Thursday, October 10, 2013
The Most Severe Punishment
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 7.15 (tr. N.G. Wilson):
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When Mytilene ruled the seas it imposed a penalty on allies who rebelled: that their children should not become literate or have a cultural education. They reckoned it the most severe punishment to live in ignorance and have no acquaintance with the Muses.
ἡνίκα τῆς θαλάσσης ἦρξαν Μυτιληναῖοι, τοῖς ἀφισταμένοις τῶν συμμάχων τιμωρίαν ἐκείνην ἐπήρτησαν, γράμματα μὴ μανθάνειν τοὺς παῖδας αὐτῶν μηδὲ μουσικὴν διδάσκεσθαι, πασῶν κολάσεων ἡγησάμενοι βαρυτάτην εἶναι ταύτην, ἐν ἀμουσίᾳ καὶ ἀμαθίᾳ καταβιῶναι.
