Libanius→Aristainetus; and separately to Silanus|libanius
To Aristainetus. (355)
[To Aristainetus]
I hear that grief has overcome you and that you spend your time at the tomb. I would have blamed you if you felt no grief at all, but I cannot praise grief this extreme. The first would be unworthy of your nature; the second is unworthy of your education.
If, then, you need some consolation from another, Olympius will provide it. He is good at both -- freeing souls and bodies from their illnesses.
[To Silanus]
I wanted to give you the things that seem great in people's eyes but could not. What I can give -- things that truly are great rather than merely seem so -- accept: a friend overflowing with every virtue, the remarkable Olympius.
[To Aristainetus] I hear that grief has overcome you and that you spend your time at the tomb. I would have blamed you if you felt no grief at all, but I cannot praise grief this extreme. The first would be unworthy of your nature; the second is unworthy of your education.
If, then, you need some consolation from another, Olympius will provide it. He is good at both -- freeing souls and bodies from their illnesses.
[To Silanus] I wanted to give you the things that seem great in people's eyes but could not. What I can give -- things that truly are great rather than merely seem so -- accept: a friend overflowing with every virtue, the remarkable Olympius.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.