§1212.
12.
Ἱπποκράτης Φιλοποίμενι χαίρειν.
Hippocrates to Philopoemen, greeting.
Οἱ τὴν τῆς πόλιος ἐπιστολὴν ἀποδόντες μοι πρέσβεις καὶ τεὴν ἀπέδοσαν, ἥσθην τε κάρτα καὶ ξενίην ὑπισχνεομένου σέο καὶ τὴν ἑτέρην διαίτην.
The ambassadors who delivered the city's letter to me also delivered yours, and I was exceedingly pleased that you promised hospitality and the other way of life.
Ἔλθοιμεν δ’ ἂν αἰσίῃ τύχῃ, καὶ ἀφιξόμεθα ὡς ὑπολαμβάνομεν χρηστοτέρῃσιν ἐλπίσιν [ἢ] ὡς ἐν τῇ γραφῇ παραδεδήλωται, οὐ μανίην ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς τινὰ ῥῶσιν ὑπερβάλλουσαν διασαφηνέοντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, μήτε παίδων μήτε γυναικὸς μήτε ξυγγενέων μήτε οὐσίης μήτε τινὸς ὅλως ἐν φροντίδι ἐόντος, ἡμέρην δὲ καὶ εὐφρόνην πρὸς ἑωυτῷ καθεστεῶτος καὶ ἰδιάζοντος, τὰ μὲν πολλὰ ἐν ἄντροισι καὶ ἐρημίῃσιν ἢ ἐν ὑποσκιάσεσι δενδρέων, ἢ ἐν μαλθακῇσι ποίῃσιν, ἢ παρὰ συχνοῖσιν ὑδάτων ῥείθροισιν.
May we come with good fortune, and we shall arrive, as we suppose, with better hopes than what has been indicated in the letter; for the man manifests not madness but a certain excessive vigor of soul, since he is in no care for children, wife, relatives, property, or anything at all, but day and night is established by himself and lives in solitude, for the most part in caves and deserts, or in the shade of trees, or on soft grass, or by abundant streams of water.
Συμβαίνει μὲν οὖν τὰ πολλὰ τοῖσι μελαγχολῶσι τὰ τοιαῦτα· σιγηροί τε γὰρ ἐνίοτε εἰσὶ καὶ μονήρεες, καὶ φιλέρημοι τυγχάνουσιν· ἀπανθρωπέονταί τε ξύμφυλον ὄψιν ἀλλοτρίην νομίζοντες·
Now, such things indeed happen for the most part to those who are melancholic; for they are sometimes silent and solitary, and happen to be fond of solitude, and they avoid human society, considering the sight of their own kind to be alien.
οὐκ ἀπεοικὸς δὲ καὶ τοῖσι περὶ παιδείην ἐσπουδακόσι τὰς ἄλλας φροντίδας ὑπὸ μιῆς τῆς ἐν σοφίῃ διαθέσιος σεσοβῆσθαι.
But it is not unlikely also that for those who have been zealous about education, their other cares have been driven away by the single disposition toward wisdom.
Ὥσπερ γὰρ δμῶές τε καὶ δμωΐδες ἐν τῇσιν οἰκίῃσι θορυβέοντες καὶ στασιάζοντες, ὁκόταν ἐξαπιναίως αὐτοῖσιν ἡ δέσποινα ἐπιστῇ, πτοηθέντες ἀφησυχάζουσι, παραπλησίως καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ κατὰ ψυχὴν ἐπιθυμίαι ἀνθρώποισι κακῶν ὑπηρέτιδες· ἐπὴν δὲ σοφίης ὄψις ἑωυτέην ἐπιστήσῃ, ὡς δοῦλα τὰ λοιπὰ πάθεα ἐκκεχώρηκεν.
For just as male and female servants making an uproar and disputing in houses, whenever their mistress suddenly appears before them, are startled into quietness, in like manner also the other desires in the soul, which are handmaidens of evils to men: when the sight of wisdom presents itself, the other passions, like slaves, withdraw.
