サモスのエピクロス

庭園

The Garden

エピクロスはサモス島で生まれたが、家族はアテネの出身だった。彼は貧しく、有力な友人もいなかった。若いころは海沿いのいくつかの町で教え、三十五歳ごろにアテネへ移り住んだ。

Epicurus was born on the island of Samos, but his family had come from Athens. He was poor, and he had no powerful friends. As a young man he taught in a few cities along the coast, and then, at about thirty-five, he moved to Athens.

偉大な哲学者たちが教える市場に学校を開くことはせず、有名になろうともしなかった。城壁の外に庭のある小さな家を買い、そこで教えた。人々はその学校をたんに「庭園」と呼んだ。

He did not open his school in the market, where the great philosophers taught, and he did not try to become famous. He bought a small house with a garden outside the city wall, and he taught there. People called his school simply “the Garden”.

その庭園は変わっていて、町中で噂になった。誰かを締め出す扉はなかった。めずらしいことに女性もやって来た。奴隷もやって来た。金持ちも貧しい人も来て、庭の中ではみな平等だった。みんなで一緒に学び、食べ、語り合った。

The Garden was strange, and the whole city talked about it. There was no door that shut anyone out. Women came, which was unusual. Slaves came. Rich men and poor men came, and inside the garden they were equals. Everyone studied, ate and talked together.

友人の多くは後世に名を残し、中には自ら有名になった者もいた。本を書き、ほかの哲学者と議論したレオンティオンがいた。テミスタもいたし、奴隷のミュスもいた。当時のたいていの学校なら、そうした人々が話すことなど決して許されなかっただろう。だが庭園では、彼らもまた教師だった。

Many of the friends had names that were remembered, and some of them were famous in their own right. There was Leontion, who wrote books and argued with other philosophers. There was Themista, and there was Mys, a slave. In most schools of that time, such people would never have been allowed to speak. In the Garden they were teachers too.

エピクロスは、自分の名が世間の口に上るのを好まなかった。彼には「隠れて生きよ」という信条があった。彼はこう言った。「私は決して大衆を喜ばせたいとは思わなかった。私が知ることを大衆は好まない。そして大衆が好むものを、私は知らないのだ」

Epicurus did not want his name in the mouths of the crowd. He had a motto: “Live unnoticed.” He said: “I never wished to please the crowd. What I understand, the crowd does not like; and what the crowd likes, I do not understand.”