Plutarch, Quomodo adolescens poetas audire debeat, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 6

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[6] ἄλλος τοίνυν τρόπος ἐστὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασιν ὑποψίας πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον ἐκ τοῦ χείρονος μεθιστὰς ὁ διὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων τῆς συνηθείας, περὶ ὃν δεῖ τὸν νέον γεγυμνάσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ περὶ τὰς 25 λεγομένας γλώττας. ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ φιλόλογον, καὶ οὐκ ἀηδὲς ὅτι ῥιγεδανὸς κακοθάνατός ἐστιν εἰδέναι· δάνον γὰρ Μακεδόνες τὸν θάνατον καλοῦσι, καμμονίαν δὲ νίκην Αἰολεῖς τὴν ἐξ ἐπιμονῆς 22d καὶ καρτερίας, Δρύοπες δὲ πόπους τοὺς δαίμονας. τουτὶ δʼ ἀναγκαῖον καὶ χρήσιμον, εἰ μέλλομεν¹ ἐκ τῶν ποιημάτων ὠφεληθήσεσθαι καὶ μὴ βλαβήσεσθαι, τὸ γιγνώσκειν πῶς τοῖς τῶν θεῶν 5 ὀνόμασιν οἱ ποιηταὶ χρῶνται καὶ πάλιν τοῖς τῶν κακῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν, καὶ τί τὴν Τύχην τί τὴν Μοῖραν νοοῦντες ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ πότερον ταῦτα τῶν ἁπλῶς ἢ τῶν πολλαχῶς λεγομένων ἐστὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς, ὥσπερ ἄλλα πολλά. καὶ γὰρ οἶκον ποτὲ μὲν τὴν οἰκίαν 10 καλοῦσιν

οἶκον ἐς ὑψόροφον

22e ποτὲ δὲ τὴν οὐσίαν

ἐσθίεταί μοι οἶκος

, καὶ⁴ βίοτον⁵ ποτὲ μὲν τὸ ζῆν⁶ 15

ἀμενήνωσεν δέ οἱ αἰχμὴν

κυανοχαῖτα Ποσειδάων, βιότοιο μεγήρας

ποτὲ δὲ τὰ χρήματα

βίοτον δέ μοι ἄλλοι ἔδουσι

⁷

, καὶ τῷ ἀλύειν ποτὲ μὲν ἀντὶ τοῦ δάκνεσθαι καὶ 20 ἀπορεῖσθαι κέχρηται

ὣς ἔφαθʼ , ἡ δʼ ἀλύουσʼ ἀπεβήσετο, τείρετο δʼ αἰνῶς

⁸

ποτὲ δʼ ἀντὶ τοῦ γαυριᾶν καὶ χαίρειν

ἦ ἀλύεις ὅτι Ἶρον ἐνίκησας τὸν ἀλήτην;

⁹

25 καὶ τῷ θοάζειν ἢ τὸ κινεῖσθαι σημαίνουσιν, ὡς Εὐριπίδης

κῆτος θοάζον ἐξ Ἀτλαντικῆς ἁλός,

¹⁰

ἢ τὸ καθέζεσθαι καὶ θαάσσειν, ὡς Σοφοκλῆς 22f

τίνας πόθʼ ἕδρας τάσδε μοι θοάζετε

¹¹

ἱκτηρίοις κλάδοισιν ἐξεστεμμένοι;

5 χάριεν δὲ καὶ τὸ τὴν χρείαν τῶν ὀνομάτων συνοικειοῦν τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις πράγμασιν, ὡς οἱ γραμματικοὶ διδάσκουσιν, ἄλλο πρὸς ἄλλην δύναμιν λαμβάνοντες,· οἷόν ἐστι

νῆʼ ὀλίγην αἰνεῖν, μεγάλῃ δʼ ἐνὶ φορτία θέσθαι

¹²

10 τῷ μὲν γὰρ αἰνεῖν σημαίνεται τὸ ἐπαινεῖν, αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ἐπαινεῖν ἀντὶ τοῦ παραιτεῖσθαι νῦν κέχρηται, καθάπερ ἐν τῇ συνηθείᾳ καλῶς φαμὲν ἔχειν καὶ 23a χαίρειν κελεύομεν, ὅταν μὴ δεώμεθα μηδὲ λαμβάνωμεν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπαινὴν Περσεφόνειαν 15 ἔνιοί φασιν ὡς παραιτητὴν εἰρῆσθαι. ταύτην δὴ τὴν διαίρεσιν καὶ διάκρισιν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐν τοῖς μείζοσι καὶ σπουδαιοτέροις παραφυλάττοντες ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν ἀρχώμεθα διδάσκειν τοὺς νέους ὅτι χρῶνται τοῖς τῶν θεῶν ὀνόμασιν οἱ ποιηταὶ ποτὲ μὲν αὐτῶν 20 ἐκείνων ἐφαπτόμενοι τῇ ἐννοίᾳ, ποτὲ δὲ δυνάμεις τινὰς ὧν οἱ θεοὶ δοτῆρές εἰσι καὶ καθηγεμόνες ὁμωνύμως προσαγορεύοντες οἷον εὐθὺς ὁ Ἀρχίλοχος , ὅταν μὲν εὐχόμενος λέγῃ 23b

κλῦθʼ ἄναξ Ἥφαιστε καί μοι σύμμαχος γουνουμένῳ¹³ 25

ἵλαος γενοῦ, χαρίζευ δʼ οἷάπερ χαρίζεαι

, αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν ἐπικαλούμενος δῆλός ἐστιν· ὅταν δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἠφανισμένον ἐν θαλάττῃ καὶ μὴ τυχόντα νομίμου ταφῆς θρηνῶν λέγῃ μετριώτερον ἂν τὴν συμφορὰν ἐνεγκεῖν

εἰ κείνου κεφαλὴν καὶ χαρίεντα μέλεα¹⁴ 5

Ἥφαιστος καθαροῖσιν ἐν εἵμασιν ἀμφεπονήθη

τὸ πῦρ οὕτως, οὐ τὸν θεὸν προσηγόρευσε. πάλιν δʼ ὁ μὲν Εὐριπίδης¹⁵ εἰπὼν ἐν ὅρκῳ

μὰ τὸν μετʼ ἄστρων Ζῆνʼ Ἄρη τε φοίνιον

αὐτοὺς τοὺς θεοὺς ὠνόμασε· τοῦ δὲ Σοφοκλέους 10 λέγοντος 23c

τυφλὸς γάρ, ὦ γυναῖκες, οὐδʼ ὁρῶν Ἄρης

¹⁶

συὸς προσώπῳ πάντα τυρβάζει κακὰ

τὸν πόλεμον ἔστιν ὑπακοῦσαι, καθάπερ αὖ τὸν χαλκὸν Ὁμήρου¹⁷ λέγοντος 15

τῶν νῦν αἷμα κελαινὸν ἐύρροον ἀμφὶ Σκάμανδρον

ἐσκέδασʼ ὀξὺς Ἄρης

πολλῶν οὖν οὕτω λεγομένων εἰδέναι δεῖ καὶ μνημονεύειν ὅτι καὶ τῷ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ Ζηνὸς ὀνόματι 20 23d ποτὲ μὲν τὸν θεὸν ποτὲ δὲ τὴν τύχην πολλάκις δὲ τὴν εἱμαρμένην προσαγορεύουσιν. ὅταν μὲν γὰρ λέγωσι

Ζεῦ πάτερ, Ἴδηθεν μεδέων

¹⁸

καὶ 25

ὦ Ζεῦ, τίς εἶναί φησι σοῦ σοφώτερος;

¹⁹

τὸν θεὸν αὐτὸν λέγουσιν· ὅταν δὲ ταῖς αἰτίαις²⁰ πάντων τῶν γιγνομένων ἐπονομάζωσι τὸν Δία καὶ λέγωσι

πολλὰς δʼ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν -

²¹

Διὸς δʼ ἐτελείετο βουλή

, 5 τὴν εἱμαρμένην. οὐ γὰρ τὸν θεὸν ὁ ποιητὴς οἴεται κακὰ μηχανᾶσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν 23e πραγμάτων ἀνάγκην ὀρθῶς ὑποδείκνυσιν, ὅτι καὶ πόλεσι καὶ στρατοπέδοις καὶ ἡγεμόσιν, ἂν μὲν σωφρονῶσιν , εὖ πράττειν πέπρωται καὶ κρατεῖν τῶν 10 πολεμίων, ἂν δʼ εἰς πάθη καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἐμπεσόντες ὥσπερ οὗτοι διαφέρωνται πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ στασιάζωσιν , ἀσχημονεῖν καὶ ταράττεσθαι καὶ κακῶς ἀπαλλάττειν.

εἱμαρμένον γὰρ τῶν κακῶν βουλευμάτων²² 15

κακὰς ἀμοιβάς ἐστι καρποῦσθαι βροτοῖς.

