BOOK 8

On Friendship

1.  ^[1155a] AFTER what we have said, a discussion of friendship would naturally follow, since it is a virtue or implies virtue, and is besides most necessary with a view to living. For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods; even rich men and those in possession of office and of dominating power are thought to need friends most of all; for what is the use of such prosperity without the opportunity of beneficence, which is exercised chiefly and in its most laudable form towards friends? Or how can prosperity be guarded and preserved without friends?

^1155a Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα περὶ φιλίας ἕποιτ΄ ἂν διελθεῖν· ἔστι γὰρ ἀρετή τις ἢ μετ΄ ἀρετῆς͵ ἔτι δ΄ ἀναγκαιότατον εἰς τὸν βίον. ἄνευ γὰρ φίλων οὐδεὶς ἕλοιτ΄ ἂν ζῆν͵ ἔχων τὰ λοιπὰ ἀγαθὰ πάντα· καὶ γὰρ πλουτοῦσι καὶ ἀρχὰς καὶ δυναστείας κεκτημένοις δοκεῖ φίλων μάλιστ΄ εἶναι χρεία· τί γὰρ ὄφελος τῆς τοιαύτης εὐετηρίας ἀφαιρεθείσης εὐεργεσίας͵ ἣ γίγνεται μάλιστα καὶ ἐπαινετωτάτη πρὸς φίλους; ἢ πῶς ἂν τηρηθείη καὶ σῴζοιτ΄ ἄνευ φίλων;

The greater it is, the more exposed is it to risk. And in poverty and in other misfortunes men think friends are the only refuge. It helps the young, too, to keep from error; it aids older people by ministering to their needs and supplementing the activities that are failing from weakness; those in the prime of life it stimulates to noble actions-’two going together’-for with friends men are more able both to think and to act.

ὅσῳ γὰρ πλείων͵ τοσούτῳ ἐπισφα λεστέρα. ἐν πενίᾳ τε καὶ ταῖς λοιπαῖς δυστυχίαις μόνην οἴονται καταφυγὴν εἶναι τοὺς φίλους. καὶ νέοις δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀναμάρτητον καὶ πρεσβυτέροις πρὸς θεραπείαν καὶ τὸ ἐλ λεῖπον τῆς πράξεως δι΄ ἀσθένειαν βοηθείας͵ τοῖς τ΄ ἐν ἀκμῇ πρὸς τὰς καλὰς πράξεις· σύν τε δύ΄ ἐρχομένω· καὶ γὰρ νοῆσαι καὶ πρᾶξαι δυνατώτεροι.

We may even in our travels how near and dear every man is to every other. Friendship seems too to hold states together, and lawgivers to care more for it than for justice; for unanimity seems to be something like friendship, and this they aim at most of all, and expel faction as their worst enemy; and when men are friends they have no need of justice, while when they are just they need friendship as well, and the truest form of justice is thought to be a friendly quality.

. ἴδοι δ΄ ἄν τις καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλάναις ὡς οἰκεῖον ἅπας ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ φίλον. ἔοικε δὲ καὶ τὰς πό λεις συνέχειν ἡ φιλία͵ καὶ οἱ νομοθέται μᾶλλον περὶ αὐτὴν σπουδάζειν ἢ τὴν δικαιοσύνην· ἡ γὰρ ὁμόνοια ὅμοιόν τι τῇ φιλίᾳ ἔοικεν εἶναι͵ ταύτης δὲ μάλιστ΄ ἐφίενται καὶ τὴν στά σιν ἔχθραν οὖσαν μάλιστα ἐξελαύνουσιν· καὶ φίλων μὲν ὄντων οὐδὲν δεῖ δικαιοσύνης͵ δίκαιοι δ΄ ὄντες προσδέονται φιλίας͵ καὶ τῶν δικαίων τὸ μάλιστα φιλικὸν

But it is not only necessary but also noble; for we praise those who love their friends, and it is thought to be a fine thing to have many friends; and again we think it is the same people that are good men and are friends.

  εἶναι δοκεῖ. οὐ μόνον δ΄ ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ καὶ καλόν· τοὺς γὰρ φιλοφίλους ἐπαινοῦμεν͵ ἥ τε πολυφιλία δοκεῖ τῶν καλῶν ἕν τι εἶναι· καὶ ἔτι τοὺς αὐτοὺς οἴονται ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι καὶ φίλους.

^[1155b] On this very question they inquire for deeper and more physical causes, Euripides saying that ‘parched earth loves the rain, and stately heaven when filled with rain loves to fall to earth’, and Heraclitus that ‘it is what opposes that helps’ and ‘from different tones comes the fairest tune’ and ‘all things are produced through strife’; while Empedocles, as well as others, expresses the opposite view that like aims at like. The physical problems we may leave alone (for they do not belong to the present inquiry); let us examine those which are human and involve character and feeling, e.g. whether friendship can arise between any two people or people cannot be friends if they are wicked, and whether there is one species of friendship or more than one. Those who think there is only one because it admits of degrees have relied on an inadequate indication; for even things different in species admit of degree. We have discussed this matter previously.

καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν τούτων ἀνώτερον ἐπιζητοῦσι καὶ φυσικώτερον͵ Εὐριπίδης μὲν φάσκων ἐρᾶν μὲν ὄμβρου γαῖαν ξηρανθεῖσαν͵ ἐρᾶν δὲ σεμνὸν οὐρανὸν πληρούμενον ὄμβρου πεσεῖν ἐς γαῖαν͵ καὶ Ἡράκλειτος τὸ ἀντίξουν συμφέρον καὶ ἐκ τῶν διαφερόντων καλλίστην ἁρ μονίαν καὶ πάντα κατ΄ ἔριν γίνεσθαι· ἐξ ἐναντίας δὲ τούτοις ἄλλοι τε καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς· τὸ γὰρ ὅμοιον τοῦ ὁμοίου ἐφίε σθαι. τὰ μὲν οὖν φυσικὰ τῶν ἀπορημάτων ἀφείσθω (οὐ γὰρ οἰκεῖα τῆς παρούσης σκέψεως)· ὅσα δ΄ ἐστὶν ἀνθρωπικὰ καὶ ἀνήκει εἰς τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰ πάθη͵ ταῦτ΄ ἐπισκεψώμεθα͵ οἷον πότερον ἐν πᾶσι γίνεται φιλία ἢ οὐχ οἷόν τε μοχθηροὺς ὄντας φίλους εἶναι͵ καὶ πότερον ἓν εἶδος τῆς φιλίας ἐστὶν ἢ πλείω. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἓν οἰόμενοι͵ ὅτι ἐπιδέχεται τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ [τὸ] ἧττον͵ οὐχ ἱκανῷ πεπιστεύκασι σημείῳ· δέχεται γὰρ τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ [τὸ] ἧττον καὶ τὰ ἕτερα τῷ εἴδει. εἴρηται δ΄ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἔμπροσθεν.

2.  The kinds of friendship may perhaps be cleared up if we first come to know the object of love. For not everything seems to be loved but only the lovable, and this is good, pleasant, or useful; but it would seem to be that by which some good or pleasure is produced that is useful, so that it is the good and the useful that are lovable as ends. Do men love, then, the good, or what is good for them? These sometimes clash. So too with regard to the pleasant. Now it is thought that each loves what is good for himself, and that the good is without qualification lovable, and what is good for each man is lovable for him; but each man loves not what is good for him but what seems good. This however will make no difference; we shall just have to say that this is ‘that which seems lovable’.

Τάχα δ΄ ἂν γένοιτο περὶ αὐτῶν φανερὸν γνωρισθέντος τοῦ φιλητοῦ.δοκεῖ γὰρ οὐ πᾶν φιλεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ τὸ φιλητόν͵ τοῦτο δ΄ εἶναι ἀγαθὸν ἢ ἡδὺ ἢ χρήσιμον· δόξειε δ΄ ἂν χρή σιμον εἶναι δι΄ οὗ γίνεται ἀγαθόν τι ἢ ἡδονή͵ ὥστε φιλητὰ ἂν εἴη τἀγαθόν τε καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ ὡς τέλη. πότερον οὖν τἀγαθὸν φιλοῦσιν ἢ τὸ αὑτοῖς ἀγαθόν; διαφωνεῖ γὰρ ἐνίοτε ταῦτα. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τὸ ἡδύ. δοκεῖ δὲ τὸ αὑτῷ ἀγαθὸν φι λεῖν ἕκαστος͵ καὶ εἶναι ἁπλῶς μὲν τἀγαθὸν φιλητόν͵ ἑκάστῳ δὲ τὸ ἑκάστῳ· φιλεῖ δ΄ ἕκαστος οὐ τὸ ὂν αὑτῷ ἀγαθὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ φαινόμενον. διοίσει δ΄ οὐδέν· ἔσται γὰρ τὸ φιλητὸν φαι νόμενον.

Three Bases of Friendship: Utility; Pleasure;

& Virtue

3.a NOW those who love each other for their utility do not love each other for themselves but in virtue of some good which they get from each other. So too with those who love for the sake of pleasure; it is not for their character that men love ready-witted people, but because they find them pleasant. Therefore those who love for the sake of utility love for the sake of what is good for themselves, and those who love for the sake of pleasure do so for the sake of what is pleasant to themselves, and not in so far as the other is the person loved but in so far as he is useful or pleasant. And thus these friendships are only incidental; for it is not as being the man he is that the loved person is loved, but as providing some good or pleasure. Such friendships, then, are easily dissolved, if the parties do not remain like themselves; for if the one party is no longer pleasant or useful the other ceases to love him.

οἱ μὲν οὖν διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον φιλοῦντες ἀλ λήλους οὐ καθ΄ αὑτοὺς φιλοῦσιν͵ ἀλλ΄ ᾗ γίνεταί τι αὐτοῖς παρ΄ ἀλλήλων ἀγαθόν. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ δι΄ ἡδονήν· οὐ γὰρ τῷ ποιούς τινας εἶναι ἀγαπῶσι τοὺς εὐτραπέλους͵ ἀλλ΄ ὅτι ἡδεῖς αὑτοῖς. οἵ τε δὴ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον φιλοῦντες διὰ τὸ αὑτοῖς ἀγαθὸν στέργουσι͵ καὶ οἱ δι΄ ἡδονὴν διὰ τὸ αὑτοῖς ἡδύ͵ καὶ οὐχ ᾗ ὁ φιλούμενός ἐστιν͵ ἀλλ΄ ᾗ χρήσιμος ἢ ἡδύς. κατὰ συμβεβηκός τε δὴ αἱ φιλίαι αὗταί εἰσιν· οὐ γὰρ ᾗ ἐστὶν ὅσ περ ἐστὶν ὁ φιλούμενος͵ ταύτῃ φιλεῖται͵ ἀλλ΄ ᾗ πορίζουσιν οἳ μὲν ἀγαθόν τι οἳ δ΄ ἡδονήν. εὐδιάλυτοι δὴ αἱ τοιαῦταί εἰσι͵ μὴ διαμενόντων αὐτῶν ὁμοίων· ἐὰν γὰρ μηκέτι ἡδεῖς ἢ χρήσιμοι ὦσι͵ παύονται φιλοῦντες.

Now the useful is not permanent but is always changing. Thus when the motive of the friendship is done away, the friendship is dissolved, inasmuch as it existed only for the ends in question. This kind of friendship seems to exist chiefly between old people (for at that age people pursue not the pleasant but the useful) and, of those who are in their prime or young, between those who pursue utility. And such people do not live much with each other either; for sometimes they do not even find each other pleasant; therefore they do not need such companionship unless they are useful to each other; for they are pleasant to each other only in so far as they rouse in each other hopes of something good to come. Among such friendships people also class the friendship of a host and guest.

