Letter 473: If you have met Clematius, then presumably, having been invited to the wedding, you already know the whole story.
To Silanus.
If you have met with Clematius, it is likely that, having been invited to the wedding, you have the whole account; but if this has not yet happened, when it does, you will hear the whole account, and perhaps you will say that I was busy on its behalf not less than you, but beyond measure.
As for all those who suppose that we have the power but that the will is not present, they suffer something reasonable in thinking that we enjoy those things which it was likely we should enjoy; but let there enter into their minds what Euripides teaches philosophically concerning expectations, and they will recognize that the blame is not entirely with us.
But as I have often said, I am least of all master of that man's affairs, while you are most of all master of mine. Pray then for some good thing for us, so that in whatever circumstances you find us, of these you will have a share.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Σιλανῷ. (356)
Εἰ μὲν συνέμιξας Κληματίῳ, εἰκὸς δή σε κληθέντα ἐπὶ
τοὺς γάμους πάντα ἔχειν λόγον· εἰ δ᾿ οὔπω τοῦτο γέγονεν,
ἐπειδὰν γένηται, πάντα ἀκούσῃ λόγον καὶ τάχα οὐκ ἐλάττω
με φήσεις, ἀλλ᾿ ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτριον σπουδάσαι.
ὅσοι δὲ ἡμῖν
οἴονται δύναμιν μὲν εἶναι, τὸ δὲ βούλεσθαι μὴ παρεῖναι, πάσχουσι
μὲν εἰκός τι νομίζοντες ἡμᾶς ἀπολαύειν ὧν εἰκὸς ἦν·
εἰσίτω δὲ αὐτοὺς ἃ περὶ προσδοκιῶν Εὐριπίδης φιλοσοφεῖ, καὶ
γνώσονται ὡς οὐ πάντως παρ᾿ ἡμῖν ἡ μέμψις.
ὃ δὲ πολλάκις
ἔφην, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐκείνου κύριος ἥκιστα, σὺ δὲ τῶν ἐμῶν
μάλιστα. συνεύχου δή τι χρηστὸν ἡμῖν, ὡς ἐν οἷς ἡμᾶς εὑρήσεις,
τούτων κοινωνήσεις.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/First1KGreek/blob/master/volume_xml/libanius_10.xml
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