Roman Stoicism by Edward Vernon Arnold
CHAPTER XIV.
9877 words | Chapter 22
SIN AND WEAKNESS.
[Sidenote: Sin.]
=360.= The Stoic view of the universe is coloured by optimism. All comes
from God, all works towards good. None the less the Stoic morals are
stern. Men in the mass are both foolish and wicked; they defy God’s
will and thwart his purpose. The world is full of sin, and all sins (to
use the Socratic paradox) are equal. What then is sin? It is a missing
of the mark at which virtue aims (ἁμάρτημα); it is a stumbling on the
road (_peccatum_); it is a transgressing of the boundary line[1]. It
is the child of ignorance, the outward expression of ill health of the
soul. Everywhere and in every man it weakens, hampers, and delays the
work of virtue. It cannot however finally triumph, for it is at war
with itself. The Persians were wrong when they conceived an Evil Power,
a concentration of all the powers of mischief in one personality. This
cannot be, for sin lacks essential unity. It destroys but does not
build; it scatters but it does not sow. It is an earth-born giant, whose
unwieldy limbs will in the end be prostrated by a combatant, small to the
outward view, but inspired with divine forcefulness. If we understand
what sin is, we shall see its repulsiveness; if we learn how it spreads,
we shall seek protection against its infecting poison; if we attack it in
detail, in individual men and in their daily acts, we shall in the end
lay it low. Philosophy then proceeds to arm itself for its task.
[Sidenote: The four sinful conditions are errors.]
=361.= Sin is ignorance; more accurately, it is that which appears to be
knowledge, but is not knowledge; it is false judgment. If we follow the
process by which knowledge is attained, we find that there is no error
in the mind-picture (_visum_), whether it is sensory or partly sensory
and partly rational; this is an adumbration automatically presented to
the mind. But ‘assent is in our power’; it is both an intellectual and
a moral act. A too hasty assent to that which appears to be but is not
is both an error and an offence; and most particularly so when it lies
in the application of the general conceptions (προλήψεις) of ‘good’ and
‘evil’ to particular cases[2]. In this way we quickly reach four sinful
conditions, which come about by mistaking things indifferent, that is,
advantages and disadvantages, for things good or evil. These are:
(i) Fear (φόβος, _metus_), in which a future disadvantage is mistaken for
a future evil;
(ii) Greed (ἐπιθυμία, _libido_), in which a future advantage is mistaken
for a future good;
(iii) Grief (λύπη, _aegritudo_), in which a present disadvantage is
mistaken for a present evil;
(iv) Hilarity (ἡδονή, _laetitia_), in which a present advantage is
mistaken for a present good[3].
In the case of the last two evils the title presents difficulty in
all languages; thus for Grief we might substitute any term such as
Discontent, Vexation, Worry or Fretfulness; it is a lack of Courage in
bearing pain or disappointment. Again for Hilarity we might substitute
Elation, Exaltation, Excitement: it is a lack of Soberness in the moment
of pleasure.
[Sidenote: They are also maladies.]
=362.= From another point of view all sin is due to a lack of moral
force, a want of tone in the moral sinews, an unhealthy condition
of the soul[4]. Ultimately this point of view agrees with that just
described: for it is the lack of health and strength which leads to hasty
and ill-judged assent[5]. But for practical purposes we may use this
distinction to lead up to a difference of grade. Thus we may associate
ignorance with that rooted perversity of mind which is the exact opposite
of virtue, and which is therefore in the strictest sense ‘vice’ (κακία,
_vitium_)[5]; and want of tone with a passing condition which we cannot
deny to be an evil, but may nevertheless describe by the gentler terms
‘perturbation’ and ‘affection[6].’ Such an evil is a disturbance of the
soul’s calm, an ‘infection’ of its health. It may exist in three grades
to be hereafter described, as a ‘ruffling,’ a ‘disturbance,’ a ‘disease’;
and in both the latter forms it must be rooted out, for in both grades it
is an evil, and in the last it is a vice which threatens to poison the
man’s whole nature. Hence we reach the Stoic paradox that ‘the affections
must be extirpated[7].’ But although this is our only ethical standard,
we are not debarred from suggesting remedies which may alleviate the
malady in particular persons and under special circumstances.
[Sidenote: Fear.]
=363.= The evil of Fear (φόβος, _formido_, _metus_) is practically
opposed to the virtue of Courage. Here philosophy builds upon the
foundations of common opinion, and its task is the easier. The youth who
is brought up not to regard suffering, poverty, exile, or death as evils,
will never be afraid. Since it is death that most alarms mankind by its
grim aspect, he who can face this giant without trembling will not know
fear, or at the most will only feel a slight ruffling of the soul. In
asserting that ‘fear should be rooted out’ the Stoics cross no general
sentiment; the tradition of the heroic age is the same.
[Sidenote: Greed.]
=364.= The treatment of Greed (ἐπιθυμία, _libido_) is similar. This fault
is opposed to the Soberness with which men should aim at advantages; and
when we have determined the standard of Soberness every transgression of
it reveals Greed. But under this heading the Stoics include the vices of
Anger[8] and Cruelty, for which the heroic age had no condemnation. In
regard to the former they come into conflict with the Peripatetics also,
who maintain that Anger serves useful ends, and should be controlled, not
extirpated[9]. The consideration of this condition of mind will therefore
bring out the divergence between the two schools.
[Sidenote: Anger.]
=365.= The Peripatetics assign Anger to the passionate part of the soul
(τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν); they admit that it needs to be restrained by reason,
but hold that within proper limits it is both natural and necessary. In
war it is essential to heroic action; he who is filled with it despises
danger, and rushes on to great achievements[10]. It is no less necessary
in peace, in order that the wicked may not go unpunished[11]. Aristotle
says compendiously that ‘anger is the spur of virtue[12],’ the armour of
the man of high soul. To this point of view the Stoics are opposed alike
on the ground of principle and of experience. We do not need disease as a
means to health[13], or armour which sways instead of being swayed[14].
A good man will face danger unmoved, from the sense of duty; and will
face it more firmly and more perseveringly than he whose passions are
excited[15]. He will punish wrong-doers either for their amendment or for
the protection of others, without being angry with them[16]. Fabius the
Delayer conquered his own spirit before he overcame Hannibal[17]; and the
very gladiators strike, not when their feelings move them, but when the
opportunity has come[18].
[Sidenote: Degrees of anger; remedies for it.]
=366.= Anger is technically defined as ‘the greedy desire of avenging
an injury,’ or (more precisely) as ‘the greedy desire to punish one
whom you deem to have injured you unjustly[19].’ That it is a temporary
madness has always been held by the wise[20]; and this is indicated by
the appearance of the angry, the threatening look, the heightened colour,
the gnashing teeth, the stamp of the foot[21]; also by the fact that
children are specially prone to anger, even for frivolous causes[22], and
that anger is often directed against harmless persons or objects[23].
