ἰδίᾳ δʼ Ἀναχάρσεώς τε πρὸς Σόλωνα καὶ πάλιν Θάλεω συνουσίαν τινὰ καὶ λόγους ἀναγράφουσι τοιούτους. Ἀνάχαρσιν μὲν εἰς Ἀθήνας φασὶν ἐπὶ τὴν Σόλωνος οἰκίαν ἐλθόντα κόπτειν, καὶ λέγειν ὡς ξένος ὢν ἀφῖκται φιλίαν ποιησόμενος καὶ ξενίαν πρὸς αὐτόν. ἀποκριναμένου δὲ τοῦ Σόλωνος ὡς οἴκοι βέλτιόν ἐστι ποιεῖσθαι φιλίας, οὐκοῦν, φάναι τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν, αὐτὸς ὢν οἴκοι σὺ ποίησαι φιλίαν καὶ ξενίαν πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
In particular we are told of private intercourse between Solon and Anacharsis, and between Solon and Thales, of which the following accounts are given. Anacharsis came to Athens, knocked at Solon’s door, and said that he was a stranger who had come to make ties of friendship and hospitality with him. On Solon’s replying that it was better to make one’s friendships at home, Well then, said Anacharsis, do thou, who art at home, make me thy friend and guest.
οὕτω δὴ θαυμάσαντα τὴν ἀγχίνοιαν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὸν Σόλωνα δέξασθαι φιλοφρόνως, καὶ χρόνον τινὰ κατασχεῖν παρʼ αὑτῷ, ἤδη τὰ δημόσια πράττοντα καὶ συνταττόμενον τοὺς νόμους. τὸν οὖν Ἀνάχαρσιν πυθόμενον καταγελᾶν τῆς πραγματείας τοῦ Σόλωνος, οἰομένου γράμμασιν ἐφέξειν τὰς ἀδικίας καὶ πλεονεξίας τῶν πολιτῶν, ἃ μηδὲν τῶν ἀραχνίων διαφέρειν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐκεῖνα τοὺς μὲν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ λεπτοὺς τῶν ἁλισκομένων καθέξειν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν δυνατῶν καὶ πλουσίων διαρραγήσεσθαι.
So Solon, admiring the man’s ready wit, received him graciously and kept him with him some time. This was when he was already engaged in public affairs and compiling his laws. Anacharsis, accordingly, on learning what Solon was about, laughed at him for thinking that he could check the injustice and rapacity of the citizens by written laws, which were just like spiders’ webs; they would hold the weak and delicate who might be caught in their meshes, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.
τὸν δὲ Σόλωνα πρὸς ταῦτά φασιν εἰπεῖν ὅτι καὶ συνθήκας ἄνθρωποι φυλάττουσιν, ἃς οὐδετέρῳ λυσιτελές ἐστι παραβαίνειν τῶν θεμένων· καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτὸς οὕτως ἁρμόζεται τοῖς πολίταις ὥστε πᾶσι τοῦ παρανομεῖν βέλτιον ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸ δικαιοπραγεῖν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὡς Ἀνάχαρσις εἴκαζεν ἀπέβη μᾶλλον ἢ κατʼ ἐλπίδα τοῦ Σόλωνος. ἔφη δὲ κἀκεῖνο θαυμάζειν ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις ἐκκλησίᾳ παραγενόμενος, ὅτι λέγουσι μὲν οἱ σοφοὶ παρʼ Ἕλλησι, κρίνουσι δὲ οἱ ἀμαθεῖς.
To this Solon is said to have answered that men keep their agreements with each other when neither party profits by the breaking of them, and he was adapting his laws to the citizens in such a manner as to make it clear to all that the practice of justice was more advantageous than the transgression of the laws. But the results justified the conjecture of Anacharsis rather than the hopes of Solon. It was Anacharsis, too, who said, after attending a session of the assembly, that he was amazed to find that among the Greeks, the wise men pleaded causes, but the fools decided them.
πρὸς Θαλῆν δʼ εἰς Μίλητον ἐλθόντα τὸν Σόλωνα θαυμάζειν ὅτι γάμου καὶ παιδοποιΐας τὸ παράπαν ἠμέληκε. καὶ τὸν Θαλῆν τότε μὲν σιωπῆσαι, διαλιπόντα δʼ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἄνδρα παρασκευάσαι ξένον, ἀρτίως ἥκειν φάσκοντα δεκαταῖον ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν. πυθομένου δὲ τοῦ Σόλωνος εἰ δή τι καινὸν ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις, δεδιδαγμένον ἃ χρὴ λέγειν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐδέν, εἰπεῖν, ἕτερον, εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία νεανίσκου τινὸς ἦν ἐκφορὰ καὶ προὔπεμπεν ἡ πόλις.
On his visit to Thales at Miletus, Solon is said to have expressed astonishment that his host was wholly indifferent to marriage and the getting of children. At the time Thales made no answer, but a few days afterwards he contrived to have a stranger say that he was just arrived after a ten days’ journey from Athens. When Solon asked what news there was at Athens, the man, who was under instructions what to say, answered: None other than the funeral of a young man, who was followed to the grave by the whole city.
ἦν γὰρ υἱός, ὡς ἔφασαν, ἀνδρὸς ἐνδόξου καὶ πρωτεύοντος ἀρετῇ τῶν πολιτῶν· οὐ παρῆν δέ, ἀλλʼ ἀποδημεῖν ἔφασαν αὐτὸν ἤδη πολὺν χρόνον. ὡς δυστυχὴς ἐκεῖνος, φάναι τὸν Σόλωνα. τίνα δὲ ὠνόμαζον αὐτόν; ἤκουσα, φάναι, τοὔνομα, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλʼ οὐ μνημονεύω· πλὴν ὅτι πολὺς λόγος ἦν αὐτοῦ σοφίας καὶ δικαιοσύνης. οὕτω δὴ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἀπόκρισιν τῷ φόβῳ προσαγόμενον τὸν Σόλωνα καὶ τέλος ἤδη συντεταραγμένον αὐτὸν ὑποβάλλειν τοὔνομα τῷ ξένῳ, πυνθανόμενον μὴ Σόλωνος ὁ τεθνηκὼς υἱὸς ὠνομάζετο.
For he was the son, as I was told, of an honored citizen who excelled all others in virtue; he was not at the funeral of his son; they told me that he had been travelling abroad for a long time. O the miserable man! said Solon; pray, what was his name? I heard the name, the man said, but I cannot recall it; only there was great talk of his wisdom and justice. Thus every answer heightened Solon’s fears, and at last, in great distress of soul, he told his name to the stranger and asked him if it was Solon’s son that was dead.
φήσαντος δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τὸν μὲν ὁρμῆσαι παίειν τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τἆλλα ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν ἃ συμβαίνει τοῖς περιπαθοῦσι, τὸν δὲ Θαλῆν ἐπιλαβόμενον αὐτοῦ καὶ γελάσαντα, ταῦτά τοι, φάναι, ὦ Σόλων, ἐμὲ γάμου καὶ παιδοποιΐας ἀφίστησιν, ἃ καὶ σὲ κατερείπει τὸν ἐρρωμενέστατον. ἀλλὰ θάρρει τῶν λόγων ἕνεκα τούτων· οὐ γάρ εἰσιν ἀληθεῖς. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Ἕρμιππος ἱστορεῖν φησι Πάταικον, ὃς ἔφασκε τὴν Αἰσώπου ψυχὴν ἔχειν.
The man said it was; whereupon Solon began to beat his head and to do and say everything else that betokens a transport of grief. But Thales took him by the hand and said, with a smile This it is O Solon, which keeps me from marriage and the getting of children; it overwhelms even thee, who art the most stouthearted of men. But be not dismayed at this story, for it is not true. Such, at any rate, according to Hermippus, is the story of Pataecus, who used to boast that he had Aesop’s soul.
ἄτοπος δὲ καὶ ἀγεννὴς ὁ τῷ φόβῳ τῆς ἀποβολῆς τὴν κτῆσιν ὧν χρὴ προϊέμενος· οὕτω γὰρ ἄν τις οὐ πλοῦτον, οὐ δόξαν, οὐ σοφίαν ἀγαπήσειε παραγενομένην, δεδιὼς στέρεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ ἀρετήν, ἧς κτῆμα μεῖζον οὐδὲν οὐδʼ ἥδιον, ἐξισταμένην ὑπὸ νόσων καὶ φαρμάκων ὁρῶμεν· αὐτῷ τε Θαλῇ μὴ γήμαντι πλέον οὐδὲν εἰς ἀφοβίαν, εἰ μὴ καὶ φίλων κτῆσιν ἔφυγε καὶ οἰκείων καὶ πατρίδος.
