188.7
Epictetms
Epictetus
5^-12008
188.7
Epictetus
Epictetus
v.2 58-12008
$3*00
MOV ""9" 19
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDED BY JAMBS LOEB, LL.D.
EDITED BY
fT. E. PAGE, C.H., LITT.D.
f E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D. fW. H. D. ROUSE, LITT.D.
L. A. POST, M.A. E. H. WASHINGTON, M.A., F.B.HIST.SOC.
EPICTETUS
EPICTETUS
THE DISCOURSES AS REPORTED
BY ARRIAN, THE MANUAL,
AND FRAGMENTS
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
W. A. OLDFATHER
UNIVEESITT OF ILLINOIS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II
DISCOURSES, BOOKS III AND IV,
THE MANUAL, AND FRAGMENTS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD
MCMLH
first printed 1928
Reprinted 1952
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
PAGE
DISCOURSES, BOOK III 1
DISCOURSES, BOOK IV 243
FRAGMENTS 439
THE ENCHXISIDIQN, OR MANUAL . 479
INDEX 539
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES
OF EPICTETUS
APPIANOY
TON EniKTHTOY AIATPIBQN
AB f A
F
KEfcAAAIA TOY F BIBAIOY
of. Uepl Ka\X(DTnarfj.ov.
'. TLepl riva aoTceurflat Set T^V vrpoKfyavra Kal %n rcav KVptfa
TWV ap.eXovfj.ev.
y' '. Tis v\r) rov ayaBov Kal vphs ri p.aXtcrra>
8'. Uphs r})V aK&TjUws ev Qedrpep
e 7 . Ilpbjr TO us 5iai vovw aTraAXar
$-'. 57ro
ras (pavracrtas yvp.vacrreov ;
ffiropa. O.VIQVTO. els
iv 5e? ray yocrovs ; 3
rtvd.
T( Ipuj/Jita, Kal iroLOS
1 5 : vXarroftevovs S,
2 The entire title supplied from Ch. X. by s,
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES
OF EPICTETUS
IN FOUR BOOKS
BOOK III
Chapters of tJie Third Book
I. Of personal adornment.
II. The fields of study in which the man who expects
to make progress will have to go into training ;
and that we neglect what is most important.
HI. What is the subject-matter with which the good
man has to deal ; and what should be the chief
object of our training ?
IV. To the man who took sides, in an undignified
manner, while in a theatre.
V. To those who leave school because of illness.
VI. Some scattered sayings.
VII. A conversation with the Imperial Bailiff of the
Free Cities, who was an Epicurean.
VHI. How ought we to exercise ourselves to deal with
the impressions of our senses ?
IX. To a certain rhetorician who was going to Rome
for a law-suit.
X. How ought we to bear our illnesses 1
XL Some scattered sayings.
XII. Of training.
XIII. The meaning of a forlorn state, and the kind of
person a forlorn man is.
XTV. Some scattered sayings.
3
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ze'. "Or* 5e? irepieffKep-^v^s epxecrflcu <>' e'/caerra.
(5-'. tf Ori euAa$&is 5e? ffwyKa.6iva.i els cru/iTrepi^opay
i 7 , ITepI TTpovoias.
if\. "On ov 5e? Trpta ras a/yyeAi'ay rapdarcrso-Bai.
16' '. its <rrd(Tis ISicarov Kal (f)iXo(r6(f)ov ;
K r . "On avo TrdvTwv T&V eKrbs %ffriv &<peX.io'dat*
Kaf. IIp^s rovs ur(6\ws ITT! rb ffotyiarevfiv ^p^Ojaeyo
/cj8 7 . Ilepl KvvLff}j.ov.
KJ'. Hpbs roi'S' avayytyc^ffKoyras Kal $taXt f yo/j.evovs
K^'. Ilepl TOU ^ 5ei^ TTpocnt&o'xeiv rots ou/c ^<^> J ^r^
/ce'. Dp^s TOUS airoirLTTTOVTas uv irposBevro.
of. TLepl fca\\Q)7r[,o'/jiov.
TLVOS 7T/309 CLVTOV VGaVLGKOV prjTOplKOV
ire pie py 'ore pov r)p/jLOo~/Aevov rqv Kop^v Kal TTJV
aXkyv TrepifioKrjv fcaraKQcrfjLovvTOS EiVe poi, ecj)?],
el ov $o/cov(riv croi KVVG? r elvai fca\oi Tives /cal
ITTTTQI real OUTG)? r&v a\\ai)V <p(i>v e/ca&TOv ;
2 AQKOVCTW, <>?). QVKOVV /cal av9pa>7roi ol JAW
xdXoi, ol S' alo")(poi ; II<y? yap ov ; TLorepov
ovv Kara TO avro e/cao-ra TOVTMV ev rw avra>
ryevei, fca\a 7rpocra<yop6vo/jt,V ^ ISico? exaaTOv ;
3 OUTQJ? S* cn/r avro, eVetS^ Trpo? a\Xo i*ev opco-
pev Kvva Treipvfcora, Trpbs d\\o 8 J WTTOV,
4
BOOK III. i. 1-3
XV. That we ought to approach each separate thing
with circumspection.
XVI. That one should enter cautiously into social inter-
course.
XVII. Of Providence.
XVIII. That we ought not to allow any news to disturb us.
XIX. What is the position of the layman, and what that
of the philosopher ?
XX. That it is possible to derive advantage from every-
thing external.
XXI. To those who enter light-heartedly upon the
profession of lecturing.
XXII. On the calling of a Cynic.
XXIII. To those who read and discuss for the purpose of
display.
XXIV. That we ought not to yearn for the things which
are not under our control.
XXV. To those who fail to achieve their purposes*
XXVI. To those who fear want.
CHAPTER I
Of personal adornment
ONCE, when he was visited by a young student of
rhetoric whose hair was somewhat too elaborately
dressed, and whose attire in general was highly em-
bellished, Epictetus said : Tell me if you do not think
that some dogs are beautiful, and some horses., and so
every other creature. I do, said the young man. Is
not the same true also of men., some of them are
handsome, and some ugly? Of course. Do we,
then, on the same grounds, pronounce each of these
creatures in its own kind beautiful, or do we pro-
nounce each beautiful on special grounds? I shall
show you what I mean. Since we see that a dog is
born to do one thing, and a horse another, and, if
you will, a nightingale for something else, in general
5
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
a\\o 6" el oi/T&>9 TV)(OI, a-rjSova, icadokov fj,ev ovtc
av Tt
tcoCkov elvai, OTTOTC Kara rrjv avrov (frvaiv fcpaTtcrr
%oi' 7rel S' TI <ucr69 GKCLVTOV St,d<f>opQ$ ecmv,
St,a<p6pa)$ elvai /JLOL Soxei eicacrTOv avr&v fcakov
4 r) jap ov ; 'fl/AoXoyei. OVK o$v Strep tcvva
TTOiel Ka\QV, TOVTO ITTTTOV alo"%p6v, O7Tp S' iTTTTOV
K&\QV, TOVTO Kvva alcr^pov, el <ye Staff) opot al
5 cf>v<r6i? elcrlv CLVT&V ; "Eoi/cey. Kal <yap TO
Tray/cpctTtacrTrjv olpat, TTOIOVV KcfiCov TOVTO
(TTrjV OVK ajctOov Troielj Spo/A6a Se fcal
TOV KOI 7T/50? TTeVTa9\iaV fiOkOS O atTO9 OVT09
6 7T/309 iraXyv alcr^LcrTO^ ; Oi/T6)9, 6^)77. Tc ovv
TTotel avBpwTrov icaXov rj ojrep T&> yevei teal fcvva fcal
i7T7roz> ; TOVTO, e^. TL ovv rroiel KVVCL icakov ; r)
apeTrj fj KVVOS jrapovcra. TI 'iinrov ; r) apeT?) rj l
LTTTTOV irapovcra. TI ovv avdpwTTQV ; fjuri 7ro0 y f)
7 apeTr) rj avOpdyjrov Trapov&a ; /cal <rv ovv el
Ka\b$ elvai, veavicrice, TOVTO eKTrovei> TT)V
8 TTJV avdpo)7rt,K'j]v. Tt9 S' e<TT\v avTtj ; -'Qpa,
raivels, oTav St%a jrdOovs
TOU9 $iicalov$ rj 701)9 ablfcovs ; Tot/9
?. - HoTpQV TOU9 CTft)^pOZ/a9 ^ T0i9 CLKQ-
9 TI roi>9 aicpaTels ; Toy 9 e^/cpaTel^. QVKOVV
TOIOVTQV TIVCL TTQl&V GOAJTOV l<J@l OTt, fCO\,OV
1 7) added by 5.
1 One who specialized in the pancratium, a combination of
boxing, wrestling, and plain " fighting."
6
BOOK III. i. 3-9
it would not be unreasonable for one to declare that
each of them was beautiful precisely when it
achieved supreme excellence in terms of its own
nature ; and, since each has a different nature, each
one of them, I think, is beautiful in a different
fashion. Is that not so ? He agreed, -Does it not
follow, then, that precisely what makes a dog
beautiful,, makes a horse ugly, and precisely what
makes a horse beautiful, makes a dog ugly, if, that
is, their natures are different? So it appears. Yes,
for, to my way of thinking, what makes a pancratiast l
beautiful does not make a wrestler good, and, more
than that, makes a runner quite absurd: and the
same man who is beautiful for the pentathlon 2 is
very ugly for wrestling ?-~That is so, said he. What,
then, makes a man beautiful other than just that
which makes a dog or a horse beautiful in its
kind ? Just that, said he. What is it, then, that
makes a dog beautiful? The presence of a dog's
excellence. What makes a horse beautiful? The
presence of a horse's excellence. What, then, makes
a man beautiful ? Is it not the presence of a man's
excellence? Very well, then, young man, do you
too, if you wish to be beautiful, labour to achieve this,
the excellence that characterizes a man. And what
is that ? Observe who they are whom you yourself
praise, when you praise people dispassionately ; is it
the just, or the unjust ? The just ; is it the temper-
ate, or the dissolute ? The temperate ; and is it the
self-controlled, or the uncontrolled? The self-con-
trolled. In making yourself that kind of person,
therefore, rest assured that you will be making your-
2 An all-round competition in running, Jumping, wrestling,
and hurling the discus and the javelin.
7
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
' av rovrcov d/j,e\f)$, alcr^pov
a elvac dvdjKr], KCLV irdvra /jwj%ava VTrep TOV
<>aivecr0ai ere * tcakov.
10 *E>VTeV06V OVKrt 6G0 CTOL TTW? 67TG)* CLV TG
), avicra) ere ica
vcTT}' av re firj \eya) 3 opa olov TronjcrGi), el
av fjie ' '
OUK axfieXrja'Gd or ovSev, KCU crv JAW co?
<f)i\6<TO(pov } eyco S' ov&ev epa) croi a>?
11 TTco? Be KOI ou/e 3 CO/JLOV ecrri Trpos avrov ere TO
irepa^elv dv7rav6p8a)Tov ; av Trod 9 vcrrepov
12 <pva
roiovrov
7r/)09 avrov ovrcos
fAijSeTrore [irjo'e p
13 IJLOV aTreyva) ; z/09 oy/c ?ifM]v ; OVK rjpyv \oyov
d/covo-rifco? ; iroaoi, $ a\\ot vkoi efi r)\t,fcia$ TroX-
14 Xa Toiavra &iap,apTavovcn.v ; Tivd TTOT* dicova)
IIoXe/KWZ/a e^ dKoXacrrordrov veavicrKov rocrav-
Tf]v /jLera/3o\7}v p.GTaj3a~\>lv. ecrrco, OVK coero fie
Tlo\6jj,awa ecrecrdar Trjv pev KO^V r)$vi>ar6 JULOV
i, TCL /lev Trepidfi/jutrd /JLOV 7repie\e1v,
iravcrai rjSvvaro, aXXa
15 fie rivo$ etiro) ; (rxfi/jLa e'xpvra eaicoTra
ov Xeyo), rw/09 ecrrl TO ar^^a TOVTO' av S' avro
1 Or perhaps ye, Oldfather. 2 s : epyai 8.
8 OVK added by Koraes. * /ecu supplied by s,
1 Once when drunk he burst in upon Xenocrates, but was
converted by him and eventually succeeded him in the head-
8
BOOK III. 1.9-15
self beautiful ; but so long as you neglect all this,
you must needs be ugly, no matter if you employ
every artifice to make yourself look beautiful.
Beyond that I know not what more I can say to
you ; for if I say what I have in mind, I shall hurt
your feelings,, and you will leave, perhaps never to
return ; but if I do not say it, consider the sort of
thing I shall be doing; Here you are coming to me
to get some benefit, and I shall be bestowing no
benefit at all ; and you are coming to me as to a
philosopher, and I shall be saying nothing to you as
a philosopher. Besides, is it anything but cruel for
me to leave you unreformed ? If some time in the
future you come to your senses, you will have good
reason to blame me : " What did Epictetus observe
in me," you will say to yourself, "that, although he
saw me in such a condition and coming to him in so
disgraceful a state, he should let me be so and say
never a word to me ? Did he so completely despair
of me ? Was I not young ? Was I not ready to listen
to reason ? And how many other young fellows make
any number of mistakes of the same kind in their
youth? I am told that once there was a certain
Polemo 1 who from being a very dissolute young man
underwent such an astonishing transformation. Well,
suppose he did not think that I should be another
Polemo ; he could at least have set my hair right, he
could have stripped me of my ornaments, he could
have made me stop plucking my hairs ; but although
he saw me looking like what shall I say? he held
his peace/' As for me, I do not say what it is you look
ship of the Academy. See below IV. 11, 30; Diogenes
Laertius, 4, 16; and Horace, Sat. II. 3, 253^7.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
epefc r66\ orav ei$ aavrbv e\0y<;, /ecu yvwcrei,
olov eari, ical rives avrb emr^evovcri.
16 TOUTO pot varepov hv 6<y/ca\7J<$, ri If ft) 0.770X07^-
aacrdai ; val* aXX' epw /cat ov Treiadija'erai*
rq> jap *A7ToXXGt)z/i 7ricr0r) 6 Aato? ,* oy/c a7T6\-
6u>v KOI jjLdv<r9ei$ ^aipeiv etirev T$> ^p^d^iS) ; ri
oZv ; irapa TOVTO OVK elirev avr& 6 'ATroXXcov ra?
17 aKyOelas ; icairoi eya> p*ev OVK olSa OVT el irei-
aOijcTrj /JLOI OVT* el JJLIJ' e/celvos 8* aKpi^ecrrara y&ei,
18 on ov f rreicrdr)a'eTai > KOI o/ia)? elnrev. Am ri 6*
ri Se 'ATroXXwi^ eariv ; Sia ri Se
Sia ri S' e/9 ravrr
eavrov Kararera^ev, SxrTe /JLCLVTIS elvai ical
r^9 akr)0eia$ /cal Trpo? avrov epxecrO at TOV<$ etc
r^9 olfcovfjLevrjs ; $ia ri Se TrpoyeypaTrrai, TO
cravrbv jjLtjo'evbs avrb voovvros ;
19 2fte/)aT779 Trapra? eiretde TOU?
e7rifAe\ei(rdai, eavrwv ; ouSe TO %i\,io&rbv
aXX' o/za>9 7retS^ ^9 ravrrjv rrjv ra^iv VTTO rov
&ai/j,oviov, c9 (pqcriv avros, /carer a^dtj, p^iceri
egeXiTrev. aXXa /^al 7Ty009 TOU9 $Lfcao-ra$ rl
20 \eyet,; " av JM atyrjre" r\criv t " errl rovrot,?, f lva
fjvrjicert, ravra Trpdaaa a vvv, OVK ave^ofjiat, ouS'
awijcrto' aXXa KOI veq> Kal irpe&ftvrepq) KOL a?rX6)9
ael TW evrvy%dvovri, irpocrekO&v irevcro/JLai ravra
a ical i/vv TrvvOdvouai,, 7roXt Se ^d\iara VJJL&V,
1 8ia supplied by s.
2 $ ; "Kpoorioras or Tpo<rap(fTas 5.
1 Who warned him not to beget a son, the ill-starred
Oedipus.
10
BOOK III. i. 15-20
like, but you will say it, when you come to yourself,
and will realize what it is an'd the kind of people those
are who act this way.
. If you bring this charge against me some day,
what shall I be able to say in my own defence?
Yes ; but suppose I speak and he not obey. And
did Laius obey Apollo? 1 Did he not go away and
get drunk and say good-bye to the oracle ? What
then ? Did that keep Apollo from telling him the
truth? Whereas I do not know whether you will
obey me or not. Apollo knew perfectly well that
Laius would not obey, and yet he spoke. But why
did he speak? And why is he Apollo? And why
does he give out oracles ? And why has he placed
himself in this position, 2 to be a "prophet and a
fountain of truth, and for the inhabitants of the
civilized world to come to him ? And why are the
words " Know thyself" carved on the front of his
temple, although no one pays attention to them ?
Did Socrates succeed in prevailing upon all his
visitors to keep watch over their own characters?
No, not one in a thousand. Nevertheless, once he
had been assigned this post, as he himself says, by
the ordinance of the Deity, 3 he never abandoned it
Nay, what does he say even to his judges ? " If you
acquit me," he says, "on these conditions, namely,
that I no longer engage in my present practices, I
will not accept your offer, neither will I give up my
practices, but I will go up to young and old, and, in
a word, to everyone that I meet, and put to him the
same question that I put now, and beyond all others
I will especially interrogate you/* he says, cs who are
2 For the expression compare II. 4, 3 ; IV. 10, 16,
8 Baaed upon the Apology, 28 E.
II
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fJLOV
21 oijTG)$ Trepiepyos 66, (5 ^cbfcpaTes, real
; ri Se <TQI p,\6t, ri iroiovp^ev ; " olov /ecu
KOIVO>VO$ pov &v fcal crvyyevys a/ie"Xe9
creavrov teal rfj 7roX,ei Trape^ei? 7ro\irrjv icaicov
22 teal TOW avyytvecri, crvyyevrj KOL TOI<? yeirocri
yeiTova^ l< crv ovv rfa el ; " evravOa
earl TO etireiv on (( OVTOS el/jn, bet
avdpcotrcov." ouSe jap \eovn TO rv%ov flotSiov
ro\fia avridTrivai avrS- av 8' o Tavpo$ irpo-
crekOtov avdiarriTat, \eje avTu> t av (rot, So#,
" crv Be T^9 el;" teal " ri crol ytteXei ; " avdptoire,
23 ev iravrl <yevei (jtverai n e^aiperov ev ftovcriv,
Iv tcvcrlv, v fMeXicrcraw, ev ITTTTO^. py &r) \ej
A >t / ff \ ^ / t 9 5>\ / > ^
TO) %aipeTG> av ovv n i ; ei be /AT}, epei
crot> <f>cov)]V iroBev \aj3ov " <yc& eipt, TOIOVTOV olov
ev ifJiaTip Trop^vpa* pr} JJL a^iov opoiov elvai
irapa TOVS a\\ov$
24 T^ ovv ; eyw TOIOVTO? ; TroOev ; crv yap
TOLOVTOS 0*09 aKOveiv raXtfdr} ; &<pe\ev. aXV o///6)9
eireL TTOJ? fcareKpidrjv Trcoycova e^eLv 7ro\Lov /cat
Tpifitova KOI crv elcrep^y TTpos epe 009 TTyOo?
<j>ov, ov %pijao/Mai crot CO/AW? ouS*
1 Deleted by Kronenberg, and tc nature" rather than
<{ my nature " would seem to be more logical here (cf. Grant's
note on Aristotle's EtJiics, 2.1.3). But pou is supported by
the precisely similar trow of 30, which is if anything even
more illogical. In the original remark of Diogenes, whom
Epictetus is clearly quoting in 30 (see the note at that
point), IjKaXetv rp tfr&iru is used as it is normally in Greek.
Apparently we have in these two locutions a form of
expression peculiar to Epictetus.
12
BOOK III. i. 20-24
my fellow-citizens, inasmuch as you are nearer akin
to me." l Are you so inquisitive, O Socrates, and
meddlesome? And why do you care what we are
about ? ee Why, what is that you are saying ? You
are my partner and kinsman, and yet you neglect
yourself and provide the State with a bad citizen,
and your kin with a bad kinsman, and your neigh-
bours with a bad neighbour." " Well, who are you ? "
Here it is a bold thing to say, fc l am he who must
needs take interest in men." For no ordinary ox
dares to withstand the lion himself ; 2 but if the bull
comes up and withstands him, say to the bull, if you
think fit, " But who are you ? " and " What do you
care ? " Man, in every species nature produces some
superior individual, among cattle, dogs, bees, horses.
Pray do not say to the superior individual, "Well,
then, who are you?" Or if you do, it will get a
voice from somewhere and reply to you, ee I am the
same sort of thing as red in a mantle ; 3 do not expect
me to resembl e the rest, and do not blame my nature 4
because it has made me different from the rest."
What follows ? Am I that kind of person ? Im-
possible. Are you, indeed, the kind of person to
listen to the truth ? I would that you were ! But
nevertheless, since somehow or other I have been
condemned to wear a grey beard and a rough cloak, 5
and you are coming to me as to a philosopher, I shall
not treat you cruelly, nor as though I despaired of
1 A free paraphrase of the Apology ', 29 C, E, and 30 A,
Compare also I. 9, 23.
2 Compare I. 2, 30.
a Compare L 2, 17 (and note, where read "bright red")
and 22 j the reference is to the stripe in the toga prcwtetfta.
4 See critical note.
6 External symbols of a philosopher.
13
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
dXX* e/)&r veavlffice, rlva 6i\i<$ /cakov Ttoieiv ;
25 fyv&Qi TTp&TQV T/9 el fcal OVTQ)$ KGa-pet, creavrov.
r TOVTO o earl dvrjTo
cov <j>avTa<riaw \oyt,?ca><;. TO Se
ri e&Tiv ; fyvaei 6fj,o\oyov/jievco$ KCU
26 ri ovv egaiperov e%5 ; TO $ov ; ov. TO dvv}-
TOV ; OV. TO ^p^CFTLKOV ^CLVTadlai^ ; OV, TO
\ojLKOif e^ei? l^aiperov" TOVTO KOCT/AGI ftal
AcaXXo)7rtfe* Trjv KOJJJYJV $ a^e? TO)
27 GO? avT09 rjdeX^crev. aye, Ttz>a9
avrjp el ^7 71;^^ ; 'Az^p.
^ ryvvaitca* e/cecvi) <f>vcr6i Xeta
yeyove ical rpvfapd' fcav e^y Tplj(a,<; TroXXa?,
Tepa? ecrTl /cat e> TO?? Tepacriv Iv'Pw/jLy o'ei/cvvTai.
28 ravTO * S' CTT' avBpos eari TO /t^ e%iv KCLV fjLev
<j)V(Ti firj ?207, repas ecrTtV, az/ 8* avTO<; eavTov
fcal a?roTtXX^, T O,VTOV 7roi^o*cy/ie^ ; TTOI)
Sei};6)fJV fcal ri irpoypd^coj^ev ; " SeL^co
avbpa, 09 ^eXe^ pa\\ov yvvrj elvai rj avrjp"
29 3 Setvoi) #ea/z<xT09* ovSels ou%l Oav/jidcrec TVJV
TT'pO'ypa^ijv' vrj TOP Ata, ol/ta^ em avrol ot TiX-
\6fievoi ov 7rapaKo\ovdovvTe<;, on, TOVT avil>
30 e<TTt^, o TTOWVO-W, Troiov<nv, av6pa)ir f ri
eryfcakecrai, o-ov TT} <f>vo~ei ; OT^ o~e av&pa cyev
orev ; ri ovv ; 7rao"a9 iSet yvvaltcas yevvijcrcu ; KOI
1 Wolf and Blass : TOUTO 5.
BOOK III, i. 24-30
you., but I shall say : Young man, whom do you wish
to make beautiful ? First learn who you are,, and
then,, in the light of that knowledge, adorn yourself.
You are a human being ; that is, a mortal animal
gifted with the ability to use impressions rationally.
And what is "rationally"? In accordance with
nature and perfectly. What element of superiority,
then, do you possess ? The animal in you ? No,
Your mortality ? No. Your ability to use impres-
sions ? No. Your reason is the element of superiority
which you possess; adorn and beautify that; hut
leave your hair to Him who fashioned it as "He
willed. Come, what other designations apply to
you ? Are you a man or a woman ? A man. Very
well then, adorn a man,, not a woman. Woman is
born smooth and dainty by nature, and if she is
very hairy she is a prodigy, and is exhibited at Rome
among the prodigies. But for a man not to be hairy
is the same thing, and if by nature he has no hair he
is a prodigy, but if he cuts it out and plucks it out of
himself, what shall we make of him ? Where shall
we exhibit him and what notice shall we post ? " I
will show you," we say to the audience, ** a man who
wishes to be a woman rather than a man." What a
dreadful spectacle ! No one but will be amazed at
the notice ; by Zeus^ I fancy that even the men who
pluck out their own hairs do what they do without
realizing what it means. Man, what reason have
you to complain against your nature ? I Because it
brought you into the world as a man ? 2 What then ?
Ought it to have brought all persons into the world
1 Compare the critical note on 23.
2 An almost verbatim quotation from Diogenes the Cynicl
See Athenaeus, XIII* 565 (X ,
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
7i av o<eX09 $]V aoi rov KOcrp,elo9aL ; tlvi av
31 etcoor/AOV, el Trdwres rj&av yvvalxe? ; aXX' ov/c
apeo-fcei, <JQI TO Ttpay^dTiov ; oXoz/ t' o\a)v avTo
Troirjcrov* apov ri TTOT l/ceivo ; TO alnov rwv
Tpiyfow 7roirf<rov t9 ajravra cravrov yvvaltca, e (va
fir} TrXavcbfteda, {J,TJ TO jJ,V rifuav avSpos, TO S'
32 'rj/LLiav yvvaifcos. TIVI de\t$ apecrat, ; TOW yvvcu-
o>9 l avrjp OVTOIS apecrov. " vai' a\\a
Xetot? yai poverty" ov/c array^y ; KOI el rofc
e^aipov, eyevov av icivaio$ ; roOro crot
TO pyov eaTiVj 7rl TOVTO eyevvrfdr}?, wa croi at
34 yvvalttes at afco\ao~TOi j^aip(c<nv ; TOLOVTOV ere
X&T7?z> VLopivBltov, KCLV OVTU>$ Tv%r}, aaTV-
fj (f>rj/3ap)(ov r) CTTpaTijyov rj aycovodeTrjv ;
35 aye /ca\ ya/wjcras TiX\<r6ai /u-eXXe^? ; T'IVL Kal
eiil TI; teal iraiSia TTO^CT as elra Ka/celva Ti,\\6/Jiva
yfuv etcrdgei,? el? TO iro\iTev^a ; Ka~ko$ TTO\ITTI^
teal /3oi/Xeur^9 teal pqTwp. TOIOVTOVS Sel veov$
ev^ecrOai rjfjuv <f>vecr0ai real avaTpe<j>ecrdai> ;
36 Mij, Toi/9 6eov<$ aoi, veavicnce* aXX' aira%
pot 'ETTttf'njTos OVK etprjfcev TroQev yap
aXXa deos r/9 TTOT* ev/Aevijs 8^ etceivov.
. ovSe yap av eirrfkOev ^TTIKT^T^ ravra direlv
* ! 81 ; & 8.
1 Compare I. 29. 16 together with note on that passage,
and for a more extended discussion Trans, of the Amer.
PUM. Assoc. y 52(1921), 46.
fl The interlocutor must have been a Corinthian.
16
BOOK III. i. 30-36
as women ? And if that had been the case, what
good would you be getting of your self-adornment ?
For whom would you be adorning yourself, if all
were women? Your paltry body 1 doesn't please
you, eh ? Make a clean sweep of the whole matter ;
eradicate your whatshall I call it? the cause of your
hairiness ; make yourself a woman all over, so as not
to deceive us, not half-man and half- woman. Whom
do you wish to please ? Frail womankind ? Please
them as a man. f( Yes, but they like smooth men."
Oh, go hang! And if they liked sexual perverts,
would you have become such a pervert? Is this
your business in life, is this what you were born for,
that licentious women should take pleasure in you?
Shall we make a man like you a citizen of Corinth, 2
and perchance a warden of the city, or superinten-
dent of ephebi, 3 or general, or superintendent of the
games ? Well, and when you have married are you
going to pluck out your hairs ? For whom and to
what end ? And when you have begotten boys, are
you going to introduce them into the body of
citizens as plucked creatures too? A fine citizen
and senator and orator! Is this the kind of young
men we ought to pray to have bom and brought up
for us ?
By the gods, young man, may such not be your fate !
But once you have heard these words go away and say
to yourself, "It was not Epictetus who said these
things to me ; why, how could they have occurred to
him ? but it was some kindly god or other speaking
through him. For it would not have occurred to
Epictetus to say these things, because he is not in
8 Young men completing their education and serving their
term in .the army.
17
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
37 OVK eitodon \eyetv 777309 ovSeva. $ye ovv rq> dew
rre^aOwfjiev, f iva fj,rj 6eo")(o\(t)roi <$)/AV" ov* dXX'
av fjiev /copa% fcpavyd^cctv arjaaivy croL ri, ov% o
fcopa% early o o~r)fj,aiva>v t aXX' o $eo<> St' avrov'
av &e 81 dvOpcoirivr)^ (fxovijs (TTi^alvg ri s TOV
av0pa>7TOV Trpocriroi'tjo'y ^ \eyeiv aoi ravra, f iv
f
yvofc 2 Tr]v vva/juv TOV aifioviov, cm rot? fiv
QVTG)?, TOi? 8' KiVCO$ O"rjjU,a'l,Vl, 7Tpl $ T&V
/jLeyi&TGW teal fcvpicordTnv S^a 3 tcaXki<nov ay-
38 <ye\ov (rrj/JLaivei ; ri early aXXo, o \eyei, 6
7rel TTpo ol
TrefM^avre Sidfcropov 5
f avrov /creLveiv pyre pvdaa'Sai aicovriv.
39 o ' E/)^? icarafias eue'XXev Alyi<rflq> 6 \eyew ravra
teal crol vvv \eyovcnv ol deol ravra,
'Eip/Metav irefjtyavre 7 Sid/cropov
fjJr) e/c<rrp<f)W ra /ca\a)$ e'Xpvra
adai, d\\* d<f)Lvai, rov dv&pa avSpa, ryv yvvalfca
<yvvalica, rov /ca\bv c&9 avOpcoTrov tca\ov? rov
40 aio-xpov to5 avdpairov al&xpov. on OVK el icpeas
ov$e r/3t%e$, d\\a IT poalpetris' ravryv av
41 rca\r)v, ror e&et,
1 Blass ; xoi^o-et 8. * Blass : tra 71/0^15 S.
3 5i( supplied by Sb.
4 Upton from Homer : ^vet of TrpoetTrojuev S.
6 Oldfather: ire^avrcs &5<ncoirov S. The reading restored
is that of Zenodotus and Aristophanes, which has left some
traces in two M8&, one scholium, and a papyrus of the 3rd
cent, alter Christ, and especially in 39 below. See my note
in Class. PkiLol. , vol. 22, for a full discussion of this passage.
6 Bentley : avr$ S. For arguments in favour of Bentley's
emendation see Tram. Am. PhttoL Ass, 52 (1921) 49.
18
BOOK III. i. 36-41
the habit of speaking to anyone. Come then,, let us
obey God, that we rest not under His wrath." Nay,
but if a raven gives you a sign by his croaking, it is
not the raven that gives the sign, but God through
the raven , whereas if He gives you a sign through a
human voice, will you pretend that it Is the man who
is saying these things to you, so that you may remain
ignorant of the power of the divinity, that He gives
signs to some men in this way, and to others in that,
but that in the greatest and most sovereign matters
He gives His sign through His noblest messenger?
What else does the poet mean when he says :
Since ourselves we did warn him,
Sending down Hermes, the messenger god, the
slayer of Argus,
Neither to murder the husband himself, nor make
love to his consort ? *
As Hermes descended to tell Aegisthus that, so now
the gods tell you the same thing,
Sending down Hermes, the messenger god, the
slayer of Argus,
not to distort utterly nor to take useless pains about
that 'which is already right, but to leave the man a
man, and the woman a woman, the beautiful person
beautiful as a human being, the ugly ugly as a
human being. Because you are not flesh, nor hair,
but moral purpose ; if you get that beautiful, then,
you will be beautiful. So far I do not have the
1 Homer, Odyssey, w, 37-9.
7 TcifjL-fyavTfs S; see note 5 above.
a Oldfather ;
19
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
crot \eyeiV) on atV%po? el* So/eefc ydp JJLOI Trdvra
42 6e\iv d/covaai T) TOVTO. aXX' opa, ri \eyei
T) /eaXXi<TTGt) Trdvrcov teal mpacordra)
??' et Tretpa) ovv /eaXo9 elvai" rl avrq*
\eyet, ; " 7rXar<re <rov rr)v Ko/j,r]v fcal ri\\e crov
ra <TK\7} " ; firj ryevoiro* d\\a " fcocr/jiet, crov rrjv
43 Trpoatpecnv, el-aipe ra (j)av\a Soy par a" TO
(TOO^dtLOV OVV 77*0)9 ,* O>9 7T<f>V/CV. a\\<p TOVTCOV
44 epeXqo-ev efcelvq) eTrLrpe^fov. 1 Tt ovv ; a/cd9ap-
TOV Set etvcu ; M^ yevoiro* aX,X' 09 el real irefyv-
Ka<$ 3 TQVTOV fcddatrpe, av$pa cio? dvSpa KaBdpiov
45 elvai, yvvaitca c9 yvvaLtca, KCUO'LOV 009 TraiStov. oi;*
a\\a Kal rov Xeoz/T09 e/cri\G)/jiv rrjv icop^v, iva prj
dftddapTO? rj, /cal TOV d\e/CTpvovo$ TOV \o$ov Se
yap real TOVTOV fcaOdpwv elvai. aXA/ ct>9
TpvQva Kal IKGIVOV co9 XeovTO- /cal rbv
fcvva a>9 Kvvrjyert/cov.
ft. Hepl rivd aa-fceiaQcu Set rov TrpOKo-^rovra /cal
Sri r&v fcvpicordrav d/jL\ov/jLV.
1 TyO9 Giarl r OTTO I, 7Tpl 0&9 do"K'T]9'fjVai $1 TOV
eaopevov /ca\ov /cal ayadoV o irepl ra9 6pe%et,$
/cal ra9 efCKXi<ret,$, f iva p^r'opeyopevo^ aTroruy^dvy
2 /JLTjT /CK\LVO)V TTeptTTtTTTT;' TTGol T9 Op^a^ KOi
originally.
1 An inexact quotation of Plato, Alcib. I. 131 D,
a Compare I, 25, ia ; SO, 1 ; II. 5, 22.
a The implication is that the interlocutor's conception of
** cleanliness " has to da merely with things externaL
4 Compare H. 17, 15 ff. This triple division of philosophy
is the one original element in the teaching of Epictetus, and
even it is rather a pedagogical device than an innovation in
BOOK III. i. 41-11. 2
courage to tell you that you are ugly, for it looks to
me as though you would rather hear anything than
that. But observe what Socrates says to Alcibiades,
the most handsome and youthfully beautiful of men :
"Try, then, to be beautiful.'' 1 What does he tell
him? "Dress your locks and pluck the hairs out
of your legs?" God forbid! No, he says, <f Make
beautiful your moral purpose, eradicate your worthless
opinions." How treat your paltry body, then? As
its nature is. This is the concern of Another; 2
leave it to Him. What then ? Does the body have
to be left unclean? God forbid! but the man that
you are and were born to be, keep that man clean,
a man to be clean as a man, a woman as a woman,
a child as a child. No, but let's pluck out also the
lion's mane, so that he may not fail to be ""cleaned
up/' and the cock's comb, for he too ought to be
"cleaned up"! 3 Clean? Yes, but clean as a
cock, and the other clean as a lion, and the hunting
dog clean as a hunting dog !
CHAPTER II
The fields of study in which the man who expects to
make progress will have to go into training; and that
we neglect what is most important
THERE are three fields of study 4 in which the man
who is going to be good and excellent must first
have been trained. The first has to do with desires
and aversions, that he may never fail to get what he
desires, nor fall into what he avoids ; the second
thought. Compare Vol. I. p. xxi, and .the literature there
cited.
ai
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TO KadiJKOv, f (va rdt~i,,
?, f (va prj a/^eXft)?' rpiros early 6 jrepl
rrjv dv^arrarr^crLav /cal dveLfcaiortjra fcal 0X0)9 6
3 Trepi ra9 crvy/caradecreis. rovrcov fcvp LOOT <XT09 /cal
pd\i<Tra eTrelycov ecnlv d Trepl ra TraQrf TrdOos
<yap aXXo>9 ov rylverai el fj/r) ope^eco^ dTrorvy^avov-
(rii$ r) /Cfe\lcreQ)$ TrepiTnTrTOVcr?]?. ouro? earnv o
rapa%d<;, Bopvftovs, aTvylas, o SucrTu^ta? eiri-
<j>po)v, 6 Trevdr), olfAoyyds, fyOovovs, o $6ovepov$?- o
fyrj\QTV7rQV<5 TTOl&V, C <s)V OuS* d/COVCTCM, \6jOV
4 vvdfJL0a. Seure/?o? earn* 6 irepl TO Ka,Qr\Kov*
ov Bel jdp fie elvai dTradij co9 dvSpidvra, d
ra? ao~e^9 Tyovvra rd<; (vo-L/cas /cal
w 9
5 Tpro9 ecrrlv 6 77877 ro?9 Trpo/coTrrovo-iv ein-
j8aXXo)j/, o Trepl rrjv avratv rovr&v dcrfydXeiav.
Iva fjurjo* ev VTTVOIS \d9rj 7^9 dve^eracrros 7rap\-
0ova~a <j>avr acrla firjS' ev olvobaei yu-^Se
6 Ol Se vvv (f>(,\6cro<j)Ot, d<f>vre<> rov Trpcorov rorrov
fca\ rov Sevrepov Kara^/Lvovrai Trepl rov rpirov
T 2 r) pcorTJcr 6 ] ai Trepawovras,
r (" fears") conjectured by Reiske, very plausibly.
2 rep added by Oldfather after the similar correction by 5 in
I. 7, 1 (where the fact that T$ is due to 5 should have been
recorded).
1 A briefer definition is given in I. 27, 10.
a See critical note.
a The expression is not logical, for the field of study
22
BOOK III. ii. 2-6
with cases of choice and of refusal, and., in general,
with duty, that he may act in an orderly fashion, upon
good reasons, and not carelessly ; the third with the
avoidance of error and rashness in judgement, and, in
general, about cases of assent. Among these the
most important and especially pressing is that which
has to do with the stronger emotions ; for a strong
emotion does not arise except a desire fails to
attain its object, or an aversion falls into what
it would avoid. 1 This is the field of study which
introduces to us confusions, tumults, misfortunes
and calamities ; and sorrows, lamentations, envies ; 2
and makes 3 us envious and jealous passions which
make it impossible for us even to listen to reason.
The second field of study deals with duty ; for I
ought not to be unfeeling like a statue, but should
maintain my relations, both natural and acquired, as
a religious man, as a son, a brother, a father, a
citizen.
The third belongs only to those who are already
making progress ; it has to do with the element of
certainty in the matters which have just been men-
tioned, so that even in dreams, or drunkenness, or a
state of melancholy-madness, a man may not be
taken unawares by the appearance of an untested
sense-impression. This, says someone, is beyond
us. But philosophers nowadays pass by the first and
second fields of study, and concentrate upon the
third, upon arguments which involve equivocal
premisses, which derive syllogisms by the process of
interrogation, which involve hypothetical premisses, 4
obviously can do nothing of the kind, but the fault is
probably not in the MS. tradition.
* See I, 7, 1, and note for these first three.
23
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
7 VTToderiKovSj ^SfevSopevov^} Aet ydp, ^r\aLv t KCLL
ev TCLLS vkai? ravrat,? yevbiievov &ia$v\d%a,i TO
dve^airdrriTov. *Tiva, ; TOP ica\ov fcal dyaOov.
8 aol ovv TOVTO \eLrreL ; ra? aXXa? e/cTreTrovrj/cas ;
Trepl Keppdnov dve^aTrdrrjTos el ; eav i$y$
Kopdariov tca\ov, avTxei$ rfj <$avracrLq ; av o
ryetr&v crov K\ f r]povofjwja"rj> ov bdicvr) ; vvv ovSev
9 aXXo <TOI AetTTet rj d^eraTrrcoo-ia ; raXav, avrd
ravra rpeficov jj,avQdvi$ KCLI dyo&VL&v, fitj r/9 aov
KaTa<j)povrjcrr], KCU TrvvBavopevos, p-r) ri$ TI irpl
10 aov Xe^ei. Kay rt,$ e\0o)v eiirr) croi on tf
Trapwv T^? \<yv, on, els $>i\ocro<$>o$ o Seiva"
ryeyove crov TO ^v^dpiov dvrl 8aKTv\iaiov SLTT^V.
av S' aXXo? Trapcoi/ ('7797 " ovSev eipTjfcas, ov/c
e&riv a%iov TOV Selves dxpoacrOat,' ri ydp olSev ;
ra? Trpcora? dfyopfjuas e%ei, Tr'Xeov 8* ovbev"
11 Setfw, rt? elfjti, on jLLeyas <f)i\6o-ocpo?" /3\67reTai
e% av-T&v rovrcov, ri deXeis
OVK o!Sa9, on &ioyevr} row cr
,KTeLva<$ rbv pecrov Sd/crv\ov, elra e/c
avrov " O5ro9 o~nv" (pr), " o
12 eBeiga vpZv avrdv" ; av9po)TTO$ yap Ba/crv\a) ov
1 Oldfather : tyevSo^vovs vulg. See explanatory note.
1 i.e*, if a man says he is l^ng, is he really lying, or telling
the truth? See 1L 17, 34, and note, yevtiopevovs is used
without the article, as in II. 21, 17.
2 Literally, "from a finger's breadth (.7 in.) to two cubits."
3 See Diogenes Laertius, 6, 34, who says that Demosthenes
was the man thus pointed at.
24
BOOK III. ii. 6-12
and sophisms like The Liar. 1 - Of course, he says,
even when a man is engaged in subjects of this kind
he has to preserve his freedom from deception. But
what kind of a man ought to engage in them?
Only the one who is already good and excellent.
Do you, then, fall short in this ? Have you already
attained perfection in the other subjects ? Are you
proof against deception in handling small change?
If you see a pretty wench, do you resist the sense-
impression ? If your neighbour receives an inheri-
tance, do you not feel a twinge of envy ? And is
security of judgement now the only thing in which
you fall short ? Wretch, even while you are study-
ing these very topics you tremble and are worried
for fear someone despises you, and you ask whether
anybody is saying anything about you. And if
someone should come and say, ee A discussion arising
as to who was the best of the philosophers, someone
who was there said that So-and-so was the only real
philosopher," immediately your poor little one-inch
soul shoots up a yard high. 2 But if another party to
the discussion says, " Nonsense, it's a waste of time
to listen to So-and-so. Why, what does he know ?
He has the rudiments, but nothing else," you are
beside yourself, you grow pale, immediately you
shout, u I'll show him who I am, that I am a great
philosopher ! " Yet we see what a man is by just
such conduct. Why do you wish to show it by any-
thing else? Do you not know that Diogenes 3
showed one of the sophists thus, pointing out his
middle finger at him, 4 and then when the man. was
furious with rage, remarked, " That's So-and-so ; I've
pointed him out to you." For a man is not some-
* Regarded in antiquity as an insulting gesture.
25
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
<J>9 %vkov, d\"X? orav -U9 ra
Soy fiara avrov Sei^rj, rore avrov a>9 avQpcoTrov
S&etgev.
13 BXe7T6>/xz> /cat aov ra Soy/Aara. /z-^ <ya/9 ov
$rj\6v eo~riv, ort, av TTJV Trpoaipeaw TTJV cravrov
lv ovSevl rideffai, e%co Se /3\7ri<$ els TO, airpoai-
pera, ri epel 6 Setz^a /cal ri$ elvat, &6j;ei$, el
^iXoXo^o^, el "KpvcnTTTrov aveyvcotca)? * rj '
rpov ; el fiev yap KOI 'A/o^e&jfMW,
14 airavra. ri en a<yo)via$, fj,r} ov Sei^Tj^ rjfuv, r/9
el ; &\ei$ <roi ewco, rLva rj/uv
raireivov,
Travra ^e^ofxevoVy iracnv ey/cakovvra,
v)(Tvyiav ayovra, ir&pTrepov ravra
15 f]}jilv eSe^^a?. direKde vvv /cal avayiyvaa-fce
^ApxeSq/jLOv* elra /ti}? av fcaTairecry real -^ro<prf<r i r),
awed aves* TOIOVTOS yap ae fievei 8dvaTo$ } 0X09 3
/cal TOV riva TTOT' e/celvov ; TQV K/HW.* ical
16 e#eZz>o9 /^eya e(f>p6vei, ore evbet, 'Apxefynov. rd\a$
ov de\et$ atyelvai ravra ra {jLrjSev 7rpb$ ere ;
TrpeTrei ravra ro9 ^vvapevoi^ St^a rapa^? avra
fjuivOdvevv, ol9 e^etmv elirelv f( OVK opyL^opat,, ov
\VTTOV 110,1* ov <f>0ov&, ov KoikvofJiat,, ov/c dva<y-
Ka^opaL. ri pot, \OVTTQV ; e
17 aya. HS&fjLev, 7ra>9 wept ra9
1 Kronenberg ; aveyvcas 8.
2 avQpwirdpiov (" a mean little person") very plausibly
suggested by Reiske.
3 Menage : olov S. * Reiske : Kplyeiv 8.
1 See critical note.
2 A Stoic philosopher of no great prominence, who must be
supposed to have died from an apoplectic stroke occasioned by
26
BOOK III. n. 12-17
thing like a stone or a stick of wood to be pointed
out with a finger, but when one shows a man's
judgements, then one shows him as a man.
Let us take a look at your judgements too. Is it
not evident that you set no value on your own moral
purpose, but look beyond to the things that lie out-
side the province of the moral purpose, namely, what
So-and-so will say, and what impression you will
make, whether men will think you a scholar, or
that you have read Chrysippus or Antipater ? Why,
if you have read them and Archedemus too, you
have everything ! Why are you any longer worried
for fear you will not show us who you are ? Do you
wish me to tell you what kind of a man you have
shown us that you are? A person who comes into
our presence 1 mean, hypercritical,, quick-tempered,
cowardly, finding fault with everything, blaming
everybody, never quiet, vain-glorious ; these are the
qualities which you have exhibited to us. Go away
now and read Archedemus; then if a mouse falls
down and makes a noise, you are dead with fright.
For the same kind of death awaits you that carried
off what's his name? oh, yes, Crinus. 2 He, too,
was proud of himself because he could understand
Archedemus. Wretch, are you not willing to let
alone those things that do not concern you? They
are appropriate for those who can study them with-
out disturbance of spirit, who have the right to say,
(e I do not yield to anger, or sorrow, or envy ; I am
not subject to restraint, or to compulsion. What do
I yet lack?, I enjoy leisure, I have peace of mind.
Let us see how we ought to deal with equivocal
fright at a mouse i ailing down from the wall. See Von Arnim
in the Meal-Encyclopadfe, 2 s.v.
27
VOL. II. B
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Set
eh ovSev aroirov
18 etceivtov ecrrl ravra. TO? ev Tra9ov<n
Trvp Kaleiv, apMTTav, av OVT&S TV^y, /cal a&eiv
KOI opxelcrOat,* i3v6i%op,ivov Se TOV 7r\oiov vv ^QI
<y. Ti? v\t] TOV a<ya0ov fcal irpo? ri ]j,d\icrT*
acr/CTjTeov.
1 f/ TX?? TOV /ca\ov /cal ayadov TO tSiov
WKOV, TO <r<w/Aa S' laTpov Kal laTpakeiiTTov, 1 o
0-7/005 ryec&pyov v\^' epyov Se fca\ov Kal ayadov
2 TO j(pfj<rQat, ra^9 <f>avTao-iai$ KCLTO, fyvcrw. 7re<j>v-
fcev Se Trao'a ^u%^ wcrTrep T^ oX^d
717)09 TO ^ez)So9 avavevGW, Trpos TO
Tfi)? irpos /j,ev TO ayadov
t, TT/OO? Se TO tca/cov K/c\i,TiK(o$,
3 Be TO /j,qT KCLKOV prfr a<ya9bv ovSeTepoos. 009
<yap TO TOV Ka/crap09 vo/jao-jJLa ov/c egeaTiv airo-
av Se^);9 3 eei ov
&ei TO CLVT avTov Ti"(d\ovjj,evov 9 OVTO)$ e^ei /cal eTrl
4 T^9 ^ITV^TJ^. TO ayadbv fyavev ev0v$ eKwycrev e^)'
avTO, to Katcov a<^* avTov. ovSeiroTe S J ajaSov
evapyfj arroSoKipaaei, tyvxy, ov
1 Schweighauser : faraXdirrov 8,
28
BOOK IIL ii. 17-111. 4
premisses in arguments ; let us see how a person
may adopt an hypothesis and yet not be led to an
absurd conclusion/' These things belong to men of
that type. When men are prospering it is appropriate
to light a fire, to take luncheon, and, if you will, even
to sing and dance ; but when the ship is already
sinking you come up to me and start to hoist the
topsails !
CHAPTER III
What is the subject-matter with which the good man has
to deal ; and what should be the chief object of our
training ?
THE subject-matter with which the good and
excellent man has to deal is his own governing
principle, that of a physician and the masseur is
the body, of a farmer is his farm ; but the function
of the good and excellent man is to deal with his
impressions in accordance with nature. Now just as
it is the nature of every soul to assent to the true,
dissent from the false, and to withhold judgement
in a matter of uncertainty, so it is its nature to be
moved with desire toward the good, with aversion
toward the evil, and feel neutral toward what is
neither evil nor good. For just as neither the
banker nor the greengrocer may legally refuse the
coinage of Caesar, but if you present it, whether he
will or no, he must turn over to you what you are
purchasing with it, so it is also with the soul. The
instant the good appears it attracts the soul to itself,
while the evil repels the soul from itself. A soul
will never refuse a clear sense-impression of good,
29
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
"Xov TI TO JLaicrapos vofiia-pa. evdev
vracra /cwrjcris fcal dvOpdn'jrov KOI deov.
5 Am TOUTO irdo-ys ol/ceiorrjros irpoKplverat, TO
dyadov. ovSev e/zol /cal Trarpi, dk\a TO*
dyaSq). " OVTM? el <Ttc\rjpQ$ ; '* ovrws <y&p
Tretpv/ca* TOVTO p,oi TO vofiiarfia SebooKev 6 ^eo?.
6 $ia TOVTO, el TOV Ka\ov /cal Si/caiov TO dyaObv
GTepov eo~Tiv, oiy^Tai /cal iraTrjp KOI <iSeX<o? KOI
7 Trcnpls /cal Tidvia Ta 7rpa<y/jt,aTa. cMC <ya> TO
dov uTre/oiSft), r iva crv o"%^? 3 /cal irapa-
croi ; CUVT\ TWOS ; " TtaT^p &ov dpl."
' ovtc a*ya66v. " aSeX<po? crov e/u." aXX*
8 OVK a<ya66v. lav 8' iv op07) Trpoaipecret, 6a>fiev,
auro TO 1 Tijpelv Ta<? o"^0"t5 ayaflov <yiveTai KOI
\otirov o T&V IKTOS TIVCOV e/cxap&v, OVTO? TOV
9 ayadov Tvy^dvei. " alpei Ta xpifaaTa o traTrjp"
* ov /3Xa7TTe^. " el-ei TO irKeov TOV dypov 6
" 2 ocrov /cal 0\ei. JJLTJ TI ovv TOV
albrujLOVOS, fitj TI TOV TTIO-TOV, pq TI TOV <^)iXa-
10 $e\(f>ov ; /c TavTf]<; yap TT)? overlap TL$ SvvaTai
e/^SaXew/ ; ovS* 6 Zev$. ovSe yap yOekriaev, aXX*
67r' e/iol auTO lirotycrev fcal eSco/cep olov el^ev
atctiikvTov, dvavdyfcacrTOV, aTrapairb-
11 "QTOV ovv aXkcp aXXo TO vo^ta^a y, e/celvo
12
; apyvpirp. Bel^ov fcal
TIVI vou*iff-
1 r6 added "by Beiske.
2 ^ a$X$6s added by Scliweighauser.
8 Sb (or 8a) : IKCIVOS S.
3
BOOK III. in. 4~i2
any more than a man will refuse the coinage of
Caesar. On this concept of the good hangs every
impulse to act both of man and of God.
That is why the good is preferred above every
form of kinship. My father is nothing to me, but
only the good. ee Are you so hard-hearted?" Yes,
that is my nature. This is the coinage which God
has given me. For that reason, if the good is some-
thing different from the noble and the just,* then
father and brother and country and all relationships
simply disappear. But shall I neglect my good, so
that you may have it, and shall I make way for you ?
What for ? " I am your father." But not a good.
"I am your brother." But not a good. If, how-
ever, we define the good as consisting in a right
moral purpose, then the mere preservation of the
relationships of life becomes a good; and further-
more, he who gives up some of the externals achieves
the good. " My father is taking away my money."
But he is doing you no harm. " My brother is going
to get the larger part of the farm." Let him have
all he wants. That does not help him at all to get
a part of your modesty, does it, or of your fidelity, or
of your brotherly love ? Why, from a possession of
this kind who can eject you ? Not even Zeus. Nay,
nor did He even wish to, but this matter He put
under my control, and He gave it to me even as
He had it Himself, free from hindrance, compulsion,
restraint.
When, therefore, different persons have different
pieces of coinage, a man offers the coin and gets what
is bought by it. A thief has come to the province
as Proconsul. What coinage does he use? Silver.
Offer it and carry away what you wish. An adulterer
3*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
pan yjpr\Tai ; tcopacr&iois. " XaySe," <j>T}criv t " TO
z/o/acr/za KOI TrcoX^croz; uot, TO TrpayudTiov." 809
13 /cal dyopa^e. a\\o$ Trepl TraiSdpia eo-TrovSafCGV.
So 9 auTft> TO vo/jLMr/jia teal \df3e b 0e\i$. aXXo?
So9 iTTTrdpiov tca\bv i) Kvvdptov*
KCLl O"TVG)V 7ra>\lJ(7(> Cbvf CtVTOV
CLVTQV dvayfcd^ei, ecrcodev, 6 TO
14 Hpo? TOVTO fj,d\icrTa TO eZSo9 avrov
crreov. evdvs opQpov irpoekQcov ov av t%9, 01^ az/
aKOvaflSj e^era^e, aTro/cpivov &>9 77^09 epft)T^/xa.
TL eZSe? ; Ka\ov rj KO\IJV ; e'jraje TOZ/ fcavova.
dtrpoaiperov fy TrpoaiperLKov ; dirpoaipeiov alpe
15 e'a). Tt eISe9 ; Trev9ovvr^ eirl re/cvov rekevrfj ;
eTraye rov fcavbva. o 6dvaro<; eariv aTrpoaiperov
alpe e/c TOV fiecrov. air^VTr}^ aoi viraros ; eTrcvye
rbv Kavova. vTrareia ITOIQV tl ecrnv ; dirpoaipe-
rov f) TrpoaipeTifcov ; dTTpoaipeTow alpe KOI
rovro, OVK ecm SOKI,/J,OV a7ro/9aXe, ov&ev Trpbs
16 ae. /cal TOVTO el eirotovfAev teal 7r/)09 TOVTO
r)<r/covfj,0a fca& yuepav e% opdpov pe^pi, VVKTOS,
17 ejiveTO av TI } vrj TOV9 6eov$. vvv & evQv? VTTO
Trdaijs $avTa<ria<$ tce^voTe^ \a/jL/3avo/j,eda teal
/U.OVOV, L7Tp apa, V T7J (T^oXfj fJLlKpOV TL Sl>y6l~
pofteda* etT 1 eeX#oz>T9 av iScd/jLev TrevOovvTa*
\eyofiev " aTrcoXero " av viraTOV, " pa/capi 09."
1 S: ircvBovv S.
1 The reference is to God, who has ordained that every
man should prefer what he regards as "good" to everything
else. See 5 above. The fault consists in making a wrong
32
BOOK III. m. 12-17
has come. What coinage does he use ? Frail wenches.
"Take/' says one, "the coin and sell me the little
baggage." Give, and buy. Another is interested in
boys. Give him the coin and take what you wish.
Another is fond of hunting. Give him a fine horse
or dog ; with sighs and groans he will sell for it what
you wish ; for Another constrains him from within,
the one who has established this currency. 1
It is chiefly with this principle in mind that a man
must exercise himself. Go out of the house at early
dawn, and no matter whom you see or whom you
hear, examine him and then answer as you would to
a question. What did you see ? A handsome man
or a handsome woman ? Apply your rule. Is it out-
side the province of the moral purpose,, or inside?
Outside. Away with it. What did you see? A
man in grief over the death of his child? Apply
your rule. Death lies outside the province of the
moral purpose. Out of the way with it. Did a
Consul meet you ? Apply your rule. What sort of
thing is a consulship? Outside the province of the
moral purpose, or inside ? Outside. Away with it, too,
it does not meet the test ; throw it away, it does not
concern you. If we had kept doing this and had exer-
cised ourselves from dawn till dark with this principle
in mind, by the gods, something would have been
achieved ! But as it is, we are caught gaping straight-
way at every external impression that comes along, and
we wake up a little only during the lecture, if indeed
we do so even then. After that is over we go out,
and if we see a man in grief, we say, " It is all over
with him " ; if we see a Consul, we say, " Happy
choice of what is to be considered "good." For (< Another"
as a reverent form of reference to Zeus, see I. 25, 13 and note.
33
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
av %Q)pi(r{J,VOV f " Tarawa) po$ "" av Trevrjra,
18 " a6\io$, OVK l%i 7T006V <j)dyrj" ravr* oZv
efCKOTrreiv Bel ra irovypa Soyjjiara, irepl rovro
crvvTerdcrdai,. ri 'yap ecm, TO Kkafeiv teal
%iv ; Soy/Aa. ri BvaTv^ia ; Bojpa. ri <T
ri ^f)(ovoLa y rt peiM^ri?, ri fcaryyopia, T[ ao-epeia,
19 TI <f>\vapia ; ravra iravra SoyfJiard Icrri real
aA,Xo ov$ev tcai Soy/nara jrepl rwv aTrpoatpercov
G>9 OVTMV dyadwv ical /cafc&v. ravrd ris enl ra
TTpoaiperifca /^eraSera), /caya) avrbv eyyvw/Jiat, STL
ev(rradriaet s ft)? av e^y T(i Trepl avrov.
20 Olov ear iv q \eKavr] rov vSaro?, roiovrov fj
tyvxtf* ^ ov % avyrj fj TrpocnriTrrovcra, r& vSart,,
21 roiovrov at <f)avra<riat. orav ovv TO vScop icivridr),
Bo/ct fjL&v Kalrj avyrj /cwelaOat,, ov pevroi ictvelrat.
22 real orav roivvv crfcorooOf) rw, ou% at re-^yai /cal
at dperal avy^eovrat, d\\a TO Trvevpa,, e</>* ov
elcriv* xaracrrdvro^ Se tcadicrrarai tcafcelva.
rov dfcoarfjuos v dedrpcd
I ToO S* emrpQTTOv r^ 'HTreipov
<r7rov$da~avrc$ /ccD/t^)S mil /cal ITT! rovrw
<ria \oiSop7j6evros, elra 1^779 aTrayyeiXavros 7rpb$
34
BOOK III. m. i7-iv. i
man"; if we see an exile, "Poor fellow"; or a
poverty-stricken person, " Wretched man, he has
nothing with which to get a bite to eat." These,
then, are the vicious judgements which we ought to
eradicate ; this is the subject upon which we ought
to concentrate our efforts. Why, what is weeping
and sighing? A judgement. What is misfortune?
A judgement. What are strife, disagreement, fault-
finding, accusing, impiety, foolishness ? They are all
judgements, and that, too, judgements about things
that lie outside the province of moral purpose,
assumed to be good or evil. Let a man but transfer
his judgements to matters that lie within the
province of the moral purpose, and I guarantee that
he will be steadfast, whatever be the state of things
about him.
The soul is something like a bowl of water, and
the external impressions something like the ray of
light that falls upon the water. Now when the
water is disturbed, it looks as though the ray of
light is disturbed too, but it is not disturbed. And
so, therefore, when a man has an attack of vertigo,
it is not the arts and the virtues that are thrown
into confusion, but the spirit in which they exist;
and when this grows steady again, so do they too.
CHAPTER IV
To the man who took sides, in an undignified manner,
while in a theatre
THE Procurator of Epirus took the side of a comic
actor in a somewhat undignified manner and was
reviled by the people for doing so. Thereupon he
brought word to Epictetus that he had been reviled,
35
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
avTOv, on e\oi$optf0r), KOI dyava/CTOvvros
T0t>9 \oiSoprj(ravTa$ Kal n icatcov,
2 ecTTTOv^a^ov teal OVTOI &>9 Kal av. C^TTWTO? 8'
eteeivov OUTGO? ovv TO <T7rov&d%ei ; 2e, e^,
avr&v ap^ovra^ rov Ka/cra/oo?
OVTO)$ (TTTOvSd&VTa OVK
3 efj,\\ov /cal avrol ourci)9 (TTTOvSd^eiv ; el yap ^ Sel
(nrov&d%t,v, fjvrj&e <rv crTrouSafe- el Se Set, ri
el ere e/MLfji^a'avro ; rivas yap eyov-
ol TroXXol rj TOU? vTrepe'XpVTas
airiScoo'iv e\9ovTe<$ el$ ra dear pa
4 ^ V/JMS ; <f opa TTW? o eTrirpoTro? TOU Katcra/oo?
Oecopel' fcercpayev Kayo* roivvv fcpavydo-co. ova-
/cdyca dvaTrrjSrfcro). ol SovXot avrov
Kpavyd^ovre^ eye*) S' OUA:
irdvT&v auro? ocroz> Swa/ta^
6 elSez^a^ <re ow Set, oraz; dcrep f )(r) ek TO dearpov,
on Kcwtov ela-epxp KOI irapd^ety^a rot? aXXo^9,
6 7T&)9 avrovs SeZ Oeapelv. ri ovv ere e\ot,86povv ;
on 7ra9 av6po)7ro$ finrel TO /j,7r6$i%ov. eicelvoi
(TT<f)ait(i)dfjvai, rjQekov TOV Sewa, o~v eTepov*
itcelvot, <rol ev7r6$L%ov /cal ait eKelvow. cru
evpiffKOv i<T^ipoTpo9* etcelvoi o eSvvavTO eiroiovv,
1 e\oiobpovv TO efjwrofti&v. TI ovv 6e\et$ ; f (va <rv
fiev 7roi^9 o 0e\^ t eicelvot Se
36
BOOK III. iv. 1-7
and gave expression to his indignation at the men
who had so reviled him. Why, what wrong were
they doing ? said Epictetus. They too were taking
sides, just as you yourself were. But when the
other asked. Is that the way, then, in which a man
takes sides? he replied, Yes., they saw you, their
Governor, the friend and Procurator of Caesar,
taking sides in this way, and weren't they likely to
take sides themselves in the same way? Why, if
people should not take sides in this way, you had
better not do so yourself; but if they should, why
are you angry if they imitated you ? For whom have
the people to imitate but you, their superior?
Whom do they look to but you, when they go to the
theatres? "See," says one of them, "how the
Procurator of Caesar acts in the theatre ; he
shouts ; very well, I'll shout too. He jumps up and
down; I'll jump up and down too. His claque of
slaves sit in different parts of the house and shout,
whereas I haven't any slaves; very well, I'll shout
as loud as I can to make up for all of them." You
ought to know, then, that when you enter the
theatre, you enter as a standard of behaviour and as
an example to the rest, showing them how they
ought to act in the theatre. Why, then, did they
revile you? Because every man hates what stands
in his way. They wanted So-and-so to get the
crown, while you wanted the other man to get it.
They were standing in your way, and you in theirs,
You turned out to be the stronger ; they did what
they could, and reviled what was standing in their
way. What, then, do you wish ? That you should
be able to do what you wish, but that they should
not even say what they wish? And what is there
37
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
0e\ovcrw ; /cal rl davfiacrrov ; ol jecopjol TOP
Ala ov \ot,So poverty, OTCLV e/jLTroSi^Gwrat, VTT
avTOV ,* ol vavTat, ov \oi$opovcn ; TOP JLaicrapa
iravovTCLL \oiSopovvT$ ; TL ovv ; ov yiyv&crKei 6
8 Zeu9 ; TW 'KaLffapb OVK aira^&hXovTai ra \eyo-
fjt,eva ; ri ovv iroiel ; olSev ori t av Trdvras rov$
9 \oiSopovvras KoXdZy, ou% e%ei rLvwv ap%ei. ri
ovv ; eSet elaep^o^evov eh TO dearpov TOVTO
l/cetvo " aye iva Trjprjcra) TTJV epavTOv Trpoaipecnv
10 efjiol Trap* e/z-e <pi\Tepo$ ov&efa* <ye\oiov ovv, f iv
LI aXXo? viKriarj fccdftcpBcbv, / j3\d7rreo'@ai,, Tiva
ovv dlX.0) viKrjarai ; ^Toi^ vitc&vTa* Kal OVTG>$ ael
r}(TGi, s bv @e\a), *
, iv o/cop OGTOU? ei? a<ya>va$ ycov
ava/ctfpvgov CLVTOV Ne/tea, TlvOia, *'Iv6fua, 'OXv/A-
Trta* ev <f>avpq> Se /JLTJ TrXeoi/e/eret ^S % v<pdp7ra^
12 TO KOIVOV. el Se ^77, avfyov \oiSopovfjL6vos' 0)9,
OTav TavTa Troifjs rol<$ 7roXXo?9, el$ l&ov l/eeivoi?
vocrov
v, ev6d$e /cal ftovkopai cn
2 efc olfcov. -'E^ olft(p <yap avocros ^9 <rv ; ov
aKoneis, ? rt voids evddSe T&V TT/JO? Trjv
1 s : trKarrop.evQvs S.
1 The word " school n does not, of course, appear in the
Greek, but such was the nature of the educational institution
which Epictetua conducted, and that is clearly what is meant
here. See in particular Ivo Bruna : DeSchola, Epicteti (1897),
BOOK III. iv. 7-v. 2
surprising in all that? Don't the farmers revile
Zeus, when he stands ia their way? Don't the
sailors revile Zeus ? Do men ever stop reviling
Caesar? What then? Doesn't Zeus know about
it? Isn't Caesar informed of what is said? What,
then, does he do ? He knows that if he punishes
all who revile him he will have no one left to rule
over. What then ? Ought you upon entering the
theatre to say, "Come, let's see that Sophron gets
the crown " ? and not rather, " Come, let me in this
subject-matter maintain niy moral purpose in accord
with nature " ? No one is dearer to me than my-
self; it is absurd, therefore, for me to let myself be
hurt in order that another man may win a victory as a
comic actor. Whom, then, do I wish to win the
victory ? The victor ; and so the one whom I wish
to win the victory will always win it. But I wish
Sophron to get the crown. Stage as many contests
as you will in your own house, and proclaim him
victor in the Nemean, Pythian, Isthmian, and
Olympic games; but out in public do not arrogate
to yourself more than your due, and do not filch
away a public privilege. Otherwise you must
put up with being reviled; because, when you do
the same things that the people do, you are putting
yourself on their level.
CHAPTER V
To those who leave school l because of illness
I AM ill here, says one of the students, and want
to go back home. What, were you free from illness
and the studies by Colardeau, Halbauer, and Hartmaunn, listed
in Vol. I, Introditctitin.
39
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TTpoaLpecrw TVJV cravrov <epoi>Tft)z>, 2V eTravop-
ffa)dfj ; el p,ev yap fj,r)&V dvvets, 7repicrcr)$ real
3 r}\6e<$> osmQi, 7n,jjL6\ov T&V ev oltc&. el yap
/JLTJ ovvaTal crov TO rjye/Movi/cov o")(elv fcara
TO 7' dypiSiov Swijo'eTai,' 1 TO <ye
av%tfcrL$, TQV Trarepa yripoKOftrja-eis, ev rfj ayopa
avaa"Tpa<f)ijo"r], ap^ew /ca/co? /ca/ca>9 ri TTOTC
4 Troitfcrett r&v 1^9. e Se 7rapaKO\ov6el<s o-auT&>,
on a7ro/3aAA,e9 TWO, Soypara <$av\a KCU aA,X'
avr avT&v avaXjafiftdveis KOI rrjv cravrov
ardcriv /jLeraredei/ca^ cnro r&v aTrpoaiperciyv eVl
ra TrpoaipGTifcd, KOLV TTOT eijrr)? " oi/noi" ov
Xeyei? Sta TQV Trarepa, TQV aSeX<oz>, oKKcu
5 u 8t* /ie/* 6TL V7ro\oyiy VQO-QV ; ov/c oloa<$,
on /cal VOGOS K(U Odvaros tcarakaftelv r//ia9
0(j)ei\ovaiv TI -TTOTC TTOWVVTCK; ; TOV yecopybv
<yQ*p<yovvTa /caTaha/Mftdvovcri, TOV vawriKov
6 TT\eovTa. (rv TI 0e\ei$ TTOL&V KaTaX.rjfydfjvai ;
TI TTOTe /lev yap TTOiOVVTa ae oel rcaTa\r)$drivai.
et TL 6%t9 TOVTOV Kpel&CTOV TCOl&V tCaTa\7)(j)d'f]-
VOM, Troiei, Ifcelvo.
7 'E/xol fiV yap KaTa\rj<f)0r)vai, yevoiTO
d\\ov eTnfji6\ovfjLevG> rj
6/^7)9, f tv diraBris, l
8 EV \u^e/)09. TavTa eTriT'rjoevcdv de\a> vpe-
(will prosper) Elter rather plausibly.
1 See the critical note.
40
BOOK III. v. 2-8
at home? Do you not raise the question whether
you are doing here any of the things that have a
bearing upon your moral purpose, so that it shall be
improved? For if you are not accomplishing any-
thing, it was no use for you to have come in the first
place. Go back and tend to your affairs at home.
For if your governing principle cannot be brought
into conformity with nature, no doubt your paltry
piece of land can be made to conform with it, 1 You
will increase the amount of your small change ; you
will care for your father in his old age., you will walk
up and down in the market, you will hold office ; a
poor wretch yourself, you will do wretchedly what-
ever comes next. But if you understand yourself,
namely, that you are putting away certain bad
judgements and taking on others in their place, and
that you have transferred your status from what lies
outside the province of the moral purpose to what
lies inside the same, and that if ever you say
<e Alas ! " you are speaking, not for your father's sake,
or your brother's sake, but " for my own sake," then
why take account of illness any longer? Do you
not know that disease and death needs must over-
take us, no matter what we are doing? They over-
take the farmer at his work in the fields, the sailor
on the sea. What do you wish to be doing when it
overtakes you ? For no matter what you do you will
have to be overtaken by death. If you have any-
thing better to be doing when you are so overtaken,
get to work on that.
As for me, I would fain that death overtook me
occupied with nothing but my own moral purpose,
trying to make it tranquil, unhampered, - uncon-
strained, free. This is what I wish to be engaged in
41
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Qfjvat,, r iv elirdv Svv&fjuu ra> defy " pr] TI Trape-
(3'Y]V crov ra<? evrokds ; \JL I Y\ TI 7:730?
exprj&duwv rals a^oppal^ a? eScoKa? ;
rai? alcrdr)cr<nv a/VXa)?, /M? rt rats*
jM] rl aoi TTQT evefcaXecra ; ^r\ n
9 <rov rrjv SioiKfjcriv ; evo&rjcra, ore rjdekrjcras* teal
ol d\\oi } a\\* eyo) etccav. irivr)? lyevo/jLyv aov
OVK ?}p!;a, ort crv ovtc
v^rjcra <ip%^9 i*sf\ ri
TOVTOV eve/ca cnwyvorepov elSe? ; pi) ov
croi irore <j>ai$pq) rq> irpcMTcoTrG},
10 eroi/jLo? el TI eTrirdcrcreis, ec TI a-rjiJiaiveis ; vvv
@e\6i,$ aTrekdew K T^9 Travrjyv pews' a7rt,/ai s
(TGI e%e iraa-av, STL r)%ltovd<s pe
yvpicrat, <roi KOI Ibelv epya ra era /cal
11 O-QV orv/jLTrapaKoXovdrjcrai,}- ravrd f
fjievov, ravra jpd<^ovra t ravra dv
/caTa\d/3oi o ddvaro?.
12 'A\X' f) /J,qT1)p }J,OV TT)V K6(f>d\7)V VOCTOVVTOS OV
/cpqrqcrei. ' AmOi, TOLVVV Trpo? rrjv fjLTjrepa'
a%iO yap el TTJV Kefyakrjv Kparovpevo^ vocrelv.
13 *AXX' eVl K\ivapiov KO/JL^OV eV of/ca> Karefcei/Ji'rjv.
^AjiriBL <rov. eirl TO tc\ivdpiov r) 2 vyiaivcov
el eVl TOIOVTOV /cara/celo-dai. prj ToLvvv
e, a Swacrai /cel Troielv.
14 *AXX' o %co/cpdrr)<; ri \eyet, ,* (t &<nrep
W," (frrjcriv, ** 'fcalpei* ,TOV aypbv TOV
vroi&v Kpefocrova, aXXo? rov ITTTTOV, QVT&S eyco
1 (rot after this word deleted in 5*
42
BOOK III. v. 8-14
when death finds me, so that I may be able to say to
God, "Have I in any respect transgressed Thy
commands? Have I in any respect misused the
resources which Thou gavest me, or used my senses
to no purpose, or my preconceptions ? Have I ever
found any fault with Thee? Have I blamed Thy
governance at all? I fell sick, when it was Thy
will ; so did other men, but I willingly. I became
poor, it being Thy will, but with joy. I have held
no office, because Thou didst not will it, and I never
set my heart upon office. Hast Thou ever seen me
for that reason greatly dejected? Have I not ever
come before Thee with a radiant countenance, ready
for any injunctions or orders Thou mightest give?
And now it is Thy will that I leave this festival; I
go, I am full of gratitude to Thee that Thou hast
deemed me worthy to take part in this festival with
Thee, and to see Thy works, and to understand Thy
governance/' Be this my thought, this my writing,
this rny reading, when death comes upon me.
But my mother will not hold my head in her arms
when I am ill. Very well, go back to your mother ;
you are just the sort of person that deserves to have
his head held in somebody's arms when he is ill 1
But at home I used to have a nice bed to lie on,
Go back to your bed ; without doubt you deserve to
lie on sueh a fine bed even when you are well !
Pray^ then, do not lose by staying here what you
can do there.
But what does Socrates say? "As one man
rejoices/* remarks he, "in improving his own farm,
and another his own horse, so I rejoice day by day
43
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
15 /3eXrioi> <yiVQ[LV<$? Hpo? n ; /AIJ rt Trpo?
\%eiSia; "Avdpwire, V(ptf/ji6i. M.TJ n TT/OO?
16 9e(i>pY]i*dria ; Tt, Troiei? ; Kal p/rjv ov /?Xe7r&>,
rl earlv aXXo, rrepl o da")(p\ovvrai ol <pL\6cro(f>oi.
OvSev <TOL $otci elvat, TO ^SeTTOTe eyfcaXea-ai
rwl, fir) 0&, JJLTJ avd ptotrw* ^ ^e^acrO "ai
^beva* TO avrb TTpocrwrrov ael KOI eicfyepeiv /cat
17 elcrfiepew ; ravra r\v, a ^'Set o l&cotcpdT'r]?, KOL
o/ift)? ouSeTrore elTrez^, ore ol&ev 11 r) SiSdatcei.
el Se Ti? \6%ei$ia yrei rj OecopyjAdria, aTryyev
7T/)09 mpoarayopaVi irpbs 'iTririav. /cal jap el
"Kd'xavd "TO &TWV eX^X^ez^, TTyoo? rov Krjirov-
pbv av avrbv dTrtfyayGv* ri$ ovv vp&v e%e^
18 ravrriv rrjv eVi/SoX^v / eirei rot el ef^eTe, 1 fcal
evocrelre av rj&ecos /cal eTreivare /cal aTrefivrja'KeTe?'
19 el Tt9 vfji&v ypdaB'T} /copacriov /cojAifrov, olSev on
1 Tlv@o/j,evov Se TWOS, Tra)? 3 vvv //-aXXoi/
f jrovif)/j,evov TOV Xoyou irp6*repov /^ei^ove^ irpo-
2 KOTTol tfaaVy Kara ri, <j>7j s eK'jreTrovrjrai Kal
Kara rl jj,eiov? at rrpoKoiral rore r)a~av ; /cadb
1 Set f%re 8. 2 Sc-: ireivare and airoevf]ffKTe 8.
8 Schweighauser : r&v S.
1 The closest parallels from Xenophon (Mem. I. 6. 8 and
14) and Plato (Prot. SI 8 A) express the idea so differently
that we have here probably (through Chrysip^ms) a fragment
from one of the lost Socratic dialogues, of which there was a
large body.
44
BOOK III. v. i 4 -vi. 2
in following the course of my own improvement." 1
In what respect; in little philosophic phrases?
Man, hold your tongue. In little philosophic
theories, then? What are you doing? Well, I
don't see anything else that the philosophers spend
their time on. Is it nothing in your eyes never to
bring accusation against anyone, be it God or man?
Never to blame anyone ? Always to wear the same
expression on one's face, whether one is coming out
or going in? 2 These are the things which Socrates
knew, and yet he never said that he either knew or
taught anything. But if someone called for little
philosophic phrases or theories, he used to take him
over to Protagoras or Hippias. It was just as though
someone had come to him for fresh vegetables, and
he would have taken him over to the market
gardener. Who, then, among you makes this pur-
pose of Socrates the purpose of his own life ? Why,
if you did, you would have been glad even to be ill,
and to go hungry, and to die. If any one of you was
ever in love with a pretty wench, he knows that
what I say is true.
CHAPTER VI
Some scattered sayings
WHEN someone asked how it was that, despite
the greater amount of work which was done nowa-
days in logic, there was more progress made in
former times, Epictetus replied, On what has labour
been expended in our time, and in what was the
progress greater in those days? For in that upon
a See also about Socrates in Aelian, Far. Hist. 9, 7.
45
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
jap vvv eKTTGTrowrjTai,, Kara rovro real Trpo/coTral
3 vvv evpedtfeovTcu. /cal vvv JJLCV &<rre <rv\\o-
fyi&fjLOvs dva\VLV e/cTreTrowrjrat, /cal rrpOKOirai
jlvovrai* rare 8' Sxrre rb rjjepoviKov Kara
$v<iiv e^ov rvjpricrai, /cal %6Troveiro fcal irpo/coTral
4 $)<rav. firj ovv evdXkacrcre p^Be ^Jret, onrav a\\6
v aXXw TrpOKOTrreiv. aXX' IfSe, e? rt?
TTyoo? TQVT<P &v, &orr Kara fyvcriv eyjciv teal
ov TrpoKOTrrei. ovSeva jap evpfaet,?.
5 *0 (TTrovSaios aiJTTrjTos* fcal 1 jap OVK ayaivi-
6 ^erai, OTTOV JUT) Kpeicrcrcov^ e&riv. " el ra 3 Kara
rov aypbv tfeXw, X<2/3e' 4 \d/3e rovs olfcera$j
\dj3e rrjv dpfflv, \d/3e rb a-co^driop. ryv S*
Qpej~LV ov irQir)crei<$ dirorevKri/crjv ovSe rr^v
7 eicK\i(nv TrepiTTTwri/c^." et9 rovrov JJUQVOV rov
ay&va, /cadirjcriv rov Trepl r&v TTpoaiperuc&v* TTW?
oZv ov peXhei drjrryros elvai ;
8 TLvBofJLGvov Be r^z/09, ri <rrlv 6 KOIVO? vov<$,
(fryaiv, KOiVtj rt? axorj \eyoir av r}
<f>o)VG)v SiaKpiriKri, r) Be r&v fyOoyjcov
ovKert /cowij, d\\a re^Vi/cy, ot/ro)? ecrrl nva,
ol fir) iravrdirao-Lv Si<Trpajj,ijLevot, r&v av-
Kara TO.? Koiva? aifyoppas op&criv* TI
roiavrrj Kardara<n$ KQIVQ<; vovs
1 Upton's " codex": $8.
* The words that follow in 8 t el ^ faov Kpela-trcav, are
omitted in s.
8 T< added by Sb. * Aej8e added by Upton!
1 On the use of the term KOLVOS vovs in Epictetus one may
compare Benhoffer, EpikteJ, wid dU Stoa> 121 and 224. It
means simply the inteUectnal faculty that any normal man
4.6
BOOK III. YI. 2-8
which labour has been expended in our time,
progress also will be found in our time. The fact is
that in our time labour has been expended upon the
solution of syllogisms, and there is progress along
that line ; but in the early days not only had labour
been expended upon maintaining the governing
principle in a state of accord with nature, hut there*
was also progress along that line. Do not, there-
fore, substitute one thing for the other, and do not
expect, when you devote labour to one thing, to be
making progress in another. But see whether any
one of us who is devoting himself to keeping in a
state of conformity with nature, and to spending his
life so, fails to make progress. For you will find
that there is none of whom that is true.
The good man is invincible; naturally, for he
enters no contest where he is not superior. " If you
want my property in the country," says he, <e take it ;
take my servants, take my office, take my paltry
body. But you will not make my desire fail to get
what I will, nor my aversion fall into what I would
avoid." This is the only contest into which the good
man enters, one, namely, that is concerned with the
things which belong in the province of the moral
purpose; how, then, can he help but be invincible?
When someone asked him what (e general per-
ception " * was, he replied, Just as a sense of hearing
which distinguishes merely between sounds would
be called " general," but that which distinguishes
between tones is no longer '* general," bttt u techni-
cal/' so there are certain things which those men
-who are not altogether perverted see by virtue of
their general faculties* Such a mental constitution
is called " general perception."
47
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
9 Tft)Z> VG(OV TOU9 jJLCL\atCQV$ OVfC (TTt
pdSiov* ovSe 'yap rvpbv * ajKicrrpd) \aj3elv* oi
$> > -i * * * / " ^-\ -\ >f
o evcpveis, KOV airoTp7rr)$ 9 GTI ^a\\ov e^oiirai
10 rov \6yov. $10 /cal o e Pou<^>09 Ta TroXXa aire-
rpeirev TOVTO> So/cifiacrr^pi^ xpcajjievos TGOV eu-
<f>va)v Kal afyv&v. 6\7 jap STL ts CD? o Xti?09, A;ap
'ava/BaXys, V%0tfcr6Tai /cdro) eVl 7^ /caTa* rrjv
avrov KaraGKevtfv, ovrcos seal 6 evfyvij?, ocrq)
airoKpoveTat Ti? avrov. TCKTOVTCO u,aX\ov
, A *
o jr
TCOV
ovra*
1 Tov Se Siop0a>TOV elcrekBovro*; Trpbs avTov
Trap' vfji&v TG>V <f>t,\oa'6(f)G)v TTVV-
L, Kaddirep TOV<; eh %evi)v irokiv eKdowras
irapa T&V TTO\I,T&V /cal eiSoTcov, TI fcpaTicrrov
ev tcoarp,, tva KCU avTol io'TOpijo'avTes
v, a>9 Ifcelvoi TO, ev rat? TroXea-t, /cal
STL JAW <yap rpia ecrrl vrepl TOV
al ra
1 See note to the translation.
2 yrji' Kard added by Schweighauser.
1 A proverb j see Diog. Laert. 4, 47, where the adjective
a?raA<fe ("soft") is used of the cheese, which Wolf and Upton,
perhaps with good reason, wanted to add here. At all events
that is the kind of cheese which is meant.
48
BOOK III. VL Q-TO. 2
It is not an easy thing to prevail upon soft young
men ; no, and you can't catch soft cheese on a fish-
hook 1 either but the gifted young men, even if
you try to turn them away, take hold of reason all
the more firmly. And so also Rufus for the most
part tried to dissuade men, using such, efforts to
dissuade as a means of discriminating between those
who were gifted and those who were not. For he
used to say, "Just as a stone, even if you throw It
upwards, will fall downwards to earth by virtue of
its very constitution, so is also the gifted man; the
more one beats him back, the more he inclines
toward his natural object."
CHAPTER VII
A conversation with the Imperial Bailiff* of the Free
Cities, mho was an Epicurean
WHEN the Imperial Bailiff, who was an Epicurean,
came to visit him, Epictetus said : It is proper for us
laymen to make inquiry of you philosophers what
the best thing in the world is just as those who
have come to a strange town make inquiry of the
citizens and people who are familiar with the place
so that^ having learned what it is, we may go in
quest of it ourselves and behold it, as do strangers
with the sights in the cities. Now that three things
belong to man, soul, and body, and things external,
hardly anyone denies ; all you have to do, then, is to
2 Called by the Romans Corrector > an extraordinary official,
of senatorial rank, appointed by the Emperor, and charged
with carrying out administrative reforms in matters which
lay outside the general competence of the ordinary civil
authorities. See A. von Premerstein in the RGal-MncydopaMe,*
IV. 1646-56.
49
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
icpivacrOai, ri eVrl TO Kpdrnrrov. ri epovpev
3 TW av9 p<>Troi<$ ; TVJV crdptca ; KOI Sid ravrrjv
pera TOV vlov TTpoire^Trcov^ *iv rjcrOp rfj craptci ;
4 dpvijcra/jLevov ' eicelvov /cal e^Voz/ro? M^ ye-
VOLTO' Olf 7rpOO")JKt> 7Tpl TO /Cpdri-CTTOV eCTTTOU-
Safctvai, ; TLdvT&v p,d\i<rra, Trpocrrj/cet,. Tt ovv
Kpela'crov 6%oju,6v TTJ$ crap/cos ; T-^j; ^v^y, e^y*
*A<ya0a Se ra TOV KpcnLarov xpeirrovd eanv fj
5 rh rov (j>av\oTepov ; Ta TOV KparicrTOV.
^VXTJS $ d<ya&d jroTGpov TrpoaipeTi/cd, ICTTIV fj
dirpoalpeTa ; TlpocupeTtfcd. HpocupeTifcbv ovv
<TTLV r) fi&ovrj f) -fyvyitcif] ; -"Ecjb^. A.VTT) S* em
6 TIGIV <yivTai ; 7roTpov </> ciVTy ; a.\V
TOV earn** TrpOTjyovfievTjv <ydp TWO, v
Set over Lav TOV dyadov, ^? Tvry%dvovTe$
7 fji0a KaTa ^rv^v. 'Sl/AoXoryet, /cal TOVTO.
rrlvi ovv r^adrjcrofieOa TavTTjv rqv
el yap irl TOI$ ^v^fcol^
f) ov<ria TOV dyaOov. ov yap
eivat, dyaOov, a\\o S' e<f>' oS v\6ya><$
ovSe TOV Trporjyovjuievov jjurj 6Wo?
dyaOov TO eTriyevvyfia dyaOov elvai. f (va yap
ev\oyov y TO efnyevvrifjia, TO Trpoyyov/jievov Sel
8 dyaOov elvat,. aXX* ov ^ efvr^Te (frpeva? e^oz
avafcokovBa yap cpeiTe /cal ^iriKovp^ /cal
1 tyvx iK <fi s added by Schenkl (from the scholium).
1 There were at least two distinguished men of the name
at this time, but it is not clear that either one is meant.
2 More likely the headland and harbour on the northern
end of Goreyra than the almost wholly unknown town near
Mcopolis, which some have thought of.
50
BOOK III. vn. 2-8
answer the question,, Which is the best ? What are
we going to tell men ? The flesh ? And was it for
this that Maximus 1 sailed all the way to Cassiope 2
during the winter with his son,, to see him on his
way ? Was it to have pleasure in the flesh ? When
the other had denied that and said ee God forbid ! "
Epictetus continued : Is it not proper to have been
very zealous for that which is best ? It is certainly
most proper. What have we better, then, than the
flesh? The soul., said he. Are the goods of the
best thing better, or those of the inferior? Those
of the best thing. Do goods of the soul belong in
the sphere of the moral purpose, or do they not ?
To the sphere of the moral purpose. Is the pleasure
of the soul, therefore, something that belongs in
this sphere? He agreed. At what is this pro-
duced ? At itself? 3 But that is inconceivable. For
we must assume that there is already in existence a
certain antecedent essence of the good,, by partaking of
which we shall feel pleasure of soul. He agreed to
this also. At what, then, are we going to feel this
pleasure of soul ? If it is at the goods of the soul,
the essence of the good has already been discovered.
For it is impossible that one thing be good, and yet
that it is justifiable for us to take delight in some-
thing else ; nor again, that when the antecedent is
not good the consequent be good ; because, in order
to justify the consequent, the antecedent must be
good. But say not so, you Epicureans, if you are in
your right mind ; for you will be saying what is
inconsistent both with Epicurus and with the rest of
8 "An ex se ipsa! Id est, an detectamw, qwia delectamwr?"
Schweighauser.
51
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
vTro\irreTai \OLTTQV
o-Q)jj,aTt,?col<5 vj$e(r9a(, rrjv Kara ^rv^v
rjv 7rd\w e/celva yiverai, TrporjyovjJLeva /cal
ovaia rov dyadov.
10 A ia TOVTO d(j)pova)$ eTrohi&e Ma^/^09, el t?
ak\o TL 7T\vcrev TI Sia TTJV crap/co,, TOUT' ecm.
11 Sia TO Kpdrio'rov. a$pbva> Be Troiei real el
&v /cal
av croi
Iva fce/cpv/jufievo)*;, IV acr0a-
12 X&)9, iva yd) TI$ yv<o. TO yap K\e^ai ov
^Eiri/covpos cLTrofyalvet, tca/cov, aXXa TO
/cal cm irlvTiv Trepl rov \a9elv \afteiv aSvvarov,
). oTt eav /eo/^w? ^al 7Tpt,ecrTa\fjieva
^a-* emi /tal <^)tXof? ez/ TT; r P(l>pr]
al <j>i\a$ l fcal ol "EXX^^e?
ouSel? ToX/x^crefc ava/3fjvat, rovrov evetca.
14 Tt a.7T^ TOU tStou ayadov ; afypov ecrrl TOVTO,
ri\lQiQV ecrTiv. dXX J ouS' az/ Xey??? fcot, OTt
15 aire^t Tna'Tevo'O) croi. co? ya/? aSwaTov o~T4
T^ i^efSeZ (f>at,vofjt,ev(t) avy/caTa0eo'0ai /cal arrb
TOV aX^^oO? aTrovevcrai> OVTODS abvvaTov ecm,
TOT} fyaivopevov ayaOov aTrocrTrivai. o TrXouTO?
8' ayadov teal olovavel 2 TO TrQir)TiK<i)'r(nbv ye
16 TWJ^ ^8oj/a>p. Sta Tt ^ TrepiTro^ja-y avTov ; Sta
Tt Se /^r/ r^y TOV yeiTQVOS yvvaltca
1 Wolf : </>tA(as A
5 2
BOOK IIL vn. 8-16
your doctrines. The only thing left for you to say
is that pleasure of soul is pleasure in the things of
the body, and then they become matters of prime
importance, and the true nature of the good.
That is why Maximus acted foolishly if he made
his voyage for the sake of anything but the flesh,
that is, for the sake of anything but the best. And
a man acts foolishly too, if, when he is judge and
able to take the property of other men, he keeps
his hands off it. But, if you please, let us consider
this point only, that the stealing be done secretly,
safely, without anybody's knowledge. For even
Epicurus himself does not declare the act of theft
evil, but only getting caught, and merely because
it is impossible to feel certain that one will not be
detected, he says, "Do not steal/* But I tell you
that if it is done adroitly and circumspectly,, we shall
escape detection ; besides that, we have influential
friends in Rome, both men and women; and the
Greeks are a feeble folk, none of them will have the
courage to go up to Rome for that purpose. Why
refrain from your own good? This is foolish, it is
silly. And again, I shall not believe you, even if
you tell me that you do refrain. For just as it is
impossible to assent to what is seen to be false, and
to reject what is true, so it is impossible to reject
what is seen to be good. Now wealth is a good, arid
when it comes to pleasures is, so to speak, the thing
most productive of them. Why should you not
acquire it? And why should we not seduce our
neighbour's wife, if we can escape detection ? And
2 Schenkl (the word seems to be known, hitherto only
from glosses, but it seems practically certain here) : olw fa
$t (or ?js) 8.
53
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
av Swcofteda \a6elv, ov Se <fi\,vapfj 6 avtfp, Kal
17 avrov Trpo&eKrpa'X'rjXio-cduev ; el 9e\i$ elvai
<tXocro^>09 olo9 Set, el ye TeXe*09, el
crov TO 9 Soypacrw* el Se fjL^ t ovSev $iol<Ti$
T&V \e/oiJLevtov l^rm/cav* Kal avrol yap a\\a
18 \eyojji6V, aXka 8e Trowvpev. fi^els \eyo/j,ev ra
Ka\dj iroiovpev ra alo~%pd' av ryv evavrLav
St,ao-Tpo<pr)V ecrrj ^Lecnpa^fjievo^ SoyjAaTifav rd
alcr^pd, iroi&v rd /cct-Xa. 1
19 Tbv Qeov (TOL, eirwoels 'JbTUKo
ov <yafio)" " ov$* 700* ov yap
ri ovv yevrjTai ; woOev ol TroXtrai ; Tt9
7rai?>V(ri, ; ris tyijftap'xos, Tt
ri Se teal Tra&evcrei avrovs ; a
20 eVajSeiWro 77 'AOrjvalot, ; X<z/3e \LOL veov, ay aye
/cara ra Soyfiard aav. Trowrjpd ecrrt, ra Boypara,
avarpeirrifca TroXeo)?, \vfiavriKa -oil/cant, ovSe
21 yvvaigl Kpeirovra. a^>69 ravr\ avdpcoire. ^9
ev ^yefjiovouo'y TroXer ap^eiv ere Set, icpivew
$i/caia>$, airej^eaBai ro)v akKorptcav, crol /ca\>rjv
yvvaifca fyaLvea-dai, ju,r}Sejj,iav ^ Tr\v crfo, rca\ov
TralSa ^Se^a, fca\bv apyvptop
22 jjvrjSev. rovrois crvfKfr&va Soypara fyrrjcrov,
23 indav&v* irpo^ TO ayayelv Kal mfci](rai. av Se
7T/009 r ludavoryri, rfj etcGwcov xal
1 Wolf (after Schegk) and Upton T s "codex":
ra. Ka\d voi&v rk cdffxp& S.
2 Shaftesbury : viBav&s S.
1 See note on I. 1, 34.
54
BOOK III. vn. 16-23
if her husband talks nonsense, why should we not
break his neck to boot? That is, if you wish to be
a proper sort of philosopher, a perfect one, consistent
with your own doctrines. If not, you will be no
better than we who bear the name of Stoics ; for we
too talk of one thing and do another. We talk of
the noble and do the base ; but you will be perverse
in the opposite way, laying down base doctrines, and
doing noble deeds.
In the name of God, I ask you, can you imagine
an Epicurean State? One man says, "I do not
marry." "Neither do I," says another, "for people
ought not to marry." No, nor have children; no,
nor perform the duties of a citizen. And what,
do you suppose, will happen then ? Where are
the citizens to come from? Who will educate
them ? Who will be superintendent of the ephebi, 1
or gymnasium director? Yes, and what will either
of these teach them? What the young men of
Lacedaemon or Athens were taught? Take me a
young man ; bring him up according to your
doctrines. Your doctrines are bad, subversive of
the State, destructive to the family, not even fit for
women. Drop these doctrines, man. You live in
an imperial State ; it is your duty to hold office, to
judge uprightly, to keep your hands off the property
of other people ; no woman but your wife ought to
look handsome to you, no boy handsome, no silver
plate handsome, no gold plate. Look for doctrines
consistent with these principles of conduct, doctrines
which will enable you to refrain gladly from matters
so persuasive to attract and to overpower a man.
If, however, in addition to the persuasive power of
the things just mentioned, we shall have gone
55
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TWOL 7TOT6 TCLVT^V, %Vpr}KOT$ &/JL6V <7VV7TG)-
6ovaav ^/z-a? eV avra /cal eTripp&vuvovcrav, rt,
24 'Ez> ropey/Man, 1 rl tcpdna-rbv e&TLV, 6 apyvpos
V ^7 T&XW) * X eL P^ ovtria p^vf) (^dp^) Trporjyov-
25 fiva Se T<i y^eipo^ epya. OVKOVV /cal tcaQr\KOVTa
Tpicrcra* ra pev jrpbs TO &vai> ra Be 71/309 TO Troth
elvai, ra S' avra Ta Trpoyyov/JiGva. OUTO)? /cat
avdpaiTrov ov rrjv v\r]v Bel Tipav, ra craptcL^ia,
26 d\\a ra Trpoyyovfieva. rlva tcrri ravro ; TTO\L-
Teveo-dai, <ya,fjLelv> TraiSoTroieiaOai, 6zov ere/Sew,
ryovecov 7T/ieXet(j^ai, tcadoXov opeyecrOat,, ifcrcki-
veiv, o/o/iav, atyop/jiav, co? ettacrrov TOVTWV SeZ
27 7TOllV, 605 7T6<f)VKa]jt,eV. 7T<})VKa/AV $ TTO)? ,* CO?
eXevdepoi, a>5 jevvaloi, a>? alSrj/juove$. TTOLOV <yap
aXXo ^OP epvfipta, wolov alcr^pov <f>avracriav
28 Xa/^8az/e ; T^ fj&ovrjv S* VTrora^ai TOVTOI? 005
SICLKOTJOV, co? VTrrjpGTiv, f uva, TrpodvjjLias e/cfcaXear)-
TCU, IV ev TO??- ^aTa fyvcriv epyoL? Trapa/cparfj.
29 *AXX* eycb 7r\ovo~io$ el/ju, /cal ovftevos xpeia fioi
Tfr oSj/ en. TrpodTroifj faXoo'ofaw ; ap/cel
1 Wolf : &> rwz
1 The classification of duties in this sentence is obscure,
and the commentators have ever been in straits both to
elucidate it, and to explain what bearing it has upon the
context. The first two classes (which are essentially one)
deal with outward existence? the last touches our higher
nature. A full discussion 0f "this matter will be found in
A. Bonhpffer ; Lit MUk des Strikers Epiktet, p. 205-6. A
very similar Stoic division of duties into five classes, where
the third class of Epictetus is triply divided, will be found in
Cicero, Ite Finibus, III, 1 6 and 20, I believe that the sentence,
though probably going back to Epictetus, did not belong
56
BOOK III. vn. 23-29
ahead and invented also some such doctrine as this
of yours, which helps to push us on into them,, and
gives them additional strength, what is going to
happen ?
In a piece of plate what is the best thing, the
silver or the art? The substance of the hand is
mere flesh, but the important thing is the works of
the hand. Now duties are of three kinds; first,
those that have to do with mere existence, second,
those that have to do with existence of a particular
sort, and third, the principal duties themselves. 1 So
also in the case of man, it is not his material sub-
stance that we should honour, his bits of flesh, but
the principal things. What are these ? The duties
of citizenship, marriage, begetting children, re-
verence to God, care of parents, 2 in a word, desire,
avoidance, choice, refusal, the proper performance
of each one of these acts, and that is, in accordance
with our nature. And what is our nature ? To act
as free men, as noble, as self-respecting. Why,
what other living being blushes, what other compre-
hends the impression of shame? And it is our
nature to subordinate pleasure to these duties as
their servant, their minister, so as to arouse our
interest and keep us acting in accordance with
nature.
But I am rich and need nothing. Why, then,
do you still pretend to be a philosopher? Your
here originally (so also Bonhoffer, it seems), but derived
from a marginal note upon r& Trpoyyov^va, jtist below, and
the sentence immediately following.
a After the Goldm Verses of Pythagoras, 3-4:
TO^y re KaraxBovlovs cre&e $aip.ova$, fwo^a fiefuv
TOVS re y6veis Tt/wx, Tofo T' &yxrT' i/cyeyawras.
57
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Ta %pvo~d)/j,aTa /cal Ta dpyvpcofiaTa' TI aot,
30 Xpeia Boj/^aTcav ; 'AXXa /cal KptTij? el pi T&V
*EXX?;z>a>z>. QlBas Kplveiv ; TI ere eiroLr^o'ev elBe-
vai ; Kale-dp poi Ka>B[/ce\\ov eypatyev. Tpa-
31 ^raTO) <roi 3 Iva Kpivys Trepl T&V [lovaitctov real TI
Be 7rft)9 KptTrjs eyevov ; TY\V
t,\r)cra$> T^V ^vpfybpov rj TTJV
; TWOS Ttpb TOV /COITWVO? Kot,fJi'r)9ei<$ ;
TIVI TrejjLtyas Bcopa ; eiTa ov/c alcrddvy^ OTI TOCTOV-
TOV a^iov ecrTi fcpiTrjv elvai oo"ov Nov/jitfwos ;
'AXXa Bvvafj,ai bv
32 C O9 \i6ov. ^*AXX^
^eXo). e Cl$ ovov. OVK ecrTi TOVTO
(TVfJL^epovra teal dfco\ovdtf(roiJLev Bei/cwe Ta
34 d<TVfji<f)Opa Kal d'jroo-Tpa^rjao/j.eOa. f??Xa)Ta9
f)/ji,a<? KaTacrKevao-ov aeavTov <9 ^co/cpaT^ eav-
TOV. e/ceivo? rjv b GO? av9 ptoTT&v ap%a)v, b
KaTeo~KvaKG*$ vTroTTa')(QTa<$ avTw Trjv ope^iv
T7)V aVT&V, TTJV 6/C/cXO"AJ/, Tr)V OpfJ>tfv, T7]V d^Opflrfv.
35 st TOVTO TToLrjcrov, TOVTO fj/rj TrocrjcrTj^' el Be /JLIJ,
fyvKafcrfv ere ySaXw." ovfcm ft>9 ^OJIK&V rj df.
36 <ytz/T(W. aXX' " &>9 o ZU9 BieTa^ev t TOVTO
GOP* av Be fir) Tronjo-ys, ty]fMa>6r)o~r), /jXaySiJcn?,"
Ttoirdv p\ap'f)v y ahJfcyjv ovoefjiLav, ctXXtt TO /JLTJ
Troifjo-at, a Bel' a7ro\e<rei$ TOV TTICTTOV, TOV alBij-
1 Otherwise unknown, but obviously freedmen influential
at court.
2 That is, so as to be able to salute Mm the very first thing
in the morning.
BOOK III. vu. 29-36
gold and silver plate are enough to satisfy you;
what do you need doctrines for ? Yes., but I sit too
as judge over the Hellenes. Do you know how to
sit as judge ? What has brought you to know that ?
Caesar wrote credentials for me. Let him write
you credentials that will allow you to sit as a judge
in music and literature ; and what good will it do
you? However this may be, there is another
question, and that is, how did you come to be
a judge ? Whose hand did you kiss that of
Symphorus or that of Numenius? 1 In front of
whose bedroom door did you sleep ? 2 To whom did
you send presents ? After all, don't you recognize
that the office of judge is worth exactly as much as
Numenius is? But I can throw whom I will into
prison. As you can a stone. But 1 can have
beaten to death with a club whom I will. As you
can an ass. That is not governing men. Govern us
as rational beings by pointing out to us what is
profitable, and we will follow you ; point out what
is unprofitable, and we will turn away from it.
Bring us to admire and emulate you, as Socrates
brought men *to admire and emulate him. He was
the one person who governed people as men, in that
he brought them to subject to him their desire,
their aversion, their choice, their refusal. * f Do
this ; do not do this ; otherwise I will throw you
into prison/' Say that, and yours ceases to he a
government as over rational beings. Nay, rather,
say, ee As Zeus has ordained, do this ; if you do not
do so, you will l>e punished, you will suffer injury/'
What kind of injury? No injury but that of not
doing what you ought ; you will destroy the man of
fidelity m you, the man of honour, the man of
5$
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
, TOP Kocr^JLiov. rovraiv aa? /a/a9 fj,e-
bz/a9 pJr) ^tjrec.
r/ '. IIa>9 7T/309 T&9 (f>avra<Ti,a<> yv/JLvacrreov ;
ra ep&rij/JiaTa ra
/cal 7rpb<$ ra$
2 rj/jLGpav eSet ryvjmvd^ecrOar Trporeivovcri, jap
KOL avrai epconj^ara. 6 v to? aTreOave rov
aTTQKpLvai " aTrpoalperov, ov icatcov" o 'jrarrjp
rov Selva aTroKXtijpovo/Jiov aTreXnrev. ri croi
&o/ce2 ; " aTrpoaLperov^ ov /ca/cov" Kalcrap avrov
3 /eare/cpivev. <c aTrpoalperov, ov KatcovT
"
c Trpocuperifcov, KCLKOV
4 V7refitv6v. " Trpoaiperifcov, aryaObv" tcav
0t,%d){jida, TrpoKo^ro/jiGP' ouSeTrore yap
crvrytcaraOijcrojuLeda rj ov <f>ai/rao-ia fcara\7)7rri/crj
5 ^fiverai. o vlb$ airedave. ri eyevero ; o ^09
airedavev. a\\o ovSev ; ov&e &>}- TO 7r\olov
a?rcoXTO. ri eyevero ; TO Tr\olov aTrciXcTO. 6^9
<f>v\afcr]v atrfyfir]. ri yeyovev ; efc <pv\atcr)v
TO S 1 on <c KCLK&S
1 Schweighauser : #\\o ou5e ev jSl i\Xo ouScV ; ouScf Trin-
cavelli and most editors.
1 The tyavraffia. Kara\7iirrtK'nj a term peculiar to Stoic
psychology, is "an impression so distinct and vivid and
consistent and permanent as to carry its own conviction of
certainty and to be its own criterion of truth" (P. K. More,
Hellenistic Philosophies^ 85). See Bonhoffer, Epiktet und die
Stoa, 160-7, 228-32. Among recent writers E. R. Be van,
Stoics and Sceptics, 36, renders the phrase "grasping im-
pression " ; GL Murray, The Stoic PhilosopJvy, 27 and 44,
** comprehensive sense-impression." Of. R. M. Wenley,
60
BOOK III. vii. 3 6-vm. 5
decent behaviour. You need not look for greater
injuries than these.
CHAPTER VIII
How ought we to exercise ourselves to deal mtk
the impressions of our senses ?
As we exercise ourselves to meet the sophistical
interrogations, so we ought also to exercise ourselves
daily to meet the impressions of our senses, because
these too put interrogations to us. So-and-so's son
is dead. Answer, " That lies outside the sphere of
the moral purpose, it is not an evil." His father
has disinherited So-and-so ; what do you think of it ?
" That lies outside the sphere of the moral purpose,
it is not an evil." Caesar has condemned him.
" That lies outside the sphere of the moral purpose,
it is not an evil." He was grieved at all this.
" That lies within the sphere of the moral purpose,
it is an evil." He has borne up under it manfully.
" That lies within the sphere of the moral purpose,
it is a good." Now if we acquire this habit, we
shall make progress; for we shall never give our
assent to anything but that of which we get a con-
vincing sense-impression. 1 His son is dead. What
happened ? His son is dead. Nothing else ? Not
a thing. His ship is lost. What happened? His
ship is lost. He was carried off to prison. What
happened ? He was carried off to prison. But the
observation : " He has fared ill," is an addition that
Stoicism, 87, for the metaphor in the adjective : *' Conviction
of truth must . involve an tmshakable 2rit> unon the
actual.* F *
61
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
6 efcacrTOS Trpocrrld'rj&iv. " aXX' ov/c 6p@a>$ ravra
6 Zeu9 Trocei" Sta rl ; on ere vrro^vrjnfcov
eTToivjcrev, on /JL<ya\6ifrv)ov, on afyelKev avrcov
TO elvat, /cared, on el-ecrriv croi irdcr^ovn ravra
evftai/AOvew, on croi, ryv dvpav ijvoijfev, orav crot
py troifj ; av 6 pairs, e%e\8e teal pa) ey
IIft)9 e^ovon ^(^fialoi 777)09 (friXocrcxfiov? av
&vat,, a/covcrov* 'IraXf/co? o p*aki<jra
avr&v ^>tXoo"o<^09 Aval vrapovros TTOTC /JLOV
rijva$ rol<$ IBiois, 0)9 avr^Keara Trdcr^coVt
" Ov Swapat," 6(^77, Ct (f)6p6iv aTToXXure pe,
6'. II/)09 riva pyropa aviovra t
Girl Si/eg.
SI rivo<$ 7T/?09 avrov, 09
779 avrov, 7TV06-
1 Compare I. 9, 20 ; III 13, 14, and Vol. I. p. xxv f.
2 For the particular expression here, see II. 6, 22.
3 The sense of this curioxis and apparently quite detached
anecdote, which has puzzled some scholars, seems to be that
the otherwise quite unknown Italicus, who was clearly not a
philosopher propria p&r$(m&, but merely enjoyed some local
reputation among people at Rome for dabbling in philosophy,
was Wing urged by his friends to submit to some hardship
in a truly philosophic manner, and resented the implication
that he actually was a philosopher like the mean and humble
slave or freednian Epictetus. Roman popular feeling about
62
BOOK III. viri. 5-ix. i
each man makes on his own responsibility. But/'
you say, "Zeus does not do right in all this/* What
makes you think so? Because He has made you
capable of patient endurance, and high-minded,,
because He has taken from these things the quality
of being evils, because you are permitted to suffer
these things and still to be happy, because He has
opened for you the door, 1 whenever they are not
to your good ? 2 Man, go out, and do not complain.
Hear how the Romans feel about philosophers, if
you care to know. Italicus, who has a very great
reputation among them as a philosopher, once, when
I was present, got angry at his friends, as though he
were suffering something intolerable, and said, "I
cannot bear it : you are the death of me ! you will
make me just like him," and pointed at me ! 3
CHAPTER IX
To a certain rhetorician who was going to Home for a
lawsuit
THERE came in to visit Epictetus one day a man who
was on his way to Rome, where he was engaged in a
lawsuit involving an honour to be bestowed on him. 4
philosophy is probably not greatly overdrawn in the well-
known advice of Ennius (frag. sc, 376 Vahlen) to taste of
philosophy, but not to gorge oneself upon it; and the jest of
Plautus (Captiw, 284), apropos of a reckless romancer, that
" he is not simply lying now, he is philosophizing."
4 The situation seems a bit strange to us, but the famous
lawsuit between Aeschines and Ctesiphon, in which Demos-
thenes delivered the oration De Oortma, technically, indeed,
in behalf of Ctesiphon, but actually in his own cause, offers a
close parallel,
63
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ftevos TTjv alriaV) Si r)v aveicriv,
e/ceivov, rtva yvco/JLrjv %ei, Trepl TOV
2 Et JJLOV TrvvOdvr), ri irpd^e^ ev
TTQTepov /caropdcocreis r) a7TOTv^, 0(oprjju,a 777)09
TOVTO OVK e%ar el Se 1 irwddvy, TTOO? irpd^eis,
TOVTO elireiv, OTI, el fjiev opda Boy/^ara e^ei?,
a\6>9, 6 Be <f)av\a, xaKCos. iravri jap cunov
rov Trpdcrcreiv TTCOS ro 2 Soy/ma, ri ydp o"nv,
3 St' 3 o eiredv fir) eras Trpocrrdrij^ ^eipOTOvrjOrjvai
KvoHTicav ; TO Soy/Ad, il early, St' o vvv el$
f Pa)yu-77i/ dvep^rj ; TO Soyfxa. real //.era xei/Jicovos
/cal KIV$VVOV teal dva\a>fj,dTcov ; *Ai>dyK7j yap
4 eo~Tiv. Tt? <roi \eyet, TOVTO ; TO &6y/j,a> OVKOVV
el TCOVT<>V a ma TCL SoyfiaTa, <fcav\a Se r^? e%*
So7^6ara, olov av y TO alriov, TOLOVTOV ical TO
5 diroTe\ovfj,VQV* ap ovv TrdvTes e%o/j(,ev v<yi7j
Soy/jiaTa /cal <rv /cal 6 dvTiSifcos crov ; /cal TTW?
Siafiepecr&e ; d\\a av /j,a\\ov rj eicewos ; Sia
TI ; So/eel o~oi. fcdfceivq) /cal ro? paw open OR.
6 TOUTO Trovypov KptTrjpiov. aXXa Sel^ov JULOI, OTI
e7rio~jce**(riv Tiva /cal eTripi\tav TreTroivjcrai, TO>V
aavTOv SoypaTcov. /cal co? vvv et9 'Pco/Mfjv TrXeZ?
7rl T^) 7r/)0(7TaT^9 elvai TLvwaL&v /cal OVK e^ap/cel
o~oi p,ewi,v ev olfccd ra9 Ti/ta? eypVTi a? el%9,
aXXa fJLGi^ovos TWOS eTCidvfjttzis real irt,<j)av<rT6pov t
TTOTB OVTG>$ eTTXcucra? vTfep TOV T
7 f mo~Ketyao'6ai, Ta cravTov /cal et TI fyavKov
1 Schenkl : hp. 8 9 or lfj.4 (Allen).
a TTWS r6 Oldfather : Trp&o-oreiv TI Uypa. S. The sharp contrast
between ti irpd^ets and irus irpd)-ts above, which is the whole
poiot in, the present passage, is completely falsified by the
reading in S.
3 5i J added by Shaftesbury.
BOOK III. ix. 1-7
Epictetus asked what the reason was for the trip
to the Capital, and the man proceeded to ask
what opinion he had about the matter. If you
ask me what you are going to do in Rome, says
Epictetus, whether you will succeed or fail, I have
no precept to offer. If, however, you ask how you
are going to fare, I have this to say : If you have
sound judgements, you will fare well ; if unsound
judgements, ill; since in every case the way a man
fares is determined by his judgement. 1 For what is
it that made you eager to be elected patron of the
people of Cnossos? 2 Your judgement. What is it
that impels you now to go up to Rome? Your
judgement. And that in stormy weather, in danger,
and at expense ? Yes, but I have to. Who tells you
that ? Your judgement. Very well, then, if a man's
judgements determine everything, and if a man has
unsound judgements, whatever be the cause such also
will be the consequence. Do we all, then, have sound
judgements, both you and your opponent? If so,
then how do you come to disagree? But do you
have sound judgements rather than he? Why?
You think so. So does he, and so do madmen.
This is a poor criterion. But show me that you have
made any study of your own judgements and have
paid attention to them. And as now you are sailing to
Rome so as to become patron of the men of Cnossos,
and you are not satisfied to stay at home and keep
the honours which you had, but you have set your
heart upon something greater and more conspicuous,
so did you ever make a voyage for the purpose of
studying your own judgements, and of rejecting one,
1 See critical note.
2 The principal city of Crete.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TIVI Kpoa-e\rj\,va$ TOVTOV
%povov 7rira%a<$ cravr, iroiav r
67reX$ crov T0U9 %p6vov<>, el e^e aicrxyvg, avT09
8 7rpo9 cravTov. ore Trafc ^9, effy'rafev T cravrov
; ov^l S* a>9 irdvra Trotet?, eTroiei? a
; ore Se [Aeipdfcwv lj$r} fcal ra>v prjrop&v
r}fcove<$ fcal auro? e/ieXera?, ri <TOI \dTreiv e<f>av-
9 rd^ov ; ore Se veavl<TKO$ KOI rj^ij e7ro\irevov teal
$i/ca$ avros eXeye? KOI evSoKL/uLeis, r/9 aoi en
fcro? e^aivero ; irov S' a^ rjveo")(ov VTTO TWOS
10 e%GTa%Qjj,evo<> 3 OTI Trovrjpa %/.? Soj/nara ; ri ovv
crot ^eXet? etTrci) ; J$oij9r}<r6v pot, ei$ TO Trpay/Aa.
OVK e%a> Trpbs TOVTO 6eo)ptf/j,aTa* ov&e crv, el
TOVTOV evGfca e\r)\vda$ TT/JO? e/i, 0)9
11 aXX' &>9 7T/}09 o-fcvrea* Hpo? rt oJz' e^ovcnv ol
ffecdpTj^ara ; Hpo$ TOVTO, o TI av
^, TO qye/JLOVis/cov fjfi&v fcaTa (f>vaiv %6t,v
/cal Siej-dyeiv. pwpov voi So/eel TOVTO ; Oi!*
aXXa TO fieyicrTov*. Tt ovv ; o\,Cyov %povov
yjpdav 6%e* real ecrTi irapep^o^evov avTo \afBeiv ;
el $vvao~(U) Xa/^ySa^e.
12 E?T' epeig " crvve/3a\ov 'ETTt/cT^T^ a>9 \i6(p, e9
avSpidvri" elSe? yap /Me fcal TrXeop ov&ev.
avdpa>ir<p S' (09
66
BOOK III. ix. 7-12
if it is unsound ? Whom have you ever visited for
this purpose? What time have you set yourself,
what period of your life? Review the periods of
your life, all to yourself, if you are ashamed to do so
before me. When you were a boy were you in the
habit of examining your judgements ? Did you not
habitually do what you then did just as you do
everything now ? And when you grew to be a youth
and were attending the lectures of the rhetoricians,
and were yourself practising, what did you fancy that
you yet lacked ? And when you were a young man
and began to take par in politics, and to plead
cases yourself, and to have a good reputation, who
any longer seemed in your eyes to be your equal?
