,transcriber's ,notes3 ,words in italics in the original are surrounded with underscores4 ,in the main body of the text1 words in mixed case and all cap small caps are in capital letters4 ,a ,table of ,contents has been added by the transcriber4 ,synopsis4 ,introduction4 ,plutarch on the ,delay of the ,divine ,justice4 ,index4 ,a complete list of corrections as well as other notes follows the text4 ,,plutarch ,,on ,,the ,,delay ,,of ,,the ,,divine ,,justice4 ,,translated ,,with ,,an ,,introduction ,,and ,,notes4 ,,by ,,andrew ,p4 ,,peabody4 ,,boston3 ,,little1 ,,brown1 ,,and ,,company4 #ahhe4 ,copyright1 #ahhe1 ,by ,andrew ,p4 ,peabody4 ,university ,press3 ,john ,wilson and ,son1 ,cambridge4 ,,synopsis4 #a4 ,the dialogue opens with comments on the cavils against the ,divine ,providence by a person who is supposed to have just departed4 #b4 ,the alleged encouragement to the guilty by the delay of punishment1 while the sufferers by the guilt of others are disheartened by failing to see the wrong-doers duly punished4 #c4 ,the guilty themselves1 it is said1 do not recognize punishment when it comes late1 but think it mere misfortune4 #d4 ,plutarch answers the objections to the course of ,providence4 ,in the first place1 man must not be too confident of his ability to pass judgment on things divine4 ,there are many things in human legislation undoubtedly reasonable1 yet with no obvious reason4 ,how much more in the administration of the universe by the ,supreme ,being6 #e4 ,god by the delay of punishment gives man the example of forbearance1 and rebukes his yielding to the first impulses of anger and of a vindictive temper4 #f4 ,god has reference1 in the delay of punishment1 to the possible reformation of the guilty1 and to the services which1 when reformed1 they may render to their country or their race4 ,instances cited4 #g4 ,the wicked often have their punishment postponed till after they have rendered some important service in which they are essential agents1 and sometimes that1 before their own punishment1 they may serve as executioners for other guilty persons or communities4 #h4 ,there is frequently a peculiar timeliness and appropriateness in delayed punishment4 #i4 ,punishment is delayed only in appearance1 but commences when the guilt is incurred1 so that it seems slow because it is long4 #aj4 ,instances of punishment in visions1 apprehensions1 and inward wretchedness1 while there was no outward infliction of penalty4 #aa4 ,there is really no need that punishment be inflicted2 guilt is in the consciousness of the guilty its own adequate punishment4 #ab4 ,objection is made by one of the interlocutors to the justice of punishing children or posterity for the guilt of fathers or ancestors1 and he heaps up an incongruous collection of cases in which he mingles confusedly the action of the ,divine ,providence and that of human caprice or malignity4 #ac4 ,in answer to the objection1 ,plutarch first adduces as a precisely parallel order of things1 with which no one finds fault1 that by which children or posterity derive enduring benefit and honor from a parent's or ancestor's virtues and services4 #ad4 ,there are alike in outward and in human nature occult and subtle transmissions of qualities and properties1 both in time and in space4 ,those in space are so familiar that they excite no wonder2 those in time1 though less liable to attract notice1 are no more wonderful4 #ae4 ,a city has a continuous life1 a definite and permanent character1 and an individual unity1 so that its moral responsibility may long outlast the lives of those who first contracted a specific form of guilt4 #af4 ,the same is to be said of a family or a race2 and1 moreover1 the punishment for inherited guilt may often have a curative1 or even a preventive efficacy1 so that children or posterity may refrain from guilt because the ancestral penalty falls upon them before they become guilty4 #ag4 ,the immortality of the soul asserted1 on the ground that ,god would not have deemed a race doomed to perish after a brief earthly life worth rewarding or punishing4 #ah4 ,punishments in a future state of being are out of sight1 and are liable to be disbelieved4 ,therefore it is necessary1 in order to deter men from guilt1 that there should be visible punishments in this life4 #ai4 ,the remedial efficacy of the penal consequences of parental or ancestral guilt reaffirmed1 and illustrated by analogies in the treatment of disease4 #bj4 ,god often punishes latent and potential vice1 visible only to ,omniscience4 #ba4 ,if a child has no taint of a father's vices1 he remains unpunished4 ,but moral qualities1 equally with physical traits1 often lapse in the first generation1 and reappear in the second or third1 and even later4 #bb4 ,the story of ,thespesius1 who--apparently killed1 but really in a trance1 in consequence of a fall--went into the infernal regions1 beheld the punishments there inflicted1 and came back to the body and its life1 converted from a profligate into a man of pre-eminent virtue and excellence4 ,,introduction4vii3#a ,plutarchvii3#b was born1 about the middle of the first ,christian century1 at ,cheroneia in ,boeotia1 where he spent the greater part of his life1 and where he probably died4 ,the precise dates of his birth and death are unknown2 but he can hardly have been born earlier than ,a4 ,d4 #de1 and he must have lived nearly or quite till ,a4 ,d4 #abj1 as some of his works contain references to events that cannot have taken place earlier than the second decade of the second century4 ,we know little of him from other sources1 much from his own writings4 ,there may have been many such men in his time2 but antiquity has transmitted to us no record like his4 ,he reminds one of such men as were to be found half a century ago in many of our ,american country towns4 ,those potentially like them have now1 for the most part1 emigrated to the large cities1 and have become very unlike their prototypes4 ,cheroneia1 with its great memories1 was a small and insignificant town1 and ,plutarch was a country gentleman1 superior1 as in culture so in serviceableness1 to all his fellow citizens1 holding the foremost place in municipal affairs1 liberal1 generous1 chosen to all local offices of honor1 and especially of trust and responsibility1 associating on the most pleasant terms with the common people1 always ready to give them his advice and aid1 and evidently respected and beloved by all4 ,he belonged to an old and distinguished family1 and seems always to have possessed a competency for an affluent1 though sober1 domestic establishment and style of living1 and for an unstinted hospitality4 ,he was probably the richest man in his native city2 for he assigns as a reason for not leaving it and living at some centre of intellectual activity1 that ,cheroneia could not afford to lose the property which he would take with him in case of his removal4 ,he had what corresponds to our university education1 at ,athens1 under the ,peripatetic philosopher ,ammonius4 ,he also visited ,alexandria1 then a renowned seat of learning2 but how long he stayed there1 or whether he extended his ,egyptian travel beyond that city1 we have no means of knowing4 ,there is no proof of his having been in ,rome or in ,italy more than once1 and that was when he was about forty years of age4 ,he went to ,rome on public business1 probably in behalf of his native city1 and remained there long enough to become acquainted with some eminent men1 to make himself known as a scholar and an ethical philosopher1 and to deliver lectures that attracted no little public notice4 ,this visit seems to have been the great event of his life1 as a winter spent in ,boston or ,new ,york used to be in the life of one of our country gentlemen before the time of railways4 ,he had a wife1 who appears to have been of a character kindred to his own2 at least five children1 of whom two sons1 if not more1 lived to be themselves substantial citizens and worthy members of society2 and two brothers1 who seem to have possessed his full confidence and warm affection4 ,he was singularly happy in his relations to a large circle of friends1 especially in ,athens1 for which he had the lifelong love that students in our time acquire for a university town4 ,he was archon1 or mayor1 of ,cheroneia1 probably more than once1--the office having doubtless been annual and elective1--and in this capacity he entered1 like a veritable country magistrate1 into material details of the public service1 superintending1 as he says1 the measuring of tiles and the delivery of stone and mortar for municipal uses4 ,he officiated for many years as priest of ,apollo at ,delphi1 and as such gave several sumptuous entertainments4 ,indeed1 hospitality of this sort appears1 so far as we can see1 to have been the sole or chief duty of his priestly office4 ,as an adopted citizen of one of the ,athenian tribes1 he was not infrequently a guest at civic banquets and semi-civic festivals4 ,as regards ,plutarch's philosophy1 it is easier to say to which of the great schools he did not belong than to determine by what name he would have preferred to be called4 ,he probably would have termed himself a ,platonist1 but not1 like ,cicero1 of the ,new ,academy1 which had incorporated ,pyrrhonism with the provisional acceptance of the ,platonic philosophy4 ,at the same time1 he was a closer follower and a more literal interpreter of ,plato than were the ,neo-,platonists of ,alexandria1 who had not yet become a distinctly recognized sect1 and who in many respects were the precursors of the mysticism of the ,reformation era4 ,plutarch1 with ,plato1 recognized two eternities3 that of the ,divine ,being1 supremely good and purely spiritual2 and that of matter1 as1 if not intrinsically evil1 the cause1 condition1 and seat of all evil1 and as at least opposing such obstacles to its own best ideal manipulation that the ,divine ,being could not embody his pure and perfect goodness1 unalloyed by evil1 in any material form4 ,herein the ,platonists were at variance with both the ,stoics and the ,epicureans4 ,the ,stoics regarded matter as virtually an emanation from the ,supreme ,being1 who is not only the universal soul and reason1 but the creative fire1 which1 transformed into air and water1--part of the water becoming earth1--is the source of the material universe1 which must at the end of a certain cosmical cycle be re-absorbed into the divine essence1 whence will emanate in endless succession new universes to replace those that pass away4 ,the ,epicureans1 on the other hand1 believed in the existence of matter only1 and regarded mind and soul as the ultimate product of material organization4 ,in one respect ,plutarch transcends ,plato1 and1 so far as ,i know1 all pre-,christian philosophers4 ,plato's theism bears a close kindred to pantheism4 ,his ,god1 if ,i may be permitted the phrase1 is only semi-detached4 ,he becomes the creator rather by blending his essence with eternal matter1 than by shaping that matter to his will4 ,he is rather in all things than above all things1 rather the ,soul of the universe than its sovereign ,lord4 ,but in ,plutarch's writings the ,supreme ,being is regarded as existing independently of material things2 they1 as subject to his will1 not as a part of his essence4 ,plutarch was1 like ,plato1 a realist4 ,he regarded the ideas or patterns of material things1 that is1 genera1 or kinds of objects1 as having an actual existence 7where or how it is hard to say71 as projected from the ,divine ,mind1 floating somewhere in ethereal spaces between the ,deity and the material universe1--the models by which all things in the universe are made4 ,as to ,plutarch's theology1 he was certainly a monotheist4 ,he probably had some vague belief in inferior deities 7daemons he would have called them71 as holding a place like that filled by angels and by evil spirits in the creed of most ,christians2 yet it is entirely conceivable that his occasional references to these deities are due merely to the conventional rhetoric of his age4 ,his priesthood of the ,delphian ,apollo can hardly be said to have been a religious office4 ,it was rather a post of dignity and honor1 which a gentleman of respectable standing1 courteous manners1 and hospitable habits might creditably fill1 even though he had no faith in ,apollo4 ,but that ,plutarch had a serious1 earnest1 and efficient faith in the one ,supreme ,god1 in the wise and eternal ,providence1 and in the ,divine wisdom1 purity1 and holiness1 we have in his writings an absolute certainty4 ,nor can we find1 even in ,christian literature1 the record of a firmer belief than his in human immortality1 and in a righteous retribution beginning in this world and reaching on into the world beyond death4 ,but ,plutarch was1 most of all1 an ethical philosopher4 ,yet here again he cannot be classed as belonging to any school4 ,for ,epicureanism he has an intense abhorrence1 and regards the doctrines of that sect as theoretically absurd and practically demoralizing4 ,he maintains that the disciples of ,epicurus1 as such1 utterly fail in the quest of pleasure1 or what according to their master is still better1 painlessness3 for the condition of those who1 as he says1 8swill the mind with the pleasures of the body1 as hogherds do their swine10 cannot entirely smother the sense of vacuity and need2 nor is it possible by any appliances of luxury to cut off even sources of bodily disquietude1 which are only the more fatal to the happiness of him who seeks bodily well-being alone2 while the prospect of annihilation at death deprives those necessarily unhappy in this life of their only solace1 and gives those who live happily here the discomfort of anticipating the speedy and entire loss of all that has ministered to their enjoyment4 ,in ,plutarch's moderation1 his avoidance of extreme views1 and his just estimate of happiness as an end1 though not the supreme end1 of being1 he is in harmony with the ,peripatetics1 among whom his ,athenian preceptor was the shining light of his age2 but his ethical system was much more strict and uncompromising than theirs1 and ,i cannot find that he quotes them or refers to them as a distinct school of philosophy4 ,in matters appertaining to physical science he indeed often cites ,aristotle1 but not1 ,i think1 in a single instance1 as to any question in morals4 ,as regards the ,stoics1 ,plutarch writes against them1 but chiefly against dogmas which in his time had become nearly obsolete1--namely1 that all acts not in accordance with the absolute right are equally bad2 that all virtuous acts are equally good2 that there is no intermediate moral condition between that of the wise or perfectly good man and that of the utterly vicious2 and that outward circumstances neither enhance nor diminish the happiness of the truly wise man4 ,these extravagances do not appear in the writings of ,seneca1 nor in ,epictetus as reported by ,arrian1 and ,plutarch in reasoning against them is controverting ,zeno rather than his later disciples4 ,he is in full sympathy with the ,stoics as to their elevated moral standard1 though without the sternness and rigidness which had often characterized their professed beliefs and their public teaching1 yet of which there remained few vestiges among his contemporaries4 ,with the utmost mildness and gentleness1 he manifests everywhere an inflexibility of principle and a settled conviction as to the rightfulness or wrongfulness of specific acts which might satisfy the most rigid ,stoic1 and in which he plants himself as firmly on the ground of the eternal ,right as if his philosophy had been founded on a distinctively ,christian basis4 ,indeed1 ,plutarch is so often decidedly ,christian in spirit1 and in many passages of his writings there is such an almost manifest transcript of the thought of the ,divine ,founder of our religion1 that it has been frequently maintained that he drew from ,christian sources4 ,this1 ,i must believe1 is utterly false in the sense in which it is commonly asserted1 yet in a more recondite sense true4 ,if ,plutarch had known anything about ,christians or the ,christian ,scriptures1 he could not have failed to refer to them2 for he is constantly making references to contemporary persons and objects1 sects and opinions4 ,we know of no ,christian church at ,cheroneia in that age1 and indeed it is exceedingly improbable that there should have been one in so small a town4 ,the circulation of thought1 and consequently the diffusion of a new religion from the great centres of population to outlying districts or villages1 was infinitesimally slow4 ,our word pagan is an enduring witness of this tardiness of transmission4 ,it had its birth 7in its present sense7 after ,christianity had become the legally established religion of the ,empire1 and had supplanted heathen temples and rites in the cities1 while in the pagi1 or villages1 the old gods were still in the ascendant4 ,there were indeed ,christian churches in ,athens and in ,rome2 but they would most probably have eluded the curiosity and escaped the knowledge of a temporary resident1 especially as most of their chief members were either ,jews or slaves4 ,yet ,i cannot doubt that an infusion of ,christianity had somehow infiltrated itself into ,plutarch's ethical opinions and sentiments1 as into those of ,seneca1 who has been represented as an acquaintance and correspondent of ,st4 ,paul1 though it is historically almost impossible that the two men ever saw or heard of each other4 ,in one respect1 the metaphor by which we call the ,author of our religion the ,sun of ,righteousness has a special aptness4 ,the sun1 unlike lesser luminaries1 lights up sheltered groves and grottos that are completely dark under the full moon1 and sends its rays through every chink and cranny of roof or wall4 ,in like manner there seems to have been an indirect and tortuous transmission of ,christian thought into regions where its source was wholly unknown4 ,in the ethical writings of the post-,christian philosophers1 of ,plutarch1 ,seneca1 ,epictetus1 and ,marcus ,aurelius1 there may be traced a loftiness1 precision1 delicacy1 tenderness1 breadth of human sympathy1 and recognition of holiness in the ,divine ,being as the archetype of human purity1 transcending all that is most admirable in pre-,christian moralists4 ,thus1 while ,i cannot but regard ,cicero's 8,de ,officiis0 as in many respects the world's master-work in ethical philosophy1 containing fewer unchristian sentences than ,i could number on the fingers of one hand1 there is nothing in it that reminds me of the ,gospels2 while these others often shape their thoughts in what seem to be evangelic moulds4 ,now ,i think that we may account for the large diffusion of ,christian thought and sentiment among persons who knew not ,christianity even by name4 ,the new religion was very extensively embraced among slaves in all parts of the ,roman ,empire1 and slave then meant something very different from what it means now4 ,it is an open question whether there was not1 at least out of ,greece1 more of learning1 culture1 and refinement in the slave than in the free population of the ,empire4 ,we must remember how many illustrious names in ,greek and ,roman literature--such names as those of ,aesop1 ,terence1 ,epictetus--belonged to slaves4 ,tiro1 ,cicero's slave1 was not only one of his dearest friends1 but foremost among his literary confidants and advisers4 ,most of the rich men who had any love of literature owned their librarians and their copyists1 and the teachers of the children were generally the property of the father4 ,among ,christian slaves there were undoubtedly many who felt no call to martyrdom1 7which can have been incumbent on them only when the alternative was apostasy and denial of their faith17 who therefore made no open profession of their religion1 while in precept1 conversation1 and life they were imbued with its spirit1--a spirit as subtile in its penetrating power as it is refining and purifying in its influence4 ,from the lips of ,christian slaves many children1 no doubt1 received in classic forms moral precepts redolent of the aroma breathed from the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,if