Ἐπιστάτης
chairman, epistates
Translated by Catharine Roth3 Dec 2007Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
"For [the] opportune time, which for men is the greatest chairman of every deed ..." For the opportune time is the timely and most/very useful [thing] for each activity: where even serious [efforts] occurring at the wrong time are not accepted, as a physician conversing with one who suffers about the nature of his illness; as if one were to converse with drunken men about temperance.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἐπιστάτης· καιρὸς γάρ, ὅσπερ ἀνδράσι μέγιστος ἔργου παντὸς ἔστ' ἐπιστάτης. ἐφ' ἑκάστου γὰρ πράγματος τὸ καίριον καὶ χρησιμώτατον ὁ καιρός ἐστιν· ὅπου καὶ τὰ σπουδαῖα παρὰ καιρὸν γινόμενα οὐκ ἀποδέχονται, ὡς ἰατρὸν τῷ κάμνοντι περὶ φύσεως τοῦ νοσήματος διαλεγόμενον· ὡς εἴ τις τοῖς μεθύουσι περὶ σωφροσύνης διαλέγοιτο.