Book 1, Chapter 5
Original Latin
Malum mihi videtur esse mors.
9 Isne, qui mortui sunt, an is, quibus moriendum est?
Utrisque.
Est miserum igitur, quoniam malum.
Certe.
Ergo et i, quibus evenit iam ut morerentur, et i, quibus eventurum est, miseri.
Mihi ita videtur.
Nemo ergo non miser.
Prorsus nemo.
Et quidem, si tibi constare vis, omnes, quicumque nati sunt eruntve, non solum miseri, sed etiam semper miseri. nam si solos eos diceres miseros quibus moriendum esset, neminem tu quidem eorum qui viverent exciperes—moriendum est enim omnibus—, esset tamen miseriae finis in morte. quoniam autem etiam mortui miseri sunt, in miseriam nascimur sempiternam. necesse est enim miseros esse eos qui centum milibus annorum ante occiderunt, vel potius omnis, quicumque nati sunt.
Ita prorsus existimo.
Dic quaeso:
10 num te illa terrent, triceps apud inferos Cerberus, Cocyti fremitus, travectio Acherontis, ‘mento summam aquam attingens enectus siti’ Tantalus? tum illud, quod ‘Sisyphus versat saxum sudans nitendo neque proficit hilum?’ fortasse etiam inexorabiles iudices, Minos et Rhadamanthus? apud quos nec te L. Crassus defendet nec M. Antonius nec, quoniam apud Graecos iudices res agetur, poteris adhibere Demosthenen; tibi ipsi pro te erit maxima corona causa dicenda. haec fortasse metuis et idcirco mortem censes esse sempiternum malum.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted translation from the Latin. Latin transcription by the Perseus Project, Trustees of Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Death seems to me an evil.”
9 “For those who are dead, or for those who must die?”
“For both.”
“Then it is a misery, since it is an evil.”
“Certainly.”
“So both those who have already met their death and those who will meet it are miserable.”
“That is how it seems to me.”
“Then no one is free from misery.”
“No one at all.”
“And indeed, if you wish to be consistent, everyone who has been or will be born is not merely miserable but miserable forever. If you called only those who must die miserable, you would certainly exempt none of the living—for everyone must die—but at least misery would end in death. But since the dead too are miserable, we are born into everlasting misery. Those who died a hundred thousand years ago must be miserable—or rather, everyone who has ever been born.”
“That is precisely what I think.”
“Tell me, please:
10 “Are you frightened by those tales—three-headed Cerberus in the underworld, the roaring of Cocytus, the crossing of Acheron, Tantalus ‘with the water touching his chin, dying of thirst’? Or that story of how ‘Sisyphus sweats and strains to roll his stone, yet makes not the slightest progress’? Perhaps you fear the implacable judges too, Minos and Rhadamanthus? Before them neither Lucius Crassus nor Marcus Antonius will defend you; nor, though your case will be heard by Greek judges, will you be able to retain Demosthenes. You yourself will have to plead your case before an enormous audience. Perhaps these are the things you fear, and that is why you consider death an everlasting evil.”
Plain English translation
Complete independent machine-assisted translation directly from the Latin. Latin transcription by the Perseus Project, Trustees of Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I think death is a bad thing.”
9 “For people who’ve died, or for people who have to die?”
“Both.”
“Then it makes people unhappy, since it’s a bad thing.”
“Certainly.”
“So people who’ve already had to die are unhappy, and so are people who will have to.”
“That’s what I think.”
“Then there’s no one who isn’t unhappy.”
“Absolutely no one.”
“And if you’re going to be consistent, everyone who has ever been born or ever will be born isn’t just unhappy. They’re unhappy forever. If you said only people who still have to die were unhappy, you certainly wouldn’t leave out anyone alive—everyone has to die. Still, death would put an end to their unhappiness. But since the dead are unhappy too, we’re born into unhappiness that lasts forever. On that view, people who died a hundred thousand years ago must be unhappy—or rather, everyone who’s ever been born must be.”
“That’s exactly what I think.”
“Tell me, please:
10 “Are you frightened by those stories—three-headed Cerberus in the underworld, the roaring of Cocytus, the crossing of Acheron, Tantalus ‘dying of thirst with the water just touching his chin’? Or that other story, how ‘Sisyphus rolls his rock, sweating as he strains, and doesn’t get anywhere at all’? Perhaps it’s those judges who won’t listen to pleas, Minos and Rhadamanthus? Lucius Crassus won’t defend you before them, or Marcus Antonius either. And though your case will be heard by Greek judges, you won’t be able to bring in Demosthenes. You’ll have to plead your own case before a very large crowd. Perhaps those are the things you fear, and that’s why you think death is an everlasting bad thing.”
About this section
Book 1, Chapter 5 is part of Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 5 of 189 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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