Timaeus — Plato

The aged Cephalus. 3 upon which we sat down by him. He saluted me eagerly, Republic i. and then he said: — Ckphalus, You don't come to see me, Socrates, as often as you ought : Sockatks. If 1 were still able to go and see you I would not ask you to come to me. But at my age I can hardly get to the city, and therefore you should come oftener to the Piraeus.

For let me tell you, that the more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm of conversation. Do not then deny my request, but make our house vour resort and keep company with these young men ; we are old friends, and you will be quite at home with us.

I replied : There is nothing which for my part I like better, Cephalus, than conversing with aged men ; for I regard them as travellers who have gone a journey which I too may have to go, and of whom I ought to enquire, whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged and difficult.

And this is a question which I should like to ask of you who have arrived at that time which the poets call the ' threshold of old age ' — Is life harder towards the end, or what report do you give of it?

329 I will tell you, Socrates, he said, what my own feeling is. oidageisnot Men of my age flock together ; we are birds of a feather, as |° blame for the old proverb says; and at our meetings the tale of my of old men. acquaintance commonly is — I cannot eat, I cannot drink ; the pleasures of youth and love are fled away : there was a good time once, but now that is gone, and life is no longer life.

Some complain of the slights which are put upon them by relations, and they will tell you sadly of how many evils their old age is the cause. But to me, Socrates, these complainers seem to blame that which is not really in fault. For if old age were the cause, I too being old, anci every other old man, would have felt as they do. But this is not my own e.xperience, nor that of others whom I have known.

How well I remember the aged poet Sophocles, when in answer to the question, How does love suit with age, Sophocles, — are you still the man you were? Peace, he replied; most The excellent gladly have I escaped the thing of which you speak ; I feel l^y'"^ "'^ as if I had escaped from a mad and furious master. His words have often occurred to my mind since, and they seem as good to me now as at the time when he uttered them.

Themistocles and the Seriphian.

Republic I. Cephalus, Socrates.

It is admitted that the old, if they are to be comfortable, must have a fair share of external goods; neither virtue alone nor riches alone can make an old man happy.

Cephalus has inherited rather than made a fortune; he is therefore indifferent to money.

For certainly old age has a great sense of calm and freedom ; when the passions relax their hold, then, as Sophocles says, we are freed from the grasp not of one mad master only, but of many.

The truth is, Socrates, that these regrets, and also the complaints about relations, are to be attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men's characters and tempers ; for he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.

I listened in admiration, and wanting to draw him out, that he might go on — Yes, Cephalus, I said ; but I rather suspect that people in general are not convinced by you when you speak thus ; they think that old age sits lightly upon you, not because of your happy disposition, but because you are rich, and wealth is well known to be a great comforter.

You are right, he replied ; they are not convinced : * and there is something in what they say ; not, however, so much as they imagine. I might answer them as Themistocles answered the Seriphian who was abusing him and saying that he was famous, not for his own merits but because he was an Athenian : ' If you had been a native of my country or I of yours, neither of us would have been famous.

And to those who are not rich and are impatient of old age, the same reply may be made ; for to the good poor man old age cannot be a light burden, nor can a bad rich man ever have peace with himself. May I ask, Cephalus, whether your fortune was for the most part inherited or acquired by you? Acquired ! Socrates ; do you want to know how much I acquired?

In the art of making money I have been midway between my father and grandfather: for my grandfather, whose name I bear, doubled and trebled the value of his patrimony, that which he inherited being much what I possess now ; but my father Lysanias reduced the property below what it is at present : and I shall be satisfied if I leave to these my sons not less but a little more than I received.

That was why I asked you the question, I replied, because I see that you are indifferent about money, which is a characteristic rather of those who have inherited their fortunes than of those who have acquired them ; the makers