Prevod

Prodicus the wise, in his work on Heracles, gave the following account of Virtue. He says that when Heracles was passing from boyhood into youth, the age when young men become their own masters and show whether they will take the path of virtue or of vice through life, he went out to a quiet place and sat wondering which of the two roads to follow. Two tall women appeared to him, approaching. One was fair to look upon and noble by nature, her body adorned with cleanliness, her eyes with modesty, her bearing with self-restraint; she was dressed in white. The other had been nurtured into plumpness and softness. Her complexion was made up to look fairer and rosier than it really was, and her figure so arranged that she seemed more upright than nature had made her. Her eyes were wide open, and her dress revealed her beauty to the fullest. She kept looking herself over, watching to see whether anyone else was looking at her, and often glancing even at her own shadow. As they drew nearer to Heracles, the first woman continued at the same pace, but the other, eager to get ahead of her, ran up to him and said, “I see, Heracles, that you are wondering which road to take through life. Make me your friend, and I will lead you along the pleasantest and easiest road. No pleasure shall go untasted, and you shall live without knowing hardship. To begin with, you will have no wars or troublesome affairs to worry about. Instead, you will spend your time considering what delightful food or drink you might find, what sights or sounds might please you, what scents or touches might give you pleasure, which young lovers would most delight you, how you might sleep most comfortably, and how you might obtain all these things with the least possible effort. And if ever you suspect that the means to provide them may run short, you need not fear that I will lead you to procure them through toil and suffering of body and soul. No: you shall enjoy what others earn by their labor, refraining from nothing that offers a chance of gain. For I give my companions leave to profit from every quarter.” When Heracles heard this, he said, “Woman, what is your name?” “My friends,” she replied, “call me Happiness, but those who hate me give me the disparaging name of Vice.” Meanwhile the other woman approached and said, “I too have come to you, Heracles. I know your parents, and I have studied your nature throughout your upbringing. From this I hope that, if you take the road that leads to me, you will become an accomplished doer of noble and honorable deeds, and I shall become still more honored and more renowned for the blessings I bestow. I shall not deceive you with promises of pleasure at the outset, but tell you truthfully how the gods have ordered all things. Of all that is good and noble, the gods grant nothing to mankind without toil and care. If you wish the gods to look kindly on you, you must worship them; if you wish to be loved by your friends, you must do them good; if you desire honor from a city, you must serve that city; if you claim the admiration of all Greece for your virtue, you must strive to benefit Greece. If you want the earth to yield abundant fruit, you must tend it; if you think you should grow rich from livestock, you must care for your herds. If you are bent on increasing your power through war, and wish to be able to free your friends and subdue your enemies, you must learn the arts of war from those who understand them and practice their proper use. And if you wish to be strong in body, you must accustom your body to obey your mind and train it with toil and sweat.” Vice broke in and said, “Do you see, Heracles, what a hard and lengthy road to enjoyment this woman describes? I shall lead you to happiness by a short and easy road.” And Virtue said, “Wretched creature, what good thing do you possess? What do you know of pleasure, when you are unwilling to do anything to earn it? You do not even wait until you desire pleasant things, but glut yourself with everything before you feel the need, eating before you are hungry and drinking before you are thirsty. To enjoy your food, you contrive to find cooks; to enjoy your drink, you procure costly wines and run about in summer looking for snow. To sleep pleasantly, you provide not only soft bedding, but soft bedsteads and supports beneath them. For you long for sleep not because you have worked, but because you have nothing to do. You force the pleasures of love before the need arises, devising every expedient and using men as women. This is how you educate your friends: you indulge in excess by night and put them to sleep through the most useful part of the day. Though you are immortal, the gods have cast you out, and good people hold you in contempt. You never hear the sweetest sound of all, praise of yourself, nor see the most delightful sight, for you have never yet beheld a noble deed of your own. Who would believe anything you said? Who would help you when you needed something? What sensible person would dare join your company? Your followers are weak in body when young and foolish in mind when old. They pass their youth sleek and idle, then struggle through old age in misery and squalor, ashamed of what they have done and burdened by what they must now do. They have raced through their pleasures in youth and laid up their hardships for old age. But I keep company with gods and with good people. No noble deed, divine or human, is accomplished without me. I am honored above all by the gods and by those people whose esteem is worth having: a cherished fellow worker to craftsmen, a faithful guardian to masters of households, a kindly protector to servants, a good helper in the labors of peace, a steadfast ally in the deeds of war, and the best companion in friendship. My friends enjoy food and drink pleasantly and without fuss, for they wait until they desire them. Sleep comes to them more sweetly than to those who never work; they are neither sorry to leave it nor neglectful of their duties for its sake. The young delight in the praise of their elders, and the old rejoice in the respect of the young. They look back with pleasure on their past deeds and take pleasure in performing their present tasks well. Through me they are friends of the gods, beloved by their friends, and honored by their native lands. And when their appointed end comes, they do not lie dishonored and forgotten: their memory flourishes, celebrated in song for all time. Such are the blessings, Heracles, son of worthy parents, through which you may, by persevering in toil, win the most blessed happiness.” This, in substance, is how Prodicus recounts the education of Heracles by Virtue, though he clothed his thoughts in language still more splendid than mine. You, then, young men, would do well to reflect on these things and try to give some thought to the life that lies ahead.