---
title: "Advice About Keeping Well · De tuenda sanitate praecepta"
author: "Plutarch"
translator: "Matthew Poole, rev. William W. Goodwin"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
section: 2 of 2
url: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-keeping-well/2/
cite: "Plutarch, tr. Matthew Poole, rev. William W. Goodwin, Advice About Keeping Well · De tuenda sanitate praecepta, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-keeping-well/2/"
---

# Advice About Keeping Well · De tuenda sanitate praecepta

*Plutarch, tr. Matthew Poole, rev. William W. Goodwin*

A dialogue on health for scholars and statesmen: plain food, exercise of the voice, and moderation.

> Greek: ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0007.tlg077, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Matthew Poole, rev. William W. Goodwin, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0007.tlg077.perseus-eng4). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 2. Sections 17–27

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-keeping-well/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-keeping-well/2/#p-N

[¶0] 17. ZEUXIPPUS. After exercise to use a cold bath is boyish, and has more ostentation in it than health; for though it may seem to harden our bodies and make them not so subject to outward accidents, yet it does more prejudice to the inward parts, by hindering transpiration, fixing the rumors, and condensing those vapors which love freedom and transpiration. Besides, necessity will force those who use cold baths into that exact and accurate way of diet they would so much avoid, and make them take care they be not in the least extravagant, for every such error is sure to receive a bitter reproof. But a warm bath is much more pardonable, for it does not so much destroy our natural vigor and strength as it does conduce to our health, laying a soft and easy foundation for concoction, preparing those things for digestion which are not easily digested without any pain (if they be not very crude and deep lodged), and fleeing us from all inward weariness. But when we do sensibly perceive our bodies to be indifferent well, or as they ought to be, we should omit bathing, and anoint ourselves by the fire; which is better if the body stand in need of heat, for it dispenses a warmth throughout. But we should make use of the sun more or less, as the temper of the air permits. So much may suffice to have been said concerning exercises.

> Greek: 17. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. λουτρῷ δὲ χρῆσθαι γυμνασαμένους ψυχρῷ μὲν ἐπιδεικτικὸν καὶ νεανικὸν μᾶλλον ἢ ὑγιεινόν ἐστιν. ἣν γὰρ δοκεῖ ποιεῖν δυσπάθειαν πρὸς τὰ ἔξω καὶ σκληρότητα τοῦ σώματος, αὕτη μεῖζον ἀπεργάζεται περὶ τὰ ἐντὸς κακόν, ἐνισταμένη τοῖς πόροις καὶ τὰ ὑγρὰ συνάγουσα καὶ πηγνύουσα τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις ἀεὶ χαλᾶσθαι καὶ διαφορεῖσθαι βουλομένας. ἔτι δʼ ἀνάγκη τοὺς ψυχρολουτοῦντας εἰς ἐκείνην αὖθις μεταβαίνειν ἣν φεύγομεν ἀκριβῆ καὶ τεταγμένην ἀποτόμως δίαιταν, ἀεὶ προσέχοντας αὑτοῖς μὴ παραβαίνωσι ταύτην, ὡς εὐθὺς ἐξελεγχομένου πικρῶς παντὸς ἁμαρτήματος. ἡ δὲ θερμολουσία δίδωσι πολλὴν συγγνώμην. οὐ γὰρ τοσοῦτον εὐτονίας ὑφαιρεῖ καὶ ῥώμης, ὅσον ὠφελεῖ πρὸς ὑγίειαν, ἐνδόσιμα τῇ πέψει καὶ μαλακὰ παρέχουσα, τοῖς δὲ τὴν πέψιν διαφεύγουσιν, ἄν γε δὴ μὴ παντάπασιν ὠμὰ καὶ μετέωρα μείνῃ, διαχύσεις ἀλύπους παρασκευάζουσα καὶ κόπους ἐκλεαίνουσα λανθάνοντας. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἡ φύσις παρέχῃ μετρίως διακειμένου καὶ ἱκανῶς τοῦ σώματος αἴσθησιν, ἐατέον τὸ βαλανεῖον. ἄλειμμα δὲ τὸ πρὸς πυρὶ βέλτιον, ἂν ἀλέας δέηται τὸ σῶμα, ταμιεύεται γὰρ αὑτῷ τῆς θερμότητος. ὁ δʼ ἥλιος οὔτε μᾶλλον οὔθʼ ἧττον ἀλλʼ ὡς κέκραται πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα κεχρῆσθαι δίδωσι. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱκανὰ περὶ γυμνασίων.

[¶1] 18. ZEUXIPPUS. As for what has been said of diet before, if any part of it be profitable in instructing us how we should allay and bring down our appetites, there yet remains one thing more to be advised: that if it be troublesome to treat one’s belly like one broke loose, and to contend with it though it has no ears (as Cato said), then ought we to take care that the quality of what we eat may make the quantity more light; and we should eat cautiously of such food as is solid and most nourishing (for it is hard always to refuse it), such as flesh, cheese, dried figs, and boiled eggs; but more freely of those things which are thin and light, such as moist herbs, fowl, and fish if it be not too fat; for he that eats such things as these may gratify his appetite, and yet not oppress his body. But ill digestion is chiefly to be feared after flesh, for it presently very much clogs us and leaves ill relics behind it. It would be best to accustom one’s self to eat no flesh at all, for the earth affords plenty enough of things fit not only for nourishment, but for delight and enjoyment; some of which you may eat without much preparation, and others you may make pleasant by adding divers other things to them. But since custom is almost a second nature, we may eat flesh, but not to the cloying of our appetites, like wolves or lions, but only to lay as it were a foundation and bulwark for our nourishment, — and then come to other meats and sauces which are more agreeable to the nature of our bodies and do less dull our rational soul, which seems to be enlivened by a light and brisk diet.

> Greek: 18. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. ἐπὶ δὲ τροφὴν παραγενομένους, ἂν μὲν ᾖ τι τῶν πρόσθεν ὄφελος λόγων οἷς τὰς ὀρέξεις κηλοῦμεν καὶ καταπραΰνομεν, ἄλλο τι χρὴ παραινεῖν τῶν ἐφεξῆς· ἂν δʼ ὥσπερ ἐκ δεσμῶν λελυμένῃ χαλεπὸν ᾖ χρῆσθαι καὶ φιλονεικεῖν πρὸς γαστέρα ὦτα μὴ ἔχουσαν, ὡς ἔλεγε Κάτων, διαμηχανητέον τῇ ποιότητι τῆς τροφῆς ἐλαφρότερον ποιεῖν τὸ πλῆθος. καὶ τὰ μὲν στερεὰ καὶ πολύτροφα τῶν σιτίων, οἷον τὰ κρεώδη καὶ τυρώδη καὶ σύκων τὰ ξηρὰ καὶ ᾠῶν τὰ ἑφθά, προσφέρεσθαι πεφυλαγμένως ἁπτόμενον ἔργον γὰρ ἀεὶ παραιτεῖσθαι, τοῖς δὲ λεπτοῖς ἐμφύεσθαι καὶ κούφοις, οἷα τὰ πολλὰ τῶν λαχάνων καὶ τὰ πτηνὰ καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων οἱ μὴ πίονες. ἔστι γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα προσφερόμενον καὶ χαρίζεσθαι ταῖς ὀρέξεσι καὶ τὸ σῶμα μὴ πιέζειν. μάλιστα δὲ τὰς ἀπὸ κρεῶν φοβητέον ἀπεψίας· καὶ γὰρ εὐθὺς σφόδρα καὶ βαρύνουσι, καὶ λείψανον εἰσαῦθις πονηρὸν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν παραμένει. καὶ κράτιστον μὲν ἐθίσαι τὸ σῶμα μηδεμιᾶς προσδεῖσθαι σαρκοφαγίας· πολλὰ γὰρ οὐ μόνον πρὸς διατροφὴν ἄφθονα ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς εὐπάθειαν καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν ἀναδίδωσιν ἡ γῆ, τοῖς μὲν αὐτόθεν ἀπραγμόνως χρῆσθαι παρέχουσα, τὰ δὲ μιγνύμενα παντοδαπῶς καὶ σκευαζόμενα συνηδύνειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ ἔθος τρόπον τινὰ φύσις τοῦ παρὰ φύσιν γέγονεν, οὐ δεῖ χρῆσθαι κρεοφαγίᾳ πρὸς ἀποπλήρωσιν ὀρέξεως, ὥσπερ λύκους ἢ λέοντας, ἀλλʼ οἷον ὑπέρεισμα καὶ διάζωμα τῆς τροφῆς ἐμβαλλομένους ἑτέροις σιτίοις χρῆσθαι καὶ ὄψοις, ἃ καὶ τῷ σώματι μᾶλλόν ἐστι κατὰ φύσιν, καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἧττον ἀμβλύνει τὸ λογικόν, ὥσπερ ἐκ λιτῆς καὶ ἐλαφρᾶς ὕλης ἀναπτόμενον.

[¶2] 19. ZEUXIPPUS. As for liquids, we should never make milk our drink, but rather take it as food, it yielding much solid nourishment. As for wine, we must say to it what Euripides said to Venus: —
Thy joys with moderation I would have,
And that I ne’er may want them humbly crave.
For wine is the most beneficial of all drinks, the pleasantest medicine in the world, and of all dainties the least cloying to the appetite, provided more regard be given to the opportunity of the time of drinking it than even to its being properly mixed with water. Water, not only when it is mixed with wine, but also if it be drunk by itself between mixed wine and water, makes the mingled wine the less hurtful. We should accustom ourselves therefore in our daily diet to drink two or three glasses of water, which will allay the strength of the wine, and make drinking of water familiar to our body, that so in a case of necessity it may not be looked on as a stranger, and we be offended at it. It so falls out, that some have then the greatest inclination for wine when there is most need they should drink water; for such men, when they have been exposed to great heat of the sun, or have fallen into a chill, or have been speaking vehemently, or have been more than ordinarily thoughtful about any thing, or after any fatigue or labor, are of the opinion that they ought to drink wine, as if nature required some repose for the body and some diversion after its labors. But nature requires no such repose (if you will call pleasure repose), but desires only such an alteration as shall be between pleasure and pain; in which case we ought to abate of our diet, and either wholly abstain from wine, or drink it allayed with very much mixture of water. For wine, being sharp and fiery, increases the disturbances of the body, exasperates them, and wounds the parts affected; which stand more in need of being comforted and smoothed, which water does the best of any thing. If, when we are not thirsty, we drink warm water after labor, exercise, or heat, we find our inward parts loosened and smoothed by it; for the moisture of water is gentle and not violent, but that of wine carries a great force in it, which is no ways agreeable in the fore-mentioned cases. And if any one should be afraid that abstinence would bring upon the bodythat acrimony and bitterness which some say it will, he is like those children who think themselves much wronged because they may not eat just before the fit of a fever. The best mean between both these is drinking of water. We oftentimes sacrifice to Bacchus himself without wine, doing very well in accustoming ourselves not to be always desirous of wine. Minos made the pipe and the crown be laid aside at the sacrifice when there was mourning. And yet we know an afflicted mind is not at all affected by either the pipe or crown; but there is no body so strong, to which, in commotion or a fever, wine does not do a great deal of injury.

> Greek: 19. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. τῶν δʼ ὑγρῶν γάλακτι μὲν οὐχ ὡς ποτῷ χρηστέον, ἀλλʼ ὡς σιτίῳ δύναμιν ἐμβριθῆ καὶ πολύτροφον ἔχοντι. πρὸς δὲ τὸν οἶνον ἅπερ Εὐριπίδης πρὸς τὴν Ἀφροδίτην διαλεκτέον
εἴης μοι, μέτριον δέ πως
εἴης, μηδʼ ἀπολείποις
καὶ γὰρ ποτῶν ὠφελιμώτατόν ἐστι καὶ φαρμάκων ἥδιστον καὶ ὄψων ἀσικχότατον, ἂν τύχῃ τῆς πρὸς τὸν καιρὸν εὐκρασίας μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ. ὕδωρ δʼ οὐ μόνον τὸ μιγνύμενον πρὸς οἶνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ καθʼ ἑαυτὸ τοῦ κεκραμένου μεταξὺ πινόμενον ἀβλαβέστερον ποιεῖ τὸ κεκραμένον. ἐθιστέον οὖν παρὰ τὴν καθʼ ἡμέραν δίαιταν ὕδατος προσφέρεσθαι καὶ δύο καὶ τρία ποτήρια, τήν τε δύναμιν τοῦ οἴνου ποιοῦντα μαλακωτέραν καὶ τοῦ σώματος συνήθη τὴν ὑδροποσίαν, ὅπως, ὅταν ἐν χρείᾳ γένηται, μὴ ξενοπαθῇ μηδʼ ἀπαναίνηται. συμβαίνει γὰρ ἐνίους φέρεσθαι μάλιστα πρὸς τὸν οἶνον ὅταν μάλιστα χρείαν ὑδροποσίας ἔχωσι. καὶ γὰρ ἡλιωθέντες καὶ ῥιγώσαντες πάλιν καὶ σφοδρότερον εἰπόντες καὶ συντονώτερον φροντίσαντες καὶ ὅλως μετὰ τοὺς κόπους καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας οἴονται ποτέον εἶναι τὸν οἶνον ὡς καὶ τῆς φύσεως ἀπαιτούσης εὐπάθειάν τινα τῷ σώματι καὶ μεταβολὴν ἐκ τῶν πόνων. ἡ δὲ φύσις εὐπάθειαν μέν, εἴ τις εὐπάθειαν καλεῖ τὴν ἡδυπάθειαν, οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖ, μεταβολὴν δʼ ἀπαιτεῖ τὴν εἰς τὸ μέσον ἡδονῆς καὶ πόνου καθιστᾶσαν. διὸ καὶ τροφῆς ὑφαιρετέον ἐν τούτοις, καὶ τὸν οἶνον ἢ παντελῶς ἀφαιρετέον ἢ προσοιστέον πολλῇ κατακεραννύμενον διὰ μέσου καὶ κατακλυζόμενον ὑδροποσίᾳ. πλήκτης γὰρ ὢν καὶ ὀξὺς ἐπιτείνει τὰς τοῦ σώματος ταραχάς, καὶ τραχύτερα ποιεῖ καὶ παροξύνει τὰ πεπληγμένα, παρηγορίας δεόμενα καὶ λειότητος, ἃς μάλιστα τὸ ὕδωρ ἐνδίδωσι. καὶ γὰρ ἂν οὐ διψῶντες, ἄλλως 1 δὲ θερμὸν ὕδωρ πίωμεν μετὰ τοὺς κόπους καὶ τὰς διατάσεις καὶ τὰ καύματα, χαλάσματος καὶ μαλακότητος; αἰσθανόμεθα περὶ τὰ ἐντός· ἤπιος γὰρ ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος ὑγρότης καὶ ἄσφυκτος, ἡ δὲ τοῦ οἴνου φορὰν ἔχει πολλὴν καὶ δύναμιν οὐκ εὐμενῆ τοῖς προσφάτοις πάθεσιν οὐδὲ φιλάνθρωπον. καὶ γὰρ ἃς λέγουσιν ἔνιοι τῷ σώματι τὴν ἀσιτίαν δριμύτητας ἐγγεννᾶν καὶ πικρότητας εἴ τις δέδιεν ἢ καθάπερ οἱ παῖδες δεινὸν ἡγεῖται πρὸ τοῦ πυρέττειν μὴ παρατίθεσθαι τράπεζαν ἐν ὑποψίᾳ γεγονώς, εὐάρμοστον ἡ ὑδροποσία μεθόριον. καὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ τῷ Διονύσῳ πολλάκις νηφάλια θύομεν, ἐθιζόμενοι καλῶς μὴ ζητεῖν ἀεὶ τὸν ἄκρατον. ὁ δὲ Μίνως καὶ τὸν αὐλὸν ἀφεῖλε τῆς θυσίας καὶ τὸν στέφανον ὑπὸ λύπης. καίτοι λυπουμένην ψυχὴν ἴσμεν οὔθʼ ὑπὸ στεφάνων οὔθʼ ὑπʼ αὐλῶν παθοῦσαν· σῶμα δʼ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἰσχυρόν ἐστιν, ᾧ τεταραγμένῳ καὶ φλεγμαίνοντι προσπεσὼν οἶνος οὐκ ἠδίκησε.

[¶3] 20. ZEUXIPPUS. The Lydians are reported in a famine to have spent one day in eating, and the next in sports and drollery. But a lover of learning and a friend to the Muses, when at any time he is forced to sup later than ordinary, will not be so much a slave to his belly as to lay aside a geographical scheme when it is before him, or his book, or his lyre; but strenuously turning himself, and taking his mind off from eating, he will in the Muses’ name drive away all such desires, as so many Harpies, from his table. Will not the Scythian in the midst ’of his cups oftentimes handle his bow and twang the string, thereby rousing up himself from that drunkenness in which he was immersed? Will a Greek be afraid, because he is laughed at, by books and letters gently to loosen and unbend any blind and obstinate desire? The young men in Menander, when they were drinking, were trepanned by a bawd, which brought in to them a company of handsome and richly attired women; but every one, as he said,
Cast down his eyes and fell to junketing, —
not one daring to look upon them. Lovers of learning have many fair and pleasant diversions, if they can no other way keep in their canine and brutish appetites when they see the table spread. The bawling of such fellows as anoint wrestlers, and the opinion of pedagogues that it hinders our nourishment and dulls one’s head to discourse of learning at table, are indeed of some force then, when we are called upon to solve a fallacy like the Indus or to dispute about the Kyrieuon at a feast. For though the pith of the palm-tree is very sweet, yet they say it will cause the headache. To discourse of logic at meals is not indeed a very delicious banquet, is rather troublesome, and pains one’s head; but if there be any who will not give us leave to discourse philosophically or ask any question or read any thing at table, though it be of those things which are not only decent and profitable but also pleasantly merry, we will desire them not to trouble us, but to talk in this style to the athletes in the Xvstum and the Palaestra, who have laid aside their books and are wont to spend their whole time in jeers and scurrilous jests, being, as Aristo wittily expresses it, smooth and hard, like the pillars in the gymnasium. But we must obey our physicians, who advise us to keep some interval between supper and sleep, and not to heap up together a great deal of victuals in our stomachs and so shorten our breath (lest we presently by crude and fermenting aliment overcharge our digestion), but rather to take some space and breathing-time before we sleep. As those who have a mind to exercise themselves after supper do not do it by running or wrestling, but rather by gentle exercise, such as walking or dancing; so when we intend to exercise our minds after supper, we are not to do it with any thing of business or care, or with those sophistical disputes which bring us into a vain-glorious and violent contention. But there are many questions in natural philosophy which are easy to discuss and to decide; there are many disquisitions which relate to manners, which please the mind (as Homer expresses it) and do no way discompose it. Questions in history and poetry have been by some ingeniously called a second course to a learned man and a scholar. There are discourses which are no way troublesome; and, besides, fables may be told. Nay, it is easier to discourse of the pipe and lyre, or hear them discoursed of, than it is to hear either of them played on. The quantity of time allowed for this exercise is till our meat be gently settled within us, so that our digestion may have power enough to master it.

> Greek: 20. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. τοὺς μὲν οὖν Λυδοὺς ἐν τῷ λιμῷ λέγουσι διαγαγεῖν παρʼ ἡμέραν τρεφομένους, εἶτα παίζοντας καὶ κυβεύοντας· φιλόλογον δʼ ἄνδρα καὶ φιλόμουσον ἐν καιρῷ δεομένῳ βραδυτέρου δείπνου διάγραμμα παρακείμενον ἤ τι βιβλίδιον ἢ λύριον οὐ προΐενται τῇ γαστρὶ λεηλατούμενον, ἀλλʼ ἀποστρέφων συνεχῶς καὶ μεταφέρων ἐπὶ ταῦτα τὴν διάνοιαν ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης ὥσπερ Ἁρπυίας τὰς ὀρέξεις διασοβήσει ταῖς Μούσαις. οὐ γὰρ ὁ μὲν Σκύθης, ὅταν πίνῃ, πολλάκις ἐφάπτεται τοῦ τόξου καὶ παραψάλλει τὴν νευράν, ἐκλυόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς μέθης ἀνακαλούμενος τὸν θυμόν, Ἕλλην δʼ ἀνὴρ φοβήσεται τοὺς καταγελῶντας αὐτοῦ, γράμμασι καὶ βιβλίοις ἀγνώμονα καὶ δυσπαραίτητον ἐπιθυμίαν ἀνιέντος ἀτρέμα καὶ χαλῶντος. τῶν μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Μενάνδρῳ νεανίσκων ὑπὸ τοῦ πορνοβοσκοῦ παρὰ πότον ἐπιβουλευομένων καλὰς καὶ πολυτελεῖς εἰσάγοντος ἑταίρας ἕκαστος, ὥς φησι.
κύψας καθʼ αὑτὸν τῶν τραγημάτων ἔφλα, φυλαττόμενος καὶ φοβούμενος ἐμβλέπειν οἱ δὲ φιλόλογοι πολλὰς καὶ καλὰς καὶ ἡδείας ἀπόψεις καὶ ἀποστροφὰς ἔχουσιν, ἄνπερ ἄλλως μὴ δύνωνται τὸ κυνικὸν καὶ θηριῶδες τῶν ὀρέξεων κατέχειν παρακειμένης τραπέζης. ἀλειπτῶν δὲ φωνὰς καὶ παιδοτριβῶν λόγους ἑκάστοτε λεγόντων ὡς τὸ παρὰ δεῖπνον φιλολογεῖν τὴν τροφὴν διαφθείρει καὶ βαρύνει τὴν κεφαλὴν τότε φοβητέον, ὅταν τὸν Ἰνδὸν ἀναλύειν ἢ διαλέγεσθαι περὶ τοῦ Κυριεύοντος ἐν δείπνῳ μέλλωμεν. τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἐγκέφαλον τοῦ φοίνικος, γλυκὺν ὄντα τῶν σφόδρα κεφαλαλγῶν λέγουσιν εἶναι· διαλεκτικὴ δὲ τρωγάλιον ἐπὶ δείπνῳ γλυκὺ μὲν οὐδαμῶς κεφαλαλγὲς δὲ καὶ κοπῶδες ἰσχυρῶς ἐστιν. ἂν δʼ ἡμᾶς μὴ ἄλλο τι ζητεῖν ἢ φιλοσοφεῖν ἢ ἀναγιγνώσκειν παρὰ δεῖπνον ἐῶσι τῶν ἐν τῷ καλῷ καὶ ὠφελίμῳ τὸ ἐπαγωγὸν ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς καὶ γλυκὺ μόριον ἐχόντων, κελεύσομεν αὐτοὺς μὴ ἐνοχλεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἀπιόντας ἐν τῷ ξυστῷ ταῦτα καὶ ταῖς παλαίστραις διαλέγεσθαι τοῖς ἀθληταῖς, οὓς τῶν βιβλίων ἐξελόντες ἀεὶ διημερεύειν ἐν σκώμμασι καὶ βωμολοχίαις ἐθίζοντες, ὡς ὁ κομψὸς Ἀρίστων ἔλεγε, τοῖς ἐν γυμνασίῳ κίοσιν ὁμοίως λιπαροὺς πεποιήκασι καὶ λιθίνους. αὐτοὶ δὲ πειθόμενοι τοῖς ἰατροῖς παραινοῦσιν ἀεὶ τοῦ δείπνου καὶ τοῦ ὕπνου λαμβάνειν μεθόριον καὶ μὴ συμφορήσαντας εἰς τὸ σῶμα τὰ σιτία καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα καταθλίψαντας εὐθὺς ὠμῇ καὶ ζεούσῃ τῇ τροφῇ βαρύνειν τὴν πέψιν ἀλλʼ ἀναπνοὴν καὶ χάλασμα παρέχειν, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ σώματα κινεῖν μετὰ δεῖπνον ἀξιοῦντες οὐ δρόμοις οὐδὲ παγκρατίοις τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν ἀλλὰ βληχροῖς περιπάτοις καὶ χορείαις ἐμμελέσιν, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς οἰησόμεθα δεῖν τὰς ψυχὰς διαφέρειν μετὰ τὸ δεῖπνον μήτε πράγμασι μήτε φροντίσι μήτε σοφιστικοῖς ἀγῶσι πρὸς ἅμιλλαν ἐπιδεικτικὴν ἢ νικητικὴν περαινομένοις. ἀλλὰ πολλὰ μέν ἐστι τῶν φυσικῶν προβλημάτων ἐλαφρὰ καὶ πιθανά, πολλὰ δʼ ἠθικὰς σκέψεις ἔχοντα καὶ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ μενοεικές, ὡς Ὅμηρος ἔφη, καὶ μὴ ἀντίτυπον. τὰς δʼ ἐν ἱστορικαῖς καὶ ποιητικαῖς ζητήσεσι διατριβὰς οὐκ ἀηδῶς ἔνιοι δευτέρας τραπέζας ἀνδράσι φιλολόγοις καὶ φιλομούσοις προσεῖπον. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ διηγήσεις ἄλυποι καὶ μυθολογίαι, καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐλοῦ τι καὶ λύρας ἀκοῦσαι καὶ εἰπεῖν ἐλαφρότερον ἢ λύρας αὐτῆς φθεγγομένης ἀκούειν καὶ αὐλοῦ. μέτρον δὲ τοῦ καιροῦ τὸ τῆς τροφῆς καθισταμένης ἀτρέμα καὶ συμπνεούσης τὴν πέψιν ἐγκρατῆ γενέσθαι καὶ ὑπερδέξιον.

