§3.7τὸ δὲ φοβερὸν οὐ πᾶσι μὲν τὸ αὐτό, λέγομεν δέ τι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον.
But the fearful is not the same for all, though we do speak of some things as being beyond human endurance.
τοῦτο μὲν οὖν παντὶ φοβερὸν τῷ γε νοῦν ἔχοντι·
This, then, is indeed fearful to everyone who has intellect, at least.
τὰ δὲ κατʼ ἄνθρωπον διαφέρει μεγέθει καὶ τῷ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον·
But those things that are within human limits differ in magnitude and in being more or less.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ θαρραλέα.
And similarly also with things that inspire confidence.
ὁ δὲ ἀνδρεῖος ἀνέκπληκτος ὡς ἄνθρωπος.
But the courageous person is undaunted, as a human being.
φοβήσεται μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὡς δεῖ δὲ καὶ ὡς ὁ λόγος ὑπομενεῖ τοῦ καλοῦ ἕνεκα· τοῦτο γὰρ τέλος τῆς ἀρετῆς.
He will therefore fear even such things, but he will endure them as he ought and as reason prescribes, for the sake of the noble; for this is the end of virtue.
ἔστι δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον ταῦτα φοβεῖσθαι, καὶ ἔτι τὰ μὴ φοβερὰ ὡς τοιαῦτα φοβεῖσθαι.
But it is possible to fear these things more or less, and further to fear things that are not fearful as if they were such.
γίνεται δὲ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἣ μὲν ὅτι ὃ οὐ δεῖ, ἣ δὲ ὅτι οὐχ ὡς δεῖ, ἣ δὲ ὅτι οὐχ ὅτε, ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τὰ θαρραλέα.
And errors occur, either because one fears what one ought not, or because one fears not as one ought, or because one fears not when one ought, or through some other such thing; and similarly also concerned with things that inspire confidence.
ὁ μὲν οὖν ἃ δεῖ καὶ οὗ ἕνεκα ὑπομένων καὶ φοβούμενος, καὶ ὡς δεῖ καὶ ὅτε, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ θαρρῶν, ἀνδρεῖος· κατʼ ἀξίαν γάρ, καὶ ὡς ἂν ὁ λόγος, πάσχει καὶ πράττει ὁ ἀνδρεῖος.
He, then, who endures and fears what he ought and for the sake of what he ought, and as he ought and when, and similarly is confident, is courageous; for the courageous person feels and acts according to worth, and as reason would prescribe.
τέλος δὲ πάσης ἐνεργείας ἐστὶ τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἕξιν. †καὶ τῷ ἀνδρείῳ δὲ ἡ ἀνδρεία καλόν. † τοιοῦτον δὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος· ὁρίζεται γὰρ ἕκαστον τῷ τέλει.
Now the end of every activity is that which is in accordance with the state. †And to the courageous person, courage is noble.† Such then is the end also; for each thing is defined by its end.
καλοῦ δὴ ἕνεκα ὁ ἀνδρεῖος ὑπομένει καὶ πράττει τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀνδρείαν.
It is for the sake of the noble, then, that the courageous person endures and performs the actions that accord with courage.
τῶν δʼ ὑπερβαλλόντων ὁ μὲν τῇ ἀφοβίᾳ ἀνώνυμος (εἴρηται δʼ ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς πρότερον ὅτι πολλά ἐστιν ἀνώνυμα), εἴη δʼ ἄν τις μαινόμενος ἢ ἀνάλγητος, εἰ μηδὲν φοβοῖτο, μήτε σεισμὸν μήτε κύματα, καθάπερ φασὶ τοὺς Κελτούς·
Of those who exceed, on the other hand, the one who exceeds in fearlessness is nameless (and we have said in our earlier discussions that many states are nameless), but he would be a madman or insensible if he feared nothing, neither earthquake nor waves, as they say of the Celts.
ὁ δὲ τῷ θαρρεῖν ὑπερβάλλων περὶ τὰ φοβερὰ θρασύς.
But he who exceeds in confidence concerned with fearful things is rash.
δοκεῖ δὲ καὶ ἀλαζὼν εἶναι ὁ θρασὺς καὶ προσποιητικὸς ἀνδρείας· ὡς γοῦν ἐκεῖνος περὶ τὰ φοβερὰ ἔχει, οὗτος βούλεται φαίνεσθαι· ἐν οἷς οὖν δύναται, μιμεῖται.
The rash person seems also to be a boaster and a pretender to courage; at all events, he wishes to appear to stand toward fearful things as the former actually does; so, in those matters where he can, he imitates him.
διὸ καὶ εἰσὶν οἱ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν θρασύδειλοι· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ θρασυνόμενοι τὰ φοβερὰ οὐχ ὑπομένουσιν.
For this reason, most of them are rash-cowards; for though they show rashness in these matters, they do not endure fearful things.
ὁ δὲ τῷ φοβεῖσθαι ὑπερβάλλων δειλός· καὶ γὰρ ἃ μὴ δεῖ καὶ ὡς οὐ δεῖ, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀκολουθεῖ αὐτῷ.
But he who exceeds in fearing is a coward; for he fears both what he ought not and as he ought not, and all such things accompany him.
ἐλλείπει δὲ καὶ τῷ θαρρεῖν· ἀλλʼ ἐν ταῖς λύπαις ὑπερβάλλων μᾶλλον καταφανής ἐστιν.
He is deficient also in confidence; but he is more conspicuous in exceeding in his pains.
δύσελπις δή τις ὁ δειλός· πάντα γὰρ φοβεῖται.
The coward is indeed a despondent sort of person, for he fears everything.
ὁ δʼ ἀνδρεῖος ἐναντίως· τὸ γὰρ θαρρεῖν εὐέλπιδος.
But the courageous person is the opposite; for confidence is the mark of a hopeful person.
περὶ ταὐτὰ μὲν οὖν ἐστὶν ὅ τε δειλὸς καὶ ὁ θρασὺς καὶ ὁ ἀνδρεῖος, διαφόρως δʼ ἔχουσι πρὸς αὐτά·
Thus, the coward, the rash person, and the courageous person are concerned with the same things, but stand in different relations to them.
οἳ μὲν γὰρ ὑπερβάλλουσι καὶ ἐλλείπουσιν, ὃ δὲ μέσως ἔχει καὶ ὡς δεῖ·
For the former exceed and fall short, while the latter is in the mean and stands as he ought.
καὶ οἱ μὲν θρασεῖς προπετεῖς, καὶ βουλόμενοι πρὸ τῶν κινδύνων ἐν αὐτοῖς δʼ ἀφίστανται, οἱ δʼ ἀνδρεῖοι ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις ὀξεῖς, πρότερον δʼ ἡσύχιοι.
Also, rash people are headlong, and wish for dangers beforehand but stand aloof when they are in them, whereas courageous people are keen in action, but quiet beforehand.
καθάπερ οὖν εἴρηται, ἡ ἀνδρεία μεσότης ἐστὶ περὶ θαρραλέα καὶ φοβερά, ἐν οἷς εἴρηται, καὶ ὅτι καλὸν αἱρεῖται καὶ ὑπομένει, ἢ ὅτι αἰσχρὸν τὸ μή.
As has been said, then, courage is a mean concerned with things that inspire confidence and things that are fearful, in the situations we have mentioned, and it chooses and endures because doing so is noble, or because not doing so is disgraceful.
τὸ δʼ ἀποθνήσκειν φεύγοντα πενίαν ἢ ἔρωτα ἤ τι λυπηρὸν οὐκ ἀνδρείου, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον δειλοῦ· μαλακία γὰρ τὸ φεύγειν τὰ ἐπίπονα, καὶ οὐχ ὅτι καλὸν ὑπομένει, ἀλλὰ φεύγων κακόν.
But to die in order to escape poverty or love or anything painful is the act not of a courageous person, but rather of a coward; for to flee from what is troublesome is softness, and one endures death in this case not because it is noble, but in order to flee from an evil.