[14,0] ΠΕΡΙ ΔΟΥΛΕΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑΣ Α. (14,1) Οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐπιθυμοῦσι μὲν ἐλεύθεροι εἶναι μάλιστα πάντων, καί φασι τὴν ἐλευθερίαν μέγιστον τῶν ἀγαθῶν, τὴν δὲ δουλείαν αἴσχιστον καὶ δυστυχέστατον ὑπάρχειν, αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο ὅ,τι ἐστὶ τὸ ἐλεύθερον εἶναι ἢ ὅ,τι τὸ δουλεύειν, οὐκ ἴσασιν. καὶ τοίνυν οὐδὲ ποιοῦσιν οὐδέν, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, ὅπως τὸ μὲν αἰσχρὸν καὶ χαλεπὸν ἐκφεύξονται, τὴν δουλείαν, ὃ δὲ δοκεῖ αὐτοῖς πολλοῦ ἄξιον εἶναι, κτήσονται, τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ταῦτα πράττουσιν ἐξ ὧν ἀνάγκη τοὺς ἐπιτηδεύοντας διατελεῖν δουλεύοντας τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον καὶ μηδεπώποτε ἐλευθερίας ἐπιτυγχάνειν. (14,2) πλὴν τούτους οὐκ ἄξιον ἴσως θαυμάσαι ὅτι οὔτε ἑλεῖν οὔτε φυλάξασθαι δύνανται ὃ τυγχάνουσιν ἀγνοοῦντες. εἰ γοῦν ἐτύγχανον ἀγνοοῦντες πρόβατον καὶ λύκον ὅ,τι ἐστὶν ἑκάτερον αὐτοῖν, ὅμως δὲ ἡγοῦντο τὸ μὲν ὠφέλιμον καὶ κτήσασθαι ἀγαθόν, τὸ δὲ βλαβερὸν καὶ ἀσύμφορον, οὐκ ἂν ἦν θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν, εἰ τὸ μὲν πρόβατον ἐφοβοῦντο καὶ ἔφευγον ἐνίοτε ὡς λύκον, τὸν δὲ λύκον προσίεντο καὶ ὑπέμενον, νομίσαντες πρόβατον· ἡ γὰρ ἄγνοια τοιαῦτα ἐργάζεται τοὺς οὐκ εἰδότας καὶ ἀναγκάζει τἀναντία φεύγειν καὶ διώκειν ὧν βούλονται καὶ τῶν συμφερόντων. (14,3) φέρε δὴ σκεψώμεθα εἰ ἄρα τι οἱ πολλοὶ ἐπίστανται περὶ ἐλευθερίας καὶ δουλείας σαφές. ἴσως γάρ τοι μάτην αὐτοὺς αἰτιώμεθα, οἱ δὲ παντὸς μᾶλλον ταῦτα ἴσασιν. εἰ οὖν ἔροιτό τις αὐτοὺς ὅ,τι ἐστὶ τὸ ἐλεύθερον εἶναι, φαῖεν ἂν ἴσως τὸ μηδενὸς ὑπήκοον, ἀλλὰ πράττειν ἁπλῶς τὰ δοκοῦντα ἑαυτῷ. (14,4) τὸν δὲ τοῦτο ἀποκρινάμενον ἐάν τις ἐπερωτᾷ, εἰ ἐν χορῷ χορευτὴν ὄντα μὴ προσέχειν τῷ κορυφαίῳ μηδὲ ὑπήκοον εἶναι αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ´ ᾄδειν τε καὶ ἀπᾴδειν, ὅπως ἂν αὐτῷ ἐπίῃ, τοῦτο καλὸν οἴεται εἶναι καὶ ἐλευθέριον, τὸ δὲ ἐναντίον τούτου, τὸ προσέχειν καὶ πείθεσθαι τῷ ἡγεμόνι τοῦ χοροῦ, καὶ τότε ἄρχεσθαι καὶ παύεσθαι ᾄδοντα ὁπόταν ἐκεῖνος κελεύσῃ, αἰσχρὸν εἶναι καὶ δουλοπρεπές, οὐκ ἂν οἶμαι ὁμολογοῖ. (14,5) οὐδὲ εἴ τις ἐρωτήσειε, πλέοντα μὴ φροντίζειν τοῦ κυβερνήτου μηδὲ ποιεῖν ἅττ´ ἂν ἐκεῖνος εἴπῃ, εἰ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐλευθέριον οἴοιτο· οἷον κελεύσαντος καθῆσθαι ἑστάναι ἐν τῇ νηί, ἂν αὐτῷ {μὴ} ἐπίῃ, κἂν κελεύσῃ ἀντλεῖν ποτε ἢ συνέλκειν