These animals may also be captured without aid of gin or caltrop, by sheer coursing in hot summer time; they get so tired, they will stand still to be shot down. If hard pressed they will plunge into the sea or take to water of any sort in their perplexity, and at times will drop down from sheer want of breath. (36)

(36) "From mere shortness of breath."



X

To cope with the wild boar the huntsman needs to have a variety of dogs, Indian, Cretan, Locrian, and Laconian, (1) along with a stock of nets, javelins, boar-spears, and foot-traps.

(1) For these breeds see Pollux, v. 37: for the Laconian, Pind. "Fr." 73; Soph. "Aj." 8; cf. Shakesp. "Mids. N. D." iv. 1. 119, 129 foll.

To begin with, the hounds must be no ordinary specimens of the species named, (2) in order to do battle with the beast in question.

(2) Or, "these hounds of the breed named must not be any ordinary specimens"; but what does Xenophon mean by {ek toutou tou genous}?

The nets should be made of the same flaxen cord (3) as those for hares above described. They should be forty-five threaded in three strands, each strand consisting of fifteen threads. The height from the upper rim (4) (i.e. from top to bottom) should be ten meshes, and the depth of the nooses or pockets one elbow-length (say fifteen inches). (5) The ropes running round the net should be half as thick again as the cords of the net; and at the extremities (6) they should be fitted with rings, and should be inserted (in and out) under the nooses, with the end passing out through the rings. Fifteen nets will be sufficient. (7)

(3) i.e. "of Phasian or Cathaginian fine flax."

(4) {tou koruphaiou}.

(5) {pugon}. The distance from the elbow to the first joint of the finger = 20 {daktuloi} = 5 {palaistai} = 1 1/4 ft. + (L. & S.)

(6) {ep akrois}. Cf. {akreleniois}.

(7) Reading {ikanai}, vid. Lenz ad loc. and ii. 4.

The javelins should be of all sorts, (8) having blades of a good breadth and razor-sharpness, and stout shafts.

(8) Al. "of various material." See Pollux, v. 20 ap. Schneid.

The boar-spears should in the first place have blades fifteen inches long, and in the middle of the socket two solid projecting teeth of wrought metal, (9) and shafts of cornel-wood a spear-shaft's thickness.

(9) Wrought of copper (or bronze).

The foot-traps should resemble those used for deer.

These hunts should be conducted not singly, (10) but in parties, since the wild boar can be captured only by the collective energy of several men, and that not easily.

(10) Lit. "There should be a band of huntsmen"; or, "It will take the united energies of several to capture this game." See Hom. "Il." ix. 543, of the Calydonian boar:

{ton d' uios Oineos apekteinen Meleagros, polleon ek polion theretoras andras ageiras kai kunas. ou men gar k' edame pauroisi brotoisin tossos een, pollous de pures epebes' alegeines.}

"But him slew Meleagros the son of Oineus, having gathered together from many cities huntsmen and hounds; for not of few men could the boar be slain, so mighty was he; and many an one brought he to the grievous pyre" (W. Leaf).

I will now explain how each part of the gear is to be used in hunting.

The company being come to some place where a boar is thought to lie, the first step is to bring up the pack, (11) which done, they will loose a single Laconian bitch, and keeping the rest in leash, beat about with this one hound. (12) As soon as she has got on the boar's track, let them follow in order, one after another, close on the tracking hound, who gives the lead to the whole company. (13) Even to the huntsmen themselves many a mark of the creature will be plain, such as his footprints on soft portions of the ground, and in the thick undergrowth of forests broken twigs; and, where there are single trees, the scars made by his tusks. (14) As she follows up the trail the hound will, as a general rule, finally arrive at some well-wooded spot; since, as a general rule, the boar lies ensconced in places of the sort, that are warm in winter and cool in summer.

(11) {kunegesion}, "a hunting establishment, huntsmen and hounds, a pack of hounds," L. & S. cf. Herod. i. 36; Pollux. v. 17. In Aristot. "H. A." viii. 5. 2, of wolves in a pack; v. {monopeirai}. {upagein}—"stealthily?"

(12) Or, "go on a voyage of discovery."

(13) Reading {te ikhneuouse}, or if vulg. {ikhneusei}, transl. "set her to follow the trail, at the head of the whole train."

