Datasets:
Upload 54 philosophy texts + combined training data
Browse filesThis view is limited to 50 files because it contains too many changes.
See raw diff
- .gitattributes +2 -0
- data/aristotle_categories.txt +1422 -0
- data/aristotle_ethics.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_generation.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_heavens.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_metaphysics.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_physics.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_poetics.txt +1508 -0
- data/aristotle_politics.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_rhetoric.txt +0 -0
- data/aristotle_soul.txt +0 -0
- data/bacon_essays.txt +0 -0
- data/boethius_consolation.txt +0 -0
- data/cicero_duties.txt +0 -0
- data/cicero_friendship.txt +0 -0
- data/cicero_nature_gods.txt +0 -0
- data/descartes_meditations.txt +0 -0
- data/descartes_method.txt +0 -0
- data/diogenes_epicurus.txt +0 -0
- data/emerson_essays.txt +0 -0
- data/epictetus_discourses.txt +0 -0
- data/epictetus_enchiridion.txt +1283 -0
- data/full_corpus.txt +3 -0
- data/hobbes_leviathan.txt +0 -0
- data/hume_understanding.txt +0 -0
- data/kant_pure_reason.txt +0 -0
- data/latin_grammar.txt +0 -0
- data/locke_government.txt +0 -0
- data/lucretius_nature.txt +0 -0
- data/machiavelli_prince.txt +0 -0
- data/marcus_meditations.txt +0 -0
- data/mill_liberty.txt +0 -0
- data/mill_utilitarianism.txt +0 -0
- data/montaigne_essays.txt +0 -0
- data/nietzsche_beyond.txt +0 -0
- data/nietzsche_zarathustra.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_apology.txt +1407 -0
- data/plato_crito.txt +665 -0
- data/plato_gorgias.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_laws.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_meno.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_phaedo.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_phaedrus.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_protagoras.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_republic.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_symposium.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_theaetetus.txt +0 -0
- data/plato_timaeus.txt +0 -0
- data/posterior_analytics.txt +0 -0
- data/prior_analytics.txt +0 -0
.gitattributes
CHANGED
|
@@ -58,3 +58,5 @@ saved_model/**/* filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
|
| 58 |
# Video files - compressed
|
| 59 |
*.mp4 filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
| 60 |
*.webm filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 58 |
# Video files - compressed
|
| 59 |
*.mp4 filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
| 60 |
*.webm filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
| 61 |
+
data/full_corpus.txt filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
| 62 |
+
data/training_data.txt filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
|
data/aristotle_categories.txt
ADDED
|
@@ -0,0 +1,1422 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
+
Produced by Glyn Hughes. HTML version by Al Haines.
|
| 2 |
+
|
| 3 |
+
The Categories
|
| 4 |
+
|
| 5 |
+
By
|
| 6 |
+
|
| 7 |
+
Aristotle
|
| 8 |
+
|
| 9 |
+
Translated by E. M. Edghill
|
| 10 |
+
|
| 11 |
+
Section 1
|
| 12 |
+
|
| 13 |
+
Part 1
|
| 14 |
+
|
| 15 |
+
Things are said to be named 'equivocally' when, though they have a
|
| 16 |
+
common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for
|
| 17 |
+
each. Thus, a real man and a figure in a picture can both lay claim to
|
| 18 |
+
the name 'animal'; yet these are equivocally so named, for, though they
|
| 19 |
+
have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs
|
| 20 |
+
for each. For should any one define in what sense each is an animal,
|
| 21 |
+
his definition in the one case will be appropriate to that case only.
|
| 22 |
+
|
| 23 |
+
On the other hand, things are said to be named 'univocally' which have
|
| 24 |
+
both the name and the definition answering to the name in common. A man
|
| 25 |
+
and an ox are both 'animal', and these are univocally so named,
|
| 26 |
+
inasmuch as not only the name, but also the definition, is the same in
|
| 27 |
+
both cases: for if a man should state in what sense each is an animal,
|
| 28 |
+
the statement in the one case would be identical with that in the other.
|
| 29 |
+
|
| 30 |
+
Things are said to be named 'derivatively', which derive their name
|
| 31 |
+
from some other name, but differ from it in termination. Thus the
|
| 32 |
+
grammarian derives his name from the word 'grammar', and the courageous
|
| 33 |
+
man from the word 'courage'.
|
| 34 |
+
|
| 35 |
+
Part 2
|
| 36 |
+
|
| 37 |
+
Forms of speech are either simple or composite. Examples of the latter
|
| 38 |
+
are such expressions as 'the man runs', 'the man wins'; of the former
|
| 39 |
+
'man', 'ox', 'runs', 'wins'.
|
| 40 |
+
|
| 41 |
+
Of things themselves some are predicable of a subject, and are never
|
| 42 |
+
present in a subject. Thus 'man' is predicable of the individual man,
|
| 43 |
+
and is never present in a subject.
|
| 44 |
+
|
| 45 |
+
By being 'present in a subject' I do not mean present as parts are
|
| 46 |
+
present in a whole, but being incapable of existence apart from the
|
| 47 |
+
said subject.
|
| 48 |
+
|
| 49 |
+
Some things, again, are present in a subject, but are never predicable
|
| 50 |
+
of a subject. For instance, a certain point of grammatical knowledge is
|
| 51 |
+
present in the mind, but is not predicable of any subject; or again, a
|
| 52 |
+
certain whiteness may be present in the body (for colour requires a
|
| 53 |
+
material basis), yet it is never predicable of anything.
|
| 54 |
+
|
| 55 |
+
Other things, again, are both predicable of a subject and present in a
|
| 56 |
+
subject. Thus while knowledge is present in the human mind, it is
|
| 57 |
+
predicable of grammar.
|
| 58 |
+
|
| 59 |
+
There is, lastly, a class of things which are neither present in a
|
| 60 |
+
subject nor predicable of a subject, such as the individual man or the
|
| 61 |
+
individual horse. But, to speak more generally, that which is
|
| 62 |
+
individual and has the character of a unit is never predicable of a
|
| 63 |
+
subject. Yet in some cases there is nothing to prevent such being
|
| 64 |
+
present in a subject. Thus a certain point of grammatical knowledge is
|
| 65 |
+
present in a subject.
|
| 66 |
+
|
| 67 |
+
Part 3
|
| 68 |
+
|
| 69 |
+
When one thing is predicated of another, all that which is predicable
|
| 70 |
+
of the predicate will be predicable also of the subject. Thus, 'man' is
|
| 71 |
+
predicated of the individual man; but 'animal' is predicated of 'man';
|
| 72 |
+
it will, therefore, be predicable of the individual man also: for the
|
| 73 |
+
individual man is both 'man' and 'animal'.
|
| 74 |
+
|
| 75 |
+
If genera are different and co-ordinate, their differentiae are
|
| 76 |
+
themselves different in kind. Take as an instance the genus 'animal'
|
| 77 |
+
and the genus 'knowledge'. 'With feet', 'two-footed', 'winged',
|
| 78 |
+
'aquatic', are differentiae of 'animal'; the species of knowledge are
|
| 79 |
+
not distinguished by the same differentiae. One species of knowledge
|
| 80 |
+
does not differ from another in being 'two-footed'.
|
| 81 |
+
|
| 82 |
+
But where one genus is subordinate to another, there is nothing to
|
| 83 |
+
prevent their having the same differentiae: for the greater class is
|
| 84 |
+
predicated of the lesser, so that all the differentiae of the predicate
|
| 85 |
+
will be differentiae also of the subject.
|
| 86 |
+
|
| 87 |
+
Part 4
|
| 88 |
+
|
| 89 |
+
Expressions which are in no way composite signify substance, quantity,
|
| 90 |
+
quality, relation, place, time, position, state, action, or affection.
|
| 91 |
+
To sketch my meaning roughly, examples of substance are 'man' or 'the
|
| 92 |
+
horse', of quantity, such terms as 'two cubits long' or 'three cubits
|
| 93 |
+
long', of quality, such attributes as 'white', 'grammatical'. 'Double',
|
| 94 |
+
'half', 'greater', fall under the category of relation; 'in the
|
| 95 |
+
market place', 'in the Lyceum', under that of place; 'yesterday', 'last
|
| 96 |
+
year', under that of time. 'Lying', 'sitting', are terms indicating
|
| 97 |
+
position, 'shod', 'armed', state; 'to lance', 'to cauterize', action;
|
| 98 |
+
'to be lanced', 'to be cauterized', affection.
|
| 99 |
+
|
| 100 |
+
No one of these terms, in and by itself, involves an affirmation; it is
|
| 101 |
+
by the combination of such terms that positive or negative statements
|
| 102 |
+
arise. For every assertion must, as is admitted, be either true or
|
| 103 |
+
false, whereas expressions which are not in any way composite such as
|
| 104 |
+
'man', 'white', 'runs', 'wins', cannot be either true or false.
|
| 105 |
+
|
| 106 |
+
Part 5
|
| 107 |
+
|
| 108 |
+
Substance, in the truest and primary and most definite sense of the
|
| 109 |
+
word, is that which is neither predicable of a subject nor present in a
|
| 110 |
+
subject; for instance, the individual man or horse. But in a secondary
|
| 111 |
+
sense those things are called substances within which, as species, the
|
| 112 |
+
primary substances are included; also those which, as genera, include
|
| 113 |
+
the species. For instance, the individual man is included in the
|
| 114 |
+
species 'man', and the genus to which the species belongs is 'animal';
|
| 115 |
+
these, therefore--that is to say, the species 'man' and the genus
|
| 116 |
+
'animal,-are termed secondary substances.
|
| 117 |
+
|
| 118 |
+
It is plain from what has been said that both the name and the
|
| 119 |
+
definition of the predicate must be predicable of the subject. For
|
| 120 |
+
instance, 'man' is predicated of the individual man. Now in this case
|
| 121 |
+
the name of the species 'man' is applied to the individual, for we use
|
| 122 |
+
the term 'man' in describing the individual; and the definition of
|
| 123 |
+
'man' will also be predicated of the individual man, for the individual
|
| 124 |
+
man is both man and animal. Thus, both the name and the definition of
|
| 125 |
+
the species are predicable of the individual.
|
| 126 |
+
|
| 127 |
+
With regard, on the other hand, to those things which are present in a
|
| 128 |
+
subject, it is generally the case that neither their name nor their
|
| 129 |
+
definition is predicable of that in which they are present. Though,
|
| 130 |
+
however, the definition is never predicable, there is nothing in
|
| 131 |
+
certain cases to prevent the name being used. For instance, 'white'
|
| 132 |
+
being present in a body is predicated of that in which it is present,
|
| 133 |
+
for a body is called white: the definition, however, of the colour
|
| 134 |
+
'white' is never predicable of the body.
|
| 135 |
+
|
| 136 |
+
Everything except primary substances is either predicable of a primary
|
| 137 |
+
substance or present in a primary substance. This becomes evident by
|
| 138 |
+
reference to particular instances which occur. 'Animal' is predicated
|
| 139 |
+
of the species 'man', therefore of the individual man, for if there
|
| 140 |
+
were no individual man of whom it could be predicated, it could not be
|
| 141 |
+
predicated of the species 'man' at all. Again, colour is present in
|
| 142 |
+
body, therefore in individual bodies, for if there were no individual
|
| 143 |
+
body in which it was present, it could not be present in body at all.
|
| 144 |
+
Thus everything except primary substances is either predicated of
|
| 145 |
+
primary substances, or is present in them, and if these last did not
|
| 146 |
+
exist, it would be impossible for anything else to exist.
|
| 147 |
+
|
| 148 |
+
Of secondary substances, the species is more truly substance than the
|
| 149 |
+
genus, being more nearly related to primary substance. For if any one
|
| 150 |
+
should render an account of what a primary substance is, he would
|
| 151 |
+
render a more instructive account, and one more proper to the subject,
|
| 152 |
+
by stating the species than by stating the genus. Thus, he would give a
|
| 153 |
+
more instructive account of an individual man by stating that he was
|
| 154 |
+
man than by stating that he was animal, for the former description is
|
| 155 |
+
peculiar to the individual in a greater degree, while the latter is too
|
| 156 |
+
general. Again, the man who gives an account of the nature of an
|
| 157 |
+
individual tree will give a more instructive account by mentioning the
|
| 158 |
+
species 'tree' than by mentioning the genus 'plant'.
|
| 159 |
+
|
| 160 |
+
Moreover, primary substances are most properly called substances in
|
| 161 |
+
virtue of the fact that they are the entities which underlie everything
|
| 162 |
+
else, and that everything else is either predicated of them or present
|
| 163 |
+
in them. Now the same relation which subsists between primary substance
|
| 164 |
+
and everything else subsists also between the species and the genus:
|
| 165 |
+
for the species is to the genus as subject is to predicate, since the
|
| 166 |
+
genus is predicated of the species, whereas the species cannot be
|
| 167 |
+
predicated of the genus. Thus we have a second ground for asserting
|
| 168 |
+
that the species is more truly substance than the genus.
|
| 169 |
+
|
| 170 |
+
Of species themselves, except in the case of such as are genera, no one
|
| 171 |
+
is more truly substance than another. We should not give a more
|
| 172 |
+
appropriate account of the individual man by stating the species to
|
| 173 |
+
which he belonged, than we should of an individual horse by adopting
|
| 174 |
+
the same method of definition. In the same way, of primary substances,
|
| 175 |
+
no one is more truly substance than another; an individual man is not
|
| 176 |
+
more truly substance than an individual ox.
|
| 177 |
+
|
| 178 |
+
It is, then, with good reason that of all that remains, when we exclude
|
| 179 |
+
primary substances, we concede to species and genera alone the name
|
| 180 |
+
'secondary substance', for these alone of all the predicates convey a
|
| 181 |
+
knowledge of primary substance. For it is by stating the species or the
|
| 182 |
+
genus that we appropriately define any individual man; and we shall
|
| 183 |
+
make our definition more exact by stating the former than by stating
|
| 184 |
+
the latter. All other things that we state, such as that he is white,
|
| 185 |
+
that he runs, and so on, are irrelevant to the definition. Thus it is
|
| 186 |
+
just that these alone, apart from primary substances, should be called
|
| 187 |
+
substances.
|
| 188 |
+
|
| 189 |
+
Further, primary substances are most properly so called, because they
|
| 190 |
+
underlie and are the subjects of everything else. Now the same relation
|
| 191 |
+
that subsists between primary substance and everything else subsists
|
| 192 |
+
also between the species and the genus to which the primary substance
|
| 193 |
+
belongs, on the one hand, and every attribute which is not included
|
| 194 |
+
within these, on the other. For these are the subjects of all such. If
|
| 195 |
+
we call an individual man 'skilled in grammar', the predicate is
|
| 196 |
+
applicable also to the species and to the genus to which he belongs.
|
| 197 |
+
This law holds good in all cases.
|
| 198 |
+
|
| 199 |
+
It is a common characteristic of all substance that it is never present
|
| 200 |
+
in a subject. For primary substance is neither present in a subject nor
|
| 201 |
+
predicated of a subject; while, with regard to secondary substances, it
|
| 202 |
+
is clear from the following arguments (apart from others) that they are
|
| 203 |
+
not present in a subject. For 'man' is predicated of the individual
|
| 204 |
+
man, but is not present in any subject: for manhood is not present in
|
| 205 |
+
the individual man. In the same way, 'animal' is also predicated of the
|
| 206 |
+
individual man, but is not present in him. Again, when a thing is
|
| 207 |
+
present in a subject, though the name may quite well be applied to that
|
| 208 |
+
in which it is present, the definition cannot be applied. Yet of
|
| 209 |
+
secondary substances, not only the name, but also the definition,
|
| 210 |
+
applies to the subject: we should use both the definition of the
|
| 211 |
+
species and that of the genus with reference to the individual man.
|
| 212 |
+
Thus substance cannot be present in a subject.
|
| 213 |
+
|
| 214 |
+
Yet this is not peculiar to substance, for it is also the case that
|
| 215 |
+
differentiae cannot be present in subjects. The characteristics
|
| 216 |
+
'terrestrial' and 'two-footed' are predicated of the species 'man', but
|
| 217 |
+
not present in it. For they are not in man. Moreover, the definition of
|
| 218 |
+
the differentia may be predicated of that of which the differentia
|
| 219 |
+
itself is predicated. For instance, if the characteristic 'terrestrial'
|
| 220 |
+
is predicated of the species 'man', the definition also of that
|
| 221 |
+
characteristic may be used to form the predicate of the species 'man':
|
| 222 |
+
for 'man' is terrestrial.
|
| 223 |
+
|
| 224 |
+
The fact that the parts of substances appear to be present in the
|
| 225 |
+
whole, as in a subject, should not make us apprehensive lest we should
|
| 226 |
+
have to admit that such parts are not substances: for in explaining the
|
| 227 |
+
phrase 'being present in a subject', we stated' that we meant
|
| 228 |
+
'otherwise than as parts in a whole'.
|
| 229 |
+
|
| 230 |
+
It is the mark of substances and of differentiae that, in all
|
| 231 |
+
propositions of which they form the predicate, they are predicated
|
| 232 |
+
univocally. For all such propositions have for their subject either the
|
| 233 |
+
individual or the species. It is true that, inasmuch as primary
|
| 234 |
+
substance is not predicable of anything, it can never form the
|
| 235 |
+
predicate of any proposition. But of secondary substances, the species
|
| 236 |
+
is predicated of the individual, the genus both of the species and of
|
| 237 |
+
the individual. Similarly the differentiae are predicated of the
|
| 238 |
+
species and of the individuals. Moreover, the definition of the species
|
| 239 |
+
and that of the genus are applicable to the primary substance, and that
|
| 240 |
+
of the genus to the species. For all that is predicated of the
|
| 241 |
+
predicate will be predicated also of the subject. Similarly, the
|
| 242 |
+
definition of the differentiae will be applicable to the species and to
|
| 243 |
+
the individuals. But it was stated above that the word 'univocal' was
|
| 244 |
+
applied to those things which had both name and definition in common.
|
| 245 |
+
It is, therefore, established that in every proposition, of which
|
| 246 |
+
either substance or a differentia forms the predicate, these are
|
| 247 |
+
predicated univocally.
|
| 248 |
+
|
| 249 |
+
All substance appears to signify that which is individual. In the case
|
| 250 |
+
of primary substance this is indisputably true, for the thing is a
|
| 251 |
+
unit. In the case of secondary substances, when we speak, for instance,
|
| 252 |
+
of 'man' or 'animal', our form of speech gives the impression that we
|
| 253 |
+
are here also indicating that which is individual, but the impression
|
| 254 |
+
is not strictly true; for a secondary substance is not an individual,
|
| 255 |
+
but a class with a certain qualification; for it is not one and single
|
| 256 |
+
as a primary substance is; the words 'man', 'animal', are predicable of
|
| 257 |
+
more than one subject.
|
| 258 |
+
|
| 259 |
+
Yet species and genus do not merely indicate quality, like the term
|
| 260 |
+
'white'; 'white' indicates quality and nothing further, but species and
|
| 261 |
+
genus determine the quality with reference to a substance: they signify
|
| 262 |
+
substance qualitatively differentiated. The determinate qualification
|
| 263 |
+
covers a larger field in the case of the genus that in that of the
|
| 264 |
+
species: he who uses the word 'animal' is herein using a word of wider
|
| 265 |
+
extension than he who uses the word 'man'.
|
| 266 |
+
|
| 267 |
+
Another mark of substance is that it has no contrary. What could be the
|
| 268 |
+
contrary of any primary substance, such as the individual man or
|
| 269 |
+
animal? It has none. Nor can the species or the genus have a contrary.
|
| 270 |
+
Yet this characteristic is not peculiar to substance, but is true of
|
| 271 |
+
many other things, such as quantity. There is nothing that forms the
|
| 272 |
+
contrary of 'two cubits long' or of 'three cubits long', or of 'ten',
|
| 273 |
+
or of any such term. A man may contend that 'much' is the contrary of
|
| 274 |
+
'little', or 'great' of 'small', but of definite quantitative terms no
|
| 275 |
+
contrary exists.
|
| 276 |
+
|
| 277 |
+
Substance, again, does not appear to admit of variation of degree. I do
|
| 278 |
+
not mean by this that one substance cannot be more or less truly
|
| 279 |
+
substance than another, for it has already been stated that this is
|
| 280 |
+
the case; but that no single substance admits of varying degrees within
|
| 281 |
+
itself. For instance, one particular substance, 'man', cannot be more
|
| 282 |
+
or less man either than himself at some other time or than some other
|
| 283 |
+
man. One man cannot be more man than another, as that which is white
|
| 284 |
+
may be more or less white than some other white object, or as that
|
| 285 |
+
which is beautiful may be more or less beautiful than some other
|
| 286 |
+
beautiful object. The same quality, moreover, is said to subsist in a
|
| 287 |
+
thing in varying degrees at different times. A body, being white, is
|
| 288 |
+
said to be whiter at one time than it was before, or, being warm, is
|
| 289 |
+
said to be warmer or less warm than at some other time. But substance
|
| 290 |
+
is not said to be more or less that which it is: a man is not more
|
| 291 |
+
truly a man at one time than he was before, nor is anything, if it is
|
| 292 |
+
substance, more or less what it is. Substance, then, does not admit of
|
| 293 |
+
variation of degree.
|
| 294 |
+
|
| 295 |
+
The most distinctive mark of substance appears to be that, while
|
| 296 |
+
remaining numerically one and the same, it is capable of admitting
|
| 297 |
+
contrary qualities. From among things other than substance, we should
|
| 298 |
+
find ourselves unable to bring forward any which possessed this mark.
|
| 299 |
+
Thus, one and the same colour cannot be white and black. Nor can the
|
| 300 |
+
same one action be good and bad: this law holds good with everything
|
| 301 |
+
that is not substance. But one and the selfsame substance, while
|
| 302 |
+
retaining its identity, is yet capable of admitting contrary qualities.
|
| 303 |
+
The same individual person is at one time white, at another black, at
|
| 304 |
+
one time warm, at another cold, at one time good, at another bad. This
|
| 305 |
+
capacity is found nowhere else, though it might be maintained that a
|
| 306 |
+
statement or opinion was an exception to the rule. The same statement,
|
| 307 |
+
it is agreed, can be both true and false. For if the statement 'he is
|
| 308 |
+
sitting' is true, yet, when the person in question has risen, the same
|
| 309 |
+
statement will be false. The same applies to opinions. For if any one
|
| 310 |
+
thinks truly that a person is sitting, yet, when that person has risen,
|
| 311 |
+
this same opinion, if still held, will be false. Yet although this
|
| 312 |
+
exception may be allowed, there is, nevertheless, a difference in the
|
| 313 |
+
manner in which the thing takes place. It is by themselves changing
|
| 314 |
+
that substances admit contrary qualities. It is thus that that which
|
| 315 |
+
was hot becomes cold, for it has entered into a different state.
|
| 316 |
+
Similarly that which was white becomes black, and that which was bad
|
| 317 |
+
good, by a process of change; and in the same way in all other cases it
|
| 318 |
+
is by changing that substances are capable of admitting contrary
|
| 319 |
+
qualities. But statements and opinions themselves remain unaltered in
|
| 320 |
+
all respects: it is by the alteration in the facts of the case that the
|
| 321 |
+
contrary quality comes to be theirs. The statement 'he is sitting'
|
| 322 |
+
remains unaltered, but it is at one time true, at another false,
|
| 323 |
+
according to circumstances. What has been said of statements applies
|
| 324 |
+
also to opinions. Thus, in respect of the manner in which the thing
|
| 325 |
+
takes place, it is the peculiar mark of substance that it should be
|
| 326 |
+
capable of admitting contrary qualities; for it is by itself changing
|
| 327 |
+
that it does so.
|
| 328 |
+
|
| 329 |
+
If, then, a man should make this exception and contend that statements
|
| 330 |
+
and opinions are capable of admitting contrary qualities, his
|
| 331 |
+
contention is unsound. For statements and opinions are said to have
|
| 332 |
+
this capacity, not because they themselves undergo modification, but
|
| 333 |
+
because this modification occurs in the case of something else. The
|
| 334 |
+
truth or falsity of a statement depends on facts, and not on any power
|
| 335 |
+
on the part of the statement itself of admitting contrary qualities. In
|
| 336 |
+
short, there is nothing which can alter the nature of statements and
|
| 337 |
+
opinions. As, then, no change takes place in themselves, these cannot
|
| 338 |
+
be said to be capable of admitting contrary qualities.
|
| 339 |
+
|
| 340 |
+
But it is by reason of the modification which takes place within the
|
| 341 |
+
substance itself that a substance is said to be capable of admitting
|
| 342 |
+
contrary qualities; for a substance admits within itself either disease
|
| 343 |
+
or health, whiteness or blackness. It is in this sense that it is said
|
| 344 |
+
to be capable of admitting contrary qualities.
|
| 345 |
+
|
| 346 |
+
To sum up, it is a distinctive mark of substance, that, while remaining
|
| 347 |
+
numerically one and the same, it is capable of admitting contrary
|
| 348 |
+
qualities, the modification taking place through a change in the
|
| 349 |
+
substance itself.
|
| 350 |
+
|
| 351 |
+
Let these remarks suffice on the subject of substance.
|
| 352 |
+
|
| 353 |
+
Part 6
|
| 354 |
+
|
| 355 |
+
Quantity is either discrete or continuous. Moreover, some quantities
|
| 356 |
+
are such that each part of the whole has a relative position to the
|
| 357 |
+
other parts: others have within them no such relation of part to part.
|
| 358 |
+
|
| 359 |
+
Instances of discrete quantities are number and speech; of continuous,
|
| 360 |
+
lines, surfaces, solids, and, besides these, time and place.
|
| 361 |
+
|
| 362 |
+
In the case of the parts of a number, there is no common boundary at
|
| 363 |
+
which they join. For example: two fives make ten, but the two fives
|
| 364 |
+
have no common boundary, but are separate; the parts three and seven
|
| 365 |
+
also do not join at any boundary. Nor, to generalize, would it ever be
|
| 366 |
+
possible in the case of number that there should be a common boundary
|
| 367 |
+
among the parts; they are always separate. Number, therefore, is a
|
| 368 |
+
discrete quantity.
|
| 369 |
+
|
| 370 |
+
The same is true of speech. That speech is a quantity is evident: for
|
| 371 |
+
it is measured in long and short syllables. I mean here that speech
|
| 372 |
+
which is vocal. Moreover, it is a discrete quantity for its parts have
|
| 373 |
+
no common boundary. There is no common boundary at which the syllables
|
| 374 |
+
join, but each is separate and distinct from the rest.
|
| 375 |
+
|
| 376 |
+
A line, on the other hand, is a continuous quantity, for it is possible
|
| 377 |
+
to find a common boundary at which its parts join. In the case of the
|
| 378 |
+
line, this common boundary is the point; in the case of the plane, it
|
| 379 |
+
is the line: for the parts of the plane have also a common boundary.
|
| 380 |
+
Similarly you can find a common boundary in the case of the parts of a
|
| 381 |
+
solid, namely either a line or a plane.
|
| 382 |
+
|
| 383 |
+
Space and time also belong to this class of quantities. Time, past,
|
| 384 |
+
present, and future, forms a continuous whole. Space, likewise, is a
|
| 385 |
+
continuous quantity; for the parts of a solid occupy a certain space,
|
| 386 |
+
and these have a common boundary; it follows that the parts of space
|
| 387 |
+
also, which are occupied by the parts of the solid, have the same
|
| 388 |
+
common boundary as the parts of the solid. Thus, not only time, but
|
| 389 |
+
space also, is a continuous quantity, for its parts have a common
|
| 390 |
+
boundary.
|
| 391 |
+
|
| 392 |
+
Quantities consist either of parts which bear a relative position each
|
| 393 |
+
to each, or of parts which do not. The parts of a line bear a relative
|
| 394 |
+
position to each other, for each lies somewhere, and it would be
|
| 395 |
+
possible to distinguish each, and to state the position of each on the
|
| 396 |
+
plane and to explain to what sort of part among the rest each was
|
| 397 |
+
contiguous. Similarly the parts of a plane have position, for it could
|
| 398 |
+
similarly be stated what was the position of each and what sort of
|
| 399 |
+
parts were contiguous. The same is true with regard to the solid and to
|
| 400 |
+
space. But it would be impossible to show that the parts of a number had
|
| 401 |
+
a relative position each to each, or a particular position, or to state
|
| 402 |
+
what parts were contiguous. Nor could this be done in the case of time,
|
| 403 |
+
for none of the parts of time has an abiding existence, and that which
|
| 404 |
+
does not abide can hardly have position. It would be better to say that
|
| 405 |
+
such parts had a relative order, in virtue of one being prior to
|
| 406 |
+
another. Similarly with number: in counting, 'one' is prior to 'two',
|
| 407 |
+
and 'two' to 'three', and thus the parts of number may be said to
|
| 408 |
+
possess a relative order, though it would be impossible to discover any
|
| 409 |
+
distinct position for each. This holds good also in the case of speech.
|
| 410 |
+
None of its parts has an abiding existence: when once a syllable is
|
| 411 |
+
pronounced, it is not possible to retain it, so that, naturally, as the
|
| 412 |
+
parts do not abide, they cannot have position. Thus, some quantities
|
| 413 |
+
consist of parts which have position, and some of those which have not.
|
| 414 |
+
|
| 415 |
+
Strictly speaking, only the things which I have mentioned belong to the
|
| 416 |
+
category of quantity: everything else that is called quantitative is a
|
| 417 |
+
quantity in a secondary sense. It is because we have in mind some one
|
| 418 |
+
of these quantities, properly so called, that we apply quantitative
|
| 419 |
+
terms to other things. We speak of what is white as large, because the
|
| 420 |
+
surface over which the white extends is large; we speak of an action or
|
| 421 |
+
a process as lengthy, because the time covered is long; these things
|
| 422 |
+
cannot in their own right claim the quantitative epithet. For instance,
|
| 423 |
+
should any one explain how long an action was, his statement would be
|
| 424 |
+
made in terms of the time taken, to the effect that it lasted a year,
|
| 425 |
+
or something of that sort. In the same way, he would explain the size
|
| 426 |
+
of a white object in terms of surface, for he would state the area
|
| 427 |
+
which it covered. Thus the things already mentioned, and these alone,
|
| 428 |
+
are in their intrinsic nature quantities; nothing else can claim the
|
| 429 |
+
name in its own right, but, if at all, only in a secondary sense.
|
| 430 |
+
|
| 431 |
+
Quantities have no contraries. In the case of definite quantities this
|
| 432 |
+
is obvious; thus, there is nothing that is the contrary of 'two cubits
|
| 433 |
+
long' or of 'three cubits long', or of a surface, or of any such
|
| 434 |
+
quantities. A man might, indeed, argue that 'much' was the contrary of
|
| 435 |
+
'little', and 'great' of 'small'. But these are not quantitative, but
|
| 436 |
+
relative; things are not great or small absolutely, they are so called
|
| 437 |
+
rather as the result of an act of comparison. For instance, a mountain
|
| 438 |
+
is called small, a grain large, in virtue of the fact that the latter
|
| 439 |
+
is greater than others of its kind, the former less. Thus there is a
|
| 440 |
+
reference here to an external standard, for if the terms 'great' and
|
| 441 |
+
'small' were used absolutely, a mountain would never be called small or
|
| 442 |
+
a grain large. Again, we say that there are many people in a village,
|
| 443 |
+
and few in Athens, although those in the city are many times as
|
| 444 |
+
numerous as those in the village: or we say that a house has many in
|
| 445 |
+
it, and a theatre few, though those in the theatre far outnumber those
|
| 446 |
+
in the house. The terms 'two cubits long', 'three cubits long', and so
|
| 447 |
+
on indicate quantity, the terms 'great' and 'small' indicate relation,
|
| 448 |
+
for they have reference to an external standard. It is, therefore,
|
| 449 |
+
plain that these are to be classed as relative.
|
| 450 |
+
|
| 451 |
+
Again, whether we define them as quantitative or not, they have no
|
| 452 |
+
contraries: for how can there be a contrary of an attribute which is
|
| 453 |
+
not to be apprehended in or by itself, but only by reference to
|
| 454 |
+
something external? Again, if 'great' and 'small' are contraries, it
|
| 455 |
+
will come about that the same subject can admit contrary qualities at
|
| 456 |
+
one and the same time, and that things will themselves be contrary to
|
| 457 |
+
themselves. For it happens at times that the same thing is both small
|
| 458 |
+
and great. For the same thing may be small in comparison with one
|
| 459 |
+
thing, and great in comparison with another, so that the same thing
|
| 460 |
+
comes to be both small and great at one and the same time, and is of
|
| 461 |
+
such a nature as to admit contrary qualities at one and the same
|
| 462 |
+
moment. Yet it was agreed, when substance was being discussed, that
|
| 463 |
+
nothing admits contrary qualities at one and the same moment. For
|
| 464 |
+
though substance is capable of admitting contrary qualities, yet no one
|
| 465 |
+
is at the same time both sick and healthy, nothing is at the same time
|
| 466 |
+
both white and black. Nor is there anything which is qualified in
|
| 467 |
+
contrary ways at one and the same time.
|
| 468 |
+
|
| 469 |
+
Moreover, if these were contraries, they would themselves be contrary
|
| 470 |
+
to themselves. For if 'great' is the contrary of 'small', and the same
|
| 471 |
+
thing is both great and small at the same time, then 'small' or 'great'
|
| 472 |
+
is the contrary of itself. But this is impossible. The term 'great',
|
| 473 |
+
therefore, is not the contrary of the term 'small', nor 'much' of
|
| 474 |
+
'little'. And even though a man should call these terms not relative
|
| 475 |
+
but quantitative, they would not have contraries.
|
| 476 |
+
|
| 477 |
+
It is in the case of space that quantity most plausibly appears to
|
| 478 |
+
admit of a contrary. For men define the term 'above' as the contrary of
|
| 479 |
+
'below', when it is the region at the centre they mean by 'below'; and
|
| 480 |
+
this is so, because nothing is farther from the extremities of the
|
| 481 |
+
universe than the region at the centre. Indeed, it seems that in
|
| 482 |
+
defining contraries of every kind men have recourse to a spatial
|
| 483 |
+
metaphor, for they say that those things are contraries which, within
|
| 484 |
+
the same class, are separated by the greatest possible distance.
|
| 485 |
+
|
| 486 |
+
Quantity does not, it appears, admit of variation of degree. One thing
|
| 487 |
+
cannot be two cubits long in a greater degree than another. Similarly
|
| 488 |
+
with regard to number: what is 'three' is not more truly three than
|
| 489 |
+
what is 'five' is five; nor is one set of three more truly three than
|
| 490 |
+
another set. Again, one period of time is not said to be more truly
|
| 491 |
+
time than another. Nor is there any other kind of quantity, of all that
|
| 492 |
+
have been mentioned, with regard to which variation of degree can be
|
| 493 |
+
predicated. The category of quantity, therefore, does not admit of
|
| 494 |
+
variation of degree.
|
| 495 |
+
|
| 496 |
+
The most distinctive mark of quantity is that equality and inequality
|
| 497 |
+
are predicated of it. Each of the aforesaid quantities is said to be
|
| 498 |
+
equal or unequal. For instance, one solid is said to be equal or
|
| 499 |
+
unequal to another; number, too, and time can have these terms applied
|
| 500 |
+
to them, indeed can all those kinds of quantity that have been
|
| 501 |
+
mentioned.
|
| 502 |
+
|
| 503 |
+
That which is not a quantity can by no means, it would seem, be termed
|
| 504 |
+
equal or unequal to anything else. One particular disposition or one
|
| 505 |
+
particular quality, such as whiteness, is by no means compared with
|
| 506 |
+
another in terms of equality and inequality but rather in terms of
|
| 507 |
+
similarity. Thus it is the distinctive mark of quantity that it can be
|
| 508 |
+
called equal and unequal.
|
| 509 |
+
|
| 510 |
+
Section 2
|
| 511 |
+
|
| 512 |
+
Part 7
|
| 513 |
+
|
| 514 |
+
Those things are called relative, which, being either said to be of
|
| 515 |
+
something else or related to something else, are explained by reference
|
| 516 |
+
to that other thing. For instance, the word 'superior' is explained by
|
| 517 |
+
reference to something else, for it is superiority over something else
|
| 518 |
+
that is meant. Similarly, the expression 'double' has this external
|
| 519 |
+
reference, for it is the double of something else that is meant. So it
|
| 520 |
+
is with everything else of this kind. There are, moreover, other
|
| 521 |
+
relatives, e.g. habit, disposition, perception, knowledge, and
|
| 522 |
+
attitude. The significance of all these is explained by a reference to
|
| 523 |
+
something else and in no other way. Thus, a habit is a habit of
|
| 524 |
+
something, knowledge is knowledge of something, attitude is the
|
| 525 |
+
attitude of something. So it is with all other relatives that have been
|
| 526 |
+
mentioned. Those terms, then, are called relative, the nature of which
|
| 527 |
+
is explained by reference to something else, the preposition 'of' or
|
| 528 |
+
some other preposition being used to indicate the relation. Thus, one
|
| 529 |
+
mountain is called great in comparison with another; for the
|
| 530 |
+
mountain claims this attribute by comparison with something. Again,
|
| 531 |
+
that which is called similar must be similar to something else, and all
|
| 532 |
+
other such attributes have this external reference. It is to be noted
|
| 533 |
+
that lying and standing and sitting are particular attitudes, but
|
| 534 |
+
attitude is itself a relative term. To lie, to stand, to be seated, are
|
| 535 |
+
not themselves attitudes, but take their name from the aforesaid
|
| 536 |
+
attitudes.
|
| 537 |
+
|
| 538 |
+
It is possible for relatives to have contraries. Thus virtue has a
|
| 539 |
+
contrary, vice, these both being relatives; knowledge, too, has a
|
| 540 |
+
contrary, ignorance. But this is not the mark of all relatives;
|
| 541 |
+
'double' and 'triple' have no contrary, nor indeed has any such term.
|
| 542 |
+
|
| 543 |
+
It also appears that relatives can admit of variation of degree. For
|
| 544 |
+
'like' and 'unlike', 'equal' and 'unequal', have the modifications
|
| 545 |
+
'more' and 'less' applied to them, and each of these is relative in
|
| 546 |
+
character: for the terms 'like' and 'unequal' bear a
|
| 547 |
+
reference to something external. Yet, again, it is not every relative
|
| 548 |
+
term that admits of variation of degree. No term such as 'double'
|
| 549 |
+
admits of this modification. All relatives have correlatives: by the
|
| 550 |
+
term 'slave' we mean the slave of a master, by the term 'master', the
|
| 551 |
+
master of a slave; by 'double', the double of its half; by 'half', the
|
| 552 |
+
half of its double; by 'greater', greater than that which is less; by
|
| 553 |
+
'less', less than that which is greater.
|
| 554 |
+
|
| 555 |
+
So it is with every other relative term; but the case we use to express
|
| 556 |
+
the correlation differs in some instances. Thus, by knowledge we mean
|
| 557 |
+
knowledge of the knowable; by the knowable, that which is to be
|
| 558 |
+
apprehended by knowledge; by perception, perception of the perceptible;
|
| 559 |
+
by the perceptible, that which is apprehended by perception.
|
| 560 |
+
|
| 561 |
+
Sometimes, however, reciprocity of correlation does not appear to
|
| 562 |
+
exist. This comes about when a blunder is made, and that to which the
|
| 563 |
+
relative is related is not accurately stated. If a man states that a
|
| 564 |
+
wing is necessarily relative to a bird, the connexion between these two
|
| 565 |
+
will not be reciprocal, for it will not be possible to say that a bird
|
| 566 |
+
is a bird by reason of its wings. The reason is that the original
|
| 567 |
+
statement was inaccurate, for the wing is not said to be relative to
|
| 568 |
+
the bird qua bird, since many creatures besides birds have wings, but
|
| 569 |
+
qua winged creature. If, then, the statement is made accurate, the
|
| 570 |
+
connexion will be reciprocal, for we can speak of a wing, having
|
| 571 |
+
reference necessarily to a winged creature, and of a winged creature as
|
| 572 |
+
being such because of its wings.
|
| 573 |
+
|
| 574 |
+
Occasionally, perhaps, it is necessary to coin words, if no word exists
|
| 575 |
+
by which a correlation can adequately be explained. If we define a
|
| 576 |
+
rudder as necessarily having reference to a boat, our definition will
|
| 577 |
+
not be appropriate, for the rudder does not have this reference to a
|
| 578 |
+
boat qua boat, as there are boats which have no rudders. Thus we cannot
|
| 579 |
+
use the terms reciprocally, for the word 'boat' cannot be said to find
|
| 580 |
+
its explanation in the word 'rudder'. As there is no existing word, our
|
| 581 |
+
definition would perhaps be more accurate if we coined some word like
|
| 582 |
+
'ruddered' as the correlative of 'rudder'. If we express ourselves thus
|
| 583 |
+
accurately, at any rate the terms are reciprocally connected, for the
|
| 584 |
+
'ruddered' thing is 'ruddered' in virtue of its rudder. So it is in all
|
| 585 |
+
other cases. A head will be more accurately defined as the correlative
|
| 586 |
+
of that which is 'headed', than as that of an animal, for the animal
|
| 587 |
+
does not have a head qua animal, since many animals have no head.
|
| 588 |
+
|
| 589 |
+
Thus we may perhaps most easily comprehend that to which a thing is
|
| 590 |
+
related, when a name does not exist, if, from that which has a name, we
|
| 591 |
+
derive a new name, and apply it to that with which the first is
|
| 592 |
+
reciprocally connected, as in the aforesaid instances, when we derived
|
| 593 |
+
the word 'winged' from 'wing' and from 'rudder'.
|
| 594 |
+
|
| 595 |
+
All relatives, then, if properly defined, have a correlative. I add
|
| 596 |
+
this condition because, if that to which they are related is stated as
|
| 597 |
+
haphazard and not accurately, the two are not found to be
|
| 598 |
+
interdependent. Let me state what I mean more clearly. Even in the case
|
| 599 |
+
of acknowledged correlatives, and where names exist for each, there
|
| 600 |
+
will be no interdependence if one of the two is denoted, not by that
|
| 601 |
+
name which expresses the correlative notion, but by one of irrelevant
|
| 602 |
+
significance. The term 'slave', if defined as related, not to a master,
|
| 603 |
+
but to a man, or a biped, or anything of that sort, is not reciprocally
|
| 604 |
+
connected with that in relation to which it is defined, for the
|
| 605 |
+
statement is not exact. Further, if one thing is said to be correlative
|
| 606 |
+
with another, and the terminology used is correct, then, though all
|
| 607 |
+
irrelevant attributes should be removed, and only that one attribute
|
| 608 |
+
left in virtue of which it was correctly stated to be correlative with
|
| 609 |
+
that other, the stated correlation will still exist. If the correlative
|
| 610 |
+
of 'the slave' is said to be 'the master', then, though all irrelevant
|
| 611 |
+
attributes of the said 'master', such as 'biped', 'receptive of
|
| 612 |
+
knowledge', 'human', should be removed, and the attribute 'master'
|
| 613 |
+
alone left, the stated correlation existing between him and the slave
|
| 614 |
+
will remain the same, for it is of a master that a slave is said to be
|
| 615 |
+
the slave. On the other hand, if, of two correlatives, one is not
|
| 616 |
+
correctly termed, then, when all other attributes are removed and that
|
| 617 |
+
alone is left in virtue of which it was stated to be correlative, the
|
| 618 |
+
stated correlation will be found to have disappeared.
|
| 619 |
+
|
| 620 |
+
For suppose the correlative of 'the slave' should be said to be 'the
|
| 621 |
+
man', or the correlative of 'the wing' is 'the bird'; if the attribute
|
| 622 |
+
'master' be withdrawn from 'the man', the correlation between 'the man'
|
| 623 |
+
and 'the slave' will cease to exist, for if the man is not a master,
|
| 624 |
+
the slave is not a slave. Similarly, if the attribute 'winged' be
|
| 625 |
+
withdrawn from 'the bird', 'the wing' will no longer be relative; for
|
| 626 |
+
if the so-called correlative is not winged, it follows that 'the wing'
|
| 627 |
+
has no correlative.
|
| 628 |
+
|
| 629 |
+
Thus it is essential that the correlated terms should be exactly
|
| 630 |
+
designated; if there is a name existing, the statement will be easy; if
|
| 631 |
+
not, it is doubtless our duty to construct names. When the terminology
|
| 632 |
+
is thus correct, it is evident that all correlatives are interdependent.
|
| 633 |
+
|
| 634 |
+
Correlatives are thought to come into existence simultaneously. This is
|
| 635 |
+
for the most part true, as in the case of the double and the half. The
|
| 636 |
+
existence of the half necessitates the existence of that of which it is
|
| 637 |
+
a half. Similarly the existence of a master necessitates the existence
|
| 638 |
+
of a slave, and that of a slave implies that of a master; these are
|
| 639 |
+
merely instances of a general rule. Moreover, they cancel one another;
|
| 640 |
+
for if there is no double it follows that there is no half, and vice
|
| 641 |
+
versa; this rule also applies to all such correlatives. Yet it does not
|
| 642 |
+
appear to be true in all cases that correlatives come into existence
|
| 643 |
+
simultaneously. The object of knowledge would appear to exist before
|
| 644 |
+
knowledge itself, for it is usually the case that we acquire knowledge
|
| 645 |
+
of objects already existing; it would be difficult, if not impossible,
|
| 646 |
+
to find a branch of knowledge the beginning of the existence of which
|
| 647 |
+
was contemporaneous with that of its object.
|
| 648 |
+
|
| 649 |
+
Again, while the object of knowledge, if it ceases to exist, cancels at
|
| 650 |
+
the same time the knowledge which was its correlative, the converse of
|
| 651 |
+
this is not true. It is true that if the object of knowledge does not
|
| 652 |
+
exist there can be no knowledge: for there will no longer be anything
|
| 653 |
+
to know. Yet it is equally true that, if knowledge of a certain object
|
| 654 |
+
does not exist, the object may nevertheless quite well exist. Thus, in
|
| 655 |
+
the case of the squaring of the circle, if indeed that process is an
|
| 656 |
+
object of knowledge, though it itself exists as an object of knowledge,
|
| 657 |
+
yet the knowledge of it has not yet come into existence. Again, if all
|
| 658 |
+
animals ceased to exist, there would be no knowledge, but there might
|
| 659 |
+
yet be many objects of knowledge.
|
| 660 |
+
|
| 661 |
+
This is likewise the case with regard to perception: for the object of
|
| 662 |
+
perception is, it appears, prior to the act of perception. If the
|
| 663 |
+
perceptible is annihilated, perception also will cease to exist; but
|
| 664 |
+
the annihilation of perception does not cancel the existence of the
|
| 665 |
+
perceptible. For perception implies a body perceived and a body in
|
| 666 |
+
which perception takes place. Now if that which is perceptible is
|
| 667 |
+
annihilated, it follows that the body is annihilated, for the body is a
|
| 668 |
+
perceptible thing; and if the body does not exist, it follows that
|
| 669 |
+
perception also ceases to exist. Thus the annihilation of the
|
| 670 |
+
perceptible involves that of perception.
|
| 671 |
+
|
| 672 |
+
But the annihilation of perception does not involve that of the
|
| 673 |
+
perceptible. For if the animal is annihilated, it follows that
|
| 674 |
+
perception also is annihilated, but perceptibles such as body, heat,
|
| 675 |
+
sweetness, bitterness, and so on, will remain.
|
| 676 |
+
|
| 677 |
+
Again, perception is generated at the same time as the perceiving
|
| 678 |
+
subject, for it comes into existence at the same time as the animal.
|
| 679 |
+
But the perceptible surely exists before perception; for fire and water
|
| 680 |
+
and such elements, out of which the animal is itself composed, exist
|
| 681 |
+
before the animal is an animal at all, and before perception. Thus it
|
| 682 |
+
would seem that the perceptible exists before perception.
|
| 683 |
+
|
| 684 |
+
It may be questioned whether it is true that no substance is relative,
|
| 685 |
+
as seems to be the case, or whether exception is to be made in the case
|
| 686 |
+
of certain secondary substances. With regard to primary substances, it
|
| 687 |
+
is quite true that there is no such possibility, for neither wholes nor
|
| 688 |
+
parts of primary substances are relative. The individual man or ox is
|
| 689 |
+
not defined with reference to something external. Similarly with the
|
| 690 |
+
parts: a particular hand or head is not defined as a particular hand or
|
| 691 |
+
head of a particular person, but as the hand or head of a particular
|
| 692 |
+
person. It is true also, for the most part at least, in the case of
|
| 693 |
+
secondary substances; the species 'man' and the species 'ox' are not
|
| 694 |
+
defined with reference to anything outside themselves. Wood, again, is
|
| 695 |
+
only relative in so far as it is some one's property, not in so far as
|
| 696 |
+
it is wood. It is plain, then, that in the cases mentioned substance is
|
| 697 |
+
not relative. But with regard to some secondary substances there is a
|
| 698 |
+
difference of opinion; thus, such terms as 'head' and 'hand' are
|
| 699 |
+
defined with reference to that of which the things indicated are a
|
| 700 |
+
part, and so it comes about that these appear to have a relative
|
| 701 |
+
character. Indeed, if our definition of that which is relative was
|
| 702 |
+
complete, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to prove that no
|
| 703 |
+
substance is relative. If, however, our definition was not complete, if
|
| 704 |
+
those things only are properly called relative in the case of which
|
| 705 |
+
relation to an external object is a necessary condition of existence,
|
| 706 |
+
perhaps some explanation of the dilemma may be found.
|
| 707 |
+
|
| 708 |
+
The former definition does indeed apply to all relatives, but the fact
|
| 709 |
+
that a thing is explained with reference to something else does not
|
| 710 |
+
make it essentially relative.
|
| 711 |
+
|
| 712 |
+
From this it is plain that, if a man definitely apprehends a relative
|
| 713 |
+
thing, he will also definitely apprehend that to which it is relative.
|
| 714 |
+
Indeed this is self-evident: for if a man knows that some particular
|
| 715 |
+
thing is relative, assuming that we call that a relative in the case of
|
| 716 |
+
which relation to something is a necessary condition of existence, he
|
| 717 |
+
knows that also to which it is related. For if he does not know at all
|
| 718 |
+
that to which it is related, he will not know whether or not it is
|
| 719 |
+
relative. This is clear, moreover, in particular instances. If a man
|
| 720 |
+
knows definitely that such and such a thing is 'double', he will also
|
| 721 |
+
forthwith know definitely that of which it is the double. For if there
|
| 722 |
+
is nothing definite of which he knows it to be the double, he does not
|
| 723 |
+
know at all that it is double. Again, if he knows that a thing is more
|
| 724 |
+
beautiful, it follows necessarily that he will forthwith definitely
|
| 725 |
+
know that also than which it is more beautiful. He will not merely know
|
| 726 |
+
indefinitely that it is more beautiful than something which is less
|
| 727 |
+
beautiful, for this would be supposition, not knowledge. For if he does
|
| 728 |
+
not know definitely that than which it is more beautiful, he can no
|
| 729 |
+
longer claim to know definitely that it is more beautiful than
|
| 730 |
+
something else which is less beautiful: for it might be that nothing
|
| 731 |
+
was less beautiful. It is, therefore, evident that if a man apprehends
|
| 732 |
+
some relative thing definitely, he necessarily knows that also
|
| 733 |
+
definitely to which it is related.
|
| 734 |
+
|
| 735 |
+
Now the head, the hand, and such things are substances, and it is
|
| 736 |
+
possible to know their essential character definitely, but it does not
|
| 737 |
+
necessarily follow that we should know that to which they are related.
|
| 738 |
+
It is not possible to know forthwith whose head or hand is meant. Thus
|
| 739 |
+
these are not relatives, and, this being the case, it would be true to
|
| 740 |
+
say that no substance is relative in character. It is perhaps a
|
| 741 |
+
difficult matter, in such cases, to make a positive statement without
|
| 742 |
+
more exhaustive examination, but to have raised questions with regard
|
| 743 |
+
to details is not without advantage.
|
| 744 |
+
|
| 745 |
+
Part 8
|
| 746 |
+
|
| 747 |
+
By 'quality' I mean that in virtue of which people are said to be such
|
| 748 |
+
and such.
|
| 749 |
+
|
| 750 |
+
Quality is a term that is used in many senses. One sort of quality let
|
| 751 |
+
us call 'habit' or 'disposition'. Habit differs from disposition in
|
| 752 |
+
being more lasting and more firmly established. The various kinds of
|
| 753 |
+
knowledge and of virtue are habits, for knowledge, even when acquired
|
| 754 |
+
only in a moderate degree, is, it is agreed, abiding in its character
|
| 755 |
+
and difficult to displace, unless some great mental upheaval takes
|
| 756 |
+
place, through disease or any such cause. The virtues, also, such as
|
| 757 |
+
justice, self-restraint, and so on, are not easily dislodged or
|
| 758 |
+
dismissed, so as to give place to vice.
|
| 759 |
+
|
| 760 |
+
By a disposition, on the other hand, we mean a condition that is easily
|
| 761 |
+
changed and quickly gives place to its opposite. Thus, heat, cold,
|
| 762 |
+
disease, health, and so on are dispositions. For a man is disposed in
|
| 763 |
+
one way or another with reference to these, but quickly changes,
|
| 764 |
+
becoming cold instead of warm, ill instead of well. So it is with all
|
| 765 |
+
other dispositions also, unless through lapse of time a disposition has
|
| 766 |
+
itself become inveterate and almost impossible to dislodge: in which
|
| 767 |
+
case we should perhaps go so far as to call it a habit.
|
| 768 |
+
|
| 769 |
+
It is evident that men incline to call those conditions habits which
|
| 770 |
+
are of a more or less permanent type and difficult to displace; for
|
| 771 |
+
those who are not retentive of knowledge, but volatile, are not said to
|
| 772 |
+
have such and such a 'habit' as regards knowledge, yet they are
|
| 773 |
+
disposed, we may say, either better or worse, towards knowledge. Thus
|
| 774 |
+
habit differs from disposition in this, that while the latter in
|
| 775 |
+
ephemeral, the former is permanent and difficult to alter.
|
| 776 |
+
|
| 777 |
+
Habits are at the same time dispositions, but dispositions are not
|
| 778 |
+
necessarily habits. For those who have some specific habit may be said
|
| 779 |
+
also, in virtue of that habit, to be thus or thus disposed; but those
|
| 780 |
+
who are disposed in some specific way have not in all cases the
|
| 781 |
+
corresponding habit.
