Δαίμων
god, demi-god, spirit, fortune, genius
Translated by Catharine Roth28 Apr 2005Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] each person's fortune.1 Aristophanes in Wealth [writes]: "fortune does not allow [a slave] to control his own body as master, but [allows] rather the purchaser [to control it]."2
And Sophocles [writes]: "[you are] noble, as [you seem] to one who sees, except for your daimon." That is, your fortune.3
"Nothing is more wretched than he who surveys everything and examines 'what is under the earth', [as] he says,4 and seeks out with evidence what is in the souls of his neighbors, but does not perceive that it is sufficient to be alone with the spirit within himself and to take genuine care of this [spirit]. Care of it is to keep it pure from passion and frivolity and dissatisfaction with what comes from god and from men. For what comes from god and men is beneficial to us because of [their] relationship [with us], and sometimes also in a certain way because of ignorance of good and evil; this blindness is worse than that which deprives [us] of white and black."5
And Sophocles [writes]: "[you are] noble, as [you seem] to one who sees, except for your daimon." That is, your fortune.3
"Nothing is more wretched than he who surveys everything and examines 'what is under the earth', [as] he says,4 and seeks out with evidence what is in the souls of his neighbors, but does not perceive that it is sufficient to be alone with the spirit within himself and to take genuine care of this [spirit]. Care of it is to keep it pure from passion and frivolity and dissatisfaction with what comes from god and from men. For what comes from god and men is beneficial to us because of [their] relationship [with us], and sometimes also in a certain way because of ignorance of good and evil; this blindness is worse than that which deprives [us] of white and black."5