The Instructor 2.7.59
Summary: Avoid contentious argument and immoderate speech; a measured voice befits the self-controlled, as Odysseus's rebuke of the babbling Thersites shows.
Greek text · Stählin 1:192–193
ἀπέστω δὲ καὶ ἡ φιλονεικία κενῆς νίκης ἕνεκεν λόγων, ἐπεὶ τέλος ἡμῖν ἡ ἀταραξία, καὶ τοῦτο ἄρα ἐστὶν τὸ »εἰρήνη σοι«· »πρίν τε ἀκοῦσαί σε μὴ ἀποκρίνου ῥῆμα.« ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τεθρυμμένον τῆς φωνῆς θηλυδρίου, σώφρονος δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ φωνῇ μεμετρημένον, μεγέθους τε ἅμα καὶ μήκους καὶ τάχους καὶ πλήθους εἴργοντος τὸ φθέγμα τὸ αὐτοῦ. οὔτε γὰρ μακρολογητέον ποτὲ οὔτε πολυλογητέον οὔτε ἀδολεσχητέον, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τροχαλῶς καὶ συνδιωκομένως ὁμιλητέον. καὶ γὰρ αὐτῇ τῇ φωνῇ, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, δικαιοσύνης μεταδοτέον τούς τε ἀκαιροβόας καὶ τοὺς κεκράκτας ἐπιστομιστέον. ταύτῃ γὰρ αὖ τὸν Θερσίτην πληγαῖς ᾐκίσατο ὁ σώφρων Ὀδυσσεύς, ὅτι μόνος ἀμετροεπὴς ἐκολῴα, ὅς ῥʼ ἔπεα φρεσὶν ᾗσιν ἄκοσμά τε πολλά τε ᾔδει, μάψ, ἀτὰρ οὐ κατὰ κόσμον. »φοβερὸς ἐν ἀπωλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀνὴρ γλωσσώδης.« τῶν γοῦν φλυάρων, καθάπερ τῶν παλαιῶν ὑποδημάτων, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας κατατέτριπται, μόνη δὲ ἡ γλῶττα περιλείπεται εἰς βλάβην.
English · Claude translation
Away too with contentiousness in words for the sake of empty victory, since our end is tranquility; and this is what “Peace to you” means. “And do not answer a word before you have heard.” An effeminate softness of voice belongs to a womanish man; but a measured voice belongs to the self-controlled, restraining his utterance in loudness, length, speed, and quantity. We should never speak at great length, nor talk much, nor chatter, nor converse rapidly and in a rush. We must give, so to speak, justice even to the voice, and silence those who shout out of season and bawl. That is why the self-controlled Odysseus beat Thersites with blows, because he alone, unmeasured in words, kept brawling, “who knew in his mind many disorderly words, idly, and not in due order.” “A talkative man is fearsome in his ruin.” Of chatterers, as of old shoes, all the rest has been worn out by vice, and only the tongue is left, to do harm.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Peace to you” is the greeting of Luke 24:36 (John 20:19). The quotations are Sir 11:8, Homer, Iliad 2.212–214, and Sir 9:18.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.7.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/7/59/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.7.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/7/59/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text