(14) Schneid. cf. Aristot. "H. A." vi. 18; Plin. viii. 52; Virg. "Georg." iii. 255, "ipse ruit, dentesque Sabellicus exacuit sus"; Hom. "Il." xi. 416, xiii. 475; Hes. "Shield," 389; Eur. "Phoen." 1389; Ovid, "Met." viii. 369.

As soon as she has reached his lair she will give tongue; but the boar will not get up, not he, in nine cases out of ten. The huntsman will thereupon recover the hound, and tie her up also with the rest at a good distance from the lair. (15) He will then launch his toils into the wild boar's harbourage, (16) placing the nooses upon any forked branches of wood to hand. Out of the net itself he must construct a deep forward-jutting gulf or bosom, posting young shoots on this side and that within, as stays or beams, (17) so that the rays of light may penetrate as freely as possible through the nooses into the bosom, (18) and the interior be as fully lit up as possible when the creature makes his charge. The string round the top of the net must be attached to some stout tree, and not to any mere shrub or thorn-bush, since these light-bending branches will give way to strain on open ground. (19) All about each net it will be well to stop with timber even places (20) "where harbrough nis to see," so that the hulking brute may drive a straight course (21) into the toils without tacking.

(15) Lit. "accordingly recover the dog, and tie her up also with the rest," etc.

(16) {ormous}. Lit. "moorings," i.e. "favourite haunts." Cf. {dusorma} below. Al. "stelle die Fallnetze auf die Wechsel," Lenz.

(17) {anteridas}. See a note in the "Class. Rev." X. i. p. 7, by G. S. Sale: "It can only mean long sticks used as stretchers or spreaders to hold up the net between and beyond the props." Cf. Thuc. vii. 36, 2.

(18) Or, "within the bay of network."

(19) {sunekhontai en tois psilois ai e}. "Denn diese werden an unbestandenen Orten durch die Leine niedergezogen," Lenz; {sunelkontai} conj. Schn.; {sunerkhontai} al., "concurrunt," vid. Sturz.

(20) {ta dusorma}, met. from "bad harbourage." Cf. Arsch. "Pers." 448; "Ag." 194. Cf. Lat. "importunus," also of "rough ground."

(21) Or, "make his rush."

As soon as the nets are fixed, the party will come back and let the hounds slip one and all; then each will snatch up his javelin (22) and boar-spear, and advance. Some one man, the most practised hand, will cheer on the hounds, and the rest will follow in good order at some considerable distance from one another, so as to leave the animal a free passage; since if he falls into the thick of them as he makes off, there is a fair chance of being wounded, for he will certainly vent his fury on the first creature he falls foul of.

(22) Lit. "then they will take their javelins and boar-spears and advance."

As soon as the hounds are near his lair, they will make their onslaught. The boar, bewildered by the uproar, will rise up and toss the first hound that ventures to attack him in front. He will then run and fall into the toils; or if not, then after him full cry. (23) Even if the ground on which the toils environ him be sloping, he will recover himself promptly; (24) but if level, he will at once plant himself firm as a rock, as if deliberating with himself. (25) At that conjuncture the hounds will press hard upon him, while their masters had best keep a narrow eye upon the boar and let fly their javelins and a pelt of stones, being planted in a ring behind him and a good way off, until the instant when with a forward heave of his body he stretches the net tight and strains the skirting-rope. Thereupon he who is most skilful of the company and of the stoutest nerve will advance from the front and deliver a home thrust with his hunting-spear.

(23) Or, "a pretty chase must follow."

(24) Or, "if within the prison of the net the ground be sloping, it will not take long to make him spring up; he will be up again on his legs in no time."

(25) Or, "being concerned about himself."

Should the animal for all that rain of javelins and stones refuse to stretch the skirting-rope, should he rather relax (26) in that direction and make a right-about-face turn bearing down on his assailant, there is nothing for it, under these circumstances, but to seize a boar-spear, and advance; firmly clutching it with the left hand forward and with the right behind; the left is to steady it, and the right to give it impulse; and so the feet, (27) the left advanced in correspondence with the left arm, and right with right. As he advances, he will make a lunge forward with the boar-spear, (27) planting his legs apart not much wider than in wrestling, (28) and keeping his left side turned towards his left hand; and then, with his eye fixed steadily on the beast's eye, he will note every turn and movement of the creature's head. As he brings down the boar-spear to the thrust, he must take good heed the animal does not knock it out of his hands by a side movement of the head; (29) for if so he will follow up the impetus of that rude knock. In case of that misfortune, the huntsman must throw himself upon his face and clutch tight hold of the brushwood under him, since if the wild boar should attack him in that posture, owing to the upward curve of its tusks, it cannot get under him; (30) whereas if caught erect, he must be wounded. What will happen then is, that the beast will try to raise him up, and failing that will stand upon and trample him.

(26) {epanieis}. See Sturz, s.v.

(27) Lit. "forwards the left foot will follow the left arm and the right foot the other."

(28) "Statum venatoris aprum venabulo excipientis pinxit Philostratus," "Imag." i. 28, Schn.

(29) Or, "he will step forward and take one stride not much longer than that of a wrestler, and thrust forward his boar-spear."

(30) Cf. Hes. "Shield," 387; Hom. "Il." xii. 148: "Then forth rushed the twain, and fought in front of the gates like wild boars that in the mountains abide the assailing crew of men and dogs, and charging on either flank they crush the wood around them, cutting it at the root, and the clatter of their tusks waxes loud, till one smite them and take their life away" (A. Lang).

From this extremity there is but one means of escape, and one alone, for the luckless prisoner. One of his fellow-huntsmen must approach with boar-spear and provoke the boar, making as though he would let fly at him; but let fly he must not, for fear of hitting the man under him. The boar, on seeing this, will leave the fallen man, and in rage and fury turn to grapple his assailant. The other will seize the instant to spring to his feet, and not forget to clutch his boar-spear as he rises to his legs again; since rescue cannot be nobly purchased save by victory. (31) Let him again bring the weapon to bear in the same fashion, and make a lunge at a point within the shoulder-blade, where lies the throat; (32) and planting his body firmly press with all his force. (33) The boar, by dint of his might and battle rage, will still push on, and were it not that the teeth of the lance-blade hindered, (34) would push his way up to the holder of the boar-spear even though the shaft run right through him. (35)

(31) "Safety can only be won with honour by some master-stroke of victory."

(32) {sphage}. Aristot. "H. A." i. 14. 2. "Straight at the jugular."

(33) Or, "throwing his whole weight on the thrust, press home with all his force."

(34) Or, "but for the intervention of the two projecting teeth of the lance-blade." See the account of the passage of arms between Col. Pollock and a boar in his "Incidents of Foreign Sport and Travel." There the man was mounted, but alone.

(35) Lit. "force his heavy bulk along the shaft right up to the holder of the boar-spear."

Nay, so tremendous is the animal's power, that a property which no one ever would suspect belongs to him. Lay a few hairs upon the tusk of a boar just dead, and they will shrivel up instantly, (36) so hot are they, these tusks. Nay, while the creature is living, under fierce excitement they will be all aglow; or else how comes it that though he fail to gore the dogs, yet at the blow the fine hairs of their coats are singed in flecks and patches? (37)

(36) {euthus}, i.e. "for a few seconds after death."

(37) The belief is still current, I am told, in parts of India.

So much and even greater trouble may be loked for from the wild boar before capture; I speak of the male animal. If it should be a sow that falls into the toils, the huntsman should run up and prod her, taking care not to be pushed off his legs and fall, in which case he cannot escape being trampled on and bitten. Ergo, he will not voluntarily get under those feet; but if involuntarily he should come to such a pass, the same means (38) of helping each the other to get up again will serve, as in the case of the male animal; and when he has regained his legs, he must ply the boar-spear vigorously till she too has died the death.

(38) {dianastaseis}, "the same methods of mutual recovery."

Wild pigs may be captured further in the following fashion: The nets are fixed for them at the entrances of woody glens, (39) in coppices and hollows, and on screes, where there are outlets into rank meadow-lands, marshes, and clear pools. (40) The appointed person mounts guard at the nets with his boar-spear, while the others work the dogs, exploring the best and likeliest spots. As soon as the quarry is found the chase commences. If then an animal falls into the net, the net-keeper will grip his boar-spear and (41) advance, when he will ply it as I have described; if he escape the net, then after him full cry. In hot, sultry weather the boar may be run down by the hounds and captured. Though a monster in strength, the creature becomes short of breath and will give in from sheer exhaustion.

(39) Al. "at the passages from woodland lakes into oak-coppices."

(40) {udata}, "waters," lakes, pools, rivers, etc.

(41) Or, "and proceed to tackle him."

