Euandri manibus tritum deiecit1: ob hanc rem, aut positum ante mea2 quia pullum in parte catini sustulit esuriens, minus hoc iucundus amicus sit mihi? quid faciam si furtum fecerit, aut si prodiderit commissa fide sponsumve negarit? quis paria esse fere placuit peccata, laborant cum ventum ad verum est: sensus moresque repug nant 95 105 atque ipsa Utilitas, iusti prope mater et aequi. Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris, mutum et turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter unguibus et pugnis, dein fustibus, atque ita porro 101 pugnabant armis, quae post fabricaverat usus, donec verba, quibus voces sensusque notarent,3 nominaque invenere; dehinc absistere bello, oppida coeperunt munire et ponere leges, ne quis fur esset, neu latro, neu quis adulter. nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus taeterrima belli causa, sed ignotis perierunt mortibus illi, quos venerem incertam rapientis more ferarum viribus editior caedebat ut in grege taurus. iura inventa metu iniusti fateare necesse est, tempora si fastosque velis evolvere mundi. nec Natura potest iusto secernere iniquum, dividit ut bona diversis, fugienda petendis ; nec vincet Ratio hoc, tantundem ut peccet idemque 1 proiecit B. 2 me, 110 II: B omits 92, as well as 95-100, and 111-124. 3 quibus sensus, vocesque, notarent Housman (cf. Lucr. v. 1041 ff.) a i.e. of great antiquity and consequently very valuable. This was a doctrine of the Stoics; cf. Cicero, De fin. iv. 19. 55," recte facta omnia aequalia, omnia peccata paria esse." Appeal is here made to the Epicureans, whose moral philosophy rested on a distinctly utilitarian basis. fingered by Evander," is he for such offence, or because when hungry he snatched up first a pullet served on my side of the dish, to be less pleasing in my eyes? What shall I do if he commits a theft, or betrays a trust, or disowns his bond? Those whose creed is that all sins are much on a par b are at a loss when they come to face facts. Feelings and customs rebel, and so does Expedience herself, the mother, we may say, of justice and right. 99 When living creatures d crawled forth upon primeval earth, dumb, shapeless beasts, they fought for their acorns and lairs with nails and fists, then with clubs, and so on step by step with the weapons which need had later forged, until they found words and names wherewith to give meaning to their cries and feelings. Thenceforth they began to cease from war, to build towns, and to frame laws that none should thieve or rob or commit adultery. For before Helen's day a wench was the most dreadful cause of war, but deaths unknown to fame were theirs whom, snatching fickle love in wild-beast fashion, a man stronger in might struck down, like the bull in a herd. If you will but turn over the annals and records of the world, you must needs confess that justice was born of the fear of injustice. Between right and wrong Nature can draw no such distinction as between things gainful and harmful, what is to be sought and what is to be shunned; nor will Reason ever prove this, that the sin is one and the a The doctrine of the evolution of society, as here set forth, is based on Lucretius, De rerum natura, v. 780 ff. • Or" verbs and nouns," the two main divisions of human speech. Cf. A.P. 234-5. According to the utilitarian theory of ethics, the sense of right and wrong is not innate in us. qui teneros caules alieni fregerit horti 66 116 120 125 Si dives, qui sapiens est, et sutor bonus et solus formosus et est rex, cur optas quod habes? non nosti quid pater" inquit "Chrysippus dicat: sapiens crepidas sibi numquam nec soleas fecit; sutor tamen est sapiens." qui2? 130 ut quamvis tacet Hermogenes cantor tamen atque optimus est modulator; ut Alfenus vafer omni abiecto instrumento artis clausaque taberna3 tonsor1 erat, sapiens operis sic optimus omnis est opifex solus, sic rex." vellunt tibi barbam lascivi pueri; quos tu nisi fuste coerces, urgeris turba circum te stante miserque5 rumperis et latras, magnorum maxime regum. 1 divum sacra aK. 3 ustrina V. 2 qui B: quo other Mss. 135 4 tonsor : sutor MSS., Porph. 5 Beginning with 135, B is lacking up to the end of Book II. of the Epistles. For another interpretation see T. G. Tucker in C.R. 1920, p. 156. "The sixth Stoic Paradox according to Cicero, is "solum sapientem esse divitem." The Stoics held that the truly wise man or philosopher was perfect: he was therefore rich, as well as beautiful, accomplished, and a king among men. Horace ridicules these claims here and elsewhere, same to cut young cabbages in a neighbour's garden and to steal by night the sacred emblems of the gods. Let us have a rule to assign just penalties to offences, lest you flay with the terrible scourge what calls for the strap. For as to your striking with the rod one who deserves sterner measures, I am not afraid of that, when you say that theft is on a par with highway robbery, and when you threaten to prune away all crimes, great and small, with the same hook, if men would but give you royal power. 124 If the wise man is rich, and a good cobbler, and alone handsome and a king, why crave what you already have?c You do not know," he answers, what our father Chrysippus d 66 66 b means. The wise man has never made himself shoes or sandals; yet the wise man is a cobbler." How so? As Hermogenes, however silent, is still the best of singers and musicians; as shrewd Alfenus, after tossing aside every tool of his art and closing his shop, was a barbere; so the wise man-he aloneis the best workman of every craft, so is he king." Mischievous boys pluck at your beard, and unless you keep them off with your staff, you are jostled by the crowd that surrounds you, while you, poor wretch, snarl and burst with rage, O mightiest of mighty as in Epist. i. 1. 106. Cf. the account of the wise man of the Stoics given in Plutarch, Mor. p. 1057, and for St. Paul's application of the principle see 2 Cor. 6. 4-10. ↑ The Stoic has just admitted that he is not a king. a Chrysippus was regarded as the second founder of Stoicism, the first being Zeno. The reading tonsor is preferred to sutor. As the Stoic tries to prove that the wise man is a cobbler, he naturally turns elsewhere for illustrations, e.g. to Hermogenes the musician, and to Alfenus the barber. ne longum faciam : dum tu quadrante lavatum 4 Like a Persian king, βασιλεὺς βασιλέων. b Cf. Sat. i. 1. 120. 140 |