Nevertheless anger does not consist of a merely instinctive feeling,
but implies the assent of the will[24]; so that we can always trace the
three stages, first the appearance of an injury done (_species oblata
iniuriae_), secondly the assent (_animus adsentit atque adprobat_),
thirdly the outbreak of anger (_sequitur ira_)[25]. To check anger the
first necessity is time[26]: reflection will often show us that we have
not been injured at all, or not so much as we supposed[27]. Then it is
well to put ourselves in the place of the offender, and try to look at
the offence from his point of view[28]. Where anger has become a disease
(_iracundia_), more violent remedies must be used; some have been cured
by looking at themselves in a mirror[29]; others must apply the ‘contrary
twist[30],’ and learn when struck to turn quietly away[31].
[Sidenote: Variations of anger.]
=367.= Anger is an evil that has many varieties, and the precisians
exercise their ingenuity in distinguishing the bitter-humoured
(_amarus_), the fiery (_stomachosus_), the fierce (_rabiosus_), the man
who is hard to get on with (_difficilis_), and many other shades of
character. But one variety deserves special notice, because the evil
disposition exists though its expression is checked. The angry man of
this type does not allow himself to go beyond complaint and criticism,
but he nurses his feeling in the depths of his heart[32]. He would on no
account express himself in loud outcries, but his displeasure is easily
excited and persistent. This evil we call moroseness; it is a feeling
characteristic of a decadent society[33], and (like all other kinds of
anger) it calls for unsparing repression.
[Sidenote: Cruelty.]
=368.= Cruelty, a tendency to excess in punishment[34], is an evil
constantly attendant upon the possession of power, and directly opposed
to the virtue of clemency. Roman history has exhibited many examples of
it, beginning with Sulla who ordered seven thousand Roman citizens to be
slain on one day[35], continuing with the many masters who are hated for
cruelty to their slaves[36]. It cuts at the root of the ties of humanity
and degrades man to the level of the beast[37]; in its extreme form it
becomes a madness, when the slaying of a man is in itself a pleasure[38].
As a remedy for cruelty in its milder forms it is well to consider the
true objects of punishment; first, to reform the offender; secondly, to
make others better by a warning; thirdly, to give a sense of safety to
the community by removing offenders[39]. All these objects are better
effected if punishment is moderate and rare, and appears to be awarded
with reluctance. When cruelty has become a disease it is necessary to
remind the tyrant that his manner of life is a pitiable one[40], and that
a complete cure can be worked by putting him to death[41].
[Sidenote: Grief.]
=369.= In reckoning Grief in its countless varieties as an evil the
Stoics did not altogether run counter to public opinion. In the heroic
age grief was indeed not forbidden, but it was sharply limited; women
might grieve, men should remember. But in prescribing the total
extinction of this state of mind the Stoics appeared to pass the bounds
of human nature; public feeling revolted against what seemed impossible
of attainment. Our position to-day is not greatly altered; but we may
notice that whereas in ordinary social life Grief is not only tolerated
but approved, yet in battle, earthquake, flood, and pestilence our ideal
of the hero is one which almost entirely excludes the indulgence of this
emotion.
Grief takes many forms, as Fretfulness, Disappointment, Restlessness,
Pity, and Mourning; we proceed to examine them in order.
[Sidenote: Fretfulness.]
=370.= The simplest form of Grief is fretfulness under bodily pain, the
effect of depression of the soul and contraction of its sinews[42]. In
all ages and under all philosophies the capacity of bearing pain without
flinching is the primary test of virtue; and in the Cynic and Stoic
schools alike the dogma ‘pain is no evil’ is of critical importance.
In this matter correct doctrine needs to be strengthened by life-long
discipline; but it is not required by Stoic principles that general
principles should be forced upon the acceptance of individual sufferers.
Panaetius therefore acted quite correctly when, in writing to Quintus
Tubero on the subject of the endurance of pain, he abstained from
pressing the usual paradox[43]. But all who see this trial awaiting them
will do well to consider how much hardship men willingly endure for evil
purposes, such as those of lust, money-making, or glory. Cocks and quails
will fight to the death for victory: jugglers will risk their lives
swallowing swords, walking on tight ropes, or flying like birds, when in
each case a slip means death[44]. If we compose our minds long before to
meet suffering, we shall have more courage when the time comes[45].
[Sidenote: Discipline of pain.]
=371.= Still more effective is active training[46]. Happy was the Spartan
youth who came to Cleanthes to ask him whether pain was not a good;
his education had taught him that this was a more practical question
than that other, whether pain is an evil[47]. Recruits cry out at the
slightest wound, and are more afraid of the surgeon’s touch than of the
sword; on the other hand veterans watch the life-blood draining away
without a sigh[48]. Some men groan at a box on the ear, whilst others
smile under the scourge[49]. Inexperience therefore is the chief cause
for weakness under pain; familiarity with it brings strength[50].
[Sidenote: Disappointed ambition.]
=372.= The Grief that gives way to pain of mind has very various forms;
but that which is due to disappointed ambition is perhaps the most
typical. Even men who had overcome the fear of death were known to
shudder at the bitterness of soul (_aegritudo animi_) which accompanies
defeat in a contested election (_repulsa_) in a republic, or displacement
from the favour of the powerful under a monarchy[51]. For this malady
the complete remedy is found in the paradox that ‘the wise man is king,’
that virtue can never be unseated from the curule chair[52]; temporary
alleviations may be found, even by philosophers, in biting sarcasms
aimed at the incapacity of one’s fellow-citizens[53]. It may be in the
abstract the duty of a good man to take part in politics; but experience
shows that the State has yet to be discovered which can tolerate a sage,
or which a sage can tolerate[54]. Hence we find even Stoic teachers
relapsing into practical Epicureanism, and bidding their followers to
let the community go hang, and to reserve their energies for some nobler
occupation[55]. To these lapses from sound principle we need not attach
any serious importance; the individual Stoic did not always live up to
his creed.
[Sidenote: Restlessness.]
=373.= Restlessness is grief of mind without known cause; the unquiet
soul rushes hither and thither, vainly seeking to be free from its own
company[56]. The lesson that Horace had pressed a century earlier, that
disquiet can only be cured by quiet, has not been learnt[57]. In Homer
Achilles tosses on his bed in fever, lying first on his face, then on his
back, never long at rest in any position; and so to-day our wealthy man
first travels to luxurious Campania, then to the primitive district of
the Bruttii; north and south are tried in turn, and alike disapproved,
whilst after all the fault is not in the place, but in the man[58]. In
this temper men come to hate leisure and complain that they have nothing
to do[59]. This folly reaches an extreme when men trust themselves to
the sea, take the chance of death without burial, and place themselves
in positions in which human skill may avail nothing[60]. It even leads
to great political disasters, as when Xerxes attacks Greece because he
is weary of Asia, and Alexander invades India because the known world is
too small for him[61]. The times will come, when men will seek novelty
by travelling through the air or under the sea; they will force their way
through the cold of the poles and the damp heat of the forests of Africa.
The remedy lies either in humbler submission to the will of the deity, or
in a sense of humour which sees the absurdity of taking so much trouble
for so little advantage[62].
[Sidenote: Pity.]
