Part 5

But after these things follow the honours which should be paid to living parents, it being right to discharge the first, the greatest, and the most ancient of all debts. Every one, likewise, should think that all which he possesses belongs to those who begot and nurtured him, in order that he may be ministrant to their want to the utmost of his ability, beginning from his property; in the second place discharging his debt to them from things pertaining to his body; and in the third place, from things pertaining to his soul; thus repaying with usury the cares and pains which his now very aged parents bestowed on him when he was young. Through the whole of life, likewise, it is requisite that he should particularly employ the most respectful language in speaking to his parents; because there is a most severe punishment for light and winged words; and Nemesis, the messenger of Justice, is appointed to be the inspector of every thing of this kind. When parents, therefore, are angry, it is requisite to yield to them, and to appease their anger, whether it is shown in words or in deeds; acknowledging that a father may reasonably be very much enraged with his son, when he thinks he has been injured by him. But on the death of parents, the most decent and beautiful monuments should be raised to them; not exceeding the usual magnitude, nor yet less than those which our ancestors erected for their parents. Every year, too, attention ought to be paid to the decoration of their tombs. They should, likewise, be continually remembered and reverenced, and this with a moderate and appropriate expense. By always acting, therefore, and living in this manner, we shall each of us be rewarded according to our deserts, both by the Gods and those natures that are superior to us, and shall pass the greatest part of our life in good hope.

FROM THE TREATISE OF PEMPELUS ON PARENTS.

Neither divinity, nor any man who possesses the least wisdom, will ever advise any one to neglect his parents. Hence we cannot have any statue or temple which will be considered by divinity as more precious than our fathers and grandfathers when grown feeble with age. For God will recompense him with benefits who honours his parents with gifts; since if this is not done, divinity will not pay any attention to the prayers of such parents for their children. The images of our parents, indeed, and progenitors should be esteemed by us as far more venerable and divine than any inanimate images. For these animated images, when they are continually adorned and rendered splendid with honour by us, pray for us, and implore the gods to bestow on us the most excellent gifts: but the contrary when we despise them. Neither of these, however, is effected by inanimate images. Hence he who conducts himself in a becoming manner towards his parents and progenitors, and other relatives of this kind, will possess the most proper of all statues, and the best calculated to render him dear to divinity. Every one, therefore, endued with intellect should honour and venerate his parents, and should dread their execrations and [unfavourable] prayers, as knowing that many of them frequently take effect. These things, therefore, being thus disposed by nature, men that are prudent and modest will consider their living aged progenitors as a treasure, to the extremity of life; and if they die before they arrive at that period, they will be vehemently desired by them. On the contrary, progenitors will be terrible in the extreme to their depraved and stupid offspring. But he who, being profane, is deaf to these assertions, will be considered by all intelligent persons as odious both to Gods and men.

FROM THE TREATISE OF PHINTYS, THE DAUGHTER OF CALLICRATES, ON THE TEMPERANCE OF A WOMAN.

