Three Philosophers 2

Edouard Manet, Beggar with Oysters ( A Philosopher) (1867) 

Edouard Manet, Beggar with a Duffle Coat (A Philosopher) (1867) 

Edouard Manet, The Ragpicker (A Philosopher) (1870) 

Three Philosophers 1

Diego Velazquez, Democritus (c. 1630) 

Diego Velazquez, Aesop (c. 1638) 

Diego Velazquez, Menippus (c. 1638) 

Temptation

Diego Velazquez, The Temptation of St. Thomas Aquinas (1632) 

Chuang Tzu 6.2

What is meant by "the True Man?" 

The True men of old did not reject the views of the few; they did not seek to accomplish their ends like heroes before others; they did not lay plans to attain those ends. 

Being such, though they might make mistakes, they had no occasion for repentance; though they might succeed, they had no self-complacency. 

Being such, they could ascend the loftiest heights without fear; they could pass through water without being made wet by it; they could go into fire without being burnt; so it was that by their knowledge they ascended to and reached the Tâo. 

The True men of old did not dream when they slept, had no anxiety when they awoke, and did not care that their food should be pleasant. 

Their breathing came deep and silently. The breathing of the true man comes even from his heels, while men generally breathe only from their throats. 

When men are defeated in argument, their words come from their gullets as if they were vomiting. Where lusts and desires are deep, the springs of the Heavenly are shallow. 

The True men of old knew nothing of the love of life or of the hatred of death. Entrance into life occasioned them no joy; the exit from it awakened no resistance. Composedly they went and came. 

They did not forget what their beginning bad been, and they did not inquire into what their end would be. They accepted their life and rejoiced in it; they forgot all fear of death, and returned to their state before life. 

Thus there was in them what is called the want of any mind to resist the Tâo, and of all attempts by means of the Human to assist the Heavenly. 

Such were they who are called the True men. 

Seneca, Moral Letters 73.2

But that other man, upright and pure, who has left the senate and the bar and all affairs of state, that he may retire to nobler affairs, cherishes those who have made it possible for him to do this in security; he is the only person who returns spontaneous thanks to them, the only person who owes them a great debt without their knowledge. 
 
Just as a man honors and reveres his teachers, by whose aid he has found release from his early wanderings, so the sage honors these men, also, under whose guardianship he can put his good theories into practice. 
 
But you answer: "Other men too are protected by a king's personal power."
 
Perfectly true. But just as, out of a number of persons who have profited by the same stretch of calm weather, a man deems that his debt to Neptune is greater if his cargo during that voyage has been more extensive and valuable, and just as the vow is paid with more of a will by the merchant than by the passenger, and just as, from among the merchants themselves, heartier thanks are uttered by the dealer in spices, purple fabrics, and objects worth their weight in gold, than by him who has gathered cheap merchandise that will be nothing but ballast for his ship; similarly, the benefits of this peace, which extends to all, are more deeply appreciated by those who make good use of it. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 73 

Whenever the next election cycle rolls around, folks will flock together in their factions to glorify the politicians they believe will bring them the greatest advantages. This one promises more jobs, and that one says he will lower taxes, and a third vows to smite our enemies, whether foreign or domestic. While the faces change, the spectacle remains the same. 
 
And every year, I feel the urge to ask these zealots which of their candidates, whatever the other amenities they promote, might do the most to help us become wiser, to improve our character. I usually keep my silence, however, because I fear that they cannot conceive of trading in the currency of virtue. 
 
The wise man “retires” from the business of courting fame and amassing more money, not in the sense that he is now too old and wishes to finally indulge in comfort, but as a joyful commitment to the good of his soul. Where there is sound judgment, the flesh demands very little for its subsistence, even as the spirit should have the liberty to roam far and wide. 
 
A good leader is one who grasps the fullness of the human condition, and so he always appreciates how physical prosperity must be in the service of moral excellence. No, he will not harshly dictate the rules to his subjects, but he will encourage them to understand for themselves, and to freely discover why they have been made for one another. In this he is much like a good teacher, who inspires self-discovery and self-mastery above all else. 
 
While everyone can benefit from the protection offered by a community, it is the seeker of wisdom who has the most to be thankful for. As much as the merchant may profit from his trade, it is the philosopher who reaps the greatest rewards: he is gifted a chance to pursue the richest of vocations, without the need to constantly be looking over his shoulder. 
 
One man thanks the gods for his vast property, and another man thanks the gods only for his power to know and to love. Seneca reminds us of who is actually getting the best deal, the pearl of great price. 

