§6κράτιστον δὴ πρὸς ἀλυπίαν φάρμακον ὁ λόγος καὶ ἡ διὰ τούτου παρασκευὴ πρὸς πάσας τοῦ βίου τὰς μεταβολάς.
The best remedy against sorrow is reason and the preparation through it for all the changes of life.
χρὴ γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἑαυτὸν εἰδέναι θνητὸν ὄντα τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι θνητῷ σύγκληρός ἐστι βίῳ καὶ πράγμασι ῥᾳδίως μεθισταμένοις πρὸς τοὐναντίον.
For one must not only know that he himself is mortal by nature, but also that he has been co-allotted to a mortal life and to affairs that easily shift to the contrary.
ἀνθρώπων γὰρ ὄντως θνητὰ μὲν καὶ ἐφήμερα τὰ σώματα, θνηταὶ δὲ τύχαι καὶ πάθη καὶ πάνθʼ ἁπλῶς; τὰ κατὰ τὸν βίον, ἅπερ
"
οὐκ ἔστι φυγεῖν βροτὸν οὐδʼ ὑπαλύξαι
"
τὸ παράπαν ἀλλὰ
"
Ταρτάρου πυθμὴν πιέζει σʼ ἀφανοῦς σφυρηλάτοις
ἀνάγκαις
"
ὥς φησι Πίνδαρος.
For in truth, the bodies of men are mortal and ephemeral, and mortal are their fortunes and sufferings and absolutely everything in life, which "it is not possible for a mortal to flee or escape" at all, but rather "the bottom of unseen Tartarus presses you down with forged necessities," as Pindar says.
ὅθεν ὀρθῶς ὁ Φαληρεὺς Δημήτριος εἰπόντος Εὐριπίδου
"
ὁ δʼ ὄλβος οὐ βέβαιος ἀλλʼ ἐφήμερος
"
καὶ ὅτι
"
μίκρʼ ἄττα τὰ σφάλλοντα, καὶ μίʼ ἡμέρα
τὰ μὲν καθεῖλεν ὑψόθεν, τὰ δʼ ἦρʼ ἄνω
"
τὰ μὲν ἄλλα καλῶς ἔφη λέγειν αὐτόν,
βέλτιον δʼ ἄν ἔχου ἦν, εἰ μὴ μίαν ἡμέραν ἀλλὰ στιγμὴν εἶπε χρόνου
"
κύκλος γὰρ αὑτὸς καρπίμοις τε γῆς φυτοῖς
γένει βροτῶν τε.
Hence Demetrius of Phalerum, when Euripides said, "And prosperity is not secure, but ephemeral," and that "small indeed are the things that trip us up, and a single day has brought down some things from on high, and raised others up," said that he spoke well in other respects, but that it would have been better if he had said, not a single day, but a moment of time. "For the same cycle belongs to the fruitful plants of the earth and to the race of mortals.
τοῖς μὲν αὔξεται βίος,
τῶν δὲ φθίνει τε κἀκθερίζεται πάλιν. "
ὁ δὲ Πίνδαρος ἐν ἄλλοις
"
τί δέ τις;
For some, life increases, while for others it fades and is harvested again." And Pindar in other passages says: "What is someone?
τί δʼ οὔ τις;
What is no one?
σκιᾶς ὄναρ
ἄνθρωπος
"
ἐμφαντικῶς σφόδρα καὶ φιλοτέχνως ὑπερβολῇ χρησάμενος τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον ἐδήλωσε.
A shadow's dream is man," revealing the life of men very expressively and artistically by using a hyperbole.
τί γὰρ σκιᾶς ἀσθενέστερον;
For what is weaker than a shadow?
τὸ δὲ ταύτης ὄναρ οὐδʼ ἂν ἐκφράσαι τις ἕτερος δυνηθείη σαφῶς.
And its dream, no one else would be able to express clearly.
τούτοις δʼ ἑπόμενος καὶ ὁ Κράντωρ παραμυθούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν τέκνων τελευτῇ τὸν Ἱπποκλέα φησὶ
ταῦτα γὰρ πᾶσα αὕτη ἡ ἀρχαία φιλοσοφία λέγει τε καὶ παρακελεύεται.