[¶4] 21. ZEUXIPPUS. Aristotle is of opinion that to walk after supper stirs up our natural heat; but to sleep, if it be soon after, chokes it. Others again say that rest aids digestion, and that motion disturbs it. Hence some walk immediately after supper; others choose rather to keep themselves still. But that man seems to obtain the design of both, who cherishes and keeps his body quiet, not immediately suffering his mind to become heavy and idle, but (as has been said) gently distributing and lightening his spirits by either hearing or speaking some pleasant thing, such as will neither molest nor oppress him.

> Greek: 21. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. ἐπεὶ δʼ Ἀριστοτέλης οἴεται τῶν δεδειπνηκότων τὸν μὲν περίπατον ἀναρριπίζειν τὸ θερμόν, τὸν δʼ ὕπνον, ἂν εὐθὺς καθεύδωσι, καταπνίγειν, ἕτεροι δὲ τὴν μὲν ἡσυχίαν οἴονται τὰς πέψεις βελτίονας ποιεῖν, τὴν δὲ κίνησιν ταράττειν τὰς ἀναδόσεις, καὶ τοῦτο τοὺς μὲν περιπατεῖν εὐθὺς ἀπὸ δείπνου τοὺς δʼ ἀτρεμεῖν πέπεικεν, ἀμφοτέρων ἂν οἰκείως ἐφάπτεσθαι δόξειεν ὁ τὸ μὲν σῶμα συνθάλπων καὶ συνέχων μετὰ τὸ δεῖπνον, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν μὴ καταφερόμενος μηδʼ ἀργῶν εὐθὺς ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ εἴρηται διαφορῶν ἐλαφρῶς τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ λεπτύνων τῷ λαλεῖν τι καὶ ἀκούειν τῶν προσηνῶν καὶ μὴ δακνόντων μηδὲ βαρυνόντων.

[¶5] 22. ZEUXIPPUS. Medicinal vomits and purges, which are the bitter reliefs of gluttony, are not to be attempted without great necessity. The manner of many is to fill themselves because they are empty, and again, because they are full, to empty themselves contrary to nature, being no less tormented with being full than being empty; or rather, they are troubled at their fulness, as being a hindrance of their appetite, and are always emptying themselves, that they may make room for new enjoyment. The damage in these cases is evident; for the body is disordered and torn by both these. It is an inconvenience that always attends a vomit, that it increases and gives nourishment to this insatiable humor. For it engenders hunger, as violent and turbulent as a roaring torrent, which continually annoys a man, and forces him to his meat, not like a natural appetite that calls for food, but rather like inflammation that calls for plasters and physic. Wherefore his pleasures are short and imperfect, and in the enjoyment are very furious and unquiet; upon which there come distentions, and affections of the pores, and retentions of the spirits, which will not wait for the natural evacuations, but run over the surface of the body, so that it is like an overloaded ship, where it is more necessary to throw something overboard than to take any thing more in. Those disturbances in our bellies which are caused by physic corrupt and consume our inward parts, and do rather increase our superfluous humors than bring them away; which is as if one that was troubled at the number of Greeks that inhabited the city, should call in the Arabians and Scythians. ZEUXIPPUS. Some are so much mistaken that, in order that they may void their customary and natural superfluities, they take Cnidian-berries or scammony, or some other harsh and incongruous physic, which is more fit to be carried away by purge than it is able to purge us. It is best therefore by a moderate and regular diet to keep our body in order, so that it may command itself as to fulness or emptiness. If at any time there be a necessity, we may take a vomit, but without physic or much tampering, and such a one as will not cause any great disturbance, only enough to save us from indigestion by casting up gently what is superfluous. For as linen cloths, when they are washed with soap and nitre, are more worn out than when they are washed with water only, so physical vomits corrupt and destroy the body. If at any time we are costive, there is no medicine better than some sort of food which will purge you gently and with ease, the trial of which is familiar to all, and the use without any pain. But if it will not yield to those, we may drink water for some days, or fast, or take a clyster, rather than take any troublesome purging physic; which most men are inclined to do, like that sort of women which take things on purpose to miscarry, that they may be empty and begin afresh.

> Greek: 22. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. ἐμέτους δὲ καὶ κοιλίας καθάρσεις ὑπὸ φαρμάκων, μιαρὰ παραμύθια πλησμονῆς, ἄνευ μεγάλης ἀνάγκης οὐ κινητέον, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοὶ κενώσεως ἕνεκα πληροῦντες τὸ σῶμα καὶ πάλιν πληρώσεως κενοῦντες παρὰ φύσιν, ταῖς πλησμοναῖς οὐχ ἧττον ἢ ταῖς ἐνδείαις ἀνιώμενοι, μᾶλλον δʼ ὅλως τὴν μὲν πλήρωσιν ὡς κώλυσιν ἀπολαύσεως βαρυνόμενοι, τὴν δʼ ἔνδειαν ὡς χώραν ἀεὶ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς παρασκευάζοντες. τὸ γὰρ βλαβερὸν ἐν τούτοις προῦπτόν ἐστι· ταραχάς τε γὰρ ἀμφότερα τῷ σώματι παρέχεται καὶ σπαραγμούς. ἴδιον δὲ τῷ μὲν ἐμέτῳ κακὸν πρόσεστι τὸ τὴν ἀπληστίαν αὔξειν τε καὶ τρέφειν· γίγνονται γὰρ αἱ πεῖναι καθάπερ τὰ κοπτόμενα ῥεῖθρα τραχεῖαι καὶ χαραδρώδεις, καὶ βίᾳ τὴν τροφὴν ἕλκουσιν ἀεὶ λυττῶσαι, οὐκ ὀρέξεσιν ἐοικυῖαι σιτίων δεομέναις ἀλλὰ φλεγμοναῖς φαρμάκων καὶ καταπλασμάτων. ὅθεν ἡδοναὶ μὲν ὀξεῖαι καὶ ἀτελεῖς καὶ πολὺν ἔχουσαι σφυγμὸν καὶ οἶστρον ἐν ταῖς ἀπολαύσεσι λαμβάνουσιν αὐτούς, διατάσεις δὲ καὶ πληγαὶ πόρων καὶ πνευμάτων ἐναπολήψεις διαδέχονται, μὴ περιμένουσαι τὰς κατὰ φύσιν ἐξαγωγάς, ἀλλʼ ἐπιπολάζουσαι τοῖς σώμασιν ὥσπερ ὑπεράντλοις σκάφεσι, φορτίων ἐκβολῆς οὐ περιττωμάτων δεομένοις. αἱ δὲ περὶ τὴν κάτω κοιλίαν ἐκταράξεις διὰ φαρμακείας φθείρουσαι καὶ τήκουσαι τὰ ὑποκείμενα πλείονα ποιοῦσι περίττωσιν ἢ ἐξάγουσιν. ὥσπερ οὖν, εἴ τις Ἑλλήνων ὄχλον ἐν πόλει βαρυνόμενος σύνοικον, Ἀράβων ἐμπλήσειε καὶ Σκυθῶν τὴν πόλιν ἐπηλύδων, οὕτως ἔνιοι τοῦ παντὸς διαμαρτάνουσιν ἐπʼ ἐκβολῇ περιττωμάτων συνήθων καὶ συντρόφων ἐμβάλλοντες ἔξωθεν εἰς τὸ σῶμα κόκκους τινὰς Κνιδίους καὶ σκαμωνίαν καὶ δυνάμεις ἄλλας ἀσυγκράτους καὶ ἀγρίας καὶ καθαρμοῦ δεομένας μᾶλλον ἢ καθῆραι τὴν φύσιν δυναμένας. ἄριστον μὲν οὖν τὸ μετρίᾳ διαίτῃ καὶ σώφρονι τὸ σῶμα ποιεῖν περὶ τε πληρώσεις καὶ κενώσεις αὐτοτελὲς ἀεὶ καὶ σύμμετρον· εἰ δʼ ἀνάγκη ποτὲ καταλάβοι, τοὺς μὲν ἐμέτους ποιητέον ἄνευ φαρμακείας καὶ περιεργίας, μηδὲν ἐκταράττοντας ἀλλʼ ὅσον ἀπεψίαν διαφυγεῖν αὐτόθεν ἀφιέντας ἀπραγμόνως τῷ πλεονάζοντι τὴν ἀπέρασιν. ὡς γὰρ τὰ ὀθόνια ῥύμμασι καὶ χαλαστραίοις πλυνόμενα μᾶλλον ἐκτρίβεται τῶν ὑδατοκλύστων, οὕτως οἱ μετὰ φαρμάκων ἔμετοι λυμαίνονται τῷ σώματι καὶ διαφθείρουσιν. ὑφισταμένης δὲ κοιλίας οὐδὲν φάρμακον οἷα τῶν σιτίων ἔνια μαλακὰς ἐνδιδόντα προθυμίας καὶ διαλύοντα πράως, ὧν ἥ τε πεῖρα πᾶσι συνήθης καὶ ἡ χρῆσις ἄλυπος. ἂν δὲ τούτοις ἀπειθῇ, πλείονας ἡμέρας ὑδροποσίαν ἢ ἀσιτίαν ἢ κλυστῆρα προσδεκτέον μᾶλλον ἢ ταρακτικὰς καὶ φθαρτικὰς φαρμακείας, ἐφʼ ἃς οἱ πολλοὶ φέρονται προχείρως, καθάπερ ἀκόλαστοι γυναῖκες, ἐκβολίοις χρώμεναι καὶ φθορίοις ὑπὲρ τοῦ πάλιν πληροῦσθαι καὶ ἡδυπαθεῖν.

[¶6] 23. ZEUXIPPUS. But to be done with these, there are some on the other side who are too exact in enjoining themselves to periodical and set fasts, doing amiss in teaching nature to want coercion when there is no occasion for it, and making that abstinence necessary which is not so, and all this at times when nature requires her accustomed way of living. It is better to use those injunctions we lay upon our bodies with more freedom, even when we have no ill symptom or suspicion upon us; and so to order our diet (as has been said), that our bodies may be always obedient to any change, and not be enslaved or tied up to one manner of living, nor so exact in regarding the times, numbers, and periods of our actions. For it is a life neither safe, easy, politic, nor like a man, but more like the life of an oyster or the trunk of a tree, to live so without any variety, and in restraint as to our meat, abstinence, motion, and rest; casting ourselves into a gloomy, idle, solitary, unsociable, and inglorious way of living, far remote from the administration of the state, — at least (I may say) in my opinion.

> Greek: 23. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. ἀλλὰ τούτους μὲν ἐατέον· οἱ δʼ ἄγαν αὖ πάλιν ἀκριβεῖς καὶ τεταγμένας τινὰς ἐκ περιόδου κριτικὰς ἐμβάλλοντες ἀσιτίας οὐκ ὀρθῶς τὴν φύσιν μὴ δεομένην διδάσκουσι δεῖσθαι συστολῆς καὶ ποιεῖν ἀναγκαίαν τὴν οὐκ ἀναγκαίαν ὑφαίρεσιν ἐν καιρῷ ζητούμενον ἔθος ἀπαιτοῦντι.· βέλτιον γὰρ ἐλευθέροις τοῖς τοιούτοις χρῆσθαι κολασμοῖς εἰς τὸ σῶμα, μηδεμιᾶς προαισθήσεως οὔσης μηδʼ ὑποψίας, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην δίαιταν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, πρὸς τὸ συντυγχάνον ἀεὶ ταῖς μεταβολαῖς ὑπήκοον ἔχειν, μὴ καταδεδουλωμένην μηδʼ ἐνδεδεμένην ἑνὶ σχήματι βίου πρός τινας καιροὺς ἢ ἀριθμοὺς ἢ περιόδους ἄγεσθαι μεμελετηκότος. οὐ γὰρ ἀσφαλὲς οὐδὲ ῥᾴδιον οὐδὲ πολιτικὸν οὐδʼ ἀνθρωπικὸν ἀλλʼ ὀστρέου τινὸς ζωῇ προσεοικὸς ἢ στελέχους τὸ ἀμετάστατον τοῦτο καὶ κατηναγκασμένον ἐν τροφαῖς καὶ ἀποχαῖς καὶ κινήσεσι καὶ ἡσυχίαις εἰς ἐπίσκιόν τινα βίον καὶ σχολαστὴν καὶ μονότροπόν τινα καὶ ἄφιλον καὶ ἄδοξον ἀπωτάτω πολιτείας καθίσασιν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ συστείλασιν οὐ κατά γε τὴν ἐμήν ἔφη γνώμην ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ.

[¶7] 24. ZEUXIPPUS. For health is not to be purchased by sloth and idleness, for those are chief inconveniences of sickness; and there is no difference between him who thinks to enjoy his health by idleness and quiet, and him who thinks to preserve his eyes by not using them, and his voice by not speaking. For such a man’s health will not be any advantage to him in the performance of many things he is obliged to do as a man. Idleness can never be said to conduce to health, for it destroys the very end of it. Nor is it true that they are the most healthful that do least. For Xenocrates was not more healthful than Phocion, or Theophrastus than Demetrius. It signified nothing to Epicurus or his followers, as to that so much talked of good habit of body, that they declined all business, though it were never so honorable. We ought to preserve the natural constitution of our bodies by other means, knowing every part of our life is capable of sickness and health. ZEUXIPPUS. The contrary advice to that which Plato gave his scholars is to be given to those who are concerned in public business. For he was wont to say, whenever he left his school; Go to, my boys, see that you employ your leisure in some honest sport and pastime. Now to those that are in public office our advice is, that they bestow their labor on honest and necessary things, not tiring their bodies with small or inconsiderable things. For most men upon accident torment themselves with watchings, journeyings, and running up and down, for no advantage and with no good design, but only that they may do others an injury, or because they envy them or are competitors with them, or because they hunt after unprofitable and empty glory. To such as these I think Democritus chiefly spoke when he said, that if the body should summon the soul before a court on an action for ill-treatment, the soul would lose the case. And perhaps on the other hand Theophrastus spoke well, when he said metaphorically, that the soul pays a dear house-rent to its landlord the body. But still the body is very much more inconvenienced by the soul, when it is used beyond reason and there is not care enough taken of it. For when it is in passion, action, or any concern, it does not at all consider the body. Jason, being somewhat out of humor, said, that in little things we ought not to stand upon justice, so that in greater things we may be sure to do it. We, and that in reason, advise any public man to trifle and play with little things, and in such cases to indulge himself, so that in worthy and great concerns he may not bring a dull, tired, and weary body, but one that is the better for having lain still, like a ship in the dock, that when the soul has occasion again to call it into business, “it may run with her, like a sucking colt with the mare.”

> Greek: 24. οὐ γὰρ ἀργίας ὤνιον ἡ ὑγίεια καὶ ἀπραξίας, ἅ γε δὴ μέγιστα κακῶν ταῖς νόσοις πρόσεστι, καὶ οὐδὲν διαφέρει τοῦ τὰ ὄμματα τῷ μὴ διαβλέπειν καὶ τὴν φωνὴν τῷ μὴ φθέγγεσθαι φυλάττοντος ὁ τὴν ὑγίειαν ἀχρηστίᾳ καὶ ἡσυχίᾳ σῴζειν οἰόμενος· πρὸς οὐδὲν γὰρ ἑαυτῷ χρήσαιτʼ ἄν τις ὑγιαίνοντι κρεῖττον ἢ πρὸς πολλὰς ὡς σὺ φιλανθρώπους πράξεις. ἥκιστα δὴ τὴν ἀργίαν ὑγιεινὸν ὑποληπτέον, εἰ τὸ τῆς ὑγιείας τέλος ἀπόλλυσι, καὶ οὐδʼ ἀληθές ἐστι τὸ μᾶλλον ὑγιαίνειν τοὺς ἡσυχίαν ἄγοντας· οὔτε γὰρ Ξενοκράτης μᾶλλον διυγίαινε Φωκίωνος οὔτε Δημητρίου Θεόφραστος, Ἐπίκουρόν τε καὶ τοὺς περὶ Ἐπίκουρον οὐδὲν ὤνησε πρὸς τὴν ὑμνουμένην σαρκὸς εὐστάθειαν ἡ πάσης φιλοτιμίαν ἐχούσης πράξεως ἀπόδρασις. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέραις ἐπιμελείαις διασωστέον ἐστὶ τῷ σώματι τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἕξιν, ὡς παντὸς βίου καὶ νόσον δεχομένου καὶ ὑγίειαν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πολιτικοῖς ἔφη παραινετέον εἶναι τοὐναντίον οὗ Πλάτων παρῄνει τοῖς νέοις. ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ λέγειν ἐκ τῆς διατριβῆς ἀπαλλαττόμενος εἰώθει ἄγε, ὅπως εἰς καλόν τι καταθήσεσθε τὴν σχολήν, ὦ παῖδες· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἂν τοῖς πολιτευομένοις παραινέσαιμεν εἰς τὰ καλὰ χρῆσθαι τοῖς πόνοις καὶ ἀναγκαῖα, μὴ μικρῶν ἕνεκα μηδὲ φαύλων τὸ σῶμα παρατείνοντας, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοὶ κακοπαθοῦσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς τυχοῦσιν, ἀποκναίοντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ πλάναις καὶ περιδρομαῖς εἰς οὐδὲν χρηστὸν οὐδʼ ἀστεῖον, ἀλλʼ ἐπηρεάζοντες ἑτέροις ἢ φθονοῦντες ἢ φιλονεικοῦντες ἢ δόξας ἀκάρπους καὶ κενὰς διώκοντες. πρὸς τούτους γὰρ οἶμαι μάλιστα τὸν Δημόκριτον εἰπεῖν ὡς εἰ τὸ σῶμα δικάσαιτο τῇ ψυχῇ κακώσεως, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὴν ἀποφυγεῖν. ἴσως μὲν γάρ τι καὶ Θεόφραστος ἀληθὲς εἶπεν, εἰπὼν ἐν μεταφορᾷ πολὺ τῷ σώματι τελεῖν ἐνοίκιον τὴν ψυχήν. πλείονα μέντοι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπολαύει κακὰ μὴ κατὰ λόγον αὐτῷ χρωμένης μηδʼ ὡς προσήκει θεραπευόμενον ὅταν γὰρ ἐν πάθεσιν ἰδίοις γένηται καὶ ἀγῶσι καὶ σπουδαῖς, ἀφειδεῖ τοῦ σώματος. ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἰάσων οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅ τι παθὼν τὰ μικρὰ δεῖν ἀδικεῖν ἔλεγεν ἕνεκεν τοῦ τὰ μεγάλα δικαιοπραγεῖν ἡμεῖς δʼ ἂν εὐλόγως τῷ πολιτικῷ παραινέσαιμεν τὰ μικρὰ ῥᾳθυμεῖν καὶ σχολάζειν καὶ ἀναπαύειν αὑτὸν ἐν ἐκείνοις, εἰ βούλεται πρὸς τὰς καλὰς πράξεις καὶ μεγάλας μὴ διάπονον ἔχειν τὸ σῶμα μηδʼ ἀμβλὺ μηδʼ ἀπαγορεῦον ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐν νεωλκίᾳ τῇ σχολῇ τεθεραπευμένον, ὅπως αὖθις ἐπὶ τὰς χρείας τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγούσης;
ἄθηλος ἵππῳ πῶλος ὣς ἅμα τρέχῃ ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ.

[¶8] 25. ZEUXIPPUS. Upon which account, when business gives us leave, we ought to refresh our bodies, grudging them neither sleep nor dinner nor that ease which is the medium between pain and pleasure; not taking that course which most men do, who thereby wear out their bodies by the many changes they expose them to, making them like hot iron thrown into cold water, by softening and troubling them with pleasures, after they have been very much strained and oppressed with labor. And on the other side, after they have opened their bodies and made them tender either by wine or venery, they exercise them either at the bar or at court, or enter upon some other business which requires earnest and vigorous action. Heraclitus, when he was in a dropsy, desired his physician to bring a drought upon his body, for it had a glut of rain. Most men are very much in the wrong who, after being tired or having labored or fasted, moisten (as it were) and dissolve their bodies in pleasure, and again force and distend them after those pleasures. Nature does not require that we should make the body amends at that rate. But an intemperate and slavish mind, so soon as it is free from labor, like a sailor, runs insolently into pleasures and delights, and again falls upon business, so that nature can have no rest or leave to enjoy that temper and calmness which it does desire, but is troubled and tormented by all this irregularity. Those that have any discretion never so much as offer pleasure to the body when it is laboring, — for at such times they do not require it at all, — nor do they so much as think of it, their minds being intent upon that employ they are in, either the delight or diligence of the soul getting the mastery over all other desires. Epaminondas is reported wittily to have said of a good man that died about the time of the battle of Leuctra, How came he to have so much leisure as to die, when there was so much business stirring? It may truly be asked concerning a man that is either of public employ or a scholar, What time can such a man spare, either to debauch his stomach or be drunk or lascivious? For such men, after they have done their business, allow quiet and repose to their bodies, reckoning not only unprofitable pains but unnecessary pleasures to be enemies to nature, and avoiding them as such.

> Greek: 25. διὸ τῶν πραγμάτων διδόντων ἀναληπτέον ἑαυτοὺς μήθʼ ὕπνου φθονοῦντας τῷ σώματι μήτʼ ἀρίστου μήτε ῥᾳστώνης τὸν μέσον ἡδυπαθείας καὶ κακοπαθείας φυλαττούσης ὅρον, οἷον οἱ πολλοὶ μὴ φυλάττοντες ἐπιτρίβουσι τὸ σῶμα ταῖς μεταβολαῖς ὥσπερ τὸν βαπτόμενον σίδηρον, ὅταν ἐνταθῇ καὶ πιεσθῇ σφόδρα τοῖς πόνοις, αὖθις ἐν ἡδοναῖς τηκόμενον ἀμέτρως καὶ λειβόμενον, εἶτα πάλιν ἐξ ἀφροδισίων καὶ οἴνου διάλυτον καὶ μαλακὸν εἰς ἀγορὰν ἢ αὐλὴν ἤ τινα πραγματείαν διαπύρου καὶ συντόνου δεομένην σπουδῆς ἐλαυνόμενον. Ἡράκλειτος μὲν γὰρ ὑδρωπιάσας ἐκέλευσεν αὐχμὸν ἐξ ἐπομβρίας ποιῆσαι τὸν ἰατρόν· οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τοῦ παντὸς ἁμαρτάνουσιν, ὅταν ἐν κόποις καὶ πόνοις καὶ ἐνδείαις γένωνται, μάλιστα ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ἐξυγραίνειν καὶ ἀνατήκειν τὰ σώματα παραδιδόντες, αὖθις δὲ μετὰ τὰς ἡδονὰς οἷον ἐπιστρέφοντες καὶ κατατείνοντες. ἡ γὰρ φύσις οὐ ζητεῖ τοιαύτην ἀνταπόδοσιν τοῦ σώματος. ἀλλὰ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ ἀκόλαστον καὶ ἀνελεύθερον ἐκ τῶν ἐπιπόνων ὥσπερ οἱ ναῦται πρὸς ἡδονὰς καὶ ἀπολαύσεις ὕβρει φερόμενον καὶ μετὰ τὰς ἡδονὰς πάλιν ἐπʼ ἐργασίας καὶ πορισμοὺς ὠθούμενον οὐκ ἐᾷ λαβεῖν τὴν φύσιν ἧς μάλιστα δεῖται καταστάσεως καὶ γαλήνης, ἀλλʼ ἐξίστησι καὶ ταράττει διὰ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν. οἱ δὲ νοῦν ἔχοντες ἥκιστα μὲν ἡδονὰς πονοῦντι τῷ σώματι προσφέρουσιν οὐ γὰρ δέονται τὸ παράπαν οὐδὲ μέμνηνται τῶν τοιούτων πρὸς τῷ καλῷ τῆς πράξεως τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχοντες, καὶ τῷ χαίροντι τῆς· ψυχῆς ἢ σπουδάζοντι τὰς ἄλλας ἐξαμαυροῦντες ἐπιθυμίας. ὅπερ γάρ φασιν εἰπεῖν τὸν Ἐπαμεινώνδαν μετὰ παιδιᾶς, ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ περὶ τὰ Λευκτρικὰ νόσῳ τελευτήσαντος, ὦ Ἡράκλεις, πῶς ἐσχόλασεν ἁνὴρ ἀποθανεῖν ἐν τοσούτοις πράγμασι, τοῦτʼ ἀληθῶς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ἐπʼ ἀνδρὸς ἢ πολιτικὴν πρᾶξιν ἢ φιλόσοφον φροντίδα διὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντος, τίς δὲ σχολὴ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τούτῳ νῦν ἀπεπτεῖν ἢ μεθύειν ἢ λαγνεύειν; γενόμενοι δὲ πάλιν ἀπὸ τῶν πράξεων ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ κατατίθενται τὸ σῶμα καὶ διαναπαύουσι, τῶν τε πόνων τοὺς ἀχρήστους καὶ μᾶλλον ἔτι τῶν ἡδονῶν τὰς οὐκ ἀναγκαίας ὡς τῇ φύσει πολεμίας φυλαττόμενοι καὶ φεύγοντες.

[¶9] 26. ZEUXIPPUS. I have heard that Tiberius Caesar was wont to say, that he was a ridiculous man that held forth his hand to a physician after sixty. But it seems to me to be a little too severely said. But this is certain, that every man ought to have skill in his own pulse, for it is very different in every man; neither ought he to be ignorant of the temper of his own body, as to heat and cold, or what things do him good, and what hurt. For he has no sense, and is both a blind and lame inhabitant of his body, that must learn these things from another, and must ask his physicians whether it is better with him in winter or summer; or whether moist or dry things agree best with him, or whether his pulse be frequent or slow. For it is necessary and easy to know such things by custom and experience. It is convenient to understand more what meats and drinks are wholesome than what are pleasant, and to have more skill in what is good for the stomach than in what seems good to the mouth, and in those things that are easy of digestion than in those that gratify our palate. For it is no less scandalous to ask a physician what is easy and what is hard of digestion, and what will agree with your stomach and what not, than it is to ask what is sweet, and what bitter, and what sour. They nowadays correct their cooks, being able well enough to tell what is too sweet, too salt, or too sour, but themselves do not know what will be light or easy of digestion, and agreeable to them. Therefore in the seasoning of broth they seldom err, but they do so scurvily pickle themselves every day as to afford work enough for the physician. For that pottage is not accounted best that is the sweetest, but they mingle bitter and sweet together. But they force the body to partake of many, and those cloying pleasures, either not knowing, or not remembering, that to things that are good and wholesome nature adds a pleasure unmingled with any regret or repentance afterward. We ought also to know what things are cognate and convenient to our bodies, and be able to direct a proper diet to any one upon any change of weather or other circumstance.

