§1## Ἀρριανοῦ Ἐπικτητείου πρὸς τὸν περὶ οὐσίας
τί μοι μέλει, φησί, πότερον ἐξ ἀτόμων ἢ ἐξ ἀμερῶν ἢ ἐκ πυρὸς καὶ γῆς συνέστηκε τὰ ὄντα;
## Arrian's Epictetus, Against the one concerning substance. "What do I care," he says, "whether existing things are composed of atoms, or of indivisibles, or of fire and earth?
οὐ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ μαθεῖν τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ καὶ τὰ μέτρα τῶν ὀρέξεων καὶ ἐκκλίσεων καὶ ἔτι ὁρμῶν καὶ ἀφορμῶν καὶ τούτοις ὥσπερ κανόσι χρώμενον διοικεῖν τὰ τοῦ βίου, τὰ δʼ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ταῦτα χαίρειν ἐᾶν, ἃ τυχὸν μὲν ἀκατάληπτά ἐστι τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ γνώμῃ, εἰ δὲ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα θείη τις εἶναι καταληπτά, ἀλλʼ οὖν τί ὄφελος καταληφθέντων;
Is it not enough to learn the nature of good and evil, and the measures of desires and aversions, and further of impulses and repulsions, and using these as rules to manage the affairs of life, and to bid farewell to those things above us, which are perhaps incomprehensible to human understanding, and even if one should assume in the highest degree that they are comprehensible, what is the benefit of them having been comprehended?
οὐχὶ δὲ διακενῆς πράγματα ἔχειν φατέον τοὺς ταῦτα ὡς ἀναγκαῖα τῷ τοῦ φιλοσόφου λόγῳ προσνέμοντας; — μή τι οὖν καὶ τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς παράγγελμα παρέλκον ἐστί, τὸ Γνῶθι σαυτόν; — τοῦτο δὲ μὲν οὔ, φησί. — τίς οὖν ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ;
Must we not say that those who assign these things as necessary to the philosopher's discourse have trouble in vain?" — Is then the precept at Delphi also superfluous, "Know thyself"? — "This indeed is not," he says. — What then is its meaning?
εἰ χορευτῇ τις παρήγγελλε τὸ γνῶναι ἑαυτόν, οὔκουν ἂν τῇ προστάξει προσεῖχε τῷ ἐπιστραφῆναι καὶ τῶν συγχορευτῶν καὶ τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς συμφωνίας; — φησίν. — εἰ δὲ ναύτῃ;
If someone commanded a dancer to know himself, would he not attend to the instruction by turning his attention both to his fellow dancers and to his harmony with them? — He says [yes]. — What if to a sailor?
εἰ δὲ στρατιώτῃ;
What if to a soldier?
πότερον οὖν ὁ ἄνθρωπος αὐτὸς ἐφʼ αὑτοῦ πεποιῆσθαί σοι δοκεῖ ζῷον ἢ πρὸς κοινωνίαν; — πρὸς κοινωνίαν. — ὑπὸ τίνος; — ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως. — τίνος οὔσης καὶ πῶς διοικούσης τὰ ὅλα καὶ πότερον οὔσης ἢ μή, ταῦτα οὐκέτι ἀναγκαῖον πολυπραγμονεῖν;
Does man then seem to you to have been made by himself, a solitary animal, or for community? — For community. — By whom? — By nature. — But what this nature is, and how it governs the whole, and whether it exists or not—is it no longer necessary to busy oneself with these things?
§2Ἀρριανοῦ Ἐπικτητείου.
Arrian's Epictetus.
ὁ τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ δεδομένοις ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης δυσχεραίνων ἰδιώτης ἐν βίῳ, ὁ δὲ ταῦτα γενναίως φέρων καὶ εὐλογίστω † τὰ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν † ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ἄξιος νομίζεσθαι.
He who is displeased with his present circumstances and what is given by fortune is a layman in life; but he who bears these things nobly and with good reason is worthy of being considered a good man.
§3τοῦ αὐτοῦ.
Of the same author.
πάντα ὑπακούει τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ὑπηρετεῖ καὶ γῆ καὶ θάλασσα καὶ ἥλιος καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἄστρα καὶ τὰ γῆς φυτὰ καὶ ζῷα·
Everything obeys and serves the cosmos—earth and sea and sun and the other stars, and the plants and animals of the earth.
