“I am begging you, child of Zeus-who-Frees,
Savior Chance, safeguard mighty Himera.
For you direct swift ships on the sea,
And fast wars on land,
And counsel-bringing assemblies too.
Human hopes rise up and then back down
As they turn, traversing pointless lies.
No mortal has yet discovered a trustworthy sign,
From the gods about deeds still to come.
Plans for the future remain in the dark.
Humans experience many things against their expectations–
Sometimes, it’s the opposite of pleasure, but in others
Those who have faced great storms receive profound good for their pain
In a short time.”
Hecuba:
Fortune changes; endure it.
Sail with the sea. Sail where fortune goes.
Don’t steer life’s prow towards the waves;
Let fortune do the sailing.
Ah me! Ah me!
What’s there for wretched me not to cry about
When my country’s gone, children and husband too?
Ancestors’ prestige, once great now shrunken,
Perhaps you were nothing.
What calls for silence? What does not?
What to lament?
I am not fortunate . . .
John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion. 3.7.10.
Above all else, let the Christian heart be free of that foolish and miserable consolation of the pagans: namely, in order to strengthen their minds against adversity, they imputed adversity to fortune; then, they deemed it foolish to inveigh against fortune, for since fortune is indiscriminate, reckless, and blind, it naturally injures both those who deserve it and those who do not.
In contrast, this is the rule of piety: the hand of God is the sole arbiter and director of fortune, and it certainly does not act in haste with an unthinking carelessness. Rather, it dispenses good and ill to us with supreme justice.
Facessat imprimis a pectore Christiani hominis stulta illa et miserrima ethnicorum consolatio, qui ut animum contra res adversas confirmarent, eas fortunae imputabant: contra quam indignari stultum esse iudicabant, quod ἄσκοπος esset ac temeraria, quae caecis oculis merentes simul ac immerentes vulneraret. Haec enim e converso pietatis est regula, solam Dei manum utriusque fortunae arbitram esse et moderatricem: ac eam quidem ipsam non ruere inconsiderato impetu, sed ordinatissima iustitia nobis bona simul ac mala dispensare.
Kathe Kollwitz. Die Klage (Lament). 1938. Bronze. Private Collection.
“Different people chart
Different paths as they try
To find unambiguous glory.
And there are 10,000 kinds of human knowledge.
The skilled person thrives in hope
Whether they’ve come into the Graces’ honor
Or learned some prophetic art.
One aims his fancy bow
At boys, while others
Build up their hearts
In their fields and herds of cattle.
The future shows how things turn out,
Where fortune puts its weight.
The best thing of all
Is to be a noble envied by many people.
I know something about wealth’s great power too:
It makes even a worthless man useful.
Why do I drive my tongue so far directly and off the road?”
“I am begging you, child of Zeus-who-Frees,
Savior Chance, safeguard mighty Himera.
For you direct swift ships on the sea,
And fast wars on land,
And counsel-bringing assemblies too.
Human hopes rise up and then back down
As they turn, traversing pointless lies.
No mortal has yet discovered a trustworthy sign,
From the gods about deeds still to come.
Plans for the future remain in the dark.
Humans experience many things against their expectations–
Sometimes, it’s the opposite of pleasure, but in others
Those who have faced great storms receive profound good for their pain
In a short time.”
“Human knowledge has countless forms— whether learned in some prophetic art or allotted the Graces’ honor, the wise man certainly flourishes with golden hope.
Another man aims his dabbled bow at boys. Others fortify their hearts in the field Or with herds of cattle. But the future bears ends that make the path of fortune unmeasurable.
This thing is best: to be a noble man envied by many men.
I know something about wealth’s great power: It makes even the most useless man useful.
But why do I pilot my great tongue so and drive off the road? When the moment of victory is appointed for mortals, only then the wise man must…[ ] With flutes [pay back the favor of the gods] And mingle [among those who may envy]
The last few lines of this poem are completely fragmentary. In italics I put in something just to complete the sentence. I think that the reference to flutes probably indicates some ritual celebration, but I also wanted the end to repeat the note of warning about the mutability of fortune.
“I cannot answer what you ask me until I hear that you have ended your life well. Someone who is really rich is no more blessed than someone who has enough for just a day unless chance finds them keeping all the fine things and dying well. For many super wealthy people turnout unlucky and many of modest means fare well. The person who is really wealthy but unlucky is ahead of the merely lucky person in two ways but the lucky person has many advantages over the unlucky.