καὶ μὴν ὁ Ἡσίοδος τὸν Προμηθέα ποιῶν τῷ Ἐπιμηθεῖ παρακελευόμενον

μή ποτε δῶρα

²³

δέξασθαι πὰρ Ζηνὸς Ὀλυμπίου ἀλλʼ ἀποπέμπειν

20 23f ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς τύχης δυνάμει τῷ τοῦ Διὸς ὀνόματι κέχρηται· τὰ γὰρ τυχηρὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν Διὸς δῶρα κέκληκε, πλούτους καὶ γάμους καὶ ἀρχὰς καὶ πάνθʼ ὅλως τὰ ἐκτός, ὧν ἡ κτῆσις ἀνόνητός ἐστι τοῖς χρῆσθαι καλῶς μὴ δυναμένοις. διὸ καὶ τὸν Ἐπιμηθέα 25 ὄντα καὶ ἀνόητον οἴεται δεῖν φυλάττεσθαι καὶ δεδιέναι τὰς εὐτυχίας, ὡς βλαβησόμενον καὶ διαφθαρησόμενον ὑπʼ αὐτῶν. καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ

μηδὲ ποτʼ οὐλομένην πενίην θυμοφθόρον ἀνδρὶ

²⁴

τέτλαθʼ ὀνειδίζειν, μακάρων δόσιν αἰὲν ἐόντων

, θεόσδοτον νῦν τὸ τυχηρὸν εἴρηκεν, ὡς οὐκ ἄξιον ἐγκαλεῖν τοῖς διὰ τὴν τύχην πενομένοις, ἀλλὰ τὴν 5 24a μετʼ ἀργίας καὶ μαλακίας καὶ πολυτελείας ἀπορίαν κακίζειν αἰσχρὰν καὶ ἐπονείδιστον οὖσαν. οὔπω γὰρ αὐτὸ τοὔνομα τῆς τύχης λέγοντες, εἰδότες δὲ τὴν τῆς ἀτάκτως καὶ ἀορίστως περιφερομένης αἰτίας δύναμιν ἰσχυρὰν καὶ ἀφύλακτον οὖσαν ἀνθρωπίνῳ 10 λογισμῷ τοῖς τῶν θεῶν ὀνόμασιν ἐξέφραζον, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς καὶ πράγματα καὶ ἤθη καὶ νὴ Δία καὶ λόγους καὶ ἄνδρας εἰώθαμεν δαιμονίους καὶ θείους προσαγορεύειν. οὕτω δὴ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ἀτόπως περὶ τοῦ Διὸς λέγεσθαι δοκούντων ἐπανορθωτέον, ὧν 15 ἐστι καὶ ταῦτα

δοιοὶ γάρ τε πίθοι κατακείαται ἐν Διὸς οὔδει²⁵ 24b

κηρῶν ἔμπλειοι, ὁ μὲν ἐσθλῶν, αὐτὰρ ὁ δειλῶν

²⁶

καί

ὅρκια μὲν Κρονίδης ὑψίζυγος οὐκ ἐτέλεσσεν,²⁷ 20

ἀλλὰ κακὰ φρονέων τεκμαίρεται ἀμφοτέροισι

καί

τότε γάρ ῥα κυλίνδετο πήματος ἀρχὴ

²⁸

Τρωσί τε καὶ Δαναοῖσι Διὸς μεγάλου διὰ βουλάς

, ὡς περὶ τῆς τύχης ἢ τῆς εἱμαρμένης λεγομένων, ἐν 25 αἷς τὸ ἀσυλλόγιστον ἡμῖν τῆς αἰτίας σημαίνεται καὶ ὅλως²⁹ οὐ καθʼ ἡμᾶς. ὅπου δὲ τὸ προσῆκον καὶ κατὰ λόγον καὶ εἰκός ἐστιν, ἐνταῦθα κυρίως ὀνομάζεσθαι τὸν θεὸν νομίζωμεν,³⁰ ὥσπερ ἐν τούτοις 24c

αὐτὰρ ὁ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπεπωλεῖτο στίχας ἀνδρῶν,

³¹

Αἴαντος δʼ ἀλέεινε μάχην Τελαμωνιάδαο· 5

Ζεὺς γάρ οἱ νεμέσα ὅτʼ ἀμείνονι φωτὶ μάχοιτο

καί

³²

Ζεὺς γὰρ τὰ μὲν μέγιστα φροντίζει βροτῶν,

τὰ μικρὰ δʼ ἄλλοις δαίμοσιν παρεὶς ἐᾷ

Σφόδρα δὲ δεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὀνόμασι προσέχειν, 10 κατὰ πολλὰ πράγματα³³ κινουμένοις καὶ μεθισταμένοις ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν. οἷόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς. ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἔμφρονας παρέχεται καὶ 24d δικαίους καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἐν πράξεσι καὶ λόγοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ δόξας ἐπιεικῶς καὶ δυνάμεις περιποιεῖται, παρὰ 15 τοῦτο ποιοῦνται καὶ τὴν³⁴ εὐδοξίαν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, ὀνομάζοντες ὥσπερ ἐλαίαν τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλαίας, καὶ φηγὸν τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς φηγοῦ καρπὸν ὁμωνύμως τοῖς φέρουσιν. οὐκοῦν ὁ νέος ἡμῖν, ὅταν μὲν λέγωσι 20

