[28,10] οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἄλειπτος. τοιοῦτος μέντοι ὢν ἀθλίως ἐτελεύτησε, τῶν μὲν πόνων τῆς ἀθλήσεως ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐλθών, τῶν δὲ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τερπνῶν οὐδενὸς πειραθείς. οὕτω δὲ σφόδρα φιλότιμος ὑπῆρχεν ὥστε καὶ ὅτε ἀπέθνησκεν Ἀθηνοδώρου τοῦ παγκρατιαστοῦ, φίλου ὄντος ἀπὸ παιδός, ἐπυνθάνετο πόσαι τινὲς εἶεν ἡμέραι λοιπαὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνος. καὶ ταῦθ´ ἅμα λέγων ἐδάκρυεν ὁ πρεσβύτης. (28,11) Ἀλλὰ σοὶ μέν, ἔφην, συγγνώμη ὑπερλυπουμένῳ διὰ τὸ πάντως προσήκειν τί σοι αὐτοῦ. Μὰ τοὺς θεούς, εἶπεν, οὐδὲν ἔμοιγε· οὔτε γὰρ ἀπὸ γένους μοι ἦν οὔτε ἐγύμναζον αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ τῶν παίδων τινὰ τῶν παγκρατιαστῶν. ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος τοιοῦτος ἦν ὥστε πάντας ἐπ´ αὐτῷ λυπεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐπισταμένους ἐκεῖνον. (28,12) Οὔκουν, ἔφην, ἄθλιον δεῖ καλεῖν αὐτόν· τοὐναντίον γὰρ εὐδαιμονέστατος ἂν εἴη καὶ μακαριώτατος, εἴπερ οἷος λέγεται ἦν· ᾧ καὶ γένους ὑπῆρξε λαμπροῦ τυχεῖν καὶ κάλλους, ἔτι δὲ ἀνδρείας καὶ ἰσχύος καὶ σωφροσύνης, ἃ δὴ μέγιστα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐστι· τό γε μὴν θαυμαστότατον ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, ἀήττητον γενέσθαι οὐ μόνον τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πόνου καὶ καύματος καὶ γαστρὸς καὶ ἀφροδισίων· δεῖ γὰρ πρῶτον τούτοις ἀήττητον εἶναι τὸν μέλλοντα ὑπὸ μηδενὸς τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν λειφθήσεσθαι. (28,13) ἡδονὰς δὲ τίς μείζονας ἥσθη, ὅστις φιλοτιμότατος ὢν ἀεὶ ἐνίκα καὶ θαυμαζόμενος ᾐσθάνετο; καί μοι δοκοῦσι σφόδρα αὐτὸν ἀγαπῆσαι οἱ θεοὶ καὶ μάλιστα τῇ τελευτῇ τιμῆσαι, ὡς ἂν μηδενὸς πειραθείη τῶν χαλεπῶν. ἀνάγκη γὰρ αὐτῷ ἦν προβαίνοντι ἀντὶ μὲν καλλίστου αἰσχροτέρῳ γίγνεσθαι, ἀντὶ δὲ ἰσχυροτάτου ἀσθενεστέρῳ, ἴσως δὲ καὶ λειφθῆναί του. ὅστις δὲ τοῖς μεγίστοις ἀγαθοῖς συναπέρχεται τὰ ἄριστα πράξας, οὗτος εὐδαιμονέστατα τελευτᾷ. εὕροι δ´ ἄν τις καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν τοὺς θεοφιλεῖς ὠκυμόρους. Τίνας, ἔφη, τούτους λέγεις; Τὸν Ἀχιλλέα, εἶπον, καὶ Πάτροκλον καὶ Ἕκτορα καὶ Μέμνονα καὶ Σαρπηδόνα. ἔτι δὲ ἄλλους ὀνομάζοντος ἐμοῦ, Ταῦτα μέν, ἔφη, καλῶς εἶπας εἰς παραμυθίαν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἔγωγε ἐβουλόμην σου ἔτι ἀκούειν· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὥρα γυμνάζειν τὸν παῖδα, καὶ ἀπέρχομαι.

[28,10] he came to a wretched end, after enduring the laborious work of athletics to the uttermost without experiencing any of the joys of life. And he was by nature so exceedingly ambitious that even on his deathbed he inquired of Athenodorus, the pancratiast, who had been his friend from boyhood, just how many days of the athletic meet were left." And as he said this, the old man burst into tears. 11 "Ah!" said I, "it is pardonable in you to grieve so excessively; he must certainly be related to you in some way." "In heaven's name no," he answered, "no relation of mine. For he was neither a blood kinsman of mine, nor was he trained by me; no, I trained one of the boys among the pancratiasts. As for him, he was (p369) such a splendid fellow that all who know him felt grief at his death." 12 "Then," said I,"you have no reason for calling him wretched. On the contrary, he must be most blessed and fortunate if he was the sort of man report makes him. It was his good fortune to come of an illustrious family, to possess beauty, and, in addition, courage, physical strength, and self-control — things that are certainly the greatest blessings. But what was indeed the most surprising thing about a man is, to have remained undefeated not only by his opponents but also by toil and heat and gluttony and sensuality; for the man who is going to prove inferior to none of his opponents must first be undefeated by these things. 13 And as for pleasures, who ever enjoyed greater than he, who, being very ambitious, always won, and being admired, knew that he was admired? And it seems to me that the gods loved him exceedingly and honoured him especially in his death, in order that he might experience none of life's great sorrows. For if his life had been spared, he would inevitably have become more ugly after being most beautiful, weaker after being strongest, and perhaps have been defeated too. But the man who passes away in the midst of the greatest blessings after the finest achievements, that man has the happiest death; and you will find that in ancient times too, those whom the gods loved had a short span of life." (p371) "Whom do you mean?" he asked. 14 "Achilles," I replied, "and Patroclus and Hector and Memnon and Sarpedon," and as I was going on to name still others, he exclaimed: "What you have said is well suited to comfort those who are in mourning, and I wish that I could listen to you longer; but really it is high time for me to be at the training of the boy, and I am off."