Erasmus, Adagia 44:
Ἔτος φέρει, οὐχὶ ἄρουρα,
that is,
The year, not the field, brings forth the grain, a proverbial hemistich which is related in Theophrastus’ eighth book of On Plants:
Πρὸς αὔξησιν δὲ καὶ τροφὴν μέγιστα μὲν ἡ τοῦ ἀέρος κρᾶσις συμβάλλεται καὶ ὅλως ἡ τοῦ ἔτους κατάστασις. Εὐκαίρων γὰρ ὑδάτων καὶ εὐδιῶν καὶ χειμώνων γινομένων ἅπαντα εὔφορα καὶ πολύκαρπα, κἂν ἐν ἁλμώδεσι καὶ λεπτογείοις ᾖ. Διὸ καὶ παροιμιαζόμενοι λέγουσιν οὐκ ἄλλως, ὅτι ἔτος φέρει, οὐχὶ ἄρουρα. Μέγα δὲ καὶ αἱ χῶραι διαφέρουσιν
that is,
For growth and nourishment, much is affected by the temper of the sky and the condition of the year on the whole. For indeed if rains, calm periods, and winters occur at the right time, everything comes forth more happily and more abundantly, even in salty or less fertile fields. Thus, it is not unreasonable when they say proverbially that the year brings forth the crop, not the field. Yet it is of no small account what type of lands they are.
Here I thought it worth nothing that in the printed exemplars I have read οὐ καλῶς, that is, incorrectly, and this itself in my opinion is done οὐ καλῶς, partly because Theodorus of Gaza did not translate incorrectly in this passage, partly because it does not yet square with the real opinion of Theophrastus. For he concedes that it is true that the condition of the sky is of great importance (which is even attested by the proverb), and while not without cause is the entire account of the produce attributed to the weather, yet there is something decisive in the very nature of the soil. Therefore, I suspect that we should read οὐκ ἀλλῶς, that is, not by accident, in place of οὐ καλῶς. Yet I do indeed see that οὐ καλῶς can be defended. It is no wonder that Theophrastus disapproves of that common saying, which attributed everything of moment to the sky, though a great part depends upon the nature of the soil. Yet the previous reading mocks me, and I think that the learned will add their pen to my opinion.
He repeats the same adage in his third book On the Causes of Plants while relating the reason why wheat grows in both cold and hot regions. He hardly denies that the nature of the field contributes something to fertility, but says that the circumambient air has a much greater impact and the temper of the sky and the winds touches upon the matter, as well as what winds the field is exposed to. Plutarch notes in the seventh decade of his Symposiaca, second problem. Further, if I may extend the use of the proverb somewhat, it is not inappropriately accommodated to this thought, if someone says that education has a much greater impact upon virtue than birth does, and it clearly matters little from which ancestors you spring, but by far the most important thing is what methods were used to educate you and what habits you were instilled with. For we can see the sky as “leading up” [educating] what the earth brings forth. Euripides seems to allude to this adage in his Hecuba, whom he makes to speak thus:
Οὔκουν δεινόν, εἰ γῆ μὲν κακὴ
Τυχοῦσα καιροῦ θεόθεν εὔσταχυν φέρει,
Χρηστὴ δ᾽ ἁμαρτοῦσ᾽, ὧν χρεὼν αὐτὴν τυχεῖν,
Κακὸν δίδωσι καρπόν, ἀνθρώποις δ᾽ ἀεὶ
Ὁ μὲν πονηρὸς οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν κακός,
Ὁ δ᾽ ἐσθλὸς ἐσθλός, οὐδὲ συμφορᾶς ὕπο
Φύσιν διέφθειρ᾽, ἀλλὰ χρηστός ἐστ᾽ ἀεί;
Ἆρ᾽ οἱ τεκόντες διαφέρουσιν ἢ τροφαί; |
Ἔχει γέ τοι τι καὶ τὸ θρεφθῆναι καλῶς
Δίδαξιν ἐσθλοῦ,
that is,
It is no miracle if, with the sky’s favor, bad earth bears good fruit. Good land which falls short of what was necessary will give forth bad fruit. But whoever of mortals is bad is unable to be anything but always bad, but the good always good. Does adverse Fortune not spoil the nature of man – does the good man always remain so? Do parents or the educators make the difference? Indeed, being raised correctly has not a little of education in virtue.
Hecuba seems to attribute more to the mother than to education, and marvels on that account that the same thing does not happen in the character of mortals which occurs in the production of grain. Further, how much more education does than breeding is elegantly demonstrated by Lycurgus. Two dogs were brought before the multitude, of which one was born to a lowly mother but, on account of its education, pursued a beast with something like native ease, while the other dog, born to excellent parents, abandoned the hunt for the beast and stopped at the smell of bread and food because he had not been trained.
Ἔτος φέρει, οὐχὶ ἄρουρα,
id est
Annus producit segetem, non aruum.
