he would not +yield to their entreaties, but met death with mirth and cheerfulness, +and appeared a man of a steady reason in the greatest extremity. And +sure these are not the actions of a man whose designs, when once fixed, +could be altered by an omen or a sneeze; but of one who, by some more +considerable guidance and impulse, is directed to practise things +good and excellent. Besides, I have heard that to some of his friends +he foretold the overthrow of the Athenians in Sicily. And before +that time, Perilampes the son of Antiphon, being wounded and taken +prisoner by us in that pursuit at Delium, as soon as he heard from the +ambassadors who came from Athens that Socrates with Alcibiades and +Laches fled by Rhegiste and returned safe, blamed himself very much, +and blamed also some of his friends and captains of the companies—who +together with him were overtaken in their flight about Parnes by +our cavalry and slain there—for not obeying Socrates’s Daemon and +retreating that way which he led. And this I believe Simmias hath heard +as well as I. Yes, replied Simmias, many times, and from many persons; +for upon this, Socrates’s Daemon was very much talked of at Athens. + +12. Why then, pray, Simmias, said Phidolaus, shall we suffer +Galaxidorus drollingly to degrade so considerable a prophetic spirit +into an omen or a sneeze; which the vulgar and ignorant, it is true, +merrily use about small matters; but when any danger appears, then we +find that of Euripides verified,— + + None near the edge of swords will mind such toys.[207] + +To this Galaxidorus rejoined: Sir, if Simmias hath heard Socrates +himself speak any thing about this matter, I am very ready to hear and +believe it with you; but yet what you and Polymnis have delivered I +could easily demonstrate to be weak and insignificant. For as in physic +the pulse or a whelk is itself but a small thing, yet is a sign of no +small things to the physicians; and as the murmuring of the waves or +of a bird, or the driving of a thin cloud, is a sign to the pilot of a +stormy heaven and troubled sea; thus to a prophetic soul, a sneeze or +an omen, though no great matter simply considered in itself, yet may be +the sign and token of considerable impending accidents. For every art +and science takes care to collect many things from few, and great from +small. And as if one that doth not know the power of letters, when he +sees a few ill-shapen strokes, should not believe that a man skilled in +letters could read in them the famous battles of the ancients, the rise +of cities, the acts and calamities of kings, and should assert that +some divine power told him the particulars, he would by this ignorance +of his raise a great deal of mirth and laughter in the company; so +let us consider whether or no we ourselves, being altogether ignorant +of every one’s power of divination by which he guesseth at what is to +come, are not foolishly concerned when it is asserted that a wise man +by that discovers some things obscure and inevident in themselves, +and moreover himself declares that it is not a sneeze or voice, but +a Daemon, that leads him on to action. This, Polymnis, particularly +respects you, who cannot but wonder that Socrates, who by his meekness +and humility hath humanized philosophy, should not call this sign +a sneeze or a voice, but very pretendingly a Daemon; when, on the +contrary, I should have wondered if a man so critical and exact in +discourse, and so good at names as Socrates, should have said that it +was a sneeze, and not a Daemon, that gave him intimation; as much as if +any one should say that he is wounded by a dart, and not with a dart +by him that threw it; or as if any one should say that a weight was +weighed by the balance, and not with the balance by the one who holds +it. For any effect is not the effect of the instrument, but of him +whose the instrument is, and who useth it to that effect; and a sign is +an instrument, which he that signifies any thing thereby useth to that +effect. But, as I said before, if Simmias hath any thing about this +matter, let us quietly attend; for no doubt he must have a more perfect +knowledge of the thing. + +13. Content, said Theocritus; but let us first see who these are that +are coming, for I think I see Epaminondas bringing in the stranger. +Upon this motion, looking toward the door, we saw Epaminondas with his +friends Ismenidorus and Bacchylidas and Melissus the musician leading +the way, and the stranger following, a man of no mean presence; his +meekness and good-nature appeared in his looks, and his dress was +grave and becoming. He being seated next Simmias, my brother next me, +and the rest as they pleased, and all silent, Simmias speaking to my +brother said: Well, Epaminondas, by what name and title must I salute +this stranger?—for those are commonly our first compliments, and the +beginning of our better acquaintance. And my brother replied: His name, +Simmias, is Theanor; by birth he is a Crotonian, a philosopher by +profession, no disgrace to Pythagoras’s fame; for he hath taken a long +voyage from Italy hither, to evidence by generous actions his eminent +proficiency in that school. + +The stranger subjoined: But you, Epaminondas, hinder the performance +of the best action; for if it is commendable to oblige friends, it is +not discommendable to be obliged; for a benefit requires a receiver +as well as a giver; by both it is perfected, and becomes a good work. +For he that refuseth to receive a favor, as a ball that is struck +fairly to him, disgraceth it by letting it fall short of the designed +mark; and what mark are we so much pleased to hit or vexed to miss, +as our kind intentions of obliging a person that deserves a favor? It +is true, when the mark is fixed, he that misseth can blame nobody but +himself; but he that refuseth or flies a kindness is injurious to the +favor in not letting it attain the desired end. I have told you already +what was the occasion of my voyage; the same I would discover to all +present, and make them judges in the case. For after the opposite +faction had expelled the Pythagoreans, and the Cylonians had burned the +remains of that society in their school at Metapontum, and destroyed +all but Philolaus and Lysis,—who being young and nimble escaped the +flame,—Philolaus flying to the Lucanians was there protected by his +friends, who rose for his defence and overpowered the Cylonians; but +where Lysis was, for a long time nobody could tell; at last Gorgias the +Leontine, sailing from Greece to Italy, seriously told Arcesus that he +met and discoursed Lysis at Thebes. Arcesus, being very desirous to +see the man, as soon as he could get a passage, designed to put to sea +himself; but age and weakness coming on, he took care that Lysis should +be brought to Italy alive, if possible; but if not, the relics of his +body. The intervening wars, usurpations, and seditions hindered his +friends from doing it whilst he lived; but since his death, Lysis’s +Daemon hath made very frequent and very plain discoveries to us of his +death; and many that were very well acquainted with the matter have +told us how courteously you received and civilly entertained him, how +in your poor family he was allowed a plentiful subsistence for his age, +counted a father of your sons, and died in peace. I therefore, although +a young man and but one single person, have been sent by many who are +my elders, and who, having store of money, offer it gladly to you who +need it, in return for the gracious friendship bestowed upon Lysis. +Lysis, it is true, is buried nobly, and your respect, which is more +honorable than a monument, must be acknowledged and requited by his +familiars and his friends. + +14. When the stranger had said this, my father wept a considerable +time, in memory of Lysis; but my brother, smiling upon me, as he used +to do, said: What do we do, Caphisias? Are we to give up our poverty +to wealth, and yet be silent? By no means, I replied, let us part with +our old friend and the excellent breeder of our youth; but defend +her cause, for you are to manage it. My dear father, said he, I have +never feared that wealth would take possession of our house, except +on account of Caphisias’s body; for that wants fine attire, that he +may appear gay and gaudy to his numerous company of lovers, and great +supplies of food, that he may be strong to endure wrestling and other +exercises of the ring. But since he doth not give up poverty, since +he holds fast his hereditary want, like a color, since he, a youth, +prides himself in frugality, and is very well content with his present +state, what need have we, and what shall we do with wealth? Shall we +gild our arms? Shall we, like Nicias the Athenian, adorn our shield +with gold, purple, and other gaudy variety of colors, and buy for you, +sir, a Milesian cloak, and for my mother a purple gown? For I suppose +we shall not consume any upon our belly, or feast more sumptuously +than we did before, treating this wealth as a guest of quality and +honor! Away, away, son, replied my father; let me never see such a +change in our course of living. Well, said my brother, we would not +lie lazily at home, and watch over our unemployed riches; for then the +bestower’s kindness would be a trouble, and the possession infamous. +What need then, said my father, have we of wealth? Upon this account, +said Epaminondas, when Jason, the Thessalian general, lately sent me a +great sum of money and desired me to accept it, I was thought rude and +unmannerly for telling him that he was a knave for endeavoring, whilst +he himself loved monarchy, to bribe one of democratical principles +and a member of a free state. Your good will, sir (addressing the +stranger), which is generous and worthy a philosopher, I accept and +passionately admire; but you offer physic to your friends who are +in perfect health! If, upon a report that we were distressed and +overpowered, you had brought men and arms to our assistance, but being +arrived had found all in quietness and peace, I am certain you would +not have thought it necessary to leave those supplies which we did not +then stand in need of. Thus, since now you came to assist us against +poverty as if we had been distressed by it, and find it very peaceable +and our familiar inmate, there is no need to leave any money or arms to +suppress that which gives us no trouble or disturbance. But tell your +acquaintance that they use riches well, and have friends here that use +poverty as well. What was spent in keeping and burying Lysis, Lysis +himself hath sufficiently repaid, by many profitable instructions, and +by teaching us not to think poverty a grievance. + +15. What then, said Theanor, is it mean to think poverty a grievance? +Is it not absurd to fly and be afraid of riches, if no reason, but +an hypocritical pretence, narrowness of mind, or pride, prompts one +to reject the offer? And what reason, I wonder, would refuse such +advantageous and creditable enjoyments as Epaminondas now doth? But, +sir,—for your answer to the Thessalian about this matter shows you very +ready,—pray answer me, do you think it commendable in some cases to +give money, but always unlawful to receive it? Or are the givers and +receivers equally guilty of a fault? By no means, replied Epaminondas; +but, as of any thing else, so the giving and receiving of money is +sometimes commendable and sometimes base. Well then, said Theanor, +if a man, gives willingly what he ought to give, is not that action +commendable in him? Yes. And when it is commendable in one to give, is +it not as commendable in another to receive? Or can a man more honestly +accept a gift from any one, than from him that honestly bestows? No. +Well then, Epaminondas, suppose of two friends, one hath a mind to +present, the other must accept. It is true, in a battle we should avoid +that enemy who is skilful in hurling his weapon; but in civilities +we should neither fly nor thrust back that friend that makes a kind +and genteel offer. And though poverty is not so grievous, yet on the +other side, wealth is not so mean and despicable a thing. Very true, +replied Epaminondas; but you must consider that sometimes, even when a +gift is honestly bestowed, he is more commendable who refuses it. For +we have many lusts and desires, and the objects of those desires are +many. Some are called natural; these proceed from the very constitution +of our body, and tend to natural pleasures; others are acquired, +and rise from vain opinions and mistaken notions; yet these by the +length of time, ill habits, and bad education are usually improved, +get strength, and debase the soul more than the other natural and +necessary passions. By custom and care any one, with the assistance of +reason, may free himself from many of his natural desires. But, sir, +all our arts, all our force of discipline, must be employed against +the superfluous and acquired appetites; and they must be restrained +or cut off by the guidance or edge of reason. For if the contrary +applications of reason can make us forbear meat and drink, when +hungry or thirsty, how much more easy is it to conquer covetousness +or ambition, which will be destroyed by a bare restraint from their +proper objects, and a non-attainment of their desired end? And pray, +sir, are you not of the same opinion? Yes, replied the stranger. Then, +sir, continued Epaminondas, do you not perceive a difference between +the exercise itself and the work to which the exercise relates? For +instance, in a wrestler, the work is the striving with his adversary +for the crown, the exercise is the preparation of his body by diet, +wrestling, or the like. So in virtue, you must confess the work to be +one thing and the exercise another. Very well, replied the stranger. +Then, continued Epaminondas, let us first examine whether to abstain +from the base unlawful pleasures is the exercise of continence, or the +work and evidence of that exercise? The work and evidence, replied the +stranger. But is not the exercise of it such as you practise, when +after wrestling, where you have raised your appetites like ravenous +beasts, you stand a long while at a table covered with plenty and +variety of meats, and then give it to your servants to feast on, whilst +you offer mean and spare diet to your subdued appetites? For abstinence +from lawful pleasure is exercise against unlawful. Very well, replied +the stranger. So, continued Epaminondas, justice is exercise against +covetousness and love of money; but so is not a mere cessation from +stealing or robbing our neighbor. So he that doth not betray his +country or friends for gold doth not exercise against covetousness, for +the law perhaps deters, and fear restrains him; but he that refuseth +just gain and such as the law allows, voluntarily exercises, and +secures himself from being bribed or receiving any unlawful present. +For when great, hurtful, and base pleasures are proposed, it is very +hard for any one to contain himself, who hath not often despised those +which he had power and opportunity to enjoy. Thus, when base bribes and +considerable advantages are offered, it will be difficult to refuse, +unless he hath long ago rooted out all thoughts of gain and love of +money; for other desires will nourish and increase that appetite, and +he will easily be drawn to any unjust action who can scarce forbear +reaching out his hand to a proffered present. But he that will not +lay himself open to the favors of friends and the gifts of kings, but +refuseth even what Fortune proffers, and keeps off his appetite, that +is eager after and (as it were) leaps forward to an appearing treasure, +is never disturbed or tempted to unlawful actions, but hath great and +brave thoughts, and hath command over himself, being conscious of none +but generous designs. I and Caphisias, dear Simmias, being passionate +admirers of such men, beg the stranger to suffer us to be taught and +exercised by poverty to attain that height of virtue and perfection. + +16. My brother having finished this discourse, Simmias, nodding twice +or thrice, said: Epaminondas is a great man, but this Polymnis is the +cause of his greatness, who gave his children the best education, and +bred them philosophers. But, sir, you may end this dispute at leisure +among yourselves. As for Lysis (if it is lawful to discover it), pray, +sir, do you design to take him out of his tomb and transport him into +Italy, or leave him here amongst his friends and acquaintance, who +shall be glad to lie by him in the grave? And Theanor with a smile +answered: Lysis, good Simmias, no doubt is very well pleased with the +place, for Epaminondas supplied him with all things necessary and +fitting. But the Pythagoreans have some particular funeral ceremonies, +which if any one wants, we conclude he did not make a proper and +happy exit. Therefore, as soon as we learned from some dreams that +Lysis was dead (for we have certain marks to know the apparitions of +the living from images of the dead), most began to think that Lysis, +dying in a strange country, was not interred with the due ceremonies, +and therefore ought to be removed to Italy that he might receive them +there. I coming upon this design, and being by the people of the +country directed to the tomb, in the evening poured out my oblations, +and called upon the soul of Lysis to come out and direct me in this +affair. The night drawing on, I saw nothing indeed, but thought I heard +a voice saying: Move not those relics that ought not to be moved, for +Lysis’s body was duly and religiously interred; and his soul is sent +to inform another body, and committed to the care of another Daemon. +And early this morning, asking Epaminondas about the manner of Lysis’s +burial, I found that Lysis had taught him as far as the incommunicable +mysteries of our sect; and that the same Daemon that waited on Lysis +presided over him, if I can guess at the pilot from the sailing of +the ship. The paths of life are large, but in few are men directed +by the Daemons. When Theanor had said this, he looked attentively on +Epaminondas, as if he designed a fresh search into his nature and +inclinations. + +17. At the same instant the chirurgeon coming in unbound Simmias’s leg +and prepared to dress it; and Phyllidas entering with Hipposthenides, +extremely concerned, as his very countenance discovered, desired me, +Charon, and Theocritus to withdraw into a private corner of the porch. +And I asking, Phyllidas, hath any new thing happened?—Nothing new to +me, he replied, for I knew and told you that Hipposthenides was a +coward, and therefore begged you not to communicate the matter to him +or make him an associate. We seeming all surprised, Hipposthenides +cried out: For Heaven’s sake, Phyllidas, don’t say so, don’t think +rashness to be bravery, and blinded by that mistake ruin both us and +the commonwealth; but, if it must be so, let the exiles return again in +peace. And Phyllidas in a passion replied, How many, Hipposthenides, +do you think are privy to this design? Thirty I know engaged. And why +then, continued Phyllidas, would you singly oppose your judgment to +them all, and ruin those measures they have all taken and agreed to? +What had you to do to send a messenger to desire them to return and not +approach to-day, when even chance encouraged and all things conspired +to promote the design? + +These words of Phyllidas troubled every one; and Charon, looking +very angrily upon Hipposthenides, said: Thou coward! what hast thou +done? No harm, replied Hipposthenides, as I will make appear if you +will moderate your passion and hear what your gray-headed equal can +allege. If, Phyllidas, we were minded to show our citizens a bravery +that sought danger, and a heart that contemned life, there is day +enough before us; why should we wait till the evening? Let us take +our swords presently, and assault the tyrants. Let us kill, let us be +killed, and be prodigal of our blood. If this may be easily performed +or endured, and if it is no easy matter by the loss of two or three +men to free Thebes from so great an armed power as possesses it, and +to beat out the Spartan garrison,—for I suppose Phyllidas hath not +provided wine enough at his entertainment to make all Archias’s guard +of fifteen hundred men drunk; or if we despatch him, yet Arcesus and +Herippidas will be sober, and upon the watch,—why are we so eager to +bring our friends and families into certain destruction, especially +since the enemy hath some notice of their return? For why else should +the Thespians for these three days be commanded to be in arms and +follow the orders of the Spartan general? And I hear that to-day, +after examination before Archias when he returns, they design to +put Amphitheus to death; and are not these strong proofs that our +conspiracy is discovered? Is it not the best way to stay a little, +until an atonement is made and the Gods reconciled? For the diviners, +having sacrificed an ox to Ceres, said that the burnt offering +portended a great sedition and danger to the commonwealth. And besides, +Charon, there is another thing which particularly concerns you; for +yesterday Hypatodorus, the son of Erianthes, a very honest man and my +good acquaintance, but altogether ignorant of our design, coming out of +the country in my company, accosted me thus: Charon is an acquaintance +of yours, Hipposthenides, but no great crony of mine; yet, if you +please, advise him to take heed of some imminent danger, for I had a +very odd dream relating to some such matter. Last night methought I +saw his house in travail; and he and his friends, extremely perplexed, +fell to their prayers round about the house. The house groaned, and +sent out some inarticulate sounds; at last a raging fire broke out of +it, and consumed the greatest part of the city; and the castle Cadmea +was covered all over with smoke, but not fired. This was the dream, +Charon, that he told me. I was startled at the present, and that fear +increased when I heard that the exiles intended to come to-day to your +house, and I am very much afraid that we shall bring mighty mischiefs +on ourselves, yet do our enemies no proportionable harm, but only give +them a little disturbance; for I think the city signifies us, and the +castle (as it is now in their power) them. + +18. Then Theocritus putting in, and enjoining silence on Charon, who +was eager to reply, said: As for my part, Hipposthenides, though all +my sacrifices were of good omen to the exiles, yet I never found any +greater inducement to go on than the dream you mentioned; for you say +that a great and bright fire, rising out of a friend’s house, caught +the city, and that the habitation of the enemies was blackened with +smoke, which never brings any thing better than tears and disturbance; +that inarticulate sounds broke out from us shows that none shall make +any clear and full discovery; only a blind suspicion shall arise, and +our design shall appear and have its desired effect at the same time. +And it is very natural that the diviners should find the sacrifices +ill-omened; for both their office and their victims belong not to the +public, but to the men in power. Whilst Theocritus was speaking, I +said to Hipposthenides, Whom did you send with this message? for if it +was not long ago, we will follow him. Indeed, Caphisias, he replied, +it is unlikely (for I must tell the truth) that you should overtake +him, for he is upon the best horse in Thebes. You all know the man, +he is master of the horse to Melon, and Melon from the very beginning +hath made him privy to the design. And I, observing him to be at the +door, said: What, Hipposthenides, is it Clido, he that last year at +Juno’s feast won the single horse-race? Yes, the very same. Who then, +continued I, is he that hath stood a pretty while at the court-gate and +gazed upon us? At this Hipposthenides turning about cried out: Clido, +by Hercules! I’ll lay my life some unlucky accident hath happened. +Clido, observing that we took notice of him, came softly from the gate +towards us; and Hipposthenides giving him a nod and bidding him deliver +his message to the company, for they were all sure friends and privy +to the whole plot, he began: Sir, I know the men very well, and not +finding you either at home or in the market-place, I guessed you were +with them, and came directly hither to give you a full account of the +present posture of affairs. You commanded me with all possible speed +to meet the exiles upon the mountain, and accordingly I went home to +take horse, and called for my bridle; my wife said it was mislaid, +and stayed a long time in the hostry, tumbling about the things and +pretending to look carefully after it; at last, when she had tired my +patience, she confessed that her neighbor’s wife had borrowed it last +night; this raised my passion and I chid her, and she began to curse, +and wished me a bad journey and as bad a return; all which curses, pray +God, may fall upon her own head. At last my passion grew high, and I +began to cudgel her, and presently the neighbors and women coming in, +there was fine work; I am so bruised that it was as much as I could do +to come hither to desire you to employ another man, for I protest I am +amazed and in a very bad condition. + +19. Upon this news we were strangely altered. Just before we were +angry with the man that endeavored to put it off; and now the time +approaching, the very minute just upon us, and it being impossible to +defer the matter, we found ourselves in great anxiety and perplexity. +But I, speaking to Hipposthenides and taking him by the hand, bade +him be of good courage, for the Gods themselves seemed to invite us +to action. Presently we parted. Phyllidas went home to prepare his +entertainment, and to make Archias drunk as soon as conveniently +he could; Charon went to his house to receive the exiles; and I +and Theocritus went back to Simmias again, that having now a good +opportunity, we might discourse with Epaminondas. + +20. We found them engaged in a notable dispute, which Galaxidorus and +Phidolaus had touched upon before; the subject of the enquiry was +this,—What kind of substance or power was the famed Daemon of Socrates? +Simmias’s reply to Galaxidorus’s discourse we did not hear; but he +said that, having once asked Socrates about it and received no answer, +he never repeated the same question; but he had often heard him +declare those to be vain pretenders who said they had seen any divine +apparition, while to those who affirmed that they heard a voice he +would gladly hearken, and would eagerly enquire into the particulars. +And this upon consideration gave us probable reasons to conjecture that +this Daemon of Socrates was not an apparition, but rather a sensible +perception of a voice, or an apprehension of some words, which after +an unaccountable manner affected him; as in a dream there is no real +voice, yet we have fancies and apprehensions of words which make us +imagine that we hear some speak. This perception in dreams is usual, +because the body whilst we are asleep is quiet and undisturbed; but +when we are awake, meaner thoughts creep in, and we can hardly bring +our souls to observe better advertisements. For being in a hurry of +tumultuous passions and distracting business, we cannot compose our +mind or make it listen to the discoveries. But Socrates’s understanding +being pure, free from passion, and mixing itself with the body no +more than necessity required, was easy to be moved and apt to take an +impression from every thing that was applied to it; now that which was +applied was not a voice, but more probably a declaration of a Daemon, +by which the very thing that it would declare was immediately and +without audible voice represented to his mind. Voice is like a stroke +given to the soul, which receives speech forcibly entering at the ears +whilst we discourse; but the understanding of a more excellent nature +affects a capable soul, by applying the very thing to be understood to +it, so that there is no need of another stroke. And the soul obeys, +as it stretches or slackens her affections, not forcibly, as if it +wrought by contrary passions, but smoothly and gently, as if it moved +flexible and loose reins. And sure nobody can wonder at this, that hath +observed what great ships of burden are turned by a small helm, or seen +a potter’s wheel move round by the gentle touch of one finger. These +are lifeless things, it is true; but being of a frame fit for motion, +by reason of their smoothness, they yield to the least impulse. The +soul of man, being stretched with a thousand inclinations, as with +cords, is the most tractable instrument that is, and if once rationally +excited, easy to be moved to the object that is to be conceived; +for here the beginnings of the passions and appetites spread to the +understanding mind, and that being once agitated, they are drawn back +again, and so stretch and raise the whole man. Hence you may guess how +great is the force of a conception when it hath entered the mind; for +the bones that are insensible, the nerves, the flesh that is full of +humors, and the heavy mass composed of all these, lying quiet and at +rest, as soon as the soul gives the impulse and raiseth an appetite +to move towards any object, are all roused and invigorated, and every +member seems a wing to carry it forward to action. Nor is it impossible +or even very difficult to conceive the manner of this motion and +stirring, by which the soul having conceived any thing draweth after +her, by means of appetites, the whole mass of the body. But inasmuch +as language, apprehended without any sensible voice, easily excites; +so, in my opinion, the understanding of a superior nature and a more +divine soul may excite an inferior soul, touching it from without, +like as one speech may touch and rouse another, and as light causes +its own reflection. We, it is true, as it were groping in the dark, +find out one another’s conceptions by the voice; but the conceptions +of the Daemons carry a light with them, and shine to those that are +able to perceive them, so that there is no need of words such as men +use as signs to one another, seeing thereby only the images of the +conceptions, and being unable to see the conceptions themselves unless +they enjoy a peculiar and (as I said before) a divine light. This +may be illustrated from the nature and effect of voice; for the air +being formed into articulate sounds, and made all voice, transmits the +conception of the soul to the hearer; so that it is no wonder if the +air, that is very apt to take impressions, being fashioned according +to the object conceived by a more excellent nature, signifies that +conception to some divine and extraordinary men. For as a stroke upon a +brazen shield, when the noise ariseth out of a hollow, is heard only by +those who are in a convenient position, and is not perceived by others; +so the speeches of the Daemon, though indifferently applied to all, yet +sound only to those who are of a quiet temper and sedate mind, and such +as we call holy and divine men. Most believe that Daemons communicate +some illuminations to men asleep, but think it strange and incredible +that they should communicate the like to them whilst they are awake +and have their senses and reason vigorous; as wise a fancy as it is to +imagine that a musician can use his harp when the strings are slack, +but cannot play when they are screwed up and in tune. For they do not +consider that the effect is hindered by the unquietness and incapacity +of their own minds; from which inconveniences our friend Socrates was +free, as the oracle assured his father whilst he was a boy. For that +commanded him to let young Socrates do what he would, not to force or +draw him from his inclinations, but let the boy’s humor have its free +course; to beg Jupiter’s and the Muses’ blessing upon him, and take no +farther care, intimating that he had a good guide to direct him, that +was better than ten thousand tutors and instructors. + +21. This, Phidolaus, was my notion of Socrates’s Daemon, whilst he +lived and since his death; and I look upon all they mention about +omens, sneezings, or the like, to be dreams and fooleries. But what +I heard Timarchus discourse upon the same subject, lest some should +think I delight in fables, perhaps it is best to conceal. By no means, +cried Theocritus, let’s have it; for though they do not perfectly agree +with it, yet I know many fables that border upon truth; but pray first +tell us who this Timarchus was, for I never was acquainted with the +man. Very likely, Theocritus, said Simmias; for he died when he was +very young, and desired Socrates to bury him by Lampocles, the son of +Socrates, who was his dear friend, of the same age, and died not many +days before him. He being eager to know (for he was a fine youth, and +a beginner in philosophy) what Socrates’s Daemon was, acquainting none +but Cebes and me with his design, went down into Trophonius’s cave, and +performed all the ceremonies that were requisite to gain an oracle. +There he stayed two nights and one day, so that his friends despaired +of his return and lamented him as lost; but the next morning he came +out with a very cheerful countenance, and having adored the God, and +freed himself from the thronging inquisitive crowd, he told us many +wonderful things that he had seen and heard; for this was his relation. + +22. As soon as he entered, a thick darkness surrounded him; then, after +he had prayed, he lay a long while upon the ground, but was not certain +whether awake or in a dream, only he imagined that a smart stroke fell +upon his head, and that through the parted sutures of his skull his +soul fled out; which being now loose, and mixed with a purer and more +lightsome air, was very jocund and well pleased; it seemed to begin to +breathe, as if till then it had been almost choked, and grew bigger +than before, like a sail swollen by the wind; then he heard a small +noise whirling round his head, very sweet and ravishing, and looking up +he saw no earth, but certain islands shining with a gentle fire, which +interchanged colors according to the different variation of the light, +innumerable and very large, unequal, but all round. These whirling, it +is likely, agitated the ether, and made that sound; for the ravishing +softness of it was very agreeable to their even motions. Between these +islands there was a large sea or lake which shone very gloriously, +being adorned with a gay variety of colors mixed with blue; some few of +the islands swam in this sea, and were carried to the other side of the +current; others, and those the most, were carried up and down, tossed, +whirled, and almost overwhelmed. + +The sea in some places seemed very deep, especially toward the south, +in other parts very shallow; it ebbed and flowed, but the tides +were neither high nor strong; in some parts its color was pure and +sea-green, in others it looked muddy and as troubled as a pool. The +current brings those islands that were carried over to the other side +back again; but not to the same point, so that their motions are not +exactly circular, but winding. About the middle of these islands, +the ambient sea seemed to bend into a hollow, a little less, as it +appeared to him, than eight parts of the whole. Into this sea were two +entrances, by which it received two opposite fiery rivers, running in +with so strong a current, that it spread a fiery white over a great +part of the blue sea. This sight pleased him very much; but when he +looked downward, there appeared a vast chasm, round, as if he had +looked into a divided sphere, very deep and frightful, full of thick +darkness, which was every now and then troubled and disturbed. Thence a +thousand howlings and bellowings of beasts, cries of children, groans +of men and women, and all sorts of terrible noises reached his ears; +but faintly, as being far off and rising through the vast hollow; and +this terrified him exceedingly. + +A little while after, an invisible thing spoke thus to him: Timarchus, +what dost thou desire to understand? And he replied, Every thing; for +what is there that is not wonderful and surprising? We have little +to do with those things above, they belong to other Gods; but as for +Proserpina’s quarter, which is one of the four (as Styx divides them) +that we govern, you may visit it if you please. But what is Styx? The +way to hell, which reaches to the contrary quarter, and with its head +divides the light; for, as you see, it rises from hell below, and as it +rolls on touches also the light, and is the limit of the extremest part +of the universe. There are four divisions of all things; the first is +of life, the second of motion, the third of generation, and the fourth +of corruption. The first is coupled to the second by a unit, in the +substance invisible; the second to the third by understanding, in the +Sun; and the third to the fourth by nature, in the Moon. Over every one +of these ties a Fate, daughter of Necessity, presides; over the first, +Atropos; over the second, Clotho; and Lachesis over the third, which +is in the Moon, and about which is the whole whirl of generation. All +the other islands have Gods in them; but the Moon, belonging to earthly +Daemons, is raised but a little above Styx. Styx seizes on her once in +a hundred and seventy-seven second revolutions; and when it approaches, +the souls are startled, and cry out for fear; for hell swallows up a +great many, and the Moon receives some swimming up from below which +have run through their whole course of generation, unless they are +wicked and impure. For against such she throws flashes of lightning, +makes horrible noises, and frights them away; so that, missing their +desired happiness and bewailing their condition, they are carried down +again (as you see) to undergo another generation. But, said Timarchus, +I see nothing but stars leaping about the hollow, some carried into +it, and some darting out of it again. These, said the voice, are +Daemons; for thus it is. Every soul hath some portion of reason; a man +cannot be a man without it; but as much of each soul as is mixed with +flesh and appetite is changed, and through pain or pleasure becomes +irrational. Every soul doth not mix herself after one sort; for some +plunge themselves into the body, and so in this life their whole frame +is corrupted by appetite and passion; others are mixed as to some part, +but the purer part still remains without the body,—it is not drawn +down into it, but it swims above, and touches the extremest part of +the man’s head; it is like a cord to hold up and direct the subsiding +part of the soul, as long as it proves obedient and is not overcome by +the appetites of the flesh. That part that is plunged into the body +is called the soul, but the uncorrupted part is called the mind, and +the vulgar think it is within them, as likewise they imagine the image +reflected from a glass to be in that. But the more intelligent, who +know it to be without, call it a Daemon. Therefore those stars which +you see extinguished imagine to be souls whose whole substances are +plunged into bodies; and those that recover their light and rise from +below, that shake off the ambient mist and darkness, as if it were +clay and dirt, to be such as retire from their bodies after death; +and those that are carried up on high are the Daemons of wise men and +philosophers. But pray pry narrowly, and endeavor to discover the tie +by which every one is united to a soul. Upon this, Timarchus looked as +steadfastly as he could, and saw some of the stars very much agitated, +and some less, as the corks upon a net; and some whirled round like +a spindle, having a very irregular and uneven motion, and not being +able to run in a straight line. And thus the voice said: Those that +have a straight and regular motion belong to souls which are very +manageable, by reason of their genteel breeding and philosophical +education, and which upon earth do not plunge themselves into the foul +clay and become irrational. But those that move irregularly, sometimes +upwards, sometimes downwards, as striving to break loose from a vexing +chain, are yoked to and strive with very untractable conditions, which +ignorance and want of learning make headstrong and ungovernable. +Sometimes they get the better of the passions, and draw them to the +right side; sometimes they are drawn away by them, and sink into sin +and folly, and then again endeavor to get out. For the tie, as it were +a bridle on the irrational part of the soul, when it is pulled back, +draws in repentance for past sins, and shame for loose and unlawful +pleasures, which is a pain and stroke inflicted on the soul by a +governing and prevailing power; till by this means it becomes gentle +and manageable, and like a tamed beast, without blows or torment, it +understands the minutest direction of the Daemon. Such indeed are but +very slowly and very hardly brought to a right temper; but of that +sort which from the very beginning are governable and obedient to the +direction of the Daemon, are those prophetic souls, those intimates of +the Gods. Such was the soul of Hermodorus the Clazomenian, of which it +is reported that for several nights and days it would leave his body, +travel over many countries, and return after it had viewed things and +discoursed with persons at a great distance; till at last, by the +treachery of his wife, his body was delivered to his enemies, and they +burnt the house while the inhabitant was abroad. It is certain, this +is a mere fable. The soul never went out of the body, but it loosened +the tie that held the Daemon, and permitted it to wander; so that +this, seeing and hearing the various external occurrences, brought +in the news to it; yet those that burnt his body are even till this +time severely tormented in the deepest pit of hell. But this, youth, +you shall more clearly perceive three months hence; now depart. The +voice continuing no longer, Timarchus (as he said) turned about to +discover who it was that spoke; but a violent pain, as if his skull +had been pressed together, seized his head, so that he lost all sense +and understanding; but in a little while recovering, he found himself +in the entrance of the cave, where he at first lay down. + +23. This was Timarchus’s story; and when at Athens, in the third month +after he had heard the voice, he died. We, amazed at the event, told +Socrates the whole tale. Socrates was angry with us for not discovering +it whilst Timarchus was alive; for he would very gladly have had a more +full discovery from his own mouth. I have done, Theocritus, with the +story and discourse; but pray, shall we not entreat the stranger to +discuss this point? For it is a very proper subject for excellent and +divine men. What then, said Theanor, shall we not have the opinion of +Epaminondas, who is of the same school, and as well learned as myself +in these matters? But my father with a smile said: Sir, that is his +humor; he loves to be silent, he is very cautious how he proposeth any +thing, but will hear eternally, and is never weary of an instructive +story; so that Spintharus the Tarentine, who lived with him a long +time, would often say that he never met a man that knew more, or spake +less. Therefore, pray sir, let us have your thoughts. + +24. Then, said Theanor, in my opinion, that story of Timarchus +should be accounted sacred and inviolable, and consecrated to God; +and I wonder that any one should disbelieve his report, as Simmias +has related it. Swans, horses, dogs, and dragons we sometimes call +sacred; and yet we cannot believe that men are sacred and favorites +of Heaven, though we confess the love of man and not the love of +birds to be an attribute of the Deity. Now as one that loves horses +doth not take an equal care of the whole kind, but always choosing +out some one excellent, rides, trains, feeds, and loves him above the +rest; so amongst men, the superior powers, choosing, as it were, the +best out of the whole herd, breed them more carefully and nicely; +not directing them, it is true, by reins and bridles, but by reason +imparted by certain notices and signs, which the vulgar and common +sort do not understand. For neither do all dogs know the huntsman’s, +nor all horses the jockey’s signs; but those that are bred to it are +easily directed by a whistle or a hollow, and very readily obey. And +Homer seems to have understood the difference I mention; for some of +the prophets he calls augurs, some priests, some such as understood +the voice of the very Gods, were of the same mind with them, and could +foretell things; thus, + + Helenus Priam’s son the same decreed, + On which consulting Gods before agreed. + +And in another place, + + As I heard lately from th’ immortal Gods.