§1Σωρκανὸν ἐγκολπίσασθαι καὶ φιλίαν τιμᾶν καὶ μετιέναι καὶ προσδέχεσθαι καὶ γεωργεῖν, πολλοῖς μὲν ἰδίᾳ πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ δημοσίᾳ χρήσιμον καὶ ἔγκαρπον γενησομένην, φιλοκάλων ἐστὶ καὶ πολιτικῶν καὶ φιλανθρώπων οὐχ ὡς ἔνιοι νομίζουσι φιλοδόξων·
To embrace the Socratic teachings and to honor friendship, to pursue it, welcome it, and cultivate it—which is bound to become useful and fruitful for many in private and many in public—belongs to those who love the beautiful, to political and philanthropic men, not, as some believe, to those who love glory.
ʼ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον, φιλόδοξός ἐστι καὶ ψοφοδεὴς; ὁ φεύγων καὶ φοβούμενος ἀκοῦσαι λιπαρὴς τῶν ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ καὶ θεραπευτικός.
On the contrary, the one who flees and fears to be called a persistent flatterer and seeker of favor from those in power is the one who is truly glory-loving and timid.
ἐπεὶ τί φησιν ἀνὴρ θεραπευτικὸς καὶ φιλοσοφίας δεόμενος;
For what does a sycophantic man, in need of philosophy, say?
Σίμων οὖν γένωμαι ὁ σκυτοτόμος ἢ Διονύσιος ὁ γραμματιστὴς ἐκ Περικλέους ἢ Κάτωνος, ἵνα μοι προσδιαλέγηται καὶ προσκαθίζῃ ὡς Σωκράτης ἐκεί ξιιμ πρινξιπιβπς ἰρις νοις; καὶ Ἀρίστων μὲν ὁ Χῖος ἐπὶ τῷ πᾶσι διαλέγεσθαι τοῖς βουλομένοις ὑπὸ τῶν σοφιστῶν κακῶς ἀκούων
ὤφελεν
εἶπε
καὶ τὰ θηρία λόγων συνιέναι κινητικῶν πρὸς ἀρετήν· ἡμεῖς δὲ φευξούμεθα τοῖς δυνατοῖς καὶ ἡγεμονικοῖς ὥσπερ ἀγρίοις καὶ ἀνημέροις γίγνεσθαι συνήθεις;
'Should I then become Simon the shoemaker or Dionysius the schoolmaster rather than Pericles or Cato, so that Socrates might converse with me and sit beside me, as he did with those [ruling] men?' And Ariston of Chios, who was ill spoken of by the sophists for conversing with all who wished, said: 'I wish that even the wild beasts could understand words that move them toward virtue.' But shall we flee from becoming familiar with the powerful and leading men as if they were wild and untamed beasts?
οὐκ
ἀνδριαντοποιός
ἐστιν ὁ τῆς φιλοσοφίας λόγος,
ὥστʼ ἐλινύοντα ποιεῖν ἀγάλματα ἐπʼ αὐτᾶς βαθμίδος ἑσταότα
κατὰ Πίνδαρον ἀλλʼ ἐνεργὰ βούλεται ποιεῖν ὧν ἂν ἅψηται καὶ πρακτικὰ καὶ ἔμψυχα καὶ· κινητικὰς ὁρμὰς ἐντίθησι καὶ κρίσεις ἀγωγοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ ὠφέλιμα καὶ, προαιρέσεις φιλοκάλους καὶ φρόνημα καὶ μέγεθος μετὰ πραότητος καὶ ἀσφαλείας, διʼ ὧν τοῖς ὑπερέχουσι καὶ·
The discourse of philosophy is not a sculptor, so as to make idle statues standing on their pedestals, according to Pindar; but it wishes to make active whatever it touches, and practical and alive; and it instills moving impulses, judgments that lead to what is useful, noble choices, high-mindedness and greatness with gentleness and safety, through which political men associate more eagerly with those who are pre-eminent and powerful.
δυνατοῖς ὁμιλοῦσιν οἱ πολιτικοὶ προθυμότερον. καὶ γάρ, ἂν ἰατρὸς ᾖ φιλόκαλος, ἣδιον ὀφθαλμὸν ἰάσεται τὸν ὑπὲρ πολλῶν βλέποντα καὶ πολλοὺς φυλάσσοντα καὶ φιλόσοφος ψυχῆς ἐπιμελήσεται προθυμότερον, ἣν ὑπὲρ πολλῶν φροντίζουσαν ὁρᾷ καὶ πολλοῖς φρονεῖν καὶ σωφρονεῖν καὶ δικαιοπραγεῖν ὀφείλουσαν.
For indeed, if a physician is a lover of the beautiful, he will more gladly cure an eye that sees for many and guards many; and a philosopher will more eagerly care for a soul which he sees caring for many, and which is bound to be wise, temperate, and just for many.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ δεινὸς ἦν περὶ ζήτησιν ὑδάτων καὶ συναγωγήν, ὥσπερ ἱστοροῦσι τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν πάλαι, οὐκ ἂν ἔχαιρε φρεωρυχῶν ἐν ἐσχατιᾷ
παρὰ Κόρακος πέτρῃ
τὴν συβωτικὴν ἐκείνην Ἀρέθουσαν, ἀλλὰ ποταμοῦ τινος πηιλοσοπηο ἐσσε δισσερενδπμ. ἀενάους πηγὰς ἀνακαλύπτων πόλει τε καὶ στρατοπέδοις καὶ φυτείαις βασιλέων καὶ ἄλσεσιν.
For if he were skilled in the search for and collection of waters, as they relate of Heracles and many of the ancients, he would not rejoice in digging a well in some remote corner near the Raven's Rock, for that swineherd's Arethusa, but in uncovering the ever-flowing springs of some river [where 'it is necessary for a philosopher to discuss'] for a city, an army, the plantations of kings, and sacred groves.
ἀκούομεν δὴ Ὁμήρου τὸν Μίνω
θεοῦ μεγάλου ὀαριστὴν
ἀποκαλοῦντος· τοῦτο δʼ ἐστίν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων, ὁμιλητὴν καὶ μαθητήν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἰδιώτας οὐδʼ οἰκουροὺς οὐδʼ ἀπράκτους ἠξίουν εἶναι θεῶν μαθητάς, ἀλλὰ βασιλεῖς, οἷς εὐβουλίας ἐγγενομένης καὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ χρηστότητος καὶ μεγαλοφροσύνης, πάντες ἔμελλον ὠφεληθήσεσθαι καὶ ἀπολαύσειν οἱ χρώμενοι, τὸ ἠρύγγιον λέγουσι μιᾶς αἰγὸς εἰς τὸ στόμα λαβούσης, αὐτήν τε πρώτην ἐκείνην καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν αἰπόλιον ἵστασθαι, μέχρι ἂν ὁ αἰπόλος ἐξέλῃ προσελθών·
Indeed, we hear of Homer calling Minos 'the companion of the great god'; and this, as Plato says, means 'associate and disciple.' For the gods did not deign to have private persons, home-keepers, or inactive men as disciples, but kings, in whom, when good counsel, justice, goodness, and magnanimity were implanted, all who had dealings with them were bound to be benefited and to enjoy. They say that if a single goat takes an eryngium into its mouth, she herself first, and then the rest of the herd, stand still until the goatherd comes and takes it out.
τοιαύτην ἔχουσιν αἱ ἀπορροιαὶ τῆς δυνάμεως ὀξύτητα, πυρὸς δίκην ἐπινεμομένην τὰ γειτνιῶντα καὶ κατασκιδναμένην.
Such is the sharpness that the emanations of power possess, spreading like fire to what is adjacent and scattering.
καὶ μὴν ὁ τοῦ φιλοσόφου λόγος, ἐὰν μὲν ἰδιώτην ἕνα λάβῃ, χαίροντα ἀπραγμοσύνῃ καὶ περιγράφοντα ἑαυτὸν ὡς κέντρῳ καὶ διαστήματι γεωμετρικῷ ταῖς περὶ τὸ σῶμα χρείαις, οὐ διαδίδωσιν εἰς ἑτέρους, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἑνὶ ποιήσας ἐκείνῳ γαλήνην καὶ ἡσυχίαν ἀπεμαράνθη καὶ συνεξέλιπεν.
Indeed, if the philosopher's discourse takes hold of a single private individual, who rejoices in inactivity and circumscribes himself as if with a geometric center and radius within his bodily needs, it does not spread to others, but, having produced peace and quiet in that one person, it fades and expires with him.
ἂν δʼ ἄρχοντος ἀνδρὸς καὶ πολιτικοῦ καὶ πρακτικοῦ καθάψηται καὶ τοῦτον ἀναπλήσῃ καλοκαγαθίας, πολλοὺς διʼ ἑνὸς ὠφέλησεν, ὡς Ἀναξαγόρας Περικλεῖ συγγενόμενος καὶ Πλάτων Δίωνι καὶ Πυθαγόρας τοῖς πρωτεύουσιν Ἰταλιωτῶν.
But if it touches a ruling, political, and practical man, and fills him with goodness, it benefits many through one, as Anaxagoras did by associating with Pericles, Plato with Dion, and Pythagoras with the leading men of Italy.
Κάτων δʼ αὐτὸς ἔπλευσεν ἀπὸ στρατιᾶς ἐπʼ Ἀθηνόδωρον καὶ Σκιπίων μετεπέμψατο Παναίτιον, ὅτʼ αὐτὸν ἡ σύγκλητος ἐξέπεμψεν
"
ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίην ὑφορώμενον
"
ὥς φησι Ποσειδώνιος.
Cato himself sailed from the army to Athenodorus, and Scipio sent for Panaetius, when the Senate sent him out 'to observe the insolence and good order of men,' as Posidonius says.
τί οὖν ἔδει λέγειν τὸν Παναίτιον;
What, then, should Panaetius have said?
εἰ μὲν ἦς ἢ Βάτων ἢ Πολυδεύκης ἤ τις ἄλλος ἰδιώτης, τὰ μέσα τῶν πόλεων ἀποδιδράσκειν βουλόμενος, ἐν γωνίᾳ τινὶ καθʼ ἡσυχίαν ἀναλύων συλλογισμοὺς καὶ περιέλκων φιλοσόφων, ἄσμενος ἄν σε προσεδεξάμην καὶ συνῆν· ἐπεὶ δʼ υἱὸς μὲν Αἰμιλίου Παύλου τοῦ δισυπάτου γέγονας, υἱωνὸς δὲ Σκιπίωνος τοῦ Ἀφρικανοῦ τοῦ νικήσαντος τὸν Ἀννίβαν τὸν Καρχηδόνιον, οὐκ ἄν σοι διαλέξομαι;
'If you were Baton or Polydeuces or some other private person wishing to escape the middle of cities, in some corner quietly resolving syllogisms and dragging around philosophers, I would have gladly received you and associated with you; but since you are the son of Aemilius Paulus who was twice consul, and the grandson of Scipio Africanus who defeated Hannibal the Carthaginian, shall I not converse with you?'