24 STRABO. BOOK I. the latter of whom, says he, was the first to deck himself in the flowers of philosophy, but concerning whom one is often likewise tempted to exclaim, " How great is Bion in spite of his rags ! " 1 It is in such instances as the following that the mediocrity of his genius shows itself. Although at Athens he became a disciple of Zeno 2 of Citium, he makes no mention of his followers ; while those who opposed that philosopher, and of whose sect not a trace remains, he thinks fit to set down amongst the [great charac- ters] who flourished in his time. His real character appears in his Treatise on Moral Philosophy, 3 his Meditations, and some similar productions. He seems to have held a middle course between the man who devotes himself to philosophy, and the man who cannot make up his mind to dedicate hjm- self to it : and to have studied the science merely as a relief from*liTs other pursuits, or as a pleasing and instructive recre- ation. In his other writings he is just the same; but let these things pass. We will now proceed as well as we can to the task of rectifying his geography. First, then, let us return to the point which we lately de- ferred. 3. Eratosthenes says that the poet directs his whole atten- tion to the amusement of the mind, and not at all to its in- struction. In opposition to his idea, the anpients define poesy a,s a primjtive philosophy, guiding our lijeTrom infancy, and pleasantly regulating our morals, our tastes, and our actions.
- The [Stoj-es] oT'our day affirm that the only^ wise man is the
poet. On this account the earliest lessons which the citizens oF Greece convey to their children are from the poets ; cer- 1 This seems to be a paraphrase of Homer's verse on Ulysses, Odyssey xviii. 74. O'irjv K paiciwv 6 yepwv tTTiyovvida <f>aivei. What thews And what a haunch the senior's tatters hide. Cowper. 2 Zeno, of Citium, a city in the island of Cyprus, founded by Phoenician settlers, was the son of Mnaseas. 3 Hepi rutv 'AyaOaiv, is the title given by Strabo, but we find from Harpocrates and Clemens Alexandrinus, that properly it was Hepi 'Aya- Kai KctKuiv, or " Conceniinj^Go/)d and EyjJJThmgs," which we have rendered in the text " Morarphiloiophy."
