The Teaching of Epictetus Part 23

But this metaphysical division of man's nature into a spiritual part and a material part would have been wholly contrary to Stoic teaching, which admitted no existence that was not material. As a matter of fact, if any of the terms in this enumeration is to be understood as meaning soul or spirit, it will be fire rather than air.

3. G.o.ds and Powers.-?e?? ?a? ?a?????.

CHAPTER X.

1. _To strangle lions or embrace statues._-Hercules did the former, and ostentatious philosophers sometimes did the latter in winter-time, by way of showing their power of endurance.

2. _The stamp of Nero._-I believe there is no other record than this of any rejection of Nero's coins, and those which have come down to us are of perfectly good quality. He was declared a public enemy by the Senate, and possibly it was decreed at the same time that his coins should be withdrawn from circulation. Dion, quoted by Wise (_apud_ Schweighauser), reports that this was done in the case of Caligula, after the death of that tyrant.

3. _Lions at home, but in Ephesus foxes._-"A proverb about the Spartans, who were defeated in Asia," notes the Scholiast on Aristoph.

Pac., 1188-90.

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER II.

1. _Nor can I move without thy knowledge._-From Homer, _Il._ x. 279, 280, Odysseus to Athene.

2. _The Genius of each man._-t?? ???st?? ?a???a.

Chapter III.

1. _A way wherein to walk._-Literally, the power of using a way. It seems to me likely that this term, way-?d??, here signifies the Stoic philosophy, just as in the early Church it was used to signify Christianity (_e. g._, _Acts_ xxii. 4, and xix. 9, 23).

CHAPTER IV.

1. _Nor have any object in themselves._-Readers of Lotze will be reminded of the term Fursichseinheit, used by him to denote the self-centered quality of true Being. The Greek here is ??? ??t?

p??????e?a, p??????e?a, being the word used in Bk. I. viii. 13, and Bk. III. v. 5, for the leading objects or obligations of man.

2. _Would that I had you with me!_-In Long's translation the p.r.o.noun _you_ is explained to mean G.o.d. I can see no reason for this interpretation. The words are, I think, supposed to be uttered by a disciple to his master: they are such as Epictetus may have heard from many of his own disciples as they left him to take their part in the world of action.

3. _Cautious a.s.sent_-_i. e._, caution in allowing oneself to entertain the impressions of appearances.

CHAPTER V.

1. The strong and growing yearning for some direct, personal revelation of G.o.d, some supernatural manifestation of His existence and care for men, is noted by Zeller as a special trait of h.e.l.lenistic times. Such a revelation must have been longed for by many as the only satisfying answer to the destructive logic of the Pyrrhonists, and men's minds were also of course led that way by the insistence of the Stoic thinkers upon the communion of the individual with G.o.d, as the most important of all possible relations. Hence the growth of many wild and orgiastic cults at this epoch-all based on the state of ecstasy connected with their rites, which was ascribed to supernatural influence. With the Stoics this movement took the comparatively sober shape of attention to the established system of oracular divination. Zeller, however, shows that some Stoics were disposed to rationalize the revelations of the oracles by supposing a certain sympathy between the mind of the seer and the future events which led to the unconscious selection of means of divination which would exhibit the proper signs.-(Z. 339, 340.) Epictetus evidently thought more of G.o.d's revelation in the conscience than any other.

2. The story is told by Simplicius in his commentary on this chapter.

Two friends, journeying together to inquire of the oracle at Delphi, were set upon by robbers; one of them resisted, and was murdered, the other either fled or made no effort on his companion's behalf. Arriving at the temple of Apollo, he was greeted with the following deliverance of the oracle:-

"Thou saw'st thy friend all undefended die- Foul with that sin, from Phbus' temple fly."

BOOK V.

CHAPTER I.

1. Simplicius explains that the oath was to be refused, because to call G.o.d to witness in any merely personal and earthly interest implies a want of reverence towards Him; but that if there were a question of pledging one's faith on behalf of friends, or parents, or country, it was not improper to add the confirmation of an oath.

2. Upton quotes allusions to these recitations from Juvenal, Martial, and Pliny. Authors would read their own works and invite crowds of flatterers to attend. Epict. _Diss._ iii. 23. (Schweighauser) is a scornful diatribe against the pretentious people who held forth on these occasions, and the people who a.s.sembled to hear and applaud them. He contrasts with fas.h.i.+onable reciters and lecturers his own master, Rufus.

"Rufus was wont to say, _I speak to no purpose, if ye have time to praise me_. And, verily, he spoke in such a way that every man who sat there thought that some one had accused him to Rufus, he so handled all that was going on, he so set before each man's eyes his faults."

3. Into vulgarity-??? ?d??t?s??.

CHAPTER II.

1. The sophism, or puzzle, called the Liar, ran thus:-A liar says he lies: if it is true, he is no liar; and if he lies, he is speaking truth. The Quiescent (? ?s??????) was an invention attributed by Cicero to Chrysippus (Acad. ii. 29). When asked of a gradually-increasing number of things to say when they ceased to be few and became many, he was wont to cease replying, or be "quiescent," shortly before the limit was reached-a device which we have some difficulty in regarding as a fair example of Chrysippus's contributions to the science of logic. For the master sophism see Bk. II. chap. i., _note_ 1.

2. Plato, _Laws_, ix.:-"When any of such opinions visit thee, go to the purifying sacrifices, go and pray in the temples of the protecting G.o.ds, go to the society of men whom thou hast heard of as good; and now hear from others, now say for thine own part, that it behooves every man to hold in regard the things that are honorable and righteous. But from the company of evil men, fly without a look behind. And if in doing these things thy disease give ground, well; but if not, hold death the better choice, and depart from life."

3. _The true athlete._-Literally, ascetic, ?s??t??; _i. e._, practicer.

4. The Dioscuri, or Twins, Castor and Pollux, were the patron deities of sailors.

CHAPTER VI.

1. _If viewed disjunctively._-That is, if we say, It is day, or, It is night. This is a difficult chapter, and full of corruptions. The feast alluded to is, doubtless, the feast of life, where the G.o.ds are the hosts.

CHAPTER VII.

1. _Winter training._-Such as the Roman troops underwent when in winter-quarters. They were accustomed to exercise themselves with arms of double the normal weight, and prepare themselves by marching, running, leaping, etc., for active service.

CHAPTER XII.

1. The Pancratium was a contest in which boxing and wrestling were both allowable. For the Pentathlon, see Bk. II. chap, xvii., _note_ 3.

CHAPTER XVI.

1. This means, apparently, that the judgment has no right to do more than endorse the deliverances of the perceptive faculty. If a man commits any error, he does it under the conviction that it is in some way for his profit or satisfaction; that is, that there is something of the nature of the Good in it. He may be mistaken in this; but so long as he does not know where Good and Evil really lie, he can do no other than he does. The true course, then, for the philosopher is not to condemn him for his actions, but to show him the fundamental error from which they proceed. The expression, "a.s.sent," s???atat??es?a?, is that used by Epictetus in II. vi., etc., where he speaks of the mind as being imposed on, or taken captive, by the outward shows of things.

CHAPTER XX.

1. The Greek is ?pe?d? ????? ?st?? ? d?a????? ?a? ??e??a??e??? t?

???p?. d?a????? means, literally, to fas.h.i.+on with joints, hence const.i.tute organically, with interdependence of parts. Long translates "a.n.a.lyze."

2. _Modius._-A measure of about two gallons.