—Reflection written in 9/2013 

IMAGE: Anonymous Neapolitan, Neptune (late 18th century) 

Stoic Snippets 253

The Lacedaemonians at their public spectacles used to set seats in the shade for strangers, but themselves sat down anywhere. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.24 

Seneca, Moral Letters 73.1

Letter 73: On philosophers and kings 

It seems to me erroneous to believe that those who have loyally dedicated themselves to philosophy are stubborn and rebellious, scorners of magistrates or kings or of those who control the administration of public affairs. 
 
For, on the contrary, no class of man is so popular with the philosopher as the ruler is; and rightly so, because rulers bestow upon no men a greater privilege than upon those who are allowed to enjoy peace and leisure. 
 
Hence, those who are greatly profited, as regards their purpose of right living, by the security of the State, must needs cherish as a father the author of this good; much more so, at any rate, than those restless persons who are always in the public eye, who owe much to the ruler, but also expect much from him, and are never so generously loaded with favors that their cravings, which grow by being supplied, are thoroughly satisfied. 
 
And yet he whose thoughts are of benefits to come has forgotten the benefits received; and there is no greater evil in covetousness than its ingratitude. Besides, no man in public life thinks of the many whom he has outstripped; he thinks rather of those by whom he is outstripped. 
 
And these men find it less pleasing to see many behind them than annoying to see anyone ahead of them. That is the trouble with every sort of ambition; it does not look back. Nor is it ambition alone that is fickle, but also every sort of craving, because it always begins where it ought to end. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 73 
 
I usually come across as a mousy fellow, and it is only with time that people realize how there is actually some fire in my belly. Having expected me to be a pushover, they are then shocked, and often deeply offended, to discover that I have a moral backbone, and will refuse to be their toady. 
 
I am then dismissed with some variation of this snarky phrase: “Well, we all should have known! He’s one of those philosophers, and they can’t stand obeying the rules!” 
 
Yet I have found that those who choose to judge for themselves, as distinct from the intellectuals who are merely putting on a show, will soon develop a deep respect for the order in things, and so will also find purpose in humble obedience. I bow to Nature for making me as I am, and I am grateful to a good master for allowing me the freedom to reflect upon the meaning and the value of my life. 
 
No, my refusal to bend to your wishes is not a rejection of universal authority, just a rejection of your particular lust for power. We differ on what distinguishes the superior from the inferior. 
 
I do not take the “leisure” that Seneca describes to be any sort of sloth, or the luxury of sipping tea at a garden party. Rather, I see it as not being constantly bound to the drudgery of business, the opportunity to be a thinker, not merely a producer and a consumer. Those who deserve to be our bosses understand why the human measure must go far beyond the frenzy of the marketplace. 
 
Though some will praise a ruler for granting them influence and prosperity, their loyalty is always tentative, like that of mercenaries. They are not content with receiving a liberty of conscience, and are constantly seeking after greater winnings, never happy with what is already their own. Once their worldly profits no longer increase, they will quickly modify their allegiances. 
 
Craving more and more, they are obsessed with competition instead of finding peace in cooperation, and they hatch cunning plans to win an advantage at the expense of others. There is no gratitude here, only a further list of demands. Oddly enough, it is the true philosopher who turns out to be reverent, while the grasping man is forever restive. 

—Reflection written in 9/2013 

Dio Chrysostom, On Kingship 2.6

"There are many other lessons and teachings in Homer, which might be cited, that make for courage and the other qualities of a king, but perhaps their recital would require more time than we now have. 

"I will say, however, that he not only expresses his own judgment clearly in every instance—that in his belief the king should be the superior of all men—but particularly in the case of Agamemnon, in the passage where for the first time he sets the army in array, calls the roll of the leaders, and gives the tale of the ships. In that scene the poet has left no room for any other hero even to vie with Agamemnon; but as far as the bull surpasses the herd in strength and size, so far does the king excel the rest, as Homer says in these words: 

And as a bull amid the horned herd 

Stands eminent and nobler than the rest, 

So Zeus to Agamemnon on that day 

Gave to surpass in manly port and mien 

The heroes all. 

"This comparison was not carelessly chosen, so it seems to me, merely in order to praise the hero's strength and in the desire to demonstrate it. In that case, it seems that he would surely have chosen the lion for his simile and thus have made an excellent characterization. No, his idea was to indicate the gentleness of his nature and his concern for his subjects. For the bull is not merely one of the nobler animals; nor does it use its strength for its own sake, like the lion, the boar, and the eagle, which pursue other creatures and master them for their own bellies' sake. For this reason one might in truth say that these animals have come to be symbols of tyranny rather than of kingship. 

