‘I wasn’t paying attention’ - Things Aristotle said, part II

Aristotle’s apophthegmata in Diogenes Laertius. Continued from last time.

“When asked what the upshot of philosophy was, he said, ‘the fact that I do without orders what others do because of a fear of the law.’

When asked how students might make progress, he said, ‘when the people urging on the ones who are ahead do not wait for the ones who are behind.’

To the talkative person who’d inundated him with a long story and then asked, ‘has my babbling annoyed you?,’ he said, ‘oh god no, I wasn’t paying attention.’

To the person who accused him of doing a favour for a no-good man – for it is also told in this way – he said, ‘I didn’t do it for a man, but humanity’.

When asked how we should treat our friends, he said, ‘the way we wish they would treat us.’

He said justice is a virtue of soul distributive of something according to worth.

He used to say, ‘the best provision for old age is education.’

In the second book of his Memoirs, Favorinus says that he used to say all over the place, ‘for the one who has friends, there is no friend;’ it’s also in the seventh book of the Ethics.*

These, then, [are the sayings that] have been attributed to him.”

[20 cont.] ἐρωτηθεὶς τί ποτ' αὐτῷ περιγέγονεν ἐκ φιλοσοφίας, ἔφη, “τὸ ἀνεπιτάκτως ποιεῖν ἅ τινες διὰ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων φόβον ποιοῦσιν.” ἐρωτηθεὶς πῶς ἂν προκόπτοιεν οἱ μαθηταί, ἔφη, “ἐὰν τοὺς προέχοντας διώκοντες τοὺς ὑστεροῦντας μὴ ἀναμένωσι.” πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα ἀδολέσχην, ἐπειδὴ αὐτοῦ πολλὰ κατήντλησε, “μήτι σου κατεφλυάρησα;” “μὰ Δί',” εἶπεν· “οὐ γάρ σοι προσεῖχον.”

[21] πρὸς τὸν αἰτιασάμενον ὡς εἴη μὴ ἀγαθῷ ἔρανον δεδωκώς – φέρεται γὰρ καὶ οὕτως – ”οὐ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ,” φησίν, “ἔδωκα, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ.” ἐρωτηθεὶς πῶς ἂν τοῖς φίλοις προσφεροίμεθα, ἔφη, “ὡς ἂν εὐξαίμεθα αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν προσφέρεσθαι.” τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἔφη ἀρετὴν ψυχῆς διανεμητικὴν τοῦ κατ' ἀξίαν. κάλλιστον ἐφόδιον τῷ γήρᾳ τὴν παιδείαν ἔλεγε. φησὶ δὲ Φαβωρῖνος ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ τῶν Ἀπομνημονευμάτων ὡς ἑκάστοτε λέγοι, “ᾧ φίλοι οὐδεὶς φίλος”· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ τῶν Ἠθικῶν ἐστι. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς αὐτὸν ἀναφέρεται.

Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, 5.20-21

*Looks like he means the work we call the Eudemian Ethics. Aristotle does not quite say what is reported in the text of Diogenes (he says ‘many friends’ instead of just ‘friends’), and he doesn’t say it ‘all over the place;’ also, it seems Aristotle, too, was quoting an apophthegm when he wrote it. Here’s the passage (it’s quite beautiful):

“We say we seek and pray for many friends, and at the same time that ‘there is no friend for the one who has many friends.’ Both are right. It is within the realm of possibilities for many people to live together in community and share in each other’s experience. This would be the most choiceworthy thing of all; but it is also the most difficult, and for this reason, it is necessary that the activity of sharing our experiences be kept among only a few people. And so not only is it difficult to make many friends (since you need to get to know one other), but also to enjoy the friends one has.”

καὶ τὸ ζητεῖν ἡμῖν καὶ εὔχεσθαι πολλοὺς φίλους, ἅμα δὲ λέγειν ὡς οὐθεὶς φίλος ᾧ πολλοὶ φίλοι, ἄμφω λέγεται ὀρθῶς. ἐνδεχομένου γὰρ πολλοῖς συζῆν ἅμα καὶ συναισθάνεσθαι ὡς πλείστοις αἱρετώτατον: ἐπεὶ δὲ χαλεπώτατον, ἐν ἐλάττοσιν ἀνάγκη τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς συναισθήσεως εἶναι, ὥστ᾽ οὐ μόνον χαλεπὸν τὸ πολλοὺς κτήσασθαι (πείρας γὰρ δεῖ), ἀλλὰ καὶ οὖσι χρήσασθαι.

Eudemian Ethics 7, 1245b20-25

Earlier in the Eudemian Ethics 7, 1238a9-10, Aristotle says something a bit different. Like the previous passage, he says it’s hard to have lots of friends because it takes time to really cultivate a friendship; but he also adds that he thinks it’s just not possible to feel affection for more than one person at a time. This is a strong claim. In Nicomachean Ethics 8.6, 1158a10-11, it’s even stronger. He says humans by nature can’t love more than one person at a time. Does he really think this? Given the quotation above it’s hard to see how—maybe he’s not too committed to it, maybe I’m missing something.

The Nicomachean Ethics also gives a bit more context to the claim about the time it takes to make a friend:

πολλοὺς δ' ἅμα τῷ αὐτῷ ἀρέσκειν σφόδρα οὐ ῥᾴδιον, ἴσως δ' οὐδ' ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι. δεῖ δὲ καὶ ἐμπειρίαν λαβεῖν καὶ ἐν συνηθείᾳ γενέσθαι, ὃ παγχάλεπον.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 8.6, 1158a13-15

There is a difference of opinion among translators about the passage. It’s been moved in opposite directions:

1. “It is not easy for many people to please the same person a great deal at the same time, nor, perhaps, that they be good people.” (Ross takes it this way)

2. “It is not easy for the same person to please many people a great deal at the same time, and perhaps there are not many good people.” (Crisp in the Cambridge translation takes it this way)

The first says something like, “it’s hard to really enjoy lots of people at the same time,” and while I sort of see what this might mean, I admit I don’t totally get it. One thing Ross might be thinking is that Aristotle is making a logical point. It’s like he’s saying, ‘if any one of those people were actually pleasing, there wouldn’t need to be so many of them.’

Or maybe he’s thinking we only have so much attention we can give to everything going on in our lives. If there are too many things going on, at some point we have no more attention to give, so if lots of people are trying to please the same person at the same time, that person won’t be able to be exceptionally pleased by any one of them. And if, to become a true friend, you need to be exceptionally pleasing, then it would be hard for any of those people to become friends (as in the ‘no friend for the one with friends’ saying).

The second says something like, “it’s hard to be all things to all people,” especially since (as he goes on to say), “one needs to become deeply acquainted and develop intimacy” to be a friend, “and this is very difficult.” This puts the emphasis on the fact that, again, time and attention are finite, and the more we divide them, the less we have for any one person.