=374.= Pity is that weakness of a feeble mind, which causes it to
collapse at the sight of another man’s troubles[63], wrongly believing
them to be evils. Pity looks at the result, not at the cause, and it is
most keenly felt by women of all ages, who are distressed by the tears
even of the most abandoned criminals, and would gladly burst open the
doors of the gaols to release them[64]. The cause of pity lies in a too
rapid assent; we are caught napping by every sight that strikes on our
senses. If we see a man weeping, we say ‘he is undone’: if we see a poor
man, we say ‘he is wretched; he has nothing to eat[65].’ Now we Stoics
have a bad name, as though we recommended to governors a system of harsh
punishments[66]; but, on the contrary, none value more highly than we the
royal virtue of clemency[67]. Only let it be considered that a wise man
must keep a calm and untroubled mind, if only that he may be ready to
give prompt help to those who need it; a saving hand to the shipwrecked,
shelter to the exile, the dead body of her son to a mother’s tears. The
wise man will not pity, but help[68].
[Sidenote: Sensibility.]
=375.= Nearly akin to the evil of pity is that sensitiveness to the
sufferings of others which leads men, contrary reason, to turn the other
way and avoid the sight of them. Of this weakness Epictetus gives us a
lively picture:
‘When he was visited by one of the magistrates, Epictetus
inquired of him about several particulars, and asked if he
had children and a wife. The man replied that he had; and
Epictetus inquired further, how he felt under the circumstances.
‘Miserable,’ the man said. Then Epictetus asked ‘In what
respect? For men do not marry and beget children in order to be
wretched, but rather to be happy.’ ‘But I,’ the man replied,
‘am so wretched about my children that lately, when my little
daughter was sick and was supposed to be in danger, I could not
endure to stay with her, but I left home till a person sent me
news that she had recovered.’ ‘Well then,’ said Epictetus, ‘do
you think that you acted right?’ ‘I acted naturally,’ the man
replied; ‘this is the case with all or at least most fathers.’
‘Let us be careful,’ said Epictetus, ‘to learn rightly the
criterion of things according to nature. Does affection to
those of your family appear to you to be according to nature
and to be good?’ Certainly.’ ‘Is then that which is consistent
with reason in contradiction with affection?’ ‘I think not.’
‘Well then, to leave your sick child and to go away is not
reasonable, and I suppose that you will not say that it is; but
it remains to inquire if it is consistent with affection.’ ‘Yes,
let us consider.’ ‘Has the mother no affection for her child?’
‘Certainly she has.’ ‘Ought then the mother to have left her, or
ought she not?’ ‘She ought not.’ ‘And the nurse, does she love
her?’ ‘She does.’ ‘Ought then she also to have left her?’ ‘By no
means.’ ‘But if this is so, it results that your behaviour was
not at all an affectionate act[69].’
Seneca draws for us the same picture of sentimental neglect of duty.
‘Of our luxurious rich,’ he says, ‘no one sits by the side of his dying
friend, no one watches the death of his own father, or joins in the last
act of respect to the remains of any member of his family[70].’
[Sidenote: Sensitiveness.]
=376.= Another form of the evil of Grief is that of undue sensitiveness
to criticism and abuse. This mental weakness is illustrated by the case
of Fidus Cornelius, who burst into tears because some one in the senate
called him a ‘plucked ostrich’; and in an earlier period Chrysippus
had been acquainted with a man who lost his temper merely because
he was called a ‘sea-calf[71].’ Others are annoyed by seeing their
eccentricities imitated, or by reference to their poverty or old age.
The remedy for all these things is humour; no one can be laughed at who
turns the laugh against himself[72]. Another is to cease thinking about
oneself[73].
[Sidenote: Mourning.]
=377.= The hardest to bear of all distresses is the loss of friends by
death, and most particularly, the loss by parents of their children. To
meet this trouble a special class of literature, called _consolationes_,
grew up, not confined to any one school of philosophers. The treatise of
Crantor the Academic was famous in Cicero’s time[74]; and in the letter
of Servius Sulpicius to Cicero upon his daughter’s death we have an
admirable example of the ‘consolation’ in private correspondence[75].
Sulpicius bids Cicero think of all the grief and trouble in the world,
the loss of political liberty at Rome, the destruction of so many famous
cities of antiquity, until he feels that man is born to sorrow, and that
his own loss is but a drop in the ocean of the world’s suffering. He also
calls on the mourner to think of his own character, and to set an example
of firmness to his household[76]. Cicero found his real comfort in none
of these things, but in industrious authorship. We have unfortunately no
example of a ‘Consolation’ by Musonius. Seneca has left us two treatises
in this style, one a formal document addressed to the minister Polybius
on the death of his brother, the other a more personal appeal to Marcia,
a lady of an ‘old Roman’ family, on the death of a son. Besides the
arguments already used by Sulpicius[77], he recommends to Polybius
attention to the public service and the reading of Homer and Virgil[78].
Both to him and to Marcia he pictures the happiness of the soul now
admitted to the company of the blest[79], or at any rate at peace and
freed from all the pains of life[80]. In writing to Marcia he recalls
with effect the examples of Octavia the sister, and Livia the wife of
Augustus, each of whom lost a promising son in early manhood. Octavia
gave herself up to her grief, never allowed her dead son to be mentioned
in her presence, and wore mourning to the day of her death, though she
was surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Livia, after paying the
last tokens of respect, laid aside her grief, recalled with pleasure her
son’s achievements, and (advised so to act by her philosopher Areius)
devoted herself to her social duties, refusing to make all Rome sad
because one mother had lost a son[81].
[Sidenote: Resignation.]
=378.= The consolations of Epictetus include less philosophical
speculation, and more religious resignation. To begin with, preparation
should be made for the loss of children. Parental affection should
not pass the bounds of reason; every time that a father embraces his
child, he should reflect ‘this child is only lent to me,’ ‘this child
is mortal[82].’ If the child dies, his first thought should be ‘he who
has given takes away[83].’ To others he will say ‘I have restored the
child[84].’ His abiding mood will be that of resignation to the divine
will. He will realize that in the course of a long life many and various
things must happen; and that it is impossible to live to old age, without
seeing the death of many whom we love[85].
[Sidenote: Comfort.]
=379.= All ‘consolations’ aim at diminishing the grief of mourners,
nature being inclined rather to excess than to defect in this matter.
But the Stoics could not altogether avoid the direct issue whether or
not grief is a sin, and weeping a weakness. The plain teaching of the
school was that ‘death is no evil,’ and therefore that grief for the
dead is against reason. And to this view the teachers give from time to
time formal adhesion, as being the better cause[86]. But in individual
cases they find that to a certain extent there is not only excuse,
but justification, for grief and tears; and thus they come into touch
with the common feelings of humanity[87], whilst the plea of ‘natural
necessity’ serves to ward off the criticism of sterner philosophers[88].
From this concession emerges in the Roman period the definite precept
of a time-limit for grief[89]; and its undue continuance is sternly
denounced as due to love of ostentation[90], and the morbid enjoyment of
sorrow by an ill-balanced mind[91]. Grief in this shape is a dangerous
disease; there must be no trifling with it, but it must be totally
destroyed[92].
[Sidenote: Misanthropy.]
=380.= Lastly, we include under the heading of Grief a weakness which
often developes into serious disease; that general discontent, which
is voiced in complaints as to the wickedness of the age[93] and the
degeneracy of young Rome. Such discontent has always been characteristic
of the old[94]; but under the principate it has developed into a special
evil, the ‘hatred of the human race’ (_odium generis humani_). Of this
fault even philosophers may be suspected; for it must be admitted that
men are bad, have been bad, and always will be bad[95]; in short, that
the whole human race is made up of madmen[96]. But wise men will bear
with this fact quietly and with a smile[97]. It is futile to bring
accusations against the whole race[98], and a delusion to think our own
times worse than those of our predecessors. The old Romans, to whom we
look up as models of virtue, made just the same complaints of their own
times; and as a matter of fact the standard of general morality never
varies greatly from its average, either in an upward or a downward
direction[99].
[Sidenote: Eating.]
=381.= The fault of Hilarity (ἄλογος ἔπαρσις, _elatio animi_) is a
departure from Soberness and cheerful Joy with regard to the things that
appeal to our appetites, and this in the direction of excess. With regard
to food, it corresponds to ‘greediness’ in modern speech. The matter is
but little discussed, but we have two interesting lectures by Musonius,
which are chiefly concerned with this vice, from which we take the
following extracts:
‘Greediness’ is an unpleasant fault, making men to resemble
pigs and dogs: but on the other hand healthy eating requires
much supervision and practice (ἐπιμέλεια καὶ ἄσκησις). Of all
pleasures that tempt men, greediness is the hardest to contend
against; for it assails us twice every day. To eat too much is
wrong; to eat too fast is wrong; so it is also to take too much
pleasure in food, to prefer the sweet to the wholesome, or not
to give your companions a fair share. Another fault is to let
meals interfere with business. In all these points we should look
chiefly to health. Now we observe that those who use the simplest
foods are generally the strongest; servants are stronger than
their masters, countryfolk than townsmen, the poor than the rich.
There is therefore good reason to prefer cheap food to that
which is costly, and that which is ready to hand to that which
is only obtained with great trouble. Further, some foods are
more congenial than others to men’s nature; as those which grow
from the earth, or can be obtained from animals without killing
them. Food that requires no cooking has an advantage, as ripe
fruit, some vegetables, milk, cheese, and honey. Flesh food is
for many reasons objectionable. It is heavy and impedes thought;
the exhalations from it are turbid and overshadow the soul.
Men should imitate the gods, who feed on the light exhalations
of earth and water. But to-day we have even worse corruptions.
Many men are dainty and cannot eat food without vinegar or
some other seasoning. Also we call in art and machinery to aid
our pleasures, and actually have books written on cookery. All
this may serve to titillate the palate, but is mischievous to
health[100].’
The sarcasms of Seneca are aimed not so much against excess in quantity
or fastidiousness in quality, as against the collection of dainties from
all parts of the world[101].
[Sidenote: Drinking.]
=382.= As to drinking, the Stoic period marks a great change in feeling.
In the times of Zeno, hard drinking had almost the honour of a religious
ceremony; and the banquet (συμπόσιον) was the occasion of many a
philosophical discussion. Zeno began by laying it down as a principle
that ‘the wise man will not be drunken[102],’ and Chrysippus went so
far as to name drunkenness as causing the loss of virtue[103]. But
the prohibition was carefully guarded. The earlier teachers permitted
‘wininess[104]’; and Seneca justifies this means of banishing care,
pointing out many instances of public men of drinking habits who
discharged their duties admirably[105]. Yet on the whole he inclines
to a stricter view, finding that ‘drunkenness is a voluntary madness,’
and that it removes that sense of shame which most hinders men from
wrongdoing[106]. Meanwhile a change in public taste, and perhaps the
continual example of Cynic missionaries, had produced a tide of feeling
in favour of simple living. The philosophical discussions sketched by
Cicero take place at all times of the day, but most usually in the
morning hours; they are never associated with riotous banqueting, but
if necessary the meal is cut short to make room for the talk. Under the
principate the fare is of the simplest; Seneca himself was a vegetarian
in his youth[107]; his teacher Attalus was well content with porridge and
water, and found an audience ready to approve his taste[108].
[Sidenote: Sexual indulgence.]
=383.= A similar but more profound change had taken place at the same
time in regard to sexual relations. In the time of Socrates courtesans
and boy-favourites played a large part in social life; associated
with the banquet, they formed part of the accepted ideal of cultured
enjoyment; even moralists approved of them as providing a satisfaction to
natural desires and indirectly protecting the sanctity of the home[109].
The same attitude of mind is shown by Seneca under similar circumstances,
when he recommends that princes be indulged with mistresses in order to
make their character more gentle[110]. But little by little a more severe
standard prevailed[111]. From the first the Stoics set themselves against
the pursuit of other men’s wives[112]. With regard to other relations,
they did not feel called upon to condemn them in other men[113]; they
were indeed, in themselves, matters of indifference[114]; but they
found it contrary to reason that a man’s thoughts should be occupied
with matters so low, or that he should bring himself into subjection to
irregular habits and become a slave to a woman[115]. As the courtesan
was gradually excluded by this rule[116], the general opinion fell
back on the slave as the most accessible and least dangerous object of
indulgence[117]. But the philosophers of the principate, following Zeno,
who in these matters took the πρέπον (_decorum_) as his rule[118], find
it in a high degree unfitting that the master, who should in all things
be a model of self-control in his own household, should display so grave
a weakness to his slaves.
[Sidenote: Chastity.]
=384.= Thus little by little there emerged the ideal of a strict
chastity, to the principle of which not even the marriage relation
should form an exception[119]. Every falling off from this ideal is sin
or transgression[120]; and it is especially true in this matter that
each act of weakness leaves its trace on the character, and that he who
yields becomes a feebler man[121]. The Socratic paradox, that the wise
man will be a lover[122], is consistently maintained by the Stoics; but
the practical limitations of this doctrine are well illustrated by the
following striking passage from the lectures of the Stoic Musonius:—
‘Men who do not wish to be licentious and bad should consider
that sexual relations are only lawful in marriage, and for
the begetting of children; such as aim at mere pleasure are
lawless, even in marriage. Even apart from adultery and unnatural
relations, all sexual connexions are disgraceful; for what
sober-minded man would think of consorting with a courtesan, or
with a free woman outside marriage? and least of all would he
do so with his own slave. The lawlessness and foulness of such
connexions is a disgrace to all who form them; as we may see that
any man who is capable of a blush does his utmost to conceal
them. Yet one argues: “in this case a man does no injustice; he
does not wrong his neighbour or deprive him of the hope of lawful
issue.” I might reply that every one who sins injures himself,
for he makes himself a worse and less honourable man. But at any
rate he who gives way to foul pleasure and enjoys himself like
a hog is an intemperate man; and not least he who consorts with
his own slave-girl, a thing for which some people find excuse. To
all this there is a simple answer; how would such a man approve
of a mistress consorting with her own man-servant? Yet I presume
he does not think men inferior to women, or less able to restrain
their desires. If then men claim the supremacy over women, they
must show themselves superior in self-control. To conclude;
sexual connexion between a master and his female slave is nothing
but licentiousness[123].’
[Sidenote: ‘Bear and forbear.’]
