Book 4, Chapter 36

“As for anger, so long as it disturbs the soul there can be no doubt that it is insanity. Under its impulse, even brothers fall into such a quarrel:

77 “‘Where in all the world has any man surpassed you in shamelessness?’

“‘And who has surpassed you in malice?’—

“You know what follows. In alternating verses the brothers hurl the gravest insults at one another, making it easy to see that they are sons of Atreus, the man who devises a novel punishment for his brother:

“‘I must stir a greater mass, a greater evil,“‘To beat down and crush his bitter heart.’

“Into what, then, does this mass erupt? Hear Thyestes:

“‘My brother himself urges me, poor wretch, to use my jaws“‘To chew my children’—

“He serves up their entrails. For where can madness go that anger will not go as well? We therefore rightly say that angry people are out of control, meaning beyond the governance of judgment, reason, and mind: these ought to govern the whole soul.

78 “The people whom they are trying to attack must either be taken away from them until they collect themselves—and what is collecting oneself but gathering the scattered parts of the soul back into their proper place?—or they must be begged and entreated to postpone whatever power of revenge they have until another time, until their anger cools. Cooling certainly implies a heat of the soul kindled against reason’s will. Hence the praise given to Archytas, who, having grown very angry with his estate manager, said, ‘How I would have dealt with you, if I were not angry!’”

“As for anger, there’s no doubt it’s insanity as long as it disturbs the mind. Its impulse produces even a quarrel between brothers like this:

77 “‘What man anywhere on earth has outdone you in shamelessness?’

“‘And who has outdone you in wickedness?’—“You know what follows. In alternating lines the brothers hurl the gravest insults at each other. It’s easy to see they’re the sons of Atreus, the man who plans a new punishment for his brother:“‘I must stir up a greater mass, a greater evil,“‘To batter and crush his bitter heart.’“So where does this mass burst out? Listen to Thyestes:“‘My brother himself urges me, wretched as I am,“‘To chew my own sons with my jaws—’“He serves him their entrails. Where can madness go that anger won’t go too? That’s why we rightly say angry people have gone out of control—that is, out of the control of judgment, reason, and mind. These should have control over the whole spirit.

78 “We must either remove the people they’re trying to attack until they collect themselves—what is collecting yourself but bringing the mind’s scattered parts back into their places?—or ask and beg them, if they have any power to take revenge, to put it off to another time until their anger cools. ‘Cools’ certainly means a heat of mind aroused against reason’s wishes. Hence the praise for what Archytas said when he’d become very angry with his estate manager: ‘How I’d have treated you if I weren’t angry!’”