Epictetus' Discourses Vol. 2 (Books 3-4) & Encheiridion

BOOK III. CHAPTER I. SECTIONS 3–9

3 ...it would not be unreasonable for someone to declare that each of these things is beautiful precisely when it achieves its highest excellenceoriginal: aretē; in Greek philosophy, this refers to the "virtue" or "functional perfection" of a thing—the quality that makes it good at being what it is according to its own nature. Since every creature has a different nature, I believe each one is beautiful in a different way. 4 Is that not so?

— He agreed.

— Does it not follow, then, that the very thing that makes a dog beautiful would make a horse ugly? And what makes a horse beautiful would make a dog ugly, provided their natures are indeed different?

— So it seems.

5 — Yes, for in my view, what makes a pancratiastoriginal: pagkratiastēn; an athlete specializing in the 'pankration,' an ancient Greek combat sport that combined boxing and wrestling beautiful does not make for a good wrestler, and what’s more, would make a runner look quite ridiculous. Furthermore, is it not true that the same man who is beautiful for the pentathlonoriginal: pentathlian; a five-event contest consisting of leaping, running, wrestling, and throwing the discus and javelin would be very ugly for wrestling?

— That is so, he said.

6 — What then makes a human being beautiful? Is it not the same principle that makes a dog or a horse beautiful within its own kind?

— Just that, he said.

— And what makes a dog beautiful? The presence of a dog’s excellence. What makes a horse beautiful? The presence of a horse’s excellence. What then makes a human being beautiful? Is it not the presence of a human’s excellence? 7 Very well then, young man, if you wish to be beautiful, you must labor to achieve this: the excellence that characterizes a human being.

— And what is that?

— Look at those whom you yourself praise when you judge people without bias. Do you praise the just or the unjust?

— The just.

8 — The temperateoriginal: sōphrona; referring to someone who possesses 'sophrosyne'—moderation, discretion, and self-restraint or the self-indulgent?

— The temperate.

— And the self-controlled or the uncontrolled?

— The self-controlled.

9 — Therefore, by making yourself that kind of person, you can rest assured that you will be making your... The sentence continues on the next page, likely concluding that the student will be making himself truly beautiful.