XXXV. Now, among many philosophers, this question has been investigated with no slight degree of pains, and the question is proposed in this manner, whether the wise man will get drunk? Therefore, to get drunk is a matter * Hosea xiv. 9. f Genesis ix. 20.
ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH. 445 of a twofold nature, one part of it being equivalent to being overcome with wine; the other, to behaving foolishly in one's eups. But of those who have dealt with this proposition, some have said that the wise man never takes too much un- mixed wine, and never behaves foolishly; for that the one is an error, and that the other is an efficient cause of error, and that both the one and the other is inconsistent with good conduct. Others again have asserted, that to be overcome with wine is appropriate even to a virtuous man, but that to behave foolishly is inconsistent with his character. For that the wisdom which is in him is sufficient to resist those things which attempt to do him injury, and to destroy the innova- tions which they seek to produce in the soul, and that wis- dom is endued with a power capable of extinguishing the passions, whether they be fanned by the impetuous gale of furious love, or kindled by abundant and heating wine, and that owing to this power it will always be superior to them.
Since also of those who dive beneath a deep river or under the sea, some are destroyed from being ignorant of the art of swimming, but others who are possessed of this knowledge are very speedily saved; and, indeed, a great quantity of wine, inundating the soul like a torrent, sometimes weighs it down and precipitates it to the lowest depth of ignorance, but at other times is unable to part it, because it is supported and borne aloft by saving instruction.
Those again who have not sufficiently observed the great- ness of this excess with respect to passion in the wise man, have pressed him down, when he was applying himself to the study of sublime things, from heaven to earth, as those men do who are seeking to catch birds, in order to involve him in disasters similar to their own; but others, seeing the great height of his virtue, have said that a wise man, if he indulges in wine beyond the bounds of moderation, will by all means cease to be master of himself, and will go astray, and will not only let his hands droop out of weakness, like those ath- letes do who are defeated, but will also droop his neck and his head, and stumble, and fall down, coming to the ground with his whole body.
XXXVI. Having then learnt this beforehand, the wise man will never of his own accord think fit to enter upon a 446 PHILO JUDJEUS.
contest of hard drinking, unless there were great things at stake, such as the safety of his country, or the honour of his parents, or the preservation of his children, or of his nearest relations, or in short, the success and prosperity of some im- portant public or private interest. For he would not take a deadly poison unless the occasion compelled him very strongly to depart from life, as it might urge him to depart from his country. And at all events it is plain, that un- mixed wine is a poison, which is the cause, if not of death, at least of madness, and why may we not pronounce mad- ness to be death, since by it the most important thing in us dies, namely, the mind? But it appears to me that a man would without the slightest hesitation choose (if a choice was permitted him), that death which separates and disunites the soul and the body as a lesser evil in preference to that greater one — the alienation of the mind.
On this account, forsooth, men of old time called skill in the art of making wine madness (/uuzivopivrf), and called the Bacchse who were carried away under the influence of wine, mad women (Maivddsg), since wine is the cause of madness and folly to those who indulge in it insatiably.
XXXVII. Such then are, as it were, the prefaces of this discussion or investigation. Let us now go on to the other parts of this question which is divided into two heads as is natural; the one view affirming that the wise man will occa- sionally be drunk, and the other, on the contrary, insisting that he will not get drunk. Now it is well to ruminate the arguments which are adduced in support of the former view, having first of all taken our beginning from this point, that of things some are homonymous, and others are only synony- mous. And it is admitted that the being homonymous and the being synonymous are two opposite things, because homonymy is predicated of many subjects which have one common name; and synonymy is the application of many different names to one subject. For instance, the name of dog is beyond all question a homonymy, inasmuch as it com- prehends many dissimilar things which are signified by that appellation. For there is a terrestrial barking animal called a dog; there is also a marine monster with the same name; there is also the star in heaven, which the poets call the autumnal star, because it rises at the beginning of autumn, ABOUT THE PLANTING OP NOAH. 447 for the sake of ripening the fruits and bringing them to per- fection. Moreover, there were the philosophers who came from the cynic school, Aristippus and Diogenes; and others too who chose to practise the same mode of life, an incal- culable number of men.
Again there are other appellations which differ from one another, but still signify but one thing, as a shaft, a bolt, an arrow; for all these terms are applied to the weapon which is sent from the string of the bow against the mark; and again there are the words, oar, scull, and blade, to express the instrument used for propelling a vessel, of equal power with sails; for whenever a ship, by reason of a calm or of un- favourable winds cannot use its sails, then those, whose busi- ness it is, sitting down as rowers, and stretching out their oars on each side like wings, compel it to proceed onwards as if borne on wings; and so the vessel being borne on the top of the waves, and rather running over them than cutting through them, hastens along with a speedy voyage, and speedily anchors in a safe harbour. And again, a staff, and a stick, and a cane, are all different appellations of one sub- ject with which we can strike, or support one's self steadily, and on which one can lean, and do many other things besides. And we have enumerated these instances not for the purpose of making a long story, but in order that the matter under in- vestigation may be more clearly understood.
XXXVIII. The ancients called unmixed wine ohog, and also pttu. At all events, this latter name is used in very many passages of poetry, so that if those names are accounted synonymous which are applied to one subject, then oJvog and pedvo-ftoi, and other words derived from them will differ in nothing but sound, and the being overcome with wine (oivoxJcdai), and the being drunk (fiidvsn), are one and the same thing. And both these words intimate a taking of too much wine, which nevertheless there may be many reasons for a good man not turning away from; and if he be overcome with wine he will also be drunk, being nevertheless not made in any respect the worse by his drunkenness, but remaining the same as if he had simply been well filled with wine.
"We have now detailed one of the opinions concerning a wise man getting drunk: and the second is as follows: — 448 PHILO JUDjEUS.
The men of the present day, with the exception of a amall portion of them, do not choose in any way to resemble the men of old times; but both in mind and action they show that they are in no respect agreed with them, but that they differ from them widely. Tor they have made such a revolution as to bring reasons which were sound and healthy into incurable decay and destruction. And in the place of a vigorous and athletic habit, they have brought almost every thing into a state of disease; and in the place of a full, and strong, and sinewy body, they have rendered it weak, inducing an unnatural, and swollen, and sickly habit, filling it up with empty wind alone, which soon bursts by reason of the want of any power to keep it to- gether, when it is extended in the greatest degree. And the actions of created beings, which are most worthy of atten- tion, and which were, as one may say, masculine actions, those also they have made disgraceful feminine instead, and discreditable instead of honourable, so that there are very few persons found, either in deed or in words, inclined to an imitation of the ancient manners.
Therefore, the poets and historians who lived in their time, and all other men who devoted themselves to literary studies, did not confine themselves to soothing and tick- ling the ears with rhythmical sounds, but, if there was any- thing broken, so to say, and relaxed in the mind, they roused it up, and whatever there was in it suited to their purpose they improved by initiation into natural philosophy and virtue. But the cooks and confectioners of our time, and those persons who are only artists of superfluous luxury, in the arts of dyeing and making perfumes, are always building up the outward senses with some new colour, or shape, or scent, or flavour, so as utterly to destroy the most important part of us, the mind.
XXXIX. And why do I mention these things? In order to show that the men of the present day do not use wine now as the ancients did. For now they drink eagerly without once taking breath, till the body and soul are both wholly relaxed, and they keep on bidding their cup-bearers to bring more wine, and are angry with them if they delay while they are cooling what is called by them the hot drink; and in a vile imitation of the gymnastic contests, they insti- ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH. 449 tute a contest among their fellow revellers as to who can drink most wine, in which they do many glorious things to one another, biting one another's ears and noses, and the tips of the fingers of their hands, and any other parts of the body they can get at. Now, these are the contests of revelry while in youth and vigour, and, as one may say, in its prime; but the others are the deeds of that ancient and more old-fashioned sort. For the men of old time began every good action with perfect sacrifices, thinking that in that way the result would be most favourable to them; and even if the occasion required especial promptitude in action, still they did not begin till they had offered prayers and sacrifices. But in all cases waited, thinking that haste was not in every case better than slowness. For speed, which is not accompanied with forethought, is injurious, but slowness, when founded on good hope, is advantageous.
Knowing, therefore, that the use and enjoyment of wine require much care, they did not drink unmixed wine either in great quantities or at all times, but only in moderation and on fitting occasions. For first, of all, they offered up prayers and instituted sacrifices, and then, having propitiated the deity, and having purified their bodies and souls, the former with baths, and the latter with the waters of laws and of right instruction, they then turned their cheerful and rejoicing countenances to more luxurious food, very often not returning home but, walking about in the temples in which they sacrificed, in order that, by keeping in mind their sacrifices, and having a due respect for the place, they might enjoy what should be really a most sacred feast, doing no wrong either in word or deed. And this, indeed, is what they say the word pidvav, to be drunk, derives its name from; because, ptra, rb dveiv (after sacrificing) it was the custom of the men of old to drink great quantities of wine.
And to whom could the manner of using unmixed wine described above be more appropriate than to wise men to whom the work to be done before drinking, namely, sacrificing, is so appropriate? For one may almost say that no bad man can really perform sacrifices, not even if he were to bring the altar ten thousand oxen every day without intermission; for his most important and indispensable offering, namely his mind, is polluted. And it is impious for 450 PHILO JUD/EUS.
polluted things to come near to the altar. This, now, is the second point of view in which this question may be regarded, by which we have shown that it is not inconsistent with the character of the wise man to get drunk.
XL. There is a third way of looking at this subject, which depends chiefly on the exceeding plausibility of an argument derived from etymology. For some persons think that drunkenness (j^'idn) derives its name not merely from the fact of its being admitted after sacrifice, but also because it is the cause of relaxation (fisdsaig) to the soul. But the reason of foolish men is relaxed so as to get strength for many sins; while that of those inclined to be sensible is relaxed, so as to enjoy freedom from care, and cheerfulness, and lightness of heart. For the wise man, when he is intoxicated, becomes more good-humoured than when he is sober; so that in this respect we should not be at all wrong in saying that he may get drunk. And besides all this, we must likewise add, that we are not speaking of a stern- looking and sordid kind of wisdom, contracted by profound thought and ill-humour; but, on the other hand, of that wisdom which wears a tranquil and cheerful appearance, being full of joy and happiness, by which men have often been led on to sport and divert themselves in no inelegant manner, indulging in amusements suitable to their dignified and earnest character, just as in a well-tuned lyre one may have a combination uniting, by means of opposite sounds, in one melodious harmony.
At all events, according to the most holy Moses, the end of all wisdom is amusement and mirth, not such mirth as is pursued by foolish people, uncombined with any prudence, but such as is admitted even by those who are already grey, not only through old age alone, but also through deep think- ing. Do you not see that he speaks of the man who has drunk deeply of that wisdom which is to be derived from a man's own hearing, and learning, and study; not as one who partakes of mirth, but who is actually mirth in itself? This is Isaac, for the name Isaac being interpreted means "laugh- ter," with whose character it is very consistent that he should have been sporting with "perseverance," which the Hebrews call Eebekkah.
XLI. But it ia not lawful for a private individual to ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH. 451 behold the divine instruction of the soul, but the king mav behold it, as one with whom wisdom has dwelt tor a very lon» time, if we may not rather say that it dwells with him all his life. His name is Abimelech, who, looking out through the window with the well-opened and radiant eye of the mind, saw Isaac sporting with Kebekkak his wife. For what employ- ment is more suitable for a wise man than to be sporting, and rejoicing, and diverting himself with perseverance in good things? From which it is plain that he will become intoxicated, since intoxication contributes to good morals, and also produces relaxation and advantage; for unmixed wine seems to increase and render more intense all the natural qualities, whether they be good or the contrary, as many other things do too. For money is to a good man a cause of good things, and to a bad man, as some one has said, it is a cause of bad things. And again, high rank makes the wickedness of a fool more conspicuous, but it renders the virtue of the just man more glorious.
So also unmixed wine, being poured forth in abundance, makes the man who is the slave of his passions, still more subservient to them, but it renders him who has them under control more manageable and amiable. Who, indeed, is there who does not know that of two opposite things, when one kind is suitable to most people, the other kind must of necessity be suited to some? As, for instance, white and black are two opposite colours: if white is suitable both to good and to bad things, then black must also be necessarily equally suitable to both, and not to one of the two alone. And, again, to be sober and to be drunk are two opposite things; accordingly, both bad men and good, as the ancient proverb says, partake of sobriety; therefore, also, drunken- ness is suitable to both classes. Therefore the virtuous man will get drunk without losing any of his virtue by it.
XLII. But if, like persons before a court of justice, one must bring forward not only such proofs as are in accordance with the rules of art, but those too which have no connection with art, one of which is proof by testimony, we will then pro- duce many sons of physicians and philosophers of high repute to give evidence, not by words alone, but also by writings. For they have left behind ten thousand commentaries entitled treatises on drunkenness; in which they consider ft ft 2 452 PHILO JUD^EUS.
nothing beyond the bare use of wine, without pursuing any investigation with respect to those who are accustomed to behave foolishly in their cups, and in fact omitting every thing which has reference to conduct under the influence of wine; so that it is very plainly confessed in their writings that drunkenness is the same as drinking wine freely. And to drink a superabundant quantity of wine on proper occa- sions is not unsuitable to a wise man; therefore we shall not be wrong if we say that a wise man may get drunk.
But since no one is ever inscribed on the rolls as a con- queror if he has contended by himself alone, for if he does this he appears only to be fighting with a shadow, and very naturally too; it follows that we must also produce the arguments of those who contend for the opposite side of the question, that by this means a most just judgment may be formed, and that the other side of the question may not be decided against through default. And the first and the most powerful argument is this: if no one in his senses would entrust a secret which he wished to be kept to a drunken man, then a good and wise man will not get drunk. But before we collect all the other arguments in their order, it may be better to reply to each objection separately, in order that we may not appear to be too prolix, and consequently to be troublesome.
Some one then will say in opposition that, according to the argument that has been advanced, the wise man must never have a bilious attack, and never go to sleep, and above all must never die. But he to whom some of these things happens is either an inanimate being or a divine one; but beyond all question he is not a man at all. Imitating this perversion of the arguments, one may apply it equally to a bilious man, or to a sleeping man, or to a dying man; for no one in his senses would tell a secret to a man in any 01 these conditions, but it would be reasonable for him to tell it to a wise man, for the wise man is never bilious, never goes to sleep, and never dies.
A TREATISE ON DRUNKENNESS.
I. What has been said by otber philosophers about drunk- enness we have to the best of our ability recorded in the treatise before this present one. But now let us consider what is the opinion of the lawgiver, who was in all respects great and wise, on this subject; for in many places of his history of the giving of the law he mentions wine, and the plant which produces wine, namely the vine; and he commands somepersonsto drink it, but some he does not permit to do so; and at times he gives contrary directions to the same people, ordering them sometimes to drink and some times to abstain. These therefore are the persons who have taken the great vow, to whom it is expressly forbidden to drink unmixed wine, being the priests who are engaged in offering sacrifices. But those who drink wine are numerous beyond all calculation, and among them are all those who are especially praised by the lawgiver for their virtue. But before we begin to talk of these subjects we will examine with accuracy some points that concern this argument, and, as I at least imagine they are these.
II. Moses looks upon an unmixed wine as a symbol not of one thing only but of many, namely of trifling, and playing the fool, and of all kinds of insensibility and of insatiable greediness, and of a covetousness which is hard to be pleased, and of a cheerfulness which comprehends many other objects, and of a nakedness which is apparent in all the things now mentioned, such as that which he says Noah, when drunk, displayed himself in. Wine, then, is said to produce all these effects. But great numbers of persons who, because they never touch unmixed wine, look upon themselves as sober, are involved in the same accusation. And one may see some of them acting in a foolish and senseless manner, and others possessed by complete insensibility; and others again who are never satisfied, but are always thirsting for what cannot be obtained, because of their want of knowledge; others, on the other hand rejoicing and exulting; and others in good truth naked. Thecause now of behaving foolishlyisamischievous ignorance; I mean by this expression, not an ignorance of such things 454 PHILO JUD^US.
as are matters ot instruction but an alienation from, and dislike of knowledge.
The cause again of insensibility is a treacherous and mutilated ignorance. The cause of insatiability is a most grievous appetite for the indulgence of the passions of the soul. The cause of cheerfulness is at once the acquisition and the employment of virtue. Of nakedness there are many causes — an ignorance of such things as are opposite to one another; complete innocence and simplicity of manners; truth, which strips off all the coverings of such things as are concealed, on the one side revealing virtue to our eyes, and on the other side, in its turn, uncovering vice; for no one can possibly put off both these things at one time, nor can he either strip them both off together But when any one discards the one, he must of necessity take up and clothe himself with the other. For as the old story tells us, God, when he had combined pleasure and pain, two things naturally at variance, under one head, gave to us an outward sense capable of appreciating them both, not at the same moment, but at different times, fixing the period of the return of one to be simultaneous with the moment of the flight of the other. Thus from one root of the domi- nant principle, the two shoots of virtue and vice sprang up, neither blossoming nor bearing fruit at the same time; for when the one loses its leaves and fades away, then the other begins to shoot, and blossom, and look green, so that one might fancy that the one withered through dissatisfaction at the blooming appearance of the other.
It is with reference to this that Moses represents in a most natural manner the departure of Jacob to be contem- poraneous with the arrival of Esau; " For it came to pass," says he, " that as Jacob went out his brother Esau came in."* As long, indeed, as prudence dwells in and makes his abode in the soul, so long every companion of folly is discarded and banished to a distance; but when prudence departs then folly rejoices and enters, since its enemy and adversary, for whose sake it was driven away and banished, is no longer inhabiting the same place as before.
III. We have now then said enough by way of preface to this treatise. "We will proceed to adduce the proofs of- * Genesis xxvii. 30.
ON DRUNKENNESS. 455 all that we have said, beginning first of all to establish the first point.
We said, then, that ignorance was the cause of man's behaving foolishly and misconducting himself, just as a great quantity of unmixed wine is to great numbers of foolish persons; for ignorance is the primary evil of all the errors of the soul, if we must tell the truth, from which, as from a spring, all the actions of life do flow, never producing to any one, one single stream of wholesome or drinkable water, but only brackish water, the cause of disease and destruction to all who use it. Thus, at all events, the law- giver is very indignant with all uninstructed and unmanage- able persons, more than he is with any other description of people whatever. And a proof of this is this: who are they who are united in alliance not so much by study as by nature, whether among men or among the other kinds of animals? Xo one; not even a madman would say that any beings were so closely united as parents and children; for even by the mere untaught instinct of nature the parent always < ares for his offspring, and in every case endeavjurs to provide for its safety and durability.
IV. Those, then, who are the natural protectors of others, Moses represents as having crossed over to the ranks of enemies, making those accusers who would naturally have been advocates, I mean the father and mother, in order that the children may be destroyed by those by whom above all others it was natural they should be saved; " For if," says he, " any man's son be disobedient, or contentious, not obeying the voice of his father and of his mother, and if they reprove him and he does not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take him, and shall bring him before the elders of the city, and shall bring him to the gate of that place, and shall say to the men of their city, This our son is disobedient and contentious, and does not obey our oice, but spends his time in revelling and drunkenness, nd the men of that city shall stone him, and you shall destroy that wicked one from among you."* Therefore, here the accusations are four in number — disobedience, and contentiousness, and love of revelling, and drunkenness; and the last of these is the greatest, deriving its growth from * Deuteronomy xxi. 18.
456 PHILO JUD-*US/ 456 PHILO JUD-*US/ the first, namely, from disobedience; for when the soul begins to be restive it advances onward through contention and quarrelsomeness, and arrives at last at the furthest boundary, drunkenness, the cause of alienation of mind and folly. But it is requisite to see the force of each of all these accusations, beginning with the first in order.
V. It is then confessed by all most undeniably, that it is both honourable and advantageous to yield and to become obedient to virtue, so that on the other hand to be disobe- dient to it must be disgraceful and in no moderate degree disadvantageous. And to be contentious and obstinate is a quality which comprehends every extravagance of evil; for the man who is disobedient is less wicked than he who is contentious, since the one only disregards what he is com- manded to do, but the other also exerts himself to do the contrary. Come, now, let us investigate the true nature of these things.