=385.= Thus our detailed study of the four perturbations has led us to
lay little stress on Fear and Greed, the weaknesses of the heroic period
when men’s minds were actively turned to the future, and to concentrate
our attention on Grief and Hilarity, the two moods in which life’s
troubles and temptations are wrongly met with as they arrive. As we
follow the history of Stoic philosophy through the times of the Roman
principate, we find that this tendency to lay stress on the training of
the passive character increases: till Epictetus tells us that of all the
vices far the worst are ‘lack of endurance’ (_intolerantia_), which is
the developed form of Grief, and ‘lack of restraint’ (_incontinentia_),
which is the persistent inclination towards Hilarity[124]. Hence
the cure for vice is summed up by him in the golden word, ‘bear and
forbear[125]’; that is, practise Courage and cast off Grief, practise
Soberness and keep Hilarity far from you. ‘A good rule,’ a Peripatetic
would reply, ‘for women and slaves.’
[Sidenote: Avoidance of temptation.]
=386.= This negative attitude is most strongly marked in Epictetus in
connexion with the dangers of sexual passion. Thus his short advice
to all young men with regard to the attractions of women is ‘Flee at
once[126]’; and even in this his advice was countenanced in advance by
the more tolerant Seneca[127]. It would appear from both writers that the
battle between the sexes had become unequal at this period, so often is
the picture drawn of the promising and well-educated youth literally and
hopelessly enslaved by a mistress presumably without birth, education,
or honour[128]. It causes us some surprise to find that the distinction
between heavenly and earthly love[129] is not brought in as a corrective
of the latter. Only in a general way the suggestion is made that
seductive attractions should be driven out by virtuous ideals:
‘Do not be hurried away by the appearance, but say: “Appearances,
wait for me a little; let me see who you are and what you
are about; let me put you to the test.” And do not allow the
appearance to lead you on and draw lively pictures of the things
which will follow; for if you do, it will carry you off wherever
it pleases. But rather bring in to oppose it some other beautiful
and noble appearance and cast out this base appearance. And if
you are accustomed to be exercised in this way, you will see
what shoulders, what sinews, what strength you have.... This is
the true athlete.... Stay, wretch, do not be carried away. Great
is the combat, divine is the work; it is for kingship, for
freedom, for happiness. Remember God; call on him as a helper and
protector[130].’
[Sidenote: Gradations of vice.]
=387.= From the study of the separate evils we revert to the general
theory of Vice. And here we must recall the point that so far as vice
is weakness or ill-health of the soul, it admits of gradations, which
may conveniently be stated as three, namely (i) rufflings of the soul;
(ii) commotions, infections, or illnesses; (iii) diseases or vices
proper[131]. It is not quite easy to classify the rufflings or first
slight disturbances of the soul (_prima agitatio animi_) under the
four perturbations; but the bodily indications of them seem to be more
marked in the weaknesses of the active or heroic character, namely Fear
and Greed. Thus in the direction of Fear we meet with hair standing on
end—pallor of complexion—trembling limbs—palpitation, and dizziness,
all of which are bodily indications that fear is not far off; in the
direction of Anger (a form of Greed) we meet with heightened colour,
flashing eyes, and gnashing teeth[132]. In the direction of Grief we
meet with tears and sighs, and in that of Hilarity the automatic sexual
movements, amongst which we must perhaps include blushing.
[Sidenote: Rufflings.]
=388.= It does not appear that the early Stoic masters occupied
themselves much with the gradations of vice; although a text can be taken
from Zeno for a discourse on this subject. Neither does the earnest and
cynically-minded Epictetus care to dwell on such details. On the other
hand Seneca lays the greatest possible stress on the doctrine that
‘rufflings’ are not inconsistent with virtue. For this two arguments are
available, which are perhaps not quite consistent. First, the bodily
indications are beyond the control of the mind; they are necessary
consequences of the union of body and soul, that is, of our mortal
condition[133]. Secondly, the ‘rufflings’ correspond to the mind-pictures
presented to the soul in thought, and therefore are neither moral nor
immoral until the soul has given its assent to them[134]. From either
point of view we arrive at a result congenial to this philosopher. The
wise man is, in fact, subject to slight touches of such feelings as grief
and fear[135]; he is a man, not a stone. Secondly, the sovereignty of the
will remains unimpaired; give the mind but time to collect its forces,
and it will restrain these feelings within their proper limits[136].
The doctrine is in reality, though not in form, a concession to the
Peripatetic standpoint; it provides also a convenient means of defence
against the mockers who observe that professors of philosophy often
exhibit the outward signs of moral weakness.
[Sidenote: ‘Commotions.’]
=389.= If the soul gives way to any unreasoning impulse, it makes a
false judgment and suffers relaxation of its tone: there takes place a
‘commotion’ or ‘perturbation’ (πάθος, _affectus_, _perturbatio_), which
is a moral evil[137]. The Greek word πάθος admits of two interpretations;
it may mean a passive state or a disease; we here use it in the milder
sense. By an ‘emotion’ we mean that the soul is uprooted from its
foundation, and begins as it were to toss on the sea; by ‘affection’
that it is seized or infected by some unwholesome condition[138]; by
‘perturbation’ that it has ceased to be an orderly whole, and is falling
into confusion. When we regard these words in their true sense, and
shake off the associations they carry with them in English, it is clear
that all of them denote moral evils; nevertheless they cannot rightly be
called ‘diseases’ of the soul[139]. The evils and weaknesses which have
been discussed are commonly displayed in ‘commotions’ or ‘perturbations,’
and are normally equivalent to them.
[Sidenote: Diseases of the soul.]
=390.= The soul by giving way to perturbations becomes worse; it
acquires habits of weakness in particular directions. This weakness
from a passing disposition (ἕξις) changes into a permanent disposition
or habit (διάθεσις), and this is in the full sense a ‘disease’ of the
soul[140]. These diseases or vices are, strictly speaking, four in
number[141]: but the Stoics run into great detail as regards their
titles and subdivisions. Diseases in the ordinary sense (ἀρρωστήματα)
display restlessness and want of self-control; such are ambition,
avarice, greediness, drunkenness, running after women[142], passionate
temper, obstinacy, and anxiety. An opposite class of maladies consists
of unreasonable dislikes (κατὰ προσκοπὴν γινόμενα, _offensiones_);
such are inhospitality, misogynism, and quarrelling with the world in
general[143].
[Sidenote: Men are good or bad.]
=391.= The study of vice in its various forms and gradations leaves
untouched the main positions of Stoic ethics, including the Socratic
paradoxes. Men are of two classes only, the wise and the foolish, the
good and the bad[144]. This bold dualism the Stoics hold in common with
the Persians[145]; and though it is on the one hand tempered so as to
meet the common opinion that most men are of middling character, and on
the other hand subordinated to the monistic principle that good shall
in the end prevail, it remains the key-stone of this department of
philosophy. Virtue is a right state of mind; everything that falls short
of it is therefore a wrong state of mind. Virtue and vice lie in the
inward disposition, not in the outward act[146]; and one who has crossed
the line is equally out of bounds whatever the distance to which he has
travelled on the far side[147]. Each man has therefore an all-important
choice to make. The great Stoic teachers were filled with a yearning
after righteousness and reconciliation with the divine purpose and a
disgust and horror of the condition of the man who is at variance with
his Creator, his neighbour, and himself[148]. These convictions they
encased as usual in paradoxes and syllogisms.
