Plutarch, Consolatio ad Apollonium, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 12

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[12] Socrates ¹ said that death resembles either a very deep sleep or a long and distant journey, or, thirdly, a sort of destruction and extinction of both the body and the soul, but that by no one of these possibilities is it an evil. Each of these conceptions he pursued further, and the first one first. For if death is a sleep, and there is nothing evil in the state of those who sleep, it is evident that there is likewise nothing evil in the state of those who are dead. Nay, what need is there even to state that the deepest sleep is indeed the sweetest ? For the fact is of itself patent to all men, and Homer ² bears witness by saying regarding it:

Slumber the deepest and sweetest, and nearest to death in its semblance.

In another place ³ also he says:

Here she chanced to encounter the brother of Death, which is Slumber,

and

Slumber and Death, the twin brothers,⁴

thereby indicating their similarity in appearance, for twins show most similarity. And again somewhere ⁵ he says that death is a brazen sleep, in allusion to our insensibility in it. And not inelegantly did the man ⁶ seem to put the case who called sleep the Lesser Mysteries of death; for sleep is really a preparatory rite for death. Very wise was the remark of the cynic Diogenes, who, when he had sunk into slumber and was about to depart this life, was roused by his physician, who inquired if anything distressed him. Nothing, he said, for the one brother merely forestalls the other.⁷

Consolatio ad Apollonium. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1928.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

A Letter of Condolence to Apollonius (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. II. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1928 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Πραμυθητικὸς πρὸς Ἀπολλώνιον Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol I. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1888.) — 12 focus

[12] ὁ δὲ Σωκράτης¹ παραπλήσιον ἔλεγεν εἶναι τὸν θάνατον ἤτοι τῷ βαθυτάτῳ ὕπνῳ ἢ ἀποδημίᾳ μακρᾷ καὶ πολυχρονίῳ ἢ τρίτον φθορᾷ τινι καὶ ἀφανισμῷ τοῦ τε σώματος καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, κατʼ οὐδὲν δὲ τούτων κακὸν εἶναι. καὶ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐπεπορεύετο, 15 καὶ πρῶτον τῷ πρώτῳ. εἰ γὰρ δὴ ὕπνος τίς ἐστιν ὁ θάνατος καὶ περὶ τοὺς καθεύδοντας μηδέν ἐστι κακόν, δῆλον ὡς οὐδὲ περὶ τοὺς τετελευτηκότας εἴη ἄν τι κακόν. ἀλλὰ μὴν γʼ ὅτι ἥδιστός ἐστιν ὁ βαθύτατος τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; αὐτὸ γὰρ τὸ 20 πρᾶγμα φανερόν ἐστι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρος² ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ λέγων

νήγρετος ἥδιστός, θανάτῳ ἄγχιστα ἐοικώς

107e ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα λέγει

ἔνθʼ Ὕπνῳ ξύμβλητο, κασιγνήτῳ Θανάτοιο

25 καὶ

Ὕπνῳ καὶ Θανάτῳ διδυμάοσιν,

⁴

ὄψει τὴν ὁμοιότητα αὐτῶν δηλῶν τὰ γὰρ δίδυμα τὴν ὁμοιότητα μάλιστα παρεμφαίνει. πάλιν τὲ πού φησι τὸν θάνατον εἶναι χάλκεον⁵ ὕπνον, τὴν ἀναισθησίαν ἡμῶν αἰνιττόμενος. οὐκ ἀμούσως δʼ ἔδοξεν ἀποφήνασθαι οὐδʼ ὁ εἰπὼν τὸν ὕπνον τὰ μικρὰ τοῦ 5 θανάτου μυστήρια· προμύησις γὰρ ὄντως ἐστὶ τοῦ 107f θανάτου ὁ ὕπνος. πάνυ δὲ σοφῶς καὶ ὁ κυνικὸς Διογένης κατενεχθεὶς εἰς ὕπνον καὶ μέλλων ἐκλείπειν τὸν βίον, διεγείραντος αὐτὸν τοῦ ἰατροῦ καὶ πυθομένου μή τι περὶ αὐτὸν εἴη χαλεπόν, οὐδέν ἔφη· 10 ὁ γὰρ ἀδελφὸς; τὸν, ἀδελφὸν προλαμβάνει⁶

Translations (1)

Consolation to Apollonius Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; Morgan, Matthew, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 12 focus

[12] Socrates said that death was like either to a very deep sleep, or to a journey taken a great way and for a long time, or else to the utter extinction of soul and body; and if we examine each of these comparisons, he said, we shall find that death is not an evil upon any account. For if death is sleep, and no hurt happens to those who are in that innocent condition, it is manifest that neither are the dead ill dealt with. To what purpose should I talk of that which is so tritely known amongst all, that the most profound sleep is always the sweetest? Homer¹ particularly attests it:—

His senses all becalmed, he drew his breath,

His sleep was sound, and quiet like to death.

And in many places he saith thus,—

She met Death’s brother, Sleep.—

And again,—

Twin brothers, Sleep and Death,—

thereby representing the similitude (as it were) to the sight, for twins especially indicate similarity. And in another place he saith, Death is brazen sleep, thereby intimating to us that it is insensible. Neither hath he spoken much amiss who calls sleep the lesser mysteries of death; for sleep is really the first initiation into the mysteries of death.

Diogenes the Cynic, when a little before his death he fell into a slumber, and his physician rousing him out of it asked him whether any thing ailed him, wisely answered, Nothing, sir, only one brother anticipates another,—Sleep before Death.

Notes on the current edition

A letter of Condolence to Apollonius

1. Plato, Apology, p. 40 C.

2. Od. xiii. 80.

3. Il. xiv. 231.

4. Il. xvi. 672, 682.

5. Il. xi. 241.

6. Mnesimachus. Cf. Kock, Com. Att. Frag. ii. p. 422, Mnesimachus, No. 11. Initiation into the lesser mysteries (celebrated at Agrae, near Athens, in March) was required before one could be admitted to the great Eleusinian festival in September.

7. Cf. a similar remark attributed to Gorgias of Leontini in Aelian, Varia Historia, ii. 35.

Plutarch Consolatio ad Apollonium 12

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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