plutarch - whether passions of soul or of body are worse

8/10/2019 Plutarch - Whether Passions of Soul or of Body Are Worse

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Plutarch

Whether the Passions of the Soul or of the Body are Worse

Taken from Plutarchs Morals. Translated from the

Greek by Several Hands. Corrected and Revised by

William W. Goodin! ith an "ntroduction by Ral#h

Waldo $merson(Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1878).

Some modifications hae !een made to the te"t.

This doc#ment is in the $#!lic domain.

$latonic%$hiloso$h.or'

1. omer, hain' contem$lated the ario#s kinds of mortal animals, and com$ared them one with

another in res$ect to their lies and ha!its, cried o#t:

hat wretched creat#re of what wretched kind,

Than man more weak, calamito#s, and !lind*

attri!#tin' to man that #nha$$ $rimac of hain' the s#$eriorit in miseries. B#t we, considerin' man

as hain' alread 'ained the ictor for infelicit, and !ein' $#!licl declared the most misera!le of all

animals, will com$are him with himself in a contention a!o#t his own calamities, not #n$rofita!l !#t

een alto'ether necessaril diidin' his so#l from his !od+ that we ma thence learn, whether we lie

more misera!l on acco#nt of ort#ne or of o#rseles. or sickness is indeed en'endered in the !od !-at#re+ !#t ice and malice in the so#l are first its own work, afterward its $assion. -ow it is of no small

adanta'e towards content of mind, if that which is the worse is c#ra!le, and li'hter and less iolent in

its attacks than we feared.

. The fo" in /eso$, dis$#tin' with the $anther for the s#$eriorit in !ea#tif#l ariet, 0 when this

latter had shown his !od, and its s#$erficies c#rio#sl stained and s$otted, whereas the fo"s tawn skin

was ill%faored and #n$leasant to the si'ht, 0 said th#s: 2B#t if o#, sir 3#d'e, will look within me, o#

will find me m#ch f#ller of ariet than this leo$ard+4 manifestin' the nim!le s#!tlet of his nat#ral

dis$osition, fre5#entl chan'in' as occasions re5#ire. Let #s then sa also to o#rseles: Th !od, 6 man,

nat#rall of itself !reeds man diseases and $assions, and man it receies !efallin' it from witho#t+ !#t if

tho# shalt o$en th interior, tho# wilt find a certain ario#s and a!#ndantl f#rnished storeho#se and

(as emocrit#s sas) treas#r of eils, not flowin' into it from a!road, !#t hain' as it were their in!redand ori'inal s$rin's, which ice, e"ceedin'l affl#ent and rich in $assions, ca#ses to !reak forth. -ow,

whereas the diseases in the flesh are discerned ! the $#lses, and the fl#shin's in the color of the skin,

and discoered ! #n#s#al heats and s#dden $ains, and these maladies of the so#l lie hid from man

who are affected with them+ these are therefore worse, as remoin' from them the sense of the $atient.

or if the reason is so#nd, it is sensi!le of the !ods diseases+ !#t !ein' itself diseased with those of the

so#l, it has no 3#d'ment in what it s#ffers+ for it s#ffers ! what it 3#d'es. e o#'ht therefore to acco#nt,

that the first and 'reatest of the so#ls diseases is foll, ! which ice !ein' rendered inc#ra!le coha!its,

lies, and dies to'ether with most men. or the !e'innin' of the c#re is the sense of the disease, leadin'


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the $atient to the #se of what is hel$f#l+ !#t he who, thro#'h his not !eliein' himself sick, is i'norant of

his own necessities, tho#'h a remed is $resented him, ref#ses it. or also amon'st the diseases of the

!od, those are indeed the worst which are accom$anied with a st#$efaction of the senses, 0 as

lethar'ies, headaches, e$ile$sies, a$o$le"ies, and those !#rnin' feers which, carrin' on the

inflammation een to the loss of the wits, and dist#r!in' the senses, as it were in a m#sical instr#ment,

