Tuesday, March 19, 2024
No Greater Good
Hegesippus, fragment 2 Kassel and Austin (Poetae Comici Graeci, vol. V, p. 551; tr. S. Douglas Olson):
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When someone demanded that the wise EpicurusCf. Epicurus, fragment 409 Usener (Epicurea, pp. 278-279).
tell him what "the Good" they're
constantly looking for is, he said it was pleasure.
Well done, best and wisest!
There's no greater good than chewing;
the Good's an attribute of pleasure.
Ἐπίκουρος ὁ σοφὸς ἀξιώσαντός τινος
εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅ τι ποτ᾿ ἐστὶ τἀγαθόν,
ὃ διὰ τέλους ζητοῦσιν, εἶπεν ἡδονήν.
εὖ γ᾿, ὦ κράτιστ᾿ ἄνθρωπε καὶ σοφώτατε·
τοῦ γὰρ μασᾶσθαι κρεῖττον οὐκ ἔστ᾿ οὐδὲ ἓν 5
ἀγαθόν· πρόσεστιν ἡδονῇ γὰρ τἀγαθόν.
3 εἶπεν Casaubon: εἰπεῖν codd.