Ποθέουσι δ’ ἄντρα καὶ ἡσυχίην οὐ πάντως οἱ μανέντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πρηγμάτων ὑπερφρονήσαντες ἀταραξίης ἐπιθυμίῃ· ὁκόταν γὰρ ὁ νοῦς ὑπὸ τῶν ἔξω φροντίδων κοπτόμενος ἀναπαῦσαι θελήσῃ τὸ σῶμα, τότε ταχέως ἐς ἡσυχίην μετήλλαξεν, εἶτα ἀναστὰς ὄρθριος ἐν ἑωυτῷ περιεσκόπει κύκλῳ χωρίον ἀληθείης, ἐν ᾧ οὐ πατὴρ, οὐ μήτηρ, οὐ γυνὴ, οὐ τέκνα, οὐ κασίγνητος, οὐ ξυγγενέες, οὐ δμῶες, οὐ τύχη, οὐχ ὅλως οὐδὲν τῶν θόρυβον ἐμποιησάντων·
And it is not by any means the mad who long for caves and quietness, but also those who have come to look down on human affairs from a desire for tranquility; for when the mind, battered by external cares, wishes to rest the body, then it quickly changes into quietness, and then, rising at dawn, it contemplates within itself, all around, the realm of truth, in which there is no father, no mother, no wife, no children, no brother, no relatives, no servants, no fortune, absolutely nothing of the things that cause uproar.
πάντα δ’ ἀποκεκλεισμένα τὰ ταράσσοντα ἕστηκεν ὑπὸ φόβου, οὐδὲ πλησιάσαι τολμέοντα ὑπ’ εὐλαβείης τῶν αὐτόθι ἐνοικεόντων· οἰκέουσι δὲ τὸ χωρίον ἐκεῖνο καὶ τέχναι καὶ ἀρεταὶ παντοῖαι καὶ θεοὶ καὶ δαίμονες καὶ βουλαὶ καὶ γνῶμαι.
All disturbing things stand shut out through fear, not even daring to approach because of reverence for those who dwell there; and there dwell in that region both arts and virtues of all kinds, and gods, and daemons, and counsels, and judgments.
Καὶ ὁ μέγας πόλος ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χωρίῳ τοὺς πολυκινήτους ἀστέρας κατέστεπται, εἰς ὃ τάχα καὶ Δημόκριτος ὑπὸ σοφίης μετῴκισται· εἶτ’ οὐκ ἔτι ὁρέων τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει, ἅτε τηλοῦ ἐκδεδημηκὼς, δοξάζεται μανίης νοῦσον διὰ τὸ φιλέρημον· σπεύδουσι δὲ Ἀβδηρῖται ἀργυρίου ἐξελεγχθῆναι, ὅτι οὐ ξυνιᾶσι Δημόκριτον.
And the great pole in that region is crowned with the many-moving stars, into which Democritus too has perhaps been relocated by wisdom; then, no longer seeing those in the city, inasmuch as he has traveled far away, he is thought to have the disease of madness because of his love of solitude; and the Abderites are eager to be convicted by their money, because they do not understand Democritus.
Ἀλλὰ σύ γε ἡμῖν κατάρτυε τὴν ξενίην, ὦ ἑταῖρε Φιλοποίμην· οὐ γὰρ ἐθέλω τεταραγμένῃ τῇ πόλι παρασχεῖν ὄχλησιν, ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἴδιον ἔχων ξένον σε, ὡς οἶσθα.
But do you prepare hospitality for us, friend Philopoemen; for I do not wish to cause trouble to the troubled city, since I have you as my own guest-friend from of old, as you know.
Ἔῤῥωσο.
Farewell.
§1313.
13.
Ἱπποκράτης Διονυσίῳ χαίρειν.
Hippocrates to Dionysius, greeting.
Ἢ περίμεινόν με ἐν Ἁλικαρνασσῷ, ἢ φθάσον αὐτὸς ἐλθεῖν, ὦ ἑταῖρε· κατὰ πᾶσαν γὰρ ἀνάγκην ἀπιτέον εἰς Ἄβδηράν μοι Δημοκρίτεω χάριν, ἐφ’ ὃν νοσέοντα μετεπέμψατό με ἡ πόλις.
Either wait for me in Halicarnassus, or anticipate me by coming yourself, friend; for by all necessity I must depart for Abdera for the sake of Democritus, to whom, since he is sick, the city has summoned me.
Ἄλεκτος γάρ τις ἡ συμπαθείη τῶν ἀνθρώπων, Διονύσιε· ὡς μία ψυχὴ ξυννοσέει τῷ πολίτῃ· ὥστε μοι δοκέουσι καὶ αὐτοὶ θεραπείης δέεσθαι.
For unspeakable is the sympathy of the people, Dionysius; how like a single soul they suffer together with their citizen, so that they themselves also seem to me to need treatment.
Ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι οὐδὲ νοῦσον αὐτὴν εἶναι, ἀλλ’ ἀμετρίην παιδείης, οὐκ οὖσάν γε τῷ ὄντι ἀμετρίην, ἀλλὰ νομιζομένην τοῖσιν ἰδιώτῃσιν, ἐπεὶ οὐδέποτε βλαβερὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸ ἄμετρον.
But I think that it is not even a disease itself, but an immeasurability of education, which is not indeed in reality an immeasurability, but is so considered by laymen, since the immeasurable of virtue is never harmful.