2moe the heart%strin's till then #nto#ched.4

. herefore the $hsicians do in the first $lace indeed desire that a man sho#ld not !e sick, andne"t, that !ein' sick he sho#ld not !e i'norant that he is so+ which neertheless !efalls all the diseases of

the so#l. or neither those who are mad, those that are lasciio#s, nor those who act #n3#stl, think that

the sin+ na, some of them are on the contrar $ers#aded een that the do well. -eer et did an man

call a feer health, a cons#m$tion a 'ood constit#tion of !od, the 'o#t swift%footedness, or the wanness

of the face a fresh color+ !#t man there are who term an'er co#ra'e, #nchaste loe amit, en

em#lation, and cowardice ca#tio#sness. 9oreoer, those who are tro#!led with cor$oreal sickness send

for $hsicians, for the are sensi!le what the stand in need of for the c#re of their diseases+ !#t these

who are sick in mind sh#n $hiloso$hers, !eca#se the think themseles to act e"cellentl in those er

thin's in which the most offend. or makin' #se of this reasonin', we affirm that the !learness or

soreness of the ees is a less malad than madness, and the 'o#t in the feet than a fren in the !rain+ for

in the one a man is sensi!le of his distem$er, and crin' o#t calls for the $hsician, to whom, when he iscome, he shows his ee to !e anointed, stretches o#t his ein to !e o$ened, and 'ies #$ his head to !e

c#red+ !#t on the contrar, o# hear /'ae, when seied with madness, thro#'h the iolence of her

$assion not knowin' the dearest $led'es of her wom!, to cr o#t:

rom the hills to$ into the $lain,

Brin' me this o#n' fawn, newl slain,

hich ha$$ils !ecome o#r $re.

or he who is sick in !od, $resentl ieldin' and !etakin' himself to his !ed, lies there 5#iet, till he is

c#red+ and if the accession of some iolent hot fit makes him a little t#m!le and toss his !od, an one of

those who are ! sain' to him,

Lie still at ease, $oor wretch, kee$ in th !ed,;

easil stas and retains him+ !#t those, on the other side, who are s#r$rised with the $assions of the so#l

are then most actie, then least at 5#iet+ for the im$#lses of the mind are the $rinci$al ca#ses of actions,

and $assions are the iolent fits of s#ch im$#lses. herefore, the s#ffer not the so#l to !e at rest+ !#t

when a man has most need of $atience, silence, and retirement, then is he drawn forth into the li'ht,

then is he chiefl discoered ! his choleric h#mors, his ea'erness in contendin', his dishonest loes, and

his heart%!reakin' sorrows, which force him to commit man irre'#lar actions, and s$eak man words

#nfittin' for the times.

ods. nor to

$artici$ate to'ether in the sacred ceremonies. The are not come to offer #$ to ?#$iter /scrae#s the first


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of the Ldian fr#its, nor to cele!rate the solemnities of Bacch#s ! the o!serance of festial ni'hts and

common reellin's+ !#t a mi'ht $estilence, as it were ! earl reol#tions irritatin' /sia, dries them

hither to mana'e their $rocesses and s#its at law+ and a m#ltit#de of affairs, as it were of im$et#o#s

torrents, fall into one market%$lace, where the 'row hot and are ea'erl $rosec#ted !oth ! those that

destro and ! those that are destroed. 6f what feers, of what a'#es, are these the effects= hat

lod'ements, what irr#$tions, what distem$erat#re of heat, what s#$erf#sion of h#mors $rod#ces them=

Sho#ld o# ask eer s#it at law as if it were a man, whence it had its ori'inal, whence it $roceeded+ o#wo#ld find, that a#dacio#s an'er 'enerated one, f#rio#s o!stinac another, and #n3#st coeto#sness a

third....

plutarch - whether passions of soul or of body are worse

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