§1τῶν λόγων ἀρίστους καὶ βεβαιοτάτους ὥσπερ τῶν φίλων φασὶν εἶναι τοὺς ἐν ταῖς συμφοραῖς παρόντας ὠφελίμως καὶ βοηθοῦντας· ἐπεὶ πάρεισί γε πολλοὶ καὶ προσδιαλέγονται τοῖς ἐπταικόσιν, ἀλλʼ ἀχρήστως μᾶλλον δὲ βλαβερῶς, καθάπερ ἀκόλυμβοι πνιγομένοις ἐπιχειροῦντες βοηθεῖν περιπλεκόμενοι καὶ συγκαταδύνοντες·
It is said that the best and most steadfast of words, like friends, are those that are helpfully present and assisting in misfortunes; for there are indeed present many who converse with those who have stumbled, but uselessly or rather harmfully, just as non-swimmers attempting to help the drowning cling to them and sink down together with them.
δεῖ δὲ τὸν παρὰ τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν βοηθούντων λόγον παρηγορίαν εἶναι μὴ συνηγορίαν τοῦ λυποῦντος.
But the word from friends and helpers ought to be a consolation, not an advocacy of what causes pain.
οὐ γὰρ συνδακρυόντων καὶ συνεπιθρηνούντων ὥσπερ χορῶν τραγικῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀβουλήτοις χρείαν ἔχομεν, ἀλλὰ παρρησιαζομένων καὶ διδασκόντων ὅτι τὸ λυπεῖσθαι καὶ τὸ ταπεινοῦν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ παντὶ μὲν ἄχρηστόν ἐστι καὶ γιγνόμενον κενῶς καὶ ἀνοήτως· ὅπου δʼ αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα δίδωσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου ψηλαφηθέντα καὶ ἀνακαλυφθέντα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰπεῖν
"οὐδὲν πέπονθας δεινόν, ἂν μὴ προσποιῇ· "
κομιδῇ γελοῖόν ἐστι, μὴ τῆς σαρκὸς πυνθάνεσθαι τί πέπονθε, μηδὲ τῆς ψυχῆς εἰ διὰ τὸ σύμπτωμα τοῦτο χείρων γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν συναχθομένοις καὶ συναγανακτοῦσι διδασκάλοις χρῆσθαι τῆς λύπης.
For we do not have need of those who weep and lament with us like tragic choruses in our unwanted troubles, but of those who speak frankly and teach that to grieve and to humble oneself is useless in every case, and happens in vain and foolishly; but where the things themselves, being touched and uncovered by reason, allow one to say to oneself: "You have suffered nothing terrible, unless you make believe you have." It is utterly ridiculous not to ask the flesh what it has suffered, nor the soul if it has become worse because of this incident, but to use those who condole and grieve with us from the outside as teachers of grief.
§2ὅθεν αὐτοὶ καθʼ αὑτοὺς γιγνόμενοι τῶν συμπτωμάτων ὥσπερ φορτίων ἑκάστου τὸν σταθμὸν ἐξετάζωμεν, τὸ μὲν γὰρ· σῶμα πιέζεται τῷ τοῦ βαρύνοντος ἄχθει, δὲ ψυχὴ τοῖς πράγμασι πολλάκις τὸ βάρος ἐξ αὑτῆς προστίθησιν.
ὅθεν Wherefore, returning to ourselves, let us examine the weight of our circumstances, as if they were burdens, of each one; for the body is weighed down by the load of what oppresses it but the soul often adds weight to things from itself.
ὁ λίθος φύσει σκληρός, ὁ κρύσταλλος φύσει ψυχρός ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔξωθεν εἰκῆ ταύτας τὰς ἀντιτυπίας ἐπιφέροντες καὶ τὰς πήξεις· φυγὰς δὲ καὶ ἀδοξίας καὶ τιμῶν ἀποβολάς, ὥσπερ αὖ τἀναντία, στεφάνους καὶ ἀρχὰς καὶ προεδρίας, οὐ τὴν αὑτῶν φύσιν ἀλλὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν κρίσιν μέτρον ἔχοντα τοῦ λυπεῖν καὶ εὐφραίνειν, ἕκαστος· ἑαυτῷ κοῦφα καὶ βαρέακαὶ ῥᾴδια φέρειν ποιεῖ, καὶ τοὐναντίον.
A stone is hard by nature, ice is cold by nature, not bringing upon themselves these resistances and congelations from the outside at random; but exile, loss of reputation, and deprivation of honors, just as on the other hand, crowns, offices, and front seats, having not their own nature but our judgment as the measure of pain and pleasure, each person makes them light or heavy and easy to bear for himself, or the opposite.
ἔξεστι δʼ ἀκούειν τοῦ μὲν Πολυνείκους ἀποκρινομένου πρὸς τὸ ἐρώτημα τοῦτο τοῦ δʼ Ἀλκμᾶνος, ὡς ὁ γράψας τοὐπιγραμμάτιον πεποίηκε,
"
Σάρδιες, ἀρχαῖος πατέρων νομός, εἰ μὲν ἐν ὑμῖν
ἐτρεφόμην, κερνᾶς· ἦν τις ἂν ἢ βακέλας
χρυσοφόρος, ῥήσσων καλὰ τύμπανα· νῦν δέ μοι Ἀλκμὰν
οὔνομα, καὶ Σπάρτας εἰμὶ πολυτρίποδος,
καὶ Μούσας ἐδάην Ἑλικωνίδας, αἵ με τυράννων
θῆκαν Δασκύλεω κρείσσονα καὶ Γύγεω.
And one may hear Polynices answering this question and Alcman, as the author of the epigram has represented him: "Sardis, ancient home of my fathers, if indeed I had been nurtured among you, I would have been some temple servant or gold-wearing eunuch priest, beating beautiful tambourines; but now my name is Alcman, and I belong to Sparta of many tripods, and I was taught by the Heliconian Muses, who made me greater than the tyrants Dascylus and Gyges.
"
τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ πρᾶγμα τῷ μὲν εὔχρηστον ἡ δόξα καθάπερ νόμισμα δόκιμον, τῷ δὲ δύσχρηστον καὶ βλαβερὸν ἐποίησεν.
"For public opinion has made the same circumstance useful to one, like a genuine coin, and difficult to use and harmful to another.
§3ἔστω δὲ δεινόν, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοὶ λέγουσι καὶ ᾄδουσιν, ἡ φυγή.
ἔστω And let exile be something terrible, as the many say and sing.
καὶ γὰρ τῶν βρωμάτων πικρὰ πολλὰ καὶ δριμέα καὶ δάκνοντα τὴν αἴσθησίν ἐστιν· ἀλλὰ μιγνύντες αὐτοῖς ἔνια τῶν γλυκέων καὶ προσηνῶν τὴν ἀηδίαν ἀφαιροῦμεν.
For indeed many of our foods are bitter and sharp and biting to the taste; but by mixing some sweet and pleasant things with them, we remove the unpleasantness.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ χρώματα λυπηρὰ τῇ ὄψει, πρὸς ἃ γίγνεται τὸ συγχεῖσθαι καὶ μαραυγεῖν διὰ σκληρότητα καὶ βίαν ἀνίατον.
There are also colors painful to the sight, which cause confusion and dimness because of their relentless harshness and force.
εἰ τοίνυν ἴαμα τῆς δυσχρηστίας ἐκείνης ἐμίξαμεν τὴν σκιὰν αὐτοῖς, ἢ τὴν ὄψιν ἀπεστρέψαμεν ἐπί τι τῶν χλοερῶν καὶ προσηνῶν, τοῦτʼ ἔξεστι ποιεῖν καὶ πρὸς τὰ συμπτώματα, κεραννύντας αὐτοῖς τὰ χρήσιμα καὶ φιλάνθρωπα τῶν νυνί σοι παρόντων, εὐπορίαν φίλους ἀπραγμοσύνην τὸ μηδὲν ἐνδεῖν τῶν ἀναγκαίων πρὸς τὸν βίον.
If, therefore, as a remedy for that difficulty, we mix shade with them, or turn our sight toward some of the green and pleasant things, this we can also do with respect to the circumstances, mixing with them the useful and friendly of your present circumstances: wealth, friends, leisure, and having no lack of the necessities of life.
οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι πολλοὺς εἶναι Σαρδιανῶν, οἳ μὴ τὰ σὰ πράγματα καὶ μετὰ φυγῆς μᾶλλον ἐθελήσουσιν αὑτοῖς ὑπάρχειν καὶ ἀγαπήσουσιν ἐπὶ ξένης οὕτω διάγοντες, ἤ, καθάπερ οἱ κοχλίαι τοῖς ὀστράκοις συμφυεῖς ὄντες ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν ἀγαθὸν ἔχοντες, τῶν, οἴκοι μετέχειν ἀλύπως.
For I do not think there are many of the Sardians who would not rather have your circumstances, even with exile, and be content to live thus in a foreign land, than, like snails growing together with their shells and having no other good thing, share in things at home without pain.