Plutarch, De tuenda sanitate praecepta, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 7

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[7]

ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ.

ἔστι δὲ μέγα καὶ θαυμαστόν, ἂν ὅσον ἡ φύσις δεομένη δέχεται τῶν ἡδονῶν προσιέμενοι τῷ 10 σώματι, μᾶλλον δʼ ἂν τὰ πολλὰ παρὰ¹ τὰς ὀρέξεις αὐτῷ διαμαχόμενοι καὶ ἀναβαλλόμενοι καὶ μόλις πάνυ ταῖς ἀναγκαίαις χρηματίζοντες ἢ ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων καὶ δάκνοντος καὶ κατατείνοντος ἐνδιδόντες ἀβλαβεῖς ἀπαλλάττωμεν. τὰς δʼ ἀνάπαλιν ἐκ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπὶ τὸ σῶμα κατιούσας ἐπιθυμίας καὶ καταβιαζομένας 15 τοῖς ἐκείνης ὑπηρετεῖν καὶ συνεξανίστασθαι 125c πάθεσιν οὐδεμία μηχανὴ τὸ μὴ σφοδροτάτας; βλάβας καὶ μεγίστας ἐφʼ ἡδοναῖς ἀσθενέσι καὶ ἀμαυραῖς ἐναπολιπεῖν. ἥκιστα δὲ ψυχῆς ἐπιθυμίᾳ σῶμα πρὸς ἡδονὰς κινητέον· ἡ γὰρ ἀρχὴ παρὰ φύσιν γίγνεται. 20 καὶ καθάπερ αἱ τῶν μασχαλῶν ψηλαφήσεις οὐκ ἴδιον οὐδὲ πρᾶον οὐδʼ ἵλεων γέλωτα τῇ ψυχῇ παρέχουσιν ἀλλʼ ἐοικότα σπασμῷ καὶ χαλεπόν, οὕτω πάλιν ὅσας τὸ σῶμα νυττόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡδονὰς ἴσχει καὶ ταραττόμενον, ἐκστατικαὶ καὶ ταρακτικαὶ 25 αὗται καὶ ἀλλότριαι τῆς φύσεώς εἰσιν. ὅταν οὖν τι 125d τῶν σπανίων ἀπολαυσμάτων ἢ ἐνδόξων παραγένηται, φιλοτιμητέον ταῖς ἀποσχέσεσι μᾶλλον ἢ ταῖς ἀπολαύσεσι, μεμνημένους ὅτι καθάπερ ὁ Σιμωνίδης ἔλεγε μηδέποτʼ αὐτῷ μεταμελῆσαι σιγήσαντι, φθεγξαμένῳ δὲ πολλάκις, οὕτως ἡμῖν οὔτʼ ὄψον παρωσαμένοις μετεμέλησεν οὔθʼ ὕδωρ ἀντὶ Φαλερίνου πιοῦσιν. ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον οὐ μόνον οὐ προσβιαστέον 5 ἐστὶ τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ κἂν δεομένῃ προσφέρηταί τι τῶν τοιούτων, ἐπὶ τὰ λιτὰ καὶ συνήθη πολλάκις ἀποτρεπτέον ἔθους ἕνεκα καὶ μελέτης τὴν ὄρεξιν.

εἴπερ γὰρ ἀδικεῖν χρὴ

10 125e φησὶν ὁ Θηβαῖος οὐκ ὀρθῶς λέγων,

τυραννίδος πέρι

κάλλιστον ἀδικεῖν

ἡμεῖς δὲ βέλτιον ὡς, εἴπερ φιλοδοξεῖν πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐγκρατείᾳ³ κάλλιστον ὑπὲρ ὑγιείας. οὐ μὴν 15 ἀλλὰ καὶ μικρολογία καὶ γλισχρότης ἐνίους ἀναγκάζει πιέζοντας οἴκοι τὰς ἐπιθυμίας καὶ κατισχναίνοντας ἐμπίπλασθαι παρʼ ἑτέροις τῶν πολυτελῶν καὶ ἀπολαύειν, καθάπερ ἐκ πολεμίας ἀφειδῶς ἐπισιτιζομένους· εἶτα κακῶς διατεθέντες ἀπίασιν, εἰς τὴν 20 125f ὑστεραίαν ἐφόδιον τῆς ἀπληστίας τὴν ἀπεψίαν ἔχοντες. ὁ μὲν οὖν Κράτης διὰ τρυφὴν καὶ πολυτέλειαν οἰόμενος οὐχ ἥκιστα τὰς στάσεις καὶ τὰς τυραννίδας ἐμφύεσθαι ταῖς πόλεσι, μετὰ παιδιᾶς παρῄνει

