Letter 300

To Theon the Magistrate [politeuomenos, a member of the city council]. To grieve inconsolably, and to lament, and to fast over a deceased relative, is a refutation of one's want of faith and of hope. He who believes that the one just buried will rise again from the dead will temper his laments with hope, will pray that the one who has fallen asleep may obtain eternal mercy, and will turn toward the correction of his own faults.

Τὸ ἀπαρηγορήτως λυπεῖσθαι, καὶ θρηνεῖν, καὶ νηστεύειν ἐπὶ τῷ τελευτήσαντι συγγενεῖ, ἔλεγχός ἐστι τῆς ἀπιστίας καὶ τῆς ἀνελπιστίας. Ὁ πιστεύων ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστήσεσθαι τὸν ἄρτι τεθαμμένον, ἐλπίδι σκευάσει τοὺς θρήνους, εὔξεται ἐλέους αἰωνίου τυχεῖν τὸν κοιμηθέντα, πρὸς διόρθωσιν ῥέψει τῶν οἰκείων πταισμάτων.