But I need hardly go so far back. Epicurus assuredly rejoiced in joy—pleasure was the chief Good in his eyes; yet in his most earnest letters (which are not very numerous), and in those to his most intimate friends, he starts with Hail. And in tragedy and the old comedy you will constantly find it used quite at the beginning. You remember,

 Hail to thee, joy be thine— 
which puts health before rejoicing clearly enough. And says Alexis:
 All hail, my lord; after long time thou comest. 
Again Achaeus:
 I come in sorry plight, yet wish thee health. 
And Philemon:
 Health first I ask, and next prosperity, 
 Joy thirdly, and to owe not any man. 
As for the writer of the drinking-song mentioned in Plato, what says he?—‘Best is health, and second beauty, and third wealth’; joy he never so much as names. I need hardly adduce the trite saw:
 Chief of them that blessings give, 
 Health, with thee I mean to live. 

But, if Health is chief, her gift, which is the enjoyment of health, should rank before other Goods.

 I could multiply these examples by the thousand from poets, historians, philosophers, who give Health the place of honour; but you will not require any such childish pedantry of me,

 

wiping out my original offence by another; I shall do better to add a historical anecdote or two which occur to me as relevant.

 Eumenes of Cardia, writing to Antipater, states that just before the battle of Issus, Hephaestion came at dawn into Alexander’s tent. Either in absence of mind and confusion like mine, or else under a divine impulse, he gave the evening salutation like me—‘Hail, sire; ’tis time we were at our posts.”
All present were confounded at the irregularity, and Hephaestion himself was like to die of shame, when Alexander said, ‘I
take the omen; it is a promise that we shall come back safe from battle.’

 Antiochus Soter, about to engage the Galatians, dreamed that Alexander stood over him and told him to give his men the password Health; and with this word it was that he won that marvellous victory.

 Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, in a letter to Seleucus, just reversed the usual order, bidding him Hail at the beginning, and adding Rejoice at the end instead of wishing him Health; this is recorded by Dionysodorus, the collector of his letters.