the social medium which ,plutarch represents is a fair specimen of the best rural society of the ,empire in his time1 there must have been a ready receptivity for the highest style of ethical teaching1--a genial soil for the germination of a truly evangelic righteousness of moral conception1 maxim1 and principle4 ,probably no book except the ,bible has had more readers than ,plutarch's ,lives4 ,these biographies have been translated into every language of the civilized world2 they have been among the earliest and most fascinating books for children and youth of many successive generations2 and down to the present time1 when fiction seems to have almost superseded history and biography1 and to have destroyed the once universal appetency for them among young people1 they have exercised to a marvellous degree a shaping power over character4 ,they are1 indeed1 underrated by the exact historian1 because modern research has discovered here and there some mistake in the details of events4 ,but such mistakes were in that age inevitable4 ,historical criticism was then an unknown science4 ,documents and traditions covering the same ground were deemed of equal value when they were in harmony1 and when they differed an author followed the one which best suited his taste1 or his purpose for the time being4 ,thus ,cicero1 in one case1 in the same treatise gives three different versions of the same story4 ,thus1 too1 there were several stories afloat about the fate of ,regulus2 but ,roman writers took that which ,niebuhr thinks farthest from the truth1 yet which threw the greatest odium on the hated name of ,carthage4 ,now ,i have no doubt that1 whenever there were two or more versions of the same act or event1 ,plutarch chose that which would best point his moral4 ,but it is only in few and unimportant particulars that he has been proved to be inaccurate4 ,it has been also objected to ,plutarch1 that he attaches less importance to the achievements of his heroes in war and in civic life1 than to traits and anecdotes illustrative of their characters4 ,this seems to me a feature which adds not only to the charm of these ,lives1 but even more to their historical value4 ,the events of history are at once the outcome and the procreant cradle of character1 and we know nothing of any period or portion of history except as we know the men who made it and the men whom it made4 ,biography is the soul2 history the body1 which it tenants and animates1 and which1 when not thus tenanted1 is a heap of very dry bones4 ,the most thorough knowledge of the topography of ,julius ,caesar's battles in ,gaul1 the minutest description of the campaign that terminated in ,pharsalia1 the official journal of the ,senate during his dictatorship1 would tell us very little about him and his time4 ,but a vivid sketch of his character1 with well-chosen characteristic anecdotes1 would give us a very distinct and realizing conception of the antecedent condition of things that made a life like his possible1 and of his actual influence for good and for evil on his country and his age4 ,nor is the value of such a biography affected in the least by any doubts that we may entertain as to the authenticity of incidents1 trivial except as illustrative of character1 which occupy a large space in ,plutarch's ,lives4 ,indeed1 the least authentic may be of the greatest historical value4 ,an anecdote may be literally true1 and yet some peculiar combination of circumstances may have led him of whom it is told to speak or act out of character4 ,but a mythical anecdote of a man1 coming down from his own time and people1 must needs owe its origin and complexion to his known character4 ,it is perfectly easy to see throughout these biographies the author's didactic aim4 ,if ,i may use sacred words1 here by no means misapplied1 his prime object was 8reproof1 correction1 and instruction in righteousness40 ,he evidently felt and mourned the degeneracy of his age1 was profoundly aware of the worth of teaching by example1 and was solicitous to bring from the past such elements of ethical wisdom as the records of illustrious men could be made to render up4 ,true to this purpose1 he measures the moral character of such transactions as he relates by the highest standard of right which he knows1 and there is not a person or deed that fails to bear the stamp1 clear-cut1 yet seldom obtrusive1 of his approval or censure4 ,the ,lives1 though the best known of ,plutarch's writings1 are but a small part of them1 and hardly half of those still extant4 ,his other works are generally grouped under the title of 8,moralia10xx3#a or ,morals1 though among them there are many treatises that belong to the department of history or biography1 some to that of physics4 ,most of these works are short2 a few1 of considerable length4 ,some of them may have been lectures2 some are letters of advice or of consolation2 some are in a narrative form2 many are in the form of dialogue1 which1 sanctioned by the prestige of ,plato's pre-eminence1 was very largely employed by philosophers of later times1 possessing1 as it does1 the great advantage of putting opposite and diverse opinions in the mouths of interlocutors1 and thus giving to the treatise the vivacity and the dramatic interest of oral discussion4 ,some of these dialogues have a symposium1 or supper party1 for their scene1 and introduce a numerous corps of speakers4 ,in these ,plutarch himself commonly sustains a prominent part1 and the members of his family often have their share in the conversation1 or are the subjects of kindly mention4 ,in several instances the occasion1 circumstances1 and conversation are described so naturally as to make it almost certain that the author simply wrote out from memory what was actually said4 ,at any rate1 these festive dialogues present very clearly his idea of what a symposium ought to be1 and in its entire freedom from excess and extravagance of any kind it would bear the strictest ordeal with all modern moralists1 the extreme ascetics alone excepted4 ,had not the ,lives been written1 ,i am inclined to believe that the ,moralia alone would have given ,plutarch as high a place as he now holds1 not only in the esteem of scholars1 but in the interest and delight of all readers of good books2 and ,i am sure that there is no loving reader of the ,lives who will not be thankful to have his attention drawn to the ,moralia4 ,they exhibit throughout the same moral traits which their author shows as a biographer4 ,he treats1 indeed1 incidentally1 of some subjects which a purer ethical taste in the public mind might have excluded4 ,he recognizes the existence of immoralities1 which1 not discreditable in the best society of unevangelized ,greece and ,rome1 have almost lost their place and name in ,christendom4 ,some of his dialogues have among the interlocutors those with whom as good a man as he would in our time associate only in the hope of converting them4 ,but his own opinion and feeling on all moral questions are uniformly and explicitly in behalf of all that is pure1 and true1 and right1 and reverent4 ,many of these ,moralia are on what are commonly1 yet wrongly1 called the minor morals1 that is1 on the evils that most of all infest and destroy the happiness of families and the peace of society1 and on the opposite virtues1--on such subjects1 for instance1 as 8,idle ,talking10 8,curiosity10 8,self-,praise10 and the like4 ,others are on such grave topics as 8,the ,benefits that a ,man may derive from his ,enemies10 and 8,the ,best ,means of ,self-,knowledge40 ,there is in all these treatises a large amount of blended common sense and keen ethical insight2 and so little does human nature change with its surroundings that the greater part of ,plutarch's cautions1 counsels1 and precepts are as closely applicable to our own time as if they had been written yesterday4 ,one of the most remarkable writings in this collection is ,plutarch's letter to his wife on the death of a daughter two years old1 during his absence from home4 ,it not only expresses sweetly and lovingly the topics of consolation which would most readily occur to a ,christian father2 it gives us also a charming picture of a household united by ties of spiritual affinity1 and living in a purer1 higher medium than that of affluence and luxury4 ,a few sentences may convey something of the tone and spirit of this epistle4 8,since our little daughter afforded us the sweetest and most charming pleasure1 so ought we to cherish her memory1 which will conduce in many ways1 or rather many fold1 more to our joy than our grief40 8,they who were present at the funeral report this with admiration1 that you neither put on mourning1 nor disfigured yourself or any of your maids1 neither were there any costly preparations nor magnificent pomp2 but all things were managed with silence and moderation1 in the presence of our relatives alone40 8,so long as she is gone to a place where she feels no pain1 why should we grieve for her80 8,this is the most troublesome thing in old age1 that it makes the soul weak in its remembrance of divine things1 and too earnest for things relating to the body40 8,but that which is taken away in youth1 being more soft and tractable1 soon returns to its native vigor and beauty40 8,it is good to pass the gates of death before too great a love of bodily and earthly things be engendered in the soul40 8,it is an impious thing to lament for those whose souls pass immediately into a better and more divine state40 8,wherefore let us comply with custom in our outward and public behavior1 and let our interior be more unpolluted1 pure and holy40 ,now1 when ,i remember that in the pre-,christian ,greek and ,roman world the strongest utterances about immortality had been by ,socrates1 if ,plato reported him aright1 when he expressed strong hope of life beyond death1 yet warned his friends not to be too confident about a matter so wrapped in uncertainty1--and by ,cicero1 who1 when his daughter died1 confessed that his reasonings had left no conviction in his own mind1--,i cannot doubt that some ,easter morning rays had pierced the dense ,boeotian atmosphere1 and that the risen ,saviour had in that lovely ,cheroneian household those whom he designates as 8other sheep1 not of this fold40 ,there is among the ,moralia another letter of consolation1 to ,apollonius on the death of his son1 longer1 more elaborate1 and evidently intended as a literary composition1 to be preserved with the author's other works1 which breathes the same spirit of submission and trust4 ,another of the ,moralia1 which has a special interest as regards the author's own family1 is on the 8,training of ,children10--a series of counsels--including the careful heed of the parents to their own moral condition and habits--to which the experience of these intervening centuries has little to add1 while it could find nothing to take away4 ,in one sense1 the miscellanies brought together under the name of 8,moralia0 bear that title not inappropriately2 for1 as ,i have intimated1 ,plutarch could not but be didactic in whatever he wrote1 and the ethical feeling1 spirit1 and purpose are perpetually1 yet never ostentatiously or inappropriately1 coming to the surface on all kinds of subjects4 ,but there is a great deal in the collection not professedly or directly ethical4 ,there are many scraps of history and biography1 and a very large number and variety of characteristic anecdotes1 both of well-known personages1 and of others who are made known to us almost as vividly by a single trait1 deed1 or saying as if we had their entire life-record4 ,there is an invaluable series of 8,apophthegms0xxv3#a of kings and great commanders1xxv3#b and another of 8,laconic or ,spartan ,apophthegms10 which are much more than their name implies1 some of them being condensed memoirs4 ,there are1 also1 several papers that give us more definite notions than can be found anywhere else of the science and natural history of the author's time4 ,withal1 we have here so many references to manners1 customs1 and habits1 such pictures of home with all that could give it the sweetness and grace that belong to it1 such views of society1 both in city and in country1 in ordinary intercourse and on festive occasions1 that one can learn more of life in that age in the ,roman ,empire from these volumes than from any other single author2 and the writer of a book like ,becker's 8,gallus0 might find here almost all the materials that he would need1 except for the delineation of the night-side of ,roman extravagance1 gluttony1 drunkenness1 debauchery1 and depravity1 which came not within ,plutarch's experience4 ,the most remarkable of all ,plutarch's writings1 the most valuable equally in a philosophical and an ethical point of view1 and the most redolent of what we almost involuntarily call ,christian sentiment1 is that 8,on the ,delay of the ,divine ,justice10 or1 to give a more literal translation of the original title1 8,concerning those who are punished slowly by the ,divine ,being40xxvi3#a ,it treats of what from the earliest time has been a mystery to serious minds1 and has been urged equally by malignant irreligion and by honest scepticism against the supremacy of the ,divine justice in the government of the world2 namely1 the postponement of the penal consequences of guilt1 sometimes till there are no witnesses of the crime left to behold the punishment1 sometimes till the offender himself has lost the thread between the evil that he did and its retribution1 sometimes till the sinner has gone to the grave in peace1 and left innocent posterity to suffer for his sins4 ,plutarch1 with his unquestioning faith in immortality1 doubts not that guilt1 unpunished in this life1 will be overtaken by just retribution in the life to come4 ,but1 as he says1 retribution1 though it may be consummated only in the future life1 is not delayed till then4 ,it seems late1 because it lasts long4 ,the sentence is passed upon the guilt when it is committed2 and1 however its visible execution may be postponed1 the sinner is from that moment a prisoner of the ,divine justice1 awaiting execution4 ,he may give splendid suppers1 and live luxuriously2 yet still he is within prison walls from which there is no escape4 ,this is undoubtedly true1 and yet there are many cases1 and those of the worst kind1 in which it seems to be not true4 ,a moderately bad man1 in most instances1 feels profoundly the shame and misery that he has brought upon himself4 ,but a thoroughly wicked man takes contentedly a position which we may fitly term sub-human4 ,if we suppose a man possessed of a magnificent house1 luxuriously and tastefully furnished1 who yet chooses never to ascend a stair1 and lives in the basement shabbily and meanly1 with the coarsest appliances of physical comfort1 we might take him as the type of not a few bad men who seem entirely at their ease4 ,they live in the basement4 ,they have thrown away the key to the upper rooms4 ,they have lost all appreciation of the higher1 better modes of human living1 and they are contented and satisfied as a well-fed beast is1 in the absence of all spiritual cravings and ambitions4 ,but this life1 poor and mean as it is at the best1 becomes still more narrow and sordid with the lapse of time4 ,many have looked with envy on prosperous guilt early or midway in its career2 none can have witnessed its lengthened age without pity and loathing4 ,especially is this the case with the several forms of sensual vice4 ,as age advances1 the power of enjoyment wanes1 while the morbid craving grows1 even under the consciousness of added misery with its continued indulgence4 ,the body becomes the soul's dungeon1 and its walls thicken inward and close up the wonted entrances of enjoyment4 ,the senses1 deadened on the side of pleasure1 no longer avenues of beauty or of harmony1 seem to serve only as means of prolonging a death in life1 and as open inlets of discomfort and pain4 ,but the suspense of sentence has in not a few cases1 according to ,plutarch1 a directly merciful purpose4 ,as the most fertile soil may before tillage produce the rankest weeds1 so in the soul most capable of good there may be1 prior to culture1 a noisome crop of evil1 and yet ,god may spare the sinner for the good that is in him1 and for the signal service which1 when reclaimed1 he may render to mankind4 ,then1 too1 by the delay of visible judgment ,god gives men in his own example the lesson of long-suffering1 and rebukes their promptness in resentment and revenge4 ,still further1 when penalty appears to fall on the posterity or successors of the guilty1 and a race1 a people1 a city1 or a family seems punished for the iniquity of its progenitors1 ,plutarch brings out very fully and clearly the absolutely essential and necessary solidarity of the family or the community1 which can hardly fail so to inherit of its ancestors in disposition and character as to invite upon itself1 to merit for itself1 or at best to need as preventive or cure1 the penal consequences of ancestral guilt4 ,this essay is all the more valuable because not written by a ,christian4 ,it shows that the intense stress laid by ,christian teaching on a righteous retribution lasting on beyond the death-change is not a mere dogma of the sacred records of our religion1 but equally the postulate of the unsophisticated reason and conscience of developed humanity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,my translation is not literal1 in the common meaning of that term4 ,if it were so1 it would be unintelligible2 for ,plutarch's style lacks simplicity1 and his sentences1 though seldom obscure1 are often involved and intricate1 sometimes elliptical4 ,i have1 however1 given a faithful transcript in ,english of what ,i understand ,plutarch to have written1 omitting no thought or shade of thought that ,i suppose to be his1 and inserting none of my own4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have used ,wyttenbach's edition of the ,moralia1 departing from his text in but a single instance1 and that1 one in which he pronounces the reading in the text impossible1 and suggests a conjectural reading as necessary to the sense of the passage4 ,i have also made constant reference to the late ,professor ,hackett's edition of this treatise1 which it is superfluous to commend where he was known2 for not only was he confessedly among the foremost scholars of his time1 but his exacting conscientiousness would not suffer him to put less than his best and most thorough work into whatever came from his hands4 ,,footnotes3 vii3#a ,a large part of this ,introduction is reprinted1 by permission of the editors1 from an article of mine on 8,plutarch and his ,times10 in the ,andover ,review1 ,november1 #ahhd4 vii3#b 4 xx3#a 4 xxv3#a 4 xxv3#b ,the genuineness of this series has been called in question2 but the internal evidence seems decisive in its favor4 ,it is1 throughout1 so entirely in ,plutarch's vein1 that one is tempted to ask1 ,who else could have written it8 xxvi3#a 4 ,,plutarch ,,on ,,the ,,delay ,,of ,,the ,,divine ,,justice4 #a4 ,,epicurus1#a3a having said such things1 ,o ,cinius1#a3b before any one could reply1 while we were at the farther end of the porch1 went hastily away4 ,but we1 somewhat amazed at the man's rudeness1 stood still1 looking at one another without speaking1 and then turned and resumed our walk4 ,then ,,patrocleas#b3a commenced the conversation1 saying1--,what then8 ,do you see fit to drop the discussion8 or will you answer his argument as if he were present1 though he has taken himself away8 ,,timon#b3b then said1--,if he threw a javelin#b3c at us as he went away1 it certainly would not be well for us to take no notice of the weapon still sticking in our sides4 ,brasidas1#b3d indeed1 as we are told1 drew out the spear from his own body1 and killed with it the man who had hurled it at him4 ,but it is no concern of ours to retaliate on those who fling at us misplaced and false reasoning2 it is enough for them if we reject their arguments before they affect our belief4 ,then ,i said1--,which of the arguments that he urged moved you the most8 ,for the man1 as if inspired both by wrath and by scorn1 brought together against the ,divine ,providence many things heaped up in confusion1 yet no well-ordered reasons1 but such miscellaneous cavils as could be gathered here and there4 #b4 ,,patrocleas then said1--,the slowness and procrastination of the ,deity in the punishment of the wicked seem to me the most mysterious of all things2 and now1 under these arguments1 ,i find myself a new and fresh adherent to the doctrine in behalf of which they are urged4 ,indeed1 ,i used a long time ago to be vexed by that saying of ,euripides3-- 8,he lingers2 such the nature of the gods40#c3a ,while in no respect1 least of all toward wicked men1 is it fitting that ,god should be dilatory2 for they are in no wise dilatory or slow in ill-doing1 but are hurried on to evil by their passions with the utmost impetuosity4 ,indeed1 as ,thucydides says1#c3b punishment close at hand bars the way to those who most hope to gain by guilt4 ,moreover1 no debt overdue1 equally with the delay of due punishment1 renders the person wronged utterly hopeless and depressed1 while it confirms the evil-doer in boldness and audacity4 ,on the other hand1 punishments directly inflicted on those who are bold in evil are at once preventive of future crimes1 and a source of great consolation to those who have suffered wrong4 ,i am therefore troubled by the saying of ,bias1#d3a which often recurs to me1 when he told a man of bad character that he had no fear that he would go unpunished1 but feared that he himself might not live to see him punished4 ,what good1 indeed1 did the punishment of ,aristocrates#d3b do to the ,messenians who were slain before it came upon him8 ,he betrayed them in the battle of ,taphrus1 yet1 not being found out for twenty years1 he reigned over the ,arcadians all that time1 till at length his treachery was discovered and met with its due penalty2 but the victims of his crime had ceased to be4 ,again1 what comfort did any of the ,orchomenians#d3c who lost children1 friends1 and kindred by the treachery of ,lyciscus derive from the disease that many years afterward seized him and consumed his body1 while he1 when he dipped and washed his feet in the river1 always prayed1 with oaths and curses1 that his limbs might rot if he had ever been guilty of treason and injustice8 ,indeed1 not even the children's children of those who were then murdered could have witnessed at ,athens the snatching of the contaminated bodies of the murderers from their graves1 and their transportation beyond the boundaries of the state4#e3a ,hence1 ,euripides is absurd1 when1 to dissuade from crime1 he says3-- 8,no haste has ,justice2 dread not her approach2 ,she strikes no mortal heart with sudden blow2 ,but noiseless1 with slow step1 she glides along1 ,to smite the guilty when their hour has come40#e3b ,it seems to me that it is no other considerations than these that lead bad men to encourage themselves1 and to give themselves free scope for guilty enterprise1 inasmuch as the fruit of wrong-doing is quickly ripe and in full sight1 while punishment is late1 and lingers far behind the enjoyment derived from the guilt4 #c4 ,when ,patrocleas had thus spoken1 ,,olympicus1#f3a taking up the thread of his discourse1 said1--,it should also be observed1 ,patrocleas1 how exceedingly great is the mischief resulting from the delay and procrastination of the ,deity about these matters1 since the tardiness of retribution takes away faith in ,providence2 and because chastisement for the wicked does not ensue immediately upon the performance of an evil deed1 but comes upon them afterward1 they place it to the account of misfortune1 call it ill-luck and not punishment1 and so are in no wise profited by it1--being grieved indeed for what befalls them1 but not led to repentance for their ill-doing4 ,for as the punishment of the whip and the spur immediately on a horse's stumbling or shying corrects him and puts him on right behavior1 while beating and twitching of the reins and shouting at him at a later period seem to him for some other purpose than discipline1 and thus annoy him without teaching him1 so guilt rebuked and checked by punishment after each of its wrong-doings and transgressions might gradually become conscience-stricken1 and be brought to the fear of ,god1 as presiding over the affairs and experiences of men with a justice that does not linger2 but justice hesitating and slow-paced1 as ,euripides describes it1 and falling upon the wicked as if by chance1 being vague1 untimely1 and out of due order1 seems like a merely fortuitous event rather than ordained by ,providence4 ,thus1 ,i do not see what use there is in those mills of the gods said to grind so late#g3a as to render punishment hard to be recognized1 and to make wickedness fearless4 #d4 ,these things having been uttered1 and ,i being wrapped in thought1 ,,timon said1--,shall ,i now put the climax to this reasoning on the side of scepticism1 or shall ,i rather suffer ,plutarch#g3b to argue against what has already been brought forward8 ,then ,i said1--,what need is there of bringing on the third wave1#g3c and utterly whelming the subject in doubt and difficulty1 if one is not able to refute what was urged at the outset1 and to set aside the objections already offered8 ,first1 then1 taking our start from the home-altar of reverence for all that is divine1--the heritage of the philosophers of the ,academy1--we shall piously refrain from speaking about these things as if we had certain knowledge of them4 ,for it is less presumptuous for one unskilled in music to discourse about it1 or for one not versed in military science to give his judgment in matters relating to the conduct of war1 than for us to pretend to look through the things that appertain to ,god and to superior spirits1 mere men as we are1 like unskilled observers who should undertake to pass sentence on the skill of artists by their own conjectures and surmises4 ,it is not easy1 indeed1 for a common person to comprehend a physician's reasons for using the knife later1 and not earlier1 or for ordering a bath1 not yesterday1 but to-day2 and still less is it easy or safe for a mortal to say of ,god anything except that he1 best knowing the fit time for the curing of wickedness1 applies to every evil-doer punishment as the appropriate medicine1 and this not of the same intensity1 nor at one and the same interval of time1 for all4 ,now that the medical treatment of souls1 termed punishment and justice1 is the greatest of all arts1 ,pindar1#h3a with myriads of others1 testifies1 calling ,god1 the chief and lord of all1 the supremely good artificer1 as being the author of justice1 to whom it belongs to allot to each of the guilty the time1 mode1 and measure of his punishment4 ,moreover1 ,plato says that ,minos1 although the son of ,zeus1 became his disciple in this art1 so that it is not possible for one who has not been a learner in it and acquired skill in it1 to proceed aright in the administration of justice1 or to pass an intelligent judgment on its administration by another4 ,even the laws which men make do not always have a justifying reason that is simple and generally manifest2 but some of their enactments seem very ridiculous4 ,thus1 in ,lacedaemon1 the ,ephori when they come into office make immediate proclamation that no man shall let the beard on the upper lip grow1#i3a and that the laws must be so obeyed that they shall never be annoying to the citizens4 ,thus too1 the ,romans strike the slaves whom they are going to emancipate with a slender twig4#i3b ,they also1 when they make their wills1 appoint certain persons their heirs1 and sell their property to other persons1#i3c which appears absurd4 ,but the most absurd of all seems that enactment of ,solon1 that1 in case of an insurrection in the city1 he who does not attach himself to either party1 or act on either side1 shall be branded with civic infamy4#aj3a ,in fine1 one who understood not the purpose of the lawgiver1 nor comprehended the reasons for the individual statutes1 might enumerate many instances of foolish legislation4 ,what wonder is it then1 if1 while human affairs are so difficult to be understood1 it is not easy to say concerning the gods why they punish some transgressors later1 some earlier8 #e4 ,these things ,i say1 not as a pretence for getting rid of the subject1 but as an apology for the liberty which ,i crave in discussing it1 that my discourse1 as if looking to some ultimate harbor or refuge1#aj3b may proceed with the greater assurance to resolve the doubt4 ,but first see how1 as ,plato says1 ,god1 making himself conspicuous as the example of all things good1 bestows human virtue1 in some sort his own likeness1 on those who are able to be followers of ,god4 ,for nature throughout1 being first in a state of chaos1 had the beginning of its change1 and of its becoming an orderly universe1 by means of a resemblance to and a participation in the ,divine idea and the ,divine virtue4 ,the same author says that nature kindled sight in us1 that the soul by seeing and admiring the heavenly bodies1 accustoming itself to behold and admire what is becoming and orderly1 might hate unseemly and vagrant passions1 and might shun rash and haphazard conduct1 as the source of all wickedness and vice4 ,for it has fallen to man's lot to enjoy from ,god no greater gift than the capacity of being formed to virtue by the imitation of those things in ,god that are beautiful and good4 ,thus also to bad men he appoints punishment with a lingering and leisurely stroke1 not because he fears mistake or reason for repentance were he to punish more promptly1 but in order to expel from us the brutish and impetuous element that there is in punishment1 and to teach us not to fall upon those who have injured us with anger1 nor when 8,revenge1 outleaping all restraint of reason10#aa3a blazes and rages1 as if we were bent on appeasing thirst or hunger1 but1 imitating his clemency and long-suffering1 to proceed to chastisement deliberately and cautiously1 choosing1 as helping us to take the wiser counsel1 the time that shall give us the least reason for repentance4 ,as ,socrates said1 it is not so bad to drink turbid water to excess as for a temper agitated and overwhelmed by anger and rage1 before it can be settled and clarified1 to satiate itself in the punishment of a kinsman or a neighbor4 ,for it is not1 as ,thucydides says1 the retribution nearest in time to the injury received1 but that which lies the farthest from it1 that obeys the law of fitness4 ,as anger1 according to ,melanthius1#ab3a 8,by deeds depraved and dire casts reason out10 so reason performs right and moderate deeds1 putting anger and resentment to flight4 ,hence it is that men are made meek by the examples of other men2 as when they hear how ,plato1 having lifted his staff over his servant's head1 stood still for a long time1 punishing his own anger1 as he said2 and how ,archytas1 learning of some misconduct and disorder of his laborers in the field1 conscious that he was becoming resentful and bitter in his feeling toward them1 did nothing except to say1 as he left them1 8,it is fortunate for you that ,i am angry40 ,but if the reported sayings and doings of men can tone down the harshness and severity of anger1 how much more fitting is it that we--seeing that ,god1 to whom there is no need of delay nor possibility of repentance1 yet puts off punishment into the future1 and awaits its fitting time--should ourselves be circumspect in these matters1 and should regard as a ,divine part of virtue the clemency and long-suffering which ,god manifests1 reforming few indeed by punishment1 but by the slowness of punishment benefiting and admonishing many6#ab3b #f4 ,let us next consider1 in the second place1 that punishments inflicted by men have no purpose but retaliation1 terminating in the suffering of the wrong-doer1 and going no farther4 ,they thus follow hard upon the offences1 as a dog barking at the offender's heels1 and pursue evil deeds close in their rear4 ,but ,god probably sees through the dispositions of the diseased souls to which he draws nigh in judgment1 knows whether they show an inclination to repentance1 and grants time for reformation to those whose guilt has not been excessive or irreclaimable4 ,for1 aware what endowment of virtue souls bring from him when they come into the world1 and how strong and imperishable in them is this native nobleness1 which1 though--corrupted by bad association and nurture--it may blossom into evil contrary to nature1 yet when cured restores some men entirely to proper habits of life1 he therefore does not punish all alike2 but the incurable he speedily takes out of being1 and cuts them off1 inasmuch as it is not only harmful to others1 but1 most of all1 injurious to the sinner's own self1 to be always conversant with wickedness4 ,on the other hand1 to those whose sins probably proceeded rather from ignorance of the good than from preference for what is vile1 he gives time for a change of character2 but if they continue as they are1 he executes justice on them too1 and there is no danger of their escaping4 ,now see what changes have taken place in the habits and lives of men4 ,therefore the changeable part of the life or character is designated by a word denoting turn1#ad3a and also by a word denoting habit1#ad3b because habit constitutes a large part of the character1 and1 when adopted1 has commanding influence4 ,i am inclined to think1 indeed1 that the ancients ascribed to ,cecrops#ad3c a double nature1 not1 as some say1 because from a good king he became a fierce and dragon-like tyrant1 but1 on the other hand1 because1 having been in the beginning perverse and an object of terror1 he afterward ruled with meekness and kindness4 ,but if this is an open question1 we know concerning ,gelon#ad3d and ,hieron#ad3e of ,sicily1 and ,peisistratus1#ae3a the son of ,hippocrates1 that1 getting possession of absolute power by foul means1 they used it to good purpose4 ,gaining the ascendency unlawfully1 they governed with moderation and for the public welfare4 ,indeed1 they made excellent laws1 gave great encouragement to agriculture1 and converted their subjects from scoffers and babblers into sober citizens and industrious men4 ,gelon also1 being an excellent military commander and conquering the ,carthaginians in a great battle1 refused to conclude the peace which they sought1 till he had procured the insertion in the treaty of a promise on their part to cease offering children to ,cronus4#ae3b ,lydiades#ae3c at first exercised a tyrannical sway in ,megalopolis2 but during his reign becoming a different man1 and inspired with hatred for injustice1 he restored laws to the citizens1 and then1 fighting with their enemies1 fell gloriously in his country's cause4 ,if one had killed ,miltiades#af3a when he was a tyrant in ,chersonesus1 or had prosecuted and slain ,cimon when he was living with his sister as his wife1#af3b or had the people banished ,themistocles#af3c from the city when he went about making riot and doing mischief1 and showed his insolence in the market-place1 sentencing him to exile as ,alcibiades was afterward sentenced1 would not the ,marathons have been lost to us8 and the ,eurymedons8 and the beautiful 8,euboean headland1#ag3a where the sons of ,athens ,laid the fair corner-stone of liberty80#ag3b ,great natures1 indeed1 produce nothing small4 ,because of the intensity of their impulses1 what is strong and efficient in them does not remain idle2 but they are tossed to and fro as on an ocean before attaining to a fixed and established character4 ,therefore1 as one unskilled in husbandry1 seeing a tract of country full of prickly shrubs and weeds1 abounding in vermin1 and having much stagnant water and a great deal of mud1 would not make choice of it1 while to one who has learned to discriminate and judge1 these very things indicate strength and all other good qualities in the soil1 and show that it can be ploughed without resistance1 so in like manner there are great natures that bring forth many things annoying and blameworthy1 the roughness and thorniness of which so put us out of patience that we might think it best to cut them off and to prevent all further growth2 while the better ,judge1 discerning from these very tokens the excellence and nobleness that lie beneath them1 awaits maturity as the coadjutor of reason and virtue1 and the period when the nature once so wild shall yield fruit that is not wild4 #g4 ,enough has been said on this point4 ,to pass to another consideration1 do you not think that it was wise in some of the ,greek states to copy the ,egyptian law1 that a woman with child under sentence of death shall have her sentence suspended till her child is born8 ,we think so1--they all said4 ,then ,i continued1--,if one cannot bear children1 yet will be able in process of time to bring forth into the light some clandestine transaction or conspiracy1 or will disclose some lurking evil1 or will become the author of some salutary counsel1 or will invent a supply for some urgent need1 is not he who awaits the benefit that will accrue from delay in punishing such a man wiser than he who would put the offender out of the way at once8 ,so ,i think4 ,and so do we1 said ,,patrocleas4 ,you are right1 said ,i4 ,for consider that1 if ,dionysius#ah3a had been punished in the beginning of his tyrannical reign1 none of ,greek descent would ever have lived again in ,sicily after its devastation by the ,carthaginians4 ,nor1 if ,periander#ai3a had been speedily punished1 would ,greeks have again inhabited ,apollonia1 or ,anactorium1 or the peninsula of the ,leucadians4#ai3b ,i think1 too1 that ,cassander's punishment was delayed1 that ,thebes might be repeopled4#ai3c ,the larger part of the strangers that had plundered the temple1#ai3d and afterwards went to ,sicily with ,timoleon1 perished wretchedly in their guilt1 but not till they had conquered the ,carthaginians1 and put an end to their oppressive rule4#bj3a ,indeed1 the ,deity uses some bad men as public executioners to punish others1 and then destroys the executioners themselves4 ,this1 ,i think1 has been the case with most tyrants4 ,for as the gall of the hyena1 and the saliva of the sea-calf1 and other parts of loathsome beasts1 have a certain virtue in the cure of diseases1 so upon some who need severe chastisement ,god inflicts the implacable bitterness of a tyrant or the annoying oppression of a chieftain1 and removes not what pains and troubles them till the disease is cured and purged away4 ,such a medicine was ,phalaris#bj3b to the people of ,agrigentum1 and ,marius to the ,romans4#bj3c ,god indeed expressly foretold to the people of ,sicyon that they would of necessity be severely scourged1 for seizing as of their own city ,teletias1 a ,cleonaean youth1 who had been crowned in the ,pythian games1 and then tearing him in pieces4#ba3a ,accordingly ,orthagoras1 and after him ,myron and ,cleisthenes and their satellites1 put an end to their lawlessness4 ,but the ,cleonaeans1 not chancing to have the same curative treatment1 came to naught4#ba3b ,hear also ,homer1 when he says1 8,a son endowed with every virtue sprang ,from parentage that gave no sign of virtue40 ,this son of ,copreus1 of whom he thus speaks1 achieved indeed no splendid or noble deeds2 but the posterity of ,sisyphus1 and that of ,autolycus1 and that of ,phlegyas1 bloomed forth in the glories and virtues that belong to great kings4 ,pericles sprang from an infamous ,athenian family1#ba3c and ,pompey the ,great in ,rome was the son of ,strabo1#ba3d whom the ,roman people so hated that they cast his dead body out of doors and trod it under foot4 ,what wonder is it then1 if1 as the farmer does not cut down the thorn-bush till he has taken from it the green shoots which he uses as salad1 nor do the ,libyans burn the cistus till they have collected the balsam which it yields1 so ,god does not destroy the evil and thorny root of an honorable and royal race till the appropriate fruit springs from it8 ,for it was better for the ,phocians to have lost ten thousand of the cattle and horses of ,iphitus1 and a larger amount of gold and silver than was ever abstracted from ,delphi1 than that ,odysseus#bb3a or ,aesculapius#bb3b