§72πολλῶν δὲ καὶ δεινῶν ὑπαρχόντων τοὺς μὲν παῖδας αὐτῶν ζηλῶ, ὅτι νεώτεροί εἰσιν ἢ ὥστε εἰδέναι οἵων πατέρων ἐστέρηνται, ἐξ ὧν δʼ οὗτοι γεγόνασιν, οἰκτείρω, ὅτι πρεσβύτεροι ἢ ὥστε ἐπιλαθέσθαι τῆς δυστυχίας τῆς ἑαυτῶν. §73τί γὰρ ἂν τούτων ἀνιαρότερον γένοιτο, ἢ τεκεῖν μὲν καὶ θρέψαι καὶ θάψαι τοὺς αὑτῶν, ἐν δὲ τῷ γήρᾳ ἀδυνάτους μὲν εἶναι τῷ σώματι, πασῶν δʼ ἀπεστερημένους τῶν ἐλπίδων ἀφίλους καὶ ἀπόρους γεγονέναι, ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν αὐτῶν πρότερον ζηλοῦσθαι καὶ νῦν ἐλεεῖσθαι, ποθεινότερον δʼ αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸν θάνατον τοῦ βίου;
Although many and terrible things exist, on the one hand I envy their children, because they are too young to know of what kind of fathers they have been deprived, and on the other hand I pity those from whom these men were born, because they are too old to forget their own misfortune. For what could be more painful than these things—to give birth to, to rear, and to bury one's own children, and in old age to be weak in body, and, deprived of all hopes, to have become friendless and destitute, and because of the very same things to have been formerly envied and now pitied, and that death is more desirable to them than life?
ὅσῳ γὰρ ἄνδρες ἀμείνους ἦσαν, τοσούτῳ τοῖς καταλειπομένοις τὸ πένθος μεῖζον. §74πῶς δʼ αὐτοὺς χρὴ λῆξαι τῆς λύπης;
For by as much as they were better men, by so much greater is the grief for those left behind. And how should they cease from their grief?
πότερον ἐν ταῖς τῆς πόλεως συμφοραῖς;
Whether in the misfortunes of the city?
ἀλλὰ τότε αὐτῶν εἰκὸς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους μεμνῆσθαι.
But at those times it is natural for others also to remember them.
ἀλλʼ ἐν ταῖς εὐτυχίαις ταῖς κοιναῖς;
Or in the common successes?
ἀλλʼ ἱκανὸν λυπῆσαι, τῶν μὲν σφετέρων τέκνων τετελευτηκότων, τῶν δὲ ζώντων ἀπολαυόντων τῆς τούτων ἀρετῆς.
But this is sufficient to cause grief, since their own children have died, while those who are alive enjoy the benefit of their virtue.
ἀλλʼ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις κινδύνοις, ὅταν ὁρῶσι τοὺς μὲν πρότερον ὄντας φίλους φεύγοντας τὴν αὑτῶν ἀπορίαν, τοὺς δʼ ἐχθροὺς μέγα φρονοῦντας ἐπὶ ταῖς δυστυχίαις ταῖς τούτων; §75μόνην δʼ ἄν μοι δοκοῦμεν ταύτην τοῖς ἐνθάδε κειμένοις ἀποδοῦναι χάριν, εἰ τοὺς μὲν τοκέας αὐτῶν ὁμοίως ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνοι περὶ πολλοῦ ποιοίμεθα, τοὺς δὲ παῖδας οὕτως ἀσπαζοίμεθα ὥσπερ αὐτοὶ πατέρες ὄντες, ταῖς δὲ γυναιξὶν εἰ τοιούτους βοηθοὺς ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς παρέχοιμεν, οἷοίπερ ἐκεῖνοι ζῶντες ἦσαν.
Or in private dangers, when they see those who were formerly friends fleeing from their own destitution, and enemies taking pride in their misfortunes? And we would seem, it seems to me, to render this sole gratitude to those who lie here, if we should value their parents similarly just as they did, and should embrace their children just as if we ourselves were their fathers, and if we should show ourselves to be such helpers to their wives as they themselves were when alive.
