But there was a passage from Homer (32) for ever on his lips, as the
accuser tells us--the passage which says concerning Odysseus,
What prince, or man of name,
He found flight-giv'n, he would restrain with words of gentlest blame:
"Good sir, it fits you not to fly, or fare as one afraid,
You should not only stay yourself, but see the people stayed."
Thus he the best sort us'd; the worst, whose spirits brake out in
noise, (33) He cudgell'd with his sceptre, chid, and said, "Stay,
wretch, be still, And hear thy betters; thou art base, and both in
power and skill Poor and unworthy, without name in counsel or in
war." We must not all be kings.
(31) See below, III. ix. 9.
(32) "Il." ii. 188 foll., 199 foll. (so Chapman).
(33) Lit. "But whatever man of the people he saw and found him
shouting."--W. Leaf.
The accuser informs us that Socrates interpreted these lines as though
the poet approved the giving of blows to commoners and poor folk. Now
no such remark was ever made by Socrates; which indeed would have been
tantamount to maintaining that he ought to be beaten himself. What he
did say was, that those who were useful neither in word nor deed, who
were incapable of rendering assistance in time of need to the army or
the state or the people itself, be they never so wealthy, ought to be
restrained, and especially if to incapacity they added effrontery.
As to Socrates, he was the very opposite of all this--he was plainly
a lover of the people, and indeed of all mankind. Though he had many
ardent admirers among citizens and strangers alike, he never demanded
any fee for his society from any one, (34) but bestowed abundantly upon
all alike of the riches of his sould--good things, indeed, of which
fragments accepted gratis at his hands were taken and sold at high
prices to the rest of the community by some, (35) who were not, as he
was, lovers of the people, since with those who had not money to give in
return they refused to discourse. But of Socrates be it said that in
the eyes of the whole world he reflected more honour on the state and a
richer lustre than ever Lichas, (36) whose fame is proverbial, shed
on Lacedaemon. Lichas feasted and entertained the foreign residents in
Lacedaemon at the Gymnopaediae most handsomely. Socrates gave a lifetime
to the outpouring of his substance in the shape of the greatest benefits
bestowed on all who cared to receive them. In other words, he made
those who lived in his society better men, and sent them on their way
rejoicing.
(34) See "Symp." iv. 43; Plat. "Hipp. maj." 300 D; "Apol." 19 E.
(35) See Diog. Laert. II. viii. 1.
(36) See "Hell." III. ii. 21; Thuc. v. 50; Plut. "Cim." 284 C. For the
Gymnopaediae, see Paus. III. xi. 9; Athen. xiv. p. 631.
To no other conclusion, therefore, can I come but that, being so good a
man, Socrates was worthier to have received honour from the state than
death. And this I take to be the strictly legal view of the case, for
what does the law require? (37) "If a man be proved to be a thief, a
filcher of clothes, a cut-purse, a housebreaker, a man-stealer, a robber
of temples, the penalty is death." Even so; and of all men Socrates
stood most aloof from such crimes.
(37) See "Symp." iv. 36; Plat. "Rep." 575 B; "Gorg." 508 E.
To the state he was never the cause of any evil--neither disaster in
war, nor faction, nor treason, nor any other mischief whatsoever. And if
his public life was free from all offence, so was his private. He never
hurt a single soul either by deprivation of good or infliction of evil,
nor did he ever lie under the imputation of any of those misdoings.
WHere then is his liability to the indictment to be found? Who, so
far from disbelieving in the gods, as set forth in the indictment, was
conspicuous beyond all men for service to heaven; so far from corrupting
the young--a charge alleged with insistence by the prosecutor--was
notorious for the zeal with which he strove not only to stay his
associates from evil desires, but to foster in them a passionate desire
for that loveliest and queenliest of virtues without which states and
families crumble to decay. (38) Such being his conduct, was he not
worthy of high honour from the state of Athens?
(38) Or, "the noblest and proudest virtue by means of which states and
families are prosperously directed."
III
It may serve to illustrate the assertion that he benefited his
associates partly by the display of his own virtue and partly by verbal
discourse and argument, if I set down my various recollections (1)
on these heads. And first with regard to religion and the concerns of
heaven. In conduct and language his behaviour conformed to the rule laid
down by the Pythia (2) in reply to the question, "How shall we act?" as
touching a sacrifice or the worship of ancestors, or any similar point.
Her answer is: "Act according to the law and custom of your state, and
you will act piously." After this pattern Socrates behaved himself, and
so he exhorted others to behave, holding them to be but busybodies and
vain fellows who acted on any different principle.
(1) Hence the title of the work, {'Apomenmoneumata}, "Recollections,
Memoirs, Memorabilia." See Diog. Laert. "Xen." II. vi. 48.