|
| 782 |
+
|
| 783 |
+
Another sort of quality is that in virtue of which, for example, we
|
| 784 |
+
call men good boxers or runners, or healthy or sickly: in fact it
|
| 785 |
+
includes all those terms which refer to inborn capacity or incapacity.
|
| 786 |
+
Such things are not predicated of a person in virtue of his
|
| 787 |
+
disposition, but in virtue of his inborn capacity or incapacity to do
|
| 788 |
+
something with ease or to avoid defeat of any kind. Persons are called
|
| 789 |
+
good boxers or good runners, not in virtue of such and such a
|
| 790 |
+
disposition, but in virtue of an inborn capacity to accomplish
|
| 791 |
+
something with ease. Men are called healthy in virtue of the inborn
|
| 792 |
+
capacity of easy resistance to those unhealthy influences that may
|
| 793 |
+
ordinarily arise; unhealthy, in virtue of the lack of this capacity.
|
| 794 |
+
Similarly with regard to softness and hardness. Hardness is predicated
|
| 795 |
+
of a thing because it has that capacity of resistance which enables it
|
| 796 |
+
to withstand disintegration; softness, again, is predicated of a thing
|
| 797 |
+
by reason of the lack of that capacity.
|
| 798 |
+
|
| 799 |
+
A third class within this category is that of affective qualities and
|
| 800 |
+
affections. Sweetness, bitterness, sourness, are examples of this sort
|
| 801 |
+
of quality, together with all that is akin to these; heat, moreover,
|
| 802 |
+
and cold, whiteness, and blackness are affective qualities. It is
|
| 803 |
+
evident that these are qualities, for those things that possess them
|
| 804 |
+
are themselves said to be such and such by reason of their presence.
|
| 805 |
+
Honey is called sweet because it contains sweetness; the body is called
|
| 806 |
+
white because it contains whiteness; and so in all other cases.
|
| 807 |
+
|
| 808 |
+
The term 'affective quality' is not used as indicating that those
|
| 809 |
+
things which admit these qualities are affected in any way. Honey is
|
| 810 |
+
not called sweet because it is affected in a specific way, nor is this
|
| 811 |
+
what is meant in any other instance. Similarly heat and cold are called
|
| 812 |
+
affective qualities, not because those things which admit them are
|
| 813 |
+
affected. What is meant is that these said qualities are capable of
|
| 814 |
+
producing an 'affection' in the way of perception. For sweetness has
|
| 815 |
+
the power of affecting the sense of taste; heat, that of touch; and so
|
| 816 |
+
it is with the rest of these qualities.
|
| 817 |
+
|
| 818 |
+
Whiteness and blackness, however, and the other colours, are not said
|
| 819 |
+
to be affective qualities in this sense, but because they themselves
|
| 820 |
+
are the results of an affection. It is plain that many changes of
|
| 821 |
+
colour take place because of affections. When a man is ashamed, he
|
| 822 |
+
blushes; when he is afraid, he becomes pale, and so on. So true is
|
| 823 |
+
this, that when a man is by nature liable to such affections, arising
|
| 824 |
+
from some concomitance of elements in his constitution, it is a
|
| 825 |
+
probable inference that he has the corresponding complexion of skin.
|
| 826 |
+
For the same disposition of bodily elements, which in the former
|
| 827 |
+
instance was momentarily present in the case of an access of shame,
|
| 828 |
+
might be a result of a man's natural temperament, so as to produce the
|
| 829 |
+
corresponding colouring also as a natural characteristic. All
|
| 830 |
+
conditions, therefore, of this kind, if caused by certain permanent and
|
| 831 |
+
lasting affections, are called affective qualities. For pallor and
|
| 832 |
+
duskiness of complexion are called qualities, inasmuch as we are said
|
| 833 |
+
to be such and such in virtue of them, not only if they originate in
|
| 834 |
+
natural constitution, but also if they come about through long disease
|
| 835 |
+
or sunburn, and are difficult to remove, or indeed remain throughout
|
| 836 |
+
life. For in the same way we are said to be such and such because of
|
| 837 |
+
these.
|
| 838 |
+
|
| 839 |
+
Those conditions, however, which arise from causes which may easily be
|
| 840 |
+
rendered ineffective or speedily removed, are called, not qualities,
|
| 841 |
+
but affections: for we are not said to be such in virtue of them. The man
|
| 842 |
+
who blushes through shame is not said to be a constitutional blusher,
|
| 843 |
+
nor is the man who becomes pale through fear said to be
|
| 844 |
+
constitutionally pale. He is said rather to have been affected.
|
| 845 |
+
|
| 846 |
+
Thus such conditions are called affections, not qualities. In like
|
| 847 |
+
manner there are affective qualities and affections of the soul. That
|
| 848 |
+
temper with which a man is born and which has its origin in certain
|
| 849 |
+
deep-seated affections is called a quality. I mean such conditions as
|
| 850 |
+
insanity, irascibility, and so on: for people are said to be mad or
|
| 851 |
+
irascible in virtue of these. Similarly those abnormal psychic states
|
| 852 |
+
which are not inborn, but arise from the concomitance of certain other
|
| 853 |
+
elements, and are difficult to remove, or altogether permanent, are
|
| 854 |
+
called qualities, for in virtue of them men are said to be such and
|
| 855 |
+
such.
|
| 856 |
+
|
| 857 |
+
Those, however, which arise from causes easily rendered ineffective are
|
| 858 |
+
called affections, not qualities. Suppose that a man is irritable when
|
| 859 |
+
vexed: he is not even spoken of as a bad-tempered man, when in such
|
| 860 |
+
circumstances he loses his temper somewhat, but rather is said to be
|
| 861 |
+
affected. Such conditions are therefore termed, not qualities, but
|
| 862 |
+
affections.
|
| 863 |
+
|
| 864 |
+
The fourth sort of quality is figure and the shape that belongs to a
|
| 865 |
+
thing; and besides this, straightness and curvedness and any other
|
| 866 |
+
qualities of this type; each of these defines a thing as being such and
|
| 867 |
+
such. Because it is triangular or quadrangular a thing is said to have
|
| 868 |
+
a specific character, or again because it is straight or curved; in
|
| 869 |
+
fact a thing's shape in every case gives rise to a qualification of it.
|
| 870 |
+
|
| 871 |
+
Rarity and density, roughness and smoothness, seem to be terms
|
| 872 |
+
indicating quality: yet these, it would appear, really belong to a
|
| 873 |
+
class different from that of quality. For it is rather a certain
|
| 874 |
+
relative position of the parts composing the thing thus qualified
|
| 875 |
+
which, it appears, is indicated by each of these terms. A thing is
|
| 876 |
+
dense, owing to the fact that its parts are closely combined with one
|
| 877 |
+
another; rare, because there are interstices between the parts; smooth,
|
| 878 |
+
because its parts lie, so to speak, evenly; rough, because some parts
|
| 879 |
+
project beyond others.
|
| 880 |
+
|
| 881 |
+
There may be other sorts of quality, but those that are most properly
|
| 882 |
+
so called have, we may safely say, been enumerated.
|
| 883 |
+
|
| 884 |
+
These, then, are qualities, and the things that take their name from
|
| 885 |
+
them as derivatives, or are in some other way dependent on them, are
|
| 886 |
+
said to be qualified in some specific way. In most, indeed in almost
|
| 887 |
+
all cases, the name of that which is qualified is derived from that of
|
| 888 |
+
the quality. Thus the terms 'whiteness', 'grammar', 'justice', give us
|
| 889 |
+
the adjectives 'white', 'grammatical', 'just', and so on.
|
| 890 |
+
|
| 891 |
+
There are some cases, however, in which, as the quality under
|
| 892 |
+
consideration has no name, it is impossible that those possessed of it
|
| 893 |
+
should have a name that is derivative. For instance, the name given to
|
| 894 |
+
the runner or boxer, who is so called in virtue of an inborn capacity,
|
| 895 |
+
is not derived from that of any quality; for both those capacities have
|
| 896 |
+
no name assigned to them. In this, the inborn capacity is distinct from
|
| 897 |
+
the science, with reference to which men are called, e.g. boxers or
|
| 898 |
+
wrestlers. Such a science is classed as a disposition; it has a name,
|
| 899 |
+
and is called 'boxing' or 'wrestling' as the case may be, and the name
|
| 900 |
+
given to those disposed in this way is derived from that of the
|
| 901 |
+
science. Sometimes, even though a name exists for the quality, that
|
| 902 |
+
which takes its character from the quality has a name that is not a
|
| 903 |
+
derivative. For instance, the upright man takes his character from the
|
| 904 |
+
possession of the quality of integrity, but the name given him is not
|
| 905 |
+
derived from the word 'integrity'. Yet this does not occur often.
|
| 906 |
+
|
| 907 |
+
We may therefore state that those things are said to be possessed of
|
| 908 |
+
some specific quality which have a name derived from that of the
|
| 909 |
+
aforesaid quality, or which are in some other way dependent on it.
|
| 910 |
+
|
| 911 |
+
One quality may be the contrary of another; thus justice is the
|
| 912 |
+
contrary of injustice, whiteness of blackness, and so on. The things,
|
| 913 |
+
also, which are said to be such and such in virtue of these qualities,
|
| 914 |
+
may be contrary the one to the other; for that which is unjust is
|
| 915 |
+
contrary to that which is just, that which is white to that which is
|
| 916 |
+
black. This, however, is not always the case. Red, yellow, and such
|
| 917 |
+
colours, though qualities, have no contraries.
|
| 918 |
+
|
| 919 |
+
If one of two contraries is a quality, the other will also be a
|
| 920 |
+
quality. This will be evident from particular instances, if we apply
|
| 921 |
+
the names used to denote the other categories; for instance, granted
|
| 922 |
+
that justice is the contrary of injustice and justice is a quality,
|
| 923 |
+
injustice will also be a quality: neither quantity, nor relation, nor
|
| 924 |
+
place, nor indeed any other category but that of quality, will be
|
| 925 |
+
applicable properly to injustice. So it is with all other contraries
|
| 926 |
+
falling under the category of quality.
|
| 927 |
+
|
| 928 |
+
Qualities admit of variation of degree. Whiteness is predicated of one
|
| 929 |
+
thing in a greater or less degree than of another. This is also the
|
| 930 |
+
case with reference to justice. Moreover, one and the same thing may
|
| 931 |
+
exhibit a quality in a greater degree than it did before: if a thing is
|
| 932 |
+
white, it may become whiter.
|
| 933 |
+
|
| 934 |
+
Though this is generally the case, there are exceptions. For if we
|
| 935 |
+
should say that justice admitted of variation of degree, difficulties
|
| 936 |
+
might ensue, and this is true with regard to all those qualities which
|
| 937 |
+
are dispositions. There are some, indeed, who dispute the possibility
|
| 938 |
+
of variation here. They maintain that justice and health cannot very
|
| 939 |
+
well admit of variation of degree themselves, but that people vary in
|
| 940 |
+
the degree in which they possess these qualities, and that this is the
|
| 941 |
+
case with grammatical learning and all those qualities which are
|
| 942 |
+
classed as dispositions. However that may be, it is an incontrovertible
|
| 943 |
+
fact that the things which in virtue of these qualities are said to be
|
| 944 |
+
what they are vary in the degree in which they possess them; for one
|
| 945 |
+
man is said to be better versed in grammar, or more healthy or just,
|
| 946 |
+
than another, and so on.
|
| 947 |
+
|
| 948 |
+
The qualities expressed by the terms 'triangular' and 'quadrangular' do
|
| 949 |
+
not appear to admit of variation of degree, nor indeed do any that have
|
| 950 |
+
to do with figure. For those things to which the definition of the
|
| 951 |
+
triangle or circle is applicable are all equally triangular or
|
| 952 |
+
circular. Those, on the other hand, to which the same definition is not
|
| 953 |
+
applicable, cannot be said to differ from one another in degree; the
|
| 954 |
+
square is no more a circle than the rectangle, for to neither is the
|
| 955 |
+
definition of the circle appropriate. In short, if the definition of
|
| 956 |
+
the term proposed is not applicable to both objects, they cannot be
|
| 957 |
+
compared. Thus it is not all qualities which admit of variation of
|
| 958 |
+
degree.
|
| 959 |
+
|
| 960 |
+
Whereas none of the characteristics I have mentioned are peculiar to
|
| 961 |
+
quality, the fact that likeness and unlikeness can be predicated with
|
| 962 |
+
reference to quality only, gives to that category its distinctive
|
| 963 |
+
feature. One thing is like another only with reference to that in
|
| 964 |
+
virtue of which it is such and such; thus this forms the peculiar mark
|
| 965 |
+
of quality.
|
| 966 |
+
|
| 967 |
+
We must not be disturbed because it may be argued that, though
|
| 968 |
+
proposing to discuss the category of quality, we have included in it
|
| 969 |
+
many relative terms. We did say that habits and dispositions were
|
| 970 |
+
relative. In practically all such cases the genus is relative, the
|
| 971 |
+
individual not. Thus knowledge, as a genus, is explained by reference
|
| 972 |
+
to something else, for we mean a knowledge of something. But particular
|
| 973 |
+
branches of knowledge are not thus explained. The knowledge of grammar
|
| 974 |
+
is not relative to anything external, nor is the knowledge of music,
|
| 975 |
+
but these, if relative at all, are relative only in virtue of their
|
| 976 |
+
genera; thus grammar is said be the knowledge of something, not the
|
| 977 |
+
grammar of something; similarly music is the knowledge of something,
|
| 978 |
+
not the music of something.
|
| 979 |
+
|
| 980 |
+
Thus individual branches of knowledge are not relative. And it is
|
| 981 |
+
because we possess these individual branches of knowledge that we are
|
| 982 |
+
said to be such and such. It is these that we actually possess: we are
|
| 983 |
+
called experts because we possess knowledge in some particular branch.
|
| 984 |
+
Those particular branches, therefore, of knowledge, in virtue of which
|
| 985 |
+
we are sometimes said to be such and such, are themselves qualities,
|
| 986 |
+
and are not relative. Further, if anything should happen to fall within
|
| 987 |
+
both the category of quality and that of relation, there would be
|
| 988 |
+
nothing extraordinary in classing it under both these heads.
|
| 989 |
+
|
| 990 |
+
Section 3
|
| 991 |
+
|
| 992 |
+
Part 9
|
| 993 |
+
|
| 994 |
+
Action and affection both admit of contraries and also of variation of
|
| 995 |
+
degree. Heating is the contrary of cooling, being heated of being
|
| 996 |
+
cooled, being glad of being vexed. Thus they admit of contraries. They
|
| 997 |
+
also admit of variation of degree: for it is possible to heat in a
|
| 998 |
+
greater or less degree; also to be heated in a greater or less degree.
|
| 999 |
+
Thus action and affection also admit of variation of degree. So much,
|
| 1000 |
+
then, is stated with regard to these categories.
|
| 1001 |
+
|
| 1002 |
+
We spoke, moreover, of the category of position when we were dealing
|
| 1003 |
+
with that of relation, and stated that such terms derived their names
|
| 1004 |
+
from those of the corresponding attitudes.
|
| 1005 |
+
|
| 1006 |
+
As for the rest, time, place, state, since they are easily
|
| 1007 |
+
intelligible, I say no more about them than was said at the beginning,
|
| 1008 |
+
that in the category of state are included such states as 'shod',
|
| 1009 |
+
'armed', in that of place 'in the Lyceum' and so on, as was explained
|
| 1010 |
+
before.
|
| 1011 |
+
|
| 1012 |
+
Part 10
|
| 1013 |
+
|
| 1014 |
+
The proposed categories have, then, been adequately dealt with. We must
|
| 1015 |
+
next explain the various senses in which the term 'opposite' is used.
|
| 1016 |
+
Things are said to be opposed in four senses: (i) as correlatives to
|
| 1017 |
+
one another, (ii) as contraries to one another, (iii) as privatives to
|
| 1018 |
+
positives, (iv) as affirmatives to negatives.
|
| 1019 |
+
|
| 1020 |
+
Let me sketch my meaning in outline. An instance of the use of the word
|
| 1021 |
+
'opposite' with reference to correlatives is afforded by the
|
| 1022 |
+
expressions 'double' and 'half'; with reference to contraries by 'bad'
|
| 1023 |
+
and 'good'. Opposites in the sense of 'privatives' and 'positives' are
|
| 1024 |
+
'blindness' and 'sight'; in the sense of affirmatives and negatives, the
|
| 1025 |
+
propositions 'he sits', 'he does not sit'.
|
| 1026 |
+
|
| 1027 |
+
(i) Pairs of opposites which fall under the category of relation are
|
| 1028 |
+
explained by a reference of the one to the other, the reference being
|
| 1029 |
+
indicated by the preposition 'of' or by some other preposition. Thus,
|
| 1030 |
+
double is a relative term, for that which is double is explained as the
|
| 1031 |
+
double of something. Knowledge, again, is the opposite of the thing
|
| 1032 |
+
known, in the same sense; and the thing known also is explained by its
|
| 1033 |
+
relation to its opposite, knowledge. For the thing known is explained
|
| 1034 |
+
as that which is known by something, that is, by knowledge. Such
|
| 1035 |
+
things, then, as are opposite the one to the other in the sense of
|
| 1036 |
+
being correlatives are explained by a reference of the one to the other.
|
| 1037 |
+
|
| 1038 |
+
(ii) Pairs of opposites which are contraries are not in any way
|
| 1039 |
+
interdependent, but are contrary the one to the other. The good is not
|
| 1040 |
+
spoken of as the good of the bad, but as the contrary of the bad, nor
|
| 1041 |
+
is white spoken of as the white of the black, but as the contrary of
|
| 1042 |
+
the black. These two types of opposition are therefore distinct. Those
|
| 1043 |
+
contraries which are such that the subjects in which they are naturally
|
| 1044 |
+
present, or of which they are predicated, must necessarily contain
|
| 1045 |
+
either the one or the other of them, have no intermediate, but those in
|
| 1046 |
+
the case of which no such necessity obtains, always have an
|
| 1047 |
+
intermediate. Thus disease and health are naturally present in the body
|
| 1048 |
+
of an animal, and it is necessary that either the one or the other
|
| 1049 |
+
should be present in the body of an animal. Odd and even, again, are
|
| 1050 |
+
predicated of number, and it is necessary that the one or the other
|
| 1051 |
+
should be present in numbers. Now there is no intermediate between the
|
| 1052 |
+
terms of either of these two pairs. On the other hand, in those
|
| 1053 |
+
contraries with regard to which no such necessity obtains, we find an
|
| 1054 |
+
intermediate. Blackness and whiteness are naturally present in the
|
| 1055 |
+
body, but it is not necessary that either the one or the other should
|
| 1056 |
+
be present in the body, inasmuch as it is not true to say that
|
| 1057 |
+
everybody must be white or black. Badness and goodness, again, are
|
| 1058 |
+
predicated of man, and of many other things, but it is not necessary
|
| 1059 |
+
that either the one quality or the other should be present in that of
|
| 1060 |
+
which they are predicated: it is not true to say that everything that
|
| 1061 |
+
may be good or bad must be either good or bad. These pairs of
|
| 1062 |
+
contraries have intermediates: the intermediates between white and
|
| 1063 |
+
black are grey, sallow, and all the other colours that come between;
|
| 1064 |
+
the intermediate between good and bad is that which is neither the one
|
| 1065 |
+
nor the other.
|
| 1066 |
+
|
| 1067 |
+
Some intermediate qualities have names, such as grey and sallow and all
|
| 1068 |
+
the other colours that come between white and black; in other cases,
|
| 1069 |
+
however, it is not easy to name the intermediate, but we must define it
|
| 1070 |
+
as that which is not either extreme, as in the case of that which is
|
| 1071 |
+
neither good nor bad, neither just nor unjust.
|
| 1072 |
+
|
| 1073 |
+
(iii) 'privatives' and 'positives' have reference to the same subject.
|
| 1074 |
+
Thus, sight and blindness have reference to the eye. It is a universal
|
| 1075 |
+
rule that each of a pair of opposites of this type has reference to
|
| 1076 |
+
that to which the particular 'positive' is natural. We say that that is
|
| 1077 |
+
capable of some particular faculty or possession has suffered privation
|
| 1078 |
+
when the faculty or possession in question is in no way present in that
|
| 1079 |
+
in which, and at the time at which, it should naturally be present. We
|
| 1080 |
+
do not call that toothless which has not teeth, or that blind which has
|
| 1081 |
+
not sight, but rather that which has not teeth or sight at the time
|
| 1082 |
+
when by nature it should. For there are some creatures which from birth
|
| 1083 |
+
are without sight, or without teeth, but these are not called toothless
|
| 1084 |
+
or blind.
|
| 1085 |
+
|
| 1086 |
+
To be without some faculty or to possess it is not the same as the
|
| 1087 |
+
corresponding 'privative' or 'positive'. 'Sight' is a 'positive',
|
| 1088 |
+
'blindness' a 'privative', but 'to possess sight' is not equivalent to
|
| 1089 |
+
'sight', 'to be blind' is not equivalent to 'blindness'. Blindness is a
|
| 1090 |
+
'privative', to be blind is to be in a state of privation, but is not a
|
| 1091 |
+
'privative'. Moreover, if 'blindness' were equivalent to 'being blind',
|
| 1092 |
+
both would be predicated of the same subject; but though a man is said
|
| 1093 |
+
to be blind, he is by no means said to be blindness.
|
| 1094 |
+
|
| 1095 |
+
To be in a state of 'possession' is, it appears, the opposite of being
|
| 1096 |
+
in a state of 'privation', just as 'positives' and 'privatives'
|
| 1097 |
+
themselves are opposite. There is the same type of antithesis in both
|
| 1098 |
+
cases; for just as blindness is opposed to sight, so is being blind
|
| 1099 |
+
opposed to having sight.
|
| 1100 |
+
|
| 1101 |
+
That which is affirmed or denied is not itself affirmation or denial.
|
| 1102 |
+
By 'affirmation' we mean an affirmative proposition, by 'denial' a
|
| 1103 |
+
negative. Now, those facts which form the matter of the affirmation or
|
| 1104 |
+
denial are not propositions; yet these two are said to be opposed in
|
| 1105 |
+
the same sense as the affirmation and denial, for in this case also the
|
| 1106 |
+
type of antithesis is the same. For as the affirmation is opposed to
|
| 1107 |
+
the denial, as in the two propositions 'he sits', 'he does not sit', so
|
| 1108 |
+
also the fact which constitutes the matter of the proposition in one
|
| 1109 |
+
case is opposed to that in the other, his sitting, that is to say, to
|
| 1110 |
+
his not sitting.
|
| 1111 |
+
|
| 1112 |
+
It is evident that 'positives' and 'privatives' are not opposed each to
|
| 1113 |
+
each in the same sense as relatives. The one is not explained by
|
| 1114 |
+
reference to the other; sight is not sight of blindness, nor is any
|
| 1115 |
+
other preposition used to indicate the relation. Similarly blindness is
|
| 1116 |
+
not said to be blindness of sight, but rather, privation of sight.
|
| 1117 |
+
Relatives, moreover, reciprocate; if blindness, therefore, were a
|
| 1118 |
+
relative, there would be a reciprocity of relation between it and that
|
| 1119 |
+
with which it was correlative. But this is not the case. Sight is not
|
| 1120 |
+
called the sight of blindness.
|
| 1121 |
+
|
| 1122 |
+
That those terms which fall under the heads of 'positives' and
|
| 1123 |
+
'privatives' are not opposed each to each as contraries, either, is
|
| 1124 |
+
plain from the following facts: Of a pair of contraries such that they
|
| 1125 |
+
have no intermediate, one or the other must needs be present in the
|
| 1126 |
+
subject in which they naturally subsist, or of which they are
|
| 1127 |
+
predicated; for it is those, as we proved, in the case of which this
|
| 1128 |
+
necessity obtains, that have no intermediate. Moreover, we cited health
|
| 1129 |
+
and disease, odd and even, as instances. But those contraries which
|
| 1130 |
+
have an intermediate are not subject to any such necessity. It is not
|
| 1131 |
+
necessary that every substance, receptive of such qualities, should be
|
| 1132 |
+
either black or white, cold or hot, for something intermediate between
|
| 1133 |
+
these contraries may very well be present in the subject. We proved,
|
| 1134 |
+
moreover, that those contraries have an intermediate in the case of
|
| 1135 |
+
which the said necessity does not obtain. Yet when one of the two
|
| 1136 |
+
contraries is a constitutive property of the subject, as it is a
|
| 1137 |
+
constitutive property of fire to be hot, of snow to be white, it is
|
| 1138 |
+
necessary determinately that one of the two contraries, not one or the
|
| 1139 |
+
other, should be present in the subject; for fire cannot be cold, or
|
| 1140 |
+
snow black. Thus, it is not the case here that one of the two must
|
| 1141 |
+
needs be present in every subject receptive of these qualities, but
|
| 1142 |
+
only in that subject of which the one forms a constitutive property.
|
| 1143 |
+
Moreover, in such cases it is one member of the pair determinately, and
|
| 1144 |
+
not either the one or the other, which must be present.
|
| 1145 |
+
|
| 1146 |
+
In the case of 'positives' and 'privatives', on the other hand, neither
|
| 1147 |
+
of the aforesaid statements holds good. For it is not necessary that a
|
| 1148 |
+
subject receptive of the qualities should always have either the one or
|
| 1149 |
+
the other; that which has not yet advanced to the state when sight is
|
| 1150 |
+
natural is not said either to be blind or to see. Thus 'positives' and
|
| 1151 |
+
'privatives' do not belong to that class of contraries which consists
|
| 1152 |
+
of those which have no intermediate. On the other hand, they do not
|
| 1153 |
+
belong either to that class which consists of contraries which have an
|
| 1154 |
+
intermediate. For under certain conditions it is necessary that either
|
| 1155 |
+
the one or the other should form part of the constitution of every
|
| 1156 |
+
appropriate subject. For when a thing has reached the stage when it is
|
| 1157 |
+
by nature capable of sight, it will be said either to see or to be
|
| 1158 |
+
blind, and that in an indeterminate sense, signifying that the capacity
|
| 1159 |
+
may be either present or absent; for it is not necessary either that it
|
| 1160 |
+
should see or that it should be blind, but that it should be either in
|
| 1161 |
+
the one state or in the other. Yet in the case of those contraries
|
| 1162 |
+
which have an intermediate we found that it was never necessary that
|
| 1163 |
+
either the one or the other should be present in every appropriate
|
| 1164 |
+
subject, but only that in certain subjects one of the pair should be
|
| 1165 |
+
present, and that in a determinate sense. It is, therefore, plain that
|
| 1166 |
+
'positives' and 'privatives' are not opposed each to each in either of
|
| 1167 |
+
the senses in which contraries are opposed.
|
| 1168 |
+
|
| 1169 |
+
Again, in the case of contraries, it is possible that there should be
|
| 1170 |
+
changes from either into the other, while the subject retains its
|
| 1171 |
+
identity, unless indeed one of the contraries is a constitutive
|
| 1172 |
+
property of that subject, as heat is of fire. For it is possible that
|
| 1173 |
+
that that which is healthy should become diseased, that which is white,
|
| 1174 |
+
black, that which is cold, hot, that which is good, bad, that which is
|
| 1175 |
+
bad, good. The bad man, if he is being brought into a better way of
|
| 1176 |
+
life and thought, may make some advance, however slight, and if he
|
| 1177 |
+
should once improve, even ever so little, it is plain that he might
|
| 1178 |
+
change completely, or at any rate make very great progress; for a man
|
| 1179 |
+
becomes more and more easily moved to virtue, however small the
|
| 1180 |
+
improvement was at first. It is, therefore, natural to suppose that he
|
| 1181 |
+
will make yet greater progress than he has made in the past; and as
|
| 1182 |
+
this process goes on, it will change him completely and establish him
|
| 1183 |
+
in the contrary state, provided he is not hindered by lack of time. In
|
| 1184 |
+
the case of 'positives' and 'privatives', however, change in both
|
| 1185 |
+
directions is impossible. There may be a change from possession to
|
| 1186 |
+
privation, but not from privation to possession. The man who has become
|
| 1187 |
+
blind does not regain his sight; the man who has become bald does not
|
| 1188 |
+
regain his hair; the man who has lost his teeth does not grow a new
|
| 1189 |
+
set.
|
| 1190 |
+
|
| 1191 |
+
(iv) Statements opposed as affirmation and negation belong
|
| 1192 |
+
manifestly to a class which is distinct, for in this case, and in this
|
| 1193 |
+
case only, it is necessary for the one opposite to be true and the
|
| 1194 |
+
other false.
|
| 1195 |
+
|
| 1196 |
+
Neither in the case of contraries, nor in the case of correlatives, nor
|
| 1197 |
+
in the case of 'positives' and 'privatives', is it necessary for one to
|
| 1198 |
+
be true and the other false. Health and disease are contraries: neither
|
| 1199 |
+
of them is true or false. 'Double' and 'half' are opposed to each other
|
| 1200 |
+
as correlatives: neither of them is true or false. The case is the
|
| 1201 |
+
same, of course, with regard to 'positives' and 'privatives' such as
|
| 1202 |
+
'sight' and 'blindness'. In short, where there is no sort of
|
| 1203 |
+
combination of words, truth and falsity have no place, and all the
|
| 1204 |
+
opposites we have mentioned so far consist of simple words.
|
| 1205 |
+
|
| 1206 |
+
At the same time, when the words which enter into opposed statements
|
| 1207 |
+
are contraries, these, more than any other set of opposites, would seem
|
| 1208 |
+
to claim this characteristic. 'Socrates is ill' is the contrary of
|
| 1209 |
+
'Socrates is well', but not even of such composite expressions is it
|
| 1210 |
+
true to say that one of the pair must always be true and the other
|
| 1211 |
+
false. For if Socrates exists, one will be true and the other false,
|
| 1212 |
+
but if he does not exist, both will be false; for neither 'Socrates is
|
| 1213 |
+
ill' nor 'Socrates is well' is true, if Socrates does not exist at all.
|
| 1214 |
+
|
| 1215 |
+
In the case of 'positives' and 'privatives', if the subject does not
|
| 1216 |
+
exist at all, neither proposition is true, but even if the subject
|
| 1217 |
+
exists, it is not always the fact that one is true and the other false.
|
| 1218 |
+
For 'Socrates has sight' is the opposite of 'Socrates is blind' in the
|
| 1219 |
+
sense of the word 'opposite' which applies to possession and privation.
|
| 1220 |
+
Now if Socrates exists, it is not necessary that one should be true and
|
| 1221 |
+
the other false, for when he is not yet able to acquire the power of
|
| 1222 |
+
vision, both are false, as also if Socrates is altogether non-existent.
|
| 1223 |
+
|
| 1224 |
+
But in the case of affirmation and negation, whether the subject exists
|
| 1225 |
+
or not, one is always false and the other true. For manifestly, if
|
| 1226 |
+
Socrates exists, one of the two propositions 'Socrates is ill',
|
| 1227 |
+
'Socrates is not ill', is true, and the other false. This is likewise
|
| 1228 |
+
the case if he does not exist; for if he does not exist, to say that he
|
| 1229 |
+
is ill is false, to say that he is not ill is true. Thus it is in the
|
| 1230 |
+
case of those opposites only, which are opposite in the sense in which
|
| 1231 |
+
the term is used with reference to affirmation and negation, that the
|
| 1232 |
+
rule holds good, that one of the pair must be true and the other false.
|
| 1233 |
+
|
| 1234 |
+
Part 11
|
| 1235 |
+
|
| 1236 |
+
That the contrary of a good is an evil is shown by induction: the
|
| 1237 |
+
contrary of health is disease, of courage, cowardice, and so on. But
|
| 1238 |
+
the contrary of an evil is sometimes a good, sometimes an evil. For
|
| 1239 |
+
defect, which is an evil, has excess for its contrary, this also being
|
| 1240 |
+
an evil, and the mean, which is a good, is equally the contrary of the
|
| 1241 |
+
one and of the other. It is only in a few cases, however, that we see
|
| 1242 |
+
instances of this: in most, the contrary of an evil is a good.
|
| 1243 |
+
|
| 1244 |
+
In the case of contraries, it is not always necessary that if one
|
| 1245 |
+
exists the other should also exist: for if all become healthy there
|
| 1246 |
+
will be health and no disease, and again, if everything turns white,
|
| 1247 |
+
there will be white, but no black. Again, since the fact that Socrates
|
| 1248 |
+
is ill is the contrary of the fact that Socrates is well, and two
|
| 1249 |
+
contrary conditions cannot both obtain in one and the same individual
|
| 1250 |
+
at the same time, both these contraries could not exist at once: for if
|
| 1251 |
+
that Socrates was well was a fact, then that Socrates was ill could not
|
| 1252 |
+
possibly be one.
|
| 1253 |
+
|
| 1254 |
+
It is plain that contrary attributes must needs be present in subjects
|
| 1255 |
+
which belong to the same species or genus. Disease and health require
|
| 1256 |
+
as their subject the body of an animal; white and black require a body,
|
| 1257 |
+
without further qualification; justice and injustice require as their
|
| 1258 |
+
subject the human soul.
|
| 1259 |
+
|
| 1260 |
+
Moreover, it is necessary that pairs of contraries should in all cases
|
| 1261 |
+
either belong to the same genus or belong to contrary genera or be
|
| 1262 |
+
themselves genera. White and black belong to the same genus, colour;
|
| 1263 |
+
justice and injustice, to contrary genera, virtue and vice; while good
|
| 1264 |
+
and evil do not belong to genera, but are themselves actual genera,
|
| 1265 |
+
with terms under them.
|
| 1266 |
+
|
| 1267 |
+
Part 12
|
| 1268 |
+
|
| 1269 |
+
There are four senses in which one thing can be said to be 'prior' to
|
| 1270 |
+
another. Primarily and most properly the term has reference to time: in
|
| 1271 |
+
this sense the word is used to indicate that one thing is older or more
|
| 1272 |
+
ancient than another, for the expressions 'older' and 'more ancient'
|
| 1273 |
+
imply greater length of time.
|
| 1274 |
+
|
| 1275 |
+
Secondly, one thing is said to be 'prior' to another when the sequence
|
| 1276 |
+
of their being cannot be reversed. In this sense 'one' is 'prior' to
|
| 1277 |
+
'two'. For if 'two' exists, it follows directly that 'one' must exist,
|
| 1278 |
+
but if 'one' exists, it does not follow necessarily that 'two' exists:
|
| 1279 |
+
thus the sequence subsisting cannot be reversed. It is agreed, then,
|
| 1280 |
+
that when the sequence of two things cannot be reversed, then that one
|
| 1281 |
+
on which the other depends is called 'prior' to that other.
|
| 1282 |
+
|
| 1283 |
+
In the third place, the term 'prior' is used with reference to any
|
| 1284 |
+
order, as in the case of science and of oratory. For in sciences which
|
| 1285 |
+
use demonstration there is that which is prior and that which is
|
| 1286 |
+
posterior in order; in geometry, the elements are prior to the
|
| 1287 |
+
propositions; in reading and writing, the letters of the alphabet are
|
| 1288 |
+
prior to the syllables. Similarly, in the case of speeches, the
|
| 1289 |
+
exordium is prior in order to the narrative.
|
| 1290 |
+
|
| 1291 |
+
Besides these senses of the word, there is a fourth. That which is
|
| 1292 |
+
better and more honourable is said to have a natural priority. In
|
| 1293 |
+
common parlance men speak of those whom they honour and love as 'coming
|
| 1294 |
+
first' with them. This sense of the word is perhaps the most
|
| 1295 |
+
far-fetched.
|
| 1296 |
+
|
| 1297 |
+
Such, then, are the different senses in which the term 'prior' is used.
|
| 1298 |
+
|
| 1299 |
+
Yet it would seem that besides those mentioned there is yet another.
|
| 1300 |
+
For in those things, the being of each of which implies that of the
|
| 1301 |
+
other, that which is in any way the cause may reasonably be said to be
|
| 1302 |
+
by nature 'prior' to the effect. It is plain that there are instances
|
| 1303 |
+
of this. The fact of the being of a man carries with it the truth of
|
| 1304 |
+
the proposition that he is, and the implication is reciprocal: for if a
|
| 1305 |
+
man is, the proposition wherein we allege that he is true, and
|
| 1306 |
+
conversely, if the proposition wherein we allege that he is true, then
|
| 1307 |
+
he is. The true proposition, however, is in no way the cause of the
|
| 1308 |
+
being of the man, but the fact of the man's being does seem somehow to
|
| 1309 |
+
be the cause of the truth of the proposition, for the truth or falsity
|
| 1310 |
+
of the proposition depends on the fact of the man's being or not being.
|
| 1311 |
+
|
| 1312 |
+
Thus the word 'prior' may be used in five senses.
|
| 1313 |
+
|
| 1314 |
+
Part 13
|
| 1315 |
+
|
| 1316 |
+
The term 'simultaneous' is primarily and most appropriately applied to
|
| 1317 |
+
those things the genesis of the one of which is simultaneous with that
|
| 1318 |
+
of the other; for in such cases neither is prior or posterior to the
|
| 1319 |
+
other. Such things are said to be simultaneous in point of time. Those
|
| 1320 |
+
things, again, are 'simultaneous' in point of nature, the being of each
|
| 1321 |
+
of which involves that of the other, while at the same time neither is
|
| 1322 |
+
the cause of the other's being. This is the case with regard to the
|
| 1323 |
+
double and the half, for these are reciprocally dependent, since, if
|
| 1324 |
+
there is a double, there is also a half, and if there is a half, there
|
| 1325 |
+
is also a double, while at the same time neither is the cause of the
|
| 1326 |
+
being of the other.
|
| 1327 |
+
|
| 1328 |
+
Again, those species which are distinguished one from another and
|
| 1329 |
+
opposed one to another within the same genus are said to be
|
| 1330 |
+
'simultaneous' in nature. I mean those species which are distinguished
|
| 1331 |
+
each from each by one and the same method of division. Thus the
|
| 1332 |
+
'winged' species is simultaneous with the 'terrestrial' and the 'water'
|
| 1333 |
+
species. These are distinguished within the same genus, and are opposed
|
| 1334 |
+
each to each, for the genus 'animal' has the 'winged', the
|
| 1335 |
+
'terrestrial', and the 'water' species, and no one of these is prior or
|
| 1336 |
+
posterior to another; on the contrary, all such things appear to be
|
| 1337 |
+
'simultaneous' in nature. Each of these also, the terrestrial, the
|
| 1338 |
+
winged, and the water species, can be divided again into subspecies.
|
| 1339 |
+
Those species, then, also will be 'simultaneous' in point of nature,
|
| 1340 |
+
which, belonging to the same genus, are distinguished each from each by
|
| 1341 |
+
one and the same method of differentiation.
|
| 1342 |
+
|
| 1343 |
+
But genera are prior to species, for the sequence of their being cannot
|
| 1344 |
+
be reversed. If there is the species 'water-animal', there will be the
|
| 1345 |
+
genus 'animal', but granted the being of the genus 'animal', it does
|
| 1346 |
+
not follow necessarily that there will be the species 'water-animal'.
|
| 1347 |
+
|
| 1348 |
+
Those things, therefore, are said to be 'simultaneous' in nature, the
|
| 1349 |
+
being of each of which involves that of the other, while at the same
|
| 1350 |
+
time neither is in any way the cause of the other's being; those
|
| 1351 |
+
species, also, which are distinguished each from each and opposed
|
| 1352 |
+
within the same genus. Those things, moreover, are 'simultaneous' in
|
| 1353 |
+
the unqualified sense of the word which come into being at the same
|
| 1354 |
+
time.
|
| 1355 |
+
|
| 1356 |
+
Part 14
|
| 1357 |
+
|
| 1358 |
+
There are six sorts of movement: generation, destruction, increase,
|
| 1359 |
+
diminution, alteration, and change of place.
|
| 1360 |
+
|
| 1361 |
+
It is evident in all but one case that all these sorts of movement are
|
| 1362 |
+
distinct each from each. Generation is distinct from destruction,
|
| 1363 |
+
increase and change of place from diminution, and so on. But in the
|
| 1364 |
+
case of alteration it may be argued that the process necessarily
|
| 1365 |
+
implies one or other of the other five sorts of motion. This is not
|
| 1366 |
+
true, for we may say that all affections, or nearly all, produce in us
|
| 1367 |
+
an alteration which is distinct from all other sorts of motion, for
|
| 1368 |
+
that which is affected need not suffer either increase or diminution or
|
| 1369 |
+
any of the other sorts of motion. Thus alteration is a distinct sort of
|
| 1370 |
+
motion; for, if it were not, the thing altered would not only be
|
| 1371 |
+
altered, but would forthwith necessarily suffer increase or diminution
|
| 1372 |
+
or some one of the other sorts of motion in addition; which as a matter
|
| 1373 |
+
of fact is not the case. Similarly that which was undergoing the
|
| 1374 |
+
process of increase or was subject to some other sort of motion would,
|
| 1375 |
+
if alteration were not a distinct form of motion, necessarily be
|
| 1376 |
+
subject to alteration also. But there are some things which undergo
|
| 1377 |
+
increase but yet not alteration. The square, for instance, if a gnomon
|
| 1378 |
+
is applied to it, undergoes increase but not alteration, and so it is
|
| 1379 |
+
with all other figures of this sort. Alteration and increase,
|
| 1380 |
+
therefore, are distinct.
|
| 1381 |
+
|
| 1382 |
+
Speaking generally, rest is the contrary of motion. But the different
|
| 1383 |
+
forms of motion have their own contraries in other forms; thus
|
| 1384 |
+
destruction is the contrary of generation, diminution of increase, rest
|
| 1385 |
+
in a place, of change of place. As for this last, change in the reverse
|
| 1386 |
+
direction would seem to be most truly its contrary; thus motion upwards
|
| 1387 |
+
is the contrary of motion downwards and vice versa.
|
| 1388 |
+
|
| 1389 |
+
In the case of that sort of motion which yet remains, of those that
|
| 1390 |
+
have been enumerated, it is not easy to state what is its contrary. It
|
| 1391 |
+
appears to have no contrary, unless one should define the contrary here
|
| 1392 |
+
also either as 'rest in its quality' or as 'change in the direction of
|
| 1393 |
+
the contrary quality', just as we defined the contrary of change of
|
| 1394 |
+
place either as rest in a place or as change in the reverse direction.
|
| 1395 |
+
For a thing is altered when change of quality takes place; therefore
|
| 1396 |
+
either rest in its quality or change in the direction of the contrary
|
| 1397 |
+
may be called the contrary of this qualitative form of motion. In this
|
| 1398 |
+
way becoming white is the contrary of becoming black; there is
|
| 1399 |
+
alteration in the contrary direction, since a change of a qualitative
|
| 1400 |
+
nature takes place.
|
| 1401 |
+
|
| 1402 |
+
Part 15
|
| 1403 |
+
|
| 1404 |
+
The term 'to have' is used in various senses. In the first place it is
|
| 1405 |
+
used with reference to habit or disposition or any other quality, for
|
| 1406 |
+
we are said to 'have' a piece of knowledge or a virtue. Then, again, it
|
| 1407 |
+
has reference to quantity, as, for instance, in the case of a man's
|
| 1408 |
+
height; for he is said to 'have' a height of three or four cubits. It
|
| 1409 |
+
is used, moreover, with regard to apparel, a man being said to 'have' a
|
| 1410 |
+
coat or tunic; or in respect of something which we have on a part of
|
| 1411 |
+
ourselves, as a ring on the hand: or in respect of something which is a
|
| 1412 |
+
part of us, as hand or foot. The term refers also to content, as in the
|
| 1413 |
+
case of a vessel and wheat, or of a jar and wine; a jar is said to
|
| 1414 |
+
'have' wine, and a corn-measure wheat. The expression in such cases has
|
| 1415 |
+
reference to content. Or it refers to that which has been acquired; we
|
| 1416 |
+
are said to 'have' a house or a field. A man is also said to 'have' a
|
| 1417 |
+
wife, and a wife a husband, and this appears to be the most remote
|
| 1418 |
+
meaning of the term, for by the use of it we mean simply that the
|
| 1419 |
+
husband lives with the wife.
|
| 1420 |
+
|
| 1421 |
+
Other senses of the word might perhaps be found, but the most ordinary
|
| 1422 |
+
ones have all been enumerated.
|
data/aristotle_ethics.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_generation.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_heavens.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_metaphysics.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_physics.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_poetics.txt
ADDED
|
@@ -0,0 +1,1508 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
+
Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer
|
| 2 |
+
|
| 3 |
+
THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE
|
| 4 |
+
|
| 5 |
+
By Aristotle
|
| 6 |
+
|
| 7 |
+
A Translation By S. H. Butcher
|
| 8 |
+
|
| 9 |
+
[Transcriber's Annotations and Conventions: the translator left
|
| 10 |
+
intact some Greek words to illustrate a specific point of the original
|
| 11 |
+
discourse. In this transcription, in order to retain the accuracy of
|
| 12 |
+
this text, those words are rendered by spelling out each Greek letter
|
| 13 |
+
individually, such as {alpha beta gamma delta...}. The reader can
|
| 14 |
+
distinguish these words by the enclosing braces {}. Where multiple
|
| 15 |
+
words occur together, they are separated by the "/" symbol for clarity.
|
| 16 |
+
Readers who do not speak or read the Greek language will usually neither
|
| 17 |
+
gain nor lose understanding by skipping over these passages. Those who
|
| 18 |
+
understand Greek, however, may gain a deeper insight to the original
|
| 19 |
+
meaning and distinctions expressed by Aristotle.]
|
| 20 |
+
|
| 21 |
+
Analysis of Contents
|
| 22 |
+
|
| 23 |
+
I 'Imitation' the common principle of the Arts of Poetry.
|
| 24 |
+
II The Objects of Imitation.
|
| 25 |
+
III The Manner of Imitation.
|
| 26 |
+
IV The Origin and Development of Poetry.
|
| 27 |
+
V Definition of the Ludicrous, and a brief sketch of the rise of
|
| 28 |
+
Comedy.
|
| 29 |
+
VI Definition of Tragedy.
|
| 30 |
+
VII The Plot must be a Whole.
|
| 31 |
+
VIII The Plot must be a Unity.
|
| 32 |
+
IX (Plot continued.) Dramatic Unity.
|
| 33 |
+
X (Plot continued.) Definitions of Simple and Complex Plots.
|
| 34 |
+
XI (Plot continued.) Reversal of the Situation, Recognition, and
|
| 35 |
+
Tragic or disastrous Incident defined and explained.
|
| 36 |
+
XII The 'quantitative parts' of Tragedy defined.
|
| 37 |
+
XIII (Plot continued.) What constitutes Tragic Action.
|
| 38 |
+
XIV (Plot continued.) The tragic emotions of pity and fear should
|
| 39 |
+
spring out of the Plot itself.
|
| 40 |
+
XV The element of Character in Tragedy.
|
| 41 |
+
XVI (Plot continued.) Recognition: its various kinds, with examples.
|
| 42 |
+
XVII Practical rules for the Tragic Poet.
|
| 43 |
+
XVIII Further rules for the Tragic Poet.
|
| 44 |
+
XIX Thought, or the Intellectual element, and Diction in Tragedy.
|
| 45 |
+
XX Diction, or Language in general.
|
| 46 |
+
XXI Poetic Diction.
|
| 47 |
+
XXII (Poetic Diction continued.) How Poetry combines elevation of
|
| 48 |
+
language with perspicuity.
|
| 49 |
+
XXIII Epic Poetry.
|
| 50 |
+
XXIV (Epic Poetry continued.) Further points of agreement with Tragedy.
|
| 51 |
+
XXV Critical Objections brought against Poetry, and the principles on
|
| 52 |
+
which they are to be answered.
|
| 53 |
+
XXVI A general estimate of the comparative worth of Epic Poetry and
|
| 54 |
+
Tragedy.
|
| 55 |
+
|
| 56 |
+
ARISTOTLE'S POETICS
|
| 57 |
+
|
| 58 |
+
I
|
| 59 |
+
|
| 60 |
+
I propose to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds, noting
|
| 61 |
+
the essential quality of each; to inquire into the structure of the plot
|
| 62 |
+
as requisite to a good poem; into the number and nature of the parts of
|
| 63 |
+
which a poem is composed; and similarly into whatever else falls within
|
| 64 |
+
the same inquiry. Following, then, the order of nature, let us begin
|
| 65 |
+
with the principles which come first.
|
| 66 |
+
|
| 67 |
+
Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic: poetry, and the
|
| 68 |
+
music of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all in
|
| 69 |
+
their general conception modes of imitation. They differ, however, from
|
| 70 |
+
one: another in three respects,--the medium, the objects, the manner or
|
| 71 |
+
mode of imitation, being in each case distinct.
|
| 72 |
+
|
| 73 |
+
For as there are persons who, by conscious art or mere habit, imitate
|
| 74 |
+
and represent various objects through the medium of colour and form, or
|
| 75 |
+
again by the voice; so in the arts above mentioned, taken as a whole,
|
| 76 |
+
the imitation is produced by rhythm, language, or 'harmony,' either
|
| 77 |
+
singly or combined.
|
| 78 |
+
|
| 79 |
+
Thus in the music of the flute and of the lyre, 'harmony' and rhythm
|
| 80 |
+
alone are employed; also in other arts, such as that of the shepherd's
|
| 81 |
+
pipe, which are essentially similar to these. In dancing, rhythm alone
|
| 82 |
+
is used without 'harmony'; for even dancing imitates character, emotion,
|
| 83 |
+
and action, by rhythmical movement.
|
| 84 |
+
|
| 85 |
+
There is another art which imitates by means of language alone, and
|
| 86 |
+
that either in prose or verse--which, verse, again, may either combine
|
| 87 |
+
different metres or consist of but one kind--but this has hitherto been
|
| 88 |
+
without a name. For there is no common term we could apply to the mimes
|
| 89 |
+
of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic dialogues on the one hand;
|
| 90 |
+
and, on the other, to poetic imitations in iambic, elegiac, or any
|
| 91 |
+
similar metre. People do, indeed, add the word 'maker' or 'poet' to
|
| 92 |
+
the name of the metre, and speak of elegiac poets, or epic (that is,
|
| 93 |
+
hexameter) poets, as if it were not the imitation that makes the poet,
|
| 94 |
+
but the verse that entitles them all indiscriminately to the name. Even
|
| 95 |
+
when a treatise on medicine or natural science is brought out in verse,
|
| 96 |
+
the name of poet is by custom given to the author; and yet Homer and
|
| 97 |
+
Empedocles have nothing in common but the metre, so that it would be
|
| 98 |
+
right to call the one poet, the other physicist rather than poet. On the
|
| 99 |
+
same principle, even if a writer in his poetic imitation were to combine
|
| 100 |
+
all metres, as Chaeremon did in his Centaur, which is a medley composed
|
| 101 |
+
of metres of all kinds, we should bring him too under the general term
|
| 102 |
+
poet. So much then for these distinctions.
|
| 103 |
+
|
| 104 |
+
There are, again, some arts which employ all the means above mentioned,
|
| 105 |
+
namely, rhythm, tune, and metre. Such are Dithyrambic and Nomic poetry,
|
| 106 |
+
and also Tragedy and Comedy; but between them the difference is, that in
|
| 107 |
+
the first two cases these means are all employed in combination, in the
|
| 108 |
+
latter, now one means is employed, now another.
|
| 109 |
+
|
| 110 |
+
Such, then, are the differences of the arts with respect to the medium
|
| 111 |
+
of imitation.
|
| 112 |
+
|
| 113 |
+
II
|
| 114 |
+
|
| 115 |
+
Since the objects of imitation are men in action, and these men must be
|
| 116 |
+
either of a higher or a lower type (for moral character mainly answers
|
| 117 |
+
to these divisions, goodness and badness being the distinguishing marks
|
| 118 |
+
of moral differences), it follows that we must represent men either as
|
| 119 |
+
better than in real life, or as worse, or as they are. It is the same
|
| 120 |
+
in painting. Polygnotus depicted men as nobler than they are, Pauson as
|
| 121 |
+
less noble, Dionysius drew them true to life.
|
| 122 |
+
|
| 123 |
+
Now it is evident that each of the modes of imitation above mentioned
|
| 124 |
+
will exhibit these differences, and become a distinct kind in imitating
|
| 125 |
+
objects that are thus distinct. Such diversities may be found even in
|
| 126 |
+
dancing, flute-playing, and lyre-playing. So again in language, whether
|
| 127 |
+
prose or verse unaccompanied by music. Homer, for example, makes men
|
| 128 |
+
better than they are; Cleophon as they are; Hegemon the Thasian, the
|
| 129 |
+
inventor of parodies, and Nicochares, the author of the Deiliad, worse
|
| 130 |
+
than they are. The same thing holds good of Dithyrambs and Nomes;
|
| 131 |
+
here too one may portray different types, as Timotheus and Philoxenus
|
| 132 |
+
differed in representing their Cyclopes. The same distinction marks
|
| 133 |
+
off Tragedy from Comedy; for Comedy aims at representing men as worse,
|
| 134 |
+
Tragedy as better than in actual life.
|
| 135 |
+
|
| 136 |
+
III
|
| 137 |
+
|
| 138 |
+
There is still a third difference--the manner in which each of these
|
| 139 |
+
objects may be imitated. For the medium being the same, and the objects
|
| 140 |
+
the same, the poet may imitate by narration--in which case he can either
|
| 141 |
+
take another personality as Homer does, or speak in his own person,
|
| 142 |
+
unchanged--or he may present all his characters as living and moving
|
| 143 |
+
before us.
|
| 144 |
+
|
| 145 |
+
These, then, as we said at the beginning, are the three differences
|
| 146 |
+
which distinguish artistic imitation,--the medium, the objects, and the
|
| 147 |
+
manner. So that from one point of view, Sophocles is an imitator of the
|
| 148 |
+
same kind as Homer--for both imitate higher types of character; from
|
| 149 |
+
another point of view, of the same kind as Aristophanes--for both
|
| 150 |
+
imitate persons acting and doing. Hence, some say, the name of 'drama'
|
| 151 |
+
is given to such poems, as representing action. For the same reason the
|
| 152 |
+
Dorians claim the invention both of Tragedy and Comedy. The claim to
|
| 153 |
+
Comedy is put forward by the Megarians,--not only by those of Greece
|
| 154 |
+
proper, who allege that it originated under their democracy, but also
|
| 155 |
+
by the Megarians of Sicily, for the poet Epicharmus, who is much earlier
|
| 156 |
+
than Chionides and Magnes, belonged to that country. Tragedy too is
|
| 157 |
+
claimed by certain Dorians of the Peloponnese. In each case they appeal
|
| 158 |
+
to the evidence of language. The outlying villages, they say, are by
|
| 159 |
+
them called {kappa omega mu alpha iota}, by the Athenians {delta eta
|
| 160 |
+
mu iota}: and they assume that Comedians were so named not from {kappa
|
| 161 |
+
omega mu 'alpha zeta epsilon iota nu}, 'to revel,' but because they
|
| 162 |
+
wandered from village to village (kappa alpha tau alpha / kappa omega mu
|
| 163 |
+
alpha sigma), being excluded contemptuously from the city. They add
|
| 164 |
+
also that the Dorian word for 'doing' is {delta rho alpha nu}, and the
|
| 165 |
+
Athenian, {pi rho alpha tau tau epsilon iota nu}.
|
| 166 |
+
|
| 167 |
+
This may suffice as to the number and nature of the various modes of
|
| 168 |
+
imitation.
|
| 169 |
+
|
| 170 |
+
IV
|
| 171 |
+
|
| 172 |
+
Poetry in general seems to have sprung from two causes, each of them
|
| 173 |
+
lying deep in our nature. First, the instinct of imitation is implanted
|
| 174 |
+
in man from childhood, one difference between him and other animals
|
| 175 |
+
being that he is the most imitative of living creatures, and through
|
| 176 |
+
imitation learns his earliest lessons; and no less universal is the
|
| 177 |
+
pleasure felt in things imitated. We have evidence of this in the facts
|
| 178 |
+
of experience. Objects which in themselves we view with pain, we delight
|
| 179 |
+
to contemplate when reproduced with minute fidelity: such as the forms
|
| 180 |
+
of the most ignoble animals and of dead bodies. The cause of this again
|
| 181 |
+
is, that to learn gives the liveliest pleasure, not only to philosophers
|
| 182 |
+
but to men in general; whose capacity, however, of learning is more
|
| 183 |
+
limited. Thus the reason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in
|
| 184 |
+
contemplating it they find themselves learning or inferring, and saying
|
| 185 |
+
perhaps, 'Ah, that is he.' For if you happen not to have seen the
|
| 186 |
+
original, the pleasure will be due not to the imitation as such, but to
|
| 187 |
+
the execution, the colouring, or some such other cause.
|
| 188 |
+
|
| 189 |
+
Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the
|
| 190 |
+
instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, metres being manifestly sections of
|
| 191 |
+
rhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural gift developed
|
| 192 |
+
by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave
|
| 193 |
+
birth to Poetry.
|
| 194 |
+
|
| 195 |
+
Poetry now diverged in two directions, according to the individual
|
| 196 |
+
character of the writers. The graver spirits imitated noble actions, and
|
| 197 |
+
the actions of good men. The more trivial sort imitated the actions of
|
| 198 |
+
meaner persons, at first composing satires, as the former did hymns to
|
| 199 |
+
the gods and the praises of famous men. A poem of the satirical kind
|
| 200 |
+
cannot indeed be put down to any author earlier than Homer; though many
|
| 201 |
+
such writers probably there were. But from Homer onward, instances
|
| 202 |
+
can be cited,--his own Margites, for example, and other similar
|
| 203 |
+
compositions. The appropriate metre was also here introduced; hence the
|
| 204 |
+
measure is still called the iambic or lampooning measure, being that
|
| 205 |
+
in which people lampooned one another. Thus the older poets were
|
| 206 |
+
distinguished as writers of heroic or of lampooning verse.
|
| 207 |
+
|
| 208 |
+
As, in the serious style, Homer is pre-eminent among poets, for he alone
|
| 209 |
+
combined dramatic form with excellence of imitation, so he too first
|
| 210 |
+
laid down the main lines of Comedy, by dramatising the ludicrous instead
|
| 211 |
+
of writing personal satire. His Margites bears the same relation to
|
| 212 |
+
Comedy that the Iliad and Odyssey do to Tragedy. But when Tragedy and
|
| 213 |
+
Comedy came to light, the two classes of poets still followed their
|
| 214 |
+
natural bent: the lampooners became writers of Comedy, and the Epic
|
| 215 |
+
poets were succeeded by Tragedians, since the drama was a larger and
|
| 216 |
+
higher form of art.
|
| 217 |
+
|
| 218 |
+
Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper types or not; and
|
| 219 |
+
whether it is to be judged in itself, or in relation also to the
|
| 220 |
+
audience,--this raises another question. Be that as it may, Tragedy--as
|
| 221 |
+
also Comedy--was at first mere improvisation. The one originated with
|
| 222 |
+
the authors of the Dithyramb, the other with those of the phallic songs,
|
| 223 |
+
which are still in use in many of our cities. Tragedy advanced by slow
|
| 224 |
+
degrees; each new element that showed itself was in turn developed.
|
| 225 |
+
Having passed through many changes, it found its natural form, and there
|
| 226 |
+
it stopped.
|
| 227 |
+
|
| 228 |
+
Aeschylus first introduced a second actor; he diminished the importance
|
| 229 |
+
of the Chorus, and assigned the leading part to the dialogue. Sophocles
|
| 230 |
+
raised the number of actors to three, and added scene-painting.
|
| 231 |
+
Moreover, it was not till late that the short plot was discarded for
|
| 232 |
+
one of greater compass, and the grotesque diction of the earlier satyric
|
| 233 |
+
form for the stately manner of Tragedy. The iambic measure then replaced
|
| 234 |
+
the trochaic tetrameter, which was originally employed when the poetry
|
| 235 |
+
was of the Satyric order, and had greater affinities with dancing. Once
|
| 236 |
+
dialogue had come in, Nature herself discovered the appropriate measure.
|
| 237 |
+
For the iambic is, of all measures, the most colloquial: we see it
|
| 238 |
+
in the fact that conversational speech runs into iambic lines more
|
| 239 |
+
frequently than into any other kind of verse; rarely into hexameters,
|
| 240 |
+
and only when we drop the colloquial intonation. The additions to
|
| 241 |
+
the number of 'episodes' or acts, and the other accessories of which
|
| 242 |
+
tradition; tells, must be taken as already described; for to discuss
|
| 243 |
+
them in detail would, doubtless, be a large undertaking.
|
| 244 |
+
|
| 245 |
+
V
|
| 246 |
+
|
| 247 |
+
Comedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters of a lower type,
|
| 248 |
+
not, however, in the full sense of the word bad, the Ludicrous being
|
| 249 |
+
merely a subdivision of the ugly. It consists in some defect or ugliness
|
| 250 |
+
which is not painful or destructive. To take an obvious example, the
|
| 251 |
+
comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does not imply pain.
|
| 252 |
+
|
| 253 |
+
The successive changes through which Tragedy passed, and the authors
|
| 254 |
+
of these changes, are well known, whereas Comedy has had no history,
|
| 255 |
+
because it was not at first treated seriously. It was late before the
|
| 256 |
+
Archon granted a comic chorus to a poet; the performers were till then
|
| 257 |
+
voluntary. Comedy had already taken definite shape when comic poets,
|
| 258 |
+
distinctively so called, are heard of. Who furnished it with masks, or
|
| 259 |
+
prologues, or increased the number of actors,--these and other similar
|
| 260 |
+
details remain unknown. As for the plot, it came originally from
|
| 261 |
+
Sicily; but of Athenian writers Crates was the first who, abandoning the
|
| 262 |
+
'iambic' or lampooning form, generalised his themes and plots.
|
| 263 |
+
|
| 264 |
+
Epic poetry agrees with Tragedy in so far as it is an imitation in verse
|
| 265 |
+
of characters of a higher type. They differ, in that Epic poetry admits
|
| 266 |
+
but one kind of metre, and is narrative in form. They differ, again,
|
| 267 |
+
in their length: for Tragedy endeavours, as far as possible, to confine
|
| 268 |
+
itself to a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed this
|
| 269 |
+
limit; whereas the Epic action has no limits of time. This, then, is
|
| 270 |
+
a second point of difference; though at first the same freedom was
|
| 271 |
+
admitted in Tragedy as in Epic poetry.
|
| 272 |
+
|
| 273 |
+
Of their constituent parts some are common to both, some peculiar to
|
| 274 |
+
Tragedy, whoever, therefore, knows what is good or bad Tragedy, knows
|
| 275 |
+
also about Epic poetry. All the elements of an Epic poem are found in
|
| 276 |
+
Tragedy, but the elements of a Tragedy are not all found in the Epic
|
| 277 |
+
poem.
|
| 278 |
+
|
| 279 |
+
VI
|
| 280 |
+
|
| 281 |
+
Of the poetry which imitates in hexameter verse, and of Comedy, we
|
| 282 |
+
will speak hereafter. Let us now discuss Tragedy, resuming its formal
|
| 283 |
+
definition, as resulting from what has been already said.
|
| 284 |
+
|
| 285 |
+
Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete,
|
| 286 |
+
and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of
|
| 287 |
+
artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of
|
| 288 |
+
the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and
|
| 289 |
+
fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions. By 'language
|
| 290 |
+
embellished,' I mean language into which rhythm, 'harmony,' and song
|
| 291 |
+
enter. By 'the several kinds in separate parts,' I mean, that some parts
|
| 292 |
+
are rendered through the medium of verse alone, others again with the
|
| 293 |
+
aid of song.
|
| 294 |
+
|
| 295 |
+
Now as tragic imitation implies persons acting, it necessarily follows,
|
| 296 |
+
in the first place, that Spectacular equipment will be a part of
|
| 297 |
+
Tragedy. Next, Song and Diction, for these are the medium of imitation.
|
| 298 |
+
By 'Diction' I mean the mere metrical arrangement of the words: as for
|
| 299 |
+
'Song,' it is a term whose sense every one understands.
|
| 300 |
+
|
| 301 |
+
Again, Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies
|
| 302 |
+
personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities
|
| 303 |
+
both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify
|
| 304 |
+
actions themselves, and these--thought and character--are the two
|
| 305 |
+
natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions again all
|
| 306 |
+
success or failure depends. Hence, the Plot is the imitation of the
|
| 307 |
+
action: for by plot I here mean the arrangement of the incidents. By
|
| 308 |
+
Character I mean that in virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to
|
| 309 |
+
the agents. Thought is required wherever a statement is proved, or, it
|
| 310 |
+
may be, a general truth enunciated. Every Tragedy, therefore, must have
|
| 311 |
+
six parts, which parts determine its quality--namely, Plot, Character,
|
| 312 |
+
Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Song. Two of the parts constitute the
|
| 313 |
+
medium of imitation, one the manner, and three the objects of imitation.
|
| 314 |
+
And these complete the list. These elements have been employed, we may
|
| 315 |
+
say, by the poets to a man; in fact, every play contains Spectacular
|
| 316 |
+
elements as well as Character, Plot, Diction, Song, and Thought.
|
| 317 |
+
|
| 318 |
+
But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For Tragedy
|
| 319 |
+
is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and life
|
| 320 |
+
consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality. Now
|
| 321 |
+
character determines men's qualities, but it is by their actions that
|
| 322 |
+
they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with
|
| 323 |
+
a view to the representation of character: character comes in as
|
| 324 |
+
subsidiary to the actions. Hence the incidents and the plot are the
|
| 325 |
+
end of a tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. Again, without
|
| 326 |
+
action there cannot be a tragedy; there may be without character.
|
| 327 |
+
The tragedies of most of our modern poets fail in the rendering of
|
| 328 |
+
character; and of poets in general this is often true. It is the same
|
| 329 |
+
in painting; and here lies the difference between Zeuxis and Polygnotus.
|
| 330 |
+
Polygnotus delineates character well: the style of Zeuxis is devoid
|
| 331 |
+
of ethical quality. Again, if you string together a set of speeches
|
| 332 |
+
expressive of character, and well finished in point of diction and
|
| 333 |
+
thought, you will not produce the essential tragic effect nearly so well
|
| 334 |
+
as with a play which, however deficient in these respects, yet has a
|
| 335 |
+
plot and artistically constructed incidents. Besides which, the most
|
| 336 |
+
powerful elements of emotional: interest in Tragedy Peripeteia or
|
| 337 |
+
Reversal of the Situation, and Recognition scenes--are parts of the
|
| 338 |
+
plot. A further proof is, that novices in the art attain to finish: of
|
| 339 |
+
diction and precision of portraiture before they can construct the plot.
|
| 340 |
+
It is the same with almost all the early poets.
|
| 341 |
+
|
| 342 |
+
The Plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of
|
| 343 |
+
a tragedy: Character holds the second place. A similar fact is seen in
|
| 344 |
+
painting. The most beautiful colours, laid on confusedly, will not give
|
| 345 |
+
as much pleasure as the chalk outline of a portrait. Thus Tragedy is
|
| 346 |
+
the imitation of an action, and of the agents mainly with a view to the
|
| 347 |
+
action.
|
| 348 |
+
|
| 349 |
+
Third in order is Thought,--that is, the faculty of saying what is
|
| 350 |
+
possible and pertinent in given circumstances. In the case of oratory,
|
| 351 |
+
this is the function of the Political art and of the art of rhetoric:
|
| 352 |
+
and so indeed the older poets make their characters speak the language
|
| 353 |
+
of civic life; the poets of our time, the language of the rhetoricians.
|
| 354 |
+
Character is that which reveals moral purpose, showing what kind of
|
| 355 |
+
things a man chooses or avoids. Speeches, therefore, which do not make
|
| 356 |
+
this manifest, or in which the speaker does not choose or avoid anything
|
| 357 |
+
whatever, are not expressive of character. Thought, on the other hand,
|
| 358 |
+
is found where something is proved to be, or not to be, or a general
|
| 359 |
+
maxim is enunciated.
|
| 360 |
+
|
| 361 |
+
Fourth among the elements enumerated comes Diction; by which I mean, as
|
| 362 |
+
has been already said, the expression of the meaning in words; and its
|
| 363 |
+
essence is the same both in verse and prose.
|
| 364 |
+
|
| 365 |
+
Of the remaining elements Song holds the chief place among the
|
| 366 |
+
embellishments.
|
| 367 |
+
|
| 368 |
+
The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of
|
| 369 |
+
all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the
|
| 370 |
+
art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt
|
| 371 |
+
even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of
|
| 372 |
+
spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than
|
| 373 |
+
on that of the poet.
|
| 374 |
+
|
| 375 |
+
VII
|
| 376 |
+
|
| 377 |
+
These principles being established, let us now discuss the proper
|
| 378 |
+
structure of the Plot, since this is the first and most important thing
|
| 379 |
+
in Tragedy.
|
| 380 |
+
|
| 381 |
+
Now, according to our definition, Tragedy is an imitation of an action
|
| 382 |
+
that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude; for there may
|
| 383 |
+
be a whole that is wanting in magnitude. A whole is that which has a
|
| 384 |
+
beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that which does not
|
| 385 |
+
itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something
|
| 386 |
+
naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which
|
| 387 |
+
itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as
|
| 388 |
+
a rule, but has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows
|
| 389 |
+
something as some other thing follows it. A well constructed plot,
|
| 390 |
+
therefore, must neither begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to these
|
| 391 |
+
principles.
|
| 392 |
+
|
| 393 |
+
Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a living organism or any whole
|
| 394 |
+
composed of parts, must not only have an orderly arrangement of parts,
|
| 395 |
+
but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on magnitude
|
| 396 |
+
and order. Hence a very small animal organism cannot be beautiful;
|
| 397 |
+
for the view of it is confused, the object being seen in an almost
|
| 398 |
+
imperceptible moment of time. Nor, again, can one of vast size be
|
| 399 |
+
beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all in at once, the unity and
|
| 400 |
+
sense of the whole is lost for the spectator; as for instance if there
|
| 401 |
+
were one a thousand miles long. As, therefore, in the case of animate
|
| 402 |
+
bodies and organisms a certain magnitude is necessary, and a magnitude
|
| 403 |
+
which may be easily embraced in one view; so in the plot, a certain
|
| 404 |
+
length is necessary, and a length which can be easily embraced by the
|
| 405 |
+
memory. The limit of length in relation to dramatic competition and
|
| 406 |
+
sensuous presentment, is no part of artistic theory. For had it been the
|
| 407 |
+
rule for a hundred tragedies to compete together, the performance would
|
| 408 |
+
have been regulated by the water-clock,--as indeed we are told was
|
| 409 |
+
formerly done. But the limit as fixed by the nature of the drama itself
|
| 410 |
+
is this: the greater the length, the more beautiful will the piece be
|
| 411 |
+
by reason of its size, provided that the whole be perspicuous. And
|
| 412 |
+
to define the matter roughly, we may say that the proper magnitude is
|
| 413 |
+
comprised within such limits, that the sequence of events, according
|
| 414 |
+
to the law of probability or necessity, will admit of a change from bad
|
| 415 |
+
fortune to good, or from good fortune to bad.
|
| 416 |
+
|
| 417 |
+
VIII
|
| 418 |
+
|
| 419 |
+
Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist in the Unity of
|
| 420 |
+
the hero. For infinitely various are the incidents in one man's life
|
| 421 |
+
which cannot be reduced to unity; and so, too, there are many actions of
|
| 422 |
+
one man out of which we cannot make one action. Hence, the error, as it
|
| 423 |
+
appears, of all poets who have composed a Heracleid, a Theseid, or other
|
| 424 |
+
poems of the kind. They imagine that as Heracles was one man, the story
|
| 425 |
+
of Heracles must also be a unity. But Homer, as in all else he is of
|
| 426 |
+
surpassing merit, here too--whether from art or natural genius--seems
|
| 427 |
+
to have happily discerned the truth. In composing the Odyssey he did not
|
| 428 |
+
include all the adventures of Odysseus--such as his wound on Parnassus,
|
| 429 |
+
or his feigned madness at the mustering of the host--incidents between
|
| 430 |
+
which there was no necessary or probable connection: but he made the
|
| 431 |
+
Odyssey, and likewise the Iliad, to centre round an action that in our
|
| 432 |
+
sense of the word is one. As therefore, in the other imitative arts, the
|
| 433 |
+
imitation is one when the object imitated is one, so the plot, being an
|
| 434 |
+
imitation of an action, must imitate one action and that a whole, the
|
| 435 |
+
structural union of the parts being such that, if any one of them is
|
| 436 |
+
displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and disturbed. For a
|
| 437 |
+
thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference, is not an
|
| 438 |
+
organic part of the whole.
|
| 439 |
+
|
| 440 |
+
IX
|
| 441 |
+
|
| 442 |
+
It is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not
|
| 443 |
+
the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may
|
| 444 |
+
happen,--what is possible according to the law of probability or
|
| 445 |
+
necessity. The poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or
|
| 446 |
+
in prose. The work of Herodotus might be put into verse, and it would
|
| 447 |
+
still be a species of history, with metre no less than without it. The
|
| 448 |
+
true difference is that one relates what has happened, the other what
|
| 449 |
+
may happen. Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher
|
| 450 |
+
thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history
|
| 451 |
+
the particular. By the universal, I mean how a person of a certain type
|
| 452 |
+
will on occasion speak or act, according to the law of probability or
|
| 453 |
+
necessity; and it is this universality at which poetry aims in the names
|
| 454 |
+
she attaches to the personages. The particular is--for example--what
|
| 455 |
+
Alcibiades did or suffered. In Comedy this is already apparent: for here
|
| 456 |
+
the poet first constructs the plot on the lines of probability, and then
|
| 457 |
+
inserts characteristic names;--unlike the lampooners who write about
|
| 458 |
+
particular individuals. But tragedians still keep to real names, the
|
| 459 |
+
reason being that what is possible is credible: what has not happened
|
| 460 |
+
we do not at once feel sure to be possible: but what has happened is
|
| 461 |
+
manifestly possible: otherwise it would not have happened. Still there
|
| 462 |
+
are even some tragedies in which there are only one or two well known
|
| 463 |
+
names, the rest being fictitious. In others, none are well known, as in
|
| 464 |
+
Agathon's Antheus, where incidents and names alike are fictitious, and
|
| 465 |
+
yet they give none the less pleasure. We must not, therefore, at all
|
| 466 |
+
costs keep to the received legends, which are the usual subjects of
|
| 467 |
+
Tragedy. Indeed, it would be absurd to attempt it; for even subjects
|
| 468 |
+
that are known are known only to a few, and yet give pleasure to all.
|
| 469 |
+
It clearly follows that the poet or 'maker' should be the maker of plots
|
| 470 |
+
rather than of verses; since he is a poet because he imitates, and what
|
| 471 |
+
he imitates are actions. And even if he chances to take an historical
|
| 472 |
+
subject, he is none the less a poet; for there is no reason why some
|
| 473 |
+
events that have actually happened should not conform to the law of the
|
| 474 |
+
probable and possible, and in virtue of that quality in them he is their
|
| 475 |
+
poet or maker.
|
| 476 |
+
|
| 477 |
+
Of all plots and actions the epeisodic are the worst. I call a plot
|
| 478 |
+
'epeisodic' in which the episodes or acts succeed one another without
|
| 479 |
+
probable or necessary sequence. Bad poets compose such pieces by their
|
| 480 |
+
own fault, good poets, to please the players; for, as they write show
|
| 481 |
+
pieces for competition, they stretch the plot beyond its capacity, and
|
| 482 |
+
are often forced to break the natural continuity.
|
| 483 |
+
|
| 484 |
+
But again, Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of
|
| 485 |
+
events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced when the
|
| 486 |
+
events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the
|
| 487 |
+
same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic wonder will thee
|
| 488 |
+
be greater than if they happened of themselves or by accident; for even
|
| 489 |
+
coincidences are most striking when they have an air of design. We may
|
| 490 |
+
instance the statue of Mitys at Argos, which fell upon his murderer
|
| 491 |
+
while he was a spectator at a festival, and killed him. Such events seem
|
| 492 |
+
not to be due to mere chance. Plots, therefore, constructed on these
|
| 493 |
+
principles are necessarily the best.
|
| 494 |
+
|
| 495 |
+
X
|
| 496 |
+
|
| 497 |
+
Plots are either Simple or Complex, for the actions in real life, of
|
| 498 |
+
which the plots are an imitation, obviously show a similar distinction.
|
| 499 |
+
An action which is one and continuous in the sense above defined, I call
|
| 500 |
+
Simple, when the change of fortune takes place without Reversal of the
|
| 501 |
+
Situation and without Recognition.
|
| 502 |
+
|
| 503 |
+
A Complex action is one in which the change is accompanied by such
|
| 504 |
+
Reversal, or by Recognition, or by both. These last should arise from
|
| 505 |
+
the internal structure of the plot, so that what follows should be the
|
| 506 |
+
necessary or probable result of the preceding action. It makes all the
|
| 507 |
+
difference whether any given event is a case of propter hoc or post hoc.
|
| 508 |
+
|
| 509 |
+
XI
|
| 510 |
+
|
| 511 |
+
Reversal of the Situation is a change by which the action veers round
|
| 512 |
+
to its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability or necessity.
|
| 513 |
+
Thus in the Oedipus, the messenger comes to cheer Oedipus and free
|
| 514 |
+
him from his alarms about his mother, but by revealing who he is, he
|
| 515 |
+
produces the opposite effect. Again in the Lynceus, Lynceus is being led
|
| 516 |
+
away to his death, and Danaus goes with him, meaning, to slay him; but
|
| 517 |
+
the outcome of the preceding incidents is that Danaus is killed and
|
| 518 |
+
Lynceus saved. Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from
|
| 519 |
+
ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons
|
| 520 |
+
destined by the poet for good or bad fortune. The best form of
|
| 521 |
+
recognition is coincident with a Reversal of the Situation, as in the
|
| 522 |
+
Oedipus. There are indeed other forms. Even inanimate things of the most
|
| 523 |
+
trivial kind may in a sense be objects of recognition. Again, we may
|
| 524 |
+
recognise or discover whether a person has done a thing or not. But the
|
| 525 |
+
recognition which is most intimately connected with the plot and action
|
| 526 |
+
is, as we have said, the recognition of persons. This recognition,
|
| 527 |
+
combined, with Reversal, will produce either pity or fear; and actions
|
| 528 |
+
producing these effects are those which, by our definition, Tragedy
|
| 529 |
+
represents. Moreover, it is upon such situations that the issues of good
|
| 530 |
+
or bad fortune will depend. Recognition, then, being between persons,
|
| 531 |
+
it may happen that one person only is recognised by the other-when the
|
| 532 |
+
latter is already known--or it may be necessary that the recognition
|
| 533 |
+
should be on both sides. Thus Iphigenia is revealed to Orestes by the
|
| 534 |
+
sending of the letter; but another act of recognition is required to
|
| 535 |
+
make Orestes known to Iphigenia.
|
| 536 |
+
|
| 537 |
+
Two parts, then, of the Plot--Reversal of the Situation and
|
| 538 |
+
Recognition--turn upon surprises. A third part is the Scene of
|
| 539 |
+
Suffering. The Scene of Suffering is a destructive or painful action,
|
| 540 |
+
such as death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds and the like.
|
| 541 |
+
|
| 542 |
+
XII
|
| 543 |
+
|
| 544 |
+
[The parts of Tragedy which must be treated as elements of the whole
|
| 545 |
+
have been already mentioned. We now come to the quantitative parts,
|
| 546 |
+
and the separate parts into which Tragedy is divided, namely, Prologue,
|
| 547 |
+
Episode, Exode, Choric song; this last being divided into Parode and
|
| 548 |
+
Stasimon. These are common to all plays: peculiar to some are the songs
|
| 549 |
+
of actors from the stage and the Commoi.
|
| 550 |
+
|
| 551 |
+
The Prologue is that entire part of a tragedy which precedes the Parode
|
| 552 |
+
of the Chorus. The Episode is that entire part of a tragedy which
|
| 553 |
+
is between complete choric songs. The Exode is that entire part of a
|
| 554 |
+
tragedy which has no choric song after it. Of the Choric part the Parode
|
| 555 |
+
is the first undivided utterance of the Chorus: the Stasimon is a Choric
|
| 556 |
+
ode without anapaests or trochaic tetrameters: the Commos is a joint
|
| 557 |
+
lamentation of Chorus and actors. The parts of Tragedy which must
|
| 558 |
+
be treated as elements of the whole have been already mentioned. The
|
| 559 |
+
quantitative parts the separate parts into which it is divided--are here
|
| 560 |
+
enumerated.]
|
| 561 |
+
|
| 562 |
+
XIII
|
| 563 |
+
|
| 564 |
+
As the sequel to what has already been said, we must proceed to consider
|
| 565 |
+
what the poet should aim at, and what he should avoid, in constructing
|
| 566 |
+
his plots; and by what means the specific effect of Tragedy will be
|
| 567 |
+
produced.
|
| 568 |
+
|
| 569 |
+
A perfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged not on the simple
|
| 570 |
+
but on the complex plan. It should, moreover, imitate actions which
|
| 571 |
+
excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic
|
| 572 |
+
imitation. It follows plainly, in the first place, that the change, of
|
| 573 |
+
fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought
|
| 574 |
+
from prosperity to adversity: for this moves neither pity nor fear; it
|
| 575 |
+
merely shocks us. Nor, again, that of a bad man passing from adversity
|
| 576 |
+
to prosperity: for nothing can be more alien to the spirit of Tragedy;
|
| 577 |
+
it possesses no single tragic quality; it neither satisfies the moral
|
| 578 |
+
sense nor calls forth pity or fear. Nor, again, should the downfall of
|
| 579 |
+
the utter villain be exhibited. A plot of this kind would, doubtless,
|
| 580 |
+
satisfy the moral sense, but it would inspire neither pity nor fear; for
|
| 581 |
+
pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man
|
| 582 |
+
like ourselves. Such an event, therefore, will be neither pitiful
|
| 583 |
+
nor terrible. There remains, then, the character between these two
|
| 584 |
+
extremes,--that of a man who is not eminently good and just,-yet whose
|
| 585 |
+
misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error
|
| 586 |
+
or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous,--a
|
| 587 |
+
personage like Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such
|
| 588 |
+
families.
|
| 589 |
+
|
| 590 |
+
A well constructed plot should, therefore, be single in its issue,
|
| 591 |
+
rather than double as some maintain. The change of fortune should be not
|
| 592 |
+
from bad to good, but, reversely, from good to bad. It should come about
|
| 593 |
+
as the result not of vice, but of some great error or frailty, in a
|
| 594 |
+
character either such as we have described, or better rather than
|
| 595 |
+
worse. The practice of the stage bears out our view. At first the poets
|
| 596 |
+
recounted any legend that came in their way. Now, the best tragedies
|
| 597 |
+
are founded on the story of a few houses, on the fortunes of Alcmaeon,
|
| 598 |
+
Oedipus, Orestes, Meleager, Thyestes, Telephus, and those others who
|
| 599 |
+
have done or suffered something terrible. A tragedy, then, to be perfect
|
| 600 |
+
according to the rules of art should be of this construction. Hence
|
| 601 |
+
they are in error who censure Euripides just because he follows this
|
| 602 |
+
principle in his plays, many of which end unhappily. It is, as we have
|
| 603 |
+
said, the right ending. The best proof is that on the stage and in
|
| 604 |
+
dramatic competition, such plays, if well worked out, are the most
|
| 605 |
+
tragic in effect; and Euripides, faulty though he may be in the general
|
| 606 |
+
management of his subject, yet is felt to be the most tragic of the
|
| 607 |
+
poets.
|
| 608 |
+
|
| 609 |
+
In the second rank comes the kind of tragedy which some place first.
|
| 610 |
+
Like the Odyssey, it has a double thread of plot, and also an opposite
|
| 611 |
+
catastrophe for the good and for the bad. It is accounted the best
|
| 612 |
+
because of the weakness of the spectators; for the poet is guided in
|
| 613 |
+
what he writes by the wishes of his audience. The pleasure, however,
|
| 614 |
+
thence derived is not the true tragic pleasure. It is proper rather to
|
| 615 |
+
Comedy, where those who, in the piece, are the deadliest enemies--like
|
| 616 |
+
Orestes and Aegisthus--quit the stage as friends at the close, and no
|
| 617 |
+
one slays or is slain.
|
| 618 |
+
|
| 619 |
+
XIV
|
| 620 |
+
|
| 621 |
+
Fear and pity may be aroused by spectacular means; but they may also
|
| 622 |
+
result from the inner structure of the piece, which is the better way,
|
| 623 |
+
and indicates a superior poet. For the plot ought to be so constructed
|
| 624 |
+
that, even without the aid of the eye, he who hears the tale told will
|
| 625 |
+
thrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes place. This is the
|
| 626 |
+
impression we should receive from hearing the story of the Oedipus. But
|
| 627 |
+
to produce this effect by the mere spectacle is a less artistic method,
|
| 628 |
+
and dependent on extraneous aids. Those who employ spectacular means
|
| 629 |
+
to create a sense not of the terrible but only of the monstrous, are
|
| 630 |
+
strangers to the purpose of Tragedy; for we must not demand of Tragedy
|
| 631 |
+
any and every kind of pleasure, but only that which is proper to it. And
|
| 632 |
+
since the pleasure which the poet should afford is that which comes from
|
| 633 |
+
pity and fear through imitation, it is evident that this quality must be
|
| 634 |
+
impressed upon the incidents.
|
| 635 |
+
|
| 636 |
+
Let us then determine what are the circumstances which strike us as
|
| 637 |
+
terrible or pitiful.
|
| 638 |
+
|
| 639 |
+
Actions capable of this effect must happen between persons who are
|
| 640 |
+
either friends or enemies or indifferent to one another. If an enemy
|
| 641 |
+
kills an enemy, there is nothing to excite pity either in the act or
|
| 642 |
+
the intention,--except so far as the suffering in itself is pitiful.
|
| 643 |
+
So again with indifferent persons. But when the tragic incident occurs
|
| 644 |
+
between those who are near or dear to one another--if, for example, a
|
| 645 |
+
brother kills, or intends to kill, a brother, a son his father, a mother
|
| 646 |
+
her son, a son his mother, or any other deed of the kind is done--these
|
| 647 |
+
are the situations to be looked for by the poet. He may not indeed
|
| 648 |
+
destroy the framework of the received legends--the fact, for instance,
|
| 649 |
+
that Clytemnestra was slain by Orestes and Eriphyle by Alcmaeon but he
|
| 650 |
+
ought to show invention of his own, and skilfully handle the traditional
|
| 651 |
+
material. Let us explain more clearly what is meant by skilful handling.
|
| 652 |
+
|
| 653 |
+
The action may be done consciously and with knowledge of the persons, in
|
| 654 |
+
the manner of the older poets. It is thus too that Euripides makes Medea
|
| 655 |
+
slay her children. Or, again, the deed of horror may be done, but
|
| 656 |
+
done in ignorance, and the tie of kinship or friendship be discovered
|
| 657 |
+
afterwards. The Oedipus of Sophocles is an example. Here, indeed, the
|
| 658 |
+
incident is outside the drama proper; but cases occur where it falls
|
| 659 |
+
within the action of the play: one may cite the Alcmaeon of Astydamas,
|
| 660 |
+
or Telegonus in the Wounded Odysseus. Again, there is a third case,--<to
|
| 661 |
+
be about to act with knowledge of the persons and then not to act. The
|
| 662 |
+
fourth case is> when some one is about to do an irreparable deed through
|
| 663 |
+
ignorance, and makes the discovery before it is done. These are the only
|
| 664 |
+
possible ways. For the deed must either be done or not done,--and that
|
| 665 |
+
wittingly or unwittingly. But of all these ways, to be about to act
|
| 666 |
+
knowing the persons, and then not to act, is the worst. It is shocking
|
| 667 |
+
without being tragic, for no disaster follows. It is, therefore, never,
|
| 668 |
+
or very rarely, found in poetry. One instance, however, is in the
|
| 669 |
+
Antigone, where Haemon threatens to kill Creon. The next and better way
|
| 670 |
+
is that the deed should be perpetrated. Still better, that it should be
|
| 671 |
+
perpetrated in ignorance, and the discovery made afterwards. There
|
| 672 |
+
is then nothing to shock us, while the discovery produces a startling
|
| 673 |
+
effect. The last case is the best, as when in the Cresphontes Merope is
|
| 674 |
+
about to slay her son, but, recognising who he is, spares his life. So
|
| 675 |
+
in the Iphigenia, the sister recognises the brother just in time. Again
|
| 676 |
+
in the Helle, the son recognises the mother when on the point of giving
|
| 677 |
+
her up. This, then, is why a few families only, as has been already
|
| 678 |
+
observed, furnish the subjects of tragedy. It was not art, but happy
|
| 679 |
+
chance, that led the poets in search of subjects to impress the tragic
|
| 680 |
+
quality upon their plots. They are compelled, therefore, to have
|
| 681 |
+
recourse to those houses whose history contains moving incidents like
|
| 682 |
+
these.
|
| 683 |
+
|
| 684 |
+
Enough has now been said concerning the structure of the incidents, and
|
| 685 |
+
the right kind of plot.
|
| 686 |
+
|
| 687 |
+
XV
|
| 688 |
+
|
| 689 |
+
In respect of Character there are four things to be aimed at. First, and
|
| 690 |
+
most important, it must be good. Now any speech or action that manifests
|
| 691 |
+
moral purpose of any kind will be expressive of character: the character
|
| 692 |
+
will be good if the purpose is good. This rule is relative to each
|
| 693 |
+
class. Even a woman may be good, and also a slave; though the woman
|
| 694 |
+
may be said to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless. The
|
| 695 |
+
second thing to aim at is propriety. There is a type of manly valour;
|
| 696 |
+
but valour in a woman, or unscrupulous cleverness, is inappropriate.
|
| 697 |
+
Thirdly, character must be true to life: for this is a distinct thing
|
| 698 |
+
from goodness and propriety, as here described. The fourth point is
|
| 699 |
+
consistency: for though the subject of the imitation, who suggested the
|
| 700 |
+
type, be inconsistent, still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an
|
| 701 |
+
example of motiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in
|
| 702 |
+
the Orestes: of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament of
|
| 703 |
+
Odysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe: of inconsistency,
|
| 704 |
+
the Iphigenia at Aulis,--for Iphigenia the suppliant in no way resembles
|
| 705 |
+
her later self.
|
| 706 |
+
|
| 707 |
+
As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture of character,
|
| 708 |
+
the poet should always aim either at the necessary or the probable. Thus
|
| 709 |
+
a person of a given character should speak or act in a given way, by the
|
| 710 |
+
rule either of necessity or of probability; just as this event should
|
| 711 |
+
follow that by necessary or probable sequence. It is therefore evident
|
| 712 |
+
that the unravelling of the plot, no less than the complication, must
|
| 713 |
+
arise out of the plot itself, it must not be brought about by the 'Deus
|
| 714 |
+
ex Machina'--as in the Medea, or in the Return of the Greeks in the
|
| 715 |
+
Iliad. The 'Deus ex Machina' should be employed only for events external
|
| 716 |
+
to the drama,--for antecedent or subsequent events, which lie beyond the
|
| 717 |
+
range of human knowledge, and which require to be reported or foretold;
|
| 718 |
+
for to the gods we ascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the
|
| 719 |
+
action there must be nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be
|
| 720 |
+
excluded, it should be outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the
|
| 721 |
+
irrational element in the Oedipus of Sophocles.
|
| 722 |
+
|
| 723 |
+
Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above the common
|
| 724 |
+
level, the example of good portrait-painters should be followed. They,
|
| 725 |
+
while reproducing the distinctive form of the original, make a likeness
|
| 726 |
+
which is true to life and yet more beautiful. So too the poet, in
|
| 727 |
+
representing men who are irascible or indolent, or have other defects
|
| 728 |
+
of character, should preserve the type and yet ennoble it. In this way
|
| 729 |
+
Achilles is portrayed by Agathon and Homer.
|
| 730 |
+
|
| 731 |
+
These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should he neglect
|
| 732 |
+
those appeals to the senses, which, though not among the essentials, are
|
| 733 |
+
the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is much room for error.
|
| 734 |
+
But of this enough has been said in our published treatises.
|
| 735 |
+
|
| 736 |
+
XVI
|
| 737 |
+
|
| 738 |
+
What Recognition is has been already explained. We will now enumerate
|
| 739 |
+
its kinds.
|
| 740 |
+
|
| 741 |
+
First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, is
|
| 742 |
+
most commonly employed recognition by signs. Of these some are
|
| 743 |
+
congenital,--such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on their
|
| 744 |
+
bodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Others are
|
| 745 |
+
acquired after birth; and of these some are bodily marks, as scars; some
|
| 746 |
+
external tokens, as necklaces, or the little ark in the Tyro by which
|
| 747 |
+
the discovery is effected. Even these admit of more or less skilful
|
| 748 |
+
treatment. Thus in the recognition of Odysseus by his scar, the
|
| 749 |
+
discovery is made in one way by the nurse, in another by the swineherds.
|
| 750 |
+
The use of tokens for the express purpose of proof--and, indeed,
|
| 751 |
+
any formal proof with or without tokens--is a less artistic mode of
|
| 752 |
+
recognition. A better kind is that which comes about by a turn of
|
| 753 |
+
incident, as in the Bath Scene in the Odyssey.
|
| 754 |
+
|
| 755 |
+
Next come the recognitions invented at will by the poet, and on that
|
| 756 |
+
account wanting in art. For example, Orestes in the Iphigenia reveals
|
| 757 |
+
the fact that he is Orestes. She, indeed, makes herself known by the
|
| 758 |
+
letter; but he, by speaking himself, and saying what the poet, not what
|
| 759 |
+
the plot requires. This, therefore, is nearly allied to the fault above
|
| 760 |
+
mentioned:--for Orestes might as well have brought tokens with him.
|
| 761 |
+
Another similar instance is the 'voice of the shuttle' in the Tereus of
|
| 762 |
+
Sophocles.
|
| 763 |
+
|
| 764 |
+
The third kind depends on memory when the sight of some object awakens
|
| 765 |
+
a feeling: as in the Cyprians of Dicaeogenes, where the hero breaks into
|
| 766 |
+
tears on seeing the picture; or again in the 'Lay of Alcinous,' where
|
| 767 |
+
Odysseus, hearing the minstrel play the lyre, recalls the past and
|
| 768 |
+
weeps; and hence the recognition.
|
| 769 |
+
|
| 770 |
+
The fourth kind is by process of reasoning. Thus in the Choephori: 'Some
|
| 771 |
+
one resembling me has come: no one resembles me but Orestes: therefore
|
| 772 |
+
Orestes has come.' Such too is the discovery made by Iphigenia in the
|
| 773 |
+
play of Polyidus the Sophist. It was a natural reflection for Orestes to
|
| 774 |
+
make, 'So I too must die at the altar like my sister.' So, again, in
|
| 775 |
+
the Tydeus of Theodectes, the father says, 'I came to find my son, and
|
| 776 |
+
I lose my own life.' So too in the Phineidae: the women, on seeing the
|
| 777 |
+
place, inferred their fate:--'Here we are doomed to die, for here
|
| 778 |
+
we were cast forth.' Again, there is a composite kind of recognition
|
| 779 |
+
involving false inference on the part of one of the characters, as in
|
| 780 |
+
the Odysseus Disguised as a Messenger. A said <that no one else was able
|
| 781 |
+
to bend the bow;... hence B (the disguised Odysseus) imagined that A
|
| 782 |
+
would> recognise the bow which, in fact, he had not seen; and to bring
|
| 783 |
+
about a recognition by this means that the expectation A would recognise
|
| 784 |
+
the bow is false inference.
|
| 785 |
+
|
| 786 |
+
But, of all recognitions, the best is that which arises from the
|
| 787 |
+
incidents themselves, where the startling discovery is made by natural
|
| 788 |
+
means. Such is that in the Oedipus of Sophocles, and in the Iphigenia;
|
| 789 |
+
for it was natural that Iphigenia should wish to dispatch a letter.
|
| 790 |
+
These recognitions alone dispense with the artificial aid of tokens or
|
| 791 |
+
amulets. Next come the recognitions by process of reasoning.
|
| 792 |
+
|
| 793 |
+
XVII
|
| 794 |
+
|
| 795 |
+
In constructing the plot and working it out with the proper diction,
|
| 796 |
+
the poet should place the scene, as far as possible, before his eyes. In
|
| 797 |
+
this way, seeing everything with the utmost vividness, as if he were a
|
| 798 |
+
spectator of the action, he will discover what is in keeping with it,
|
| 799 |
+
and be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies. The need of such a
|
| 800 |
+
rule is shown by the fault found in Carcinus. Amphiaraus was on his way
|
| 801 |
+
from the temple. This fact escaped the observation of one who did not
|
| 802 |
+
see the situation. On the stage, however, the piece failed, the audience
|
| 803 |
+
being offended at the oversight.
|
| 804 |
+
|
| 805 |
+
Again, the poet should work out his play, to the best of his power, with
|
| 806 |
+
appropriate gestures; for those who feel emotion are most convincing
|
| 807 |
+
through natural sympathy with the characters they represent; and one
|
| 808 |
+
who is agitated storms, one who is angry rages, with the most life-like
|
| 809 |
+
reality. Hence poetry implies either a happy gift of nature or a strain
|
| 810 |
+
of madness. In the one case a man can take the mould of any character;
|
| 811 |
+
in the other, he is lifted out of his proper self.
|
| 812 |
+
|
| 813 |
+
As for the story, whether the poet takes it ready made or constructs it
|
| 814 |
+
for himself, he should first sketch its general outline, and then
|
| 815 |
+
fill in the episodes and amplify in detail. The general plan may be
|
| 816 |
+
illustrated by the Iphigenia. A young girl is sacrificed; she disappears
|
| 817 |
+
mysteriously from the eyes of those who sacrificed her; She is
|
| 818 |
+
transported to another country, where the custom is to offer up all
|
| 819 |
+
strangers to the goddess. To this ministry she is appointed. Some time
|
| 820 |
+
later her own brother chances to arrive. The fact that the oracle for
|
| 821 |
+
some reason ordered him to go there, is outside the general plan of the
|
| 822 |
+
play. The purpose, again, of his coming is outside the action proper.
|
| 823 |
+
However, he comes, he is seized, and, when on the point of being
|
| 824 |
+
sacrificed, reveals who he is. The mode of recognition may be either
|
| 825 |
+
that of Euripides or of Polyidus, in whose play he exclaims very
|
| 826 |
+
naturally:--'So it was not my sister only, but I too, who was doomed to
|
| 827 |
+
be sacrificed'; and by that remark he is saved.
|
| 828 |
+
|
| 829 |
+
After this, the names being once given, it remains to fill in the
|
| 830 |
+
episodes. We must see that they are relevant to the action. In the case
|
| 831 |
+
of Orestes, for example, there is the madness which led to his capture,
|
| 832 |
+
and his deliverance by means of the purificatory rite. In the drama, the
|
| 833 |
+
episodes are short, but it is these that give extension to Epic poetry.
|
| 834 |
+
Thus the story of the Odyssey can be stated briefly. A certain man is
|
| 835 |
+
absent from home for many years; he is jealously watched by Poseidon,
|
| 836 |
+
and left desolate. Meanwhile his home is in a wretched plight--suitors
|
| 837 |
+
are wasting his substance and plotting against his son. At length,
|
| 838 |
+
tempest-tost, he himself arrives; he makes certain persons acquainted
|
| 839 |
+
with him; he attacks the suitors with his own hand, and is himself
|
| 840 |
+
preserved while he destroys them. This is the essence of the plot; the
|
| 841 |
+
rest is episode.
|
| 842 |
+
|
| 843 |
+
XVIII
|
| 844 |
+
|
| 845 |
+
Every tragedy falls into two parts,--Complication and Unravelling or
|
| 846 |
+
Denouement. Incidents extraneous to the action are frequently combined
|
| 847 |
+
with a portion of the action proper, to form the Complication; the rest
|
| 848 |
+
is the Unravelling. By the Complication I mean all that extends from
|
| 849 |
+
the beginning of the action to the part which marks the turning-point
|
| 850 |
+
to good or bad fortune. The Unravelling is that which extends from the
|
| 851 |
+
beginning of the change to the end. Thus, in the Lynceus of Theodectes,
|
| 852 |
+
the Complication consists of the incidents presupposed in the drama, the
|
| 853 |
+
seizure of the child, and then again, The Unravelling extends from
|
| 854 |
+
the accusation of murder to the end.
|
| 855 |
+
|
| 856 |
+
There are four kinds of Tragedy, the Complex, depending entirely on
|
| 857 |
+
Reversal of the Situation and Recognition; the Pathetic (where the
|
| 858 |
+
motive is passion),--such as the tragedies on Ajax and Ixion; the
|
| 859 |
+
Ethical (where the motives are ethical),--such as the Phthiotides and
|
| 860 |
+
the Peleus. The fourth kind is the Simple <We here exclude the purely
|
| 861 |
+
spectacular element>, exemplified by the Phorcides, the Prometheus, and
|
| 862 |
+
scenes laid in Hades. The poet should endeavour, if possible, to combine
|
| 863 |
+
all poetic elements; or failing that, the greatest number and those the
|
| 864 |
+
most important; the more so, in face of the cavilling criticism of the
|
| 865 |
+
day. For whereas there have hitherto been good poets, each in his own
|
| 866 |
+
branch, the critics now expect one man to surpass all others in their
|
| 867 |
+
several lines of excellence.
|
| 868 |
+
|
| 869 |
+
In speaking of a tragedy as the same or different, the best test to take
|
| 870 |
+
is the plot. Identity exists where the Complication and Unravelling are
|
| 871 |
+
the same. Many poets tie the knot well, but unravel it ill. Both arts,
|
| 872 |
+
however, should always be mastered.
|
| 873 |
+
|
| 874 |
+
Again, the poet should remember what has been often said, and not make
|
| 875 |
+
an Epic structure into a Tragedy--by an Epic structure I mean one with
|
| 876 |
+
a multiplicity of plots--as if, for instance, you were to make a tragedy
|
| 877 |
+
out of the entire story of the Iliad. In the Epic poem, owing to its
|
| 878 |
+
length, each part assumes its proper magnitude. In the drama the result
|
| 879 |
+
is far from answering to the poet's expectation. The proof is that the
|
| 880 |
+
poets who have dramatised the whole story of the Fall of Troy, instead
|
| 881 |
+
of selecting portions, like Euripides; or who have taken the whole
|
| 882 |
+
tale of Niobe, and not a part of her story, like Aeschylus, either fail
|
| 883 |
+
utterly or meet with poor success on the stage. Even Agathon has been
|
| 884 |
+
known to fail from this one defect. In his Reversals of the Situation,
|
| 885 |
+
however, he shows a marvellous skill in the effort to hit the popular
|
| 886 |
+
taste,--to produce a tragic effect that satisfies the moral sense. This
|
| 887 |
+
effect is produced when the clever rogue, like Sisyphus, is outwitted,
|
| 888 |
+
or the brave villain defeated. Such an event is probable in Agathon's
|
| 889 |
+
sense of the word: 'it is probable,' he says, 'that many things should
|
| 890 |
+
happen contrary to probability.'
|
| 891 |
+
|
| 892 |
+
The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors; it should be an
|
| 893 |
+
integral part of the whole, and share in the action, in the manner not
|
| 894 |
+
of Euripides but of Sophocles. As for the later poets, their choral
|
| 895 |
+
songs pertain as little to the subject of the piece as to that of any
|
| 896 |
+
other tragedy. They are, therefore, sung as mere interludes, a practice
|
| 897 |
+
first begun by Agathon. Yet what difference is there between introducing
|
| 898 |
+
such choral interludes, and transferring a speech, or even a whole act,
|
| 899 |
+
from one play to another?
|
| 900 |
+
|
| 901 |
+
XIX
|
| 902 |
+
|
| 903 |
+
It remains to speak of Diction and Thought, the other parts of Tragedy
|
| 904 |
+
having been already discussed. Concerning Thought, we may assume what
|
| 905 |
+
is said in the Rhetoric, to which inquiry the subject more strictly
|
| 906 |
+
belongs. Under Thought is included every effect which has to be produced
|
| 907 |
+
by speech, the subdivisions being,--proof and refutation; the excitation
|
| 908 |
+
of the feelings, such as pity, fear, anger, and the like; the suggestion
|
| 909 |
+
of importance or its opposite. Now, it is evident that the dramatic
|
| 910 |
+
incidents must be treated from the same points of view as the dramatic
|
| 911 |
+
speeches, when the object is to evoke the sense of pity, fear,
|
| 912 |
+
importance, or probability. The only difference is, that the incidents
|
| 913 |
+
should speak for themselves without verbal exposition; while the effects
|
| 914 |
+
aimed at in speech should be produced by the speaker, and as a result of
|
| 915 |
+
the speech. For what were the business of a speaker, if the Thought were
|
| 916 |
+
revealed quite apart from what he says?
|
| 917 |
+
|
| 918 |
+
Next, as regards Diction. One branch of the inquiry treats of the Modes
|
| 919 |
+
of Utterance. But this province of knowledge belongs to the art
|
| 920 |
+
of Delivery and to the masters of that science. It includes, for
|
| 921 |
+
instance,--what is a command, a prayer, a statement, a threat, a
|
| 922 |
+
question, an answer, and so forth. To know or not to know these things
|
| 923 |
+
involves no serious censure upon the poet's art. For who can admit
|
| 924 |
+
the fault imputed to Homer by Protagoras,--that in the words, 'Sing,
|
| 925 |
+
goddess, of the wrath,' he gives a command under the idea that he utters
|
| 926 |
+
a prayer? For to tell some one to do a thing or not to do it is, he
|
| 927 |
+
says, a command. We may, therefore, pass this over as an inquiry that
|
| 928 |
+
belongs to another art, not to poetry.
|
| 929 |
+
|
| 930 |
+
XX
|
| 931 |
+
|
| 932 |
+
[Language in general includes the following parts:--Letter, Syllable,
|
| 933 |
+
Connecting word, Noun, Verb, Inflexion or Case, Sentence or Phrase.
|
| 934 |
+
|
| 935 |
+
A Letter is an indivisible sound, yet not every such sound, but only
|
| 936 |
+
one which can form part of a group of sounds. For even brutes utter
|
| 937 |
+
indivisible sounds, none of which I call a letter. The sound I mean
|
| 938 |
+
may be either a vowel, a semi-vowel, or a mute. A vowel is that which
|
| 939 |
+
without impact of tongue or lip has an audible sound. A semi-vowel, that
|
| 940 |
+
which with such impact has an audible sound, as S and R. A mute, that
|
| 941 |
+
which with such impact has by itself no sound, but joined to a vowel
|
| 942 |
+
sound becomes audible, as G and D. These are distinguished according
|
| 943 |
+
to the form assumed by the mouth and the place where they are produced;
|
| 944 |
+
according as they are aspirated or smooth, long or short; as they are
|
| 945 |
+
acute, grave, or of an intermediate tone; which inquiry belongs in
|
| 946 |
+
detail to the writers on metre.
|
| 947 |
+
|
| 948 |
+
A Syllable is a non-significant sound, composed of a mute and a
|
| 949 |
+
vowel: for GR without A is a syllable, as also with A,--GRA. But the
|
| 950 |
+
investigation of these differences belongs also to metrical science.
|
| 951 |
+
|
| 952 |
+
A Connecting word is a non-significant sound, which neither causes nor
|
| 953 |
+
hinders the union of many sounds into one significant sound; it may
|
| 954 |
+
be placed at either end or in the middle of a sentence. Or, a
|
| 955 |
+
non-significant sound, which out of several sounds, each of them
|
| 956 |
+
significant, is capable of forming one significant sound,--as {alpha mu
|
| 957 |
+
theta iota}, {pi epsilon rho iota}, and the like. Or, a non-significant
|
| 958 |
+
sound, which marks the beginning, end, or division of a sentence; such,
|
| 959 |
+
however, that it cannot correctly stand by itself at the beginning of a
|
| 960 |
+
sentence, as {mu epsilon nu}, {eta tau omicron iota}, {delta epsilon}.
|
| 961 |
+
|
| 962 |
+
A Noun is a composite significant sound, not marking time, of which no
|
| 963 |
+
part is in itself significant: for in double or compound words we do not
|
| 964 |
+
employ the separate parts as if each were in itself significant. Thus
|
| 965 |
+
in Theodorus, 'god-given,' the {delta omega rho omicron nu} or 'gift' is
|
| 966 |
+
not in itself significant.