[208] + +For as those that are not near the persons of kings or commanders +understand their minds by fire-signals, proclamation, sound of trumpet, +or the like, but their favorites receive it from their own mouth; so +the Deity converses immediately but with very few, and very seldom; but +to most he gives signs, from which the art of divination is gathered. +So that the Gods direct the lives of very few, and of such only whom +they intend to raise to the highest degree of perfection and happiness. +Those souls (as Hesiod sings) that are not to be put into another body, +but are freed from all union with flesh, turn guardian Daemons and +preside over others. For as wrestlers, when old age makes them unfit +for exercise, have some love for it still left, delight to see others +wrestle, and encourage them; so souls that have passed all the stages +of life, and by their virtue are exalted into Daemons, do not slight +the endeavors of man, but being kind to those that strive for the same +attainments, and in some sort banding and siding with them, encourage +and help them on, when they see them near their hope and ready to +catch the desired prize. For the Daemon doth not go along with every +one; but as in a shipwreck, those that are far from land their friends +standing on the shore only look upon and pity, but those that are near +they encourage and wade in to save; so the Daemon deals with mankind. +Whilst we are immersed in worldly affairs, and are changing bodies, as +fit vehicles for our conveyance, he lets us alone to try our strength, +patiently to stem the tide and get into the haven by ourselves; but +if a soul hath gone through the trials of a thousand generations, and +now, when her course is almost finished, strives bravely, and with a +great deal of labor endeavors to ascend, the Deity permits her proper +Genius to aid her, and even gives leave to any other that is willing to +assist. The Daemon, thus permitted, presently sets about the work; and +upon his approach, if the soul obeys and hearkens to his directions, +she is saved; if not, the Daemon leaves her, and she lies in a +miserable condition. + +25. This discourse was just ended, when Epaminondas looking upon me, +said: Caphisias, it is time for you to be at the ring, your usual +company will expect you; we, as soon as we break company, will take +care of Theanor. And I replied: Sir, I’ll go presently, but I think +Theocritus here hath something to say to you and me and Galaxidorus. +Let’s hear it in God’s name, said he; and rising up, he led us into a +corner of the porch. When we had him in the midst of us, we all began +to desire him to make one in the conspiracy. He replied that he knew +the day appointed for the exiles’ return, and that he and Gorgidas had +their friends ready upon occasion; but that he was not for killing any +of the citizens without due process of law, unless some grave necessity +seemed to warrant the execution. Besides, it was requisite that there +should be some unconcerned in the design; for such the multitude would +not be jealous of, but would think what they advised was for the good +of the commonwealth, that their counsels proceeded from the love they +had for their country, and not from any design of procuring their own +safety. This motion we liked; he returned to Simmias and his company, +and we went to the ring, where we met our friends, and as we wrestled +together, communicated our thoughts to one another, and put things in +order for action. There we saw Philip and Archias very spruce, anointed +and perfumed, going away to the prepared feast; for Phyllidas, fearing +they would execute Amphitheus before supper, as soon as he had brought +Lysanoridas going, went to Archias, and putting him in hopes of the +woman’s company he desired, and assuring him she would be at the place +appointed, soon trepanned him into stupid carelessness and sensuality +with his fellow-wantons. + +26. About the night, the wind rising, the sharpness of the weather +increased, and that forced most to keep within doors; we meeting with +Damoclides, Pelopidas, and Theopompus received them, and others met +other of the exiles; for as soon as they were come over Cithaeron, +they separated, and the stormy weather obliged them to walk with their +faces covered, so that without any fear or danger they passed through +the city. Some as they entered had a flash of lightning on their +right-hand, without a clap of thunder, and that portended safety and +glory; intimating that their actions should be splendid and without +danger. + +27. When we were all together in the house (eight and forty in number), +and Theocritus in a little room by himself offering sacrifice, there +was heard on a sudden a loud knocking at the gate; and presently one +came and told us that two of Archias’s guard, who had some earnest +business with Charon, knocked at the gate, demanding entrance, and +were very angry that they were not admitted sooner. Charon surprised +commanded the doors to be opened presently, and going to meet them +with a garland on his head, as if he had been sacrificing or making +merry, asked their business. One of them replied, Philip and Archias +sent us to tell you that you must come before them presently. And +Charon demanding why they sent for him in such haste, and if all was +well; We know nothing more, the messenger returned, but what answer +shall we carry back? That, replied Charon, putting off his garland and +putting on his cloak, I follow you; for should I go along with you, my +friends would be concerned, imagining that I am taken into custody. Do +so, said they, for we must go and carry the governor’s orders to the +city guard. With this they departed, but Charon coming in and telling +us the story, we were all very much surprised, imagining the design +had been discovered; and most suspected Hipposthenides, and thought +that he, having endeavored to hinder their coming through Chido and +failed, now the time for the dangerous attempt unavoidably approached, +grew faint-hearted and made a discovery of the plot. And this seemed +probable, for he did not appear at Charon’s house with the rest, +and so was looked upon by every one to be a rascal and a turncoat; +yet we all were of opinion that Charon ought to obey the governor’s +orders and go to them. Then he, commanding his son to be brought to +him,—the prettiest youth, Archidamus, in all Thebes, skilled in most +exercises, scarce fifteen years old, but very strong and lusty for his +age,—thus said: Friends, this is my only and my beloved son, and him I +put into your hands, conjuring you by all that’s good, if you find me +treacherous, to kill him and have no mercy upon him for my sake; but +as for your parts, sirs, be provided against the worst that can come; +do not yield your bodies tamely to be butchered by base fellows, but +behave yourselves bravely, and preserve your souls invincible for the +good and glory of your country. When Charon had ended, we admired the +honesty and bravery of the man, but were angry at his suspicion, and +bade him take away his son. Charon, said Pelopidas, we should have +taken it more kindly, if you had removed your son into another house, +for why should he suffer for being in our company? Nay, let us send him +away now, that, if we fall, he may live, and grow up to punish the +tyrants and be a brave revenger of our deaths. By no means, replied +Charon, he shall stay here, and run the same danger with you all, for +it is not best that he should fall into the power of his enemies; and +you, my boy, be daring above thy age, and with these brave citizens +venture upon necessary dangers for the defence of liberty and virtue; +for we have good hopes still left, and perhaps some God will protect us +in this just and generous undertaking. + +28. These words of his, Archidamus, drew tears from many; but he not +shedding so much as one, and delivering his son to Pelopidas, went +out of the door, saluting and encouraging every one as he went. But +you would have been exceedingly surprised at the serene and fearless +temper of the boy, with a soul as great as that of Achilles’s son; +for he did not change color or seem concerned, but drew out and tried +the goodness of Pelopidas’s sword. In the mean time Diotonus, one of +Cephisodorus’s friends, came to us with his sword girt and breastplate +on; and understanding that Archias had sent for Charon, he chid our +delay, and urged us to go and set upon the house presently; for so we +should be too quick for them, and take them unprovided. Or, if we did +not like that proposal, he said, it was better to go out and fall upon +them while they were scattered and in confusion, than to coop ourselves +up altogether in one room, and like a hive of bees be taken off by our +enemies. Theocritus likewise pressed us to go on, affirming that the +sacrifices were lucky, and promised safety and success. + +29. Upon this, whilst we were arming and setting ourselves in order, +Charon came in, looking very merrily and jocund, and with a smile +said: Courage, sirs, there is no danger, but the design goes on very +well; for Archias and Philip, as soon as they heard that according to +their order I was come, being very drunk and weakened in body and +understanding, with much ado came out to me; and Archias said, I hear +that the exiles are returned, and lurk privately in town. At this I +was very much surprised, but recovering myself asked, Who are they, +sir, and where? We don’t know, said Archias, and therefore sent for +you, to enquire whether you had heard any clear discovery; and I, as it +were surprised, considering a little with myself, imagined that what +they heard was only uncertain report, and that none of the associates +had made this discovery (for then they would have known the house), +but that it was a groundless suspicion and rumor about town that came +to their ears, and therefore said: I remember, whilst Androclidas was +alive, that a great many idle lying stories were spread abroad, to +trouble and amuse us; but, sir, I have not heard one word of this, yet +if you please, I will enquire what ground there is for it, and if I +find any thing considerable, I shall give you notice. Yes, pray, said +Phyllidas, examine this matter very narrowly; slight no particular, +be very diligent and careful, foresight is very commendable and safe. +When he had said this, he led back Archias into the room, where they +are now drinking. But, sirs, let us not delay, but begging the God’s +assistance, put ourselves presently upon action. Upon this, we went to +prayers, and encouraged one another. + +30. It was now full supper-time, the wind was high, and snow and +small rain fell, so that the streets and narrow lanes we passed +were all empty. They that were to assault Leontidas and Hypates, +whose houses joined, went out in their usual clothes, having no arms +besides their swords; amongst those were Pelopidas, Democlides, and +Cephisodorus. Charon, Melon, and the rest that were to set upon +Archias, put on breastplates, and shady fir or pine garlands upon +their heads; some dressed themselves in women’s clothes, so that they +looked like a drunken company of mummers. But our enemies’ unlucky +Fortune, Archidamus, resolving to make their folly and carelessness as +conspicuous as our eagerness and courage, and having, as in a play, +intermixed a great many dangerous underplots into our plan, now, at +the very point of its execution, presented to us a most unexpected +and hazardous adventure. For whilst Charon, as soon as ever he parted +from Archias and Philip, was come back and was setting us forward to +execute the design, a letter from Archias, the chief-priest of Athens, +was sent to Archias our governor, which contained a full discovery of +the plot, in what house the exiles met, and who were the associates. +Archias being now dead drunk, and quite beside himself with expectation +of the desired women, took the letter; and the bearer saying, “Sir, +it contains matter of concern,” “Matters of concern to-morrow,” he +replied, and clapped it under his cushion; and calling for the glass, +he bade the servant fill a brimmer, and sent Phyllidas often to the +door to see if the women were coming. + +31. The hopes of this company made them sit long; and we coming +opportunely quickly forced our way through the servants to the hall, +and stood a little at the door, to take notice of every one at table; +our shady garlands and apparel disguising our intentions, all sat +silent, in expectation of what would follow. But as soon as Melon, +laying his hand upon his sword, was making through the midst of them, +Cabirichus (who was the archon chosen by lot) catching him by the +arm cried out to Phyllidas, Is not this Melon? Melon loosed his hold +presently, and drawing out his sword, made at staggering Archias, +and laid him dead on the floor; Charon wounded Philip in the neck, +and whilst he endeavored to defend himself with the cups that were +about him, Lysitheus threw him off his seat, and ran him through. We +persuaded Cabirichus to be quiet, not to assist the tyrants, but to +join with us to free his country, for whose good he was consecrated +governor and devoted to the Gods. But when being drunk he would not +harken to reason, but grew high, began to bustle, and turned the +point of his spear upon us (for our governors always carry a spear +with them), I catching it in the midst, and raising it higher than my +head, desired him to let it go and consult his own safety, for else +he would be killed. But Theopompus, standing on his right side and +smiting him with his sword, said: Lie there, with those whose interest +you espoused; thou shalt not wear the garland in freed Thebes, nor +sacrifice to the Gods any more, by whom thou hast so often curst thy +country, by making prayers so many times for the prosperity of her +enemies. Cabirichus falling, Theocritus standing by snatched up the +sacred spear, and kept it from being stained; and some few of the +servants that dared to resist we presently despatched; the others that +were quiet we shut up in the hall, being very unwilling that they +should get abroad and make any discovery, till we knew whether the +other company had succeeded in their attempt. + +32. They managed their business thus: Pelopidas and those with him went +softly and knocked at Leontidas’s gate; and a servant coming to demand +their business, they said, they came from Athens, and brought a letter +from Callistratus to Leontidas. The servant went and acquainted his +master, and was ordered to open the door; as soon as it was unbarred, +they all violently rushed in, and overturning the servant ran through +the hall directly to Leontidas’s chamber. He, presently suspecting what +was the matter, drew his dagger and stood upon his guard; an unjust +man, it is true, and a tyrant, but courageous and strong of his hands; +but he forgot to put out the candle and get amongst the invaders in the +dark, and so appearing in the light, as soon as they opened the door, +he ran Cephisodorus through the belly. Next he engaged Pelopidas, +and cried out to the servants to come and help; but those Samidas and +his men secured, nor did they dare to come to handy blows with the +strongest and most valiant of the citizens. There was a smart encounter +between Pelopidas and Leontidas, for the passage was very narrow, and +Cephisodorus falling and dying in the midst, nobody else could come to +strike one blow. At last Pelopidas, receiving a slight wound in the +head, with repeated thrusts overthrew Leontidas, and killed him upon +Cephisodorus, who was yet breathing; for he saw his enemy fall, and +shaking Pelopidas by the hand, and saluting all the rest, he died with +a smile upon his face. This done, they went to the house of Hypates, +and entering after the same manner, they pursued Hypates, flying over +the roof into a neighbor’s house, and caught and killed him. + +33. From thence they marched directly to us, and we met in the piazza; +and having saluted and told one another our success, we went all to +the prison. And Phyllidas, calling out the keeper, said: Philip and +Archias command you to bring Amphitheus presently before them. But +he, considering the unseasonableness of the time, and that Phyllidas, +as being yet hot and out of breath, spoke with more than ordinary +concern, suspected the cheat, and replied to Phyllidas: Pray, sir, did +ever the governors send for a prisoner at such a time before? Or ever +by you? What warrant do you bring? As he was prating thus, Phyllidas +ran him through,—a base fellow, upon whose carcass the next day many +women spat and trampled. We, breaking open the prison door, first +called out Amphitheus by name, and then others, as every one had a +mind; they, knowing our voice, jocundly leaped out of their straw in +which they lay, with their chains upon their legs. The others that +were in the stocks held out their hands, and begged us not to leave +them behind. These being set free, many of the neighbors came in to +us, understanding and rejoicing for what was done. The women too, as +soon as they were acquainted with the flying report, unmindful of the +Boeotian strictness, ran out to one another, and enquired of every +one they met how things went. Those that found their fathers or their +husbands followed them; for the tears and prayers of the modest women +were a very great incitement to all they met. + +34. Our affairs being in this condition, understanding that +Epaminondas, Gorgidas, and their friends were drawing into a body about +Minerva’s temple, I went to them. Many honest worthy citizens at first +joined, and their number continually increased. When I had informed +them in the particulars of what was done, and desired them to march +into the market-place to assist their friends, they proclaimed liberty; +and the multitude were furnished with, arms out of the piazzas, that +were stuffed with spoil, and the neighboring armorers’ shops. Then +Hipposthenides with his friends and servants appeared, having by chance +joined the trumpeters that were coming to Thebes, against the feast of +Hercules. Straight some gave the alarm in the market-place, others in +other parts of the city, distracting their enemies on all sides, as +if the whole city was in arms. Some, lighting smoky fire, concealed +themselves in the cloud and fled to the castle, drawing to them the +select band which used to keep guard about the castle all night. The +garrison of the castle, when these poured in among them scattered and +in disorder, though they saw us all in confusion, and knew we had +no standing compact body, yet would not venture to make a descent, +though they were above five thousand strong. They were really afraid, +but pretended they dared not move without Lysanoridas’s orders, who, +contrary to his usual custom, was absent from the castle that day. For +which neglect, the Spartans (as I was told), having got Lysanoridas +into their hands, fined him heavily; and having taken Hermippidas and +Arcesus at Corinth, they put them both to death without delay. And +surrendering the castle to us upon articles, they marched out with +their garrison. + + + + +OF CURIOSITY, OR AN OVER-BUSY INQUISITIVENESS INTO THINGS IMPERTINENT. + + +1. If a dwelling-house, by reason of its ill situation or contrivance, +be not commodiously light and airy, or too much exposed to ill weather +and unhealthy, it is most advisable entirely to quit such a habitation, +unless perhaps, through continuance of time, neighborhood of friends, +or any other endearing circumstance, a man should become much wedded +to the place; in which case it may be possible, by the alteration of +windows and new placing of doors and staircases, either to remove or to +lessen these inconveniences. By such like remedies, even whole cities +have been much amended and improved both as to health and pleasantness; +and it is said of the place of my nativity particularly, that, while it +once lay open to the western winds, and to the beams of the declining +sun streaming over the top of Parnassus, it was by Chaeron turned +toward the east; but it is thought that Empedocles the naturalist +secured that whole region round about from the pestilence, by closing +up the rift of a certain mountain, from whence a contagious southerly +damp breathed forth upon the flat of that country. And now, since there +are several noxious qualities and distempered passions that lurk within +the body too, which is the more immediate habitation of the soul,—and +which, like the dark and tempestuous weather that is without, do cloud +and disturb it,—therefore the like method which has been observed in +curing the defects and annoyances of an ill-contrived and unhealthy +dwelling may be followed here, in rendering the body a more commodious, +serviceable, and delightful mansion for the soul. Wherein that it +may enjoy its desired calmness and serenity, it will conduce beyond +all other expedients whatsoever, that those blind, tumultuous, and +extravagant passions should be expelled or extinguished utterly; or, if +that cannot be, yet that they be so far reduced and moderated, and so +prudently applied and accommodated to their proper objects, that the +mischief and disorder of them (at least) may be removed. + +Among these may deservedly be accounted that sort of curiosity, which, +by its studious prying into the evils of mankind, seems to be a +distemper of envy and ill-nature. + + Why envious wretch, with such a piercing ray, + Blind to thine own, dost others’ faults survey? + +If the knowledge of ill can reward the industrious search with so much +delight and pleasure, turn the point of thy curiosity upon thyself and +thine own affairs, and thou shalt within doors find matter enough for +the most laborious enquiries, plentiful as + + Water in Aliso’s stream, or leaves about the oak. + +So vast a heap of offences shalt thou find in thy own conversation, +such variety of perturbations in thy soul, and manifold failures in +thy duty. To take a distinct and orderly survey of all which, that of +Xenophon will be good direction, who said, that it was the manner of +discreet housekeepers to place their weapons of war, utensils for the +kitchen, instruments of husbandry, and furniture for religious and +sacred services, each in several and proper repositories. So every +man that would make an exact enquiry into and take a just account +of himself, should first make a particular search into the several +mischiefs that proceed from each passion within him, whether it be +envy or jealousy, covetousness or cowardice, or any other vicious +inclination; and then distribute and range them all (as it were) into +distinct apartments. + +This done, make thy reviews upon them with the most accurate +inspection, so that nothing may divert thee from the severest scrutiny; +obstruct every prospect that looks towards thy neighbors’ quarters, +and close up all those avenues which may lead thee to any foreign +curiosity; become an eavesdropper to thine own house, listen to the +whispers of thine own walls, and observe those secret arts of the +female closet, the close intrigues of the parlor, and the treacherous +practices of thy servants, which thy own windows will discover to thee. +Here this inquisitive and busy disposition may find an employment +that will be of use and advantage, and is neither ill-natured nor +impertinent; while every man shall call himself to this strict +examination. + + Where have I err’d? What have I said, or done? + What duty, when, and how have I foregone? + +2. But now, as the poets feign concerning Lamia, that upon her going to +bed she lays aside her eyes among the attirements of her dressing-box, +and is at home for the most part blind and drowsy too, and puts on +her eyes only when she goes abroad a gadding; so it is with most +men, who, through a kind of an affected ignorance and artificial +blindness, commonly blunder and stumble at their own threshold, are the +greatest strangers to their own personal defects, and of all others +least familiarly acquainted with their own domestic ills and follies. +But when they look abroad, their sight is sharpened with all the +watchful and laborious curiosity imaginable, which serves as deforming +spectacles to an evil eye, that is already envenomed by the malignity +of a worse nature. + +And hence it is, that a person of this busy meddlesome disposition is +a greater friend to them he hates than to himself; for overlooking +his own concerns, through his being so heedfully intent on those of +other men, he reproves and exposes their miscarriages, admonishes them +of the errors and follies they ought to correct, and affrights them +into greater caution for the future; so that not only the careless and +unwary, but even the more sober and prudent persons, may gain no small +advantage from the impertinence and ill-nature of inquisitive people. + +It was a remarkable instance of the prudence of Ulysses, that, going +into the regions of departed souls, he would not exchange so much as +one word with his mother there till he had first obtained an answer +from the oracle and despatched the business he came about; and then, +turning to her, he afforded some small time for a few impertinent +questions about the other women upon the place, asking which was Tyro, +and which the fair Chloris, and concerning the unfortunate Epicasta, +why, + + Noosed to a lofty beam, she would suspended die.[209] + +But we through extreme sloth and ignorance, being stupidly careless of +our own affairs, must be idly spending our time and talk either about +our neighbor’s pedigree, how that such a one had a tapster for his +grandfather, and that his grandmother was a laundress; or that another +owes three or four talents, and is not able to pay the interest. Nay, +and such trivial stuff as this we busy ourselves about,—where such a +man’s wife has been all this while; and what it was, that this and the +other fellow have been talking of in a corner. But the wise Socrates +employed his curiosity to better purpose, when he went about enquiring +by what excellent precepts Pythagoras obtained so great authority among +his followers; and Aristippus, meeting Ischomachus at the Olympic +games, asked him what those notions were with which Socrates had so +powerfully charmed the minds of his young scholars; upon the slight +information whereof, he was so passionately inflamed with a desire of +going to Athens, that he grew pale and lean, and almost languished till +he came to drink of the fountain itself, and had been acquainted with +the person of Socrates, and more fully learned that philosophy of his, +the design of which was to teach men how to discover their own ills and +apply proper remedies to them. + +3. But to some sort of men their own life and actions would appear +the most unpleasant spectacle in the world, and therefore they fly +from the light of their conscience, and cannot bear the torture of +one reflecting thought upon themselves; for when the soul, being once +defiled with all manner of wickedness, is scared at its own hideous +deformity, it endeavors to run from itself, and ranging here and there, +it pampers its own malignity with malicious speculations on the ills of +others. + +It is observed of the hen that, loathing the plenty of meat that is +cast before her on a clean floor, she will be scratching in a hole or +spurning the dunghill, in search of one single musty grain. So these +over-busy people, neglecting such obvious and common things into which +any man may enquire and talk of without offence, cannot be satisfied +unless they rake into the private and concealed evils of every family +in the neighborhood. It was smartly said by the Egyptian, who, being +asked what it was he carried so closely, replied, it was therefore +covered that it might be secret. Which answer will serve to check +the curiosity of those impertinent men who will be always peeping +into the privacies of others; for assuredly there is nothing usually +more concealed than what is too foul to be seen; nor would it be kept +so close, were it either fit or safe it should be known. Without +knocking at the door, it is great rudeness to enter another’s house, +and therefore in former times were rappers fitted to the gates, that +by the noise thereof notice might be given to the family; for the +same purpose are porters appointed now, lest, a stranger coming in +unawares, the mistress or daughter of the family might be surprised +busy or undressed, or a servant be seen under correction, or the maids +be overheard in the heat of their scolding. But a person of this +prying busy temper, who would disdain the being invited to a sober +and well-governed house, will yet even forcibly intrude himself as a +spy into the indecencies of private families; and he pries into those +very things which locks, bolts, and doors were intended to secure from +common view, for no other end but to discover them to all the world. +Aristo said that those winds were the most troublesome which blew up +one’s garments and exposed one’s nakedness; but these inquisitive +people deprive us of all the shelter or security of walls and doors, +and like the wanton air, which pervades the veil and steals through +the closest guards of virgin modesty, they insinuate into those +divertisements which are hidden in the retirements of the night, and +strip men even to their very skin. + +4. So that—as it is merrily said by the comedian concerning Cleon, +that “his hands were in Aetolia, and his soul in Thieftown”[210]—the +hands and feet, eyes and thoughts of inquisitive persons are straggling +about in many places at once. Neither the mansions of the great, nor +the cottages of the poor, nor the privy chambers of princes, nor +the recesses of the nuptial alcove, can escape the search of their +curiosity; they are familiar to the affairs of strangers, and will +be prying into the darkest mysteries of state, although it be to the +manifest peril of their being ruined by it. For as to him that will be +curiously examining the virtues of medicinal herbs, the unwary taste +of a venomous plant conveys a deleterious impression upon the brain, +before its noxious quality can be discerned by the palate; so they +that boldly pry into the ills of great persons usually meet with their +own destruction, sooner than they can discover the dangerous secret +they enquire after. And so it happens that, when the rashly curious +eye, not contented to expatiate in the free and boundless region of +reflected light, will be gazing at the imperial seat of brightness, it +becomes a sacrifice to the burning rays, and straight sinks down in +penal darkness. + +It was therefore well said by Philippides the comedian, who, being +asked by King Lysimachus what he desired might be imparted to him, +replied, Any thing but a secret. And indeed, those things in the courts +of princes that are most pleasant in themselves and most delightful to +be known,—such as balls, magnificent entertainments, and all the shows +of pomp and greatness,—are exposed to common view, nor do they ever +hide those divertisements and enjoyments which are the attendants of +a prosperous estate; but in what cases soever they seem reserved,—as +when they are conceiving some high displeasure, or contriving the +methods of a revenge, or raging under a fit of jealousy, or suspicious +of the disloyal practices of their children, or dubious concerning +the treachery of a favorite,—come not near nor intermeddle, for every +thing is of a dreadful aspect and of very dangerous access that is thus +concealed. Fly from so black a cloud, whose darkness condenses into a +tempest; and it will be time enough, when its fury breaks forth with +flash and thunder, for thee to observe upon whose head the mischief +falls. + +5. But to avoid the danger of this curiosity, divert thy thoughts to +more safe and delightful enquiries; survey the wonders of nature in +the heavens, earth, the sea, and air; in which thou hast a copious +choice of materials for the more sublime, as well as the more easy and +obvious contemplations. If thy more piercing wit aspires to the noblest +enquiries, consider the greater luminary in its diurnal motion, in +what part of heaven its morning beams are kindled, and where those +chambers of the night are placed which entertain its declining lustre. +View the moon in all her changes, the just representation of human +vicissitudes, and learn the causes that destroy and then restore her +brightness:— + + How from an infant-spark sprung out of night, + She swells into a perfect globe of light; + And soon her beauties thus repaired die, + Wasting into their first obscurity.