τῆς δʼ ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν

³⁵

καὶ

τῆμος σφῇ ἀρετῇ Δαναοὶ ῥήξαντο φάλαγγας

³⁶

καὶ

εἰ δὲ θανεῖν θέμις, ὧδε θανεῖν καλόν,³⁷ 25

εἰς ἀρετὴν καταλυσαμένους βίον

, 24e εὐθὺς οἰέσθω λέγεσθαι ταῦτα περὶ τῆς ἀρίστης καὶ θειοτάτης ἕξεως ἐν ἡμῖν, ἣν ὀρθότητα λόγου καὶ ἀκρότητα λογικῆς φύσεως καὶ διάθεσιν ὁμολογουμένην ψυχῆς νοοῦμεν. ὅταν δʼ ἀναγιγνώσκῃ πάλιν τό τε 5

Ζεὺς δʼ ἀρετὴν ἄνδρεσσιν ὀφέλλει τε μινύθει τε

³⁸

καὶ τὸ

πλούτῳ δʼ ἀρετὴ καὶ κῦδος ὀπηδεῖ

³⁹

, μὴ καθήσθω τοὺς πλουσίους ἐκπεπληγμένος καὶ τεθηπὼς καθάπερ ὤνιον εὐθὺς ἀργυρίου τὴν ἀρετὴν 10 ἔχοντας, μηδʼ ἐπὶ τῇ τύχῃ κεῖσθαι τὴν αὑτοῦ φρόνησιν αὔξειν ἢ κολούειν νομίζων, ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ δόξης ἢ δυνάμεως ἢ εὐτυχίας ἤ τινος ὁμοίου τῇ 24f ἀρετῇ κεχρῆσθαι τὸν ποιητὴν ἡγείσθω. καὶ γὰρ τῇ κακότητι ποτὲ μὲν ἰδίως σημαίνουσι κακίαν καὶ 15 μοχθηρίαν ψυχῆς, ὡς Ἡσίοδος

τὴν μὲν γὰρ κακότητα καὶ ἰλαδὸν ἔστιν ἑλέσθαι

⁴⁰

, ποτὲ δʼ ἄλλην τινὰ κάκωσιν ἢ δυστυχίαν, ὡς Ὅμηρος⁴¹

αἶψα γὰρ ἐν κακότητι βροτοὶ καταγηράσκουσιν

ἐπεὶ καὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν ἐξαπατηθείη τις ἂν οὕτω 20 τοὺς ποιητὰς οἰόμενος λέγειν, ὡς οἱ φιλόσοφοι λέγουσι τὴν παντελῆ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἕξιν ἢ κτῆσιν ἢ καὶ 25a τελειότητα βίου κατὰ φύσιν εὐροοῦντος, ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ καταχρωμένους πολλάκις τὸν πλούσιον εὐδαίμονα καλεῖν ἢ μακάριον καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἢ τὴν δόξαν 25 εὐδαιμονίαν. Ὅμηρος μὲν γὰρ ὀρθῶς κέχρηται τοῖς ὀνόμασιν

ὣς οὔ τοι χαίρων τοῖσδε κτεάτεσσιν ἀνάσσω

⁴²

καὶ Μένανδρος

ἔχω δὲ πολλὴν οὐσίαν καὶ πλούσιος

⁴³

καλοῦμʼ ὑπὸ πάντων, μακάριος δʼ ὑπʼ οὐδενός

, Εὐριπίδης δὲ πολλὴν ἐργάζεται ταραχὴν καὶ σύγχυσιν 5 ὅταν λέγῃ 25b

μή μοι γένοιτο λυπρὸς εὐδαίμων βίος

⁴⁴

καί

τί τὴν τυραννίδʼ, ἀδικίαν εὐδαίμονα, τιμᾷς

⁴⁵

10 ἂν μή τις, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, ταῖς μεταφοραῖς καὶ καταχρήσεσι τῶν ὀνομάτων ἕπηται. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱκανὰ περὶ τούτων.

Quomodo adolescens poetas audire debeat. Plutarch. ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs. Leipzig. 1888.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Πῶς δεῖ τὸν νέον ποιημάτων ἀκούειν. (Greek) (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol I. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1888.)

Translations (2)

How the Young Man Should Study Poetry Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. I. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1927 (printing).) — 6 focus

[6] Another method, again, which transfers from the worse to the better sense suspicious passages in poetry, is that which works through the normal usage of words, in which it were better to have the young man trained than in what are called glosses.¹ It is indeed learned, and not unpleasing, to know that rhigedanos² means dying miserably (for the Macedonians call death danos ), that the Aeolians call a victory won by patience and perseverance an outlasting,³ that the Dryopians call the divinities popoi.⁴ But it is necessary and useful, if we are to be helped and not harmed by poetry, to know how the poets employ the names of the gods, and again the names of bad and of good things, and what they mean when they speak of Fortune or of Fate, and whether these belong to the class of words which in their writings are used in one sense only or in several senses, as the case is with many other words. For, to illustrate, they apply the term house sometimes to a dwelling house, as

