§7.7περὶ δὲ τὰς διʼ ἁφῆς καὶ γεύσεως ἡδονὰς καὶ λύπας καὶ ἐπιθυμίας καὶ φυγάς, περὶ ἃς ἥ τε ἀκολασία καὶ ἡ σωφροσύνη διωρίσθη πρότερον, ἔστι μὲν οὕτως ἔχειν ὥστε ἡττᾶσθαι καὶ ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ κρείττους, ἔστι δὲ κρατεῖν καὶ ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ ἥττους·
With regard to the pleasures and pains of touch and taste, and desires and avoidances (concerning which licentiousness and temperance were previously defined), it is possible to be in such a state as to be defeated even by those things which most people are superior to, and it is possible to master even those things which most people are defeated by.
τούτων δʼ ὁ μὲν περὶ ἡδονὰς ἀκρατὴς ὃ δʼ ἐγκρατής, ὁ δὲ περὶ λύπας μαλακὸς ὃ δὲ καρτερικός.
Of these persons, the one concerned with pleasures is incontinent and the other continent, while the one concerned with pains is soft and the other resistant.
μεταξὺ δʼ ἡ τῶν πλείστων ἕξις, κἂν εἰ ῥέπουσι μᾶλλον πρὸς τὰς χείρους.
The state of most people is in between, even if they lean more toward the worse states.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἔνιαι τῶν ἡδονῶν ἀναγκαῖαί εἰσιν αἳ δʼ οὔ, καὶ μέχρι τινός, αἱ δʼ ὑπερβολαὶ οὔ, οὐδʼ αἱ ἐλλείψεις, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ ἐπιθυμίας ἔχει καὶ λύπας, ὁ μὲν τὰς ὑπερβολὰς διώκων τῶν ἡδέων †ἢ καθʼ ὑπερβολὰσ† ἢ διὰ προαίρεσιν, διʼ αὐτὰς καὶ μηδὲν διʼ ἕτερον ἀποβαῖνον, ἀκόλαστος·
Since some pleasures are necessary and others are not, and the former are necessary only up to a certain point, but their excesses are not, nor are their deficiencies, and the same holds true for desires and pains, the person who pursues excesses of pleasant things, or pursues them to excess, and does so by choice, for their own sake and not for any other result, is licentious.
ἀνάγκη γὰρ τοῦτον μὴ εἶναι μεταμελητικόν, ὥστʼ ἀνίατος· ὁ γὰρ ἀμεταμέλητος ἀνίατος.
For such a person must not be prone to regret, and is therefore incurable; for the person without regret is incurable.
ὁ δʼ ἐλλείπων ὁ ἀντικείμενος, ὁ δὲ μέσος σώφρων.
The one who falls short is the opposite, and the one in the middle is temperate.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ φεύγων τὰς σωματικὰς λύπας μὴ διʼ ἧτταν ἀλλὰ διὰ προαίρεσιν.
Similarly, the person who avoids bodily pains, not through being defeated but by choice, is also licentious.
τῶν δὲ μὴ προαιρουμένων ὃ μὲν ἄγεται διὰ τὴν ἡδονήν, ὃ δὲ διὰ τὸ φεύγειν τὴν λύπην τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, ὥστε διαφέρουσιν ἀλλήλων.
Of those who do not act by choice, one is led because of pleasure, and the other because of avoiding the pain that comes from desire, so they differ from one another.
παντὶ δʼ ἂν δόξειε χείρων εἶναι, εἴ τις μὴ ἐπιθυμῶν ἢ ἠρέμα πράττοι τι αἰσχρόν, ἢ εἰ σφόδρα ἐπιθυμῶν, καὶ εἰ μὴ ὀργιζόμενος τύπτοι ἢ εἰ ὀργιζόμενος·
And everyone would judge that a person is worse if, without desiring or desiring only weakly, they should do something shameful, than if they did so while desiring strongly; and if they should strike someone without being angry than if they did so while angry.
τί γὰρ ἂν ἐποίει ἐν πάθει ὤν;
For what would they do if they were in the grip of passion?
διὸ ὁ ἀκόλαστος χείρων τοῦ ἀκρατοῦς.
Therefore, the licentious person is worse than the incontinent.
τῶν δὴ λεχθέντων τὸ μὲν μαλακίας εἶδος μᾶλλον, ὃ δʼ ἀκόλαστος.
Of the states mentioned, then, the latter is rather a form of softness, while the former is licentiousness.
ἀντίκειται δὲ τῷ μὲν ἀκρατεῖ ὁ ἐγκρατής, τῷ δὲ μαλακῷ ὁ καρτερικός· τὸ μὲν γὰρ καρτερεῖν ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ἀντέχειν, ἡ δʼ ἐγκράτεια ἐν τῷ κρατεῖν, ἕτερον δὲ τὸ ἀντέχειν καὶ κρατεῖν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ μὴ ἡττᾶσθαι τοῦ νικᾶν·
The continent person is opposed to the incontinent, and the resistant to the soft; for resisting consists in holding out, while continence consists in mastering, and holding out is different from mastering, just as not being defeated is different from winning.