[Sidenote: All sins are equal.]
=392.= That ‘the affections must be extirpated[149]’ ceases to be a
paradox, as soon as we have defined affections as states of mind contrary
to reason, and have made room for the ‘reasonable affections’ of caution,
good will, and joy[150]. That ‘all sins are equal[151]’ remains still,
as of old, a stumbling block[152]. Yet this Socratic paradox has a
simple interpretation; it is a protest against the light-heartedness
which tolerates ‘petty’ acts of wrongdoing, and is indifferent to the
evil habits of mind thus acquired[153]. Two of the Stoic teachers of the
transition period, Heraclides of Tarsus and Athenodorus, are said to have
abandoned the paradox[154], and all Stoics were ready to admit that sins
are ‘unlike’[155]. But, as usual, the main body held firmly to a doctrine
in which they had discovered a real practical value. Just the same
principle is expressed by other paradoxes, as that ‘he who has one vice
has all, though he may not be equally inclined to all[156]’; and again
that ‘he who is not wise is a fool and a madman[157].’
[Sidenote: Sin is curable.]
=393.= In spite of the parallelism of virtue and vice the latter is
destined to subordination, not only in the history of the universe, but
also in the individual man. Even if sins are equal, vice as ill health
of the soul has degrees. The first ‘rufflings’ of the soul are, as we
have seen, not to be reckoned as real evils; its ‘perturbations’ give the
hope of a coming calm; and grievous though its ‘diseases’ are, we have no
suggestion of incurable sin, or of the hopeless offender. Even he who has
most fallen retains the germs of virtue, and these may again ripen under
a proper discipline[158].
[Sidenote: Stoic austerity.]
=394.= The attitude of the Stoic school towards sin and weakness exposed
it, as we have seen, to constant criticism and ridicule. To some extent
this was due to the profession of philosophy in itself: for every such
profession implied some claim to clearer knowledge and more consistent
action than that of the crowd[159]. But the Stoics also sought to be
‘austere’ with regard to social pleasures, and thus it seemed that they
neither offered others a share in their own happiness nor sympathetically
partook in that of others[160]; whilst at the same time they claimed
exemption from the weaknesses and failings of their neighbours. We have
seen both Seneca and Epictetus anxious to meet criticism on these points
by laying stress on those touches of natural feeling in which wise and
foolish alike share. But in addressing the members of the sect their
tone is very different; they hold out, as a prize worth the winning, the
prospect of attaining to that calm and unchanging disposition of mind
which has for ever left behind the flutterings of fear and greed, of
grief and hilarity, and which is attuned to reason alone[161]. Epictetus
indeed often expresses elation and pride upon this theme:
‘I will show the sinews of a philosopher. What are these? A
desire (ὄρεξις) never disappointed, an aversion (ἔκκλισις) which
never meets with that which it would avoid, a proper pursuit
(ὁρμή), a diligent purpose (πρόθεσις), an assent which is not
rash. These you shall see[162].’
‘Men, if you will attend to me, wherever you are, whatever you
are doing, you will not feel sorrow, nor anger, nor compulsion,
nor hindrance, but you will pass your time without perturbations
and free from everything. When a man has this peace (not
proclaimed by Caesar, for how should he be able to proclaim it?)
but by God through reason, is he not content when he reflects—Now
no evil can happen to me[163]?’
FOOTNOTES
[1] ‘est peccare tanquam transilire lineas’ Cic. _Par._ iii 20.
[2] ‘Who among us does not speak of good and bad, of useful and not
useful?... Adapt the preconception properly to the particular things’
Epict. _Disc._ ii 17, 10 and 11.
[3] ‘omnes [hae perturbationes] sunt genere quattuor, partibus plures;
aegritudo, formido, libido, quamque Stoici communi nomine corporis et
animi ἡδονήν appellant, ego malo laetitiam appellare, quasi gestientis
animi elationem voluptariam’ Cic. _Fin._ iii 10, 35; ‘est igitur
aegritudo opinio recens mali praesentis, ... laetitia opinio recens
boni praesentis; ... metus opinio impendentis mali, ... libido opinio
venturi boni’ _Tusc. disp._ iv 7, 14; ‘hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent
gaudentque’ Verg. _Aen._ vi 733. See also Diog. L. vii 110 and Stob. ii
7, 10 b.
[4] Χρύσιππος ἀποδεικνύναι πειρᾶται, κρίσεις κενὰς εἶναι τοῦ λογιστικοῦ
τὰ πάθη, Ζήνων δὲ οὐ τὰς κρίσεις αὐτάς, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐπιγιγνομένας αὐταῖς
συστολὰς καὶ χύσεις, ἐπάρσεις τε καὶ πτώσεις τής ψυχῆς ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι τὰ
πάθη Galen _Hipp. et Plat._ v i, p. 429 K; cf. _ib._ iv p. 387 K (Arnim i
461).
[5] In this sense there are four vices, each the precise opposite of one
of the virtues; they are ἀφροσύνη (_insipientia_), ἀδικία (_iniustitia_),
δειλία (_ignavia_) and ἀκολασία (_intemperantia_); and each of these is
rooted in a fixed perverse judgment, so that he who has one vice has all
(Stob. ii 7, 11 k, p. 106, 7 Wachsmuth).
[6] This view is summed up in the phrase that ‘the perturbations
are κακά, but not κακίαι’ (Stob. ii 7, 5 b), which accords with the
principle that only vice and what is akin to vice is evil. The Roman
writers realized the difficulty in the use of words: ‘morbi autem et
aegrotationes partes sunt vitiositatis; sed perturbationes sintne eiusdem
partes quaestio est. vitia enim adfectiones sunt manentes, perturbationes
autem moventes, ut non possint adfectionum manentium partes esse’ Cic.
_Tusc. disp._ iv 13, 29 and 30.
[7] ‘utrum satius sit modicos habere adfectus an nullos, saepe quaesitum
est; nostri illos expellunt, Peripatetici temperant’ Sen. _Ep._ 116,
1; ‘vacandum omni est animi perturbatione, tum cupiditate et metu, tum
etiam aegritudine et voluptate nimia et iracundia’ Cic. _Off._ i 20, 69;
‘contra adfectus impetu, non subtilitate pugnandum est’ Sen. _Dial._ x
10, 1.
[8] ὀργὴ μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἐπιθυμία τοῦ τιμωρήσασθαι τὸν δοκοῦντα ἠδικηκέναι
Stob. ii 7, 10 c; ὑπὸ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ὑπάγεται ὀργή _ib._ 10 b.
[9] Here Panaetius is faithful to the Stoic view: ‘ira procul absit, cum
qua nihil recte fieri, nihil considerate potest’ Cic. _Off._ i 38, 136.
[10] ‘[ira] extollit animos et incitat; nec quicquam sine illa magnificum
in bello fortitudo gerit’ Sen. _Dial._ iii 7, 1.
[11] ‘“non potest” inquit “fieri” Theophrastus, “ut non vir bonus
irascatur malis”’ _ib._ 14, 1; ‘“quid ergo?” inquit “vir bonus non
irascitur, si caedi patrem suum viderit, si rapi matrem?”’ _ib._ 12, 1.
