Plutarch, De sollertia animalium, Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator), 14

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[14] ¹ Therefore those who deny that there is any kind of justice owed to animals² by us must be conceded to be right so far as marine and deep-sea creatures³ are concerned; for these are completely lacking in amiability, apathetic, and devoid of all sweetness of disposition. And well did Homer⁴ say

The gray-green sea bore you,

with reference to a man regarded as uncivilized and unsociable, implying that the sea produces nothing friendly or gentle. But a man who would use such speech in regard to land animals is himself cruel and brutal. Or perhaps you will not admit that there was a bond of justice between Lysimachus⁵ and the Hyrcanian dog which alone stood guard by his corpse and, when his body was cremated, rushed into the flames and hurled itself upon him.⁶ The same is reported to have been done by the eagle⁷ which was kept by Pyrrhus, not the king, but a certain private citizen; when he died, it kept vigil by his body; at the funeral it hovered about the bier and finally folded its wings, settled on the pyre and was consumed with its master’s body,

The elephant of King Porus,⁸ when he was wounded in the battle against Alexander, gently and solicitously pulled out with its trunk many⁹ of the javelins sticking in its master. Though it was in a sad state itself, it did not give up until it perceived that the king had lost much blood and was slipping off; then, fearing that he would fall, it gently kneeled and afforded its master a painless glide.¹⁰

Bucephalas¹¹ unsaddled would permit his groom to mount him; but when he was all decked out in his royal accoutrements and collars, he would let no one approach except Alexander himself. If any others tried to come near, he would charge at them loudly neighing and rear and trample any of them who were not quick enough to rush far away and escape.

De sollertia animalium. Plutarch. Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1957.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Whether land or sea animals are cleverer (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. XII. Cherniss, Harold, and Helmbold, William C., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1957 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Πότερα τῶν ζῴων φρονιμώτερα τὰ χερσαῖα ἢ τὰ ἔνυδρα Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. VI. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1895.) — 14 focus

[14] διὸ τοὺς λέγοντας, ὡς ἡμῖν οὐδὲν πρὸς τὰ 5 ζῷα δίκαιόν ἐστι, ῥητέον εὖ λέγειν ἄχρι τῶν ἐνάλων καὶ βυθίων ἄμικτα γὰρ ἐκεῖνα κομιδῇ πρὸς χάριν καὶ ἄστοργα καὶ πάσης ἄμοιρα γλυκυθυμίας καὶ καλῶς Ὅμηρος εἶπε γλαυκὴ δὲ σ᾽ ἔτικτε θάλασσα πρὸς τὸν ἀνήμερον εἶναι δοκοῦντα καὶ ἄμικτον, ὡς 10 μηδὲν τῆς θαλάσσης εὐνοϊκὸν μηδὲ πρᾶον φερούσης. 970c ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰ χερσαῖα τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ χρώμενος ἀπηνὴς καὶ θηριώδης ἢ μηδὲ Λυσιμάχῳ τι γεγονέναι φήσῃ πρὸς τὸν κύνα τὸν Ὑρκανὸν δίκαιον, ὃς νεκρῷ τε μόνος παρέμεινεν αὐτῷ καί, 15 καομένου τοῦ σώματος, ἐνδραμὼν αὐτὸς; ἑαυτὸν ἐπέρριψε. τὰ δʼ αὐτὰ καὶ τὸν Ἀστὸν δρᾶσαι λέγουσιν, ὃν Πύρρος οὐχ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀλλʼ ἕτερός τις ἰδιώτης ἔθρεψεν· ἀποθανόντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ περὶ τὸ σῶμα διατρίβων καὶ περὶ τὸ κλινίδιον αἰωρούμενος 20 ἐκφερομένου, τέλος εἰς τὴν πυρὰν στειλάμενος 970d ἀφῆκεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ συγκατέκαυσε. Πώρου δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ὁ ἐλέφας, ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον μάχῃ κατατετρωμένου, πολλὰ τῶν ἀκοντισμάτων ἀτρέμα καὶ φειδόμενος ἐξῄρει τῇ προβοσκίδι, καὶ κακῶς 25 ἤδη διακείμενος αὐτὸς οὐ πρότερον ἐνέδωκεν ἢ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξαίμου γενομένου καὶ περιρρέοντος αἰσθόμενος καὶ φοβηθεὶς; μὴ πέσῃ πράως ὑφῆκε, παρέχων ἐκείνῳ τὴν ἀπόκλισιν ἄλυπον. ὁ δὲ Βουκεφάλας γυμνὸς μὲν ὢν παρεῖχεν ἀναβῆναι τῷ ἱπποκόμῳ, κοσμηθεὶς δὲ τοῖς βασιλικοῖς προκοσμίοις καὶ περιδεραίοις οὐδένα προσίετο πλὴν αὐτὸν 5 Ἀλέξανδρον· τοῖς δʼ ἄλλοις, εἰ πειρώμενοι προσίοιεν, 970e ἐναντίος ἐπιτρέχων ἐχρεμέτιζε μέγα καὶ ἐνήλλετο καὶ κατεπάτει τοὺς μὴ πρόσω ἵεσθαι μηδʼ ἀποφεύγειν φθάσαντας.

Translations (1)

Which are the most crafty, water-animals or those creatures that breed upon the land? Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Philips, John, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1874.) — 14 focus

[14] And therefore they who deny that there is any thing of justice due from us towards dumb animals may be said to speak true, so far as concerns them that live in the sea and haunt the abysses of the deep. For those kind of creatures are altogether unsociable, without affection for their young ones, void of all softness of disposition; and therefore it was well said of Homer, speaking to a person whom he looked upon as a mere savage,

But as for thee, so little worth,

The gleaming sea did bring thee forth;

in regard the sea brings forth nothing friendly, nothing mansuete or gentle. But he that uses the same discourse and arguments against land animals is himself a brute and savage creature; unless any man will affirm that there was nothing of justice due from Lysimachus to the Hyrcanian dog, that would not stir from the body of his deceased master, and when he saw his master’s carcass burning, ran and threw himself into the flames. The same is reported to have been done by the dog Astus, that was kept by one Pyrrhus, not the king, but a private person of that name. For upon the death of his master, he would not stir from the body, but when it was carried forth, leaped upon the bier, and at length threw himself into the funeral pile, and was burnt alive with his master’s body.

The elephant also which carried King Porus, when the king was wounded in the battle against Alexander, pulled out several darts out of his wounds with his proboscis, with no less tenderness and care than the chirurgeon could have done; and though the elephant himself was but in a very bad condition, yet would he not give over till he perceived the king was ready to reel and sink down by reason of the blood which he had lost; and then fearing lest the king should fall, he stooped down gently, to ease the king in sliding to the ground.

Such was the humor of Bucephalus, who, before he was accoutred, would suffer his groom to back him, but when he had all his royal trappings and housings about him, would permit nobody but Alexander to bestride him. But if any other persons approached him in curiosity to try what they could do, he encountered them open-mouthed, and neighing out his fury, leaped upon their shoulders, bore them down, and trampled then under his feet, unless prevented by keeping at a distance or by speedy flight.

Notes on the current edition

Whether land or sea animals are cleverer

1. There is probably a lacuna before this chapter.

2. Cf. 999 b infra; 964 b supra.

3. Cf. additional sources cited by Mair on Oppian, Hal. ii. 43.

4. Iliad, xvi. 34.

5. Mor. 821 a; the companion and successor of Alexander ( c. 360-281 b.c.). Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 143; Aelian, De Natura Animal. vi. 25; and ii. 40 ( cf. vi. 29), of eagles. It may be conjectured that ii. 40 was derived from an original in which ἀετῶν was confused with κυνῶν, as infra.

6. Similar stories in Aelian, De Natura Animal. vii. 40.

7. Dog and eagle are again confused; but the hovering is here decisive. ( Cf. also Wilamowitz, Hermes, lxiii, p. 380.) The dog reappears in Pollux, v. 42 (where it is King Pyrrhus), an eagle in a similar tale in Pliny, Nat. Hist. x. 18, while Pyrrhus is the name of a dog in Pliny, viii. 144.

8. Life of Alexander, lx. 13 (699 b-c), with Ziegler’s references ad loc.

9. Each one of the spears in the Life of Alexander.

10. Other stories of humane elephants in Aelian, De Natura Animal. iii. 46; al.

11. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 154; Gellius, Noctes Atticae, v. 2; and see the parallels collected by Sternbach, Wiener Studien, xvi, pp. 17 f. The story is omitted by Plutarch in the Life of Alexander.

Plutarch De sollertia animalium 14

Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator)

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