Would you under any circumstances have submitted
to be put through an examination on the charge that
you had wretched judgements ? Very well then,
what do you wish me to say to you ? Help me in
this affair. I have no precepts to offer for this ; and
you too, if you came to me for this purpose, have
not come to me as to a philosopher, but as to a
vegetable-dealer, as to a cobbler. To what end,
then, do philosophers have precepts ta offer? To
this end, that whatever happen, our governing
principle shall be, and abide ta the end, in accord
with nature. Do you regard that as a trifle ? No ;
it is of the utmost moment. What then? Does
this require only a little time, and is it possible to
acquire it, on a passing visit ? Acquire it, then, if
you can I
Then you will say, " When I met Epictetus it
was like meeting a stone, a statue." Yes, for you
took a look at me, and nothing more. The person
. man as a wan is one Tvho learns to
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Soy/jiara avrov KarapavdavtoV teal ev ra>
13 TO, iSia SeiKvvo&v. tcardpade JJLOV TO, Bo
ra <ra /cal o#To>9 Xeye <rvfj,
a-XXTjXoi/9 1 t Tl %O) /Cd/COV
avro* el' T^ e%6i9, #e? eh TO
14 rovro ecrri <j>i\o<TQ(j)G) crv/^/SaXXeiv. 01!*
<TT* >tal ea)? TO TrXo^oz/ p,i<T9ovp,e6a,
/cal 'EiTri/CTyTOv lelv fSw^-ei/, Tt TTOT
\eyet," ei'T ^e\do)v " ovSev %v 6
IcroKoifct&v, e/3ap/3dpt,%ev" vivo? yap
Kpiral elaep^eo-de ;
15 u 'AXX* ^v TT/JO? rot/rot?," <f)7)<rlv, f( &j aypov
ovft efo) d)9 ovSe cru, irorripia dpyvpa ovft
/c f J P> \ / / -\ \ f > C-V / '*
6^6) 0)9 ouoe <TV, K-rrfWY] Kd\a <9 ovoe o-u.
16 7T/309 TavTa tcra)9 dpfcel etcelvo eiTrew on
Xpeiav avr&v OVK e%w o-u S J Av
a\\a>v ^peiav %et9, 6e\e(,$ ov
17 7TTfi>2OT/?o9 /AOV." Tti/09 oui> %< %peiav ; ToO
<ro2 /i^ Trapovros' rov eixnadelv, rov Kara (frvcnv
18 e^ew T^ Sidvoiav, rov py rapdrreadai. red-
rpa>v, ov rcdrpcov, ri pot, /-teXet ; crol p,\i.
ov elfju,' OVK ayeo^w, T '(f>powr]o
6 Kal(rap* ovfteva vtoXa/ceuw rovrov evexa*
ravra %co avri r&v dpyvpco/Adrajv, dvrl rwv
%pv(ra)/j,dra)v. crv %pvffa O-KGWJ, oarpaKWOV rov
\oyov, rd Soypara, rd$ crvyKara6ecri$, rd$
19 opfjids, Ta9 opefas. orav Se ravra e%a> xarci,
fyvcrW) 8^ ri /MJ <f>L\ore%vi]o'a) /cal rrepl rov
68
BOOK III. ix. 12-19
understand the other's judgements, and in his turn
exhibits his own. Learn to know my judgements ;
show me your own, and then say you have met me.
Let us put one another to the test ; if I cherish any
evil judgement, take it away ; if you cherish one,
bring it forward. That is what it means to meet a
philosopher. Oh no ; but your way is : " We are
passing, and while we are hiring our ship, we have a
chance to take a look at Epictetus ; let's see what in
the world he has to say." Then you leave with the
remark : ce Epictetus was nothing at all, his language
was full of solecisms and barbarisms." What else
were you capable of judging, when you came in like
that ?
" But," says someone, "if I devote myself to these
things, I shall not own a far.m any more than you do,
I shall not have silver goblets any more than you, or
fine cattle any more than you." To all this it is
perhaps enough to answer : (t I do not need them ;
but you, even if you acquire many possessions, need
still others, and whether you will or not, are more
poverty-stricken than I am." What, then, do I
need? What you do not have; steadfastness, your
mind in a state of conformity with nature, freedom
from vexation of spirit. Patron or not patron, what
do I care? But you care. I am richer than you
are ; I am not worried about what Caesar is going to
think of me ; I flatter no man for that purpose. All
this is what I have as an offset to your silver plate,
and your gold plate. You have furnishings of gold,
but your reason, your judgements, your assent, your
choice, your desire of earthenware. But when I
have these in a state of conformity with nature, why
should I not take up logic also as a sort of hobby?
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
\6yov ; */<r%0\S yap* ov Trepio-rrarai fiov 77
Sidvoia. ri Troiijo-co jJLrj 7Tpicr7rcb/Jivos ; rovrov
rL dvdpcoTTifc&repov e%a> ; t//-6efc orav /c^Sei; e%77Te,
20 rapd&creo-de, a? O&arpov elaep^ecrde rj az/aXuere*
St^ rL a <j)i\6cro(j)o<} JUT) egepydo-qTat, rov avrov
21 \oyov ; (TV /cpvcrTd\\t,va, eyco ret, rov tyevSofJAVOv
o"U pvuppiva, eyft) ra rov *A7ro<a<r/eoz>To?. <rol
Trdvra /JUfcpa (fraweTCU a e^et?, eyxol ra e/ta irdvra
jjLeyd\a. dTrhrfpcdro? <rov Icrrtv rj eiridvfita, rj
22 e/j,}} ireTrKtjpcoraL. rol$ Tra&loi^ et? crrevo-
j3po<y%ov Kepdpiov KaOielcrw ryv %pa tcai
elv ov Svvarai, elra
K\dei. a^5 oKiya el* avrwv xal etfoicreis. KCU
(TV a<^e? rrjv opel;W pjj TTO\\&V l'jrt,Ovp J ei teal
9 orav
pov avro G^ew Se* ITT apivr rA Trepl ap/crrou,
Iz/ y
1 roiS/at^ supplied by Wolf.
8 Wolf plausibly suggested
for this extremely abrupt and obscure locution.
2 Capps : rovro S.
, "you will prosper,"
1 See note inH. 17,34.
2 Highly .coloured and very expensive gla,ss.
70
BOOK III. ix. i 9 -3L i
For, I have plenty of leisure ; my mind is not being
dragged this way and that. What shall I do,, seeing
there is nothing that disturbs me? What have I
which more becomes a nian than this ? You and
your kind when you have nothing to do are restless,
go to the theatre, or wander up and down aimlessly.
Why should not the philosopher develop his own
reason? You turn to vessels of crystal, I to the
syllogism called "The Liar"; 1 you to myrrhine
ware/ I to the syllogism called "The Denyer/' 3
Everything that you already have seems small in
your sight, but everything that I have seems
important to me. Your strong desire is irtsatiate,
mine is already satisfied. The same thing happens
to the children who put their hand down into a
narrow-necked jar and try to take out figs and nuts :
if they get their hand full, they can't get it out, and
then they cry. Drop a few and you will get it out.
And so do you too drop your desire ; do not set your
heart upon many things and you will obtain. 4
CHAPTER X
How ought we to bear our illnesses f
WHEN the weed arises for each separate judgement,
we ought to have it ready; at lunch our judgements
about lunch, at the bath our judgements about a
bath, in bed our judgements about a bed.
3 The exact nature of this argument is unknown, although,
Chrysippus wrote two works on t| subject (Dtog. Laert. 7,
397), and it is casually mentioned also by Clement of
Alexandria,, Strom. 5, 11.
4 See critical note.
fi
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
2 fiyS* VTTVOV fjLa\aKolaiv 67r' l^acri 71730 crSe-
Trpiv real/ r)fjLpi,v&v * epyatv \oyLcracrdaL /ca<TTCf
3 "iff} Trape/Syv ; ri S* epej-a ; TL /JLOL &eov ov
ap%dp.vo<$ $ airo TOVTOV^ eTre^idi* /cat
a Se
4 Aral rovrovs roix? o-rfyovs /care^eiv
oy% ti/a Si* avr&v ava^tovtoitev, &s Sia rov TLaiav
5 *ATTO\\OV. 7rd\iv ev Trvpera) ra Trpos TOVTO*
fit], av TTVpegcofjiev, a<pUvai Trdvra teal
t( av
TTOV TTOT
Tri/Ji6\6Lcrdai Set." 5 .el ye 6 real Trvperos ovic
6 epxprat. TO Se (piXocrcxprjo'cu ri early; ov^i,
TTapacr/cevdcracrdaL TT/OO? ra crv^alvovia ; ov
7rapa/co\,ovde2<? ovv, on TOIOVTOV TI \ej6i?' st av
en <yo) 7rapa(T/cGvdo'a)/jt,cu Trpo? TO 7rpaa>9 (frepeiv
ra <rv/j,ffaivovTa, o ^eXet ywecr0c0 " ; olov el r^
1 Corrected from the ordinary text by Schvveighauser :
j)fJLpllS S.
2 C. Schenkl : eKrsreXcffrai 8 but the ordinary text OVK
fo*\ff6ii appears also below in iv. 6, 35.
. 3 H. Schenkl: roiJSe Si vpdorov the ordinary text (and
Bentley).
4 olv added by C. Schenkl : lirp^a$ the ordinary text (and
Bentley}.
72
BOOK III. x. 2-6
ff Also allow not sleep to draw nigh to your
languorous eyelids,
Ere you have reckoned up each several deed of
the daytime :
* Where went I wrong? Did what? And what
to be done was left undone ? '
Starting from this point review, then, your acts,
and thereafter remember:
Censure yourself for the acts that are base, but
rejoice in the goodly." 1
And keep these verses on hand to use, not by
way of exclamations, as we cry, " Paean Apollo ! "
Again, in a fever have ready the judgements which
apply to that. Let us not, if we fall into a fever,
abandon and forget all our principles, saying : " If I
ever study philosophy again, let anything happen that
will I I'll have to go away somewhere and take care of
my poor body." Yes indeed, if fever does not go
there too ! 2 But what is philosophy? Does it not mean
making preparation to meet the things that come
upon us ? Do you not understand, then, that what
you are saying amounts to something like this : " If
I ever again prepare to bear quietly the things that
come upon me, let anything happen that will"?
1 The Golden Verses, vulgarly ascribed to Pythagoras, 40-
44, with several variations in detail.
2 The sense of this difficult and corrupt passage seems to
be that Epictetus sarcastically approves the plan, with,
however, the proviso, that there b& no fever where his
interlocutor plans to go j which was impossible, because
there was no such place. In other worda, one cannot avoid
hardships by changing one's residence ; therefore, prepare to
meet them wherever you are.
6 8e added by Upton. * Schweighauser : re $,
73
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
I 7r\7jya<; \a/3cov aTrocrrair} rov
1 aXX' etcei JJLG.V e^ean Kara\vo~ai KOI
v0dSe S' av Kara^vcrcoaev <j>t\ocro(ovvrG$) r
o<eXo9 ; ri ovv Se \eyew Trpb? avrov 1 e<$
ktcdcrrov rcov rpa%cov ; on, " evetca TOVTOV e<yvfj>-
8 va^o^Vj Inl rovro r)cncovv" o ^eo? <roi Xeyet
" So? fjioi a7r6&L%(,v, el vo/j,i{jt,c0$ ij6\r](ra$, el
oca e, i ejvp^dcrd^y el rov d\el7rrov
elr ITT avrov rov epyov Karafia-
; vvv rov Trvperreiv /ccupos Gcrrw, rovro
rywea-Qco' rov $ityav> Stya AraXca?' rov
9 Trewav, Treiva fca\a)<>. OVK ear iv lin aol ; r/9
<re fe&Xvcret, ; aXXa TTL&LV JJLCV K<ti\v<Ti o iarpos,
/caXa>9 Be $i\lrav ov ovyarai' /cal <f>ajetv JJLGV
/c(o\vo-6c f TTGWCLV ^aXoo? ov Svvarai.
10 'AXX 1 ov (564X0X076) ; T- TtVo? S' eveica <^^o-
av^pdirooov, ofy r iva evpoys ; ov^ f (va
ou% *iva Kara fyvcriv e%?;9 fcal Stefa-
11 *yi7<j ; ri /ccoXvet, Trvpeo-cropra Kara (ftvariv e%w
TO yye/jiovi/cov ; ei/OaS* o eXey^o^ rov IT pay par o$,
f} BoKifnacria rov fa\oo~o$ovvro < s. apo$ ydp earn,
teal rovro rov /3iov, a>9 7re/)tVaro9, a>9 ?rXoi59, &$
12 oSoiTTOpia, o5ra>9 /cal 7rupero9. ^ Ti
avayiyvd)o'KL<? ; Ov. Qvras ovSe
aXX' av /caX&>9 7T067raT9> e9 TO T
1 Kronenberg (after Schegk) : \eyeiv av r&y 8.
1 See note on III. 1, 5.
2 The same phrase appears In 2 Timothy ii. 5.
3 At Olympia, for example, men had to practise tinder
supervision and observe a strict diet for one whole month
before the games. , ,
74
BOOK III. x. 6-12
It is just as if a man should give up the pancratium ?
because he has received blows. The only difference
is that in the pancratium a man may stop, and so
avoid a severe beating, but in life, if we stop the
pursuit of philosophy, what good does it do ? What,
then, ought a man to say to himself at each hardship
that befalls him? "It was for this that I kept
training, it was to meet this that I used to practise.'*
God says to you, " Give Me proof, whether you have
striven lawfully, 2 eaten what is prescribed, 3 taken
exercise, heeded your trainer." After that, do you
flinch when the time for action arrives ? Now it is
time for your fever, let it come upon you in the right
way ; for thirst, bear your thirst in the right way ;
to go 'hungry, bear hunger in the right way. It is not
in your power, you say ? Who is therS to prevent you ?
Nay, your physician will prevent you from drinking,
but he cannot prevent you from, thirsting in the
right way ; and he will prevent you from eating, but
he cannot prevent you from bearing hunger in the
right way.
But am I not a scholar? And for what purpose
do you devote yourself to scholarship? Slave, is it
mot that you may be happy ? Is it not that you may
be secure ? Is it not that you may conform to nature
and live your life in that way. What 'prevents you,
when you have a fever, from having your governing
principle conform with nature? Here is the proof
of the matter, the test of the philosopher. For this
too is a part of life ; like a stroll, a voyage^ a journey,
such is also a fever. I presume you do not read
while taking a stroll, do you ? No. No more than
when you have a fever. But if you stroll in the
right vray, you .perform what is expected of a stroller
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TOWTO9* av /eaX(W9 rrvpi^ys, ej(ei$ ra rov
13 croz/T09, ri earl #aX<W9 Trvpea&eiv ; p,rj 9eov
aCj jjir) avdp&Trov, fir) 8\t/3r)vat, virb r&v
v, ev real fca\to$ TrpoaSe^eaffaL rov 6<iva-
rov, irocelv ra rrpoaraacro/^eva' orav 6 iarpo?
p/rj ^>o^elo'dai, i ri etirrj, /t^S 1 av eiTrrj
^t9," vTrepxaipew TL <ydp crot ayadov
14 elTTGv ; ore yap vyiawe?, ri croi fjv ayadov ;
av ?TTT; f */ca/c<w? e^et?/' aOupelv ri yap
TO /ca/ca>9 e%ez> ; eyyi^eiv r& SiaXvdvjvat,
rr}V 'tyv'xfjv CLTTO rov ff(!)/jiaro<?. ri o$v Sewov
e&riv ; cav vvv p/r) eyytcrys, vcrrepov OVK ey
a\\a o fc6cr/j,o$ fjiek\ei> avarpkire^Bai crov
15 vovros ; ri ovv /coKa/cevei? rov larpov ; ri
" mv av 6e\,r)<;, tcvpie, Ka\&$ If a> " ; ri
avrq> a<f>op/nr)v rov eirapai o<j>pvv ; oy^l Se Trjv
avrov a^iav avr airo 8/8(09, tt>9 fficvrel irepl rov
7ro8a, a>9 re/crovi Trepl rrjv oliciav, oura)9 Kal r&
larp(p Trepl ro c-^^dnovt TO OVK e/toV, TO <f>vo-et,
vercpov ; rovrtov o tcaipos eari rq> Trvpecrffovri*
16 av ravra /C7r\7}pG>crr], e^ei rh avrov. ov yap
ear iv epyov rov tyiKojcxfrov ravra ra /crb$
rrjpelv, ovre TO olvapiov ovre TO e\dSiov ovre
TO <ja>/Kmoz>, a\\a ri ; TO 'IStov rjye^ovifcov. ra
S' efw 7ra>9 ; p%f>t> TOV pr] a\oyiarct>$ Kara
17 TavTa avao~rp<paflai,. TTOV ovv ert, icaipos rov
1 That is, matter which is only temporarily endowed with
life by virtue of union for a short while with the soul.
BOOK III. x, 12-17
if you have fever in the right way, you perform the
things expected of the man who has a fever. What
does it mean to have fever in the right way? Not
to blame God, or man, not to be overwhelmed by
what happens to you, to await death bravely and in
the right way, to do what is enjoined upon you ;
when your physician comes to see you, not to be
afraid of what he will say, and at the same time not
to be carried away with joy, if he says, ff You are
doing splendidly ; ' ; for what good to you lay in
that remark ? Why, when you were well, what good
was it to you ? It means not to be downhearted, too,
if he says, " You are in a bad way." For what does
it mean to be in a bad way ? That you are close to
a separation of the soul from the body. What, then,
is terrifying about that? If you do not draw near
now, will you not draw near later? And is the
universe going to be upset when you die? Why,
then, do you wheedle your physician ? Why do you
say, " If you wish, Master, I shall get well " ? Why
do you give him occasion to put on airs ? Why not
give him just what is his due ? As I give the shoe-
maker his due about my foot, the builder his due
about my house, so also the physician his due about
my paltry body, something that is nob mine, some-
thing that is by nature dead, 1 These are the things
that the moment demands for a man who is in a
fever ; if he meets these demands, he has what
properly belongs to him. For it is not the business
of the philosopher to guard these external matters
neither his paltry wine, nor his paltry oil, nor his
paltry body but what ? His own governing principle.
And how treat externals ? Only so far as not to act
thoughtlessly about them. What proper occasion is
77
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
; TTOV ovv en rccapo^ 0/37979 ; TTOV <po/3o
18 7Tpl T&V a\\OTpia>V, 'JTGpl TG)V
Bvo jap ravra Trpo^eipa e^eiv Bel' on ^a> rfj$
Trpoaipetreo)? ovSev ecrnv ovre a<ya6ov ovre KOLKQV
teal on ov Set Trpor^yelo'dai r&v
TQV aSeX^oz'." ov' a\\a TOVTO jiev
|rTat. eyco S J , o>9 av irpocreve'xdf), auro?
20 a>9 Sel xptfcro/jutt, Tol<$ 7rpo9 IKZLVQV. TOVTO yap
ecrTiv, e/celvo S* aXkorpiov* TOVTO ov
SvvaTat, eicelvQ
1 Etcrt nves ft>9 e/c vopov ^laTeTayp.evai /co\da-ei$
2 rofc airGidovo-i T7) 6eia Sioi/trjcret* "b$ av aXko
TI rjyijcrrjTcit, ayadov Trapa T^ Trpoatpenfcd, <f)6o-
veLra) t iri0vfj,iTa), fco^a/ceveTO) , ra/?a<rcrecr#ar 09
av aX\o tcaKQv, ^WTreicrda), 7rV0iT(d t Bpyveirto,
3 SvO-TWXGiTO)" KOl 0/CCa9 OUTC09 TUlCp&S KO\O,%Q-
aTroo-TTjvcu ov
o, rt \e<yei o TTO^T^ Trepl rov
eiv , ov pot, 6ip,i<$ ea-r', 1 ouS' e /earcicov
re.
2 fA^i . . . Sfl-a^rei supplied by SchenH : <r0eyT6y 5.
78
BOOK III, x. 17-xi. 4
there, then, any longer for fear? What proper
occasion, then, any longer for anger? Or for fear
about things that are not his own concern, worth-
less things ? For here are the two priaciples that
you ought to have ready at hand : Outside the
sphere of the moral purpose there is nothing either
good or bad ; and, We ought not to lead events, but
to follow them. "My brother ought not to have
treated me so." No ; but it is for him to look to
that. As for me, no matter how he behaves, I shall
observe all my relations to him as I ought. For this
is my part, the other does not belong, to me; in
this nobody can hinder me, the other is subject to
hindrance.
CHAPTER XI
Some scattered sayings
THERE are certain punishments, assigned as it were
by law, for those who are disobedient to the divine
dispensation. "Whoever shall regard as good any-
thing but the things that fall within the scope of his
moral purpose, let him envy, yearn, flatter, feel
disturbed ; whoever shall regard anything else as
evil, let him sorrow, grieve, lament, be unhappy."
Nevertheless, for all that we are so severely punished,
we cannot desist.
Remember what the poet x says about the stranger :
Stranger, I may not with right -dishonour a-
stranger, not even
Worse man were he than art thou ; for of God
are all strangers and beggars.
1 Homer (frequently so designated, especially in late
antiquity), in the Odyssey, XIV. 56-8.
79
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPJCTETUS
5 TOVTO ovv fcal 7rl Trarpos 7rpcr)(ei,pov %iv ov
eo~T* ovS* el Kafclcov credev \doi, Trarep* 1
717)09 <yap Ato9 eleiv aTravres TOV Ila-
6 TpaSou* /col 7r aZe\^>S)' 7T/Q09 yap Ato? eicrw
rov ^/JLOJVLOV. teal OVTG><S Kara ra?
rov
iff. Tlepl
1 Ta? acrfctfcreis ov Sel &ia r&v iraph <f>v<ri,v icai
7rapa&6$;Q)v Troietcr^at, eirei rot- TG>V Oav/jLaro-
TTOioov ov&V SwiaofJiev ol \eyovre<> ^tXocro^e^.
2 &vcr/co\ov yap ecm, fcal TO 7rt vyoiviov vrept-
Trarelv /ecu ov /JLOVOV SvcrKo\ov, ak\a KOI ITTI-
KIV^VVOV. TOVTOV evtca Set KOL f]pa<$
7rl o")(pivlov TrepiTrareiv rf fyolvtfca Icrrdvew
3 av$pt>dvTa<$ TrepiXajuL^dvetv ; ouSa/tw?. ovfc
TO SV<TKO\OV Trap KOI eTUKivSvvov GT
TO irpocropov r<p wpofcet-
4 /j,evq> K t jrovr]Br)vai. ri 8' eo-rl TO TrpoKei/mevov
K7rowr)Qf)vat, ; opel*(, fcal KfcXicrei a/ca)\vTa><s
ava<rTpe<j)(r0ai. TOVTO 8e TV ecrTW ; ftiJTe bp-
Tetv. TT/JO? TOUTO ovv icai Tq
1 SchweigKauser : irdrep S.
1 For this aspect of Zeus see 0. Gruppe, Grriech. Mythol.
etc., p. 1116 ; and especially A. B. Cook, Zeus (index).
2 " Setting up a palm " may possibly mean climbing a pole
with only the hands and the feet, like the climbers of palms, as
Upton and Schweighauser (after Bulinger) suggest. There was
BOOK III. XL 4-xii. 4
This, then, is what one should have ready to use in
the case of a father : " I may not rightfully dishonour
a father, not even if a worse man than art thou
should come ; for of Zeus, the God of Fathers, 1 are
they all " ; and so in the case of a brother : ff For of
Zeus, the God of Kindred, are they all." And
similarly., in the other social relations^ we shall find
Zeus overseeing them all.
CHAPTER XII
Of training
WE ought not to take our training in things that
are unnatural or fantastic, since in that case we who
profess to be philosophers will be no better than the
mountebanks. For it is a hard thing also to walk a
tight-rope, and not merely hard hut dangerous too*
Ought we also for this reason to practise walking a
tight-rope, or setting up a palm, or throwing our
arms about statues? 2 Not a bit of it, Not every
difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training,
but only that which is conducive to success in
achieving the object of our effort. And what is the
object of our effort? To act without hindrance in
choice and in aversion. And what does this mean ?
Neither to fail to get what we desire, nor to fall into
what we would avoid. Toward this end_, therefore, our
a "palm-bearer" (joarcucoffpos, or <nra$etKo<p6pos) connected
with the gymnasium at Tegea in Arcadia ( J. G. V. 2, Nos. 47,
48, 50, 53), who possibly had charge of the exercise referred
to here, whatever its exact character may have been. As
for embracing statues, Diogenes was said to have done that
nude in cold weatker, so as to harden! himself. Diog. Laert.
6, 23,
8*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
5 Set. 7rel jap ovfc Hariv avairorevKTov ay&lv TTJV
/cal TTJV e/c/cXicriv aTrepiTTTODTOv avev yu,e-
/cat crvve'Xpvs aor/cijcrecos, IvOi cm, lav e%ay
aTroarpe^eo'&at avrrjv eirl ra aTrpoaipera,
ovre rrjv ope$*iv ewreu/mtf^i/ efet? ovre TJJV
6 eKK\t,crw aTrepiTrrcorov. xal eirel TO 6^09 Iv^ypov
TrpotjyyjTai TT^O? pova ravra eldio-ftcvoov rjfjicov
%p7Jcr8at opej-ei /cal lfCK\i<ri,, Set r<3 eBei TOVT&)
evavriov Wo$ avnOelvai real oirov o TTO\V? o'Xtcrtfo?
T&V fyavra&i&v, I /eel avriTiOzvai TO a<r/er)T{,/c6v.
7 *l&repoK\ivto<i %< irpos qSovrf
7rl TO evavTiov vjrep TO perpov rrjs
eve/ca* eKKKiTiK&s e^o) TroVoir rpi^lra) JJLOV /cal
7T/909 TOUTO T9 fyavTacrla? virep rov
rrjv eKK\iaiv airo iravro^ rov rowv-
8 T t OV. Tt9 yap 6CTTW acr/CirjT^ ; O /JL\T&V Op^t
p&f /i^ 2 yprjcrdai, KK\i<rGt, Se 7r/)09 fiova ra
Trpoaiperitca %pricrdai t /cal yu-eXeTwv ficM^ov Iv
TO?? SvcTfcaraTrovijTOt,^. /caO^ & /eal a\\(p irpos
9 aXka pd\\ov a<r/c7jTeov. ri oJtv e5Se iroiel TO
foivifca crTr}<rat, % TO <TT<yi]v Seppariwrjv /cal
10 $\/*,ov /cal virepov TTGpifapetv ; avOp(OTTe }
1 x Bentley (anticipating Schweighauser) : Uv a . . . . Va> S.
i- 2 ,^ supplied by Gataker.
, x For the " palm tree,' J see above, note on $ 2. As for the
other items, it is conceivable that some Cynics may have
carried about with them such equipment ostentatiously to
indicate that they had all they needed for life ; that is,
shelter and the simplest utensils to prepare grain for food,
somewhat as Diogenes was content with his ptthos and a cup
(although eventually he discarded even the latter). But it
must be confessed that the passage is very obscure. Seneca,
De ira } 2, 12, speaks somewhat disparagingly of ille gui
82
BOOK III. xn. 4-10
training also should tend. For since it is impossible
without great arid constant training to secure that our
desire fail not to attain, and our aversion fall not into
what it would avoid, be assured that, if you allow
training to turn outwards, towards the things that
are not in the realm of the moral purpose, you will
have neither your desire successful in attaining what
it would, nor your aversion successful in avoiding
what it would. And since habit is a powerful in-
fluence, when, we have accustomed ourselves to employ
desire and aversion only upon these externals, we
must set a contrary habit to counteract' this habit,
and where the very slippery nature of sense-impres-
sions is in play, there we must set our training as a
counteracting force.
I am inclined to pleasure ; I will betake myself to
the opposite side of the rolling ship, and that beyond
measure, so as to train myself. I am inclined to
avoid hard work; I will strain and exercise my
sense-impressions to this end, so that my aversion
from everything of this kind shall cease. For who
is the man in training? He is the man who
practises not employing his desire, and practises
employing his aversion only upon the things that
are within the sphere of his moral purpose, yes, and
practises particularly in the things that are difficult
to master. And so different men. will have to
practise particularly to meet different things, To
what purpose is it, then, under these conditions, to
set up a palm tree, or to carry around a leather tent,
or a mortar and pestle ? 1 Man, practise, if you are
meditatus est . . . so/rainae mg&nti cervices ^upjponere (that is,
** the man who has practised carrying about enormous
burdens on his back "), pretty clearly in reference to this
same custom, but without throwing much light upon it.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
crov, el 70/0709 el, XoL^opovfievos ave-^ecrdai, an-
/jLacrdels py d^deo-drjpat,. eW" ovrcos Trpo^yjo-y,
wa, Kav 7rX??f?? tre rt?, ^"#9 avros vrpo<> avrbv
11 cm (f 86%ov av^piavra TrepietXrjfyevai" elra /cal
o/^r<w9 xprjcrdat,, /^r) el$ TO TTO\V TTIVGIV
yap Trepl TOVTO GTraplcTTepoi a<TKr]raL etV^v),
Trp&rov 6^9 TO cuTrQGykvQcii, fcal KopaaiSiov
airi r )(O'9aL teal TrXaKQuvrapLov. elrd Trore virep
Bo/ci/j,ao"ia<>, el apa, fcadrjaeis ev/caipws avrbs
vavTOV vjrep rov <yv&vai, el 6/^060)9 rjTr&criv ore
12 al fyavraaiai. ra Trp&ra Se cfrevye fiafcpav airo
T>V lo-^vporepcov. aviaos 77
Kop^Gt 7T/309 veov ap^on>evo
(fraai, KOI TreTpa ov avfifycdvel.
13 Mer^ TT\V ope%iv /cal T^P efcfc\icn,v Sevrepo?
T07T09 * 7Tpl T'TJV 6p/J,r]V KOl CKpop/Jitfv *Lv 2
V7T6t.dr)$ TO> \6ya>, wa py irapa fcaipov, pJrj
irapa TOTTOV, pr) irapa, a\\rjv TWO,
o irepl T<9 crvyKara0ecrei'? ) o 7r/?09 ra
15 irtOava fcal \Kvo"Ti.Kd. 009 yap o
e\ejV avegeTao-TOv ftiov pJrj ffiv, ot/TO>9 a
GTQV fyavracrLav /nrj TrapaSe^ecrdatj a\\a>
" e^Sef aiy a<f>e<i iSco, rt9 el /cal
ol vvtc'TO<>v\afC<} " Seiov ,oi ra
1 8 (but only the first letter is by the first hand ;
p^Troy, which was probably the original reading, s).
2 tv* supplied byaShaftesbary.
3 Keiske ; ^rvfji^erplav S.
1 Compare the fable about the earthenware pot and the
bronze jar in Babrius 193 (Crusius) = Aesop 422 (Halm),
Avianus 11, etc.
BOOK III. xii. 10-15
arrogant, to submit when you are reviled, not to be
disturbed when you are insulted. Then you will
make such progress, that, even if someone strikes
you, you will say to yourself, " Imagine that you
have thrown your arms about a statue." Next train
yourself to use wine with discretion, not with a view
to heavy drinking (for there are some clumsy fools
who practise with this in mind), but first for the
purpose of achieving abstention from wine, and keep-
ing your hands off a wench, or a sweet- cake. And
then some day, if the occasion for a test really comes,
you will enter the lists at a proper time for the sake
of discovering whether your sense-impressions still
overcome you just as they did before. But first of
all flee far away from the things that are too strong
for you. It is not a fair match that, between a pretty
wench and a young beginner in philosophy. " A
pot," as they say, " and a stone do not go together." 1
After your desire and your aversion the next
topic 2 has to do with your choice and refusal. Here
the object is to be obedient to reason, not to choose
or to refuse at the wrong time, or the wrong place,
or contrary to some other similar propriety.
The third topic has to do with cases of assent;
it is concerned with the things that are plausible
and attractive. For, just as Socrates used to tell us
not to live a life unsubjected to examination, 3 so
we ought not to accept a sense-impression un-
subjected to examination, but should say, "Wait,
allow me to see who you are and whence you come " 4
(just as the night-watch say, "Show me your
2 Upon this division of the field of philosophy, which
appears to be peculiar to Epictetus, see note on III. 3, 1.
3 See note on L 26, 18. * Compare II. 18, 24
ADRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EP1CTETUS
*' e%9 TO Trapa TT)? (frvcreod? <rz;//9oXoz>, o Set TTJV
16 7rapa$ex@'>10'ouev?jv e^eiv , (fravraaiav ; " KOL Xoi-
TTOI/ 6Va T&> crcofiart, Trpocrdjerai, VTTO TO>V <yv/j,va-
avTo t av f^ev <5Se TTOV peTT?; 77^009 opefyv
elrj av real avra acrKTjTiKa,' av 8e
>v, 6^0) i/peu/toT09 - 1 ecrrl
rt dr)pa>/jievov KOI 6eaTa^ fyrovvros TOU? ep
17 " w 2 fjL<yd\oy av6p<$7rov" $t,a rovro
ori te orav 0eX^
wore fcavjjLaros e(f>\Kvcrac
ecrrl Karao-Taai^ r*9 a/SoTjOtfrov. ov
jap o fjiovos &v ev0v$ teal 6/577/^09, wcnrep ouS* o
2 i/ 7T0XX0?9 o>^ ou/c pyfjLQ$. orav <yovv aT
v rj vlov
sTroKekelfyOai pr)fj,oi, TroXKatcis Iv
9> TO(TOVTOV OJ(\.
1 Wolf : yercv/etk A 2 Wolf : <fo
1 A token or mark of identification was frequently called
for in ancient times by the police (especially at night), much
as in some of the occupied and annexed districts of Europe
since the Great War. "
86
BOOK III. xii. 15-xm. 2
tokens "). 1 Do you have your token from nature, the
one which every sense-impression which is to be
accepted must have ? " And, in conclusion, all the
methods which are applied to the body by the
persons who are giving it exercise, might also them-
selves be conducive to training, if in some such way
as this they tend toward desire and aversion ; but if
they tend toward display, they are characteristic of
a man who has turned toward the outside world,
and is hunting for something other than the thing
itself which he is doing, and is looking for spectators
who will say, " Ah, what a great man ! " It is this
consideration which renders admirable the remark
that Apollonius used to make : " When you wish
to train for your own sake, then when you are thirsty
some hot day take a mouthful of cold water, and spit
it out 2 and don't tell anybody about it I "
CHAPTER XIII
The meaning of a forlorn state, and the kind of
person a forlorn man is
A FORLORN state is the condition of one who is
without help. For a man is not forlorn merely
because he is alone, any more than a man in the
midst of a crowd is necessarily not forlorn. At all
events, when we have lost a brother, or a son, or a
friend with whom we have shared the same bed, we
say that we have been left forlorn, though often we are
in Rome, with such large crowds meeting us in the
streets, and so many people living, in the same
2 Something of the same sort is said, but upbn somewliafj
dubious authority, to have been, an exercise often practised
t>y Plato (Stobaeus, Flor. IH. 17, 35).
87
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
KCtl roaOVrtoV GVVQlfCOVVrtoV, 00* OT /Cal 1 TrX?)-
60$ SovXow e%oi/T9. 6e\ei jap 6 eprjpos Kara
rrjv evvoiav a/?o ^$77x09 rt? elvai KCLI efc/ceiju>evo$
3 TCH9 P\drrrew /3oyXo/ez><K9. Sia TOVTO, orav
oSevcopev, rore pokier TO, eptfpovs \eyopev eav-
TOVS, orav 6^9 \ycrTa$ efiirecro)p.ev. ov yap
avdpOD7rov o'fris l^aipel'TCU, eprj/jbias, d\\a TTLCTTOV
4 /cal alSrjfwvo? KOI a)<f)\i{Jiov. ewel el TO JJLQVQV
elvai, aptcei TT/?O? TO eprjpov slvai, \eye on /cal
6 Zei/9 ev rfj l/CTTvpcocrei pr)/jLO$ eari real fcara^
eavrov' u rd\a$ eyeo, ovre rrjv
ovre rrjv *A.6r]vav ovre rbv 'ATroXXcoz/a
ovre oXw? rj afte'X.tpbv rj vlov rj eyyovov f} crvy-
5 <yevf}.*' ravra /cal \eyovcri rive? on rroiel
v rrj e/e7rvpd>(Ti. ov yap emvoovvi
arro rivos (fivcri/cov op^(>fjLevoi y CLTTO rov
OWtoviKQv elvai /cal <j>t,\a\\ij'kov KCU fj?*eco$
6 crvvavacrrpefyecrOai avQpd)7roi$. a\X* ov$ev rjrrov
Set riva teal irpos rovro TrapacrKevyv e^eiv TO
Svvaadai, avrbv eavr<p apicelv, Svvaaffai avrbv
7 eavrcp avvelvai* 0)9 o Zeu9 avrb$ eavrq* avvecrnv
fcal f]<TW)(a%t <' eavrov real evvoel rrjv bioiK'Yjo'Lv
ryv eavrov o f ia ecrrl KOI ev eirivoiai? yivercu irpe-
irovcrais eavrq), ovra)<% fcal 77^9 &vva<rdai auToi/9
eavrols \a\elv, p/rj TrpocrSelaOat aXXa>z>, &(,aya><yfj$
1 icat added by Schegk.
2 teat after this word was deleted by Reiake.
1 The periodic consumption of the universe "by fire, and its
rebirth, a doctrine which the Stoics inherited from Hera-
cleitus. Even the deities, with the exception of Zeus, succumb
in the @<%terdammerunff. Precisely the same situation aa
88
BOOK III. XIIL 2-7
house with us, and sometimes even though we have
a multitude of slaves. For according to the nature of
the concept the c forlorn ' means the person who is
without help, and exposed to those who wish to
injure him. That is why, when we go on a journey,
we call ourselves forlorn most especially at the
moment that we encounter robbers. For it is not
the sight of a human being as such which puts an
end to our forlorn condition, but the sight of a
faithful, and unassuming, and helpful human
being. Why, if being alone is enough to make one
forlorn, you will have to say that even Zeus himself
is forlorn at the World- Conflagration/ and bewails
himself : (f Wretched me ! I have neither Hera,
nor Athena, nor Apollo, nor, in a word, brother, or
son, or grandson, or kinsman." There are even
those who say that this is what he does when left
alone at the World- Conflagration ; for they cannot
conceive of the mode of life of one wjio Is all alone,
starting as they do from a natural principle, namely,
the facts of natural community of interest among
men, and mutual affection, and joy in intercourse.
But one ought none the less to prepare oneself for
this also, that is, to be able to be self-sufficient, to be
able to commune with oneself; even as Zeus communes
with himself, and is at peace with himself, and con-
templates the character of his governance, and
occupies himself with ideas appropriate to himself,
so ought we also to be able to converse with ourselves,
not to be in need of others, not to be at a loss for
that described here is referred to by Seneca, Ep. Mor. 9,16 :
Qwalis est lovis (idta], cum resoluto mtmdo et dis m itMium con-
fv&is p&ulisper cessamte natura adqmes&U sibi cogitationibus swis
traditus.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
8 p,rj diropelv e<j)icrTdvew T$ Beia
raXXa cr^ecre^ 7n/3\7reiv,
jrporepov ei'xpp.ev TT/W TO, arvpfiaLvovTa, TTW? vvv
Tiva ecrrlv 6T6 ra d\i/3ovra m TTCO? av
teal ravra, 7ro)9 etftupefffj' e/1 riva
Selrcu rovrcoVf 1 - tcara rov avr&v* \6yov
9 'OpaT <ydp, on elptfvrjv fjLe<ya\rjp 6 }Lcuo"ap
Bofcel Trape^et-Vt on, OVK eltrlv ov/cert
ovSe tyffrrjpia jjLeyd\a ov&e Treipa-
ri/cd, aXhJ e^earcv Trdarj &pa oSeveiv, r jr\elv air
10 avaro\&v 7rl Sucr/xa?. py *ri ovv /cal CLTTO
TTVperov Svvarat, TJ/MV elprjvrjv Trapacr^lVy ^ TI
real O-TTO vavayiov, ptf n ical diro ejairprjafjiov fj
aTTO (Tet>(TfJiOv v) dwo /cepavvov ; dye air pa>ro$ ;
ov Bvvarac. airo Trevdov? ; ov Svvarat. OLTTQ
(f)66vov ; ov SvvaTat,. air ovSevbs a?r\c59 rou-
11 row a 8e Xo^o? o T&V <f)i\ocr6<f>a)v vT
teal diro TOVTCOV dpr\vv)v 7ra/?e%4^. /cal rL
st dv fLOi 7rpoo"e^T, (5 dvdpcdTrot, OTTOV hv
o rt dv TTOt>rJT } ov "Kvirrjdrfcrea'de, OVK o
aecrOe, OVK dvayKaa-driaecrQG, ov fca)\v0ij(T(T()e t
ditaOw Be /cal I\v6epoi Bcd^ere w a-7ro
12 ravrrjv TTJV elprjvrjv Ti9 e^wi/ /cefcrjpvyjAevrjv
VTTO TOV Kaicrapo? (jrodep jdp avra>
Krjpv^aL ;), dXX* UTTO TOV 0eov /ee/cijpvy/jievrjv
13 TOV Xoyof ov/c dpKeiTai 9 OT&V $ 3
fSKeircdV teal evOvpovpevos " vvv 1/jLol KO.KOV ovSev
BvvaTat, o~v^r)va^ e/tol X^(TT^9 OVK eaTLV,
(rei,<r/Jib$ OVK GGTIV, TrdvTa
1 Schenkl : -ray 8. 8 Reiske (after Schegk) : avrov S*
* f supplied by 8b.
90
BOOK III. xin. 7-13
some way to spend our time ; we ought to devote
ourselves to the study of the divine governance, and
of our own relation to all other things ; to consider
how we used to act toward the things that happen
to US; and how we act now; what the things are
that still distress us ; how these too can be remedied,
or how removed ; if any of these matters that I have
mentioned need to he brought to perfection, to
perfect them in accordance with the principle of
reason inherent in them.
Behold now, Caesar seems to provide us with
profound peace, there are no wars any longer, nor
battles, no brigandage on a large scale, nor piracy,
but at any hour we may travel by land, or sail from
the rising of the sun to its setting. Can he, then,
at all provide us with peace from fever too, and
from shipwreck too, and from fire, or earthquake, or
lightning ? Come, can he give us peace from love ?
He cannot. From sorrow ? From envy ? He can-
not from absolutely none of these things. But the
doctrine of the philosophers promises to give us
peace from these troubles too. And what does it
say? fc Men, if you heed me, wherever you may
be, whatever you may be doing, you will feel no
pain, no anger, no compulsion, no hindrance, but you
will pass your lives in tranquillity and in freedom from
every disturbance." When a man has this kind of
peace proclaimed to him, not by Caesar why, how
could he possibly proclaim it? but proclaimed by
God through the reason, is he not satisfied, when he
is alone ? When he contemplates and reflects,
" Now no evil can befall me, for me there is no such
thing as a brigand, for me there is no such thing as
an earthquake, everything is full of peace, everything
91
VOL. II. D
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
a^' Tracra 0809, iraaa 7roX9, Tra? 1 crvvo-
09,
rpo<j)d$, o5 jt6eXe, aXXo9 ecrdrira, aXXo9 alc
14 eSco/cev, aXXo? TrpoX^et?. oraz> Se ^77
, TO dva/c^TiKQv GruLdivziy TT^V 9vpav
teal \eyei croi ( epXvS TTOZ) ; et9
oz^, aXX* o$z> lyevov, ei? ra ^>^Xa /eal
15 7^77, 6i9 ra <TTOi%ela. oaov r)V ev crol
v, ocrov 3}v yy&iov, ei$ <yrj&i,oi>, oaov
Trvev/jLanov, ocrov vSariov, el$
v&driov. ouSeW "AiSrj? ouS' 'A%e/3a)^ ovBe Kw-
KVTOS ov$ HvpKfiXeyedcav, aXXa Trdvra
16 /jLeara /cal Saifiovav." ravrd TL$ evOvfjue
%G)V real /B\67ra)v TOV rfktov tcai <jhff)vriv teal
a<npa fcal 7^9 d7ro\avo)v ical 6a\dcr<rr)<$ epf]p,6<$
17 ICTTLV ov fjLaX\.ov r) Kal dftoydyTOs. " ri ovv ;
cuv Tt9 7T\>0d>v
ere ov, d\\a TO
18 TLoia ovv eri eprj^'a, Troia aTropia ; ri
eavrovs TTotQ)/j,ev T&V 'jrat.b'apLcov ; a nva orav
fjiova, ri iroiet ; apavra, ocrrpdfcta Kal
bv oi/coSofMel ri Trore, elra Karaarpifai Kal
a\\o ol/coBofJLel' fcal OVTQ>$ ovSeirore airo-
19 pel Siay&ryfjs. <ya) ovv, av irKevo-yre u/^e^, /^eXXa)
fcadjj/jivo<; K\alet,v on [JLOVO? a7T\ei(f>0'r)v Kal
; ov/c ocrrpdKia e!~(o, ov <T7ro8ov ;
1 Schweighauser (as in II. 14, 8 ; IV. 1, 97) : <ra B.
1 A reverent expression for God. See note on HL 1, 43.
92
BOOK III, xni. 13-19
full of tranquillity ; every road,, every city, every
fellow-traveller., neighbour, companion., all are harm-
less. Another, 1 whose care it is, supplies food;
Another supplies raiment ; Another has given senses ;
Another preconceptions. Now whenever He does
not provide the necessities for existence, He sounds
the recall ; He has thrown open the door and
says to you, " Go." Where ? To nothing you need
fear, but back to that from which you came, to
what is friendly and akin to you, to the physical
elements. 2 What there was of fire in you shall pass
into fire, what there was of earth into earth, what
there was of spirit into spirit, what there was of
water into water. There is no Hades, nor Acheron,
nor Cocytus, nor Pyriphlegethon, but everything is
filled with gods and divine powers/* 3 A man who
has this to think upon, and who beholds the sun,
and moon, and stars, and enjoys land and sea, is no
more forlorn than lie is without help. " Why, what
then? What if someone should attack me when I
am alone and murder me ? " Fool, not murder you,
but your trivial body.
What kind of forlornness is left, then, to talk
about ? What kind of helplessness ? Why make
ourselves worse than little children? When they
are left alone, what do they do ? They gather up
sherds and dust and build something or other, then,
tear it down and build something else again ; and so
they are never at a loss as to how to spend their
time. Am I, then, if you set sail, to sit down and
cry because I am left alone and forlorn in that fashion ?
Shan't I have sherds, shan't I have dust ? But they
* Compare the Introduction, p. xxv f.
8 A doctrine ascribed to Thales, Diog. Laert. 1, 27.
93
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
aXX* efcewa VTT* a^pocrvwr)? ravra Troiel, 97/^6 9 '
V7TO <f)pOV1j(T6Q)$
20 Ha<Ta peyakr) Svva/u?
p,ivcp. <f>ptv oZv e ra roiavra Kara vvap,t,v,
a\\a Kara tpvcnv . . .- 1 a\V ov
21 f6XeT?7<7oi> Trore Siaycoyrjv o>? appwcrTOS, f iva
0)9 vyiaivatv Siaydygs. aarirrja-ov^
e Travrairao-w ope^G&s, iva Trore ical
ope)(dfj^. el 8' 6^X070)9, orap e^? T^
22 ez/ (Tavrq> d<ya0ov, ev opexOijcry. ov' aXX'
d)9 (rocf>ol Sidyetv IdeXofJiev KOI a><j)\6iv
Trolav a)<f>e\.e(,av ; ri 7roie?9 ; cravrov
yap d><j)ekr]cra<; ; a\\a Tr
crv yap Trporerpe^rai ; 0eXei><> avrovs o
23 Bel^ov ai)Toi<; lirl (reavrov, o2bi>9 iroiei <j>t,\ocro(t)ia,
KOI /JL}} <j)\vdpei. eaQltov rou9 <TVV6<r9iovTa$
oi)<J36\t,, irivtov TQVS TrivovTCiS) elfcwv TracTi) Trapa-
1 Beiske indicated the lacuna.
1 The change in subject-matter is so abrupt that some-
thing may perhaps have fallen out in some ancestor of 8, or
perhaps the next chapter-heading has become displaced by a
few lines. Yet there are similarly abrupt transitions in ILL
8, 7 and IH. 15, 14.
2 Something like ' * Give food (or wine) to the healthy man "
(Reiske), or " Wrestling is very good for the healthy man"
(Schenkl), has probably fallen out at this point.
94
BOOK III. xm. 19-23
act thus out of folly, and are we miserable out of
wisdom ?
1 Great power is always dangerous for the be-
ginner. We ought,, therefore, to bear such things
according to our power nay, in accordance with
nature . . . 2 but not for the consumptive. Practise
at some one time a style of living like an invalid, that
at some other time you may live like a healthy man.
Take no food, drink only water; refrain at some
one time altogether from desire, that at some other
time you may exercise desire, and then with good
reason. And if you do so with good reason,
whenever you have some good in you, you will
exercise your desire aright. 3 No, that's not our
way, but we wish to live like wise men from the
very start, and to help mankind. Help indeed!
What are you about ? Why, have you helped your-
self? But you wish to help them progress. Why,
have you made progress yourself? Do you wish to
help them? Then show them, by your own
example, the kind of men philosophy produces,
and stop talking nonsense. As you eat, help
those who are eating with you ; as you drink,
those who are drinking with you ; by yielding to
everybody, giving place, submitting help men in
this way, and don't bespatter them with your own
sputum. 4
* " It is one of the paradoxes of conduct that a man cannot
will to do good until in a sense he has become good, but
Epictetus would doubtless admit that the will must from the
first have exercise." Matheson, I. 32,
* Referring, no doubt, to the sputtering of excessively
ardent lecturers. ; :
95
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
1 C O9 ol Ka\ol 1 rpayatSol fjbovoi aaai ov Svvavrai,
aXka jjLera TroXXow, ovrco? evioi povoi rrepnra-
2 rrjcrai ov Svvavrai* avdpcoTre, ei ri>^ el, teal
/-ioz/09 Tfepnrdrrjaov /cal aavrq> \d\7jcrov KCU p,r}
3 ev rq> XP<p KpvTTrov. crfcaxpdrjri TTOTG, Trepi-
/SXetyai,, evcrelffOriTi, f lva 71^^)9, r/9 et.
4 "Qrav T^9 vSa)p irivy rj iroirj rt, a
7ra(j^9 afyopjjuri*; \eyei, avro 7rpo
5 vS&p Trivet." Sta yap TOUTO vS&p Triveis, Sia
jap TO vScop Trivew ; avOpaire, et <rou \vcnreKet
6 Triveiv, irlve' el Se /MIJ, ryeXotco? Troiei?. el fie
avjjL(f)pei, (TOL KCU Trivets, a icon a ?r/?o9 rou9 Bvcra-
Ti OVV /
7 Twv Trparrofievcov ra fjuev 7rporj<yovfJL6va>$ Trpdr-
rerat,, ra Se tcara irepLa-tacriVy ra Se /car ol/covo-
/jiiav, rci, Se Kara (rvpTrepifyopdv, ra S^ icar
evcrracriv.
8 Avo raOra le\w r&v cuvQptoTTtov, olf)Gi,v teal
aTncrrlav. ofyo'is pev ovv earl TO
8e TO
1 This has been read uniformly KO.KOL ever since the time
of Wolf. But it is clear from Aristotle, Pol. 3. 13, 21, that
superior solo voices were not used in the chorus, and it is a
notorious fact that excellent choral effects are secured with
voices which are not suitable for solo performance.
8 Meibom: rois S.
BOOK III. xiv. 1-8
CHAPTER XIV
Some scattered sayings
As the good chorus-singers in tragedy cannot render
solos, but can sing perfectly well with a number
of other voices, so some men cannot walk around
by themselves. Man, if you are anybody, both walk
around by yourself, and talk to yourself, and don't
hide yourself in the chorus. Let yourself be laughed
at sometimes, look about you, shake yourself up, so
as to find out who you actually are.
Whenever a man drinks water only, or has some
ascetic practice, he takes every opportunity to talk
about it to everybody : " I drink water only/" Why,
do you drink water just for the sake of drinking
water ? Man, if it is good for you to drink water,
drink it ! Otherwise your conduct is absurd. But
if it does you good and you drink water only,
don't say a word about it to the people who are
annoyed by such persons. Why, what's your object ?
Are these just the ones you wish to please ? l
Among actions some are performed primarily on
their own, account, others on occasion, or as a matter
of good management, or as required by tact, or as
part of a formal plan.
Here are two things of which one must rid men,
conceit and diffidence. Now conceit is to fancy that
one needs nothing further. And diffidence is to
assume that one cannot enjoy a life of serenity
1 That is : If you drink water only, do ifc to please your-
self, and not for the sake of impressing others ; above all,
not for the sake of trying to impress those who dislike
teetotalers.
97
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Svparov elvai evpoelv * rocrovrcov TrepcearTjKormv.
9 rrjv /j,ev oZv olrjaiv eA-67%0? e^aipel, fcal rovro
TTp&rov TTOtei ^Mfcpdrf]? . . . 2 ore S* OVK a&vva-
rov ecrn TO TTpaypa, atcefyat, teal tyr^o-ov ov&ev
10 <re jSka'^rei rj tyrrjais avTr)* KOI a"%6$ov TO (j>i\o-
aotyelv TOVT ecrri, tflTelv, TTW? evSe^erat, airapa-
TroStcrTft)^ ope^ei xpfjadat, KCU KK\Lcret,.
11 " Kpeicra-cov el/u crov* 6 yap irarrfp fiov VTrarifco?
12 early" aXXo? Xeyet te lyco SeS^ap^T/AJa, crv S 5
ov." el S' ZTTTTO* fj/JLev, eXeye? ai/ OT^ <f o irarrfp
IJLOV to/cvrepos r\v? fj 3 ori " 700 e%ft) TroXXa?
teal %6prov" TI ort " tcop^a Trepirpa-
rt OLIA et 4 ravrd crov \eyovr o<s elirov on
13 t( ear co ravra, rpe^co/Jiev ovv '* / aye, TT J av9pd>-
irov oJjv ov&ev eari, roiovrov olov e^>' ITTTTOV
o5 yvoxrOrjcrerai, o %eipa>v teal o
; prjiror earlv alSd>$, Trio-rt,?, Si/eato-
14 <rvvrj ; rovroi<$ Sei/cvve Kpeirrova creavrov, Iv co?
5 Kpeirrodv. av fioi Xey^? on
%a)" epa> croi, /caja> on, " eiil ovov
1 Schenkl (after Wolf) : evpetv o S (mostly by Sc in an
erasure).
2 Reiske observed the lacuna.
8 jf supplied.by Hense.
4 ri olv el Oldfather : el o^v S. elr' <&v or T o$v Reiske.
98
BOOK III. xiv. 8-14
under so many adverse circumstances. Now conceit
is removed by cross-examination, and this is what
Socrates starts with. . . . 1 But that the matter is
not impossible,, consider and search this kind of
search will do you no harm ; and, indeed, to
philosophize practically amounts to this^ that is, to
search how it is possible to employ desire and
aversion without hindrance.
ee 1 am superior to you, for my father has consular
rank." 2 Another says, " I have been a tribune, and
you have not/* And if we were horses,, you would
be saying : " My sire was swifter than yours," or, ee I
have quantities of barley and fodder/' or, "I have
pretty neck-trappings/' What then, if, when you
were talking like this, I said, " Granted all that,
let's run a race, then"? Come now, is there,
then, nothing in man like running in the case of
a horse, whereby the worse and the better
will be recognized ? Isn't there such a thing as
reverence, faith, justice ? Prove yourself superior
in these points, in order to be superior as a human
being. If you tell me, " I can deliver a mighty
kick,"* 3 I shall say to you in my turn, ce You are
proud over what is the act of an ass."
1 There is no clear connection here with the preceding,
and the topic of the removal of diffidence could scarcely have
been passed over.
2 The subject-matter of this is closely paralleled in frag.
18, Encheiridwn 44, and in the florilegia. It was clearly a
commonplace.
3 Much practised hy the pancratiasts, who struck "both
with the heel and with the knee.
5 'In Schweighausef without comment, after Schegk : ff 8.
99
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ie'. "Ore Bel rrepLecrKe^ivo)^ ep^eaOat e<f>
efcacrra.
1 'E/eacrrou epjov cr/eo7m ra fcadrjjov/ieva real ra
aKQ\ov6a fcal ovro)<> ep^ov ITT avro. el 8e fArj,
rr)V uev Trpwrrjv r\^ei^ 7rpo9vju,a)$ are
aaxpa>$ airocmcrr). " eXat
i" a\\ci a-fcoTret, ra /caOrjryovfjieva avrov real
ra atcokovQa* teal ovrcos av croi \v(rire\fj t arrrov
3 rov epyov. Selcreevr a/crew, avayfco^ayelv, aire^e-
(jQoiL 7re/ji/j,dra)V, yvfjLvd&crdat, irpos avdyfcrjv, copa
reray/Aevr), ev fcav/jiari, ev tyv'xei* pr) tyv^pov rriveiv^
pr) olvav or* erw^ev' drr\o)$ a>9 larp& 1 rrapaSe-
4 Sto/cevai creavrbv TO) eiricrrdrrj- elra eV rq> dytovt,
7rapopva(Te(rdat, f ecrriv ore %elpa eicfia\e2v t o"0u-
pov* crrpetyai,, 7ro\\rjv afyrjv Karamelv, pacrri,-
ycddTjvai,' KOI fj,era rovrcov Travrav Had* ore
5 Diia]^ r]vai> ravra \oyicrd/jLevo$, ay en #6X779,
5 V \ n^ * 5>\ /</ ff e \
eTTi. TO auXew ei, oe pr), opa on &>9 *ra
ia dvacrrpafitfary, a vvv pev ddXyras Trai&i,,
vvv Se j^ovo/jbd^ov^t vvv Se <ra\rri%eL, elra rpa-
6 'ywSet o ri av 3 l$rj Kal davjjbdcrrj ovra)$ teal o~v
1 The text of the Encheiridioni a.Tr\>s larptp ydp S
(originally).
2 The text of the Eiicheiridion : o<j>pvv S (originally),
changed to cxrQvv. 3 Reiske : orav 8.
1 Repeated with slight variations in JBncheiridwn, 29,
2 See note on Eneh. ^9, 2.
8 A technical term. (Diog, Laert. 6, 27) of somewhat
uncertain meaning, "but probably referring to a preliminary
wallowing in dust or mud before the wrestling match at the
pancratium.
100
BOOK III. xv. 1-6
CHAPTER XV 1
That we ought to approach each separate thing with
circumspection
IN each separate thing that you do consider the
matters which come first, and those which follow
after, and only then approach the thing itself. Other-
wise, at the start you will come to it enthusiastic-
ally because you have never reflected upon any of
the subsequent steps, but later on, when some of
them appear, you will give up disgracefully. I
wish to win an Olympic victory/' But consider the
matters which come before that and those which
follow after ; and only when you have done that, then,
if it profits you, put your hand to the task. You have
to submit to discipline, follow a strict diet, give up
sweet-cakes, train under compulsion, at a fixed
hour, in heat or in cold; you must not drink cold
water, 2 nor wine just whenever you feel like it;
you must have turned yourself over to your trainer
precisely as you would to a physician. Then when
the contest comes on, you have to " dig in " beside 3
your opponent, sometimes dislocate your wrist,
sprain your ankle, swallow quantities of sand, take
a scourging ; 4 yes, and then sometimes get beaten
along with all that. After you- have counted up
these points, go on into the games, if you still wish
to ; otherwise, I would have you observe that you
will be turning back like children. Sometimes they
play athletes, again gladiators, again they blow
trumpets, and then act a play about anything that
they have seen and admired. So you too are now
4 That is, for any foul committed.
101
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
vvv p,lv afaqrtfs, vvv e /-toz>o/ia%o9, elra <j)i,\6cro-
<09, elra prjrcop, o\r] Se rfj ^f%$ ouSez>, <iXX' 009 o
TrldriKos irav o av B?/9 /^i? #0u ael croi aXXo e
7 a\\ov apecr/cei, TO crvvrj0e<; S' airapecrKei. ov jap
fiera a/ceifre&s $i\6e<s eiri n ovSe
o\ov TO irpdiypa ov$e
Kara ^rv^pav InrLSv^La
8 OvTQ)$ TZ/9 IB6VT$ (j)i\6(TO(j)OV
rt9 our&)9 Svvarat, elireLv w? ejcewo? ;), deXovcrw
9 /cal ai/Tol <f>i\oao(}>elv. avOpco'Tre, cr/ce^frai Trp&rov
TL ecrrl TO irpa^jjia, elra xal rrjv <ravrov <>vcriv t ri
bvvacrat, ftaardaai. el Tra^aicrrri^^ IBov crov
10 TOU9 a5/iOf9, TOU9 ^/?ou9, T^V ocr^)W. aXXo9 7/)
7T/509 aXXo T^ f jr6(j)VK6v. 8oA:9 <m ravra
TToi&v Svvacrat, fyikocrofalv ,* So/eefc OT* Svvacrat
axravra)? ea-Oieiv, QxravTO)? Triveiv> o/Aota)9 opji^e-
11 0-0CM, o/tota>9 Sva-apecrreiv ; aypvirvfja-ai Set,
Trovrjo-ai, vcKTjaai rwa$ iri9vp,la<i, ajreXdelv ano
r&v oltceiwVy VTTO iraiSapiov Kara<j>povr}0fjvai 9 vrro
r&v airavrdbyrtov tcarayekaa-dfjvat,, ev iravrl
12 HXacrcrov e%6W, ev apxy, ev ri/j,f}, ev Si/cy. ravra
?, ei (rot, Sofcel, vrpocrepxov,
arapa^lav. el Se p,r), pjrj irpoaa^ p>rj a>9 ra
1 Although the expression (lit. "with cold desire") seems
a bit strange, because the fault seems to lie especially in the
lack of forethought and circumspection, still it is supported
by the version in the Mncheiridio% t and particularly by the
phrase, ** yet with your whole soul nothing," in 6 above.
Mere desire, without reason and deliberation, is apparently
regarded by Epictetus as a weak thing.
102
BOOK III. xv. 6-12
an athlete, now a gladiator, then a philosopher,
after that a rhetorician, yet with your whole soul
nothing, but like an ape you imitate whatever you
see, and one thing after another is always striking
your fancy, but what you are accustomed to bores
you. For you have never gone out after anything
with circumspection, nor after you have examined
the whole matter all over and tested it, but you act
at haphazard and half-heartedly. 1
In the same way, when some people have seen a
philosopher and heard someone speaking like
Euphrates 2 (though, indeed, who can speak like
him?), they wish to be philosophers themselves.
Man, consider first what the business is, and then
your own natural ability, what you can bear. If
you wish to be a wrestler, look to your shoulders,
your thighs, your loins. For one man has a natural
talent for one thing, another for another. Do you
suppose that you can do the things you do now^ and
yet be a philosopher ? Do you suppose that you can
eat in the same fashion, drink in the same fashion, give
way to anger and to irritation, just as you do now ?
You must keep vigils, work hard, overcome certain
desires, abandon your own people, be despised by
a paltry slave, be laughed to scorn by those who
meet you, in everything get the worst of it, in
office, in honour, in court. Look these drawbacks
over carefully, and then, if you think best, approach
philosophy, that is, if you are willing at the price
of these things to secure tranquillity, freedom, and
calm. Otherwise, do not approach ; don't act like
2 An eminent Stoic lecturer, highly praised by Pliny
(Ep. I. 10), and a bitter enemy of Apollonras of Tyana,
A specimen of his eloquence k given below, IV. 8, 17-20.
103
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
vvv ft,ev (J3i\ocro<f>o$, varepov Se
13 elra pijrcop, elra eTrlrpoiros Kaicrapos* ravra ov
<rv/ji<j)u>Vl' eva ere Sec avflpcoTrov elvai r) ayadov r)
KdKQV rj TO 'fj'yefjiOviKov ere Set e^epya^ecrOaL TO
cravrov rj ra e/cro9' r) irepl ra ecro) (friXoTrovelv 1 r)
irepl ra ej*a)' TOVT ecrri <f>iX,o<ro<f)ov
14 ^PoiHpG) 7^9 eXeyez/ Fa\/3a cr^aye^ro? on
Trpovolq o Koa-fjios ^LOLKelrai ; " o Se fl
oos TTOT'," e^>^, * { airo YakfBa
irpovoia 6 /eocryu-09 Stoi/cetrat ; "
w9 Set
1 *Avdy/cr) rov crvry/caQievTa ncrlv eirLirKeov f) el$
\a\iav f} 69 crvfJUTToa-ia rj a7rXa)9 6/9 avpftlGscrw r)
CLVTOV e/ceivoi? e^o/jLOLcoOrjuai, rj eicelvovs fjLera-
2 Qelvai 7rl ra CIVTOV. /cal yap avdpafca a7r<r/3<r-
p,ivov av Of) wapa rov Kai6jj,evov, r) auro9 eicelvov
3 aTrocrftecrei, 2 r) e/ceivo$ TOVTOV e/cfcavcrei,.
KOVTOV ovv rov /uvo'vvov 6Vro9 ei>Xa/3ft)9 Set
crvy/caOieadai eh Ta-9 roiavras
arc a^^avov rov avvavarpt-
1 Meibom : QiXovtvei S.
2 awofffteffet supplied by the Salamanca edition, after
Schegk,
1 See note on HI. 13, 20.
2 The Roman emperor ; the incident took place in A.D. 69.
104
BOOK III. xv. i2-xvi. 3
a child now a philosopher, later on a tax-gatherer,
then a rhetorician,, then a procurator of Caesar.
These things do not go together. You must be
one person, either good or bad ; you must labour to
improve either your own governing principle or
externals ; you must work hard either on the inner
man, or on things outside; that is, play the rdle
of a philosopher, or else that of a layman. 1
When Galba 2 was assassinated, someone said to
Rufus, 3 ee Is the universe governed now by Provi-
dence ? " But he replied, " Did I ever, even in
passing, take the case of Galba as the basis for an
argument that the universe is governed by Provi-
dence ? "
CHAPTER XVI
That one should enter cautiously into social intercourse
THE man who consorts frequently with one person
6r another either for conversation, or for banquets,
or for social purposes in general, is compelled either
to become like them himself, or else to bring them
over to his own style of living; for if you put by
the side of a live coal one that has gone out, either
the dead coal will put the live one out, or the latter
will kindle the former. Since the risk, then, is so
great, we ought to enter cautiously into such social
intercourse with the laymen, remembering that it
is impossible for the man who brushes up against
3 Musonius Rufus, the distinguished philosopher and
teacher of Epictetus, to whom the latter was greatly indebted.
See the indices to the two vols. of this translation, and Vol. I,
Introduction, p. viii.
105
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/36/jLevov T< rj(r/3oX t Q)/j,vq) fir) teal avTov
4 T??9 aa/36\7}$. n jap iroirj&eis, av irepl povo-
ad^cov XaX^, 1 av Trepl 'fanrow, av Trepl adXyrtov,
av TO en TOVTGW ^elpov Trepl dvdpc!)Tra)v* f( 6 Selva
tea/cos, 6 Selva dyaOo?* TOVTO /ca\a)$ l^evero,
rovro fcafc&s "' en av a-fcooTrrrj, av <ye\otd%r) t av
e%ei Ti9 v/ju&v irapa^icevrjv olav o
rrjv \vpav \aj3<i>v, &ar evdv?
r&v %op&tov yv&vai ra? aavfKpcovov^
jcal apfji6cra(T6at, TO opyavov ; oiav elx^v ^vvapiv
^cofcpaTr)?, WCTT' ev 7rdcr<r) avfj,7rept,<f)opa 2 ayew eVl
6 TO auTov TOU? crvvovTOS ; Trodev vfuv ; clAX*
avdj/crj VTTO T&V io'M&TWv vaa^ Trepid^ecrOat,.
1 A^o- TL ovv efcelvot, V/AWV la^uporepoi ; OTC
e/celvoi fj>ev TO, crairpa TavTa CLTTO So<y/j.dTa>v
\a\ova-iv, vuets $e Ta KOp^ci airo T&V %eiX<yi/'
&ia TOVTO aTovd ean real veicpd, /cal cntcyjxvai
(TTIV d/COVOVTa V/jL&V TOW? TTpOTpeTTTlKOV? Kal T7JV
dpeTTjv TTJV Ta\ai7rcopov, r) ava) fcaTO> dpv\eiTai.
8 ovT&)9 vfj,a$ ol t&L&Tai, VIKGHTIV. TravTa^ov yap
9 la")(vpov TO Soyfia, dvlxijTOv TO Soy/Aa. /^e^pt?
av ovv Traycoaiv ev v/uuv a I Ko^al V7ro\ij^e^
/cal &vvauiv Tiva TrepiTroitjatja-de Tryoo? ao"<j>d\eiav,
vuiv uXa/?co9 rot9 IStcoTat,? avy-
palvew el Se p,^ read* rjaepav a>9 /cypos ev
SiaTafcrjcreTai, vu&v et nva ev Trj 0-%oX$
10 ey<ypd<f)Te. fjuaicpav ovv CLTTO TOV 7j\iov irov TTOTG
vTrdyeTe, uexpis av Kijpivas ra9 viro\^ei^ e^re.
11 $t,a TOVTO /cal T>V iraTpi&cov <rvfjL/3ov\evovo*t,v
1 Schweighauser : Aa\^ts S.
2 Wolf, after Schegk :
106
BOOK JIL xvi. 3-1 1
the person who is covered with soot to keep from
getting some soot on himself. For what are you
going to do if he talks about gladiators, or horses,
or athletes, or, worse still, about people : ce So-and-
so is bad. So-and-so is good; this was well done,
this ill " ; or again, if he scoffs, or jeers, or shows
an ugly disposition ? Has any of you the capacity
of the expert lyre-player when he takes up his lyre,
which enables him, the instant he touches the strings,
to recognize the ones which are off pitch, and to
tune the instrument ? Or the power that Socrates
had, which enabled him in every kind of social inter-
course to bring over to his own side those who were
in his company? How could you have? But you
must necessarily be converted by the laymen.
Why, then, are they stronger than you are?
Because their rotten talk is based on judgements, but
your fine talk comes merely from your lips ; that's
why what you say is languid and dead, and why a
man may well feel nausea when he hears your exhor-
tations and your miserable "virtue," which you
babble to and fro. And thus the laymen get the
better of you ; for everywhere judgement is strong,
judgement is invincible. Therefore, until these fine
ideas of yours are firmly fixed within you, and you
have acquired some power which will guarantee you
security, my advice to you is to be cautious about
joining issue with the laymen ; otherwise whatever
you write down in the lecture-room will melt away
by day like wax in the sun. 1 Retire, then, to some
spot or other far away from the sun, so long as the
ideas which you have are waxen. It is for this
reason that the philosophers advise us to leave even
1 Such lecture-notes were written on. wax tablets.
107
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ol <j)i\0(TO<f)oi, ort ra iraKaia edrj
/cal OVK ea apxyv yevecrQai TWO, a\\ov
ov$e<ppo/iev rov$ aTravrSivras /cal\eyo-
z/r<z9 "JfS* o Sewa (^Xocro^eZ, o row /cal o
12 ovra)<> /cal ol larpol rovs pa/cpovocrovvTas ef
TTQVCrW 645 aXk^V %ODpCLV KOI a\\a aep
13 7rojo&>T9. KCLI v/j>ew avreiaaydyere a\\a Wr}*
itTj^are vp,&v ra? viroX^e^, evad\ei7e avrals.
14: oy* aXX' ev9ev eVl Qecopiav, et? p,ovopa')(lav, et?
gvcrrov, 649 Kiptcov clr* etceWev SSe Aral irakiv
15 evdev e/cel ol avroi. KOI Wo$ KO/JL-^TOV ovbev, cure
e</>' avrov xal irapa-
; Kara (pvcriv i) Trapa fyvcriv ;
rpbs avra? ; <M? Set rj a>9 ov
rol$ aTrpoatperois, on ovBev 77/309 ef
16 el yap JJUJTTO) oi;T6)9 e%^T 5 (f>vyere edrj ra
pov, <f>vyTe row iSicora?, el 0e\ere apgacr@ai
7TOT6
L%'. Tlepl
g Ttpovoia ly/eaXfj?, GTua-Tpa^Ot KOL
2 yvcocrrj, ort Kara \6yov yeyovev* t( vaL, aXX* o
1 Where the athletes exercised in winter, or in bad
weather.
108
BOOK III. xvi. II-XTIL 2
our own countries, because old habits distract
us and do not allow a beginning to be made of
another custom, and we cannot bear to have men
meet us and say, " Look, So-and-so is philosophizing,
although he is this sort of a person or that."
Thus also physicians send away to a different
region and a different climate those who are suffer-
ing from chronic disorders, and that is well.
Do you also introduce different habits; fix your
ideas, exercise yourselves in them. But no, you go
from the class-room to a show, a gladiatorial combat,
a gymnasium-colonnade, 1 a circus; and then you
come back here from these places, and you go back
there again from here, and remain, the same persons
all the time. 2 And so you acquire no fine habit;
you pay no regard or attention to your own self;
you do not observe : " How do I deal with the
external impressions which befall me ? In accordance
with nature, or contrary to it ? How shall I respond
to these impressions ? As I should, or as I should
not ? Do I declare to the things which lie outside
the sphere of my moral purpose that they mean
nothing to me ? " Why, if you have not yet acquired
this state of mind, flee from your former habits, flee
from the laymen, if you would begin to be somebody
some time.
CHAPTER XVII
Of Providence
WHENEVER you find fault with Providence, only
consider and you will recognize that what happens
is in accordance with reason. "Yes," you say,
2 Of. "... But evermore came out by the same door
where in I went," Omar Khayyam (Fitzgerald), 27.
109
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
f rr\eov e%." ev TIVI ; ev
jap TOVTO crov KpeiTToiv early, ort 1 /co\a/cevei,
3 avawxyvTet, aypvirvel. ri 6a,vp,ao~TQv ; aXX'
efceivo /3X7T, el ev T&> incrTo? elvai TrXeoz/ crov
6%G, el ev T$ alSijjj,Q)v. ov yap evpy
OTTOV Kpirra>v, e/cel (ravrov
4 %oj/Ta. /ca7< TTOT' elirov TLVI a
on <l>tXocrTOp709 evrv^el, s/ H^eX9 ai^ crt;
IZiOvpa Kot/jbdcrdaL ; " M^ <yevoiTo" <f>v]<riv f " e-
5 KeLvr] T) fjiJiepa" Tt ovv ayava/crels, el XapjBavei
TI avO* ov 7ro)\e1 ; rj TTW? /jLatcaptfeis rov Sia
TOVTttiv, a aij aTrev^rjt fcrm^evov e/ceiva ; ?j TL
fca/cov Troiei v\ Trpovoia, el rots fcpeirrocrL TCI
Kpeirrco BLBcocrtv ; TI OVK etm fcpelrrov al^fiova
6 elvat, TI 7T\ovcnov ; 'flyu-oXoyes. Tt ovv a<ya-
vafcrels, avOp&Tre, e^cov TO /cpelrrov ; jne/uwrjcrd e
ovv ael fcal Trpo^eLpov e^ere, Sri VQJLLOS ovros
<f>v<n,Ko$ TOP /cpeirrova TOV %eLpovos TT\OV e^ew,
ev <p fcpeirrtov earlv, /cal ov&eTTOT* ajava/crija-eTe.
7 " aXX' ^ yvvtj JJLOI /caK&s %pf)Tcu" /caXa)9. dv
Tt9 crov TrvvOdvrjTCU, ri earl TOVTO, Xeye " ^
71/1/77 ILQI KaKto? xpijrai," (t aXXo ovv ovftev ;**
8 ovSev. " o Trarrip pot, ovSev SLScocriv" . . . 2 ort,
Se tcaicbv ecmv, TOVTO eacodev aiiTw Bel Trpoa-
1 Wolf and Upton's "codex" : S 8.
* Lacuna observed by Wolf.
1 Probably the Palfwius Sura who had been expelled from
the Senate under the Flavian emperors. Suet. Dom. IS, 2.
no
BOOK III. xvir. 2-8
"but the wicked man is better off." In what
respect? In money; for in respect to that he is
superior to you, because he flatters, is shameless,
lies awake nights. What is surprising in that ? But
look rather and see if he is better off than you
are in being faithful, and considerate. For you will
not find that to be the case; but where you are
superior, there you will find that you are better off
than he is. And so I once asked a man who was
complaining about the prosperity of Philostorgus,
"Would you have been willing to cohabit with Sura?" 1
" May that day never come ! " said he. Why, then,
are you indignant if he gets something for what he
sells? Or how can you deem him Jblessed who
acquires what he has by means which you abhor?
Or what harm does Providence do if it gives the
better thing to th,e better men? Or is it not better
to be considerate than to be rich? He agreed
that it was. Why, then, are you indignant, man,
when you have the better part ? I would have the
rest of you always remember, then, and be ready
to apply the following truth : That this is a law of
nature for the superior to have the better of the
inferior, in the respect in which he is superior;
and then you will never be indignant. "But my
wife treats me badly/* Very well ; if someone asks
you what this amounts to, say, " My wife treats me
badly." "Nothing else, then?" Nothing. "My
father doesn't give me anything " . . . 2 But is it
necessary in your own mind to add to the preceding
statement, that to, receive nothing from your father
2 The lacuna is probably to "be filled out thus: What
does this amount to ? Merely that your father doesn't give
you anything.
Ill
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
9 delvai fcal TTpovKaTatyGvcraadai, ; Bio, TOVTO ov
rjv TTGVICLV etcfidXkew, a\\a TO $oy/j,a TO
avTrjs, KOI OUTW? evpotf&oj&ev.
/. rf Ori ov Set 7r/c>o9 ra? ayy\t>a?
T apdcr cre<r6 at, .
<roL rt, 7rpo<ray<y\0fj Tapafcrucov, e
2 periKov yiveTai. prj TL yap Svvarai <roi
iy OT.I /carcw i/TreXa/Se? TJ fcarcm cope^^^ ;
^&)9. 'AXX' OTI aneffavev TI$* ri ovv
ae
3 a-e ; OTX o Trarrjp rd&e TWO- eTOt,jj,deTai* ewl
Tiva ; firj TL eVl T^V Trpoaipecriv ; TroOev bvvaTai ;
dXX eTrl TO crco/AaTiov, 7rl TO fCTrjcreibiov
4 ecr<0779, ou 7ri ere, 1 aXX* o /cptTrjs a7ro<J>aivTai
on 'fjffefl'qcras. ire pi ^co/cpaTOvs 8' ov/c aire-
fyrfvavTO ol SifcacrTai ; prf TL crop epyov o*rl TO
Ktvov aTro^rjvaa-dcu ; Ov. 1i ovv CTI aoi
5 /ieXe*; eWt TL rov Trarpo? crov epyov, o av /JLTJ
K7r\r]pti)o-rf f aTrdiXecrev TOV TTdTepa, TQV (f)i\6~
o-Topyov, TOV jjpepov, aXXo 8e prjdev tyrei
TOVTOV evGKa avTov a7ro\<rai* ovMiroTe yap
t,, ek aXXo ^e /3Xa?r-
1 oiiKovv after <re Is omitted in s.
* Wolf:
112
BOOK III. xvn. 8-xviii. 5
is an evil, and at that to add a lie too ? For this
reason we ought not to cast out poverty, but
only our judgement about poverty, and so we shall
be serene.
CHAPTER XVIII
That we ought not to allow any news to disturb us
WHENEVER some disturbing news is reported to
you, you ought to have ready at hand the following
principle : News, on any subject, never falls within
the sphere of the moral purpose. Can anyone bring
you word that you have been wrong in an assumption
or in a desire? By no means. But he can bring
you word that someone is dead. Very well,, what
is that to you? That someone is speaking* ill of
you. Very well, what is that to you? That your
father is making certain preparations. Against
whom? Surely not against your moral purpose, is
it? Why, how can he? But against your paltry-
body, against your paltry possessions ; you are safe,
it is not against you. But the judge condemns you
on the charge of impiety. And did not the judges
similarly condemn Socrates ? Surely it is no concern
of yours that the judge pronounced you guilty, is it?
-r^-No. s-Why, then, are you any further concerned ?
Your father has a certain function, and if he does not
perform it, he has destroyed the father in him, the
man who loves his offspring, the man of gentleness
within him- Do not seek to make him lose anything
else on this account. For it never happens that a
man goes wrong in one thing, but is injured in
113
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
6 rerai. 7rd\iv crov epyov TO a7ro\oyr}07)vai
evcrradw, alo'r)fju6vQ)<; t aopyyrcos. el Se /j,y f
a.7reSXecra9 teal cry rov vlov, rov alBijjuova, rov
1 yevvaiov. ri ovv ; o /cpLr?)$ CLKLV^VVOS eeriv ;
ov' aXXa tcafceivcp ra lea KivSvveverat. ri ovv
eVi fyofirf, ri e/celvos Kpivzi ; ^ ri crol teal r
8 aXXorptct) fcaKp ; o~ov KCIKOV cart TO /ca/cw?
aTToXoyrjdfjvai,'' rovro (f)v\dcrcrov p,ovov* Kpidrptai
S' rj jj/rj Kpidfjvai &aTrep a\\ov early epyov,
9 OUTC09 KCLKQV a\\OV IcTTM. " a7Ti\L O"OL
Seiva" fj,ol ; ov. " tyeyei <re." avTo? otyercu,
7ra)9 TroieZ TO ISiov epyov. "/ieXXet <re Kara'
ir0\ T/9 vrdcns ISiwrov KOI <pi\oar6<f>ov ;
1 *H Trpcorrj Siacfropa ISiarov teal $LkocrQ$ow
o /u,ev XeyeJ ** ovai poi Bta ro irai&apiQV) Sia rov
aSeX^Joz/, oval Sea rov Trarepa," o S\ av iror
elTrelv avay/eaaQfj, (t ovai poi " eTricrrrjcras \eyei
2 ts Si' e/xe/* irpoalpecnv yap ovo'ev Svvarai /ccoXvcrai
3 r) j3\d^ai airpoaiperov el /-w? avrr) eavrijv* av
ovv eirl rovro pe^rcofjiev /cal avroi t w<r$* orav
1 Koraes after Schegk : KpivTji. 8.
1 On this point see the Introduction, Vol. I, p. xx:
"Every man bears the exclusive responsibility himself for
his own good or evil, since it is impossible to imagine a
moral order in which one person does the wrong and another,
the innocent, suffers " ; or, as here, where a person might do
wrong in the moral sphere, and yet not suffer also in the
moral sphere. Compare also the note on I. 28, 10, in Vol. L
114
BOOK III. xvm. 5-xix. 3
another. 1 Again, it is your function to defend your-
self firmly, respectfully, without passion. Other-
wise, you have destroyed within you the son, the
respectful man, the man of honour. What then?
Is the judge secure ? No ; but he too runs just as
great a risk. Why, then, are you afraid of what
decision he is going to render ? What have you to
do with another man's evil? Your own evil is to
make a bad defence ; only guard against that, but
just as being condemned or not being condemned is
another's function, so it is another's evil. "So-and-
so threatens you.'* Me? No. "He blames you."
He himself will attend to how he is performing his
own proper function. ec He is on the point of con-
demning you unjustly." Poor devil !
CHAPTER XIX
What is the position of the layman, and what that of
the philosopher ?
THE first difference between a layman and a
philosopher: The one says, "Woe is me because
of my child, my brother, woe because of my father " ;
and the other, if he can ever be compelled to say,
"Woe is me," adds, after a pause, "because of my-
self/' For nothing outside the sphere of the moral
purpose can hamper or injure the moral purpose ; it
alone can hamper or injure itsel If, then, we too tend
in this latter direction so that, whenever we go amiss,
This general position, which as an unverifiahle postulate
underlies the whole Stoic philosophy, and is the very starting-
point of their whole system of thinking, is what might
be styled the irp&Tov ^euSos of Stokism.
115
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
8vcro8a)fjt,v } avrovs alnacrdai /cat /aefivrjo-Oai, on
ovSev aXXo rapaffls ^ dfcaracrr acrias cLiriov
<rnv ^ S6yju>a, O/JLVVCO v/uv Trdvras 0eou9, on
4 7rpOtcotyafJLev. 1 vvv $ aXkrjv oSbv I!* dp^r}?
ev0v<$ ert iraLSav rj/A&v ovr&v
, e TTore TTpoo'e'TrTacrafj.ev
TJ/MV 7ri r jT\rj(TO'ev i a\\a rov \i6ov
T6 yap eTToirjcrev o \L6os ; Sia rrjv rov
5 crov ficoptav ISei yuerayS^a^ avtov ; irakiv av p/rj
evpwpev fyayelv etc fiakavdov, ovbenod* y
Karao"re\\ei> rrjv ewiQv^Lav 6
Sepei rov /jidyeipov. avdpcoTre, JMTJ yap tfceiv
ere TraiSaywybv tear ear rjO" a (Lev ; a\\a rov
6 r)fJL&w rovro erravopOoV) rovro ax^eXe^. ovra)<;
/cal avfydevre? fyaivopeda Trai&la. Trals yap lv
6 afiovcros, ev ypafjLfjLarLKol^ 6
/3i& o
/c f . f 'Ori airo rravrav r&v G/cros eenv
1 vr rv
a"X > eSbv TO dyadbv teal TO /cafcbv ev yjuv aire-
2 \nroV) ovyt 8* ev TO?? e/cT09. 0^8619
ayadbv TO rjfiepav elvai, KCIKOV rb vv/cra
fjL&yio~rov Se Ka/c&v rb rpia reo-aapa elvai.
3 a\\a riy rrjv p,ev emcrrrfprjv aya06v, rrjv S*
airdrriv /cafcov, &o~re fcal irepl avro TO i/rei)So9
dyadbv 3 crvvio-rao-dat,> ryv eTno-rrjfjLrjv rov -^rei)So9
1 Wolf : vpoeKotyev 8+ 2 s : aypa^fjidriKos
116
BOOK III. xix. 3-xx. 3
we blame ourselves, and bear in mind that nothing
but judgement is responsible for the disturbance of
our peace of mind and our inconstancy, I swear to
you by all the gods that we have been making pro-
gress. But as it is, we have taken a different course
from the start. Even while we were still children,
our nurse, if ever we bumped into something, when
we were going along with our mouths open, did not
scold us, but used to beat the stone. Why, what
did the stone do ? Ought it to have moved out of
the road because of your childish folly ? And again,
if we when children don't find something to eat
after our bath, our attendant never checks our
appetite, but he cudgels the cook. Man, we didn't
make you the cook's attendant, did we? but our
child's. Correct him, help him. So, even when we
have grown up, we look like children. For it is
being a child to be unmusical in things musical, to
be unlettered in things literary, to be uneducated in
life.
CHAPTER XX
That it Is possible to derive advantage from everything
external
IN the case of our intellectual impressions practi-
cally all men have agreed that the good and the
evil are in ourselves, and not in externals. Nobody
calls the statement that it is day, good, or that it is
night, bad, and the greatest of evils, the statement
that three is four. But what ? They call knowledge
good, and error evil ; so that even in regard to what
is false there arises a good, that is, the knowledge
8 SchweigMuser : ctoraTTjy &
117
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
4 elvai avTo. ilSei OVP ovra? xal evrl TOV /3iov.
vyeia dyad op, POCTO? Se KCLKQV ; ov>
dXXa TL ; TO Ka\w vyiaivGiv dya86p, TO
fca/cop. f Hcrre Kol CLTTO votrov eanv
6r\vcn; TOP deov aoi^ CLTTO 8avaTOv jap OVK
5 ecrrw ; CLTTO irrjpdiXTe^ yap ovtc eanv ; /Jiifcpd
or 01 Sofcei o M.evot,K6v$ (ic^eX^^^i/af, or avre-
Qvycncev ; Tocavrd n$ dirtov GHpeXtydeLrj* ola
TOV <j>t,\o7rarpiv 3 rov yu/eyaXo^/joi/a, Toy 7n<JTOi>,
TOP ryevvalov ; 7r^^cra9 Se ov/c av 3 aTrc!\\vev
TrdvTa ; ov TrGpieiroielvo T^ evavria ; TOV
ov/c ap\d/j,^avv, TOP a<yepp7J> TOP {JLKTO-
TOP fyiko'tyv'xpp ; aye Sofcel croi pi/cpa
7 db<f)\ridrivat diroQapcibp ; ov* aXX* o TOV *
8 KOI d9\ia><; ; v<TTpop yap OVK aTT&Oavev ; Trau-
Trav<ra<r6'
TT pay paT cov y elTa Si avTa /cat T&P dp0 pwTro&p
TWP TavTa irepnroLelv f) afyaipelo-d ai Svva-
fJLP6)P.
9 "Et&Tip OVP airo TOVT&P a)(j)e\tj07Jpai ; J
p. Kal airo TOV TwiSopovpTos ; Tt
TOP d0\7)T7)p o 7rpoo-yvjji,pa6fJi,6Po$ ;
1 Bentley : <rou 8.
2 3? after this word is deleted by s
3 &v added by Upton, after Schegk.
4 Bentley and Shaftesbury, about tne same time :
VfJLO>V S
118
BOOK III. xx. 3-9
that the false is false. So it ought to be, then, also
with our life. Is health a good, and illness an evil ?
No, man. What then? To be well for a good end
is good, to be well for an evil end is evil. So that it
is possible to derive advantage even from illness, you
mean ? Why, I call God to witness, isn't it possible
to derive advantage from death? Why,, isn't it
possible from lameness? 1 Do you think that Me-
noeceus 2 derived but little good when he died?
May the one who says anything like that derive the
same sort of good that he did ! Ho, there, man,
did he not maintain the patriot that he was, the
high-minded man, the man of fidelity, the man of
honour ? And had he lived on, would he not have
lost all these? Would he not have won the very
opposite ? Would he not have acquired the character
of the coward, the ignoble man, the disloyal, the
lover of his own life ? Come now, do you think that
Menoeceus derived but little good by his death?
Oh, no ! But the father of Admetus derived great
good from living so ignobly and wretchedly, did
he? Why, didn't he die later? Make an end, I
adjure you by the gods, of admiring material things,
make an end of turning yourselves into slaves, in
the first place, of things, and then, in the second
place, on their account, slaves also of the men who
are able to secure or to take away these things.
Is it possible, then, to derive advantage from
these things? Yes, from everything. Even from
the man who reviles me ? And what good does his
wrestling-companion do the athlete? The very
1 Perhaps a reference to Ms own case. SeelntrocL p. ix. f.,
in Vol. I.
a Who gave his life to save his native city, Thebes.
119
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/jLeyHTTa. KOI oSro? epou TTpoyv/jLvacrrr}? yiverar
TO aveKTiKov p,ov <yv/j,vd%t, TO aopyrjTov, TO
10 trpaov. oir aXX* 6 /nev TOV Tpa^rfkov
Kal rrjv o<r<j)vv JJLOV KOL rov$ w/io
ft)<eXe fJLG fcal o aXetTTT^ /eaX&>
" apov VTrspov a/Ji<f)OTepai,<?" * /cal ocrq)
GCTTW GKelvoSy roaovTO) jjia\\ov a)^e\ovfjiai> eyco*
6 Se T^9 7T/305 aopyqcriav pe ryv/Avdfa, ov/c
__Jt A rt >/ \ \ > O. / J>
11 ftxpeAei- jU ; TOUT e&rt, TO f^rj eibevai air
avSpcdTTGW tofyekelcrQ ai. tea/cos yeircdv ; avrq*'
aXX* yu-ol ayado?* <yv/jivd%et, fiov TO
TO 7Te^9, Kdfcos 'TTaTijp ; avT<j>'
12 ayaOos. TOUT' ecrTi TO TOV 'Ep/ioO paf3Siov
U o5 #eXe9j" (f>a<rw? "aijrai /ecu ^pvaovv <rTai"
ov' a)OC o 6i\ei$ <f>ep KCLJOD avTo dyaObv
TTO^CTG). <epe voeov, (f>epe ddvaTov^ <pepe afro-
piav y <pep \oiSopiaV) SUr^v TV\V rrpl
TQ>v irdvTa TavTa T> pa/SSuoy TOV '
13 tofyiXiiia eaTai. "TOP Qdvarov TI 7roir)<rei<i ; **
Tt 7tp aXXo ^ tiya <T Kocrfjirjo"!] rj f (v
ep^ft) 8^* avTOv, ri ecrTlv avBpcdiros T& /
14 T?? <uVea>9 7raafco\ov6 ] &v ; " TT/Z> vocrov
ev avTrj, evaTadijacOj evpofoo), TOP laTpov ov
15 /coXa/ceucrci), ov ev^o^ai aTtoQavelv. il 6T6
aXXo 5^Tet9 ; Trai/ o ai/ Sa)9, 70) O.UTO
1 Schweighauser : faep a/Mporepas S.
2 Upton : <f>rja-lv S, Cicero, Off. I. 158 : Quod si omnia
noUs . . ^itasi mrgula divina, ut aiuiri, suppeditarent, sliows
clearly that this is a proverbial saying.
8 Reiske : fo% <rc 5.
I2O
BOOK III. xx. 9-15
greatest. So also my reviler becomes one who
prepares me for my contest; he exercises my
patience, my dispassionateness, my gentleness. You
say : No. But the man who lays hold of my neck
and gets my loins and my shoulders into proper
shape helps me, and the rubber does well when
he says, " Lift the pestle with both hands/' 1 and
the heavier it is, the more good I get out of doing
so ; whereas, if a man trains me to be dispassionate,
does he do me no good? Your attitude means that
you do not know how to derive advantage from
men. Is your neighbour bad? Yes, for himself;
but for me he is good ; he exercises my good dis-
position, my fair-mindedness. Is your father bad?
Yes, for himself; but for me he is good. This is
the magic wand of Hermes. (e Touch what you
will," the saying goes, "and it will turn into gold."
Nay, but bring whatever you will and I will turn it
into a good. Bring disease, bring death, bring poverty,
reviling, peril of life in court ; all these things will
become helpful at a touch from the magic wand of
Hermes. Cf What will you make of death ?** Why,
what else but make it your glory, or an opportunity
for you to show in deed thereby what sort of person
a man is who follows the will of nature. "What
will you make of disease?'* I will show its char-
acter, I will shine in it, I will be firm, I will be
serene, I will not fawn upon my physician, I will
not pray for death. What else do you still seek ?
Everything that you give I will turn into some-
thing blessed, productive of happiness, august,
enviable.
1 The physical exercise referred to in IH. 12, 9.
121
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
16 Ou* aXXa " $Xe7re fj>r) vocrrjcrr)?* tcatcov earriv."
olov el T9 eXeyez> t{ ySXeTre psr) \dpr]<; TTOTC $avra-
criav rov ra rpLa reaaapa elvai* /carcov e<mz/."
avdpcoTre, TTW? KCLKOV ; av o 8e irepl avrov
V7ro\d/3a), 7rco9 ert ^t y9\ai|r ; ou%l Se /j,a\\ov
17 /cal od<p\tf<Ti ; av ovvTrepl irevias o Selv7ro\d/3o) s
av 7Tpl vocrov, av irepl avap'xlas, ov/c apfcel jwi ;
OVK &(f)e\i/jLa ecrrai ; TTOO? ovv en, ev roi^ i/cro?
ra fca/ca ical rajada Set pe fyrelv ;
18 *AAAa ri ; ravra f^e^pi a)Be y els OLKOV S' ov&els
airofyipei' a\\' evdvs TT/W TO Tra&dpiov TroXe-
/609, 7T/W
19 ?rpo9
ori /t #a rjfjbepav
/ax'. IIpo? roi/9 e^A:oXa)9 eTrl TO
ot 1 ra Gecopij/jLara dva\af36vre$
avra e^ejuLeo-at BeXovcriv a>s ol
2 T^V rpo(f)ijv. TTp&rov avra 2
ou 3 /t^ e^e/x.eo"^9* et Se /i?y
3 yiverai, Trpayjn' d/cddaprov 4 Aral afiparov. aXX'
1 of added by SchenkL 2 Richards :
8 Kroaenberg : ovrco ^ S.
4 Wolf: Ka8ap6v S. But possibly the reading can he
retained (with Schegk) in the sense : " What was clean
food becomes mere vomit and unfit to eat."
1 That is, no farther than the class-room.
2 Presumably some scoffer or irritating person known to
the audience.
122
BOOK III. xx. i6~xxi. 3
Not so you ; but,, " Watch out that you don't get
ill ; it's bad." Just as if someone said, " Watch out
that you never get the impression that three are
four; it's bad." Man, how do you mean "bad"?
If I get the right idea of it, how is it going to hurt
me any more ? Will it not rather even do me good ?
If, then, I get the right idea about poverty, or
disease, or not holding office, am I not satisfied?
Will they not be helpful to me ? How, then, would
you have me seek any longer amongst externals for
things evil and things good ?
But what ? These things go thus far, 1 but nobody
takes them home with him; nay, as soon as we
leave here, there is war on with our slave attendant,
our neighbours, those that mock, and those that
laugh at us. Blessed be Lesbius, 2 because he con-
victs me every day of knowing nothing !
CHAPTER XXI
To those who enter light-heartedly upon the profession
of lecturing
THOSE who have learned the principles and nothing
else are eager to tfirow them up immediately, 3 just
as persons with a weak stomach throw up their food.
First digest your principles, and then you will surely
not throw them up this way. Otherwise they are
mere vomit, foul stuff and unfit to eat. But after
8 Compare ScHller :
" Was sie gestern gelernt, das wollen si Beute sehon
lehreii ;
Ach, was haben die Herrn docii fur eiu knrzes
Gedarm."
**3
VOL. II. E
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
air avrcbv dva$o9 evT&v Sei^ov TWO,
j3o\rjv TOV TjjefJiovucov TOV creavTov, &>9 ol d6\rjTa\
TOV$ &5/-&OV9, afi 5)v eyvfJLvdo-drjcrav real
o>9 ol ra9 rej(ya<$ dva\a/36vTe$, dfi &v
4 OVK p%rat, o reKTcav teal Xe<yet " aKOvo-are
OIKICLV ravrrjp KaracrKevdcra^ Sei/c-
5 vvcriv, on 6%a rr)i> T%Z>T?Z/. TOIOVTOV n /cat av
v" (pdje o>9 avdpcdiro's, Trie o>9
ydfirjcrov, TratSoTr
dvda")(ov \oi$opia$, evej/ce
6 evey/ce Trarepa, eveyxe vlov, yeirova, avvobov.
ravra r)p.lv Sei^ov, f iv* 2fSa>/^^, on
a\jr)6elai$ rt, r&v ^^Xocro^cyi/. oir aXX*
T9 dfcovcrare p,ov cr^oXia \eyovTO$"
7 Zyrtt, rivcov KaTe^epdcreis* (t /cal ^v 760 vplv
6%r}y)j(rojj,ai ra Xpvo-iTTTreia c9 ouSefc, Tyv Xefw
Sia\,vcra> KaOapoDTara, TrpocrOrjo-Q) av TTQV fcal
' A-vriTrdrpov real 'Ap^eS^ou <popdv"
8 Elra TOVTOV evGica aTtoKiTr^aiv ol veoi ra?
7raTptSa9 real rou9 701/669 701/9 avr&v, IV eX^oi/T9
9 \^iSid crov e^Y]jov^ivov d/covo-wcriv ; ov Set
avrou9 virotfTpetyat, dvefCTifcovs, crvvepy^riKov^j
a7ra#et9, drapdxovs, e%oi/ra9 Ti IcfroSiov TOIOVTOV
et9 TOZ/ ^8toz/, a^* oS opfjia)}jievoi, <f)piv BuvrjaovTat
T& (rvfjiTTiTTTOvTa /caXo>9 /cat- scoo-pelo-dat VTT*
10 avT&v ; A^ai Troffev GQI /j,Ta$i,S6vai, TOVTCOV S>v
ov/c e'a? ; auro9 7? aXXo
1 Called vrincijpts dialecticorum by Cicero, -4cad II.
143.
124
BOOK III. xxi. 3-10
you have digested these principles, show us some
change In your governing principle that is due to
them; as the athletes show their shoulders as the
results of their exercising and eating, and as those
who have mastered the arts can show the results of
their learning. The huilder does not come forward
and say, " Listen to me deliver a discourse about the
art of building " ; but he takes a contract for a
house., builds it, and thereby proves that he possesses
the art. Do something of the same sort yourself
too ; eat as a man, drink as a man., adorn yourself,
marry, get children, be active as a citizen; endure
revilings, bear with an unreasonable brother, father,
son, neighbour, fellow-traveller. Show us that you
can do these things, for us to see that in all truth
you have learned something of the philosophers.
No, but (e Come and listen to me deliver my com-
ments/' you say. Go to! Look for people on
whom to throw up ! Yes, but 1 will set forth to
you the doctrines of Chrysippus as no one else can ;
his language I will analyse so as to make it perfectly
clear ; possibly I will throw in a bit of the vivacity of
Antipater and Archedemus/* 1
And then it's for this, is it, that the young men
are to leave their fatherlands and their own parents,
to come and listen to you interpreting trifling
phrases? Ought they not to be, when they return
home, forbearing, ready to help one another, tranquil,
with a mind at peace, possessed of some such provision
for the journey of life, that, starting out with it,
they will be able to bear well whatever happens, and
to derive honour from it ? And where did you get
the ability to impart to them these things which you
do not possess yourself? Why, from the first did
125
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
vrepl ravra tcarrpi/37]$, TTCOS ol crv\\o t yL<r/jLol
7rft><? ol /J,era7rl7rrovr$, TTCO? ol
irepaivovre*; ; " aXX' o oelva
a ri prj Ka<ya> o")(S) ; " ovtc
ravra yiverai, dvopdiro^ov, ovS' to? erv%ei>,
12 #a! faiiciav ivai Set ^ca-l $oi> /cat ^eo
ov m a\")C airb Xi/^ez/o? - 1 /^ev ouSet? avajerai
Xecra? avrovs /3or}-~
o/ avOpasTroi el p,r)
rrjXi/covTOv 8'
13 t ot rouro) Trpocriovres euru^oa? irpocreXevcrov-
TCLI ; ri aXXo Troiet?, avOpcaTrG, i] rh
y ei ^ <c oUfcyfid IGTI real ev '
fcal IvddSe. Ki lepo<j>dvTW real
iroiy<F<o lepo<f)dvT<r)v. e/cet KTJpvj;* icdjQ) Ktjpv/ca
Karacr f rr}<T(i). e/cei SaSov^o?* fcdjob SaSov^ov.
14 e^fi? SaSe?* Aral evO&fte. al faval al avrai* rh
<yu>op,eva ri Siafyepei ravra Ifceiv&v ; " ; dtre-
fiecrrare avdpwTrc, ouSei/ $La<])pet ; /cal irapa
roirov ravra* &<f>ekei fcal rrapa Kcupov ; ou*
KOI yu-era Qvcrias Se teal /^er 1 ev^v /cal
/cal TrpoSia/cei/Aevov rfj 7^00/^77, on
1 Wolf ; airoAiWficyos S.
2 Oldfather : /cl irapa, r^iroy ravra u><f>e\t ol irapa Kai.p6v
icol jttTa 0u<ytas B and all editors, except Upton, who saw
that the passage was Corrupt, but not how to heal it.
ravra, is ambiguous and misses the obvious point. Besides,
Within eight lines, to have exactly the same phrases, rapa
rtvov ana irapa Katptr, in a diametrically opposite sense,
where the text is certainly sound, seems to me intolerable.
The plain sense of the entire context appears to require
these, changes, the first of w/hica, is the slightest imaginable,
and the second, not absolutely Necessary perhaps, in the
126
BOOK III. XXL 10-14
you ever do anything but wear yourself out over the
question how solutions can be found for syllogisms,
for the arguments that involve equivocal premisses,
and those which derive syllogisms by the process
of interrogation? 1 ^But So-and-so lectures; why
shouldn't I too ? " Slave, these things are not done
recklessly, nor at random, but one ought to be of a
certain age, and lead a certain kind of life, and have
God as his guide. You say : No. But no man sails
out of a harbour without first sacrificing to the gods
and invoking their aid, nor do men sow hit-or-raiss,
but only after first calling upon Demeter ; and yet
will a man, if he has laid his hand to so great a task
as this without the help .of the gods, be secure in so
doing, and will those who come to him be fortunate
in so coming ? What else are you doing, man, but
vulgarizing the Mysteries, and saying, There is a
chapel at Eleusis ; see, there is one here too. There
is a hierophant there ; I too will make a hierophant.
There is a herald there ; I too will appoint a herald.
There is a torch-bearer there; I too will have a
torch-bearer. There are torches there ; and here too.
The words said are the same; and what is the
difference between what is done here and what is
done there?"? Most impious man, is there no
difference ? Are the same acts helpful, if they are
performed at the wrong place and at the wrong time ?
Nay, but a man ought to come also with a sacrifice,
and with prayers, and after a preliminary purification,
and with his mind predisposed to the idea that he
1 See note on I. 7, 1.
abrupt and dramatic style of Epictetus, but probably what
would have been written, had ke been writing instead of
127
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Trpo(TG\vcreTai ical lepol? 7ra\cuo2$.
15 o)(p\L/^a ryiveTai ra fjbvo-Trjpia, ouro)? eZ? (f>avTa-
criav e/>%6/ie#a, ori enl TrcuSeia KOI eTravopOdxiGi,
TOV /3iov KaTGarddr) Trdvra ravra viro TCOI> ira-
16 \a,i$)v. crv S* %ayye\\L$ aura fcal ^op^ Trapa
Kcupov, Trapa TOTTOV, avev OV/JLCLTCOV, awv
OVK eadijTa e^ei^ r)v Set TOI^ iepo^dvTijv,
OV <TTpQ$lQV OlOV Set, OV (JHtiVTJV, OV% r)\l>KiaV,
fj<yvevfca$ o>? exeivos, aXX* avras /JLOVO,? ra? (jxova?
. Upai elcriv al <f)Q)val aural
17 "AXXoi/ rpoirov Set eTrl ravra \0elv
<rrl rb TTpajfjua, pvcrrcfcov lariv, ov^ a)?
18 ov$e rq> rvftovrt, Seo/iFoi/.
elvat, rv)(ov egap/cel 7rp09 TO
Sel Be teal Trpo^ecporrjrd rcva elvai, ical 67T4T7)-
SewTyTa 7T/)09 TOUTO, vri TOV Ata, teal <r&fia TTOIOV
/col irpb irdwrtov TOP Oeov crvfji^ov\Vtv TavTyv
19 Trjv ^dtpav KaTaayziv, cw? ^Q)KpaTi, crvveftov-
/cal iTriTrXrjfcriKijv, a>? Zijvcovt TTJV
20 Si8a<TKO\i,/c7)v ical Soy/jLaTi/crfv. crv S' laTpelov
aXXo ovSev %(ov TI fydppaKa, TTOV Se fj
lirLTiOerai TavTa, firjTe et8&)9 /A^re TroXu-
21 7rpayiJiovqa"a<;. " i$ov eicelvos TavTa ra 2 A:oX-
\upia* Kajot) e%6>." fitf TL ovv fcal TYJV $vva}uv
rrjv XprjcrTifcqv avTols ; pr) TI olSa9 /cal TTOTC
1 5 (and Bentley) : vyteias 8.
2 rd added by Koraes.
128
BOOK III. xxi. 14-21
will be approaching holy rites, and holy rites of great
antiquity. Only thus do the Mysteries become
helpful, only thus do we arrive at the impression
that all these things were established by men of
old time for the purpose of education and for the
amendment of our life. But you are publishing the
Mysteries abroad and vulgarizing them, out of time,
out of place, without sacrifices, without purification;
you do not have the dress which the hierophant
ought to wear, you do not have the proper head of
hair, nor head-band, nor voice, nor age; you have
not kept yourself pure as he has, but you have
picked up only the words which he utters, and
recite them. Have the words a sacred force all by
themselves ?
One ought to approach these matters in a different
fashion ; the affair is momentous, it Is full of mystery,
not a chance gift, nor given to all comers. Nay, it
may be that not even wisdom is all that is needed
for the care of the young ; one ought also to have a
certain readiness and special fitness for this task, by
Zeus, and a particular physique, and above all the
counsel of God advising him to occupy this office,
as God counselled Socrates to take the office of
examining and confuting men, Diogenes the office of
rebuking men in a kingly manner, and Zeno that of
instructing men and laying down doctrines. But you
are opening up a doctor's office although you possess
no equipment other than drugs, but when or how
these drugs are applied you neither know nor have
ever taken the trouble to learn. < f See," you say,
"that man nas these eye-salves, and so have I."
Have you, then, at all the faculty of using them
aright ? Do you know at all when and how and for
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
22 fcal 7T&)9 o^(j)\tj(TL teal TWO, ; n oZv fcv/3evt$ ev
s, ri paBiovpyets, ri iTfij^ipel^
qBev <roi irpocr'ijKOVTt, ; a<e? avrb rofc
rofc icoa-pava-i* p/q Trpocrrpi^ov xal
p^ (pi,\oa"ocf)ia Bia <ravrov, fJbrjSe yivov
23 /iepo? rwz/ St,a/3aX\6vT(ov TO epyov. a\\a &l ere
ei ra Oe&p'ijfiaTa, Ka6r}fj,vo<$ avra
avrbs eirl (reavrov* (j>i\ocro<}>ov Be p/yj-
elTrrjs creavrov ^S' a\\ov avd<r^ \6yov-
T09, a\\a \ej " 7re r JT\avr]ra^ eyw yap ovr
opeyo/Aat, a\\G)<s f) irporepov ovS* oppto GTT a\\a
ovSe crvy/eaTaTirffejjLai, a\\oi<> ovB' o\&>9 ev ^ptjcrei
<f>avTa<ri&v 7rap7;XXa%< ri> dirb r^ irporepov
24 jcarao' T rdo'ea)$" ravra <f>povi, KOI \eye Trepl
creavrov, el Oekew TO, /ear' dgiav <f)povelv el Se
py, /cvfteve /ecu iroiei, a TTQIGW, ravra yap crot,
Be T&V yvcopifjicov TWOS aitrov, 09
G>V 7rpo9 TO Kvvi<rai, TLolov
TWO, elvai Set rbv icvvi^ovra teal ri$ f) irpd-
Xrj^9 r\ rov Trpdy/jLarost ^Ke^ofieda /caret
2 cr^aX^' roaovrov S* e%a) CTQL elireiv, Srt> o Bi%a
i l The Cynics were the intransigent and uncompromising
moralists, resembling the holy men, ascetics, and dervishes
of the Orient. Epictetus Idealizes them somewhat in this
discourse, regarding them as a kind of perfected wise men,
130.
BOOK III. xxi. 21-xrii. 2
whom they will do good ? Why,, then, do you play
at hazard in matters of the utmost moment, why do
you take things lightly, why do you put your hand
to a task that is altogether inappropriate for you?
Leave it to those who are able to do it, and do it
with distinction. Do not yourself by your own
actions join the number of those who bring disgrace
upon philosophy, and do not become one of those
who disparage the profession. If, however, you find
the principles of philosophy entertaining, sit down
and turn them over in your mind all by yourself,
but don't ever call yourself a philosopher, and don't
allow anyone else to say it of you, but say, rather,
ee He is mistaken ; for my desire is no different from
what it used to be, nor my choice, nor my assent,
nor, in a word, have I changed at all, in my use of
external impressions, from my former state." Think
this and say this about yourself, if you wish to think
aright. If not, keep on playing at hazard and doing
what yon are doing now ; for it becomes you.
CHAPTER XXII
On the calling of a Cynic*
WHEN one of his acquaintances,, who seemed to
have an inclination to take up the calling of a Cynic,
asked him what sort of a man the Cynic ought to
be, and what was the fundamental conception of his
calling, Epictetus said ; We will consider it at leisure ;
but I can tell you this much, that the man who lays
like some of the early Christian anchorites, but points out
very clearly that their style of life was not practicable for
every man, indeed not even for one so humble and frugal as
fre himself was.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
6eov rrjKiKovTfp IT pay pan e7ri/3a\\6{jt,evo$ 6eo-
20X6t)T09 eari Kal OvSeV O\\0 Tj SrffjLOcria 9e\L
3 aafflpovelv. ovSe jap ev ol/cia KO\O)<; olKovuevy
7rape\0cov TI$ avros eavr& \eyei "ej&e Set oltco-
VO/JLOV elvat" el Be ptf, eTricrTpafals o icvpios
teal l&a>v avTov croffap&s $iaracr<r6/jL6VOV y \Kvcra$
4 ere/juev. ovrco? <yiverai teal ev rfj fMeja^D ravrrj
TroXei. e&Ti yap rt,$ Kal evOaft ot/coSecrTTOTTj?
5 G/cacrTa 6 Siardcrcr&v* " av -^Xio? el' Bvvacrai
TrepiepxofJievos eviavrov Troielv fcal &pa$ Kal rov$
fcapirovs av^eiv Kal Tpefaiv Kal avep,ov$ Kiveiv
Kal avievai Kal TO, crfo/nara T&V avdpwTratv dep-
fjiaiveiv crv/jL/jLerpG)?' vTraye, Trepiep^ov Kal ourco?
^aKivei airo T&V /^eyio'Tccv 7rl ra /jMKporara.
Q crv fLOG")(aptov el' orav einfyavf) \ea)v, ra cravrov
Trpacro-e" el Se [trf, oljj,d)f*ei$. crv ravpos el, TT/JO-
cre\d(bv fjid^(ov t crol jap TOVTO e7ri,l3d\\e(, Kal
7 irpeirei Kal Svvaaat, avrb irQie-iv. av Svvaaai
rijelcrOai rov crTpaTevuaros eVl *'I\iov Hcr6t>
'A.ya/jLfjLVG)v. av ^vvavai T&
8 fjLa^crar laSi 'A^tXXei;?." el Be
7rape\6o)V avreiroLelro 7779 />%?)?, ^ ov/c av
erv^ev TJ rv)((bv av ^(r^j/^ovrjcrev ev
fjidprvai.
9 Kal av ftovXevaai * Trepl rov 2 7rpayyuaro9
10 /^eXca9' OVK eanv olov SoKel aoi.
ical vvv <f)0p) Kal rod 9 3 e|&), 4 KOi^&^ai Kal vvv
<r/c\'r)pa) ( > Kal rare KOLfjurjao^aij Trrjpi&iov Trpoa-
alrelv
1 Upton from his "codex" : (ru/xjSovXcvcrai S.
2 TOV added by Reiske. 8 Schenkl: T^T' S.
4 Sabnasius : $fa 8.
132
BOOK III. xxii. 2-10
his hand to so great a matter as this without God,
is hateful to Him,, and his wish means nothing else
than disgracing himself in public. For in a well-
ordered house no one comes along and says to
himself, * I ought to be manager of this house " ;
or if he does, the lord of the mansion, when he
turns around and sees the fellow giving orders in
a high and mighty fashion,, drags him out and gives
him a dressing down. So it goes also in this great
city,, the world ; for here also there is a Lord of the
Mansion who assigns each and every thing its place.
" You are the sun ; you have the power, as you make
the circuit of the heavens, to produce the year and
the seasons, to give increase and nourishment to the
fruits, to stir and to calm the winds, and to give
warmth in moderation to the bodies of men ; arise,
make the circuit of the heavens, and so set in motion
all things from the greatest to the least. You are a
calf; when a lion appears, do what is expected of
you ; otherwise you will smart for it. You are a
bull ; come on and fight, for this is expected of you,
it befits you, and you are able to do it. You are
able to lead the host against Ilium ; be Agamemnon.
You are able to fight a duel with Hector; be
Achilles." But if Thersites came along and claimed
command, either he would not have got it, or if he
had, he would have disgraced himself in the presence
of a multitude of witnesses.
So do you also think about the matter carefully ;
it is not what you think it is, c *l wear a rough
cloak even as it is, and I shall have one then ; I
have a hard bed even now, and so I shall then ; I
shall take to myself a wallet and a staff, 1 and I shall
1 Quite like modern dervishes.
133
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
rovs aTravT&vTas, \oi$opelv 9 KCLV
Tiva SpcoTraKi^o/Jievov, ITTCTI/JLTJO-O) avrp,
rb fcofjiLov 7reTT\afcoTa rj ev KOKKLVOIS
11 TQVVTa? el TQIOVTQV TI fyavTofyt) TO
/Aarcpav aii avTov* py irpoae\dr)^ t ovSev
12 TTpos <re. el fi' olov eVrt $avTa%Qjj(,evo<$ ov/c
? creavTOV, cr/ce^ai
13 Tlp&Tov ev Tols KCLTCL GCLVTOV OVKGTI Set (re
opotov ev ovSevl <$>alve<r6 at, ol<$ vvv iroiei?, ov 6eq>
OVK av0pcl)7rq)' opefyv apai ere 1 Set
KK^icriv 7rl p,ova i^&raBelvai TO,
crol py opyvjv elvai, ^
6vov, fJLTj e\eov' psr) tcopdcnov aot
dpioVj fj,r) ira&dpiov, fifj.
14 Tapiov. Ifceivo <yap el&evai, ere Set, OTI ol a
Toi rov? Tofyov? TTpofte/SX'rjVTai, teal ra?
/Col TO CTAJOTO?, OTdV Tl T&V TOWVTC0V
/cal Ta tcpvtyovTa TroXXa expvcrw.
K/cX,eirce Trjv" Ovpav, eaTCUcev* TWO, irpb TOV
o ct * #-\ A -\. f <* *tf /
KqiTtovos* av rt? eXa?/, \eye on efd> ZGTIV, ov
15 p-%o\a^tr o Kvvi/cb? S* avrl Trdviav TOVTWV
6<f)ei\ei Tyv alSco 7rpo/3ep\'fj(T()a(,* elSe ^, yu/Ai/o?
Kal.ev inraiBpto da^fwvijo'ei. TOVTO ol/cla e<TTlv
O.UTW, TOVTO 6vpa 9 TOVTO ol evil TOV /COIT>VO<?,
16 TOVTO a"/coTO$. ovTe jap 0e\ew TL Delano icpviT
avTOV TCOV eavTov (el Se ivf\> airrjXdev, a-T
1 Wolf : a^rai & Wplf ; rcrrWv 8.
134
BOOK III. xxn. 10-16
begin to walk around and beg from those 1. meet,
and revile them ; and if I see someone who is getting
rid of superfluous hair by the aid of pitch -plasters,
or has a fancy cut to his hair, or is strolling about
in scarlet clothes, I will come down hard on him." If
you fancy the affair to be something like this, give
it a wide berth j don't come near it, it is nothing for
you. But if your impression of it is correct, and you
do not think too meanly of yourself, consider the
magnitude of the enterprise that you are taking in
hand.
