Musonius Rufus, Lectures 10.2

Of these the hardest to bear are blows. That there is nothing shameful or insulting about them however is clear from the fact that Lacedaemonian boys are whipped publicly, and they exult in it.

My attempts at following Stoicism have greatly helped me in seeking after first principles. For every problem I must face, the temptation is to look only to the particular situation, without ever going back to the deeper causes. I obsess about the immediate what, and give no attention to the ultimate why. I must dig deeper than this or that instance, and consider how it relates to my own nature within the whole of Nature.

I was recently given the chance to teach a course on Classical notions of justice, and in between the texts I was expected to cover, I managed to slip in this brief lecture from Musonius. The discussion fell apart as soon as we got to this passage.

“What a jerk this guy is! He’s telling me that doing physical harm is just fine? And then he goes on about the Spartans, those fascists, and how it is good that they beat their children, as if that makes his case. Doesn’t he know that it’s never okay to be physically abusive? I think there may be some kind of repressed sadomasochism going on here.”

I am always more than happy to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of Spartan society, or the morality of corporal punishment, or even speculations about the inner psychological workings of authors.

Yet as I encouraged them to work it through, I couldn’t help but think that we were missing the point. We were mucking about with individual issues, informed by wherever the prevailing political winds might blow, and not asking about the more fundamental truth that Musonius was trying to address.

I assume that Musonius is here referring to the Diamastigosis, a formal ritual at the temple of Artemis where young men were flogged until the blood flowed, supposedly intended by Lycurgus as a means to build up courage and resistance to pain. It was not a punishment, but a sort of rite of passage, and it is said that the youths would take pride in their accomplishment, eagerly looking forward to proving their resilience.

Perhaps I might find such a custom cruel, or such a society barbaric, or such means deeply disordered, but Musonius is not concerned here with whether the Spartans were right or wrong in doing what they did.

He simply points out that some people are quite capable of choosing to freely accept physical suffering, and are willing to consider it as something good. They did not feel diminished, abused, or become offended; no, they thought it an honor.

If this is indeed the case, then hardship is not something evil in itself, but rather becomes good or evil by our estimation of it.

I’m afraid I failed to steer our conversation to that one critical point, and so I failed to get to the first principles.

Written in 10/1999

IMAGE: The Diamastigosis