should not have been born1 or that the world should have failed of the good and eminently useful men who have been the sons of wicked and depraved fathers4 #h4 ,but must we not think it better that punishments should take place in fitting time and way1 than that they should be inflicted speedily and promptly8 ,there was a fitness in the case of ,callippus1 who with the very same dagger with which he had procured the death of ,dion while feigning to be his friend was himself killed by the friends of ,dion2#bc3a and in that of the murderer of ,mitius of ,argos1 who was killed in a riot1 and whose brazen statue in the market-place fell with fatal issue on the man who had killed him4 ,you1 ,patrocleas1 must1 ,i am sure1 know about ,bessus the ,paeonian1 and ,aristo the ,oetaean1 the commander of the foreign soldiers4 ,no1 by ,zeus1 said ,,patrocleas1 ,i do not know1 but ,i want to know about them4 ,aristo1#bc3b said ,i1 by leave of the tyrants1#bc3c took away the ornaments of ,eriphyle deposited here1#bc3d and carried them as a present to his wife2 but his son1 being for some reason angry with his mother1 set the house on fire1 and burned all that were in it4 ,bessus1 it is said1 killed his father1 and escaped detection for a long time4 ,but at length1 going to supper among strangers1 he shook down a swallow's nest with his spear1 and killed the young birds2 and when those present asked1 as was natural1 what had provoked him to do so strange a thing1 he said1 8,do they not1 even of old1 bear false witness against me1 and cry out that ,i killed my father80 ,those who heard him1 marvelling at what he said1 told the king1 and1 on investigation1 ,bessus suffered due punishment4 #i4 ,what ,i have said thus far has been said on the supposition that1 as is generally thought1 there is an actual delay in the punishment of the wicked4 ,but as to what may yet be said on this point1 it may be well for us to listen to ,hesiod1 who maintains1 not1 with ,plato1 that punishment is a suffering that follows wrong-doing1 but that it is a twin birth with wrong-doing1 springing from the same soil and the same root2 for he says1 8,bad counsel does most harm to him who gives it10 and1 8,who does another wrong himself most wrongs40 ,the cantharis1#bd3a by a certain contrast in the elements of its physical structure1 is said to contain within itself the antidote for the wound which it makes4 ,but--the converse of this--guilt1 bringing with itself into being its own pain and punishment1 not subsequently to1 but in the very act of wrong-doing receives its penalty4 ,the malefactor who is to be crucified carries his cross with his own body2 and in like manner wickedness creates from itself1 to be borne by itself1 each several form of chastisement1 being1 so to speak1 an expert artificer of a wretched life1 attended by thronging fears and distressing emotions1 by ceaseless remorse and constant perturbation4 ,but some persons are like children1 who1 often seeing in the theatres malefactors in gold-embroidered tunics and purple mantles1 crowned and dancing1 admire and applaud them as happy beings1 until they appear on the stage goaded and scourged1 and with fire streaming from their gay and finely wrought apparel4#be3a ,for many of the wicked1 surrounded by large families1 and possessed of places of high command and extended authority1 are not visibly punished till they are seen slain or hurled down a precipice1 which ought to be called1 not punishment1 but the end or consummation of punishment4 ,as ,plato says that ,herodicus1 the ,selymbrian1 being attacked with phthisis1 an incurable disease1 and being the first to unite gymnastics with the healing art1 made death long for himself and for those similarly affected2 so too such of the wicked as seem to escape immediate punishment receive1 not after a long time1 but during a long time1 not a slower1 but a longer punishment2 nor are they punished when they grow old1 but they grow old in a state of punishment4 ,yet it is only to you that ,i speak of a long time2 for to the gods any period of human life is as nothing1 and 8now1 not thirty years hence10 is to them as it would be to us for a malefactor to be put to torture or hanged this evening1 and not to-morrow morning4 ,besides1 one is kept in life as in a prison that has no outlet or mode of escape2 yet he may enjoy frequent feasts1 may transact business1 may receive presents and kindnesses1 like the men who play with dice or at draughts in prison1 with the rope hanging over their heads4 #aj4 ,indeed1 why may ,i not say that those under sentence of death are not punished till their heads are cut off1--and that he who has been condemned to drink hemlock1 and then goes about and remains unaffected till his legs grow heavy1 is not punished until he is overpowered by the deadening of the muscles and the congealing of the blood1 combined with the loss of consciousness1--if we confine the name of punishment to the last stage of punishment1 and leave out of the account the sufferings1 and terrors1 and apprehension1 and remorse1 which in the mean while prey upon every guilty soul8 ,as well might we maintain that a fish that has swallowed the hook is not caught till we see it roasted by the cook or cut up on the table4 ,for every wrong-doer is in the grasp of justice so soon as he has swallowed as a bait the pleasure connected with his sin1 having a conscience resting heavily upon him1 and driven hither and thither in the endeavor to expiate his guilt1 8,as the impetuous tunny ploughs the sea40 ,up to the time when the crime is committed1 the well-known assurance and audacity of guilt are strong and efficient2 but afterward the excitement subsides like a wind that dies away1 and the mind1 enfeebled and dispirited1 becomes subject to fears and superstitions1--so that ,clytemnestra's dream1 as related by ,stesichorus1 is in conformity with experience and truth4 ,the verses are3 8,a dragon seemed to come with blood-smeared head1 ,and took the form of ,king ,pleisthenides40#bg3a ,indeed1 visions in sleep1 noonday apparitions1 oracles1 peals of thunder1 and whatever events can seem to take place by the agency of ,god1 are fraught with tempests and terrors for those who are in this condition4 ,thus1 it is said that ,apollodorus#bh3a once in his sleep saw himself flayed by ,scythians1 then boiled1 and his own heart speaking out of the caldron1 and saying1 8,i have brought all this upon thee02 and again1 that he saw his daughters on fire1 their bodies in flames1 running round him in a circle4 ,it is said1 too1 that ,hipparchus1#bh3b the son of ,peisistratus1 shortly before his death1 saw ,aphrodite sprinkling blood upon his face from a vial4 ,the friends of ,ptolemy surnamed ,ceraunus#bh3c saw him summoned to the tribunal by ,seleucus1 with vultures and wolves for his judges1 while he was distributing large portions of flesh to his enemies4 ,pausanias1#bh3d having sent to seize by force ,cleonice1 a free-born maiden in ,byzantium1 that he might have her company by night1 and then1 in consequence of some unaccountable mental disturbance or suspicion1 killing her when she arrived1 often saw her in his dreams1 saying to him1 8,come quick to judgment2 lust works woe to man40 ,the vision not being discontinued1 it is said1 he set sail for the oracle of the dead at ,heracleia1 and there1 by fitting propitiatory sacrifices and libations1 he called up the maiden's soul2#bi3a and she1 coming into his presence1 told him that he should rest from these troubles on his arrival at ,lacedaemon4 ,as soon as he arrived there1 he died4 #aa4 ,thus1 if there is nothing for the soul after death1 that is1 if death is the end of all reward and punishment1 one might be disposed to say that the ,deity deals indulgently and leniently with those of the wicked who are soon punished and die early4 ,for were it maintained that in their lifetime the wicked incur no other evil than the conviction that wrong-doing is utterly fruitless and graceless1 and for the many and great conflicts of mind that it costs confers no benefit nor anything worthy of endeavor1 the perception of this alone is fatal to the soul's happiness4 ,it is with the evil-doer as with ,lysimachus1#cj3a who1 compelled by thirst to surrender his person and his command to the ,getae1 having quenched his thirst and being at the same time made a prisoner1 exclaimed1 8,alas for my guilt in suffering myself to be deprived of so great a kingdom for so brief a pleasure60 ,it is1 indeed1 in a case like this1 exceedingly difficult to resist the necessity created by a natural appetite4 ,but when a man1 either from inordinate desire for wealth1 or from envy of those possessed of civic honor and power1 or for the sake of some sensual gratification1 commits an unlawful and abominable deed1 and1 after the thirst and madness of passion have subsided1 sees in due time the vile and fearful traits of character which lead to crime established permanently within him1 while he can discern in himself nothing useful1 or serviceable1 or profitable1 is it not probable that the thought often occurs to him that for vainglory or for slavish and fruitless pleasure1 he has set at naught the greatest and best things that are accounted right among men1 and thus whelmed his life in shame and trouble8 ,for as ,simonides#cj3b said in jest that he found the chest of money always full1 that of thanks empty1 so the wicked1 having a clear view of their own guilt1 find it--after the indulgence which yields for the moment an empty pleasure--utterly devoid of hope1 and always laden with fears and griefs1 with cheerless memories1 suspicion of what the future may bring1 and distrust of the present4 ,thus1 as we hear ,ino say on the stage1 repenting of what she has done1-- 8,dear women1 tell me how1 as at the first1 ,as if this deed of mine were uncommitted1 ,the house of ,athamas may be my home10#ca3a-- so it is probable that the soul of every evil-doer discusses these things within itself1 and considers how it can by any possibility evade the memory of its misdeeds1 cast out from itself the consciousness of them1 and1 becoming pure1 start as if from the beginning on a new life4 ,for wickedness manifests neither courage1 nor modesty1 nor consistency1 nor steadfastness in the objects of its preference1--unless1 by ,zeus1 we admit that evil-doers are wise2 but where avarice1 and eager voluptuousness1 and implacable envy1 are associated with malice and depravity1 there also1 on examination1 you may see beneath the surface superstition1 and effeminate indolence1 and dread of death1 and an abrupt vacillation of impulses1 and an arrogant pretence to undeserved honor4 ,men of this character fear those who blame them1 and at the same time dread those who praise them1 as those whom they have wronged by their hypocrisy1 and as persons especially hostile to the wicked1 as is evinced in their cordial commendation of those who seem to be good4 ,indeed1 the hardness in depravity1 as in bad iron1 is brittle1 and what seems in it to have the greatest power of resistance is easily broken in pieces4 ,hence1 in process of time1 as bad men come to the knowledge of themselves1 they are depressed1 and grow peevish1 and hold their own manner of life in abhorrence4 ,when a mean man restores a deposit intrusted to his care1 or gives security for a friend1 or with honorable ambition confers gifts and services on his country1 and immediately repents and is in trouble for what he has done1 because of the utter instability and vacillation of his mind1--and when some who are applauded in the theatre for their generosity groan as their love of glory is merged in their love of money1--can it be that those who1 like ,apollodorus1#cb3a sacrifice men in the interest of their tyrannies and conspiracies1 or like ,glaucus1#cc3a the son of ,epicydes1 plunder the property of their friends1 do not feel remorse1 nor hate themselves1 nor suffer grief1 for the crimes that they have committed8 ,i1 indeed1 if it is not irreverent thus to speak1 do not think that those who work iniquity need any avenger among gods or men2 but their own life suffices for their punishment1 being utterly corrupted and kept in constant agitation by their guilt4 #ab4 ,consider now whether our discussion has exceeded a reasonable time4 ,,timon replied1#cc3b--,perhaps so1 with reference to the time that will yet be required2 for ,i am going to bring forward the last doubt as a combatant held in reserve1 since the others have been fairly conquered4 ,what ,euripides with the utmost boldness of speech inveighs against the gods for doing1 namely1 visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children1 account us as tacitly charging upon them4 ,certainly1 if those who have done wrong were themselves punished1 there is no justice in chastising those who have done no wrong2 for it is not right to punish even the evil-doers in their own person twice for the same offence2 and if the gods1 in their remissness failing to punish the guilty1 afterward inflict penalties on the innocent1 they do not fittingly make amends for their slow doing by unrighteous doing4 ,take the case of ,aesop4#cd3a ,it is said that he came hither with money furnished by ,croesus1 intending to offer a magnificent sacrifice to the god of the temple1 and to distribute among the citizens of ,delphi four minas#cd3b apiece4 ,but1 as it is reported1 having become disaffected toward the people here on account of some affront or quarrel1 he made the sacrifice indeed1 but sent the rest of the money back to ,sardis1 not thinking the men of ,delphi worthy of the gift4 ,they then raised against him the charge of sacrilege1 and put him to death by throwing him from yonder cliff1 which they call ,hyampeia4 ,from that time it is said that the god was angry with them1 and made their soil unfruitful1 and sent among them all kinds of strange diseases1 so that they went round among the public assemblies of the ,grecian cities1 proclaiming with earnest entreaty that whoever would demand justice of them in behalf of ,aesop should receive full satisfaction4 ,but not until the third generation came ,idmon1 the ,samian1 not related to ,aesop1 except as the descendant of those who had bought him at ,samos1 and to him the ,delphians made satisfaction in the ways prescribed1 and were freed from their calamities4 ,it was on that account1 it is said1 that the people changed the place of punishment for sacrilege from ,hyampeia to the cliff called ,nauplia4 ,now those who hold the memory of ,alexander in the fondest regard1 of whom ,i am one1 do not approve of his sacking the city of ,branchidae1#ce3a and destroying its inhabitants of all ages1 because their great-grandfathers had treacherously delivered up the temple of ,miletus4 ,so ,agathocles1 the tyrant of ,syracuse1 derided and teased the ,corcyraeans1#cf3a when they asked him why he ravaged their island1 saying1 8,by ,zeus1 because your fathers showed hospitality to ,odysseus40 ,again1 when the people of ,ithaca complained that his soldiers were stealing their sheep1 he replied1 8,your king not only did the like1 but put out the shepherd's#cf3b eye40 ,but is not ,apollo more unreasonable than these men whom ,i have named1 if he is now ruining the ,pheneatae by stopping up the outlet of their streams1 and putting their whole country under water1#cf3c because ,hercules is said a thousand years ago to have stolen the oracular tripod and carried it to ,pheneus8 ,and was he less unreasonable in announcing to the ,sybarites that they should see the end of their calamities1 when by three destructive visitations they should have appeased the wrath of the ,leucadian ,hera8#cg3a ,nor is it so very long a time since the ,locrians ceased sending virgins to ,troy4 8,with naked limbs1 bare feet1 and servile guise1 ,at early dawn they sweep ,athene's temple1 ,unveiled1 while age remorseless steals upon them40 ,and all this because of the licentiousness of ,ajax4#cg3b ,now where is the reasonableness or rightfulness of these things8 ,equally little can we commend the ,thracians#ch3a for still tattooing their wives1 to avenge ,orpheus2 or the barbarians about the ,po1 who wear black1 as they say1 in mourning for ,phaethon1 which seems all the more ridiculous when we consider that1 while those who lived when ,phaethon perished cared nothing at all about the matter1 their posterity of the fifth or the tenth generation are changing their garments and mourning for him4#ch3b ,yet this is merely foolish1 not atrocious or intolerable4 ,but on what justifiable ground does the anger of the gods1 suddenly disappearing1 as some rivers do1 break out again in a different place1 on other people than the evil-doers1 terminating only in extreme calamity8 #ac4 ,as soon as ,timon came to a pause1 fearing that with a fresh start he might bring forth more and greater absurdities1 ,i instantly asked him1--,do you really think that all these things are true8 ,if not all1 said he1 yet if some of them be true1 do you not think that the discussion labors under the same difficulty8 ,perhaps1 said ,i2 and so to persons in a high fever1 whether they chance to wear one garment1 or to be wrapped in many1 the burning heat is nearly or quite the same1 and yet it contributes to their relief to remove the multitude of coverings4 ,but if the patient is unwilling to have this done1 let him have his own way4 ,yet most of these stories seem like myths and fictions4 ,but recall to mind the religious festival lately held here1 when you saw the magnificent portion of the viands#ci3a which the heralds took from the table1 proclaiming that it was due to the posterity of ,pindar1 and remember how solemn and sweet this token of honor seemed to you4 ,but1 said he1 who would not be delighted by the gracefulness of a commemoration so entirely ,grecian and so simply archaic8 unless he had1 to borrow ,pindar's own words1 a black heart forged in a cold fire4 ,there is then no need1 said ,i1 of my citing a similar proclamation made in ,sparta1 8,after the ,lesbian singer10#ci3b in honor and remembrance of the ancient ,terpander2 for the principle is the same4 ,but you1#dj3a ,i suppose1 think yourselves superior to other ,boeotians1 as being of the race of the ,opheltiadae2#dj3b you make similar claims among the ,phocians#dj3c by virtue of your descent from ,daiphantus2#dj3d and you1 indeed1 were the first to stand by me and help me in preserving for the ,lycormaeans and the ,satilaeans#dj3e their hereditary honor1 and the right to wear crowns in public which belongs to the posterity of ,hercules1--maintaining that lasting honors and favors are due to those descended from ,hercules1 because he1 though a great benefactor to the ,greeks1 never received his due of gratitude1 or any fitting recompense4 ,you remind us1 said ,,timon1 of a truly noble contest1 and of one in which it was especially becoming for a philosopher to take part4 ,relax then1 my friend1 said ,i1 the severity of your accusation1 and do not take it so hard if some of the descendants of wicked and depraved people are punished2 or else do not welcome or commend the honor rendered to worthy parentage4 ,for if we would retain the reward of virtue in the posterity of the virtuous1 we cannot reasonably think that punishments for misdoings ought to fail and cease1 but must suppose that they will run on at even pace with the rewards1 giving retribution in each case in proportion to desert4 ,but he who gladly sees the posterity of ,cimon honored in ,athens1 yet is vexed and angry at the exile of the descendants of ,lachares#da3a or of ,ariston1#da3b is very stupid and feeble-minded1 or rather has the presumption to take the place of a wrangler and railer against the ,divine ,being1--accusing him1 forsooth1 if the children's children of an unrighteous and wicked man seem to prosper1 and again accusing him if the posterity of bad ancestors are suffered to decline and to become extinct1--indeed1 finding equal fault with ,god when the children of a good father or those of a bad father fare ill4 #ad4 ,let these considerations serve you as defences against those who are so excessively bitter and objurgatory4 ,but taking up again the beginning of the thread in our discussion concerning ,god1--obscure1 