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+ + + + + + + + English + Greek + Latin + German + + + + Sulla + + + Fundanus + + + + + tagged and parsed + EpiDoc and CTS Conversion + + + + +
+ + ON THE CONTROL OF ANGER (DE COHIBENDA IRA) +
+ INTRODUCTION +

The subject of this essay is not the emotion of anger itself, but the cure best + applicable to the passion. In form it is a dialogue, but, apart from the + beginning and the end, it is as undramatic as the later works of Plato. The + principal speaker, Fundanus, treats the subject in a manner partly general and + partly specific, and concludes with a pleasant history of his own cure. Hirzel + (Der Dialog, ii. p. 170) has described the work as a + monument (Ehrendenkmal) to the memory of Fundanus, + dedicated to Sulla.

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Scholars concerned in the investigation of the sources used by Plutarch for this + discourse have arrived at varying results: someWilamowitz, Hermes, xxix. 152; Schlemm, Hermes, + xxxviii. 587 ff. have imagined that Stoic writers were used, + othersAllers, De Senecae Librorum de Ira Fontibus, p. 9; Pohlenz, + Hermes, xxxi. 321 ff.; accepted by Daebritz, RE, i. 8. 1562. In Hermes, + xl. 292, note 1, Pohlenz attempts to refute Schlemm's arguments. that + the Peripatetic Hieronymus of Rhodes was Plutarch's principal authority. The + numerous parallels to Seneca's De Ira have been used by + both parties to substantiate their theories, but it is more likely that + Plutarch, while borrowing numerous loci communes and + examples from earlier writers,Books on Anger were very plentiful in Cicero's day (Epp. + ad Quint. Frat., i. 1. 37). constructed for himself the main + features of the dialogue. The self-portrayal of Fundanus and his cure, the + frame-work of the whole discourse, is clearly Plutarch's own device. The + author's debt to preceding literature is, as always, immense, yet the creation + of such a work as this is by selection and arrangement; and for that Plutarch is + alone responsible.

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The essay was known to Aulus Gellius (i. 26), who relates a pleasant anecdote of + Plutarch and a rascally slave who ventured to reprove the philosopher for his + anger. Among English writers Jeremy Taylor has made admirable use of the essay + by paraphrase and even translation, in his Holy Living, + iv. 8.

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The ms. tradition is good.There is extant also a free Syriac translation (ed. Lagarde, Analecta Syriaca, Leipzig, 1858) which helps + occasionally in the constitution of the text. The work is apparently + missing in the Lamprias catalogue, since Περὶ ὀργῆς + + Cf. Patzig, Quaest. Plut., + p. 42. (No. 93) almost certainly refers to a different work from + which Stobaeus has preserved a fragment (Bernardakis, vol. vii. p. 138).

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(Speakers in the Dialogue: Sulla and Fundanus)

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Sextius Sulla, a friend + of Plutarch (Cf. Moralia, 636 a, and Prosopographia Imperii Romani, iii. p. 239). + A good plan, as it seems to me, Fundanus,C. Minicius Fundanus, a friend of Pliny (Epp., v. 16); cf. Pros. Imp. Rom., ii. p. + 377. is that which painters follow: they scrutinize their + productions from time to time before they finish them. They do this because, by + withdrawing their gaze and by inspecting their work often, they are able to form + a fresh judgement, and one which is more likely to seize upon any slight + discrepancy, such as the familiarity of uninterrupted contemplation will + conceal. Since, therefore, it is impossible for a man to contemplate himself + from time to time by getting apart from himself and interrupting his + consciousness of himself by breaking its continuity (and this is what, more than + anything else, makes every man a poorer judge of himself than of others), the + next best course would be for him to inspect his friends from time to time and + likewise to offer himself to them, not to see if he is grown old suddenly or if + his body is better or worse, but for them to examine both his behaviour and his + character to learn whether time has added some excellence or taken away some + vice. As for me, since I have returned to Rome after a year's absence and this + is now the fifth month that I have been with you constantly, I do not find it altogether surprising that, of the virtues which + were already yours by gift of Nature, there has been so great an increment and + increase; but when I see that that violent and fiery tendency of yours toward + anger has become so gentle and submissive to reason, it occurs to me to say with + reference to your temper O wonder, how much milder has + it grown!Homer, Il., xxii. 373. + Yet this mildness has brought about no inactivity or feebleness in you, + but, like the earth when it has been subdued by cultivation, it has received a + smoothness and depth conducive to fruitful action in place of that impetuousness + of yours and quickness of temper. For that reason it is evident that the + spirited part of your soul is not withering away through any abatement of vigour + caused by age, nor yet spontaneously, but that it is receiving the skilful + treatment of some excellent precepts. And yet - for I shall tell you the plain + truth - when our friend ErosThis friend of Plutarch is mentioned again in connexion with Fundanus in + 464 e, infra. told me all this, I suspected + that he was bearing witness, by reason of his goodwill, to qualities that were + not actually present in you, yet should be so in men of breeding, although, as + you know, he is by no means the sort of man to surrender his own opinion as a + favour to anyone. But as things are, Eros stands acquitted of the charge of + bearing false witness, and do you, since our journeySee Hirzel, Der + Dialog, ii. p. 168, note 4. gives us leisure for + conversation, tell me, as though you were recounting some medical treatment, + what remedy you used that you have made your temper so obedient to the rein and + tender-mouthed, so mild and subservient to reason.

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Well, what about you, my generous friend Sulla? Are you careful not to + let your goodwill and friendship for me make you overlook + some of my real qualities? For since on many occasions not even Eros himself can + keep his temper in its place in that Homeric + Od., xx. 23, cited in full 506 b, infra. obedience, but when it becomes too exasperated + through hatred of evil, it is reasonable to suppose that I appear more gentle to + him, just as in changes of key certain high notes assume the position of low + notes in contrast with other high notes.

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Neither of these suppositions is true, Fundanus. Please do as I ask.

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One of those excellent precepts of MusoniusFrag. 36 ed. Hense. which I + remember, Sulla, is: He that wishes to come through + life safe and sound must continue throughout his life to be under + treatment. For I do not think that reason should be used in one's cure + as we use hellebore, and be washed out of the body together with the disease, + but it must remain in the soul and keep watch and ward over the judgements. For + the power of reason is not like drugs, but like wholesome food, engendering an + excellent state, together with great vigour, in those who become accustomed to + it; but exhortations and admonitions, if applied to the passions when they are + at their height and swollen, can scarcely accomplish anything at all, and that + with difficulty. They are no better than those aromatic preparations which rouse + epileptics when they lie prostrate, but do not rid them of the disease. Yet the + other passions, even at their height, do in some sort yield and admit reason, + when it comes from without to the rescue, into the soul; but + temper does not, as MelanthiusNauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 760; quoted again in Moralia, 551 a. The poet is not the Athenian tragic poet, but + Melanthius of Rhodes (circa 150 b.c.), according to + Wilamowitz, Hermes, xxix. 150 ff. says, + Shunt off the mind, and then do dreadful + deeds, but on the contrary, it shuts out sense completely and locks + it out, and just like those who burn themselves up in their own homes, it makes + everything within full of confusion and smoke and noise, so that the soul can + neither see nor hear anything that might help it. For this reason a ship + deserted by her crew in the midst of a storm far out at sea + Cf. Moralia, 1103 c. will more easily be able + to take on a pilot from the outside, than will a man who is being tossed upon + the billows of passion and anger admit the reasoning of another, unless he has + his own powers of reason prepared to receive it. But just as those who expect a + siege collect and store up all that is useful to them if they despair of relief + from without, so it is most important that we should acquire far in advance the + reinforcements which philosophy provides against temper and convey them into the + soul in the knowledge that, when the occasion for using them comes, it will not + be possible to introduce them with ease. For the soul hears nothing from the + outside because of its tumult unless it has its own reason within, which, like a + boatswain who directs the rowers, will promptly catch and understand every order + given. Yet if the soul has heard words of advice which have been quietly and + mildly spoken, it despises them; and toward any who insist in a rougher fashion, + it grows exasperated. In fact, temper is overbearing and stubborn and altogether + difficult for anyone other than itself to move, and, like a well-fortified + tyranny, must have its destroyer born and bred in the same + household.

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To be sure, when anger persists and its outbursts are frequent, there is created + in the soul an evil state which is called irascibility, + Cf. Plato, Republic, 411 + b-c. and this usually results in sudden outbursts of rage, + moroseness, and peevishness when the temper becomes ulcerated, easily offended, + and liable to find fault for even trivial offences, like a weak, thin piece of + iron which is always getting scratched. But if judgement at once opposes the + fits of anger and represses them, it not only cures them for the present, but + for the future also it renders the soul firm and difficult for passion to + attack. In my own case, at any rate, when I had opposed anger two or three + times, it came about that I experienced what the Thebans did, who, when they had + for the first timeAt the + battle of Leuctra, 371 b.c. repulsed the Spartans, who had the + reputation of being invincible, were never thereafter defeated by them in any + battle; for I acquired the proud consciousness that it is possible for reason + to conquer. Not only did I see that anger ceases when cold water is sprinkled on + it, as AristotleThis is + apparently from a lost work, though not included in Rose's collection of + fragments. In Problemata, x. 60 (898 a 4), however, + Aristotle observes that fear is a process of cooling; cf. also De Partibus Animalium, ii. 4 (651 + a 8 ff.). says, but that it is also extinguished when a poultice of + fear is applied to it. And, by Heaven, if joy comes on the scene, in the case of + many the temper has been quickly warmed, as + Homer + Il., xxiii. 598, 600, al.; + for Plutarch's interpretation of ἰαίνεσθαι + see Moralia, 947 d: ἀλέαν τῷ σώματι μεθ' ἡδονῆς, ὅπερ Ὅμηρος ἰαίνεσθαι κέκληκεω; see also Moralia, 735 + f. says, or dissipated. Consequently I came to the opinion that this + passion is not altogether incurable, for those, at least, who wish to cure it.

+

For anger does not always have great and powerful beginnings; on the contrary, + even a jest, a playful word, a burst of laughter or a nod + on the part of somebody, and many things of the kind, rouse many persons to + anger; just as Helen, by thus addressing her niece, Electra, virgin for so long a time, provoked her to reply, + Too late you're wise; but once you left your home + Disgraced.Euripides, + Orestes, 72, 99. + + And so was Alexander provoked by Callisthenes, + Cf. Moralia, 623 f - 624 a; Athenaeus, x. 434 + d. who said, when the great bowl was going its rounds, I do not care to have a drink of Alexander and then + have to call in Asclepius. + A jibe at Alexander's assumed + divinity, Alexander taking the place of + Dionysus, the wine god, until the physician god, Asclepius, would have to be + called in; on the authenticity of the story see Macurdy, Jour. Hell. Stud., 1. (1930), 294-297. +

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And so, just as it is an easy matter to check a flame which is being kindled in + hare's fur + Cf. Moralia, 138 f. or candlewicks or + rubbish, but if it ever takes hold of solid bodies having depth, it quickly + destroys and consumes With youthful vigour lofty + craftsmen's work,Nauck, + Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 107, Frag. 357. + as Aeschylus has it; so the man who at the beginning gives heed to his + temper and observes it while it is still smoking and catching flame little by + little from some gossip or rubbishy scurrility need have no great concern about + it; on the contrary, he has often succeeded in extinguishing it merely by + keeping silent and ignoring it. For he who gives no fuel to fire puts it out, + and likewise he who does not in the beginning nurse his wrath and does not puff + himself up with anger takes precautions against it and destroys it. I was + therefore not satisfied with what HieronymusOf Rhodes, Peripatetic philosopher of the + third century b.c. says - although he contributes other useful + remarks and advice - in the passage where he declares that we have no perception + of anger when it comes into being, but only when it has already come into being + and exists, the reason being the swiftness with which it acts. For the truth is + that none of the emotions, at the time when they are gathering and beginning to + move, has a birth and increase so easy to perceive.But Cf. Plutarch, + De Amore, 4 (Bernardakis, vol. vii. p. + 134). Indeed Homer also skilfully teaches us this lesson when he + causes Achilles to be suddenly overwhelmed by grief on receiving the + report,Of Patroclus's + death, brought by Antilochus: Il., xviii. 22. + in the passage where the poet says: He spoke, and a + black cloud of grief closed round Achilles; but Homer portrays + Achilles as being slow to lose his temper with Agamemnon + Il., i. 101 ff. and as becoming inflamed only + when many words had been spoken. Yet if either one of the men had held back + their words at the beginning and prevented their utterance, the quarrel would + not have had so great a growth or have reached such magnitude. That is the + reason why Socrates, + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, iii. 13. + 3. as often as he perceived himself being moved to too great + harshness against any of his friends, betaking himself to coast Before the storm along some promontory,Author unknown: Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec., iii. p. 721; Diehl, Anthologia Lyrica, ii. p. 163; Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, iii. p. 473; quoted more fully in + Moralia, 129 a, 503 a. + would lower his voice, cause a smile to spread over his face, and make + the expression of his eyes more gentle, preserving himself from fault and defeat + by setting up within himself an influence to counteract his passion.

