1. quamvis,
etc.: a modest introduction to avoid the appearance of preaching in
an arrogant tone.
2. quo
tandem pacto, just how. The direct question
asked by the intended inquirer would be, "How shall
I conduct myself in consorting with my superiors?" Hence the
emphatic tandem.
3. docendus
adhuc: opposed sharply to disce; i.e.
submit to learn from one who has still much to learn himself, at least
his views, which you may take or leave, as you feel inclined.
amiculus, your
humble (i.e. modest) friend.
6. si te,
etc.: i.e. in the first place, it is not at all indispensable
to consort with the great, but a life of obscurity, ease, and independence
has its attractions, as well as a life of worldly success.
somnus: as opposed
to the early rising necessary for a client, who must make the early
salutatio.
7. pulvis,
etc.: necessary discomforts of life in the city, where one must live
to attend upon the great.
8. caupona:
i.e. the noisy taverns full of brawling roisterers.
10. fefellit:
cf. láthe biósas, the maxim of Epicurus.
11. si
prodesse, etc.: i.e. if, on the other hand,
you wish to help your friends by your advancement, and enjoy the luxuries
that the rich alone possess, then you must consort with them, being
yourself poor. These two conditions are humorously expressed by words
which relate only to the food enjoyed by each.
12. tractare:
cf. Sat. II.2.85.
13. si
pranderet, etc.: the arguments for the two modes of life
are put into the mouths of Diogenes the Cynic and Aristippus the Hedonist
(cf. I.1.18). The anecdote from which the interview is paraphrased
is told by Diog. Laert. II.68. regibus:
in the original tyrannos, but here used in reference to magnates
generally.
14. si
sciret, etc.: in accordance with the general views of
Aristippus, cf. I.1.19.
15. qui
me notat, i.e. my censor, the term
being derived from the action of the Censor at Rome.
utrius horum,
etc.: the poet puts the alternative directly, whether a man should
scorn the advantages of intercourse with the great, like the Cynic,
or make the most of them, like the versatile Aristippus.
16. doce,
etc.: i.e. either convince me, or else, being younger, listen
to my decision of the point.
17. namque,
etc.: i.e. I say Aristippus' view is better, for he had a
valid reply to the reproach of Diogenes.
18. mordacem:
in allusion to the etymology of Cynic from kyon.
eludebat, parried.
The imperfect represents that his answer was a possible regular reply
to such an argument.
19. scurror,
I play the parasite, implying that Diogenes had in effect
taunted him with being a scurra. The reply is, "We
both are that; but I am so for my own benefit, you for the crowd;
and my way is much happier and more noble."
hoc: referring
to his own way, which is nearer in fact, though farther away on the
page. See A. & G. Grammar § 102. rectius:
cf. recte, I.12.2.
20. equus,
etc.: translation of a Greek proverb, híppos me phérei, basileús
me tréphei, doubtless used in reference to courtiers.
21. officium
facio, I do service, as a dependent.
poscis vilia rerum:
i.e. you also beg, and only for a paltry reward. vilia
rerum: cf. vanis rerum, Sat. II.2.25, and
fictis rerum, Sat. II.8.83.
22. dante
minor: i.e. you recognize your inferiority to
the poor wretches from whom you get your sustenance. "I at least
serve a worthy person for a worthy reward; you serve the crowd for
a wretched fare." Diogenes and such persons supported themselves
by begging. See his life in Diogenes Laetius. fers
te, you pose as.
23. omnis,
etc.: i.e. and then again the man of the world can adapt
himself to any circumstances, while the Cynic cannot live without
his rags. color,
vicissitude, as good or evil fortune, agreeable or disagreeable
incidents; cf. Sat. II.1.60. status,
position, as high or low. res,
circumstances, as riches or poverty.
24. temptantem:
alluding to a motto of Aristippus, tà mèn parónta stérgein, tà
dè beltío zatein. fere,
generally. aequum,
satisfied; cf. aequus animus, and Od.
III.29.33.
25. duplici
panno, the double cloak of rags, a humorous
translation of diploïs, but with a reference to the quality
of the garment as well. The rough cloak of the ascetic philosophers
served a double purpose as tunic and cloak (shirt and coat). Antisthenes,
the founder of the Cynic school, was said to have been the first who
doubled his blanket. The reference here is to the cloak thus
doubled, which became the symbolic garb of philosophers, cf. Anth.
Pal. VII.65, 66, 67, 68, and Diog. Laert. VI.1.(13), 2.(3). The
purpose of the doubling is seen in the anecdote of Antisthenes (ibid.
1.16), Diogénei chitona aitounti ptúxai prosétaxe thoimátion.
An example of the diploïs or tríbon may be found
in Baumeister, Denkmäler, etc., under Aristotle (from Visconti, Iconographie
Grecque, Vol. I. p. 230).
27. non
exspectabit, etc.: i.e. he will go out without
it, in such raiment as he has.
29. personam
utramque, the part of either, the courtier or
the ascetic. Cf. (phasi) Strátona, hoi dè Plátona pròs
autòn eipein, Soì mónoi dédotai kaì chlanída phorein kaì hrákos,
Diod. II.8.(67).
30. Mileti:
cf. Virg. Georg. III.306; here used as a type of costly clothing.
