Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  The Sixteenth Discourse: On Pain and Distress of Spirit

  That the majority of us are mastered by Pleasure can perhaps be explained: it is because we are under her spell and witchery that we stay in her company, whereas accepting servitude to Pain is altogether irrational and strange. For although suffering pain and agony from the severest of all tortures, we nevertheless remain in it and do not accept the word of reason that frees and delivers us from our distress. And yet what more abject creature is there than a man who is held in thrall to Pain? What sight is there so shameful? For it seems to me that his condition actually affects his body also, and makes it shrunken and scowling and distorted in appearance.

  [2] καὶ δυσειδὲς ὀφθῆναι παρέχει. τὸ δὲ μὴ μόνον εἴκειν τῇ φορᾷ τῆς διανοίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσμηχανᾶσθαί τινα ἔξωθεν, οἷον μέλαιναν ἐσθῆτα καὶ συμπλοκὰς χειρῶν καὶ ταπεινὰς καθέδρας, ὡς ὑπὸ τούτων πάντων ἀναγκάζεσθαι τρόπον τινὰ τὴν διάνοιαν μηδέποτε ἀφίστασθαι τῆς λύπης, ἀλλ̓ ἀεὶ μνημονεύειν καὶ λυπεῖσθαι, διεγνωκότας δὴ ἔσεσθαί τινα ἀπαλλαγὴν τούτου καὶ μὴ πάντως ἀεὶ

  [2] But this yielding to the mind’s disturbance, and not only that but also the devising of certain external signs of it, such as black raiment, wringing the hands, sitting in a dejected posture, so that by all these the mind is in a certain sense compelled never to get away from its pain and distress, but to be always conscious of being in pain, although one knows perfectly well that there will be some relief from this and that there will not be found always and ever some cause for the suffering — is this not utterly silly?

  [3] φαίνεσθαί τινα αἰτίαν τοῦ πάθους, οὐχὶ σφόδρα εὔηθες; ἢ γὰρ [p. 242] προσήκοντος θάνατος λυπεῖ ἢ νόσος ἐκείνων τινὸς ἢ καὶ αὐτοῦ: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀδοξία, χρημάτων ἀποβολὴ, τὸ μὴ περᾶναί τι τῶν προκειμένων ἢ παρὰ τὸ δέον, ἀσχολία, κίνδυνος, μυρία ἄλλα ὅσα συμβαίνει κατὰ τὸν βίον, καὶ σχεδὸν ἀνάγκη τούτων ἀεί τι παρεῖναι:

  [3] For instance, either the death of a relative, or the illness of one of them, or of oneself, may occur and besides these, loss of reputation, a financial reverse, complete or partial failure in some undertaking, pressure of affairs, danger, and all the countless other misfortunes which occur in life (and one of these is practically sure always to be present);

  [4] τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον, ἂν ἄρα γίγνηται χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ μηδὲν ἀπαντᾷ δύσκολον, ἀλλά τοι τὸ προσδοκᾶν αὐτὰ καὶ γιγνώσκειν ὡς δυνατόν ἐστι συμβῆναι, καθάψεται τῆς γνώμης τῶν οὕτως διακειμένων. οὔκουν καθ̓ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν παραμυθίαν ῾ἀνήνυτον γὰρ τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ λυπηρός ἐστιν ὁ βίος᾿, ἀλλὰ ὅλως ἐξελόντα τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ πάθος καὶ τοῦτο κρίναντα βεβαίως, ὅτι μὴ λυπητέον ἐστὶ περὶ μηδενὸς τῷ νοῦν ἔχοντι, τὸ λοιπὸν ἐλευθεριάζειν, καὶ πάντων ἄδεια τῶν δυσχερῶν ἔσται. οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστιν αὐτὸ δεινόν, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ τῆς δόξης καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας τῆς ἡμετέρας

  [4] and finally, if after all a time does come when no trouble confronts one, yet all the same, the constant expectation of such things and the knowledge that they may occur will lay hold upon the mind of those who are of that temperament. Therefore one should not seek a special consolation for each of these troubles — for the task would be endless, and life is full of painful things — but one should tear that morbid state out of his soul completely, get a firm hold on the truth that the intelligent man ought not to feel pain about anything whatever, and be a free man henceforth. Then there will be release from dread of all that causes distress. For in fact there is nothing that in itself should cause fear; it is only false opinion and weakness on our part that make it so.

