Plutarch, De tuenda sanitate praecepta, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 12

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[12]

ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ.

καὶ 5 καθάπερ οἱ Λάκωνες ὄξος καὶ ἅλας διδόντες τῷ μαγείρῳ τὰ λοιπὰ κελεύουσιν ἐν τῷ ἱερείῳ ζητεῖν, οὕτως ἐν τῷ σώματι τοῦ προσφερομένου τὰ κάλλιστα τῶν ἡδυσμάτων ἐστίν, ἄνπερ ὑγιαίνοντι καὶ καθαρῷ προσφέρηται. γλυκὺ μὲν γὰρ ἢ πολυτελὲς ἔξω καὶ 10 καθʼ αὑτὸ τῶν τοιούτων ἕκαστόν ἐστιν, ἡδὺ δὲ πέφυκεν ἐν τῷ ἡδομένῳ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ἡδομένου 128d γίγνεσθαι κατὰ φύσιν ἔχοντος· ἐν δὲ δυσαρέστοις καὶ κραιπαλῶσι καὶ φαύλως διακειμένοις πάντα τὴν αὑτῶν χάριν καὶ ὥραν ἀπόλλυσι. διὸ δεῖ μὴ σκοπεῖν 15 τὸν ἰχθὺν εἰ πρόσφατος, μηδὲ τὸν ἄρτον εἰ καθαρός, μηδὲ τὸ βαλανεῖον εἰ θερμόν, μηδὲ τὴν ἑταίραν εἰ εὔμορφος, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτὸν,¹ εἰ μὴ ναυτιώδης μηδὲ θολερὸς μηδʼ ἕωλος μηδὲ τεταραγμένος. εἰ δὲ μή, καθάπερ εἰς οἰκίαν πενθοῦσαν ἐμβαλόντες ἐπίκωμοι 20 μεθύοντες οὐ φιλοφροσύνην παρέσχον οὐδʼ ἡδονὴν ἀλλὰ κλαυθμοὺς καὶ ὀδυρμοὺς² ἐποίησαν, 128e οὕτω καὶ ἀφροδίσια καὶ ὄψα καὶ βαλανεῖα καὶ οἶνος ἐν σώματι κακῶς καὶ παρὰ φύσιν ἔχοντι μιγνύμενα τοῖς μὴ καθεστῶσι καὶ διεφθορόσι φλέγμα καὶ χολὴν 25 κινεῖ καὶ ταράττει καὶ προσεξίστησιν,³ ἡδὺ δʼ οὐδὲν ἀξιολόγως οὐδʼ ἀπολαυστικὸν οὐδὲν οἷον προσεδοκήσαμεν ἀποδίδωσιν.

De tuenda sanitate praecepta. 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

Ὑγιεινὰ παραγγέλματα (Greek) (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol I. Bernardakis, Gregorius N., editor; Leipzig: Teubner, 1888.)

Translations (2)

Advice About Keeping Well Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. II. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1928 (printing).) — 12 focus

[12]

ZEUXIPPUS.

and as the Spartans give to the cook vinegar and salt only, bidding him seek whatever else he needs in the slaughtered animal itself,¹ so in the body are the best of sauces for whatever is served, if so be that it is served to a body which is healthy and clean. For everything of this sort is sweet or costly irrespectively of the user and by itself, but Nature decrees that it becomes pleasant only in and in connexion with the person that is pleased and is in harmony with Nature; but in those who are captious or suffering from a debauch, or are in a bad way, all things lose their intrinsic agreeableness and freshness. Therefore there is no need to look to see whether the fish be fresh, the bread white, the bath warm, or the girl shapely, but a man should look to himself to see whether he be not nauseated, feculent, stale, or in any way upset. Otherwise, just as drunken revellers who force their way into a house of mourning provide no cheerfulness or pleasure, but only cause weeping and wailing, so in a body that is in a bad condition and out of harmony with Nature, the pleasures of love, elaborate food, baths and wine, when combined with such elements in the body as are unsettled and tainted, set up phlegm and bile and bring on an upset, besides being unduly exciting, while they yield no pleasure to speak of, nor any enjoyment like what we expected.

Plutarch's Rules for the Preservation of Health Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; Poole, Matthew, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 12 focus

[12]

ZEUXIPPUS.

And as the Spartans gave the cook vinegar and salt, and bade him look for the rest in the victim, so in our bodies, the best sauce to whatsoever is brought before us is that our bodies are pure and in health. For any thing that is sweet or costly is so in its own nature and apart from any thing else; but it becomes sweet to the taste only when it is in a body which is delighted with it and which is disposed as nature doth require. But in those bodies which are foul, surfeited, and not pleased with it, it loses its beauty and convenience. Wherefore we need not be concerned whether fish be fresh or bread fine, or whether the bath be warm or your she-friend a beauty; but whether you are not squeamish and foul, whether you are not disturbed and do not feel the dregs of yesterday’s debauch. Otherwise it will be as when some drunken revellers break into a house where they are mourning, bringing neither mirth nor pleasure with them, but increasing the lamentation. So Venus, meats, baths, and wines, in a body that is crazy and out of order, mingled with what is vitiated and corrupted, stir up phlegm and choler, and create great trouble; neither do they bring any pleasure that is answerable to their expectations, or worth either enjoying or speaking of.

Notes on the current edition

Ὑγιεινὰ παραγγέλματα

1. ἑαυτὸν Stobaeus Floril. CI 11: αὑτὸν

2. καὶ ὀδυρμοὺς idem

3. παρεξίστησιν H

Plutarch De tuenda sanitate praecepta 12

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ.

Current edition Perseus

ZEUXIPPUS.

ZEUXIPPUS.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers