Plutarch, De fraterno amore, William Clark Helmbold (Translator), 21

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous

[21] But while care for brothers themselves is an excellent thing, yet even more excellent is it to show oneself always well-disposed and obliging in all matters to brothers’ fathers-in-law and brothers-in-law, to salute and treat kindly such of their servants as are loyal to their masters, and to be grateful to physicians who have restored brothers to health and to such faithful friends as have rendered zealous and efficient service to them in sharing the hardships of some journey abroad or military expedition. But a brother’s wife should be esteemed and reverenced as the most holy of all sacred things¹; if her husband honours her, we should applaud him; if he neglects her, we should sympathize with her annoyance; when she grows angry, soothe her; if she commits some trifling fault, take part in urging her husband to a reconciliation; and if some private difference arise between yourself and your brother, bring your complaints to her² and so do away with the reasons for complaint. But above all we should be troubled at a brother’s unmarried and childless state, and by exhortation and raillery take part in pressing him on every side into marriage and in getting him well fastened in the bonds of lawful matrimony. And when he gets children, we should make even more manifest our affection for him and the honour we pay to his wife; and to their children let us be as welldisposed as toward our own, but even more gentle and tender, so that when they err, as children will, they may not run away or, through fear of father or mother, enter into association with knaves or sluggards, but may have recourse and refuge which at once admonishes in a kindly way and intercedes for their offence. It was in this way that Plato³ reclaimed his nephew Speusippus from great self-indulgence and debauchery, not by either saying or doing to him anything that would cause him pain, but when the young man was avoiding his parents, who were always showing him to be in the wrong and upbraiding him, Plato showed himself friendly and free from anger to Speusippus and so brought about in him great respect and admiration for Plato himself and for philosophy. Yet many of Plato’s friends used to rebuke him for not admonishing the youth, but Plato⁴ would say that he was indeed admonishing him: by his own, the philosopher’s, manner of life, showing him a way to distinguish the difference between what is shameful and what is honourable.

So Aleuas the Thessalian, who was an arrogant and insolent youth, was kept down and treated harshly by his father; but his uncle received him and attached him to himself, and when the Thessalians sent to the god at Delphi lots⁵ to determine who should be king, the uncle, without the father’s knowledge, slipped in a lot for Aleuas. When the Pythian priestess drew the lot of Aleuas, his father denied that he had put in one for him, and to everyone it appeared that there had been some error in the recording of names. So they sent again and questioned the god a second time; and the prophetic priestess, as though to confirm fully her former declaration, answered:

It is the red-haired⁶ man I mean,

The child whom Archedice bore.

And in this manner Aleuas was proclaimed king by the god through the help of his father’s brother, and himself surpassed by far his predecessors and advanced his race to great fame and power.

And indeed it is an uncle’s duty to rejoice and take pride in the fair deeds and honours and offices of a brother’s sons and to help to give them an incentive to honourable achievement, and, when they succeed, to praise them without stint; for it is, perhaps, offensive to praise one’s own son, yet to praise a brother’s is a noble thing, not inspired by selfishness, but honourable and truly divine; for it seems to me that the very name⁷ admirably points the way to goodwill and affection for nephews. And one must also strive to emulate the deeds of those beings who are superior to man. So Heracles, though he begat sixty-eight sons, loved his nephew no less than any of them, and even to this day in many places Iolaüs⁸ has an altar in common with Heracles and men pray to them together, calling Iolaüs Heracles’ assistant. And when his brother Iphicles⁹ fell at the battle in Lacedaemon, Heracles was filled with great grief and retired from the entire Peloponnesus. And Leucothea,¹⁰ also, when her sister died, brought up her child and helped to have him consecrated together with herself as a god; whence it is that the women of Rome in the festival of Leucothea, whom they call Matuta, take in their arms and honour, not their own, but their sisters’ children.