It is a form of sport which costs the lives of many hounds and endangers those of the huntsmen themselves. Supposing that the animal has given in from exhaustion at some moment in the chase, and they are forced to come to close quarters; (42) whether he has taken to the water, or stands at bay against some craggy bank, or does not choose to come out from some thicket (since neither net nor anything else hinders him from bearing down like a tornado on whoever approaches); still, even so, advance they must, come what come may, to the attack. And now for a display of that hardihood which first induced them to indulge a passion not fit for carpet knights (43)—in other words, they must ply their boar-spears and assume that poise of body (44) already described, since if one must meet misfortune, let it not be for want of observing the best rules. (45)

(42) Reading {prosienai} ({ta probolia}). (The last two words are probably a gloss, and should be omitted, since {prosienai} (from {prosiemi}) {ta probolia} = "ply," or "apply their boar-spears," is hardly Greek.) See Schneid. "Add. et Corr." and L. Dind. ad loc.

(43) {ekponein}, "to exercise this passion to the full."

(44) Lit. "assume their boar-spears and that forward attitude of body."

(45) Lit. "it will not be at any rate from behaving correctly."

Foot-traps are also set for the wild boar, similar to those for deer and in the same sort of places; the same inspections and methods of pursuit are needed, with consequent attacks and an appeal to the boar-spear in the end.

Any attempt to capture the young pigs will cost the huntsman some rough work. (46) The young are not left alone, as long as they are small; and when the hounds have hit upon them or they get wind of something wrong, they will disappear like magic, vanishing into the forest. As a rule, both parents attend on their own progeny, and are not pleasant then to meddle with, being more disposed to do battle for their young than for themselves.

(46) Lit. "the piglings will resent it (sc. {to aliskesthai}) strongly"; al. "the adult (sub. {to therion}) will stand anything rather."



XI

Lions, leopards, lynxes, panthers, bears and all other such game are to be captured in foreign countries—about Mount Pangaeus and Cittus beyond Macedonia; (1) or again, in Nysa beyond Syria, and upon other mountains suited to the breeding of large game.

(1) Of these places, Mt. Pangaeus (mod. Pirnari) (see "Hell." V. ii. 17), Cittus (s. Cissus, mod. Khortiatzi), N. W. of the Chalcidice, Mysian Olympus, and Pindus are well known. Nysa has not been verified hitherto, I think. Sturz cf. Bochart, "Hieroz." Part I. lib. iii. c. 1, p. 722. Strabo, 637 (xv. 1. 7), mentions a Mount Nysa in India sacred to Dionysus, and cites Soph. "Frag." 782—

{othen kateidon ton bebakkhiomenen brotoisi kleinon Nusan... k.t.l.},

but it is a far cry from Xenophon's Syria to India. Possibly it is to be sought for in the region of Mt. Amanus.

In the mountains, owing to the difficulty of the ground, (2) some of these animals are captured by means of poison—the drug aconite—which the hunters throw down for them, (3) taking care to mix it with the favourite food of the wild best, near pools and drinking-places or wherever else they are likely to pay visits. Others of them, as they descend into the plains at night, may be cut off by parties mounted upon horseback and well armed, and so captured, but not without causing considerable danger to their captors. (4)

(2) Or, "the inaccessibility of their habitats."

(3) "The method is for the trapper to throw it down mixed with the food which the particular creature likes best."

(4) For the poison method see Pollux, v. 82; Plin. "H. N." viii. 27.

In some cases the custom is to construct large circular pits of some depth, leaving a single pillar of earth in the centre, on the top of which at nightfall they set a goat fast-bound, and hedge the pit about with timber, so as to prevent the wild beasts seeing over, and without a portal of admission. What happens then is this: the wild beasts, hearing the bleating in the night, keep scampering round the barrier, and finding no passage, leap over it, and are caught. (5)

(5) See "Tales from the Fjeld," Sir George W. Dasent, "Father Bruin in the Corner."



XII

With regard to methods of procedure in the hunting-field, enough has been said. (1) But there are many benefits which the enthusiastic sportsman may expect to derive from this pursuit. (2) I speak of the health which will thereby accrue to the physical frame, the quickening of the eye and ear, the defiance of old age, and last, but not least, the warlike training which it ensures. To begin with, when some day he has to tramp along rough ways under arms, the heavy infantry soldier will not faint or flag—he will stand the toil from being long accustomed to the same experiences in capturing wild beasts. In the next place, men so trained will be capable of sleeping on hard couches, and prove brave guardians of the posts assigned them. In the actual encounter with the enemy, they will know at once how to attack and to carry out the word of command as it passes along the lines, because it was just so in the old hunting days that they captured the wild game. If posted in the van of battle, they will not desert their ranks, because endurance is engrained in them. In the rout of the enemy their footsteps will not falter nor fail: straight as an arrow they will follow the flying foe, on every kind of ground, through long habituation. (3) Or if their own army encounter a reverse on wooded and precipitous ground beset with difficulties, these will be the men to save themselves with honour and to extricate their friends; since long acquaintance with the business of the chase has widened their intelligence. (4)