Into the lofty house,⁵

and sometimes to property, as

My house is being devoured; ⁶

and the term living they apply sometimes to life, as

But dark-haired Poseidon Thwarted his spear, nor would let him end his foeman’s living,⁷

and sometimes to possessions, as

And others are eating my living;⁸

and the expression be distraught is used sometimes instead of be chagrined and be at one’s wits’ end :

Thus he spoke, and she departed distraught and sore troubled⁹

and at other times, instead of to be arrogant and be delighted, as

Are you now distraught since you vanquished Irus, the vagrant? ¹⁰

and by huddle they mean either be in motion, as Euripides says:¹¹ A monster huddling from th’ Atlantic’s surge, or sit down and be seated, as Sophocles ¹² says: What means your huddling in these places here With suppliant garlands on the boughs ye bear? It is a graceful accomplishment also to adapt the usage of the words to fit the matter in hand, as the grammarians teach us to do, taking a word for one signification at one time, and at another time for another, as for example, Better commend a small ship, but put your goods on a big one.¹³ For by commend is meant recommend, and the very expression of recommend to another is used nowadays instead of deprecating for one’s self, as in everyday speech we say, It’s very kind, and Very welcome, when we do not want a thing and do not accept it. In this way also some persons will have it that it must be commendable Persephone because she is deprecated.

Let us then observe closely this distinction and discrimination of words in greater and more serious matters, and let us begin with the gods, in teaching the young that when the poets employ the names of the gods, sometimes they apprehend in their conception the gods themselves, and at other times they give the same appellation to certain faculties of which gods are the givers and authors. To take an obvious example, it is clear that Archilochus, when he says in his prayer,

Hear my praver, O Lord Hephaestus, and propitious Lend thy aid, and bestow what thy mercy bestows,¹⁴

is calling on the god himself; but when, lamenting his sister’s husband who was lost at sea and received no formal burial, he says that he could have borne the calamity with greater moderation,

If upon his head and his body so fair, All in garments clean, Hephaestus had done his office,¹⁵

it is fire that he called by this name and not the god. And again when Euripides ¹⁶ said in an oath, By Zeus amidst the stars and Ares murderous, he named the gods themselves; but when Sophocles ¹⁷ says, Blind and unseeing Ares, worthy dames, With snout like that of swine upturns all ills, the name is to be understood as meaning war; just as again it suggests weapons of bronze in the passage where Homer ¹⁸ says,

Dark red blood of these men by the fair-flowing river Scamander Keen-edged Ares has shed.

Since, then, many words are used in this way, it is necessary to know and to remember that under the name Zeus also (or Zen) the poets address sometimes the god, sometimes Fortune, and oftentimes Fate. For when they say,

Father Zeus, enthroned on Ida, most glorious and mighty, Grant to Ajax victory,¹⁹

and O Zeus! who boasts to be more wise than thou? ²⁰ they mean the god himself; but when they apply the name of Zeus to the causes of all that happens, and say, Many valiant souls it sent to the realm of Hades, Goodly men, and their bodies gave to the dogs as ravin And to birds a feast—the design of Zeus in fulfilment,²¹ they mean Fate. For the poet does not imagine that it is the god who contrives evils for mankind, but by the name he rightly implies the compelling force of circumstances, that States and armies and leaders, if they show self-control, are destined to succeed and to prevail over their enemies, but if they fall into passions and errors, if they disagree and quarrel among themselves, as these heroes did, then are they destined to act discreditably and to become disorganized and to come to a bad end, as Sophocles says ²²:

For fated is it that from evil plans An evil recompense shall mortals reap;

and certainly Hesiod ²³ in representing Prometheus as exhorting Epimetheus

Never to welcome Any gifts from Zeus of Olympus, but always return them,

employs the name of Zeus as a synonym for the power of Fortune. For he has given the name of gifts of Zeus to the blessings of Fortune, such as wealth, marriage, office, and, in a word, all outward things, the possession of which is unprofitable to those who cannot make good use of them. Wherefore he thinks that Epimetheus, who is a worthless man and a fool, ought to be on his guard against any piece of good fortune, and be fearful of it, as he is likely to be injured and corrupted by it. And again when the poet says,

Never dare to reproach any man for accursed and woeful Poverty, gift of the blessed gods whose life is for ever,²⁴

he now speaks of what happens by chance as godgiven, with the suggestion that it is not meet to impugn those who are poor through misfortune, but to reproach the penury that is accompanied by laziness, soft living, and extravagance, since then it is disgraceful and reprehensible. For at a time when men did not as yet use the name Fortune, but knew the force of causation as it traverses its irregular and indeterminate course, so strong, so impossible for human reason to guard against, they tried to express this by the names of the gods, exactly as we are wont to call deeds and characters, and in fact even words and men, divine and godlike. In this manner, then, a corrective is to be found for most of the seemingly unjustifiable statements regarding Zeus, among which are the following:

