§31ψυχαὶ μὲν γὰρ ἄσαρκοι καὶ ἀσώματοι ἐν τῷ τοῦ παντὸς θεάτρῳ διημερεύουσαι θεαμάτων καὶ ἀκουσμάτων θείων, ὧν ἄπληστος αὐτὰς εἰσελήλυθεν ἔρως, μηδενὸς κωλυσιεργοῦντος ἀπολαύουσιν.
For those souls which are fleshless and bodiless, spending their days in the theater of the universe, enjoy without any hindrance divine sights and sounds, an insatiable love for which has entered into them.
ὅσαι δὲ τὸν σαρκῶν φόρτον ἀχθοφοροῦσι, βαρυνόμεναι καὶ πιεζόμεναι ἄνω μὲν βλέπειν εἰς τὰς οὐρανίους περιόδους ἀδυνατοῦσι, κάτω δὲ ἑλκυσθεῖσαι τὸν αὐχένα βιαίως δίκην τετραπόδων γῇ προσερρίζωνται.
But as many as bear the burden of the flesh, being weighed down and oppressed, are unable to look upward to the heavenly revolutions, but having been dragged downward, they have their necks violently rooted to the earth like four-footed beasts.
§32παρὸ καὶ τὰς ἐκνόμους καὶ ἐκθέσμους ὁμιλίας τε καὶ μίξεις ἐγνωκὼς ὁ νομοθέτης ἀναιρεῖν προοιμιάζεται τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· „ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πάντα οἰκεῖον σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ οὐ προσελεύσεται ἀποκαλύψαι ἀσχημοσύνην· ἐγὼ κύριος“(Lev. 18,6).
Wherefore also the lawgiver, having determined to abolish unlawful and forbidden intercourses and associations, begins his preface in this manner: "No man shall approach to any that is near of kin to him in his flesh, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord" (Lev. 18:6).
πῶς ἄν τις προτρέψαιτο μᾶλλον σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν σαρκὸς οἰκείων καταφρονεῖν ἢ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον;
How could anyone encourage a person to despise the flesh and the things akin to the flesh more than in this way?
§33καίτοι οὐκ ἀποτρέπει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παγίως ἀποφαίνεται, ὅτι ὁ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἄνθρωπος οὐ προσελεύσεταί ποτε ἑκὼν ταῖς φίλαις καὶ συγγενέσι σώματος ἡδοναῖς, ἀλλυτρίωσιν δὲ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὰς ἀεὶ μελετήσει.
And yet he does not only avert us from it, but he also declares firmly that the man in truth will never willingly approach the pleasures of the body which are dear and akin to it, but will always practice estrangement from them.
τὸ μὲν οὖν μὴ ἅπαξ ἀλλὰ δὶς φάναι „ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος“σημεῖόν ἐστι τοῦ μὴ τὸν ἐκ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀρετῇ κεχρημένον δηλοῦσθαι.
Therefore, to say "man, man" not once but twice is a sign that it is not the man composed of body and soul, but the one who practices virtue, who is indicated.
ὄντως γὰρ ὁ ἀληθινὸς οὗτός ἐστιν, ὃν καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν λύχνον τις μεσημβρίας ἁψάμενος πρὸς τοὺς πυνθανομένους ἄνθρωπον ἔφη ζητεῖν.
For indeed, this is the true man, whom one of the ancients, having lit a lamp at midday, declared to those who questioned him that he was seeking.
§34τὸ δὲ μὴ πρὸς πάντα οἰκεῖον προσέρχεσθαι τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχει λόγον ἀναγκαῖον.
And that we are not to approach every domestic thing of the flesh has a necessary reason.
ἔνια γὰρ προσετέον, οἷον αὐτὰ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια, οἷς χρώμενοι ζῆν ἀνόσως καὶ ὑγιεινῶς δυνησόμεθα, τὰ δὲ περιττὰ σκορακιστέον, ὑφ’ ὧν ἐξαπτόμεναι αἱ ἐπιθυμίαι τὰ σπουδαῖα πάντα ῥύμῃ μιᾷ καταφλέγουσι.
For some things are to be admitted, such as the bare necessities, by using which we shall be able to live without disease and healthily; but the superfluous things are to be cast out, by which the desires being inflamed burn up all good things with one rush.
§35μὴ πρὸς πάντα οὖν τὰ τῇ σαρκὶ φίλα αἱ ὀρέξεις ἀνηρεθίσθωσαν· ἡδοναὶ γὰρ αἱ ἀτίθασοι πολλάκις, ὅταν κυνῶν τρόπον προσσαίνωσιν, ἐξ ὑποστροφῆς ἀνίατα ἔδακον.
Therefore, let not our appetites be stimulated toward all things that are friendly to the flesh; for untamed pleasures often, when they fawn upon us like dogs, turn around and bite us incurably.
ὥστε τὴν ἀρετῆς φίλην ὀλιγοδεΐαν πρὸ τῶν σώματος οἰκείων ἀσπαζόμενοι τὸν πολὺν καὶ ἀνήνυτον ὄχλον ἀσπόνδων ἐχθρῶν καταλύωμεν.
So, embracing that frugality which is dear to virtue in preference to the things akin to the body, let us destroy that great and endless multitude of implacable enemies.
ἐὰν δέ πού τις καιρὸς βιάζηται πλείω τῶν μετρίων καὶ ἱκανῶν λαμβάνειν, αὐτοὶ μὴ προσερχώμεθα· λέγει γάρ· „οὐ προσελεύσεται αὐτὸς ἀποκαλύψαι ἀσχημοσύνην“. §36τί δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ἄξιον ἀναπτύξαι· πολλάκις οὐ γενόμενοί τινες πορισταὶ χρημάτων ἄφθονον ἔσχον περιουσίαν, ἕτεροι δὲ δόξαν οὐκ ἐπιτηδεύσαντες ἐπαίνων δημοσίᾳ καὶ τιμῶν ἠξιώθησαν, τοῖς δὲ οὐδὲ μικρὰν ἰσχὺν ἐλπίσασι μεγίστη προσεγένετο εὐτονία.
And if some occasion should force us to take more than what is moderate and sufficient, let us not approach it ourselves; for he says: "He himself shall not approach to uncover nakedness." And what this means, it is worth explaining: often, some who did not become procurers of money have had abundant wealth, and others who did not pursue glory have been deemed worthy of public praise and honors, and to those who did not hope for even a little strength, the greatest vigor has been added.
§37μαθέτωσαν δὴ πάντες οὗτοι μηδενὶ προσέρχεσθαι γνώμῃ τῶν εἰρημένων, τοῦτο δέ ἐστι μὴ θαυμάζειν αὐτὰ καὶ ἀποδέχεσθαι πλέον τοῦ μετρίου κρίνοντας ἕκαστον αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀγαθὸν [μόνον], ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγιστον κακόν, τὰ χρήματα, τὴν δόξαν, τὴν σωμάτων δύναμιν.
Let all these people learn indeed to approach none of the aforementioned things with their will, and this is not to admire them and receive them beyond what is moderate, judging each of them—wealth, glory, and the strength of bodies—to be not [only] no good, but even the greatest evil.
φιλαργύροις μὲν γὰρ ἡ πρὸς ἀργύριον, φιλοδόξοις δὲ ἡ πρὸς δόξαν, φιλάθλοις δὲ καὶ φιλογυμνασταῖς ἡ πρὸς ἰσχὺν πρόσοδος οἰκεία· τὸ γὰρ ἄμεινον, ψυχήν, τοῖς χείροσιν ἐκδεδώκασιν, ἀψύχοις.
For to the lovers of money, the approach to silver is domestic, and to the lovers of glory, that to glory, and to the lovers of contests and athletic exercises, that to strength; for they have surrendered the better thing, the soul, to the worse things, the lifeless ones.
ὅσοι δὲ ἐντὸς ἑαυτῶν εἰσι, §38τὰς λαμπρὰς καὶ περιμαχήτους εὐπραγίας ὑπηκόους ἀποφαίνουσιν ὡς ἡγεμόνι τῷ νῷ, προσιούσας μὲν δεχόμενοι πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν, μακρὰν δὲ ἀφεστηκυίαις οὐ προσερχόμενοι, ὡς καὶ δίχα αὐτῶν δυνηθέντες ἂν εὐδαιμονῆσαι.
But as many as are within themselves, render their brilliant and highly contested prosperities subject to the mind as to a ruler, receiving them when they approach for the sake of correction, but not approaching them when they are far away, as being able to be happy even without them.
§39ὁ δὲ μετιὼν καὶ κατ’ ἴχνος βαίνειν ἐθέλων αἰσχρᾶς ἀναπίμπλησι δόξης φιλοσοφίαν· οὗ χάριν λέγεται „ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην“. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἐναργῆ καὶ πρόδηλα τὰ ὀνείδη τῶν λεγόντων μὲν εἶναι σοφῶν, πωλούντων δὲ σοφίαν καὶ ἐπευωνιζόντων, ὥσπερ φασὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀγορᾷ τὰ ὤνια προκηρύττοντας, τοτὲ μὲν μικροῦ λήμματος, τοτὲ δὲ ἡδέος καὶ εὐπαραγώγου λόγου, τοτὲ δὲ ἀβεβαίου ἐλπίδος ἀπὸ μηδενὸς ἠρτημένης ἐχυροῦ, ἔστι δ’ ὅτε καὶ
But he who pursues them and wishes to follow in their footsteps fills philosophy with shameful reputation; for which reason it is said "to uncover nakedness." For how are the reproaches not clear and manifest of those who say indeed that they are wise, but who sell wisdom and offer it cheap, just as they say of those who cry out their wares in the market, sometimes for a small gain, sometimes for a sweet and seductive speech, sometimes for an unstable hope suspended on nothing secure, and sometimes even...