It is amazing
to see how some men can have so much and yet be willing to lose it all to have
some more. We read this about Pyrrhus in Plutarch’s Lives:
“These
brought gifts to Pyrrhus, and told him they wanted a leader of reputation and
prudence, and that he would find there large forces gathered from Lucania,
Messapia, Samnium, and Tarentum, amounting to two thousand horse and three
hundred and fifty thousand foot all told. This not only exalted Pyrrhus
himself, but also inspired the Epcirots with eagerness to undertake the expedition.
Now,
there was a certain Cineas, a man of Thessaly, with a reputation for great
wisdom, who had been a pupil of Demosthenes the orator, and was quite the only
public speaker of his day who was thought to remind his hearers, as a statue
might, of that great orator's power and ability. Associating himself with
Pyrrhus, and sent by him as ambassador to the cities, he confirmed the saying
of Euripides, to wit, “all can be won by eloquence that even the sword of
warring enemies might gain."
At
any rate, Pyrrhus used to say that more cities had been Won for him by the
eloquence of Cineas than by his own arms; and he continued to hold Cineas in
especial honour and to demand his services. It was this Cineas, then, who,
seeing that Pyrrhus was eagerly preparing an expedition at this time to Italy,
and finding him at leisure for the moment, drew him into the following
discourse. "The Romans, O Pyrrhus, are said to be good fighters, and to be
rulers of many warlike nations; if, then, Heaven should permit us to conquer
these men, how should we use our victory?"
And
Pyrrhus said, "Thy question, O Cineas, really needs no answer, the Romans
once conquered, there is neither barbarian nor Greek city there which is a
match for us, but we shall at once possess all Italy, the great size and
richness and importance of which no man should know better than thyself'.'
After
a little pause, then, Cineas said, "And after taking Italy, O King, what
are we to do?"
And
Pyrrhus, not yet perceiving his intention, replied, "Sicily is near, and
holds out her hands to us, an island abounding in wealth and men, and very easy
to capture, for all is faction there, her cities have no government, and
demagogues are rampant now that Agathocles is gone."
"What
thou sayest,” replied Cineas, "is probably true; but will our expedition
stop with the taking of Sicily?"
"Heaven
grant us," said Pyrrhus, "victory and success so far; and we will
make these contests but the preliminaries of great enterprises. For who could
keep his hands off Libya, or Carthage, when that city got within his reach, a
city which Agathocles, slipping stealthily out of Syracuse and crossing the sea
with a few ships, narrowly missed taking? And when we have become masters here,
no one of the enemies who now treat us with scorn will offer further
resistance; there is no need of saying that."
"None
whatever," said Cineas, "for it is plain that with so great a power
we shall be able to recover Macedonia and rule Greece securely. But when we
have got everything subject to us, what are we going to do?"
Then
Pyrrhus smiled upon him and said, awe shall be much at ease, and we'll drink
bumpers, my good man, every day, and we'll gladden one another’s hearts with
confidential talks.”
And
now that Cineas had brought Pyrrhus to this point in the argument he said,
"Then what stands in our way now if we Want to drink bumpers and while
away the time with one another? Surely this privilege is ours already, and we
have at hand, without taking any trouble, those things to which we hope to
attain by bloodshed and great toils and perils, after doing much harm to others
and suffering much ourselves."
By
this reasoning of Cineas Pyrrhus was more troubled than he was converted; he
saw plainly what great happiness he was leaving behind him, but was unable to
renounce his hopes of what he eagerly desired.”[1]
The rest of Pyrrhus’
life is history. Literally. From him comes the term “Pyrrhic victory” for he
was able to defeat the Romans in battle, but it was observed by one of the his
men that the cost of his victories would ensure his defeat. Pyrrhus could
defeat Roman legions, but he could not get Rome to sue for peace, and
ultimately he was forced to withdraw, and he ended up losing much of what he already
had. He died because a woman threw a tile at his head and while he was still
recovering himself he was taken and beheaded by one of his enemies.
I cannot help
but wonder if Paul had someone like Pyrrhus in mind when he wrote this,
“6
But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the
world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and
clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall
into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that
plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away
from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim. 6:6-10).
Now, of
course Pyrrhus wanted more than just wealth, he wanted basically world
domination over the Mediterranean. He wanted to be great like Alexander. But
how many people look at what they do not have and so covet it that they lose
everything they already have. They “pierce themselves with many pangs.”
Godliness
with contentment cannot be commended enough. God may choose to add to you much
more than you currently have. But if you are not content to enjoy what you have
now being gifted more will not solve this, and you may end up with far
less and lose much in godless pursuits for more shiny things. Pride ruins contentment and can cause you to destroy
yourself.
Pyrrhus was a
great general of history. But his over estimation of himself caused him to
bring himself to ruin. Don’t make that mistake in your own life.
List of
References
[1]
Plutarch’s Lives Volume 2, Castalia Library, pp. 534-535
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