μὴ πρὸ φακῆς λοπάδʼ αὔξων⁴ 25

εἰς⁵ στάσιν ἄμμε βάλῃς

αὐτὸς δέ τις ἑαυτῷ παρακελευέσθω μὴ πρὸ φακῆς λοπάδʼ αὔξων⁶ μηδὲ πάντως ὑπερβαίνων τὴν καρδαμίδα καὶ τὴν ἐλαίαν ἐπὶ τὸ θρῖον καὶ τὸν ἰχθὺν εἰς στάσιν ἐκ πλησμονῆς τὸ σῶμα καὶ ταραχὰς ἐμβάλλειν καὶ διαρροίας. τὰ γὰρ εὐτελῆ κρατεῖ τὴν 5 ὄρεξιν ἐπὶ τῶν φυσικῶν μέτρων, ὀψοποιῶν δὲ τέχναι 126a καὶ δημιουργῶν καὶ

τὰ πανοῦργα ταῦτʼ ὀψάρια χὐποτρίμματα

κατὰ τὸν κωμικὸν⁷ ἀεὶ τοὺς ὅρους τῆς ἡδονῆς μετατίθησιν εἰς τοὔμπροσθεν καὶ παραλλάττει τὸ συμφέρον. 10 οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅντινα τρόπον, ἡμῶν τὰς γυναῖκας ὅσαι φίλτρα μηχανῶνται καὶ γοητείας ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας βδελυττομένων καὶ δυσχεραινόντων, μισθωτοῖς τε καὶ δούλοις προσεφιᾶσι⁸ τὰ σιτία καὶ τὰ ὄψα μονονοὺ μαγγανεύειν καὶ φαρμάττειν. εἰ τοίνυν καὶ 15 πικρότερον φανεῖται τὸ τοῦ Ἀρκεσιλάου πρὸς τοὺς μοιχικοὺς καὶ ἀκολάστους εἰρημένον, μηδὲν διαφέρειν ὄπισθέν τινα ἢ ἔμπροσθεν εἶναι κίναιδον οὐκ 126b ἀνάρμοστόν ἐστι τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις. τί γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς διαφέρει σατύρια προσάγοντα κινεῖν καὶ παροξύνειν 20 τὸ ἀκόλαστον ἐπὶ τὰς ἡδονάς, ἢ τὴν γεῦσιν ὀσμαῖς καὶ καρυκείαις ἐθίζειν⁹ ὥσπερ τὰ ψωριῶντα κνησμῶν ἀεὶ δεῖσθαι καὶ γαργαλισμῶν;

De tuenda sanitate praecepta. Plutarch. ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs. Leipzig. 1888.

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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).) — 7 focus

[7]

ZEUXIPPUS.

It is a great marvel if we get off unscathed, when we concede to the body only as much of pleasures as Nature in her need finds a place for, but still more so when we battle with it vigorously to thwart its appetites, and keep putting them off, and finally consent to some negotiation with such as will not be denied, or, as Plato ¹ says, yield when the body bites and strains. But when the case is reversed, and the desires descend from the mind to the body and force it to be subservient to the mind’s emotions, and to join in their excitements, there is no way to prevent their leaving as a residue the most violent and serious injuries as the aftermath of feeble and evanescent pleasures. Least of all ought the body to be stirred to pleasures by the mind’s desire, since such an origin is unnatural. Just as tickling the arm-pits so affects the mind as to produce laughter which is not natural, or even mild or happy, but convulsive and harsh, so whatsoever pleasures the body achieves through being prodded and disturbed by the mind are deranging and disturbing and foreign to Nature. Whenever, then, someone of those rare and notorious means of enjoyment is afforded us, we ought to take more pride in abstinence than in enjoyment, remembering that just as Simonides ² used to say that he had never been sorry for having kept silent, but many a time for having spoken, so we have never been sorry either for having put a dainty to one side, or for having drunk water instead of Falernian wine, but the opposite; not only ought Nature not to be forced, but if anything of this sort is offered her even when she has need of it, the appetite ought to be often diverted from it towards the plain and familiar food for the sake of habituation and training.

If one must needs do wrong,

are the words of the Theban,³ who is not correct in saying, far best it were

To do it for a kingdom’s sake.

But we can improve on this by saying that if we must needs seek repute in such matters as food and drink, far best it were by continence for the sake of health. Nevertheless stinginess and greediness constrain some persons, who repress and reduce their desires in their own homes, to stuff themselves and enjoy themselves with expensive things at others’ houses as though they were engaged in ruthless foraging in an enemy’s country; then they go away much indisposed, and for the next day they have an attack of indigestion to pay for their insatiable appetite. So Crates,⁴ thinking that luxury and extravagance were as much to blame as anything for the growth of civil discords and the rule of despots in states, humorously advised:

Do not, by always making our fare more ample than lentils, Throw us all into discord.

