Ar. To our future ruler certainly, for without these parts of learning
all his other capacities will be merely waste.
Soc. (6)Will not a man so educated be less liable to be entrapped by
rival powers, and so escape a common fate of living creatures, some
of which (as we all know) are hooked through their own greediness, and
often even in spite of a native shyness; but through appetite for
food they are drawn towards the bait, and are caught; while others are
similarly ensnared by drink?
(6) (SS. 4, 5, L. Dind. ed Lips.)
Ar. Undoubtedly.
Soc. And others again are victims of amorous heat, as quails, for
instance, or partridges, which, at the cry of the hen-bird, with
lust and expectation of such joys grow wild, and lose their power of
computing dangers: on they rush, and fall into the snare of the hunter?
Aristippus assented.
Soc. And would it not seem to be a base thing for a man to be affected
like the silliest bird or beast? as when the adulterer invades the
innermost sanctum (7) of the house, though he is well aware of the risks
which his crime involves, (8) the formidable penalties of the law,
the danger of being caught in the toils, and then suffering the direst
contumely. Considering all the hideous penalties which hang over the
adulterer's head, considering also the many means at hand to release him
from the thraldom of his passion, that a man should so drive headlong on
to the quicksands of perdition (9)--what are we to say of such frenzy?
The wretch who can so behave must surely be tormented by an evil spirit?
(10)
(7) {eis as eirktas}. The penetralia.
(8) Or, "he knows the risks he runs of suffering those penalties with
which the law threatens his crime should he fall into the snare,
and being caught, be mutilated."
(9) Or, "leap headlong into the jaws of danger."
(10) {kakodaimonontos}.
Ar. So it strikes me.
Soc. And does it not strike you as a sign of strange indifference that,
whereas the greater number of the indispensable affairs of men, as for
instance, those of war and agriculture, and more than half the rest,
need to be conducted under the broad canopy of heaven, (11) yet the
majority of men are quite untrained to wrestle with cold and heat?
(11) Or, "in the open air."
Aristippus again assented.
Soc. And do you not agree that he who is destined to rule must train
himself to bear these things lightly?
Ar. Most certainly.
Soc. And whilst we rank those who are self-disciplined in all these
matters among persons fit to rule, we are bound to place those incapable
of such conduct in the category of persons without any pretension
whatsoever to be rulers?
Ar. I assent.
Soc. Well, then, since you know the rank peculiar to either section of
mankind, did it ever strike you to consider to which of the two you are
best entitled to belong?
Yes I have (replied Aristippus). I do not dream for a moment of ranking
myself in the class of those who wish to rule. In fact, considering how
serious a business it is to cater for one's own private needs, I look
upon it as the mark of a fool not to be content with that, but to
further saddle oneself with the duty of providing the rest of the
community with whatever they may be pleased to want. That, at the cost
of much personal enjoyment, a man should put himself at the head of a
state, and then, if he fail to carry through every jot and tittle of
that state's desire, be held to criminal account, does seem to me the
very extravagance of folly. Why, bless me! states claim to treat their
rulers precisely as I treat my domestic slaves. I expect my attendants
to furnish me with an abundance of necessaries, but not to lay a finger
on one of them themselves. So these states regard it as the duty of a
ruler to provide them with all the good things imaginable, but to keep
his own hands off them all the while. (12) So then, for my part, if
anybody desires to have a heap of pother himself, (13) and be a nuisance
to the rest of the world, I will educate him in the manner suggested,
and he shall take his place among those who are fit to rule; but for
myself, I beg to be enrolled amongst those who wish to spend their days
as easily and pleasantly as possible.
(12) Or, "but he must have no finger in the pie himself."
(13) See Kuhner ad loc.
Soc. Shall we then at this point turn and inquire which of the two are
likely to lead the pleasanter life, the rulers or the ruled?
Ar. By all means let us do so.
Soc. To begin then with the nations and races known to ourselves. (14)
In Asia the Persians are the rulers, while the Syrians, Phrygians,
Lydians are ruled; and in Europe we find the Scythians ruling, and the
Maeotians being ruled. In Africa (15) the Carthaginians are rulers, the
Libyans ruled. Which of these two sets respectively leads the happier
life, in your opinion? Or, to come nearer home--you are yourself a
Hellene--which among Hellenes enjoy the happier existence, think you,
the dominant or the subject states?
(14) Or, "the outer world, the non-Hellenic races and nationalities of
which we have any knowledge."
(15) Lit. "Libya."
Nay, (16) I would have you to understand (exclaimed Aristippus) that I
am just as far from placing myself in the ranks of slavery; there is, I
take it, a middle path between the two which it is my ambition to tread,
avoiding rule and slavery alike; it lies through freedom--the high road
which leads to happiness.
(16) Or, "Pardon me interrupting you, Socrates; but I have not the
slightest intention of placing myself." See W. L. Newman, op. cit.
i. 306.
Soc. True, if only your path could avoid human beings, as it avoids rule
and slavery, there would be something in what you say. But being placed
as you are amidst human beings, if you purpose neither to rule nor to be
ruled, and do not mean to dance attendance, if you can help it, on those
who rule, you must surely see that the stronger have an art to seat the
weaker on the stool of repentance (17) both in public and in private,
and to treat them as slaves. I daresay you have not failed to note this
common case: a set of people has sown and planted, whereupon in comes
another set and cuts their corn and fells their fruit-trees, and in
every way lays siege to them because, though weaker, they refuse to pay
them proper court, till at length they are persuaded to accept slavery
rather than war against their betters. And in private life also,
you will bear me out, the brave and powerful are known to reduce the
helpless and cowardly to bondage, and to make no small profit out of
their victims.
(17) See "Symp." iii. 11; "Cyrop." II. ii. 14; Plat. "Ion," 535 E; L.
Dindorf ad loc.
Ar. Yes, but I must tell you I have a simple remedy against all such
misadventures. I do not confine myself to any single civil community. I
roam the wide world a foreigner.
Soc. Well, now, that is a masterly stroke, upon my word! (18) Of course,
ever since the decease of Sinis, and Sciron, and Procrustes, (19)
foreign travellers have had an easy time of it. But still, if I bethink
me, even in these modern days the members of free communities do
pass laws in their respective countries for self-protection against
wrong-doing. Over and above their personal connections, they provide
themselves with a host of friends; they gird their cities about with
walls and battlements; they collect armaments to ward off evil-doers;
and to make security doubly sure, they furnish themselves with allies
from foreign states. In spite of all which defensive machinery these
same free citizens do occasionally fall victims to injustice. But you,
who are without any of these aids; you, who pass half your days on the
high roads where iniquity is rife; (20) you, who, into whatever city
you enter, are less than the least of its free members, and moreover are
just the sort of person whom any one bent on mischief would single out
for attack--yet you, with your foreigner's passport, are to be
exempt from injury? So you flatter yourself. And why? Will the state
authorities cause proclamation to be made on your behalf: "The person
of this man Aristippus is secure; let his going out and his coming in
be free from danger"? Is that the ground of your confidence? or do you
rather rest secure in the consciousness that you would prove such a
slave as no master would care to keep? For who would care to have in
his house a fellow with so slight a disposition to work and so strong
a propensity to extravagance? Suppose we stop and consider that very
point: how do masters deal with that sort of domestic? If I am not
mistaken, they chastise his wantonness by starvation; they balk his
thieving tendencies by bars and bolts where there is anything to steal;
they hinder him from running away by bonds and imprisonment; they drive
the sluggishness out of him with the lash. Is it not so? Or how do you
proceed when you discover the like tendency in one of your domestics?
(18) Or, "Well foiled!" "A masterly fall! my prince of wrestlers."
(19) For these mythical highway robbers, see Diod. iv. 59; and for
Sciron in particular, Plut. "Theseus," 10.
(20) Or, "where so many suffer wrong."
Ar. I correct them with all the plagues, till I force them to serve me
properly. But, Socrates, to return to your pupil educated in the royal
art, (21) which, if I mistake not, you hold to be happiness: how, may I
ask, will he be better off than others who lie in evil case, in spite
of themselves, simply because they suffer perforce, but in his case the
hunger and the thirst, the cold shivers and the lying awake at nights,
with all the changes he will ring on pain, are of his own choosing? For
my part I cannot see what difference it makes, provided it is one and
the same bare back which receives the stripes, whether the whipping be
self-appointed or unasked for; nor indeed does it concern my body in
general, provided it be my body, whether I am beleaguered by a whole
armament of such evils (22) of my own will or against my will--except
only for the folly which attaches to self-appointed suffering.
(21) Cf. below, IV. ii. 11; Plat. "Statesm." 259 B; "Euthyd." 291 C;
K. Joel, op. cit. p. 387 foll. "Aristippus anticipates Adeimantus"
("Rep." 419), W. L. Newman, op. cit. i. 395.
(22) Cf. "suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."
Soc. What, Aristippus, does it not seem to you that, as regards such
matters, there is all the difference between voluntary and involuntary
suffering, in that he who starves of his own accord can eat when he
chooses, and he who thirsts of his own free will can drink, and so for
the rest; but he who suffers in these ways perforce cannot desist from
the suffering when the humour takes him? Again, he who suffers hardship
voluntarily, gaily confronts his troubles, being buoyed on hope
(23)--just as a hunter in pursuit of wild beasts, through hope of
capturing his quarry, finds toil a pleasure--and these are but prizes of
little worth in return for their labours; but what shall we say of their
reward who toil to obtain to themselves good friends, or to subdue their
enemies, or that through strength of body and soul they may administer
their households well, befriend their friends, and benefit the land
which gave them birth? Must we not suppose that these too will take
their sorrows lightly, looking to these high ends? Must we not suppose
that they too will gaily confront existence, who have to support them
not only their conscious virtue, but the praise and admiration of the
world? (24) And once more, habits of indolence, along with the fleeting
pleasures of the moment, are incapable, as gymnastic trainers say, of
setting up (25) a good habit of body, or of implanting in the soul any
knowledge worthy of account; whereas by painstaking endeavour in the
pursuit of high and noble deeds, as good men tell us, through endurance
we shall in the end attain the goal. So Hesiod somewhere says: (26)
Wickedness may a man take wholesale with ease, smooth is the way
and her dwelling-place is very nigh; but in front of virtue the
immortal gods have placed toil and sweat, long is the path and
steep that leads to her, and rugged at the first, but when the
summit of the pass is reached, then for all its roughness the path
grows easy.
(23) Cf. above, I. vi. 8.
(24) Or, "in admiration of themselves, the praise and envy of the
world at large."
(25) See Hippocrates, "V. Med." 18.
(26) Hesiod, "Works and Days," 285. See Plat. "Prot." 340 C; "Rep."
ii. 364 D; "Laws," iv. 718 E.
And Ephicharmus (27) bears his testimony when he says:
The gods sell us all good things in return for our labours.
(27) Epicharmus of Cos, the chief comic poet among the Dorians, fl.
500 B.C. Cf. Plat. "Theaet." 152 E, "the prince of comedy";
"Gorg." 505 D.
And again in another passage he exclaims:
Set not thine heart on soft things, thou knave, lest thou light
upon the hard.
And that wise man Prodicus (28) delivers himself in a like strain
concerning virtue in that composition of his about Heracles, which
crowds have listened to. (29) This, as far as I can recollect it, is the
substance at least of what he says:
(28) Prodicus of Ceos. See Plat. "Men." 24; "Cratyl." 1; Philostr.
"Vit. Soph." i. 12.
(29) Or, "which he is fond of reciting as a specimen of style." The
title of the {epideixis} was {'Orai} according to Suidas,
{Prodikos}.
"When Heracles was emerging from boyhood into the bloom of youth, having
reached that season in which the young man, now standing upon the verge
of independence, shows plainly whether he will enter upon the path of
virtue or of vice, he went forth into a quiet place, and sat debating
with himself which of those two paths he should pursue; and as he there
sat musing, there appeared to him two women of great stature which drew
nigh to him. The one was fair to look upon, frank and free by gift
of nature, (30) her limbs adorned with purity and her eyes with
bashfulness; sobriety set the rhythm of her gait, and she was clad in
white apparel. The other was of a different type; the fleshy softness
of her limbs betrayed her nurture, while the complexion of her skin was
embellished that she might appear whiter and rosier than she really
was, and her figure that she might seem taller than nature made her;
she stared with wide-open eyes, and the raiment wherewith she was clad
served but to reveal the ripeness of her bloom. With frequent glances
she surveyed her person, or looked to see if others noticed her; while
ever and anon she fixed her gaze upon the shadow of herself intently.
(30) Reading {eleutherion phusei,...} or if {eleutherion,
phusei...} translate "nature had adorned her limbs..."
"Now when these two had drawn near to Heracles, she who was first
named advanced at an even pace (31) towards him, but the other, in her
eagerness to outstrip her, ran forward to the youth, exclaiming, 'I see
you, Heracles, in doubt and difficulty what path of life to choose; make
me your friend, and I will lead you to the pleasantest road and easiest.
This I promise you: you shall taste all of life's sweets and escape all
bitters. In the first place, you shall not trouble your brain with
war or business; other topics shall engage your mind; (32) your only
speculation, what meat or drink you shall find agreeable to your palate;
what delight (33) of ear or eye; what pleasure of smell or touch; what
darling lover's intercourse shall most enrapture you; how you shall
pillow your limbs in softest slumber; how cull each individual pleasure
without alloy of pain; and if ever the suspicion steal upon you that the
stream of joys will one day dwindle, trust me I will not lead you where
you shall replenish the store by toil of body and trouble of soul. No!
others shall labour, but you shall reap the fruit of their labours; you
shall withhold your hand from nought which shall bring you gain. For to
all my followers I give authority and power to help themselves freely
from every side.'
(31) Or, "without change in her demeanour."
(32) Reading {diese}, or {dioisei}, "you shall continue speculating
solely."
(33) It will be recollected that Prodicus prided himself on {orthotes
onomaton}. Possibly Xenophon is imitating (caricaturing?) his
style. {terphtheies, estheies, euphrantheies}.
"Heracles hearing these words made answer: 'What, O lady, is the name
you bear?' To which she: 'Know that my friends call be Happiness,
but they that hate me have their own nicknames (34) for me, Vice and
Naughtiness.'
(34) So the vulg. {upokorizomenoi} is interpreted. Cobet ("Pros. Xen."
p. 36) suggests {upoknizomenoi} = "quippe qui desiderio
pungantur."
"But just then the other of those fair women approached and spoke:
'Heracles, I too am come to you, seeing that your parents are well
known to me, and in your nurture I have gauged your nature; wherefore I
entertain good hope that if you choose the path which leads to me, you
shall greatly bestir yourself to be the doer of many a doughty deed of
noble emprise; and that I too shall be held in even higher honour for
your sake, lit with the lustre shed by valorous deeds. (35) I will not
cheat you with preludings of pleasure, (36) but I will relate to you the
things that are according to the ordinances of God in very truth. Know
then that among things that are lovely and of good report, not one have
the gods bestowed upon mortal men apart from toil and pains. Would
you obtain the favour of the gods, then must you pay these same gods
service; would you be loved by your friends, you must benefit these
friends; do you desire to be honoured by the state, you must give the
state your aid; do you claim admiration for your virtue from all Hellas,
you must strive to do some good to Hellas; do you wish earth to yield
her fruits to you abundantly, to earth must you pay your court; do you
seek to amass riches from your flocks and herds, on them must you bestow
your labour; or is it your ambition to be potent as a warrior, able to
save your friends and to subdue your foes, then must you learn the arts
of war from those who have the knowledge, and practise their application
in the field when learned; or would you e'en be powerful of limb and
body, then must you habituate limbs and body to obey the mind, and
exercise yourself with toil and sweat.'
(35) Or, "bathed in the splendour of thy virtues."
(36) Or, "honeyed overtures of pleasure."
"At this point, (as Prodicus relates) Vice broke in exclaiming: 'See
you, Heracles, how hard and long the road is by which yonder woman would
escort you to her festal joys. (37) But I will guide you by a short and
easy road to happiness.'
(37) Hesiod, "Theog." 909; Milton, "L'Allegro," 12.