The reason people take the passage in two ways is in part grammatical. The clause is in indirect speech and the verb ἀρέσκειν can take both a dative and an accusative (i.e., one can be pleasing to X (dative) or simply please X (accusative)). Our sentence has nouns in both cases (πολλούς, as a substantive, ‘many people’; τῷ αὐτῷ, ‘the same person’). So either πολλούς is the subject of ἀρέσκειν and τῷ αὐτῷ is a personal dative (‘that many people are pleasing to the same person is not easy’); or, πολλούς is the object of ἀρέσκειν and τῷ αὐτῷ goes with οὐ ῥᾴδιον (‘it is not easy for the same person to please many people...’).

Passages like this can expose a translator’s intuitions about things seemingly familiar.

Endings

“Zeus, god of the gods, who rules with force of law, was able to see these things clearly. When he realized that good people were reduced to struggling, he wanted to grant them justice so that they might take control of themselves and return to harmony. He assembled all the gods together into their most honoured home, which, set at the centre of the entire cosmos, looks down upon all who share in creation, and once he had assembled them, he said:”*

θεὸς δὲ ὁ θεῶν Ζεὺς ἐν νόμοις βασιλεύων, ἅτε δυνάμενος καθορᾶν τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐννοήσας γένος ἐπιεικὲς ἀθλίως διατιθέμενον, δίκην αὐτοῖς ἐπιθεῖναι βουληθείς, ἵνα γένοιντο ἐμμελέστεροι σωφρονισθέντες, συνήγειρεν θεοὺς πάντας εἰς τὴν τιμιωτάτην αὐτῶν οἴκησιν, ἣ δὴ κατὰ μέσον παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου βεβηκυῖα καθορᾷ πάντα ὅσα γενέσεως μετείληφεν, καὶ συναγείρας εἶπεν:

Plato, Critias, 121B7-C5

*To the right is the last column of the Critias, written on parchment in one of the oldest manuscripts of Plato we have, Parisinus gr. 187 f. 151r. This manuscript is at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and it’s been been dated to around 850-875 CE.

The Critias ends mid-sentence. The Atlantans’ story is never resolved. Maybe Plato died before he finished it, maybe he couldn’t think of what Zeus was supposed to say. To mark this the copyist writes the εἶπεν (“he said”) with a colon in the centre of the last line—two dots bordering on universes of possibilities.

"Let him whip me when I'm not around" - Things Aristotle said, part I

Part I of the apophthegmata attributed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius.

“These very nice sayings are attributed to him:

When asked what profit is gained by those who tell lies, he said: ‘that whenever they speak the truth, they are not believed.’

Once, he was reproached because he gave charity to a lowly person, so he said, ‘I gave charity to a man, not a way of life.’

He always used to tell his friends and students, whenever and wherever he happened to be lecturing, that ‘as light comes to sight from the air, so it comes to the mind from mathematics.’*

Very often, referring to the Athenians, he said, ‘they discovered wheat and laws: they used the wheat, not so much the laws.’

He used to say, ‘the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.’

When asked what gets old quickly, he said, ‘gratitude.’

When asked what is hope, he said, ‘a waking dream.’

When Diogenes offered him a dried fig, he knew if he didn’t take it, Diogenes would have some joke ready to go. So he took it and said, ‘Diogenes ruined the fig as well as the joke.’ Another time he offered them, he took them and, raising them up as if they were children, he said, ‘Great Diogenes!’

He said three things are required for education: nature, study, and practice.

When he heard that someone was saying bad things about him behind his back, he said, ‘let him whip me when I’m not around.’

He used to say beauty was a better recommendation than any letter. Some people say Diogenes defined it this way, but he said good looks are ‘a gift from god,’ Socrates, ‘a short-lived tyranny,’ Plato, ‘an advantage of nature,’ Theophrastus, ‘a silent deception,’ Theocritus, ‘a penalty made of ivory,’ Carneades, ‘a king without a body-guard.’

When asked how the educated differ from the uneducated, he said, ‘as much as the living from the dead.’

He used to say, ‘education is an adornment in good times and a refuge in bad ones;’ and that children’s teachers are more valuable than those who only gave them birth: for the one gives you a chance to live, the other to live well.

To someone who bragged that he was from a great city, he said, ‘one needn’t look into this, but rather, who is it who is worthy of a great heritage.’

When asked what a friend is, he said, ‘one soul dwelling in two bodies.’

He used to say, ‘there are two kinds of people: those who are as restrained as someone who will live forever, and those who are as excessive as someone who will die tomorrow.’

To the person who was curious why we spend so much time in the company of what is beautiful, he said, ‘that’s a blind man’s question.’”

*or perhaps, “studies”

[17] Ἀναφέρεται δ᾽ εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ ἀποφθέγματα κάλλιστα ταυτί. ἐρωτηθεὶς τί περιγίνεται κέρδος τοῖς ψευδομένοις, "ὅταν," ἔφη, "λέγωσιν ἀληθῆ, μὴ πιστεύεσθαι." ὀνειδιζόμενός ποτε ὅτι πονηρῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐλεημοσύνην ἔδωκεν, "οὐ τὸν τρόπον," εἶπεν, "ἀλλὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἠλέησα." συνεχὲς εἰώθει λέγειν πρός τε τοὺς φίλους καὶ τοὺς φοιτῶντας αὐτῷ, ἔνθα ἂν καὶ ὅπου διατρίβων ἔτυχεν, ὡς ἡ μὲν ὅρασις ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος [ἀέρος] λαμβάνει τὸ φῶς, ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ ἀπὸ τῶν μαθημάτων. πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ἀποτεινόμενος τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἔφασκεν εὑρηκέναι πυροὺς καὶ νόμους: ἀλλὰ πυροῖς μὲν χρῆσθαι, νόμοις δὲ μή.

[18] Τῆς παιδείας ἔφη τὰς μὲν ῥίζας εἶναι πικράς, τὸν δὲ καρπὸν γλυκύν. ἐρωτηθεὶς τί γηράσκει ταχύ, "χάρις," ἔφη. ἐρωτηθεὶς τί ἐστιν ἐλπίς, "ἐγρηγορότος," εἶπεν, "ἐνύπνιον." Διογένους ἰσχάδ᾽ αὐτῷ διδόντος νοήσας ὅτι, εἰ μὴ λάβοι, χρείαν εἴη μεμελετηκώς, λαβὼν ἔφη Διογένην μετὰ τῆς χρείας καὶ τὴν ἰσχάδα ἀπολωλεκέναι: πάλιν τε διδόντος λαβὼν καὶ μετεωρίσας ὡς τὰ παιδία εἰπών τε "μέγας Διογένης," ἀπέδωκεν αὐτῷ. τριῶν ἔφη δεῖν παιδείᾳ, φύσεως, μαθήσεως, ἀσκήσεως. ἀκούσας ὑπό τινος λοιδορεῖσθαι, "ἀπόντα με," ἔφη, "καὶ μαστιγούτω." τὸ κάλλος παντὸς ἔλεγεν ἐπιστολίου συστατικώτερον.

