Plutarch, Bruta animalia ratione uti, Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator), 3

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[3]

GRYLLUS.

And I, in that case, to instruct you. Let us begin with the virtues, which, we note, inspire you with pride; for you rate yourselves as far superior to animals¹ in justice and wisdom and courage and all the rest of them. But answer me this, wisest of men! Once I heard you telling Circe about the land of the Cyclopes,² that though it is not ploughed at all nor does anyone sow there, yet it is naturally so fertile and fecund that it produces spontaneously every kind of crops. Do you, then, rate this land higher than rugged, goat-pasturing Ithaca,³ which barely yields the tiller a meagre, churlish, trifling crop after great efforts and much toil? And see that you don’t lose your temper and give me a patriotic answer that isn’t what you really believe.

ODYSSEUS.

I have no need to lie; for though I love and cherish my native soil more, the other wins my approval and admiration.

GRYLLUS.

Then this, we shall say, is the situation: the wisest of men thinks fit to commend and approve one thing while he loves and prefers another. Now I assume that your answer applies to the spiritual field also, for the situation is the same as with the land⁴: that spiritual soil is better which produces a harvest of virtue as a spontaneous crop without toil.

ODYSSEUS.

Yes, this too you may assume.

GRYLLUS.

At this moment, then, you are conceding the point that the soul of beasts has a greater natural capacity and perfection for the generation of virtue; for without command or instruction, unsown and unploughed, as it were, it naturally brings forth and develops such virtue as is proper in each case.

ODYSSEUS.

And what sort of virtue, Gryllus, is ever found in beasts?

Bruta animalia ratione uti. Plutarch. Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1957.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Beasts are rational (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)

Περὶ τοῦ τὰ ἄλογα λόγῳ χρῆσθαι Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. VI. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1895.) — 3 focus

[3]

ΓΡ.

Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοίνυν λέγειν. ἀρκτέον δὲ 986f πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἐφʼ αἷς ὁρῶμεν ὑμᾶς μέγα φρονοῦντας, ὡς τῶν θηρίων πολὺ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ 20 καὶ φρονήσει καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἀρεταῖς διαφέροντας. ἀπόκριναι δή μοι, σοφώτατʼ ἀνδρῶν ἤκουσα γάρ σού ποτε διηγουμένου τῇ Κίρκῃ περὶ τῆς τῶν Κυκλώπων γῆς, ὡς οὔτʼ ἀρουμένη τὸ παράπαν, οὔτε τινὸς εἰς αὐτὴν φυτεύοντος 25 οὐδὲν, οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀγαθὴ καὶ γενναία τὴν φύσιν, ὥσθʼ ἅπαντας ἐκφέρειν τοὺς καρποὺς ἀπʼ αὐτῆς· 987a πότερον οὖν ταύτην ἐπαινεῖς μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν αἰγίβοτον Ἰθάκην καὶ τραχεῖαν, ἣ μόλις ἀπʼ ἔργων τε πολλῶν καὶ διὰ πόνων μεγάλων μικρὰ καὶ γλίσχρα 5 καὶ μηδενὸς ἄξια τοῖς γεωργοῦσιν ἀναδίδωσι; καὶ ὅπως οὐ χαλεπῶς οἴσεις, παρὰ τὸ φαινόμενον εὐνοίᾳ τῆς πατρίδος ἀποκρινόμενος.

ΟΔ.

ἀλλʼ οὐ δεῖ ψεύδεσθαι φιλῶ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀσπάζομαι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ πατρίδα καὶ χώραν μᾶλλον, 10 ἐπαινῶ δὲ καὶ θαυμάζω τὴν ἐκείνων.

ΓΡ.

Οὐκοῦν τοῦτο μὲν οὕτως ἔχειν φήσομεν, ὡς ὁ φρονιμώτατος ἀνθρώπων ἄλλα μὲν οἴεται δεῖν 987b ἐπαινεῖν καὶ δοκιμάζειν ἄλλα δʼ αἱρεῖσθαι καὶ ἀγαπᾶν, ἐκεῖνο δʼ οἶμαί σε καὶ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς 15 ἀποκεκρίσθαι ταὐτὸν γάρ ἐστι τῷ περὶ τῆς χώρας, ὡς ἀμείνων ἣτις ἄνευ πόνου τὴν ἀρετὴν ὥσπερ αὐτοφυῆ καρπὸν ἀναδίδωσιν.

ΟΔ.

ἔστω σοι καὶ τοῦθʼ οὕτως.

ΓΡ.

Ἤδη οὖν ὁμολογεῖς τὴν τῶν θηρίων ψυχὴν 20 εὐφυεστέραν εἶναι πρὸς γένεσιν ἀρετῆς καὶ τελειοτέραν· ἀνεπίτακτος γὰρ καὶ ἀδίδακτος ὥσπερ ἄσπορος καὶ ἀνήροτος ἐκφέρει καὶ αὔξει κατὰ φύσιν τὴν ἑκάστῳ προσήκουσαν ἀρετήν.

ΟΔ.

καὶ τίνος ποτʼ ἀρετῆς, ὦ Γρύλλε, μέτεστι 25 τοῖς θηρίοις; 987c

Translations (1)

That brute beasts make use of reason Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; J., A., Sir, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 3 focus

[3]

GRYLLUS.

Have at ye then, sir. But it behooves us to begin first with those virtues which you so presumptuously assume to yourselves, and for which you so highly advance yourselves before the beasts, such as justice, prudence, fortitude, etc. Now answer me, thou the wisest among mortals; for I have heard thee telling a story to Circe of the territory of the Cyclops, that being neither ploughed nor planted by any person, it is so fertile and generously productive, that it bears all sorts of fruits and herbs spontaneously Now which do you prefer, this country, or your own goat-feeding stony Ithaca, which being cultivated with great labor and hardship, yet answers the expectations of the husbandmen with only a mean and scanty return? Now take it not amiss that I forewarn ye lest your love to your country sway ye to give an answer contrary to truth.

ULYSSES.

No, no, I will not lie for the matter; I must confess I love and honor my own country more; but I applaud and admire theirs far beyond it.

GRYLLUS.

Hence we must conclude that it is so as the wisest of men has affirmed; that there are some things to be praised and approved, others to be preferred by choice and affection. And I suppose you believe the same concerning the soul. For the same reasons hold in reference to the soul as to the ground; that such a soul should be the best, that produces virtue like spontaneous fruit, without labor and toil.

ULYSSES.

Grant all this.

GRYLLUS.

Then you confess that the souls of beasts are the more perfect, and more fertilely endued for the production of virtue; seeing that without any command or instruction—as it were without sowing or ploughing—it produces and increases that virtue which is requisite for every one.

ULYSSES.

Prithee, Gryllus, don’t rave, but tell me what those virtues are that beasts partake of?

Notes on the current edition

Beasts are rational

1. Cf. 962 a supra; on the virtues of animals see Aristotle, Historia Animal. i. 1 (488 f. 12 ff.); Plato, Laches, 196 e; al.

2. Homer, Odyssey, ix. 108 ff.

3. Odyssey, xiii. 242 ff.; cf. iv. 606.

4. The principle ubi bene, ibi patria: Pacuvius, frag. 380 (Warmington, Remains of Old Latin, ii. p. 303); Aristophanes, Plutus, 1151; Cicero, Tusc. Disp. v. 37, 108; Appian, B.C. ii. 8. 50.

Plutarch Bruta animalia ratione uti 3

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

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GRYLLUS.

ODYSSEUS.

GRYLLUS.

ODYSSEUS.

GRYLLUS.

ODYSSEUS.

Current edition Perseus

ΓΡ.

ΟΔ.

ΓΡ.

ΟΔ.

ΓΡ.

ΟΔ.

GRYLLUS.

ULYSSES.

GRYLLUS.

ULYSSES.

GRYLLUS.

ULYSSES.

Notes on the current edition

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