Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

10243

Seneca The Younger, Letters, 90.22
nan Furthermore, not confining his attention to these arts, he even degrades the wise man by sending him to the mill. For he tells us how the sage, by imitating the processes of nature, began to make bread. "The grain," he says, "once taken into the mouth, is crushed by the flinty teeth, which meet in hostile encounter, and whatever grain slips out the tongue turns back to the selfsame teeth. Then it is blended into a mass, that it may the more easily pass down the slippery throat. When this has readied the stomach, it is digested by the stomach's equable heat; then, and not till then, it is assimilated with the body.
nan Furthermore, not confining his attention to these arts, he even degrades the wise man by sending him to the mill. For he tells us how the sage, by imitating the processes of nature, began to make bread. "The grain,"[15] he says, "once taken into the mouth, is crushed by the flinty teeth, which meet in hostile encounter, and whatever grain slips out the tongue turns back to the selfsame teeth. Then it is blended into a mass, that it may the more easily pass down the slippery throat. When this has reached the stomach, it is digested by the stomach's equable heat; then, and not till then, it is assimilated with the body.
nan Again, suppose that I set before you a man who is neither miserable nor happy. I add blindness to his misfortunes; he is not rendered unhappy. I cripple him; he is not rendered unhappy. I add afflictions which are unceasing and severe; he is not rendered unhappy. Therefore, one whose life is not changed to misery by all these ills is not dragged by them, either, from his life of happiness.

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

8 results
1. Hesiod, Works And Days, 42-46, 50, 311 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE) 311. Remember all that I have said to you
2. Plato, Philebus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) 16c. Soc. One which is easy to point out, but very difficult to follow for through it all the inventions of art have been brought to light. See this is the road I mean. Pro. Go on what is it? Soc. A gift of gods to men, as I believe, was tossed down from some divine source through the agency of a Prometheus together with a gleaming fire; and the ancients, who were better than we and lived nearer the gods, handed down the tradition that all the things which are ever said to exist are sprung from one and many and have inherent in them the finite and the infinite. This being the way in which these things are arranged
3. Cicero, On The Nature of The Gods, 2.161 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 2.161. The great beasts of the forest again we take by hunting, both for food and in order to exercise ourselves in the mimic warfare of the chase, and also, as in the case of elephants, to train and discipline them for our employment, and to procure from their busy a variety of medicines for diseases and wounds, as also we do from certain roots and herbs whose values we have learnt by long-continued use and trial. Let the mind's eye survey the whole earth and all the seas, and you will behold now fruitful plains of measureless extent and mountains thickly clad with forests and pastures filled with flocks, now vessels sailing with marvellous swiftness across the sea.
4. Cicero, On Duties, 1.11-1.13, 2.16-2.17 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 1.11. Principio generi animantium omni est a natura tributum, ut se, vitam corpusque tueatur, declinet ea, quae nocitura videantur, omniaque, quae sint ad vivendum necessaria, anquirat et paret, ut pastum, ut latibula, ut alia generis eiusdem. Commune item animantium omnium est coniunctionis adpetitus procreandi causa et cura quaedam eorum, quae procreata sint; sed inter hominem et beluam hoc maxime interest, quod haec tantum, quantum sensu movetur, ad id solum, quod adest quodque praesens est, se accommodat paulum admodum sentiens praeteritum aut futurum; homo autem, quod rationis est particeps, per quam consequentia cernit, causas rerum videt earumque praegressus et quasi antecessiones non ignorat, similitudines comparat rebusque praesentibus adiungit atque annectit futuras, facile totius vitae cursum videt ad eamque degendam praeparat res necessarias. 