|
| 967 |
+
|
| 968 |
+
A Verb is a composite significant sound, marking time, in which, as in
|
| 969 |
+
the noun, no part is in itself significant. For 'man,' or 'white' does
|
| 970 |
+
not express the idea of 'when'; but 'he walks,' or 'he has walked' does
|
| 971 |
+
connote time, present or past.
|
| 972 |
+
|
| 973 |
+
Inflexion belongs both to the noun and verb, and expresses either the
|
| 974 |
+
relation 'of,' 'to,' or the like; or that of number, whether one or
|
| 975 |
+
many, as 'man' or 'men '; or the modes or tones in actual delivery, e.g.
|
| 976 |
+
a question or a command. 'Did he go?' and 'go' are verbal inflexions of
|
| 977 |
+
this kind.
|
| 978 |
+
|
| 979 |
+
A Sentence or Phrase is a composite significant sound, some at least of
|
| 980 |
+
whose parts are in themselves significant; for not every such group
|
| 981 |
+
of words consists of verbs and nouns--'the definition of man,' for
|
| 982 |
+
example--but it may dispense even with the verb. Still it will always
|
| 983 |
+
have some significant part, as 'in walking,' or 'Cleon son of Cleon.' A
|
| 984 |
+
sentence or phrase may form a unity in two ways,--either as signifying
|
| 985 |
+
one thing, or as consisting of several parts linked together. Thus the
|
| 986 |
+
Iliad is one by the linking together of parts, the definition of man by
|
| 987 |
+
the unity of the thing signified.]
|
| 988 |
+
|
| 989 |
+
XXI
|
| 990 |
+
|
| 991 |
+
Words are of two kinds, simple and double. By simple I mean those
|
| 992 |
+
composed of non-significant elements, such as {gamma eta}. By double
|
| 993 |
+
or compound, those composed either of a significant and non-significant
|
| 994 |
+
element (though within the whole word no element is significant), or
|
| 995 |
+
of elements that are both significant. A word may likewise be triple,
|
| 996 |
+
quadruple, or multiple in form, like so many Massilian expressions, e.g.
|
| 997 |
+
'Hermo-caico-xanthus who prayed to Father Zeus>.'
|
| 998 |
+
|
| 999 |
+
Every word is either current, or strange, or metaphorical, or
|
| 1000 |
+
ornamental, or newly-coined, or lengthened, or contracted, or altered.
|
| 1001 |
+
|
| 1002 |
+
By a current or proper word I mean one which is in general use among
|
| 1003 |
+
a people; by a strange word, one which is in use in another country.
|
| 1004 |
+
Plainly, therefore, the same word may be at once strange and current,
|
| 1005 |
+
but not in relation to the same people. The word {sigma iota gamma
|
| 1006 |
+
upsilon nu omicron nu}, 'lance,' is to the Cyprians a current term but
|
| 1007 |
+
to us a strange one.
|
| 1008 |
+
|
| 1009 |
+
Metaphor is the application of an alien name by transference either from
|
| 1010 |
+
genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species,
|
| 1011 |
+
or by analogy, that is, proportion. Thus from genus to species, as:
|
| 1012 |
+
'There lies my ship'; for lying at anchor is a species of lying. From
|
| 1013 |
+
species to genus, as: 'Verily ten thousand noble deeds hath Odysseus
|
| 1014 |
+
wrought'; for ten thousand is a species of large number, and is here
|
| 1015 |
+
used for a large number generally. From species to species, as: 'With
|
| 1016 |
+
blade of bronze drew away the life,' and 'Cleft the water with the
|
| 1017 |
+
vessel of unyielding bronze.' Here {alpha rho upsilon rho alpha iota},
|
| 1018 |
+
'to draw away,' is used for {tau alpha mu epsilon iota nu}, 'to cleave,'
|
| 1019 |
+
and {tau alpha mu epsilon iota nu} again for {alpha rho upsilon alpha
|
| 1020 |
+
iota},--each being a species of taking away. Analogy or proportion is
|
| 1021 |
+
when the second term is to the first as the fourth to the third. We
|
| 1022 |
+
may then use the fourth for the second, or the second for the fourth.
|
| 1023 |
+
Sometimes too we qualify the metaphor by adding the term to which the
|
| 1024 |
+
proper word is relative. Thus the cup is to Dionysus as the shield to
|
| 1025 |
+
Ares. The cup may, therefore, be called 'the shield of Dionysus,' and
|
| 1026 |
+
the shield 'the cup of Ares.' Or, again, as old age is to life, so is
|
| 1027 |
+
evening to day. Evening may therefore be called 'the old age of
|
| 1028 |
+
the day,' and old age, 'the evening of life,' or, in the phrase
|
| 1029 |
+
of Empedocles, 'life's setting sun.' For some of the terms of the
|
| 1030 |
+
proportion there is at times no word in existence; still the metaphor
|
| 1031 |
+
may be used. For instance, to scatter seed is called sowing: but the
|
| 1032 |
+
action of the sun in scattering his rays is nameless. Still this process
|
| 1033 |
+
bears to the sun the same relation as sowing to the seed. Hence the
|
| 1034 |
+
expression of the poet 'sowing the god-created light.' There is another
|
| 1035 |
+
way in which this kind of metaphor may be employed. We may apply an
|
| 1036 |
+
alien term, and then deny of that term one of its proper attributes; as
|
| 1037 |
+
if we were to call the shield, not 'the cup of Ares,' but 'the wineless
|
| 1038 |
+
cup.'
|
| 1039 |
+
|
| 1040 |
+
{An ornamental word...}
|
| 1041 |
+
|
| 1042 |
+
A newly-coined word is one which has never been even in local use, but
|
| 1043 |
+
is adopted by the poet himself. Some such words there appear to be: as
|
| 1044 |
+
{epsilon rho nu upsilon gamma epsilon sigma}, 'sprouters,' for {kappa
|
| 1045 |
+
epsilon rho alpha tau alpha}, 'horns,' and {alpha rho eta tau eta rho},
|
| 1046 |
+
'supplicator,' for {iota epsilon rho epsilon upsilon sigma}, 'priest.'
|
| 1047 |
+
|
| 1048 |
+
A word is lengthened when its own vowel is exchanged for a longer one,
|
| 1049 |
+
or when a syllable is inserted. A word is contracted when some part of
|
| 1050 |
+
it is removed. Instances of lengthening are,--{pi omicron lambda eta
|
| 1051 |
+
omicron sigma} for {pi omicron lambda epsilon omega sigma}, and {Pi eta
|
| 1052 |
+
lambda eta iota alpha delta epsilon omega} for {Pi eta lambda epsilon
|
| 1053 |
+
iota delta omicron upsilon}: of contraction,--{kappa rho iota}, {delta
|
| 1054 |
+
omega}, and {omicron psi}, as in {mu iota alpha / gamma iota nu epsilon
|
| 1055 |
+
tau alpha iota / alpha mu phi omicron tau episilon rho omega nu /
|
| 1056 |
+
omicron psi}.
|
| 1057 |
+
|
| 1058 |
+
An altered word is one in which part of the ordinary form is left
|
| 1059 |
+
unchanged, and part is re-cast; as in {delta epsilon xi iota-tau epsilon
|
| 1060 |
+
rho omicron nu / kappa alpha tau alpha / mu alpha zeta omicron nu},
|
| 1061 |
+
{delta epsilon xi iota tau epsilon rho omicron nu} is for {delta epsilon
|
| 1062 |
+
xi iota omicron nu}.
|
| 1063 |
+
|
| 1064 |
+
[Nouns in themselves are either masculine, feminine, or neuter.
|
| 1065 |
+
Masculine are such as end in {nu}, {rho}, {sigma}, or in some letter
|
| 1066 |
+
compounded with {sigma},--these being two, and {xi}. Feminine, such as
|
| 1067 |
+
end in vowels that are always long, namely {eta} and {omega}, and--of
|
| 1068 |
+
vowels that admit of lengthening--those in {alpha}. Thus the number of
|
| 1069 |
+
letters in which nouns masculine and feminine end is the same; for {psi}
|
| 1070 |
+
and {xi} are equivalent to endings in {sigma}. No noun ends in a mute
|
| 1071 |
+
or a vowel short by nature. Three only end in {iota},--{mu eta lambda
|
| 1072 |
+
iota}, {kappa omicron mu mu iota}, {pi epsilon pi epsilon rho iota}:
|
| 1073 |
+
five end in {upsilon}. Neuter nouns end in these two latter vowels; also
|
| 1074 |
+
in {nu} and {sigma}.]
|
| 1075 |
+
|
| 1076 |
+
XXII
|
| 1077 |
+
|
| 1078 |
+
The perfection of style is to be clear without being mean. The clearest
|
| 1079 |
+
style is that which uses only current or proper words; at the same
|
| 1080 |
+
time it is mean:--witness the poetry of Cleophon and of Sthenelus. That
|
| 1081 |
+
diction, on the other hand, is lofty and raised above the commonplace
|
| 1082 |
+
which employs unusual words. By unusual, I mean strange (or rare) words,
|
| 1083 |
+
metaphorical, lengthened,--anything, in short, that differs from the
|
| 1084 |
+
normal idiom. Yet a style wholly composed of such words is either a
|
| 1085 |
+
riddle or a jargon; a riddle, if it consists of metaphors; a jargon, if
|
| 1086 |
+
it consists of strange (or rare) words. For the essence of a riddle is
|
| 1087 |
+
to express true facts under impossible combinations. Now this cannot be
|
| 1088 |
+
done by any arrangement of ordinary words, but by the use of metaphor it
|
| 1089 |
+
can. Such is the riddle:--'A man I saw who on another man had glued the
|
| 1090 |
+
bronze by aid of fire,' and others of the same kind. A diction that
|
| 1091 |
+
is made up of strange (or rare) terms is a jargon. A certain infusion,
|
| 1092 |
+
therefore, of these elements is necessary to style; for the strange (or
|
| 1093 |
+
rare) word, the metaphorical, the ornamental, and the other kinds above
|
| 1094 |
+
mentioned, will raise it above the commonplace and mean, while the use
|
| 1095 |
+
of proper words will make it perspicuous. But nothing contributes more
|
| 1096 |
+
to produce a clearness of diction that is remote from commonness than
|
| 1097 |
+
the lengthening, contraction, and alteration of words. For by deviating
|
| 1098 |
+
in exceptional cases from the normal idiom, the language will gain
|
| 1099 |
+
distinction; while, at the same time, the partial conformity with usage
|
| 1100 |
+
will give perspicuity. The critics, therefore, are in error who censure
|
| 1101 |
+
these licenses of speech, and hold the author up to ridicule. Thus
|
| 1102 |
+
Eucleides, the elder, declared that it would be an easy matter to be
|
| 1103 |
+
a poet if you might lengthen syllables at will. He caricatured the
|
| 1104 |
+
practice in the very form of his diction, as in the verse: '{Epsilon pi
|
| 1105 |
+
iota chi alpha rho eta nu / epsilon iota delta omicron nu / Mu alpha rho
|
| 1106 |
+
alpha theta omega nu alpha delta epsilon / Beta alpha delta iota zeta
|
| 1107 |
+
omicron nu tau alpha}, or, {omicron upsilon kappa / alpha nu / gamma /
|
| 1108 |
+
epsilon rho alpha mu epsilon nu omicron sigma / tau omicron nu / epsilon
|
| 1109 |
+
kappa epsilon iota nu omicron upsilon /epsilon lambda lambda epsilon
|
| 1110 |
+
beta omicron rho omicron nu}. To employ such license at all obtrusively
|
| 1111 |
+
is, no doubt, grotesque; but in any mode of poetic diction there must
|
| 1112 |
+
be moderation. Even metaphors, strange (or rare) words, or any similar
|
| 1113 |
+
forms of speech, would produce the like effect if used without propriety
|
| 1114 |
+
and with the express purpose of being ludicrous. How great a difference
|
| 1115 |
+
is made by the appropriate use of lengthening, may be seen in Epic
|
| 1116 |
+
poetry by the insertion of ordinary forms in the verse. So, again, if
|
| 1117 |
+
we take a strange (or rare) word, a metaphor, or any similar mode of
|
| 1118 |
+
expression, and replace it by the current or proper term, the truth of
|
| 1119 |
+
our observation will be manifest. For example Aeschylus and Euripides
|
| 1120 |
+
each composed the same iambic line. But the alteration of a single word
|
| 1121 |
+
by Euripides, who employed the rarer term instead of the ordinary one,
|
| 1122 |
+
makes one verse appear beautiful and the other trivial. Aeschylus in his
|
| 1123 |
+
Philoctetes says: {Phi alpha gamma epsilon delta alpha iota nu alpha /
|
| 1124 |
+
delta / eta / mu omicron upsilon / sigma alpha rho kappa alpha sigma /
|
| 1125 |
+
epsilon rho theta iota epsilon iota / pi omicron delta omicron sigma}.
|
| 1126 |
+
|
| 1127 |
+
Euripides substitutes {Theta omicron iota nu alpha tau alpha iota}
|
| 1128 |
+
'feasts on' for {epsilon sigma theta iota epsilon iota} 'feeds on.'
|
| 1129 |
+
Again, in the line, {nu upsilon nu / delta epsilon / mu /epsilon omega
|
| 1130 |
+
nu / omicron lambda iota gamma iota gamma upsilon sigma / tau epsilon /
|
| 1131 |
+
kappa alpha iota / omicron upsilon tau iota delta alpha nu omicron sigma
|
| 1132 |
+
/ kappa alpha iota / alpha epsilon iota kappa eta sigma), the difference
|
| 1133 |
+
will be felt if we substitute the common words, {nu upsilon nu / delta
|
| 1134 |
+
epsilon / mu / epsilon omega nu / mu iota kappa rho omicron sigma /
|
| 1135 |
+
tau epsilon / kappa alpha iota / alpha rho theta epsilon nu iota kappa
|
| 1136 |
+
omicron sigma / kappa alpha iota / alpha epsilon iota delta gamma
|
| 1137 |
+
sigma}. Or, if for the line, {delta iota phi rho omicron nu / alpha
|
| 1138 |
+
epsilon iota kappa epsilon lambda iota omicron nu / kappa alpha tau
|
| 1139 |
+
alpha theta epsilon iota sigma / omicron lambda iota gamma eta nu /
|
| 1140 |
+
tau epsilon / tau rho alpha pi epsilon iota sigma / omicron lambda iota
|
| 1141 |
+
gamma eta nu / tau epsilon / tau rho alpha pi epsilon zeta alpha nu,}
|
| 1142 |
+
We read, {delta iota phi rho omicron nu / mu omicron chi theta eta rho
|
| 1143 |
+
omicron nu / kappa alpha tau alpha theta epsilon iota sigma / mu iota
|
| 1144 |
+
kappa rho alpha nu / tau epsilon / tau rho alpha pi epsilon zeta alpha
|
| 1145 |
+
nu}.
|
| 1146 |
+
|
| 1147 |
+
Or, for {eta iota omicron nu epsilon sigma / beta omicron omicron omega
|
| 1148 |
+
rho iota nu, eta iota omicron nu epsilon sigma kappa rho alpha zeta
|
| 1149 |
+
omicron upsilon rho iota nu}
|
| 1150 |
+
|
| 1151 |
+
Again, Ariphrades ridiculed the tragedians for using phrases which no
|
| 1152 |
+
one would employ in ordinary speech: for example, {delta omega mu alpha
|
| 1153 |
+
tau omega nu / alpha pi omicron} instead of {alpha pi omicron / delta
|
| 1154 |
+
omega mu alpha tau omega nu}, {rho epsilon theta epsilon nu}, {epsilon
|
| 1155 |
+
gamma omega / delta epsilon / nu iota nu}, {Alpha chi iota lambda lambda
|
| 1156 |
+
epsilon omega sigma / pi epsilon rho iota} instead of {pi epsilon rho
|
| 1157 |
+
iota / 'Alpha chi iota lambda lambda epsilon omega sigma}, and the like.
|
| 1158 |
+
It is precisely because such phrases are not part of the current idiom
|
| 1159 |
+
that they give distinction to the style. This, however, he failed to
|
| 1160 |
+
see.
|
| 1161 |
+
|
| 1162 |
+
It is a great matter to observe propriety in these several modes of
|
| 1163 |
+
expression, as also in compound words, strange (or rare) words, and so
|
| 1164 |
+
forth. But the greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor.
|
| 1165 |
+
This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for
|
| 1166 |
+
to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances.
|
| 1167 |
+
|
| 1168 |
+
Of the various kinds of words, the compound are best adapted to
|
| 1169 |
+
Dithyrambs, rare words to heroic poetry, metaphors to iambic. In heroic
|
| 1170 |
+
poetry, indeed, all these varieties are serviceable. But in iambic
|
| 1171 |
+
verse, which reproduces, as far as may be, familiar speech, the most
|
| 1172 |
+
appropriate words are those which are found even in prose. These
|
| 1173 |
+
are,--the current or proper, the metaphorical, the ornamental.
|
| 1174 |
+
|
| 1175 |
+
Concerning Tragedy and imitation by means of action this may suffice.
|
| 1176 |
+
|
| 1177 |
+
XXIII
|
| 1178 |
+
|
| 1179 |
+
As to that poetic imitation which is narrative in form and employs
|
| 1180 |
+
a single metre, the plot manifestly ought, as in a tragedy, to be
|
| 1181 |
+
constructed on dramatic principles. It should have for its subject a
|
| 1182 |
+
single action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle, and
|
| 1183 |
+
an end. It will thus resemble a living organism in all its unity, and
|
| 1184 |
+
produce the pleasure proper to it. It will differ in structure from
|
| 1185 |
+
historical compositions, which of necessity present not a single action,
|
| 1186 |
+
but a single period, and all that happened within that period to one
|
| 1187 |
+
person or to many, little connected together as the events may be. For
|
| 1188 |
+
as the sea-fight at Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in
|
| 1189 |
+
Sicily took place at the same time, but did not tend to any one result,
|
| 1190 |
+
so in the sequence of events, one thing sometimes follows another, and
|
| 1191 |
+
yet no single result is thereby produced. Such is the practice, we may
|
| 1192 |
+
say, of most poets. Here again, then, as has been already observed, the
|
| 1193 |
+
transcendent excellence of Homer is manifest. He never attempts to make
|
| 1194 |
+
the whole war of Troy the subject of his poem, though that war had
|
| 1195 |
+
a beginning and an end. It would have been too vast a theme, and not
|
| 1196 |
+
easily embraced in a single view. If, again, he had kept it within
|
| 1197 |
+
moderate limits, it must have been over-complicated by the variety of
|
| 1198 |
+
the incidents. As it is, he detaches a single portion, and admits as
|
| 1199 |
+
episodes many events from the general story of the war--such as the
|
| 1200 |
+
Catalogue of the ships and others--thus diversifying the poem. All other
|
| 1201 |
+
poets take a single hero, a single period, or an action single indeed,
|
| 1202 |
+
but with a multiplicity of parts. Thus did the author of the Cypria
|
| 1203 |
+
and of the Little Iliad. For this reason the Iliad and the Odyssey
|
| 1204 |
+
each furnish the subject of one tragedy, or, at most, of two; while the
|
| 1205 |
+
Cypria supplies materials for many, and the Little Iliad for eight--the
|
| 1206 |
+
Award of the Arms, the Philoctetes, the Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, the
|
| 1207 |
+
Mendicant Odysseus, the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, the Departure
|
| 1208 |
+
of the Fleet.
|
| 1209 |
+
|
| 1210 |
+
XXIV
|
| 1211 |
+
|
| 1212 |
+
Again, Epic poetry must have as many kinds as Tragedy: it must be
|
| 1213 |
+
simple, or complex, or 'ethical,' or 'pathetic.' The parts also, with
|
| 1214 |
+
the exception of song and spectacle, are the same; for it requires
|
| 1215 |
+
Reversals of the Situation, Recognitions, and Scenes of Suffering.
|
| 1216 |
+
Moreover, the thoughts and the diction must be artistic. In all these
|
| 1217 |
+
respects Homer is our earliest and sufficient model. Indeed each of
|
| 1218 |
+
his poems has a twofold character. The Iliad is at once simple and
|
| 1219 |
+
'pathetic,' and the Odyssey complex (for Recognition scenes run through
|
| 1220 |
+
it), and at the same time 'ethical.' Moreover, in diction and thought
|
| 1221 |
+
they are supreme.
|
| 1222 |
+
|
| 1223 |
+
Epic poetry differs from Tragedy in the scale on which it is
|
| 1224 |
+
constructed, and in its metre. As regards scale or length, we have
|
| 1225 |
+
already laid down an adequate limit:--the beginning and the end must be
|
| 1226 |
+
capable of being brought within a single view. This condition will be
|
| 1227 |
+
satisfied by poems on a smaller scale than the old epics, and answering
|
| 1228 |
+
in length to the group of tragedies presented at a single sitting.
|
| 1229 |
+
|
| 1230 |
+
Epic poetry has, however, a great--a special--capacity for enlarging
|
| 1231 |
+
its dimensions, and we can see the reason. In Tragedy we cannot imitate
|
| 1232 |
+
several lines of actions carried on at one and the same time; we must
|
| 1233 |
+
confine ourselves to the action on the stage and the part taken by the
|
| 1234 |
+
players. But in Epic poetry, owing to the narrative form, many events
|
| 1235 |
+
simultaneously transacted can be presented; and these, if relevant to
|
| 1236 |
+
the subject, add mass and dignity to the poem. The Epic has here an
|
| 1237 |
+
advantage, and one that conduces to grandeur of effect, to diverting the
|
| 1238 |
+
mind of the hearer, and relieving the story with varying episodes. For
|
| 1239 |
+
sameness of incident soon produces satiety, and makes tragedies fail on
|
| 1240 |
+
the stage.
|
| 1241 |
+
|
| 1242 |
+
As for the metre, the heroic measure has proved its fitness by the test
|
| 1243 |
+
of experience. If a narrative poem in any other metre or in many metres
|
| 1244 |
+
were now composed, it would be found incongruous. For of all measures
|
| 1245 |
+
the heroic is the stateliest and the most massive; and hence it most
|
| 1246 |
+
readily admits rare words and metaphors, which is another point in which
|
| 1247 |
+
the narrative form of imitation stands alone. On the other hand, the
|
| 1248 |
+
iambic and the trochaic tetrameter are stirring measures, the latter
|
| 1249 |
+
being akin to dancing, the former expressive of action. Still more
|
| 1250 |
+
absurd would it be to mix together different metres, as was done by
|
| 1251 |
+
Chaeremon. Hence no one has ever composed a poem on a great scale in any
|
| 1252 |
+
other than heroic verse. Nature herself, as we have said, teaches the
|
| 1253 |
+
choice of the proper measure.
|
| 1254 |
+
|
| 1255 |
+
Homer, admirable in all respects, has the special merit of being the
|
| 1256 |
+
only poet who rightly appreciates the part he should take himself. The
|
| 1257 |
+
poet should speak as little as possible in his own person, for it is not
|
| 1258 |
+
this that makes him an imitator. Other poets appear themselves upon the
|
| 1259 |
+
scene throughout, and imitate but little and rarely. Homer, after a few
|
| 1260 |
+
prefatory words, at once brings in a man, or woman, or other personage;
|
| 1261 |
+
none of them wanting in characteristic qualities, but each with a
|
| 1262 |
+
character of his own.
|
| 1263 |
+
|
| 1264 |
+
The element of the wonderful is required in Tragedy. The irrational, on
|
| 1265 |
+
which the wonderful depends for its chief effects, has wider scope in
|
| 1266 |
+
Epic poetry, because there the person acting is not seen. Thus, the
|
| 1267 |
+
pursuit of Hector would be ludicrous if placed upon the stage--the
|
| 1268 |
+
Greeks standing still and not joining in the pursuit, and Achilles
|
| 1269 |
+
waving them back. But in the Epic poem the absurdity passes unnoticed.
|
| 1270 |
+
Now the wonderful is pleasing: as may be inferred from the fact that
|
| 1271 |
+
every one tells a story with some addition of his own, knowing that his
|
| 1272 |
+
hearers like it. It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the
|
| 1273 |
+
art of telling lies skilfully. The secret of it lies in a fallacy, For,
|
| 1274 |
+
assuming that if one thing is or becomes, a second is or becomes, men
|
| 1275 |
+
imagine that, if the second is, the first likewise is or becomes. But
|
| 1276 |
+
this is a false inference. Hence, where the first thing is untrue, it is
|
| 1277 |
+
quite unnecessary, provided the second be true, to add that the first
|
| 1278 |
+
is or has become. For the mind, knowing the second to be true, falsely
|
| 1279 |
+
infers the truth of the first. There is an example of this in the Bath
|
| 1280 |
+
Scene of the Odyssey.
|
| 1281 |
+
|
| 1282 |
+
Accordingly, the poet should prefer probable impossibilities to
|
| 1283 |
+
improbable possibilities. The tragic plot must not be composed of
|
| 1284 |
+
irrational parts. Everything irrational should, if possible, be
|
| 1285 |
+
excluded; or, at all events, it should lie outside the action of the
|
| 1286 |
+
play (as, in the Oedipus, the hero's ignorance as to the manner of
|
| 1287 |
+
Laius' death); not within the drama,--as in the Electra, the messenger's
|
| 1288 |
+
account of the Pythian games; or, as in the Mysians, the man who
|
| 1289 |
+
has come from Tegea to Mysia and is still speechless. The plea that
|
| 1290 |
+
otherwise the plot would have been ruined, is ridiculous; such a plot
|
| 1291 |
+
should not in the first instance be constructed. But once the irrational
|
| 1292 |
+
has been introduced and an air of likelihood imparted to it, we must
|
| 1293 |
+
accept it in spite of the absurdity. Take even the irrational incidents
|
| 1294 |
+
in the Odyssey, where Odysseus is left upon the shore of Ithaca. How
|
| 1295 |
+
intolerable even these might have been would be apparent if an inferior
|
| 1296 |
+
poet were to treat the subject. As it is, the absurdity is veiled by the
|
| 1297 |
+
poetic charm with which the poet invests it.
|
| 1298 |
+
|
| 1299 |
+
The diction should be elaborated in the pauses of the action, where
|
| 1300 |
+
there is no expression of character or thought. For, conversely,
|
| 1301 |
+
character and thought are merely obscured by a diction that is over
|
| 1302 |
+
brilliant.
|
| 1303 |
+
|
| 1304 |
+
XXV
|
| 1305 |
+
|
| 1306 |
+
With respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, the number
|
| 1307 |
+
and nature of the sources from which they may be drawn may be thus
|
| 1308 |
+
exhibited.
|
| 1309 |
+
|
| 1310 |
+
The poet being an imitator, like a painter or any other artist, must
|
| 1311 |
+
of necessity imitate one of three objects,--things as they were or are,
|
| 1312 |
+
things as they are said or thought to be, or things as they ought to be.
|
| 1313 |
+
The vehicle of expression is language,--either current terms or, it
|
| 1314 |
+
may be, rare words or metaphors. There are also many modifications of
|
| 1315 |
+
language, which we concede to the poets. Add to this, that the standard
|
| 1316 |
+
of correctness is not the same in poetry and politics, any more than in
|
| 1317 |
+
poetry and any other art. Within the art of poetry itself there are
|
| 1318 |
+
two kinds of faults, those which touch its essence, and those which are
|
| 1319 |
+
accidental. If a poet has chosen to imitate something, <but has imitated
|
| 1320 |
+
it incorrectly> through want of capacity, the error is inherent in
|
| 1321 |
+
the poetry. But if the failure is due to a wrong choice if he has
|
| 1322 |
+
represented a horse as throwing out both his off legs at once, or
|
| 1323 |
+
introduced technical inaccuracies in medicine, for example, or in any
|
| 1324 |
+
other art the error is not essential to the poetry. These are the points
|
| 1325 |
+
of view from which we should consider and answer the objections raised
|
| 1326 |
+
by the critics.
|
| 1327 |
+
|
| 1328 |
+
First as to matters which concern the poet's own art. If he describes
|
| 1329 |
+
the impossible, he is guilty of an error; but the error may be
|
| 1330 |
+
justified, if the end of the art be thereby attained (the end being that
|
| 1331 |
+
already mentioned), if, that is, the effect of this or any other part of
|
| 1332 |
+
the poem is thus rendered more striking. A case in point is the pursuit
|
| 1333 |
+
of Hector. If, however, the end might have been as well, or better,
|
| 1334 |
+
attained without violating the special rules of the poetic art, the
|
| 1335 |
+
error is not justified: for every kind of error should, if possible, be
|
| 1336 |
+
avoided.
|
| 1337 |
+
|
| 1338 |
+
Again, does the error touch the essentials of the poetic art, or some
|
| 1339 |
+
accident of it? For example,--not to know that a hind has no horns is a
|
| 1340 |
+
less serious matter than to paint it inartistically.
|
| 1341 |
+
|
| 1342 |
+
Further, if it be objected that the description is not true to fact, the
|
| 1343 |
+
poet may perhaps reply,--'But the objects are as they ought to be': just
|
| 1344 |
+
as Sophocles said that he drew men as they ought to be; Euripides,
|
| 1345 |
+
as they are. In this way the objection may be met. If, however, the
|
| 1346 |
+
representation be of neither kind, the poet may answer,--This is how men
|
| 1347 |
+
say the thing is.' This applies to tales about the gods. It may well be
|
| 1348 |
+
that these stories are not higher than fact nor yet true to fact: they
|
| 1349 |
+
are, very possibly, what Xenophanes says of them. But anyhow, 'this
|
| 1350 |
+
is what is said.' Again, a description may be no better than the fact:
|
| 1351 |
+
'still, it was the fact'; as in the passage about the arms: 'Upright
|
| 1352 |
+
upon their butt-ends stood the spears.' This was the custom then, as it
|
| 1353 |
+
now is among the Illyrians.
|
| 1354 |
+
|
| 1355 |
+
Again, in examining whether what has been said or done by some one is
|
| 1356 |
+
poetically right or not, we must not look merely to the particular act
|
| 1357 |
+
or saying, and ask whether it is poetically good or bad. We must also
|
| 1358 |
+
consider by whom it is said or done, to whom, when, by what means, or
|
| 1359 |
+
for what end; whether, for instance, it be to secure a greater good, or
|
| 1360 |
+
avert a greater evil.
|
| 1361 |
+
|
| 1362 |
+
Other difficulties may be resolved by due regard to the usage of
|
| 1363 |
+
language. We may note a rare word, as in {omicron upsilon rho eta alpha
|
| 1364 |
+
sigma / mu epsilon nu / pi rho omega tau omicron nu}, where the poet
|
| 1365 |
+
perhaps employs {omicron upsilon rho eta alpha sigma} not in the sense
|
| 1366 |
+
of mules, but of sentinels. So, again, of Dolon: 'ill-favoured indeed
|
| 1367 |
+
he was to look upon.' It is not meant that his body was ill-shaped, but
|
| 1368 |
+
that his face was ugly; for the Cretans use the word {epsilon upsilon
|
| 1369 |
+
epsilon iota delta epsilon sigma}, 'well-favoured,' to denote a fair
|
| 1370 |
+
face. Again, {zeta omega rho omicron tau epsilon rho omicron nu /
|
| 1371 |
+
delta epsilon / kappa epsilon rho alpha iota epsilon}, 'mix the drink
|
| 1372 |
+
livelier,' does not mean `mix it stronger' as for hard drinkers, but
|
| 1373 |
+
'mix it quicker.'
|
| 1374 |
+
|
| 1375 |
+
Sometimes an expression is metaphorical, as 'Now all gods and men were
|
| 1376 |
+
sleeping through the night,'--while at the same time the poet says:
|
| 1377 |
+
'Often indeed as he turned his gaze to the Trojan plain, he marvelled
|
| 1378 |
+
at the sound of flutes and pipes.' 'All' is here used metaphorically for
|
| 1379 |
+
'many,' all being a species of many. So in the verse,--'alone she hath
|
| 1380 |
+
no part...,' {omicron iota eta}, 'alone,' is metaphorical; for the best
|
| 1381 |
+
known may be called the only one.
|
| 1382 |
+
|
| 1383 |
+
Again, the solution may depend upon accent or breathing. Thus Hippias of
|
| 1384 |
+
Thasos solved the difficulties in the lines,--{delta iota delta omicron
|
| 1385 |
+
mu epsilon nu (delta iota delta omicron mu epsilon nu) delta epsilon
|
| 1386 |
+
/ omicron iota,} and { tau omicron / mu epsilon nu / omicron upsilon
|
| 1387 |
+
(omicron upsilon) kappa alpha tau alpha pi upsilon theta epsilon tau
|
| 1388 |
+
alpha iota / omicron mu beta rho omega}.
|
| 1389 |
+
|
| 1390 |
+
Or again, the question may be solved by punctuation, as in
|
| 1391 |
+
Empedocles,--'Of a sudden things became mortal that before had learnt to
|
| 1392 |
+
be immortal, and things unmixed before mixed.'
|
| 1393 |
+
|
| 1394 |
+
Or again, by ambiguity of meaning,--as {pi alpha rho omega chi eta kappa
|
| 1395 |
+
epsilon nu / delta epsilon / pi lambda epsilon omega / nu upsilon xi},
|
| 1396 |
+
where the word {pi lambda epsilon omega} is ambiguous.
|
| 1397 |
+
|
| 1398 |
+
Or by the usage of language. Thus any mixed drink is called {omicron
|
| 1399 |
+
iota nu omicron sigma}, 'wine.' Hence Ganymede is said 'to pour the wine
|
| 1400 |
+
to Zeus,' though the gods do not drink wine. So too workers in iron
|
| 1401 |
+
are called {chi alpha lambda kappa epsilon alpha sigma}, or workers in
|
| 1402 |
+
bronze. This, however, may also be taken as a metaphor.
|
| 1403 |
+
|
| 1404 |
+
Again, when a word seems to involve some inconsistency of meaning, we
|
| 1405 |
+
should consider how many senses it may bear in the particular passage.
|
| 1406 |
+
For example: 'there was stayed the spear of bronze'--we should ask
|
| 1407 |
+
in how many ways we may take 'being checked there.' The true mode
|
| 1408 |
+
of interpretation is the precise opposite of what Glaucon mentions.
|
| 1409 |
+
Critics, he says, jump at certain groundless conclusions; they pass
|
| 1410 |
+
adverse judgment and then proceed to reason on it; and, assuming that
|
| 1411 |
+
the poet has said whatever they happen to think, find fault if a thing
|
| 1412 |
+
is inconsistent with their own fancy. The question about Icarius
|
| 1413 |
+
has been treated in this fashion. The critics imagine he was a
|
| 1414 |
+
Lacedaemonian. They think it strange, therefore, that Telemachus should
|
| 1415 |
+
not have met him when he went to Lacedaemon. But the Cephallenian story
|
| 1416 |
+
may perhaps be the true one. They allege that Odysseus took a wife from
|
| 1417 |
+
among themselves, and that her father was Icadius not Icarius. It is
|
| 1418 |
+
merely a mistake, then, that gives plausibility to the objection.
|
| 1419 |
+
|
| 1420 |
+
In general, the impossible must be justified by reference to artistic
|
| 1421 |
+
requirements, or to the higher reality, or to received opinion. With
|
| 1422 |
+
respect to the requirements of art, a probable impossibility is to
|
| 1423 |
+
be preferred to a thing improbable and yet possible. Again, it may be
|
| 1424 |
+
impossible that there should be men such as Zeuxis painted. 'Yes,' we
|
| 1425 |
+
say, 'but the impossible is the higher thing; for the ideal type must
|
| 1426 |
+
surpass the reality.' To justify the irrational, we appeal to what is
|
| 1427 |
+
commonly said to be. In addition to which, we urge that the irrational
|
| 1428 |
+
sometimes does not violate reason; just as 'it is probable that a thing
|
| 1429 |
+
may happen contrary to probability.'
|
| 1430 |
+
|
| 1431 |
+
Things that sound contradictory should be examined by the same rules as
|
| 1432 |
+
in dialectical refutation whether the same thing is meant, in the same
|
| 1433 |
+
relation, and in the same sense. We should therefore solve the question
|
| 1434 |
+
by reference to what the poet says himself, or to what is tacitly
|
| 1435 |
+
assumed by a person of intelligence.
|
| 1436 |
+
|
| 1437 |
+
The element of the irrational, and, similarly, depravity of character,
|
| 1438 |
+
are justly censured when there is no inner necessity for introducing
|
| 1439 |
+
them. Such is the irrational element in the introduction of Aegeus by
|
| 1440 |
+
Euripides and the badness of Menelaus in the Orestes.
|
| 1441 |
+
|
| 1442 |
+
Thus, there are five sources from which critical objections are drawn.
|
| 1443 |
+
Things are censured either as impossible, or irrational, or morally
|
| 1444 |
+
hurtful, or contradictory, or contrary to artistic correctness. The
|
| 1445 |
+
answers should be sought under the twelve heads above mentioned.
|
| 1446 |
+
|
| 1447 |
+
XXVI
|
| 1448 |
+
|
| 1449 |
+
The question may be raised whether the Epic or Tragic mode of imitation
|
| 1450 |
+
is the higher. If the more refined art is the higher, and the more
|
| 1451 |
+
refined in every case is that which appeals to the better sort of
|
| 1452 |
+
audience, the art which imitates anything and everything is manifestly
|
| 1453 |
+
most unrefined. The audience is supposed to be too dull to comprehend
|
| 1454 |
+
unless something of their own is thrown in by the performers, who
|
| 1455 |
+
therefore indulge in restless movements. Bad flute-players twist and
|
| 1456 |
+
twirl, if they have to represent 'the quoit-throw,' or hustle the
|
| 1457 |
+
coryphaeus when they perform the 'Scylla.' Tragedy, it is said, has
|
| 1458 |
+
this same defect. We may compare the opinion that the older actors
|
| 1459 |
+
entertained of their successors. Mynniscus used to call Callippides
|
| 1460 |
+
'ape' on account of the extravagance of his action, and the same view
|
| 1461 |
+
was held of Pindarus. Tragic art, then, as a whole, stands to Epic in
|
| 1462 |
+
the same relation as the younger to the elder actors. So we are told
|
| 1463 |
+
that Epic poetry is addressed to a cultivated audience, who do not need
|
| 1464 |
+
gesture; Tragedy, to an inferior public. Being then unrefined, it is
|
| 1465 |
+
evidently the lower of the two.
|
| 1466 |
+
|
| 1467 |
+
Now, in the first place, this censure attaches not to the poetic but to
|
| 1468 |
+
the histrionic art; for gesticulation may be equally overdone in
|
| 1469 |
+
epic recitation, as by Sosi-stratus, or in lyrical competition, as by
|
| 1470 |
+
Mnasitheus the Opuntian. Next, all action is not to be condemned any
|
| 1471 |
+
more than all dancing--but only that of bad performers. Such was the
|
| 1472 |
+
fault found in Callippides, as also in others of our own day, who are
|
| 1473 |
+
censured for representing degraded women. Again, Tragedy like Epic
|
| 1474 |
+
poetry produces its effect even without action; it reveals its power
|
| 1475 |
+
by mere reading. If, then, in all other respects it is superior, this
|
| 1476 |
+
fault, we say, is not inherent in it.
|
| 1477 |
+
|
| 1478 |
+
And superior it is, because it has all the epic elements--it may even
|
| 1479 |
+
use the epic metre--with the music and spectacular effects as important
|
| 1480 |
+
accessories; and these produce the most vivid of pleasures. Further,
|
| 1481 |
+
it has vividness of impression in reading as well as in representation.
|
| 1482 |
+
Moreover, the art attains its end within narrower limits; for the
|
| 1483 |
+
concentrated effect is more pleasurable than one which is spread over a
|
| 1484 |
+
long time and so diluted. What, for example, would be the effect of the
|
| 1485 |
+
Oedipus of Sophocles, if it were cast into a form as long as the Iliad?
|
| 1486 |
+
Once more, the Epic imitation has less unity; as is shown by this, that
|
| 1487 |
+
any Epic poem will furnish subjects for several tragedies. Thus if
|
| 1488 |
+
the story adopted by the poet has a strict unity, it must either be
|
| 1489 |
+
concisely told and appear truncated; or, if it conform to the Epic canon
|
| 1490 |
+
of length, it must seem weak and watery. <Such length implies some loss
|
| 1491 |
+
of unity,> if, I mean, the poem is constructed out of several actions,
|
| 1492 |
+
like the Iliad and the Odyssey, which have many such parts, each with a
|
| 1493 |
+
certain magnitude of its own. Yet these poems are as perfect as possible
|
| 1494 |
+
in structure; each is, in the highest degree attainable, an imitation of
|
| 1495 |
+
a single action.
|
| 1496 |
+
|
| 1497 |
+
If, then, Tragedy is superior to Epic poetry in all these respects, and,
|
| 1498 |
+
moreover, fulfils its specific function better as an art for each art
|
| 1499 |
+
ought to produce, not any chance pleasure, but the pleasure proper to
|
| 1500 |
+
it, as already stated it plainly follows that Tragedy is the higher art,
|
| 1501 |
+
as attaining its end more perfectly.
|
| 1502 |
+
|
| 1503 |
+
Thus much may suffice concerning Tragic and Epic poetry in general;
|
| 1504 |
+
their several kinds and parts, with the number of each and their
|
| 1505 |
+
differences; the causes that make a poem good or bad; the objections of
|
| 1506 |
+
the critics and the answers to these objections.
|
| 1507 |
+
|
| 1508 |
+
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Poetics, by Aristotle
|
data/aristotle_politics.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_rhetoric.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/aristotle_soul.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/bacon_essays.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/boethius_consolation.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/cicero_duties.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/cicero_friendship.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/cicero_nature_gods.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/descartes_meditations.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/descartes_method.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/diogenes_epicurus.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/emerson_essays.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/epictetus_discourses.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/epictetus_enchiridion.txt
ADDED
|
@@ -0,0 +1,1283 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
+
The Library of Liberal Arts
|
| 2 |
+
OSKAR PIEST, _General Editor_
|
| 3 |
+
[NUMBER EIGHT]
|
| 4 |
+
|
| 5 |
+
EPICTETUS
|
| 6 |
+
The Enchiridion
|
| 7 |
+
|
| 8 |
+
The Enchiridion
|
| 9 |
+
By
|
| 10 |
+
EPICTETUS
|
| 11 |
+
|
| 12 |
+
Translated by
|
| 13 |
+
THOMAS W. HIGGINSON
|
| 14 |
+
|
| 15 |
+
With an Introduction by
|
| 16 |
+
ALBERT SALOMON
|
| 17 |
+
_Professor of Sociology
|
| 18 |
+
New School for Social Research_
|
| 19 |
+
|
| 20 |
+
THE LIBERAL ARTS PRESS
|
| 21 |
+
NEW YORK
|
| 22 |
+
|
| 23 |
+
COPYRIGHT, 1948
|
| 24 |
+
THE LIBERAL ARTS PRESS, INC.
|
| 25 |
+
|
| 26 |
+
First Edition, _October, 1948_
|
| 27 |
+
Reprinted
|
| 28 |
+
_December, 1950_; _August, 1954_
|
| 29 |
+
Second Edition, _November, 1955_
|
| 30 |
+
|
| 31 |
+
Published at 153 West 72nd Street, New York 23, N. Y.
|
| 32 |
+
Printed in the United States of America
|
| 33 |
+
|
| 34 |
+
CONTENTS
|
| 35 |
+
|
| 36 |
+
Note on the Text
|
| 37 |
+
Introduction
|
| 38 |
+
Selected Bibliography
|
| 39 |
+
The Enchiridion
|
| 40 |
+
|
| 41 |
+
NOTE ON THE TEXT
|
| 42 |
+
|
| 43 |
+
The text of the second edition is a reprint of the first edition except
|
| 44 |
+
for a few minor corrections in style, punctuation, and spelling, which
|
| 45 |
+
have been revised to conform to current American usage.
|
| 46 |
+
|
| 47 |
+
The editorial staff of the publishers has added a few explanatory notes
|
| 48 |
+
which are set in brackets and marked "Ed."
|
| 49 |
+
|
| 50 |
+
O.P.
|
| 51 |
+
|
| 52 |
+
INTRODUCTION
|
| 53 |
+
|
| 54 |
+
The little book by Epictetus called _Enchiridion_ or "manual" has played
|
| 55 |
+
a disproportionately large role in the rise of modern attitudes and
|
| 56 |
+
modern philosophy. As soon as it had been translated into the vernacular
|
| 57 |
+
languages, it became a bestseller among independent intellectuals, among
|
| 58 |
+
anti-Christian thinkers, and among philosophers of a subjective cast.
|
| 59 |
+
Montaigne had a copy of the _Enchiridion_ among his books. Pascal
|
| 60 |
+
violently rejected the megalomaniac pride of the Stoic philosopher.
|
| 61 |
+
Frederick the Great carried the book with him on all campaigns. It was a
|
| 62 |
+
source of inspiration and encouragement to Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury,
|
| 63 |
+
in the serious illness which ended only in his death; many pages of his
|
| 64 |
+
diaries contain passages copied from the _Enchiridion_. It has been
|
| 65 |
+
studied and widely quoted by Scottish philosophers like Francis
|
| 66 |
+
Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and Adam Ferguson who valued Stoic moral
|
| 67 |
+
philosophy for its reconciliation of social dependency and personal
|
| 68 |
+
independence.
|
| 69 |
+
|
| 70 |
+
That there was a rebirth of Stoicism in the centuries of rebirth which
|
| 71 |
+
marked the emergence of the modern age was not mere chance.
|
| 72 |
+
Philosophical, moral, and social conditions of the time united to cause
|
| 73 |
+
it. Roman Stoicism had been developed in times of despotism as a
|
| 74 |
+
philosophy of lonely and courageous souls who had recognized the
|
| 75 |
+
redeeming power of philosophical reason in all the moral and social
|
| 76 |
+
purposes of life. Philosophy as a way of life makes men free. It is the
|
| 77 |
+
last ditch stand of liberty in a world of servitude. Many elements in the
|
| 78 |
+
new age led to thought which had structural affinity with Roman Stoicism.
|
| 79 |
+
Modern times had created the independent thinker, the free intellectual
|
| 80 |
+
in a secular civilization. Modern times had destroyed medieval liberties
|
| 81 |
+
and had established the new despotism of the absolute state supported by
|
| 82 |
+
ecclesiastical authority. Modern philosophies continued the basic trend
|
| 83 |
+
in Stoicism in making the subjective consciousness the foundation of
|
| 84 |
+
philosophy. The Stoic emphasis on moral problems was also appealing in an
|
| 85 |
+
era of rapid transition when all the values which had previously been
|
| 86 |
+
taken for granted were questioned and reconsidered.
|
| 87 |
+
|
| 88 |
+
While it is interesting to observe how varied were the effects produced
|
| 89 |
+
by this small volume, this epitome of the Stoic system of moral
|
| 90 |
+
philosophy, these effects seem still more remarkable when we consider
|
| 91 |
+
that it was not intended to be a philosophical treatise on Stoicism for
|
| 92 |
+
students. It was, rather, to be a guide for the advanced student of
|
| 93 |
+
Stoicism to show him the best roads toward the goal of becoming a true
|
| 94 |
+
philosopher. Thus Epictetus and his _Enchiridion_ have a unique position
|
| 95 |
+
in Roman Stoicism. Seneca and Marcus Aurelius had selected Stoic
|
| 96 |
+
philosophy as the most adequate system for expressing their existential
|
| 97 |
+
problems of independence, solitude, and history. In this enterprise,
|
| 98 |
+
Seneca made tremendous strides toward the insights of social psychology
|
| 99 |
+
as a by-product of his consciousness of decadence (in this he was close
|
| 100 |
+
to Nietzsche), but he was not primarily concerned with the unity of the
|
| 101 |
+
Stoic system. Marcus Aurelius changed the philosophical doctrine into the
|
| 102 |
+
regimen of the lonesome ruler. In contrast to both, Epictetus was
|
| 103 |
+
teaching Stoic philosophy as a doctrine and as a way of life. The
|
| 104 |
+
_Enchiridion_ is a summary of theoretical and applied Stoicism.
|
| 105 |
+
|
| 106 |
+
Epictetus was the son of a woman slave, born between 50 and 60 A.D. at
|
| 107 |
+
Hieropolis in Phrygia. We do not know how he came to Rome. He was there
|
| 108 |
+
as slave to one of Nero's distinguished freedmen who served as the
|
| 109 |
+
Emperor's secretary. While still in service, Epictetus took courses with
|
| 110 |
+
Musonius Rufus, the fashionable Stoic philosopher, who was impressed by
|
| 111 |
+
the sincere and dynamic personality of the young slave and trained him to
|
| 112 |
+
be a Stoic philosopher. Epictetus became a free man and began teaching
|
| 113 |
+
philosophy on street corners, in the market, but he was not successful.
|
| 114 |
+
During the rule of Domitian, Epictetus with many other philosophers was
|
| 115 |
+
exiled from Rome, probably between 89 and 92 A.D. He went to Nicopolis,
|
| 116 |
+
across Actium in Epirus, where he conducted his own school. He was so
|
| 117 |
+
well regarded and highly esteemed that he established the reputation of
|
| 118 |
+
the place as the town of Epictetus' school. Students came from Athens and
|
| 119 |
+
Rome to attend his classes. Private citizens came to ask his advice and
|
| 120 |
+
guidance. Some of his students returned to their homes to enter the
|
| 121 |
+
traditional careers to which they were socially obligated. Others assumed
|
| 122 |
+
the philosophic way of life in order to escape into the sphere of Stoic
|
| 123 |
+
freedom.
|
| 124 |
+
|
| 125 |
+
Among the students was a young Roman, Flavius Arrian, who took courses at
|
| 126 |
+
Nicopolis when Epictetus was already old. Flavius, who was born in 108
|
| 127 |
+
A.D., was one of the intimates of Hadrian, who made him consul in 130
|
| 128 |
+
A.D. He probably studied with Epictetus between the years 123 and 126
|
| 129 |
+
A.D. The informal philosophical talks which Epictetus had with his
|
| 130 |
+
students fascinated him. Needless to say there were also systematic
|
| 131 |
+
courses in the fields of philosophy. But it was the informal discourses
|
| 132 |
+
which convinced Arrian that he had finally discovered a Stoic Socrates or
|
| 133 |
+
a Stoic Diogenes, who was not merely teaching a doctrine, but also living
|
| 134 |
+
the truth. Arrian recorded many of the discourses and informal
|
| 135 |
+
conversations of Epictetus with his intimate students. He took them down
|
| 136 |
+
in shorthand in order not to lose the ineffable liveliness, grace, and
|
| 137 |
+
wit of the beloved teacher. Arrian retired into private life after the
|
| 138 |
+
death of Hadrian in 138 A.D. and dedicated himself to his literary work.
|
| 139 |
+
He published his notes on Epictetus' teaching under the title:
|
| 140 |
+
_Discourses in Four Books_. The _Enchiridion_, which was also arranged by
|
| 141 |
+
Arrian, is a brief summary of the basic ideas of Stoic philosophy and an
|
| 142 |
+
introduction to the techniques required to transform Stoic philosophy
|
| 143 |
+
into a way of life.
|
| 144 |
+
|
| 145 |
+
Thus we do not have any original writings of Epictetus. Like G. H. Mead
|
| 146 |
+
in recent times, he was completely dedicated to the human and
|
| 147 |
+
intellectual problems of his students. He left it for them to preserve
|
| 148 |
+
what they considered to be the lasting message of the teacher. In
|
| 149 |
+
contrast to Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus had no subjective
|
| 150 |
+
approach to the Stoic doctrines. Moral philosophy was the center of his
|
| 151 |
+
teaching, and epistemology was only instrumental. It is even permissible
|
| 152 |
+
to say that he took physics or cosmology too lightly. If this is granted,
|
| 153 |
+
we must admit that he is completely absorbed by the fundamentals of Stoic
|
| 154 |
+
thought as presented in the _Enchiridion_. Epictetus' personality is
|
| 155 |
+
totally integrated in the act of reasoning which establishes conformity
|
| 156 |
+
with nature.
|
| 157 |
+
|
| 158 |
+
A remarkable difference between the _Discourses_ and the _Enchiridion_
|
| 159 |
+
should be mentioned. The _Discourses_ are a living image of the teacher
|
| 160 |
+
in action; they present the process of philosophizing, not the finished
|
| 161 |
+
product. They show the enthusiastic and sober, the realistic and pathetic
|
| 162 |
+
moralist in constantly changing perspectives determined by the changing
|
| 163 |
+
students with their various concerns, problems, and questions; his
|
| 164 |
+
teachings, his formulations, have direct reference to the various life
|
| 165 |
+
situations in which the students should apply and practice the master's
|
| 166 |
+
Stoic teaching. No human situation is omitted; as a guide to conduct,
|
| 167 |
+
philosophy has relevance for all. Whether the students have to attend a
|
| 168 |
+
dinner party, whether they are among competitors in a stadium or in a
|
| 169 |
+
swimming pool, whether they have to present themselves at court or in an
|
| 170 |
+
office, whether they are in the company of their mothers and sisters or
|
| 171 |
+
of girl friends, in all human situations the philosopher knows the
|
| 172 |
+
correct advice for the philosophical apprentice. Thus, in the
|
| 173 |
+
_Discourses_, Arrian presents the unique individuality of the philosopher
|
| 174 |
+
and of his applied moral method in living contact with various students
|
| 175 |
+
in concrete situations. Epictetus as teacher anticipates very modern
|
| 176 |
+
educational methods in his regard for the structure of situations and the
|
| 177 |
+
changing perspectives in human relationships.
|
| 178 |
+
|
| 179 |
+
Nothing like this is revealed in the _Enchiridion_. Gone is the Stoic
|
| 180 |
+
philosopher as living spirit. What remains is the living spirit of
|
| 181 |
+
Stoicism. The _Enchiridion_ is a manual for the combat officer. This
|
| 182 |
+
analogy should be taken seriously. The Roman Stoics coined the formula:
|
| 183 |
+
_Vivere militare!_ (Life is being a soldier.) The student of philosophy
|
| 184 |
+
is a private, the advancing Stoic is a non-commissioned officer, and the
|
| 185 |
+
philosopher is the combat officer. For this reason all Roman Stoics apply
|
| 186 |
+
metaphors and images derived from military life. Apprentice students of
|
| 187 |
+
Stoicism are described as messengers, as scouts of God, as
|
| 188 |
+
representatives of divine nature. The advancing student who is close to
|
| 189 |
+
the goal of being a philosopher has the rank of an officer. He is already
|
| 190 |
+
able to establish inner freedom and independence. He understands the
|
| 191 |
+
basic Stoic truth of subjective consciousness, which is to distinguish
|
| 192 |
+
what is in our power from what is not in our power. Not in our power are
|
| 193 |
+
all the elements which constitute our environment, such as wealth,
|
| 194 |
+
health, reputation, social prestige, power, the lives of those we love,
|
| 195 |
+
and death. In our power are our thinking, our intentions, our desires,
|
| 196 |
+
our decisions. These make it possible for us to control ourselves and to
|
| 197 |
+
make of ourselves elements and parts of the universe of nature. This
|
| 198 |
+
knowledge of ourselves makes us free in a world of dependencies. This
|
| 199 |
+
superiority of our powers enables us to live in conformity with nature.