A woman ought to be wholly good and modest; but she will never be a character of this kind without virtue. For any virtue subsisting in any one thing renders that which receives it valuable. And the virtue, indeed, of the eyes is sight, but of the ears hearing. Thus, too, the virtue of a horse causes it to a good horse; and the virtue of a man and the virtue of a woman render each of them worthy. But the principal virtue of a woman is temperance; for through this she will be able to honour and love her husband. Many, indeed, may perhaps think it does not become a woman to philosophize, as neither is it proper for her to ride on horseback, nor to harangue in public. But I think that some things are the province of a man, others of a woman, and that others are common both to man and woman. And, likewise, that some things pertain more to a man than to a woman; but others more to a woman than to a man. But the things peculiar to a man are, to lead an army, to govern, and to harangue in public. The offices peculiar to a woman are, to be the guardian of a house, to stay at home, and to receive and be ministrant to her husband. And the virtues pertaining to both are fortitude, justice, and prudence. For it is fit that both the husband and wife should have the virtues of the body, and in a similar manner those of the soul. And as health of body is beneficial to both, so also is health of soul. The virtues, however, of the body are health, strength, vigour of sensation, and beauty. With respect to the virtues, also, some are more adapted to be exercised and possessed by a man, but others by a woman. For fortitude and prudence pertain more to the man than to the woman, both on account of the habit of the body, and the power of the soul; but temperance peculiarly belongs to the woman. Hence it is requisite to know the number and the quality of the things through which this virtue accedes to a woman. I say, therefore, that they are these five. And in the first place, she obtains this virtue through sanctity and piety about the marriage bed. In the second place, through ornament pertaining to the body. In the third place, through egressions from her own house. In the fourth place, through refraining from the celebration of orgies, and the mysteries of the mother of the Gods. And in the fifth place, through being cautious and moderate in the sacrifices to divinity. Of these, however, the greatest and most comprehensive cause of temperance, is that which causes the wife to be undefiled with respect to the marriage bed, and not to have connexion with any other man than her husband. For in the first place, by such illegal conduct, she acts unjustly towards the Gods who preside over nativities, rendering them not genuine but spurious adjutors of her family and kindred. In the second place, she acts unjustly towards the Gods who preside over nature, by whom she solemnly swore, in conjunction with her parents and kindred, that she would legally associate with her husband in the communion of life and the procreation of children. And in the third place, she acts unjustly towards her country, by not observing its decrees. To which may be added, that to offend against right in those things for which the greatest punishment, death, is ordained, on account of the magnitude of the crime, and to do so for the sake of pleasure and wanton insolence, is nefarious, and most undeserving of pardon. But the end of all insolent conduct is destruction.

This, also, ought to be considered, that no purifying remedy has been discovered for this offence, so as to render a woman thus guilty pure and beloved by divinity. For God is most averse to pardon this crime. But the best indication of the chastity of a woman towards her husband is that which arises from the resemblance of her children to their father. And thus much concerning the marriage bed.

With respect, however, to the ornament of the body, it appears to me, that the garments of a woman should be white and simple, and by no means superfluous. But they will be so, if they are neither transparent nor variegated, nor woven from silk, but are not expensive, and are of a white colour. For thus she will avoid excessive ornament, luxury, and superfluous clothes; and will not produce a depraved imitation in others. And, in short, she should not decorate her person with gold and emeralds. For they are very expensive, and exhibit pride and arrogance towards the vulgar. It is necessary, however, that a city which is governed by good laws, and is well arranged in all its parts, should accord with itself, and have an equable legislation; and should expel the artificers who make things of this kind from the city. She should, likewise, give a splendour to her face, not by employing adscititious and foreign colour, but that which is adapted to the body, and is produced by washing it with water; and adorning her person through modesty rather than through art. For thus she will render both herself and her husband honourable. But the lower class of women should go out of their houses, for the purpose of sacrificing to the tutelar deity of the city, for the welfare of their husbands and all their family. A woman, also, should depart from her house neither by twilight nor in the evening, but should openly leave it when the forum is full of people; accompanied by one, or at most two servants, for the sake of beholding a certain thing, or of buying something she may want. She should also offer frugal sacrifices to the Gods, and such as are adapted to her ability; but she should abstain from the celebration of orgies, and from those sacred rites of the mother of the Gods, which are performed at home. For the common law of the city ordains that these shall not be performed by women. To which may be added, that these rites introduce ebriety, and mental alienation. It is necessary, however, that she who is the mistress of a family, and presides over domestic affairs, should be temperate and undefiled.

ETHICAL FRAGMENTS

HIEROCLES,

Preserved by Stobaeus.

HOW WE OUGHT TO CONDUCT OURSELVES TOWARDS THE GODS.

Such particulars, also, as the following, are to be previously assumed concerning the Gods, viz. that they are immutable, and firm in their decrees; so that they never change the conception of what appeared to them to be fit from the beginning. For there is one immutability and firmness of the virtues, which it is reasonable to suppose subsists transcendently with the Gods, and which imparts a never-failing stability to their conceptions. From which it is evident, that there is no probability that the punishments which divinity thinks proper to inflict can be remitted. For it is easy to infer, that if the Gods change their decisions, and omit to punish him whom they had designed to punish, the world can neither be beautifully nor justly governed; nor can any probable reason for [the necessity of] repentance be assigned. Poetry also appears to have asserted such things as the following,—rashly, and without any reason:

By incense and libation, gentle vows, And sacrifice and prayer, men bend the Gods, When they transgress, and stray from what is right.

And

For flexible are e’en the Gods themselves.

And in short whatever of a similar nature is to be found in poetry.

Nor must we omit to observe, that though the Gods are not the causes of evil, yet they connect certain persons with things of this kind, and surround those who deserve [to be afflicted] with corporeal and external detriments; not through any malignity, or because they think it requisite that men should struggle with difficulties, but for the sake of punishment. For as pestilence and drought, and besides these excessive rain, earthquakes, and every thing of this kind, are for the most part produced through certain other more physical causes, yet sometimes are effected by the Gods, when the times are such that the iniquity of the multitude, publicly, and in common, requires to be punished; after the same manner, also, the Gods sometimes afflict an individual with corporeal and external detriments, in order to punish him, and convert others to what is right.

But to be persuaded that the Gods are never the cause of any evil, contributes greatly, as it appears to me, to proper conduct towards the Gods. For evils proceed from vice alone, but the Gods are of themselves the causes of good, and of whatever is advantageous; while, in the meantime, we do not admit their beneficence, but surround ourselves with voluntary evils. Hence, on this occasion, it appears to me that it is well said by the poet:

——that mortals blame the Gods,

as if they were the causes of their evils!

——though not from Fate, But for their crimes they suffer pain and woe.

For that God is never in any way the cause of evil may be proved by many arguments; but at present we shall only adduce what Plato says: viz. “that as it is not the province of what is hot to refrigerate, but the contrary; so neither is it the province of that which is beneficent to be noxious, but the contrary.” Moreover, God being good, and immediately replete from the beginning with every virtue, cannot be noxious, or the cause to any one of evil; but on the contrary, must impart every good to those who are willing to receive it; bestowing on us, also, such media as are according to nature, and which are effective of what is conformable to nature. But there is only one cause of evil.

HOW WE OUGHT TO CONDUCT OURSELVES TOWARDS OUR COUNTRY.

After speaking of the Gods, it is most reasonable to show, in the next place, how we should conduct ourselves towards our country. For, by Jupiter, our country is as it were a certain secondary God, and our first and greatest parent. Hence he who gave a name to the thing did not rashly denominate it πατρις, patris; this word being derived from πατηρ, pater, a father; but pronounced with a feminine termination, in order that it might be as it were a mixture of father and mother. This reason, also, proclaims that our country is to be honoured equally with our two parents; so that we ought to prefer it to either of them taken separately, and not to honour the two more than it; but to pay an equal portion of respect to each. There is, likewise, another reason, which exhorts us to honour it more than our two parents conjointly; and not only to honour it beyond these, but also to prefer it to our wife, children, and friends; and, in short, after the Gods, to all other things.

As, therefore, he is stupid who esteems one finger more than the five, but he is most reasonable who prefers the five to one; for the former despises what is more eligible, but the latter, in the five, preserves also the one finger: after the same manner, he who wishes to save himself rather than his country, in addition to acting unlawfully, desires impossibilities. But he who prefers his country to himself is dear to divinity; and reasons fitly and firmly. At the same time it has been observed, that though some one should not be connumerated with the system [or the cooperating combination of the many], but should be considered apart from it, yet it is fit that he should prefer the safety of the system to his own preservation. For the destruction of the city will evince that the safety of the citizen entirely depends on its existence, just as the abscission of the hand is attended with the destruction of one finger, as a part of the hand. We may, therefore, summarily conclude, that general is not to be separated from private utility: but is to be considered as one and the same with it. For that which is advantageous to the country is common to each of the parts of it; since the whole without the parts is nothing. And vice versa, that which is advantageous to the citizen extends also to the city, if it is assumed as beneficial to the citizen. For that which is useful to a dancer, so far as he is a dancer, will also be advantageous to the whole choir. Depositing, therefore, all this reasoning in the discursive power of the soul, we shall receive much light from it in particulars, so that we shall never omit to perform what is due from us to our country.

Hence, I say, it is necessary that every passion and disease of the soul should be removed from him who intends to act well by his country. It is likewise requisite that a citizen should observe the laws of his country as certain secondary Gods, and should render himself perfect conformably to their mandate. But he who endeavours either to transgress, or to make any innovation in the laws, should be with all possible diligence prevented from doing so, and in every way opposed. For a contempt of the existing laws, and preferring new to ancient laws, are things by no means beneficial to a city. Hence it is requisite that those should be restrained from giving their votes, and from precipitate innovation, who are pertinaciously disposed to act in this manner. I therefore commend Zaleucus, the Locrian legislator, who ordained, that he who intended to introduce a new law, should do it with a rope about his neck, in order that he might be immediately strangled, unless he could change the ancient constitution of the polity, to the very great advantage of the community. But customs, which are truly those of the country, and which, perhaps, are more ancient than the laws themselves, are to be preserved no less than the laws. The present customs, however, which are but of yesterday, and which have been so very recently introduced into every city, are not to be considered as the customs of the country, [or as the institutes of ancestors]; and, perhaps, neither are they at all to be regarded as customs. In the next place, because custom is an unwritten law, having for its inscription a good legislator, viz. the approbation of all those that use it; perhaps, on this account, it is proximate to things which are naturally just.

AFTER WHAT MANNER WE OUGHT TO CONDUCT OURSELVES TOWARDS OUR PARENTS.

After speaking of the Gods and our country, what person deserves to be mentioned more than, or prior to our parents? Hence it is requisite that we should discourse about them. He, therefore, will not err who says, that they are certain secondary and terrestrial Gods; since on account of their proximity to us, they are, if it be lawful so to speak, more to be honoured by us than the Gods themselves. But it is necessary, previously, to assume, that the only measure of gratitude towards them is a perpetual and unremitting promptitude to repay the benefits we have received from them; since, though we should perform many things for their sake, yet they will be far less than what they deserve. At the same time, also, it may be said, that these our deeds are nearly theirs, because they produced us by whom they are performed. As therefore, if the works of Phidias and of other artists should themselves produce certain other things, we should not hesitate to say that these latter, also, were the works of the artists; thus, likewise, it may be justly said, that our performances are the deeds of our parents; through whom we likewise derived our existence. Hence, in order that we may easily apprehend the duties which we owe them, it will be requisite to have this sentence perpetually at hand, that our parents should be considered by us as the images of the Gods; and by Jupiter, as domestic Gods, our benefactors, kindred, creditors, lords, and most stable friends. For they are most stable images of the Gods, possessing a similitude to them beyond the power of art to effect. For they are the guardian Gods of the house, and live with us; and besides this, they are our greatest benefactors, imparting to us things of the greatest consequence; and, by Jupiter, bestowing on us not only what we possess, but also such things as they wish to give us, and for which they themselves pray. Farther still, they are likewise our nearest kindred, and the causes of our alliance with others. They are, also, creditors of things of the most honourable nature, and only repay themselves by taking what we shall be benefited by returning. For what gain can be so great to a child as piety and gratitude to his parents? They are most justly, too, our lords: for of what can we be in a greater degree the possession, than of those through whom we exist? Moreover, they are perpetual and spontaneous friends and auxiliaries; at all times, and in every circumstance, affording us assistance. Since, however, the name of parent is the most excellent of all the before-mentioned appellations, according to which we also denominate the Gods themselves; something else must also be added to this conception; viz. that children should be persuaded that they dwell in their father’s house, as if they were certain ministers and priests in a temple, appointed and consecrated for this purpose by nature herself; who entrusted a reverential attention to their parents to their care. Since of attentive regard, therefore, one kind pertains to the body, but another to the soul, we shall readily perform what each of these requires, if we are willing to do that which reason persuades us to do. But reason persuades us to pay less attention to the body than to the soul; though attention to the former is necessary. We should, therefore, procure for our parents liberal food, and such as is adapted to the imbecility of old age; and besides this, a bed, sleep, unction, a bath, garments; and in short, all the necessaries which the body requires, that they may never at any time experience the want of any of these; in thus acting, imitating their care about our nurture, when we were infants. Hence, we should compel ourselves to employ a certain prophetic attention to them, in order to discover what they particularly desire of things pertaining to the body, though they should not indicate the object of their wish. For they divined many things respecting us, when we frequently signified by inarticulate and mournful sounds, that we were in want of certain things, but were unable to indicate clearly the subjects of our wants. So that our parents, by the benefits which they formerly conferred upon us, become the preceptors to us of what we ought to bestow on them.