ON DRUNKENNESS. 479 also of their own free will and without any compulsion, drink unmixed wine, so that of their own accord they eradicate sobriety from their souls, and choose folly; for, says the scripture, " I hear the voice of those who are beginning revelry and drunkenness;" that is to say, of men who are exhibiting a madness which is not involun- tary, but who injure themselves with a voluntary and deliberate frenzy.
XXXII. And every one who comes near the camp sees the calf and the dances, and he himself also is soon infected. For we fall in with Typhus and the revellers of Typhus, when- ever we deliberately purpose to come near to the camp of the body; since those who are fond of contemplation and are eager to see incorporeal objects, as being persons who practise obstinacy from pride, are accustomed to dwell at a distance from the body.
Do then therefore pray to God never to begin revelry or drunkenness, that is to say, never intentionally to set forth in the road which leads to ignorance and folly; for unin- tentional errors are as Light again as deliberate sins, inasmuch as they are not weighed down by the irresistible conviction of conscience.
And when your prayers have been accomplished, you will no longer be able to remain in ignorance or out of office, but you will acquire the most important of all offices, namely, the priesthood. For it is almost the only occupation of the priests and ministers of God to offer abstemious sacrifices, abstaining in the firmness of their minds from wine and from every other cause of folly. For, says the scripture, " The Lord spoke unto Aaron, saying, Wine and strong drink shalt thou not drink, neither thou nor thy sons after thee, when ye come into the tabernacle of the testimony, or when ye ap- proach the altar of sacrifice, so that ye may not die. This shall be an everlasting law for all your generations to dis- tinguish between what is sacred and what is profane, and between what is pure and what is impure." * But Aaron is the priest, and the interpretation of his name is "mountain- ous; " reasoning occupying itself with sublime and lofty objects, not on account of the superabundant excess of the arrogance of empty pride, but by reason of the magnitude * Leviticus x. 8.
I 480 PHILO JUD^US.
of its virtue, which, elevating the thoughts beyond eve: heaven, suffers it not to contemplate anything that i lowly.
And no one who is disposed in this manner will eve voluntarily touch unmixed wine or any other medicine o: folly, for it is inevitable that he must either make one in th solemn procession and enter the tabernacle, being about t< perform* the rites which may not be seen, or else, that ap- proaching the altar he must offer sacrifices of gratitude for all the public and private blessings which have been showered upon him; and these things require sobriety and grea presence of mind.
XXXIII. Therefore, any one may here rightly admire the expressions in which the command is conveyed. For how can it be anything but admirable for people, while sober and masters of themselves, to apply themselves to prayers and to the offering of sacrifices? just as on the other hand it is ridiculous for men to do so when relaxed both in body and soul by wine; unless indeed as often as servants, and sons, and subjects, are about to approach masters, and parents, and sovereigns, they take care to be sober in order not to offend in either word or deed, lest if they in any respect act as if contemptuous of their rank, they should be punished, or to speak in the most moderate manner, should at least suffer ridicule; and yet any one when about to become the minister of the Ruler and father of the universe, is not then to show himself superior to meat, and drink, and sleep, and all the vulgar necessities of nature, but is to turn aside to luxury and effeminacy, and imitate the life of the intem- perate, and having his eyes weighed down with wine, and his head shaking, and bending his neck on one side, and belching from intemperance, and being weak and tottering in his whole body, is in that condition to approach the sacred purifications, and altars, and sacrifices. No: such a man may not without impiety even behold the sacred flame at a distance.
But, if indeed one is to understand these things as said not of the tabernacle or altar of sacrifice which are visible, and which are made of inanimate and perishable materials, but of those objects of speculation which are invisible and per- * There is some corruption in the Greek text here.
ON DRUNKENNESS. 481 ceptible only by the intellect, of which these other things are only the images perceptible by the outward senses; he will all the more marvel at the explanation. For since the Creator has in every instance made one thing a model and another a copy of that model, he has made the archetypal pattern of virtue for the seal, and then he has on this stamped an impression from it very closely resembling the stamp. Therefore, the archetypal seal is the incorporeal idea being a thing as to its intrinsic nature an object of the outward senses, but yet not actually coming within the sphere of their operations. Just as if there is a piece of wood floating in the deepest part of the Atlantic sea, a person may say that the nature of wood is to be burned, but that that particular piece never will be burnt because of the way in which it is saturated with salt water.