(1) Or, "Respecting the methods employed in different forms of the chase, I have said my say." As to the genuineness of this and the following chapter see L. Dind. ad loc.; K. Lincke, "Xenophon's Dialog." {peri oikonomias}, p. 132.

(2) Lit. "this work"; and in reference to the highly Xenophontine argument which follows see "Hellenica Essays," p. 342; cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 28, 39-41.

(3) "For the sake of 'auld lang syne.'"

(4) Or, "will place them on the vantage-ground of experts."

Nay, even under the worst of circumstances, when a whole mob of fellow-combatants (5) has been put to flight, how often ere now has a handful (6) of such men, by virtue of their bodily health (7) and courage, caught the victorious enemy roaming blindly in some intricacy of ground, renewed the fight, and routed him. Since so it must ever be; to those whose souls and bodies are in happy case success is near at hand. (8)

(5) Or, "allies."

(6) Or, "a forlorn hope."

(7) {euexia}, al. {eutaxia}, "by good discipline."

(8) "Fortune favours the brave," reading {to eutukhesai} (L. D.); or if {tou eutukhesai}, (vulg.) "those whose health of soul and body is established are ipso facto nigh unto good fortune."

It was through knowledge that they owed success against their foes to such a training, that our own forefathers paid so careful a heed to the young. (9) Though they had but a scant supply of fruits, it was an immemorial custom "not to hinder (10) the hunter from hunting any of earth's offspring"; and in addition, "not to hunt by night (11) within many furlongs of the city," in order that the adepts in that art might not rob the young lads of their game. They saw plainly that among the many pleasures to which youth is prone, this one alone is productive of the greatest blessings. In other words, it tends to make them sound of soul and upright, being trained in the real world of actual things (12) (and, as was said before, our ancestors could not but perceive they owed their success in war to such instrumentality (13)); and the chase alone deprives them of none of the other fair and noble pursuits that they may choose to cultivate, as do those other evil pleasures, which ought never to be learned. Of such stuff are good soldiers and good generals made. (14) Naturally, those from whose souls and bodies the sweat of toil has washed all base and wanton thoughts, who have implanted in them a passion for manly virtue—these, I say, are the true nobles. (15) Not theirs will it be to allow their city or its sacred soil to suffer wrong.

(9) Al. "looked upon the chase as a pursuit incumbent on the young."

(10) {me koluein (dia) to meden ton epi te ge phuomenon agreuein}. The commentators generally omit {dia}, in which case translate as in text. Lenz reads {un koluein dia meden} (see his note ad v. 34), and translates (p. 61), "Dass man die Jager nicht hindern solle, in allem was die Erde hervorbrachte zu jagen," "not to hinder the huntsmen from ranging over any of the crops which spring from earth"; (but if so, we should expect {dia medenos}). Sturz, s.v. {agreuein}, notes "festive," "because the hunter does not hunt vegetable products." So Gail, "parce que le chasseur rien veut pas aux productions de la terre."

(11) Or, "set their face against night-hunting," cf. "Mem." IV. vii. 4; Plat. "Soph." 220 D; "Stranger: There is one mode of striking which is done at night, and by the light of a fire, and is called by the hunters themselves firing, or spearing by firelight" (Jowett); for which see Scott, "Guy Mannering," ch. x. It seems "night hunting was not to be practised within a certain considerable radius, whereby the proficients in that art might deprive it (lit. in order that they might not deprive) them (the young huntsmen) of their game."

(12) Lit. "in truth and reality (not among visionary phantoms)."

(13) These words are commonly regarded as an addition; and what does {te} signify?

(14) Or, "Here you have the making of brave soldiers and generals. Here in embryo are to be found your future soldiers and generals worthy the name."

(15) {outoi aristoi}: these are prima virorum, the true aristocrats.

