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11.1 Perhaps, O men, you have heard of that Aristippus, the grandson of Aristippus, the companion of Socrates. This man, being with his mother who philosophized, partook of philosophy as much as possible. And he received a name compounded from the fact; for all men called him 11.2 'mother-taught'. But for him, his mother's teachings alone were sufficient for a share in philosophy; but you, though you hear so many prophets and apostles, and indeed also those who shone in teaching after them, do not wish to learn the truth. And this experience befalls you, since you perhaps 11.3 consider these teachings to be unprofitable. For it does not promise Syracusan luxury, nor indeed a relaxed and delicate life, nor much-prayed-for wealth and the Euripus of its streams, but sweat and toils and a life of much labor. 11.4 For these things are evident to you, but their end is unseen; for being accustomed to see only visible things, you are not able to see the nature of invisible things; for you do not have those eyes 11.5 of which faith is the creator. But I will make these things clear to you, as far as is possible for me and comprehensible for you, again using the torch-bearing of the divine oracles. But I think it is of first importance to show now, side by side, the opinions of the philosophers and the doctrines of the divine gospels, so that you may know what end they defined, and what the divine words promise. 11.6 Epicurus, then, defined living most pleasantly as the end; for he considered pleasure alone to be the perfect good. And Democritus of Abdera, the father of his doctrines, put cheerfulness in place of pleasure, making a change of names, not of doctrines. 11.7 And Heraclitus of Ephesus also changed the name, but left the meaning; for he put 'good pleasure' in place of pleasure. But this definition has another emphasis; for he has posited 'good pleasure' indefinitely, but has not made clear its quality. But the judgments of men are different; for some are pleased by self-control, others by its opposite, vice; and some by incontinence, others by continence; and some by an unjust and covetous life, others by a just one. Therefore, he defined as the end that which is pleasing to each, both pleasant and desirable, having put 'good pleasure' in place of 11.8 pleasure. But the much-talked-of Pythagoras supposed the most perfect knowledge of numbers to be the ultimate good; Hecataeus, self-sufficiency; Antisthenes, freedom from vanity; and Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, the contemplation of life and the freedom from it, defining a limit indeed befitting a philosopher. For it is truly the greatest good to understand the nature of things, to despise what is transient, and to keep the soul unenslaved and free. 11.9 But Plato, son of Ariston, with the greatness of his definition, eclipsed this man also; for he defined 'becoming like God as far as possible' as the end of goods. Praiseworthy, then, is also the exhortation concerning the imitation of divine things; but the addition of 'as far as possible' has rendered the definition more admirable; for it is not possible in all respects to be made like God. For how could one who is visible be made like the invisible, and being small and circumscribed in a small place like the uncircumscribed who contains creation, and again, being recent, like the eternal, and being unable to create even a cubit of heaven, like the one who fashioned all things? 11.10 Therefore it is not possible to imitate either that nature or power or indeed wisdom; it is possible, however, to receive some impressions of the good and the just and the gentle and the benevolent. For the Lord Christ also set forth this imitation to those who aspire to perfection; for He says, "Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good 11.11 and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." And Plato's teacher, Socrates son of Sophroniscus, was accustomed to call happy not the man who abounded in wealth and was carried by favorable winds, but the one adorned with righteousness; and he called impious those who the expedient of the just

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11.1 Ἀρίστιππον ἐκεῖνον ἴσως, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἀκούετε, τὸν Ἀριστίππου τοῦ Σωκράτους ἑταίρου θυγατριδοῦν. Οὗτος τῇ μητρὶ φιλοσο φούσῃ ξυνών, φιλοσοφίας ὡς πλεῖστον μετείληχεν. Ἔλαχε δὲ καὶ ὄνομα ξυντεθὲν ἐκ τοῦ πράγματος· μητροδίδακτον γὰρ 11.2 αὐτὸν ὠνόμαζον ἅπαντες. Ἀλλ' ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἤρκεσεν εἰς μετου σίαν φιλοσοφίας καὶ μόνα τῆς μητρὸς τὰ παιδεύματα· ὑμεῖς δέ, καὶ προφητῶν τοσούτων καὶ ἀποστόλων ἀκούοντες, καὶ μέντοι καὶ τῶν μετ' ἐκείνους ἐν διδασκαλίᾳ λαμψάντων, μαθεῖν οὐ βού λεσθε τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Τοῦτο δὲ ὑμῖν ξυμβαίνει τὸ πάθος, ἐπείπερ 11.3 ἀνόνητα τυχὸν ταυτὶ νομίζετε τὰ μαθήματα. Οὐ γὰρ Συρακου σίαν χλιδὴν οὐδέ γε ἀνειμένον καὶ ἁβροδίαιτον ἐπαγγέλλεται βίον οὐδὲ τὸν πολυάρατον πλοῦτον καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου ῥευμάτων τὸν εὔριπον, ἀλλ' ἱδρῶτας καὶ πόνους καὶ πολιτείαν πολύμοχθον. 11.4 Ταῦτα γὰρ ὑμῖν κατάδηλα, τὸ δέ γε τούτων τέλος ἀθέατον· μόνα γάρ που εἰωθότες τὰ ὁρώμενα βλέπειν, ἰδεῖν οὐ δύνασθε τῶν ἀοράτων τὴν φύσιν· τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς γὰρ ἐκείνους οὐκ ἔχετε, 11.5 ὧν ἡ πίστις δημιουργός. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῖν, ὡς ἔμοιγε δυνατὸν καὶ ὑμῖν χωρητόν, δηλώσω καὶ ταῦτα, τῇ τῶν θείων λογίων πάλιν χρώμενος δᾳδουχίᾳ. Προύργου δὲ οἶμαι δεῖξαι καὶ νῦν ἐκ παραλ λήλου τῶν φιλοσόφων τὰς δόξας καὶ τῶν θείων εὐαγγελίων τὰ δόγματα, ἵνα γνῶτε, τί μὲν ἐκεῖνοι τέλος ὡρίσαντο, τί δὲ οἱ θεῖοι ἐπαγγέλλονται λόγοι. 11.6 Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἐπίκουρος τὸ ἥδιστα ζῆν ὡρίσατο τέλος· τέλεον γὰρ ἀγαθὸν μόνην ἡγεῖτο τὴν ἡδονήν. ∆ημόκριτος δὲ ὁ Ἀβδη ρίτης, ὁ τῶν τούτου δογμάτων πατήρ, ἀντὶ τῆς ἡδονῆς τὴν εὐθυμίαν τέθεικεν, ὀνομάτων, οὐ δογμάτων ἐναλλαγὴν ποιησά 11.7 μενος. Καὶ Ἡράκλειτος δὲ ὁ Ἐφέσιος τὴν μὲν προσηγορίαν μετέβαλε, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν καταλέλοιπεν· ἀντὶ γὰρ τῆς ἡδονῆς εὐαρέστησιν τέθεικεν. Ἔχει δέ τινα καὶ ἑτέραν ἔμφασιν οὗτος ὁ ὅρος· ἀορίστως γὰρ τὴν εὐαρέστησιν τέθεικε, τὸ δὲ αὐτῆς ποιὸν οὐ δεδήλωκεν. ∆ιάφοροι δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων αἱ γνῶμαι· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀρέσκει σωφροσύνη, τοὺς δὲ ἡ ταύτης ἐναντία κάκη· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀκρασία, τοὺς δὲ ἐγκράτεια· καὶ τούτους μὲν ἄδικος καὶ πλεονεκτικὸς βίος, ἐκείνους δὲ δίκαιος. Τὸ τοίνυν ἑκάστῳ ἀρέσκον, ἡδύ τε καὶ ἀξιέραστον, οὗτος ὡρίσατο τέλος, ἀντὶ τῆς 11.8 ἡδονῆς τὴν εὐαρέστησιν τεθεικώς. Ὁ δὲ πολυθρύλητος Πυθα γόρας τὴν τελεωτάτην τῶν ἀριθμῶν ἐπιστήμην ἔσχατον ὑπέλαβεν ἀγαθόν· ὁ Ἑκαταῖος δὲ τὴν αὐτάρκειαν, ὁ δὲ Ἀντισθένης τὴν ἀτυφίαν, Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ ὁ Κλαζομένιος τὴν θεωρίαν τοῦ βίου καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐλευθερίαν, φιλοσόφῳ δὴ πρέποντα ὁρισάμε νος ὅρον. Μέγιστον γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἀγαθὸν τὸ ξυνιδεῖν τῶν πραγ μάτων τὴν φύσιν καὶ τῶν ῥεόντων καταφρονῆσαι καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν 11.9 ἀδούλωτον καὶ ἐλευθέραν διατηρῆσαι. Πλάτων δὲ ὁ Ἀρίστωνος τῇ μεγαλονοίᾳ τοῦ ὅρου καὶ τοῦτον ἀπέκρυψε· τὸ γὰρ "ὁμοιωθῆ ναι τῷ θεῷ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν" τέλος ὡρίσατο ἀγαθῶν. Ἀξιέπαι νος μὲν οὖν καὶ ἡ περὶ τὴν μίμησιν τῶν θείων παραίνεσις· ἡ δὲ τοῦ "κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν" προσθήκη ἀξιαγαστότερον τὸν ὅρον ἀπέφηνεν· οὐ γὰρ κατὰ πάντα δυνατὸν ὁμοιωθῆναι Θεῷ. Πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις ὁρατὸς ὢν ὁμοιωθείη τῷ ἀοράτῳ, καὶ βραχὺς ὢν καὶ τόπῳ σμικρῷ περιγεγραμμένος τῷ ἀπεριγράφῳ καὶ τὴν κτίσιν ξυνέχοντι, καὶ αὖ πάλιν τῷ αἰωνίῳ πρόσφατος ὤν, καὶ τῷ τὰ πάντα τεκτηναμένῳ μηδὲ πηχυαῖον οὐρανὸν δημιουργῆσαι δυνά 11.10 μενος; Τοιγάρτοι οὔτε τὴν φύσιν ἐκείνην οὔτε τὴν δύναμιν οὔτε μὴν τὴν σοφίαν μιμήσασθαι δυνατόν· τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μέντοι καὶ δικαίου καὶ ἡμέρου καὶ φιλανθρώπου τύπους ἀμηγέπη τινὰς ἐκμά ξασθαι οἷόν τε. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς ταύτην τοῖς τελειό τητος ἐφιεμένοις τὴν μίμησιν προὔθηκε· "Γίνεσθε" γάρ φησιν "οἰκτίρμονες, καθὼς καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος οἰκτίρμων ἐστίν· ὅτι ἀνατέλλει τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς 11.11 καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους." Καὶ ὁ τοῦ Πλάτωνος δὲ διδάσκαλος, ὁ Σωφρονίσκου Σωκράτης, οὐ τὸν πλούτῳ περιρ ρεόμενον καὶ ἐξ οὐρίων φερόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν δικαιοσύνῃ κοσμού μενον εὐδαίμονα εἰώθει καλεῖν· καὶ ἀσεβεῖς ὠνόμαζε τοὺς τὸ ξυμφέρον τοῦ δικαίου