De fraterno amore. Plutarch. William Clark Helmbold (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1939.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

On Brotherly Love (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. VI. Helmbold, W.C., translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1939 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ φιλαδελφίας Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol III. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig. Teubner, 1891.) — 21 focus

[21] ἐπιμέλεια δὲ καλὴ μὲν αὐτῶν τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ἔτι δὲ καλλίων πενθεροῖς καὶ γαμβροῖς τοῖς ἐκείνων εὔνουν ἀεὶ παρέχειν εἰς ἅπαντα καὶ πρόθυμον ἑαυτόν, οἰκέτας τε φιλοδεσπότους ἀσπάζεσθαι καὶ φιλοφρονεῖσθαι, καὶ χάριν ἔχειν ἰατροῖς θεραπεύσασιν 25 αὐτοὺς καὶ φίλοις πιστοῖς προθύμως καὶ χρησίμως συνδιενεγκοῦσιν ἀποδημίαν ἢ στρατείαν γυναῖκα δʼ ἀδελφοῦ γαμετὴν ὡς ἁπάντων ἱερῶν ἁγιώτατον προσορῶντα καὶ σεβόμενον, τιμᾶν διὰ¹ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ εὐφημεῖν,² ἀμελουμένῃ δὲ συναγανακτεῖν χαλεπαίνουσαν 491e δὲ πραΰνειν ἂν δʼ ἁμάρτῃ τι τῶν μετρίων, συνδιαλλάττειν καὶ συμπαρακαλεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα· 5 κἂν αὐτῷ τις ἰδίᾳ γένηται διαφορὰ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφόν, αἰτιᾶσθαι παρʼ ἐκείνῃ καὶ διαλύεσθαι τὴν μέμψιν. ἀγαμίαν δʼ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ ἀπαιδίαν μάλιστα δυσχεραίνειν, καὶ παρακαλοῦντα καὶ λοιδοροῦντα συνελαύνειν πανταχόθεν εἰς γάμον καὶ συνειργνύναι 10 νομίμοις κηδεύμασι· κτησαμένου δὲ παῖδας, ἐμφανέστερον χρῆσθαι τῇ τε πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίᾳ καὶ τῇ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα τιμῇ. τοῖς δὲ παισὶν εὔνουν μὲν ὥσπερ ἰδίοις ἤπιον δὲ μᾶλλον εἶναι καὶ μειλίχιον, 491f ὅπως ἁμαρτάνοντες οἷα νέοι μὴ δραπετεύωσι μηδὲ 15 καταδύωνται διὰ φόβον πατρὸς ἢ μητρὸς εἰς ὁμιλίας φαύλας καὶ ὀλιγώρους, ἀλλʼ ἀποστροφὴν καὶ καταφυγὴν ἅμα νουθετοῦσαν εὐνοίᾳ καὶ παραιτουμένην ἔχωσιν. οὕτω καὶ Πλάτων ἀδελφιδοῦν ὄντα Σπεύσιππον ἐκ πολλῆς ἀνέσεως καὶ ἀκολασίας ἐπέστρεψεν, 20 οὐδὲν οὔτʼ εἰπὼν ἀνιαρὸν οὔτε ποιήσας πρὸς αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ φεύγοντι, τοὺς γονεῖς ἐλέγχοντας 492a αὐτὸν ἀεὶ καὶ λοιδοροῦντας ἐνδιδοὺς ἑαυτὸν εὐμενῆ καὶ ἀμήνιτον, αἰδῶ τε πολλὴν ἐνειργάσατο καὶ ζῆλον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ φιλοσοφίας. καίτοι πολλοὶ τῶν φίλων 25 ἐνεκάλουν ὡς μὴ νουθετοῦντι τὸ · μειράκιον· ὁ δὲ καὶ πάνυ νουθετεῖν ἔλεγε, τῷ βίῳ καὶ τῇ διαίτῃ τῆς πρὸς τὰ αἰσχρὰ τῶν καλῶν διαφορᾶς παρέχων κατανόησιν. Ἀλεύαν δὲ τὸν Θεσσαλὸν ὁ μὲν πατὴρ ἀγέρωχον ὄντα καὶ ὑβριστὴν ἐκόλουε καὶ χαλεπὸς ἦν, ὁ δὲ θεῖος ἀνελάμβανε καὶ προσήγετο· πεμπόντων δὲ τῶν Θεσσαλῶν φρυκτοὺς περὶ βασιλέως πρὸς 5 τὸν θεὸν εἰς Δελφούς, ἐνέβαλε κρύφα τοῦ πατρὸς 492b ὁ θεῖος ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἀλεύα· καὶ τῆς Πυθίας τοῦτον ἀνελούσης, ὅ τε πατὴρ ἀπέφησεν ἐμβεβληκέναι τὸν φρυκτὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πᾶσιν ἐδόκει πλάνη τις ἐν ταῖς καταγραφαῖς τῶν ὀνομάτων γεγονέναι. διὸ 10 καὶ πέμψαντες αὖθις ἐπανήροντο τὸν θεόν· ἡ δὲ Πυθία καθάπερ ἐκβεβαιουμένη τὴν προτέραν ἀναγόρευσιν εἶπε