First, in all that pertains to yourself directly
you must change completely from your present
practices, and must cease to blame God or man;
you must utterly wipe out desire, and must turn
your aversion toward the things which lie within
the province of the moral purpose, and these only ;
you must feel no anger, no rage, no envy, no pity j
no wench must look fine to you, no petty reputation,
no boy-favourite, no little sweet-cake. For this
you ought to know : Other men have the protection
of their walls and their houses and darkness, when
they do anything of that sort, and they have many
things to hide them. A man, closes his door,
stations someone at the entrance to his bedroom;
ef If anyone comes, tell him e He is not at home,
he is not at leisure/ " But the Cynic, instead of
all these defences, has to make his self-respect his
protection; if he does not, he will be disgracing
himself naked and out of doors. His self-respect
is his house, his door, his guards at the entrance
to his bedroom, his darkness. For neither ought
he to wish to keep concealed anything that is his
(otherwise he -is lost, he has destroyed- the Cyme
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TOP KwiKOV, -TOV VTTCudpOV, TOV IXevQepOV, f}p/CT(U
rov aTTOKpv^rovro^) ovre orav 6e\rj Svvarat,. TTOV
17 yap avTOV arroKpv-^rj r} TTW? ; av S' airo Tv%rj$ 2
6/67recr77 o 7nu8efT^9 o KQLVQS, o TT a i Say wye 9, ola
18 Trdarxew dvdyfcr] ; ravr ovv SeSotfcora
olov T' eii eg 0X779 -^ru%779 eTTKTTarelv
ay^poo7T049 ; a/Atfyavov, d&vvarov.
19 Tlpcorov ovv TO rjyejAovtKov ere Sel TO
20 KaOapbv TTOLTjaat KOI rr^v eva-raaiv TavTTjv* " vvv
ejJLol v\rj ecrrlv r] e/i^ Bidvoia, a>9 T^> retcrovi, ra
%v\a, &>9 T^) erfcvrei ra Sepfjuara' epyov 8' op^^
21 xpffcrts TWV ipavTacncov. TO &Q)p,aTiov Se ov$ev
7T/909 6yU-' Ttt TOVTOV pipy OV&6V TTpb? 6/-6.
T09 ; ep^ecrOo), orav Oe\r) s etVe oXof etre
22 Tiz^09. <f>vyi] ; 3 A;al TTOV Svvarai T
ec0 TOV fco&fiov ov ^vvarau. OTTOV fi' az/ a-T
f)\io$, efcel aekrivri, efcel acrrpa, ivvirvia,
23 EW* ovrtos irapaGKGvaa'dfJLevQv OVK ecrri
i TQV rals a\v)Qeiat,$ KVVLKOV, ,a
, Set, on dyyekos diro TOV Ato9 aTre
i Wolf: ^Wff^. 2
3 Upton : <euy /S.
1 That is, the trusted servant who attended constantly the
boys of the well-to-do families, and in particular watched
over their deportment and morals.
2 efjLTreffctjf seems to me to be used as in IH. 7, 12. This is
a rare meaning, indeed, but supported to some extent also
by the gloss in Hesychius : ffujrea-eijr els SGO'/IWTTJ/XO*' axfl^ai.
The word is also used of getting caught in a trap, Xenophon
Mem. II, 1, 4 : rots tytipirpois lytwrfiprovox That is probably the
136
BOOK III. xxn. 16-23
within him, the man of outdoor life, the free man ;
he has begun to fear something external, he has
begun to need something to conceal him), nor can
he keep it concealed when he wishes to do so. For
where will he conceal himself, or how? And if
this instructor of us all, this "pedagogue/' * chance
to get caught, 2 what must he suffer I Can, then, a
man who is afraid of all this continue with all his
heart to supervise the conduct of other men? It
cannot be done, it is impossible.
In the first place, then, you must make your
governing principle pure, and you must make
the following your plan of life : " From now on my
mind is the material with which I have to work, as
the carpenter has his timbers, the shoemaker his
hides ; my business is to make the right use of my
impressions. My paltry body is nothing to me ;
the parts of it are nothing to me. Death? Let
it come when it will, whether it be the death of
the whole or some part. Exile ? And to what place
can anyone thrust me out ? Outside the universe he
cannot. But wherever I go, there are san^ moon,
stars, dreams, omens, my converse with gods."
In the next place, the true Cynic, when he is
thus prepared, cannot rest contented with this, but
he must know that he has been sent by Zens to men,
original form of expression from, which the intransitive use
derives. Schenkl (not Schweighauser, to "whom I owe the
above references to Hesyckius and Xenophoo) appears to me
to be wrong in rendering the word "decipior," although
Matheson is inclined to follow him. Capps suggests that
"the KOIVOS TrcuSevrfa is God," and that /tW<rp means "break
in upon." But that might be somewhat inconsistent with
euro rvxfi$i which seems hardly appropriate of an action on
the part of God.
137
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
kal 7T/309 Toi>9 dv0pot)7rQv$ Trepl ayad&v Kal KCUC&V
V7ro$et%G)v avrots, ore TT&TT\dvr]vrat Kal aXXo/^oO
fyrovcrt, rr)V ova-Lav rov dyaffov /cal rov iccucov,
07TOV OVK ecrrtV, 07TOV S' eCTTlV, OVK V0V fJLOVVTdl,
24: /cal co? o Ato76V7;9 a7ra%^et? irpo? ^iknnrov fiera
ryv ev Xat/)(0i>eta fjLd^rjv Kara<TKOTro^ eivai. TG>
ryap own Karda /COTTON ecrnv o ILvvucos rov riva
25 eerri rot9 avOpcdTrois <j)i\a /cal rLva Tr
Kal Bet airrbv aKpifSfa, KaTaarfce^djULevov
afjratyyeTkai TokyOr} jj,r)ff VTTO <f>6/3ov e/c
wcrre TOT;? firj ovras Trokeplovs Se^at,
oXkov Tpoirov VTTO T&V $cLVTaGi&v IT a para /oa%-
26 Act ovv avTov ^vvavOat, avareivdfievov, av
Vr), /cal vr
/JLGVOV eyetz/ TO r
Trol (frepecrde ; ri TrcueZre, w ra\ai7ra)pot, ; c&9
/cal Ararw KvXieaOe' aX'k'rjv obbv
TO evpovv Kal TO evSaiuoviKov? OTTOV OVK
27 e<TTW t ov$* a\\ov &IKVVOVTO$ TriaTevere. ri airb
Ufa ^rjrelre ; ev crw/taT* OVAT <TTIV. el aTna-reiTe,
USere M,vpa*va, iBere *Q<f>\\i,ov. Iv KTrjcru OVK
eariy. el * aTna-revre, ffieTe Kpoicrov, there rov?
vvv Tr\ovcriov<;, ocri)** 06/40)7779 o ^8tO9 " avr&v
e<TTiv. ev ap^T) OVK 0rw. el Se prf ye,
1 Sdiweigliauser: t&vOptairoi S : &vOp<avot Leopold,
2 Shaf tesbury :
138
BOOK III. xxn. 23-27
partly as a messenger, in order to show them that
in questions of good and evil they have gone astray,
and are seeking the true nature of the good and
the evil where it is not, but where it is they never
think ; and partly, in the words of Diogenes, when
he was taken off to Philip, after the battle of
Chaeroneia, as a scout. 1 For the Cynic is truly a
scout, to find out what things are friendly to men
and what hostile ; and he must first do his scouting
accurately, and on returning must tell the truth, not
driven by fear to designate as enemies those who
are not such, nor in any other fashion be distraught
or confused by his external impressions.
He must, accordingly, be able, if it so chance,
to lift up his voice, and, mounting the tragic stage,
to speak like Socrates : ce Alas ! men, where are you
rushing ? 2 What are you doing, O wretched people ?
Like blind men you go tottering all around. You
have left the true path and are going off upon
another ; you are looking for serenity and happiness
in the wrong place, where it does not exist, and
you do not believe when another points them out
to you. Why do , you look for it out&ide? It does
not reside in the body. If you doubt that, look
at Myron, or Ophellius. a It is not in possessions,
if you doubt that, look at Croesus, look at the rich
nowadays, the amount of lamentation with which
their life is filled. It is not in office. Why, if it
1 Compare I. 24, 3-10. The philosopher is a sort of spy
sent on in advance into this world, to report to the rest of us
what things are good and what evil. *
* [Plato], OUitophon, 407 A B.
* Probably famous athletes or gladiators of the day;
otherwise unknown.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
eSei rov$ St9 teal rpl<$ vrrdrov? evbaljjLQvas elvai,*
28 ov/c elal Se. ri<rw rrepl rovrov mcrrevcro^v ;
Vfuv ro2$ e^wOev ra l/ceivwv j3\eTrovcnv fcal VTTO
r^9 (jxivraaias TreptXa/^Tro/Aevot? rj avrot^
29 ri \ r yovcrt,v ; a/covcrare ain&v, QTCUV
OTOV crrevcdcriv, orav $i aura? ra? VTrareia? KOI
30 /cal 7UKt,v$vvoTpov
ecrnv. el &e /ji
Karoi
av
v8 >
cov
ev pacrikeia ov/c
e<yevero teal
real
e/celvos ri
/ecu avros ri
iP) KOl
KpaSirj Se JJLOI
31 raXa?, r rcov acov e%ei fca/ca)$ ; r) /crTjat,? ; ov/c
I%A* aX,Xa TTo^v^pvcro^ el KCLL 7ro\v%a\KO<s. TO
(T&fj,a ; ov/c e^e^. 1 ri ovv croi /ca/cov ecrriv ; eicelvo,
o ri Trore 2 ^eX^Tat croi/ /cal /careipOaprai, oS
opeyoj&eda, & etc K:\ivofJiev, w op/Ato/JLev /cal d<pop-
32 /ico/iev. 7ra>9 ^/teX^rat ; ayvoei rrjv ovaiav rov
1 Capps transfers to this position TO trw/ta/ ofo e^ci, which
in *? precede a\\k . . . TroXi'xaAKo*.
2 ri> rfroTc Blass, perhaps lightly.
, X. 15.
140
BOOK III. xxn. 27-32
were, then tliose who have been consul two or three
times ought to be happy men, but they are not.
Whom are we going to believe about this question ?
You who look upon their estate from the outside
and are dazzled by the external appearance, or the
men themselves? What do they say? Listen to
them when they lament, when they groan, when they
think that their condition is more wretched and
dangerous because of these very consulships, and
their own reputation, and their prominence. It is
not in royalty. Otherwise Nero would have been
a happy man, and Sardanapalus. Nay, even
Agamemnon was not a happy man, though a much
finer fellow than Sardanapalus or Nero; but while
the rest are snoring what is he doing?
"Many a hair did he pluck, by the roots, from
his forehead/' 1
And what are his own words ?
"Thus do I wander/* 2
he says, and
ee To and fro am I tossed, and my heart is
Leaping forth from my bosom/' 3
Poor man, what about you is in a bad state ? Your
possessions ? No, it is not ; rather you u are possessed
of much gold and of much bronze/* 4 Your body?
No, it is not. What, then, is wrong with you ? Why,
this : You have neglected and ruined whatever that
is within you by which we desire, avoid, choose* and
refuse. How neglected? It remains ignorant of
a v . 91. s v . 94f.
* Itiad, XVHI. 289.
141
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
dyaffov Trpo? rjv TrtyvKe teal rrjv rov /catcov teal
ri UBiov !% ital ri d\\6rpt,ov. Kal orav n
d\\orpicov tcaK&s %$, Xe-ya " ovai /JLOI, ol yap
33 r/ E\\7)ve^ Kt,vvvevovcn" Ta\alrrc*)pov
Kal jjiovov aT7?/ieX??Toz> Kal dOepdrrevrov.
criv drrodvyorKeiV vrco rcov Tp<j0o>z/ dvai
av B* avrovs ol Tyoco9 fJirj airofCTeLvoHTW, ov fj,rj
o$v Sia<ppi ; el yap KCLICQV fan TO aTrodaveiv, av
re ouov av re rcaO* eva opoicos tcatcov ecmv. pr)
TI aXXo n fjt,e\\i yiveadat, r) TO <rfj,driov ^a)/ot^e-
34 o-Qai Kal q ^w^r) ; " ovBev" o-ol Be a7ro\\v-
T&V c EXX?}i>a>j> y Ovpa tcetc\et,&Tat ; "ov/c
To6avelv ; " e'|:e<r>." T/ o?>v irevQels ;
pucu, 1 jSacFtXeu? teal TO TOV Ato? c-fcrjTnpov %a>j/.
awx?)? /8a<rXi> ov yiverai* ov /taXXoi/ ^
35 aru^? ^09. ri ovv el ; Trocfirjv ral<$ a
yap K\CLL$ CD? ol tTOifieves, orav
n r&v irpoftdrtov avr&v Kal ovroi Be
36 irpofiard elaiv ol VTTO crov dp^opevoi. TI Be Kal
1 Oldfather: ova 8.
1 Specifically alluding to the position of Agamemnon in
the situation referred to above.
2 This is a distinct ove'r-statement of the case. Obviously
it makes a great deal of difference for a State (and it is in
his capacity as head of a State that Agamemnon is here
appearing), whether its fighting men are killed all at once,
or die one at a time in the course of nature.
3 Presumably a king is expected to commit suicide before
becoming "unfortunate," as suggested in 34. If he sur-
viyed under the circumstances here described, he certainly
must be " unfortunate," at least as a man, in any ordinary
sense of the term. Capps, however, thinks ^the meaning of
Epictetus to be that a long qua king, that is, while really
holding the sceptre of Zeus, is blessed of fortune. If " un-
fortunate" he is simply not such a king. This refinement
142
BOOK III. xxii. 32-36
the true nature of the good, to which it was
born, and of the true nature of the evil, and
of what is its own proper possession, and what
is none of its own concern. And whenever
some one of these things that are none of its
own concern is in a bad way, it says, " Woe is me, for
the Greeks are in danger." x Ah, miserable govern-
ing principle, the only thing neglected and uncared
for! "They are going to perish, slain by the
Trojans." But if the Trojans do not kill them, will
they not die anyway ? " Yes, but not all at once."
What difference does it make, then ? For if death
is an evil, whether they die all at once, or die one
at a time, it is equally an evil. 2 Nothing else is
going to happen, is it, but the separation of the
paltry body from the soul? "Nothing." And is
the door closed for you, if the Greeks perish ? Are
you not permitted to die? " I am." Why, then, do
you grieve ? , ec Woe is me, a king, and holding the
sceptre of Zeus ! ** A king does not become un-
fortunate any more than a god becomes unfortunate. 3
What are you, then? Truly a shepherd I 4 for you
wail as the shepherds do when a wolf carries off one
of their sheep ; and these men over whom you rule
are sheep. But why did you come here 5 in the first
would be similar to the well-known argument concerning the
*' ruler qua ruler," in the first book of Plato's J&publw. The
more common-sense view of the case is well expressed by the
Scholiast on Homer's Odyssey XL 438, thus: "A king is
unfortunate when his subjects fare ill."
4 " Referring to the common Homeric designation of a ruler
as the ** shepherd of the folk."
5 Oapps proposes the novel view that Jfy>%ov is from fcpx ^*
and " takes up fyxfoevoi [35] . . . Agamemnon, by allowing
himself to be dominated by an &AA<Jrp*oy irpiry/ictj has become
a subject, a sheep. 3 *
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fJL1J Tl
) M TL op/Ay, pr) TL d(j>op^tj ; t( o#," (f>r)<ri,v,
" d\\a TOV dBe\<pov /JLOVTOfyvvaifcdpcov rjpTrdyrj"
37 OVK ovv l /ee/)So9 /teyo. crTeprj6r]vai
/capiov ; " /caTa<j)povr)dwjjLv ovv VTTO T&V
tlvtov OVTCQV ; (ppovi/jLatv rj afypovtov ; el
TI avTol? TToXe/xeire ; el cuppdvcov, TI vfjtiv /j\.ei ;
38 " 'Ei^ Tivi oZv ecrTL TO ayaBov, 7rei&r] ev TOVTOIS
OVK ecrTiv ; erne rj/juiv, xvpie. a<yye\e fcal /caTci-
<r/co7re" " OTTOV ov SofcelTe ovSe 6e\T &Tfjcrai,
avTO. el jap r)6e\eT&, evpeT av CLVTO ev vfjulv ov
ovS* av %(& eTrXd^ecrOe ovS* av efyreLTe TO,
39 a\\oTpia co? iSia. eTuaTpetyaTe avTol ^>' eav-
Toi/9, tcaTajjidOeTe Ta? TrpoX^^ets 0-9 e^ere. irolov
TI (fravTa^ecrde TO ayaOov ; TO evpovv, TO evbai-
H,OVI,KQV, TO o-Tra/xxTroStcTToi/. dyej peya 2 S* avTo
ifovcriKG)? ov ^avTa^eo'de; a^i6\oyov ov <f>av-
40 Ta^eade ; a/3\a/3e$ ov <f>avTde(T0 ; ev iroia ovv
v\r) Set fyTelv TO evpovv KOI aTrapaTro&icrTov ; ev
TTJ Sov\rj rj ev TTJ e\ev9epa ; ** " ev TTJ ehevBepq"
" TO crco/judTiov ovv e\evdepov e%T6 rj 8ov\ov ; "
" OV/C IcTfiev" " OVK IffTG OTL TTVpeTOV SoV\OV
ecrTiv, TroSdypaSy o^dak^La^^ ov&evTepias, Tvpdv-
VOV, 7TI//009, (TlO'tfpOV, TTdVTOS TOV Iff^VpOTepOV / "
41 " val $ov\ov" "ir&sovv eTi ave^iro^cTTOv elvai
TI SvvaTai T&V TOV crco/taTO9 ; TTW? Se jmerya rj
d^LoXojov TO (f>vcrei> ve/epov, r\ <y^, o 7777X09 / TI ovv ;
Ae . y &.\ 3/ i~* //) "ft ' ' S 1 ' \
42 ovoev %T eXevuepov ; /jLrjTTOTe ovcev. feat,
z Wolf: fierd 8.
1 See sections 24 and 25 above, and note there.
144
BOOK III. xxn. 36-42
place? Your desire was not in danger, was it, or
your avoidance, your choice, or your refusal ? " No/'
he answers, " but my brother's frail wife was carried
off." Was it not, then, a great gain to lose a frail
and adulterous wife ? "Shall we, then, be despised
by the Trojans?" Who are they? Wise men or
foolish ? If wise, why are you fighting with them ?
If foolish, why do you care ?
"In what, then, is the good, since it is not in
these things? Tell us, Sir messenger and scout." 1
" It is where you do not expect it, and do not wish
to look for it. For if you had wished, you would
have found it within you, and you would not now
be wandering outside, nor would you be seek-
ing what does not concern you, as though it were
your own possession. Turn your thoughts upon
yourselves, find out the kind of preconceived ideas
which you have. What sort of a thing do you
imagine the good to be? Serenity, happiness,
freedom from restraint. Come, do you not imagine
it to be something naturally great? Something
precious ? Something not injurious ? In what kind
of subject-matter for life ought one to seek serenity,
and freedom from restraint ? In that which is slave,
or in that which is free ? " " In the free." " Is the
paltry body which you have, then, free or is it a
slave?" "We know not." "You do not know
that it is a slave of fever, gout, ophthalmia,
dysentery, a tyrant, fire, iron, everything that is
stronger?" "Yes, it is their servant/' "How,
then, can anything that pertains to the body be
unhampered ? And how can that which is naturally
lifeless, earth, or clay, be great or precious ? What
then? Have you nothing that is free?" "Per-
145
ADRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
T/9 vjj>a$ dvayfcdcrai,
(Tv<y/ea-
TW fyaivophq aK^Oel ; " " ouei9/'
<'/)/ J *? t * (/ If J f J-v / /}
Gvuao ovv oparj on ecrrt TI .v VJJLIV eXevvepov
43 <f>v<reu ope jeer $ ] ai 8 i rj lfCK\Lveiv rj oppav ?} d<f)op-
fjiav rj Trapao-fcevd&adcu ^ Trporideadai rt? vfi&v
Svvarcu j*r} \a/3a>v <^avrao"Lav \v<riTe\ov$ ^ jj,rj
Ka0jjfcovTO$ ; " " oi/Sefc." " e^ere ovv teal ev
44 TOVTOiS aKO>\VTOV Tt, 1 KOI G\V0pOV. Ta\at7T6)-
poi, TOVTO e^epyd&a'Oe, rovrov eTTt/z-eXecr^e, ez/rat)-
^a ^Telre TO ayadov."
45 Kai TTci)? evBe^erat- pySev e%ovTa, yvpvov,
aoiicov, avecrriov, av%/uLG)VTa, aS
46 SiG^dyew evpocos ; ISov a7reara\/eev VJJLIV o
47 TOP Sei^ovra epytp, on erSe^erat. tf I'Sere ytte,
aot/co? t/A6, a-TroXi?, aicrtf/Aav, aSouXo?' %ap,al
KQirfL&iLai' ov yvvij, ov Tra&ia, ov
d\\a yrj pdvov teal ovpavos KOI %v
48 fcal ri IJLQI XetTret ; ovtc elju aXt/Tro?, OI/A; 6)t
a<o/8o?, ov/c e^ ekevdepos ; Trore v/tcbv elSev jj,e
; TTOT' l^ei^dfifjv rj 6ebv rj av0pa)-
7TOV t TTOT' ve/
49
<f>o/3elcr0 ical
v^l TOV ftacriKea TOV lavrov
opav OiGTat, tea
146
1 rt added by Wolf, after Sehegk.
2 Upton :
BOOK III. xxn. 42-49
haps nothing/' "And who can compel you to
assent to that which appears to you to be false ? "
"No one." "And who to refuse assent to that
which appears to you to be true?" "No one."
ff Here, then, you see that there is something within
you which is naturally free. But to desire, or to
avoid, or to choose, or to refuse, or to prepare,
or to set something before yourself what man
among you can do these things without first con-
ceiving an impression of what is profitable, or what
is not fitting?" "No one." "You have, there-
fore, here too, something unhindered and free.
Poor wretches, develop this, pay attention to this,
seek here your good."
And how is it possible for a man who has nothing,
who is naked, without home or hearth, in squalor,
without a slave, without a city, to live serenely?
Behold, God has sent you the man who will show in
practice that it is possible. a Look at me/' he says, " I
am without a home, without a city, without property,
without a slave ; I sleep on the ground ; I have neither
wife nor children, no miserable governor's mansion,
but only earth, and sky, and one rough cloak. Yet
what do I lack ? Am I not free from pain and fear,
am I not free ? When has anyone among you seen
me failing to get what I desire, or falling into what
I would avoid ? When have I ever found fault with
either God or man ? When have I ever blamed any-
one ? . Has anyone among you seen me with a gloomy
face? And how do I face those persons before
whom you stand in fear and awe? Do I not face
them as slaves? Who, when he lays eyes upon
me^ does not feel that he is seeing his king and his
master ? "
147
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
50 "ISe Kvwtcal $w>val, I'Se xapafcrrfp, US* e
ov" d\\a Tryplbtov teal l*v\ov KCLI
rot? aTravTOHTi \oi$opeicr0a(, d/caipcos rf /caXbv
51 TOI/ (bfjwv $et,KVViv. TrfkiKOVT 7rpd<yfj,aTi, opa<s
jj,\\i<; e<y)(ipelv ; ecroTrrpov Trponov \djBe,
aov TOU9 ey/iou9, KardfJLaOe ir]v 6<j(f)vv, rou?
'OXv/tTrto. /jL\\ei^ diroypd^ecrOai, av-
u%6 Tivd TTOTC dywva ^rv^pav Kdl
52 TTtopov. OVK ecrrw Iv '
JJLQVOV KCU ^6\6elv f d\\O, TTp&TOV
olfcov fjLvr}<$ ySXeTrou^? Set aa")(r]p,ovr}G"ai,
'ABrjvaicov \LQVQV rj A.a,K$(u/jiOVLG)V rj
T&v, elra /cai Sepe&dcu Sel TOP elicr)
Trpb Se TOI) Sapijvcu
7r6\\r]V dtyrjv Karairielv.
53 Bot/Xei/crat 7n/jbK<TTpov, yvo^Oi (rawrov, dvd-
Kpivov TO Satpoviov, ^X a @ v I&I lir^eip^o-Tj^.
av yap av^ovKevarj, ladi OTL fieyav ere 0e\ei
54 yeve&Bat, rf TroXXa? irXrjryas \aftelv* teal jap
rovra l^lav
ovov /cal
aurou? TCW Sepoz/ra? ft>9 Trarepa Trvrcov, a>?
55 aSeXc^oi/. ov* aXX' av rt9 o" Sepy,
ef & JLcuaap, V TV)
Sclienkl : Uv 8.
el<r\66pTa Meibom. Compare explanatory note.
1 Meibom's conjecture, cftrcX&Wa, which, is sometimes
accepted, would mean, '* The man who carelessly enters the
contest," But the punishment of flogging would probably be
reserved for the person who failed to appear finally in the
lists, since everyone had to have a month's preliminary
148
BOOK III. xxn. 50-55
Lo, these are words that befit a Cynic, this is his
character, and his plan of life. But no, you say,
what makes a Cynic is a contemptible wallet, a staff,
and big jaws ; to devour everything you give him,
or to stow it away, or to revile tactlessly the people
he meets, or to show off his fine shoulder. Do you
see the spirit in which you are intending to set your
hand to so great an enterprise ? First take a mirror,
look at your shoulders, find out what kind of loins
and thighs you have. Man, it's an Olympic contest
in which you are intending to enter your name, not
some cheap and miserable contest or other. In the
Olympic games it is not possible for you merely to
be beaten and then leave ; but, in the first place,
you needs must disgrace yourself in the sight of the
whole civilized world, not merely before the men of
Athens, or Lacedaemon, or Nicopolis; and, in the
second place, the man who carelessly gets up and
leaves 1 must needs be flogged, and before he is
flogged he has to suffer thirst, and scorching heat,
and swallow quantities of wrestler's sand.
Think the matter over more carefully, know your-
self, ask the Deity, do not attempt the task without
God. For if God so advises you, be assured that He
wishes you either to become great, or to receive
many stripes. For this too is a very pleasant strand
woven into the Cynic's pattern of life; he must
needs be flogged like an ass, and while he is being
flogged he must love the men who flog him, as
though he were the father or brother of them all.
But that is not your way. If someone flogs you, go
stand in the midst and shout, ee O Caesar, what do I
training on the spot, during which time those who had
entered would suffer the inconveniences described below.
149
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ola 7rd(T%&) ; a<yo)fiv eirl rov avdvirarov"
56 Kuvt/c<p e Kal&ap rl ecrrlv rj dvdviraros 3) aXXo?
rj o Kara7r67ro/u,<j)(0<> avrov KOI oJ \arpevei, o
Zet;? ; ak\ov riva 7rt/caXenm TJ ercelvov ; ov
TreTTGicrrai S', o TL av Trda")(rj TOVTOOV, on exelvo^
57 avTQv yvfwd&i, ; aXX! 6 pev e Hpafc\,fj$ VTTO
Evpva06)$ <yvfjt,va%o/j,evo<; OVK Ivopi^e
elvai, aXX* aofcv&s eiTereXet Travra ra
OVTO? 8* virb rov Aio?
o/AVQ$ p\\i fcefepayevai, real a<yavaic-
v, aj*io<s <f>opelv TO cr/cfJTTTpov TO Aioyevov? ;
58 a/cove, ri \eyet, e/cewos 7rvpe<rcra>v TT/JO? roi'9
/caicai" e^q, " K$a\al, ov /JLvelre ;
oSov ToaavTyv et<? 'O\u/x.maF' irvperov
59 teat dvdpa>7Tov
j av o roio{/T0
$QTI avrov &$ Trap aj*lav avr& 'xpat/jieva), 09
76 6veaXXtt)7rtfeTO ral$ Trepurrda-ecrt, /ecu
slvai yl-iov r&v Trapiovr&v. err! rive yap e
\earei ; on evcr^^ovel ; ri 3 tcarrjryopei ; ori
\afj,7rporpav eTTiSei/cvvrtu rfyv dperrjv ryv eav-
1 Meibom : vptvn^vot, S.
* Blass: tteBpor % IMXW S, 8 Elter: $n S.
1 Beferred to ako by Jerome, Adv. Jovinianum, 2, 14.
2 An ancient scholiast, probably Arethas (cf. Schenkl 2 ,
p. Ixxx), remarlcs at this point, that Epictetos had probably
read Uie Gospels and Jewish literature. Bntthis particular
passage does not furnish any very cogent argument, for the
evidence adduced, namely the injunctions about "turning
the other cheek w and ** loving your enemies" (M'atth. 5,39
and 44), has nothing in common with the somewhat vaia-
BOOK III. XXIL 55-59
have to suffer under your peaceful rule ? let us go
before the Proconsul." But what to a Cynic is
Caesar, or a Proconsul., or anyone other than He
who has sent him into the world, and whom he
serves, that is, Zeus? Does he call upon anyone
but Zeus ? And is he not persuaded that whatever
of these hardships he suffers, it is Zeus that is exer-
cising him ? Nay, but Heracles, when he was being
exercised by Eurystheus, did not count himself
wretched, but used to fulfil without hesitation every-
thing that was enjoined upon him : and yet is this
fellow, when he is being trained and exercised by
Zeus, prepared to cry out and complain? Is he a
man worthy to carry the staff of Diogenes ? Hear Ms
words to the passers-by as he lies ill of a fever: 1
"Vile wretches," he said, "are you not going to
stop ? Nay, you are going to take that long, long
journey to Olympia, to see the struggle of worthless
athletes ; but do you not care to see a struggle
between fever and a man ? ** 2 No doubt a man of
that sort would have blamed God, who had sent him
into the world, for mistreating him ! Nay, he took
pride in his distress, and demanded that those who
passed by should gaze upon him. Why, what will
he blame God for? Because he is living a decent
life ? What charge does he bring against Him ?
The charge that He is exhibiting his virtue in a more
glorious speech . of Diogenes. Probably, however, the
scholium actually belongs at 54, where tfaer^ is, indeed, a
certain resemblance, Fairly apposite, also, is the citation
of James 1,2: vcurop x '^ ^yfttrcwrS*, oScX^of, tttur vipafffjuHf
vptireo"nre Trotxljiots, in connection with the next sentence.
But even at the best, these words from the New Testament
are only parallels, certainly not sources. On the general
question, see Ihtrod., Vol. L, p. xxvif.
15*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
60 rov ; aye, nepl rrevias e rl \e<yei, rrep\ ffavdrov,
Trepl TTOVOV ; TTG)? crvvetepwev rrjv
TTJV avrov rfj peyakov ftacrtXecos ;
61 ovSe crwyfcpirbv eoero elvai. OTTOU <ycip
Kal XuTrat teal <$oj3oi, KCU ope^eis areXet? real
e/CK\,iai$ TrepnriTT rover at KOI $9ovoi teal ^77X0x1;-
Triai, TTOV efcel irdpoSo? ev$aip,ovia<; ; OTTOV S'
hv $ (TctTTpa Soy/mra, etcel iravra ravra elvai,
avdy/crj.
62 HvSoftevov Se TOV veaviv/cov, el vo<rr)cra$ agiovv-
ro? <j>i\ov Trpo? avrov ekOetv ware vocroKOfirjdrjvai,
VTraKovtret, Hov 8e (f)i\ov p*oi, Scicrei9 HVVIKOV ;
63 6^)77. 8ei yap avrov a\\ov elvai TOIOVTOV, Iv
elvai &i TOV (T/ciJTrrpov Kal T^?
teal SMLKOVOV a&ov, el /tteXXet ^tXta? a%ito6r)-
(recrffai, <09 Aioyei^? > Azm<r#e*>oi/9 eyemro, co?
64 K/^aTT/9 Atoye^ou9. ^t 1 SoAiei <ro^, ort, az> ^aipeiv
avr& \eyrf Trpocrep'Xppevos, <f)l\o<? early avrov
65 KOftelvos avrov afyov rffrfaerai rov ?rpo9 avrov
ei<r\0elv; &are av troi BOKTJ xal ev0vfi7jOfj<; n^
roiovrov, KOTtpiav fjua\\ov TcepijSX.eirov /cojjifyrjv,
ev $ rrvpe%ei<$? a-nocfKerrovaav rov ftopeav, iva
66 fir) TrepiTJrwyfjs. <rv Se fioc Softeis 6e\eiv el? ol/cov
TWOS arre\6o)V Sia %p6vov ^opraa-OrivaL. ri ovv
CTOL teal errv)(eipelv irpdy^an rr^ucovrG) ;
67 Ta/AG9 S*, <fjij t /cal watSe? Trporjyovftevc&s rrapa-
1 Schegk : ^ S. 2 Reiske : lyfc;/^^ 8.
8 Seliweighaiiser:
1 Of Persia.
a Tlie word means also "staff," as in 57.
152
BOOK III. xxn. 60-67
brilliant style? Come, what says Diogenes about
poverty, death, hardship? How did he habitually
compare his happiness with that of the Great King ? 1
Or rather, he thought there was no comparison,
between them. For where there are disturbances,
and griefs, and fears, and ineffectual desires, and
unsuccessful avoidances, and envies, and jealousies
where is there in the midst of all this a place for
happiness to enter ? But wherever worthless judge-
ments are held, there all these passions must neces-
sarily exist.
And when the young man asked whether he, as a
Cynic, should consent, if, when he had fallen ill, a
friend asked him to come to his house, so as to
receive proper nursing, Epictetus replied: But
where will you find me a Cynic's friend? For such
a person must be another Cynic, in order to be
worthy of being counted his friend. He must share
with him his sceptre 2 and kingdom, and be a worthy
ministrant, if he is going to be deemed worthy of
friendship, as Diogenes became the friend of Antis-
thenes, and Crates of Diogenes. Or do you think
that if a man as he comes up greets the Cynic, he is
the Cynic's friend, and the Cynic will think him
worthy to receive him into his house ? So if that is
what you think and have in mind, you had much
better look around for some nice dunghill, on which
to have your fever, one that will give you shelter
from the north wind, so that you won't get chilled.
But you give me the impression of wanting to go
into somebody's house for a while and to get filled
up. Why, then, axe you even laying your hand to
so great an enterprise?
But, said the young man, will marriage and children
153
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
VTTO rov Kivvitcov ; v Az/ pot &o<j>(0
T49
7r TO Kvvew. rvcov yap eve/ca
68 ravryv rrjv Siel~ aycdytfv ; Q/JLQ>$ S' av
ou$ev KO)\vcret, KCU <yrip>aL avrbv teal
/ca <yap j <yvvrj avrov
roiavrrj /cal o 7rev0po<? aXXos- ro^oOro? /cal
69 TraiSia ourcos avaTpacfrrjcrerai. TOtavrr}? 8'
(CdTacrTdaetos, o"a vvv GCTTIV, co? eV irapar^et t
p,r} TTOT' airepicnracTrov elvat, Set rov ILvvifcov,
oXov TTjOO? TTJ Bia/cova TOV Qeov, iTTKJHUTav avOpto-
vvdfjt,evov, ov wpoff^efjAvov fcad^fcova-tv
ouS' ep/ireirKe^jJievov (T^eaecTiVt a?
ov/ceri, <rco<ji TO TOU /ca\ov teal
ajaffov irpoawTrov, rypcav 8' airo^ei rov a^yyeXo^
70 fcal fcarda/coTTOv /cal fctfpvfca raw 0&>v ; opa jap,
ort avrbv anro&ziicvvv&t, Se 2 nva r& irev0p&,
avrrj rfj ywai/ci* e? vo<roKQ[iia<$ XOATTOV
71 TO*, et? Troptcrpov, Tva raXka a$a>, $ei avrov,
Kov/cjcovfiitov, STTOV depfiov Trotijcret rq> 7rai&iq>,
lv avrb \ovcrrj 49 <nca^Y\v* ep&a, re/cotKry ry
yvvaiicl, ekaiov> tcpa,$arrwv, irorrfpiov (f/iverai
72 ri^T] 7rX/a> a/eevdpia)' rrjv a\\7jv do")(p\iav,
rov irepicnraa [wv* TTOV fwi \oiirov Kelvo$ o
oS \aoi T' 7nrerpd$>arai /cal rcxrcra
1 Schenkl : &i/ S&rcU S.
2 Set ided by Sohenkl ; 8c (?) has it after fl-
1 Homer, IfeZ, IE. 25.
154
BOOK III. xxii. 67-72
be undertaken by the Cynic as a matter of prime
importance? If, replied Epictetus, you grant me a
city of wise men, it might very well be that no one
will lightly adopt the Cynic's profession. For in
whose interest would he take on this style of life ?
If, nevertheless, we assume that he does so act, there
will be nothing to prevent him from both marrying
and having children ; for his wife will be another
person like himself, and so will his father-in-law, and
his children will be brought up in the same fashion.
But in such an order of things as the present, which
is like that of a battle-field, it is a question, perhaps,
if the Cynic ought not to be free from distraction,
wholly devoted to the service of God, free to go
about among men, not tied down by the private
duties of men, nor involved in relationships which
he cannot violate and still maintain his role as
a good and excellent man, whereas, on the other
hand, if he observes them, he will destroy the
messenger, the scout, the herald of the gods, that
he is\ For see, he must show certain services to
his father-in-law, to the rest of his wife's relatives,
to his wife herself; finally, he is driven from his
profession, to act as a nurse in his own family and to
provide for them. To make a long story short, he
must get a kettle to heat water for the baby, for
washing it in a bath-tub; wool for his wife when
she has had a child, oil, a cot, a cup (the vessels get
more and more numerous) ; not to speak of the rest
of his business, and his distraction. Where, I beseech
you, is left now our king, the man who has leisure
for the public interest,
Who hath charge of the folk and for many a thing
must be watchful ? x
155
VOL. II.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ov S
TOVS 7re7rai&07roi,')jjj,vovs ) r/9
avrov <yvvaiK.i, r/9 /ea/eca?, rt? Stafieperai, iroia
ol/cia vaTa@L, iroia ov, o>9 iarpov irepiep^ofjievov
73 KOI T&V cr(j>v<y/ji)v airrofievov ; tl crv TrvpeTret,?,
av Ke<pa\,a\<yL<;, av 'jroSajpa^ crv avdrewov, crv
(j)d<y, crv ahovrrjcrov' ere Sel Tivr}6r\va,i, ere Sel
74 KCLvQ^VaiT TTOV <7%OX^ TO) t9 TO, iSlCdTLKCL
; aye, 1 ov Set avrov Tropicrai
irpbs ypafjLjj,aTi<TTr}v airo-
zyovrcL, rypa<$>ela y TirXdpia, 2
TOVT049 /cpajSamov ero^da'aL ; ov yap
IK rf)$ KOikla*; e^ekOovra Bvvarai JLvvifca elvai*
el Se fMT/jt icpeicrcrov r\v avra yevojAeva plural rj
75 ovrct)9 aTrofcrelvai. <TKOTT^ TTOV Kard^op.ev TOP
76 ILvviKQV, 7TW9 avrov TTJV fta(ji\eiav a^aipovfJLeda.
Nat* aXka J^pdrTj? eyrjj&ev. Hepiaratriv \JLQI
\&yei,<? ef epwro*; ryevo/Mvrjv teal fyvvalfca Ti,6el<$
afckav K/>aT??Ta. ^6*9 Se Trepl TG>V KOIV&V yd/JL&v
teal airepicrTdT&v ^rovfjtv xal OVTQ)$
VpL<rKOfJLP V
V TO) }LvVLK() TO
77 IIa)9 ovv en, (fzrjaiv, S^acraxj-ei rrjv
TOP 6eov <ro* 5 fiei&va, S' evepjerovcriv dv0pa>-
1 Transposed to this position by Upton from the beginning
of the next sentence.
2 Da Cange : n\\oipia S.
8 Eiter, after Schegk : /cat S.
4 ev added by Upton.
5 Upton : crow 8.
1 That ancient marriages (which would appear to have
been quite as successful as any other) were very seldom con-
156
BOOK III. xxn. 72-77
Where, pray, is this king, whose duty It is to over-
see the rest of men; those who have married;
those who have had children; who is treating
his wife well, and who ill; who quarrels; what
household is stable, and what not; making his
rounds like a physician, and feeling pulses ? " You
have a fever, you have a headache, you have the
gout. You must abstain from food, you must eat, you
must give up the bath ; you need the surgeon's knife,
you the cautery." Where is the man who is tied
down to the duties of everyday life going to find
leisure for such matters ? Come, doesn't he have to
get little cloaks for the children ? Doesn't he have
to send them off to a school-teacher with their little
tablets and writing implements, and little note-
books ; and, besides, get the little cot ready for them ?
For they can't be Cynics from the moment they leave
the womb. And if he doesn't do all this, it would
have been better to expose them at birth, rather
than to kill them in this fashion. See to what straits
we are reducing our Cynic, how we are taking away
his kingdom from him. Yes, but Crates married.
You are mentioning a particular instance which
arose out of passionate love, and you are assuming a
wife who is herself another Crates. But our inquiry
is concerned with ordinary marriage apart from
special circumstances, 1 and from this point of view
we do not find that marriage, under present con-
ditions, is a matter of prime importance for the Cynic,
How, then, said the young man, will the Cynic
still be able to keep society going? In the name of
God, sir, who do mankind the greater service?
cerned with romantic passion, is well known, "but seldom so
explicitly stated as here.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TTOi/9 ol TJ Svo rj Tpia fcaKopv<y%a TraLola avff
avTcov elcrd<yovT<; TJ ol 7ucr KOTTOVVTCS
Kara ovvap.iv dv8p(*>7rov$, n iroiovtnv,
Sidyovaw, TIVQS GTUfLeXovvrcu, TWOS d/j,\ovo'i
78 Trapa TO TTpocr'rJKOv ; fcal rjftaiovs /jL6iova <<5
\7\&av ocroi TeicvLa avTOL? KareXnrov
v&v&ov TOV are/cvov arrodavovros ; fcal '
rf} /cowcavia o-vve^akero Hpia/jLOS 6
yevwijaas TrepiKaOdp^ara rj Aai/a-09
79 ^7 Ai'oX<39 ; elra err partly ia ^.v r) crvpray/jid TWO,
direip^ei jdpov rj Tra&OTrodas /cal ov $o%6i OVTO?
avr ov&evo? rjXkd^dai TTJV dre/cviav, ^ Se TOV
80 . KVVIKOV j8a<7Xea ov/c ecnai avTa^la ; /MtjirOTe
ovic ai<r0 avowed a TOV peyedovs avTOv ovSe
K&T a%Lav TOV %aparcTr}pa TOV
Si d\"\f els TO v? vvv dTro/SKeiro/MeVt TOV$
irvXacopovs, ol , ovSev [MfjLovvTai,
ctceivovs y el rt 2 dpa ir6p&<0v<t yivovTat, a\\o
81 &' auSa/ / eTrel ov/c av rfj&as etcivei TaVTa
av 7r0av[jLdoix f V, el ftr) yaprjo-ei,
av&pwTre, TrdvTas dvO l p&>7rov$
, TCW av$pa<? viovs e^e^, ra? yvvcu?ca$
0vyaTpa$* Tracrw OUTO)? irpocrepxeTat,, OVTCO?
82 irdvr&>v Kij&eTcu. rj o~v So/cei? VTTO Trepiepyia?
\oiSop6to'@cu Tol$ aTravTOHTiv ; 09 TraTrjp CLVTO
iroiel, a)? aSeX^o? Kal TOV KOWQV 7rar/3o? VTrype-
7^9 TOV Ai09.
83 "Av <TQI Sof?7, Trvdov pov /cal el 7ro\iTev&Tai,,
1 Upton : T/wxe&y 8*
2 Sohenfcl: tn 8.
1 Homer, IRad, XXH, 69.
I5S
BOOK III. xxii. 77-83
Those who bring into the world some two or three
ugly-snouted children to take their place, or those
who exercise oversight, to the best of their ability,,
over all mankind, observing what they are doing,
how they are spending their lives, what they are
careful about, and what they undutifully neglect?
And were the Thebans helped more by all those
who left them children than by Epamraondas who
died without offspring? And did Priam, who begot
fifty sons, all rascals, or Danaus, or Aeolus, contribute
more to the common weal than did Homer? What?
Shall high military command or writing a book pre-
vent a man from marrying and having children, while
such a person will not be regarded as having ex-
changed his childlessness for naught, and yet shall
the Cynic's kingship not be thought a reasonable
compensation ? Can it be that we do not perceive the
greatness of Diogenes, and have no adequate con-
ception of his character, but have in mind the present-
day representatives of the profession, these "dogs
of the table, guards of the gate/* 1 who follow the
masters not at all, except it be in breaking wind in
public,-forsooth, but in nothing, else ? Otherwise such
points as these you have been raising would never
have disturbed us, we should never have wondered
why a Cynic will never marry or have children.
Man, the Cynic has made all mankind his children ;
the men among them he has as sons, the women as
daughters ; in that spirit he approaches them all and
cares for them all. Or do you fancy that it is in the
spirit of idle impertinence he reviles those he meets ?
It is as a father he does it^ as a brother, and as a
servant of Zeus^ who is Father of us all.
If you will, ask me also if he is to be active in
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
84 cravvicov, pei^ova TroKirelav J^Tefc, 979 Tro\tTve-
rai ; rj" 1 ev 'AOijvaioi? Trape\6a)v epet 7^9 Trepl
7rpo<r6$(i)v TJ TTopoyv, ov eel 7ra<riv avdpcoTroi?
o*ia\eyeo-&ai, eVtcr^? /zez/ 'AOyvaiow, eVt 0-^79 Se
ItiopwdLois, eTTLcnj^ Se e Pa>iJ,aioi$ ov vrepl Troptov
ovSe Trepl Trpoo-oS&v ovSe irepl elptfvTjs TJ TTO-
\ejj,ov, a\\a Trepl evSai/novias teal KaicoScujAovias,
Trepl evrvxLas /cal BvcrTV%ia<$, Trepl SovKeias /cal
85 e\ev0epia$ ; TrjX.ucavTyv TroXireLav Trohirevo-
fievov avdpGOTTOV av JJLOV TrvvOdvrj el TrdXirevcre'Tai;
Trvdov pov teal, el ap^zi* Trakiv epa> aot,' p>o>pe,
iroiav ap-^v /j,eiova, 079 apysi ;
86 Xpeia pkvTQi /cal crcb/jLaros TTOLOV TO) TOIOVTQ.
eirei rot av (f)0i(nKb$ Trpoepxyrcu, \67TT09 real
w^po9, ovfci'Ti ofjLoiav ep,<j>acriv TJ p^aprvpia avrov
87e%e i. Sel jap avrov ov JJLOVOV ra T% ^u%^9
eTTiSei/cvvovTa TrapicrTdveiv ro?9 ZSicora9 on
evBe)(eT:ai St^a r&v 6avjj,a%ojj,ev<dv VTT avr&v
elvai icakov /cal ayaOov, a\\a /cal Sia rov
<TG)fJiaro^ evSeifcvvadai, QTL f] a^eX-^9 fcal \irrj
/cal viraiQpos SiatTa ovBe TO <rco/ta \vpaiveTai,'
88 " ISov /cal TOVTOV /tapri/9 elju eya> /cal TO
TO e/io. (9 to76^779 eTToef o-Titov yap
Trepitfp')(TO /cal /car' 3 avTo TO cr&fjba
89 ro/9
1 Schweighauser : el &.
2 The Salamanca ed., Wolf, and Salmasius: clvai
avr&y S~
1 Said by the Scholiast to be a reference to the otherwise
unknown philosopher Sannio; but this note certainly, as
Capps suggests, belongs back at 84r, and is there a false
160
BOOK III. xxn. 84-89
politics. You ninny, are you looking for any nobler
politics than that in which he is engaged? Or
would you have someone in Athens step forward and
discourse about incomes and revenues, when he is
the person who ought to talk with all men,
Athenians, Corinthians,, and Romans alike, not about
revenues, or income, or peace, or war, but about
happiness and unhappiness, about success and failure,
about slavery and freedom? When a man is en-
gaging in such exalted politics, do you ask me if he
is to engage in politics ? Ask me also, if he will hold
office. Again I will tell you: Fool, what nobler
office will he hold than that which he now has ?
And yet such a man needs also a certain kind of
body, since if a consumptive comes forward, thin
and pale, 1 his testimony no longer carries the same
weight. For he must not merely, by exhibiting the
qualities of his soul, prove to the laymen that it is
possible, without the help of the things which they
admire, to be a good and excellent man, but he
must also show, by the state of his body, that his
plain and simple style of life in the open air does
not injure even his body : "Look," he says, f< "both
I and my body are witnesses to the truth of my
contention." That was the way of Diogenes, for
he used to go about with a radiant complexion, 2
and would attract the attention of the common
people by the very appearance of his body. But
a Cynic who excites pity is regarded as a beggar ;
inference from the word trawl&v, wtdcli is addressed to the
young man. For a similar dislocation of a scholium, see the
note on 58.
a Due in part at least to his regular use of oil for anointing.
Diogenes Laertius, 6, 81.
161
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Sourer 7raz>T9 aTrocrrpetftovrat,, irdvres
rovcriv. ovSe jap pvirapov avrov SeZ
c&9 jjurjSe Kara rovro rou9 avd p&Trovs
aXX' avrov rov avftfjiov avrov Se /caOapov elvat,
fcal dycojov.
90 AeZ 8e fcal %dpt>v 7ro\\r)V Trpoffeivat, (J>V<TLKT)V
ru> KWLK& fcal oj^vryra (el Se pr) y pv%a yiverat,
S' ov$ev} 3 Iva, eroipcds Svyrjrat, /col Trapa-
91
7T/309 rov elrrovra cc (TV el 6
o prj olopevos elvai, 0ov$ ;" "/cal Trco?,"
92 " <re Qeols e-^dpov vofjiifa ; " rcaXiv '
avrq> KoipoD^evcp fcal elirovn
en &v airriv
" & \aoi r emrerpd^arai, real rocrcra ^-e/
93 ILpo TrdvTwv Be TO yyepoviKov avrov
repov elvai rov ff\Lov* el Se p,ij, fcvftevry
real pa&iovpyov, oari? eve^o^evo^ nvi auro?
94 /ca/cq> eTTCTt/tifcre/- rw aXXo9. Spa yap, olov
e&rw. To?9 fta&iKevo'i rovrois /cal rvpdvvois ol
Sopvtyopat fcal ra oir\a napel^ ro 1
Schweighauser : -jrapflxero 8.
1 See Diogenes Laertius, 6, 42; the same joke appears
already in Aristophanes (Eq. 32-4), as Gapps remarks*
2 The same account in Theon, Proaymn* 5 (Stengel, IL
p 9S). Tlie famous meeting of these two men is preity
clearly apocryptal, at least in certain details. See Natorp
in the J^l-tifacydopadieP, V. 767.
162
BOOK III. xxn. 89-94
everybody turns away from him,, everybody takes
offence at him. No, and he ought not to look dirty
either, so as not to scare men away In this respect
also ; but even his squalor ought to be cleanly and
attractive.
Furthermore, the Cynic ought to possess great
natural charm and readiness of wit otherwise he
becomes mere snivel, and nothing else so as to be
able to meet readily and aptly whatever befalls;
as Diogenes answered the man who said : ** Are you
the Diogenes who does not believe in the existence
of the gods ? " by saying, " And how can that be?
You I regard as hated by the gods ! " 1 Or again,
when Alexander 2 stood over him as he was sleeping
and said,
Sleeping the whole night through beseems not
the giver of counsel,
he replied, still half asleep,
Who hath charge of the folk, and for many a
thing must be watchful. 8
But above all, the Cynic's governing principle
should be purer than the sun; if not, he must
needs be a gambler and a man of no principle,
because he will be censuring the rest of mankind,
while he himself is involved in some vice. For see
what this means. To the kings and tyrants of this
world their bodyguards and their arms used to
3 Homer, Iliad, II. 24 and 25. The only point in the
anecdote seems to be that IHogenes could say something
more or less apposite even when only half awake ; for the
completion of the quotation is in no sense a real answer to
the reproach,
163
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ncrlv /cal 1 vva<rdai KOI /eoXaaz> roi;?
teal avTofc overt /carcol?, r& Se 2
dvrl T>V oTrXcoi/ teal TG>Z> Sopvcfropcov
TO crwei8o9 Tr]V e^ovcriai} Tavriyv 7rapa8c8c><r>.
95 orav f%, 3 on vTreprjjpVTrpTjKev VTrep dv8pa>7rv
jcal TteTrovrjfcev . fcal /caSapbs fJ^v Kefcoi^ra^
fcadap&repov 8' avrov en o VTTVOS d<f)fj/cv y
$*, ocra evT8v/jLr)Tai, a>9 <^)tXo<? TO 1$
rvjpeTrjs, cw? perexcov TJJS />%^?9 rov
v 8' avrq> Trpo^eipov TO
Se /^', w Zei), /cal crv 7* 57 Tle7rpo)jJ,vr),
KOI on el ravry TOfc? 0eot9 <tAoz> 5 ravTy yLvecrBo)"
96 Sm T ^ dapprjar) jrappycnd^ecrOat, Trpo? TOU<?
TOU? eavrov, Trpo? ra reKva, a7rXft>9
7T/309 TOU9
97 Am TOI/TO oyT6 jreie^o^ ovre
ecrrlv o OVT& 8ta/cet/ti/a9* ou ^a/? rd d\\orpia
7roXi/7r/?a7/,w>ye2, oTa^ Ta dv0pa>7rwa
dXXa rd %$ia. el Be ptf, Xe^ye /cal rov
rro"Xv'jrpd<y[wva, orav TOU9 o~Tpana>Ta$
teal e^erd^rj /cal <rrapa<f)v\dcra'r) /cal TOU9 d/cocr-
98 [wvvra? fco\d^. edv 8* VTTO /iaX?/9 e%a)z/
TrKcucovvrdptov
99 eicetvo a K/e\o<j)a$ ; Tt Se crol Acal T0?9
1 Blass very reasonably suspected this word, although the
text as Ife stands can be translated after a fashion.
2 8 added by Upton from his " codex."
a Upton from his "codex" : l&iiis 8.
1 The rather curious imperfect tense here (at which several
scholars have taken offence) may be due to an attempt to
164
BOOK III. xxir. 94-99
afford 1 the privilege of censuring certain persons,
and the power also to punish those who do wrong,
no matter how guilty they themselves were ; whereas
to the Cynic it is his conscience which affords him
this power, and not his arms and his bodyguards.
When he sees that he has watched over men, and
toiled in their behalf; and that he has slept In
purity, while his sleep leaves him even purer than
he was before ; and that every thought which he
thinks is that of a friend and servant to the gods,
of one who shares in the government of Zeus ; and
has always ready at hand the verse
Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny, 2
and " If so it pleases the gods, so Ue it," 3 why
should he not have courage to speak freely to his
own brothers, to his children, in a word, to his
kinsmen ?
That is why the man who is in this frame of
mind is neither a busybody nor a meddler ; for he
is not meddling in other people's affairs when he
is overseeing the actions of men, but these are his
proper concern. Otherwise, go call the general a
meddler when he oversees and reviews and watches
over his troops, and punishes those who are guilty
of a breach of discipline. But if you censure other
men while you are hiding a little sweet-cake under
your arm, 111 say to you : Wouldn't you rather go
off into a corner and eat up what you have stolen ?
What have you to do with other people's business ?
avoid the suggestion that the Roman emperors might also be
evil men themselves.
* See note on II. 23, 42, in Vol. L
8 Plato, Crtio, 43 D.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
rk yap el ; o ravpo? el ^ rj fSacriKiaa'a, ra>v
peKicra&v ; $eit;ov poi ra (rvfiftoka r??9
ola e/ceivr] etc ^ucrew? e^ei. el Be Kijiprfv el
^z>Q9 T7?9 j3acri\La<$ rS>v /-teXCTG"<wz>, ov
cm ical ere fca,Tal3akov<nv 01 crv/jiTro\L-
revofievot, co? ai peKKraai rou? Krj^ijvas ;
100 To fJ,ev jap ave/CTiKov TOCTOVTOV e%eo' 8el rov
v, &<rr avrop avaicrdrjTov Sovelv roi?
ot? KOI \iOov' ouSel? CLVTOV \oi$opel, ovSel?
ouSet? vjSpL^et,* TO (TGJfidriov fi' avrov
auro? %pfjadcu TG> 6e\ovTi a>9 f3ov\rai.
101 /j,6{Jivi]T(U yap, OTI TO 'Xjiipov avdy/c'yj vifcacrdat,
VTTO rov tcpeirTOvos, OTTOV ^ipov <TTIV> TO Se
(Toy^afnov T&V 7ro\\S>v ^elpov, TO acrdevecrrepov
102 TG>F lo"%vpoTepo)v t ouSe-TTOT* oSi' 69
fSaivet TOP ay&va, OTTOV ^vvarai
TCdv aXkoTpicoif evdvs elftcrrarat, T
103 <ibnrwoemu. OTTOV 8e 7rpQai<ri$ /cal
avrov.
104 /tif TTOV crwy /carat) eo"i<$ TrpoTrerijs, pr) TTOV op/jbrj
elfcaia, fit] rrov ope%t$ aTrorevfcnicri, fjLjj irov
p*rf 7TOV /tjU,"l<S, fM 7TOV
105 &Se rj TfoXX^ 7r/>oo*o^^
ez/e/ca vrmo<$ pey/cei*
Trpoaipecre&s ov yiverai, rvpavvos ov
106 yiverat* aw/tariov Se ; Fat. /cai tcrricrei&lov ;
1 jtt^ TOU supplied by SchenkL
1 Tbat is, actually or eflfeotually, for the mere act without
any effect Is as nothing.
166
BOOK III. xxii. 99-106
Why who are you ? Are you the bull in the herd,
or the queen bee of the hive ? Show me the tokens
of your leadership, like those which nature gives
the queen bee. But if you are a drone and lay
claim to the sovereignty over the bees,, don't you
suppose your fellow- citizens will overthrow you, just
as the bees so treat the drones?
Now the spirit of patient endurance the Cynic must
have to such a degree that common people will think
him insensate and a stone; nobody reviles 1 him,
nobody beats him, nobody insults him ; but his body
he has himself given for anyone to use as he sees
fit. For he bears in mind that the inferior, in that
respect in which it is inferior,, must needs be
overcome by the . superior, and that his body is
inferior to the crowd the physically weaker, that
is,, inferior to the physically stronger. Therefore,
he never enters this contest where he can be
beaten, but immediately gives up what is not his
own ; he makes no claim to what is slavish. 2 But
in the realm of the moral purpose,, and the use
of his sense-impressions, there you will see he
has so many eyes that you will say Argus was blind
in comparison with him. Is there anywhere rash
assent, reckless choice, futile desire., unsuccessful
aversion, incompleted purpose, fault-finding, self-
disparagement, or envy ? Here is concentrated his
earnest attention and energy ; but^ as far as other
things go, he lies flat on his back and snores ; he is
in perfect peace. There rises up no thief of his
moral purpose, nor any tyrant over it. But of his
body ? Certainly. And of his paltry possessions ?
2 Like the body, his own or that of another. His rule is
over the mind and the moral purpose.
167
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
v&i /cal dp%a)V /cal ri^&v. ri ovv avrca rou-
TGOV fl\C ; Orav OVV TO Sia TOVTOOV CLVTOV
eicfyoftf), \eyei aura* fi viraye, $rei ra Trcu&ta*
w ra TTpocraTreta (poftepd IdTiv, eycb 8'
QTI ocrTpdfctvd ecmv, <rcoQev $ ovSev
107 Tlepl TOIOVTOV Trpdyparos $ov\Gvr]. &cne lav
CTQl S6^7J, TOP 0OV (TOi, VTTepSoV KOI l$OV (TOl
108 TT/xwroz/ rrjp irapacrKZvrjV. ISov ydp> rt KOI o
ji rfj *A.v$po/jLa')(7}'
eh OLKOV KOI v<j>atve*
TToXe^io? S' av$pecr<Ti
/^ &> r > i
i,, p,a\i<TTa o e/iot. - 1
109 ovro) ? teal rfjs l$ia$ Trapacr/cewfj? vvvrjadeTo /cal
. II/)O9 roif? dvayLyvtocr KOVTCLS /cal Siaheyo-
1 Tt9 clvcu 0\i<>, (ravTp irpw'TQv el'jri' etff
OVTG)$ 7TOL6L O, TTOiel<$. KOL <yap CTTfr TG)V d\\O3V
2 o"%e$bv aTrdwr&v OVT<X>$ opcoj&ev ^fivo^va. ol
dBXovvTes Trp&Tov /cpivovcnv, rtz/e? et^at OeXovaw,
eW ouTo>9 ra e^fj'S TTOWVCTW. el SoX^oS/>o/-to9,
rotavrr} rpo$>r}> roiovros Treplwaros, rotavri}
rpiTfns, roMtvrrj yvfi,vao~ia>* el
irdvra ravra aXXota' el Trevrad\o$, en a
1 irarw, J/tai 5e pd\t(rTa the MSS. of Homer.
1 Homer, Iliad, VL
1 68
BOOK III. xxn. 106-rxni. 2
Certainly ; and of his offices and honours, Why,
then, does he pay any attention to these ? So
when anyone tries to terrify him by means of these
things, he says to him, Go to, look for children ;
they are scared by masks; but I know that they
are made of earthenware, and have nothing in-
side."
Such is the nature of the matter about which you
are deliberating. Wherefore, in the name of God
I adjure you, put off your decision, and look first
at your endowment For see what Hector says to
Andromache. Go," says he, "rather into the
house and weave ;
but for men shall war be the business,
Men one and all, and mostly for me." x
So did he recognize not only his own special
endowment, but also her incapacity.
CHAPTER XXIII
To those who read and discuss for the purpose of
display
TELL yourself, first of all, what kind of man you
want to be ; and then go ahead with what you
are doing. For in practically every other pursuit
we see this done. The athletes first decide what
kind of athletes they want to be, and then they
act accordingly. If a man wants to be a distance-
runner, he adopts a suitable diet, walking, rub-
bing, and exercise ; if he wants to be a sprinter,
all these details are different ; if he wants to con-
tend hi the pentathlon, they are still more different
169
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
3 repa. ovrct) 1 ? evpqcreis teal eril r&v Tzyy&v. ei
T6KTQ)v, rotavra ee9* el %a\Kev$, roiavra.
efcacTTOV <yct,p r&v ywofievtov {/<* 3)ii&v av JJAV
em fjMrjBev dvacfiepcdfiev, eltcrj iroiycrofjiev* lav S'
4 e<p' o fir} Se?, $iecr(f)a\,/jLevGi)$. \OLTTOV q pev Tt<?
lo"ri Koivr) ava<popd t f} S' l&ia. Trp&rov IV 0)9
avOpa)7TO$. V TOVT&) T[ TTSplZyGTCLl / fjbff d>S
vrpo/Sarov, elfcfj^ eTrteiKO)?* pJrf ^Xairn/cco^ 2 0)9
5 dypiov. f} 8' ISia irpos TO 7rt f rTJSevjj f a e/cda-rov
tcai rrjv Trpoaipecnv* o fct,0apa)Bb$ o>5 Ki
o refcrcop 609 TKTO)v t 6 <f)i\6cro(f>o$ 009
6 o pyTtop &>9 pfjrcop. orav ovv "Keyy*; " Bevre fca
aKovcrare fiov ava<yi*yv(l)(rKovTO$ vp,lv" a/ceifrai
Trp&rov pi} elfcrj avTo Troieiv* elr av evprjs, on
7 ava<f*pGi?, cr/ce^ai, el Ifi o Set. w
" e/iol Se TOU irapa raw TroXXwi/ eTraivov TI?
Xoyo?;" ^al Aca.Xo>9 Xe^et. ouSe ya/> TW
f&ovaiKto, KaOo fiovGiKos GCTTLV, ovSe TO> yea)/i6-
8 Tpifca*. OVKOVV ft><eX??cr<u 8e\i,$ ; Ttpos ri ;
elire /cal r^ilvy f (va /cal avrol rpe^cajjiev el? TO
ov <rov. vvv Svvarai T49 ax
^9 reKTovtfcqv 6 pJrj TGKTCOV ov& e
o ^ (T/cvrevs.
9 eXei9 oSi/ <yv&vai, ei ^eX.Tjaat ; (fiepe aov
r9
1 el/o} added by R^iske. Compare 1 6.
s cenkl TT
9,inYolL
170
BOOK III. xxin. 2-9
You will find the same thing in the arts. If you
-want to be a carpenter, you will have such and
such exercises ; if a blacksmith,, such and such other.
For in everything that we do, if we do not refer
it to some standard, we shall be acting at random ;
but if we refer it to the wrong standard, we shall
make an utter failure. Furthermore, there are two
standards to go by, the one general,, the other
individual. First of all, I must act as a man. What
is included in this ? Not to 'act as a sheep, gently
but without fixed purpose ; nor destructively, like
a wild beast. The individual standard applies to
each man's occupation and moral purpose. The
citharoede is to act as a citharoede, 1 the carpenter
as a carpenter, the philosopher as a philosopher,
the rhetor as a rhetor. When, therefore, you say,
C( Come and listen to me as I read you a lecture,'*
see to it first that you are not acting without fixed
purpose. And then, if you find that you are using
a standard of judgement, see if it is the right one.
Do you wish to do good or to be praised ? you ask.
Immediately you get the answer, " What do I care
for praise from the mob ? " And that is an excellent
answer. Neither does the musician, in so far as he
is a musician, nor the geometrician. Do you wish
to do good, then ? To what end ? men reply. Tell
us, also, that we too may run to your lecture-room.
Now can anybody do good to others unless he has
received good himself? No more than the non-
carpenter can help others in carpentry, or the non-
cobbler in cobbling.
Do you wish, then, to know whether you have
received any good? Produce your judgements,
philosopher. What does desire promise? Not to
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
10 pi) airoTvy^aveiv. w e/cK\icreco^ ; /JLTJ
Ttv. dye, 7r\7jpou/j^ avrwv Trj
dirk fiQi rahrjdfj' av Be -fyevcrr), epo) aoi " 7Tp(j>riv
tyvXpQTepov GOV T>P afcpoar&v crvve\d6vTG)v Kal
pr) eTn.jSoTjcrdvTcov aoi TGTaTrew&fJLevos ef^J
11 Trtorv eTraiveOeis Tretiov fcal iracnv
* r voL o~a ; f avpaarT$ y icvpie, rrjv
troi (TtoTypiav* 1 7r&)9 8' eljrov etcelvo ; * TO
; ' * OTTOV Steypatya TOV TLava teal ra$
ope^ei Kal GfctcKicret, Kara fyvcriv a
13 V7raye t a\\ov TreWe. rov Seiva Se Trp^Tjv OVK
iTrrjveis Ttapa TO aol ^aivopevov ; rov Selva 8*
OVK /co\a,Kve$ TOV <7vyK\rjTt,Kov ; ^eXe? o"ou
14 ra Tra&ia elvcu roiavra ; M^ yevoiro. TW/O?
ovv ive/ea eTryvew KCU Trephine? avrov ; Eu^u^y
veavl<rtco<$ Kal Xoy&v afcovarcKos. Hodev rovro ;
'E/te 6avp,a%ei. J^cpyKas rfyv aTroSe^ip.
Elra rl Soicei croi ; avroi crov ovrot, ov /cara-
15 <j)popov<nv XeX^oTd)? ; orav ovv avBpct>Tro<$ crv-
(f>i\,6cro(f)ov TOP \eyovra
xal airkovs Kal aKpcuo$" ri
aXXo avrbv \eyew rj " ovro? TWO, TTOT!
16 [wv %peiav e^et" ; ^ etTre fioi, ri fj&yaXoipvovs
Hpyov ein f $e$uc r rat, ; IBou avvewri aoi TOCTOVTG>
Xp6v<p, BiaX&yopEvoir aov
172
BOOK III. xxm. 9-1 6
fail In getting. What does aversion? Not to fall
into what we are avoiding. Well, do we fulfil their
promise ? Tell me the truth ; but if you lie, I will
say to you : ft The other day, when your audience
gathered rather coolly,, and did not shout applause,
you walked out of the hall in low spirits. And
again the other day, when you were received with
applause, you walked around and asked everybody,
c What did you think of me ? ' e It was marvellous,
sir, I swear by my life/ 'How did I render that
particular passage ? ' ' Which one ? ' f Where I drew
a picture of Pan and the Nymphs ? ' c It was
superb/ *' And after all this you tell me that you
follow nature in desire and aversion ? Go to ; try
to get somebody else to believe you ! Didn't you,
just the other day, praise So-and-so contrary to your
honest opinion? And didn't you flatter So-and-so,
the senator? Did you want your children to be
like that ? Far from it ! Why then did you praise
him and palaver over him ? He is a gifted young
man and fond of listening to discourses. How do
you know that ? He is an admirer of mine. There
you gave your proof !
After all, what do you think ? Don't these very
same persons secretly despise you? When, there-
fore, a person who is conscious of never having
either thought or done a good thing finds a
philosopher who tells him, "You are a genius,
straightforward and unspoiled,*' what else do you
suppose the man says to himself but, "This man
wants to use me for something or other " ? Or else
tell me ; what work of genius has he displayed ?
Look, he has been with you all this time, he has
listened to your discourse, he has heard you lecture.
AREIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETQS
dfctf/coev* jcarearTaXraij eTreuTpaTrTat, l<j>*
; rj&0rjTcu, ev o2b&9 Katcols e<rrLv ; airo-
17 j3e/3\7)Kv oir]Giv ; ^Tjrel TOV StSa^oz/ra ; Z^ret,
<j>r]crL Toz^ SiBdffovTa, 7ra>9 Bel ftiovv ; ov, fJbODpe'
aXXa, 7T<W9 Bel (frpd^eiv' TOVTOV jap everta KCU
<i 8avfj,d%ei. aKOvaov CLVTOV, rip a \jei.
t( ouro? o avOptoiros trdvv re^vLfcc^rara ypdtpei,
18 A<J>O? TTO\V KohXiov" oKov aXXa eo-riv* ^
o avdpo)7ro$ alSijjLitov eVr/j/, o5ro? mcrro?
euro? drdpa^o^ eariv^ ; el Be KCU eXeyev,
av avrcp if eTrecBr) ovro$ TTICTTOS (TTIV,
euro? 6 7ZWTO9 ri earlv ; '* /cal el firj el^ev elTretv,
av on, " irptorov paBe, T'I Xeye*?, eW
19 OuTCt)? OVV KCUC&S Sia/CLJjLVO$ KOI ^aC
u? eTrawecrovTas KOI dpidfM&v rov? afcovovrd?
({ va,
" ov&ev
" Atawo? ovSeTTor* fyfcovaav TOGOVTOI"
/fal /cofi^w? olaBavovrai \6-
" ra fca\ov, /evpie, fcal \L6ov tcivrjcrai
20 Bvvarat" IBov (JHJWCU (fitXocrcxpov, ISov BidQ
'
'
Bov
1 Probably the famous lecturer of the day, Bio Chrysostom,
of Prusa.
2 To be taken as intended for a serious compliment, and
probably a popular saying (as Upton suggested j like our
** Music hath charms," or, " The very stones would cry out."
The idea behind it would be familiar from the story of how
the trees followed Orpheus, in order to hear his beautiful
music, or the stones arranged themselves in the walls of
Thebes, to toe strains of Amphion. Oapps, however, thinks.
174
BOOK III. XXIIL 16-20
Has he settled down? Has lie come to himself?
Has he realized the evil plight in which he is?
Has he cast aside his self-conceit ? Is he looking
for the man who will teach him ? He is looking,
the man says, The man who will teach him how he
ought to live? No., fool., but only how he ought
to deliver a speech ; for that is why he admires even
you. Listen to him, and hear what he says. " This
fellow has a most artistic style; it is much finer
than Dio's/' 1 That's altogether different. He
doesn't say, does he, "The man is respectful, he
is faithful and unperturbed" ? And even if he had
said this, I would have replied : lc Since this man is
faithful, what is your definition of the faithful man?"
And if he had no answer to give, I would have added :
"First find out what you are talking about, and
then do your talking."
When you are in such a sorry state as this, then,
gaping for men to praise you, and counting the
number of your audience, is it your wish to do good
to others ? " To-day I had a much larger audience."
"Yes, indeed, there were great numbers." "Five
hundred, I fancy." cf Nonsense, make it a thou-
sand." ef Dio never had so large an audience."
" How could you expect him to? " " Yes, and they
are clever at catching the points/'" <{ Beauty, sir, can
move even a stone." * There are the words of a
philosopher for you ! That's the feeling of one who
is on his way to do good to men. 1 There you have
that * ' TO KaX6v means { honour J J * here, and that the remark
is "cynical." He would translate: "Talk of honour, sir,"
etc., adding the explanatory note: "That is, the speaker
woold have had no success with his audience if he had
preached honour and virtue (as the true philosopher should:)/*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
\oyov, dveyv&KQ)? rd iZcd/cpaTL/cd o>9 Soj/eyocm/ra,
ov)$ S' 009 Avcriov /cal 'Icro/cpdrovs. " 7roXXa/a9
eOav^aaa, TL<TIV TTOTC \oyot$. ov* aXKa TLVI
21 Tfore Xo^w* rovr eiceivov \tLorepov" p,rj yap
<zXX<*>9 avrd dveyvtotcare rj 0*9 wSdpia ; &>? ef
76 dveyiyvcibo'/ceTe (9 Set, oy/c o-z/ TT/JO? rourot?
eyivevfle, d\\ J efcelvo /j,aK\ov e/SXeTrere " e/te S*
MeX^ro? diro/cTeivat, JJLZV Svvavrai,
el TOLOVTOS
rj TO> Xoya), 09
22 az^ //,ot or/co7rou/ie^&) /9eXT^<rro9 ^aivrjrat,^ Sid
rovro Tt9 rf/covae wore ^wKparovs \eyovros on
" olSd TI fcal St8ttV/fG) " ; aXXa a\\ov
7r/7rv. TQiyapovv rfpj^ov
T69 <^iXo<ro<^o^9 VTT* avTov c
23 dTrijyev /cal crvvi<TTavev. ov* aXXa
" dicovcrov iiov o"tjupov SiaXeyoiilvov Iv
-
crov dfeovaa) ; 7n&el%ai poi, BeXeis, OTI
av~
fcal ri CTOL dyadov IGTIV ; t aXX' lirai-
1 Wolf : w&eV 5.
1 The rhetors must have disputed whether the opening
words of Xenophon's Memorabilia might not have been
improved upon hy using the singular x6y<# instead of the
plural K&yois.
* Plato, Apol. 300.
3 Slightly modified from Plato, Crito, 46 B.
4 *.&, to different authorities on special subjects.
8 Actual instances of such introductions are recorded in
the Protagoras, 310 E, and the Theaetetus, 151 B. Compare
also Maximus Tyrius, 38, 4, &. The personal relations
between Socrates and the Sophists in. general were clearly
not strained.
176
BOOK III. xxin. 20-23
a man who has listened to reason^ who has read the
accounts of Socrates as coming from Socrates, not as
though they were from Lysias, or Isocrates ! (f f I
have often wondered by what arguments ever * no^
but f by what argument ever' this form is smoother
than the other!" 1 You have been reading this
literature just as you would music-hall songs, haven't
you ? Because, if you had read them in the right
way, you would not have lingered on these points,
but this is the sort of thing rather that would have
caught your eye : " Anytus and Meletus can, kill me,
but they cannot hurt me *' ; * and : " I have always
been the kind of man to pay attention to none of my
own affairs, but only to the argument which strikes
me as best upon reflection." 3 And for that reason
who ever heard Socrates saying, f( I know something
and teach it " ? But he used to send one person here
and another there. 4 Therefore men used to go to
him to have him introduce them to philosophers/ and
he used to take them around and introduce them.
But no, your idea of him, no doubt, is that, as he was
taking them along, he used to say, (e Come around
to-day and hear me deliver a discourse in the house
of Quadratus " 1 6
Why should I listen to you? Do you want to
exhibit to me the clever way in which you put words
together? You do compose them cleverly, man;
and what good is it to you? "But praise me."
6 The practice of letting a popular or distinguished scholar
lecture in one's house was particularly common in Greek and
Roman times. Several distinguished persons by the name
of Quadratus were contemporaries of ISpietetus {Prosopo-
graph m Imperil Romani, Vol. HE, nos. 600 ff.), but it is not
certain fchat any one of them is meant, because they resided
regularly at Rome, and this discourse was held at Nicopolis.
177
ADRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
24 veaov /i." ri \eyets TO eiraivecrov ; f< eljre pot
' ova ' Kal ( 9avfiaa"T(x)<$J " l&ov Xeyo). el 8*
<rrlv eirawos etcelvo, 5 n TTOTC \eyovcrw ot
fyt\Q(To$)Oi r&v ev T?? 1 Tov ayaBov /carrjyopia*
ri <7e e%&> 7rawecrcu ; el ayadov cffri TO <j>pdLv
25 op0><$, SiSagov fie Kal eTratvecrai. ri ovv ; a^So)?
Sei rcov roiovreov aicoveiv ; p,r] yevoiro. iya) jxev
ovSe jci8ap<p$ov a-rjo*&$ a/covc*)' ,jj,ij n oZv rovrov
evexa Kidapto&elv JAG Sec ardvraj aKOv<rov> ri
ei ^totcparys* " oiSe yap av TrpCTroi, & az/Spe?,
e rfj rfkifcia &cnrep /JLt,paKiq> ifKdrrovri \6<yov$
65 VfJ&S zlcFiivat,? " &(T7T6p fJLet,paKl(p
26 ecm yap rq> ovn /CO/JL^OV TO rzyyiov K
ovoparia xal ravra avvdeivat /cal ira
v<j)vw$ avayvcovai, TJ elirelv teal fj,eral;v avayi-
yvdxrfcopra eTTKfrdeygacrdai on " rovrois ov -TroX-
Xol Svvavrat 7rapafco\ov0lVj pa rrjv vfierepav
27 ^^Xoo'o^o^ S' ?r' afcpoatnv *jrapa/ea~\e ;
8* o>? o ^X*09 ayei avrbs e<* eavrov ryv
)? Se teal ovros ayt rov$ ox^eX?;-
Troto? larpbs Trapa/caXet, r iva Tt?
VTT avrov 0pa7rev8y ; /eairoi vvv afcovco on
/cal ol larpol irapaica\Qvaiv Iv *P^^* ifK'rjv eif
28 ifjiov Trapexa'kovvro. " 7rapaica\& <re
1 Upton (in part after Wolf) : raw rov aya8ov 8.
f opla 8.
1 Hato, Apology, 17 C.
2 According to Stoic doctrine the so-called " rays " of the
sun wepe thought to be lines of vapour drawn to the sun in
order to feed its fires. Zeno, fcag, 3 ; (ILeanthes, frag, 501 j
178
BOOK III. XXIIL 23-28
What do you mean by ff praise " ? <f Cry out to me,
' Bravo!' or ( Marvellous I "' All right, I'll say it.
But if praise is some one of those things which the
philosophers put in the category of the good, what
praise can I give you ? If it is a good thing to speak
correctly, teach me and I will praise you. What
then? Ought one to take no pleasure in listening
to such efforts ? Far from it. I do not fail to take
pleasure in listening to a citharoede; surely I am
not bound for that reason to stand and sing to my
own accompaniment on the harp, am I? Listen,
what does Socrates say ? ' ' Nor would it be seemly
for me, O men of Athens, at my time of life to
appear before you like some lad, and weave a
cunning discourse/' 1 "Like some lad," lie says.
For it is indeed a dainty thing, this small art of
selecting trivial phrases and putting them together,
and of coming forward and reading or reciting them
gracefully, and then in the midst of the delivery
shouting out, f c There are not many people who can
follow this, by your lives, I swear it ! "
Does a philosopher invite people to a lecture ? Is
it not rather the case that, as the sun draws its own
sustenance to itself, 2 so he also draws to himself
those to whom he is to do good ? What physician
ever invites a patient to come and be healed by him ?
Although I am told that in these days the physicians
in Rome do advertise; however, in my time they
were called in 3 by their patients. " I invite you to
Chrysippus, frags. 579, 652, 658-663, aU in Yon Arnim's
Stoicorum P'eterum Fragmented
8 The three slightly varying translations for 7ra/>axaAetK,
*' invite," " advertize," and " call in," seem to be required by
our idiom.
179
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
afcovaai t cm aoi /ca/eo>9 ecrrl /cal rrdvrcov
eTTipeXtfj r) ov Set ere eirifjie^elcrdai teal oil
ra a<ya0a /cal ra KCUCCL /cal Ka/coBaLfjucov el ical
BvcrrwxTJs" KOfM^rri 7rapdK\T]<n,$. /cal p/qv av
P/TI ravra eftrcoifj o rov <j>i^o<r6(j)ov Xoyo?, vKpo$
6 \e^a)v t eicdOe \<yet,v o
<j%oXeiT eiraivecrai, /ie, eyco &
roiyapovv ovrcos eXe^ev, &crff
eicacrTOV r^i^v Ka6r}p.VQV otecrdai,, OTL r/9 f jrore
CLVTOV t,a/e\r)fCGV OVTCDS rjTTTero rwv <yi<yvo-
ra e
/ca/c.
30 *laTpiov eanv, avBpes, TO rov $>i\oo-6<j>ov
ov Set rjaOevras e^\0LVj
ep^ecrOe jap ov^ vjLefc, aXX* d
3J3\7iKd)$, a &' aTrocTTrjfjia e^ow, 6 Be
31 crvpiyya, o Be Ke$>a\a\<y&v. elr eyoi) fc
vfuv \e<y(o vorj/jLaria /cal eiritptovrj /Maria, iv
eTraiveo-avre? /te e%e\di)re t o /JLCV rov
/c(f)epa>v olov elaqvey/cev, 6 Be rijv fce$a\rjv
OMrauro)? e^ovaav, o Be rrjv avptyya, o Se TO
32 arro(rr7]fjLa ; elra rovrov eve/ca aTroBrj/jLtfcraHrw
av0po)7roi v<>rpoi> /cal Toi/9 yovets rov$ avr&v
aTroXtTroJcrij/ 1 /cal TOi/9 ^>6Xou9 fcal TOU9
/calro /crrjcriBiov, *va croi "oua" <j>cocriv eTT
fidria \eyovri ; rovro ^at/cpdrr)? erroLe^ rovro
Zijv&v, rovro KXeaF^^9 ;
1 ELoraes : otvoXelwovcrty 8.
1 At greater length in Gellius, 5, 1, 1.
* So it iiad, indeed, become in Ms time. Compare Introd,
p xaiv. Tlras abo one of tlie great libraries at Alexandria is
said to Eare had over its 'portal: lairpeiw TT)S tyvxtis* If the
180
BOOK III. xxin. 28-32
come and bear that you are in a bad way,, and that
you are concerned with anything rather than, what
you should be concerned with,, and that you are
ignorant of the good and the evil, and are wretched
and miserable," That's a fine invitation ! And yet
if the philosopher's discourse does not produce this
effect, it is lifeless and so is the speaker himself.
Rufus used to say, (C If you have nothing 1 better to
do than to praise me, then I am speaking to no
purpose." 1 Wherefore he spoke in such a way that
each of us as we sat there fancied someone had gone to
Rufus and told him of our faults ; so effective was his
grasp of what men actually do., so vividly did he set
before each man's eyes his particular weaknesses.
Men, the lecture-room of the philosopher is a
hospital ; 2 you ought not to walk out of it in
pleasure, but in pain. For you are not well when
you come; one man has a dislocated shoulder,
another an abscess, another a fistula, another a head-
ache. And then am I to sit down and recite to you
dainty little notions and clever little mottoes, so that
you will go out with words of praise on your lips, one
man carrying away his shoulder just as it was when
he came in, another his head in the same state,
another his fistula, another his abscess ? And so it's
for this, is it, that young men are to travel from
home, and leave their parents, their friends, their
relatives, and their bit of property, merely to cry
" Bravo ! " as you recite your clever little mottoes ?
Was this what Socrates used to do, or Zeno, or
Cleanjfches ?
story is true (which I very much doubt), the inscription
surely belongs to the decadence, for such was clearly not the
conception of science which prevailed in the great days of
Alexandria,
181
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
33 T Q$V ; OVK eCTTLV TT/OOTpCTTTi/CO? ^apaKTTjp ;
Tt? *yap ov \e<yei ; 009 o * eXe7/eTi/ec9, &>9 o
StSacr/eaTu/cos 1 . Tt<? o5i/ TrooTrore Teraprov elirev
34 jUTa TOUTCDJ' TO!/ 7TtSe/CTi/c6z/ ,* T&<? <a <TTW
V(KT8ai KOI vl
v fj fcvKiovrai,* KCU on fjio
iv YJ &v 6kov<nv.
fj,v yap ra Trpo? evBaipoviav <j>povra }
35 8* avra fyrovcn. TOVTO 'iva, yevrjTai, See redijvcu
$d6pa /cal 7rapa,/c\r)@r)vat, rou? a/covao-
/cal ere eV fcoptyq* <TTO\ia> T)
avaftdvra ITT* irovkfttvov ^Laypafyeiv,
Xei? a-rridavev ; iravcracrBe, rou? 0eov$ V/MV,
jcaka ovofjutTa KOI irpdjfjLara Karcu0''%vvovTe<?,
36 ocrov e<jb' eavrot?. ov&ev irpOTpeTmxcorepov rf
orav o \eycov epfyaivr) TO?? atcovovcrw o*n '
37 avr&v e^ei. YJ elTre ftoi, rk CLKOVGOV
KOVTOS aov r} &ia\eyo/jvov 'jrepl avrov rpy&viacrev
rf 7r0~Tpd<f>'r} efe avrov y l%\dcbv etirev on
ft Ka\&<; {AOV ri^raro o c^tXoo-o^o?' ovtcert, Sel
38 ravra iroieiv ** ; ov^l S' av \Lav eu
TTpos Tiva " Kopfr&s e<f)pacrV ra irepl TOV Hep
aXXo9 et ov* a\\a Trjv eirl Hv\
TOVTO efTTiv a/cpoaais <j>i\o(r6<j>ov ;
1 & added by a modern hand in 8.
1 That is, as a style appropriate to philosophers, for the
epideictic, or style of display, was a well-recognized "branch
of oratory in general and not entirely unknown, perhaps,
among certain popular preachers even to-day.
* As Ood "needs the universe in which to exercise and dis-
play BBs power, so the teacher needs pupils, the speaker an
audience* There is a makial need, therefore, each of the
other.
BOOK III. xxni. 33-38
Well ! But isn't there such a thing as the right
style for exhortation? Why yes, who denies that?
Just as there is the style for refutation, and the style
for instruction. Who, then, has ever mentioned a
fourth style along with these, the style of display ? 1
Why, what u the style for exhortation ? The ability
to show to the individual, as well as to the crowd, the
warring inconsistency in which they are floundering
about, and how they are paying attention to any-
thing rather than what they truly want. For they
want the things that conduce to happiness, but they
are looking for them in the wrong place. To
achieve that must a thousand benches be placed, and
the prospective audience be invited,, and you put on
a fancy cloak, or dainty mantle,, and mount the
speaker's stand, and paint a word-picture of how
Achilles died? By the gods, I beseech you, have
done with discrediting, as far as it is in your power to
discredit, words and actions that are noble 1 There is
nothing more effective in the style for exhortation
than when the speaker makes clear to his audience
that he has need of them. 2 Or tell me, who that
ever heard you reading a lecture or conducting a
discourse felt greatly disturbed about himself, or
came to a realization of the state he was in, or on
going out said, cc The philosopher brought it home to
me in fine style ; I must not act like this any longer " ?
But doesn't he say to a companion, if you make an
unusually fine impression, "That was beautiful
diction in the passage about Xerxes " ; and doesn't
the other answer, f No, I preferred the one about
the battle of Thermopylae" ? 3 Is this what listen-
ing to a philosopher amounts to?
8 A typical rh&torum campus, as Cicero calk it (De OffitMs,
1, 61).
- 183
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fcS'. He pi TOV /j,rj Selv 7tpoenrdcr*)(eiv rot? ov/c e<'
TjfJLtV.
1 To aXXou Trapa (pvcnv aol icaKov p/r) yivearQco"
ov jap crvvTCLTreivovcrOcLi irefyvKas ovSe crvva-
2 TV^elv, d\\a (rvvevTV)(elv. av Se TL$ O>TVX$>
on Trap* avrov arv^el. 6 yap ^09
avdpcoTrov? eirl TO evSaipsOvetv, 7rl TO
3 vaTa,8elv eiroiijcrev. TT/?O<? TOVTO afyo
Ta fjuev tSia Sou? e/cao-Tft), TO, S 7 aXXorp^a* ra
KGtKvTa KOI d<j)aipTa /cal avayfcacrTa OVK
Ta 8* dfC(i)XvTa l$ia* r^z> 8' ovaiav TOV dyaBov
/cal TOV /caKov, Sxrirep yv a^iov TOV
r)p,&>v /cal TraTpiKW? irpolcrTdjJisvov, ev rot?
4 " aXX' d7ro/ceX^pn Ka T v Sez>os> /cal
Sia TI yap Ta d\\OTpia tSta fjytjcraTO ; Sia TL,
OT ere P\67ra)v e^aipev^ OVK eTrekoyi&TO OTI
OVJJTOS el, dTroSij/jirjTLKbs el; Toiyapovv TIVGI
5 St/ca? T^7? avrov jji&pias. 0v 8' av
TI ArXae^? 1 creavTov ; rj ou&e crv TavTa ey
a-XX* d>9 Ta yvvaia Ta ovSevos aia TCCLCTIV 0X9
(9 del avvecropevo? avvijs, rofc
dvdp&wois, ra&9 foiaTpiftal? ; /col vvv
l/cdfftxras, OTI /JL^ TOV? avTov? $Xe7rej9 fcal ev
6 auTot9 TOKOIS S^aryo^Set?, TOVTOV yap a|^o9 el,
1 Salmasius, after Sehegk : K\M <r 8.
1 That is, is prddneed by himself, or is his own fault ; and
really affects no one feat himself.
184
BOOK III. xxiv. i~6
CHAPTER XXIV
That we ought not to yearn for the things which are not
under our control
LET not that which in the case of another is
contrary to nature become an evil for you ; for you
are born not to be humiliated along with others, nor
to share in their misfortunes, but to share in their
good fortune. If, however, someone is unfortunate,
remember that his misfortune concerns himself, 1 For
God made all mankind to be happy, to be serene.
To this end He gave them resources, giving each man
some things for his own, and others not for his own.
The things that are subject to hindrance, deprivation,
and compulsion are not a man's own, but those
which cannot be hindered are his own. Trie true
nature of the good and the evil, as was fitting for
Him who watches over and protects us like a father,
He gave to man to be among his own possessions.
" But I have parted from So-and-so, and he is stricken
with grief." Yes, but why did he regard what was
not his own as his own ? Why, when he was glad
to see you, did he not reflect that you are mortal,
and likely to go on a journey ? And therefore he is
paying the penalty for his own folly. But why are
you bewailing yourself, and to what end? Or did
you also neglect to study this matter, but, like
worthless women, did you enjoy everything in which
you took delight as though you were to enjoy it for
ever, your surroundings, human beings, your ways of
life ? And now you sit and wail because you no longer
lay eyes upon the same persons, and do not spend
your life in the same places. Yes, for that's what you
1*5
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
IV a KOI r&V KOpaXtoV Kal /COpCdVOOV dd\ldc>rpO<$
779, ol? %ariv irrraaOaL, OTTOV 6i\ovcnv^ /cal
ueroitfcoSofielv ra$ veocra-ias real ra ireX-dy?] SLCL-
rrepav pr) &rivov<nv /t^Se rrodovac ra TT/XWTO,.
7 Nat* #XX' VTTQ rov aXoya elvai irda^ei avrd.
ovv \6jo^ 7rl cnv^la /cal
Trdvres ecn^aav dddvaroi teal
^ d\\a /j,V(*)/Ji6v a>9 TO (j>vra
av Se rt? aTroS^/t^ciT/ TG>V
tc\aiG)^ev KOI Trakiv, av
6X^77, op^d)jjLeda /cal fcporco/jLev a>9 ra rra&ia ;
9 Ov/c dfrojaXa/cricrofiev 77897 rroff* eavrov? /cal
[i[jwir}cr6fjL60a oyv rj/covcrajjLev irapa rS>v <^)AXo-
10 cro<j>av ; i ye firj &>? 7raot,$>v avr&v fjKOvojj&v,
on o /cocr/jLos ovros pla 770X^9 earl /cal 57 ovaia, e
779 &eS'r]juovpyr)rai ) pia /cal dvdjfcrj TrepioSop riva
elvai, /cal Trapa^o^prja^v aXXcoy aXXo^9 /cal ra /JLGV
$ia\veerdat,, ra S* errvylvea-dai, ra [t,ev fieveiv h
11 TO) avrw, ra 8e /civGicrSai. rravra 8e
rrp&ra uev 8e&v t elra Kal
fiev rrapelvat, aXX?fXo9, roi/9 8'
rol$ f&ev a woven, %aipovra$, rol<t S*
12 /^FO9 p'rj a/)(6opevov^. o 8* avOp
<f>v(reir fi<ya\o<f>ptt)V clvat /cal Trdvr&v r&v arrpoat,-
per&v Kara$>povv)riKo<$ er^ /cd/ceivo ecr^/ce TO
evat, rf)
1 The clause, /$' ^/tcis TTOW aaro$Tiu,&fiev> which follows
here ia $ is deleted by Oidfather as a doublet of the pre-
ceding three words. It arose probably as a superfluous
attempt either to gloss or to emend.
186
BOOK III. xxiv. 6-12
deserve, to be more wretched than crows and ravens,
which can fly away wherever they please, and change
their nests, and cross the seas, without groaning or
longing for their first home. Yes, hut they feel that
way because they are irrational creatures. Has,
then, reason been given us by the gods for misfortune
and misery, so that we may spend our lives in
wretchedness and mourning? Or shall all men be
immortal., and no one leave home, but shall we stay
rooted in the ground like the plants ? And if any
one of our acquaintances leaves home, shall we sit
down and wail, and then again, if he comes back,
dance and clap our hands as the children do ?
Shall we not wean ourselves at last, and call to
mind what we have heard from the philosophers ?
if, indeed, we did not listen to them as to enchanters
when they said that this universe is but a single
state, and the substance out of which it has been
fashioned is single, and it needs must be that there
is a certain periodic change and a giving place of one
thing to another, and that some things must be
dissolved and others come into being, some things to
remain in the same place and others to be moved.
Further, that all things are full of friends, first gods,
and then also men, who by nature have been made
of one household with one another ; and that some
men must remain with each other, while others
must depart, and that though we must rejoice in
those who dwell with us, yet we must not grieve at
those who depart. And man, in addition to being
by nature high-minded and capable of despising all
the things that are outside the sphere of his moral
purpose, possesses also this further quality, that,
namely, of not being rooted nor growing in the
187
VOL. II.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
aXXor' 73"' tzXXoi/9 f (ecr8ai TOTTQV? irore p*\v
%pei&v TLV&V TTiyovao)p, Tore Be real avrrj^ TT}?
$e<x9 evetca.
13 Kat T<a> 'OSucrcret TO GVfiftav TOIOVTQV TI fjv*
TToXXcoz/ S' dv0pc*)7rc*)v iSev aarea /cal voov eyva*
/cal GTI irpocrdev r& f Hpa,K\,i TrepteKdelv TTJV
vftpiv re KOI
Kal rr)v fiev K/3d\\ovTa fcal rcaOalpovra, rrjv S*
14 avTGitrarfowra* fcalroi TTOCTOI/? OLGI <{>i\ov$
i?, TTOCTOU? ev *A6i]vai$ 9 TTOCTOU? Se T
eKTijcraro, 09 <ye fcal <ydfiei t OTTOV
ecfsdvr) avr&, fcal iiraiSoTroielro /cal rov$
air6\l7T6V l 0V (TTeiHDV OV&6 TToOtoV OV$* 0)9
15 opfyavovs a<^)f69; jfSet <ydp t on oue/9
avQ payjros op<pav6$ t aXXa Trdvr&v del /cal
16 #6)9 o irarrfp (niv o KIJ&OJJAVOS. ov <yap
\o<yov rjKfjicQGi,, on irctTijp GCTTIV 6 Zev$
dp0 pc^'Trcop, 09 ye /cal avrov Ttarepa coero avrbv
/cal e/raXet /cal jrpos exelvov d<f>op>v eirparrev a
TT paTTGv '. roijdproL 7ravTa%ov ej~r)v avrq) Stdyeiv
17 GvSatfwva)$. ovBeTTore S' ecrrli/ olov r* 6^9 TO
avrb ekOelv ev&aifwviav xal iroOov r&v ov Trapov-
TCOV* TO yap evSaijAovovv cnrkr^iv Set Trdvra a
1 Koraes : aweXwrey 8.
1 Homer, Odyssey, I. S.
s Homer, Odyssey, XVII. 4S7 (slightly modified).
* This is about the most drastic bit of idealisation of the
Heracles myths which the Sfcoica, for whom Heracles was a
kind o| Artkwiaa knight, eyer achieved. The comic poets
188
BOOK III. xxiv. 12-17
earth, but of moving now to one place and now to
another, at one time under the pressure of certain
needs., and at another merely for the sake of tlie
spectacle.
Now it was something of this sort which fell to the
lot of Odysseus :
Many the men whose towns he beheld, and he
learned of their temper. 1
And even before his time it was the fortune of
Heracles to traverse the entire inhabited world.
Seeing the wanton behaviour of men and the
lawful, 2
casting forth the one and clearing the world of it,
and introducing the other in its place. Yet how
many friends do you suppose he had in Thebes, in
Argos, in Athens, and how many new friends he
made on his rounds, seeing that he was even in the
habit of marrying when he saw fit, and begetting
children, and deserting his children, without either
groaning or yearning for them, or as though leaving
them to be orphans ? 3 It was because he knew that no
human being is an orphan, but all men have ever and
constantly the Father, who cares for them. Why, to
him it was no mere story which he had heard, that
Zeus is father of men, for he always thought of Him
as his own father, and called Him so, and in all that
he did he looked to Him. Wherefore he had the
power to live happily in every place. But it is
impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is
not present, should ever be united. For happiness
nattirally presented this aspect of Ms career in a somewhat
different light.
189
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
nv eot/cevat,* ov
18 Ttpocrelvai avra), ov \Lpov. * AXX* o 1 *QSvcrcrev$
TT/W rrjv fyvvalfca Kal K\aiev errl
a@e%6[jvo$. 2i> 8' e Quijp<& irdvra
real rot? p,v9oi<$ avrov ; rj el TOLLS
ri aX,\o rj eSvo-rv^ei ;
19 fcakos re Kal ayadb? Svcfrv^ei; TO> OVTL
BioitKelrat, ra o\a, el prj eTripsKelTCLL o Zeu? r&
eavrov iroXiTtov, r iv
aXXa ravra ov Ge/nira ov$* ocna
20 aXX' o *QBvcr<j6V<$, el pev eicKaev /cal eaSvpcro, OVK
q 1 n i / \'/)'9 e> "** '
r\v a<yauo$. TL$ yap ayauos ecrnv o OVK etc a)?,
09 ecnLv ; rt? S* olSev ravra eV^A-eX^cr/ieVo?,
QTI <fy8apra ra yevofieva /cal avdpooTrov ap6pd)7r(p
21 avvelvai ov Swarbv aei; rl ovv; r&v fj,rj Svva-
es, rf^dBiov, gevov 6eo-
olov re, rot9 Soypao-i rol$
eavrov.
22 'A\X* rj ptjTfjp pov arevet, fj,rj opaxrd fie. Ata
ri jap OVK ej&adev rovrovs TOU? \o<yov$ ; Kal ov
rovro <j>r)[u, on OVK eTT^X^Teoi/ rov p/r) olptofew
avrrfv, aXX' Srt> ov Set 6i\ew ra d\\orpia e
2S aTravros. XUTT^ S' ^ aXXou ctiJkorpLov e(rrLV t 77 8'
eyu^ e/ioi'. ey< oS^ TO p>ev efjibv irav&Q) ej~ arcav-
TO?, eir epol yap e<rrtv* TO S* a\\6rpiov rreipdcro-
fiat Kara Svpapiv, e^ airavro^ $* ov rceipaao-
24 ^a*. el Se ^,97,
6 added by Schenkl : a\\' dSva-ffevs S.
1 Homer, Odyssey, V. 82.
190
BOOK III. xxiv. 17-24
must already possess everything that it wants ; it must
resemble a replete person : he cannot feel thirst or
hunger. Still, Odysseus felt a longing for his wife,
and sat upon a rock and wept. 1 And do you take
Homer and his tales as authority for everything? If
Odysseus really wept 3 what else could he have been but
miserable ? But what good and excellent man is
miserable ? In all truth the universe is badly managed,
if Zeus does not take care of His own citizens,
that they be like Him, that is, happy. Nay,, it is
unlawful and unholy to think of such an alternative,
but if Odysseus wept and wailed, he was not a good
man. Why, what man could be good who does not
know who he is ? And who knows that, if he has
forgotten that the things which come into being are
corruptible, and that it is impossible for one human
being always to live with another? What then?
To reach out for the impossible is slavish and
foolish ; it is acting like a stranger in the universe,
one who is fighting against God with the only
weapons at his command, his own judgements*
But my mother mourns because she does not see
me. Yes, but why did she not learn the meaning of
these words of the philosophers ? And I am not
saying that you ought to take no pains to keep
her from lamenting, but only that a person ought
not to want at all costs what is not his own. Now
another's grief is no concern of mine, but my
own grief is. Therefore, I will put an end at
all costs to what is my own concern, for it is
under my control : and that which is another's
concern i will endeavour to check to the best of my
ability, but my effort to do so will not be made
at all costs. Otherwise I shall be fighting against
19*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Ata, avTL^LaTa^o(.iai avra 7rpo9 TO, oXa. real
TaTTL^eipa T7J9 8 eo p,a f )(la$ Tavrys teal
ov TratSe? TraiSav e/crLcrovo-iv, aXX' avros
jjLeO* rjfiepav, VVKTQS CLO, T&V evvTrvi&v ef
Tapacrcro/jievos, ?rp09 iracrav aTrayy
e^ 7ricrToXa>j/ a\~X,OTpia)v ^pnjfjiev'rjv e^cdv TTJV
25 epavTov aTrddeiav. 1 O-TTO c P60ft?79 TIS rjicet,. " /-co-
VOV fJLT) Tl KCLKOV" Tl KCLKOV Kel (TOl <TVJJ,/3rjV(U
Svvarat, OTTOV /j,r) el/ aTro 7779 'EXXaSo?. et /AOVOV
p>ri ri K.CLKQV" oura>9 aoi Tras TOTTO? Suz/arat
26 ovarv^ia^ zivai amo?. o^% l/cavov etcei ae arv-
yetjy, OTTOV CLVTOS el, <iA,X<z /tat Trepav 8cL\a<TO"r}$
Kal $ia <ypafj J p,aTQ)V ; OVT&S acrfftakays aoi TO,
27 Trpdypara e%e^ ; Tt oSy, az/ aTroddvacnv ol ercel
^jtXot; Tt ryap a^ aXXo ^ ol Bvyroi, airedavov ;
7) 7TC09 a^cta pew yrjpdcraL ^eXe*?, <x/ta Se jjurjSevo?
28 TW crTepyouevwv &?} ISeiv Bdvarov ; OVK olcrff,
tf > X A -VA\ N /-v>
OTA F TO) fJL&fCpQ 'XP OVC P TTOAAa /Cat TTOfc/CtAO- aTTO-
ftalvew avdyrcij) rov \LGV Trvperbv <yvk<r6at fcpelr-
29 Toz^a, roO Se X^crT^r, TOV Se rvpavvov ; roiovro
jap TO 7re/?te%of, roiavrov ol CTVVQVTGS,
/cavfiara Kal rpo<f>al aav^jj^Tpoi /cal o
KOL TrXou? /^al az/e/tot /cat TrepiffTacrGis
TOP p*ev CLTttoKecraV) TQV $ %a>pia~av, TOP
TFpecr^etai/, aXXoz/ S' et9 frrpareiav
SO Ka6f)O"o TOLVVV 7rpo9 Tfouvra TavTO,
V, eg aXXov
Scliweiglianaer : evirelBetajr 8.
1 The phrase in t|uotation marks is a verbal reminiscence
of Homer, Itei, XX. 308, - - . .
BOOK III. xxiv. 24-30
God, I shall be setting myself in opposition to
Zeus, I shall be arraying myself against Him in
regard to His administration of the universe. And
the wages of this fighting against God and this
disobedience will not be paid by "children's
children/' 1 but by me myself in my own person, by
day and by night, as I start up out of dreams and am
disturbed,, trembling at every message, with my own
peace of mind depending upon letters not my own.
Someone has arrived from Rome. If only there
is no bad news ! " But how can anything bad for
you happen in a place, if you are not there ? Some-
one arrives from Greece. If only there is no bad
news !" In this way for you every place can cause
misfortune. Isn't it enough for you to be miserable
where you are? Must you needs be miserable
even beyond the seas, and by letter ? Is this the
fashion in which all that concerns you is secure ?
Yes, but what if my friends over there die ? Why,
what else than that mortal men died ? Or how can
you wish to reach old age yourself, and at the same
time not behold the death of any that you love?
Do you not know that in the long course of time
many different things must needs happen ; fever
must overcome one man, a brigand another, a
tyrant a third ? Because such is the character of the
air about us, such that of our associates ; cold and
heat and unsuitable food, and journeys by land and
by sea, and winds and all manner of perils ; this
man they destroy, that man they drive into exile,
another they send on an embassy, and yet another
on a campaign. Sit down, therefore, and get all
wrought up at each one of these events, mourning^
unfortunate, miserable, depend on something other
1:93
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
teal rovrov ov% ez/o?, ov $veiv } aXXa pvpiav errl
31 Tavra rj/cove? rrapa rofc <^Xocro<o9, ravr
e/jidvdaves ; ov/c olcrd\ on crrpareia TO
lariv ; rov JJLGV SeZ (frvXdrrew, rov Se /t
TrrjcrovTa e^teva^ rbv Se KCU 7ro\fJ>r}(rovTa*
O\QV T elvat iravras ev TW avrq) o'
S2 crv S' a^el? e/creXeii/ ra Trpocrrdy/Jbara rov arparrj-
<yov eytcaXelSj orav TL aoi 7rpo<rTa')(0fj Tpa^vTepov,
/cat ov TrapaKoX.ovQels, olov aTrofyaiveis, ocrov eVl
<ro6, TO crrpdrevjjLa, ort av ere Trdvre? /x.t/t'^crcaj'Ta^,
ou rd(j)pov (r/cd-frei Tt9, ou %dpa/ca irepiftakei, ov/c
aypwrrvrjo-et, ov /avBvvevo-e^ d\Ka a^p^crro?
33 So^ crTpaTevecrQai. TrdXiv e// TrXo/w vavrr}$ av
7rX.?79, /.fc/a^ x&pav mre% Aral ravrrjv r jrpoo-\i-
7rdpi,* &V S' eVl TO^ iVrop avaffivai beg, /i^ ^eXe,
ai' i? T^ Trp&pav $ia&paplv 1 p/r) ^eXe. /tal rt?
avegerai crov KvfSepvijT'r}? ; ov%l 8' co? ar/cevo$
a'Xjyyj&rov e/e/SaXet, ouSep aXXo ^ fjL7ro&iov teal
34 KCLKOV Trapac'eLy/ia r&v aXXa>z> vawr&v ; OVTMS Se
teal v8do'' o-TpaTela rfe ecrriF o /9t09 etcdcnov
teal avTTj fjia/cpa KOI Troi/ctX^. rypelv ere $el TO
TOV aTparttorov /cat rov a-Tparrjyov 7rpo9 vevpa *
35 Trpda-creiv fca<jTa* el olov Te, pavTuofj,vov* a
0Xei* ov$ yap O/AOIOS exeivos 6 o-Tpar^yo^ /cat
OUT09 ovre /cara rrjv lo"%vv ovre /cara rrjv rov
38 ijdovs virepoxijv. rera^ai v TroXet yyefAovi, 3 fcal
OVK ev raTTewfj rivl X&P&, OVK 7rreio$ a-XX'
1 8cb.weighauser: ffrpaTtt/cTWtrpdffvevfia, KC&TOV
194
BOOK III. xxiv. 30-36
than yourself, and that not one thing or two, but
tens upon tens of thousands of things !
Is that what you used to hear when you sat at the
feet of the philosophers? Is that what you learned ?
Do you not know that the business of life is a
campaign ? One man must mount guard, another go
out on reconnaissance, and another out to fight. It is
not possible for all to stay in the same place, nor is it
better so. But you neglect to perform the duties
assigned you by your commanding officer, and com-
plain when some rather hard order is given you, and
fail to understand to what a state you are bringing
the army, as far as in you lies ; because, if they
all imitate you, no one will dig a trench, no one
construct a palisade, or watch through the night, or
risk his life in fighting, but they will seem useless
soldiers. Again, if you take ship as a sailor, take
up one place and stick to that ! and If you have to
climb the mast, be unwilling ; if you have to run to
the bow, be un willing 1 And what ship's captain
will put up with you ? Won't he throw you over-
board like a piece of junk, nothing but a nuisance,
and a bad example to the other sailors ? So also in
this world ; each man's life is a kind of campaign,
and a long and complicated one at that You have
to maintain the character of a soldier, and do each
separate act at the bidding of the General, if possible
divining what He wishes. For there is no com-
parison between this General and an ordinary one,
either in His power^ or in the pre-eminence of His
character. You have been given a post in an
imperial city, and not in some mean place ; not for a
8 0. Schenkl : Tiyepovlq 8.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
69 1 del jSovXevrtfs. OVK olo~8*, on rbv roiovrov
okiya pev Bel olKovopelv, TO, iroKka S'
ap^ovra f) dp^oftevov rj vrryperovvrd Tim
CTTparevo/jievov rj Sifcd^ovTa; elrd pot 0e
fyvrov TrpoariprricrOai ro?9 avTot^ TOTTOI? fcal
37 TTpoaepp^&o-Oai ; *HSu <ydp ICTTIV. T? ov
a\\a teal o>/-io9 ^8u9 eart, KOI
ri a\\o \eyovcnv ol
38 OVK aldOdvg, TIV&V avdptoTtc&v (frcovrjv a(j)fj/ca$ ;
on ^irLfcovpeio)D fcal Kiva&tov ; elra ra etcelv&v
epya Trpdacrcov real ra SojfJLara ej(G)v rov$ \6yov?
rj}uv \yet$ rovs Zujv&vo? /cal ^co/epdrov? ; OVK
39 WTroppityew ft>? fjuaKpordTco raXXorpta, ol? Koa-^fj
<roi TrpocrijKOVG-iv ; rf ri aXXo 8e\ovcriv
TI fca&evftew a7rapa7roSt<jTO)9 KOL dvavay-
/cal TO Trpo&coTrov diroTrKvvai, elra
/cal ava<yv<$vai a Oekova'iv, elra <j>\va-
pfjaai ri TTOT' erraivovfjievoi VTTO r&v $i\G*v, o n
av \ejdDcriVi elra et? irepircarov rrpo\6ovre<s Kal
o\iya rrepirrarrjcravre 1 ? \ovo~aadai,, elra (frayeiV)
elra KOifiTjO^vat, o f iav 2^ Koirrjv KaOev&eiv TOL?
CMOS ri av T49 \eyoi; el^ecrrw yap
40 "Aye, <j>epe ^i Kal crv rrjv cravrov
fyp 7ro9ei$, %7}\&ra rfy a^TjOeias /cal Sca/cparou?
/cal Atoyevov?. ri 6e\ei<$ ev
1 els added by Capps : %<% aXAaef S. The senators at
Athens, for example, served only one year.
196
BOOK III. xxiv. 36-40
short time either,, but you are a senator for life. Do
you not know that a man in such a post has to give
only a little attention to the affairs of his own
household, but for most of the time has to be away,
in command, or under command, or serving some
official, or in the field, or on the judge's bench ? And
then you want to be attached to the same spot and
rooted in it like a plant ? Yes,, it is pleasant. Why
deny it? But soup is pleasant too, and a pretty
woman is a pleasant thing. What else do those say
who make pleasure their end?
Do you not realize the kind of men they are
whose language you have just uttered ? That they
are Epicureans and blackguards? And yet, while
doing their deeds and holding their opinions, you
recite to us the words of Zeno and Socrates ? Will
you not cast away from you, as far as you can fling
them, these alien trappings with which you adorn
yourself, although they do not at all become you ?
Or what else do these fellows want but to sleep
without hindrance or compulsion, and after they
have arisen, to yawn at their ease, and wash their
faces; then to write and read what they please,
then to babble something or other, to the applause
of their friends, no matter what they say ; then to go
out for a stroll, and after a short walk to take a bath ;
then to eat, then to seek their rest, and sleep in such
a bed as you might expect such persons to enjoy
why should I say the word ? For you can infer what
it is like.
Come now, do you also tell me your style of life,
the one on which you have set your heart, you eager
follower of the truth, and of Socrates, and of Diogenes !
What do you want to do in Athens ? Just what I
197
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
41 ravraavrd ; /AIJ ri ere pa; ri ovv^rcoifcov cravrbv
elvai \eyi$ ; elra ol pev -ri?? 'PcDjAaicov 7ro\trda<$
KaTcufyev&QfjLGvot, tco\d%ovrai iTi/cpc*)?, rou? 8'
ovTa>$ /jiyd\ov Kal crepvov fcara^evoofievov^
TT pay {Marcs teal ovd/j,aro$ ddu>ov$ airalO^drrecrOai,
42 SeZ; ^ rovro ye ov bwarov, cMC o z>o/to? 0elo<$
Kal lor^vpo^ fcal ava7roSpa<TTo$ o5ro? icniv o ra$
peyicrTas elairpacraofJievo^ KO\dcret,<$ irapa T&V ra
43 fAeyicrra a^apravovro^v ; ri yap \eyei ; " o
7rpo<T7roioviLi,VO<? ra pvjSev TT/JO? avrov ICTTCD
e<rra> Kevb$o%o<$* o airziQ&v rfj Oslq
wos, ecrrca Sov\o$, \v7reiada),
, TO tczfyakaiov Trdvrwv, Bvarv-
44 Ti ovv ; BeKei? /j rov Sewa
67rl dvpas 1 avrov TropevecrOat ; El rovro alpel
\6<yo$, vTrep rfjs irarpLSos, virep r&v o~vyyva>v,
vrrep avO ptoTrwv, Sea ri p/rj d7re\6y?; aXX* ejrl
pev ra$ rov cr/cureft)? OVK al<r%vvr} TTOpev6pvo$,
orav Serf vTroSq/jidriuv, ouS' 7rl ra? rov /crjTrovpov,
orav ffitSpdfcayv, lirl Se ra? r>v rrkovorlcov, orav
45 rwo$ 6/Moiov Bey; Nar rov axvrea yap ov
Oavpd^G*. M.rjSe rov TiKovaiov. OuSe rov
KTjTrovpov fco'^afcevcTG). Mrjoe rov 7r\ovcnov.
46 nft)? ofiv rv^cd ov Stolen,; *&ya) Se o~oi \eyo)
Sri "d>? T61/|o/>tj/09 a7T/3%OV ** / OU%1 JJLOVOV,
47 iva Trpdggs rb aavrp irpiirov ; Ti ovv erf,
Tropevofiat, ; - r lv*
1 Wolf : expats
1 Because it w&$ % disturbing passion wMch interfered
with, serenity,
BOOK III. xxiv. 41-47
have described? Nothing at all different? Why,
then, do you call yourself a Stoic ? Well 3 but those
who falsely claim Roman citizenship are severely
punished, and ought those who falsely claim so
great and so dignified a calling and title to get off
scot-free? Or is that impossible? whereas the
divine and mighty and inescapable law is the law
which exacts the greatest penalties from those who
are guilty of the greatest offences. Now what are
its terms ? tf Let him who makes pretence to things
which in no wise concern him be a braggart, let him
be a vainglorious man; let him who disobeys the
divine governance be abject, be a slave, suffer grief,
envy, pity, 1 in a word, be miserable, and lament."
Well, what then ? Do you want me to pay court
to So-and-so ? go to his front-door ? 2 If reason so
decides, for the sake of your country, your kinsmen,
mankind in general, why not go? Why, you are
not ashamed to go to the door of the cobbler when
you need shoes, nor to that of the market-gardener
when you need lettuce ; and are you ashamed to go
to the door of the rich when you want something that
rich men have ? Very true, for as to the cobbler, I do
not have to admire him. Don't admire the rich man,
either. And I shall not have to flatter the market-
gardener. Don't flatter the rich man either. How,
then, shall I get what I need? Am I telling you, "Go
like a man who is certain to get what he wants/' and
not simply, " Go in order to do what becomes you '* ?
Why, then, do I go at all ? So as to have gome, so
as to have performed the function of the citizen that
2 The transition is most abrupt, but obviously the inter-
locutor has "been expected by his friends to pay court to
some rich and influential man.
199
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ra TOV 7ro\irov epya> ra dSeXfyov, ra $i\ov.
43 Kal \OL7TOV /^jjiV7JO'0 ) OTi 7TpO$ 0~KVT6a dffi^ai,
Trpo? \a%avo7r&)\'rjv, ov$evb<? fiyd\ov ^ crepvov
e*xpVTa TTJV ^ovaLaVy tcav avro TTO\\OV ircoXfj.
&>9 eVl ra9 6i&pafca$ - 1 aTrepyrj* 6/3o\ov yap elcnv,
49 ToKavrov 8* OVK elcrlv. QVTO)<? fcdvravda. TOV
ITTL 6vpa$ eh-Oelv alfiov TO Trpaypa* ecrTco, d<f)i%o-
fiai* TOV ia\e'Xj9fjvai OVTW ecrrct),
cro/jicu. d\\a Kal TTJV j^elpa Set
teal OcoTrevcrat, St' eTratVou. a-Tra^e, Ta\dvTOv
Go-Tiit* ov \vcrcTe\e2 pot, ov$e TTJ trdXei ovSe roZ?
