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ways. For even if the Greeks were unable to say these things with truth, as it is, since they were moved by reasonings and mishearings of our teachings, yet still they received a certain image of a judgment; and you will find poets and philosophers and story-tellers, and all of them philosophizing about these doctrines. And you hear of the Elysian field, and the isles of the blessed, and meadows, and myrtles, and a light breeze, and much fragrance, and choruses lingering there, and clothed in white robes, both dancing and singing certain hymns, and in general a recompense laid up for both the wicked and the good after their departure from hence. How then do you think that both the good, and those who are not such, live with such reasonings? Are not the ones who turn these things over in their minds, even if the affairs of the present life proceed for them without pain and with much pleasure, driven as if by some scourge of conscience and the expectation of the terrible things that will receive them; while the good, even if they suffer a thousand evils, according to Pindar, have a youth-nurturing hope that does not allow them to perceive the present evils? So that even in this respect that pleasure is greater. For it is much better, having begun from temporary toils, to end in infinite rest, than having tasted in a short time what seems to be most pleasant, to finish in the most bitter and burdensome evils. But when in addition to this it is also agreed that this life here too is more pleasant, is it not necessary now to do what I said at the beginning, to pity those who weep for such good things? Your son, then, is not worthy of lamentations, but of ap-47.348 plause and crowns, having come to the waveless life and the calm harbor. But many fathers who have sons engaged in the present life reproach you, and others weep for you when they see you, and others laugh. Why do you not rather mock and mourn for them? For let us not consider this, whether they mock us, but whether they do so rightly and justly; and if this be so, even if they do not laugh, let us weep; but if they do this unjustly, even if all laugh, let us count ourselves blessed, and let us mourn them, as being the most wretched of all, and differing in nothing from madmen. For to laugh at things worthy of much praise and crowns is the mark of madmen, and of those who suffer from the same disease as them. For tell me, if everyone praised and admired you and said you were blessed because your son was frantic about the madness of dancers and charioteers, would you not have thought the matter a mockery? What then, if he were doing something noble and worthy of praise, and they were laughing and reproaching him, would you not have said that they were out of their minds? Let us do this now also, entrusting the verdict concerning your son not to the conjecture of the many, but to the precise examination of reasonings, and you will see that these who laugh are fathers of slaves rather than of free children, when they are compared with your son. For now, being darkened by your suffering, you will not even be able to look upon these things; but when you rest a little, and your son has shown much virtue, you will no longer need words, but you will say these things and more than these to others. And I do not simply prophesy these things to you, but from experience itself. For I too had a companion who had an unbelieving father, who was rich and of good repute and distinguished in every way; and this father at first stirred up magistrates, and threatened bonds, and having stripped him of everything, left him in a foreign land, and in need of necessary food, so as by this means to persuade him to return to the more worldly life; but when he saw him yielding to none of these things, being defeated, he sang a recantation, and now he honors his son, and respects him more than a father; and though he has many other children who are well-reputed, he says that they are not fit to be even his slaves; and he himself is much more distinguished because of his son. These things we shall also see in the case of your son, and that I am not lying, you will know well through the works themselves. Therefore I shall be silent for the future, having asked this much of you, wait for only a year, or even a shorter time. For it does not need many days, the one from

