The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C. — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C.
John Stuart Mill · en
And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many
relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices
throughout the year; at home the style of our life is refined;
and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to
banish melancholy. Because of the greatness of our city the
fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we may enjoy
the goods of other countries as freely as of our own.... We are
lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we
cultivate the mind without loss of manliness. Wealth we employ,
not for talk and ostentation, but when there is a real use for
it. To avow poverty with us is no disgrace; the true disgrace is
in doing nothing to avoid it. An Athenian citizen does not
neglect the state because he takes care of his own household; and
even those of us who are engaged in business have a very fair
idea of politics. We alone regard a man who takes no interest in
public affairs, not as a harmless, but as a useless character;
and if few of us are originators, we are all sound judges of a
policy.... In doing good, again, we are unlike others; we make
our friends by conferring, not by receiving favours.... To sum
up, I say that Athens is the school of Hellas ... for in the hour
of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the
report of her.... We have compelled every land and every sea to
open a path for our valour, and have everywhere planted eternal
memorials of our friendship and of our enmity. Such is the city
for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not
bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one
of us who survives should gladly toil on her {189} behalf....
Day by day fix your eyes on the greatness of Athens, until you
become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by
the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been
acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do
it....
And now, when you have duly lamented, everyone his own dead, you
may depart.[15]
[1] Plutarch: _Life of Themistocles_.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Herodotus, IX.
[4] Plutarch: _Life of Themistocles_.
[5] Plutarch: _Life of Themistocles_.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Plutarch: _Life of Themistocles_.
[8] Thucydides, I.
[9] Plutarch: _Life of Aristeides_.
[10] From W. Warde Fowler: _City-State of the Greeks and Romans_.
[11] Plutarch: _Life of Pericles_.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Plutarch: _Life of Pericles_.
[15] Thucydides, II.
{190}
CHAPTER XI
LIFE IN ANCIENT ATHENS IN THE TIME OF PERICLES
I. A WALK IN ANCIENT ATHENS