τὸ δὲ χρήσιμον οὐ δια μένει͵ ἀλλ΄ ἄλλοτε ἄλλο γίνεται. ἀπολυθέντος οὖν δι΄ ὃ φίλοι ἦσαν͵ διαλύεται καὶ ἡ φιλία͵ ὡς οὔσης τῆς φιλίας πρὸς ἐκεῖνα.μάλιστα δ΄ ἐν τοῖς πρεσβύταις ἡ τοιαύτη δο κεῖ φιλία γίνεσθαι (οὐ γὰρ τὸ ἡδὺ οἱ τηλικοῦτοι διώκουσιν ἀλλὰ τὸ ὠφέλιμον)͵ καὶ τῶν ἐν ἀκμῇ καὶ νέων ὅσοι τὸ συμφέρον διώκουσιν. οὐ πάνυ δ΄ οἱ τοιοῦτοι οὐδὲ συζῶσι μετ΄ ἀλλήλων· ἐνίοτε γὰρ οὐδ΄ εἰσὶν ἡδεῖς· οὐδὲ δὴ προσδέονται τῆς τοιαύτης ὁμιλίας͵ ἐὰν μὴ ὠφέλιμοι ὦσιν· ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον γάρ εἰσιν ἡδεῖς ἐφ΄ ὅσον ἐλπίδας ἔχουσιν ἀγαθοῦ. εἰς ταύ τας δὲ καὶ τὴν ξενικὴν τιθέασιν.

3.c PERFECT FRIENDSHIP is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in virtue; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good themselves. Now those who wish well to their friends for their sake are most truly friends; for they do this by reason of own nature and not incidentally; therefore their friendship lasts as long as they are good-and goodness is an enduring thing. And each is good without qualification and to his friend, for the good are both good without qualification and useful to each other. So too they are pleasant; for the good are pleasant both without qualification and to each other, since to each his own activities and others like them are pleasurable, and the actions of the good are the same or like.

Τελεία δ΄ ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν φιλία καὶ κατ΄ ἀρετὴν ὁμοίων· οὗτοι γὰρ τἀγαθὰ ὁμοίως βούλονται ἀλλήλοις ᾗ ἀγαθοί͵ ἀγαθοὶ δ΄ εἰσὶ καθ΄ αὑτούς. οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι τἀγαθὰ τοῖς φίλοις ἐκείνων ἕνεκα μάλιστα φίλοι· δι΄ αὑτοὺς γὰρ οὕτως ἔχουσι͵ καὶ οὐ κατὰ συμβεβηκός· διαμένει οὖν ἡ τούτων φιλία ἕως ἂν ἀγαθοὶ ὦσιν͵ ἡ δ΄ ἀρετὴ μόνιμον. καὶ ἔστιν ἑκάτερος ἁπλῶς ἀγαθὸς καὶ τῷ φίλῳ· οἱ γὰρ ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἁπλῶς ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἀλλήλοις ὠφέλιμοι. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡδεῖς· καὶ γὰρ ἁπλῶς οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἡδεῖς καὶ ἀλλήλοις· ἑκάστῳ γὰρ καθ΄ ἡδονήν εἰσιν αἱ οἰκεῖαι πράξεις καὶ αἱ τοιαῦται͵ τῶν ἀγαθῶν δὲ αἱ αὐταὶ ἢ ὅμοιαι.

Further, such friendship requires time and familiarity; as the proverb says, men cannot know each other till they have ‘eaten salt together’; nor can they admit each other to friendship or be friends till each has been found lovable and been trusted by each. Those who quickly show the marks of friendship to each other wish to be friends, but are not friends unless they both are lovable and know the fact; for a wish for friendship may arise quickly, but friendship does not.

ἔτι δὲ προσδεῖται χρόνου καὶ συνηθείας· κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰδῆσαι ἀλλήλους πρὶν τοὺς λεγομένους ἅλας συναναλῶ σαι· οὐδ΄ ἀποδέξασθαι δὴ πρότερον οὐδ΄ εἶναι φίλους͵ πρὶν ἂν ἑκάτερος ἑκατέρῳ φανῇ φιλητὸς καὶ πιστευθῇ. οἱ δὲ ταχέως τὰ φιλικὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ποιοῦντες βούλονται μὲν φίλοι εἶναι͵ οὐκ εἰσὶ δέ͵ εἰ μὴ καὶ φιλητοί͵ καὶ τοῦτ΄ ἴσασιν· βούλησις μὲν γὰρ ταχεῖα φιλίας γίνεται͵ φιλία δ΄ οὔ.

^[1157a] Friendship for the sake of pleasure bears a resemblance to this kind; for good people too are pleasant to each other. So too does friendship for the sake of utility; for the good are also useful to each other. Among men of these inferior sorts too, friendships are most permanent when the friends get the same thing from each other (e.g. pleasure), and not only that but also from the same source, as happens between readywitted people, not as happens between lover and beloved. For these do not take pleasure in the same things, but the one in seeing the beloved and the other in receiving attentions from his lover; and when the bloom of youth is passing the friendship sometimes passes too (for the one finds no pleasure in the sight of the other, and the other gets no attentions from the first); but many lovers on the other hand are constant, if familiarity has led them to love each other’s characters, these being alike. But those who exchange not pleasure but utility in their amour are both less truly friends and less constant. Those who are friends for the sake of utility part when the advantage is at an end; for they were lovers not of each other but of profit.

ἡ δὲ ^1157a διὰ τὸ ἡδὺ ὁμοίωμα ταύτης ἔχει· καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἡδεῖς ἀλλήλοις. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον· καὶ γὰρ τοιοῦ τοι ἀλλήλοις οἱ ἀγαθοί. μάλιστα δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτοις αἱ φι λίαι μένουσιν͵ ὅταν τὸ αὐτὸ γίνηται παρ΄ ἀλλήλων͵ οἷον ἡδονή͵ καὶ μὴ μόνον οὕτως ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ͵ οἷον τοῖς εὐτραπέλοις͵ καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐραστῇ καὶ ἐρωμένῳ. οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἥδονται οὗτοι͵ ἀλλ΄ ὃ μὲν ὁρῶν ἐκεῖνον͵ ὃ δὲ θεραπευόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐραστοῦ· ληγούσης δὲ τῆς ὥρας ἐνίοτε καὶ ἡ φιλία λήγει (τῷ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδεῖα ἡ ὄψις͵ τῷ δ΄ οὐ γίνεται ἡ θεραπεία)· πολλοὶ δ΄ αὖ διαμέ νουσιν͵ ἐὰν ἐκ τῆς συνηθείας τὰ ἤθη στέρξωσιν͵ ὁμοήθεις ὄντες. οἱ δὲ μὴ τὸ ἡδὺ ἀντικαταλλαττόμενοι ἀλλὰ τὸ χρήσιμον ἐν τοῖς ἐρωτικοῖς καὶ εἰσὶν ἧττον φίλοι καὶ δια μένουσιν. οἱ δὲ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον ὄντες φίλοι ἅμα τῷ συμ φέροντι διαλύονται· οὐ γὰρ ἀλλήλων ἦσαν φίλοι ἀλλὰ τοῦ λυσιτελοῦς.

For the sake of pleasure or utility, then, even bad men may be friends of each other, or good men of bad, or one who is neither good nor bad may be a friend to any sort of person, but for their own sake clearly only good men can be friends; for bad men do not delight in each other unless some advantage come of the relation.

δι΄ ἡδονὴν μὲν οὖν καὶ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον καὶ φαύλους ἐνδέχεται φίλους ἀλλήλοις εἶναι καὶ ἐπιεικεῖς φαύλοις καὶ μηδέτερον ὁποιῳοῦν͵ δι΄ αὑτοὺς δὲ δῆλον ὅτι μόνους τοὺς ἀγαθούς· οἱ γὰρ κακοὶ οὐ χαίρουσιν ἑαυτοῖς͵ εἰ μή τις ὠφέλεια γίνοιτο.

 The friendship of the good too and this alone is proof against slander; for it is not easy to trust any one talk about a man who has long been tested by oneself; and it is among good men that trust and the feeling that ‘he would never wrong me’ and all the other things that are demanded in true friendship are found. In the other kinds of friendship, however, there is nothing to prevent these evils arising. For men apply the name of friends even to those whose motive is utility, in which sense states are said to be friendly (for the alliances of states seem to aim at advantage), and to those who love each other for the sake of pleasure, in which sense children are called friends.

καὶ μόνη δὲ ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν φιλία ἀδιάβλητός ἐστιν· οὐ γὰρ ῥᾴδιον οὐδενὶ πιστεῦσαι περὶ τοῦ ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ ὑφ΄ αὑτοῦ δεδοκιμασμένου· καὶ τὸ πι στεύειν ἐν τούτοις͵ καὶ τὸ μηδέποτ΄ ἂν ἀδικῆσαι͵ καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἐν τῇ ὡς ἀληθῶς φιλίᾳ ἀξιοῦται. ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἑτέραις οὐδὲν κωλύει τὰ τοιαῦτα γίνεσθαι. ἐπεὶ γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι λέγουσι φίλους καὶ τοὺς διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον͵ ὥσπερ αἱ πόλεις (δοκοῦσι γὰρ αἱ συμμαχίαι ταῖς πόλεσι γίνεσθαι ἕνεκα τοῦ συμφέροντος)͵ καὶ τοὺς δι΄ ἡδονὴν ἀλλήλους στέργοντας͵ ὥσ περ οἱ παῖδες͵

^[1157b] Friendship being divided into these kinds, bad men will be friends for the sake of pleasure or of utility, being in this respect like each other, but good men will be friends for their own sake, i.e. in virtue of their goodness. These, then, are friends without qualification; the others are friends incidentally and through a resemblance to these.

^1157b Εἰς ταῦτα δὲ τὰ εἴδη τῆς φιλίας νενεμημένης οἱ μὲν φαῦλοι ἔσονται φίλοι δι΄ ἡδονὴν ἢ τὸ χρήσιμον͵ ταύτῃ ὅμοιοι ὄντες͵ οἱ δ΄ ἀγαθοὶ δι΄ αὑτοὺς φίλοι· ᾗ γὰρ ἀγαθοί. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἁπλῶς φίλοι͵ ἐκεῖνοι δὲ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς καὶ τῷ ὡμοιῶσθαι τούτοις.

Communal Life as Characteristic of

 Friendship (see 9)

5.  As in regard to the virtues some men are called good in respect of a state of character, others in respect of an activity, so too in the case of friendship; for those who live together delight in each other and confer benefits on each other, but those who are asleep or locally separated are not performing, but are disposed to perform, the activities of friendship; distance does not break off the friendship absolutely, but only the activity of it. But if the absence is lasting, it seems actually to make men forget their friendship; hence the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Neither old people nor sour people seem to make friends easily; for there is little that is pleasant in them, and no one can spend his days with one whose company is painful, or not pleasant, since nature seems above all to avoid the painful and to aim at the pleasant.