[19] οἱ δὲ οὕτω μὲν Διογένην φασὶν ὁρίσασθαι, αὐτὸν δὲ θεοῦ δῶρον εἰπεῖν εὐμορφίαν: Σωκράτην δὲ ὀλιγοχρόνιον τυραννίδα: Πλάτωνα προτέρημα φύσεως: Θεόφραστον σιωπῶσαν ἀπάτην: Θεόκριτον ἐλεφαντίνην ζημίαν: Καρνεάδην ἀδορυφόρητον βασιλείαν. ἐρωτηθεὶς τίνι διαφέρουσιν οἱ πεπαιδευμένοι τῶν ἀπαιδεύτων, "ὅσῳ," εἶπεν, "οἱ ζῶντες τῶν τεθνεώτων." τὴν παιδείαν ἔλεγεν ἐν μὲν ταῖς εὐτυχίαις εἶναι κόσμον, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἀτυχίαις καταφυγήν. τῶν γονέων τοὺς παιδεύσαντας ἐντιμοτέρους εἶναι τῶν μόνον γεννησάντων: τοὺς μὲν γὰρ τὸ ζῆν, τοὺς δὲ τὸ καλῶς ζῆν παρασχέσθαι. πρὸς τὸν καυχώμενον ὡς ἀπὸ μεγάλης πόλεως εἴη, "οὐ τοῦτο," ἔφη, "δεῖ σκοπεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅστις μεγάλης πατρίδος ἄξιός ἐστιν."

[20] ἐρωτηθεὶς τί ἐστι φίλος, ἔφη, "μία ψυχὴ δύο σώμασιν ἐνοικοῦσα." τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔλεγε τοὺς μὲν οὕτω φείδεσθαι ὡς ἀεὶ ζησομένους, τοὺς δὲ οὕτως ἀναλίσκειν ὡς αὐτίκα τεθνηξομένους. πρὸς τὸν πυθόμενον διὰ τί τοῖς καλοῖς πολὺν χρόνον ὁμιλοῦμεν, "τυφλοῦ," ἔφη, "τὸ ἐρώτημα."

Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, 5.17-20

Pseudo-Alexander on why oil doesn't mix with water, how the soul is joined to the body, and why the head is like a little heaven

Why doesn't oil combine together with other liquids?

Because, since it is viscous and dense and unified and not cut up into fine parts like other liquids, it does not have space for another liquid to move into it and combine with it.

Some things that are joined, however, are joined with one another by mixture, like the qualities of the elements. They have primary qualities that are completely concealed and that produce other [qualities], but are able to be separated and liberated by nature once again. Honey-wine and sour-wine imitate nature, since to our perception they seem to exist as a mixture. In truth, however, and with respect to their substantial nature, they are not like the elements.

Other things are joined by juxtaposition, like water and oil; still others are joined by combination, like barley with wheat; others by cementing, like stone with stone; others by adhesion and similar processes, like blood with flesh or marrow or bone; others by nailing, like wood to wood because some nails were fitted between them; others, by attachment and weaving together, like links in a chain.

But in the case of ensouled things, as in the case of wrestlers*, the soul is not joined with the body in any these ways. That would be too absurd. Instead, the soul joins the body through a kind of suitable medium, which is to some extent receptive of the nature of both. And it [sc. the medium] embraces both a created and contrived thing and combines the incorporeal with the corporeal, the immortal with the corruptible, the pure with the impure, the divine with the earthly, as the discussion will show.

For when the blood is concocted in the liver and changed by the localized balanced proportion of heat and moisture, it generates a vapory pneuma. When this rises with the blood through the hollow-vein towards the heart, as it is heated and refined more, it [sc. the pneuma] becomes air-like. And again, when it is sent up through the carotid artery towards the base of the brain, being guided there by nature’s providence, casting off the immoderate boiling in accordance with a certain peculiar natural quality accompanying the coldness of the brain, the pneuma becomes aitherial, which is the soul’s instrument for activity.

So, just as wild horses are chastened by a bridle, so this [pneuma] is bridled by a certain irrational natural capacity. Furthermore, it is indeed through respiration that the air that has come into the heart is refined and goes up through the arteries towards the head, and it is made nourishment of the aetherial and psychic pneuma. If [the air] meets a body, let it strengthen the body; but if it meets finest, purest, most radiant [pneuma], then [let it strengthen] the rational soul, being somehow a corporeal incorporeal, an intermediate bound between extremes of contrary substance.

When this pneuma is properly stable, in everything it does, it manages, with the soul, to act rationally [κατὰ λόγον]. But when it is cooled immoderately and compressed and thickened, it becomes unsuitable for the intense activity of the soul [and] makes the activities idle and sluggish. When it has been cooled and thickened extremely immoderately, the generated body also causes the soul to depart due to the unsuitability of the substance, as in the case of lethargy, torpor and a draught of cold poison. On the other hand, when it is heated immoderately and is moved more than is needed, it causes the soul to act immoderately in accordance with the soul’s displacement [κατὰ τὰς ἐκστάσεις τῆς ψυχῆς] in [cases of] phrenitis. When this affection becomes even stronger, after it is exhausted, it will make the soul depart again by not preserving their being bound together.

Consider with me a different work of god. For since it was fated that it [sc. the soul] be confined from the heavenly and divine body to an earthly body, [the god] contrived the descent in shape, structure and colour. For the head itself it formed into a sphere, just like a little heaven. It arranged the brain—bright and without excess, having given seven passages to it representing the number of the movers of the stars—to rise above the whole body. For heaven, too, rises above everything in the world of coming to be and passing away.

*the image is of two people embracing and holding on to one another.

Διὰ τί τὸ ἔλαιον οὐδενὶ τῶν ὑγρῶν ἀναμίγνυται;

ὅτι γλίσχρον ὂν καὶ παχυμερὲς καὶ ἡνωμένον καὶ μὴ τεμνόμενον εἰς λεπτὰ μόρια καθάπερ τὰ ἄλλα ὑγρά, οὐ δίδωσιν χώραν ἑτέρῳ ὑγρῷ ἐγκαταβληθῆναι εἰς αὐτὸ καὶ ἀναμιχθῆναι αὐτῷ·

τὰ δὲ ὁμιλοῦντα ἑαυτοῖς ὁμιλεῖ τῶν κατὰ τὴν κρᾶσιν, ὡς αἱ ποιότητες τῶν στοιχείων παντελῶς ἔχουσαι τὰς πρώτας ποιότητας ἀφανιζομένας καὶ ἑτέρας γεννωμένας, δυναμένας δὲ πάλιν ὑπὸ φύσεως χωρισθῆναι καὶ σωθῆναι. τὸ δὲ μελίκρατον καὶ τὸ ὀξύκρατον μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν, τῇ αἰσθήσει μὲν νομιζόμενα κατὰ κρᾶσιν, εἶναι μὴ ὄντα δὲ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν· καὶ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν οὐσιωδῶς, ὥσπερ τὰ στοιχεῖα.

τὰ δὲ κατὰ παράθεσιν, ὡς ὑδρέλαιον· τὰ δὲ κατὰ μῖξιν, ὡς κριθὴ πυροῖς· τὰ δὲ κατὰ κόλλησιν, ὡς λίθος λίθῳ· τὰ δὲ κατὰ πρόσφυσιν καὶ ὁμοίως, ὡς αἷμα σαρκὶ ἢ μυελῷ ἢ ὀστῷ. τὰ δὲ κατὰ γόμφωσιν, ὡς ξύλον ξύλῳ διὰ γόμφων τινῶν ἐν μέσῳ βαλλομένων. τὰ δὲ κατὰ ἀντοχὴν ἑαυτῶν καὶ περιπλοκήν, ὡς κρίκος κρίκῳ.

ἐπὶ δὲ ἐμψύχων, ὡς ἐπὶ παλαιόντων, κατ' οὐδένα τούτων τῶν τρόπων μίγνυται ἡ ψυχὴ σώματι. διὰ τὸ πολλὴν ἐπάγεσθαι ἀτοπίαν [mss. ἀντοπίαν], ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κατ' ἐπιτηδειότητα ὁμιλεῖ σώματι ψυχὴ διὰ μέσου τινός, ὅπερ ἀμφοτέρων ἀναδεχόμενον φύσιν ποσῶς· καὶ προσφιλεῖ γινόμενον καὶ σοφιζόμενον, ἀμφότερον μίγνυσι τὸ ἀσώματον τῷ σώματι, τὸ ἀθάνατον τῷ φθαρτῷ, τὸ καθαρὸν τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ, τὸ θεῖον τῷ γηΐνῳ, ὡς ὁ λόγος δείξει·

ἐν γὰρ τῷ ἥπατι τοῦ αἵματος πεττομένου καὶ μεταβαλλομένου ὑπὸ τῆς αὐτόθι συμμέτρου θερμότητος καὶ ὑγρότητος, γεννᾶται πνεῦμαἀτμοειδές· τοῦτο δὲ διὰ τῆς κοίλης φλεβὸς ἀνιὸν μετὰ τοῦ αἵματος πρὸς καρδίαν, καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον θερμαινόμενον καὶ λεπτυνόμενον, γίνεται ἀεροειδές· καὶ πάλιν ἀναπεμπόμενον διὰ τῶν καρωτίδων ἀρτηριῶν πρὸς τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου κατὰ πρόνοιαν φύσεως ἐκεῖσε παιδαγωγούμενον κατ' ἰδιότητά τινα φυσικὴν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου ψυχρότητος ἀποβαλὸν τὴν ἄμετρον ζέσιν, γίνεται πνεῦμα αἰθεροειδές, ὅπερ ὄργανόν ἐστι ψυχῆς πρὸς ἐνέργειαν·

ὥσπερ ἄγριος ἵππος ὑπὸ χαλινοῦ σωφρονιζόμενος, οὕτω δὲ τοῦτο χαλιναγωγούμενον ὑπό τινος ἀρρήτου φυσικῆς δυνάμεως· ἔτι γε μὴν διὰ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς ὁ εἰσιὼν ἀὴρ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ λεπτυνόμενος καὶ ἀνιὼν διὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν πρὸς ἐγκέφαλον, καὶ αὐτὸ τροφὴ καθίσταται τοῦ αἰθεροειδοῦς καὶ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος· ὅπερ εἰ μὲν σῶμα τυγχάνει, προσωκείτω τῷ σώματι, εἰ δὲ λεπτότατον καὶ καθαρότατον καὶ διαυγέστατον φιλιοῦται, ψυχῇ λογικῇ σῶμα ἀσώματόν πως ὑπάρχον καὶ δεσμὸς ἔμμεσος τυγχάνει τῶν ἄκρων ἐναντίαν οὐσίαν ἐχόντων·

τοῦτο τὸ πνεῦμα καλῶς μὲν εὐσταθοῦν διάγει ψυχῇ πάντα κατὰ λόγον ἐνεργεῖν· ἀμέτρως δὲ ψυχόμενον καὶ πιλούμενον καὶ παχυνόμενον καὶ ἀνεπιτήδειον γινόμενον πρὸς ἐνέργειαν σύντονον ψυχῆς ποιεῖ τὰς πράξεις ἀργοτέρας καὶ νωθροτέρας· ἀμετρότατα δὲ ψυχθὲν καὶ παχυνθὲν καὶ σῶμα γενόμενον παρασκευάζει ταύτην ἀφίστασθαι διὰ τὸ ἀνεπιτήδειον τῆς οὐσίας, ὡς ἐπὶ ληθάργων καὶ κάρων καὶ πόσεως ψυχρῶν δηλητηρίων· πάλιν δὲ θερμανθὲν ἀμέτρως καὶ πλέον τοῦ δέοντος κινούμενον, παρασκευάζει ψυχὴν ἀμετρότερον ἐνεργεῖν κατὰ τὰς ἐκστάσεις τῆς ψυχῆς ταῖς φρενίτισιν· ἔτι δὲ πλέον τοῦτο παθὸν καὶ ἐκδαπανηθὲν ποιήσει πάλιν ψυχὴν ἀφίστασθαι τῷ μὴ εὐπορεῖν τοῦ δεσμοῦντος ἀμφότερα.

θεώρει δέ μοι ἕτερον ἔργον θεοῦ· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ταύτην ἔμελλεν ἀπὸ σώματος οὐρανίου καὶ θείου κατακλείειν σώματι γηΐνῳ, σοφίζεται τὴν κάθοδον σχήματι, κατασκευῇ, χρώματι. αὐτὴν μὲν γὰρ τὴν κεφαλὴν σφαιροειδῆ διετύπωσε, καθάπερ μικρὸν οὐρανόν· τὸν δὲ ἐγκέφαλον λαμπρὸν καὶ ἀπέριττον ἔταξε δεδωκὼς αὐτῷ πόρους ἑπτὰ τῶν κινουμένων ἀστέρων τὸν ἀριθμὸν διατυπώσας. ὑπερέχειν δὲ τοῦ παντὸς σώματος· καὶ γὰρ ὁ οὐρανὸς ὑπερέχει πάντα τὰ ἐν γενέσει καὶ φθορᾷ.

Pseudo-Alexander, Problems, 2.67

Providential Ecology in Herodotus and Aristotle

(Some classic examples of thinking that divine providence is providential enough, continued from here…)

Prolific Rabbits, Savage Lions

“Well, I suppose divine providence, which is wise as far as I can tell, has made all the timid and edible animals produce many offspring so that they would not go extinct by being eaten up, while it has made all the savage and violent animals produce few offspring.

“Take the following case: the hare is hunted by everyone—beast, bird, and human. Obviously, then, it produces many offspring. It is the only creature that can conceive when it is already pregnant. Some of the young in her belly are hairy, others are bare; and some in the womb are finishing taking on their shape, others are just starting out.

“That’s one kind of case. Another is the lioness, who is very strong and bold, and bears a single cub once in her lifetime since she casts out the womb with the cub. The cause of this is the following: when the cub first begins to move about in the womb, its claws—much sharper than those of all the other beasts—tear the womb. The more it grows, the more it tears and scratches, and when it is close to being born, there is absolutely nothing healthy left of it.”

καί κως τοῦ θείου ἡ προνοίη, ὥσπερ καὶ οἰκός ἐστι, ἐοῦσα σοφή, ὅσα μὲν ψυχήν τε δειλὰ καὶ ἐδώδιμα, ταῦτα μὲν πάντα πολύγονα πεποίηκε, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλίπῃ κατεσθιόμενα, ὅσα δὲ σχέτλια καὶ ἀνιηρά, ὀλιγόγονα. τοῦτο μέν, ὅτι ὁ λαγὸς ὑπὸ παντὸς θηρεύεται θηρίου καὶ ὄρνιθος καὶ ἀνθρώπου, οὕτω δή τι πολύγονον ἐστί: ἐπικυΐσκεται μοῦνον πάντων θηρίων, καὶ τὸ μὲν δασὺ τῶν τέκνων ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ τὸ δὲ ψιλόν, τὸ δὲ ἄρτι ἐν τῇσι μήτρῃσι πλάσσεται, τὸ δὲ ἀναιρέεται. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτο ἐστί: ἡ δὲ δὴ λέαινα ἐὸν ἰσχυρότατον καὶ θρασύτατον ἅπαξ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τίκτει ἕν: τίκτουσα γὰρ συνεκβάλλει τῷ τέκνῳ τὰς μήτρας. τὸ δὲ αἴτιον τούτου τόδε ἐστί: ἐπεὰν ὁ σκύμνος ἐν τῇ μητρὶ ἐὼν ἄρχηται διακινεόμενος, ὁ δὲ ἔχων ὄνυχας θηρίων πολλὸν πάντων ὀξυτάτους ἀμύσσει τὰς μήτρας, αὐξόμενός τε δὴ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐσικνέεται καταγράφων: πέλας τε δὴ ὁ τόκος ἐστί, καὶ τὸ παράπαν λείπεται αὐτέων ὑγιὲς οὐδέν.

Herodotus, Histories, 3.108.2-4

Hungry Dolphins

“When it comes to the mouth, as well, there are differences among kinds of fish. Some have a mouth that goes straight across and is in the front, while others have it underneath, like dolphins and selachians. And they turn belly-up when they feed. It seems nature does this not only to preserve all the other animals (when the dolphins are turned upside down, they move slowly and the other animals can get away – all such animals are carnivorous), but also so that they are not guided by gluttony for food, since if they could get their food easily, they would be destroyed because of the rate at which they would fill themselves up.”

Ἔχει δὲ καὶ περὶ τὸ στόμα διαφοράς. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ κατ' ἀντικρὺ ἔχει τὸ στόμα καὶ εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν, τὰ δ' ἐν τοῖς ὑπτίοις, οἷον οἵ τε δελφῖνες καὶ τὰ σελαχώδη· καὶ ὕπτια στρεφόμενα λαμβάνει τὴν τροφήν. Φαίνεται δ' ἡ φύσις οὐ μόνον σωτηρίας ἕνεκεν ποιῆσαι τοῦτο τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων (ἐν γὰρ τῇ στρέψει σῴζεται τἆλλα βραδυνόντων· πάντα γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα ζῳοφάγα ἐστίν), ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀκολουθεῖν τῇ λαιμαργίᾳ τῇ περὶ τὴν τροφήν· ῥᾷον γὰρ λαμβάνοντα διεφθείρετ' ἂν διὰ τὴν πλήρωσιν ταχέως.

Aristotle, Parts of Animals, 4.13, 696b24-32

An ancient debate on music therapy

Musical therapy has been shown to be effective at reducing pain. That might not be surprising, but it's nice that people are researching ways of dealing with pain that are not just pharmacological. What's curious to me about the passages and the debate below isn't so much that they talk about music (particularly flute music) as a way of curing the pain, or that others would deny it. I'm curious (a) why Theophrastus would have talked about musical therapy in a text on enthusiasm (a kind of frenzy of divine possession normally associated with ritual cults); and (b) whether it suggests there was a discussion going on among people like Theophrastus and Democritus (or a pseudo-Democritus - here is a great article by Matteo Martelli) about whether music causes enthusiasm, how enthusiasm is related to pain, and what it suggests about the affinity of mind and body. It'd also be nice to know why you have to play the flute right over the part of the body that's in pain.

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"It is worth mentioning the treatment <which> Theophrastus talks about in his book On Enthusiasm. He says that music cures many of the illnesses that occur in the soul and the body, like swooning, fear and long-term mental derangement. He says flute playing in particular cures sciatica and epilepsy, just like it did for the person who went to see Aristoxenus the musician..."

Ἄξια δ' ἐστὶν ἐπιστάσεως [τὰ εἰρημένα.] <ἃ> Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ ἐξεῖπεν. φησὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τὴν μουσικὴν πολλὰ τῶν ἐπὶ ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμα γιγνομένων παθῶν ἰατρεύειν, καθάπερ λιποθυμίαν, φόβους καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ μακρὸν γιγνομένας τῆς διανοίας ἐκστάσεις. ἰᾶται γάρ, φησίν, ἡ καταύλησις καὶ ἰσχιάδα καὶ ἐπιληψίαν· καθάπερ πρὸς Ἀριστόξενον τὸν μουσικὸν ἐλθόντα [text is corrupt after this point]...

Apollonius Paradoxographus, Historiae Mirabiles c. 49.

"That music cures diseases, Theophrastus discusses in his book On Enthusiasm, where he says that those suffering from sciatica become free of the disease when someone plays a Phrygian arrangement on the flute over the affected place."

