ULYSSES. All these things, Circe, I believe that I have learned and well remember. But I would willingly ask thee, whether thou hast any Grecians here, which being men thou hast transformed into wolves and lions.
Ὀδυσσεύς. ταῦτα μέν, ὦ Κίρκη, μεμαθηκέναι δοκῶ καὶ διαμνημονεύσειν· ἡδέως δʼ ἄν σου πυθοίμην, εἴ τινας ἔχεις Ἕλληνας ἐν τούτοις, οὓς λύκους καὶ λέοντας ἐξ ἀνθρώπων πεποίηκας.
CIRCE. Very many, dearest Ulysses, but wherefore do you ask the question?
ΚΙΡΚΗ. καὶ πολλούς, ὦ ποθούμενʼ Ὀδυσσεῦ. πρὸς τί δὲ τοῦτο ἐρωτᾷς;
ULYSSES. Because in good truth I am of opinion I should gain a high reputation among the Greeks, if by thy favor I could restore these men to human shape again, and not suffer them through any negligence of mine to wax old in the bodies of beasts, where they lead a miserable and ignominious life.
ΟΔ. ὅτι νὴ Δία καλὴν ἄν μοι δοκῶ γενέσθαι φιλοτιμίαν πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας, εἰ χάριτι σῇ λαβὼν τούτους, αὖθις εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἑταίρους ἀνασώσαιμι καὶ μὴ περιίδοιμι καταγηράσαντας παρὰ φύσιν ἐν σώμασι θηρίων, οἰκτρὰν καὶ ἄτιμον οὕτω δίαιταν ἔχοντας.
CIRCE. Surely, this man, fool as he is, believes it requisite that his ambition should be unfortunate not only to himself and his friends, but to those that nothing belong to him.
ΚΙΡ. οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ οὐχ αὑτῷ μόνον οὐδὲ τοῖς ἑταίροις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μηδὲν προσήκουσιν οἴεται δεῖν ὑπʼ ἀβελτερίας συμφορὰν γενέσθαι τὴν αὑτοῦ φιλοτιμίαν.
ULYSSES. Thou art now jumbling and mixing another villanous potion of twittle twattle, and wouldst plainly turn me into a beast too, if thou couldst make me believe that it were a misfortune to be transformed from a beast to a man.
ΟΔ. ἕτερον αὖ τινα τοῦτον, ὦ Κίρκη, κυκεῶνα 20 λόγων ταράττεις καὶ ὑποφαρμάττεις, ἐμὲ γοῦν ἀτεχνῶς ρατιονε δτι; ποιοῦσα θηρίον, εἰ πείσομαί σοι ὡς συμφορὰ ἐστιν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ θηρίου γενέσθαι.
CIRCE. What hast thou made thyself better than a beast, who, forsaking an immortal life, free from the miseries of old age, with me, art making such haste through a thousand threatening calamities to a mortal and (as I may say) old wife, pursuing an empty good and a shadow instead of real truth, and all this, thinking to be more conspicuous and famous than thou art.
ΚΙΡ. οὐ γὰρ ἢδη τούτων ἀτοπώτερα πεποίηκας σεαυτόν, ὃς τὸν ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀγήρων σὺν ἐμοὶ βίον ἀφεὶς ἐπὶ γυναῖκα θνητήν, ὡς δʼ ἐγώ φημι, καὶ γραῦν ἤδη διὰ μυρίων ἔτι κακῶν σπεύδεις, ὡς δὴ περίβλεπτος ἐκ τούτου καὶ ὀνομαστὸς ἔτι μᾶλλον ἢ νῦν γενησόμενος, κενὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ εἴδωλον ἀντὶ τῆς ἀληθείας διώκων;
ULYSSES. Well, Circe, let it be as thou sayest; for why should we be always contending about the same thing? However, do me the favor to restore these men, and give them into my custody.
ΟΔ. ἐχέτω ταῦτα, ὡς λέγεις, ὦ Κίρκη τί γὰρ δεῖ πολλάκις ζυγομαχεῖν ἡμᾶς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν; τούτους δέ μοι δὸς ἀναλύσασα καὶ χάρισαι τοὺς ἄνδρας.
CIRCE. By Hecate, not so fast neither; these are no ordinary fellows. But ask them first whether they are willing. If they refuse, do you, being such an eloquent gentleman, discourse them and persuade them; if you cannot persuade them, being too hard for ye at your own weapon, then let it suffice ye that you have ill consulted your own and the good of your friends.
ΚΙΡ. Οὐχ οὕτω γʼ ἁπλῶς, μὰ τὴν Ἑκάτην οὐ γὰρ οἱ τυχόντες εἰσίν· ἀλλʼ ἐροῦ πρῶτον αὐτούς, εἰ θέλουσιν ἂν δὲ μὴ φῶσι, διαλεχθείς, ὦ γενναῖε, πεῖσον· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ πείσῃς, ἀλλὰ καὶ περιγένωνται διαλεγόμενοι, ἱκανὸν ἔστω σοι περὶ σεαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν φίλων κακῶς βεβουλεῦσθαι.
ULYSSES. Blessed woman, wherefore dost thou mock me thus? For how can they either talk or hear reason, so long as they are asses, hogs, and lions?
ΟΔ. τί μου καταγελᾷς, ὦ μακαρία; πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἢ δοῖεν οὗτοι λόγον ἢ λάβοιεν, ἕως ὄνοι καὶ σύες καὶ λέοντές εἰσι;
CIRCE. Be of good comfort, most ambitious of men; I will so order the business, that they shall both understand and discourse; or rather, let one suffice to hear and return answers instead of all the rest. Look ye, here is one at hand; pray talk to him.
ΚΙΡ. Θάρρει, φιλοτιμότατʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐγώ σοι παρέξω καὶ συνιέντας αὐτοὺς καὶ διαλεγομένους· μᾶλλον δʼ εἷς ἱκανὸς ἔσται καὶ διδοὺς καὶ λαμβάνων ὑπὲρ πάντων λόγον· ἰδού, τούτῳ διαλέγου.
ULYSSES. Prithee, Circe, by what name shall we call him? Who is this fellow of all the men in the world?
ΟΔ. καὶ τίνα τοῦτον, ὦ Κίρκη, προσαγορεύσομεν; ἢ τίς ἦν οὗτος ἀνθρώπων;
CIRCE. What’s this to the purpose? Call him Gryllus, if you please; and for my part, I’ll leave ye together, that ye may not suspect him for speaking contrary to his mind to please me.
ΚΙΡ. τί γὰρ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν λόγον; ἀλλὰ καὶ κάλει αὐτόν, εἰ βούλει, Γρύλλον. ἐγὼ δʼ ἐκστήσομαι ὑμῖν, μὴ καὶ παρὰ γνώμην ἐμοὶ δοκῇ χαριζόμενος διαλέγεσθαι.
GRYLLUS. Save ye, Mr. Ulysses.
ΓΡΥΛΛΟΣ. χαῖρε, Ὀδυσσεῦ.
ULYSSES. And you too, by Jove, Mr. Gryllus.
ΟΔ. καὶ σὺ νὴ Δία, Γρύλλε.
GRYLLUS. What is’t your worship would have with me?
ΓΡ. Τί βούλει ἐρωτᾶν;
ULYSSES. Knowing you were all born men, I pity the condition ye are now in; and I pity ye the more, for that being Greeks ye are fallen under this misfortune; and therefore I made it my request to Circe that she would restore ye again to your former shape, as many of you as were desirous, to the end ye might return home again with us.
ΟΔ. ἐγὼ γινώσκων ὑμᾶς ἀνθρώπους γεγονότας οἰκτείρω μὲν ἅπαντας οὕτως ἔχοντας, εἰκὸς δέ μοι μᾶλλον διαφέρειν ὅσοι Ἕλληνες ὄντες εἰς ταύτην ἀφῖχθε τὴν δυστυχίαν νῦν οὖν ἐποιησάμην τῆς Κίρκης δέησιν, ὅπως τὸν βουλόμενον ὑμῶν ἀναλύσασα καὶ καταστήσασα πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον εἶδος ἀποπέμψῃ μεθʼ ἡμῶν.
GRYLLUS. Hold, Mr. Ulysses, not a word more of this, I beseech your worship. For we all contemn thee, as one that none but fools call cunning, and as vainly vauntest thyself to be wiser than other men, and yet art afraid of being changed from worse to better; like children that are frightened at physician’s doses and hate going to school, although the medicines and the precepts make them healthy and learned of diseased and fools; just so thou refusest to be transformed out of one thing into another. And now thy bones rattle in thy skin for dread of living with Circe, lest she should transform thee into a hog or a wolf; and thou wouldst persuade us living in plenty of all enjoyments not only to forsake these blessings, but to abandon her that has so well provided for us, to sail along with thee, and to become men again, the most miserable of all creatures.
ΓΡ. Παῦε, Ὀδυσσεῦ, καὶ περαιτέρω μηδὲν εἴπῃς ὡς καὶ σοῦ πάντες ἡμεῖς καταφρονοῦμεν, ὡς μάτην ἄρα δεινὸς ἐλέγου καὶ τῷ φρονεῖν πολὺ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἐδόκεις διαφέρειν, ὃς αὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἔδεισας, τὴν μεταβολὴν ἐκ χειρόνων εἰς ἀμείνω, μὴ σκεψάμενος· ὡς γὰρ οἱ παῖδες τὰ φάρμακα τῶν ἰατρῶν φοβοῦνται, καὶ τὰ παθήματα φεύγουσιν, ἃ μεταβάλλοντα ἐκ νοσερῶν καὶ ἀνοήτων ὑγιεινοτέρους καὶ φρονιμωτέρους ποιοῦσιν αὐτούς, οὕτω σὺ διεκρούσω τὸ ἄλλος ἐξ ἄλλου γενέσθαι, καὶ νῦν αὐτός τε φρίττων καὶ ὑποδειμαίνων τῇ Κίρκῃ σύνει, μή σε ποιήσῃ λαθοῦσα σῦν ἢ λύκον, ἡμᾶς τε πείθεις, ἐν ἀφθόνοις ζῶντας ἀγαθοῖς, ἀπολιπόντας ἅμα τούτοις τὴν ταῦτα παρασκευάζουσαν ἐκπλεῖν μετὰ σοῦ, τὸ πάντων φιλοποτμότατον ξῷον αὖθις ἀνθρώπους γενομένους.
ULYSSES. In my opinion, Gryllus, this same wicked cup has not only deprived thee of thy shape, but of thy sense and reason too; or else thou art got drunk with those opinions which are everywhere exploded as nasty and villanous, unless some voluptuous pleasure of custom and habit has bewitched thee to this body.
ΟΔ. ἐμοὶ σύ, Γρύλλε, δοκεῖς οὐ τὴν μορφὴν μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ὑπὸ τοῦ πώματος ἐκείνου διεφθάρθαι καὶ γεγονέναι μεστὸς ἀτόπων καὶ διαλελωβημένων παντάπασι δοξῶν· ἢ σέ τις αὖ συνηθείας ἡδονὴ πρὸς τόδε τὸ σῶμα καταγεγοήτευκεν;
GRYLLUS. Neither of these, O king of the Cephallenians. But if thou art come hither to dispute, and not to rail and swagger, we shall soon convince thee, having experience of both manners of living, that our way is to be preferred before that which thou so much applaudest.
ΓΡ. Οὐδέτερα τούτων, ὦ βασιλεῦ Κεφαλλήνων· ἂν δὲ διαλέγεσθαι μᾶλλον ἐθέλῃς ἢ λοιδορεῖσθαι, ταχύ σε μεταπείσομεν, ἑκατέρου τῶν βίων ἐμπείρως ἔχοντες, ὅ τι ταῦτα πρὸ ἐκείνων εἰκότως ἀγαπῶμεν πῶμεν.
ULYSSES. Nay, then go on; I’ll listen with both ears to hear this paradox discussed.
ΟΔ. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐγὼ πρόθυμος ἀκροᾶσθαι.
GRYLLUS. Have at ye then, sir. But it behooves us to begin first with those virtues which you so presumptuously assume to yourselves, and for which you so highly advance yourselves before the beasts, such as justice, prudence, fortitude, etc. Now answer me, thou the wisest among mortals; for I have heard thee telling a story to Circe of the territory of the Cyclops, that being neither ploughed nor planted by any person, it is so fertile and generously productive, that it bears all sorts of fruits and herbs spontaneously Now which do you prefer, this country, or your own goat-feeding stony Ithaca, which being cultivated with great labor and hardship, yet answers the expectations of the husbandmen with only a mean and scanty return? Now take it not amiss that I forewarn ye lest your love to your country sway ye to give an answer contrary to truth.
ΓΡ. Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοίνυν λέγειν. ἀρκτέον δὲ πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἐφʼ αἷς ὁρῶμεν ὑμᾶς μέγα φρονοῦντας, ὡς τῶν θηρίων πολὺ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ φρονήσει καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἀρεταῖς διαφέροντας. ἀπόκριναι δή μοι, σοφώτατʼ ἀνδρῶν ἤκουσα γάρ σού ποτε διηγουμένου τῇ Κίρκῃ περὶ τῆς τῶν Κυκλώπων γῆς, ὡς οὔτʼ ἀρουμένη τὸ παράπαν, οὔτε τινὸς εἰς αὐτὴν φυτεύοντος οὐδὲν, οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀγαθὴ καὶ γενναία τὴν φύσιν, ὥσθʼ ἅπαντας ἐκφέρειν τοὺς καρποὺς ἀπʼ αὐτῆς· πότερον οὖν ταύτην ἐπαινεῖς μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν αἰγίβοτον Ἰθάκην καὶ τραχεῖαν, ἣ μόλις ἀπʼ ἔργων τε πολλῶν καὶ διὰ πόνων μεγάλων μικρὰ καὶ γλίσχρα καὶ μηδενὸς ἄξια τοῖς γεωργοῦσιν ἀναδίδωσι; καὶ ὅπως οὐ χαλεπῶς οἴσεις, παρὰ τὸ φαινόμενον εὐνοίᾳ τῆς πατρίδος ἀποκρινόμενος.
ULYSSES. No, no, I will not lie for the matter; I must confess I love and honor my own country more; but I applaud and admire theirs far beyond it.
ΟΔ. ἀλλʼ οὐ δεῖ ψεύδεσθαι φιλῶ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀσπάζομαι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ πατρίδα καὶ χώραν μᾶλλον, ἐπαινῶ δὲ καὶ θαυμάζω τὴν ἐκείνων.
GRYLLUS. Hence we must conclude that it is so as the wisest of men has affirmed; that there are some things to be praised and approved, others to be preferred by choice and affection. And I suppose you believe the same concerning the soul. For the same reasons hold in reference to the soul as to the ground; that such a soul should be the best, that produces virtue like spontaneous fruit, without labor and toil.
ΓΡ. Οὐκοῦν τοῦτο μὲν οὕτως ἔχειν φήσομεν, ὡς ὁ φρονιμώτατος ἀνθρώπων ἄλλα μὲν οἴεται δεῖν ἐπαινεῖν καὶ δοκιμάζειν ἄλλα δʼ αἱρεῖσθαι καὶ ἀγαπᾶν, ἐκεῖνο δʼ οἶμαί σε καὶ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποκεκρίσθαι ταὐτὸν γάρ ἐστι τῷ περὶ τῆς χώρας, ὡς ἀμείνων ἣτις ἄνευ πόνου τὴν ἀρετὴν ὥσπερ αὐτοφυῆ καρπὸν ἀναδίδωσιν.
ULYSSES. Grant all this.
ΟΔ. ἔστω σοι καὶ τοῦθʼ οὕτως.
GRYLLUS. Then you confess that the souls of beasts are the more perfect, and more fertilely endued for the production of virtue; seeing that without any command or instruction—as it were without sowing or ploughing—it produces and increases that virtue which is requisite for every one.
ΓΡ. Ἤδη οὖν ὁμολογεῖς τὴν τῶν θηρίων ψυχὴν εὐφυεστέραν εἶναι πρὸς γένεσιν ἀρετῆς καὶ τελειοτέραν· ἀνεπίτακτος γὰρ καὶ ἀδίδακτος ὥσπερ ἄσπορος καὶ ἀνήροτος ἐκφέρει καὶ αὔξει κατὰ φύσιν τὴν ἑκάστῳ προσήκουσαν ἀρετήν.
ULYSSES. Prithee, Gryllus, don’t rave, but tell me what those virtues are that beasts partake of?
ΟΔ. καὶ τίνος ποτʼ ἀρετῆς, ὦ Γρύλλε, μέτεστι τοῖς θηρίοις;
GRYLLUS. Rather what virtues do they not partake of in a higher degree than the wisest of men? Look upon fortitude in the first place, of which you vaunt and brag to have such a terrible share, being not ashamed of the magnificent titles of Ulysses the bold and city-stormer, when indeed, like a pitiful knave as thou art, thou dost only circumvent by tricks and artifices men that understand only the simple and generous way of making war, ignorant altogether of fraud and faith-breaking, and by that means coverest thy deceit with the name of virtue, which never admits of any such coney-catching devices. But do you observe the combats and warfare of beasts, as well one against another as against yourselves, how free from craft and deceit they are, and how with an open and naked courage they defend themselves by mere strength of body; and how, neither afraid of the law that calls them forth to battle nor the severe edicts against deserters, but only out of scorn to be overcome, they fight with obstinacy to the last for conquest and victory. For they are not vanquished when their bodies are worsted, neither does despair cowardize them, but they die upon the spot. And you shall see many times that the strength of many, while they are expiring, being retired and crowded together in some part of the body, still makes resistance against the victor, and pants and fumes till at length it fails like extinguished fire that goes out for want of fuel. But there is no crying for quarter, no begging of mercy, no acknowledgment of being beaten; nor will the lion be a slave to the lion, nor the horse to the horse, as one man is a slave to another, willingly and patiently embracing servitude, which derives its name (δουλεία) from that of cowardice (δειλία). On the other side, such beasts as men by nets and treacherous snares get into their power, if fully grown, rather choose to die than serve, refusing nourishment and suffering extremity of drought. But as for their young ones,—being tractable and supple by reason of their age, and fed with the deceitful mixtures and food that men provide for them, their inbred fierceness languishing through the taste of preternatural delights,—they suffer that which is called domestication, which is only an effeminating of their natural fury. Whence it is apparent that beasts are naturally inclined to be courageous and daring, but that the martial confidence of men is preternatural. Which, most noble Ulysses, you may chiefly observe from hence; for that in beasts Nature keeps an equal balance of strength; so that the female, being but little inferior to the male, undergoes all necessary toils, and fights in defence of her young ones. And thus you hear of a certain Cromyonian sow, which, though a female, held Theseus tack, and found him work sufficient. Neither had the wisdom of that same female Sphinx that sat on Phicium, with all her riddles and enigmas, availed her, had she not far excelled the Cadmeans in strength and fortitude. Not far from whence the Telmesian fox had his den, a great propounder of questions also; not to omit the female serpent that fought with Apollo for his oracle at Delphi. Your king also took the mare Aetha from the Sicyonian, as a bribe to discharge him from going to the wars; and he did well, thereby showing how much he esteemed a valiant and generous mare above a timorous coward. You yourself have also seen female panthers and lionesses little inferior to the males in strength and courage; when your own wife, though a Lacedaemonian, when you were hectoring and blustering abroad, sat at home in the chimney-corner, not daring to do so much as the very swallows in encountering those who plagued both her and her family. Why need I still speak of the Carian and Maeonian women? Whence it is apparent that fortitude is not natural to men, for then the women would partake of the same strength with men. So that the fortitude which you exercise is only constrained by law, not natural and voluntary, but subservient to the manners of the place and enslaved to reproach, a thing made up only of glorious words and adventitious opinion. And you undergo labor and throw yourself into danger, not out of real valor and boldness, but because ye are more afraid of other things. Therefore, as among thy own companions he that first makes haste to snatch up the light oar does it not because he contemns it, but because he is loath to be troubled with the more heavy; so he that endures a blow to avoid a wound, and defends himself against an enemy to preserve himself from wounds and death, does it not out of daring courage against the one, but out of fear of the other. Thus your fortitude is only a prudent fear; and your courage a knowing timidity, which understandingly does one thing to avoid another. In short, if you believe yourselves superior to the beasts in fortitude, why do your poets call those that behave themselves most valiantly against their enemies wolf-breasted, lion-hearted, and compare them to wild boars; but never call the courage of lions man-like, or resemble the strength of a wild boar to that of a man? But as they call the swift wind-footed, and the beautiful Godlike-formed, hyperbolizing in their similes; so when they extol the gallantry of the stout in battle, they derive their comparisons from the superior in bravery. The reason is, because courage is as it were the tincture and edge of fortitude; which the beasts make use of unmixed in their combats, but in you being mixed with reason, like wine diluted with water, it gives way to danger and loses the opportunity. And some of you there are who deny that courage is requisite in battle, and therefore laying it aside make use of sober reason; which they do well for their preservation, but are shamefully beside the cushion, in point of strength and revenge. How absurd is it therefore for you to complain of Nature, because she did not furnish your bodies with goads and teeth and crooked claws to defend yourselves, when at the same time you would disarm the soul of her natural weapons?
ΓΡ. τίνος μὲν οὖν οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ σοφωτάτῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων; σκόπει δὲ πρῶτον, εἰ βούλει, τὴν ἀνδρείαν, ἐφʼ σὺ φρονεῖς μέγα καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαλύπτῃ θρασὺςκαὶ πτολίπορθοςἀποκαλούμενος, ὅστις, ὦ σχετλιώτατε, δόλοις καὶ μηχαναῖς ἀνθρώπους ἁπλοῦν καὶ γενναῖον εἰδότας πολέμου τρόπον ἀπάτης δὲ καὶ ψευδῶν ἀπείρους παρακρουσάμενος, ὄνομα τῇ πανουργίᾳ προστίθης τῆς ἀρετῆς ἥκιστα πανουργίαν προσιεμένης. ἀλλὰ τῶν γε θηρίων τοὺς πρὸς ἄλληλα καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀγῶνας ὁρᾷς ὡς ἄδολοι καὶ ἄτεχνοι καὶ μετʼ ἐμφανοῦς γυμνοῦ τε τοῦ θαρρεῖν πρὸς ἀληθινῆς ἀλκῆς ποιοῦνται τὰς ἀμύνας· καὶ οὔτε νόμου καλοῦντος οὔτʼ ἀστρατείας δεδοικότα γραφὴν ἀλλὰ φύσει φεύγοντα τὸ κρατεῖσθαι μέχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐγκαρτερεῖ καὶ διαφυλάττει τὸ ἀήττητον οὐ γὰρ ἡττᾶται κρατούμενα τοῖς σώμασιν οὔδʼ ἀπαγορεύει ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἀλλὰ ταῖς μάχαις ἐναποθνήσκει. πολλῶν δὲ θνησκόντων ἡ ἀλκὴ μετὰ τοῦ θυμοειδοῦς ἀποχωρήσασά ποι καὶ συναθροισθεῖσα περὶ ἕν τι τοῦ σώματος μόριον ἀνθίσταται τῷ κτείνοντι καὶ πηδᾷ καὶ ἀγανακτεῖ, μέχρι ἂν ὥσπερ πῦρ ἐγκατασβεσθῇ παντάπασι καὶ ἀπόληται. δέησις δʼ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδʼ οἴκτου παραίτησις οὐδʼ ἐξομολόγησις ἥττης, οὐδὲ δουλεύει λέων λέοντι καὶ ἵππος ἵππῳ διʼ ἀνανδρίαν, ὥσπερ ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ, τὴν τῆς δειλίας ἐπώνυμον εὐκόλως ἐνἀσπαζόμενος. ὅσα δʼ ἄνθρωποι πάγαις ἢ δόλοις ἐχειρώσαντο, τὰ μὲν ἤδη τέλεια καὶ τροφὴν ἀπωσάμενα καὶ πρὸς δίψαν ἐγκαρτερήσαντα τὸν πρὸ δουλείας ἐπάγεται καὶ ἀγαπᾷ θάνατον· νεοσσοῖς δὲ καὶ σκύμνοις τούτων, διʼ ἡλικίαν εὐαγώγοις καὶ ἁπαλοῖς οὖσιν, πολλὰ καὶ ἀπατηλὰ μειλίγματα καὶ ὑποπεττεύματα προσφέροντες καὶ καταφαρμάττοντες, ἡδονῶν παρὰ φύσιν γευόμενα καὶ διαίτης ἀδρανῆ χρόνῳ κατειργάσαντο, ἕως προσεδέξαντο καὶ ὑπέμειναν τὴν καλουμένην ἐξημέρωσιν ὥσπερ ἀπογυναίκωσιν τοῦ θυμοειδοῦς· οἷς δὴ μάλιστα δῆλον ὅτι τὰ θηρία πρὸς τὸ θαρρεῖν εὖ πέφυκε. τοῖς δʼ ἀνθρώποις ἡ παρρησία καὶ παρὰ φύσιν ἐστίν· ἐκεῖθεν δʼ ἄν, ὦ βέλτιστʼ Ὀδυσσεῦ, μάλιστα καταμάθοις· ἐν γὰρ τοῖς θηρίοις ἰσορροπεῖ πρὸς ἀλκὴν ἡ φύσις καὶ τὸ θῆλυ τοῦ ἄρρενος οὐδὲν ἀποδεῖ, πονεῖν τε τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις πόνους ἀγωνίζεσθαί τε τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν τέκνων ἀγῶνας. ἀλλὰ καὶ Κρομμυωνίαν τινὰ σῦν ἀκούεις, ἣ πράγματα πολλά, θῆλυ θηρίον οὖσα, τῷ Θησεῖ παρέσχε· καὶ τὴν Σφίγγα ἐκείνην οὐκ ἂν ὤνησεν ἡ σοφία περὶ τὸ Φίκιον ἄνω καθεζομένην, αἰνίγματα καὶ γρίφους πλέκουσαν, εἰ μὴ ῥώμῃ καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ πολὺ τῶν Καδμείων ἐπεκράτει. ἐπεῖ δέ που καὶ Τευμησίαν ἀλώπεκα μέρμερον χρῆμακαὶ πλησίον ὄφιν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι περὶ τοῦ χρηστηρίου μονομαχοῦσαν ἐν Δελφοῖς γενέσθαι λέγουσι. τὴν δʼ Αἴθην ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑμῶν ἔλαβε παρὰ τοῦ Σικυωνίου μισθὸν ἀστρατείας, ἄριστα βουλευσάμενος, ὃς δειλοῦ προυτίμησεν ἀνδρὸς ἵππον ἀγαθὴν καὶ φιλόνικον. αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ παρδάλεις καὶ λεαίνας πολλάκις ἑώρακας, ὡς οὐδέν τι τὰ θήλεα τοῖς ἄρρεσιν ὑφίεται θυμοῦ καὶ ἀλκῆς ὥσπερ ἡ σὴ γυνή, σοῦ πολεμοῦντος, οἴκοι κάθηται πρὸς ἐσχάρᾳ πυρός, οὐκ ἂν οὐδʼ οὖσα αἱ χελιδόνες ἀμυνομένη τοὺς ἐπʼ αὐτὴν καὶ τὸν οἶκον βαδίζοντας, καὶ ταῦτα Λάκαινα οὖσα. τί οὖν ἔτι σοι λέγω τὰς Καρίνας ἢ Μαιονίδας; ἀλλʼ ἐκ τούτων γε δῆλόν ἐστιν, ὅτι τοῖς ἀνδράσιν οὐ φύσει μέτεστι τῆς ἀνδρείας· μετῆν γὰρ ἂν ὁμοίως καὶ ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἀλκῆς. ὥσθʼ ὑμεῖς, κατὰ νόμων ἀνάγκην οὐχ ἑκούσιον οὐδὲ βουλομένην ἀλλὰ δουλεύουσαν ἔθεσι καὶ ψόγοις καὶ δόξαις ἐπήλυσι καὶ λόγοις πλαττομένην, μελετᾶτε ἀνδρείαν καὶ τοὺς πόνους ὑφίστασθε καὶ τοὺς κινδύνους, οὐ πρὸς ταῦτα θαρροῦντες ἀλλὰ τῷ ἕτερα μᾶλλον τούτων δεδιέναι. ὥσπερ οὖν τῶν σῶν ἑταίρων ὁ φθάσας πρῶτος ἐπὶ τὴν ἐλαφρὰν ἀνίσταται κώπην, οὐ καταφρονῶν ἐκείνης ἀλλὰ δεδιὼς καὶ φεύγων τὴν βαρυτέραν οὕτως ὁ πληγὴν ὑπομένων, ἵνα μὴ λάβῃ τραύματα, καὶ πρὸ αἰκίας τινὸς ἢ θανάτου πολέμιον τινα ἀμυνόμενος οὐ πρὸς ταῦτα θαρραλέος ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐκεῖνα δειλός ἐστιν. οὕτω δʼ ἀνεφάνη ὑμῖν ἡ μὲν ἀνδρεία δειλία φρόνιμος οὖσα, τὸ δὲ θάρσος φόβος ἐπιστήμην ἔχων τοῦ διʼ ἑτέρων ἕτερα φεύγειν. ὅλως δέ, εἰ πρὸς ἀνδρείαν οἴεσθε βελτίους εἶναι τῶν θηρίων, τί ποθ̓, ὑμῶν οἱ ποιηταὶ τοὺς κράτιστα τοῖς πολεμίοις μαχομένους λυκόφροναςκαὶ θυμολέονταςκαὶ συῒ εἰκέλους ἀλκήνπροσαγορεύουσιν, ἀλλʼ οὐ λέοντά τις αὐτῶν ἀνθρωπόθυμον οὐ σῦν ἀνδρὶ εἴκελον ἀλκὴνπροσαγορεύει; ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ οἶμαι τοὺς ταχεῖς ποδηνέμουςκαὶ τοὺς καλοὺς θεοειδεῖςὑπερβαλλόμενοι ταῖς εἰκόσιν ὀνομάζουσιν, οὕτω τῶν δεινῶν μάχεσθαι πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα ποιοῦνται τὰς ἀφομοιώσεις. αἴτιον δέ, ὅτι τῆς μὲν ἀνδρείας οἷον βαφή τις ὁ θυμός ἐστι καὶ στόμωμα τούτῳ δʼ ἀκράτῳ τὰ θηρία χρῆται πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας ὑμῖν δὲ προσμιγνύμενος πρὸς τὸν λογισμὸν ὥσπερ οἶνος πρὸς ὕδωρ ἐξίσταται παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ καὶ ἀπολείπει τὸν καιρόν. ἔνιοι δʼ ὑμῶν οὐδʼ ὅλως φασὶ χρῆναι παραλαμβάνειν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις τὸν θυμὸν ἀλλʼ ἐκποδὼν θεμένους νήφοντι χρῆσθαι τῷ λογισμῷ, πρὸς μὲν σωτηρίας ἀσφάλειαν ὀρθῶς πρὸς δʼ ἀλκὴν καὶ ἄμυναν αἴσχιστα λέγοντες. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἄτοπον αἰτιᾶσθαι μὲν ὑμᾶς τὴν φύσιν, ὅτι μὴ κέντρα προσέφυσε τοῖς σώμασι μηδʼ ἀμυντηρίους ὀδόντας μηδʼ ἀγκύλους ὄνυχας, αὐτοὺς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ σύμφυτον ἀφαιρεῖν ὅπλον καὶ κολούειν;
ULYSSES. In good truth, Gryllus, you are grown, in my conceit, a notable sophister, to discourse at this rate out of a hog’s snout, and yet to handle your argument so strenuously. But why have you not all this while spoke a word of temperance?
ΟΔ. παπαί, ὦ Γρύλλε, δεινός μοι δοκεῖς γεγονέναι σοφιστής, ὅς γε καὶ νῦν ἐκ τῆς συηνίας φθεγγόμενος οὕτω νεανικῶς πρὸς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἐπικεχείρηκας. ἀλλὰ τί οὐ περὶ τῆς σωφροσύνης ἐφεξῆς διεξῆλθες;
GRYLLUS. Because I thought you would have contradicted first what I have already said. But you are in haste to hear what I have to say concerning temperance, because that, being the husband of a most temperate and chaste wife, you believe you have set us an example of temperance by abstaining from Circe’s embraces. And yet in this you differ nothing from all the beasts; for neither do they desire to approach their superiors, but they pursue their pleasures and amours among those of their own tribe. No wonder is it then, if—like the Mendesian goat in Egypt, which is reported to have been shut up with several most beautiful women, yet never to have offered copulation with them, but when he was at liberty, with a lustful fury flew upon the she-goats—so thou, though a man addicted greatly to venereal pleasures, yet being a man, hast no desire to sleep with a goddess. And for the chastity of thy Penelope, the ten thousand rooks and daws that chatter it abroad do but make it ridiculous and expose it to contempt, there being not one of those birds but, if she loses her mate, continues a widow, not for a small time, but for nine ages of men; so that there is not one of those female rooks that does not surpass in chastity thy fair Penelope above nine times.
ΓΡ. ὅτι ᾤμην σε τῶν εἰρημένων πρότερον ἐπιλήψεσθαι σὺ δὲ σπεύδεις ἀκοῦσαι τὸ περὶ τῆς σωφροσύνης, ἐπεὶ σωφρονεστάτης μὲν ἀνὴρ εἶ γυναικός, ἀπόδειξιν δὲ σωφροσύνης αὐτὸς οἴει δεδωκέναι, τῶν Κίρκης ἀφροδισίων περιφρονήσας. καὶ τούτῳ μὲν οὐδενὸς τῶν θηρίων διαφέρεις πρὸς ἐγκράτειαν οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα τοῖς κρείττοσιν ἐπιθυμεῖ πλησιάζειν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς καὶ τοὺς ἔρωτας πρὸς τὰ ὁμόφυλα ποιεῖται. οὐ θαυμαστὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστιν, εἰ καθάπερ ὁ Μενδήσιος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τράγος λέγεται πολλαῖς καὶ καλαῖς συνειργνύμενος γυναιξὶν οὐκ εἶναι μίγνυσθαι πρόθυμος ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς αἶγας ἐπτόηται μᾶλλον, οὕτω σὺ χαίρων ἀφροδισίοις συνήθεσιν οὐ θέλεις ἄνθρωπος; ὢν θεᾷ συγκαθεύδειν. τὴν δὲ Πηνελόπης σωφροσύνην μυρίαι κορῶναι κρώζουσαι γέλωτα θήσονται καὶ καταφρονήσουσιν, ὧν ἑκάστη, ἂν ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἄρρην, οὐκ ὀλίγον χρόνον ἀλλʼ ἐννέα χηρεύει γενεὰς ἀνθρώπων ὥστε σοι τὴν καλὴν Πηνελόπην ἐννάκις ἀπολείπεσθαι τῷ σωφρονεῖν ἧς βούλει κορώνης.
GRYLLUS. But because thou believest me to be a sophister, I shall observe a certain order in my discourse, first giving thee the definition of temperance, and then dividing desire according to the several kinds of it. Temperance then is the contracting and well governing our desires, pruning off those that are superfluous and encroaching upon our wills, and ruling those that are necessary by the standards of reason and moderation. Now in desires you observe a vast number of distinctions. For it is both natural and necessary to drink; but as for venereal desires, which derive their originals from Nature, there is a time when they may be restrained without any inconvenience; these are therefore called natural but not necessary. But there is another sort, which are neither natural nor necessary, but infused from without by vain opinion through the mistake of right and true; and it is these that want but very little of ruining all your natural desires with their number, like a multitude of foreigners outnumbering the natives and expelling them from their habitations. But the beasts, having their souls unmixed and not to be overcome by these adventitious passions, and living lives as distant from vain opinion as from the sea, are inferior to you in living elegantly and superfluously, but they are extremely wary in preserving temperance and the right government of their desires, as being neither troubled with many, nor those foreign to their natures. And therefore formerly I was no less smitten with the glister of gold than thou art now, as believing nothing else that a man could possess to be comparable to it. Silver also and ivory inveigled me with the same desires; and he that enjoyed these things in the greatest measure seemed to be a man most happy and beloved of God, whether a Phrygian or a Carian, whether more meanly descended than Dolon or more miserable than Priam. From thenceforward being altogether swayed by my desires, I reaped no other pleasure nor delight in any other blessings of my life, with which I abounded, believing that I wanted still and missed my share of those that were the chiefest and the greatest. Therefore, I remember, when I beheld thee in Crete, at some solemnity, most pompously attired, I neither envied thy wisdom nor thy virtue; but the extraordinary fineness and exquisite workmanship of thy tunic, and the glistering of thy purple upper garment, and the beauty of the ornaments struck me with admiration. And the golden clasp, methought, was a pretty toy that had something of extraordinary graving in it; and bewitched with these baubles, I followed thee as the women did. But now being altogether estranged from those vain opinions, and having my understanding purified, I tread both gold and silver under my feet as I do the common stones; nor did I ever sleep more soundly upon thy carpets and tapestries, than now I do, rolled over head and ears in the deep and soft mud. None of those adventitious desires reside in our souls, but for the most part our manner of living is accustomed to necessary pleasures and desires; and as for those pleasures which are not necessary but only natural, we make such a use of them as is neither without order nor moderation.
ΓΡ. ἀλλʼ ἐπεί σε μὴ λέληθα σοφιστὴς ὤν, φέρε χρήσωμαι τάξει τιυὶ τοῦ λόγου, τῆς μὲν σωφροσύνης ὅρον θέμενος κατὰ γένος δὲ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας διελόμενος. ἡ μὲν οὖν σωφροσύνη βραχύτης τίς ἐστιν ἐπιθυμιῶν καὶ τάξις, ἀναιροῦσα μὲν τὰς ἐπεισάκτους καὶ περιττὰς καιρῷ δὲ καὶ μετριότητι κοσμοῦσα τὰς ἀναγκαίας. ταῖς δʼ ἐπιθυμίαις ἐνορᾷς που μυρίαν διαφοράν, καὶ τὴν μὲν περὶ τὴν βρῶσιν καὶ τὴν πόσιν ἅμα τῷ φυσικῷ καὶ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἔχουσαν· αἱ δὲ τῶν ἀφροδισίων αἷς ἀρχὰς ἡ φύσις ἐνδίδωσιν, ἔστι δέ που καὶ μὴ χρώμενον ἔχειν ἱκανῶς ἀπαλλαγέντα, φυσικαὶ μὲν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖαι δʼ ἐκλήθησαν. τὸ δὲ τῶν μήτʼ ἀναγκαίων μήτε φυσικῶν ἀλλʼ ἔξωθεν ὑπὸ δόξης κενῆς. διʼ ἀπειροκαλίαν ἐπικεχυμένων γένος ὑμῶν μὲν ὀλίγου δεῖν τὰς φυσικὰς ἀπέκρυψεν ὑπὸ πλήθους ἁπάσας, ἔχει δὲ καθάπερ ξένος ὄχλος; ἔπηλυς ἐν δήμῳ καταβιαζόμενος πρὸς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς πολίτας;. τὰ δὲ θηρία παντάπασιν ἀβάτους καὶ ἀνεπιμίκτους ἔχοντα τοῖς ἐπεισάκτοις πάθεσι τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τοῖς βίοις πόρρω τῆς κενῆς δόξης ὥσπερ θαλάσσης ἀπῳκισμένα τῷ γλαφυρῶς καὶ περιττῶς διάγειν ἀπολείπεται τὸ δὲ σωφρονεῖν καὶ μᾶλλον εὐνομεῖσθαι ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις, οὔτε πολλαῖς συνοικούσαις οὔτʼ ἀλλοτρίαις, σφόδρα διαφυλάττεται. ἐμὲ γοῦν ποτε καὶ αὐτὸν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ σὲ νῦν ἐξέπληττε μὲν χρυσὸς ὡς κτῆμα τῶν ἄλλων οὐδενὶ παραβλητὸν ᾕρει δʼ ἄργυρος καὶ ἐλέφας· ὁ δὲ πλεῖστα τούτων κεκτημένος ἐδόκει μακάριός τις εἶναι καὶ θεοφιλὴς ἀνήρ, εἴτε Φρὺξ ἦν εἴτε Κὰρ τοῦ Δόλωνος ἀγεννέστερος καὶ τοῦ Πριάμου βαρυποτ μότερος· ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἀνηρτημένος ἀεὶ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις οὔτε χάριν οὔθʼ ἡδονὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων πραγμάτων ἀφθόνων ὄντων καὶ ἱκανῶν ἐκαρπούμην, ἀλλʼ ἐμεμφόμην τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ βίον, ὡς τῶν μεγίστων ἐνδεὴς; καὶ ἄμοιρος ἀγαθῶν ἀπολελειμμένος. τοιγαροῦν, ὥς σε μέμνημαι ἐν Κρήτῃ θεασάμενος ἀμπεχόνῃ κεκοσμημένον πανηγυρικῶς, οὐ τὴν φρόνησιν ἐζήλουν οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρετήν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ χιτῶνος εἰργασμένου περιττῶς τὴν λεπτότητα καὶ τῆς χλαμύδος οὔσης ἁλουργοῦ τὴν οὐλότητα καὶ τὸ κάλλος ἀγαπῶν καὶ τεθηπὼς εἶχε δέ τι καὶ ἡ πόρπη χρυσὸς οὖσα παίγνιον οἶμαι τορείαις διηκριβωμένον εἱπόμην γεγοητευμένος, ὥσπερ αἱ γυναῖκες. ἀλλὰ νῦν ἀπηλλαγμένος ἐκείνων τῶν κενῶν δοξῶν καὶ κεκαθαρμένος χρυσὸν μὲν καὶ ἄργυρον ὥσπερ τοὺς ἄλλους λίθους περιορῶν ὑπερβαίνω, ταῖς δὲ σαῖς χλανίσι καὶ τάπησιν οὐδὲν ἂν μὰ Δίʼ ἥδιον ἢ βαθεῖ καὶ μαλθακῷ πηλῷ μεστὸς ὢν ἐγκατακλιθείην ἀναπαυόμενος. τὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἐπεισάκτων ἐπιθυμιῶν οὐδεμία ταῖς ἡμετέραις ἐνοικίζεται ψυχαῖς· ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν πλεῖστα ταῖς ἀναγκαίαις ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ ἡδοναῖς διοικεῖται, ταῖς δʼ οὔτʼ ἀναγκαίαις ἀλλὰ φυσικαῖς; μόνον οὔτʼ ἀτάκτως οὔτʼ ἀπλήστως ὁμιλοῦμεν.
