Apollonius – On Harmony

Apolonius – On Harmony
Apolonius of Tyana was a Greek philosopher, neoplatonic, teacher, and mystic from the 1st century. Throughout his life, he received knowledge from wise people he encountered and visited on his numerous journeys, and he himself became a renowned teacher. He would teach and advise those who were willing to listen on how to live more correctly and harmoniously. Once, while staying in Smyrna, he noticed a discrepancy in opinions and solutions that concerned the entire community, and on that occasion, he taught the residents about harmony, saying that a good governance requires a mixture of harmony and party spirit. Many found this illogical, so he explained to them: White and black can never be the same, nor can something bitter be completely mixed with something sweet, but harmony can be mixed with party spirit for the safety of cities. I mean something like this: let party spirit be far from your city, but let harmony be within it.

division that leads people to draw swords and throw stones at each other because in the city we must raise our children properly, for which we need laws, as well as residents equally skilled in conversation and actions. Therefore, we should strive for healthy rivalry for the common good – who will give better advice and who will better perform the duty of magistrate, representative, or edile. The idea that one person should focus on one thing and another on another, considering the well-being of the city, has always been incomprehensible to the Spartans who only cultivated war skills, exerted themselves for it, and were not interested in anything else. But to me, it seems that it is best for each person to do what they understand and know best. That way, they will live in peace and the city will prosper, where one person is admired for their influence on the people, another for their wisdom, a third for their contribution to public facilities, a fourth for their kindness, a fifth for being strict towards criminals, and a sixth for being virtuous beyond doubt. As he spoke, he saw a ship sailing out of the harbor. necesary i sloga potrebni. Sloga je ono što čini zajednicu čvrstom i harmoničnom, dok stranački duh osigurava raznolikost mišljenja i ideja. Uprava grada treba biti mudra i pravedna, osluškivati i uvažavati različite glasove, ali istovremeno osiguravati da zajednica djeluje kao jedno u ostvarivanju zajedničkih ciljeva.

Njegove riječi su se brzo proširile i postale poznate te su mnogi gradovi odlučili prihvatiti ovaj savjet i primijeniti ga u svojoj upravi. Sloga i stranački duh su postali važne vrijednosti koje su promicali i njegovali u svim aspektima svog života. To je bila poruka o potrebi za suradnjom i tolerancijom kako bi se izgradio bolji i sigurniji svijet. We need laws, as well as residents equally skilled in conversation and actions. Therefore, we should strive for healthy competition for the common good – who will give better advice and who will perform the duties of a magistrate, lawmaker, or edile better.

The idea that one person should focus on one thing while another focuses on another, considering the well-being of the city, has always been incomprehensible to the Spartans who only cultivated their skills in warfare, exerting themselves for that purpose and having no interest in anything else.

But it seems to me that it is best for each person to do what they understand and know best.

That way, they will live in peace and the city will prosper, where one person is admired for their influence on the people, another for their wisdom, a third because they contribute to public infrastructure, a fourth for being kind, a fifth for being strict with criminals, and a sixth for being unquestionably honest.

While he was speaking, he saw a ship with three masts sail out of the harbor, with each sailor performing their task.

Therefore, he said to those present: Look at the job On that ship, as the rowers boarded the tugboats, sailors raised the anchor, the third spread the sails, and the fourth watched over the stern and bow.

If any of them failed to perform their duty, or did it poorly, the voyage would end disastrously; but if they competed with the goal of not showing themselves worse than the others, the ship would be secure and the voyage easy, and the measures they took would prove useful as if guarded by the god Poseidon himself.