However, it is irrational and ignoble to renounce the acquisition of what we want for fear of losing it; for on this principle a man cannot be gratified by the possession of wealth, or honor, or wisdom, for fear he may be deprived of them. Indeed, even virtue, the most valuable and pleasing possession in the world, is often banished by sickness and drugs. And Thales himself, though unmarried, was nevertheless not wholly free from apprehension, unless he also avoided having friends, or relations, or country.
ἀλλὰ καὶ παῖδα θετὸν ἔσχε ποιησάμενος αὐτὸς τὸν τῆς ἀδελφῆς, ὥς φασι, Κύβισθον. ἐχούσης γάρ τι τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγαπητικὸν ἐν ἑαυτῇ καὶ πεφυκυίας, ὥσπερ αἰσθάνεσθαι καὶ διανοεῖσθαι καὶ μνημονεύειν, οὕτω καὶ φιλεῖν, ἐνδύεταί τι τούτῳ καὶ προσφύεται τῶν ἐκτὸς οἷς οἰκεῖον οὐδέν ἐστιν, καὶ καθάπερ οἶκον ἢ χώραν γνησίων ἔρημον διαδόχων, τὸ φιλόστοργον ἀλλότριοι καὶ νόθοι παῖδες ἢ θεράποντες εἰσοικισάμενοι καὶ καταλαβόντες ἅμα τῷ φιλεῖν τὸ φροντίζειν καὶ δεδιέναι περὶ αὐτῶν ἐνεποίησαν.
On the contrary, he had a son by his own adoption, as we are told, Cybisthus, his sister’s son. For the soul has in itself a capacity for affection, and loves just as naturally as it perceives, understands, and remembers. It clothes itself in this capacity, and attaches itself to those who are not akin to it, and just as if it were a house or an estate that lacks lawful heirs, this craving for affection is entered and occupied by alien and illegitimate children, or retainers, who, along with love for them, inspire anxiety and fear in their behalf.
ὥστʼ ἴδοις ἂν ἀνθρώπους στερροτέρα τῇ φύσει περὶ γάμου καὶ γενέσεως παίδων διαλεγομένους, εἶτα τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ παισὶν οἰκοτρίβων ἢ θρέμμασι παλλακῶν νοσοῦσι καὶ θνήσκουσι παρατεινομένους πόθῳ καὶ φωνὰς ἀγεννεῖς ἀφιέντας. ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ κυνῶν θανάτῳ καὶ ἵππων αἰσχρῶς καὶ ἀβιώτως ὑπὸ λύπης διετέθησαν. ἀλλʼ ἕτεροί γε παῖδας ἀγαθοὺς ἀποβαλόντες οὐδὲν ἔπαθον δεινὸν οὐδʼ ἐποίησαν αἰσχρόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρώμενοι τῷ λοιπῷ βίῳ κατὰ λόγον διετέλεσαν.
So that you will find men of a somewhat rugged nature who argue against marriage and the begetting of children, and then, when children of their servants, or offspring of their concubines fall sick and die, these same men are racked with sorrow and lament abjectly. Some, too, at the death even of dogs and horses, have been plunged into shameful and intolerable grief. But others have borne the loss of noble sons without terrible sorrow or unworthy conduct, and have conformed the rest of their lives to the dictates of reason.
ἀσθένεια γάρ, οὐκ εὔνοια, λύπας ἀπεράντους ἐπάγεται καὶ φόβους ἀνθρώποις ἀνασκήτοις ὑπὸ λόγου πρὸς τύχην, οἷς οὐδʼ ἀπόλαυσις ἐγγίνεται τοῦ ποθουμένου παρόντος, τοῦ μέλλοντος ὠδῖνας ἀεὶ καὶ τρόμους καὶ ἀγῶνας, εἰ στερήσονται, παρέχοντος αὐτοῖς. δεῖ δὲ μήτε πενίᾳ πρὸς χρημάτων πεφράχθαι στέρησιν μήτε ἀφιλίᾳ πρὸς φίλων ἀποβολὴν μήτʼ ἀπαιδίᾳ πρὸς τέκνων θάνατον, ἀλλὰ τῷ λογισμῷ πρὸς πάντα. καὶ ταῦτα μέν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παρόντι, πλείονα τῶν ἱκανῶν.
For it is weakness, not kindness, that brings men into endless pains and terrors when they are not trained by reason to endure the assaults of fortune. Such men do not even enjoy what they long for when they get it, but are filled with continual pangs, tremors, and struggles by the fear of future loss. However, we must be fortified not by poverty against deprivation of worldly goods, nor by friendlessness against loss of friends, nor by childlessness against death of children, but by reason against all adversities. This, under present circumstances, is more than enough on this head.
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