The fact that those who excel in virtues pass on to their fate while young,
as though beloved of the gods, I have already called to your attention in an
earlier part
1 of my letter, and I shall endeavour at this time to touch upon
it very briefly, merely adding my testimony to that which has been so well
said by Menander
2 :
Whom the gods love dies young.
But perhaps, my dearest
Apollonius, you would say in retort that your young son had been placed
under the special care of Apollo and the Fates, and that it should have been
you who, on departing this life, received the last offices from him, after
he had come to full manhood ; for this, you say, is in accordance with
nature. Yes, in accordance with your nature, no doubt, and mine, and that of
mankind in general, but not in accordance with the Providence which presides
over all or with the universal dispensation. But for that boy, now among the
blessed, it was not in accordance with nature that he should tarry beyond
the time allotted to him for life on this earth, but that, after fulfilling
this term with due obedience, he should set forth to meet his fate, which
was already (to use his own words
3) summoning him to himself. ‘But he
died untimely.’ Yes, but for this very reason his lot is happier,
and he is spared many evils ; for Euripides
4 says :
[p. 203]
Life bears the name of life, being but toil.
But he, in
the most blooming period of his years, has departed early, a perfect youth,
envied and admired by all who knew him. He was fond of his father and mother
and his relatives and friends, or, to put it in a word, he loved his fellow
men ; he respected the elderly among his friends as fathers, he was
affectionate towards his companions and familiar friends, he honoured his
teachers, and was most kind toward strangers and citizens, gentle with all
and beloved of all, both because of his charm of appearance and because of
his affable kindliness.
Ah well, but he, bearing with him the fair and fitting fame of your
righteousness and his own conjoined, has departed early to eternity from out
this mortal life, as from an evening party, before falling into any such
grossness of conduct as is wont to be the concomitant of a long old age. And
if the account of the ancient poets and philosophers is true, as it most
likely is, and so there is for those of the departed who have been righteous
a certain honour and preferment, as is said, and a place set apart in which
their souls pass their existence, then you ought to be of good hope for your
dear departed son that he will be reckoned among their number and will be
with them.