(2) The Pythia at Delphi.
His formula or prayer was simple: "Give me that which is best for me,"
for, said he, the gods know best what good things are--to pray for gold
or silver or despotic power were no better than to make some particular
throw at dice or stake in battle or any such thing the subject of
prayer, of which the future consequences are manifestly uncertain. (3)
(3) See (Plat.) "Alcib. II." 142 foll.; Valerius Max. vii. 2;
"Spectator," No. 207.
If with scant means he offered but small sacrifices he believed that he
was in no wise inferior to those who make frequent and large sacrifices
from an ampler store. It were ill surely for the very gods themselves,
could they take delight in large sacrifices rather than in small, else
oftentimes must the offerings of bad men be found acceptable rather
than of good; nor from the point of view of men themselves would life
be worth living if the offerings of a villain rather than of a righteous
man found favour in the sight of Heaven. His belief was that the joy of
the gods is greater in proportion to the holiness of the giver, and he
was ever an admirer of that line of Hesiod which says,
According to thine ability do sacrifice to the immortal gods. (4)
(4) Hesiod, "Works and Days," 336. See "Anab." III. ii. 9.
"Yes," he would say, "in our dealings with friends and strangers alike,
and in reference to the demands of life in general, there is no better
motto for a man than that: 'let a man do according to his ability.'"
Or to take another point. If it appeared to him that a sign from
heaven had been given him, nothing would have induced him to go against
heavenly warning: he would as soon have been persuaded to accept the
guidance of a blind man ignorant of the path to lead him on a journey
in place of one who knew the road and could see; and so he denounced the
folly of others who do things contrary to the warnings of God in order
to avoid some disrepute among men. For himself he despised all human
aids by comparison with counsel from above.
The habit and style of living to which he subjected his soul and body
was one which under ordinary circumstances (5) would enable any one
adopting it to look existence cheerily in the face and to pass his days
serenely: it would certainly entail no difficulties as regards expense.
So frugal was it that a man must work little indeed who could not earn
the quantum which contented Socrates. Of food he took just enough
to make eating a pleasure--the appetite he brought to it was sauce
sufficient; while as to drinks, seeing that he only drank when thirsty,
any draught refreshed. (6) If he accepted an invitation to dinner, he
had no difficulty in avoiding the common snare of over-indulgence, and
his advice to people who could not equally control their appetite was to
avoid taking what would allure them to eat if not hungry or to drink if
not thirsty. (7) Such things are ruinous to the constitution, he said,
bad for stomachs, brains, and soul alike; or as he used to put it, with
a touch of sarcasm, (8) "It must have been by feasting men on so many
dainty dishes that Circe produced her pigs; only Odysseus through his
continency and the 'promptings (9) of Hermes' abstained from touching
them immoderately, and by the same token did not turn into a swine." So
much for this topic, which he touched thus lightly and yet seriously.
(5) {ei me ti daimonion eie}, "save under some divinely-ordained
calamity." Cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 18; "Symp." viii. 43.
(6) See "Ages." ix; Cic. "Tusc." v. 34, 97; "de Fin." ii. 28, 90.
(7) Cf. Plut. "Mor." 128 D; Clement, "Paedag." 2. 173, 33; "Strom." 2,
492, 24; Aelian, "N. A." 8, 9.
(8) "Half in gibe and half in jest," in ref. to "Od." x. 233 foll.:
"So she let them in..."
(9) {upothemosune}, "inspiration." Cf. "Il." xv. 412; "Od." xvi. 233.
But as to the concerns of Aphrodite, his advice was to hold strongly
aloof from the fascination of fair forms: once lay finger on these
and it is not easy to keep a sound head and a sober mind. To take a
particular case. It was a mere kiss which, as he had heard, Critobulus
(10) had some time given to a fair youth, the son of Alcibiades. (11)
Accordingly Critobulus being present, Socrates propounded the question.
(10) For Critobulus (the son of Crito) see "Econ." i. 1 foll.; "Symp."
i. 3 foll.
(11) See Isocr. "Or." xvi. Cobet conj. {ton tou 'Axiokhou uion}, i.e.
Clinias.
Soc. Tell me, Xenophon, have you not always believed Critobulus to be a
man of sound sense, not wild and self-willed? Should you not have said
that he was remarkable for his prudence rather than thoughtless or
foolhardy?
Xen. Certainly that is what I should have said of him.
Soc. Then you are now to regard him as quite the reverse--a hot-blooded,
reckless libertine: this is the sort of man to throw somersaults into
knives, (12) or to leap into the jaws of fire.
(12) Cf. "Symp." ii. 10, iv. 16. See Schneider ad loc.
Xen. And what have you seen him doing, that you give him so bad a
character?
Soc. Doing? Why, has not the fellow dared to steal a kiss from the son
of Alcibiades, most fair of youths and in the golden prime?
Xen. Nay, then, if that is the foolhardy adventure, it is a danger which
I could well encounter myself.
Soc. Pour soul! and what do you expect your fate to be after that
kiss? Let me tell you. On the instant you will lose your freedom, the
indenture of your bondage will be signed; it will be yours on compulsion
to spend large sums on hurtful pleasures; you will have scarcely a
moment's leisure left for any noble study; you will be driven to concern
yourself most zealously with things which no man, not even a madman,
would choose to make an object of concern.
Xen. O Heracles! how fell a power to reside in a kiss!
Soc. Does it surprise you? Do you not know that the tarantula, which is
no bigger than a threepenny bit, (13) has only to touch the mouth and it
will afflict its victim with pains and drive him out of his senses.
(13) Lit. "a half-obol piece." For the {phalaggion} see Aristot. "H.
A." ix. 39, 1.
Xen. Yes, but then the creature injects something with its bite.
Soc. Ah, fool! and do you imagine that these lovely creatures infuse
nothing with their kiss, simply because you do not see the poison? Do
you not know that this wild beast which men call beauty in its bloom is
all the more terrible than the tarantula in that the insect must first
touch its victim, but this at a mere glance of thebeholder, without even
contact, will inject something into him--yards away--which will make
him man. And may be that is why the Loves are called "archers," because
these beauties wound so far off. (14) But my advice to you, Xenophon,
is, whenever you catch sight of one of these fair forms, to run
helter-skelter for bare life without a glance behind; and to you,
Critobulus, I would say, "Go abroad for a year: so long time will it
take to heal you of this wound."
(14) L. Dindorf, etc. regard the sentence as a gloss. Cf. "Symp." iv.
26 ({isos de kai... entimoteron estin}).
Such (he said), in the affairs of Aphrodite, as in meats and drinks,
should be the circumspection of all whose footing is insecure. At least
they should confine themselves to such diet as the soul would dispense
with, save for some necessity of the body; and which even so ought
to set up no disturbance. (15) But for himself, it was clear, he was
prepared at all points and invulnerable. He found less difficulty in
abstaining from beauty's fairest and fullest bloom than many others from
weeds and garbage. To sum up: (16) with regard to eating and drinking
and these other temptations of the sense, the equipment of his soul made
him independent; he could boast honestly that in his moderate fashion
(17) his pleasures were no less than theirs who take such trouble to
procure them, and his pains far fewer.
(15) Cf. "Symp." iv. 38.
(16) L. Dindorf (brackets) this passage as spurious.
(17) On the principle "enough is as good as a feast," {arkountos}.
IV
A belief is current, in accordance with views maintained concerning
Socrates in speech and writing, and in either case conjecturally, that,
however powerful he may have been in stimulating men to virtue as a
theorist, he was incapable of acting as their guide himself. (1) It
would be well for those who adopt this view to weigh carefully not only
what Socrates effected "by way of castigation" in cross-questioning
whose who conceived themselves to be possessed of all knowledge, but
also his everyday conversation with those who spent their time in close
intercourse with himself. Having done this, let them decide whether he
was incapable of making his companions better.
(1) Al. "If any one believes that Socrates, as represented in certain
dialogues (e.g. of Plato, Antisthenes, etc.) of an imaginary
character, was an adept ({protrepsasthai}) in the art of
stimulating people to virtue negatively but scarcely the man to
guide ({proagein}) his hearers on the true path himself." Cf.
(Plat.) "Clitophon," 410 B; Cic. "de Or." I. xlvii. 204; Plut.
"Mor." 798 B. See Grote, "Plato," iii. 21; K. Joel, op. cit. p. 51
foll.; Cf. below, IV. iii. 2.
I will first state what I once heard fall from his lips in a discussion
with Aristodemus, (2) "the little," as he was called, on the topic of
divinity. (3) Socrates had observed that Aristodemus neither sacrificed
nor gave heed to divination, but on the contrary was disposed to
ridicule those who did.
(2) See Plat. "Symp." 173 B: "He was a little fellow who never wore
any shoes, Aristodemus, of the deme of Cydathenaeum."--Jowett.
(3) Or, "the divine element."
So tell me, Aristodemus (he began), are there any human beings who have
won your admiration for their wisdom?
Ar. There are.
Soc. Would you mention to us their names?
Ar. In the writings of epic poetry I have the greatest admiration for
Homer.... And as a dithyrambic poet for Melanippides. (4) I admire also
Sophocles as a tragedian, Polycleitus as a sculptor, and Zeuxis as a
painter.
(4) Melanippides, 430 B.C. See Cobet, "Pros. Xen." s.n.
Soc. Which would you consider the more worthy of admiration, a fashioner
of senseless images devoid of motion or one who could fashion living
creatures endowed with understanding and activity?
Ar. Decidedly the latter, provided his living creatures owed their birth
to design and were not the offspring of some chance.
Soc. But now if you had two sorts of things, the one of which presents
no clue as to what it is for, and the other is obviously for some useful
purpose--which would you judge to be the result of chance, which of
design?
Ar. Clearly that which is produced for some useful end is the work of
design.
Soc. Does it not strike you then that he who made man from the beginning
(5) did for some useful end furnish him with his several senses--giving
him eyes to behold the visible word, and ears to catch the intonations
of sound? Or again, what good would there be in odours if nostrils had
not been bestowed upon us? what perception of sweet things and pungent,
and of all the pleasures of the palate, had not a tongue been fashioned
in us as an interpreter of the same? And besides all this, do you
not think this looks like a matter of foresight, this closing of the
delicate orbs of sight with eyelids as with folding doors, which, when
there is need to use them for any purpose, can be thrown wide open and
firmly closed again in sleep? and, that even the winds of heaven may not
visit them too roughly, this planting of the eyelashes as a protecting
screen? (6) this coping of the region above the eyes with cornice-work
of eyebrow so that no drop of sweat fall from the head and injure them?
again this readiness of the ear to catch all sounds and yet not to be
surcharged? this capacity of the front teeth of all animals to cut
and of the "grinders" to receive the food and reduce it to pulp? the
position of the mouth again, close to the eyes and nostrils as a portal
of ingress for all the creature's supplies? and lastly, seeing that
matter passing out (7) of the body is unpleasant, this hindward
direction of the passages, and their removal to a distance from the
avenues of sense? I ask you, when you see all these things constructed
with such show of foresight can you doubt whether they are products of
chance or intelligence?
(5) Cf. Aristot. "de Part. Animal." 1. For the "teleological" views
see IV. iii. 2 foll.
(6) "Like a sieve" or "colander."
(7) "That which goeth out of a man."
Ar. To be sure not! Viewed in this light they would seem to be the
handiwork of some wise artificer, (8) full of love for all things
living. (9)
(8) "Demiurge."
(9) Passage referred to by Epictetus ap. Stob. "Flor." 121, 29.
Soc. What shall we say of this passion implanted in man to beget
offspring, this passion in the mother to rear her babe, and in the
creature itself, once born, this deep desire of life and fear of death?
Ar. No doubt these do look like the contrivances of some one
deliberately planning the existence of living creatures.
Soc. Well, and doubtless you feel to have a spark of wisdom yourself?
Ar. Put your questions, and I will answer.
Soc. And yet you imagine that elsewhere no spark of wisdom is to be
found? And that, too, when you know that you have in your body a tiny
fragment only of the mighty earth, a little drop of the great waters,
and of the other elements, vast in their extent, you got, I presume,
a particle of each towards the compacting of your bodily frame? Mind
alone, it would seem, which is nowhere to be found, (10) you had the
lucky chance to snatch up and make off with, you cannot tell how. And
these things around and about us, enormous in size, infinite in number,
owe their orderly arrangement, as you suppose, to some vacuity of wit?
(10) Cf. Plat. "Phileb." 30 B: "Soc. May our body be said to have a
soul? Pro. Clearly. Soc. And whence comes that soul, my dear
Protarchus, unless the body of the universe, which contains
elements similar to our bodies but finer, has also a soul? Can
there be any other source?"--Jowett. Cic. "de N. D." ii. 6; iii.
11.
Ar. It may be, for my eyes fail to see the master agents of these, as
one sees the fabricators of things produced on earth.
Soc. No more do you see your own soul, which is the master agent of your
body; so that, as far as that goes, you may maintain, if you like, that
you do nothing with intelligence, (11) but everything by chance.
(11) Or, "by your wit," {gnome}.
At this point Aristodemus: I assure you, Socrates, that I do not disdain
the Divine power. On the contrary, my belief is that the Divinity is too
grand to need any service which I could render.
Soc. But the grander that power is, which deigns to tend and wait upon
you, the more you are called upon to honour it.
Ar. Be well assured, if I could believe the gods take thought for all
men, I would not neglect them.