"But clearly, in my opinion, the bull has been used by the poet to betoken the kingly office and to portray a king. For the bull's food is ready to hand, and his sustenance he gets by grazing, so that he never needs to employ violence or rapacity on that score; but he, like affluent kings, has all the necessaries of life, unstinted and abundant. 

"He exercises the authority of a king over his fellows of the herd with good-will, one might say, and solicitude, now leading the way to pasture, now, when a wild beast appears, not fleeing but fighting in front of the whole herd and bringing aid to the weak in his desire to save the dependent multitude from dangerous wild beasts; just as is the duty of the ruler who is a real king and not unworthy of the highest honor known among men. 

"Sometimes, it is true, when another herd appears upon the scene, he engages its leader and strives for victory so that all may acknowledge his superiority and the superiority of his herd. Consider, again, the fact that the bull never makes war against man, but, notwithstanding that nature has made him of all unreasoning animals the best and best fitted to have dominion, he nevertheless accepts the dominion of his superior; and although he acknowledges his inferiority to none as regards strength, spirit, and might, yet he willingly subordinates himself to reason and intelligence. 

"Why should we not count this a training and lesson in kingship for prudent kings, to teach them that while a king must rule over men, his own kind, because he is manifestly their superior, who justly and by nature's design exercises dominion over them; and while he must save the multitude of his subjects, planning for them and, if need be, fighting for them and protecting them from savage and lawless tyrants, and as regards other kings, if any such there should be, must strive with them in rivalry of goodness, seeking if possible to prevail over them for the benefit of mankind at large; yet the gods, who are his superiors, he must follow, as being, I verily believe, good herdsmen, and must give full honor to their superior and more blessed natures, recognizing in them his own masters and rulers and showing that the most precious possession which God, the greatest and highest king, can have is, first himself and then those who have been appointed to be his subjects? 

"Now we know how wise herdsmen deal with a bull. When he becomes savage and hard to handle, and rules outrageously in violation of the law of nature, when he treats his own herd with contempt and harms it, but gives ground before outsiders who plot against it and shields himself behind the helpless multitude, yet, when there is no peril at hand, waxes overbearing and insolent, now bellowing loudly in a mena­cing way, now goring with leveled horns any who cannot resist, thus making show of his strength upon the weaker who will not fight, while at the same time he will not permit the multitude of the cattle to graze in peace because of the consternation and panic he inspires—when the owners and the herdsmen, I say, have such a bull, they depose and kill him as not being fit to lead the herd nor salutary to it. 

"That bull, on the other hand, which is gentle towards the kine of his following, but valiant and fearless towards wild beasts, that is stately, proud, and competent to protect his herd and be its leader, while yet submissive and obedient to the herdsmen—him they leave in charge til extreme old age, even after he becomes too heavy of body. 

"In like manner do the gods act, and especially the great King of Kings, Zeus, who is the common protector and father of men and gods. If any man proves himself a violent, unjust and lawless ruler, visiting his strength, not upon the enemy, but upon his subjects and friends; if he is insatiate of pleasures, insatiate of wealth, quick to suspect, implacable in anger, keen for slander, deaf to reason, knavish, treacherous, degraded, willful, exalting the wicked, envious of his superiors, too stupid for education, regarding no man as friend nor having one, as though such a possession were beneath him—such a one Zeus thrusts aside and deposes as unworthy to be king or to participate in his own honor and titles, putting upon him shame and derision, as methinks he did with Phalaris​ and Apollodorus​ and many others like them. 

"But the brave and humane king, who is kindly towards his subjects and, while honoring virtue and striving that he shall not be esteemed as inferior to any good man therein, yet forces the unrighteous to mend their ways and lends a helping hand to the weak—such a king Zeus admires for his virtue and, as a rule, brings to old age, as, for instance, according to tradition, Cyrus​ and Deïoces​ the Mede, Idanthyrsus​ the Scythian, Leucon,​ many of the Spartan kings, and some of the earlier kings of Egypt. 

"But if the inevitable decree of fate snatches him away before reaching old age, yet Zeus vouchsafes unto him a goodly renown and praise among all men for ever and ever, as indeed," concluded Alexander, "he honored our own ancestor, who, because of his virtue, was considered the son of Zeus—I mean Heracles." 

Now when Philip heard all this, he was delighted and said, "Alexander, it wasn't for naught that we esteemed Aristotle so highly, and permitted him to rebuild his home-town Stagira, which is in the domain of Olynthus. He is a man who merits many large gifts, if such are the lessons which he gives you in government and the duties of a king, be it as interpreter of Homer or in any other way." 