Some people tell us it is not right to indulge a taste for hunting, lest it lead to neglect of home concerns, not knowing that those who are benefactors of their country and their friends are in proportion all the more devoted to domestic duties. If lovers of the chase pre-eminently fit themselves to be useful to the fatherland, that is as much as to say they will not squander their private means; since with the state itself the domestic fortunes of each are saved or lost. The real fact is, these men are saviours, not of their own fortunes only, but of the private fortunes of the rest, of yours and mine. Yet there are not a few irrational people amongst these cavillers who, out of jealousy, would rather perish, thanks to their own baseness, than owe their lives to the virtue of their neighbours. So true is it that the mass of pleasures are but evil, (16) to which men succumb, and thereby are incited to adopt the worse cause in speech and course in action. (17) And with what result?—from vain and empty arguments they contract emnities, and reap the fruit of evil deeds, diseases, losses, death—to the undoing of themselves, their children, and their friends. (18) Having their senses dulled to things evil, while more than commonly alive to pleasures, how shall these be turned to good account for the salvation of the state? Yet from these evils every one will easily hold aloof, if once enamoured of those joys whose brief I hold, since a chivalrous education teaches obedience to laws, and renders justice familiar to tongue and ear. (19)

(16) See "Hellenica Essays," p. 371.

(17) "To depravity of speech and conduct" (whether as advocates or performers). See Aristoph. "Clouds."

(18) Or, "bring down on themselves, their children, and their friends a spring of misfortunes in the shape of diseases, losses, or even death."

(19) "For what does a chivalrous education teach save to obey the law, and to make the theme of justice familiar to tongue and ear?"

In the one camp are those who, subjecting themselves ever to new toil and fresh instruction, have, at the cost of lessons and exercises painful to themselves, obtained to their several states salvation; and in the other are those who for the very irksomeness of the process choose not to be taught, but rather to pass away their days in pleasures unseasonable—nature's abjects these. (20) Not theirs is it to obey either laws or good instruction; (21) nay, how should they, who never toil, discover what a good man ought to be?—in other words, wisdom and justice are alike beyond their power. Subject to indiscipline, they have many a fault to find with him who is well educated.

(20) Lit. "the sorriest of mankind these by nature."

(21) Or, "virtuous argument"; {logois agathois}, lit. "good words."

Through the instrumentality of such as these nothing can go well; whereas every blessing which mankind enjoys has been discovered by the efforts of the nobler sort. Nobler, I say, are those who choose to toil. (22)

(22) Or, "of choice spirits; and who are the choice spirits?—Clearly those who choose to toil."

And this has been proved conclusively by a notable example. If we look back to the men of old who sat at the feet of Cheiron—whose names I mentioned—we see that it was by dedicating the years of their youth to the chase (23) that they learnt all their noble lore; and therefrom they attained to great renown, and are admired even to this day for their virtue—virtue who numbers all men as her lovers, as is very plain. Only because of the pains it costs to win her the greater number fall away; for the achievement of her is hid in obscurity; while the pains that cleave to her are manifest. Perchance, if only she were endowed with a visible bodily frame, men would less have neglected her, knowing that even as she is visible to them, so they also are not hid from her eyes. For is it not so that when a man moves in the presence of him whom he dearly loves, (24) he rises to a height above himself, being incapable of aught base or foul in word or deed in sight of him? (25) But fondly dreaming that the eye of virtue is closed to them, they are guilty of many a base thing and foul before her very face, who is hidden from their eyes. Yet she is present everywhere, being dowered with immortality; and those who are perfect in goodness (26) she honours, but the wicked she thrusts aside from honour. If only men could know that she regards them, how eagerly would they rush to the embrace of toilful training and tribulation, (27) by which alone she is hardly taken; and so should they gain the mastery over her, and she should be laid captive at their feet.

(23) Or, "that they made their first essay in hunting when mere boys, and from hunting upwards were taught many noble arts."

(24) Lit. "is beheld by his beloved." Cf. "Symp." iv. 4; viii. 31.

(25) Lit. "in order not to be seen of him."

(26) Lit. "good with respect to her."

(27) Or, "to those toils and that training."



