§30.1#1Διὰ τί πάντες ὅσοι περιττοὶ γεγόνασιν ἄνδρες ἢ κατὰ φιλοσοφίαν ἢ πολιτικὴν ἢ ποίησιν ἢ τέχνας φαίνονται μελαγχολικοὶ ὄντες, καὶ οἱ μὲν οὕτως ὥστε καὶ λαμβάνεσθαι τοῖς ἀπὸ μελαίνης χολῆς ἀρρωστήμασιν, οἷον λέγεται τῶν τε ἡρωικῶν τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα.
Why is it that all those who have become outstanding men either in philosophy or politics or poetry or the arts appear to be melancholic, and some to such an extent as even to be seized by the diseases arising from black bile, as is said of Hercules among the heroes?
καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἔοικε γενέσθαι ταύτης τῆς φύσεως, διὸ καὶ τὰ ἀρρωστήματα τῶν ἐπιληπτικῶν ἀπ’ ἐκείνου προσηγόρευον οἱ ἀρχαῖοι ἱερὰν νόσον.
For he too seems to have been of this nature, which is why the ancients called the diseases of epileptics the "sacred disease" after him.
καὶ ἡ περὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἔκστασις καὶ ἡ πρὸ τῆς ἀφανίσεως ἐν Οἴτῃ τῶν ἑλκῶν ἔκφυσις γενομένη τοῦτο δηλοῖ· καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο γίνεται πολλοῖς ἀπὸ μελαίνης χολῆς.
And his madness towards his children and the outbreak of sores that occurred before his disappearance on Mount Oeta show this; for this too happens to many from black bile.
συνέβη δὲ καὶ Λυσάνδρῳ τῷ Λάκωνι πρὸ τῆς τελευτῆς γενέσθαι τὰ ἕλκη ταῦτα.
And it also happened to Lysander the Laconian that these sores broke out before his death.
ἔτι δὲ τὰ περὶ Αἴαντα καὶ Βελλεροφόντην, ὧν ὁ μὲν ἐκστατικὸς ἐγένετο παντελῶς, ὁ δὲ τὰς ἐρημίας ἐδίωκεν, διὸ οὕτως ἐποίησεν Ὅμηρος
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ καὶ κεῖνος ἀπήχθετο πᾶσι θεοῖσιν, ἤτοι ὁ καππεδίον τὸ Ἀλήϊον οἶος ἀλᾶτο, ὃν θυμὸν κατέδων, πάτον ἀνθρώπων ἀλεείνων
. καὶ ἄλλοι δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν ἡρώων ὁμοιοπαθεῖς φαίνονται τούτοις.
Furthermore, there are the cases of Ajax and Bellerophon, of whom the former became utterly mad, and the latter sought out desolate places; which is why Homer wrote thus: "But when he also became hated by all the gods, then indeed he wandered alone over the Aleian plain, eating his own heart, avoiding the path of men." And many other of the heroes appear to have suffered in a similar way to these.
τῶν δὲ ὕστερον Ἐμπεδοκλῆς καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Σωκράτης καὶ ἕτεροι συχνοὶ τῶν γνωρίμων. ἔτι δὲ τῶν περὶ τὴν ποίησιν οἱ πλεῖστοι.
And of those of later times, Empedocles, Plato, Socrates, and many other well-known men; and furthermore, most of those concerned with poetry.
πολλοῖς μὲν γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων γίνεται νοσήματα ἀπὸ τῆς τοιαύτης κράσεως τῷ σώματι, τοῖς δὲ ἡ φύσις δήλη ῥέπουσα πρὸς τὰ πάθη.
For to many of such people, diseases arise in the body from such a mixture, while in others, their nature is clearly inclined towards these passions.
πάντες δ’ οὖν ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀπλῶς εἰσί, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη, τοιοῦτοι τὴν φύσιν.
At any rate, to speak simply, all of them are, as has been said, of such a nature.
δεῖ δὴ λαβεῖν τὴν αἰτίαν πρῶτον ἐπὶ παραδείγματος προχειρισαμένους.
We must, then, grasp the cause by first taking an example.
ὁ γὰρ οἶνος ὁ πολὺς μάλιστα φαίνεται παρασκευάζειν τοιούτους οἵους λέγομεν τοὺς μελαγχολικοὺς εἶναι, καὶ πλεῖστα ἤθη ποιεῖν πινόμενος, οἷον ὀργίλους, φιλανθρώπους, ἐλεήμονας, ἰταμούς· ἀλλ’ τοιούτων οὐδέν.
For much wine appears to make people of the very sort that we say melancholic people are, and when drunk, it produces many different characters, such as angry, benevolent, compassionate, or reckless; yet they have none of these qualities.
ἴδοι δ’ ἄν τις ὅτι παντοδαποὺς ἀπεργάζεται, οἴτη θεωρῶν ὡς μεταβάλλει τοὺς πίνοντας ἐκ προσαγωγῆς· παραλαβὼν γὰρ ἀπεψυγμένους ἐν τῷ νήφειν καὶ σιωπηλοὺς μικρῷ μὲν πλείων ποθεὶς λαλιστέρους ποιεῖ, ἔτι δὲ πλείων ῥητορικοὺς καὶ θαρραλέους, προϊόντας δὲ πρὸς τὸ πράττειν ἰταμούς, ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον πινόμενος ὑβριστάς, ἔπειτα μανικούς, λίαν δὲ πολὺς ἐκλύει καὶ ποιεῖ μωρούς, ὥσπερ τοὺς ἐκ παίδων ἐπιλήπτους ἢ καὶ ἐχομένους τοῖς μελαγχολικοῖς ἄγαν.
