30. But will he not be
terrified by3599
| 3599 So
the ellipse is usually supplied, but it seems simpler and is more
natural thus: “But punishments (have been) spoken of”
(memoratæ), etc. |
the
punishments in
Hades, of which we have heard, assuming also,
as they
do, many forms of
torture? And who
3600
| 3600
So ms. and Oehler, for which the edd.
read ec quis, “will any one.” |
will be so senseless and ignorant of
consequences,
3601
| 3601 Lit.,
“the consequences of things.” |
as to believe
that to imperishable spirits either the
darkness of Tartarus, or
rivers
of
fire, or marshes with miry abysses, or wheels sent whirling through
the
air,
3602
| 3602 Lit.,
“the moving of wheels whirling.” |
can in any
wise
do harm? For that which is beyond reach, and not subject to the
laws of
destruction, though it be surrounded by all the
flames of the
raging
streams, be rolled in the mire, overwhelmed by the fall of
overhanging
rocks and by the
overthrow of huge
mountains, must remain
safe and untouched without suffering any
deadly harm.
Moreover, that conviction not only leads on to
wickedness, from the very freedom to sin which it suggests, but
even takes away the ground of philosophy itself, and asserts that it is
vain to undertake its study, because of the difficulty of the work,
which leads to no result. For if it is true that souls know no
end, and are ever3603
| 3603
Lit., “in the unbroken course of
ages”—perpetuitate ævorum. |
advancing
with all generations, what
danger is there in giving themselves up to
the
pleasures of sense—despising and neglecting the
virtues by
regard to which
life is more stinted
in its pleasures,
and
becomes less attractive—and in letting loose their
boundless
lust to range eagerly and unchecked through
3604
| 3604 Lit.,
“and to scatter the unbridled eagerness of boundless lust
through,” etc. |
all kinds of debauchery?
Is it
the danger of being worn out by such
pleasures, and
corrupted by
vicious effeminacy? And how can that be
corrupted which is
immortal, which always exists, and
is subject to no
suffering?
Is it the danger of being polluted by foul and
base
deeds? And how can that be
defiled which has no corporeal
substance; or where can
corruption seat itself, where there is no place
on which the mark of this very
corruption should fasten?
But again, if souls draw near to the gates of
death,3605
| 3605
Lucretius (iii. 417 sqq.) teaches at great length that the soul and
mind are mortal, on the ground that they consist of atoms smaller than
those of vapour, so that, like it, on the breaking of their case, they
will be scattered abroad; next, on the ground of the analogy between
them and the body in regard to disease, suffering, etc.; of their
ignorance of the past, and want of developed qualities; and finally, on
the ground of the adaptation of the soul to the body, as of a fish to
the sea, so that life under other conditions would be impossible. |
as is laid down
in the
doctrine of Epicurus, in this case, too, there is no
sufficient reason why philosophy should be sought out, even if it is
true that by it
3606
| 3606
The ms. and first four edd. read
has, “that these souls,” etc.; in the other edd.,
hac is received as above from the margin of Ursinus. |
souls are
cleansed and made pure from all uncleanness.
3607
| 3607
Cf. Plato, Phædo (st. p. 64 sq.), where death is
spoken of as only a carrying further of that separation of the soul
from the pleasures and imperfections of the body which the philosopher
strives to effect in this life. |
For if they all
3608
die, and even in the body
3609
the feeling
characteristic of
life perishes, and is lost;
3610
| 3610 This
refers to the second argument of Lucretius noticed above. |
it is not only a very great mistake, but
shows stupid
blindness, to curb innate desires, to restrict your
mode of life within narrow limits, not yield to your inclinations, and
do what our passions have demanded and urged, since no rewards await
you for so great toil when the day of death comes, and you shall be
freed from the bonds of the body.
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