# De anima libri mantissa 156-166

Alexander of Aphrodisias, De anima libri mantissa, 156 to 166. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/alexander-of-aphrodisias/de-anima-libri-mantissa/156

καθόλου δέ, εἰ ἡ ἀρετὴ αὐτάρκης πρὸς τὸ παρασχέσθαι τὸν βίον ἡμῶν ἄκρως εὐδαίμονα καὶ μακάριον, πῶς εὔλογος ἐξαγωγὴ τῷ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἔχοντι ἐν μακαρίῳ βίῳ ὄντι; ὡς γὰρ ἄτοπον τὸ λέγειν τὸν Δία ἐθέλειν ἀποθανεῖν, οὕτως ἄτοπον καὶ τὸν ἐπίσης τούτῳ μακαρίως ζῶντα ἑαυτὸν ἐξάγειν εὐλόγως τοῦδε τοῦ βίου, τῶν μὲν σωματικῶν καὶ ἐκτὸς ἀδιαφόρων ὄντων καὶ μήτε ποιούντων τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν μήτε ἀναιρούντων, τῆς δὲ ἀρετῆς, ἣ μόνη καὶ κατασκευάζει τὸν μακάριον βίον καὶ φυλάττει βέβαιον παροῦσα, μηδέποτ᾿ ἂν ἀπολειπούσης τὸν σοφόν. τὸ γὰρ μήτε παρόντος τινὸς κακοῦ μήτε προσδοκωμένου τῆς τε ἄκρας εὐδαιμονίας περὶ αὐτὸν οὔσης τὸν βίον ἀπολιπεῖν καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀρετὴν βούλεσθαι θαυμάσιον καὶ τῷ κατὰ λόγον μαχόμενον. πῶς γὰρ εὔλογον τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦθ᾿ ὑποβάλλειν τῷ σοφῷ; οὐδὲ γάρ, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινός, οὕτως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ εὐδαιμονίας εὔλογον λέγειν, ἅλις ἔχειν. οὐδεὶς γὰρ κόρος εὐδαιμονίας καὶ ἀρετῆς. εἰς ἄπειρον γὰρ τῶν τελῶν ἡ ὄρεξις καὶ οὐκ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλο τι αὐτῶν ἡ ἀναφορά. τὸ γὰρ εὔλογον ἐξαγωγὴν τίθεσθαι ἐξομολογούντων ἐστὶ τὸ ἀδύνατον εἶναι χωρὶς τῶν σωματικῶν καὶ ἐκτὸς εὐδαίμονα γενέσθαι βίον. ἔτι εἰ εὔλογος μὲν ἡ ἐξαγωγή, κωλυθείημεν δὲ ἐξάγειν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπό τινος, πῶς οὐκ ἄθλιος ὁ βίος ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις, δι᾿ ἃ ἦν εὔλογον ἐξάγειν ἑαυτόν; εἰ δὲ ἄθλιος ὁ βίος, δῆλον ὡς οὐκ εὐδαίμων ἔτι· ὥστ᾿ οὐδὲ ἀναπόβλητος ἡ εὐδαιμονία ἔσται κατά γε τοῦτο.

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Alexander of Aphrodisias, De anima libri mantissa, ed. Ivo Bruns. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0732.tlg011.local001/.