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For the first way, my friend, to dethrone temper as you + would a tyrant, is not to oey or hearken when it bids us cry aloud and look + fierce and beat our breasts, but to keep quiet and not intensify the passion, as + we would a disease, by tossing about and making a clamour. It is quite true that + lovers' practices, such as serenading in concert or alone and crowning the + beloved's door with garlands, do in some way or other bring an alleviation that + is not without charm or grace: + I came, but did not shout your name or race; + I merely kissed the door. If this be sin, Then I have sinned.Callimachus, Epigram 43 (42), vv. 5, 6 (Anth. Pal., xii. 118). Cf. Propertius, ii. 30. 24: Hoc si + crimen erit, crimen amoris erit. + + So too the surrender of mourners to weeping and wailing carries away + much of their grief together with their tears. But temper is the more readily + fanned into flame by what people in that state do and say.

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The best course, therefore, is for us to compose ourselves, or else to run away + and conceal ourselves, and anchor ourselves in a calm harbour, as though we + perceived a fit of epilepsy coming on, + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, iii. 10. + 3. so that we may not fall, or rather may not fall upon others; and + we are especially likely to fall most often upon our friends. For we do not love + or envy or fear everyone indiscriminately, but there is nothing that temper will + not touch and assail: we grow angry with enemies and friends, with children and + parents, yes, even with the gods, with wild beasts and soulless implements, as + Thamyris did: Breaking the lyre-arms, overlaid with + gold, Breaking his melodious, taut-strung lyreNauck, Trag. + Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 183, Sophocles, Frag. 223 (Frag. 244 + ed. Pearson). Cf. Homer, Il., ii. 594-600.; + and Pandarus, who invoked a curse on himself if he did not + break with his hands + + Il., v. 216. his bow and burn it. And Xerxes + not only branded and lashed the sea, + Cf. Herodotus, vii. 35. but also sent a + letter to Mount AthosContrast + ibid. vii. 24.: Noble Athos, whose summit reaches heaven, do not put in the way of my deeds + great stones difficult to work. Else I shall hew you down and cast you into + the sea. For temper can do many terrible things, and likewise many that + are ridiculous; therefore it is both the most hated and the most despised of + the passions. It will be useful to consider it in both of these aspects.

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As for me - whether rightly I do not know - I made this start in the treatment of + my anger: I began to observe the passion in others, just as the Spartans used + to observe in the Helots + Cf. Moralia, 239 a, and the note. what a + thing drunkenness is. And first, as Hippocrates + Prognosticon, 2 (vol. l. p. 79 ed. + Kühlewein). says that the most severe disease is that in which + the countenance of the sufferer is most unlike itself, so I observed that those + who are transported by anger also change most in countenance, colour, gait, and + voice, + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. + 35. and thus formed for myself a picture of that passion and was + exceedingly uncomfortable to think that I should ever appear so terrible and + deranged to my friends and my wife and daughters, not merely savage and + unfamiliar to their sight, but also speaking with so harsh and rough a voice as + were others of my intimate friends whom I used to meet at times when anger had + made them unable to preserve their character or bearing or grace of speech or + their winning and affable manners. The ease of Gaius + Gracchus + Cf. Life of the Gracchi, ii. (825 b), and Ziegler's + references ad loc. the orator will serve as + illustration. He was not only severe in his disposition, but spoke too + passionately; so he caused a pitch-pipe to be made of the sort which musicians + use to lead the voice up and down the scales to the proper note; with this in + hand his servant used to stand behind him as he spoke and give him a decorous + and gentle tone which enabled Gracchus to remit his loud cries and remove from + his voice the harsh and passionate element; just as the shepherds' + Wax-joined pipe, clear sounding, + Drones a slumberous strain,Aeschylus, Prometheus, + 574-575: Io speaks with reference to the piping of Argus as he + guards her. + + so did he charm and lay to rest the rage of the orator. But as for me, + if I had some attentive and clever companion, I should not be vexed if he held a + mirror + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. 36. + 1-3. up to me during my moments of rage, as they do for some persons + after bathing, though to no useful purpose. For to see oneself in a state which + nature did not intend, with one's features all distorted, contributes in no + small degree toward discrediting that passion. In fact, those who delight in + pleasant fables tell us that when Athena + Cf. Life of Alcibiades, ii. (192 e); Ovid, Ars Amatoria, iii. 505 ff.; Fasti, vi. 699 ff.; Athenaeus, xiv. 616 e ff.; Tzetzes, Chiliades, i. 364 ff. played on the pipes, + she was rebuked by the satyr and would give no heed: + That look becomes you not; lay by your pipes + And take your arms and put your cheeks to rightsNauck, Trag. + Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 911, ades. 381.; + but when she saw her face in a river, she was vexed and threw her pipes + away. Yet art makes melody some consolation for + unsightliness. And Marsyas, + Cf. Moralia, 713 d. it seems, by a mouthpiece + and cheek-bands repressed the violence of his breath and tricked up and + concealed the distortion of his face: + He fitted the fringe of his temples with gleaming gold + And his greedy mouth he fitted with thongs bound behindSimonides, according to Tzetzes, + Chiliades, i. 372 (Frag. 177 Bergk, 160 + Diehl, 115 Edmonds); attributed by Schneidewin to Simias Rhodius + (Cf. Powell, Coll. + Alex., p. 111).; + but anger, which puffs up and distends the face in an unbecoming way, + utters a voice still more ugly and unpleasant, Stirring + the heart-strings never stirred before.Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 907, ades. 361; quoted again in Moralia, 43 d; 501 a, 502 d, infra; 657 c. + For when the sea is disturbed by the winds and casts up tangle and + seaweed, they say that it is being cleansed; but the intemperate, bitter, and + vulgar words which temper casts forth when the soul is disturbed defile the + speakers of them first of all and fill them with disrepute, the implication + being that they have always had these traits inside of them and are full of + them, but that their inner nature is now laid bare by their anger. Hence for a + mere word, the lightest of things, as PlatoA combination of Laws, 935 a and 717 d, as in Moralia, 90 c, 505 c, 634 f; Cf. also + Schlemm, Hermes, xxxviii. 596. says, they + incur the heaviest of punishments, being esteemed as + hostile, slanderous, and malicious.

