On The Happy Life by Michael P. Foley

Author:Michael P. Foley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press

A Bittersweet Dessert and Navigius’s Reaction (2.13–15)

The reaction of Navigius, who has no invested interest in the debate about the Academics and who must be teased into the discussion, is more intriguing (2.14). Speaking ambivalently, Augustine warns of the effects of sweets on his brother’s spleen, a comment that could refer to a preexisting health condition or possibly to Navigius’s being “splenetic” metaphorically, that is, ill-humored or irritable. Augustine’s language is loaded in another way as well: the phrase he uses for a bad spleen, splen vitiosus, is taken from Columella’s description of pigs, whose excessive (supra modum) love of sweetness in their food causes an inflammation of the spleen that can be cured by water infused with bitter tamarisk.52 The theme of moderation again emerges in the dialogue, albeit implicitly.

Navigius laughs good-naturedly at the fraternal jibe, demonstrating that at least he is not splenetic metaphorically (2.14). He acknowledges the logic of his brother’s argument as sound, citing its curative properties. (Honey was a common ingredient in medicinal potions.) But Navigius also calls Augustine’s honey bittersweet as well as tangled and prickly. Technically, his remarks are complimentary, meant to show that Augustine’s concoction is tart enough to cure an inflamed spleen.53 But the compliment is left-handed and wryly contains the same mixture of sweetness and bitterness as its object: the phrase Navigius employs, “tangled as well as prickly,” was originally coined by Cicero in reference to sophisms. Even if he cannot put his finger on it, Navigius senses that there is something not quite right about Augustine’s birthday cake, that somewhere in it is a dollop of sophistry. Finally, it is noteworthy that Navigius, apparently aware of the allusion to Columella, has borrowed lines from Cicero in order to fashion a response. Navigius may not have his brother’s level of erudition, but he is not completely uneducated either.

Augustine’s birthday cake is initially laid out in nine indicative statements (2.14), but he reduces them to three for Licentius: (1) someone who does not have what he wants is unhappy, (2) the Academics want to discover the truth, and (3) he who is not happy is not wise (2.15). The first proposition logically follows from what has already been conceded, and the second is a favorable assessment of the Academics’ quest for wisdom, which neither Augustine nor Licentius would deny. Only the third proposition is new to the group, but it is common in Ciceronian and Stoic thought. Although Licentius is far from a perfect disciple of Cicero, he would be loath to contradict Cicero knowingly, on whose authority he relied heavily during the conversation in book one of Against the Academics.

Augustine compares his three propositions to three ingredients—honey, flour, and nuts—but he does not say whether each proposition is to align with a particular ingredient (2.15). Perhaps the metaphor should be construed more broadly, with the dessert in its entirety containing all of what the three ingredients symbolize. Flour or ground meal (far) was a hardy source of nutrition for the

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