SENECA - College of Stoic Philosophers

EPISTLE LXXXII.
think that Zeno's a syllogism is correct, but that the
second a I
mentioned, which is set up against his, is
deceptive and wrong. But I for my part decline to
reduce such questions to a matter of dialectical rules or
to the subtleties of an utterly worn-out system. Away,
I say, with all that sort of thing, which makes a man
feel, when a question
is
propounded to him, that he
is hemmed in, and forces him to admit a premiss, and
then makes him say one thing in his answer when his
real opinion is another. 6 When truth is at stake,
we must act more frankly and when fear is to be
;
combated, we must act more bravely. Such questions,
which the dialecticians involve in subtleties, I prefer
to solve and weigh rationally, with the purpose of
winning conviction and not of forcing the judgment.
When a general
is about to lead into action an
army prepared to meet death for their wives and
children, how will he exhort them to battle? I remind
you of the Fabii/ who took upon a single clan a war
which concerned the whole state. I
point out to
you the Lacedaemonians in position at the very pass
of !
Thermopylae They have no hope of victory,
no hope of returning. The place where they stand
is to be their tomb. In what language do you encourage
them to bar the way with their bodies and
take upon themselves the ruin of their whole tribe,
and to retreat from life rather than from their post
?
Shall "
you say That which is evil is not : glorious
;
but death is glorious therefore death is not an evil " ?
What ; a powerful discourse After such words, who
!
would hesitate to throw himself upon the serried
spears of the foemen, and die in his tracks ? But
take Leonidas : how bravely did he address his men !
He said: "Fellow-soldiers, let us to our breakfast,
knowing that we shall sup in Hades "
!
d
The food
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