§55ἐπεὶ δέ ποτε ὁ Ἐπίκτητος ἐπιτιμῶν ἅμα συνεβούλευεν αὐτῷ ἀγαγέσθαι γυναῖκα καὶ παιδοποιήσασθαι — πρέπειν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο φιλοσόφῳ ἀνδρὶ ἕτερον ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ καταλιπεῖν τῇ φύσει — ἐλεγκτικώτατα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεκρίνατο, Οὐκοῦν, ὦ Ἐπίκτητε, δός μοι μίαν τῶν σαυτοῦ θυγατέρων. §56καὶ μὴν τὸ πρὸς Ἑρμῖνον τὸν Ἀριστοτελικὸν ἄξιον ἀπομνημονεῦσαι·
When Epictetus once, while rebuking him, advised him to take a wife and have children—for it was fitting also for a philosophic man to leave another in his place to nature—he answered him most cuttingly, "Then, Epictetus, give me one of your own daughters." And indeed, that which was said to Herminus the Aristotelian is worthy of remembrance.
εἰδὼς γὰρ αὐτὸν παγκάκιστον μὲν ὄντα καὶ μυρία κακὰ ἐργαζόμενον, τὸν Ἀριστοτέλη δʼ ἐπαινοῦντα καὶ διὰ στόματος αὐτοῦ τὰς δέκα κατηγορίας ἔχοντα, Ἑρμῖνε, ἔφη, ἀληθῶς ἄξιος εἶ δέκα κατηγοριῶν. §57Ἀθηναίων δὲ σκεπτομένων κατὰ ζῆλον τὸν πρὸς Κορινθίους καταστήσασθαι θέαν μονομάχων, προελθὼν εἰς αὐτούς, Μὴ πρότερον ταῦτα, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ψηφίσησθε, ἂν μὴ τοῦ Ἐλέου τὸν βωμὸν καθέλητε. §58ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν ποτὲ ἐλθόντι αὐτῷ Ἠλεῖοι εἰκόνα χαλκῆν ἐψηφίσαντο, Μηδαμῶς τοῦτο, ἔφη, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἠλεῖοι, μὴ δόξητε ὀνειδίζειν τοῖς προγόνοις ὑμῶν, ὅτι μήτε Σωκράτους μήτε Διογένους εἰκόνα ἀνατεθείκασιν. §59ἤκουσα δὲ αὐτοῦ ποτε καὶ πρὸς τὸν τὸν τῶν νόμων ἔμπειρον ταῦτα λέγοντος, ὅτι κινδυνεύουσιν ἄχρηστοι εἶναι οἱ νόμοι, ἄν τε πονηροῖς ἄν τε ἀγαθοῖς γράφωνται·
For knowing him to be an utterly wicked man and committing countless evils, yet praising Aristotle and having his "ten categories" constantly on his lips, he said, "Herminus, you are truly worthy of ten accusations." When the Athenians, out of rivalry with the Corinthians, were considering establishing a gladiatorial show, he came forward to them and said, "Do not vote for this, Athenians, before you have pulled down the Altar of Mercy." When, upon his going to Olympia once, the Eleans voted him a bronze statue, he said, "By no means do this, men of Elis, lest you seem to reproach your ancestors because they dedicated a statue neither to Socrates nor to Diogenes." And I once heard him say these things to a man experienced in the laws, that laws run the risk of being useless, whether they are written for the bad or for the good; for the latter do not need laws, and the former are made no better by laws.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ οὐ δέονται νόμων, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ νόμων οὐδὲν βελτίους γίγνονται. §60τῶν δὲ Ὁμήρου στίχον ἕνα ᾖδεν μάλιστα — κάτθανʼ ὁμῶς ὅ τʼ ἀεργὸς ἀνὴρ ὅ τε πολλὰ ἐοργώς. §61ἐπῄνει δὲ καὶ τὸν Θερσίτην ὡς Κυνικόν τινα δημηγόρον.
And of the verses of Homer, he sang one especially: "An equal death comes to the idle man and to him who has wrought many things." He also praised Thersites as a kind of Cynic demagogue.
§62ἐρωτηθεὶς δέ ποτε, τίς αὐτῷ ἀρέσκοι τῶν φιλοσόφων, ἔφη, Πάντες μὲν θαυμαστοί· ἐγὼ δὲ Σωκράτη μὲν σέβω, θαυμάζω δὲ Διογένη καὶ φιλῶ Ἀρίστιππον. §63Ἐβίου δὲ ἔτη ὀλίγου δέοντα τῶν ἑκατὸν ἄνοσος, ἄλυπος, οὐδένα ἐνοχλήσας τι ἢ αἰτήσας, φίλοις χρήσιμος, ἐχθρὸν οὐδένα οὐδεπώποτε ἐσχηκώς·
When asked once which of the philosophers pleased him, he said, "All are admirable; but I revere Socrates, admire Diogenes, and love Aristippus." He lived for nearly a hundred years, free from disease, free from pain, never troubling or asking anything of anyone, useful to his friends, and never having had any enemy.
καὶ τοσοῦτον ἔρωτα ἔσχον πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἀθηναῖοί τε αὐτοὶ καὶ ἅπασα ἡ Ἑλλάς, ὥστε παριόντι ὑπεξανίστασθαι μὲν τοὺς ἄρχοντας, σιωπὴν δὲ γίνεσθαι παρὰ πάντων.
And both the Athenians themselves and all of Greece had such great love for him that when he passed by, the magistrates rose in his honor, and silence fell upon everyone.
τὸ τελευταῖον δὲ ἤδη ὑπέργηρως ὢν ἄκλητος εἰς ἣν τύχοι παριὼν οἰκίαν ἐδείπνει καὶ ἐκάθευδε, τῶν ἐνοικούντων θεοῦ τινα ἐπιφάνειαν ἡγουμένων τὸ πρᾶγμα καί τινα ἀγαθὸν δαίμονα εἰσεληλυθέναι αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν.
At the end, being already extremely old, he would enter and dine and sleep uninvited in whatever house he happened to pass by, the inhabitants considering the matter a sort of divine manifestation and that a good deity had entered their home.
παριόντα δὲ αἱ ἀρτοπώλιδες ἀνθεῖλκον πρὸς αὑτὰς ἑκάστη ἀξιοῦσα παρʼ αὐτῆς λαμβάνειν τῶν ἄρτων, καὶ τοῦτο εὐτυχίαν ἑαυτῆς ἡ δεδωκυῖα ᾤετο.
And as he passed, the bread-sellers would pull him toward themselves, each demanding that he take bread from her, and she who gave it thought it her own good fortune.
καὶ μὴν καὶ οἱ παῖδες ὀπώρας προσέφερον αὐτῷ πατέρα ὀνομάζοντες.
Moreover, even the children brought fruit to him, calling him father.
§64στάσεως δέ ποτε Ἀθήνησι γενομένης εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ φανεὶς μόνον σιωπᾶν ἐποίησεν αὐτούς· ὁ δὲ ἰδὼν ἤδη μετεγνωκότας οὐδὲν εἰπὼν καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπηλλάγη.
When a riot once occurred in Athens, he entered the assembly and, merely by appearing, made them keep silence; and seeing that they had already repented, he departed without having said anything himself.
§65ὅτε δὲ συνῆκεν οὐκέθʼ οἷός τε ὢν αὑτῷ ἐπικουρεῖν, εἰπὼν πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας τὸν ἐναγώνιον τῶν κηρύκων πόδα
"
λήγει μὲν ἀγὼν τῶν καλλίστων
ἄθλων ταμίας, καιρὸς δὲ καλεῖ
μηκέτι μέλλειν,
"
καὶ πάντων ἀποσχόμενος ἀπῆλθεν τοῦ βίου φαιδρὸς καὶ οἷος ἀεὶ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ἐφαίνετο.
When he realized that he was no longer able to help himself, he said to those present the competitive verse of the heralds: "The contest, dispenser of the most beautiful prizes, comes to an end, and the moment calls us to hesitate no longer, "and refraining from all food, he departed from life, cheerful and looking just as he always appeared to those who met him.
§66ὀλίγον δὲ πρὸ τῆς τελευτῆς ἐρομένου τινός, Περὶ ταφῆς τί κελεύεις; μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖτε, ἔφη· ἡ γὰρ ὀδμή με θάψει. φαμένου δὲ ἐκείνου, Τί οὖν;
Shortly before his death, when someone asked, "What do you command concerning your burial?" he said, "Do not trouble yourselves; for the odor will bury me." And when that man said, "What then?
οὐκ αἰσχρὸν ὀρνέοις καὶ κυσὶ βορὰν προτεθῆναι τηλικούτου ἀνδρὸς σῶμα; καὶ μὴν οὐδὲν ἄτοπον, ἔφη, τοῦτο, εἰ μέλλω καὶ ἀποθανὼν ζῴοις τισὶ χρήσιμος ἔσεσθαι. §67οἱ μέντοι Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν δημοσίᾳ μεγαλοπρεπῶς καὶ ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐπένθησαν, καὶ τὸν θᾶκον τὸν λίθινον, ἐφʼ οὗ εἰώθει ὁπότε κάμνοι ἀναπαύεσθαι, προσεκύνουν καὶ ἐστεφάνουν ἐς τιμὴν τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἡγούμενοι ἱερὸν εἶναι καὶ τὸν λίθον, ἐφʼ οὗ ἐκαθέζετο.
Is it not shameful for the body of such a great man to be exposed as food for birds and dogs?" he replied, "Indeed, there is nothing strange in this, if I am about to be useful even in death to some living creatures." The Athenians, however, buried him publicly in a magnificent manner and mourned him for a long time; and they used to revere and crown with wreaths the stone bench on which he was accustomed to rest whenever he was tired, in honor of the man, considering even the stone on which he used to sit to be sacred.
ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἐκφορὰν οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις οὐκ ἀπήντησεν, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν φιλοσόφων· οὗτοι μέντοι ὑποδύντες ἐκόμιζον αὐτὸν ἄχρι πρὸς τὸν τάφον.
For there was no one who did not attend his funeral, especially of the philosophers; these indeed, putting their shoulders under, carried him all the way to the tomb.
ταῦτα ὀλίγα πάνυ ἐκ πολλῶν ἀπεμνημόνευσα, καὶ ἔστιν ἀπὸ τούτων τοῖς ἀναγινώσκουσι λογίζεσθαι ὁποῖος ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ ἐγένετο.
These very few things out of many I have remembered, and from these it is possible for readers to estimate what kind of man he was.