. Ὥσπερ δ΄ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν οἳ μὲν καθ΄ ἕξιν οἳ δὲ κατ΄ ἐνέργειαν ἀγαθοὶ λέγονται͵ οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς φιλίας· οἱ μὲν γὰρ συζῶντες χαίρουσιν ἀλλή λοις καὶ πορίζουσι τἀγαθά͵ οἱ δὲ καθεύδοντες ἢ κεχωρισ μένοι τοῖς τόποις οὐκ ἐνεργοῦσι μέν͵ οὕτω δ΄ ἔχουσιν ὥστ΄ ἐνεργεῖν φιλικῶς· οἱ γὰρ τόποι οὐ διαλύουσι τὴν φιλίαν ἁπλῶς͵ ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. ἐὰν δὲ χρόνιος ἡ ἀπουσία γίνηται͵ καὶ τῆς φιλίας δοκεῖ λήθην ποιεῖν· ὅθεν εἴρηται πολλὰς δὴ φιλίας ἀπροσηγορία διέλυσεν. οὐ φαίνονται δ΄ οὔθ΄ οἱ πρεσβῦται οὔθ΄ οἱ στρυφνοὶ φιλικοὶ εἶναι· βραχὺ γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς͵ οὐδεὶς δὲ δύναται συνημερεύειν τῷ λυπηρῷ οὐδὲ τῷ μὴ ἡδεῖ· μάλιστα γὰρ ἡ φύσις φαί νεται τὸ λυπηρὸν φεύγειν͵ ἐφίεσθαι δὲ τοῦ ἡδέος.

And in loving a friend men love what is good for themselves; for the good man in becoming a friend becomes a good to his friend. Each, then, both loves what is good for himself, and makes an equal return in goodwill and in pleasantness; for friendship is said to be equality, and both of these are found most in the friendship of the good.

καὶ φιλοῦντες τὸν φίλον τὸ αὑτοῖς ἀγαθὸν φιλοῦσιν· ὁ γὰρ ἀγαθὸς φίλος γινόμενος ἀγαθὸν γίνεται ᾧ φίλος. ἑκάτερος οὖν φιλεῖ τε τὸ αὑτῷ ἀγαθόν͵ καὶ τὸ ἴσον ἀνταποδίδωσι τῇ βουλήσει καὶ τῷ ἡδεῖ· λέγεται γὰρ φιλότης ἰσότης͵ μάλιστα δὲ τῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ταῦθ΄ ὑπάρχει.

6.  ^[1158a] Between sour and elderly people friendship arises less readily, inasmuch as they are less good-tempered and enjoy companionship less; for these are thou to be the greatest marks of friendship productive of it. This is why, while men become friends quickly, old men do not; it is because men do not become friends with those in whom they do not delight; and similarly sour people do not quickly make friends either. But such men may bear goodwill to each other; for they wish one another well and aid one another in need; but they are hardly friends because they do not spend their days together nor delight in each other, and these are thought the greatest marks of friendship.

^1158a Ἐν δὲ τοῖς στρυφνοῖς καὶ πρεσβυτικοῖς ἧττον γίνεται ἡ φιλία͵ ὅσῳ δυσκολώτεροί εἰσι καὶ ἧττον ταῖς ὁμιλίαις χαίρουσιν· ταῦτα γὰρ δοκεῖ μάλιστ΄ εἶναι φιλικὰ καὶ ποιητικὰ φιλίας. διὸ νέοι μὲν γίνονται φίλοι ταχύ͵ πρεσβῦται δ΄ οὔ· οὐ γὰρ γί νονται φίλοι οἷς ἂν μὴ χαίρωσιν· ὁμοίως δ΄ οὐδ΄ οἱ στρυ φνοί. ἀλλ΄ οἱ τοιοῦτοι εὖνοι μέν εἰσιν ἀλλήλοις· βούλονται γὰρ τἀγαθὰ καὶ ἀπαντῶσιν εἰς τὰς χρείας· φίλοι δ΄ οὐ πάνυ εἰσὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ συνημερεύειν μηδὲ χαίρειν ἀλλήλοις͵ ἃ δὴ μάλιστ΄ εἶναι δοκεῖ φιλικά.

One cannot be a friend to many people in the sense of having friendship of the perfect type with them, just as one cannot be in love with many people at once (for love is a sort of excess of feeling, and it is the nature of such only to be felt towards one person); and it is not easy for many people at the same time to please the same person very greatly, or perhaps even to be good in his eyes. One must, too, acquire some experience of the other person and become familiar with him, and that is very hard. But with a view to utility or pleasure it is possible that many people should please one; for many people are useful or pleasant, and these services take little time.

πολλοῖς δ΄ εἶναι φίλον κατὰ τὴν τελείαν φιλίαν οὐκ ἐνδέχεται͵ ὥσπερ οὐδ΄ ἐρᾶν πολλῶν ἅμα (ἔοικε γὰρ ὑπερβολῇ͵ τὸ τοιοῦτο δὲ πρὸς ἕνα πέφυκε γίνεσθαι)· πολλοὺς δ΄ ἅμα τῷ αὐτῷ ἀρέσκειν σφόδρα οὐ ῥᾴδιον͵ ἴσως δ΄ οὐδ΄ ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι. δεῖ δὲ καὶ ἐμ πειρίαν λαβεῖν καὶ ἐν συνηθείᾳ γενέσθαι͵ ὃ παγχάλεπον. διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον δὲ καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ πολλοῖς ἀρέσκειν ἐνδέχε ται· πολλοὶ γὰρ οἱ τοιοῦτοι͵ καὶ ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ αἱ ὑπη ρεσίαι.

Of these two kinds that which is for the sake of pleasure is the more like friendship, when both parties get the same things from each other and delight in each other or in the things, as in the friendships of the young; for generosity is more found in such friendships. Friendship based on utility is for the commercially minded. People who are supremely happy, too, have no need of useful friends, but do need pleasant friends; for they wish to live with some one and, though they can endure for a short time what is painful, no one could put up with it continuously, nor even with the Good itself if it were painful to him; this is why they look out for friends who are pleasant. Perhaps they should look out for friends who, being pleasant, are also good, and good for them too; for so they will have all the characteristics that friends should have.

τούτων δὲ μᾶλλον ἔοικε φιλίᾳ ἡ διὰ τὸ ἡδύ͵ ὅταν ταὐτὰ ἀπ΄ ἀμφοῖν γίνηται καὶ χαίρωσιν ἀλλήλοις ἢ τοῖς αὐτοῖς͵ οἷαι τῶν νέων εἰσὶν αἱ φιλίαι· μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐν ταύταις τὸ ἐλευθέριον. ἡ δὲ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον ἀγοραίων. καὶ οἱ μακάριοι δὲ χρησίμων μὲν οὐδὲν δέονται͵ ἡδέων δέ· συζῆν μὲν γὰρ βούλονταί τισι͵ τὸ δὲ λυπηρὸν ὀλίγον μὲν χρόνον φέρουσιν͵ συνεχῶς δ΄ οὐδεὶς ἂν ὑπομείναι͵ οὐδ΄ αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγαθόν͵ εἰ λυπηρὸν αὐτῷ εἴη· διὸ τοὺς φίλους ἡδεῖς ζη τοῦσιν. δεῖ δ΄ ἴσως καὶ ἀγαθοὺς τοιούτους ὄντας͵ καὶ ἔτι αὑτοῖς· οὕτω γὰρ ὑπάρξει αὐτοῖς ὅσα δεῖ τοῖς φίλοις.

People in positions of authority seem to have friends who fall into distinct classes; some people are useful to them and others are pleasant, but the same people are rarely both; for they seek neither those whose pleasantness is accompanied by virtue nor those whose utility is with a view to noble objects, but in their desire for pleasure they seek for ready-witted people, and their other friends they choose as being clever at doing what they are told, and these characteristics are rarely combined. Now we have said that the good man is at the same time pleasant and useful; but such a man does not become the friend of one who surpasses him in station, unless he is surpassed also in virtue; if this is not so, he does not establish equality by being proportionally exceeded in both respects. But people who surpass him in both respects are not so easy to find.

οἱ δ΄ ἐν ταῖς ἐξουσίαις διῃρημένοις φαίνονται χρῆσθαι τοῖς φίλοις·ἄλλοι γὰρ αὐτοῖς εἰσὶ χρήσιμοι καὶ ἕτεροι ἡδεῖς͵ ἄμφω δ΄ οἱ αὐτοὶ οὐ πάνυ· οὔτε γὰρ ἡδεῖς μετ΄ ἀρετῆς ζητοῦσιν οὔτε χρησίμους εἰς τὰ καλά͵ ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν εὐτραπέλους τοῦ ἡδέος ἐφιέμενοι͵ τοὺς δὲ δεινοὺς πρᾶξαι τὸ ἐπιταχθέν͵ ταῦτα δ΄ οὐ πάνυ γίνεται ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ. ἡδὺς δὲ καὶ χρήσιμος ἅμα εἴρηται ὅτι ὁ σπου δαῖος· ἀλλ΄ ὑπερέχοντι οὐ γίνεται ὁ τοιοῦτος φίλος͵ ἐὰν μὴ καὶ τῇ ἀρετῇ ὑπερέχηται· εἰ δὲ μή͵ οὐκ ἰσάζει ἀνάλογον ὑπερεχόμενος. οὐ πάνυ δ΄ εἰώθασι τοιοῦτοι γίνεσθαι.

^[1158b] However that may be, the aforesaid friendships involve equality; for the friends get the same things from one another and wish the same things for one another, or exchange one thing for another, e.g. pleasure for utility; we have said, however, that they are both less truly friendships and less permanent.

^1158b Εἰσὶ δ΄ οὖν αἱ εἰρημέναι φιλίαι ἐν ἰσότητι· τὰ γὰρ αὐτὰ γίνεται ἀπ΄ ἀμφοῖν καὶ βούλονται ἀλλήλοις͵ ἢ ἕτερον ἀνθ΄ ἑτέρου καταλλάττονται͵ οἷον ἡδονὴν ἀντ΄ ὠφελείας· ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἧττόν εἰσιν αὗται φιλίαι καὶ μένουσιν͵ εἴ ρηται.

But it is from their likeness and their unlikeness to the same thing that they are thought both to be and not to be friendships. It is by their likeness to the friendship of virtue that they seem to be friendships (for one of them involves pleasure and the other utility, and these characteristics belong to the friendship of virtue as well); while it is because the friendship of virtue is proof against slander and permanent, while these quickly change (besides differing from the former in many other respects), that they appear not to be friendships; i.e. it is because of their unlikeness to the friendship of virtue.

δοκοῦσι δὲ [καὶ] δι΄ ὁμοιότητα καὶ ἀνομοιότητα ταὐτοῦ εἶναί τε καὶ οὐκ εἶναι φιλίαι· καθ΄ ὁμοιότητα γὰρ τῆς κατ΄ ἀρετὴν φαίνονται φιλίαι (ἣ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἡδὺ ἔχει ἣ δὲ τὸ χρήσιμον͵ ταῦτα δ΄ ὑπάρχει κἀκείνῃ)͵ τῷ δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀδιάβλητον καὶ μόνιμον εἶναι͵ ταύτας δὲ ταχέως μεταπίπτειν ἄλλοις τε διαφέρειν πολλοῖς͵ οὐ φαίνονται φι λίαι͵ δι΄ ἀνομοιότητα ἐκείνης.

