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When we left off with Plutarch, we were discussing Themistocles’ mother and his supposedly illegitimate birth. My notes say that all the offered people who might’ve been his mother are probably apocryphal, and he almost certainly wasn’t illegitimate, so Plutarch is not exactly on a winning streak as historical accuracy goes.
But never mind that! We have more Themistocles to hear about, and maybe now we’ll finally get to hear more about his life before the big “Don’t divvy up the money, build warships!” decision.
Plutarch - Themistocles 2
It’s agreed that while he was a boy he was full of energy, and intelligent by his nature, and by deliberate choice he also had grand designs for politics. For when he was away from his lessons, in recreation and leisure, he didn’t play or relax like the other children, but was found studying some speeches or putting them together by himself. And the speeches were prosecution or defense speeches for the [other] children. For this reason, his teacher used to tell him, “You won’t be small, child, but you will be entirely great whether good or bad.”
He studied the character-forming parts of education, or those aimed at some pleasure or the grace of nobility, timidly and uneagerly; but of the subjects in intelligence or practical action, he was clearly seeking them from an unusually young age, as he was relying on his natural talents.
Because of this, later, when in liberal* and “urbane” parties** he was mocked by those considered themselves educated, he was forced to defend himself vulgarly, saying that he didn’t know how to tune a lyre and practice a harp, but he did know how to start with a small, unknown city and leave it a large, notable one.
Furthermore, Stesimbrotus says that Themistocles was a student of Anaxagorus, and was an eager student to Melissus the physicist, but he was arranging his timeline poorly; for Melissus acted as the opposing general to Pericles, who was younger than Themistocles, while Pericles was besieging Samos, and Pericles hung out with Anaxagorus.
Therefore, one ought hold to those saying Themistocles became a student of Mnesiphilus the Phrearrhian, who was neither an orator nor among the philosophers called physicists, but [studied] what was called “sophism” back then, which was political cleverness and active intelligence, and which [Mnesiphilus] created as a practice, and was maintaining as if he’d taken it as a tradition from Solon.*** After these things, they mixed it with lawyer-like skills and conveyed the practice from business dealings towards speeches, and they were called “sophists.”
Therefore when [Themistocles] was getting into politics he associated himself with this man. And he was uneven and unsteady in the first efforts of his youth, which he was performing through talent alone, without logic or training, so that talent makes great changes in what results in either direction, and often changes towards the worse, as he said later, adding that the unruliest colts make the best horses, so long as they acquire their training and discipline.
But some liars supply stories of these [early events]--a disinheritance by his father, and the suicide of his mother out of deep grief over her son’s dishonor--which seem to be slander; and there are those who contradict them, saying that his father, urging him away from getting into politics, pointed out to him the old triremes that had been cast out onto the ocean and were now neglected, whenever they seemed less useful, and it was the same for many men.^
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* In general, when this text uses “liberal” it means that in the sense of “liberal arts” or “refined”, not as a political statement.
** Literally, they’re “freeborn-speaking and of-the-town-called amusements/leisure times,” so let’s just say that either my dictionary is a bit antiquated, or I’m taking a free hand in translations, here.
*** Solon was one of the Seven Sages, and a highly respected historical figure (even by the standards of Themistocles’ time) for his knowledge and wisdom. Thus, if I’m translating correctly, Plutarch is saying that Mnesiphilus taught Themistocles a particular type of political thought that he claimed came from Solon, but was actually an invention of Mnesiphilus himself. I think.
^ Namely, for men who had done service for the city--politicians--being treated like tools that had been useful to the city.
But never mind that! We have more Themistocles to hear about, and maybe now we’ll finally get to hear more about his life before the big “Don’t divvy up the money, build warships!” decision.
Plutarch - Themistocles 2
It’s agreed that while he was a boy he was full of energy, and intelligent by his nature, and by deliberate choice he also had grand designs for politics. For when he was away from his lessons, in recreation and leisure, he didn’t play or relax like the other children, but was found studying some speeches or putting them together by himself. And the speeches were prosecution or defense speeches for the [other] children. For this reason, his teacher used to tell him, “You won’t be small, child, but you will be entirely great whether good or bad.”
He studied the character-forming parts of education, or those aimed at some pleasure or the grace of nobility, timidly and uneagerly; but of the subjects in intelligence or practical action, he was clearly seeking them from an unusually young age, as he was relying on his natural talents.
Because of this, later, when in liberal* and “urbane” parties** he was mocked by those considered themselves educated, he was forced to defend himself vulgarly, saying that he didn’t know how to tune a lyre and practice a harp, but he did know how to start with a small, unknown city and leave it a large, notable one.
Furthermore, Stesimbrotus says that Themistocles was a student of Anaxagorus, and was an eager student to Melissus the physicist, but he was arranging his timeline poorly; for Melissus acted as the opposing general to Pericles, who was younger than Themistocles, while Pericles was besieging Samos, and Pericles hung out with Anaxagorus.
Therefore, one ought hold to those saying Themistocles became a student of Mnesiphilus the Phrearrhian, who was neither an orator nor among the philosophers called physicists, but [studied] what was called “sophism” back then, which was political cleverness and active intelligence, and which [Mnesiphilus] created as a practice, and was maintaining as if he’d taken it as a tradition from Solon.*** After these things, they mixed it with lawyer-like skills and conveyed the practice from business dealings towards speeches, and they were called “sophists.”
Therefore when [Themistocles] was getting into politics he associated himself with this man. And he was uneven and unsteady in the first efforts of his youth, which he was performing through talent alone, without logic or training, so that talent makes great changes in what results in either direction, and often changes towards the worse, as he said later, adding that the unruliest colts make the best horses, so long as they acquire their training and discipline.
But some liars supply stories of these [early events]--a disinheritance by his father, and the suicide of his mother out of deep grief over her son’s dishonor--which seem to be slander; and there are those who contradict them, saying that his father, urging him away from getting into politics, pointed out to him the old triremes that had been cast out onto the ocean and were now neglected, whenever they seemed less useful, and it was the same for many men.^
---
* In general, when this text uses “liberal” it means that in the sense of “liberal arts” or “refined”, not as a political statement.
** Literally, they’re “freeborn-speaking and of-the-town-called amusements/leisure times,” so let’s just say that either my dictionary is a bit antiquated, or I’m taking a free hand in translations, here.
*** Solon was one of the Seven Sages, and a highly respected historical figure (even by the standards of Themistocles’ time) for his knowledge and wisdom. Thus, if I’m translating correctly, Plutarch is saying that Mnesiphilus taught Themistocles a particular type of political thought that he claimed came from Solon, but was actually an invention of Mnesiphilus himself. I think.
^ Namely, for men who had done service for the city--politicians--being treated like tools that had been useful to the city.