Hellenistic Philosophy Introductory

Ethics 231
use them as such. Only the virtuous man has a good old age and a good
death; for a good old age is conducting oneself virtuously at a certain
age, and a good death is to make one's end virtuously with a certain kind
of death.
llr. And things are called healthy and unhealthy relative to man, [as
are] what serves as nutriment and what is laxative or astringent, and
things like these. For things which are naturally inclined to produce or
preserve health are healthy; unhealthy are those which are in the opposite
condition. A similar account applies to the others.
lls. And only the virtuous man is a prophet since he has a knowledge
which distinguishes the signs relevant to human life which come from
the gods and daimons. And that is why he also has the forms of the
prophetic art, i.e., dream-reading and bird-interpretation and sacrificial
prophecy and any other types like these.
And the virtuous man is said to be austere in so far as he neither uses
on another nor admits for himself discourse directed at winning gratitude.
And they say that the wise man will live a Cynic life, this equal
to remaining in one's Cynicism [after becoming wise]; however, once
one becomes wise one will not begin to practice Cynicism.
They say that sexual love is an effort to produce friendship resulting
from the appearance of [physical] beauty of young men in their prime;
and that is why the wise man makes sexual advances and will have sexual
intercourse with those who are worthy of [true] sexual love, [i.e.,] those
who are well-born and endowed with natural ability.
They say that nothing happens to the wise man which is contrary to
his striving and impulse and effort, since he does all such things with
reservation and none of the events which oppose his [plans] befalls
him unexpectedly.
And he is also gentle, gentleness being a condition according to which
they are gentle about doing what is fitting in all circumstances and do
not get swept away to anger in any circumstances. And he is calm and
orderly, orderliness being knowledge of fitting motions and calmness
being a proper organization of states of motion and rest of the soul and
body in accordance with nature; the opposites of these are traits of all
base men.
Every honourable and good man is free of slander, since he is immune
to slander and so is free of slander in this sense and also in the sense
that he does not slander someone else. And slander is a falling out among
apparent friends because of a false utterance; this does not happen to
good men, but only base men slander and are slandered, and that is why
true friends neither slander nor are slandered, but [only] seeming and
apparent friends.