XIII

Now what astonishes me in the "sophists," as they are called, (1) is, that though they profess, the greater part of them, to lead the young to virtue, they really lead them in the opposite direction. Never have we set eyes on the man anywhere who owed his goodness to the sophists of to-day. (2) Nor do their writings contain anything (3) calculated to make men good, but they have written volumes on vain and frivolous subjects, in which the young may find pleasures that pall, but the essence of virtue is not in them. The result of this literature is to inflict unnecessary waste of time on those who look to learn something from it all and look in vain, cutting them off from wholesome occupations and even teaching what is bad. I cannot then but blame them for certain large offences (4) more than lightly; but as regards the subject matter of their writings my charge is, that while full of far-fetched phraseology, (5) of solid wholesome sentiments, by which the young might be trained to virtue, I see not a vestige. Speaking as a plain man, I know that to be taught what is good by one's own nature is best of all, (6) and next best to learn of those who really do know some good thing rather than of those who have an art to deceive. It may well be that I fail to express myself in subtle language, (7) nor do I pretend to aim at subtlety; what I do aim at is to express rightly-conceived thoughts such as may serve the need of those who have been nobly disciplined in virtue; for it is not words and names that give instruction, but thoughts and sentiments worthy the name.

(1) Cf. Isocr. "Against the Sophists"; "Antidosis"; "Hel. Encom."; Plat. "Sophist."

(2) Who are these {oi nun sophistai}?

(3) Lit. "do they present writings to the world."

(4) Or, "as to certain weightier matters gravely."

(5) {remata} = "words and phrases"; {ynomai} = "moral maxims, just thoughts."

(6) "Being myself but a private individual and a plain man." According to Hartman, "A. X. N." p. 350, "ridicule detorquet Hesiodeum":

{outos men panaristos os auto panta noese esthlos d' au kakeinos os eu eiponti pithetai}.

(7) Al. "in true sophistic style." The writer seems to say: "I lack subtlety of expression (nor is that at all my object); what I do aim at is to trace with some exactness, to present with the lucidity appropriate to them, certain thoughts demanded by persons well educated in the school of virtue."

Nor am I singular in thus reproaching the modern type of sophist (not the true philosopher, be it understood); it is a general reproach that the wisdom he professes consists in word-subtleties, not in ideas. (8) Certainly it does not escape my notice that an orderly sequence of ideas adds beauty to the composition: (9) I mean it will be easy to find fault with what is written incorrectly. (10) Nevertheless, I warrant it is written in this fashion with an eye to rectitude, to make the reader wise and good, not more sophistical. For I would wish my writings not to seem but rather to be useful. I would have them stand the test of ages in their blamelessness. (11)

(8) {onomasi}, "in names"; {noemasi}, "thoughts and ideas."

(9) Or, "I am alive to the advantage to be got from methodic, orderly expression artistically and morally."

(10) This passage, since H. Estienne (Stephanus) first wrote against it "huic loco meae conjecturae succumbunt," has been a puzzle to all commentators. The words run: {ou lanthanei de me oti kalos kai exes gegraphthai} ({gegraptai} in the margin of one MS.) {radion gar estai autois takhu me orthos mempsasthai' kaitoi gegraptai ge outos k.t.l.} For {takhu me orthos} (1) {takhu ti me orthos}, (2) {to} (or {ta}) {me orthos}, have been suggested. It is not clear whether {autois} = {tois sophistais} (e.g. "it will be easy for these people to lay a finger at once on blots, however unfairly"), or = {tois suggrammasi} (sc. my(?) compositions; so {auta}, S. 7 below, {ou gar dokein auta boulomai k.t.l.}) (e.g. "since it will be easy offhand to find fault with them incorrectly") (or if {ta me orthos}, "what is incorrect in them"). I append the three translations of Gail, Lenz, and Talbot. "Je sais combien il est avantageux de presenter des ouvrages methodiquement ecrits; aussi par le meme sera-t-il plus facile de prouver aux sophistes leur futilite!" {radion gar estai} (sub. {emoi}) {mempsasthai outois takhu (to) me} (sous-entendu) {gegraphthai orthos} (Gail). "Zwar entgeht mir nicht, dass es schon say die Worte kunstvoll zu ordnen, denn leichter wird ihnen sonst, schnell, aber mit Unrecht zu tadeln" (Lenz). "Aussi leur sera-t-il facile de me reprocher d'ecrire vite et sans ordre" (Talbot). As if {takhu me orthos} were the reproachful comment of the sophist on the author's treatise.

(11) i.e. "the arguments to be blameless at once and irrefutable for all time."

That is my point of view. The sophist has quite another—words with him are for the sake of deception, writing for personal gain; to benefit any other living soul at all is quite beside his mark. There never was nor is there now a sage among them to whom the title "wise" could be applied. No! the appellation "sophist" suffices for each and all, which among men of common sense (12) sounds like a stigma. My advice then is to mistrust the sonorous catch-words (13) of the sophist, and not to despise the reasoned conclusions (14) of the philosopher; for the sophist is a hunter after the rich and young, the philosopher is the common friend of all; he neither honours nor despises the fortunes of men.

