Epictetus · Complete work
Chapter 15
Chapter 15 of 53. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
[15.1] μέμνησο, ὅτι ὡς ἐν συμποσίῳ σε δεῖ ἀναστρέφεσθαι. περιφερόμενον γέγονέ τι κατὰ σέ· ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα κοσμίως μετάλαβε. παρέρχεται· μὴ κάτεχε. οὔπω ἥκει· μὴ ἐπίβαλλε πόρρω τὴν ὄρεξιν, ἀλλὰ περίμενε, μέχρις ἂν γένηται κατὰ σέ. οὕτω πρὸς τέκνα, οὕτω πρὸς γυναῖκα, οὕτω πρὸς ἀρχάς, οὕτω πρὸς πλοῦτον· καὶ ἔσῃ ποτὲ ἄξιος τῶν θεῶν συμπότης. ἂν δὲ καὶ παρατεθέντων σοι μὴ λάβῃς, ἀλλʼ ὑπερίδῃς, τότε οὐ μόνον συμπότης τῶν θεῶν ἔσῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ συνάρχων. οὕτω γὰρ ποιῶν Διογένης καὶ Ἡράκλειτος καὶ οἱ ὅμοιοι ἀξίως θεῖοί τε ἦσαν καὶ ἐλέγοντο.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 53 Ancient Greek chapters and 105 sections for fidelity, Stoic precision, clarity, structure, and cadence.
[15.1] Remember that you must conduct yourself as at a banquet. Has something being passed around come to you? Reach out your hand and take your share with decorum. Is it passing you by? Do not hold it back. Has it not yet reached you? Do not cast your desire forward toward it, but wait until it comes to you. Act this way toward children, toward a wife, toward offices, toward wealth, and someday you will be worthy to share the banquet of the gods. But if, even when these things are set before you, you do not take them but disdain them, then you will be not only a guest at the banquet of the gods but also a partner in their rule. For by acting in this way Diogenes, Heraclitus, and men like them deservedly were divine and were called so.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 53 Ancient Greek chapters and 105 sections.
[15.1] Remember that you must behave as you would at a banquet. Something being passed around has come to you: reach out your hand and take a modest share. It passes by: do not hold it back. It has not reached you yet: do not stretch your desire out toward it, but wait until it comes to you. Act this way toward children, toward a wife, toward public offices, and toward wealth, and someday you will be a worthy fellow guest of the gods. But if, even when things are set before you, you do not take them but look down on them, then you will be not only a fellow guest of the gods but also a fellow ruler with them. By acting this way, Diogenes, Heraclitus, and others like them were deservedly divine and were called so.