"Then spoke Virtue: 'Nay, wretched one, what good thing hast thou? or
what sweet thing art thou acquainted with--that wilt stir neither hand
nor foot to gain it? Thou, that mayest not even await the desire of
pleasure, but, or ever that desire springs up, art already satiated;
eating before thou hungerest, and drinking before thou thirsteth; who to
eke out an appetite must invent an army of cooks and confectioners; and
to whet thy thirst must lay down costliest wines, and run up and down
in search of ice in summer-time; to help thy slumbers soft coverlets
suffice not, but couches and feather-beds must be prepared thee and
rockers to rock thee to rest; since desire for sleep in thy case springs
not from toil but from vacuity and nothing in the world to do. Even the
natural appetite of love thou forcest prematurely by every means thou
mayest devise, confounding the sexes in thy service. Thus thou educatest
thy friends: with insult in the night season and drowse of slumber
during the precious hours of the day. Immortal, thou art cast forth
from the company of gods, and by good men art dishonoured: that sweetest
sound of all, the voice of praise, has never thrilled thine ears; and
the fairest of all fair visions is hidden from thine eyes that have
never beheld one bounteous deed wrought by thine own hand. If thou
openest thy lips in speech, who will believe thy word? If thou hast need
of aught, none shall satisfy thee. What sane man will venture to join
thy rablle rout? Ill indeed are thy revellers to look upon, young men
impotent of body, and old men witless in mind: in the heyday of life
they batten in sleek idleness, and wearily do they drag through an age
of wrinkled wretchedness: and why? they blush with shame at the thought
of deeds done in the past, and groan for weariness at what is left to
do. During their youth they ran riot through their sweet things, and
laid up for themselves large store of bitterness against the time of
eld. But my companionship is with the gods; and with the good among men
my conversation; no bounteous deed, divine or human, is wrought without
my aid. Therefore am I honoured in Heaven pre-eminently, and upon
earth among men whose right it is to honour me; (38) as a beloved
fellow-worker of all craftsmen; a faithful guardian of house and lands,
whom the owners bless; a kindly helpmeet of servants; (39) a brave
assistant in the labours of peace; an unflinching ally in the deeds of
war; a sharer in all friendships indispensable. To my friends is given
an enjoyment of meats and drinks, which is sweet in itself and devoid
of trouble, in that they can endure until desire ripens, and sleep more
delicious visits them than those who toil not. Yet they are not pained
to part with it; nor for the sake of slumber do they let slip the
performance of their duties. Among my followers the youth delights in
the praises of his elders, and the old man glories in the honour of the
young; with joy they call to memory their deeds of old, and in to-day's
well-doing are well pleased. For my sake they are dear in the sight
of God, beloved of their friends and honoured by the country of their
birth. When the appointed goal is reached they lie not down in oblivion
with dishonour, but bloom afresh--their praise resounded on the lips of
men for ever. (40) Toils like these, O son of noble parents, Heracles,
it is yours to meet with, and having endured, to enter into the heritage
assured you of transcendant happiness.'"
(38) Reading {ois prosekei}, or if {proseko}, translate "to whom I am
attached."
(39) Cf. "Econ." v. 8.
(40) Or, "so true is it, a branch is left them; undying honour to
their name!"
This, Aristippus, in rough sketch is the theme which Prodicus pursues
(41) in his "Education of Heracles by Virtue," only he decked out
his sentiments, I admit, in far more magnificent phrases than I have
ventured on. Were it not well, Aristippus, to lay to heart these
sayings, and to strive to bethink you somewhat of that which touches the
future of our life?
(41) Reading {diokei}, al. {diokei} = "so Prodicus arranged the parts
of his discourse."
II
At another time, he had noticed the angry temper shown by Lamprocles,
the elder of his sons, towards their mother, and thus addressed himself
to the lad.
Soc. Pray, my son, did you ever hear of certain people being called
ungrateful?
That I have (replied the young man).
Soc. And have you understood what it is they do to get that bad name?
Lamp. Yes, I have: when any one has been kindly treated, and has it in
his power to requite the kindness but neglects to do so, men call him
ungrateful.
Soc. And you admit that people reckon the ungrateful among wrongdoers?
Lamp. I do.
Soc. And has it ever struck you to inquire whether, as regards the right
or wrong of it, ingratitude may not perhaps resemble some such conduct
as the enslavement, say, of prisoners, which is accounted wrong towards
friends but justifiable towards enemies?
Lamp. Yes, I have put that question to myself. In my opinion, no matter
who confers the kindness, friend or foe, the recipient should endeavour
to requite it, failing which he is a wrongdoer.
Soc. Then if that is how the matter stands, ingratitude would be an
instance of pure unadulterate wrongdoing?
Lamprocles assented to the proposition.
Soc. It follows, then, that in proportion to the greatness of the
benefit conferred, the greater his misdoing who fails to requite the
kindness?