διὸ καὶ αἱρετώτερον ἐγκράτεια καρτερίας ἐστίν.
Therefore, continence is more desirable than resistance.
ὁ δʼ ἐλλείπων πρὸς ἃ οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ ἀντιτείνουσι καὶ δύνανται, οὗτος μαλακὸς καὶ τρυφῶν· καὶ γὰρ ἡ τρυφὴ μαλακία τίς ἐστιν·
But the person who falls short in resisting those things which most people hold out against and are capable of, is soft and effeminate; for effeminacy is a kind of softness.
ὃς ἕλκει τὸ ἱμάτιον, ἵνα μὴ πονήσῃ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴρειν λύπην, καὶ μιμούμενος τὸν κάμνοντα οὐκ οἴεται ἄθλιος εἶναι, ἀθλίῳ ὅμοιος ὤν.
Such a person drags their cloak so as not to suffer the pain of lifting it, and by mimicking a sick person, does not think themselves wretched, though they are like a wretched person.
ὁμοίως δʼ ἔχει καὶ περὶ ἐγκράτειαν καὶ ἀκρασίαν.
The same holds true concerning continence and incontinence.
οὐ γὰρ εἴ τις ἰσχυρῶν καὶ ὑπερβαλλουσῶν ἡδονῶν ἡττᾶται ἢ λυπῶν, θαυμαστόν, ἀλλὰ συγγνωμονικὸν εἰ ἀντιτείνων, ὥσπερ ὁ Θεοδέκτου Φιλοκτήτης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔχεως πεπληγμένος ἢ ὁ Καρκίνου ἐν τῇ Ἀλόπῃ Κερκύων, καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ κατέχειν πειρώμενοι τὸν γέλωτα ἀθρόον ἐκκαγχάζουσιν, οἷον συνέπεσε Ξενοφάντῳ·
For it is not surprising if someone is defeated by strong and overwhelming pleasures or pains, but rather pardonable if they hold out against them, like Philoctetes in the play of Theodectes when bitten by the viper, or Cercyon in the Alope of Carcinus, or like people who, trying to restrain their laughter, burst into a loud guffaw, as happened to Xenophantus.
ἀλλʼ εἴ τις πρὸς ἃς οἱ πολλοὶ δύνανται ἀντέχειν, τούτων ἡττᾶται καὶ μὴ δύναται ἀντιτείνειν, μὴ διὰ φύσιν τοῦ γένους ἢ διὰ νόσον, οἷον ἐν τοῖς Σκυθῶν βασιλεῦσιν ἡ μαλακία διὰ τὸ γένος, καὶ ὡς τὸ θῆλυ πρὸς τὸ ἄρρεν διέστηκεν.
But it is surprising if someone is defeated by and cannot resist those things which most people are capable of holding out against, unless this is due to the nature of their race or to disease, like the hereditary softness among the kings of the Scythians, or the way the female is distinguished from the male.
δοκεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ παιδιώδης ἀκόλαστος εἶναι, ἔστι δὲ μαλακός.
The lover of amusement is also thought to be licentious, but is actually soft.
ἡ γὰρ παιδιὰ ἄνεσίς ἐστιν, εἴπερ ἀνάπαυσις· τῶν δὲ πρὸς ταύτην ὑπερβαλλόντων ὁ παιδιώδης ἐστίν.
For amusement is relaxation, since it is a rest; and the lover of amusement is one of those who exceed in this.
ἀκρασίας δὲ τὸ μὲν προπέτεια τὸ δʼ ἀσθένεια.
Of incontinence, one kind is impetuosity, and the other is weakness.
οἳ μὲν γὰρ βουλευσάμενοι οὐκ ἐμμένουσιν οἷς ἐβουλεύσαντο διὰ τὸ πάθος, οἳ δὲ διὰ τὸ μὴ βουλεύσασθαι ἄγονται ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους·
For some people, having deliberated, do not abide by what they deliberated because of passion, while others are led by passion because they have not deliberated.
ἔνιοι γάρ, ὥσπερ προγαργαλίσαντες οὐ γαργαλίζονται, οὕτω καὶ προαισθόμενοι καὶ προϊδόντες καὶ προεγείραντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν οὐχ ἡττῶνται ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους, οὔτʼ ἂν ἡδὺ ᾖ οὔτʼ ἂν λυπηρόν.
For some, just as those who have tickled themselves beforehand do not feel tickled, so also by perceiving and seeing beforehand, and by rousing themselves and their reason beforehand, are not defeated by passion, whether it is pleasant or painful.
μάλιστα δʼ οἱ ὀξεῖς καὶ μελαγχολικοὶ τὴν προπετῆ ἀκρασίαν εἰσὶν ἀκρατεῖς· οἳ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὴν ταχυτῆτα οἳ δὲ διὰ τὴν σφοδρότητα οὐκ ἀναμένουσι τὸν λόγον, διὰ τὸ ἀκολουθητικοὶ εἶναι τῇ φαντασίᾳ.
It is especially the quick-tempered and the melancholic who are incontinent with the impetuous kind of incontinence; for the former because of their swiftness and the latter because of their intensity do not wait for reason, because they are prone to follow their imagination.