Fixed on Zeus’ floor two massive urns stand ever, Filled with happy lives the one, the other with sorrows,²⁵

and

Cronos’ son, enthroned on high, hath made naught of our pledges, But for both our hosts with evil thought is planning,²⁶

and

Then rolled forth the beginning of trouble Both on Trojans and Greeks through designs of Zeus the almighty.²⁷

These are to be interpreted as referring to Fortune or Fate, in which guise are denoted those phases of causation which baffle our logic, and are, in a word, beyond us. But wherever there is appropriateness, reason, and probability in the use of the name, let us believe that there the god himself is meant, as in the following:

But he ranged to and fro ’gainst the lines of the rest of the fighters; Only with Ajax, Telamon’s son, he avoided a conflict, Seeing that Zeus was wroth if he fight with a man far better,²⁸

and For Zeus takes thought for mortals’ greatest weal; The little things he leaves to other gods.²⁹

Particular attention must be paid to the other words also, when their signification is shifted about and changed by the poets according to various circumstances. An example is the word virtue. For inasmuch as virtue not only renders men sensible, honest, and upright in actions and words, but also often enough secures for them repute and influence, the poets, following this notion, make good repute and influence to be virtue, giving them this name in exactly the same way that the products of the olive and the chestnut are called olives and chestnuts, the same names as the trees that bear them. So then when poets say,

Sweat the gods have set before the attainment of virtue,³⁰

and

Then the Greeks by their virtue broke the line of their foemen,³¹

and

If to die be our fate, Thus to die is our right Merging our lives into virtue,³²

let our young man at once feel that these sayings relate to the best and godliest estate to which we can attain, which we think of as correctness of reasoning, the height of good sense, and a disposition of soul in full agreement therewith. But when at another time, in his reading, he finds this line, Zeus makes virtue in men both to increase and diminish,³³ or this, Virtue and glory are attendant on riches,³⁴ let him not sit astounded and amazed at the rich, as though they were able to purchase virtue without ado for money, nor let him believe either that the increase or diminution of his own wisdom rests with Fortune, but let him consider that the poet has employed virtue instead of repute, or influence, or good fortune, or the like. For assuredly by evil the poets sometimes signify badness in its strict sense, and wickedness of soul, as when Hesiod ³⁵ says, Evil may always be had by all mankind in abundance, and sometimes some other affliction or misfortune, as when Homer ³⁶ says, Since full soon do mortals who live in evil grow aged. And so too anybody would be sadly deceived, should he imagine that the poets give to happiness the sense which the philosophers give to it, namely, that of complete possession or attainment of good, or the perfection of a life gliding smoothly along in accord with nature, and that the poets do not oftentimes by a perversion of the word call the rich man happy and blessed, and call influence or repute happiness. Now Homer ³⁷ has used the words correctly:

No delight ³⁸ have I in ruling these possessions,

and so has Menander:³⁹

A great estate have I, and rich am called By all, but I am called by no man blest.

But Euripides ⁴⁰ works much disturbance and confusion when he says,

May I ne’er have a painful happy life,

and

Why do you honour show to tyranny, Happy iniquity? ⁴¹

unless, as has been said, one follows the figurative and perverted use of the words. This, then, is enough on this subject.

How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poems Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Ford, Simon, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 6 focus

[6] Another way whereby those passages which are suspicious in poets may be transferred to a better sense may be taken from the common use of words, which a young man ought indeed to be more exercised in than in the use of strange and obscure terms. For it will be a point of philology which it will not be unpleasant to him to understand, that when he meets with ῥιγεδανή in a poet, that word signifies an evil death; for the Macedonians use the word δάνος to signify death. So the Aeolians call victory gotten by patient endurance of hardships καμμονίη; and the Dryopians call daemons πόποι.

But of all things it is most necessary, and no less profitable if we design to receive profit and not hurt from the poets, that we understand how they make use of the names of Gods, as also of the terms of Evil and Good; and what they mean by Fortune and Fate; and whether these words be always taken by them in one and the same sense or rather in various senses, as also many other words are. For so the word οἶκος sometimes signifies a material house, as, Into the high-roofed house; and sometimes estate, as, My house is devoured. So the word βίοτος sometimes signifies life, and sometimes wealth. And ἀλύειω is sometimes taken for being uneasy and disquieted in mind, as in

Ὤς ἔφαθ᾽· ἡ δ᾽ὐλύουσ᾽ὐπεβήσατο, τείρετο δ᾽αἰνῶς,

and elsewhere for boasting and rejoicing, as in

Ἤ ὐλείς, ὅτι Ἶρον ἐρνίκησας τόν ἀλήτην

In like manner θοάζειν signifies either to move, as in Euripides when he saith,

Κῆτος θούζον ἐκ Ἀτλαντικῆς ἁλός—

or to sit, as in Sophocles when he writes thus,

Τίνας πόθ᾽ἕρας τάσδε μοι θοάζετε,

Ἱκτηρίοις κλάδοισιν ἑξεστεμμένοι.