Unequal Friendships

7.  But there is another kind of friendship, viz. that which involves an inequality between the parties, e.g. that of father to son and in general of elder to younger, that of man to wife and in general that of ruler to subject. And these friendships differ also from each other; for it is not the same that exists between parents and children and between rulers and subjects, nor is even that of father to son the same as that of son to father, nor that of husband to wife the same as that of wife to husband. For the virtue and the function of each of these is different, and so are the reasons for which they love; the love and the friendship are therefore different also. Each party, then, neither gets the same from the other, nor ought to seek it; but when children render to parents what they ought to render to those who brought them into the world, and parents render what they should to their children, the friendship of such persons will be abiding and excellent. In all friendships implying inequality the love also should be proportional, i.e. the better should be more loved than he loves, and so should the more useful, and similarly in each of the other cases; for when the love is in proportion to the merit of the parties, then in a sense arises equality, which is certainly held to be characteristic of friendship.

Ἕτερον δ΄ ἐστὶ φιλίας εἶδος τὸ καθ΄ ὑπεροχήν͵ οἷον πατρὶ πρὸς υἱὸν καὶ ὅλως πρεσβυ τέρῳ πρὸς νεώτερον͵ ἀνδρί τε πρὸς γυναῖκα καὶ παντὶ ἄρ χοντι πρὸς ἀρχόμενον. διαφέρουσι δ΄ αὗται καὶ ἀλλήλων· οὐ γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ γονεῦσι πρὸς τέκνα καὶ ἄρχουσι πρὸς ἀρ χομένους͵ ἀλλ΄ οὐδὲ πατρὶ πρὸς υἱὸν καὶ υἱῷ πρὸς πατέρα͵ οὐδ΄ ἀνδρὶ πρὸς γυναῖκα καὶ γυναικὶ πρὸς ἄνδρα. ἑτέρα γὰρ ἑκάστου τούτων ἀρετὴ καὶ τὸ ἔργον͵ ἕτερα δὲ καὶ δι΄ ἃ φιλοῦσιν· ἕτεραι οὖν καὶ αἱ φιλήσεις καὶ αἱ φιλίαι. ταὐτὰ μὲν δὴ οὔτε γίνεται ἑκατέρῳ παρὰ θατέρου οὔτε δεῖ ζητεῖν· ὅταν δὲ γονεῦσι μὲν τέκνα ἀπονέμῃ ἃ δεῖ τοῖς γεννήσασι͵ γονεῖς δὲ [υἱέσιν] ἃ δεῖ τοῖς τέκνοις͵ μόνιμος ἡ τῶν τοιούτων καὶ ἐπιεικὴς ἔσται φιλία. ἀνάλογον δ΄ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς καθ΄ ὑπεροχὴν οὔσαις φιλίαις καὶ τὴν φίλησιν δεῖ γίνεσθαι͵ οἷον τὸν ἀμείνω μᾶλλον φιλεῖσθαι ἢ φιλεῖν͵ καὶ τὸν ὠφελιμώτερον͵ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον ὁμοίως· ὅταν γὰρ κατ΄ ἀξίαν ἡ φίλησις γίνηται͵ τότε γίνεταί πως ἰσότης͵ ὃ δὴ τῆς φιλίας εἶναι δοκεῖ.

 This is in fact the origin of the question whether friends really wish for their friends the greatest goods, e.g. that of being gods; since in that case their friends will no longer be friends to them, and therefore will not be good things for them (for friends are good things). The answer is that if we were right in saying that friend wishes good to friend for his sake, his friend must remain the sort of being he is, whatever that may be; therefore it is for him oily so long as he remains a man that he will wish the greatest goods. But perhaps not all the greatest goods; for it is for himself most of all that each man wishes what is good.

 ὅθεν καὶ ἀπορεῖται͵ μή ποτ΄ οὐ βούλονται οἱ φίλοι τοῖς φίλοις τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἀγαθῶν͵ οἷον θεοὺς εἶναι· οὐ γὰρ ἔτι φίλοι ἔσονται αὐτοῖς͵ οὐδὲ δὴ ἀγαθά· οἱ γὰρ φίλοι ἀγαθά. εἰ δὴ καλῶς εἴρηται ὅτι ὁ φίλος τῷ φίλῳ βούλεται τἀγαθὰ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα͵ μένειν ἂν δέοι οἷός ποτ΄ ἐστὶν ἐκεῖνος· ἀνθρώπῳ δὴ ὄντι βουλήσεται τὰ μέγιστα ἀγαθά. ἴσως δ΄ οὐ πάντα· αὑτῷ γὰρ μάλισθ΄ ἕκαστος βούλεται τἀγαθά.

8.  Most people seem, owing to ambition, to wish to be loved rather than to love; which is why most men love flattery; for the flatterer is a friend in an inferior position, or pretends to be such and to love more than he is loved; and being loved seems to be akin to being honoured, and this is what most people aim at. But it seems to be not for its own sake that people choose honour, but incidentally. For most people enjoy being honoured by those in positions of authority because of their hopes (for they think that if they want anything they will get it from them; and therefore they delight in honour as a token of favour to come); while those who desire honour from good men, and men who know, are aiming at confirming their own opinion of themselves; they delight in honour, therefore, because they believe in their own goodness on the strength of the judgement of those who speak about them. In being loved, on the other hand, people delight for its own sake; whence it would seem to be better than being honoured, and friendship to be desirable in itself. But it seems to lie in loving rather than in being loved, as is indicated by the delight mothers take in loving; for some mothers hand over their children to be brought up, and so long as they know their fate they love them and do not seek to be loved in return (if they cannot have both), but seem to be satisfied if they see them prospering; and they themselves love their children even if these owing to their ignorance give them nothing of a mother’s due. Now since friendship depends more on loving, and it is those who love their friends that are praised, loving seems to be the characteristic virtue of friends, so that it is only those in whom this is found in due measure that are lasting friends, and only their friendship that endures.

Οἱ πολλοὶ δὲ δοκοῦσι διὰ φιλοτιμίαν βούλεσθαι φιλεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ φιλεῖν· διὸ φιλοκόλακες οἱ πολλοί· ὑπερεχόμενος γὰρ φίλος ὁ κόλαξ͵ ἢ προσποιεῖται τοιοῦτος καὶ μᾶλλον φιλεῖν ἢ φιλεῖσθαι· τὸ δὲ φιλεῖσθαι ἐγγὺς εἶναι δοκεῖ τοῦ τιμᾶσθαι͵ οὗ δὴ οἱ πολλοὶ ἐφίενται. οὐ δι΄ αὑτὸ δ΄ ἐοίκασιν αἱρεῖσθαι τὴν τιμήν͵ ἀλλὰ κατὰ συμβεβηκός· χαίρουσι γὰρ οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐξουσίαις τιμώμενοι διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα (οἴονται γὰρ τεύξεσθαι παρ΄ αὐτῶν͵ ἄν του δέωνται· ὡς δὴ σημείῳ τῆς εὐπαθείας χαίρουσι τῇ τιμῇ)· οἱ δ΄ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιεικῶν καὶ εἰδότων ὀρεγόμενοι τιμῆς βε βαιῶσαι τὴν οἰκείαν δόξαν ἐφίενται περὶ αὑτῶν· χαίρουσι δή͵ ὅτι εἰσὶν ἀγαθοὶ πιστεύοντες τῇ τῶν λεγόντων κρίσει. τῷ φιλεῖσθαι δὲ καθ΄ αὑτὸ χαίρουσιν· διὸ δόξειεν ἂν κρεῖτ τον εἶναι τοῦ τιμᾶσθαι͵ καὶ ἡ φιλία καθ΄ αὑτὴν αἱρετὴ εἶναι. δοκεῖ δ΄ ἐν τῷ φιλεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν τῷ φιλεῖσθαι εἶναι. σημεῖον δ΄ αἱ μητέρες τῷ φιλεῖν χαίρουσαι· ἔνιαι γὰρ διδόασι τὰ ἑαυτῶν τρέφεσθαι͵ καὶ φιλοῦσι μὲν εἰδυῖαι͵ ἀντιφιλεῖσθαι δ΄ οὐ ζητοῦσιν͵ ἐὰν ἀμφότερα μὴ ἐνδέχηται͵ ἀλλ΄ ἱκανὸν αὐταῖς ἔοικεν εἶναι ἐὰν ὁρῶσιν εὖ πράττοντας͵ καὶ αὐταὶ φιλοῦσιν αὐτοὺς κἂν ἐκεῖνοι μηδὲν ὧν μητρὶ προσ ήκει ἀπονέμωσι διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν. μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς φιλίας οὔσης ἐν τῷ φιλεῖν͵ καὶ τῶν φιλοφίλων ἐπαινουμένων͵ φίλων ἀρετὴ τὸ φιλεῖν ἔοικεν͵ ὥστ΄ ἐν οἷς τοῦτο γίνεται κατ΄ ἀξίαν͵ ^1159b οὗτοι μόνιμοι φίλοι καὶ ἡ τούτων φιλία.

^[1159b] It is in this way more than any other that even unequals can be friends; they can be equalized. Now equality and likeness are friendship, and especially the likeness of those who are like in virtue; for being steadfast in themselves they hold fast to each other, and neither ask nor give base services, but (one may say) even prevent them; for it is characteristic of good men neither to go wrong themselves nor to let their friends do so. But wicked men have no steadfastness (for they do not remain even like to themselves), but become friends for a short time because they delight in each other’s wickedness. Friends who are useful or pleasant last longer; i.e. as long as they provide each other with enjoyments or advantages. Friendship for utility’s sake seems to be that which most easily exists between contraries, e.g. between poor and rich, between ignorant and learned; for what a man actually lacks he aims at, and one gives something else in return. But under this head, too, might bring lover and beloved, beautiful and ugly. This is why lovers sometimes seem ridiculous, when they demand to be loved as they love; if they are equally lovable their claim can perhaps be justified, but when they have nothing lovable about them it is ridiculous. Perhaps, however, contrary does not even aim at contrary by its own nature, but only incidentally, the desire being for what is intermediate; for that is what is good, e.g. it is good for the dry not to become wet but to come to the intermediate state, and similarly with the hot and in all other cases. These subjects we may dismiss; for they are indeed somewhat foreign to our inquiry.

οὕτω δ΄ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἄνισοι μάλιστ΄ εἶεν φίλοι· ἰσάζοιντο γὰρ ἄν. ἡ δ΄ ἰσότης καὶ ὁμοιότης φιλότης͵ καὶ μάλιστα μὲν ἡ τῶν κατ΄ ἀρετὴν ὁμοιότης· μόνιμοι γὰρ ὄντες καθ΄ αὑτοὺς καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους μένουσι͵ καὶ οὔτε δέονται φαύλων οὔθ΄ ὑπηρετοῦσι τοιαῦτα͵ ἀλλ΄ ὡς εἰπεῖν καὶ διακωλύουσιν· τῶν ἀγαθῶν γὰρ μήτ΄ αὐτοὺς ἁμαρτάνειν μήτε τοῖς φίλοις ἐπιτρέπειν. οἱ δὲ μο χθηροὶ τὸ μὲν βέβαιον οὐκ ἔχουσιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὑτοῖς διαμέ νουσιν ὅμοιοι ὄντες· ἐπ΄ ὀλίγον δὲ χρόνον γίνονται φίλοι͵ χαίροντες τῇ ἀλλήλων μοχθηρίᾳ. οἱ χρήσιμοι δὲ καὶ ἡδεῖς ἐπὶ πλεῖον διαμένουσιν· ἕως γὰρ ἂν πορίζωσιν ἡδονὰς ἢ ὠφελείας ἀλλήλοις. ἐξ ἐναντίων δὲ μάλιστα μὲν δοκεῖ ἡ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον γίνεσθαι φιλία͵ οἷον πένης πλουσίῳ͵ ἀμαθὴς εἰδότι· οὗ γὰρ τυγχάνει τις ἐνδεὴς ὤν͵ τούτου ἐφιέμενος ἀν τιδωρεῖται ἄλλο. ἐνταῦθα δ΄ ἄν τις ἕλκοι καὶ ἐραστὴν καὶ ἐρώμενον͵ καὶ καλὸν καὶ αἰσχρόν. διὸ φαίνονται καὶ οἱ ἐρασταὶ γελοῖοι ἐνίοτε͵ ἀξιοῦντες φιλεῖσθαι ὡς φιλοῦσιν· ὁμοίως δὴ φιλητοὺς ὄντας ἴσως ἀξιωτέον͵ μηδὲν δὲ τοιοῦτον ἔχοντας γελοῖον. ἴσως δὲ οὐδ΄ ἐφίεται τὸ ἐναντίον τοῦ ἐν αντίου καθ΄ αὑτό͵ ἀλλὰ κατὰ συμβεβηκός͵ ἡ δ΄ ὄρεξις τοῦ μέσου ἐστίν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἀγαθόν͵ οἷον τῷ ξηρῷ οὐχ ὑγρῷ γενέσθαι ἀλλ΄ ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον ἐλθεῖν͵ καὶ τῷ θερμῷ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀφείσθω· καὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἀλλοτριώτερα.

Friendship depends on Community

^[1160a] There is a difference, therefore, also between the acts that are unjust towards each of these classes of associates, and the injustice increases by being exhibited towards those who are friends in a fuller sense; e.g. it is a more terrible thing to defraud a comrade than a fellow-citizen, more terrible not to help a brother than a stranger, and more terrible to wound a father than any one else. And the demands of justice also seem to increase with the intensity of the friendship, which implies that friendship and justice exist between the same persons and have an equal extension.

 ἕτερα δὴ καὶ τὰ ἄδικα πρὸς ἑκάστους τούτων͵ καὶ αὔξησιν λαμβάνει τῷ μᾶλλον πρὸς φίλους εἶναι͵ οἷον χρή ματα ἀποστερῆσαι ἑταῖρον δεινότερον ἢ πολίτην͵ καὶ μὴ βοηθῆσαι ἀδελφῷ ἢ ὀθνείῳ͵ καὶ πατάξαι πατέρα ἢ ὁντινοῦν ἄλλον. αὔξεσθαι δὲ πέφυκεν ἅμα τῇ φιλίᾳ καὶ τὸ δί καιον͵ ὡς ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὄντα καὶ ἐπ΄ ἴσον διήκοντα.

Now all forms of community are like parts of the political community; for men journey together with a view to some particular advantage, and to provide something that they need for the purposes of life; and it is for the sake of advantage that the political community too seems both to have come together originally and to endure, for this is what legislators aim at, and they call just that which is to the common advantage. Now the other communities aim at advantage bit by bit, e.g. sailors at what is advantageous on a voyage with a view to making money or something of the kind, fellow-soldiers at what is advantageous in war, whether it is wealth or victory or the taking of a city that they seek, and members of tribes and demes act similarly (Some communities seem to arise for the sake or pleasure, viz. religious guilds and social clubs; for these exist respectively for the sake of offering sacrifice and of companionship. But all these seem to fall under the political community; for it aims not at present advantage but at what is advantageous for life as a whole), offering sacrifices and arranging gatherings for the purpose, and assigning honours to the gods, and providing pleasant relaxations for themselves. For the ancient sacrifices and gatherings seem to take place after the harvest as a sort of firstfruits, because it was at these seasons that people had most leisure. All the communities, then, seem to be parts of the political community; and the particular kinds friendship will correspond to the particular kinds of community.

αἱ δὲ κοινωνίαι πᾶσαι μορίοις ἐοίκασι τῆς πολιτικῆς· συμπο ρεύονται γὰρ ἐπί τινι συμφέροντι͵ καὶ ποριζόμενοί τι τῶν εἰς τὸν βίον· καὶ ἡ πολιτικὴ δὲ κοινωνία τοῦ συμφέροντος χάριν δοκεῖ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς συνελθεῖν καὶ διαμένειν· τούτου γὰρ καὶ οἱ νομοθέται στοχάζονται͵ καὶ δίκαιόν φασιν εἶναι τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον. αἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλαι κοινωνίαι κατὰ μέρη τοῦ συμφέροντος ἐφίενται͵ οἷον πλωτῆρες μὲν τοῦ κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν πρὸς ἐργασίαν χρημάτων ἤ τι τοιοῦτον͵ συστρατιῶται δὲ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον͵ εἴτε χρημάτων εἴτε νίκης ἢ πό λεως ὀρεγόμενοι͵ ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ φυλέται καὶ δημόται. [ἔνιαι δὲ τῶν κοινωνιῶν δι΄ ἡδονὴν δοκοῦσι γίνεσθαι͵ θιασω τῶν καὶ ἐρανιστῶν· αὗται γὰρ θυσίας ἕνεκα καὶ συνουσίας.] πᾶσαι δ΄ αὗται ὑπὸ τὴν πολιτικὴν ἐοίκασιν εἶναι· οὐ γὰρ τοῦ παρόντος συμφέροντος ἡ πολιτικὴ ἐφίεται͵ ἀλλ΄ εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν βίον   θυσίας τε ποιοῦντες καὶ περὶ ταύτας συνόδους͵ τιμάς τε ἀπονέμοντες τοῖς θεοῖς͵ καὶ αὑτοῖς ἀνα παύσεις πορίζοντες μεθ΄ ἡδονῆς. αἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖαι θυσίαι καὶ σύνοδοι φαίνονται γίνεσθαι μετὰ τὰς τῶν καρπῶν συγκο μιδὰς οἷον ἀπαρχαί· μάλιστα γὰρ ἐν τούτοις ἐσχόλαζον τοῖς καιροῖς. πᾶσαι δὴ φαίνονται αἱ κοινωνίαι μόρια τῆς πολιτικῆς εἶναι· ἀκολουθήσουσι δὲ αἱ τοιαῦται φιλίαι ταῖς τοιαύταις κοινωνίαις.

^[1160b] The deviation from monarchy is tyrany; for both are forms of one-man rule, but there is the greatest difference between them; the tyrant looks to his own advantage, the king to that of his subjects. For a man is not a king unless he is sufficient to himself and excels his subjects in all good things; and such a man needs nothing further; therefore he will not look to his own interests but to those of his subjects; for a king who is not like that would be a mere titular king. Now tyranny is the very contrary of this; the tyrant pursues his own good. And it is clearer in the case of tyranny that it is the worst deviation-form; but it is the contrary of the best that is worst. Monarchy passes over into tyranny; for tyranny is the evil form of one-man rule and the bad king becomes a tyrant. Aristocracy passes over into oligarchy by the badness of the rulers, who distribute contrary to equity what belongs to the city-all or most of the good things to themselves, and office always to the same people, paying most regard to wealth; thus the rulers are few and are bad men instead of the most worthy. Timocracy passes over into democracy; for these are coterminous, since it is the ideal even of timocracy to be the rule of the majority, and all who have the property qualification count as equal. Democracy is the least bad of the deviations; for in its case the form of constitution is but a slight deviation. These then are the changes to which constitutions are most subject; for these are the smallest and easiest transitions.

 τούτων δὲ βελτίστη μὲν ἡ βασιλεία͵ χειρίστη δ΄ ἡ τιμοκρατία. παρέκβασις δὲ  ^1160b βασιλείας μὲν τυραννίς· ἄμφω γὰρ μοναρχίαι͵ διαφέρουσι δὲ πλεῖστον· ὁ μὲν γὰρ τύραννος τὸ αὑτῷ συμφέρον σκοπεῖ͵ ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὸ τῶν ἀρχομένων. οὐ γάρ ἐστι βασιλεὺς ὁ μὴ αὐτάρκης καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ὑπερέχων· ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος οὐδενὸς προσδεῖται· τὰ ὠφέλιμα οὖν αὑτῷ μὲν οὐκ ἂν σκοποίη͵ τοῖς δ΄ ἀρχομένοις· ὁ γὰρ μὴ τοιοῦτος κληρω τὸς ἄν τις εἴη βασιλεύς. ἡ δὲ τυραννὶς ἐξ ἐναντίας ταύτῃ· τὸ γὰρ ἑαυτῷ ἀγαθὸν διώκει. καὶ φανερώτερον ἐπὶ ταύ της ὅτι χειρίστη· κάκιστον δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον τῷ βελτίστῳ. μεταβαίνει δ΄ ἐκ βασιλείας εἰς τυραννίδα· φαυλότης γάρ ἐστι μοναρχίας ἡ τυραννίς͵ ὁ δὲ μοχθηρὸς βασιλεὺς τύραν νος γίνεται. ἐξ ἀριστοκρατίας δὲ εἰς ὀλιγαρχίαν κακίᾳ τῶν ἀρχόντων͵ οἳ νέμουσι τὰ τῆς πόλεως παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν͵ καὶ πάντα ἢ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἑαυτοῖς͵ καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀεὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς͵ περὶ πλείστου ποιούμενοι τὸ πλουτεῖν· ὀλίγοι δὴ ἄρχουσι καὶ μοχθηροὶ ἀντὶ τῶν ἐπιεικεστάτων. ἐκ δὲ τιμοκρατίας εἰς δημοκρατίαν· σύνοροι γάρ εἰσιν αὗται· πλήθους γὰρ βούλεται καὶ ἡ τιμοκρατία εἶναι͵ καὶ ἴσοι πάντες οἱ ἐν τῷ τιμήματι. ἥκιστα δὲ μοχθηρόν ἐστιν ἡ δημοκρατία· ἐπὶ μικρὸν γὰρ παρεκβαίνει τὸ τῆς πολιτείας εἶδος. μεταβάλλουσι μὲν οὖν μάλισθ΄ οὕτως αἱ πολιτεῖαι· ἐλάχιστον γὰρ οὕτω καὶ ῥᾷστα μεταβαίνουσιν.

Now this seems to be a correct form of government, but the Persian type is perverted; for the modes of rule appropriate to different relations are diverse. The association of man and wife seems to be aristocratic; for the man rules in accordance with his worth, and in those matters in which a man should rule, but the matters that befit a woman he hands over to her. If the man rules in everything the relation passes over into oligarchy; for in doing so he is not acting in accordance with their respective worth, and not ruling in virtue of his superiority.

αὕτη μὲν οὖν ὀρθὴ φαίνεται͵ ἡ Περσικὴ δ΄ ἡμαρτημένη· τῶν διαφερόν των γὰρ αἱ ἀρχαὶ διάφοροι. ἀνδρὸς δὲ καὶ γυναικὸς ἀρι στοκρατικὴ φαίνεται· κατ΄ ἀξίαν γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἄρχει͵ καὶ περὶ ταῦτα ἃ δεῖ τὸν ἄνδρα· ὅσα δὲ γυναικὶ ἁρμόζει͵ ἐκείνῃ ἀποδίδωσιν. ἁπάντων δὲ κυριεύων ὁ ἀνὴρ εἰς ὀλι γαρχίαν μεθίστησιν· παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν γὰρ αὐτὸ ποιεῖ͵ καὶ ^1161a οὐχ ᾗ ἀμείνων.

11.  Each of the constitutions may be seen to involve friendship just in so far as it involves justice. The friendship between a king and his subjects depends on an excess of benefits conferred; for he confers benefits on his subjects if being a good man he cares for them with a view to their well-being, as a shepherd does for his sheep (whence Homer called Agamemnon ‘shepherd of the peoples’). Such too is the friendship of a father, though this exceeds the other in the greatness of the benefits conferred; for he is responsible for the existence of his children, which is thought the greatest good, and for their nurture and upbringing.

Καθ΄ ἑκάστην δὲ τῶν πολιτειῶν φιλία φαίνεται͵ ἐφ΄ ὅσον καὶ τὸ δίκαιον͵ βασιλεῖ μὲν πρὸς τοὺς βασιλευομένους ἐν ὑπεροχῇ εὐεργεσίας· εὖ γὰρ ποιεῖ τοὺς βασιλευομένους͵ εἴπερ ἀγαθὸς ὢν ἐπιμελεῖται αὐτῶν͵ ἵν΄ εὖ πράττωσιν͵ ὥσπερ νομεὺς προβάτων· ὅθεν καὶ Ὅμηρος τὸν Ἀγαμέ μνονα ποιμένα λαῶν εἶπεν. τοιαύτη δὲ καὶ ἡ πατρική͵ διαφέρει δὲ τῷ μεγέθει τῶν εὐεργετημάτων· αἴτιος γὰρ τοῦ εἶναι͵ δοκοῦντος μεγίστου͵ καὶ τροφῆς καὶ παιδείας.

These things are ascribed to ancestors as well. Further, by nature a father tends to rule over his sons, ancestors over descendants, a king over his subjects. These friendships imply superiority of one party over the other, which is why ancestors are honoured. The justice therefore that exists between persons so related is not the same on both sides but is in every case proportioned to merit; for that is true of the friendship as well. The friendship of man and wife, again, is the same that is found in an aristocracy; for it is in accordance with virtue the better gets more of what is good, and each gets what befits him; and so, too, with the justice in these relations. The friendship of brothers is like that of comrades; for they are equal and of like age, and such persons are for the most part like in their feelings and their character. Like this, too, is the friendship appropriate to timocratic government; for in such a constitution the ideal is for the citizens to be equal and fair; therefore rule is taken in turn, and on equal terms; and the friendship appropriate here will correspond.

καὶ τοῖς προγόνοις δὲ ταῦτα προσνέμεται· φύσει τε ἀρχικὸν πατὴρ υἱῶν καὶ πρόγονοι ἐκγόνων καὶ βασιλεὺς βασιλευο μένων. ἐν ὑπεροχῇ δὲ αἱ φιλίαι αὗται͵ διὸ καὶ τιμῶνται οἱ γονεῖς. καὶ τὸ δίκαιον δὴ ἐν τούτοις οὐ ταὐτὸ ἀλλὰ τὸ κατ΄ ἀξίαν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἡ φιλία. καὶ ἀνδρὸς δὲ πρὸς γυναῖκα ἡ αὐτὴ φιλία καὶ ἐν ἀριστοκρατίᾳ· κατ΄ ἀρετὴν γάρ͵ καὶ τῷ ἀμείνονι πλέον ἀγαθόν͵ καὶ τὸ ἁρμόζον ἑκά στῳ· οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ δίκαιον. ἡ δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τῇ ἑται ρικῇ ἔοικεν· ἴσοι γὰρ καὶ ἡλικιῶται͵ οἱ τοιοῦτοι δ΄ ὁμοπα θεῖς καὶ ὁμοήθεις ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ. ἔοικε δὲ ταύτῃ καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὴν τιμοκρατικήν· ἴσοι γὰρ οἱ πολῖται βούλονται καὶ ἐπιεικεῖς εἶναι· ἐν μέρει δὴ τὸ ἄρχειν͵ καὶ ἐξ ἴσου· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡ φιλία.

^[1161b] the latter in each case is benefited by that which uses it, but there is no friendship nor justice towards lifeless things. But neither is there friendship towards a horse or an ox, nor to a slave qua slave. For there is nothing common to the two parties; the slave is a living tool and the tool a lifeless slave. Qua slave then, one cannot be friends with him. But qua man one can; for there seems to be some justice between any man and any other who can share in a system of law or be a party to an agreement; therefore there can also be friendship with him in so far as he is a man. Therefore while in tyrannies friendship and justice hardly exist, in democracies they exist more fully; for where the citizens are equal they have much in common.

 ὠφελεῖται ^1161b μὲν γὰρ πάντα ταῦτα ὑπὸ τῶν χρωμένων͵ φιλία δ΄ οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς τὰ ἄψυχα οὐδὲ δίκαιον. ἀλλ΄ οὐδὲ πρὸς ἵππον ἢ βοῦν͵ οὐδὲ πρὸς δοῦλον ᾗ δοῦλος. οὐδὲν γὰρ κοινόν ἐστιν· ὁ γὰρ δοῦλος ἔμψυχον ὄργανον͵ τὸ δ΄ ὄργανον ἄψυχος δοῦ λος. ᾗ μὲν οὖν δοῦλος͵ οὐκ ἔστι φιλία πρὸς αὐτόν͵ ᾗ δ΄ ἄνθρωπος· δοκεῖ γὰρ εἶναί τι δίκαιον παντὶ ἀνθρώπῳ πρὸς πάντα τὸν δυνάμενον κοινωνῆσαι νόμου καὶ συνθήκης· καὶ φιλία δή͵ καθ΄ ὅσον ἄνθρωπος. ἐπὶ μικρὸν δὴ καὶ ἐν ταῖς τυραννίσιν αἱ φιλίαι καὶ τὸ δίκαιον͵ ἐν δὲ ταῖς δημοκρα τίαις ἐπὶ πλεῖον· πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ κοινὰ ἴσοις οὖσιν.

12.  Every form of friendship, then, involves association, as has been said. One might, however, mark off from the rest both the friendship of kindred and that of comrades. Those of fellow-citizens, fellow-tribesmen, fellow-voyagers, and the like are more like mere friendships of association; for they seem to rest on a sort of compact. With them we might class the friendship of host and guest. The friendship of kinsmen itself, while it seems to be of many kinds, appears to depend in every case on parental friendship; for parents love their children as being a part of themselves, and children their parents as being something originating from them. Now (1) parents know their offspring better than there children know that they are their children, and (2) the originator feels his offspring to be his own more than the offspring do their begetter; for the product belongs to the producer (e.g. a tooth or hair or anything else to him whose it is), but the producer does not belong to the product, or belongs in a less degree. And (3) the length of time produces the same result; parents love their children as soon as these are born, but children love their parents only after time has elapsed and they have acquired understanding or the power of discrimination by the senses. From these considerations it is also plain why mothers love more than fathers do. Parents, then, love their children as themselves (for their issue are by virtue of their separate existence a sort of other selves), while children love their parents as being born of them, and brothers love each other as being born of the same parents; for their identity with them makes them identical with each other (which is the reason why people talk of ‘the same blood’, ‘the same stock’, and so on).

Ἐν κοινωνίᾳ μὲν οὖν πᾶσα φιλία ἐστίν͵ καθάπερ εἴρη ται. ἀφορίσειε δ΄ ἄν τις τήν τε συγγενικὴν καὶ τὴν ἑται ρικήν. αἱ δὲ πολιτικαὶ καὶ φυλετικαὶ καὶ συμπλοϊκαί͵ καὶ ὅσαι τοιαῦται͵ κοινωνικαῖς ἐοίκασι μᾶλλον· οἷον γὰρ καθ΄ ὁμολογίαν τινὰ φαίνονται εἶναι. εἰς ταύτας δὲ τά ξειεν ἄν τις καὶ τὴν ξενικήν. καὶ ἡ συγγενικὴ δὲ φαίνε ται πολυειδὴς εἶναι͵ ἠρτῆσθαι δὲ πᾶσα ἐκ τῆς πατρικῆς· οἱ γονεῖς μὲν γὰρ στέργουσι τὰ τέκνα ὡς ἑαυτῶν τι ὄντα͵ τὰ δὲ τέκνα τοὺς γονεῖς ὡς ἀπ΄ ἐκείνων τι ὄντα. μᾶλλον δ΄ ἴσασιν οἱ γονεῖς τὰ ἐξ αὑτῶν ἢ τὰ γεννηθέντα ὅτι ἐκ τούτων͵ καὶ μᾶλλον συνωκείωται τὸ ἀφ΄ οὗ τῷ γεννηθέντι ἢ τὸ γενόμενον τῷ ποιήσαντι· τὸ γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ οἰκεῖον τῷ ἀφ΄ οὗ͵ οἷον ὀδοὺς θρὶξ ὁτιοῦν τῷ ἔχοντι· ἐκείνῳ δ΄ οὐδὲν τὸ ἀφ΄ οὗ͵ ἢ ἧττον. καὶ τῷ πλήθει δὲ τοῦ χρόνου· οἳ μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς γενόμενα στέργουσιν͵ τὰ δὲ προελθόντος χρόνου τοὺς γονεῖς͵ σύνεσιν ἢ αἴσθησιν λαβόντα. ἐκ τούτων δὲ δῆλον καὶ δι΄ ἃ φιλοῦσι μᾶλλον αἱ μητέρες. γονεῖς μὲν οὖν τέκνα φιλοῦσιν ὡς ἑαυτούς (τὰ γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν οἷον ἕτεροι αὐτοὶ τῷ κεχωρίσθαι)͵ τέκνα δὲ γονεῖς ὡς ἀπ΄ ἐκείνων πε φυκότα͵ ἀδελφοὶ δ΄ ἀλλήλους τῷ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν πεφυκέ ναι· ἡ γὰρ πρὸς ἐκεῖνα ταυτότης ἀλλήλοις ταὐτὸ ποιεῖ· ὅθεν φασὶ ταὐτὸν αἷμα καὶ ῥίζαν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα.

The friendship of children to parents, and of men to gods, is a relation to them as to something good and superior; for they have conferred the greatest benefits, since they are the causes of their being and of their nourishment, and of their education from their birth; and this kind of friendship possesses pleasantness and utility also, more than that of strangers, inasmuch as their life is lived more in common. The friendship of brothers has the characteristics found in that of comrades (and especially when these are good), and in general between people who are like each other, inasmuch as they belong more to each other and start with a love for each other from their very birth, and inasmuch as those born of the same parents and brought up together and similarly educated are more akin in character; and the test of time has been applied most fully and convincingly in their case.

δ΄ ἡ μὲν πρὸς γονεῖς φιλία τέκνοις͵ καὶ ἀνθρώποις πρὸς θεούς͵ ὡς πρὸς ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὑπερέχον· εὖ γὰρ πεποιήκασι τὰ μέγιστα· τοῦ γὰρ εἶναι καὶ τραφῆ ναι αἴτιοι͵ καὶ γενομένοις τοῦ παιδευθῆναι· ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον ἡ τοιαύτη φιλία μᾶλλον τῶν ὀθνείων͵ ὅσῳ καὶ κοινότερος ὁ βίος αὐτοῖς ἐστίν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀδελφικῇ ἅπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἑταιρικῇ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς ἐπιεικέσι͵ καὶ ὅλως ἐν τοῖς ὁμοίοις͵ ὅσῳ οἰκειότεροι καὶ ἐκ γενετῆς ὑπάρχουσι στέργοντες ἀλλήλους͵ καὶ ὅσῳ ὁμοηθέ στεροι οἱ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν καὶ σύντροφοι καὶ παιδευθέντες ὁμοίως· καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὸν χρόνον δοκιμασία πλείστη καὶ βεβαιοτάτη.