τὸν πυρρόν³ τοί φημι, τὸν Ἀρχεδίκη τέκε παῖδα.

καὶ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ὁ Ἀλεύας ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ 15 βασιλεὺς διὰ τὸν τοῦ πατρὸς ἀδελφὸν ἀποδειχθεὶς, αὐτός τε πολὺ πάντων ἐπρώτευσε τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ⁴ καὶ τὸ ἔθνος εἰς δόξαν προήγαγε μεγάλην καὶ δύναμιν. 492c ἀλλὰ μὴν εὐπραξίαις τε καὶ τιμαῖς καὶ ἀρχαῖς παίδων ἀδελφοῦ χαίροντα καὶ σεμνυνόμενον αὔξειν 20 προσήκει καὶ συνεξορμᾶν πρὸς τὰ καλὰ καὶ κατορθοῦντας ἀφειδῶς ἐπαινεῖν· αὑτοῦ γὰρ υἱὸν ἐπαχθὲς ἴσως ἐγκωμιάζειν, ἀδελφοῦ δὲ σεμνὸν καὶ οὐ φίλαυτον ἀλλὰ φιλόκαλον καὶ θεῖον ὡς ἀληθῶς. δοκεῖ γάρ μοι καὶ τοὔνομα καλῶς ὑφηγεῖσθαι πρὸς εὔνοιαν 25 ἀδελφιδῶν⁵ καὶ ἀγάπησιν. δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν κρειττόνων ζηλοῦν· Ἡρακλῆς τε γὰρ δυεῖν δέοντας ἑβδομήκοντα γεννήσας παῖδας, οὐδενὸς ἧττον αὐτῶν τὸν 492d ἀδελφιδοῦν ἠγάπησεν ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν πολλαχοῦ σύμβωμός ἐστιν Ἰόλαος αὐτῷ, καὶ συγκατεύχονται παραστάτην Ἡρακλέους ὀνομάζοντες. Ἰφικλέους δὲ τοῦ 5 ἀδελφοῦ πεσόντος ἐν τῇ περὶ Λακεδαίμονα μάχῃ, περίλυπος γενόμενος πᾶσαν ἐξέλιπε Πελοπόννησον. ἡ δὲ⁶ Λευκοθέα τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἀποθανούσης ἔθρεψε τὸ βρέφος καὶ συνεξεθείασεν· ὅθεν αἱ Ῥωμαίων γυναῖκες ἐν ταῖς τῆς Λευκοθέας ἑορταῖς, ἣν Ματοῦταν 10 ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν παῖδας ἀλλὰ τοὺς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐναγκαλίζονται καὶ τιμῶσιν.

Translations (1)

Of Brotherly Love Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. III. Goodwin, William W., editor; Thomson, John, translator. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company, 1874.) — 21 focus