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When I, accordingly, observe these things, and store them carefully away, it + occurs to me to lay up and quite thoroughly remember for my own use that, just as it is a good thing in a fever, so it is an even + better thing in anger, to keep the tongue soft and smooth. For if the tongue of + men who are sick of a fever is in an unnatural state, it is a bad symptom, but + not the cause of their malady; but when the tongue of angry men becomes rough + and foul and breaks out in unseemly speeches, it brings forth insolence which + creates irremediable enmity and argues a festering malevolence within. For + unmixed wine produces nothing so intemperate and odious as anger does: words + flown with wine go well with laughter and sport, but those which spring from + anger are mixed with gall; and whereas the man who keeps silent at a + drinking-bout is disagreeable and irksome to the company, there is nothing more + dignified, if one is angry, than holding one's peace, as SapphoFrag. 27 ed. Bergk, 126 ed. Diehl, 137 + ed. Edmonds; it is unlikely that Plutarch wrote the Aeolic accents which are + here restored. advises: + When anger swells within the breast, + Restrain the idly barking tongue. + +

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But it is not these considerations only that constant watching of those who are + in the grip of anger furnishes us, but also an understanding of the general + nature of ill temper - that it is not well-bred, nor manly, nor possessing any + quality of pride or greatness. Yet most people think its turbulence to be + activity, its blustering to be confident boldness, its obstinacy force of + character; and some claim that even its cruelty is magnificence in action and + its implacability firmness in resolution and its moroseness hatred of evil, + Cf. 462 e, 482 c, infra. but they are wrong in this. For the + actions and the motions and the whole demeanour of angry persons declare their + utter littleness and weakness, not only when they rend little children and rage + bitterly against women and think it proper to punish dogs and horses and mules, + as Ctesiphon the pancratiast did, who thought it right to kick back at his mule + ; but also in the butcheries that tyrants perpetrate, their meanness of soul is + apparent in their cruelty and their perverted state in their action, and is like + the bites of vipers, which, when thoroughly inflamed with rage and pain, eject + their excessive fiery passion upon those who have hurt them. For just as with + the flesh a swelling results from a great blow, so with the weakest souls the + inclination to inflict a hurt produces a flaring up of temper as great as the + soul's infirmity is great.The + cruel tyrant, like the viper, indulges in rages as a sort of + defence-reaction, a proof of inherent weakness. That is also the + reason why women are more prone to anger than men, and sick persons than + healthy, and old men than men in their prime, and the unfortunate than the + prosperous. Most prone to anger, for instance, are the miser with his steward, + the glutton with his cook, the jealous man with his wife, the conceited man when + he has been maligned; but worst of all are + Men who court too eagerly + Ambition in the towns: + Manifest is the pain they bring, + as PindarFrag. 210 + ed. Bergk, 229 ed. Boeckh; p. 609 ed. Sandys. has it. In like manner + from the pain and suffering of the soul, caused generally by weakness, there + arises the outburst of passion + Cf. Life of Coriolanus, xv. (220 e). which is + not, as someonePlato, Republic, 411 b; contrast Moralia, 449 f, supra. + Plutarch seems to be unwilling to name Plato when he is forced to contradict + him. But see Pohlenz, Hermes, xxxi. 332 (on + Philodemus, De Ira, xxxi. 24). has said, like + sinews of the soul, but like the strainings and + convulsions of the soul when it is stirred too vehemently in its impulse to + defend itself.

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These base examples, to be sure, were not pleasant to observe, but merely + unavoidable; but in discussing those who deal with transports of rage in a mild + and gentle way I offer instances which are very beautiful both to hear and to + witness, and I begin with a word of scorn for those who say, It was a man you wronged: should a man bear this?Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 912, ades. 382. + and + Trample him underfoot, tread on his neck, + And bring him to the ground!Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec., + iii. p. 694; Diehl, Anthologia Lyrica, i. p. + 265; Edmonds, Elegy and Iambus, ii. p. 304: + an anonymous tetrameter attributed by Meineke to Archilochus. + + and other provocative expressions, by using which some err in + transferring anger from the women's quarters to the men's. For although courage + gets along well with justice in all other respects, yet, as it seems to me, it + fights for the possession of gentleness alone, as belonging rather to itself. + But although cases do occur in which even baser men gain the mastery over their + betters, yet to erect in the soul a trophy of victory over anger (which + HeracleitusDiels, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker + 2, i. p. 170, Frag. 85; cf. + Life of Coriolanus, xxii. (224 c), and Moralia, 755 d. But Heracleitus's meaning is probably that it is + Love, not Anger, which it is difficult to contend against. says it is + difficult to contend against: for whatever it wishes, it + buys at the price of the soul) is proof of a great and victorious + strength which possesses against the passions the weapons + of its judgements, as in very truth its nerves and sinews.Perhaps a correction (as 457 c, supra) of Plato, Republic, + 411 b (Cf. also Moralia, 449 + f, supra). +

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For this reason I always strive to collect and to peruse, not only these sayings + and deeds of the philosophers, who are said by fools to have no bile,That is, our no guts; Cf. + Archilochus, Frag. 131, Bergk, and Capps's note on Menander, Perikeiromene, 259. but even more those of + kings and despots. There is, for instance, the remark of Antigonus + Cf. Moralia, 182 c; Seneca, De + Ira, iii. 22. 2. to his soldiers who were reviling him near + his tent in the belief that he could not hear them: he merely thrust out his + staff and cried, Good heavens! will you not go somewhere + farther off to abuse me? And there is the case of Arcadion + Cf. Athenaeus, vi. 249 c-d: Arcadion, while in + flight from Macedonia, accidentally met Philip who asked him how long he was + going to stay in exile. This is Arcadion's reply. the Achaean who was + always railing against Philip and advising flight Until + one comes to men who know not PhilipA parody of Homer, Od., xi. 122; + xxiii. 269.; when Arcadion later visited Macedonia on + some chance or other, Philip's friends thought that he should not be let off but + punished. Yet Philip, when he met him, treated him kindly and sent him friendly + presents and gifts; and later bade his friends inquire how Arcadion now spoke + of him to the Greeks. When all testified that the fellow had become a wonderful + eulogist of the king, Philip said, Then I am a better + physician than you. So in Olympia + Cf. Moralia, 143 f; 179 a with Nachstädt's note + ad loc. when Philip was being defamed, + and some persons said that the Greeks should smart for it since they spoke evil + of Philip though they were being well treated by him, + Philip said, What will they do, then, if they are badly + treated? +

+

Likewise admirable was the behaviour of Peisistratus + Cf. Moralia, 189 c, and Nachstädt ad loc. to Thrasybulus, and of Porsenna + Ibid. 305 f; Life of + Publicola, xvii. (106 a-d) with Lindskog's note. to Mucius, + and of Magas + Cf. 449 f, supra. to + Philemon. For when Magas had been publicly ridiculed by Philemon in a comedy at + the theatre: + A. For you some letters, Magas, from the king. + B. Unhappy Magas, who no letters know!Kock, Com. Att. Frag., ii. p. + 522, Frag. 144. + + Magas later captured Philemon, who had been cast ashore by a storm at + Paraetonium, and ordered a soldier merely to touch Philemon on the neck with a + naked sword and then depart courteously; and Magas sent dice and a ball to + Philemon, as to a senseless child, and sent him on his way. So also Ptolemy, + when he was jeering at a pedant for his ignorance, asked him who was Peleus' + father; and the pedant replied, I shall tell you if you + will first tell me who was the father of Lagus. + Officially the father of + Ptolemy I, who, however, was commonly thought to have been the bastard son + of Philip of Macedon. This was a jest at the dubious birth of the + king, and everyone was indignant at its improper and inopportune character; but + Ptolemy said, If it is not the part of a king to take a + jest, neither is it to make one. But Alexander had behaved more harshly + than was his custom toward Callisthenes and Cleitus. + Cf. Life of Alexander, lv. (696 d-e); 449 e, supra; Seneca, De Ira, iii. + 17. 1. And so Porus, + Cf. Moralia, 181 e, 332 e; Life + of Alexander, ix. (699 c), and Ziegler's note. when he was + taken captive, requested Alexander to treat him like a + king. When Alexander asked, Is there nothing + more? + In the words like a king, + replied Porus, there is + everything. For this reason also they call the king of the gods + Meilichios, or the Gentle One, while the Athenians, I believe, call him + Maimactes, or the BoisterousBut Gentle when propitiated. See Hesychius and + Roscher, Lexicon d. gr. u. röm. Mythologie, + s.v.; and Hewitt, Harvard Stud. Class. + Phil., xix. (1908), 75-78.; but punishment is the work of + the Furies and spirits, not of the high gods and Olympian deities.

+
+
+

Just as, then, someone said of Philip + Cf. Moralia, 40 e, 215 b. For the thought see + Pindar, Pythian Odes, iv. 484. when he had + razed Olynthus to the ground, But he could not possibly + repeople a city so large, so one may address Anger and say, You are able to overturn and destroy and throw down, + but to raise up and preserve and spare and forbear is the work of mildness + and forgiveness and moderation in passion, the work of a Camillus or a + MetellusPlutarch + probably means Q. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus; cf. + Moralia, 202 a. or an Aristeides or a Socrates; but to + attach oneself to the wound and to sting is the part of an ant or a + horse-fly. + + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. 34. + 1; Cf. Socrates' comparison of himself to a gad-fly + in Apology, 30 e. As I study, however, + anger's method of defending itself, I find it for the most part ineffectual, + since it spends itself in biting the lips + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, i. 19. + 2-3. and gnashing the teeth, in vain attacks and railings coupled + with senseless threats, and eventually resembles children + Cf. 447 a, supra. + running races, who, through lack of self-control, fall down ridiculously before + they reach the goal toward which they are hastening. Therefore there was point + in what the Rhodian said to the Roman general's servant who was shouting and + talking insolently: What you + say, said the Rhodian, matters nothing to me, but what your master doesn't say. And + Sophocles,Frag. 210. 8, + 9, ed. Pearson, vol. i. pp. 152 ff., where see he careful discussion of the + relation of this passage to Ox. Pap., ix. 1175; + Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, Sophocles, Frag. 768. when he has + armed Neoptolemus and Eurypylus, says + Without a vaunt, without reviling, they + Have rushed within the ring of brazen arms. + +

+

For although there are barbarians who poison their steel, true bravery has no + need of bitter gall,The + poison of anger. for it has been dipped in reason; but rage and fury + are rotten and easily broken. At any rate the Spartans + Cf. Moralia, 238 b, with Nachstädt ad loc. use the playing of pipes to remove + from their fighting men the spirit of anger, and they sacrifice to the Muses + before battle in order that reason may remain constant within them; and when + they have routed the enemy, they do not pursue, + Cf. Pausanias, iv. 8. 11. but sound the + recall to their high spirits, which, like small daggers, + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. 35. + 1: tale ira telum est: vix retrahitur. + are manageable and can be easily withdrawn. Yet wrath has slain thousands before + its revenge was accomplished, as, for instance, Cyrus t and Pelopidas the + Theban.Probably Cyrus the + Younger, Cf. Xenophon, Anabasis, i. 8. 26-27; but Cyrus the Great may be meant, cf. Seneca, De Ira, iii. 21, + which is not, however, quite in point; nor is Herodotus, i. 205 ff. + But Agathocles + Cf. Moralia, 176 e; Diodorus, xx. 63. Agathocles was + the son of a potter. endured with mildness the revilings of those he + was besieging, and when one of them cried out, Potter, + how will you get pay for your mercenaries?, Agathocles laughed and said, + If I take this town. And there is the case of + Antigonus,The One=eyed; + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, iii. + 22. 4-5; related of Agathocles in Moralia, 176 + e-f. who, when some men on the wall of a town + jeered at him because of his deformity, said to them, Why, I thought my face was handsome! But when he took the town he sold + as slaves those who jeered at him, protesting that he would have speech with + their masters if they reviled him again.

+

I observe also that both advocates and orators commit serious mistakes because + of anger; and Aristotle + Problemata, iii. 27 (875 a 34 ff.); cited by + Stobaeus, iii. p. 551 ed. Hense. relates that the friends of Satyrus + the Samian, when he was to plead, stopped up his ears with wax, that he might + not spoil his case through temper at the insults of his enemies. And as for + ourselves, does it not happen often that the punishment of a delinquent slave + eludes our power? For slaves are made afraid by threatening words and run + away. + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, iii. 5. + 4. The words, therefore, which nurses use with children, Stop crying and you shall have it! may, not without + benefit, be applied to temper: Stop hurrying and + shouting and making haste, and you shall have what you want better and more + easily! For if a father sees his son trying to cut something in two or + to make a notch in it with a knife, he takes the knife himself and does it; so + likewise, if reason takes upon itself the punishment which temper would inflict, + it chastises the person who deserves it safely and harmlessly and for that + person's good, and does not, as temper often does, punish itself instead. + Cf. Xenophon, Hellenica, v. + 3. 7. +

+
+
+

But however true it is that all the passions have need of a process of + habituation, which tames as it were and subdues by rigorous training the + irrational and obstinate element of the soul, there is no passion that we can better learn to control by practising on + servants than temper. For no envy or fear or rivalry enters into our relations + with them, but frequent fits of anger bring about many conflicts and errors, and + because of the absolute power we possess, there being no one to oppose or + prevent us, these cause us to slide and fall, since we are, as it were, on + slippery ground. For it is impossible that irresponsible power under the + influence of passion should be free from error, unless he who wields this power + shall encompass it with a bulwark of gentleness, and shall hold out against many + pleas of wife and friends, all charging him with laxity and easy-going ways. By + such charges I myself used to be very greatly exasperated against my slaves, in + the conviction that they were being ruined by not being punished. At long last, + however, though late it was, I came to perceive that, in the first place, it is + better to make them worse by forbearance than by harshness and anger to pervert + my own self for the correction of the others. In the second place, when I + observed that many, just because they were not being punished, were often + ashamed to be bad, and made pardon, rather than correction, the starting-point + of reformation, and, I swear, performed their duties more zealously for the kind + of master who gave orders silently with a nod than for the others who used blows + and branding-irons, I began to be convinced that reason is more fit than anger + to govern. For it is not as the PoetHomer), Cypria, Frag. 20 ed. Kinkel; + Cf. Plutarch, Life of + Cleomenes, ix. (xxx.) (808 e); Plato, Euthyphro, 12 a-b. has said, Where + fear is, there is also reverence; but, on the contrary, in those who + revere there is engendered the kind of fear that corrects + behaviour, whereas continual and unmerciful beating produces, not repentance for + wrongdoing, but rather the farsighted cunning to do wrong without detection. In + the third place, I always keep in mind and reflect in privacy that he who taught + us the use of the bow did not forbid us to shoot, but only to miss the + mark, + Cf. 451 e, supra. and + that the infliction of punishment will not be hindered by our teaching how to + inflict it at the right time,When it is really deserved. with moderation, and in a useful and + suitable manner; and, remembering these things, I try to get rid of my anger, + if possible, by not depriving those who are to be punished of the right to speak + in their defence, but by listening to their plea. For both the passage of time + gives a pause to passion and a delay which dissolves it, and also the judgement + discovers a suitable manner of punishment and an adequate amount; furthermore, + the man who suffers punishment has no pretext left for opposing the correction + if punishment is inflicted, not in anger, but after the accused has been proved + guilty; and finally, the most shameful thing is avoided-that the slave should + seem to be making a juster plea than his master.

+

And so, just as Phocion + Cf. Life of Phocion, xxii. (751 e); Moralia, 188 d. after Alexander's death, + trying to keep the Athenians from revolting prematurely or believing the report + too quickly, said to them, If, men of Athens, he is dead + to-day, he will be dead to-morrow also, and the day after; in like + manner, I think, the man who, urged on by anger, is in a hurry for vengeance, + should suggest to himself, If this person is guilty of + wronging you to-day, he will still be guilty to-morrow also, and the day + after; no harm will be done if he shall be punished + somewhat late, but if he is punished in haste he will always be thought to + have suffered without offending; and this has happened many times in the + past. For which of us is so harsh that he scourges and chastises a slave + because five or ten days ago he overroasted the meat or upset the table or carne + too slowly at our bidding? And yet these are the very things which cause us to + be excited and in a cruel and implacable mood at the moment they happen and are + still fresh in our memory. For as the shapes of persons seen through a fog, so + things seen through a mist of rage appear greater than they are.

+

These are the reasons why we should immediately call to mind such instances and + precepts; and when we are free from all suspicion of passion, if the offence + still appears evil to the clear and settled judgement, we should attend to it + then and not dismiss or abandon the punishment, as we leave food when we have + lost our appetite. And nothing is so much the cause of our punishing in a rage + as that, when our anger is over, we do not punish, but leave things alone. We + are very much like lazy oarsmen, who during calm weather lie in port, and later, + at the risk of their lives, avail themselves of a wind to go sailing. And so do + we condemn reason for remissness and softness in punishment and hasten on to the + deed rashly and to our peril when anger, like a gale, is upon us. For while a + hungry man indulges in food as nature dictates, yet punishment is indulged in by + one who is not hungry or thirsty for it, nor does he need anger as a relish to + stimulate him to punish; on the contrary, when he finds himself very far + removed from the desire to punish, he brings up reason to + reinforce him and punishes under compulsion. AristotleFrag. 608 ed. Rose. relates that + in Etruria in his day slaves were scourged to the music of pipes. But one should + not, in that spirit, through a craving for the punishment as for a kind of + enjoyment, gorge oneself with it, and rejoice while inflicting chastisement and + after inflicting it repent + Cf. Moralia, 550 e, where the whole context may be + compared with this chapter. See also Seneca, De Ira, + i. 17-18. - of these the first is bestial, the second womanish - but + without either sorrow or pleasure one should mete out punishment in reason's own + good time, leaving anger no excuse.

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However this, perhaps, will not appear to be a cure for anger, but a temporary + reprieve and prophylacticFor + the phrase Cf. Moralia, 420 e. against those + errors which some men commit in anger. And yet, though the swelling of the + spleen is but a symptom of fever, reducing it assuages the fever, as Hieronymus + says. But when I contemplated the origin of anger itself, I observed that + different persons are liable to anger from different causes; yet in the case of + practically all of them there is present a belief that they are being despised + or neglected. + Cf. Aristotle, Rhetoric, ii. + 3 (1380 a 8 ff.). For this reason we should assist those who + endeavour to avoid anger, by removing as far as possible the act that rouses + wrath from any suspicion of contempt or arrogance and by imputing it to + ignorance or necessity or emotion or mischance. So Sophocles + Antigone, 563-564; quoted with the same textual + variants in the Life of Phocion, i. (742 a).: + + O king, not even the reason Nature gives + Stays with the unfortunate, but goes astray; + + and so likewise AgamemnonHomer, Il., xix. + 138. ascribes the taking away of Briseis to divine infatuation: + + I wish again to make amends, to give + You countless ransom. + Supplication, indeed, is the act of one who does not despise; and when + he that has done an injury shows himself humble, he removes all notion of + contempt. But the man in a rage should not wait for such humility, but should + take to himself the reply of Diogenes + Cf. Life of Fabius Maximus, x. (179 f); Diogenes + Laertius, vi. 54.: when someone said to him, They are laughing at you, Diogenes, he answered, But I am not laughed down. Just so the angry man + should not consider himself despised, but rather despise the man who gave the + offence as acting from weakness or rashness, carelessness or illiberality, + dotage or childishness. But such a notion must not on any account be entertained + toward servants or friends; for our servants presume on our upright character, + our friends on our affection, and both disregard us, not as being impotent or + ineffectual, but because of our reasonableness or our goodwill. As it is, + thinking ourselves despised, we not only treat harshly wife and slaves and + friends, but also through rage often fall out with innkeepers and sailors and + drunken muleteers; we even rage against dogs that bark at us and asses that + jostle us, + Cf. Plato, Republic, 563 + c. like the man who wished to beat the assdriver, but when the driver + cried out, I am an Athenian, indicated the ass and + said, You at any rate are not an Athenian, and fell + to beating it with many blows. +

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Furthermore it is especially selfishness and peevishness, together with luxury + and softness, which beget in us those continuous or oft-recurring fits of anger + that are gathered together in the soul little by little, like a swarm of bees or + wasps. And so there is nothing more conducive to gentleness than graciousness + and simplicity toward servants and wife and friends if a man is able to get + along with what comforts he has and is in no need of many superfluities: + But he who liked his meat not overdone + Nor underdone, nor medium, nor boiled + Too much; and liked no food enough to praiseKock, Com. + Att. Frag., iii. p. 472, ades. 343. + + who will drink no wine if there is no snow with it, + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. 25. + 4. nor eat bread purchased in the market, nor touch food served on + cheap or earthenware dishes, nor sleep upon a bed that does not billow like the + sea stirred to its depths; he who with rods and blows makes his servants at + table hasten about running and crying out and sweating as though they were + bringing poultices for boils,A matter evidently requiring urgent haste. such a man is enslaved to + an impotent, querulous, and discontented mode of life. His many shocks of anger + are like a chronic cough by which he reduces himself to a condition where anger + becomes a running sore. We must, therefore, accustom the body to contentment by + plain living and to self-sufficiency, for those who need but little are not + disappointed of much.

