Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy

104
Anthony A. Long
junction by saying that kairos (proportion) is best in everything
(Op. 694). 26
Here we have a classic statement of the ethics of sôphrosynÞ, which
Homer likes to express in such phrases as kata kosmon or kata moiran.
He characterizes the recalcitrant Thersites as someone unmeasured in
his speech (ametroepÞs), minded to utter “disorderly words” (epea akosma)
and act ou kata kosmon (Il. 2.212–14). We would hardly call Thersites
irrational for his speaking out of line. But the semantic connexions between
kosmos and metron, which become so prominent in Heraclitus and
Plato, facilitated the application of these words to mark intelligence. For
an instructive instance, I cite Pindar, I. 6.71 – 2, where the poet praises
Lampon for “pursuing measures in his judgement, and also keeping to
measures [sc. in his actions?], with a tongue that does not exceed
good sense”: l´tqa l³m cm¾lôdi¾jym, l´tqa d³ ja· jat´wym· ck_ssa
dû oqj 5ny vqem_m. 27
Clearly Heraclitus’ audience was familiar with the general idea of
measured and moderate mentality, captured in the maxim mÞden agan.
What makes his thought so challenging is the relationship he suggests
between this traditional norm and a world whose structure explicitly
conforms to measure(s). Does any earlier text have a bearing on these
Heraclitean propositions?
The answer is to be found in an elegiac couplet of Solon (fr. 16
Diehl). The lines are cited by two Christian authors, who interpret
them as a “very wise statement about God”: “It is very difficult to
know the obscure measure of intelligence, which alone holds the limits
of all things (cmylos¼mgr dû !vam³r wakep¾tatºm 1sti mo/sai l´tqom, d
dµ p²mtym pe¸qata loOmom 5wei).”
Given the absence of any context for these lines, we have to interpret
them from other statements by Solon. In his longest surviving
poem (fr. 1), after praying for justly gained prosperity, Solon reflects
on the justice of Zeus. The god “sees the end of all things” (line 17),
but, sure though he is in his punishments, wrongdoers may be punished
through their innocent children. Thus human beings are unable to discern
the fairness or logic of Zeus’ punishments. Mortals have their own
26 According to a fragment of the Melampodia (Strabo 14.1.27), Hesiod used a
word for “true”, 1ttulor, in connexion with the numerical calculation of a
l]tqom.
27 Note also Solon fr. 13, 52 (Diehl) on the craftsman who knows the l]tqom of
lovely sov¸g.