STATESMAN AND PHILOSOPHER 67
And yet there lurked near me that most grievous of evils, Envy, with its
hatred of all that is fair (6 MIOOKCCAOC 4>96VOC), which suddenly fell upon me,
and did not cease forcibly dragging upon me until it had hurled me down
into the vast sea of political cares (yi^a neXayoq TGJV £V TtoXiTCia $pov-
T(SOJV), where I am still tossed about and unable even so much as to rise to
the surface. But though I groan at my fate, I still struggle on, for I have, im
planted in my soul from early youth, a desire for education which ever has
pity and compassion upon me, and lifts me up and elevates me. This it is by
which I can sometimes raise my head, and by which, though their penetration
is dimmed by the mists of alien concerns, I can yet cast about in some meas
ure with the eyes of my soul upon my surroundings, while I long to suck in
life pure and unmixed with evils. And if unexpectedly there is quiet and
calm in the political tumults, I emerge from the waves winged though un
able to fly, but am blown along by the breezes of understanding (imoTY\m)>
which often persuades me to run away as it were for a holiday with her from
my pitiless masters, who are not only men but also the great variety of prac
tical affairs which are deluged upon me from without like a torrent.^20 Still,
even in such a condition, I ought to thank God that while I am inundated I
am not sucked down into the depths. Rather, though in despair of any good
hope I had considered the eyes of my soul to be incapacitated, now I open
them and am flooded with the light of wisdom, so that I am not abandoned
for the whole of my life to darkness. And so, behold, I dare not only read
the sacred expositions of Moses, but even, with a passion for understanding,
I venture to examine each detail, and to disclose and publish what is not
known to the multitude.^21
This passage had traditionally been taken as a reference to Philo's
election to lead the embassy to Gaius, but that identification had only to
be challenged to be abandoned. As a protest against a life of concern
with legal matters the passage has point, while as a reference to the em
bassy it has no place whatever in its context. Further the passage shows
that Philo's literary career as an interpreter of the Bible was a function
of his life after he had gone into political affairs, carried on as a hobby
or escape from politics. If the political life itself began only after Philo
- The passage is clearly to be understood in the light of Plato, Rep., VI, 509 seq. There
oidvoia leads men to xd fAafhrmaxixd, etc., a type of knowledge far superior to Jtiaxig and
elxaoaa, but much inferior to vovq. Deprived now of vovc;, Philo has left only the eyes of
Sidvoia, with which imoxrwiti seems here synonymous, for though he has wings he cannot fly
in his own strength, but must be blown along from without. That is, it is impossible for him,
during merely temporary interruptions in his work, to rise into a consummation of perfect mysti
cal apprehension, though he is superior to the mass in still having his powers of oidvoia or
£jticmf|u.Ti. - Spec., iii, 1-6.