And let everybody exhort himself not to make his fare always more ample than lentils, and by all means not to proceed beyond cress and olives to croquettes and fish, and by overeating throw his body into discord, that is to say, into derangements and diarrhoeas. For the inexpensive things keep the appetite to its natural limits of moderation, but the arts of the chefs and their trained helpers, and, in the words of the comic poet,⁵

These knavish dainties and these complex foods,

are constantly advancing and enlarging the bounds of enjoyment, and altering our ideas of what is good for us. I do not know how it is that, while we loathe and detest women who contrive philters and magic to use upon their husbands, we entrust our food and provisions to hirelings and slaves to be all but bewitched and drugged. If the saying of Arcesilaus ⁶ addressed to the adulterous and licentious appears too bitter, to the effect that it makes no difference whether a man practises lewdness in the front parlour or in the back hall, yet it is not without its application to our subject. For in very truth, what difference does it make whether a man employ aphrodisiacs to stir and excite licentiousness for the purposes of pleasure, or whether he stimulate his taste by odours and sauces to require, like the itch, continual scratchings and ticklings?

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.) — 7 focus

[7]

ZEUXIPPUS.

It is indeed a great and miraculous thing that, if we allow the body all the pleasures which nature needs and can bear, — or rather, if we struggle against its appetites on most occasions and put it off, and are at last brought with difficulty to yield to its necessities, or (as Plato saith) give way when it bites and strains itself, — after all we should come off without harm. But, on the other hand, those desires which descend from the mind into the body, and urge and force it to obey and accompany them in all their motions and affections, must of necessity leave behind them the greatest and severest ills, as the effects of such infirm and dark delights. The desire of our mind ought no ways to incite our bodies to any pleasure, for the beginning of this is against nature. And as the tickling of one’s armpits forces a laughter, which is neither moderate nor merry, nor indeed properly a laughter, but rather troublesome and like convulsions; so those pleasures which the molested and disturbed body receives from the mind are furious, troublesome, and wholly strangers to nature. Therefore when any rare or noble dish is before you, you will get more honor by refraining from it than partaking of it. Remember what Simonides said, that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken; so we shall not repent that we have refused a good dish or drunk water instead of Falernian, but the contrary. We are not only to commit no violence on Nature; but when any of those things are offered to her, even if she has a desire for them, we ought oftentimes to direct the appetite to a more innocent and accustomed diet, that she may be used to it and acquainted with it; for as the Theban said (though not over honestly), If the law must be violated, it looks best when it is done for an empire.¹ But we say better, if we are to take pride in any such thing, it is best when it is in that moderation which conduces to our health. But a narrowness of soul and a stingy humor compel some men to keep under and defraud their genius at home, who, when they enjoy the costly fare of another man’s table, do cram themselves as eagerly as if it were all plunder; then they are taken ill, go home, and the next day find the crudity of their stomachs the reward of their unsatiableness. Wherefore Crates, supposing that luxury and prodigality were the chief cause of seditions and insurrections in a city, in a droll advises that we should never go beyond a lentil in our meals, lest we bring ourselves into sedition. But let every one exhort himself not to increase his meal beyond a lentil, and not to pass by cresses and olives and fall upon pudding and fish, that he may not by his over-eating bring his body into tumults, disturbances, and diarrhoeas; for a mean diet keeps the appetite within its natural bounds, but the arts of cooks and confectioners, with their elaborate dishes and aromatic sauces, do (according to the comedian) push forward and enlarge the bounds of pleasure, and entrench upon those of our profit. I know not how it comes to pass that we should abominate and hate those women that either bewitch or give philters to their husbands, and yet give our meat and drink to our slaves and hirelings, to all but corrupt and poison them. For though that may seem too severe which was said by Arcesilaus against lascivious and adulterous persons, that it signifies little which way one goes about such beastly work;² yet it is not much from our purpose. For what difference is there (to speak ingenuously) whether satyrion moves and whets my lust, or my taste is irritated by the scent of the meat or the sauce, so that, like a part infected with itch, it shall always need scratching and tickling?

Notes on the current edition

Ὑγιεινὰ παραγγέλματα

1. παρὰ] πρὸς R

2. Eurip. Phoen. 527

3. ἐγκρατείᾳ W: ἐγκράτεια

4. Bergk. 2 p. 267

5. εἰς Athenaeus IV p. 158 b: ἀεὶ ἐς

6. αὔξων H: αὔξων αἰεὶ

7. κωμικὸν] Meinek. IV p. 670

8. προσεφιᾶσι] τινὲς ἐφιᾶσι?

9. ἐθίζειν Meziriacus: ἐρεθίζειν

Plutarch De tuenda sanitate praecepta 7

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

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ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ.

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ZEUXIPPUS.

ZEUXIPPUS.

Notes on the current edition

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