Plutarch, Consolatio ad Apollonium, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 6

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[6] κράτιστον δὴ πρὸς ἀλυπίαν φάρμακον ὁ λόγος καὶ ἡ διὰ τούτου παρασκευὴ πρὸς πάσας τοῦ βίου τὰς μεταβολάς. χρὴ γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἑαυτὸν εἰδέναι θνητὸν ὄντα τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι θνητῷ σύγκληρός 104a ἐστι βίῳ καὶ πράγμασι ῥᾳδίως μεθισταμένοις 10 πρὸς τοὐναντίον. ἀνθρώπων γὰρ ὄντως θνητὰ μὲν καὶ ἐφήμερα τὰ σώματα, θνηταὶ δὲ τύχαι καὶ πάθη καὶ πάνθʼ ἁπλῶς; τὰ κατὰ τὸν βίον, ἅπερ

οὐκ ἔστι φυγεῖν βροτὸν οὐδʼ ὑπαλύξαι

τὸ παράπαν ἀλλὰ 15

Ταρτάρου πυθμὴν πιέζει σʼ ἀφανοῦς σφυρηλάτοις

ἀνάγκαις

ὥς φησι Πίνδαρος. ὅθεν ὀρθῶς ὁ Φαληρεὺς Δημήτριος εἰπόντος Εὐριπίδου³

ὁ δʼ ὄλβος οὐ βέβαιος ἀλλʼ ἐφήμερος

20 καὶ ὅτι

μίκρʼ ἄττα⁴ τὰ σφάλλοντα, καὶ μίʼ ἡμέρα

τὰ μὲν καθεῖλεν ὑψόθεν, τὰ δʼ ἦρʼ ἄνω

104b τὰ μὲν ἄλλα καλῶς ἔφη λέγειν αὐτόν, βέλτιον δʼ ἄν ἔχου ἦν,⁵ εἰ μὴ μίαν ἡμέραν ἀλλὰ στιγμὴν εἶπε 25 χρόνου

κύκλος γὰρ αὑτὸς καρπίμοις τε γῆς φυτοῖς

⁶

γένει βροτῶν τε. τοῖς μὲν αὔξεται βίος,

τῶν δὲ φθίνει τε κἀκθερίζεται πάλιν.

ὁ δὲ Πίνδαρος⁷ ἐν ἄλλοις 5

τί δέ τις; τί δʼ οὔ τις; σκιᾶς ὄναρ

ἄνθρωπος

ἐμφαντικῶς σφόδρα καὶ φιλοτέχνως ὑπερβολῇ χρησάμενος τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον ἐδήλωσε. τί γὰρ σκιᾶς ἀσθενέστερον; τὸ δὲ ταύτης ὄναρ οὐδʼ ἂν 10 104c ἐκφράσαι τις ἕτερος δυνηθείη σαφῶς. τούτοις δʼ ἑπόμενος καὶ ὁ Κράντωρ⁸ παραμυθούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν τέκνων τελευτῇ τὸν Ἱπποκλέα φησὶ ταῦτα γὰρ πᾶσα αὕτη ἡ ἀρχαία φιλοσοφία λέγει τε καὶ παρακελεύεται. ὧν εἰ δή τι ἄλλο μὴ ἀποδεχόμεθα, τό γε 15 πολλαχῆ εἶναι ἐργώδη καὶ δύσκολον τὸν βίον ἄγαν ἀληθές. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ φύσει τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, ὑπὸ γʼ ἡμῶν εἰς τοῦτʼ ἀφῖκται διαφθορᾶς. ἥ τʼ ἄδηλος αὕτη τύχη πόρρωθεν ἡμῖν καὶ ἔτʼ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἠκολούθηκεν οὐδʼ ἐφʼ ἑνὶ ὑγιεῖ, φυομένοις 20 τε μίγνυταί τις ἐν πᾶσι κακοῦ μοῖρα· τὰ γάρ τοι σπέρματα εὐθὺς θνητὰ ὄντα ταύτης κοινωνεῖ τῆς αἰτίας, ἐξ ἧς ἀφυΐα μὲν ψυχῆς, νόσοι δὲ⁹ καὶ κήδεα καὶ μοῖρα θνητῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἡμῖν ἕρπει. τοῦ δὴ 104d χάριν ἐτραπόμεθα δεῦρο; ἵνʼ εἰδείημεν ὅτι καινὸν 25 ἀτυχεῖν οὐδὲν¹⁰ ἀνθρώπῳ ἀλλὰ πάντες ταὐτὸ πεπόνθαμεν. ἄσκοπος γὰρ ἡ τύχη φησὶν ὁ Θεόφραστος καὶ δεινὴ παρελέσθαι τὰ προπεπονημένα καὶ μεταρρῖψαι τὴν δοκοῦσαν εὐημερίαν, οὐδένα καιρὸν ἔχουσα τακτόν ταῦτα δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἑκάστῳ λογίσασθαι ῥᾴδιον, καὶ ἄλλων ἀκοῦσαι 5 παλαιῶν καὶ σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν· ὧν πρῶτος μέν ἐστιν ὁ θεῖος Ὅμηρος, εἰπών

οὐδὲν ἀκιδνότερον γαῖα τρέφει ἀνθρώποιο.

οὐ μὲν γάρ ποτέ φησι κακὸν πείσεσθαι ὀπίσσω,

ὄφρʼ ἀρετὴν παρέχωσι θεοὶ καὶ γούνατʼ ὀρώρῃ 10

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ καὶ λυγρὰ θεοὶ μάκαρες τελέσωσι,¹¹ 104e

καὶ τὰ φέρει ἀεκαζόμενος τετληότι θυμῷ

καὶ

τοῖος γὰρ νόος ἐστὶν ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων,

¹²

οἷον ἐπʼ ἦμαρ ἄγῃσι πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε

15 καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις

Τυδεΐδη μεγάθυμε, τίη γενεὴν ἐρεείνεις;

¹³

οἵη περ φύλλων γενεή, τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.

φύλλα τὰ μὲν τʼ ἄνεμος χαμάδις χέει, ἄλλα δέ

θʼ ὕλη 20

τηλεθόωσα φύει, ἔαρος δʼ ἐπιγίγνεται ὥρη

ὣς ἀνδρῶν γενεὴ ἡ μὲν φύει ἡ δʼ ἀπολήγει

104f ταύτῃ δʼ ὅτι καλῶς ἐχρήσατο τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου βίου δῆλον ἐξ ὧν ἐν ἄλλῳ τόπῳ φησὶν οὕτω

βροτῶν ἕνεκα πτολεμίζω¹⁴¹⁵ 25

δειλῶν, οἳ φύλλοισιν ἐοικότες, ἄλλοτε μέν τε

ζαφλεγέες τελέθουσιν ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδοντες·,

ἄλλοτε δὲ φθινύθουσιν ἀκήριοι, οὐδέ τις ἀλκὴ

105a Σιμωνίδης δʼ ὁ τῶν μελῶν ποιητής, Παυσανίου τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων μεγαλαυχουμένου συνεχῶς ἐπὶ ταῖς αὑτοῦ πράξεσι καὶ κελεύοντος ἀπαγγεῖλαί τι αὐτῷ σοφὸν μετὰ χλευασμοῦ, συνεὶς αὐτοῦ 5 τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν συνεβούλευε μεμνῆσθαι ὅτι ἄνθρωπός ἐστι· Φίλιππος δʼ ὁ τῶν Μακεδόνων βασιλεὺς τριῶν αὐτῷ προσαγγελθέντων εὐτυχημάτων ὑφʼ καιρόν, πρώτου μὲν ὅτι τεθρίππῳ νενίκηκεν Ὀλύμπια, δευτέρου δʼ ὅτι Παρμενίων ὁ στρατηγὸς μάχῃ Δαρδανεῖς 10 105b ἐνίκησε, τρίτου δʼ ὅτι ἄρρεν αὐτῷ παιδίον ἐκύησεν Ὀλυμπιάς, ἀνατείνας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν τὰς χεῖρας ὦ δαῖμον εἶπε, μέτριόν τι τούτοις ἀντίθες ἐλάττωμα, εἰδὼς ὅτι τοῖς μεγάλοις εὐτυχήμασι φθονεῖν πέφυκεν ἡ τύχη. Θηραμένης δʼ ὁ γενόμενος 15 Ἀθήνησι τῶν τριάκοντα τυράννων, συμπεσούσης τῆς οἰκίας ἐν μετὰ πλειόνων ἐδείπνει, μόνος σωθεὶς καὶ πρὸς πάντων εὐδαιμονιζόμενος, ἀναφωνήσας μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ ὦ τύχη εἶπεν, εἰς τίνα με καιρὸν ἄρα φυλάττεις; μετʼ οὐ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον καταστρεβλωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν συντυράννων ἐτελεύτησεν.