> Greek: 26. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. ἤκουσα Τιβέριόν ποτε Καίσαρα εἰπεῖν ὡς ἀνὴρ ὑπὲρ ἑξήκοντα γεγονὼς ἔτη καὶ προτείνων ἰατρῷ χεῖρα καταγέλαστός ἐστιν. ἐμοὶ δὲ τοῦτο μὲν εἰρῆσθαι δοκεῖ σοβαρώτερον, ἐκεῖνο δʼ ἀληθὲς εἶναι, τὸ δεῖν ἕκαστον αὑτοῦ μήτε σφυγμῶν ἰδιότητος ἄπειρον εἶναι πολλαὶ γὰρ αἱ καθʼ ἕκαστον διαφοραί μήτε κρᾶσιν ἀγνοεῖν ἣν ἔχει τὸ σῶμα θερμότητος καὶ ξηρότητος, μήθʼ οἷς ὠφελεῖσθαι χρώμενον ἢ βλάπτεσθαι πέφυκεν. αὑτοῦ γὰρ ἀναίσθητός ἐστιν καὶ τυφλὸς ἐνοικεῖ τῷ σώματι καὶ κωφὸς ὁ ταῦτα μανθάνων παρʼ ἑτέρου καὶ πυνθανόμενος τοῦ ἰατροῦ πότερον μᾶλλον θέρους ἢ χειμῶνος ὑγιαίνει, καὶ πότερον τὰ ὑγρὰ ῥᾷον ἢ τὰ ξηρὰ προσδέχεται, καὶ πότερον φύσει πυκνὸν ἔχει τὸν σφυγμὸν ἢ μανόν· καὶ γὰρ ὠφέλιμον εἰδέναι τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ ῥᾴδιον, ἀεί γε δὴ πειρωμένους καὶ συνόντας. βρωμάτων δὲ καὶ πωμάτων τὰ χρήσιμα μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ ἡδέα γιγνώσκειν προσήκει, καὶ μᾶλλον ἔμπειρον εἶναι τῶν εὐστομάχων ἢ τῶν εὐστόμων, καὶ τῶν τὴν πέψιν μὴ ταραττόντων ἢ τῶν τὴν γεῦσιν σφόδρα γαργαλιζόντων. τὸ γὰρ παρʼ ἰατροῦ πυνθάνεσθαι τί δύσπεπτον ἢ εὔπεπτον αὐτῷ καὶ τί δυσκοίλιον ἢ εὐκοίλιον οὐχ ἧττον αἰσχρόν ἐστιν ἢ τὸ πυνθάνεσθαι τί γλυκὺ καὶ τί πικρὸν καὶ αὐστηρόν. νῦν δὲ τοὺς μὲν ὀψοποιοὺς ἐπανορθοῦσιν, ἐμπείρως διαισθανόμενοι ποῦ πλέον τὸ γλυκὺ τοῦ προσήκοντος ἢ τὸ ἁλμυρὸν ἢ τὸ αὐστηρὸν ἔνεστιν· αὐτοὶ δʼ ἀγνοοῦσι τί τῷ σώματι μιχθὲν ἐλαφρὸν καὶ ἄλυπον ἔσται καὶ χρήσιμον. ὅθεν ζωμοῦ μὲν ἄρτυσις οὐ πολλάκις ἁμαρτάνεται παρʼ αὐτοῖς, αὑτοὺς δὲ φαύλως ὁμοῦ καὶ κακῶς ἀρτύοντες ὁσημέραι πολλὰ παρέχουσι πράγματα τοῖς ἰατροῖς. ζωμὸν μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἄριστον ἡγοῦνται τὸν γλυκύτατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πικρὰ καὶ δριμέα συμμιγνύουσιν εἰς δὲ τὸ σῶμα πολλὰς καὶ κατακόρους ἐμβάλλουσιν ἡδονάς, τὰ μὲν ἀγνοοῦντες τὰ δʼ οὐ μνημονεύοντες ὅτι τοῖς ὑγιεινοῖς καὶ ὠφελίμοις ἡ φύσις ἡδονὴν ἄλυπον καὶ ἀμεταμέλητον προστίθησιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα δεῖ μνημονεύειν, τὰ σύμφυλα καὶ πρόσφορα τῷ σώματι, καὶ τοὐναντίον ἐν ταῖς καθʼ ὥραν μεταβολαῖς καὶ ταῖς, ἄλλαις περιστάσεσιν, εἰδότας οἰκείως προσαρμόττειν ἑκάστῳ τὴν δίαιταν.

[¶10] 27. ZEUXIPPUS. As for those inconveniences which sordidness and poverty bring upon many, as gathering of fruit, continual labor, and running about, and want of rest, which fall heavy upon the weaker parts of the body and such as are inwardly infirm, we need not fear that any man of employ or scholar — to whom our present discourse belongs — should be troubled with them. But there is a severe sort of sordidness as to their studies, which they ought to avoid, by which they are forced many times to neglect their body, oftentimes denying it a supply when it has (lone its work, making the mortal part of us do its share in work as well as the immortal, and the earthly part as much as the heavenly. But, as the ox said to his fellow-servant the camel, when he refused to ease him of his burthen, It won’t be long before you carry my burthen and me too: which fell out to be true, when the ox died. So it happens to the mind, when it refuses that little relaxation and comfort which it needs in its labor; for a little while after a fever or vertigo seizes us, and then reading, discoursing, and disputing must be laid aside, and it is forced to partake of the body’s distemper. Plato therefore rightly exhorts us not to employ the mind without the body, nor the body without the mind, but to drive them equally like a pair of horses; and when at any time the body toils and labors with the mind, then to be the more careful of it, and thus to gain its wellbeloved health, believing that it obliges us with the best of things when it is no impediment to our knowledge and enjoyment of virtue, either in business or discourse.

> Greek: 27. ΖΕΥΞΙΠΠΟΣ. ὅσα μὲν γὰρ μικρολογίας καὶ ἀνελευθερίας προσκρούματα λαμβάνουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ περί τε συγκομιδὰς καρπῶν καὶ τηρήσεις ἐπιπόνους, ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ περιδρομαῖς ἐξελέγχοντες τὰ σαθρὰ καὶ ὕπουλα τοῦ σώματος, οὐκ ἄξιόν ἐστι δεδιέναι μὴ πάθωσιν ἄνδρες φιλόλογοι καὶ πολιτικοί, πρὸς οὓς ἐνέστηκεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος· ἀλλʼ ἑτέραν τινὰ φυλακτέον ἐστὶ τούτοις δριμυτέραν ἐν γράμμασι καὶ μαθήμασι μικρολογίαν, ὑφʼ ἧς ἀφειδεῖν καὶ ἀμελεῖν τοῦ σώματος ἀναγκάζονται, πολλάκις ἀπαγορεύοντος οὐκ ἐνδιδόντες ἀλλὰ προσβιαζόμενοι θνητὸν ἀθανάτῳ καὶ γηγενὲς Ὀλυμπίῳ συναμιλλᾶσθαι καὶ συνεξανύτειν. εἶθʼ ὡς ὁ βοῦς πρὸς τὴν ὁμόδουλον ἔλεγε κάμηλον, ἐπικουφίσαι τοῦ φορτίου μὴ βουλομένην, ἀλλὰ κἀμὲ καὶ ταῦτα πάντα μετὰ μικρὸν οἴσεις, ὃ καὶ συνέβη τελευτήσαντος αὐτοῦ, οὕτω συμβαίνει τῇ ψυχῇ· μικρὰ χαλάσαι καὶ παρεῖναι μὴ βουλομένη πονοῦντι καὶ δεομένῳ, μετʼ ὀλίγον πυρετοῦ τινος ἢ σκοτώματος ἐμπεσόντος ἀφεῖσα τὰ βιβλία καὶ τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὰς διατριβὰς ἀναγκάζεται συννοσεῖν ἐκείνῳ καὶ συγκάμνειν. ὀρθῶς οὖν ὁ Πλάτων παρῄνεσε μήτε σῶμα κινεῖν ἄνευ ψυχῆς μήτε ψυχὴν ἄνευ σώματος, ἀλλʼ οἷόν τινα ξυνωρίδος ἰσορροπίαν διαφυλάττειν, ὅτι μάλιστα τῇ ψυχῇ συνεργεῖ τὸ σῶμα καὶ συγκάμνει, πλείστην ἐπιμέλειαν αὐτῷ καὶ θεραπείαν ἀποδιδόντας καὶ τὴν καλὴν καὶ ἐράσμιον ὑγίειαν ὧν δίδωσιν ἀγαθῶν κάλλιστον ἡγουμένους διδόναι τὸ πρὸς κτῆσιν ἀρετῆς καὶ χρῆσιν ἔν τε λόγοις καὶ πράξεσιν ἀκώλυτον αὐτῶν.