Lucian of Samosata, De parasito sive artem esse parasiticam, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 43

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[43]

TYCHIADES

I know all that. They were orators, however, who cultivated speech-making, not virtue. What have you to say about the philosophers? Surely you are not able to censure them as you did the others.

SIMON

They in turn, Tychiades, though they talk every day about courage and wear the word virtue smooth, will be found far more cowardly and effeminate than the orators. Look at it from this standpoint. Inthe first place, there is nobody that can mention a philosopher who died in battle; either they did not enter the service at all, or if they did, every one of them ran away. Antisthenes, Diogenes, Crates, Zeno, Plato, Aeschines, Aristotle, and all that motley array never even saw a line of battle. The only one who had the courage to go out for the battle at Delium, their wise Socrates, fled the field, fleeing for cover all the way from Parnes to the gymnasium of Taureas.¹ He thought it far nicer to sit and philander with boys and propound petty sophistries to anyone who should come along than to fight with a Spartan soldier.

TYCHIADES

My excellent friend, I have already heard this from others, who certainly did not wish to ridicule or libel them; so I do not in the least think that you are belying them out of partiality to your own art.

De parasito sive artem esse parasiticam. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Parasite Tychiades (English) (Lucian, Vol. 3. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ Παρασίτου ὅτι Τέχνη ἡ Παρασιτική Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 3. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.) — 43 focus

Τυχιάδης

ἐπίσταμαι ταῦτα· ἀλλʼ οὗτοι μὲν ῥήτορες καὶ λόγους λέγειν ἠσκηκότες, ἀρετὴν δὲ οὔ. τί δὲ περὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων λέγεις; οὐ γὰρ δὴ τούτους ἔχεις ὥσπερ ἐκείνους αἰτιᾶσθαι.

Σίμων

οὗτοι πάλιν, ὦ Τυχιάδη, οἱ περὶ τῆς ἀνδρείας ὁσημέραι διαλεγόμενοι καὶ κατατρίβοντες τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὄνομα πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῶν ῥητόρων φανοῦνται δειλότεροι καὶ μαλακώτεροι. σκόπει δὴ οὕτως. πρῶτον μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις εἰπεῖν ἔχοι φιλόσοφον ἐν πολέμῳ τετελευτηκότα· ἤτοι γὰρ οὐδὲ ὅλως ἐστρατεύσαντο, ἢ εἴπερ ἐστρατεύσαντο, πάντες ἔφυγον. Ἀντισθένης μὲν οὖν καὶ Διογένης καὶ Κράτης καὶ Ζήνων καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Αἰσχίνης καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ πᾶς οὗτος ὁ ὅμιλος οὐδὲ εἶδον παράταξιν· μόνος δὲ τολμήσας ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἐπὶ Δηλίῳ¹ μάχην ὁ σοφὸς αὐτῶν Σωκράτης φεύγων ἐκεῖθεν ἀπὸ τῆς Πάρνηθος εἰς τὴν Ταυρέου παλαίστραν κατέφυγεν. πολὺ γὰρ αὐτῷ ἀστειότερον ἐδόκει μετὰ τῶν μειρακυλλίων καθεζόμενον ὀαρίζειν καὶ σοφισμάτια προβάλλειν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ἢ ἀνδρὶ Σπαρτιάτῃ μάχεσθαι.

Τυχιάδης

ὦ γενναῖε, ταῦτα μὲν ἤδη καὶ παρʼ ἄλλων ἐπυθόμην, οὐ μὰ Δία σκώπτειν αὐτοὺς καὶ ὀνειδίζειν βουλομένων· ὥστε οὐδέν τί μοι δοκεῖς χαριζόμενος τῇ σεαυτοῦ τέχνῃ καταψεύδεσθαι τῶν ἀνδρῶν.

Translations (1)

The Parasite: a Demonstration that Sponging is a Profession Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 43 focus

[43]

Tychiades

Yes, I know all that. But then these are orators, trained to speak, not to fight. But the philosophers; you cannot say the same of them.

Simon

Oh, yes; they discuss manliness every day, and do a great deal more towards wearing out the word Virtue than the orators; but you will find them still greater cowards and shirkers. How do I know? —In the first place, can any one name a philosopher killed in battle? No, they either do not serve, or else run away. Antisthenes, Diogenes, Crates, Zeno, Plato, Aeschines, Aristotle, and all their company, never set eyes on a battle array. Their wise Socrates was the solitary one who dared to go out; and in the battle of Delium he ran away from Mount Parnes and got safe to the gymnasium of Taureas. It was a far more civilized proceeding, according to his ideas, to sit there talking soft nongense to handsome striplings and posing the company with quibbles, than to cross spears with a grown Spartan.

Tychiades

Well, I have heard these stories before, and from people who had no satirical intent. So I acquit you of slandering them by way of magnifying your own profession.

Notes on the current edition

The Parasite Tychiades

As a matter of fact Socrates displayed conspicuous valour in the retreat from Delium. (Plato, Laches 181 B). The allusion to the gymnasium of Taureas rests upon a hazy recollection of the opening of the Charmides, where Socrates says that he visited it on the morning after his return from Pole Furthermore, there were no Spartan troops at Delium.

Lucian of Samosata De parasito sive artem esse parasiticam 43

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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TYCHIADES

SIMON

TYCHIADES

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Simon

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