A wealthy person has the resources to do what they want and to hold out when disaster strikes. But a lucky person does not get disabled, sick, avoids suffering, has good children, and keeps looking good. If that person dies well in addition to these other things, well that’s the kind of person you’re looking for. Then someone is worthy of being called blessed.
But don’t call anyone blessed before they’re dead. Just lucky.”
“Chance is also capable of afflicting us with sickness, stripping us of possessions, or bad-mouthing us to people or ruler. But it cannot make a good, brave, or great-souled person a wicked coward with a cheap mind. And chance cannot steal away the mindset which when always with is is of greater use in life than a captain upon the sea.
It is impossible for a captain to calm a rough wave and the wind and equally so to find a harbor when he needs it where he wants it. And he cannot face whatever happens fearlessly and steadfast. But, as long as he he does not forget himself and uses his skill, “he flees the clouded sea / once he has furled the sail to the lower mast”.
Whenever the sea looms over him, he sits in his shaking and trembles. But the mindset of the wise person provides the most calm to his bodily responses, eliminating the conditions of disease with self-control, a wise diet, and measured toils. Even if the cause of suffering comes from the outside there is a passage through the storm if “he endures it well with a light and drawn sailed” as Asclepiades says. But if something unexpected and serious overtakes him and overpowers, well, the harbor is close and he can still swim free of his body as from a ship that will float no more.”
“I cannot answer what you ask me until I hear that you have ended your life well. Someone who is really rich is no more blessed than someone who has enough for just a day unless chance finds them keeping all the fine things and dying well. For many super wealthy people turnout unlucky and many of modest means fare well. The person who is really wealthy but unlucky is ahead of the merely lucky person in two ways but the lucky person has many advantages over the unlucky.
A wealthy person has the resources to do what they want and to hold out when disaster strikes. But a lucky person does not get disabled, sick, avoids suffering, has good children, and keeps looking good. If that person dies well in addition to these other things, well that’s the kind of person you’re looking for. Then someone is worthy of being called blessed.
But don’t call anyone blessed before they’re dead. Just lucky.”
“Chance is also capable of afflicting us with sickness, stripping us of possessions, or bad-mouthing us to people or ruler. But it cannot make a good, brave, or great-souled person a wicked coward with a cheap mind. And chance cannot steal away the mindset which when always with is is of greater use in life than a captain upon the sea.
It is impossible for a captain to calm a rough wave and the wind and equally so to find a harbor when he needs it where he wants it. And he cannot face whatever happens fearlessly and steadfast. But, as long as he he does not forget himself and uses his skill, “he flees the clouded sea / once he has furled the sail to the lower mast”.
Whenever the sea looms over him, he sits in his shaking and trembles. But the mindset of the wise person provides the most calm to his bodily responses, eliminating the conditions of disease with self-control, a wise diet, and measured toils. Even if the cause of suffering comes from the outside there is a passage through the storm if “he endures it well with a light and drawn sailed” as Asclepiades says. But if something unexpected and serious overtakes him and overpowers, well, the harbor is close and he can still swim free of his body as from a ship that will float no more.”
“Chance is also capable of afflicting us with sickness, stripping us of possessions, or bad-mouthing us to people or ruler. But it cannot make a good, brave, or great-souled person a wicked coward with a cheap mind. And chance cannot steal away the mindset which when always with is is of greater use in life than a captain upon the sea.
It is impossible for a captain to calm a rough wave and the wind and equally so to find a harbor when he needs it where he wants it. And he cannot face whatever happens fearlessly and steadfast. But, as long as he he does not forget himself and uses his skill, “he flees the clouded sea / once he has furled the sail to the lower mast”.
Whenever the sea looms over him, he sits in his shaking and trembles. But the mindset of the wise person provides the most calm to his bodily responses, eliminating the conditions of disease with self-control, a wise diet, and measured toils. Even if the cause of suffering comes from the outside there is a passage through the storm if “he endures it well with a light and drawn sailed” as Asclepiades says. But if something unexpected and serious overtakes him and overpowers, well, the harbor is close and he can still swim free of his body as from a ship that will float no more.”