XXXIV. Let us then look upon the tabernacle and the altar as ideas, the one being the idea of incorporeal virtue, and the other as the emblem of an image of it, which is per- ceptible by the outward senses. Now it is easy to see the altar and the things which are on it, for they have all their preparations out of doors, and are consumed by unquenchable fire, so as to shine not by day alone, but also by night; but the tabernacle and all things that are therein are invisible, not only because these are placed in the innermost recesses and in the most holy shrines, but also because God has affixed according to the injunctions of the law, the inevitable punish- ment of death, not only to any one who touches them, but to any one who through the superfluous curiosity of his eyes beholds them. The only exception is, if any one is perfect and faultless, unpolluted by any error whether it be great or small, having a nature entirely even and full, and in all respects most perfect; for to such a man it is permitted once in each year to enter in and behold what is invisible to others, since in him alone of all men the winged and heavenly love incorruptible and incorporeal good things abides. When, therefore, any one being smitten by the idea is inlenced by the seal which gives an impression of the par- 3ular virtues, perceiving, and comprehending, and admiring le most God-like beauty of that idea which he is approaching, having received the impression of that seal, then a forget- lness of ignorance and folly is at once engendered in him, i I 482 PHILO JUD^US.
accompanied by a simultaneous recollection of instruction and learning. On which account the scripture says, " Wine and strong drink thou shalt not drink, neither thou nor thy sons after thee," when ye enter into the tabernacle of the testimony or approach the a) tar of sacrifice; and he goes through all these details not more by way of prohibition th of explaining his intention.
In truth, for one who was issuing prohibitions, it was ap propriate to say, Drink not wine when you are performing sacrifice; but for one who is declaring his opinion, it is more suitable to say, Te shall not drink. For it is impossible fo: a man to admit ignorance, which is the cause of intoxicatio and of ignorance of the soul, if he be one who studies tb generic and specific virtues and devotes himself to the pursui of them. And he very often speaks of the tabernacle o: testimony, in truth, inasmuch as God is the witness of virtue to whom it is honourable and expedient to attend, or inas- much as it is virtue which implants steadiness in our souls eradicating ambiguous, and doubtful, and hesitating, an vacillating reasonings out of them by force, and revealin truth in life as in a court of justice.
XXXV. And the scripture says that, " he shall not die who offers abstemious sacrifices; " since ignorance brings death, and education and instruction bring immortality. For as in our own bodies disease is the cause of dissolution, and health of preservation; so in the same manner in our souls also, that which saves is prudence, for this is a kind of good health of the mind; and that which destroys is folly, which inflicts an incurable disease. And he expressly declares his opinion, and pronounces this last to be an ever- lasting evil.* For he considers that there is an undying law set up and established in the nature of the universe embracing these principles, that instruction is a salutary and saving thing, but that ignorance is the cause of disease and destruction.
He also besides delivers this further statement, that th laws which are established in accordance with truth are at once everlasting; since right reason, which is law, is not perishable. For also, on the other hand, the contrary thing, namely lawlessness is a thing of brief existence, and by its * Leviticus x. 9.
ON DRUNKENNESS. 483 ON DRUNKENNESS. 483 own intrinsic nature easily destructible, as it is confessed to be by all persons of sound sense. And it is an especial property of law and of instruction to distinguish what is profane from what is holy, and what is unclean from what is clean; as, on the other hand, it is the effect of lawlessness and ignorance to combine things that are at variance with one another by force, and to throw everything into disorder and confusion.