Lamprocles again assented.
Socrates continued: And where can we hope to find greater benefits than
those which children derive from their parents--their father and mother
who brought them out of nothingness into being, who granted them to look
upon all these fair sights, and to partake of all those blessings which
the gods bestow on man, things so priceless in our eyes that one and all
we shudder at the thought of leaving them, and states have made death
the penalty for the greatest crimes, because there is no greater evil
through fear of which to stay iniquity.
You do not suppose that human beings produce children for the sake of
carnal pleasure (1) merely; were this the motive, street and bordell are
full of means to quit them of that thrall; whereas nothing is plainer
than the pains we take to seek out wives who shall bear us the finest
children. (2) With these we wed, and carry on the race. The man has a
twofold duty to perform: partly in cherishing her who is to raise up
children along with him, and partly towards the children yet unborn
in providing them with things that he thinks will contribute to their
well-being--and of these as large a store as possible. The woman,
conceiving, bears her precious burthen with travail and pain, and at the
risk of life itself--sharing with that within her womb the food on which
she herself is fed. And when with much labour she has borne to the end
and brought forth her offspring, she feeds it and watches over it with
tender care--not in return for any good thing previously received, for
indeed the babe itself is little conscious of its benefactor and cannot
even signify its wants; only she, the mother, making conjecture of what
is good for it, and what will please it, essays to satisfy it; (3)
and for many months she feeds it night and day, enduring the toil nor
recking what return she shall receive for all her trouble. Nor does the
care and kindness of parents end with nurture; but when the children
seem of an age to learn, they teach them themselves whatever cunning
they possess, as a guide to life, or where they feel that another is
more competent, to him they send them to be taught at their expense.
Thus they watch over their children, doing all in their power to enable
them to grow up to be as good as possible.
(1) Lit. "the joys of Aphrodite."
(2) "For the procreation of children." See below, IV. iv. 22; "Pol.
Lac." i.
(3) Lit. "to leave nought lacking."
So be it (the youth answered); but even if she have done all that,
and twenty times as much, no soul on earth could endure my mother's
cross-grained temper.
Then Socrates: Which, think you, would be harder to bear--a wild beast's
savagery or a mother's?
Lamp. To my mind, a mother's--at least if she be such as mine.
Soc. Dear me! And has this mother ever done you any injury--such as
people frequently receive from beasts, by bite or kick?
Lamp. If she has not done quite that, she uses words which any one would
sooner sell his life than listen to.
Soc. And how many annoyances have you caused your mother, do you
suppose, by fretfulness and peevishness in word and deed, night and day,
since you were a little boy? How much sorrow and pain, when you were
ill?
Lamp. Well, I never said or did anything to bring a blush to her cheeks.
Soc. No, come now! Do you suppose it is harder for you to listen to your
mother's speeches than for actor to listen to actor on the tragic stage,
(4) when the floodgates of abuse are opened?
(4) See Grote, "H. G." viii. 457; Plut. "Solon," xxix.
Lamp. Yes; for the simple reason that they know it is all talk on their
parts. The inquisitor may cross-question, but he will not inflict
a fine; the threatener may hurl his menaces, but he will do no
mischief--that is why they take it all so easily.
Soc. Then ought you to fly into a passion, who know well enough that,
whatever your mother says, she is so far from meaning you mischief that
she is actually wishing blessings to descend upon you beyond all others?
Or do you believe that your mother is really ill disposed towards you?
Lamp. No, I do not think that.
Soc. Then this mother, who is kindly disposed to you, and takes such
tender care of you when you are ill to make you well again, and to see
that you want for nothing which may help you; and, more than all, who is
perpetually pleading for blessings in your behalf and offering her vows
to Heaven (5)--can you say of her that she is cross-grained and harsh?
For my part, I think, if you cannot away with such a mother, you cannot
away with such blessings either.
(5) Or, "paying vows."
But tell me (he proceeded), do you owe service to any living being,
think you? or are you prepared to stand alone? Prepared not to please or
try to please a single soul? to follow none? To obey neither general nor
ruler of any sort? Is that your attitude, or do you admit that you owe
allegiance to somebody?
Lamp. Yes; certainly I owe allegiance.