It is elegant also when they a᾽dapt to the present matter, as grammarians teach, the use of words which are commonly of another signification. As here:—

Νῆ᾽ὀλίγου αἰνεῖν, μεγάλῃ δ᾽ἐνί φορτία θέσθαι.

For here αἰνεῖν signifies to praise (instead of ἐμαινεῖν), and to praise is used for to refuse. So in conversation it is common with us to say, καλῶς ἔχει, it is well (i.e., No, I thank you), and to bid any thing fare well ( χαίρειν); by which forms of speech we refuse a thing which we do not want, or receive it not, but still with a civil compliment. So also some say that Proserpina is called ἐπαινή in the notion of παραιτητή, to be deprecated, because death is by all men shunned.

And the like distinction of words we ought to observe also in things more weighty and serious. To begin with the Gods, we should teach our youth that poets, when they use the names of Gods, sometimes mean properly the Divine Beings so called, but otherwhiles understand by those names certain powers of which the Gods are the donors and authors, they having first led us into the use of them by their own practice. As when Archilochus prays,

King Vulcan, hear thy suppliant, and grant

That which thou’rt wont to give and I to want,

it is plain that he means the God himself whom he invokes. But when elsewhere he bewails the drowning of his sister’s husband, who had not obtained lawful burial, and says,

Had Vulcan his fair limbs to ashes turned,

I for his loss had with less passion mourned,

he gives the name of Vulcan to the fire and not to the Deity. Again, Euripides, when he says,

No; by great Jove I swear, enthroned on high,

And bloody Mars,

⁴

means the Gods themselves who bare those names. But when Sophocles saith,

Blind Mars doth mortal men’s affairs confound,

As the swine’s snout doth quite deface the ground,

we are to understand the word Mars to denote not the God so called, but war. And by the same word we are to understand also weapons made of hardened brass, in those verses of Homer,

These are the gallant men whose noble blood

Keen Mars did shed near swift Scamander’s flood.

⁵

Wherefore, in conformity to the instances given, we must conceive and bear in mind that by the names of Jupiter also sometimes they mean the God himself, sometimes Fortune, and oftentimes also Fate. For when they say,—

Great Jupiter, who from the lofty hill

Of Ida govern’st all the world at will;

⁶

That wrath which hurled to Pluto’s gloomy realm

The souls of mighty chiefs:—

Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove;

⁷

For who (but who himself too fondly loves)

Dares lay his wisdom in the scale with Jove’s?—

they understand Jupiter himself. But when they ascribe the event of all things done to Jupiter as the cause, saying of him,—

Many brave souls to hell Achilles sent,

And Jove’s design accomplished in th’ event,—

they mean by Jove no more but Fate. For the poet doth not conceive that God contrives mischief against mankind, but he soundly declares the mere necessity of the things themselves, to wit, that prosperity and victory are destined by Fate to cities and armies and commanders who govern themselves with sobriety, but if they give way to passions and commit errors, thereby dividing and crumbling themselves into factions, as those of whom the poet speaks did, they do unhandsome actions, and thereby create great disturbances, such as are attended with sad consequences.

For to all unadvised acts, in fine,

The Fates unhappy issues do assign.

⁸

But when Hesiod brings in Prometheus thus counselling his brother Epimetheus,

Brother, if Jove to thee a present make,

Take heed that from his hands thou nothing take,

⁹

he useth the name of Jove to express Fortune; for he calls the good things which come by her (such as riches, and marriages, and empires, and indeed all external things the enjoyment whereof is unprofitable to them who know not how to use them well) the gifts of Jove. And therefore he adviseth Epimetheus (an ill man, and a fool withal) to stand in fear of and to guard himself from prosperity, as that which would be hurtful and destructive to him.

Again, where he saith,

Reproach thou not a man for being poor;

His poverty’s God’s gift, as is thy store,

¹⁰

he calls that which befalls men by Fortune God’s gift, and intimates that it is an unworthy thing to reproach any man for that poverty which he falls into by Fortune, whereas poverty is then only a matter of disgrace and reproach when it is attendant on sloth and idleness, or wantonness and prodigality. For, before the name of Fortune was used, they knew there was a powerful cause, which moved irregularly and unlimitedly and with such a force that no human reason could avoid it; and this cause they called by the names of Gods. So we are wont to call divers things and qualities and discourses, and even men themselves, divine. And thus may we rectify many such sayings concerning Jupiter as would otherwise seem very absurd. As these, for instance:—

Before Jove’s door two fatal hogsheads, filled

With human fortunes, good and bad luck yield:—

¹¹

Of violated oaths Jove took no care,

But spitefully both parties crushed by war:—

¹²

To Greeks and Trojans both this was the rise

Of mischief, suitable to Jove’s device.

