§6τί οὖν;
What then?
οὐ δοκεῖ σοι καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀθέων πρὸς τοὺς δεισιδαίμονας πάθος ἔχειν τοιαύτην διαφοράν;
Does it not seem to you that the disposition of atheists also, compared with that of the superstitious, has a difference of this kind?
οἱ μὲν οὐχ ὁρῶσι τοὺς θεοὺς τὸ παράπαν, οἱ δὲ κακοὺς ὑπάρχειν νομίζουσιν· οἱ μὲν παρορῶσιν, οἱ δὲ δοξάζουσι φοβερὸν τὸ εὐμενὲς καὶ τυραννικὸν τὸ πατρικὸν καὶ βλαβερὸν τὸ κηδεμονικὸν καὶ τὸ ἄμικτον ἄγριον εἶναι καὶ θηριῶδες.
The former do not see the gods at all, while the latter believe them to be evil; the former overlook them, while the latter believe that which is benevolent to be fearful, that which is paternal to be tyrannical, that which is protective to be harmful, and that which is unapproachable to be wild and beast-like.
εἶτα χαλκοτύποις μὲν πείθονται καὶ λιθοξόοις καὶ κηροπλάσταις ἀνθρωπόμορφα τῶν θεῶν τὰ εἴδη ποιοῦσι, καὶ τοιαῦτα πλάττουσι καὶ κατασκευάζουσι καὶ προσκυνοῦσι· φιλοσόφων δὲ καὶ πολιτικῶν ἀνδρῶν καταφρονοῦσιν, ἀποδεικνύντων τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ σεμνότητα μετὰ χρηστότητος καὶ μεγαλοφροσύνης καὶ εὐμενείας καὶ κηδεμονίας.
And then, they trust coppersmiths, stonecutters, and wax-modelers who make the forms of the gods in human shape, and they fashion, construct, and worship such things; but they despise philosophers and statesmen who demonstrate that the majesty of God is accompanied by goodness, magnanimity, benevolence, and care.
περίεστιν οὖν τοῖς μὲν ἀναισθησία καὶ ἀπιστία τῶν ὠφελούντων, τοῖς δὲ ταραχὴ καὶ φόβος πρὸς τὰ ὠφελοῦντα.
Consequently, the result for the former is insensibility and disbelief toward those things that benefit them, while for the latter it is agitation and fear toward those very things that benefit them.
καὶ ὅλως ἡ μὲν ἀθεότης ἀπάθεια πρὸς τὸ θεῖόν ἐστι μὴ νοοῦσα τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἡ δὲ δεισιδαιμονία πολυπάθεια κακὸν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὑπονοοῦσα.
And in general, atheism is an apathy toward the divine because of not understanding the good, while superstition is a state of excessive passion because of suspecting the good to be evil.
φοβοῦνται τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ καταφεύγουσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς θεούς, κολακεύουσι καὶ λοιδοροῦσιν, εὔχονται καὶ καταμέμφονται.
They fear the gods and yet flee to the gods for refuge; they flatter them and yet revile them; they pray to them and yet find fault with them.
κοινὸν ἀνθρώπων τὸ μὴ πάντα διευτυχεῖν· "
κεῖνοι γάρ τʼ ἄνοσοι καὶ ἀγήραοι
πόνων τʼ ἄπειροι, βαρυβόαν
πορθμὸν πεφευγότες Ἀχέροντος,
"
ὁ Πίνδαρός φησι, τὰ δʼ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη καὶ πράγματα μέμικται συντυχίαις ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλως ῥεούσαις.
It is common to all men not to succeed in everything; "for they indeed are free from disease, and age-less, and untouched by labors, having escaped the deep-roaring ferry of Acheron," as Pindar says, whereas human passions and affairs are mingled with chances that flow now in one way, now in another.