Dio Chrysostom, On Kingship 2.5

"But how is it that Homer does not give the finest possible apparel to his heroes?" Philip enquired. 

"Why, by Zeus, he does," replied Alexander, "though it is no womanish or embroidered apparel; Agamemnon is the only one that wears a purple robe,​ and even Odysseus has but one purple cloak that he brought from home.​ For Homer believes that a commander should not be mean of appearance or look like the crowd of private soldiers, but should stand out from the rest in both garb and armor so as to show his greater importance and dignity, yet without being a fop or fastidious about such things. He roundly rebuked the Carian, for instance, who decked himself out for war in trappings of gold. These are his words:

who, madly vain, 

Went to the battle pranked like a young girl 

In golden ornaments. They spared him not 

The bitter doom of death; he fell beneath 

The hand of swift Aeacides within 

The river's channel. There the great in war, 

Achilles, spoiled Nomion of his gold.  

"Thus he ridicules him for his folly as well as his vanity in that he practically carried to the foemen a prize for slaying him. Homer, therefore, clearly does not approve the wearing of gold, particularly on going into a battle, whether bracelets and necklaces or even such golden headgear and bridles for one's horses as the Persians are said to affect; for they have no Homer to be their censor in affairs of war. 

"By inculcating such conduct as the following, he has made his officers good and his soldiers well disciplined. For instance, he has them advance 

silently, fearing their leaders 

"whereas the barbarians advance with great noise and confusion, like cranes,​ thus showing that it is important for safety and victory in battle that the soldiers stand in awe of their commanders. For those who are without fear of their own officers would be the first to be afraid of the enemy. Furthermore, he says that even when they had won a victory the Achaeans kept quiet in their camp,​ but that among the Trojans, as soon as they thought they had gained any advantage, at once there were throughout the night 

the sound 

Of flutes and fifes, and tumult of the crowd. 

"implying that here also we have an excellent indication of virtue according as men bear their successes with self-restraint, or, on the contrary, with reckless abandon. And so to me, father, Homer seems a most excellent disciplinarian, and he who tries to give heed to him will be a highly success­ful and exemplary king. For he clearly takes for granted himself that pre-eminently kingly virtues are two—courage and justice. Mark what he says, 

An excellent king and warrior mighty withal. 

"as though all the other virtues followed in their train. 

"However, I do not believe that the king should simply be distinguished in his own person for courage and dignity, but that he should pay no heed to other people either when they play the flute or the harp, or sing wanton and voluptuous songs; nor should he tolerate the mischievous craze for filthy language that has come into vogue for the delight of fools; nay, he should cast out all such things and banish them to the uttermost distance from his own soul, first and foremost, and then from the capital of his kingdom—I mean such things as ribald jests and those who compose them, whether in verse or prose, along with scurrilous gibes—then, in addition, he should do away with indecent dancing and the lascivious posturing of women in licentious dances as well as the shrill and riotous measures played on the flute, syncopated music full of discordant turns, and motley combinations of noisy clanging instruments. 

"One song only will he sing or permit to be sung—the song that comports with the God of War, full of vigor, ringing clear, and stirring in the hearer no feeling of delight or languidness, but rather an over­powering fear and tumult; in short, such a song as Ares himself awoke, as he 

shrilly yelled, encouraging 

The men of Troy, as on the city heights 

He stood. 

"or as Achilles when, at the mere sound of his voice and before he could be seen, he turned the Trojans to flight and thus caused the destruction of twelve heroes midst their own chariots and arms.​ Or it might be like the triumphal song composed by the Muses for the celebration of victory, like the paean which Achilles bade the Achaeans chant as he brought Hector's body to the ships, he himself leading: 

Now then, ye Achaean youth, move on and chant 

A paean, while, returning to the fleet, 

We bring great glory with us; we have slain 

The noble Hector, whom, throughout their town, 

The Trojans ever worshipped like a god.  

"Or, finally, it might be the exhortations to battle such as we find in the Spartan marching songs, its sentiments comporting well with the polity of Lycurgus and the Spartan institutions: 

Up, ye sons of Sparta, 

Rich in citizen fathers; 

Thrust with the left your shields forth, 

Brandish bravely your spears; 

Spare not your lives. 

That's not custom in Sparta. 

"In conformity with these songs, our king should institute dance movements and measures that are not marked by reeling or violent motions, but are as virile and sober as may be, composed in a sedate rhythm; the dance should be the 'enoplic,'​ the execution of which is not only a tribute to the gods but a drill in warfare as well—the dance in which the poet says Meriones was skillful, for he has put these words into the mouth of a certain Trojan: 

Had I but struck thee, dancer though thou art, 

Meriones, my spear had once for all 

Ended thy dancing. 