[211] + +These are indeed the great secrets of Nature, whose depth may perhaps +amaze and discourage thy enquiries. Search therefore into things +more obvious,—why the fruits of plants are shaped into such variety +of figures; why some are clothed with the verdure of a perennial +spring, and others, which sometime were no less fresh and fair, like +hasty spendthrifts, lavish away the bounty of Heaven in one summer’s +gayety, and stand naked to the succeeding frosts. But such harmless +speculations will perchance affect thee little, and it may be thou +hast that malignity in thy temper which, like venomous beasts that +cannot live out of stink and putrefaction, must be ever preying upon +the follies and miseries of mankind. Peruse therefore the histories +of the world, wherein thou shalt find such vast heaps of wickedness +and mischiefs, made up of the downfalls and sudden deaths of great +men,[212] the rapes and defilements of women, the treacheries of +servants, the falseness of friends, the arts of poisoning, the fatal +effects of envy and jealousy, the ruin of families, dethroning of +princes, with many other such direful occurrences as may not only +delight and satisfy, but even cloy and nauseate thy ill-natured +curiosity. + +6. But neither (as it appears) are such antiquated evils any agreeable +entertainment to people of this perverse disposition; they hearken +most to modern tragedies, and such doleful accidents as may be grateful +as well for the novelty as the horror of the relation. All pleasant +and cheerful converse is irksome to them; so that if they happen into +a company that are talking of weddings, the solemnities of sacred +rites, or pompous processions, they make as though they heard not, or, +to divert and shorten the discourse, will pretend they knew as much +before. Yet, if any one should relate how such a wench had a child +before the time, or that a fellow was caught with another man’s wife, +or that certain people were at law with each other, or that there +was an unhappy difference between near relations, he no longer sits +unconcerned or minds other things, but + + With ears pricked up, he listens. What, and when, + And how, he asks; pray say, let’s hear’t again! + +And indeed, that proverbial saying, “Ill news goes quick and far,” was +occasioned chiefly by these busy ill-natured men, who very unwillingly +hear or talk of any thing else. For their ears, like cupping-glasses +that attract the most noxious humors in the body, are ever sucking in +the most spiteful and malicious reports; and, as in some cities there +are certain ominous gates through which nothing passes but scavenger’s +carts or the sledges of malefactors, so nothing goes in at their ears +or out of their mouths but obscene, tragical, and horrid relations. + + Howling and woe, as in a jail or hell, + Always infest the places where they dwell. + +This noise is to them like the Sirens’ song and the sweetest melody, +the most pleasant hearing in the world. + +Now this curiosity, being an affectation of knowledge in things +concealed, must needs proceed from a great degree of spite and envy. +For men do not usually hide, but ambitiously proclaim whatever is +for their honor or interest to be known; and therefore to pry into +what is industriously covered can be for no other purpose than +that secret delight curious persons enjoy in the discovery of other +men’s ills,—which is spite,—and the relief they gather thence, to +ease themselves under their tormenting resentment at another’s +prosperity,—which is envy;—both which spring from that savage and +brutal disposition which we call ill-nature. + +7. But how ungrateful it is to mankind to have their evils enquired +into appears from hence; that some have chosen rather to die than +disclose a secret disease to their physician. Suppose then that +Herophilus or Erasistratus, or Aesculapius himself when he was upon +earth, should have gone about from house to house, enquiring whether +any there had a fistula in ano or cancer in utero to be cured. Although +such a curiosity as this might in them seem much more tolerable, from +the charity of their design and the benefit intended by their art; yet +who would not rebuke the saucy officiousness of that quack who should, +unsent for, thus impudently pry into those privy distempers which the +modesty or perhaps the guilt of the patient would blush or abhor to +discover, though it were for the sake of a cure? But those that are of +this curious and busy humor cannot forbear searching into these, and +other ills too that are of a more secret nature; and—what makes the +practice the more exceedingly odious and detestable—the intent is not +to remedy, but expose them to the world. It is not ill taken, if the +searchers and officers of the customs do inspect goods openly imported, +but only when, with a design of being vexatious and troublesome, they +rip up the unsuspected packets of private passengers; and yet even this +they are by law authorized to do, and it is sometimes to their loss, if +they do not. But curious and meddlesome people will be ever enquiring +into other men’s affairs, without leave or commission, though it be to +the great neglect and damage of their own. + +It is farther observable concerning this sort of men, how averse they +are to living long in the country, as being not able to endure the +quiet and calm of a retired solitude. But if by chance they take a +short ramble to their country-house, the main of their business there +is more to enquire into their neighbors’ concerns than their own; that +they may know how other men’s fruit-trees are blasted, the number of +cattle they have lost, and what a scanty harvest they are like to have, +and how well their wine keeps; with which impertinent remarks having +filled their giddy brains, the worm wags, and away they must to the +town again. Now a true bred rustic, if he by chance meet with any news +from the city, presently turns his head another way, and in his blunt +language thus reflects upon the impertinence of it: + + One can’t at quiet eat, nor plough one’s lond; + Zo much us country-voke they bear in hond + With tales, which idle rascals blow about, + How kings (and well, vhat then?) vall in and out. + +8. But the busy cit hates the country, as a dull unfashionable thing, +and void of mischief; and therefore keeps himself to the town, that he +may be among the crowds that throng the courts, exchange, and wharfs, +and pick up all the idle stories. Here he goes about pumping, What news +d’ye hear? Were not you upon the exchange to-day, sir? The city’s in +a very ticklish posture, what d’ye think on’t? In two or three hours’ +time we may be altogether by the ears. If he’s riding post, he will +light off his horse, and even hug and kiss a fellow that has a story +to tell him; and stay never so long, till he hears it out. But if any +one upon demand shall answer, No news! he replies, as in a passion, +What, have you been neither at the exchange or market to-day? Have +you not been towards the court lately? Have you not heard any thing +from those gentlemen that newly came out of Italy? It was (methinks) +a good piece of policy among the Locrians, that if any person coming +from abroad but once asked concerning news, he was presently confined +for his curiosity; for as cooks and fishmongers wish for plenty in the +commodities they trade with, so inquisitive people that deal much in +news are ever longing for innovations, alterations, variety of action, +or any thing that is mischievous and unlucky, that they may find store +of game for their restless ill-nature to hunt and prey upon. Charondas +also did well in prohibiting comedians by law from exposing any citizen +upon the stage, unless it were for adultery or this malignant sort of +curiosity. And indeed there is a near affinity between these two vices, +for adultery is nothing else but the curiosity of discovering another +man’s secret pleasures, and the itch of knowing what is hidden; and +curiosity is (as it were) a rape and violence committed upon other +people’s privacies. + +9. And now as the accumulation of notions in the head usually begets +multiplicity of words,—for which reason Pythagoras thought fit to +check the too early loquacity of his scholars, by imposing on them +five years’ silence from their first admission,—so the same curiosity +that is thus inquisitive to know is no less intemperate in talking +too, and must needs be as ill-spoken as it is ill-natured. And hence +it is that curiosity does not only become a restraint to the vices and +follies of others, but is a disappointment also to itself. For all +mankind are exceeding shy of inquisitive persons: no serious business +is consulted of where they are; and if they chance to surprise men in +the negotiation of any affair, it is presently laid aside as carefully +as the housewife locks up her fish from the cat; nor (if it be possible +to avoid it) is any thing of moment said or done in their company. But +whatever is freely permitted to any other people to see, hear, or talk +of, is kept as a great secret from persons of this busy impertinent +disposition; and there is no man but would commit his letters, papers, +and writings to the care of a servant or a stranger, rather than to an +acquaintance or relation of this busy and blabbing humor. + +By the great command which Bellerophon had over his curiosity, he +resisted the solicitations of a lustful woman, and (though it were to +the hazard of his life) abstained from opening the letters wherein he +was designed to be the messenger of his own destruction. For curiosity +and adultery (as was intimated before) are both vices of incontinence; +only they are aggravated by a peculiar degree of madness and folly, +beyond what is found in most other vices of this nature. And can there +any thing be more sottish, than for a man to pass by the doors of so +many common prostitutes that are ready to seize him in the streets, +and to beleaguer the lodgings of some coy and recluse female that +is far more costly, and perhaps far less comely too, than a hackney +three-penny strumpet? But such is plainly the frensy of curious +persons, who, despising all those things that are of easy access and +unenvied enjoyment,—such as are the divertisements of the theatre, the +conversation of the ingenious, and the discourses of the learned,—must +be breaking open other men’s letters, listening at their neighbors’ +doors, peeping in at their windows, or whispering with their servants; +a practice which (as it deserves) is commonly dangerous, but ever +extremely base and ignominious. + +10. Now to dissuade inquisitive persons (as much as possible) from +this sneaking and most despicable humor, it would contribute much, +if they would but recollect and review all their past observations. +For as Simonides, using at certain times to open two chests he kept +by him, found that wherein he put rewards ever full, and the other +appointed for thanks always empty; so, if inquisitive people did but +now and then look into their bag of news, they would certainly be +ashamed of that vain and foolish curiosity which, with so much hazard +and trouble to themselves, had been gathering together such a confused +heap of worthless and loathsome trash. If a man, in reading over the +writings of the ancients, should rake together all the dross he could +meet with, and collect into one volume all the unfinished scraps of +verse in Homer, the incongruous expressions in the tragedians, or those +obscenities of smutty Archilochus for which he was scorned and pointed +at, would not such a filthy scavenger of books well deserve that curse +of the tragedian, + + Pox on your taste! Must you, like lice and fleas, + Be always fed with scabs and nastiness? + +But without this imprecation, the practice itself becomes its own +punishment, in the dishonest and unprofitable drudgery of amassing +together such a noisome heap of other men’s vices and follies; a +treasure much resembling the city Poneropolis (or _Rogue-town_), +so called by King Philip after he had peopled it with a crew of rogues +and vagabonds. For curious people do so load their dirty brains with +the ribaldry and solecisms of other men’s writings, as well as the +defects and blemishes of their lives, that there is not the least room +left in their heads for one witty, graceful, or ingenious thought. + +There is a sort of people at Rome who, being unaffected with any thing +that is beautiful and pretty, either in the works of art or nature, +despise the most curious pieces in painting or sculpture, and the +fairest boys and girls that are there exposed to sale, as not worth +their money; therefore they much frequent the monster-market, looking +after people of distorted limbs and preternatural shapes, of three eyes +and pointed heads, and mongrels + + Where kinds of unlike form oft blended be + Into one hideous deformity.[213] + +All which are sights so loathsome, that they themselves would +abhor them were they compelled often to behold them. And if they +who curiously enquire into those vicious deformities and unlucky +accidents that may be observed in the lives of other men would only +bind themselves to a frequent recollection of what they had seen and +heard, there would be found very little delight or advantage in such +ungrateful and melancholy reflections. + +11. Now since it is from the use and custom of intermeddling in the +affairs of other men that this perverse practice grows up into such a +vicious habit, therefore the best remedy thereof is, that beginning (as +it were) at a distance, and with such things as do less excite the itch +of our curiosity, we gradually bring ourselves to an utter desuetude of +enquiring into or being concerned at any of those things that do not +pertain unto us. Therefore let men first make trial of themselves in +smaller and less considerable matters. As for the purpose, why should +it be thought such a severe piece of self-denial for any man, as he +passes by, to forbear reading the inscriptions that are upon a monument +or gravestone, or the letters that are drawn on walls and sign-posts, +if it were but considered that there is nothing more, either for +delight or benefit, to be learned thereby, but that certain people +had a desire to preserve the memory of their friends and relations by +engraving their names on brass or marble, or that some impudent quack +or rooking tradesman wants money, and knows no other way to draw men to +their shop or lodgings, but by decoying billets and the invitation of +a show-board? The taking notice of which and such like things may seem +for the present harmless; yet there is really a secret mischief wrought +by it, while men, suffering their minds to rove so inconsiderately at +every thing they see, are inured to a foolish curiosity in busying +themselves about things impertinent. For as skilful huntsmen do not +permit their beagles to fling or change, but lead them forth in +couples, that their noses may be kept sharp for their proper game, + + With scent most quick of nostrils after kind, + The tracks of beast so wild in chase to find; + +so ought persons of an inquisitive temper to restrain the wanton +excursions of their curiosity, and confine it to observations of +prudence and sobriety. Thus the lion and eagle, which walk with their +claws sheathed to keep them always pointed for their prey, are an +example of that discretion which curious persons should imitate, by +carefully preserving those noble faculties of wit and understanding, +which were made for useful and excellent enquiries, from being dulled +and debauched with low and sottish speculations. + +12. The second remedy of this curiosity is that we accustom ourselves +in passing by not to peep in at other men’s doors or windows, for in +this case the hand and eye are much alike guilty; and Xenocrates said, +“One may as well go as look into another man’s house,” because the eye +may reach what the hand cannot, and wander where the foot does not +come. And besides, it is neither genteel nor civil thus to gaze about. +A well-bred person will commonly discover very little that is either +meet or delightful to look on; but foul dishes perhaps lying about the +floor, or wenches in lazy or immodest postures, and nothing that is +decent or in good order; but as one said upon this occasion, + + For ought that’s here worth seeing, friend, you may + Ev’n turn your prying look another way. + +And yet laying aside this consideration of uncomely sights, this very +staring and glancing of the eyes to and fro implies such a levity +of mind and so great a defect in good manners, as must needs render +the practice in itself very clownish and contemptible. When Diogenes +observed Dioxippus, a victor in the Olympic games, twisting his neck +as he sat in his chariot, that he might take the better view of a +fair damsel that came to see the sport, Look (says he) what a worthy +gamester goes there, that even a woman can turn him which way she +lists. But these busy-brained people do so twist and turn themselves +to every frivolous show, as if they had acquired a verticity in their +heads by their custom of gazing at all things round about them. Now +(methinks) it is by no means seemly, that the sense which ought +to behave itself as a handmaid to the soul (in doing its errands +faithfully, returning speedily, and keeping at home with submissive and +reserved modesty) should be suffered, like a wanton and ungovernable +servant, to be gadding abroad from her mistress, and straying about at +her pleasure. But this happens according to that of Sophocles, + + And then the Aenianian’s colts disdain + Bridle and bit, nor will abide the rein.[214] + +For so the senses, not exercised and well managed, will at every turn +break loose into wild excursions, and hurry reason along with them into +the same extravagance. + +It is said of Democritus, that he voluntarily put out his eyes by the +reflection of a burning-glass, that (as by the darkening of windows, +sometimes done for the same purpose) he might not by the allurements +of sense be called off from attending to his purely intellectual +contemplations. Although the story be false, yet this at least is +true, that those men who are most addicted to profound speculations +do least of all converse with impressions of sense. And therefore, +to prevent that interruption and disturbance which either noise or +impertinent visits might be to their philosophical enquiries, they +placed their studies at some distance from cities, and called the night +_Euphrone_ (from εὔφρων, of _good understanding_), thinking +that its quiet and stillness from all disturbances made it the fittest +season for meditation. + +13. Farther, to forbear mixing with a crowd of fellows that are +quarrelling in the market-place, or to sit still while the mad rabble +are rioting in the streets, or at least to get out of hearing of it, +will not be very difficult to any man that considers how little there +is to be gained by intermeddling with busy and unquiet people, and how +great the certain advantage is of bridling our curiosity, and bringing +it under subjection to the commands of reason. And thus, when by this +more easy discipline a man hath acquired some power over himself, +exercises of greater difficulty are to be attempted; as, for instance, +to forbear the theatre upon the tempting fame of some new and much +applauded play; to resist the importunity of a friend that invites thee +to a ball, an entertainment at the tavern, or a concert of music; and +not to be transported if thou chance at a distance to hear the din at a +race-course, or the noise at the circus. For as Socrates advises well, +that men should abstain from tasting those meats and drinks which, by +their exquisite pleasantness, tempt the palate to exceed the sober +measures of thirst and hunger, so are all those oblectations of the ear +and eye to be avoided which are apt to entice men into impertinence or +extravagance. When Araspes had commended the fair Panthea to Cyrus, as +a beauty worth his admiration, he replied: For that very reason I will +not see her, lest, if by thy persuasion I should see her but once, she +herself might persuade me to see her often, and spend more time with +her than would be for the advantage of my own affairs. So Alexander, +upon like consideration, would not trust his eyes in the presence of +the beautiful queen of Persia, but kept himself out of the reach of +her charms, and treated only with her aged mother. But we, alas! (that +no opportunity may be lost of doing ourselves all the mischief we +can by our curiosity) cannot forbear prying into sedans and coaches, +or gazing at the windows or peeping under the balconies, where women +are; nay, we must be staring about from the house-top, to spy out all +occasions of our ruin, and are all the while so sottishly inconsiderate +as to apprehend no danger from giving such a boundless license to our +wandering eyes. + +14. Now as, in point of justice and honesty, it conduces much to +prevent our defrauding and overreaching other men if we now and then +in smaller matters voluntarily abate somewhat of our strict dues, and +as it is a means to keep men chaste and continent to all other women +if they sometimes forbear the lawful enjoyment of their own wives, so +will these excesses of curiosity be cured by the same restraints, if, +instead of enquiring into what concerns other men, we can prevail with +ourselves so far as not to hear or see all that is done in our own +houses, nor to listen to every thing that may be told us concerning +ourselves or our private affairs. Oedipus by his curiosity fell into +great mischief; for, being of a parentage to himself unknown and now +at Corinth where he was a stranger, he went about asking questions +concerning himself, and lighting on Laius he slew him; and then by +the marriage of the queen, who was his own mother, he obtained the +government. Not contented with the thoughts of being thus happy, he +must needs once more (against all the persuasions of his wife) be +enquiring concerning himself; when, meeting with an old man that was +privy to the whole contrivance, he pressed him earnestly to reveal the +secret. And when he now began to suspect the worst, the old man cried +out, + + Alas! So sad a tale to tell I dread; + +but he, burning with impatience of knowing all, replied, + + And I to hear’t: but yet it must be said.[215] + +Thus oddly mixed with pain and pleasure is this restless itch of +curiosity, that, like a healing wound, will hazard the loss of blood +rather than want the seeming ease of being rubbed and scratched. But +such as either by good nature or good discipline are free from this +disease, and have experienced the invaluable felicity of a calm and +undisturbed spirit, will rather rejoice in being ignorant than desire +to be informed of the wickedness and the miseries that are in the +world, and will sit down well satisfied in this opinion, + + How sage and wise art thou, oblivion![216] + +15. Wherefore, as a farther help to check the impatience of our +curiosity, it will contribute much to practise such acts of abstinence +as these. If a letter be brought thee, lay it aside for some time +before thou read it; and do not (as many do) eagerly fall upon the seal +with tooth and nail, as soon as ever it comes to thy hands, as if it +were scarce possible to open it with sufficient speed; when a messenger +returns, do not hastily rise up and run towards him, as if thou couldst +not hear what he had to say time enough; and if any one makes an offer +to tell thee something that is new, say that thou hadst rather it were +good and useful. + +When, at a public dissertation I sometime made at Rome, Rusticus +(who afterwards perished by the mere envy of Domitian) was one of my +auditors, a messenger comes suddenly in with an express from Caesar; +upon which, when I offered to be silent till he had perused the paper, +he desired me to proceed, nor would so much as look into it till the +discourse was ended and the audience dismissed; all that were present +much admiring the gravity of the man. In great persons, whose power +encourages them to greater licentiousness, this vicious curiosity is +hardly curable; for when it is arrived in them to the consistence of an +inveterate habit, they will never undergo those previous restraints +upon their outward actions which are necessary to destroy the evil +habit within them. For such as are thus inured will be breaking up +other men’s letters, intruding upon the privacies of their friends, +making bold enquiries into the unfathomable mysteries of religion, +profaning sacred places and holy offices by their coming where and +doing what they ought not, and even prying into the most secret acts +and discourses of princes; all or any of which odious practices it will +be hard for any one after long custom to forbear, but especially for +great persons. + +16. And indeed princes themselves—who are concerned to have as +particular knowledge of all things as they can, and to whom it is in +some sort necessary for the ends of government to maintain spies and +intelligencers about them—are yet usually hated for nothing more than +their retaining this lewd sort of people in quality of eavesdroppers +of state and public informers. The first that employed this kind of +officers was Darius in his younger years, when he could not confide in +himself nor durst trust any one else. The Sicilian tyrants afterwards +planted them in Syracuse; but upon a revolution that happened there, +the people first fell upon these informers, and destroyed them without +mercy. Of near affinity with these are common accusers, which, from +a particular occasion imported in the word, were called sycophants, +fig-blabbers; because, upon the prohibited exportation of that fruit, +they became informers against those that broke this order. Much the +like sort of people were those at Athens, where a dearth of grain +happened and the corn-sellers were commanded to bring out their stores +for public sale; and those that went about listening at the mills and +prying into granaries, that they might find matter of information +against offenders, were thence called aliterians or (if you please) +mill-clackers. Which consideration, superadded to the rest that has +been said, is enough to render this sort of malignant curiosity +extremely execrable, and to be highly abhorred and most carefully +avoided by every man who would desire, for mere reputation’s sake, not +to be ranked among that profligate crew of villains which are looked +upon as the most detestable of all mankind. + + + + +HOW A MAN MAY BE SENSIBLE OF HIS PROGRESS IN VIRTUE. + + +MY FRIEND SOSSIUS SENECIO, + +1. Is it possible, do you think, that all the arguments in the world +can make a man sensibly assured that he is a proficient in virtue, upon +this supposition, that his proceedings do not in the least alleviate +and abate his folly, but that the vice in him, weighing in equal +balance against his good inclinations, holds him down, as + + Heavy lead pulls down the yielding net? + +In the study of music or grammar, I am sure, such a conclusion would be +very absurd; for the scholar could never be certain that he had made +any improvement in those sciences, if all the while he is a learning he +did not exhaust by little and little his former ignorance about them, +but remained during the whole progress of his application under the +same degree of unskilfulness as at first setting out. + +The like may be said of those that are under the hands of a physician. +According to this assertion, if the patient take physic which does +not recruit his strength or give him ease by abating the severity of +the distemper, it is absolutely impossible that he should discern any +alteration in himself, before the contrary habit is perfectly and in +the highest degree induced, and his body thoroughly sound and well. +As in these instances you cannot say the persons have advanced any +thing, so long as they perceive no sensible change in themselves by +the abatement of the contrary weight, and do not find that their minds +are elevated, as it were, in the opposite scale; just so, in truth, +is it with those that profess philosophy. They cannot be assured of +any progress or improvement, if the soul do not gradually advance and +purge off the rest of its former imperfections, but still lie under +the like equal pressure and grievance of pure, absolute, unmixed evil, +till it have attained the state of perfect, supreme good; for the truth +of it is, a wise man cannot in a moment of time change from the lowest +degree of vice imaginable to the most heroic perfection of virtue, if +he only make a brisk attempt to throw off vice all at once, and do not +constantly and resolutely endeavor by little and little to lighten the +burthen and dispossess the evil habit of it. + +You know very well how much trouble those give themselves who maintain +this assertion, and what strange questions they raise with regard to +it,—for instance, why a wise virtuous man should never perceive how he +became such, but should either be quite ignorant, or at least doubt, +that ever by little and little, now adding something, now subtracting +and removing others, he advanced to the aggregate perfection of virtue. +Now if (as they affirm) the change from bad to good were either so +quick and sudden, as that he that was extremely vicious in the morning +may become eminently virtuous at night, or that any one going to bed +wicked might chance to rise a virtuous man next morning, and, having +all the former day’s errors and imperfections absolutely removed out of +his mind, might say to them, as it is in the poet, + + Vain dreams! farewell, like spectres haste away, + At the new light of virtue’s glorious day;[217] + +do you think that any one in the world could be ignorant of so +extraordinary a conversion, and perfectly shut his eyes upon the beams +of virtue and wisdom so fully and manifestly breaking in upon his soul? +In my opinion, if any person should have Caeneus’s foolish wish, and +be changed (as it is reported he was) from one sex to the other, it +is more probable that such a one should be altogether ignorant of the +metamorphosis, than that any should, from a lazy, unthinking, debauched +fellow, commence a wise, prudent, and valiant hero, and from a sottish +bestiality advance to the perfection of divine life, and yet know +nothing at all of the change. + +2. It is very good advice, Measure the stone by your rule, and not +your rule by the stone. But the Stoics have not observed it; for they, +not applying principles to things, but forcing things which have no +foundation of agreement in nature to agree to their principles, have +filled philosophy with a number of difficulties. One of the hardest +to be solved is this, that all men whatsoever (except him who is +absolutely perfect) are equally vicious. Hence is that enigma, called +progress or proficiency, which, though it has puzzled the learned to +solve, is in my opinion very foolish; for it represents those that have +advanced a little, and are partly free from inordinate passions and +distempers of mind, to be as unhappy as those that are guilty of the +most heinous enormities. And indeed the assertion is so absurd, that +their own actions are enough to confute it; for while they maintain +in their schools that Aristides and Phalaris are equally unjust, that +Brasidas and Dolon are equal cowards, and that Plato and Meletus are +equally senseless, still in all affairs of life they seem to reject +and avoid the latter of these, as too harsh and severe to be softened +into compliance, but credit and quote the former in all their writings, +as persons of extraordinary worth and esteem. This is what the Stoics +assert. + +3. But we, who can better agree with Plato in this point, finding by +observation that in all kinds of evils, especially that of a weak and +unmanaged disposition of mind, there are several degrees of more and +less (for herein one advance differs from another, that the miserable +darkness which the soul lies under begins more sensibly to abate, when +reason by little and little illuminates and purges the soul), may be +bold to affirm that the change from bad to good is very easily and +manifestly discernible; not as if one were drawn out of a pit on a +sudden, and could give no account of the degrees of the ascent, but so +plain that the several steps and advances may be computed. + +The first argument that comes in my mind is this, by way of simile; +pray examine it. You know the art of navigation; when the seamen +hoist sail for the main ocean, they give judgment of their voyage by +observing together the space of time and the force of the wind that +driveth them, and compute that, in all probability, in so many months, +with such a gale, they have gone forward to such or such a place. Just +so it is in the study of philosophy; one may, if he mind it, give a +probable conjecture of a scholar’s proceedings. He that is always at +his business, constantly upon the road, never makes any steps or halts, +nor meets with obstacles and lets in the way, but under the conduct +of right reason travels smoothly, securely, and quietly along, may be +assured that he has one true sign of a proficient. This of the poet, + + Add many lesser numbers in account, + Your total will to a vast sum amount,[218] + +not only holds true as to the increase of money, but also may serve as +a rule to the knowledge of the advance of every thing else, especially +of proficiency in virtue. Reason, besides its ordinary influence, +requires the constancy of application and address which is necessary +and usual in all other affairs. Whereas, on the contrary, the irregular +proceedings and inconsistent silly assertions of some philosophers +do not only lay rubs in the way, and break the measures of a virtuous +improvement, but seem to give great advantage to vice, during their +lingering and idling upon their journey, to tempt them into by-paths, +or over-persuade them to return whence they set out. + +Astronomers tell us that planets, after they have finished their +progressive motion, for some small time acquiesce and become +stationary, as they term it. Now in the study of philosophy it is +not so; there is no point of rest or acquiescence during the whole +procedure, for the nature of progress is to be always advancing, more +or less. The scales in which our actions are, as it were, weighed +cannot at all stand in equilibrio, but our soul is continually either +raised by the addition of good, or cast with the counterpoise of evil. + +Therefore, as the oracle told the Cirrhaeans that they ought to +fight continually, day and night; so you and every wise man ought to +be perpetually upon your guard, and if you can be assured that you +maintain a constant combat with vice, that you are always at enmity +with it and never so much as come to terms, or receive any diversions, +applications, or avocations, as so many heralds from the enemies’ +camp, in order to a treaty with it; then you may, with a great deal +of confidence and alacrity, go on with the management of your warlike +expedition, and very reasonably at last expect a conquest, and enjoy a +crown of righteousness for your reward. + +4. It is another very good argument to prove that by labor and exercise +you have shaken off all stupidity and sluggishness of temper, and that +you are arrived at a perfection of virtue, if for the future your +resolutions be more firm and your application more intense than they +were when you first set out. This appears true, if you but observe its +contrary; for it is a very bad sign if, after a small time spent in +trial, you find many and repeated intermissions, or your affections +yielding or cool in the pursuit. This may be illustrated by what +is observable in the growth of a cane. At first it appears above +ground with a full and pleasing sprout, which by little and little, +taper-wise, by a continued and equal distribution of matter, rises to +a very great height. Towards the root you may observe that there are +formed certain steps and joints, which are at a considerable distance +from one another, because (there) the juice is plentiful and strong. +But toward the top the nutrimentive particles vibrate and palpitate, +as if they were quite spent with the length of their journey, and +thereupon, you see, they form themselves many small, weak, and tender +joints, as so many supports and breathing-places. So it happens with +those that study philosophy: at first setting out they take long +steps and make great advances; but if, after some attempts, they +perceive not in themselves any alteration for the better, but meet +with frequent checks and avocations the further they go, ordinarily +they faint, make any excuses to be off from their engagement, despond +of ever going through with it, and thereupon proceed no farther. But, +on the contrary, he that is winged with desire flies at the proposed +advantage, and by a stout and vigorous pursuit cuts off all pretences +of delay from crowding in upon him or hindering his journey. + +In love, it is a sign the passion is predominant, if the lover be +not only pleased in the enjoyment of the beloved object (for that’s +ordinary), but also troubled and grieved at the absence of it. After +a manner not unlike this, many youngsters (as I’ve observed) stand +affected at the study of philosophy. At first, they buckle to their +work with the greatest concern and emulation imaginable; but as soon +as ever they are diverted, either by business or any little pretences, +the heat of their affection immediately flies off, and they sit down +ignorant and very well content. But + + He that perceives the pleasing sting of love, + Whose poignant joy his trembling heart doth move,[219] + +will not only show that he is a proficient by his virtuous demeanor and +agreeableness in all company and discourse; but if he be called from +his business, you may perceive him all on fire, in pain, and uneasy in +whatsoever he does, whether alone or in company, and so concerned that +he is unmindful of his best friends till he is restored to the quest of +his beloved philosophy. All of us ought to imitate such a noble example +in all our studies. We must not be affected with good discourse only +while we are in place, as we are with rich fragrant perfumes (which +we never mind, but while we are a smelling to them); but if by chance +marriage, an estate, love, or a campaign take us from our business, we +must still hunger and thirst after virtue; and the more our proficiency +is advanced, by so much the more ought our desire to know what we +have not attained disquiet and excite us to the further pursuit and +knowledge of it. + +5. The grave account which Hesiod gives of proficiency is, in my +judgment, either the very same, or comes very near to this which I +have now set down. Proficiency is (says he) when all difficulties +are removed, all unevenness smoothed and cleared, and the way made +easy and passable. It must be smoothed by frequent exercise, cleared +by beams of divine light that guide the way to true philosophy, +nothing at all of the clouds of doubt, error, or inconstancy in good +resolutions remaining, which are as usually incident to learners in +their first attempts upon philosophy, as distraction and solicitudes +are to those who, sailing from a known land, cannot yet discover the +place whither they are bound. Thus I have known impatient sophisters +skip over common and ordinary notions, before they have learned or +attained better, and lose themselves in the middle of their journey +in so troublesome a maze, that they would be willing to return (if +they could) to their primitive state of quiet, inactive ignorance. +Sextius, a nobleman of Rome, may serve for an instance of this. He +quitted all offices and places of honor, that he might more freely and +undisturbedly apply himself to the study of philosophy. At first he +met with many difficulties; and finding himself unable to encounter or +conquer them, out of very despair and despondency, he had thoughts of +throwing himself out of a little boat into the river Tiber. Parallel +to this is a merry story told of Diogenes of Sinope; when he first put +on his gown, it happened to be at a time when the Athenians celebrated +a festival with extraordinary banquets, night-drinking, sports, and +pageantry usual at great solemnities. The philosopher, as he lay in +the holidays in the corner of the street, muffled up in his clothes, +to try if he could take a nap, had some running thoughts in his head, +which checked the resolutions he had taken as to a philosophical life, +and troubled him extremely. He reasoned with himself, that there +was no necessity for his entering into so troublesome and singular +a way of living, that he thereby deprived himself of all the sweets +and pleasures of life, and the like. While he was thinking thus with +himself, he espied (as the story goes) a mouse venturing toward him, +and now and then nibbling at a mouldy crust that he had in his pouch. +This sight (which is much) turned his thoughts, and made him vexed and +troubled at himself as much on the other side. What (says he) is the +matter with thee, Diogenes? Thou seest this tiny mouse lives well, and +is very glad of thy scraps; but thou, who must needs be a person of +quality, forsooth, art extremely sorry and out of humor, because thou +dost not feast upon down-beds, and canst not have the genteel privilege +at this merry time to be drunk as well as others. + +Another rational argument of gradual proficiency is when avocations +are not frequent upon us, and when they happen, very short; while the +substantial rules and precepts of wisdom, as if they had been violently +driven out, presently return upon our minds, and dispossess all empty +trouble and disconsolate thoughts. + +6. And because scholars do not only fancy to themselves difficulties +big enough to divert their weak resolutions, but also often meet with +serious persuasions from their friends to leave their studies, and +because sometimes such smart jests and drolls are put upon them as have +often discouraged, frequently quite converted, the endeavors of some; +it may seem to you a very good argument of a proficient, if you find +yourself indifferent and unconcerned in that point. As, for example, +not to be cut to the heart and repine, when you are told that such and +such persons by name, your equals once, live splendidly at court, have +married great fortunes, or have appeared publicly at the head of a +great many freeholders, that are ready to vote for them for some great +office or representative’s place. He that is neither discomposed nor +very much affected by such news as this is manifestly in the right, +and has philosophy by the surer handle. For it is impossible we should +leave admiring things which most men esteem, if the habit of virtue +were not deeply rooted in us. To avoid passionately what every one +cries down may be in some persons the effect of anger and ignorance; +but utterly to despise what is admired abroad is a certain sign of true +and solid wisdom and resolution. With what satisfaction and complacency +many persons advanced to such a height of virtue compare themselves +with others, and break out in these verses of Solon! + + We will not change Virtue’s immortal crown + For a whole mine of gold. + Gold is uncertain; but what we possess + Is still our own, and never can be less. + +None can deny but that it was very great in Diogenes to compare his +shifting from the city of Corinth to Athens, and from Thebes to +Corinth, to the king of Persia’s taking his progress in the spring +to Susa, in winter to Babylon, and to Media in summer. Nor was it an +argument of a much less spirit in Agesilaus, who, hearing this same +king of Persia styled the Great, presently asked, In what is he greater +than I, if he be not juster than I am? Aristotle himself had exactly +such notions in the like case; for, writing to Antipater about his +scholar Alexander, he says of him, that he ought not to value himself +in this respect, that he was advanced above others; for whoever had a +true notion of God was really as great as he. And Zeno too deserves +to be mentioned, who, hearing Theophrastus commended above any of the +philosophers for his number of scholars, put it off thus: His choir is +indeed larger than mine, but mine has the sweeter voices. + +7. From all these instances you may collect this great truth, that +whenever you do, by setting the comforts of virtue and the difficulties +and errors of study one against the other, perceive that you have +utterly expelled all emulation, jealousy, and every thing else that +uses to disturb or discourage young men, you may then assuredly +conclude with yourself that you have made very laudable progress. + +Another argument of proficiency in virtue is the alteration of your +very style of writing, and of your way of managing any argument or +discourse. Most of those that nowadays design for scholars (in ordinary +speaking) do prosecute almost none but popular studies; to furnish +out discourse, and make themselves, as the phrase is, plausible men; +some few of them there are who, like silly larks, are taken with the +glaring light of natural philosophy, and, measuring themselves by their +own levity and conceit, think they are able presently to attain the +height of that science. Others like young whelps (’tis Plato’s simile) +love to snap and bite at one another, only to gratify a contentious, +sceptical, and sophistical humor, which they at first got by bad +tuition and ill-managed studies. Some again, as soon as ever they are +initiated in the principles of logic, presently commence sophisters. +Others spend their whole time in collecting sentences and historical +narrations. These (as Anacharsis said of the Grecians, that he saw +no occasion they had for money, but only to count and tell it over) +have nothing at all to do, but go about singing and repeating what +they have collected into commonplace books, without any other benefit +or satisfaction from their labors. To these you may apply that of +Antiphanes, which one ingeniously turned to Plato’s scholars. This +Antiphanes said merrily, that in a certain city the cold was so intense +that words were congealed as soon as spoken, but that after some time +they thawed and became audible, so that the words spoken in winter were +articulated next summer. Even so, the many excellent precepts of Plato, +which he instilled into the tender ears of his scholars, were scarce +perceived and distinguished by many of them, till they grew men and +attained the warm vigorous summer of their age. + +Such a cool disposition to virtue and philosophy, as that philosopher +said was in Plato’s scholars when young, often lasts in the most of +us (as was hinted before) till our judgments grow to a solid firmness +and maturity, and we begin to value those precepts that are able to +beget a composure and greatness of mind, and diligently to trace and +follow those discourses and precepts whose tracks (as it is in Aesop’s +fables) rather look inward than outward, to ourselves rather than +others. Sophocles said of himself, that in writing his tragedies he +first of all abated and pricked the tumor of Aeschylus’s invention, +then corrected the harshness and over artifice of his composition, and, +last of all, changed his very style and elocution, the thing which is +most considerably persuasive, and which most of all conduces to good +manners. Even so, young students, when they pass from the fulness and +luxuriancy of panegyric and declamation to that more solid part of +philosophy that regulates manners and smooths all rugged and disorderly +passions, then begin really to attain true and solid proficiency. + +8. Hereupon let me advise you this,—whenever you read the writings +or hear the orations of the philosophers, attend always things more +than words, and be not taken with what is curious and of a delicate +thread and contexture, more than that which is strong, nervous, +and beneficial. So also, in perusing poems or histories, be sure +that nothing escape you that is appositely said, in relation to +the cultivating of manners or the calming turbulent, immoderate +passions; but always give it a note, and make it surely your own. +Simonides said that a student in philosophy should be like a bee. That +laborious creature, when it is amongst flowers, makes it its business +industriously to extract the yellow honey out of them all; while +others care and seek for nothing else except the smell and the color. +So, while some others employ their time in reading the poets only for +diversion, or for the wit and fancy which usually adorn their works, +you (my dear friend) like a bee amongst a swarm of drones, observe +and collect what is sweet, palatable, and worthy your pains, and seem +already, by your constant custom and application, to have attained a +perfect knowledge of what is eminently good and proper. + +As to those that peruse the works of Plato and Xenophon only for the +style’s sake, and do cull out what is elegant and Attic, as the cream +and flower of those authors, pray what do they do but as it were +admire the fragrancy and flavor of medicinal drugs, yet, at the same +time, neither understand nor enquire after their healing and purgative +qualities? Whereas, those that have advanced to a higher degree of +perfection can extract benefit, not only from philosophical discourses, +but also from every thing they see or do, and thence draw something +that may be proper and fit for their purpose. I will give you some +examples of Aeschylus and other very eminent men, which may be very pat +to this purpose. Aeschylus chanced to be a spectator at the Isthmian +games, where some were engaged at sword play; seeing one of the +combatants wounded, and observing that the theatre immediately made a +great shouting and hollowing upon it, he jogged one Ion, an inhabitant +of the island Chios, who sat next to him, and whispered him thus, Do +you see what exercise can do? He that is wounded holds his peace, and +the spectators cry out. + +Brasidas, the Lacedaemonian captain, by chance caught a mouse +among some dry figs; and, being bit by her, let her go, with this +exclamation, By Hercules! there is no creature so little or so weak, +that it cannot preserve its life if it dares but defend it. + +Diogenes may serve for a thousand instances; when he saw a boy drink +out of the palm of his hand, he threw away his dish, which he used to +carry always with him in his wallet. Thus sedulity and application have +a singular virtue to make us knowing and able to extract motives to +virtue from every thing that we meet with. + +Nor is it a difficult matter to attain such a temper of mind, if +the candidates for virtue intermix discourse and reading with +their actions; not only “exercising themselves amidst dangers” (as +Thucydides[220] said to some), but also engaging pleasures, disputing +hard questions, examining precedents, pleading causes, and so (to try +themselves thoroughly) undertaking some magistracy or public office, +giving thereby demonstration of their opinions and resolution, or +rather establishing their resolution by exercise. Whereas, those that +are not bred to it, but like novices spy out and catch at any thing +that is curious in books, and pragmatically run away with it either +to the Exchange, the College, or some club or tavern, deserve no +more the name of philosophers, than those quacks that only truck off +vile drugs and potions merit the character and value of physicians. +Those sophisters seem to me not unlike the bird mentioned in Homer, +and to have something of its quality. Whatsoever they catch abroad +they presently bring home with them, and cram it into their unfledged +chicks, their illiterate scholars, starving their own empty crops the +while, as the poet has it; for they neither digest nor convert what +they take into true nourishment. + +9. It is then indispensably our duty so to manage our discourse, that +it may be beneficial both to ourselves and others, we not incurring +the censure of being thought vain-glorious or arrogant by any; to be +always readier to hear than to teach; and, especially, so to abate +and moderate all vehemency and passionate quarrelling about trivial +questions, as that we may cease to attend and manage disputations with +the same indifferency as you may have seen some exercise hurlbats and +cudgelling,—that is, so as to leave the stage with more satisfaction +for having had a true hit or coming off conqueror, than for having +either learned ourselves or taught our antagonist any manner of skill +by the engagement. + +An evenness and mildness of temper in all such affairs, which never +will suffer us to enter the lists with vehemency and passion, nor to +be hot and concerned in settling an argument, nor to scold and give +bad words when we have vanquished our adversary, nor to be very much +dejected if we chance to be quite baffled, is (I think) a true sign +of a great proficient in virtue. Aristippus was a great example of +this; for when in a set disputation he was baffled by the sophistry +and forehead of an impudent, wild, and ignorant disputant, and +observed him to be flushed and high with the conquest; Well! says the +philosopher, I am certain, I shall sleep quieter to-night than my +antagonist. + +Not only upon the close and event of our philosophical contests, but +even in the midst of disputation, we may (privately) take an estimate +of this good quality in us, which is a sign of a true proficient; +for example, if, upon a greater appearance of auditors than was +expected, we be not afraid nor in confusion; if, at the thinness of the +congregation, when there are but a few to hear us, we be not dejected +and troubled; and lastly, if, when we are to speak before a numerous or +honorable assembly, we do not, for want of fitting preparation, miss +the opportunity for ever. + +It is reported that two as famous orators as ever were, Demosthenes +and Alcibiades, were somewhat weak and faulty in this point. The +timorousness of the former is known to every school-boy; and as for +Alcibiades, though he was (as must be confessed) as sagacious and +happy in his thoughts as any man whatever, yet, for want of a little +assurance in speaking a thing, he very often miserably lost himself +in his pleadings; for he would falter and make pauses in the very +middle of his orations, purely for want of a single word or some neat +expression, that he had in his papers but could not presently remember. +To give you another instance of the prince of poets, Homer; he was so +blinded with an over-confidence of his abilities in poetry, that he +has slipped a false quantity, and left it on record, in the very first +verse of his Iliads. + +Seeing then the learnedest men and greatest artists have failed and may +fail for want of caution or confidence, it ought more nearly to concern +those that earnestly follow virtue, not to slip the least opportunity +of improvement, either by company or otherwise; and not overmuch to +regard the throng or applause of the theatre, when they do exercise or +make any solemn harangue. + +10. Nor is it enough that one take care of all his discourses and +orations; but he ought also to observe that the whole tenor of his +actions be guided by profit rather than vain pomp, and by truth +rather than ostentation. For if a passionate lover who has placed his +affection upon any beloved object seeks no witnesses to attest its +sincerity, but has such an eager desire when alone and in private, +that, like a covered flame, it burns more vigorously and insensibly for +being shut up; much more ought a moralist and a philosopher who has +attained both the habit and exercise of virtue sit down self-contented, +and applaud himself in private, neither needing nor desiring encomiasts +or auditors from abroad. + +There is an humor in some of the poets, of an old peevish housekeeper, +that calls to his maid aloud: Do you see, Dionysia (that is his maid’s +name), I am now pleased, and have laid by all choler and passion. Just +such like is the practice of some, who, as soon as they have done any +thing which is obliging and civil, presently blaze it abroad, and +turn their own heralds. Such men show plainly that they look beyond +themselves for satisfaction; that they are desirous of praise and +applause; and that they never were admitted near spectators of virtue, +never saw her in her noble, royal dress, but only had some transient +sight of her in a dream or an empty airy phantasm; and indeed, that +they expose their actions to the public, as painters do their pictures, +to be gazed at and admired by the gaping multitude. + +Another sign of a proficient in virtue is, when the proficient has +given any thing to his friend or done any kindness for any one, if he +keeps it to himself and does not blab it to anybody; and (which is +more) if he hath voted right against a majority of biassed suffragans, +withstood the dishonest attempts of some rich and powerful man, +generously rejected bribes when offered, abstained from inordinate +drinking when athirst and alone, or at night, when none sees or knows +what he does, lastly, if he hath conquered the briskest attempts +of love (as is said of Agesilaus); if (I say) he contain himself +from speaking of such actions, and do not in company boast of his +performances. This I affirm,—such a one as can prove and try himself +by himself, and be fully satisfied in the verdict of his conscience, +as of an unexceptionable witness and spectator of what is right and +good, shows plainly that his reason looks inward and is well rooted +within him, and that the man (as Democritus said) is accustomed to take +satisfaction from himself. + +To borrow a simile from husbandmen and those that are concerned in the +business of the fields, they are always best pleased to see those ears +of corn which decline and by reason of their fulness bend downwards to +the earth, but look upon those as empty, deceitful, and insignificant, +which, because they have nothing in them, grow bolt upright and appear +above the rest. So it is amongst students in philosophy; those that are +most empty-headed, and have least firmness and solidity, have always +the greatest share of confidence, formality, and stiffness in their +address, look biggest, walk with the most state, and top upon and +condemn others, with the highest arrogance and severity of any living. +But when once their brains begin to fill and become well poised with +solid notions, they look down into themselves, and quite lay aside that +insolent and arrogant humor, which is proper only to youngsters. + +Give me leave to illustrate this by one simile more. When you pour +water into bottles or any other vessels, upon its being instilled +into them, the air that was in them before presently flies out and +gives place to the more substantial body. Even so it is with those +that have had many good precepts instilled into them, and their minds +replenished with solid truths. They presently find that all empty +vanity flies off; that the imposthume of pride breaks; that they do not +value themselves for beard and gown only, but bend their actions and +endeavors to the bettering of their rational faculties; and, lastly, +that when they reprove they begin at home, turning the edge of their +satire and invective upon themselves, even when at the same time +they are civil and complaisant to all others beside. It is indeed an +argument of a generous and truly brave disposition in a scholar, not to +assume the name and character of one, and, as some use to do, to put +the philosopher amongst his titles; but if any out of respect chance to +give him that compellation, to be surprised, blush, and with a modest +smile answer him in that of the poet, + + You compliment your friend; he whom you so commend + Must needs be more than man,—far more than I pretend.[221] + +Aeschylus says of a young woman that, if ever she have played the +wanton, you may discover it in her eyes, and read her affections in +amorous glances which she cannot conceal; so a young scholar, if he be +once entered in the mysteries and have tasted the sweets of philosophy, +cannot possibly suppress the passion and concern for it; as Sappho +says, his tongue falters when he would speak its praise; his heart is +warm with affection; + + A secret flame does run through every part. + +You would admire and love the assurance and composedness of his looks, +the affectionateness of his eyes, and especially the winning decency +and agreeableness of his words and expressions. + +Those that are to be initiated in the ceremonies of the Gods run +to their temples at first with a great deal of noise, clamor, and +rudeness; but as soon as the solemnity is seen and over, they +attend with a profound silence and religious fear. So it is with the +candidates in philosophy; you may perceive a throng, noise, and pother +about the school-doors, by reason that several press thither eagerly, +rudely, and violently for reputation, more than learning; but when +you are once in, and manifestly see the great light, as if some royal +shrine were opened unto you, you are presently possessed with a quite +different notion of things; are struck with silence and admiration, +and begin, with humility and a reverend composure, to comply with and +follow the divine oracle. That which Menedemus said in another case +is very apposite to this sort of men. Those that went to the school +of Athens were first of all (σοφοί) _wise_, next (φιλόσοφοι) +_lovers of wisdom_, then orators, and at last, in course of time, +plain common men; for the longer they applied themselves to study and +philosophy, so much the more all vanity, pride, and pedantry abated in +them, and the nearer they came to plain, downright, honest men. + +11. Again, as it is with those that are indisposed and out of +order,—some, if a tooth or finger do but ache, presently run to a +physician; others send for one to their houses, if they find themselves +but the least feverish and desire his advice and assistance; but those +that are either melancholical, or but any ways crazed in their heads, +can not endure so much as the looks of a physician, but either keep +out of sight when he comes or command him to be gone, being altogether +insensible of their condition,—so, in persons that commit any heinous +crime or fall into any error, I look upon those as perfectly incurable, +who take it ill to be admonished of their fault and look upon reproof +and admonition as the greatest rudeness and incivility in the world, +whereas those that can quietly hearken and submit to the advice of +friends and superiors deserve a more favorable opinion, and may be +thought to be of a much better disposition. But the greatest character +of hopeful men, and such as may be probably excellent proficients in +time, belongs to those who, upon a commission of a fault, immediately +apply themselves to such as will reprove and correct them; who plainly +disclose their grief and open their malady; who do not rejoice in +concealing their distemper, and are not content to have their troubles +unknown; lastly, who make a full confession of what they have done +amiss, and desire the help of a friend to examine and direct them for +the future. Diogenes, I am sure, was of this opinion. He said, that +whosoever would be certainly and constantly in the right must get +either a virtuous good friend or an incensed ill-natured enemy to his +monitor; the one by gentle admonition to reprove and persuade him, the +other to work upon him by severity, and awe him into a virtuous course +of life. + +There is a sort of men in the world, that are so vain and foolish +as to take a pride in being the first discoverers of their own +imperfections; if they have but a rent or spot in their clothes, or +have got a torn pair of shoes on, they are the most forward of any to +tell it in company; and (which is more) they are very apt, out of a +silly, empty, arrogant humor, to make themselves the subject of their +drollery, if they are of a dwarfish stature or any way deformed; yet +(which is strange) these very men, at the very same time, endeavor to +excuse and palliate the internal imperfections of the mind and the +more ugly deformities of the soul, as envy, evil-custom, detraction, +voluptuousness, &c., and will not suffer any one either to see or probe +them. These are, as it were, so many sore places, and they cannot +endure to have them touched and meddled with. Such men as these (I may +be bold to say) have very few signs of proficiency, or rather none at +all. + +Now, on the contrary, he that examines his own failings with the +greatest severity, that impartially blames or corrects himself as +often as he does amiss, or (which is almost as commendable) grows +firmer and better by present advice, as well as more able and ready to +endure a reprimand for the future, seems to me truly and sincerely to +have rejected and forsaken vice. + +It is certainly our duty to avoid all appearance of evil, and to be +ashamed to give occasion even to be reputed vicious; yet evil reports +are so inconsiderable to a wise man, that, if he have a greater +aversion to the nature of evil than to the infamy that attends it, +he will not fear what is said of him abroad, nor what calumnies are +raised, if so be he be made the better by them. It was handsomely said +of Diogenes, when he saw a young spark coming out of a tavern, who at +the sight of him drew back: Do not retire, says he, for the more you +go backward, the more you will be in the tavern. Even so every vicious +person, the more he denies and palliates vice, the more aggravates and +confirms it, and with surer footing goes farther into wickedness; like +some persons of ordinary rank and quality, who, while they assume above +themselves, and out of arrogance would be thought rich, are made really +poor and necessitous, by pretending to be otherwise. + +Hippocrates, a man of wonderful skill in physic, was very ingenuous +in this point, and fit to be imitated by the greatest proficients in +philosophy. He confessed publicly, that he had mistaken the nature +of the sutures in the skull, and has left an acknowledgment of his +ignorance upon record, under his own hand; for he thought it very +unworthy a man of his profession not to discover where he was in the +wrong, seeing others might suffer and err by his authority. And, +indeed, it had been very unreasonable, if he, whose business and +concern it was to save others and to set them right, should not have +had the courage to cure himself, and to discover his weakness and +imperfections in his own faculty. + +Pyrrhon and Bion (two eminent philosophers) have given rules of +proficiency; but they seem rather signs of a complete habit of virtue, +than a progressive disposition to it. Bion told his friend, that they +then might be assured of their proficiency, when they could endure a +reproof from anybody with the same indifferency and unconcernedness as +they could hear the highest encomiums, even such a one as this of the +poet: + +Sir, + + Some heavenly flame inspires your breast; + Live great, rejoice, and be for ever blest.[222] + +The other, to wit, Pyrrhon, being at sea and in great danger, by reason +of a tempest that arose, took particular notice (as the story goes) +of a hog that was on board, which all the while very unconcernedly +fed upon some corn which lay scattered about; he showed it to his +companions, and told them that they ought to acquire by reading and +philosophy such an apathy and unconcernedness in all accidents and +dangers as they saw that poor creature naturally have. + +12. The opinion which is said to be Zeno’s may deserve our +consideration. He said that any one might give a guess at his +proficiency from the observation of his dreams, if when asleep he +fancied nothing that was immodest, nor seemed to consent to any wicked +actions or dishonest intentions, but found his fancy and passions of +his mind undisturbed, in a constant calm, as it were, always serene, +and enlightened with the beams of divine reason. This very notion was +hinted by Plato[223] (as I interpret his words), where he is describing +and delineating the soul which is tyrannical in its nature, and showing +what manner of operations its fantasy and irrational appetite exert. +When a man is asleep, he says, a vicious person designs the satisfying +incestuous lust, has a longing for all sorts of meat indifferently, +whether allowed or prohibited, and satisfies his appetite and desire in +all manner of intemperance which is loose and unregarded, which, in the +day-time, either the laws shame him out of, or fear to offend restrains. + +As now those brute beasts that are accustomed to labor will not, if +the reins be let loose, either turn aside or offer to leave the track +or stumble in it, so it is with the brutal faculty of the mind; when +it is once made tame and manageable by the strength of reason, then +it is unwilling carelessly to transgress or saucily to disobey its +sovereign’s commands or to comply with any inordinate lusts, either in +sleep or sickness; but it carefully observes and maintains its dictates +to which it is accustomed, and by frequent exercise advances to perfect +strength and intention of virtue. + +We find even in our own nature the strange effects of custom. Man is +naturally able, by much exercise and the use of a stoical apathy, +to bring the body and all its members into subjection, so that not +one organ shall perform its operation,—the eyes shall not burst out +with tears upon the sight of a lamentable object, the heart shall not +palpitate upon the apprehension of fear, and the passions shall not +be roused at the sight of any beautiful person, whether man or woman. +Now it is much more probable that the faculties of the sense may be so +brought in subjection by undergoing such exercise as we speak of, that +all its imaginations and motions may be smoothed and made agreeable +to right reason, even when we are asleep and keep not sentry. It is +reported of Stilpo the philosopher, that he thought he saw Neptune in +his sleep, and that he seemed very much displeased with him, because +he had not (as was usual with his priests) sacrificed an ox in honor +of him. Not in the least daunted at the apparition, he thus boldly +accosted it: Neptune! what’s this business you here complain of? You +come hither like a child, and are angry with me, because I did not +borrow money and run in debt to please you, and fill the city with +costly odors, but privately sacrificed to you in my own house such +ordinary victims as I could get. At this confident reply, Neptune +smiled, and (as the story goes) reached him his hand, as an assurance +of his good-will to him, and told him that for his sake he would send +the Megarians abundance of fish that season. + +In the main we may conclude thus much, that those that have clear and +pleasant dreams, and are not troubled with any frightful, strange, +vicious, or irregular apparitions in their sleep, may assure themselves +that they have some indications and dawnings of proficiency; whereas, +on the contrary, those dreams which are mixed with any pain, fear, +cowardly aversions from good, childish exultation, or silly grief, so +that they are both frightful and unaccountable, are like the breaking +waves or the billows of the sea; for the soul, not having attained +a perfect evenness of temper, but being under the formation of laws +and precepts from whose guidance and discovery it is free in time of +sleep, is then slacked from its usual intenseness, and laid open to all +passions whatever. + +Whether this temper we speak of be an argument of proficiency, or an +indication of some other habit which has taken deep root in the soul, +grown strong and immovable by all the power of reason, I leave to you +to consider and determine. + +13. Seeing then an absolute apathy or freedom from all passions +whatsoever is a great and divine perfection, and, withal, considering +that progress seems to consist in a certain remission and moderation +of those very passions we carry about us, it unavoidably follows, that +if we will observe our passions, with relation to one another and also +to themselves, we may easily find out their differences. For example, +first, we may observe from the passions compared with themselves +whether our desires be now more moderate than they used to be, fear +and anger less and more calm, and whether or no we are more able to +quench the heat and flame of our passions than we used to be. + +Secondly, by comparing them with one another, we may observe whether we +now have a greater share of shame than of fear, whether emulation be +without any mixture of envy, whether we have greater desire of glory +than of riches, whether we offend (as the musicians term it) in the +Dorian or base or in the Lydian or treble notes,—that is, whether we +are more inured to abstinence and hardship than otherwise,—whether we +are unwilling rather than forward to appear in public, and, lastly, +whether we are undue admirers of the persons or performances of others, +or despisers both of them and what they can do. + +As it is a good sign of recovery of a sick person if the distemper lie +in the less principal parts of the body; so in proficiency, if vicious +habits be changed into more tolerable passions, it is a symptom that +they are going off and ready to be quenched. Phrynis the musician, +to his seven strings adding two more, was asked by the magistrates, +whether he had rather they should cut the upper or lower of them, the +base or treble. Now it is our business to cut off (as it were) both +what is above and below, if we would attain to the true medium and +equality; for proficiency in the first place remits the excess, and +sweetens the harmony of the evil affections, which is (according to +Sophocles) + + The madman’s greatest pleasure and disease. + +14. We have already said that we ought to transfer our judgment to +action, and not to suffer our words to remain bare and naked words, +but to reduce them to deeds; and that this is the chiefest sign of +a proficient. Now another manifest indication is a desire of those +things we commend, and a readiness to perform those things which we +admire, but whatsoever we discommend, neither to will or endure it. It +is probable that all the Athenians highly extolled the courage and +valor of Miltiades. But Themistocles (who professed that the trophies +of Miltiades broke his sleep, and often forced him out of his bed) did +not only praise and admire what he had done, but was manifestly struck +with a zeal and emulation of his performances. Therefore we may be +assured that we have profited little, while we think it a vanity to +admire those that have done well, and cannot possibly be raised to an +imitation of them. + +To love the person of any man is not sufficient, except it have a +mixture of emulation; no more is that love of virtue ardent and +exciting, which does not put us forward, and create in our breasts +(instead of envy to them) a zealous affection for all good men, and +a desire of equal perfection with them. For it is not enough (as +Alcibiades was wont to say) that the heart should be turned upside down +by hearing the discourses of a philosopher, and that the tears should +gush from the eyes; but he that is a proficient indeed, comparing +himself with the designs and actions of a good perfect man, is pricked +at the same with the consciousness of his own weakness, and transported +with hope and desire, and big with irresistible assurance; and indeed +such a one is (as Simonides says) like a little sucking foal running +by the mother’s side, and desires to be incorporated into the very +same nature with a good man. For this is an especial sign of true +proficiency, to love and affect their way of life whose actions we +emulate, and, upon account of an honorable opinion we always entertain +for them, to do as they do. But whosoever he is that entertains a +contentious or malicious design against his betters, let him be assured +that he is possessed with a greedy desire of honor or greatness, but +has neither a true respect nor admiration for virtue. + +15. When therefore we once begin so to love good men, as not only +(according to Plato) to esteem the wise man himself happy, and him who +hears his discourses sharer in his felicity, but also to admire and +love his habit, gait, look, and very smile, so as to wish ourselves to +be that very person, then we may be assured that we have made very good +proficiency. + +This assurance will be advanced, if we do not only admire good men +in prosperity, but like lovers, who are taken ever with the lisping +and pale looks of their mistresses (as Araspes is said to have been +smitten with the tears and dejected looks of a mournful and afflicted +Panthea), have an affection for virtue in its most mournful dress, so +as not at all to dread the banishment of Aristides, the imprisonment of +Anaxagoras, the poverty of Socrates, nor the hard fate of Phocion, but +to embrace and respect their virtues, even under such injustice, and +upon thoughts of it, to repeat this verse of Euripides,— + + How do all fortunes decently become + A generous, well-tuned soul! + +This is certain, if any one addresses himself to virtue with this +resolution, not to be dejected at the appearance of difficulty, but +heartily admires and prosecutes its divine perfection, none of the +evil we have spoken of can divert his good intentions. To what I have +said I may add this, that when we go upon any business, undertake any +office, or chance upon any affair whatever, we must set before our +eyes some excellent person, either alive or dead; and consider with +ourselves what Plato for the purpose would have done in this affair, +what Epaminondas would have said, how Lycurgus or Agesilaus would +have behaved themselves, that, addressing ourselves and adorning our +minds at these mirrors, we may correct every disagreeing word and +irregular passion. It is commonly said, that those that have got by +heart the names of the Idaei Dactyli make use of them as charms to +drive away fear, if they can but confidently repeat them one by one; +so the consideration and remembrance of good men, being present and +entertained in our minds, do preserve our proficiency in all affections +and doubts regular and immovable; wherefore you may judge that this is +also a token of a proficient in virtue. + +16. You may observe further, that not to be in a confusion, not to +blush, not to hide or correct your clothes or any thing about you, at +the unexpected appearance of an honorable and wise person, but to have +an assurance as if you were often conversant with such, is almost a +perfect demonstration of a very intelligent person. + +It is reported of Alexander, that one night seeing a messenger joyfully +running towards him and stretching out his hand, as if he had something +to deliver to him, he said to the apparition, Friend, what news do you +bring me? Is Homer risen from the dead? That admirable monarch thought +that nothing was wanting to his great exploits but such a herald as +Homer. + +Consider this, if a young man thrive in the world, it is customary for +him to desire nothing more than to be seen in the company of virtuous +and good men, to show them his whole furniture, his table, his wife and +children, his study, his diary or collections; and he is so pleased +with himself, that he wishes his father or tutor were alive, that they +might see him in so good a way of living; and he could heartily pray +that they were alive, to be spectators of his life and actions. But, +on the contrary, those that have neglected their business, or lost +themselves in the world, cannot endure the sight or company of their +relations without a great deal of fear and confusion. + +17. Join this, if you please, to what we said before; for it is no +small sign, if the proficient thus esteem every little fault a great +one, and studiously observe and avoid all. For, as those persons who +despair of ever being rich make little account of small expenses, +thinking that little added to a little will never make any great +sum, but when they come once to have got a competency, and hope to be +at last very rich, it advances their desires, so it happens in the +affairs of virtue;—he that does not quiet his mind by saying with +himself, “What matters it what comes after? if for the present it be so +and so, yet better days will come,” but who attends every thing, and +is not careless if the least vice pass uncondemned, but is troubled +and concerned at it, such a one makes it appear that he has attained +something that is pure, which he brightens by use and will not suffer +to corrupt. For a preconceived opinion that nothing we have is valuable +(according to Aeschylus) makes us careless and indifferent about every +thing. + +If any one be to make a dry wall or an ordinary hedge, it matters +not much if he makes use of ordinary wood or common stone, any old +gravestones, or the like; so wicked persons, who confusedly mix +and blend all their designs and actions in one heap, care not what +materials they put together. But the proficients in virtue, who have +already laid the golden solid foundation of a virtuous life, as of +a sacred and royal building, take especial care of the whole work, +examine and model every part of it according to the rule of reason, +believing that it was well said by Polycletus, that the hardest work +remained for them to do whose nails must touch the clay;—that is, to +lay the top stone is the great business and masterpiece of the work. +The last stroke gives beauty and perfection to the whole piece. + + + + +OF FORTUNE. + +MORTALS’ AFFAIRS FORTUNE NOT COUNSEL RULES.[224] + + +1. And does not justice rule the affairs of mortals,—nor impartiality, +nor moderation, nor decorum? But was it of Fortune and long of Fortune +that Aristides remained obstinate in his poverty, although he could +have made himself master of much wealth? And that Scipio, when he had +taken Carthage, neither received nor so much as saw any part of the +booty? Was it of Fortune and long of Fortune that Philocrates, having +received a sum of gold of King Philip, laid it out in whores and fish? +And that Lasthenes and Euthycrates, by measuring their happiness by +their bellies and the most abject of follies, lost Olynthus? Was it +of Fortune that Alexander son of Philip refrained from the captive +women himself, and punished those that offered them any indignity; +while Alexander, son of Priam, long of an evil Daemon and Fortune, +first vitiated his host’s wife and then took her away with him, and +filled both the continents with war and calamities? And if such things +as these can come by Fortune, what hinders but that we may as well +plead that cats, goats, and monkeys are constrained by Fortune to be +ravenous, lustful, and ridiculous? + +2. But if there be such things to be found as moderation, justice, and +fortitude, how can it stand with reason there should not be such a +thing as wisdom also? And if there be wisdom, how can it be but there +must be good counsel? For moderation is (as they are used to say) a +certain sort of wisdom; and justice cannot subsist without wisdom. +Certainly we call that good counsel and wisdom that render us manful +in pleasures continence and moderation; in dangers and hardships, +endurance and resolution; and in communities and public business, +equality and justice. And therefore if we will needs have it that +the effects of conduct belong to Fortune, let then both the effects +of justice and moderation belong to Fortune also. Nay, by Jove, let +stealing be ascribed to Fortune too, and cutting of purses, and a +lustful lewd life; and let us quit our reasoning quite, and turn +ourselves loose to Fortune, to be carried and driven, like filth and +dust, before an impetuous wind. If there be no such thing as conduct, +it must of necessity follow, that there should be no such thing as +advising about our affairs, nor any consultation or enquiry about +utility; and that Sophocles did talk idly when he said: + + Whate’er is sought, + It may be caught; + But what we shun + Will from us run;[225] + +and when elsewhere he made this distribution of things: + + I learn what’s to be taught, + I seek what’s to be sought; + I beg the rest of Heaven. + +For what is to be sought or what is to be learned by mortals, if all +things go by Fortune? And what senate of a republic is not overthrown, +or what council of a prince is not dissolved, if all things are subject +to Fortune?—which we use to upbraid with blindness because we blindly +fall into it. And indeed how can we otherwise choose, when we first +pluck good counsel like our eyes out of our heads, and then take us a +blind guide of our lives? + +3. Imagine that now some one of us should say, + + Seers’ affairs Fortune not eyesight rules, + +nor yet the eyes, which Plato calls light-bearers; and again, + + Hearers’ affairs are by blind Fortune ruled, + +and not by a certain power receptive of the strokes of the air, +conveyed to it through the organ of the ear and brain. It would beseem +us then, doubtless, to pay a due respect to our sense. But our sight, +hearing, and smelling, with the other parts of our bodies’ faculties, +were bestowed upon us by nature to minister unto good conduct and +discretion. And “It is the mind that sees, and the mind that hears; the +rest are deaf and blind.” And as, were there not a sun, we might, for +all the other stars, pass our days in darkness (as Heraclitus says); so +had man neither mind nor reason, his life would be, for all his senses, +nothing better than that of brutes. But it is by neither Fortune nor +chance that we exceed them and bear sway over them; but Prometheus +(that is, reason) is the cause, + + Which gives both horse and ass and oxen strong, + To carry us and ease our labor long,[226] + +as Aeschylus speaks. For the greater part of brutes are much happier +than we, as to the fortune and form of their constitution; for some of +them are armed with horns, some with teeth, and some with stings; and +the urchin’s back, (saith Empedocles) bristles with prickly thorns; +others again are shod, others are clad with scales, others with shaggy +hair, and others with hard claws and hoofs; but man alone (as Plato +speaks) was left by Nature naked, unarmed, unshod, and uncovered. But +all those ills she sweetened with one gift,—reason, care, and forecast. + + Small is the strength of poor frail man; + Yet by his shifting wit he can + Enslave the arts and properties + Of all on land, in sea and skies. + +The lightest and swiftest things are horses; but they run for man. A +dog is a fierce and an angry animal; but it guards man. Fish is the +sweetest thing, and swine the fattest; but they are man’s nourishment +and cheer. What is bigger than an elephant? But this also is become +man’s plaything, and a spectacle at public solemnities, and it learns +to skip, dance, and kneel. Such things as these are not introduced in +vain, but that we may learn by them whither knowledge advances man, +and above what things it sets him, and how he comes to be master, and +exceed all other things. + + For we nor boxers nor good wrestlers are, + Nor yet good runners.[227] + +Yea, in all these we are far more unhappy than the brutes. But by our +experience, memory, wit, and dexterity (as Anaxagoras speaks) we make +use of what is theirs; we press out their honey, we milk them, we +catch them, and drive them up and down as we please. So that in all +this there is nothing that depends on Fortune, but all on counsel and +forecast. + +4. Moreover, the affairs of carpenters are affairs of mortals, and so +are those of copper-founders, builders, and statuaries; amongst whom +yet we can see nothing brought to perfection by chance or at random. +For that there falls in but little of Fortune to an expert artist, +whether founder or builder, but that the most and greatest part of +their workmanship is performed by mere art, hath been thus insinuated +by a certain poet: + + Go forth into the street, ye craftsmen all, + Who on grim-visaged Ergana do call, + That’s stuck with sacred baskets all around. + +For the trades have Ergana and Minerva for their patroness, and not +Fortune. It is indeed reported of one that, as he was drawing a horse +and had hit right in all the rest, both shapes and colors, but was not +well satisfied with the draught he had made of a puff of froth that +was tempered by the bit and wrought out with the horse’s breathing, +he therefore had often wiped it off; but that at length he in a great +fume struck his sponge full of colors, as it was, against the board, +and that this, as it lighted, to admiration made a most lively impress, +and so filled up what was defective in the piece. This is the only +artificial work of Fortune that history mentions. Artists everywhere +make use of rules, lines, measures, and arithmetical proportions, +that their works may nowhere have in them any thing that is casual or +fortuitous. And the truth is, arts are styled a sort of petty wisdoms, +though they might be much better called certain sheddings or filings +of it sprinkled upon the several needful services of human life; as is +obscurely riddled to us in the fire feigned to have been first divided +by Prometheus, and then scattered up and down the world. For just so, +certain little particles and fragments of wisdom as it were crumbled +and broken small fell into ranks and methods. + +5. It seems therefore very strange how it came to pass that arts should +stand in no need of Fortune to compass their proper end, but that which +is the greatest and most complete of all arts, and which is the very +sum of man’s worth and commendation, should prove to be nothing at all. +But there is a kind of good counsel in stretching and slackening of +strings, which they call the art of music; and in dressing of meats, +which we call cookery; and in washing of clothes, which we call the art +of fulling; and we teach our children how to put on their shoes and +clothes, and to take their meat in their right hand, and hold their +bread in their left; as being sensible that even such common things +as these do not come by Fortune, but require attention and heed. But +do the greatest things and the most important to a happy state require +no wisdom, and have no share in rational proceeding and forecast? Yet +no man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks +by chance and Fortune; nor, having provided wool and leather, sat +him down and prayed to Fortune that they might be made clothes and +shoes for him; nor can any man, when he hath amassed together much +gold and silver, and furnished himself with a multitude of slaves and +attendants, and enclosed himself in a great palace with many gates, +and set out costly couches and tables, fancy to himself that, if he +have not wisdom with them, these things will be his happiness, and an +undisturbed, blissful, and unchangeable life. One asked Iphicrates the +general, by way of taunt, what he was? For he was neither spearman nor +archer, nor yet bore light armor. I am (replied he) one that commands +and uses all these. + +6. In like manner wisdom is itself neither gold nor silver nor fame +nor wealth nor health nor strength nor beauty. What then is it? It is +what can use all these with decorum, and by means of which every one +of these is made pleasant, commendable, and useful, and without which +they become useless, unprofitable, and prejudicial, and the burthen and +shame of their possessors. Hesiod’s Prometheus therefore gives very +good advice to Epimetheus: + + Brother, be sure you never take + A boon from Jove, but giv’t him back,[228] + +meaning things of Fortune and external. For, as if he had bid him not +to play on a flute if ignorant of music, nor to read a book if he +knew not his letters, nor to ride if he understood not a horse, so +it would be if he advised him not to govern if a fool, nor to be a +rich man if a miser, and not to marry if apt to be ruled by a woman. +For success above desert is to fools an occasion of misthinking, as +Demosthenes[229] saith; yes, and good fortune above desert is to the +unwise an occasion of misdoing. + + + + +OF VIRTUE AND VICE. + + +1. It is apparent that clothes make a man warm, not by warming him +themselves or by imparting heat to him (for every garment is of itself +cold, which is the reason that we see those that are very hot and in +a fever often shifting and changing one thing for another), but what +heat a man exhales out of himself, that the garment lying close to his +body keeps together and contracts, and when it hath driven it inward, +it will not suffer it again to dissipate. This being the very case of +external affairs too, it is this that cheats vulgar heads, by making +them think that, if they might but enclose themselves in great houses +and heap together abundance of slaves and riches, they might then live +to their own minds. But an agreeable and gay life is not to be found +without us; on the contrary, it is man that out of his own temper, as +out of a spring, adds pleasure and gayety to the things about him: + + The house looks merrier when the fire burns. + +And wealth is the more agreeable, and fame and power the more +resplendent, when they have the joy of the mind to accompany them; +since we see how that through a mild and tame disposition men can bear +poverty, banishment, and old age easily and sweetly. + +2. For as odors perfume threadbare coats and poor rags, while Prince +Anchises’s ulcer sent forth a loathsome purulence, + + When the foul tent dript on his purple robe, + +even so every state and condition of life, if accompanied with virtue, +is undisturbed and delightful. But when vice is intermixed, it renders +even the things that appear splendid, sumptuous, and magnificent most +distasteful, nauseous, and unacceptable to the possessors. + + This man’s thought happy in the market-place, + But when he ope’s his doors, hell is his case; + + The woman governs all, commands and brawls. + +Though one may without any great difficulty get rid of a wicked +cross-grained wife, if he be but a man and not a slave. But a man +cannot write a bill of divorce to his vice, and thereby free himself +from further trouble, and procure his own repose by living apart; but +it still cohabits with him, and dwells in his very bowels, and cleaves +to him both by night and by day; + + It burns without a torch, and hastens crude old age,[230] + +being through its vain glory a burthensome fellow-traveller, and +through its voracity a chargeable table-companion, and a troublesome +bed-fellow by breaking and spoiling one’s sleep at night with cares, +anxieties, and surmises. For when he does sleep his body is indeed +at rest and quiet, but his mind is through superstition in terrors, +dreams, and frights. + + When in my slumbers sorrows fill me, + Then frightful dreams and visions kill me, + +saith one; just thus envy, fear, anger, and lust affect us. For by +day-time our vice, by looking abroad and fashioning herself to the +manner of others, grows shamefaced, and finds herself obliged to +mask her own disorders, and does not yield herself up wholly to her +appetites, but oftentimes resists and struggles with them. But in +times of sleep, when it escapes both the opinions of men and the laws, +and is at the remotest distance from awe and respect, it stirs every +desire, and raises up its malignity and lewdness. For it attempts (as +Plato speaks) the embraces of a mother, it purveys unlawful meats, and +refrains from no sort of action, enjoying villany, as far as it is +practicable, in shades and phantoms, that end in no real pleasure or +accomplishment of desire, but have only power to stir up and enrage +disorders and distempers. + +3. Where then is the pleasure of vice, if there be nowhere to be found +either freedom from care or exemption from trouble, or satisfaction or +undisturbedness or repose? A sound complexion and good health of body +give indeed both place and birth to the flesh’s pleasures; but there +cannot be engendered a gayety and cheerfulness in the mind, unless +undauntedness, assurance, or an immovable serenity be the foundation. +Nay, if some hope or satisfaction should simper a little, this would +be soon puddled and disturbed by some sudden eruption of care, like a +smooth sea by a rock. + +4. Heap up gold, gather together silver, raise up walks, fill your +house with slaves and the town with debtors; if you do not appease +the disorders of your own mind, and stint your unsatiable desire, and +deliver yourself from fears and cares, you do but rack wine for a man +in a fever, and administer honey to a man disturbed with bile, and +prepare meat and good cheer for people that have the flux or gripes, +who can neither retain it nor be strengthened by it, but are over and +above spoiled by it. Do you not see how sick persons loathe, spit out, +and refuse the finest and most costly meats, though they be proffered +and forced upon them; and how again, when their complexion alters, and +good spirits, sweet blood, and a connatural heat are engendered, they +get up and gladly and willingly eat brown bread, cheese, and cresses? +Such a disposition as this is it that reason works in the mind. And +you will have sufficiency, if you will but learn what a notable and +generous mind is. You will live luxuriously in poverty, and be a +prince; and you will be as much in love with a vacant and private life +as with that of a general or king. If you once apply to philosophy, you +will never live without pleasure, but you will learn to be everywhere +pleased, and with every thing. You will be pleased with wealth for +making you beneficial to many, and with poverty for not having much to +care for; with fame for being honored, and with obscurity for being +unenvied. + + + + +CONJUGAL PRECEPTS. + +PLUTARCH TO POLLIANUS AND EURYDICE SENDETH GREETING. + + +Now that the nuptial ceremonies are over, and that the priestess of +Ceres has joined you both together in the bands of matrimony according +to the custom of the country, I thought a short discourse of this +nature might not be either unacceptable or unseasonable, but rather +serve as a kind epithalamium to congratulate your happy conjunction; +more especially, since there can be nothing more useful in conjugal +society than the observance of wise and wholesome precepts, suitable to +the harmony of matrimonial converse. For among the variety of musical +moods and measures there is one which is called Hippothoros, a sort +of composition to the flute and hautboy, made use of to encourage and +provoke stallions to cover mares. But philosophy being furnished with +many noble and profitable discourses, there is not any one subject that +deserves a more serious study than that of wedlock, whereby they who +are engaged in a long community of bed and board are more steadfastly +united in affection, and made more pliable one to another in humor and +condition. To this purpose, having reduced under several short heads +and similes some certain instructions and admonitions which you, as +tutored up in philosophy, have frequently already heard, I send you the +collection as a present, beseeching the Muses so with their presence +to assist the Goddess Venus, that the harmony of your mutual society +and complacency in domestic diligences may outcry the melodious +concords of lute or harp, while you live united together by reason and +philosophy. Therefore it was that the ancients placed the statue of +Venus by that of Mercury, to signify that the pleasures of matrimony +chiefly consist in the sweetness of conversation. They also set the +Graces and Suadela, the Goddess of Eloquence, together, to show that +the married couple were to act only by persuasion, and not to use the +violences of wrangling and contention. + +1. Solon advised that the bride should eat a quince before she entered +the nuptial sheets; intimating thereby, in my opinion, that the man +was to expect his first pleasures from the breath and speech of his +new-married bed-fellow. + +2. In Boeotia it is the custom, when they veil the virgin bride, to set +upon her head a chaplet of wild asparagus, which from a thorny stalk +affords a most delicious fruit, to let us understand that a new-married +woman, discreetly brooking at the beginning the first distastes of +marriage restraints, grows yieldingly complaisant at length, and makes +conforming wedlock a happiness to each. And indeed such husbands +who cannot bear with the little disdains and first froppishness of +imprudent youth are like to those that choose the sour grapes and leave +to others the ripe delicious clusters. On the other side, those young +ladies that take a disdain to their husbands by reason of their first +debates and encounters may be well compared to those that patiently +endure the sting but fling away the honey. + +3. It especially behooves those people who are newly married to avoid +the first occasions of discord and dissension; considering that vessels +newly formed are subject to be bruised and put out of shape by many +slight accidents, but when the materials come once to be settled and +hardened by time, nor fire nor sword will hardly prejudice the solid +substance. + +4. Fire takes speedy hold of straw or hare’s fur, but soon goes out +again, unless fed with an addition of more fuel. Thus that same love, +whose flames are nourished only by heat of youth and looser charms of +beauty, seldom proves of long continuance or grows to wedlock maturity, +unless it have taken a deep root in conformity of manners, and mutual +affection be enlivened by the intermixture of souls as well as bodies, +while prudence and discretion feed the noble flame. + +5. They who bait their hooks with intoxicated drugs with little pains +surprise the hungry fish, but then they prove unsavory to the taste and +dangerous to eat. Thus women that by the force of charms and philters +endeavor to subdue their husbands to the satisfaction of their pleasure +become at length the wives of madmen, sots, and fools. For they whom +the sorceress Circe had enchanted, being then no better than swine and +asses, were no longer able to please or do her service. But she loved +Ulysses entirely, whose prudence avoided her venomous intoxications and +rendered his conversation highly grateful. + +6. They who rather choose to be the mistresses of senseless fools than +the obedient wives of wise and sober husbands are like those people +that prefer misguidance of the blind before the conduct of them that +can see and know the way. + +7. They will not believe that Pasiphae, the consort of a prince, could +ever be enamored of a bull, and yet themselves are so extravagant as to +abandon the society of their husbands,—men of wisdom, temperance, and +gravity,—and betake themselves to the bestial embraces of those who are +given wholly to riot and debauchery as if they were dogs or goats. + +8. Some men, either unable or unwilling to mount themselves into their +saddles through infirmity or laziness, teach their horses to fall upon +their knees, and in that posture to receive their riders. In like +manner there are some persons who, having married young ladies not +less considerable for the nobility of their birth than their wealthy +dowries, take little care themselves to improve the advantages of such +a splendid conjunction, but with a severe moroseness labor to depress +and degrade their wives, proud of the mastery and vaunting in domestic +tyranny. Whereas in this case it becomes a man to use the reins of +government with as equal regard to the quality and dignity of the woman +as to the stature of the horse. + +9. We behold the moon then shining with a full and glorious orb, when +farthest distant from the sun; but, as she warps back again to meet +her illustrious mate, the nearer she makes her approach, the more she +is eclipsed until no longer seen. Quite otherwise, a woman ought to +display the charms of her virtue and the sweetness of her disposition +in her husband’s presence, but in his absence to retire to silence and +reservedness at home. + +10. Nor can we approve the saying of Herodotus, that a woman lays +aside her modesty with her shift. For surely then it is that a chaste +woman chiefly vails herself with bashfulness, when, in the privacies +of matrimonial duties, excess of love and maiden reverence become the +secret signals and testimonies of mutual affection. + +11. As in musical concords, when the upper strings are so tuned as +exactly to accord, the base always gives the tone; so in well-regulated +and well-ordered families, all things are carried on with the +harmonious consent and agreement of both parties, but the conduct and +contrivance chiefly redounds to the reputation and management of the +husband. + +12. It is a common proverb, that the sun is too strong for the north +wind; for the more the wind ruffles and strives to force a man’s upper +garment from his back, the faster he holds it, and the closer he wraps +it about his shoulders. But he who so briskly defended himself from +being plundered by the wind, when once the sun begins to scald the air, +all in a dropping sweat is then constrained to throw away not only +his flowing garment but his tunic also. This puts us in mind of the +practice of most women, who, being limited by their husbands in their +extravagances of feasting and superfluities of habit, presently fill +the house with noise and uproar; whereas, if they would but suffer +themselves to be convinced by reason and soft persuasion, they would of +themselves acknowledge their vanity and submit to moderation. + +13. Cato ejected a certain Roman out of the senate for kissing his +wife in the presence of his daughter. It is true, the punishment was +somewhat too severe; but if kissing and colling and hugging in the +sight of others be so unseemly, as indeed it is, how much more indecent +is it to chide and brawl and maunder one at another while strangers +are in company? If lawful familiarity and caresses between man and +wife are not to be allowed but in their private retirements, shall the +bitter interchanges and loud discoveries of invective and inconsiderate +passion be thought an entertainment pleasingly proper for unconcerned +and public ears? + +14. As there is little or no use to be made of a mirror, though in a +frame of gold enchased with all the sparkling variety of the richest +gems, unless it render back the true similitude of the image it +receives; so is there nothing of profit in a wealthy dowry, unless the +conditions, the temper, the humor of the wife be conformable to the +natural disposition and inclination of the husband, and he sees the +virtues of his own mind exactly represented in hers. Or, if a fair and +beautiful mirror that makes a sad and pensive visage look jocund and +gay, or a wanton or smiling countenance show pensive and mournful, +is therefore presently rejected as of no value; thus may not she be +thought an angry, peevish, and importunate woman, that louts and +lowers upon the caresses of a husband, and when he courts the pastime +of her affections, entertains him with frumps and taunts, but when she +finds him serious in business, allures him then with her unseasonable +toyings to pleasure and enjoyment? For the one is an offence of +impertinency, the other a contempt of her husband’s kindness. But, +as geometricians affirm that lines and surfaces are not moved of +themselves, but according to the motions of the bodies to which they +belong, so it behooves a woman to challenge no peculiar passion or +affection as her own, but to share with her husband in business, in his +recreations, in his cares, and in his mirth. + +15. As they who are offended to see their wives eat and drink freely +in their company do but whet their appetites to glut and gormandize in +corners by themselves; so they who refuse to frolic in retirement with +their wives, or to let them participate of their private pastimes and +dalliances, do but instruct them to cater for their own pleasures and +delights. + +16. The Persian kings, when they contain themselves within the limits +of their usual banquets, suffer their married wives to sit down at +their tables; but when they once design to indulge the provocations +of amorous heats and wine, then they send away their wives, and call +for their concubines, their gypsies, and their songstresses, with +their lascivious tunes and wanton galliards. Wherein they do well, not +thinking it proper to debauch their wives with the tipsy frolics and +dissolute extravagances of their intemperance. + +If therefore any private person, swayed by the unruly motions of his +incontinency, happen at any time to make a trip with a kind she-friend +or his wife’s chambermaid, it becomes not the wife presently to lower +and take pepper in the nose, but rather to believe that it was his +respect to her which made him unwilling she should behold the follies +of ebriety and foul intemperance. + +17. Princes that be addicted to music increase the number of excellent +musicians; if they be lovers of learning, all men strive to excel in +reading and in eloquence; if given to martial exercises, a military +ardor rouses straight the drowsy sloth of all their subjects. Thus +husbands effeminately finical only teach their wives to paint and +polish themselves with borrowed lustre. The studious of pleasure render +them immodest and whorish. On the other side, men of serious, honest, +and virtuous conversations make sober, chaste, and prudent wives. + +18. A young Lacedaemonian lass, being asked by an acquaintance of hers +whether she had yet embraced her husband, made answer, No; but that he +had embraced her. And after this manner, in my opinion, it behooves an +honest woman to behave herself toward her husband, never to shun nor +to disdain the caresses and dalliances of his amorous inclinations, +when he himself begins; but never herself to offer the first occasion +of provocation. For the one savors of impudent harlotry, the other +displays a female pride and imperiousness void of conjugal affection. + +19. It behooves a woman not to make peculiar and private friendships of +her own, but to esteem only her husband’s acquaintance and familiars +as hers. Now as the Gods are our chiefest and most beneficial friends, +it behooves her to worship and adore only those Deities which her +husband reputes and reverences for such. But as for quaint opinions and +superstitious innovations, let them be exterminated from her outermost +threshold. For no sacrifices or services can be acceptable to the Gods, +performed by women, as it were, by stealth and in secret, without the +knowledge of the husband. + +20. Plato asserts those cities to be the most happy and best regulated +where these expressions, “This is mine,” “This is not mine,” are +seldomest made use of. For that then the citizens enjoy in common, so +far as is convenient, those things that are of greatest importance. But +in wedlock those expressions are utterly to be abolished. For as the +physicians say that the right side being bruised or beaten communicates +its pain to the left; so indeed the husband ought to sympathize in the +sorrows and afflictions of the woman, and much more does it become the +wife to be sensible of the miseries and calamities of the husband; +to the intent that, as knots are made fast by knitting the bows of a +thread one within another, so the ligaments of conjugal society may +be strengthened by the mutual interchange of kindness and affection. +This Nature herself instructs us, by mixing us in our bodies; while +she takes a part from each, and then blending the whole together +produces a being common to both, to the end that neither may be able +to discern or distinguish what was belonging to another, or lay claim +to assured propriety. Therefore is community of estate and purses +chiefly requisite among married couples, whose principal aim it ought +to be to mix and incorporate their purchases and disbursements into +one substance, neither pretending to call this hers or that his, but +accounting all inseparably peculiar to both. However, as in a goblet +where the proportion of water exceeds the juice of the grape, yet still +we call the mixture wine; in like manner the house and estate must be +reputed the possession of the husband, although the woman brought the +chiefest part. + +21. Helen was covetous, Paris luxurious. On the other side, Ulysses was +prudent, Penelope chaste. Happy therefore was the match between the +latter; but the nuptials of the former brought an Iliad of miseries as +well upon the Greeks as barbarians. + +22. The question being put by some of his friends to a certain Roman, +why he had put away his wife, both sober beautiful, chaste, and rich, +the gentleman, putting forth his foot and showing his buskin, said: +Is not this a new, handsome, complete shoe?—yet no man but myself +knows where it pinches me. Therefore ought not a woman to boast either +of her dower, her parentage, or beauty; but in such things as most +delight a husband, pleasantness of converse, sweetness of disposition, +and briskness of humor, there to show nothing of harshness, nothing +distasteful, nothing offensive, but from day to day to study behavior +jocund, blithe, and conformable to his temper. For as physicians are +much more afraid of fevers that proceed from hidden causes, which +have been by little and little contracting for a long time together, +than those that receive their nourishment from apparent and manifest +unconcoctions; thus, if daily continued, the petty snubs and frumps +between man and wife, though perhaps unknown to others, are of that +force that above all things else they canker conjugal affection, and +destroy the pleasure of cohabitation. + +23. King Philip so far doted on a fair Thessalian lady, that she +was suspected to have used some private arts of fascination towards +him. Wherefore Olympias labored to get the supposed sorceress into +her power. But when the queen had viewed her well, and duly examined +her beauty, beheld the graces of her deportment, and considered her +discourse bespake her no less than a person of noble descent and +education; Hence, fond suspicions, hence vainer calumnies! said she, +for I plainly find the charms which thou makest use of are in thyself. +Certainly therefore a lawful wife surpasses the common acceptation +of happiness when, without enhancing the advantages of her wealth, +nobility, and form, or vaunting the possession of Venus’s cestus +itself, she makes it her business to win her husband’s affection by her +virtue and sweetness of disposition. + +24. Another time the same Olympias, understanding that a young courtier +had married a lady, beautiful indeed, but of no good report, said: +Sure, the Hotspur had little brains, otherwise he would never have +married with his eyes. For they are fools who in the choice of a wife +believe the report of their sight or fingers; like those who telling +out the portion in their thoughts take the woman upon content, never +examining what her conditions are, or whether she is proper to make him +a fit wife or no? + +25. Socrates was wont to give this advice to young men that accustomed +themselves to their mirrors:—if ill-favored, to correct their deformity +by the practice of virtue; if handsome, not to blemish their outward +form with inward vice. In like manner, it would not be amiss for a +mistress of a family, when she holds her mirror in her hands, to +discourse her own thoughts:—if deformed, thus, Should I prove lewd +and wicked too?—on the other side, thus the fair one, What if chaste +beside? For it adds a kind of veneration to a woman not so handsome, +that she is more beloved for the perfections of her mind than the +outside graces of her body. + +26. Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, sent several costly presents of +rich apparel, necklaces, and bracelets to the daughters of Lysander, +which however the father would never permit the virgins to accept, +saying: These gaudy presents will procure more infamy than honor to +my daughters. And indeed, before Lysander, Sophocles in one of his +tragedies had uttered the following sentence to the same effect: + + Mistake not, silly wretch; this pompous trim + Rather disgraces than proclaims thee great, + And shows the rage of thy lascivious heat. + +For, as Crates said, that is ornament which adorns; and that adorns +a woman which renders her more comely and decent. This is an honor +conferred upon her, not by the lustre of gold, the sparkling of +emeralds and diamonds, nor splendor of the purple tincture, but by the +real embellishments of gravity, discretion, humility, and modesty. + +27. They who offer to Juno as the Goddess of Wedlock never consecrate +the gall with the other parts of the sacrifice, but having drawn +it forth, they cast it behind the altar. Which constitution of the +lawgiver fairly implies that all manner of passionate anger and +bitterness of reproach should be exterminated from the thresholds of +nuptial cohabitation. Not but that a certain kind of austerity becomes +the mistress of a family; which however should be like that of wine, +profitable and delightful, not like aloes, biting and medicinally +ungrateful to the palate. + +28. Plato observing the morose and sour humor of Xenocrates, otherwise +a person of great virtue and worth, admonished him to sacrifice to +the Graces. In like manner, I am of opinion that it behooves a woman +of moderation to crave the assistance of the Graces in her behavior +towards her husband, thereby (according to the saying of Metrodorus) to +render their society mutually harmonious to each other, and to preserve +her from being waspishly proud, out of a conceit of her fidelity and +virtue. For it becomes not a frugal woman to be neglectful of decent +neatness, nor one who has great respect to her husband to refrain +complacency in her conversation; seeing that, as the over-rigid humor +of a wife renders her honesty irksome, so sluttery begets a hatred of +her sparing and pinching housewifery. + +29. She who is afraid to laugh or to appear merry and gay before her +husband, for fear of waking his jealousy, may be said to resemble one +that forbears to anoint herself at all, lest she should be thought +to use unnecessary or harlotry perfumes, or that neglects to wash +her face, to avoid the suspicion of painting. Thus we find that +poets and orators, who desire to shun the tiring tediousness of a +low, vulgar, and drowsy style, ingeniously labor to detain and move +both their readers and their auditors by the quaintness of their +invention, grandeur of the subject, and lively representation of the +humors and conditions which they bring upon the stage. From whence a +discreet mistress of a family may likewise learn to avoid all manner of +over-nice curiosity and squeamish affectation, all excess of jollity +savoring of the courtesan, and every thing tending to profuse pomp; but +she will rather employ all her wit and art in exhibiting to her husband +all the graces of life and character, accustoming him to honesty and +decency joined with pleasure and delight. Nevertheless, if there be any +woman so severe and reserved by nature that no means can be found to +make her blithe and sportive, it behooves her husband to give way to +her temper; and, as Phocion answered Antipater, who commanded him to +do an ill thing that misbecame his quality, I cannot be thy friend and +flatter thee at one and the same time, in like manner ought a man to +rest satisfied with the virtues of a chaste wife, though her serious +disposition will not permit her to act the airy part of a mistress. + +30. The Egyptian women were anciently never wont to wear shoes, to the +end they might accustom themselves to stay at home. But altogether +different is the humor of our women; for they, unless allowed their +jewels, their bracelets, and necklaces, their gaudy vestments, gowns, +and petticoats, all bespangled with gold, and their embroidered +buskins, will never stir abroad. + +31. Theano, as she was dressing herself one morning in her chamber, by +chance discovered some part of her naked arm. Upon which, one of the +company crying out, Oh, what a lovely arm is there!