ταῦτʼ οὖν ἐν διανοίᾳ τις ἔχων ὡς πυθόχρηστα παραγγέλματα πρὸς πάντα τὰ τοῦ βίου πράγματα ῥᾳδίως ἐφαρμόζειν δυνήσεται καὶ φέρειν αὐτὰ δεξιῶς, εἴς τε τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν ἀφορῶν καὶ εἰς τὸ μὴ πέρα τοῦ προσήκοντος ἐν τοῖς προσπίπτουσιν ἢ διαίρεσθαι πρὸς ἀλαζονείαν ἢ ταπεινοῦσθαι καὶ καταπίπτειν πρὸς οἴκτους καὶ ὀλοφυρμοὺς διὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσθένειαν καὶ τὸν ἐμφυόμενον ἡμῖν τοῦ θανάτου φόβον παρὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῶν εἰωθότων ἐν τῷ βίῳ συμβαίνειν κατὰ τὴν τῆς ἀνάγκης ἢ πεπρωμένης μοῖραν. καλῶς δʼ οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι παρεκελεύσαντο λέγοντες ὅσσα δὲ δαιμονίῃσι τύχαις βροτοὶ ἄλγεʼ ἔχουσιν, / ἣν ἂν μοῖραν ἔχῃς, ταύτην ἔχε μηδʼ ἀγανάκτει / καὶ ὁ τραγικὸς Αἰσχύλος ἀνδρῶν γάρ ἐστιν ἐνδίκων τε καὶ σοφῶν / κἀν τοῖσι δεινοῖς μὴ τεθυμῶσθαι θεοῖς / καὶ ὁ Εὐριπίδης ὅστις δʼ ἀνάγκῃ συγκεχώρηκεν βροτῶν / σοφὸς παρʼ ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ θεῖʼ ἐπίσταται / καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις τὰ προσπεσόντα δʼ ὅστις εὖ φέρει βροτῶν, / ἄριστος εἶναι σωφρονεῖν τέ μοι δοκεῖ /
He therefore that hath these impressed upon his mind as the precepts of the Pythian oracle, can easily conform himself to all the affairs of life, and bear them handsomely; considering his nature, so that he is neither lifted up to arrogance upon a prosperous event, nor when an adverse happens, is dejected into complaint through pusillanimity and that fear of death which is so congenial to us; both which proceed from the ignorance of those things which fall out in human life by necessity and fatal decree. The Pythagoreans speak handsomely to this purpose— Against those evils thou shouldest not repine, / Which are inflicted by the powers divine. / Thus the tragedian Aeschylus:— He store of wisdom and of virtue hath, / Whom nothing from the Gods provokes to wrath. / Euripides thus:— He that is passive when the Fates command / Is wise, and all the Gods doth understand. / In another place so:— He that can bear those things which men befall, / Him wise and modest we may justly call. /
οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ πάντα καταμέμφονται καὶ πάντα τὰ παρὰ τὰς ἐλπίδας αὐτοῖς συμβεβηκότα ἐξ ἐπηρείας τύχης καὶ δαιμόνων γενέσθαι νομίζουσι. διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὀδύρονται, στένοντες καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀτυχίαν αἰτιώμενοι. πρὸς οὓς ὑποτυχὼν ἄν τις εἴποι θεὸς δέ σοι πῆμʼ οὐδὲν ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς σὺ σοί / καὶ ἡ διὰ τὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν ἄνοια καὶ παραφροσύνη. διὰ ταύτην γοῦν τὴν διηπατημένην καὶ ψευδῆ δόξαν πάντα καταμέμφονται θάνατον. ἐὰν μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀποδημίᾳ τις ὢν ἀποθάνῃ, στένουσιν ἐπιλέγοντες δύσμορος, οὐδʼ ἄρα τῷ γε πατὴρ καὶ πότνια / μήτηρ / ὄσσε καθαιρήσουσιν / ἐὰν δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκείας πατρίδος παρόντων τῶν γονέων, ὀδύρονται ὡς ἐξαρπασθέντος ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν καὶ τὴν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὀδύνην αὐτοῖς ἀφέντος. ἐὰν δʼ ἄφωνος μηδὲν προσειπὼν περὶ μηδενός, κλαίοντες λέγουσιν οὐδέ τί μοι εἶπας πυκινὸν ἔπος, οὗ τέ κεν αἰεί / μεμνῄμην / ἐὰν προσομιλήσας τι, τοῦτʼ ἀεὶ πρόχειρον ἔχουσιν ὥσπερ ὑπέκκαυμα τῆς λύπης. ἐὰν ταχέως, ὀδύρονται λέγοντες ἀνηρπάσθη. ἐὰν μακρῶς, μέμφονται ὅτι καταφθινήσας καὶ τιμωρηθεὶς ἀπέθανε. πᾶσα πρόφασις ἱκανὴ πρὸς τὸ τὰς λύπας καὶ τοὺς θρήνους συνεγείρειν. ταῦτα δʼ ἐκίνησαν οἱ ποιηταί, καὶ μάλιστα τούτων ὁ πρῶτος Ὅμηρος λέγων ὡς δὲ πατὴρ οὗ παιδὸς ὀδύρεται ὀστέα καίων, / νυμφίου, ὅς τε θανὼν δειλοὺς ἀκάχησε τοκῆας / ἄρρητον δὲ τοκεῦσι γόον καὶ πένθος ἔθηκε / καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὔπω δῆλον εἰ δικαίως ὀδύρεται, ἀλλʼ ὅρα τὸ ἑξῆς μοῦνος τηλύγετος πολλοῖσιν ἐπὶ κτεάτεσσι. /
But many there are who blame all things; and whatsoever unexpectedly happens to them, they think is procured them by the malignity of Fortune and the spite of some evil genius. Wherefore they are querulous and cry out upon every occasion, inveighing against the bitterness of their mishaps. Their complaints we may not unfitly obviate with this expression,— The Gods do hurt thee not, but thou thyself,— / even thou thyself through perverseness and want of good instruction. And by reason of this false and deceiving opinion they accuse any kind of death; for if one die upon his travel, they exclaim after this manner:— The wretch, his father being absent, dies; / Nor did his aged mother close his eyes. / If he die in his own country, with his parents about him, they lament that he is ravished out of their hands, and hath left them nothing but regret for his loss. If he die silent, giving them no instructions at parting, they complain thus:— His tender dying words I (lid not hear, Which I in my remembrance still should bear. If he spoke any thing before he breathed out his soul, they keep those last accents as fuel to maintain their sorrow still kindled. If he die a sudden death, they cry out that he is snatched away; if chronical pains waste him, they will tell you that the slow distemper hath emaciated him to death. Thus every appearance, take it which way you will, is sufficient to stir up your complaints. These things the poets have introduced, and the chiefest among them, Homer, who sung after this manner:— As a poor father, helpless and undone, / Mourns o’er the ashes of an only son, / Takes a sad pleasure the last bones to burn, / And pours in tears ere yet they close the urn. / And whether these things are justly lamented doth not yet appear. But see what he elsewhere sings:— Born in his elder years, his only boy, / Who was designed his riches to enjoy. /
τίς γὰρ οἶδεν, εἰ ὁ θεὸς πατρικῶς κηδόμενος τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους καὶ προορώμενος τὰ μέλλοντα συμβήσεσθαι προεξάγει τινὰς ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν ἀώρους; ὅθεν οὐδὲν φευκτὸν νομιστέον αὐτοὺς πάσχειν (δεινὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν ἀναγκαίων βροτοῖς / οὔτε τῶν κατὰ προηγούμενον λόγον συμβαινόντων οὔτε τῶν κατʼ ἐπακολούθησιν) καὶ ὅτι οἱ πλεῖστοι θάνατοι πρὸ ἄλλων δυσχερῶν μειζόνων γίγνονται, καὶ ὅτι τοῖς μὲν οὐδὲ γενέσθαι συνέφερε, τοῖς δʼ ἅμα τῷ γενέσθαι ἀποθανεῖν, τοῖς δὲ προελθοῦσιν ἐπὶ μικρὸν τοῖς δʼ ἀκμάζουσι. πρὸς πάντας δὴ τούτους τοὺς θανάτους ἐλαφρῶς ἑκτέον, εἰδότας ὅτι τὴν μοῖραν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκφυγεῖν πεπαιδευμένων δʼ ἐστὶν ἀνθρώπων προσειληφέναι ὅτι βραχὺν χρόνον προειλήφασιν ἡμᾶς οἱ δοκοῦντες ἄωροι τοῦ ζῆν ἐστερῆσθαι· καὶ γὰρ ὁ μακρότατος βίος ὀλίγος ἐστὶ καὶ στιγμαῖος πρὸς τὸν ἄπειρον αἰῶνα καὶ ὅτι πολλοὶ τῶν ἐπὶ πλέον πενθησάντων μετʼ οὐ πολὺ τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτῶν κατοδυρθεῖσιν ἐπηκολούθησαν, οὐδὲν ἐκ τοῦ πένθους ὄφελος περιποιησάμενοι, μάτην δʼ ἑαυτοὺς , καταικισάμενοι ταῖς κακουχίαις. βραχυτάτου δὲ τοῦ τῆς ἐπιδημίας ὄντος ἐν τῷ βίῳ χρόνου, οὐκ ἐν ταῖς αὐχμηραῖς λύπαις οὐδʼ ἐν τῷ κακοδαιμονεστάτῳ πένθει διαφθείρειν ἑαυτοὺς δεῖ ταῖς ὀδύναις καὶ ταῖς τοῦ σώματος αἰκίαις παρατεινομένους, ἀλλὰ μεταβάλλειν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖσσον καὶ ἀνθρωπικώτερον, πειρωμένους καὶ σπουδάζοντας ἐντυγχάνειν ἀνδράσι τοῖς συλλυπουμένοις καὶ διεγείρουσι τὰ πένθη διὰ κολακείαν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀφαιρουμένοις τὰς λύπας διὰ τῆς γενναίας καὶ σεμνῆς παρηγορίας, ἐπακούοντας καὶ ἔχοντας ἐν νῷ τὸ Ὁμηρικὸν τοῦτʼ ἔπος, ὅπερ ὁ Ἕκτωρ πρὸς τὴν Ἀνδρομάχην ἀντιπαρηγορῶν αὐτὴν εἶπεν ὡδί δαιμονίη, μή μοί τι λίην ἀκαχίζεο θυμῷ / οὐ γάρ τίς μʼ ὑπὲρ αἶσαν ἀνὴρ Ἄιδι προϊάψει, / μοῖραν δʼ οὔ τινά φημι πεφυγμένον ἔμμεναι / ἀνδρῶν, / οὐ κακὸν οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλόν, ἐπὴν τὰ πρῶτα / γένηται / ταύτην δὲ τὴν μοῖραν ἐν ἄλλοις ὁ ποιητής φησι γεινομένῳ ἐπένησε λίνῳ, ὅτε μιν τέκε μήτηρ /
Who knows but that the Deity, with a fatherly providence and out of tenderness to mankind, foreseeing what would happen, hath taken some purposely out of this life by an untimely death? So we should think that nothing has befallen them which they should have sought to shun,— For nought that cometh by necessity is hard, neither of those things which fall out by a precedent ratiocination or a subsequent. And many by a timely death have been withdrawn from greater calamities; so that it hath been good for some never to have been born at all; for others, that as soon as life hath been blown in it should be extinguished; for some, that they should live a little longer; and for others again, that they should be cropped in the prime of their youth. These several sorts of deaths should be taken in good part, since Fate is inevitable. Therefore it becomes men well educated to consider that those who have paid their debt to mortality have only gone before us a little time; that the longest life is but as a point in respect of eternity, and that many who have indulged their sorrow to excess have themselves followed in a small while those that they have lamented, having reaped no profit out of their complaints, but macerated themselves with voluntary afflictions. Since then the time of our pilgrimage in this life is but short, we ought not to consume ourselves with sordid grief, and so render ourselves unhappy by afflicting our minds and tormenting our bodies; but we should endeavor after a more manly and rational sort of life, and not associate ourselves with those who will be companions in grief and by flattering our tears will only excite them the more, but rather with those who will diminish our grief by solemn and generous consolation. And we ought to hear and keep in our remembrance those words of Homer wherewith Hector answers Andromache, comforting her after this manner:— Andromache, my soul’s far better part, Why with untimely sorrows heaves thy heart No hostile hand can antedate my doom, Till Fate condemns me to the silent tomb. Fix’d is the term to all the race of earth, And such the hard condition of our birth: No force can then resist, no flight can save, All sinkalike, the fearful and the brave. Which the poet expresseth in another place thus: The thread which at his birth for him was spun.
