Plutarch, Consolatio ad Apollonium, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 34

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[34] The fact that those who excel in virtues pass on to their fate while young, as though beloved of the gods, I have already called to your attention in an earlier part ¹ of my letter, and I shall endeavour at this time to touch upon it very briefly, merely adding my testimony to that which has been so well said by Menander ²:

Whom the gods love dies young.

But perhaps, my dearest Apollonius, you would say in retort that your young son had been placed under the special care of Apollo and the Fates, and that it should have been you who, on departing this life, received the last offices from him, after he had come to full manhood; for this, you say, is in accordance with nature. Yes, in accordance with your nature, no doubt, and mine, and that of mankind in general, but not in accordance with the Providence which presides over all or with the universal dispensation. But for that boy, now among the blessed, it was not in accordance with nature that he should tarry beyond the time allotted to him for life on this earth, but that, after fulfilling this term with due obedience, he should set forth to meet his fate, which was already (to use his own words ³) summoning him to himself. But he died untimely. Yes, but for this very reason his lot is happier, and he is spared many evils; for Euripides ⁴ says:

Life bears the name of life, being but toil.

But he, in the most blooming period of his years, has departed early, a perfect youth, envied and admired by all who knew him. He was fond of his father and mother and his relatives and friends, or, to put it in a word, he loved his fellow men; he respected the elderly among his friends as fathers, he was affectionate towards his companions and familiar friends, he honoured his teachers, and was most kind toward strangers and citizens, gentle with all and beloved of all, both because of his charm of appearance and because of his affable kindliness.

Ah well, but he, bearing with him the fair and fitting fame of your righteousness and his own conjoined, has departed early to eternity from out this mortal life, as from an evening party, before falling into any such grossness of conduct as is wont to be the concomitant of a long old age. And if the account of the ancient poets and philosophers is true, as it most likely is, and so there is for those of the departed who have been righteous a certain honour and preferment, as is said, and a place set apart in which their souls pass their existence, then you ought to be of good hope for your dear departed son that he will be reckoned among their number and will be with them.

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

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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.) — 34 focus

[34] ὅτι γὰρ οἱ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς διενεγκόντες ὡς θεοφιλεῖς νέοι μετέστησαν πρὸς τὸ χρεὼν καὶ πάλαι μὲν διὰ τῶν πρόσθεν ὑπέμνησα λόγων, καὶ νῦν δὲ 20 πειράσομαι διὰ βραχυτάτων ἐπιδραμεῖν, προσμαρτυρήσας τῷ καλῶς ὑπὸ Μενάνδρου ῥηθέντι τούτῳ

ὃν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος

ἀλλʼ ἴσως ὑποτυχὼν ἂν φαίης Ἀπολλώνιε φίλτατε,σφόδρʼ ἦν ἐπιτεταγμένος ὁ νεανίσκος Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ 25 119f μοίραις,² καὶ σὲ ἔδει ὑπʼ ἐκείνου τελείου γενομένου κηδευθῆναι μεταλλάξαντα τὸν βίον· τοῦτο γὰρ εἶναι κατὰ φύσιν, τὴν ἡμετέραν δηλονότι καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ τὴν τῶν ὅλων πρόνοιαν καὶ τὴν κοσμικὴν διάταξιν. ἐκείνῳ δὲ τῷ μακαρισθέντι οὐκ ἦν κατὰ φύσιν περαιτέρω τοῦ ἀπονεμηθέντος αὐτῷ χρόνου πρὸς τὸν ἐνθάδε βίον περιμένειν, ἀλλʼ εὐτάκτως 5 τοῦτον ἐκπλήσαντι πρὸς τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἐπανάγειν πορείαν, καλούσης αὐτῆς, φησίν, ἤδη πρὸς ἑαυτήν. ἀλλʼ ἄωρος³ ἐτελεύτησεν; οὐκοῦν εὐποτμότερος διὰ τοῦτο καὶ κακῶν ἀπείρατός ἐστιν· 120a

