Friday, November 12, 2021
Old Age Reproached
Caecilius, quoted by Cicero, On Old Age 8.25 (tr. E.H. Warmington):
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Ah! By heaven, Old Age, if there's no other mischiefJ.G.F. Powell ad loc.:
which you bring with you when you come—well—this one's quite enough—
that a man by living long sees many things he doesn't want.
edepol, Senectus, si nihil quicquam aliud viti
apportes tecum cum advenis, unum id sat est,
quod diu vivendo multa quae non volt videt.
This recalls Solon's speech to Croesus in Hdt. 1.32.1 [sic, read 1.32.2]: ἐν γὰρ τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ πολλὰ μὲν ἐστὶ ἰδεῖν τὰ μή τις ἐθέλει. The idea in general is commonplace: Eur. Oenomaus fr. 575 N.2 μακρὸς γὰρ αἰὼν μυρίους τίκτει πόνους (another similar line is attributed to Euripides in Stob. 4.50b.35); Men. fr. 555 K., ὀχληρὸς ὁ χρόνος ὁ πολύς; Publil. sent. 212, heu quam multa paenitenda incurrunt vivendo diu; Plaut. Men. 759-60 (of old age) nam res plurimas pessimas, cum advenit, adfert; Favorinus, Περὶ γήρως fr. 9 Barigazzi πολύς τοι μόχθος ἐν μακρῷ χρόνῳ; Hor. AP 169; Xen. Apol. 8; Antiphanes frr. 240b and 255 K.; Bion fr. 62 K.; [Plato], Axiochus 367b; Soph. fr. 863 Ν.2.