"It is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man's whole being; the better part of him is exempt from it: the body indeed is subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is independent, and indeed is so free and wild, that it cannot be restrained even by this prison of the body, wherein it is confined, from following its own impulses, dealing with gigantic designs, and soaring into the infinite, accompanied by all the host of heaven."
— Seneca, Lucius Annaeus (c. 4 B.C. - A.D. 65)
Work Title
Date
w. 56-64
Metaphor
"It is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man's whole being; the better part of him is exempt from it: the body indeed is subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is independent, and indeed is so free and wild, that it cannot be restrained even by this prison of the body, wherein it is confined, from following its own impulses, dealing with gigantic designs, and soaring into the infinite, accompanied by all the host of heaven."
Metaphor in Context
It is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man's whole being; the better part of him is exempt from it: the body indeed is subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is independent, and indeed is so free and wild, that it cannot be restrained even by this prison of the body, wherein it is confined, from following its own impulses, dealing with gigantic designs, and soaring into the infinite, accompanied by all the host of heaven. It is, therefore, only the body which misfortune hands over to a master, and which he buys and sells; this inward part cannot be transferred as a chattel. Whatever comes from this, is free; indeed, we are not allowed to order all things to be done, nor are slaves compelled to obey us in all things; they will not carry out treasonable orders, or lend their hands to an act of crime.
Errat, si quis existimat servitutem in totum hominem descendere. Pars melior eius excepta est. Corpora obnoxia sunt et adscripta dominis; mens quidem sui iuris, quae adeo libera et vaga est, ut ne ab hoc quidem carcere, cui inclusa est, teneri queat, quominus impetu suo utatur et ingentia agat et in infinitum comes caelestibus exeat. Corpus itaque est, quod domino fortuna tradidit ; hoc emit, hoc vendit; interior illa pars mancipio dari non potest. Ab hac quidquid venit, liberum est; nec enim aut nos omnia iubere possumus aut in omnia servi parere coguntur; contra rem publicam imperata non facient, nulli sceleri manus commodabunt.
(III.20)
Errat, si quis existimat servitutem in totum hominem descendere. Pars melior eius excepta est. Corpora obnoxia sunt et adscripta dominis; mens quidem sui iuris, quae adeo libera et vaga est, ut ne ab hoc quidem carcere, cui inclusa est, teneri queat, quominus impetu suo utatur et ingentia agat et in infinitum comes caelestibus exeat. Corpus itaque est, quod domino fortuna tradidit ; hoc emit, hoc vendit; interior illa pars mancipio dari non potest. Ab hac quidquid venit, liberum est; nec enim aut nos omnia iubere possumus aut in omnia servi parere coguntur; contra rem publicam imperata non facient, nulli sceleri manus commodabunt.
(III.20)
Categories
Provenance
Reading David Brion Davis, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988), 77.
Citation
Trans. Aubrey Stewart, On Benefits (1911?). Textfrom Project Gutenberg <Link to PGDP text>
Latin text from L. Annaeus Seneca. Moral Essays, vol. iii, John W. Basore (London and New York: Heinemann, 1935). <Link to Perseus>
Latin text from L. Annaeus Seneca. Moral Essays, vol. iii, John W. Basore (London and New York: Heinemann, 1935). <Link to Perseus>
Date of Entry
06/29/2011