ὁ βίος γάρ φησὶν Εὐριπίδης ὄνομʼ ἔχει μόνον⁴ 10

μόρος⁵ γεγώς.⁶

οὗτος δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς εὐανθεστάτης ἡλικίας προαπεφοίτησεν ὁλόκληρος ἠίθεος, ζηλωτὸς καὶ περίβλεπτος πᾶσι τοῖς συνήθεσιν αὐτῷ, φιλοπάτωρ γενόμενος καὶ φιλομήτωρ καὶ φιλοίκειος καὶ φιλόσοφος, τὸ δὲ 15 σύμπαν εἰπεῖν φιλάνθρωπος, αἰδούμενος μὲν τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῶν φίλων ὥσπερ πατέρας, στέργων δὲ τοὺς ὁμήλικας καὶ συνήθεις, τιμητικὸς δὲ τῶν καθηγησαμένων, ξένοις δὲ καὶ ἀστοῖς πραότατος, 120b πᾶσι δὲ μείλιχος καὶ φίλος διά τε τὴν ἐξ ὄψεως 20 χάριν καὶ τὴν, εὐπροσήγορον φιλανθρωπίαν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος μὲν τῆς τε σῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τὴν πρέπουσαν εὐφημίαν ἔχων πρὸς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον προαπεφοίτησε τοῦ θνητοῦ βίου, καθάπερ ἔκ του⁷ συμποσίου, πρὶν εἴς τινα παροινίαν ἐκπεσεῖν 25 τὴν τῷ μακρῷ γήρᾳ παρεπομένην. εἰ δʼ ὁ τῶν παλαιῶν ποιητῶν τε καὶ φιλοσόφων λόγος ἐστὶν ἀληθὴς ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἔχειν, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τῶν μεταλλαξάντων ἔστι τις τιμὴ καὶ προεδρία καθάπερ λέγεται, καὶ χῶρός τις ἀποτεταγμένος ἐν ᾧ 120c διατρίβουσιν αἱ τούτων ψυχαί, καλὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχειν 5 σε δεῖ περὶ τοῦ μακαρίτου υἱέος σου, ὅτι τούτοις συγκαταριθμηθεὶς συνέσται.

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.) — 34 focus

[34] For that virtuous men die in the prime of their years by the kindness of the Gods, to whom they are peculiarly dear, I have already told thee in the former part of my discourse, and will give a short hint of it now, bearing witness to that which is so prettily said by Menander:— He whom the Gods do love dies young.

But perhaps, my dear Apollonius, thou wilt thus object to me: My young Apollonius was blessed by fortune in his life, and I ought first to have died that he might bury me; for this is according to nature. According to our human nature, I confess; but Providence hath other measures, and that supreme order which governs the world is very different; for thy son being now made happy, it was not requisite according to nature that he should tarry in this life longer than the time prefixed him, but that, having consummated the term of his duration, he should perform his fatal journey, Nature recalling him to herself. But he died untimely, youmay say. Upon that account he is the happier, not having been sensible of those evils which are incident to life. For Euripides said truly:—

The time of being here we style amiss;

We call it life, but truly labor ’tis.

Thy Apollonius died in the beautiful flower of his years, a youth in all points perfect, who gained the love, and provoked the emulation of all his contemporaries He was dutiful to his father and mother, obliging to his domestics, was a scholar, and (to comprehend all in a word) he was a lover of mankind. He had a veneration for the old men that were his friends, as if they had been his parents, had an affection for his companions and equals, reverenced his instructors, was hospitable and mild to his guests and strangers, gracious to all, and beloved by all, as well for his attractive countenance as for his lovely affability. Therefore, being accompanied with the applauses of thy piety and his own, he hath only made a digression from this mortal life to eternity, as if he had withdrawn from the entertainment before he grew absurd, and before the staggerings of drunkenness came upon him, which are incident to a long old age. Now if the sayings of the old philosophers and poets are true, as there is probability to think, that honors and high seats of dignity are conferred upon the righteous after they are departed this life, and if, as it is said, a particular region is appointed for their souls to dwell in, you ought to cherish very fair hopes that your son stands numbered amongst those blest inhabitants.

Notes on the current edition

A letter of Condolence to Apollonius

1. 111 B supra

2. From the Double Deceiver: Cf. Kock, Com. Att. Frag. iii. p. 36, Menander, No. 125, and Allinson’s Menander (L.C.L.), p. 345. The sentiment is found many times in other writers, Cf. Plautus, Bacch. iv. 7. 18 quem di diligunt adulescens moritur.

3. i.e. his dying words, Fate summons me; Cf. the dying words of Alcestis, Charon summons me, Euripides, Alcestis, 254, and Plato, Phaedo, 115 A.

4. In an unknown play; cf. Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag., Euripides, No. 966.

Plutarch Consolatio ad Apollonium 34

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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