10
Now at Olympia you cannot win the victory by selecting competitors, but in this life circumstances permit you to take pride in your superiority to many, and to be an object of envy rather than envious of the others - unless, indeed, you make a Briareus or a Heracles your opponent. Whenever, then, you are lost in admiration of a man borne in his litter as being superior to yourself, lower your eyes and gaze upon the litter-bearers also; and whenever you account happy, as the man of Hellespont Cf. Herodotus, vii. 56: O Zeus, why have you taken the likeness of a Persian and changed your name to Xerxes, and now lead the whole world with you in your desire to uproot Greece? Surely you might have done all this without these means. did, that famous Xerxes crossing his bridge, look also upon those who are digging through Athos Cf. 455 d, supra. beneath the lash, and those whose ears and noses are mutilated because the bridge was broken by the current. Consider also their state of mind: they account happy your life and your fortunes.
10
When Socrates Cf. Teles, pp. 12-13 ed. Hense; Diogenes Laertius, vi. 35 (of Diogenes). heard one of his friends remark how expensive the city was, saying Chian wine costs a mina, a purple robe three minae, a half-pint of honey five drachmas, he took him by the hand and led him to the meal-market, Half a peck for an obol! the city is cheap; then to the olive-market, A quart for two coppers!; then to the clothesmarket, A sleeveless vest for ten drachmas! the city is cheap. We also, therefore, whenever we hear another say that our affairs are insignificant and in a woeful plight because we are not consuls or governors, may reply, Our affairs are splendid and our life is enviable: we do not beg, or carry burdens, or live by flattery.