ὅτι δὲ καὶ νόσους ἰᾶται μουσικὴ Θεόφραστος ἱστόρησεν ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἐνθουσιασμοῦ ἰσχιακοὺς φάσκων ἀνόσους διατελεῖν, εἰ καταυλήσοι τις τοῦ τόπου τῇ Φρυγιστὶ ἁρμονίᾳ.

Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 14.18

"I recently found a passage in a book of Theophrastus, which says that many people believe and have written down that when sciatica is especially painful, their pains are diminished if a flute-player plays a gentle melody. That flute playing, when done with skill and measure, also cures snake bites is mentioned in a book by Democritus, which is called [there's a lacuna], in which he shows that music from flutes is a cure for many human diseases. There is so great an affinity between people's bodies and minds, and for this reason as well between the illnesses and also remedies of the soul and the body."

Creditum hoc a plerisque esse et memoriae mandatum, ischia cum maxime doleant, tum, si modulis lenibus tibicen incinat, minui dolores, ego nuperrime in libro Theophrasti scriptum inveni. Viperarum morsibus tibicinium scite modulateque adhibitum mederi refert etiam Democriti liber, qui inscribitur . . ., in quo docet plurimis hominum morbidis medicinae fuisse incentiones tibiarum. Tanta prosus adfinitas est corporibus hominum mentibusque et propterea vitiis quoque aut medellis animorum et corporum.

Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, 4.13

"Some doctors prescribe the use of music [for sciatica], as the brother of Philistion also mentions in Book 22 of On Remedies. He writes that there was a piper who would play songs over the part that was in pain, which would begin to pulse and palpitate, relieving and freeing him from the pain. Some say Pythagoras discovered this kind of remedy. But in Soranus' opinion, whoever believes that a powerful disease is removed by music and song suffers from a vain delusion."

"item alii cantelenas adhibendas probaverunt, ut etiam Philistionis frater idem memorat libro XXII De adiutoriis, scribens quendam fistulatorem loca dolentia decantasse, quae cum saltum sumerent palpitando discusso dolore mitescerent. alii denique hoc adiutorii genus Pithagoram memorant invenisse. sed Sorani iudicio videntur hi mentis vanitate iactari qui modulis et cantilena passionis robur excludi crediderunt."

Caelius Aurelianus, On Chronic Diseases, 5.23 (pp.918-20 Drabkin)

Bullshit biology: some ancient sources on the scarab beetle

So, apparently, there are no female scarab beetles. Instead, the male makes himself a womb out of dung. Not sure what to call this. Hebegenesis? Coprogenesis?

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"The Egyptian military used to have a seal engraved in the shape of the scarab-beetle, since no female beetles exist, but all of them are male. They breed by emitting their seed into dung, which they make into a ball, since they prepare material for [the offspring's] nourishment just as much as the place for its generation."

τοῖς δὲ μαχίμοις κάνθαρος ἦν γλυφὴ σφραγῖδος· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι κάνθαρος θῆλυς, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἄρσενες. τίκτουσι δὲ τὸν γόνον <ἀφιέντες> εἰς ὄνθον, ὃν σφαιροποιοῦσιν, οὐ τροφῆς μᾶλλον ὕλην ἢ γενέσεως χώραν παρασκευάζοντες.

Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 9, (Moralia 355A 8-11)

"The scarab beetle is an un-female animal, and it sows its seed in the ball which it rolls up. Having done this and having warmed it for twenty-eight days, the day after it produces the young. The military of Egypt keep a carved scarab on their rings, because the one who made the law was hinting that those who fight for the country should be totally male in every way, since the scarab does not have a share of female nature."

Ὁ κάνθαρος ἄθηλυ ζῷόν ἐστι, σπείρει δὲ ἐς τὴν σφαῖραν ἣν κυλίει· ὀκτὼ δὲ καὶ εἴκοσιν ἡμερῶν τοῦτο δράσας καὶ θάλψας αὐτήν, εἶτα μέντοι τῇ ἐπὶ ταύταις προάγει τὸν νεοττόν. Αἰγυπτίων δὲ οἱ μάχιμοι ἐπὶ τῶν δακτυλίων εἶχον ἐγγεγλυμμένον κάνθαρον, αἰνιττομένου τοῦ νομοθέτου, δεῖν ἄρρενας εἶναι πάντως πάντῃ τοὺς μαχομένους ὑπὲρ τῆς χώρας, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ κάνθαρος θηλείας φύσεως οὐ μετείληχεν.

Aelian, The Nature of Animals, 10.15

"Among the Egyptians, those who are educated learn first of all the method of Egyptian writing called 'Epistolographic'. Second, they learn 'Hieretic', which the Sacred Scribes use. Last but not least, there is 'Hieroglyphic': one form, 'Kyriologic' (i.e., literal), uses the primary letters; the other is 'Symbolic'. Of the symbolic, one kind expresses things literally through imitation; one kind expresses things in a sense figuratively; another is straightforwardly allegorical, expressing things enigmatically.

"So, when they want to refer to the sun in writing they make a circle, while for the moon they make a moon-shape, and this is in accordance with expressing the form literally. In the case of figurative expression in the proper sense, they inscribe by transferring and transposing things, changing things, transforming the characters in all sorts of ways. When telling stories about the gods, they write praises of kings using anaglyphs.

"Here's an example of the third kind, the enigmatic. Now, since the other stars follow an oblique course, they represent them with the bodies of serpents, but they represent the sun with the body of a scarab beetle, since the scarab forms a round-shaped ball out of ox-dung and rolls it backwards. They say this animal lives underground for six months, while the other part of the year it lives above ground, and it fertilizes the ball and reproduces and female scarabs do not exist.

"And so everyone who theologizes about the first principles of things, both Barbarian and Greek, have obscured them, passing down the truth using enigmas and symbols, allegories, metaphors and similar kinds of figures."