1.12. Eademque natura vi rationis hominem conciliat homini et ad orationis et ad vitae societatem ingeneratque in primis praecipuum quendam amorem in eos, qui procreati sunt, impellitque, ut hominum coetus et celebrationes et esse et a se obiri velit ob easque causas studeat parare ea, quae suppeditent ad cultum et ad victum, nec sibi soli, sed coniugi, liberis ceterisque, quos caros habeat tuerique debeat; quae cura exsuscitat etiam animos et maiores ad rem gerendam facit. 1.13. In primisque hominis est propria veri inquisitio atque investigatio. Itaque cum sumus necessariis negotiis curisque vacui, tum avemus aliquid videre, audire, addiscere cognitionemque rerum aut occultarum aut admirabilium ad beate vivendum necessariam ducimus. Ex quo intellegitur, quod verum, simplex sincerumque sit, id esse naturae hominis aptissimum. Huic veri videndi cupiditati adiuncta est appetitio quaedam principatus, ut nemini parere animus bene informatus a natura velit nisi praecipienti aut docenti aut utilitatis causa iuste et legitime imperanti; ex quo magnitudo animi exsistit humanarumque rerum contemptio. 2.16. Longiores hoc loco sumus, quam necesse est. Quis est enim, cui non perspicua sint illa, quae pluribus verbis a Panaetio commemorantur, neminem neque ducem bello nec principem domi magnas res et salutares sine hominum studiis gerere potuisse? Commemoratur ab eo Themistocles, Pericles, Cyrus, Agesilaus, Alexander, quos negat sine adiumentis hominum tantas res efficere potuisse. Utitur in re non dubia testibus non necessariis. Atque ut magnas utilitates adipiscimur conspiratione hominum atque consensu, sic nulla tam detestabilis pestis est, quae non homini ab homine nascatur. Est Dicaearchi liber de interitu hominum, Peripatetici magni et copiosi, qui collectis ceteris causis eluvionis, pestilentiae, vastitatis, beluarum etiam repentinae multitudinis, quarum impetu docet quaedam hominum genera esse consumpta, deinde comparat, quanto plures deleti sint homines hominum impetu, id est bellis aut seditionibus, quam omni reliqua calamitate. 2.17. Cum igitur hie locus nihil habeat dubitationis, quin homines plurimum hominibus et prosint et obsint, proprium hoc statuo esse virtutis, conciliare animos hominum et ad usus suos adiungere. Itaque, quae in rebus iimis quaeque in usu et tractatione beluarum fiunt utiliter ad hominum vitam, artibus ea tribuuntur operosis, hominum autem studia ad amplificationem nostrarum rerum prompta ac parata virorum praestantium sapientia et virtute excitantur. 2.16.  I have dwelt longer on this point than was necessary. For who is there to whom those facts which Panaetius narrates at great length are not self-evident — namely, that no one, either as a general in war or as a statesman at home, could have accomplished great things for the benefit of the state, without the hearty co‑operation of other men? He cites the deeds of Themistocles, Pericles, Cyrus, Agesilaus, Alexander, who, he says, could not have achieved so great success without the support of other men. He calls in witnesses, whom he does not need, to prove a fact that no one questions. And yet, as, on the one hand, we secure great advantages through the sympathetic cooperation of our fellow-men; so, on the other, there is no curse so terrible but it is brought down by man upon man. There is a book by Dicaearchus on "The Destruction of Human Life." He was a famous and eloquent Peripatetic, and he gathered together all the other causes of destruction — floods, epidemics, famines, and sudden incursions of wild animals in myriads, by whose assaults, he informs us, whole tribes of men have been wiped out. And then he proceeds to show by way of comparison how many more men have been destroyed by the assaults of men — that is, by wars or revolutions — than by any and all other sorts of calamity. 2.17.  Since, therefore, there can be no doubt on this point, that man is the source of both the greatest help and the greatest harm to man, I set it down as the peculiar function of virtue to win the hearts of men and to attach them to one's own service. And so those benefits that human life derives from iimate objects and from the employment and use of animals are ascribed to the industrial arts; the cooperation of men, on the other hand, prompt and ready for the advancement of our interests, is secured through wisdom and virtue [in men of superior ability].