Δόξα δὲ νούσου γίνεται τὸ ὑπερβάλλον διὰ τὴν τῶν κρινόντων ἀπαιδευσίην· δοκιμάζει δὲ ἕκαστος ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸς οὐκ ἔχει, τὸ ἐν ἄλλῳ πλεονάζον περισσεύειν· ὥς που καὶ ὁ δειλὸς ἀμετρίην τὴν ἀνδρείην ὑπείληφε, καὶ ὁ φιλάργυρος τὴν μεγαλοψυχίην, καὶ πᾶσα ἔλλειψις ὑπερβάλλειν δοκέει τὸ ἀρετῆς ξύμμετρον.
And the appearance of disease comes to be the excess because of the ignorance of those who judge; for each judges from what he himself lacks, that what is abundant in another is superfluous; just as, I suppose, the coward has assumed courage to be an excess, and the avaricious man magnanimity, and every deficiency thinks that the measured state of virtue is an excess.
Ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν ἰδόντες μετὰ τῆς ἐνθένδε προγνώσιος, καὶ ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ, ἄμεινον εἰσόμεθα.
So, having seen him indeed, with the prognosis from here, and having heard his words, we shall know better.
Σὺ δὲ ἔπειξον, ὦ Διονύσιε, αὐτὸς παραγενέσθαι· βούλομαι γὰρ ἐνδιατρῖψαί σε τῇ πατρίδι μου, μέχρις ἂν ἐπανέλθω, ὅκως τῶν ἡμετέρων φροντιεῖς καὶ πρῶτον ἡμέων τῆς πόλιος· ἐπειδὴ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅκως ἐκ συντυχίης ὑγιεινὸν τὸ ἔτος ἐστὶ καὶ τὴν ἀρχαίην φύσιν ἔχον· ὥστε οὐδὲ πολλαὶ παρενοχλήσουσι νοῦσοι· πλὴν ὅμως πάριθι.
But do you hasten, Dionysius, to arrive yourself; for I wish you to spend time in my homeland until I return, so that you may take care of our affairs, and first of all of our city; since, I know not how, by chance the year is healthy and retains its ancient nature, so that not even many diseases will trouble you; nevertheless, come.
Οἰκήσεις δὲ τὴν ἐμὴν οἰκίην ὑπερευκαιρέουσαν, ἅτε καὶ τοῦ γυναίου μένοντος πρὸς τοῦς γονέας διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ἐκδημίην.
And you will dwell in my house, which is extremely vacant, since my wife is staying with her parents because of my absence.
Ἐπισκόπει δὲ ὅμως καὶ τὰ ἐκεινης, ὅκως διάγῃ σωφρόνως καὶ μὴ τῇ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀπουσίῃ ἄλλους ἄνδρας νομίσῃ· κόσμιον μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἦν, καὶ γονέας ἀστείους εἶχεν, τὸν δὲ πατέρα ἐκτόπως ἀνδρικόν τε καὶ μάλα μισοπόνηρον ὑπερφυῷς γερόντιον.
But nevertheless observe her affairs, how she conducts herself modestly, and lest in her husband's absence she should turn her mind to other men; for she was well-behaved from the beginning, and had refined parents, and her father is an extraordinarily manly and highly wickedness-hating little old man.
Ἀλλ’ ὅμως αἰεὶ χρῄζει γυνὴ σωφρονίζοντος, ἔχει γὰρ φύσει τὸ ἀκόλαστον ἐν ἑωυτέῃ, ὅπερ, εἰ μὴ καθ’ ἡμέρην ἐπικόπτοιτο, ὡς τὰ δένδρα καθυλομανέει.
But nevertheless, a woman always needs someone to keep her in check, for she has by nature an unrestrained disposition within herself, which, unless it is pruned daily, runs wild like trees with overgrowth of wood.
Ἐγὼ δὲ φίλον οἴομαι ἀκριβέστερον γονέων ἐς φυλακὴν γυναικός· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἐκείνοισι καὶ τουτέῳ ξυνοικέει πάθος εὐνοίης, δι’ οὗ πολλάκις ἐπισκιάζονται τὴν νουθεσίην· φρονιμώτερον δὲ ἐν παντὶ τὸ ἀπαθέστερον, ἅτε μὴ ἐπικλώμενον ὑπ’ εὐνοίης.
And I think a friend is more strict than parents for the guarding of a wife; for not as with them does there dwell in him a passion of affection, by which they often overshadow their admonition; and in everything, that which is more free from passion is wiser, inasmuch as it is not bent by affection.
Ἔῤῥωσο.
Farewell.