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thing, Pittacus, is to become good, not joining ‘truly’ with ‘good,’ but with
‘hard.’ Not, that the hard thing is to be truly good, as though there were some
truly good men, and there were others who were good but not truly good (this
would be a very simple observation, and quite unworthy of Simonides); but
you must suppose him to make a trajection of the word ‘truly’ (Greek),
construing the saying of Pittacus thus (and let us imagine Pittacus to be
speaking and Simonides answering him): ‘O my friends,’ says Pittacus, ‘hard
is it to be good,’ and Simonides answers, ‘In that, Pittacus, you are mistaken;
the difficulty is not to be good, but on the one hand, to become good, four-
square in hands and feet and mind, without a flaw—that is hard truly.’ This
way of reading the passage accounts for the insertion of (Greek) ‘on the one
hand,’ and for the position at the end of the clause of the word ‘truly,’ and all
that follows shows this to be the meaning. A great deal might be said in praise
of the details of the poem, which is a charming piece of workmanship, and
very finished, but such minutiae would be tedious. I should like, however, to
point out the general intention of the poem, which is certainly designed in
every part to be a refutation of the saying of Pittacus. For he speaks in what
follows a little further on as if he meant to argue that although there is a
difficulty in becoming good, yet this is possible for a time, and only for a
time. But having become good, to remain in a good state and be good, as you,
Pittacus, affirm, is not possible, and is not granted to man; God only has this
blessing; ‘but man cannot help being bad when the force of circumstances
overpowers him.’ Now whom does the force of circumstance overpower in
the command of a vessel?— not the private individual, for he is always
overpowered; and as one who is already prostrate cannot be overthrown, and
only he who is standing upright but not he who is prostrate can be laid
prostrate, so the force of circumstances can only overpower him who, at some
time or other, has resources, and not him who is at all times helpless. The
descent of a great storm may make the pilot helpless, or the severity of the
season the husbandman or the physician; for the good may become bad, as
another poet witnesses:—
‘The good are sometimes good and sometimes bad.’
But the bad does not become bad; he is always bad. So that when the force
of circumstances overpowers the man of resources and skill and virtue, then
he cannot help being bad. And you, Pittacus, are saying, ‘Hard is it to be
good.’ Now there is a difficulty in becoming good; and yet this is possible:
but to be good is an impossibility—
‘For he who does well is the good man, and he who does ill is the bad.’
But what sort of doing is good in letters? and what sort of doing makes a
man good in letters? Clearly the knowing of them. And what sort of well-
278
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book The Complete Plato"
The Complete Plato
- Title
- The Complete Plato
- Author
- Plato
- Date
- ~347 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 1612
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International