GRYLLUS. And therefore let us consider these in the first place. The pleasure then that affects the sense of smelling with sweet odors and fragrant exhalations, besides that it has something in it which is pure in itself, and as it were bestowed upon us gratis, contributes also in some measure to the distinction of nourishment. For the tongue is said to be the judge of sweet, sour, and tart, only when the juices have come to be mingled and concorporate with the tasting faculty, and not before. But our smell, before the taste, becoming sensible of the virtue and qualities of every thing, and being more accurate than the tasters attending upon princes, admits what is familiar to Nature, and expels whatever is disagreeable to it; neither will it suffer it to touch or molest the taste, but accuses and declares the offensiveness of the thing smelt, before it do any harm. As to other things, it troubles us not at all as it does you, whom it constrains for the sake of the sweet scents of cinnamon, nard, malobathrum, and Arabian reed, to seek out for things dissimilar, and to jumble them together with a kind of apothecary’s or perfumer’s art, and at vast expense to purchase an unmanly and effeminate delight, for nothing profitable or useful. Now being such, this sense of smelling has not only corrupted all the female sex but the greatest part of men, insomuch that they care not to converse with their own wives, unless perfumed with precious ointments and odoriferous compositions. Whereas sows, she-goats, and other females attract the boars, he-goats, and the males of their own kind, by their own proper scents; and smelling of the pure dew, the meadows, and the fresh grass, they are incited to copulation out of common affection; the females without the coynesses of women, or the practice of little frauds and fascinations, to inflame the lust of their mates; and the males, not with amorous rage and frenzy stimulated, and enforced to purchase the act of generation with expensive hire or servile assiduity, but enjoying their seasonable amours without deceit or purchase of the satisfaction of their venery. For Nature in the spring-time, even as she puts forth the buds of plants, likewise awakens the desires of animals, but presently quenches them again, neither the female admitting the male nor the male attempting the female after conception. And thus pleasure has but a small and slender esteem among us; but Nature is all in all. So that even to this very day, we beasts were never yet tainted with coupling male with male, and female with female. Of which nevertheless there are many examples to be produced among the greatest and most celebrated persons; for I pass by those not worth remembrance. Agamemnon hunted all Boeotia in pursuit of Argynnus, who fled his embraces; and after he had falsely accused the sea and winds, bravely flung himself into the lake Copais, to quench his love and free himself from the ardor of his lust. Hercules in like manner pursuing his beardless friend, forsook his choicest associates and abandoned the fleet. In the vaulted room belonging to Apollo surnamed Ptous, one of you men secretly wrote this inscription, Achilles the fair; when Achilles at that time had a son. [And I hear the inscription is still remaining.] Yet if a cock tread a cock in the absence of the hen, he is burned alive, upon the signification of the soothsayer that it portends some fatal calamity. This is a plain confession in men themselves, that the beasts excel them in chastity, and that force is not to be put upon Nature for the sake of pleasure. But your incontinence is such, that Nature, though she have the law to assist her, is not able to keep it within bounds; insomuch that, like a rapid inundation, those inordinate desires overwhelm Nature with continual violence, trouble, and confusion. For men have copulated with she-goats, sows, and mares; and women have run mad after male beasts. And from such copulations sprang the Minotaurs and Silvans, and, as I am apt to believe, the Sphinxes and Centaurs. It is true, that sometimes, constrained by hunger, a dog or a bird has fed upon human flesh; but never yet did any beast attempt to couple with human kind. But men constrain and force the beasts to these and many other unlawful pleasures.
ΓΡ. καὶ ταύτας γε πρῶτον διέλθωμεν. ἡ μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὰ εὐώδη καὶ κινοῦντα ταῖς ἀποφοραῖς τὴν ὄσφρησιν οἰκείως ἡδονὴ πρὸς τῷ τὸ ὄφελος καὶ προῖκα καὶ ἁπλοῦν ἔχειν ἅμα χρείαν τινὰ συμβάλλεται τῇ διαγνώσει τῆς τροφῆς. ἡ μὲν γὰρ γλῶττα τοῦ γλυκέος; καὶ δριμέος καὶ αὐστηροῦ γνώμων ἐστί τε καὶ λέγεται, ὅταν τῷ γευστικῷ προσμιγέντες οἱ χυμοὶ σύγχυσίν τινα λάβωσιν ἡ δʼ ὄσφρησις ἡμῶν πρὸ τῶν χυμῶν γνώμων οὖσα τῆς δυνάμεως ἑκάστου πολὺ τῶν βασιλικῶν προγευστῶν σκεπτικώτερον διαισθανομένη, τὸ μὲν οἰκεῖον εἴσω παρίησι τὸ δʼ ἀλλότριον ἀπελαύνει καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ θιγεῖν οὐδὲ λυπῆσαι τὴν γεῦσιν ἀλλὰ διαβάλλει καὶ κατηγορεῖ τὴν φαυλότητα πρὶν ἢ βλαβῆναι τἄλλα δʼ οὐκ ἐνοχλεῖ, καθάπερ ὑμῖν, τὰ θυμιάματα καὶ κινάμωμα καὶ νάρδους καὶ φύλλα καὶ καλάμους Ἀραβικοὺς, μετὰ δεινῆς τινος καὶ δευσοποιοῦ φαρμακίδος τέχνης, μυρεψικῆς ὄνομα, συνάγειν εἰς ταὐτὸ καὶ συμφαγεῖν ἀναγκάζουσα, χρημάτων πολλῶν ἡδυπάθειαν ἄνανδρον καὶ κορασιώδη καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν οὐδαμῶς χρήσιμον ὠνουμένους. ἀλλὰ καίπερ οὖσα τοιαύτη διέφθαρκεν οὐ μόνον πάσας γυναῖκας ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἤδη τοὺς πλείστους, ὡς μηδὲ ταῖς αὑτῶν ἐθέλειν συγγίγνεσθαι γυναιξίν, εἰ μὴ μύρων ὑμῖν ὀδωδυῖαι καὶ διαπασμάτων εἰς ταὐτὸ φοιτῷεν. ἀλλὰ κάπρους τε σύες καὶ τράγους αἶγες καὶ τἄλλα θήλεα τοὺς συννόμους αὐτῶν ταῖς ἰδίαις ὀσμαῖς; ἐπάγεται, δρόσου τε καθαρᾶς καὶ λειμώνων ὀδωδότα καὶ χλόης συμφέρεται πρὸς τοὺς γάμους ὑπὸ κοινῆς φιλοφροσύνης, οὐχὶ θρυπτόμεναι μὲν αἱ θήλειαι καὶ προϊσχόμεναι τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἀπάτας καὶ γοητείας καὶ ἀρνήσεις, οἱ δʼ ἄρρενες ὑπʼ οἴστρου καὶ μαργότητος ὠνούμενοι μισθῶν καὶ πόνου καὶ λατρείας τὸ τῆς γενέσεως ἔργον, ἄδολον δὲ σὺν καιρῷ καὶ ἄμισθον Ἀφροδίτην μετιόντες, ἣ καθʼ ὥραν ἔτους ὥσπερ φυτῶν βλάστην ἐγείρουσα τῶν ζῴων τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν εὐθὺς ἔσβεσεν, οὔτε τοῦ θήλεος προσιεμένου μετὰ τὴν κύησιν οὔτε πειρῶντος ἔτι τοῦ ἄρρενος. οὕτω μικρὰν ἔχει καὶ ἀσθενῆ τιμὴν ἡ ἡδονὴ παρʼ ἡμῖν τὸ δʼ ὅλον ἡ φύσις. ὅθεν οὔτʼ ἄρρενος πρὸς ἄρρεν οὔτε θήλεος πρὸς θῆλυ μῖξιν αἱ τῶν θηρίων ἐπιθυμίαι μέχρι γε νῦν ἐνηνόχασιν. ὑμῶν δὲ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν σεμνῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐῶ γὰρ τοὺς οὐδενὸς ἀξίους· ὁ δʼ Ἀγαμέμνων τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἐπῆλθε κυνηγετῶν τὸν Ἄργυννον ὑποφεύγοντα καὶ καταψευδόμενος τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πνευμάτων, εἶτα καλὸν καλῶς ἑαυτὸν βαπτίζων εἰς τὴν Κωπαΐδα λίμνην, ὡς αὐτόθι κατασβέσων τὸν ἔρωτα καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἀπαλλαξόμενος. ὁ δʼ Ἡρακλῆς ὁμοίως ἑταῖρον ἀγένειον ἐπιδιώκων ἀπελείφθη τῶν ἀριστέων καὶ προύδωκε τὸν στόλον· ἐν δὲ τῇ θόλῳ τοῦ Πτῴου Ἀπόλλωνος λαθών τις ὑμῶν ἐνέγραψεν Ἀχιλλεὺς καλόςἤδη τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως; υἱὸν ἔχοντος· καὶ τὰ γράμματα πυνθάνομαι διαμένειν. ἀλεκτρυὼν δʼ ἀλεκτρυόνος ἐπιβαίνων, θηλείας μὴ παρούσης, καταπίμπραται ζωός, μάντεώς τινος ἢ τερατοσκόπου μέγα καὶ δεινὸν ἀποφαίνοντος εἶναι τὸ γιγνόμενον. οὕτω καὶ παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀνωμολόγηται τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι μᾶλλον τοῖς θηρίοις σωφρονεῖν προσήκει καὶ μὴ παραβιάζεσθαι ταῖς ἡδοναῖς τὴν φύσιν. τὰ δʼ ἐν ὑμῖν ἀκόλαστα οὐδὲ τὸν νόμον ἔχουσα σύμμαχον ἡ φύσις ἐντὸς ὅρων καθείργνυσιν ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ὑπὸ ῥεύματος ἐκφερόμενα πολλαχοῦ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις δεινὴν ὕβριν καὶ ταραχὴν καὶ σύγχυσιν ἐν τοῖς ἀφροδισίοις ἀπεργάζεται τῆς φύσεως. καὶ γὰρ αἰγῶν ἐπειράθησαν ἄνδρες καὶ ὑῶν καὶ ἵππων μιγνύμενοι καὶ γυναῖκες ἄρρεσι θηρίοις ἐπεμάνησαν ἐκ γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων γάμων ὑμῖν Μινώταυροι καὶ Αἰγίπανες, ὡς δʼ ἐγᾦμαι καὶ Σφίγγες ἀναβλαστάνουσι καὶ Κένταυροι. καίτοι διὰ λιμὸν ποτʼ ἀνθρώπου καὶ κύων ἔφαγεν ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης καὶ ὄρνις ἀπεγεύσατο πρὸς δὲ συνουσίαν οὐδέποτε θηρίον ἐπεχείρησεν ἀνθρώπῳ χρήσασθαι. θηρία δʼ ἄνθρωποι καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς ἄλλα πολλὰ καθʼ ἡδονὰς βιάζονται καὶ παρανομοῦσιν.
GRYLLUS. Now being thus wicked and incontinent in reference to the aforesaid lustful desires, it is no less easy to be proved that men are more intemperate than beasts, even in those things which are necessary, that is to say, in eating and drinking, the pleasure of which we always enjoy with some benefit to ourselves. But you, pursuing the pleasures of eating and drinking beyond the satisfaction of nature, are punished with many and tedious diseases, which, arising from the single fountain of superfluous gormandizing, fill your bodies with all manner of wind and vapors not easy for purgation to expel. In the first place, all sorts of beasts, according to their kind, feed upon one sort of food, which is proper to their natures; some upon grass, some upon roots, and others upon fruits. They that feed upon flesh never mind any other sort of food. Neither do they rob the weaker animals of their nourishment. But the lion suffers the hart, and the wolf the sheep, to feed upon what Nature has provided for them. But man, such is his voracity, falls upon all, to satisfy the pleasures of his appetite; tries all things, tastes all things; and, as if he were yet to seek what was the most proper diet and most agreeable to his nature, among all the creatures is the only all-devourer. And first he makes use of flesh, not for want, as having the liberty to take his choice of herbs and fruits, the plenty of which is inexhaustible; but out of luxury and being closed with necessaries, he seeks after inconvenient and impure diet, purchased by the slaughter of living creatures; by that means showing himself more cruel than the most savage of wild beasts. For blood, murder, and flesh are proper to nourish the kite, the wolf, and dragon; but to men they are delicious viands. Then making use of all, he does not do like the beasts, which abstain from most creatures and are at enmity only with a few, and that only compelled by the necessities of hunger; but neither fowl nor fish nor any thing that lives upon the land escapes your tables, though they bear the epithets of human and hospitable.
ΓΡ. οὕτω δὲ φαῦλοι καὶ ἀκρατεῖς περὶ τὰς εἰρημένας ἐπιθυμίας ὄντες ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐν ταῖς ἀναγκαίαις ἐλέγχονται πολὺ τῷ σωφρονεῖν ἀπολειπόμενοι τῶν θηρίων, αὗται δʼ εἰσὶν αἱ περὶ βρῶσιν καὶ πόσιν ὧν ἡμεῖς μὲν τὸ ἡδὺ μετὰ χρείας τινὸς ἀεὶ λαμβάνομεν ὑμεῖς δὲ τὴν ἡδονὴν μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ κατὰ φύσιν τῆς τροφῆς διώκοντες ὑπὸ πολλῶν καὶ μακρῶν κολάζεσθε νοσημάτων, ἅπερ ἐκ μιᾶς πηγῆς ἐπαντλούμενα τῆς πλησμονῆς τοῖς σώμασι παντοδαπῶν πνευμάτων καὶ δυσκαθάρτων ὑμᾶς ἐμπίπλησι. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἑκάστῳ γένει ζῴου μία τροφὴ σύμφυλός ἐστι, τοῖς μὲν πόα τοῖς δὲ ῥίζα τις ἢ καρπός· ὅσα δὲ σαρκοφαγεῖ, πρὸς οὐδὲν ἄλλο τρέπεται βορᾶς εἶδος οὐδʼ ἀφαιρεῖται τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων τὴν τροφήν· ἀλλʼ ἐᾷ νέμεσθαι καὶ λέων ἔλαφον καὶ λύκος πρόβατον πέφυκεν. ὁ δʼ ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ πάντα ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑπὸ λαιμαργίας ἐξαγόμενος καὶ πειρώμενος πάντων καὶ ἀπογευόμενος, ὡς οὐδέπω τὸ πρόσφορον καὶ οἰκεῖον ἐγνωκώς, μόνος γέγονε τῶν ὄντων παμφάγον. καὶ σαρξὶ χρῆται πρῶτον ὑπʼ οὐδεμιᾶς ἀπορίας οὐδʼ ἀμηχανίας, ᾧ πάρεστιν ἀεὶ καθʼ ὥραν ἄλλα ἐπʼ ἄλλοις ἀπὸ φυτῶν καὶ σπερμάτων τρυγῶντι καὶ λαμβάνοντι καὶ δρεπομένῳ μὴ κάμνειν διὰ πλῆθος· ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τρυφῆς καὶ κόρου τῶν ἀναγκαίων βρώσεις ἀνεπιτηδείους καὶ οὐ καθαρὰς σφαγαῖς ζῴων μετερχόμενος πολὺ τῶν ἀγριωτάτων θηρίων ὠμότερον. αἷμα μὲν γὰρ καὶ φόνος καὶ σάρκες ἰκτίνῳ καὶ λύκῳ καὶ δράκοντι σιτίον οἰκεῖον, ἀνθρώπῳ δʼ ὄψον ἐστίν. ἔπειτα παντὶ γένει χρώμενος οὐχ ὡς,· τὰ θηρία τῶν πλείστων ἀπέχεται, ὀλίγοις δὲ πολεμεῖ διὰ τὴν τῆς τροφῆς ἀνάγκην ἀλλʼ οὔτε τι πτηνὸν οὔτε νηκτόν, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, οὔτε χερσαῖον ἐκπέφευγε τὰς ἡμέρους δὴ λεγομένας; ὑμῶν καὶ φιλοξένους τραπέζας.
GRYLLUS. Let it be so, that nothing will serve ye but to devour whatever comes near ye, to pamper and indulge your voracious appetites. Yet where is the benefit and pleasure of all this? But such is the prudence of the beasts, as not to admit of any vain and unprofitable arts. And as for those that are necessary, they do not acquire them, as being introduced by others or taught for reward; neither do they make it their study to soder and fasten one contemplation to another, but they are supplied by their own prudence with such as are true-born and genuine. It is true, we hear the Egyptians are generally physicians. But the beasts are not only every one of them notionally endued with knowledge and art which way to cure themselves, but also to procure their food and repair their strength, to catch their prey by slight and cunning, to guard themselves from danger; neither are some of them ignorant how to teach the science of music so far as is convenient for them. For from whom did we hogs learn to run to the rivers, when we are sick, to search for crawfish? Who taught the tortoises, when they have eaten vipers, to physic themselves with origanum? Who taught the Cretan goats, when shot with arrows that stick in their bodies, to betake themselves to dittany, which they have no sooner eaten, but the heads of the darts fall out of the wound? Now if you say that Nature is the schoolmistress that teaches them these things, you acknowledge the prudence of beasts to be derived from the chiefest and wisest original of understanding; which if you think not proper to call reason and wisdom, it is time for ye to find out a more glorious and honorable name for it. Indeed by its effects it shows itself to be greater and more wonderful in power; not illiterate or without education, but instructed by itself and wanting nothing from without; not weak and imperfect, but, through the vigor and perfection of its natural virtue, supporting and cherishing that natural contribution of understanding which others attain to by instruction and education. So that, whatever men acquire and contemplate in the midst of their luxury and wantonness, those things our understanding attains to through the excellency of our apprehensions, even contrary to the nature of the body. For not to speak of whelps that learn to draw dry foot, and colts that will practise figure-dances; there are crows that will speak, and dogs that will leap through hoops as they turn around. You shall also see horses and bulls upon the theatres lie down, dance, stop, and move their bodies after such a manner as would puzzle even men to perform the same things; which, though they are of little use, yet being learned and remembered by beasts, are great arguments of their docility. If you doubt whether we learn arts, be convinced that we teach them. For partridges teach their young ones to hide themselves by lying upon their backs just before a clod of earth, to escape the pursuit of the fowlers. And you shall observe the old storks, when their young ones first begin to take wing, what care they take to instruct them upon the tops of houses. Nightingales also teach their young ones to sing; insomuch that nightingales taken young out of the nest, and bred up by hand in cages, sing worse, as being deprived of their instructors before their time. So that after I had been a while transformed into this shape, I admired at myself, that I was so easily persuaded by idle arguments of the sophisters to believe that all other creatures were void of sense and reason except man.
