BEAUTIFUL.
One day Aristippus proposed a captious question to Socrates, meaning to
surprise him; and this by way of revenge, for his having before put him
to a stand: but Socrates answered him warily, and as a person who has no
other design in his conversations than the improvement of his hearers.
The question which Aristippus asked him was whether he knew in the world
any good thing, and if Socrates had answered him that meat, or drink, or
riches, or health, or strength, or courage are good things, he would
forthwith have shown him that it may happen that they are very bad. He
therefore gave him such an answer as he ought; and because he knew very
well that when we feel any indisposition we earnestly desire to find a
remedy for it, he said to him: "Do you ask me, for example, whether I
know anything that is good for a fever?" "No," said Aristippus. "Or for
sore eyes?" said Socrates. "Neither." "Do you mean anything that is
good against hunger?" "Not in the least," answered Aristippus. "I
promise you," said Socrates, "that if you ask me for a good thing that is
good for nothing, I know no such thing, nor have anything to do with it."
Aristippus pressed him yet further, and asked him whether he knew any
beautiful thing. "I know a great many," said Socrates. "Are they all
like one another?" continued Aristippus. "Not in the least," answered
Socrates, "for they are very different from one another." "And how is it
possible that two beautiful things should be contrary one to the other?"
"This," said Socrates, "is seen every day in men: a beautiful make and
disposition of body for running is very different from a beautiful make
and disposition for wrestling: the excellence and beauty of a buckler is
to cover well him that wears it. On the contrary, the excellence and
beauty of a dart is to be light and piercing." "You answer me," said
Aristippus, "as you answered me before, when I asked you whether you knew
any good thing." "And do you think," replied Socrates, "that the good
and the beautiful are different? Know you not that the things that are
beautiful are good likewise in the same sense? It would be false to say
of virtue that in certain occasions it is beautiful, and in others good.
When we speak of men of honour we join the two qualities, and call them
excellent and good. In our bodies beauty and goodness relate always to
the same end. In a word, all things that are of any use in the world are
esteemed beautiful and good, with regard to the subject for which they
are proper." "At this rate you might find beauty in a basket to carry
dung," said Aristippus. "Yes, if it be well made for that use," answered
Socrates; "and, on the contrary, I would say that a buckler of gold was
ugly if it was ill-made." "Would you say," pursued Aristippus, "that the
same thing may be beautiful and ugly at once?" "I would say that it
might be good and bad. Often what is good for hunger is bad for a fever;
and what is good for a fever is very bad for hunger; often what is
beautiful to be done in running is ugly to be done in wrestling; and what
is beautiful to do in wrestling is ugly in running. For all things are
reputed beautiful and good when they are compared with those which they
suit or become, as they are esteemed ugly and bad when compared with
those they do not become."
Thus we see that when Socrates said that beautiful houses were the most
convenient, he taught plainly enough in what manner we ought to build
them, and he reasoned thus: "Ought not he who builds a house to study
chiefly how to make it most pleasant and most convenient?" This
proposition being granted, he pursued: "Is it not a pleasure to have a
house that is cool in summer and warm in winter? And does not this
happen in buildings that front towards the south? For the beams of the
sun enter into the apartments in winter, and only pass over the covering
in summer. For this reason the houses that front towards the south ought
to be very high, that they may receive the sun in winter; and, on the
contrary, those that front towards the north ought to be very low, that
they may be less exposed to the cold winds of that quarter." In short,
he used to say, that he had a very beautiful and very agreeable house,
who could live there with ease during all the seasons of the year, and
keep there in safety all that he has; but that for painting and other
ornaments, there was more trouble in them than pleasure.
He said further that retired places, and such as could be seen from afar,
were very proper to erect altars and build temples in; for though we are
at a distance from them, yet it is a satisfaction to pray in sight of the
holy places, and as they are apart from the haunts of men, innocent souls
find more devotion in approaching them.