Book 3, Chapter 25
To Those Who Give Up Their Purpose
Consider as to the things which you proposed to yourself at first, which you have secured, and which you have not; and how you are pleased when you recall to memory the one, and are pained about the other; and if it is possible, recover the things wherein you failed. For we must not shrink when we are engaged in the greatest combat, but we must even take blows. For the combat before us is not in wrestling and the Pancration, in which both the successful and the unsuccessful may have the greatest merit, or may have little, and in truth may be very fortunate or very unfortunate; but the combat is for good fortune and happiness themselves. Well then, even if we have renounced the contest in this matter (for good fortune and happiness), no man hinders us from renewing the combat again, and we are not compelled to wait for another four years that the games at Olympia may come again; but as soon as you have recovered and restored yourself, and employ the same zeal, you may renew the combat again; and if again you renounce it, you may again renew it; and if you once gain the victory, you are like him who has never renounced the combat. Only do not through a habit of doing the same thing (renouncing the combat) begin to do it with pleasure, and then like a bad athlete go about after being conquered in all the circuit of the games like quails who have run away.
Consider the goals you first set for yourself. Which have you achieved, and which have you not? Think about how pleased you are when you remember your successes, and how pained you are by your failures. If possible, recover what you failed to achieve. We must not shrink from the greatest contest. We must even take blows. For the contest before us is not wrestling or the Pancration. In those contests, winners and losers alike may have great merit or little merit. Indeed, they may be very fortunate or very unfortunate. But our contest is for good fortune and happiness themselves. Even if we have given up the contest for good fortune and happiness, no one stops us from entering it again. We do not have to wait another four years for the games at Olympia to return. As soon as you have recovered and restored yourself, you can enter the contest again with the same zeal. If you give up again, you can return again. And if you win just once, you are like someone who has never given up the contest. Only do not let the habit of giving up lead you to enjoy it. Otherwise, like a bad athlete, you will go from one contest to another, defeated at every game, like quails that have run away.
Compare iii. 15, 4.
These games were held once every four years.
'All the circuit of the games' means the circuit of the Pythian, Isthmian, Nemean, and Olympic games. A man who competed and won in all four was called a Periodonices, or Periodeutes. Upton. The Greeks used to put quails in a fighting pit. Those who are old enough may remember that we used to put gamecocks in a pit to fight each other. Schweighaeuser describes a way of testing the courage of these quails, citing Pollux (ix. 109). But I suppose the birds also fought each other.
The sight of a beautiful young girl overpowers me. Well, have I not been overpowered before? An inclination arises in me to find fault with a person; for have I not found fault with him before? You speak to us as if you had come off (from these things) free from harm, just as if a man should say to his physician who forbids him to bathe, Have I not bathed before? If then the physician can say to him, Well, and what then happened to you after the bath? Had you not a fever, had you not a headache? And when you found fault with a person lately, did you not do the act of a malignant person, of a trifling babbler; did you not cherish this habit in you by adding to it the corresponding acts? And when you were overpowered by the young girl, did you come off unharmed? Why then do you talk of what you did before? You ought, I think, remembering what you did, as slaves remember the blows which they have received, to abstain from the same faults. But the one case is not like the other; for in the case of slaves the pain causes the remembrance: but in the case of your faults, what is the pain, what is the punishment; for when have you been accustomed to fly from evil acts? Sufferings then of the trying character are useful to us, whether we choose or not.
The sight of a beautiful young girl overpowers me. Well, haven’t I been overpowered before? I feel inclined to find fault with someone. Haven’t I found fault with him before? You speak as if these things had done you no harm. It is as if a man whose doctor forbids him to bathe should say, “Haven’t I bathed before?” The doctor can then ask him, “Well, what happened after your bath? Didn’t you have a fever? Didn’t you have a headache?” And when you found fault with someone recently, didn’t you act like a malicious person, a petty babbler? Didn’t you strengthen this habit by acting on it? And when the young girl overpowered you, did you escape unharmed? Why, then, do you talk about what you did before? I think you should remember what you did and avoid the same faults, just as slaves remember the blows they have received. But the two cases are not alike. For slaves, the pain brings back the memory. But what pain or punishment do you feel for your faults? When have you made a habit of avoiding evil acts? Trying experiences, then, are useful to us, whether we choose them or not.
Upton thought that Epictetus’s adversary speaks the words from Ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὅμοιον . . . . to κακῶς ἐνεργῆσαι, translated as 'But the one case is not, . . . to 'fly from evil acts,'. Mrs. Carter followed Upton in her translation. But on that reading, the last sentence, Οἱ πόνοι ἄρα etc., translated as 'Sufferings then' etc., makes no sense. The reader may consult Schweighaeuser's note. I think Epictetus speaks the words from 'But the one case' etc. to the end of the chapter. The adversary is not punished like a slave and has no pains to remind him of his faults. He is assumed not to have felt the consequences of his bad acts so far. But Epictetus concludes that painful suffering would be useful to him, as it is to all who do what they ought not to do. There is perhaps some difficulty with the word πειρατηρίων. But I think Schweig. has correctly explained the passage.