  [5] γίγνεται τοιοῦτον. οἱ γοῦν πολλοί, ἐὰν γένηταί τι τῶν νομιζομένων ἀτόπων, ἀεὶ τούτου μνημονεύουσι, δυσχεροῦς οὔσης τῆς μνήμης, ὅμοιον δή τι πάσχοντες τοῖς παιδίοις. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα τοῦ πυρὸς ἅψασθαι προθυμεῖται, καίτοι σφόδρα ἀλγοῦντα, κἂν

  [5] The great majority, for instance, whenever any one of the things happen which are commonly regarded as untoward, keep continually recalling that thing, distressing though the recollection is, their state of mind being something like that of children, who are bent on touching the fire, for example, although they suffer great pain in doing so: yet if you give them permission they will do it again.

  [6] ἀφῇς, ἅψεται πάλιν. ὥσπερ οὖν τοῖς εἰς πόλεμον ἐξιοῦσιν οὐδέν ἐστιν ὄφελος, ἂν γυμνοὶ προελθόντες ἔπειτα ἕκαστον τῶν φερομένων βελῶν ἐκκλίνειν ἐθέλωσιν ῾οὐ γὰρ ἔνι φυλάττεσθαι πάντἀ, δεῖ δὲ θώρακος στερεοῦ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης πανοπλίας, ὥστε, κἂν ἐμπέσῃ τι, μὴ διικνεῖσθαι, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τοῖς εἰς τὸν βίον προελθοῦσιν οὐχ οἷόν τε ἐκκλίνειν οὐδὲ φυλάττεσθαι ὥστε ὑπὸ μηδενὸς παίεσθαι τῶν ἐκ τῆς τύχης, μυρίων ἐφ̓ ἕκαστον φερομένων, ἀλλὰ διανοίας ἰσχυρᾶς ἐστιν ἡ χρεία, μάλιστα μὲν ἀτρώτου καὶ πρὸς μηδὲν εἰκούσης, εἰ δὲ μή, μή γε ῥᾳδίως μηδὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος τιτρωσκομένης: ἐπεὶ πολλάκις ἀνάγκη κεντεῖσθαι καὶ μυρία [p. 243]

  [6] So, just as when men go forth to war it is no use for them to march out without their armour and then merely hope to dodge each flying missile, for it is impossible to guard against them all; but the soldier needs a stout breastplate and his full panoply too, so that, even if a missile does strike him, it may not penetrate — in the same way those also who have marched out into life cannot possibly dodge or so guard themselves as not to be struck by any of Fortune’s shafts, thousands of which are flying against each man; but what they need is a stout heart, preferably invulnerable and yielding before no blow; or if that may not be, at least one that is not easily wounded or by any ordinary blow; for otherwise it must often be stabbed and receive a thousand wounds.

  [7] τραύματα λαμβάνειν. καὶ γὰρ οἱ τοὺς πόδας ἔχοντες ἁπαλοὺς καὶ παντελῶς ἀτρίπτους, ἔπειτα γυμνοῖς αὐτοῖς βαδίζοντες, οὐδέποτε τοιαύτην εὑρήσουσιν ὁδὸν ὥστε μὴ νύττεσθαι μηδὲ ἀλγεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τυχὸν αὐτῶν ἅπτεται: τοῖς δὲ ἠσκηκόσιν οὐδὲ ἡ πάνυ τραχεῖα χαλεπή. τοσούτων οὖν δυσκόλων ὄντων ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἀρξαμένοις, τί δεῖ προσδοκᾶν ἢ πῶς ἔνεστιν ἑκάστου τούτων αἰσθανόμενον καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἐνδιδόντα μὴ κακοδαιμονέστατον ἁπάντων εἶναι, ἀεὶ

  [7] Why, those who have feet which are tender and not calloused at all by use, and then attempt to walk with them bare, will never find a road so smooth that their feet will not be gashed o
r in pain, but any little thing hurts them; whereas for feet hardened by practice not even the roughest road causes trouble.

  Therefore, since there are so many distressing things, beginning with those due of the body, what should anyone expect, or how is it possible, for anyone who pays attention to each of them and easily gives way, to avoid being the most unhappy man alive, ever praying the gods that this or that may not happen?

  [8] προσευχόμενον τοῖς θεοῖς ὅπως μὴ τοῦτο μηδὲ τοῦτο συμβῇ: καθάπερ εἴ τις ἐν ὄμβρῳ πορευόμενος σκέπασμα μὲν ἔχοι μηδέν, εὔχοιτο δὲ μόνον ἕκαστον τῶν σταλαγμῶν διαφυγεῖν ῾πολὺ γοῦν τῶν σταλαγμῶν συνεχέστερά ἐστι τὰ δυσχερῆ τὰ παρὰ τῆς τύχης᾿ ἢ νὴ Δία εἴ τις πλέων ἀντὶ τοῦ τοῖς οἴαξι προσέχειν καὶ τὸ προσπῖπτον δέχεσθαι καλῶς εὔχοιτο μηδὲν τῶν κυμάτων κατὰ τὴν ναῦν γενέσθαι. φέρε γάρ, ὦ μάταιε, κἂν πάντα σοι τἄλλα ἔχῃ κατὰ τρόπον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ γε εἰς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἡμέραν βιώσεσθαι τίνα ἔχεις πίστιν καὶ μὴ μεταξὺ πάντων ἀθρόως ἀφαιρεθῆναι τῶν δοκούντων ἀγαθῶν; οὐκοῦν σε περὶ τούτου πρώτου προσήκει λυπεῖσθαι