Αὐτίκα οἱ παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις παιδευόμενοι πρῶτον μὲν πάντων τὴν Αἰγυπτίων γραμμάτων μέθοδον ἐκμανθάνουσι, τὴν ἐπιστολογραφικὴν καλουμένην· δευτέραν δὲ τὴν ἱερατικήν, ᾗ χρῶνται οἱ ἱερογραμματεῖς· ὑστάτην δὲ καὶ τελευταίαν τὴν ἱερογλυφικήν, ἧς ἣ μέν ἐστι διὰ τῶν πρώτων στοιχείων κυριολογική, ἣ δὲ συμβολική. τῆς δὲ συμβολικῆς ἣ μὲν κυριολογεῖται κατὰ μίμησιν, ἣ δ' ὥσπερ τροπικῶς γράφεται, ἣ δὲ ἄντικρυς ἀλληγορεῖται κατά τινας αἰνιγμούς. Ἥλιον γοῦν γράψαι βουλόμενοι κύκλον ποιοῦσι, σελήνην δὲ σχῆμα μηνοειδὲς κατὰ τὸ κυριολογούμενον εἶδος. Τροπικῶς δὲ κατ' οἰκειότητα μετάγοντες καὶ μετατιθέντες, τὰ δ' ἐξαλλάττοντες, τὰ δὲ πολλαχῶς μετασχηματίζοντες χαράττουσιν. τοὺς γοῦν τῶν βασιλέων ἐπαίνους, θεολογουμένοις μύθοις παραδιδόντες, ἀναγράφουσι διὰ τῶν ἀναγλύφων. Τοῦ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς αἰνιγμοὺς τρίτου εἴδους δεῖγμα ἔστω τόδε· τὰ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ἄστρων διὰ τὴν πορείαν τὴν λοξὴν ὄφεων σώμασιν ἀπείκαζον, τὸν δὲ ἥλιον τῷ τοῦ κανθάρου, ἐπειδὴ κυκλοτερὲς ἐκ τῆς βοείας ὄνθου σχῆμα πλασάμενος ἀντιπρόσωπος κυλίνδει. φασὶ δὲ καὶ ἑξάμηνον μὲν ὑπὸ γῆς, θάτερον δὲ τοῦ ἔτους τμῆμα τὸ ζῷον τοῦτο ὑπὲρ γῆς διαιτᾶσθαι σπερμαίνειν τε εἰς τὴν σφαῖραν καὶ γεννᾶν καὶ θῆλυν κάνθαρον μὴ γίνεσθαι. Πάντες οὖν, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, οἱ θεολογήσαντες βάρβαροί τε καὶ Ἕλληνες τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπεκρύψαντο, τὴν δὲ ἀλήθειαν αἰνίγμασι καὶ συμβόλοις ἀλληγορίαις τε αὖ καὶ μεταφοραῖς καὶ τοιούτοις τισὶ τρόποις παραδεδώκασιν.

Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 5.4.21

Know your sorcerer: the Suda on different kinds of magic

More on ancient opinions about 'good' and 'bad' forms of magic. I'm not sure where the Suda is getting this way of making the distinction, but something like it is attributed to Aristotle in the proemium to Diogenes of Laertius' Lives of the Philosophers. At some point, I'll look at Apuleius' defence against the accusation that he was a magician, especially Apologia 25-7, and the discussion in cc. 29-31 about why he bought a rare fish for a crazy amount of money - not, as his accusers say, for bewitching his wife to marry him (Lindsay Watson wrote a nice article in CQ on the use of the remora in erotic binding spells), but because he was reading and translating Aristotle's works on animals and wanted to do some more hands-on inquiry. Still, witchcraft was a crime punishable by death in Roman law, and Apuleius' defence turns in part on the claim that true magic is an art of how to attend to the gods, not a kind of sorcery or art of poisoning (which is closer to a literal translation of pharmakeia, a word often translated as 'witchcraft').

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goēteia (sorcery): magic. Sorcery, magic and poisoning (pharmakeia) differ from each other, which the Medes and Persians discovered. Magic is an invocation of beneficent demons it seems for some good outcome, like the oracles of Apollonius of Tyana. Sorcery (goēteia) is for raising the dead through an invocation — its name derives from the wailing (gooi) and lamentations that happen at funerals. Poisoning is when some death-bringing preparation is given to someone orally as a philtre.

Γοητεία: μαγεία. γοητεία καὶ μαγεία καὶ φαρμακεία διαφέρουσιν· ἅπερ ἐφεῦρον Μῆδοι καὶ Πέρσαι. μαγεία μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἐπίκλησις δαιμόνων ἀγαθοποιῶν δῆθεν πρὸς ἀγαθοῦ τινος σύστασιν, ὥσπερ τὰ τοῦ Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Τυανέως θεσπίσματα. γοητεία δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνάγειν νεκρὸν δι' ἐπικλήσεως, ὅθεν εἴρηται ἀπὸ τῶν γόων καὶ τῶν θρήνων τῶν περὶ τοὺς τάφους γινομένων. φαρμακεία δὲ, ὅταν διά τινος σκευασίας θανατηφόρου πρὸς φίλτρον δοθῇ τινι διὰ στόματος.

Suda, s.v. γοητεία gamma entry 365
 

Heraclides of Pontus on the joy of madness

“In his book On Pleasure, Heraclides of Pontus relates not unpleasantly that a most pleasant luxury occured during a fit of madness. He writes:

‘Thrasyllus from Aexone, the son of Pythodorus, once went so mad that he thought all the ships arriving at Piraeus were his own. He would register them, dispatch them, and manage their affairs. When they returned to port, he would welcome them with the kind of joy you might expect from someone who was really in charge of such great wealth. When ships were lost, he did not inquire after them, but he rejoiced at every one that was saved and recounted it with greatest delight. When his brother Crito came to visit from Sicily, he took him into custody, handed him over to a doctor, and put an end to his madness. Afterwards, Thrasyllus would tell the story, saying that he had never in his life been happier, for he felt not pain whatsoever, while the amount of pleasure he felt was overwhelming.’”

ἐν μανίᾳ δὲ τρυφὴν ἡδίστην γενομένην οὐκ ἀηδῶς ὁ Ποντικὸς Ἡρακλείδης διηγεῖται ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἡδονῆς οὕτως γράφων· ‘ὁ Αἰξωνεὺς Θράσυλλος ὁ Πυθοδώρου διετέθη ποτὲ ὑπὸ μανίας τοιαύτης ὡς πάντα τὰ πλοῖα τὰ εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ καταγόμενα ὑπολαμβάνειν ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι, καὶ ἀπεγράφετο αὐτὰ καὶ ἀπέστελλε καὶ διῴκει καὶ καταπλέοντα ἀπεδέχετο μετὰ χαρᾶς τοσαύτης ὅσησπερ ἄν τις ἡσθείη τοσούτων χρημάτων κύριος ὤν. καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀπολομένων οὔτε ἐπεζήτησεν, τοῖς δὲ σῳζομένοις ἔχαιρεν καὶ διῆγεν μετὰ πλείστης ἡδονῆς. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ Κρίτων ἐκ Σικελίας ἐπιδημήσας συλλαβὼν αὐτὸν παρέδωκεν ἰατρῷ καὶ τῆς μανίας ἐπαύσατο, διηγεῖτο <...> οὐδεπώποτε φάσκων κατὰ τὸν βίον ἡσθῆναι πλείονα· λύπην μὲν γὰρ οὐδ' ἡντινοῦν αὐτῷ παραγίνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἡδονῶν πλῆθος ὑπερβάλλειν.’ 

Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 12.81 (p.223-4 Kaibel)

Draw down the moon, hide it in a mirror. On Thessalian medicine women

“Thessalian woman”: refers to medicine women, since the Thessalians are accused of being sorcerers. Even to the present day, Thessalian women are called medicine women (pharmakides). They say it's because when Medea fled, she tossed her basket of medicines (pharmaka) and there they sprouted. Attic speakers read it with a barytone accent [Thes–SA–ly instead of Thes–sa–LY]. Aristophanes: “if I bought a Thessalian woman, I could draw down the moon at night, then hide it like a mirror.” For the orb of the moon has a round shape like a mirror, and they say that people who are skilled in these kinds of things draw down the moon with it (sc. a mirror). There’s also Pythagoras’ trick with a mirror that goes like this: when the moon is full, if someone writes in blood on a mirror whatever he wishes and, while standing behind another person, proclaims against him and shows the words to the moon, if he then looks closely at the orb of the moon, then he can read all that is written on the mirror as if it were written on the moon.

Θετταλὴ γυνή: ἐπὶ τῶν φαρμακίδων. διαβάλλονται γὰρ οἱ Θετταλοὶ ὡς γόητες· καὶ μέχρι καὶ νῦν φαρμακίδες αἱ Θετταλαὶ καλοῦνται. φασὶ δὲ ὅτι ἡ Μήδεια φεύγουσα κίστην ἐξέβαλε φαρμάκων ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἀνέφυσαν. βαρυτόνως δὲ οἱ Ἀττικοὶ ἀναγινώσκουσιν. Ἀριστοφάνης· γυναῖκα πριάμενος Θετταλὴν καθέλκοιμι νύκτωρ τὴν σελήνην· εἶτα καθείρξαιμ' ὥσπερ κάτοπτρον. ὁ γὰρ τῆς σελήνης κύκλος στρογγυλοειδὴς ὡς ἔσοπτρον. καί φασι τοὺς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινοὺς τούτῳ κατάγειν τὴν σελήνην. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόρου παίγνιον διὰ κατόπτρου τοιοῦτον. πληροσελήνου τῆς σελήνης οὔσης, εἴ τις ἔσοπτρον ἐπιγράψειεν αἵματι, ὅσα βούλεται, καὶ προειπὼν ἑτέρῳ σταίη κατόπιν αὐτοῦ, δείκνυσι πρὸς τὴν σελήνην τὰ γράμματα, κἀκεῖνον ἀτενίσαι πλησίον εἰς τὸν τῆς σελήνης κύκλον, ἀναγνοίη πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ κατόπτρῳ γεγραμμένα, ὡς τῇ σελήνῃ γεγραμμένα.

Suda, theta entry 289

“You're drawing the moon down to yourself”: the Thessalian women who draw down the moon are said to lose their eyes and feet.

Ἐπὶ σαυτῷ τὴν σελήνην καθέλκεις: αἱ τὴν σελήνην καθέλκουσαι Θετταλίδες λέγονται τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ τῶν ποδῶν στερίσκεσθαι.

Suda, epsilon entry 2559

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Socrates: First, tell me what it is you want for yourself.

Strepsiades (lying naked in bed): You’ve heard a thousand times what I want: I don't want to have to pay back any interest on my debts.

Socrates: Come now, cover yourself up. Loosen up your mind a little bit. Think about your affairs, analyze and investigate them properly.

Strepsiades: This sucks.

Socrates: Stay calm. If you get caught up in some of your thoughts, put them to the side and move on. Later on, turn your mind to them again and examine them.

Strepsiades (after thinking): ... oh, little Socrates! You’re the best!

Socrates: What is it, old man?

Strepsiades: I have a plan to get out of paying any interest!

Socrates: Show me.

Strepsiades: Alright now, tell me...

Socrates: Tell you what?

Strepsiades: ...if I bought a medicine woman, a Thessalian one, I could bring down the moon at night, then hide it in a round case like the ones we use for mirrors and keep it there.

Socrates: Ok, but how would this help you?

Strepsiades: Because if the moon didn’t rise, I wouldn't have to pay back any interest.

Socrates: Yeah, but why not?

Strepsiades: Because interest is charged by the month.

{Σω.} αὐτὸς ὅτι βούλει πρῶτος ἐξευρὼν λέγε. 

{Στ.} ἀκήκοας μυριάκις ἁγὼ βούλομαι, περὶ τῶν τόκων, ὅπως ἂν ἀποδῶ μηδενί.

{Σω.} ἴθι νυν καλύπτου, καὶ σχάσας τὴν φροντίδα λεπτὴν κατὰ μικρὸν περιφρόνει τὰ πράγματα ὀρθῶς διαιρῶν καὶ σκοπῶν.

{Στ.} οἴμοι τάλας.

{Σω.} ἔχ' ἀτρέμα· κἂν ἀπορῇς τι τῶν νοημάτων, ἀφεὶς ἄπελθε, κᾆτα τῇ γνώμῃ πάλιν κίνησον αὖθις αὐτὸ καὶ ζυγώθρισον.

{Στ.} ὦ Σωκρατίδιον φίλτατον.

{Σω.} τί, ὦ γέρον;

{Στ.} ἔχω τόκου γνώμην ἀποστερητικήν.

{Σω.} ἐπίδειξον αὐτήν.

{Στ.} εἰπὲ δή νυν μοι – 

{Σω.} τὸ τί;

{Στ.} γυναῖκα φαρμακίδ' εἰ πριάμενος Θετταλὴν καθέλοιμι νύκτωρ τὴν σελήνην, εἶτα δὴ αὐτὴν καθείρξαιμ' εἰς λοφεῖον στρογγύλον ὥσπερ κάτροπτον, κᾆτα τηροίην ἔχων.

{Σω.} τί δῆτα τοῦτ' ἂν ὠφελήσειέν σ'; 

{Στ.} ὅτι εἰ μηκέτ' ἀνατέλλοι σελήνη μηδαμοῦ, οὐκ ἂν ἀποδοίην τοὺς τόκους.

{Σω.} ὁτιὴ τί δή;

{Στ.} ὁτιὴ κατὰ μῆνα τἀργύριον δανείζεται.

Aristophanes, Clouds, ll. 737-756

“I'm amazed that this rumour has stuck so firmly to Achilles’ people (sc. the Thessalians) that even Menander, who wrote works with unrivaled subtlety, called a play “The Woman from Thessaly”, which describes these women’s tricks for bringing down the moon. I would have thought that Orpheus was the first to introduce the art from his region to his neighbours’ and that the superstition developed from medicine, if it weren’t the case that Thrace—Orpheus’ homeland—was completely free of the art of magic.”

miror equidem Achillis populis famam eius in tantum adhaesisse, ut Menander quoque, litterarum subtilitati sine aemulo genitus, Thessalam cognominaret fabulam complexam ambages feminarum detrahentium lunam. Orphea putarem e propinquo artem primum intulisse ad vicina usque superstitionis ac medicinae provectum, si non expers sedes eius tota Thrace magices fuisset.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 30.2.7