Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

10243

Seneca The Younger, Letters, 108.13
nan At any rate, when I used to hear Attalus denouncing sin, error, and the evils of life, I often felt sorry for mankind and regarded Attalus as a noble and majestic being, – above our mortal heights. He called himself a king,[10] but I thought him more than a king, because he was entitled to pass judgment on kings.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

15 results
1. Cicero, Academica, 2.136 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
2. Cicero, On The Ends of Good And Evil, 4.7 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 4.7. Totum genus hoc Zeno et qui ab eo sunt aut non potuerunt tueri aut noluerunt, certe reliquerunt. add. Cobet Mnemosyn. nov. ser. III p. 99 quamquam scripsit artem rhetoricam Cleanthes, Chrysippus etiam, sed sic, ut, si quis obmutescere concupierit, nihil aliud legere debeat. itaque vides, quo modo loquantur. nova verba fingunt, deserunt usitata. At quanta cotur! mundum hunc omnem oppidum esse nostrum! incendi incendi ABERN 1 incendit N 2 V igitur igitur ergo BE eos, qui audiunt, vides. quantam rem agas, quantam rem agas = quid efficere quis possit, quod (ut illi Stoicorum conatus) tantum sit, ut Circeiis qui habitet cet. agat (t ab alt. m. in ras. ) N ut Circeiis qui habitet totum hunc mundum suum municipium esse existimet? Quid? ille incendat? restinguet citius, si ardentem acceperit. Ista ipsa, ista ipsa p. 118, 29 sqq. quae tu breviter: regem, dictatorem, divitem solum esse sapientem, a te quidem apte ac rotunde; quippe; habes enim a rhetoribus; illorum vero ista ipsa quam exilia de virtutis vi! quam tantam volunt esse, ut beatum per se efficere possit. pungunt quasi pungunt enim quasi BE aculeis interrogatiunculis angustis, quibus etiam qui assentiuntur nihil commutantur animo et idem abeunt, qui venerant. res enim fortasse verae, certe graves, non ita tractantur, ut debent, sed aliquanto minutius. 4.7.  This whole field Zeno and his successors were either unable or unwilling to discover; at all events they left it untouched. Cleanthes it is true wrote a treatise on rhetoric, and Chrysippus wrote one too, but what are they like? why, they furnish a complete manual for anyone whose ambition is to hold his tongue; you can judge then of their style, coining new words, discarding those approved by use. 'But,' you will say, 'think how vast are the themes that they essay! for example, that this entire universe is our own town.' You see the magnitude of a Stoic's task, to convince an inhabitant of Circeii that the whole vast world is his own borough! 'If so, he must rouse his audience to enthusiasm.' What? a Stoic rouse enthusiasm? He is much more likely to extinguish any enthusiasm the student may have had to begin with. Even those brief maxims that you propounded, that the Wise Man alone is king, dictator, millionaire, — neatly rounded off no doubt as you put them: of course, for you learnt them from professors of rhetoric; — but how bald those very maxims, on the lips of the Stoics, when they talk about the potency of virtue, — virtue which they rate so highly that it can of itself, they say, confer happiness! Their meagre little syllogisms are mere pin‑pricks; they may convince the intellect, but they cannot convert the heart, and the hearer goes away no better than he came. What they say is possibly true, and certainly important; but the way in which they say it is wrong; it is far too petty.
3. Cicero, On Duties, 1.64, 1.69-1.70, 4.7 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 1.64. Sed illud odiosum est, quod in hac elatione et magnitudine animi facillime pertinacia et nimia cupiditas principatus innascitur. Ut enim apud Platonem est, omnem morem Lacedaemoniorum inflammatum esse cupiditate vincendi, sic, ut quisque animi magnitudine maxime excellet, ita maxime vult princeps omnium vel potius solus esse. Difficile autem est, cum praestare omnibus concupieris, servare aequitatem, quae est iustitiae maxime propria. Ex quo fit, ut neque disceptatione vinci se nec ullo publico ac legitimo iure patiantur, exsistuntque in re publica plerumque largitores et factiosi, ut opes quam maximas consequantur et sint vi potius superiores quam iustitia pares. Sed quo difficilius, hoc praeclarius; nullum enim est tempus, quod iustitia vacare debeat. 1.69. Vacandum autem omni est animi perturbatione, cum cupiditate et metu, tum etiam aegritudine et voluptate nimia et iracundia, ut tranquillitas animi et securitas adsit, quae affert cum constantiam, tum etiam dignitatem. Multi autem et sunt et fuerunt, qui eam, quam dico, tranquillitatem expetentes a negotiis publicis se removerint ad otiumque perfugerint; in his et nobilissimi philosophi longeque principes et quidam homines severi et graves nec populi nec principum mores ferre potuerunt, vixeruntque non nulli in agris delectati re sua familiari. 1.70. His idem propositum fuit, quod regibus, ut ne qua re egerent, ne cui parerent, libertate uterentur, cuius proprium est sic vivere, ut velis. Quare cum hoc commune sit potentiae cupidorum cum iis, quos dixi, otiosis, alteri se adipisci id posse arbitrantur, si opes magnas habeant, alteri, si contenti sint et suo et parvo. In quo neutrorum omnino contemnenda sententia est, sed et facilior et tutior et minus aliis gravis aut molesta vita est otiosorum, fructuosior autem hominum generi et ad claritatem amplitudinemque aptior eorum, qui se ad rem publicam et ad magnas res gerendas accommodaverunt. 1.64.  But the mischief is that from this exaltation and greatness of spirit spring all too readily self-will and excessive lust for power. For just as Plato tells us that the whole national character of the Spartans was on fire with passion for victory, so, in the same way, the more notable a man is for his greatness of spirit, the more ambitious he is to be the foremost citizen, or, I should say rather, to be sole ruler. But when one begins to aspire to pre-eminence, it is difficult to preserve that spirit of fairness which is absolutely essential to justice. The result is that such men do not allow themselves to be constrained either by argument or by any public and lawful authority; but they only too often prove to be bribers and agitators in public life, seeking to obtain supreme power and to be superiors through force rather than equals through justice. But the greater the difficulty, the greater the glory; for no occasion arises that can excuse a man for being guilty of injustice. 1.69.  Again, we must keep ourselves free from every disturbing emotion, not only from desire and fear, but also from excessive pain and pleasure, and from anger, so that we may enjoy that calm of soul and freedom from care which bring both moral stability and dignity of character. But there have been many and still are many who, while pursuing that calm of soul of which I speak, have withdrawn from civic duty and taken refuge in retirement. Among such have been found the most famous and by far the foremost philosophers and certain other earnest, thoughtful men who could not endure the conduct of either the people or their leaders; some of them, too, lived in the country and found their pleasure in the management of their private estates. 1.70.  Such men have had the same aims as kings — to suffer no want, to be subject to no authority, to enjoy their liberty, that is, in its essence, to live just as they please. So, while this desire is common to men of political ambitions and men of retirement, of whom I have just spoken, the one class think they can attain their end if they secure large means; the other, if they are content with the little they have. And, in this matter, neither way of thinking is altogether to be condemned; but the life of retirement is easier and safer and at the same time less burdensome or troublesome to others, while the career of those who apply themselves to statecraft and to conducting great enterprises is more profitable to mankind and contributes more to their own greatness and renown.
4. Epictetus, Enchiridion, 5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
5. Musonius Rufus, Dissertationum A Lucio Digestarum Reliquiae, 8 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
6. Plutarch, Moralia, None (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
7. Seneca The Younger, De Consolatione Ad Marciam, 20.2-20.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
8. Seneca The Younger, On Anger, 2.36.1, 3.14, 3.36 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
9. Seneca The Younger, De Providentia (Dialogorum Liber I), 6.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
10. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 12.10, 37.4, 51.6, 51.9, 70.14-70.15, 70.19-70.23, 91.21, 108.14-108.22, 114.24 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
11. Seneca The Younger, Thyestes, 390 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
12. Lucian, Hermotimus, Or Sects, 85 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
13. Marcus Aurelius Emperor of Rome, Meditations, 2.1, 9.29 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
14. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of The Philosophers, 7.28, 7.122 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 7.28. And in very truth in this species of virtue and in dignity he surpassed all mankind, ay, and in happiness; for he was ninety-eight when he died and had enjoyed good health without an ailment to the last. Persaeus, however, in his ethical lectures makes him die at the age of seventy-two, having come to Athens at the age of twenty-two. But Apollonius says that he presided over the school for fifty-eight years. The manner of his death was as follows. As he was leaving the school he tripped and fell, breaking a toe. Striking the ground with his fist, he quoted the line from the Niobe:I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?and died on the spot through holding his breath. 7.122. though indeed there is also a second form of slavery consisting in subordination, and a third which implies possession of the slave as well as his subordination; the correlative of such servitude being lordship; and this too is evil. Moreover, according to them not only are the wise free, they are also kings; kingship being irresponsible rule, which none but the wise can maintain: so Chrysippus in his treatise vindicating Zeno's use of terminology. For he holds that knowledge of good and evil is a necessary attribute of the ruler, and that no bad man is acquainted with this science. Similarly the wise and good alone are fit to be magistrates, judges, or orators, whereas among the bad there is not one so qualified.
15. Arius Didymus, Fragments, None

