Now of course all Friendship is based upon Communion,
as has been already stated: but one would be
inclined to separate off from the rest the Friendship
of Kindred, and that of Companions: whereas those
of men of the same city, or tribe, or crew, and all
such, are more peculiarly, it would seem, based upon
Communion, inasmuch as they plainly exist in right
of some agreement expressed or implied: among
these one may rank also the Friendship of Hospitality,
The Friendship of Kindred is likewise of many kinds,
and appears in all its varieties to depend on the
Parental: parents, I mean, love their children
as being a part of themselves, children love their
parents as being themselves somewhat derived from
them. But parents know their offspring more than
these know that they are from the parents, and the
source is more closely bound to that which is produced
than that which is produced is to that which formed
it: of course, whatever is derived from one’s
self is proper to that from which it is so derived
(as, for instance, a tooth or a hair, or any other
thing whatever to him that has it): but the source
to it is in no degree proper, or in an inferior degree
at least.
Then again the greater length of time comes in:
the parents love their offspring from the first moment
of their being, but their offspring them only after
a lapse of time when they have attained intelligence
or instinct. These considerations serve also to
show why mothers have greater strength of affection
than fathers.
Now parents love their children as themselves (since
what is derived from themselves becomes a kind of
other Self by the fact of separation), but children
their parents as being sprung from them. And brothers
love one another from being sprung from the same;
that is, their sameness with the common stock creates
a sameness with one another; whence come the phrases,
“same blood,” “root,” and so
on. In fact they are the same, in a sense, even
in the separate distinct individuals.
Then again the being brought up together, and the
nearness of age, are a great help towards Friendship,
for a man likes one of his own age and persons who
are used to one another are companions, which accounts
for the resemblance between the Friendship of Brothers
and that of Companions.
[Sidenote:1162a] And cousins and all other relatives
derive their bond of union from these, that is to
say, from their community of origin: and the
strength of this bond varies according to their respective
distances from the common ancestor.
Further: the Friendship felt by children towards
parents, and by men towards the gods, is as towards
something good and above them; because these have
conferred the greatest possible benefits, in that they
are the causes of their being and being nourished,
and of their having been educated after they were
brought into being.