Consolatio ad Apollonium. 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

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

Translations (2)

A Letter of Condolence to Apollonius Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. II. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1928 (printing).) — 6 focus

[6] Reason is the best remedy for the cure of grief, reason and the preparedness through reason for all the changes of life. For one ought to realize, not merely that he himself is mortal by nature, but also that he is allotted to a life that is mortal and to conditions which readily reverse themselves. For men’s bodies are indeed mortal, lasting but a day, and mortal is all that they experience and suffer, and, in a word, everything in life; and all this

May not be escaped nor avoided by mortals¹

at all, but

The depths of unseen Tartarus hold you fast by hardforged necessities,

as Pindar ² says. Whence Demetrius of Phalerum was quite right when, in reference to a saying of Euripides ³:

Wealth is inconstant, lasting but a day,

and also:

Small things may cause an overthrow; one day Puts down the mighty and exalts the low,⁴

he said that it was almost all admirably put, but it would have been better if he had said not one day, but one second of time.

Alike the cycle of earth’s fruitful plants And mortal men. For some life grows apace, While others perish and are gathered home.⁵

And elsewhere Pindar ⁶ says: Somebody? Nobody? Which is which ? A dream of a shadow is man. Very vividly and skilfully did he use this extravagance of expression in making clear the life of mankind. For what is feebler than a shadow ? And a dream of it!—that is something which defies any clear description. In similar strain Crantor, ⁷ endeavouring to comfort Hippocles upon the death of his children, says: All our ancient philosophy states this and urges it upon us; and though there be therein other things which we do not accept, yet at any rate the statement that life is oftentimes toilsome and hard is only too true. For even if it is not so by nature, yet through our own selves it has reached this state of corruption. From a distant time, yes from the beginning, this uncertain fortune has attended us and to no good end, and even at our birth there is conjoined with us a portion of evil in everything. For the very seed of our life, since it is mortal, participates in this causation, and from this there steal upon us defectiveness of soul, diseases of body, loss of friends by death, and the common portion of mortals. For what reason have we turned our thoughts in this direction? It is that we may know that misfortune is nothing novel for man, but that we all have had the same experience of it. For Theophrastus ⁸ says: Fortune is heedless, and she has a wonderful power to take away the fruits of our labours and to overturn our seeming tranquillity, and for doing this she has no fixed season. These matters, and others like them, it is easy for each man to reason out for himself, and to learn them from wise men of old besides; of whom the first is the divine Homer, who said ⁹:

Nothing more wretched than man doth the earth support on its bosom, Never, he says to himself, shall he suffer from evil hereafter, Never, so long as the gods give him strength and his knees are still nimble; Then when the blessed gods bring upon him grievous affliction, Still he endures his misfortune, reluctant but steadfast in spirit.

And:

Such is the mood of the men who here on the earth are abiding, E’en as the day which the father of men and of gods brings upon them.¹⁰

And in another place:

Great-hearted son of Tydeus, why do you ask of my fathers ? As is the race of the leaves, such too is that of all mortals. Some of the leaves doth the wind scatter earthward, and others the forest Budding puts forth in profusion, and springtime is coming upon us. Thus is man’s race: one enters on life, and another’s life ceases.¹¹

That he has admirably made use of this image of human life is clear from what he says in another place, in these words: To fight for the sake of mortals

Wretched, who like to the leaves, at the one time all ardent Come to their fitting perfection, and eat of the fruit of their acres; Then again helpless they perish, nor is there aught that can help them.¹²

Pausanias, king of the Lacedaemonians, who persistently boasted of his own exploits, mockingly urged the lyric poet Simonides to rehearse for him some wise saying, whereupon the poet, being fully cognizant of his conceit, advised him to remember that he was only human.¹³

Philip, the king of the Macedonians, happened to have three pieces of good news reported to him all at once: the first, that he was victor at the Olympic games in the race of the four-horse chariots; the second, that Parmenio, his general, had vanquished the Dardanians in battle, and the third, that Olympias had borne him a male child; whereupon, stretching out his hands toward the heavens, he said: O God, offset all this by some moderate misfortune ! For he well knew that in cases of great prosperity fortune is wont to be jealous.¹⁴

While Theramenes, who afterwards became one of the Thirty Tyrants at Athens, was dining with several others, the house, in which they were, collapsed, and he was the only one to escape death; but as he was being congratulated by everybody, he raised his voice and exclaimed in a loud tone, O Fortune, for what occasion are you reserving me ? And not long afterward he came to his end by torture at the hands of his fellow tyrants.¹⁵

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.) — 6 focus

[6] But the most sovereign remedy against sorrow is our reason, and out of this arsenal we may arm ourselves with defence against all the casualties of life; for every one ought to lay down this as a maxim, that not only is he himself mortal in his nature, but life itself decays, and things are easily changed into quite the contrary to what they are; for our bodies are made up of perishing ingredients. Our fortunes and our passions too are subject to the same mortality; indeed all things in this world are in perpetual flux,—

Which no man can avoid with all his care.¹

It is an expression of Pindar, that we are held to the dark bottom of hell by necessities as hard as iron. And Euripides says:—

No worldly wealth is firm and sure;

But for a day it doth endure.²

And also:—

From small beginnings our misfortunes grow,

And little rubs our feet do overthrow;

A single day is able down to cast

Some things from height, and others raise as fast.³

Demetrius Phalereus affirms that this was truly said, but that the poet had been more in the right if for a single day he had put only a moment of time.

