Sophrosyne – Temperance – Healthy in Mind – Healthy in Body
Of excellent character
“Field of dreams” by Majalin
The Greek language has many mysterious words, words that we can try to express in another tongue, but rarely succeed in doing so.
Words better understood by experiencing them rather than speaking them.
Sophrosyne (temperance) is one such a word, an ancient Greek word, used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his dialogue Charmides, where Socrates, debates the meaning of the word.
Sophrosyne derives from the word sophron, being sound of mind, prudent.
“Virtue” James C. Christensen
Sophrosyne is a state, a concept, a virtue, a number of qualities; temperance, moderation, prudence, purity and decorum, all coming together to form the ideal character, it’s having self-control, self-knowledge, forethought and being slow to anger, having restraint, having reason, and according to St. Thomas of Aquinas, sophrosyne, is the fourth and final cardinal virtue.
All the above, when brought together, create a life of harmony, of peace and of happiness.
Harmony
No wonder then, that the Goddess Sophrosyne, Goddess of moderation, on escaping from Pandora’s Box, flew straight back to Olympus, leaving behind mankind!
A good understanding of the word can be gained, through two of the famous sayings, from The Oracle at Ancient Delphi:
“Nothing in excess” and “Know thyself”
The philosophy is, living a good and simple life, can only lead to health and happiness.
Happy & peaceful
“Touch ” by Valentina Yaskina
Juvena, a Roman poet interpreted Sophrosyne as:
“Mens sana in corpore sano” meaning “Healthy in mind, healthy in body”; balance!
Today we see it all over the internet, in the form of “Inspirational quotes”, in words such as “Mindfulness” “Mindset”, and so on and so forth.
Temperantia (1872), by Edward Burne-Jones
Sophrosyne; how much better it sounds in Greek!
Related links:
Interesting ‘untranslatable’ Greek words