Hemistichion prouerbiale quod refertur a Theophrasto libro De plantis octauo:
Πρὸς αὔξησιν δὲ καὶ τροφὴν μέγιστα μὲν ἡ τοῦ ἀέρος κρᾶσις συμβάλλεται καὶ ὅλως ἡ τοῦ ἔτους κατάστασις. Εὐκαίρων γὰρ ὑδάτων καὶ εὐδιῶν καὶ χειμώνων γινομένων ἅπαντα εὔφορα καὶ πολύκαρπα, κἂν ἐν ἁλμώδεσι καὶ λεπτογείοις ᾖ. Διὸ καὶ παροιμιαζόμενοι λέγουσιν οὐκ ἄλλως, ὅτι ἔτος φέρει, οὐχὶ ἄρουρα. Μέγα δὲ καὶ αἱ χῶραι διαφέρουσιν,
id est
Ad incrementum autem alimentumque plurimum quidem coeli temperies et in totum anni conditio iuuat. Etenim si imbres, serenitates et hyemes accidant opportunae, cuncta felicius atque vberius proueniunt, etiam in salsuginosis ac parum pinguibus agris. Vnde non ab re est, quod prouerbio dicunt annum producere fructum, non aruum. Veruntamen non parui refert, quae sit regionum ratio.
Hic illud obiter admonendum duxi in impressis exemplaribus legi οὐ καλῶς, id est non recte, atque hoc ipsum, vt mea quidem est opinio, οὐ καλῶς, partim quod Theodorus Gaza verterit hoc loco non perperam, partim quod non perinde quadret ad Theophrasti sententiam. Nam is fatetur verum esse plurimum habere momenti coeli conditionem, id quod etiam prouerbio testatum sit, quo non sine causa tota prouentus ratio tribuitur aeri, tamen nonnihil etiam discriminis situm esse in ipso soli ingenio. Proinde legendum suspicor pro οὐ καλῶς, οὐκ ἀλλῶς, id est non temere. Quanquam equidem video et illud οὐ καλῶς vtcunque posse defendi. Nimirum vt Theophrastus improbet vulgare dictum, quod coelo momentum omne tribuit, cum et a soli ratione magna pars pendeat. Mihi tamen superior lectio magis arridet, atque huic meae sententiae doctos calculum suum addituros existimo.
Repetit idem adagium libro De causis plantarum tertio rationem reddens cur in frigidis pariter et calidis regionibus triticum proueniat, haud negans agri naturam nonnihil conferre ad fertilitatem, sed multo maximum momentum habere aerem circumfusum et cuiusmodi coeli ventorumque temperies contingat, tum ad quos flatus oppositus sit ager. Meminit et Plutarchus in Symposiacis decade septima, problemate secundo. Porro si libebit vsum prouerbii dilatare, non intempestiuiter accommodabitur in hanc sententiam, si quis dicat ad virtutem educationem longe plus adferre momenti quam genus, ac plane perparui referre, quibus maioribus sis natus, sed multo maxime quibus rationibus educatus quibusque moribus sis institutus. Nam coelum velut educat quod progignit terra. Ad hoc adagii videtur allusisse Euripides in Hecuba, quam ita loquentem facit:
Οὔκουν δεινόν, εἰ γῆ μὲν κακὴ
Τυχοῦσα καιροῦ θεόθεν εὔσταχυν φέρει,
Χρηστὴ δ᾽ ἁμαρτοῦσ᾽, ὧν χρεὼν αὐτὴν τυχεῖν,
Κακὸν δίδωσι καρπόν, ἀνθρώποις• δ᾽ ἀεὶ
Ὁ μὲν πονηρὸς οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν κακός,
Ὁ δ᾽ ἐσθλὸς ἐσθλός, οὐδὲ συμφορᾶς ὕπο
Φύσιν διέφθειρ᾽, ἀλλὰ χρηστός ἐστ᾽ ἀεί;
Ἆρ᾽ οἱ τεκόντες διαφέρουσιν ἢ τροφαί; |
Ἔχει γέ τοι τι καὶ τὸ θρεφθῆναι• καλῶς
Δίδαξιν ἐσθλοῦ,
id est
Non nouum ergo, si mala
Fauente coelo terra fert segetem bonam,
Bona destituta, quibus opus fuerat, malum
Fructum aedit. At mortalium quisquis malus
Nil possit aliud esse quam semper malus,
Frugi vsque frugi. Sors nec ingenium viri
Aduersa vitiat, sed probus semper manet?
Vtrum id parentum an educantium magis?
Recte educari scilicet nonnullam habet
Doctrinam honesti.
Videtur Hecuba plusculum tribuere geniturae quam institutioni miraturque proinde non idem euenire in mortalium moribus, quod in prouentu segetum accidat. Porro quanto plus valeat institutio quam genus, Lycurgus eleganter ostendit prolatis apud multitudinem duobus canibus, quorum alter ingenerosa matre natus, propter institutionem gnauiter feram est insecutus, alter generosis ortus parentibus, quod institutus non esset, turpiter relicta fera ad odorem panis ac cibi restitit.