(J>L\QI,<; aTrokeacu, xal TroXiTT/z/ dya9bv Kal <j>l\ov.
50 'AXXa fio^*5 p,ri TrpOTedv/^Tjo-Oai fiT) avvaa?.
iraktv 7re\ddov, T'IVO$ everta \tf\v0a$ ; OVK
olcrQ\ OTL avrjp Koko? /ecu dyaOo<; ov&ev
TOV B6j*ai Vfca, d\\a TOV Treirpa
51 Ti ovv 0^)6X09 avTa> TOV Trpa^ai /ca\a)$ ; Tt S'
o<j>\o$ T& ypd<povrt> TO Ataj/o9 oVoyu-a, co? Xpr)
ypdcf>iv ; avrb TO ypdijrai. V ^nra9\ov ovv ovSev ;
Su Se fjjreZ? eiradXop dvSpl dyaQq* /tetfoi/ TOV
52 TO, KaKa teal iicaia irpaTTeiv ; ev J O\v/jLTrLa S'
o^Sel? aXXo ovSev, aXX' dpieelv aoi Bo/cel TO
lo-Te^avGHrflcu 3 Q\v/j,7na. oi/Tca? aoi fju/cpbv
/ecu ovo*evb$ a^iov elvai <j>atv6TCU TO elvai, Ka\bu
KCU dyaObv /cal ev&ai/jLova ; 7rpo9 TavTa VTTO
53 6eG)v 6? TTJV Tr6\iv TavTrjv elcrr)yjuivo<$ /cal r}Sy
1 Schenkl: 0pSaiea* 8.
* Wolf, after Schegk :
1 i.e, tlie world.
200
BOOK III. xxiv. 47-53
you are, of a brother, of a friend. And furthermore,
remember that you have come to see a cobbler, a
vegetable-dealer, a man who has authority over
nothing great or important, even if he sell it for a
high price. You are going, as it were, for heads of
lettuce; they are worth an obol, not a talent.
So it is In our life also. The matter in hand
is worth going to a person's door about; very
well, I will go. It is also worth an interview ; very
well, I will interview him about it. Yes, but I will
have to kiss his hand also, and flatter him with
words of praise. Go to ! that is pajdng a talent for
a head of lettuce ! It is not profitable to me, nor to
the State, nor to my friends, to ruin by so acting a
good citizen and friend.
Yes, but if you fail, people will think that you
didn't try hard. Have you gone and forgotten
again why you went? Don't you know that a
good and excellent man does nothing for the sake of
appearances, but only for the sake of having acted
right ? What good does he get, then, from acting
right? And what good does the person get for
writing the name " Dio " as it ought to be written ?
The mere fact of writing it that way. Is there,
then, no further reward ? And are you looking for
some further reward in the case of a good man, a
reward which is greater than the doing of what is fine
and right? At Olympia nobody wants anything
else, but you feel content with having received an
Olympic crown. Does it seem to you so small and
worthless a thing to be good, and excellent, and
happy ? Therefore, when you have been introduced
into this city-state l by the gads, and find it now
your duty to lay hand to the work of a man, do you
201
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fcal pdpp.rjv teal fcdpTrrei ere Aral airo->
tckaiovra yvvaia pcopd ; ouT6>9 ovSeirore
Travcrei, waiSiov &v vrjmov ; ov/c ola9\ on o ra
TTOI&V $0~<p Trpecr/SvTepos Toaovrq)
54 'Ep 'A.0rjvat,$ S' ov$va ecapa? eh oltcov avrov
<f>oiT&v ; *Ov e'/Soi/Xo/wyz/. Kat evOdSe rovrov
8e\e opav teal ov /3ov\i o^f povov jj,rj raTreivco?,
fJLr) /AST* Op^fi>5 T! KK\icrG)$ Kol eCTTCU TO- (TO-
55 fca\a>$. TOVTO 8' OUAT ev r^ l\0ew <7rlv ouS'
56 Soy/jL&criv. orav TO, e^rro? ^al awpoaipera qri-
/ia/cca? ^9 /cal {lybev avrcov crov 7)<yr)jjuevo<$ t p,ova
S' efceiva era, TO tcplvat, AraX-w?, TO vTro^aftelv, TO
opfMYiaai, TO ope%drivai,, TO KK\lvai 9 TTOV Ti
/co\aiceia<> TOTTO?, TTOU TaTrewo^pocrvvr]? ; ri UTI
57 7ro^?9 T^J; r)av%iav TTJP IKGI, TL TOV? <rvvi]det,$
roTrot;? ; e/cBe^at, /3pa%v /col TOVTOV? irdkiv e^t9
<rwy0ts. elTa av oi/Ta)9 ayGvv&
ical TOVT&V aTraXXaTTO^ei'09 icKale /cal
alpel^ 6 \6yos ra-
ovSe Karafc\da0ac ouS* cf a\\ov
ovSe aepiraaOai TTOTG
59 TTOJ/.
el Se Sf<i T^V (fxXoaropyiav
wore /cal /ca\i<s <^iko<Tropylav t So{)Xo9
1 Salmasins suggests CT* jra^Fs* a Upton :
n's ".eqdeat" : ra9r- r
202
BOOK III. xxiv. 53-59
yearn for nurses and the breast, and does the weep-
ing of poor silly women move you and make you
effeminate ? And so will you never get over being
an infant? Don't you know that, when a person
acts like a child, the older he is the more ridiculous
he is?
In Athens did you see nobody when you went to
his house ? Yes, the man I wanted to see. Here also
make up your mind to see this man, and you will
see the man. you want ; only do not go humbly, not
with desire or aversion, and all will be well with
you. But this result is not to be found by mere
going, nor by standing at gates, but in one's
judgements within. When you have contemned
things external and outside the province of your
moral purpose, and have come to regard none of
them as your own 3 but only the being right in
judgement, in thinking, in choosing, in desiring,
in avoiding, where is there any longer room for
flattery, where for an abject spirit ? Why any
longer yearn for the quiet you enjoyed there, or
your familiar haunts ? Wait a little while and you
will find the places here familiar in their turn. And
then, if you are so ignoble in spirit^ weep and wail
again when you leave these too !
How, then_, shall I become affectionate? As a
man of noble spirit, as one who is fortunate; for
it is against all reason, to be abject, or broken in
spirit, or to depend on something other than your-
self, or even to blame either God or man. I would
have you become affectionate HX such a way as to
maintain at the same time all these rules ; if, how-
ever, by virtue of this natural affection, whatever it
is you call by that name, you are going to be a
203
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/tieXXe9 elvai, teal a$Xto9, ov \vo-Lre\el <f>t\6-
60 crropyov elvai* teal vi K0)\vei <f*i\eiv riva o>9
6vr\TQV t o>9 a7roB7]/jL7)TiKov ; rf Sea/epa-n?? OVK
e<f)i\i TOJ/9 iraiBas TOU9 eavrov ; aXX
Qepos, ft>9 p,ep*vr)p,ivo$, ori irp&Tov Set
61 <f>i\ov. Sta rovro ovSev Trape/S^ T&V 7rp67roi/Tcoi/
avSpl ayada> oi/r' a7ro\o<yovjj,vo$ ov0* VTTOTI-
fLMpevos OUT* Ti Trpoadev /3ov\ev(iov ?] (TTpa-reuo-
62 fj,evo?. r)/jii$ Se Trdcnrjs 7rpo<f)dcr6(t)<s irpbs TO
ayevvefe elvai eviropovpev, ol jj,ev Sta TraiSa,
63 ol Be Sia jArjrepa, a\\ot> Be Si aBe\<f>ov$. &i
ovBeva Be Trpotrtffcei ^V(rrv)(elv, a\\a evrv%eiv
Bta Travras, /iaXtcrra Be Bta rov Qeov rov enl
64 rovTO 97/xa? KaraaKevdcravra. aye, ktoyevrj? 8'
OVK efyiket, ovBeva, 09 QVTO)$ rjp,epo$ f^v KCLI
Sj cS(7T V7T6p TOV KOIVOV T$>V avQpCti-
teal *rakanra>pia<$ rov
acrfj,evo$ ava&iyecrQ ai ; aXV e^tXet
65 7TG)9 ; ft9 TOI) A^09 SKLKOVOV eBei) a pa p,ev icr)B6-
/tei>09, ci/jia S' a>9 T #e&> viroTeraypevo^. Bia
66 roOro Traaa yrj irarpl^ rjv eiceivw fiovcp,
B' ovBe/jila' /cal aXou9 ov/c eirodei ra9
ovBe TOU9 /cet (rvvrfdet,? icai <(Xou9, aXX*
Treiparals o-vvTjdqs eyivero /cal eiravopBovv
teal irpaBel^ varepov ev
6V 'A^T^iU? >
axravTd)?
204
BOOK III. xxiv. 59-66
slave and miserable, it does not profit you to be
affectionate. And what keeps you from loving a
person as one subject to death, as one who may leave
you ? Did not Socrates love his own children ? But
in a free spirit, as one who remembers that it was his
first duty to be a friend to the gods. That is why
he succeeded in everything that becomes a good
man., both in making his defence,, and in assessing
his own penalty, and before that time in his services
as senator or soldier. But we abound in all manner
of excuses for being ignoble ; with some it is a
child, with others a mother, and then again it is
brothers. But it is not becoming for us to be un-
happy on any person's account, but to be happy
because of all, and above all others because of God,
who has made us for this end. Come, was there
anybody that Diogenes did not love, a man who was
so gentle and kind-hearted that he gladly took upon
himself all those troubles and physical hardships for
the sake of the common weal ? But what was the
manner of his loving ? As became a servant of Zeus,
caring for men indeed, but at the same time subject
unto God. That is why for him alone the whole
world, and no special place, was his fatherland;
and when he had been taken prisoner he did not
hanker for Athens nor his acquaintances and friends
there, but he got on good terms with the pirates
and tried l to reform them. And later, when he was
sold into slavery at Corinth he kept on living there
just as he had formerly lived at Athens ; yes, and
if he had gone off to the Perrliaebians he would
have acted in quite the same way. That is how
1 The humorous touch here in tlie word-jingle n-eipardts
and ITTS/^STO is worthy of note r but hard to reproduce. Far
the incident in question see IV. 1, 115 f.
205
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
67 ovrcos eKevOepLa, yiverai. Sta rovro e^eyev on
ee % ov p *A.vna~6evr]<$ rj\ev6ep(ticrev, ovicen eSov-
68 Xeucra." TTW? rjKevdepo&o'ev ; d/coue, T/Xeyei* "e6Y-
Sa%ev fjie ra efia /cal ra ov/c e/id. ATT^CTZ? ov/c efitf*
crvyyevew, ol/cetoi, $l\QL, <^?;^, c-vvr}6ei$ TOTTOI,
69 Siarpiftij, irav^ct ravra on a\\6rpi,a. e crov ovv
<f)avTacri,a)v f 9 ravT^v e$ei%iv /tot on,
70 0\03. Tt9 ovv en
r) J A\e%avB'po$ f) TlepSitcKas rj 6 /^eya? /3acri,\ev$ ;
TroOev aviols ; TOP jap VTT avOpwTrov peXXovra
rfTTa<T0at, TTO\V wpOTepov VTTO r&v Trpay/jidrcw
71 Set yrraGOai" OVTIVOS ovv ov^ rj&ovrj /cpeirra>v
GG-TIV, ov TTOVO<>, ov S6^<x, ov 7r\ovTO$, Svvarai 8',
orav avTto So^rj, TO crco/Adnov o\ov TrpoaTrrvcras
nvl aTrekdsiv, rlvo? en ovro$ SouXo? eo-nv, nvi
72 vTroTeraKTCu ; el &' ^Sea>9 ev 'AOrjvaw Strj'yev teal
rfTnqTo ravr^ T^9 Siarp^?}?, ITT! iravrl av r)V
ra e/ceivov Trpdj/j^ara, 6 la^vporepo^ fcvpio? av
7S rfv \V7rrio-at, avrov. TTCOS av So/cet? rou? Treiparas
Ko\dfceuev i Iv* avTov ' A.6i)vaL(ov nvl 7ra>X?Jcra)a7;z>,
IV tS?7 7TOT6 rov Heipata rov /ca\ov /cal ra pa/cpa
74 rei^Tf Kal rrjv d/cpo7ro\t,v ; r/9 &v ?%<?, av$pd~
75 iroBov ; SouXos real raTreivos* KO\ ri <TQI o<peXo9 ;
ekev6epo<$. ketgov, TTCO? e\ev9epo<$.
1 His teacher, the famous philosopher.
* Of Peraia,
* JPethajos a reference to the story that AnaxarcTius, when
Nicocireon ordered that his tongtie be cut out, Wt it off and
spat it in the other's face. Diogenes Laertius, 9, 59.
206
BOOK III. xxiv. 66-75
freedom is achieved. That is why he used to say,
"From the time that Antisthenes 1 set me free, I
have ceased to be a slave." How did Antisthenes
set him free ? Listen to what Diogenes says. " He
taught me what was mine, and what was not mine.
Property is not mine; kinsmen, members of my
household, friends, reputation, familiar places,
converse with men all these are not my own.
e What, then, is yours ? Power to deal with external
impressions/ He showed me that I possess this
beyond all hindrance and constraint; no one can
hamper me ; no one can force me to deal with them
otherwise than as I will. Who, then, has authority
over me? Philip, or Alexander, or Perdiccas, or
the Great King? 2 Where can .they get it? For
the man who is destined to be overpowered by a
man must long before that have been overpowered by
things." Therefore, the man over whom pleasure
has no power, nor evil, nor fame, nor wealth, and
who, whenever it seems good to him, can spit his
whole paltry body into some oppressor's face 3 and
depart from this life whose slave can he any longer
be, whose subject? But if he had gone on living
pleasantly in Athens, and had been enamoured of his
life there, his fortune would have been in every man's
control, and the man who was stronger than he
would have had power to cause him grief. How
do you imagine he would have wheedled the pirates
to sell him to some Athenian, so that he might some
time see the beautiful Piraeus, and the Long Walls
and the Acropolis I Who are you that you should
see them, slave? A thrall and a person of abject
spirit ; and what good are they to you ? No, not a
slave, but a free man. Show me how you are free.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ISov 7rei\r)7TTai crov ri$ TTOTG OVTOS, o egdyav <re
diro rrjs crvvrj@ov$ aoi Siarpi/Srjs teal \eyet
" 8oi5Xo9 e/,609 el* GTT epol yap <JTL K(t)\v(raL ere
Bidyetv o>9 Oekecs, eV epol TO avelvai ae, TO
Tcnreivovv orav Qekto, ird\iv ev^paivrj KOI
76 peTecopos Tropevr) 69 *A^^z/a9." TL \eyt$
TOVTOV TOV $ov\a<ya><yovvTd <re ; irolov
KapTTLCTTriv $i$G)$ ; r) ov$* o\a>9 aim^XeVei?
77 a<^e9 rou? 7roX\ov<> \6yov<$ IfeeTeveiSj r iva a<f)df
e, et? (frvXafciyv <re Bel j(aipovTa airizv
6dvovTa rou9 aTrdyovTa?. elra
<rv p,lv ev f Pci/x7; Sidyt,v oKmls, Trjv
orai/ &' dTro6vri<TKiv Se^, Aral Tore
OTL r<z9 'AQyva? ov
/cat eV
78 * E-Trl TOUTO a7reS^?70"a9 ; TOVTOV
ad$ Tivt, crv^a\ / lv ) f iv d><j)\'r}6'r}<}
Troiav (w^eXe^aF ; <rv\\oyicrfjiOiJ$ IV a
T] (f>O$V(T'r]$ VTTodeTlKOV? ; KOI
al-riav
$r ol/ceiovs, Iva ravra paOo&v e
79 <W<TT' ou% v?rep eu<rra^ta9 dTreStf/JLet?, ov-%
SO T(9; /ea\7jv eVTe&Xc^ TavTrjv TTJV efiiropiav,
KCU,
BOOK III. xxiv. 75-80
See,, some person or other has laid hands on you
the man who takes you away from your accustomed
way of life, and says, Cf You are my slave ; for it is
in my power to prevent you from living as you will,
it is in my power to lighten your servitude, or to
humble you; whenever I wish, you can be happy
again, and go off to Athens in high spirits." What
do you say to this man who makes you his
slave ? Whom have you to offer him as your
emancipator ? Or do you not even look him in the
face at all, but cutting all argument short do you
implore him to set you free ? Man, you ought to
go gladly to prison, in haste, outstripping those
who lead you away. And then, I do beseech you,
are you loath to live in Rome, and do you yearn
for Greece ? And when you have to die, then also,
I suppose, will you weep all over us, because you are
never going to see Athens again or stroll in the
Lyceum ?
Was that what you went abroad for ? Was it for this
that you sought to meet someone that he might do
you good ? Good indeed 1 That you might analyse
syllogisms more readily, or run down hypothetical
arguments ? It was for this reason, was it, you left
brother, country, friends, and those of your own
household so as to return with ^wkind of learning?
And so you did not go abroad to acquire constancy
of character, or peace of mind; not to become secure
yourself and thenceforward blame and find fault
with no man ; not to make it impossible for another
to do you wrong, and so maintain without hindrance
your relations in society ? A fine exchange of goods
this which you have achieved, syllogisms, and argu-
ments with equivocal and hypothetical premisses!
209
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
rtKOV<$' KCLV a 01 <j>avfj, v rfj ayopa Ka9l<ra$
81 Trpoypatyov <9 ol <f>ap{JiafcoirG)\at,* OVK apvycrrj
Kal oaa efiades el$Gvai } r (va fir) Siaf3d\rj$ ra
de&ptf/Aara ft>9 a^prjcna ; rl GOI KCLKOV eTrolrjaev
<j)i\ocro(f)ia ; ri ere ffiiKycre XyoiJcrjTr'Tro?, 2V avrov
TOU? TTOVOVS pj&) at TO ? a^pjjo'Tov^ ^eXe^^? ;
OVK rjpicei, (rot ra 6/cel tca/cd, ocra el%? alna rov
\wnela-0ai real Trevdelv, el KOL py a-TreS^^o-a?, -
82 aXXa TrXeta) TrpocreXajSe? ; KO,V aXXou? ird\i,v
e%?79 crvvrjdet,? KOI <f>i\ov$, e'fej9 irKeLova rov
curia, fcav 7r/)09 a\\rjv ^copav Trpocr-
ri ovv tfis ; u>a \vira^ aXXa? eV aXXai?
83 TrepiftaKr), SL a? ari%el$ ; elrd fjboi icaKels rovro
(frihoGropyiav ; irolav, av6pG)7re, (piXocrropyiav ;
*el ayadov earns, ov$evb$ /eafcov alriov yiverai- el
ica/cov ecrriv, ov$ev j&oi Kal avrfj. ya> ?r/)09 ra
Ba ra e/rnvrov ire<f>vfca, TTpo? /cafca ov ire-
84 Ti? ovv y vr/>09 rovro-acricrjcn^ ; Trp&rov /j,ev q
av&rdro) Kal KVpiardri] Kal v8v<? &<rrrep ev
$j orav nvl rrpoffrraa''^?, co^ 1 ovSevl TWP
tpertov, aXXa rivi roiovrip yevei, olov eari
%vrpa y olov vakwov Trortjptov, f iv orav fcarayfj,
85 fj,/j.V7jijLVO$ pJr) rapaj(6r)<;. ot/rea? Kal ev6dS\ eav
travrov Karafyikfo, eav aSeXx^oi', eav
qSewore e7rtS9 rrjv <f>avrao~iav eh arrav
rrjv $id')(va"LV aar)$ TrpoeXffelv e<f>* oaov avrrj
olov o
210
BOOK III. xxiv. 80-85
Yes, and if you see fit, seat yourself in the market-
place, and hang out a sign, as the drug-peddlers do.
Ought you not rather to deny that you know even all
you have learned, so as not to bring your philosophical
precepts into ill repute as being useless ? What harm
has philosophy done you? How has Chrysippus
wronged you that you should prove by your own
conduct his labours to be useless? Were not the
ills at home enough for you, all that you had to
cause you grief and sorrow, even if you had not
gone abroad, but did you add yet others in addition
to them? And if you get other intimates and
friends again, you will have more reasons for lamen-
tation, yes, and if you get attached to another land.
Why, then, live ? Is it to involve yourself in one
grief after another that makes you miserable?
And then, I ask you, do you call this natural
affection? Natural affection forsoothy man ! If it
is good, it is the source of no evil ; if it is evil, I
have nothing to do with it. I am born for tlie
things that are good and belong to me, not for
things evil.
What, then, is the proper discipline for this ? In the
first place, the highest and principal discipline, and one
that stands at the very gates of the subject, is this :
Whenever you grow attached to something, do not act
as though it were one of those things that cannot be
taken away, but as though it were something like a
jar or a crystal goblet, so that when it breaks you
will remember what it was like, and not be troubled.
So too in life ; if you kiss your child, your brother,
your friend, never allow your fancy free rein, nor
your exuberant spirits to go as far as they like, but
hold them back^ stop them, just like those who
21 1
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
dpiafJLJ3VOV<TW e<e0-T&>T9 OTtlCrOeV KOl
86 (T/covres, on dvOpcoTroi el&iv. roiovrov n /cal
(TV VTTOfjiijjLvyo'Ke treavrov, on Ovyrov ^iXefc,
ovoev r&v oreavrov (^Xefc* lirl rov rrapovros dot,
i, OVK avafyalpzrov ouS' els ctTrcw,
crv/cov, a>9 crrav, T reray/Mevg pa rov
87 av ^e %et/(.coz>o9 lirvTrodrj^^ [A&pos el, ovro)9 fcav
rov vlbv rf rov $iKou rore Trodfa, ore ov MBorai
croi, laOi, on xeifLtovos <rv/cov emrrodel^. olov
yap Icrn %ei/jLG)v 7r/)09 CTVKOV, roiovrov <rn rraaa
fj arro roov 0X0)1* 7repiara(ri$ rrpos ra tear avrrp
avatpovpeva,
88 Kal \OLITOV ev aurofc ol9 %atpet9 rivi, ra$
evavrias <fravTa<ria$ (ravrq> Trpo^aXe. 1 ri tea-
KOV ecrri tieral-v /caratpiKovvra rb rra&lov
\eyew ce avpiov
" avpiov
89 eyo> teal oufcen o^ofjLed
Sucrc^/ia <rn ravra. Kal jap r&v
eviai,, aXX* on tofyekovaw, ov/c emcr
povov ft><eXe//n0. av 8e SiKTip^fia icakew aXXa
ra /cafcov nvb$ cnj/jMvn/cd ; SVO-^TJ/JLOV Ian
90 ftva'cfrrt/jLov ayivveia* Trivdos, \V7rrj,
ravra, ra, ovopara Sva-^yftd <rnv. Kairoi ye
ovSe ravra o/cvelv Set <f>dy f yeo'dai vrclp <}>v\atc7]$
1 Schenkl :
1 Among the means of warding off the evil eye from the
trmmfphator was this, th&t a slave rode behind him in his
triumphal cai^ and in the midst of the acclamations of the
212
BOOK III. xxiv. 85-90
stand behind generals when they ride in triumph,
and keep reminding them that they are mortal. 1 In
such fashion do you too remind yourself that the
object of your love is mortal ; it is not one of your
own possessions; it has been given you for the
present^ not inseparably nor for ever, but like a fig,
or a cluster of grapes, at a fixed season of the year,
and that if you hanker for it in the winter, you are
a fool. If in this way you long for your son, or your
friend, at a time when he is not given to you, rest
assured that you are hankering for a fig in winter-
time. For as winter-time is to a fig, so is every state
of affairs, which arises out of the universe, in rela-
tion to the things which are destroyed in accordance
with that same state of affairs.
Furthermore, at the very moment when you are
taking delight in something, call to mind the
opposite impressions. What harm is there if you
whisper to yourself, at the very moment you are
kissing your child, and say, "To-morrow you
will die " ? So likewise to your friend, e( To-morrow
you will go abroad, or I shall, and we shall never see
each other again " ? Nay, but these are words of
bad omen. Yes, and so are certain incantations,
but because they do good, I do not care about that,
only let the incantation do us good. But do you
call any things ill-omened except those which
signify some evil for us ? Cowardice is ill-omened,
a mean spirit, grief, sorrow, shainelessness ; these
are words of ill-omen. And yet we ought not to
hesitate to utter even these words, in, order to guard
people kept saying : " Look behind you, and remember that
you are a mortal." For the evidence and literature, see
J. Marqaardfc : Momisohe StaMs'verwcdtung, IL 568-9.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
91 T&V 7rpa<y/j,dTCi)v. Stxr^fiov Se /lot Xeyei9
(fivaiKov TWOS TrpdypaTOS arifjLavTL
BVG'^/MOV elvai Kal TO depicrOrivai TOV<$
aTT(i>\eiav jap cnqpalvei TCOV <TTa%
ov^l TOV fcoajjiov. Xeye Bvcrc^rj^ov Kal TO (f>v\~
\oppoelv KOI TO l<r%dSa yivecrOat avrl av/cov real
92 acTTa<j)l$a<; e/c crra<f) ^X^?. Travra jap ravra r&v
irporepcov eicrlv 6^9 erepa jjLera/3o\ai* OVK dTrco-
93 TOUT' ecrm> aTroS^/ita, ^eTa/^oA,^ 1 /Mifcpd* TOVTO
BdvaroSy p,TajSo\r) peifav e/c TOV vvv 6Vro9 OVK 2
94 et9 TO firj 6V, aXX' efe TO i/uy /JLTJ 6V. QvfceTi ovv
ecrofiai ; OVK <rL m d\\ } a\\o TL ov vvv 6
/C007409 Xpetav e^et. /cal jap av ejevov 01)% ore
av yOekrjo-as, aXV OT6 o /coV/
95 Ata TOI)TO o /coXo9 /^ai dyadbs
T o*Tt /ca Troev \rfX,vev Ka VTTO TLVO<$
TTpO? /JLOVtp TOUTCO CTTt, 7Ta>9 TI/ OVTOV
96 "
s, &>9 o"u fjOekrjcras' crv jdp JJLG CLKCD-
97 \VTOV eir.oifjcras ev TO?? e/toi9. aXX' QVKGTI fiov
i9 ; /taXo)9 crot jevoiTO* Kal p^^pt vvv
are epevov, 6Y a\\ov ov&eva, Kal vvv vot, TTCI-
1 fcaf before tMs word was deleted "by Upton.
2 d//c added by Sb, a correction supported by the para-
phrase of this passage in Marcns Anrelius, 11, 35,
3 Reiske : /t' elvcu S~
1 This seems to me to be the most probable meaning of a
vexed passage. If any change is needed, which I doubt
(for &AA.OS with the simple genitive is abundantly attested,
at least in other authors), I should prefer to read &AAa n ^
214
BOOK III. xxiv. 90-97
against the things themselves. Do you tell me
that any word is ill-omened which signifies some
process of nature ? Say that also the harvesting of
ears of grain is ill-omened, for it signifies the
destruction of the ears; but not of the universe.
Say that also for leaves to fall is ill-omened, and
for the fresh fig to turn into a dried %, and a
cluster of grapes to turn into raisins. For all these
things are changes of a preliminary state into
something else ; it is not a case of destruction, but
a certain ordered dispensation and management.
This is what going abroad means, a slight change ;
this is the meaning of death, a greater change of that
which now is, not into what is not., but into what is
not wow. Shall I, then, be no more? No, you
will not be, but something else will be, something
different from that of which the universe now has
need. 1 And this is but reasonable, for you came
into being, not when you wanted, but when the
universe had need of you.
For this reason the good and excellent man,
bearing in mind who he is, and whence he has
come, and by whom he was created, centres his
attention on this and this only, how he may fill his
place in an orderly fashion, and with due obedience
to God. Is it Thy will that I should still remain ?
I will remain as a free man, as a noble man, as Thou
didst wish it; for Thou hast made me free from
hindrance in what was mine own. And now hast
Thou no further need of me ? Be it well with Thee.
I have t>een waiting here until now because of Thee
and of none other, and now I obey Thee and depart.* *
oi>. rather than to eliange owe into ofl, delete or transpose it,
or take vvv in^the sense .of r&re.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
98 6op,VQ<> <z7rep%o/x<2." " 71*009
*
o>9 r}<T0r}iJ,vo$ crov T&V Trpocrray/jLarcov fcal airayo-
99 pevjubdrcdv. pe^pi S* ay 05 Starpi^oD eV 70^9 0-0^9, wa
^te 0\ei$ elvai ; dp^ovra 77 tSiCt)T7?y, fiovXGwrrjv rj
paTitoTyv rj arpaT^yov, 7rcu$evTr]v rj
v ; fjv av %d)pav real TCL^IV y%-
s, ft>9 Xeye/- o ^wKpaTT]?, fj,vpia,Kts airo-
8avovfj.ai 7Tp6rpov rj ravr^v
100 TTofJ Se /t' ell/at 0e\i$ ; ev f Pfi)yL6?; -37 z> *
fj v ?f^Qa9 ^7 i/ Fi/apo9 ;
101 fjLefJLvrjao. av p CKGL Tre/jLTrys, OTTOV Kara fyvcriv
}) ovfc eariv av6pd>TrG)v t ov crol aTreiS&v
' a>9 crov \JLOI (rq/jLaivovro? TO avatcK^Ti-
OVK aTroXe/Trct) ere* /JLrj <yVoiTo m aXX' alcr-
102 ddvojtai,, OTI pov %peiav OVK !%<?. av Se
am <pvaiv Sie^aytoyi], ov fyrrjao) a\\o
rt ev (S eltu rj aXXou? dvBpci)7rov<; r)
103 Tavra vv/cros, ravTa rjfiepas
ravra ypdcftecv, ravra dvaytyvd)a/cew irepl
TOVTG&V TOV$ Xoyoi/9 Troiela-dai,, avrov irpb? avTov,
7rpo9 erepov " /JLTJ n e^e^9 pot 727)09 rovro fiorjdfj-
crcu ; }> /cal ira\*iv aXX 7rpoae\0iv 2 teal aXX.
104 elra av TI, yevrjrai, ra>v X<yo/teVa)j/ dftov^Tav,
ev@v<? exelvo irpwrov eTUKovfylcret, <re, or* QUA;
105 d'jrpoo'&oKrfTov. peya yap irl Trdvr&v TO " ffiew
1 rtvov added by Schweigliauser, after Schegk.
2 Wolf, after Schegk ; M& 8.
1 A. very free paraphrase of Plato, Apology t 28 D-29 A,
216
BOOK III. xxiv. 97-105
"How do you depart?" Again, as Thou didst
wish it, as a free man, as Thy servant, as one who
has perceived Thy commands and Thy prohibitions.
But so long as I continue to live in Thy service,
what manner of man wouldst Thou have me be ?
An official or a private citizen., a senator or one of
the common people,, a soldier or a general,, a teacher
or the head of a household ? Whatsoever station
and post Thou assign me, I will die ten thousand
times,, as Socrates says, or ever I abandon it. 1 And
where wouldst Thou have me be ? In Rome, or in
Athens, or in Thebes, or in Gyara ? 2 Only remember
me there. If Thou sendest me to a place where men
have no means of living in accordance with nature,
I shall depart this life,, not in disobedience to Thee,
but as though Thou wert sounding for me the recall.
I do not abandon Thee far be that from me ! but
I perceive that Thou hast no need of me. Yet if
there be vouchsafed a means of living in accordance
with nature, I will seek no other place than that in
which I am, or other men than those who are now
my associates."
Have thoughts like these ready at hand by night
and by day; write them, read them, make your
conversation about them, communing with yourself,
or saying to another, " Can you give me some help
in this matter? " And again, go now to one man
and now to another. Then, if some one of those
things happens which are called undesirable, im-
mediately the thought that it was not unexpected
will be the first thing to lighten the burden. For
in every case it is a great help to he able to say,
"'I knew that the son whom I had begotten was
* See on I. 24, 19.
217
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
yeyvvr]K(Jo$. }} OVTOIS <ydp epefc /cal ori,
dvrjros cbv" te ySew aT
106 TCLKTO? &v? elr av 7ricrrpe<f)i)<$ Kara cravrov
/cal ^T?7<T779 rrjv ^copav^ % ^9 ecrrl TO orvj&fleftr)-
KO$ S ev6v$ dvajJt,wr]0"0r}crT), on " ifc T^9 TWV
dTTpoaipercdv, r&v ovtc ejjL&w ri ovv irpos /JL ; "
107 elra TO KvpMrarov l( rfa S' avrb /cal
TrojAfiev ; " o rfye/JLcbv r) o crTpaTtj
7T(>Xi9, T7}9 7TOXG>9 VQfJ,0<$. " 09 OVV
Sel jap /AC ael rp v6fj,G> TreidecrOaL Iv 7ravrL n
108 eW* OTCLV o~e r) (jxtwraaia Sdfcvy (rovro <yap
OVK 7rl (rot), avajjia'xpv Xoyo>, Karajcov^ov
avrrjv, fir] ed(rp$ emcr^veiv jjwjo'e TTpodyeiv eirl ra
^779 hva r irKa<JGQV(Ta,v oaa 6i\ei /cal c&
109 av ev Tvdpoi^ ^9, fir} avd7r\acro"6 rr)v ev
ocrai yevowr* av 7rav\d6vTi'
a?rt>9 Se? rov Iv Yvdpoi? SidyovTa, ev Tvdpoi?
G)<; BidyeLv. fcav ev f l?a>firj 779, fj,rj avd~
TTJV ev *A.0ijvai,$ $Larpi,/37Jv f aXka Trepl
110 Err* dvrl T&V ak\a>v airacrS^v Sta^vcrecdv efceivrjv
avreurayc, TTJV OTTO rov irapafco\ovde2v, OTI weiOrj
T de, on, ov Xoya), aXX' epyq) ra rov KO\,OV jcal
111 cvyadov e/crekei?. olov jdp <rriv avrov avr&
1 Variously attributed to Solon (Diogenes Laertius, 2, 13),
Aaaxagoras (Cicero, Tim. 3, 30 j Diogenes Laertius, 2, 13),
or XenopJion (Diogenes Laertius, 2. 13 and 5S). Compare
also Seneca, De Consul, ad Polyb. 11, 2, and Hierocles on the
Chtdm Verses (f Py&agora, diap. 11 (p. 439% Mullach).
218
BOOK III. xxiv. 105-1 ir
mortal." 1 For that is what you will say, and again,
"1 knew that I was mortal/' "I knew that I was
likely to leave home/' t I knew that I was liable to
banishment," " I knew that I might be sent off to
prison." And in the next place, if you reflect with
yourself and look for the quarter from which the
happening comes, immediately you will be reminded
of the principle : " It comes from the quarter of the
things that are outside the sphere of the moral
purpose, that are nob mine own ; what, then, is it
to me?" Then comes the most decisive considera-
tion : " Who was it that has sent the order? " Our
Prince, or our General, the State, or the law of the
State ? " Give it to me, then, for I must always
obey the law in every particular." Later on, when
your imagination bites you (for this is something
you cannot control), fight against it with your reason,
beat it down, do not allow it to grow strong, or to
take the next step and draw all the pictures it
wants, in the way it wants to do. If you are at Gyara,
don't picture the style of life at Rome, and all the
relaxations a man had who was living there, as well
as all that he might have upon his return ; but since
you have been stationed there, you ought to strive to
live manfully at Gyara, as beseems the man whose life
is spent in Gyara. And again, if you are in Rome,
don't picture the style of life at Athens, hut make
your life in Rome the one object of your study and
practice.
Then, in the place of all the other relaxations,
introduce that which comes from the consciousness
that you are obedient to God, and that you are
playing the part of the good and excellent man, not
ostensibly but in reality. For what a fine thing it
219
VOL. II. M
ARRIAN'S DISCOUBSES OF EPICTETUS
&vva&0ai eiTretp st vvv a ol a\\oL ev
c~fi,vo\oyov(riv xal irapaSoj-oKoyetv So
ey& 7TTeA&>* icatcelvot icaSjjjJLevoi
%r)yovvrai seal jrepl ifiov fyTovcriir Kal ep,e
112 vfu/owiv* /col TOVTOV lie 6 Zevs (IVTOV Trap
epavjov \a^tv a'jroSei^iP ^0\rjaP fcal auro? Se
yv&vai, el ej(ei arparic^TTjv olov Sel, itohi^riv olov
Sel, Kal TO&S aXXot? avGpwTrois Trpodyeiv fie
fidpTVpa TWI^ aTrpoaipermp. * fSere, or* el/ci]
<f}Q/3iO-0, lldTTfJV 1Fl6vftiT &P iriQvfllT6* TO,
ayaffa e^w fiy fyrjTeire, ev eai/roZ? ^TjTeire* el Se
113 fll], 011% Up1]O'Te.' ! 7Ti TOVTQl<$ fJL JWV fJLGV
ayei, wv 8' exei ire/jwrei, ireyrjTa ^dfcvvcrt,
^t Sfya, />%*}?> vocrovvra* els Yvapa
i* eh Becj/iwnfjMOF eitrdyei. ov /MKF&V*
ftfy ylvaiTO" T9 Se ^lael TOP api&TQV T&P uwrjpe-
Twy T&V avrou ; owS* a/^eXwi/, 09 ye ovBe r&v
fUKpordr^jf raw? apekei, aXXa yv/jLvd^cop ical
114 pdprvpL wjoo? TOW? aXXoi/? ^pmfLevos, el? roiav-
Tiqv vwtjpc&iair icaTareray^epo^ Sri (ftpGwri^G),
TTOV el/il 4 i&era rivwv y) ri irepl e/tov \eyovcriv ;
ovjfi S* 0X09 7rpo9 row deop TeTajwu, /cal ra9
licetvou FroXa9 xal ra irpoaTayfiara ; "
115 Tavra e^mp del IP %epcrl /cal Tpl$($v auro9
vapa &atfT$ teal 7rp%ipa irot&v ouSeTrofe Se^o"^
116 T0S vap&jjutffovpejwut TOU i.'irippwmvwrQs. jcal
yap alcr^op ov TO (jtayeZy p/rj "%W, aXXa TO
BOOK III. xxiv. 111-116
Is to be able to say to oneself, ee Now I am actually
performing what the rest talk solemnly about in
their lectures, and are thought to be uttering para-
doxes. Yes, they sit and expound my virtues,, and
study about me, and sing rny praise. And of this
Zeus wished me to get a demonstration in my own
person* while at the same time He wished to know
whether He has the right kind of soldier, the right
kind of citizen, and to present me before all other
men as a witness about the things which lie outside
the sphere of the moral purpose. 'Behold/ says
He, * your fears are at haphazard, it is in vain that
you desire what you desire. Do not look for your
blessings outside, but look for them within your-
selves; otherwise you will not find them.' These
are the terms upon which now He brings me here,
and again He sends me there ; to mankind exhibits
me in poverty, without office, in sickness ; sends me
away to Gyara, brings me into prison. Not because
He hates me perish the thought I And who hates
the best of his servants ? Nor because He neglects
me, for He does not neglect any of even the least
of His creatures; but because He is training me,
and making use of me as a witness to the rest of
men. When I have been appointed to such a
service, am I any longer to take thought as to where
I am, or with whom, or what men say about me ?
Am I not wholly intent upon God, and His
commands and ordinances ? "
If you have these thoughts always at hand and
go over them again and again in your own mind,
and keep them in readiness, you will never need a
person to console you, or strengthen you. For dis-
grace does not consist in not having anything to
221
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ij e)W apfcovvra, vrpos a^ofSlav,
117 aXviriav. &v B* airal;
a$o/?w, GTL arot rvpawo*; Hcnai
Kaicraptavol rj o
7Tt
Trapa rou
118 fiopQW p,ri 7ro/x7Tue airrijv
avrri, aXX* epjtp Seitcirue* Kav
a^ro? v<ytaiva>v /cat
TO a\virov feed
% Bopu<f)6po*$ TJ
ae rj ol ITTL-
TOP
aXat^ovevov eV
jap
, aw irpo0ov apj(o^Po^j rivwv /Le
* ov, ^ai TTW? eci* ol? /te
> ol? 8*
e
ov
OP ay&wa
yTre/3
Trajfcpariov o ay&v irpotceirai, ov fcctl
Se 0X170^
Sc
ta J~(TTIV
etvatf aXX* wlp awri}? ei
4 ri QVW ; ouS* ^
/cat v
evravda,
1 la this the words and ordinatio have
beeu takea over direct from the latin. In OUTIJCMHS, a word
which seems to occur nowhere else in Greek or in Latin, it
be that the Latin {sacrifices at the imngtoration
of official enterprise) are meanfcj as Wolf suggested,
so- tlte Is tBiia.ted ; kit the word is very na-
222
BOOK III, xxiv. n6-xxv. 4
eat, but in not having reason sufficient to secure you
against fear and against grief. But if once you win
for yourself security against grief and fear, will
there any longer exist for you a tyrant, or a guards-
man, or members of Caesar's household ; or will some
appointment to office sting you with envy, or those
who perform sacrifices on the Capitol in taking the
auspices, 1 you who have received so important an office
from Zeus? Only make no display of your office,
and do not boast about it ; but prove it by your
conduct ; and if no one perceives that you have it,
be content to live in health and happiness yourself.
CHAPTER XXV
To those who fail to achieve their purposes
CONSIDER which of the things that you purposed
at the start you have achieved, and which you have
not; likewise, how it gives you pleasure to recall
some of them, and pain to recall others, and, if
possible, recover also those things which have slipped
out of your grasp. For men who are engaged in the
greatest of contests ought not to flinch, but to take
also the blows ; for the contest before us is not in
wrestling or the pancratium, in which, whether a
man succeeds or fails, he may be worth a great deal,
or only a little, yes, by Zeus, he may even be
extremely happy or extremely miserable, but it is
a contest for good fortune and happiness itself.
What follows? Why here, even if we give in for
certain (Chinnock, doss. Rm. $ (1889}, 70, thinks it stands
for officm\ and several emendations have been proposed, of
which OT<PIK(OIS (ojficia,, Koraes) is perhaps the most plausible.
223
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
aXiv djmifi^ff0ai ovBe Sei Trept^lvai rerpae-
XXijF, LV \Qr$ aX
dvaXa/3ovTi /cal dpa/crrj^afievm eavrbv icai
avTJjV elfffyipovTi Trpodufiiav %<TTIV dyzovi^
scav traktv aireiTTTj^y i jrd\iv $~a"Tip, /cav
& r
/cal XOITTOF w9
TJP TrepioBov Sfioio^ TO?? d r jro<j>ifjovo"i>p
6 SpTv^ip. fs fjrra JJL {ftavraarla Trcu&HTKaptov
/ea\ov. ri j&p ,* Trp^Tjy ou^ ^TTTjdrjv ; " " irpo-
ffvjjLia IJLOL jiverai -^e^at Ttvd* irp&Tjv jap ov/c
7 i^rei*, ; **
9 T&> arpw
jap OVK IXovo-a^p ; n av oirv 6
atnm %7j Xe^eiF <e aye, Xovera/teFo? vv ri
; ouic iwupe^a*? ; ou/c /ce(f>a\d"Xjv}<ra<$ ; "
8 KC& <ru i^efa? Trpwjv rtva ov fca/cQjj&Qvv epjov
; ov <f>\vapov ; ov/c Wpe^ds CFQV TTJV
els Sc T00 jnuSia-jcapiov a
9 ri cSrtf ra vp^^v Xeja^ ; SS& S* olfuu
&9 01" SaSXw TW TrXifyw, a7rl%<F^
10 dfjutpTTjjj.drf&y. aXX* ov% O/JLOIOP" evravffa
1 The cmfiisHi Is brief 7 bui I presume that a fighting
cpoail, on once having submitted to defeat, became very
reftdy to do so again, as Is the case among ordinary chickens.
Ome into feis wr in order to make Mm forget, as they
tie v;cee of the Tietor f and to restore Ms courage.
% 10ft.
224
BOOK IIL xxv. 4-10
the time being, no one prevents us from struggling
again., and we do not have to wait another four-year
period for another Olympic festival to come around,
but the moment a man has picked himself up, and
recovered himself, and exhibits the same eagerness,
he is allowed to contest ; and If you give in again,
you can enter again ; and if once you win a victory,
you are as though you had never given in at all.
Only don't begin cheerfully to do the same thing
over again out of sheer habit, and end up as a bad
athlete, going the whole circuit of the games, and
getting beaten all the time, like quails that have
once run away. 1 <e I am overcome by the impression
of a pretty maid. Well, what of it? Wasn't I
overcome just the other day?" "I feel strongly
inclined to censure somebody, for didn't I censure
somebody just the other day?** You talk thus to
us as though you had come off scot-free ; just as if
a man should say to his physician who was for-
bidding him to bathe, " Why, but didn't I bathe
just the other day ? " If, then, the physician is
able to say to him, "Very well, after you had
bathed, then, how did you feel ? Didn't you have
a fever ? Didn't your head ache ? " So, too, when
you censured somebody the other day, didn't you
act like an ugly-spirited man, like a silly babbler ?
Didn't you feed this habit by citing .the example of
your own previous acts ? And when you were over-
come by the maid, did you escape scot-free ? Why,
then s do you talk about wliat you were doing just
the other day ? In my opinion, you ougfit to have
remembered, as slaves remember their blows, and
to have kept away from the same mistakes. But
one case is not like the other; for with slaves it is
225
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
7TGF09, TTOta l)/ja ; 7TOT6
iv TO
r'. IIpo9 Toi/9 T^F awopiav
"if J> V -v / V ^ \
oi/CGTais * ov^t o QA*i*yQp ocrov irpo^ ra
Tj/jLepa^ V<f)kflVOl lff VfTTGpOV BtO, 7^
2 TO
aoi
avar/KCiia, teal ra? VTJKTOQ
3 rahMLirmpe, QVTW<? Ti/^Xo9 el /cal T^F oSw ou
0pa9 OTTOfc $/>& ^ TWP avajicait&v cvBeia;, TTOV
jap ^lp ; OTTOU *al o 7ri/pT09, oirou
e9
TroXXi S* ayjyG<y$ rotavra, iroXXa S*
ye TO
iw$ IX^R; Nar aXXi Aral w e
T ofo; ^17 T^ *al c
irow ^^ ; ov^l /cal $ atmf ?rot/
5 KaffoSw ; ra icarm ra avrd ; ou ^eXef 9 ow
^XeirF ffapp&v irpos iraaav airoplav teal
owov Km TOW irXwdict*TaT0i;9 xcal Ta? <ip%a$
226
i, after Wolf :
Kmsfce :
BOOK III. xxv. lo-xxvi. 5
the suffering which produces the memory, but in the
case of your mistakes, what suffering is there, what
penalty do you feel? Why, when did you ever
acquire the habit of avoiding evil activities ?
CHAPTER XXVI
To those mho fear want
AREN'T you ashamed to be more cowardly and
ignoble than, a runaway slave ? How do they, when
they run off, leave their masters ? in what estates or
slaves do they put their confidence ? Don't they
steal just a little bit to last them for the first few
days, and then afterwards drift along over land or
sea, contriving one scheme after another to keep
themselves fed ? And what runaway slave ever died
of hunger? But you tremble, and lie awake at
night, for fear the necessities of life will fail you.
Wretch, are you so blind, and do you so fail to see
the road to which lack of the necessities of life leads ?
Where, indeed, does it lead ? Where also fever, or
a stone that drops on your head, lead, to death.
Have you not, then, often said this same thing your-
self to your companions, read much of the same sort,
and written much? How many times have you
boasted that, as far as death at least was concerned,
you are in a fairly good state? Yes, but my
family too will starve. What then ? Their starva-
tion does not lead to some other end than yours,
does it ? Have they not also much the same descent
thereto, and the same world below ? Are you not
willing;, then, to look with courage sufficient to face
every necessity and want, at that place to which the
227
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
p^airra^ KOI avrov^ T0i/9 /3acrtX,2<s teal
Bet /CtTe\0ip } teal l ere TreiPcavTa, ap
TVXW' ^ fc ^ 1/olj ^ ^ Biappajevra*? viro aire-
TJrt&p teal /&e%9 ; TWO, TTCOTTOT' Tralrrjp pabito?
eZSe9 fjtrj jepopra ; ripa S* ov/c ea^aroj'rjpdop ;
ak"ka piy&vre? ras vvxras xal ra$ rj^pas xal
ppi/jLjjiVQi teal Q&QV avro TO avay/calov
2
xal iroSa^ wepl \IJJLQV eoiicas OVTCD^; ov/c
v f ov ^raiSajmyelp, ov
dvpav aXXorpiap ^v\drreiv ; 'AXX' ala"%pop el$
k&&v T^F avayxrjv. "M-dffe ows irpSrrov 9
ra aio"%pa eanp } KCU, OVT&S fjjup Xeye
TO VVP Se /wyS* a^ aXXo? Tt9
8 Ai<rxp6p ea-T i trot, TO /i^ <rbv epyop, ov &v am 09
owe ? o aXk9 aTr^irr^o-ep <rot, &>% /c&j>aXaXjia,
9 irvperos 6? rov ol ^yO'i^E? 7rei^T9 ffcrav, ^
w'kovcrto^ /lev ^ffap aXXot/9 Se xXiypovofiovs
aTreJuTTOP* xal SFT9 ou^r eirap/covaip ovBev, crol
9 ravTa alcr^pa CCTTIF ; Taura e/Mapffaves Trapd
$ f on TO
TO TTfCTOV OLLOV (TTt TOV
S** eirl T ^ avrou epyfi), o
10 CHITON ov/c iiroiijaep; (rv vv eiroi^o-a^ TQVTO, TOP
1 Meibom, after WoH : c! 5,
2 From here tferongls: S5w the passage is written In t"he
mnorgiii bj the first band of &*
* | vXe^ffiwi filr supplied by Seliweigiiamser, ^<ror by C,
SdbenkL
4
228
BOOK III. xxvi. 5-10
wealthiest needs must go, and those who have held
the highest offices, and very kings and tyrants?
Only you will descend hungry, if it so happen, and
they bursting with indigestion and drunkenness. Did
you ever easily find a beggar who was not an old man ?
Wasn't he extremely old ? But though they are cold
night and day, and lie forlorn on the ground^ and have
to eat only what is absolutely necessary, they approach
a state where it is almost impossible for them to
die ; ! yet you who are physically perfect, and have
hands and feet, are you so alarmed about starving ?
Can't you draw water, or write, or escort boys to and
from school, or be another's doorkeeper? But it is
disgraceful to come to such a necessity. Learn,
therefore, first of all, what the disgraceful things are,
and after you have done that, come into our
presence and call yourself a philosopher. But as
the case stands now, do not even allow anyone else
to call you one !
Is anything disgraceful to you which is not your
own doing, for which you are not responsible, which
has befallen you accidentally, as a headache or a
fever? If your parents were poor, or if they were
rich but left others as their heirs, and if they give
you no help though they are living, is all this dis-
graceful to you ? Is that what you learned at the
feet of the philosophers? Have you never heard
that the disgraceful thing is censurable, and the
censurable is that which deserves censure? And
whom do you censure for what is not his own doing,
which he didn't produce himself? Well, did you
produce this situation? did you make your father
1 The argument is, one need hardly remark, quite
wisoirndi for the death-rate among the poor is unquestion-
ably much higher than among the wealthy.
220
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TQLQUTQP ; TJ earv (rot
avrov ; BiBorai (rot rovro ; ri ovv ; Bel ae
ra firf BiBofieva rj fir) rvy^dvovra auratp aia")(vp-
11 (70 ai ; OVT&S B ical sWii^ov if>t\o<70<f>&v a<$apav
i$ aXXtw? ical firjSev avro^ eKiri^tv IK aeavrou ;
12 roijapovv oi/iw^e /cal creve teal e&die SeSot/cot^, JJLTJ
ov @"xfl^ Tpo$a$ auptov
13 ot/TCt)? <TU l$0i xal fir) iravarj
JOS (f>i\offO(j>lap 7rpoa"jj\d^ /cal ra
offov -rrl crol KaTrjor^vvas
/seal a^w^eX^ roZ? avaXa,jj,/3a-
ouBeirore S* varadLa^ pe%^9, arapa-
ia$ x anraffeiw ovBeva TOVTOV emtca I
i&v S* Ptca iroXXov?" ovSezrore
j/ $te/3a<rdvi0'a$ ai/ro? ITT!
14 0-avT0v " Bmafiat <$)piv r$it SvvajMt ; ri JJLQL TO
; *', aXX* ? Trdwrwv
ica aaak)^ irep TOP reevraop /care-
TO7TOF, TOF T '
ayeuveiav,
P T&P TrXovcriattt, TT)V a
ijp 1 e/e/c'kiaip' Trepl T^? TOVTCQP
15 Ov/c ISe^ irpoo'/crrja'aa'Oai Trp&tTOp IK T&V ~ko*yov,
1 See explanatory note.
1 Sp the text as it stands in S, but the singular mixture of
taeimioal terms in dT^Tcmerur erKAir4f is incredible. Else-
where, and quite properly, it is desire that fails to get what
it wills (awirtfra4)j and aersion that falls into what It
fsee JEL 0, 6 aad especially IV. 10, 4). Hence
there is great piatuability in SchenkFs suggestion (partly
23,0
BOOK III. xxvi. 10-15
what lie Is ? Or is It in your power to reform him ?
Is that vouchsafed you ? What follows ? Ought
you to wish for what is not given you, or to be
ashamed when you fail to get it ? And did you
really, while studying philosophy, acquire the
habit of looking to other persons, and of hoping
for nothing yourself from yourself? Very well then,
lament and groan, and eat in fear of not having food
to-morrow; tremble about your paltry slaves, for fear
they will steal something, or run away, or die ! Live
in this spirit and never cease to live so, you who in
name only have approached philosophy, and, as far
as in you lay, have discredited its principles by
showing them to be useless and good for nothing to
those who receive them ! But you never desired
stability, serenity, peace of mind ; you never culti-
vated anybody's acquaintance for that purpose^ but
many persons' acquaintance for the sake of syllo-
gisms ; you never thoroughly tested for yourself any
one of these external impressions, asking the ques-
tions : " Am I able to bear it, or am I not ? What
may I expect next ? " but just as though everything
about you were in an excellent and safe condition,
you have been devoting your attention, to the last of all
topics, that which deals with immutability, in order
that you may have immutable what? your cowardice,
your ignoble character, your admiration of the rich,
your ineffectual desire, your aversion that fails of its
mark ! x These are the things about whose security
you have been anxious !
Ought you not, first, to have acquired something
after Reiske), ^p|^, r
%KK\urtvz "desire, that fails to get what it wills> and
aversion that falls into wkat it would avoid."
231
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ira rovTfp 7Tpiirotiv TTJP cur<f>d\6iav ; ical rlva
avrov ;
16 fcaQiffrarai eirl ovSe/iia dvpa ; aXXa av
Xera? airoSeiKiivetv ^vvatrdai" Tiva ; /leXera? fifj
O7TOG'a\vea'6ai S&a ffo^LdjjLtirm^ CLTTO tivwv ;
17 Seii-ov fioi. -FpwroF, *ri T7jpi^ t ri per pels rj ri
IcrrdvGis* eW oSrci)? 7ri?)i/cpv rov vyov rj TOP
18 P^IJJLVOV* 4 P^XP & T & vo *> fteTpijcrei? rv]V crTroBov ;
ov ravrd ue airoSeiievveiv SeZ, a woiei
avdp(&7rQU% ei?Sa/ioFi5, a Troi
ra TrpdjfjMTa <? Qekovaiv^ i a ov Bel
ovBevif ly/ctikeiy ovBevi, Treiffecrffat rfj
19 TWF oXcoF / ravrd JJLOI Bei/cwe. " IBov
** rovro
TO flLSTpQUV TTF, vpaTTooV TO
20 5* OTIC 0"TfF. Si TaWTflt F
2 Tpepets, ajprnrveh, f&era
^F /iiy IT cur at a$*icnttv
21 EiTa (f)QJ3$ \t/iov, a? So^e??. cru 3* ou \LJJLOV
eSoi:a9 firj ov 7%^9 j&dyeipov, /J.TJ
aXAop o^rrnvJiT^v, aXXoF TOF VT
<rovra, aXXoi/ TOV FSuraFTa, aXXoi/?
22
(f$*tpa)J$iewm Selieokl) ;
ri 5riw & The correct form of the text is highly
j and the Tersltra in $& is acceptable onl j as meeting
in & general waj the requirement of the context.
* ^aATfl af ter ^A^ffaa deleted bj SchenkL
232
BOOK III. xxvi. 15-22
from reason, and then to have made that something
secure? Why, did you ever see anyone building a
cornice all around without first having- a wall about
which to build it? 1 And what kind of doorkeeper
is placed on guard where there isn't any door?
But you practise to get the power to demonstrate ;
demonstrate what? You practise to avoid being
shaken by sophisms ; shaken from what ? Show me
first what you are maintaining, what you are measur-
ing, or what you are weighing ; and after that, and
under those conditions, show me your scales or your
bushel-measure. Or how long will you keep measur-
ing ashes? Are not these what you ought to be
demonstrating, the things, namely, that make men
happy, that make their affairs prosper for them as
they desire, that make it unnecessary for them to
blame anybody, and to find fault with anybody, but
to acquiesce in the government of the universe?
Show me these. ef See, I do show you/* a man says ;
c * I will analyse syllogisms for you." Slave, this is a
mere measuring instrument, it is not the thing
measured. That is why you are now being punished
for what you neglected ; you tremble, lie awake, take
counsel with everyone, and, if your plans are not
likely to win the approval of all men, you think that
your deliberations have been faulty.
And then you fear hunger, as you fancy. Yet it
is not hunger that you fear, but you are afraid that
you will not have a professional cook, you will not
have another servant to buy the delicacies, another
to put on your shoes for you, another to dress you,
others to give you your massage, others to follow at
your heels, in order that when you have undressed
1 The figure is reminiscent of Plato, Mep. VII, 534 E.
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$p ;
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1 Bic^eow Laertins, 7, 168.
234
BOOK III. xxvi. 22-27
in a bath, and stretched yourself out like men who
have been crucified, you may be massaged on this side
and on that ; and that then the masseur may stand
over you and say, " Move over., give me his side, you
take his head, hand me his shoulder" ; and then, when
you have left the bath and gone home, that you may
shout out, " Is no one bringing me something to
eat?" and after that, "Clear away the tables; wipe
them off with a sponge/' What you are afraid of is
this; that you may not be able to live the life of an
invalid, since, I tell you, you have only to learn the
life of healthy men how the slaves live, the workmen,
the genuine philosophers, how Socrates lived he too
with a wife and children how Diogenes lived, how
Cleanthes, who combined going to school and pump-
ing water. 1 If this is what you want, you will have
it everywhere, and will live with full confidence.
Confidence in what? In the only thing in which
one can have confidence in what is faithful,, free
from hindrance, cannot be taken away, that is, in your
own moral purpose. And why have you made your-
self so useless and unprofitable, that no one is willing
to take you into his house, no one willing to
take care of you? But when a whole and useful
implement has been thrown out, anyone who finds
it will pick it up and count it gain ; yet not when he
picks up yotty but everyone will count you a loss.
You are so unable to serve the purpose of even a
dog or a cock. Why, then., do you care to keep on
living, if that is the sort of person you are ?
Does a good man fear that food will fail him ? It
does not fail the blind, it does not fail the lame;
will it fail a good man ? A good soldier does not
lack someone to give him pay, or a workman, or a
235
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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236
BOOK III. xxvi. 27-33
cobbler ; and shall a good man ? l Does God so
neglect His own creatures, His servants, His wit-
nesses, whom alone He uses as examples to the
uninstructed, to prove that He both is, and governs
the universe well, and does not neglect the affairs of
men, and that no evil befalls a good man either in
life or in death? 2 Yes, but what if He does not
provide food ? Why, what else but that as a good
general He has sounded the recall ? I obey, I follow,
lauding my commander, and singing hymns of praise
about His deeds. For I came into the world when
it so pleased Him, and I leave it again at His
pleasure, and while I live this was my function to
sing hymns of praise unto God, to myself and to
others, be it to one or to many. God does not give
me much, no abundance, He does not want me to
live luxuriously ; He did not give much to Heracles,
either, though he was His own son, but someone
else was king over Argos and Mycenae, while he was
subject, and suffered labours and discipline. And
Eurystheus, such as he was, was not king over either
Argos or Mycenae, for he was not king even over
himself; but Heracles was ruler and leader of all the
land and sea, purging them of injustice and lawless-
ness, and introducing justice and righteousness j and
all this he did naked and by himself. And when
Odysseus was shipwrecked and cast ashore, did his
necessity make abject his spirit, or break it? Nay,
but how did he advance upon the maidens to ask for
1 The scholiast appropriately compares Matt. vi. 31
and 33 : "Take no thought," and "Seek ye first the king-
dom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you."
2 This last clause is slightly modified from Plato, Apol.
41 D.
237
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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Oldfather : Jres-inflely roofaeis 8.
, vi. im
Tfee text is vcarj unTOrtaia. Sehextki
would appear to mean something like:
BOOK III. xxvi. 33-38
food, which Is regarded as being the most disgraceful
thing for one person to ask of another ?
As a lion reared in the mountains. 1
In what did he trust ? Not in reputation, or money, or
office, but in his own might, that means,, his judge-
ments about the things which are under our con-
trol, and those which are not under our control.
For these are the only things that make men free,
that make men unhampered, that lift up the neck of
those who have become abject, that make them look
with level eyes into the faces of the rich, and the
faces of tyrants. And all this was what the philo-
sopher had to give, yet will you not come forth bold,
instead of trembling for your paltry clothes and silver
plate? Miserable man, have you so wasted your
time down to the present ?
Yes, but what if I fall ill ? You will bear illness
well. Who will nurse me ? God and your friends.
I shall have a hard bed to lie on. But like a man.
I shall not have a suitable house. Then you will
fall ill in an unsuitable house. 2 Who will prepare my
food for me ? Those who prepare it for others also.
You will be ill like Manes. 3 And what is also the
end of the illness ? Anything but death? Will
you, then, realize that this epitome of all the ills
that befall man, of his ignoble spirit, and his
"Will you not choose a suitable house in which to fall ill?"
But that sort of reply seems scarcely to fit the context.
3 That is, like a slave, for this was a typical slave name,
like * Sambo " among American negroes. In particular the
reference seems to be to Zeno, who, when his physicians
ordered him to eat young pigeons, insisted, *'Cure me as
yon do Manes." Mnsonius, frag. 18 A (p. 98, 4 ff., Hense).
239
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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39 7rl TOVTOP ovv jJLOi jvfipd^ov 9 evravffa veve-
l Xoyo^ 7ra^T9> TO, daKij^ara^ ra
teal ei&r}, OTI ovrto?
pouvrat
240
BOOK III. XXVL 38-39
cowardice, is not death, but it is rather the fear
of death ? Against this fear, then, I would have
you discipline yourself, toward this let all your
reasoning tend, your exercises, your reading; and
then you will know that this is the only way in
which men achieve freedom.
1241
BOOK IV
A
KE^AAAIA TOT A BIBAIOT
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3 f&iT$f"ifM>ipo*z, rajretvos ; OuSel?. Oz/
* 01? TOIVW Ol/S*
244
BOOK IV
Chapters of the Fourth Book
I. Of freedom.
U. Of social intercourse.
III. What things should be exchanged for what things ?
IV. To those who have set their hearts upon, living in
peace.
V. Against the contentious and brutal.
VI. To those who are vexed at being pitied.
VII. Of freedom from fear.
VIII. To those who hastily assume the guise of the
philosophers,
IX. To the man who had become shameless.
X. What ought we to despise and on what place a high
value ?
XI. Of cleanliness.
XII. Of attention.
XTU. To those who lightly talk about their own affairs.
CHAPTER I
Of freedom
HE is free who lives as he wills, who is subject
neither to compulsion, nor hindrance, nor force,
whose choices are unhampered, whose desires attain
their end, whose aversions do not fall into what
they would avoid. Who, then, wishes to live in
error ? No one. Who wishes to live deceived, im-
petuous, unjust, unrestrained, peevish, abject ? No
one. Therefore, there is no bad man who lives as
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
4
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aTTOTuy^dvctw, e/cic'kiy&y /cal TrepiTriTTTGav ; OuSe
5 el?. *E^0/*i/ oSv riva rwv <fra
a<^o/9oF, aircpiiTTmrovy avairoTev/crov ;
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6 TauTa ap r9 axovcrrj SicruTraros, av fj,
fis oil tf a\\a dv ye <TQ<f)Q*z el, ovSev irpos
<rvjyv(ti(TTai aoi* av *
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9 & jSeXTttrre crv^fcJ^mce, T(i%a aov
fcml o irartjp rip ailr^p KovKeiav SoOXo? ^F Aral
47 pyrrtjp ical 6 TraTTTro? /cai e^cfQ? wavr9 ot
10 Trpayomt. el Se S^ /cal ra iMoKtara r}(rav
i 3 ri TQVTO irpos ere ; rl <ydp, el
i 9 &v Se SetXo? ; eicebrot /tei/ ey/cparew, crv
acr
11 Kal T,
v, TO t
12 eliw ; Toi/TO /^O' CCTTOJ,
246
BOOK IV. i. 3-12
he wills, and accordingly no bad man is free. And
who wishes to live in grief, fear,, envy, pity, desiring
things and failing to get them, avoiding things and
falling into them? No one at all. Do we find,
then, any bad man free from grief or fear, not
falling into what he would avoid, nor failing to
achieve what he desires ? No one. Then we find
no bad man free, either.
Now if some man who has been consul twice hear
this, he will forgive you, if you add, " But you are a
wise man ; this does not apply to you." Yet if you
tell Mm the truth, to wit: "In point of being
a slave you are not a whit better than those who
have been thrice sold/' what else can you expect
but a flogging ? Why, how am I a slave ? " says
he. " My father was free, my mother free ; no one
has a deed of sale for me. More than that, I am a
member of the senate, and a friend of Caesar., and I
have been consul, and I own many slaves." Now in
the first place, most worthy senator, it is very likely
that your father was the same kind of slave that you
are, and your mother, and your grandfather, and all
your ancestors from first to last. But even if they
were free to the limit, what does that prove in your
case ? Why, what does it prove if they were noble,
and you are mean-spirited ? If they were brave, and
you a coward ? If they were self-controlled, and you
unrestrained ?
And what, says someone, has this to do with being
a slave ? Doesn't it strike you as ef having to do
with being a slave" for a man to do something
against his will, under compulsion? Granted the
point, he replies. But who can put me under
compulsion, except Caesar, the lord of all? There,
247
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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16 TnuSapww, ou SovXou, ow Ikeudepov ; Tt o5j
TOI/TO Trpo? TO Bav\ov elvat, % iKevffepov ; -
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19 aXX* cl ait ai0"xvvy ra crai/Toi;
a ~Xjei KU Tro&ei o ^pacrfavys, 09
rTpa.Ti/<ja/i6J>09, ocra Ta^a o^Se <7i5,
f&w IfeX^Xi/^e IWATTO?, oTe o FeTa? ov
ia %6\J0ur f aXX* el Trpoffrjvaj/cd^ero vir
v t iroXX* aF lirticpavydaas /cal TVJV irixpav
Xeya;
248
BOOK IV. i. 12-20
you have yourself admitted that you have one
master. And let it not comfort you that he is,
as you say, the common master of all men, but
realize that you are a slave in a great house. So
also the men of Nicopolis 1 are wont to shout :
"Yea, by the fortune of Caesar, we are free
men ! * ?
However, let us leave Caesar out of account, if
you please, for the present, but answer me this :
Were you never in love with anyone, a pretty girl,
or pretty boy, a slave, a freedman ? What, then, has
that to do with being either slave or free ? Were
you never commanded by your sweetheart to do
something you didn't wish to do ? Did you never
cozen your pet slave ? Did you never kiss his feet ?
Yet if someone should compel you to kiss the feet
of Caesar, you would regard that as insolence and
most extravagant tyranny. What else, then, is
slavery ? Did you never go out at night where you
didn't want to go? Did you never spend more
than you wanted to spend ? Did you never utter
words with groaning and lamentation, endure to be
reviled, to have the door shut in your face ? Well,
if you are ashamed to admit such things about
yourself, observe what Thrasonides says and does, a
man who had served on so many campaigns perhaps
more even than you have. First, he went out at
night when Geta hasn't the courage to go abroad,
but, if the latter had been compelled by him to
do so, he would have gone out crying aloud and
bewailing his bitter slavery. And then 'what does
Thrasonides say ? Says he,
i Where he was teaching. The very form of the oath
ecmtradicts the statement made.
249
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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1 Kocaes : cWew 5. s Meixteke : -^JTOT 5".
Carl ScheiikFs rewritaiig, bed in part upon some old
corrections in S, which is clearly right in the general sense;
250
BOOK IV. i. 20-27
A cheap little wench has made of me a perfect
slave,
Of me, though never a one among all my
foemen might 1
Sad wretch, to be the slave of a wench, and a cheap
one at that ! Why, then, do you call yourself free
any longer? And why do you talk of your cam-
paigns ? Then he calls for a sword, and gets angry
at the man who refuses out of good-will to give it
to him, and sends presents to the girl who hates
him, and begs, and weeps, and again, when he
has had a little success, he is elated. And yet even
then, so long as he had not learned to give up
passionate desire or fear, could this man have been
in possession of freedom ?
Consider now^ in the case of the animals, how we
employ the concept of freedom. Men shut up tame
lions in a cage, and bring them up, and feed them,
and some take them around with them. And yet
who will call such a lion free ? Is it not true that
the more softly the lion lives the more slavishly he
lives? And what lion, were he to get sense and
reason, would care to be one of these lions? Why,
yes, and the birds yonder, when they are caught
and brought up in cages, what do they suffer in
their efforts to escape ? And some of them starve
to death rather than endure such a life, while even
such as live, barely do so, and suffer and pine away,
1 From the Misoumenos of Menander : Kocli 338 ; Korte
p. 129; AUinson, p. 412 (Loeb Classical Library).
<$>Q$ei<ria.t o&r* l&cvflcffor '& apparently at first ; that is,
tarofta8&r and &r ?% are additions.
251
VOL. II. I
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
T* Trap<pyfivov, eejnrjcrcv. ozra9 ope-
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32 T% -jrapacricevffc 0^X09 ;** 1 TOUT* <JT^ eX,evffepov
royS^ ef^TajcoT09 TO wpajfia /cal
elicit ei?pi|jcoT09. AF S* aXXa^oD f^r^?
CWTOP FT4F, Tt 0avpdffrQw 9 d ouSeTTore avro
eupivxei?
'O
1 There is some uncsertainty aboot the extent of the
quotation from Diogenes. Capps extends it as far as , this
poin% while SctteaH thought it stopped with Jx#fe tiree
HBCS above.
1 Heie as in H, $ and im 156 of this same efaaptej:
Epietetns eias to hare >aed a larfger eoHecstioa o, letters
2:52
. BOOK IV. i. 27-33
and if ever they find any opening, make their
escape. Such is their desire for physical freedom,
and a life of independence and freedom from re-
straint. And what is wrong with you here in your
cage ? cc What a question ! My nature is to fly
where I please, to live in the open air., to sing when
I please. You rob me of all this, and then ask,
* What is wrong with you ? ' "
That is why we shall call free only those animals
which do not submit to captivity,, but escape by
dying as soon as they are captured. So also Diogenes
says somewhere ; 1 " The one sure way to secure
freedom is to die cheerfully " ; and to the Persian 2
king he writes : fc You cannot enslave the Athenian
State any more than you can enslave the fish."
"How so? Shall I not lay hold of them?" "If you
do/ 1 he replies, "they will forth with leave you and
escape, like the fish. And that is true, for if you
lay hold of one of them, it dies ; and if these
Athenians die when you lay hold of them, what
good will you get from your armament?** That is
the word of a free man who has seriously examined
the matter, and, as you might expect, had discovered
truth about it. But if you look for it where it does
not exist, why be surprised if you never find it ?
It is the slave's prayer that he be set free
immediately. Why? Do you think it Is because
he is eager to pay his money to the men who collect
ascribed to Biogeoes than that which has survived to our
time. See SehenkFs note on 156 below.
2 Schenkl deletes the word, and Grelli conjectures Mewce-
S<WF, making the reference to Philip oir Alexander; but
about 355 Artaxerxes Ochus seems actually to have threatened
war against Athena. See Judeieh in the Meal-I/ncyci^mdie^,
2, 1319, 25 ff.
F53
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Sovvai afrfvpiv ; 0u* a)OC on
VVV Sia TO fJLTJ TTV%r)KVai TO I/TO V
34 teal $vapoiv. " ap &$&&,* tfyqcriv, " u0v
Gvpota, ovSevbs IT-KIT p$o fiat, iraffip &$ iao$ teal
Op@iQ% XttXw, TTQpeVOfJMM OTTOV 6i\C$ y ep^QfJUW
35 a$i? 8kw teal OTTOI/ ^eX." elra a7nrj\jv0p$-
/ca
TWO, fcoka/cevffjjt yrapa rivi SetirpyjcrTj' elra
ipyd^erat TQ> awf&ari, /cal 7rdcr^i ra ftewoT
36
wopijcras avBpmiTo^ aweipo/cako^ ir(j>i\7]K
Surxaptop xal SuaTvy^wp avafchaierai /cal
37 Bov\eiap iradeL '* ri 7<p pot KCLKQV
p ei/eSvev, aX\o? p v'jTl^et^ aXXa^ erp<f>v,
aXXos wffQKQf&t, okija avr$ vTTTjperoujf. vvv
SG raXa? ola wr^ Tih^ioai, SovKevwv av$*
38 CF0S"
Tore y* vpova"rara Bidj-w /cal ev
WP&TQV fjL/eo iva
S9 elra Xa^toF wakip ravTa,* elrd <j>r}cnv ft
TTCLVTWV
cwra /uurrvftas teal ovSew
spa a*T& aTparreiajf /eal rpiTJjv.
1 Be note CM II. I 26.
- ^ For the euphemistic pferwe nd in the Greek see
DanoBtlieues, 5S T 2),
, s Tiie of the Equestrian order at Rome had the
rigfet to wr & gpld flag. ' _,
254
BOOK IV. i. 33-39
the five per cent, tax ? 1 No, it is because he fancies
that up till now be is hampered and uncomfortable,
because he has not obtained bis freedom from
slavery. ** If I am set free," he says,, C( immediately
it is all happiness, I shall pay no attention to
anybody., I talk to everybody as an equal and as
one in the same station in life, I go where I please,
I come whence I please, and where I please."
Then he is emancipated, and forthwith, having no
place to which to go and eat, he looks for someone
to flatter, for someone at whose house to dine.
Next he either earns a living by prostitution, 2 and
so end tires the most dreadful things, and if he gets
a manger at which to eat he has fallen into a slavery
much more severe than the first; or even if he
grows rich, being a vulgarian he has fallen in love
with a chit of a girl, and is miserable, and laments,
and yearns for his slavery again. ee Why, what was
wrong with me ? Someone else kept me in clothes,
and shoes, and supplied me with food, and nursed
me when I was sick; I served him in only a few
matters. But now, miserable man that I am, what
suffering is mine, who am a slave to several instead
of one ! However, if I get rings on my fingers/ 1 3
he says, fe then indeed I shall live most prosperously
and happily." And so, first, in order to get them
he submits to what he deserves ! Then when he
has got them, you have the same thing over agaio.
Next he says, e( If I serve in a campaign, I am rid of
all my troubles/* He serves in a campaign, he
submits to all that a jail-bird suffers, but none the
less he demands a second campaign and a third. 4
* Required of those who held the higher offices. See note
on II. 14, 17.
AEIIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
40 elff OTav aiPTOP TOP fcoKo^&va eiriffp /cal <ye-
^?, rare yiverat SovXo? 9
^t TOT TTJP /ca\\i f o'T^p" i ical
41 "Iva ftrj /jmpos y, ay* iva pdffg, a ekeyev o
'SfdO/CpG.r^y ft rl 6<7T4 T&P QVT&tV eKCHTTOV ICCil
fjLjj elicri ra irpolujifets I(j>ap/i6^ rai? Girl
42 fipow$ Gucriai*?. JOVTO yap O"T& TO curtov
ai'ffpodTrot? iravr&v TF fcafcmp f TO Ta?
T9 fcoipa? fit} Smcurdai* l
43 fApov$. i?/x?9 S* aXXcH aXXo
OTI vocreZ. ouSa/i?j aXX* or^
ovic e<j>appo%i. o S* o TTTOJ^O? e&Ttp, o 8'
cm irarepa ^a
o "K-alaap ov%
leal fiovov TO Ta
44 eJo*j^ai. ejrcl T/9
v, on tftcu/craj? &Tiv 9 OTL irairrl
45 ou /ta%Tai, aXX* Jray eX^y lirl TO
T! o5v TO /catc@p <TT& TOVTO /cal j^Xczffiepop teal
OP ; Xeye* TO JLai&apQ^ /JLTJ Aval <f>i\op*
TQV
ov TTei/^F* T *y^P e&Ttp, o f^re?
v0pm"& ; evaTaBfyFai, euSat/tovfyrai, irdvra
: a\x! (1) S F
1 i& fee fiola&iiDg toici. See note on IL 14, 10.
256
BOOK IV. i. 40-46
After that, when he adds the very colophon, 1 and
becomes a senator, then he becomes a slave as
he enters the senate, then he serves in the hand-
somest and sleekest slavery.
Come, let him not be a fool, let him learn, as
Socrates used to say, es What each several thing
means," 2 and not apply his preconceptions at random
to the particular cases. For this is the cause to
men of all their evils, namely, their inability to
apply their general preconceptions to the particular
instances. But some of us think one thing and
some another. One man fancies be is ill. Not at
all ; the fact is that he is not applying his pre-
conceptions. Another fancies he is a beggar ; another
that he has a hard-hearted father or mother ; still
another that Caesar is not gracious to him. But
this means one thing and one thing only ignorance
of how to apply their preconceptions. Why, who
does not have a preconception of evil, that it is
harmful, that It is to be avoided, that it is something
to get rid of in every way? One preconception
does not conflict with another, but conflict arises
when one proceeds to apply them. What, then, is
this evil that is harmful and is to be avoided ? One
person says it is not to be Caesar's friend ; 3 he is
off the course, he has missed the proper application,
he is in a bad way, he is looking for what is not
pertinent to the case in hand ; because, when he has
succeeded in being Caesar's friend, he has none the
less failed to get what .he was seeking. For what
is it that every man is seeking ? Td live securely,
to be happy, to do everything as he wishes to do,
s Xenoplioii, Mem. IV. 6, 1.
8 That is, fersma grata at coturK
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ovv yev^rai Kaia-apos
eupoel ; rivos 7rv0&>[ida ; rfoa e
TTKrTOTepW fj aVTQV TOVTOP TOP yeyOJ/OTO,
47 eXfie 1? TO ^-ecroF ical t7re TUMI*, Trore
repov /cd9evSe^ 9 vvv TJ wplv yevlffffai ^1X05 TGV
on
ola
C aXXo? eir' aXX 2 eK0mp Xeyet, on
j ^Sij irpt<np* clra
48 <^poprlSe9." aye, eBeiTrwe^ e TTOTS evapeorro-
repov t PW f) TrpoTGpQV ; aicavaop avrav fcal irepl
ri Xe7i* ort, a^ /iF /^^ tcX^d?) oSv va,TfU 9
Be icXrjffy, c&? SoyXo?
rt SOAPS?? <poj3elTa& ; JJLTJ /&a f cmyw0fj w Sot/Xo? ;
avBpa* "Kaio-apo*? <^i\ov, fjwj airo-
49 Xed|2 TOF Tpajfrfiuw. eXoi/oi/ Se TTOT' arapa-
X&repov ; eyufivd&v Be TTOTS o-^oXatre/xw ; TO
<Fi/FoXop itoiov /iaXXoF ^feXe? ^to^ j^iovv, TQV vvv
50 4 TOF TOT ; apQtrai Svvaf&ai, OT&
* I* 1 lAXy by Raske. jeAu0 repeated in
4 Oldfather : ivoXi^f 5 (and Scholiast).
with this section the grave words of Francis
** Mea in gr^^l pl*^ are tlm^se servants, servants to
the sovereign pi , stet% wrraate oi faa% and .servants of
BOOK IV. i. 46-50
not to be hindered, not to be subject to compulsion,
When, therefore, he becomes a friend of Caesar,
has he been relieved of hindrance, relieved of com-
pulsion, does he live securely, does he live serenely ?
From whom shall we inquire ? What better witness
have we than this very man who has become
Caesar's friend ? Come into the midst and tell us.
When did you sleep more peacefully, now or before
you became Caesar's friend? Immediately the
answer comes: "Stop, I implore you by the gods,
and do not jest at my lot ; you don't know what I
suffer, miserable man that I am ; no sleep visits me,
but first one person comes in and then another and
reports that Caesar is already awake, and is already
coming oat ; then troubles, then worries ! " Come,
when did you dine more pleasantly, now or formerly ?
Listen to him and to what he has to say on this topic.
If he is not invited, he is hurt, and if he is invited,
he dines like a slave at a master's table, all the time
careful not to say or do something foolish. And what
do you suppose he is afraid of? That he be scourged
like a slave? How can he expect to get off as well
as that? But as befits so great a man, a friend
of Caesar, he is afraid he will lose his head. When
did you take your bath in greater peace? And
when did you take your exercise at greater leisure ?
In a word,, which life would you rather live, your
present life or the old one? I can. take oath that
no one is so insensate or so incurable as not to
lament his misfortunes the more he is a friend of
Caesar. 1
business, so as they have no freedom, neither in their persons,
nor in their actions, nor in their times/ 7 Msmm, * Of Great
Place."
259
ARB1AN T S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
51 V 0rav o$v W?T ol
cos 1 OlXovai jJL-^d ol ^/Aot TO)F
erf elo-CF iXev&epoi ; Zjyre* ical eupifc
irapa ri
ia?. el S' awo? oy^ olo? T el
VpiP TO
ri \jovaiv ; ayaffov croi
ei 17 eXevffepia ; To fjj&yurrov. Avvajai oZv
Ti9 TOI; pejiarov wja&ov rvy^apcov /ca/coSai-
fiovelv ^ tcaicws irpdo'aeiv ; Ou. -Qaovs ovv
av 18175 fem/coBaitfLOVovvra?, 8u<rpoQvvTa$ f irev-
53
vp<T<$ icm T^? TOtavr^ ej? icTTjaei Kara-
awoice^mp^/ca^p. el jap op&(&$
rawra, & T p^yav jSa&iX^vs fcaxo-
^ s OVK av eXei/^epov, a^ re fMKpo?, av ff
s, av re Biamrarro^. ^CTTCO.
**Er avF &Trdxpipai f&ot /ca/ceato* Bo/cel aot pe
TI elitai ical jewtatov ff etevdepfa icol afyo
IIw jap 0U ; *
55 TT&VQV mu; Ov/c <rrw. ^Qrav ovv ,
pa) f} /coAa/ccW'^ra ?mpa TO
y Xaye jc^i rovrap , Bapp&v pr}
/cat ^ pdwoVy av &$7n/apiou
OVT& muff, aXXa /cav ejrap^La^ evefca xap
' eKefaws }MV fjwcpo$ov\av$ Xeyc
&P if/ca ravra iroiovpTCt^ rov-
1 The refeiwice is to tbe OTdinmrf mefeod of
slftv^, rrfa^rely few were ever bred.
"260
BOOK IV. i. 51-55
When, therefore, neither those who are styled
kings live as they will, nor the friends of these kings,
what free men are left? Seek and you will find.
For nature has given you resources to find the truth.
But if you are unable of yourself, by employing
these resources alone, to find the next step, listen to
those who have already made the search. What do
they say ? Does freedom seem to you to be a good ?
Yes, the greatest. Is it possible, then, for a man
who has this greatest good to be unhappy, or to fare
ill ? No. When, therefore, you see men unhappy,
miserable, grieving, declare confidently that they
are not free. I do so declare. Very well, then, we
have now got away from buying and selling 1 and
arrangements of that kind in the acquisition of
property. For if you are right in agreeing to these
propositions, whether it be the Great King 2 who
is unhappy, or a little king, whether it be a man of
consular rank, or one who has been a consul twice,
he could not be free. Granted.
Answer me, then, this further question : Does
freedom seem to you to be a great and noble thing,
and precious ? Of course. Is it possible, then, for a
man who achieves a thing so great and precious and
noble, to be of abject spirit? It is not. When,
therefore, you see one man cringing before another,
or flattering him contrary to his own opinion, say
confidently of this man also that he is not free ; and
that not merely if he be doing so for the sake of a
paltry meal, but even if it be for a governorship or a
consulship. Call rather those who do these things
for certain small ends slaves on a small scale, and
8 That is, of Persia.
rfl
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
56
ravra.
IQP Tt, ettHii ical aitTovojJtOP ; II&? yap ov
f/ 0vrtva OVP ITT* aXX&> /c&Xvo'at G&TI /cal a
57 /cdffaty dappaip Xeye firj elvai l\V0epov. /cal
inq ftoi iraTTTTov^ avrov KOA TrpoTraTnrov? keTre
ical MVTIV %i]Ti fcal Trpcunv t aXX* av afcovcr^
ea&dev /cal /c irddovs ft /evpte" KCUV
pd/3Boi vrpoayaHriv, ~\,<ye SovXov* icav
d/coifcrrj^ "KljovTQ? " TaXa? eyca, ola 7rao"^G>," Xy
av a7r\
Ta, Xeye
58 %OPT3&. &
, aXXa
' icaw evpyv TO&OVTQV, Xeye SovXov avo%a$
JF 2taTvpva\i0t$* XJ^e, art o tcvpios
S xal vawrr} ola wd&e&.
O? TO
ravra fj a^\ea'Sat. OSro? oy^ TroXXoi/9 KV pious
Trporepov?
/ca
60 Ifowww icvpLov^ iva&* 7ret roi ouSei? avjov TOP
i, aXXa ddvarov, $vyi)Vt cujxii-
rmv ovrtW) $v\&KTp>, wrifdcM. ov8e
TOF Kaiffapa* &P /MJ ^ iroXXov cigtos, a
1 '' !Hbe nnaiber for a eoasnL
s The robe wcrn by klgb officials at Rome. Ci I. 2, 18.
* Wiesi dairw bad.aperaal liberties.
262
BOOK IV. i. 55-60
the others, as they deserve, slaves on a grand scale.
This also I grant. And does freedom seem to you
to be something independent and self-governing ?
Of course. When, therefore, it is in another's power
to put hindrances in a man's way and subject him to
compulsion, say confidently that this man is not free.
And please don't look at his grandfathers and great-
grandfathers, or look for a deed of sale or purchase,
but If you hear him say " Master," in the centre of his
being and with deep emotion, call him a slave, even if
twelve fasces l precede him ; and if you hear him say,
" Alas ! What I must suffer ! " call him a slave ; and, in
short, if you see him wailing, complaining, in misery,
call him a slave in a toga praetexta? However, if he
does none of these things, do not call him free yet,
but find out what his judgements are, whether they
are in any respect subject to compulsion, to hindrance,
to unhappiness ; and if you find him to be that kind
of a person, call him a slave on holiday at the
Saturnalia ; 3 say that his master is out of town ;
later on he will return, and then you will leam what
the fellow suffers. Who will return ? Anyone
who has control over the things which some man
desires, to get these for him or to take them away. r-
Have we, then, so many masters ? Yes, so many. For
even before these personal masters we have masters
in the form of circumstances, and these are many.
Hence, it needs must follow that those too who
have authority over some one of these circumstances
are our masters. Why, look you, no one is afraid of
Caesar himself, but he is afraid of death, exile, loss of
property, prison, disfranchisement. Nor does anyone
love Caesar himself, unless in some way Caesar
is a person of great merit; but we love wealth, a
263
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
reiap* Srap ravra <f>i\&jiev fcal iLia&pev xal
$o$/ie$a, avdjieij row? cgouaiav avr&v e^OFTa?
ten pious r$j&wv zivai* Bia rovro /cal &>? Oeov^
61 avrovs TTpoa/cvvovpeir eifvoovp,ev yap, on TO
eld* VTT order CTQ/JLCV KafcS)^ "ouros" S* e^ei T?}?
/cal TO
62 Ti oitv earl TO TTOWVP afcdokvroy rov av
/cal avT^ova-top ; wXcvro? yap ov irotei
63 vTrareia owS* 7ra/>%a o^Se JBacrikeia* aXXa Set
rt aXXu vp0v]pa&. rl ovv <rrl TO
/ecu aTrapaTro&iffTov ; C H
ir. Tt 8* F
TOW Kiffapi^eaf.
64 ^ow 17 iri(TTij/ri roB ft tow.
^-jxi S* avTO #a
<f>tftv6v TiFO?
axettXtrrov elvat, ; Oy. *
65 ^er^w d7rapa7roSi(TTOP ; O5. Qv/eow? ov
ffepov. Spa ow* Trorepov oySei/ %o/iev, o <$?
vflUJf fiovm? iarljff fj irdvrct^ $j ra JJLGV i(j) 9 four
60 lffTiv f TO* S* OT* aXXoi? ; II 0*9
1 The lassfc eleven words are here wrongly repeated in 5,
a* Schenki olwcyrai ; but be was mist^keB in aasumiBg. fchari
tlie i reptitm began Hasaedi&tely alter x e *> whereas , it
prollMy was 5ne to the eye going back to the wrong
' ' " ' ' '
1 The .major premiss iss * 4 Wfaal ba power to confer the
greatest advantage is iivine ** ; fee minor pr^oiss, as in the
264
BOOK IV. i. 60-66
tribuneship, a praetorship, a consulship. When we
love and hate and fear these things, it needs must
be that those who control them are masters over us.
That is why we even worship those persons as gods ;
for we consider that what has power to confer the
greatest advantage is divine. And then we lay down
the wrong minor premiss : (e This man has power to
confer the greatest advantage,** It needs must be
that the conclusion from these premisses is wrong too. 1
What, then, is it which makes a man free from
hindrance and his own master ? For wealth does not
do it, nor a consulship, nor a province, nor a
kingdom, but something else has to be found.
What,, therefore^ is it which makes a man free
from hindrance and restraint in writing? The
knowledge of how to write. And what ie play-
ing on the harp ? The knowledge of how to
play on the harp. Bo also in living, it is the know-
ledge of how to live. Now you have already
heard this, as a general principle, but consider it also
in its particular applications. Is it possible for the
man who is aiming at some one of these things
which are under the control of others to be free
from hindrance ? No. Is it possible for him to be
free from restraint?- No. Therefore, it is not
possible for him to be free, either. Consider then :
Have we nothing which is under our own exclusive
control, or is everything in that state; or are some
things under otir control and others tinder the
control of others ? How do you mean ? When you
^ant your body to be whole, is the uciatter under
text ; from wliicb follows the conclusion : " Therefore, this
man is divine/' which is wrong because of the false minor
premiss.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/"\ > / tf/"\ P /
; (Jv/c 7T efiok. \jrav o vytaiveiv ;
TOVTQ. -Orap 8e /caXo^ clvai ; QvSe
Z?Jy #al aTroffaveiv; OuSe TOVTO.
TO /iF u">fia aXXoT/?oj>, VTreudvvov Trav-
67 T09 TO'? l(T)(l/pOTpOV. - TSflTTfi). - Tbv WJpOV S* eVl
aoi <j-*nv ^X,tp t orai/ ffeXy^ teal $* ocrov @\i$
teal olov 0e\i$ ; O5. Ta Se ^ovXdpta; Ou.
TA S* Ifidna; Ou. To Se ol/ciStozt ; OS.
Toil? S* 1777101/9 ; - ToiSTOW /^J^ OV&V. *Ay Se Ta
a~av Ifiv 51X^9 ^ airavro^ rj TTJP ywai/ca
rara.
68 II>T/w o5^ 0y8ey e^e^5 avrG^ovaioVy o
fj*v(p earl <JQI, TJ e^i? TI TQIQVTQV ; Ov/c
69 ' -Qpa ow> QUTWS Kal <Tfce\fra& aura*
Bvrarai &
el xal a
70 *Ay, op/ifj'ffai SI <
ava^ica^at; Amarm. 5*rav yap JJUQI davarov
fy $&pa* airaXf}, apay/cd^et p op/jLTJcrcu. -*Az>
ow? KaTa$pojrg$ TOU aiFoQavelv xal TOV
71 TC aVTQV "iwi(FT
T0 Kara^oveiv ffavdrou TJ ov aov; *
eorrl /cai TO op/JLTJ&at % ou ; "
p&. - To S* O^OpjjkTJ&ai? TiPQ$ ; <TOV fCCU TOVTO.
72 T* o5v, &jf Ipov op
; Ti <rov
ir aXXa TO
266
BOOK IV. i. 66-72
your control, or not ? It is not. And when you
want It to be well ? Nor that, either. And to live
or to die ? Nor that, either. Therefore, your body
is not your own possession, it is subject to everyone
who is stronger than you are. Granted. And your
farm, is it under your control to have it when you
want, and as long as you want, and in the condition
that you want ? No. And your paltry slaves? No.
And your clothes ? No. And your paltry house ?
No. And your horses ? None of these things.
And if you wish by all means your children to lire,
or your wife, or your brother, or your friends, is the
matter tinder yonr control ? No, nor that, either.
Have you, then, nothing subject to your authority,
which is under your control and yours only, or do you
have something of that sort? I do not know,
Look, then, at the matter this way^ and consider it.
No one can make you assent to what is false, can he ?
No one. Well, then, in the region of assent you
are free from hindrance and restraint. Granted.
Come, can anyone force you to choose something
that you do not want? He can; for when he
threatens me with death or bonds, he compels me
to choose. If, however, you despise death and boncls,
do you pay any further heed to him? No. Is it,
then, an act of your own to despise death, or is it
not your own act ? It is mine. So it is your own
act to choose, or is it not ? Granted that it is mine.
And to refuse something? This also is yours.
Yes, but suppose I Choose to go for a walk and the
other person hinders me? What part of you will
he hinder? Surely not your assent? No ; but my
poor body. Yes, as he would a stone. Granted
that, but I do not proceed to take my
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
73 Ts Be &Qi clirep "TO Trpnr<tTfj<rcu O-OP epjov
ecrrv
TOP fiopop TO opf&ijaai*' OTTOV B cro^paro^
teal 7% K TOVTOV (rvvepyeta?, irakat, a
74 OTl OvMp <TTl (TOP. - TEcTT KOI TCEl/TO. - '0/J6-
Be <re ov fti) 0eXi,$ TI<$ apajK
; OvSeis. TLpoffeeffcu 8* ^ Kf>/3a\eaffai,
75 racriat^; -OiSe TO!)TO aXXa opejoftevov
ere ic&\vari;
* T& oZp 001 Xeyei, on a T&V
76
77 aXXov oXXoT/j?v fiTjS-ePo^ S 7^/5 O^AC e&np
era! 7rapao-/cevdffa& 4 '"jp^crat ar #eXe9, roiho
, aXXa -EroXv w pore pop T^J/ opegw el
op SovXov, vTreffijfca^ TOP
ff Ti * aF 8avp*d(rrf$ T*V psr} a>v } & TIPI
78 aF T^F inrevff.vpwp teal ffv^T&p wpocnradr}$. :C fit
<rrl <ro^ a <j>v<Ti Be
Op, B&vXop 7T^Fta9 roi;
79 i&%vporipGiA, icel n ffoi \ejrn ^la ; oXop ro
oloj re $, e^* otrov&v
&* arpfapeia p xm, &rpa>n&TV}
t Se /i?f,
i^ cdt' TO oi^t-
f ii oMecl Isy Elter i rfdy^hor, SF Qmqtbnjs r$v TA (latef
pe "
268
BOOK IV. i. 73-79
who told you, " It is your own act to take a walk
unhindered " ? As for me, I told you that the only
unhindered thing was the desire ; but where there is
a use of the body and its co-operation,, you have heard
long ago that nothing is your own, Granted that
also. Can anyone force you to desire what you do
not want? No one. Or to purpose or plan, or, in a
word, to deal with the impressions that come to
you ? No, nor that, either ; but he will hinder me,
when \ set my desire upon something, from achieving:
what I desire, If you desire something which is your
own and not subject to hindrance, how will he hinder
you? Not at all. Who, then, tells you that the
man who sets his desire upon what is not his own is
free from hindrance ?
Shall I not, then, set my desire on health ? No,
not at all, nor on anything else which is not your
own. For that which Is not fix your power to
acquire or to keep is none of yours. Keep far away
from it not merely your hands, but above all your
desire ; otherwise, you have delivered yourself into
slavery, you have bowed your neck to the burden, if
you admire anything that is not your own, if you
conceive a violent passion for anything that is in
subjection to another and mortal- Is not my hand
my own? It is a part of you, but by nature it is
clay, subject to hindrance and compulsion, a slave to
everything that is stronger than you are} And why
do I name you the hand ? You ought to treat your
whole body like a poor loaded-down donkey, as long
as it is possible, as long as it is allowed ; and if it be
commandeered and a soldier lay hold of it, let it go,
do not resist nor grumble. If you do, you will get
a beating and lose your little donkey just the same.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
80 piov. orap Be TT/W TO <r&fMt OVTC$$ j(tv ere 77,
Spa, ri aTrdh^iirerai *irpl ra aXXa, o<ra rov
7w/iaT09 iveica irapa<ncvd^erai. orap e/celpo
ovdptov %, raXXa jlvercu, %a\tvdpui rov ovapiou 9
a, dwokve ddrrov seal v/cok($Tpov ^ TO
avdptov.
81 Kai Tavrvji? rip wapc&a"/cv?]v 7rapa0"/cevacrd/iepo$
teal rrjv aa"fcr}(rtv dff/c^<ra$ ra aXXorpia awo
iSio>F $ta/epivtv t ra
raura irpig GMWTQV Tjyei&dai, Ifcelpa ^
ov, ivravda li
82 QvSeva* Ilepl TWO? jap (f}QJ3*]&7} ; Trepl TQ*P
v? tmov croi 4 owria rov dyadov /cal roi;
airrii Svparat, T? /i7roScra4 ; ou /ta
0F. aXX* virep rav crm/iaTO
; vTrep rmv aXkorpmp ; v>7rp TWV ov
era, T^ IT! crol /tal OU>K JT
84
Xinri| Se rt
lite ;
BOOK IV. i, 79-84
But when this is the way in which you should act as
regards the body y consider what is left for you to do
about all the other things that are provided for the
sake of the body. Since the body is a little donkey,
the other things become little bridles for a little
donkey, little pack-saddles, little shoes, and barley,
and fodder. Let them go too, get rid of them more
quickly and cheerfully than of the little donkey itself.
Once prepared and trained in this fashion to
distinguish what is not your own from what is your
own possession, the things which are subject to
hindrance from those which are free from it, to
regard these latter as your concern, and the former
as no concern of yours, diligently to keep your
desire fixed on the latter, and your aversion directed
toward the former, then have yon any longer any-
one to fear ? No one. Of course ; what is there to
be fearful about? About the things that are your
own, wherein is the true nature of good and evil for
you ? And who has authority over these ? Who
can take them away, who can hinder them, any
more than one can hinder God ? But shall you be
fearful about your body and your property ? About
the things that are not your own ? About the
things that are nothing to you? And what else
have you been studying, from the very outset, but
how to discriminate between what is your own and
what is not your own, what is under your control
and what is not under your control, what is subject
to hindrance and what is free from it ? For what
purpose did you go to the philosophers ? That you
might no less than before be unfortunate and
miserable ? , You will not, then, in that case, be free
from fear and perturbation. And what has pain to
ARRIAN'S DISCOUESES OF EPICTETUS
jap 7rpQ(roK$iev*v 0^09, jwrai ica
irapQVT&sy, GTriffvf&qtTeis Se TWW &TI; TWP
jap Trpoaipertic&p are icakBv QWT&>V xal
avjjLt&erpQV ly9 nal /cadio-Ta/jLO^p TTJP
*,,*, /v / > e, \ * / w \
T&*v o airpotpT(&v ouoGPQ$ opeyif, iva KCL
$ TO aKojov ifcelvo teal aMJTt/cov xal trapa ra
85 "'OTO.F oZv TTpo^ *ra irpdj/JMTd olrra? %^9> rfe eri
Bmarai (fzajBepos eivat ; TI jap %&
<f>Q'j3p0v TJ otbffels rj "
ov fiaXXov TJ liriro?
tcvwl $ p&ucr&a /tX/o"O"|j. aXXa ra
fcd(rrft ^o/Sepd 0"Tiv* raura S* OTO-I/
i rim % a<j>\eadai, TOTC xal
80 II &? ofe a/cpowoX^^ /earaXverat ; oy
ovSc TTV/M, aXXa ^ojpaaiv. av jap TTJV oftaav ei>
Ka$kfi&fJLV s ftif Tl KOI T7}V TQV 7TUpToB f
l rrjp TWV ncct,\&>p jvvtufeapi&p, jj.rj rt>
r$v IF r$fM,p axpowofav teal TOW? P fjfuv
pt o&? e(jf efcdo-TOw /caff
iror /lev TOU? avrovs, irore
87 aXXoi/?; aXX 7 zvBev agaaGai Set ^a
rvpv-
y ra
1 The pnztotoallaa s "by Capps ;
tlte ortilnary reading.
< a reference tq TOme proerb y or well- known
ying like fcimt of Alcaens, * ' Yaliant men are the tower of
a, city** (Smyth, Gre&Mfdic Poris, frag. 15). The citadel is
the keep, or tower* from which a tjranfe is represented -as
BOOK IV. L 84-87
do with you ? For fear of things anticipated be-
comes pain when these things are present. And
what will you any longer passionately seek? For
yon possess a harmonious and regulated desire for
the things that are within the sphere of the moral
purpqse, as being excellent, and as being within your
reach ; and you desire nothing outside the sphere
of the moral purpose, so as to give place to that
other element of unreason, which pushes you along
arid is impetuous beyond all measure.
Now when you face things in this fashion, what
man can inspire fear in you any longer ? For what
has one human being about him that is calculated to
inspire fear in another human being, in either his
appearance, or conversation, or intercourse in general,
any more than one horse, or dog, or bee inspires fear
in another horse, or dog, or, bee ? Nay, it is things
that inspire man with fear; and when one person
is able to secure them for another, or to take them
away, then he becomes capable of inspiring fear.
How, then, is a citadel destroyed ? l Not by iron,
nor by fire, but by judgements. For if we capture
the citadel in the city, have we captured the citadel
of fever aiso, have we captured that of pretty wenches
also, in a word, the acropolis within us, and hare we
cast out the tyrants within us, whom we have lord-
ing' it over each of us 2 every day, sometimes the
same tyrants, and sometimes others ? But here is
where we must begin, and it is from this side that we
must seize the acropolis and cast out the tyrants ; we
must yield up the paltry body, its members, the
* So ScfewfeighEnser; but there Is some xmoectaibty about
Hie meaning of fy? 4jor*ms, wMcfe Sdfoegk, Wolf, and Upton
t$ke : to refer td ^aattersy or affeirs (irp^y/ucroy ss in f 85).
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
r/cpa, aeou?, tXoz;?, irvra ravra
88 aXXor/xa. #&y evdei/ eief&.'rjff&a'W ol rvpawot, ri
en a7n>Tej:Yti T^F d/cpoTroXip epov j eveica;
; r
; TTOV jap avr&p aluddvopai ;
a$ pdjSBov^ /cal TO
89 ra? fia^aipa^, ljo> S* OVTTWTTOT* ovre
K<x}\vdijv OUT' ^j/ay/edadjjv pr) 9e\av. /cal
TOVTO BupaTov; TTpoff/caTarlTaxd /JLOV
tav iiri r
Qpj<r0ai 9 fed jit) ^eX. Qskei fie iuj(<eiv
90 tcajw f3ov\oficu. v 0\ei* ov
erf fie Ktikvffai wara^ 7rpo TO
jj dvajKatrai ,* cw /i^XXo'F ^ TOF Ata.
01 Othrw woiov&t KCU rmf oBoi7TQp(&v ol i
ov rokfia, icafftvai 9 aXXa Trep&efieipep crvvoSiav
dvdvTrdrov fail TTpocr-
1 Tiie metaphor in this jwwge is complicated, I take it
to mean, using wealtli as a eonTCnienfe example, sometMng
like this: The tyrant is a false judgement (B^y/m) about
wealthy the acropolis and the bodyguard are wealth itself,
which is dangerous only ao long as the false judgement pre-
Yails. Once that is overthrown, actual wealth itself need
not be destroyed, at least for the man who is freed from, the
judgement abont ity because wealth as such has no
longer any power over Mm. Otter people may be menaced
by it, but every man has a ready means of defence, which is
to s0Bj ife correct Judgement about the thing itself. Many
mattew (vp&tfum) like dentil and di^ise cannot^
BOOK IV. r. 87-91
faculties,, property, reputation,, offices, honours,,
children, brothers, friends count all these things
as alien to us. And if the tyrants be thrown out of
the spot, why should I any longer raze the fortifica-
tions of the citadel, on my own account, at least?
For what harm does it do me by standing ? Why
should I go on and throw out the tyrant's body-
guard ? For where do I feel them ? Their rods,
their spears, and their swords they are directing
against others. But I have never been hindered in
the exercise of my will, nor have I ever been sub-
jected to compulsion against my will. 1 And how
is this possible ? I have submitted my freedom of
choice unto God. He wills that I shall have fever ;
it is my will too. He wills that I should choose
something; it is my will too. He wills that I
should desire something; it is my will too. He
wills that I should get something ; it is my wish
too." He does not will it; I do not wish it. There-
fore, it is my will to die ; therefore, it is my will to
be tortured on the rack. Who can hinder me
any longer against my own views, or put com-
pulsion upon me r That is no more possible in my
case than it would be with Zeus,
This is the way also with the more cautiotts
among travellers. A man has heard that the road
which he is taking is infested with robbers ; he does
not venture to set forth alone, but he waits for a
company, either that of an ambassador, or of a
quaestor, or of a proconsul, and when he has attached
in any event, be destroyed, Ifc is vain labour to try to
destroy the things themselves, wlieaitis only the false judge-
ments tkat are dangerous, and these any man can himself
overcome.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
02 xarard^a^ eawbv 7rapp%era& a
K(U P T& KOffjJL^
\rjffTripiaj rvpavvoi,
; woiav av^o^iav ir^ptjJ^Lva^ aa<j>a-
4 Xw<? Si&jBg ; rtw irpocnearaTd^a^ eavrov ; T
irKovtrup, TW man/cm ; /CM ri /w&
vTo? 1 acSi/eTcw, olfub&i, ireyffet. vi S J ,
ai> o o"t;FoSoi7ropa
95 /AOI/ jpf}rai ; ri
joo^* eicelvav fi ovra GToipoit ovSel*; a
itpwrop fi& 9 Iva yevw/mt, Trocra 1 /te SeE TX^z/at
^cal iradw, 7to"d/ct$ /ecu VTTO TTOCTC&F "A,rja"Tv0 rjvai*
06lra eF yevw/MU, ical OVTQ$ 0v7jro<? lJTi2/, 2 az^
S* avro? TiFO? 7T/54CTTacrCi)9 e^po? j&of ywrjrai,
Trot/ TTOTC
07 a*y, eicel wvpcrov VK ip%era& ; ri ovw
op, &veiriftov\etrroi> ; n {?Sr0? ^I<TT^O-&V teal
f OTA, aF T irpOfTKaTdTTj avrov,
Xeyeis? wp<rtcar<iTd!*a[, ; "Ij/, o ay
wrov 0\y y teal o cb> ^^09 /^-^
avro? ^eX^. Dw? o& rof5ro
<p ray
l T^P BIOIKIJCIV ; T /tot
; ra
* After tMi word 5 repeats m
$16
BOOK IV, i. 91-100
himself to- them he travels along the road in safety.
So in this world the wise man acts. Says he to
himself: <* There are many robber-bands, tyrants,
storms, difficulties, losses of what is most dear.
Where shall a man flee for refuge ? How shall he
travel secure against robbery ? What company shall
he wait for that he may pass through in safety ? To
whom shall he attach himself? To So-and-so,, the
rich man, or the proconsul ? And what is the good
of that? He himself is stripped., groans, sorrows.
Yes, and what if my fellow-traveller himself turn
upon me and rob me? What shall I do? I will
become a friend of Caesar ; no one will wrong me if
I am a companion of his. But, in the first place,
the number of things I must suffer and endure in
order to become his friend ! and the number of
times, and the number of persons by whom I must
first be robbed ! And then, even if I do become his
friend, he too is mortal. And if some circumstance
lead him to become my enemy, where indeed had I
better retire? To a wilderness? What, does not
fever go there? What, then, is to become of me?
Is it impossible to find a fellow-traveller who is safe,
faithful, strong, free from the suspicion of treachery ? "
Thus he reflects and comes to the thought that, if
he attach himself to God, he will pass through the
world in safety.
How do you mean "attach himself* ? Why, so that
whatever God wills, he also wills, and whatever God
does not will, this he also does not will. How, then,
can this be done ? Why, how else than by observing
the choices of God and His governance ? What has
He given me for my own and subject to my authority,
and what has He left for Himself? Everything
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
JJLOI &tCeV, 7T flG>
, a/e&\vra. TO cr^fia TO
oXow irepiofflj TI/V /cryfftv f ra
101 olfetaVf ra re/eva, r^v jvval/ca. rt
%& ; T 0eX(& ra pi) dekrjTd, ra JJLIJ SodevTa pot
e^ airavro^ cyeiv ; aXKa TTCO? ; m
/cal ^>' varov Svi/aTaf. 1 aXA, 1 o Sow?
ri ovv avTiTeivto ; ov Xcyco,
TOV IffjfvpoTepov j3taofAVQ$f aXX* IT*
s. 7T@0V jap %Q)V aura rjKdov; o
avra eBm/cew. exeivGp Se r/5 ; TOJ^ TJ)UQV Se
T*?, T^F Se TTpo? aXXjjXov? au/iTrko/c^v fcal
viav rfc ;
103 E&Ta (Tv/iiraiira 6^17^099 THX^' aXXoi? /cat ainov
aeavTQj/, ajaya/CTel^ ical {&{$$ TOP SovTa, av aov
104 T^ a^l\jyrat ; T/9 &i^ Aral lirl rt
e^e^o? <T urqyayV ; ot%l TO
eBci^cp ; ou awepyovs BeS(x>xV ; ov #ai al
ait \irjov ; 9 r/va Se etcrrfyaryev ; ou% co? $V?\TQV ;
i fft$a"Qj&vow TVJV Stoi^fjo-iv avrov /cal
icm cn/peopTdtrovra irpos
But cf. ezplanatory note.
Very similar is the pbrsse fy* Sraj' &^ Ur re f in | 79
As Jol> L 21 : ** The I^>rd ga^e, and the Lord 'hath taken
away.**
* That is, God.
BOOK IV. L 100-104
within the sphere of the moral purpose He has given
me, subjected them to my control., unhampered and
unhindered. My body that is made of clay,, how
could He make that unhindered? Accordingly He
has made it subject to the revolution of the universe
my property, my furniture, my honse, my children,
my wife. Why, then, shall I strive against God?
Why shall I will what is not in the province of the
will,, to keep under all circumstances what has not
been given me outright? But how should I keep
them? In accordance with the terms upon which
they have been given, and for as long as they can be
given. 1 But He who gave also takes away. 2 Why, then,
shall I resist ? I do not say that I shall be a fool for
trying to use force upon one who is stronger than I am,
but before that I shall be wicked. For where did I
get these things when I came into the world ? My
father gave them to me. And who gave them to
him ? Who has made the sun, who the fruits, who
the seasons, who the union and fellowship of men
one with another ?
And so, when you have received everything, and
your very self, from Another/ do you yet complain
and blame the Giver, if He take something away
Ironi you? Who are you, and for what purpose
have you come? Did not He bring you into the
world? Did not He show you the light? Did not
He give you f ellow- workers ? Did not He give
you senses also and reason? . And as what did He
bring you into the world ? Was it not as a mortal
being? Was it not as one destined to live upon
earth with a little portion of paltry flesh, and for a
little while to be a spectator of His governance, and
to join with Him in His pageant and holiday ? Are
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
OVP S a? Seoorat
teal TT$P iravrfyvpiv eira, orav cf llfayy,
virep
/cat ee*y ; "ov* aXX ert
/cat jap ot fiva-rai fjLvela&ai,
o '
$, 09 aiSqiubv 809 aXXoi? r&iroir
xal aXXou^f xadmTrep fcal av ey&wv, /cal
eiv v&ipay ical olfc^cret^y ra
av 8' ol irp&TM prj inre^d^fnp, ri
ri aTrX^crTO? el ; ri avitcavty? ; TL
107 Na* a\\b ra re/cvia fief efiavrov elvat 8eXa> /cal
TVJJJ yvvattca. 2^ jap ianp / ov^l TOV SOI/TO? ;
ical rov ere TreTTOirj/c&Tos / elra ov/e Kcmja"'rj
t&JF ; a v 7rapa')(wpiq<TL$ T
108 Ti o^F // eltrijjev lirl TQVTOIS; Kal e
* ov/c e^ %peiav dearov fjue^i-
eopraovT&v Beir
iKp&r&cri /^aXkov,
aFffyw/w. row a
^ o&c a?jSMS' S^jrerai, ai
oprj}
a, /te/^0F*ro ray Sai/wva, rfy
TV)(i)v, TOW ffwavray aj/alcr^ajTOt ^ral (
SchweighSJiser : raAanr^povs ^.
1 'Or pcfesitsriy, **He dc HflCstilt JOT," as Gapps so^^te.
BOOK IV. i. 105-109
yon not willing, then, for so long as has been given
you, to be a spectator of His pageant and His
festival, and then when He leads yon forth, to go,
after you have made obeisance and returned thanks
for what you have heard and seen ? & No/* you say,
"but I wanted to go on with the holiday." Yes,
and so do the initiates in the mysteries want to go
on with the initiation, and no doubt the spectators
at Olympia want to see still other athletes ; but the
festival has come to an end ; leave, depart as a
grateful and reverent spectator departs ; make room
for others; yet others must be born, even as you
were born, and once bom they must have land, and
houses, and provisions. But if the first-comers do
not move along, what is left for those who follow
after ? Why are you insatiate ? Why never satisfied ?
Why do you crowd the world ?
Yes, but I want my little children and my wife to
l>e with me. Are they yours ? Do they not belong
to Him who gave them? To Him who made you?
Will you not 5 therefore 3 give up what is not your
own ? Will you not yield to your superior ? -Why>
then, did He bring me into the world on these
conditions ? And if they do l not suit yott, leave ;
God has no need t)f a fault-finding* spectator. He
needs those who join in the holiday and the dance,
that they may applaud rather, and glorify, and sing
hymns of praise about the festival. But the peevish
and the cowardly He trill not be distressed to see
left out of the festival j' for when they were present
they did not act as though they were on a holiday,
nor did thej fill the proper rdle; but they were dis-
tressed, found fault with the Deity, with fate, and
with* the company; insensible to what had been
A BRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
xai T&SV eavrmv Swe/iecw, a? elXij(j>ao" 7rpo9 ra
epavria, fjL f ya\O'$rv%ias t ^/ewaior^TO^, avftpeias,
T% VVP %qrovfLV7)$ eXeudepia*?. 'Eiri ri
ovv
y. p ovv avay/cala
/cal QVK
aii avra avr$> ^ &nrr^ avajicam /cal ovx e
Ill
, a?ro
, iwl iyrwdpiov, evl arfpi^iow V0v 7rl
TO <r&fjLa, ra p,epv} rot) crcw/iaTO?, TO. re/cva,
jwaitea, rov^ dSeX^oi/9. iravra^ov wepi-
awo &avTOv m icaB^ov ra
113 /cal Xeye ^vpva^o/ie^og /caff 'ijfiepajr, co? i/ci fir)
art $tfao0o$eifi (ecrrco ^opTiicov TO SVO/JUL), aXX*
or* cairwT^F $ TOI/TO
KO\ ov/ceri e<f>Yj /cara&ov-
Svycurffat wii ovSeFO9. S^i TQVTQ
rofe
1 "itw templing to conjecture Kpwff*re!ttF y ** making pro-
liuoKt for your eman|tiO9, JJ since very man musk win Ms
wn fr^dom for b.imseli But Eptetetns probably i^ tMak-
iag bere of a man being won to freedom by following some
great philosopher, who is Bis emancipator, as in the famous
mwtiafeai in the next sentence. It is interesfciug to , oteerve
haw, wiA &B its insfctenoe m|Km JBdividnal responsibiUfcy,
even Stoicism at tpis time was becoming a religion of books,
examples, and. saviours.
282
BOOK IV. i. 109-115
vouchsafed them, and to their own powers which
they had received for the very opposite use high-
mindedness, nobility of character, courage,, and the
very freedom for which we are now seeking. For
what purpose, then, did I receive these gifts? To
use them. How long? For as long as He who lent
them to you wills. But what if they are necessary
to me? Do not set your heart upon them, and they
will not be necessary to you. Do not say to yourself
that they are necessary,, and they will not be.
This is what you ought to practise from morning
till evening. Begin with the most trifling things,
the ones most exposed to injury, like a pot, or a cup,
and then advance to a tunic, a paltry dog, a mere
horse, a bit of land ; thence to yourself, your body,
and its members, your children, wife, brothers. Look
about on every side and cast these things away from
you. Purify your judgements, for fear lest something
of what is not your own may be fastened to them, or
grown together with them, and may give you pain
when it is torn loose. And every day while you are
training yourself, as you do in the gymnasium, do
not say that you are ce pursuing philosophy " (indeed
an arrogant phrase!), but that you are a slave
presenting your emancipator in court; 1 for this is
the true freedom. This is the way in which Diogenes
was set free by Antisthenes/ and afterwards said
that he could never be enslaved again by any
man. How, in consequence,, did he behave when
he was captured ! s How he treated the pirates 1
* See III. 24, 67.
a j^ very famous incident in the life of the philosopher.