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τρόπους. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μετὰ ἀληθείας, ὡς ἔχει, ταῦτα εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν Ἕλληνες, ἅτε ἀπὸ λογισμῶν κινηθέντες καὶ παρακουσμάτων τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰκόνα τινὰ κρίσεως ἔλαβον· καὶ ποιητὰς καὶ φιλοσόφους καὶ λογοποιοὺς, καὶ πάντας εὑρήσεις ὑπὲρ τούτων φιλοσοφοῦντας τῶν δογμάτων. Ἀκούεις δὲ καὶ Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, καὶ μακάρων νήσους, καὶ λειμῶνας, καὶ μυρσίνας, καὶ λεπτὴν αὔραν, καὶ εὐωδίαν πολλὴν, καὶ χοροὺς ἐκεῖ διατρίβοντας, καὶ λευκὴν περιβεβλημένους στολὴν, χορεύοντάς τε καὶ ᾄδοντας ὕμνους τινὰς, καὶ ὅλως καὶ πονηροῖς καὶ ἀγαθοῖς ἀποκειμένην ἀντίδοσιν μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἀποδημίαν. Πῶς οὖν οἴει μετὰ τοιούτων βιοῦν τῶν λογισμῶν τούς τε ἀγαθοὺς, τούς τε οὐ τοιούτους; Οὐχ οἱ μὲν ταῦτα στρέφοντες, κἂν ἀλύπως αὐτοῖς καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἡδονῆς τὰ τοῦ παρόντος προχωρῇ βίου, καθάπερ ὑπό τινος ἐλαύνονται μάστιγος τοῦ συνειδότος καὶ τῆς προσδοκίας τῶν δεξομένων αὐτοὺς δεινῶν· οἱ δὲ ἀγαθοὶ κἂν μυρία πάσχωσι κακὰ, κατὰ Πίνδαρον, ἐλπίδα κουροτρόφον ἔχουσιν οὐκ ἀφιεῖσαν τῶν παρόντων κακῶν αἴσθησιν λαβεῖν; Ὥστε καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο μείζων ἐκείνη ἡ ἡδονή. Πολλῷ γὰρ βέλτιον, ἀπὸ πόνων προσκαίρων ἀρξάμενον πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν ἄπειρον τελευτᾷν, ἢ τῶν δοκούντων εἶναι ἡδίστων ἐν βραχεῖ γευσάμενον, ἐπὶ τὰ πικρότερα καὶ φορτικώτερα λῆξαι κακά. Ὅταν δὲ πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ ὡμολογημένον ᾖ, ὅτι καὶ ἐνταῦθα οὗτος ὁ βίος ἡδίων, οὐχὶ τοῦτο ὅπερ ἀρχόμενος ἔφην ἀνάγκη νῦν ποιεῖν, ἐλεεῖν τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα δακρύοντας ἀγαθά; Οὐ δὴ θρήνων ἄξιος ὁ παῖς ὁ σὸς, ἀλλὰ κρό47.348 των καὶ στεφάνων, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκύμαντον ζωὴν καὶ τὸν εὔδιον λιμένα ἐλθών. Ἀλλ' ὀνειδίζουσί σε πατέρες πολλοὶ υἱοὺς ἔχοντες ἐν τῷ παρόντι στρεφομένους βίῳ, καὶ δακρύουσί σε, ὅταν ἴδωσιν ἕτεροι καὶ γελῶσιν ἄλλοι. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ μὴ τούτους σὺ μᾶλλον καταγελᾷς καὶ πενθεῖς; Μὴ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτο σκοπῶμεν, εἰ σκώπτουσιν ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ' εἰ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως· κἂν μὲν τοῦτο ᾖ, καὶ μὴ γελώντων ἐκείνων ἡμεῖς δακρύωμεν, ἐὰν δὲ ἀδίκως τοῦτο πράττωσι, κἂν ἅπαντες γελῶσιν, ἡμεῖς μὲν ἑαυτοὺς μακαρίζωμεν, ἐκείνους δὲ θρηνῶμεν, ἅτε πάντων ἀθλιωτέρους ὄντας, καὶ τῶν μαινομένων οὐδὲν διαφέροντας. Τὸ γὰρ γελᾷν τὰ πολλῶν ἐπαίνων ἄξια καὶ στεφάνων, μαινομένων ἐστὶ, καὶ τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ νοσούντων αὐτοῖς. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, εἰ περὶ τὴν τῶν ὀρχουμένων καὶ τὴν τῶν ἡνιόχων μανίαν ἐπτοημένου τοῦ παιδὸς ἐπῄνουν σε καὶ ἐθαύμαζον ἅπαντες καὶ μακαριστὸν εἶναι ἔλεγον, οὐχὶ χλεύην εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐνόμισας; Τί δὲ, εἰ γενναῖόν τι καὶ ἐπαίνων ἄξιον πράττοντος ἐγέλων ἐκεῖνοι καὶ ὠνείδιζον, οὐχὶ παραπαίειν αὐτοὺς ἂν ἔφης; Τοῦτο δὴ ποιῶμεν καὶ νῦν, μὴ τῇ τῶν πολλῶν ὑπονοίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἀκριβεῖ λογισμῶν ἐξετάσει τὴν περὶ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐπιτρέποντες ψῆφον, καὶ ὄψει τοὺς γελῶντας τούτους ἀνδραπόδων μᾶλλον, ἢ ἐλευθέρων ὄντας παίδων πατέρας, ὅταν πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν ἐξετάζωνται ἐκεῖνοι τὸν σόν. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους σκοτούμενος, οὐδὲ διαβλέψαι πρὸς ταῦτα δυνήσῃ· ὅταν δὲ μικρὸν ἀναπαύσῃ, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς πολλὴν ἐπιδείξηται τὴν ἀρετὴν, οὐκέτι σοι λόγων δεήσει, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα σὺ πρὸς ἑτέρους ἐρεῖς καὶ πλείονα τούτων. Καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς σοι ταῦτα μαντεύομαι, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῆς πείρας αὐτῆς. Καὶ γὰρ ἐμοὶ γέγονεν ἑταῖρος, πατέρα ἄπιστον ἔχων πλουτοῦντα καὶ εὐδόκιμον καὶ πάντοθεν λαμπρόν· καὶ οὗτος ὁ πατὴρ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον καὶ ἄρχοντας ἐκίνησε, καὶ δεσμὰ ἠπείλησε, καὶ πάντων αὐτὸν ἀποδύσας ἐπὶ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας εἴασε γῆς, καὶ τῆς ἀναγκαίας δεόμενον τροφῆς, ὡς ταύτῃ πείσων πρὸς τὴν βιωτικωτέραν ζωὴν ἐπανελθεῖν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶδε πρὸς οὐδὲν τούτων ἐνδόντα, ἡττηθεὶς παλινῳδίαν ᾖσε, καὶ νῦν τιμᾷ τὸν υἱὸν, καὶ αἰδεῖται μᾶλλον πατρός· καὶ πολλοὺς ἔχων ἑτέρους παῖδας εὐδοκιμοῦντας, οὐδὲ δούλους ἐκείνους τούτου φησὶν εἶναι ἐπιτηδείους· καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ πολλῷ λαμπρότερός ἐστι διὰ τὸν υἱόν. Ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παιδὸς ὀψόμεθα τοῦ σοῦ, καὶ ὅτι οὐ ψεύδομαι, διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν εἴσῃ καλῶς. ∆ιὸ σιγήσομαι λοιπὸν, τοσοῦτόν σου δεηθεὶς, ἐνιαυτὸν ἀνάμεινον μόνον, ἢ καὶ ἐλάττονα χρόνον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ δεῖται πολλῶν ἡμερῶν ἡ παρ'