(12) L. Dind. cf. Eur. "Heracl." 370, {tou tauta kalos an eie} {para g' eu phronousin}.

(13) {paraggelmata}. Cf. Aesch. "Ag." 480, "telegraph"; Lys. 121. 32; Dem. 569. 1; "words of command"; Dion. H. "De Comp." 248, "instructions, precepts."

(14) {enthumemata}.

Nor would I have you envy or imitate those either who recklessly pursue the path of self-aggrandisement, (15) whether in private or in public life; but consider well (16) that the best of men, (17) the true nobility, are discovered by their virtues; (18) they are a laborious upwards-striving race; whilst the base are in evil plight (19) and are discovered by their demerits. (20) Since in proportion as they rob the private citizen of his means and despoil the state (21) they are less serviceable with a view to the public safety than any private citizen; (22) and what can be worse or more disgraceful for purposes of war than the bodily form of people so incapable of toil? (23) Think of huntsmen by contrast, surrendering to the common weal person and property alike in perfect condition for service of the citizens. They have both a battle to wage certainly: only the one set are for attacking beasts; and the other their own friends. (24) And naturally the assailant of his own friends does not win the general esteem; (25) whilst the huntsman in attacking a wild beast may win renown. If successful in his capture, he was won a victory over a hostile brood; or failing, in the first place, it is a feather in his cap that his attempt is made against enemies of the whole community; and secondly, that it is not to the detriment of man nor for love of gain that the field is taken; and thirdly, as the outcome of the very attempt, the hunter is improved in many respects, and all the wiser: by what means we will explain. Were it not for the very excess of his pains, his well-reasoned devices, his manifold precautions, he would never capture the quarry at all; since the antagonists he deals with are doing battle for bare life and in their native haunts, (26) and are consequently in great force. So that if he fails to overmatch the beasts by a zest for toil transcending theirs and plentiful intelligence, the huntsman's labours are in vain.

(15) Or, "surrender themselves heedlessly to the ways of self- seeking." But the phraseology here seems to savour of extreme youth, or else senility.

(16) {enthumethenta}. Query, in reference to {enthumemata} above?

(17) Reading {andron}. For the vulg. {auton} see Schneid. ad loc., who suggests {ton aston}.

(18) "Recognisable for the better."

(19) "They are not famous but infamous"; "the bad fare as their name suggests" (i.e. badly).

(20) "Recognisable for the worse."

(21) Or, "what with private extortionsand public peculation."

(22) {ton idioton}, "laymen," I suppose, as opposed to "professional" lawyers or politicians.

(23) "What with their incapacity for hard work, their physique for purposes of war is a mockery and a sham."

(24) Cf. Plat. "Soph."

(25) Or, "earns but an evil reputation in the world."

(26) "They are being bearded in their dens."

I go back to my proposition then. Those self-seeking politicians, who want to feather their own nests, (27) practise to win victories over their own side, but the sportsman confines himself to the common enemy. This training of theirs renders the one set more able to cope with the foreign foe, the others far less able. The hunting of the one is carried on with self-restraint, of the others with effrontery. The one can look down with contempt upon maliciousness and sordid love of gain, the other cannot. The very speech and intonation of the one has melody, of the other harshness. And with regard to things divine, the one set know no obstacle to their impiety, the others are of all men the most pious. Indeed ancient tales affirm (28) that the very gods themselves take joy in this work (29) as actors and spectators. So that, (30) with due reflection on these things, the young who act upon my admonitions will be found, perchance, beloved of heaven and reverent of soul, checked by the thought that some one of the gods is eyeing their performance. (31)

(27) Or, "Those people who would fain have the lion's share in the state."

(28) Or, "an ancient story obtains."

(29) Sc. "of the chase."

(30) Or {uparkhein} = "it may be considered as given." Scheid. cf. "Pol. Ath." iii. 9, {oste uparkhein demokratian einai}.

(31) Lit. "that the things in question are beheld by some divinity."

These are the youths who will prove a blessing to their parents, and not to their parents only but to the whole state; to every citizen alike and individual friend.

Nay, what has sex to do with it? It is not only men enamoured of the chase that have become heroes, but among women there are also to whom our lady Artemis has granted a like boon—Atalanta, and Procris, and many another huntress fair.

THE END