|
| 200 |
+
The rational philosophy of control of Self and of adjustment to the Whole
|
| 201 |
+
implies an asceticism of the emotional and the sensitive life. The
|
| 202 |
+
philosopher must examine and control his passions, his love, his
|
| 203 |
+
tenderness at all times in order always to be ready for the inevitable
|
| 204 |
+
moment of farewell. The Stoics practiced a Jesuitism _avant la lettre_.
|
| 205 |
+
They were able to live in the world as if they did not live in it. To the
|
| 206 |
+
Stoic, life is a military camp, a play on the stage, a banquet to which
|
| 207 |
+
we are invited. The _Enchiridion_ briefly indicated the techniques which
|
| 208 |
+
the philosopher should apply in acting well the diverse roles which God
|
| 209 |
+
might assign to those whom he loves, the Stoic philosophers. From the
|
| 210 |
+
rules of social conduct to the recommendations of sexual asceticism
|
| 211 |
+
before marriage, and the method of true thinking, the advanced Stoic will
|
| 212 |
+
find all principles of perfection and all precepts for realizing
|
| 213 |
+
philosophical principles in his conduct in this tiny volume.
|
| 214 |
+
|
| 215 |
+
Thus the _Enchiridion_ was liberating for all intellectuals who learned
|
| 216 |
+
from it that there are philosophical ways of self-redemption. From its
|
| 217 |
+
time, the secular thinker could feel jubilant because he was not in need
|
| 218 |
+
of a divine grace. Epictetus had taught him that philosophical reason
|
| 219 |
+
could make him free and that he was capable of redeeming himself by sound
|
| 220 |
+
reasoning.
|
| 221 |
+
|
| 222 |
+
In the Stoic distinctions of personality and world, of I and mine, of
|
| 223 |
+
subjective consciousness and the world of objects, of freedom and
|
| 224 |
+
dependence, we find implicit the basic elements of modern philosophies of
|
| 225 |
+
rationalism and of objective idealism or pantheism. For this reason there
|
| 226 |
+
is a continuous renascence of Stoicism from Descartes, Grotius, and
|
| 227 |
+
Bishop Butler, to Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and Kant. In this long
|
| 228 |
+
development in modern times, the tiny _Enchiridion_ of Epictetus played a
|
| 229 |
+
remarkable part.
|
| 230 |
+
|
| 231 |
+
The translations of Epictetus and of all other Stoics had the widest
|
| 232 |
+
effect on philosophers, theologians, and lay thinkers. They were studied
|
| 233 |
+
by the clergy of the various Christian denominations, by the scientists
|
| 234 |
+
who were striving for a natural religion, and by the independent
|
| 235 |
+
philosophers who were eager to separate philosophy from religion. There
|
| 236 |
+
were many outstanding bishops in the Catholic and Anglican Churches who
|
| 237 |
+
were eager to transform the traditions of Roman Stoicism into Christian
|
| 238 |
+
Stoicism. Among the Calvinistic denominations were many thinkers who were
|
| 239 |
+
in sympathy with Stoic moral principles because of their praise of the
|
| 240 |
+
austerity of life and of the control of passions. Likewise the adherents
|
| 241 |
+
of natural religion were propagating Stoicism as the ideal pattern of
|
| 242 |
+
universally valid and intelligible religion. Renascent Stoicism had three
|
| 243 |
+
functions in the rise of the modern world. First, it reconciled Christian
|
| 244 |
+
traditions to modern rationalistic philosophies; secondly, it established
|
| 245 |
+
an ideal pattern of natural religion; and, thirdly, it opened the way for
|
| 246 |
+
the autonomy of morals.
|
| 247 |
+
|
| 248 |
+
ALBERT SALOMON
|
| 249 |
+
|
| 250 |
+
The New School
|
| 251 |
+
for Social Research
|
| 252 |
+
_July, 1948_
|
| 253 |
+
|
| 254 |
+
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
|
| 255 |
+
|
| 256 |
+
_Epictetus: Life and Work_
|
| 257 |
+
|
| 258 |
+
Arnim, Hans V., "Epictetos" in Pauli-Wissowa (ed), _Real-Encyclopaedie
|
| 259 |
+
der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, VI, col. 126-131.
|
| 260 |
+
|
| 261 |
+
Arnold, E. V., "Epictetus" in Hastings, _Encyclopedia of Religion and
|
| 262 |
+
Ethics_, 1912. Vol. V, pp. 323, 324.
|
| 263 |
+
|
| 264 |
+
Bonhoeffer, A., _Epiktet und die Stoa_. Stuttgart, 1890.
|
| 265 |
+
|
| 266 |
+
----, _Ethik des Stoikers Epiktet_. Stuttgart, 1894.
|
| 267 |
+
|
| 268 |
+
----, _Epiktet und das Neue Testament_. Giessen, 1911.
|
| 269 |
+
|
| 270 |
+
Bruns, Ivo, _De schola Epicteti_. Kiel, 1897.
|
| 271 |
+
|
| 272 |
+
Bultmann, Rudolf, "Das religiöse Moment in der ethischen Unterweisung des
|
| 273 |
+
Epiktets und das Neue Testament," _Zeitschrift für die
|
| 274 |
+
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde des Urchristentums_,
|
| 275 |
+
Vol. XIII, 1912; pp. 97-110; 177-191.
|
| 276 |
+
|
| 277 |
+
Colardeau, Th., _Etude sur Epictète_. Paris, 1903.
|
| 278 |
+
|
| 279 |
+
Hartmann, K., "Arrian und Epiktet," _Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische
|
| 280 |
+
Altertum_, Vol. XV, 1905.
|
| 281 |
+
|
| 282 |
+
Jagu, Amand, _Epictète et Platon_. Paris, 1944.
|
| 283 |
+
|
| 284 |
+
Lagrange, M. J., "La philosophie religieuse d'Epictète et le
|
| 285 |
+
Christianisme," _Revue Biblique_, Vol. IX, 1912; pp. 5-21,
|
| 286 |
+
192-212.
|
| 287 |
+
|
| 288 |
+
Oldfather, W. A., "Introduction" to _Epictetus_, "Loeb Classics," Vol. I.
|
| 289 |
+
|
| 290 |
+
Souilhé, J., "Introduction" to _Entretiens_. Paris, 1943.
|
| 291 |
+
|
| 292 |
+
Weber, Louis, "La morale d'Epictète et les besoins présents de
|
| 293 |
+
l'enseignment moral," _Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale_, 1905,
|
| 294 |
+
pp. 830-858; 1906, pp. 342-360; 1907, pp. 327-347; 1909, pp.
|
| 295 |
+
203-326.
|
| 296 |
+
|
| 297 |
+
_Main Works on Stoicism and Related Problems_
|
| 298 |
+
|
| 299 |
+
Arnold, E. V., _Roman Stoicism_. Cambridge, E., 1911.
|
| 300 |
+
|
| 301 |
+
Bevan, E., _Stoics and Sceptics_. Oxford, 1913.
|
| 302 |
+
|
| 303 |
+
Brochard, V., _Etudes de philosophie ancienne et de philosophie moderne_,
|
| 304 |
+
Paris, 1912.
|
| 305 |
+
|
| 306 |
+
Hicks, R. D., _Stoic and Epicurean_. New York, 1910.
|
| 307 |
+
|
| 308 |
+
Martha, C., _Les moralistes sur l'Empire Romain_. Paris, 1886.
|
| 309 |
+
|
| 310 |
+
Murray, Gilbert, _Stoic, Christian, Humanist_. London, 1940.
|
| 311 |
+
|
| 312 |
+
Robin, L., _La morale antique_. Paris, 1938, pp. 57, 130, 152, 167.
|
| 313 |
+
|
| 314 |
+
Wendland, Paul, _Philo und die cynisch-stoische Diatribe_. Berlin, 1895.
|
| 315 |
+
|
| 316 |
+
----, _Die hellenistische Kultur in ihren Beziehungen zum Judentum und
|
| 317 |
+
Christentum_. Tübingen, 1912.
|
| 318 |
+
|
| 319 |
+
Zanta, L., _La renaissance du Stoicisme au XVIième siècle_. Paris, 1914.
|
| 320 |
+
|
| 321 |
+
Zeller, E., _The Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics_. London, 1892.
|
| 322 |
+
|
| 323 |
+
_Influence of Stoicism_
|
| 324 |
+
|
| 325 |
+
Busson, Henry, _La pensée religieuse Française de Charron à Pascal_.
|
| 326 |
+
Paris, 1933. Chap. VIII: Stoiciens et Epicuriens, pp. 379-429.
|
| 327 |
+
|
| 328 |
+
Dilthey, Wilhelm, _Gesammelte Werke_, Vol. II. "Einfluss der Stoa auf die
|
| 329 |
+
Ausbildung des natürlichen Systems der Geisteswissenschaften,"
|
| 330 |
+
pp. 153-162; "Anthropologie, Stoa und natürliches System im XVII.
|
| 331 |
+
Jahrhundert," pp. 439-457.
|
| 332 |
+
|
| 333 |
+
Groethuysen, Bernard, _Philosophische Anthropologie_. München, 1928.
|
| 334 |
+
(Chap. "Die römisch-griechische Lebensphilosophie.")
|
| 335 |
+
|
| 336 |
+
Rand, B., _The Life, Letters, etc. of Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury_.
|
| 337 |
+
London, 1900.
|
| 338 |
+
|
| 339 |
+
Saunders, Jason L., _Justus Lipsius. The Philosophy of Renaissance
|
| 340 |
+
Stoicism_. New York, 1955.
|
| 341 |
+
|
| 342 |
+
Wenley, R. M., _Stoicism and Its Influence_. New York, 1927.
|
| 343 |
+
|
| 344 |
+
THE ENCHIRIDION
|
| 345 |
+
|
| 346 |
+
I
|
| 347 |
+
|
| 348 |
+
There are things which are within our power, and there are things which
|
| 349 |
+
are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire,
|
| 350 |
+
aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our
|
| 351 |
+
power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever
|
| 352 |
+
are not properly our own affairs.
|
| 353 |
+
|
| 354 |
+
Now the things within our power are by nature free, unrestricted,
|
| 355 |
+
unhindered; but those beyond our power are weak, dependent, restricted,
|
| 356 |
+
alien. Remember, then, that if you attribute freedom to things by nature
|
| 357 |
+
dependent and take what belongs to others for your own, you will be
|
| 358 |
+
hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will find fault
|
| 359 |
+
both with gods and men. But if you take for your own only that which is
|
| 360 |
+
your own and view what belongs to others just as it really is, then no
|
| 361 |
+
one will ever compel you, no one will restrict you; you will find fault
|
| 362 |
+
with no one, you will accuse no one, you will do nothing against your
|
| 363 |
+
will; no one will hurt you, you will not have an enemy, nor will you
|
| 364 |
+
suffer any harm.
|
| 365 |
+
|
| 366 |
+
Aiming, therefore, at such great things, remember that you must not allow
|
| 367 |
+
yourself any inclination, however slight, toward the attainment of the
|
| 368 |
+
others; but that you must entirely quit some of them, and for the present
|
| 369 |
+
postpone the rest. But if you would have these, and possess power and
|
| 370 |
+
wealth likewise, you may miss the latter in seeking the former; and you
|
| 371 |
+
will certainly fail of that by which alone happiness and freedom are
|
| 372 |
+
procured.
|
| 373 |
+
|
| 374 |
+
Seek at once, therefore, to be able to say to every unpleasing semblance,
|
| 375 |
+
"You are but a semblance and by no means the real thing." And then
|
| 376 |
+
examine it by those rules which you have; and first and chiefly by this:
|
| 377 |
+
whether it concerns the things which are within our own power or those
|
| 378 |
+
which are not; and if it concerns anything beyond our power, be prepared
|
| 379 |
+
to say that it is nothing to you.
|
| 380 |
+
|
| 381 |
+
II
|
| 382 |
+
|
| 383 |
+
Remember that desire demands the attainment of that of which you are
|
| 384 |
+
desirous; and aversion demands the avoidance of that to which you are
|
| 385 |
+
averse; that he who fails of the object of his desires is disappointed;
|
| 386 |
+
and he who incurs the object of his aversion is wretched. If, then, you
|
| 387 |
+
shun only those undesirable things which you can control, you will never
|
| 388 |
+
incur anything which you shun; but if you shun sickness, or death, or
|
| 389 |
+
poverty, you will run the risk of wretchedness. Remove [the habit of]
|
| 390 |
+
aversion, then, from all things that are not within our power, and apply
|
| 391 |
+
it to things undesirable which are within our power. But for the present,
|
| 392 |
+
altogether restrain desire; for if you desire any of the things not
|
| 393 |
+
within our own power, you must necessarily be disappointed; and you are
|
| 394 |
+
not yet secure of those which are within our power, and so are legitimate
|
| 395 |
+
objects of desire. Where it is practically necessary for you to pursue or
|
| 396 |
+
avoid anything, do even this with discretion and gentleness and
|
| 397 |
+
moderation.
|
| 398 |
+
|
| 399 |
+
III
|
| 400 |
+
|
| 401 |
+
With regard to whatever objects either delight the mind or contribute to
|
| 402 |
+
use or are tenderly beloved, remind yourself of what nature they are,
|
| 403 |
+
beginning with the merest trifles: if you have a favorite cup, that it is
|
| 404 |
+
but a cup of which you are fond of--for thus, if it is broken, you can
|
| 405 |
+
bear it; if you embrace your child or your wife, that you embrace a
|
| 406 |
+
mortal--and thus, if either of them dies, you can bear it.
|
| 407 |
+
|
| 408 |
+
IV
|
| 409 |
+
|
| 410 |
+
When you set about any action, remind yourself of what nature the action
|
| 411 |
+
is. If you are going to bathe, represent to yourself the incidents usual
|
| 412 |
+
in the bath--some persons pouring out, others pushing in, others scolding,
|
| 413 |
+
others pilfering. And thus you will more safely go about this action if
|
| 414 |
+
you say to yourself, "I will now go to bathe and keep my own will in
|
| 415 |
+
harmony with nature." And so with regard to every other action. For thus,
|
| 416 |
+
if any impediment arises in bathing, you will be able to say, "It was not
|
| 417 |
+
only to bathe that I desired, but to keep my will in harmony with nature;
|
| 418 |
+
and I shall not keep it thus if I am out of humor at things that happen."
|
| 419 |
+
|
| 420 |
+
V
|
| 421 |
+
|
| 422 |
+
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of
|
| 423 |
+
things. Thus death is nothing terrible, else it would have appeared so to
|
| 424 |
+
Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death, that it is
|
| 425 |
+
terrible. When, therefore, we are hindered or disturbed, or grieved, let
|
| 426 |
+
us never impute it to others, but to ourselves--that is, to our own views.
|
| 427 |
+
It is the action of an uninstructed person to reproach others for his own
|
| 428 |
+
misfortunes; of one entering upon instruction, to reproach himself; and
|
| 429 |
+
one perfectly instructed, to reproach neither others nor himself.
|
| 430 |
+
|
| 431 |
+
VI
|
| 432 |
+
|
| 433 |
+
Be not elated at any excellence not your own. If a horse should be
|
| 434 |
+
elated, and say, "I am handsome," it might be endurable. But when you are
|
| 435 |
+
elated and say, "I have a handsome horse," know that you are elated only
|
| 436 |
+
on the merit of the horse. What then is your own? The use of the
|
| 437 |
+
phenomena of existence. So that when you are in harmony with nature in
|
| 438 |
+
this respect, you will be elated with some reason; for you will be elated
|
| 439 |
+
at some good of your own.
|
| 440 |
+
|
| 441 |
+
VII
|
| 442 |
+
|
| 443 |
+
As in a voyage, when the ship is at anchor, if you go on shore to get
|
| 444 |
+
water, you may amuse yourself with picking up a shellfish or a truffle in
|
| 445 |
+
your way, but your thoughts ought to be bent toward the ship, and
|
| 446 |
+
perpetually attentive, lest the captain should call, and then you must
|
| 447 |
+
leave all these things, that you may not have to be carried on board the
|
| 448 |
+
vessel, bound like a sheep; thus likewise in life, if, instead of a
|
| 449 |
+
truffle or shellfish, such a thing as a wife or a child be granted you,
|
| 450 |
+
there is no objection; but if the captain calls, run to the ship, leave
|
| 451 |
+
all these things, and never look behind. But if you are old, never go far
|
| 452 |
+
from the ship, lest you should be missing when called for.
|
| 453 |
+
|
| 454 |
+
VIII
|
| 455 |
+
|
| 456 |
+
Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen
|
| 457 |
+
as they do happen, and you will go on well.
|
| 458 |
+
|
| 459 |
+
IX
|
| 460 |
+
|
| 461 |
+
Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will unless itself
|
| 462 |
+
pleases. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will; and
|
| 463 |
+
say this to yourself with regard to everything that happens. For you will
|
| 464 |
+
find it to be an impediment to something else, but not truly to yourself.
|
| 465 |
+
|
| 466 |
+
X
|
| 467 |
+
|
| 468 |
+
Upon every accident, remember to turn toward yourself and inquire what
|
| 469 |
+
faculty you have for its use. If you encounter a handsome person, you
|
| 470 |
+
will find continence the faculty needed; if pain, then fortitude; if
|
| 471 |
+
reviling, then patience. And when thus habituated, the phenomena of
|
| 472 |
+
existence will not overwhelm you.
|
| 473 |
+
|
| 474 |
+
XI
|
| 475 |
+
|
| 476 |
+
Never say of anything, "I have lost it," but, "I have restored it." Has
|
| 477 |
+
your child died? It is restored. Has your wife died? She is restored. Has
|
| 478 |
+
your estate been taken away? That likewise is restored. "But it was a bad
|
| 479 |
+
man who took it." What is it to you by whose hands he who gave it has
|
| 480 |
+
demanded it again? While he permits you to possess it, hold it as
|
| 481 |
+
something not your own, as do travelers at an inn.
|
| 482 |
+
|
| 483 |
+
XII
|
| 484 |
+
|
| 485 |
+
If you would improve, lay aside such reasonings as these: "If I neglect
|
| 486 |
+
my affairs, I shall not have a maintenance; if I do not punish my
|
| 487 |
+
servant, he will be good for nothing." For it were better to die of
|
| 488 |
+
hunger, exempt from grief and fear, than to live in affluence with
|
| 489 |
+
perturbation; and it is better that your servant should be bad than you
|
| 490 |
+
unhappy.
|
| 491 |
+
|
| 492 |
+
Begin therefore with little things. Is a little oil spilled or a little
|
| 493 |
+
wine stolen? Say to yourself, "This is the price paid for peace and
|
| 494 |
+
tranquillity; and nothing is to be had for nothing." And when you call
|
| 495 |
+
your servant, consider that it is possible he may not come at your call;
|
| 496 |
+
or, if he does, that he may not do what you wish. But it is not at all
|
| 497 |
+
desirable for him, and very undesirable for you, that it should be in his
|
| 498 |
+
power to cause you any disturbance.
|
| 499 |
+
|
| 500 |
+
XIII
|
| 501 |
+
|
| 502 |
+
If you would improve, be content to be thought foolish and dull with
|
| 503 |
+
regard to externals. Do not desire to be thought to know anything; and
|
| 504 |
+
though you should appear to others to be somebody, distrust yourself. For
|
| 505 |
+
be assured, it is not easy at once to keep your will in harmony with
|
| 506 |
+
nature and to secure externals; but while you are absorbed in the one,
|
| 507 |
+
you must of necessity neglect the other.
|
| 508 |
+
|
| 509 |
+
XIV
|
| 510 |
+
|
| 511 |
+
If you wish your children and your wife and your friends to live forever,
|
| 512 |
+
you are foolish, for you wish things to be in your power which are not
|
| 513 |
+
so, and what belongs to others to be your own. So likewise, if you wish
|
| 514 |
+
your servant to be without fault, you are foolish, for you wish vice not
|
| 515 |
+
to be vice but something else. But if you wish not to be disappointed in
|
| 516 |
+
your desires, that is in your own power. Exercise, therefore, what is in
|
| 517 |
+
your power. A man's master is he who is able to confer or remove whatever
|
| 518 |
+
that man seeks or shuns. Whoever then would be free, let him wish
|
| 519 |
+
nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must
|
| 520 |
+
necessarily be a slave.
|
| 521 |
+
|
| 522 |
+
XV
|
| 523 |
+
|
| 524 |
+
Remember that you must behave as at a banquet. Is anything brought round
|
| 525 |
+
to you? Put out your hand and take a moderate share. Does it pass by you?
|
| 526 |
+
Do not stop it. Is it not yet come? Do not yearn in desire toward it, but
|
| 527 |
+
wait till it reaches you. So with regard to children, wife, office,
|
| 528 |
+
riches; and you will some time or other be worthy to feast with the gods.
|
| 529 |
+
And if you do not so much as take the things which are set before you,
|
| 530 |
+
but are able even to forego them, then you will not only be worthy to
|
| 531 |
+
feast with the gods, but to rule with them also. For, by thus doing,
|
| 532 |
+
Diogenes and Heraclitus, and others like them, deservedly became divine,
|
| 533 |
+
and were so recognized.
|
| 534 |
+
|
| 535 |
+
XVI
|
| 536 |
+
|
| 537 |
+
When you see anyone weeping for grief, either that his son has gone
|
| 538 |
+
abroad or that he has suffered in his affairs, take care not to be
|
| 539 |
+
overcome by the apparent evil, but discriminate and be ready to say,
|
| 540 |
+
"What hurts this man is not this occurrence itself--for another man might
|
| 541 |
+
not be hurt by it--but the view he chooses to take of it." As far as
|
| 542 |
+
conversation goes, however, do not disdain to accommodate yourself to him
|
| 543 |
+
and, if need be, to groan with him. Take heed, however, not to groan
|
| 544 |
+
inwardly, too.
|
| 545 |
+
|
| 546 |
+
XVII
|
| 547 |
+
|
| 548 |
+
Remember that you are an actor in a drama of such sort as the Author
|
| 549 |
+
chooses--if short, then in a short one; if long, then in a long one. If it
|
| 550 |
+
be his pleasure that you should enact a poor man, or a cripple, or a
|
| 551 |
+
ruler, or a private citizen, see that you act it well. For this is your
|
| 552 |
+
business--to act well the given part, but to choose it belongs to another.
|
| 553 |
+
|
| 554 |
+
XVIII
|
| 555 |
+
|
| 556 |
+
When a raven happens to croak unluckily, be not overcome by appearances,
|
| 557 |
+
but discriminate and say, "Nothing is portended to _me_, either to my
|
| 558 |
+
paltry body, or property, or reputation, or children, or wife. But to
|
| 559 |
+
_me_ all portents are lucky if I will. For whatsoever happens, it belongs
|
| 560 |
+
to me to derive advantage therefrom."
|
| 561 |
+
|
| 562 |
+
XIX
|
| 563 |
+
|
| 564 |
+
You can be unconquerable if you enter into no combat in which it is not
|
| 565 |
+
in your own power to conquer. When, therefore, you see anyone eminent in
|
| 566 |
+
honors or power, or in high esteem on any other account, take heed not to
|
| 567 |
+
be bewildered by appearances and to pronounce him happy; for if the
|
| 568 |
+
essence of good consists in things within our own power, there will be no
|
| 569 |
+
room for envy or emulation. But, for your part, do not desire to be a
|
| 570 |
+
general, or a senator, or a consul, but to be free; and the only way to
|
| 571 |
+
this is a disregard of things which lie not within our own power.
|
| 572 |
+
|
| 573 |
+
XX
|
| 574 |
+
|
| 575 |
+
Remember that it is not he who gives abuse or blows, who affronts, but
|
| 576 |
+
the view we take of these things as insulting. When, therefore, anyone
|
| 577 |
+
provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes you.
|
| 578 |
+
Try, therefore, in the first place, not to be bewildered by appearances.
|
| 579 |
+
For if you once gain time and respite, you will more easily command
|
| 580 |
+
yourself.
|
| 581 |
+
|
| 582 |
+
XXI
|
| 583 |
+
|
| 584 |
+
Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible, be daily
|
| 585 |
+
before your eyes, but death chiefly; and you will never entertain an
|
| 586 |
+
abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.
|
| 587 |
+
|
| 588 |
+
XXII
|
| 589 |
+
|
| 590 |
+
If you have an earnest desire toward philosophy, prepare yourself from
|
| 591 |
+
the very first to have the multitude laugh and sneer, and say, "He is
|
| 592 |
+
returned to us a philosopher all at once"; and, "Whence this supercilious
|
| 593 |
+
look?" Now, for your part, do not have a supercilious look indeed, but
|
| 594 |
+
keep steadily to those things which appear best to you, as one appointed
|
| 595 |
+
by God to this particular station. For remember that, if you are
|
| 596 |
+
persistent, those very persons who at first ridiculed will afterwards
|
| 597 |
+
admire you. But if you are conquered by them, you will incur a double
|
| 598 |
+
ridicule.
|
| 599 |
+
|
| 600 |
+
XXIII
|
| 601 |
+
|
| 602 |
+
If you ever happen to turn your attention to externals, for the pleasure
|
| 603 |
+
of anyone, be assured that you have ruined your scheme of life. Be
|
| 604 |
+
content, then, in everything, with being a philosopher; and if you wish
|
| 605 |
+
to seem so likewise to anyone, appear so to yourself, and it will suffice
|
| 606 |
+
you.
|
| 607 |
+
|
| 608 |
+
XXIV
|
| 609 |
+
|
| 610 |
+
Let not such considerations as these distress you: "I shall live in
|
| 611 |
+
discredit and be nobody anywhere." For if discredit be an evil, you can
|
| 612 |
+
no more be involved in evil through another than in baseness. Is it any
|
| 613 |
+
business of yours, then, to get power or to be admitted to an
|
| 614 |
+
entertainment? By no means. How then, after all, is this discredit? And
|
| 615 |
+
how it is true that you will be nobody anywhere when you ought to be
|
| 616 |
+
somebody in those things only which are within your own power, in which
|
| 617 |
+
you may be of the greatest consequence? "But my friends will be
|
| 618 |
+
unassisted." What do you mean by "unassisted"? They will not have money
|
| 619 |
+
from you, nor will you make them Roman citizens. Who told you, then, that
|
| 620 |
+
these are among the things within our own power, and not rather the
|
| 621 |
+
affairs of others? And who can give to another the things which he
|
| 622 |
+
himself has not? "Well, but get them, then, that we too may have a
|
| 623 |
+
share." If I can get them with the preservation of my own honor and
|
| 624 |
+
fidelity and self-respect, show me the way and I will get them; but if
|
| 625 |
+
you require me to lose my own proper good, that you may gain what is no
|
| 626 |
+
good, consider how unreasonable and foolish you are. Besides, which would
|
| 627 |
+
you rather have, a sum of money or a faithful and honorable friend?
|
| 628 |
+
Rather assist me, then, to gain this character than require me to do
|
| 629 |
+
those things by which I may lose it. Well, but my country, say you, as
|
| 630 |
+
far as depends upon me, will be unassisted. Here, again, what assistance
|
| 631 |
+
is this you mean? It will not have porticos nor baths of your providing?
|
| 632 |
+
And what signifies that? Why, neither does a smith provide it with shoes,
|
| 633 |
+
nor a shoemaker with arms. It is enough if everyone fully performs his
|
| 634 |
+
own proper business. And were you to supply it with another faithful and
|
| 635 |
+
honorable citizen, would not he be of use to it? Yes. Therefore neither
|
| 636 |
+
are you yourself useless to it. "What place, then," say you, "shall I
|
| 637 |
+
hold in the state?" Whatever you can hold with the preservation of your
|
| 638 |
+
fidelity and honor. But if, by desiring to be useful to that, you lose
|
| 639 |
+
these, how can you serve your country when you have become faithless and
|
| 640 |
+
shameless?
|
| 641 |
+
|
| 642 |
+
XXV
|
| 643 |
+
|
| 644 |
+
Is anyone preferred before you at an entertainment, or in courtesies, or
|
| 645 |
+
in confidential intercourse? If these things are good, you ought to
|
| 646 |
+
rejoice that he has them; and if they are evil, do not be grieved that
|
| 647 |
+
you have them not. And remember that you cannot be permitted to rival
|
| 648 |
+
others in externals without using the same means to obtain them. For how
|
| 649 |
+
can he who will not haunt the door of any man, will not attend him, will
|
| 650 |
+
not praise him, have an equal share with him who does these things? You
|
| 651 |
+
are unjust, then, and unreasonable if you are unwilling to pay the price
|
| 652 |
+
for which these things are sold, and would have them for nothing. For how
|
| 653 |
+
much are lettuces sold? An obulus, for instance. If another, then, paying
|
| 654 |
+
an obulus, takes the lettuces, and you, not paying it, go without them,
|
| 655 |
+
do not imagine that he has gained any advantage over you. For as he has
|
| 656 |
+
the lettuces, so you have the obulus which you did not give. So, in the
|
| 657 |
+
present case, you have not been invited to such a person's entertainment
|
| 658 |
+
because you have not paid him the price for which a supper is sold. It is
|
| 659 |
+
sold for praise; it is sold for attendance. Give him, then, the value if
|
| 660 |
+
it be for your advantage. But if you would at the same time not pay the
|
| 661 |
+
one, and yet receive the other, you are unreasonable and foolish. Have
|
| 662 |
+
you nothing, then, in place of the supper? Yes, indeed, you have--not to
|
| 663 |
+
praise him whom you do not like to praise; not to bear the insolence of
|
| 664 |
+
his lackeys.
|
| 665 |
+
|
| 666 |
+
XXVI
|
| 667 |
+
|
| 668 |
+
The will of nature may be learned from things upon which we are all
|
| 669 |
+
agreed. As when our neighbor's boy has broken a cup, or the like, we are
|
| 670 |
+
ready at once to say, "These are casualties that will happen"; be
|
| 671 |
+
assured, then, that when your own cup is likewise broken, you ought to be
|
| 672 |
+
affected just as when another's cup was broken. Now apply this to greater
|
| 673 |
+
things. Is the child or wife of another dead? There is no one who would
|
| 674 |
+
not say, "This is an accident of mortality." But if anyone's own child
|
| 675 |
+
happens to die, it is immediately, "Alas! how wretched am I!" It should
|
| 676 |
+
be always remembered how we are affected on hearing the same thing
|
| 677 |
+
concerning others.
|
| 678 |
+
|
| 679 |
+
XXVII
|
| 680 |
+
|
| 681 |
+
As a mark[1] is not set up for the sake of missing the aim, so neither
|
| 682 |
+
does the nature of evil exist in the world.
|
| 683 |
+
|
| 684 |
+
XXVIII
|
| 685 |
+
|
| 686 |
+
If a person had delivered up your body to some passer-by, you would
|
| 687 |
+
certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in delivering up your own
|
| 688 |
+
mind to any reviler, to be disconcerted and confounded?
|
| 689 |
+
|
| 690 |
+
XXIX[2]
|
| 691 |
+
|
| 692 |
+
In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then
|
| 693 |
+
undertake it. Otherwise you will begin with spirit, indeed, careless of
|
| 694 |
+
the consequences, and when these are developed, you will shamefully
|
| 695 |
+
desist. "I would conquer at the Olympic Games." But consider what
|
| 696 |
+
precedes and what follows, and then, if it be for your advantage, engage
|
| 697 |
+
in the affair. You must conform to rules, submit to a diet, refrain from
|
| 698 |
+
dainties; exercise your body, whether you choose it or not, at a stated
|
| 699 |
+
hour, in heat and cold; you must drink no cold water, and sometimes no
|
| 700 |
+
wine--in a word, you must give yourself up to your trainer as to a
|
| 701 |
+
physician. Then, in the combat, you may be thrown into a ditch, dislocate
|
| 702 |
+
your arm, turn your ankle, swallow an abundance of dust, receive stripes
|
| 703 |
+
[for negligence], and, after all, lose the victory. When you have
|
| 704 |
+
reckoned up all this, if your inclination still holds, set about the
|
| 705 |
+
combat. Otherwise, take notice, you will behave like children who
|
| 706 |
+
sometimes play wrestlers, sometimes gladiators, sometimes blow a trumpet,
|
| 707 |
+
and sometimes act a tragedy, when they happen to have seen and admired
|
| 708 |
+
these shows. Thus you too will be at one time a wrestler, and another a
|
| 709 |
+
gladiator; now a philosopher, now an orator; but nothing in earnest. Like
|
| 710 |
+
an ape you mimic all you see, and one thing after another is sure to
|
| 711 |
+
please you, but is out of favor as soon as it becomes familiar. For you
|
| 712 |
+
have never entered upon anything considerately; nor after having surveyed
|
| 713 |
+
and tested the whole matter, but carelessly, and with a halfway zeal.
|
| 714 |
+
Thus some, when they have seen a philosopher and heard a man speaking
|
| 715 |
+
like Euphrates[3]--though, indeed, who can speak like him?--have a mind to
|
| 716 |
+
be philosophers, too. Consider first, man, what the matter is, and what
|
| 717 |
+
your own nature is able to bear. If you would be a wrestler, consider
|
| 718 |
+
your shoulders, your back, your thighs; for different persons are made
|
| 719 |
+
for different things. Do you think that you can act as you do and be a
|
| 720 |
+
philosopher, that you can eat, drink, be angry, be discontented, as you
|
| 721 |
+
are now? You must watch, you must labor, you must get the better of
|
| 722 |
+
certain appetites, must quit your acquaintances, be despised by your
|
| 723 |
+
servant, be laughed at by those you meet; come off worse than others in
|
| 724 |
+
everything--in offices, in honors, before tribunals. When you have fully
|
| 725 |
+
considered all these things, approach, if you please--that is, if, by
|
| 726 |
+
parting with them, you have a mind to purchase serenity, freedom, and
|
| 727 |
+
tranquillity. If not, do not come hither; do not, like children, be now a
|
| 728 |
+
philosopher, then a publican, then an orator, and then one of Caesar's
|
| 729 |
+
officers. These things are not consistent. You must be one man, either
|
| 730 |
+
good or bad. You must cultivate either your own reason or else externals;
|
| 731 |
+
apply yourself either to things within or without you--that is, be either
|
| 732 |
+
a philosopher or one of the mob.
|
| 733 |
+
|
| 734 |
+
XXX
|
| 735 |
+
|
| 736 |
+
Duties are universally measured by relations. Is a certain man your
|
| 737 |
+
father? In this are implied taking care of him, submitting to him in all
|
| 738 |
+
things, patiently receiving his reproaches, his correction. But he is a
|
| 739 |
+
bad father. Is your natural tie, then, to a _good_ father? No, but to a
|
| 740 |
+
father. Is a brother unjust? Well, preserve your own just relation toward
|
| 741 |
+
him. Consider not what _he_ does, but what _you_ are to do to keep your
|
| 742 |
+
own will in a state conformable to nature, for another cannot hurt you
|
| 743 |
+
unless you please. You will then be hurt when you consent to be hurt. In
|
| 744 |
+
this manner, therefore, if you accustom yourself to contemplate the
|
| 745 |
+
relations of neighbor, citizen, commander, you can deduce from each the
|
| 746 |
+
corresponding duties.
|
| 747 |
+
|
| 748 |
+
XXXI
|
| 749 |
+
|
| 750 |
+
Be assured that the essence of piety toward the gods lies in this--to form
|
| 751 |
+
right opinions concerning them, as existing and as governing the universe
|
| 752 |
+
justly and well. And fix yourself in this resolution, to obey them, and
|
| 753 |
+
yield to them, and willingly follow them amidst all events, as being
|
| 754 |
+
ruled by the most perfect wisdom. For thus you will never find fault with
|
| 755 |
+
the gods, nor accuse them of neglecting you. And it is not possible for
|
| 756 |
+
this to be affected in any other way than by withdrawing yourself from
|
| 757 |
+
things which are not within our own power, and by making good or evil to
|
| 758 |
+
consist only in those which are. For if you suppose any other things to
|
| 759 |
+
be either good or evil, it is inevitable that, when you are disappointed
|
| 760 |
+
of what you wish or incur what you would avoid, you should reproach and
|
| 761 |
+
blame their authors. For every creature is naturally formed to flee and
|
| 762 |
+
abhor things that appear hurtful and that which causes them; and to
|
| 763 |
+
pursue and admire those which appear beneficial and that which causes
|
| 764 |
+
them. It is impracticable, then, that one who supposes himself to be hurt
|
| 765 |
+
should rejoice in the person who, as he thinks, hurts him, just as it is
|
| 766 |
+
impossible to rejoice in the hurt itself. Hence, also, a father is
|
| 767 |
+
reviled by his son when he does not impart the things which seem to be
|
| 768 |
+
good; and this made Polynices and Eteocles[4] mutually enemies--that
|
| 769 |
+
empire seemed good to both. On this account the husbandman reviles the
|
| 770 |
+
gods; [and so do] the sailor, the merchant, or those who have lost wife
|
| 771 |
+
or child. For where our interest is, there, too, is piety directed. So
|
| 772 |
+
that whoever is careful to regulate his desires and aversions as he ought
|
| 773 |
+
is thus made careful of piety likewise. But it also becomes incumbent on
|
| 774 |
+
everyone to offer libations and sacrifices and first fruits, according to
|
| 775 |
+
the customs of his country, purely, and not heedlessly nor negligently;
|
| 776 |
+
not avariciously, nor yet extravagantly.
|
| 777 |
+
|
| 778 |
+
XXXII
|
| 779 |
+
|
| 780 |
+
When you have recourse to divination, remember that you know not what the
|
| 781 |
+
event will be, and you come to learn it of the diviner; but of what
|
| 782 |
+
nature it is you knew before coming; at least, if you are of philosophic
|
| 783 |
+
mind. For if it is among the things not within our own power, it can by
|
| 784 |
+
no means be either good or evil. Do not, therefore, bring with you to the
|
| 785 |
+
diviner either desire or aversion--else you will approach him
|
| 786 |
+
trembling--but first clearly understand that every event is indifferent
|
| 787 |
+
and nothing to _you_, of whatever sort it may be; for it will be in your
|
| 788 |
+
power to make a right use of it, and this no one can hinder. Then come
|
| 789 |
+
with confidence to the gods as your counselors; and afterwards, when any
|
| 790 |
+
counsel is given you, remember what counselors you have assumed, and
|
| 791 |
+
whose advice you will neglect if you disobey. Come to divination as
|
| 792 |
+
Socrates prescribed, in cases of which the whole consideration relates to
|
| 793 |
+
the event, and in which no opportunities are afforded by reason or any
|
| 794 |
+
other art to discover the matter in view. When, therefore, it is our duty
|
| 795 |
+
to share the danger of a friend or of our country, we ought not to
|
| 796 |
+
consult the oracle as to whether we shall share it with them or not. For
|
| 797 |
+
though the diviner should forewarn you that the auspices are unfavorable,
|
| 798 |
+
this means no more than that either death or mutilation or exile is
|
| 799 |
+
portended. But we have reason within us; and it directs us, even with
|
| 800 |
+
these hazards, to stand by our friend and our country. Attend, therefore,
|
| 801 |
+
to the greater diviner, the Pythian God, who once cast out of the temple
|
| 802 |
+
him who neglected to save his friend.[5]
|
| 803 |
+
|
| 804 |
+
XXXIII
|
| 805 |
+
|
| 806 |
+
Begin by prescribing to yourself some character and demeanor, such as you
|
| 807 |
+
may preserve both alone and in company.
|
| 808 |
+
|
| 809 |
+
Be mostly silent, or speak merely what is needful, and in few words. We
|
| 810 |
+
may, however, enter sparingly into discourse sometimes, when occasion
|
| 811 |
+
calls for it; but let it not run on any of the common subjects, as
|
| 812 |
+
gladiators, or horse races, or athletic champions, or food, or drink--the
|
| 813 |
+
vulgar topics of conversation--and especially not on men, so as either to
|
| 814 |
+
blame, or praise, or make comparisons. If you are able, then, by your own
|
| 815 |
+
conversation, bring over that of your company to proper subjects; but if
|
| 816 |
+
you happen to find yourself among strangers, be silent.
|
| 817 |
+
|
| 818 |
+
Let not your laughter be loud, frequent, or abundant.
|
| 819 |
+
|
| 820 |
+
Avoid taking oaths, if possible, altogether; at any rate, so far as you
|
| 821 |
+
are able.
|
| 822 |
+
|
| 823 |
+
Avoid public and vulgar entertainments; but if ever an occasion calls you
|
| 824 |
+
to them, keep your attention upon the stretch, that you may not
|
| 825 |
+
imperceptibly slide into vulgarity. For be assured that if a person be
|
| 826 |
+
ever so pure himself, yet, if his companion be corrupted, he who
|
| 827 |
+
converses with him will be corrupted likewise.
|
| 828 |
+
|
| 829 |
+
Provide things relating to the body no further than absolute need
|
| 830 |
+
requires, as meat, drink, clothing, house, retinue. But cut off
|
| 831 |
+
everything that looks toward show and luxury.
|
| 832 |
+
|
| 833 |
+
Before marriage guard yourself with all your ability from unlawful
|
| 834 |
+
intercourse with women; yet be not uncharitable or severe to those who
|
| 835 |
+
are led into this, nor boast frequently that you yourself do otherwise.
|
| 836 |
+
|
| 837 |
+
If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make
|
| 838 |
+
excuses about what is said of you, but answer: "He was ignorant of my
|
| 839 |
+
other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone."
|
| 840 |
+
|
| 841 |
+
It is not necessary for you to appear often at public spectacles; but if
|
| 842 |
+
ever there is a proper occasion for you to be there, do not appear more
|
| 843 |
+
solicitous for any other than for yourself--that is, wish things to be
|
| 844 |
+
only just as they are, and only the best man to win; for thus nothing
|
| 845 |
+
will go against you. But abstain entirely from acclamations and derision
|
| 846 |
+
and violent emotions. And when you come away, do not discourse a great
|
| 847 |
+
deal on what has passed and what contributes nothing to your own
|
| 848 |
+
amendment. For it would appear by such discourse that you were dazzled by
|
| 849 |
+
the show.
|
| 850 |
+
|
| 851 |
+
Be not prompt or ready to attend private recitations; but if you do
|
| 852 |
+
attend, preserve your gravity and dignity, and yet avoid making yourself
|
| 853 |
+
disagreeable.
|
| 854 |
+
|
| 855 |
+
When you are going to confer with anyone, and especially with one who
|
| 856 |
+
seems your superior, represent to yourself how Socrates or Zeno[6] would
|
| 857 |
+
behave in such a case, and you will not be at a loss to meet properly
|
| 858 |
+
whatever may occur.
|
| 859 |
+
|
| 860 |
+
When you are going before anyone in power, fancy to yourself that you may
|
| 861 |
+
not find him at home, that you may be shut out, that the doors may not be
|
| 862 |
+
opened to you, that he may not notice you. If, with all this, it be your
|
| 863 |
+
duty to go, bear what happens and never say to yourself, "It was not
|
| 864 |
+
worth so much"; for this is vulgar, and like a man bewildered by
|
| 865 |
+
externals.
|
| 866 |
+
|
| 867 |
+
In company, avoid a frequent and excessive mention of your own actions
|
| 868 |
+
and dangers. For however agreeable it may be to yourself to allude to the
|
| 869 |
+
risks you have run, it is not equally agreeable to others to hear your
|
| 870 |
+
adventures. Avoid likewise an endeavor to excite laughter, for this may
|
| 871 |
+
readily slide you into vulgarity, and, besides, may be apt to lower you
|
| 872 |
+
in the esteem of your acquaintance. Approaches to indecent discourse are
|
| 873 |
+
likewise dangerous. Therefore, when anything of this sort happens, use
|
| 874 |
+
the first fit opportunity to rebuke him who makes advances that way, or,
|
| 875 |
+
at least, by silence and blushing and a serious look show yourself to be
|
| 876 |
+
displeased by such talk.
|
| 877 |
+
|
| 878 |
+
XXXIV
|
| 879 |
+
|
| 880 |
+
If you are dazzled by the semblance of any promised pleasure, guard
|
| 881 |
+
yourself against being bewildered by it; but let the affair wait your
|
| 882 |
+
leisure, and procure yourself some delay. Then bring to your mind both
|
| 883 |
+
points of time--that in which you shall enjoy the pleasure, and that in
|
| 884 |
+
which you will repent and reproach yourself, after you have enjoyed
|
| 885 |
+
it--and set before you, in opposition to these, how you will rejoice and
|
| 886 |
+
applaud yourself if you abstain. And even though it should appear to you
|
| 887 |
+
a seasonable gratification, take heed that its enticements and
|
| 888 |
+
allurements and seductions may not subdue you, but set in opposition to
|
| 889 |
+
this how much better it is to be conscious of having gained so great a
|
| 890 |
+
victory.
|
| 891 |
+
|
| 892 |
+
XXXV
|
| 893 |
+
|
| 894 |
+
When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done,
|
| 895 |
+
never shrink from being seen to do it, even though the world should
|
| 896 |
+
misunderstand it; for if you are not acting rightly, shun the action
|
| 897 |
+
itself; if you are, why fear those who wrongly censure you?
|
| 898 |
+
|
| 899 |
+
XXXVI
|
| 900 |
+
|
| 901 |
+
As the proposition, "either it is day or it is night," has much force in
|
| 902 |
+
a disjunctive argument, but none at all in a conjunctive one, so, at a
|
| 903 |
+
feast, to choose the largest share is very suitable to the bodily
|
| 904 |
+
appetite, but utterly inconsistent with the social spirit of the
|
| 905 |
+
entertainment. Remember, then, when you eat with another, not only the
|
| 906 |
+
value to the body of those things which are set before you, but also the
|
| 907 |
+
value of proper courtesy toward your host.
|
| 908 |
+
|
| 909 |
+
XXXVII
|
| 910 |
+
|
| 911 |
+
If you have assumed any character beyond your strength, you have both
|
| 912 |
+
demeaned yourself ill in that and quitted one which you might have
|
| 913 |
+
supported.
|
| 914 |
+
|
| 915 |
+
XXXVIII
|
| 916 |
+
|
| 917 |
+
As in walking you take care not to tread upon a nail, or turn your foot,
|
| 918 |
+
so likewise take care not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. And if
|
| 919 |
+
we were to guard against this in every action, we should enter upon
|
| 920 |
+
action more safely.
|
| 921 |
+
|
| 922 |
+
XXXIX
|
| 923 |
+
|
| 924 |
+
The body is to everyone the proper measure of its possessions, as the
|
| 925 |
+
foot is of the shoe. If, therefore, you stop at this, you will keep the
|
| 926 |
+
measure; but if you move beyond it, you must necessarily be carried
|
| 927 |
+
forward, as down a precipice; as in the case of a shoe, if you go beyond
|
| 928 |
+
its fitness to the foot, it comes first to be gilded, then purple, and
|
| 929 |
+
then studded with jewels. For to that which once exceeds the fit measure
|
| 930 |
+
there is no bound.
|
| 931 |
+
|
| 932 |
+
XL
|
| 933 |
+
|
| 934 |
+
Women from fourteen years old are flattered by men with the title of
|
| 935 |
+
mistresses. Therefore, perceiving that they are regarded only as
|
| 936 |
+
qualified to give men pleasure, they begin to adorn themselves, and in
|
| 937 |
+
that to place all their hopes. It is worth while, therefore, to try that
|
| 938 |
+
they may perceive themselves honored only so far as they appear beautiful
|
| 939 |
+
in their demeanor and modestly virtuous.
|
| 940 |
+
|
| 941 |
+
XLI
|
| 942 |
+
|
| 943 |
+
It is a mark of want of intellect to spend much time in things relating
|
| 944 |
+
to the body, as to be immoderate in exercises, in eating and drinking,
|
| 945 |
+
and in the discharge of other animal functions. These things should be
|
| 946 |
+
done incidentally and our main strength be applied to our reason.
|
| 947 |
+
|
| 948 |
+
XLII
|
| 949 |
+
|
| 950 |
+
When any person does ill by you, or speaks ill of you, remember that he
|
| 951 |
+
acts or speaks from an impression that it is right for him to do so. Now
|
| 952 |
+
it is not possible that he should follow what appears right to you, but
|
| 953 |
+
only what appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges from false
|
| 954 |
+
appearances, he is the person hurt, since he, too, is the person
|
| 955 |
+
deceived. For if anyone takes a true proposition to be false, the
|
| 956 |
+
proposition is not hurt, but only the man is deceived. Setting out, then,
|
| 957 |
+
from these principles, you will meekly bear with a person who reviles
|
| 958 |
+
you, for you will say upon every occasion, "It seemed so to him."
|
| 959 |
+
|
| 960 |
+
XLIII
|
| 961 |
+
|
| 962 |
+
Everything has two handles: one by which it may be borne, another by
|
| 963 |
+
which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly, do not lay hold on the
|
| 964 |
+
affair by the handle of his injustice, for by that it cannot be borne,
|
| 965 |
+
but rather by the opposite--that he is your brother, that he was brought
|
| 966 |
+
up with you; and thus you will lay hold on it as it is to be borne.
|
| 967 |
+
|
| 968 |
+
XLIV
|
| 969 |
+
|
| 970 |
+
These reasonings have no logical connection: "I am richer than you,
|
| 971 |
+
therefore I am your superior." "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I
|
| 972 |
+
am your superior." The true logical connection is rather this: "I am
|
| 973 |
+
richer than you, therefore my possessions must exceed yours." "I am more
|
| 974 |
+
eloquent than you, therefore my style must surpass yours." But you, after
|
| 975 |
+
all, consist neither in property nor in style.
|
| 976 |
+
|
| 977 |
+
XLV
|
| 978 |
+
|
| 979 |
+
Does anyone bathe hastily? Do not say that he does it ill, but hastily.
|
| 980 |
+
Does anyone drink much wine? Do not say that he does ill, but that he
|
| 981 |
+
drinks a great deal. For unless you perfectly understand his motives, how
|
| 982 |
+
should you know if he acts ill? Thus you will not risk yielding to any
|
| 983 |
+
appearances but such as you fully comprehend.
|
| 984 |
+
|
| 985 |
+
XLVI
|
| 986 |
+
|
| 987 |
+
Never proclaim yourself a philosopher, nor make much talk among the
|
| 988 |
+
ignorant about your principles, but show them by actions. Thus, at an
|
| 989 |
+
entertainment, do not discourse how people ought to eat, but eat as you
|
| 990 |
+
ought. For remember that thus Socrates also universally avoided all
|
| 991 |
+
ostentation. And when persons came to him and desired to be introduced by
|
| 992 |
+
him to philosophers, he took them and introduced them; so well did he
|
| 993 |
+
bear being overlooked. So if ever there should be among the ignorant any
|
| 994 |
+
discussion of principles, be for the most part silent. For there is great
|
| 995 |
+
danger in hastily throwing out what is undigested. And if anyone tells
|
| 996 |
+
you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you may be
|
| 997 |
+
sure that you have really entered on your work. For sheep do not hastily
|
| 998 |
+
throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten, but,
|
| 999 |
+
inwardly digesting their food, they produce it outwardly in wool and
|
| 1000 |
+
milk. Thus, therefore, do you not make an exhibition before the ignorant
|
| 1001 |
+
of your principles, but of the actions to which their digestion gives
|
| 1002 |
+
rise.
|
| 1003 |
+
|
| 1004 |
+
XLVII
|
| 1005 |
+
|
| 1006 |
+
When you have learned to nourish your body frugally, do not pique
|
| 1007 |
+
yourself upon it; nor, if you drink water, be saying upon every occasion,
|
| 1008 |
+
"I drink water." But first consider how much more frugal are the poor
|
| 1009 |
+
than we, and how much more patient of hardship. If at any time you would
|
| 1010 |
+
inure yourself by exercise to labor and privation, for your own sake and
|
| 1011 |
+
not for the public, do not attempt great feats; but when you are
|
| 1012 |
+
violently thirsty, just rinse your mouth with water, and tell nobody.
|
| 1013 |
+
|
| 1014 |
+
XLVIII
|
| 1015 |
+
|
| 1016 |
+
The condition and characteristic of a vulgar person is that he never
|
| 1017 |
+
looks for either help or harm from himself, but only from externals. The
|
| 1018 |
+
condition and characteristic of a philosopher is that he looks to himself
|
| 1019 |
+
for all help or harm. The marks of a proficient are that he censures no
|
| 1020 |
+
one, praises no one, blames no one, accuses no one; says nothing
|
| 1021 |
+
concerning himself as being anybody or knowing anything. When he is in
|
| 1022 |
+
any instance hindered or restrained, he accuses himself; and if he is
|
| 1023 |
+
praised, he smiles to himself at the person who praises him; and if he is
|
| 1024 |
+
censured, he makes no defense. But he goes about with the caution of a
|
| 1025 |
+
convalescent, careful of interference with anything that is doing well
|
| 1026 |
+
but not yet quite secure. He restrains desire; he transfers his aversion
|
| 1027 |
+
to those things only which thwart the proper use of our own will; he
|
| 1028 |
+
employs his energies moderately in all directions; if he appears stupid
|
| 1029 |
+
or ignorant, he does not care; and, in a word, he keeps watch over
|
| 1030 |
+
himself as over an enemy and one in ambush.
|
| 1031 |
+
|
| 1032 |
+
XLIX
|
| 1033 |
+
|
| 1034 |
+
When anyone shows himself vain on being able to understand and interpret
|
| 1035 |
+
the works of Chrysippus,[7] say to yourself: "Unless Chrysippus had
|
| 1036 |
+
written obscurely, this person would have had nothing to be vain of. But
|
| 1037 |
+
what do I desire? To understand nature, and follow her. I ask, then, who
|
| 1038 |
+
interprets her; and hearing that Chrysippus does, I have recourse to him.
|
| 1039 |
+
I do not understand his writings. I seek, therefore, one to interpret
|
| 1040 |
+
_them_." So far there is nothing to value myself upon. And when I find an
|
| 1041 |
+
interpreter, what remains is to make use of his instructions. This alone
|
| 1042 |
+
is the valuable thing. But if I admire merely the interpretation, what do
|
| 1043 |
+
I become more than a grammarian, instead of a philosopher, except,
|
| 1044 |
+
indeed, that instead of Homer I interpret Chrysippus? When anyone,
|
| 1045 |
+
therefore, desires me to read Chrysippus to him, I rather blush when I
|
| 1046 |
+
cannot exhibit actions that are harmonious and consonant with his
|
| 1047 |
+
discourse.
|
| 1048 |
+
|
| 1049 |
+
L
|
| 1050 |
+
|
| 1051 |
+
Whatever rules you have adopted, abide by them as laws, and as if you
|
| 1052 |
+
would be impious to transgress them; and do not regard what anyone says
|
| 1053 |
+
of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours. How long, then, will
|
| 1054 |
+
you delay to demand of yourself the noblest improvements, and in no
|
| 1055 |
+
instance to transgress the judgments of reason? You have received the
|
| 1056 |
+
philosophic principles with which you ought to be conversant; and you
|
| 1057 |
+
have been conversant with them. For what other master, then, do you wait
|
| 1058 |
+
as an excuse for this delay in self-reformation? You are no longer a boy
|
| 1059 |
+
but a grown man. If, therefore, you will be negligent and slothful, and
|
| 1060 |
+
always add procrastination to procrastination, purpose to purpose, and
|
| 1061 |
+
fix day after day in which you will attend to yourself, you will
|
| 1062 |
+
insensibly continue to accomplish nothing and, living and dying, remain
|
| 1063 |
+
of vulgar mind. This instant, then, think yourself worthy of living as a
|
| 1064 |
+
man grown up and a proficient. Let whatever appears to be the best be to
|
| 1065 |
+
you an inviolable law. And if any instance of pain or pleasure, glory or
|
| 1066 |
+
disgrace, be set before you, remember that now is the combat, now the
|
| 1067 |
+
Olympiad comes on, nor can it be put off; and that by one failure and
|
| 1068 |
+
defeat honor may be lost or--won. Thus Socrates became perfect, improving
|
| 1069 |
+
himself by everything, following reason alone. And though you are not yet
|
| 1070 |
+
a Socrates, you ought, however, to live as one seeking to be a Socrates.
|
| 1071 |
+
|
| 1072 |
+
LI
|
| 1073 |
+
|
| 1074 |
+
The first and most necessary topic in philosophy is the practical
|
| 1075 |
+
application of principles, as, _We ought not to lie_; the second is that
|
| 1076 |
+
of demonstrations as, _Why it is that we ought not to lie_; the third,
|
| 1077 |
+
that which gives strength and logical connection to the other two, as,
|
| 1078 |
+
_Why this is a demonstration_. For what is demonstration? What is a
|
| 1079 |
+
consequence? What a contradiction? What truth? What falsehood? The third
|
| 1080 |
+
point is then necessary on account of the second; and the second on
|
| 1081 |
+
account of the first. But the most necessary, and that whereon we ought
|
| 1082 |
+
to rest, is the first. But we do just the contrary. For we spend all our
|
| 1083 |
+
time on the third point and employ all our diligence about that, and
|
| 1084 |
+
entirely neglect the first. Therefore, at the same time that we lie, we
|
| 1085 |
+
are very ready to show how it is demonstrated that lying is wrong.
|
| 1086 |
+
|
| 1087 |
+
Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand:
|
| 1088 |
+
|
| 1089 |
+
Conduct me, Zeus, and thou, O Destiny,
|
| 1090 |
+
Wherever your decrees have fixed my lot.
|
| 1091 |
+
I follow cheerfully; and, did I not,
|
| 1092 |
+
Wicked and wretched, I must follow still.[8]
|
| 1093 |
+
|
| 1094 |
+
Who'er yields properly to Fate is deemed
|
| 1095 |
+
Wise among men, and knows the laws of Heaven.[9]
|
| 1096 |
+
|
| 1097 |
+
And this third:
|
| 1098 |
+
|
| 1099 |
+
"O Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be."[10]
|
| 1100 |
+
|
| 1101 |
+
"Anytus and Melitus may kill me indeed; but hurt me they cannot."[11]
|
| 1102 |
+
|
| 1103 |
+
Footnotes
|
| 1104 |
+
|
| 1105 |
+
[1]Happiness, the effect of virtue, is the mark which God has set up for
|
| 1106 |
+
us to aim at. Our missing it is no work of His; nor so properly
|
| 1107 |
+
anything real, as a mere negative and failure of our own.
|
| 1108 |
+
|
| 1109 |
+
[2][Chapter XV of the third book of the _Discourses_, which, with the
|
| 1110 |
+
exception of some very trifling differences, is the same as chapter
|
| 1111 |
+
XXIX of the _Enchiridion_.--Ed.]
|
| 1112 |
+
|
| 1113 |
+
[3]Euphrates was a philosopher of Syria, whose character is described,
|
| 1114 |
+
with the highest encomiums, by Pliny the Younger, _Letters_ I. 10.
|
| 1115 |
+
|
| 1116 |
+
[4][The two inimical sons of Oedipus, who killed each other in
|
| 1117 |
+
battle.--Ed.]
|
| 1118 |
+
|
| 1119 |
+
[5][This refers to an anecdote given in full by Simplicius, in his
|
| 1120 |
+
commentary on this passage, of a man assaulted and killed on his way
|
| 1121 |
+
to consult the oracle, while his companion, deserting him, took refuge
|
| 1122 |
+
in the temple till cast out by the Deity.--Tr.]
|
| 1123 |
+
|
| 1124 |
+
[6][Reference is to Zeno of Cyprus (335-263 B.C.), the founder of the
|
| 1125 |
+
Stoic school.--Ed.]
|
| 1126 |
+
|
| 1127 |
+
[7][Chrysippus (_c._ 280-207 B.C.) was a Stoic philosopher who became
|
| 1128 |
+
head of the Stoa after Cleanthes. His works, which are lost, were most
|
| 1129 |
+
influential and were generally accepted as the authoritative
|
| 1130 |
+
interpretation of orthodox Stoic philosophy.--Ed.]
|
| 1131 |
+
|
| 1132 |
+
[8]Cleanthes, in Diogenes Laertius, quoted also by Seneca, _Epistle_ 107.
|
| 1133 |
+
|
| 1134 |
+
[9]Euripides, Fragments.
|
| 1135 |
+
|
| 1136 |
+
[10]Plato, _Crito_, Chap. XVII.
|
| 1137 |
+
|
| 1138 |
+
[11]Plato, _Apology_, Chap. XVIII.
|
| 1139 |
+
|
| 1140 |
+
The Library of Liberal Arts
|
| 1141 |
+
|
| 1142 |
+
Aeschylus: _Prometheus Bound_. Tr. E. B. Browning. (LLA 24) .40
|
| 1143 |
+
*Alembert, d': _Introduction to the Encyclopédie of 1751_. Tr. T.
|
| 1144 |
+
D. Lockwood. (LLA 88) .80
|
| 1145 |
+
*Aristotle: _Nicomachean Ethics_. Tr. M. Ostwald. (LLA 75) .80
|
| 1146 |
+
----: _On the Art of Poetry_. Tr. S. H. Butcher. (LLA 6) .50
|
| 1147 |
+
*----: _On Poetry and Style_. Tr. G. M. A. Grube. (LLA 68) .75
|
| 1148 |
+
Augustine: _On Christian Doctrine_. Tr. D. W. Robertson, Jr. (LLA
|
| 1149 |
+
80) .95
|
| 1150 |
+
*Bacon: _The New Organon_. (LLA 97) 1.00
|
| 1151 |
+
*Beccaria: _Of Crimes and Punishments_. Tr. H. Paolucci & V.
|
| 1152 |
+
Caporale. (LLA 107) .60
|
| 1153 |
+
Bergson: _An Introduction to Metaphysics_. Tr. T. E. Hulme. (LLA
|
| 1154 |
+
10) .40
|
| 1155 |
+
*Berkeley: _An Essay Toward a New Theory of Vision & The Theory
|
| 1156 |
+
of Vision Vindicated_. (LLA 83) .80
|
| 1157 |
+
----: _A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge_.
|
| 1158 |
+
(LLA 53) .75
|
| 1159 |
+
----: _Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous_. (LLA 39) .75
|
| 1160 |
+
_Boccaccio on Poetry._ Tr. C. G. Osgood. (LLA 82) _cl. $3.50_ 1.25
|
| 1161 |
+
*Boethius: _The Consolation of Philosophy_. Tr. R. H. Green. (LLA
|
| 1162 |
+
86) .95
|
| 1163 |
+
Bonaventura: _The Mind's Road to God_. Tr. G. Boas. (LLA 32) .50
|
| 1164 |
+
Bowman: _The Absurdity of Christianity and Other Essays_. (LLA
|
| 1165 |
+
56) .75
|
| 1166 |
+
Bradley: _Ethical Studies (Selected Essays)_. (LLA 28) _cl. $2.00_ .85
|
| 1167 |
+
*Burke: _On the Sublime and Beautiful_. (LLA 99) .90
|
| 1168 |
+
----: _Reflections on the Revolution in France_. (LLA 46)
|
| 1169 |
+
_cl. $3.50_ 1.25
|
| 1170 |
+
Butler: _Five Sermons_. (LLA 21) .60
|
| 1171 |
+
Calvin: _On the Christian Faith_. (LLA 93) .95
|
| 1172 |
+
----: _On God and Political Duty_. (LLA 23) .60
|
| 1173 |
+
*_The Cid._ Tr. J. G. Markley. (LLA 77) .75
|
| 1174 |
+
Cornford: _Plato and Parmenides_. (LLA 102) 1.60
|
| 1175 |
+
----: _Plato's Cosmology_. (LLA 101) 1.75
|
| 1176 |
+
----: _Plato's Theory of Knowledge_. (LLA 100) 1.75
|
| 1177 |
+
*Dante: _De vulgari eloquentia_. Tr. W. T. H. Jackson. (LLA 85) .60
|
| 1178 |
+
----: _On World-Government (De Monarchia)_. Tr. H. W. Schneider.
|
| 1179 |
+
(LLA 15) .60
|
| 1180 |
+
Descartes: _Discourse on Method_. Tr. L. J. Lafleur. (LLA 19) .50
|
| 1181 |
+
*----: _Discourse on Method and Meditations_. Tr. L. J. Lafleur.
|
| 1182 |
+
(LLA 89) .90
|
| 1183 |
+
----: _Meditations_. Tr. L. J. Lafleur. (LLA 29) .60
|
| 1184 |
+
Dostoevski: _The Grand Inquisitor on the Nature of Man_. Tr. C.
|
| 1185 |
+
Garnett. (LLA 63) .40
|
| 1186 |
+
*Dryden: _An Essay of Dramatic Poesy_. (LLA 104) .60
|
| 1187 |
+
Emerson: _Nature_. (LLA 2) .40
|
| 1188 |
+
Epictetus: _The Enchiridion_. Tr. T. W. Higginson. (LLA 8) .40
|
| 1189 |
+
Erasmus: _Ten Colloquies of Erasmus_. Tr. C. R. Thompson. (LLA
|
| 1190 |
+
48) _cl. $3.00_ .90
|
| 1191 |
+
Euripides: _Electra_. Tr. M. Hadas. (LLA 26) .40
|
| 1192 |
+
Fichte: _The Vocation of Man_. Tr. W. Smith. (LLA 50) .75
|
| 1193 |
+
Goethe: _Faust I._ Tr. B. Q. Morgan. (LLA 33) _cl. $2.50_ .75
|
| 1194 |
+
Grotius: _Prolegomena to the Law of War and Peace_. Tr. F. W.
|
| 1195 |
+
Kelsey. (LLA 65) .50
|
| 1196 |
+
Hanslick: _The Beautiful in Music_. (LLA 45) _cl. $2.50_ .80
|
| 1197 |
+
Harrington: _The Political Writings of James Harrington_. (LLA
|
| 1198 |
+
38) _cl. $3.00_ .90
|
| 1199 |
+
Hegel: _Reason in History_. Tr. R. S. Hartman. (LLA 35)
|
| 1200 |
+
_cl. $2.75_ .75
|
| 1201 |
+
Hesiod: _Theogony_. Tr. N. O. Brown. (LLA 36) .50
|
| 1202 |
+
Hobbes: _Leviathan I-II_. (LLA 69) 1.00
|
| 1203 |
+
*Hume.: _David Hume's Literary Essays_. (LLA 84) .90
|
| 1204 |
+
----: _David Hume's Political Essays_. (LLA 34) _cl. $3.00_ .90
|
| 1205 |
+
----: _An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding_. (LLA 49) .80
|
| 1206 |
+
----: _An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals_. (LLA 62) .75
|
| 1207 |
+
*Kant: _Critique of the Aesthetic Judgment_. Tr. W. Cerf. (LLA
|
| 1208 |
+
73) 1.25
|
| 1209 |
+
----: _Critique of Practical Reason_. Tr. L. W. Beck. (LLA 52) .90
|
| 1210 |
+
----: _Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals_. Tr. T.
|
| 1211 |
+
K. Abbott. (LLA 16) .60
|
| 1212 |
+
----: _Perpetual Peace_. Tr. M. C. Smith. (LLA 3) .45
|
| 1213 |
+
----: _Perpetual Peace_. Tr. L. W. Beck. (LLA 54) .50
|
| 1214 |
+
*----: _Perpetual Peace and the Idea of a Universal Commonwealth_.
|
| 1215 |
+
Tr. L. W. Beck. (LLA 96) .75
|
| 1216 |
+
*----: _Philosophy of Right_. Tr. J. Ladd. (LLA 72) 1.25
|
| 1217 |
+
----: _Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics_. Tr. Mahaffy-Carus;
|
| 1218 |
+
rev. L. W. Beck. (LLA 27) _cl. $2.00_ .85
|
| 1219 |
+
*----: _Religion within the Limits of Reason_. Tr. T. M. Green.
|
| 1220 |
+
(LLA 108) _cl. $3.50_ 1.00
|
| 1221 |
+
Kleist: _The Prince of Homburg_. Tr. C. E. Passage. (LLA 60) .75
|
| 1222 |
+
*Le Bon: _Mass Psychology (The Crowd)_. (LLA 90) .80
|
| 1223 |
+
*Leibniz: _Monadology and Other Philosophical Essays_. Tr. P. &
|
| 1224 |
+
A. Schrecker. (LLA 94) .90
|
| 1225 |
+
*Lessing: _Laocoön_. Tr. E. A. McCormick. (LLA 78) .95
|
| 1226 |
+
_The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes._ Tr. J. G. Markley. (LLA 37) .50
|
| 1227 |
+
Locke: _A Letter Concerning Toleration_. (LLA 22) .40
|
| 1228 |
+
----: _The Second Treatise of Government_. (LLA 31) _cl. $2.50_ .80
|
| 1229 |
+
Longinus: _On Great Writing (On the Sublime)_. Tr. G. M. A.
|
| 1230 |
+
Grube. (LLA 79) .60
|
| 1231 |
+
Machiavelli: _Mandragola_. Tr. A. & H. Paolucci. (LLA 58) .60
|
| 1232 |
+
Mill, J.: _An Essay on Government_. (LLA 47) .50
|
| 1233 |
+
Mill, J. S.: _Autobiography_. (LLA 91) .90
|
| 1234 |
+
*----: _Nature and Utility of Religion; Two Essays_. (LLA 81) .60
|
| 1235 |
+
----: _On Liberty_. (LLA 61) .65
|
| 1236 |
+
----: _Considerations on Representative Government_. (LLA 71) .90
|
| 1237 |
+
Mill, J. S. (cont'd): _Theism_. (LLA 64) .75
|
| 1238 |
+
----: _Utilitarianism_. (LLA 1) .50
|
| 1239 |
+
*Moliere: _Tartuffe_. Tr. R. W. Hartle. (LLA 87) .50
|
| 1240 |
+
Nietzsche: _The Use and Abuse of History_. (LLA 11) .50
|
| 1241 |
+
Paine: _The Age of Reason_. (LLA 5) .50
|
| 1242 |
+
Plato: _Euthyphro, Apology, Crito_. Tr. F. J. Church. (LLA 4) .50
|
| 1243 |
+
----: _Gorgias_. Tr. W. C. Helmbold. (LLA 20) .75
|
| 1244 |
+
----: _Meno_. Tr. B. Jowett. (LLA 12) .40
|
| 1245 |
+
----: _Phaedo_. Tr. F. J. Church. (LLA 30) .50
|
| 1246 |
+
----: _Phaedrus_. Tr. W. C. Helmbold & W. G. Rabinowitz. (LLA 40) .60
|
| 1247 |
+
*----: _Philebus_. Tr. K. Herbert. (LLA 41) .75
|
| 1248 |
+
----: _Protagoras_. Tr. B. Jowett. (LLA 59) .75
|
| 1249 |
+
----: _Statesman_. Tr. J. B. Skemp. (LLA 57) .75
|
| 1250 |
+
----: _Symposium_. Tr. B. Jowett. (LLA 7) .40
|
| 1251 |
+
*----: _Theaetetus_. Tr. F. M. Cornford. (LLA 105) .80
|
| 1252 |
+
----: _Timaeus_. Tr. F. M. Cornford. (LLA 106) .80
|
| 1253 |
+
Plautus: _The Haunted House (Mostellaria)_. Tr. F. O. Copley.
|
| 1254 |
+
(LLA 42) .45
|
| 1255 |
+
----: _The Menaechmi_. Tr. F. O. Copley. (LLA 17) .45
|
| 1256 |
+
----: _The Rope (Rudens)_. Tr. F. O. Copley. (LLA 43) .45
|
| 1257 |
+
*Pope: _Essay on Man_. (LLA 103) .50
|
| 1258 |
+
Post: _Significant Cases in British Constitutional Law_. (LLA 66)
|
| 1259 |
+
_cl. $3.50_ 1.25
|
| 1260 |
+
*Rousseau: _Two Discourses_. Tr. V. Gourevitch. (LLA 109) .80
|
| 1261 |
+
*Russell: _Selected Essays_. (LLA 74) .90
|
| 1262 |
+
Schneider: _Sources of Contemporary Philosophical Realism in
|
| 1263 |
+
America_. (LLA 92) .60
|
| 1264 |
+
*Schopenhauer: _Essay on the Freedom of the Will_. Tr. K.
|
| 1265 |
+
Kolenda. (LLA 70) .80
|
| 1266 |
+
Seneca: _Medea_. Tr. M. Hadas. (LLA 55) .45
|
| 1267 |
+
----: _Oedipus_. Tr. M. Hadas. (LLA 44) .45
|
| 1268 |
+
----: _Thyestes_. Tr. M. Hadas. (LLA 76) .45
|
| 1269 |
+
*Shelley: _Defence of Poetry_. (LLA 98) .50
|
| 1270 |
+
Sophocles: _Electra_. Tr. R. C. Jebb. (LLA 25) .40
|
| 1271 |
+
Spinoza: _On the Improvement of the Understanding_. Tr. J. Katz.
|
| 1272 |
+
(LLA 67) .50
|
| 1273 |
+
Terence: _Phormio_. Tr. F. O. Copley. (LLA 95) .45
|
| 1274 |
+
----: _The Woman of Andros_. Tr. F. O. Copley. (LLA 18) .45
|
| 1275 |
+
*Tolstoy: _What Is Art?_ Tr. A. Maude. (LLA 51) .90
|
| 1276 |
+
Whitman: _Democratic Vistas_. (LLA 9) .50
|
| 1277 |
+
|
| 1278 |
+
(_Complete catalogue sent upon request_)
|
| 1279 |
+
|
| 1280 |
+
* _In preparation._
|
| 1281 |
+
|
| 1282 |
+
THE LIBERAL ARTS PRESS, INC.
|
| 1283 |
+
153 W. 72nd Street, New York 23, N. Y.
|
data/full_corpus.txt
ADDED
|
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
+
version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
|
| 2 |
+
oid sha256:befa698b83348cf768ea5313f833e50435ed350cdcdc3bb9c76f8525bab40933
|
| 3 |
+
size 26473556
|
data/hobbes_leviathan.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/hume_understanding.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/kant_pure_reason.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/latin_grammar.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/locke_government.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/lucretius_nature.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/machiavelli_prince.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/marcus_meditations.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/mill_liberty.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/mill_utilitarianism.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/montaigne_essays.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/nietzsche_beyond.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/nietzsche_zarathustra.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_apology.txt
ADDED
|
@@ -0,0 +1,1407 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
+
Produced by Sue Asscher, and David Widger
|
| 2 |
+
|
| 3 |
+
Apology
|
| 4 |
+
|
| 5 |
+
by Plato
|
| 6 |
+
|
| 7 |
+
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
|
| 8 |
+
|
| 9 |
+
Contents
|
| 10 |
+
|
| 11 |
+
INTRODUCTION
|
| 12 |
+
APOLOGY
|
| 13 |
+
|
| 14 |
+
INTRODUCTION.
|
| 15 |
+
|
| 16 |
+
In what relation the "Apology" of Plato stands to the real defence of
|
| 17 |
+
Socrates, there are no means of determining. It certainly agrees in
|
| 18 |
+
tone and character with the description of Xenophon, who says in the
|
| 19 |
+
"Memorabilia" that Socrates might have been acquitted "if in any
|
| 20 |
+
moderate degree he would have conciliated the favour of the dicasts;"
|
| 21 |
+
and who informs us in another passage, on the testimony of Hermogenes,
|
| 22 |
+
the friend of Socrates, that he had no wish to live; and that the
|
| 23 |
+
divine sign refused to allow him to prepare a defence, and also that
|
| 24 |
+
Socrates himself declared this to be unnecessary, on the ground that
|
| 25 |
+
all his life long he had been preparing against that hour. For the
|
| 26 |
+
speech breathes throughout a spirit of defiance, "_ut non supplex aut
|
| 27 |
+
reus sed magister aut dominus videretur esse judicum_" (Cic. "de Orat."
|
| 28 |
+
i. 54); and the loose and desultory style is an imitation of the
|
| 29 |
+
"accustomed manner" in which Socrates spoke in "the _agora_ and among
|
| 30 |
+
the tables of the money-changers." The allusion in the "Crito" (45 B)
|
| 31 |
+
may, perhaps, be adduced as a further evidence of the literal accuracy
|
| 32 |
+
of some parts (37 C, D). But in the main it must be regarded as the
|
| 33 |
+
ideal of Socrates, according to Plato's conception of him, appearing in
|
| 34 |
+
the greatest and most public scene of his life, and in the height of
|
| 35 |
+
his triumph, when he is weakest, and yet his mastery over mankind is
|
| 36 |
+
greatest, and his habitual irony acquires a new meaning and a sort of
|
| 37 |
+
tragic pathos in the face of death. The facts of his life are summed
|
| 38 |
+
up, and the features of his character are brought out as if by accident
|
| 39 |
+
in the course of the defence. The conversational manner, the seeming
|
| 40 |
+
want of arrangement, the ironical simplicity, are found to result in a
|
| 41 |
+
perfect work of art, which is the portrait of Socrates.
|
| 42 |
+
|
| 43 |
+
Yet some of the topics may have been actually used by Socrates; and the
|
| 44 |
+
recollection of his very words may have rung in the ears of his
|
| 45 |
+
disciple. The "Apology" of Plato may be compared generally with those
|
| 46 |
+
speeches of Thucydides in which he has embodied his conception of the
|
| 47 |
+
lofty character and policy of the great Pericles, and which at the same
|
| 48 |
+
time furnish a commentary on the situation of affairs from the point of
|
| 49 |
+
view of the historian. So in the "Apology" there is an ideal rather
|
| 50 |
+
than a literal truth; much is said which was not said, and is only
|
| 51 |
+
Plato's view of the situation. Plato was not, like Xenophon, a
|
| 52 |
+
chronicler of facts; he does not appear in any of his writings to have
|
| 53 |
+
aimed at literal accuracy. He is not therefore to be supplemented from
|
| 54 |
+
the Memorabilia and Symposium of Xenophon, who belongs to an entirely
|
| 55 |
+
different class of writers. The Apology of Plato is not the report of
|
| 56 |
+
what Socrates said, but an elaborate composition, quite as much so in
|
| 57 |
+
fact as one of the Dialogues. And we may perhaps even indulge in the
|
| 58 |
+
fancy that the actual defence of Socrates was as much greater than the
|
| 59 |
+
Platonic defence as the master was greater than the disciple. But in
|
| 60 |
+
any case, some of the words used by him must have been remembered, and
|
| 61 |
+
some of the facts recorded must have actually occurred. It is
|
| 62 |
+
significant that Plato is said to have been present at the defence
|
| 63 |
+
(Apol.), as he is also said to have been absent at the last scene in
|
| 64 |
+
the "Phædo". Is it fanciful to suppose that he meant to give the stamp
|
| 65 |
+
of authenticity to the one and not to the other?--especially when we
|
| 66 |
+
consider that these two passages are the only ones in which Plato makes
|
| 67 |
+
mention of himself. The circumstance that Plato was to be one of his
|
| 68 |
+
sureties for the payment of the fine which he proposed has the
|
| 69 |
+
appearance of truth. More suspicious is the statement that Socrates
|
| 70 |
+
received the first impulse to his favourite calling of cross-examining
|
| 71 |
+
the world from the Oracle of Delphi; for he must already have been
|
| 72 |
+
famous before Chaerephon went to consult the Oracle (Riddell), and the
|
| 73 |
+
story is of a kind which is very likely to have been invented. On the
|
| 74 |
+
whole we arrive at the conclusion that the "Apology" is true to the
|
| 75 |
+
character of Socrates, but we cannot show that any single sentence in
|
| 76 |
+
it was actually spoken by him. It breathes the spirit of Socrates, but
|
| 77 |
+
has been cast anew in the mould of Plato.
|
| 78 |
+
|
| 79 |
+
There is not much in the other Dialogues which can be compared with the
|
| 80 |
+
"Apology". The same recollection of his master may have been present to
|
| 81 |
+
the mind of Plato when depicting the sufferings of the Just in the
|
| 82 |
+
"Republic". The "Crito" may also be regarded as a sort of appendage to
|
| 83 |
+
the "Apology", in which Socrates, who has defied the judges, is
|
| 84 |
+
nevertheless represented as scrupulously obedient to the laws. The
|
| 85 |
+
idealization of the sufferer is carried still further in the
|
| 86 |
+
"Georgias", in which the thesis is maintained, that "to suffer is
|
| 87 |
+
better than to do evil;" and the art of rhetoric is described as only
|
| 88 |
+
useful for the purpose of self-accusation. The parallelisms which occur
|
| 89 |
+
in the so-called "Apology" of Xenophon are not worth noticing, because
|
| 90 |
+
the writing in which they are contained is manifestly spurious. The
|
| 91 |
+
statements of the "Memorabilia" respecting the trial and death of
|
| 92 |
+
Socrates agree generally with Plato; but they have lost the flavour of
|
| 93 |
+
Socratic irony in the narrative of Xenophon.
|
| 94 |
+
|
| 95 |
+
The "Apology" or Platonic defence of Socrates is divided into three
|
| 96 |
+
parts: 1st. The defence properly so called; 2nd. The shorter address in
|
| 97 |
+
mitigation of the penalty; 3rd. The last words of prophetic rebuke and
|
| 98 |
+
exhortation.
|
| 99 |
+
|
| 100 |
+
The first part commences with an apology for his colloquial style; he
|
| 101 |
+
is, as he has always been, the enemy of rhetoric, and knows of no
|
| 102 |
+
rhetoric but truth; he will not falsify his character by making a
|
| 103 |
+
speech. Then he proceeds to divide his accusers into two classes;
|
| 104 |
+
first, there is the nameless accuser--public opinion. All the world from
|
| 105 |
+
their earliest years had heard that he was a corrupter of youth, and
|
| 106 |
+
had seen him caricatured in the "Clouds" of Aristophanes. Secondly,
|
| 107 |
+
there are the professed accusers, who are but the mouth-piece of the
|
| 108 |
+
others. The accusations of both might be summed up in a formula. The
|
| 109 |
+
first say, "Socrates is an evil-doer and a curious person, searching
|
| 110 |
+
into things under the earth and above the heaven; and making the worse
|
| 111 |
+
appear the better cause, and teaching all this to others." The second,
|
| 112 |
+
"Socrates is an evil-doer and corrupter of the youth, who does not
|
| 113 |
+
receive the gods whom the state receives, but introduces other new
|
| 114 |
+
divinities." These last words appear to have been the actual indictment
|
| 115 |
+
(compare Xen. Mem.); and the previous formula, which is a summary of
|
| 116 |
+
public opinion, assumes the same legal style.
|
| 117 |
+
|
| 118 |
+
The answer begins by clearing up a confusion. In the representations of
|
| 119 |
+
the Comic poets, and in the opinion of the multitude, he had been
|
| 120 |
+
identified with the teachers of physical science and with the Sophists.
|
| 121 |
+
But this was an error. For both of them he professes a respect in the
|
| 122 |
+
open court, which contrasts with his manner of speaking about them in
|
| 123 |
+
other places. (Compare for Anaxagoras, Phædo, Laws; for the Sophists,
|
| 124 |
+
Meno, Republic, Tim., Theaet., Soph., etc.) But at the same time he
|
| 125 |
+
shows that he is not one of them. Of natural philosophy he knows
|
| 126 |
+
nothing; not that he despises such pursuits, but the fact is that he is
|
| 127 |
+
ignorant of them, and never says a word about them. Nor is he paid for
|
| 128 |
+
giving instruction--that is another mistaken notion:--he has nothing to
|
| 129 |
+
teach. But he commends Evenus for teaching virtue at such a "moderate"
|
| 130 |
+
rate as five minæ. Something of the "accustomed irony," which may
|
| 131 |
+
perhaps be expected to sleep in the ear of the multitude, is lurking
|
| 132 |
+
here.
|
| 133 |
+
|
| 134 |
+
He then goes on to explain the reason why he is in such an evil name.
|
| 135 |
+
That had arisen out of a peculiar mission which he had taken upon
|
| 136 |
+
himself. The enthusiastic Chaerephon (probably in anticipation of the
|
| 137 |
+
answer which he received) had gone to Delphi and asked the oracle if
|
| 138 |
+
there was any man wiser than Socrates; and the answer was, that there
|
| 139 |
+
was no man wiser. What could be the meaning of this--that he who knew
|
| 140 |
+
nothing, and knew that he knew nothing, should be declared by the
|
| 141 |
+
oracle to be the wisest of men? Reflecting upon the answer, he
|
| 142 |
+
determined to refute it by finding "a wiser;" and first he went to the
|
| 143 |
+
politicians, and then to the poets, and then to the craftsmen, but
|
| 144 |
+
always with the same result--he found that they knew nothing, or hardly
|
| 145 |
+
anything more than himself; and that the little advantage which in some
|
| 146 |
+
cases they possessed was more than counter-balanced by their conceit of
|
| 147 |
+
knowledge. He knew nothing, and knew that he knew nothing: they knew
|
| 148 |
+
little or nothing, and imagined that they knew all things. Thus he had
|
| 149 |
+
passed his life as a sort of missionary in detecting the pretended
|
| 150 |
+
wisdom of mankind; and this occupation had quite absorbed him and taken
|
| 151 |
+
him away both from public and private affairs. Young men of the richer
|
| 152 |
+
sort had made a pastime of the same pursuit, "which was not unamusing."
|
| 153 |
+
And hence bitter enmities had arisen; the professors of knowledge had
|
| 154 |
+
revenged themselves by calling him a villainous corrupter of youth, and
|
| 155 |
+
by repeating the commonplaces about atheism and materialism and
|
| 156 |
+
sophistry, which are the stock-accusations against all philosophers
|
| 157 |
+
when there is nothing else to be said of them.
|
| 158 |
+
|
| 159 |
+
The second accusation he meets by interrogating Meletus, who is present
|
| 160 |
+
and can be interrogated. "If he is the corrupter, who is the improver
|
| 161 |
+
of the citizens?" (Compare Meno.) "All men everywhere." But how absurd,
|
| 162 |
+
how contrary to analogy is this! How inconceivable too, that he should
|
| 163 |
+
make the citizens worse when he has to live with them. This surely
|
| 164 |
+
cannot be intentional; and if unintentional, he ought to have been
|
| 165 |
+
instructed by Meletus, and not accused in the court.
|
| 166 |
+
|
| 167 |
+
But there is another part of the indictment which says that he teaches
|
| 168 |
+
men not to receive the gods whom the city receives, and has other new
|
| 169 |
+
gods. "Is that the way in which he is supposed to corrupt the youth?"
|
| 170 |
+
"Yes, it is." "Has he only new gods, or none at all?" "None at all."
|
| 171 |
+
"What, not even the sun and moon?" "No; why, he says that the sun is a
|
| 172 |
+
stone, and the moon earth." That, replies Socrates, is the old
|
| 173 |
+
confusion about Anaxagoras; the Athenian people are not so ignorant as
|
| 174 |
+
to attribute to the influence of Socrates notions which have found
|
| 175 |
+
their way into the drama, and may be learned at the theatre. Socrates
|
| 176 |
+
undertakes to show that Meletus (rather unjustifiably) has been
|
| 177 |
+
compounding a riddle in this part of the indictment: "There are no
|
| 178 |
+
gods, but Socrates believes in the existence of the sons of gods, which
|
| 179 |
+
is absurd."
|
| 180 |
+
|
| 181 |
+
Leaving Meletus, who has had enough words spent upon him, he returns to
|
| 182 |
+
the original accusation. The question may be asked, Why will he persist
|
| 183 |
+
in following a profession which leads him to death? Why?--because he
|
| 184 |
+
must remain at his post where the god has placed him, as he remained at
|
| 185 |
+
Potidaea, and Amphipolis, and Delium, where the generals placed him.
|
| 186 |
+
Besides, he is not so overwise as to imagine that he knows whether
|
| 187 |
+
death is a good or an evil; and he is certain that desertion of his
|
| 188 |
+
duty is an evil. Anytus is quite right in saying that they should never
|
| 189 |
+
have indicted him if they meant to let him go. For he will certainly
|
| 190 |
+
obey God rather than man; and will continue to preach to all men of all
|
| 191 |
+
ages the necessity of virtue and improvement; and if they refuse to
|
| 192 |
+
listen to him he will still persevere and reprove them. This is his way
|
| 193 |
+
of corrupting the youth, which he will not cease to follow in obedience
|
| 194 |
+
to the god, even if a thousand deaths await him.
|
| 195 |
+
|
| 196 |
+
He is desirous that they should let him live--not for his own sake, but
|
| 197 |
+
for theirs; because he is their heaven-sent friend (and they will never
|
| 198 |
+
have such another), or, as he may be ludicrously described, he is the
|
| 199 |
+
gadfly who stirs the generous steed into motion. Why then has he never
|
| 200 |
+
taken part in public affairs? Because the familiar divine voice has
|
| 201 |
+
hindered him; if he had been a public man, and had fought for the
|
| 202 |
+
right, as he would certainly have fought against the many, he would not
|
| 203 |
+
have lived, and could therefore have done no good. Twice in public
|
| 204 |
+
matters he has risked his life for the sake of justice--once at the
|
| 205 |
+
trial of the generals; and again in resistance to the tyrannical
|
| 206 |
+
commands of the Thirty.
|
| 207 |
+
|
| 208 |
+
But, though not a public man, he has passed his days in instructing the
|
| 209 |
+
citizens without fee or reward--this was his mission. Whether his
|
| 210 |
+
disciples have turned out well or ill, he cannot justly be charged with
|
| 211 |
+
the result, for he never promised to teach them anything. They might
|
| 212 |
+
come if they liked, and they might stay away if they liked: and they
|
| 213 |
+
did come, because they found an amusement in hearing the pretenders to
|
| 214 |
+
wisdom detected. If they have been corrupted, their elder relatives (if
|
| 215 |
+
not themselves) might surely come into court and witness against him,
|
| 216 |
+
and there is an opportunity still for them to appear. But their fathers
|
| 217 |
+
and brothers all appear in court (including "this" Plato), to witness
|
| 218 |
+
on his behalf; and if their relatives are corrupted, at least they are
|
| 219 |
+
uncorrupted; "and they are my witnesses. For they know that I am
|
| 220 |
+
speaking the truth, and that Meletus is lying."
|
| 221 |
+
|
| 222 |
+
This is about all that he has to say. He will not entreat the judges to
|
| 223 |
+
spare his life; neither will he present a spectacle of weeping
|
| 224 |
+
children, although he, too, is not made of "rock or oak." Some of the
|
| 225 |
+
judges themselves may have complied with this practice on similar
|
| 226 |
+
occasions, and he trusts that they will not be angry with him for not
|
| 227 |
+
following their example. But he feels that such conduct brings
|
| 228 |
+
discredit on the name of Athens: he feels too, that the judge has sworn
|
| 229 |
+
not to give away justice; and he cannot be guilty of the impiety of
|
| 230 |
+
asking the judge to break his oath, when he is himself being tried for
|
| 231 |
+
impiety.
|
| 232 |
+
|
| 233 |
+
As he expected, and probably intended, he is convicted. And now the
|
| 234 |
+
tone of the speech, instead of being more conciliatory, becomes more
|
| 235 |
+
lofty and commanding. Anytus proposes death as the penalty: and what
|
| 236 |
+
counter-proposition shall he make? He, the benefactor of the Athenian
|
| 237 |
+
people, whose whole life has been spent in doing them good, should at
|
| 238 |
+
least have the Olympic victor's reward of maintenance in the Prytaneum.
|
| 239 |
+
Or why should he propose any counter-penalty when he does not know
|
| 240 |
+
whether death, which Anytus proposes, is a good or an evil? And he is
|
| 241 |
+
certain that imprisonment is an evil, exile is an evil. Loss of money
|
| 242 |
+
might be an evil, but then he has none to give; perhaps he can make up
|
| 243 |
+
a mina. Let that be the penalty, or, if his friends wish, thirty minæ;
|
| 244 |
+
for which they will be excellent securities.
|
| 245 |
+
|
| 246 |
+
[_He is condemned to death._]
|
| 247 |
+
|
| 248 |
+
He is an old man already, and the Athenians will gain nothing but
|
| 249 |
+
disgrace by depriving him of a few years of life. Perhaps he could have
|
| 250 |
+
escaped, if he had chosen to throw down his arms and entreat for his
|
| 251 |
+
life. But he does not at all repent of the manner of his defence; he
|
| 252 |
+
would rather die in his own fashion than live in theirs. For the
|
| 253 |
+
penalty of unrighteousness is swifter than death; that penalty has
|
| 254 |
+
already overtaken his accusers as death will soon overtake him.
|
| 255 |
+
|
| 256 |
+
And now, as one who is about to die, he will prophesy to them. They
|
| 257 |
+
have put him to death in order to escape the necessity of giving an
|
| 258 |
+
account of their lives. But his death "will be the seed" of many
|
| 259 |
+
disciples who will convince them of their evil ways, and will come
|
| 260 |
+
forth to reprove them in harsher terms, because they are younger and
|
| 261 |
+
more inconsiderate.
|
| 262 |
+
|
| 263 |
+
He would like to say a few words, while there is time, to those who
|
| 264 |
+
would have acquitted him. He wishes them to know that the divine sign
|
| 265 |
+
never interrupted him in the course of his defence; the reason of
|
| 266 |
+
which, as he conjectures, is that the death to which he is going is a
|
| 267 |
+
good and not an evil. For either death is a long sleep, the best of
|
| 268 |
+
sleeps, or a journey to another world in which the souls of the dead
|
| 269 |
+
are gathered together, and in which there may be a hope of seeing the
|
| 270 |
+
heroes of old--in which, too, there are just judges; and as all are
|
| 271 |
+
immortal, there can be no fear of any one suffering death for his
|
| 272 |
+
opinions.
|
| 273 |
+
|
| 274 |
+
Nothing evil can happen to the good man either in life or death, and
|
| 275 |
+
his own death has been permitted by the gods, because it was better for
|
| 276 |
+
him to depart; and therefore he forgives his judges because they have
|
| 277 |
+
done him no harm, although they never meant to do him any good.
|
| 278 |
+
|
| 279 |
+
He has a last request to make to them--that they will trouble his sons
|
| 280 |
+
as he has troubled them, if they appear to prefer riches to virtue, or
|
| 281 |
+
to think themselves something when they are nothing.
|
| 282 |
+
|
| 283 |
+
"Few persons will be found to wish that Socrates should have defended
|
| 284 |
+
himself otherwise,"--if, as we must add, his defence was that with which
|
| 285 |
+
Plato has provided him. But leaving this question, which does not admit
|
| 286 |
+
of a precise solution, we may go on to ask what was the impression
|
| 287 |
+
which Plato in the "Apology" intended to give of the character and
|
| 288 |
+
conduct of his master in the last great scene? Did he intend to
|
| 289 |
+
represent him (1) as employing sophistries; (2) as designedly
|
| 290 |
+
irritating the judges? Or are these sophistries to be regarded as
|
| 291 |
+
belonging to the age in which he lived and to his personal character,
|
| 292 |
+
and this apparent haughtiness as flowing from the natural elevation of
|
| 293 |
+
his position?
|
| 294 |
+
|
| 295 |
+
For example, when he says that it is absurd to suppose that one man is
|
| 296 |
+
the corrupter and all the rest of the world the improvers of the youth;
|
| 297 |
+
or, when he argues that he never could have corrupted the men with whom
|
| 298 |
+
he had to live; or, when he proves his belief in the gods because he
|
| 299 |
+
believes in the sons of gods, is he serious or jesting? It may be
|
| 300 |
+
observed that these sophisms all occur in his cross-examination of
|
| 301 |
+
Meletus, who is easily foiled and mastered in the hands of the great
|
| 302 |
+
dialectician. Perhaps he regarded these answers as good enough for his
|
| 303 |
+
accuser, of whom he makes very light. Also there is a touch of irony in
|
| 304 |
+
them, which takes them out of the category of sophistry. (Compare
|
| 305 |
+
Euthyph.)
|
| 306 |
+
|
| 307 |
+
That the manner in which he defends himself about the lives of his
|
| 308 |
+
disciples is not satisfactory, can hardly be denied. Fresh in the
|
| 309 |
+
memory of the Athenians, and detestable as they deserved to be to the
|
| 310 |
+
newly restored democracy, were the names of Alcibiades, Critias,
|
| 311 |
+
Charmides. It is obviously not a sufficient answer that Socrates had
|
| 312 |
+
never professed to teach them anything, and is therefore not justly
|
| 313 |
+
chargeable with their crimes. Yet the defence, when taken out of this
|
| 314 |
+
ironical form, is doubtless sound: that his teaching had nothing to do
|
| 315 |
+
with their evil lives. Here, then, the sophistry is rather in form than
|
| 316 |
+
in substance, though we might desire that to such a serious charge
|
| 317 |
+
Socrates had given a more serious answer.
|
| 318 |
+
|
| 319 |
+
Truly characteristic of Socrates is another point in his answer, which
|
| 320 |
+
may also be regarded as sophistical. He says that "if he has corrupted
|
| 321 |
+
the youth, he must have corrupted them involuntarily." But if, as
|
| 322 |
+
Socrates argues, all evil is involuntary, then all criminals ought to
|
| 323 |
+
be admonished and not punished. In these words the Socratic doctrine of
|
| 324 |
+
the involuntariness of evil is clearly intended to be conveyed. Here
|
| 325 |
+
again, as in the former instance, the defence of Socrates is untrue
|
| 326 |
+
practically, but may be true in some ideal or transcendental sense. The
|
| 327 |
+
commonplace reply, that if he had been guilty of corrupting the youth
|
| 328 |
+
their relations would surely have witnessed against him, with which he
|
| 329 |
+
concludes this part of his defence, is more satisfactory.
|
| 330 |
+
|
| 331 |
+
Again, when Socrates argues that he must believe in the gods because he
|
| 332 |
+
believes in the sons of gods, we must remember that this is a
|
| 333 |
+
refutation not of the original indictment, which is consistent
|
| 334 |
+
enough--"Socrates does not receive the gods whom the city receives, and
|
| 335 |
+
has other new divinities"--but of the interpretation put upon the words
|
| 336 |
+
by Meletus, who has affirmed that he is a downright atheist. To this
|
| 337 |
+
Socrates fairly answers, in accordance with the ideas of the time, that
|
| 338 |
+
a downright atheist cannot believe in the sons of gods or in divine
|
| 339 |
+
things. The notion that demons or lesser divinities are the sons of
|
| 340 |
+
gods is not to be regarded as ironical or sceptical. He is arguing "ad
|
| 341 |
+
hominem" according to the notions of mythology current in his age. Yet
|
| 342 |
+
he abstains from saying that he believed in the gods whom the State
|
| 343 |
+
approved. He does not defend himself, as Xenophon has defended him, by
|
| 344 |
+
appealing to his practice of religion. Probably he neither wholly
|
| 345 |
+
believed, nor disbelieved, in the existence of the popular gods; he had
|
| 346 |
+
no means of knowing about them. According to Plato (compare Phædo;
|
| 347 |
+
Symp.), as well as Xenophon (Memor.), he was punctual in the
|
| 348 |
+
performance of the least religious duties; and he must have believed in
|
| 349 |
+
his own oracular sign, of which he seemed to have an internal witness.
|
| 350 |
+
But the existence of Apollo or Zeus, or the other gods whom the State
|
| 351 |
+
approves, would have appeared to him both uncertain and unimportant in
|
| 352 |
+
comparison of the duty of self-examination, and of those principles of
|
| 353 |
+
truth and right which he deemed to be the foundation of religion.
|
| 354 |
+
(Compare Phaedr.; Euthyph.; Republic.)
|
| 355 |
+
|
| 356 |
+
The second question, whether Plato meant to represent Socrates as
|
| 357 |
+
braving or irritating his judges, must also be answered in the
|
| 358 |
+
negative. His irony, his superiority, his audacity, "regarding not the
|
| 359 |
+
person of man," necessarily flow out of the loftiness of his situation.
|
| 360 |
+
He is not acting a part upon a great occasion, but he is what he has
|
| 361 |
+
been all his life long, "a king of men." He would rather not appear
|
| 362 |
+
insolent, if he could avoid it (ouch os authadizomenos touto lego).
|
| 363 |
+
Neither is he desirous of hastening his own end, for life and death are
|
| 364 |
+
simply indifferent to him. But such a defence as would be acceptable to
|
| 365 |
+
his judges and might procure an acquittal, it is not in his nature to
|
| 366 |
+
make. He will not say or do anything that might pervert the course of
|
| 367 |
+
justice; he cannot have his tongue bound even "in the throat of death."
|
| 368 |
+
With his accusers he will only fence and play, as he had fenced with
|
| 369 |
+
other "improvers of youth," answering the Sophist according to his
|
| 370 |
+
sophistry all his life long. He is serious when he is speaking of his
|
| 371 |
+
own mission, which seems to distinguish him from all other reformers of
|
| 372 |
+
mankind, and originates in an accident. The dedication of himself to
|
| 373 |
+
the improvement of his fellow-citizens is not so remarkable as the
|
| 374 |
+
ironical spirit in which he goes about doing good only in vindication
|
| 375 |
+
of the credit of the oracle, and in the vain hope of finding a wiser
|
| 376 |
+
man than himself. Yet this singular and almost accidental character of
|
| 377 |
+
his mission agrees with the divine sign which, according to our
|
| 378 |
+
notions, is equally accidental and irrational, and is nevertheless
|
| 379 |
+
accepted by him as the guiding principle of his life. Socrates is
|
| 380 |
+
nowhere represented to us as a freethinker or sceptic. There is no
|
| 381 |
+
reason to doubt his sincerity when he speculates on the possibility of
|
| 382 |
+
seeing and knowing the heroes of the Trojan war in another world. On
|
| 383 |
+
the other hand, his hope of immortality is uncertain;--he also conceives
|
| 384 |
+
of death as a long sleep (in this respect differing from the Phædo),
|
| 385 |
+
and at last falls back on resignation to the divine will, and the
|
| 386 |
+
certainty that no evil can happen to the good man either in life or
|
| 387 |
+
death. His absolute truthfulness seems to hinder him from asserting
|
| 388 |
+
positively more than this; and he makes no attempt to veil his
|
| 389 |
+
ignorance in mythology and figures of speech. The gentleness of the
|
| 390 |
+
first part of the speech contrasts with the aggravated, almost
|
| 391 |
+
threatening, tone of the conclusion. He characteristically remarks that
|
| 392 |
+
he will not speak as a rhetorician, that is to say, he will not make a
|
| 393 |
+
regular defence such as Lysias or one of the orators might have
|
| 394 |
+
composed for him, or, according to some accounts, did compose for him.
|
| 395 |
+
But he first procures himself a hearing by conciliatory words. He does
|
| 396 |
+
not attack the Sophists; for they were open to the same charges as
|
| 397 |
+
himself; they were equally ridiculed by the Comic poets, and almost
|
| 398 |
+
equally hateful to Anytus and Meletus. Yet incidentally the antagonism
|
| 399 |
+
between Socrates and the Sophists is allowed to appear. He is poor and
|
| 400 |
+
they are rich; his profession that he teaches nothing is opposed to
|
| 401 |
+
their readiness to teach all things; his talking in the marketplace to
|
| 402 |
+
their private instructions; his tarry-at-home life to their wandering
|
| 403 |
+
from city to city. The tone which he assumes towards them is one of
|
| 404 |
+
real friendliness, but also of concealed irony. Towards Anaxagoras, who
|
| 405 |
+
had disappointed him in his hopes of learning about mind and nature, he
|
| 406 |
+
shows a less kindly feeling, which is also the feeling of Plato in
|
| 407 |
+
other passages (Laws). But Anaxagoras had been dead thirty years, and
|
| 408 |
+
was beyond the reach of persecution.
|
| 409 |
+
|
| 410 |
+
It has been remarked that the prophecy of a new generation of teachers
|
| 411 |
+
who would rebuke and exhort the Athenian people in harsher and more
|
| 412 |
+
violent terms was, as far as we know, never fulfilled. No inference can
|
| 413 |
+
be drawn from this circumstance as to the probability of the words
|
| 414 |
+
attributed to him having been actually uttered. They express the
|
| 415 |
+
aspiration of the first martyr of philosophy, that he would leave
|
| 416 |
+
behind him many followers, accompanied by the not unnatural feeling
|
| 417 |
+
that they would be fiercer and more inconsiderate in their words when
|
| 418 |
+
emancipated from his control.
|
| 419 |
+
|
| 420 |
+
The above remarks must be understood as applying with any degree of
|
| 421 |
+
certainty to the Platonic Socrates only. For, although these or similar
|
| 422 |
+
words may have been spoken by Socrates himself, we cannot exclude the
|
| 423 |
+
possibility, that like so much else, _e.g._ the wisdom of Critias, the
|
| 424 |
+
poem of Solon, the virtues of Charmides, they may have been due only to
|
| 425 |
+
the imagination of Plato. The arguments of those who maintain that the
|
| 426 |
+
Apology was composed during the process, resting on no evidence, do not
|
| 427 |
+
require a serious refutation. Nor are the reasonings of Schleiermacher,
|
| 428 |
+
who argues that the Platonic defence is an exact or nearly exact
|
| 429 |
+
reproduction of the words of Socrates, partly because Plato would not
|
| 430 |
+
have been guilty of the impiety of altering them, and also because many
|
| 431 |
+
points of the defence might have been improved and strengthened, at all
|
| 432 |
+
more conclusive. (See English Translation.) What effect the death of
|
| 433 |
+
Socrates produced on the mind of Plato, we cannot certainly determine;
|
| 434 |
+
nor can we say how he would or must have written under the
|
| 435 |
+
circumstances. We observe that the enmity of Aristophanes to Socrates
|
| 436 |
+
does not prevent Plato from introducing them together in the Symposium
|
| 437 |
+
engaged in friendly intercourse. Nor is there any trace in the
|
| 438 |
+
Dialogues of an attempt to make Anytus or Meletus personally odious in
|
| 439 |
+
the eyes of the Athenian public.
|
| 440 |
+
|
| 441 |
+
APOLOGY
|
| 442 |
+
|
| 443 |
+
How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I cannot tell;
|
| 444 |
+
but I know that they almost made me forget who I was--so persuasively
|
| 445 |
+
did they speak; and yet they have hardly uttered a word of truth. But
|
| 446 |
+
of the many falsehoods told by them, there was one which quite amazed
|
| 447 |
+
me;--I mean when they said that you should be upon your guard and not
|
| 448 |
+
allow yourselves to be deceived by the force of my eloquence. To say
|
| 449 |
+
this, when they were certain to be detected as soon as I opened my lips
|
| 450 |
+
and proved myself to be anything but a great speaker, did indeed appear
|
| 451 |
+
to me most shameless--unless by the force of eloquence they mean the
|
| 452 |
+
force of truth; for if such is their meaning, I admit that I am
|
| 453 |
+
eloquent. But in how different a way from theirs! Well, as I was
|
| 454 |
+
saying, they have scarcely spoken the truth at all; but from me you
|
| 455 |
+
shall hear the whole truth: not, however, delivered after their manner
|
| 456 |
+
in a set oration duly ornamented with words and phrases. No, by heaven!
|
| 457 |
+
but I shall use the words and arguments which occur to me at the
|
| 458 |
+
moment; for I am confident in the justice of my cause (Or, I am certain
|
| 459 |
+
that I am right in taking this course.): at my time of life I ought not
|
| 460 |
+
to be appearing before you, O men of Athens, in the character of a
|
| 461 |
+
juvenile orator--let no one expect it of me. And I must beg of you to
|
| 462 |
+
grant me a favour:--If I defend myself in my accustomed manner, and you
|
| 463 |
+
hear me using the words which I have been in the habit of using in the
|
| 464 |
+
agora, at the tables of the money-changers, or anywhere else, I would
|
| 465 |
+
ask you not to be surprised, and not to interrupt me on this account.
|
| 466 |
+
For I am more than seventy years of age, and appearing now for the
|
| 467 |
+
first time in a court of law, I am quite a stranger to the language of
|
| 468 |
+
the place; and therefore I would have you regard me as if I were really
|
| 469 |
+
a stranger, whom you would excuse if he spoke in his native tongue, and
|
| 470 |
+
after the fashion of his country:--Am I making an unfair request of you?