For earthly fruits and mortal men’s estate

Turn round about in one and selfsame rate;

Some live, wax strong, and prosper day by day,

While others are cast down and fade away. From the Ino of Euripides.

And Pindar hath it in another place,

What are we, what are we not?

Man is but a shadow’s dream. Pindar, Pyth. VIII. 135.

He used an artificial and very perspicuous hyperbole to draw human life in its genuine colors; for what is weaker than a shadow? Or what words can be found out whereby to express a shadow’s dream? Crantor hath something consonant to this, when, condoling Hippocles upon the loss of his children, he speaks after this manner:—

These are the things which all the old philosophers talk of and have instructed us in; which though we do not agree to in every particular, yet this hath too sharp a truth in it, that our life is painful and full of difficulties; and if it doth not labor with them in its own nature, yet we ourselves have infected it with that corruption. For the inconstancy of Fortune joined us at the beginning of our journey, and hath accompanied us ever since; so that it can produce nothing that is sound or comfortable unto us; and the bitter potion was mingled for us as soon as we were born. For the principles of our nature being mortal is the cause that our judgment is depraved, that diseases, cares, and all those fatal inconveniences afflict mankind.

But what need of this digression? Only that we may be made sensible that it is no unusual thing if a man be unfortunate; but we are all subject to the same calamity. For as Theophrastus saith, Fortune surpriseth us unawares, robs us of those things we have got by the sweat of our industry, and spoils the gaudy appearance of a prosperous condition; and this she doth when she pleaseth, not being stinted to any periods of time. These and things of the like nature it is easy for a man to ponder with himself, and to hearken to the sayings of ancient and wise men; among whom divine Homer is the chief, who sung after this manner:—

Of all that breathes or grovelling creeps on earth,

Most man is vain! calamitous by birth:

To-day, with power elate, in strength he blooms;

The haughty creature on that power presumes:

Anon from Heaven a sad reverse he feels;

Untaught to bear, ’gainst Heaven the wretch rebels.

For man is changeful, as his bliss or woe;

Too high when prosperous, when distress’d too low. Odyss. XVIII. 130.

And in another place:—

What or from whence I am, or who my sire

(Replied the chief), can Tydeus’ son enquire?

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,

Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;

Another race the following spring supplies;

They fall successive, and successive rise.

So generations in their course decay;

So flourish these, when those are past away. Il. VI. 145.

How prettily he managed this image of human life appears from what he hath said in another place:—

For what is man? Calamitous by birth,

They owe their life and nourishment to earth;

Like yearly leaves, that now with beauty crown’d,

Smile on the sun, now wither on the ground. Il. XXI. 463.

When Pausanias the king of Sparta was frequently bragging of his performances, and bidding Simonides the lyric poet in raillery to give him some wise precept, he, knowing the vain-glory of him that spoke, admonished him to remember that he was a man. Philip the king of Macedon, when he had received three despatches of good news at the same time, of which the first was that his chariots had won the victory in the Olympic games, the second, that his general Parmenio had overcome the Dardanians in fight, and the third, that his wife Olympias had brought him forth an heir,—lifting up his eyes to heaven, he passionately cried out, Propitious Daemon! let the affliction be moderate by which thou intendest to be even with me for this complicated happiness. Theramenes, one of the thirty tyrants of Athens, when he alone was preserved from the ruins of a house that fell upon the rest of his friends as they were sitting at supper, and all came about him to congratulate him on his escape,—broke out in an emphatical accent, Fortune! for what calamity dost thou reserve me? And not long after, by the command of his fellow-tyrants, he was tormented to death.

Notes on the current edition

Πραμυθητικὸς πρὸς Ἀπολλώνιον

1. Homer. M 326

2. Bergk. 1 p. 450

3. Εὐριπίδου] Phoen. 558

4. μίκρ’ ἄττα τὰ scripsi: μικρότατα ( ὡς μικρὰ τὰ Stobaeus Flor. CV 1. Nauck. p. 388)

5. ἔχον ἦν H: εἶχεν ὄν

6. Nauck. p. 387

7. Πίνδαρος] Pyth. VIII 135

8. Κράντωρ] Mullach. 3 p. 157

9. δὲ H: τε

10. οὐδὲν ἀτυχεῖν R

11. τελέσωσι H ex Homer. ς 133

12. Hom. ς 136

13. id. Z 145

14. πτολεμίζω H: πτολεμίζειν

15. id. Φ 463

Plutarch Consolatio ad Apollonium 6

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers