§1ὁ Πινδάρου Καινεὺς εὔθυναν ὑπεῖχεν, ἀπιθάνως ἄρρηκτος σιδήρῳ καὶ ἀπαθὴς τὸ σῶμα πλασσόμενος, εἶτα καταδὺς ἄτρωτος ὑπὸ γῆν
"σχίσας ὀρθῷ ποδὶ γᾶν· "
ὁ δὲ Στωικὸς Λαπίθης, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀδαμαντίνης ὕλης ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τῆς ἀπαθείας κεχαλκευμένος, οὐκ ἄτρωτός ἐστιν οὐδʼ ἄνοσος οὐδʼ ἀναλγής, ἄφοβος δὲ μένει καὶ ἄλυπος καὶ ἀήττητος καὶ ἀβίαστος, τιτρωσκόμενος ἀλγῶν στρεβλούμενος, ἐν κατασκαφαῖς πατρίδος ἐν πάθεσιν, τοιούτοις.
Pindar's Caeneus was subject to censure, being implausibly fashioned as unbreakable by iron and unaffected in body, and then sinking down unwounded under the earth, "cleaving the earth with upright foot." But the Stoic Lapith, as if forged by them out of adamantine material from their apathy, is not unwounded, nor free from disease, nor free from pain, yet remains fearless and griefless and unconquered and uncoerced, though wounded, aching, and tortured, in the destruction of his homeland and in such sufferings.
καὶ ὁ μὲν Πινδάρου Καινεὺς βαλλόμενος οὐ τιτρώσκεται, ὁ δὲ τῶν Στωικῶν σοφὸς ἐγκλειόμενος οὐ κωλύεται καὶ κατακρημνιζόμενος οὐκ ἀναγκάζεται καὶ στρεβλούμενος οὐ βασανίζεται καὶ πηρούμενος οὐ βλάπτεται καὶ πίπτων ἐν τῷ παλαίειν ἀήττητός ἐστι καὶ περιτειχιζόμενος ἀπολιόρκητος καὶ πωλούμενος; ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἀνάλωτος· οὐδὲν τῶν πλοίων διαφέρων, οἷς ἐπιγέγραπται μὲν Εὔπλοια καὶ Πρόνοια Σῴζουσα καὶ Θεραπεία, χειμάζεται δὲ καὶ συντρίβεται καὶ ἀνατρέπεται.
And Pindar's Caeneus, when struck, is not wounded, but the wise man of the Stoics, when shut up, is not hindered, and when cast down from a cliff, is not forced, and when tortured, is not tormented, and when mutilated, is not harmed, and when falling in wrestling, is unconquered, and when besieged, is unassailable, and when sold by enemies, is unvanquished—differing in no way from those ships on which "Good Voyage," "Saving Providence," and "Care" are inscribed, but which are storm-tossed, shattered, and capsized.
στοιξος ἀβσιιρδιορα ποετις διξερε.
Stoics speak more absurdly than poets.
§2ὁ Εὐριπίδου Ἰόλαος ἐξ ἀδρανοῦς καὶ παρήλικος εὐχῇ τινι νέος καὶ ἰσχυρὸς ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην ἄφνω γέγονεν· ὁ δὲ τῶν Στωικῶν σοφὸς χθὲς μὲν ἦν αἴσχιστος ἅμα καὶ κάκιστος, τήμερον δʼ ἄφνω μεταβέβληκεν εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ γέγονεν ἐκ ῥυσσοῦ καὶ ὠχροῦ καὶ κατʼ Αἰσχύλον
"
ἐξ ὀσφυαλγοῦς κὡδυνοσπάδος λυγροῦ
γέροντος
"
εὐπρεπὴς θεοειδὴς καλλίμορφος
Euripides' Iolaus, from being feeble and past his prime, by some prayer suddenly became young and strong for the battle; but the wise man of the Stoics was yesterday the ugliest and at the same time the worst, yet today suddenly he has changed into virtue and has become, from wrinkly and pale and, according to Aeschylus, "from a wretched old man suffering from hip pain and painful spasm," comely, godlike, and beautiful of form.
§3καὶ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ τὴν ῥυσσότητα καὶ φαλακρότητα καὶ ἀμορφίαν ἀφῄρηκεν, ὅπως φανείη καλός· ὁ δὲ τούτων σοφός, οὐκ ἀπολιπόντος τὸ σῶμα τοῦ γήρως ἀλλὰ καὶ προσεπιθέντος καὶ προσεπιχώσαντος, μένων κυρτός, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, νωδὸς ἑτερόφθαλμος, οὔτʼ αἰσχρὸς οὔτε δύσμορφος οὔτε κακοπρόσωπός ἐστιν.
And Athena removed the wrinkles, baldness, and ugliness of Odysseus so that he might appear beautiful; but their wise man, with old age not leaving his body but even being added and piled upon it, remaining hunchbacked, if it so happens, toothless and one-eyed, is neither ugly, nor deformed, nor ill-favored in face.
ὁ γὰρ Στωικὸς ἔρως, ὥσπερ οἱ κάνθαροι λέγονται τὸ μὲν μύρον ἀπολείπειν τὰ δὲ δυσώδη διώκειν, οὕτω τοῖς αἰσχίστοις καὶ ἀμορφοτάτοις ὁμιλῶν, ὅταν εἰς εὐμορφίαν καὶ κάλλος ὑπὸ σοφίας μεταβάλωσιν, ἀποτρέπεται.
For Stoic love, just as beetles are said to leave perfume and pursue smelly things, so consorting with the ugliest and most deformed, when they change into shapeliness and beauty through wisdom, turns away.
§4ὁ παρὰ τοῖς Στωικοῖς κάκιστος, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ πρωῒ, δείλης ἄριστος· καὶ καταδαρθὼν ἔμπληκτος καὶ ἀμαθὴς καὶ ἄδικος καὶ, ἀκόλαστος καὶ ναὶ μὰ Δία δοῦλος καὶ πένης καὶ ἄπορος αὐθημερὸν ἀνί σταται καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ πλούσιος καὶ ὄλβιος γεγονώς, σώφρων τε καὶ δίκαιος καὶ βέβαιος καὶ ἀδόξαστος· οὐ γένεια φύσας οὐδʼ ἥβην ἐν σώματι νέῳ καὶ ἁπαλῷ, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀσθενεῖ καὶ ἁπαλῇ ψυχῇ καὶ ἀνάνδρῳ καὶ ἀβεβαίῳ νοῦν τέλειον, ἄκραν φρόνησιν, ἰσόθεον διάθεσιν, ἀδόξαστον ἐπιστήμην καὶ ἀμετάπτωτον ἕξιν ἐσχηκώς, οὐδὲν ἐνδούσης πρότερον αὐτῷ τῆς μοχθηρίας, ἀλλʼ ἐξαίφνης, ὀλίγου δέω εἰπεῖν, ἣρως τις ἢ δαίμων ἢ θεὸς ἐκ θηρίων τοῦ κακίστου γενόμενος.
The worst man among the Stoics, if it so happens, in the morning, is the best in the evening; and having fallen asleep mad, ignorant, unjust, intemperate, and, by Zeus, a slave, poor, and destitute, on the selfsame day rises as a king, rich, and blessed, having become temperate, just, firm, and free from opinion—not by growing a beard or youth in a young and tender body, but having acquired a perfect mind, supreme wisdom, a godlike state, knowledge free from opinion, and an unchangeable disposition in a weak, tender, cowardly, and unstable soul, with wickedness having yielded nothing to him beforehand, but suddenly, I am almost tempted to say, becoming a hero or a daemon or a god from the worst of beasts.
ἐκ τῆς Στοᾶς; γὰρ λαβόντα τὴν ἀρετὴν ἔστιν εἰπεῖν
"εὖξαι τί βούλει, πάντα σοι γενήσεται"
πλοῦτον φέρει, βασιλείαν ἔχει, τύχην δίδωσιν, εὐπότμους ποιεῖ καὶ ἀπροσδεεῖς καὶ αὐτάρκεις, μίαν οἴκοθεν δραχμὴν οὐκ ἔχοντας
For concerning the one who has received virtue from the Stoa, one can say: "Pray for what you wish, and all will be yours." It brings wealth, holds kingship, gives fortune, makes people happy, free from want, and self-sufficient, though they do not have a single drachma of their own.
§5ὁ μὲν γὰρ ποιητικὸς; μῦθος τὸ κατὰ λόγον φυλάττων οὐδαμοῦ προλείπει τὸν Ἡρακλέα τῶν ἀναγκαίων δεόμενον, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐκ πηγῆς ἐπιρρεῖ αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς συνοῦσιν ὁ δὲ τὴν Στωικὴν λαβὼν Ἀμάλθειαν πλούσιος μὲν γέγονεν, ἐρανίζεται δὲ τροφὴν παρʼ ἑτέρων· καὶ βασιλεὺς μέν ἐστι μισθοῦ δʼ ἀναλύει συλλογισμούς καὶ πάντα μὲν ἔχει μόνος ἐνοίκιον δὲ τελεῖ καὶ ἄλφιτʼ ὠνεῖται, πολλάκις δανειζόμενος ἢ μεταιτῶν παρὰ τῶν οὐδὲν ἐχόντων.
For while the poetic myth, preserving logical consistency, nowhere leaves Heracles in need of necessaries, but rather, as if from a spring, they flow abundantly to him and his companions; yet he who has received the Stoic Amaltheia has become rich, but begs for food from others; and while he is a king, he analyzes syllogisms for a wage; and though he alone possesses all things, he pays rent and buys barley meal, often borrowing or begging from those who have nothing.
§6καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἰθακησίων βασιλεὺς προσαιτεῖ λανθάνειν ὅς ἐστι, βουλόμενος καὶ ποιῶν ἑαυτὸν ὡς μάλιστα
"πτωχῷ λευγαλέῳ ἐναλίγκιον· "
ὁ δʼ ἐκ τῆς Στοᾶς βοῶν μέγα καὶ κεκραγώς
"ἐγὼ μόνος· εἰμὶ βασιλεύς, ἐγὼ μόνος εἰμὶ πλούσιος"
ὁρᾶται πολλάκις ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίαις θύραις λέγων
"
δὸς χλαῖναν Ἱππώνακτι· κάρτα γὰρ ῥιγῶ
καὶ βαμβακύζω. "
And while the king of the Ithacans begs, wishing to conceal who he is, and making himself as much as possible "resembling a wretched beggar"; yet the man from the Stoa, shouting loud and crying out: "I alone am king, I alone am rich!" is often seen at others' doors, saying: "Give a cloak to Hipponax, for I am very cold and shivering."