Following these, Crantor also, when comforting Hippocles on the death of his children, says: For all this ancient philosophy says and counsels these things.
ὧν εἰ δή τι ἄλλο μὴ ἀποδεχόμεθα, τό γε πολλαχῆ εἶναι ἐργώδη καὶ δύσκολον τὸν βίον ἄγαν ἀληθές.
Of which, even if we accept nothing else, this at least—that life is in many ways laborious and difficult—is only too true.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ φύσει τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, ὑπὸ γʼ ἡμῶν εἰς τοῦτʼ ἀφῖκται διαφθορᾶς.
For indeed, even if it is not of this character by nature, it has at least been brought to this point of corruption by us.
ἥ τʼ ἄδηλος αὕτη τύχη πόρρωθεν ἡμῖν καὶ ἔτʼ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἠκολούθηκεν οὐδʼ ἐφʼ ἑνὶ ὑγιεῖ, φυομένοις τε μίγνυταί τις ἐν πᾶσι κακοῦ μοῖρα·
And this uncertain fortune has followed us from afar, and even from the beginning, leaving nothing sound, and as we are born, a certain portion of evil is mixed in all of us.
τὰ γάρ τοι σπέρματα εὐθὺς θνητὰ ὄντα ταύτης κοινωνεῖ τῆς αἰτίας, ἐξ ἧς ἀφυΐα μὲν ψυχῆς, νόσοι δὲ καὶ κήδεα καὶ μοῖρα θνητῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἡμῖν ἕρπει.
For our seeds, being mortal from the start, share in this cause, from which dullness of soul, diseases, anxieties, and the doom of mortals crawl upon us from there.
τοῦ δὴ χάριν ἐτραπόμεθα δεῦρο;
For the sake of what, then, have we turned hither?
ἵνʼ εἰδείημεν ὅτι καινὸν ἀτυχεῖν οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπῳ ἀλλὰ πάντες ταὐτὸ πεπόνθαμεν.
In order that we might know that to meet with misfortune is nothing new for a human being, but we have all suffered the same thing.
ἄσκοπος γὰρ ἡ τύχη
φησὶν ὁ Θεόφραστος
καὶ δεινὴ παρελέσθαι τὰ προπεπονημένα καὶ μεταρρῖψαι τὴν δοκοῦσαν εὐημερίαν, οὐδένα καιρὸν ἔχουσα τακτόν
ταῦτα δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἑκάστῳ λογίσασθαι ῥᾴδιον, καὶ ἄλλων ἀκοῦσαι παλαιῶν καὶ σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν· ὧν πρῶτος μέν ἐστιν ὁ θεῖος Ὅμηρος, εἰπών
"
οὐδὲν ἀκιδνότερον γαῖα τρέφει ἀνθρώποιο.
"For fortune is unpredictable," says Theophrastus, "and clever at taking away what has been previously labored for and overturning apparent prosperity, having no appointed time." And these things and others of this kind are easy for each one to reflect upon by himself, and also to hear from other ancient and wise men; of whom the first is divine Homer, who says: "The earth rears nothing feebler than man.
οὐ μὲν γάρ ποτέ φησι κακὸν πείσεσθαι ὀπίσσω,
ὄφρʼ ἀρετὴν παρέχωσι θεοὶ καὶ γούνατʼ ὀρώρῃ
ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ καὶ λυγρὰ θεοὶ μάκαρες τελέσωσι,
καὶ τὰ φέρει ἀεκαζόμενος τετληότι θυμῷ
"
καὶ
"
τοῖος γὰρ νόος ἐστὶν ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων,
οἷον ἐπʼ ἦμαρ ἄγῃσι πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε
"
καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις
"
Τυδεΐδη μεγάθυμε, τίη γενεὴν ἐρεείνεις;
For he says he will never suffer evil in the future, as long as the gods grant him prosperity and his knees move; but when the blessed gods bring grievous things to pass, these too he bears perforce with a patient heart." And: "For such is the mind of men upon the earth, like the day which the father of men and gods brings upon them." And in other passages: "High-souled son of Tydeus, why do you inquire of my lineage?
οἵη περ φύλλων γενεή, τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.