33. res
gerere, etc.: an argument to show that the humble friend's
career is an honorable one. As the most glorious career is that of
a leader, so it is not an inglorious one to be the confidential friend
of a leader. Je ne suis pas la rose, mais j'ai vecu avec elle.
36. non
cuivis, etc.: i.e. the nobleness of the career
is shown by the fact that everybody cannot succeed in it. This thought
is put into the form of the Greek proverb, ou pantòs andròs es
Kórinthon ésth' ho plous. The origin of the proverb is unknown,
but its form suggests a quotation from some play. The explanation
of Gellius (I.8) referring it to the famous courtesan Lais sounds
like a later invention. But at any rate the proverb came to be used
of anything which everybody could not attain.
37. sedit
qui timuit, etc.: this verse, which has the style of
the sententious single-line colloquies of the Greek tragedy, is either
purposely imitated by Horace from that style, or it may possibly be
actually quoted from the same play as the proverb. Although the connection
is difficult, and has been much debated, it seem best to take the
statement as a reply to the preceding, assented to by Horace in esto,
and afterwards turned to his own purpose in the next verse. The sense
would be then: not every man can be the friend of princes. To which
the other side of Horace's mind, as it were, replies (yes, for) he
sits inactive, who fears he may not succeed. "Well, then,"
says Horace, "he who has tried and succeeded has shown a manly
spirit in doing what another has feared to attempt, which is the very
point in question, whether it is a manly thing to do or not."
sedit (gnomic perfect), he sits inactive.
succederet
(impers.): sc. sibi.
38. pervenit:
keeping up the figure in v. 36. fecitne,
has he not, etc.: the conclusion drawn from the preceding,
if the fear of failure prevents men from trying to become the friends
of the great, then per contra it shows courage and manliness
to try and succeed. atqui:
i.e. you must answer, yes, and yet that gives away
the whole case, for that is just the point, whether the service of
the great is a virile officium, and so praiseworthy,
or is a kind of slavery, and so unworthy the true philosopher, as
the Cynic would hold.
39. quod
quaerimus, the point at issue, here not the
object of search, but the object of inquiry. hic:
i.e. the one who sits inactive. onus
horret: and thereby shows a pusillanimity and weakness
that is foreign to the philosopher.
41. hic
subit: the one who makes the attempt. He takes up the
burden, and carries it through instead of shrinking from it. This
of course is an act of virtus, if there is any such
thing at all. virtus:
apparently in this passage the Roman meaning (cf. virtus,
sturdy manhood, and courage to do, dare, and suffer) shines through
the philosophical sense in which Horace professes to use it.
42. decus
et pretium: which are attained in the service of the
great as well as in the active conduct of affairs. Cf. v. 33 seq.
The two words belong together, but decus refers more
to the honor, pretium to the material advantages,
wealth, etc. recte:
in the adverb lies the significant part of the expression, does
well to, etc. experiens
vir, the man of enterprise, who makes the effort
instead of shrinking from it.
43. coram,
etc.: in view of the fact that the worthiness of such a career depends
much upon the manner in which the dependent advances himself, the
poet suddenly without warning proceeds to a caution as to the manner
of conducting one's self in regard to gifts. rege,
his patron, used in reference doubtless to the ancient philosophers
to kings (as of Plato with Dionysius). Cf. regibus,
v. 14, which is translated directly from the Greek.
44. distat:
i.e. it makes a difference in the worthiness of the relation.
sumas:
i.e. what is given with free will, which a vir bonus
might honorably accept, cf. I.11.23.
45. rapias:
as a persistent beggar does in effect, and which is unworthy the man
of honor. atqui:
in the same loose adversative relation as in v. 38.
rerum caput et fons:
i.e. this was the main point, the end and aim of your friendship
with the great, namely, to be enriched by gifts.
erat: probably
only used instead of est for metrical reasons, but
justified by the reference to the original object of the dependent,
cf. fuerat, Juvenal, V.76.
48. clamat,
victum date: i.e. such conduct is simply begging.
succinit,
chines in, i.e. one who begs thus will find a rival
ready to divide with him.
49. et
mihi, so have I, i.e. a sister, etc.
dividuo
munerer: a loose ablative of manner.
quadra, the
loaf, used generally for a gift to provide sustinence. It is
so called from being cut across the top into four sectors of a circle.
50. sed
tacitus, etc.: alluding to the fable of the fox and the
crow.
52. Brundisium:
i.e. on an errand of business; cf. Sat. I.5.
comes: cf. Sat.
II.6.42. Surrentum
amoenum: i.e. on a pleasure journey, cf. I.7.76.
55. nota
refert, etc.: i.e. repeats the well-known tricks
of the courtesan, whose rapacity was proverbial.
58. nec
semel, etc.: i.e. the patron having been once
deceived, becomes incredulous, like a man often deceived by a vagabond
in the street who pretends to have fallen and broken his leg.
triviis: i.e.
at the places where are the most passers by.
60. Osirim:
intimating that such persons were usually foreigners, Egyptians, or
the like.
62. quaere
peregrinum, try it on a stranger, as all the
town knows the trick too well; cf. "tell that to the marines."
rauca,
till it is hoarse, being made so by crying thus so often. |