ΓΡ. εἶεν· ἀλλʼ ὄψοις χρῆσθε τούτοις ἐφηδύνοντες τὴν τροφήν· τί οὖν ἐπʼ αὐτὰ ταῦτα … φῶντας; ἀλλʼ ἡ τῶν θηρίων φρόνησις τῶν μὲν ἀχρήστων καὶ ματαίων τεχνῶν οὐδεμιᾷ χώραν δίδωσι τὰς δʼ ἀναγκαίας οὐκ ἐπεισάκτους παρʼ ἑτέρων οὐδὲ μισθοῦ διδακτὰς οὐδὲ κολλῶσα μελέτῃ καὶ συμπηγνύουσα γλίσχρως τῶν θεωρημάτων ἕκαστον πρὸς ἕκαστον ἀλλʼ αὐτόθεν ἐξ αὑτῆς οἷον ἰθαγενεῖς καὶ συμφύτους ἀναδίδωσι. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ Αἰγυπτίους πάντας ἰατροὺς ἀκούομεν εἶναι, τῶν δὲ ζῴων ἕκαστον οὐ μόνον πρὸς ἴασιν αὐτότεχνόν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς διατροφὴν καὶ πρὸς ἀλκὴν θήραν τε καὶ φυλακὴν καὶ μουσικῆς ὅσον ἑκάστῳ προσήκει κατὰ φύσιν. παρὰ τίνος γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐμάθομεν νοσοῦντες ἐπὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς χάριν τῶν καρκίνων βαδίζειν; τίς δὲ τὰς χελώνας 1 ἐδίδαξε τῆς ἔχεως φαγούσας τὴν ὀρίγανον ἐπεσθίειν τὰς δὲ Κρητικὰς αἶγας, ὅταν περιπέσωσι τοῖς τοξεύμασι, τὸ δίκταμνον διώκειν, οὗ βρωθέντος ἐκβάλλουσι τὰς ἀκίδας; ἂν γὰρ εἴπῃς, ὅπερ ἀληθές ἐστι, τούτων διδάσκαλον εἶναι τὴν φύσιν, εἰς τὴν κυριωτάτην καὶ σοφωτάτην ἀρχὴν ἀναφέρεις τὴν τῶν θηρίων φρόνησιν·ʼ ἣν εἰ μὴ λόγον οἴεσθε δεῖν μηδὲ φρόνησιν καλεῖν, ὥρα σκοπεῖν ὄνομα κάλλιον αὐτῇ καὶ τιμιώτερον, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ διʼ ἔργων ἀμείνονα καὶ θαυμασιωτέραν παρέχεται τὴν δύναμιν· οὐκ ἀμαθὴς οὐδʼ ἀπαίδευτος, αὐτομαθὴς δέ τις μᾶλλον οὖσα καὶ ἀπροσδεής, οὐ διʼ ἀσθένειαν ἀλλὰ ῥώμῃ καὶ τελειότητι τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἀρετῆς, χαίρειν ἐῶσα τὸν παρʼ ἑτέρων διὰ μαθήσεως τοῦ φρονεῖν συνερανισμόν. ὅσα γοῦν ἄνθρωποι τρυφῶντες ἢ παίζοντες εἰς τὸ μανθάνειν καὶ μελετᾶν ἄγουσι, τούτων ἡ διάνοια καὶ παρὰ φύσιν τοῦ σώματος; καὶ περιουσίᾳ συνέσεως ἀναλαμβάνει τὰς μαθήσεις. ἐῶ γὰρ ἰχνεύειν σκύλακας καὶ βαδίζειν ἐν ῥυθμῷ πώλους μελετῶντας, ἀλλὰ κόρακας διαλέγεσθαι καὶ κύνας ἅλλεσθαι διὰ τροχῶν περιφερομένων. ἵπποι δὲ καὶ βόες ἐν θεάτροις κατακλίσεις καὶ χορείας καὶ στάσεις παραβόλους καὶ κινήσεις οὐδʼ ἀνθρώποις πάνυ ῥᾳδίας ἀκριβοῦσιν ἐκδιδασκόμενοι καὶ μνημονεύοντες εὐμαθείας ἐπίδειξιν εἰς ἄλλο οὐδὲν οὐδαμῶς χρήσιμον ἔχουσιν. εἰ δʼ ἀπιστεῖς ὅτι τέχνας μανθάνομεν, ἄκουσον ὅτι καὶ διδάσκομεν. αἵ τε γὰρ πέρδικες ἐν τῷ προφεύγειν τοὺς νεοττοὺς ἐθίζουσιν ἀποκρύπτεσθαι καὶ προΐσχεσθαι βῶλον ἀνθʼ ἑαυτῶν τοῖς ποσὶν ὑπτίους ἀναπεσόντας· καὶ τοῖς πελαργιδεῦσιν ὁρᾷς ἐπὶ τῶν τεγῶν ὡς οἱ τέλειοι παρόντες ἀναπειρωμένοις ὑφηγοῦνται τὴν πτῆσιν. αἱ δʼ ἀηδόνες τοὺς νεοσσοὺς προδιδάσκουσιν ᾄδειν· οἱ δὲ ληφθέντες· ἔτι νήπιοι καὶ τραφέντες ἐν χερσὶν ἀνθρώπων χεῖρον ᾄδουσιν, ὥσπερ πρὸ ὥρας ἀπὸ διδασκάλου γεγονότες καταδὺς δʼ εἰς τουτὶ τὸ σῶμα θαυμάζω τοὺς λόγους ἐκείνους, οἷς ἀνεπειθόμην ὑπὸ τῶν σοφιστῶν ἄλογα καὶ ἀνόητα πάντα πλὴν ἀνθρώπου νομίζειν.
ULYSSES. What then, Gryllus? Does your transmutation inform ye also that sheep and asses are rational creatures?
ΟΔ. νῦν μὲν οὖν, ὦ Γρύλλε, μεταβέβλησαι σύ, καὶ τὸ πρόβατον λογικὸν ἀποφαίνεις καὶ τὸν ὄνον;
GRYLLUS. From these very creatures, most worthy and best of men, Ulysses, the nature of beasts is chiefly to be discerned to be as it is, neither void of reason nor understanding. For as one tree is neither more or less than another without a soul, but all are together in the same condition of insensibility (for there is no tree that is endued with a soul); so neither would one animal seem to be more slow to understand or more indocible than another, if all did not partake of reason and understanding, though some in a less, some in a greater measure. For you must consider that the stupidity and slothfulness of some is an argument of the quickness and subtlety of others, which easily appears when you compare a fox, a wolf, or a bee with a sheep or ass; as if thou shouldest compare thyself to Polyphemus, or thy grandfather Autolycus with the Corinthian [mentioned in] Homer. For I do not believe there is such difference between beast and beast, in point of reason and understanding and memory, as between man and man.
ΓΡ.. αὐτοῖς μὲν οὖν τούτοις, ὦ βέλτιστε Ὀδυσσεῦ, μάλιστα δεῖ τεκμαίρεσθαι τὴν τῶν θηρίων φύσιν, ὡς λόγου καὶ συνέσεως οὐκ ἔστιν ἄμοιρος. ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι δένδρον ἕτερον ἑτέρου μᾶλλον οὐδʼ ἧττον ἄψυχον, ἀλλʼ ὁμοίως ἔχει πάντα πρὸς ἀναισθησίαν· οὐδενὶ γὰρ αὐτῶν ψυχῆς μέτεστιν οὕτως οὐκ ἐδόκει ζῷον ἕτερον ἑτέρου τῷ φρονεῖν ἀργότερον εἶναι καὶ δυσμαθέστερον, εἰ μὴ πάντα λόγου καὶ συνέσεως, ἄλλα δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον ἄλλων πως μετεῖχεν. ἐννόησον δʼ ὅτι τὰς ἐνίων ἀβελτερίας καὶ βλακείας ἐλέγχουσιν ἑτέρων πανουργίαι καὶ δριμύτητες, ὅταν ἀλώπεκι καὶ λύκῳ καὶ μελίττῃ παραβάλῃς ὄνον καὶ πρόβατον ὥσπερ εἰ σαυτῷ τὸν Πολύφημον ἢ τῷ πάππῳ σου τῷ Αὐτολύκῳ τὸν Κορίνθιον ἐκεῖνον Ὅμηρον. οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι θηρίου πρὸς θηρίον ἀπόστασιν εἶναι τοσαύτην, ὅσον ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπου τῷ φρονεῖν καὶ λογίζεσθαι καὶ μνημονεύειν ἀφέστηκεν.
ULYSSES. Have a care, Gryllus; it is a dangerous thing to allow them reason that have no knowledge of a Deity.
ΟΔ. ἀλλʼ ὅρα, Γρύλλε, μὴ δεινὸν ᾖ καὶ βίαιον ἀπολιπεῖν λόγον, οἷς οὐκ ἐγγίγνεται θεοῦ νόησις.
GRYLLUS. Must we then deny that thou, most noble Ulysses, being so wise and full of stratagems as thou art, wast begotten by Sisyphus? …
ΓΡ. Εἶτά σε μὴ φῶμεν, ὦ Ὀδυσσεῦ, σοφὸν οὕτως ὄντα καὶ περιττὸν Σισύφου γεγονέναι;