See especially, If usonras frag. 9 (p. 49, 8 ff., Hense) z GeUins,
II, 18, 9-10 ; kucian, Fit. And,. 7 ; Diogenes Laertiiis, 6, 30 ;
36 ; 74 ; Ps.-Crates, Eptet. 34 j and above, HI. 24, 66.
2*3
VOL, II. K
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
nva avTWV ; /ca ov ejw TO oi/o/m* ov jap
T^F (^mvjjv <j*ol3oufiai t aXXa TO 7rd0o^ % azji ov 17
116 <f>av7j 1/arefJL'n'erai. TnS? lirtrtfid avTow, ort
/cascS)^ Tptpov
fJLTj Tl KVptOV
^ rov
V, OTI OU^ OI/TCt)9
e? avrov, QU)^ QVT&)$ K/cdpdai> ire pi rwv vlcov,
111 7TW9 &Z avTQii^ BidjeiP. /cal rl davfjLacrTQV ; el
jap 7raiSoTpii3j)v eajrrjTO, ev TOK irakaio-TptKofe
av auTW l^pijTO r} tcvpiep ; el 8' larpov,
el S' dp^ne/crowa. /cal otrrci)9 ^>*
5X7/9 TOV GfiTreipov Tov dwelpov Kpaielv
118 Ttaaa avayKi). OCTTI? oyy icadokov TVJV Trepl f$iov
, ri aXXo r} TOVTQV elvat, Bel
; T? jdp l&rw IP vrjl /cvptos ; O
A^a T& ; STI o airetff&v auT%> 77-
119 fuovrm. *AXXa Setpai fte Svvarcu. M^ n ovv
; OI/T? p&v tcajm e/cptvop. AXX* OTJ
s, &a TOI/TO OVK e^eariv* ovSevl 8*
TO yroielv ia aBi/ca* Kal Tt9 ^
avri TOP avrov SoOXoF, ^F So/c^ ; ^
To &$)arat m TQ&TO o /cal &V Q/Aokojtfcrew, av
v, OTI. av&p(&Tro<$ ovfc ecm, dr}plov y aXX*
121 fjfiepap $ov. eVei TTOT' a/z-TreXo? Trpdo'det, /cafc>$ ;
wapa T^F lat/T^9 (ftvffiv irpd<T<rrj. TTOT*
: |F Sojcets 5.
S^aisoIV.
284
BOOK IV. i. 115-121
He called none of them master, did lie? And I am
not referring to the name ! it is not the word that I
fear, but the emotion, which produces the word.
How he censures them because they gave bad food
to their captives ! How he behaved when he was
sold ! Did he look for a master ? No, but for a
slave. And how he behaved toward his master after
he had been sold ! He began immediately to argue
with him, telling him that he ought not to dress
that way,, or have his hair cut that way, and about
his sons, how they ought to live. And what is there
strange about that? Why,, if he had bought a
gymnastic trainer, would he have employed him as a
servant, or as a master, in the exercises of the
palaestra ? And if he had bought a physician, or a
master-builder, the same would have been true.
And thus in every subject-matter, it is quite un-
avoidable that the man of skill should be superior to
the man without skill. In general, therefore, who-
ever possesses the science of how to live, how can
he help but be the master? For who is master in a
ship? The helmsman. Why? Because the man
who disobeys him is punished. But my master is
able to give me a sound flogging. He cannot do so
with impunity, can he ? So I thought. But because
he cannot do so with impunity, therefore he has no
authority to do it ; no man can do wrong with im-
punity. And what is the punishment that befalls
the man who has pot his own slave in chains, when
he felt like it ? The putting of him in chains ; this
is something which you will admit yourself, if you
wish to maintain the proposition that man is not a
wild beast but a tame animal. 1 For when is a vine
faring badly ? When it is acting contrary to its own
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
t9 ovv auTov Jj covert? ; Sdxveiv /cal Xa/eritfetv nal
eh $v\ax7}V /3aX\iy /cal airotceifraXifav ; ov m
dXX* eZ iroielv, trvvepyelv, Trvj(e<T0ai. TOT* OVP
av re $eX?j9 av re pi}, orav
123 f/ O<TT 2cpaT^? ou 7rpa^e /cafc&% ; 015,
ol Si^acrTol /cal o/ rear ifao pot* Ou* e?'
'EXoviSto? ; Ov, aXX' o
ov Xlyei? /caic&$ wpa^ai TOF
v aX\a rw
vBaifLQpi^i<* TOP IMJTC Siw/copra
orap pfjjpvftevov OTTO roD Spojiov, ri
!;o\QyQv/jLev, el Xeyo/F iravro^ /ca/cbv
elvat ro Trapa rrjv exeivov (pvcrtv ; rovro irapd-
ecrrw ; av yap avro eirl yrdvrwv ro*v
^ Xeyt9/ B&a rl enrl JJLQVQU ouv rov
aXX* OT^ Xeyo/iz/
eivat rov avdpmwov TTJV <f*v<riv /cal
^cai iriar^j rovro TrapdSo^ov ov/c
127 ecrTiF ; QvSc TOVTO* II fi^ oyy en ov
7rao*%f, /cal
l 7rporw^eXoi5/iFO9 dwep^eratj
Se o 2 ^XaiTTO/iP09 ICTTIF 6 ra ot/crporara
/cal
* el adidl by Schenkl (after Upton). s ^ added by Blass.
1 A prominent Stoic senator at Rome. Sea L % 19 ff.
286
BOOK IV. i. 121-127
nature. When Is a cock faring badly? Under the
same conditions. So also man. What, then,, is his
nature ? To bite, and kick, and throw into prison,
and behead ? No, but to do good, to work together,
and to pray for the success of others. Therefore, he
is faring badly, whether you will or no, when he acts
unfeelingly.
You imply, then, that Socrates did not fare badly ?
He did not; it was his judges and accusers who
fared badly. Nor Helvidius 1 at Rome ? No, but the
man who put him to death. How so? Just as you
too do not say that the cock which has won a victory,
even though he be severely cut up, has fared badly,
but rather the one who has been beaten without
suffering a blow. Nor do you call a dog happy
when he is neither in pursuit nor toiling hard, but
when you see him sweating, suffering, bursting from
the chase. What is there paradoxical in the state-
ment, if we say that everything's evil is what is
contrary to its own nature? Is that paradoxical?
Do you not say it yourself in the case of everything
else ? Why, then, do you take a different course in
the case of man alone ? But our statement that the
nature of man is gentle, and affectionate, and faithful,
is this not paradoxical ? No, that is not paradoxical,
either. How, then, does it come about that he
suffers no harm, even though he is soundly flogged,
or imprisoned, or beheaded ? Is it not thus if he
bears it all in a noble spirit, and comes off with in-
creased profit and advantage, while the other man is
the one who suffers harm, the man who is subjected
to the most pitiful and disgraceful experience, who
becomes a wolf, or a snake, or a wasp, instead of a
human being ?
287
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
128 *Aye ovv iTT&jS&pev ra G>fio\ayrjfijra. o
e\V0po$, m irpaxeipa ra
&>9 ftovherat. ov S* eariv rj /c^Xvaai, rj
avayiedtrai fj e/nroBia-at fj atcovra *? n /
J a/c^Xurosr ; o f
s. riva S' a\"korpia ; a OVK
I307jroa ^eiv 7r ^^ G^OVTCL. ou/covv TO
a\\QTpiov, ra $i*ep7j avTov ak\@rpia, f}
a\\oTpia* av O&F r&vl rovrc&v <? tSico
wadrj^ Swciei? Suta? a? a^oi/ TW TWF a\\OTpl<vv
131 e$te$JL&ov. avTT] f\ oSo? eV* eXeudepiav ayei,
aZr^] IJLOVJJ airakliayr) Bu~keias t TO
TTOT' eiireuf eg 0X^9- ^xfl^ T
ayov Se |i y ,, <5 Zev, ^cai <riJ 7* 4
132 AX\ T Xeyefc?, <f}i\oaQ$G ; xaXe ere o
epouvrd n &v ov irpiTrei
; elire /wi. - V A$9 (
; ore S' CF T cr%\fj %?, ri l
OVK l/ieXerav, rtva eVxl ra ayaffa teal ra /ca/ca
133 ^al T^a cvBerepa ; 'EiffKeTnofiijv. Tlvtt ovv
vfv; Ta Bifcaia teal icaXa ayaOa
ra a8iMa ical ma^a xafcd. MTJ T* TO
%tjp ayaQov; Ov. MjJ rt TO airodamlv KCLKOV;
1 From the of Cleanthea, See on IL 23, 42.
2S8
BOOK IV. L 128-133
Come,now, and let us review the points on which we
have reached agreement. The unhampered man, who
finds things ready to hand as he wants them, is free.
But the man who can he hampered, or subjected to
compulsion,, or hindered, or thrown into something
against his will, is a slave. And who is unhampered?
The man who fixes his aim on nothing that is not
his own. And what are the things which are not
our own ? All that are not tinder our control, either
to have, or not to have, or to have of a certain
quality, or under certain conditions. Therefore, the
body Is not our own, its members are not our own^,
property is not our own* If, then, you conceive a
strong passion for some one of these things, as
though it were your immediate possession, you will
be punished as he should be who fixes his aim upon
what is not his own. This is the road which leads
to freedom, this is the only surcease of slavery, to
be able to say at any time with your whole heart,
Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny,
To that goal long ago to me assigned. 1
But what say you, philosopher? The tyrant calls
upon you to say something that is unworthy of you.
Do you say It, or not say it? Tell me. Let me
think about it. Think about it now? But what
were you thinking about when you were attending
lectures? Did you not study the questions, what
things are good, and what bad, and what are
neither good nor bad? I did. What conclusions
were approved, then, by you and your fellows?
That things righteous and excellent were good,
things unrighteous and disgraceful bad. Life is not
a good thing, is it? No. Nor death a bad thing?
289
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Ov. MJ? TI ^vkatcrj ; Ov. A 0709 S* ajevvijs
fcal a-jricTTO? *al <f*tXov TrpoSacria Kal /co\a/ceia
IHrvpavvov n vjj.lv e^aiWro ; Ka&a. Tt o5i/;
ot/^l arK7TTjj 3 ov%l 5* ia/ce^ai Kal /3/3ovKeu(rain
wota jap (TKe^ri^f el xadtj/cei JJLOI BuvafJLevtp TGL
peyicrra ajada i/jLavr^ trepiTrotfaai, TO, f&lyiaTa
Kaica fijj' Trep&iroi'fjcfa.t ; KO\.T} Gicefyis ical avaj-
idj 7ToXXi5? f$Qv\$}$ Seofievrj. ri fffuv epTrai-
avBpmTre; ovScTTOTe fotavrr) afce^is yu/erctt.
el -nw a\rj0Lai$ ica/ca JJAV I6avrd^ov ra
di ra 8* aXXa ouSejepa, ^X^e? av e-jrl
vTVjv rr)v eiruFTac'iv, ouS* ejjm' aXX* avroffev
136 State pivetv sl^e^ &G"7rep oi|rej T^ Bi.apoia. TTOTS
<ya/> cr^eTTTu, el ra fieXava, Xcv/ca <J~TIP } el ra
fiapea icoD^a ; ov^l Se TOIV eVa/xyw?
13? el 1 ra ovSerepa r&w xaicSnt <j>V/croTpa ; aXX*
ou: e^? TO Soy/w&Ta ravra, aXXa (fzalveTdi aot
cure ravra oi/Slrejoa, aXXa ra peywra, /cafcd,
138 OPT* smlva teaiea? aXX* ovSei^ 77^09 ^/a?. o/TCt>9
* "TTOV dpi;
. xal aicovoual pov rive^ ; Xeya> /i-era- TW
. aXX 1 e
1 fMedbj Wall f WK added by Upton.
290
BOOK IV. i. 133-138
No. Nor imprisonment ? No. But ignoble
speech and faithless, and betrayal of a friend, and
flattery of a tyrant, what did you and your fellows
think of these? We thought them evil. What
then? You are not thinking about the question
now, nor have you thought about it and considered
it hitherto. Why, what kind of inquiry is it, to
raise the question whether it is fitting, when it is
in my power to get for myself the greatest goods,
not to get for myself the greatest evils ! A fine
and necessary question, forsooth, that requires a
great deal of deliberation. Why are you making
fun of us, man? Such an inquiry is never made.
Besides, if you had honestly imagined that dis-
graceful things were bad, and all else indifferent,
you would never have approached this inquiry, no,
nor anything near it ; but you would have been able
to settle the question on the spot, by intuition, just
as in a case involving sight. Why, when do you
stop to "think about it," if the question is, Are
black things white, or, Are heavy things light?
Do you not follow the clear evidence of your senses ?
How comes it, then, that now you say you are
thinking it over, whether things indifferent are
more to be avoided than things bad ? But you do
not have these judgements; on the contrary, im-
prisonment and death do not appear to you to be
indifferent, but rather the greatest evils, and dis-
honourable words and deeds are not bad in your
sight, but rather things that do not concern us.
For that is the habit which you developed from the
start. " Where am I ? " you say. " In school. And
who are listening to me ? I am talking in the com-
pany of philosophers. But now I have left the
291
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TO, rmv &)(\a&TiKmv /cal r&v /icopcop."
Kara/jLap f Tvpirai <^tXo? biro <j>t\o<r6<f>ov t
139 oi/Tcw9 irapaatrel ^Xocro^iQS,, OUTG)? CTT* apyvplcp
ol eai/TOF, oi/Tfi>5 CF cri/y^X^TGO T9 ou
ra <f>aivafJLva* ei^So^ei/ TO Soy/j,a avrov
140 ^oa, ov 1 TJrv)(pbv /cal
ifreiSiov IK X07&JF eitcaMV* &)$ ex
/i2/OF, aXXo. la")(vpop fcal ^p^o-TL/cov teal VTTO
TQV Sia T)V epjmv <yjvpvda8at (jLefivrj
141 irapa^iika^ov aavTOj/, irwv a/cove^ ou
OT& TO TTaiMoV (TOV aTT0aVJf m WQ06P (TOi ,*
ort croi; TO eXaiOF ^^$17, 6 oli^o? i
142 JW Ti9 TTiffTa$ ^aTeiFo/i2/6) a"oi TOUT'
e, aXXa Xeyei? P T^
ri <r/ca>\rjg &v
el ; **
ica TToas <)wv&$ avjatV) e fAefwrjTcu rov
&? a/covei,
144 Kal Tt ravTa Trpo? eh^vSepiai? ; Ou/c aXXa
/16F DOT 77 raSr*, ajf T GeX^re v/jLelg ol
145 &/ T /iiy. Kal T S o-o& fmpTvpel ravra; Tt
<yap aXXo ^ avrol u/^ei? ol TOF Kvptov TOF /j*jav
TO
V ypaia? ffepairevov-
1 SckweigMnser : rf 5. s Reiske :
31
Possiblj an allnsicm to Egnatins Celer, who accused his
j Bkrm Soraniis,, in the reign of Hero, A.B. 66, when
292
BOOK IV. i. 138-145
school; away with those sayings of pedants and
fools ! " That is how a friend is condemned on the
testimony of a philosopher/ that is how a philosopher
turns parasite, that is how he hires himself out for
money,, that is how at a meeting of the senate a man
does not say what he thinks, while within his breast
Ms judgement shouts loudly,, no cold and miserable
remnant suspended from idle argumentations as by
a hair, but a strong and serviceable judgement, and
familiar with its business by having been trained in
action. Watch yourself, and see how you take the
word I do not say the word that your child is
dead; how could you possibly bear that? but the
word that your oil is spilled, or your wine drunk up.
Well might someone stand over you, when you are
in this excited condition, and say simply," Philosopher,
you talk differently in the school ; why are you de-
ceiving us? Why, when you axe a worm, do you
claim that you are a man ? " I should like to stand
over one of these philosophers when he is engaged
in sexual intercourse, so as to see how he exerts
himself, what manner of words he utters, whether
he remembers his own name, or the arguments that
he hears, or repeats, or reads !
And what has all this to do with freedom ? Nay,
nothing but all this has to do with freedom, whether
you rich people so wish or not. And what is your
witness to this ? Why, what else but you yourselves
who have this mighty master, 2 and live at Ms nod
and gesture, who faint away if he but look at one
of you with a scowl on Ms face, paying court to the
Epietetus was a boy. See Tacitus, Annans* 16, 32, and
Juvenal, 3, 1161
a i.e., the Emperor.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
xa
TQVTQ iraiijcrar OVK e^eani /M**;
ri ov/c e^effriv <roi ; ov/c aprt i/id^ov fioi
pai ; " aXXa *A.Trpv\\a fie Kied>\v~
" ~X,j avv ra? akrjdeia^^ SovXe^ teal
(TOV TOV9 fCUptoW /i^S* CLTiCLpVOV
147 Sot/X&a? eX7%OJ/9. icairoi rov /JLEP VTT' epcwro?
/iepop TI Troielv irapa TO (fxupQ/j^vop
pev opwpra TO H/JLCIVOV, apa S* oy^
avrm en,
Ti9 Girffvwfjwi*; a^iov inrcfkaffioi,, aO* {two
j3zaiw /cal TpoTroj/ Tiva ieLov /ca,Tea~)(r}pvoy
148 uov SI rfe avdfj-yoiTO rmv jpaGw epowro*? /cal
TWV jepoirr&v /cat, e/eeivav avroftvffiropTOS /cal
airoTT\inravTO? /cal Bmpo^o/covvro^ /cal afia fiev
votrowra? Bepaw ewvrffi? w? SouXoi/, a^a $ awQ-
ffavelv v^0/&Foi/ xal TOV^ larpoi/^ &ta/cpivoPTO<t,
el ^Siy &aFaffi{M<$ e^ovaiv ; fy iraktv orav inrcp
akmv TOUTWV /cal crc/ii/coF ap%o)v real
^9 %eipa$ T&P aXX0T/>wtw 8ov\&v /cara-
9, tva i&rfS* IXeuffepwv Bovko*? ^9 / elrd fwi
7Tpi7raTei9 CTT parity wv , vTrarevcdi/. OVK
oifrpvo? avrow ical ro-v BOV\IKOV
olSa 7^/3, rt <TTX Soi/Xo^
1 Olwionaly some rieb oW woman.
a See IIS and note.
A freedman of Nero*s. SwL 17, 19* 20 and 21.
294
BOOK IV. i. 145-150
old women and the old men, and saying,, Cl I cannot
do this ; I am not allowed " ? Why are you not
allowed ? Were you not just now arguing with me
and claiming that you were free ? " But Apralla *
has prevented me." Tell the truth,, then, slave, and
do not run away from your masters, nor make denial,
nor dare to present your emancipator, 2 when you
have so many proofs to convict you of slavery. And,
indeed, when a man out of passionate love is under
the compulsion to do something contrary to his
opinion, all the time seeing the better thing but
lacking the strength to follow, one might be all the
more inclined to regard him as deserving pity,
because he is in the grip of something violent, and,
in a manner of speaking, divine. But who could
endure you with your passion for old women and
old men, wiping the noses and washing the faces of
old women, corrupting them with presents, and all
the while you are nursing them, like a slave, in some
illness, praying for them to die, and asking the
physicians if they are finally on their deathbed?
Or again, when for the sake of these mighty and
dignified offices and honours you kiss the hands of
other men's slaves^, so as to be the slave of men who
are not even free? And then, God save the mark,
you walk around in your dignity as a praetor or a
consul 1 Don't I know how you came to be praetor,
how you got your consulship, who gave it to you ?
As for me, I should not care even to live, if I had
to owe my life to Felicio, 3 putting up with his
insolence and slavish arrogance ; for I know what a
slave is, who is prosperous as the world goes, and
puffed up with pride. 4
4 A pretty clear reference to Ms experiences with his
master, JSpaphroditus, who had been a slave of Jtfero,
295
ARRIAX'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
151 Si? oZv, ^ffiv, eXeu$po9 el ; 0eX&> PTJ TOV?
/cal ev^ofiait aXX* QTJTTW
ai TOI? fcvpiots, en TL/I& TO
6\6re\rjpov airro e^eii? avrl -jroXXoi)
152 KatTOi fwyS* o\OfcX,TqpO!/ "%&v. aXXa owajjuii
e^eudepov, tva fitfteeTi, f^T5 TO Trapd-
&Loyewr)$ $}V IXev^epo?. irodep TOVTO ;
OTL % eXeuffepwp TJV, ov jap TJV, aXX' on
TJV, on airo^e/SXjf/icei Trdcra?
? Xa^a9 1 ouS' ijr, oirca? T49
7r/>o9 avrov ovS* oSev ~Xja/3r}rai 7rpa$ TO Kara-
irama
a<f)rftcV dv aot /laXXoi/
ffKku$ t TO
oXop TO
. To/9 /ie^ 7
TOU9 0OU$ 9 teal TT}V TW
ovr$ irarpi&a ovBew&iwOT 9 av ej/car&UTrev, ovBe
/cal uwatcomiv, ov$* vTrepajreffapev ay ev
155 Tij9 7ia
T* iroieip vwep T&P oXcav, aXX* e/jLeftjnjTO, on
TO <y6ro/A6FOF ctceWev ecrrtv xal
Trpdrrerai /cal inro TOV
1 55 ; j&ajScb 5. * Melbom : 5<J|ct 5.
s Scliweigliaiiser ; 5*5.
1 Alluding to his lameness, as the Scholiast observes. See
Vol. I, Introij pp. ir-x.
* Thai is, sot grown to' Mm so as to cause pain wiieo torn
loose, as m
296
BOOK IV. i. 151-155
Are you, then,, free, says someone ? By the gods
I wish to be, and pray to be, but I am not yet able
to look into the face of my masters, I still honour
my paltry body, I take great pains to keep it sound,
although it is not sound in any case. 1 But I can
show you a free man, so that you will never again
have to look for an example. Diogenes was free.
How did that come ? It was not because he was
born of free parents, for he was not, but because he
himself was free, because he had cast off all the
handles of slavery,, and there was no way in which
a person could get close and lay hold of him to
enslave him. Everything he had was easily loosed,
everything was merely tied on. 2 If you had laid
hold of his property, he would have let it go rather
than followed you for its sake ; if you had laid hold
of his leg, he would have let his leg go ; if of his
whole paltry body, his whole paltry body; and so
also his kindred, friends, and country. He knew
the source from which he had received them, and
from whom, and upon what conditions. His true
ancestors, indeed, the gods, and his real Country 3
he would never have abandoned, nor would he have
suffered another to yield them more obedience and
submission, nor could any other man have died more
cheerfully for his Country. For it was never his
wont to seek to appear to do anything in behalf of
the Universe, 4 but he bore in mind that everything
which has come into being has its source there, and
is done on behalf of that Country, and is entrusted
* Clearly, from what follows, tlte Uni versa
4 Compare Marcus Attrelitis, 7, 73 : " When thou bast
done well to another . . . why go on like the foolish to
look f or . . . the credit of having done well!" (Hakies).
397
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
av-rj]p wapeyyuaTai. roiyapovv 8pa, ri
/cal ypdxftei* ss <&ia rovro aoi" (
& &ioyeve$i teal TO? TLepa&v
teal ' ' ApxiSdfiep T&> A-OfceScu/jLovicw co?
. 1 " apd y on ef eXevdepcoj/ r$v ;
yap 9 Adrjvaioi tca\ TraFTe
fcal 'K.QpivOuw Sick TO etc 8oi/Xa>F elva&
158 a\X' eSe^oi/ceaap /cal idepdirevov ; Slit, ri oZv y
e^eariv ; st on TO ac&ttdriov CJJLQV
i, OTA ovSe^o? Seoftat, oil o VQ$J*Q<$
X\a uF." ravra r^v TCI,
edcrapra.
159 Kal Lva fj,q So^?, ori TrapdBeiyjjux Sei/evv/u
av&pbs aTrepto-Tarov pyre yvvcu/ca e^oi/ro? ^/re
&v scd Birred' 9 a^ /cal irepiawacrBai rjSuvaro, \dj3e
icctl 9e<wa& ywama teal iratoia %pvra- 9
aXXoTpia^ TrarptSa, ^' o&ov e&et /cal
cb$ eSet, ^Xoi/9, avyyevels, Trdpra ravra
ra'xJna r$ vop.<p /cal TTJ wpo^ e/cetvov
160 S^a TOUTO, (rrparev(rffeu /^F OTTOT*
aTTTjei ted/eel extvSvvevev d<f>ei$e*TTaTa* CTTI h.eovra
8* wo TOW Tvpdppwv ire/M^Oei^t OT& alo"xpov
TjyeiTa, ov$* 7r/3ovXu<raTO clS^ y on
161 Severe*, fiy o5rv TV^J;. ^al rt aur^
1 Salmasitis : aAXorpiay S,
1 A Imder of the opposition, whom the TMrty
wished to ibarder. See Plato, Apology 3 32 0.
298
BOOK IV. i. 155-161
to us by Him who governs it. Therefore, see what
he himself says and writes : ce For this reason/' he
says, "you are permitted, O Diogenes,, to converse
as you please with the king of the Persians and with
Archidamus, the king of the Lacedaemonians." Was
it, indeed, because he was born of free parents ?
No doubt it was because they were all the children
of slaves that the Athenians, and Lacedaemonians,
and Corinthians were unable to converse with these
monarchs as they pleased, but were afraid of them
and paid court to them I Why, then, someone asks,
are you permitted ? " Because I do not regard my
paltry body as my own ; because I need nothing ;
because the law, and nothing else, is everything to
me/' This it was which allowed him to be a free
man.
And that you may not think I am sfoowing you
an example of a man who was solitary, and had
neither wife, nor children, nor country, nor friends,
nor kinsmen, who might have bent him and diverted
him from his purpose, take Socrates and observe a
man who had a wife and little children, but re-
garded them as not his own, who had a country, as
far as it was his duty, and in the way in which it
was his duty, and friends, and kinsmen, one and all
subject to the law and to obedience to the law.
That is why, when it was his duty to serve as a
soldier, he was the first to leave home, and ran the
risks of battle most ungrudgingly; and when he
was sent by the Tyrants to fetch Leon, 1 because he
regarded it as disgraceful, he never deliberated
about the matter at all, although he knew that he
would have to die, if it so chanced. And what
difference did it make to him? For there was
299
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
aXXo yap *TI (rcp^eiv rf0\ev* ov TO aap/ciSiov,
dXka TOV irtffTov, TOP aiSyfJuwa. Tavra aTiapey-
^ep^'TO, awvTTOTa/CTa. elff or airokoyfieffai
e&ei vTrep TOV $jv 3 p*r} TI J>? re/cva e^wv aracrrpe-
{j}Tai 9 IAYJ TI w? Awaited ; aXX* ^9 fiovos. ft S*,
ore TTielp ? TO <j)dp/j[,a,KOv 9 7r9 ava&Tpe(f)Tai. ;
fcal TOV Kptrcw^o?
Sia ra Tra&a '* TL
ipfiatov TfjetTO aura ; Trdffev ; a\\a TO
dKoirelj raXXa 8* ouS* ^P^ ^S* 7n,\oyieTai, ov
jap rj&\ev s ftrjffiir, crwcrai TO
1/ceivQ, o T Qiicacp /&ev aTai teat ro>rai, T>
1648' a&i/ca peiovrai teal auroXkuTai. S^^par?;? 8*
alo")^p^ QI? ffc&^erat, o /i^ lir^tj^iffa^ *A.0rjvai<<ov
K\V0VTQ)V 3 O TOU9 TUpdvVQV^ VTreptS&V, O TOiaVTO,
Trejol apeTvjs /cal tca\o/cayaffia$
165 TOVTOP ou/c IC
<r<p$ETU t ov favywv. /cal jap o dyadbs vi
ore SGI trm^erat /laXAop fj vT
aipQV. ri QVP Tronqcrei ra
el?
o mfji\r}tro/JLvo$ ; " opa-j TTOJ^ VTTO/CO pl%6
1&7 fcal a-Ktlnrret TOP Sdvarov* d 8* ya) teal <rv
1 A free paraphrase of Plato, CrUo, 47 D.
s In the illegal action of the assembly after the battle of
Arginasae. See Xenophon, Memorabilia^ I. I, 18; Plato,
Apology, 3B.
1 A singular parallel to ** He that loseth his life for my
sake shall find it" (Matt. x. 39).
4 A paraphrase of PMo' Onto, 54 A.
300
BOOK IV. i. 161-167
something else that he wished to preserve ; not his
paltry flesh,, but the man of honour,, the man of
reverence, that he was. These are things which
are not to be entrusted to another, not to be made
subject. Later on, when he had to speak in defence
of his life., he did not behave as one who had
children, or a wife,, did he ? Nay, but as one who
was alone in the world. Yes, and when he had to
drink the poison, how does he act ? When he might
have saved his life, and when Crito said to him,
" Leave the prison for the sake of your children/'
what is his reply ? Did he think it a bit of good luck ?
Impossible ! No, he regards what is fitting, and as
for other considerations, he does not so much as
look at or consider them. For he did not care, he
says, to save his paltry body, but only that which
is increased and preserved by right conduct, and is
diminished and destroyed by evil conduct. 1 Socrates
does not save his life with dishonour, the man who
refused to put the vote when the Athenians de-
manded it of him, 2 the man who despised the
Tyrants, the man who held such noble discourse
about virtue and moral excellence; this man it is
impossible to save by dishonour, but he is saved by
death, 3 and not by flight. Yes, and the good actor,
too, is saved when he stops at the right time, rather
than the one who acts out of season. What, then,
will the children do ? " If I had gone to The&saly,
you would have looked after them; but when I
have gone down to the house of Hades, will there
be no one to look after them?" 4 See how he
calls death soft names, 5 and jests at it. But if it
5 " I have been half in love with easeful Death,
CalFd him soft names in many a mused, rime.*"
Keats* Ode to a NigMingcde.
301
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
v8v$ ay /eara(n,'ho<ro<l)q<ravTS on
n /col
<TOfJUlt 7TOXXO9 av8
anroQavibv fi* ovScvt" el a/)' 1 eSet Sal
168 rmy\^ efcBwras, e|??/X$o/i* az/. al 7T&)9 az>
; wov jap av, el en* e/tevov l/cel ; 2
av ore eBei xal &$ eS
169 av0pwTT0v$ ; /cal vvv S&Kparoi/? a
to? e&rtv a
170 Tairra /ieXera, ravra ra Boy para, TOVTQV?
i/ra a(f>opa ra
elvai, el eiriBvpsfe fear*
111 rov frpdyiAaTQ*?. fcal ri dav/jLacrraj/, el TrjKi
TQ&QVT&V Kal Tri\iKOirrwv Givy ;
kev6epia^ ravrrjg ol par
ol Se KaTafcpi}jJu>iovcrw avTOvs t icm S*
172 OT ical TToXci? oXa^ aTTcoXoyTO- vtrep T^9 a-
/cal aveirtf$ov\EVTOv /cal acr
awatTOvvTi T$ 0eB a
4 owfo w ZIX^TCi)!/ 'keyei,
teal iravff
raXXorpMi ; 0"i roivvp SoBXo? F
, KO.V eJ? TO
1 Sdienk! : j^f & * Capps :
* Salmasitts : **af A
Sckaakl (apparent! j) :
1 *THs is probably tlie beat emendatioo that has been
suggested lor a corrupt passagej but I do not feel certain
that It is what Spictetus actual!}* said.
302
BOOK IV. i. 167-173
had been you or I, we should forthwith have fallen
into the philosophic vein, and said., C One ought to
repay evil-doers in kind/* and added., te If I save my
life I shall be useful to many persons, but if I die
I shall be useful to no one " ; yes, indeed, and if
we had had to crawl out through a hole to escape,
we should have done so! And how should we
have been of use to anybody? For where could
we have been of use, if the others still remained
in Athens ? - 1 Or if we were useful to men by
living, should we not have done much more good to
men by dying when we ought, and as we ought?
And now that Socrates is dead the memory of him
is no less useful to men, nay, is perhaps even
more useful, than what he did or said while he still
lived,
Study these things, these judgements^ these
arguments, look at these examples, if you wish to
be free, if you desire the thing itself in proportion
to its value. And what wonder is there if you buy
something so great at the price of things so many
and so great? For the sake of what is called
freedom some men hang themselves, others leap
over precipices, sometimes whole cities perish ; for
true freedom, which cannot be plotted against and
is secure, will you not yield up to God, at His
demand, what He has given? Will you not, as
Plato 2 says, study not merely to die, but even to be
tortured on the rack, and to go into exile, and to
be severely flogged, and, in a word, to give up
everything that is not your own ? If not, you will
be a slave among slaves; even if yon are consul
ten thousand times, even if you go up to the
* Phaedo, 64 A, and Republic, TL 361 E.
303
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
KOI
on Trapoa jj,ev cr&>9 <>a<rv oi
KaSdirGp ical o KXedvffrjs e\eyev, ov /trp Trapd-
I14\oya. epyq> yap eia"^, OTL aXyjdyj ecrrl tcai
T&V 0aVfjU
ovBev lart roe? rw^ovcri* TO 9 Be
i t on,
avr&v amavra Trape&Tat, avrol^ ra ayaffd*
orap TrapayeF^Taiy TO xav/Mi tcrov, 6 pi
o avr6<s 3 17 aoTj, ^ rcSi/ ou irapdvratv
175 o^ yap i/ctrk'qpd&cret
176 /cal JV* &89 OT^ ah/riOf} ravrd <TTIV, 009 exeivcov
eveica TreirowQicax, OUTC? /cai eirl Tai/ra [Aerdde?
TTOVOV* ay pvirvrjcrov eve/ca rov ^oyfia irepi-
ffepdirevcrop awn
rovrov OVK
OVK aireXevary Are/ov ouS* d/cep^^, av
el Se fjeq, ireipaffop y* OVK ecrnv
wetpa.
f?,, IlepI
T rowfp Trpo 'I^dv^wv ere Bel
apa
added by Wolf.
Beotley {and the index of chapters) : crwju^opay S here.
1 A somewiiat similar remark ascribed to Zeno
Fflfc^ edL Stenalcli 25) lias in the second clause " contrary
to law, J * fftneh lew poiate^ remark, and trne only wifcli
imporfcaat <
304
BOOK IV. i. 173-11. i
Palace a slave none the less ; and you will perceive
that, as Cleanthes 1 used to say, "Possibly the
philosophers say what is contrary to opinion, but
assuredly not what is contrary to reason." For you
will learn by experience that what they say is true,
and that none of these things which are admired
and sought after are of any good to those who attain
them ; while those who have not yet attained them
get an impression that, if once these things come
to them, they will be possessed of all things good,
and then, when they do come, the burning heat is
just as bad, there is the same tossing about on the
sea, the same sense of surfeit, the same desire for
what they do not have. For freedom is not acquired
by satisfying yourself with what you desire, but by
destroying your desire. And that you may learn
the truth of all this, as you have toiled for those
other things, so also transfer your toil to these;
keep vigils for the sake of acquiring a judgement
which will make you free, devote yourself to a
philosopher instead of to a rich old man, be seen
about Ms doors ; it will be no disgrace to be so
seen, you will not retire thence empty and without
profit, if you approach him in the right fashion.
Anyway, try it at least j there is no disgrace in
making the attempt.
CHAPTER If
Of sacml intercourse
To this topic you ought to devote yourself before
every other, how, namely, you may avoid ever being
so intimately associated with some one of your
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ovrw?, <TT e ra avra o-uy/eara-
2 /3rjpai HUT' el /;, awokeis aeavrov. av Se </
on es aSej-tov airr& <j>apovfiai xal
OuSlv fyiJ/TCW QU$* SffTt ^VVCLTOP fJLTf TO, CtVVa
3 TTOtovvra TOP airrov eivai T irore. eXoD oJtv
JMJ Twyxavew TWF i<r&p. cl *yap TOUTO
airopeuaop m TOVTO firjM ore
ol erepoi Siakoyia/JLoi* ouSel?
Svvarai wpo/co^at, aX)C el TOVTO
el irpbs TQVTG& }U)
elpai, el TOUTO e/CTroprfcrat, a<^e? airapra ra
5 a Sc /*if, oJro9 o l7rafM}>orepiafjLo^ a^orepov ^ aoi
7ro7j<r, ovre irpoxovjrets tca/r* a^iap OVT e/ceivwv
8 rev^rji &w irporepop ervy^ape^. wporepop jap
7 ^s Ta?9 arup'ov&ip* oif $vpa<rai 8* ej> a
?Sei B&epe*/fCtp cMC avdytcv}, KaBoaov av TOV
erepov fCQtpwpfjs, aTroXeiireadai or* ep ffarepip. ov
Qaiveo'ffar eXov oftp, irorepop
etvai 0e\ei$ iccu i^Sw e/ceivms rj vqtfxov
1 OlcHafeer: WrcpwrS. CZ IV, 10, 25; J<*. 1, 4.
306
BOOK IV. n. 1-7
acquaintances or friends as to descend to the same
level with him ; otherwise you will ruin yourself.
But if there slips into your mind the thought, " He
will think me unmannerly and will not be as friendly
as he used to be/' remember that nothing Is done
without paying for it, and that it is impossible for
a man to remain the same person that he used to
be, if he does not do the same things* Choose,
therefore, which you prefer ; either to be loved just
as much as you used to be by the same persons,
remaining like your former self, or else, by being
superior to your former self, to lose the same
affection. Because if this latter alternative is the
better choice, turn forthwith in that direction,, and
let not the other considerations draw you away ; for
no man is able to make progress when he is facing
both ways. But if you have preferred this course
to every other, if you wish to devote yourself to
this alone, and labour to perfect it, give up every-
thing else. Otherwise this facing both ways will
bring about a double result : You will neither make
progress as you ought, nor will you get what you
used to get before. For before, when you frankly
aimed at nothing worth while, you made a pleasant
companion. You cannot achieve distinction along
both lines, but you must needs fall short in the one
to the degree in which you take part in the other.
If you do not drink with those you used to drink
with, you cannot in their eyes be as pleasant a com-
panion as you used to be ; choose, therefore, whether
you wish to be a hard drinker and pleasant to those
persons, or a sober man and unpleasant. If you do
not sing with those you used to sing with, you can-
not be loved by them as you used to be ; choose,
307
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
VTT aitT&p' eXov ovv /sal IvraWa, worepop
8 el jap fcpfta-aov TO aI8rifjL@va clvat, xal
TOV eljteiv nva " ^Si/9 av0 POTTOS ^ a<^9 rA erepa,
a7rojv&0L, airoGTpd<f>i)0i, jjLiqKv crol /eal
9 el 8e firj apO"i Tavra, 0X09 airofikivov
/cal Troiei ra ^179 Aral reu^rj w
10 ai/aTTTjSwF TTixpavya% r& opx^crr^. Bid^opa S*
irpoawTra ov /jLiyvurai* ov Suvaaai, /cal
mrQ/cpivaadai, /cal * Ayafie/jwova. av
zlvai ^eX^9, tcvprov ae elvai Bel,
av ' ' A. r /a/i/iVG)v J /j, r /av KOI /ca\ov /cal
avroi; 7rpL7roi>fj" KOLV y
2 &llOV t /&yj&7rQT* ?7T^9 OTI * f ify/AL&fiai, " OuS' a^ 1
aj^rl opou iTTTroi^, ovS' azrl TrpQJSdrov fBovv ovS*
/cepjj,aTO$ irpa^iv KaK^v^ ov$* ami
otav Bel, ov$* ami ala
3 atS&. TOVT&P /i/iW||iF09 vapr
TO (rauTQv wpocrwjrQv otov G)(&V o" &*. ei Si
yxiy, cricQVi 9 on awoKkwrai ol xpopot, ei/cij /cal
1 & adied fey SeiiweigMaser.
BOOK IV. ii. 7-iiL 3
therefore, here also, which yon wish. For if it is
better to be a man of respectful and modest be-
haviour than for someone to say of you, u He is a
pleasant fellow," give up all other considerations,
renounce them, turn your back upon them, have
nothing to do with them. But if that does not
please you, turn about, the whole of you, to
the opposite ; become one of the addicts to un-
natural vice, one of the adulterers, and act in the
corresponding fashion, and you will get what you
wish. Yes, and jump up and shout your applause
to the dancer. But different characters do not mix
in this fashion ; you cannot act the part of Thersites
and that of Agamemnon too. If you wish to be a
Thersites, you ought to be humpbacked and bald ;
if an Agamemnon, you ought to be tall and hand-
some, and to love those who have been made subject
to you.
CHAPTER III
What things should be exchanged for what things ?
HERE is a thought to keep ready at hand
whenever you lose some external thing; What are
you acquiring in its place? and if this be more
valuable than the other, never say, * c I have suffered
a loss/' You have lost nothing if you get a horse
for an ass, an ox for a sheep, a noble action for
a small piece of money, the proper kind of peace
for futile discourse, and self-respect for smutty talk.
If you bear this in mind you will everywhere main-
tain your character as it ought to be. If not, I
would have you observe that your time is being
309
ADRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
vvv irpocre^ei^ creavrm^ /ieew /e%iv
4 ctTravra ravra /ecu avarpeireiv. ohljov Se %pict
earl 717)09 ryv airrnhjEiav TIJV Trdvr&v K<U dvarpo-
5 7T1JP, fll/ep&$ aTTOffTpO^^ TOV \OJOV. WO, 6
KV/3pvir)Tvj$ avarpe^TTj TO TrXoZw, ov
T% avrfjs Trapatrieevf)?, ocnrjs etv TO o-
fu/epov 717309 TOF ave^iov av 7TicrT/?ei|^^, aTroS
6 TOIOVTOF crr ri /ta ei/ae* fMicpov av airovv&-
rd^y*?, airj}\0ep irdvra ra j^e^pi v&v Q"uvei\ey-
7 ficva. Trpocre^e ovv ra&9 <f)avTaffiat<?t ei
ov jap jiLicpov TO r^ipovp.evoVy aXX*
8 aTapa^a,
ravra TT&iKctp ; jSXeire, mcrov aj~lwv* *AXX*
TVJ;OfJUU TQIQVTQV Tl>1/0$ aiTT aVTOV. - BX7T AT
TraXii/ Itcdvov, rl avr avTOV
err parrjj iav* ejw alS&. aXX* oy /cpavydfa, oirov
ax/37F9* aXX* ou* dpaa'TT^&oiJiatf OTTOU /irj Set.
ehevdepos jdp eifii /cal ^jfcXc?9 TOI)' $eo?, 2V I^OJF
10 Trci&f&iiat aura- raw S* aXXfijj/ ov$vb<>
e 8et f ov amaro^y ov
Reiske : TvyxwwTQf Eiter.
Schweighauser.
1 This sense' may conceivably be contained in the MS.
reading, but it seems more probable that the text is corrupt,
although no convincing correction has yet Been made. Gapps
regains' Ijeefmr and tew** { 9} as ref erring to the same
persom. The quotation following is what Kpictetns sug-
gests as appcopiiate comment for the man who has made a
wise choice.
BOOK IV. 111.3-10
spent to no purpose, and all the pains you are ueow
taking with yourself you are sure to spill out utterly
and upset. Little is needed to ruin and upset
everything, only a slight aberration from reason.
For the helmsman to upset his ship he does not need
the same amount of preparation that he does to
keep it safe ; but if he heads it a little too much
into the wind, he is lost ; yes, even if he does nothing
by his own deliberate choice, but mer-ely fells to
thinking about something else for a moment, he is
lost. In life also it is very much the same ; if you
doze but for a moment, all that you have amassed
hitherto is gone. Pay attention, therefore, to your
sense-impressions, and watch over them sleeplessly.
For it is no small matter that you are guarding, but
self-respect, and fidelity, and constancy^ a state of
mind undisturbed by passion, pain, fear, or con-
fusion in a word, freedom. What are the tMngs
for which you are about to sell these things ? Look,
how valuable are they? But, you say, I shall
not get anything of that kind in return for what
I am giving up. Observe also, when you do get
something in the exchange, just what it is you
are getting for what you give up. 1 "I have a
modest behaviour, he has a tribuneship; he has a
praetorship, I have self-respect. But I do not shout
where it is unseemly ; I shall not stand up where I
ought not ; for I am a free man and a friend of God/
so as to obey Him of my own free will. No other
thing ought I to claim, not body, or property, or
office, or reputation nothing, in short; nor does
311
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
etceivos /3ov\Tai p apTtTroielo'dat avT&v. el jap
fjde\Pj ay a0 a weiroi^Kei avra av ejtoL vvv 8*
ov ireTroirj/cw Bia TOVTO ouSev ^vvafiai Trapa-
11 ^VCLL r&v eirrdK&v" r^pei TO wyaBov TO aavrov
IP Trapri, rGsv S* a\\tov /cara TO
TOV V\OytCrTiV 61^ aUTOl<$, TOVTCt) flQl'O* a
/lei^o?. el Be py, &v<TTV)(i]<rLS, arvxyvei?, /eco\v-
12 Ofe^t fiiroBi(r6ijtrrj. OUTOL eicriv ol exeWev
LQi, TavTa TO, $iaTayjjuiTa*
Tjv Bel yevecrdai, TOVTQW vworeraj-
iPOV 5 ov Tot^ Tbiaffovpiov Kal
. IIpo? TOW? Trepl TO iv Tjav^ia Bid
OV
us Troiei icai aXkots v
%ias teal o"^oX?^ fca
/col <f>ik,o\ojia<; ayr\>$ jap olov
2 TO CT09y i\ TifiTj airrov wroTa<j<r4 aXX^.
Eia<fipt avy/e\tfTQv eTrtdvfjLeiv i) TQV fir)
<rvyK\ijTi/cov ; ri Sta^epei /?%?]?
; ri $ia<j>f>i, \ejeiv ort
m^ ve/cpa?" T) \eyeiv " /ea/c&s poi
3 eamv 9 ov/e eicr^oX^j avayvwvai w ; &$ jap
Upton from his * s codes'* (after Scltegk and Melbom):
BOOK IV. in. lo-iv. 3
He wish me to claim them. Had He so desired
He would have made them good for me. But as it
is, He has not so made them; therefore I cannot
transgress any of His commands." Guard your own
good in everything you do ; and for the rest be
content to take simply what has been given you,
in so far as you can make a rational use of it. If
you do not, you will have bad luck and no good
luck, you will be hampered and hindered. These
are the laws that have been sent you from God,
these are His ordinances ; it is of these you ought
to become an interpreter, to these you ought to
subject yourself, not the laws of Masurius and
Cassius, 1
CHAPTER IV
To those who have set their hearts upon limmg in peace
REMEMBER that it is not merely desire for office
and wealth which makes men abject and subservient
to others,, but desire also for peace, and leisure, and
travel, and scholarship. For it makes no difference
what the external object be, the value you set
upon it makes you subservient to another. What
difference, then, does it make for you to set your
heart on the senate, or on not becoming a senator ?
What difference does it make to desire office or to
desire not to hold office ? What difference does it
make to say, " I am in a bad way, I have nothing to
do, but am tied to my books as though I were a
corpse," or to say, " 1 am in a bad way, I have no
leisure to read " ? For just as salutations and office-
1 Two distinguished jurists of the first half of tke first
century after Christ.
3*3
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
4 po /cal apxj T&V e/CT09 eari teal
ovTG)$ teal j3t/3>\lov. fj rivo^ em/ea ffeXet? dvayt/w-
vai ; elire fjLOi. el JJL&V jap sir* avro 1
^>9 2 TO tyvxaywftjfffjvai ^ fiaffew TC,
el teal araXa/TTtopo^. 3 el S* etp* o Sei dva<f>~
pt$ } TI TQVT ecniv aXXo fy vpoit> / el Be aoi TO
dvar/tyyaxy/cciv eupotap /JLT} wepiTroifj, ri Q<j>eXo$
5 avrov ; 'AXXa TrepiTrotei, <j*7}(riv f /cal Sia TQVTO
dyava/CT& &$ airoKeiTro^epQ^ avrov, KaJ Tt? avr^
r} ^pota, Tp o ru%o)p eftTtoSio-at SwaTat, ou Aeyco
Katactp 7| Ka/aapos" ^Aos", aAAa
a$, aAAa rpiajwpta; ^ 8'
TO BirVK$ KCil aFC/ITToSiaTO^.
VVV
O)>V TOiS" [lTpOl$ T7]plV 9 OTl
QT& acr^aXw, OTt 8(%a ope^ea)^ /cat
7 T1J9 TTpO? T ATT09, Xal \Oi1TO
t 9 /cal rovro
/cyc*>
VP 8'
UF IT av a pat ; ** TOT /cal ey<i>
ov/ceri,
1 Eeiske : O^TIW &
s The wonts lir* arrf after this were deleted by Scliwelg-
hauser.
4 The lacuna marked bj Oldfather. An answer to the
question asked is obviously required.
1 Answering the man who complains because lie has
" nothing to do " | 2),
s ,80 Horace, 8at. I. 4, 136 f. :. . . ntunqwd eff& illi
olim fadam nmilsf Both were following the
custom of Plato s recorded by Plutarch, D mynewda c
BOOK IV. iv. 3-7
holding are amocg things external and those wMch
lie outside the province of the moral purpose, so
also is a book. Or for what purpose do you wish to
read ? Tell me. If you turn to reading merely for
entertainment, or in order to learn something, you
are futile and lazy. But if you refer reading 1 to the
proper standard,, what else is this but a life of
serenity ? However, if reading does not secure for
you a life of serenity, of what good is it ? Nay, it
does secure me serenity, one says, and that is why
I am discontented because I am deprived of it.
And what kind of serenity is this which any chance
comer can impede, not merely Caesar, or a friend
of Caesar, but a crow, a flutist, fever, thirty thou-
sand other things ? But no feature of serenity is
so characteristic as continuity and freedom from
hindrance.
At this instant I am being called to do some-r
thing ; 1 at this instant I shall go home with the
purpose of observing the due measure which I
ought to maintain, acting with self-respect, with
security, apart from desire and avoidance of things
external ; and in the second place I observe men,
what they say, how they move, and this in no
malignant spirit, nor in order to have something" to
censure or ridicule, but I look at myself the while,
to see if I too am making the same mistakes.
**How, then, shall I cease to make mistakes?"
There was a time when I too made mistakes, but
now no longer, thanks be to God. . . . 3
3 Tbe exact connection of these two sentences is obscene.
Matheson, with a certain degree of plansibillfcy, divides them
between the interlocutor and Bpictetiis* but fckey are
generally assigned to one person. See also the crit. note.
3*5
voi~ n. &
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
"Ayj TavTa 7roi?/ra? /cal Trpo? TOVTOI^ yevo-
epyov Treiroi'JjKa^ ^7 %i\iov$ frri^ovg
% ypd-jra? aXXoi/v TOCTOVTOTJ^ ; orav
jap e&dirj^, &X.0y> on /irj avaytyvatrKet? ; OVK
dptcfj T$ Kaff a dveypw/cas Iddietp ; orav \ovri ;
9 @rav yvfivd^jj ; Sea TI ovv ejrl irtivrtov
X/w teal orav 'Kaiaapt irpocrijis /cal Srav
Sew ; el TOP diradTj ri^pei?, el TOP
10 el TOP KareaTakfiei'OV, el J3\Tri$
fj jSXcTr^, el p^ d*6ove2$ TO??
^ flTf ^KTT'X.ljff'a'OVffiv CT al \J\CLt,, Tl (TQt,
TO fiiovv TrapatTfcevtj TIS ecmjt avT?] ; TO
S' e aKk&)v TivSn? fi TQVTCOV
olop av el o a^XijT^? ickcdrj ei$ TO &Ta&iov el
12 OT^ /i^ l^fij> yvfjevd^erai. TOVT(&V eye/ca eyufivd^ov,
ewl TQVTO ol a\.Tfjp^ 9 7} a,<j>ij, ol veavlcncQi. /cal
vvv GKewa Ifrreis, OTG TOV epyov /caipfe e<mv ;
13 olo-v el eirl TOV O"vy$caTa0TiKv TOTTQV TraptorTa-
T&V p&v KaTa\ijTrTue&v,
TO, Tlepl
14 Ti o$ TO CUTIOV ; OTI ovSeTTOTe TOVTOV eve/ea
v, ovBewore T&VTOV eve/ca,
1 In tbe absence of pages, as in the ca^e of the papyrus
roll, prose as well as poetry was couated by lines.
' * See HL IS, 4.
316
BOOK IV. iv. 8-14
Come, if you have acted like this and devoted
yourself to these things, have you done anything
worse than reading a thousand lines^ or writing a
thousand ? 1 For when you eat, are you annoyed
because you are not reading ? Are you not satisfied
to be eating in accordance with the principles you
learned by reading? And when you bathe and
take exercise? Why., then, are you not consistent
in everything, both when you approach Caesar, and
when you approach So-and-so ? If you are maintain-
ing the character of a man of tranquillity, of imper-
turbability., of sedateness, if you are observing what
happens rather than being yourself observed, if you
are not envying those who are preferred in honour
above you, if the mere subject-matter of actions does
not dazzle you, what do you lack ? Books ? How,
or for what end ? What, is not the reading of books
a kind of preparation for the act of living- ? But the
full measure of the act of living is made up of things
other than books. It is as though the athlete on
entering the stadium were to fall a- wailing because
he is not exercising outside. This was what you
exercised for, this is the purpose of your junaping-
weights, your wrestler's sand/ your young training
partners. And are you now asking far these things,
when, the time for action is come ? It is as If,
when in the sphere of assent we were surrounded
with sense-impressions, some of them convincing,
and others not convincing, we should not wish to
distinguish between them, but to read a treatise On
Comprehension I
What, then, is the reason for this ? It is because
we have never read for this purpose, we have never
written for this purpose in our, actions, to treat in
3*7
ARRIA1SPS DISCOURSES, OF EPICTETUS
V eVI T&V cpj&v Kara
, aXX avrov /cara-
rov auXkojia/mop ava-
15 Xwas ^ral TOF viroBerifcov <j)o8ewai. $ta TOUTQ
07TOV 7) (TTTOvSlJ, fCi /CO,l 6 iflTroSlfffJlQS.
ra jj,7j 7rl aol ( aira^TO9 / Koikvov roivvv,
16 Bi^ov, aTTOTiry^a^e. el Se ra Ilepi Qpfjwfa TOI/TOU
y s ov% iva I8a>fjtv 9 *rL Xe^e-
Iva v p/jL&$MV^ ra Tlepl
Se al eKKkiffem^ IVCL iv/pror' opejopewt
ra Hepl
17 |y- oy^r ay rjjavaicrovjMP irpos TO,
GfMTTO^^ofievoi) aXka r& ra epja aTroStSoFat ra
^araXX^Xa rfp/coufieffa /cal rjptfffiovfJLev av ov
Tavra, a pevp^ PVV aptff/tew elBitrjieOa, t( <r^fj
18 av&ypwp <rr^ou? Too-ovffSe, eypaijra
iiro TF <j>i\a0o<fxajf, opegei OUK e
ltc/c\iaei> wpo$ /iova ra Trpoaipen/cd, ov
Vj TO am&TiK&p eyiJ/a^acra, TO a<f>/eTi/CQp 9 TO
xai QWTW*; av i?i/%ap<rr0i5/,F T
>* ol? &A evxaptarelv.
19 Nw S* rjfiel? OVK l&fj&v, Srt /cal avrol
TpOTlW OfJLOtOl
'.i, /JMJ ovtc &p%y CTV, /i^ 3
1 & ry added bj Ricliards.
2 A late hand in 8 : '"" '
a
BOOK IV. iv. 14-19
accordance -with nature the sense-impressions which
come to us ; but we stop with having learned what is
said, and with the ability to explain it to someone
else, and with analysing the syllogism^ and examin-
ing the hypothetical argument. That is why, where
our heart is set, there also our impediment lies.
Do you wish at any cost to have the things that
are not under your control ? Very well then, be
hindered, be obstructed, fail. If we should read a
treatise On Choice, not in order to know about the
subject, but in order to make correct choices; a
treatise On Desire and Aversion, in order that we
may never fail in our desire nor fall into that which
we are trying to avoid ; a treatise On Duty, in order
that we may remember our relations in society and
do nothing irrationally or contrary to the principles
of duty ; we should not be vexed by being hindered
in regard to what we have read,, but we should find
satisfaction in doing the deeds required by our mutual
relations,, and we should be reckoning^ not the things
which we have been accustomed hitherto to reckon :
* c To-day I have read so many lines* I have written
so many," but, fc To-day I made a choice in the way
that the philosophers teach, I did not entertain desire,
I avoided only those things that axe in the sphere of
the moral purpose, I was not overawed by So-and-so,
I was not put out of countenance by So-and-so, I
exercised my patience, my abstinence, my co-opera-
tion/* and thus we should be giving thanks to God for
those things for which we ought to give Him thanks.
But as it is, we do not realize that we ourselve^
thottgfo in a different fashion, grow like the multi-
tude. Another man is afraid that he will not have
am office; you are afraid that you will* Do not s%
3*9
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
20 /o>9, vp&ire. aXX o>9 xarajeka^ rou
pi/ov fLTjOu/c 1 dp^ai, t oSr&s/eal cravrov /carajeXa,
ov8&/ jap SiatftepM rj Bi^rjv Trvpecrcrovra r} 00$
21 Xwo-c)&7 v&po$Ql3ov eivcu. y -TFOJ^ en ^VP^O-TJ
elirew TO TQV "Zw/cpdrovv " el Tavry <J>L\OP rtj>
f "
2/6019,
av earrparevaaTO o&aKi*; eo'TparevaaTO ; oujfi S*
22 TOI/TO yap <rot/ TO epjov TJV, f]\td^(T0ai / ov^l
TO U/>Oil/ TO d/C(ti\VTQV SIPCM, TO aTTapaTTQ-
^rnKpcuri^^ el ravra
rff <f)v\aa
eyptxjtev ;
c A?rXo>9 O^F ifceiwou pA^a^a'o, Sri, irav o
elvat, Tt&vifyyvpip OMTQV
TTpoaipefftv. e^o) S' forl? oi /JLQVOP
xal avapxfa, ov /IOFOP acr^oXta, aXXa /^al
24 T^oX?f. ** TOP 0&> /i V Tto $0/W/Jft> TOVTfi)
^i^d^etv ; ** rt X7e9 OopvjSqt ; ev
avdp&TTotQ ; ical ri %aXe7r6V ; $oj~ov ep '
t. /cafcet
V) aXXo? ^XXo Trpdo-crei,
1 oft* added by Schweigfeaiiser.
- * Hato, C^ria, 43 1> (slightly modified). Compare L 4, 4,
wliere the qaatati0n is exact.
* Referring to the famous gymnasia in these places.
* Hato, P/tasdo, 60 1>, saya fchat he translated some fable?
of Aesop into veree and composed a hymn (Trp&otfuay) to
Apollo* 'TMs tetter c^Bapoaatiom is railed a paean ty
320
BOOK IV. iv. 19-24
man! But just as you laugh at the man who is
afraid he will not have an office, so also laugh at
3 T ourseIf. For it makes no difference whether a
person is thirsty with fever,, or is afraid of water
like a man with the rabies. Or how can you any
longer say with Socrates, " If so it please God, so
be it"? 1 Do you suppose that, if Socrates had
yearned to spend his leisure in the Lyceum or the
Academy/ and to converse daily with the young
men, he would have gone forth cheerfully on all the
military expeditions in which he served? Would
he not have wailed and groaned., " Wretched man
that I am ! here I am now in misery and mis-
fortune,, when I might be sunning myself in the
Lyceum * 7 ? What, was this your function in life,
to sun yourself? Was it not rather to be serene,
to be unhampered, to be unhindered? And how
would he have been Socrates any longer,, if he had
wailed like this ? How would he have gone on to
write paeans in prison ? 3
In a word, then, remember this that if you are
going to honour anything at all outside the sphere
of the moral purpose, you have destroyed your
moral purpose. And outside the sphere af your
moral purpose lie not merely office, but also
freedom from office ; not merely business, but also
leisure, " Am I now, therefore, to pass my life in
this turmoil ? " What do you mean by " turmoil " ?
Among many people ? And what is there hard about
that? Imagine that you are in Olympia, regard the
turmoil as a festival. There, too, one man shouts this
and another that; one man does this and another
Diogenes LaertfuSj 2, 42, who professes to give the first line
of it.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
evareierai* eV rot?
xal T/5 i\ii&v ov %a[pi T Travrjyvpet ravrrj /ca
25 oSwwjLevo? auTyjs aira\\dff<rTat ; fir} ylvou
ytpo-
* TO oo<? aaTTpov, pi/jiv jap "* st TO
aairpov, awarpeirei yap fiov TTJP e^iv *** " \aj(ava
OV 8kf?* QVTG)$ KO-l Cf <7^oX^F OV
26 e<rTiv" * 4 S'X\op ov
ay fjV ovr<9 <f*epy TO, irpd
per* okiyc&p Ste^ayayel^ rjav^iav avro /caXei /cal
as <j)avraa'ta$ i ei*pyd%ov r
aw S' el? o^XoF e/wreffgs, dy>va
27 f ffai?'$yvpi& } eoprrjv, (rvyeoprd^ea* weipto TO&?
ay6p**irQus. ii ydp etrrtv r^iov 6eafjLa TO> <f>iXap~
wiKp fj av&pwiTQi -jroXXot ; Iwwif ay\a$ ^
28 aF^aTa^ ; ** aXXa KaTOjepavydgova-l /JLOV ov/coifa
rj aKQrj 0*v fHFO&t%eTM. T o5z> Trios' ere / /AT; TI
teal $vvafju$ $ Ta?9 fyavraaiais yp^o' r nK'q; /cal
pe^et ical e/c/cki&ei ~%pri<Tdai /cara
xal a^opjiri ; TTWO? ffopvfto?
Toirro
1 Referring clearly, I believe, to the bafelbs at Olympia,
where the aceommcxiaiion seems to have "been inadequate.
2 Cf. **Bntwlieii tie saw the multitudes., lie was moved
with, companion on them w (Matt. ix. 36) ; and tite remark
attribatea to Afciuham Lincoln: "God mast lave loved
the copBjinoKi people j He made so many of them." The
efmrseteiistic emotioiis here Indicated as arising at the oon-
322
BOOK IV, iv. 24-28
that ; one man jostles another ; there is a crowd in
the baths. 1 And yet who of us does not take delight
in the Olympic festival and leave it with sorrow ?
Do not become peevish or fastidious towards events.
*' The vinegar is rotten, for it is sour," " The honey
is rotten, for it upsets my digestion." u I don't like
vegetables/* In the same fashion you say, ef 1 don't
like leisure, it is a solitude/' ft I don't like a crowd,
it is turmoil/' Say not so, but if circumstances
bring you to spend your life alone or in the com-
pany of a few, call it peace, and utilize the condition
for its proper end ; converse with yourself, exercise
your sense-impressions, develop your preconceptions*
If, however, you fall in with a crowd,, call it games,
a festival, a holiday, try to keep holiday with the
people. For what is pieasanter to a man who loves
bis fellow-men than the sight of large numbers
of them ? 2 We are glad to see herds of horses or
cattle ; when we see many ships we are delighted ;
is a person annoyed at the sight of many human.
beings ? " Yes, but they deafen me with their shout-
ing." Oh, well, it is your hearing that is interfered
with ! What, then, is that to you ? Your faculty
of employing external impressions is not interfered
with, is it? And who prevents you from making
natural use of desire and aversion, of choice and
refusal? What manner of turmoil avails to do
that?
templatioH of large numbers of one's fellow-men, though
somewhat different in tone from that in Epictetes, as weU
as from one another, are still essentially at one with the
Stoic ideal of sympathetic fellowship, and are fundamentally
opposed to that selfish or snobbish aversion towards mankind,
which became so prevalent, even ia religions circles, during
the great decadence of ancient civilization.
323
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
29 Su povov fjLfivr}<ro r&w tca0o\iKGnr stf ri e/iw,
TI OVK fiov ; ri pai SiSorai ; rl $eXe /te irately
30 o $0<? vvv, ti oil de\u ; " yrpb oXijov
irepl TQUT&V, GLyajtrfvwaKGiv, aKovetv,
fficevd%O'6af ecr^e? el? TCWTQ Itcavov
a 01 \ji ts \0 jjoy 7rl TOP
ri ftaff<? 9
el tt,^ aB\ffr&v TJ Kiv<ov 9 ot T^F olfcov-
31 fJLevfjV 7T6|MjD%OFFU vtK&ftevoi" ri OVP a
w Set yrpoyvfivacrras elpai, TroXXoi;?
7T^Kpavjd^ovTa^ t iroXXotr? e
32 dedTa^. 'AXX' 7<J> rjB^o
Toiwv Kal oreVe, tair ep ato? e,
/cat airetdaihrn TW $e*W BtarajfMio'w vj TO
TO wevffetVt TO ^^opetF, aTrXw? TO
ip KCU Bvarvjfetjf ; TQVTQW ov
33 Kai Trm? a^raXXaf ; Ou woXkd/cL'? ??/eot;cra?
Iwl jMva rpe^ai TO, Trpocuperifcd, a
-j TO 0&/ta, T^F ictrfcnw, irp
lav ; OTTOV jap &v
t Bemtley, and Upton's c< codex"
Sciiegk)s
3*4
BOOK IV. iv. 29-33
Do but keep in remembrance your general prin-
ciples : ei What is mine ? What is not mine ? What
has been given me ? What does God will that I do
now, what does He not will ? " A little while ago
it was His will for you to be at leisure, to converse
with yourself, to write about these things, to read.,
to listen, to prepare yourself ; you had time sufficient
for that. Now God says to you, et Come at length
to the contest, show us what you have learned, how
you have trained yourself. How long will you exer-
cise alone ? Now the time has come for you to discover
whether you are one of the athletes who deserve
victory, or belong to the number of those who travel
about the world and are everywhere defeated/*
Why, then, are you discontented? No contest is
held without turmoil. There must be many train-
ing-partners, many to shout applause, many officials,
many spectators. But I wanted to live a life of
peace. Wail, then, and groan, as you deserve to do.
For what greater penalty can befall the man who is
uninstructed and disobedient to the divine injunc-
tions than to grieve, to sorrow, to envy, in a word
to have no good fortune but only misfortune ? Do
you not wish to free yourself from all this ?
And how shall I free myself? Have you not
heard over and over again that you ought to eradi-
cate desire utterly, direct your aversion towards the
things that lie within the sphere of the moral pur-
pose, and these things only, that you ought to give
up everything, your body, your property, your repu-
tation, your books, turmoil, office, freedom from
office ? For if once you swerve aside from this
course, you are a slave, you are a subject, you have
become liable to hindrance and to compulsion, you
3*5
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
34 ava^/fcaffTo^, 0X0? 7r' aXX0i$v a\a TO
ffovg TTpo^ipov
ajov Be p* 3 & ZeD, /cal (TV *y
ffeXer &? ^P&fvqv ; el? TPfii/w/p. 1 ei$ Tvapa ; el<;
Tvapa. 49 'Aft/Fa? ; tV
35 /ci/r ; 6i? <f*v"Xa/eriv f av cii
el?
/cevov, e<f>* 0? ou eZ Trcup-
av ep>7roBi,a6^ f SUCTTV^T}
36 Triirrovra ol? o^ ^eXei?. a^>9 oSy ravra
te xakal at * A.ffijjrcu. 9 * aXXa TO ev$ai}Lave
\iov iroXu, TO a'waBfi elvai, TO ardpaj(pv t TO em
37 <}M$vl /celo-ffat Ta o~a Trpay/taTa. " 06pv/3o<? ev
iccu ao*7ra<F/iot." <iXXa TO evpoelv dvrl
T&V Bu<TKoXwv. l OVP TOVTG&V Kaip$
A T ow cupeis avT&v TTJV /c/c\taiv ,- T?
38 dvoftevj &$ Sifow fi/Xoro7roi//J'o^ a^9off>opiP ; t
opa o 2 Sei ^re Soi/Xeucip ael T6
ai rfyv IfbSoif, T
tlvq), Katceivov Bepairevew G>
.
/a 0809 7ri evpotav (TOVTQ fcal op0pov /cal
1 Tiie second els *Pfi/nipr is supplied in the margin by $&
s Wolf (and 0pton's " oodex >? ) : TI S.
1 IVom a celebrated Bymn. See on H. $S, 42.
8 An island used as place of exile. See on I. 25, 19.
* Ttiere may be bore an allusion (before Lncian and
, Apvieros) to the theme of a (bewitched) ass trying to escape
from being an ass, and constantly being Mndered: In the
famous ronmn< the ass is 'certainly often enough overloaded
and soundly erolgellei.
BOOK IV. IT. 33-39
are entirely under the control of others. Nay,, the
word of Cleanthes is ready at hand,
Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny. *
Will ye have me go to Rome ? I go to Rome. To
Gyara ? I go to Gyara. 2 To Athens ? I go to
Athens. To prison ? I go to prison. If but oace
you say, tf Oh, when may a man go to Athens ? *'
you are lost. This wish, if unfulfilled, must neces-
sarily make yon unfortunate ; if fulfilled, vain and
puffed up over the wrong kind of thing; again,
if you are hindered, you suffer a misfortune, falling
into what you do not wish. Give up, then, all these
things. ^Athens is beautiful/' But happiness is much
more beautiful, tranquillity, freedom from turmoil,
having your own affairs under no man's control.
" There is turmoil in Rome, and salutations,*' But
serenity is worth all the annoyances. If, then, the
time for these things has come, why not get rid of
your aversion for them ? Why must you needs bear
burdens like a belaboured donkey? Otherwise, I
would have you see that you must be ever the slave
of the man who is able to secure your release, to
the man who is able to hinder you in everything/
and you must serve him as an Evil Genius, 4
There is but one way to serenity (keep this
4 For this rare spirit of olk-lore see Aristopliaaes,
JZqwiteB, 111-12 T where he is called the Anlpotr Kao5al/*w.
His counterpart is the much commoner *Aya0&s Aa&futr. The
Evil Genius, though seldom referred to (and in fact ignored
by many, if not- aH the standard works of reference^ I
believe), is presupposed by the association of the Kwe0a^
fjujwurrat (Lysias, frag. 53, 2 Thalheixn), and by the very
word Koiu&afftMr itself. For similar devil-worship, ct
19, 0, of the God Fever.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
rea pv/crotp ear
aTTpQaiperctiv, TO
i, TO irapaSovvat TrdvTa
erceivovs eTTiTpairovs aifTwv
40 oft? /cat o Zeite Trewoirjfcep, ainov
LVai, fJLOVGp, T6> ISlCp, TO)
yt,jy(l)o~fcei,v 7rl TOVTO a
41 teal ypd<j)i>y Kal aicoveiv* &&a TOVTO ou
F, LV CLKOIHTG) TOVTO fJLOVOJf, OTl
ypd(j>et f icav wpoafffj T?, OTI
ra? VV/CTOS, ov-Tra* ~X*ya) f av py 7^6) Trjv
opdv. oifSe yap <rv \eyeis ^ikoiropov TOP
Bia irat^taKapiov dypVTrvovitTa* ov TQ'IWV odS'
42 eci. dXX! eav i>ev eve/ca 8097
j/, CLV S* epe/ca dpyvpiov, <f>i\dpyvpov, ov
43 ^XOTTOPOF. &v 8* em TO fount rfye/jusvifcov ava-
<f*<pjf TOP TTOrOF, lv fiPO fCdTa (ftVO'tV %$ teal
44 8tet;dy$ TOT Xe7* povov fyikwrro
ayro T>P KQIPWV JJUJT* 7raiveT
-oypaTrnp. TCLVTCL yap evTi, ra
Ta seal ra? irpdgeis alcr%pii$ rj K
45 wwomwa* T&VT&P pefJUHjfievo? %alpe Tot? Tra-
46 poverty fcal dydira TavTa, &v /caipo<$ eo~Tiv, et
k Ta epya f cv^pcdvov TT* avrol?. el TO
ical
BOOK IV. iv. 39-46
th ought ready for use at dawn, and by day, and at
night), and that is to yield up all claim to the things
that lie outside the sphere of the moral purpose, to
regard nothing as your own possession ; to surrender
everything to the Deity, to Fortune ; to yield every-
thing to the supervision of those persons whom
even Zeus has made supervisors ; and to devote your-
self to one thing only,, that which is your own, that
which is free from hindrance, and to read referring
your reading to this end, and so to write and
so to listen. That is why I cannot call a roan
industrious, if I hear merely that he reads or writes,
and even if one adds that he sits up all night, I cannot
yet say that the man is industrious, until I know
for what end he does so. For neither do you call
a man industrious who loses sleep for the sake of a
wench ; no more do I. But if he acts this way for
the sake of reputation, I call him ambitious ; if for
the sake of money, I call him fond of money, not fond
of toil. If, however, the end for which he toils is
his own governing principle, to have it be, and live
continually, in accordance with nature, then and
then only I call him industrious. For 1 would not
have you men ever either praise or blame a man for
things that may be either good or bad, but only for
judgements. Because these are each man's own
possessions, which make his actions either base or
noble. Bearing all this in mind, rejoice in what
you have and be satisfied with what the moment
brings. If you see any of the things that you have
learned and studied thoroughly coming to fruition
for you in action, rejoice in these things. If yon
have put away or reduced a malignant disposition,
and reviling, or impertinence, or foul language, or
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
e TO ir/><MTT$, e TO acr^pooyoVf e TO
el TO Tri(T(TVpfiVQv, el ov KIVTJ e<j> 049 wporepov,
el ow% O[JLQ[W$ <y* a>9 irporepop, eoprijp djeip
QTI
V> OTl
47 7ro<7> fJLei^atv alria dv&ias -ij inrareia fy
ravra e/c <TQV aurov jiverai aoi /cal a,7ro
0GWV* /CelvO fJLjJt,V7]a'O ) Ti? O
48 Tiaiv iced Sia riwa. Toi/roi? TO 49
en Sza^epj}, TTOV
T$ 0$ ; ov iravraj^oev TO
ov
c'. IIpo? TOW?
1 O /coXo9 ^cal &ya0$ o^T 1 avro? pa^erai TIPI
2 O^T* aXXoF ea /cara Swa/up. irapaSf^y/ta SJ ^al
xaffdirep /eal T*P aXksop e/e/cetrat rjjjlp o
o ^totepdirov?, 05 ou /WFOF auTo? Travra^ov
&XflV) aX)C ouS* aXXou? pd'^eo'daL efa.
3 S|W irapa BCVO^&PTI ep T$ ^vjiTroarim TT 00-0.9
TOV UlOV
Tke irsfc in Plato's BqpMic, Book I ; the other two in
C
33P
BOOK IV. iv. 46 -v. 3
recklessness, or negligence; if yon are not moved
by the things that once moved you,, or at least not
to the same degree, then you can keep festival day
after day ; to-day because yon behaved well in this
action, to-morrow because you behaved well in
another. How much greater cause for thanksgiving
is this than a consulship or a governorship I These
things come to you from your own self and from
the gods. Remember who the Giver is,, and to
whom He gives, and for what end. If you are
brought up in reasonings such as these, can you any
longer raise the questions where you are going to be
happy, and where you will please God ? Are not
men everywhere equally distant from God ? Do
they not everywhere have the same view of what
conies to pass?
CHAPTER V
Against the contentions and brutal
THE good and excellent man neither contends
with anyone, nor, as far as he has the power, does
he allow others to contend. We have an example
before us of this also, as well as of everything else,
in the life of Socrates, who did not merely himself
avoid contention upon every occasion, but tried to
prevent others as well from contending. See in
Xenophon's Symposiixm how many contentions he
has resolved, and again how patient he was with
Thrasymachm, Polus, and Callicles, 1 and habitually
so with his wife, and also with his son when the
latter tried to confute him with sophistical argu-
33*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
4 WTT' avTQV, ao(j}&^6/jiepo^. "Kiav jap dcr<f)aX^
efiepvijTO, OTI ovSeh a\\orptov ffjfJLOPiKov KV-
5 pievei. ou$P OVP aXXo rfle^ev ?; TO iStov. ri
S* <TT! TOVTO ; ou^ t/c . . 09 OVTOS . . .* Kara
TOVTO jap aX^QTpiov* aXX? owa**? e
TJTTQV fca,Ta <j)ucrip e^ei fcal Stej-dget 2 /AQVQV TO,
&UTOV TTOtf&V 7TpO$ TO KatClVQV*$ 6^F K.OLTCL ff)VCTtV.
6 TOVTO jap e&Ttp, o ael TTpotcsiTai T fca\& /cal
ai ; ou* aXX*, av fazBcoTai,,
TO Kiov rf/e/AOPi/cov Trjprjo'ai.
; ou* aXX*, av SiSo&Tai, jd/MO<2 9 iv TCLVTTJ
v\rj KCITO* <j>vcriv G^ovTa ai/TOP Tiyprjaat. av
$e dekiy TOP mop ft?] afiapTavetv fj TTJP *yvpa&/ca 9
0\i TO, aXXoT/>a py elvai aXKoTpia. /cal TO
TraiSeveadat, TOUT* eaTtP, /Aapddmtv ra i&ta /cal
TO. aKXoTpia.
8 Hov OVP eri j&dxijS TOTTO? TW QVT&>$ B-^OVTI ;
fLTj fyap Oavpd^et, T& T&P yivo/iepcov ; JJLVJ jap
avT& ^aiveTai ; fiiq jap ov ^eipova /cal
TO. wapa TWP <fravhwv
ipt f avT& ; pvj jap ov /cepfto? \oji%Tat,
Trap o TI airokeLirovcnv 3 TOU eo-^aTov ; tf \ot-
avT&, OTI
1 Sdieofc! places a lacuna here : IK . . 05 ovros xard S%
* Salmaslas : !<e< &
a Schenkl : brotehnHriy $*
1 This may fee teference to Xenophon^ M&noraMlm^ IX.
2 as is concimoBly supposed, bat if so, it is a highly in-
adequate presentaticMi of the case there described, where
Soemtes is the *' confater," and the m merely makes a few
n&ttml ami quite 'eonYeaMonal afctempte to defend himself . I
332
BOOK IV. v. 3-9
merits. 1 For Socrates bore very firmly in mind that
no one is master over another's governing principle.
He willed, accordingly, nothing but what was his
own. And what is that? [Not to try to make
other people act 2 ] in accordance with nature, for
that does not belong to one ; but, while they are
attending to their own business as they think best,
himself none the less to be and to remain in a state
of harmony with nature, attending" only to his own
business, to the end that they also may be in
harmony with nature. For this is the object which
the good and excellent man has ever before him.
To become praetor ? No ; but if this be given him,
to maintain his own governing principle in these
circumstances. To marry ? No ; but if marriage be
given Mm, to maintain himself as one who in these
circumstances is in harmony with nature* But if he
wills that his son or his wife make no mistake, he
wills that what is not his own should cease to be
not his own. And to be getting an education means
this : To be learning what u your own, and what is
not your own.
Where, then, is there any longer room for con-
tention, if a man is in such a state ? Why, he is
not filled with wonder at anything that happens, is
he? Does anything seem strange to him? Does
he not expect worse and harsher treatment from
the wicked than actually befalls him? Does he not
count it as gain whenever they fail to go to the limit ?
a So-and-so reviled you." I am greatly obliged to
suspect that Epictetus was referring (following Chrysipptus,
probably) to some oilier incident recorded in the very large
body of Socratic dialogues tfoafc.onoe existed,
2 This is probably tbe general sense of ft assage where
sometMug lias evidently been lost.
333
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
rt
10 TFoXX
a/7a TIVI, on
v t on fiejakij
17 aBt/cia ; ravra ovv prj /ji/juiffi]ica>?
VQ<; } Bia ri prj
11 pevq* avfJttyepovTi, ; " ^e^X^/cep o *yLT(&v
fK/f rt OVP aif r}fidprr$K(i$ ; ** aXka ra ev o%K(p
12 fcaredyirjJ 1 crv o$v &/cvdpQv el ; ov, a\\h
^ ri ouv aoi MSorai, Trpo? rovro ; (9
KOI
\i0ov? /8aX\W ai/^pcoTTft) S
cr/ce^rai crou TO Tap&eiov, ?
eXi]kv0a$* jjLij it, rfyv 0rjpt<t)&ij ; jjufj TL TTJ
13 Ka/crjji/ctjv ; finro? ofe TTOT ? affkife laiiv ;
<npiyrat' ov% orav
* orav
14 o Se jri/o)^ / arai' irTa'8at ftrj BVVTJTCII ; a\\ 3
or aw /i^ ij(PVUf* ^ iror' ovv OVTQ>$ /cal
ov% o /JL}J Swa/iF09
4 avSpidpra<; ireptXaf&fidveiv (ov
Toirro Svvdpets rivas e^v eKrfKvOev
<j>vtreo)$) t aXX* o a7roXa)X6^d>9 TO
, x See IV. 1, 120.
2 A familiar idea In Plato, especially in the Orito*
and SepMfa but nowhere, as I recall, in exactly these words,
t^m^^(^o4^"BM^.^lw3m^md 3S7B i beffl: a dose
resemblance.
334
BOOK IV. v. 9-14
him for not striking me. < Yes, but lie struck you
too/* I am greatly obliged to him for not wounding
me. e Yes, but he wounded you too/* I am greatly
obliged to him for not killing me. For when, or from
what teacher, did he learn that man is a tame animal, 1
that he manifests mutual affection, that injustice in
itself is a great injury to the unjust man? 2 If,
therefore, he has never learned this, or become
persuaded of this, why shall he not follow what
appears to him to be his advantage ? fe My neigh-
bour has thrown stones." You have not made a
mistake, have you ? " No, but my crockery is
broken." Are you a piece of crockery, then ? No,
but you are moral purpose. What, then, has been
given you with which to meet this attack ? If you
seek to act like a wolf, you can bite back and throw
more stones than your neighbour did ; but if you
seek to act like a man, examine your store, see what
faculties you brought with you into the world.
You brought no faculty of brutality, did you ? No
faculty of bearing grudges, did you ? When, then,
is a horse miserable ? When he is deprived of his
natural faculties* Not when he can't sing ** cuckoo !"
but when he can't run. And a dog ? Is it when lie
can't fly ? No, but when he can't keep the scent.
Does it not follow, then, that on the same principles
a man is wretched, not when he is unable to choke
lions,* or throw his arms about statues 4 (for no man
has brought with ihim from nature into this world
faculties for tMs), but when he nas lost his kind-
That i% aecom{>Iish somebliiiig almost OTpertonaan, like
<la
335
-. '
Tim* is, in cold weather, as Diogenes was- able to
Seem.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
15 eVyPfdj&QV, O TO TTLCTTOV ; TOVTOV &l
w, 9 o&a fca/ca X?;Xi/$eir ov%l pa Aia
ajroKiorai TCL to'ia, ov ra
TO djpi^LOp fcal TO OLKiStop KCU TO
teal ra 8ov\dpta (TOVTQW jap ouSev iBtov T&
aXXore aXXoi? StSo/ie^a UTTO T>V KV-
piotv), aXXa ra avO p&irifca, rou?
16 o&9 e")(wy ev TTJ $iavola iX.rjfkvdeV
UdfiaTrnv f^Towre?, aF /ie> evp&j&ev,
r av & ptf evfx&p&v, piwTov/JLev. ft
17 %et TOF %apa/rn7pa TOVTO TO TeTpdcrtrapov ;
; <f>pe. Nep^^o? ; pltyov efco, iSo-
ov iffTtv, trcnrpov.'* ovrm^ KCU cvBdBe. TIVCL
1 Tie quotations (slightly modified) are from a famous
|ssage in Euripides,, Crwph&nles^ frag. 449, N"auck 2 ; "For
we ought ratiier to come together to mourn for the one who
is~ "bx>m, because of all the evils into which he is coming ;
"but, on the other hand, the one who has died, we ought with
joy and worels of gladness to send forth from his former
abode."
a The gwls.
8 This reference is most obscure, for the coins of E"ero still
presenrect are numerous and excellent, and there was a great
systematic reform of coinage in A.IX 64, which became " the
most complete monetary system of ancient times" (Mattingly
and Sydenham, The &man Imperial Coinage (1923), I> 138).
After the death of Caligula, indeed, the senate ordered all
his bronze coinage to be melted down (Bio, LX. 22, 3), but
nothing of the sort is recorded, so far as I know, for Nero.
Tlseire 'Was, of conrsej slight redaction in weight for the
attrctts and, the denariES t and "the amount of alloy in the
miter was inerease*! from 5 to abom% 10 per cenk," changes
which hare been regarded as the first step in the process
of debasement that reached its climax in the third century.
336
BOOK IV. v. 14-17
and his faithfulness? This is the kind of
person for whom "men should come together and
mourn, because of all the evils into which he has
come"; not, by Zeus, "the one who is bora/' or
"the one who has died/' 1 but the man whose
misfortune it has been while he still lives to lose
what is his own ; not Ms patrimony ^ Ms paltry farm,
and paltry dwelling, and his tavern, and his poor
slaves (for none of these things is a man's own
possession, but they all belong to others, are sub-
servient and subject, given by their masters 2 now to
one person and now to another) ; but the qualities
which make him a human being, the imprints
which he brought with him in his mind, such as
we look for also upon coins, and, if we find them,
we accept the coins, but if we do not find them,
we throw the coins away. ee Whose imprint does
this sestertius bear? Trajan's? Give It to me.
Nero's ? Throw it out, it will not pass, it is rotten/* 3
So also in the moral life. What imprint do his
See E. A. Sydenham, Num. Chrm. t ser. 4,, vol. 16 (1916), 19.
Nero's particular system of brass and copper coinage was
also discontinued after his death ('ibid. p. 28). Yet it is
scarcely credible that Epictetus can have had any trifles
like these in mind. Of course the moral point here, which
Dr. Page wishes to have emphasized, is that Trajan, was the
typically good man (fslidor AmgwMo, mdwr Traiano was
an acclamation in the Roman Senate for centuries after his
death Eutropios, 8, 5), and JsFero the opposite. But the
difficulty in the passage is to understand how it ever
occurred" to Epictelus*"tp ""imply "that people actually refused
to take coins of Nero, simply because they bore the imprint
of a morally bad man, when, as a matter of fact, it is
extremely doubtful if any human being, except perhaps
some hopeless fenatic, ever really did so refuse. A note by
T. 0. Mabfoott, " Epiotetms and Zero's Coinage' 1 , CP n (1941)
$98-9, explains this perfectly.
337
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
xapa/crfjpa ra SojfMira avrov ; " rj/ie/w,
aXXi/XtW (f)p t ira-
TCWTOJ/,
18 ^eirowa, avjjL7r\ovv* opa JMWOV,
<TTP, firj ri
c av
19 yraTaacret ra? Ksf>a\a$ TG>J> airavrt&VTtov" ri
eXe^ye?, on avdpmTrfa earw ; pTj jap etc
ffc Kpiverat T&V OVTOVV e/ca&rov ; eml
20 OVTG*<S Xeye Kdl TO fcriptvov fajhov elvai. /cal
%!> avTQ ? Kal yevcrW OVK apfcei rj
repiypa^ij. OVKOVV ouSe TTpos TOF avdpas-
TTOP 77 pt$ el-apteet K(U 01 ofj)ffaX/wi } dXX' av ra
21 BojfJMra e? a,v0yriied. ouro9 OVK
X<xyot;, ov
T&VTOV TO
F, TrpofSarov^ iravTa /mXkov f)
I, rim awapTifaj-as \aKTia-y TJ
ov$ vofSaT&v fo $ ^XXa ri Trore
22 T
; vtro el&orww ; xal
ore? rav irpfov, rov al$rj/i.0vo$ ; aXX 3 i/iro r&
; ri (rot /iXt ; oU rt pi <yap
23 *
added by C. Scbonkl (after Salmasins}.
1 Suetonius* Nem, 26,
s It would seaia that tt beeswax used in lemtlier sewing
-mm isiliarfy called "the cobbler's apple*" and wbeu on ^ile
may bmbcea mcmldtjd.in tiiat sfeapa. Soch meiaphors are
coinmoD enou ghj as is afiso the habit of making things like
338
BOOK IV. v. 17-23
judgements bear ? (e He is gentle, generous, patient,
affectionate." Give him to me, I accept him, I
make this man a citizen, I accept him as a neighbour
and a fellow-voyager. Only see that he does not
have the imprint of Nero, Is he choleric,, furious,
querulous? "If he feels like it, he punches the
heads of the people he meets/* 1 Why, then, did
you call him a human being? For surely every-
thing is not judged by its outward appearance only,
is it ? Why, if that is so, you will hae to call
the lump of beeswax an apple. 2 No, it must have
the smell of an apple and the taste of an apple ;
its external outline is not enough. Therefore,
neither are the nose and the eyes sufficient to prove
that one is a human being, but you must see whether
one has the judgements that belong to a human being.
Here is a man who does not listen to reason, he
does not understand when he is confuted ; he is an
ass. Here is one whose sense of self-respect has
grown numb ; he is useless, a sheep, anything but a
human being. Here is a man who is looking for
someone whom he can kick or bite when he meets
him ; so that he is not even a sheep or an ass, but
some wild beast.
What then ? Do you want me to be despised ?
By whom ? By men of understanding ? And how
will men of understanding despise the gentle and
the self-respecting person ? No, but by men without
understanding ? What difference is that to you ?
Neither you nor any other Draftsman cares about
those who are not skilled in his art. Yes, but they
will fasten themselves upon me all the more. What
vases, e&kes, eancty, pincushions, soap, etc., ia tiie shape of
f raits or aaaimals.
339
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
iri$vi]crovTai poi. Tt Xeyet? TO e/ioi ; Bvvarai
ris TT]V Trpoaipea-iP TTJV arjp ^Xd^lrai, rj
24 7re<f>v/cep ; OU. Tt ovv CTL rapaaar} teal <j>o/3~
pop ffawrov Bekew iTrtSeifcvveiv ; ou%l Se ira~
pXd&w eh j&e&ov K7jpva-o-^ 9 on, eipjjvr
irpo<? TrdvTa*? avdpctiTrovs, 5 n av ifcetvoi
/cal ^aX<JT J l/ceiv&tv fcarayeka?, oaot ere
"avSpaTroSa ravra OVK oISeF ouSe Tt$
ouSe TTOI) /soy TO d*yadov Kal TO ica/cop* ou 1
25 05T6>9 Aral %i/paF TTO?UF 04 2 olicovvrG? Kara-
J\&Cfl TCfJ'F TTOklOpKOVPTObV* " VVV Q$TQL Tl
TTpaj/ift &)(ov(Tkv eirl T^ fiTjBevi ; acr^aXe? CTTIV
vjp&tt TO T?^o9 Tpo^>a^ isxpfiev lirl Trapirokw
26 ^/>oroi?, T^F aXX^F airacraw irapacrfcevijv" ravrd
IcTTt Ta TroXsp %vpap /cal ava\(jyrov wotovvra,
&i>6j>mrov Se ^fv^r^p ovSev aXXo- ^ Soj/iara.
WOW-P *yajo rer^a? OUT? icr)i/p02/ ^ irotov cr&f&a
OUT aBajJuipTivov fj irola fCTfjcris dva^aipero^; ^
27 TroiOF dgi&fia OUTC&$ avem&ovKeirrov ;
d, euakwra, ol? Tuny TOP
> irepnrT&'ntctis
o/*6z* T^F f&wj}p
a.p iroieiv ; ovS* a7roo"TOFr5 reap dprjjwp /cat,
1 Schenkl : ri & 2 01 added Bj SchenkL
a referencje to XeaophoBj 'OywpmMa* VTJ,
5 ? 13.
340
BOOK IV. v. 23-28
do yon mean by the word "me " ? Can anyone hurt
your moral purpose,, or prevent you from employing
in a natural way the sense-impressions which come
to you? No. Why, then,, are you any longer dis-
turbed, and why do you want to show that you are
a timid person? Why do you not come .forth and
make the announcement that you are at peace
with all men, no matter what they do, and that
you are especially amused at those who think
that they are hurting you ? " These slaves do not
know either who I am, or where my good and my
evil are; they cannot get at the things that are
mine."
In this way also those who inhabit a strong city
laugh at the besiegers: 1 " Why are these men taking
trouble now to no end ? Our wall is safe, we have
food for ever so long a time, and all other supplies/'
These are the things which make a city strong and
secure against capture, and nothing but judgements
make similarly secure the soul of man. For what
manner of wall is so strong, or what manner of
body so invincible, or what manner of possession so
secure against theft, or what manner of reputation
so unassailable? For all things everywhere are
perishable, and easy to capture by assault, and the
man who in any fashion sets his mind upon any of
them must needs be troubled in mind, be dis-
couraged, suffer fear and sorrow, have his desires
fail, and Ms aversions fall into what they would
avoid. If this be so, are we not willing to make
secure the one means of safety which has been
vouchsafed us? And are we not willing to give
up these perishable and slavish things, and devote
our labours to those which are imperishable and by
341
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
veiv ; ovBe j&ej&vijiJLeda, STL avre fSKd-irTGi aXXo?
OVT &<f>\l, aXXa TO Tiepl /cd(TTOV TOlh
Bayfia, TQVTQ eari, TO jSXaTTTOZ/, ravro TO
avarpeirov, TOVTQ /&%??, TOVTO dTaa^, TQVTO
20 TroXe/io? ; 'ErO/e\a teal HdX.vveiK'rj TO
ovfc aXXo rj ToSrOj TO Soy/^a TO irepl
TO Soj/JUl TO 7Tp
30 T&JI/ /caic&v, TO 8e
8* al/T?/ TTtfFTa?, TO $i<fCiv TO aya&QV, <f>ev<y(,p TO
KCUCQW TOV a<f>ai,pQuiJLevQp 6aiepov fcal
iw* TQVTQV yyeiadai, Tr
ayadov (rvrfyeveaTepov ov&ev.
ajjaBa /cal /catcd, OVTE TraT^p wo
^, TrdpTa Se
e oa
lpeo-^, TOVTO /&QVOP ayaffop I&TIV, /cal ola
, Toirro f&m?Qv /ca/c&v,
ia ; we/>l TiVF ; ^rcpi TOJF oiSei/ Trpo?
; irpo? TO^? aTi'ooi/Fra?, Trpo?
-, TT/JO^ TOU? riTravqpAvQvs irepl
33
az/e^o^cei/o?
ta yap 7r/>o? T ijv; Ty"
1 Famous eiwaay brotsfceiB ; oi BL 2^ IS-14.
342
BOOK IV, v. 28-33
nature free? And do we not remember that no
man either hurts or helps another,, but that it is his
judgement about each of these things which is the
thing that hurts him, that overturns him ; this is
contention, and civil strife, and war? That which
made Eteocles and Pol yneices l what they were was
nothing else but this their judgement about a throne,
and their judgement about exile, namely, that one
was the greatest of evils, the other the greatest
of goods. And this is the nature of every being,
to pursue the good and to flee from the evil;
and to consider the man who robs us of the one
and invests us with the other as an enemy and
an aggressor, even though he be a brother, even
though he be a son, even though he be a father ;
for nothing is closer kin to us than our good. It
follows, then, that if these externals are good or
evil, neither is a father dear to his sons, nor a brother
dear to a brother, but everything on all sides is full
of enemies, aggressors, slanderers. But if the right
kind of moral purpose and that alone is good, and
if the wrong kind of moral purpose and that alone
is bad, where is there any longer room for contention,
where for reviling ? About what ? About the
things that mean nothing to us ? Against whom ?
Against the ignorant, against the unfortunate, against
those who have been deceived in the most important
values ?
All this is what Socrates bore in mind as he
managed his house, putting up with a shrewish wife
and an unkindly son. 8 For to what end was she
2 Perhaps referring to Xenophon, Jfm0r^$Hos, H. , where
his Son Lamprocles is represented as having lost MB temper
at the constant scolding of Xanthippe.
343
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
QCTOP fcal 8e"Xei, IPO,
TOP TrXaKovpTa* /cal ri Tfpo? e/xe, &v
34 vircika^m, OTI ravra ov/c &TI 977)09 e/ie ; TOTJTO S*
ifibv ipjov Gcrrl /cal OVTC rvpavvQ<$ /CG&Xvo-ei, fie
0\.ovTa ovre &cnrQTr}$ ovr ol iroXXol TOP em
oud* o lo")(vpQTpo<; TOP acrdevecTTepow TOUTO jap
35 d/ewiXuTQj/ BeSoTat, VTTO TOV ffeov e/cdarfp. TCLVTO,
TCL SoypaTO, ev ol/cia (f>iklap irotel, IP
o/ioj/oiai/, ev eSpeorip elpi]piqv> TT/>O? deop ev
TOP, irapTa^ov ffappovvTa, CD'S- 7Tpl TCOI/
36 TplWP, &$ 7Tpl QV$PO*$ a%LG)P. O.XX*
pep fcal avarypwvai TavTa Kal
ejraareffcu ifccatoi, Tretcrdijpai S' ouS*
37 Ijjv^. Toijapovp TO irepl TWP
"
S'
P
rip^ IXeovfievos. Tlorepov OVP aov
py op etTT TO \e1adai &e ^ T&P lX,eavvra)p ; *ri
S* ; etri &oi e&Tt TO TraAaai avro ; *E?r' e/^o/, av
It was a present from Alcibiades. For the incidents
referred to see Seneca, De Comtantia, 18, 5 ; Diogenes
, 2, 36 ; Athenaeus, 5 S 219 B and 14, 643 F ; Aelian,
II, 1st
344
BOOK IV. v. 33-vi. i
shrewish ? To the end that she might pour all the
water she pleased over his head, and might trample
underfoot the cake. 1 Yet what Is that to me, If I
regard these things as meaning nothing to me ? But
this control over the moral purpose is my true "busi-
ness, and in It neither shall a tyrant hinder me against
my mil, nor the multitude the single individual,, nor
the stronger man the weaker; for this has been
given by God to each man as something that cannot
be hindered. These are the judgements which
produce love in the household, concord In the State,
peace among the nations,, make a man thankful
toward God, confident at all times, on the ground
that he is dealing with things not his own, with
worthless things. We, however, although we are
capable of writing and reading these things., and
praising them when read, are nowhere near capable
of being persuaded of them. Wherefore,, the proverb
about the Lacedaemonians,
Lions at home, but at Ephesus foxes, 2
will fit us too; Lions in the school-room, foxes
outside.
CHAPTER VI
To those who are vexed al being pitied
1 AM annoyed, says one, at being pitied. Is it,
then, some doing of yours that yoo are pitied, or
the doing of those who show the pity ? Or again ;
is it in your power to stop it ? It is, if I caa show
2 Because of their ill-snceesg in Asia Minor. See also the
scholium on Aristophanes, Pax f 1189.
145
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
avrois fir) afyov ekeov opra ZJMLVTQV.
2 Tiorepop S* 77837 <rot virdp^ei TOVTO, TO /&% elpai
p 17 ov% vTrdp^ei ; Ao#<S eywye, cm
aXX* ovroiy* ov/c evrl TQVTOIS I\,ov<rur 9
$v a^iov, eirl rot?
3 KGL\ davdrot^ /cal aXkoi.^ rotovro^. TLorepov ovv
Trapear/cevacrat, TOVS TroXXoz/9, w apa
/cal apdp-ftovTi l ical aripxp evbatpomZv* y aavrov
ew airraid ?rX0in"owTa /cal
jap ra p& $VTpa <iXaoiw /cal
/cal ov$vo$ d^iov. xal $ jrpoffTroiiqort^ Spa Si
ot&p ap jepotro" Bov\dpid o~e ^pijo-aadat, 8e^o"i
/cal dpyvpaifidTta oXvya /ce/CTrjcrffat /cal ravra ev
<f)avp> Seiicvvetv, el olov T, ravra TroX\d/ci<t /cal
Xavffdmtv Treipatrffat- QTI ravrd etrriv, /cal ip*a-
riSta (TTiXTTFa /cal TTJP aXkiqv irQpjryv /cal rov
Tl/lC&fie^QV 7Tl(f)aiyGlP V7TO Ttt)P 7n<$*aV(rTdT<dV 2
/cal &eri/e/ ireipao-dat, Trap* airot? ^ &o/clv ye,
art &t7ryl$ f /cal irepl TO crca/wt Se TWO, /ca/coTe 1 ^-
velv, &? vjju}p$QTpov $aim&Qai /cal yewaioTe-
5 pop TQV OPTQS* TavTa & 4 jATjxava&Oai, el Trp>
*H irpdOT?] $ /cal aprjWJTQs /cal fia/cpd^ o 6
Q\MC ySuvqffij voir$&at, TOVTO avTo e
wela-at, Tipa co-Tip dyada /cal
"Opt< s s " Oder " ; i^atn B. '
Eiter :
BOOK IV. vi. r-5
them that I do not deserve their pity. And do you
now possess the power of not being deserving of
pity., or do you not possess it? It seems to me,
indeed, that I possess it. Yet these people do not
pity me for what would deserve pity,, if anything
does, that is, my mistakes ; but for poverty, and for
not holding office, and for things like disease, and
death, and the like. Are you, then, prepared to
convince the multitude that none of these things is
bad, but that it is possible for a poor man, and
one who holds no office or position of honour, to
be happy ; or are you prepared to show yourself off
to them as a rich man and an official ?" Of these
alternatives the second is the part of a braggart,
and a tasteless and worthless person. Besides,
observe the means by which you must achieve your
pretence: You will have to borrow some paltry
slaves ; and possess a few pieces of silver plate, and
exhibit these same pieces conspicuously and fre-
quently, if you can, and try not to let people know
that they are the same ; and possess contemptible
bright clothes, and all other kinds of finery, and
show yourself off as the one who is honoured by the
most distinguished persons; and try to dine with
them, or at least make people think that you dine
with them ; and resort to base arts in the treatment
of your person, so as to appear more shapely and of
gentler birth than you actually are. All these con-
trivances you must adopt, if you wish to take the
way of the second alternative and avoid pity.
Bat the first way is ineffectual and tedious to
attempt the very thing which Zetis himself has been,
unable to accomplish, that is, to convince all men of
what things are good, and what evil. Why, that
347
"VOL. H. H
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
6 icaicd* JM) jap MBorai aot TOVTO ; e/cetpo
dot BeSorai, aavTOP 'jreiaai* fcal OVTTCO
7 elrd pot PVP lirvxjEipeis Treideiv TQU$ aXXou? ; /cat
Be oz/T<)9 TTiBavos eari croi irpos TO Treicrai ? cry
aavrm ; rfe S* evvovaiepov /cal oi/ceiorepop e^c&v TJ
8 crv aavrm ; TTCO? ovv OVTTCO TTZTreiica*; cravrov ftadetv ;
PUP ou^l ap(& fcdro) ; TCWT* eari vrepl o ecrirov-
$a/ca$ ; ou 1 {iav8dvip 9 &ar aXwiros elvai xal
9 ardpa^o^ ical aTaTreipcdros teal eXevdepos ; 7rpc><?
ravra OUP ov/c d/ctf/cQa$ t on p*ia la-rip j] 0809 77
(ftepovaa, dtfieipat TO, a7rp'QaipTa /cal i/ccrrrjpai
10 avr&p /cal Qfi\.oyj]O"ai avra d\\QTpta ; TO OVP
d\\op T& V7ro\aj3eiv irepl <rov TTQLQV afioz/9 eaTiv ;
Toi) aTTpoaiperov* Qv/covv ou&ev 7T/J09 ai ;
p. ETI OUP SafcpQjj,pQ eVl TOUTG* /cal
irepl dyad&p /cal
11 Ov
yevecfffcu /ca j
oi aXX0, el vcrtT)i& avro^ Trapa
fcal Sie^djeip, Ifiol * ovBefa ICTTIP eyyicap
12 T! QVV TOWT0 icTTtPy QTl TOU? fJt,P
TOW TO>F <piX.Q0'o<j)a)p /cal cruj/caTaT^epat auroi?,
* oit added by SohankL
348
BOOK IV. VL 5-i2
has not been vouchsafed to you, lias it ? Nay, this
only has been vouchsafed to convince yourself.
And yon have not convinced yourself yet ! And
despite that, bless me ! are you now trying to
convince all other men ? Yet who has been living
with you so long as you have been living with
yourself? And who is so gifted with powers of
persuasion to convince you, as you are to convince
yourself? Who Is more kindly disposed and nearer
to you than you are to yourself? How comes it,
then, that you have not persuaded yourself to learn ?
Are not things now upside down ? Is this what you
have been in earnest about ? Not to learn how to
get rid of pain, and turmoil, and humiliation, and so
become free ? Have you not heard that there is but
a single way which leads to this end, and that is to
give up the things which lie outside the sphere of
the moral purpose, and to abandon them, and to
admit that they are not your own ? To what class
of things, then, does another's opinion about you
belong ? To that which lies outside the sphere of
the moral purpose. And so it is nothing to you?
Nothing. So long, then, as you are stung and
disturbed by the opinions of others, do you still
fancy that you have been persuaded as to things
good and evil ?
Will you not, then, let other men alone, and
become your own pupil and your own teacher ? " All
other men shall see to it, whether it is profitable for
them to be in a state out of accord with nature and
so to live, but as for me no one is closer to myself
than I am. What does it mean, then, that I have
heard the words of the philosophers and assent to
them, but that in actual fact my burdens have
349
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
epjo) S* ovBev ryeyova /cov^orepo^ ; /twf n
a^vrj^ dfLi ; /cal firjp TTCjol TO, a\Xa, oaa ij3ov-
\rfiriv, ov \iav dpvr]<; evpeffyv, a\\a /cal jpdfi-
fiara ra%9 efiadop /cal iraXaJLew /cal <ye&/te-
13 rpeiv /cal ffvT&oyta'fLovs avaXveiv. fttf n ovv ov
j&e 6 Xo^o? ; /cal jjyv ov/c aX\a nva
% apyfis ^ofcLpacra rj elXo/i^F /cal PVV
irepl roirrwv avayiyvw&KGd, ravra a/cova, ravra
14 porepOF TQUTQV \oyov. ii ov TO
itrriv ; /i^ ov/c cjfflpTjrat ravawria Soj/iara ;
avral cd vTrd^jj^e^ afyvfJwa&TQi elcrw ov8'
mramav eirl TO, epya, aJOC <9 O7r\dpia
- 1 /caric^rai ical ovSe irepi.apfjioo'at fiat
15 SvvaTcw; /cairoi, our 9 eirl rov Trakaieiv ovr em
TOV ypd^eivyjavajvyvwar/ceiv ap/cou/jMLTm pLCtBeiv,
dXX* awm /cdrct> <rTp<fx& rcw TrporetFO/te^ou? /cal
H SXXoi;? irke/co) /col jj^TaTriirrovTa^ a)ffavTQ)$.
aitajKtua Qewprniasra, a<j> mv ecrnv o
ov
17 /cara rainra TTJV irpQcr7}KQvo-av /Jbe\erifjv, elrd
^ ri oi aXXot irepl ifiov epov&w, el (fxivov-
?, el <f>avovpai evBai/jif&v ; "
18 Ta\atir&pe, ov 0\i$ ffi^Trew, rl crv
1 Reiake:
350
BOOK IV. vi. 12-18
become no lighter? Can it be that I am so dull?
And yet, indeed, in everything else that I have
wanted I was not found to be unusually dull, but I
learned my letters rapidly, and how to wrestle,, and
do my geometry, and analyse syllogisms. Can it be,
then, that reason has not convinced me ? Why,
indeed'., there is nothing to which I have so given my
approval from the very first, or so preferred, and
now I read about these matters, and hear them, and
write about them. Down to this moment we have
not found a stronger argument than this. What is
it, then, that I yet lack? Can it be that the
contrary judgements have not all been put away ?
Can it be that the thoughts themselves are un exer-
cised and unaccustomed to face the facts, and, like
old pieces of armour that have been stowed away, are
covered with rust, and can no longer be fitted to me ?
Yet in wrestling, or in writing, or in reading, I am
not satisfied with mere learning, but I turn over and
over the arguments presented to me, and fashion
new ones., and likewise syllogisms with equivocal
premisses. However, the necessary principles, those
which enable a man, if he sets forth from them, to
get rid of grief, fear, passion, hindrance., and become
free, these I do not exercise, nor do 1 take the
practice that is appropriate for them. After all that,
am I concerned with what everyone else will say
about me, whether I shall appear important or happy
in their eyes ? "
O miserable man, will you not see what yqti are
saying about yourself? What sort of a person are
you in your own eyes? What sort of a person in
thinking, in desiring, in avoiding; what sort of a
person in choice, preparation, design, and the other
351
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TO 49 vp&^wiKo^ epyow \\a /ieXet crai* et <re
19 eXcoucFip ol aXXcw ; Nat' aXXa irapa TTJV d^iav
i. Qu/covv em TQVT&) o&uva ; o Se <ye
21 /ca/e&>9 8' "
a a^lav eXefy ; aviol^ jap 0X9 irepl TOV
7rdo")( / ei<$ KaTaatcevd&w ffeavrov agtop rov
20 <T0ai. ri QVV \.yei ' 'Avrurffe
ov, & Kvpe,
/ca
on fC<f>a\aXj&>. rl
/cal c&9 irupeacrovTi JJIQI
0V
OTl
te va- Tctt9 akrjeais 7109 i] %po^O9, e ov JJLOL
tea/e&s eo"Tt^.** <f ri oZv yewrjTcu ; * J o>9 aj/ o
6^609 ^eXi;. fcal apa wro/caTayeX. TWV ol/crei,-
22 Ti ow K&\vi fc(u evravffa o/
aXXa opffov Bojfia !%(*> 7re/?i wevias. ri oftv
i, ? /^* CTT! ry -ireviq iXeoucrw ; GVK
* apftovcrw. aXX' o ? vTrei
TTpl TQV ap%lV KCtl flTj
23 S^rQwrai of iXeovvres j&e, eyo) S' oiire ireivto ovre
f dK^J dfjf &v aural
Qiovrai icdfj, n ovv avrol?
/C7fpV'CT& KO\ \ljO3 '* fj,r}
vacrffe, avSpcs, ijwl fca\>$ iaTW* ovre
1 So also Marcus Aiirelitis, 7, 36 ; and cf.
Laertias, % 3.
352
BOOK IV. vi. 18-23
activities of men ? Yet you are concerned whether
the rest of mankind pity you ? Yes, but I do not
deserve to be pitied. And so you are pained at
that ? And is the man who is pained worthy of
pity ? Yes. How, then, do you fail to deserve pity
after all ? By the very emotion which you feel con-
cerning pity you make yourself worthy of pity. What,
then, says Antisthenes? Have you never heard?
te It is the lot of a king, O Cyrus, to do well, but to
be ill spoken of." l My head is perfectly sound and
yet everybody thinks I have a headache. What do
I care ? I have no fever, and yet everybody
sympathizes with me as though I had : " FOOT
fellow, yon have had a fever for ever so long/* I
draw a long face too, and say, " Yes, it truly is a
long time that I have been in a bad way." ** What
is going to happen, then?"* As God will, I reply,
and at the same time I smile quietly to myself at
those who are pitying me.
What, then, prevents me from doing the same
thing in my moral life also ? I am poor, but I have
a correct judgement about poverty. Why, then, am
I concerned, if men pity me for my poverty ? I
do not hold office, wbile others do. But I have the
right opinion about holding office and not holding it.
Let those who pity me look to it, 2 but as for myself,
I am neither hungry, nor thirsty, nor cold, but from
their own. hunger and thirst they think I too am
hungry and thirsty. What, then, am. I to do for
them ? Shall I go about and make proclamation,
and say, ef Men, be not deceived, it is well with me.
2 As in IV. 7, 23, and 8, 24, and Acts xvHL 15. Probably
f *, in &, 'I. 4, IS, can be defended on the analogy of these
other cases.
353
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTBTUS
ovre avap^a^ ovre
0&v ravra
24 QvBevos TrecppovTttea IT*" ; xal ri$ avrrf
7TCt>? en opBa Boj/MiTa e%t JJLT
slvai 09 elju, oMC eirrorjfjbevo? virep TQV
26 'ATtX* aXXoi 7rkiov(t>v rev^ovrai /cal
Tt ouv eiikoywrepov rj roi/9 irepL ri
ev /ee[v&> Trkelop G^GLP, iis w eairov-
Bda<raf f irepl dp%a$ ecnrovSd/cacrw, crv wepl
So^jMtra* teal wepl TrXai/TOF, <ru irepl TTJP xpfyriv
26 TfijF (papTdcriGW* opa, el P TOVT&) aov ir\eov
v, wpl o <rv fiev ccrirovSaKas, e/cewot 8*
el avytcaraTiGevTai /jJiXkov Trepl TO,
a ft&rpa, el op&yoprai aov avaTTOTevfcrorepov,
el efocXiwQVG'iv aTrepiwrwrorepov, el ev emjSoXJ,
eF Trpodeaet,* el ev op/t^ /iaXXoF evaTo%pv<nv, el
TO wpemov <r$ov<riv a*v ai/Spe?, a>? VIOL, ? <yovel$>
eW* kfffs icatfi ra aXXa r&v
27 el 8* ap%Qvaiw e/celpo^ crv S* * ov 0eXet,$
T^9 afajffeia<? eiirew, on crv }iV ovSev rovrov
iroteis, eKelvot Be irdvra, a\ojcorarov Be
ov TIP** ekarrov $epecr&ai TJ rov
28 O$, a tiXX* eire&Br) tjtpQvrifa ly<
M ecrriit ap^etv* *fiy &
1 Deieod^i in apodosis by Eeiske and Schenkl: Upton
added &r*4 ^ter S* and Schweighanser u.
l^anrfenced to this position by * from before ^ just
354
BOOK IV. VL 23-28
I take heed neither of poverty, Bor lack of office,
nor, in a word, anything else, but only correct
judgements ; these I possess free from hindrance, I
have taken thought of nothing further " ? And yet,
what foolish talk is this ? How do I any longer
hold correct judgements when I am not satisfied
with being the man that I am, but am excited about
what other people think of me ?
But others will get more than I do, and will be
preferred in honour above me. Well, and what is
more reasonable than for those who have devoted
themselves to something to have the advantage in
that to which they have devoted themselves ?
They have devoted themselves to office, you to
judgements; and they to wealth, you to dealing
with your sense-impressions. See whether they
have the advantage over you in what you have
devoted yourself to, but they neglect ; whether
their assent is more in accord with natural
standards, whether their desire is less likely to
achieve its aim than is yours, whether their aversion
is less likely to fall into what it would avoid,
whether in design, purpose, and choice they hit the
mark better, whether they observe what becomes
them as men, as sons, as parents^ and then, in order,
through all the other terms for the social relations.
But if they hold office, will you not tell yourself the
truth, which is, that you do nothing in order to get
office, while they do everything, and that it is most
unreasonable for the man who pays attention feo
something to come off with less than the man who
neglects it ?
Nay, but because I greatly concern myself with
correct judgements^ it is more reasonable for me to
355
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
crov iretppopT/tacriP, /cevoi$ wapa%(&pi* oov el
Bia TO Boy/jiara e^eiv opda rj^ious roj-evaw
eTTiruy^dveiv TCJ> ro^or&v TJ ^dX/cevc&
29 TOW ^aXffea)?. a^l9 QVV T^l/ 1 7Tpl TO, QJfJLaTCL
ffTrovSrjv KOI Trepl Itcelva ava&Tp(})ov, a /crrjcra-
crdai 8Kei%, /cal rare K\ale, lav GOI py
30 fc\cuiv jap a%io<$ el. vvv Be 77/109
yivea0at, Xe^e^?, aXX&JF eiTL^e\la9aL, ol
Se TO^TO /:aXfe>9 Xeyoiwi/, or* epjov Ipytp ov
31 /coii/cavel. o /&& ^ 5p6p&u anaara^ fyj'rei
ll~ ol/cov rov Katcjapo? 3 acryrdcrijTaif rivt
32 aXXw '%apl<j"r}"TCii f * orav ev^rjTa^ Trepl TOUTOW
orav dvr}, iin TOVTOI? Sver TO TOI)
VTTVQV jjLd\afcolcnv ITT' o/t/ia<j
; * r epea ;
evi/aios ; *' /eaj ,
iavrm ical ey/caXet, te il yap <roi /cal
1 rtv supplied by 56.
8 Upton : *af 5.
8 TW Kaltra/js added Tby Wolf : Qt&vra snggestecl by
Reiske.
* Salmasitis ; l"pe|a 5.
* Of. IV. 10, 24.
* Fww* 40, See in. 10, 2.
356
BOOK IV. vi. 28-33
role. Yes, in what you greatly concern yourself
with, that Is, judgements; but in that with which
other men have concerned themselves more greatly
than you have, give place to them. It is as though,
because you have correct judgements,, you insisted
that you ought in archery to hit the mark better than
the archers, or to surpass the smiths at their trade.
Drop, therefore, your earnestness about judge-
ments, and concern yourself with the things which
you wish to acquire, and then lament if you do not
succeed, for you have a right to do that. But as it is,
you claim to be intent upon other things, to care for
other things, and there is wisdom in what common
people say, " One serious business has no partnership
with another/* l One man gets up at early dawn
and looks for someone of the household of Caesar to
salute, someone to whom he may make a pleasant
speech, to whom he may send a present, how he may
please the dancer, how he may gratify one person
by maliciously disparaging another. When he prays,
he prays for these objects, when he sacrifices, he
sacrifices for these objects. The word of Pytha-
goras, 2
Also allow not sleep to draw nigh to your languor-
ous eyelids,
he has wrested to apply here. (C e Where did I go
wrong ' 3 in matters of flattery ? * What did I do ? '
Can it be that I acted as a free man, or as a man of
noble character ? " And if he find an instance of the
sort, he censures and accuses himself; " Wfey, what
8 The single quotation- marks enclose famous phrases from
the Qofatai Fm#s, wMcli Epictetns, with bitter irony, repre-
sents such, a self-seeker as employing in a sense appropriate
to his own contemptible behaviour.