—’Tis very true, +said she, but yet not common. Thus ought a chaste and virtuous woman +not only to keep her naked arms from open view, but to lock up her +very words and set a guard upon her lips, especially in the company of +strangers, since there is nothing which sooner discovers the qualities +and conditions of a woman than her discourse. + +32. Phidias made the statue of Venus at Elis with one foot upon the +shell of a tortoise, to signify two great duties of a virtuous woman, +which are to keep at home and be silent. For she is only to speak to +her husband, or by her husband. Nor is she to take amiss the uttering +her mind in that manner, through another more proper organ. + +33. Princes and kings honor themselves in giving honor to philosophers +and learned men. On the other side, great personages admired and +courted by philosophers are no way honored by their flatteries, which +are rather a prejudice and stain to the reputation of those that use +them. Thus it is with women, who in honoring and submitting to their +husbands win for themselves honor and respect, but when they strive to +get the mastery, they become a greater reproach to themselves than to +those that are so ignominiously henpecked. But then again, it behooves +a husband to control his wife, not as a master does his vassal, but as +the soul governs the body, with the gentle hand of mutual friendship +and reciprocal affection. For as the soul commands the body, without +being subject to its pleasures and inordinate desires, in like manner +should a man so exercise his authority over his wife, as to soften it +with complaisance and kind requital of her loving submission. + +34. Philosophers assert that, of bodies which consist of several +parts, some are composed of parts distinct and separate, as a navy +or army royal; others of contiguous parts, as a house or a ship; and +others of parts united at the first conception, equally partaking of +life and motion and growing together, as are the bodies of all living +creatures. Thus, where people wed for pure affection, that marriage +may be said to resemble those bodies whose parts are solidly fixed +together. They who marry for the sake of great portions, or else +desirous of offspring, are like to bodies whose parts are contiguous +and cleave close to one another; and they who only bed together, +if there be any such, resemble bodies whose parts are distinct and +without dependency. Now, as physicians say that liquids are the only +bodies which most easily intermix without any difference of propriety +or respect one with another; so should it be said of people joined +together in matrimony, that there is a perfect mixture of bodies and +estates, of friends and relations. Therefore the Roman law prohibits +new married people from giving and receiving mutual presents one from +another; not that they should not participate one with another, but to +show that they were not to enjoy any thing but what they possess in +common. + +35. In Leptis, a city of Libya, it was an ancient custom for the bride, +the next day after the nuptial solemnity, to send home to the mother of +the bridegroom to borrow a boiler, which she not only refused to lend, +but sent back word that she had none to spare; to the end that the +new married woman, having by that means tried the disposition of her +mother-in-law, if afterwards she found her humor peevish and perverse, +might with more patience brook her unkindness, as being no more +than what she expected. Rather it becomes the daughter to avoid all +occasions of distaste. For it is natural to some mothers to be jealous +that the wife deprives her of that filial tenderness which she expects +from her son. For which there is no better cure than for a wife so to +contrive the gaining of her husband’s love as not to lessen or withdraw +his affection from his mother. + +36. It is generally observed that mothers are fondest of their sons, as +expecting from them their future assistance when they grow into years, +and that fathers are kindest to their daughters, as standing most in +need of their paternal succor. And perhaps, out of that mutual respect +which the man and his wife bear one to another, either of them would +seem to carry greater affection for that which is proper and familiar +to the other. But this pleasing controversy is easily reconciled. For +it becomes a woman to show the choicest of her respects and to be more +complaisant to the kindred of her husband than to her own; to make her +complaints to them, and conceal her discontents from her own relations. +For the trust which she reposes in them causes them to confide in her, +and her esteem of them increases their respects to her. + +37. The commanders of the Grecian auxiliaries that marched in aid of +Cyrus gave these instructions to their soldiers, that, if their enemies +advanced whooping and hallowing to the combat, they should receive the +charge, observing an exact silence; but on the other side, if they +came on silently, then to rend the air with their martial shouts. Thus +prudent wives, when their husbands in the heat of their passion rant +and tear the house down, should make no returns, but quietly hold +their peace; but if they only frown out their discontents in moody +anger, then, with soft language and gently reasoning the case, they may +endeavor to appease and qualify their fury. + +38. Rightly therefore are they reprehended by Euripides, who introduce +the harp and other instruments of music at their compotations. For +music ought rather to be made use of for the mitigation of wrath and +to allay the sorrows of mourning, not to heighten the voluptuousness +of those that are already drowned in jollity and delight. Believe +yourselves then to be in an error that sleep together for pleasure, +but when angry and at variance make two beds, and that never at that +time call to your assistance the Goddess Venus, who better than any +other knows how to apply a proper remedy to such distempers; as Homer +teaches us, where he brings in Juno using this expression: + + Your deadly feuds will I myself appease, + And th’ amorous bed shall be the charming place + Where all your strife shall in embracing cease.[231] + +39. Though it becomes a man and his wife at all times to avoid all +occasions of quarrelling one with another, yet is there no time so +unseasonable for contention as when they are between the same sheets. +As the woman in difficult labor said to those that were about to lay +her upon her bed; How, said she, can this bed cure these pains, since +it was in this very bed that my pleasures were the cause of all my +throes? And still less will those reproaches and contests which the bed +produces be reconciled at any other time or place. + +40. Hermione seems to be in the right, speaking to this effect in one +of the tragedies of Euripides: + + The lewd discourse of women void of shame + Ruined my honor and my virtuous name.[232] + +However, these mischiefs rarely happen but where women at variance and +jealous of their husbands open not only their door but their ears to +whole swarms of twattling gossips, that widen the difference. For then +it behooves a prudent woman to shut her ears and beware of listening to +such enchanting tattlers, calling to mind the answer of Philip, when +he was exasperated by his friends against the Greeks for cursing and +reviling him, notwithstanding all the benefits they had received at +his hands: What would they have done, said he, had we used them with +unkindness and severity? The same should be the reply of a prudent +woman to those she-devils, when they bewail her condition, and cry, A +woman so loving, so chaste and modest, and yet abused by her husband! +For then should she make answer, What would he do, should I begin to +hate him and to do him wrong? + +41. A certain master, whose slave had been run away from him for +several months together, after a long search at length found him +suddenly in a workhouse, and said, Where could I have desired to meet +with thee more to my wish than in such a place as this? Thus, when a +woman is grown jealous of her husband and meditates nothing but present +divorce, before she be too hasty, let her reason with herself in this +manner: In what condition would my rival choose to see me with greater +satisfaction than as I am, all in a fret and fume, enraged against my +husband, and ready to abandon both my house and marriage-bed together? + +42. The Athenians yearly solemnized three sacred seed-times: the first +in Scirus, in memory of the first invention by their ancestors of +ploughing and sowing; the second at a place called Rharia; and the +third under Pelis, which they call Βουζύγιον in commemoration of the +first spanning of oxen to the plough. But more sacred than all these +is the nuptial ploughing and sowing, in order to the procreation of +children. And therefore Sophocles rightly calls Venus the fruitful +Cytherea. For which reason it highly imports both the man and the +woman, when bound together by the holy tie of wedlock, to abstain from +all unlawful and forbidden copulation, and from ploughing and sowing +where they never desire to reap any fruit of their labor, or, if the +harvest come to perfection, they conceal and are ashamed to own it. + +43. The orator Gorgias, in a full assembly of the Grecians, resorting +from all parts to the Olympic games, making an oration to the people, +wherein he exhorted them to live in peace, unity, and concord among +one another, Melanthus cried out aloud: This man pretends to give us +advice, and preaches here in public nothing but love and union, who in +his own private family is not able to keep his wife and his maid from +being continually together by the ears, and yet there are only they +three in the house. For it seems that Gorgias had a kindness for his +servant, which made her mistress jealous. And therefore it behooves +that man to have his family in exquisite order who will undertake +to regulate the failing of his friends or the public miscarriages, +especially since the misbehavior of men toward their wives is far +sooner divulged among the people than the transgressions of women +against their husbands. + +44. It is reported that the scent of sweet perfumes will make a cat +grow mad. Now, supposing those strong perfumes which are used by many +men should prove offensive to their wives, would it not be a great +piece of unnatural unkindness to discompose a woman with continual fits +rather than deny himself a pleasure so trivial? But when it is not +their husbands’ perfuming themselves, but their lascivious wandering +after lewd and extravagant women, that disturbs and disorders their +wives, it is a great piece of injustice, for the tickling pleasure of a +few minutes, to afflict and disquiet a virtuous woman. For since they +who are conversant with bees will often abstain from women, to prevent +the persecution of those little but implacable enemies of unclean +dalliance, much rather ought a man to be pure from the pollutions of +harlotry, when he approaches his chaste and lawful wife. + +45. They whose business it is to manage elephants never put on white +frocks, nor dare they that govern wild bulls appear in red, those +creatures being scared and exasperated by those colors. And some report +that tigers, when they hear a drum beat afar off, grow mad and exercise +their savage fury upon themselves. If then there are some men that are +offended at the gay and sumptuous habit of their wives, and others that +brook as ill their gadding to plays and balls, what reason is there +that women should not refrain those vanities rather than perplex and +discontent their husbands, with whom it becomes their modesty to live +with patience and sobriety. + +46. What said a woman to King Philip, that pulled and hauled her to him +by violence against her will? Let me go, said she, for when the candles +are out, all women are alike. This is aptly applied to men addicted to +adultery and lust. But a virtuous wife, when the candle is taken away, +ought then chiefly to differ from all other women. For when her body is +not to be seen, her chastity, her modesty, and her peculiar affection +to her husband ought then to shine with their brightest lustre. + +47. Plato admonishes old men to carry themselves with most gravity in +the presence of young people, to the end the awe of their example may +imprint in youth the greater respect and reverence of age. For the +loose and vain behavior of men stricken in years breeds a contempt of +gray hairs, and never can expect veneration from juvenility. Which +sober admonition should instruct the husband to bear a greater respect +to his wife than to all other women in the world, seeing that the +nuptial chamber must be to her either the school of honor and chastity +or that of incontinency and wantonness. For he that allows himself +those pleasures that he forbids his wife, acts like a man that would +enjoin his wife to oppose those enemies to which he has himself already +surrendered. + +48. As to what remains, in reference to superfluity of habit and decent +household furniture, remember, dear Eurydice, what Timoxenas has +written to Aristylla. + +And do you, Pollianus, never believe that women will be weaned from +those toys and curiosities wherein they take a kind of pride, and which +serve for an alleviation of their domestic solitude, while you yourself +admire the same things in other women, and are taken with the gayety +of golden beakers, magnificent pictures for your houses, and rich +trappings for your mules and horses. For it were a strange moroseness +to debar a woman those ornamental vanities which naturally her sex +admire, nor will it easily be endured without regret, where she sees +the man much more indulgent to his own humor. + +Since then thou art arrived at those years which are proper for the +study of such sciences as are attained by reason and demonstration, +endeavor to complete this knowledge by conversing with persons that +may be serviceable to thee in such a generous design. And as for thy +wife, like the industrious bee, gather everywhere from the fragrant +flowers of good instruction, replenish thyself with whatever may be +of advantage to her, and impart the same to her again in loving and +familiar discourse, both for thy own and her improvement. + + For father thou and mother art to her; + She now is thine, and not the parent’s care.[233] + +Nor is it less to thy commendation to hear what she returns: + + And you, my honored husband, are my guide + And tutor in philosophy beside, + From whose instructions I at once improve + The fruits of knowledge and the sweets of love + +For such studies as these fix the contemplations of women upon what is +laudable and serious, and prevent their wasting time upon impertinent +and pernicious vanity. For that lady that is studious in geometry will +never affect the dissolute motions of dancing. And she that is taken +with the sublime notions of Plato and Xenophon will look with disdain +upon the charms and enchantments of witches and sorcerers; and if any +ridiculous astrologer promises to pull the moon down from the sky, +she will laugh at the ignorance and folly of the women who believe in +him, being herself well grounded in astronomy, and having heard about +Aganice, the daughter of Hegetor, a Thessalian lord, who understanding +the reason of the eclipses of the moon, and knowing beforehand the time +of her being obscured by the shadow of the earth, made the credulous +women believe that it was she who at those times unhinged the moon and +removed her from the sky. + +True it is, that never any woman brought forth a perfect child +without the assistance and society of man, but there are many whose +imaginations are so strongly wrought upon by the sight or bare relation +of monstrous spectacles, that they bring into the world several +sorts of immature and shapeless productions. Thus, unless great care +be taken by men to manure and cultivate the inclinations of their +wives with wholesome and virtuous precepts, they often breed among +themselves the false conceptions of extravagant and loose desires. +But do thou, Eurydice, make it thy business to be familiar with the +learned proverbs of wise and learned men, and always to embellish +thy discourse with their profitable sentences, to the end thou mayst +be the admiration of other women, that shall behold thee so richly +adorned without the expense or assistance of jewels or embroideries. +For pearls and diamonds are not the purchase of an ordinary purse; but +the ornaments of Theano, Cleobuline, Gorgo the wife of King Leonidas, +Timoclea the sister of Theagenes, the ancient Roman Claudia, or +Cornelia the daughter of Scipio,—already so celebrated and renowned +for their virtues,—will cost but little, yet nothing will set thee out +more glorious or illustrious to the world, or render thy life more +comfortable and happy. For if Sappho, only because she could compose +an elegant verse, had the confidence to write to a haughty and wealthy +dame in her time + + Dead thou shalt lie forgotten in thy tomb, + Since not for thee Pierian roses bloom,[234] + +why may it not be much more lawful for thee to boast those great +perfections that give thee a greater privilege, not only to gather the +flowers, but to reap the fruits themselves, which the Muses bestow upon +the lovers and real owners of learning and philosophy? + + +END OF VOL. II. + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See Section 7, where the form of the dialogue shows that Plutarch +counted Anacharsis among the Seven, and left out Periander. (G.) + +[2] Hesiod, Works and Days, 744. + +[3] Il. IV. 261. + +[4] Ἄλει, μύλα, ἄλει· καὶ γὰρ Πίττακος ἀλεῖ, μεγάλας Μιτυλάνας +βασιλεύων. + +[5] Hesiod, Works and Days, 41. + +[6] Il. V. 341. + +[7] Μηδὲν ἄγαν, _Ne quid nimis_. + +[8] Called κυψέλη in Greek, whence the child was named Cypselus. (G.) + +[9] Il. XI. 542. + +[10] Il. X. 249; Odyss. VIII. 351. + +[11] Il. VI. 282. + +[12] Odyss. IV. 230; Il. XIV. 216. + +[13] Il. VI. 130. + +[14] See. Il. XX. 57. + +[15] From Aeschylus. The whole passage is quoted in Plato’s Republic, +end of Book II. (G.) + +[16] Odyss. XI. 228. + +[17] Il. XXII. 210. + +[18] Il. IV. 84. + +[19] From the Niobe of Aeschylus, Frag. 151. + +[20] Odyss. XXIV. 11. + +[21] Odyss. XI. 72. + +[22] Il. XVI. 856. + +[23] Eurip. Iph. Aul. 1218. + +[24] Eurip. Phoeniss. 524. + +[25] From Menander. + +[26] Odyss. VI. 148. + +[27] Il. II. 189. + +[28] Il. I. 24. + +[29] Il. I. 225. + +[30] Il. I. 223. + +[31] Il. XXIII. 24. + +[32] Odyss. VIII. 329. + +[33] Il. VIII. 198. + +[34] Il. IV. 104. + +[35] Odyss. VIII. 249 and 492. + +[36] Il. XV. 82. + +[37] Il. VIII. 358. + +[38] Il. VI. 188; Odyss. VI. 46; Il. XXIV. 526. + +[39] Theognis, vss. 177, 178. + +[40] Odyss. IV. 197; Il. XXIV. 526. + +[41] Il. V. 352. + +[42] Odyss. XVIII. 333. + +[43] Soph. Oed. Tyr. 2. + +[44] Eurip. Phoeniss. 1006. + +[45] Il. VII. 329. + +[46] Il. III. 276. + +[47] Il. I. 3 and 5. + +[48] From Euripides. + +[49] Hesiod, Works and Days, 86. + +[50] Hesiod, Works and Days, 717. + +[51] Il. XXIV. 527; VII. 69; Odyss. VIII. 81. + +[52] Il. XI. 540. + +[53] Hesiod, Works and Days, 289. + +[54] Il. XI. 90. + +[55] Il. XX. 242; Hesiod, Works and Days, 313. + +[56] Hesiod, Works and Days, 287. + +[57] Odyss. XIX. 360. + +[58] Odyss. IV. 93. + +[59] Eurip. Medea, 598; Phoeniss. 549. + +[60] From the Aeolus of Euripides. + +[61] Il. XVI. 97; Odyss. XI. 421; Il. IX. 452; Il. III. 365. + +[62] For this and the four following quotations, see Il. I. 59, 90, +220, 349; IX. 458 + +[63] Odyss. VI. 254. + +[64] Odyss. XVIII. 282. + +[65] Odyss. XIII. 216. + +[66] Hesiod, Works and Days, 744; Il. IV. 306. + +[67] Eurip. Hippol. 424. + +[68] For this and the five following quotations, see Il. I. 163; II. +226; I. 128; II. 281; IV. 402 and 404. + +[69] Il. IV. 357. For the four following, see Il. IX. 34 and 70; IV. +431; X. 325. + +[70] Il. VII. 215. For the three following, see Il. II. 220; VII. 226 +and 231. + +[71] See Aristophanes, Frag. 397. + +[72] Il. XI. 313. For the four following, see Odyss. III. 52; Il. XXIV. +560 and 584; Odyss. XVI. 274. + +[73] Il. III. 320; XVI. 233. + +[74] Il. VI. 444; XVII. 671. + +[75] Il. XIII. 354. + +[76] Odyss. III. 20; Il. XXIII. 570; XVII. 170. + +[77] Il. VI. 160; Odyss. III. 265. + +[78] Il. XVI. 422; XIII. 121. + +[79] See note on the same passage of Aeschylus (Sept. 591), vol. I. p. +210. (G.) + +[80] Il. XXIII. 297. + +[81] From the Aeolus of Euripides, Frag. 19. + +[82] Eurip. Electra, 428. + +[83] Eurip. Iphig. Aul. 29. + +[84] From the Chrysippus of Euripides, Frag. 838. + +[85] From Menander. + +[86] Hesiod, Works and Days, 348. + +[87] The word here used (ὀρτυγοκοπεῖν) denotes a game among the +Grecians, which Suidas describes to be the setting of quails in a round +compass or ring, and striking at the heads of them; and he that in the +ring struck down one had liberty to strike at the rest in order, but he +that missed was obliged to set up quails for others; and this they did +by turns. + +[88] From the Aeolus of Euripides, Frag. 20. + +[89] Il. III. 39; XVII. 142. + +[90] Il. II. 173; VII. 47; XIX. 216; XI. 608. + +[91] Il. I. 225; XXIII. 483 and 474-479; XIII. 824. + +[92] Il. XXI. 331. + +[93] Il. V. 428; XI. 543. + +[94] Hesiod, Works and Days, 40 and 266. + +[95] The first two quotations are from Euripides (the first from his +Cresphontes); the other two are from unknown tragic poets. (G.) + +[96] Thucyd. I. 42. + +[97] Hesiod, Theogony, 64. + +[98] Eurip. Ion, 732. + +[99] Eurip. Hippol. 218. + +[100] Odyss. XXII. I. + +[101] Odyss. XVI. 181. + +[102] Soph. Antigone, 523. + +[103] Il. XI. 643; Odyss. IV. 178. + +[104] Il. VIII. 281; Odyss. I. 65; Il. VII. 109. + +[105] Thucyd. III. 82. + +[106] Plat. Repub. V. 474 D. + +[107] Il. X. 249. + +[108] Eurip. Alcestis, 1159, and elsewhere in Euripides. + +[109] Il. XVI. 141. + +[110] From the Myrmidons of Aeschylus, Frag. 131. + +[111] Odyss. X. 329. + +[112] Eurip. Phoeniss. 472. + +[113] Il. XIV. 195. + +[114] From the Ino of Euripides, Frag. 416. + +[115] From the Erechtheus of Euripides, Frag. 364. + +[116] Il. XIV. 84. + +[117] Il. XI. 654. + +[118] Il. XVI. 33. + +[119] Il. II. 215. + +[120] Λύσιος, the Releaser. See Pind. Frag. 124. + +[121] Eurip. Orestes, 667. + +[122] Eurip. Ion, 732. + +[123] See Demosth. Ol. II. p. 24, 3. + +[124] See Il. IX. 108. + +[125] Odyss. I. 157. + +[126] Aristophanes, Acharn. 503. + +[127] Thucyd. I. 70. + +[128] From Euripides, Ἄλλων ἰατρὸς, αὐτὸς ἕλκεσι βρύων. + +[129] Il. XI. 313; VIII. 234. + +[130] Il. IX. 461. + +[131] Il. XIII. 116; V. 171. + +[132] Eurip. Phoeniss. 1688; Hercules Furens, 1250. + +[133] Il. V. 800. + +[134] II. 464. + +[135] Il. VI. 347. + +[136] Il. VI. 326. + +[137] Il. IX. 109. + +[138] Odyss. XXII. 6. + +[139] Odyss. VIII. 246, 248. + +[140] Odyss. IV. 605. + +[141] Aeschylus, Suppliants, 770. + +[142] Soph. Oed. Tyr. 1169, 1170. + +[143] From the Thamyras of Sophocles, Frag. 225. + +[144] Eurip. Hippol. 75. + +[145] Eurip. Aeolus, Frag. 23. + +[146] Pindar, Pyth. I. 25. + +[147] From the Cressae of Euripides, Frag. 470. + +[148] Odyss. VIII. 173. + +[149] See Il. V. 341. + +[150] Odyss. V. 410. + +[151] Il. XXII. 390. + +[152] Eurip. Hecuba, 422. + +[153] Il. IX. 408 + +[154] Il. VII. 99. + +[155] Eurip. Hippol. 193. + +[156] Il. V. 514 and 515. + +[157] Herod. VII. 46. + +[158] See Livy, I. 9, 12. + +[159] See Varro, Ling. Lat. V. 84: Quod in Latio capite velato erant +semper, ac caput cinctum habebant _filo_, _flamines_ dicti. Festus, s. +v. Flamen Dialis: Flamen, quasi _filamen_. (G.) + +[160] Il. XV. 198. + +[161] For an account of the various titles of Fortune at Rome, see +Preller, Römische Mythologie, X. § 1; and Plutarch on the Fortune of +the Romans, §§ 5, 10. (G.) + +[162] From Sophocles, Frag. 786. + +[163] See the word πλατυχαίτας (probably corrupt) in Liddell and +Scott’s Greek Lexicon. (G.) + +[164] Called παλιντοκία. See above, Question 18. (G.) + +[165] Il. XV. 453. + +[166] Hesiod, Works and Days, 708. + +[167] Hesiod, Works and Days, 45. + +[168] Odyss. IV. 74. + +[169] See Il. XXIII. 259. + +[170] Pindar, Olymp. IX. 58. + +[171] Il. IV. 370 and 405. + +[172] Soph. Trachin. 442. + +[173] Il. XVI. 847. + +[174] Il. I. 128; IX. 328; XVI. 70. + +[175] Demosthenes on the Crown, p. 260, 1; p. 307, 9. + +[176] Il. XXII. 379. + +[177] Demosthenes on the Crown, p. 325, 22. + +[178] Odyss. XVI. 187. + +[179] Il. XXIII. 673 and 670. + +[180] Odyss. XII. 192; IX. 228. + +[181] From the Philoctetes of Euripides, Frag. 785 and 787. + +[182] See Vol. 1. p. 91. + +[183] Il. I. 260. + +[184] Il. VI. 127. + +[185] Odyss. XII. 209. + +[186] See Demosthenes on the Crown, p. 270, 3. + +[187] See Boeckh’s dissertation _Ueber die Bildung der Weltseele im +Timaeos des Platon_, now reprinted in his Kleine Schriften, III. pp. +109-180. For the passages relating to music, see Westphal’s _Harmonik +und Melopöie der Griechen_, pp. 134-136. See also the note prefixed to +Plutarch on Music, vol. I. p. 102. (G.). + +[188] Timaeus, p. 35 A-B. + +[189] Timaeus, p. 34 B. + +[190] Timaeus, p. 36 E. + +[191] + +[Illustration] + + * + * * + * * * + * * * * + * * * * * + * * * * * * + * * * * * * * + +See note on Platonic Questions, No. V. § 2. Thirty-six is called the +triangular of eight, because a triangle thus made of thirty-six points +will have eight points on each side. (G.) + +[192] That is, in the quaternary, § 11. See the diagram, p. 339. (G.) + +[193] Timaeus, p. 36 A. + +[194] Timaeus, p. 37 A. + +[195] Timaeus, p. 52 D. + +[196] Timaeus, p. 35 B. + +[197] X. p. 617 B. + +[198] Ἅρμενος ἦν ξείνοισιν ἀνὴρ ὅδε, καὶ φίλος ἀστοῖς. + +[199] See Boeckh’s note on Pindar, Frag. 8. The quotation from Pindar +is corrupt; but the sense given above is derived from other quotations +of the same passage. (G.) + +[200] This epistolary discourse was wrote against an ill-bred sort of +philosophers who neither would take the charge of education of great +persons themselves, nor would suffer others to do it. Tho’ the author +seems here only to vindicate his friend, it is in truth an apology for +himself, who bred up an emperor, and spent most part of his time (to +good purpose) in the greatest court in the world. This and several +other of his moral discourses seems to be hastily dictated, so that +there is no great choice in his words or measure in his periods, or +strict method in the whole. However, the treasure of ancient learning +and good sense which is to be found in him, as it was frequently made +use of by the most eloquent Greek Fathers, so is it sufficient to +recommend his works to all lovers of learning and good manners. (K. C.) + +Much of this version is a mere paraphrase. (G.) + +[201] Odyss. XVII. 487. + +[202] Eurip. Hippol. 102. + +[203] From the Veiled Hippolytus of Euripides, Frag. 431. + +[204] From the Niobe of Aeschylus, Frag. 153. + +[205] Almost the same words with those of our Saviour, It is more +blessed to give than to receive. So that a man can scarcely be a true +Epicurean without practising some of the maxims of Christianity. + +[206] Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. + +[207] From the Autolycus, a lost Satyrdrama of Euripides, Frag. 284, +vs. 22. (G.) + +[208] Il. VII. 44 and 58. + +[209] Odyss. XI. 278. + +[210] Aristophanes, Knights, 79. + +[211] From Sophocles, Frag. 786. + +[212] See Aeschylus, Suppliants, 937. + +[213] From the Theseus of Euripides, Frag. 383. + +[214] Soph. Electra, 724. + +[215] Soph. Oed. Tyr. 1169 and 1170. + +[216] Eurip. Orestes, 213. + +[217] Eurip. Iph. Taur. 569. + +[218] Hesiod, Works and Days, 361. + +[219] From Sophocles, Frag. 757. + +[220] Thucyd. I. 18. + +[221] Odyss. XVI. 187. + +[222] Odyss. VI. 187; XXIV. 402. + +[223] Republic, IX. p. 571 C. + +[224] From Chaeremon, Frag. 2. + +[225] Soph. Oed. Tyr. 110. + +[226] From the Prometheus Released of Aeschylus, Frag. 188. + +[227] Odyss. VIII. 246. + +[228] Hesiod, Works and Days, 86. + +[229] Olynth. I. p. 16, 1. + +[230] Hesiod, Works and Days, 705. + +[231] II. XIV. 205 and 209. + +[232] Eurip. Andromache, 930. + +[233] See Il. VI. 429. + +[234] Sappho, Frag. 68 (Bergk). + + + + +INDEX. + + +A. + +“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” a proverb among the + Greeks, iv. 229. + +“Abstain from beans,” meaning of the aphorism, i. 29. + +Achelous, a river in Aetolia, v. 504. + +Acrotatus, apothegm of, i. 400. + +Actaeon, a beautiful youth of Corinth, murdered, iv. 313-315. + +Ada, queen of Caria, sends delicacies to Alexander, i. 199. + +Adimantus, admiral of the Corinthian fleet at the battle of Salamis, + iv. 362; + his courage vindicated, 364. + +Adrastus, anecdote of, i. 288. + +Advice to a new-married couple, ii. 486-507. + +Aeacus, his two sons, v. 466. + +Aemilius Censorinus, v. 475. + +Aemilius of Sybaris, v. 464. + +Aemilius Paulus, sayings of, i. 232; iv. 202. + +Aeolus, king of Etruria, v. 467. + +Aeschines, quoted, Prom., i. 40; + anecdote of, 55; + Eumen., 59; + Frag., 163; + Prom., 299; + Ctesiphon, 334; + his early life, and concern in public affairs, v. 34; + incurs the hostility of Demosthenes, _ib._; + accused by Demosthenes and acquitted, 34, 35; + impeaches Ctesiphon, is fined and exiled, 35; + his school at Rhodes, _ib._; + his death, _ib._; + his orations, _ib._; + his public employments, 36. + +Aeschylus, quoted, Septem, i. 210, 286, 315, 329, 493; + quoted, ii. 47; + anecdote of, 77, 160; + Frag., 48, 83, 127, 165, 374, 431, 458, 463, 474, 477; + quoted, iii. Frag., 24, 222; + quoted, iv. 20, 54, 385; + Frag., 276, 279; + quoted, v. Frag., 170; + Prom., 241, 320, 398. + +Aesop, murdered by the citizens of Delphi, iv. 160; + their punishment, 161. + _See Esop._ + +Agamedes and Trophonius built the temple at Delphi, i. 313. + +Agasicles, apothegms of, i. 385. + +Agatharchides the Samian, his Persian History, v. 451. + +Agatho the Samian, v. 474. + +Agathocles, anecdote of, i. 46; ii. 317. + +Aged Men, Shall they meddle in State Affairs?, v. 64-96. + +Agesianax quoted, v. 235, 236. + +Agesilaus, reply of, i. 73, 219, 220; + his sayings and great actions, 385-397; + his upright character, ii. 109, 115, 319, 455; + his punishment, iii. 46, 79; + anecdote of, v. 67; + his faults, 118; 457; + his Italian History, 468. + +Agesipolis, two of the name, apothegms of, i. 397, 398. + +Agis, king of Sparta, his sayings, i. 218, 221; + anecdote of, v. 95. + +Agis, son of Archidamus, apothegm of, i. 398. + +Agis the Argive, ii. 125. + +Agis the Last, apothegm of, i. 400. + +Agis the Younger, apothegms of, i. 400. + +Ajax’s soul, her place in Hell, iii. 442. + +Alba, king of, torn in pieces by horses, v. 455. + +Albinus, a Roman general, v. 453. + +Alcaeus quoted, ii. 298; iii, 264. + +Alcamenes, apothegm of, i. 400. + +Alcibiades, i. 143; + his sayings, 211; + his lustful conduct, 489; + the prince of flatterers, ii. 108, 471; + failure of, 460; + spoke with hesitation, v. 110, 112. + +Alcippus, a Lacedaemonian, banished for his virtue; his wife slays + herself and her daughters, iv. 320-322. + +Alcmaeon, saying of, i. 288; + philosophical opinions; + of the planets, iii. 140; + of hearing, 170; + of smelling, 170; + of taste, 170; + of the barrenness of mules, 182; + of embryos, 184; + of the formation of the body, 184; + of the cause of sleep, 188; + of health, sickness, and old age, 192. + +Alcmaeonidae, unfairly represented by Herodotus, iv. 338, 347. + +Alcman, quoted; Frag., i. 494; iii. 16; v. 279. + +Aleuas the Thessalian, iii. 67. + +Alexander of Macedon, and Porus, i. 45; + lament of, 140; + and Criso the runner, 152; + his sayings, 198-202; + the Fortune or Virtue of, 475-516; + anecdotes of, ii. 125, 138, 473; + his moderation, 475; iii. 29; + was he a great drinker, 219; + his purpose to attack the Romans, iv. 219; v. 140. + +Alexander, tyrant of Pherae, his cruel temper softened by a play, i. + 492. + +Alexandridas, apothegm of, i. 401. + +Alexarchus, his Italian History, v. 456. + +Alexidemas, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41. + +Alexinus the sophist, i. 76. + +Alexis quoted, ii. 58. + +Alpha, why placed first in the Alphabet, iii. 438. + +Alpheus, a river in Arcadia, v. 501. + +Amasis, king of Egypt, required to drink the ocean dry, ii. 13; + questions of, 16. + +Ammonius, teacher of Plutarch, anecdote of, ii. 147. + +Amphiaraus, quoted, i. 317; + his lance turned into a laurel, v. 455. + +Amphidamas, poets meet at his grave in Chalcis, ii. 19. + +Amphion, first invented playing on the harp and lyric poesy, i. 105. + +Anarcharsis, and Eumetis, ii. 8; + his utterances at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 12, 15, 20, + 21, 27, 39. + +Anatole, a mountain, v. 482. + +Anaxagoras, saying of, i. 159; + said the sun was red-hot metal, 179; + anecdote of, 332; ii. 357; iii. 35, 37; + philosophical opinions; + Homoeomeries, 108; + of the origin of bodies, 119; + how bodies are mixed, 126; + of fortune, 131; + of the world’s inclination, 136; + of the stars, 138, 140; + of the sun, 142, 143; + of the moon, 145, 147; + of the milky way, 149; + of shooting stars, 150; + of thunder, lightning and hurricanes, 151; + of the rainbow, 153; + of earthquakes, 157; + of the sea, 158; + of the overflow of the Nile, 160; + of the voice, 172; + of generation, 178; + of the generation of animals, 186; + of reason in animals, 187; + of sleep, 190; v. 145, 255. + +Anaxander, apothegm of, i. 401. + +Anaxilas, apothegm of, i. 402. + +Anaximander, philosophical opinions; + of principles, iii. 107; + the stars were heavenly deities, 121; + of the stars, 140; + of the essence and magnitude of the sun, 141, 142; + of eclipses of the sun, 144; + of the moon, 145; + of fire from clouds, 150; + of winds, 154; + of the earth, 155; + of the sea, 158; + of the generation of animals, 186. + +Anaximenes, philosophical opinions; + air is the principle of all beings, iii. 107; + of heaven, 137; + of the stars, 139, 140; + cause of summer and winter, 141; + of the shape of the sun and summer and winter solstice, 143; + of the moon, 146; + of clouds, 151; + of the rainbow, 153; + of the earth, 155; + of earthquakes, 157; v. 313. + +Ancients, suppers of the, iii. 255-259. + +Andocides, one of the ten Attic orators, v. 21-23; + of a noble family, 21; + accused of impious acts, 22; + his adventures in Cyprus, 22, 23; + his exile, 23; + his orations, _ib._ + +Androclidas, apothegm of, i. 402. + +Anecdotes of + Aeschylus, ii. 458. + Agathocles, i. 46. + Agesilaus, i. 73, 219, 220; v. 67, 118. + Agis, king of Sparta, v. 95. + Alcibiades, ii. 108, 109. + Alexander the Great, i. 45; ii. 473. + Ammonius, ii. 147. + Anaxagoras, i. 332. + Antigonus, i. 44, 47, 67, 202, 205, 334; iv. 231. + Antimachus, i. 307. + Antiochus Hierax, iii. 60. + Antipater, i. 64, 197, 205, 215. + Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 127. + Apelles the painter, i. 16, 153; ii. 122, 133. + Appius Claudius, v. 89. + Arcesilaus and Apelles, ii. 133. + Archelaus of Macedon, i. 67, 193. + Archidamus, i. 74. + Archimedes, ii. 174; v. 71. + Archytas of Tarentum, i. 18, 24. + Aristippus, i. 11, 55, 147, 459; ii. 55. + Athenian barber, iv. 238. + Attalus and Eumenes, iii. 61. + Augustus Caesar and Fulvius, iv. 235, 236. + Bocchoris, i. 63. + Brasidas, ii. 458. + Caesar, i. 293; iv. 204, 205; v. 67. + Cato, i. 295; ii. 490. + Cato and Catulus, i. 73. + Cleon, v. 100, 116. + Corinna, v. 404. + Crassus, i. 288, 290. + Croesus and Solon, ii. 122. + Demades and Phocion, ii. 298. + Demaratus and Philip, ii. 146. + Demetrius Phalereus, ii. 145; iii. 21. + Demosthenes, i. 15, 65, 334; ii. 460; v. 43-53. + Diogenes, i. 51, 67, 141, 142, 166, 283, 285, 311, 487; ii. 455, + 458; iii, 21, 29. + Diogenes and Philip, ii. 147. + Diogenes and the mouse, ii. 453. + Dion, i. 64, 333. + Dionysius of Syracuse, i. 83, 152, 493; ii. 108, 140; iv. 238. + Epaminondas, v. 72, 95, 101, 120, 121, 125, 401. + Euclid, i. 55. + Eudoxus, ii. 174. + Eumenes, iii. 61; iv. 232. + Fulvius and Augustus, iv. 235, 236. + Hiero, i. 291. + Hyperides, v. 55, 56. + Isocrates, v. 31. + Leaena, iv. 229, 230. + Lucretia, i. 355. + Lycurgus, the lawgiver, i. 7. + Lycurgus, the orator, v. 39. + Lysander, i. 72; ii. 495. + Lysias, iv. 226. + Magas, i. 45. + Menander, v. 403. + Nasica, i. 285. + Nero, v. 123. + Nicias, the Athenian general, i. 177. + Nicias, the painter, ii. 173; v. 71. + Nicostratus and Archidamus, i. 74. + Olympias, ii. 494, 495. + Pericles, i. 15, 18, 66, 211, 332; ii. 309, 315; v. 67, 106. + Philip of Macedon, i. 305; ii. 146, 147, 494. + Phocion, ii. 298; v. 118. + Pindar, v. 404. + Pisistratus, iii. 41. + Plato, i. 71. + Plato and Socrates, ii. 148. + Polemon, i. 55. + Pompey, v. 70. + Postumia, i. 290. + Priest of Hercules, iii. 90. + Prometheus, i. 289. + Ptolemy Lagus, i. 45. + Pythagoras, ii. 174. + Roman Senator and his wife, iv. 233-235. + Scaurus, i. 295. + Scilurus, a Scythian king, iv. 244. + Seleucus Callinicus, iv. 237. + Seneca, i. 53. + Simonides, v. 68. + Socrates, i. 11, 13, 23, 26, 38, 53, 141, 150. + Socrates and Plato, ii. 148. + Solon, v. 89. + Solon and Croesus, ii. 122. + Sophocles, v. 68. + Stasicrates, i. 495. + Stilpo the philosopher, ii. 468. + Stratonicus, iii. 21. + Sylla, v. 72. + Terpander, i. 91, 92. + Themistocles, i. 73, 290, 296; iii. 21; v. 120. + Theramenes, i. 306. + Timotheus the musician, i. 92. + Valeria, i. 356. + Xanthippe, wife of Socrates, i. 53, 292. + Xenocrates, i. 71. + Xenophon, i. 333. + Xerxes and Ariamenes, iii. 59, 60. + Zeno, i. 72, 142, 283; ii. 455; iii. 25; iv. 225. + +Anger, concerning the cure of, i. 33-59. + +Animal Food, shall it be eaten? Of Eating of Flesh, v. 3-16. + +Animals, generation of, iii. 186; + how many species of, 187; + appetites and pleasures of, 191; + ails and cures of, 510; + their intelligence, v. 157-217. + +Anius, king of the Tuscans, v. 475. + +Antalcidas, his sayings, i. 222, 402; + his reply to a railing Athenian, v. 125. + +Anthes, the first author of hymns, i. 105. + +Anthias, the sacred fish, v. 208. + +Anthipphus, Lydian harmony first used by, i. 114. + +Antichthon, the, iii. 155. + +Antigonus, anecdote of, i. 25; + saying of, 44, 47, 67, 202, 205, 334, 484; iv. 231. + +Antigonus the Second, his sayings, i. 205; ii. 319. + +Antimachus, anecdote of, i. 308. + +Antiochus and Charicles, iii. 49. + +Antiochus and Seleucus, iii. 60. + +Antiochus, apothegm of, i. 403. + +Antiochus Hierax, anecdotes of, i. 206; iii. 60. + +Antiochus Sidetes, anecdotes of, i. 207. + +Antiochus the Spartan, his saying, i. 221. + +Antiochus the Third, anecdotes of, i. 206. + +Antipater, anecdotes of, i. 64, 197, 205, 215; ii. 135, 298; iii. + 517; v. 49. + +Antiperistasis of motion, v. 435. + +Antiphanes, witty saying of his, ii. 456. + +Antiphon, one of the ten Attic orators, +ii. 142; v. 17-21; + his birth, education, &c., 17; + wrote speeches for others, _ib._; + a man of great talent and learning, 18; + concerned in the revolution which subverted the popular government, + _ib._; + on the overthrow of the oligarchical party he was involved in + their ruin, _ib._; + number of his orations, 19; + decree of the senate against him, 20; + his condemnation and punishment, 21; + opinion concerning the moon, iii. 146; + of the sea, 158. + +Antisthenes quoted, i. 77, 289, 496; v. 125. + +Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 127. + +Apelles, the painter, anecdotes of, i. 16, 153; + his picture of Alexander, 494; + and Megabyzus, ii. 122; + and Arcesilaus, 133. + +Aphareus, adopted son of Isocrates, wrote orations and tragedies, v. + 32. + +Apis, the sacred bull of the Egyptians, iv. 68; + slain by Ochus, king of Persia, 74, 92. + +Apollo and the dragon Python, iv. 20. + +Apollo, inventor of the flute and harp, i. 113. + +Apollo, temple of, iv. 478-498; + the inscription ει over its gate, 479. + +Apollodorus, first invented the mixing of colors and the softening of + shadows, v. 400. + +Apollonides, of shadow, v. 265; + of spots in the moon, 269. + +Apollonis of Cyzicum, iii. 41. + +Apollonius, consolation to, i. 299-339. + +Apollonius, the Peripatetic, iii. 57. + +Apothegms of Kings and Great Commanders, i. 185-250. + Agathocles, sayings of, i. 193. + Agesilaus, 219. + Agis, 218-221. + Alcibiades, 211. + Alexander the Great, 198-202. + Antalcidas, 222. + Antigonus, 202. + Antigonus the Second, 205. + Antiochus Sidetes, 207. + Antiochus the Spartan, 221. + Antiochus the Third, 206. + Antipater, 205. + Archelaus, 193. + Archidamus, 218. + Aristides, 210. + Artaxerxes Longimanus, 187. + Artaxerxes Mnemon, 188. + Ateas, 189. + Augustus Caesar, 248-250. + Brasidas, 218. + Caecilius Metellus, 239. + Caius Fabricius, 227. + Caius Marius, 239. + Caius Popilius, 240. + Cato the Elder, 233-235. + Chabrias, 213. + Charillus, 217. + Cicero, 244. + Cneus Domitius, 231. + Cneus Pompeius, 241-244. + Cotys, 189. + Cyrus the Elder, 186. + Cyrus the Younger, 188. + Darius, 186. + Demetrius, 