Plutarch, De cohibenda ira, ed. William W. Goodwin, 5

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[5]

FUNDANUS.

For the first way, my friend, to suppress anger, as you would a tyrant, is not to obey or yield to it when it commands us to speak high, to look fiercely, and to beat ourselves; but to be quiet, and not increase the passion, as we do a disease, by impatient tossing and crying out. It is true that lovers’ practices, such as revelling, singing, crowning the door with garlands, have a kind of alleviation in them which is neither rude nor unpleasing:—

Coming, I asked not who or whose she was,

But kissed her door full sweetly,—that I wot;

If this be sin, to sin I can but choose.

So the weeping and lamentation which we permit in mourners doubtless carry forth much of the grief together with the tears. But anger, quite on the contrary, is more inflamed by what the angry persons say or do.

The best course then is for a man to compose himself, or else to run away and hide himself and retreat into quiet, as into an haven, as if he perceived a fit of epilepsy coming on, lest he fall, or rather fall upon others; and truly we do most and most frequently fall upon our friends. For we neither love all, nor envy all, nor fear all men; but there is nothing untouched and unset upon by anger. We are angry with our foes and with our friends; with our own children and our parents; nay, with the Gods above, and the very beasts below us, and instruments that have no life, as Thamyras was,—

His horn, though bound with gold, he brake in’s ire,

He brake his melodious and well-strung lyre;

and Pandarus, wishing a curse upon himself if he did not burn his bow,

First broken by his hands.

But Xerxes dealt blows and marks of his displeasure to the sea itself, and sent his letters to the mountain in the style ensuing: O thou wretched Athos, whose top now reaches to the skies, I charge thee, put not in the way of my works stones too big and difficult to be wrought. If thou do, I will cut thee into pieces, and cast thee into the sea.

For anger hath many terrible effects, and many also that are ridiculous; and therefore of all passions, this of anger is most hated and most contemned, and it is good to consider it in both respects.

De cohibenda ira. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Concerning the cure of anger: a dialogue (English) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; Dillgham, William, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.)

Editions (1)

Περὶ ἀοπγησίας Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol III. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1891.) — 5 focus

[5]

ΦΟΥΝΔ.

ἔστι γάρ τις, ὦ ἑταῖρε, πρώτη καθάπερ τυράννου 5 κατάλυσις τοῦ θυμοῦ, μὴ πείθεσθαι μηδʼ ὑπακούειν προστάττοντος αὐτοῦ μέγα βοᾶν καὶ δεινὸν βλέπειν καὶ κόπτειν ἑαυτόν, ἀλλʼ ἡσυχάζειν καὶ μὴ συνεπιτείνειν ὥσπερ νόσημα ῥιπτασμῷ καὶ διαβοήσει τὸ πάθος. αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐρωτικαὶ πράξεις, οἷον 10 455c ἐπικωμάσαι καὶ ᾆσαι καὶ στεφανῶσαι θύραν, ἔχουσιν ἁμωσγέπως κουφισμὸν οὐκ ἄχαριν οὐδʼ ἄμουσον

ἐλθὼν δʼ οὐκ ἐβόησα τίς ἢ τίνος, ἀλλʼ ἐφίλησα

τὴν φλιήν. εἰ τοῦτʼ ἔστʼ ἀδίκημʼ, ἀδικῶ.

αἵ τε τοῖς πενθοῦσιν ἐφέσεις τοῦ ἀποκλαῦσαι καὶ 15 ἀποδύρασθαι πολύ τι τῆς λύπης ἅμα τῷ δακρύῳ συνεξάγουσιν· ὁ δὲ θυμὸς ἐκριπίζεται μᾶλλον οἷς πράττουσι καὶ λέγουσιν οἱ ἐν αὐτῷ καθεστῶτες. ἀτρεμεῖν οὖν κράτιστον ἢ φεύγειν καὶ ἀποκρύπτειν. καὶ καθορμίζειν ἑαυτὸν² εἰς ἡσυχίαν, ὥσπερ ἐπιληψίας 20 ἀρχομένης συναισθανομένους, ἵνα μὴ πέσωμεν 455d μᾶλλον δʼ ἐπιπέσωμεν· ἐπιπίπτομεν δέ γε τοῖς φίλοις μάλιστά τε καὶ πλειστάκις. οὐ γὰρ πάντων ἐρῶμεν οὐδὲ πᾶσι φθονοῦμεν οὐδὲ πάντας φοβούμεθα, θυμῷ δʼ ἄθικτον οὐδὲν οὐδʼ ἀνεπιχείρητον 25 ἀλλʼ ὀργιζόμεθα καὶ πολεμίοις καὶ φίλοις καὶ τέκνοις καὶ γονεῦσι καὶ θεοῖς νὴ Δία καὶ θηρίοις καὶ ἀψύχοις σκεύεσιν, ὡς ὁ Θάμυρις