Soc. How can you suppose that they do not so take thought? Who, in the
first place, gave to man alone of living creatures his erect posture,
enabling him to see farther in front of him and to contemplate more
freely the height above, and to be less subject to distress than other
creatures (endowed like himself with eyes and ears and mouth). (12)
Consider next how they gave to the beast of the field (13) feet as a
means of progression only, but to man they gave in addition hands--those
hands which have achieved so much to raise us in the scale of happiness
above all animals. Did they not make the tongue also? which belongs
indeed alike to man and beast, but in man they fashioned it so as to
play on different parts of the mouth at different times, whereby we can
produce articulate speech, and have a code of signals to express our
every want to one another. Or consider the pleasures of the sexual
appetite; limited in the rest of the animal kingdom to certain seasons,
but in the case of man a series prolonged unbroken to old age. Nor did
it content the Godhead merely to watch over the interests of man's body.
What is of far higher import, he implanted in man the noblest and most
excellent type of soul. For what other creature, to begin with, has
a soul to appreciate the existence of the gods who have arranged this
grand and beauteous universe? What other tribe of animals save man
can render service to the gods? How apt is the spirit of man to take
precautions against hunger and thirst, cold and heat, to alleviate
disease and foster strength! how suited to labour with a view to
learning! how capable of garnering in the storehouse of his memory all
that he has heard or seen or understood! Is it not most evident to you
that by the side of other animals men live and move a race of gods--by
nature excellent, in beauty of body and of soul supreme? For, mark you,
had a creature of man's wit been encased in the body of an ox, (14)
he would have been powerless to carry out his wishes, just as the
possession of hands divorced from human wit is profitless. And then you
come, you who have obtained these two most precious attributes, and give
it as your opinion, that the gods take no thought or care for you. Why,
what will you have them to do, that you may believe and be persuaded
that you too are in their thoughts?
(12) See Kuhner for an attempt to cure the text.
(13) {erpetois}, a "poetical" word. Cf. "Od." iv. 418; Herod. i. 140.
(14) See Aristot. "de Part. Animal." iv. 10.
Ar. When they treat me as you tell us they treat you, and send me
counsellors to warn me what I am to do and what abstain from doing, (15)
I will believe.
(15) See IV. iii. 12.
Soc. Send you counsellors! Come now, what when the people of Athens make
inquiry by oracle, and the gods' answer comes? Are you not an Athenian?
Think you not that to you also the answer is given? What when they send
portents to forewarn the states of Hellas? or to all mankind? Are you
not a man? a Hellene? Are not these intended for you also? Can it be
that you alone are excepted as a signal instance of Divine neglect?
Again, do you suppose that the gods could have implanted in the heart
of man the belief in their capacity to work him weal or woe had they not
the power? Would not men have discovered the imposture in all this lapse
of time? Do you not perceive that the wisest and most perdurable of
human institutions--be they cities or tribes of men--are ever the most
God-fearing; and in the individual man the riper his age and judgment,
the deeper his religousness? Ay, my good sir (he broke forth), lay to
heart and understand that even as your own mind within you can turn and
dispose of your body as it lists, so ought we to think that the wisdom
which abides within the universal frame does so dispose of all things as
it finds agreeable to itself; for hardly may it be that your eye is able
to range over many a league, but that the eye of God is powerless to
embrace all things at a glance; or that to your soul it is given to
dwell in thought on matters here or far away in Egypt or in Sicily,
but that the wisdom and thought of God is not sufficient to include all
things at one instant under His care. If only you would copy your
own behaviour (16) where human beings are concerned. It is by acts of
service and of kindness that you discover which of your fellows are
willing to requite you in kind. It is by taking another into your
counsel that you arrive at the secret of his wisdom. If, on like
principle, you will but make trial of the gods by acts of service,
whether they will choose to give you counsel in matters obscure to
mortal vision, you shall discover the nature and the greatness of
Godhead to be such that they are able at once to see all things and to
hear all things and to be present everywhere, nor does the least thing
escape their watchful care.
(16) Or, "reason as you are wont to do."
To my mind the effect of words like these was to cause those about him
to hold aloof from unholiness, baseness, and injustice, not only whilst
they were seen of men, but even in the solitary place, since they must
believe that no part of their conduct could escape the eye of Heaven.
V
I suppose it may be taken as admitted that self-control is a noble
acquirement for a man. (1) If so, let us turn and consider whether by
language like the following he was likely to lead his listeners onwards
(2) to the attainment of this virtue. "Sirs," he would say, "if a war
came upon us and we wished to choose a man who would best help us to
save ourselves and to subdue our enemy, I suppose we should scarcely
select one whom we knew to be a slave to his belly, to wine, or lust,
and prone to succumb to toil or sleep. Could we expect such an one to
save us or to master our foes? Or if one of us were nearing the end of
his days, and he wished to discover some one to whom he might entrust
his sons for education, his maiden daughters for protection, and his
property in general for preservation, would he deem a libertine worthy
of such offices? Why, no one would dream of entrusting his flocks and
herds, his storehouses and barns, or the superintendence of his works to
the tender mercies of an intemperate slave. If a butler or an errand boy
with such a character were offered to us we would not take him as a free
gift. And if he would not accept an intemperate slave, what pains should
the master himself take to avoid that imputation. (3) For with the
incontinent man it is not as with the self-seeker and the covetous.
These may at any rate be held to enrich themselves in depriving others.
But the intemperate man cannot claim in like fashion to be a blessing
to himself if a curse to his neighbours; nay, the mischief which he
may cause to others is nothing by comparison with that which redounds
against himself, since it is the height of mischief to ruin--I do not
say one's own house and property--but one's own body and one's own soul.
Or to take an example from social intercourse, no one cares for a guest
who evidently takes more pleasure in the wine and the viands than in the
friends beside him--who stints his comrades of the affection due to them
to dote upon a mistress. Does it not come to this, that every honest man
is bound to look upon self-restraint as the very corner-stone of virtue:
(4) which he should seek to lay down as the basis and foundation of his
soul? Without self-restraint who can lay any good lesson to heart or
practise it when learnt in any degree worth speaking of? Or, to put it
conversely, what slave of pleasure will not suffer degeneracy of soul
and body? By Hera, (5) well may every free man pray to be saved from the
service of such a slave; and well too may he who is in bondage to such
pleasures supplicate Heaven to send him good masters, seeing that is the
one hope of salvation left him."
(1) Lit. "a beautiful and brave possession."
(2) {proubibaze}.
(3) Or, "how should the master himself beware lest he fall into that
category."
(4) {krepida}. See Pind. "Pyth." iv. 138; ib. vii. 3; ib. fr. 93.
(5) See below, III. x. 9, xi. 5; IV. ii. 9, iv. 8; "Econ." x. 1;
"Cyrop." I. iv. 12; Plat. "Phaedr." 230 B. Cf. Shakesp. "by'r
Lakin."
Well-tempered words: yet his self-restraint shone forth even more in
his acts than in his language. Not only was he master over the pleasures
which flow from the body, but of those also which are fed by riches, his
belief being that he who receives money from this or that chance donor
sets up over himself a master, and binds himself to an abominable
slavery.
VI
In this context some discussions with Antiphon the sophist (1) deserve
record. Antiphon approaches Socrates in hope of drawing away his
associates, and in their presence thus accosts him.
(1) {o teratoskopos}, "jealous of Socrates," according to Aristotle
ap. Diog. Laert. II. v. 25. See Cobet, "Pros. Xen."
Antiphon. Why, Socrates, I always thought it was expected of students of
philosophy to grow in happiness daily; but you seem to have reaped other
fruits from your philosophy. At any rate, you exist, I do not say live,
in a style such as no slave serving under a master would put up with.
Your meat and your drink are of the cheapest sort, and as to clothes,
you cling to one wretched cloak which serves you for summer and winter
alike; and so you go the whole year round, without shoes to your feet
or a shirt to your back. Then again, you are not for taking or making
money, the mere seeking of which is a pleasure, even as the possession
of it adds to the sweetness and independence of existence. I do not know
whether you follow the common rule of teachers, who try to fashion
their pupils in imitation of themselves, (2) and propose to mould the
characters of your companions; but if you do you ought to dub yourself
professor of the art of wretchedness. (3)
(2) Or, "try to turn out their pupils as copies of themselves."
(3) See Arist. "Clouds," {on o kakodaimon Sokrates kai Khairephon}.
Thus challenged, Socrates replied: One thing to me is certain, Antiphon;
you have conceived so vivid an idea of my life of misery that for
yourself you would choose death sooner than live as I do. Suppose now we
turn and consider what it is you find so hard in my life. Is it that he
who takes payment must as a matter of contract finish the work for which
he is paid, whereas I, who do not take it, lie under no constraint to
discourse except with whom I choose? Do you despise my dietary on the
ground that the food which I eat is less wholesome and less stengthening
than yours, or that the articles of my consumption are so scarce and
so much costlier to procure than yours? Or have the fruits of your
marketing a flavour denied to mine? Do you not know the sharper the
appetite the less the need of sauces, the keener the thirst the less the
desire for out-of-the-way drinks? And as to raiment, clothes, you know,
are changed on account of cold or else of heat. People only wear boots
and shoes in order not to gall their feet and be prevented walking.
Now I ask you, have you ever noticed that I keep more within doors than
others on account of the cold? Have you ever seen me battling with
any one for shade on account of the heat? Do you not know that even a
weakling by nature may, by dint of exercise and practice, come to outdo
a giant who neglects his body? He will beat him in the particular point
of training, and bear the strain more easily. But you apparently will
not have it that I, who am for ever training myself to endure this,
that, and the other thing which may befall the body, can brave all
hardships more easily than yourself for instance, who perhaps are not
so practised. And to escape slavery to the belly or to sleep or lechery,
can you suggest more effective means than the possession of some
powerful attraction, some counter-charm which shall gladden not only in
the using, but by the hope enkindled of its lasting usefulness? And yet
this you do know; joy is not to him who feels that he is doing well in
nothing--it belongs to one who is persuaded that things are progressing
with him, be it tillage or the working of a vessel, (4) or any of the
thousand and one things on which a man may chance to be employed. To
him it is given to rejoice as he reflects, "I am doing well." But is
the pleasured derived from all these put together half as joyous as the
consciousness of becoming better oneself, of acquiring better and better
friends? That, for my part, is the belief I continue to cherish.
(4) "The business of a shipowner or skipper."
Again, if it be a question of helping one's friends or country, which of
the two will have the larger leisure to devote to these objects--he who
leads the life which I lead to-day, or he who lives in the style which
you deem so fortunate? Which of the two will adopt a soldier's life more
easily--the man who cannot get on without expensive living, or he to
whom whatever comes to hand suffices? Which will be the readier to
capitulate and cry "mercy" in a siege--the man of elaborate wants, or
he who can get along happily with the readiest things to hand? You,
Antiphon, would seem to suggest that happiness consists of luxury and
extravagance; I hold a different creed. To have no wants at all is, to
my mind, an attribute of Godhead; (5) to have as few wants as possible
the nearest approach to Godhead; and as that which is divine is
mightiest, so that is next mightiest which comes closest to the divine.
(5) Cf. Aristot. "Eth. N." x. viii. 1.
Returning to the charge at another time, this same Antiphon engaged
Socrates in conversation thus.
Ant. Socrates, for my part, I believe you to be a good and upright man;
but for your wisdom I cannot say much. I fancy you would hardly dispute
the verdict yourself, since, as I remark, you do not ask a money payment
for your society; and yet if it were your cloak now, or your house, or
any other of your possessions, you would set some value upon it, and
never dream, I will not say of parting with it gratis, but of exchanging
it for less than its worth. A plain proof, to my mind, that if you
thought your society worth anything, you would ask for it not less than
its equivalent in gold. (6) Hence the conclusion to which I have come,
as already stated: good and upright you may be, since you do not
cheat people from pure selfishness; but wise you cannot be, since your
knowledge is not worth a cent.
(6) Or rather "money," lit. "silver."
To this onslaught Socrates: Antiphon, it is a tenet which we cling to
that beauty and wisdom have this in common, that there is a fair way and
a foul way in which to dispose of them. The vendor of beauty purchases
an evil name, but supposing the same person has discerned a soul of
beauty in his lover and makes that man his friend, we regard his choice
as sensible. (7) So is it with wisdom; he who sells it for money to the
first bidder we name a sophist, (8) as though one should say a man who
prostitutes his wisdom; but if the same man, discerning the noble nature
of another, shall teach that other every good thing, and make him his
friend, of such a one we say he does that which it is the duty of every
good citizen of gentle soul to do. In accordance with this theory, I
too, Antiphon, having my tastes, even as another finds pleasure in his
horse and his hounds, (9) and another in his fighting cocks, so I too
take my pleasure in good friends; and if I have any good thing myself I
teach it them, or I commend them to others by whom I think they will be
helped forwards on the path of virtue. The treasures also of the wise of
old, written and bequeathed in their books, (10) I unfold and peruse in
common with my friends. If our eye light upon any good thing we cull it
eagerly, and regard it as great gain if we may but grow in friendship
with one another.
(7) Add "and a sign of modesty," {sophrona nomizomen}.
(8) {sophistas}. See Grote, "H. G." viii. 482 foll.; "Hunting," xi.
foll.
(9) Cf. Plat. "Lys." 211 E.
(10) Cf. "Symp." iv. 27.
As I listened to this talk I could not but reflect that he, the master,
was a person to be envied, and that we, his hearers, were being led by
him to beauty and nobility of soul.
Again on some occasion the same Antiphon asked Socrates how he expected
to make politicians of others when, even if he had the knowledge, he did
not engage in politics himself.
Socrates replied: I will put to you a question, Antiphon: Which were
the more statesmanlike proceeding, to practise politics myself
single-handed, or to devote myself to making as many others as possible
fit to engage in that pursuit?
VII
Let us here turn and consider whether by deterring his associates from
quackery and false seeming he did not directly stimulate them to the
pursuit of virtue. (1) He used often to say there was no better road
to renown than the one by which a man became good at that wherein he
desired to be reputed good. (2) The truth of the concept he enforced as
follows: "Let us reflect on what a man would be driven to do who wanted
to be thought a good flute player, without really being so. He would
be forced to imitate the good flute player in the externals of his art,
would he not? and first or all, seeing that these artists always have
a splendid equipment, (3) and travel about with a long train of
attendants, he must have the same; in the next place, they can command
the plaudits of a multitude, he therefore must pack a conclave of
clackers. But one thing is clear: nothing must induce him to give
a performance, or he will be exposed at once, and find himself a
laughing-stock not only as a sorry sort of flute player, but as a
wretched imposter. And now he has a host of expenses to meet; and not
one advantage to be reaped; and worse than all his evil reputation. What
is left him but to lead a life stale and unprofitable, the scorn and
mockery of men? Let us try another case. Suppose a man wished to be
thought a good general or a good pilot, though he were really nothing of
the sort, let us picture to our minds how it will fare with him. Of two
misfortunes one: either with a strong desire to be thought proficient in
these matters, he will fail to get others to agree with him, which will
be bad enough; or he will succeed, with worse result; since it stands
to reason that anyone appointed to work a vessel or lead an army without
the requisite knowledge will speedily ruin a number of people whom he
least desires to hurt, and will make but a sorry exit from the
stage himself." Thus first by one instance and then another would
he demonstrate the unprofitableness of trying to appear rich, or
courageous, or strong, without really being the thing pretended. "You
are sure sooner or later to have commands laid upon you beyond your
power to execute, and failing just where you are credited with capacity,
the world will give you no commiseration." "I call that man a cheat, and
a great cheat too," he would say, "who gets money or goods out of some
one by persuasion, and defrauds him; but of all imposters he surely is
the biggest who can delude people into thinking that he is fit to lead
the state, when all the while he is a worthless creature." (4)
(1) {apotrepon proutrepen}. See K. Joel, op. cit. p. 450 foll.
(2) Cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 22.
(3) Or, "furniture of the finest," like Arion's in Herod. i. 24.
Schneid. cf. Demosth. 565. 6.
(4) Here follows the sentence ({emoi men oun edokei kai tou
alazoneuesthai apotrepein tous sunontas toiade dialegomenos}),
which, for the sake of convenience, I have attached to the first
sentence of Bk. II. ch. i. ({edokei de moi... ponou.}) I
believe that the commentators are right in bracketing both one and
the other as editorial interpolations.
BOOK II
I
Now, if the effect of such discourses was, as I imagine, to deter his
hearers from the paths of quackery and false-seeming, (1) so I am
sure that language like the following was calculated to stimulate his
followers to practise self-control and endurance: self-control in
the matters of eating, drinking, sleeping, and the cravings of lust;
endurance of cold and heat and toil and pain. He had noticed the undue
licence which one of his acquaintances allowed himself in all such
matters. (2) Accordingly he thus addressed him:
(1) This sentence in the Greek concludes Bk. I. There is something
wrong or very awkward in the text here.
(2) Cf. Grote, "Plato," III. xxxviii. p. 530.
Tell me, Aristippus (Socrates said), supposing you had two children
entrusted to you to educate, one of them must be brought up with an
aptitude for government, and the other without the faintest propensity
to rule--how would you educate them? What do you say? Shall we begin our
inquiry from the beginning, as it were, with the bare elements of food
and nutriment?
Ar. Yes, food to begin with, by all means, being a first principle, (3)
without which there is no man living but would perish.
(3) Aristippus plays upon the word {arkhe}.
Soc. Well, then, we may expect, may we not, that a desire to grasp food
at certain seasons will exhibit itself in both the children?
Ar. It is to be expected.
Soc. Which, then, of the two must be trained, of his own free will, (4)
to prosecute a pressing business rather than gratify the belly?
(4) {proairesis}.
Ar. No doubt the one who is being trained to govern, if we would not
have affairs of state neglected during (5) his government.
(5) Lit. "along of."
Soc. And the same pupil must be furnished with a power of holding out
against thirst also when the craving to quench it comes upon him?
Ar. Certainly he must.
Soc. And on which of the two shall we confer such self-control in regard
to sleep as shall enable him to rest late and rise early, or keep vigil,
if the need arise?
Ar. To the same one of the two must be given that endurance also.
Soc. Well, and a continence in regard to matters sexual so great that
nothing of the sort shall prevent him from doing his duty? Which of them
claims that?
Ar. The same one of the pair again.
Soc. Well, and on which of the two shall be bestowed, as a further gift,
the voluntary resolution to face toils rather than turn and flee from
them?
Ar. This, too, belongs of right to him who is being trained for
government.
Soc. Well, and to which of them will it better accord to be taught all knowledge necessary towards the mastery of antagonists? |
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