¹³

These passages we are to interpret as spoken concerning Fortune or Fate, of the causality of both which no account can be given by us, nor do their effects fall under our power. But where any thing is said of Jupiter that is suitable, rational, and probable, there we are to conceive that the names of that God is used properly. As in these instances:—

Through others’ ranks he conquering did range,

But shunned with Ajax any blows t’ exchange;

But Jove’s displeasure on him he had brought,

Had he with one so much his better fought.

¹⁴

For though great matters are Jove’s special care,

Small things t’ inferior daemons trusted are.

And other words there are which the poets remove and translate from their proper sense by accommodation to various things, which deserve also our serious notice. Such a one, for instance, is ἀρετή, virtue. For because virtue does not only render men prudent, just, and good, both in their words and deeds, but also oftentimes purchaseth to them honor and power, therefore they call likewise these by that name. So we are wont to call both the olive-tree and the fruit ἐλαία, and the oak-tree and its acorn φηγός, communicating the name of the one to the other. Therefore, when our young man reads in the poets such passages as these,—

This law th’ immortal Gods to us have set,

That none arrive at virtue but by sweat;

¹⁵

The adverse troops then did the Grecians stout

By their mere virtue profligate and rout;

¹⁶

If now the Fates determined have our death,

To virtue we’ll consign our parting breath;—

let him presently conceive that these things are spoken of that most excellent and divine habit in us which we understand to be no other than right reason, or the highest attainment of the reasonable nature, and most agreeable to the constitution thereof. And again, when he reads this,

Of virtue Jupiter to one gives more,

And lessens, when he lifts, another’s store;

and this,

Virtue and honor upon wealth attend;¹⁷

let him not sit down in an astonishing admiration of rich men, as if they were enabled by their wealth to purchase virtue, nor let him imagine that it is in the power of Fortune to increase or lessen his own wisdom; but let him conceive that the poet by virtue meant either glory or power or prosperity or something of like import. For poets use the same ambiguity also in the word κακότης, evil, which sometimes in them properly signifies a wicked and malicious disposition of mind, as in that of Hesiod,

Evil is soon acquired; for everywhere

There’s plenty on’t and t’all men’s dwellings near;

¹⁸

and sometimes some evil accident or misfortune, as when Homer says,

Sore evils, when they haunt us in our prime,

Hasten old age on us before our time.

¹⁹

So also in the word εὐδαιμονία, he would be sorely deceived who should imagine that, wheresoever he meets with it in poets, it means (as it does in philosophy) a perfect habitual enjoyment of all good things or the leading a life every way agreeable to Nature, and that they do not withal by the abuse of such words call rich men happy or blessed, and power or glory felicity. For, though Homer rightly useth terms of that nature in this passage,—

Though of such great estates I am possest,

Yet with true inward joy I am not blest;

²⁰

and Menander in this,—

So great’s th’ estate I am endowed withal:

All say I’m rich, but none me happy call;—

yet Euripides discourseth more confusedly and perplexedly when he writes after this manner,—

May I ne’er live that grievous blessed life;—

But tell me, man, why valuest thou so high

Th’ unjust beatitude of tyranny ?

²¹

except, as I said, we allow him the use of these words in a metaphorical and abusive sense. But enough hath been spoken of these matters.

Notes on the current edition

Πῶς δεῖ τὸν νέον ποιημάτων ἀκούειν.

1. μέλλομεν Madvigius: μέλλοιμεν

2. Homer. ε 42

3. id. δ 318

4. καὶ H: καὶ τὸν

5. βίοτὸν W: βίον

6. Homer. N 562

7. id. ν 419

8. id. E 352

9. id. ς 332. 392

10. Nauck. p. 523

11. OR 2

12. Hesiod. OD 643

13. Bergk. 2 p. 404

14. Bergk. 2 p. 387

15. Εὐριπίδης] Phoen. 1013

16. Nauck. p. 247

17. Ὁμήρου] H 329

18. Homer, Γ 276. H 202. Ω 308

19. Nauck. p. 694

20. ὅταν δ’ ἐπὶ ταῖς αἰτίας Hirschigius

21. Homer. A 5

22. Nauck. p. 695

23. OD 86

24. OD 717

25. Homer. Ω 527

26. Plat. Rep. p. 379 d

27. Homer. H 69

28. id. θ 81

29. τὸ ὅλως H

30. νομίζωμεν W: νομίζομεν

31. Homer. Λ 540

32. Nauck. p. 695

33. πολλὰ πράγματα] πολλὰ R

34. τὴν add. R

35. Hesiod. OD 289

36. Homer. Λ 90

37. Nauck. p. 529

38. Homer. Υ 242

39. Hesiod. OD 313

40. id. 287

41. Ὅμηρος] τ 360

42. Homer. δ 93

43. Meinek. IV p. 266

44. Med. 603

45. Phoen. 552

Plutarch Quomodo adolescens poetas audire debeat 6

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

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