Soc. May I take it that you are willing to please at any rate your
neighbour, so that he may kindle a fire for you in your need, may prove
himself a ready helpmate in good fortune, or if you chance on evil and
are stumbling, may friendlily stand by your side to aid?
Lamp. I am willing.
Soc. Well, and what of that other chance companion--your
fellow-traveller by land or sea? what of any others, you may light upon?
is it indifferent to you whether these be friends or not, or do you
admit that the goodwill of these is worth securing by some pains on your
part?
Lamp. I do.
Soc. It stands thus then: you are prepared to pay attention to this,
that, and the other stranger, but to your mother who loves you more than
all else, you are bound to render no service, no allegiance? Do you
not know that whilst the state does not concern itself with ordinary
ingratitude or pass judicial sentence on it; whilst it overlooks the
thanklessness of those who fail to make return for kindly treatment, it
reserves its pains and penalties for the special case? If a man render
not the service and allegiance due to his parents, on him the finger
of the law is laid; his name is struck off the roll; he is forbidden to
hold the archonship--which is as much as to say, "Sacrifices in behalf
of the state offered by such a man would be no offerings, being tainted
with impiety; nor could aught else be 'well and justly' performed
of which he is the doer." Heaven help us! If a man fail to adorn the
sepulchre of his dead parents the state takes cognisance of the matter,
and inquisition is made in the scrutiny of the magistrates. (6) And as
for you, my son, if you are in your sober senses, you will earnestly
entreat your mother, lest the very gods take you to be an ungrateful
being, and on their side also refuse to do you good; and you will beware
of men also, lest they should perceive your neglect of your parents, and
with one consent hold you in dishonour; (7) and so you find yourself in
a desert devoid of friends. For if once the notion be entertained that
here is a man ungrateful to his parents, no one will believe that any
kindness shown you would be other than thrown away.
(6) Lit. "the docimasia." See Gow, "Companion," xiv.
(7) "Visiti with atimia."
III
At another time the differences between two brothers named Chaerephon
and Chaerecrates, both well known to him, had drawn his attention; and
on seeing the younger of the two he thus addressed him.
Soc. Tell me, Chaerecrates, you are not, I take it, one of those strange
people who believe that goods are better and more precious than a
brother; (1) and that too although the former are but senseless chattels
which need protection, the latter a sensitive and sensible being who
can afford it; and what is more, he is himself alone, whilst as for them
their name is legion. And here again is a marvellous thing: that a man
should count his brother a loss, because the goods of his brother are
not his; but he does not count his fellow-citizens loss, and yet their
possessions are not his; only it seems in their case he has wits to see
that to dwell securely with many and have enough is better than to own
the whole wealth of a community and to live in dangerous isolation; but
this same doctrine as applied to brothers they ignore. Again, if a
man have the means, he will purchase domestic slaves, because he wants
assistants in his work; he will acquire friends, because he needs their
support; but this brother of his--who cares about brothers? It seems
a friend may be discovered in an ordinary citizen, but not in a blood
relation who is also a brother. And yet it is a great vantage-ground
towards friendship to have sprung from the same loins and to have been
suckled at the same breasts, since even among beasts a certain natural
craving, and sympathy springs up between creatures reared together. (2)
Added to which, a man who has brothers commands more respect from the
rest of the world than the man who has none, and who must fight his own
battles. (3)
(1) Cf. "Merchant of Venice," II. viii. 17: "Justice! the law! my
ducats, and my daughter!"
(2) Or, "a yearning after their foster-brothers manifests itself in
animals." See "Cyrop." VIII. vii. 14 foll. for a parallel to this
discussion.
(3) Lit. "and is less liable to hostility."
Chaer. I daresay, Socrates, where the differences are not profound,
reason would a man should bear with his brother, and not avoid him for
some mere trifle's sake, for a brother of the right sort is, as you say,
a blessing; but if he be the very antithesis of that, why should a man
lay his hand to achieve the impossible?
Soc. Well now, tell me, is there nobody whom Chaerephon can please any
more than he can please yourself; or do some people find him agreeable
enough?
Chaer. Nay, there you hit it. That is just why I have a right to detest
him. He can be pleasing enough to others, but to me, whenever he appears
on the scene, he is not a blessing--no! but by every manner of means the
reverse.