Even as is the generation of leaves, such is also that of men.
φύλλα τὰ μὲν τʼ ἄνεμος χαμάδις χέει, ἄλλα δέ
θʼ ὕλη
τηλεθόωσα φύει, ἔαρος δʼ ἐπιγίγνεται ὥρη
ὣς ἀνδρῶν γενεὴ ἡ μὲν φύει ἡ δʼ ἀπολήγει
"
ταύτῃ δʼ ὅτι καλῶς ἐχρήσατο τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου βίου δῆλον ἐξ ὧν ἐν ἄλλῳ τόπῳ φησὶν οὕτω
"
βροτῶν ἕνεκα πτολεμίζω
δειλῶν, οἳ φύλλοισιν ἐοικότες, ἄλλοτε μέν τε
ζαφλεγέες τελέθουσιν ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδοντες· ,
ἄλλοτε δὲ φθινύθουσιν ἀκήριοι, οὐδέ τις ἀλκὴ
"
Σιμωνίδης δʼ ὁ τῶν μελῶν ποιητής, Παυσανίου τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων μεγαλαυχουμένου συνεχῶς ἐπὶ ταῖς αὑτοῦ πράξεσι καὶ κελεύοντος ἀπαγγεῖλαί τι αὐτῷ σοφὸν μετὰ χλευασμοῦ, συνεὶς αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν συνεβούλευε μεμνῆσθαι ὅτι ἄνθρωπός ἐστι·
As for leaves, the wind pours some upon the ground, but the forest budding puts forth others, and the season of spring comes on; so is the generation of men: one puts forth, and another ceases." And that he used this image of human life beautifully is clear from what he says in another place: "I should fight for the sake of mortals, wretched ones, who, resembling leaves, at one time are full of fire, eating the fruit of the earth, and at another fade away lifeless, and there is no strength in them." And Simonides, the lyric poet, when Pausanias, the king of the Lacedaemonians, was constantly boasting of his own exploits and mockingly ordering him to tell him something wise, understanding his arrogance, advised him to remember that he was a human being.
Φίλιππος δʼ ὁ τῶν Μακεδόνων βασιλεὺς τριῶν αὐτῷ προσαγγελθέντων εὐτυχημάτων ὑφʼ καιρόν, πρώτου μὲν ὅτι τεθρίππῳ νενίκηκεν Ὀλύμπια, δευτέρου δʼ ὅτι Παρμενίων ὁ στρατηγὸς μάχῃ Δαρδανεῖς ἐνίκησε, τρίτου δʼ ὅτι ἄρρεν αὐτῷ παιδίον ἐκύησεν Ὀλυμπιάς, ἀνατείνας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν τὰς χεῖρας
ὦ δαῖμον
εἶπε,
μέτριόν τι τούτοις ἀντίθες ἐλάττωμα,
εἰδὼς ὅτι τοῖς μεγάλοις εὐτυχήμασι φθονεῖν πέφυκεν ἡ τύχη.
And Philip, the king of the Macedonians, when three successes were announced to him at the same time—first, that he had won at the Olympics with a four-horse chariot; second, that Parmenion, his general, had defeated the Dardanians in battle; third, that Olympias had borne him a male child—stretched his hands to heaven and said: "O deity, set some moderate setback against these," knowing that fortune is by nature envious of great successes.
Θηραμένης δʼ ὁ γενόμενος Ἀθήνησι τῶν τριάκοντα τυράννων, συμπεσούσης τῆς οἰκίας ἐν μετὰ πλειόνων ἐδείπνει, μόνος σωθεὶς καὶ πρὸς πάντων εὐδαιμονιζόμενος, ἀναφωνήσας μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ
ὦ τύχη
εἶπεν,
εἰς τίνα με καιρὸν ἄρα φυλάττεις; μετʼ οὐ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον καταστρεβλωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν συντυράννων ἐτελεύτησεν.
And Theramenes, who was one of the Thirty Tyrants in Athens, when the house collapsed in which he was dining with several others, being the only one saved and congratulated by everyone on his good fortune, cried out with a loud voice and said: "O fortune, for what occasion, then, are you preserving me?" And not long afterward, having been tortured by his fellow tyrants, he died.