Between other kinsmen friendly relations are found in due proportion. Between man and wife friendship seems to exist by nature; for man is naturally inclined to form couples-even more than to form cities, inasmuch as the household is earlier and more necessary than the city, and reproduction is more common to man with the animals. With the other animals the union extends only to this point, but human beings live together not only for the sake of reproduction but also for the various purposes of life; for from the start the functions are divided, and those of man and woman are different; so they help each other by throwing their peculiar gifts into the common stock. It is for these reasons that both utility and pleasure seem to be found in this kind of friendship. But this friendship may be based also on virtue, if the parties are good; for each has its own virtue and they will delight in the fact. And children seem to be a bond of union (which is the reason why childless people part more easily); for children are a good common to both and what is common holds them together.

ἀνάλογον δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς τῶν συγγε νῶν τὰ φιλικά. ἀνδρὶ δὲ καὶ γυναικὶ φιλία δοκεῖ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχειν· ἄνθρωπος γὰρ τῇ φύσει συνδυαστικὸν μᾶλλον ἢ πολιτικόν͵ ὅσῳ πρότερον καὶ ἀναγκαιότερον οἰκία πόλεως͵ καὶ τεκνοποιία κοινότερον τοῖς ζῴοις. τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἄλλοις ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἡ κοινωνία ἐστίν͵ οἱ δ΄ ἄνθρωποι οὐ μόνον τῆς τεκνοποιίας χάριν συνοικοῦσιν͵ ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν εἰς τὸν βίον· εὐθὺς γὰρ διῄρηται τὰ ἔργα͵ καὶ ἔστιν ἕτερα ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικός· ἐπαρκοῦσιν οὖν ἀλλήλοις͵ εἰς τὸ κοινὸν τιθέν τες τὰ ἴδια. διὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ φιλίᾳ. εἴη δ΄ ἂν καὶ δι΄ ἀρετήν͵ εἰ ἐπιεικεῖς εἶεν· ἔστι γὰρ ἑκατέρου ἀρετή͵ καὶ χαίροιεν ἂν τῷ τοιούτῳ. σύνδεσμος δὲ τὰ τέκνα δοκεῖ εἶναι· διὸ θᾶττον οἱ ἄτεκνοι διαλύονται· τὰ γὰρ τέκνα κοινὸν ἀγαθὸν ἀμ φοῖν͵ συνέχει δὲ τὸ κοινόν.

How man and wife and in general friend and friend ought mutually to behave seems to be the same question as how it is just for them to behave; for a man does not seem to have the same duties to a friend, a stranger, a comrade, and a schoolfellow.

τὸ δὲ πῶς βιωτέον ἀνδρὶ πρὸς γυναῖκα καὶ ὅλως φίλῳ πρὸς φίλον͵ οὐδὲν ἕτερον φαίνεται ζητεῖσθαι ἢ πῶς δίκαιον· οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν φαίνεται τῷ φίλῳ πρὸς τὸν φίλον καὶ τὸν ὀθνεῖον καὶ τὸν ἑταῖρον καὶ τὸν συμφοιτητήν.

13.  ^[1162b] There are three kinds of friendship, as we said at the outset of our inquiry, and in respect of each some are friends on an equality and others by virtue of a superiority (for not only can equally good men become friends but a better man can make friends with a worse, and similarly in friendships of pleasure or utility the friends may be equal or unequal in the benefits they confer). This being so, equals must effect the required equalization on a basis of equality in love and in all other respects, while unequals must render what is in proportion to their superiority or inferiority. Complaints and reproaches arise either only or chiefly in the friendship of utility, and this is only to be expected. For those who are friends on the ground of virtue are anxious to do well by each other (since that is a mark of virtue and of friendship), and between men who are emulating each other in this there cannot be complaints or quarrels; no one is offended by a man who loves him and does well by him-if he is a person of nice feeling he takes his revenge by doing well by the other. And the man who excels the other in the services he renders will not complain of his friend, since he gets what he aims at; for each man desires what is good. Nor do complaints arise much even in friendships of pleasure; for both get at the same time what they desire, if they enjoy spending their time together; and even a man who complained of another for not affording him pleasure would seem ridiculous, since it is in his power not to spend his days with him.

^1162a Τριττῶν δ΄ οὐσῶν φιλιῶν͵ καθάπερ ἐν ἀρχῇ εἴρηται͵ καὶ καθ΄ ἑκάστην τῶν μὲν ἐν ἰσότητι φίλων ὄντων τῶν δὲ καθ΄ ὑπεροχήν (καὶ γὰρ ὁμοίως ἀγαθοὶ φίλοι γίνονται καὶ ^1162b ἀμείνων χείρονι͵ ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡδεῖς καὶ διὰ τὸ χρήσι μον͵ ἰσάζοντες ταῖς ὠφελείαις καὶ διαφέροντες)͵ τοὺς ἴσους μὲν κατ΄ ἰσότητα δεῖ τῷ φιλεῖν καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἰσάζειν͵ τοὺς δ΄ ἀνίσους τὸ ἀνάλογον ταῖς ὑπεροχαῖς ἀποδιδόναι. γίνεται δὲ τὰ ἐγκλήματα καὶ αἱ μέμψεις ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸ χρήσιμον φιλίᾳ ἢ μόνῃ ἢ μάλιστα͵ εὐλόγως. οἱ μὲν γὰρ δι΄ ἀρετὴν φίλοι ὄντες εὖ δρᾶν ἀλλήλους προθυμοῦνται (τοῦτο γὰρ ἀρετῆς καὶ φιλίας)͵ πρὸς τοῦτο δ΄ ἁμιλλωμένων οὐκ ἔστιν ἐγκλήματα οὐδὲ μάχαι· τὸν γὰρ φιλοῦντα καὶ εὖ ποιοῦντα οὐδεὶς δυσχεραίνει͵ ἀλλ΄ ἂν ᾖ χαρίεις͵ ἀμύ νεται εὖ δρῶν. ὁ δ΄ ὑπερβάλλων͵ τυγχάνων οὗ ἐφίεται͵ οὐκ ἂν ἐγκαλοίη τῷ φίλῳ· ἕκαστος γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ὀρέγε ται. οὐ πάνυ δ΄ οὐδ΄ ἐν τοῖς δι΄ ἡδονήν· ἅμα γὰρ ἀμφοῖν γίνεται οὗ ὀρέγονται͵ εἰ τῷ συνδιάγειν χαίρουσιν· γελοῖος δ΄ ἂν φαίνοιτο καὶ ὁ ἐγκαλῶν τῷ μὴ τέρποντι͵ ἐξὸν μὴ συνημερεύειν.

But the friendship of utility is full of complaints; for as they use each other for their own interests they always want to get the better of the bargain, and think they have got less than they should, and blame their partners because they do not get all they ‘want and deserve’; and those who do well by others cannot help them as much as those whom they benefit want.

ἡ δὲ διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον ἐγκληματική· ἐπ΄ ὠφελείᾳ γὰρ χρώμενοι ἀλλήλοις ἀεὶ τοῦ πλείονος δέονται͵ καὶ ἔλαττον ἔχειν οἴονται τοῦ προσήκοντος͵ καὶ μέμφονται ὅτι οὐχ ὅσων δέονται τοσούτων τυγχάνουσιν ἄξιοι ὄντες· οἱ δ΄ εὖ ποιοῦντες οὐ δύνανται ἐπαρκεῖν τοσαῦτα ὅσων οἱ πά σχοντες δέονται.

Now it seems that, as justice is of two kinds, one unwritten and the other legal, one kind of friendship of utility is moral and the other legal. And so complaints arise most of all when men do not dissolve the relation in the spirit of the same type of friendship in which they contracted it. The legal type is that which is on fixed terms; its purely commercial variety is on the basis of immediate payment, while the more liberal variety allows time but stipulates for a definite quid pro quo. In this variety the debt is clear and not ambiguous, but in the postponement it contains an element of friendliness; and so some states do not allow suits arising out of such agreements, but think men who have bargained on a basis of credit ought to accept the consequences. The moral type is not on fixed terms; it makes a gift, or does whatever it does, as to a friend; but one expects to receive as much or more, as having not given but lent; and if a man is worse off when the relation is dissolved than he was when it was contracted he will complain. This happens because all or most men, while they wish for what is noble, choose what is advantageous; now it is noble to do well by another without a view to repayment, but it is the receiving of benefits that is advantageous.

ἔοικε δέ͵ καθάπερ τὸ δίκαιόν ἐστι διττόν͵ τὸ μὲν ἄγραφον τὸ δὲ κατὰ νόμον͵ καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸ χρήσιμον φιλίας ἣ μὲν ἠθικὴ ἣ δὲ νομικὴ εἶναι. γίνεται οὖν τὰ ἐγκλήματα μάλισθ΄ ὅταν μὴ κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν συν αλλάξωσι καὶ διαλύωνται. ἔστι δ΄ ἡ νομικὴ μὲν ἡ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς͵ ἡ μὲν πάμπαν ἀγοραία ἐκ χειρὸς εἰς χεῖρα͵ ἡ δὲ ἐλευθεριωτέρα εἰς χρόνον͵ καθ΄ ὁμολογίαν δὲ τί ἀντὶ τίνος. δῆλον δ΄ ἐν ταύτῃ τὸ ὀφείλημα κοὐκ ἀμφίλογον͵ φιλικὸν δὲ τὴν ἀναβολὴν ἔχει· διόπερ ἐνίοις οὐκ εἰσὶ τούτων δίκαι͵ ἀλλ΄ οἴονται δεῖν στέργειν τοὺς κατὰ πίστιν συναλλά ξαντας. ἡ δ΄ ἠθικὴ οὐκ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς͵ ἀλλ΄ ὡς φίλῳ δωρεῖται ἢ ὁτιδήποτε ἄλλο· κομίζεσθαι δὲ ἀξιοῖ τὸ ἴσον ἢ πλέον͵ ὡς οὐ δεδωκὼς ἀλλὰ χρήσας· οὐχ ὁμοίως δὲ συναλ λάξας καὶ διαλυόμενος ἐγκαλέσει. τοῦτο δὲ συμβαίνει διὰ τὸ βούλεσθαι μὲν πάντας ἢ τοὺς πλείστους τὰ καλά͵ προαιρεῖσθαι δὲ τὰ ὠφέλιμα· καλὸν δὲ τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν μὴ ^1163a ἵνα ἀντιπάθῃ͵ ὠφέλιμον δὲ τὸ εὐεργετεῖσθαι.

It is disputable whether we ought to measure a service by its utility to the receiver and make the return with a view to that, or by the benevolence of the giver. For those who have received say they have received from their benefactors what meant little to the latter and what they might have got from others-minimizing the service; while the givers, on the contrary, say it was the biggest thing they had, and what could not have been got from others, and that it was given in times of danger or similar need. Now if the friendship is one that aims at utility, surely the advantage to the receiver is the measure. For it is he that asks for the service, and the other man helps him on the assumption that he will receive the equivalent; so the assistance has been precisely as great as the advantage to the receiver, and therefore he must return as much as he has received, or even more (for that would be nobler). In friendships based on virtue on the other hand, complaints do not arise, but the purpose of the doer is a sort of measure; for in purpose lies the essential element of virtue and character.