Soc. May it not happen that just as a horse is no gain to the inexpert
rider who essays to handle him, so in like manner, if a man tries to
deal with his brother after an ignorant fashion, this same brother will
kick?
Chaer. But is it likely now? How should I be ignorant of the art of
dealing with my brother if I know the art of repaying kind words and
good deeds in kind? But a man who tries all he can to annoy me by word
and deed, I can neither bless nor benefit, and, what is more, I will not
try.
Soc. Well now, that is a marvellous statement, Chaerecrates. Your dog,
the serviceable guardian of your flocks, who will fawn and lick the hand
of your shepherd, when you come near him can only growl and show his
teeth. Well; you take no notice of the dog's ill-temper, you try to
propitiate him by kindness; but your brother? If your brother were what
he ought to be, he would be a great blessing to you--that you admit;
and, as you further confess, you know the secret of kind acts and words,
yet you will not set yourself to apply means to make him your best of
friends.
Chaer. I am afraid, Socrates, that I have no wisdom or cunning to make
Chaerephon bear himself towards me as he should.
Soc. Yet there is no need to apply any recondite or novel machinery.
Only bait your hook in the way best known to yourself, and you will
capture him; whereupon he will become your devoted friend.
Chaer. If you are aware that I know some love-charm, Socrates, of which
I am the happy but unconscious possessor, pray make haste and enlighten
me.
Soc. Answer me then. Suppose you wanted to get some acquaintance to
invite you to dinner when he next keeps holy day, (4) what steps would
you take?
(4) "When he next does sacrifice"; see "Hiero," viii. 3. Cf. Theophr.
"Char." xv. 2, and Prof. Jebb's note ad loc.
Chaer. No doubt I should set him a good example by inviting him myself
on a like occasion.
Soc. And if you wanted to induce some friend to look after your affairs
during your absence abroad, how would you achieve your purpose?
Chaer. No doubt I should present a precedent in undertaking to look
after his in like circumstances.
Soc. And if you wished to get some foreign friend to take you under his
roof while visiting his country, what would you do?
Chaer. No doubt I should begin by offering him the shelter of my own
roof when he came to Athens, in order to enlist his zeal in furthering
the objects of my visit; it is plain I should first show my readiness to
do as much for him in a like case.
Soc. Why, it seems you are an adept after all in all the philtres known
to man, only you chose to conceal your knowledge all the while; or is
it that you shrink from taking the first step because of the scandal you
will cause by kindly advances to your brother? And yet it is commonly
held to redound to a man's praise to have outstripped an enemy in
mischief or a friend in kindness. Now if it seemed to me that Chaerephon
were better fitted to lead the way towards this friendship, (5) I
should have tried to persuade him to take the first step in winning your
affection, but now I am persuaded the first move belongs to you, and to
you the final victory.
(5) Reading {pros ten philian}, or if {phusin}, transl. "natural
disposition."
Chaer. A startling announcement, Socrates, from your lips, and most
unlike you, to bid me the younger take precedence of my elder brother.
Why, it is contrary to the universal custom of mankind, who look to the
elder to take the lead in everything, whether as a speaker or an actor.
Soc. How so? Is it not the custom everywhere for the younger to step
aside when he meets his elder in the street and to give him place? Is he
not expected to get up and offer him his seat, to pay him the honour of
a soft couch, (6) to yield him precedence in argument?
(6) Lit. "with a soft bed," or, as we say, "the best bedroom."
My good fellow, do not stand shilly-shallying, (7) but put out your hand
caressingly, and you will see the worthy soul will respond at once with
alacrity. Do you not note your brother's character, proud and frank and
sensitive to honour? He is not a mean and sorry rascal to be caught by a
bribe--no better way indeed for such riff-raff. No! gentle natures need
a finer treatment. You can best hope to work on them by affection.
(7) Or, "have no fears, essay a soothing treatment."
Chaer. But suppose I do, and suppose that, for all my attempts, he shows
no change for the better?
Soc. At the worst you will have shown yourself to be a good, honest,
brotherly man, and he will appear as a sorry creature on whom kindness
is wasted. But nothing of the sort is going to happen, as I conjecture.
My belief is that as soon as he hears your challenge, he will embrace
the contest; pricked on by emulous pride, he will insist upon getting
the better of you in kindness of word and deed. |
|
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기