Σωφροσύνη
moderation, self-control
Translated by Paul McKechnie30 Oct 2000Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
Another [virtue]1 compared to the virtue of citizenship,2 and a greater one;3 we use the same word for a kind of agreement and harmony of the desiring and the calculating faculties.4
'For in respect of moderation I myself [am] most righteous,5 and I would rival Bellerophontes in moderation.'6
Aristotle says,7 what we learn by doing, we do by learning; or rather, by learning mastery over pleasures we become moderate, and by becoming moderate, we overcome the pleasures.
'For in respect of moderation I myself [am] most righteous,5 and I would rival Bellerophontes in moderation.'6
Aristotle says,7 what we learn by doing, we do by learning; or rather, by learning mastery over pleasures we become moderate, and by becoming moderate, we overcome the pleasures.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Σωφροσύνη· ἄλλη παρὰ τὴν πολιτικὴν ἀρετήν, μείζων· τῷ δὲ αὐτῷ ὀνόματι χρώμεθα ἐν ὁμολογίᾳ τινὶ καὶ συμφωνίᾳ ἐπιθυμητικοῦ πρὸς λογισμόν. τὸ γὰρ ἐς σωφροσύνην ἐγὼ δικαιότατον κἂν τῷ Βελλεροφόντῃ σωφροσύνης ἀμφισβητήσαιμι. ὃ φησὶν Ἀριστοτέλης· ἃ γὰρ ποιοῦντες μανθάνομεν, ταῦτα μανθάνοντες ποιοῦμεν. ἤγουν τὸ κρατεῖν ἡδονῶν μανθάνοντες σώφρονες γινόμεθα, καὶ γενόμενοι σώφρονες κρατοῦμεν τῶν ἡδονῶν.
Betacode
*swfrosu/nh: a)/llh para\ th\n politikh\n a)reth/n, mei/zwn: tw=| de\ au)tw=| o)no/mati xrw/meqa e)n o(mologi/a| tini\ kai\ sumfwni/a| e)piqumhtikou= pro\s logismo/n. to\ ga\r e)s swfrosu/nhn e)gw\ dikaio/taton ka)\n tw=| *bellerofo/nth| swfrosu/nhs a)mfisbhth/saimi. o(\ fhsi\n *)aristote/lhs: a(\ ga\r poiou=ntes manqa/nomen, tau=ta manqa/nontes poiou=men. h)/goun to\ kratei=n h(donw=n manqa/nontes sw/frones gino/meqa, kai\ geno/menoi sw/frones kratou=men tw=n h(donw=n.
Notes (7)
- 1The second of the four cardinal virtues in the Socratic/Platonic and Stoic traditions: wisdom, moderation, courage, justice. See also sigma 890, sigma 892. ↩
- 2Here and later in the entry, Aristotelian ideas are drawn on. Aristotle at Politics 3.2.1-11 (= 1276b16-1277b34) outlines his view of the difference between the goodness of a good man and the goodness of a good citizen. ↩
- 3A signal that the background of this part of the entry is not Stoic, since for the Stoics all virtues were equal. ↩
- 4Plotinus, Enneads 1.2.1.21f. (Henry p.157 n.2) ↩
- 5Reading
dikaio/tatos with Adler's apparatus criticus, from tau 8, instead of the manuscripts'dikaio/taton . ↩ - 6For comment on this proverb/quotation and its source see tau 8. ↩
- 7As Adler records, Thomas Gaisford put a marginal note in his copy of his 1834 edition of the Suda identifying Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics 2.2 as the source for this sentiment; but it is not a verbatim quotation, as the compiler signals by saying 'or rather ...', and repeating the idea in different words. Adler was harsh to add non est Aristot: it is in fact a fair, if simplified, paraphrase. Aristotle himself had said '... we both become moderate out of abstaining from pleasures, and, having become so, are particularly able to abstain from them' (Nicomachean Ethics 2.2.9 [= 1104a33-6]). ↩
References
Henry, P. "Suidas, Le Larousse et le Littré de L'antiquité grecque." Les Etudes classiques (1937): 155-62
Linked from2 entries
- σ890Σωφροσύνηneutrality, prudence[Meaning] privateness in Thucydides and passiveness.
- σ892Σωφροσύνηmoderation, temperanceSome people define this metaphorically as 'symphony'. Temperance is a quality and a disposition of character; but symphony strictly [applies] to a melody; and it is one of the things that are relative. Symphony is also…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 31 Dec 2013
- Revised — David Whitehead
- added note and bibliography — Catharine Roth
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- added x-refs and keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Paul McKechnie