Book 3
22
Why, which of your affairs goes ill, poor wretch, your possessions? No. Your body? No. But you have gold and brass in abundance. What then goes ill? That part of you is neglected and corrupted, whatever it be called, by which we desire, and shrink; by which we pursue, and avoid. How neglected? It is ignorant of that for which it was naturally formed, of the essence of good, and of the essence of evil. It is ignorant what is its own, and what another’s. And when anything belonging to others goes ill, it says, am undone; the Greeks are in danger! (Poor ruling faculty! which alone is neglected, and has no care taken of it.) They will die by the sword of the Trojans! And if the Trojans should not kill them, will they not die? Yes, but not all at once. Why, where is the difference? For if it be an evil to die, then whether it be all at once or singly, it is equally an evil. Will anything more happen than the separation of soul and body? Nothing. And when the Greeks perish, is the door shut against you? Is it not in your power to die? It is. Why then do you lament, while you are a king and hold the sceptre of Zeus? A king is no more to be made unfortunate than a god. What are you, then? You are a mere shepherd, truly so called; for you weep, just as shepherds do when the wolf seizes any of their sheep; and they who are governed by you are mere sheep. But why do you come hither? Was your desire in any danger; your aversion; your pursuits; your avoidances? No, he says, but my brother’s wife has been stolen. Is it not great good luck, then, to be rid of an adulterous wife? But must we be held in contempt by the Trojans? What are they,—wise men, or fools? If wise, why do you go to war with them? If fools, why do you heed them?