And one might see that it makes them of all kinds, by observing how it changes those who drink step by step; for taking them cold and silent while sober, if drunk in a slightly larger quantity it makes them more talkative, and in still larger quantity eloquent and bold, and as they proceed to action, reckless, and when drunk still more, insolent, and then mad, while an excessive amount relaxes them and makes them foolish, just like those who are epileptic from childhood or those who are excessively possessed by melancholy.
ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ εἷς ἄνθρωπος μεταβάλλει τὸ ἦθος πίνων καὶ χρώμενος τῷ οἴνῳ ποσῷ τινί, οὕτω καθ’ ἕκαστον τὸ ἦθος εἰσί τινες ἄνθρωποι.
Just as, therefore, a single human being changes his character when drinking and using wine in a certain quantity, so there are some individuals who permanently correspond to each of these characters.
οἷος γὰρ οὗτος μεθύων νῦν ἐστίν, ἄλλος τις τοιοῦτος φύσει ἐστίν, ὁ μὲν λάλος, ὁ δὲ κεκινημένος, ὁ δὲ ἀρίδακρυς· ποιεῖ γάρ τινας καὶ τοιούτους, διὸ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε
καί μέ φησι δακρυπλώειν βεβαρημένον οἴνῳ
. καὶ γὰρ ἐλεήμονές ποτε γίνονται καὶ ἄγριοι καὶ σιωπηλοί· ἔνιοι γὰρ αὖ ἀποσιωπῶσι, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν μελαγχολικῶν ὅσοι ἐκστατικοί.
For in whatever state this man is now when drunk, another person is of such a character by nature—one being talkative, another agitated, another very tearful; for wine also makes some people like this, which is why Homer also wrote: "And he says that I weep, weighed down with wine." For they also sometimes become compassionate, wild, or silent; for some, on the other hand, fall into complete silence, and especially those of the melancholics who are prone to madness.
ποιεῖ δὲ καὶ φιλητικοὺς ὁ οἶνος· σημεῖον δὲ ὅτι προάγεται ὁ πίνων καὶ τῷ στόματι φιλεῖν, οὓς νήφων οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς φιλήσειεν ἢ διὰ τὸ εἶδος ἢ διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν.
And wine also makes people affectionate; the sign of this is that the drinker is led even to kiss with his mouth those whom no one, when sober, would kiss either on account of their appearance or their age.
ὁ μὲν οὖν οἶνος οὐ πολὺν χρόνον ποιεῖ περιττόν, ἀλλ’ ὀλίγον, ἡ δὲ φύσις ἀεί, ἕως τις ἂν ᾖ· οἱ μὲν γὰρ θρασεῖς, οἱ δὲ σιωπηλοί, οἱ δὲ ἐλεήμονες, οἱ δὲ δειλοὶ γίνονται φύσει.
Thus, wine makes a person outstanding not for a long time, but for a short one, whereas nature does so always, as long as one exists; for some become bold, some silent, some compassionate, and some cowardly by nature.
ὥστε δῆλον ὅτι διὰ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιεῖ ὅ τε οἶνος καὶ ἡ φύσις ἑκάστου τὸ ἦθος· πάντα γὰρ κατεργάζεται τῇ θερμότητι ταμιευόμενα.
So it is clear that both wine and each person's nature produce their character through the same cause; for all things achieve this by being regulated by heat.
ὅ τε δὴ χυμὸς καὶ ἡ κρᾶσις ἡ τῆς μελαίνης χολῆς πνευματικά ἐστιν· διὸ καὶ τὰ πνευματώδη πάθη καὶ τὰ ὑποχονδριακὰ μελαγχολικὰ οἱ ἰατροί φασιν εἶναι.
And indeed, the juice and the mixture of black bile are full of spirit; which is why physicians also say that flatulent diseases and hypochondriac diseases are melancholic.
καὶ ὁ οἶνος δὲ πνευματώδης τὴν δύναμιν.
And wine is also pneumatic in its power.
διὸ δή ἐστι τὴν φύσιν ὅμοια ὅ τε οἶνος καὶ ἡ κρᾶσις.
Therefore, wine and the mixture are indeed similar in their nature.
δηλοῖ δὲ ὅτι πνευματώδης ὁ οἶνός ἐστιν ὁ ἀφρός· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔλαιον θερμὸν ὄν οὐ ποιεῖ ἀφρόν, ὁ δὲ οἶνος πολύν, καὶ μᾶλλον ὁ μέλας τοῦ λευκοῦ, ὅτι θερμότερος καὶ σωματωδέστερος.
And the foam shows that wine is pneumatic; for oil, though hot, does not produce foam, whereas wine produces much, and dark wine more than white, because it is hotter and more full-bodied.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὅ τε οἶνος ἀφροδισιαστικοὺς ἀπεργάζεται, καὶ ὀρθῶς Διόνυσος καὶ Ἀφροδίτη λέγονται μετ’ ἀλλήλων εἶναι, καὶ οἱ μελαγχολικοὶ οἱ πλεῖστοι λάγνοι εἰσίν.
And for this reason, wine makes people lustful, and Dionysus and Aphrodite are rightly said to be together, and most melancholic people are lustful.