ταῦτα πρὸ διανοίας λαβόντες τῆς ἀπράκτου καὶ κενῆς ἀπαλλαγησόμεθα βαρυπενθείας, ὀλίγου δὴ παντάπασι τοῦ μεταξὺ χρόνου τῆς ζωῆς ὄντος. φειστέον οὖν, ὅπως εὔθυμόν τε καὶ ἀπαρενόχλητον τοῦτον ταῖς πενθικαῖς λύπαις διαγάγωμεν, τὰ τοῦ πένθους παράσημα μεθέμενοι καὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἐπιμελείας φροντίσαντες καὶ τῆς τῶν συμβιούντων ἡμῖν σωτηρίας. καλὸν δὲ καὶ μεμνῆσθαι τῶν λόγων, οἷς κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐχρησάμεθά ποτε πρὸς συγγενεῖς ἢ φίλους ἐν ταῖς παραπλησίοις γενομένους συμφοραῖς, παραμυθούμενοι καὶ πείθοντες τὰ κοινὰ τοῦ βίου συμπτώματα κοινῶς φέρειν καὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἀνθρωπίνως, καὶ μὴ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἐπαρκεῖν πρὸς ἀλυπίαν δύνασθαι, ἑαυτοῖς δὲ μηδὲν ὄφελος εἶναι τὴν τούτων ὑπόμνησιν, διʼ ὧν δεῖ τὸ ἀλγοῦν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποθεραπεύειν παιωνίοις λόγου φαρμάκοις, ὡς πάντων μᾶλλον ἢ ἀλυπίας ἀναβολὴν δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι. καίτοι γε τὸν ἐν ὁτῳοῦν ἀμβολιεργὸν ἄταις φησὶ παλαίειν, τὸ κυκλούμενον τοῦτο παρὰ πᾶσιν ἔπος· πολὺ δʼ οἶμαι μᾶλλον τὸν ὑπερτιθέμενον τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀχθεινὰ πάθη καὶ δυσάντητα πρὸς τὸν ἐπιόντα χρόνον.
Having these things fixed in our minds, all vain and fiuitless sorrow will be superseded; the time that we have all to live being but very short, we ought to spare and husband it, and not lay it out too prodigally upon sorrow, but rather spend it in tranquillity, deserting the mournful colors, and so take care of our own bodies, and consult the safety of those who live with us. It is requisite that we should call to mind what reasons we urged to our kinsmen and friends when they were in the like calamities, when we exhorted them to suffer these usual accidents of life with a common patience, and bear mortal things with humanity; lest being prepared with instructions for other men’s misfortunes, we reap no benefit ourselves out of the remembrance of those consolations, and so do not cure our minds by the sovereign application of reason. For in any thing a delay is less dangerous than in sorrow;, and when by every one it is so tritely said, that he that procrastinates in an affair contests with destruction, I think the character will more fitly sit upon him who defers the removing his troubles and the perturbations of his mind.