τίνας γὰρ ἂν εἰκότως μᾶλλον τιμῷμεν τῶν ἐνθάδε κειμένων; §76τίνας δʼ ἂν τῶν ζώντων δικαιότερον περὶ πολλοῦ ποιοίμεθα ἢ τοὺς τούτοις προσήκοντας, οἳ τῆς μὲν τούτων ἀρετῆς τὸ ἴσον τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀπέλαυσαν, ἀποθανόντων δὲ μόνοι γνησίως τῆς δυστυχίας μετέχουσιν; §77ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅ τι δεῖ τοιαῦτα ὀλοφύρεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ ἐλανθάνομεν ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὄντες θνητοί· ὥστε τί δεῖ, ἃ πάλαι προσεδοκῶμεν πείσεσθαι, ὑπὲρ τούτων νῦν ἄχθεσθαι, ἢ λίαν οὕτω βαρέως φέρειν ἐπὶ ταῖς τῆς φύσεως συμφοραῖς, ἐπισταμένους ὅτι ὁ θάνατος κοινὸς καὶ τοῖς χειρίστοις καὶ τοῖς βελτίστοις;
For whom would we reasonably honor more than those who lie here? And whom of the living would we more justly value highly than those related to them, who enjoyed an equal share of their virtue with others, but, now that they are dead, alone genuinely share in the misfortune? But indeed I do not know why it is necessary to lament such things; for we did not escape our own notice that we are mortal; so why is it necessary to grieve now over those things which we long expected to suffer, or to bear so exceedingly heavily the misfortunes of nature, knowing that death is common both to the worst and to the best?
οὔτε γὰρ τοὺς πονηροὺς ὑπερορᾷ οὔτε τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς θαυμάζει, §78ἀλλʼ ἴσον ἑαυτὸν παρέχει πᾶσιν.
For it neither overlooks the wicked nor admires the good, but presents itself equal to all.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ οἷόν τε ἦν τοῖς τοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ κινδύνους διαφυγοῦσιν ἀθανάτους εἶναι τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον, ἄξιον τοῖς ζῶσι τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον πενθεῖν τοὺς τεθνεῶτας· νῦν δὲ ἥ τε φύσις καὶ νόσων ἥττων καὶ γήρως, ὅ τε δαίμων ὁ τὴν ἡμετέραν μοῖραν εἰληχὼς ἀπαραίτητος. §79ὥστε προσήκει τούτους εὐδαιμονεστάτους ἡγεῖσθαι, οἵτινες ὑπὲρ μεγίστων καὶ καλλίστων κινδυνεύσαντες οὕτω τὸν βίον ἐτελεύτησαν, οὐκ ἐπιτρέψαντες περὶ αὑτῶν τῇ τύχῃ, οὐδʼ ἀναμείναντες τὸν αὐτόματον θάνατον, ἀλλʼ ἐκλεξάμενοι τὸν κάλλιστον.
For if it were possible for those who escaped dangers in war to be immortal for the remaining time, it would be fitting for the living to mourn the dead for all time; but as it is, nature is both weaker than diseases and old age, and the divinity who has received our lot is inexorable. So it is fitting to consider them most happy, who, having risked danger for the greatest and finest things, thus ended their lives, not entrusting themselves to fortune, nor waiting for natural death, but choosing the finest death.
καὶ γάρ τοι ἀγήρατοι μὲν αὐτῶν αἱ μνῆμαι, ζηλωταὶ δὲ ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων αἱ τιμαί· οἳ πενθοῦνται μὲν διὰ τὴν φύσιν ὡς θνητοί, §80ὑμνοῦνται δὲ ὡς ἀθάνατοι διὰ τὴν ἀρετήν.
And indeed, ageless are their memories, and envied by all men are their honors; who are mourned because of nature as mortal, but are hymned as immortal because of their virtue.
καὶ γάρ τοι θάπτονται δημοσία, καὶ ἀγῶνες τίθενται ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ῥώμης καὶ σοφίας καὶ πλούτου, ὡς ἀξίους ὄντας τοὺς ἐν τῷ τετελευτηκότας ταῖς αὐταῖς τιμαῖς καὶ τοὺς ἀθανάτους τιμᾶσθαι. §81ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αὐτοὺς καὶ μακαρίζω τοῦ θανάτου καὶ ζηλῶ, καὶ μόνοις τούτοις ἀνθρώπων οἶμαι κρεῖττον εἶναι γενέσθαι, οἵτινες, ἐπειδὴ θνητῶν σωμάτων ἔτυχον, ἀθάνατον μνήμην διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τὴν αὑτῶν κατέλιπον· ὅμως δʼ ἀνάγκη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἔθεσι χρῆσθαι, καὶ θεραπεύοντας τὸν πάτριον νόμον ὀλοφύρεσθαι τοὺς θαπτομένους.
For indeed they are buried publicly, and contests of strength, wisdom, and wealth are established for them, as those who have died in war being worthy to be honored with the same honors as the immortals. I, therefore, both count them happy for their death and envy them, and for these alone of men I think it was better to have been born, who, since they obtained mortal bodies, left behind an immortal memory because of their own virtue; but nevertheless it is necessary to employ ancient customs, and, observing ancestral law, to lament those being buried.