+

And, to begin with our food, it is no great hardship if we + partake in silence of whatever is set before us and do not, by being repeatedly + choleric and peevish, thrust upon ourselves and our friends the worst sauce for + meat, anger. No more unpleasant supper could there + beHomer, Od., xx. 392. + than that wherein servants are beaten and wife is reviled because + something is burned or smoked or not salted enough, or because the bread is too + cold. + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. + 25. +

+

Arcesilaüs was once entertaining his friends and with them some foreign + guests, and when dinner was served, there was no bread, since the slaves had + neglected to buy any. In such a predicament which one of us would not have rent + the walls asunder with outcries? But Arcesilaus merely smiled and said, How lucky it is that the wise man takes to the flowing + bowl! + There being no bread for the + deipnon, the symposium + will come earlier. +

+

Once when Socrates took Euthydemus home with him from the palaestra, Xanthippe + came up to them in a rage and scolded them roundly, finally upsetting the + table. + Cf. 471 b, infra, of + Pittacus. Euthydemus, deeply offended, got up and was about to leave + when Socrates said, At your house the other day did not + a hen fly in and do precisely this same thing, yet we were not put out about + it? +

+

For we should receive our friends affably and with laughter and cheerful + friendliness, not with frowning brows, or striking fear and trembling into our + servants. We must, further, accustom ourselves to make cheerful use of any kind + of table utensils and not to prefer this service to that, as some men do who select one goblet or horn out of the many they have, + and will drink from no other, as they relate of Marius. Some have this same + feeling about oil-flasks and strigils, of which they have a liking for but one + out of many; and so when one of these preferred objects is broken or lost, they + take it hard and punish severely. Therefore anyone who is prone to anger should + abstain from rare and curiously wrought things, like drinking-cups and + seal-rings and precious stones; for their loss drives their owner out of his + senses more than do objects which are easily procured and may be seen + everywhere. This is the reason why, when Nero had had an octagonal tent built, a + huge structure which was a sight to be seen because of its beauty and + costliness, Seneca remarked, You have proved yourself a + poor man, for if you ever lose this you will not have the means to procure + another like it, And indeed it did so happen that the ship which + conveyed it was sunk and the tent lost. But Nero remembered Seneca's saying and + bore his loss with greater moderation.

+

A cheerful behaviour toward the affairs of life makes a master cheerful and + gentle toward his slaves also; and if to slaves, he will evidently be so to his + friends as well as to those who are subject to his rule. And in fact we observe + that ne wly purchased slaves inquire about their new master, not whether he is + superstititious or envious, but whether he is ill-tempered + Cf. Plutarch, De Calumnia, + Frag. 1 (Bernardakis, vol. vii. p. 128).; and, speaking generally, we + see that if anger is present in a home, husbands cannot endure even their wives' + chastity, nor wives even their husbands' love, nor friends even familiar + intercourse with one another. Thus neither marriage nor friendship is tolerable + if anger is there, but without anger even drunkenness is + easily borne. For the wand of Dionysus suffices to punish the drunkard, unless + hot temper is added and makes the undiluted drink + Choreius and Lyaeus, + epithets of Dionysus. cause of savagery and madness instead of a + dispeller of care and an inspirer of the dance. Madness pure and simple can + indeed be cured by AnticyraA + town on the Corinthian Gulf in Phocis, famous for its hellebore; see Rolfe's + note on Aulus Gellius, xvii. 15. 6 (L.C.L., vol. iii. p. 260).; but + if madness is mingled with anger, it produces tragedies and tales of horror. +

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Surely we should allow no place to anger even in jest, for that brings enmity in + where friendliness was; nor in learned discussions, for that turns love of + learning into strife; nor when rendering judgement, for that adds insolence to + authority; nor in teaching, for that engenders discouragement and hatred of + learning; nor in prosperity, for that increases envy; nor in adversity, for + that drives away compassion when men become irritable and quarrel with those who + sympathize with them, as PriamHomer, Il., xxiv. 239-240. did: + Be gone, you wretched, shameful men! Have you + No cause for grief at home that you have come + To trouble me? + But a cheerful disposition in some circumstances is helpful, others it + adorns, and still others it helps to sweeten; by its gentleness it overcomes + both anger and all moroseness. Thus Eucleides, + Cf. 489 d, infra. + when his brother said to him after a quarrel, Damned if + I don't get even with you! answered, But as for + me, may I be damned if I don't convince you! and so at once turned him + from his purpose and won him over. And Polemon, when a man who was fond of + precious stones and quite mad about expensive seal-rings + reviled him, made no answer, but fixed his gaze on one of the seal-rings and + eyed it closely. The man, accordingly, was pleased and said to him, Do not look at it in this light, Polemon, but under the + sun's rays, and it will appear to you far more beautiful. Aristippus, + again, when anger had arisen between him and Aeschines and someone said, Where now, Aristippus, is the friendship of you + two? replied, It is asleep, but I shall awaken + it; and, going to Aeschines, he said, Do I + appear to you so utterly unfortunate and incurable as not to receive + correction from you? And Aeschines replied, No + wonder if you, who are naturally superior to me in all things, should in + this matter also have discerned before I did the right thing to do. + + For not a woman only, even a child, + Tickling the bristly boar with tender hand, + May throw him easier than a wrestler might.Nauck, Trag. + Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 912, ades. 383. + + But we who tame wild beasts and make them gentle and carry about in our + arms young wolves and lions' cubs, + Cf. 482 c, infra. + then under the impulse of rage cast off children, friends, and companions and + let loose our wrath, like some wild beast, on servants and fellow-citizens - we, + I say, do not well to use a cozening word for our anger by calling it righteous indignation, + + Cf. 456 f, 449 a, supra. but it is with anger, I believe, as with the other + passions and diseases of the soul: we can rid ourselves of none of them by + calling one foresight, another liberality, another piety. +

+
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And yet, as ZenoVon Arnim, Stoic. Vet. Frag., i. p. 36, Frag. 128. used + to say that the seed was a mixture and compound drawn from + all the faculties of the soul, so temper appears to be a mixture of seeds drawn + from all the passions. For it is drawn from pain and pleasure, and from + insolence; and although it has envy's malicious joy in the ills of others, it + is even worse than envy; for the object of its striving is, not that it may + itself avoid suffering evil, but that at the cost of suffering evil, it may + utterly ruin its antagonist; and the most unlovely kind of desire is innate in + it, inasmuch as it is a craving to pain someone else. And that is why, when we + approach the houses of profligates, we hear a flute-girl still playing in the + early morning, and we see muddy dregs of wine, + + Cf. Sophocles, Frag. 783 ed. Pearson, with the notes + ad loc. as someone has said, and mangled fragments of garlands, and tipsy + servants reeling at the doors; but the tokens of savage and irascible men you + will see on the faces of their servants and in the marks branded upon them and + their fetters. The only music heard within the + house of an angry man Is wailing + cries,Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 913, ades. 387; quoted more completely + in 518 b-c, infra. + as the stewards are being lashed within and the serving-maids being + tortured, so that those who witness the anguish caused by anger in gratifying + its desires and ministering to its pleasures must feel pity.

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However, those of whom it is true that righteous indignation causes them + frequently to be overwhelmed by anger should get rid of its excessive and + violent form, together with their extreme confidence in those with whom they + live. + Cf. Plato, Phaedo, 89 + d. For such confidence more than any other cause + increases the spirit of wrath, when, for example, one who has been accounted + honourable proves to be base, + Nothing fans the flame of human resentment so much + as the discovery that one's bosom has been utilized as a snake + sanatorium. - H. H. Monro. or one whom we have supposed a + true friend quarrels and finds fault with us. As for my own temperament, you + doubtless know how strong are the impulses which incline it to be of goodwill + toward my fellowmen and to trust them. Consequently, like men who attempt to + walk on empty air, the more I give myself up to loving a person the more I go + astray, and when I stumble and fall, the greater my distress; and although I + may no longer be able to reduce my too great propensity and eagerness to love, + yet I may perhaps be able to use Plato's + Epistle xiii. 360 c; Cf. 474 + e, infra, and Moralia, 533 + b-c. caution as a curb against excessive trust. For Plato says that + he praises Helicon the mathematician in such terms as he uses + δεδιὼς δὲ λέγω ταῦτα, ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου δόξαω ἀποφαίνομαι, οὐ φαύλου ζῴου ἀλλ' εὐμεταβόλου: + This, however, I say with trepidation, since I + am uttering an opinion about a man, and man, though not a worthless, is + an inconstant creature. - (Bury in L.C.L.) because man is by + nature an animal readily subject to change; and that he does well to fear those + who have been educated in the city lest, being men and the seeds of men, + Cf. Plato, Laws, 853 + c. they may reveal somewhere the weakness inherent in their nature. + But when SophoclesFrag. 853 + ed. Pearson; Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 311, Frag. 769; quoted again in 481 f, infra. says Search + out most human traits; you'll find them base, he seems to go too far + in trampling upon and belittling us. This peevish and censorious judgement does, + however, tend to make us more considerate in our outbursts of temper; for it is + the sudden and the unexpected that throw men off their bearings. + Cf. 449 e, supra. + But we should, as Panaetius also has somewhere remarked, + make use of the precept of Anaxagoras, + Cf. 474 d, infra; Moralia, 118 d and the references ad loc.; Diels, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker + 5, ii. p. 14, 33. and just as he, at the + death of his son, said, I knew that I had begotten a + mortal; so on each occasion we should remark with reference to the + faults which exasperate us: I knew that I had not + bought a philosopher for a slave, + I knew that the friend I had made was not incapable of + error, + I knew that my wife was a woman. And if we keep + repeating to ourselves Plato's question, Can it be that + I am like that? + + Cf. Moralia, 40 d, 88 e, 129 d. Cf. Horace, Satires, i. 4. 136: numquid ego illi | imprudens olim faciam simile?; There but for the grace of God go I. + and turn our reason inward instead of to external things, and substitute + caution for censoriousness, we shall no longer make much use of righteous indignation toward others when we observe + that we ourselves stand in need of much indulgence. But as it is, everyone of + us, when we are angry and inflicting punishment, brings out the injunctions of + an Aristeides or a Cato: Do not steal! + Do not lie! + Why are you so lazy?; and - what is most + disgraceful of all - while angry we chide others for being angry and punish by + rage faults which have been committed in a rage, not like physicians, who With bitter drugs can purge the bitter bileSophocles, Frag. 854 ed. Pearson, + with the note; Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 312, Frag. 770; quoted in a different + form 468 b, infra, and Moralia, 923 f.; but rather make more intense + the malady and aggravate it.

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Whenever, therefore, I have become engaged in these reflections, at the same + time I try to do away with some part of my inquisitiveness. For to search I out + with great precision and detect and drag into the light + every little concern of a slave, every action of a friend, every pastime of a + son, every whisper of a wife, produces frequent, or rather continual and daily, + fits of anger, of which the sum total is a morose and intractable disposition. + It may be, as EuripidesNauck, + Trag. Graec. Frag. + 2, p. 675, Frag. 974; quoted also in Moralia, 811 d. Cf. Lucan, + v. 340 ff.; and perhaps Horace, Ars Poetica, + 191-192. says, that God + Will intervene in matters grown too great, + But small things he lets pass and leaves to Fate; + but I am of the opinion that a man of sense should commit nothing to + Fate, nor overlook anything at all, but should trust and use for some things his + wife, for others servants, for others friends, as a ruler makes use of overseers + and accountants and administrators, but himself keeps under his own control the + most important and weighty matters by the use of reason. For as small writing + strains the eyes, so do trifling matters, by causing a greater strain, prick and + stir up anger, + Cf. Seneca, De Ira, ii. 26; + iii. 11. which becomes a bad habit that affects more important + matters.

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Accordingly, in addition to all these considerations,Erasmus, followed by Amyot, believed this + concluding paragraph to be a Christian appendix added to Plutarch's work. + This is very unlikely. I have been wont to regard as great and divine + that saying of Empedocles,Diels, Frag. d. Vorsokratiker + 5, i. p. 369, Frag. 144; cf. Herrick: + To starve thy sin, not bin, + That is to keep thy Lent. + + + Fast from evil, and to applaud also those other vows + made in prayer as being neither ungracious nor inappropriate to a philosopher: + to abstain from love and wine for a year, honouring God by continence; or again + to refrain from lying for a stated time, paying close heed to ourselves that we + shall be truthful always whether In jest or earnest. Then + with these I compared my own vow, thinking it no less sacred and pleasant in the + sight of God: first, to pass a few days without anger, sober and wineless days, + as it were, as though I were offering a sacrifice of honey unmixed with + wineLike the offerings to + the Eumenides, Aeschylus, Eumenides, 107; Sophocles, + Oedipus Coloneus, 100, 481; cf. also Wyttenbach's note on Moralia, 132 + e.; then I would do so for a month or two, and so, making trial of + myself little by little, in time I made some progress in my forbearance, + continently observing and keeping myself courteous in speech, placid, and free + from anger, and pure of the taint of evil words and offensive actions and of + passion which, at the price of a little unsatisfying pleasure, brings great + perturbations of spirit and the most shameful repentance. By such means, I think + - and God also gave me help - experience has shown the truth of that judgement: + this placid and gentle and humane spirit is not so agreeable and pleasant and + free from sorrow to any of those brought in contact with it as it is to those + who themselves possess it.

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