The Shepherd, October 2008
When the Pagans praise virtue and condemn vice, let us welcome them
However, when Pagan writers praise virtue and condemn vice, we shall accept those parts of their literature. Consider this: our enjoyment of flowers is limited to their fragrance and colour; but bees possess the power to extract honey from them as well. Likewise, we can extract benefit from Pagan literature, as long as we read it with a purpose that goes beyond merely seeking what is sweet and pleasant. Indeed, this whole analogy of the bees shows us the right way to involve ourselves in the study of Pagan literature. Bees do not approach all flowers equally, nor do they try to carry off everything from each flower. No, they take only so much as is suitable for their activity, and they leave the rest untouched. We too, if we are wise, will take from Pagan literature what is suitable for our needs, and is akin to the truth, but we shall pass by the remainder. When we pick blooms from a rose-bed, we avoid the thorns; so also, when we gather what is useful from Pagan literature, we shall keep ourselves from what is harmful. From the very outset we should examine each branch of knowledge, and adapt it to our own purpose, according to the Doric proverb, “Bring the stone to the measuring line.”4
It is through the practice of virtue that we must enter the life that Christianity holds out to us. Now, the Pagan poets have written a lot in praise of virtue, and so have the historians, and especially the philosophers. So that is the literature we should particularly study. It brings great benefit to the young, if an intimacy and familiarity with virtue are instilled into their minds. Lessons learned in childhood are likely to be indelible. This is only natural, since the tenderness of young minds makes them open to deep impressions. What else do you think Hesiod meant, when he wrote those verses which are on everyone’s lips? Was he not exhorting young men to virtue? “Rough at first and hard to travel, full of profuse sweat and toil, and steep too, is the road that leads to virtue.” For that reason, not everyone climbs the road, because it is so steep. Even if you try to climb it, it is not easy to reach the summit. But once a person has actually got to the top, he can see how smooth and beautiful, how easy and pleasant it is to travel. Then he can also see how much more satisfying it is than the other road - the one that leads to vice: a road that we can start down immediately, because it is right next to us, as Hesiod has also said.
It seems to me that Hesiod has related these things for this very purpose, to urge us on to virtue, to exhort all people to be good, and to keep us from becoming faint and cowardly in the face of the labours that virtue requires, in case we give up before reaching the end. Certainly, therefore, if any Pagan has sung the praise of virtue as Hesiod has, let us welcome his words! They lead to the same end as our own.
Learning from Homer
Consider this too. I have heard this myself from a man who is skilled at understanding the mind of a poet: all Homer’s poetry is a tribute to virtue.5 Everything Homer wrote points essentially to this end. This comes out especially in those verses where he depicts Odysseus as naked after being saved from shipwreck, and the princess Nausicaa shows immediate reverence at the mere sight of him. No shame befell Odysseus for being seen naked, because the poet has depicted him as clothed with virtue in place of garments. On top of this, Odysseus is reckoned worthy of high honour by the rest of the Phaeacians, so that they scorn the luxury in which they live, and all admire and envy the hero. None of them at that moment would have desired anything more than to become Odysseus – even Odysseus just saved from a shipwreck! In these passages, the interpreter of Homer’s mind used to say that the poet was practically shouting out: “O people, you must pay attention to virtue! It swims forth even with a shipwrecked man, who comes naked to the shore, and yet is more honoured for virtue’s sake than the happy Phaeacians.”
That is undoubtedly the way things are. In fact, other possessions belong to their owners no more than by chance, shifting from one to another as in a game of dice. Of all possessions, only virtue cannot be taken away; it stays with a man whether he lives or dies. That is why I think Solon6 said this about the rich: “We will not exchange our virtue for their wealth. Virtue abides always, but wealth changes hands every day.” Likewise Theognis7 says that God (whoever he means by the word) tips the scales for men first this way, then that way, one day to be rich, the next to have nothing.
The excellent fable of Hercules and the two women
Then there is Prodicus, the Sophist from Ceos.8 Somewhere in his writings, he gives out a similar teaching about virtue and vice. We should therefore apply our minds to Prodicus too; he is a man worthy of our acceptance. As far as I can recollect, his story runs something like this (I do not know the exact words, but the gist of what he said - in prose, not poetry - is as follows). When Hercules9 was quite a young man, almost at the same age as you, my children, he was wondering about which road to take: one led through hard labour to virtue, while the other was an easy path. Two women approached him; they were Virtue and Vice. Although they said nothing, the difference between them was immediately obvious from their appearance. One had been dolled up with good looks by cosmetic arts; she glowed with a glamorous sex-appeal. She was leading a procession of pleasures, a whole swarm of them; she pointed to these, promised even more, and so tried to attract Hercules to her side. But the other woman was withered and repulsive; she had an intense look, and she spoke very differently. She promised Hercules nothing self-indulgent or pleasant, but numerous exhausting toils and labours and dangers, through land and sea everywhere. But what was the prize Hercules would win if he committed himself to these labours? He would become a god. So says the story of Prodicus. And it was the second woman - Virtue - that Hercules finally chose to follow.
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