τὰ ἱστία, μήτ´ ἀντλῆσαι μήθ´ ἅψασθαι τῶν κάλων, οὐδὲ τοῦτον εἴποι ἂν ἐλεύθερον οὐδὲ ζηλωτόν, ὅτι πράττει τὰ δοκοῦντα αὑτῷ. (14,6) καὶ μὴν τούς γε στρατιώτας οὐκ ἂν φαίη δούλους εἶναι, διότι ὑπήκοοί εἰσι τοῦ στρατηγοῦ, καὶ τότε ἀνίστανται ὁπόταν ἐκεῖνος προστάξῃ, καὶ σῖτον αἱροῦνται καὶ ὅπλα λαμβάνουσι καὶ παρατάττονται καὶ ἐπίασι καὶ ἀναχωροῦσιν οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ κελεύσαντος· οὐδέ γε τοὺς κάμνοντας, ὅτι πείθονται τοῖς ἰατροῖς, οὐ διὰ τοῦτο φήσουσι δούλους εἶναι· (14,7) καίτοι οὐ σμικρά γε οὐδὲ ῥᾴδια πείθονται αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πεινῆν καὶ διψῆν ἐνίοτε προστάττουσι· κἂν δόξῃ ποτὲ τῷ ἰατρῷ τὸν κάμνοντα δῆσαι, παραχρῆμα ἐδέθη, κἂν τεμεῖν ἢ καῦσαι, καυθήσεται καὶ τμηθήσεται ἐφ´ ὅσον ἂν ἐκείνῳ δοκῇ· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ πείθηται, πάντες οἱ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τῷ ἰατρῷ συναγωνιοῦνται, οὐ μόνον οἱ ἐλεύθεροι, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις οἱ τοῦ νοσοῦντος οἰκέται αὐτοὶ καταδοῦσι τὸν δεσπότην, καὶ τὸ πῦρ κομίζουσιν, ὅπως καυθήσεται, καὶ τἄλλα ὑπηρετοῦσιν. (14,8) μὴ οὖν οὐ φῂς ἐλεύθερον εἶναι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, ὅτι πολλὰ καὶ ἀηδῆ ἑτέρου κελεύοντος ὑπομένει; οὐ γὰρ δήπου τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα Δαρεῖον οὐκ ἂν ἔφης ἐλεύθερον εἶναι, ἐπειδὴ καταπεσὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἵππου ἐν κυνηγεσίοις, τοῦ ἀστραγάλου ἐκχωρήσαντος, ὑπήκουε τοῖς ἰατροῖς ἕλκουσι καὶ στρεβλοῦσιν αὐτοῦ τὸν πόδα, ὅπως καταστήσεται τὸ ἄρθρον, καὶ ταῦτα Αἰγυπτίοις ἀνθρώποις· οὐδ´ αὖ Ξέρξην, ὁπηνίκα ἀναχωρῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ χειμαζόμενος ἐν τῇ νηὶ πάντα ἐπείθετο τῷ κυβερνήτῃ καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἐκείνου γνώμην οὐκ ἐπέτρεπεν αὑτῷ οὐδὲ νεῦσαι οὐδὲ μεταβῆναι. οὔκουν τὸ μηδενὸς ἀνθρώπων ὑπακούειν οὐδὲ τὸ πράττειν ὅ,τι ἄν τις ἐθέλῃ ἐλευθερίαν ἔτι φήσουσιν εἶναι. (14,9) ἀλλ´ ἴσως ἐροῦσιν ὅτι οὗτοι μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ αὑτῶν συμφέροντι ὑπακούουσιν, {ὡς} οἱ πλέοντες τῷ κυβερνήτῃ καὶ οἱ στρατιῶται τῷ στρατηγῷ, καὶ οἱ κάμνοντες δὲ τῷ ἰατρῷ διὰ τοῦτο πείθονται. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλ´ ἄττα προστάττουσιν οὗτοι ἢ τὰ συμφέροντα αὐτοῖς. οἱ δέ γε δεσπόται τοῖς δούλοις οὐ ταῦτα ἐπιτάττουσιν ἃ ἐκείνοις συνοίσει, ἀλλ´ ὅπερ αὑτοῖς οἴονται λυσιτελεῖν.

[14,0] The Fourteenth Discourse: On Slavery and Freedom. (14,1) 1 Men desire above all things to be free and say that freedom is the greatest of blessings, while slavery is the most shameful and wretched of states; and yet they have no knowledge of the essential nature of this freedom and this slavery of which they speak. And, what is more, they do practically nothing whatever to escape the shameful and grievous thing, which is slavery, and to gain what they consider to be valuable, that is, freedom; but on the contrary, they do the things which result in their continuing in slavery all their lives and never attaining to freedom. 2 However, we should perhaps feel no surprise that these men are unable either to get or to avoid the thing of which they happen to be ignorant. For instance, if they happened to be ignorant as to what a sheep and a wolf are respectively, but nevertheless thought that the one was profitable and good to get while the other was harmful and unprofitable, it would not be at all surprising if they feared the sheep and fled from it at times as though it were a wolf, but let the wolf approach and awaited its coming, thinking to be a sheep. For ignorance has this effect upon men who lack knowledge, and forces them to flee from and to pursue the opposite of what they desire to flee from and to pursue, and of what would be to their advantage. (p127) 3 Come then, let us consider whether the majority of men really have any clear knowledge about freedom and slavery. For it is quite possible that we are criticizing them without good reason, and that they know well what these are. Now if one were to ask statement what the nature of freedom is, they would say, perhaps, that it consists in being subject to no one and acting simply in accordance with one's own judgement. 4 But if one were to go on and ask the man who made this answer whether he thought it a fine thing, and worthy of a free man, that when he is a member of a chorus he should not pay attention to the leader nor be subject to him, but should sing in tune or out of tune just as he took the notion, and whether he thought the opposite course, namely, to pay attention and obey the director of the chorus and to begin and to stop singing only at his command, was shameful and slavish, I do not think that he would agree. 5 And again, if one were to ask whether he thought it was characteristic of a free man, when a passenger on board a ship, to pay no attention to the captain and refuse to carry out whatever orders he should give; for instance, to stand erect in the ship when ordered to sit down, simply if he took a notion to do so; and if he were on occasion ordered to bale or help hoist the sails, neither to bale nor lay hold of the ropes; this man, too, he would not call free or enviable, because he does what seems best to himself. 6 And surely one would not call soldiers slaves because they are subject to their general's orders and spring to their feet the moment he gives a command, and partake of food and lay hold of their weapons and fall in and advance and retire only at their general's (p129) order. Neither will they call persons who are sick slaves because they must obey their physicians. 7 And yet the orders which they obey are neither insignificant nor easy to carry out, but at times they order them to do without both food and drink; and if the physician decides at any time to bind the patient, he is straightway bound; and if he decides to use the knife or cautery, the patient will be burned and cut to the extent that the physician decides is best. And if the sick man refuses to obey, all the household will help the physician to cope with him, and not the free alone, but often the sick man's domestics themselves bind their master and fetch the fire that he may suffer cautery, and give any other assistance. 8 You do not say, do you, that this man is not free because he endures many unpleasant things at another's command? Surely you would not have denied, for instance, that Darius, the King of the Persians, was a free man when, after suffering a fall from his horse in a hunt and dislocating his ankle, he obeyed the surgeons while they pulled and twisted his foot in order to set the joint, and that too although they were Egyptians. Nor, to take another instance, would you have denied that Xerxes was a free man, when on his retreat from Greece a storm arose and he while aboard the ship obeyed the captain in everything and would not permit himself against the captain's judgement even to nod or to change his position. Therefore they will not persist in maintaining that rendering obedience to no man or doing whatever one likes constitutes freedom. 9 But perhaps they will counter by saying that these men obey for their own advantage, just as people (p131) on shipboard obey the captain and soldiers their general, and that the sick for this reason give heed to their physician, that they prescribe nothing but what is for the advantage of their patients. But masters, they will assert, do not order their slaves to do what will benefit them, but what they think will be of profit to themselves.