Humanitext Reader

Plutarch · Life of Cato the Elder §7.1-7.2

Character of Cato's Eloquence and the Analogy to Socrates

Passage 7 of 27 · Greek

Summary

The character of Cato's speech is described by analogy with Socrates' contrast between outward appearance and inner depth. The author disputes the opinion of those who compare Cato's style to that of Lysias, asserting that character is revealed in speech rather than in face.

§7.1τοιαύτην δέ τινα φαίνεται καὶ ὁ λόγος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἰδέαν ἔχειν εὔχαρις γὰρ ἅμα καὶ δεινὸς ἦν, ἡδὺς καὶ καταπληκτικός, φιλοσκώμμων καὶ αὐστηρός, ἀποφθεγματικὸς καὶ ἀγωνιστικός, ὥσπερ ὁ Πλάτων τὸν Σωκράτην φησὶν ἔξωθεν ἰδιώτην καὶ σατυρικὸν καὶ ὑβριστὴν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι φαινόμενον ἔνδοθεν σπουδῆς καὶ πραγμάτων μεστὸν εἶναι δάκρυα κινούντων τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις καὶ τὴν καρδίαν στρεφόντων.
The speech of the man also appears to have some such character; for it was at once graceful and powerful, pleasant and terrifying, fond of jesting and austere, sententious and combative, just as Plato says Socrates, appearing on the outside to those who met him to be an ordinary person, satyr-like, and insolent, was on the inside full of seriousness and of matters moving tears for those listening and turning the heart.
§7.2ὅθεν οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅτι πεπόνθασιν οἱ τῷ Λυσίου λόγῳ μάλιστα φάμενοι προσεοικέναι τὸν Κάτωνος, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οἷς μᾶλλον ἰδέας λόγων Ῥωμαϊκῶν αἰσθάνεσθαι προσήκει διακρινοῦσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ τῶν ἀπομνημονευομένων βραχέα γράψομεν, οἳ τῷ λόγῳ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ προσώπῳ, καθάπερ ἔνιοι νομίζουσι, τῶν ἀνθρώπων φαμὲν ἐμφαίνεσθαι τὸ ἦθος.
Hence, I do not know what has possessed those who say that Cato's speech most resembles that of Lysias; nevertheless, these matters shall be decided by those to whom it is more fitting to perceive the character of Roman speeches, while we shall write down a few of his memorable sayings, we who assert that the character of men is revealed much more in their speech than in their face, as some believe.

Notes

  1. §7.1τὸν Σωκράτην φησὶν ... μεστὸν εἶναι — An accusative-and-infinitive construction in indirect discourse. The subject accusative τὸν Σωκράτην (and the participle φαινόμενον agreeing with it) acts as the subject of the infinitive εἶναι, with the predicate adjective μεστὸν also in the accusative.
  2. §7.2ὅτι πεπόνθασιν — The use of ὅτι (a variant spelling of ὅ τι) in an indirect question, equivalent to τί πεπόνθασιν ('what has happened to them' or 'what possesses them').
  3. §7.2διακρινοῦσιν — This is the third-person plural future of the verb διακρίνω ('they will decide'), with the relative clause οἷς ... προσήκει (which contains its own antecedent) acting as its subject. The future tense here functions with a jussive or hortatory force ('let them decide').
  4. §7.2οἳ — The relative pronoun οἳ has the main clause's subject ἡμεῖς ('we') as its antecedent, and agrees in person with the verb of the relative clause, φαμέν ('we say', first-person plural).

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Cato the Elder §7.1-7.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg025.humanitext-grc2:7.1-7.2

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