indeed1 and with many turnings and windings1--let us direct our way discreetly and deliberately toward what is probable and credible4 ,for not even in the things which we ourselves do can we always state with confidence the actual and true meaning4 ,thus we cannot tell why we order the children of those who die of phthisis or of dropsy to sit with their feet in water till the corpse is buried1 though it is believed that in this case they neither contract the disease at the time nor are liable to it afterward4 ,nor1 again1 can we tell the reason why1 when a goat takes into his mouth a piece of snakeroot1#db3a the whole flock stand still till the goatherd comes and takes it out of his mouth4 ,there are properties of various objects that are transfused or transmitted in ways incredible as to velocity and distance4 ,in these cases we are indeed more surprised at remoteness of time than of space4 ,yet it is really more amazing that ,athens should have been infected throughout with a pestilence#db3b that began in ,aethiopia1 and that ,pericles should have died of it1 and ,thucydides should have been attacked by it1 than that1 if the ,delphians and the ,sybarites have been wicked1 protracted punishment should come upon their posterity4 ,for all properties of objects have mutual action and reaction from their very beginning till now1 and bear relations to one another of which1 though we are ignorant of the cause1 it none the less produces its appropriate effect4 #ae4 ,nevertheless1 the public calamities of cities have obviously their reason in justice4 ,for a city has unity and continuity like a living creature1 not devesting itself of identity by the changes that occur at successive periods of its life1 nor becoming a different being from its former self by the lapse of time1 but always retaining a conscious selfhood with the peculiarities that belong to it1 and receiving the entire blame or praise of whatever it does or has done in its collective capacity1 so long as the community which constitutes it and binds it together remains a unit4 ,but dividing it by successive periods of time so as to make of a single city many cities1 or rather an infinite number of cities1 is like making of one man many men1 because he is now elderly1 yet once was younger1 and still earlier was a mere stripling4 ,this might remind one of the ,epicharmians1 from whom the sophists derived the cumulative argument1#dc3a according to which he who used to be in debt now owes nothing1 having become a different man1 and he who was yesterday invited to supper to-day comes uninvited1 being another person4 ,however1 different periods of life make greater changes in every one of us than they ordinarily make in cities4 ,one who sees ,athens would recognize it thirty years afterward2 for the present manners1 sports1 industries1 likings1 and resentments of the people closely resemble those of former days4 ,but after a considerable time1 scarce a kinsman or friend would recognize a man's countenance and form2 while the change of manners readily brought about in a person by differing fashions of intercourse1 employment1 experience1 and legal obligation look strange and new even to one who has always known him4 ,but yet the man is said to be one and the same man from the beginning to the end4 ,the city in like manner remaining the same1 we regard it as involved in the disgrace of its ancestry by the very right by which it shares their glory and their power4 ,else we shall throw everything into the river of ,heracleitus1 into which1 he says1 no one can enter twice1 because changing nature is transposing and altering all things4 #af4 ,but if a city is one continuous entity1 equally so is a race that springs from one original stock and carries along with it certain common tendencies derived from that stock2 and that which is born is not1 like a manufactured article1 separated from him who produced it2 for it exists from him1 not merely by him1 so that it possesses and bears within itself some part of him1 which is properly the object of chastisement or of commendation4 ,not in mere sport ,i would say that it was more unjust for the ,athenians to destroy the brazen statue of ,cassander1#de3a and for the people of ,syracuse to cast beyond their borders the body of ,dionysius1#de3b than for the posterity of those men to suffer punishment4 ,for there was nothing of the nature of ,cassander in the statue1 and the soul of ,dionysius had already left the corpse2 but in ,nisaeus1#de3c and ,apollocrates1#de3d and ,antipater and ,philip1#de3e and equally in other sons of wicked parents1 there was implanted1 and remains continuously1 the part of their parents that had the mastery over their lives1 and in the children this is not quiescent or inactive1 but they live by it1 and are nourished by it1 and order their conduct by it1 and think as it prompts4 ,nor is it at all marvellous or absurd that1 being the children of such men1 they should possess their qualities4 ,in fine1 ,i would say that1 as in the healing art1 whatever is beneficial is therefore right1 and as he would be ridiculous who should think it wrong in a case of hip-disease to cauterize the thumb1 and when the liver is ulcerated to scarify the upper part of the abdomen1 and when the hoofs of oxen are tender to anoint the tips of their horns1#df3a equally is he ridiculous who thinks in the matter of punishment that anything else than the cure of wickedness is right1 and who is vexed when the remedy is applied to some parts rather than to others1 after the manner of those who open a vein to cure ophthalmia4 ,nor does such a person seem to look beyond the range of his bodily senses2 nor does he bear it in mind that a teacher in whipping one boy admonishes all1 and that a general in the capital punishment of one out of ten brings all the guilty men under his command back to their duty4 ,in truth not only is one part of the body cured through another part1 but there are certain dispositions of mind and conduct1 equally those that are evil and those that tend to reformation1 as to which soul is influenced by soul more than body is affected by body4 ,for from body to body the same affection and the same change seem to be transmitted2 while in the case under consideration the soul1 through the influence of the imagination1 becomes worse or better in a degree corresponding to the intensity of hope or fear4 #ag4 ,while ,i was still speaking1 ,,olympicus interrupted me1 saying1--,you seem to have1 underlying this reasoning of yours1 an hypothesis of prime importance1--the continued existence of the soul4 ,yes1 said ,i1 inasmuch as you yourselves admit it1 or rather did admit it2 for the argument from the very beginning proceeded from the supposition that ,god deals with men according to their merits4 ,,olympicus replied1--,do you think that it follows from ,god's dealing with us according to our merits1 that souls are either absolutely incorruptible1 or destined at least to continue in being for a certain period after death8#dh3a ,i replied1--,no1 my good friend4 ,god1 forsooth1 is so petty and so trifling1#dh3b that--as if we had nothing of the divine in us1 nor anything closely resembling him1 and stable and firm1 but were1 as ,homer says1 mere leaves1 like those that wither and perish altogether--he makes such account of us as the women do of their gardens of ,adonis1#dh3c which they tend and cultivate in earthen pots1--souls lasting for a day1 blooming in a frail flesh that has no strong root of life1 then at once extinguished by any casualty that may chance to occur4 ,but if you choose1 making no mention of other gods1 look at this one of ours here1 and say whether you suppose that he1 knowing that the souls of the dying are instantly destroyed when they are exhaled from their bodies1 like clouds or smoke-wreaths1 should demand so many propitiations for those who die1 and such tokens of great reverence and honor for the dead1 thus deceiving and deluding those who believe in him4 ,i therefore would not deny the continued existence of the soul1 unless some one1 like ,hercules1 should carry off the tripod of the ,pythian priestess1 and abolish and destroy the oracle4 ,for while even down to our own time many such things are foretold by the oracle as are said to have been announced to ,corax of ,naxos1#di3a it is unholy to deem the soul capable of dying4 ,then ,,patrocleas said1--,what was that prediction1 and who was that ,corax8 ,both the story and the name are unfamiliar to me4 ,by no means1 said ,i2 but ,i was to blame in using a by-name instead of the real name4 ,for he who killed ,archilochus in battle was named ,calondas1 as they say1 and had ,corax for a surname4 ,he1 having been first driven out of the temple by the ,pythian priestess because he had killed a man sacred to the ,muses1 then employing prayers and entreaties with a statement of the case in his own justification1 was ordered to go to the residence of ,tettix1#ej3a in order to propitiate the soul of ,archilochus4 ,this place was ,taenarus2#ej3b for there it is said that ,tettix the ,cretan arrived with a fleet1 built a city1 and established himself hard by the oracle of the dead4 ,in like manner1 the ,spartans were ordered by the oracle to propitiate the soul of ,pausanias1 and they sent for necromancers from ,italy1 who by their sacrifices drove the apparition of ,pausanias from the temple4#ej3c #ah4 ,there is then1 said ,i1 one course of reasoning which confirms equally the providence of ,god and the continued life of the human soul1 and neither can remain credible if the other is taken away4 ,but to the soul existing after death there is a stronger probability that rewards and punishments are rendered1 than there is that they should be fully rendered in this life4#ea3a ,for during this life the soul is1 like an athlete1 in perpetual conflict2 but when the conflict is over1 then what the soul has deserved is allotted to it4 ,yet whatever favors or whatever chastisements the soul1 being there by itself1 receives1 are of no concern to us living here1 nay1 they are disbelieved and they are out of the field of our knowledge2 but these penalties that pass on through children and remoter posterity1 being manifest to men living here1 check and restrain many of the wicked4 ,there is1 indeed1 no punishment more shameful or more sorrowful than for men to see their posterity suffering on their account4 ,were the soul of an impious and lawless man to behold after death1 not his statues overthrown1 or any honors that he had received cancelled1 but his children1 or friends1 or kindred1 or family1 suffering great misfortunes and receiving punishment on his account1 such a soul would not choose again to be depraved and profligate1--no1 not even to obtain honors like those which belong to ,zeus4 ,to show this ,i have a story to tell1 which ,i lately heard2 but ,i hesitate1 lest you may think it a myth1 while ,i want to confine myself to what is reasonable4 ,do not hesitate by any means1 said ,,olympicus1 but tell the story4 ,the others made the same request4 ,then1 said ,i1 permit me to finish my reasoning1 and afterward we will take up the myth1 if indeed it be a myth4 #ai4 ,bion#eb3a says that ,god in punishing the children of the wicked is more ridiculous than a physician who should administer medicine to a grandson or a son for his grandfather's or his father's illness4 ,but the two things are in some respects unlike1 though in others alike and similar4 ,it is true1 indeed1 that one person's being medically treated does not remove another's illness1 nor is one who is suffering from ophthalmia or from fever relieved by seeing another person anointed or plastered2 but the punishments of the wicked are inflicted in the sight of all1 because it is the office of justice reasonably administered to restrain some by means of the penalties endured by others4 ,but the point in which ,bion's comparison really applies to the subject under discussion escaped his discernment4 ,when a man seized with a stubborn1 but not necessarily incurable illness1 yields up his body to the disease by intemperance and effeminacy1 and dies in consequence1 if his son1 though not seeming to be ill1 yet barely has a tendency to the same disease1 his physician1 or kinsman1 or apothecary1 or judicious master1 putting him upon a rigid diet1 taking from him stimulants1 delicacies1 strong drinks1 and opportunities for sensual indulgence1 employing medicaments continually1 and disciplining his body by gymnastic exercises1 excludes and expels the disease1 not suffering the minute seed of a grievous bodily affection to grow into an appreciable magnitude4 ,do we not thus give our advice1 thinking it fitting for the children of diseased fathers and mothers to take care of themselves1 to be on their guard1 and not to lose thought of their inherited liability to disease1 but promptly taking the inborn malady in hand1 to expel it at the beginning1 while it is easily removed and has no fixed seat8 ,this is perfectly true1 they say4 ,you grant then1 ,i continue1 that we do1 not what is absurd1 but what is necessary1--not what is ridiculous1 but what is beneficial1--when we prescribe gymnastic exercises1 diet1 and medicine for the children of epileptics1 or of hypochondriacs1 or of sufferers from the gout1 not because they are ill1 but to prevent them from being ill4 ,for a body born of a diseased body is deserving1 not indeed of punishment1 but of medical treatment and of vigilance1 which if any one sees fit to call the punishment of timidity and feebleness1 his opinion is of no account4 ,if then it is worth our while to cherish and to preserve the body born of a diseased body1 ought we to permit the congenital likeness of wickedness to spring up and come to growth in a young character1 and to wait till1 having its issue in vicious passions1 it becomes openly manifest1 and1 as ,pindar says1 displays the malignant fruit of the inmost soul8 #bj4 ,in this matter ,god in his wisdom does not even transcend the sentiment expressed by ,hesiod1#ed3a 8,from suppers of the gods the marriage-bed ,approach1 and not from rites funereal10 implying that not only wickedness or virtue1 but sadness1 and happiness1 and all other properties whatsoever1 are transmitted from parents1 so that those who would be responsible for bringing children into the world should be cheerful1 and sweet-tempered1 and genial4 ,however1 it is not the result of ,hesiod's maxim nor the work of human wisdom1 but of ,god1 to discern and discriminate likenesses and differences1 before they become conspicuous by men's falling through the force of passion into great transgressions4 ,the young of bears and wolves and monkeys1 indeed1 show at once their inborn disposition1 without cover or concealment4 ,but a man's nature1 conforming to customs1 opinions1 and laws1 conceals what in it is evil1 and often imitates the good1 in such a way as either altogether to wipe off and get rid of the native plague-spot of wickedness1 or else to keep it long concealed1 craftily veiling itself and escaping our notice1 so that we are scarcely aware of his depravity when assailed as with a blow or sting by successive instances of his wrong-doing1--imagining1 as is our wont1 that men become wholly unrighteous when they first perform an unrighteous act1 or licentious when they first gratify lust unlawfully1 or cowards when they first flee from danger1--a simplicity that may be compared to one's thinking that the stings of scorpions grow when they first use them1 or that the poison is generated in vipers at the moment when they bite4 ,no bad man becomes and first appears bad at the same time2 but one has the evil in him from the beginning1 and puts it into practice1 availing himself of opportunity and ability1 the thief in stealing1 the tyrant in exercising despotic rule4 ,but ,god is not ignorant of any man's disposition and nature1 inasmuch as he discerns the soul even more than the body2 nor does he wait to punish till violence has been committed by the hands1 effrontery uttered by the voice1 or lasciviousness actualized in fleshly deed4 ,for he does not avenge himself on the wrong-doer as himself suffering wrong1 nor is he angry with the robber as having been himself robbed1 nor does he hate the adulterer as injured in his own honor2 but he often punishes beforehand the adulterers1 and the avaricious1 and the unrighteous1 to cure them1 thus removing guilt1 as physicians attempt to cure epilepsy1 before the fit seizes the patient4 #ba4 ,we were scandalized a little while ago because the punishment of the wicked is late and slow2 yet now we equally call the ,divine ,providence in question1 because for some it checks the vicious temperament and disposition before they become guilty2 leaving it out of mind that the potential evil might be worse and more fearful than the crimes that are actually committed1 and that which is concealed1 than that which is in open view2 and unable to comprehend the reasons why it is better to suffer some to do wrong1 and to forestall others who are also evilly disposed1--just as medicines are unsuitable for some sick persons1 while they are beneficial to some even who are not ill1 yet in a more perilous condition than those who are4 ,nor do the gods visit all the transgressions of the fathers on the children2 but if a good man is the son of a bad man1 as one in sound health may be the son of an invalid1 he is released from the penalty due to his race1 as one taken by adoption out of a guilty family4 ,but for a youth who becomes conformed to the likeness of a depraved race1 it is certainly fitting that he should receive the punishment of guilt as a due heritage4 ,on the other hand1 ,antigonus was not punished for the sins of ,demetrius1#eg3a nor1 to cite other cases of bad men1 was ,phyleus made to pay the penalty for ,augeas1#eg3b nor ,nestor for ,neleus2#eg3c for they1 though the children of bad men1 were good men4 ,but as for those whose nature loves and cherishes the inborn evil1 justice has its course1 pursuing with penalty the sinful likeness that is in them4 ,moreover1 as the warts and birth-stains and freckles of fathers1 not appearing in their own children1 crop out again in the children of their sons and daughters2 as a certain ,greek woman1 giving birth to a black child1 when accused of adultery1 discovered that she was descended in the fourth generation from an ,aethiopian2 as among the children of ,pytho the ,nisibian1 said to belong to the ,sparti1#eh3a the one who died lately bore the impress of a spear on his body1--a race-mark after so many ages rising and emerging as from the depths of the sea1--so not infrequently earlier generations conceal and merge ancestral habits and dispositions1 while afterward and through later generations the inherited nature comes to flower1 and reproduces the family tendency to vice or to virtue4#eh3b #bb4 ,after saying these things1 ,i was silent4 ,but ,,olympicus1 smiling1 said1--,we are not ready to express our parting commendation of your reasoning1 lest we may seem fully satisfied with your arguments1 and lose the story4 ,when we have heard that1 we will pronounce our final sentence4 ,then ,i spoke as follows3#ei3a--,the ,solian1#ei3b ,thespesius1 an associate and friend of that ,protogenes who was here with us1#ei3c having led a very dissipated life in his youth1 and in a short time squandering his property1 for a while on account of his impoverished condition became desperately wicked1 and1 repenting of his wastefulness1 sought in evil ways to become rich again1 like those profligates who1 when they have wives1 do not keep them1 but after divorcing them endeavor to corrupt them when they are married to other men4 ,abstaining from nothing vile that promised pleasure or profit1 he got together in a short time a property by no means large1 and the most ample reputation for depravity4 ,but he was most widely known in connection with a certain response that was brought from the oracle of ,amphilochus4#fj3a ,he sent thither1 it is said1 to ask the god whether he should be better off#fj3b for the rest of his life4 ,the reply was that he would do better after he died4 ,and this event in some sort happened to him not long afterward4 ,falling from a precipice and striking his neck on the ground1 receiving no wound1 but only a shock1 he became as one dead1 and the third day had already arrived for his funeral4 ,but then1 being suddenly aroused from his swoon and returning to himself1 he made an incredible change in his manner of life2 for the ,cilicians know of no other person in his time more honest than he in keeping his engagements1 more religiously devout1 more resolutely hostile to his enemies1#fj3c or more loyal to his friends1 so that those about him wanted to know the cause of the change1 thinking that such a revolution in one's habits could not have taken place by chance4 ,and they were right1 as he told his story to ,protogenes and to other equally intimate friends4 ,when his body became unconscious1 the feeling at first was such as a pilot would have if he were hurled from his ship into the sea4 ,then1 being somewhat recovered1 he seemed to breathe with entire freedom1 and to look round in every direction1 as if his soul had been a single open eye4 ,he saw nothing that he had ever seen before2 but he beheld immensely large stars1 at vast distances from one another1 emitting a lustre marvellous in tint1 and shooting forth rays1 on which the soul was borne on the light as in a chariot1 in perfect quietness1 easily and swiftly4 ,but--omitting the greater part of what he saw--he said that the souls of the dying rose from beneath like fiery bubbles through the parted air4 ,then1 the bubbles gradually bursting1 they came forth1 having a human form1 but of diminutive size4 ,but they did not move alike2 for some sprang forth with wonderful agility1 and mounted straight upward1 while others1 whirling round in a circle like spindles1 tending now downward and then again upward1 were borne with a complicated and confused movement that could hardly be arrested even in a very long time4 ,he did not1 indeed1 know who many of these souls were2 but seeing two or three whom he recognized1 he tried to join them and talk with them4 ,they1 however1 neither heard him1 nor were in possession of their right mind2 but1 demented and shy1 shrinking from sight and touch1 they at first flitted round by themselves2 then1 meeting many souls in the same condition and mingling with them1 they moved in all directions without aim or purpose1 and gave utterance to inarticulate sounds like battle-cries mingled with strains of lamentation and terror4 ,others from above1 in the zenith of the circumambient heavens1 appeared refulgent1 and often approached one another in a kindly way1 yet avoiding those troubled souls2 and they seemed to signify annoyance by shrinking within themselves1 and pleasure and approval by the expansion and enlargement of the forms in which they moved4 ,among these he said that he saw the soul of a kinsman of his1 yet at first was not sure of his identity1 as he himself was but a boy when this man died2 but the soul1 drawing near him1 said1 8,hail1 ,thespesius40 ,when he marvelled at this1 and replied that his name was not ,thespesius1 but ,aridaeus1 the soul said1 8,it was ,aridaeus1 but from henceforth it is ,thespesius2#fb3a for you are not yet dead2 but by a certain allotment of the gods you come hither with your perceptive faculties1 while you have left the rest of your soul1 like an anchor1 in your body4 ,let it be a token of this to you1 both now and hereafter1 that the souls of the dead neither cast a shadow nor wink40#fc3a ,thespesius on hearing this became more self-collected in mind1 and1 taking a closer look1 he saw that there moved along with him a certain dim and shadowy line1 while those about him were surrounded with light1 and transparent within4 ,however1 they were not all equally so4 ,some1 indeed1 like the clearest full moon1 emitted continuously a uniform and unflickering light2 but of the others1 some had their bodies streaked with what looked like scales and flabby scourge-marks2 some were very much discolored1 and disgusting to the sight1 like snakes branded all over with black spots2 and others1 still1 had slight scars4 ,the kinsman of ,thespesius 7for there is nothing to forbid one's giving human titles to disembodied souls71 explaining these appearances one by one1 told him that ,adrasteia1 daughter of ,necessity#fc3b and ,zeus1 holds the highest place of all1 ordaining punishment for wrong-doings of every kind1 and that of the guilty there was never either great or small that could escape her1 whether by craft or by force4 ,but a different mode of punishment is assigned to each of the three custodians and executive ministers that have the guilty in charge4 ,the first of these1 swift ,poena1#fd3a takes in hand those who are punished at once while in the body and by means of their bodies1 yet in a somewhat mild way1 and passing over many things that need cleansing4 ,those the cure of whose guilt is a heavier task the ,deity gives over after death to ,dice4#fd3b ,but as for those whom she rejects as utterly incurable1 ,erinnys1#fd3c the third and sternest of ,adrasteia's subordinate ministers1 chasing them as they wander and flee in different directions1 removes them all from sight in misery and wretchedness1 and plunges them into a destiny too horrible to be told or seen4 ,of the other chastisements1 he compared that of ,poena in the earthly life to certain modes of punishment practised by barbarians4 ,for as among the ,persians they strip off and beat the clothes and the turbans of those that are punished1#fd3d while the culprits beg with tears that the scourge may be laid aside1--so punishment by loss of wealth or by bodily suffering has not an intensely penetrating power1 nor does it lay hold on the guilt in its own interior seat1 but is inflicted generally for appearance's sake1 and to make an impression on the bodily senses4#fe3a ,but him who comes hither from these punishments uncorrected and uncleansed ,dice takes in hand1 open and naked as he is in soul1 having nothing whereby to conceal or hide or cover his depravity1 but beheld in every direction and by all and in his entire selfhood1 and shows him first to his good parents1 if good they are1 as being despicable to his progenitors and unworthy of them4 ,if they too are bad1 he1 seeing them punished1 and being seen by them1 is released only after having long expiated every one of his crimes by pains and sufferings which in magnitude and severity exceed those which come through the body alone1 as much as reality is more substantial than a dream4 ,but the scars and scourge-marks after punishment remain in some more conspicuous2 in others1 less so4 8,see10 said he1 8those motley colors of every kind in the souls1--that dark and squalid dye1 the pigment of meanness and avarice1--that blood-red and fiery hue1 of cruelty and bitterness2 where there is a bluish tint1 intemperate indulgence in sensual pleasure has as yet hardly been rubbed off2 while the malevolence that is united with envy discharges that violet-colored and ulcerous secretion1 as the cuttle-fish emits his ink4 ,for1 as on the earth the wickedness of the soul controlled by the passions1 while the soul controls the body1 produces certain shades of complexion1 so here such tints mark the last stage of the process of cleansing and correction1 by which1 the evil affections being altogether expelled1 the soul becomes of clear complexion and of a uniform color4 ,but so long as these evil affections remain in a man1 certain revivals of the passions take place1 accompanied by palpitation and excitement1 in some souls slight and soon quenched1 in others intensely strong4 ,of these last some1 punished again and again1 at length attain a suitable habit and disposition2 but others by the force of ignorance and the fascination of sensual pleasure are carried back earthward into the bodies of beasts4 ,for they are inclined to seek this new and lower birth by the predominance of the physical tendency1 while reason is feeble1 and their mental vision dull4 ,having in their spiritual state no longer the organs requisite for vicious indulgence1 they still crave to satisfy their desires by sensual pleasure1 and to give them full play by means of a body4#ff3a ,here1 indeed1 there is nothing but a certain fruitless shadow and dream of sensual pleasure which has no realization40 ,when the friend of ,thespesius had thus spoken1 he led him rapidly to a certain place that appeared immense1 toward which he moved directly and easily1 transported on light-beams as on wings1--until1 coming to a large and deep cavern1 he was deserted by the force that had borne him1 and he saw other souls there in a like condition4 ,clustering together like birds1 they flew round the chasm in a circle1 but did not dare to cross it4 ,within1 it resembled the caves of ,bacchus1#fg3a like them diversified with boughs of trees1 and living green1 and flowers of every hue2 and it exhaled a soft and mild breeze1 wafting up odors of wonderful sweetness1 and producing an effect similar to that which wine has on those who drink it freely4 ,the souls filled with these sweet perfumes were dissolved in mirth1 and kept embracing one another1 and jollity and laughter1 and every ,muse of sport and gladness1 had possession of the place all around4 ,the spirit said that by this opening ,dionysus#fg3b went up to the gods1 and afterward led ,semele up by the same way1 and that the place is called ,lethe4#fh3a ,he did not suffer ,thespesius to remain there1 though he wanted to stay1 but took him away by force1 teaching him at the same time1 and telling him how the mind is melted and soaked by sensual pleasure1 while the unreasoning and body-like part of the soul1 being thus nourished and made fleshly1 calls up the remembrance of the body1 and from that remembrance wakes a desire and longing that draw it toward another birth1 or genesis1#fh3b which is so called as being an inclination toward the earth in the soul that is thus weighed down and water-logged4 ,then1 passing in another direction by as long a route as that previously traversed1 ,thespesius seemed to see from afar a vast basin1 and rivers pouring into it1 one whiter than the sea-foam or snow1 another purple like that which ,iris paints on the rainbow1 others still with various tints1 which1 as beheld from a distance1 had each its own peculiar lustre4 ,but when he drew near1 the circumambient air being more rarefied and the colors fading1 the basin lost all of its surpassing beauty except its whiteness4 ,he then saw three daemons sitting together in a triangle1 mixing the rivers with one another in certain proportions4 ,the spirit-guide of ,thespesius told him1 that ,orpheus advanced thus far when he was seeking his wife's soul1 and1 failing in memory1 carried back to men a false report that there was in ,delphi an oracle that was the common property of ,apollo and ,night1 while in fact ,night has nothing in common with ,apollo4 8,but the oracle here10 said the spirit1 8is common to ,night and the ,moon1 having no earthly limits1 but wandering everywhere among men in visions and spectres4 ,from this are dispersed dreams1 mingled1 as you see1 blending the simple and the true with the false and the grotesque4 ,but you do not see10 said he1 8the oracle of ,apollo1 nor can you see it2 for the earthly part of your soul cannot release or loose itself for an upward flight1 but tends downward as not yet wholly undetached from the body40 ,at the same time1 his guide1 leading him on1 attempted to show him the tripod1 shining upon ,parnassus through the bosom of ,themis2#fi3a yet1 though he wanted to see it1 he could get no distinct view of it because of its intense brilliancy4 ,but1 in passing1 he heard the shrill voice of a woman1 uttering in rhythm among other things what sounded to him like the prediction of the time of his own death4 ,the spirit said that it was the voice of a ,sibyl1#fi3b who1 borne round on the face of the moon1 sang of things to come4 ,then he1 while he wished to hear more1 was forcibly driven1 as on successive eddies1 in a direction opposite to that in which the moon was rushing on her course4 ,but among the predictions which he caught in passing was one about ,vesuvius1#gj3a and about the destruction of ,dicaearchia#gj3b by fire1 and also a scrap of verse about the then reigning ,emperor1#gj3c-- 8,good though he be1 disease shall soon dethrone him40 ,after this1 they turned to the inspection of those undergoing punishment1 and indeed from the very outset they had only mournful and pitiable spectacles4 ,thespesius1 without expecting it1 happened among friends and kinsmen and associates under punishment1 who in horrible suffering1 and under penalties equally shameful and painful1 addressed to him their lamentations and wailings4 ,at length his eyes fell on his own father1 coming up from an abyss1 covered with scars and scourge-marks1 stretching out his hands to him1 and not permitted to keep silence1 but forced by those presiding over his punishment to confess his blood-guiltiness in the case of certain guests of his who had money1 and whom he had killed by poison4 ,there1 on earth1 he had concealed the deed from all2 but being here convicted1 he was now enduring such sufferings as his son saw1 and they were leading him where he would suffer still more4 ,from amazement and dread1 ,thespesius dared not offer supplication or intercession for his father2 and desiring to return and flee1 he no longer saw his gentle and familiar guide4 ,but1 forced forward by certain fearful-looking beings1 as if it were necessary for him to advance1 he saw that the shades of those who had been openly wicked or who had been punished in this world were not so severely dealt with as others1 nor in the same way1 having been made aimlessly and slavishly vicious by the unreasoning and passion-driven element of the soul2 while as for such as had lived all their days in secret vice1 disguised under the pretence and reputation of virtue1 others standing round them1 as ministers of justice1 compelled them with toil and pain to make the soul's interior outermost1 which they did1 wriggling and twisting themselves in unnatural ways1 as the sea-polyps1 when they have swallowed the hook1 turn themselves inside out4 ,some of them the tormentors flayed1 and then laid them open1 showing them inwardly ulcerated and scarred with the depravity in their minds and in the governing principles of their lives4 ,thespesius said that he saw other souls interwreathed like vipers1 two1 three1 or more together1 and devouring one another from remembered enmity and ill will for what they had suffered or done in life4 ,there were also lakes lying side by side1 one of boiling gold1 one of lead intensely cold1 another of rough iron2 and certain daemons1 like metal-workers1 with their instruments took up and thrust in the souls of those who had been guilty through greed and cupidity4 ,when in the gold they had become fiery and transparent by burning1 these daemons plunged them into the lake of lead2 and when they had there become frozen like hail1 they were transferred to the lake of iron4 ,there they were made horribly black1 and were so fractured and bruised by the hardness of the iron1 as to look like different beings2 and then in this deformed condition they were carried again to the lake of gold1 enduring intense torment in these successive transportations4 ,but those suffered most horribly of all who thought that they had been at length released from the hands of justice1 yet who were again apprehended for fresh punishment4 ,these were they the punishment of whose guilt passed on to some of their children or descendants4 ,when one of these comes and meets them1 he falls upon them with anger1 and cries out against them1 showing the tokens of his sufferings1 reviling and pursuing the souls that long to escape and hide1 yet are unable so to do2 for the ministers of justice run after them to subject them to fresh chastisement1 and push them on1 while they from the beginning lament bitterly1 well knowing the punishment that awaits them4 ,he said too that some1 indeed many1 of the souls of the descendants of bad men clustered together1 sustained in this posture like bees or bats1 and venting in shrieks their indignation at the remembrance of what they had suffered on account of their parents or ancestors4 ,last of all1 he saw the souls destined to a second birth1 by main force1 bent and transformed into all sorts of beasts by artificers who fashioned them by appropriate tools and by blows as upon an anvil1 compressing all their parts1 reversing some1 planing down some1 and utterly destroying some1 so as to fit them for habits and modes of life other than human4 ,among these appeared the soul of ,nero1 having already endured other torments1 and now pierced with red-hot nails4 ,the artificers had taken this soul in hand1 and given it the form of ,pindar's viper1#gc3a a form in which the creature after being conceived eats its way to life through its mother's bowels2 when1 as ,thespesius said1 a light suddenly shone forth1 and from the light came a voice commanding that he should be transformed into another more gentle brute1--one of those croaking creatures that burrow about swamps and ponds2#gc3b for though he had been punished for his wrong-doings1 yet something of mercy was due to him from the gods1 because he had emancipated the ,greeks1#gd3a of all his subjects the best race and dearest to the gods4 ,thus far ,thespesius saw2 but when he was about to return to the earth1 he was in utter desperation through terror4 ,for a certain woman1 of marvellous form and stature1 laying hold of him1 said1 8,come hither1 that you may remember these things the better10 and she was about to strike him with a red-hot wand such as the encaustic painters use1 when another woman prevented her4 ,then he1 as if suddenly forced through a tube by an intensely strong and powerful wind1 alighted on his own body1 and awoke hard by his own tomb4 ,,footnotes3 #a3a ,a name probably chosen for this retreating collocutor because the dialogue is anti-,epicurean in its dogmas and its spirit1 and the supposed arguments to be refuted were therefore such as an ,epicurean would have urged4 ,epicurus denied the ,divine ,providence1 and maintained that the gods did not concern themselves with human affairs4 #a3b ,some commentators suppose this to be the second part of a dialogue1 of which the first part is lost4 ,but it is more probable that the reader is1 for dramatic effect1 introduced into the midst of a prepared scene4 ,this was not an uncommon device in the philosophical dialogues that have come down to us from early time4 ,plato1 ,cicero1 and ,lucian furnish instances of it1 and two other of ,plutarch's dialogues begin in a similar way4 ,cinius is a name that occurs nowhere else4 ,a purely conjectural emendation of a single letter would give us the better known name1 ,quintus4 ,the scene of this dialogue is the temple of ,apollo at ,delphi1--the temple in which ,plutarch officiated as priest4 #b3a ,plutarch's son-in-law4 #b3b ,plutarch's brother4 #b3c ,the figure by which arguments are called spears or javelins1 and are said to be hurled when uttered--in itself not unnatural--occurs frequently in the ancient classics4 ,indeed1 the most authentic derivation of the ,latin dicere1 to speak1 is from the ,greek 1 to hurl4 ,the ,french word trait offers an analogy in point4 #b3d ,brasidas1 the most distinguished ,spartan general1 and the leader of the ,spartan forces1 in the earlier part of the ,peloponnesian war1 was slain near ,amphipolis1 at the moment of victory4 ,cleon1 the ,athenian general1 was killed at the same time4 ,the incident referred to in the text has no record in history2 but a scholiast on ,aristophanes says that ,cleon and ,brasidas killed each other1 referring probably to the tradition that they both were killed by ,cleon's spear4 #c3a ,a verse from the ,orestes1--the reply of ,orestes when asked whether ,apollo would give him no assistance in his troubles4 #c3b ,in a speech of ,cleon in favor of the slaughter of the men and the enslavement of the women and children of ,mytilene1 for the attempt to release themselves from the sway of the ,athenians4 #d3a ,one of the seven wise men of ,greece1 as also of the smaller number of four to whom alone the possession of pre-eminent wisdom was ascribed by some authorities4 ,he is said to have been the author of the selfish maxim1 that one should love his friends as if he were at some future time going to hate them4 #d3b ,aristocrates1 king of ,orchomenus in ,arcadia1 joined the ,messenians in war against ,sparta1 and was bribed by the ,lacedaemonians to betray his allies in the battle of ,taphrus4 ,many years afterward1 his treachery became known1 and he was stoned to death by his own subjects4 #d3c ,there is no historical vestige of this transaction1 or of the king implicated in it4 ,the scene of the story was probably ,orchomenus in ,boeotia1 and ,plutarch1 as a ,boeotian1 would naturally have been familiar with chapters of local history too remote in time or too insignificant to have left any permanent record4 #e3a ,probably1 if not ,lyciscus1 those implicated with him in his crime took refuge in ,athens1 and many years afterward1 at some crisis which created superstitious alarm1 their bodies were disinterred and transported beyond the limits of the state1--a not unusual mode of lustration in the early time4 #e3b ,this is from a lost tragedy4 #f3a ,this name occurs as that of an interlocutor in one of the ,symposiacs4 #g3a ,the reference here is1 undoubtedly1 to an hexameter verse from some unknown poet1 quoted by ,sextus ,empiricus in the third century3-- 1 4 8,the mills of the gods grind late1 but they grind fine40 #g3b 1 evidently meaning ,plutarch4 #g3c ,i doubt whether there is reference here to every third wave as having a fuller flow4 ,timon1 though inclined at the outset to the other side1 is represented as so affected by the arguments of ,patrocleas and ,olympicus that he is prepared to make a third speech against the ,divine ,providence1 yet is willing to yield place to his brother2 and the speech which ,plutarch supersedes is the third wave4 #h3a ,in some poem not now extant4 #i3a ,we have evidence from other sources that the ,spartans were accustomed to shave the upper lip1 and in ,sparta custom and law were identical4 #i3b ,slaves might be manumitted in ,rome by having their names inscribed on the roll of taxable citizens with permission of their masters1 in which case they must have been possessed of some peculium1--property of their own earning or given them by their masters4 ,they might also be made free by will4 ,but the oldest mode of manumission is that here referred to4 ,the slave was brought before the magistrate1 whose lictor laid a rod or wand on his head1 after which ceremony the master pronounced him free4 #i3c ,in this1 which was one of several modes in which wills were made in ,rome1 the testator made a fictitious sale of his property to a friend1 who received his instructions as to the disposal of it4 ,the person thus made the purchaser filled very much the place that with us is held by the executor of a will4 #aj3a ,solon's theory was1 that neutrality in a disturbed condition of the state indicated either indifference to the public well-being or the most sordid selfishness2 while sedition might be sometimes justifiable1 and at the worst was not inconsistent with honesty of purpose4 #aj3b ,the 8harbor or refuge0 is man's inevitable ignorance of ,divine things1 which is often a sufficient answer for doubts or objections which man cannot solve or refute4 #aa3a ,from an unknown poet4 #ab3a ,a tragedian1 of whom only a few fragments are preserved4 #ab3b ,this whole section looks almost like a paraphrase of ,st4 ,paul's exhortation3 8,be ye kind1 tender-hearted1 forgiving one another1 even as ,god for ,christ's sake hath forgiven you4 ,be ye therefore followers of ,god1 as dear children2 and walk in love40 #ad3a 1 from 1 to turn4 ,our phrase turn of mind virtually denotes a change1 i4 e4 a direction of mind not native or normal4 #ad3b 1 habit4 ,habits are not native1 but always imply a change from a previous state in which they had not begun to be4 #ad3c ,a man in the upper part of his body2 in the lower1 a dragon4 #ad3d ,gelon first obtained the sovereignty of ,gela in ,sicily1 by setting aside the minor sons of the late king1 of whom he had been appointed guardian4 ,he subsequently availed himself of dissensions in ,syracuse1 to obtain the sovereignty of that city1 which rose to great prosperity and wealth under his reign4 #ad3e ,hieron was the brother and successor of ,gelon1 who left an infant son4 ,some accounts say that he assumed the sovereignty in his nephew's name1 and retained it as in his own right4 ,he was tyrannical in his rule1 but was successful in war1 and was distinguished for his patronage of literature and of learned men4 ,aeschylus and ,pindar were among his invited and permanent guests4 #ae3a ,peisistratus obtained supreme power in ,athens no less than three times1 and always by intrigue and violence4 ,but his administration was wise and beneficent4 ,he enriched ,athens with several of the most costly and tasteful public edifices4 ,he was a liberal patron of letters4 ,he settled the poor of the city in the outlying districts of ,attica1 and laid the foundation for the agricultural prosperity of the state4 #ae3b ,this treaty could have had only a temporary effect2 for at a subsequent period we read of two hundred children being burned at the shrine of ,cronus in ,carthage1 as a propitiatory sacrifice when a successor of ,gelon appeared in arms before the city4 ,in the ,hebrew ,scriptures we learn that this particular form of human sacrifice was largely practised by the ,canaanites1--the stock of which the ,phoenicians who settled ,carthage were an offshoot4 #ae3c ,lydiades rose from an obscure condition to a despotic sovereignty over ,megalopolis1 and probably with little scruple as to the means of elevation2 but1 becoming convinced that it was for the interest of the city to join the ,achaean league as a free state1 he abdicated the crown1 and was chosen commander of the forces of the republic thus constituted4 ,he died in battle4 #af3a ,we are reminded here of the stanza in ,byron's song3-- 8,the tyrant of the ,chersonese ,was freedom's best and bravest friend2 ,that tyrant was ,miltiades4 ,o that the present hour might send ,another despot of the kind6 ,such chains as his were sure to bind40 #af3b ,elpinice1 whose first husband was ,cimon1 was his father's daughter2 but they had different mothers4 ,in the earlier ages1 for obvious reasons1 kindred was reckoned only on the mother's side1 and the intermarriage of the children of the same father and different mothers was legal1 and not unusual4 ,we find traces of the lawfulness of such marriages in ,hebrew history as late as the time of ,david4 ,cimon's marriage was probably lawful2 but public sentiment had then advanced so far as to render such a union discreditable1 if not absolutely infamous4 ,it is worthy of remark here that the ,greek names for brother and sister1 and 1 in their derivation and original use denote a relation on the mother's side alone4 #af3c ,the stories that have come down to us of the riotous living1 recklessness1 and debauchery of ,themistocles as a young man almost transcend belief4 ,it is related of him that he was once drawn in a carriage through the thronged market-place by four shameless women harnessed like horses4 #ag3a 1 ,artemisium4 ,the first naval battle between the ,grecian forces and ,xerxes was fought off ,artemisium4 ,themistocles commanded the ,athenian portion of the fleet1 and the splendid victory was ascribed1 in great part1 to his skill and prowess4 #ag3b ,from ,pindar1--commemorative of this battle4 #ah3a ,before ,dionysius the elder obtained the undisputed sovereignty of ,syracuse1 ,sicily had been devastated by the ,carthaginians1 and several of its chief cities destroyed4 ,in the first year of his reign1 the ,carthaginian general1 after a successful campaign1 offered him terms of peace1 solely because his own army had suffered severely from pestilence4 ,but in subsequent wars ,dionysius repeatedly defeated the ,carthaginians1 and1 whatever his demerits1 he raised his kingdom to a high degree of prosperity1 and rendered it attractive to the emigrants whom the over-peopled ,greek cities were constantly sending to every region where ,greek enterprise1 genius1 and skill could hope for recognition and reward4 #ai3a ,periander was the tyrant of ,corinth in the seventh century before ,christ4 ,his history is obscure2 but the traditions with regard to him relate many acts of violence and cruelty1 and also very great misfortunes1 and his domestic life was overshadowed equally by crime and by misery4 ,the three places named in this sentence were early ,corinthian colonies1 and they may have been settled by ,periander's enterprise1 or may have been places of refuge from his caprice and oppression4 #ai3b ,the island of ,leucadia was a peninsula in ,homer's time1 and was probably still so when the ,corinthian colony was established4 #ai3c ,alexander destroyed ,thebes2 twenty years afterward ,cassander rebuilt it4 ,plutarch very probably refers to the tradition that ,cassander poisoned ,alexander4 ,not that he was free from other undoubted crimes2 for his whole life was marked by sporadic acts of violence4 ,he cannot be said to have received any specific punishment2 but he was kept in perpetual harassment by the quarrels among the successors of ,alexander4 #ai3d ,that is1 this temple of ,delphi1 the scene of the dialogue4 #bj3a ,in the ,phocian war two ,phocian leaders with their associates seized the treasure deposited in the temple at ,delphi1 and used it to hire foreign mercenaries4 ,those concerned in the robbery were wandering as outlaws in ,peloponnesus1 when ,timoleon enlisted them for service in ,sicily against the ,carthaginians4 ,they contributed largely to his success2 but after their dispersion most of them encountered such disasters as were regarded as the normal penalty of sacrilege4 #bj3b ,so little is really known about ,phalaris that he is almost a mythical personage4 ,his name1 however1 will always remain associated with his brazen bull1 and his trying his first experiment with it by roasting in it its inventor1 who certainly best deserved the doom4 #bj3c ,the readers of ,roman history may doubt the medicinal virtue of ,marius1 who certainly served as a seton on the body politic4 #ba3a ,history throws no light on this specific crime2 but the ,sicyonians had the reputation of being a licentious and otherwise vicious people4 ,the curative process under ,orthagoras and the dynasty that he founded lasted a full century4 #ba3b ,of ,cleonae we know very little except that it was1 and now is not4 ,near its site is a hamlet of half a dozen houses that bears the name of ,clenes4 ,nemea1 where the ,nemean games were held1 was in its territory4 #ba3c ,one of his maternal ancestors had been cursed1 and banished from ,athens1 a century and a half before his birth1 for an insurrectionary enterprise4 #ba3d ,he was killed by lightning1 which the people regarded as a retributive bolt from heaven4 ,he deserved hatred1 ,cicero says1 for his cruelty1 treachery1 and avarice4 #bb3a ,one tradition makes ,odysseus the son of ,sisyphus1 and only the step-son of ,laertes1 who1 however1 married ,anticleia before her son was born4 ,autolycus was the father of ,anticleia1 and it was he that stole the cattle of ,iphitus4 #bb3b ,aesculapius in ,grecian fable was the son of ,apollo by ,coronis1 the daughter of ,phlegyas1 who1 in what might seem righteous indignation against the wanton god1 set fire to his ,delphian temple1 having of course first ravaged it4 #bc3a ,dion obtained supreme power in ,syracuse1 though not the title of ,king1 on the expulsion of ,dionysius the younger4 ,callippus1 his professed friend1 was the leader of the band of malcontents that killed ,dion1 although he did not kill him with his own hand1 perhaps shrinking from the act of murder on account of an oath which1 when under suspicion1 he had sworn at the altar of ,persephone1 that he would remain faithful to his friend4 ,his aim was the place which ,dion had held4 ,it was his but a little while1 and then1 after a series of misfortunes and wanderings1 he was killed at ,rhegium with the same weapon that had been employed in the murder of ,dion4 #bc3b ,eriphyle received a golden necklace as a reward for betraying her husband ,amphiaraus1 who secreted himself to avoid going to the ,theban war in which it was predicted that he should perish4 ,his son ,alcmaeon avenged his father by killing his mother1 and then made of the necklace a sacred deposit in the temple at ,delphi4 ,aristo was the commander of one of the bands of mercenaries hired by the pillage of the temple4 #bc3c ,the ,phocian leaders who committed this sacrilege4 #bc3d ,in this temple4 #bd3a ,the ,spanish fly1 which was used for medicinal purposes in very early times1 as it is now4 #be3a ,such spectacles--never1 so far as we know1 witnessed in ,greece--were not uncommon in ,rome4 ,christians were thus exhibited and murdered on the stage in the sight of admiring and applauding multitudes2 and we have no reason to doubt that other reputed malefactors were similarly dealt with4 ,this treatise may have been written after ,plutarch had been in ,rome2 at any rate1 ,roman customs were well known throughout the empire4 #bg3a ,agamemnon1 the husband of ,clytemnestra1 whom she murdered on his return from ,troy1 was the son of ,pleisthenes4 ,stesichorus wrote a tragedy entitled ,orestes1 from which1 undoubtedly1 these verses are taken4 #bh3a ,apollodorus1 king of the small state of ,cassandreia1 was regarded as having been unsurpassed in tyranny1 cruelty1 and debauchery4 ,the mention of his daughters in this vision makes it probable that he was guilty of some horrible outrage of violence or lust of which they were the victims4 #bh3b ,the crime or type of depravity of which ,hipparchus was guilty can be inferred only from the vision here reported4 #bh3c ,ptolemy ,ceraunus was the eldest son of ,ptolemy ,soter2 but1 on account of his violent passions and moral obliquity1 his father designated a younger son as his successor4 ,ceraunus then emigrated to ,macedonia1 became intimate with ,seleucus1 murdered him treacherously1 and himself assumed the sovereignty2 but in less than a year he was defeated by the ,gauls who then first invaded that region1 was taken prisoner1 and was put to death with the utmost barbarity4 #bh3d ,plutarch tells this story with fuller details in his life of ,cimon4 ,the ,pausanias referred to is the ,spartan viceroy and general of that name4 ,byzantium1 which had been a stronghold of the ,persians1 was held by the ,lacedaemonians1 under ,pausanias1 at the time of the retreat of the ,ten ,thousand4 #bi3a ,the rites differ2 but the belief in necromancy has undergone no essential change from the days of the witch of ,endor to the present time1 and there have probably been in every age1 as now1 ceremonies which have brought credulous men and women into imagined communion with departed spirits4 ,the history of necromancy shows many resemblances1 and still more analogies1 in different countries1 ages1 and degrees of culture4 #cj3a ,one of ,alexander's generals1 and after ,alexander's death king of ,thrace4 #cj3b ,simonides is said to have been the first poet who eulogized the subjects of his verse from mercenary motives4 ,as his panegyrics had great poetical merit1 and were much sought and well paid for1 yet with few expressions of gratitude1 he was wont to say that his chest of money was full1 the chest designed for thanks empty4 #ca3a ,these verses are probably from a lost tragedy of ,euripides4 ,the myths about ,ino are various1 and mutually inconsistent4 ,according to some she killed1 according to others she endeavored to kill1 the children of her husband1 ,athamas1 by a former wife4 ,still others charge her with the murder of her own son or sons4 ,she at length leaped into the sea1 and emerged a goddess1 under the name of ,leucothea1--certainly a better name in heaven than she could have borne on earth4 #cb3a ,apollodorus is said to have bound his associates in some movement for his own aggrandizement by bringing them together at a festival1 and at its close giving them evidence that they had been feeding on human victims4 #cc3a ,glaucus1 a ,lacedaemonian1 had a high reputation for integrity1 and on the ground of it received from a foreigner a deposit of a large sum of money4 ,when the owner's sons claimed the deposit1 he disclaimed all knowledge of it4 ,but a threat of the ,delphian oracle led him to make restitution afterward4 ,nevertheless the threat took effect1 and he and his whole family perished4 #cc3b ,in this section ,timon seems to cite indiscriminately the cases of delayed or protracted punishment by men which are confessedly foolish or wicked1 and alleged instances of delayed punishment on the part of the gods4 ,the gravamen of the objection is1 8,how can that be just or right for the gods to do1 which when men do they encounter either ridicule or condemnation80 #cd3a ,that ,aesop was killed by the ,delphians for the cause here stated there seems to be no doubt2 nor yet that ,idmon1 a descendant of the man of the same name who had owned and emancipated ,aesop1 received a large sum of money from the ,delphians by way of expiation for their crime1 to which they had probably in the mean time ascribed every bad harvest and every epidemic4 ,it must be remembered that1 before the rotation of crops became the habit of agriculturists1 bad harvests were very frequent1 and that1 in the absence of sanitary rules and precautions1 dangerous epidemics prevailed at short intervals in all the cities of the old world4 ,it was not unnatural that these calamities should have been regarded as retributive judgments where a gross crime had been committed4 #cd3b ,a mina was about the metallic equivalent of twenty dollars1 but of course with a much larger purchasing power4 #ce3a ,a small town in ,central ,asia1 built by the ,branchidae1 who were priests and custodians of the temple of ,apollo ,didymeus in an ,ionian city bearing their name1 near ,miletus4 ,the temple was burned by ,darius1 was rebuilt1 and was burned again by ,xerxes1 on his retreat from ,greece4 ,the priests surrendered the treasures under their charge to ,xerxes1 followed him in his flight to escape punishment for sacrilege1 and built the town which ,alexander destroyed4 ,his alleged motive for his cruel treatment of the ,branchidae was revenge for the sacrilege and treason of their ancestors4 #cf3a ,it was at ,scheria1 according to ,homer1 that ,odysseus was kindly received by ,nausicaa1 entertained sumptuously by ,king ,alcinous1 her father1 and provided with the ship on board of which he reached ,ithaca4 ,the inhabitants of ,corcyra maintained that their island was the ,homeric ,scheria1 which very probably never existed except in the poet's brain4 #cf3b ,polyphemus4 #cf3c ,the territory of ,pheneus is so situated at the confluence of two mountain streams as to be of necessity liable to inundation4 ,there was an old canal1 said to have been constructed by ,hercules1 and designed to carry off any abnormal excess of water2 but it had early become obstructed and useless1 and ,pliny says that there had been no less than five periods when the region had been entirely devastated by the overflow of the rivers4 #cg3a ,there were three occasions on which the ,sybarites incurred the special anger of ,hera4 ,her statue was overturned in some civic commotion4 ,afterward the people of ,sybaris killed thirty members of a delegation from their neighbors of ,crotona1 and cast out their bodies to be devoured by wild beasts4 ,on this occasion1 the goddess was seen by night with an angry and threatening mien4 ,in the third place1 a slave who had taken refuge at her altar was pursued and scourged by his master1 who held his father's tomb as so much more sacred than her temple that he ceased beating the slave when he sought refuge there4 ,sybaris is known to have been twice destroyed before ,plutarch's time4 ,there may have been a third destruction of which we have no record2 but there is nothing in the text to forbid our so construing it as to leave the threat still hanging over the city1 and the third destruction still impending4 #cg3b ,the tradition was that ,ajax was guilty of an outrage on ,cassandra1 the priestess of ,athene4 ,he on his return voyage was destroyed by shipwreck1 and the ,locrians were supposed to have suffered on account of his crime visitations of pestilence and other dire calamities4 ,when they consulted the oracle1 the reply was1 that the guilt of ,ajax could be expiated only by their sending annually to ,troy1 for a thousand years1 two virgins to perform menial service in the temple of ,athene4 ,the hero1 the crime1 and the expiation are1 more probably than not1 all mythical4 #ch3a ,the ,thracian men were tattooed as well as the women1 and it was probably for both men and women a preferred mode of ornament4 #ch3b ,i can find nowhere else any reference to this observance2 but nothing is more probable than that ,phaethon's name should have been attached to some religious anniversary in the region in which he was said to have perished4 #ci3a 8,of the viands0 is an interpolation of my own4 ,at a feast a 8portion0 was 8carried off10 and ,i know not what it could have been1 if not a part of the food and wine on the table4 ,if there were none of ,pindar's posterity at hand to receive the portion1 there were undoubtedly hungry officials ready in this behalf to represent them4 #ci3b ,i suppose that the first place at a ,spartan civic festival was formally assigned to ,terpander1 long dead1 and that the most distinguished living guest was made to regard himself as second in honor4 #dj3a 4 ,plutarch is here addressing1 not ,timon alone1 but two or all three of his interlocutors4 #dj3b ,descendants of ,opheltes4 ,he came from ,thessaly to ,thebes1 and brought with him a body of armed adherents4 ,he founded a royal line in ,boeotia4 #dj3c ,delphi being in ,phocis1 the claims on the score of ,daiphantus would be availing in all processions and festivities connected with the temple service4 #dj3d ,a victory that the ,phocians under ,daiphantus had gained five hundred years before was still celebrated in ,plutarch's time4 #dj3e ,i can find elsewhere no notice of these races1 or families4 #da3a ,lachares was a demagogue who early in the third century ,b4 ,c4 obtained virtually supreme power in ,athens1 plundered the ,parthenon1 stripped the statue of ,athene of its ornaments1 committed numerous acts of high-handed tyranny1 and was finally expelled from the city on the charge of having taken measures for betraying it into the hands of ,antiochus4 #da3b ,ariston was an ,epicurean philosopher1 who raised himself to a virtual tyranny in ,athens1 but surrendered to ,sulla when he besieged the city4 #db3a 1 eryngium1 now the name of a genus containing several species of snakeroot4 #db3b ,the plague that raged in ,athens early in the ,peloponnesian war1 of which ,thucydides gives so remarkable an account4 #dc3a ,plutarch gives an early specimen of this argument in his life of ,theseus3 8,the ship wherein ,theseus and the youth of ,athens returned from ,crete was preserved by the ,athenians down even to the time of ,demetrius ,phalereus2 for they took away the old planks as they decayed1 putting new and stronger timber in their place1 insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers for the logical question1 as to things that grow2 one party holding that the ship remained the same1 and the other contending that it was not the same40 #de3a ,athens had been under the government of men who had been virtually ,cassander's viceroys4 ,the city after his death came under the rule of ,demetrius ,poliorcetes1 and it was probably by his order that the statue of ,cassander was destroyed4 #de3b ,dionysius the elder4 #de3c ,nisaeus was the son of ,dionysius the elder1 and was sovereign of ,syracuse for a short time while his brother ,dionysius the younger was in exile4 ,aelian names him in a chapter specially devoted to eminent 1 i4 e4 drunkards4 #de3d ,apollocrates was the son of ,dionysius the younger1 and grandson of the elder4 ,his father in going into exile left him in command of the citadel of ,syracuse1 which he was soon compelled to surrender4 ,he holds the third place1 as ,nisaeus the second1 in ,aelian's list of distinguished drunkards4 #de3e ,these were both sons of ,cassander4 ,philip succeeded his father as king of ,macedonia1 but died almost immediately upon his accession to the throne1 leaving probably memory of his vices1 of which ,plutarch had knowledge1 but no record of which has come down to our time4 ,antipater1 his next younger brother1 in some sort succeeded him1 first murdering his mother1 who favored the claims of her still younger son4 ,he himself was murdered before he could obtain undisturbed possession of his kingdom4 #df3a ,these obsolete modes of medical practice can now only provoke a smile2 but the argument is complete1 if we will substitute for them the treatment cited at the close of the sentence1--blood-letting for ophthalmia1 which1 if not in rule now1 was so thirty years ago4 #dh3a ,the reference in this last clause is to the opinion largely held by the ,stoics1 that the soul is not immortal1 but is destined to survive the body1 and to live till the consummation of the existing universe1 which1 after completing a cycle of many thousands of years1 will be destroyed by fire4 #dh3b ,this sentence is1 as ,i believe1 ironical4 ,some editors and translators make it interrogative2 but the grammatical construction1 as it seems to me1 is opposed to this view4 #dh3c ,this term1 as applied to vessels or shallow earth-beds1 where what is sown can only spring up and wither without coming to seed1 occurs in ,plato's ,phaedrus4 ,the very brief life and untimely end of ,adonis may perhaps account for this peculiar use of his name4 #di3a ,several hundred years ago4 ,archilochus1 the earliest ,ionian lyric poet1 flourished1 and was killed in battle1 in the seventh century ,b4 ,c4 ,this entire passage may be regarded as an argumentum de concessis1 and as such it is perfectly legitimate4 ,the inspiration of the ,delphian oracle and priestess was believed in by many of those for whom ,plutarch wrote2 and to them he said1 8,can you believe that all these oracular utterances about expiations for the dead and posthumous honors to be paid to them have had reference to beings that ceased to exist when they ceased to breathe80 #ej3a ,or1 8the home of the grasshopper02 for tettix 77 means grasshopper4 ,the oracle1 as usual1 was ambiguous4 ,calondas1 alias ,corax1 is represented as not understanding it at first1 but finding out afterward that a ,cretan named ,tettix had settled at ,taenarus1 or ,taenarum1 he inferred that his home was designated by the oracle4 #ej3b ,this place was on the southernmost cape of ,greece1 now ,cape ,matapan4 ,the peninsula which forms this cape had a famous temple of ,poseidon1 was sacred to the infernal gods1 and was the site of an avenue1 through a cave1 to and from the infernal regions1--the avenue by which ,hercules dragged ,cerberus to the light of day4 #ej3c ,pausanias1 the ,spartan1 after a career of mingled glory and shame1 being detected in treasonable intrigues1 took refuge in the temple of ,athene4 ,when he was nearly exhausted by hunger the ,ephori dragged him out of the temple1 and he died at its threshold4 ,for their sacrilege the ,delphian oracle ordered that he should be re-interred on the spot where he died1 and that two brazen statues should be erected in honor of the goddess in her temple at the public charge4 ,very naturally1 his ghost was supposed to haunt the sacred enclosure whence he had been taken to die4 ,see p4 #bh1 n4 #d4 #ea3a ,the clause1 8than there is that they should be fully rendered in this life10 has nothing in the original to correspond to it2 but it is necessary in order to convey the obvious meaning of the sentence4 #eb3a ,probably1 as it seems to me1 not ,bion the poet1 but a philosopher of that name1--a man of infamous character1 an atheist in his professed belief1 and remarkable for pithy and epigrammatic sayings1 full of bitter humor and biting sarcasm1 some of which are still extant4 ,horace speaks of those who find pleasure in ,bioneis sermonibus et sale nigro4 #ed3a ,or1 8,is not ,god wiser than ,hesiod80 ,with this interrogative construction1 which the sentence will bear1 the sense is1--8,hesiod teaches the hereditary transmission of character as a fact2 ,god1 still more1 traces these inherited traits before they appear to human view40 ,according to the rendering that ,i have given1 the sense is1--8,the transmission of character from father to son is recognized not only by ,god in his providence1 but equally by wise men1 as1 for instance1 by ,hesiod40 #eg3a ,demetrius ,poliorcetes1 king of ,macedonia1 who was guilty of great crimes1 and in a not over-virtuous age was distinguished for unbounded licentiousness4 ,he died in captivity1 having surrendered to ,seleucus1 king of ,syria1 after expulsion from his own kingdom and a series of consequent disasters4 ,antigonus1 his son1 was a man of eminent virtue1 had a diversified1 but on the whole a prosperous career1 and died at the age of eighty1 after a reign of nearly half a century4 #eg3b ,augeas1 having made a contract with ,hercules by which a tenth part of his cattle were to be the price for cleansing his stables in a day1 refused to pay the price2 and ,hercules waged with him a war in which he and all his sons but ,phyleus perished4 ,hercules placed ,phyleus on his father's throne1 as king of the ,epeians in ,elis4 ,the father's story is1 of course1 mythical1 and the son hardly falls within the domain of authentic history4 #eg3c ,the chief offence charged in ,grecian myth against ,neleus was his refusing to perform expiatory rites for ,hercules after he had killed ,iphitus1 whose father was the friend of ,neleus4 ,hercules1 according to some traditions1 made war on ,pylos1 the kingdom of ,neleus1 and killed him1 with all his sons except ,nestor4 #eh3a ,sparti1 from 1 the sown men1 i4 e4 the armed men that sprang from the teeth of the dragon sown by ,cadmus1 from whom the oldest families in ,thebes--a large part of the ,boeotian aristocracy--were said to have descended4 ,something like this mythical birthmark had probably made its appearance on the body of a member of one of these ancient families4 ,nisibis was a ,syrian city with an extensive commerce1 with many ,greek1 and probably some ,boeotian immigrants4 #eh3b ,it may be that1 in cases where the inheritance of a morbid physical constitution1 or of proclivity to moral evil1 seems to lapse in the first generation and to reappear in the second1 the children of the diseased or depraved father have the physical or moral traits of their father1 but are made and kept vigilant and faithful in self-care and self-discipline by the memory of their father's infirmities or sins2 while their children have the inheritance without the warning4 #ei3a ,if ,plutarch made this story1 as he probably did1 it was undoubtedly suggested by the story1 unlike in its details1 yet with not dissimilar purpose1 which ,plato tells of ,er1 the ,pamphilian1 in the tenth book of ,the ,republic4 #ei3b ,soli was a considerable city in ,cilicia4 #ei3c ' 1 after us1 is the reading in all the manuscripts and older editions2 ' 1 with us1 is a conjectural emendation which the sense seems to require4 #fj3a ,amphilochus was one of the heroes of the ,trojan war4 ,he was the son of a seer1 and was believed to be endowed with the gift of prophecy4 ,the oracle bearing his name at ,mallos in ,cilicia was said to have been founded by him1 and it had a wider and more enduring reputation for veracity than any other ancient oracle4 #fj3b 4 ,the question related to his property1--to his means of comfortable living4 ,i therefore use in translating it the familiar colloquialism1 better off4 ,the answer has a moral significance4 is an ambiguous word1--applicable equally to condition and to character4 #fj3c 8,thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy10 was sound ethical doctrine1 equally with ,gentile and with ,jew1 until men saw in the divine humanity of ,jesus ,christ the qualities of character which had been most despised1 transfigured and glorified4 #fb3a ,thespesius means divine4 #fc3a ,plutarch 7,greek ,questions1 #ci7 writes3 8,the ,pythagoreans say that the souls of the dead neither give a shadow nor wink40 #fc3b 4 ,this mythical parentage may account for the name of ,adrasteia1 which is probably derived from 1 to escape1 with the privative1 and thus means unescapable4 #fd3a ,punishment4 #fd3b ,justice4 #fd3c ,one of the ,erinnyes1 or ,furies4 ,there are different myths as to their number1 though there were commonly said to be three4 ,their name is probably derived from 1 to be in a rage4 ,they were in ,grecian fable the type of implacable anger and unrelenting vengeance4 #fd3d ,plutarch in his ,apophthegms1 says of ,artaxerxes ,longimanus1 who was not an unwise1 but an over-indulgent king3 8,he first ordained as a punishment for his nobles who had offended1 that they should be stripped and their garments scourged instead of their bodies2 and whereas their hair should have been plucked out1 that the same should be done to their turbans40 ,we do not learn that his example was followed by any of his successors1 or that he employed this method as to criminals in general4 ,but the illustration is a happy one4 #fe3a ,in these forms of punishment1 it is the soul's clothes1 i4 e4 the body1 not the soul itself1 that is punished4 #ff3a ,the body of a brute4 #fg3a ,there were in ,naxos1 on ,parnassus1 and elsewhere various caves dedicated to ,bacchus1 i4 e4 to mirth and jollity2 and the mouths of these caves were1 of course1 decked with all of verdure and bloom that could make them charming and attractive4 #fg3b ,dionysus as the son of ,zeus had a right to leave the abode of the dead1 and to claim his seat on ,olympus4 ,his mother ,semele1 being a mortal woman1 had no such right2 but he rescued her from the dead1 and bore her to ,olympus1 where she became a goddess under the name of ,thyone4 #fh3a ,oblivion4 #fh3b 4 ,according to this derivation comes from 1 the earth1 and 1 to incline toward1--a fanciful derivation1 the genuineness of which there is good reason to doubt4 #fi3a ,themis preceded ,apollo as the inspirer of the ,delphian oracle4 #fi3b ,the ancients imagined1 as we easily may1 something like the outlines of a human face in the disk of the moon1 and among their myths1 or rather poetical fancies1 was this of a ,sibyl revolving with the moon1 and singing1 as she rides across the firmament1 the fate of men and nations4 #gj3a ,the great eruption of ,a4 ,d4 #gi4 #gj3b ,the earlier name of ,puteoli4 #gj3c ,vespasian1 who died in ,a4 ,d4 #gi4 #gc3a ,nero's matricide is here referred to4 ,plutarch1 no doubt1 had in his mind some then well-known figure or description in a poem of ,pindar now lost4 #gc3b ,some interpreters suppose that this creature is a swan4 ,i have no doubt that it is a frog4 ,even had not the empire passed entirely out of the possible reach of the ,caesars1 ,i do not believe that ,plutarch would have shown any tenderness to ,nero's memory1 and certainly there was no conceivable motive for it under the reign of ,titus or ,domitian4 ,there is a fine satire in this final destiny of ,nero4 ,he has been horribly punished1 and has been tortured into the likeness of the reptile regarded by the ancients as the only matricide in their zology2 and now for the one good act of his reign a little mercy is shown him4 ,he had prided himself and annoyed his subjects as a singer1 and now he is transformed into the singer that is a perpetual annoyance to all dwellers near swamps and ponds4 #gd3a ,he freed the province of ,achaia from taxes1 and endowed it with certain political rights and privileges4 ,vespasian restored the province to its previous condition4 ,,index4 ,adrasteia1 presiding over the punishment of disembodied souls1 #fc4 ,aesculapius1 sprung from a vicious stock1 #bb4 ,aesop1 murder of1 #cd4 ,ajax1 crime of1 #cg n4 ,alexander1 revenge of1 on the ,branchidae for the guilt of their ancestors1 #ce4 ,amphilochus1 oracle of1 #fj n4 ,apollodorus1 the prey of terrific visions1 #bh4 serving a cannibal feast to his associates in crime1 #cb4 ,archytas1 forbearance of1 #ab4 ,aristo1 punished for sacrilege1 #bc4 ,aristocrates1 treachery of1 #d4 ,artaxerxes ,longimanus1 penal discipline of1 #fd n4 ,bessus1 the parricide1 betraying his crime from remorse1 #bd4 ,bion1 the philosopher1 cavils of1 at the reality of inherited punishment1 #eb4 character of1 #eb n4 ,brasidas1 death of1 #b4 ,callippus1 killed by the dagger with which he had procured ,dion's death1 #bb4 ,calondas1 expiating the slaughter of ,archilochus1 #di4 ,cassander1 not punished till he had restored ,thebes1 #g4 ,character1 hereditary1 #dd4 ,children1 inheriting the rewards and punishments due to their fathers1 #ci4 ,cimon1 infamy and fame of1 #af4 ,dionysius1 left unpunished for the good that he might do1 #ah4 ,forbearance1 the ,divine1 affording space for repentance1 #ac4 ,gelon1 reformation of1 #ad4 ,glaucus1 fraud and punishment of1 #cb4 ,god1 in his slowness to punish1 an example to man1 #aa4 ,hereditary transmission of punishment no more mysterious than transitions in space1 #db4 ,heritage of moral qualities lapsing in the first1 and reappearing in some subsequent generation1 #eh4 ,hieron1 reformation of1 #ad4 ,hipparchus1 punishment of1 anticipated in vision1 #bh4 ,immortality1 made probable by ,god's retributive providence1 #dh4 ,laws1 human1 often unintelligible1 #i4 ,lethe1 cavern of1 #fg4 ,lyciscus1 treachery of1 #e4 ,lydiades1 a tyrant1 and afterward a patriot1 #ae4 ,miltiades1 a tyrant1 yet a patriot1 #af4 ,mitius1 the murderer of1 punished1 #bc4 ,municipal life and character1 continuous1 #dc4 ,nero1 doom of1 #gc4 ,odysseus1 redeemed by his own virtues from the curse resting on his father1 #bb4 ,pausanias1 haunted by the apparition of a victim of his lust and cruelty1 #bi4 haunting the temple near which he died1 #ej4 ,peisistratus1 a usurper1 yet a beneficent ruler1 #ae4 ,periander1 punishment of1 deferred that he might first render service1 #ag4 ,pericles1 of an accursed and infamous race1 #bh4 ,plato1 quoted as making ,god an example to man1 #aj4 forbearance of1 #ab4 ,plutarch1 birthplace and residence of1 vii4 education of1 viii4 family of1 ix4 philosophy of1 x4 theology of1 xi4 ethics of1 xii4 relation of1 to ,christianity1 xiv4 8,lives0 of1 xvii4 8,moralia0 of1 xx4 letter of1 to his wife on the death of their child1 xxii4 8,apophthegms0 of1 xxv4 treatise of1 on the ,delay of the ,divine ,justice1 xxvi4 ,pompey the ,great1 son of a worthless father1 #ba4 ,providence1 the ,divine1 beyond man's full comprehension1 #h4 ,ptolemy ,ceraunus1 punishment of1 foretold in dreams1 #bh4 ,punishment1 alleged to be not recognized as such1 when delayed1 #f4 for the children of bad men1 preceding and preventing guilt1 #ee4 ,sibyl in the moon1 predictions of1 #fi4 ,sicyon1 the people of1 punished for wantonness and cruelty1 #ba4 ,slowness of retribution1 alleged to be disheartening to those who suffer wrong1 #c4 ,souls cast no shadow1 #fc4 ,sybaris destroyed for the guilt of its inhabitants1 #cg4 ,themistocles1 early profligacy and subsequent public services of1 #af4 ,thespesius1 story of1 #ei4 ,transformation of men into beasts1 #ga4 ,wicked men1 preserved for services that they may render1 #ah4 employed by ,god as executioners before their own destruction1 #bj4 punished not late1 but long1 #bd4 punished most severely of all in their children1 #ea4 ,university ,press3 ,john ,wilson ,son1 ,cambridge4 ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,in the ,synopsis1 the first numbered paragraph on each page was preceded by a section symbol in the original4 ,only the first section symbol has been retained4 ,variations in spelling and hyphenation remain as in the original4 ,the following corrections have been made to the original text3 ,page xxix3 equally the postulateoriginal has 8postulete0 of the unsophisticated reason ,page #f3 they place it to the account of misfortuneoriginal has 8misforfune0 #d3c scene of the story was probablyoriginal has 8propably0 ,orchomenus #eg3c ,hercules1 accordingoriginal has 8accerding0 to some traditions