  [8] It is just as if a man should go out in a rain without any covering, and should trust merely to prayers for avoiding each single drop (and yet much thicker than the raindrops are the afflictions which Fortune sends); or exactly as if a man sailing a boat, instead of giving his attention to the steering-oars and meeting skilfully each oncoming wave, should pray that none might strike the ship. Just think, you misguided man — even if everything else turns out as your heart wishes, yet what assurance have you of living even till the morrow, and not being suddenly, in the midst of everything, torn away from your fancied blessings? Consequently, this is the first thing about which you should be in painful anxiety and fear — the uncertainty of everything.

  [9] καὶ δεδιέναι τὴν ἀδηλότητα τοῦ πράγματος. ἂν δὲ ἐκεῖνο ἐννοηθῇς ὅτι μηδεὶς ὅλως ἐστὶ τοῦ βίου κύριος, ἀλλὰ πάντες οἱ μακάριοι καὶ λίαν εὐδαίμονες δόξαντες εἶναι τεθνήκασι καὶ σοὶ πάρεστιν ἤδη τοῦτο τὸ πέρας, κἂν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἔλθῃς τοῦ βίου, πολὺν λῆρον ἡγήσῃ καὶ μεγάλην εὐήθειαν τὸ νομίζειν ὅλως τι δεινὸν εἶναι τῶν γιγνομένων ἢ μέγα ἢ θαυμαστόν, δίχα γε ἑνὸς τοῦ χωρὶς λύπης καὶ φόβου καὶ τῶν τοιούτων παθῶν μίαν γοῦν ἡμέραν

  [9] Yet if you have the wisdom to reflect that absolutely no man is master of his life, but that all those who have been thought blessed and exceedingly fortunate are dead, and that this goal awaits you at any moment, even if you live to the ripest old age, you will consider it great nonsense and utter simplicity to imagine that anything at all which happens is terrible or great or marvellous, except this one achievement of living at least one day free from painful fretting, fear, and similar emotions.

  [10] διαγαγεῖν. τὸν Ἰάσονά φασι χρισάμενον δυνάμει τινί, λαβόντα παρὰ τῆς Μηδείας, ἔπειτα οἶμαι μήτε παρὰ τοῦ δράκοντος μηδὲν παθεῖν μήτε ὑπὸ τῶν ταύρων τῶν τὸ πῦρ ἀναπνεόντων. ταύτην [p. 244] οὖν δεῖ κτήσασθαι τὴν δύναμιν παρὰ τῆς Μηδείας, τουτέστι τῆς φρονήσεως, λαβόντα, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἁπάντων καταφρονεῖν. εἰ δὲ μή, πάντα πῦρ ἡμῖν καὶ πάντα ἄϋπνοι δράκοντες.

  [10] The story goes that the famous Jason anointed himself with a certain potent salve which he got from Medea, and it was after that, I fancy, that no harm came to him from either the dragon or the bulls which belched out fire. This, therefore, is the potent thing of which we should acquire possession, getting it from Medea, that is, from Meditation or Intelligence, and then with our intelligence look with scorn thenceforth upon all things. Otherwise everything will be fire for us and everything sleepless dragons.

  [11] καίτοι τῶν λυπουμένων ἕκαστος αὑτῷ τὸ συμβεβηκός φησιν εἶναι δεινότατον καὶ μάλιστα ἄξιον λύπης: καὶ γὰρ τῶν φερόντων ἕκαστος, ὃ φέρει, τοῦτ̓ εἶναι δοκεῖ βαρύτατον. ἔστι δὲ ἀσθενοῦς τοῦτο καὶ φαύλου σώματος: τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ ἕτερος λαβὼν ἂν ἰσχυρότερος ῥᾳδίως οἴσει.

  [11] And yet every man who suffers pain and distress of spirit says that what has happened to himself is a most terrible thing and most worth grieving over, just as every person who carries a load imagines that what he is carrying is very heavy. But this really indicates a weak and sickly body, for another and stronger man will take and carry the same load easily.

  THE SEVENTEENTH DISCOURSE: ON COVETOUSNESS

  ΠΕΡΙ ΠΛΕΟΝΕΞΙΑΣ.

  THE SEVENTEENTH DISCOURSE: ON COVETOUSNESS

  After saying by way of preface that men often know what is right, but still fail to do it and need to be admonished again and again, Dio proceeds to point out the evils that come in the train of covetousness, and the blessings that follow from contentment. In these strictures on covetousness he makes considerable use of that passage in Euripides’ Phoenician Women where the poet speaks of the evils of ambition, thus apparently showing that he considered the two vices to be fundamentally one and the same.

  [1] Οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπὲρ τούτων οἴονται λέγειν τῷ φιλοσόφῳ προσήκειν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἕκαστος οὐκ ἔχει τὴν ἀληθῆ δόξαν, ὅπως ἀκούσαντες ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀγνοοῦσι μάθωσι: περὶ δὲ τῶν γνωρίμων καὶ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως φαινομένων περιττὸν εἶναι διδάσκειν. ἐγὼ δὲ εἰ μὲν ἑώρων ἡμᾶς οἷς νομίζομεν ὀρθῶς ἔχειν ἐμμένοντας καὶ μηδὲν ἔξωθεν πράττοντας τῆς ὑπαρχούσης ὑπολήψεως, οὐδ̓ ἂν αὐτὸς ᾤμην ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι διατείνασθαι περὶ τῶν προδήλων.

  The Seventeenth Discourse: On Covetousness

  The majority of men think that they should speak only on those subjects concerning which the common man has not the true opinion, in order that they may hear and get guidance on the matters whereof they are ignorant; but regarding what is well known and patent to all alike they think it superfluous to instruct. Yet for my own part, if I saw that we were holding to what we believe to be right and were doing nothing out of harmony with the view we already have, I should not myself hold it necessary to insist on matters that are perfectly clear.

  [2] ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐχὶ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ἡμᾶς τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ τῶν κακῶν τοσοῦτον ὁρῶ λυποῦσαν ὅσον τὸ μὴ πείθεσθαι τοῖς ὑπὲρ τούτων διαλογισμοῖς μηδὲ ἀκολουθεῖν αἷς ἔχομεν αὐτοὶ δόξαις, μεγάλην ὠφέλειαν ἡγοῦμαι τὸ συνεχῶς ἀναμιμνήσκειν καὶ διὰ τοῦ λόγου παρακαλεῖν πρὸς τὸ πείθεσθαι καὶ φυλάττειν ἔργῳ τὸ προσῆκον. ὥσπερ γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τοὺς ἰατροὺς καὶ τοὺς κυβερνήτας ὁρῶμεν πολλάκις τὰ αὐτὰ προστάττοντας, καίτοι τὸ πρ�
�τον ἀκηκοότων οἷς ἂν κελεύωσιν, ἀλλ̓ ἐπειδὰν ἀμελοῦντας αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ προσέχοντας βλέπωσιν, οὕτως καὶ κατὰ τὸν βίον χρήσιμόν ἐστι γίγνεσθαι πολλάκις περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τοὺς λόγους, ὅταν εἰδῶσι μὲν οἱ πολλοὶ τὸ [p. 245]

  [2] However, since I observe that it is not our ignorance of the difference between good and evil that hurts us, so much as it is our failure to heed the dictates of reason on these matters and to be true to our personal opinions, I consider it most salutary to remind men of this without ceasing, and to appeal to their reason to give heed and in their acts to observe what is right and proper.

  For instance, just as we see physicians and pilots repeating their orders time and again to those under their command, although they were heard the first time — but still they do so when they see them neglectful and unattentive — so too in life it is useful to speak about the same things repeatedly, when the majority know what is their duty, but nevertheless fail to do it.

  [3] δέον, μὴ μέντοι πράττωσιν. οὐ γάρ ἐστι τέλος οὔτε τοῖς κάμνουσι τὸ γνῶναι τὸ συμφέρον αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ̓ οἶμαι τὸ χρήσασθαι: τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτοῖς παρέξει τὴν ὑγίειαν: οὔτε τοῖς ἄλλοις τὸ μαθεῖν γε τὰ ὠφελοῦντα καὶ βλάπτοντα πρὸς τὸν βίον, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ διαμαρτάνειν ἐν τῇ τούτων αἱρέσει. καθάπερ γὰρ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τοὺς ὀφθαλμιῶντας ἐπισταμένους μὲν ὅτι λυπεῖ τὸ προσάγειν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὰς χεῖρας, ὅμως δὲ οὐκ ἐθέλοντας ἀπέχεσθαι, παραπλησίως καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄλλα πράγματα οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ λίαν εἰδότες ὡς οὐ λυσιτελεῖ τι