"Or do you think that he can have meant that some other dance was known to the son of Molus, who was accounted one of the best of the Achaeans, and not the military dance of the Kouretes, a native Cretan dance,​ the quick and light movement designed to train the soldiers to swerve to one side and easily avoid the missile? From these considerations, moreover, it follows that the king should not offer such prayers as other men do nor, on the other hand, call upon the gods with such a petition as Anacreon, the Ionian poet, makes: 

O King with whom resistless love 

Disports, and nymphs with eyes so dark, 

And Aphrodite, fair of hue, 

O thou who rangest mountain crests, 

Thee do I beseech, do thou 

To me propitious come and hear 

With kindly heart the prayer I make: 

Cleobulus' confessor be 

And this love of mine approve, 

O Dionysus. 

"Nor, by heavens, should he ever utter such prayers as those we find in the ballads and drinking-songs of the Attic symposia, for these are suitable, not for kings, but for country folk and for the merry and boisterous clan-meetings. For instance, 

Would that I became a lovely ivory harp, 

And some lovely children carried me to Dionysus' choir! 

Would that I became a lovely massive golden trinket, 

And that me a lovely lady wore! 

"He would much better pray as Homer has represented the king of all the Greeks as praying: 

O Zeus, most great and glorious, who dost rule 

The tempest—dweller of the ethereal space! 

Let not the sun go down and night come on 

Ere I shall lay the halls of Priam waste 

With fire, and give their portals to the flames, 

And hew away the coat of mail that shields 

The breast of Hector, splitting it with steel. 

And may his fellow-warriors, many a one, 

Fall round him to the earth and bite the dust." 

Dio Chrysostom, On Kingship 2.4

In this fashion Alexander would talk with his father, thereby revealing his innermost thoughts. The fact is that while he loved Homer, for Achilles he felt not only admiration but even jealousy because of Homer's poesy, just as handsome boys are sometimes jealous of others who are handsome, because these have more power­ful lovers. 

To the other poets he gave hardly a thought; but he did mention​ Stesichorus and Pindar, the former because he was looked upon as an imitator of Homer and composed a Capture of Troy, a creditable work, and Pindar because of the brilliancy of his genius and the fact that he had extolled the ancestor whose name he bore: Alexander,​ nicknamed the Philhellene, to whom the poet alluded in the verse 

Namesake of the blest sons of Dardanus. 

This is the reason why, when later he sacked Thebes,​ he left only that poet's house standing, directing that this notice be posted upon it: 

Set not on fire the roof of Pindar, maker of song. 

Undoubtedly he was most grateful to those who eulogized him worthily, when he was so particular as this in seeking renown. 

"Well, then, my son," said Philip, "since I am glad indeed to hear you speak in this fashion, tell me, is it your opinion that the king should not even make himself a dwelling beautified with precious ornaments of gold and amber and ivory to suit his pleasure?" 

"By no means should he, father," he replied; "such ornaments should consist rather of spoils and armor taken from the enemy. He should also embellish the temples with such ornaments and thus propitiate the gods. This was Hector's opinion when he challenged the best of the Achaeans, declaring that if victorious he would deliver the body to the allied host, 'but the arms,' said he, 'I shall strip off and

hang them high

Within the temple of the archer-god Apollo.' 

"For such adornment of sacred places is altogether superior to jasper, carnelian, and onyx, with which Sardanapallus bedecked Nineveh. Indeed, such ostentation is by no means seemly for a king though it may furnish amusement to some silly girl or extravagant woman. 

"And so I do not envy the Athenians, either, so much for the extravagant way they embellished their city and their temples as for the deeds their forefathers wrought; for in the sword of Mardonius​ and the shields of the Spartans who were captured at Pylos​ they have a far grander and more excellent dedication to the gods than they have in the Propylaea of the Acropolis and in Olympieum,​ which cost more than ten thousand talents."​ 

"In this particular, then," said Philip, "you could not endorse Homer; for he has embellished the palace of Alcinoüs,​ a Greek and an islander, not only with gardens and orchards and fountains, but with statues of gold also. Nay, more, does he not describe the dwelling of Menelaus, for all that he had just got back from a campaign, as though it were some Persian or Median establishment, almost equalling the palaces of Semiramis,​ or of Darius and Xerxes? He says, for instance: 

A radiance bright, as of the sun or moon. 

Throughout the high-roofed halls of Atreus' son 

Did shine. 

The sheen of bronze, 

Of gold, of silver, and of ivory. 