§7φέρε δὴ πρῶτον ἐν τοῖς ἀβουλήτοις σκόπει τὸν ἄθεον καὶ καταμάνθανε τὴν διάθεσιν, ἂν ᾖ τἄλλα μέτριος, χρωμένου σιωπῇ τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ πορίζοντος αὑτῷ βοηθείας καὶ παρηγορίας, ἂν δὲ δυσφορῇ καὶ περιπαθῇ, πάντας ἐπὶ τὴν τύχην καὶ τὸ αὐτόματον ἀπερειδομένου τοὺς ὀδυρμοὺς καὶ βοῶντος ὡς οὐδὲν κατὰ δίκην οὐδʼ ἐκ προνοίας ἀλλὰ πάντα συγκεχυμένως καὶ ἀκρίτως φέρεται καὶ ταράττεται τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
Come then, first look at the atheist in the midst of unwanted circumstances and understand his disposition; if he is otherwise moderate, he meets present circumstances in silence and provides himself with aid and consolation; but if he is vexed and overly distressed, he directs all his laments toward Fortune and chance, and cries out that human affairs are carried along and thrown into confusion not according to justice or providence, but altogether chaotically and indiscriminately.
τοῦ δὲ δεισιδαίμονος οὐχ οὗτος ὁ τρόπος, ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ μικρότατον αὐτῷ κακόν τι συμπεπτωκός ἐστιν, ἄλλα κάθηται πάθη χαλεπὰ καὶ μεγάλα καὶ δυσαπάλλακτα τῇ λύπῃ προσοικοδομῶν, καὶ προσεμφορῶν αὑτῷ δείματα καὶ φόβους καὶ ὑποψίας καὶ ταραχάς, παντὶ θρήνῳ καὶ παντὶ στεναγμῷ καθαπτόμενος·
But the way of the superstitious person is not like this; rather, even if some very small evil has befallen him, he sits building up other troublesome, great, and hard-to-escape passions upon his grief, and heaping upon himself terrors, fears, suspicions, and agitations, attacking himself with every lamentation and every groan.
οὔτε γὰρ ἄνθρωπον οὔτε τύχην οὔτε καιρὸν οὔτε ἑαυτὸν ἀλλὰ πάντων τὸν θεὸν αἰτιᾶται, κἀκεῖθεν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἥκειν καὶ φέρεσθαι ῥεῦμα δαιμόνιον ἄτης φησί, καὶ ὡς οὐ δυστυχὴς ὢν ἀλλὰ θεομισής τις ἄνθρωπος ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν κολάζεσθαι καὶ δίκην διδόναι καὶ πάντα πάσχειν προσηκόντως διʼ αὑτὸν οἴεται.
For he blames neither man nor Fortune nor occasion nor himself, but God for everything, and says that a divine stream of ruin has come and is flowing upon him from that source, and believes that he is being punished by the gods and paying the penalty, not as one who is unfortunate, but as a person hated by God, and that he suffers everything deservedly on his own account.
νοσῶν θʼ ὁ ἄθεος ἐκλογίζεται καὶ ἀναμιμνῄσκεται πλησμονὰς αὑτοῦ καὶ οἰνώσεις καὶ ἀταξίας περὶ δίαιταν ἢ κόπους ὑπερβάλλοντας ἢ μεταβολὰς ἀέρων ἀήθεις καὶ τόπων, ἔπειτα προσκρούσας ἐν πολιτείαις καὶ περιπεσὼν ἀδοξίαις πρὸς ὄχλον ἢ διαβολαῖς πρὸς ἡγεμόνα τὴν αἰτίαν ἐξ αὑτοῦ καὶ τῶν περὶ αὑτὸν σκοπεῖ
"πῆ παρέβην;
And when he is sick, the atheist calculates and recalls his own overeatings, bouts of drunkenness, irregularities of diet, excessive fatigues, or unusual changes of air and place; then, if he has failed in public affairs and fallen into disrepute with the crowd or into slanders before a ruler, he seeks the cause within himself and his own circle, saying: "Where did I transgress?
τί δʼ ἔρεξα;
What did I do?
τί μοι δέον οὐκ ἐτελέσθη; "
τῷ δὲ δεισιδαίμονι καὶ σώματος ἀρρωστία πᾶσα καὶ χρημάτων ἀποβολὴ καὶ τέκνων θάνατοι καὶ περὶ πολιτικὰς πράξεις δυσημερίαι καὶ ἀποτεύξεις πληγαὶ θεοῦ καὶ προσβολαὶ δαίμονος λέγονται.
What duty of mine was left unaccomplished?" But to the superstitious person, every bodily illness, loss of money, deaths of children, and failures and setbacks in public affairs are called blows of God and assaults of a demon.
ὅθεν οὐδὲ τολμᾷ βοηθεῖν οὐδὲ διαλύειν τὸ συμβεβηκὸς οὐδὲ θεραπεύειν οὐδʼ ἀντιτάττεσθαι, μὴ δόξῃ θεομαχεῖν καὶ ἀντιτείνειν κολαζόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὠθεῖται μὲν ἔξω νοσοῦντος ὁ ἰατρός, ἀποκλείεται δὲ πενθοῦντος ὁ νουθετῶν καὶ παραμυθούμενος φιλόσοφος.
Hence he does not even dare to help himself, or to undo what has happened, or to cure it, or to oppose it, lest he should seem to fight against God and resist while being punished; and so the physician is pushed out of the room of the sick man, and the warning and comforting philosopher is shut out from the door of the mourner.
ἔα με
φησὶν
ἄνθρωπε διδόναι δίκην, τὸν ἀσεβῆ, τὸν ἐπάρατον, τὸν θεοῖς καὶ δαίμοσι μεμισημένον. ἔστιν ἀνθρώπου μὴ πεπεισμένου θεοὺς εἶναι λυπουμένου δʼ ἄλλως καὶ περιπαθοῦντος ἀπομάξαι δάκρυον, ἀποκεῖραι κόμην, ἀφελέσθαι τὸ ἱμάτιον· τὸν δὲ δεισιδαίμονα πῶς ἂν προσείποις ἢ ποῦ βοηθήσεις;
"Leave me alone, man," he says, "to pay my penalty—me, the impious, the accursed, the one hated by gods and demons." It is possible for a man who is not convinced that gods exist, but is otherwise grieving and distressed, to wipe away a tear, to shear his hair, and to take off his cloak; but how would you address the superstitious person, or in what way will you help him?
ἔξω κάθηται σακκίον ἔχων, καὶ περιεζωσμένος ῥάκεσι ῥυπαροῖς πολλάκις δὲ γυμνὸς ἐν πηλῷ κυλινδούμενος ἐξαγορεύει τινὰς ἁμαρτίας αὑτοῦ καὶ πλημμελείας, ὡς τόδε φαγόντος ἢ πιόντος ἢ βαδίσαντος ὁδὸν ἣν οὐκ εἴα τὸ δαιμόνιον.
He sits outside wearing sackcloth, girded with filthy rags, and often rolling naked in the mud, confessing certain sins and errors of his own, as having eaten this or drunk that, or having walked along a path which the deity did not permit.
ἂν δʼ ἄριστα πράττῃ καὶ συνῇ πράῳ δεισιδαιμονίᾳ, περιθειούμενος οἴκοι κάθηται καὶ περιματτόμενος, αἱ δὲ γρᾶες
καθάπερ παττάλῳ
φησὶν ὁ Βίων
ὅ τι ἂν τύχωσιν αὐτῷ περιάπτουσι φέρουσαι καὶ περιαρτῶσι
And if he fares best and lives with a mild form of superstition, he sits at home, being fumigated with sulphur and wiped clean, and the old women, "just as if to a peg," as Bion says, "bring whatever they happen to find and tie it or hang it upon him."