Plutarch, De cohibenda ira, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 10

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[10]

ΦΟΥΝΔ.

ὥσπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τοῦ Φιλίππου τις εἶπε κατασκάψαντος Ὄλυνθον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν ἀνοικίσαι¹ γε πόλιν 15 ἐκεῖνος δύναιτο τηλικαύτην οὕτως ἔστιν εἰπεῖν πρὸς τὸν θυμὸν ἀνατρέψαι μὲν δύνασαι καὶ διαφθεῖραι καὶ καταβαλεῖν, ἀναστῆσαι δὲ καὶ σῶσαι καὶ φείσασθαι καὶ καρτερῆσαι πραότητός ἐστι καὶ συγγνώμης καὶ μετριοπαθείας, καὶ Καμίλλου καὶ Μετέλλου 20 καὶ Ἀριστείδου καὶ Σωκράτους· τὸ δʼ ἐμφῦναι καὶ δακεῖν μυρμηκῶδες καὶ μυῶδες. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ 458d καὶ πρὸς ἄμυναν ἅμα σκοπῶν τὸν διʼ ὀργῆς; τρόπον ἄπρακτον εὑρίσκω τὰ πολλά, δήγμασι χειλῶν καὶ πρίσεσιν ὀδόντων καὶ κεναῖς ἐπιδρομαῖς καὶ βλασφημίαις 25 ἀπειλὰς ἀνοήτους ἐχούσαις καταναλισκόμενον, εἶθʼ ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς δρόμοις τὰ παιδία τῷ μὴ κρατεῖν ἑαυτῶν προκαταπίπτοντα τοῦ τέλους ἐφʼ ὃ σπεύδει γελοίως. ὅθεν οὐ φαύλως ὁ Ῥόδιος πρὸς ὑπηρέτην τοῦ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγοῦ βοῶντα καὶ θρασυνόμενον οὐ μέλει μοι τί σὺ λέγεις ἀλλὰ τί τῆνος σιγῇ καὶ τὸν, Νεοπτόλεμον ὁ Σοφοκλῆς καὶ τὸν Εὐρύπυλον ὁπλίσας 5 458e

ἐκόμπασʼ ἀλοιδόρητα²

³ φησίν

ἐρρηξάτην ἐς κύκλα χαλκέων ὅπλων.

τὸν μὲν γὰρ σίδηρον ἔνιοι τῶν βαρβάρων φαρμάσσουσιν, δʼ ἀνδρεία χολῆς οὐ δεῖται βέβαπται γὰρ 10 ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου· τὸ δὲ θυμικὸν καὶ μανικὸν εὐπερίθραυστόν ἐστι καὶ σαθρόν. ἀφαιροῦσι γοῦν αὐλοῖς τὸν θυμὸν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τῶν μαχομένων, καὶ Μούσαις πρὸ πολέμου θύουσιν ὅπως ὁ λόγος ἐμμένῃ· καὶ τρεψάμενοι τοὺς πολεμίους οὐ διώκουσιν, ἀλλʼ 15 ἀνακαλοῦνται τὸν θυμόν, ὥσπερ τὰ σύμμετρα τῶν ἐγχειριδίων εὐανακόμιστον ὄντα καὶ ῥᾴδιον. ὀργὴ 458f δὲ, μυρίους προανεῖλε τῆς ἀμύνης, ὡς Κῦρον καὶ Πελοπίδαν τὸν Θηβαῖον. Ἀγαθοκλῆς; δὲ πράως ἔφερε λοιδορούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν πολιορκουμένων· καί τινος 20 εἰπόντος κεραμεῦ, πόθεν ἀποδώσεις τοῖς ξένοις τὸν μισθὸν; ἐπιγελάσας αἴκα ταύταν ἐξέλω καὶ τὸν Ἀντίγονον ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους τινὲς εἰς ἀμορφίαν ἔσκωπτον· ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴν ἐδόκουν εὐπρόσωπος εἶναι. λαβὼν δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἐπίπρασκε τοὺς σκώπτοντας, 25 μαρτυράμενος ὅτι πρὸς τοὺς δεσπότας ἕξει τὸν λόγον, ἂν πάλιν αὐτὸν λοιδορῶσιν. ὁρῶ δὲ καὶ κυνηγοὺς⁴ σφαλλομένους ὑπʼ ὀργῆς μεγάλα καὶ ῥήτορας.⁵ Ἀριστοτέλης⁶ δʼ ἱστορεῖ Σατύρου⁷ τοὺς φίλους 459a ἐμφράξαι τὰ ὦτα κηρῷ δίκην ἔχοντος, ὅπως μὴ συγχέῃ τὸ πρᾶγμα διὰ θυμὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν 5 λοιδορούμενος. αὐτοὺς δʼ ἡμᾶς οὐ πολλάκις ἐκφεύγει τὸ κολάσαι πλημμελήσαντα δοῦλον;⁸ ἀποδιδράσκουσι γὰρ τὰς ἀπειλὰς καὶ τοὺς λόγους δείσαντες. ὅπερ οὖν αἱ τίτθαι πρὸς τὰ παιδία λέγουσι μὴ κλαῖε καὶ λήψῃ, τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν θυμὸν οὐκ ἀχρήστως 10 λεκτέον μὴ σπεῦδε μηδὲ βόα μηδʼ ἐπείγου, καὶ μᾶλλον ἃ θέλεις γενήσεται καὶ βέλτιον καὶ γὰρ παῖδʼ ἰδὼν πατὴρ ἐπιχειροῦντά τι σιδηρίῳ διελεῖν ἢ τεμεῖν, αὐτὸς λαβὼν τὸ σιδήριον ἐποίησε· καὶ τοῦ 459b θυμοῦ τὴν τιμωρίαν παρελόμενος⁹ αὐτὸς ἀσφαλῶς 15 καὶ ἀβλαβῶς καὶ ὠφελίμως ἐκόλασε τὸν ἄξιον οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ὥσπερ ὁ θυμούμενος ἀντʼ ἐκείνου πολλάκις.

De cohibenda ira. Plutarch. ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs. Leipzig. 1891.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

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

Translations (2)

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).) — 10 focus

[10]

FUNDANUS.

Just as, then, someone said of Philip¹ when he had razed Olynthus to the ground, But he could not possibly repeople a city so large, so one may address Anger and say, You are able to overturn and destroy and throw down, but to raise up and preserve and spare and forbear is the work of mildness and forgiveness and moderation in passion, the work of a Camillus or a Metellus² or an Aristeides or a Socrates; but to attach oneself to the wound and to sting is the part of an ant or a horse-fly.³ As I study, however, anger’s method of defending itself, I find it for the most part ineffectual, since it spends itself in biting the lips⁴ and gnashing the teeth, in vain attacks and railings coupled with senseless threats, and eventually resembles children⁵ running races, who, through lack of self-control, fall down ridiculously before they reach the goal toward which they are hastening. Therefore there was point in what the Rhodian said to the Roman general’s servant who was shouting and talking insolently: What you say, said the Rhodian, matters nothing to me, but what your master doesn’t say. And Sophocles,⁶ when he has armed Neoptolemus and Eurypylus, says

Without a vaunt, without reviling, they

Have rushed within the ring of brazen arms.

FUNDANUS.

For although there are barbarians who poison their steel, true bravery has no need of bitter gall,⁷ for it has been dipped in reason; but rage and fury are rotten and easily broken. At any rate the Spartans⁸ use the playing of pipes to remove from their fighting men the spirit of anger, and they sacrifice to the Muses before battle in order that reason may remain constant within them; and when they have routed the enemy, they do not pursue,⁹ but sound the recall to their high spirits, which, like small daggers,¹⁰ are manageable and can be easily withdrawn. Yet wrath has slain thousands before its revenge was accomplished, as, for instance, Cyrus t and Pelopidas the Theban.¹¹ But Agathocles¹² endured with mildness the revilings of those he was besieging, and when one of them cried out, Potter, how will you get pay for your mercenaries?, Agathocles laughed and said, If I take this town. And there is the case of Antigonus,¹³ who, when some men on the wall of a town jeered at him because of his deformity, said to them, Why, I thought my face was handsome! But when he took the town he sold as slaves those who jeered at him, protesting that he would have speech with their masters if they reviled him again.

FUNDANUS.