ὑπακούει δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ ἡμέτερον σῶμα καὶ νοσοῦν καὶ ὑγιαῖνον, ὅταν ἐκεῖνος θέλῃ, καὶ νεάζον καὶ γηρῶν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας διερχόμενον μεταβολάς.
And our body also obeys it, both when sick and when healthy, whenever the cosmos wills, and when young and when growing old, and passing through other changes.
οὐκοῦν εὔλογον καί, ὃ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἐστι, τουτέστι τὴν κρίσιν, μὴ ἀντιτείνειν μόνην πρὸς αὐτόν· καὶ γὰρ ἰσχυρός ἐστι καὶ κρείσσων καὶ ἄμεινον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν βεβούλευται μετὰ τῶν ὅλων καὶ ἡμᾶς συνδιοικῶν.
Therefore, it is reasonable that what is in our power, that is, our judgment, should not alone resist it; for the cosmos is strong and superior, and has planned better for us, governing us together with the whole.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ ἡ ἀντίπραξις μετὰ τοῦ ἀλόγου καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ποιοῦσα πλὴν τὸ διακενῆς σπᾶσθαι καὶ περιπίπτειν ὀδύναις καὶ λύπαις ποιεῖ.
And in addition to this, opposition, being combined with irrationality, does nothing more than cause us to struggle in vain and fall into pains and griefs.
§4Ῥούφου ἐκ τῶν Ἐπικτήτου περὶ φιλίας.
Rufus, from Epictetus, On friendship.
τῶν ὄντων τὰ μὲν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἔθετο ὁ θεός, τὰ δʼ οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν.
Of things that exist, God has put some in our power, and others not in our power.
ἐφʼ ἡμῖν μὲν τὸ κάλλιστον καὶ σπουδαιότατον, ᾧ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς εὐδαίμων ἐστί, τὴν χρῆσιν τῶν φαντασιῶν.
In our power [he placed] the most beautiful and most excellent thing, by which indeed he himself is happy: the use of impressions.
τοῦτο γὰρ ὀρθῶς γιγνόμενον ἐλευθερία ἐστίν, εὔροια, εὐθυμία, εὐστάθεια, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ δίκη ἐστὶ καὶ νόμος καὶ σωφροσύνη καὶ ξύμπασα ἀρετή.
For this, when happening rightly, is freedom, smooth flow of life, cheerfulness, stability; and this is also justice and law and temperance and all virtue.
τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πάντα οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἐποιήσατο.
But all other things he made not in our power.
οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡμᾶς συμψήφους χρὴ τῷ θεῷ γενέσθαι καὶ ταύτῃ διελόντας τὰ πράγματα τῶν μὲν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν πάντα τρόπον ἀντιποιεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ μὴ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἐπιτρέψαι τῷ κόσμῳ καί, εἴτε τῶν παίδων δέοιτο εἴτε τῆς πατρίδος εἴτε τοῦ σώματος εἴτε ὁτουοῦν, ἀσμένους παραχωρεῖν.
Therefore we also must agree with God, and having divided things in this way, we must lay claim to those in our power in every way, but commit those not in our power to the cosmos, and, whether it requires our children, or our fatherland, or our body, or anything whatsoever, yield them up gladly.
§5Ῥούφου ἐκ τοῦ Ἐπικτήτου περὶ φιλίας.
Rufus, from Epictetus, On friendship.
τὸ δὲ Λυκούργου τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου τίς ἡμῶν οὐ θαυμάζει;
Who among us does not admire the deed of Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian?
πηρωθεὶς γὰρ ὑπό τινος τῶν πολιτῶν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὸν ἕτερον καὶ παραλαβὼν τὸν νεανίσκον παρὰ τοῦ δήμου, ἵνα τιμωρήσαιτο, ὅπως ἂν αὐτὸς βούληται, τούτου μὲν ἀπέσχετο, παιδεύσας δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ἀποφήνας ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν παρήγαγεν εἰς τὸ θέατρον.
For having been blinded in one of his eyes by one of the citizens, and having received the youth from the people so that he might punish him however he wished, he abstained from this, but having educated him and made him a good man, he brought him into the theatre.
θαυμαζόντων δὲ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων
τοῦτον μέντοι λαβών,
ἔφη,
παρʼ ὑμῶν ὑβριστὴν καὶ βίαιον ἀποδίδωμι ὑμῖν ἐπιεικῆ καὶ δημοτικόν.
And when the Lacedaemonians were wondering, "Having received this man," he said, "from you as insolent and violent, I return him to you gentle and public-spirited."