357
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TOVTO elirelv ; ov yap IVTJV ^revaacrdai, ; Xeyot/cw
/cal oi tpiXodo^Qi, OT. ou$v K(a\vL tyeuSo^
34 shrew" crv $* eljrep ral$ akvjdeiai*? oi/Sez/o?
aXXov TrefypovTiKox % I xprjeew d!a$ Se2 <j)avra-
cri&y, evffvs dvacrras Bev evOvjAQV ** riva fioi
Oo? airddeiap ; riva TT/JO? a,rapa$~iav ;
; JJLTJ rt, G-mtidriov, pj TI fcrfjcns, fjaj TI
TjjJiri ; ov$V TQVTWV. a\Xa ri ; 'Xoyi/cov ei/ii
35 jjpoy.** Tiva OVP Ta air an?] par a ; avairokei TO
evpoiav ;
tf f *-v'/1* 'V
Ti fJLOl QeOV OVfC T\ffU1J 7T/509
36 To<j-^i/T7j9 05^ BicwjiQpas ova-rj? T&V
, irepl a* cri ^tF ov/e l
37 eKzlvoi, 8* Icnrov$d%a0'w ; elra 0au/j(,d%t$,
ir, /cal ayavaxrels ; exelvot 8* OUA:
t el (TV avrous eXeet?. S^a ri ; on
ftj? Treimtr/iew Gl&lv, on ayad&v ruy-
38 %dvov<nv, av S* ov TrenreitTai. Sta TOUTO <ri
/*ey OVK CLpfcrj TO?? trot?, aXX* <$>icrai
S* apfcovvrai TOi9 eai/rayj/
<f>tVTcu r&v atop. 7Tei rot, el
re.'jreKj'Q, on Trepl ra dyada crv o
1, /CiJfOt 8* d f jrO
v, ri "keyova'i irepl <rov*
1 | supplied by &,
1 Cf. Stobaens, ^el. H. 7, Il (vol. II. p. Ill, 13 ft
Wacbsmatii) : t4 They (the Stoics) think that he (the wise
man) will upon occasion employ falsehood in a number of
different ways.**
358
BOOK IV. vi. 33-38
business did you have to say that ? For wasn't it
possible to lie? Even the philosophers say that
there is nothing to hinder one's telling a lie." 1
But if in all truth you have concerned yourself
greatly with nothing but the proper use of sense-
impressions, then as soon as you get up in the
morning bethink you , cc What do I yet lack in order to
achieve tranquillity ? What to achieve calm ? What
am I ? I am not a paltry body, not property, not
reputation, am I ? None of these. Well, what am
I ? A rational creature." What, then, are the
demands upon you ? Rehearse your actions.
" Where did I go wrong ? * in matters conducive
to serenity ? f What did I do * that was unfriendly,
or unsocial, or unfeeling? 'What to be done was
left undone * in regard to these matters ? **
Since, therefore, there is so great a difference
between the things which men desire, their deeds,
and their prayers, do you still wish to be on an
equal footing with them in matters to which you
have not devoted yourself, but they have? And
after all that, are you surprised if they pity you, and
are you indignant ? But they are not indignant if
you pity them. And why ? Because they are
convinced that they are getting good things^ while
you are not so convinced in your own case. That is
why you are not satisfied with what you have, but
reach out for what they have. Because, if you
had been truly convinced that, in tlie case of the
things which, are good, you are the one who is
attaining them, while they have gone astray, you
would not even have taken account of what they say
about you.
359
ABRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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/cal dwa0*Tpo$r}v daird^jrai' TroEo? Ir^
<f>j3po<s TJ iroioi Bopv<j>6poi, fj
360
BOOK IV. vii. 1-5
CHAPTER VII
Of freedom from fear
WHAT makes the tyrant an object of fear? His
guards, someone says, and their swords, and the
chamberlain, and those who exclude persons who
would enter. Why,, then,'is it that, if you bring a child
into the presence of the tyrant while he is with his
guards, the child is not afraid ? Is it because the
child does not really feel the presence of the guards ?
If, then, a man really feels their presence, and that
they have swords, but has come for that very
purpose, for the reason that he wishes to die because
of some misfortune, and he seeks to do so easily at
the hand of another, he does not fear the guards,
does he ? No, for what makes them terrible is just
what he wants. If, then^ a man who has set his
will neither upon dying nor upon living at any cost,
but only as it is given him to live, comes into the
presence of the tyrant, what is there to prevent such
a man from coming into his presence without fear ?
Nothing. If, then, a man feel also about his
property just as this other person feels about his
body, and so about his children, and his wife, and if,
in brief, he be in such a frame of mind, due to some
madness or despair, that he cares not one whit about
having, or not having, these things ; but, as children
playing with potsherds strive with one another about
the game, but take no thought about the potsherds
themselves, so this man also has reckoned the
material things of life as nothing, but is glad to
play with them and handle them what kind of
tyrant, or guards, or swords in the hands of guards
can any more inspire fear in the breast of such a man ?
361
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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ra>p
10 /iTjSei/l 1 ey/eaXotw* ai/ S* IF TOS
apy/cij Kakveaat avra,
SeiweighEnser :
* Obwasly referrii^ to the Christiazi^ as tlie SdioIIasfc
saw. Of, also L 9, 19-21 and note, and IntrocL p. xxvi f .
BOOK IV. TIL 6-iG
Therefore,, if madness can produce this attitude of
mind toward the things which have just been
mentioned, and also habit, as with the Galilaeans, 1
cannot reason and demonstration teach a man
that God has made all things in the universe,
and the whole universe itself, to be free from
hindrance,, and to contain its end in itself, and the
parts of it to serve the needs of the whole ? Now
all other animals have been excluded from the
capacity to understand the governance of God, but
the rational animal, man,, possesses faculties that
enable him to consider all these things, both that he
is a part of them, and what kind of part of them he
is, and that it is well for the parts to yield to the
whole. And furthermore, being by nature noble,
and high-minded, and free, the rational animal, man,
sees that he has some of the things which are about
him free from hindrance and under his control, but
that others are subject to hindrance and under the
control of others. Free from hindrance are those
things which lie in the sphere of the moral purpose,
and subject to hindrance are those which lie outside
the sphere of the moral purpose. And so, if he
regards his own good and advantage as residing in
these things alone, in those, namely, which are free
from hindrance and under his control, he will be
free, serene, happy, unharmed, high-minded,
reverent, giving thanks for all things ta God, under
no circumstances finding fault with anything that
has happened, nor blaming anything ; if, however, he
regards his good and advantage as residing in
externals and things outside the sphere of Ms moral
purpose, he must needs be hindered and restrained,
be a slave to those who have control over these things
363
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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elvcu are jSkdTrTG&dai olo^evov UTTO TOI) deov
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16 jefffffat Kan/op^ TrapdXoyov; TOVT&V ep/ca
1 T supplied by $5.
2 These last seven words (with tlie change of !x l * before
&vopxiD' to &e\ts f bj Schenkl) in the scholia a little below
this point were seen by Lindsay to belong kere.
1 See 17, and frag. 11 for paraEels,
BOOK IV. vii. 10-16
which lie lias admired and fears ; he must needs be
irreverent, forasmuch as he thinks that God is
injuring him, and be unfair, always trying to secure
for himself more than his share, and must needs be
of an abject and mean spirit.
When a man has once grasped all this, what
is there to prevent him from living with a light
heart and an obedient disposition ; with a gentle
spirit awaiting anything that may yet befall; and
enduring that which has already befallen? ec Would
you have me bear poverty?" Bring it on and you
shall see what poverty is when it finds a good actor
to play the part. 1 "Would you have me hold
office f " Bring it on, " Would you have me suffer
deprivation of office ? " Bring it on. " Well, and
would you have me bear troubles ? " Bring them on
too. "" Well, and exile ? 5> Wherever I go it will be
w^ell with me, for here where I am it was well with
me, not because of my location, but because of my
judgements, and these I shall carry away with me;
nor, indeed, can any man take these away from me,
but they are the only things that are mine., and they
cannot be taken away, and with the possession of
them I am content, wherever I be and whatever I do.
"But it is now time to die." Why say "die"?
Make no tragic parade of the matter, but speak of it
as it is : " It is now tune for the material of which
you are constituted to be restored to those elements
from which it came." And what is there terrible
about that ? What one of the things that make up
the universe will be lost, what novel or unreason-
able thing will have taken place? Is it for this
that the tyrant inspires fear? Is it because of
this that his guards seem to have long and sharp
3%
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ravra* /iol S* e
17
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rvo?
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; olSa *ydp, or^ ecro a*yadov
rait; ei&ekBovcnv. aXX* oraz^ aicovam
er (after Wolf} ; pov and l 5f.
and ScEeafcl, who adds ftol: veipa&opad <raw
A,
Wolf (alto Sefatfc):
366
BOOK IV. vii. 16-21
swords ? Let others see to that ; I have considered
all this, no one lias authority over me. I have been
set free by God, I know His commands, no one has
power any^Ionger to make a slave of me, I have the
right kind of emancipator, and the right kind of
judges. " Am I not master of your body ? " Very
well, what is that to me ? cc Am I not master of your
paltry property ? " Very well, what is that to me ?
se Am I not master of exile or bonds?" Again I
yield up to you all these things and my whole
paltry body itself, whenever you will. Do make
trial of your power, and you will find out how far it
extends.
Who is there, then, that I can any longer be afraid
of? Shall I be afraid of the chamberlains? .For
fear they do what ? Lock the door in my face ? If
they find me wanting to enter, let them lock the
door in my face ! Why, then, do you go to the gate
of the palace ? Because I think it fitting for me to
join in the game while the game lasts. How,
then, is it that you are not locked out ? 1 Because,
if anyone will not receive me, I do not care to go
in, but always I wish rather the thing which takes
place. For I regard God's wiH as better than my
will. I shall attach myself to Him as a servant and
follower, my choice is one with His, my desire one
with His, in a word, my will is one with His will.
No door is locked in my face, bet rather in the face
of those who would force themselves in* Why, then,
do I not force myself in ? Why, because I know that
within nothing* good is distributed among those who
have entered. But when I tear someone called blessed,
1 That is, it cannot properly "be said of a man thai he is
"locked out" if he does not " wish 51 to enter,
367
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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s, "Kejm <( ri avrat crvjjLJSaivet, ; /JLJJ ri ovp
/cal 8o7/ia, olop Bel efrap^la ;* fitj n ouv /cat
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cro<f>at ftTf Bo/ceiv dyaGa eivai*
25 AetKitve JJLOI* ra$ /jLayaipas r&v Sopv&opcov*
ft *fc *"\ ' ^ V * <*//
ibov, JfXtticai, eicri KCLI 7T&>9 o^etai. n ovv
n-oiovaw ai ^ejakac avrat, fjud-^a^pat /cal o^elai ;
26 " airoKTivvvovaiv?' iri//>ero9 Be TI irotel; "aXXo
ovSev" Kepajufs B ri rroiel ; " aX\o ovBev"
1 SchenH : brapxiur 8. Tbe |age Is eztremely condenjaed
if not actually iacunose. This comparatively simple change
enables one to secure the general sense required, whether
or not it was originally expressed in this form.
* Benfcley and Sdbenkl* : Sio^pl^Ty $. But cf. Trans. Amer.
jf^oe. m 11921} 51.
3 & added by Sc. * mrd^aje s and SchenkL
s Wolf: ir|*&f#j8.
6 Elter : elfft&wrm ("those who enter the palace") S,
368
BOOK IV. vii. 21-26
because he Is being honoured bj Caesar, I say,
What is his portion ? Does he, then, get also a
judgement such as he ought to have for governing
a province ? Does he, then, get also the ability to
administer a procuratorship ? Why should I any
longer push my way in? Somebody is scattering
dried figs and nuts; the children snatch them up
and fight with one another, the men do not, for they
count this a small matter. But if somebody throws
potsherds around, not even the children snatch them
up. Governorships are being passed around. The
children shall see 1 to that. Money. The children
shall see to that. A praetorship, a consulship. Let
the children snatch them up ; let the children
have the door locked in their faces, take a beating,
kiss the hands of the giver, and the hands of his slaves.
As for me, it's a mere scattering of dried figs and
nuts.* 7 But what, then, if, when the man is throwing
them about, a dried fig chances to fall into my lap ?
I take it up and eat it. For I may properly value
even a dried fig as much as that. But neither a
dried fig, nor any other of the things not good,
which the philosophers have persuaded me not to
think good, is of sufficient value to warrant my
grovelling and upsetting someone else, or being
upset by him, or flattering those who have flung the
dried figs among us.
Show me the swords of the guards. "See how
large and how sharp they are ! " What, then, do
these large and sharp swords do? "They kill."
And what does fever do ? ec Nothing else." And
what does a tile do? "Nothing else." Do you
1 Bee note on IV. 6, 23.
369
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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etceivov S' avrov del
ffofieyc&v ; " aXX* aTacjios pi
e < &a. o
1 See note on IV. 1, 160.
2 As was sometimes done as a lasfc insult to the dead,
Epiefcetus may aJsa have had in mind the celebrated remark of
Kogei^ before Ms death, who, when Ms friends protested
against his request thai he be thrown, out unbaried (Diogenes
BOOK IV. 11.26-31
want me, then,, to respect and do obeisance to all
these things, and to go about as the slave of them
all ? Far from it ! But if once I have learned that
what is born must also perish,, so that the world may
not stand still, nor be hampered, it makes no differ-
ence to me whether a fever shall bring that consumma-
tion, or a tile, or a soldier ; but, if I must make a
comparison, I know that the soldier will bring it
about with less trouble and more speed. Seeing,
therefore, that I neither fear anything of all that the
tyrant is able to do with me, nor greatly desire any-
thing of all that he is able to provide, why do I any
longer admire him, why any longer stand in awe of
him ? Why am I afraid of his guards ? Why do I
rejoice if he speaks kindly to me and welcomes me,
and why do I tell others how he spoke to me? He
is not Socrates, is he, or Diogenes, so that his praise
should be a proof of what I am. ? I have not been
ambitious to imitate his character, have I ? Nay,
but acting as one who keeps the game going, I come
to him and serve him so long as he commands me
to do nothing foolish or unseemly. If, however, he
says, ** Go and bring Leon of Salamis/* * I reply,
f Try to get someone else, for I am nat playing any
longer/* "Take him off to prison,** says the tyrant
about me* ** I follow, because that is part of the game/ *
" But your head will be taken off." And does the
tyrant's head always stay in its place, and the heads
of you who obey him ? F But you will be thrown out
unburiecL" 2 If the corpse is I, then I shall be
thrown out ; but if I am something different from
Laertras, 6, 79), ironically suggested tit Ms staff* be laid by
his side to keep away tbe dogs and carrion birds, Cicero,
TIMC. ZHsp. I, 104 ; Ps.-Diog, JBfr&e. 25".
371
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
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33 Na* a)OC o Xoyot OVTOI
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criv, ol ye ^i^dafcova
at* 7T/>09 avrovs, ev ol? az> Tj^? 1
35 viK%]<jat SWWZTOI. S Trepl TO GcapdnQV SiSdcrfcov-
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e/eel am e^icrra/ia^ OTTOU wdJuv eyca
37 irv ifapa^mpei /JLO&. ^oi 7^/7 fjtfjue\ f riKV 9 crol $
Capps (SdiweigHanser ofo-), vptrepov Oldfather
(In part after rage) : & l/<rrpr (c) /8f. Capps would prefer
l : 8 urtcerfcaiiL
s Sebweigliaaser :
1 Schefikl : o
372
BOOK IV. vn. 31-37
the corpse, speak with more discrimination, as the
fact is, aod do not try to terrify me. These things
are terrifying to the children and the fools. But if
a man who has once entered a philosopher's lecture
does not know what he himself is, he deserves to be
in a state of fear, and also to flatter those whom he
used to flatter before ; 1 if he has not yet learned
that he is not flesh, nor bones, nor sinews, but that
which employs these, that which both governs the
impressions of the senses and understands them.
Oh yes, but statements like these make men
despise the laws. Quite the contrary, what state-
ments other than these make the men who follow
them more ready to obey the laws ? Law is not simply
anything that is in the power of a fool. And yet
see how these statements make us behave properly
even toward these fools, because they teach us to
claim against such persons nothing in which they
can surpass us. They teach us to give way when it
comes to our paltry body, to give way when it comes
to our property, to our children, parents, brothers, to
retire from everything, let everything go ; they
except only our judgements, and it was the will of
Zeus also that these should be each man's special
possession. What do you mean by speaking of law-
lessness and stupidity here ? Where you are superior
and stronger, there I give way to you ; and again,
where I am superior, you retire in favour of me. For
I have made these matters my concern, and you
have not. It is your concern how to live in marble
halls, 2 and further, how slaves and freedmen, are to
1 That is, before he began to attend ieeferes m philosophy,
But the text is highly uncertain.
2 Strictly speaking, walls covered with a veneer of varie-
gated marble.
AREIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
<T0rj
38 Xoi/9
; fir] TI ovv SoyfidrGtv vot fj&pe-
TOV \oyov rov creavrov ; /JLTJ n
ol$a$ 3 e/c rivtov [wplatv avve&TTj/cep, TTG)? crvva-
jerat, ri$ y Bidpdpicri$ avrov,
39 Svisdfiew /sal iraiav rtvds ; ri ovv cv
el aXXo? ev TOUTOW GOV 7r\eov ee* o
rt? ere /caikvei Trepl Tavr a
TOVTOW
40 JjLQVOV a7TQVV<TQV 7TOT6
%PQVQV T cravrov rjye/Aovi/cq*' <r/eetyai ri
$ TOVTO fcal TtoGev eXrfXvdfa, TO Tra&iv
rot? aXXo9 %pc5/ei/aj;, Kama raXXa Bo/ci/Aa^ov,
41 ItcXeyoiAepov, a'jre/eX.eyQfievov. ^XP^ ^ ^ v $
Vp\ ra /CTOV aita<rTp(f>iy 9 l/eetpa ^e^9 ola o^Se/9,
rovro S* olQV avro e^etv QeXew, pvTrapbv /cal
TWO, fj a
1 Those who sang to tkeir own accompaniment on the barn
Seel
374
BOOK IV. TO. 37-vm. i
serve yon, how you are to wear conspicuous clothing,
how to have many hunting dogs, citharoedes, 1 and
tragedians. I do not lay claim to any of these, do
I ? You, then, have never concerned yourself with
judgements, have you? Or with your own reason,
have you ? You do not know, do you, what are its
constituent parts, how it is composed, what its
arrangement is, what faculties it has, and what their
nature is ? Why, then, are you disturbed if someone
else, the man, namely, who has concerned himself
with these matters, has the advantage of you therein ?
But these are the most important things that there
are. And who is there to prevent you from concern-
ing yourself with these matters, and devoting your
attention to them? And who is better provided
with books, leisure, and persons to help you ? Only
begin some time to turn your mind to these matters ;
devote a little time, if no more, to your own govern-
ing principle ; consider what this thing is which you
possess, and where it has come from, the thing which
utilizes everything else, submits everything else to
the test, selects, and rejects. But so long as you
concern yourself with externals, you will possess
them in a way that no one else can match, but you
will have this governing faculty in the state in which
you want to have it, that is, dirty and neglected,
CHAPTER VIII
To those who hastily assume the gm&& of the
pMlo$opher$
NEVER bestow either praise or blame upon a man
for the things which may be either good or bad/ nor
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
viav 'Trpoa'fiaprvp^cr^re" /cal afia fLp
2 e
; ov
3 aXXa ri ; Ta^e9 \overai. Udvra ov
y literal ; O^Sa/A&k" aXXa ra JJLZV CZTTO
s, <rv &e pexpis av Karafiddyg TO ^oy/ta, a^
oy T9 TroseZ Ka<rra s fitfr eiraivei TO epjov fi^re
4 -fyeye. BOJ/JUI $* e/c TCOF e/crog ov pa$io)$ Kpiverat.
refcrwv ecrriv." Bia ri ;
** Ti o5l/ TO?TO / ** OU
yp. /cal rl rovro ; ** ovr
5 rl; tf rpi/3o>va jap e^ei teal Koprjv?"* ol S*
djvprai rl e^pvdipj Bia TOUTO, av a
vovvrd T*9 ?S?7 T^m avraw, u8v$ Xeye
o <piXoa~Q(f)Os Ti 1 Trowel." e&ei S* a^* W
IJLQVZI /MaXkov "Ksjeiv avrow /JLTJ elvai
8 ei /ill/ 7<z a&rf? TTiF ^ roi5
e^eiv rcapa /ca
av eXeoj/* t S"
TTJTQP elvat, Sid rt ou%l Bid TO /i^ rrkrjpovv rrjv
OUT 9 yap ^al cirl TF aXXcoi/ Te%i/a>p.
ov
0i T/CTOF9 oa TTOtocJt KCLfc
**
"
1 T added by Reiske.
1 That is, no conclusion about right or wrong can be drawn
from an acfeioii, in itself indifferent, the moral purpose of
which one does not jkaow.
376
BOOK IV. viii. 1-7
credit him with either skill or want of skill ; and by
so doing you will escape from both rashness and
malice. "This man is hasty about bathing." Does
he, therefore, do wrong ? Not at all But what
u he doing? He is hasty about bathing. Is all
well, then? That by no means follows; 1 bet
only the act which proceeds from correct judge-
ments is well done, and that which proceeds
from bad judgements is badly done. Yet until yon
learn the judgement from which a man performs
each separate act, neither praise his action nor blame
it. But a judgement is not readily determined by
externals. "This man is a carpenter." Why?
"He uses an adze/* What, then, has that to do
with the case? "This man is a musician, for he
sings." And what has that to do with the case?
et This man is a philosopher." Why ? " Because he
wears a rough cloak and long hair." And what do
hedge-priests wear? That is why, when a man sees
some one of them misbehaving, he immediately says,
" See what the philosopher is doing/" But he" ought
rather to have said, judging from the misbehaviour,
that the person in question was not a philosopher.
For if the prime conception and profession of the
philosopher is to wear a rough cloak and long hair,
their statement would be correct ; but if it is ratfeer
this, to be free from error, why do they not take
away from him the designation of philosopher,
because he does not fulfil the profession of one ? For
that is the way men do in the case of the other arts.
When someone sees a fellow hewing clumsily with
an axe, he does not say, " What's the use of car-
pentry ? See the bad work the carpenters do ! " but
quite the contrary, he says, This fellow is no
377
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
8 TS/CT&V, ireXefca jap /ea/cws. 6fiow>$ tcav
Ttw?9 d/covo-y fca/cm^ ov Xeye* *' ISov
a&overiv ol /^ovai/coi" aXXa fiaX\.ov or^ 1 "oflro?
TOVTO Tro'xova'W orav rwa iao"& wapa TO
TO TOV <f}i\ocrQ(j)ov
avrov,
Sevres elvai $i\Q<rQ$oy, elr* GLTT avTOv roD
\a/3ovT$ f OTI a
TOV
ovv TO ariQp; OTA TF /tF TOV T/CTGVQ$
fCOl T7)V TOV jJLOV&UCQV
/ecu GxravTa**? TG*V aKKatv Ty(viT&v, Trjv TOV
are
1 i > t> ^ /J >\5\ f ' \
II aoiapv P&TOV airo TWF e/eros JJLQPOP KpwopV. KCU,
woa aXkr} Te'Xpi) atro <r%i//iaT09
Kal Kopvjs, v)(l Be fcal QGddprjfiaTa eje Ka
12 /cal TeX.09; rk oZv V~XTJ TOV <pt,\Qcro<f)Ov ; fjJr}
Tj*ij3p ; ov, ak\a o Xo^o?. T reXo? ; fit] TI
<j*pW Tpij3va; ov y dXXa TO opdov %& TOV
XOYOF. Trola 06a>p$/iaTa ; ^ TI TO* irepl TOV
ird&ywv fteyas ^IvsTdt^ YJ #o/wy J3a9eia ;
jLaXkop a Zrjvatv Xl^et, jpcovai TO- TOV
(TTOL^ela^ 7TO?ai/ Tt, GKCLffTOV (tVTt&V (TTl
/cal 7TM5 apfjLQTTGTai 7r/?o? aXhxjKa Kal oaa
13 T0OTW9 aicokovda e&Tiv. ov OeXei? ovv Iteiv
1 Theteelmicml teneinolc^y of syllogistic reasoning is em-
ploye*! Men " assume T * or " lay down " (Berres) the general
principle in tiie major premiss; "take" (Ao$<Ws) from
378
BOOK IV. viii. 7-13
carpenter, for lie hews clumsily with the axe." And,
similarly, if a man hears somebody singing badly, foe
does not say, ({ See how the musicians sing!" but
rather, "This fellow is no musician." But it is only
in the case of philosophy that men behave like this ;
when they see somebody acting contrary to the pro-
fession of the philosopher, they do not take away
from him the designation of philosopher, but., assuming'
that he is a philosopher, and then taking 1 from what
goes on that he Is misbehaving, they conclude that
there is no good in being a philosopher.
What, theB 5 is the reason for this ? It Is because
we respect the prime conception of the carpenter,
and the musician, and so also of all the other artisans
and artists, while we do not respect that of the
philosopher, but as if it were confused and inarticulate
in our minds we judge of it only from externals. And
what other art is there that is acquired by guise and
hair-dress, , and does not have also principles, and
subject-matter, and end? What, then, is subject-
matter for the philosopher? It is not a rough
cloak, is it? No, but reason. What is end for the
philosopher? It is not to wear a rough cloak, is it?
No, but to keep his reason right. What is the
nature of his principles? They do not have to do
with the question how to grow a long beard, or a
thick head of hair, do they ? Nay, rather, as Zeno
says, to understand the elements of reason, what the
nature of each one is* and how they are fitted one
to another, and all the consequences of these facts.
Will you not, therefore, observe first of all whether
the philosopher fulfils his profession by misbehaving,
observation or experience a fact as a minor premiss; and
then *' induce*' or " conclude n (Ir&yown)*
379
VOL. II.
AERIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/eal QVTC&S T& ETrir^SevpaTi ey/eaXelv ; vup 8',
tofypovfo, el; o)v Trotelv croi So/re?
"opa TOP ^iXoao^ov" (co? 1
TOP TO, TOMIUTO 2 TTOIOVVTO,
(TO()Ov xa irakiv "TQVTO
,, ff 91 .\ f/ \ / >-v/ /
o/>a oe TOI/ Te/crova ov Ajeyew, orav /ioi-
^evovrd TIPO, <ypa)<$ rj "KijfyevoyTa t$g$, oySe
14 te opa TOP fjtQVcritcov" OUTG)? 7rl TTOCTOP 4 cda
/cal avrb^ T
lea
15 *AXXa /cal avrol al KOkovfJLevoi (fttXo&offtoi, CLTTO
TO irpayfia fJLeriatrtp* cvdv$ ava-
fcaBepres (fiacrlv
16 u 7cb <j)&\ofTo^o^ el/it." o^Sel? S' epet "7(0
el/w,** O-F Trkyj/crpov /cal Kidapav aya-
az/ iri\lop teal
TO
irpo? T^F Te^vfjv^ airo rr^ re^wy? TO
*, OVK airo rov (rxfl/MTO$ a
17 SiA TOVTO /ea\&% Ev^paTi/9
<f>i\oa~o<j>(tiv xal rjv
aft te TOVTQ to<f>ektfwv* it parr ov JJLGV yap
ocra /ca'kws iroiovv t QTI ov Sta TOV?
1 w alter &y deleted by 8b.
2 wioSra added by Schenkl (after Wolf).
*
380
BOOK IV. vin. 13-17
and then, if that be the case, blame his way of acting?
But as it is, when you yourself are behaving decently,,
you say,, on the basis of the evil that he seems to you
to be doing, "Look at the philosopher/' just as
though it were proper to call a man who acts like
that a philosopher; and again, ee Is that what a
philosopher is?" But you do not say, "Look at
the carpenter/* when you know that a man is an
adulterer , or see a man eating greedily, nor do you
say, under similar circumstances, "Look at the
musician." Thus to a certain degree you too realize
what the philosopher's profession is, but you back-
slide and get confused through carelessness.
But even those who are styled philosophers pursue
their calling with means which are sometimesgood and
sometimes bad, For example, when they have taken
a rough cloak and let their beards grow, they say,
** I am a philosopher." But nobody will say,, ff I am
a musician/* if he bays a plectrum and a cithara;
nor, C I am a smith," if he puts on a felt cap and an
apron ; but the guise is fitted to the art, and they
get their name from the art, but not from the guise.
That is why Euphrates I was right when he used to
say : (c For a long time I tried not to let people
know that I was a philosopher, and this," lie says,
"was useful to me. For, in the first place, I knew
that whatever I did well, I did so_, not on account of
the spectators, but on my own account ; it was for my
own sake that I ate well, and kept my countenance
1 See on IDL 15, 8, and compare for the uncertainty in
men's minds how to classify Euphrates, ApoHo&iua of Tyam,
JBpisfles, 1.
* Upton: *4<ra*8.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
18 nrepiiraTOp* irdvra e/iavr& teal ffe$. elra faffirep
fJLOVO? rjfMPl^QjLtTjP, QUTCf}? [LQP$ KOI /Clp8vi/UQP*
ovBcv e'/iol Spda-apTt TO alo"%pbp TJ aTrpew^ TO
T^? 1 $X0O"0$ia? KLV$VVltTO, OltS* J3\a7TTOP
19 TOU? ?roXXov9 w? <^X<XJO>09 ap>aprdv(fv. Sta TOUTO
O/ fM} l$OT$ flOV
iraat ^4X00*0^0^9-
20 ou/c (j}t,~koo"o<j)ovv* teal rl /ea/cov, iv ol? CTTOIOVV
TOP <j>t\ocro<j)Qp f ev
a<rvy%vTG)$ /ca airapa-
21 TTO&lcTTWS* KWiv fJt fCpiVG, l SvPOfftU' 1
fc&)<f>o<? el %al Ti/^Xo?, a/a
tca\ov
ire/?! T^F K<j>a\jv
rl fcaicatf v<j? QVT&S rfkt&lov K^LTOV ayvoel&Bcu;
22 Ovr9 eKdvBam^ wapa TOW irXeLaTOL? 2co-
Trpo? avTov dfyovvres
JJ,T} Tl QVV
ft *yw Se croi ov
aXX* cwrfffep teal
etpai ^Xoo"o^o?, %aipG)v Be /cal
ov/c eSdfcpGTo* {ie/j*p7]TO *yap TOW
24 i&iov epjovm ri epjov KCLkov /cal dyaOov; fjui~
1 T^S supplied by Eeiske.
1 Sb in margin : IXcCr^a 18.
1 See jiote ,on EL ^, 21.
BOOK IV. vm. 17-24
and gait composed ; it was all for myself and for God
And, secondly, as the contest a was mine alone, so
also I alone ran the risks ; in no respect through
me, if I did what was disgraceful or unseemly,
did the cause of philosophy come into danger, nor
did I do harm to the multitude hy going wrong
as a philosopher. For that reason those who were
ignorant of my purpose wondered how it was that,
although I was familiar with all the philosophers and
lived with them, I was myself not acting in the role
of a philosopher. And what harm was there in
having the philosopher that I was, recognized by
what I did, rather than by the outward signs ? *'
See how I eat, how drink, how sleep, how endure,
how refrain, how help, how employ desire and how
aversion, how I observe my relationships, whether
they be natural or acquired, without confusion and
without hindrance ; judge me on the 1 basis of all this,
if you know how. But if you are so deaf and blind
as not to regard even Hephaestus as a good smith
unless you see the felt cap resting on his head, "what
harm can come from passing unrecognized by a judge
so foolish ?
In this way the great majority of men failed to
recognize Socrates, and so they used to come to him
and ask to be introduced to philosophers ! * Was
he, then, irritated as we are, and would he say,
ef And don't / look like a philosopher to you ? "
No, but he used to take them and introduce them,
and was satisfied with one thing, that is, being a
philosopher, and glad that he was not annoyed at
not being taken for one ; for he habitually bore in
mind his own proper function. What is the function
of a good and excellent man? To have many
3%
ARE! AST'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
i oi
pl TO I/TO ecr7roi>Sa/eoT9, aXXa
SuavcoXa afcpiffiovv; o^rovrai fcal Trepi TOVTCDV
25 aXXo t 7Toi5 ouz> a,urb<s /cal TJV T9 teal earat
e aXXoi/ TrepijjLevw, Tva p
elfii. 0e\o* TI /cal ou tylverai* eya> a
26 9 TOCTOVTO cfKafi^a 7rpOKa\lTO Trdpra ovrt-
vaovp KOI OVK ap jwt SOKGI Gfc&rrivai ovSevi
ri So/cetre; Arara^eXXcw /cal Xeyojj; ft eya> TOOU-
T09 i/u " ; /i,^ fyawro, aXXA AJ; TOAOUTO?.
27 TraXw ^ap TO?TO fiwpov fcal a\a$VQ$ "ya>
ica\ arapa^o^" fty ayvoelrey &
on ufiaw Kv/cwfAevQW 1 /cal 0opvj3ov-
irepl ra jJsqEevos a^ia fiovos cyo* airrjXr
28 \ayfJWM Tracri/? Tapajffi?" OVTG>$ ovfc ap/cel <TOI
TO /iiySep dXye&F, a^ jjJr] KTjpvcrcr^ " crvveXdere
ol 7ro8ayp&>vT$j ol /se^a\a\jovvr^ ol
7rd0ov$ fryfa'*," TOVTO KGVOV /cal
/AT; T^ d>9 o 'Acr^X^iri^ eu^u<? UTTO-
Kaxetpot, /ca e$ TQVTO <e/?t9 irap-
T^V vylciav T^J;
30 T0J00T09 y/? r/9 l&rip o
teal SiaB^futTO^ ^4jLtj/(?9 wapa rov
1 Eeiske : mi^i&evw 8. 2 Reiske :
* See note on IV. 6, 23.
s Strictiy ^>mking, the IcKBened and roioofchied eartti on
384
BOOK IV. vin, 24-30
pupils? Not at all. Those who have set their
hearts on it shall see to that. 1 Well, is it to set
forth difficult principles with great precision ? Other
men shall see to these things also. In what field
was he, then, somebody, and wished so to be ? In
the field where there was hurt and help. "If,"
says he, "a man can hurt me, what I am engaged
in amounts to nothing ; if I wait for somebody else
to help me, I am myself nothing. If I want some-
thing and it does not happen, it follows that I am
miserable/' This was the mighty ring 2 to which
he challenged every man whomsoever,, and therein
he would not, I believe, have given way before any-
one in what do you suppose ? in proclaiming and.
asserting " I am such and such a man'* ? Far from
it ! but in being such and such a man. For, again,
it is the part of a fool and blowhard to say, fe I am
tranquil and serene ; be not ignorant, O men, that
while you are tossed about and are in turmoil over
worthless things, I alone am free from every per-
turbation." So is it not enough for you yourself to
feel no pain without proclaiming, " Come together,
all you who are suffering from gout, headaches, and
fever, the halt, and the blind, and see how sound
I am, and free from every disorder'*? That is a
vain and vulgar thing to say, unless, like Asclepius,
you are able at once to show by what treatment
those others will also become well again,, and for this
end are producing your own good health as an
example.
Such is the way of the Cynic who is deemed
worthy of the sceptre and diadem of Zeus, and
wnich wrestling matches were held, the ancient equivalent
of our ring,
385
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
& avd po&troi, OTI Trjp euoai-
mav /cal arapagiav ov% OTTOV earl fyjreire,
31 aXX* Sirov fjuq ecrrip, toov eyo* V/LUP trapaSetyfia
UTTO TOV deov a7reara\fiat fi^re Krrj<rip e
%t,Tpa /i^e cncevov /ca
ipd07jT pov fcav
ra fyppaica /cal vfi &P
32 TOUTO jap fftr] /cal $i\dvdp(07rov fcal jevvaiov.
aXX* opare, TWO? epjop scriw rov A^o? ^ OP
ap e/CWQ$ d^top /cpivy Tavrrfi
va /A^a/toi fvqev Trapayvfwt&crTj wps
ov TTJV
$ apery fiaprvpel /cal T&P e^rrov
}'
%poa /
avros ducvpop
Bdicpv* oj
S3 tea ov popop Tdura* aXX* ov$ TroSovprd ri
ejft fyrovuna, ap&pc07rop rj TOTTOP ^ $ta<ycoyj]p,
ra jiai^M TOP rpvyrjrop % TO.% dpyias, at Sot
TTit Ta%o0 /ce/coo-firjii^vop, &>? ol
Kal 0vpat$ /cal
34 N
&$ ol /caxoaro/jM^ot irpos TI j3pf0paTt,op f o
y(aivLV /iX7u?ycrtF, evffw; 67rl TO
p f lirl T7]v ^acrikelap. /cadetice
Tpij3<$pa y jvppop Sei/evvei TOP
TO&$ aTravr&crtv K&V IP <f>awo\g Ttva
1 Bentley:
1 Homer, (Mtyttey, XL 5291
S86
BOOK IV. viii. 30-34
says, a That you may see yourselves, O men, to
be looking for happiness and serenity, not where
it is, bat where it is not, behold, God has sent me
to you as an example ; I have neither property, nor
house, nor wife, nor children, no, not even so much
as a bed, or a shirt, or a piece ot furniture, and yet
you see how healthy I am. Make trial of me, and if
you see that I am free from turmoil, hear my remedies
and the treatment which cured me." For this, at
length, is an attitude both humane and noble. But
see whose work it is ; the work of Zeus, or of him
whom Zeus deems worthy of this service, to the
end that he shall never lay bare to the multitudes
anything whereby he shall himself invalidate the
testimony which it is his to give in behalf of virtue,
and against externals,
t Never there fell o*er his beauteous features a
pallor, nor ever
Wiped he the tears from his cheeks." 1
And not merely that, but he must neither yearn
for anything, nor seek after it be it human being,
or place, or manner of life like children seeking
after the season of vintage, or holidays ; he must be
adorned on every side with self-respect, as all other
men are with walls, and doors, and keepers of doors.
But, as it is, being merely moved towards
philosophy, like dyspeptics who are moved to some
paltry foods, which they are bound in a short
while to loathe, immediately these men are off to the
sceptre, to the kingdom. One of them lets his hair
grow long, he takes up a rough cloak, lie shows his
bare shoulder, he quarrels with the people he meets,
and if he sees somebody in an overcoat he quarrels
38?
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
35 iSy, fid^erai aura*. avOpoyrre,
ISov <TOV TTJP oppqv,
36 <rov TTwrov, Tt? el
%p6vov. OI/TO? zapKQS <yivTat* fcaropvtyrjvai, Bel
ei? 1 yjpQvav TO fT7Tpfia t Kpv<f}drjvaL, Kara fuxpov
av^Qrpat,, f lva TeX-<j)op?i&rj, av Se irpo rov
tyovv fyvcrai rov (TTargpv efez/eyA:^ are\^ cm,v>
37 Ifc KrJTTQV 'ASwFfa^oi). TOWVTOP el /cal &u
piov* Oarrov rov Seovro? ^v07]Ka^ f aTTOKavcrei
._ r r * ^ <// f \ >v
38 o j(eijji(x>v. i-ooi/j ri heyovcnv 01 ye&pyoi TTC/JA
F, orai' irpo Spa? depftaaiai jev&nrrat ;
} ^vjSpiari ra o-Treppara, elra avra
el? Xa^8ft)F e^eXeyf^. opa ical cru, av
39 %v/3ptKa<?, e7n7T7T^^Ka^ Sofa/?/ TT/>O
So:i9 TS? elvat, /ioapo? irapa fia>poi^' aTroTr
/taXXai' S* aTTOTreTTTyya? ^77 i> T^ PL^T; /edrco, ra
5* & crav fu/cpov en avQei teal $ia TOVTO o^e?v
40 eri f^j' ^al ffaXkew, a^je? ^/ia? *ys /cara <j>vcnv
TreTrav&ijvai. ri ij/ta? a7roSi;e/9 ? ri
Svvd$j,0a evejtceiw rov aepa. eaaov ryv pi^
1 eb added by SchenkL
og a very serious effort. See note on L 2, 32.
Early spring house-gardens in honour of Adonis, where
seeds were thickly planted in porous earthenware, sponges,
and the like, sprouting luxuriantly, and of course quickly
lading (c. the reference to them in Isaiah, 1. 29 : " Ye shall
be eonfoanded for the gardens that ye have chosen," } The
-. became proverbial for incompleteness and 'early
* This metaphor is so preposterous, for it is always the
eaAraitities of plants which are the first to be frostbitten, and
not the pxrteoted K% that oae is inclined to ask if the text
388
BOOK IV. viii. 34-40
with him. Man, take a winter's training first ; l look
at your own choice, for fear it is like that of a
dyspeptic, or a woman with the strange cravings of
pregnancy. Practise first not to let men know who
you are ; keep your philosophy to yourself a little
while. That is the way fruit is produced : the seed has
to be buried and hidden for a season, and be grown
by slow degrees, in order that it may come to per-
fection. But if it heads out before it produces the
jointed stock, it never matures, it is from a garden
of Adonis. 2 That is the kind of plant you are too ;
you have blossomed prematurely, and the winter
will blight you utterly. See what the farmers say
about their seeds, when the hot weather comes
before its proper time. They are in utmost anxiety
lest the seeds should grow insolently lush, and then
but a single frost should lay hold of them and
expose their weakness. Man, do you also beware ;
you have grown insolently lush, you have leaped
forward to occupy some petty reputation before its
due time; you think yourself somebody, fool that
you are among fools; you will be bitten by the
frost, or rather, you have already been bitten by
the frost, down at the root, while your upper part
still blooms a little, and for that reason you seem
to be still alive and flourishing. 3 Allow MS at least
to ripen as nature wishes. Why do you expose
us to the elements^ why force us ? We are not yet
able to stand the open air. Let the root grow, next
"be sound, Clearly it is, since a, whole series of corrections
would have to be made in order to avoid the difficulty.
Epictetus, a city dweller, probably knew little directly about
the effects of frost on garden plants. The words * flower,"
" tree," and "herb " do not occur in his conversations at all*
and evem "plant" but rarely. See note on IF. 11, 1.
389
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ts elra y6Vv \aj3ew TO Trpwrov, elra TO
Seurepov, elra TO Tpirov elffi ovrms Q
efc/3id(76Tai, TTJP (fiver LV 9 fcav jo> p,rj 9e\&*.
41 Tt9 jap ejKVjLLG)p yevofAVQ$ xal TrX^p^s 1
/CQUT&V Bojfidr&p ov)(l alffddverai re T$)$ avrov
42 Tr^paa-KevTJ^ teal eirl TCL KaraXXrfka pja op/ta;
ravpov /Z.CF OVK ajvoei T^F avrov <j>vcrip teal
rjV y orav Giriipavfj rt dripiov, ov$ ava-
TOV 7TpOT/>^|rO/ieX'OP, OV KVO>V y QTdV l$r}
>&>^* j&> S* av ta"%& TTJV dv$po$
dyaffov Trapaa/cewrjv, IfcSe^ofiM, u>a /^e <rv irapa-
ra ol/csut epja ; vvv 8' OVTTG> e%6>,
T ouv fie trpo
, IIpo? TOP
aX5u?p ?%9 ap^wra^ avride?, on crv
TO /i^ Se^a^ac a/5%?J?" OT^F a\"\ov irKov-
, ISoO T& CIFT! TOVTOV ej^ei?. et //,!/ yap
9 ^T* avTol;, ad\io$ el- *
TO ^ j(pelav e%ar 7r\ovrov y rfiyvc9crfce t ort,
S e^? xai iraXX^
v s crif TO /ti7 eiridviielv evfioptfiov
otf So/eel ravra ; ical iroaov av "
teak per ebp&p$&v ^MTWJMWI $vva<rdat, Trkovrov
xaTa^poKip /e&l wpx&v v&i CWTWV tovrm*
399
BOOK IV. VHL 40-ix. 3
let it acquire the first joint, and then the second, and
then the third ; and so finally the fruit will forcibly
put forth its true nature, even against my will.
For who that has conceived and is big with such
great judgements is not aware of his own equip-
ment^ and does not hasten to act in accordance with
them ? Why, a bull is not ignorant of his own
nature and equipment, when some wild beast
appears^ nor does he hang back for someone to
encourage him ; neither does a dog, when he sees
some wild animal ; and shall I, if 1 have the equip-
ment of a good man, hang back, so that you may
encourage me to do what is my own proper work ?
Bat as yet I do not have the equipment, believe me.
Why, then, do you wish to have me wither away
before my time, as you yourself have withered ?
CHAPTER IX
To the man mho had become
WHENEVER you see another person holding office,
set over against this the fact that you possess the
ability to get along without office; whenever you
see another person wealthy, see what you hare
instead. For if you have nothing instead, you are
wretched ; but if you are capable of feeling no need
of wealth, know that you are better off, and have some-
thing worth far more than wealth. Another has a
comely wife, you the ability not to yeam for a comely
wife. Is all this" small in your eyes ? Yet hew much
would these men give, who axe rich and hold office, and
live with beautiful women, to be abfe to despise wealth
mid offices, and these very same women whom they
39*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
v epcocriv /ca sv
I <JTI &hjro
> rov vjiaivowTQ^, e/ceivo^ TTIO&V a
* o Be Trpo? o\iyov rjcrdels 1 vavrta,
avrl vBaros, e/teZ, ffTpo^ovrai,
* eiri9u/ua^ ap^eiv, fter
Trpocreo-np, (j>o/3o$ TOT)
epja
6 Kai ri, <
al&ij/Mav /cal PVV ov/cen el* ouSev ai
avr\ Xpv&iinrov /cal Z^FFO?
<yiyvoMT/ci$ /cal JLirqvov: 2 ovS
awn ^cdfcpdrov? teal &ioyepov$ reBavjjuifca^ TOP
ftta^elpai, xal avaTreiaai Swdpevov*
elvai 8e\i$ fcal TrXacrcre*? creavTov IJUTJ &v
TikirvrjV) r iva ra$
irov pvpatfciov ewi-
8 Ti5%27^ fjuuedptos emu So^eZ?. TT pore pov S* ovSe 3
epedvfwv Ti TovTt&v* ak\a irov vo"%tf/jiG)p
apfyp
jv t Xoyoi/? eXaXets irpetrowras avBpl
1 Reiske : f r 9er& 8. 2 See explaimtor|p' nate.
s Wendland (and i^rhaps 8 originally) : avtiw Sc.
1 Typical erotic writers,, the former the author of the
celebrated Mil/mm T(dm y the latter of an erotic work
adinicedby Menander. Yet compare, on the Evenus of this
p^ v&m Wilamowitz,, Biemu*, 11 (1S76), 3(K). who con-
jectees BmMos (E^*^} vhom Ovid, Ttistm, 2. 416, calls-
392
BOOK IV. ix. 3-8
passionately love and win ? Do you not know what
kind of thing the thirst of a man in fever is ? It
is quite unlike that of a man in health. The latter
drinks and his thirst is gone, but the other gets a
momentary satisfaction, and then becomes nauseated,
turns the water into bile, throws up, has a pain In
his bowels, and suffers more violent thirst than
before. A similar thing it is to be rich and have
strong desire, to hold office and have strong desire,
to sleep by the side of a beautiful woman and have
strong desire; jealousy is added to one's lot, fear
of loss, disgraceful words, disgraceful thoughts,
unseemly deeds.
And what do I lose? says somebody. Man,
you used to be modest, and are no longer so;
have you lost nothing ? Instead of Chrysippus and
Zeno you now read Aristeides and Bvenus ; x have
you lost nothing ? Instead of Socrates and Diogenes
you have come to admire the man who is able to
corrupt and seduce the largest number of women.
You wish to be handsome and make yourself up,
though you are not handsome, and you wish to
make a show of gay attire, so as to attract the
women, and you think yourself blessed if perchance
you light upon some trivial perfume. But formerly
you used never even to think of any of these
things, but only where you might find decent
speech, a worthy man, a noble thought. Therefore
you used to sleep as a man, to go forth as a man, to
wear the clothes of a man, to utter the discourse that
was suitable for a good man ; and after all that do
impwrae conditor kistoriaet and mentions together with
Aristeides, as here. On the question see Gramas, JfeaZ-
* 6 t 850-51.
393
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
eZra puoi Xeyei? " ovSev airto
9 o5rw9 ovBev oXXo ^ Kpji*a awoXk-uovatj/ av-
OUK
OVK tZTroXXtmu ; TJ OVK ecrrt tyffti&Qfjitai ravra
10 a7ro\crapra / croi /tF oin? Bo/cel Ta^a TOVTG*V>
ov&ev oil/cert elvat Ify/ua* ifyv Se TTOTG %po^o9, ore
fjwwiqv avrifv VTreKayi&v /cal %r]{iiav Kal ^SXajSiyv,
ore r}ry(&via$, fitf TI$ Ixo-eiayj ere TOVTG&V T&P "Koycov
teal epy&v.
11 *ISoiJ, Gfcae&etcrai VTT aXXoi/ ^fciv ovSevo$ 9 viro
oravrov BL jJia^eaOijTi ffavT&, ac^eXoi) VOAJTQV
12 el? VG')( f f rj}jLQGvv i f}v, el? a!8o>, eZ? eXeuBepiav. et
aoi ri$ TTQV eXeye^ 7T/?l 6/w>F ravra, on JM. rt$
[WV)(Vi>jr avG^Kafyi, art (T0rjra ^sopet^ rotavT'rjv,
on /ivpl^(r8ai f ov/c av aTreX^&iz/ avro^etp iyevov
TOVTOV TOV avOpwrov rov QVTCOS /wi Trapaxpa-
13 pv0u ; mrv ovv ov Sekei^ crawio* fSoiqOria'ai, ; /cal
w&crcp jmww aUntf r} ^orfteta ; ovx awoK r r&vaJL>
cE, ov Brjerai, 0$% vf$pl<rat, ovtc el$ ayopav
14 re/w. /cai Trpcorop p&v /cardyvcddt TWP <yvyw-
lja /carayvovv fitj airoyvw? aeavrov ^Be
rfz TO TOt)F aryevv&v avdpdb'jrtaVi of aircx^ P-
lffdira^ ejrG&to/cav eavrovv /cal <&$ VTTQ
15 pevfjMTQS 7rapavjW)(rav, aXXa ftdGe TO T&V TratSo-
rpi/3&v. we'JTTc&fce TO irai^lov* ft ava<TTa$S* <fyr]<j-iv f
IS ff vd^^wd")(ui f pe^pi^aplo" l ^vp07TOL^0 i ^^ ro&ov-
Tor rt 'teal; crv wd0* iffdi jdp f on ovB&v i
$94
BOOK IV. ix. 8-16
you still say, fc I have lost nothing " ? And is it
nothing but small change that men lose in this way ?
Is not self-respect lost, is not decency lost ? Or is it
impossible that the loss of these things counts for
anything ? To you, indeed, the loss of none of these
things, perhaps, seems any longer serious ; but
there once was a time when you thought it the
only serious loss and harm, when you were in great
anxiety lest anyone should dislodge you from these
good words and deeds.
Behold, you have been dislodged, though by no one
else but yourself. Fight against yourself, vindicate
yourself for decency, for respect, for freedom. If
anyone ever told you about me that someone was
forcing me to commit adultery, to wear clothes like
yours, or to perfume myself, would you not have
gone and murdered the man who was so maltreating
me? And now, therefore, are you not willing to
come to your own rescue? Yet how much easier
is the work of rescue in the latter case ! It is not
necessary to kill somebody, put him in bonds, or
assault him ; you do not have to 1 come out into the
market-place, but only to talk to yourself, the man
most likely to be persuaded, to whom no one is
more persuasive than yourself. And first of all
condemn what you are doing ; then, when you have
passed your condemnation, do not despair of your-
self, nor act like the spiritless people who, when
once they have given in, surrender themselves
completely, and are swept off by the current, as it
were, but learn how the gymnastic trainer of boys
acts. The boy he is training is thrown \ get up/'
he says, "and wrestle again, till you, get strong,"
React in some such way yourself, for I would have
3*5
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
8 I
ical fyeyovev, StGopffwrar <? 7nz/Uz/ CUT? am 010,70.1
KOI a7roX&)XF. e&cddev yap ecrn teal airdiikeia,
17 /cal l J3oq0ia. Elra il /WK ajadov ; Kal ri
18 aKQ\d*rrov (TQxfipG&p. el tiva aKXa Tovrodv fiei^
?, TTOte* a iroiel^ ouSe ^ewj; ere TA^ CTA
t. Tiv&v Bel KdTafypoveiv xal 7Tpa<? riva
TO49 avffpojTroiv irepl ra
Ca irepl ra etcros. " tl
2 avavTTjcrrj, pr} roSe." Tracrat a-urai at (f
wepl ra awpoaipeia ffrpe^o^jAv^v elg-iv rt?
S
y U<j>V$$, &*TT 7Tpl 7VT(t)V a
avTow Q7i " ri ayt&p&as ; etrl croi
l&dt* pa} wpo TQV eirdyew TOV <pva"ncov /cavo
jSa iv
* 8dieg1c and Upton's ** cociex " : | A
BOOK IV. ix. i6~x. 3
yon know that there Is nothing more easily pre-
vailed upon than a human soul. You have but to
will a thing and it has happened, the reform has
been made ; as, on the other hand, you have but to
drop into a doze and all is lost. For it is within
you that both destruction and deliverance lie. But
what good do I get after all that? And what
greater good than this are you looking for ? Instead
of shameless, you will be self-respecting ; instead of
faithless^ faithful ; instead of dissolute, self-con-
trolled. If you are looking for anything else greater
than these things, go ahead and do what you are
doing ; not even a god can any longer save you.
CHAPTER X
What ought me to de$pi$e and m what place m high
mhe ?
MEN find all their difficulties in externals^ their
perplexities in externals. ce What shall I do 1
How is it to take place ? How is it to turn
out? I am afraid that this will befall me, or
that/* All these are the expressions of men who
concern themselves with the things that He outside
the sphere of the moral purpose. For who says*
" How am I to avoid giving assent to the false ?
How am I to refuse to swerve aside from the
true ? " ? If a man is so gifted by nature as to be
in great anxiety about these things, I shall remind
him, " Why are you in great anxiety ? It is under
your own control ; rest secure. Do not be in a
hurry to give your assent before applying the rule of
nature."
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EP1CTETUS
4 TioXip ait irepl Qp%$ dyatpia, 1 JJLTJ
5 fyevvfrai /cal aTrorev/cn/c^, we pi e/c
IFGplirT&TlK'q, TTp&TOV }lV aVTOV
OTL afals TTpl a ol aXXox. etnoyvrat fcal TO 1/9
etCGlvttiv <^0jS0i/9 wpl ran?
6 TtfF 07TOV
opljov T&V
ep K/ckive TWV prj ewl <roi. el Se /^
7 a7TOTf/%a> /cal TrepmrtGelv ava^ffc^r iroia
airopia ; irov TOTTOV l^e* " 7ra)*$ yevijrat ; n /cal
({ 7T<k>9 air0/3$ ; ** /cal ft pjj aTrapTTJ&rj roSe fy
/ cv >
Tooe /
8 Nuy ov)(l TO /cj3rj0~oftev0v aTrpoaiperov ; Nat.
f H S* ov&la TQV wyad&v /cal /ca/cou earlv v
TO 49 TrpQCuperi/cois ; Nat. "Ef eanv ovv aoi
7rawrl T^ awoj3ai?T ^rj^dat /car a (j>v<rtp ; fjufj TW
ere /cwXvcrai Bmtarai ; OuSet?. M^/eert ovv /JLOI
M^ /cal earat aoi TO awoj3av
F ^F o
7TL<f>av{j
; " ; fcal il <roi
ay$pwyra& f /cm/c&v awaXXa^cf? T^I/ oi/eafr-
1 pi tefore tins wopd was 'deleted "by Meibom.'
398
BOOK IV. x. 4-10
Again, if a man is in great anxiety about desire, for
fear lest it become incomplete and miss its mark, or
about aversion, for fear lest it fall into what it would
avoid, I shall first give him a kiss of congratulation,
because he has got rid of what the rest of mankind
are excited about,, and their fears, and has turned
his serious thought to Ms own true business in the
realm where he himself is. And after that I shall
say to him,, " If you do not wish to desire without
failing to get, or to avoid without falling into the
object of your aversion, desire none of those things
which are not your own, and avoid none of those
things which are not under your control. If not,
you are of necessity bound to fail in achieving your
desires, and to fall into what you would avoid,"
Where is there any difficulty in that case ? What
room is there to ask 3 (C How is it to take place ? "
and " How is it to turn out ?'" and to say, I am
afraid that this will befall me, or that " ?
Is not the future outside the sphere of the
moral purpose now? Yes. -And is not the true
nature of the good and evil inside the sphere of the
moral purpose ? Yes. Are you permitted, then, to
make a natural use of every outcome? No one can
prevent you, can he ? No one. Therefore, say no
longer to me, u How is it to take place ? ** Because,
whatever takes place, you will turn it to good purpose,
and the outcome will be a blessing for you. Or
what would Heracles have been had he said a How
am 1 to prevent a great lion from appearing, or a
great boar, or savage men ? " ? And what do you
care for that ? If a great boar appears, the struggle
in which you are to engage will be greater ; if evil
men Appear, you will clear the world of evil men.
399
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ire *yap
Bel 7raz/T6)9 airodavelv, avd^KV} ri irore iroiovvra
i, TJ jecopjovvra % a/cd'jrrovTa TJ e/wro-
rj irn-aievowra rj direTrromra rj 8iap~
12 PQI,QJJ,VQV. ri ovp 0e\i$ Troi&i/ evpeOrj^ai VTTO
rou fflavaTov ; ejo) /JLV TO efiov fiepo^ epjov ri
13 valov. el Be /J,TJ Svvafuti ra rrjKtKavra 7rot>v
efeetvo 76 TO afccdXvTov, TO
op eTravopdwv, e^e/^yafo/iei/o? TTJV
e
e/JLi, fca TOV rprov TQTTQV irapairTOjMPo^,
rov vrepl TTJV T<Z/ tcpit&drwv
14 *A.V /4T TOUTWl' fie O
dp/eel fwi av SUFCO/^XI- TT/W TOP Oeov dvarelvai
Ta? %ipa$ f elireiF on *' a? ekaffiov a^op/ta? irapa
crov Trpo? TO alvSefffftu crov T^? Siot/etfo'eG}? KOI
dtco\ov&^o"ai avrfj, TQVTC&V OVK
15 /eaT-rjar^wfd & TO }wv /i/>O9. i$ov
pat Tat? al&dtj&ecrty, ISov, Trca? rat?
JJLTJ TTore ere e/tefjL'fydfJttfv, ^ n T&V
8u<j^/>crT7|cra rj aXX9 jevea'dai rjdekrjcra, firj
1 Reiske : i*o5A>5y fl^.
1 See EX 2, 1, aad note.
a These imaginary last words of Epictetus have given mucli
offence to Elizabeth Carter (author of the most famous
of the English translations), and no doubt others, who find
them ostentations and lacking in humility. They represent,
however, an ideal and not an actual condition, and as such are
entkel j innocent. JSpictete, who .was in fact the most humhle
400
BOOK IV. x. 10-15
But if I die in so doing ? You will die as a good
man, bringing to fulfilment a noble action. Why,
since you have to die in any event, you must "be
found doing something or other farming, or dig-
ging, or engaged in commerce, or holding a consul-
ship, or suffering with dyspepsia or dysentery. What
is it, then, you wish to be doing when death finds
you ? I for my part should wish it to be some work
that befits a man,, something beneficent, that pro-
motes the common welfare, or is noble. But if I
cannot be found doing such great things as these, I
should like at least to be engaged upon that which
is free from hindrance, that which is given me to
to do, and that is, correcting myself, as I strive to
perfect the faculty which deals with the external
impressions, labouring to achieve calm, while yet
giving to each of my human relationships its due ;
and, if I am so fortunate, striving to attain to the
third field of study, 1 that which has to do with
security in the formation of judgements.
If death finds me occupied with these matters,
it is enough for me if I can lift up my hands unto
God, and say, 2 " The faculties which I received from
Thee to enable me to understand Thy governance
and to follow it, these I have not neglected ; I have
not dishonoured Thee as far as in me lay. Behold
how I have dealt with my senses, behold how I
have dealt with my preconceptions. Have I ever
blamed Thee? Have I been discontented with
any of these things which happen, or wished it to
have been otherwise? Have I at all violated my
of men (see Vol. L pp. xvili-xx), does not say, " It is enough
for 1 me k&xmse 1 can lift up my hands tmto God, and say/* but,
" if I can," wWch is * very different matter,
401
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
16 Tf
TO-69 o"09 s dp/eel JJLQI. irakiv aura ayro\a/3
fcal /cardra^ov e&9 ^ $eXe<? %<&pav era jap TJV
11 7rai>ra s cry /zot avr<i SeSw/cas" ov/c ap/cei
ef*\0iv ; teal rk j3i<ov icpeirrmv fj eic
TQV OUT 9
18 "Ii^a Se ravTa jeinjra^ ov fii/cpa
ovBe jJM/cpwv awQ'T'U'xeiv. ov Bvvcurai /cal v
revcrai, 8e\iv /cal ravTa /sal aypovg
19 /cal aeavTQV* aXX* av rt r&v d\\QTpici)i>
ra <ra aTrwXero. avrq rov irpdjfiaro^ ^ ^wt^-
20 Kpoifca ov&V ffiverat* /cal ri 0avjj>a<rT6v ; av
viraTv&ai deXjfi, ajpwintff&ai ere SeZ,
fccvTa&aTTrjpai, TroXXa fj&p &^relv y iroXka
vOepa, S&pa ireji^raL w
/caff* ?}jjLpay evtois* teal ri TO ytpoj&evov GO-TIP ;
21 &d)fea Secrfjta pd^mv xal TpW "fj rerpdicis 7rl
jSvjfjut tcadLaat Kal /cipfcijcria $ovvat fcal cnrvpia"iv
^eiTKviaai? fj Set^aTO) /tot T9, T eo-Tl irapa
22 TaiJra* virep diradeia^ ovv, vjrep drapa^ia^ t
TO i KadevBovra, KaGev&eiVy eypvjy opera
1 Schweighanser : *ap*p,7pat, 3.
s x&w *X* 5*^ added by Reiske.
Eeiske
1 Tfaa .Mmsniar f aacoa.
a The ^rlto wMeli, . wore distributed at Borne "by a
patron among Ms eHeats. ,
402
BOOK IV. x. 15-22
relationships with others ? For that Thou didst beget
me I am grateful ; for what Thou hast given I am
grateful also. The length of time for which I have
had the use of Thy gifts is enough for me. Take
them back again and assign them to what place
Thou wilt, for they were all Thine, and Thou
gavest them me/' Is it not enough for a man to
take his departure from the world in this state of
mind ? And what among all the kinds of life is
superior to this, or more seemly than his who is
so minded, and what kind of end is more for-
tunate ?
But that this may take place a man must accept no
small troubles, and must miss no small things. You
cannot wish for a, consulship and at the same time
wish for this ; you cannot have set your heart upon
having lands and this too ; you cannot at the same
time be solicitous for your paltry slaves and yourself
too. But if you wish for any one of the things
that are not your own,, what is your own, is lost.
This is the nature of the matter : Nothing is done
except for a price. And why be surprised ? If you
wish to be consul you must keep vigils, rim around,
kiss men's hands, rot away at other men's doors;, say
and do many slavish things, send presents to many
persons, and guest-gifts to some people every day.
And what is the outcome of it all ? Twelve bundles
of rods, 1 and the privilege of sitting three or four
times on the tribune, and giving games in. the Circus,
and lunches in little baskets. 2 Or else let someone
show me what there is in it beyend this. For
calm, then, for peace of mind, for sleeping when
you are asleep, and being awake when you are
awake, for fearing nothing, for being In great
403
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ava\&ffat
23 TTOvfjaai ; aXX* ap ri, a7r6\rjrai aov yrepl
rj avaXoodfj KaK&s TJ aXXo?
rj ewl T
24 OVK avrtdtfcreis, ri avrl TLPQ$ "Xaji^a
avrl TTO&OV ; aXXa Trpolfca ffeXets ra
XajSetp ; seal w&s ^vpa&ai ; epyoi*
25 Ou SiJ^ao-ae /cal ret* e/cro?
TTV)(r]KQTa Kal TO (TaUTQV "fuGJAOmfCOP. l S*
e/celva de\ei$, rovro a^e?* el Se /x-?;, ovre TOOTO
lfe9 ot/r' Ifcewa, r irepto'7r(!}/jLvo$ e-jr*
26 ei TOUTO 0\w, efcelvd <re a^elvai Set.
TO eXataF, aTroXeEra^ Ta aKevd
<rrai i/wv /LLTJ
/cal aTroXeiTat, ra fii/fhia, aXX* 70)
rat? <$avTaffiai$ Kara <t>vaiv. aXX*
27 aw% If $a7a>. el O^TW? raXas ei/u, \i^v TO
0*7^06 aveiv* QVTOS 8* e<FT4J> o \tfjvr}v irdpr&>v 9 6
ffdvaroSi cAryj % fcaTO^vy^ $ia TOUTO
iv TW fiif %a\7TQv &TIV. orap
2S /cal ou xairvilfo. rl ovv ayoymav, ri
ou%! Se v$v$ avaXoytcrdfjva<s } TTOV <TQV TO ayaffov
TO tea/cov,
ovre TO
29 a/copra TretrjSakeiv. *ri OVP ov
jt4 after e&a^y is deleted in A
1 Supply: "has no partnership." See IV. 6, 30, where
the pro-verb is given in fall. '
3 Hie jrfetenc is to saiadfe. Of. L 25, 18 and ^).
404
BOOK IV. x. 22-29
anxiety about nothing, are you unwilling to spend
anything, to make any exertion ? But if something
that belongs to you be lost while you are engaged
in these affairs, or be spent to no purpose, or
someone else get what you ought to have got, are
you going to be vexed immediately at what has
happened ? Will you not balance off what you are
getting in return for what, how much in return for
how much ? Nay, do you wish to get such valuable
things for nothing? And how can you? "One
serious business with another." l
You cannot be continually giving attention to both
externals and your own governing principle. But
If you want the former, let the latter go ; otherwise
you will have neither the latter nor the former, being
drawn in both directions. If you want the latter,
you must let the former go; The oil will be
spilled, my paltry furniture will perish^ but I shall
be calm. There will be a fire when I am not
at home, and my books will perish, yet I shall
deal with my external impressions according to
nature. But I shall have nothing to eat. If I am
so badly off as all that, death is my harbour. And
this is the harbour of all men, even death, and this
their refuge. That is why no one of the tilings that
befall ns in our life is difficult. Whenever you
wish, you walk out of the house, and are no longer
bothered by the smoke. 2 Why, then, are you con-
sumed with anxiety? Why do you keep vigils?
And why do you not forthwith reckon op where
your good and your evil lie, and say, "They are
both under my control; no man can either rob me
of the one, or plunge me in the other against my
will ? Why, then, do I not throw myself down and
4<>5
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ra JML acn^aXak e^er ra aXXorpco, o^rerai avra
o? a
30 J-QV<ria,v. r&9 etui o $XcF aura oura? eyeiv
% X / *'*
0fTc0? ; prj jap pot oeoorai
jap e/M Tt? airrGsv 8ioifc?jTf}v
IJLOI &v exob c^ovcriav, ravrd pue
TrapatT/ceudcrat,, ra S* aXXa w? av 8e\vj o
*
31 Taihra T9 e%wi/ TTpo otj)0aX,{j,wv ajpvjrml, ical
<rTp<f>Tai evSa fcal v9a ; ri dekwv vj rL TroO&v ;
Jldrpo/c^oif TJ *AvTi\o%ov % TlpcaTecri'X&ov ; * irore
jap ^jijaaro addvarav ri,pa T^J/ <f}fk(&v ; TTOTC
jap ov/c el^ev Trpo fy6a\}JMv 3 OTI avptov rj el^
32 Tpiryv Set 4 &VTOV airoBamlv rj licelvov ; " vai"
ical av^tfffet, JMV TOP vlovJ* /tcpo? jap r}$ KOI ra
aS^Xa ww. ri oSi' OVK ey/caXei^ creaur^, aXXa
33 fkKaiwv fcddrt&ai &v ra tcopacria ; u d)OC e/eelvos
fwt <j*ajeZ& Traperidei Ifiy jdp, /tcape' vvv $ ov
Svvarai, aXX* Avropeftcop GQI, Trapadijaei,* av 8e
34 /cal Airrof&eScdp airoQdp^^ aXkov evptfo-ei 1 ** ay 8*
1 Old&tber : MefrcAaor 3. See explanatory note.
1 Homer, Iliad, XXIV. 5, referring to AcMHes oa his bed
wfeen mo-nrniog for Patroelus.
2 Patroclas and AntOochns were well-known friends of
Achilles, but " Menelaos ss (the reading of 8} must be wrong,
partly because he was not in any way a special friend, and
particularly because he was not killed, as the context re-
yaires. Some other friend of the hero, who was Mlled, must
bfe supplied, and that can hardly be anyone bnt Protesilans,
who* was me of Ms playmates under the tutelage of Che-iron.
Bhlostadii% Jfav 176 . Achilla leaped on shore im-
406
BOOK IV. x. 29-34
snore ? What is mine is safe. What is not mine
shall be the concern of whoever gets it, according
to the terms upon which it may be given by Him
who has authority over it. Who am I to wish that
what is not mine should be either thus or so ? For
it has not been given me to make a choice among
these things,, has it ? For no one has made me an
administrator of them, has he ? I am satisfied with
the things over which I have authority. These I
ought to treat so that they may become as beautiful
as possible, but everything else as their master may
desire."
Does any man who has all this before his eyes
keep vigils, and does he "toss hither and thither "P 1
What does lie wish* or what does he yearn for?
For PatrocltiSj or Antilochus, or Pratesilaus ? 2 Why,
when did he regard any of his Mends as immortal ?
Yes, and when did he not have before his eyes the
fact that on the morrow or the day after either
he or his friend must die ? 3 a Yes/' he says, f< but
1 had thought he was going to survive me, and
bring up my son,** No doubt, but then you were
a fool, and were thinking of things that were un-
certainties. Why, then, do you not blame your-
self, instead of sitting and crying like little girls?
"Nay, but he used to set my food before u&e."
Yes, fool, for then he was alive ; and now he cannot.
But Automedon 4 will set your food before you, and
if Automedon too die, you wOl find somebody else,
mediately after Protesilatis and avenged Ms death. See
Escher in the ReaZ-JBnryctop&die*, L 229-, 9ff-
* A kind of proverbial expression. Compare Marcus
Amrelius, 4. 47.
* Comrade and charioteer of "botk Patroelns and AeMlles.
407-
ARRIAN'S DISCO UBSES OF EPICTETUS
17 ^vTpa, lv fj fj^rero croi TO xpeas, KaTayfj,
ere Bel aTrodavetv, on pi} %? TIJV &
j(vrpav ; ov ire/jLTreis KCLI aXX^F fcaiv^v ayo
S5 ov JAW yap ri
(jtrjcrip,
fca/cfirepop aXXo iradoiju.
Tovro yap o-oi /ca/cov etTTtv ; elr a<f>eh TQVTO
ar id TJJV /i?)Tpa, art <roi ov
Ij; etceivov
36 T/ tofcelrG ; pfy ewiT^Se^ ravra crvvGelvai ^
POF, f iv %$&/jLVj OTt, ol ^yF0"Taroi, ol
TOI, ol TrX&vcridyraTQi,, ol 1 ev/wp^oraro^
ola Sel Soj/juira JJ/TI I%ftj<JiF, ovBev Kto\vovrai
elvai ical
id. He pi
TOV
TO /cowc&vi/cov O/JL? S*
ainol ovrot QVK av p*ot $Q/cou<riv afuj>t<r/3'rfT'fj&ai>
OT& TO ffe 2 KoBcLowv TrdvTco? irepiej^era^ /cal el
2 run aXk /cm TOVTG* T&V d)G>v %w/)^Tai. OTOV
aXXo Ti $BH>V ?S&>/tF aTTO/caOaZpov lauro,
OTI ff co?
1 o added by 5. 2 T<J yc Wolf : *vr4 8.
1 Homer, JZiof XIX, 1.
a The gue3Iization is somewhat liasfcy. Many aaimals,
like cats (and the felidae in general), moles, most birds,
snakes, et4. are distinctly more cleanly thaa any but the
408
BOOK IV.
x. 34-
If the pot In which your meat used to be boiled gets
broken, do you have to die of hunger because you
do not have your accustomed pot? Won't you
send out and buy a new one to take its place ? He
says,
III no greater than this could beiall me, 1
Why, is this what you call an ill ? And then, for-
bearing to get rid of it, do yon blame your mother,
because she did not foretell it to you, so that you
might continue to lament from that time forth ?
What do you men think ? Did not Homer com-
pose this In order for us to see that there is nothing
to prevent the persons of highest birth, of greatest
strength, of most handsome appearance, from being
most miserable and wretched, when they do not hold
the right kind of judgements?
CHAPTER XI
Of cleamlineu
SOME people raise the question whether the social
instinct is a necessary element in the nature of man ;
nevertheless, even these people, as it seems to me,
would not question that the instinct of cleanliness
is most assuredly a necessary element, and that man
is distinguished from the animals by this quality
if by anything. 2 When, therefore, we see some
other animal cleaning itself, we are in the habit
of saying in surprise that it is acting " like a human
most civilised men. Epictetas was clearly not strong in
natural history. Of. notes on H. S4, 16 j IV. 8, 38 ; IV. II,
32, and Mch. 33, 16.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
rea Trakw av rt<$ jicakrj nv
ei&ffapev &a r rrep diroKojov/jivoi \ejetv on " ov
3 BTJTTQV avdpatirov earipJ 9 OUTWV l$*aipTQV n
ircpl TOZ> av&pd07rov elvai olopeffa djro rwv 8e&v
TTpwroF 'KafifSdvovTes* eVel jap l/cewoi
/cadapol /cal a/cv)paT0t y 1$ Scrov Tjjji/caerip
ol avdpwTroi, Kara rov Xo7oi/, 7rl TQGOVTQV
/cal rov fcaBapov teal TQV K&Bapiov Gicrlv
4 KOI. 7Tl 8* afifyavov TTJP ovcr[av avrwv
ranraaiv slvai KaBapap l/c rotavr?}? 5X^v fcfcpa-
fLevrjv, o Xo^o? TrapaX^delg & TO
ratmqv /caGdpwv aTroreXetF iripa*rai*
5 'H 1 irpton} oiw /cal aiwrarct) /cadaporvjs
fcal o/to(w9 a/cadaparia.
ACF a/ca0ap<riav QVIC av
Se ri av aXXo vpoi9 ^ TO irapi^ov
pwirapav TTpo? ra Ipya ra avT^ ; pja Se
^ eirij3d\~ka()at,, crvyKarar idea-dot.
7 ri TTor a$i> earl TO IF TOOTO^ rot? epyots pvwapav
7ra/>l%0J> aurrjv (cc& wad aprov ; ov&ev aX\o rj ra
S p^driph fcpifj*ara avr%. cSo"Te ^rv)(fi^ fiv d/ca-
dapaia Soyftara Tropijpd, a$ap<w S* jj,7roiTj<ns
Set Soyfiarrcw. /caffapa 8' ^ e^ovfra ola Set
jap avri?
f\ A " ' ' > ' \ * V
9 xXei 6e Tf eoucos TOVTG* jcai eirl
1 ^ added by Upton, * Upton's " codex " :
I Onr idiom requires us to use bo-tfa "clean " aad "pure,**'
anji tikeir. lerivatives, for wiat in the Greek is expressed
by a siagte wor^
410
BOOK IV. XL 2-9
being." And again, if one finds fault with some
beast, we are in the habit of saying immediately,
as though in apology, "Well, of course it isn't a
human being." So true it is that we consider clean-
liness to be a special characteristic of man., deriving
it in the first instance from the gods. For since
they are by nature pure x and undented, in so far
as men have approached them by virtue of reason,,
just so far are they attached to purity and cleanli-
ness. But since it is impossible for the nature of
men to be altogether pure, seeing that it is com-
posed of such material as it is, the reason which
they have received from the gods endeavours to
render tMs material clean as far as is possible,
Therefore, the prime and highest purity is that
which appears in the soul, and the same is true of
impurity. But you would not find the same im-
purity in a soul as you would in a bodj y and as
being soul, what else would you find impure about
it than that which makes it dirty for the per-
formance of its own functions? And the functions
of a soul are the exercise of choice, of refusal, of
desire, of aversion, of preparation, of purpose^ and
of assent. What, then, can that be which makes
the soul dirty and unclean in these functions?
Nothing but its erroneous decisions. It follows,
therefore, that impurity of a soul consists of bad
judgements, and purification consists in creating
within it the proper kind of judgements ; and a
pure soul is the one which has the proper kind of
judgements, for this is the only soul which is
secure against confusion and pollution in its own
functions.
Now one ought to be eager to achieve, as far
411
VOL. II, O
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Kara TO eve^ofie^op. ajuravop r^v
>7] piP TOV dvdpCx)WOU TOLOVTOV e^O2>T09 TO
Bia TOVTO ^elpa^ iTroirjcrev r}
T<W pZi/a? a><? crcoXrfvas TT/JO? TO
Sovat ra vypd. av ovv avappotpy Ti? avrds, \ej
10 on ov TrotGt epyov avBp^iriKov. afiij^avov r}v /LLTJ
, TOU? TroSa? /^Se oX<9 jj,o'\vv<j@ai Sia
ttV&V 7TOpVQftl'QV$' UlU TOVTO VOG)p
11 TrapztTfcevaaev, St.a TOVTO ^eZpa?. a^yavov yv
CL7TO TOV TpU>JGLV fLTJ pVITCtpOV Tl 7T pQ V JJLV LV
TOVTO * 4 TT\VVOV* tprjai
<?." Bia TI ; tV av@pa>Tro<> ^9 fcal ^TJ Bijpiov
12 fujSe (TviSiov, apri')(avQV pj airo TOV tBp&TO? /cal
T?j9 Kara TTJV <r^^Tct avvo)(f]$ yTroXetTrecr^at TL
TO aw/Ad pwirapov fcal oeopevov a
Sfca TOVTO fiSfp r ekatOV, J(ip
, piTpov, &$' off ri aXX?7 Tracra, Trapacr/cev}}
13 Trpos" TO /cadrfpcw avTo. ov' aXX* o /^z
TO aiSiypiov teal opyava Trpbs TOVTO
, KOI TO tnvafctov CLVTOS crv
QTCLV jueXXys eGSiew, eav JJL^ 079
fcal pi/Trapog* TO crtopaTiov 8* oy
owSe /eadapov irotrjcreis ; A^a T6 ;
14 (j>7}(riv* TI^X^ epo) aor TTp&TOv [iev Iva Ta
ev-
1 The words s xa\Ke6$ following tMs word in S have
been deleted in the MS.
2 C. Schenkl: *A^eis A
1 A sorfe of scraper, generally of metal, muck used by
athletea.
2 Tbe exeesse% probably Oriental in origin, to which
Christiaa aacetisea soon wemt in regard to despising clean-
412
BOOK IV. xi. 9-14
as may be, something similar to this in the case of
the body also. It was impossible that there should
be no discharge of mucus from the nose, since man's
body has been composed as it is ; for that reason
nature made hands, and the nostrils like tubes to
discharge the humours. If, therefore, a man snuffs
back these discharges of mucus, I say that he
is not acting as a human being should. It was
impossible that the feet should not get muddy, nor
dirty at all, when they pass through certain such sub-
stances ; for that reason nature has provided water,
for that hands. It was impossible that some impurity
from eating should not remain on the teeth ; for
that reason nature says, " Wash your teeth." Why ?
In order that you may be a human being, and
not a beast or a pig. It was impossible that some-
thing dirty and needing to be cleaned off should
not be left on the person from our sweat and the
pressure of our clothes ; for that reason we have
water, oil, hands, a towel, a strigil, 1 nitre, and, on
occasion, every other kind of equipment to cleanse
the body. Not so you. 2 But the smith will remove
the rust from Ms iron tool, and will have implements
made for this purpose, and you yourself will wash
your plate when you are going to eat, unless you are
utterly unclean and dirty; but will you not wash
nor make clean your poor body ? Why ? says some-
one. Again I will tell you : First, so as to do what
bents a man ; and second, so as not to offend those
liness, seem to have begun to manifest themselves already
in the early second century among enthusiastic young
Stoics and would-be Cynics, It is interesting to see how
Epictetus, simple and austere as he was ? vigorously main-
tained the validity of older Greek and Roman feeling in
this regard.
413
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
15 TwyxdvopTa?. TOLOVTOP n KCLI evOc&e iroiel^ Kal
ov/c al&Odvrj. aavTOP a%iov ^jfj TOV o^ew*
TI Kal TOU? crwyKaraKXivQ/iGvov*;, prf it Kal TOU?
16 /caTa<f*i\ovvTa$ ; ca * aireXff* et? pr}piav TTOV
7TOT 3 ^9 a^o? el, ical JAQVQS Siaje KCLTQ^V creavrov,
<ydp eart T?J? 0-979 aKa8apcrla$ ere aovov
a7rd\aviv. IP 7ro\i 8' ovra ovrcos aT
/cat dyvajfiovQ)? avacrTp$cr9at rivo$ aoi
17 el 8* 'iirirov croi TreTricrTevKei, rj <j)vai<z }
avrov Kal aTT}/jLG\,r}TOV ; Kal vvv olov aov TO
09 TTTTTOV iryKexeipla-Bai* TT\VVOV auro,
v, 'iva ere /MtjBel^ a7ro(T f rpe^>r}TaL >
18 firjBelv eKTpeTnjTai* w S' OVK eKTpeirerai, pwira-
pop avdptoTrov, o^ovra, KaKQ%povv fiaXXop % TOP
; eKeivrj ff oa/j/rj e%&6ev CO-TIP
al oiovel
19 'AXXa ^f&KpaTrjs okiyd/cft eXoveTO. *
avTOv TO cr&ua, aXX' rjv
fcal ^Si;, <3crT* ripcop avTOv ot ozpa
ical evjeve&TaToi, Kal eiredv/jLovv exeipq* vrapa-
7} roZ? evfiop^ordTOis.
t, el
4^4
BOOK IV. xi. 14-19
whom you meet You are doing something of the
sort even here, and do not realize it. You think
that you are worthy of the smell 1 Very well, be
worthy of it. Do you think, though, that those who
sit by your side, those who recline beside you, those
who kiss you, are worthy of it too ? 2 Bah, go away
into a wilderness somewhere or other, a place worthy
of you, and live alone, smelling of yourself! For it
is only right that you should enjoy your uncleanliness
all by yourself. But since you are living in a city,
what kind of character do you fancy you are exhibit-
ing, to behave so thoughtlessly and inconsiderately ?
If nature had committed to your care a horse, would
you have utterly neglected it ? And now I would
have you think that your body has been entrusted
to you like a horse ; wash it, rub it down, make it
so that nobody will turn, his back on you or move
aside. But who does not avoid a dirty fellow that
smells and has an unsightly skin, even more than a
man bespattered with dung? In this latter case
the smell is external and acquired, in the other it
comes from slovenliness that is internal, and is
characteristic of one who has grown rotten through
and through.
But Socrates bathed infrequently, 3 says someone.
Why, his body was radiant ; why, it was so attractive
and sweet that the handsomest and most high-born
were in love with him, and yearned to sit by his
side rather than beside those who had the prettiest
1 That is, so good that his smell makes no real difference.
2 That is, bad enough, to deserve such treatment (#|*o*
meaning both "good enough" and "bad enough ").
* Plato, Symposium^ 174 A.
2 Sb in margin : I <rrt piv 8.
4*5
ARRJAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fcaroi KOI
20 'AXXa \eyei 'Apto-T
Ta<s, TQVS az>i/7roS 777*01/9 Xeyco.
jap fcal aepoftareiv avrov KOI e/c
21 *irakaiffTpa<$ /cXeTrreiF ra l/^dria. eirei TQI
ol jypa(j)OT6$ Trepl 2a>/c/>aroi/9 iravra ravavrLa
avr) TTpod^aprvpovcnv, on rjSvs ov povov aKovcrcu,
aXXa KOI ISelv TJV. iraXiv irepl &.t,oyevov$ ravra
22 ypd<pov(n,. Set jap /jtyBe Kara TTJV ajro rou
e/jLifiacriv airo <j>i,\o(ro<j)ia$ aTrovoftelv
XX* c5o"7rp Ta aXXa evQvfJiov fca\
lirtBei/cvveiv CLVTQV oi/rct)? /cal CLTTO rov
23 (TcafLdTO*;. " TSere, <S civO paiTrot,, OTI ovSev e%a),
Bevo? ^OjJLai' fSere TTW? aoi/co$ &v /cal
l <j)uyd$, av OVTCOS T ^%?7* Ka ^ CL
euTraTpt&o&v /cal 7r\ovaia>v
Sidy teal evpov&Tepov. aXXa teal TO crtoadnov
opare art ov Katcovrat, UTTO TTJS avcnrrjpd^
24 &v Be fiot Tavra Xey?; r^9 av@pa)7rov
KaraSifcov %a>v teal
irpQ<J\&eiv <ptXo0"O(f)ia, el ye* TOIOVTOVS
ft?} yevoiTQ* oW, el <jo<f)0$ iueXX-ov
1 Tfee words ri!b' Bepftip fjtfy QeX-ris, tyvxp'?* here, I have trans-
ferred to 32, where, as Schweighauser saw, they clearly
belong.
2 Wolf : tfrirtw S.
* eT 76 Eeiske, after Schegk : Sore S.
1 JMd. t 217-18.
1 Xo&e(r&at is properly of "bathing," as in the public
bat&s, especially, in this passage, the warm baths of Roman
times, which are clearly in mind ; vXvve 0-600. is properly of
cleaning clothes, as in a laundry, which was generally done
BOOK IV, XL 19-24
forms and features. 1 He might have neither bathed
nor washed, 2 had he so desired; yet even his infrequent
bathings were effective. But Aristophanes says,
The pallid men I mean, who shoeless go. 3
Oh, yes, but then he says also that Socrates " trod the
air/' and stole people's clothes from the wrestling
school. 4 And yet all who have written about Socrates
unite in bearing testimony to the precise opposite
of this ; that he was not merely pleasant to hear, but
also to see. Again, men write the same thing about
Diogenes. For a man ought not to drive away the
multitude from philosophy, even by the appearance
of his body, but as in everything else, so also on the
side of the body, he ought to show himself cheerful
and free from perturbation. "See, O men, that I
have nothing, and need nothing. See how, although
I am without a house, and without a city, and an
exile, if it so chance, and without a hearth, I still
live a life more tranquil and serene than that of all
the noble and the rich. Yes, and you see that even
my paltry body is not disfigured by my hard way of
living." But if I am told this by a person who has
the bearing and face of a condemned man, what one
of all the gods shall persuade me to approach
philosophy, if she makes people like that ? Far be
it from me 1 I shouldn't be willing to do so, not
even if it would make me a wise man.
in ancient Greece, as in modern, and in the Orient, with cold
water. All that is meant, as far as Socrates is concerned,
is that he generally washed at home in cold water, and very
seldom used puhlic "baths or hot baths.
3 Clouds, 103, slightly modified.
4 IMd. 9 179 and 225. The argument is that the evidence
of Aristophanes is worthless anyway, because he also made
these two preposterously false statements about Socrates^
417
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
25 E7< i*ev vrj ro/9 0v$ rov veov rov
8e\(sd jjuoXkov sXOelv Tipo? /J>e rcerrkaa-
TTJV /cofiTjv 7j l KarefydtVTjKora real pvrrapov.
yap w ev exeivq) rov icakov <j>avracria 3
26 (pavrd^TCU, Ifcel teal <$t,\Q f re%yei l . \OITTQV VTTO-
&ei!*ai j&ovov au Sel ical elirelv " veavicrtce, TO
T?9 KM V 7TOlt$. IdQl OVV, OTl GKGl
OTTOV rov \o*yov %49* /CL avro ^7jrei t
QTTOV ra$ opfjtas fcal ra? afiopf&ds, oirov ro-9
27 ope^ei^t r9 e/c/cki&eis* rovro jap !%e/5 ev
creavrcj* l^aiperov, TO vcopdrtov Se (fcvcret, 7777X09
Icrriv. ri Travels el/CTj rrepl avro ; el pybev
28 erepov, r Xpovcp JVCOCTTJ, on, ovSev eo-rw" av $
, fivcrra/ca c^cav
raw ryovdrtov, ri avr& elrrelv e%G>, airo
Troio.9 avrov Qjj,ot,or"yjro$ enajajew ; Trepl ri yap
29 <rjrov$aKv owiov r& /e<zXo>, 1v avrov
TO Ka\o
OVK e<rrtv ev rq>
TO /cakoVy aXX V TO* \oj(o " ;
jap rov /caXov ; epjfyacrw jdp riva avrov
teal X,oipc& BiaX&yov, r iv ev ftopftopoi
30 fir} KvXitjTai. Sta rovro /cal TLo\ejj,covo^ jjifravro
ol \6>yo& oi 'Bevo/cpdrovs <9 $iKoicd\QV veavicr/cov
v jap e^ajv evavcrfiara T^9 Trepl TO ica\ov
, d\\a%ov S' avro fyyr&v*
1 % added by SchenkL
1 See IBL 1, 14, and note.
a Much as Smetcmims so admirably says of Nero (c. 55) :
Erc Uli a^mi^^mp&^^m^mf&mas wpido, &ed inamsntoz.
418
BOOK IV. xi. 25-30
As for me, by the gods, I should rather have the
young man who was experiencing the first stirrings
towards philosophy come to me with his hair care-'
fully dressed, than with it in a state of desperate 1
neglect and dirty. For the first case shows thatj
there exists in the young man a sort of imaging
of beauty, and an aiming at comeliness, and where
he fancies it to be, there also he devotes his efforts.
With that as a starting-point, all that it is necessary
to do is to show him the way, and say, " Young man,
you are seeking the beautiful, and you do well.
Know, then, that it arises in that part of you where
you have your reason ; seek it there where you have
your choices and your refusals, where you have your
desires and your aversions. For this part is some-
thing of a special kind which you have within you, but
your paltry body is by nature only clay. Why do you
toil for it to no purpose ? If you learn nothing else,
time at least will teach you that it is nothing." But
if he comes to me bespattered with dung, dirty, his
moustache reaching down to his knees, what have I
to say to him, from what point of resemblance can I
start so as to prevail upon him ? For what is there
to which he is devoted, that bears any resemblance to
the beautiful, so that I may turn him about and say,
cf Beauty is not there, but here " ? Do you want me
to say to him, " Beauty does not consist in. being
bespattered with dung, but in reason " ? For is he
aiming at beauty ? Has he any manifestation of it ?
Go and talk to a pig, that he may wallow no more in
mud! That is why the words of Xenocrates laid
hold even of a Polemo, 1 because he was a young man
who loved beauty. For he came to Xenocrates with
glimmerings of a zeal for the beautiful, but was
looking for it in the wrong place. 2
419
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
31 'ETrei TOL ovBe TO, ,&& TO. dvOp&TCOis <rvpTpo<pa
pvjrapd 7roi7jo'v rj <f>v<rt$. JAIJ ri TTTTTOS KvkitTai
iv /3op/3opft>, fA'ij TI Ku&)v <yvvalo<z ; a\\* o 9 KOI
TO, crairpd ^rjviSia 1 KOI cncct)\r]K$ KOI apd^vai,
ra /jLdfcpoTaTO) 7^9 avdpa)7rivr}$ orvvara<TTpo<p'rj$
32 a r jrek i ri\a(TjjLva. <rv OVP av
fiaXJX.ov TJ apd^piop ; ov \OVCTTJ TTOV
0\i$, ov/c a7TO7rXi/j'Gi9 aeavroVf icav
&e\rj<$ 9 T$rv%p(p* 2 oi/x ^fei? xadapos, Iva aot,
ot avvovre^ ; a\\a Aral efe ra lepa
p^Tj roiovroSt OTTOV TTTV<TO,I ov z/6z/o-
ov8* aTTQfiv^cLG'Qat, oXos &v TTTvcrfjLa Aral
a ;
33 Ti ow ; /caXkawrifacFdaL T9 a^iol ; /J,TJ Devoir o 3
el /JLTJ etcewo o Tre^vfcafiev, TOP \Q<yov, TCL So^ara,
ra9 ivcpyeias, TO Be crSf^a /te%/)t TOV /ca&aplov,
3i j*'X f pi> TOV fjw] vrpoa/coTrrew. d\\ 3 av d/covcry*?,
OTt ov Bel <poptv KOKKiva, a7re\8cbv fcoirpcoa-ov
<Tov TOP Tpij3c0pa TJ /caTappiy^ov. 'AXXa irodev
%< tcakov TpL/3cova ; "Ai/^pcoTre, vBcop
35 TrXui/OF avTOp. IBov j/o9 a^/>a<rro9, ISov
TOV epav /cal dvTepa<r9ai, <j> TI<$ vlbv
ov irapa&dxrei, TtaiBevOtjcrofiepop^ &> QwyctTepes,
1 86 : iivfout 8.
2 These last five words, which appear in 19, actually
belong here, as Schweighauser saw.
Kronenberg ; watkvdr}<r6fivoy Schenkl : wapa*
1 Of course a spider is not ordinarily a dirty animal in its
persona! habits ; the nwt that can be said is that it is
frequently found in quiet and henoe dusty spots. Cf. note
onl.
420
BOOK IV. xi. 31-35
Why, look you, nature has not made dirty even
the animals which associate with man, A horse
doesn't roll around in the mud, does he ? or a highly
bred dog ? No, but the hog., and the miserable rotten
geese, and worms, and spiders, the creatures farthest
removed from association with human beings. Do
you, then, who are a human being, wish to he not
even an animal of the kind that associates with men,
but rather a worm, or a spider ? 1 Will you not take
a bath somewhere, some time, in any form you
please ? Will you not wash yourself? If you
don't care to bathe in hot water, then use cold.
Will you not come to us clean, that your companions
may be glad ? What, and do you in such a state go
with us even into the temples, where it is forbidden
by custom to spit or blow the nose, yourself being
nothing but a mass of spit and drivel ?
Well, what then ? Is anyone demanding that you
beautify yourself? Heaven forbid! except you
beautify that which is our true nature 2 the reason,
its judgements, its activities ; but your body only so
far as to keep it cleanly, only so far as to avoid giving
offence. But if you hear that one ought not to wear
scarlet, go bespatter your rough cloak with dung or
tear it to pieces ! 3 Yet where am I to get a rough
cloak that looks well ? Man, you have water, wash it !
See, here is a lovable young man, here an elderly
man worthy to love and to be loved in return., to
whom a person will entrust the education of his son,
to whom daughters and young men will come, if it
2 ie. a man really is not body, which he has in common
with other animals, but mind, reason, or moral purpose.
Of. such passages as I. 1, 23 ; III. 1, 25-6 ; 13, 17 ; IV. 5 12
and 23 ; 7, 31 f. ; and 27 above.
3 That is, the young man carries the precept to extremes,
the command being ironical.
421
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EP1CTETUS
, av
36 Kowpwvi Xe7?7 ra? cr^oXa?. jjwj yevoiTQ. iraaa
efCTpOTrrj OLTTO TWOS avOp^TTircov ylveTat,,
eyyv$ eari T& /JLTJ dvd pwTri/CT]
iffi. Hepl '
1 ' Qrav a^^9 x vrpo? o\iyov rrjv
rovro <t>aprdov, OTI, OTTOTCIV
avrrjv, aXX efcelvo irpo^eipov ecrra) aot,, ori IT a pa
TO arjfiepov afiapr^Bev ek raXXa y^lpov avdyic^
2 GQI ra 7rpdyfjt,ara e%ii>. Trp&TOV JJLGV yap rb TTCLV-
TWV %aX67rct)TaToi/ e^o? rou P.TJ Trpocre^Gw eyyive-
rai 3 elra e&o$ TOV ava/BaXkecrdat, r^v irpocro'xriv*
ael 8* efe a\\ov fcal aXXov %povov etwda? vTrepTt"
Gecrdan 2 TO evpoelv* TO eva-)(vjpQvelv, TO KCLTO,
3 <j>vcuv %&F teal Stegdyetv. el fiev ovv XvcrjTeXr)?
T) inrepffeaw eaTtv, rj Traz/reX^*? aTrocrTao'ts avT^
ecrrl \vcnT6\(rrepa* el fi' ov
Bitjve/cf) TJJV 7rpo<ro%rjv fyvKda-aet,? ; " arji
4 iral^ai $eXca." T^ ow Kw\vei 3 irpoae^ovTa ;
" acra*." T o5i> jcm\vet, vpocre-xovra ; pr) yap
%at,pelrai rt pepos TOV filov, e$ o ov
TO Trpocre'xeiv ; ^elpov yap avTO Trpoaix
cre^, fte\Tiov Se jj,}} Trpocrextov ; /cal -rt aXXo
5 eV T$ fiiq> fcpel&a-ov VTTO T&V firj
yimrai ; o TJCTG*V
1 Krooenberg (after Sb and $) : ^Tj^
2 Sobenkl: f*0t (or f*^as) faepri
t (
t added by C. Scheakl.
422
BOOK IV. XL 35-xn. 5
so chance all for the purpose of having him deliver
his lectures sitting on a dunghill ? Good Lord, no !
Every eccentricity arises from some human trait., but
this trait comes close to being non-human.
CHAPTER XII
Of attention
WHEN you relax your attention for a little while,
do not imagine that whenever you choose you will
recover it, but bear this in mind, that because of
the mistake which you have made to-day, your
condition must necessarily be worse as regards every-
thing else. For, to begin with and this is the
worst of all a habit of not paying attention is
developed; and after that a habit of deferring
attention ; and always you grow accustomed to
putting off from one time to another tranquil and
appropriate living, the life in accordance with nature,
and persistence in that life. Now if the postpone-
ment of such matters is profitable, it is still more
profitable to abandon them altogether; but if it is
not profitable, why do you not maintain your atten-
tion continuously? fc To-day I want to play." What
is to prevent your playing, then, but with attention ?
fe I want to sing." What is to prevent your singing,
then, but with attention ? There is no part of the
activities of your life excepted, to which attention does
not extend, is there ? What, will you do it worse by
attention, and better by inattention ? And yet what
other thing, of all that go fco make tip our life, is
done better by those who are inattentive? Does
the inattentive carpenter do his work more acctar-
4*3
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
d/cpifSeo-Tepov ; o /cv^epvijT^ pr] irpocrej^v l
Ku/Sepva a<T<l>a\(TTpov ; aXXo Be Tt, T&V /Mt/epo-
6 Teptov epjcov V7TO aTT/xxrefia
GOD ; ov/c aiaOdpTj, ori y lirei^av afifj?
ov/c TL 7rl doi I&TIV avdK.aK,k(jao'Bai avTijv, ov/c
TTl TO UCTY?7/XOZ>, OVK 67rl TO al^7J/jLOV t OVK 7rl TO
aXXa 7rdv TO
rat? irp
7 ^fiaiv ovv 8e2 fjue Trpoae^eiv ; Hp&Tov
GKGIVQIS TO 1$ Ka0Q\lfCol$ KOl K6lva 7Tp6%6tpa
%eiv real %(0pl$ Ifceivcav /it; KaOevBeiv, jJirj dvicr-
Ta&0ai, fir] Trlveiv, prj eadieiv, pJrj
avdpC07TQL$* OTl
o^Set9, ev TavTfl Be povr] Tajadov teal KCLKGV.
8 oz/Sei? ovv Kupios ovr ajadov poi
OVT KCL *
9 fcaTa TavTa ej-ovaiav %a> yaoVo?. orav ovv
T&VT& CL(T<j}(lX,fj ^Wl 7}, Tl 6^6) TTpl TO, /CTO<?
Tapdcrcreo'&at, ; Troto? Tvpavvos (pofiepos, Troia
voaos, Troia Trevia, TTO?OV Trpo&Kpovcrjuia ; 'AXX*
10 Qv/c ijpecra, rcS Betvt. M^ ovv e/cetvo<? ZJJLQV I<TTIV
epjow, /AT] Ti i/Jiov Kpi/jut ; Ou. Ti ovv en, poi,
/ieXe^ ; *AXXa So/eel TI<$ elveu. "O^reTai avTo?
11 /cal 01? Bo/ci y eya) S' l^&>, TIVI / Bel apeo-tcew,
TLVL vTTOTG'rd'xOaiy TIVI TreiSeaBar ra> 0eq> KOI
12 /iT* tCLVOV i/JLoL / KWO$ <TVV6CTT7JCrV CfJiCiVTG)
/cal T*}v eitfyv irpoaLpecnv inr&Ta^ev epol /JLOVO) Sou?
ol^ orav
1 Th^elast six words are added, to fill an obvious lacuna,
In Upton* "codex." Something like them is certainly
needed.
2 tyol smppBed by Bids*
424
BOOK IV. xn. 5-12
ately ? The inattentive helmsman steer more safely ?
And is there any other of the lesser functions of life
which is done better by inattention ? Do you not
realize that when once you let your mind go
wandering, it is no longer within your power to
recall it, to bring it to bear upon either seemliness,
or self-respect, or moderation? But you do any-
thing that comes into your head, you follow your
inclinations.
What are the things, then,, to which I ought to
pay attention ? First, these general principles, and
you ought to have them at your command., and
without them neither go to sleep, nor rise up, nor
drink, nor eat, nor mingle with men; I mean the
following : No man is master of another's moral
purpose ; and : In its sphere alone are to be found
one's good and evil. It follows, therefore, that no
one has power either to procure me good, or to
involve me in evil, but I myself alone have authority
over myself in these matters. Accordingly, when
these things are secure for me, what excuse have I
for being disturbed about things external? Wha*
kind of tyrant inspires fear, what kind of disease, or
poverty, or obstacle ?- But I have not pleased So-
and-so. He is not my function, is he? He is not
mv judgement, is he? No. Why, then, do 1 care
any longer? But he has the reputation of being
somebody. He and those who think so highly of
him will have to see to that, but I have one whom
I must please, to whom I must submit, whom I
must obey, that is, God, and after Him, myself.
God has commended me to myself, and He has
subjected to me alone my moral purpose, giving me
standards for the correct use of it ; and when I follow
425
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
) f v
T>V aA,Xo TL "XeyovTwv, ev
13 TOVCTIV ov (ovri^o) ouSez/09. Sta ri ovv ev
pe ol ^freyovres ; ri TO
^r}^ ; av8ev d\\o rj on, ev TOV-
14 T0> TO) T07T6) ajV/JLVaCTTQ? el/At. 67ri TOl TTCLCTa
OVTjTlKT} <TTi T^ afVota$ KCU
yvoovvTtov /cal ov fjiovov al kirKJT^^aL^ a\\a
/col cd tkyyai* <j>epe Si/ Oekei? a/cvrea /cal TWV
e\a irepl TO avrov epyov <f>ep ov
re/crova.
15 Tlp&TQV /&& oBv ravra e%etv irpo^eipa KCU
TOVTOV TOP
o BvvdjjLevo?, TO, TrpoaipGTi/ea e^ a/rravTO^^ ra 8*
16 aXXa <&$ av SiS&Tat. 7rl TOVTOIS Se /Jte/jwrjcrdai,,
tsv /cal TI f}}iiv ovopa^ /cal TTpo? Ta?
TOOV a")(cr(t)v ireipacrBai TO, KaOtj/covra
17 d7
TrapovTG&v t crTai atr rov 7rpy/j,aTov
TI KaTafypovrjamcnv rj/tatv ol 2 crvvovT$, JJMJ TL
Ttov* TTOTe (TK&tyai fcal Tiva$ TroTe Kara-
j\dcrai, Kal em Tim TTOTC o-vjjwreptevexQrjvai, KOL
Tivi, /cal \oi7rov iv 77} crv/jLirepi^opa TTCO? r^jprjaai
TO aurov. OTTOI; ' av airovevo~r}<$ airo TII>O<$ TOV-
18 TG>I/, ev^i/5 &juct, ov/c e(o@V
1 Upton's " codex " and Wolf : iratSetas S
a ol supplied by SI.
1 See note on I. 7, 1.
426
BOOK IV. xii. 12-18
these standards, I pay heed to none of those who say
anything else, I give not a thought to anyone in argu-
ments with equivocal premisses. 1 Why, then, in the
more important matters am I annoyed by those who
censure me ? What is the reason for this perturba-
tion of spirit? Nothing but the fact that in this
field I lack training. For, look you, every science
is entitled to despise ignorance and ignorant people,
and not merely the sciences, but also the arts. Take
any cobbler you please, and he laughs the multitude
to scorn when it comes to his own work ; take any
carpenter you please.
First, therefore, we ought to have these principles
at command, and to do nothing apart from, them,
but keep the soul intent upon this mark ; we must
pursue none of the tilings external, none of the
things which are not our own, but as He that is
mighty has ordained ; pursuing without any hesita-
tion the things that lie within the sphere of the
moral purpose, and all other things as they have
been given us. And next we must remember who
we are, and what is our designation, and must en-
deavour to direct our actions, in the performance of
our duties, to meet the possibilities of our social
relations. We must remember what is the proper
time for song, the proper time for play, and in
whose presence; also what will be out of place;
lest our companions despise us, and we despise our-
selves ; when to jest, and whom to laugh at, and to
what end to engage in social intercourse, and with
whom; and, finally, how to maintain one's proper
character in such social intercourse. But whenever
you deviate from any one of these principles, inline-
diately you suffer loss, and that not from anywhere
outside, but from the very nature of the activity.
427
ARRIAN'S DISCOUESES OF EPICTETUS
19 Tt OVP ; Svvarbv dvapidpTJ]rov rj$>r} elvcu ;
rdvetv Terdo-dai $t,Yjve/ca)$. dyaTrrjrov yap, el
jjtrjSeTTQT* dvievres Tavryv TTJV Trpoao^p oXiy&v
20 ye afiapTrjjjLwrwv e/cro? <TQ/jL0a. vvv S* orav
^71779 " aTraupwv Trpoo-e^O)^ Icrdt, on TOUTO \eyew
aojjiai dvaiaxvyros, atcaipos, r ra r jriv6$*
<rrat, TO \V7relv /ze* opyt(j0}]a'ofj,cu
21 o"rjp,pov, fydovif}(j(" /SXeTre ocra Kaica creavrS)
aX/C 66 (TOL l CLVpLOV
Kpelriop <j?jjjLpav ; el avpiov
/AaXXoz/ crtffiepov, r tva xal avpiov
seal pi) 7rd\ip ditajSaXr} et? Tpi
y'. IIpo? TOU? VKoXa>$ Gfcfyepowras ra avr&v.
eavrov Trpayfirtov, 7r&>9 TTOTC eayofjLea /ca
aUTdl TTpO? TO K(j)p6W 7TpO<$ OVTOV TO,
aTropprjra /ecu TQVTO avrXovv ol6fj,60a
2 TTpC&TOV /!!> OTl m)LfTO"& LVat Bo/Cel ClVTOV fJLGV
TO, TOV TrX^criW, jur} pevTot, /jLeraStSovai
eV T& ftepei r&v rifjierepoDV. elff on,
ey* ooi
1 fiohBkl ,:
428
BOOK IV. xii. 19-xiii. 3
What then ? Is- it possible to be free from fault
altogether? No, that cannot be achieved, but it
is possible ever to be intent upon avoiding faults.
For we must be satisfied, if we succeed m escaping at
least a few faults by never relaxing our attention.
But now, when you say, ce To-morrow I will pay
attention/' I would have you know that this is what
you are saying : " To-day I will be shameless^ tact-
less, abject ; it will be in the power of other men to
grieve me ; I will get angry to-day, I will give way
to envy." Just see all the evils that you are allow-
ing yourself! But if it is good for you to pay
attention to-morrow, how much better is it to-day !
If it is to your interest to-morrow, it is much more
so to-day, that you may be able to do the same
to-morrow also, and not put it off again, this time to
the day after to-morrow.
CHAPTER XIII
To those who lightly talk abont their own affairs
WHEN someone gives us the impression of having
talked to us frankly about his personal affairs, some-
how or other we are likewise led to tell him our
own secrets, and to think that is frankness ! The
first reason for this is because it seems unfair for a
man to have heard his neighbour's affairs, and yet
not to let him too have, in his turn, a share in
ours. Another reason, after that, is because we
feel that we shall not give the impression to these
men of being frank, if we keep our own private
affairs concealed. Indeed, men are frequently in
the habit of saying, "I have told you everything
429
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
av jJiOt QV$V ra>v crwv dwell? Qekets ; TTOV jlverai
4 rovro ; " TTpocreari * Se teal TO oizcrQai d
iriarreveip rq> ^Bvj ra avrov TreTricrrevKort,*
rai <yap r}/J>a$ } on oiffc av TTOTC ovros e
rjfierepa v~\&j3ovjuLevo$, ^Trore ical
5 fiGV ra etceivov. ouT6>9 KOI VTTO r&v
ev c Pco/i77 ol TT/joTrerefe \a^avovrai.
Gi/ce aoi (TTpaTtcoTTjs ev cr^fian I^LC^TLK^ teal
apj*dfjivo$ /cafc)% \jei TOP Katcrapa, elra cru
&(T7rep V)(vpov Trap* avrov \aj3o)v rfys rricrrto<$
ro avrov rfj$ "koi^opia^ Kcurr\p^9ai \jW /ecu aurbs
6 ocra (ftpovefc, elra Se^el? aTrdjrj. roiovrov n real Iv
TW /cadoXov iTda")(op,v. ov yap 2 0)9 epol if
ao"<^aXft)9 TreTti&TevKev ra eaurov, ovraj?
1 r& irirv)(pvri m aXX* eyo) jj,ev d/covcra? cricdTtca, av
je & rotovros, o $* e%e\6a*v efcfyepei, Trpos rrdvras
elr* av yvS> ro yevo^evov^ av fjLv & xal auro?
i/eeivq* opoios, aiwvacrdai Oskosv /c<j)epco ra
8 e/ceipov fcal (pvpco fca\ (pvpofiat* av Se fivrj^ovsva),
on aXXo? ak\ov ov ^dirre^ aXXa ra avrov
epya i/caarov fcal /^XaTrret real aj^eXeZ, rovrov
/lev /cpara> rov urj Sfioiov ri Troiijcrat
OjJWd$ $ V7TO <j)\vapia$ TT}? ep*avrov
a 'TTfTTOF^a.
9 Nat' d)OC dvtcrov e<rriv d/covcravra ra rov
1 Wolf : if/wren S. 2 ov yip Sehenkl : avrdp S.
1 It may possibly be, as Upton suggests, that this abuse
led John tie Baptist to warn soldiers specifically, " Neither
accuse any falsely " (Luke iii. 14)
43
BOOK IV. XIIL 3-9
about myself, aren't you willing to tell me anything
about yourself? Where do people act like that?"
Furthermore, there is also the thought that we can
safely trust the man who has already entrusted
knowledge of his own affairs ; for the idea occurs to
us that this man would never spread abroad know-
ledge of our affairs, because he would be careful to
guard against our too spreading abroad knowledge
of his affairs. In this fashion the rash are ensnared
by the soldiers in Rome. A soldier, dressed like a
civilian, sits down by your side,, and begins to speak
ill of Caesar, and then you too, just as though you
had received from him some guarantee of good faith
in the fact that he began the abuse, tell likewise
everything you think, and the next thing is you are
led off to prison in chains. 1 We experience something
of the same sort also in the general course of our
life. For even though this particular man. has safely
entrusted knowledge of his own affairs to me, I do
not myself in like manner tell my affairs to any
chance comer ; no, I listen and keep still, if, to be
sure, I happen to be that kind of a person, but he
goes out and tells everybody. And then, when I
find out what has happened, if I myself resemble the
other person, because I want to get even with him I
tell about his affairs, and confound him and am
myself confounded. If, however, I remember that
one person does not harm another, but that it is a
man's own actions which both harm and help him,
this much I achieve, namely, that I do not act like
the other person, but despite that I get into the
state in which I am because of my own foolish
talking.
Yes, but it isn't fair to hear your neigbonr's
43*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
7r\r]criov aTropprjra avTOV ev ra pepei
10 p,TQ,$i$ovai avTo*. M^ yap ere. TrapetcaXovv,
av0pM7T ; jjw) jap e-jrl crvvOrjKcus rialv egrfve
TO, cravTov, f iv d/covcrys ev TW /zepei teal ra
11 el o~v <p\vapo<> el teal 7rdvra<$ TOVS
<pi\ov$ eivai So/tet9, 0\i$ /cal
<yVcrffcu ; ri S', el <rv fca\a><> fi
cravrov, aol S' OVK can /caKco? wio-revcra^
12 p& 7rpo7TO"2v ; olov el TTidov el^ov eyo> /j,ev
crreyvov, crv Se TerpVTnjfievov KOI e\8a)v Trapa-
/caredov fjuoi rov cravrov olvov, Iva /Sakco et9 TOV
e/Jiov jrtOov, elr' r}<yavdfCTi$ on firj fcd<ya> <rol
iTLCFTevQ) TOV IjACLVTov olvow (TV yap TeTpvirv}-
13 pkvav %? rov Tridov. TTG)? ovv GTL icrov jiV-
Tai; crv Tri<rr& TrapaKaridov, crv aiStffiovi, ra?
iavTOv Vfr/eia$ fjwi'a? fiXaffepas rjyov/Aevq) /cal
14 GMfrehljwvs, TO>V $* e/ero? ovSev ejo) crol 0\is
TrapatcaTaO&p.ai, avOpwTrq) Trjv eavTOv vrpoai-
pecw ^TifjiaKoTt, &\OVTI 8e fcepfiaTiov Tv^elv fj
apffls TtFas- rj Trpoaywyffi v Ty auX, tcav /teXX?/?
15 Ta Te/cva (rov /caTacr<j)d&iv, (9 17 M^Seta; TTOV
TOVTO LCTOV eaTLV ; aXXa Seil-ov fMoi G-CLVTOV
TTKTTOV, alStffAQva, $ef3aiov 9 Sec^ov, OTI o"6y/j,aTa
<f)ikMcd, Bel^ov arov TO ayyelov OTI, ov TeTpy-
fcal otyet,, TKW? OVK dva/Aeva) 1 Tva /w?t av
TO, aavTOV, aXX' avro? eXdwv cr
16 TFapaxaXa* aucovaai T&W CJA&V. w jap ov 6e\ei
evvovv /cal TTHTTOV, TI$ OVK acr/te^o? befyqTai, TOV
iStFTTe/J ipQpTioV fJ&TGfitfpfrOpWOV T&V CLVTQV 7T6pt-
^ liter, ^ter Wolf :
432
BOOK IV. xin. 9-16
secrets and then give him no share of your own in
return, Man, I did not invite your confidences, did
I? You did not tell about your affairs on certain
conditions, that you were to hear about mine in
return, did you ? If you are a babbler, and think
that every person you meet is a friend, do you also
want me to be like yourself? And why, if you did
well to entrust your affairs to me, but it is impossible
for me to do well in trusting you, do you wish me to
be rash ? It is just as though I had a jar that was
sound, and you one with a hole in it, and you came
to me and deposited your wine with me, for me to
store it in my jar ; and then you complained because
I do not entrust to you my wine also ; why, your jar
has a hole in itl How, then, is equality any longer
to be found ? You made your deposit with a faithful
man, with a respectful man, with a man who
regards only his own activities as either harmful or
helpful, and nothing that is external. Do you wish
me to make a deposit with you & man who has
dishonoured his own moral purpose, and wants to
get paltry cash, or some office, or advance.ment at
court, even if you are going to cut the throats of
your children, as Medea did? Where is there
equality in that? Nay, show yourself to me as a
faithful, respectful, dependable man ; show that
your judgements are those of a friend, show that
your vessel has no hole in it, and you shall see how
I will not wait for you to entrust the knowledge of
your affairs to me, but I will go of myself and ask you
to hear about mine. For who does not wish to use a
good vessel, who despises a friendly and faithful
counsellor, who would not gladly accept the man
who is ready to share his difficulties, as he would
433
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fcal avrqt rovr Kov^iovvra avrov r&
17 Nat* aXX* eyco aol mcrrevG), <rv efiol ov
rriGrevett. Hp&rov pev ovSe av euol raareveL^,
d\\a <j)Xvapo$ el KOI Sta rovro ov&ev Bvvacrat
fcaicuTxeiv. eirei TOL el rovro ecrrw, e/uol /AOVCO
18 avra Trio-rev crow vvv 8* ov av evcrycfkovvTa ^779,
Trapatcadicra^ avTto \<yi<; *' aSeXtipe, ov&eva crov
e^G) VVOVCTTGpQV OV$ <$L\TpQV, 7TapafCaX,Ct) (7
a/covcrat, ra e/ta"* KCU rovro Trpov TOU? ovSe rt,
19 oKlyov yva)<r[jLvov<; TroieZs. el Be /cal Trio-revet?
efjLoi, $rjKov on, a>9 7riarr& /cal al$ijju,ovi, oi% an
20 <rol ra ifiavrov l^elrrov. a<^e9 ovv, iva /cwya>
ravTO, v7roXd/3<&. Bei^ov JJLOI, on, av rt<$ rivl ra
avrov l egeiTT-r], e/eeivos TJWTO? can /cal ai&q/jicov.
el yap rovro yv, ejo) rrepiep^ofievo^ rracriv avdpd)-
TTot? ra /j,avrov av eXeyov, el rovrov evefca
/&e\\ov irtaro^ /cal al&tf/j,(0v ecreo"8ai. TO S'
earlv ov rowvrov, aXka Soty/idr&v SeZ ov% &v
21 erwffiv. av jovv rt,va %? rrepl ra arrpoaipera
ea-7rov$a/cora /cal rovrow vrrorera^ora rrjv avrov
rrpoaipecriv, I<r6i on 6 avdp&Tros ovros fivplovs
%X ei T v$ avay/cd%ovra$ f TOV? /ca)\vovra$. ov/c
22 etrriv avr<j> %peia Trier ays r} rpo^ov rrpos TO e%ei-
a olSei/, aXka TraiSio'/capiov vevfidriov, av
, e/caeicrei avrov > Kaiaaptavov <f)L\o~
a\\a
1 Means of torture among the ancients. See also II.
6, 18.
434
BOOK IV. XIIL 16-22
share a burden with him, and to make them light
for him by the very fact of his sharing in them ?
Yes,, but I trust you., while you do not trust me.