ἀμφισβήτησιν δ΄ ἔχει πότερα δεῖ τῇ τοῦ παθόντος ὠφελείᾳ μετρεῖν καὶ πρὸς ταύτην ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν͵ ἢ τῇ τοῦ δράσαν τος εὐεργεσίᾳ. οἱ μὲν γὰρ παθόντες τοιαῦτά φασι λαβεῖν παρὰ τῶν εὐεργετῶν ἃ μικρὰ ἦν ἐκείνοις καὶ ἐξῆν παρ΄ ἑτέρων λαβεῖν͵ κατασμικρίζοντες· οἳ δ΄ ἀνάπαλιν τὰ μέ γιστα τῶν παρ΄ αὑτοῖς͵ καὶ ἃ παρ΄ ἄλλων οὐκ ἦν͵ καὶ ἐν κινδύνοις ἢ τοιαύταις χρείαις. ἆρ΄ οὖν διὰ μὲν τὸ χρήσιμον τῆς φιλίας οὔσης ἡ τοῦ παθόντος ὠφέλεια μέτρον ἐστίν; οὗτος γὰρ ὁ δεόμενος͵ καὶ ἐπαρκεῖ αὐτῷ ὡς κομιούμενος τὴν ἴσην· τοσαύτη οὖν γεγένηται ἡ ἐπικουρία ὅσον οὗτος ὠφέλη ται͵ καὶ ἀποδοτέον δὴ αὐτῷ ὅσον ἐπηύρετο͵ ἢ καὶ πλέον· κάλλιον γάρ. ἐν δὲ ταῖς κατ΄ ἀρετὴν ἐγκλήματα μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν͵ μέτρῳ δ΄ ἔοικεν ἡ τοῦ δράσαντος προαίρεσις· τῆς ἀρετῆς γὰρ καὶ τοῦ ἤθους ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει τὸ κύριον.

14. Differences arise also in friendships based on superiority; for each expects to get more out of them, but when this happens the friendship is dissolved. Not only does the better man think he ought to get more, since more should be assigned to a good man, but the more useful similarly expects this; they say a useless man should not get as much as they should, since it becomes an act of public service and not a friendship if the proceeds of the friendship do not answer to the worth of the benefits conferred. For they think that, as in a commercial partnership those who put more in get more out, so it should be in friendship. But the man who is in a state of need and inferiority makes the opposite claim; they think it is the part of a good friend to help those who are in need; what, they say, is the use of being the friend of a good man or a powerful man, if one is to get nothing out of it?

Διαφέρονται δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς καθ΄ ὑπεροχὴν φιλίαις· ἀξιοῖ γὰρ ἑκάτερος πλέον ἔχειν͵ ὅταν δὲ τοῦτο γίνηται͵ διαλύεται ἡ φιλία. οἴεται γὰρ ὅ τε βελτίων προσήκειν αὑτῷ πλέον ἔχειν· τῷ γὰρ ἀγαθῷ νέμεσθαι πλέον· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ ὠφελιμώτερος· ἀχρεῖον γὰρ ὄντα οὔ φασι δεῖν ἴσον ἔχειν· λειτουργίαν τε γὰρ γίνεσθαι καὶ οὐ φιλίαν͵ εἰ μὴ κατ΄ ἀξίαν τῶν ἔργων ἔσται τὰ ἐκ τῆς φιλίας. οἴονται γάρ͵ καθάπερ ἐν χρημάτων κοινωνίᾳ πλεῖον λαμβάνουσιν οἱ συμβαλλόμενοι πλεῖον͵ οὕτω δεῖν καὶ ἐν τῇ φιλίᾳ. ὁ δ΄ ἐνδεὴς καὶ ὁ χείρων ἀνάπαλιν· φίλου γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ εἶναι τὸ ἐπαρκεῖν τοῖς ἐνδεέσιν· τί γάρ͵ φασίν͵ ὄφελος σπουδαίῳ ἢ δυνάστῃ φίλον εἶναι͵ μηδέν γε μέλλοντα ἀπολαύειν;

^[1163b]  At all events it seems that each party is justified in his claim, and that each should get more out of the friendship than the other-not more of the same thing, however, but the superior more honour and the inferior more gain; for honour is the prize of virtue and of beneficence, while gain is the assistance required by inferiority.

^1163b ἔοικε δ΄ οὖν ἑκάτερος ὀρθῶς ἀξιοῦν͵ καὶ δεῖν ἑκατέρῳ πλέον νέμειν ἐκ τῆς φιλίας͵ οὐ τοῦ αὐτοῦ δέ͵ ἀλλὰ τῷ μὲν ὑπερ έχοντι τιμῆς τῷ δ΄ ἐνδεεῖ κέρδους· τῆς μὲν γὰρ ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἡ τιμὴ γέρας͵ τῆς δ΄ ἐνδείας ἐπικουρία τὸ κέρδος.

It seems to be so in constitutional arrangements also; the man who contributes nothing good to the common stock is not honoured; for what belongs to the public is given to the man who benefits the public, and honour does belong to the public. It is not possible to get wealth from the common stock and at the same time honour. For no one puts up with the smaller share in all things; therefore to the man who loses in wealth they assign honour and to the man who is willing to be paid, wealth, since the proportion to merit equalizes the parties and preserves the friendship, as we have said. This then is also the way in which we should associate with unequals; the man who is benefited in respect of wealth or virtue must give honour in return, repaying what he can. For friendship asks a man to do what he can, not what is proportional to the merits of the case; since that cannot always be done, e.g. in honours paid to the gods or to parents; for no one could ever return to them the equivalent of what he gets, but the man who serves them to the utmost of his power is thought to be a good man. This is why it would not seem open to a man to disown his father (though a father may disown his son); being in debt, he should repay, but there is nothing by doing which a son will have done the equivalent of what he has received, so that he is always in debt. But creditors can remit a debt; and a father can therefore do so too. At the same time it is thought that presumably no one would repudiate a son who was not far gone in wickedness; for apart from the natural friendship of father and son it is human nature not to reject a son’s assistance. But the son, if he is wicked, will naturally avoid aiding his father, or not be zealous about it; for most people wish to get benefits, but avoid doing them, as a thing unprofitable.-So much for these questions.

οὕτω δ΄ ἔχειν τοῦτο καὶ ἐν ταῖς πολιτείαις φαί νεται· οὐ γὰρ τιμᾶται ὁ μηδὲν ἀγαθὸν τῷ κοινῷ πορίζων· τὸ κοινὸν γὰρ δίδοται τῷ τὸ κοινὸν εὐεργετοῦντι͵ ἡ τιμὴ δὲ κοινόν. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἅμα χρηματίζεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν κοινῶν καὶ τιμᾶσθαι. ἐν πᾶσι γὰρ τὸ ἔλαττον οὐδεὶς ὑπομένει· τῷ δὴ περὶ χρήματα ἐλαττουμένῳ τιμὴν ἀπονέμουσι καὶ τῷ δωροδόκῳ χρήματα· τὸ κατ΄ ἀξίαν γὰρ ἐπανισοῖ καὶ σῴζει τὴν φιλίαν͵ καθάπερ εἴρηται. οὕτω δὴ καὶ τοῖς ἀνί σοις ὁμιλητέον͵ καὶ τῷ εἰς χρήματα ὠφελουμένῳ ἢ εἰς ἀρετὴν τιμὴν ἀνταποδοτέον͵ ἀποδιδόντα τὰ ἐνδεχόμενα. τὸ δυνατὸν γὰρ ἡ φιλία ἐπιζητεῖ͵ οὐ τὸ κατ΄ ἀξίαν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐν πᾶσι͵ καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τιμαῖς καὶ τοὺς γονεῖς· οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὴν ἀξίαν ποτ΄ ἂν ἀποδοίη͵ εἰς δύναμιν δὲ ὁ θεραπεύων ἐπιεικὴς εἶναι δοκεῖ. διὸ κἂν δό ξειεν οὐκ ἐξεῖναι υἱῷ πατέρα ἀπείπασθαι͵ πατρὶ δ΄ υἱόν· ὀφείλοντα γὰρ ἀποδοτέον͵ οὐδὲν δὲ ποιήσας ἄξιον τῶν ὑπηργμένων δέδρακεν͵ ὥστ΄ ἀεὶ ὀφείλει. οἷς δ΄ ὀφείλεται͵ ἐξουσία ἀφεῖναι· καὶ τῷ πατρὶ δή. ἅμα δ΄ ἴσως οὐδείς ποτ΄ ἂν ἀποστῆναι δοκεῖ μὴ ὑπερβάλλοντος μοχθηρίᾳ· χωρὶς γὰρ τῆς φυσικῆς φιλίας τὴν ἐπικουρίαν ἀνθρωπικὸν μὴ διωθεῖσθαι. τῷ δὲ φευκτὸν ἢ οὐ σπουδαστὸν τὸ ἐπαρκεῖν͵ μοχθηρῷ ὄντι· εὖ πάσχειν γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ βούλονται͵ τὸ δὲ ποιεῖν φεύγουσιν ὡς ἀλυσιτελές. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρήσθω.

PLATO: LYSIS (on Friendship)
Based on tr. Benjamin Jowett (New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1901).

(TLG 59.20 Lysis cit Stephanus Platonis opera, ed. J.Burnet, vol. 3 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1903, rpr. 1968) pp. St II.203a-223b

a sincere friend is more valuable than anything else

like is attracted to like

a friend should be virtuous and useful

true friendship must be a reciprocal relationship

^219c Medicine, as we were saying, is [our] friend for the sake of health?

^219.c ἡ ἰατρική͵ φαμέν͵ ἕνεκα τῆς ὑγιείας φίλον. 

Yes.  And health is also a friend?  Certainly.  And if a friend, then a friend for the sake of something? 

Ναί.  Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡ ὑγίεια φίλον;  Πάνυ γε.  Εἰ ἄρα φίλον͵ ἕνεκά του. 

Yes.  And surely this “something” must also be a friend, as implied in our previous agreement?

Ναί.  Φίλου γέ τινος δή͵ εἴπερ ἀκολουθήσει τῇ πρόσθεν ὁμολογίᾳ. 

Yes.  And will that something be a friend for the sake of another friend?  Yes. 

Πάνυ γε.  Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἐκεῖνο φίλον αὖ ἔσται ἕνεκα φίλου;  Ναί. 

But then, proceeding in this way, shall we not tire ourselves unless we arrive at some first principle which will not keep leading us on from one friend to another, ^219d but will reach that primordial friend [prōton philon] for whose sake all other things are called friends, and, having there arrived, we shall stop?

Ἆρ΄ οὖν οὐκ ἀνάγκη ἀπειπεῖν ἡμᾶς οὕτως ἰόντας ἢ ἀφικέσθαι ἐπί τινα ἀρχήν͵ ἣ οὐκέτ΄ ἐπανοίσει ἐπ΄ ἄλλο φίλον͵ ἀλλ΄ ἥξει ἐπ΄ ἐκεῖνο ὅ ἐστιν ^219.d πρῶτον φίλον͵ οὗ ἕνεκα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα φαμὲν πάντα φίλα εἶναι; 

Indeed.  My fear is that all those other things, which, as we say, are friends for the sake of that one thing, are illusions and deceptions only, while that primordial [friend] is the true friend.

Ἀνάγκη.  Τοῦτο δή ἐστιν ὃ λέγω͵ μὴ ἡμᾶς τἆλλα πάντα ἃ εἴπομεν ἐκείνου ἕνεκα φίλα εἶναι͵ ὥσπερ εἴδωλα ἄττα ὄντα αὐτοῦ͵ ἐξαπατᾷ͵ ᾖ δ΄ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πρῶτον͵ ὃ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐστι φίλον.