[12] ‘stat Aristoteles (fr. 80 Rose) defensor irae et vetat illam nobis
exsecari; calcar ait esse virtutis’ Sen. _Dial._ v 3, 1.
[13] ‘abominandum remedii genus est sanitatem debere morbo’ _ib._ iii 12,
6.
[14] ‘haec arma quae Aristoteles virtuti dat, ipsa per se pugnant, non
expectant manum, et habent non habentur’ _ib._ 17, 1.
[15] ‘adfectus cito cadit, aequalis est ratio’ _ib._ 17, 5.
[16] ‘corrigendus est qui peccat meliorque faciendus, non sine
castigatione, sed sine ira’ _ib._ 15, 1.
[17] ‘[Fabius] iram ante vicit quam Hannibalem’ _ib._ 11, 5.
[18] ‘nec [athletae] cum ira suadet, feriunt, sed cum occasio ... ira enim
perturbat artem’ _ib._ iv 14, 2 and 3.
[19] ὀργὴ μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἐπιθυμία [τοῦ] τιμωρήσασθαι τὸν δοκοῦντα
ἠδικηκέναι παρὰ τὸ προσῆκον Stob. ii 7, 10 c; ‘ira est cupiditas
ulciscendae iniuriae, aut, ut ait Posidonius, cupiditas puniendi eius, a
quo te inique putes laesum’ Sen. _Dial._ iii 2, 4.
[20] ‘ira furor brevis est’ Hor. _Ep._ i 2, 62; ‘quidam ex sapientibus
viris iram dixerunt brevem insaniam’ Sen. _Dial._ iii 1, 2.
[21] _ib._ 4.
[22] ‘non pietas iram, sed infirmitas movet, sicut pueris, qui tam
parentibus amissis flebunt quam nucibus’ _ib._ 12, 4.
[23] ‘nec in ea tantum, quae destinavit, sed in occurrentia obiter furit’
_ib._ v 1, 3.
[24] ‘nobis placet nihil [iram] per se audere, sed animo adprobante’
_ib._ iv 1, 4; ‘nunquam impetus sine adsensu animi est’ _ib._ 3, 4.
[25] _ib._ 3-5.
[26] ‘maximum remedium irae mora est’ _ib._ 29, 1; ‘Keep quiet, and count
the days on which you have not been angry’ Epict. _Disc._ ii 18, 12.
[27] ‘pleraque eorum, propter quae irascimur, offendunt nos magis quam
laedunt’ Sen. _Dial._ v 28, 4; ‘contempt is that which putteth an edge
upon anger, as much or more than the hurt itself’ Bacon, _Essay_ 57.
[28] ‘eo nos loco constituamus, quo ille est cui irascimur’ Sen. _Dial._
12, 3.
[29] ‘quibusdam, ut ait Sextius, iratis profuit adspexisse speculum’
_ib._ iv 36, 1.
[30] See below, § 403.
[31] ‘percussit te: recede. referiendo enim et occasionem saepius
feriendi dabis et excusationem’ _ib._ 34, 5.
[32] ‘quaedam [irae] ultra querelas et adversationes non exeunt. quaedam
altae gravesque sunt et introrsus versae’ _ib._ iii 4, 3.
[33] ‘inter hos morosum ponas licet, delicatum iracundiae genus. quaedam
enim sunt irae, quae intra clamorem concidant, quaedam non minus
pertinaces quam frequentes’ Sen. _Dial._ 2 and 3.
[34] Defined as ‘atrocitas animi in exigendis poenis’ or ‘inclinatio
animi ad asperiora’ Sen. _Clem._ ii 4, 1 and 3.
[35] _ib._ i 12, 1.
[36] ‘domini crudeles tota civitate commonstrantur invisique et
detestabiles sunt’ _ib._ 18, 3.
[37] ‘ferina ista rabies est sanguine gaudere et vulneribus’ _ib._ 24, 3.
[38] ‘tunc ille dirus animi morbus ad insaniam pervenit ultimam, cum
crudelitas versa est in voluptatem et iam occidere hominem iuvat’ _ib._
25, 3.
[39] _ib._ 22, 1.
[40] ‘puta tutam esse crudelitatem; quale eius regnum est?’ _ib._ 26, 2.
[41] ‘optimum est abire ei, qui ad se nunquam rediturus est’ _Ben._ vii
20, 3.
[42] λύπην δ’ εἶναι συστολὴν ψυχῆς ἀπειθῆ λόγῳ Stob. ii 7, 10 b; ‘est
aegritudo opinio recens mali praesentis, in quo demitti contrahique animo
rectum esse videatur’ Cic. _Tusc. disp._ iv 7, 14.
[43] See above, § 114.
[44] Muson. ap. Stob. iii 29, 75.
[45] ‘nemo non fortius ad id, cui se diu composuerat, accessit et duris
quoque, si praemeditata erant, obstitit’ Sen. _Ep._ 107, 4; and see
further, § 339.
[46] ‘id in quoque solidissimum est quod exercuit. ad contemnendam
malorum potentiam animus patientia pervenit’ Sen. _Dial._ i 4, 13.
[47] Stob. ii 31, 125 (Wachsmuth, p. 242, 30). The point is however
complicated by the ambiguity of the Greek word πόνος, which corresponds
equally to _dolor_ and _labor_ in Latin; see Cic. _Tusc. disp._ ii 15, 35.
[48] ‘tirones leviter saucii tamen vociferantur et manus medicorum magis
quam ferrum horrent; at veterani, quamvis confossi, patienter ac sine
gemitu velut aliena corpora exsaniari patiuntur’ _ib._ xii 3, 1.
[49] ‘scio alios inter flagella ridere, alios gemere sub colapho’ _Ep._
13, 5.
[50] ‘magna autem pars apud imperitos mali novitas; hoc ut scias, ea quae
putaverant aspera, fortius, cum adsuevere, patiuntur’ _ib._ 76, 34.
[51] ‘quae maxima credis | esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam’
Hor. _Ep._ i 1, 43.
[52] ‘virtus, repulsae nescia sordidae, | intaminatis fulget honoribus; |
nec sumit aut ponit secures | arbitrio popularis aurae’ Hor. _C._ iii 2,
17-20.
[53] ‘Chrysippus, when asked why he took no part in politics, replied:
‘because, if a man is a bad politician, he is hateful to the gods; if a
good politician, to his fellow-citizens’ Stob. iv 4, 29.
[54] ‘si percensere singulas [res publicas] voluero, nullam inveniam,
quae sapientem aut quam sapiens pati possit’ Sen. _Dial._ viii 8, 3.
[55] ‘si potes, subduc te istis occupationibus; si minus, eripe’ _Ep._
19, 1.
[56] ‘mobilis et inquieta homini mens data est. nunquam se tenet, vaga et
quietis impatiens, et novitate rerum laetissima’ _ib._ xii 6, 6.
[57] ‘ratio et prudentia curas | ... aufert; | caelum non animum mutant,
qui trans mare currunt’ Hor. _Ep._ i 11, 25-27.
[58] Sen. _Dial._ ix 12-15.