ἀποβλέπειν δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς εὐγενῶς καὶ μεγαλοφρόνως τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς γενομένους θανάτους καὶ πράως ὑποστάντας, Ἀναξαγόραν τὸν Κλαζομένιον καὶ Δημοσθένη τὸν Ἀθηναῖον καὶ Δίωνα τὸν Συρακόσιον καὶ τὸν βασιλέα Ἀντίγονον, καὶ συχνοὺς ἄλλους τῶν τε παλαιῶν καὶ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς. τούτων γὰρ Ἀναξαγόραν παρειλήφαμεν, ὥς φασι, φυσιολογοῦντα καὶ διαλεγόμενον τοῖς γνωρίμοις, ἀκούσαντα παρά τινος τῶν ἀναγγειλάντων αὐτῷ τὴν περὶ τὸν υἱὸν τελευτήν, μικρὸν ἐπισχόντα πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας εἰπεῖν ᾔδειν ὅτι θνητὸν ἐγέννησα τὸν υἱόν. Περικλέα δὲ τὸν Ὀλύμπιον προσαγορευθέντα διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸν λόγον καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν ὑπερβεβλημένην δύναμιν, πυθόμενον ἀμφοτέρους αὐτοῦ τοὺς υἱοὺς μετηλλαχέναι τὸν βίον, Πάραλόν τε καὶ Ξάνθιππον, ὥς φησι Πρωταγόρας εἰπεῖν οὕτως τῶν γὰρ υἱέων νεηνιέων ἐόντων καὶ καλῶν, ἐν ὀκτὼ δὲ τῇσι πάσῃσι ἡμέρῃσι ἀποθανόντων νηπενθέως ἀνέτλη· εὐδίης γὰρ εἴχετο, ἐξ ἧς πολλὸν ὤνητο κατὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέρην εἰς εὐποτμίην καὶ ἀνωδυνίην καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖσι πολλοῖσι δόξαν· πᾶς γάρ τίς μιν ὁρέων τὰ ἑωυτοῦ πένθεα ἐρρωμένως φέροντα, μεγαλόφρονά τε καὶ ἀνδρήιον ἐδόκεε εἶναι καὶ ἑωυτοῦ κρέσσω, κάρτα εἰδὼς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ ἐν τοιοῖσδε πράγμασι ἀμηχανίην τοῦτον γὰρ εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν προσαγγελίαν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν υἱέων οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐστεφανωμένον κατὰ τὸ πάτριον ἔθος καὶ λευχειμονοῦντα δημηγορεῖν βουλὰς τʼ ἐξάρχοντʼ ἀγαθὰς πρός τε τὸν πόλεμον ἐπιπαρορμῶντα τοὺς Ἀθηναίους. Ξενοφῶντα δὲ τὸν Σωκρατικὸν θύοντά ποτε, παρὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πολέμου πυθόμενον ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Γρύλλος ἀγωνιζόμενος ἐτελεύτησε, περιελόμενον τὸν στέφανον ἐξετάζειν τίνα τρόπον ἐτελεύτησε. τῶν δὲ ἀπαγγειλάντων ὅτι γενναίως ἀριστεύων καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν πολεμίων κατακτείνας, μικρὸν παντελῶς διασιωπήσαντα χρόνον καὶ τῷ λογισμῷ τὸ πάθος παρακατασχόντα, ἐπιθέμενον πάλιν τὸν στέφανον ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν θυσίαν, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους εἰπεῖν ὅτι θεοῖς ηὐξάμην οὐκ ἀθάνατον οὐδὲ πολυχρόνιον γενέσθαι μοι τὸν υἱὸν τὸ γὰρ τοιοῦτον ἄδηλον εἰ συμφέρει, ἀγαθὸν δὲ καὶ φιλόπατριν, ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονεν. Δίωνα δὲ τὸν Συρακόσιον συνεδρεύοντα μετὰ τῶν φίλων, κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν θορύβου γενομένου καὶ μεγάλης κραυγῆς, πυθόμενον τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ τὸ συμβεβηκὸς ἀκούσαντα ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ καταπεσὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ στέγους ἐτελεύτησεν, οὐδὲν ἐκπλαγέντα τὸ μὲν σωμάτιον κελεῦσαι τοῦ μεταλλάξαντος ταῖς γυναιξὶ παραδοῦναι πρὸς τὴν νόμιμον ταφήν, αὐτὸν δὲ περὶ ὧν διεσκέπτετο μὴ παραλιπεῖν. τοῦτον ζηλῶσαι λέγεται καὶ Δημοσθένην τὸν ῥήτορα, τὴν μόνην καὶ ἀγαπητὴν ἀπολέσαντα θυγατέρα, περὶ ἧς φησιν Αἰσχίνης, κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ δόξας, ταυτί. ἑβδόμην δʼ ἡμέραν τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῷ τετελευτηκυίας, πρὶν πενθῆσαι καὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα ποιῆσαι, στεφανωσάμενος καὶ λευκὴν ἐσθῆτα ἀναλαβὼν ἐβουθύτει καὶ παρενόμει, τὴν μόνην ὁ δείλαιος καὶ πρώτην αὐτὸν πατέρα προσειποῦσαν ἀπολέσας. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ῥητορικῶς προθέμενος αὐτοῦ κατηγορῆσαι ταῦτα διεξῆλθεν, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι διὰ τούτων αὐτὸν ἐπαινεῖ τὸ πενθεῖν παρωσάμενον καὶ τὸ φιλόπατρι πρὸ τῆς τῶν ἀναγκαίων συμπαθείας ἐπιδειξάμενον. Ἀντίγονον δὲ τὸν βασιλέα πυθόμενον τὴν Ἀλκυονέως τοῦ υἱοῦ τελευτὴν ἐν παρατάξει γενομένην μεγαλοφρόνως τε πρὸς τοὺς ἀπαγγείλαντας αὐτῷ τὴν συμφορὰν ἀπιδεῖν καὶ μικρὸν ἐπισχόντα καὶ κατηφιάσαντα προσειπεῖν ὦ Ἀλκυονεῦ, ὀψίτερον μετήλλαξας τὸν βίον, οὕτως ἀφειδῶς ἐξορμῶν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ οὔτε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίας οὔτε τῶν ἐμῶν παραινέσεων φροντίζων Τούτους δὴ τοὺς ἄνδρας θαυμάζουσι μὲν τῆς μεγαλοφροσύνης πάντες καὶ ἄγανται, μιμεῖσθαι δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων οὐ δύνανται διὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀπαιδευσίας ἀσθένειαν τῆς ψυχῆς. πλὴν πολλῶν ὄντων παραδειγμάτων τῶν διὰ τῆς ἱστορίας ἡμῖν παραδιδομένων τῆς τε Ἑλληνικῆς καὶ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς τῶν γενναίως καὶ καλῶς ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἀναγκαίων τελευταῖς διαγενομένων ἀποχρήσει τὰ εἰρημένα πρὸς τὴν ἀπόθεσιν τοῦ πάντων ἀνιαροτάτου πένθους καὶ τῆς ἐν τούτῳ πρὸς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον ματαιοπονίας.
We ought also to cast our eyes upon those conspicuous examples who have borne the deaths of their sons generously and with a great spirit; such as were Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, Demosthenes of Athens, Dion of Syracuse, King Antigonus, and many others who have lived either in our times or in the memory of our fathers. They report of Anaxagoras that, when he was reading natural philosophy to his pupils and reasoning with them, sudden news was brought him of the death of his son. He presently stopped short in his lecture, and said this to his auditors, I knew that I begot my son mortal. And of Pericles, who was surnamed Olympius for his wisdom and the strength of his eloquence, when he heard that both his sons were dead, Paralus and Xanthippus, how he behaved himself upon this accident Protagoras tells us in these words. When his sons, saith he, being in the first verdure of their youth and handsome lads, died within eight days, he bore the calamity without any repining; for he was of a pacific temper, from whence there was every day an accession of advantages towards the making him happy, the being free from grief, and thereby acquiring a great reputation amongst his fellow-citizens. For every one that saw him bear this calamity with so brave a resolution thought him magnanimous, and indeed entertained an higher opinion of him than he strictly deserved; for he was conscious to himself of some weakness and defects in cases of this nature. Now after he had received the news of the death of his sons, he put on a garland according to the custom of his country, and being clothed in white, he made an harangue to the people, was the author of safe and rational counsels, and stirred up the courage of his Athenians to warlike expeditions. Chronicles tell us, that when an express came out of the field to Xenophon the Socratic as he was sacrificing, which acquainted him that his son perished in the fight, he pulled the garland from his head, and enquired after what manner he fell; and it being told him that he died gallantly, making a great slaughter of his enemies, after he had paused awhile to recollect his thoughts and quiet his first emotion of concern with reason, he adorned his head again, finished the sacrifice, and spoke thus to the messengers: I did not make it my request to the Gods, that my son might be immortal or long-lived, for it