ῥηγνὺς χρυσόδετον κέρας,³

ῥηγνὺς⁴ ἁρμονίαν χορδοτόνου λύρας·

καὶ ὁ Πάνδαρος αὑτῷ καταρώμενος, εἰ μὴ τὰ τόξα καταπρήσειε χερσὶ διακλάσσας.⁵ ὁ δὲ Ξέρξης καὶ τῇ 5 θαλάττῃ στίγματα καὶ πληγὰς ἐνέβαλλε καὶ πρὸς τὸ 455e ὄρος ἐξέπεμπεν ἐπιστολὰς Ἄθω δαιμόνιε οὐρανόμηκες,⁶ μὴ ποιεῖν ἐν ἐμοῖς ἔργοις λίθους μεγάλους καὶ δυσκατεργάστους· εἰ δὲ μὴ, τεμὼν ῥίψω σʼ εἰς θάλασσαν πολλὰ γάρ ἐστι τοῦ θυμοῦ φοβερά, 10 πολλὰ δὲ καὶ γελοῖα· διὸ καὶ μισεῖται καὶ καταφρονεῖται μάλιστα τῶν παθῶν. ἀμφότερα δʼ ἐσκέφθαι χρήσιμον.

Translations (1)

On the Control of Anger Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. VI. Helmbold, William Clark, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 5 focus

[5]

FUNDANUS.

For the first way, my friend, to dethrone temper as you would a tyrant, is not to oey or hearken when it bids us cry aloud and look fierce and beat our breasts, but to keep quiet and not intensify the passion, as we would a disease, by tossing about and making a clamour. It is quite true that lovers’ practices, such as serenading in concert or alone and crowning the beloved’s door with garlands, do in some way or other bring an alleviation that is not without charm or grace:

I came, but did not shout your name or race;

I merely kissed the door. If this be sin, Then I have sinned.¹

So too the surrender of mourners to weeping and wailing carries away much of their grief together with their tears. But temper is the more readily fanned into flame by what people in that state do and say.

FUNDANUS.

The best course, therefore, is for us to compose ourselves, or else to run away and conceal ourselves, and anchor ourselves in a calm harbour, as though we perceived a fit of epilepsy coming on,² so that we may not fall, or rather may not fall upon others; and we are especially likely to fall most often upon our friends. For we do not love or envy or fear everyone indiscriminately, but there is nothing that temper will not touch and assail: we grow angry with enemies and friends, with children and parents, yes, even with the gods, with wild beasts and soulless implements, as Thamyris did:

Breaking the lyre-arms, overlaid with gold, Breaking his melodious, taut-strung lyre³;

and Pandarus, who invoked a curse on himself if he did not break with his hands⁴ his bow and burn it. And Xerxes not only branded and lashed the sea,⁵ but also sent a letter to Mount Athos⁶: Noble Athos, whose summit reaches heaven, do not put in the way of my deeds great stones difficult to work. Else I shall hew you down and cast you into the sea. For temper can do many terrible things, and likewise many that are ridiculous; therefore it is both the most hated and the most despised of the passions. It will be useful to consider it in both of these aspects.

Notes on the current edition

Concerning the cure of anger: a dialogue

1. From the Thamyras of Sophocles, Frag. 224.

2. Il. V. 216

Plutarch De cohibenda ira 5

ed. William W. Goodwin

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