|
| 471 |
+
Never mind the manner, which may or may not be good; but think only of
|
| 472 |
+
the truth of my words, and give heed to that: let the speaker speak
|
| 473 |
+
truly and the judge decide justly.
|
| 474 |
+
|
| 475 |
+
And first, I have to reply to the older charges and to my first
|
| 476 |
+
accusers, and then I will go on to the later ones. For of old I have
|
| 477 |
+
had many accusers, who have accused me falsely to you during many
|
| 478 |
+
years; and I am more afraid of them than of Anytus and his associates,
|
| 479 |
+
who are dangerous, too, in their own way. But far more dangerous are
|
| 480 |
+
the others, who began when you were children, and took possession of
|
| 481 |
+
your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a wise man,
|
| 482 |
+
who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth
|
| 483 |
+
beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause. The disseminators
|
| 484 |
+
of this tale are the accusers whom I dread; for their hearers are apt
|
| 485 |
+
to fancy that such enquirers do not believe in the existence of the
|
| 486 |
+
gods. And they are many, and their charges against me are of ancient
|
| 487 |
+
date, and they were made by them in the days when you were more
|
| 488 |
+
impressible than you are now--in childhood, or it may have been in
|
| 489 |
+
youth--and the cause when heard went by default, for there was none to
|
| 490 |
+
answer. And hardest of all, I do not know and cannot tell the names of
|
| 491 |
+
my accusers; unless in the chance case of a Comic poet. All who from
|
| 492 |
+
envy and malice have persuaded you--some of them having first convinced
|
| 493 |
+
themselves--all this class of men are most difficult to deal with; for I
|
| 494 |
+
cannot have them up here, and cross-examine them, and therefore I must
|
| 495 |
+
simply fight with shadows in my own defence, and argue when there is no
|
| 496 |
+
one who answers. I will ask you then to assume with me, as I was
|
| 497 |
+
saying, that my opponents are of two kinds; one recent, the other
|
| 498 |
+
ancient: and I hope that you will see the propriety of my answering the
|
| 499 |
+
latter first, for these accusations you heard long before the others,
|
| 500 |
+
and much oftener.
|
| 501 |
+
|
| 502 |
+
Well, then, I must make my defence, and endeavour to clear away in a
|
| 503 |
+
short time, a slander which has lasted a long time. May I succeed, if
|
| 504 |
+
to succeed be for my good and yours, or likely to avail me in my cause!
|
| 505 |
+
The task is not an easy one; I quite understand the nature of it. And
|
| 506 |
+
so leaving the event with God, in obedience to the law I will now make
|
| 507 |
+
my defence.
|
| 508 |
+
|
| 509 |
+
I will begin at the beginning, and ask what is the accusation which has
|
| 510 |
+
given rise to the slander of me, and in fact has encouraged Meletus to
|
| 511 |
+
proof this charge against me. Well, what do the slanderers say? They
|
| 512 |
+
shall be my prosecutors, and I will sum up their words in an affidavit:
|
| 513 |
+
"Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into
|
| 514 |
+
things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the
|
| 515 |
+
better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others." Such
|
| 516 |
+
is the nature of the accusation: it is just what you have yourselves
|
| 517 |
+
seen in the comedy of Aristophanes (Aristoph., Clouds.), who has
|
| 518 |
+
introduced a man whom he calls Socrates, going about and saying that he
|
| 519 |
+
walks in air, and talking a deal of nonsense concerning matters of
|
| 520 |
+
which I do not pretend to know either much or little--not that I mean to
|
| 521 |
+
speak disparagingly of any one who is a student of natural philosophy.
|
| 522 |
+
I should be very sorry if Meletus could bring so grave a charge against
|
| 523 |
+
me. But the simple truth is, O Athenians, that I have nothing to do
|
| 524 |
+
with physical speculations. Very many of those here present are
|
| 525 |
+
witnesses to the truth of this, and to them I appeal. Speak then, you
|
| 526 |
+
who have heard me, and tell your neighbours whether any of you have
|
| 527 |
+
ever known me hold forth in few words or in many upon such
|
| 528 |
+
matters...You hear their answer. And from what they say of this part of
|
| 529 |
+
the charge you will be able to judge of the truth of the rest.
|
| 530 |
+
|
| 531 |
+
As little foundation is there for the report that I am a teacher, and
|
| 532 |
+
take money; this accusation has no more truth in it than the other.
|
| 533 |
+
Although, if a man were really able to instruct mankind, to receive
|
| 534 |
+
money for giving instruction would, in my opinion, be an honour to him.
|
| 535 |
+
There is Gorgias of Leontium, and Prodicus of Ceos, and Hippias of
|
| 536 |
+
Elis, who go the round of the cities, and are able to persuade the
|
| 537 |
+
young men to leave their own citizens by whom they might be taught for
|
| 538 |
+
nothing, and come to them whom they not only pay, but are thankful if
|
| 539 |
+
they may be allowed to pay them. There is at this time a Parian
|
| 540 |
+
philosopher residing in Athens, of whom I have heard; and I came to
|
| 541 |
+
hear of him in this way:--I came across a man who has spent a world of
|
| 542 |
+
money on the Sophists, Callias, the son of Hipponicus, and knowing that
|
| 543 |
+
he had sons, I asked him: "Callias," I said, "if your two sons were
|
| 544 |
+
foals or calves, there would be no difficulty in finding some one to
|
| 545 |
+
put over them; we should hire a trainer of horses, or a farmer
|
| 546 |
+
probably, who would improve and perfect them in their own proper virtue
|
| 547 |
+
and excellence; but as they are human beings, whom are you thinking of
|
| 548 |
+
placing over them? Is there any one who understands human and political
|
| 549 |
+
virtue? You must have thought about the matter, for you have sons; is
|
| 550 |
+
there any one?" "There is," he said. "Who is he?" said I; "and of what
|
| 551 |
+
country? and what does he charge?" "Evenus the Parian," he replied; "he
|
| 552 |
+
is the man, and his charge is five minæ." Happy is Evenus, I said to
|
| 553 |
+
myself, if he really has this wisdom, and teaches at such a moderate
|
| 554 |
+
charge. Had I the same, I should have been very proud and conceited;
|
| 555 |
+
but the truth is that I have no knowledge of the kind.
|
| 556 |
+
|
| 557 |
+
I dare say, Athenians, that some one among you will reply, "Yes,
|
| 558 |
+
Socrates, but what is the origin of these accusations which are brought
|
| 559 |
+
against you; there must have been something strange which you have been
|
| 560 |
+
doing? All these rumours and this talk about you would never have
|
| 561 |
+
arisen if you had been like other men: tell us, then, what is the cause
|
| 562 |
+
of them, for we should be sorry to judge hastily of you." Now I regard
|
| 563 |
+
this as a fair challenge, and I will endeavour to explain to you the
|
| 564 |
+
reason why I am called wise and have such an evil fame. Please to
|
| 565 |
+
attend then. And although some of you may think that I am joking, I
|
| 566 |
+
declare that I will tell you the entire truth. Men of Athens, this
|
| 567 |
+
reputation of mine has come of a certain sort of wisdom which I
|
| 568 |
+
possess. If you ask me what kind of wisdom, I reply, wisdom such as may
|
| 569 |
+
perhaps be attained by man, for to that extent I am inclined to believe
|
| 570 |
+
that I am wise; whereas the persons of whom I was speaking have a
|
| 571 |
+
superhuman wisdom which I may fail to describe, because I have it not
|
| 572 |
+
myself; and he who says that I have, speaks falsely, and is taking away
|
| 573 |
+
my character. And here, O men of Athens, I must beg you not to
|
| 574 |
+
interrupt me, even if I seem to say something extravagant. For the word
|
| 575 |
+
which I will speak is not mine. I will refer you to a witness who is
|
| 576 |
+
worthy of credit; that witness shall be the God of Delphi--he will tell
|
| 577 |
+
you about my wisdom, if I have any, and of what sort it is. You must
|
| 578 |
+
have known Chaerephon; he was early a friend of mine, and also a friend
|
| 579 |
+
of yours, for he shared in the recent exile of the people, and returned
|
| 580 |
+
with you. Well, Chaerephon, as you know, was very impetuous in all his
|
| 581 |
+
doings, and he went to Delphi and boldly asked the oracle to tell him
|
| 582 |
+
whether--as I was saying, I must beg you not to interrupt--he asked the
|
| 583 |
+
oracle to tell him whether anyone was wiser than I was, and the Pythian
|
| 584 |
+
prophetess answered, that there was no man wiser. Chaerephon is dead
|
| 585 |
+
himself; but his brother, who is in court, will confirm the truth of
|
| 586 |
+
what I am saying.
|
| 587 |
+
|
| 588 |
+
Why do I mention this? Because I am going to explain to you why I have
|
| 589 |
+
such an evil name. When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can
|
| 590 |
+
the god mean? and what is the interpretation of his riddle? for I know
|
| 591 |
+
that I have no wisdom, small or great. What then can he mean when he
|
| 592 |
+
says that I am the wisest of men? And yet he is a god, and cannot lie;
|
| 593 |
+
that would be against his nature. After long consideration, I thought
|
| 594 |
+
of a method of trying the question. I reflected that if I could only
|
| 595 |
+
find a man wiser than myself, then I might go to the god with a
|
| 596 |
+
refutation in my hand. I should say to him, "Here is a man who is wiser
|
| 597 |
+
than I am; but you said that I was the wisest." Accordingly I went to
|
| 598 |
+
one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him--his name I need
|
| 599 |
+
not mention; he was a politician whom I selected for examination--and
|
| 600 |
+
the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not
|
| 601 |
+
help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise
|
| 602 |
+
by many, and still wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain
|
| 603 |
+
to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the
|
| 604 |
+
consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several
|
| 605 |
+
who were present and heard me. So I left him, saying to myself, as I
|
| 606 |
+
went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows
|
| 607 |
+
anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is,--for he
|
| 608 |
+
knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that
|
| 609 |
+
I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the
|
| 610 |
+
advantage of him. Then I went to another who had still higher
|
| 611 |
+
pretensions to wisdom, and my conclusion was exactly the same.
|
| 612 |
+
Whereupon I made another enemy of him, and of many others besides him.
|
| 613 |
+
|
| 614 |
+
Then I went to one man after another, being not unconscious of the
|
| 615 |
+
enmity which I provoked, and I lamented and feared this: but necessity
|
| 616 |
+
was laid upon me,--the word of God, I thought, ought to be considered
|
| 617 |
+
first. And I said to myself, Go I must to all who appear to know, and
|
| 618 |
+
find out the meaning of the oracle. And I swear to you, Athenians, by
|
| 619 |
+
the dog I swear!--for I must tell you the truth--the result of my mission
|
| 620 |
+
was just this: I found that the men most in repute were all but the
|
| 621 |
+
most foolish; and that others less esteemed were really wiser and
|
| 622 |
+
better. I will tell you the tale of my wanderings and of the
|
| 623 |
+
"Herculean" labours, as I may call them, which I endured only to find
|
| 624 |
+
at last the oracle irrefutable. After the politicians, I went to the
|
| 625 |
+
poets; tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts. And there, I said to myself,
|
| 626 |
+
you will be instantly detected; now you will find out that you are more
|
| 627 |
+
ignorant than they are. Accordingly, I took them some of the most
|
| 628 |
+
elaborate passages in their own writings, and asked what was the
|
| 629 |
+
meaning of them--thinking that they would teach me something. Will you
|
| 630 |
+
believe me? I am almost ashamed to confess the truth, but I must say
|
| 631 |
+
that there is hardly a person present who would not have talked better
|
| 632 |
+
about their poetry than they did themselves. Then I knew that not by
|
| 633 |
+
wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration;
|
| 634 |
+
they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things,
|
| 635 |
+
but do not understand the meaning of them. The poets appeared to me to
|
| 636 |
+
be much in the same case; and I further observed that upon the strength
|
| 637 |
+
of their poetry they believed themselves to be the wisest of men in
|
| 638 |
+
other things in which they were not wise. So I departed, conceiving
|
| 639 |
+
myself to be superior to them for the same reason that I was superior
|
| 640 |
+
to the politicians.
|
| 641 |
+
|
| 642 |
+
At last I went to the artisans. I was conscious that I knew nothing at
|
| 643 |
+
all, as I may say, and I was sure that they knew many fine things; and
|
| 644 |
+
here I was not mistaken, for they did know many things of which I was
|
| 645 |
+
ignorant, and in this they certainly were wiser than I was. But I
|
| 646 |
+
observed that even the good artisans fell into the same error as the
|
| 647 |
+
poets;--because they were good workmen they thought that they also knew
|
| 648 |
+
all sorts of high matters, and this defect in them overshadowed their
|
| 649 |
+
wisdom; and therefore I asked myself on behalf of the oracle, whether I
|
| 650 |
+
would like to be as I was, neither having their knowledge nor their
|
| 651 |
+
ignorance, or like them in both; and I made answer to myself and to the
|
| 652 |
+
oracle that I was better off as I was.
|
| 653 |
+
|
| 654 |
+
This inquisition has led to my having many enemies of the worst and
|
| 655 |
+
most dangerous kind, and has given occasion also to many calumnies. And
|
| 656 |
+
I am called wise, for my hearers always imagine that I myself possess
|
| 657 |
+
the wisdom which I find wanting in others: but the truth is, O men of
|
| 658 |
+
Athens, that God only is wise; and by his answer he intends to show
|
| 659 |
+
that the wisdom of men is worth little or nothing; he is not speaking
|
| 660 |
+
of Socrates, he is only using my name by way of illustration, as if he
|
| 661 |
+
said, He, O men, is the wisest, who, like Socrates, knows that his
|
| 662 |
+
wisdom is in truth worth nothing. And so I go about the world, obedient
|
| 663 |
+
to the god, and search and make enquiry into the wisdom of any one,
|
| 664 |
+
whether citizen or stranger, who appears to be wise; and if he is not
|
| 665 |
+
wise, then in vindication of the oracle I show him that he is not wise;
|
| 666 |
+
and my occupation quite absorbs me, and I have no time to give either
|
| 667 |
+
to any public matter of interest or to any concern of my own, but I am
|
| 668 |
+
in utter poverty by reason of my devotion to the god.
|
| 669 |
+
|
| 670 |
+
There is another thing:--young men of the richer classes, who have not
|
| 671 |
+
much to do, come about me of their own accord; they like to hear the
|
| 672 |
+
pretenders examined, and they often imitate me, and proceed to examine
|
| 673 |
+
others; there are plenty of persons, as they quickly discover, who
|
| 674 |
+
think that they know something, but really know little or nothing; and
|
| 675 |
+
then those who are examined by them instead of being angry with
|
| 676 |
+
themselves are angry with me: This confounded Socrates, they say; this
|
| 677 |
+
villainous misleader of youth!--and then if somebody asks them, Why,
|
| 678 |
+
what evil does he practise or teach? they do not know, and cannot tell;
|
| 679 |
+
but in order that they may not appear to be at a loss, they repeat the
|
| 680 |
+
ready-made charges which are used against all philosophers about
|
| 681 |
+
teaching things up in the clouds and under the earth, and having no
|
| 682 |
+
gods, and making the worse appear the better cause; for they do not
|
| 683 |
+
like to confess that their pretence of knowledge has been
|
| 684 |
+
detected--which is the truth; and as they are numerous and ambitious and
|
| 685 |
+
energetic, and are drawn up in battle array and have persuasive
|
| 686 |
+
tongues, they have filled your ears with their loud and inveterate
|
| 687 |
+
calumnies. And this is the reason why my three accusers, Meletus and
|
| 688 |
+
Anytus and Lycon, have set upon me; Meletus, who has a quarrel with me
|
| 689 |
+
on behalf of the poets; Anytus, on behalf of the craftsmen and
|
| 690 |
+
politicians; Lycon, on behalf of the rhetoricians: and as I said at the
|
| 691 |
+
beginning, I cannot expect to get rid of such a mass of calumny all in
|
| 692 |
+
a moment. And this, O men of Athens, is the truth and the whole truth;
|
| 693 |
+
I have concealed nothing, I have dissembled nothing. And yet, I know
|
| 694 |
+
that my plainness of speech makes them hate me, and what is their
|
| 695 |
+
hatred but a proof that I am speaking the truth?--Hence has arisen the
|
| 696 |
+
prejudice against me; and this is the reason of it, as you will find
|
| 697 |
+
out either in this or in any future enquiry.
|
| 698 |
+
|
| 699 |
+
I have said enough in my defence against the first class of my
|
| 700 |
+
accusers; I turn to the second class. They are headed by Meletus, that
|
| 701 |
+
good man and true lover of his country, as he calls himself. Against
|
| 702 |
+
these, too, I must try to make a defence:--Let their affidavit be read:
|
| 703 |
+
it contains something of this kind: It says that Socrates is a doer of
|
| 704 |
+
evil, who corrupts the youth; and who does not believe in the gods of
|
| 705 |
+
the state, but has other new divinities of his own. Such is the charge;
|
| 706 |
+
and now let us examine the particular counts. He says that I am a doer
|
| 707 |
+
of evil, and corrupt the youth; but I say, O men of Athens, that
|
| 708 |
+
Meletus is a doer of evil, in that he pretends to be in earnest when he
|
| 709 |
+
is only in jest, and is so eager to bring men to trial from a pretended
|
| 710 |
+
zeal and interest about matters in which he really never had the
|
| 711 |
+
smallest interest. And the truth of this I will endeavour to prove to
|
| 712 |
+
you.
|
| 713 |
+
|
| 714 |
+
Come hither, Meletus, and let me ask a question of you. You think a
|
| 715 |
+
great deal about the improvement of youth?
|
| 716 |
+
|
| 717 |
+
Yes, I do.
|
| 718 |
+
|
| 719 |
+
Tell the judges, then, who is their improver; for you must know, as you
|
| 720 |
+
have taken the pains to discover their corrupter, and are citing and
|
| 721 |
+
accusing me before them. Speak, then, and tell the judges who their
|
| 722 |
+
improver is.--Observe, Meletus, that you are silent, and have nothing to
|
| 723 |
+
say. But is not this rather disgraceful, and a very considerable proof
|
| 724 |
+
of what I was saying, that you have no interest in the matter? Speak
|
| 725 |
+
up, friend, and tell us who their improver is.
|
| 726 |
+
|
| 727 |
+
The laws.
|
| 728 |
+
|
| 729 |
+
But that, my good sir, is not my meaning. I want to know who the person
|
| 730 |
+
is, who, in the first place, knows the laws.
|
| 731 |
+
|
| 732 |
+
The judges, Socrates, who are present in court.
|
| 733 |
+
|
| 734 |
+
What, do you mean to say, Meletus, that they are able to instruct and
|
| 735 |
+
improve youth?
|
| 736 |
+
|
| 737 |
+
Certainly they are.
|
| 738 |
+
|
| 739 |
+
What, all of them, or some only and not others?
|
| 740 |
+
|
| 741 |
+
All of them.
|
| 742 |
+
|
| 743 |
+
By the goddess Here, that is good news! There are plenty of improvers,
|
| 744 |
+
then. And what do you say of the audience,--do they improve them?
|
| 745 |
+
|
| 746 |
+
Yes, they do.
|
| 747 |
+
|
| 748 |
+
And the senators?
|
| 749 |
+
|
| 750 |
+
Yes, the senators improve them.
|
| 751 |
+
|
| 752 |
+
But perhaps the members of the assembly corrupt them?--or do they too
|
| 753 |
+
improve them?
|
| 754 |
+
|
| 755 |
+
They improve them.
|
| 756 |
+
|
| 757 |
+
Then every Athenian improves and elevates them; all with the exception
|
| 758 |
+
of myself; and I alone am their corrupter? Is that what you affirm?
|
| 759 |
+
|
| 760 |
+
That is what I stoutly affirm.
|
| 761 |
+
|
| 762 |
+
I am very unfortunate if you are right. But suppose I ask you a
|
| 763 |
+
question: How about horses? Does one man do them harm and all the world
|
| 764 |
+
good? Is not the exact opposite the truth? One man is able to do them
|
| 765 |
+
good, or at least not many;--the trainer of horses, that is to say, does
|
| 766 |
+
them good, and others who have to do with them rather injure them? Is
|
| 767 |
+
not that true, Meletus, of horses, or of any other animals? Most
|
| 768 |
+
assuredly it is; whether you and Anytus say yes or no. Happy indeed
|
| 769 |
+
would be the condition of youth if they had one corrupter only, and all
|
| 770 |
+
the rest of the world were their improvers. But you, Meletus, have
|
| 771 |
+
sufficiently shown that you never had a thought about the young: your
|
| 772 |
+
carelessness is seen in your not caring about the very things which you
|
| 773 |
+
bring against me.
|
| 774 |
+
|
| 775 |
+
And now, Meletus, I will ask you another question--by Zeus I will: Which
|
| 776 |
+
is better, to live among bad citizens, or among good ones? Answer,
|
| 777 |
+
friend, I say; the question is one which may be easily answered. Do not
|
| 778 |
+
the good do their neighbours good, and the bad do them evil?
|
| 779 |
+
|
| 780 |
+
Certainly.
|
| 781 |
+
|
| 782 |
+
And is there anyone who would rather be injured than benefited by those
|
| 783 |
+
who live with him? Answer, my good friend, the law requires you to
|
| 784 |
+
answer--does any one like to be injured?
|
| 785 |
+
|
| 786 |
+
Certainly not.
|
| 787 |
+
|
| 788 |
+
And when you accuse me of corrupting and deteriorating the youth, do
|
| 789 |
+
you allege that I corrupt them intentionally or unintentionally?
|
| 790 |
+
|
| 791 |
+
Intentionally, I say.
|
| 792 |
+
|
| 793 |
+
But you have just admitted that the good do their neighbours good, and
|
| 794 |
+
the evil do them evil. Now, is that a truth which your superior wisdom
|
| 795 |
+
has recognized thus early in life, and am I, at my age, in such
|
| 796 |
+
darkness and ignorance as not to know that if a man with whom I have to
|
| 797 |
+
live is corrupted by me, I am very likely to be harmed by him; and yet
|
| 798 |
+
I corrupt him, and intentionally, too--so you say, although neither I
|
| 799 |
+
nor any other human being is ever likely to be convinced by you. But
|
| 800 |
+
either I do not corrupt them, or I corrupt them unintentionally; and on
|
| 801 |
+
either view of the case you lie. If my offence is unintentional, the
|
| 802 |
+
law has no cognizance of unintentional offences: you ought to have
|
| 803 |
+
taken me privately, and warned and admonished me; for if I had been
|
| 804 |
+
better advised, I should have left off doing what I only did
|
| 805 |
+
unintentionally--no doubt I should; but you would have nothing to say to
|
| 806 |
+
me and refused to teach me. And now you bring me up in this court,
|
| 807 |
+
which is a place not of instruction, but of punishment.
|
| 808 |
+
|
| 809 |
+
It will be very clear to you, Athenians, as I was saying, that Meletus
|
| 810 |
+
has no care at all, great or small, about the matter. But still I
|
| 811 |
+
should like to know, Meletus, in what I am affirmed to corrupt the
|
| 812 |
+
young. I suppose you mean, as I infer from your indictment, that I
|
| 813 |
+
teach them not to acknowledge the gods which the state acknowledges,
|
| 814 |
+
but some other new divinities or spiritual agencies in their stead.
|
| 815 |
+
These are the lessons by which I corrupt the youth, as you say.
|
| 816 |
+
|
| 817 |
+
Yes, that I say emphatically.
|
| 818 |
+
|
| 819 |
+
Then, by the gods, Meletus, of whom we are speaking, tell me and the
|
| 820 |
+
court, in somewhat plainer terms, what you mean! for I do not as yet
|
| 821 |
+
understand whether you affirm that I teach other men to acknowledge
|
| 822 |
+
some gods, and therefore that I do believe in gods, and am not an
|
| 823 |
+
entire atheist--this you do not lay to my charge,--but only you say that
|
| 824 |
+
they are not the same gods which the city recognizes--the charge is that
|
| 825 |
+
they are different gods. Or, do you mean that I am an atheist simply,
|
| 826 |
+
and a teacher of atheism?
|
| 827 |
+
|
| 828 |
+
I mean the latter--that you are a complete atheist.
|
| 829 |
+
|
| 830 |
+
What an extraordinary statement! Why do you think so, Meletus? Do you
|
| 831 |
+
mean that I do not believe in the godhead of the sun or moon, like
|
| 832 |
+
other men?
|
| 833 |
+
|
| 834 |
+
I assure you, judges, that he does not: for he says that the sun is
|
| 835 |
+
stone, and the moon earth.
|
| 836 |
+
|
| 837 |
+
Friend Meletus, you think that you are accusing Anaxagoras: and you
|
| 838 |
+
have but a bad opinion of the judges, if you fancy them illiterate to
|
| 839 |
+
such a degree as not to know that these doctrines are found in the
|
| 840 |
+
books of Anaxagoras the Clazomenian, which are full of them. And so,
|
| 841 |
+
forsooth, the youth are said to be taught them by Socrates, when there
|
| 842 |
+
are not unfrequently exhibitions of them at the theatre (Probably in
|
| 843 |
+
allusion to Aristophanes who caricatured, and to Euripides who borrowed
|
| 844 |
+
the notions of Anaxagoras, as well as to other dramatic poets.) (price
|
| 845 |
+
of admission one drachma at the most); and they might pay their money,
|
| 846 |
+
and laugh at Socrates if he pretends to father these extraordinary
|
| 847 |
+
views. And so, Meletus, you really think that I do not believe in any
|
| 848 |
+
god?
|
| 849 |
+
|
| 850 |
+
I swear by Zeus that you believe absolutely in none at all.
|
| 851 |
+
|
| 852 |
+
Nobody will believe you, Meletus, and I am pretty sure that you do not
|
| 853 |
+
believe yourself. I cannot help thinking, men of Athens, that Meletus
|
| 854 |
+
is reckless and impudent, and that he has written this indictment in a
|
| 855 |
+
spirit of mere wantonness and youthful bravado. Has he not compounded a
|
| 856 |
+
riddle, thinking to try me? He said to himself:--I shall see whether the
|
| 857 |
+
wise Socrates will discover my facetious contradiction, or whether I
|
| 858 |
+
shall be able to deceive him and the rest of them. For he certainly
|
| 859 |
+
does appear to me to contradict himself in the indictment as much as if
|
| 860 |
+
he said that Socrates is guilty of not believing in the gods, and yet
|
| 861 |
+
of believing in them--but this is not like a person who is in earnest.
|
| 862 |
+
|
| 863 |
+
I should like you, O men of Athens, to join me in examining what I
|
| 864 |
+
conceive to be his inconsistency; and do you, Meletus, answer. And I
|
| 865 |
+
must remind the audience of my request that they would not make a
|
| 866 |
+
disturbance if I speak in my accustomed manner:
|
| 867 |
+
|
| 868 |
+
Did ever man, Meletus, believe in the existence of human things, and
|
| 869 |
+
not of human beings?...I wish, men of Athens, that he would answer, and
|
| 870 |
+
not be always trying to get up an interruption. Did ever any man
|
| 871 |
+
believe in horsemanship, and not in horses? or in flute-playing, and
|
| 872 |
+
not in flute-players? No, my friend; I will answer to you and to the
|
| 873 |
+
court, as you refuse to answer for yourself. There is no man who ever
|
| 874 |
+
did. But now please to answer the next question: Can a man believe in
|
| 875 |
+
spiritual and divine agencies, and not in spirits or demigods?
|
| 876 |
+
|
| 877 |
+
He cannot.
|
| 878 |
+
|
| 879 |
+
How lucky I am to have extracted that answer, by the assistance of the
|
| 880 |
+
court! But then you swear in the indictment that I teach and believe in
|
| 881 |
+
divine or spiritual agencies (new or old, no matter for that); at any
|
| 882 |
+
rate, I believe in spiritual agencies,--so you say and swear in the
|
| 883 |
+
affidavit; and yet if I believe in divine beings, how can I help
|
| 884 |
+
believing in spirits or demigods;--must I not? To be sure I must; and
|
| 885 |
+
therefore I may assume that your silence gives consent. Now what are
|
| 886 |
+
spirits or demigods? Are they not either gods or the sons of gods?
|
| 887 |
+
|
| 888 |
+
Certainly they are.
|
| 889 |
+
|
| 890 |
+
But this is what I call the facetious riddle invented by you: the
|
| 891 |
+
demigods or spirits are gods, and you say first that I do not believe
|
| 892 |
+
in gods, and then again that I do believe in gods; that is, if I
|
| 893 |
+
believe in demigods. For if the demigods are the illegitimate sons of
|
| 894 |
+
gods, whether by the nymphs or by any other mothers, of whom they are
|
| 895 |
+
said to be the sons--what human being will ever believe that there are
|
| 896 |
+
no gods if they are the sons of gods? You might as well affirm the
|
| 897 |
+
existence of mules, and deny that of horses and asses. Such nonsense,
|
| 898 |
+
Meletus, could only have been intended by you to make trial of me. You
|
| 899 |
+
have put this into the indictment because you had nothing real of which
|
| 900 |
+
to accuse me. But no one who has a particle of understanding will ever
|
| 901 |
+
be convinced by you that the same men can believe in divine and
|
| 902 |
+
superhuman things, and yet not believe that there are gods and demigods
|
| 903 |
+
and heroes.
|
| 904 |
+
|
| 905 |
+
I have said enough in answer to the charge of Meletus: any elaborate
|
| 906 |
+
defence is unnecessary, but I know only too well how many are the
|
| 907 |
+
enmities which I have incurred, and this is what will be my destruction
|
| 908 |
+
if I am destroyed;--not Meletus, nor yet Anytus, but the envy and
|
| 909 |
+
detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and
|
| 910 |
+
will probably be the death of many more; there is no danger of my being
|
| 911 |
+
the last of them.
|
| 912 |
+
|
| 913 |
+
Some one will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, of a course of
|
| 914 |
+
life which is likely to bring you to an untimely end? To him I may
|
| 915 |
+
fairly answer: There you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything
|
| 916 |
+
ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to
|
| 917 |
+
consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong--acting
|
| 918 |
+
the part of a good man or of a bad. Whereas, upon your view, the heroes
|
| 919 |
+
who fell at Troy were not good for much, and the son of Thetis above
|
| 920 |
+
all, who altogether despised danger in comparison with disgrace; and
|
| 921 |
+
when he was so eager to slay Hector, his goddess mother said to him,
|
| 922 |
+
that if he avenged his companion Patroclus, and slew Hector, he would
|
| 923 |
+
die himself--"Fate," she said, in these or the like words, "waits for
|
| 924 |
+
you next after Hector;" he, receiving this warning, utterly despised
|
| 925 |
+
danger and death, and instead of fearing them, feared rather to live in
|
| 926 |
+
dishonour, and not to avenge his friend. "Let me die forthwith," he
|
| 927 |
+
replies, "and be avenged of my enemy, rather than abide here by the
|
| 928 |
+
beaked ships, a laughing-stock and a burden of the earth." Had Achilles
|
| 929 |
+
any thought of death and danger? For wherever a man's place is, whether
|
| 930 |
+
the place which he has chosen or that in which he has been placed by a
|
| 931 |
+
commander, there he ought to remain in the hour of danger; he should
|
| 932 |
+
not think of death or of anything but of disgrace. And this, O men of
|
| 933 |
+
Athens, is a true saying.
|
| 934 |
+
|
| 935 |
+
Strange, indeed, would be my conduct, O men of Athens, if I who, when I
|
| 936 |
+
was ordered by the generals whom you chose to command me at Potidaea
|
| 937 |
+
and Amphipolis and Delium, remained where they placed me, like any
|
| 938 |
+
other man, facing death--if now, when, as I conceive and imagine, God
|
| 939 |
+
orders me to fulfil the philosopher's mission of searching into myself
|
| 940 |
+
and other men, I were to desert my post through fear of death, or any
|
| 941 |
+
other fear; that would indeed be strange, and I might justly be
|
| 942 |
+
arraigned in court for denying the existence of the gods, if I
|
| 943 |
+
disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death, fancying that I was
|
| 944 |
+
wise when I was not wise. For the fear of death is indeed the pretence
|
| 945 |
+
of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretence of knowing the
|
| 946 |
+
unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear
|
| 947 |
+
apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is not
|
| 948 |
+
this ignorance of a disgraceful sort, the ignorance which is the
|
| 949 |
+
conceit that a man knows what he does not know? And in this respect
|
| 950 |
+
only I believe myself to differ from men in general, and may perhaps
|
| 951 |
+
claim to be wiser than they are:--that whereas I know but little of the
|
| 952 |
+
world below, I do not suppose that I know: but I do know that injustice
|
| 953 |
+
and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, is evil and
|
| 954 |
+
dishonourable, and I will never fear or avoid a possible good rather
|
| 955 |
+
than a certain evil. And therefore if you let me go now, and are not
|
| 956 |
+
convinced by Anytus, who said that since I had been prosecuted I must
|
| 957 |
+
be put to death; (or if not that I ought never to have been prosecuted
|
| 958 |
+
at all); and that if I escape now, your sons will all be utterly ruined
|
| 959 |
+
by listening to my words--if you say to me, Socrates, this time we will
|
| 960 |
+
not mind Anytus, and you shall be let off, but upon one condition, that
|
| 961 |
+
you are not to enquire and speculate in this way any more, and that if
|
| 962 |
+
you are caught doing so again you shall die;--if this was the condition
|
| 963 |
+
on which you let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I honour and
|
| 964 |
+
love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life
|
| 965 |
+
and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of
|
| 966 |
+
philosophy, exhorting any one whom I meet and saying to him after my
|
| 967 |
+
manner: You, my friend,--a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city
|
| 968 |
+
of Athens,--are you not ashamed of heaping up the greatest amount of
|
| 969 |
+
money and honour and reputation, and caring so little about wisdom and
|
| 970 |
+
truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard
|
| 971 |
+
or heed at all? And if the person with whom I am arguing, says: Yes,
|
| 972 |
+
but I do care; then I do not leave him or let him go at once; but I
|
| 973 |
+
proceed to interrogate and examine and cross-examine him, and if I
|
| 974 |
+
think that he has no virtue in him, but only says that he has, I
|
| 975 |
+
reproach him with undervaluing the greater, and overvaluing the less.
|
| 976 |
+
And I shall repeat the same words to every one whom I meet, young and
|
| 977 |
+
old, citizen and alien, but especially to the citizens, inasmuch as
|
| 978 |
+
they are my brethren. For know that this is the command of God; and I
|
| 979 |
+
believe that no greater good has ever happened in the state than my
|
| 980 |
+
service to the God. For I do nothing but go about persuading you all,
|
| 981 |
+
old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your
|
| 982 |
+
properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest
|
| 983 |
+
improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money,
|
| 984 |
+
but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as
|
| 985 |
+
well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which
|
| 986 |
+
corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person. But if any one says that
|
| 987 |
+
this is not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, O men of
|
| 988 |
+
Athens, I say to you, do as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and
|
| 989 |
+
either acquit me or not; but whichever you do, understand that I shall
|
| 990 |
+
never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times.
|
| 991 |
+
|
| 992 |
+
Men of Athens, do not interrupt, but hear me; there was an
|
| 993 |
+
understanding between us that you should hear me to the end: I have
|
| 994 |
+
something more to say, at which you may be inclined to cry out; but I
|
| 995 |
+
believe that to hear me will be good for you, and therefore I beg that
|
| 996 |
+
you will not cry out. I would have you know, that if you kill such an
|
| 997 |
+
one as I am, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me.
|
| 998 |
+
Nothing will injure me, not Meletus nor yet Anytus--they cannot, for a
|
| 999 |
+
bad man is not permitted to injure a better than himself. I do not deny
|
| 1000 |
+
that Anytus may, perhaps, kill him, or drive him into exile, or deprive
|
| 1001 |
+
him of civil rights; and he may imagine, and others may imagine, that
|
| 1002 |
+
he is inflicting a great injury upon him: but there I do not agree. For
|
| 1003 |
+
the evil of doing as he is doing--the evil of unjustly taking away the
|
| 1004 |
+
life of another--is greater far.
|
| 1005 |
+
|
| 1006 |
+
And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own sake, as you may
|
| 1007 |
+
think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God by
|
| 1008 |
+
condemning me, who am his gift to you. For if you kill me you will not
|
| 1009 |
+
easily find a successor to me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous
|
| 1010 |
+
figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by God; and
|
| 1011 |
+
the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing
|
| 1012 |
+
to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that
|
| 1013 |
+
gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all
|
| 1014 |
+
places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and
|
| 1015 |
+
reproaching you. You will not easily find another like me, and
|
| 1016 |
+
therefore I would advise you to spare me. I dare say that you may feel
|
| 1017 |
+
out of temper (like a person who is suddenly awakened from sleep), and
|
| 1018 |
+
you think that you might easily strike me dead as Anytus advises, and
|
| 1019 |
+
then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless God in
|
| 1020 |
+
his care of you sent you another gadfly. When I say that I am given to
|
| 1021 |
+
you by God, the proof of my mission is this:--if I had been like other
|
| 1022 |
+
men, I should not have neglected all my own concerns or patiently seen
|
| 1023 |
+
the neglect of them during all these years, and have been doing yours,
|
| 1024 |
+
coming to you individually like a father or elder brother, exhorting
|
| 1025 |
+
you to regard virtue; such conduct, I say, would be unlike human
|
| 1026 |
+
nature. If I had gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid,
|
| 1027 |
+
there would have been some sense in my doing so; but now, as you will
|
| 1028 |
+
perceive, not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I
|
| 1029 |
+
have ever exacted or sought pay of any one; of that they have no
|
| 1030 |
+
witness. And I have a sufficient witness to the truth of what I say--my
|
| 1031 |
+
poverty.
|
| 1032 |
+
|
| 1033 |
+
Some one may wonder why I go about in private giving advice and busying
|
| 1034 |
+
myself with the concerns of others, but do not venture to come forward
|
| 1035 |
+
in public and advise the state. I will tell you why. You have heard me
|
| 1036 |
+
speak at sundry times and in divers places of an oracle or sign which
|
| 1037 |
+
comes to me, and is the divinity which Meletus ridicules in the
|
| 1038 |
+
indictment. This sign, which is a kind of voice, first began to come to
|
| 1039 |
+
me when I was a child; it always forbids but never commands me to do
|
| 1040 |
+
anything which I am going to do. This is what deters me from being a
|
| 1041 |
+
politician. And rightly, as I think. For I am certain, O men of Athens,
|
| 1042 |
+
that if I had engaged in politics, I should have perished long ago, and
|
| 1043 |
+
done no good either to you or to myself. And do not be offended at my
|
| 1044 |
+
telling you the truth: for the truth is, that no man who goes to war
|
| 1045 |
+
with you or any other multitude, honestly striving against the many
|
| 1046 |
+
lawless and unrighteous deeds which are done in a state, will save his
|
| 1047 |
+
life; he who will fight for the right, if he would live even for a
|
| 1048 |
+
brief space, must have a private station and not a public one.
|
| 1049 |
+
|
| 1050 |
+
I can give you convincing evidence of what I say, not words only, but
|
| 1051 |
+
what you value far more--actions. Let me relate to you a passage of my
|
| 1052 |
+
own life which will prove to you that I should never have yielded to
|
| 1053 |
+
injustice from any fear of death, and that "as I should have refused to
|
| 1054 |
+
yield" I must have died at once. I will tell you a tale of the courts,
|
| 1055 |
+
not very interesting perhaps, but nevertheless true. The only office of
|
| 1056 |
+
state which I ever held, O men of Athens, was that of senator: the
|
| 1057 |
+
tribe Antiochis, which is my tribe, had the presidency at the trial of
|
| 1058 |
+
the generals who had not taken up the bodies of the slain after the
|
| 1059 |
+
battle of Arginusae; and you proposed to try them in a body, contrary
|
| 1060 |
+
to law, as you all thought afterwards; but at the time I was the only
|
| 1061 |
+
one of the Prytanes who was opposed to the illegality, and I gave my
|
| 1062 |
+
vote against you; and when the orators threatened to impeach and arrest
|
| 1063 |
+
me, and you called and shouted, I made up my mind that I would run the
|
| 1064 |
+
risk, having law and justice with me, rather than take part in your
|
| 1065 |
+
injustice because I feared imprisonment and death. This happened in the
|
| 1066 |
+
days of the democracy. But when the oligarchy of the Thirty was in
|
| 1067 |
+
power, they sent for me and four others into the rotunda, and bade us
|
| 1068 |
+
bring Leon the Salaminian from Salamis, as they wanted to put him to
|
| 1069 |
+
death. This was a specimen of the sort of commands which they were
|
| 1070 |
+
always giving with the view of implicating as many as possible in their
|
| 1071 |
+
crimes; and then I showed, not in word only but in deed, that, if I may
|
| 1072 |
+
be allowed to use such an expression, I cared not a straw for death,
|
| 1073 |
+
and that my great and only care was lest I should do an unrighteous or
|
| 1074 |
+
unholy thing. For the strong arm of that oppressive power did not
|
| 1075 |
+
frighten me into doing wrong; and when we came out of the rotunda the
|
| 1076 |
+
other four went to Salamis and fetched Leon, but I went quietly home.
|
| 1077 |
+
For which I might have lost my life, had not the power of the Thirty
|
| 1078 |
+
shortly afterwards come to an end. And many will witness to my words.
|
| 1079 |
+
|
| 1080 |
+
Now do you really imagine that I could have survived all these years,
|
| 1081 |
+
if I had led a public life, supposing that like a good man I had always
|
| 1082 |
+
maintained the right and had made justice, as I ought, the first thing?
|
| 1083 |
+
No indeed, men of Athens, neither I nor any other man. But I have been
|
| 1084 |
+
always the same in all my actions, public as well as private, and never
|
| 1085 |
+
have I yielded any base compliance to those who are slanderously termed
|
| 1086 |
+
my disciples, or to any other. Not that I have any regular disciples.
|
| 1087 |
+
But if any one likes to come and hear me while I am pursuing my
|
| 1088 |
+
mission, whether he be young or old, he is not excluded. Nor do I
|
| 1089 |
+
converse only with those who pay; but any one, whether he be rich or
|
| 1090 |
+
poor, may ask and answer me and listen to my words; and whether he
|
| 1091 |
+
turns out to be a bad man or a good one, neither result can be justly
|
| 1092 |
+
imputed to me; for I never taught or professed to teach him anything.
|
| 1093 |
+
And if any one says that he has ever learned or heard anything from me
|
| 1094 |
+
in private which all the world has not heard, let me tell you that he
|
| 1095 |
+
is lying.
|
| 1096 |
+
|
| 1097 |
+
But I shall be asked, Why do people delight in continually conversing
|
| 1098 |
+
with you? I have told you already, Athenians, the whole truth about
|
| 1099 |
+
this matter: they like to hear the cross-examination of the pretenders
|
| 1100 |
+
to wisdom; there is amusement in it. Now this duty of cross-examining
|
| 1101 |
+
other men has been imposed upon me by God; and has been signified to me
|
| 1102 |
+
by oracles, visions, and in every way in which the will of divine power
|
| 1103 |
+
was ever intimated to any one. This is true, O Athenians, or, if not
|
| 1104 |
+
true, would be soon refuted. If I am or have been corrupting the youth,
|
| 1105 |
+
those of them who are now grown up and have become sensible that I gave
|
| 1106 |
+
them bad advice in the days of their youth should come forward as
|
| 1107 |
+
accusers, and take their revenge; or if they do not like to come
|
| 1108 |
+
themselves, some of their relatives, fathers, brothers, or other
|
| 1109 |
+
kinsmen, should say what evil their families have suffered at my hands.
|
| 1110 |
+
Now is their time. Many of them I see in the court. There is Crito, who
|
| 1111 |
+
is of the same age and of the same deme with myself, and there is
|
| 1112 |
+
Critobulus his son, whom I also see. Then again there is Lysanias of
|
| 1113 |
+
Sphettus, who is the father of Aeschines--he is present; and also there
|
| 1114 |
+
is Antiphon of Cephisus, who is the father of Epigenes; and there are
|
| 1115 |
+
the brothers of several who have associated with me. There is
|
| 1116 |
+
Nicostratus the son of Theosdotides, and the brother of Theodotus (now
|
| 1117 |
+
Theodotus himself is dead, and therefore he, at any rate, will not seek
|
| 1118 |
+
to stop him); and there is Paralus the son of Demodocus, who had a
|
| 1119 |
+
brother Theages; and Adeimantus the son of Ariston, whose brother Plato
|
| 1120 |
+
is present; and Aeantodorus, who is the brother of Apollodorus, whom I
|
| 1121 |
+
also see. I might mention a great many others, some of whom Meletus
|
| 1122 |
+
should have produced as witnesses in the course of his speech; and let
|
| 1123 |
+
him still produce them, if he has forgotten--I will make way for him.
|
| 1124 |
+
And let him say, if he has any testimony of the sort which he can
|
| 1125 |
+
produce. Nay, Athenians, the very opposite is the truth. For all these
|
| 1126 |
+
are ready to witness on behalf of the corrupter, of the injurer of
|
| 1127 |
+
their kindred, as Meletus and Anytus call me; not the corrupted youth
|
| 1128 |
+
only--there might have been a motive for that--but their uncorrupted
|
| 1129 |
+
elder relatives. Why should they too support me with their testimony?
|
| 1130 |
+
Why, indeed, except for the sake of truth and justice, and because they
|
| 1131 |
+
know that I am speaking the truth, and that Meletus is a liar.
|
| 1132 |
+
|
| 1133 |
+
Well, Athenians, this and the like of this is all the defence which I
|
| 1134 |
+
have to offer. Yet a word more. Perhaps there may be some one who is
|
| 1135 |
+
offended at me, when he calls to mind how he himself on a similar, or
|
| 1136 |
+
even a less serious occasion, prayed and entreated the judges with many
|
| 1137 |
+
tears, and how he produced his children in court, which was a moving
|
| 1138 |
+
spectacle, together with a host of relations and friends; whereas I,
|
| 1139 |
+
who am probably in danger of my life, will do none of these things. The
|
| 1140 |
+
contrast may occur to his mind, and he may be set against me, and vote
|
| 1141 |
+
in anger because he is displeased at me on this account. Now if there
|
| 1142 |
+
be such a person among you,--mind, I do not say that there is,--to him I
|
| 1143 |
+
may fairly reply: My friend, I am a man, and like other men, a creature
|
| 1144 |
+
of flesh and blood, and not "of wood or stone," as Homer says; and I
|
| 1145 |
+
have a family, yes, and sons, O Athenians, three in number, one almost
|
| 1146 |
+
a man, and two others who are still young; and yet I will not bring any
|
| 1147 |
+
of them hither in order to petition you for an acquittal. And why not?
|
| 1148 |
+
Not from any self-assertion or want of respect for you. Whether I am or
|
| 1149 |
+
am not afraid of death is another question, of which I will not now
|
| 1150 |
+
speak. But, having regard to public opinion, I feel that such conduct
|
| 1151 |
+
would be discreditable to myself, and to you, and to the whole state.
|
| 1152 |
+
One who has reached my years, and who has a name for wisdom, ought not
|
| 1153 |
+
to demean himself. Whether this opinion of me be deserved or not, at
|
| 1154 |
+
any rate the world has decided that Socrates is in some way superior to
|
| 1155 |
+
other men. And if those among you who are said to be superior in wisdom
|
| 1156 |
+
and courage, and any other virtue, demean themselves in this way, how
|
| 1157 |
+
shameful is their conduct! I have seen men of reputation, when they
|
| 1158 |
+
have been condemned, behaving in the strangest manner: they seemed to
|
| 1159 |
+
fancy that they were going to suffer something dreadful if they died,
|
| 1160 |
+
and that they could be immortal if you only allowed them to live; and I
|
| 1161 |
+
think that such are a dishonour to the state, and that any stranger
|
| 1162 |
+
coming in would have said of them that the most eminent men of Athens,
|
| 1163 |
+
to whom the Athenians themselves give honour and command, are no better
|
| 1164 |
+
than women. And I say that these things ought not to be done by those
|
| 1165 |
+
of us who have a reputation; and if they are done, you ought not to
|
| 1166 |
+
permit them; you ought rather to show that you are far more disposed to
|
| 1167 |
+
condemn the man who gets up a doleful scene and makes the city
|
| 1168 |
+
ridiculous, than him who holds his peace.
|
| 1169 |
+
|
| 1170 |
+
But, setting aside the question of public opinion, there seems to be
|
| 1171 |
+
something wrong in asking a favour of a judge, and thus procuring an
|
| 1172 |
+
acquittal, instead of informing and convincing him. For his duty is,
|
| 1173 |
+
not to make a present of justice, but to give judgment; and he has
|
| 1174 |
+
sworn that he will judge according to the laws, and not according to
|
| 1175 |
+
his own good pleasure; and we ought not to encourage you, nor should
|
| 1176 |
+
you allow yourselves to be encouraged, in this habit of perjury--there
|
| 1177 |
+
can be no piety in that. Do not then require me to do what I consider
|
| 1178 |
+
dishonourable and impious and wrong, especially now, when I am being
|
| 1179 |
+
tried for impiety on the indictment of Meletus. For if, O men of
|
| 1180 |
+
Athens, by force of persuasion and entreaty I could overpower your
|
| 1181 |
+
oaths, then I should be teaching you to believe that there are no gods,
|
| 1182 |
+
and in defending should simply convict myself of the charge of not
|
| 1183 |
+
believing in them. But that is not so--far otherwise. For I do believe
|
| 1184 |
+
that there are gods, and in a sense higher than that in which any of my
|
| 1185 |
+
accusers believe in them. And to you and to God I commit my cause, to
|
| 1186 |
+
be determined by you as is best for you and me.
|
| 1187 |
+
|
| 1188 |
+
There are many reasons why I am not grieved, O men of Athens, at the
|
| 1189 |
+
vote of condemnation. I expected it, and am only surprised that the
|
| 1190 |
+
votes are so nearly equal; for I had thought that the majority against
|
| 1191 |
+
me would have been far larger; but now, had thirty votes gone over to
|
| 1192 |
+
the other side, I should have been acquitted. And I may say, I think,
|
| 1193 |
+
that I have escaped Meletus. I may say more; for without the assistance
|
| 1194 |
+
of Anytus and Lycon, any one may see that he would not have had a fifth
|
| 1195 |
+
part of the votes, as the law requires, in which case he would have
|
| 1196 |
+
incurred a fine of a thousand drachmae.
|
| 1197 |
+
|
| 1198 |
+
And so he proposes death as the penalty. And what shall I propose on my
|
| 1199 |
+
part, O men of Athens? Clearly that which is my due. And what is my
|
| 1200 |
+
due? What return shall be made to the man who has never had the wit to
|
| 1201 |
+
be idle during his whole life; but has been careless of what the many
|
| 1202 |
+
care for--wealth, and family interests, and military offices, and
|
| 1203 |
+
speaking in the assembly, and magistracies, and plots, and parties.
|
| 1204 |
+
Reflecting that I was really too honest a man to be a politician and
|
| 1205 |
+
live, I did not go where I could do no good to you or to myself; but
|
| 1206 |
+
where I could do the greatest good privately to every one of you,
|
| 1207 |
+
thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must
|
| 1208 |
+
look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his
|
| 1209 |
+
private interests, and look to the state before he looks to the
|
| 1210 |
+
interests of the state; and that this should be the order which he
|
| 1211 |
+
observes in all his actions. What shall be done to such an one?
|
| 1212 |
+
Doubtless some good thing, O men of Athens, if he has his reward; and
|
| 1213 |
+
the good should be of a kind suitable to him. What would be a reward
|
| 1214 |
+
suitable to a poor man who is your benefactor, and who desires leisure
|
| 1215 |
+
that he may instruct you? There can be no reward so fitting as
|
| 1216 |
+
maintenance in the Prytaneum, O men of Athens, a reward which he
|
| 1217 |
+
deserves far more than the citizen who has won the prize at Olympia in
|
| 1218 |
+
the horse or chariot race, whether the chariots were drawn by two
|
| 1219 |
+
horses or by many. For I am in want, and he has enough; and he only
|
| 1220 |
+
gives you the appearance of happiness, and I give you the reality. And
|
| 1221 |
+
if I am to estimate the penalty fairly, I should say that maintenance
|
| 1222 |
+
in the Prytaneum is the just return.
|
| 1223 |
+
|
| 1224 |
+
Perhaps you think that I am braving you in what I am saying now, as in
|
| 1225 |
+
what I said before about the tears and prayers. But this is not so. I
|
| 1226 |
+
speak rather because I am convinced that I never intentionally wronged
|
| 1227 |
+
any one, although I cannot convince you--the time has been too short; if
|
| 1228 |
+
there were a law at Athens, as there is in other cities, that a capital
|
| 1229 |
+
cause should not be decided in one day, then I believe that I should
|
| 1230 |
+
have convinced you. But I cannot in a moment refute great slanders;
|
| 1231 |
+
and, as I am convinced that I never wronged another, I will assuredly
|
| 1232 |
+
not wrong myself. I will not say of myself that I deserve any evil, or
|
| 1233 |
+
propose any penalty. Why should I? because I am afraid of the penalty
|
| 1234 |
+
of death which Meletus proposes? When I do not know whether death is a
|
| 1235 |
+
good or an evil, why should I propose a penalty which would certainly
|
| 1236 |
+
be an evil? Shall I say imprisonment? And why should I live in prison,
|
| 1237 |
+
and be the slave of the magistrates of the year--of the Eleven? Or shall
|
| 1238 |
+
the penalty be a fine, and imprisonment until the fine is paid? There
|
| 1239 |
+
is the same objection. I should have to lie in prison, for money I have
|
| 1240 |
+
none, and cannot pay. And if I say exile (and this may possibly be the
|
| 1241 |
+
penalty which you will affix), I must indeed be blinded by the love of
|
| 1242 |
+
life, if I am so irrational as to expect that when you, who are my own
|
| 1243 |
+
citizens, cannot endure my discourses and words, and have found them so
|
| 1244 |
+
grievous and odious that you will have no more of them, others are
|
| 1245 |
+
likely to endure me. No indeed, men of Athens, that is not very likely.
|
| 1246 |
+
And what a life should I lead, at my age, wandering from city to city,
|
| 1247 |
+
ever changing my place of exile, and always being driven out! For I am
|
| 1248 |
+
quite sure that wherever I go, there, as here, the young men will flock
|
| 1249 |
+
to me; and if I drive them away, their elders will drive me out at
|
| 1250 |
+
their request; and if I let them come, their fathers and friends will
|
| 1251 |
+
drive me out for their sakes.