"And yet, according to your conception, it should have shone, not with such materials, but rather with Trojan spoils!" 

Here Alexander checked him and said, "I have no notion at all of letting Homer go undefended. For it is possible that he described the palace of Menelaus to accord with his character, since he is the only one of the Achaeans whom he makes out to be a faint-hearted warrior.​ Indeed it is fairly clear that this poet never elsewhere speaks without a purpose, but repeatedly depicts the dress, dwelling, and manner of life of people so as to accord with their character. 

"This is why he beautified the palace of the Phaeacians with groves, perennial fruits, and ever-flowing springs; and again, with even greater skill, the grotto of Calypso, since she was a beautiful and kindly goddess living off by herself on an island. For he says​ that the island was wonderfully fragrant with the odors of sweetest incense burning there; and again, that it was overshadowed with luxuriant trees; that round about the grotto rambled a beautiful vine laden with clusters, while before it lay soft meadows with a confusion of parsley and other plants; and, finally, that in its center were four springs of crystal-clear water which flowed out in all directions, seeing that the ground was not on a slope or uneven. Now all these touches are marvelously suggestive of love and pleasure, and to my thinking reveal the character of the goddess. 

"The court of Menelaus, however, he depicts as rich in possessions and rich in gold, as though he were some Asiatic king, it seems to me. And, in fact, Menelaus was not far removed in line of descent from Tantalus and Pelops;​ which I think is the reason why Euripides has his chorus make a veiled allusion to his effeminacy when the king comes in: 

And Menelaus, 

By his daintiness so clear to behold, 

Sprung from the Tantalid stock. 

"The dwelling of Odysseus, however, is of a different kind altogether; he being a cautious man, Homer has given him a home furnished to suit his character. For he says: 

Rooms upon rooms are there: around its court 

Are walls and battlements, and folding doors 

Shut fast the entrance; no man may contemn 

It's strength. 

"But there are passages where we must understand the poet to be giving advice and admonition, others where he merely narrates, and many where his purpose is censure and ridicule. Certainly, when he describes going to bed or the routine of daily life, Homer seems a competent instructor for an education that may truthfully be described as heroic and kingly. 

"Lycurgus, for instance, may have got from him his idea of the common mess​ of the Spartans when he founded their institutions. In fact, the story is that he came to be an admirer of Homer and was the first who brought his poems from Crete, or from Ionia, to Greece. 

"To illustrate my point: the poet represents Diomede as reclining on a hard bed, the 'hide of an ox that dwelleth afield'; round about him he had planted his spears upright, butts downward, not for the sake of order but to have them ready for use.​ Furthermore, he regales his heroes on meat, and beef at that, evidently to give them strength, not pleasure.​ For instance, he is always talking about an ox being slain by Agamemnon, who was king over all and the richest, and of his inviting the chieftains to enjoy it. And to Ajax, after his victory, Agamemnon gives the chine of an ox as a mark of favor.​ 

"But Homer never represents his heroes as partaking of fish although they are  encamped by the sea; and yet he regularly calls the Hellespont fish-abounding, as in truth it is; Plato​ has very properly called attention to this striking fact. Nay, he does not even serve fish to the suitors at their banquet though they are exceedingly licentious and luxury-loving men, are in Ithaca and, what is more, engaged in feasting.​ 

"Now because Homer does not give such details without a purpose, he is evidently declaring his own opinion as to what kind of nourishment is best, and what it is good for. If he wishes to commend a feature, he uses the expression 'might-giving,' that is to say, 'able to supply might' or strength.​ In the passages in question he is giving instruction and advice as to how good men should take thought even for their table, since, as it happened, he was not unacquainted with food of all kinds and with high living. 

"So true is this that the peoples of today who have fairly gone mad in this direction—the Persians, Syrians and, among the Greeks, the Italiots,​ and Ionians—come nowhere near attaining the prodigality and luxury we find in Homer." 

Dio Chrysostom, On Kingship 2.3

Philip next asked him: "But as for you, Alexander, would you like to have been Agamemnon or Achilles or any one of the heroes of those days, or Homer?" 

"No, indeed," said Alexander, "but I should like to go far beyond Achilles and the others. For you are not inferior to Peleus, in my opinion; nor is Macedonia less power­ful than Phthia;​ nor would I admit that Olympus​ is a less famous mountain than Pelion;​ and, besides, the education I have gained under Aristotle is not inferior to that which Achilles derived from Amyntor's son, Phoenix, an exiled man and estranged from his father. Then, too, Achilles had to take orders from others and was sent with a small force of which he was not in sole command, since he was to share the expedition with another. I, however, could never submit to any mortal whatsoever being king over me." 

Whereupon Philip almost became angry with him and said: "But I am king and you are subject to me, Alexander." 

"Not I," said he, "for I hearken to you, not as king, but as father." 

"I suppose you will not go on and say, will you, that your mother was a goddess, as Achilles did," said Philip, "or do you presume to compare Olympias with Thetis?" 

At this Alexander smiled slightly and said, "To me, father, she seems more courageous than any Nereid." 

Whereupon Philip laughed and said, "Not merely more courageous, my son, but also more warlike; at least she never ceases making war on me." So far did they both go in mingling jest with earnest. 

Philip then went on with his questioning: "If, then, you are so enthusiastic an admirer of Homer, how is it that you do not aspire to his poetic skill?" 

"Because," he replied, "while it would give me the greatest delight to hear the herald at Olympia proclaim the victors with strong and clear voice, yet I should not myself care to herald the victories of others; I should much rather hear my own proclaimed." 

With these words he tried to make it clear that while he considered Homer to be a marvelous and truly divine herald of valor, yet he regarded himself and the Homeric heroes as the athletes who strove in the contest of noble achievement. 

"Still, it would not be at all strange, father," he continued, "if I were to be a good poet as well, did nature but favor me; for you know that a king might find that even rhetoric was valuable to him.​ You, for example, are often compelled to write and speak in opposition to Demosthenes, a very clever orator who can sway his audience—to say nothing of the other political leaders of Athens." 

"Yes," said Philip playfully, "and I should have been glad to cede Amphipolis to the Athenians in exchange for that clever Demosthenes. But what do you think was Homer's attitude regarding rhetoric?" 

"I believe that he admired the study, father," said he, "else he would never have introduced Phoenix as a teacher of Achilles in the art of discourse. Phoenix, at any rate, says that he was sent by Achilles' father, 

To teach thee both, that so thou mightst become

In words an orator, in warlike deeds

A doer. 

"And as for the other chieftains, he depicted the best and the best qualified for kingly office as having cultivated this art with no less zeal: I mean Diomede, Odysseus, and particularly Nestor, who surpassed all the others in both discernment and persuasiveness. Witness what he says in the early part of his poem: 

whose tongue 

Dropped words more sweet than honey. 

"It was for this reason that Agamemnon prayed that he might have ten such elders as counsellors rather than youths like Ajax and Achilles, implying that the capture of Troy would thus be hastened. And, indeed, in another instance​ he showed the importance of rhetorical skill. 

"For when the Greeks had at last become faint-hearted in pursuing the campaign because the war had lasted so long and the siege was so difficult, and also, no doubt, because of the plague that laid hold of them and of the dissensions between the kings, Agamemnon and Achilles; and when, in addition, a certain agitator​ rose to oppose them and threw the assembly into confusion—at this crisis the host rushed to the ships, embarked in hot haste, and were minded to flee. Nobody was able to restrain them, and even Agamemnon knew not how to handle the situation. 

"Now in this emergency the only one who was able to call them back and change their purpose was Odysseus, who finally, by the speech he made, and with the help of Nestor, persuaded them to remain. Consequently, this achievement was clearly due to the orators; and one could point to many other instances as well. It is evident, then, that not only Homer but Hesiod, too, held this view, implying that rhetoric in the true meaning of the term, as well as philosophy, is a proper study for the king; for the latter says of Calliope, 

She attendeth on kings august that the daughters of great Zeus

Honor and watch at their birth, those kings that of Zeus are nurtured. 

"But to write epic poetry, or to compose pieces in prose like those letters of yours,​ father, which are said to have won you high repute, is not altogether essential for a king, except indeed when he is young  and has leisure, as was the case with you when, as they say, you diligently cultivated rhetorical studies in Thebes. 

"Nor, again, is it necessary that he study philosophy to the point of perfecting himself in it; he need only live simply and without affectation, to give proof by his very conduct of a character that is humane, gentle, just, lofty, and brave as well, and, above all, one that takes delight in bestowing benefits—a trait which approaches most nearly to the nature divine. 

"He should, indeed, lend a willing ear to the teachings of philosophy whenever opportunity offers, inasmuch as these are manifestly not opposed to his own character but in accord with it; yet I should especially counsel the noble ruler of princely soul to make poetry his delight and to read it attentively—not all poetry, however, but only the most beautiful and majestic, such as we know Homer's alone to be, and of Hesiod's the portions akin to Homer's, and perhaps sundry edifying passages in other poets." 

