departing from the extreme that is more contrary to the mean; he
must act in the spirit of Calypso's advice,
"Far from this spray and swell hold thou thy ship,"*7
for of the two extremes one is more wrong than the other. As it is difficult to hit the mean exactly, we should take the second best course,*8 as the saying is, and choose the lesser of the two evils. This we shall best do in the way described, that is, steering clear of the evil which is further from the mean. We must also note the weaknesses to which we are ourselves particularly prone, since different natures tend in different ways; and we may ascertain what our tendency is by observing ourselves away towards the opposite extreme; for by pulling ourselves as far as possible from what is wrong we shall arrive at the mean, as we do when we pull a crooked stick straight.
In all cases we must especially be on our guard against the pleasant, or pleasure, for we are not impartial judges of pleasure. Hence our attitude towards pleasure must be like that of the elders of the people in the Iliad towards Helen, and we must constantly apply the words they use;*9 for if we dismiss pleasure as they dismissed Helen, we shall be less likely to go wrong. By action of this kind, to put it summarily, we shall best succeed in hitting the mean.
Undoubtedly this is a difficult task, especially in individual cases. It is not easy to determine the right manner, objects, occasion and duration of anger. Sometimes we praise people who are deficient in anger, and call them gentle, and at other times we praise people who
*7-Odyssey XII, 219, 220; but it is Odysseus who speaks there,
and the advice has been given him not by Calypso but by Circe.
*8-The Greek proverb means properly "we must take to the oats,
if sailing is impossible."
*9-
"No marvel that the Trojans and shining-greaved Achaeans
For such a woman year on year do suffer toil and woe;
Since fearfully is she in face like the deathless goddesses--
E'en so, in all her splendor, let the ships take her home,
Let her not stay, a curse to us and to our babes hereafter."
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