[21] Now as the kind regards of brother to brother are highly commendable, so may they be expressed to the greater advantage, when he confines them not wholly to his person, but pays them, as occasion serves, rather by reflection to his kindred and such as retain to him; when he maintains a kind and complaisant humor amidst all contingencies, when he obliges the servile part of the family with a courteous and affable carriage, when he is grateful to the physician and good friends for the safe recovery of his brother, and is ready to go upon any expedition or service for him. Again, it is highly commendable in him to have the highest esteem and honor for his brother’s wife, reputing and honoring her as the most sacred of all his brother’s sacred treasures, and thus to do honor to him; condoling with her when she is neglected, and appeasing her when she is angered; if she have a little offended, to intercede and sue for her peace; if there have been any private difference between himself and his brother, to make his complaint before her in order to a reconcilement. But especially let him be much troubled at his brother’s single state; or, if he be married, at his want of children. If not married, let him follow him with arguments and persuasions, to teaze him with rebukes and reproaches, and to do every thing that may incline him to enter into a conjugal state. When he has children, let him express his affection and respects to both parents with the greater ardency. Let him love the children equally with his own, but be more favorable and indulgent to them, that, if it chance that they commit some of their youthful faults, they may not run away and hide themselves among naughty acquaintances through fear of their parents’ anger, but may have in their uncle a recourse and refuge, where they will be admonished lovingly and will find an intercessor to make their excuse and get their pardon. So Plato reclaimed his nephew Speusippus, that was far gone in idleness and debauchery; the young man, impatient of his parents’ reprehensions, ran away from them, who were more impatient of his extravagancies. His uncle expressed nothing of disturbance at all this, but continued calm and free from passion; whereupon Speusippus was seized with an extraordinary shame, and from that time became an admirer of both his uncle and his philosophy. Many of Plato’s friends blamed him that he had not instructed the youth; he made answer, that he instructed him by his life and conversation, from which he might learn, if he pleased, the difference betwixt ill and virtuous actions. The father of Aleuas the Thessalian, looking upon his son as of a fierce and injurious nature, kept him under with a great deal of severity, but his uncle received him with as great kindness. When therefore the Thessalians sent some lots to the oracle at Delphi, to enquire by them who should be their king, his uncle stole in one lot privately in the name of Aleuas; the priestess answered from the oracle, that Aleuas should be king. His father being surprised averred that there was never a lot thrown in for Aleuas that he knew of; at last all concluded that some mistake was committed in putting down the names, whereupon they sent again to enquire of the oracle. The priestess, confirming her first words, answered:

I mean the youth with reddish hair,

Whom dame Archedice did bear.

Thus Aleuas was by the oracle, through his uncle’s kind policy, declared king; by which means he surmounted all his ancestors, and advanced his family into a splendid condition. For it is prudence in a brother, when he beholds with joy the brave and worthy actions of his nephews growing great and honorable by their own deserts, to prompt and encourage them on by congratulation and applause. For to praise his own son may be absurd and offensive, but to commend the good actions of a brother’s son, is an excellent thing, and one which proceeds from no self-interest, nor any other principle but a true veneration for virtue. Now the very name of uncle ( θεῖος) intimates that mutual beneficence and friendship that ought to be between him and his nephews. Besides this, we have a precedent from those that are of a sublimer make and nature than ourselves. Hercules, who was the father of sixty-eight sons, had a brother’s son that was as dear to him as any of his own; and even to this time Hercules and his nephew Iolaus have in many places one common altar betwixt them, and share in the same adorations. He is called literally Hercules’s assistant. And when his brother Iphicles was slain in a battle at Lacedaemon, in his exceeding grief he left the whole of Peloponnesus. Also Leucothea, her sister being dead, took her infant, nursed him up, and consecrated him with herself among the deities; from whence the Roman matrons, upon the festivals of Leucothea whom they call also Matuta) have a custom of nursing their sisters’ children instead of their own, during the time of the festival.

Notes on the current edition

On Brotherly Love

1. Contrast 479 d, supra.

2. Cf. 490 d, supra.

3. This manner of education corresponds to that advocated in Ep., vii. ( e.g. 343 e ff.).

4. Cf. Moralia, 71 e.

5. With φρυκτούς the noun κυάμους is understood. The use of parched beans as lots seems to be known from this passage only.

6. Cf. Aristotle, Frag. 497 ed. Rose; that is, Pyrrhus, the red-haired man.

7. θεῖος = an uncle and divine.

8. Heracles’ nephew, who helped him in his encounter with the Nemean lion.

9. Twin-brother of Heracles, son of Alcmene and Amphitryon; cf. Moralia, 285 f.

10. Leucothea is the name of the deified Ino, wife of Athamas, who threw herself into the sea and was changed into a goddess; cf. Life of Camillus, v. (131 b-c); Moralia, 267 d-e. On the Matralia, celebrated in honour of Mater Matuta, see most recently H. J. Rose, Class. Quart., xxviii. 156 f.

Plutarch De fraterno amore 21

William Clark Helmbold (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers