1. When thou goest to inquire of an oracle, remember that what the event will be thou knowest not, for this is the thing thou art come to learn from the seer; but of what nature it is (if haply thou art a philosopher), thou knewest already in coming. For if it be any of those things that are not in our own power, it follows of necessity that it can be neither good nor evil.
1. When you consult an oracle, remember that you do not know what will happen. That is what you have come to learn from the seer. But if you are a philosopher, you already know what kind of thing the outcome is. If it is something beyond our control, it necessarily follows that it can be neither good nor evil.
Zeller identifies a strong, growing desire for direct, personal revelation from God as a distinctive feature of Hellenistic times. People wanted supernatural evidence of his existence and care for humanity. Many must have longed for such revelation as the only satisfying answer to the Pyrrhonists’ destructive logic. Stoic thinkers also naturally encouraged this desire. They stressed that the individual’s communion with God was the most important of all possible relationships.
This helped many wild, orgiastic cults grow during this period. All centered on ecstatic states associated with their rites, which were attributed to supernatural influence. Among the Stoics, this movement took the comparatively restrained form of attention to established oracular divination. Zeller shows, however, that some Stoics sought a rational explanation for oracular revelations. They supposed that a certain sympathetic connection existed between the seer’s mind and future events. This connection unconsciously guided the seer to choose methods of divination that would produce the appropriate signs. (Z. 339, 340.) Epictetus evidently valued God’s revelation through conscience more than any other revelation.
2. Bring, therefore, to the seer neither pursuit nor avoidance, nor go before him with trembling, but well knowing that all events are indifferent and nothing to thee. For whatever it may be, it shall lie with thee to use it nobly; and this no man can prevent. Go, then, with a good courage to the Gods as to counselors; and for the rest, when anything hath been counseled thee, remember of whom thou hast taken counsel, and whom thou wilt be slighting if thou art not obedient.
2. So bring neither desire nor aversion to the seer, and do not approach him trembling. Know that all events are neither good nor bad in themselves and do not affect your true well-being. Whatever happens, it is up to you to use it nobly. No one can prevent this. Go, then, with courage to the gods as your counselors. Once you have received their advice, remember whom you have consulted. Remember, too, whom you will be disrespecting if you do not obey.
3. Therefore, as Socrates would have it, go to the oracle for those matters only where thy whole inquiry bendeth solely towards the event, and where there are no means either from reason or any other art for knowing beforehand what is to happen. Thus, when it may be needful to share some peril with thy friend or thy country, inquire of no oracle whether thou shouldst do the thing. For if the seer should declare that the sacrifices are inauspicious, this signifies clearly either death, or the loss of some limb, or banishment; yet doth Reason decree that even so thou must stand by thy friend, and share thy country’s danger.
3. Therefore, as Socrates advised, consult the oracle only when your question concerns nothing but the outcome. Do so only when neither reason nor any other skill can tell you beforehand what will happen. So, when you may need to share danger with your friend or your country, ask no oracle whether you should. If the seer declares that the sacrifices show unfavorable signs, this clearly means death, loss of a limb, or exile. Yet reason commands that even then you must stand by your friend and share your country’s danger.
4. Mark, therefore, that greater seer, the Pythian, who cast out of his temple one that, when his friend was being murdered, did not help him.
4. Consider, then, that greater seer, the Pythian. He expelled a man from his temple for failing to help his friend when the friend was being murdered.
Simplicius tells this story in his commentary on this chapter. Two friends were traveling together to consult the oracle at Delphi when robbers attacked them. One resisted and was murdered. The other either fled or made no effort to help his companion. When he arrived at the temple of Apollo, the oracle greeted him with the following message: