SVF I: Cleanthes Page scan-181

MORALIA. 131 - --- qui captivos suos, ut commodius veneant, pascit - - multum, u ait. Cleanthes, a. beneficio distat negotiatio. - cf. ib. 11 31,2. mon enim in vicem aliquid sibi reddi voluit. (qui beneficium dat), aut. mon fuit. beneficium, sed negotiatio. 579 Seneca de Benef. VI 10,2. beneficium voluntas nuda non s efficit: sed quod beneficium mon esset, si optimae ac plenissimae volun- lati fortuna defuisset, id aeque beneficium non est, nisi fortunam volun- las antecessit; non enim profuisse ie mihi oportet, ut οὗ hoc tibi obliger, sed ex. destinato profuisse. Cleanthes exemplo eiusmodi utitur: ad quae- rendum, inquit, ,e& accersendum ex Academia Platonem duos pueros 10 misi; alter totam porticum perscrutatus est, alia quoque loca, in quibus illum. inveniri posse sperabat, percucurrit, et. domum non minus lassus quam irritus redit: aller apud proximum circulatorem resedit, et, dum vagus atque erro vernaculis congregatur οἱ ludit, transeuntem Platonem, quem mon quaesierat, invenit. dum, inquit, laudabimus puerum, qui, 15 quantum in se erat, quod iussus est fecit: hunc feliciter inertem casti- gabimus." 680 Seneca de Benef. V 14,1. Cleanthes vehementius agit: licet," inquit, beneficium non sit, quod. accepit, ipse tamen ingratus est, quia non fwit redditurus, etiam si accepisset. 5816 latro est, etiam. antequam 30 manus inquinel: quia ad occidendum iam armatus est et habet. spoliandi atque interficiendi voluntatem. - exercetur et. aperitur. opere nequitia, non . incipit. sacrilegi dant poenas, quamvis memo usque ad deos mamus porrigat." Ex libro περὶ χάριτος. 25 581 Stobaeus Floril. 28, 17 Vol. I p. 621 Hense (28, 14 Mein.) Κλεάνϑης ἔφη τὸν ὀμνύοντα ἤτοι εὐορκεῖν ἢ ἐπιορκεῖν, xa9 ὃν ὄμνυσι χρόνον. ἐὰν μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ὀμνύῃ ὡς ἐπιτελέσων τὰ κατὰ τὸν ὅρκον, εὐορκεῖν, ἐὰν δὲ πρόϑεσιν ἔχων μὴ ἐπιτελεῖν, ἐπιορκεῖν. 582 Seneca Epist. 94,4. Cleanthes utilem quidem iudicat et hanc so ᾿ partem (scil. philosophiae, quae dat propria cuique personae praecepta, nec im wuniersum componit hominem, sed marito suadet quomodo se gerat adversus wxorem, patri quomodo educet liberos, domino quomodo servos regat), sed mbecillam misi ab universo fluit, misi decreta ipsa philosophiae et capita cognovit. | 35 12 invenire N'!G, wnde posse(se) Gertz. 13 rediit RGP. 14 error plerique codices, erroneus Guelferbyt. 28 Post ,incipit^ in omnibus libris secuntur verba: ,ipsum quod accepit, beneficium non erat, sed vocabatur", quae del. Feldmann, alio transposuit Gertz. ^ 29 εὐορκεῖν] Cf. Vol. II p. 63, 27 (Chrys. fr. log. n. 197).

MORALIA. 131

... one who feeds his captives so that they may sell more profitably. As Cleanthes says, commerce differs greatly from a benefit. Compare the same work, II 31, 2: for the man who gives a benefit did not wish something to be returned to himself in exchange; otherwise it was not a benefit but commerce.

679 Seneca, On Benefits VI 10, 2. Bare intention does not constitute a benefit. Yet just as something would not cease to be a benefit if fortune failed the best and fullest intention, so too it is not a benefit unless intention has preceded fortune. For it is not enough that I have been benefited for me to be indebted to you for it; I must have been benefited by deliberate purpose. Cleanthes uses an example of this kind: “I sent two slaves,” he says, “to seek Plato and summon him from the Academy. One searched the entire colonnade and also ran through other places where he hoped Plato might be found, and returned home as weary as he was unsuccessful. The other sat down beside the nearest street performer and, while idly wandering about and playing with the assembled household slaves, found Plato passing by, though he had not been looking for him. We shall praise,” he says, “the slave who did what he was ordered to the best of his ability; we shall punish the one who was fortunately idle.”

680 Seneca, On Benefits V 14, 1. Cleanthes argues more forcefully: “Although what he received was not a benefit,” he says, “he is nevertheless ungrateful, because he would not have returned it even if he had received one.”

681 A man is a robber even before he stains his hands, because he is already armed to kill and possesses the intention to despoil and murder. Wickedness is exercised and revealed by the deed; it does not begin with it. The sacrilegious pay the penalty even though no one stretches his hands as far as the gods. From the book On Gratitude.

681 Stobaeus, Florilegium 28, 17, vol. I, p. 621 Hense (28, 14 Mein.). Cleanthes said that a man taking an oath is either keeping it or perjuring himself at the very time when he swears. For if he swears with the intention of fulfilling the terms of the oath, he is keeping it; but if he intends not to fulfill them, he is perjuring himself.

682 Seneca, Letters 94, 4. Cleanthes judges this part of philosophy useful too, namely the part that gives precepts proper to each person and does not shape the human being generally, but advises a husband how to conduct himself toward his wife, a father how to raise his children, and a master how to govern his slaves. Yet he considers it feeble unless it flows from the whole, unless it has grasped the actual doctrines and chief principles of philosophy.

Line 12: N¹G read invenire; Gertz conjectures unde posse(se). Line 13: RGP read rediit. Line 14: most manuscripts read error; the Wolfenbüttel manuscript reads erroneus. Line 28: After incipit, all manuscripts continue with the words “the very thing he received was not a benefit, but was called one”; Feldmann deleted these words, while Gertz transposed them elsewhere. Line 29, εὐορκεῖν: compare vol. II, p. 63, 27 (Chrysippus, logical fragment no. 197).

MORALE, 131

[...] celui qui nourrit ses captifs afin de les vendre plus avantageusement. « Le commerce, dit Cléanthe, est fort éloigné du bienfait. » Cf. ibid. II 31,2. Car celui qui donne un bienfait n’a pas voulu qu’on lui rendît quelque chose en retour ; sinon ce n’était pas un bienfait, mais un commerce.

679 Sénèque, De benef. VI 10,2. La seule volonté ne produit pas le bienfait ; mais ce qui n’aurait pas été un bienfait si la fortune avait manqué à la volonté la meilleure et la plus entière n’est pas davantage un bienfait si la volonté n’a pas précédé la fortune. Il ne faut pas seulement que tu m’aies été utile pour que je t’en sois redevable, mais que tu aies eu l’intention de l’être. Cléanthe emploie un exemple de ce genre : « Pour chercher Platon et le faire venir de l’Académie, dit-il, j’ai envoyé deux jeunes esclaves. L’un a fouillé tout le portique et parcouru aussi les autres endroits où il espérait pouvoir le trouver ; il est revenu à la maison aussi fatigué que bredouille. L’autre s’est assis auprès du premier bateleur venu et, tandis que, vagabond et flâneur, il se mêlait aux petits esclaves et jouait avec eux, il a trouvé Platon qui passait, sans l’avoir cherché. Nous louerons, dit-il, l’esclave qui a fait, autant qu’il dépendait de lui, ce qu’on lui avait ordonné ; nous châtierons celui-ci, heureusement paresseux. »

680 Sénèque, De benef. V 14,1. Cléanthe pousse plus loin : « Bien que ce qu’il a reçu ne soit pas un bienfait, dit-il, il n’en est pas moins ingrat, parce qu’il n’aurait pas eu l’intention de le rendre, même s’il l’avait reçu. »

681 Il est brigand avant même d’avoir souillé ses mains, puisqu’il est déjà armé pour tuer et possède la volonté de dépouiller et de mettre à mort. La perversité s’exerce et se révèle dans l’acte, mais elle ne commence pas avec lui. Les sacrilèges sont punis, bien que personne ne puisse porter la main jusqu’aux dieux.

Du livre Sur la reconnaissance.

681 Stobée, Floril. 28,17, vol. I, p. 621 Hense (28,14 Mein.). Cléanthe disait que celui qui prête serment respecte son serment ou se parjure au moment même où il jure. S’il jure avec l’intention d’accomplir ce que prescrit le serment, il respecte son serment ; mais s’il a l’intention de ne pas l’accomplir, il se parjure.

682 Sénèque, Epist. 94,4. Cléanthe juge utile cette partie aussi [de la philosophie, celle qui donne des préceptes propres à chaque rôle et ne forme pas l’homme en général, mais conseille au mari comment se conduire envers son épouse, au père comment élever ses enfants, au maître comment gouverner ses esclaves], mais il la juge faible si elle ne découle pas de l’ensemble, si elle n’a pas connu les doctrines mêmes et les principes fondamentaux de la philosophie.

12 invenire N¹G, unde posse(se), Gertz. 13 rediit RGP. 14 error, la plupart des manuscrits ; erroneus, Guelferbyt. 28 Après incipit, tous les manuscrits portent les mots « ipsum quod accepit, beneficium non erat, sed vocabatur », supprimés par Feldmann et transposés ailleurs par Gertz. 29 εὐορκεῖν : cf. vol. II, p. 63,27 (Chrysippe, fr. log. no 197).