Seneca Moral essays
Seneca: When he asked for the watchword Gaius at one…
When he asked for the watchword Gaius at one time gave him “Venus,” and at another “Priapus,” and by various means reproached the man-at-arms with effeminate vice; while he himself was dressed in transparent clothes, wearing sandals and jewellery.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Seneca’s moral essays. The reading beside it is ours.
Public mockery often tells us more about the mocker than the target. Seneca describes a powerful person using suggestive insults while displaying his own vanity and excess. The point is familiar: people frequently attack in others what they have not examined in themselves. This does not mean every criticism is projection. Some feedback is true and useful. But the tone, obsession, and hypocrisy of an attack are important information. Before accepting a cruel remark as a verdict, ask who is speaking and what they are trying to accomplish. Are they offering a specific observation that can help you improve, or trying to establish dominance? Today, refuse both extremes: do not dismiss all criticism, and do not absorb all criticism. Keep what is accurate. Discard what is theatrical or malicious. Your job is to be teachable without becoming easy to manipulate through shame.
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