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
age, childhood, child	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
attalus, teacher of seneca	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
autarkeia, and the senecan sapiens	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
autonomy, and individual supremacy	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
autonomy, and self-mastery	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
autonomy, and the senecan sapiens	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
autonomy, and tyranny	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
basil of caesarea, church father, reviewing the day's conduct"	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
chorus, in thyestes	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 269
cicero, and autarkeia	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268
citizenship	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
desire	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
diet	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
edwards, catherine	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
englert, walter	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
epictetus, stoic, importance of clarity about what is upto us	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
epictetus, stoic, morning and evening reviews of the day	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
epictetus, stoic, only what is upto us matters	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
equality	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
freedom, in senecan stoicism	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
freedom, overlap between political and personal	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
identity, and freedom/self-determination	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
injustice	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
king, emperor, marcus aurelius	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
king, emperor, nero	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
passion	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
philosophy, stoic	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
philosophy	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
pythagoreans, exercises	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
pythagoreans, giving upmeal, reviewing the day, hard bed, cold baths, anger makes you ugly	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
rhetoric, dialogue	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
rhetoric, satire	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
rome, empire	Rothschold, Blanton and Calhoun, The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts (2014) 268
sapiens, and self-sufficiency	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
sapiens, as monarch	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
sapiens, versus the tyrant	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 269
seneca, the younger, stoic, possibility of suicide a guarantee of freedom	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
seneca, the younger, stoic, reviewing the day, hard bed, cold baths, anger makes you ugly, vegetarianism	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
stoicism, and freedom	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
stoicism, and isolation	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
stoicism, and kingship	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
stoicism, and thyestes	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 269
suicide, possibility as source of freedom	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
therapy, techniques see esp.	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
therapy, valuing suicide	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
therapy	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
tyrants/tyranny	Bexley, Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves (2022) 268, 269
up to us/in our power (eph' hēmin)"	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
vegetarianism	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
zeno of citium, stoic, hence different conception of freedom from emotion(apatheia)	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214
zeno of citium, stoic, suicide'	Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation (2000) 214