33
Since, however, circumstances oftentimes impel men that are none too good themselves to use admonition when in the company of others who are no better than they, the most reasonable method would be that which in some way involves and includes in the arraignment the speaker himself. This is the principle of the reproof Son of Tydeus, what has made us forget our swift prowess? Homer, Il. xi. 313; quoted with additional lines, supra, 30 E. and We are no match now even for Hector Who is only one man. Ibid. viii. 234. And in this way Socrates quietly took the young men to task, not assuming that he himself was exempted from ignorance, but feeling that he had need as well as they to study virtue and to search for truth. For those win goodwill and confidence who give the impression that, while addicted to the same faults, they are correcting their friends precisely as they correct themselves. But the man who gives himself airs in trying to curb another as though he himself were some pure and passionless being, unless he be well on in years or possessed of an acknowledged position in virtue and repute, only appears annoying and tedious, and profits nothing. Therefore it was not without a purpose that Phoenix interjected the account of his own misfortunes, his attempt in a fit of anger to slay his father, and his sudden change of heart, Lest I be known among the Greeks as my father’s slayer Ibid. ix. 461. See the note on 26 F, supra. This he did because he would not seem to admonish Achilles as though he were unaffected by anger and without fault himself. For such things make a deep moral impression, and persons are more wont to yield to those who seem to have like emotions but no feeling of contempt. Since a brilliant light must not be brought near to an inflamed eye, and a troubled spirit likewise does not put up with frank speaking and plain reproof, among the most useful helps is a light admixture of praise, as in the following: Not without honour now can you be remiss in swift prowess, You who are all the best in our host. No cause for a quarrel Have I ’gainst any man who may be remiss in the fighting, If he is craven, but with you I am wroth beyond measure,Homer, Il. xiii. 116. and Pandarus, where is now your bow and its winged arrows? Where your repute which no man among us can rival? Ibid. v. 171. Lines like the following also sound a clear summons to come back when men are on the verge of giving way: Where’s Oedipus and all those riddles famed?Euripides, Phoenissae, 1688. and Can much-enduring Heracles speak thus?Euripides, Hercules Furens, 1250. For not only do they mitigate the harsh and peremptory tone of the censure, but they also arouse in a man a desire to emulate his better self, since he is made to feel ashamed of disgraceful conduct by being reminded of his honourable actions, and is prompted to look upon himself as an example of what is better. But whenever we draw comparisons with other people, as, for example, with those of a man’s own age or his fellow-citizens or his kinsmen, then the spirit of contentiousness that belongs to vice is made sullen and savage, and it will often suggest with some temper, Then why don’t you go away to my betters, and not trouble me? One must, therefore, in frank speaking toward one set of persons be on his guard against commending another set, with the single exception, it is true, of parents. For example, Agamemnon can say: Truly Tydeus’ son is not much like his father,Homer, Il. v. 800. and so, too, Odysseus in the Scyrians: Dost thou, to shame the glory of thy race, Card wool, whose father was the noblest Greek? From an unknown poet; Nauck; Trag. Graec. Frag., Adesp. No. 9; quoted with variant reading, supra, 34 D.