XXXVI. On this account the greatest of the kings and prophets, Samuel, as the sacred scriptures tell us, drank no wine or intoxicating liquors to the day of his death;* for he is enrolled among the ranks of the divine army which he will never leave in consequence of the prudence of the wise cap- tain. But Samuel was perhaps in reality a man, but he is looked upon not as a compound animal, but as mind rejoic- ing only in the service and ministrations of God. For the name Samuel, being interpreted, means " appointed to God;" because he looked upon all such actions as are done in accordance with vain and empty opinions to be shameful irregularity. He was born of a human mother, whose name when interpreted means " grace." For without divine grace it is impossible either to abandon the ranks of mortal things, or to remain steadily and constantly with those which are imperishable. But whatever soul is filled with grace is at once in a state of exultation, and delight, and dancing; for it becomes full of triumph, so that it would appear to many of the uninitiated to be intoxicated, and agitated, and to be beside itself. On which account it was said to it by a young boy, and that not by one only but by every one who was old enough for juvenile sauciness and for a readiness to mock at what is good, " How long will you be drunk? Put an end to your wine-bibbing." * For in the case of those who are under the influence of divine inspiration, not only is the soul accustomed to be excited, and as it were to become frenzied, but also the body is accustomed to become reddish and of a fiery complexion, the joy which is internally diffused and which is exulting, secretly spreading its affections even to the exterior parts, by which many foolish people are deceived, and have fancied that sober persons were intoxicated. And yet indeed those sober people are in a manner intoxicated, having drunk deep of all good things, and having received pledges from perfect virtue. But those are intoxicated with that drunkenness which proceeds from wine, who pass their whole lives without ever having tasted wisdom, though they have a continued hunger and desire for it. Very naturally therefore is answer made to the man who acts with the impetuosity of youth, and thinks to produce laughter at the venerable and austere mode of life of prudence, "My good man I am a hard woman, a severe day, and I drink no wine or strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord."
Very great is the freedom of speech of that soul which is filled with the graces of Grod. In the first place it calls itself a severe day, having regard to the boy who is mock- ing it; for by him and by every fool the road which leads to virtue is looked upon as rough and difficult to travel and most painful, as one of the old poets testifies, saying: — Vice one may take in troops with ease, But in fair virtue's front Immortal God has stationed toil, And care, and sweat, to bar the road. Long is the road and steep, And rough at first, which leads the steps Of mortal man thereto; But when you reach the height, the path Is easy which before was hard, And swift the onward course.
XXXVII. After this the soul goes on to deny that it drinks wine or strong drink, boasting in its being continu- ally sober throughout the whole of its life. For to have the reasoning powers really free, and unfettei-ed, and pure, and intoxicated by no passion, was really a very important and admirable thing. And from this it results that the mind which is filled with unmixed sobriety is of itself a com- plete and entire libation, andi3 offered as such to and conse- crated to Grod. For what is the meaning of the expression, "I will pour out my soul before the Lord," but "I will consecrate it entirely to him?" Having broken all the chains by which it was formerly bound, which all the empty anxieties of mortal life fastened around it, and having led it forth and emancipated it from them, he has stretched, and extended, and diffused it to such a degree that it reaches ON DRUNKENNESS. 485 ON DRUNKENNESS. 485 even the extreme boundaries of the universe, and is borne gcnwards to the beautiful and glorious sight of the uncreate God. Therefore this company is one of sober persons who have made instruction their guide; but the former one is a company of drunkards, whose leader is ignorance.
XXXVIII. But since intoxication does not only display folly, which is the child of ignorance, but also utter in- sensibility; and since, again, wine is the cause of that insensibility which affects the body, while the cause of the insensibility of the soul is the ignorance of those things with which it is proper and natural to be acquainted; we must now say a few words about ignorance, reminding the reader of only the most important particulars relating to it.
To which, then, of the passions which affect the body shall we compare that passion in the soul which is called igno- rance? To the deprivation of the organs of the external senses? Therefore all those, who have been injured in their eyes or ears, are no longer able to see or hear at all, but have no acquaintance with day or light, which are the only objects for the sake of which, if we are to tell the plain truth, life is really desirable, but dwell in lasting darkness and everlast- ing night, being made insensible to everything whether of small or great importance; men whom ordinary conversation naturally is accustomed to call infirm.
For even if all the other faculties of the rest of the body, should attain to the very extreme limit of strength and vigour, still, if they are tripped up, as it were, and deprived of their foundation by the deprivation of the eyes and ears, they will meet with a great fall, so as never again to be able to rise; for the things which support man and keep him erect are in name, indeed, the feet, but in reality the powers of hearing and seeing; and the man who possesses them in their complete integrity is awake and stands upright, but he who is deprived of them falls and will be utterly destroyed. And ignorance does produce completely similar effects on the soul, depriving it of its faculties of seeing and of hearing, and allowing neither light nor reason to enter into it, lest the one should instruct it and the other should exhibit the truth to it. But shedding upon it dense darkness and abundant folly, it renders the most beautiful soul a deaf, and dumb, and lifeless stone.
XXXIX. For knowledge, which is the opposite of igno- rance, may be called, in a manner, the eyes and ears of the soul; for it applies the mind to what is said, and fixes its eyes upon things as they exist, and cannot endure to form a false judgment of anything which it either sees or hears. But it examines and carefully surveys every object which is worthy of being seen or heard, and even if it be necessary to sail or to travel over sea and land, it will traverse them to its furthest boundaries that it may see anything more im- portant, or hear anything more modern; for the love of knowledge admits of no hesitation or delay, it is an enemy to sleep and a friend to waking. Therefore, continually rousing up, and awakening, and sharpening the intellect, it compels it to roam about in every direction, where instruction is to be obtained, inspiring it with an avidity for hearing, and infusing into it an insatiable thirst for learning. There- fore knowledge causes hearing and seeing, by means of which faculties success and rectitude of conduct are arrived at; for he who sees and hears, knowing what is expedient, chooses that, and rejecting the contrary is benefited by his knowledge. But ignorance causes to the soul a mutilation more grievous than the mutilation of the body, and is the cause of many errors, since it is unable to derive any assist- ance from without, either by foreseeing anything, or by any acuteness of hearing. Therefore, owing to its exceeding desolateness of condition, it is left utterly undefended and unprotected, and is exposed to the plots of all kinds of men and to dangers from all kinds of events. Let us, then, never drink unmixed wine in such quantities as to cause insensi- bility to our outward senses, nor let us alienate ourselves to such a degree from knowledge as to diffuse ignorance, that vast and dense darkness, over our souls.
XL. But there are two kinds of ignorance, one simple, being complete insensibility; and the other of a twofold nature, when a man is not only enveloped in ignorance, but also thinks that he knows what he never has known, being elated with an ungrounded opinion of his knowledge. The former evil is the lighter one, for it is the cause of lighter offences, and of what we may perhaps call involuntary errors; but the second is of more importance, for it is the parent of great evils, and not only of unintentional but also of deli- ON DRUNKENNESS. 487 berate offences. These are the offences of which Lot, the the father of daughters, appears to me to be especially guilty, not being able to nourish a masculine and perfect plant in his soul; for he had two daughters by his wife, who was after- wards turned to stone, whom, using an appropriate appella- tion, one may call habit, a nature at variance with truth, and always, Avhenever any one tries to lead it on, lagging behind and looking round upon its ancient and customary ways, and remaining in the midst of them like a lifeless pillar.
Of these daughters of his the elder may be called Counsel, and the younger may be named Assent, for assent follows upon taking counsel; but no one after he has assented still takes counsel. Accordingly the mind, when it has taken its seat in its council chamber, begins to put its daughters in motion; and with the elder one, namely, Counsel, it begins to consider and investigate everything; and with the younger one, Assent, it begins easily to assent to the cir- cumstances that arise, and to embrace what is hostile as though it were friendly, if they only present ever so slight an attraction of pleasure from this source. But sober reasoning does not admit these things, but only that reason- ing does so which is overcome with wine, and, as it were, drunk.
XLI. On which account it is said, " They made their father drink wine."* That is to say, they brought com- plete insensibility on the mind, so that it fancied itself com- petent by its own abilities to judge what was expedient, and to assent to all sorts of apparent facts, as if they really had solid truth in them; human nature being by no means and under no circumstances competent eitber to ascertain the truth by consideration, or to choose real truth and advantage, or to reject what is false and the cause of injury; for the great darkness which is spread over all existing bodies and things does not permit one to see the real nature of each thing, but even if any one, under the influence of immoderate curiosity or of a real love of learning, wishes to emerge from ignorance and to obtain a closer view, he, like people wholly deprived of sight, stumbling over what is before his feet, will fall, and so get behind hand before he can lay hold of anything; or else, snatching at something with his hands, * Genesis xix. 33.
4S8 PHILO JUD^US.
he -will make uncertain guesses, having only conjecture in the place of truth.
For even if education, holding a torch to the mind, con ducts it on his way, kindling its own peculiar light, it would still, with reference to the perception of existing things, do harm rather than good; for a, slight light is naturally liable to be extinguished by dense darkness, and when the light is extinguished all power of seeing is useless. Accordingly we must, on these accounts, remind the man who gives himself airs by reason of his power of deliberating, or of wisely choosing one kind of objects and avoiding others, that if the same unalterable perceptions of the same things always occurred to us, it might perhaps be requisite to admire the two faculties of judging which are implanted in us by nature, namely, the outward senses and the intellect, as unerring and incorruptible, and never to doubt or hesitate about any thing, but trusting in every first appearance to choose one kind of thing and to reject the contrary kind. But since we are found to be influenced in different manners by the same things at different times, we should have nothing positive to assert about anything, inasmuch as what appears has no settled or stationary existence, but is subject to various, and multiform, and ever-recurring changes.
XLII. For it follows of necessity, since the imagination is unstable, that the judgment formed by it must be unstable likewise; and there are many reasons for this. In the first place, the differences which exist in animals are not in one particular only, but are unspeakable in point of number, extending through every part, having reference both to their creation and to the way in which they are furnished with their different faculties, and to their way of being supported and their habits, and to the manner in which they choose and avoid different things, and to the energies and motions of the outward senses, and to the peculiar properties of the endless passions affecting both the soul and body. For without mentioning those animals which have the faculty of judgment, consider also some of those which are the objects of judgment, such as the chameleon and the polypus; for they say that the former of these animals changes his com- plexion so as to resemble the soils over which he is accustomed to creep, and that the other is like the rocks of the sea-shore ON DRUNKENNESS 489 ON DRUNKENNESS 489 to which it clings, nature herself, perhaps, heing their saviour, and endowing them with a quality to protect them from heing caught, namely, with that of changing to all kinds of complexions, as a defence against evil.
Again, have you never perceived the neck of the dove changing colour so as to assume a countless variety of hues in the rays of the sun? is it not by turns red, and purple and fiery coloured, and cinereous, and again pale, and ruddy, and every other variety of colour, the very names of which it is not easy to enumerate? They say indeed that among the Scythians, among that tribe which is called the Greloni, most marvellous things happen, rarely indeed, but never- theless it does happen; namely that there is a beast seen which is called the tarandus, not much less than an ox in size, and exceedingly like a stag in the character of his face. The story goes that this animal continually changes his coat according to the place in which he is, or the trees which he is near, and that in short he always resembles whatever he is near, so that through the similarity of his colour he escapes the notice of those who fall in with him, and that it is owing to this, rather than to any vigour of body, that he is hard to catch. Now these facts and others which resemble them are visible proofs of our inability to comprehend every- thing.
XLIII. In the next place, not only are there all these variations with respect to animals, but there are also innumerable changes and varieties in men, and great differences between one man and another. For not only do they form different opinions respecting the same things at different times, but different men also judge in different manners, some looking on things as pleasures, which others on the contrary regard as annoyances. For the things with which some persons are sometimes vexed, others delight in, and on the contrary the things, which some persons are eager to acquire and look upon as pleasant and suitable, those very same things others reject and drive to a distance as unsuitable and ill-omened. At all events I have before now often seen in the theatre, when I have been there, some persons influenced by a melody of those who were exhibiting on the stage, whether dramatists or musicians, as to be excited and to join in the music, uttering encomiums with- 490 PHILO JUDiEUS.
490 PHILO JUDiEUS.
out intending it; and I have seen others at the same time so unmoved that you would think there was not the least difference between them and the inanimate seats on which they were sitting; and others again so disgusted that they have even gone away and quitted the spectacle, stopping their ears with their hands, lest some atom of a sound being left behind and still sounding in them should inflict annoyance on their morose and unpleasable souls.