|
| 1252 |
+
|
| 1253 |
+
Some one will say: Yes, Socrates, but cannot you hold your tongue, and
|
| 1254 |
+
then you may go into a foreign city, and no one will interfere with
|
| 1255 |
+
you? Now I have great difficulty in making you understand my answer to
|
| 1256 |
+
this. For if I tell you that to do as you say would be a disobedience
|
| 1257 |
+
to the God, and therefore that I cannot hold my tongue, you will not
|
| 1258 |
+
believe that I am serious; and if I say again that daily to discourse
|
| 1259 |
+
about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me
|
| 1260 |
+
examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the
|
| 1261 |
+
unexamined life is not worth living, you are still less likely to
|
| 1262 |
+
believe me. Yet I say what is true, although a thing of which it is
|
| 1263 |
+
hard for me to persuade you. Also, I have never been accustomed to
|
| 1264 |
+
think that I deserve to suffer any harm. Had I money I might have
|
| 1265 |
+
estimated the offence at what I was able to pay, and not have been much
|
| 1266 |
+
the worse. But I have none, and therefore I must ask you to proportion
|
| 1267 |
+
the fine to my means. Well, perhaps I could afford a mina, and
|
| 1268 |
+
therefore I propose that penalty: Plato, Crito, Critobulus, and
|
| 1269 |
+
Apollodorus, my friends here, bid me say thirty minæ, and they will be
|
| 1270 |
+
the sureties. Let thirty minæ be the penalty; for which sum they will
|
| 1271 |
+
be ample security to you.
|
| 1272 |
+
|
| 1273 |
+
Not much time will be gained, O Athenians, in return for the evil name
|
| 1274 |
+
which you will get from the detractors of the city, who will say that
|
| 1275 |
+
you killed Socrates, a wise man; for they will call me wise, even
|
| 1276 |
+
although I am not wise, when they want to reproach you. If you had
|
| 1277 |
+
waited a little while, your desire would have been fulfilled in the
|
| 1278 |
+
course of nature. For I am far advanced in years, as you may perceive,
|
| 1279 |
+
and not far from death. I am speaking now not to all of you, but only
|
| 1280 |
+
to those who have condemned me to death. And I have another thing to
|
| 1281 |
+
say to them: you think that I was convicted because I had no words of
|
| 1282 |
+
the sort which would have procured my acquittal--I mean, if I had
|
| 1283 |
+
thought fit to leave nothing undone or unsaid. Not so; the deficiency
|
| 1284 |
+
which led to my conviction was not of words--certainly not. But I had
|
| 1285 |
+
not the boldness or impudence or inclination to address you as you
|
| 1286 |
+
would have liked me to do, weeping and wailing and lamenting, and
|
| 1287 |
+
saying and doing many things which you have been accustomed to hear
|
| 1288 |
+
from others, and which, as I maintain, are unworthy of me. I thought at
|
| 1289 |
+
the time that I ought not to do anything common or mean when in danger:
|
| 1290 |
+
nor do I now repent of the style of my defence; I would rather die
|
| 1291 |
+
having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live. For
|
| 1292 |
+
neither in war nor yet at law ought I or any man to use every way of
|
| 1293 |
+
escaping death. Often in battle there can be no doubt that if a man
|
| 1294 |
+
will throw away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he
|
| 1295 |
+
may escape death; and in other dangers there are other ways of escaping
|
| 1296 |
+
death, if a man is willing to say and do anything. The difficulty, my
|
| 1297 |
+
friends, is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness; for that
|
| 1298 |
+
runs faster than death. I am old and move slowly, and the slower runner
|
| 1299 |
+
has overtaken me, and my accusers are keen and quick, and the faster
|
| 1300 |
+
runner, who is unrighteousness, has overtaken them. And now I depart
|
| 1301 |
+
hence condemned by you to suffer the penalty of death,--they too go
|
| 1302 |
+
their ways condemned by the truth to suffer the penalty of villainy and
|
| 1303 |
+
wrong; and I must abide by my award--let them abide by theirs. I suppose
|
| 1304 |
+
that these things may be regarded as fated,--and I think that they are
|
| 1305 |
+
well.
|
| 1306 |
+
|
| 1307 |
+
And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for
|
| 1308 |
+
I am about to die, and in the hour of death men are gifted with
|
| 1309 |
+
prophetic power. And I prophesy to you who are my murderers, that
|
| 1310 |
+
immediately after my departure punishment far heavier than you have
|
| 1311 |
+
inflicted on me will surely await you. Me you have killed because you
|
| 1312 |
+
wanted to escape the accuser, and not to give an account of your lives.
|
| 1313 |
+
But that will not be as you suppose: far otherwise. For I say that
|
| 1314 |
+
there will be more accusers of you than there are now; accusers whom
|
| 1315 |
+
hitherto I have restrained: and as they are younger they will be more
|
| 1316 |
+
inconsiderate with you, and you will be more offended at them. If you
|
| 1317 |
+
think that by killing men you can prevent some one from censuring your
|
| 1318 |
+
evil lives, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is
|
| 1319 |
+
either possible or honourable; the easiest and the noblest way is not
|
| 1320 |
+
to be disabling others, but to be improving yourselves. This is the
|
| 1321 |
+
prophecy which I utter before my departure to the judges who have
|
| 1322 |
+
condemned me.
|
| 1323 |
+
|
| 1324 |
+
Friends, who would have acquitted me, I would like also to talk with
|
| 1325 |
+
you about the thing which has come to pass, while the magistrates are
|
| 1326 |
+
busy, and before I go to the place at which I must die. Stay then a
|
| 1327 |
+
little, for we may as well talk with one another while there is time.
|
| 1328 |
+
You are my friends, and I should like to show you the meaning of this
|
| 1329 |
+
event which has happened to me. O my judges--for you I may truly call
|
| 1330 |
+
judges--I should like to tell you of a wonderful circumstance. Hitherto
|
| 1331 |
+
the divine faculty of which the internal oracle is the source has
|
| 1332 |
+
constantly been in the habit of opposing me even about trifles, if I
|
| 1333 |
+
was going to make a slip or error in any matter; and now as you see
|
| 1334 |
+
there has come upon me that which may be thought, and is generally
|
| 1335 |
+
believed to be, the last and worst evil. But the oracle made no sign of
|
| 1336 |
+
opposition, either when I was leaving my house in the morning, or when
|
| 1337 |
+
I was on my way to the court, or while I was speaking, at anything
|
| 1338 |
+
which I was going to say; and yet I have often been stopped in the
|
| 1339 |
+
middle of a speech, but now in nothing I either said or did touching
|
| 1340 |
+
the matter in hand has the oracle opposed me. What do I take to be the
|
| 1341 |
+
explanation of this silence? I will tell you. It is an intimation that
|
| 1342 |
+
what has happened to me is a good, and that those of us who think that
|
| 1343 |
+
death is an evil are in error. For the customary sign would surely have
|
| 1344 |
+
opposed me had I been going to evil and not to good.
|
| 1345 |
+
|
| 1346 |
+
Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great
|
| 1347 |
+
reason to hope that death is a good; for one of two things--either death
|
| 1348 |
+
is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say,
|
| 1349 |
+
there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another.
|
| 1350 |
+
Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the
|
| 1351 |
+
sleep of him who is undisturbed even by dreams, death will be an
|
| 1352 |
+
unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his
|
| 1353 |
+
sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the
|
| 1354 |
+
other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many
|
| 1355 |
+
days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more
|
| 1356 |
+
pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a
|
| 1357 |
+
private man, but even the great king will not find many such days or
|
| 1358 |
+
nights, when compared with the others. Now if death be of such a
|
| 1359 |
+
nature, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single
|
| 1360 |
+
night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men
|
| 1361 |
+
say, all the dead abide, what good, O my friends and judges, can be
|
| 1362 |
+
greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim arrives in the world
|
| 1363 |
+
below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in this world,
|
| 1364 |
+
and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos
|
| 1365 |
+
and Rhadamanthus and Aeacus and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who
|
| 1366 |
+
were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making.
|
| 1367 |
+
What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus
|
| 1368 |
+
and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again.
|
| 1369 |
+
I myself, too, shall have a wonderful interest in there meeting and
|
| 1370 |
+
conversing with Palamedes, and Ajax the son of Telamon, and any other
|
| 1371 |
+
ancient hero who has suffered death through an unjust judgment; and
|
| 1372 |
+
there will be no small pleasure, as I think, in comparing my own
|
| 1373 |
+
sufferings with theirs. Above all, I shall then be able to continue my
|
| 1374 |
+
search into true and false knowledge; as in this world, so also in the
|
| 1375 |
+
next; and I shall find out who is wise, and who pretends to be wise,
|
| 1376 |
+
and is not. What would not a man give, O judges, to be able to examine
|
| 1377 |
+
the leader of the great Trojan expedition; or Odysseus or Sisyphus, or
|
| 1378 |
+
numberless others, men and women too! What infinite delight would there
|
| 1379 |
+
be in conversing with them and asking them questions! In another world
|
| 1380 |
+
they do not put a man to death for asking questions: assuredly not. For
|
| 1381 |
+
besides being happier than we are, they will be immortal, if what is
|
| 1382 |
+
said is true.
|
| 1383 |
+
|
| 1384 |
+
Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know of a
|
| 1385 |
+
certainty, that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or
|
| 1386 |
+
after death. He and his are not neglected by the gods; nor has my own
|
| 1387 |
+
approaching end happened by mere chance. But I see clearly that the
|
| 1388 |
+
time had arrived when it was better for me to die and be released from
|
| 1389 |
+
trouble; wherefore the oracle gave no sign. For which reason, also, I
|
| 1390 |
+
am not angry with my condemners, or with my accusers; they have done me
|
| 1391 |
+
no harm, although they did not mean to do me any good; and for this I
|
| 1392 |
+
may gently blame them.
|
| 1393 |
+
|
| 1394 |
+
Still I have a favour to ask of them. When my sons are grown up, I
|
| 1395 |
+
would ask you, O my friends, to punish them; and I would have you
|
| 1396 |
+
trouble them, as I have troubled you, if they seem to care about
|
| 1397 |
+
riches, or anything, more than about virtue; or if they pretend to be
|
| 1398 |
+
something when they are really nothing,--then reprove them, as I have
|
| 1399 |
+
reproved you, for not caring about that for which they ought to care,
|
| 1400 |
+
and thinking that they are something when they are really nothing. And
|
| 1401 |
+
if you do this, both I and my sons will have received justice at your
|
| 1402 |
+
hands.
|
| 1403 |
+
|
| 1404 |
+
The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways--I to die, and you
|
| 1405 |
+
to live. Which is better God only knows.
|
| 1406 |
+
|
| 1407 |
+
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Apology, by Plato
|
data/plato_crito.txt
ADDED
|
@@ -0,0 +1,665 @@
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
+
This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher <asschers@aia.net.au>
|
| 2 |
+
|
| 3 |
+
CRITO
|
| 4 |
+
|
| 5 |
+
by Plato
|
| 6 |
+
|
| 7 |
+
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
|
| 8 |
+
|
| 9 |
+
INTRODUCTION.
|
| 10 |
+
|
| 11 |
+
The Crito seems intended to exhibit the character of Socrates in one light
|
| 12 |
+
only, not as the philosopher, fulfilling a divine mission and trusting in
|
| 13 |
+
the will of heaven, but simply as the good citizen, who having been
|
| 14 |
+
unjustly condemned is willing to give up his life in obedience to the laws
|
| 15 |
+
of the state...
|
| 16 |
+
|
| 17 |
+
The days of Socrates are drawing to a close; the fatal ship has been seen
|
| 18 |
+
off Sunium, as he is informed by his aged friend and contemporary Crito,
|
| 19 |
+
who visits him before the dawn has broken; he himself has been warned in a
|
| 20 |
+
dream that on the third day he must depart. Time is precious, and Crito
|
| 21 |
+
has come early in order to gain his consent to a plan of escape. This can
|
| 22 |
+
be easily accomplished by his friends, who will incur no danger in making
|
| 23 |
+
the attempt to save him, but will be disgraced for ever if they allow him
|
| 24 |
+
to perish. He should think of his duty to his children, and not play into
|
| 25 |
+
the hands of his enemies. Money is already provided by Crito as well as by
|
| 26 |
+
Simmias and others, and he will have no difficulty in finding friends in
|
| 27 |
+
Thessaly and other places.
|
| 28 |
+
|
| 29 |
+
Socrates is afraid that Crito is but pressing upon him the opinions of the
|
| 30 |
+
many: whereas, all his life long he has followed the dictates of reason
|
| 31 |
+
only and the opinion of the one wise or skilled man. There was a time when
|
| 32 |
+
Crito himself had allowed the propriety of this. And although some one
|
| 33 |
+
will say 'the many can kill us,' that makes no difference; but a good life,
|
| 34 |
+
in other words, a just and honourable life, is alone to be valued. All
|
| 35 |
+
considerations of loss of reputation or injury to his children should be
|
| 36 |
+
dismissed: the only question is whether he would be right in attempting to
|
| 37 |
+
escape. Crito, who is a disinterested person not having the fear of death
|
| 38 |
+
before his eyes, shall answer this for him. Before he was condemned they
|
| 39 |
+
had often held discussions, in which they agreed that no man should either
|
| 40 |
+
do evil, or return evil for evil, or betray the right. Are these
|
| 41 |
+
principles to be altered because the circumstances of Socrates are altered?
|
| 42 |
+
Crito admits that they remain the same. Then is his escape consistent with
|
| 43 |
+
the maintenance of them? To this Crito is unable or unwilling to reply.
|
| 44 |
+
|
| 45 |
+
Socrates proceeds:--Suppose the Laws of Athens to come and remonstrate with
|
| 46 |
+
him: they will ask 'Why does he seek to overturn them?' and if he replies,
|
| 47 |
+
'they have injured him,' will not the Laws answer, 'Yes, but was that the
|
| 48 |
+
agreement? Has he any objection to make to them which would justify him in
|
| 49 |
+
overturning them? Was he not brought into the world and educated by their
|
| 50 |
+
help, and are they not his parents? He might have left Athens and gone
|
| 51 |
+
where he pleased, but he has lived there for seventy years more constantly
|
| 52 |
+
than any other citizen.' Thus he has clearly shown that he acknowledged
|
| 53 |
+
the agreement, which he cannot now break without dishonour to himself and
|
| 54 |
+
danger to his friends. Even in the course of the trial he might have
|
| 55 |
+
proposed exile as the penalty, but then he declared that he preferred death
|
| 56 |
+
to exile. And whither will he direct his footsteps? In any well-ordered
|
| 57 |
+
state the Laws will consider him as an enemy. Possibly in a land of
|
| 58 |
+
misrule like Thessaly he may be welcomed at first, and the unseemly
|
| 59 |
+
narrative of his escape will be regarded by the inhabitants as an amusing
|
| 60 |
+
tale. But if he offends them he will have to learn another sort of lesson.
|
| 61 |
+
Will he continue to give lectures in virtue? That would hardly be decent.
|
| 62 |
+
And how will his children be the gainers if he takes them into Thessaly,
|
| 63 |
+
and deprives them of Athenian citizenship? Or if he leaves them behind,
|
| 64 |
+
does he expect that they will be better taken care of by his friends
|
| 65 |
+
because he is in Thessaly? Will not true friends care for them equally
|
| 66 |
+
whether he is alive or dead?
|
| 67 |
+
|
| 68 |
+
Finally, they exhort him to think of justice first, and of life and
|
| 69 |
+
children afterwards. He may now depart in peace and innocence, a sufferer
|
| 70 |
+
and not a doer of evil. But if he breaks agreements, and returns evil for
|
| 71 |
+
evil, they will be angry with him while he lives; and their brethren the
|
| 72 |
+
Laws of the world below will receive him as an enemy. Such is the mystic
|
| 73 |
+
voice which is always murmuring in his ears.
|
| 74 |
+
|
| 75 |
+
That Socrates was not a good citizen was a charge made against him during
|
| 76 |
+
his lifetime, which has been often repeated in later ages. The crimes of
|
| 77 |
+
Alcibiades, Critias, and Charmides, who had been his pupils, were still
|
| 78 |
+
recent in the memory of the now restored democracy. The fact that he had
|
| 79 |
+
been neutral in the death-struggle of Athens was not likely to conciliate
|
| 80 |
+
popular good-will. Plato, writing probably in the next generation,
|
| 81 |
+
undertakes the defence of his friend and master in this particular, not to
|
| 82 |
+
the Athenians of his day, but to posterity and the world at large.
|
| 83 |
+
|
| 84 |
+
Whether such an incident ever really occurred as the visit of Crito and the
|
| 85 |
+
proposal of escape is uncertain: Plato could easily have invented far more
|
| 86 |
+
than that (Phaedr.); and in the selection of Crito, the aged friend, as the
|
| 87 |
+
fittest person to make the proposal to Socrates, we seem to recognize the
|
| 88 |
+
hand of the artist. Whether any one who has been subjected by the laws of
|
| 89 |
+
his country to an unjust judgment is right in attempting to escape, is a
|
| 90 |
+
thesis about which casuists might disagree. Shelley (Prose Works) is of
|
| 91 |
+
opinion that Socrates 'did well to die,' but not for the 'sophistical'
|
| 92 |
+
reasons which Plato has put into his mouth. And there would be no
|
| 93 |
+
difficulty in arguing that Socrates should have lived and preferred to a
|
| 94 |
+
glorious death the good which he might still be able to perform. 'A
|
| 95 |
+
rhetorician would have had much to say upon that point.' It may be
|
| 96 |
+
observed however that Plato never intended to answer the question of
|
| 97 |
+
casuistry, but only to exhibit the ideal of patient virtue which refuses to
|
| 98 |
+
do the least evil in order to avoid the greatest, and to show his master
|
| 99 |
+
maintaining in death the opinions which he had professed in his life. Not
|
| 100 |
+
'the world,' but the 'one wise man,' is still the paradox of Socrates in
|
| 101 |
+
his last hours. He must be guided by reason, although her conclusions may
|
| 102 |
+
be fatal to him. The remarkable sentiment that the wicked can do neither
|
| 103 |
+
good nor evil is true, if taken in the sense, which he means, of moral
|
| 104 |
+
evil; in his own words, 'they cannot make a man wise or foolish.'
|
| 105 |
+
|
| 106 |
+
This little dialogue is a perfect piece of dialectic, in which granting the
|
| 107 |
+
'common principle,' there is no escaping from the conclusion. It is
|
| 108 |
+
anticipated at the beginning by the dream of Socrates and the parody of
|
| 109 |
+
Homer. The personification of the Laws, and of their brethren the Laws in
|
| 110 |
+
the world below, is one of the noblest and boldest figures of speech which
|
| 111 |
+
occur in Plato.
|
| 112 |
+
|
| 113 |
+
CRITO
|
| 114 |
+
|
| 115 |
+
by
|
| 116 |
+
|
| 117 |
+
Plato
|
| 118 |
+
|
| 119 |
+
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
|
| 120 |
+
|
| 121 |
+
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Socrates, Crito.
|
| 122 |
+
|
| 123 |
+
SCENE: The Prison of Socrates.
|
| 124 |
+
|
| 125 |
+
SOCRATES: Why have you come at this hour, Crito? it must be quite early.
|
| 126 |
+
|
| 127 |
+
CRITO: Yes, certainly.
|
| 128 |
+
|
| 129 |
+
SOCRATES: What is the exact time?
|
| 130 |
+
|
| 131 |
+
CRITO: The dawn is breaking.
|
| 132 |
+
|
| 133 |
+
SOCRATES: I wonder that the keeper of the prison would let you in.
|
| 134 |
+
|
| 135 |
+
CRITO: He knows me because I often come, Socrates; moreover. I have done
|
| 136 |
+
him a kindness.
|
| 137 |
+
|
| 138 |
+
SOCRATES: And are you only just arrived?
|
| 139 |
+
|
| 140 |
+
CRITO: No, I came some time ago.
|
| 141 |
+
|
| 142 |
+
SOCRATES: Then why did you sit and say nothing, instead of at once
|
| 143 |
+
awakening me?
|
| 144 |
+
|
| 145 |
+
CRITO: I should not have liked myself, Socrates, to be in such great
|
| 146 |
+
trouble and unrest as you are--indeed I should not: I have been watching
|
| 147 |
+
with amazement your peaceful slumbers; and for that reason I did not awake
|
| 148 |
+
you, because I wished to minimize the pain. I have always thought you to
|
| 149 |
+
be of a happy disposition; but never did I see anything like the easy,
|
| 150 |
+
tranquil manner in which you bear this calamity.
|
| 151 |
+
|
| 152 |
+
SOCRATES: Why, Crito, when a man has reached my age he ought not to be
|
| 153 |
+
repining at the approach of death.
|
| 154 |
+
|
| 155 |
+
CRITO: And yet other old men find themselves in similar misfortunes, and
|
| 156 |
+
age does not prevent them from repining.
|
| 157 |
+
|
| 158 |
+
SOCRATES: That is true. But you have not told me why you come at this
|
| 159 |
+
early hour.
|
| 160 |
+
|
| 161 |
+
CRITO: I come to bring you a message which is sad and painful; not, as I
|
| 162 |
+
believe, to yourself, but to all of us who are your friends, and saddest of
|
| 163 |
+
all to me.
|
| 164 |
+
|
| 165 |
+
SOCRATES: What? Has the ship come from Delos, on the arrival of which I
|
| 166 |
+
am to die?
|
| 167 |
+
|
| 168 |
+
CRITO: No, the ship has not actually arrived, but she will probably be
|
| 169 |
+
here to-day, as persons who have come from Sunium tell me that they have
|
| 170 |
+
left her there; and therefore to-morrow, Socrates, will be the last day of
|
| 171 |
+
your life.
|
| 172 |
+
|
| 173 |
+
SOCRATES: Very well, Crito; if such is the will of God, I am willing; but
|
| 174 |
+
my belief is that there will be a delay of a day.
|
| 175 |
+
|
| 176 |
+
CRITO: Why do you think so?
|
| 177 |
+
|
| 178 |
+
SOCRATES: I will tell you. I am to die on the day after the arrival of
|
| 179 |
+
the ship?
|
| 180 |
+
|
| 181 |
+
CRITO: Yes; that is what the authorities say.
|
| 182 |
+
|
| 183 |
+
SOCRATES: But I do not think that the ship will be here until to-morrow;
|
| 184 |
+
this I infer from a vision which I had last night, or rather only just now,
|
| 185 |
+
when you fortunately allowed me to sleep.
|
| 186 |
+
|
| 187 |
+
CRITO: And what was the nature of the vision?
|
| 188 |
+
|
| 189 |
+
SOCRATES: There appeared to me the likeness of a woman, fair and comely,
|
| 190 |
+
clothed in bright raiment, who called to me and said: O Socrates,
|
| 191 |
+
|
| 192 |
+
'The third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go.' (Homer, Il.)
|
| 193 |
+
|
| 194 |
+
CRITO: What a singular dream, Socrates!
|
| 195 |
+
|
| 196 |
+
SOCRATES: There can be no doubt about the meaning, Crito, I think.
|
| 197 |
+
|
| 198 |
+
CRITO: Yes; the meaning is only too clear. But, oh! my beloved Socrates,
|
| 199 |
+
let me entreat you once more to take my advice and escape. For if you die
|
| 200 |
+
I shall not only lose a friend who can never be replaced, but there is
|
| 201 |
+
another evil: people who do not know you and me will believe that I might
|
| 202 |
+
have saved you if I had been willing to give money, but that I did not
|
| 203 |
+
care. Now, can there be a worse disgrace than this--that I should be
|
| 204 |
+
thought to value money more than the life of a friend? For the many will
|
| 205 |
+
not be persuaded that I wanted you to escape, and that you refused.
|
| 206 |
+
|
| 207 |
+
SOCRATES: But why, my dear Crito, should we care about the opinion of the
|
| 208 |
+
many? Good men, and they are the only persons who are worth considering,
|
| 209 |
+
will think of these things truly as they occurred.
|
| 210 |
+
|
| 211 |
+
CRITO: But you see, Socrates, that the opinion of the many must be
|
| 212 |
+
regarded, for what is now happening shows that they can do the greatest
|
| 213 |
+
evil to any one who has lost their good opinion.
|
| 214 |
+
|
| 215 |
+
SOCRATES: I only wish it were so, Crito; and that the many could do the
|
| 216 |
+
greatest evil; for then they would also be able to do the greatest good--
|
| 217 |
+
and what a fine thing this would be! But in reality they can do neither;
|
| 218 |
+
for they cannot make a man either wise or foolish; and whatever they do is
|
| 219 |
+
the result of chance.
|
| 220 |
+
|
| 221 |
+
CRITO: Well, I will not dispute with you; but please to tell me, Socrates,
|
| 222 |
+
whether you are not acting out of regard to me and your other friends: are
|
| 223 |
+
you not afraid that if you escape from prison we may get into trouble with
|
| 224 |
+
the informers for having stolen you away, and lose either the whole or a
|
| 225 |
+
great part of our property; or that even a worse evil may happen to us?
|
| 226 |
+
Now, if you fear on our account, be at ease; for in order to save you, we
|
| 227 |
+
ought surely to run this, or even a greater risk; be persuaded, then, and
|
| 228 |
+
do as I say.
|
| 229 |
+
|
| 230 |
+
SOCRATES: Yes, Crito, that is one fear which you mention, but by no means
|
| 231 |
+
the only one.
|
| 232 |
+
|
| 233 |
+
CRITO: Fear not--there are persons who are willing to get you out of
|
| 234 |
+
prison at no great cost; and as for the informers they are far from being
|
| 235 |
+
exorbitant in their demands--a little money will satisfy them. My means,
|
| 236 |
+
which are certainly ample, are at your service, and if you have a scruple
|
| 237 |
+
about spending all mine, here are strangers who will give you the use of
|
| 238 |
+
theirs; and one of them, Simmias the Theban, has brought a large sum of
|
| 239 |
+
money for this very purpose; and Cebes and many others are prepared to
|
| 240 |
+
spend their money in helping you to escape. I say, therefore, do not
|
| 241 |
+
hesitate on our account, and do not say, as you did in the court (compare
|
| 242 |
+
Apol.), that you will have a difficulty in knowing what to do with yourself
|
| 243 |
+
anywhere else. For men will love you in other places to which you may go,
|
| 244 |
+
and not in Athens only; there are friends of mine in Thessaly, if you like
|
| 245 |
+
to go to them, who will value and protect you, and no Thessalian will give
|
| 246 |
+
you any trouble. Nor can I think that you are at all justified, Socrates,
|
| 247 |
+
in betraying your own life when you might be saved; in acting thus you are
|
| 248 |
+
playing into the hands of your enemies, who are hurrying on your
|
| 249 |
+
destruction. And further I should say that you are deserting your own
|
| 250 |
+
children; for you might bring them up and educate them; instead of which
|
| 251 |
+
you go away and leave them, and they will have to take their chance; and if
|
| 252 |
+
they do not meet with the usual fate of orphans, there will be small thanks
|
| 253 |
+
to you. No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to
|
| 254 |
+
persevere to the end in their nurture and education. But you appear to be
|
| 255 |
+
choosing the easier part, not the better and manlier, which would have been
|
| 256 |
+
more becoming in one who professes to care for virtue in all his actions,
|
| 257 |
+
like yourself. And indeed, I am ashamed not only of you, but of us who are
|
| 258 |
+
your friends, when I reflect that the whole business will be attributed
|
| 259 |
+
entirely to our want of courage. The trial need never have come on, or
|
| 260 |
+
might have been managed differently; and this last act, or crowning folly,
|
| 261 |
+
will seem to have occurred through our negligence and cowardice, who might
|
| 262 |
+
have saved you, if we had been good for anything; and you might have saved
|
| 263 |
+
yourself, for there was no difficulty at all. See now, Socrates, how sad
|
| 264 |
+
and discreditable are the consequences, both to us and you. Make up your
|
| 265 |
+
mind then, or rather have your mind already made up, for the time of
|
| 266 |
+
deliberation is over, and there is only one thing to be done, which must be
|
| 267 |
+
done this very night, and if we delay at all will be no longer practicable
|
| 268 |
+
or possible; I beseech you therefore, Socrates, be persuaded by me, and do
|
| 269 |
+
as I say.
|
| 270 |
+
|
| 271 |
+
SOCRATES: Dear Crito, your zeal is invaluable, if a right one; but if
|
| 272 |
+
wrong, the greater the zeal the greater the danger; and therefore we ought
|
| 273 |
+
to consider whether I shall or shall not do as you say. For I am and
|
| 274 |
+
always have been one of those natures who must be guided by reason,
|
| 275 |
+
whatever the reason may be which upon reflection appears to me to be the
|
| 276 |
+
best; and now that this chance has befallen me, I cannot repudiate my own
|
| 277 |
+
words: the principles which I have hitherto honoured and revered I still
|
| 278 |
+
honour, and unless we can at once find other and better principles, I am
|
| 279 |
+
certain not to agree with you; no, not even if the power of the multitude
|
| 280 |
+
could inflict many more imprisonments, confiscations, deaths, frightening
|
| 281 |
+
us like children with hobgoblin terrors (compare Apol.). What will be the
|
| 282 |
+
fairest way of considering the question? Shall I return to your old
|
| 283 |
+
argument about the opinions of men?--we were saying that some of them are
|
| 284 |
+
to be regarded, and others not. Now were we right in maintaining this
|
| 285 |
+
before I was condemned? And has the argument which was once good now
|
| 286 |
+
proved to be talk for the sake of talking--mere childish nonsense? That is
|
| 287 |
+
what I want to consider with your help, Crito:--whether, under my present
|
| 288 |
+
circumstances, the argument appears to be in any way different or not; and
|
| 289 |
+
is to be allowed by me or disallowed. That argument, which, as I believe,
|
| 290 |
+
is maintained by many persons of authority, was to the effect, as I was
|
| 291 |
+
saying, that the opinions of some men are to be regarded, and of other men
|
| 292 |
+
not to be regarded. Now you, Crito, are not going to die to-morrow--at
|
| 293 |
+
least, there is no human probability of this, and therefore you are
|
| 294 |
+
disinterested and not liable to be deceived by the circumstances in which
|
| 295 |
+
you are placed. Tell me then, whether I am right in saying that some
|
| 296 |
+
opinions, and the opinions of some men only, are to be valued, and that
|
| 297 |
+
other opinions, and the opinions of other men, are not to be valued. I ask
|
| 298 |
+
you whether I was right in maintaining this?
|
| 299 |
+
|
| 300 |
+
CRITO: Certainly.
|
| 301 |
+
|
| 302 |
+
SOCRATES: The good are to be regarded, and not the bad?
|
| 303 |
+
|
| 304 |
+
CRITO: Yes.
|
| 305 |
+
|
| 306 |
+
SOCRATES: And the opinions of the wise are good, and the opinions of the
|
| 307 |
+
unwise are evil?
|
| 308 |
+
|
| 309 |
+
CRITO: Certainly.
|
| 310 |
+
|
| 311 |
+
SOCRATES: And what was said about another matter? Is the pupil who
|
| 312 |
+
devotes himself to the practice of gymnastics supposed to attend to the
|
| 313 |
+
praise and blame and opinion of every man, or of one man only--his
|
| 314 |
+
physician or trainer, whoever he may be?
|
| 315 |
+
|
| 316 |
+
CRITO: Of one man only.
|
| 317 |
+
|
| 318 |
+
SOCRATES: And he ought to fear the censure and welcome the praise of that
|
| 319 |
+
one only, and not of the many?
|
| 320 |
+
|
| 321 |
+
CRITO: Clearly so.
|
| 322 |
+
|
| 323 |
+
SOCRATES: And he ought to act and train, and eat and drink in the way
|
| 324 |
+
which seems good to his single master who has understanding, rather than
|
| 325 |
+
according to the opinion of all other men put together?
|
| 326 |
+
|
| 327 |
+
CRITO: True.
|
| 328 |
+
|
| 329 |
+
SOCRATES: And if he disobeys and disregards the opinion and approval of
|
| 330 |
+
the one, and regards the opinion of the many who have no understanding,
|
| 331 |
+
will he not suffer evil?
|
| 332 |
+
|
| 333 |
+
CRITO: Certainly he will.
|
| 334 |
+
|
| 335 |
+
SOCRATES: And what will the evil be, whither tending and what affecting,
|
| 336 |
+
in the disobedient person?
|
| 337 |
+
|
| 338 |
+
CRITO: Clearly, affecting the body; that is what is destroyed by the evil.
|
| 339 |
+
|
| 340 |
+
SOCRATES: Very good; and is not this true, Crito, of other things which we
|
| 341 |
+
need not separately enumerate? In questions of just and unjust, fair and
|
| 342 |
+
foul, good and evil, which are the subjects of our present consultation,
|
| 343 |
+
ought we to follow the opinion of the many and to fear them; or the opinion
|
| 344 |
+
of the one man who has understanding? ought we not to fear and reverence
|
| 345 |
+
him more than all the rest of the world: and if we desert him shall we not
|
| 346 |
+
destroy and injure that principle in us which may be assumed to be improved
|
| 347 |
+
by justice and deteriorated by injustice;--there is such a principle?
|
| 348 |
+
|
| 349 |
+
CRITO: Certainly there is, Socrates.
|
| 350 |
+
|
| 351 |
+
SOCRATES: Take a parallel instance:--if, acting under the advice of those
|
| 352 |
+
who have no understanding, we destroy that which is improved by health and
|
| 353 |
+
is deteriorated by disease, would life be worth having? And that which has
|
| 354 |
+
been destroyed is--the body?
|
| 355 |
+
|
| 356 |
+
CRITO: Yes.
|
| 357 |
+
|
| 358 |
+
SOCRATES: Could we live, having an evil and corrupted body?
|
| 359 |
+
|
| 360 |
+
CRITO: Certainly not.
|
| 361 |
+
|
| 362 |
+
SOCRATES: And will life be worth having, if that higher part of man be
|
| 363 |
+
destroyed, which is improved by justice and depraved by injustice? Do we
|
| 364 |
+
suppose that principle, whatever it may be in man, which has to do with
|
| 365 |
+
justice and injustice, to be inferior to the body?
|
| 366 |
+
|
| 367 |
+
CRITO: Certainly not.
|
| 368 |
+
|
| 369 |
+
SOCRATES: More honourable than the body?
|
| 370 |
+
|
| 371 |
+
CRITO: Far more.
|
| 372 |
+
|
| 373 |
+
SOCRATES: Then, my friend, we must not regard what the many say of us:
|
| 374 |
+
but what he, the one man who has understanding of just and unjust, will
|
| 375 |
+
say, and what the truth will say. And therefore you begin in error when
|
| 376 |
+
you advise that we should regard the opinion of the many about just and
|
| 377 |
+
unjust, good and evil, honorable and dishonorable.--'Well,' some one will
|
| 378 |
+
say, 'but the many can kill us.'
|
| 379 |
+
|
| 380 |
+
CRITO: Yes, Socrates; that will clearly be the answer.
|
| 381 |
+
|
| 382 |
+
SOCRATES: And it is true; but still I find with surprise that the old
|
| 383 |
+
argument is unshaken as ever. And I should like to know whether I may say
|
| 384 |
+
the same of another proposition--that not life, but a good life, is to be
|
| 385 |
+
chiefly valued?
|
| 386 |
+
|
| 387 |
+
CRITO: Yes, that also remains unshaken.
|
| 388 |
+
|
| 389 |
+
SOCRATES: And a good life is equivalent to a just and honorable one--that
|
| 390 |
+
holds also?
|
| 391 |
+
|
| 392 |
+
CRITO: Yes, it does.
|
| 393 |
+
|
| 394 |
+
SOCRATES: From these premisses I proceed to argue the question whether I
|
| 395 |
+
ought or ought not to try and escape without the consent of the Athenians:
|
| 396 |
+
and if I am clearly right in escaping, then I will make the attempt; but if
|
| 397 |
+
not, I will abstain. The other considerations which you mention, of money
|
| 398 |
+
and loss of character and the duty of educating one's children, are, I
|
| 399 |
+
fear, only the doctrines of the multitude, who would be as ready to restore
|
| 400 |
+
people to life, if they were able, as they are to put them to death--and
|
| 401 |
+
with as little reason. But now, since the argument has thus far prevailed,
|
| 402 |
+
the only question which remains to be considered is, whether we shall do
|
| 403 |
+
rightly either in escaping or in suffering others to aid in our escape and
|
| 404 |
+
paying them in money and thanks, or whether in reality we shall not do
|
| 405 |
+
rightly; and if the latter, then death or any other calamity which may
|
| 406 |
+
ensue on my remaining here must not be allowed to enter into the
|
| 407 |
+
calculation.
|
| 408 |
+
|
| 409 |
+
CRITO: I think that you are right, Socrates; how then shall we proceed?
|
| 410 |
+
|
| 411 |
+
SOCRATES: Let us consider the matter together, and do you either refute me
|
| 412 |
+
if you can, and I will be convinced; or else cease, my dear friend, from
|
| 413 |
+
repeating to me that I ought to escape against the wishes of the Athenians:
|
| 414 |
+
for I highly value your attempts to persuade me to do so, but I may not be
|
| 415 |
+
persuaded against my own better judgment. And now please to consider my
|
| 416 |
+
first position, and try how you can best answer me.
|
| 417 |
+
|
| 418 |
+
CRITO: I will.
|
| 419 |
+
|
| 420 |
+
SOCRATES: Are we to say that we are never intentionally to do wrong, or
|
| 421 |
+
that in one way we ought and in another way we ought not to do wrong, or is
|
| 422 |
+
doing wrong always evil and dishonorable, as I was just now saying, and as
|
| 423 |
+
has been already acknowledged by us? Are all our former admissions which
|
| 424 |
+
were made within a few days to be thrown away? And have we, at our age,
|
| 425 |
+
been earnestly discoursing with one another all our life long only to
|
| 426 |
+
discover that we are no better than children? Or, in spite of the opinion
|
| 427 |
+
of the many, and in spite of consequences whether better or worse, shall we
|
| 428 |
+
insist on the truth of what was then said, that injustice is always an evil
|
| 429 |
+
and dishonour to him who acts unjustly? Shall we say so or not?
|
| 430 |
+
|
| 431 |
+
CRITO: Yes.
|
| 432 |
+
|
| 433 |
+
SOCRATES: Then we must do no wrong?
|
| 434 |
+
|
| 435 |
+
CRITO: Certainly not.
|
| 436 |
+
|
| 437 |
+
SOCRATES: Nor when injured injure in return, as the many imagine; for we
|
| 438 |
+
must injure no one at all? (E.g. compare Rep.)
|
| 439 |
+
|
| 440 |
+
CRITO: Clearly not.
|
| 441 |
+
|
| 442 |
+
SOCRATES: Again, Crito, may we do evil?
|
| 443 |
+
|
| 444 |
+
CRITO: Surely not, Socrates.
|
| 445 |
+
|
| 446 |
+
SOCRATES: And what of doing evil in return for evil, which is the morality
|
| 447 |
+
of the many--is that just or not?
|
| 448 |
+
|
| 449 |
+
CRITO: Not just.
|
| 450 |
+
|
| 451 |
+
SOCRATES: For doing evil to another is the same as injuring him?
|
| 452 |
+
|
| 453 |
+
CRITO: Very true.
|
| 454 |
+
|
| 455 |
+
SOCRATES: Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to any
|
| 456 |
+
one, whatever evil we may have suffered from him. But I would have you
|
| 457 |
+
consider, Crito, whether you really mean what you are saying. For this
|
| 458 |
+
opinion has never been held, and never will be held, by any considerable
|
| 459 |
+
number of persons; and those who are agreed and those who are not agreed
|
| 460 |
+
upon this point have no common ground, and can only despise one another
|
| 461 |
+
when they see how widely they differ. Tell me, then, whether you agree
|
| 462 |
+
with and assent to my first principle, that neither injury nor retaliation
|
| 463 |
+
nor warding off evil by evil is ever right. And shall that be the premiss
|
| 464 |
+
of our argument? Or do you decline and dissent from this? For so I have
|
| 465 |
+
ever thought, and continue to think; but, if you are of another opinion,
|
| 466 |
+
let me hear what you have to say. If, however, you remain of the same mind
|
| 467 |
+
as formerly, I will proceed to the next step.
|
| 468 |
+
|
| 469 |
+
CRITO: You may proceed, for I have not changed my mind.
|
| 470 |
+
|
| 471 |
+
SOCRATES: Then I will go on to the next point, which may be put in the
|
| 472 |
+
form of a question:--Ought a man to do what he admits to be right, or ought
|
| 473 |
+
he to betray the right?
|
| 474 |
+
|
| 475 |
+
CRITO: He ought to do what he thinks right.
|
| 476 |
+
|
| 477 |
+
SOCRATES: But if this is true, what is the application? In leaving the
|
| 478 |
+
prison against the will of the Athenians, do I wrong any? or rather do I
|
| 479 |
+
not wrong those whom I ought least to wrong? Do I not desert the
|
| 480 |
+
principles which were acknowledged by us to be just--what do you say?
|
| 481 |
+
|
| 482 |
+
CRITO: I cannot tell, Socrates, for I do not know.
|
| 483 |
+
|
| 484 |
+
SOCRATES: Then consider the matter in this way:--Imagine that I am about
|
| 485 |
+
to play truant (you may call the proceeding by any name which you like),
|
| 486 |
+
and the laws and the government come and interrogate me: 'Tell us,
|
| 487 |
+
Socrates,' they say; 'what are you about? are you not going by an act of
|
| 488 |
+
yours to overturn us--the laws, and the whole state, as far as in you lies?
|
| 489 |
+
Do you imagine that a state can subsist and not be overthrown, in which the
|
| 490 |
+
decisions of law have no power, but are set aside and trampled upon by
|
| 491 |
+
individuals?' What will be our answer, Crito, to these and the like words?
|
| 492 |
+
Any one, and especially a rhetorician, will have a good deal to say on
|
| 493 |
+
behalf of the law which requires a sentence to be carried out. He will
|
| 494 |
+
argue that this law should not be set aside; and shall we reply, 'Yes; but
|
| 495 |
+
the state has injured us and given an unjust sentence.' Suppose I say
|
| 496 |
+
that?
|
| 497 |
+
|
| 498 |
+
CRITO: Very good, Socrates.
|
| 499 |
+
|
| 500 |
+
SOCRATES: 'And was that our agreement with you?' the law would answer; 'or
|
| 501 |
+
were you to abide by the sentence of the state?' And if I were to express
|
| 502 |
+
my astonishment at their words, the law would probably add: 'Answer,
|
| 503 |
+
Socrates, instead of opening your eyes--you are in the habit of asking and
|
| 504 |
+
answering questions. Tell us,--What complaint have you to make against us
|
| 505 |
+
which justifies you in attempting to destroy us and the state? In the
|
| 506 |
+
first place did we not bring you into existence? Your father married your
|
| 507 |
+
mother by our aid and begat you. Say whether you have any objection to
|
| 508 |
+
urge against those of us who regulate marriage?' None, I should reply.
|
| 509 |
+
'Or against those of us who after birth regulate the nurture and education
|
| 510 |
+
of children, in which you also were trained? Were not the laws, which have
|
| 511 |
+
the charge of education, right in commanding your father to train you in
|
| 512 |
+
music and gymnastic?' Right, I should reply. 'Well then, since you were
|
| 513 |
+
brought into the world and nurtured and educated by us, can you deny in the
|
| 514 |
+
first place that you are our child and slave, as your fathers were before
|
| 515 |
+
you? And if this is true you are not on equal terms with us; nor can you
|
| 516 |
+
think that you have a right to do to us what we are doing to you. Would
|
| 517 |
+
you have any right to strike or revile or do any other evil to your father
|
| 518 |
+
or your master, if you had one, because you have been struck or reviled by
|
| 519 |
+
him, or received some other evil at his hands?--you would not say this?
|
| 520 |
+
And because we think right to destroy you, do you think that you have any
|
| 521 |
+
right to destroy us in return, and your country as far as in you lies?
|
| 522 |
+
Will you, O professor of true virtue, pretend that you are justified in
|
| 523 |
+
this? Has a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is
|
| 524 |
+
more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any
|
| 525 |
+
ancestor, and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of
|
| 526 |
+
understanding? also to be soothed, and gently and reverently entreated when
|
| 527 |
+
angry, even more than a father, and either to be persuaded, or if not
|
| 528 |
+
persuaded, to be obeyed? And when we are punished by her, whether with
|
| 529 |
+
imprisonment or stripes, the punishment is to be endured in silence; and if
|
| 530 |
+
she lead us to wounds or death in battle, thither we follow as is right;
|
| 531 |
+
neither may any one yield or retreat or leave his rank, but whether in
|
| 532 |
+
battle or in a court of law, or in any other place, he must do what his
|
| 533 |
+
city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is
|
| 534 |
+
just: and if he may do no violence to his father or mother, much less may
|
| 535 |
+
he do violence to his country.' What answer shall we make to this, Crito?
|
| 536 |
+
Do the laws speak truly, or do they not?
|
| 537 |
+
|
| 538 |
+
CRITO: I think that they do.
|
| 539 |
+
|
| 540 |
+
SOCRATES: Then the laws will say: 'Consider, Socrates, if we are speaking
|
| 541 |
+
truly that in your present attempt you are going to do us an injury. For,
|
| 542 |
+
having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given
|
| 543 |
+
you and every other citizen a share in every good which we had to give, we
|
| 544 |
+
further proclaim to any Athenian by the liberty which we allow him, that if
|
| 545 |
+
he does not like us when he has become of age and has seen the ways of the
|
| 546 |
+
city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his
|
| 547 |
+
goods with him. None of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him.
|
| 548 |
+
Any one who does not like us and the city, and who wants to emigrate to a
|
| 549 |
+
colony or to any other city, may go where he likes, retaining his property.
|
| 550 |
+
But he who has experience of the manner in which we order justice and
|
| 551 |
+
administer the state, and still remains, has entered into an implied
|
| 552 |
+
contract that he will do as we command him. And he who disobeys us is, as
|
| 553 |
+
we maintain, thrice wrong: first, because in disobeying us he is
|
| 554 |
+
disobeying his parents; secondly, because we are the authors of his
|
| 555 |
+
education; thirdly, because he has made an agreement with us that he will
|
| 556 |
+
duly obey our commands; and he neither obeys them nor convinces us that our
|
| 557 |
+
commands are unjust; and we do not rudely impose them, but give him the
|
| 558 |
+
alternative of obeying or convincing us;--that is what we offer, and he
|
| 559 |
+
does neither.
|
| 560 |
+
|
| 561 |
+
'These are the sort of accusations to which, as we were saying, you,
|
| 562 |
+
Socrates, will be exposed if you accomplish your intentions; you, above all
|
| 563 |
+
other Athenians.' Suppose now I ask, why I rather than anybody else? they
|
| 564 |
+
will justly retort upon me that I above all other men have acknowledged the
|
| 565 |
+
agreement. 'There is clear proof,' they will say, 'Socrates, that we and
|
| 566 |
+
the city were not displeasing to you. Of all Athenians you have been the
|
| 567 |
+
most constant resident in the city, which, as you never leave, you may be
|
| 568 |
+
supposed to love (compare Phaedr.). For you never went out of the city
|
| 569 |
+
either to see the games, except once when you went to the Isthmus, or to
|
| 570 |
+
any other place unless when you were on military service; nor did you
|
| 571 |
+
travel as other men do. Nor had you any curiosity to know other states or
|
| 572 |
+
their laws: your affections did not go beyond us and our state; we were
|
| 573 |
+
your especial favourites, and you acquiesced in our government of you; and
|
| 574 |
+
here in this city you begat your children, which is a proof of your
|
| 575 |
+
satisfaction. Moreover, you might in the course of the trial, if you had
|
| 576 |
+
liked, have fixed the penalty at banishment; the state which refuses to let
|
| 577 |
+
you go now would have let you go then. But you pretended that you
|
| 578 |
+
preferred death to exile (compare Apol.), and that you were not unwilling
|
| 579 |
+
to die. And now you have forgotten these fine sentiments, and pay no
|
| 580 |
+
respect to us the laws, of whom you are the destroyer; and are doing what
|
| 581 |
+
only a miserable slave would do, running away and turning your back upon
|
| 582 |
+
the compacts and agreements which you made as a citizen. And first of all
|
| 583 |
+
answer this very question: Are we right in saying that you agreed to be
|
| 584 |
+
governed according to us in deed, and not in word only? Is that true or
|
| 585 |
+
not?' How shall we answer, Crito? Must we not assent?
|
| 586 |
+
|
| 587 |
+
CRITO: We cannot help it, Socrates.
|
| 588 |
+
|
| 589 |
+
SOCRATES: Then will they not say: 'You, Socrates, are breaking the
|
| 590 |
+
covenants and agreements which you made with us at your leisure, not in any
|
| 591 |
+
haste or under any compulsion or deception, but after you have had seventy
|
| 592 |
+
years to think of them, during which time you were at liberty to leave the
|
| 593 |
+
city, if we were not to your mind, or if our covenants appeared to you to
|
| 594 |
+
be unfair. You had your choice, and might have gone either to Lacedaemon
|
| 595 |
+
or Crete, both which states are often praised by you for their good
|
| 596 |
+
government, or to some other Hellenic or foreign state. Whereas you, above
|
| 597 |
+
all other Athenians, seemed to be so fond of the state, or, in other words,
|
| 598 |
+
of us her laws (and who would care about a state which has no laws?), that
|
| 599 |
+
you never stirred out of her; the halt, the blind, the maimed, were not
|
| 600 |
+
more stationary in her than you were. And now you run away and forsake
|
| 601 |
+
your agreements. Not so, Socrates, if you will take our advice; do not
|
| 602 |
+
make yourself ridiculous by escaping out of the city.
|
| 603 |
+
|
| 604 |
+
'For just consider, if you transgress and err in this sort of way, what
|
| 605 |
+
good will you do either to yourself or to your friends? That your friends
|
| 606 |
+
will be driven into exile and deprived of citizenship, or will lose their
|
| 607 |
+
property, is tolerably certain; and you yourself, if you fly to one of the
|
| 608 |
+
neighbouring cities, as, for example, Thebes or Megara, both of which are
|
| 609 |
+
well governed, will come to them as an enemy, Socrates, and their
|
| 610 |
+
government will be against you, and all patriotic citizens will cast an
|
| 611 |
+
evil eye upon you as a subverter of the laws, and you will confirm in the
|
| 612 |
+
minds of the judges the justice of their own condemnation of you. For he
|
| 613 |
+
who is a corrupter of the laws is more than likely to be a corrupter of the
|
| 614 |
+
young and foolish portion of mankind. Will you then flee from well-ordered
|
| 615 |
+
cities and virtuous men? and is existence worth having on these terms? Or
|
| 616 |
+
will you go to them without shame, and talk to them, Socrates? And what
|
| 617 |
+
will you say to them? What you say here about virtue and justice and
|
| 618 |
+
institutions and laws being the best things among men? Would that be
|
| 619 |
+
decent of you? Surely not. But if you go away from well-governed states
|
| 620 |
+
to Crito's friends in Thessaly, where there is great disorder and licence,
|
| 621 |
+
they will be charmed to hear the tale of your escape from prison, set off
|
| 622 |
+
with ludicrous particulars of the manner in which you were wrapped in a
|
| 623 |
+
goatskin or some other disguise, and metamorphosed as the manner is of
|
| 624 |
+
runaways; but will there be no one to remind you that in your old age you
|
| 625 |
+
were not ashamed to violate the most sacred laws from a miserable desire of
|
| 626 |
+
a little more life? Perhaps not, if you keep them in a good temper; but if
|
| 627 |
+
they are out of temper you will hear many degrading things; you will live,
|
| 628 |
+
but how?--as the flatterer of all men, and the servant of all men; and
|
| 629 |
+
doing what?--eating and drinking in Thessaly, having gone abroad in order
|
| 630 |
+
that you may get a dinner. And where will be your fine sentiments about
|
| 631 |
+
justice and virtue? Say that you wish to live for the sake of your
|
| 632 |
+
children--you want to bring them up and educate them--will you take them
|
| 633 |
+
into Thessaly and deprive them of Athenian citizenship? Is this the
|
| 634 |
+
benefit which you will confer upon them? Or are you under the impression
|
| 635 |
+
that they will be better cared for and educated here if you are still
|
| 636 |
+
alive, although absent from them; for your friends will take care of them?
|
| 637 |
+
Do you fancy that if you are an inhabitant of Thessaly they will take care
|
| 638 |
+
of them, and if you are an inhabitant of the other world that they will not
|
| 639 |
+
take care of them? Nay; but if they who call themselves friends are good
|
| 640 |
+
for anything, they will--to be sure they will.
|
| 641 |
+
|
| 642 |
+
'Listen, then, Socrates, to us who have brought you up. Think not of life
|
| 643 |
+
and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first, that
|
| 644 |
+
you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither
|
| 645 |
+
will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this
|
| 646 |
+
life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in
|
| 647 |
+
innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws,
|
| 648 |
+
but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for
|
| 649 |
+
injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us,
|
| 650 |
+
and wronging those whom you ought least of all to wrong, that is to say,
|
| 651 |
+
yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you
|
| 652 |
+
while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive
|
| 653 |
+
you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy
|
| 654 |
+
us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito.'
|
| 655 |
+
|
| 656 |
+
This, dear Crito, is the voice which I seem to hear murmuring in my ears,
|
| 657 |
+
like the sound of the flute in the ears of the mystic; that voice, I say,
|
| 658 |
+
is humming in my ears, and prevents me from hearing any other. And I know
|
| 659 |
+
that anything more which you may say will be vain. Yet speak, if you have
|
| 660 |
+
anything to say.
|
| 661 |
+
|
| 662 |
+
CRITO: I have nothing to say, Socrates.
|
| 663 |
+
|
| 664 |
+
SOCRATES: Leave me then, Crito, to fulfil the will of God, and to follow
|
| 665 |
+
whither he leads.
|
data/plato_gorgias.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_laws.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_meno.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_phaedo.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_phaedrus.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_protagoras.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_republic.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_symposium.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_theaetetus.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/plato_timaeus.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/posterior_analytics.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|
data/prior_analytics.txt
ADDED
|
The diff for this file is too large to render.
See raw diff
|
|
|