First,you do not trust me, either,, but you are ababbler,
and that is the reason why you cannot keep anything
back. Why, look you, if that statement of yours is
true, entrust these matters to me alone ; but the
fact is that whenever you see anybody at leisure
you sit down beside him and say, {( Brother, I have
no one more kindly disposed or dearer to rne than
you, I ask you to listen to my affairs " ; and you act
this way to people whom you have not known for
even a short time. And even if you do trust me,
it is clear you trust me as a faithful and respectful
person, not because I have already told you
about my affairs. Allow me also, then, to have the
same thought about you. Show me that, if a man
unbosoms himself to somebody about his own
affairs, he is faithful and respectful. For if that
were so, I should have gone about and told my
own affairs to all men, that is, if that was going to
make me faithful and respectful. But that is not
the case ; to be faithful and respectful a man- needs
judgements of no casual sort. If, therefore, you see
someone very much in earnest about the things that
lie outside the province of his moral purpose, and
subordinating his own moral purpose to them, rest
assured that this man has tens of thousands of persons
who subject him to compulsion and hinder him. He
has no need of pitch or the wheel 1 to get him to
speak out what he knows, but a little nod from
a wench, if it so happen, will upset him, a kindness
from one of those who frequent Caesar's court, desire
for office, or an inheritance, and thirty thousand
435
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
23 TQVTOIS o/jioia rptfffivpia. fiefjuvya ai ov ev
Kadokov, on ol airoppyroi \6yoi Tr^rrect)?
24 e%Qv<n> teal Sojf^drcop roiovrcov ravra Be TTOV
vvv evpelv paStw? ; ^ Sei^drco JJLOL, Ti9 TOV OVTQ)$
e%owra, wcrre \eyeiv " e/tot juovcov p,e\eL r
TWV a/ca>\uTcoi/, TGSV (fcvcrei, \ev0epcop.
over lav %co rov ayaflov, ra Se aXka
ap SiScarafr" ov
436
BOOK IV. XIIL 22-24
other things of the sort. Remember, therefore, in
general, that confidences require faithfulness and
faithful judgements ; and where can one readily
find these things nowadays ? 1 Or,, let someone
show me the man who is so minded that he can say,
" I care only for what is my own, what is not subject
to hindrance, what is by nature free. This, which is
the true nature of the good, I have ; but let every-
thing else be as God has granted, it makes no
difference to me."
1 Of. " When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on
the earth ? " (Luke xviii. 8).
437
FRAGMENTS
Introductory Note
THE genuine fragments of Epictetus are not very
numerous, and since several of them are of unusual
interest, it has seemed best to add them at this
point. One fragment, No. 28 b, I have added to
those listed by Schenkl, since its discovery was
subsequent to his latest edition.
Earlier editions have included a large number of
aphorisms gathered from Stobaeus, and from a
gnomology purporting to contain ercerpts from
Democritus, Isocrates, and Epictetus. The researches
of a group of scholars, principally H. Schenkl, 1 R,
Asmus, 2 and A. Elter, 3 have thrown such doubt
upon the authenticity of these aphorisms that it
would scarcely serve any useful purpose to reproduce -
them in the present work.
1 Die epiktetischen FrctgmeinJt,^ StizungsbericMe der
Ust. Classe der K. ATcad. der Wiss., Wien, 115 (1888), 443-
646. Also ed. maior 1916, Chapter III, pp. xlviii-lii.
2 Qiiaestiones Epicteteca, Freiburg L B., 1888.
8 JEpicteti et Mosckionis Senteniiae, Bonn, 1892,
439
FRAGMENTA
I (175 x ). Stobaeus, Eclogae, II. 1, 31
*A.ppiavov *]&7riKT'r]TLOV 7rpo9 TOV Trepl overlap
T/ fjLot /xeXei, c^crt, Trorepov ef aTOjucov rj ef
d/JLSpCtiV Tf K TTUpQS KOI JT)^ <TVV(TT"r)/C T OVTO. /
ou <y^P <^p^4 /juiOelv Trjv ovcriav TOV ayaOov /cal
/cajcov KOL TO, MGTa T)V ope^ecdv fcai
/ca TL opfjLCx)v /ca a<$>op[LO)u /ca
xpct)/jLevov Sioiicelv ra TOV ftiov, ra S'
Tavra %alpeiv eav, a TW^QV }j,ev d/card-
\YjTrrd (TTL rfj dv6pa>7rvy <yv(ofjLrj, el Se /cal ra
elvai, /cara\'jj7rrd f aXX' ouv TI
f ; ov)(l Be Bia/cevrjs irpdy-
ravra w? duay/cala rq>
\OJG> TTpocrvefWVTas ; Is/Lr) TI ouv
/cal TO ev AeX^oi? 7rapdyje\fJ.a 7rape\/cov 6<rr4
TO Yv&0i cravTov ; ToOro Se [lev ov, <f>rjcri f
Tfo OVP ff SvvafMts avTov ; el ^opevTy r
TO yv&vai, eavTQv, OVKOW av 4
Trpocrel^e TQ> i'jr(,<rTpa<f>rjvat, /cal T&V crvy-
/cat T% 717)09 avrovs crvfJL^mvLa^ ;
iv. Et Be vavTr) ; 5 el Se <JTpaTia>T'r} ; TTO-
1 Numbers in parenthesis refer to Sehweighauser's edition,
which was followed by Long in his translation,
& The final word of the title added by Waehsnmth.
3 Schweighauser; Q$ MSS.
440
FRAGMENTS
From Arrian the pupil of Epicteius. To the man
who was bothering himself about ike problem of
being
\ What do I care, says Epictetus, whether all exist-
ing things are composed of atoms,, or of indivisibles, or
of fire and earth ? Is it not enough to learn the true
nature of the good and the evil, and the limits of the
desires and aversions, and also of the choices and
refusals., and,, by employing these as rules, to order
the affairs of our life, and dismiss the things that are
beyond us ? It may very well be that these latter
are not to be comprehended by the human mind, and
even if one assume that they are perfectly compre-
hensible, well, what profit comes from comprehend-
ing them ? And ought we not to say that those
men trouble themselves in vain who assign all this as
necessary to the philosopher's system of thought?
Is, therefore, also the precept at Delphi superfluous,
tc Know thyself" ? That, indeed, no, the man
answers. What, then, does it mean ? If one bade a
singer in. a chorus to C know himself," would he not
heed the order by paying attention both to his
fellows in the chorus and to singing in harmony
with them ? Yes. And so in the case of a sailor ?
* Q&KOW &v Sehenkl (O$KOVV Wachsnmtli) : ova &j* eV MSS.
6 Canter and Wadbsmutli : elSey avV^(y) MSS.
44*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
r&pov ovv o av8pQ)7ro$ avrb? etj)* * avrov
<jBal dot So/cei
KOL
Trorepov ovcrr)$ TJ ^ 9 ravra ovfceri dvayfcaiov
2 (135). Stobaeus, IV. 44, 65
'Apptavov 'H&TriKTTjTelov.
'O ro^9 Trapovcri KOL Se$ojjL6voL$ VTTO r
ivQ>p lBia>Tr}$ ev j$i<*> t o Se ravra
/cal ciiXoytcrTcov Trpo? ra 3 air avT&v
S (136). Stobaeus, IV. 44, 66
ToO avrov.
JJdvra iwraKovei Tft> KQcrptp /cal vTrrjpeTel /cal
777 xal 6d\acrcra /cal TJ\IO<; /cal ra \onra aarpa
ical TO* 7779 <f>uTa fcal ^a m viraKOvei, $e aurco /cal
TO rj/jLerepov o*co/ia fcal VQVQVV /cal v*yialvoVi orav
e/celvo? 0e\ij y Kal vea^ov teal ryrjp&v /cal ra<s aXXa9
/zTaySoXa9. OVKOVV ev\ojov /cal, a
Tiy rovTeari Trjv /cpLo-w, JMTJ avriTeLvew
7T/309 avrov Kal jap iayvpog an /cal
/cal d/Aewov virep rjf
* Cobefc: fc (/
s -rp&s Kow&yiay supplied by Heeren.
8 Scbettkl : euXoylo-Tos TC MSS.
* Geaner;
442
FRAGMENTS
or a soldier ? Does it seem to you, then, that man
has been made a creature to live all alone by himself,
or for society ? For society. By whom ? By
Nature. What Nature is, and how she administers
the universe, and whether she really exists or not,
these are questions about which there is no need to
go on to bother ourselves.
2
From Arrian the pupil of Epictetus
He who is dissatisfied with what he has and what
has been given him by fortune is a layman in the art
of living, but the man who bears all this in a noble
spirit and makes a reasonable use of all that comes
from it deserves to be considered a good man.
From the same
All things obey and serve the Cosmos/ both earth,
and sea, and sun, and the other stars, and the plants
and animals of earth ; obedient to it also is our
body, both in sickness and in health, when the
Cosmos wishes, both in youth and in old age, and
when passing through all the other changes. There-
fore it is reasonable also that the one thing which is
under our control, that is, the decision of our will,
should not be the only thing to stand out against it.
For the Cosmos is mighty and superior to us, and has
taken better counsel for us than we can, by uniting
1 A pantheistic form of expression for God, common,
enough in Stoicism in general, but rare in Epictetus. Of.
also frag. 4, where, however, the expression may really
belong to Ruf us.
443
VOL. It. P
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
T&V o\o)v teal r}/jui<> <rvv$i,oi/ccdv. Trpo? Be
KCU, tf avTiTTpa^i,^ fiera TOV ako<yov teal
7t\ov ov&ev Tfoiovcra 7r\7]V TO QLafcevrjS cnrdo'dai
/cat TrepLTriTTTeLv o&vvai? KOI \v7rai$
(169). Stobaeus, II. 8, 30. Musonius, frag.
38 (H.)
ra IJLGV <f>' TJ/UV edero 6 6eo$, ra
8' OV/C ^>' rj/JLLV. (ff TULIV /JL6V TO KO^JklCTTOV KOL
OV, to &rj KOL O.VTOS ev&aifMcov
TCOV (fravTaaicbv* TOVTO jap o
e\.vdpia GGTIV, evpoia,
, TOVTO Se KOI Bi/cfj ecrrl fcal vofios KCU
(T(o(j)poa'VP'rj teal %vjj,7racra apeTr}. TO, S'
OVK (p j r}/uv eiroiijtraTo. OVKOVV Kal
v^ %pr] T& 0ti) yevecrdai teal
TO, 'Trpdy/MaTa TCOV /JLCV e0* rjpZv
Tpojrov avTiTTQL&laQaij Ta Se fjbrj e<$* r]yJiv
TO> fcocr/jLw Kcd, GITS T>V Traiocov SeoiTO etre r?)?
CLO~ fj
5 (67). Stobaeus, III. 19, 13. Musonius, frag.
39 (H.)
/C TOV 'EtTTlKTIJTOV 7Tpl (f>l\ia$.
To Se A-V/covpfyov TOV AafceSai/MOviov r? r)^
<yap VTTO TWOS TG>V
: &TIOVV MSS.
444
FRAGMENTS
us together with the universe under its governance.
Besides, to act against it is to side with unreason ;
and while accomplishing nothing but a vain struggle,
it involves us in pains and sorrows.
Rufus. From the remarks of Epictetus on friendship l
xJOf things that are, God has put some under our
control, and others not under our control. Under
our control He put the finest and most important
matter, that, indeed, by virtue of which He Himself
is happy, the power to make use of external impres-
sions. For when this power has its perfect work, it
is freedom, serenity, cheerfulness, steadfastness ; it
is also justice, and law, and self-control, and the
sum and substance of virtue. But all other things
He has not put under our control. Therefore we
also ought to become of one mind with God, and,
dividing matters in this way, lay hold in every way
we can upon the things that are under our control,
but what is not under our control we ought to leave
to the Cosmos, and gladly resign to it whatever it
needs, be that our children, our country, our body,
or anything whatsoever.
5
Rufus. From Epicletus on friendship
What man among us does not admire the saying
of Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian ? For when he had
The natural way to take this and the next few titles is
to assume that Epictetus had quoted with approval a fairly
long passage from, his revered teacher Musonius Rufus.
445
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TWP 0(j>0ak/JLG)P TOP TpOP KOI
\aj3(*)p TOP VGavLaxov irapa TOV ST^LCOU, ipa
Ti/AajpijcraiTO, Q7rfi>? ap l avros /3ov\rjTat,, TOVTOV
flGV a7TGr^TO, TTO-iSeUCra? %G CLVTOV fCOl aTTO<j>r}Va$
av$pa ay ad OP iraptfyayev 6i? TO Bearpov. 6av-
fia^ovTcav Se TWV Aa/ceBai/JLOVLtov ff TOVTOV fievroi
\aj3(*)v" $?], " Trap v^v vftpiVTrjv teal ftlaiov
VfUV 7TLl/C7
6 (69). Stobaeus, III. 20, 60. Mnsonius, frag.
40 (H.)
*PoV(f)OV etC TOV *
ra epjov <rvvS7]<rai Kal (jvva^ocrai TTJV 6p/j,rjv
rov TrpotnJKOifTOS Kal axj>\i/j,ov fyawracrla?
1 (70). Stobaeus,, III. 20, 61. Musonius., frag.
^1 (H.)
To{) avTOv.
To Se oteaOai evfcaTa(f)povrJTOV$ TOL$
i, eav jj,r] TOU<? Trpcorou? e%0pov<> iravrl
d-\lrct)fj,P r a(f>oSpa ayevvow /cal avotf
av8 pttiTTGiv* <f>a/Ap jap TOP
voeicrdai /HEP teal /caTa TO aSvpaTOv elpat ffad'
d\\a TTO\V }jia\\op voeiTai tca/ra TO aBvp
elvai ax
1 2^ added by 0. Sehenkl.
446
FRAGMENTS
been blinded in one eye by one of Ms fellow-citizens,
and the people had turned over the young man to
him, to take whatever vengeance upon the culprit he
might desire, this he refrained from doing, but
brought him up and made a good man of him, and
presented him in the theatre. And when the Lace-
daemonians expressed their surprise, he said, te This
man when I received him at your hands was insolent
and violent ; I am returning him to you a reasonable
and public-spirited person."
6
y Rufus. From Epictetw on friendship
But above all else this is the function of nature, to
bind together and to harmonize our choice with the
conception of what is fitting and helpful.
7
The same
To fancy that we shall be contemptible in the sight
of other men, if we do not employ every means to
hurt the first enemies we meet, is characteristic of
extremely ignoble and thoughtless men. For it is
a common saying among us that the contemptible
man is recognized among other things by his
incapacity to do harm; but he is much better
recognized by his incapacity to extend help.
a Bucheler : TT)S . . . Qavrwrins MSS.
447
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
8 (134). Stobaeus, IV. 44, 60. Musonius, frag.
42 (H.)
TTp
r/ 0ri rotavTJj TJ TOV /cocrfiov tyvais /cal YJV KOI
QLQV re aXX<9 ryiyveo-flai
&>9 vvv e%er /cal OTL Tavrrj? rr}<$
% /z,ra^8oX^9 ov fiovov ol av& parrot
teal raXXa f&>a ra lirl 7
/cal ra 9ela /cal vr] Af avra ra rerrapa
avQ) fcal fcdro) rpeTrerai KOU, ^era^aXXe^ fcal 777
T vStop yiverat /cal vScop aijpy o5ro9 Se 7rd\w et9
aldepa jAeTafidXkef /cal 6 avro? rpoTro^ TTJ<;
/ira^oX^9 dvctidev fcdrco. edv ?rpo9 ravrd T9
ircx,ipf? peireiv TOV vovv Kal TreWeiv eavrbv
Kovra Be^eadat ra dvay/cata, irdvv fj,Tpico$ KOI
rbv fiiov*
9 (180). Gellius, XIX. 1, 14-21 *
14 Philosophic in dudpHna Stoica celebratus . . . ex
mrdnula ma librum protutit Epicteti pJulosophi quintum
AtaAefecoi', qiias ab Arriano digestas congruere scriptis
15 Zenonis et Chrysippi non dubium est. in eo libra,
graecu scilicet oratione scriptum ad kanc sententiam
legimus ; Visa animi (quas ^avraortas philosophi ap-
pellant"), quibus mens hominis prima statim specie
accidentis ad animum rei pellitur, non voluntatis
1 Also ie abbreviated fonn (from Gellius) in Augustine,
Civ. JM, 9, 4 (ef. 9, 5), and Quaest,. in ffeptcti. 1, 30.
1 Tbat is, from tlie Heavier to the lighter, and again from
the lighter to tfee lie
FRAGMENTS
Rufus. From the remarks of Epictetus on friendship
Such was, and is, and will be, the nature of the
universe, and it is not possible for the things that
come into being to come into being otherwise than
they now do. And not only has mankind participated
in this process of change and transformation, and all
the other living beings upon earth, but also those
which are divine, and, by Zeus, even the four
elements, which are changed and transformed up-
wards and downwards, 1 as earth becomes water, and
water air, and air again is transformed into ether;
and there is the same kind of transformation also
downwards. If a man endeavours to incline his
mind to these things, and to persuade himself to
accept of his own accord what needs must befall
him, he will have a very reasonable and harmonious
life.
A philosopher who is well known in the Stoic school
. . . brought out of his handbag the Jtfth book of the
Discourses of the philosopher Epictetus, which had been
arranged by Arrian, and agree, no doubt, with the
writings of Zeno and Qhrysippus. In that book, written
of course in Greek, me Jlnd a passage to this purport :
Things seen by the mind (which the philosophers call
^arracrtas), 2 whereby the intellect of man is struck
at the very first sight of anything which penetrates
to the mind, are not subject to his will, nor to his
2 External impressions.
449
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
sunt neqne arbitraria/ sed vi quadam sua inferunt
sese horainibus noscitanda ; 2 probationes autem (quas
16 oiryjcaTa^cWs vocant) y quibus eadem visa noscuntur,
17 voluntariae sunt fiuntque Iiominum arbitratu. prop-
terea cum sonus allquls formidabills aut caelo aut ex
ruina aut repentinus nescio culus 3 periculi ntmtius
vel quid aliud est 4 eiusmodi factum, sapientis quoque
animum paulisper mover! et contrahi et pallescere
necessum est, non opinione alicuius mali praecepta^
sed quibusdam motibus rapidis et Inconsultis officium
18 mentis atque rationis praeverteBtibus. mox tamen
ille sapiens ibidem ras rotavras (jxivracrias (id est visa
istaec animi sni terrifica) non adprobat (hoc est ov
(nr/KOLTaTidtrca ou vpofrem^o^d^i^y sed abicit re-
spuitque nee ei metuendum esse in his quicquam
19 videtur. atque hoc inter insipientis sapientisque
anininm differe dicunt quod insipiens^ qualia sibi
esse primo animi sui pulsu visa sunt saeva et aspera,
talia esse vero putat et eadem incepta, tamquam 5 si
iure metuenda sint, sua quoque adsensione adprobat
20 KO! ie 7T/>ocr7rtSof d^t " (hoc enim verbo Stoiri, cum super
ista re duserunt 3 uiuntur), sapiens autem, cum breviter
et strictim colore atque vultu motus est, ov cnr//cara-
rtBerait sed statum vigoremque sententiae suae reti-
netj quam de huiuseemodi visis semper habuit, ut de
1 L. Carrio : arbifcrariae MSS.
2 Salmasius : noscitandae MSS.
8 Ed. Greifswald 1537 : nescius MSS.
4 J. Gronov : ex MSS (or omit)
5 Bdct : quamqaani MSS.
1 Does not assent or confirm by approval.
2 Suet external impressions,
3 Also confirms by bis approval.
* TEe word seems to occur only here, and may be peculiar
to Eplctetus. *
450
FRAGMENTS
control , but by virtue of a certain force of their own
thrust themselves upon the attention of men ; but
the assents (which they call <TiryKara0ecms), where-
by these same things seen by the mind are recog-
nized, are subject to man's will,, and fall under his
control. Therefore, when some terrifying sound
comes from the sky, or from the collapse of a build-
ing, or sudden word comes of some peril or other,
or something else of the same sort happens, the
mind of even the wise man cannot help but be
disturbed, and shrink, and grow pale for a moment,
not from any anticipation of some evil, but because
of certain swift and unconsidered motions which
forestall the action of the intellect and the reason.
Soon, however, our wise man does not give his
assent (this is, ov cruyfcaTcm^crcu auSc 7rpocre7nooai;) 1
to ras ToiavTas <avTacnas 2 (that is, these terrifying
things seen by his mind), but rejects and repudiates
them, and sees in them nothing to cause him fear.
And this, they say, is the difference between the
mind of the fool and the mind of the wise man, that
the fool thinks the cruel and harsh things seen by
his mind, when it is first struck by them, actually to
be what they appear, and likewise afterwards, just
as though they really were formidable, he confirms
them by his own approval also, /cat 7r/ooo"'7n8oae(, 3
(the word the Stoics use when they discuss this
matter) ; 4 whereas the wise man, when his colour
and expression have changed for a brief instant,
ov (nryKararfflerai, 5 but keeps the even tenor and
strength of the opinion which he has always had
about mental impressions of this kind, as things
* Does not give Ms consent.
451
ARRIAN f S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
minime metoendis, sed fronte falsa et formidlne inani
terrltantibus.
21 Haec Epictetum pkilosophum ex decretu Stoicorum
sensisse atque diadsse, in eo 3 quo dixi, libro legimits.
10 (179). Gellius, XVII. 19
Favorimtm ego audiii dicere Epictetum philosopkum
dixisse plerosque istos, qui philosophari viderentur,
philosophos esse eiuscemodi e avev TOV 7rpaTTiv, /j.xpi
TOV \zytiv " (id significat "factis procid, verbis tenm ").
2 iam ilhid est vehementius, quod Amanus solitum eum
dictitare in libtis, quos de disseriationibus eius composuit,
3 scriptum reliquit. nam, cum,, inquit, animadverterat
hominem pudore amisso, inportuna Industria^ cor-
raptis moribtiSj audacem, confidentem lingua cetera-
que omnia praeterquam animam procurantera^ istius-
modi,, inquit, hominem cum viderat studia quoque et
disciplinas pMIosophiae contrectare et physica adire
et meditari dialectica multaque id genus theoremata
auspicari 1 sciscitarique : inclamabat deum atque
hominum fidem ac plerumque inter clamandum his
eum verbis increpabat : ""AvQp&Tre, -Trou/JoAXet?; cr/cei//at,
i KKd&OLpT(u TO dyyctoF. av yap ets TYJV olf]<nv aura
ySaXijs, 2 aTTwAcro' ijy 3 <ra7r^, ovpov rj o o<; eyeVero 4 TJ t
rt rovrcuy ^elpoF.** niMl projecto his verbis gramus,
4 niMl verius : qtdbus declarabat maximus philosophorum
litteras atque doctrinas philosophiae, cum in hominem
1 Eussner: stispicari MSS. * CJsener: jSoAX^s MSS.
3 H or HC the MSa * Usener : yfroiro MSS.
1 Without doing, as far as speaking.
a Man, where are you stowing all this t Look and see if
the vessel lias been eleaased. For if you stow it in the
452
FRAGMENTS
that do not deserve to be feared at all, but terrify
only with a false face and a vain fear.
This is the sentiment and expression of the philosopher
Epictetus, derived from the doctrines of the Stoics, that
we have read in the book of which I spoke above.
10
/ have heard Fauorinus say that he had heard the
philosopher Epictetus say, that most of those who gave
the appearance of philosophizing were philosophers
of this kind : oivev rov Trparrctr, ^XP 1 rov Xeyew * (this
means, " apart from deeds, as far as words"). There
is a still more vigorous expression which he was accus-
tomed to use, that Arrian has recorded in the books
which he wrote about his discourses For Arrian says
that when Epictetus had noticed a man lost to
shame, of misdirected energy, and evil habits, bold,
impudent in speech, and concerned with everything
else but his soul, when he saw a man of that kind,
continues Arrian, handling also the studies and pur-
suits of philosophy, and taking up physics, and
studying dialectics, and taking up and investigating
many a theoretical principle of this sort, he would
call upon gods and men, and frequently, in the
midst of that appeal, he would denounce the man
in these words : "A^pozre, TTOV /BdXXus ; cnce^ai, et
KKO.Oapra(, TO ayyttov, av yap ts ryv otrjrrw aura, ^60X775,
aTTcoXero* rjv crown/, ovpoy 17 oos eyerero rj cZ n TOVTWV
Xtpov. 2 Surely there fa nothing weightier, nothing
truer than these wards, in which the greatest of pfuk-
sophers declared that the writings and teachings of
philosophy, when poured into a "false and low-lived
vessel of opinion, it is ruined ; if it spoils, it turns into urine,
or vinegar, or, it may be ; something worse.
453
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
falsum atqoe degenerem tamquara in vas spurcum
atque pollutum influxissent, verti, mutari, corrumpi
et (quod ipse KwiKwrepov ait) urinam fieri aut si quid
est urina sporcius.
5 Praeterea idem ille Epictetus, quod ex eodem Favo-
rino audimmus, solitus dicere est duo esse vitia multo
omnium gravissima ac taeterrima, intolerantiam et
incontinentiam^ cum aut iniurias^ quae sunt ferendae,,
non toleramus neque ferimus aut, a quibus rebus
voluptatibusque nos tenere debemus^ non tenemus.
6 " itaque," inquit, " si quis haec duo verba cordi habeat
eaque sibi imperando atque observando curet, is
erit pleraque inpeccabilis vitamque vivet tranquil-
lissimam." verba kaec duo dicebat ; te avexov" et
10a (181). Arnobius,, Admrsus Gentes, 2, 78
Cum de animarum agitur salute ac de respectu
nostii, aiiquid et sine ratione faciendum est,, ut
Eptct&tum dixisse adprobat Arrianus.
II (174). Stobaeus, IV. 33, 28
'Ap^eXaou
avrov CD? 7rew7<roj/T0<? irKovo-LOv 6fce\evaev
SIOTI * ** ^AOtjvtjtn Tecrcrapes el&i
T&V akfyirtav oySoXov &VIQI teal tcpfjvai
1 Gesner : & rt MSS.
on of t&e Cynics.
454
FRAGMENTS
person, as though into a dirty and defiled vessel,
turn,, change, are spoiled, and (as he himself says
KvvLKwrepov) x become urine, or something, it may be,
dirtier than urine.
The same Epictetns, moreover, as we have heard
from Favorinus, was in the habit of saying that there
were two vices which are far more severe and
atrocious than all others, want of endurance and
want of self-control, when we do not endure or bear
the wrongs which we have to bear, or do not abstain
from, or forbear, those matters and pleasures which we
ought to forbear. " And so, * ' he says, ( if a man should
take to heart these two words and observe them in
controlling and keeping watch over himself, he will,
for the most part, be free from wrongdoing, and
will live a highly peaceful life." These two words,
he used to say, were dvc^oi; and
10 a (181)
4 When the salvation of our souls and regard for our
true selves are at stake, something has to be done,
even without stopping to think about it, a saying of
Epictetus which Arrian quotes mitk approval.
11
From the homilies of Arrian, exhorting to virtue
Now when Archelaus 3 sent for Socrates with
the intention of making him rich, the latter bade
the messenger take back the following answer:
"At Athens four quarts of barley-meal can be
bought for an obol/ and there are running springs
2 Bear and forbear. 3 The king of Macedon.
4 A penny and a half, or three cents ; in other terms, the
sixth part of the day's wage of an ordinary labourer.
455
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
peovaiv" el yap rot /j,rj Ifcava TCL ovra
ej&oi, dXX* eya> TOVTOIS i/cavo? real oura> Kaf
JJLQI. r} ov% opa$, OTI OVK
ij&iop* o Ilct)Xo9 TOP Tvpavvov OlSiT
VZTO rj rov irl Ko\a>^&> akrjT^v 2 /cal
elra yeipu>v TIcoXov o <y,vvalo<$ avrjp
d>? fLTJ ITav TO 7rplT0V IK TOU SaifAOVlOV
TTOV vTrotcpivacrOai Kok&s ; ouSe TOP *OSi/<Tcrea
i) 09 KOI ez/ rot? pdrceaiv ovBev
TJ IP -rrj ovhy %kaivrj ry
12 (note to frag. 71). Stobaeus, III. 20, 47
al olov
aop<yiJTG)$ 7rpaTTOVT$ oaa /cal ol o"<f>6Spa TO*
to <j)1=p6jJ,POl>. <j>V\CL/CTOV QVV KU TO TOVTCOP
ov TOV $iaTivoppov
i. OVTOL pev yap Taj(y tcopov Trfi
ias \a/jif3dpovcrip, ol Se el? j&afcpov Trapa-
repoucriv <W9 ol
13 (omitted). Stobaeus, I. 3, 50
*A\X' opS), (frycri TI^ TOU? Ka\>ov$ teal ayaSov?
teal Xi/z KCLI piyei aTroXkupevovs. Tov? Be p/rj
1 Gaisford : 5/ Sy MSS.
a^d-r-nv MSS.
FRAGMENTS
of water." For, look you, if what I have is not
sufficient for me, still, I am sufficient for it, and so
it too is sufficient for me. Or do you not see
that Polus 1 was not accustomed to act Oedipus
the King with any finer voice or more pleasure to
his audience than Oedipus at Colonus, the outcast
and beggar? And then shall the man of noble
nature make a poorer showing than Polus, and
not play well any rdle to which the Deity assigns
him? And will he not follow the example of
Odysseus, who was no less pre-eminent in his rags
than in his rich and purple cloak ?
12
From Arrian
There are certain persons who exhibit their high
spirit rather gently, 2 and in a sort of passionless
manner do everything that even those who are
swept away by their anger do. We must be on
our guard, therefore, against the error of these
persons, as something much worse than violent
anger. For those who give way to violent anger
are soon sated with their revenge, but the others
prolong it like men who have a light fever.
13
/""* From the Memorabilia of Epicietus
But, says someone, I see the good and excellent
perishing from hunger and cold. And do you not see
1 A famous actor of tlie fourth century. See J. B. O'Connor,
Chapters m the Hfatory of Actors cmd A&vnq (1908), 128 30.
2 Capps suggests that fto-t/xii is used here as it is in
Menaoder, JEfero, 20.
457
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
KO\OV$ /cat fJLTf ayaOovs ov% opas Tpv<f>f} /cal
a\a%ovelq /cal aireipOKakia ttTroXXu/tez/ou? ;
'AXX* ala^pov TO Trap* aXXoi/ rpifa&Oat,. Kal
rt9> 3) /ca/eoSai/jiQV, avTQ$ 1% eavTOV rpefarat,
aXXo9 76 TI 6 #007409 ; ocrTi? yovv yKa\el rfj
irpovoia, OTL ol 7rovr}poi ov SiSoacr^ St/c^i/, ori
ia%vpoi eicrt /cal TT\ovcrio^ O/JLQIOV TI, Spa &a7Tp
el rot/9 ofyOakpovs a7roX(t)XA:oT6)i/ avrwv e\e<y6
fir} Se&at/cevai Sifcvjv avrovs, on ol ovv)(<$ vyiels
elev. 701) [L.v yap <l>ri}jLi TToXu 1 $ia<$epeiv /^aXXoz>
aperrjp fcnqcreoss 2 ^ o^aX/tol OFz5%coi/ Sia^epovcrw*
U (52). Stobaeus, III. 6, 57
: T&V *&7rtfCTTffrov a
9 69
s, 0^9 oy So/eel Kara <j>v(rtv rj$ovr) elvai,
dXX* iTTvyvyveed ai rot9 Kara <$vaiv,
craxfypQavvrji iKevdepia. TI TTOT' ow
uev TO49 roi) crdbfjLaros ayaffoL? /jLiKporepois overt,
xal <ya\r}via, (89 <j>T}(jnv ^QiriKOVpos, eirl Se
vTfjs aya&ol<$ fieyLo-TOis ovcriv ov% rf
tcalroi /cal SeB&fce JJLQI q <j>vcri$ al$a> /cal
VTTpvdpioi)> orav TL V7ro\d/3a> alcrxpov
TOVTQ fie TO tcivyfjuz OVK ea rqv rjtovriv decrdai,
ayaflov /cal TXo9 TOU ftiov.
1 al (#r P 2 } after this word was deleted by Meineke.
2 Suggested by Schenkl : Kaxias MSS.
3 Tke last word of the title added by Asmus.
4 Sckenkl indicated the lacuna.
458
FRAGMENTS
those who are not good and excellent perishing from
luxury, and bombast, and vulgarity ? Yes, but it is
disgraceful to be supported by another. And who,
miserable fellow, is supported by himself alone,
except the Cosmos ? Whoever accuses Providence,
therefore, because the wicked are not punished, and
because they are strong and rich, is acting just as
though, when the wicked had lost their eyes, he
said they were not being punished because their
finger-nails were in good condition. Now, as for me,
1 assert that there is much more difference between
virtue and property than there is between eyes and
finger-nails.
U
)C From the Memorabilia of Epictetm
. . . bring forward the ill-natured l philosophers,
who think that pleasure is not something natural,
but a sequel of things that are natural, as justice,
self-control, and freedom. Why indeed, then, does
the soul take delight in the lesser goods of the body,
and enjoy calm therein, as Epicurus says, 2 and yet
not find pleasure in its own goods, which are very
great ? Verily nature has also given me a sense of
shame, and frequently I blush, when I feel that I
am saying something disgraceful. It is this emotion
which does not allow me to lay down pleasure as the
good and end of life.
1 Or " morose, '* that is, from the point of view of the
Epicureans* The reference is to the Stoics, who rejected the
. "pleasure" of Epicurus, and accepted only that which
followed on virtuous conduct.
2 Frag. 425 (Usener).
459
ADRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
15 (53). Stobaeus, III. 6, 58
*P(>)fJ>y al jwatfces pera ^elpa^ eyjzvcri rrjv
&>i/o9 TLo\t,Tiav, on KOtvas a^iol elvai ra$
Ka$. rol$ <jap pij/jLaa~i, Trpocre^ovcri, TOP vovv y
ov TTJ Siavola TavSpos, on, ov fyafietv fcekevcav KOI
avvoifcelv eva /j,ia elra K.QIVCLS elvat, /SovXerat, ra<;
7i;j/at/ca?, aXX* e^aipwjj TQV TOIOVTOV ^/CLJJLOV KOI
aXXo TI elSo? <ydjj,ov ela<>epu>v. KCU TO o\ov ol
avOpwTroi %aipovo-iv aTroXoyta? rot? eavrtov ajj,ap-
rtf/Aacri Tropi^ovTes* eirel TOI <pL\ocro(f)[a (prjaiv,
on ovSe TOP Sd/cTV\ov e/creiveiv eltcrj
16 (78). Stobaeus, III. 29, 84
?J, on ov pa SLOP S6j/j.a 7Tapa<yvea6at,
el pr) /cad* efcdcrrrjp rjfjuepav ra avra
/cal \joi> n? /cal dfcovoi fcal a/j,a
TQV ^tOF,
17 (15). Stobaeus, III. 4 91
El^ o-ufiTTQcrtov pep ovv irapatc\r]6evTe<; TO*
Ttapovn 'Xp&fjLe&a,' el Be n$ fce'Xevot, rov
1 The eamrainiifcy of women which Plato proposed was,
first of all, restricted to a small, highly-trained, and devoted
band of warrior-saints ; and, second, such that no man and
woman should pair off for more than a very temporary * marri-
age," all such matings heing carefully supervised by the
highest authorities. Instead of being more licentious than
460
FRAGMENTS
15
From the Memorabilia of Epictetus
At Rome the women have in their hands Plato's
Republic, because he insists on community of women.
For they pay attention only to the words, and not to
the meaning of the man ; the fact is, he does not
bid people marry and live together, one man
with one woman, and then go on to advocate the
community of women, but he first abolishes that kind
of marriage altogether, and introduces another kind
in its place. 1 And in general people delight in
finding excuses for their own faults; for, indeed,
philosophy says we ought not to stretch out even
our finger at random ! 2
16
From the Memorabilia of Epictetus
One ought to know that it is not easy for a
man to acquire a fixed judgement, unless he should
day by day state and hear the same principles, and
at the same time apply them to his life.
17
From Epictetus
Now when we have been invited to a banquet, we
take what is set before us ; and if a person should
ordinary monogamous marriage (which frequently deserves
Bernard Shaw's jibe, that it is popular largely because it
combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of
opportunity), Plato's proposal was relatively a denial of the
flesh, and a marked move towards asceticism.
2 See II. 11, 17. The remark in this connection is no
doubt ironical, mockingly justifying the process of "rational-
ization" just described*
461
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
7rapaTL0va(, ^
av Sogeiev. V Se ra> KOCT/JLW alrov/^ev
rou9 Qzov^y a /AT] BiBoaat, /ecu ravra 7roXX&>z>
OVTCOV, a je r}p!iv
18 (16). Stobaeus, III. 4, 92
m /* >
iov avrov.
Xa/3tej/T9, $-*?, elalv ol /ieya ^povovwres Ctrl
TQL$ OVK i(fi r}jMV. " 7co," tyycri, " /epeirr&v eljj^i
aov - 1 aypovs jap e%tt> TroXXou?, crv &e Xi/z-w irapa-
reivr}" aXXo? \eyet, " e^fti UTT an/cos el/At,.*' a
" 67^) 7TtTpO7TO9." aXXo? " 6
e%6>. ?> 2 tTTTTO? S* tTTTro) oy X
elfj*L crov TTO\VV jap KKTij/j,ai,
;9 Aral ^aKtvoL poL elo-i j^pvcroi KCU e^ii
ciXa?* aXX' ort " as/cvrepo*; aov elfu" KOI
trap %&ov fcpelrrov rcai ^elpov cmv /c
eavrov aperrj*; KOL Kaiclas. ap* ovv
aperrj OVK e&Tiv, aXXa Set ^/za
a<popdv /col ra tjj&ria teal
19 (17). Stobaeus, III. 4 93
T<w avTov^
ol fcafJWQvres teal rjjovvrai airerfv^adai UTT' avrov.
rw added here by Scbenkl ; after &y& A man. alt., and
ner.
2 %^ added bj Gesner.
462
FRAGMENTS
bid his host to set before him fish or cakes, he would
be regarded as eccentric. Yet in the world at large
we ask the gods for things which they do not give
us, and that too when there are many things which
they actually have given us.
18
From the same
-' Those are amusing persons, he said, who take
great pride in the things which are not under our
control. A man says, ff I am better than, you ; for I
have many estates, and you are half-dead with
hunger." 1 Another says, "I am a consular." An-
other, ce I am a procurator/* Another,, " 1 have thick
curly hair/' But one horse does not say to another
horse, "I am better than you, for I have quantities
of fodder, and a great deal of barley, and my bridles
are of gold, and my saddle-cloths are embroidered,"
but "I can run faster than you can/' Aaid every
creature is better or worse because of its own
particular virtue or vice. Can it be, then, that
man is the only creature without a special virtue,
but he must have recourse to his hair., and his
clothes, and his grandsires ?
- 19
The same
When men are sick and theft physician gives
them no advice, they are annoyed, and tMnk that
1 The pforase is from Plato^ Symposium* 207 B.
3 -ray added by Meineke,
* The superscription added by Gaisford,
463
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
7T/30? Be rov <$i\oao$ov Sia ri l ovtc av TL$ ovra>
], &<rre ol7}8fjvai a7reyvS>cr0ai vrr* avrov
el /A?]$ev \eyot, en 2 Trpo? avrov
20 (18). Stobaeus, III. 4, 94
Toi; avrov.
Ol TO cr&fjia eif ^LafceLfjuevoi real /cavfiara /cal
TTO/jLevoucriv' O/TO> Se /cal ol
ta/cei/jievoL /cal opyqv fcal XVTTTJV /col
teal ra afcka jraffrj
21 (56). Stobaeus, III. 7, 16
rovro enratveiv 'Ajypnnrlvov SLKatov, on
TrXe/crroi; at*io<? avrjp yevo/jivo$ ovSeTrooTroTe
eavrov, aXX* el /cal aXXo? r^9 avrov
, e<?7, o avrjp
i/, &<rre TOV crvplSaLvovros ael eavrq* Sua/c6\ou
eiraivov <ypd<f>iv* el /lev TrvperTOi, Trvperov' el Se
aSofoZ, (iSofta?* el Se tpevyoi* ^1/7779. teal jrore
p,\"X,QVTt f efiiy, avrq* 4 aptarijcreiv eTrearrj 6 ~\,eyoov,
on <f)evyetv avrov /ceXevet, Ne/xwi/, fcal 09 5 " ov/covv"
v, " 6F 'Apt/cia a
1 && T Gesner : 5f<fTt MSS. 2 Bucheler : rt MSS.
s Meineke : $&yoi MSS, * Oesner : tea or r MSS.
s ^77 after this word deleted by Schow.
1 A distiugnislied Bostian, Stoic of the middle of the first
century after Ctirirt. See L 1,,28-90 ; L 2, 12-13 ; frag. 22.
464
FRAGMENTS
he has given them up. And why should not a man
feel that way toward the philosopher, and so conclude
that he has given up hope of one's ever coming to a
sound state of mind, if he no longer tells one any-
thing that is of any use ?
20
The same
/Those whose bodies are in good condition can
endure heat and cold ; so also those whose souls are
in an excellent condition can endure anger, and grief,
and great joy, and every other emotion.
21
From Epictetw
For this reason it is right to praise Agrippinus, 1
because, although he was a man of the very highest
worth, he never praised himself, but used to blush
even if someone else praised him. His character
was such, said Epictetus, that when any hardship
befell him he would compose a eulogy upon it ; on
fever, if he had a fever ; on disrepute, if he suffered
from disrepute; on exile, if he went into exile.
And once, he said, when Agrippinus was preparing
to take lunch, a man brought him word that Nero
ordered him into exile ; " Very well/' said he, ec we
shall take our lunch in Aricia." 2
2 The first stop outside Borne for persons travelling south
and east, the common direction, as in the well known
egressum magiw me e$cepit d-rwia, Roma, (Bforace, Sat. I. 5, 1).
Compare the version of the same incident in 1. 1 , 30.
465
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
22. Stobaeus, IV. 7, 44
avT&v, aXX' co?
^ on
ov jap o>9
T7JV
Ka o arpos rov T/mv/jiVov
fcal Treidei 7rape%i,p eavrov.
23 (94). Stobaens, IV. 53, 29
77 (vcrts Ka, (W9 r\viv o .G
TO *yovv cTto/ia, TO TTCLVTCOV drj
roy fcal pwrrapMTaTov, UTepyofiev KOI d
el jap eSe^ jrevre fiovat,? rjfLepai,? Oepa-rrevaai TO
TQV yefaopos a-wfjLa, ov/c av inre/jiGiva/jiev. Spa
jap olop l(nw e($6ev avaaTovTa Tpifietv rov9
o8oin*a9 rou9 aXXor/7toi/9 rcai TI T&V avay/caicov
iv eicelva TO, l^eprj. T> OVTI
j>i\w Trpaypa, o5 TocravTa
/caff e/cao-Trjv rjfiepav. vdrTco
TOP dvKa/cov elra- fcevco* TL TOVTOV
aXXa Oem $el fie vTrrjpeTeiv. S^a
TOVTO pevo} /cal avojuai \ovoov TO
1 See explanatory note.
to Upictetus by Gaisford and Asmiis, but there
Is sonae doubt about tbe ascription, for tne resemblance witii
1. 18
466
FRAGMENTS
22
From Agrippinus l
When Agrippinus was governor/ he used to try to
persuade the persons whom he sentenced that it was
proper for them to be sentenced. " For/' he would
say, "it is not as an enemy or as a brigand that I
record my jote against them, but as a curator and
guardian ; just as also the physician encourages the
man upon whom he is operating, and persuades him
to submit to the operation."
23
From Epictetus
Nature is wonderful, and, as Xenophon 3 says,
" fond of her creatures." At all events we love and
tend our body, the most unpleasant and 'dirtiest
thing that there is ; why, if we had had to tend our
neighbour's body for no more than five days, we
could not have endured it. Just consider what a
nuisance it is to get up in the morning and brush
some other person's teeth, and then after attending
to a call of nature to wash those parts. Truly it is
wonderful to love a thing for which we perform so
many services every day. I stuff this bag here ; 4 and
then I empty it; what is more tiresome? But I
must serve God. For that reason I remain, and
endure to wash this miserable paltry body, and to
2 He was proconsul of Crete and Cyrenaica under Claudius.
For all that is known about, Mm see Proso^ograpKia Imperil
III. p. 4, No. 16.
8 M&moraMlia, I. 4, 7, where, however, the expression is
used of a " wise Creator.'
4 Pointing to his belly.
467
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TOVTO o-cofidnovy %opTda>v 3 (TjceTrcov ore Se
r)v, fcal a\\o TL 737500" eraTre pot, real
vxpiLrp avrov. Sia TL ovv ovtc ave^GcrSe,
rf Sov&a r}fup tpv&ts TO crcofut a<patprjrai ;
riv, avTQ. OVK ovVy o vvv &rj eXefyw,
fcal avro ro <j)i\6W r} <j>vcri$ crot SeSatfcev ; fj S'
r) \e<yei 4C a<f>$ avro fjQirj teal
24 (95). Stobaeus, IV. 53, 30
Tov avrov.
TOP ^toz/, eyfcaei rot?
on Seov avrov ijSrj avarreTravcrOat
i, fcal ovSev TJTTQV, OTCLV rrpocrLr) 2
o @dva,To$j f)v jSouXera^ ical irepflrei irapa TOP
larpoif xal BeiTai avTov /z/^Sa/ airo\L7relv irpo-
ffvjua? xal 7rt,}x,\eia$ Bavfiaarroi, <p'rj y av-
25 (71). Stobaeus, III. 20, 67
'J&TTlfCTIJTOV.
pe/jwriao irpo\<yWj OTL ijfjLpo$ el* /cal ovSev arypiov
Spdaas a,p,TavorjTO<; /cal dvevOvvos * '
1 For the obvioim lacuna tlie best suggestions seem to be :
Sr* ^-^ rys &pas a/wraferaf (Cobet)* lay 5e -yepcwy TIS &y /t^
reAewrf rW &iop (Schweighauser), icol ovros ey/caAti ra^y ^coty
(C^bet),
2 Meibom : s-pocri^ or vpoa^et MSS.
468
FRAGMENTS
feed and shelter it ; and when I was younger, there
was still another behest which it laid upon me, yet
nevertheless I endured it. Why, then, when Nature,
which gave us our body, takes it away, do you not
bear it ? I love it, says somebody. Well a but as I
was just now saying, is it not Nature that has given
you this very affection ? But the same Nature also
says, "Let it go now, and have no more trouble
with it."
24
The same
,/f*If a man dies young, he blames the gods <because
he is carried off before his time. But if a man fails
to die when he is old, he too blames the gods),
because, when it was long since time for him to rest,
he has trouble ; yet none the less, when death draws
nigh, he wishes to live, and sends for the doctor, and
implores him to spare no zeal and pains. People are
very strange, he used to say, wishing neither to live
nor to die.
25
From Epictetus
When you attack someone with vehemence and
threatening, remember to tell yourself beforehand
that you are a tame animal; 1 and then you will
never do anything fierce, and so will come to the
end of your life without having to repent^ or to be
called to account.
* See IV. 5, 10.
469
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
26 (176). Marcus Aurelius, 4, 41
el fSaard^ov v/cpov, o>9
27 (177). Marcus Aurelius, 11, 37
<f)^j Be irepi TO avyfcararideo'Sac
evpelv real eV T&J Trepl ra? opj&a? TOTTG> TO
r t,va /coiv(&vi,/eai t iva tear d^iav, /ecu, ope^ecos fiev
tK/ckicrGt, Se Trpo?
28 (178). Marcus Aurelius, 11, 38
Ov 7Tp\ rov TV%6vTo$ ovv, $7], eaTLv 6 ayd>v,
pl rov p,alvea~8ai, rj /JLIJ,
28 a. Marcus Aurelius, 11, 39 x
6\e<yev " TL
j
w " r ovv
28 b. Marcus Aurelios, 4, 49, 2-6 2
? lyci, ort rovro fjuoi avv/3r}*
OVV
1 A^aibed to Epic^efens by Leopold and Breithaupt. ,
Convincingly assigned to Epictetus for many reasons,
cMefly lexicographical, by H". Frankel, Philologus 80 (19^4),
221. I^ve the text of Scheakl (1913), with the quotation
marks adjusted to th new interpretation.
470
as
FRAGMENTS
26
You are a little soul, carrying around a corpse,
Epictetus used to say.
27
We must discover, said he, an art that deals with
assent, and in the sphere of the choices we must be
careful to maintain close attention, that they be
made with due reservations, that they be social, and
that they be according to merit ; and from desire we
must refrain altogether, and must exercise aversion
towards none of the things that are not under our
control.
28
It is no ordinary matter that is at stake, said he,
but it is a question of either madness or sanity.
28 a
Socrates used to say, " What do you want ? To
have souls of rational or irrational animals?'* "Of
rational animals." " Of what kind of rational
animals? Sound or vicious?" "Sound/* "Why,
then, do you not try to get them ? " {e Because
we have them." "Why, then, do you strive and
quarrel ? "
28& 1
"Me miserable, that this has befallen me ! " Say
not so, but rather, " Fortunate that I ai% because,
1 This whole passage is taken to be a direct quotation
from Epictetus y with the exception of the first two lines in
the second paragraph, where Marcus Aurelius applies the
doctrine to himself, and the last two lines, in which he
characteristically condenses and summarizes it.
47*
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
OVTG VTTO
ovre TTIOV
lev jap TO TOIOVTOV iravTi eSiWz.ro* aXfTro? Se
ov 7ra9 67rl TOVTG) av oieTe\<rev. Sia TL ovv
eicelvo /x-aXXoz; arv^fLa rj rovro euru^/Lta ;
"\eyeL? &e 0X6)9 arv^tjfjia avdptoTrov, o OVK eariv
TOV ap0pd>7rov; CLTTO-
TOV av0pa>7rov elvai oofcet
crot, o fj,7] Trapa TO /SouX^a TT}? <pvcray$ avTov
ICTTL ; TL ovv; TO /3ov\r)/j,a fj,e/j,d@'r)Ka$. /JLTJ TL
ovv TO av/juftefiiiKos TOVTO /c(>J^vi ere Slxatov
TTTCOTOV, afcid-fyevcrTOv , ai&ij/xova, e^evOepov, raX-
Xa, &v frvjJUTrapovTODP rj <j>vcri$ r) TOV a
TO, ZSia;*
'kOLTTOV 7rl 7TO.I/T09 TOV 6^9
ere HTpoayofievoVi TOVTCD xprjcrdai, T%>
" ou% OTL TOVTO aTV")(7)fjLa, aXXa TO (fcepeLv avTo
"
FRAGMENTA DUBIA ET
SPURIA
29 (77). Stobaeus, III. 35, 10 J
TOV 'EiTTl/CTIJTQV <
0)9 TOV
9* ao~<j)a\<rTpou yap TOV \e<yiv TO
eav Be TO \eyetv, oaa 5/%a e&Tai vov
/cal
1 These words are not found In the Encheiridim, and may
very possiHy not be by Epictetus at all.
472
DOUBTFUL AND SPURIOUS FRAGMENTS
although this has befallen me, I continue to live
untroubled,, being neither crushed by the present
nor afraid of the future." For something of this
kind might have befallen anyone ; but not everyone
would have continued to live untroubled by it.
Why, then, count the former aspect of the matter
a misfortune, rather than this latter good fortune ?
And in general do you call a man's misfortune that
which is not an aberration from man's nature ? And
does that seem to you to be an aberration from the
nature of man which does not contravene the will of
his nature ? What then ? This will of man's nature
you have already learned ; this, then, which has be-
fallen you does not prevent you, does it, from being
just, high-minded, self-controlled, self-possessed,
deliberate, free from deceit, self-respecting, free,
and everything else, the possession of which enables
the nature of man to come into its own ?
J*~ Remember for the future, whenever anything begins
to trouble you, to make use of the following judgement :
This thing is not a misfortune, but to bear it in a
noble spirit is good fortune.
DOUBTFUL AND SPURIOUS
FRAGMENTS
29
From the Encheiridion of Epictetus
-1 Under all circumstances take thought of nothing
so much as safety; for it is safer to keep silence
than to speak; and refrain from saying what will
be devoid of sense and full of censure.
* Supplied "by Hense.
473
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
30 (89). Stobaeus, IV. 46, 22 1
'ETTT^TOV.]
Ovre vavv % ^09 ay/cvplov ovr jSiov e/c
31 (90). Stobaeus, IV. 46, 23
Tov aurov.
Kal ro?9 <TK\cri teal rals i^irleri ra Svvarii
Set
32 (92). Stobaeus, IV. 53, 27 2
avay/caioTpov Ida-Bat* TOV
yap icafcws %/rp TO reBvdvat, tcpeicrcrov*
33 (54). Stobaeus, III. 6, 59. Democritus, firag.
232 (Diels)
[Tov avrov ( J K'jnfc\'r} f rov)]?
Se&v ra cnra^corara <ywo/j,va
34 (55). Stobaeus, III. 6, 60. Democritus, frag.
233 (Diels)
nr ** * **
Lov avrov.
El Ti? v7repj3a)iXot TO perpiov, ra einrep'Trecr-
Tar a arepmcrrara av ^fLvQiro^
1 This aad the next fragment probably belong to the
collection of Aristonymns.
1 Variously ascribed elsewhere.
474
DOUBTFUL AND SPURIOUS FRAGMENTS
30
From Epictetus
>c We ought neither to fasten our ship to one small
anchor nor onr life to a single hope.
31
Fromjhe same
We ought to measure both the length of our
stride, and the extent of our hope, by what is
possible.
32
From Epictetus
It is much more necessary to cure the soul than
the body ; for death is better than a bad life.
33
From the same
* Those of our pleasures which come most rarely
give the greatest delight.
34
From the same
If a man should overpass the mean, ttie most
delightful things would become least delightful.
8 So in IloriUgium, Cod. Paris. 1168 [500 E]. The frag-
ment belongs to Democritus.
* Burchard: ykyvoiro or yevotro MSS. The fragment
belongs to Democritua.
47S
VOL. II. Q
ARKIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
35 (114). Florilegivm, Cod. Paris. 1168 [501 E]
ei? \ev6epo<s lawrov fi
36 (140). Antonius, 1, 21 2
/MI ?} a\rj8eia /cat, atStov,
ov /cdX\o$ Xpovqt futpaiv6/j,vov
OVTG vrappTjcriav afyaiperyv* viro Sifcrjs, a\\a
ra Sifcaia, KCU ra vo^ijjua SiafcpCvova-a anr avr&v
ra a&i/ca /cal aT
1 In Stobaeus the majdm is ascribed to Pythagoras.
2 The style of this fragment is alien to Epictetus.
8 Kronenberg:
DOUBTFUL AND SPURIOUS FRAGMENTS
35
No man is free who is not master of himself.
36
The truth is something immortal and eternal, and
does not present us with a beauty that withers from
the passage of time, nor a freedom of speech which
can be taken away by justice, but it presents us
with what is just and lawful, distinguishing the
unlawful therefrom, and refuting it.
477
THE ENCHEIRIDION, OR MANUAL
THIS celebrated work is a compilation made by
Arrian himself from the Discourses, and the great
majority of those who know Epictetus at all have
come to do so from this little book alone. That is
a pity, because the necessary aridity and formalism
of such a systematization obscure the more modest.,
human, and sympathetic aspects of the great
teacher's character. Most of the unfavourable
criticism which has been passed upon Epietetus
and there is some of this, although not much is
clearly -based upon, the occasionally somewhat in-
adequate impressions which any compendium must
produce. For it may be doubted whether even
so noble a statement as the Apostles* Creed has ever
made a single convert.
Occasionally Arrian has modified to a slight degree
the form of statement, as we may observe from the
numerous Instances, amounting to somewhat more
than half of the book, where material from the first
four books of the Discourses has been employed;
but the substance seems to have been faithfully
preserved, wherever it is possible to follow his
procedure in detail.
The separate editions and translations of the
Encheiridion * are extremely numerous. Few, how-
1 Those who are curious about bibliographical information
may be referred to a separate study, Cordributwns toward
a Bibliography of Eyictdus* Urbana, Illinois, 1927.
479
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ever, liave been of any notable value^ except, per-
haps., the celebrated translations by Politian and
Leopardi, and Schweighauser's separate edition of
1798, 1 which is still the last independent critical
text/ and has been reprinted by most subsequent
editors, even Sehenklj although the latter has added
much useful critical material in his notes, especially
those which indicate the probable sources of such
passages as seem to be derived from the four
books of the Discourses^ and in particular has
arranged the apparatus criticus in more convenient
terms.
The sigla which Schenkl has devised for Schweig-
hauser's apparatus^ and which may occasionally be
employed below,, are the following:
A MSS. in which portions of the Encheiridion
precede the corresponding commentary of
Simplicius.
V The ed. of 1528.
1 For some unknown reason Schweighauser in his
Hpictefoae PhilosopMae Monument, III. 1799, reproduced
Upton's much less satisfactory text,
2 One reason for this delay is the extremely large number
of MSS. involved, not merely of the work itself, but of the
two Christian paraphrases and of the huge commentary by
SimpMoius, which is more than ten times the bulk of the
original. The texts of these must first be critically deter-
mined before their value for the Enchiridion can be esti-
mated, so that in reality four works instead of one have
to be edited from the very foundations. Another is the
very slight probability that any really notahle contributions
to knowledge might result therefrom. As an intellectual
problem the preparation of a new edition of the Enchiridion
presents certain, interesting features, but as a practical
undertaking it is outranked by a good many other possible
investigations*
480
THE ENCHEIRIDION, OR MANUAL
B MSS. in which the entire Encheiridion pre-
cedes the commentary of Simplicius.
C MSS. containing the Encheiridion alone,
v The edition of Trincavelli (1535).
D MSS. of Class B which exhibit the text of the
Encheiridion (frequently abbreviated) as
lemmata before the commentary of Sim-
plicius.
nn. unus.
nonn. nonnulli.
sing, singuli.
Nil. The Encheiridion in the paraphrase of St.
Nilus (Schweighauser, V. 95-138).
Par. The Encheiridion in the anonymous Christian
paraphrase (Schweighauser^ V. 1-94).
EniKTHTOT EFXEIPIAXON
1 c. 1. T&v ovrcav ra fjiev ecrriv e<f>* rjfuv, ra
OVK <j)' rjjMV. <ff rjfMV /t<
eK/cXicris Kal evl Xo<yo> ocra i
?5/i,fc^ Se TO <T6>/wt, ^ /erija-tSj So^aij ap%al Kal ev\
2 Xoya> ocra- au% rjperepa epya. Kal ra pev e<f) 9
iiKevOepa, aKcoXvra, airapaTTo-
%, ra oe OVK eqb* rjfjJip
3 a\\6rpta. pAp.vijo'o ovv, ori, cav ra
Kal ra aXXoTpta f^ta, eyu-Tro^cr-
Tapa%@ija''yj y pky^rr) Kal Qeovs
Kal apOpwTTovs, eav 8e TO crov fwvov olrjtffjs dov
elvat, TO Be aXkorpiov, &cr7Tp eariv, a)
ovSei? <re avatyKao-et, ovBeTrore^ ovSei? ire
ov pe/isfry ovSeva, OVK e/AraXeereis rim, a/eav
ov$e ev, ej(dpov ov% efe^?, 1 ovBek ere.
ovSe jap jSKafiepbv rt rreiarrj*
4 TrjKiKovrwv ovv e^^ew? fJLe/JLvrjcro, on ov Set
fjterpi&S KeKivvj/JLevov airre&Qat avr&v, aXXa Ta
1 TMs is the order for the last phrase in OT. All other
authorities put it after jBAa-^ex.
48?
THE ENCHETRIDION OF
EPICTETUS
SOME things are under our control,, while others
are not under our control. Un^exwQHX^conJtol. are
co^cegtion^ choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word,,
everything that is our own doing ; not under our
control are our body, our property, reputation, office,,
and, in a word, everything that is not our own
doing. Furthermore, the things under our control
are by nature free, unhindered., and unimpeded ;
while the things not under our control are weak,
servile, subject to hindrance, and not our own.
Remember, therefore, that if what is naturally
slavish you think to be free, and what is not your
own to be your own, you will be hampered,, will
grieve, will be in turmoil, and will blame both,
gods and men ; while if you think only what
is your own to be your own, and what is not
your own to be, as it really is, not your own, then
no one will ever be able to exert compulsion upon
you, no one will hinder you, you will blame_no one,
will find fault with no one, will do absolutely
nothing against your will, you will have no personal
enemy, no one will harm you, for neither is there
any harm that can touch you.
With such high aims, therefore, remember that
you must bestir yourself with no slight effort to lay
hold of them, but you will have to give up some
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/j,ev a<j)ieycu 7raz>TeX&)<?, ra S' VT
TO Trapov. eav Se /cal ravr eOe'Xys teal
fcal TrXovTeo'j rv)(ov p*ev ouS' avrwv TOVTCOV revgy
Bia TO teal T&V Trporepwv e^>Le<j9ai y Trdwr&s <ye
efceiv&v airorev^, Si* &v ILQVG>V iXevBepia fcal
vdvs QW> irdcry fyavnracria rpa^eia
OTI " (papTacria el /cal ov iravro)^ TO
avrrjv teal SoKipa^e
KdVOdl TOVTQtS 0^9 e%^9, 7T/D(T6) Se TOVTO)
KOL lAakKna, Trorepov irepl ra <f>* rjfuv eo-rlv
TI 7Tpl TO, OV/C ^> JjfUV KO.V TTepl T4 T&V OVK 6<*
irpoveipov eo~Tft> TO BLOTI " ouBev TTOO?
c. 2. Mepvija-o, OTL ope%eG><$ eira^ekia GTTL-
TO
irepiTrearelv e.tceiv(p o Kfc\LveraL, KOI o fj,ev ev 2
arv)(T]$, o Se ev* e/c/c\icri
ra irapa <f>v&w T&V e^rl crol y
mpiTrecrfj* vovov S* av /efc\iviy$ ^ Odvarov v)
2 vevLav, Svarv^cre^. apov ovv TTJV eKK\t,<Tw
airo Trdvrcov ratv OVK e<fi fjfMv fcal jmerddes iirl
7& wapa (f>vatv T&V <j>* rffjZv. rrjv opefyv Se
7rapT~\&><* eiri rov Trapowros az/eXe" av re
opeyy rwv ov/c l<f> J vjplv TWO?, dri^ecv avd
1 NIL alone : Ztrrlv nTvx* a A^J ^0*1 T^ ^nrvxeiv 0, ro
jFervx&* r B (mx r Par., TO rvxeiv Simpl.).
2 Nil. C un. 3 Nil. alone.
* Tfee remark, as many others of the admonitions, is
addressed to a student or a beginner.
484
THE ENCHEIRID10N OF EFICTETUS
things entirely, and defer others for the time being.
But if you wish for these things also, and at the
same time for both office and wealth, it may be that
you will not get even these latter, because you aim
also at the former, and certainly you will fail to
get the former, which alone bring freedom and
happiness.
Make it, therefore, your study at the very outset
to say to every harsh external impression, "You
are an external impression and not at all what you
appear to be." After that examine it and test it
by these rules which you have, the first and most
important of which is this : Whether the impression
has to do with the things which are under our con-
trol, or with those which are not under our con-
trol; and, if it has to do with some one of the
things not under our control, have ready to hand
the answer, "It is nothing to me."
2, Remember that the promise of desire is the
attainment of what you desire, that of aversion is not
to fall into what is avoided, and that'lie wHo fails
in his desire is unfortunate, while he who falls into
what he would avoid experiences misfortune. If,
then, you avoid only what is unnatural among those
things which are under your control, you will fall
into none of the things which you avoid ; but if you
tr J to ^SI2i4 4 isease > or JJgafe or poverty, you will
experience misfortune. Withdraw, therefore, your
aversion from all the matters that are not under our
control, and transfer it to what is unnatural among
those which are under our control. But for the time
being l remove utterly your desire ; for if you desire
some one of the things that are not under our con-
trol you are bound to be unfortunate ; and, at the
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
re <jb' r}/uv, O<TG>V opi^&crQai fca\ov az/, ovoev
OvSeTTO) *TOl TrdpGCTTt. P>QV(p TG> OpfUlV Kal
a<j>opjj,dv %p&>, Kov<fia)$ fjiivroi real
KOL aVt/JLVG)5.
c. 3. 'E>' e/cacrrou
v, OTrolov eo-nv, airo rcov cr jjLt,KpoTa, r ra>v
av 'xvrpav crTepyys, on "^vrpav
areajeicrf]^ yap avTTJs ov Tapa^&TJcrTj.
av TraiSiov cravrov jcaTafyttJgs rj <yvvalfca y ort,
airodavovro^ jap ov
c. 4. "Qrav aTrrecrdai TIVOS epyov
inrop.ipvrja'ice <JCLVTQV, oirolov ecrrt, TO epyov*
ecat Xoi/cro/zci^o? a7rLr]$ 3 7rpo/3a\\ creawrq) ra
<yivo/jva ev jSaXapet^, rov$ airoppaivov
6<y/cpovoj&vov$, rou9 XoiSopot/i/ra?, TOU?
ra?. tfal ovTG)<? ao~<f>a\eo-Tpoir a/^rrj TOV ep*yov,
eav 7Ti\yr}<s evffvs em ** \ova-acrdat 0e\o) teal
7rpoaipo~t,jt Kara <f>vcrw e^ovaav
/eai a>o-avr<o$ <j> eicd<TTOV ep*yov.
jap av n TT/JO? TO \ovcracrdai, yzwrjTai,
l', 7Tp6')(I>pQV eCTTfltt SiOT^ ** a)OC OV TOVTO
IJLQVQV, aXXa /col TTJV /JUIVTOV TrpoaLpecriv
tcasta <f>wriv e^pvaav Ttjpfj&ar ov Typijo-a) 5e, eav
ra jLvopeva"
c. 5. Tapda'a'et TOV$ av8 pdyirovs ov TO, npaty~
ret
1 See Hi, Aureiius, 1, 4, wliere Mr. Haines (in L.C.L.")
snggesfe titofc Ufe rtsf erence is to some such reservations as
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
same time., not one of the things that are under our
control, which it would be excellent for you to
desire, is within your grasp. But employ only
choice and refusal, and these too hut lightly, and
with reservations, 1 and without straining.
With everything which entertains you, is useful,
or of which you are fond, remember to say to your-
self, beginning with the very least things, " What is
its ^iHf* " 3 ^ yu are fond of a jug, say, ee I am
fond of a jug " ; for when it is broken you will not
be disturbed. If you kiss your own child or wife,
say to yourself that you are kissing a human being ;
for^when it dies you will not be disturbed.
(i When you are on the point of putting your
hand to some undertaking, remind yourself what
the nature of that undertaking is. If you are going
out of the house to bathe, put before your mind
what happens at a public bath those who splash
you with water, those who jostle against you, those
who vilify you and rob you. And thus you will
set about your undertaking more securely if^jti
the outset you say to yourself, "I want to tale
a bath, and, at the same time, to keep my moral
purpose in harmony with nature." And so do in
every undertaking. For thus, if anything happens
to hinder you in your bathing,, you will be ready to
say, <c Oh, well, this was not the only thing that I
wanted, biit I wanted also to keep my moral pur-
pose in harmony ^ith nature ; and I shall not so
keep it if I am vexed at what is going on.'X
It is not the things themselves that disturb
men> but their judgements about these things. For
recommended in James iv. 15 : '* For that ye ought to say is,
If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."
487
ARRJAN'S DISCOURSES OF EFICTETUS
olop o ddvaTQ^ ovSev ?>GWov 9 eTret Kal 2&>/e/?aTi
av <f>aivGTO, ak\a TO SojfJi.a TO irepl TOV davdrov,
S&OT& Seivov, G/celvo TO Sewov ecrTiv. OTCLV oZv
fjLiroSi(l)/jiG0a 7] Tapacrcrcti/jiGda ^
TO, eavT&v &6y/j,aTa. aTrai&evTOv epjov TO
, (j> ol? auTO? irpaacrei
TrcuSeveaOai, TO eavTq*
TO firfTG a\\03 plJT O,VT&*
c. 6. 'E?r! jj,r}Sevl eirapB^ aK\OTpiep
fiaTt. el 6 TTTTTO? eTratpo/^eiw eXejev on " tca~Ko<$
el/jit," olo-Tov av TJV <rv Be } OTO.V Xe7?79
flVQ$ OTl {t LTTTTOV KOkoV %ft>," Id6t> }
ITTTTOV 1 ayaOat eTraipy. TI ovv e&Tl crop ;
(fravrao-i&v. &cr8\ orav ev xptfcrei fyavracn&v
Koura <j>vcrtv 0"%f?9, TrjvifcavTa 7rdp9rjTt,* Tore
C. 7. K<Z$a7Tp V TT\& TOV f JT\OLOV K
BVTO$ el e^eAftns" vSpevaacrBa^ 6Sov [icv Trdpep-
ov /cat fco^AtStoj^ avo^e^rj Kal
ai, Se Set T^Z/ Sidvoiav enl TO ifkolov
&s e'7r&o'Tpe<$)cr0ai, f fiij TTOTG 6 /cvft
y nav /ca\.ecrr), TtdvTa efcelva d
/ecu iv T$ $Lcp f lav SiScoTai avTi f$o\jBapiov KCLI
KQ'xKi&iov ryuvai/cdpiov /sal TraiSiov, ovSev KcaiKvaei 9
aw &e o KvfiepVTJTT}? fcakicr'g, Tyoe^e exl TO irXotov
1 Upton, after SimpEcras ; TTHT^ practically all MSS.
1 Tfce Greeks ate a good many different bulbous plants,
as we use a variety of difiereat plants for " greens/*
THE ENCHE1EIDION OF EPICTETUS
example, dgatlLis nothing dreadful,, or else Socrates
too wouldhave thought so, but the judgement
th , at t;k is dreadful, this is the dreadful thing.
When7tKerefore, we are hindered, or disturbed,
or grieved, let us never blame anyone but our-
selves, that means, our own judgements. It is
the part of an uneducated person to blame others
where he himself fares ill ; to bjame himself is the
part of one whose education has begun ; to blame
neither another nor his own self is the part of one
whose education is already complete.
6. Be not elated at any excellence which is not
your own. If the horse in his elation were to say,
" I am beautiful," it could be endured ; but when
you say in your elation, ce I have a beautiful horse,"
rest assured that you are elated at something good
which belongs to a horse. What, then, is youF
own? The use of external impressions. There-
fore, when you are in harmony with nature in the
use of external impressions, then be elated; for
then it will be some good of your own at which you
will be elated.
7; Just as on a voyage, when your ship has
anchored, if you should go on shore to get fresh
water, you may pick up a small shell-fish or little
bulb x on the way, but you have to keep your atten-
tion fixed on the ship, and turn about frequently for
fear lest the captain should call ; and if he calls, you
must giye up all these things, if you would escape
being thrown on board all tied up like the sheep.
So it is also in life : If there be given you, instead
of a little bulb and a small shell-fish, a little wife
and child, there will be no objection to that ; only,
if the Captain calls, give up all these things and run
489
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
o$el9 eicelva airavTa p>7}$e eTnarpe^ofievo^. eav Se
yep&v 179, prjSe a7rak\a<yfj$ Trore rov ir\oiov
ftafcpdv, pri TTOTC Kokovvros
c. 8. "Mr} ^ret T& <yw6jj,
a\\a deXe ra ryivo/jieva cb? fylverat, KOI vpoijo~i,<;.
C. 9. No0"o<? crco/iaro9 &Tt,v eptro&iov, irpoaipe-
o-eo>? Se ov, eav /JLTJ avri) de\7j. f x<*>\avcri<; a/ce\ov$
Iffrlp ep.Tro^LOVf irpocupecreats Be ov. fcal TOVTO
e<f>* efcdcrrov reap e/iTnirroprc&v eTrfaeye' evptfaeis
jap avro aXXov TWOS /Jt,7r68iov, <JQV Se ou.
c. 10* 'E^' etcda-Tov ra>v TrpocrTriTrTOVT&v fue-
eirl creavrov fyreivs rlva Svva-
ravra
iav ^row9 TTpo&cfrepijTai, evptfcrets tcaprepiav* av
* teal OVT&?
<re ov (rvvaptr a-ova iv at
c. 11. M^SeTTOTe ITT! fj,rjSevb$ eiKy? on te d,7ra>-
avTQ?" a\\* OTI * f aTreScotca" TO
reSo^. rf jvvrf avriBavev ;
ff TO % m P^ v atfr'gplffijv** ovicovv fcal TOVTO aire-
$601}* " aXXa tca/cbs o a$eXo/tez>09." rl Se crol
rivos o"6 o Sov9 aTTTJT'qaG ; f^XP^ ^
9 a\~kOTpioV (WTQV 7Tf/ieXo{), O)9 T0t5
ol TrapiQVT<z
1 c. 12. TSti irpQic&fyat 0\ew, a^>9 TO ^9 TOIOVTOV?
49
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPJCTETUS
to the ship, without even turning around to look
back. And if you are an old man, never even get
very far away from the ship,, for fear that when He
caUs you may be missing.
jjjEjJ. Do not seek to have everything that happens
happen as you wish, but wish for everything to
happen as it actually does happen, and your life will
b^serene.
Disease is an impediment to the jz&t&y, but not
to the moral purpose, unless that consents. Lameness
is an impediment to the leg, but not to the moral
purpose. And say this to yourself at each thing
that befalls you ; for you will find the thing to be an
impediment to something else, but not to yourself.
10. In the case of everything that befalls you,
remember to turn to yourself and see what faculty
you have to deal with it. If you see a handsome
lad or woman, you will find continence the faculty
to employ here; if hard labour is laid upon you,
you will find endurance ; if reviling, you will find
patience to bear evil. And if you habituate your-
self in this fashion, your external impressions will
not run away with you.
|||). "Never say about anything, "I bave lost it,"
but only a I have given, it back/ ' Is your child dead ?
It has been given back. Is your wife dead ? She
has been given back. " 1 have had my farm taken
away." Very well, this too has been given back.
"Yet it was a rascal who took it away/' But what
concern is it of yours by whose instrumentality the
Giver called for its return, ? So long as He gives
it you, take care of it as of a thing that is not "your
own, as travellers treat their inn.
12. If you wish to make progress, dismiss afj
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
Cf lap afj,kij(rca T&P eucop,
" lav ^ fcokaaco TOP
os ecrTat," tcpelcrcrop yap \iju,q) airoQavelv
/cal a^ofiop jepouepop r} %rjv ev a<f>06poi,<s
/cpelrrov Se TOP TraiSa tca/cov
elvat, rj ere /caKoBai/JMva* ap^ai Toiyapovv ajro
2 T&V (Tp,ifcp&v. eKjfelrai TO e&dStov,
TO atvdpiov* 7ri\eje OTL (S TOCTOVTOV
, TO&QVTOV aTapa^la"* Trpolicci Se ovSev
OTCLV Be tca\rj<s TOP TraZ&a, evdvpov,
OTI SvvaTtu !&} virafcoiHTCU, teal watcovaa^ jj,r}$p
?, Iva i*jf Keipq> rj TO ere px)
c. 13. Et TTpo/co'ifrai 9i\ei<$ 9 VTro/MdPOp epe/ca TOJP
fcrb$ aporjTO? So^a? Kal rf)d9iQ<$ t fiTjSep fiovXov
So/eeip eTrla-TacrOai* KCLV Sogys TI$ zlval TICTIV,
airLo-rei creavT. l&Qi jap OTI ov pa&iop TTJP
wpoaipeo-ip TTJP creavTOV tcaTa (f>vcrip e^ovaap
fcal TO, efCTos, aXXA TOV eTepov 7Tf-
TOV eTepov a/ieX?}cra irao~a apdj/crj.
I c. 14. 'Eaz/ 0e\y$ Ta Te/cva <rov Kal T^V <yvpat/ca
teal TOV$ (plXovs o~ov irdvroTe $jp, ^X^^o? el*
ra jap fjLT] eirl crol flekei? 7rl <rol elvcu /cal Ta
aXXorpiflc era elpai' OVTO* /cap TOP TratSa #6X779
fwj a/wpTapeip, ucapo? el* 0e\ei$ jap TTJP /ca/ciap
1 Tlmfe Is, tbe slave-boy would be in a remarkable position
of advantage if his master's peace of mind depended, not
upon Hie master himself, but upon the actions of his
slave-boy;
492
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
reasoning of this sort : " If I neglect my affairs, I
shall have nothing to live on." " If I do not punish
my slave-boy he will turn out bad." For it is
better to die of hunger, but in a state of freedom
from grief and fear,, than to live in. plenty, but
tr^oiibled in mind. And it is better for your slave-
boy to be bad than for you to be unhappy. Begin,
therefore, with the little things. Your paltry oil
gets spilled, your miserable wine stolen ; say to
yourself, ef This is the price paid for a cjdgi. spirit,
this the price for peace of mind." Nothing is got
without a price. And when you call your slave-boy,
bear in mind that it is possible he may not heed you,
and again, that even if he does heed, he may not do
what you want done. But he is not in so happy a
condition that your peace of mind depends upon him. 1
If you wish to make progress, then be con-
tent to appear senseless and figolish in externals, do
not make it your wish to give the appearance of
knowing anything ; and if some people think you to
be an important personage, distrust yourself. For
be assured that it is no easy matter to keep your
moral purpose in a state of conformity withjaatare^
and, at the same time, to keep externals; but the man
who devotes his attention to one of these two things
must trie^itably neglect the other.
14. If you make it your will that your children
and your wife and your friends should live for ever,
you are silly ; for you are making it your will that
things not under your control should be under your
control, and that what is not your own should be your
own. In the same way, too, if you make it your will
that your slave-boy be free from faults, you are a
* fool; for you are making it your will that vice be not
493
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
fjbij elvat, /ca/ciav } aXX' aXXo ri. eav Se $6X179
ope<ya/iez/o9 p^j aTTorv<y)(avGiv t rovro Svvaaat,.
2 rovro ovv aa/cec, o Bvvacrai. Kvpios e/cdcrrov
earlv o r&v VTT e/eeivov Qekofievav fj py deXo-
fiev&v %o)p rrp? e^ovcrlav et9 TO TrepiTratrjo-at fj
atf>\ea'0ai. o<7T9 ovv eXevdepos elvai,
jUbTjre 06\ero) ri fj,rJT favryiro) ri rcov TT*
el Se /&i], 8ov\Vtv avdjfci].
c. 15. Me/Avqa-o, qrt, a>$ Iv (rvfJLTroo'iq) ere Se
ava(rrpe<$G"9ai. 'jrcpt^epofjLevov ryeyove ri Kara
ae' etcreivas rrjv %lpa /coo-fiuco? fjberd\afte* ira-
pepper ar pr} Karej(e. OVTTG) jj/cei* pJr} emySaXXe
7roppa> ryv opefyv, aXXa Trept/xez/e, /^e%/?t9 av
yevqrai, Kara <re ovra> Trpo? re/cva, ovrco 777)09
yvva1/ea ovro) Trpo? />%A, ovroo Tr/ja? ir^ovrov
/cal ecrrj irore afto? r&v 6e&v a-vfLirorr)^. av Se
ical 'jrapareffevrcov croi fjy Xa^??9, aXX' vTrepiSgs,
rore ov j&ovov avp/jrorrjs rcov deo&v eery, aXXa /cal
<ruvdp')(wv. ovrco yap TTOIC&V Aioyevrj? real f Hpd-
teXeiro? teal ol O/MOIOI dgiax? OeloL re rjcrav /cal
c. 16. ff Orav /ckaiovra ityp? rwa ev Trvei j
aTTOOT) fJLOvvr '09 refcvov r} dirolicaiXe/cora ra eavrov,
re y fyavracria o-vvapirdcrrj c&9 ev
QW ovro$ avrov ro2$ e/cro9, aXX*
OT* " rovrov ff\if3et> ov TO
ov &\ij3ei,) t aXXa TO
494
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
vice, but something else. If, however, it is your
will not to fail in what you desire., this is in your
power. Wherefore, exercise yourself in that which
is in your power. Each man's master is the person
who has the authority over what the man wishes or
does not wish, so as to secure it, or take it away.
Whoever, therefore, wants to be free, let him
neither wish for anything, nor avoid anything, that
is under the control of others ; or else he is necessarily
a slave.
^^ Remember that you ought to behave in life
as you would at a banquet. As something is being
passed around it comes to you; stretch out your
hand and take a portion of it politely. It passes on ;
do not detain it. Or it has not come to you yet ;
do not project your desire to meet it, but wait
until it comes in front of you. So act toward
children, so toward a wife, so toward office, so
toward wealth ; and then some day you will be
worthy of the banquets of the gods. But if you
do not take these things even when they are set
before you, but despise them, then you will not only
share the banquet of the gods, but share also their
rule. For it was by so |oing that D^gejaes and
H^fajbl&tus, and men like them, were deservedly
drmie and deservedly so called.
vLv When you see someone weeping in sorrow,
eitBer because a cMld has gone on a journey, or
because he has lost his property, beware that you
be not carried away by the impression that the man
is in the midst of external ills, but straightway keep
before you this thought : "" It is not what has
happened that distresses this man (for it does not
distress another), but his judgement about it." Do
^ 495
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
TOUTQV." p^Xpt* pevroi, \6jov pr) OKV6L
<pp(rdai avrtby /cav OVTQ> TI/%$ feat
f"ar 7rpoo-e%e fievroi arj /cal e&codev
c. 17. yLe/juvr/crOf on viroKptTrjs el
owv av 6e\rj o SiSda-fcako?' av fipa-x
av fjLCL/cpov, fia/cpov' av irTCo^ov vrroicpivacrdal ere
0e\,7j, iva, Kal TOVTOV ey^uca? vTTOKpivy av ^o>Xoz;,
av ap^ovra, av ISi&TTjv. <rov jap TOVT ecrrt, TO
Sodev vTTOKpwacrdai, TrpocrcoTrov /caXw?' /c\e-
%acr8ai S* avTQ d\\ov.
c. 18. Kopa^ orav JJUYJ aiaiov KKpdyr] y pr} a-vv-
cr r} favraaia* aAA* vdv$ Sicupei
teal \i<ye QTI u TOVTCOV fiol ovSev
KT7](Tl$iG) fWV rj "T(p So^apitip fJLOV rj TOi? T6KVOl,$
rj TTJ yvvai/eL e/tol Se Trdvra a"cria cri}/j,aivTat>>
iav */&> $eX<s)* o TL jap av TOVTQJV diroftaLvrj, ?r*
1 c. 19, *A.wfei r )TO$ elvai &vvacrcu, eav ^9
dj&va fcara/Saivy^, ov OVK GGTIV irl <rol vucr\<rai~
2 Spa fjM]7roT6 IBcov nva irpoTiuciouevov r} peja
v rj aXXeo? ev&o/cifiovvTa jj>a/capicr7j$, VTTO
raa'La^ orvvapTra&dek. eav yap ev rot?
rj ova La TOV dyaOov $, ovre <j>06vo<? ovre
X Gr a r aT v vrpa-
ov irpvravw rj viraros elvai dehrjcreis,
* eXevSepos* fua Se oSo? TTyoo? TOVTO, Kara-
T&V OVK <' VjJUV*
1 A reverent deMgnatioii for God See I.
496
THE ENCHEIR1DION OF EPICTETUS
not., however, hesitate to sympathize with him so
far as words go, and, if occasion offers, even to
groan with him; but be careful not to groan also
in the centre of your being.
17. Remember that you are an actor in a play,
the character of which is determined by the Play-
wright : if He wishes the play to be short, it is sTiorfc ;
iflong., it is long ; if He wishes you to play the part
of a beggar, remember to act even this r6le adroitly ;
and so if your rdle be that of a cringle, an official,
or a layman. For this is your business, to play
admirably the r61e assigned you ; but the selection
of that r61e is Another's. 1
18. When a raven croaks inauspiciously, let not the
external impression carry you away, but straightway
draw a distinction in your own mind, and say, " None
of these portents are for me, but either for my paltry
body, or my paltry estate, or my paltry opinion, or
my children., or my wife. But for me every portent
is favourable, if I so wish ; for whatever be the out-
come, it is within my power to derive benefit from it."
19. You can be invincible if you never enter a
contest in which victory is not under your control.
Beware lest, when you see some person preferred
to you in honour, or possessing great power, or other-
wise enjoying high repute, you are ever carried away
by the external impression, and deem him hj|pj>y.
For if the true nature of the good is one of the
things that are under our control, there is no place
for either envy or isalgusy; and you yourself will
not wish to be a praetor/ or a senator, or a consul,
but a free man. Now there is but one way that
leads to this, and that is to despise the things that
are not under our control,
497
ARRIAN'S DISCOUfiSES OF EPICTETUS
c. 20. Me/u^cro, on ov% o \otoopa>v rj 6 rvTrroDV
a\\a TO Soyfta TO Trepl TOVTGOV o>9 vftpi-
orav ovv epGBLarj ere n<$ 9 tcrOi, on r\ crrf
ere vTToK^^n^ rjpeOiKe. roiyapovv ez/ 7Tpa)Tot$
TreipG) VTTO T^9 <f)apTao~[a<? /&}} crvvapTracrOrjvcu,*
av jap aTra^ 'xpovov /cal o'laTpLjS'fjs TU^^ f>&ov
KparriQreis creavrov.
c. 21. ai^o-TO? teal $vyr} /cal TrdvTO, ra Sewa,
$aiVQyiva irpo o^Oak^v ecrrco croi /caff rjpepav,
futiuo'Ta Se iravT($v o Qdvaros* /cal ovBev ov&e-
TTOTC OVTG . raTreivbv evOv/jLijOrjo-y ovre ayav
c. 22. Eil <j)t\,Qo'o<pias eiriOvfjiels, irapacrfcevd^ov
/caTaje^acrdTjo-ofiepo^, <9 K
crov TroXXwF, c&9 epovvr&v ori
avrrj tf o<f)pv ; '* crv Se cuppiiv fiV ftr) 0*^9-
Be j8eXTi<iT<s>j/ <JQL (ftaivQfievtov ovrcos
VTTO rov 8eov reray/jievos el? Tavryv TTJV
flfJLVr}O"6 T StOTi, 1 eCLV peV /6/t66Z>^9
ol /caTaye\G)VTl$ <rov TO irporepov ovroi (re vare-
pov davfid(TovTai t eav Se rjrry&rjs avrcop, Snr'Xovv
C. 23. 'Eai/ TTOTC 0-05 fyevrirai, Ufa o-rpa<f)TJvat
TO jSovKeadat, apeo-ai Tivl } *o~6i on
9 Ti}v evcrTa<nv* ap/cov ovv ev iravrl
elva& ^^Xo<ro^o9, el Se teal So/celv /3ov\i,^
ffraivow ical i/capos <rrj.
1 e. 24. O^Tot o~ ol 8ia\o<yt,o~fj,ol JLLTJ 6\L^GT
* re fctfrr N5L : a^
2 Tlie wards r$ elyca at tills point are omitted by Far.
498
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
Bear in mind that it is not the man who
reviles or strikes you that insults you, but it is your
judgement that these men are insulting you.
Tnerefore, when someone irritates you, be assured
that it is your own opinion which has irritated you.
And so make it your first endeavour not to be
carried away by the external impression ; for if once
you gain time and delay, you will more easily
become master of yourself.
21. Keep before your eyes day by day <lath and
exile, and everything that seems terrible, but most
of all death; and then you will never have any
abject thought, nor will you yearn for anything
beyond measure.
22. If you yearn for philosophy, prepare at once
to be met with ridicule, to have many people jeer
at you, and say, "Here he is again, turned philo-
sopher all of a sudden/' and "Where do you suppose
he got that high brow ? " But do you not put on
a high brow 3 and do you so hold fast to the things
which to you seem best, as a man who has been
assigned by God^to this post ; and remember that
if you abide ""by""" the same principles, those who
formerly used to laugh at you will later come to
admire you, but if you are worsted by them, you
will get the laugh on yourself twice.
23. If it should ever happen to you that you turn
to externals with, a view to pleasing someone, rest
assured that you, have lost your plan of life. Be
content, therefore, in everything to foe a philosopher,
and if you wish also to be taken for one, show to
yourself that you are one, and you will be able to
accomplish it.
r l& Let not these reflections oppress you : " I
499
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ey(*> ftidxro/uLai, teal ovSels ovbapov" el
jap 77 arip,La e&rl KCLKOV, ov Svvaffat ev /ea/cq>
elvat, St* aXXov, ov /JLO,\\OV rj iv ala"%p>* /XT? TL
ovv crov (TTW Hpjov TO &/?%?? 9 TV%eiv ff Trapa-
\rj$9 rival e<' ecrriao'tp ; ouSa/6a>9. 7ra>9 ovv ert,
> 3/ > I 5>\S^\ 3^. n V
rovr ecrnv anpia ; TTGJ? oe ovoei<s ovoaftov eery,
ov ev JMVOI? elvcd riva Set Tol? eirl a*oi, eV ol?
2 e^ecrri crot elvat, Trkeicrrov <J^ca ; aXXa aoi, ol
$i\oi afioijd'yjTOi, eaovrcu ; ri Xeyei? ra aftorjOrj-
TOI ; ou% e^ovai, Trapes &ov Kepfidrtov oiiSe
icov airou? 7rd^(7et9. r^9 o5z^ crot
on ravra r&v <j> rj/uv IcrrLv^ ov^l
ep*ya ; r/9 Se Sovvai Svvarat, erlpG), a
vros ; " /crrjcraL ovv" <j)7}aiv, " 2i/a ^/i??
et $vva/j,ai, KT/iaacrdaL rirjp&v ep,avTov
/cal Tricrrbv fcal /^ya\6cf)pova, SCLKVVG
Trjv oSoF KCU KTijcro/mi* el 5* e/z-e afyovre ra
ajada ra efiavrov airo\<T(U> Iva vp,el<$ ra /JLTJ
wyaOa Tre/MTro^crtycr^e, opdre u^e?<?, TTCO? avivoi
crr ical cvyvQ&fjiQves. TL Se /cal f3ov\eaQe fJLaXKov ;
apyvptov rj <f>i\ov Tncrrbv /cal al$tf/jt,ova ; eh
TOVTO ovv pot fuiXhov <ri;XXa/t^Sai/T /cal prf, Si
G) avra ravra, efceZva, // Trpdcrcreiv
t?, 0<70 V 7T* /J,Ol"
1 That is, every man is exclusively responsible for his own
good or evil But honour and the lack of it are things which
are oTwionsiy not under a man's control, since they depend
upon the action of other people^ It follows, therefore, that
500
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
shall live without honour, and be nobody any-
where. For, if lack of honour is an evil., you
cannot be in gvil through the instrumentality of
some other person,, any more than you can he in
shame. 1 It is not your business,, is it, to get office,
or to be invited to a dinner-party ? Certainly not.
How, then, can this be any longer a lack of honour ?
And how is it that you will be " nobody anywhere."
when you ought to be somebody only in those
things which are under your ggntrojj wherein you
are privileged to be a man of the very greatest
honour? But your fnejnds will be without assist-
ance? What do you mean by being "without
assistance"? They will not have paltry coin from
you, and you will not make them Roman citizens.
Well, who told you that these are some of the
matters under our control, and not rather things
which others do ? And who is able to give another
what he does not himself have? "Get money,
then," says some friend, "in order thatVe too may
have it." If I can get money and at the same time
keep myself self-respecting, and faithful, and high-
minded, show me the way and I will get it, But
if you require me to lose the good things that
belong to me, in order that you may acquire the
things that are not good, you can see for yourselves
how unfair and inconsiderate you are. And which
do you really prefer ? Money, or a faithful and
self-respecting friend? Help me, therefore, rather
to this end, and do not require me to do those
things which will make me lose these qualities.
u But my country," says he, " so far as lies in me,
lack of honour cannot be an evil, but must be something
indifferent,
501
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
earai" vrahiv, iroiav KCLI
; 0-7*00,9 ou% life*. Si& ae ovre
l ri TOVTO ; ovSe yap vTroStfuara ej(ei Stci, TOV
* O7r\a Sia rbv ffKvrea* i/cavbv Se, eav
TO eavrov epyov. el Se a\\ov
TWO, avry /care&Kevafes TroXirTjv TTKTTOV /cal
alSijfAova, ovSev av avrrjv o)(j)\i^ ; " vai"
ov/covv ovSe av aura? avctxj>e\r)$ av el'^9 avrfj.
ft rlva ovv ego)," (frycri, tf %copaz> ev >rfj TroXei; 11
t)n av $vvr} (frvKdrroyv ajjia, TOV ITLUTOV teal
6 aiBtf/JLOva. el 8e eiceivriv wfyekslv ftovKbp,evo<;
ravra, ri $<j>e\o? av awry yevoio
c. 25. l[I.poeTi{iijvi] <rov n? ev e<rnci(rei> ^ ev
fj ev TO* TrapaXrj^dijvat, 669 <rv/t-
el pv dsyaOa ravTa ecrrt, %aipew ere
&E, ort erv%ev avr&v efcetvo?* el Se /ea/cd, prj
&^6ov y on crv avr&v OVK erv^e^ fj,/MVv)<ro Se, on
ov favyaaat /irj ravra TTQL&V irpb$ TO TV<YXavecv
2 TW OVK <f) ^iplv TWV tcrayv afyovo'dcu, 7r&)9 yap
l&ov evew ^vvaiai b um <
o /7 Trapairefnrcdv TG>
i; b fjirf ewaw&v T eiraivovvn ;
KM Gt7rXtjKTT09, 4 yEt?JI 1TpOl/JtVO$ TCWTa, aj/8*
top eice&va wiwpdcrKGTat, irpolica OVT&
502
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
will be without assistance." Again I ask, what
kind of assistance do you mean ? It will not have
loggias or baths of your providing". And what does
that signify ? For neither does it have shoes pro-
vided by the blacksmith, nor has it arms provided by
the cobbler ; but it is sufficient if each man fulfil
his own proper function. And if you secured for it
another faithful and sgj^og|>ectii^^ would
you not be doing it any good?~"ies7^ "Very well,
and then you also would not be useless to it.
"What place, then, shall I have in the State?"
says he. Whatever place you can have, and at the
same time maintain the man of fidelity and self-
respect that is in you. But if, through your desire
to help the Stj^S* you lose these qualities, of what
good would you become to it, when in the end you
ed out to be shameless and unfaithful ?
Has someone been honoured above you at a
r- party, or in salutation, or in being called in
to give aS vice ? Now if these matters are good,
you ought to be happy that he got them ; but if
evil, be not distressed because you did not get
them ; and bear in mind that, if you do not act the
same way that others do, with a view to getting
things which are not under our control, you cannot
be considered worthy to receive an equal share with
others. Why, how is it possible for a person who
does not haunt some man's door, to have equal
shares with the man who does ? For the man who
does not do escort duty, with the man who does ?
For the man who does not praise, with the man who
does ? You will be unjust, therefore, and insatiable,
if, while refusing to pay the price for which such
things are bought, you want to obtain them for
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
3 "Kapfidveiv. aXXa TTQCTOV
ojSdXoVj av OVTG) Tv^y, av ovv
o/3o\bv \df3r} 0pi$afca$, av Se
Xa^;?, pa) OLOV \arrov e^eiv rov
jap Ktvo$ G'XGI Opi&ajcas, OVTQ* crv rov oftoKov, bv
OVK ISco/ca?.
4 Top avrov &rj Tpojrov fcal evravda. ov Trape-
feXtfdrjS (j> eariaaiv nvo$ ; ov jap eSco/cas T^>
fca\ovvrt,, oaov Travel TO ^elirvov. eiraivov S*
avro -TrcoXet, Oepaireia^ 7ro>Xet. So<? ovv TO Sid-
tcaieelva @\ei$ pJrj Trpofeadai /cal ravra \ajj,j3dv6iv,
5 aTrX^cTTO? el /cal aftekrepos. ovSev ovv e%et9
dvrl TOV SeiTTVov ; e%et5 fiev o$v TO [M] lirauvkaoLi
TOvroV) ov OVK fj0\6?, TO ply avadj^aQaL avTOV
TCOV 7rl T% eiaoSov*
c. 26. To $ov\v}fMa TT}?
&v ov Sia<l>e
z^, OTOV aXkov iraiodptov fca,Ted%rj TO
ev6v$ \lyeiv on " TOIV
earlv J* terGi ovv, OT^, oTaz> icai TO <rbv fcaTeajf),
TOWVTOV ewai o~ SeZ, oirolov OTG KOI TO TOII
aXXoi/ /eaTea/yq* OVTCO fieTaTidei /cal eirl ra
pj&L^ova. Teicvov aXXof TeSwq/cev fj yvvtf' ovSeis
<iTiv 05 OVK av eliroi OTI " av 8 pair LVOV aXX*
TO avTov TWOS dTtoddvy, ev0v$ " ot^
1 See n0te on f rag. 1I
504
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
nothing. Well, what is the price for heads of lettuce ?
An obol, 1 perhaps. If, then, somebody gives up his
obol and gets his heads of lettuce, while you do not
give your obol, and do not get them, do not imagine
that you are worse off than the man who gets his
lettuce. For as he has his heads of lettuce, so you
have your obol which you have not given away.
{ Now it is the same way also in life. You have
not been invited to somebody's dinner-party ? Of
course not ; for you didn't give the host the price at
which he sells his dinner. He sells It for praise;
he sells it for personal attention. Give him the
price, then, for which it is sold, if it is to your
interest. But if you wish both not to give up the
one and yet to get the other, you are insatiable and
a simpleton. Have you, then, nothing in place of
tbe'djaner?" Indeed you have ; you have not had to
praise the man you did not want to praise; you
have not had to put up with the insolence of his
doorkeepers. ^7*4, *Atf**^
26. What the will of nature is may be learned
from a consideration of the points in which we do
not differ from one another. For example, when
some other person's slave-boy breaks his iink-
ing^cup, you are instantly ready to say, ec That's
one of the things which happen," Rest assured,
then, that when your own drinking-cup gets broken,
you ought to behave in the same way that you do
when the other man's cup is broken. Apply now
the same principle to the matters of greater im-
portance. Some other person V g|uld or wife has
diedj no one but would say, "Such is the fate
of man/' Yet when a man's own child dies, imme-
diately the cry is, "Alas! Woe is me!" But we
55
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
%p?Ji/ Se /jLftvfja"6ai 3 ri irdfr^o/jbev vrepl
avro
c. 27. f/ O<T7re/) a KOTOS 717)09 TO aTrorv-^elv ov
Bercu,, ouroo? ouS Katcov (frvais IP /eocr/ica ylverai.
c. 28. Eil p&v TO crwfid crov ri<$ eirerperre r^
TravTijo-avTt, rffavdfcreis av OTL Se av Tr\v
Vtoj&'TJV T7)V aO,VTOV 7TiT/>7ri? TW TV)(OVTL t IVd,
av \oiSopiJr7)rai aoi, rapa^fffj cfceivt) real crvy-
OVK ai&'xyvr) rovrov evetca ;
c. 29. e ^tKd(TTov epjov cncoire^ ra
fizva /col ra d/cokovOa avrov /cal OVTCO?
7r* avro, el Se fjwq, ryv pev Trpwryv
^fef9 are fj/rj&ev raw e^? evre6v/M7}/y,Gvo$, vcrrepov
Be avafyavevrtov Svo")(pQ)V rw&v alcrxpw? arro-
2 frrrj(Tr}. OeXet? ^OXv/nria viKricrai ; /cdyd>, vy
Beovs* Koptyov yap earrtv. d\\a cr/coTrei ra
/cal ra dfco\ov9a /cal ovra><; airrov
rov epyov. Sel d evra/creiVj ava<yKorpo<j>elv,
a7r6^eo'0at rce^drt^v^ yv/jwd^eaffai, TT/OO?
Iv &pa reray/jtewr), ev tcav/jiari,, ev
^u%poF irlveiv^ ^ owov, co? !rf%i>,
larpw 7rapa&eSa>K6vai, aeavrov r& lincrrdrr), elra
ev ra> wy&vi TrapapwKrecrdai,^ eari Se ore %eipa
/c/3a\W* o-fyvpov <rrpe*frai,, TraXX^v d(f>}jv /cara-
1 Upton from tbe Disc. : wape'pxea-flat or irapxe<rQcu MSS.
8 Upton from the Disc. : ffaAeu/, Xagety, or pxa&etv MSS,
Tlat is, it is inconceivable that the universe should
exist in order that some things may go wrong; hence 3
nothing natural ia evil, and nothing that is by natnrj&^^evil
can arae,-Th*is M effect Simplicius, and correctly, it seems.
a This chapter is practically word for word identical with
HI. 15, Since it was omitted in Far., and not com-
mented on by Sim|iicius r it may have been added in some
second edition, whether by Arnan or not.
506
THE ENCHEIRW10N OF EPICTETUS
ought to remember how we feel when we hear of
the same misfortune befalling others.
^^. Just as a mark is not set up in order to be missed,
so neither does the nature of evil arise in the iinivers0
28. If someone handed over your body to an^
person who met you, you would be vexed ; but
that you hand over your mind to any person that
comes along, so that, if he reviles you, it is disturbed
and troubled are you not ashamed of that ?
29. 2 In each separate thing that you do, consider
the matters which come first and those which follow
after, and only then approach the thing itself.
Otherwise, at the start you will come to it enthusi-
astically, because you have never reflected upon
any of the subsequent steps, but later on, when
some difficulties appear, you will give up disgracefully.
Do you wisTTto win an Olympic victory? So do I,
by the gods! for it is a fine thirjLg But consider
the matters which come before that, and those which
follow after, and only when you have done that, put
your band to the task. You have to submit to
discipline, follow a strict diet, give up sweet cakes,
train under compulsion, at a fixed hour, in heat or in
cold ; you must not drink colcL water, 3 nor wine just
whenever you feel like it j you must have turned
yourself over to your trainer precisely as you would to
a physician. Then when the contest comes on, you
have to "dig in " 4 beside your opponent* and some-
times dislocate your wrist, sprain your ankle, swallow
8 That is, cM water not At $11,; while wine may be
drunk, "but only at certain, times, i.e., probably with one's
meals. Such prohibitions are still common in Europe,
particularly in popular therapeutics,
* See note on III. 15, 4,
5^7
VOL. II. B.
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
mew, ecrd* ore /jLao-Ttytodfjvai, /cal fiera
3 Trdvrcov vLKriQ^vai. ravra eTncrtcetyd/jLevos, av en
eirl TO a6\tlv. el e /AT/, o>? ra iraiSia
CL vvv JMV TraXatcrTa? irai^ei, vvv
, vvv Be <ra\'7riei, elra
jcal <rv vvv fiev ad\r)rrj$, vvv Be
elra ptfrosp, elra <j>i\6(ro(f)0$, o\rj Se rfj
ovSev aXX* a>9 iridrjKO^ Tracrav 6eav^ y)v av
ifj fcal a\\o % aXXou croi apeaicet,. ov yap
7X^69 eVt TI ovSe
aXX' eitci] /cal Kara ^ffv^pav eir^Ovfd
4 Qv*r(& 6eacrdfjLvoL Tive^ <>t,\6(ro()ov fcal
5 ffe\ov<rt, xal avrol <j)i\oo-o<j>eiv. avffpcoTre,
eTrio-fce^raL, oirolov earn, TO irpay/jia,* elra /cal ryv
aeavrov <f>wrw Kard^a6e t el Svvacrai,
aavrov TOW paxovas, TOU? fjLTjpovs,
6 xardfjuiffe. aXXo? 3 yap Trpo? aXXo *jr6<f)V/ce.
<m ravra TTCH&V toaavro)*; Svvaaai,
oxravro)^ Trivew, oyC6Ota>9 opeyeaffai,
Svc-apeo-reiv ; aypvnvficrai Set, Trovfjcrat,,
T&V olxeicav dire\delv y VTTO iraiSapiov
VTTO T&V diravTcovTCdv 4 /caraye-
i iv Travrl fJTTOv e%eii/, ev Tt/jug, ev dpxfl>
iravrl. ravra eirLaicGai,
1 NIL and tlie Discourses : rQv Encfo.
31 Wolf from the Discourses : &s d5 ZooKpa+ys Ench* ; us
ns crodwy Hil.
a KSns and Ae Discourses : #AAo ^ic^.
* Scbweigtoiser from the Ztiscwrses : oncforwv A im
Nil, ; the clause om. by other M^
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
quantities of sand, sometimes take a scourging, and
along with all that get beaten. After you have
considered all these points, go on into the games, if
you still wish to do so ; otherwise, you will be turning
back like children. Sometimes they play wrestlers,
again gladiators, again they blow trumpets, and
then act a play. So you too are now an athlete,
now a gladiator, then a rhetorician, then a philo-
sopher, yet with your whole goul nothing ; but like
an ape you imitate whatever you see, and one thing
after another strikes your fancy. For you have
never gone out after anything with circumspection,
nor after you had examined it all over, but you act
at haphazard and half-heartedly.
In the same way, when some people have seen
a philosopher and have heard someone speaking like
Euphrates 1 (though, indeed, who can speak like
him?), they wish to be philosophers themselves.
Man, consider first the nature of the business, and
then learn your own natural ability, if you are able to
bear it, Do you wish to be a contender in the
pentathlon, or a wrestler? Look to your arms,
your thighs, see what your loins are like. For one
man has a natural talent for one thing, another for
another. Do "you suppose that you can eat in the
same fashion, drink in the same fashion, give way
to impulse and to irritation, just as you do BOW ? You
nlust keep vigils, work hard, abandon your Own people,
be despised by a paltry slave, tte laughed to scorn
by those who meet you, in everything get the worst
of it, in honour, in office, in court, in every paltry
affair. Look these drawbacks over carefully, if you
1 See note on III. 15, 8.
509
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
el 6e\ei$ avnicaTaX\,a%acr6a,i TOVTCW dirddetav,
eKevdeplav y arapa^lav* el Be fitf, firj Trpoa-dyaye,
fir} &s TO, TraiBia vvv fa\6.ao(po<f, v&Tepov Be
?, etra ptfrwp, elra eiriTpoTros Kaiaapos.
ov crvjjLfytovet* eva ore Bel avdpawrov vj
ij rcatcbv elvai* rj TO yyefioviKov ae Bel
ea'6ai, TO <TCIVTOV rj Tct efCTO^" T) Trcpl TO,
(TG) <f)tX.OT')(VlV rj 7Tpl TCL 6^0)* TOUT* (TTIP 'TJ
c. 30. Ta fca6r)KOVTa co? eirlTrav TCUS
7rapa/j,eTpeiTCU. iraT^p e&Tiv VTrcvyopeveTat,
pe^eZedcu, Trapa^cdpelv ayravTtoVy aveec
\QiBopovvr o$, iraiovTOS" " aXXa rraTrjp
eaTi."" fjtfj TI ovv TTpos ayaOov ira/repa
<j>fcei>a>0r)s ; a\\a irpos vraTepa. "6
aBi/cei" Tripet, TOLyapovv Trjv rdfyv TTJV
*rrpb$ avTQv* fiyBe a"K07rei t TI etceivo? TTOIGI, a\\a
TI era! irovfiGCWTi Kara (f>vo~iv y ay egci
or^9- ere yap aXXo? ov 0\d^lret>, av p/ty ait
TOTC Se ear) ^SeySXa/A/ieVo?, QTCLV viro
fiXdwTecrdcu* OVTCO? oZv airo TOV yeirovoSj cisiro
TOV TroA/TOf, cviro TOV (rrpaTTfyov TO /cadij KOV
evprjaew, lap TO,$ o"xe<reis edi%g ffetopetv.
I c. 31. T??? Tcepl TOV$ 8eov$ evaeffeias fcffi oTt,
TO tcvpi&TaTOv efcelvo eo-Tiv, opdas vTrdKrityeLs
avT&v e^eaf w OVT&V /cal BLOIKOVVTOW Ta
AraXo>9 /cal S^/cafi>9, /cal cravTov els TOVTO
TO weld ecr Oat, avTols /cal et/cew
/cal
^To^ suggested by Schweighauser. The sense
would then be: "andnave appointed you to," referring to
the gods,
510
THE ENCHEIRWION OF EPICTETUS
are willing at the price of these things to secure
tranquillity, freedom and calm. Otherwise, do not
approach philosophy ; don't act like a child now
a philosopher, later on a tax-gatherer, then a
rhetorician,, then a procurator of Caesar. These
things do not go together. You must be one person,
either good or bad; you must labour to improve
either your own governing principle or externals;
you must work hard either on the inner man,, or
on things oubideTthat is, play either the rdle of a
philosopher or else that of a layman. "^
Our duties are in general measured by our
social relationships. He is a father. One is called
upon to take care of him, to give way to him in
all things , to submit when he reviles or strikes you.
" But he is a bad father." Did nature, then, bring
you into relationship with a good fether? No,
but simply with a father, "My bmihjer does me
wrong." Very well, then, maintain the relation
that you have toward him ; and do not consider
what he is doing, but what you will have to do, if
your moral purpose is to be in harmony with nature.
For no one will harm you without your consent ; you
will have been harmed only when you think you are
harmed. In this way, therefore, you will discover
what duty to expect of your neighbour., your citizen,
your commanding officer, if you acquire the habit of
looking at your social relations with them.
31. In |aej^j^wajdb_|;}is LL |tgds > I would lave you
know, t^e^3Se7~3emejit is this, to have right
opinions about them as existing and as administer-
ing the uffHgffise well and justly and to have set
yourself to obey them and to submit to eTerything
that happens., and to follow it voluntarily, in the
5"
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
UTTO T?}? apcTTT]^ yv)jj,r)$ eTT^TeXou/iezw?. OVTO>
jap ov piptyrj TTOTe Toz/9 0eov$ ovre eyKa'X.eaei?
2 o>? ajj>eX>ov/j,vo$. aXXco? Se ou% oloz> re TOVTO
yivecrOai,, eav firj apy$ airo T&V ov/c e^>* T^JLIV KOI
GV Tol<$ <[> rjfuv p,bvoi<$ Ofjs TO wyaQov teal TO
KCitcov. c&9, av ye TI e/ceiv&v uTroXa/S^? ayadbv
i] KCLKQV, Tra&a avdjK^ t orav airoTV^dvr)^ &v
^eXe^? /cal TreptTTtTrr?;? ol? ^77 0\ei$, peptyacrBal
3 ere KOI /uo~ez> rou? alriovs. 7re<j>v/ce jap Trpo?
TOVTO Tra^ %&ov ra JAW y8Xa/3epa fyaivbfAGva /cal
TO, atria avrwv fyevyeiv KOI efcrpeTrecrdai, ra Se
cai TO, airta avr&v fieT^evai re Kal
- afifyavov ovv fSXaTrrearOaL rwa
4 ^al TO avrrj Tg ^SXa/S^ %aipew aSvvarov.
/cal vraTrfp VTFO vlov Xo^SopetTa*, oraz^ TCOP So-
/eovVTotv ayaOatv eivai T& TraiSl fir} fieraSt.S^'
ical Ho\vvei/cr)v /cal 'EtT60K\ea TOUT erroi^cre
woKe/jdav? aXX^Xof? TO cvyaObv ofoadai TTJV
TVpawriSa. Sia TOVTO /cal o yec&pybs \oi$opi
Toir? Bed-fa, Sta TOVTO o vavTrjs, Sia TOVTO o
?, Bta TOVTO ol Ta<? yvvalicas /cal Ta Tetcva
OTTOZ/ yap TO wptfyepov, eicel /cal
TO evcreftfe. &cne, SCTTC? 7ri>fieXelTai TOV ope-
yeo-0ai a>$ Bel /cal efCK\LveW; ev T$ avTq> /cal
5 cuarefieias: etre/ieXe^Taf. <T7r$vBew Se /cal
1 TY: re&atoftxtK&ai Snch. (Nil. ; Simpl.).
5 1 ?
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
belief that it is being fulfilled by the highest in-
telligence. For if you act in this way, you will
never blame the gods, nor find fault with them
for neglecting you. But this result cannot be
secured in any other way than by withdrawing your
idea of the good and the evil from the things which
are not under our control, and placing it in those
which are under our conical, and in those alone.
Because,, if you think any of those former things
to be good or evil, then, when you fail to get what
you want and fall into what you do not want., it is
altogether inevitable that you will ^Jame. and hate
those who are responsible for these results. For
this is the nature of every living creature, to flee
from and to turn aside from the things that appear
harmful, and all that produces them, and to pursue
after and to admire the things that are helpful, and
all that produces them. Therefore, it is impossible
for a man who thinks that he is being hurt to take
pleasure in. that which he thinks is hurting him,
just as it is also impossible for him to take pleasure
in the hurt itself. jgHence it follows that even a
father is reviled by a son when he does not give
his child some share in the things that seem to be
good^ and this it was which made Polyneices and
Eteocles enemies of one another, the thought that
the royal power was a good thing. That is why the
farmer reviles the gods, and so also the sailor, and
the merchant, and those who have lost their ./gjges
and their children. For where a man's interest lies,
there is also his piety. Wherefore, whoever is
careful to exercise desire and aversion as lie should,
i at the same time careful also about piety. But
it is always appropriate to make libations, and sacri-
5*3
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/cal aTrdp^eaOai Kara ra Trdrpta efedcrrore
TrpocrtfKei Ka6ap&$ /cal pr) eiricrecrvp/jievcas
a/ieXa>9 /-t^Se 76 <yXtcr^p<09 /w?8e vrcep Svpafu
1 c. 32. e 'Qrav pavrifcfj Trpocrirjs,
on, ri pep arroftrjcreraij OVK otSa9>
7)K6i$ (09 Ttapa rov ju,dvT(a$ avrb
OTTOIOV 8e TI eo~rLv s eKrj"Kv9a<; elBd)?, eiirep el
<f>i\6cro<f)0$, el <ydp eari TL T&V OVK e^>*
iraa'a dvdjKr} pyre dyadbv avrb elvai
2 KaKov. fir] <f>epe ovv ?r/>o9 TOP jmdvriv opegtv
eKK\idLv piySe 1 TpefLtov avrq* irpocre^ d\\a
$ieyva)Kc!>?, Sri irav TO d'jro^cro/^evov dSidfiopov
/cal ovSev TTpos ere, oirolov $ av y y eo-Tat, 2 avrqt
ai /ea\a>$ ical TOVTO ovSels KG>\v<rei.
ovv c9 67rl <ri//A^ouAoi/9 ep%ov Tou9
KCU Xo7roz>, orav <ri trot* crvjj,j3ov\,vd i rj,
rlva? avpfiovXovs irapeXafies teal riv&v
<j>* &v
ira<ra aKefyis TTJV avafyopav eh rrjv eKfiacrw
Kal ovre etc \&yov ovre e/c re?)(vr]<s
d<f>opfjt*al SiSovrai 7r/?o9 TO avvi&elv TO irpOKei-
fievov* &(TT, orav Serfcr-p crv<yKiv?>vvevffa[> <j>\q>
rj trarpibt,, fjJrj /jutvreveadai,, el <rv<yKivvvevreov.
ical yap av wpoewrT? 3 GOI o /Jidvrts <f>avXa
yeyovevat ra lepd y Sijhov on Odvaros crrj/juiLverai
TOl)
1 Cun.:
2 tin. s !<r<rai jdp MSS.
3 CHIL: vpatbep or vpotrehoi MSS.
1 See IL 7 where tlie principal points made here 'are
xQustra&ttd at Dealer length. ' . > : - i < ''. ' , !
THE ENCHEIR1DION OF EPICTETUS
fices, and to give of the firstfniits after the manner
of our fathers, and to do all this with purity, and
not in a slovenly or careless fashion, nor, indeed,
in a niggardly way, nor yet beyond oar means.
32. 1 When you have recourse to divination, re-
member that you do not know what the issue is
going to be, but that you have come in order to
find this out from the diviner ; yet if you are indeed a
philosopher, you know, when you arrive, what the
nature of it is. For if it is one of the things which
are not under our control, it is altogether necessary
that what is going to take place is neither good
nor evil. Do not, therefore, bring to the diviner
desire or aversion, and do not approach him with
trembling, but having first made up your mind that
every issue is indifferent and nothing to you, but
that, whatever it may be, it will be possible for
you to turn it to good use, and that no one will
prevent this. Go, then, with confidence to the
gods as to counsellors; and after that, when some
counsel has been given you, remember whom you
have taken as counsellors, and whom you will be
disregarding if you disobey. But go to divination
as Socrates thought that men should go, that is, in
cases where the whole inquiry has reference to the
outcome, and where neither from reason nor from
any other technical art are means vouchsafed for
discovering tiie matter in question. Hence., when
it is your dtity to share the danger^of a friend or of
your country, do not ask of the diviner whether you
ought to share that danger. For if the diviner
forewarns you that the omens of sacrifice have been
unfavourable, it is clear that death is portended, or
the injury of some member of your body, or exile;
515
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
* alpel^- o Xo<yo9 /ecu *jvv TQVTOI<$ Trapicrra-
T& <f>i\q> /cal rfj 3 TraTpiBi <rv<y/avBvvVt,v.
09 e|?e/?aXe TOI; moi) TOI> ov /3o7]8ij<ravTO, aval-
1 c. 33. Tdt*ov TWO, jjSrj ^apa/cr^pa <ravrq> /cal
TVTTOV, ov fyvXd^eis 67ri re crsavTOv o>v /cal
2 avBpdnrois ivTvryfcdvGiv. /cal cncoir^ TO
XaX6M7$ft> TO, ava^Koia /cal
Be irore /catpov TrapcucaXovwro'S 7rl TO
\egov /tez/, aXXa Trepl ovSe^o? T&V rv-
v* fir} Trepl /JiovofjLa^LWV, /w? Trepl ITTTTO-
V) p>i) Trepl ad\r}Tcov, p/rj Trepl PptofJidTcov
TI Troj&WT&v, T&V l/cacrra^oi;, 4 /-taX^arra Se p/q
Trepl av6p<s>7TG)v tyeyatv rj TTCUV)V ^ crwy/cpiv&v.
3 av fiev ovv 0409 re $9, p^rd^/aje roi9 cro?9 \o<yoi$ 5
/cal row T(F (TintbvTG&v 7rl TO 7rpoar}Kov. el Be
ev aXXa^i/Xoi9 a
4 FeX<9 ^ TroXi'9
5 "Op/cop TrapaiTTjaatj el p&v olov TG, 6^9
el Be fttf, e/e T&V evovTtov.
6 e Eo-Ta<7*9 T9 ^6> Aral IBt&Tifcas Biaxpovov*
eav Be TTOTC ryivrjTa^ Kaipo^j evTeTaaffco croi r)
Salmasins and Schweigliatiser : Ipc? or fj>t MSS.
Salmasius and Schweighauser : trapia-rarou MSS.
Added by Salmaslus and Schweighauser.
ML, Simplicius: iwcKrraxoS XcyojULtvoav Ench.
C nn. : rovs arovs Xtyovs MSS.
1 A few more unimportant details are given by Aelian,
Fi&r*Mt Sj&tona, 3, 44 ; and Simplicius in Ms commentary on
this passage, fi. 28 e & XHeinmss), or p. 411 (Schweighauser}.
516
THE ENCHEIEIDION OF EPICTETUS
yet jreason requires that even at this risk you are
to stand by your friend, and share the danger with
your country. Wherefore, give heed to the greater
diviner,, the Pythian Apollo, who cast out of his
temple the man who had not helped his friend
when he was being murdered. 1
\J33. Lay down for yourself at the outset, a certain
litamp and type of charjgtgr for yourself, which you
are to maintain whether you are by yourself or are
meeting with people. And be silent for the most
part, or else make only the most necessary remarks,
and express these in few words. But rarely, and when
occasion requires you to talk, talk, indeed, but about
no ordinary topics. Do not talk about gladiators,
'or horse-races, or athletes, or things to eat or.ijrink
topics that arise on all occasions; but above all,
do not talk about people, either J^laming, or praising,
or comparing them. If, then, you can, by your own
conversation bring over that of your companions to
what is seemly. But if you happen to be left atone
in the presence of aliens, keep silenceX
XDo not laugh much, nor at many things, nor
boisterously.
X Refuse, if you can, to take an oath at all, but if
that is impossible, refuse as far as circumstances
allow.
\ Avoid entertainments given by outsiders and by
persons ignorant of philosophy ; but if an appro-
priate occasion arises for you to attend, be on the
The point of the story is that a man does not need to go to
a diviner in order to learn whether he should defend Ms
country or his friends. That question was long &go settled
by the greatest of diviners, Apollo at Delphi, who ordered to
be cast out of his temple an inquirer that had once failed to
defend his own friend.
5*?
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
apa VTroppv t?
ia&i ydpj STL, eav 6 eralpos y /te/ioXu^ei'o?, real
rov (Tvvavarpifibpevov avr< (rvjufM
dvdyfCT}, /cap avrbs &v rv^rj /ca&apos.
7 Ta irepl TO acofia fiexpi T%
7rapaKdfM/3av, olov rpo<f)d<>
oi/clav, olfceriav' TO Sc TT/JO? S6av
8 Ilepi d<j)po$tcria eh Svvafiiv Trpo jd^ov tca-
dapevreov* wnToy&vto ^e <Sv vofjufjuov <TTI yi6e-
rahijirreov. fjbrj p>evTQi eira^ffr]^ <yivov TO??
%pa)fjLvot,$ fjwj&e eXseyfCTLfcos* j^ySe 7roXka%ov TO
on avrbs ov %py y Trapdfape.
9 'Eai> T/9 o*o aTrayyeihy on o Sewd ere
X&yei, /AT; aTroXoyoi) TT/JO? Ta Xe%#ez>Ta, a
airo/cpivov Siori, "qyvoet, yap Ta aXka ra Trpo-
trojrra pot xa/cd t eirel ov/c CLV ravra
10 Ei? TO, 8ear pa TO TTO\V Traptevac, ov/c avay/caiov.
el Se TTOTe /caipo? eiij, /ATySez/i o-TrovBd^cov (fralvov
fj (reavr, TOUT' eari 6e\e yiveo-dat, fwva ra
ywofieva /cal vticav pavov rov vuc&vrcf OUT yap
oi*tc fnro8ta0^(T^ ^80^9 Se /cal rov eTTiyekav
rtvl rf eTrl TroXu (TvyKLvelcrQat, TravreX.? awe^ov.
/cal f&ercb TO awdXXayfjvai pry TroXXa Trepl r>v
yeyevijftlvwv SmXayoi/, &<ra prj tfrepei, Trpo? r^v
CT^F iiravopdwarw efufyaiverai yap e/c rov roiov-
rov y on id
THE ENCHEIR1DION OF EPICTETUS
alert to avoid lapsing into the behaviour of such
laymen. For you may rest assured, that, if a man's
companion be dirty, the person who keeps close
company with him must of necessity get a share of
his dirt, even though he himself happens to be clean.
jfln things that pertain to the body take only as
much as your bare need requires, I mean such
things as food, drink, clothing, shelter, and house-
hold slaves ; but cut down everything which is for
outward show or luxury.
i- In your sex-life preserve purity, as far as you can,
before marriage, and, if you indulge, take only those
privileges which are lawful. However, do not make
yourself offensive, or censorious, to those who do
indulge, and do not make frequent mention of the
fact that you do not yourself indulge.
f Jf someone brings you word that So-and-so is
speaking ill of you, do not defend yourself against
what has been said, but answer, " Yes, indeed, for
he did not know the rest of the faults that attach
to me ; if he had, these would not have been the
only ones he mentioned.'^ >^^w~*"*H*Zo
It is not necessary, for the most part, to go to
the public shows. If, however, a suitable occasion
ever arises, show that your principal concern is for
none other than yourself, which means, wish only
for that to happen which does happen, and for him
only to win who does win ; for so you will suffer no
hindrance. But refrain utterly from shouting, or
laughter at anyone, or great excitement. And after
you fcave left, do not talk a great deal about what
took place, except in so far as it contributes to your
owe improvement; for such behayiour indicates that
the spectacle has aroused your admiration.
319
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
11 B aKpo<Ti$ TIV&V p/rj
iraoiQc. vrapicov Se TO cre/ivov feat ro l evc
teal afia avert a%6e<$ fyv
12 "Qrav TLV\ ue\
ev VTrepoxfi SOKOVVT&V, irpofiake cravr, rt av
ev TOVTCO ^co/cp drrj^ ^ Ztfvcov, real OVK
TOV %pi]cracr6 } ai 7rpoa"rjfc6vTG)s r&
IS efnrecrovTt. orav fyoirqs irpos Tiva r&v jjueya
V) 7r/3o/3aXe, on ov% evpijcrew avrov
ov, OTI aTTOK\ei<rQr)crri t QTt, VTwa%0rjcrovTai*
<rot, al dvpai y OTI ov fypovTiec aov icav <rvv
TOVTOIS iXQeiv KCtOrfKr), t\,d(bv (f>ep TO, <yivopva
/cal p,r}$&7roT eiTrys avTo$ TT/JO? eavTov OTL cc OVK
fjv TOCTOVTOV w * l^LcdTtKov jap KOI
7Tpb$ TO, 6/CTO9.
14: *Ey rai? o/itX/at? aireo-TG) TO eavTov
epjf&v $i KivBvvwv 7rl TroXu teal
a"6ai. ov yap, 9 crol ^Bv >I TO T&V
KWO'VV&V /j/j,vi]<r8at>, OVTCD /cal
<?Tl TO TOOP (Tol CTV^G^rjKOTCdV
15 *A.iTO'T Se KOI TO fyeXcoTa Kivelv* o\ia9if)pQ$
<yap o T/)07ro? 3 t? i$[,G)Ti,(T/jibv fcal a/j,a itcavos
Tvyv atS T^F TTpo? ere TWV i 7T\ t y](riov
16 7cr$aXe9 8e /cal TO
$Tav ovv TI (ruuflrj TOIOVTOV, av aev evicaipov y,
* In Nil. only. 2 Nil. : ttcrtvaxO-fKrovrat MSS.
3 un. s NIL, SimpL: rfaos MSS.
1 A favourite way of introducing a new work of literature
to fee reading :pabMc, somewhat like our modern musical
520
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
Do not go rashly or readily to people's public
readings/ but when you do go, maintain your own
dignity and gravity, and at the same time be careful
not to make yourself disagreeable.
When you are about to meet somebody,, in
particular when it is one of those men who are
held in very high esteem, propose to yourself the
question, " What would Socrates or Zeno have done
under these circumstances?" and then you will
not be at a loss to make proper use of the occasion.
When you go to see one of those men who have
great power, propose to yourself the thought, that
you will not find him at home, that you will be
shut out, that the door will be slammed in your
face, that" he will pay no attention to you. And
if, despite all this, it is your duty to go, go and
take what comes, and never say to yourself, "It
was not worth all the trouble." For this is character-
istic of the layman, that is, a man who is vexed at
externals.
your conversation avoid making mention at
at length and excessively of your own deeds or
tigers, because it is not as pleasant for others to
hear about your adventures, as it is for you to call
to mind your own dangers. ^f?
Avoid also raising a laugh, for this is a kind of
behaviour that slips easily into vulgarity, and at
the same time is calculated to lessen the respect
which your neighbours have of you. It is dajaggrous
also to lapse into foul language. When, therefore,
anything of the sort occurs, if trie occasion be
suitable, go even so far as to reprove the person
recitals, or artists* exhibitions. See also III. 23 for similar
public lectures given by a philosopher,
521
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
/col 7ri7r\rj^ap T& <jrpoe\0QV r n* el Be ^ rq> ye
a7ro(TiG)7rrio*ai teal epvOpiacrai /cal cr/evOpanrdcrat,
8^X09 yivov Bvcrxepawwv TO> \oy<p.
C. 34. "Orav rjSovrj? TWOS fyavracriav
KaBdirep eirl T&V a\\v, (f>v\acrcre (ravrov,
ffwapTracrdrj? vi? avTTJs* aXX* e/cSe^dcrdco ere TO
Trpcvypa, fcal avafiokrjv rwa irapa creavTov \d/3e.
7Tira jj,vr}crd'r]Ti a^orsp&v r&v xpovtov, /caff ov
rfj? 97^0^779, /cal tcaO* ov a7ro\avcra$
r}(T!,<$ /cal avros creavTG* \oiBo-
teal TOVTOIS avTiQ&t OTTG)<? aTToa^Q^evo^
t,<$ /cal zTraivzcrsis avros creavrov. eav
Se croi Kaipw $<*>v% atyatrBat, rov epyov,
7T/)OCT%, /Jfff yTTtjO-y <T TO TTpOCT'rjVeS dVTOV
ySv fcal 7rajG)yov* *aXX' avTirldet,, Troacp
TO crvv&evai creavTa TavTyv TVJV viKr\v
KOTl.
c 35. ''QTOV TI Biayvofay OTL KOiijTeo
TTO^?, fJWjS&iroTe <f>vyy<> b<f>d'fjvai Trpdcrcr&v CLVTO,
/tap a\\Qt6v Tt fte\\a>crut ol 7ro\\ol irepl avTOV
fj7rtikap>f3dvGiv. el pev jap ovtc op6to$ irotek)
avTO TO epyov <j>ev<ye* el Be op&G>$, rl fyofSjj TO v?
7n7r\ij!;ovTa$ ov/c opO&s ;
c. 36. C O? TO "foipa fori" *al "vvg iarrt"
fJ>ev TO Bie%vy/J,evov fteyd^v l%e^ agtav,
Be TO (rvfJiTreTTXeyfJievojs 07ra%lav t OVTCO /cal
1 Tlie ordJuaTy person, to fee sure, can no more call up a
blush off-hand than lie can a sneeze or a hiccough, and the
observation 'of nature implied by the command is, therefore,
imperfect (cl no*e in I Y. II, 1). But all Epictetus means is
that one should make no effort to conceal any natural ex-
pression of moral resentment under such ciretimstmees.
522
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
who has made such a lapse ; if, however, the occasion
does not arise, at all events show by keeping silence,
and klHshmg, 1 and frowning, that you are displeased
bvwhat has been said.
^^ When you get an external impression of
some pleasure, guard yourself, as with impressions
in general, against being carried away by it ; nay, let
the matter wait upon your leisure, and give yourself
a little delay. Next think of the two periods of time,
first, that in which you will enjoy your pleasure, and
second, that in which, after the enjoyment is over,
you will later repent and revile your own self; and
set over against these two periods of time how much
joy and self-satisfaction you will get if you refrain.
However, if you feel that a suitable occasion has
arisen to do the deed, be careful not to allow its
enticement, and sweetness, and attractiveness to
overcome you; but set over against all this the
thought, how much better is the consciousness of
having won a victory over it.
When you do a thing which you have made
up your mind ought to be done, never try not to be
seen doing it, even though most people are likely
to think unfavourably about it. If, however, what
you are doing is not right, avoid the deed itself
altogether; but if it is right, why fear those who
are going to rebuke you wrongly?
361 Just as the proposition^, "It is day," and c< It
is night," are full of meaning when separated, but
meaningless if united; 2 so also, granted that for
2 Compare I. 25, 11-13. It does not seem possible in our
idiom to use the same expressions for agio, 4t worth/* or
"*Yalue," which occurs three times in this section, and
cbroa, "lack of worth," or ** lack of value,* 5 which occurs
twice.
'5*3
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ro T
*)V fieife pepitia fc\e%a&0at, TT/W fiev TO,
a, e%6T< atiav, -rrpo? &s TO* TO KOLV^VIKQV
ev ecTTidaei, olov M, <f>v\d%ai, } a-ira%iav e%a.
orav ovv <rvve<r0iys erep^ p4fjuni<ro, fi povov
?rpo9 TO crw/ia a%iov r&v TrapafceijAev&v opav,
\a fcal rrjv TT/JO? TO^ ecmdropa al$& <j>v\d%ai. 2
c. 37. 'Eaz> virep Svva/Atv avakdftr)? TI Trpo-
, teal Iv rovrip rj&xypovrjaas icai,
c. 38. 'Ez> ra vrepiTrareiv KaOdirep
fjLTf eTTifiys ^X ^ arpe\jr^ rov TroSa <rov, ovra)
7T/30o-e%e, fir} fcal TO yyepoviKOV f3\d-ijrr)<; TO
aeavrov. /cat, TOVTO eav e<f>* efcdvrov epyov
7rapa<f>v\dtr(rG>fj>V, aafyake&Tepov a^rofieda rov
epyov.
c. 39, Merpov KTrjac? TO <r>fJ>a efcd&rq* o><?
7TOt9 V7ToS?7/taT09. IA^ /te*' OUZ/ CTTt TOVTOV
CFT^?, $v\d!;is TO fierpov iav 8e virepftg?, d><?
Kara Kprjfivov XOATTOI/ avd^jKr\ (f>epea0ai* /cad air p
/cal 67ri Toi5 vTroS^/iaTo?, eai/ uTrep TOJ/ 9roa
VTTpfBrj<;> ylverat, fcard^pvcrov vTroSypa, elra
7rop<j>vp0vv f /cevrrjTOV. rov yap &7ra^ virep TO
perpov 0^09 ouOefe Icrriv*
c. 40. At rfuvalices evOvs OTTO reo-crapecrxatSe/ca
VTTO ro)v dvSp&v /evpiat /ca\ovvrat. rot-
on. a\\o fiep ovSev avrai?
7rpa<r<rTi, povov Se cn^/Koi^vrai TOC<? dv&pdcri,
Km ev TOVT 7rdo~a<$
v& add^i by Schweighanser from Simplicius,
Sclrweigiiauser ; ofav St ^vXox^^
1 Tliat is, property, wMch is of Tise only for the body,
should be adjusted to a mwt's actual bodily needs, just as a
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
you to take the larger share at a dinner is good for
J our J>2^7^ still, it is bad for the maintenance of the
proper kind of social feeling. When, therefore, you
are eating with another person,, remember to regard,
not merely the value for your body of what lies
before you, but also to maintain your respect for
your host.
37. If you undertake a r61e which is beyond your
powers, you both disgrace yourself in that one, and
at the same time neglect the r61e which you might
have filled with success.
38. Just as you are careful, in walking about, not
to step on a nail or to sprain your ankle, so be care-
ful also not to .hurt your governing principle. And
if we observe this rule in every action, we shall be
more secure in setting about it.
39. Each man's body is a measure for his property, 1
just as the foot is a measure for his shoe. If, then,
you abide by this principle, you will maintain the
proper measure, but if you go beyond it, you cannot
help but fall headlong over a precipice, as it were,
in the end. So also in the case of your shoe; if
once you go beyond the foot, you get first a gilded
shoe, then a purple one, then an embroidered one.
For Once you go beyond the measure there is no
limit.
40. Immediately after they are fourteen, women
are called " ladies " by men. And so when they see
that they have nothing else but only to be the bed-
fellows of men, they begin to beautify themselves,
shoe is (or at least should be) adjusted to the actual needs of
a man's foot. The comparison seems to have "been a
commonplace ; see Demophilus, Swniti&udmes, 20 (Mullaefe) ;
Horace, Epist. I. 7, 98 and 10, 42 f .
%*$
A BRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
ra? eXTriSa?. Trpocre^eiv oZv aj;iov, iva
tOTi CTT* ovSevi a
$aive<jdai fcal aiStff
C. 41. 'A<fta<? (T^jJi^LOV TO
pl TO <r)ju,a, olov eTrl TroXv yv/AvaQcrOai,, eirl
, eirl TroXu iriv6tv } eirl TTO\V airo-
iv, ojfevetv. a\\a Tavra pep iv Trapepyq)
Trepl fie Trp ^v^y^v r) Tracra ecrrco
c. 42. "Qrav ere TI? KCLK&S TTOITJ rj fca/c&$
or& Ka9r)KGiv avtcd olofJt,vo<
olov re ovv aicokovOelv avrov r> crol
, el feaK&$ avrw 2
<j>aiVTac, eicelvos ftXaTrrerai,, ocrns teal e^rj-
Trdriyrcu. fcal <yap TO aTwjOes
av Tt9 virdkafiri tyevSos, ov TO
/B^/SXaTTTai, aXX* o e^aTrar^dei^. airo TOVTWV
ovv op/w/i/o9 7rpa(&$ ej*t><$ TT/?O? TOP \oi8opovVTa*
emcfrffeyyov jap e<p fcdcrT& OTI " eSo^ev avT&
c. 43. Hav TTpajjjia Bvo %i XayS<29, Trjv jmev
<f>opv}T7}v, Tr)V oe a^opTjTov. o aSeX^>o? lav
ao'tfefj, iv,Tv0ev avTQ py \dp.f3ave, OTI aSi/eei
(a&TV} jap 07 ~kaftr) IGTIV avTOv ov C^O/^TT;), aXXa
arvpTpotpos, teal
1 O Tin., Kil. : affi'fijjuives ey ffOMppocrityri other MSS.
2 TIE., ML (ed. Rom.) : om. other MSS.
1 Two judgements connected with " and." Zeller, Philo-
sopMe $&r GrwcheM,* HL 1 (1909), 106, and note 3. Compare
also I. 26, 14; 31, &, 8 An example of an inconsistent
composite Judgement is ^en in Mw^. 36.
526
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
and put all their hopes in that. It is worth while
for us to take pains, therefore, to make them under-
stand that they are honoured for nothing else but
only for appearing modest and self-respecting.
41. It is a mark of an unsifted man to spend a
great deal of time in what concerns his body, as in
much exercise, much eating, much drinking, much
evacuating of the bowels, much copulating. But
these things are to be done in passing ; and let your
whole attention be devoted to the mind.
42. When someone treats you ill or speaks ill
of you, remember that he acts or speaks thus
because he thinks it is incumbent upon him. That
being the case, it is impossible for him to follow
what appears good to you, but what appears good
to himself; whence it follows,, that, if he gets a
wrong view of things, the man that suffers is the
man that has been deceived. For if a person thinks a
true composite judgement 1 to be false, the composite
judgement does not suffer, bat the person who has
been deceived. If, therefore, you start from this
point of view, you will be gentle with the man who
reviles you. For you should say on each occasion,
ee He thought that way about it."
j^Jo) Everything has two handles, by one of which
it "tmght to be carried and by the other not. If
your Igojjier wrongs you, do not lay hold of the
matter by the handle of the wrong that he is doing,
because this is the handle by which the matter
ought not to be carried ; but rather by the other
handle that he is your brother, that you were
brought up together, and then you will be laying
hold of the matter by the handle by which it ought
to be carried.
5*7
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
c. 4:4:. QVTQL ol \6yoi a&vvaKTOi' ef eyco o~ov
7rX0i/<7G>re/}(>9 elfu, lya> aov apa
tc eyco <TOV \oyictiTepoS} j(i> (Tov apa
GKelvoL Se fjuaXkov crvvaKTtKoi" " eyw crov irXov-
at,ct)Tpo$ eifit, r) e/J-r} apa Krrjcn^ T?;? o"fj$ Kpei&~
<rov \Q f yi(i> f repo$ ) 77 epv) apa Xe^69 r^9
-^. 9 J <ru Se <ye ovre KTrjcrt,? el ovre Xe^t9.
c. 45. A.overai r^9 raeo)^ fj,rj etTrrj^ OTL
aX,X* on
TO So^/ta, irodev olcrda, el
<roi aXXffli' 2 pev
e av<y/ca-
1 c, 46. M^Sa/toi) creawrov ^779 <pt,\6<ro<f)ov yu-^Se
TO TroXu ez^ t&Tat? irepl r&v
TroLet, TO airb T&V dG&pyjAdT&v' olov ev
crv/j,7ro(Ti<*) pfy Xe^e, 77^9 Bel e&Oiew, aXX* ecr^ie,
<9 e. /MGfivrjo-o yap, OTI OVTCOS a^p^fcet iravra-
T7)^ TO eTri&eiKTifcov, >G 4 r\pyov*ro
SovXo/tei/ot <j>i\ocro<f)oi$ VTT avTov
/ccucelvo? aTrrjyev ayrou9. o{;T6>9
KQV
K&TTCL TO
yap o /cipSwos evOvs l
2 C nn^ ML, Simpl. : #AAas other MSS.
s C TIB., NIL : KaTa\apdyty other MSS.
4 C an., NIL, Simpl. : om. here but placed before K&V
(below) by other MSS.
THE ENCHEIRWION OF EPICTETUS
44. The following statements constitute a non
sequitur : I am richer than you are, therefore I am
superior to you"; or, "I am more eloquent than
you are, therefore I am superior to you." But the
following conclusions are better: cf l am richer than
you are, therefore my property is superior to yours " ;
or, " I am more eloquent than you are, therefore my
elocution is superior to yours." But you are neither
prmerty nor elocution.
$5^ Somebody is hasty about bathing ; 1 do not say
that he bathes badly, but that he is hasty about
bathing. Somebody drinks a good deal of wine ; do
not say that he drinks badly, but that he drinks a
good deal. For until you have decided what judge-
ment^ prompts him, how do you know that what he
isdoing is bad ? And thus the final result will not
be that you receive convincing sense-impressions of
some things, but give your assent to others.
46. On no occasion call yourself a philosopher,
and do not, for the most part, talk among laymen
about your philosophic principles, but do what
follows from your principles. For example, at a
banquet do not say how people ought to eat, but
eat as a man ought. For remember how Socrates
had so completely eliminated the thought of osten-
tation, that people came to him when they wanted
him to introduce them to philosophers, and he used
to bring them along. So well did he submit to being
overlooked. And if talk about some philosophic
principle arises among laymen, keep silence for the
most part, for there is great danger that you will
spew up immediately what you have not digested.
1 The implication must be that a hurried bath, like a
hurried shave, is apt to leave something to be desired*
529
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
(rot Ti?, oVt ovSev olc
teal av IJLTJ 8??^#$9, Tore luQi, on, ap^y rov ep^yov.
7T\ fcal ra rrpoftara ov ^oprov <f>epovra TQ?<?
TTOCTOV e$>a<yev 9 aX\a TTJV
epia, e^o> <f>epei KOI
/cal crv roivvv /AT} ra dcooptj/JLara roi? i&ico
7rt&"tKVV 9 aXX' air auT&v TrefyOevrtoV ra
epya.
c. 47. ff Qrav evrek&$ ypjuiocr/Aevos #9 Kara TO
l TOVTO) /t^S', av vScap
s, /c ircLcrf]^ a^>oppij^ Xeye, ort vSc&p Trivet,?.
&V a<TKr}<rai vrore 7r/?05 TTQVOV Bekrjs, creavrq* KOL
a\\a Sity&v Trore &(f)oSpa)<> eTricr'jracrat,
1 c. 4:8. ^IBicorov ardcrif /cal ^apa/cr^p' ovBerrore
ej; eavrov TTpo&Bo/ca oxpeXetav rj /3\dj3r]V, aXX 1
avo rSiw e%. <j>i\o(r6<j)ov ardai^ fcal ^apaxrijp*
iraaav G><pe\tav /cal f$Xd/3r}v el* eavrov irpoa--
TTpOKoirrovro^ ovSeva -fye<yei 9 ovSez/a
vSeva /lefK^erat) ovSevl eyfca~\>i, ov^ev
rrepl eavrov \ejei co? OI>TO? rivos TJ elSoros TI. o rav
/cav
, /caraiyeka rov Irfaivovvros avrb?
Trap 9 eavr<p* /cav ^7??, ovte arro\Qyelrai,. Trepiet-
1 Tliat is, in cold weatfeer (see IIL 12, 2 and 10), because
tMs takes a person out of doors where people can see him.
2 See EH, 1^ 17, and note.
530
THE ENCHEIRWION OF EPICTETUS
So when a man tells you that you know nothing,
and you, like Socrates, are not hurt, then rest
assured that you are making a beginning with the
business you have undertaken. For sheep, too, do
not bring their fodder to the shepherds and show
how much they have eaten, but they digest their
food within them, and on the outside produce wool
and milk. And so do you, therefore, make no dis-
play to the laymen of your philosophical principles,
but let them see the results which come from these
principles when digested.
47. When you have become adjusted to simple
living in regard to your bodily wants, do not preen
yourself about the accomplishment ; and so likewise,
if you are a water-drinker, do not on every occasion
say that you are a water-drinker. And if ever you
want to train to develop physical endurance, do it
by yourself and not for outsiders to behold; do not
throw your arms around statues, 1 but on occasion,
when you are very thirsty, take cold water into your
mouth, and then spit it out, without telling anybody, 2
^^ This is the position and character of a layman :
He never looks for either help or harm from him-
self, but only from externals. This is the position
and character of the philosopher : He looks for all
his help or harm from himself.
Signs of one who is making progress are: He
censures no one, praises no one, blames no one,
finds fault with no one, says nothing about himself
as though he were somebody or knew something.
When he is hampered or prevented, he blames him-
self. And if anyone compliments him, he smiles to
himself at the person complimentirig ; while if any-
one censures him, he makes no defence. He goes
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
t Se Kadanrep ol appoMTTOi, v\a>f3ov}jLVQ<; TL KL-
3 opefyv airacrav rjpfcev e eavrov' TTJV S*
efc fiova, TO, Trapa <pvcriv r&v i<f> J
oppf} Trpbs airavra aveii^vg %p^ra. cuv rf
r} afJUtOrjs Sofcfj, ov Tre^povrticev. vL re \oya>, 009
^6 pop eavrov Trapa^vKda-creL /cal 7TL/3ov\ov.
c. 49. "Qrav r^? eirl T& voeiv KOI
SvvaaOai ra ^KpvorirrTrov f3
avrbs irpbs eavrov on, *' el /MI} XpuowTra? a<
av etei>
P6T0"
'Eyco Se rl /Bovhofjuii, ; KarapaOelv rr\v <f>v<riv
/cal ravrr} eTreadai. f^rci o5i/, Tt? ecnriv 6 G
v* /cal a/covaa^ o-n
Jo? airrov. aX>J ov voS> ra
ovv TOP e%rjjovfjVQV teal /&G%/M TOVTGW OVTTO)
wSev. orav Se evpc* TOP eg
TO airro ftovov ae^vov IGTW* av Se avTo TOVTO
TO ^rjyel<r0ai> dav^da-a, rt aXXo rj <ypa/j,[j,aTifCQ<;
a i were)^iG0'Y}v CLVT\ (f>i^ocro^ov ; 7T\rjv ye Srj OTL
avrl 'QfjLTjpov Xpvff&Tnrov e^Tjjovfjt&vos, yttaXXar
ovv, OTav TI$ elirrf pot ef ewavdyvoodi /WM 1 Xpu-
F," epu0pt,a> 9 OTav /j,rj Svvco/juii o/wia ra
. c* 50, f 'Q
1 In A alone*
532
THE ENCHEIRID10N OF EPICTETUS
about like an invalid, being careful not to disturb,
before it has grown firm, any part which is getting
well. He has put away from himself his every desire,
and has transferred his aversion to those things only,
of what is under our control, which are contrary to
nature. He exercises no pronounced choice in
regard to anything. If he gives the appearance
of being foolish or ignorant he does not care. In
a word, he keeps guard against himself as though
he were his own enemy lying in wait.
49. When a person gives himself airs because he
can * understand and interpret the books of Chry-
sippus, say to yourself, "If Chrysippus had not
written obscurely, this man would have nothing
about which to give himself airs/'
But what is ib I want ? To learn nature and to
follow her. I seek, therefore, someone to interpret
her ; and having heard that Chrysippus does so, \
go to him. But I do not understand what he has
written ; I seek, therefore, the person who inter-
prets Chrysippus. And down to this point there
is nothing to justify pride. But when I find the
interpreter, what remains is to put his precepts into
practice ; this is the only thing to be proud about.
If, however, I admire the mere act of interpretation,
what have I done but turned into a grammarian
instead of a philosopher? The only difference,
indeed, is that I interpret Chrysippus instead of
Homer. Far from being proud, therefore, when
somebody says to me, " Read me Chrysippus," I
blush the rather, when I am unable to show him
suchTdeeds as match and harmonize with bis .words.
50. Whatever principles are set before you, stand
fast by these like laws, feeling that it would be
533
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
dcreptfa-wv, av 7rapaj3fj$) efifjieve. o TI S* av epy
W Trepl aov, PTJ eiria-rpi^ov' rovro jap ou/c IT*
ecrri aov.
c. 51. Et9 TTolov TL xpovov dva/Bd~k\r) TO T&V
/3e\TicrTa>v afyovv aeavrov KOI ev /ATjBevl irapa-
TOP Sicupovvra \6yov; TrapeiXvjfias ra
ol? eSe* ere av/jif3d\\eiv t /cal
irolov ovv en SiSdcrKa\ov
iva els ercelvov VTrepOy rrjv 7rav6p8cocrt,v f n~Qt,rj(rai,
rrjv creavTov ; ov/c en el p^ipdiuov, a\\a avrjp
tf$rj Te\eio$. av vvv afie\r)cr'r)$ /cal paOvfiijo-Tjs
teal del TTpoOecre^ 1 e/c irpoBeaecd^ 2 'iroir)* teal
a\\a<? GTT aXXa^9 opi^jis, fieO* a? Trpo-
ov
ea"69 KOI
778*7 ovv a%Laso-ov creavrov fiiovv c&? re\iov /cal
TTaV TO jSekTMTTOV <j>aCv6f*,VQV
aot vofLO? aTrapafiaros. Kav eiriirovov TI
on vvv o drf&ru teal 17^77 Trdpecm ra 'OXu/tTTfa teal
OVK ecrriv dvaf3dX\ecr0ai, ovtcen /cal OT** Trapa
fiiav %/Aepav teal ev IT posy pa* Aral 8 aTroXkwrai
3 TTpo/coTrr} /cal tTGp&Tai. ^oo/cpdrr)? OUTO)? aTre-
TeXeo-%, irl Trdvrcov T&V Trpoo-ayopevcov avrp 7
i aXX) Trpocre^wv ^ rq> \6yq>. crv Be el teal
el So^paT^?, cb? Sa>/c/>aT?79 ye elvai
ftiovv.
1 A TIB., Nil. : incepe&ets the other MSS.
2 A un., Nil.: ^rep^res- ( er) the other MSS.
3 Nil.: iroifsJ^icfe.
* (several), Nil : In the other MSS.
5 %ppaKr K<tl %y irpayfjux. SiiBpi : ^TTOF icol erfoarw
6 C uri., Nil., Simpli : f the other MSS. (except in the
second case \ iced B A sing.}.
554
THE ENCHEIRIDION OF EPICTETUS
impiety for you to transgress them. But pay no
attention to what somebody says about you, for this
is, at length, not under your control.
How lon ^ y u sti11 waifc to ihink yourself
wortny of the best things, and in nothing to trans-
gress against the distinctions set up by the^ceasoi? ?
You have received the philosophical principles
which you ought to accept, and you have accepted
them. What sort of a teacher, then, do you still wait
for, that you should put off reforming yourself until
he arrives ? You are no longer a lad, but already a
full-grown jaaan. If you are now neglectful and
easy-going, ami always making one delay after
another, and fixing first one day and then another,
after which you will pay attention to yourself, then
without realizing it you will make no progress, but,
living and dying, wiD continue to be a layman
throughout. M&^j^^my mind, tJierefcre, before
it is too ^ late, tha^ thejrttmg thing for you to do is
to live jig^ujaature man who is making JDrsgrjgss,
and let everything which seems to you to be best
be for you & law that must not be transgressed.
And if you meet anything that is laborious,, or
sweet, or held in high repute, or in no repute,
remember that now is the contest, and here before
you are the Olympic games, and that it is impossible
to delay any longer, and that it depends on a single
day and a single action, whether progress is lost or
saved. This is the way Socrates became what he
was, by paying attention to nothing bet bis jaeasoji
in everything that he encountered. And even if
you are not yet a Socrates, still you ought to live as
one who wishes to be a Socrates.
.,* T,S>v irpoffwyoft-GVMV avrtp Meibom I Trpocrdytav kcuar&v JEfotcfo.
535
ARRIAN'S DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
1 c. 52* *O 7rpft>TO9 teal avayfcaioraTos TOTTO?
ecrrlp ev fyiKocrofylq o T?J$ xptfcrecos r&v @G)pr}fji,d-
v t olov TO 1 fjaj tyevSecrOai,* o Seu
v, olov Trodev STL ov Set
TOVTCOV ftepaiarifcbs /cal
oV, olov TToOev on TQVTO a7roSei^t9/ TI yap
eariv airoBe^^, ri a/co\ov@la t ri pax?), *ri a\r)d^ t
2 rl ^uSo9 / OVKOVV o iiV TptTO<? TO7TO9 avajfcaio?
Sia rbv Sevrepov, 6 Xe Bevrepos Bia TOP Trp&Tov
o Se ava<y/caiOTaTO$ /cal OTTOV avairave&O ai Sei> 6
el^ Se efiira^tv Trotovfiev ev >yap rq>
TQTTtp Bt,aTpij3o/AV KO,l 7Tpl GKz
rraaa crirovStj' TOV Se Trpcarov iravTek
roi^fapovv tyevSo/jLeOa ^iv, TTW?
on ov SGI ^frevSecrffai,,
1 c. 53. 'E^ri TTCLVTOS Trpo^ei^pa e/ereov 2 ravra"
ayov Se 3 JJL \ & Zev, real crv j 4 ^ TLeirpcofievrj,
o-TTOt 'jroff vfuv el pi SiaTGTayfAevos 1
cb? ^rofiai 7' aovo9* fjv Se ye p/r) 6e\a),
2 " o<7T9 8* avdytcy
fronds Trap" rjpZv^ /cal ra 6eT 5 GT
S " aXX*, (5 Kpircov, el ravry TOA? 0ol$ </>/Xoz/,
4 ravry yV<r8a)"
/te Se v Apwro? teal M\7;T09 6 airo/CTelvat, pev
1 un., and perhaps Simpl. : 5 rdv the other MBS.
2 BQim,, Far., Simpl. : evicr4ov the otiier MS.
a Meibom (from the Dim.) : Sye 5^ /*e ^^.
* MeiJx>m (froM in three of the four quotations In the
Disc. ) : /coC A im, , find S generally. The other MSS. omit.
& G noun., Hmirdi ; 0* tne other MSS. Metros MSS.
536
THE ENCHE2RIDION OF EPICTETUS
2^ The first and most necessary division in
philosophy is that which has to do with the appli-
cation of the principles, as, for example,, Do not
lie. The second deals with the demonstrations, as,,
for example, How comes it that we ought not to
lie ? The third confirms and discriminates between
these processes, as, for example, How does it come
that this is a proof? For what is a proof, what is
logical consequence, what contradiction, what truth,
what falsehood? Therefore, the third division is
necessary because of the second, and the second
because of the first ; while the most necessary of all,
and the one in which we ought to rest, is the first.
But we do the opposite ; for we spend our time in
the third division, and all our zeal is devoted to it,
while we utterly neglect the first. Wherefore, we
lie, indeed, but are ready with the arguments which
prove that one ought not to lie.
53. Upon every occasion we ought to have the
following thoughts at our command :
Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny,
To that goal long ago to me assigned.
I'll follow and not falter ; if my ^atl
Prove weak and craven, still I'll follow on. 1
' ' Whoso has rightly with necessity complied,
We count him wise, and skilled in things divine." 2
{** Well, O Crito, if so it is pleasing to the gods, so
let it be." s
"Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they
cannot hurt me." 4
1 From Cleanthes. See note on II. 23, 42.
2 Euripides, frag. 965 Nauck.
8 Plato, Qrito, 43 D (slightly modified).
* Plato, Apology, 30 CM} (somewhat modified).
537
INDEX
ABANDON one's own people. 103, 509
Aberration, 473 ' '
Abject, 197, 203, 237-9, 261, 31S, 365,
429
Abroad, going, 209-11, 215
Abscess, 181
Abstention, 85
Abstinence, 157, 319
Academy, 321
Acceptance, 449
Accident, 229
Accusers of Socrates, 287
Accusing, 35, 45
Acheron, 93
Achilles, 183, 406-9
Acquaintances, 187, 205, 307
Acquiescence, 233
Acropolis, 207, 273
Act, one's own, 267-9
Action, 31, 317, 329
Activities, 433 ; of reason, 421
Actor, 301, 365, 497; comic, 35, 39
Admetus, 119
Administration, 511
Admiration, 199, 231, 371, 519
Adonis, 389
Adulterer, 31, 309, 381
Adultery, 395
Advancement at court, 433 j
Advantage, 119-21. 265, 335,^355, 375
Adventures, 521
Advertising, 179
Advice, 463
Adze, 377
Aegisthus, 19
Aeolus, 159
Affection 203-5, 211, 307
Agamemnon, 133, 141-2, 300
Age, proper, 129
Aggressor, 343
Agrippinus, 465-7,
Air, 193, 449: airs, putting pn, 17
Aldbiades, 344
Alexander, 161, 207
Aliens, 517
Alone. See Forlorn.
Ambassador, 275
Ambition, 329
Amendment, 129
Anasarchus, 206
Ancestors, 247, 297
Anchor, 47S; at anchor, 489
Andromache, 169
Anger, 27, 79, 91, 103, 135, 429, 451,
465,509
Animal, 363, 409-11, 443 ; caged and
free, 251-3 ; rational and irrational,
471 ; tame, 285, 469
Ankle, 101, 507, 525
Annoyance, 427, 463
Another (=* Q-od), 21, 33. 93, 279. 4$7
Antecedent, 51
Anticipation. 451
Antipater, 27, 125
Anasttxenes, 153, SOS, 283, 353
Anxiety, 397-9, 405
Anytus, 177, 537
Ape, 103, 509
Apollo, 11, 73, 89 j Paeam, 73;
Pythian, 517
Apollonius, 87
Appearances, 201, 339
Appetite, 117
Applause, 173, 197, 325
Apple, 339
Application of principles, 265, 529-33,
Approval, 451
Apron, 381
ApruUa, 295
Archedemsus, 27, 125
Archelaus, 455
Archery, 357
Archidamns, 299
Arethas, 150
Argos, 189, 237
Arguments, 293, 303, 427, 537
Ar,gus 19. 167
Axisteides, 393
539
INDEX
Aristophanes. 417; (of Byzantium),
18
Armament, 253
Armour, 351
Arms, 503, 509
Army, 195
Arrian, 449, 453
Arrogance, 85, 295
Art and Arts, 35, 57, 125, 171, 377,
427; small, 179
Artaxerxes Ochus, 253
Asclepius, 385
Ashamed. See Shame,
Ashes, 233
Ass, 59, 99, 149, 309, 339. See also
Donkey.
Assent, 23, 29, 53, 85, 145, 167, 267,
317, 349, 355, 397, 411, 451, 471, 529
Assessing penalty, 205
Assistance, 501-3
Associates, 193
Athena, 89
Athenians, 161, 207, 299, 301
Athens, 55, 149, 161, 179, 189, 197,
203-9, 217-9, 303, 327, 455
Athlete, 101-3, 107, 119, 125, 139,
151, 169, 225, 281, 317, 325, 509, 517
Atoms, 441
Attach oneself, 275-7
Attachment, 211
Attendant, 117, 233
Attention, 167, 375, 423 fi% 471, 489,
535 ; personal. 505
Airfare, 393
Attractive and Attractiveness, 85,
163, 523
Audience, 173-5, 182-3, 457
Auspices, 223
Authority, 207, 367, 425
Automedon, 407
Aversion and Avoidance, 21-3, 29* 47,
57-9, 81-7, 99, 135, 141, 145-7, 153,
167, 173, 203, 231, 323-5, 341, 351,
383, 399, 411, 419, 441, 471, 483-5,
495, 513-5, 533; Treatise on, 319
Avoidance. See Aversion.
Awe, 147, 371
Axe, 377
Babble and Babbler, 197, 433-5
Baby, 155
Bad, 79, m-3 289, 347, 375-7,
381 ; man, 245-7. See also Em**,
54
Bag, 467
Bailiff of the Free Cities, 49 ft
Banishment, 219
Banker, 29
Banquet, 105, 461, 495, 529
Barbarisms, 69
Barea Soranus, 292
Barley, 99, 271, 463; -meal, 455
Base, the, 55, 329
Bath and Bathing, 71, 117, 225, 235,
259, 317, 323, 377, 415-17, 421,
487, 503, 529 ; public, 486; -tnb, 155
Battle, 91; -field, 155
" Bear and Forbear," 455
Beard, 13, 379, 381
Bearing grudges, 335
Beast, 413
Beaten (defeated), 509
Beating, 167, 269, 369 ; to death, 59
Beautiful and Beauty, 5-9, 15, 19, 21,
175, 327, 391-3, 407, 419
Beautifying, 525
Bed, 43, 71, 239, 387; hard, 133;
-fellows, 525
Bedroom, 135 ; -door, 59
Bee, 167, 273
Beeswax, 339
Begetting children, 57
Beggar, 79, 135, 161, 229, 257, 457, 497
Beginner, 85, 95
Beginning, 531
Beheading, 259, 287, 371
Being, problem of, 441-3
Benches, 183 ; the judge's bench, 197
Benefit, 497
Besiegers, 341
Best thing in the world, 49-53
Bile, 393
Birds, 251
Birth, 279-81, 337
Biting, 287
Blackguards, 197
Blacksmith, 171, 503
Blame and Blaming, 77, 147, 151, 203,
209, 233, 329, 363, 375-7, 381, 483,
489, 513, 517
Blessed, 121, 367-9
Bund and Blinded, 139, 235, 383-5,
447
Blossom, 389
Blow the nose, 491
Blowhard, 385
Blows, 223
Blush and Blushing, 57, 459, 465, 523,
533
INDEX
Boar, 399
Body, 21, 47-9, 53, 73, 77,93, 113,
137-9, 141-5, 161, 167, 207, 267-73,
279, 283, 289, 297-301, 311, 325,
359, 367, 413-19, 443-5, 459, 465,
467-9, 475, 483, 491, 497, 507, 515,
525-7; -guard, 163-5, 275
Bold, 453
Bombast, 459
Bonds, 267, 367
Bones, 373
Book, 159, 313-17, 325, 375, 405, 533
Borrowing, 347
Bow, of ship. 195
Bowels, 393 r
Boy, 33, 55, 395,* pretty, 249:
-favourite, 135
Braggart, 199, 347 -
Brave, 247
Break wind, 159
Breast, 203
Bridle, 271, 463
Brigand and Brigandage, 91, 193, 467
Bronze, 141
Brother,.23, 31, 79-81, 87-9, 115, 125,
145, 149, 159, 165, 201, 205, 209-11,
267, 275, 283, 343, 373, 435, 511,
527
Brotherly love, 31 .
Brushing teeth, 467
Brutal and Brutality,, 331 ff., E35 *
Builder -and Building, 77, 125, 451
Bulb, 489
Bull, 13, 133, 167, 391
Burden, 349, 435
Bushel-irieasure, 233
Business, 321, 3&7, 501: one's true.
345, 399
Busybody, 165
Buying'and selling, 261
Oaesar, 29, 31, 37-9, 59, 61, 69, 91,
103-4, 149-51, 223, 247-9, 257-,
263, 277, 315-17, 369, 431, 435, 511 ;
friend of, 247; household of, 357
Cage, 251
Oake, 345, 463; sweet, 507
Calf, 133
Gallicles, 331
Calling of a Cynic, 131-69
Calm, 359, 401-3, 459, 493, 511
Campaign, 193-7, 249-51, 255
Capitol, 223
Captain, 195, 489
Captives, 285 '
Careful, 159
Carelessness, 381, 515
Caring for men, 205
Carpenter, 137, 171, 377-81, 423, 427
Cash, 433
Oassiope, 50-1
Cassias, 313
Category, 179
Cattle, 13, 69, 323
Cautery, 157
Censorious, 519
Censure and Censuring, 163-5, 225,
229,427,531
Ohaeroneia, 139
Chains, 285, 431
Chamberlain, 361, 367
Chance gift, 129
Change, 215, 449 ; periodic, 187
Chapel, 127
Character, 309, 517
Charm, natural, 163
Chase, 287
Cheerfulness, 445
Cheese, 48-9
Child and Children, 33, 55-7, 71, 93,
101, 105, 115-7, 125, 147, 153-9,
165, 169, 173, 187-9, 203-5, 211-13,
235, 267, 275, 279-83, 29$, 299, SOI,
361, 369, 37$, 387, 443, 445, 487-91,
495-7, 505, 509-13; children's
children, 193
Chill, 153
Choice, 23, 57-9, 81, 85, 141, 145-7,
167, 203, 245, 267, 275, 319, 3.
351, 355, 367, 411, 419, 441, 447,
471, 483, 487, 533; of God, 277;
treatise on, 319
Choice lions, 335
Chores, 441; singer, 96-7
Christians, 362
Chronic disorders, 109
Ohrvsippus, 27, 44, 71, 125, 211, 393,
449, 533
Circumspection, 101-3, 50$
Circumstances, 263
Circus, 10&i 4t>3
Citadel, 27S-5
Cithara, 381
Cltharoede, 171, 1T9 375
Citizen (and duties of), 13, 17, 23, 49,
55, 125, 199, SOI, 221, 339, 501-3,
511; of universe, 191
atizenship, 57, 199
dfcy, .93, 147, 155, 273, 30^ 417 ;
imperial, 195 ; -state, 201
541
INDEX
Civil strife, 343
Clap hands, 187
Claque, 37
Class-room, 109
Clay, 145, 279
Clean and Cleanliness, 20-1, 163,
409 ff.
Oleanthes,181,235,305,327; quoted,
165, 289, 327, 537
Climate, 109
Cloak, fancy, 183 ; little, 157; purple,
457; rough, 13, 133, 147, 377-81,
387, 421
Clothes, 135, 239, 267, 393-5, 413,
417, 463; clothing, 519. See also
Press, and Raiment*
Club, 59
Cnossos, 65
Ooal105
Cobbler, 67, 199, 201, 235, 427, 503;
-*s apple, 338
Cobbling, 171
Cock, 21, 235, 287
Cocytus, 93
Coin and Coinage, 29-43, 337, 501
Cold, 193, 353, 457, 465, 507; water,
101, 507
Collapse of building, 451
Colophon, 257
Colour, 451
Command, 197, 217, 221, 333
Commandeering, 269
Commander, 237
Commanding officer, 511
Comments, 125
Commerce, 401
Common people, 167, 217; sense, 46;
weal, and welfare, 159, 205, 401
Communion with, oneself, 9, 217
Commanity of women, 461
Companion, 9% 427, 517-9
Company, 281
Complaint, 195
,
Compliments, 531
Composite judgement, 527
Composition, 177-9
Comprehension, 441 ; treatise on, 317
Compulsion, 27, 31, 91* 185, 197, 269,
275,95S25435S07
Conceit, S7-9
Conception, 483; of fitting and fcelp-
Concern, one's own, 143, 191;
Conclusion, 29
Concord, 345
Condemnation, 113-5
Confidence, 235, 345, 437
Conformity with nature. See Nature.
Confound and be confounded, 431
Confusion, 311, 381-3, 411
Confutation, 129
Conscience, 165
Consent, 511
Consequent, 51
Consideration, 111
Consistency, 317
Consolation, 221
Conspicuous clothing, 375
Constancy, 209, 311
Constraint, 207
Consul, 33, 141, 247, 261, 295, 303,
403, 497
Consular, 463; rank, 99
Consulship, 261, 265, 295, 331, 369,
401-3
Consumptive, 95, 161
Contemptible, 447
Contentious, 331 ff.
Contentment, 365
Contest, 47, 325, 383, 497, 507, 535
Continence, 491
Continuity, 315
Contradiction, 537
Control, 31, 185, 191, 239, 265-7, 27X
279, 289, 319, 327, 363, 397-9,
405, 443-5, -151, 463, 471, 483-7,
493-7, 501-3, 513-15, 533-5
Conversation, 105-7, 217, 517, 621
Converse, with gods, 137; with men,
207; with oneself, 323-5
Convincing men of things good and
evil, 347-9; oneself, 349, 351
Convincing sense-impression, 60-1,
529
Cook, 117; professional, 233
Co-operation, 319
Copulating, 527
Corcyra, 50
Corinth, 17
Corinthians, 161, 299
Corner, 165
Cornice, 233
Corpse, 371, 471
Corrector, 40
Corruptible, 191
Corrupting, 295
Cosmos, 443-5, 45j& See also U4~
tw, and World: ; .,,'
INDEX
Oot, 155-7
Counsel, 515 ; of God, 129
Counsellor, 433, 515
Countenance composed, 381-3
Country, 31, 119, 209, 297-9, 445,
501 ; = the Universe, 297
Courage, 165, 227, 239, 283
Court, 103, 121, 509; Caesar's, 435
Coward, 119
Cowardice, 213, 231, 239, 247
Cowardly, 281
Craftsman, 339
Crates, 153
Creatures, 237
Credentials, 59
Orinus, 27
Cripple, 497
Criterion, 65
Onto, 301, 537
Crockery, 335
Croesus, 139
Cross-examination, 99
Crow, 315
Crowd, 87, 167, 183, 323
Crowding the world, 281
Crown (as prize), 39, 201
Crows, 187
Crucifixion, 235
Crystal, 71; goblet, 211
" Cuckoo," sing, 335
Cudgel, 117
Cup, 155, 283
Curator, 467
Custom, 109
Cynic, 83, 130-69, 385
Cyrus, 353
Danaus, 159
Dance, 29, 187, 281
.Dancer, 357
Danger, &15, 521
Darkness, 135
Daughter, 159, 421
Day, 523 ,
Deaf, 383
Death, 33, 41, 61, 77, 113, 121, 137
143, 153, 193, 205-7, 21E-17, 227-9,
239r<41, 251, .203, 267, 275^ 281,
287-303, 337, 347, 861, 369^-71,
, 401-^5, 469, 475, 485, 48ft, 499, 05,
515; -bed, 295; defined, 365;
when overtaken by, 41-3, 401-3
Deceit, 473 t
Deceived, 343
Decency, 395
Decent, 151; behaviour, 61; speech,
393
Decisions of will, 443
Deed, of purchase, 263 ; of sale, 247
Deeds, 533
Defence, 135, 205, 519, 531; of self,
115
Defer, 485
Deity, 11, 149, 281, 329, 457
Delay, 523, 535
Deliberate, 473
Deliberation, 507
Delicacies, 233
Deliverance, 397
Delivery of speech, 179
Delphi, 441
Demeter, 1*27
Demonstration, 233, 363, 537
Demosthenes, 24
" Denyer, The," 71
Dependable, 433
Dependence, 193
Deposit, 433
Deprivation, 185
Dervishes, 130, 133
Design, 357
Designation, 427
Desire, 21-3, 29, 47, 57-9, 71, 81-7,
95, 99, 103, 135, 141, 147, 167, 171-3,
203, 221, 231, 245-7, 251, 269,
272, 305, 315, 323-5, 341, 351,
355, 359, 367, 383, 393, 399; 411,
419, 435, 441, 471, 483-7, 4S5,
513-5, 533; ineffectual, 153;
treatise on, 319. See also Hanker-
ing, and Yearning.
Despair, 361, 395
Despise and Despised, 339, 397 ft,
427, 495-7, 509
Despising the laws, 373
Destiny, 165, 289, 327, 537
Destruction, 215, 397
Devoting oneself, 355
Diadem, 385
Dialectics, 453
Diction, 183
Diet, 74-5, 101, 169, 507
Diffimltfes, 277, 433, 507 .
Diffidence, 97-9
"Dig in," 101, 507; digging, 401
Digestion, 123-5, 323, 529-31
Dignity, 521
Dining out, 259; with distinguished
persons* 347
Dinner, 505, 525 ; -party* 503-4
543
INDEX
Dio (Ohrysostom), 174-5 ; the name,
201
Diogenes, 12, 15, 25, 81-2, 129, 139,
151-3, 159, 161-3, 197, 205-7,
235, 253, 283, 297-9, 335, 370-1,
. 393, 417, 495
Director of gymnasium, 55
Dirt and Dirty, 163, 411 ff., 519
Disagreeable, 521
Disagreement, 35
Discipline, 211, 237, 241, 507;
breach of, 165 ; (= study), 211
Discontent, 315, 401
Discouragement, 341
Discourse, 125, 173, 177, 181-3,
393; The Discourses of Epictetus,
449, 453
Disease. See Illness.
Disfranchisement, 263
Disgrace, 149, 221, 229, 239, 289-
91
Disgraceful, 383, 459; word and
thoughts, 393
Dishonour, 301
Dislocation of wrist, 101, 507
Disloyal, 119
Disobedience, 197, 325
Disparagement, 357
. Dispassionateness, 121
Dispensation, the divine 79. See
also Gottemance.
Display, 87, 169-83, 223
Disrepute, 465
Dissatisfaction, 443
Dissent, 29
Dissolute, 397
Dissolution, 187
Dissuasion, 49
Distance runner, 16$
Distant, equally, from CJ-od, 331
Distinction, 307; distinctions of
reason, 535
Distinguished persons, 347
Distraction, 155
Distress, 151, 495
Distrust of oneself, 493
Disturb and Disturbed, 79, 113, 451,
487-9
9, 515 ,
Divine, 295: beings, 449; poweas, 93
Divisions of philosophy, 533
Do good, in, SS? '...-, .
Doctor, 469 ; -'s office, 129; See also
Physician.
Doctrines, 53-9, 91, 125, 129
Dog, 5, 7, 13, 235, 273, 283, 287, 391;
hunting, 21, 33, 159, 375
Donkey, 269-71, 327. See also Ass.
Door, 135, 201, 233, 305, 367, 387,
521; front, 199; -keeper, 229, 233,
505; (of suicide), 63, 93, 143
Downhearted, 77
Draw water, 229-31
Drawbacks, 509
Dreams, 23, 137, 193
Dress and Dressing, 129, /
See also Clothes, and Raiment.
Drink and Drinking, 75, 95-7, 101-3,
125, 307, 383, 425, 509, 517-19,
527; -cup, 505; heavy, 85
Drivel, 421
Drone, 167
Drugs, 129 ; peddlers of, 211
Drunkenness, 23, 229
Due, one's, 77
Duel, 133
Dullness, 351
Dung, 415, 419-21 ; -hill, 153, 423
Dust, 93
Duty and Duties, 23, 55-7, 157, 201,
319, 427, 511, 515; principal, 57;
private, 155; Treatise on, 319. See
also Citizen.
Dwelling, 337
Dysentery, 145, 401
Dyspepsia and Dyspeptics, 387-9, 401
Earth, 93, 145-7, 189, 441-3, 449
Earthenware, 169
Earthquake, 91
Easy-going, 535
Eating, 75, 95, 103, 117, 125, 149, 157,
223, 231, 235, 317, 369, 381-3, 413,
509, 517, 525-7, 529-31
Eccentricity, 423
Education, 55, 117, 129, 333, 421, 489
Effeminacy, 203
Effort, 483
Egnatius Oeler, 292
Egocentric principle. See Self,
Elements, 365; the four, 449;
physical, 93 ; of reason, 379
Eleusis, 127
Elocution and Eloquent, 529
Emancipator, 209, 282-3, 295, 367
Embassy, 193 !,.,,,.
INDEX
Embroidery, 463
Emotion, 23, 285, 35E, 459, 465
Emperor, Boman, 165
Enchanters, 187
End in itself, 363; (= purpose) of
life, 459
Endowment, special, 169
Endurance, 383, 455, 491, 531
Enemy, 139, 277, 343, 447, 467, 483,
513,533
Energy, 167; misdirected, 453
Entertainment, 315, 517
Enticement, 523
Enviable, 121
Envy, 23-7, 79, 91, 135, 153, 167, 199,
' 223, 247, 325, 429, 497
Epaminondas, 159
Epaphroditus, 295
Ephebi, 17, 55
Epictetus, 9, 13, 62-3, 67-9, 119, 131,
181, 295-7, 311, 333, 370, 389, 400-1,
408-9, 413, 443, 445, 449-50, 453-5,
522
Epicureans, 49-59, 197, 459
Epicurus, 51-3, 459
Epirus, 35
Epitome of all ills, 239 <
Equality, 433"
Equipment, 391 *
Equivocal premisses. See Premiws.
Error, 23, 117, 377
Escort duty, 503
Espionage, 431
Essence, 51. See also Nature,, true.
Estate, 463, 497
Eteocles, 343, 513
'
Eubius 392
Eulogy, 465
Euphrates (philosopher), 103, 381, 581
Euripides, quoted, 336-7, 537
Eurystheus, 151, 237
Evacuating of the bowels, 527
Evenus, 393
Evil, or Evils, 29, 61-3, 113-19, 139,
143, 185, 207, 211-13, 237, 291,
341-3, 347-9, 381, 399, 405, 425,
429, 441, 451, 501, 503, 513-15;
cause of, 257; conduct* 301;
-doer, 303 ; eye, 213 ; Genius, 327 ;
greatest,' 291 ; habits, 453 ; nature
of, 507
Examination, 85, 129
, Example, 195, 237, 303
; Excellent, 201, 289, 489
Exchange, 209, 309-13
Excitement, 519
Excuses, 205, 461
Exercise and Exercising, 61, 75, 87,
121, 125, 151, 169, 171, 241, 259,
317, 325, 351, 495, 527
Exhibition, 151, 177
Exhortation, 183
Exile, 35, 137, 193, 263, 303, 343,
365-7, 417, 465, 499, 515
Existence, 57
Expose, of children, 157
Expression, of face, 45, 451
External and Externals, 31, 49, 77,
83, 105, 203, 309, 313-15, 343, 363,
375-9, 387, 397, 433, 493-5, 499,
511, 521, 531
External impressions. See Impres-
sions, and Sense-impression,
Eye, 167, 339, 447, 459, 499; -salves,
129
Face, washing, 295
lacing both ways, 307
Faculty and Faculties, 275, 335, 363,
375, 401, 491
Failure, 161, 223
Fair-mindedness, 121
Faith, 99
Faithful and Faithfulness, 111, ITS,
337, 397, 433-7, 501-3
Faithlessness, 291
False, 29, 117-19, 145, 267, 537
Fame, 207
Familiar, 203
Family, 55, 227
Fancy, 211 "
Fare badly, 287
Farm, 29, 31, 43, 69, 267, 337,
491
Farmer, 29, 39, 41, 389
Farming, 401
Fasces, twelve, 263
Fate, 281, 505
Father, 23, 31, 41, 81, 99, 111-15,
119-21," 125, 149, 159, 185, 229,
247, 257, 279, 343, SJ1, 51&-&;
(of God), 189; -uvlaw155; -land,
125, 205 (see also Comtryy*
Fault, 461, 519
Fault-finding,* 35, 147, 167, 209, S33,
281, 363, 483, 513, 531
Favorinus, 453-5
Fear, 79/93, 137, 147, 153, $1, 3,
227, 231-rS, 247, 251, 271-3, 311,
'545
INDEX
341, 351, 36-1 ff.", 451-3, 493;
of death, 241; of loss, 393
Felicio, 295
Fellow-citizens, 447; -men, 323;
-traveller, 93, 125, 277; -voyager,
339; -workers, 279
Fellowship, 279
Felt cap, 381
festival, 281, 321-3 ; (of the pageant
of life), 43
lever, 73-7, 91. 145, 151-3, 157, 193,
225-9, 273-7, 315, 321, 353, 369-71 ;
385, 393, 457, 465
BdeHty, 31, 59, 119, 311, 503
Held, 41 ; of study, 20-3, 85, 231, 401
Jig, 71, 213-15, 369
lighting, 145, 195; against oneself,
395
Pinery, 347
linger, 461; middle, pointing with,
25-7; -nails, 459
Fire, 29, 91-3, 145, 273, 405, 441.
See also Wortd-conflagratim*
Firm, 121
"
Fish, 253, 463; -hook, 49
Fistula, 181
Fitness, special, 129
Fitting, 147, 447
Flattery, 69, 79, Hi; 173, 199-203,
261, 357, 369, 373
Flesh, 51-3, 57, 279, 301, 373
, .
Flogging, 149, 285-7, 303
Flutist, 315
Hying, 335
Fodder, 99, 271, 463, 531
Folly, 95
, Following, 7S ' '*
Food, 95, 227--S9, 519, 531
Pool, 161, 175, 213, 279, 293, 373,
385, 407, 451, 493
Foolish, 145, 191, 371
Foolishness, 35
Foot, 77, 413, 525
Force, 245; forcing oneself in, 367-9
. Forlorn state, 87-93
Fortification, 375 '
Fortunate, 127, 471
Fortune, 329
, Foal language, 339,521
Fox, 345
Frankness 429
Free and lieeton, 41* S7 91, 103,
> 137, 145-7,
54.6
241 ff., 275, 311, 325, 343, 349-51,
363, 437, 445, 459, 473, 477, 483-5,
495-7, 511 ; free will, 311
Free Citiefi, 49
Freedman, 249 ' , .
Friend, 53, 87, 153, 165, 181, 187, 189,
193, 197, 201, 205-13, 239, 267, 275,
297-9, 307, 433, 493, 501, 515-17;
of Caesar, 37, 247, 257-9, 277, 315;
of G-od, 311 ; of Icings, 261
Friendly, 307
Frost, 389
Frowning, 523
Fruit, 133, 279, 389-91
Fun, making, 291
Function, 113-15, 237, 425; of life,
321; proper, 383, 503
Fundamental conception, 131
Furnishings, 69
Furniture, 279, 387, 408 .
Futile, 315; discourse, 309
Future, 399
Gait, composed, 383
Galba, 105
Galilaeans, 363
Gambler, 163
Games, 17, 323, 361, 367, 371, 403, 509
Garden of Adonis, 388-9
.Gate, 159, 203
Gay attire, 393 .
Geese, 421
General, 165, 213, 217-19, 237;
,(of God), 185
General perception, 47
Genius, 173
Gentle, 205, 339, 527; birth, 347
Gentleness, 121, 365
Geometrician, 171
Geometry, 351
Geta, 249
Gifted men, 49, 173
Girl, 407; pretty, 249r-51, 355. See
also Maid, Wench.
Giver (= G-od), 279, 331, 491
Gladiator, 101-3, 107, 139, 509, 517
.Gladiatorial combat, 109
Gloomy,, 14=7
Glory, 121
Goblets, 69
God, 19, 31-2, 43-5, 57, 75-9, 91, 119,
137-9, 133-5, 147-9, 157, 16E.169,
183-5, 203-5, 215, 219. 237-9, 271,
275-7, 303, 311-15, 319-21, 345,
553, 363-7* S83, S87, 401, 407, 42S,
INDEX
437, 445, 467, 499; resisting, 191-3,
279. See also Another, Captain.
Deity, Father, General, Giver,
Mighty, Playwright, Zeus.
Gold, 55, 59, 69, 121, 141, 463
Golden Verses of Pythagoras, 57, 73
G-ood, 29, 31-2, 51-3, 61-3, 77-9,
117-23, 139, 143-7, 179, 185, 201
211, 289, 341-3, 347-9, 359, 363,
367-9, 375-7, 397-9, 405, 425, 437,
441, 459, 489, 497, 501-3, 513-15,
527; doing good, 175, 209, 213;
faith, 431; fortune, 185, 223, 473;
the good man, 47, 235-7; the
greatest, 291; one's own, 313.
Good and excellent, see Man.
Goods, lesser, 459 ; of soul, 459
Goat, 145, 157, 385
Governance of God, 277-9, 363
Governing principle, 41, 47, 67, 75-7,
105, 125, 137, 143, 163, 329, 333,
375, 511, 525
Government, 59, 89-91, 199
Governor, 37; -'a mansion, 147
Governorships, 261, 369
Grain, 215
Grammarian, 533
Grandfather, 247, 263
Grandsires, 463
Grandson, 89
Grapes, 213-15
Gravity, 521
Great, 145, 149; Great Kmg (of
Persia), 153, 207, 261
Greece, 193,
Greedily eating, 381
Greeks, 53, 143. See also Hellenes.
Greengrocer, 29. See 'also Vegetable-
dealer.
Greeting, 153. See also Scdwfatwn.
Grief and Grieving, 33, 61, 79, 143,
153, 18Sf-77, 191, 199, 211-13, 223,
247, 324 3S1, 429, 465, 483, 489,
493
Groaning, 231, 497
Ground, 147
Grovelling, 369
Grudge, 335
Guard against oneseli, 533 ; mount,
195
Guardian, 467
Guards, 135, 159, 361, 365, 369-71;
Guest-gifts, 403 *
Guide, 127
Guise, 375 5.
Gyara, 217-21, 327
Gymnasiiim, 55, 81, 283 ; -colonnade,
109
Gymnastic trainer, 395
Habit, 83, 109, 225-7, 291, 423, 511
Hades, 93, 227, 301
Hair, 19, 129, 135, 141, 285, 377-9,
419, 463; -dress, 379; pIucMng, fr,
Halt, 385
Hampered, 483, 531
Hand, 57, 269, 413
Handle, 297, 527
Handsome, 33, 393
Hanging, 303
Hankering, 213. See also Desire, and
Yearning.
Happiness and Happy, 75, 121, 139-
41, 145, 153, 161, 183-5, 189-91,
201, 221-3, 233, 257, 287, 327, 531,
' 363, 387, 445, 497
Harbour, 127
Hardship,, 153, 465
Harm, 31, 395, 431-3, 447, 483, 511,
531
Harmonious, 449
Harmony, 441; with nature, see
Nature.
Harp, 265
Harvesting, 215
Hate, 513
Hateful to God. 133
Hatred, 221
Head, 353; -ache, 157, 181, 2*25, 229,
333, 38S; -band, 129
Health and Healthy, 119, 223, 235,
269, 385-7, 393, 443
Hearing, 323, 351 . See also Listening.
Heart, 141
Hearth', 147, 417
Heat, 193, 305, 465, 507; seoreMng,
149
Hector, 133, 169
Hedge-priests, 377
Heirs, 229
Hellenes, 59. Se also Greeks.
Helmsman, 285, 311, 425
Help, 95, 343, 383-5, 433, 531
Helpers, 375
Helpful, 447
Helplessness, 93
Helvidios, 28-7 *
54*
INDEX
Hephaestus, 383
Hera, 89
Heracleitus, 88, 495
Heracles, 151, 188-9, 237, 335, 399
Herald, 127, 155
Herd, 167
Hermes, 19, 121
Hides, 137 *
Hierophant, 127-9
High brow, 499; spirit, 457
High-minded and High-rnindedness,
' 63, 119, 187, 283, 363, 473, 501
Hindrance, 31, 79, 91, 99, 185, 197,
. 207, 245, 267-71, 279, 289, 313,
1 325, 351-3, 363, 383, 435-7, 483, 489
Hippias, 45
Hive, 167
Hog, 421
Holiday, 279-81, 323, 387
Holy rites, 129
Home, 147
Homer, 159, 191, 409, 533; quoted,
19, 79, 141, 155, 159, 163, 169, 189-
93, 387, 409
Honey, 323
Honour, 59, 103, 115, 119, 125, 169,
275, 295, 301, 355, 369, 501, 509 ;
position of, 347
Hope, 475, 527: give up, 465
Horse, 5, -7, 13, S3, 43, 99, 107, 267,
273, 283, 309, 323, 335, 415, 421,
463,489; -race, 517
Hospital, 181
Host, one's, 463
Hot weather, 389
House, 77, 135, 153, 229, 267-9, 387,
405, 417
Household, 157, 197, 207-9, 345;
head of, 217; of Gaesar, 223;
of one, 187
Human being. See Mem,
Humane, 387
Humiliation, 185, 34$
Hanger, 75, 191, 327-9, 233, 353, 409,
457,463,493
Hunting, 33 ; dog, 21, 33, 159, 375
Hurt, 341-3, 385, 447, 513, 525
Husband, 55
Hymn of praise, 237, 281
Hypothesis, 29
HyjKJthefcieal premisses, 23, 209, 319
Ignoble, 119, 20E, 205, 231, 23:9, 291,
447
ignorance and Ignoran^ 343, 427
548
j 133
111 (evil), 409, 519, 527
Illness, 39-43, 109, 119-23, 153, 221,
239, 257, 295, 345, 425, 443, 485,
491
ni-omened, 213-5
Imagination, 219
Imitation, 37, 509
Immortality, 187
Immutability, 231 ; of nature, 449
Lnpediment, 319, 491
Imperishable, 341
Impertinence, 159, 329
Imperturbability, 317
Impiety, 35, 113, 535
Implement, 235
Important things, 375
Impossible, 191
Impressions, external, 401, 405, 445,
449-51,485,489,491, 497-9, 523;
intellectual, 117. See also Sense-
impression.
Imprint, 337
Imprisonment, 291
Improvement, 519
Impudent of speech, 453
Impulse to act, 31
Impunity, 285, 411
Inattention, 311, 423 ft,
Incantation, 213
Incapacity, 169, 447
Inclinations, 425
Income, 161
Inconsiderate, 501
Inconstancy, 117
Indifferent, 291
Indigestion, 229
Indignation, 359
Individual, 345
Indivisible, 441
Indulgence, 519
Indusky, 329
Infant, 203
Inferior and Inferiority, 111, 167
Inheritance, 25, 435
Initiates in the mysteries, 281
Injury, 59, 61, 113-15, 335, 365
Injustice, 237, 335
Inn, 491
Insatiable, 503-5
Insensibility, 167
Insolence and Insolent, 95, 447, 505
Jtostraotion, 129^ 183
'Insult, 167, 499 ; gesture oL 25
Intellect, 449-51 -
INDEX
Intelligence, 513
Intercourse, social, 89, 105-9, 305-9,
427
Interest, 429 ; one's, 505, 513
Interpret nature, 533
Interpreter, 313, 533
Interrogations, sophistical, 61, 127
Interview, 201
Intimates, 211
Introduction, 177, 383
Intuition, 291
Invalid, 95, 235, 533
Invincibility of good man, 47
Invitation, 181
Iron, 145, 273; tool, 413
Irrational creatures, 187
Irreverence, 365
Irritation, 103, 499, 509
Isocrates, 177
Issue, 515
Isthmian games, 39
Italicus, 62-3
Jail-bird, 255
Jar, 71, 211, 433
Jaws, 149
Jealousy, 23, 153, 393, 497
Jest, 427
Jewish literature, 150
John the Baptist, 430
Joints, 389-91
Journey, 75. 89, 125, 151, 185, 193,
495
Joy, 465, 523
Judge, 53-5, 59, 113-15, 287, 367
Judgement, 23-7, 35, 41, 65-73, 107,
113, 117, 153, 171, 191, 203, 239,
263. 273-5, 283, 291-3, 303-5, 327,
339-45, 351-3, 357, 369, 373, 377,
391, 401, 409-11, 421, 425, 433-7,
461, 473, 487-9, 495, 499, 529;
feomposi^527; withholding, 29
Judging, 383
Jug, 487
Jumping-weights, 317
Junk, 195
Just and Justice, 31, 99, 237, 445,
459, 473
Keepers of doors, 387
Kettle, 155
Kicking, 99, 287
Killing, 335
Tm 3 Kindred, Kinship, and Kinsman,
31, 89, 165, 199, 205, 297-9, 343
Kind-hearted, 205
Kindness, 3357
King, 143, 147, 155-7, 163, 229, 237,
261, 299; Great (of Persia), 153,
207, 261; the lot of a, 353; the
Persian, 253
Kingdom, 153, 157, 265, 387
Kingly manner, 129
Kingship, 159
Kiss, 213, 249, 399, 403, 487; the
hand, 201, 295
Knife, 157
" Know thyself," 11, 441
Knowledge, 117
Labour and Laborious, 45-7, 2S7,
491, 511, 535
Lacedaemon and Lacedaemonians,
55, 149, 299, 345, 445-7
Lad, 179, 491, 535
Ladies, 525 '
Laius, 11
Lame and Lameness, 119, 235, 296-7,
491
Lamentation and Lamenting., 23,
79, 139, 191, 199, 211, 231
Lamprocles, 331-2, 343
Land, 41, 283, 403
Language, 125
Laughing and Laughter, 499, 510-
21; laugh at, 97, 1U3, 123, 437;
laugh at oneself, 321; laugh to
scorn, 509
Law, 199, 219, 299, 313, 373, 445,
533-5; of nature, 111
Lawful privileges, 519 ; striving, 7
Lawlessness, 237, 373
Layman, 49, 105-9, 115, 161, 443,
497, 511, 519-21, 529-31, 535
Lazy, 315
Learning, 333
Leather, 83 *
Leaves, 215
Leaving home, 185-91
Lecture, 3S, 67, 123, 127, 171, 179,
183, 221, 373, 423; -room, 107, 171
Leg, 297, 491
Legacy-hunifcers, 195
Leisure, 27, 71, 155-7, 313, 321-5,
375, 523
Leon, 299, 371
Lesbius, 123
Letters, 193, 351
Lettuce, 199,. 201, 505
Liar, The, 25, 71 ,,
INDEX
Libations, 513
Lie, 113, 358-9, 537
Life, 75, 85, 117-21, 125, 129, 139,
161, 195* 201, 211, 289, 311, 361;
in accordance with nature, 423;
science of, 285; style of, 197; way
of, 207-9. See also Living.
Light, ray of, 35
Light heart, 365
Light-heartedness, 123
Lightning, 91
Lincoln, 324
Lion, 13, 21, 133, 239, 251, 335, 345,
399
Listening, 325, 329. See also Hearing.
Literature, 59, 117
Living, 265; act of, 317; being, 449
Locking door in one's face, 367-3
Loggias, 503
Logic, 45, 69
Logical consequence, 537
Loins, 103, 121, 149, 509
Long Walls, the, 207
Looking to other persons, 231
Lord of the mansion, 133
Loss, 277, 309, 395, 427, 491
Love, 91, 149, 193, 203, 249, 263, 295,
307, 345, 421; brotherly, 31;
passionate, 157
Lucian, 326
Lunch and Luncheon, 29, 71, 403,
465
Luxury, 237, 459, 519
Lycaeum, 209, 321
Lycuigus, 445
"Lyre, and Lyre-player, 107
Lysias, 177
Madmen, 65
Madness, 361-3, 471
Magic wand, 121
MaM, pretty, 225. See also Girl,
Malice, 377
Malignant disposition, 329
Man, as distinct from animals, 409 ;
distinct from woman, 15-7; be-
coming to a, 71; characteristics
aad nature'of, 15, 19,, 93, 99, 171,
187* 2S5-7, 337-9, 535; good, 393,
443; good and excellent mam, 21,
25, 29, 155, 161, 191, 201, 215, 219,
331, 333, 383, 457; a tame animal,
335,469; tare nafcnfedcd^tt?,, 443;
an ungiftea*, 527 *
55
Manager, 133
Manes, 239
Mankind, 95, 157-9, 185, 199
Manliness, 61
Mantle, 183
Marble halls, 373
Mark, 427, 507
Market, 41; -gardener, 45, 199;
-place, 211, 395
Marriage, 55-7, 125, 153-9, 333, 461
" Marvellous 1 " 177
Masks, 169
Massage, 233-5
Masseur, 2 9, 235. See also Rubber, the.
Mast, 195
Master, 159, 227, 249, 263-5, 285,
295-7, 337, 367, 495 ; = Emperor,
293; of oneself, 477, 497
Masurius, 313
Material, 137. See also Subject-matter.
Maximus, 50-1, 53
Mean spirit. 213, 365; mean-spirited,
247
Mean, the, 475
Meaning, 461
Measure, 525; due, 315; measuring
and measuring instrument, 233
Medea, 433
Meddler, 165
Melancholy-madness, 23
Meletus, 177, 537
Memory, 227
Menander, quoted, 249-51
Menelaus,406
Menoeceus, 119
Merchant, 513
Messenger, 139, 145, 155
Mighty, He that is, 427
Military command, 159 ; expeditions,
321
Mfli, 531
Mind, 137, 449-51, 507; troubled, 493
Mingle with men, 425
Ministrant, 153
Mirror, 149
Misbehaviour, 377-9
Misdirected energy, 453
Miserable and Misery, 187, 191-8,
199, 223, 335
SOsfortune, 35, 185-7, 193, 325, 473,
485, 507
Mistake, 225-7, 315, 325, -347
Mob, 171
Mocking, 1S3
McxieraMoQ, 425
INDEX
Modest, 393
Money, 31, 111, 239, 293, 309, 329, 369,
Moon, 93, 137
Moral excellence, 301; purpose 19
27, 31-5, 39, 41, 47, 51, 61, 79, 83!
109, 115, 135, 167, 171, 187, 203,
219, 221, 235, 273, 279, 315, 319-21,
325, 329, 335, 341-5, 349, 363, 397-
9, 425-7, 435, 487, 491-3, 511
Mortal, 185, 213, 219, 277-9
Mortar, 83
Mother, 43, 191, 205, 247, 257, 409
Mottoes, clever little, 181
Mountebanks, 81
Mourning, 187, 191-3
Mouse, 27
Moustache, 419
Mucus, 413
Mud, 413, 421
Multitude, 319, 345-7, 417, 427
Murder, 395
Music, 59, 117
Music-hall songs, 177
Musicians, 171, 377-S1
Musoniu 1 ?. See Rufns.
Mutual affection, 89, 335
Mycenae, 237
Myron, 139
Myrrhine ware, 71
Mysteries, the, 127-9, 281
Nail, 5S5
Naked, 147
Nations, 345
Natural science, 441-3
Nature (indndtng accord with, con-
formity with, and nature of man),
7, 13-15, 31, 39, 41, 47, 57 67-9,
75, 95, 109, 13% 143* 185-7, 317,
287, 319, 329, 333-5, 343, 349, 421,
443, 459, 467,-9, 487, 493, 511, 533 ;
of birds, 251; function of, 447;
of tiie good, 437; of good and evil,
441; harmony with, 487-9, 511;
immutability of, 449; law of, 111;
process of, 215 ; rule of, 397 ; true
nature, 53, 211, 337, 421, 443;
will of, 505
Nausea, 107, 393
Necessary, 283
Necessities of life, 227
Necessity, 237, 449
Neck, 121 ; -trappings, 99
Need, 215-7 , . - .
Neglect, 159, 221, 233; of affairs, 493
Neglectful, 535
Negligence, 331
Neighbour, 25, 53, 93. 121-5 S 339,
429-31, 467, 511, 521
Nemean. games, 39
Nero, 141, 336-7, 339, 465
Nests, 187
Neutral, 29
New Testament, 74, 150-1, 237, 322,
430,487
News, 113-5, 193
Nicocreon, 206
Nicopolis, 50, 149, 249
Night, 523 ; -watch, 85
Nightingale, 7
Ninny, 161
Nitre, 413
Nobility, 363 ; of character, 283
Noble, 31, 55-7, 247, 329, 387, 417;
action, B09; character, 357: spirit,
203, 443, 473 ; thought, 393
Nobody, a, 501
Non sequifur, 529
North wind, 153
Nose, 339, 413 ; wiping, 295
Nostrils* 413
Notebooks, 157
Notice, posting of, 15
Nuisance, 195
Nttmenius, 59
Nurse, 117, 155, 203
Nursing, 153, 239, 2&5
Nut, 71, 36&
Nymphs, 173
Oath, 517
Obedience, 365
Obeisance, 281, 371
Obey, 425 ; the laws, 373
Obol, 201, 455, 505
Observing men, 315-17
Obstacle, 425
Occasion, 517-19, &21-3, 537
Occupation, 171
Odysseus, 189-91, 237, 457
Oedipus, 10; at Golonus, 457; the
King, 457
Offence, 197
Offensive, 5l9
Office^ 41-3, 47, 55, % 103, 123, 139,
161, 16, W-, 229, 2S9, 275, 2,
311-13, 3111-21, 325, 347, 353-5,
,845. 391-3, 413-5, 483-5, 495, 501.
509; doctor's, 129
INDEX
Officer, commanding, 195
Official, 197, 217, 325, 497
Oil, 77, 155, 161, 293, 405, 413, 493
Old age, 193, 229, 443; man, 295,
491; women, 295
"Olympia, 151, 201, 281, 321-2;
crown there, 201
Olympic, contest, 149; festival, 225,
323 ; games, 39, 74, 535 ; training,
101; victory, 507
Omen, 137, 213, 515
One's own, 283, 333, 403; self, 341
Open air, 161
Opheffius, 139
Ophthalmia, 145
Opinion, 21, 305, 451-3, 497-9, 511 ;
of others, 349
Opponent, 507
Oppressor, 207
Orator, 17
Order, the, 219
Ordinances, 221, 313
Orphans, 189
Ostentation, 529 ; avoidance of, S23
Outcast, 457
Outcome, 515
Outdoor life, 137
Outward signs, 383
Overcoat, 387
Ox, 13, 309
Pack-saddle, 271
Paean Apollo, 73
Paeans, 321
Pageant, 279-81
Pain, 91, 147, 181, 311, 349, 353, 445
Palace, 305, 367
Palaestra, 285
Pale, 457
Palisade, 195
Palm, setting up, 80-3
Pan, 173
Pancratiast, 7, 99
Pancratium, 6, 75, 223
Paradox, 221, 287
Parasite, 293
Parents, 57, 181, 32, 297-9, 355, 373
Part and whole, 303
Particular instances, 257
Parturition, 155
Passers-by, 151
Passion, S3, 153, 311, 351; passion-
less manner, 457
PfttoBQa; iS, 1^1, 319, 481; patient
endurance. 16^7
55*
Patient, a, 179
Patrimony, 337
Patriot, 119
Patroclus, 407
Patron, 65, 69
Pattern of life, 149
Paying, 307
Pax Romana. See Peace.
Peace, 161, 309, 313-31, 323-5, 345 ;
of mind, 27, 91, 117, 125, 167, 193,
209, 231, 403, 493; Pax R&rnana,
91, 151
Pedagogue, 135, 229
Pedants, 293
Peevish, 281
Penalty, 205
Pentathlon, 7, 169, 509
People (as topic of conversation), 107
Perdiccas, 207
Perfection, 91
Perfume, 393-5
Peril, 451; of life, 121
Periodic change, 187
Perishable, 341
Perrhaebians, 205
Persian Mng, 153, 207, 253, 261
Persians, 299
Perturbation of spirit, 427
Perverts, 17, 309
Pestle, 83, 121
(Pheres), father of Admetus, 119
Philip of Macedon, 139, 207
Philosopher, 9, 13, 23-5, 45, 49, 55-7,
63, 67-9, 73-7, 81, 91, 103-7, 115,
125, 171-83, 187, 191, 195, 229, 239,
271, 289-93, 305, 319, 349, 359, 369,
373-5 ft, 441, 453, 459, 465, 499,
509, 515, 529-33
Philosophic vein, 303
Philosophy, 75, 85, 95, 99, 103, 211,
231, 283, 379, 383, 387-9, 417-9,
453, 461, 499, 511, 517, 537;
meaning of, 73
Physical elements, 93 ; science, 441-3
Physician, 29, 75-7, 101, 109, 121,
157, 179, 225, 295, 465-7, 507
Physics, 453
Physique, a particular, needed for a
teacher, 129
Piety, 511-13
Pig, 413-9
Piracy, 91
Piraeus, 257
Pirates, 205-7, 283
Pitch, 435 ; -plasters, 13%
INDEX
Pitied, being, 345 ft.
Pity, 135, 161, 199, 247, 295, 345-7
Plan, 97; of life, 149, 499
Plants, 187, 197, 389, 443
Plate, 55-9, 69, 239, 347, 413
Plato, 87, 314, 344; quotations and
references, 11, 85, 139, 165, 177-9.
217, 284-5, 303, 321, 460-1, 463, 537
Plausible, 85
Play, 423, 427; a play, 101, 497, 509
Playwright (= God), 497
Pleading cases, 67
Pleasant companion, 307-9
Pleasing God, 331, 425
Pleasure, 51-3, 83, 181, 197, 207, 459,
513,523
Plectrum, 381
Poet, tile (= Homer), 19. 79
Poison, 301
Pole, 161
Polemo, 8, 9, 419
Politeness, 495
Politics, 67, 161
Pollution, 411
Polus (actor), 457
Polos (sophist), 331
Polyneices, 343, 513
Portent, 497
Possessions, 113, 139-41, 145, 167,
213; one's own, 337, 373; own
proper, 143, 185, 271
Possible, 475
Post, 499; given a, 195-7
Postponement, 423
Pot, 85, 283, 409
Potsherds, 361, 369
Poverty, 35, 43, 69, 113, 121-3, 153,
221, 347, 353-5, 365, 425, 485
Power, 95, 195, 207, 367, 497, 525;
to use external impressions, 445
Practice and Practising, 75, 8.5, 288,
351, 533
Praetor, 295, 333, 497
PraetorsMp, 265, 311, 369
Praise, 171-81, 201, 237, 329, 345,
375-9, 465, 503-5, 517, 531
Patayer, 127, 357-9; of slave, 253;
for success of others, 287
Precept, 411, 533 ; philosophical, 211
Precious, 145
Precipice, 525 ; leaping over, 303
Preconceived idea. See Preconception.
Preconception, 93, 145, 257, 323, 401
Precept, 67
Pregnancy, 389
Premature blooming, 389
Premisses, 209, 265, 378-9 ; equivocal,
23, 27-9, 127, 351, 427; hypothe-
tical, 23, 209, 319
Preparation, 147, 325, 351, 411
Present, the, 45-7, 155, 357
Presents, 59, 295, 403
Pretence, 347
Prevented, 531
Priam, 159
Price, 103, 303, 403, 493, 503, 511
Pride, 151, 295, 463, 533
Prime, conception, 377; importance,
53,155-7
Prince, 219
Principal things and duties, 57
Principle, 33, 55, 73, 79, 123-5, 213,
219, 265, 325, 351, 379, 385, 425-7,
461, 505, 525, 529-37
Prison, 59-61, 209, 219-21, 263, 287,
321,327,371,431
Private citizen, 217
Proconsul, 31, 151, 275-7
Procurator, 35-7, 105, 463 511
Procuratorship, 369
Prodigy, 15
Profession, 377-9
Profitable, 377-9
Progress, 23, 45-7, 85, 95 r 307, 491-3,
531, 535
Prohibitions, 217
Prominence, 141
Proof, 537
Property, 47, 53-5, 207, 261-3 r 271,
275, 279, 289, 297, 311, 325, 359-61,
367, 373, 387, 483, 495, 525, 529
Proposition, 523
Propriety, 85
Prosperity, 111, 29i5
Prostitution, 255
Protagoras, 45
Protesflaus, 407
Proverbs, 48-9, 84-5, 120-1, 174-5,
S72-3, 345, 357, 405
Providence, 105, 109-13, 459
Province, 31, 265, 369
Public, 133; interest, see Gammm-
weal, and welfare; privilege, 39;
-spirited, 447
Pulse, 157
Pumping water, 235
Pumshment, 59, 79, 165, 199, 233,
285, 459, '493
Pupil, 182, 34&, 385.
Purification, 127-9
553
INDEX
Purity, 129, 137, 165, 411, 515, 519
Purple cloak, 457
Purpose, 167, 223, 355, 411
Pushing oneself in, 367-9
Pyriphlegethon, 93
Pythagoras, OoUen Verses, 57, 73, 357
Pythian games, 39
Quadratus, 177
Quaestor, 275
Quails, 225
Quarrelling, 157, 387, 471
Queen bee, 167
Quiet, 203
Rabies, 321
Eace, 99 ; horse-race, 517
Rack, 275, 303
Rage, 135
Rags 457
Raiment, 93. See also Clothes, and
Dress.
Raisins, 215
Random, at, 461
Rascal, 491
Rash and Rashness, 375, 433
Rational animal, being, or creature.
59, 359, 363
Raven, 19, 187, 497
Reading, 75, 177, 197, 217, 227, 241,
315-19, 325, 329, 345, 351; a
public, 171, 177-9, 521
Reason and Reasoning, 15, 49, 69,
85, 91, 95, 109, 177, 187, 199, 233,
241, 279^ 305, 339, 351, 363, 375,
379, 411, 419-21, 451, 515-7, 535
Reasonable, 447-9
Rebuking, 129
Recall, 93, 217, 237
Recklessness, 331
Reconnaissance, 195
Red stripe in toga praetexta, 13
Reform, 231, 397, 447, 535
Refuge, 277
Refusal, S3, 29, 57-9, 85, 141, 147, 323,
411, 419, 441, 487
Refutation, 183, 75, 341
Rejection of the good, 53
Rejoacing, 187
Relationsiiips, and Human and Social
Relations and Relationships, 31,
81, 165, 209, S19, 355, 383, 401-3,
427,511 '
Relatives, 155, 181
Relaxations, 219 :
554
Relating attention, 423
Religion, 23
Remedies, medical, 385-7
Renunciation, 327-9, 349, 373, 383,
483. See also Body, and Property.
Repentance, 469, 523
Reproof, 521
Reputation, and Repute 135, 141,
207, 239, 311, 325, 329, 359, 425,
483, 497, 535
Rescue, 395
Reservations, 471, 487
Resignation, 445
Resisting God, 279. See also
Struggle against the Cosmos.
Respect and Respectful, 115. 309,
371, 395, 433-5, 521
Responsibility, 113-17, 229, 425,
431-3, 513
Restraint, 27, 31, 145, 265-7
Revenge, 457
Revenue, 161
Reverence, and Reverent, 57, 99, 301
Reviling, 35-9, 85, 121, 125, 135,
149, 159, 167, 329, 333, 343, 491,
499, 507, 513, 523, 527
Revolution of the universe, 279
Reward for doing right, 201
Rhetor and Baetoridan, 63, 67, 103-5,
171, 509-11
Rich, 57, 69, 111, 139, 199, 239, 277,
293, 305, 347, 391-3, 417, 455, 459,
529. See also Wealth and Wealthy.
Ridicule, 499
Righteous and Righteousness, 237,
289
Ring, 254-5; for wrestling, 385
Rising up from sleep, 425
Risks, 383
Road, 93, 275
Robbers, 89, 275-7
Rods, 275; (= fasces), 403
R61e, 497, 511, 525
Roman citizens and citizenship, 199,
Romans, 63, 161
Rome, 15, 53, 63-5, 179, 193. 209,
217-19, 287, 327, 431, 461
Root, 389
Rooted, 187, 197
Royal power, 513
Royalty, 141
Rubber* a, 121. See also Masseur.
Rubbing, 169
Rudiments, 25
INDEX
Bufus(Musonius), 49, 105, 181
Bule, 33, 441, 485, 495, 525 ; of nature
397. See also Standard.
Bunner, 7
Bunning, 335, 463
Bust, 351
Sacred force, 129
Sacrifice, 127-9, 223, 357, 513-15
Safety, 277, 473'
Sailor, 41, 195, 441, 513
Salamis, 371
Sale, deed of, 247
Salutation, 58-9, 313, 327, 357, 503.
See also Greeting.
Salvation of our souls, 455
Sand, 101, 149, 509
Sanity, 471
** Sannio," 160
Sardanapalus, 141
Satisfaction, 305
Saturnalia, 263
Savage men, 399
Scales, 233
Scare away, 163
Scarlet, 135, 421
Scent, 335
Sceptre, 143, 153, 385-7
Schiller, 123
Scholar, 27, 75
Scholarship, 313
School, 38-9, 291-3
School-room, 345
School-teacher, 157
Science, 427
Scorn, laugh to, 427
Scourging, 101, 259, 509
Scout, 139, 145, 155
Sea, 187, 305, 443
Season, 133, 213, 27S
Secrets, 429, 433
Security, 75, 193, 231-3, 257-9, 315,
341
Sedateness, 317,
Seduction, 53, 393
Seed, 389
Seemliness, 425
Self, 39 (of. 31), 41, 231, 331 ; -conceit,
175 ; -control and -controlled, 247,
397, 445, 455, 459, 473; -disparage-
ment, 167 ; -examination, 315, 357-
9: -possession, 473; -respect, 57,
135, 309-11, 315, 339, 387, 395-7,
425, 473, 501-3, 527 ; -satisfaction,
523 ; -sufficiency, 89
Selling, 111
Senate, 247, 293
Senator, 17, 173, 197, 205, 217, 247,
257, 497
Sense-impression and Impression, 23-
5, 29, 33-5, 61, 83-7, 109, 133-5,
139, 147, 167, 207, 213, 225, 231,
269, 317-19, 323, 341, 355, 339, 373.
See also Convincing Sense-impresim.
Senses, 93, 279, 401 ; evidence of, 291
Sentenced, 465
Serene and Serenity, 97, 113, 121,
139, 145-7, 185, 231, 259, 315, 327,
359, 363, 385-7, 417, 445, 491
Servant, 47, 145, 159, 165, 216, 221,
233, 237, 285, 367
Service, 157-9, 221 ; of G-od, 155
Servile, 483
Sex-life, 519
Sexual intercourse, 293 ; perverts, 17
Shame, 57, 231, 459, 501
Shameless and Shamelessaess, 111,
213, 391 ft., 429, 453, 503
Shapely, 347
Sharing difficulties and burdens,
433-5
Sheep, 171, 309, 339, 489, 31
Shell- fish, 489
Shelter, 519
Shepherd, 143, S31
Sherds, 93
Ship, 29, 61, 69, 83, 195, 285, 311, 323,
475, 489-91
Shipwreck, 91
Shirt, 387
Shoe, 199, 233, 503, 525 ; for a donkey,
271
Shoemaker, 77, 137
Shoulders, 103, 121, 125, 149, 387 ;
dislocated, 181
Shouting, 359-11, 323, 510
Shows, 109, 519
Shrinking, 451
Sick, 463
Sickness. See Illness.
Sighing, 35
Sight, 291
Sights, 49
Silence, 473, 523, 520
Silver, 31, 55-9, 69, 239, 347
Simple living, 531
Simpleton, 505
555
INDEX
Sinews, 373
Singer, 441
Singing, 29, 307, 377-9, 423
Sire, 99
Skill, 285, 377
Sky, 147, 451
Slanderers, 343
Slave, 37, 75, 89, 103, 145-7, 197, 205-
9, 225-7, 233-5, 239, 247-9, 253-5,
259-63, 267, 283-5, 289, 295,
303-5, 325-7, 337, 341, 347, 363,
367-9, 403, 495, 509, 519; -boy,
493, 505: of things, 119
Slavery, 161, 205, 269, 289, 295
Slavish, 167, 191, 483
Sleep and Sleeping, 147, 165-7, 197,
259, 329, 383, 425
Slovenliness, 415, 515
Small change, 25, 41, 395
Smell, 415
Smiling to oneself, 353
Smith, 357, 381-3, 413
Smoke, 405
Smutty talk, 309
Snake, 287
Snivel, 163
Snoring, 141, 167, 407
Snout, 159
Sober, 307
Social, feeling, 525; instinct, 409;
intercourse, see Intercourse ;
relationships, see Relationships.
Society, 157, 443
Socrates, 11-13, 43-4, 59, 85, 99, 107,
113, 129, 139, 177-81, 197, 205, 217,
235, 257, 287, 299-303, 321, 331-3,
343, 371, 383, 393, 415-17, 455, 471,
489, 515, 521, 529-31, 535
Socmtie dialogues, 44
Soft young men, 49
Soldiers, 195, 205, 217, 221, 235, 269,
299, 371, 430-1, 443
Solecisms, 69
Solitary and Solitude, 299, 323
Solo, 97
Somebody, a, 109, 501
Son, 23, 51, 87-9, 115, 125, 133. 159,
217, 333, 343, 355, 407, 421, 513
Song, 177-9, 427
Soot, 107
Sophism, 25, 233
Sophist, 25
Sophistieai, arguments, 331-3; Inter-
rogatioas, 61
Sophron, 39
556
Sorrow, 23, 27, 79, 91, 211-13, 325,
341, 445, 495
Soul, 25, 29, 35, 49-53, 77, 143, 161
397, 411, 427, 453-5, 459, 465, 471
475, 509
Sound, 451
Soup, 197
Sowing, 127
Speaker, 182; - J s stand, 183
Speaking ill, 113,519
Spears, 275
Spectacle, 189, 519
Spectators, 87, 279-81, 325, 381
Speech, 473; correct, 179; delivery
of a, 175
Spiders, 421
Spirit, 93; low spirits, 173
Spitting, 421
Sponge, 235
Spraining ankle, 50?
Springs, 455
Sprinter, 169
Sputum, 95
Squalor, 147, 163
Stability, 231
Stadium, 317
Staff, 133, 149-52
Stage, tragic, 139
Standard, 315, 355, 425-7; of be-
haviour, 37 ; general and individual,
171
Stars, 93, 137, 443
Start, 507
Starving, 227-9, 251
State, 55, 187, 201, 219, 345, 503;
an Epicurean, 55
Statues, 23, 67, 81, 85, 335, 531
Steadfastness, 35, 69, 445
Stealing, 53, 227
Stick of wood, 27
Stoic, Stoicism, and Stoic School, 55.
115, 199, 282, 449, 459
Stomach, a weak, 123
Stone, 27, 49, 59, 67, 85, 117, 167, 175,
227, 267, 335
Stopping to think, 455
Storms, 277
Stow away, 149
Straightforward, 173
Strand, a woven, 149
Strangers., 49, 79 ; in the universe. 191
Strengthening, 221
Strife, 35, 471
Strigil, 413
Striking, 335, 490
INDEX
Strings of lyre, 107
Stripes, 149
Stripping off clothes, 277
Striving against God, 279
Strolling, 75, 197, 209
Strong, 459 ; the stronger, 373
Struggle against the Cosmos, 445
Study, 219
Stupidity, 373
Style, 175, 183
Subject, 207, 301; unto God, 205;
-matter, 29, 39, 285
Submission, 425, 511
Subservient, 313
Substance, 187
Success, 161, 355-7
Suffering, 227
Sufficiency, 457
Suicide, 63, 93, 143, 217, 303, 405
Sun, 93, 107, 137, 163, 279, 443;
Sunning oneself, 321
Superintendent, of Ephebi, 17, 55*
of games, 17
Superior, 167, 281, 373; individuals
13
Superiority, 99, 111, 529
Supplies, 341
Sura, 111
Surfeit, 305
Surgeon, 157
Swallowing sand, 507-9
Sweat, 413
Sweet, 535 ; -cake, 85, 101, 135, 165
Sweetheart, 249
Sweetness, 523
Sword, 251, 275, 361, 367-9
Syllogisms, 23, 47, 127, 209, 231-3
319, 351
Sympathy, 497
Sympliorus, 59
Table, 133, 159
Tablets, 157
Tact, 97
Tactless and Tactlessness, 149, 429
Taking sides, 35-7
Talent, 201> 509; natural, 103
Talking, 175, 309, 429 ft, 517-9
Tame animal, man, 335, 469
Tasteless person, 347
Tavern, 337
Tax for manumiisioni 2S5
Teacher, 129, 182, 21?, 349, 535
Teaching, 129, 173, 177
Teeth, 413, 467
Tegea, 81
Temple, 421, 517
Tent, 83
Test, 33
Testimony, 161, 387
Thankfulness, 345
Thanks, 281, 319
Thanksgiving, 331, 36S
Theatre, 35-9, 71, 447
Thebans, 159
Thebes, 189, 217
Theft, 53, 341
Theoretical principles, 453
Thermopylae, 183
Thersites, 133, 309
Thessaly, 301
Thief, 31, 167
Thighs, 103, 149, 509
Thin, 161
Things, inspiring fear, 273
Thinking, 203, 315, 5L1
Thirst and thirsty, 75, 149, 191. 321,
353, 393, 531
Thoughtless, 447
Thoughts to have ready at haad, 537
Thrasonides, 249
Thrasymachus, 331
Throne, 343
Tight-rope walking, 81
Tile, 369-71
Timbers, 137
Timidity, 341
To-day," 429
Toga praeterta, 263
Toil, 305, 329
Tokens, 87
To-morrow, 429
Tool, 413
Topic. See field of study.
Topics of conversation, 517
Topsails, 29
Torch, 127; -bearer, 127
Torture, 275, 305, 434-5
Towel, 413
Tragedians, 375
Tragedy, 97
Tragic stage, 1S9
Trainer, 75, 101, 285, 507
Training, 21, 75, 81~7 t 101, 148-9,
151, 2S1, 271, S83* 293, 315, 395,
427,507
Training partners, 317, $25
Traits, 423
557
INDEX
Tranquil and Tranquillity, 41, 91-3,
103, 125, 317, 327, -359, 385, 417,
511
Transformation, 449
Trappings, alien, 197
Travel, 91, 181, 313
Travellers, 275, 491
Trembling, 515
Trench, 195
Tribune (officer), 99 ; (platform), 403
Tribuneship, 265, 311
Triumph, 213
Trojans, 143-5, 337
Troops, 165
Troubled and Troubles, 341, 365, 507
True, 29, 147
Trumpet, 101, 509
Trust, 431, 435
Truth, 197, 247, 253, 477, 537
Tune a lyre, 107
Tunic, 283
Turmoil, 321-7, 349, 483
Tyrant, 145, 163, 167, 193, 223, 229,
239, 273-7, 289-91, 345, 361, 365,
371, 425; the Thirty Tyrants,
299-301
Ugliness, 5-9, 19, 21
Ugly-snouted, 159
Unconstrained* 41
Uneducated, 489 -
Unfair, 365, 501
Unfeeling, 359
Unfortunate, 143, 343
Unfriendly, 359
Unhampered, 41
Unharmed, 363
Unhappiness and Unhappy, 79, 161,
205
Unhindered, 147
Umnstrucfced, 237, 325
Union of men, 279
Universe, 77, 105, 137, 187, 191-3,
213-15, 233, 297, 363-5, 443-5, 449,
507, 511 ; ' revolution of, 279v See
also Cosmos^ and World.
Unjust, 503
Unmannerly, 307
Unnatural . vice, 309. See also
Perverts*
Unreason, 445
Unseemly, 371, 383, 393
Unsocial, '809 "
Unspoiled, 173
Unwillingness, 195
Upsetting, 369
Urine, 453-5
Use of external impressions, 445.
See also Impressions.
Useful, 303
Useless, 235
Vainglorious, 197
Value, 303, 313, 397 ffi.
Vegetable-dealer, 67, 201. See also
Greengrocer.
Vegetables, 45, 323
Vertigo, 35
Vessel, 155, 433, 453-5
Vexation, 69, 405, 507, 521
Vice, 163, 455, 463, 493
Victory, 39, 101, 225, 497, 523; at
Olympia, 507
Vigils, 103, 305, 403-7, 509
Vine, 285
Vinegar, 323, 453
Vintage, 387
Violent, 447
Virtues, 35, 151, 221, 301, 387, 445,
459, 463 ; miserable, 107
Vivacity, 125
Voice, 129
Vomit, 123-5
Voyage, 51, 69, 75, 91, 193, 489
Vulgarity, 459, 521
Vulgarizing the Mysteries, 127-9
Wages, 191
Wailing, 203
Walk and Walking, 169, 197, 267
Wall, 233, 341
Wallet, 33, 149
Walls, 135, 387
Wand, 121
Want, 227; of endurance, 455; of
self-control, 455. See also Poverty.
War, 91, 123, 161, 16
Warden of the city, 17
Warmth, 133 :
Washing, 155, 197, 467
Watching over, 165
Water, 93-7, 155, 321, 393, 413, 421,
449, 457, 489; bbwl of, 35; cold,
101, 507; -drinker, 531
Wax, 107
Weak, 483
Wealth and Wealthy, 53, 207, 223,
263-5, 313, 355-, 391, 485, 495.
See also B&;
558
INDEX
Weaving, 169, 187
Weeping, 35, 191, 203, 495
Weighing, 233
Wench, 135, 251, 329, 435; frail, 33;
pretty, 25, 45, 85, 273. See also
Girl, and Maid.
Wheel, 435
Whisper, 213
Wicked, 111, 279, 333, 459
Wife, 53-5, 1*1, 145-7, 155-7, 235,
267, 279-83, 299, 301, 333, 343, 361,
387, 391, 487-97, 505, 513
Wild beast, 171, 285, 339, 391
Wilderness, 277
Will, 275-9, 397, 443, 449-51, 473,
483, 493; of G-od, and one's own,
367; of Zeus, 373
Wind, 133, 153, 193, 311
Wine, 77, 85, (97), 101, 293, 433, 493,
507, 529
Winter, 213, 389; -'straining, 389
Wisdom, 95, 129
Wise, 145, 155, 247; man, 95, 277,
451
Wish, 327, 491, 495
Wit, 163
Wither, 391
Within you, 221
Withholding judgement, 29
Witness, 161, 221, 237
Wolf, 143, 287, 335
Woman, 15-17, 55, 159, 185, 303, 295,
391-3, 461, 525-7; handsome,
491 ; pretty, 197
Womb, 157
Wool, 155, 531
Word, 127-9, 285, 461, 533; of IE
omen, 213-5
Work hard, 83, 103-5, 509
Working together, 287
Workmen, 235
World, 205, 463; below (= Hades),
227; a city-state, 201; -con-
flagration, 89. See also Cosmos^
and Universe.
Worm, 293, 421
Worthy, man, 393; of tlie best
things, 535
Wounding, 335
Wrestler, 7, 103, 149, 509; -'s sand,
317
Wrestling, 223, 351, 395; -com-
panion, 119 ; -school, 417
Wretch, Wretched, and Wretchedness,
151, 187
Wrist, 101, 507
Writing, 197, 201, 217, 227-9, 265,
317-19, 325, 329, 345, 351; a book,
159; implements, 15 7
Wrong, 285, 377
Xanthippe, 331, 343
Xenocrates, 419
Xenophon, 467; quoted, 176-7, 257,
331
Xerxes, 183
Yawning, 197
Tear, 133
Teaming, 79, 387. See also Desire,
and Hankering.
Torang, care of, 129 ; men, 181, 321
Touth, 443, 469
Zeal, 537
Zeno, 129, 181, 197, 239, 304, 379,
393, 449, 521
Zenodotus, 18
Zeus, 15, 31-3, 39, 59, 63, 80-1, 89,
129, 137, 14Ey 151, 159, 16V191-3,
205, 221T3, 275, 289, 327-9, 337,
347, 373, 385-7, 449, 537; Father
of all, 159, 189; G-od of Pathers,
81; G-od of Kindred, 81
559
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On Situations and Names of Winds, On Melissus, Xenophanes,
and Gorgias.
ARISTOTLE : NICOMACHEAN ETHICS. H. Rackham. (5#i Imp.
revised.)
ARISTOTLE : OECONOMICA and MAGNA MORALIA. G. C. Arm-
strong; (with Metaphysics, Vol. H.). (3rd Imp.)
ARISTOTLE : ON THE HEAVENS. W. K. C. Guthrie. (2nd Imp.
revised.)
ARISTOTLE : ON THE SOUL, PARVA NATTJRAUA, ON BREATH.
W. S. Hett. (2nd Imp. revised.)
ARISTOTLE : ORGANON, H. P. Cooke and H. Tredennick. 3
Vols. (Vol. I. 2nd Imp.)
ARISTOTLE ; PARTS OF ANIMALS. A. L. Peck ; MOTION AND
PROGRESSION OF ANIMALS. E. S. Forster. (2nd Imp.
revised.)
ARISTOTLE : PHYSICS. Rev. P. Wicksteed and F. M. Cornford.
2 Vols. (2nd Imp.)
ARISTOTLE : POETICS and LONGINTJS, W. Hamilton Fyfe ;
DEMETRIUS ON STYLE. W. Rhys Roberts. (4th Imp. revised.)
ARISTOTLE : POLITICS. H. Rackham. (4th Imp. revised.)
ARISTOTLE : PROBLEMS. W. S. Hett. 2 Vols. (Vol. I. 2nd
Imp, revised.)
ARISTOTLE : RHETORICA AD ALEXANDRUM (with PROBLEMS,
Vol. II.). H. Backiiam.
ARRIAN : HISTORY OF ALEXANDER and INDICA. Rev. E, Iliffe
Robson. 2 Vols. (2nd Imp.)
ATHENAEUS : DEIPNOSOPHISTAE. C. B. Gulick. 7 Vols.
(Vols. I., V., and VI. 2nd Imp.}
ST. BASIL : LETTERS. R. J. Deferrari. 4 Vols. (Vols. L, II.
and IV. 2nd Imp.)
CALLIMACHTJS and LYCOPHRON. A. W. Mair; ARATUS. G. R.
Mair. (2nd Imp.)
CLEMENT OE ALEXANDRIA. Rev. G. W. Butterworth. ( 2nd Imp.)
COLLUTHUS. Cf. OPPIAN.
DAPHNIS AND CHLOE. Thornley's Translation revised by
J. M. Edmonds ; and PARTHENIUS. S. Gaselee. (3rd Imp.)
DEMOSTHENES I: OLYNTBJACS, PHILIPPICS and MINOR ORATIONS:
I.-XVII. AND XX. J. H. Vince.
DEMOSTHENES II : DE CORONA and DE FALSA LEGATIONS.
C. A. Vince and J. H. Vince. (2nd Imp. revised.)
DEMOSTHENES III : MEIDIAS, ANDROTION, ARISTOCRATES, TIMO-
CRATES and ARISTOGEITON, I. AND II, J. H. Vince.
DEMOSTHENES IV- VI : PRIVATE ORATIONS and IN NEAERAM.
A. T. Murray . (Vol. I. 2nd Imp.)
DEMONSTHENES VII : FUNERAL SPEECH, EROTIC ESSAY, EXORDIA
and LETTERS. N. W. and N. J. DeWitt.
Dio CASSIUS : ROMAN HISTORY. E. Gary. 9 Vols. (Vols. I.
and II. 2nd Imp.)
Dio CHRYSOSTOM. J. W. Cohoon and H. Lamar Crosby. 5
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DIODORTJS Sicuxus. 12 Vols. Vols. I.-V. C. H. Gldfatker.
Vol. VII. C.L. Sherman. Vol. IX. R. M. Geer. (Vote. I.-
m. 2nd Imp.)
DIOGENES LAERTIIIS. R. D. Hicks. 2 Vols. (Vol. 1. 4h Imp..
Vol. II. 3rd Imp.)
DIONYSTUS OF HALICARNASSTTS : ROMAN ANTIQXTITIES. Spel-
man's translation revised by E. Gary. 7 Vols. (Vols. I. and
IV. 2nd Imp.)
EPICTETUS. W. A. Oldfather. 2 Vok. (Vols. I and IL 2nd
Imp.)
ETJRIPIDES. A. S. Way. 4 Vols. (VoL I. 7<fe Imp. and H., IV.
6ft Imp., VoL HI. 5th Imp.) Verse trans.
EtrsEBurs : ECCUBSIASTICAL HISTORY. Kirsopp Lake and
J. E. L. Oulton. 2 Vols. (VoL I. 2nd Imp,, Vol. 33. 3rd Imp.}
GALEN : ON THE NATURAL FACULTDES. A^, I. Brook. (3rd Imp.)
THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY. W. R. Paton. 5 Vols. (Vols. Land
II. Uh Imp,, Vols. 3DDL. and IV. 3rd Imp., Vol. V- 2nd Imp.)
GREEK ELEGY AND IAMBUS with the ANAOREONTEA. J. M.
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THE GREEK BUCOLIC POETS (THEOCRITUS, BION, MOSCTOTS),
J. M. Edmonds. (1th Imp. revised.)
GREEK MATHEMATICAL WORKS. Ivor Thomas. 2 Vols, (^wi
HERODES. Cf. THEOPHRASTUS : CHARACTERS.
HERODOTUS. A. D. Godley. 4 Vols. (Vols. I.-HI. 4th Imp.,
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HESIOD and THE HOMERIC HYMNS. H. G. Evelyn White.
(1th Imp. revised and enlarged.)
HIPPOCRATES and the FRAGMENTS OP HERACLEITUS. W. H. S.
Jones and E. T. Withington. 4 Vols. (Vol. I. <fe II. 3rd Imp.,
Vols. III. & IV. 2nd Imp.)
HOMER: ILIAD. A.T.Murray. 2 Vols. (6th Imp.)
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ISOCBATES. George Norlin and LaRue Van Hook. 3 Vols.
ST. JOHN DAMASCENE : BARLAAM ANI> IOASAPH. Rev. G. R.
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3rd Imp.)
LYCOPHBON. Cf. CAiij3tA.CHUs,,
LYRA GRAECA. J. M. Edmonds. 3 Vols. (Vol. I. Uh Imp.,
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revised.)
LYSIAS. W. R. M. Lamb. (2nd Imp.)
MANETHO. W. G. Waddell ; PTOLEMY : TETBABIBLOS. F. E.
Robbins. (2nd Imp.)
MARCUS AUBELIUS. C. R. Haines. (3rd Imp. revised.)
MENANDER. F. G. Allinson. (2nd Imp. revised.)
MINOR ATTIC ORATORS (ANTIPEON, ANDOCEDES, DEMADES,
DEIHARCHUS, HYPEBEIDES). K. J. Maidment and J. O.
Bnrrt. 2 Vols. Vol. I. K. J. Maidment.
NONNOS : DIONYSIACA. W. H. B. Rouse. 3 Vols. (Vol. III.
2nd Imp.)
OPPIAH, COLLUTHUS, TBYPHIODOBUS. A. W. Mair.
PAPYRI. NON-LITEBABY SELECTIONS. A. S. Hunt and O. C.
Edgar. 2 Vols. (Vol. I. 2nd Imp.) LITERARY SELECTIONS.
Vol. I. (Poetry). D, L. Page. (3rd Imp.)
PARTHENIUS. Cf. DAPHNIS AND CHLOE.
PAUSAHIAS : DESCRIPTION OF GREECE. W. H. S. Jones. 5
Vols. and Companion Vol. arranged by R. E. Wycherley.
(Vols, I. and III. 2nd Imp.)
PHILO. 11 Vols. Vols. I.-V.; F. H. Colson and Rev. G. H.
WMtaker. Vols. VI.-IX. ; F. H. Colson. (Vols. I., II., V.,
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PHELOSTRATUS : THE LIFE OF APOLLONIUB op TYANA. F. C.
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Ptai^sSEATtrs ; IMAGINES; CALIJBTRATTJS "DESCRIPTION'S.
A. Fairbanks,
PHILOSTRATUS and ETJNAPIUS : LIVES OF THE SOPHISTS.
Wilmer Cave Wright, (2nd Imp.}
6
PINDAR. Sir J. E. Sandys. (7th Imp. revised.)
PLATO : CHARMIDES, ALCIBIADES, HIPPARCHUS, THE LOVERS
THEAGES, MINOS and EPINOMIS. W. B. M. Lamb.
PLATO : CRATYLUS, PARMENIDES, CREATES HIPPIAS, LESSER
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Pl 4 T< lT : ^-xjrtvK&o, APOLOGY, CBITO, PHAEDQ, PHAEDRXTS
H. N. Fowler. ($th Imp.)
PLATO : LACHES, PBOTAGOBAS, MENO, EUTHYDEMUS W R M
Lamb. (3rd Imp. revised.) ' ' '
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PLATO: STATESMAN, PHILEBUS. H. N. Fowler j IOH, W R M
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PLATO : TIMAEUS, CRITIAS, CLITOPHO, MENEXENTJS, EPISTULAE
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PLUTARCH : MOBALIA. 14 Vols. Vols. I.-V. F. C. Babbitt *
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POLYBIUS. W. R. Paton. 6 Vols.
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PTOLEMY : TETRABIBLOS. Gf. MANETHO.
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SEXTUS EMPiRictrs. Rev. R. G. Bury. 4 Vols. (Vol. I and
III. 2nd Imp.)
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Imp.) Verse trans.
STRABO : GEOGRAPHY. Horace L. Jones. 8 Vols. (Vols. L
and VIII. 3rd Imp., Vols. II., V., and VI. 2nd Imp.)
TB^EOPHRASTUS : CHARACTERS. J. M. Edmonds ; BJSRODHS,
etc. A. D. Knox. (2nd Imp.)
THEOPHRASTTTS : ENQTTIRY INTO PLANTS. Sir Arthur Hort,
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II., III. and IV. 2nd Imp. revised.)
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IN PREPARATION
Greek Authors
ARISTOTLE : DE MTTNDO, ETC. D. Furley and E. M. Forster.
ARISTOTLE : HISTORY OF ANIMALS. A. L. Peck.
ARISTOTLE : METEOROLOGICA. H. D. P. Lee.
PLOTINUS : A. H, Armstrong,
Latin Authors
ST. AUGUSTINE : CITY or GOD.
[CiCEito] : AD BQEBENNTUM:. H. Caplan.
CICERO : PRO SESTIO, IN VATINITJM, PRO CAELIO, DE PaoviNcna
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