# Epistulae 3-5

Chionis Epistulae, Epistulae, ιδ′. Χίων Μάτριδι χαίρειν.. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/chionis-epistulae/epistulae/3-5

(3) ἡ μὲν οὖν πατρὶς ἐν τοιούτοις κακοῖς καὶ κινδύνοις ἐστίν, ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ μὲν αὐτὸ ἐφ, ἑαυτοῦ βούλοιο τοὐμὸν σκέπτεσθαι, καὶ πάνυ ἀσφαλής εἰμι. δουλείαν γὰρ ταύτην ἔγωγε νομίζω, ἣ μετὰ τῶν σωμάτων καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ὑφ’, ἑαυτὴν ἔχει· ἡ δὲ τῆς μὲν ψυχῆς οὐδ’ ὁτιοῦν ἁπτομένη, τὸ δὲ σῶμα μόνον ἔχουσα οὐδὲ δουλεία τυγχάνειν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ. τεκμήριον δέ. εἴ τι γὰρ δουλείας κακόν, τοῦτο ἐπὶ ψυχὴν καταβαίνει, ἐπεὶ ἄλλως οὐδὲ κακὸν λέγοιτο ἄν· φόβος γὰρ τοῦ παθεῖν καὶ ἡ ἐκ τοῦ παθεῖν λύπη τὰ δεινότατα τοῖς μὴ ἐλευθέροις. τί οὖν; ἄν τις μὴ φοβῆται τὸ μέλλον κακὸν μηδὲ ἐπὶ τῷ γινομένῳ ἄχθηται, δουλεύσει; καὶ πῶς ὅ γε μὴ ἔχων τὰ δουλείας κακά;

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Chionis Epistulae, Epistulae, ed. Rudolf Hercher. 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/tlg0041.tlg001.local001/.