I observe also that both advocates and orators commit serious mistakes because of anger; and Aristotle¹⁴ relates that the friends of Satyrus the Samian, when he was to plead, stopped up his ears with wax, that he might not spoil his case through temper at the insults of his enemies. And as for ourselves, does it not happen often that the punishment of a delinquent slave eludes our power? For slaves are made afraid by threatening words and run away.¹⁵ The words, therefore, which nurses use with children, Stop crying and you shall have it! may, not without benefit, be applied to temper: Stop hurrying and shouting and making haste, and you shall have what you want better and more easily! For if a father sees his son trying to cut something in two or to make a notch in it with a knife, he takes the knife himself and does it; so likewise, if reason takes upon itself the punishment which temper would inflict, it chastises the person who deserves it safely and harmlessly and for that person’s good, and does not, as temper often does, punish itself instead.¹⁶

Concerning the cure of anger: a dialogue Perseus (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.) — 10 focus

[10]

FUNDANUS.

As therefore one said of Philip, when he razed the city of Olynthus, But he is not able to build such another city; so may it be said to anger, Thou canst overthrow, and destroy, and cut down; but to restore, to save, to spare, and to bear with, is the work of gentleness and moderation, of a Camillus, a Metellus, an Aristides, and a Socrates; but to strike the sting into one and to bite is the part of pismires and horse-flies. And truly, while I well consider revenge, I find that the way which anger takes for it proves for the most part ineffectual, being spent in biting the lips, gnashing the teeth, vain assaults, and railings full of silly threats; and then it acts like children in a race, who, for want of governing themselves, tumble down ridiculously before they come to the goal towards which they are hastening. Hence that Rhodian said not amiss to the servant of the Roman general, who spake loudly and fiercely to him, It matters not much what thou sayest, but what this your master in silence thinks. And Sophocles, having introduced Neoptolemus and Eurypylus in full armor, gave a high commendation of them when he said,—

Into the hosts of brazen-armed men

Each boldly charged, but ne’er reviled his foe.

Some indeed of the barbarians poison their swords; but true valor has no need of choler, as being dipped in reason; but anger and fury are weak and easily broken. Wherefore the Lacedaemonians are wont by the sounding of pipes to take off the edge of anger from their soldiers, when they fight; and before they go to battle, to sacrifice to the Muses, that they may have the steady use of their reason; and when they have put their enemies to flight, they pursue them not, but sound a retreat (as it were) to their wrath, which, like a short dagger, can easily be handled and drawn back. But anger makes slaughter of thousands before it can avenge itself, as it did of Cyrus and Pelopidas the Theban. Agathocles, being reviled by some whom he besieged, bore it with mildness; and when one said to him, O Potter, whence wilt thou have pay for thy mercenary soldiers? he answered with laughter, From your city, if I can take it. And when some onefrom the wall derided Antigonus for his deformity, he answered, I thought surely I had a handsome face: and when he had taken the city, he sold those for slaves who had scoffed at him, protesting that, if they reviled him so again, he would call them to account before their masters.

Furthermore, I observe that hunters and orators are wont to be much foiled by anger. Aristotle reports that the friends of Satyrus once stopped his ears with wax, when he was to plead a cause, that so he might not confound the matter through anger at the revilings of his enemies. Do we not ourselves oftentimes miss of punishing an offending servant, because he runs away from us in fright when he hears our threatening words? That therefore which nurses say to little children—Do not cry, and thou shalt have it—may not unfitly be applied to our mind when angry. Be not hasty, neither speak too loud, nor be too urgent, and so what you desire will be sooner and better accomplished. For as a father, when he sees his son about to cleave or cut something with an hatchet, takes the hatchet himself and doth it for him; so one taking the work of revenge out of the hand of anger doth himself, without danger or hurt, yea, with profit also, inflict punishment on him that deserves it, and not on himself instead of him, as anger oft-times doth.

Notes on the current edition

Περὶ ἀοπγησίας

1. ἀνοικίσαι R: οἰκίσαι

2. ἐκόμπασ’ ἀλοιδόρητα] ἄκομπ’ ἀλοιδόρητά τε Badhamus

3. Nauck. p. 311

4. κυνηγοὺς] συνηγόρους Kaltwasserus. aliud latet

5. ὁρῶ δὲ - ῥήτορας] om. Duebnerus cum cod. E, fortasse recte

6. Ἀριστοτέλης] Probl. 3, 27

7. Σατύρου] Σατύρου τοῦ Σαμίου Stob. 20, 58

8. πλημμελήσαντας δούλους R

9. παρελόμενος] add. ὁ λόγος Stegmannus. itaque Amyotus

Plutarch De cohibenda ira 10

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ΦΟΥΝΔ.

Current edition Perseus

FUNDANUS.

FUNDANUS.

FUNDANUS.

FUNDANUS.

Notes on the current edition

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