204. + Demetrius Phalereus, 217. + Dion, 193. + Dionysius the Elder, 191. + Dionysius the Younger, 192. + Epaminondas, 222-226. + Eudaemonidas, 221. + Eumenes of Pergamus, 206. + Fabius Maximus, 227-228. + Gelo, 190. + Hegesippus, 213. + Hiero, 190. + Idathyrsus, 189. + Iphicrates, 212. + Lucullus, 241. + Lycurgus, 217. + Lysander, 219. + Lysimachus, 205. + Manius Curius, 226. + Memnon, 189. + Nicostratus, 221. + Orontes, 188. + Parysatis, 188. + Paulus Aemilius, 232. + Pelopidas, 225. + Pericles, 211. + Philip of Macedon, 194-198. + Phocion, 213, 216. + Pisistratus, 216. + Poltys, 189. + Ptolemy Lagus, 202. + Pyrrhus the Epirot, 207. + Pytheas, 213. + Scilurus, 190. + Scipio Junior, 235-239. + Scipio the Elder, 229. + Semiramis, 187. + Teres, 189. + Themistocles, 208. + Theopompus, 217. + Timotheus, 212. + Titus Quinctius, 230. + Xerxes, 187. + +Appius Claudius, anecdote of, v. 89. + +Apple tree, of the, iii. 333. + +Arar, a river in Gaul, v. 484. + +Aratus, quoted, iii. 116; + of the stars, 141; + quoted, 334, 497; iv. 98; v. 112; + quoted, 177. + +Araxes, a river in Armenia, v. 506. + +Arcadian prophet in Herodotus, iii. 38. + +Arcadio the Archaean, saying of, i. 44. + +Arcesilaus, i. 53, 148; + quoted, 258, 315; + and Battus, ii. 115; + his kindness to Apelles, 133; v. 371. + +Archelaus, king of Macedon, anecdote of, i. 67, 193. + +Archelaus, his opinions concerning principles, iii. 109. + +Archias, ii. 379 _et seq._; iv. 314, 315. + +Archidamidas, apothegms of, i. 404. + +Archidamus, i. 4, 74, 218, 404; ii. 379 _et seq._ + +Archilochus the poet, banished from Sparta, i. 96; + quoted, 97; + his improvements in music, 122, 123, 177; + phrase of, ii. 17, 61, 84; iii. 26; v. 108, 216, 320. + +Archimedes, of the sun’s diameter, v. 71; + anecdote of, ii. 173, 174. + +Archytas of Tarentum, anecdotes of, i. 18, 24. + +Ardalus, a minstrel at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 11, 12. + +Aregeus, apothegm of, i. 403. + +Aretades Cnidus, his Macedonian History, v. 458; + his Second Book of Islands, 467. + +Aretaphila, her fortitude and virtue, i. 367. + +Argive women, their repulse of the Spartan army, i. 346. + +Argives, wrestling matches of, i. 121; + imposed a fine for playing with more than seven strings, 130; + combat of the, with the Lacedaemonians, v. 452. + +Ariamenes yields the throne of Persia to his younger brother Xerxes, + iii. 59. + +Arion and the dolphins, ii. 33-36. + +Aristarchus, iii. 36; + concerning the eclipse of the sun, 144; v. 246. + +Aristides, his Persian History, v. 453. + +Aristides, his sayings, i. 210. + +Aristides Milesius, his Italian History, v. 451, 452, 453, 458, 459, + 460, 462, 463, 465, 466, 469, 473, 474, 475, 476; + Italian Commentaries, 461; + quoted, 462. + +Aristippus, anecdotes of, i. 11, 55, 79, 147; ii. 295, 459. + +Aristo of Chios, ii. 369. + +Aristobolus, his Third Book of Italian History, v. 470. + +Aristocles, Third Book of his Italian History, v. 466, 476. + +Aristoclia, a beautiful maiden, iv. 312, 313. + +Aristodemus, his Third Collection of Fables, v. 472. + +Aristodemus, king of Messenia, i. 177. + +Aristodemus the Epicurean, ii. 158, 159, 180. + +Aristomenes, preceptor of Ptolemy, ii. 149. + +Ariston, apothegm of, i. 403; iii. 18; + his opinion of moral virtue, 462; v. 111. + +Aristonicus the musician, i. 494. + +Aristonymus, a woman hater, v. 468. + +Aristophanes, his comedy of “The Clouds,” i. 23; + quoted, 79, 125, 500; + quoted, ii. 78, 149, 429; + his coarseness and buffoonery, iii. 11; + compared with Menander, 11-14; + quoted, iv. 196, 273; + quoted, v. 42, 405. + +Aristotinus, tyranny of, i. 357-363; v. 172. + +Aristotle, quoted, i. 37; 50; + on harmony, 119; 155, 272, 326; + the teacher of Alexander, 478, ii. 302, 319; + letter of, 455; + his philosophical opinions; of nature, 105; + of principles and elements, 106; + of God, 121; + of matter, 123; + of ideas, 123; + of causes, 124; + of a vacuum, 127; + of motion, 128; + of fortune, 131; + of the world, 133, 134, 135; + of vacuum, 137; + of the world, 137; + of heaven, 137; + of the stars, 140; + of the sun, 142; + of the summer and winter solstices, 143; + of the moon, 146; + of the milky way, 148, 149; + of comets, 149; + of thunder and lightning, 151; + of earthquakes, 157; + of tides, 159; + of the motion of the soul, 164; + of the senses, 166; + of the voice, 172; + of generative seed, 177; + of the sperm, 177; + of emission of women, 177; + of conception, 178; + of generation, 179; + of the first form in the womb, 184; + of seven months’ children, 185; + of the species of animals, 187; + of sleep, 189; + of plants, 190; + quoted, 225, 226; + opinions concerning the soul, 465; + opinion concerning a plurality of worlds, iv. 33; + concerning prophetic inspiration, 54; v. 189, 253, 262, 313, 316, + 355; + quoted, 439; + the Second Book of Paradoxes, 468. + +Aristoxenus, of music, i. 114, 115, 125, 134. + +Arsinoe, Queen, i. 319. + +Artaxerxes Longimanus, his sayings, i. 187. + +Artaxerxes Mnemon, his sayings, i. 188. + +Aruntius and Medullina, v. 463. + +Asclepiades, opinions: of the soul, iii. 161; + of respiration, 174; + of two or three children at one birth, 180; + animals in the womb, 188; + of health, sickness, and old age, 193. + +Aster the archer, v. 456. + +Astycratidas, apothegm of, i. 405. + +Ateas, saying of, i. 189; ii. 177. + +Atepomarus, king of the Gauls, v. 469. + +Atheism and superstition compared, i. 168 _et seq._ + +Athenian citizens, their number, v. 42; + their temper and disposition, 100. + +Athenians, whether they were more renowned for their warlike + achievements, or for their learning, v. 399-411. + +Athenodorus, memorable action of, iii. 50. + +Athens, was a democracy, v. 397; + the nurse of history, of painting, and poetry, 400, 401; + not renowned for epic or lyric verse, 404. + +Atoms, doctrine of, v. 345-348. + +Atreus and Thyestes, v. 470, 471. + +Attalus and Eumenes, their kindness and fidelity to each other, iii. + 61, 62. + +Attica, invasion of, by Datis, v. 450, 451. + +Augustus Caesar, his sayings, i. 248-250; + the favored son of Fortune, iv. 205; v. 67. + +Augustus Caesar and Fulvius, anecdote of, iv. 235, 236. + +Autobulus, v. 156 _et seq._ + +Autumn, dreams in, iii. 432. + + +B. + +Baccho, iv. 256, 264, 269. + +Bacchus, ii. 12, 29. + +Ballenaeus, mount, v. 492. + +Banishment, or flying one’s country, iii. 15-35. + +Banquet of the Seven Wise Men; Solon, Bias, Thales, Anacharsis, + Cleobulus, Pittacus, Chilo, ii. 3-41. + +Barley, sow, in dust, iii. 505. + +Barrenness in women, iii. 181. + +Barrenness of mules, iii. 182. + +Bashfulness, i. 60-77. + +Basilocles, iii. 69, 70. + +Baths, hot and cold, iii. 512. + +Battus, ii. 115. + +Bear, cunning of the, v. 185. + +Bears, flesh of, iii. 509. + +Beasts, flesh of sacrificial, iii. 361. + +Bees, cannot abide smoke, iii. 515; + stinging of, 516. + +Bellerophon, fable of, i. 351. + +Berecyntus, mount, v. 490. + +Berosus concerning the eclipse of the moon, iii. 146. + +Bewitching, power of, iii. 327. + +Bias, quoted, i. 17, 406; + at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 4, 14, 128. + +Bion, saying of, i. 76; + his opinion concerning the punishment of children for the sins of + their fathers, iv. 171; + saying of, v. 170. + +Bird or the egg, which was first, iii. 242-246. + +Birds, prophetic nature of, v. 193. + +Birth, two or three at one, iii. 180. + +Birthdays of famous men, iii. 400. + +Biton and Cleobis, their filial piety, i. 313. + +Boar and the toil, iii. 512. + +Bocchoris, anecdote of, i. 63. + +Bodies, of, iii. 124; + division of, 126; + how mixed with one another, 126. + +Body, passions of the, iii. 175; + what part is first formed, 184; + diseases of the, iv. 504-508. + +Boedromion, month of, iii. 444. + +Boethus, his opinion concerning comets, iii. 150. + +Book of Rivers, v. 455. + +Brasidas, apothegm of, i. 218; ii. 458. + +Brennus, king of the Gauls, v. 460. + +Britain, longevity in, iii. 193. + +Brixaba, mount, v. 494. + +Brotherly love, iii. 36-68. + +Brute animals, ails and cures of, iii. 510; + their intelligence; which are the more crafty, water or land + animals? v. 157-217. + +Brute beasts make use of reason, v. 218-233. + +Bucephalus, the horse, v. 183. + +Bulimy, or the greedy disease, iii. 355. + +Busiris, king of Egypt, strangers murdered by, v. 474. + + +C. + +Caecilius Metellus, apothegm of, i. 239. + +Caesar, Augustus, his sayings, i. 248-250; + anecdote of, iv. 205; + and Fulvius, 235, 236; v. 67, 132. + +Caesar, C. Julius, his sayings, i. 246-248; + his magnanimity, 293; + his reliance on fortune, iv. 205. + +Caesar, Tiberius, sayings of, i. 277; ii. 126; iii. 23. + +Caicus, a river, v. 503. + +Caius Fabricius, apothegm of, i. 227. + +Caius Gracchus, i. 40; v. 99. + +Caius Marius, apothegm of, i. 239. + +Caius Maximus, and his two sons, v. 466. + +Caius Popilius, apothegm of, i. 240. + +Callicratidas, apothegms of, i. 412; + saying of, ii. 187. + +Callimachus, saying of, i. 323; iii. 23, 118, 321. + +Callisthenes, saying of, i. 37; + his Book of Transformations, v. 454; + Third Book of the Macedonics, 456; + Third Book of History of Thrace, v. 469. + +Calpurnius Crassus, liberated from captivity, v. 465. + +Calpurnius and Florentia, v. 467. + +Calydon, mount, v. 505. + +Camillus, anecdote of, iv. 204. + +Camma, the Galatian, her revenge, i. 372. + +Canus the piper, v. 71. + +Caphene and Nymphaeus, i. 348. + +Caphisias, ii. 379 _et seq._ + +Carneades, i. 160; + a striking observation of his, ii. 123. + +Cassius, a Roman traitor, v. 457. + +Castor and Pollux, iii. 48. + +Cato and Catulus, anecdotes of, i. 73. + +Cato, saying of, i. 61; + and Catulus, 73; 261; + his integrity, 295; + his sayings, ii. 42, 72, 76, 318; v. 10, 66, 67; + anecdotes of, 83, 112, 120, 123, 144, 155. + +Cato the Elder, apothegms of, i. 233-235; + anecdote of, ii. 490. + +Catoptrics, doctrine of the, v. 257. + +Cattle, salt given to, iii. 497. + +Catulus, v. 457. + +Caucasus, mount, v. 483. + +Caudine Forks, defeat of the Romans at the, v. 452, 453. + +Causes, of, iii. 123. + +Causes of sleep and death, iii. 188. + +Celtic women, virtue of the, i. 347. + +Cephisocrates, ii. 133. + +Cephisophan, a rhetorician, i. 98. + +Ceres, mistress of earthly things, v. 285, 286. + +Chabrias, his sayings, i. 213. + +Chaeremon quoted, Frag., ii. 475. + +Chameleon, the, v. 202. + +Chaplet of flowers at table, iii. 260-265. + +Charicles and Antiochus, iii. 49. + +Charillus, his sayings, i. 217, 432; ii. 97, 116. + +Charon, the Theban, ii. 381. + +Chasms in the earth closed by men leaping into them, v. 454. + +Chersias at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41. + +Chian women, virtue of the, i. 344. + +Children, training of, i. 3-32; + similitude to their parents, iii. 180; + similitude to strangers, 181. + +Chilo, i. 280; + at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41. + +Chilon, saying of, i. 471. + +Chiomara of Galatia, i. 374. + +Chorus of the Aeantis, iii. 226-228. + +Chorus of the Leontis, iii. 226. + +Chromatic scale, in music, i. 117. + +Chrysermus, his Peloponnesian History, v. 452; + Second Book of Histories, 457. + +Chrysippus, ii. 87; + his opinion concerning fate, iii. 130; + of moral virtue, 462; + his doctrines refuted, 488; iv. 372 _et seq._, 428-477; v. 205; + his opinion concerning the cause of cold combated, 324; + First Book of Italian History, 468. + +Cicero, apothegm of, i. 244; ii. 310; v. 96. + +Cilician geese, v. 175. + +Cinesias, the lyric poet, i. 180. + +Cinna stoned to death, v. 469. + +Cios, maids of, i. 354. + +Circe, her supposed conversation with Ulysses, v. 218-219. + +Cithaeron, mount, v. 479. + +Cleanthes, his opinion concerning the stars, iii. 139, 140; v. 176, + 420. + +Cleobis and Biton, i. 313. + +Cleobulus at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41. + +Cleodemus, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; + first brought the cupping-glass into request, 20. + +Cleodorus, the physician, ii. 16. + +Cleombrotus, i. 413; iv. 3, 4, 26. + +Cleomenes, v. 161. + +Cleomenes, apothegms of, i. 346, 413, 416. + +Cleon, anecdotes of, v. 100, 116. + +Clisthenes, vindicated from the aspersions of Herodotus, iv. 343. + +Clitonymus, his Italian History, v. 458; + Second Book of his Sybaritics, v. 464. + +Clitophon, his First Book of Gallican History, v. 460. + +Cloelia and Valeria, i. 356. + +Clonas, a musical composer, i. 107, 109. + +Clouds, eruption of fire out of the, iii. 150; + rain, hail, and snow, 151. + +Cneus Domitius, apothegm of, i. 231. + +Cneus Pompeius, apothegms of, i. 241-244. + +Cocles, the Roman, v. 145. + +Codrus, king of Athens, v. 462. + +Coeranus and the dolphins, v. 215. + +Cold, First Principle of, v. 309-330. + +Color, does it exist in the dark, v. 344, 345. + +Colors, of, iii. 125. + +Colotes, the Epicurean, ii. 187; + book written by, v. 338; + misrepresents Democritus, 341; + his doctrines, 349; + misrepresents Plato, 355, 356; + falls at the feet of Epicurus, 360; + disparagement of Socrates, 361; + against Stilpo, 367; + assaults the Philosophers, 367; + condemns the opinion of Epicurus, 368; + Cyrenaic philosophers ridiculed, 369; + treats Arcesilaus unfairly, 371; + absurdity of Epicureanism, 373; + opinions of Epicurus, 374; + danger of his doctrines, 377, 378, 338-385. + +Comets and shooting fires, iii. 149. + +Comminius Super, a Laurentine, v. 472. + +Common conceptions against the Stoics, iv. 372-427. + +Comparison between the actions of the Greeks and Romans, v. 450-476. + +Comparison betwixt Aristophanes and Menander, iii. 11-14. + +Conception, how it is made, iii. 178. + +Concerning Music, i. 102-135. + +Concerning such whom God is slow to punish, iv. 140-188. + +Concerning the fortune of the Romans, iv. 198-219. + +Concerning the virtues of women, i. 340-384. + +Conciseness of speech, recommended, iv. 243; + examples given, 243, 244. + +Conjugal Precepts; Advice to a New-married Couple, ii. 486-507. + +Consolation to Apollonius, i. 299-339. + +Consolatory Letter from Plutarch to his Wife, Timoxena, on Occasion + of the Death of their Daughter, two years old, v. 386-394. + +Contingent and possible defined, v. 299. + +Contradictions of the Stoics, iv. 428-477. + +Cora and Proserpine, v. 285. + +Corinna, anecdote of, v. 404. + +Corinthian Hall at Delphi, iii. 80-82. + +Cornelius Scipio, consul, v. 96, 112, 114, 136. + +Cotys, his sayings, i. 189. + +Crabs charmed by fifes, v. 163. + +Cranes, flight of, v. 175, 203. + +Crantor, quoted, i. 300, 304, 324, 326; + his opinion of the soul, ii. 327, 328, 345, 349, 360. + +Crassus, anecdotes of, i. 288, 290; v. 125. + +Crassus Calpurnius, v. 465. + +Crassus’s mullet, v. 196. + +Crates, i. 141; + saying of, 495; ii. 145, 321; + opinion of the stars, iii. 140; v. 419, 423. + +Cratinus the comic poet, v. 410. + +Crato, iii. 198. + +Creon’s daughter, i. 472. + +Cretinus, the Magnesian, v. 121. + +Criticism on passages in Homer, ii. 69-72, 74-84, 89, 90, 91. + +Criticism on Sophocles, ii. 72. + +Critolaus, his History of the Epirots, v. 455; + Fourth Book of Celestial Appearances, 457. + +Crocodile, story of a, v. 196, 206, 210. + +Croesus, ii. 122; iii. 85; iv. 339. + +Cronium, mount, v. 501. + +Ctesiphon, his Third Book of the Boeotian History, v. 458. + +Ctesiphon the Pancratiast, i. 42. + +Curatii and Horatii, v. 461. + +Cure of anger, i. 33-59. + +Curiosity, of, ii. 424-445; + mischiefs of vain, iv. 236. + +Cuttle-fish, sign of a storm, iii. 505; + wariness of the, v. 200. + +Cyanippus, a Syracusan, v. 462. + +Cyanippus, a Thessalian, v. 463. + +Cyclades islands, iii. 24. + +Cycloborus, a brook near Athens, v. 110. + +Cynaegirus, an Athenian commander, story of, v. 450. + +Cyprus, female parasites of, called Steps, ii. 103. + +Cyrus the Elder, his sayings, i. 186; ii. 319; + enlarges the Persian empire, iv. 85. + +Cyrus the Younger, his sayings, i. 188. + + +D. + +Daemon of Socrates, Discourse concerning the, ii. 378-423. + +Daemons, their nature, attributes, and actions, iv. 14 _et seq._; + some of them are malignant and cruel, 19; + they are mortal, 15, 23, 24; + vainglorious, 28; + have the care of oracles, 21, 27; + sometimes have quarrels and combats with one another, 27; + our souls are by nature endued with similar powers, 50 _et + seq._; + in the Moon, v. 289; + will of the, 304; + providence of the, 307, 308. + +Damindas, apothegm of, i. 407. + +Damis, apothegm of, i. 406. + +Damonidas, apothegm of, i. 406. + +Darius, his sayings, i. 186, 502; v. 458. + +Darkness, whether visible, iii. 169. + +Datis, a Persian commander, his invasion of Attica, v. 450. + +Daughters who had carnal knowledge of their fathers, v. 464. + +Death appertains to soul or body, iii. 189. + +Death a reward for distinguished piety; illustrated by the cases of + Biton and Cleobis, of Agamedes and Trophonius, of Pindar and + Euthynous, i. 313, 314. + +Death of fire is the generation of air, v. 316. + +Death the brother of sleep, i. 311. + +Debates at entertainments, iii. 394. + +Debt, Evils of. Against running in Debt, or Taking up Money upon + Usury, v. 412-424. + +Debt of nature, i. 309. + +Decius of Rome, v. 462. + +Decrees proposed to the Athenians, v. 58. + +Deity, knowledge of a, whence derived, iii. 115. + +Delay of Providence in Punishing the Wicked. De sera Numinis + Vindicta, iv. 140-188. + +Delight in hearing the passions of men represented, iii. 314. + +Delphi, a walk in, iii. 69; + the statues there, 70; + atmosphere of, 72; + ancient oracles of, 73; + Corinthian Hall at, 80-82; + statue of Phryne, 83. + +Delphic Oracle, inscription on the, Know thyself, and Nothing too + much, i. 328. + +Demades and Phocion, anecdotes of, ii. 298; v. 108, 141. + +Demaratus and Philip, anecdote of, ii. 146. + +Demaratus, apothegm of, i. 407, 482; + his Second Book of Arcadian History, v. 461. + +Demetrius Phalereus, his saying, i. 217; + anecdotes of, ii. 145; iii. 21; v. 145. + +Demetrius, his sayings, i. 204. + +Demetrius of Tarsus, comes to Delphi, iv. 3. + +Demochares, a nephew of Demosthenes, procures a statue to be set up + for his uncle, v. 58-60; + a decree for a statue for himself, 60, 61. + +Democracy and Oligarchy, v. 395-398. + +Democrates, saying of, v. 109. + +Democritus, saying of, i. 22, 263, 275; ii. 440; iii. 7; + his philosophical opinions, 121, 123, 126, 127, 128, 129, 132, 133, + 135, 139, 140, 142, 145, 149, 155, 156, 157, 160, 162, 163, + 164, 166, 168, 169, 171, 176, 177, 179, 183, 187, 227; + his opinions misrepresented, v. 341; + his doctrine concerning atoms, 345, 346, 381. + +Demodocus, i. 105. + +Demonides, the cripple, ii. 51. + +Demosthenes, the orator, anecdotes of, i. 15, 65; + quoted, 67, 286, 325; + anecdote of, 334, 481; + quoted, ii. 145, 300, 312, 313; + anecdote of, 460; + quoted, iv. 212; + quoted, v. 34, 35; + sketch of his life, 43-53; + his birth, education, and early years, 43; + calls his guardians to account, _ib._; + is chosen choregus, 44; + his methods to obtain excellence in speaking, _ib._; + opposes the designs of Philip, 45; + describes “action” as of supreme importance in oratory, _ib._; + his early failures as an orator, _ib._; + defends the Olynthians, 46; + is admired by Philip, though an enemy, _ib._; + his magnanimity, 47; + his conduct at Chaeronea, _ib._; + his patriotism, _ib._; + the oration for the Crown, _ib._; + accused of receiving a bribe, 48; + his exile, _ib._; + recalled, _ib._; + returns to the administration of public affairs, 49; + leaves Athens to avoid being delivered up to Antipater, _ib._; + his death, 50; + his family, _ib._; + honors paid to his memory, 51; + anecdotes of him, 49, 50-53; + his great temperance, 53; + his public services recounted in a decree, 58-60; + quoted, 69, 109, 110, 124, 138, 146, 409, 411, 447, 448. + +Dercyllidas, apothegm of, i. 407. + +Dercyllus, his First Book of Foundations, v. 461; + Third Book of Italian History, 474. + +Destiny, or fate, iii. 130. + +Deucalion [like Noah] sent forth a dove from the ark, and with like + purpose, v. 179. + +Diagoras the Melian, iii. 118. + +Diana Orthia, rites of, i. 98. + +Dicaearchus, opinion concerning the soul, iii. 161; + of divination, 176; v. 93. + +Dignity of places at table, iii. 210, 212. + +Dinarchus, an Athenian orator, v. 57, 58; + becomes rich, 57; + his exile in Chalcis, 58; + restored, _ib._; + his orations, _ib._ + +Diocles, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; + his philosophical opinions, iii. 179, 182, 185, 192. + +Diogenes Laertius quoted, i. 77. + +Diogenes, quoted, i. 4, 12; + anecdotes of, 51, 67, 141, 142, 166, 283, 285, 311, 487; + quoted, ii. 58, 155, 193; 455, 458, 465, 466; + story of the mouse, 453; iii. 21, 27, 29, 31; + his philosophical opinions, 132, 136, 138, 143, 148, 163, 183, 187, + 189, 494; iv. 311; v. 8, 65. + +Diogenes and Philip, ii. 147. + +Diogenianus, iii. 71, 73, _et seq._ + +Diomedes, ii. 41; + liberated from captivity, v. 465. + +Dion, example of, i. 64, 193, 333. + +Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, does not relish the Lacedaemonian broth, + i. 83; + his unreasonable anger, 152; + his sayings, 449, 484, 491; + his ungenerous behavior, 493; + parasites of, ii. 166; 314; + anecdote of, iv. 238. + +Dionysius and Plato, ii. 108, 140. + +Dionysius the Elder, his sayings, i. 191; v. 84. + +Dionysius the Younger, his sayings, i. 192, 501. + +Diophantus, saying of, i. 4. + +Diorphus, mount, v. 507. + +Discourse to an Unlearned Prince, iv. 323-330. + +Diseases of the body, iv. 504-508. + +Divination, of, iii. 176; iv. 59. + +Dog, habit of biting of stones, iii. 516; + affection for his master, v. 180, 182, 184; + docility of the, 191. + +Dolphin, sagacity of the, v. 200; + nature of the, 204; + story of a, 213; + its love of music, 214; + stories of affection of, 215, 216. + +Dolphin and Arion, ii. 33-36; + and the lad of Jasus, v. 215. + +Domitian is mentioned [which fixes the era of Plutarch], ii. 443. + +Domitius, anecdote of, i. 288, 295; v. 125. + +Dorian Mood of music, i. 109, 115. + +Dorians pray for bad making of their hay, iii. 504. + +Dorotheus, his First Book of Transformations, v. 466; + his Fourth Book of Italian History, v. 463. + +Dositheus, his Third Book of Sicilian History, v. 463, 471, 472, 474; + Third Book of Lydian History, 469; + his Pelopidae, 471; + First Book of Italian History, 475. + +Dream, a romantic, ii. 407-411. + +Dreams and Omens, ii. 401, 402. + +Dreams in Autumn, iii. 432. + +Dreams, whence do they arise, iii. 176. + +Drink either five or three, iii. 282-284. + +Drink passeth through the lungs, iii. 363. + + +E. + +Earth, its nature and magnitude, iii. 154; + figure of the, 155; + site and position of the, 155; + inclination of the, 155; + motion of the, 156; + zones of the, 156; + exhalations from the, iv. 53; + its form and its place, v. 247; + an instrument of time, 439. + +Earthquakes, of, iii. 157. + +Echo, what gives the, iii. 172. + +Eclipse of the moon, iii. 146. + +Eclipses of the sun, iii. 144. + +Ecphantus, his opinion concerning the motion of the earth, iii. 156. + +Egg or the bird, which was first, iii. 242-246. + +Egypt, its Religion and Philosophy; of Isis and Osiris, or of the + Ancient Religion and Philosophy of Egypt, iv. 65-139. + +Egyptian skeleton at feasts, ii. 7. + +Egyptians in Ethiopia, iii. 20. + +Ει at Apollo’s temple at Delphi, iv. 479-498. + +Eleans, the, v. 426. + +Elements, mixture of the, iii. 126. + +Elephant, understanding of the, v. 178; + stories of, 178; + of King Porus, 183; + most beloved by the Gods, 187; + amour of the, 188; + chirurgery of the, 192. + +Elephas, mount, v. 478. + +Elysian fields in the moon, v. 289. + +Elysius the Terinean, vision of, i. 314. + +Embryo, how nourished, iii. 183; + is an animal, _ib._ + +Empedocles, i. 59; + saying of, 158, 469; + quoted, ii. 49, 195; 357; + quoted, iii. 34, 81; + his philosophical opinions, 112, 114, 125-129, 131, 132, 136-138, + 143, 145, 147, 154, 158, 163, 165, 168-170, 173, 178-184, + 188-191; + quoted, 209, 262, 293, 333, 497, 509, 518; + quoted, iv. 21, 52, 85, 87, 108, 273; + quoted, v. 169, 239, 246, 249, 252, 255, 318, 348, 350, 351; + misunderstood by Colotes, 351; + quoted, 381, 420, 421, 439. + +Emprepes, apothegm of, i. 408. + +Enemies, how a man may profit by his, i. 280-298. + +Entertainment, late to an, iii. 417. + +Envy and Hatred, ii. 95-99. + +Epaminondas, his sayings, i. 222-226, 277; + his great actions, 225; + his consistency of character, ii. 109; 182, 185, 309, 313, 319, + 381, 396, 399, 414; iii. 6; v. 72, 75, 95, 101, 121, 125; + his invasion of Laconia, 401, 407, 458. + +Epaminondas, son of, beheaded, v. 458. + +Ephorus, his opinion concerning the overflowing of the Nile, iii. 161. + +Epicharmus, quoted, i. 315, 496; ii. 141; iv. 242. + +Epicureans, misrepresentations of the, v. 352-354. + +Epicurus, quoted, i. 138, 139, 159; + famous sentence of, ii. 92; + his doctrine; refutation of it; pleasure is not attainable, 157-203; + reverence of his brothers, iii. 57; + his philosophical opinions, 111, 122, 124, 127, 128, 131, 134, 135, + 139, 142, 143, 151, 163, 164, 165, 169, 177, 183; + opinions of, v. 350, 374; + danger of his doctrines, 377, 378; + disciples of, 383, 385. + +Epigenes, opinion concerning comets, iii. 150. + +Epimenides, long sleep of, v. 66; 279. + +Erasistratus, his opinion of the soul, iii. 163; + of superfetation, 180; + his definition of a fever, 192. + +Eratosthenes, his philosophical opinions: of time, iii. 128; + of the sun, 147; v. 456. + +Erectheus, sacrifice of his daughter, v. 463. + +Eryxo of Cyrene, i. 378. + +Esop, fable of, ii. 11, 12, 16, 19-22, 23; + dog of, 25; + at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 3-41; iii. 63, 202. + +Eteocles the Theban, i. 257. + +Euboea, king of, drawn in pieces by horses, v. 455. + +Euboidas, apothegm of, i. 408. + +Euclid, anecdote of, i. 55; ii. 173. + +Euclides, his brotherly love, iii. 61. + +Euctus and Eulaeus, ii. 146. + +Eudaemonidas, his sayings, i. 221. + +Eudamidas, apothegm of, i. 408. + +Eudemus, of matter, ii. 334. + +Eudorus, system of numbers, ii. 343, 345. + +Eudoxus, anecdotes of, ii. 174; + his opinion of the cause of winter and summer, iii. 141; + of the overflow of the Nile, 161. + +Euemerus, his opinion of God, iii. 118. + +Eumenes of Pergamus, his sayings, i. 206; + anecdotes of, iii. 61, iv. 232. + +Eumetis at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; + her riddle, 20. + +Euphorion quoted, iii. 321. + +Euphranor, the painter, v. 400. + +Euphrates, the river, v. 502. + +Eupolis, saying of, ii. 112. + +Euripides, quoted, i. 3, 158, 291, 300, 301, 302, 308, 320, 329, 330, + 335, 458; + Hippol., 4, 14, 471; + Protesilaus, 23; + Dictys, 26, 58; + Bellerophon, 63, 141; + Frag., 287, 472; + Pirithous, 70; + Orestes, 37, 137, 140, 165, 170, 286; + Medea, 64, 71, 255; + Iph. Aul., 152, 302; + Bacchae, 163; + Troad, 170; + Phoeniss, 257, 303, 327; + Danae, 307; + Adrastus, 288; + Stheneboea, 301; + Ino, 303, 304; + Alcestis, 310; + Suppliants, 316; + Cresphontes, 316; + Erectheus, 500; + Hypsipyle, 317, 465; ii. 54, 56, 62, 87, 92, 121, 148, 150, 251, + 300, 306, 357, 363, 391, 472; + Cresphontes, 93; + Hippol., 73, 108, 173, 198, 373, 374; + Frag., 86, 181, 318, 437, 501; + Orestes, 143, 443; + Medea, 66; + Iph. Aul., 49, 85; + Phoeniss, 51, 61, 66, 130, 151; + Ion, 102, 144; + Ino, 131; + Erectheus, 132; + Electra, 85; + Aeolus, 66, 85, 88, 175; + Herc. Furens, 151; + Hecuba, 197; + Iph. Taur., 447; iii. 27, 99, 116, 194; + Frag., 3, 19, 33, 41, 42, 94, 230, 458, 475, 512; + Hippol., 483; + Orestes, 168, 437; + Phoeniss, 16, 32, 43, 49, 257; + Stheneboea, 217; + Iph. Taur., 21; + Androm., 232; + Hipsipyle, 291, iv. 17, 128, 142, 270, 308, 450, 478, 497; + Frag., 47, 220, 233, 251, 272, 273, 292, 301, 325, 392, 461, 475; + Bacchae, 223, 272, 422, 506; + Hippol., 294, 298; + Cyclops, 56; + Aeolus, 105; + Troad, 132; + Orestes, 141, 507; + Ino, 158, 231; + Alcestis, 197; + Danae, 274, 283; + Stheneboea, 288; + Androm., 401; + Herc. Furens, 459, 467; v. 126, 128, 157, 172; + Frag., 15, 79, 105, 108, 118, 345; + Aeolus, 71; + Hippol., 158; + Iph. Taur., 374; + Orestes, 77, 380; + Troad, 440; + Erectheus, 463; + Meleager, 466. + +Eurotas, a river in Laconia, v. 497. + +Eurycratidas, apothegm of, i. 410. + +Eurydice of Hierapolis, her epigram, i. 32. + +Euthrymenes, his opinion of the overflow of the Nile, iii. 160. + +Euthynous and Pindar, i. 313. + +Eutropion, anecdote of, i. 25. + +Evenus quoted, ii. 102, 192. + +Evenus, son of Mars, v. 475. + +Exercises, different kinds of, iii. 248-250. + +Exile, consolations of, iii. 15-35. + +Eyes, images of the, iii. 169. + + +F. + +Fabius Maximus, his sayings, i. 227, 228; + in the Punic war, v. 453. + +Fable of Minerva, i. 41. + +Fable of the defeat of Neptune, iii. 444. + +Fable of the Fox and Leopard, ii. 21. + +Fable of the Lydian Mule, ii. 11. + +Fabricianus, v. 474. + +Fabricius, iv. 201. + +Face appearing in the moon, v. 234-292. + +Fasting creates more thirst than hunger, iii. 339. + +Fate, or destiny, iii. 130; + nature of, 130; v. 293-308. + +Faunus, king of Italy, strangers murdered by, v. 474. + +Fever, cause of a, iii. 192. + +Fig-trees, of, iii. 250, 335. + +Figures, of, iii. 125. + +Filial treachery in Persian and Roman history, v. 458. + +Fire or water, which is more useful, v. 331-337. + +Firmus and Nuceria, v. 471. + +Fish called the fisherman, v. 201. + +Fish, eating of, iii. 422. + +Fisherman’s nets, rotting of, iii. 503. + +Fishes, of; the labrax, mullet, scate, anthias, dolphin, cuttle-fish, + star-fish, torpedo, the fisherman, tunny, amiae, pionetras, + sponge, porphyrae, hegemon, whale, pinoterus, gilthead, + phycides, galeus, tortoise, v. 195, 209. + +Fittest time for a man to know his wife, iii. 274-279. + +Fives, we reckon by, iv. 43-47. + +Five tragical histories of Love, iv. 312-322. + +Flattery: How to know a Flatterer from a Friend, ii. 100-156. + +Flattery fatal to whole kingdoms, ii. 118. + +Flesh exposed to the moon, iii. 284-287. + +Flute girls, whether they are to be admitted to a feast, iii. 387. + +Folly of Seeking Many Friends, i. 464-474. + +Food, digesting of, iii. 289-295. + +Fortune, of, ii. 475-481; iii. 131; + is a cause by accident, v. 302; + not the same as chance, 303; + relates to men only, 303. + +Fortune of the Romans, iv. 198-219. + +Fox, cunning of the, v. 179. + +Fresh water washes clothes better than salt, iii. 224-226. + +Friends, folly of seeking many, i. 464-474. + +Frogs, croaking of, v. 210. + +Frost makes hunting difficult, iii. 510. + +Fruit, salt not found in, iii. 498. + +Fulvius and Augustus, anecdotes of, iv. 235, 236. + +Fulvius Stellus, v. 468. + +Fundanus, i. 34, 35. + + +G. + +Galaxy, or milky way, iii. 148. + +Galeus, affection of, for their young, v. 209. + +Ganges, the river, v. 481. + +Garlands at sacred games, iii. 411. + +Garrulity, or Talkativeness, iv. 220-253. + +Gauran, mount, v. 508. + +Gelo, his saying, i. 190. + +Generation and corruption, iii. 128. + +Generation of males and females, iii. 178; + of animals, 186; + of the Gods, 400. + +Generative seed, iii. 177. + +Geniuses and heroes, opinions concerning, iii. 122. + +Germanicus, ii. 96. + +Gnatho the Sicilian, iii. 3. + +Gobryas, a Persian noble, ii. 104. + +God always plays the Geometer, saying attributed to Plato, iii. 402. + +God bade Socrates act the midwife’s part, v. 425. + +God, Father and Maker of all things, v. 428. + +God, what is, iii. 118. + +Gods, generation of the, iii. 400. + +Gorgias, i. 340; + at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; 44, 134; ii. 502; + v. 405. + +Government. Of the Three Sorts of Government, Monarchy, Democracy, + and Oligarchy, v. 395-398. + +Gracchus, Caius, example of, i. 40. + +Greek music, principles of, i. 102, 103. + +Greek Questions, ii. 265-293. + +Groom, saying of the king’s, i. 21. + +Gryllus, v. 218 _et seq._ + +Guests, should the entertainer seat the, iii. 203-210; + to a wedding supper, 300; + that are called shadows, iii. 381. + +Gylippus, his dishonesty, i. 23. + + +H. + +Habits of animals, v. 173-177. + +Halcyon, of the, v. 211. + +Halo, of the, iii. 160. + +Hannibal and Fabius, i. 228. + +Hares, cunning of the, v. 185. + +Harp, an invention of Apollo, i. 113. + +Hart, tears of the, iii. 507. + +Health, preservation of, i. 251-279. + +Health, sickness, and old age, iii. 192. + +Hearing, of, i. 441-463; iii. 170. + +Heaven, its nature and essence, iii. 137; + division of, 137. + +Hebrus, a river of Thrace, v. 480. + +Hedgehog, ingenuity of the, v. 186. + +Hedgehog of the sea, v. 203. + +Hegemon, of the fish, v. 206. + +Hegesippus, sayings of, &c., i. 213. + +Hegesistratus, an Ephesian, v. 476. + +Helicon the mathematician, i. 57. + +Hephaestion, the friend of Alexander, i. 489, 505. + +Heracleo, v. 194. + +Heraclides, his compendium of music, i. 105; ii. 158; + his philosophical opinions, iii. 139, 149, 156, 159, 165. + +Heraclides the wrestler, iii. 220. + +Heraclitus, i. 44, 79, 276, 308, 448, 453; ii. 74, 165, 330, 358, + 477; iii. 26, 74; + his philosophical opinions, 111, 125, 128, 130, 131, 143, 144, 145, + 146, 162; + apothegm, v. 9; + quoted, 73, 169, 425. + +Hercules and Iole, v. 459. + +Hercules in Antisthenes, precept of, i. 77. + +Hercules, ridiculous representation of, v. 70; + and King Faunus, 474. + +Hercules the woman-hater, his temple in Phocis, iii. 90; + singular anecdote, _ib._ + +Hermes, iv. 74. + +Hermias, v. 121. + +Hermogenes, ii. 194. + +Herodotus, quoted, i. 80, 441; + saying of, ii. 202, 489; + Arcadian prophet, iii. 38; + quoted, iv. 248, 335 _et seq._; + malice of, iv. 331-371; v. 397. + +Herondas, apothegm of, i. 410. + +Herons, artifices of the, v. 176. + +Herophilus, opinion of, iii. 128, 163. + +Hesianax, his Third Book of African History, v. 465. + +Hesiod, quoted, Works and Days, i. 22, 65, 70, 138, 156, 178, 261, + 296, 307, 325; + Works and Days, ii. 24; + spare diet recommended by, 27; + and the dolphin, 36, 37; + Works and Days, 63, 64, 65, 73, 87, 92, 302, 303, 449, 452, 480, + 483; + Theogony, 102; + Works and Days, iii. 64, 210, 382, 416, 436, 438; + Theogony, 118, 324, 458; iv. 15; + Works and Days, 48, 49, 68, 87, 154, 173, 264, 385, 442, 457; + Theogony, 53; + Works and Days, v. 153, 168, 172, 279. + +Hicetes, his opinion of the earth, iii. 154. + +Hiero, his sayings, i. 190; + anecdote of, 291. + +Hiero the Spartan, statue of, iii. 76. + +Hiero the Tyrant, statue of, iii. 75. + +Hieronymus, saying of, i. 38, 50, 462. + +Himerius, an Athenian parasite, ii. 126. + +Hippasus, opinions of, iii. 111. + +Hippocrates, saying of, i. 40; + quoted, 261, 292; ii. 165, 185; + his magnanimity, ii. 466. + +Hippocratidas, apothegm of, i. 412. + +Hippodamus, apothegm of, i. 411. + +Hippolytus, son of Theseus, v. 471, 472. + +Hippomachus, ii. 294. + +Hipponax, i. 108. + +History of music, i. 104 _et seq._ + +History of wind instruments, i. 108. + +Homer, passages in, criticised, ii. 69-72, 74-84, 89, 90. + +Homer quoted: Iliad, i. 34, 38, 39, 51, 52, 55, 62, 104, 132, 133, + 134, 138, 141, 151, 153, 154, 156, 161, 165, 178, 180, 181, + 200, 236, 251, 292, 303, 305, 306, 310, 324, 325, 329, 330, + 331, 385, 466, 469, 475, 486, 490, 507, 508, 510, 511; ii. 25, + 32, 41, 44, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 55, 56, 59, 62, 63, 65, 67, 68, + 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 88, 89, 90, 91, 108, 114, 115, 120, + 123, 131, 140, 142, 145, 150, 151, 152, 154, 185, 197, 198, 200, + 237, 295, 305, 310, 311, 314, 317, 319, 413, 501, 505; iii. 25, + 26, 47, 53, 54, 107, 120, 152, 206, 207, 221, 231, 248, 255, 285, + 301, 313, 317, 321, 323, 325, 336, 354, 364, 381, 394, 401, 413, + 418, 437, 442, 447, 448, 449, 450, 480, 486, 492, 493, 515; iv. + 16, 65, 108, 111, 152, 191, 194, 195, 216, 237, 238, 280, 285, + 291, 327, 329, 383, 386, 401, 405, 434, 462, 483, 490, 499, + 504; v. 78, 79, 85, 88, 90, 92, 96, 104, 119, 122, 123, 134, + 135, 138, 146, 147, 171, 182, 200, 208, 214, 266, 276, 281, + 315, 339, 350, 371, 386, 394, 400, 418, 443, 444, 447; + Odyss. i. 52, 134, 138, 154, 236, 252, 305, 310, 318, 325, 452, + 469; ii. 41, 43, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 56, 59, 63, 65, 67, 70, + 71, 82, 83, 108, 110, 114, 115, 127, 149, 158, 159, 162, 184, + 195, 304, 316, 317, 320, 371, 427, 463, 467, 478; iii. 10, 42, + 45, 72, 81, 101, 196, 201, 207, 226, 232, 233, 249, 259, 280, + 333, 359, 365, 395, 419, 425, 437, 438, 451, 466, 477, 499; iv. + 5, 30, 86, 97, 191, 200, 219, 224, 226, 230, 231, 289, 307, + 325, 401, 405; v. 3, 11, 105, 106, 143, 171, 184, 281, 285, + 290, 315, 323, 403, 416, 422, 423, 446. + +Horatii and Curatii, v. 460, 461. + +Horatius Cocles, v. 456. + +Horsehair for fishing lines, iii. 505. + +Horses, called λυχοσπάδες, iii. 253. + +Horus, son of Osiris, iv. 80, 114 _et seq._ + +Hounds that hunt hares, v. 184. + +How a man may praise himself without being envied, ii. 306. + +How a man may receive advantage and profit from his enemies, i. + 280-298. + +How animals are begotten, iii. 186. + +How a young man ought to hear poems, ii. 42. + +How plants grow, and whether they are animals, iii. 190. + +How to know a flatterer, ii. 100-156. + +Hunger, cause of, iii. 341; + allayed by drinking, 345. + +Hurricanes, of, iii. 150. + +Hyagnis, first that sung to the pipe, i. 107. + +Hydaspes, a river in India, v. 477. + +Hyperides, the Athenian orator, ii. 140; v. 53-57; + his part in public affairs, 53; + his friendship for Demosthenes, 54; + this friendship broken, _ib._; + demanded by Antipater, he escapes to Aegina, _ib._; + is apprehended, tortured, and put to death, 55; + an excellent orator, _ib._; + his amorous propensities, 55, 56; + his patriotism, 56; + sent as ambassador, 56, 57. + +Hypsipyle, foster-child of, i, 465. + + +I. + +Ibis, habits of, imitated by the Egyptians, v. 192. + +Ibycus, the poet, iv. 240. + +Ichneumon, of the, v. 174. + +Ida, mount, v. 493. + +Idathyrsus, his sayings, i. 189. + +Ideas, of, iii. 123. + +Images presented to our eyes in mirrors, iii. 169. + +Imagination, imaginable and phantom, difference between, iii. 167. + +Immortality of the soul, argument for it, iv. 169, 170. + +Impotency in men, iii. 181. + +Improbabilities of the Stoics, iii. 194-196. + +Inachus, a river in Argolis, v. 498. + +Incest, case of, v. 467. + +Indus, the river, v. 508. + +Infants, seven months’, iii. 184. + +Inquisitiveness, or vain curiosity; of curiosity, or an over-busy + inquisitiveness into things impertinent, ii. 424-445. + +Iole, the beloved of Hercules, v. 459. + +Ion the tragedian, i. 322, 328; v. 186, 254. + +Iphicrates, his saying, i. 80, 212; v. 105. + +Iphigenia at Aulis, v. 459, 460. + +Irascible faculty, v. 441. + +Isaeus, an Athenian orator, v. 33; + considered by some equal to Lysias, _ib._; + the teacher of Demosthenes, _ib._; + number of his orations, _ib._ + +Isis and Osiris, iv. 66-139. + +Ismenodora, iv. 256, 264, 269, 311. + +Ismenus, a river of Boeotia, v. 478. + +Isocrates, an Athenian orator, iii. 198; v. 27-33; + his parentage, birth, and education, 27; + composed orations for others, 28; + his school at Chios, _ib._; + his great success as a teacher of rhetoric, _ib._; + lived to a great age, 29; + his death and burial, 30; + number of his orations, 31; + his timidity, 27, 31; + his description of the use of rhetoric, 31; + the two suits against him, 32, 409; + his Panegyric, 410. + +Isthmian games, iii. 318. + +Ivy, nature of, iii. 265-268. + + +J. + +Jason, saying of, v. 140. + +Jewish religion, statements and conjectures respecting it, iii. + 307-312. + +Jews, their fatal inaction in war because it was their Sabbath day, + i. 178. + +Juba, his third Book of Lybian History, v. 465. + + +L. + +Lacedaemonians, their laws and customs, i. 82-101; + their currency, 99; + influx of gold and silver, 100; + refuse to assist Philip and Alexander in their designs against + Persia, 101; + lose all their ancient glory, 101; + combat with the Argives, v. 452. + +Lachares, tyranny of, ii. 166. + +Laconic answers, iv. 243. + +Laconic Apothegms, of, i. 385-440. + Acrotatus, 400. + Agasicles, 385. + Agesilaus, 385-397. + Agesipolis, 397, 398. + Agis, son of Archidamus, 398. + Agis the Last, 400. + Agis the Younger, 400. + Alcamenes, the son of Teleclus, 400. + Alexandridas, 401. + Anaxander, 401. + Anaxilas, 402. + Androclidas, 402. + Antalcidas, 402. + Antiochus, 403. + Archidamidas, 403. + Archidamus, son of Agesilaus, 404. + Archidamus, son of Zeuxidamus, 404. + Aregeus, 403. + Ariston, 403. + Astycratidas, 405. + Bias, 406. + Callicratidas, 412. + Charillus, 432. + Cleombrotus, 413. + Cleomenes, son of Cleombrotus, 413, 416. + Damindas, 407. + Damis, 406. + Damonidas, 406. + Demaratus, 407. + Dercyllidas, 407. + Emprepes, 408. + Euboidas, 408. + Eudamidas, son of Archidamas, 408. + Eurycratidas, 410. + Herondas, 410. + Hippocratidas, 412. + Hippodamus, 411. + Leonidas, the son of Anaxandrias, 417. + Leo, the son of Eucratidas, 417. + Leotychides, 416. + Lycurgus the Lawgiver, 419-425. + Lysander, 425. + Namertes, 427. + Nicander, 427. + Paedaretus, 429. + Panthoidas, 427. + Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, 428. + Pausanias, son of Plistoanax, 428. + Phoebidas, 431. + Plistoanax, 430. + Polycratidas, 431. + Polydorus, 430. + Soos, 431. + Telecrus, 431. + Thectamenes, 411. + Themisteas, 410. + Theopompus, 410. + Thorycion, 411. + Zeuxidamus, 410. + +Lacydes, King of the Argives, i. 290. + +Lais, murder of, iv. 302. + +Lampis, a sea commander, v. 73. + +Lampsace, anecdote of, i. 366. + +Lamps and tables of the ancients, iii. 372. + +Land, food of the, iii. 302-306. + +Lasus, his innovation upon ancient music, i. 123. + +Leaena, anecdote of, iv. 229, 230. + +Least things in nature, iii. 125. + +Leo, apothegm of, i. 417. + +Leo Byzantinus, saying of, i. 288; + and his wife, v. 110. + +Leonidas, apothegm of, i. 417; + vindicated from the statements of Herodotus, iv. 354; v. 157; + at Thermopylae, 453. + +Leotychides, apothegm of, i. 422. + +Leprosy caused by dewy trees, iii. 500. + +Leptis, custom in, ii. 499. + +Leucippus, his opinions of the world, iii. 135; + of the earth, 155; + of the senses, 165. + +Light and darkness, of, v. 325. + +Lightning, of, iii. 150. + +Light, of reflected, iii. 168, 169; v. 236 _et seq._ + +Lilaeus, mount, v. 508, 509. + +Linus, elegies of, i. 105. + +Lions, of, v. 187. + +Liquids, of, iii. 359. + +Live concealed, whether’t were rightly said, iii. 3-10. + +Lives of the ten Attic orators, v. 17-63. + +Love: Five tragical histories of, iv. 312-322. + +Love, of, iv. 254-311; + makes a man a poet, iii. 217-219. + +Love of wealth, ii. 294-305. + +Lucretia, the Roman matron, i. 355. + +Lucullus, apothegm of, i. 241; + quoted, iii. 51; v. 84. + +Lugdunum, mount, v. 485. + +Lyaeus and choraeus, i. 54. + +Lybian crows, v. 175. + +Lycastus and Parasius, v. 473. + +Lycian women, virtue of the, i. 351. + +Lycormas, a river in Aetolia, v. 487. + +Lycurgus, an Athenian orator, v. 36-42; + treasurer of the commonwealth, 36; + his great public services, 37; + his fidelity in office and great reputation, 37; + his justice and integrity, 37, 38; + useful laws procured by his influence, 38; + his diligence in the study and practice of oratory, 39; + his incorruptible honesty, 40; + his death, _ib._; + honors paid to his memory, _ib._; + his family, 40, 41; + his orations and success as an orator, 41; + his benevolence, 42; + a decree for honors to be paid to his memory, 61-63. + +Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, anecdote of, i. 7; + his institutions, 82 _et seq._; + their final overthrow, 101, 217, 419-425; + his sayings, ii. 22; v. 12, 92. + +Lydian mood of music, i. 109, 114. + +Lyric nomes, i. 106. + +Lysander, i. 72; + his great victory over the Athenians, 99; + introduces gold and silver into Lacedaemon, 100; + the results, _ib._; + his sayings, 219, 425; + saying of, ii. 149; + anecdote of, 495; iii. 100; v. 92. + +Lysias, the Athenian orator, his remarks on music, i. 104; + anecdote of, iv. 226; v. 24-26; + his birth, early residence in Athens, residence in Thurii, and + return to Athens, 24; + banished by the Thirty Tyrants, 25; + return after their overthrow, _ib._; + death, _ib._; + number of his orations, _ib._; + his other works, 26; + his eloquence, _ib._; v. 33. + +Lysimache, the priestess, i. 73. + +Lysimachus, his sayings, i. 205, 259. + +Lysippus, his statue of Alexander, i. 494. + + +M. + +Madness of animals, v. 167. + +Maeander, a river in Asia, v. 488. + +Magas, anecdote of, i. 45. + +Magpie, story of a, v. 189. + +Maimactes, king of the gods, i. 45. + +Man, perfection of a, iii. 189; + most unhappy of all creatures, iv. 504; + compounded of three parts, v. 286. + +Maneros, the foster-son of Isis, iv. 79. + +Manius Curius, apothegm of, i. 226. + +Manlius, son of, beheaded, v. 458. + +Man’s progress in virtue, ii. 446-474. + +Mantinea, battle of, v. 401. + +Marius, sacrifice of his daughter, v. 463. + +Mars, some bad actions of his, v. 466, 467. + +Marsyas, a river in Phrygia, v. 490. + +Marsyas, the musician, i. 41, 108. + +Massinissa, his vigorous old age, v. 83. + +Mathematics, applied to Music, i. 118-121; + affords unspeakable delight, ii. 172, 174. + +Matter, of, iii. 122. + +Medius, the parasite, ii. 137. + +Megasthenes, saying of, v. 275. + +Megisto and Micca, and other women of Elis, i. 357-363. + +Meilichius, king of the gods, i. 45. + +Melanippides, quoted, iv. 278. + +Melanthius, quoted, i. 35, 449; ii. 103; iv. 147. + +Melian women, virtue of the, i. 348. + +Melisponda and Nephalia, i. 59. + +Melissus, his opinion of generation, iii, 128. + +Memnon, his saying, i. 189. + +Menalippides, i. 114, 123. + +Menander, quoted, i. 70, 139, 158, 161, 164, 335, 470; + quoted, ii. 52, 57, 65, 86, 87, 124, 192, 297; + his superiority to Aristophanes, iii. 11-14; + quoted, 38, 65, 196, 488; iv. 290; + anecdote of, v. 403; + saying of, 425. + +Mendesian goat, v. 225. + +Menedemus, i. 77; ii. 115, 464; + his opinion of the nature of moral virtue, iii. 461. + +Menelaus, the mathematician, v. 257. + +Men, impotency in, iii. 181; + elements of, 188; + have better stomachs in autumn, 240; + temper of, 270-272; + when asleep are never thunderstruck, 295-300; + having carnal knowledge of brutes, 468. + +Menon, his definition of virtue, i. 464. + +Menyllus, his First Book of Boeotic History, v. 460; + Third Book of Italian History, 467. + +Messenians, saying among the, v. 416. + +Metellus, quoted, iii. 53; iv. 202; v. 459, 461. + +Meteors, of, which resemble rods, iii. 153. + +Metiochus, his misuse of power, v. 127. + +Metius Fufetius, king of Alba, torn in pieces, v. 455. + +Metrocles, i. 144. + +Metrodorus, ii. 158, 160, 161, 167, 169, 175, 180, 183, 496; + his philosophical opinions, iii. 115, 127, 132, 149, 150, 151, 153, + 154, 155, 157, 158; v. 378, 383, 384. + +Micca and Megisto, and other women of Elis, i. 357-363. + +Midas, i. 326; v. 454. + +Miletus, maidens of, i. 354. + +Mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind fine, iv. 143. + +Miltiades, v. 407-411. + +Mimnermus, quoted, iii. 475. + +Mind, tranquillity of the, i. 136-167. + +Minerva, admonished by a satyr, i. 41; iii. 195; + temple of, v. 461. + +Mirrors, causes and reasons of, iii. 169; v. 236 _et seq._ + +Mithridates, i. 204; ii. 121; + story of, iii. 219. + +Mixture of the elements, iii. 126. + +Mnemosyne, the mother of the Muses, i. 22. + +Mnesarete, statue of, iii. 83. + +Mnesiphilus, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41. + +Mnesitheus, the physician, iii. 511. + +Monarchy, Democracy, and Oligarchy, v. 395-398. + +Money upon usury, v. 412-424. + +Monstrous births, of, iii. 179. + +Moon: essence of the, iii. 145; + magnitude of the, 145; + figure of the, 145; + whence her light, 145; + eclipses of the, 146; + phases of the, 147; + distance from the sun, 147; + of the face appearing within the orb of the moon, v. 234-292; + its distance from the earth, 246; + its nature, 253-260; + its size, 261; + why called Glaucopis, 267; + is it inhabited, 274, 275. + +Moot point in Homer’s Iliad, iii. 446. + +Moral virtue, essay on, iii. 461-494. + +Moschio, dialogue on health, i. 251, 252. + +Motherland a Cretan expression, v. 85. + +Motion, of, iii. 128. + +Mount Athos’ shade, v. 270. + +Mule and the salt, v. 184. + +Mule, superannuated, v. 182. + +Mules, barrenness of, iii. 182. + +Mullet, of the, v. 213. + +Muses, number of the, iii. 450. + +Mushrooms produced by thunder, iii. 295-300. + +Music, treatise concerning, i. 102-135; + pleasures from bad, iii. 376; + for entertainments, 389. + +Musonius, his rule of health, i. 35. + +Must, sweet, iii. 511. + +Mycenae, mount, v. 501. + + +N. + +Namertes, apothegm of, i. 427. + +Names of rivers and mountains, and of such things as are to be found + therein, and the fables connected therewith, v. 477-509. + +Nasica, his saying, i. 285. + +Natural affection towards one’s offspring, iv. 189-197. + +Natural philosophy, iii. 105. + +Natural Questions, Plutarch’s, iii. 495-518. + +Nature, of, iii. 131; + what is, 105; + things that are least in, 125; + animated, v. 160. + +Necessity, of, iii. 129; + nature of, 129; + defined, v. 299. + +Nephalia and Melisponda, i. 59. + +Neptune, ii. 38, 39, 41. + +Nero, i. 53; iv. 228, 229; + anecdote of, v. 123. + +New diseases and how caused, iii. 426. + +New-married couple, advice to, ii. 486-507. + +New wine, of, iii. 279. + +Nicander, apothegm of, i. 427, 441. + +Nicias Maleotes, quoted, v. 459. + +Nicias, the Athenian general, superstition of, i. 177; v. 107. + +Nicias, the painter, anecdote of, ii. 173; v. 71. + +Nicostratus and Archidamus, i. 74; + apothegm of, 221. + +Niger, anecdote of, i. 267. + +Nightingale, of the, v. 189. + +Nile, the river, v. 495; + overflow of the, iii. 160; + water of the, 415. + +Niloxenus, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41. + +Niobe, i. 328. + +Noises in the night and day, iii. 406. + +Numa, of the reign of, iv. 208-210. + + +O. + +Oenopides, his discovery of the obliquity of the Zodiac, iii. 138. + +Ogygia, an island west from Britain and its neighbor islands, + described, v. 281-283. + +Oil, top of the, iii. 370; + on the sea, 503; + is transparent, v. 318; + does not easily freeze, 319. + +Old age, health, and sickness, iii. 192. + +Old men, love pure wine, iii. 221; + read best at a distance, 222-224; + easily foxed, 268-270; + in state affairs, v. 64-96. + +Oligarchy, Monarchy, and Democracy, v. 395-398. + +Olympias, anecdotes of, ii. 494, 495. + +Olympus, a Phrygian player, i. 107, 108, 110, 112, 115, 116, 123. + +Omens and dreams, ii. 401, 402. + +Onesicrates, banquet of, i. 103, 133. + +Onomademus, wisdom of, i. 295; v. 129. + +Opinions of philosophers, iii. 104-193. + +Optatus, v. 171. + +Oracle in Cilicia, iv. 55. + +Oracles of Delphi, iii. 73. + +Oracles, why they cease to give answers, iv. 3-64. + +Orestes slays his mother, v. 474. + +Origin of things, opinions concerning the, iii. 107-113. + +Orontes, his saying, i. 188. + +Orpheus never imitated any one, i. 107. + +Orphic Fragments, iv. 59, 404. + +Oryx, fables of the, v. 193. + +Osiris, iv. 75-135; + story about his birth, 74; + great actions of, 75; + his death, 76; + his body torn in pieces by Typhon, 80; + is identical with Serapis and Bacchus, 89; + with the bull Apis, 90; + sacred vestments of, 135. + +Othryadas, iv. 338. + +Otus, the bird, v. 163. + +Oxen, teaching of, v. 193. + + +P. + +Paeans, makers of, i. 110. + +Paedaretus, apothegm of, i. 429. + +Painter, neat saying of a, ii. 378. + +Painting is silent poetry, v. 402. + +Palladium in Ilium and in Rome, v. 461. + +Palm tree, of the, iii. 514. + +Panaetius, sayings of, i. 57. + +Pancrates, i. 117. + +Pandora’s box, i. 306. + +Pangaeus, mount, v. 480. + +Panthoidas, apothegm of, i. 427. + +Papirius Tolucer, v. 468. + +Parallels, or a comparison between the actions of Greeks and Romans, + v. 450-476. + +Parmenides, v. 357; + his philosophical opinions: of generation and corruption, iii. 128; + of necessity, 129; + of the world, 135; + of the moon, 145; + of the galaxy, 149; + of the earth, 155; + of earthquakes, 157; + of the soul, 163; + defended from the misrepresentations of the Epicureans, v. 352-354; + quoted, 357, 359, 381. + +Partridge, cunning of the, v. 185. + +Parysatis, her saying, i. 188. + +Passions of the body, iii. 175. + +Passions of the soul, or diseases of the body: which are worse, iv. + 504, 508. + +Paulus Aemilius, apothegm of, i. 232. + +Pausanias, the Spartan traitor, v. 457. + +Pausanius, i. 305; + apothegm of, 428. + +Pauson the painter, iii. 73. + +Pederasty, or the love of boys, iv. 259; + defended, 259, 260; + instances of its power, 284-286; + severely condemned, 304; + the connection is uncertain and short-lived, 307; + it ceases on the sprouting of the beard, 307. + +Pelopidas, his saying, i. 225. + +Pelops and his two sons, v. 470, 471. + +Pemptides, iv. 272, 275, 279. + +Pergamus, woman of, i. 374. + +Periander, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; + tyrant of Corinth sends three hundred boys to be castrated, iv. 341; + the crime prevented, 342. + +Pericles, anecdotes of, i. 15, 18, 66, 211, 332; ii. 309, 315; v. 67, + 102; + his absolute sway over the Athenians, 106; + his soliloquy when about to address the people, 130, 131, 410, 413. + +Periclitus, a Lesbian harper, i. 108. + +Persaeus, anecdote of, i. 70. + +Perseus, king of Macedonia, his sorrow on losing his kingdom, i. 160. + +Persian Magi, killers of mice, ii. 96. + +Persian women, virtue of the, i. 347. + +Persians had a monarchy, v. 397. + +Pestilence, relief from, a virgin sacrificed for, v. 472. + +Petron, doctrine of, iv. 30. + +Phaedimus, v. 171, 194. + +Phaeton, i. 141. + +Phalaris, brazen cow of, v. 474. + +Pharnaces, of the moon, v. 265. + +Phasis, a river of Thrace, v. 482. + +Phayllus, iv. 282. + +Phemius, the poet, i. 105. + +Pherecrates, fragment of, i. 124. + +Phidias, statue of Venus, ii. 498; iv. 133. + +Philammon, verses in honor of Latona, Diana, and Apollo, i. 105. + +Philemon and Magas, i. 45. + +Philinus, iii. 69, 70. + +Philip of Macedonia, examples from, i. 44, 45; + sayings of, 194-198, 305; + anecdotes of, ii. 141, 146, 147, 494; iii. 22; v. 115. + +Philippides the comedian, ii. 430. + +Philippus, his demonstration of the figure of the moon, ii. 173. + +Philolaus, his philosophical opinions: of the nutriment of the world, + iii. 134; + of the essence of the sun, 142; + of the position of the earth, 155; + of the motion of the earth, 156. + +Philosophers ought chiefly to converse with great men, ii. 368-377. + +Philosophers, their various opinions. Of those sentiments concerning + nature with which philosophers were delighted, iii. 104-193. + +Philosophical discourses at merry meetings, iii. 198-203. + +Philosophy, threefold division of, iii. 104. + +Philotas and Antigona, i. 504. + +Philotas, son of Parmenio, i. 504. + +Philotimus, the physician, i. 452; ii. 153. + +Philoxenus, i. 125; + sayings of, ii. 42; iii. 3; iv. 289; v. 423. + +Phocian women, virtue of the, i. 343, 355. + +Phocion, his saying on the death of Alexander, i. 49; + his sayings, 70; + wife of, 102, 216; ii. 135, 298, 311, 321, 328; v. 83, 109, 118; + his magnanimity, 122; + his reply to Demades, 125, 142, 149. + +Phocus, a story of love respecting him, iv. 319. + +Phocylides the poet, quoted, i. 9, 462. + +Phoebidas, apothegm of, i. 431. + +Phoenix, tutor to Achilles, i. 9; ii. 150. + +Phrygian mood of music, i. 109. + +Phryne, the statue of, iii. 83. + +Phrynis, the musician, ii. 470. + +Pieria and other women of Myus, i. 363, 364. + +Pierus, the first that wrote in praise of the Muses, i. 105. + +Pindar and Euthynous, i. 314. + +Pindar, his sayings, i. 77, 114; + quoted, 143, 173, 174, 286, 293, 303, 304, 310, 313, 328; + his description of the state of the blessed, 336; + quoted, ii. 57, 143, 177, 193, 306; + quoted, iii. 9, 23, 74, 93, 95, 96, 194, 207, 218, 377, 455, 458, + 491, 516; + quoted, iv. 10, 15, 96, 138, 145, 150, 163, 260, 289, 405; + quoted, v. 64, 111, 117, 148, 194, 197, 202, 214, 316, 331, 404; + anecdote of, 404, 440. + +Pine, sacred to Neptune and Bacchus, iii. 318. + +Pine trees, of, iii. 250. + +Pinoteras, the fish, v. 205. + +Pisias, of love, iv. 270 _et seq._ + +Pisistratus, i. 216; + anecdote of, iii. 41, 200. + +Pittacus, sayings of, i. 31, 151; + his reply to Myrsilus, ii. 5; + at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 3-41; iii. 50; iv. 231; v. + 145. + +Pitwater, of, iii. 514. + +Place at table called Consular, iii. 210-212. + +Place, of, iii. 127. + +Plague in Falerie and in Lacedaemon, v. 472. + +Plain of truth, iv. 29. + +Planetiades, iv. 9, 11. + +Plants, grow how, iii. 190; + nourishment and growth of, 191. + +Plato, quoted, i. 9, 19, 24, 26; + saying of, 27; + quoted, 41, 57, 71, 74, 79; + on harmony, 115, 118; + quoted, 141, 173, 256, 264, 279, 287; + laws, 292; + quoted, 297, 311, 314, 321, 337, 339, 456; + quoted, ii. 49, 92, 100, 104, 106; + at the court of Dionysius, 108, 109, 141, 146; + and Socrates, 148, 150, 168, 174, 326; + concerning the soul, 328 _et seq._, 334; + quoted, 344, 352, 353, 355, 356, 359, 364, 455, 456, 457, 492, 496, + 504; + quoted, iii. 19, 81; + his philosophical opinions: of the universe, 112, 114, 115; + of the understanding, 116; + what is God, 119; + of God, 121; + of matter and ideas, 123; + of causes and of bodies, 124; + of colors, 125; + of bodies, 126; + of place and time, 127, 128; + of motion, 128; + of necessity, 129; + of fate, 130; + of fortune, 131; + of the world, 134, 135, 137; + of the stars, 137-141; + of the sun, 142, 143; + of the moon, 145, 146; + of the rainbow, 152; + of earthquakes, 158; + of the sea, 159; + of the soul, 161-165; + of sight, 168; + of hearing, 170; + of the voice, 171; + of the echo, 172; + of divination, 176; + of generative seed, 177; + of the embryo, 183; + of reason in animals, 187; + of sleep, 189; + that plants are animals, 190; + quoted, 200, 201, 213, 221, 223, 243, 365, 368-370, 401, 462, 464, + 499; iv. 18, 28, 30, 41, 45; + his opinion about daemons, 86, 87, 109, 115-117, 119, 146, 254, + 261, 292, 305; + quoted, v. 10, 82, 103, 116, 120, 172, 257, 276, 288, 293, 295, + 297, 302, 305, 306, 338, 355, 364, 377, 381, 412, 425-433, 435, + 440, 441, 444. + +Pleasure not attainable according to Epicurus, ii. 157-203. + +Pleasures from bad music, iii. 376. + +Plistoanax, apothegm of, i. 430. + +Plurality of worlds, iv. 29-39. + +Plutarch, his rules for the preservation of health, i. 251-279; + his Symposiacs, iii. 197-460; + his natural questions, 495-518; + on the immortality of the soul, iii. 164, iv. 169; v. 393; + consolatory letter to his wife, 386-394; + his Platonic questions, 425-449; + his spurious remains, 450-509. + +Poet, love makes a man a, iii. 217-219. + +Poetry, essay on. How a young man ought to hear poems, ii. 42-94. + +Polemon, his kind reply, i. 55. + +Policy or government defined, v. 396. + +Political precepts, v. 97-156. + +Poltys, saying of, i. 189. + +Polus the tragedian, v. 69. + +Polybus, of seven-months’ infants, iii. 185. + +Polycephalus, the nome, i. 108. + +Polycratidas, apothegm of, i. 431. + +Polycrita, a woman of Naxos, i. 364, 366. + +Polydorus, apothegm of, i. 430. + +Polyhistor, his Third Book of Italian History, v. 476. + +Polymnestus, his improvements in music, i. 107, 110, 112, 123. + +Polypus, why it changes color, iii. 506; + many-colored, v. 202. + +Polysperchon’s treachery, i. 64, 71. + +Pompey, his great actions and sayings, i. 241 _et seq._, 290; + statues of, 293, v. 70, 102, 112, 114; + owed his success to Sylla, 115. + +Porsena of Clusium, war with the Romans, v. 451, 456. + +Porus, an Indian king, i. 202. + +Posidonius, his opinion of fate, iii. 130; + of a vacuum, 137; + of eclipses, v. 262. + +Possible and contingent defined, v. 299. + +Postumia, chastity of, i. 290. + +Power, necessity, &c., defined, v. 300. + +Praise, inordinate, a sign of a flatterer, ii, 116, 117, 120; + young people are often spoiled by it, 123. + +Preservation of health, rules for, i. 251-279. + +Priam and Polydore, v. 465. + +Price of peace, women given as the, v. 468. + +Priest of Hercules, iii. 90. + +Principle and element, difference between, iii. 106. + +Principle of cold, v. 309-330. + +Principles, what they are, iii. 106. + +Prize for poets at the games, iii. 316. + +Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus, puts Timarchus to death, iii. 89; + his own unhappy end, _ib._ + +Procreation of the soul as discussed in the Timaeus of Plato, ii. + 326-367. + +Progress in virtue, how it may be ascertained, ii. 446-474. + +Prometheus, anecdote of, i. 289. + +Proserpine, the same as Isis, iv. 88; + and Cora, v. 285, 286. + +Prosodia, songs called, i. 106. + +Protagoras quoted, i. 332. + +Protogenes, iv. 257, 258, 260-265. + +Providence, of God, iv. 140-188; v. 305; + of the inferior gods, 306; + of the daemons, 307, 308. + +Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, i. 25. + +Ptolemaeus Soter, iv. 88. + +Ptolemy Lagus, anecdote of, i. 45; + his saying, 202; ii. 177. + +Publius Decius, his dream, v. 462. + +Publius Nigidius, v. 96. + +Punishment of the wicked, why so long delayed, iv. 140-188. + +Pupius Piso, the rhetorician, iv. 245. + +Purple shell fish, v. 205. + +Pylades and Orestes, their friendship, i. 465. + +Pyraechmes’s horses, v. 455. + +Pyrander, his Fourth Book of Peloponnesian Histories, v. 474. + +Pyrandrus, the commissary, v. 469. + +Pyrrhon, the Stoic philosopher, anecdote of, ii. 467. + +Pyrrhus the Epirot, his saying, i. 207. + +Pythagoras, his aphorisms, i. 28, 29; + of music, 130; + quoted, 175; + aphorism, 179, 294; + symbols of, 454, 471; + his unseasonable reproof, ii. 148; + his joy on discovering the relation to each other of the three + sides of a right-angled triangle, 174; + his philosophical opinions: of the principles of things, iii. 109; + of the unity of God, 121; + of geniuses and heroes, 122; + of matter, 123; + of causes, 124; + of bodies, 126; + of time, 127; + of motion, 128; + of generation and corruption, 129; + of the world, 132-137; + of the zodiac, 138; + of the summer and winter solstice, 143; + of the moon, 145; + of the zones, 156; + of the soul, 161-164; + of the voice, 172; + of divination, 176; + of generative seed, 177; + of reason in animals, 187; + precepts of, derived his philosophy from Egyptian priests, iv. 72. + +Pythagorean philosophy of dreams, daemons, ii. 412, 413. + +Pythagoreans, precept of, iii. 22; + why they do not eat fish, 422-426. + +Pytheas, his saying, i. 213; iii. 159; + apothegm of, v. 107, 110. + +Pythes, the Lydian, i. 382. + +Pythian games, iii. 316. + +Pythian priestess, iv. 8, 9, 62, 63; + why she now ceases to deliver her oracles in verse, iii. 69-103. + +Pythocles, his Third Book of Italian History, v. 460; + Third Book of the Georgics, 476. + +Pythoclides the flute player, i. 114. + +Python of Aenos, ii. 314. + + +Q. + +Quarry of Carystus, iv. 54. + +Questions or Causes, Second Book of, v. 475. + + +R. + +Raillery, of, iii. 229-240. + +Rainbow, of the, iii. 151. + +Rain, snow, and hail, of, iii. 151. + +Rational faculty, of the, v. 441. + +Reason, beasts make use of, v. 218-233. + +Reason, habit of our, iii. 166. + +Remarkable speeches of some obscure +men amongst the Spartans, i. 432-440. + +Remora or Echeneis, iii. 252. + +Reproof, how to be administered, ii. 138-156. + +Respiration or breathing, iii, 173. + +Rhesus and Similius, v. 466. + +Rhodope and Haemus, mountains, v. 491. + +Riddles and their solutions, ii. 19, 20. + +Roman questions, ii. 204-264. + +Roman senator and his wife, iv. 233-235. + +Romans, fortune of the, iv. 198-219. + +Rome, saved by the cackling of geese, iv. 217; + favored by fortune, 219. + +Romulus, his birth and education, iv. 206-208; + murdered in the senate, v. 470; + and Remus, suckled by a she-wolf, 473. + +Rules for the preservation of health, i. 251-279. + +Rutilius the usurer, v. 419. + + +S. + +Sabinus of Galatia, iv. 308. + +Sacadas, a flute player, i. 109, 110, 112. + +Sacred games, garlands of, iii. 411. + +Sacrificed beasts, iii. 361. + +Sagaris, a river in Phrygia, v. 492. + +Salmantica, women of, i. 352. + +Salt and cummin, why does Homer call it divine, iii. 336. + +Salt given to cattle, iii. 497; + not found in fruit, 498. + +Sappho, i. 42, 114; ii. 506; + quoted, iii. 95, 263; + quoted, iv. 260. + +Sappho’s measures, grace in, iii. 74. + +Sardanapalus, his luxury and lust, i. 497. + +Sardians and Smyrnaeans, v. 468. + +Saturn and his four children, v. 456, 457. + +Satyrus the orator, i. 47. + +Scamander, a river in Troas, v. 493. + +Scaurus, his magnanimity, i. 295. + +Scilurus, anecdote of, iv. 244. + +Scipio the Elder, apothegm of, i. 229; ii. 475; iv. 201; v. 96, 112, + 114, 136. + +Scipio the Younger, his sayings and great actions, i. 235-239. + +Scopas, saying of, ii. 303. + +Scythinus, verses of, iii. 86. + +Sea calves, of, v. 210. + +Sea, of the, iii. 158; + ebbing and flowing of the, 159; + food of the, 302-306; + made hot by wind, 501. + +Sea-sickness, iii. 502. + +Sea water nourishes not trees, iii. 495; + upon wine, 502; + oil on the, 503. + +Seed, nature of generative, iii. 177; + that fall on the oxen’s horns, 368; + watering of, 496; + watered by thunder showers, 498. + +Seleucus the mathematician, iii. 159. + +Seleucus Callinicus, anecdote of, iv. 237. + +Self-praise. How a man may inoffensively praise himself without being + liable to envy, ii. 306-325. + +Semiramis, her saying, i. 187, 497; iv. 85. + +Seneca, anecdote of, i. 53. + +Senses, of the, iii. 164; + represent what is true, 165; + number of the, 165; + actions of the, 166. + +Sentiments concerning Nature with which Philosophers were delighted, + iii. 104-193. + +Serapio, iii. 74, 79, 81, 82. + +Serapis is Pluto, iv. 88, 89. + +Serpent and the Aetolian woman, v. 188. + +Seven months’ infants, of, iii. 184. + +Seven Wise Men, Banquet of the, ii. 3-41. + +Servius Tullius, his birth, elevation, and prosperous reign, iv. 212, + 213. + +Shadows, guests called, iii. 381. + +Sheep bitten by wolves, iii. 254. + +She-wolves, of, iii. 517. + +Ships in winter, sailing of, iii. 500. + +Shoe pinches, where the, ii. 494. + +Sibyl with her frantic grimaces, iii. 74. + +Sight, of our, iii. 168. + +Silence commended, iv. 230, 243. + +Simonides, quoted, i. 149, 257, 295, 305, 309, 318; + quoted, ii. 44, 101, 136, 436, 457, 471; + quoted, iii. 22, 87, 259, 409, 451, 459, 473; + quoted, iv. 158; + saying of, v. 66, 68, 71, 121. + +Sipylus, mount, v. 489. + +Siramnes, saying of, i. 185. + +Sleep or death, causes of, iii. 188; + whether it appertains to the soul or body, 189. + +Smelling, of, iii. 170. + +Smyrna and Cinyras, v. 464. + +Snow, preservation of, iii. 350. + +Soclarus, iv. 292; v. 156, 158, 160, 166, 169, 170, 171, 216. + +Socrates, anecdotes of, i. 11, 13, 23, 26, 38, 53, 141, 150, 162; + rules of health, 255; + quoted, 307, 310, 312, 337; ii. 46, 148, 150, 338, 441; + his Daemon, 378-423, 441, 495; iii. 4, 19, 35, 112, 121, 123; iv. + 249; v. 93, 359, 361, 362-364, 377, 381. + +Socrates, his Second Book of Thracian History, v. 462. + +Soil, deep, for wheat, iii. 504; + lean soil for barley, 504. + +Solon and Croesus, anecdote of, ii. 122. + +Solon, quoted, i. 155, 297; + at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; + quoted, 297, 454, 487; + quoted, +iii. 50; iv. 72; + quoted, 260; + anecdote of, 304; v. 89, 113, 117, 118, 131. + +Sophocles, quoted, i. 46, 57, 244, 288; + Thamyras, 39; + Frag., 58, 63; + Tyre, 206, 467; + Antig., 51, 462; + Oed. Tyr., 179, 470; + quoted, ii. 45, 57, 61, 72; + criticisms on, 72; + Frag., 173, 241, 244, 298, 431, 452, 456, 470, 495; + Oed. Tyr., 60, 172, 442, 476, 495; + Antig., 110; + Trachin., 311; + Electra, 440; + quoted, iii. 97, 210, 222; + Frag., 7; + Antig. 45; + Oed. Tyr., 235, 474; + Oed. Col., 232; + Electra, 437; + quoted, iv. 87, 246, 287, 304; + Oed. Tyr., 197, 202; + Trachin., 281; + Antig., 239, 283, 404; + Frag., 221, 226, 274, 284, 301; + quoted, v. 69, 76, 158, 216; + Oed. Col., 68; + Frag., 75, 84; + anecdote of, 68. + +Sostratus, his Second Book of Tuscan History, v. 468. + +Sotades, jest of, i. 25. + +Soterichus, the musician, i. 103, 112. + +Soul of Ajax, her place in hell, iii. 442. + +Soul or body, death appertains to, iii. 189. + +Soul, procreation of the, ii. 326-367; + its nature and essence, iii. 161, 163; + parts of the, 162; + in what part of the body it resides, 163; + motion of the, 163; + immortality of the, 164; + principal part of the, 173; + three sorts of motion in the, v. 371; + state of, after death, 393, 394; + ancienter than the body, 432. + +Souls dispersed into the earth, moon, &c., v. 438. + +Sounds in the night and day, iii. 406. + +Sows, tame and wild, iii. 508. + +Space, of, iii. 127. + +Sparta had an oligarchy, v. 397. + +Speech composed of nouns and verbs, v. 444. + +Speech of a statesman, what it should be, v. 107. + +Sperm, whether it be a body, iii. 177. + +Spermatic emission of women, iii. 177. + +Sphodrias, v. 118. + +Spiders, labor of the, v. 174. + +Sponge, of the, v. 205. + +Spurious remains of Plutarch, v. 450-509. + +Star-fish, subtlety of the, v. 201. + +Stark drunk, those that are, iii. 281. + +Stars, essence of the, iii. 138; + what figure they are, 139; + order and place of, 139; + motion and circulation of, 140; + whence do they receive their light, 140; + which are called the Dioscuri, the twins, or Castor and Pollux, + 141; + how they prognosticate, 141; + number of the, whether odd or even, 446. + +Stasicrates proposes to turn Mount Athos into a statue of Alexander, + i. 495. + +Stesichorus, i. 109, 112; iv. 497. + +Steward of a feast, iii. 212-216. + +Stilpo, the philosopher, i. 13, 76, 144, 161; + anecdote of, ii. 468; + defended, v. 365-367. + +Stoics speak greater improbabilities than the poets, iii. 194-196; + their opinions concerning daemons, iv. 24; + common conceptions against the, 372-427; + contradictions of the, 428-477. + +Strabo, quoted, i. 27. + +Strato, i. 155; iii. 163; v. 161. + +Stratonica of Galatia, i. 373. + +Stratonicus, anecdote of, ii. 298; iii. 21. + +Strymon, a river in Thrace, v. 491. + +Summer and winter, cause of, iii. 141. + +Summer and winter solstice, iii. 143. + +Sun, essence of the, iii. 141; + magnitude of the, 142; + figure or shape of the, 143; + turning and returning of the, 143; + eclipses of the, 144. + +Superstition of the Gauls, Scythians, and Carthaginians, i. 182, 183. + +Superstition, or indiscreet devotion, i. 168-184; + folly of, ii. 387. + +Supper, many guests at, iii. 323. + +Supper-room, why too narrow at first for guests, iii. 326. + +Suppers of the ancients, iii. 255-259. + +Swallows in the house, iii. 419; + intelligence of the, v. 174. + +Sylla, i. 32-35; + anecdote of, v. 72, 115, 135. + +Symposiacs, or table discourses, iii. 197-460. + +Synorix and Camma, iv. 302. + + +T. + +Table, dignity of places at, iii. 210-212. + +Tables and lamps of the ancients, iii. 372. + +Talkativeness, or garrulity, iv. 220-253. + +Talk, deliberate or tumultuous, iii. 395. + +Tanais, a river in Scythia, v. 494. + +Tarpeia, a virgin, the story of, v. 460. + +Taste, of, iii. 170. + +Taxiles of India, i. 201. + +Taygetus, mount, v. 498. + +Tears of the hart, iii. 507. + +Tears of wild boars, iii. 507. + +Telamon and Periboea, v. 467. + +Telamon and Phocus, v. 466. + +Telecrus, apothegm of, i. 431. + +Telegonus, son of Ulysses, v. 476. + +Telephanes of Megara, i. 117. + +Telephus, i. 289. + +Telesias the Theban, an eminent flute-player, i. 125. + +Telesphorus, in an iron cage, iii. 31. + +Temple of Apollo, iv. 478-498. + +Teres, his saying, i. 189. + +Teribazus, anecdote of, i. 176. + +Terpander, the musician, fined by the Ephori, and why? i. 91, 92; + an inventor of ancient music, 102, 105, 109; + an excellent composer to the harp, 106, 112; + added the octave to the heptachord, 102, 122. + +Teuthras, mount, v. 504. + +Thales, at the Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, ii. 3-41; + first of philosophers; the Ionic sect took its denomination from + him, iii. 107; + his philosophical opinions; difference between a principle and an + element, 106; + that the intelligence of the world was God, 121; + of geniuses and heroes, 122; + of division of bodies, 126; + of necessity, 129; + of the division of heaven, 137; + of the eclipses of the sun, 144; + that the moon borrows her light from the sun, 146; + that the earth is globular, and the centre of the universe, 155; + of earthquakes, 157; + of the overflow of the Nile, 160; + of the soul, 161; iv. 337, 480. + +Thaletas, a composer, i. 110, 112; + power of his music, 133. + +Thamyras, the singer, i. 105. + +Theanor, ii. 395, 396. + +Thebes, liberation of, ii. 414-423. + +Thectamenes, apothegm of, i. 411. + +Themisteas, apothegm of, i. 410. + +Themistocles, quoted, i. 73; + his saying, 208; + suspected of treason, 290, 296, 480; + quoted, ii. 97, 311, 471; + his kind reception by the Persian king, iii. 21, 30; iv. 208, 361, + 365; v. 101, 116, 120, 121, 127. + +Theo, iii. 70, 71, 74, 88. + +Theocritus, his remark and death, i. 25, 73; ii. 380; iii. 516. + +Theodorus, saying of, i. 142; ii. 321, 349; iii. 31; + his Book of Transformations, v. 464. + +Theognis, i. 473; ii. 59; iii. 506. + +Theon, ii. 157 _et seq._; v. 273-275. + +Theophilus, his Third Book of Italian History, v. 459; + Second Book of Peloponnesian Histories, 470. + +Theophrastus, sayings of, i. 276, 304, 442; ii. 303; iii. 45, 64, + 218, 219, 334; v. 202, 427. + +Theopompus, his sayings, i. 217, 410; v. 137. + +Theotimus, his Italian History, v. 456. + +Theramenes, anecdote of, i. 306. + +Thermodon, a river in Scythia, v. 495. + +Thero, anecdote of, iv. 286. + +Theseus and his son Hippolytus, v. 471. + +Thespesius, iv. 177, 182 _et seq._, 188. + +Thirst, cause of, iii. 341. + +Thorycion, apothegm of, i. 411. + +Thrasonides quoted, ii. 297. + +Thucydides, quoted, i. 70, 76, 472, 490; + quoted, ii. 98, 117, 149, 152, 458; + quoted, iii. 88; + quoted, iv. 141; + quoted, v. 65, 106, 403. + +Thunder, of, iii. 150. + +Thymbris, and his son Rustius, v. 466. + +Tides, of, iii. 159. + +Tigris, the river, v. 507. + +Timaeus, his opinion of tides, iii. 159. + +Timesias, the oracle and, i. 471; + anecdote of, v. 127. + +Time, essence and nature of, iii. 127, 128. + +Timoclea, at the taking of Thebes, i. 376. + +Timoleon, ii. 314. + +Timotheus, the musician, anecdote of, i. 92, 106, 112; ii. 83, 306; + v. 76. + +Titus Quinctius, apothegm of, i. 230. + +Tmolus, mount, v. 486. + +Torpedo, or crampfish, v. 201. + +Torquatus and Clusia, v. 459. + +Tortoise, their care for their young, v. 209. + +Training of children, i. 3-32. + +Tranquillity of the mind, the, i. 136-167. + +Transmutation of bodies, v. 14. + +Trees and seeds, watering of, iii. 496. + +Trees not nourished by sea-water, iii. 495. + +Triangles, of, v. 433. + +Trisimachus, his book of Foundations of Cities, v. 455. + +Trochilus and crocodile, v. 206. + +Troilus wept less than Priam, i. 323. + +Trojan women, virtue of the, i. 342. + +Trophonius and Agamedes, i. 313. + +True friendship, of, i. 464-474; ii. 100-134. + +True happiness, of, v. 392. + +Tullus Hostilius, v. 455. + +Tunnies, dim sight of the, v. 204. + +Typhon, in Egyptian mythology, iv. 80, 81, 86, 88, 91, 92, 99, 101, + 105, 110, 114, 118, 122. + +Tyrrhene women, virtue of the, i. 349. + + +U. + +Ulysses, i. 160; + in the island of Circe, v. 218 _et seq._ + +Unity of God. Of the word εἰ engraven over the gate of the temple of + Apollo at Delphi, iv. 478-498. + + + + +Universe, whether it is one, iii. 114; + division of the, v. 429. + +Unlearned Prince, Discourse to an, iv. 323-330. + +Usurers, what sort of men they are, 417. + +Usury, evils of, v. 412-424. + + +V. + +Vacuum, of a, iii. 126; + there can be none in nature, iv. 33; + suppose there were, it would have no beginning, middle, or end, 34. + +Valeria and Cloelia, i. 356. + +Valeria Tusculanaria, v. 464. + +Valerius Conatus swallowed up alive, v. 455. + +Venus’s hands wounded by Diomedes, iii. 441. + +Verses seasonably and unseasonably applied, iii. 436. + +Vice and virtue, ii. 482-485. + +Vice, whether it is sufficient to render a man unhappy, iv. 499-503. + +Vines irrigated with wine, iii. 513; + rank of leaves, iii. 513. + +Virtue and vice, ii. 482-485. + +Virtue may be taught, i. 78-81. + +Virtue or fortune, to which of these was due the greatness and glory + of Rome? iv. 198-219. + +Virtue, progress in, ii. 446-474. + +Virtues of women, i. 340-384. + +Vision, doctrine of, iii. 168; v. 236 _et seq._ + +Voice is incorporeal, iii. 172. + +Voice, of the, iii. 171. + +Vowels and semi-vowels, iii. 438. + + +W. + +Water made colder by stones and lead, iii. 348. + +Water or fire, which is more useful? v. 331-337. + +Water, white and black, iii. 518. + +Wealth, the love of, ii. 294-305. + +Well water, change of the temperature in, iii. 347. + +West wind the swiftest, iii, 515. + +Whale, of the, v. 207. + +Wheat, sow, in clay, iii. 505. + +Whether an aged man ought to meddle in state affairs, v. 64-96. + +Whether the passions of the soul, or diseases of the body, are + worse, iv. 504-508. + +Whether ’twere rightly said, “Live concealed,” iii. 3-10. + + + + +Whether vice is sufficient to render a man unhappy, iv. 499-503. + +Whirlwinds, of, iii. 150. + +Why the oracles cease to give answers, iv. 3-64. + +Wicked, delay of Providence in punishing the, iv. 140-188. + +Widows in India, iv. 502. + +Wild beasts, steps of, iii. 509; + their tracks, 509. + +Wild boars, tears of the, iii. 507. + +Winds, of, iii. 154. + +Wine, whether it is potentially cold, iii. 272-274; + straining of, 351; + middle of, 370; + sea water upon, 502; + irrigation with, 513. + +Winter and summer, cause of, iii. 141, 154. + +Winter, ships in, iii. 500; + sea least hot in, 501. + +Wise Men, the Seven, Banquet of, ii. 3-41; + their names, iv. 480. + +Woman, of Pergamus, i. 374. + +Woman of Thessaly torn in pieces by dogs, v. 463. + +Women, the virtues of, i. 340-384; + barrenness in, iii. 181; + are hardly foxed, 268-270; + temper of, 270-272; + given as the price of peace, v. 468. + +Word ει at Apollo’s temple at Delphi. iv. 478-498. + +World, how it was brought into its present order, iii. 113. + +World, of the, iii. 132; + figure of the, 133; + whether it be an animal, 133; + whether it is eternal and incorruptible, 133; + its nutriment, 134; + from what element was it raised, 134; + in what form and order was it composed, 135; + cause of its inclination, 136; + thing which is beyond the, 136; + what parts on the right and left hand, 137. + +Worlds, plurality of, iv. 29-38. + +Wrestling, of, iii. 246. + + +X. + +Xanthippe, wife of Socrates, anecdotes of, i. 53, 292. + +Xenaenetus, v. 109. + +Xenocrates, anecdote of; i. 71, 442; + his opinions concerning the soul, ii. 327, 439; + of triangles, iii. 24, 139, 494; + his opinion about daemons, iv. 17, 87; + saying of, v. 10, 494. + +Xenocritus, a composer, i. 110, 380. + +Xenodamus, a composer, i. 110. + +Xenophanes, his reply, i. 65, 183; + his philosophical opinions, iii. 134, 138, 141, 144, 145, 150, 155; + quoted, ii. 49; iv. 291. + +Xenophon, quoted, i. 137; + maxim of, 281, 333, 447; ii. 115, 144, 178, 307; + the scene of his old age, iii. 24; v. 67, 72, 121, 139. + +Xerxes, his saying, i. 39, 187; + and Arimanes, iii. 59, 60; + invasion of Greece, v. 451, 452. + + +Y. + +Year, length of, in different planets, iii. 147. + + +Z. + +Zaleucus, laws of, ii. 315. + +Zaratas, ii. 327. + +Zeno, saying of, i. 56; + anecdotes of, 72, 142, 283; ii. 321, 365, 455; + quoted, 467, 481; iii. 25, 113, 125, 128; + his definition of virtue, 462; + anecdote of, iv. 225; v. 382. + +Zenocrates, v. 288, 377, 441. + +Zeuxidamus, apothegm of, i. 410. + +Zeuxippus, dialogue on health, i. 251-279; ii. 157 _et seq._; + iv. 270, 278, 288. + +Zeuxis, reply of, i. 468. + +Zopyrus Byzantius, his Third Book of Histories, v. 473. + +Zoroaster, ii. 357; iv. 106. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78147 *** |