5. Vergil, Aeneis, 4.386, 4.412, 9.62, 10.727, 12.250, 12.261 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 4.386. me bear on winged winds his high decree. 4.412. but carefully dissembling what emprise 9.62. dappled with white he rode; a crimson plume 10.727. in shining vesture he, and glittering arms. 12.250. Father omnipotent, I call; on thee 12.261. unto Evander's city! From these plains
6. Vergil, Georgics, 1.118-1.159 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 1.118. Hales o'er them; from the far Olympian height 1.119. Him golden Ceres not in vain regards; 1.120. And he, who having ploughed the fallow plain 1.121. And heaved its furrowy ridges, turns once more 1.122. Cross-wise his shattering share, with stroke on stroke 1.123. The earth assails, and makes the field his thrall. 1.124. Pray for wet summers and for winters fine 1.125. Ye husbandmen; in winter's dust the crop 1.126. Exceedingly rejoice, the field hath joy; 1.127. No tilth makes placeName key= 1.128. Nor Gargarus his own harvests so admire. 1.129. Why tell of him, who, having launched his seed 1.130. Sets on for close encounter, and rakes smooth 1.131. The dry dust hillocks, then on the tender corn 1.132. Lets in the flood, whose waters follow fain; 1.133. And when the parched field quivers, and all the blade 1.134. Are dying, from the brow of its hill-bed 1.135. See! see! he lures the runnel; down it falls 1.136. Waking hoarse murmurs o'er the polished stones 1.137. And with its bubblings slakes the thirsty fields? 1.138. Or why of him, who lest the heavy ear 1.139. O'erweigh the stalk, while yet in tender blade 1.140. Feeds down the crop's luxuriance, when its growth 1.141. First tops the furrows? Why of him who drain 1.142. The marsh-land's gathered ooze through soaking sand 1.143. Chiefly what time in treacherous moons a stream 1.144. Goes out in spate, and with its coat of slime 1.145. Holds all the country, whence the hollow dyke 1.146. Sweat steaming vapour? 1.147. But no whit the more 1.148. For all expedients tried and travail borne 1.149. By man and beast in turning oft the soil 1.150. Do greedy goose and Strymon-haunting crane 1.151. And succory's bitter fibres cease to harm 1.152. Or shade not injure. The great Sire himself 1.153. No easy road to husbandry assigned 1.154. And first was he by human skill to rouse 1.155. The slumbering glebe, whetting the minds of men 1.156. With care on care, nor suffering realm of hi 1.157. In drowsy sloth to stagnate. Before Jove 1.158. Fields knew no taming hand of husbandmen; 1.159. To mark the plain or mete with boundary-line—
7. Epictetus, Discourses, 1.6.32-1.6.36, 1.24.1-1.24.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
8. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 90.7-90.14, 90.16, 90.18-90.19, 90.24-90.26 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
aetiology of labor	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
amor	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
bible, responses to	Sattler, Ancient Ethics and the Natural World (2021) 67
culture and civilization, development	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
culture and civilization	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
death	Sattler, Ancient Ethics and the Natural World (2021) 67
epicureans, epicureanism	Sattler, Ancient Ethics and the Natural World (2021) 67
epicurus	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
etymology, etymological	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
gods, in the georgics	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
golden age	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
gradual, gradualism	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
hesiod, allusions to	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
hesiod	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
intertextuality	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
invention, inventors of crafts	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
jupiter	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
labor, in hesiod	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
labor	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
name-givers onomathetai, impositores	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
philosophy, philosophical	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
plato, cratylus	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
plato	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
posidonius	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
primitivism'	Pezzini and Taylor,Language and Nature in the Classical Roman World (2019)" 24
primitivism	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
prometheus	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
religion	Sattler, Ancient Ethics and the Natural World (2021) 67
stoicism	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
virgil, and hesiod	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62
zeus	Gale, Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition (2000) 62