§24δῆλον οὖν ὅτι καὶ ὁ λεγόμενος; ἄωρος θάνατος εὐπαραμύθητός ἐστι διά τε ταῦτα καὶ τὰ προειρημένα ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν.
So it is clear that even the so-called untimely death is easy to console, both for these reasons and for those mentioned previously.
μεῖον γὰρ ὄντως ἐδάκρυσε Τρωίλος ἢ Πρίαμος, κἂν Πρίαμος αὐτός, εἰ προετελεύτησεν ἔτʼ ἀκμαζούσης αὐτῷ τῆς βασιλείας καὶ τῆς τοσαύτης τύχης ἣν ἐθρήνει.
For indeed, Troilus wept less than Priam; and Priam himself [would have wept less] if he had died beforehand while his kingdom and that great fortune which he later lamented were still at their height.
οἷα γοῦν πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ διελέχθη υἱὸν Ἕκτορα, παραινῶν ἀναχωρεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸν Ἀχιλλέα μάχης, ἐν οἷς φησιν
"
ἀλλʼ εἰσέρχεο τεῖχος, ἐμὸν τέκος, ὄφρα σαώσῃς
Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάς, μηδὲ μέγα κῦδος ὀρέξῃς
Πηλεΐδῃ, αὐτὸς δὲ φίλης αἰῶνος ἀμερθῇς; πρὸς δʼ ἐμὲ τὸν δύστηνον ἔτι φρονέοντʼ ἐλέησον,
δύσμορον, ὃν ῥα πατὴρ Κρονίδης ἐπὶ γήραος
οὐδῷ
αἴσῃ ἐν ἀργαλέῃ φθίσει, κακὰ πόλλʼ ἐπιδόντα,
υἷάς τʼ ὀλλυμένους, ἑλκηθείσας τε θύγατρας,
καὶ θαλάμους κεραϊζομένους, καὶ νήπια τέκνα
βαλλόμενα ποτὶ γαίῃ, ἐν αἰνῇ δηϊοτῆτι,
ἑλκομένας τε νυοὺς ὀλοῇς ὑπὸ χερσὶν Ἀχαιῶν.
For example, such are the words he spoke to his own son Hector, urging him to withdraw from the battle against Achilles, in which he says: "But enter the wall, my child, so that you may save the Trojans and Trojan women, and do not grant great glory to the son of Peleus, and yourself be deprived of your dear life; and pity me, the wretched one, while I still have my senses, ill-fated, whom father Cronides, on the threshold of old age, will destroy by a grievous doom, after I have looked upon many evils: my sons being destroyed, and my daughters dragged away, and bridal chambers plundered, and infant children dashed against the ground in terrible warfare, and daughters-in-law dragged away by the destructive hands of the Achaeans.
αὐτὸν δʼ ἂν πύματόν με κύνες πρώτῃσι θύρῃσι
ὠμησταὶ ἐρύωσιν, ἐπεὶ κέ τις ὀξέι χαλκῷ
τύψας ἠὲ βαλὼν ῥεθέων ἐκ θυμὸν ἕληται.
And myself at the last, dogs before the outer doors will tear raw, when someone with sharp bronze, by striking or throwing, has taken the life from my limbs.
ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ πολιόν τε κάρη πολιόν τε γένειον
αἰδῶ τʼ αἰσχύνωσι κύνες, κταμένοιο γέροντος,
τοῦτο δὴ οἴκτιστον πέλεται δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν. ἦ ῥʼ ὁ γέρων πολιὰς δʼ ἄρʼ ἀνὰ τρίχας ἕλκετο
χερσί,
τίλλων ἐκ κεφαλῆς, οὐδʼ Ἕκτορι θυμὸν ἔπειθεν.
But when dogs defile the gray head and gray beard and the genitals of a slain old man, this indeed becomes the most pitiable thing for wretched mortals." Thus spoke the old man, and tore his gray hair with his hands, plucking it from his head, yet he did not persuade the mind of Hector.
"
Ὄντων οὖν σοι παμπόλλων παραδειγμάτων περὶ τούτων ἐννοήθητι τὸν θάνατον οὐκ ὀλίγους ἀπαλλάττειν μεγάλων καὶ χαλεπῶν κακῶν, ὧν, εἰ ἐπεβίωσαν, πάντως ἂν ἐπειράθησαν.
Since, then, you have very many examples concerning these matters, reflect that death frees not a few from great and painful evils which, if they had survived, they would certainly have experienced.
ἃ φειδόμενος τῆς τοῦ λόγου συμμετρίας παρέλιπον, ἀρκεσθεὶς τοῖς εἰρημένοις πρὸς τὸ μὴ δεῖν πέρα τοῦ φυσικοῦ καὶ μετρίου πρὸς ἄπρακτα πένθη καὶ θρήνους ἀγεννεῖς ἐκτρέπεσθαι.
These I have omitted, sparing the symmetry of the discourse, being satisfied with what has been said, so as to show that one must not turn aside, beyond what is natural and moderate, to fruitless mourning and ignoble lamentations.
§25τὸ γὰρ μὴ διʼ αὑτὸν κακῶς πράττειν ὁ μὲν Κράντωρ φησὶν οὐ μικρὸν εἶναι κούφισμα πρὸς τὰς τύχας, ἐγὼ δʼ ἂν εἴποιμι φάρμακον ἀλυπίας εἶναι μέγιστον.
For as to not faring badly because of oneself, Crantor says that it is no small relief against misfortunes, but I would say that it is the greatest remedy for freedom from grief.
τὸ δὲ φιλεῖν τὸν μεταλλάξαντα καὶ στέργειν οὐκ ἐν τῷ λυπεῖν ἑαυτούς ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀγαπώμενον ὠφελεῖν ὠφέλεια δʼ ἐστὶ τοῖς ἀφῃρημένοις ἡ διὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς μνήμης τιμή.
And loving and cherishing the one who has departed is not in grieving for ourselves, but in benefiting the loved one; and the benefit to those who have been taken away is the honor through good memory.
οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀγαθὸς ἄξιος θρήνων ἀλλʼ ὕμνων καὶ παιάνων, οὐδὲ πένθους ἀλλὰ μνήμης; εὐκλεοῦς, οὐδὲ δακρύων ἐπωδύνων ἀλλʼ ἐτείων ἀπαρχῶν, εἴ γʼ ὁ μετηλλαχὼς θειότερόν τινα βίον μετείληφεν, ἀπαλλαγεὶς τῆς τοῦ σώματος λατρείας καὶ τῶν ἀτρύτων τούτων φροντίδων τε καὶ συμφορῶν, ἃς ἀνάγκη τοὺς εἰληχότας τὸν θνητὸν βίον ὑπομένειν, ἕως ἂν ἐκπλήσωσι τὸν ἐπικλωσθέντα τῆς ζωῆς βίον, ὃν ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ἡ φύσις οὐκ εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον, ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀπένειμε τὸν μερισθέντα κατὰ τοὺς τῆς εἱμαρμένης νόμους.
For no good person is worthy of lamentations, but of hymns and paeans; nor of mourning, but of glorious memory; nor of painful tears, but of annual offerings; if indeed the departed has received a share of some more divine life, having been freed from the service of the body and from these relentless cares and misfortunes, which those who have been allotted mortal life must endure, until they fulfill the spun-out life of existence, which nature gave to us not for all time, but assigned to each the portion divided according to the laws of fate.