Letter 596
Libanius→Ἱερακίῳ|libanius
To Hieracius. (357)
Your daughter's son is everything a grandfather could wish for: a lover of learning, no lover of physical pleasures, free from insolence, a friend of moderation, pleasing to me, devoted to his companions.
Knowing this about him, I could not keep silent. For I know how to censure young men who stray beyond decorum, and I know how to praise those who remain in good order.
Finding this Diophantus to be one of those who do what they should, I thought it unjust not to delight his grandfather's ears as well.
Ἱερακίῳ. (357)
Ὁ τῆς παιδός σου παῖς τοιοῦτός ἐστιν, οἷον εὔξαιτο ἂν
ὁ πάππος, λόγων ἐραστής, σωμάτων οὔτι ἐραστής, θράσους
ἀφεστηκώς, ἐπιεικείᾳ φίλος, ἀρέσκων ἐμοί, τοὺς ἑταίρους
ἐξημμένος.
ταῦτα αὐτῷ συνειδὼς σιγᾶν οὐκ εἶχον. ἐγὼ
γὰρ οἶδα μὲν κατηγορῆσαι νέων ἔξω κόσμου φερομένων, οἴδα
δὲ ἐπαινέσαι μένοντας έν τῷ τεταγμένῳ.
τὸν οὖν Διόφαν-
τον τοῦτον ἕνα τῶν ἃ χρὴ ποιούντων εὑρὼν ἡγησάμην ἄδι-
κον μὴ καὶ τῷ πάππῳ τὴν ἀκοὴν εὐφρᾶναι.
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To Hieracius. (357)
Your daughter's son is everything a grandfather could wish for: a lover of learning, no lover of physical pleasures, free from insolence, a friend of moderation, pleasing to me, devoted to his companions.
Knowing this about him, I could not keep silent. For I know how to censure young men who stray beyond decorum, and I know how to praise those who remain in good order.
Finding this Diophantus to be one of those who do what they should, I thought it unjust not to delight his grandfather's ears as well.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.