"And so, too, with music," continued Alexander; "for I should not be willing to learn all there is in music, but only enough for playing the cithara or the lyre when I sing hymns in honor of the gods and worship them, and also, I suppose, in chanting the praises of brave men. It would surely not be becoming for kings to sing the odes of Sappho or Anacreon, whose theme is love; but if they do sing odes, let it be some of those of Stesichorus or Pindar, if sing they must. But perhaps Homer is all one needs even to that end." 

"What!" exclaimed Philip, "do you think that any of Homer's lines would sound well with the cithara or the lyre?" 

And Alexander, glaring at him fiercely like a lion, said: "For my part, father, I believe that many of Homer's lines would properly be sung to the trumpet—not, by heavens, when it sounds the retreat, but when it peals forth the signal for the charge, and sung by no chorus of women or maids, but by a phalanx under arms. They are much to be preferred to the songs of Tyrtaeus,​ which the Spartans use." 

At this Philip commended his son for having spoken worthily of the poet and well. 

"And indeed," Alexander continued, "Homer illustrates the very point we have just mentioned. He has represented Achilles, for instance, when he was loitering in the camp of the Achaeans, as singing no ribald or even amorous ditties—though he says, to be sure, that he was in love with Briseis; nay, he speaks of him as playing the cithara, and not one that he had bought, I assure you, or brought from his father's house, but one that he had plucked from the spoils when he took Thebe​ and slew Eëtion, the father of Hector's wife. Homer's words are: 

To soothe his mood he sang

The deeds of heroes. 

"Which means that a noble and princely man should never forget valor and glorious deeds whether he be drinking or singing, but should without ceasing be engaged in some great and some admirable action himself, or in recalling deeds of that kind." 

Dio Chrysostom, On Kingship 2.2

Then Philip admired his son greatly for his noble spirit, since it was plain that he harbored no unworthy or ignoble ideas but made the heroes and demigods his examples. Nevertheless, in his desire to arouse him, he said, "But take Hesiod, Alexander; do you judge him of little account as a poet?" 

"Nay, not I," he replied, "but of every account, though not for kings and generals, I suppose."

"Well, then, for whom?" 

And Alexander answered with a smile: "For shepherds, carpenters,​ and farmers; since he says that shepherds are beloved by the Muses, and to carpenters he gives very shrewd advice as to how large they should cut an axle, and to farmers, when to broach a cask."​ 

"Well," said Philip, "and is not such advice useful to men?" 

"Not to you and me, father," he replied, "nor to the Macedonians of the present day, though to those of former times it was useful, when they lived a slave's life, herding and farming for Illyrians and Triballians."​ 

"But do you not like these magnificent lines of Hesiod about seed-time and harvest?" said Philip:

Mark well the time when the Pleiads, daughters of Atlas, are rising;

Then begin with the harvest, but do not plough till their setting. 

"I much prefer what Homer says on farm-life," said Alexander. 

"And where," Philip asked, "has Homer anything to say about farming? Or do you refer to the representations on the shield of men ploughing and gathering the grain and the grapes?" 

"Not at all," said Alexander, "but rather to these well-known lines:

As when two lines of reapers, face to face,

In some rich landlord's field of barley or wheat

Move on, and fast the severed handfuls fall,

So, springing on each other, they of Troy

And they of Argos smote each other down,

And neither thought of ignominious flight. 

"And yet, in spite of such lines as these," said Philip, "Homer was defeated by Hesiod in the contest.​ Or have you not heard of the inscription which is inscribed upon the tripod that stands on Mount Helicon?"

Hesiod offered this gift to the Muses on Helicon's mountain

When at Chalcis in song he had vanquished Homer, the godlike. 

"And he richly deserved to be defeated," rejoined Alexander, "for he was not exhibiting his skill before kings, but before farmers and plain folk, or, rather, before men who were lovers of pleasure and effeminate. And that is why Homer used his poetry to avenge himself upon the Euboeans." 

"How so?" asked Philip in wonder. 

"He singled them out among all the Greeks for a most unseemly haircut, for he makes them wear their hair in long locks flowing down their backs,​as the poets of to‑day do in describing effeminate boys."

Philip laughed and said, "You observe, Alexander, that one must not offend good poets or clever writers, since they have the power to say anything they wish about us." 

"Not absolute power," said he; "it was a sorry day for Stesichorus, at any rate, when he told the lies about Helen.​ As for Hesiod, it seems to me that he himself, father, was not unaware of how much inferior his powers were to Homer's." 

"How is that?" 

"Because, while Homer wrote of heroes, he composed a Catalogue of Fair Women,​ and in reality made the women's quarters​ the subject of his song, yielding to Homer the eulogy of men."