is not manifest whether this was convenient for him or not, but that he might have integrity in his principles and be a lover of his country; and now I have my desire. Dion of Syracuse, as he was consulting with his friends concerning some affairs, heard a great noise; and crying out and asking what was the matter, he was told the accident, that his son was killed with a fall from the top of the house. He was not at all surprised or astonished at the disaster, but commanded the dead body to be delivered to the women, that they might bury it according to custom. But he went on with his first deliberations, and re-assumed his discourse in that part where this accident had broken it off. It is said that Demosthenes the orator imitated him upon the loss of his only and dearest daughter; about which Aeschines, thinking to upbraid him, spoke after this manner: Within seven days after the death of his daughter, before he had performed the decencies of sorrow, and paid those common rites to the memory of the deceased, he put on a garland, clothed himself in white, and sacrificed, thereby outraging decency, though he had lost his only daughter, the one which had first called him father. Thus did Aeschines with the strokes of his oratory accuse Demosthenes, not knowing that he rather deserved a panegyric upon this occasion, when he rejected his sorrow and preferred the love of his country to the tenderness and compassion he ought to have for his relations. King Antigonus, when he heard the death of his son Alcyoneus who was slain in battle, looking steadily upon the messengers of these sad tidings, after a little interval of silence and with a modest countenance, spoke thus: O Alcyoneus, thou hast fallen later than I thought thou wouldst, so brisk wast thou to run upon the thickest of thy enemies, having no regard either to thy own safety or to my admonitions. Every one praiseth these men for the bravery of their spirit, but none can imitate what they have done, through the weakness of their minds which proceeds from want of good instruction. But although there are many examples extant, both in the Greek and Roman stories, of those who have borne the death of their relations not only with decency but courage, I think these that I have related to be a sufficient motive to thee to keep tormenting grief at a distance, and so ease thyself of that labor which hath no profit in it and is all in vain.
ὅτι γὰρ οἱ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς διενεγκόντες ὡς θεοφιλεῖς νέοι μετέστησαν πρὸς τὸ χρεὼν καὶ πάλαι μὲν διὰ τῶν πρόσθεν ὑπέμνησα λόγων, καὶ νῦν δὲ πειράσομαι διὰ βραχυτάτων ἐπιδραμεῖν, προσμαρτυρήσας τῷ καλῶς ὑπὸ Μενάνδρου ῥηθέντι τούτῳ ὃν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος / ἀλλʼ ἴσως ὑποτυχὼν ἂν φαίης Ἀπολλώνιε φίλτατε,σφόδρʼ ἦν ἐπιτεταγμένος ὁ νεανίσκος Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ μοίραις, καὶ σὲ ἔδει ὑπʼ ἐκείνου τελείου γενομένου κηδευθῆναι μεταλλάξαντα τὸν βίον· τοῦτο γὰρ εἶναι κατὰ φύσιν, τὴν ἡμετέραν δηλονότι καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ τὴν τῶν ὅλων πρόνοιαν καὶ τὴν κοσμικὴν διάταξιν. ἐκείνῳ δὲ τῷ μακαρισθέντι οὐκ ἦν κατὰ φύσιν περαιτέρω τοῦ ἀπονεμηθέντος αὐτῷ χρόνου πρὸς τὸν ἐνθάδε βίον περιμένειν, ἀλλʼ εὐτάκτως τοῦτον ἐκπλήσαντι πρὸς τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἐπανάγειν πορείαν, καλούσης αὐτῆς, φησίν, ἤδη πρὸς ἑαυτήν. ἀλλʼ ἄωρος ἐτελεύτησεν; οὐκοῦν εὐποτμότερος διὰ τοῦτο καὶ κακῶν ἀπείρατός ἐστιν· ὁ βίος γάρ φησὶν Εὐριπίδης ὄνομʼ ἔχει μόνον / μόρος γεγώς. / οὗτος δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς εὐανθεστάτης ἡλικίας προαπεφοίτησεν ὁλόκληρος ἠίθεος, ζηλωτὸς καὶ περίβλεπτος πᾶσι τοῖς συνήθεσιν αὐτῷ, φιλοπάτωρ γενόμενος καὶ φιλομήτωρ καὶ φιλοίκειος καὶ φιλόσοφος, τὸ δὲ σύμπαν εἰπεῖν φιλάνθρωπος, αἰδούμενος μὲν τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῶν φίλων ὥσπερ πατέρας, στέργων δὲ τοὺς ὁμήλικας καὶ συνήθεις, τιμητικὸς δὲ τῶν καθηγησαμένων, ξένοις δὲ καὶ ἀστοῖς πραότατος, πᾶσι δὲ μείλιχος καὶ φίλος διά τε τὴν ἐξ ὄψεως χάριν καὶ τὴν, εὐπροσήγορον φιλανθρωπίαν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος μὲν τῆς τε σῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τὴν πρέπουσαν εὐφημίαν ἔχων πρὸς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον προαπεφοίτησε τοῦ θνητοῦ βίου, καθάπερ ἔκ του συμποσίου, πρὶν εἴς τινα παροινίαν ἐκπεσεῖν τὴν τῷ μακρῷ γήρᾳ παρεπομένην. εἰ δʼ ὁ τῶν παλαιῶν ποιητῶν τε καὶ φιλοσόφων λόγος ἐστὶν ἀληθὴς ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἔχειν, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τῶν μεταλλαξάντων ἔστι τις τιμὴ καὶ προεδρία καθάπερ λέγεται, καὶ χῶρός τις ἀποτεταγμένος ἐν ᾧ διατρίβουσιν αἱ τούτων ψυχαί, καλὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχειν σε δεῖ περὶ τοῦ μακαρίτου υἱέος σου, ὅτι τούτοις συγκαταριθμηθεὶς συνέσται.
For that virtuous men die in the prime of their years by the kindness of the Gods, to whom they are peculiarly dear, I have already told thee in the former part of my discourse, and will give a short hint of it now, bearing witness to that which is so prettily said by Menander:— He whom the Gods do love dies young.
But perhaps, my dear Apollonius, thou wilt thus object to me: My young Apollonius was blessed by fortune in his life, and I ought first to have died that he might bury me; for this is according to nature. According to our human nature, I confess; but Providence hath other measures, and that supreme order which governs the world is very different; for thy son being now made happy, it was not requisite according to nature that he should tarry in this life longer than the time prefixed him, but that, having consummated the term of his duration, he should perform his fatal journey, Nature recalling him to herself. But he died untimely, you may say. Upon that account he is the happier, not having been sensible of those evils which are incident to life. For Euripides said truly:— The time of being here we style amiss; / We call it life, but truly labor ’tis. /
Thy Apollonius died in the beautiful flower of his years, a youth in all points perfect, who gained the love, and provoked the emulation of all his contemporaries He was dutiful to his father and mother, obliging to his domestics, was a scholar, and (to comprehend all in a word) he was a lover of mankind. He had a veneration for the old men that were his friends, as if they had been his parents, had an affection for his companions and equals, reverenced his instructors, was hospitable and mild to his guests and strangers, gracious to all, and beloved by all, as well for his attractive countenance as for his lovely affability. Therefore, being accompanied with the applauses of thy piety and his own, he hath only made a digression from this mortal life to eternity, as if he had withdrawn from the entertainment before he grew absurd, and before the staggerings of drunkenness came upon him, which are incident to a long old age. Now if the sayings of the old philosophers and poets are true, as there is probability to think, that honors and high seats of dignity are conferred upon the righteous after they are departed this life, and if, as it is said, a particular region is appointed for their souls to dwell in, you ought to cherish very fair hopes that your son stands numbered amongst those blest inhabitants.
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