§1οὕτω δὴ καὶ δοκεῖ μηθὲν τοῦ μίσους διαφέρειν ὁ φθόνος ἀλλʼ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶναι.
Thus, envy is also thought to differ in no way from hatred, but to be the same thing.
καθόλου μὲν γὰρ ὥσπερ πολυάγκιστρον ἡ κακία τοῖς ἐξηρτημένοις αὐτῆς πάθεσι κινουμένη δεῦρο κἀκεῖσε πολλὰς πρὸς ἄλληλα συναφὰς καὶ περιπλοκὰς ἐνδίδωσι ταῦτα δʼ ὥσπερ νοσήματα συμπαθεῖ ταῖς ἀλλήλων φλεγμοναῖς.
For in general, just as a multi-barbed hook, vice, being moved hither and thither by the passions attached to it, produces many connections and entanglements with one another; and these, like diseases, sympathize with one another's inflammations.
ὁ γὰρ εὐτυχῶν ὁμοίως καὶ τὸν μισοῦντα λυπεῖ καὶ τὸν φθονοῦντα.
For the fortunate person similarly distresses both the one who hates and the one who envies.
διὸ καὶ τὴν εὔνοιαν ἀμφοτέροις νομίζομεν ἀντικεῖσθαι, βούλησιν οὖσαν ἀγαθῶν τοῖς πλησίον· καὶ τῷ μισεῖν τὸ φθονεῖν ταὐτὸν εἶναι, ὅτι τὴν ἐναντίαν τῷ φιλεῖν ἔχει προαίρεσιν.
Therefore we also think that goodwill is opposed to both, being a wishing of good things to neighbors; and that envying is the same as hating, because it has an intention contrary to loving.
ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐχ οὕτω ταὐτὸν αἱ ὁμοιότητες ὡς ἕτερον αἱ διαφοραὶ ποιοῦσι, κατὰ ταύτας ζητοῦμεν ἑὰν μεταδιώξωμεν, ἀπὸ τῆς γενέσεως ἀρξάμενοι τῶν παθῶν.
But since similarities do not make things so much the same as differences make them other, we seek according to these differences if we pursue [the investigation], starting from the origin of the passions.
§2γεννᾶται τοίνυν τὸ μῖσος ἐκ φαντασίας τοῦ ὅτι πονηρὸς ἢ κοινῶς ἢ πρὸς αὐτόν ἐστιν ὁ μισούμενος· καὶ γὰρ ἀδικεῖσθαι δόξαντες αὐτοὶ πεφύκασι μισεῖν, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλως ἀδικητικοὺς ἢ πονηροὺς προβάλλονται καὶ δυσχεραίνουσι φθονοῦσι δʼ ἁπλῶς τοῖς εὖ πράττειν δοκοῦσιν.
Now hatred is born from an impression that the person hated is wicked, either generally or toward oneself; for those who think they have been wronged are naturally inclined to hate, and they reject and dislike those who are otherwise injurious or wicked; but they envy simply those who seem to fare well.
ὅθεν ἔοικεν ὁ μὲν φθόνος ἀόριστος εἶναι, καθάπερ ὀφθαλμία πρὸς ἅπαν τὸ λαμπρὸν ἐκταρασσόμενος· τὸ δὲ μῖσος ὥρισται καθʼ ὑποκειμένων ἀεί τινων ἀπερειδόμενον πρὸς αὐτόν.
Whence envy seems to be indefinite, being disturbed like ophthalmia toward everything that is bright; but hatred is defined, being always directed toward certain subjects in relation to itself.
§3δεύτερον δὲ τὸ μισεῖν γίγνεται καὶ πρὸς ἄλογα ζῷα· καὶ γὰρ γαλᾶς καὶ κανθαρίδας ἔνιοι μισοῦσι καὶ φρύνους καὶ ὄφεις· Γερμανικὸς δʼ ἀλεκτρυόνος οὔτε φωνὴν οὔτʼ ὄψιν ὑπέμενεν οἱ δὲ Περσῶν μάγοι τοὺς μῦς ἀπεκτίννυσαν, ὡς αὐτοί τε μισοῦντες καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ δυσχεραίνοντος τὸ ζῷον· ὁμοῦ τι γὰρ πάντες Ἄραβες καὶ Αἰθίοπες μυσάττονται.
Secondly, hating occurs also toward irrational animals; for some people hate weasels and beetles and toads and snakes; and Germanicus could endure neither the voice nor the sight of a cock; and the Persian Magi used to kill mice, as they themselves hated them and the god disliked the animal; for almost all Arabs and Ethiopians loathe them.
τὸ μέντοι φθονεῖν πρὸς; μόνον ἄνθρωπον ἀνθρώπῳ γίγνεται.
Envying, however, occurs only from human to human.
§4κἂν τοῖς θηρίοις δὲ φθόνον μὲν οὐκ εἰκὸς ἐγγίνεσθαι πρὸς ἄλληλα· τοῦ γὰρ εὖ πράττειν ἢ κακῶς ἕτερον φαντασίαν οὐ λαμβάνουσιν, οὐδʼ ἅπτεται τὸ ἔνδοξον ἢ ἄδοξον αὐτῶν, οἷς ὁ φθόνος ἐκτραχύνεται μάλιστα.
Even among wild beasts, it is not likely that envy arises toward one another; for they do not receive an impression of another's faring well or ill, nor does reputation or disrepute touch them, by which envy is especially sharpened.
μισοῦσι δʼ ἄλληλα καὶ ἀπεχθάνονται καὶ πολεμοῦσιν ὥσπερ ἀσπείστους τινὰς πολέμους ἀετοὶ καὶ δράκοντες, κορῶναι καὶ γλαῦκες, αἰγιθαλλοὶ καὶ ἀκανθυλλίδες· ὥστε τούτων γέ φασι μηδὲ τὸ αἷμα κίρνασθαι σφαττομένων, ἀλλὰ κἂν μίξῃς, ἰδίᾳ πάλιν ἀπορρεῖν διακρινόμενον.
But they hate one another and are hostile and wage, as it were, implacable wars: eagles and dragons, crows and owls, tits and goldfinches; so that they say not even the blood of these mixes when they are slaughtered, but even if you mix it, it flows apart again, being separated.
εἰκότως; δʼ ἔχει τῷ λέοντι πρὸς τὸν ἀλεκτρυόνα καὶ τῷ ἐλέφαντι πρὸς τὴν ὗν μῖσος ἰσχυρὸν γεγεννηκέναι τὸν φόβον· ὃ γὰρ δεδίασι, καὶ μισεῖν πεφύκασιν ὥστε καὶ ταύτῃ φαίνεσθαι διαφέροντα τοῦ μίσους τὸν φθόνον, τὸ μὲν δεχομένης τῆς τῶν θηρίων φύσεως τὸν δὲ μὴ δεχομένης.
And it is reasonable that fear has generated a strong hatred in the lion toward the cock, and in the elephant toward the pig; for what they fear, they are also naturally inclined to hate; so that in this way too envy appears to differ from hatred, the nature of beasts receiving the latter, but not receiving the former.
§5ἔτι τοίνυν τὸ μὲν φθονεῖν πρὸς οὐδένα γίγνεται δικαίως· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀδικεῖ τῷ εὐτυχεῖν, ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ φθονοῦνται μισοῦνται δὲ πολλοὶ δικαίως, ὡς οὓς ἀξιομισήτους καλοῦμεν, ἂν μὴ φεύγωσι τοὺς τοιούτους μηδὲ βδελύττωνται καὶ δυσχεραίνωσι.
Furthermore, envying occurs justly toward no one; for no one does wrong by faring well, yet people are envied for this; but many are hated justly, such as those we call "worthy of hatred," if we do not avoid such people nor loathe and dislike them [then we are at fault].
μέγα δὲ τούτου τεκμήριον, ὅτι μισεῖν μὲν πολλοὺς ὁμολογοῦσιν ἔνιοι φθονεῖν δʼ οὐδενὶ λέγουσι. καὶ γὰρ ἡ μισοπονηρία τῶν ἐπαινουμένων ἐστί·
A great proof of this is that some people confess to hating many, but say they envy no one.
καὶ τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν τοῦ Λυκούργου Χάριλλον, βασιλεύοντα τῆς Σπάρτης ἐπιεικῆ δʼ ὄντα καὶ πρᾶον ἐπαινούντων τινῶν, ὁ συνάρχων
καὶ πῶς
ἔφη
χρηστός ἐστι Χάριλλος, ὃς οὐδὲ τοῖς πονηροῖς χαλεπός ἐστι; καὶ τοῦ Θερσίτου ὁ ποιητὴς τὴν μὲν τοῦ σώματος κακίαν πολυμερῶς καὶ περιωδευμένως ἐξεμόρφησε, τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἤθους μοχθηρίαν συντομώτατα καὶ διʼ ἑνὸς ἔφρασεν,
"ἔχθιστος δʼ Ἀχιλῆι μάλιστʼ ἦν ἠδʼ Ὀδυσῆι"
ὑπερβολὴ γάρ τις φαυλότητος τὸ τοῖς κρατίστοις ἐχθρὸν εἶναι.
For indeed the hatred of evil is among the things praised; and when some were praising Charillus, the nephew of Lycurgus, who was king of Sparta but gentle and mild, his colleague said: "And how can Charillus be good, who is not even harsh to the wicked?" And as for Thersites, the poet depicted his bodily vice copiously and circuitously, but expressed the wickedness of his character most briefly and in one phrase: "But he was most hateful to Achilles especially and to Odysseus." For to be an enemy to the best is a certain excess of badness.
καὶ φθονεῖν δʼ ἀρνοῦνται κἂν ἐλέγχωνται, μυρίας σκήψεις προΐσχονται, ὀργίζεσθαι λέγοντες ἢ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἢ μισεῖν ἢ ὁ τι ἂν τύχωσιν ἄλλο τῷ φθόνῳ τοῦ πάθους ὄνομα περιβάλλοντες καὶ καλύπτοντες, ὡς μόνον τοῦτο τῶν ψυχῆς νοσημάτων ἀπόρρητον.
And they deny envying even if they are convicted, putting forward ten thousand excuses, saying that they are angry or that they fear the man or hate him, or wrapping and covering envy with whatever other name of passion they may happen to find, as if this alone of the diseases of the soul were unmentionable.