Letter 203: I will not render judgment based on hearsay alone, and I will not take sides before hearing both parties.
To Zenodotus.
Even if Noah tasted the product of his own farming, not knowing what he would suffer from wine; and Lot was driven to madness by wine and became a father in old age against his will; and Herod, having become a plaything of drunkenness, stained his table and his heart with the blood of the great John; and all the irrational crimes of humankind are the outpourings of wine — why do you drag upon yourself this self-chosen madness, instead of putting on sober moderation?
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΖΗΝΟΔΟΤΩ.
Εἰ καὶ Νῶς τῆς οἰκείας γεωργίας πεπείρατο,
ἀγνοήσας ὁ πέπονθεν ἐξ οἶνου· καὶ Λώτ εἰς
ἄνοιαν (95) ἐκλίθη ὑπὸ οἶνου, καὶ πατὴρ ἐν γήρει
ἀβουλήτως γεγένητο· καὶ Ἡρώδης μέθης γενόμενος
παίγνιον, τῷ τοῦ μεγάλου Ἰωάννου αἴματι τὴν
τράπεζαν αὐτοῦ καὶ καρδίαν ἐφοίνιζε· καὶ πάντα
D τὰ ἄλογα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγκλήματα, οἶνου ἐστὶν
ἀποβλύσματα · τἱ τὴν αὐθαίρετον ἐφέλκῃ μανίαν,
καὶ οὐ τὴν σώφρονα περιάπτεις συμμετρίαν
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