[59] ‘inde ille adfectus otium suum detestantium querentiumque nihil
ipsos habere quod agant’ _ib._ 2, 10.
[60] ‘incertam fortunam experimur, vim tempestatum nulla humana ope
superabilem, mortem sine spe sepulturae. non erat tanti’ _N. Q._ v 18, 6
and 7; ‘non eadem est his et illis causa solvendi, sed iusta nulli’ _ib._
16; ‘quid non potest mihi suaderi, cui persuasum est ut navigarem?’ _Ep._
53, 1.
[61] _N. Q._ v 18, 10.
[62] ‘magis ridebis, cum cogitaveris vitae parari, in quae vita
consumitur’ Sen. _N. Q._ 16.
[63] ‘misericordiam [boni viri] vitabunt; est enim vitium pusilli animi,
ad speciem alienorum malorum succidentis’ _Clem._ ii 5, 1.
[64] ‘anus et mulierculae sunt, quae lacrimis nocentissimorum moventur,
quae, si liceret, carcerem effringerent’ _ib._
[65] Epict. _Disc._ iii 3, 17.
[66] ‘cum dicas esse pares res | furta latrociniis, et magnis parva
mineris | falce recisurum simili te, si tibi regnum | permittant
homines’ Hor. _Sat._ i 3, 121-124; ‘scio male audire apud imperitos
sectam Stoicorum tanquam nimis duram et minime principibus regibusque
bonum daturam consilium ... sed nulla secta benignior leniorque est’ Sen.
_Clem._ ii 5, 2 and 3.
[67] See below, § 409.
[68] ‘non miserebitur sapiens, sed succurret’ Sen. _Clem._ ii 6, 3.
[69] Epict. _Disc._ i 11.
[70] ‘ex his nemo morienti amico adsidet, nemo videre mortem patris sui
sustinet, quotusquisque funus domesticum ad rogum sequitur? fratrum
propinquorumque extrema hora deseritur’ Sen. _N. Q._ iii 18, 6.
[71] _Dial._ ii 17, 1.
[72] ‘[Vatinius] in pedes suos ipse plurima dicebat et in fauces
concisas. sic inimicorum et in primis Ciceronis urbanitatem effugerat’
Sen. _Dial._ ii 17, 3; ‘nemo risum praebuit qui ex se cepit’ _ib._ 2.
[73] ‘cum primum te observare desieris, imago ista tristitiae discedet’
_Ep._ 63, 3.
[74] Cicero wrote a treatise ‘de Consolatione’ based on this work, but
only a few fragments remain. Plutarch’s ‘Consolation’ for Apollonius was
drawn from the same source (Schmekel, p. 150).
[75] Cic. _Fam._ iv 5.
[76] ‘denique noli te oblivisci Ciceronem esse, et eum qui aliis
consueris praecipere et dare consilium’ _ib._ 5, 5.
[77] ‘maximum ergo solatium est cogitare id sibi accidisse, quod ante se
passi sunt omnes omnesque passuri’ Sen. _Dial._ xi 1, 4. On the other
side ‘malevoli solatii est turba miserorum’ _ib._ vi 12, 5; ‘[cogita]
fratribus te tuis exemplo esse debere’ _ib._ xi 5, 4.
[78] _ib._ 8, 2.
[79] _ib._ 9, 3; ‘inter felices currit animas’ _ib._ vi 5, 1.
[80] _ib._ xi 9, 4; ‘excepit illum magna et aeterna pax’ _ib._ vi 19, 6.
See also above, §§ 298, 299.
[81] Sen. _Dial._ vi 3 to 5; above, § 123.
[82] ‘If you are kissing your wife or child, say that it is a human being
whom you are kissing; for when the wife or child dies, you will not be
disturbed’ Epict. _Manual_ 3 (after Anaxagoras).
[83] _Disc._ iv 1, 101.
[84] ‘Never say about anything, I have lost it, but say, I have restored
it. Is your child dead? It has been restored. Is your wife dead? She has
been restored’ _Manual_ 11.
[85] _Disc._ iii 24, 27.
[86] ‘illud, ut non doleas, vix audebo exigere; et esse melius scio. sed
cui ista firmitas animi continget?’ Sen. _Ep._ 63, 1.
[87] ‘inhumanitas est ista, non virtus, funera suorum iisdem oculis,
quibus ipsos, videre’ Sen. _Ep._ 99, 15; cf. _Dial._ xii 1, 2.
[88] ‘cum primus nos nuntius acerbi funeris perculit, lacrimas naturalis
necessitas exprimit’ _Ep._ 99, 18.
[89] ‘nos quod praecipimus, honestum est; cum aliquid lacrimarum adfectus
effuderit, non esse tradendum animum dolori’ _ib._ 27.
[90] ‘at enim naturale desiderium suorum est. quis negat? sed plus est
quod opinio adicit quam quod natura imperavit’ _Dial._ vi 7, 1.
[91] ‘fit infelicis animi prava voluptas dolor’ _ib._ 1, 7.
[92] ‘non possum molliter adsequi tam durum dolorem; frangendus est’ _ib._
[93] ‘obirascens fortunae animus et de seculo querens’ Sen. _Dial._ ix 2,
11.
[94] ‘difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti | se puero, censor
castigatorque minorum’ Hor. _A. P._ 173, 174.
[95] ‘idem semper de nobis pronuntiare debebimus; malos esse nos, malos
fuisse, invitus adiciam et futuros esse’ Sen. _Ben._ i 10, 3; ‘cupidi
omnes et maligni omnes et timidi omnes’ _ib._ v 17, 3.
[96] ‘non est quod irascaris; omnes insaniunt’ _ib._
[97] ‘satius est humana vitia placide accipere’ _ib._ ix 15, 5; ‘omnia
vulgi vitia non invisa nobis, sed ridicula videantur’ _ib._ 2.
[98] ‘generi humano venia tribuenda est’ _ib._ iv 10, 2.
[99] ‘hoc maiores nostri questi sunt, hoc nos querimur, hoc posteri
nostri querentur, eversos mores, regnare nequitiam, in deterius res
humanas et omne nefas labi; at ista eodem stant loco stabuntque, paulum
dumtaxat ultra aut citra mota’ _Ben._ i 10, 1.
[100] Stob. iii 17, 42 and 18, 37.
[101] ‘ad vos deinde transeo, quorum profunda et insatiabilis gula hinc
maria scrutatur, hinc terras. alia hamis, alia laqueis, alia retium
variis generibus cum magno labore persequitur. nullis animalibus nisi
ex fastidio pax est’ Sen. _Ep._ 89, 22. Another form of luxury is in
the eating of food extremely hot or extremely cold: ‘quemadmodum nihil
illis satis frigidum, sic nihil satis calidum est, sed ardentes boletos
demittunt’ _N. Q._ iv 13, 10.
[102] See above, § 83, note 82.
[103] See above, § 324, note 155.
[104] καὶ οἰνωθήσεσθαι μὲν [τὸν σοφόν], οὐ μεθυσθήσεσθαι δέ Diog. L. vii
Reading Tips
Use arrow keys to navigate
Press 'N' for next chapter
Press 'P' for previous chapter