Elegy and Iambus, Volume I, volume 1

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Callinus

“The Teucrians from Crete, of whom we hear first in the Elegiac poet Callinus, and later in many writers after him, were answered with the following oracle, etc.” Strabo Geography [the temple of Apollo Smintheus]

“According to Callisthenes, Sardis was first taken by the Cimmerians and later by the Trerians and Lycians —his authority for this is the Elegiac poet Callinus —and last of all came its capture in the days of Cyrus and Croesus.¹ Now Callinus declares that the Cimmerian invasion which involved the sack of Sardis was directed against the Esioneans, and for this reason the Scepsian （Demetrius） surmises that Esioneans is the Ionic form of Asioneans , Esionia perhaps being equivalent to Asia, like Meonia in Homer, where we read ‘In the Asian meadowland beside the streams of Cayster.’ The city made a remarkable recovery afterwards because of the fertility of the soil, becoming second to none of its neighbours, but in recent times has lost much of its population through earthquakes.” Strabo Geography [the temple of Apollo]

“In ancient times the Magnesians, after a long period of prosperity, were unfortunate enough to be exterminated by a Cimmerian people called the Trerians, and in the following year their territory was occupied by the Milesians. Now Callinus speaks of the Magnesians as a still prosperous people and succesful in their war against the Ephesians, while Archilochus clearly knows of their destruction when he says: ‘I bewail the woes of Thasos, not of Magnesia’ from which we may judge that he comes later than Callinus. It is an earlier invasion of the Cimmerians of which Callinus speaks in the line ‘Now comes upon us the army of the dastard Cimmerians,’ which he connects with the taking of Sardis.” Strabo Geography [the temple of Apollo Smintheus]

“We are told by Herodotus² that the Pamphylians belonged to a combination of peoples who went forth from Troy with Amphilochus and Calchas. Though most of them remained behind, some were scattered over the face of the earth. According to Callinus, Calchas died at Clarus, but the peoples crossed the Taurus under Mopsus and partly stayed in Pamphylia and partly were distributed through Cilicia and Syria as far as Phoenicia.” Strabo Geography [the temple of Apollo Smintheus]

“The Magnesians of Magnesia on the Maeander were destroyed, as we read in the Elegiac Poems of Callinus and in Archilochus, by excessive luxury, their city being captured by the Ephesians.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“A few years later, Thebes was attacked by an expedition under Thersander, called by the Greeks that of the Epigoni or Young Generation... On this war the Thebans possessed Epic poems, and these Callinus, when he had occasion to speak of them, ascribed to Homer, an ascription which finds agreement among many competent authorities, and for my part I put this poetry second only to the Iliad and the Odyssey. ” Pausanias Description of Greece [the Seven against Thebes]

“Among the chief writers in this metre Proclus places Callinus of Ephesus and Mimnermus of Colophon, and also Philetas son of Telephus, of Cos, and Callimachus son of Battus.” Photius Library [on Elegy]

“Semonides is made contemporary with Archilochus, and Callinus comes a little earlier, Archilochus speaking of Magnesia as destroyed³ and Callinus as still flourishing. Eumelus of Corinth is said to have belonged to an earlier date and been contemporary with Archias the founder of Syracuse.⁴” Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies:

The Elegiac Poems of Callinus

“ Callinus: —

How long will ye lie idle?⁵ When, young men, will ye show a stout heart? Have ye no shame of your sloth before them that dwell round about you? Purpose ye to sit in peace though the land is full of war?
... and let every man cast his javelin once more as he dies. For 'tis an honourable thing and a glorious to a man to fight the foe for land and children and wedded wife; and death shall befall only when the Fates ordain it. Nay, so soon as war is mingled let each go forward spear in poise and shield before stout heart; for by no means may a man escape death, nay not if he come of immortal lineage. Oftentime, it may be, he returneth safe from the conflict of battle and the thud of spears, and the doom of death cometh upon him at home; yet such is not dear to the people nor regretted, whereas if aught happen to the other sort he is bewailed of small and great. When a brave man dieth the whole people regretteth him, and while he lives he is as good as a demigod; for in their eyes he is a tower, seeing that he doeth single-handed as good work as many together.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [in praise of courage]

To Zeus

“ Ephesus used to be called Smyrna, as for instance in a passage of Callinus, who in addressing Zeus⁶ calls its inhabitants Smyrnaeans:
and have pity on the Smyrnaeans;
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and again

and remember if e'er to Thee fair thighs of oxen [Smyrnaeans have burnt.]⁷
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”
Strabo Geography:

“⁸Another and an earlier invasion of the Cimmerians is mentioned by Callinus, where he says:
and now cometh the host of dastardly Cimmerians;
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where he refers to the sack of Sardis.⁹
”
Strabo Geography:

“The name of the Trerians, a Thracian people, is given with three syllables in the poet Callinus:

bringing the Trerians¹⁰
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” Stephanus of Byzantium Lexicon:

Tyrtaeus

“Tyrtaeus: —（1） Son of Archembrotus, a Laconian or a Milesian, writer of Elegy and fluteplayer, who is said to have encouraged the Lacedaemonians by his songs in their war with the Messenians, and in this way to have given them the upper hand. He is of very ancient date, being contemporary with the Seven Sages as they are called, or even before them. He flourished in the 35th Olympiad （640-37 B.C.）. He wrote for the Lacedaemonians a poem called Citizenship and Exhortations in Elegiac verse, as well as War-Songs, five Books. （2） The Lacedaemonians had sworn that they would take Messena or perish, and when the oracle told them to take a general from among the Athenians, took the lame poet Tyrtaeus, who put fresh heart into them and took Messena in the twentieth year of the war. They razed the city to the ground and made Helots of the prisoners.¹¹
”
Suidas Lexicon:

“Ath. Let us cite in support the Athenian born who was given Lacedaemonian citizenship, Tyrtaeus, who stands without a rival in his zeal for such things, saying ‘I would neither call a man to mind nor put him in my tale, no not if he were’ the richest of men nor possessed of many good things —and then he gives a pretty complete list of them —, if he did not show himself always best in war. Probably you, Cleinias, have heard these poems; of course Megillus knows them almost too well. —Meg. Yes, almost. —Clein. Yes, they have been imported into Crete from Lacedaemon; so we know them, too.” Plato Laws （Athenian Stranger, Megillus the Spartan, and the Cretan Cleinias）

“This Tyrtaeus was an obscure Athenian, being a lame schoolmaster, thought little of at Athens. When they had come to their wits' end in fighting the Messenians, the Spartans were told by Apollo's oracle to fetch this man; he would be able to make them see what was to their advantage. Indeed the oracle bade them make him their adviser. When he arrived in Lacedaemon he became inspired, and urged them to renew the war by all and every means in his power, including the well-known line ‘Messena is good to plough and good to plant.’ This then is the man mentioned by the Athenian Stranger as an example of one who counselled war.” Scholiast on the passage:

“The Spartans were bidden by the Delphic oracle to get ‘the Athenian’ for their counsellor, and accordingly sent Athens word of the answer they had received, and asked for a man to advise them what to do. Neither desiring that the Lacedaemonians should annex, with no great risk run, the richest part of the Peloponnese, nor yet willing to turn a deaf ear to the words of the God, the Athenians found the man they sought in a schoolmaster called Tyrtaeus who appeared to have little sense and was lame in one leg, and despatched him to Sparta, where he sang Elegiac verse and the Anapaestic lines¹² both privily to the government and to any he could gather to hear him.” Pausanias Description of Greece [the Second Messenian War]

“This behaviour of the Athenians is not peculiar to the case of Socrates but is found in a great many others. If we may believe Heracleides, they fined Homer fifty drachmas for a madman, spoke of Tyrtaeus as out of his mind, and honoured Astydamas with a bronze statue in preference to men like Aeschylus.¹³” Diogenes Laertius Life of Socrates:

“... whom we presumed originally to be more warlike than the War-Songs of Tyrtaeus.” Plato Laws:

“Athenian Stranger and Cleinias the Cretan: Ath. But really, is it not right that the lawgiver should be the only writer to advise on what is beautiful and what is good and what is just, teaching us both what they are and how they should be practised by a people that is to be happy? —Cl. Of course it is. —Ath. And is it not more disgraceful for Homer and Tyrtaeus and the other poets to have laid down evil precepts about life and institutions in their writings, than for Lycurgus and Solon and the other men who became men of letters after they had become legislators?” Plato Laws:

“When the Spartans were about to engage the Messenians, and, having resolved to conquer or die, had inscribed each man's name on a letter-stick attached to the left hand so that his friends could recognise him when the dead were taken up for burial, Tyrtaeus, desiring to strike terror into the Messenians by letting them know what the Spartans had done, gave orders that no great heed should be taken of deserting Helots, and the watch being relaxed these deserted as they chose, and told the Messenians of the desperate valour of their enemies. Terror weakened their resistance, and it was not long before they had given the Spartans the victory.” Polyaenus Stratagems:

“... Aristomenes had done the Spartans much damage, when the poet Tyrtaeus was given them by the Athenians to be their general.” Diodorus of Sicily Historical Library:

Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [the pyrrhic dance]

The warlike character of the dance proves it a Spartan invention. The Lacedaemonians are a warlike people, and not only do their sons learn by rote the Embateria or Songs of the Battle-Charge which are also called Enoplia or Songs-under-Arms,¹⁴ but in war they themselves recite the poems of Tyrtaeus from memory and move in time to them. We are told by Philochorus that after the Spartans had defeated the Messenians by the generalship of Tyrtaeus, they made it the custom of their military expeditions that when the Paean had been sung after supper the songs of Tyrtaeus should be given one by each man, the polemarch to decide who sang the best and give the winner a prize of meat.

“When Leonidas was asked what he thought of Tyrtaeus, he replied ‘A good poet for sharpening the courage of the young.’” Plutarch Sagacity of Animals:

The Elegiac Poems of Tyrtaeus

From a Papyrus of the 3rd Century B.C.¹⁵ ... of stones ...¹⁶ like tribes of [swarming flies.¹⁷ Some of them did] Ares, bane of men, [hungry for the war-cry, take in open fight¹⁸], others [cast he] over the [crags. Let us, then,] go forward behind our hollow shields like [a flight of locusts]¹⁹ or [of cranes], Pamphyli, Hylleis, [Dymanes],²⁰ each tribe severally brandishing its man-slaying ashen spears. And [thus ordered, entrusting] all to the Immortal Gods, we shall obey our [holy] leader²¹ for ever without end. But in a moment one and all [together] shall we be wielding the flail, standing up to spearmen; and dire will be the din when both sides clash rounded shield against rounded shield, [and awful the shrieks] as they fall one upon another, [piercing] men's breasts with [the spear; and no whit] will they draw back for the pounding [of the missiles, nay,] despite the battery of great hurlstones, the helms shall abide the rattle [of war unbowed.]

“.... nurse of Dionysus .... of fair-tressed Semele” From a Papyrus of the 3rd Century B.C. ... ²² .... triumphant about victory .... looking to the end .... bringing a wheeled chariot .... -ing .... hastening [them] backward .... locks over [her] head .... we will bear keen War together ........ nor will [he] tell in story （?） .... having

... ²³ ... ²⁴ ... ²⁵

Orderliness

“He says he is of that place²⁶ in the Elegy entitled Eunomia or Orderliness :

For Cronus' Son Himself, Zeus the husband of fair-crowned Hera, hath given this city to the children of Heracles, with whom we came into the wide isle of Pelops from windy Erineus.
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” Strabo Geography [Tyrtaeus]

“In aristocratic states faction arises ... also when some of the citizens have too little and others more than enough —which happens particularly often in war; for instance at Sparta about the time of the Messenian War, as appears from the poem of Tyrtaeus called Eunomia. Crushed by the burden of the war, certain citizens demanded a re-distribution of the land.” Aristotle Politics:

“When the commons were assembled, he suffered no other to give his opinion, but the people had the right of giving judgment on an opinion laid before them by the Elders and Kings. Later, however, when the commons began to twist and distort the opinions²⁷ of the Elders and Kings by addition and subtraction, Kings Polydorus and Theopompus inserted in the rhetra or ordinance the following clause: ‘If the commons choose a crooked opinion,²⁸ the elderborn and archleaders [that is the Elders and Kings] have powers of dissolution’ —which means that they may refuse to ratify it and may withdraw themselves altogether and dismiss the commons, as trying to divert and change the opinion of the Elders and Kings contrary to what is best —, and themselves persuaded the people to accept it in the belief that this was the command of the God, as indeed Tyrtaeus mentions in the following lines:

They heard the voice of Phoebus and brought home from Pytho oracles of the God and words of sure fulfilment;²⁹ for thus the Lord of the Silver Bow, Far-Shooting Apollo of the Golden Hair, gave answer from out his rich sanctuary: The beginning of counsel shall belong to the God-honoured Kings whose care is the delightsome city of Sparta, and to the men of elder birth; after them shall the commons, answering them back with forthright ordinances,³⁰ both say things honourable and do all that is right, nor give the city any crooked counsel; so shall the common people have victory and might; for this hath Phoebus declared unto their city in these matters.
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” Plutarch Life of Lycurgus: “... that the same Lycurgus brought an oracle from Delphi concerning their love of money, remembered as a proverb: ‘By love of pelf and nothing else shall Sparta be destroyed; for this hath Phoebus’ etc.” Diodorus of Sicily Historical Library:

“³¹The man who brought the war to an end was this Theopompus, as is testified by the Elegiac lines of Tyrtaeus, which say ‘to our King’ etc. （ll. 1-2）.

... to our king, the friend of the Gods, Theopompus, through whom we took spacious Messene, Messene so good to plough and so good to plant, for which there fought ever unceasingly nineteen years, keeping an unfaltering heart, the spearmen fathers of our fathers, and in the twentieth year the foeman left his rich lands and fled from the great uplands of Ithome.
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” Pausanias Description of Greece [the Second Messenian War] “On Tyrtaeus' arrival in Lacedaemon he became inspired, and urged the Spartans to end the war against the Messenians by every means in his power, among others by the famous line ‘Messene is good,’ etc.” Scholiast on Plato “Messene was taken after a war of nineteen years; compare Tyrtaeus: （ll. 4-8）.” Strabo Geography:

“The vengeance the Spartans took on the Messenians is referred to in these lines of Tyrtaeus:
galled with great burdens like asses, bringing to their lords under grievous necessity a half of all the fruit of the soil.
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And that they were obliged to join in their lamentations he shows in the following couplet:

making lamentation for their lords both themselves and their wives, whenever one was overtaken with the dolorous fate of Death.
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”
Pausanias Description of Greece:

“They fought more than once because of rebellion on the part of the Messenians. The first conquest, according to the poems of Tyrtaeus, took place two generations before his time, and the second, when they rebelled in alliance with the Argives, Arcadians, and Pisatans, the Arcadians making Aristocrates king of Orchomenus their general and the Pisatans Pantaleon son of Omphalion; in the latter war he declares that he led the Lacedaemonians himself.” Strabo Geography:

“They are compelled to fight by their masters ..., and their generals and other officers who beat them if they give ground do the same thing, and the commanders who draw them up in front of trenches and the like —they all compel them; whereas a man should be brave not because he must but because he ought.” Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics [on soldiers] “As the Persians in Herodotus; for it was under such commanders that they fought the Greeks at Thermopylae. ‘In front of trenches’ etc.: this he must say of the Spartans; for such was the manner of their fighting in their war with the Messenians, recorded by Tyrtaeus.” Scholiast on the passage:

“So great was the energy, both public and private, of the men who then inhabited Athens, that the bravest people of Greece, in their war of long ago against the Messenians, received an oracle which bade them if they would defeat their enemies to take a leader from us. Now if the God preferred a general of Athens above the two Heracleid kings who rule at Sparta, that general must have been a man of extraordinary valour. Everyone in Greece knows that the general they took from our city was Tyrtaeus, by whose aid, with a wisdom that looked far beyond the dangers of that day, they both defeated their enemies and established their system of education. Tyrtaeus left behind him Elegiac Poems which are used to teach them courage, and a people whose practice is to take no account of poets, have made so much of Tyrtaeus as to pass a law that whenever they take the field under arms they shall all be summoned to the king's tent to hear his poems, in the belief that this will make them most willing to die for their country. And it would be well for you to hear the Elegiac verses, so that you may know what it was that made men famous among them:

For 'tis a fair thing for a good man to fall and die fighting in the van for his native land, whereas to leave his city and his rich fields and go a-begging is of all things the most miserable, wandering with mother dear and aged father, with little children and wedded wife. For hateful shall such an one be among all those to whom he shall come in bondage to Want and loathsome Penury, and doth shame his lineage and belie his noble beauty, followed by all evil and dishonour. Now if so little thought be taken of a wanderer, and so little honour, respect, or pity, let us fight with a will for this land, and die for our children and never spare our lives.
Abide then, O young men, shoulder to shoulder and fight; begin not foul flight nor yet be afraid, but make the heart in your breasts both great and stout, and never shrink when you fight the foe.³² And the elder sort, whose knees are no longer nimble, fly not ye to leave them fallen to earth.³³ For 'tis a foul thing, in sooth, for an elder to fall in the van and lie before the younger, his head white and his beard hoary, breathing forth his stout soul in the dust, with his privities³⁴ all bloody in his hands, a sight so foul to see and fraught with such ill to the seer, and his flesh also all naked; yet to a young man all is seemly enough, so long as he have the noble bloom of lovely youth, aye a marvel he for men to behold, and desirable unto women, so long as ever he be alive, and fair in like manner when he be fallen in the vanguard. So let each man bite his lip with his teeth and abide firm-set astride upon the ground.
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” Lycurgus³⁵ Against Leocrates [to the Athenians about their ancestors]

“Tyrtaeus: —

Ye are of the lineage of the invincible Heracles³⁶; so be ye of good cheer; not yet is the head of Zeus turned away. Fear ye not a multitude of men, nor flinch, but let every man hold his shield straight towards the van, making Life his enemy and the black Spirits of Death dear as the rays of the sun. For ye know the destroying deeds of lamentable Ares, and well have learnt the disposition of woeful War; ye have tasted both of the fleeing and the pursuing, lads, and had more than your fill of either. Those who abiding shoulder go with a will into the mellay and the van, of these are fewer slain, these save the people afterward; as for them that turn to fear, all their valour is lost —no man could tell in words each and all the ills that befall a man if he once come to dishonour. For pleasant it is in dreadful warfare to pierce the midriff of a flying man, and disgraced is the dead that lieth in the dust with a spear-point in his back. So let each man bite his lip and abide firm-set astride upon the ground, covering with the belly of his broad buckler thighs and legs below and breast and shoulders above; let him brandish the massy spear in his right hand, let him wave the dire crest upon his head; let him learn how to fight by doing doughty deeds, and not stand shield in hand beyond the missiles. Nay, let each man close the foe, and with his own long spear, or else with his sword, wound and take an enemy, and setting foot beside foot, resting shield against shield, crest beside crest, helm beside helm, fight his man breast to breast with sword or long spear in hand. And ye also, ye light-armed, crouch ye on either hand beneath the shield and fling your great hurlstones and throw against them your smooth javelins, in your place beside the men of heavier armament.³⁷
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on war]

“Tyrtaeus:—

³⁸I would neither call a man to mind nor put him in my tale for prowess in the race or the wrestling, not even had he the stature and strength of a Cyclops and surpassed in swiftness the Thracian Northwind, nor were he a comelier man than Tithonus and a richer than Midas or Cinyras, nor though he were a greater king than Pelops son of Tantalus, and had Adrastus' suasiveness of tongue, nor yet though all fame were his save of warlike strength; for a man is not good in war if he have not endured the sight³⁹ of bloody slaughter and stood nigh and reached forth to strike the foe. This is prowess,⁴⁰ this is the noblest prize and the fairest for a lad to win in the world; a common good this⁴¹ both for the city and all her people, when a man standeth firm in the forefront without ceasing, and making heart and soul to abide, forgetteth foul flight altogether and hearteneth by his words him that he standeth by. Such a man is good in war; he quickly turneth the savage hosts of the enemy, and stemmeth the wave of battle with a will; moreover he that falleth in the van and loseth dear life to the glory of his city and his countrymen and his father, with many a frontwise wound through breast and breastplate and through bossy shield, he is bewailed alike by young and old, and lamented with sore regret by all the city. His grave and his children are conspicuous among men, and his children's and his line after them; nor ever doth his name and good fame perish, but though he be underground he liveth evermore, seeing that he was doing nobly and abiding in the fight for country's and children's sake when fierce Ares brought him low. But and if he escape the doom of outstretched Death and by victory make good the splendid boast of battle,⁴² he hath honour of all,⁴³ alike young as old, and cometh to his death after much happiness; as he groweth old he standeth out among his people, and there's none that will do him hurt either in honour or in right; all yield him place on the benches, alike the young and his peers and his elders. This is the prowess each man should this day aspire to,⁴⁴ never relaxing from war.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [praise of valour]

“... he cites a very large number of verses of the poets, all equally absurd, as when he praises Tyrtaeus for saying⁴⁵:

with the heart of a tawny lion in his breast
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” Galen Hippocrates and Plato [on Chrysippus]

“Compare Tyrtaeus too:

before [ye] draw near to the bounds betwixt prowess and death
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” Plutarch Inconsistencies of the Stoics:

“⁴⁶The simple vowel （o） occurs anceps in the middle of a word and in an antibacchius （ ——*）, as in Tyrtaeus' ἥροες （for ἥρωες ）
heroes
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for this is how he scanned the second foot of the line.
”
Scholiast on Hephaestion [the shortening of the diphtong oi]

Asius

“The cities in these islands are Ionian, Samos off Mycala and Chios opposite Mimas. According to the Epic poems of Asius son of Amphiptolemus of Samos, Phoenix had by Perimeda daughter of Oeneus two daughters, Astypalaea and Europa, etc.” Pausanias Description of Greece: “Being very desirous to know what children Polycaon had by Messena, I have perused the Eoiai as they are called and the Epic of Naupactus, and also the genealogic poems of Cinaethon and Asius.” Pausanias Description of Greece “With regard to the luxury of the Samians, Duris in his History adduces the poems of Asius to prove that they wore armlets, etc.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

Elegiac Poem

“‘What you mean’ （added Ulpian）‘by like Simonides I do not know.’ ‘Of course not’ said Myrtilus; ‘you have no interest in history, Master Pot-belly. You are a fat-licker and, to use a word of the old Samian poet Asius, a flatterer of fat. ’ When Myrtilus had taken another drink, Ulpian asked him again where the word fat-licker occurred, and what the lines of Asius were about the flatterer of fat. ‘The lines of Asius’ rejoined Myrtilus ‘are these:

Lame, branded,⁴⁷ aged, like a beggarman came the flatterer of fat to Meles' wedding, came unasked and in need of broth, and stood in their midst like a ghost⁴⁸ risen from the mire.’⁴⁹
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

A few fragments of Asius' genealogic poetry in epic verse are preserved by Pausanias, Strabo, Athenaeus, and others; see Kinkel Epic. Graec.

Mimnermus

“Mimnermus : —Son of Ligyrtiades, of Colophon or Smyrna or Astypalaea, writer of Elegy. He flourished in the 37th Olympiad （632-629 B.C.）, and thus precedes the Seven Sages, though according to some authorities he was contemporary with them. He was also called Ligyastades, because he was sweet-and-clear （ λιγύς ）,that is musical. He wrote ... books ...⁵⁰” Suidas Lexicon

“Famous Colophonians are Mimnermus the fluteplayer and writer of Elegy, and Xenophanes ... Pindar also mentions Polymnastus ... and according to some writers we must add Homer.” Strabo Geography [Colophon]

Photius Library （see Callinus p. 44）.

“And Mimnermus, who after much suffering found such sweet sound and breath in the soft pentameter, he loved Nanno, and oftentime bound about with the mouthpiece of the gray lotuswood⁵¹ made revel with Examyes, and vexed the lives of the ever-grievous Hermobius and the hostile Pherecles because he hated the verse he put forth.⁵²” Hermesianax

“That parodists were in some repute in Sicily is thus shown by the tragic poet Alexander of Aetolia in an Elegy : ‘... This man came of ancient lineage, for he had known from his youth up how to behave to strangers as friend to friend,⁵³ and had both reached the summit of the verse of Mimnermus⁵⁴ and become an equal drinker with the lad's-love-crazy Teian.’⁵⁵
”
Alexander of Aetolia [from Polemon]

“ But now [ignorant] backbiters⁵⁶ who are no friends of the Muse murmur [unseemly] against me because I have not wrought [in honour] either of kings or of [ancient] heroes a single unbroken poem in many thousands of lines, but make one little scroll of verse [as a child might do], though the tens of my years are not few. To the backbiters I say this: ‘You ignorant tribe, whose only skill lies in shrivelling your own hearts, I know well, look you, that I am one of few lines; yet the bountiful Corn-Goddess far surpasses⁵⁷ the tall oak; and of the two Books of Mimnermus⁵⁸ it is his short ‘pieces’ that have told us how sweet he is, not the great tall one.⁵⁹
”
Callimachus Causes:

“ ‘The short pieces have told us, the great one has not told us’; he means ‘that Mimnermus is sweet’; ὧδε is to be taken thus: ‘sweet in the little ones.’⁶⁰” Scholast on the passage

“Pour thou two ladles as of Nanno and Lyda, one as of the lover's friend Mimnermus, and one as of the discreet Antimachus; with the fifth mix in of myself, and let the sixth, Heliodorus, stand for each and all that ever loved; the seventh call Hesiod's, and the eight Homer's, the ninth the Muses', and the tenth Memory's. I shall have an overflowing cup to drink, Cypris; the rest of love pleases me but little, drunk or sober.” Poseidippus

“ There is another ancient Flute-Nome called Cradias or Fig-Branch , which according to Hipponax was played by Mimnermus. It seems that originally singers to the flute sang Elegiac verse set to music; this is shown by the Panathenaic.
”
Plutarch Music, Account of the Competition in Music.

“We are told by Chamaeleon in his book On Stesichorus that not only the poems of Homer but of Hesiod and Archilochus, and even of Mimnermus and Phocylides, were sung to music.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“If, as Mimnermus believes, there is no joy without love and jests, then you should live in love and jests.” Horace Epistles

“I go home a second Alcaeus, on the other's vote; and who is he on mine? Of course, a Callimachus. If he seems to want more, he swells with a name of his own choice and becomes a Mimnermus.” Horace Epistles

“Mimnermus wrote two brilliant Books.⁶¹” Porphyrio on the passage

“Alas ! what avails you now to sing high song and cry woe for the walls Amphion's lyre did build? In love Mimnermus' lines count for more than Homer's; love is no savage, love doth seek gentle songs. Go to, lay by your gloomy books, and sing what every maiden would like to know.” Propertius Elegies

The Elegies of Mimnermus

Book i

“Mimnermus: —⁶²

But what life would there be, what joy, without golden Aphrodite? May I die when I be no more concerned with secret love and suasive gifts and the bed, such things as are the very flowers of youth, pleasant alike to man and woman. And when dolorous Age cometh, that maketh a man both foul without and evil within,⁶³ill cares do wear and wear his heart, he hath no more the joy of looking one the sunlight, to children he is hateful, to women contemptible, so grievous hath God made Age.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on Aphrodite]

“Mimnermus: —

But we, like the leaves that come in the flowery Springtime when they wax so quickly beneath the sunbeams, like them we enjoy the blossoms of youth for a season but an ell long, the Gods giving us knowledge⁶⁴ neither of evil nor of good; for here beside us stand the black Death-Spirits, the one with the end⁶⁵ that is grievous Eld, the other that which is Death; and the harvest of youth is as quickly come as the rising Sun spreadeth his light abroad. And when the end of maturity be past, then to be dead is better than to live; for many be the sorrows that rise in the heart; sometimes our house is wasted and Poverty's dolorous deeds are to do; or a man lacketh children and goeth down to Death desiring them more than all else; again he is possessed by heart-destroying Disease —there's no man in the world to whom Zeus giveth not manifold woe.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [that life is short, of little account, and full of care]

“Mimnermus: —

However fair he may once have been, when the season is overpast he is neither honoured nor loved, nay, not by his own children.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [censure of Age]

Book ii Nanno

“Mimnermus Nanno : —

Zeus gave Tithonus the evil gift of immortal Eld, which is even worse than woeful Death.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [censure of Age]

“Mimnermus Nanno : —

[A sudden copious sweat floweth down my flesh and I tremble, when I behold the lovely and pleasant flowering-time of my generation, for I would it were longer lasting;]⁶⁶ but precious Youth is short-lived as a dream, and woeful and ugly Eld hangeth plumb over our heads, Eld hateful alike and unhonoured,⁶⁷ which maketh a man unknown and doeth him hurt by the overwhelming of eyes and wits.⁶⁸
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on truth]

“Mimnermus Nanno : —

Betwixt thee and me let there be truth, the most righteous of all things.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on truth]

“And Homer embroiders the facts merely so far as to make the wandering of the Argonauts extend into the Ocean on their way home. For assuming this to be the case it is natural enough to call the Argo ‘known everywhere,’ the voyage having taken place in familiar and well-peopled parts of the world. But if it was as Demetrius of Scepsis states on the authority of Mimnermus, who places the home of Aeetes in the Ocean far out beside the rising of the Sun, and says that Pelias sent Jason thither and he brought the Golden Fleece thence, the quest of the Fleece could not plausibly be made thither; for that would be a vague and unknown part of the world, nor could a voyage⁶⁹ through wild and unhabited regions so far beyond our ken be described as renowned, or as Homer says, ‘known everywhere.’ （The passages of Mimnermus are these⁷⁰:）
... Nor would even Jason himself have accomplished his direful journey and brought the great Fleece back from Aea,⁷¹ fulfilling the grievous task set him by the wicked Pelias, nor would they have come to the fair stream of Ocean;
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and later,

the city of Aeetes, where the beams of the swift Sun are laid up in a golden chamber beside the lips of Ocean, whither the divine Jason went and was gone.
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”
Strabo Geography

“According to the Nanno of Mimnermus, the Sun travels across to the place of his rising in a golden bed made for the purpose by Hephaestus, and the poet hints at the hollow of the Cup. His words are:

For the Sun's portion is labour every day, nor is there ever any rest either for him or his horses when rosy-fingered Dawn hath left the Ocean and climbed⁷² the sky; for over the wave in a delightful bed forged of precious gold by the hand of Hephaestus, hollow and with wings, he is carried in pleasant sleep on the face of the waters from the Hesperians' country to the land of the Aethiop, where his horses and swift chariot stand till early-begotten Dawn appear, and then the son of Hyperion mounts his car.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Colophon was founded by Andraemon of Pylos, as we learn from Mimnermus' Nanno.” Strabo Geography

“When the Smyrnaeans left Ephesus they invaded the district where Smyrna now stands, and expelling the Lelegians who then possessed it, founded Old Smyrna between two and three miles from where the new city stood later. Driven thence by the Aeolians some time afterwards, they took refuge at Colophon and went and recovered their territory with the Colophonians' help. This we are told by Mimnermus, who in the Nanno thus refers to the fact that Smyrna had always been a bone of contention:

... When from the lofty city of Neleian Pylos we came on shipboard to the pleasant land of Asia, and in overwhelming might destroying grievous pride⁷³ sat down at lovely Colophon, thence⁷⁴ went we forth from beside the wooded river⁷⁵ and by Heaven's counsel took Aeolian Smyrna.⁷⁶
For a fragment of the Smyrneid see Appendix.
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” Strabo Geography

“It is said that when Mimnermus wrote:⁷⁷
Would that the fate of Death might overtake me without disease or woeful trouble at threescore years!
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Solon found fault with him, saying ‘But if thou wilt listen to me so late in the day, erase this, Ligyastades, and bearing me no ill-will because I give thee better counsel, change thy song and sing that thou art fain the fate of Death might overtake thee at fourscore.’
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers:

“ Mimnermus:

[Harming neither sojourner nor citizen with deeds of mischief, but living a righteous man,] rejoice your own heart; of your pitiless fellow-townsmen assuredly some will speak ill of you and some good.⁷⁸
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” Palatine Anthology

“Mimnermus, in the Prelude to the Elegiac lines he writes on the battle between the Smyrnaeans and Gyges and his Lydians, makes the original Muses daughters of Heaven and a younger generation children of Zeus.” ⁷⁹Pausanias Description of Greece

“Mimnermus —

Not his were such feeble might and poor nobility of heart, say my elders who saw him rout the serried ranks of Lydian cavalry in the plain of Hermus, rout them with a spear; never at all would Pallas Athene have had cause to blame the sour might of the heart of such as him, when he sped forward in the van, defying the foeman's bitter missiles in the thick of bloody war. For no man ever wrought better the work of the fierce battle in face of his enemies, when he went like a ray of the Sun.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on valour]

“:...means report or speech; compare Mimnermus:
and hard words possess him before men;
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and

ever desirous to hear grievous words⁸⁰
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”
Etymologicum Magnum βάξις

“compare Mimnermus:

leading the men of Paeonia, where the race of horses is held in honour⁸¹
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” Scholiast on the Iliad [‘horsehair-crested Paeonians’]

“Demetrius of Scepsis also in the 24th Book of the same work （The Forces of the Trojans） speaks of
Daetes
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as a hero honoured among the Trojans and mentioned by Mimnermus.⁸²
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“The ancients seem to vary as to the number of Nioba's children. ... Mimnermus gives her twenty, and Pindar agrees with him.” Aelian Historical Miscellany

“If not, Theon here will call in his support Mimnermus, Cydias, and Archilochus, and with them Stesichorus and Pindar, who bewail in eclipses that ‘the most manifest of stars is stolen away’ and ‘noonday made night,’ and declare that the beam of the Sun is ‘the path of darkness.’⁸³” Plutarch The Face in the Moon [eclipses of the Sun]

“According to Mimnermus, Ismene was killed by Tydeus at Athena's instigation when having intercourse with Theoclymenus.” Argument to Sophocles Antigone

“The ‘Troezenian’ is Aphrodite. According to Mimnermus, after her wounding by Diomed she procured the favours of （his wife） Aegialeia for many lovers, and her love for Hippolytus and Cometes son of Sthenelus; and when Diomed went to Argos she plotted against him; whereupon he took sanctuary at the altar of Hera, and fleeing with his companions by night passed into Italy and went to the court of King Daunus who killed him by a trick.” Tzetzes on Lycophron

“‘Lame men,’ etc.: this means that the Amazons maimed their male children by removing either a leg or a hand, and when the Scythians, desiring to come to terms in their war against them, told them that they would find in them no maimed or mutilated bedfellows, their queen
Lame men make lusty husbands.
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The saying is given by Mimnermus.⁸⁴
”
From a Collection of Proverbs

Solon

“Solon: —Son of Execestides, an Athenian; philosopher, lawgiver, and popular leader. He flourished in the 47th Olympiad （592-89 B.C.） or according to some authorities in the 56th （556-3 B.C.）. He wrote laws for the Athenians, and these laws were alled ‘axles’ because they were inscribed at Athens on wooden tablets that revolved. His other works are an Elegiac poem called Salamis , Elegiac Exhortations , and others. He is one of the Seven Sages as they are called. Well-known sayings of his are Moderation in all things and Know thyself .⁸⁵” Suidas Lexicon

“In the ante-chamber of the temple at Delphi are inscribed maxims for the bettering of human life. Their authors are the men the Greeks say were wise, namely. ... These men came to Delphi and dedicated to Apollo the well-known sayings Know thyself and Moderation in all things .⁸⁶” Pausanias Description of Greece

“When he became chief of the people he made such laws and so regulated public affairs and the constitution of the state that we are content with the system he established to this day.” Isocrates On the Exchange [Solon]

“How monstrous, that while your ancestors chose to die to save the laws of their country, you should not see fit even to punish those who break them! How monstrous that while they set up in the marketplace a statue of Solon who wrote them,⁸⁷ you should be seen to despise the very laws which have given such exceeding honour to his name!” Demosthenes Against Aristogeiton

“... the provision of Solon that the man who took neither side in civil discord should lose his citizenship.” Plutarch On the Slow Revenge of the Deity

“When Solon had become master, he set the people free once and for all by forbidding loans on the security of the person, and made laws and cancelled debts both public and private, which cancellation is called the Seisachtheia or Disburdening. ... He established a constitution and made other laws, and all the ordinances of Dracon except those that dealt with homicide became null and void. The laws were inscribed on the ‘pivot-boards’⁸⁸ and set up in the Royal Colonade, and all the citizens took an oath to observe them, while the Nine Archons made a formal promise upon oath at the altar in the marketplace that if they transgressed any of the laws they would dedicate a golden statue; which is why they take the oath in this way at the present day. Solon made the laws unalterable for a hundred years, and arranged the constitution as follows: He divided the people by assessment into four classes, etc.” Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“The most democratic of Solon's enactments were these three: first and greatest, the forbidding of loans on the person, secondly, the granting of redress to any that chose to sue for it, and thirdly, what is said more than all else to have strengthened the arm of the common people, the right of appeal to the courts of law; for, made master of the vote, the people becomes master of the constitution. ... These then appear to be the democratic elements in the laws of Solon. His cancellation of debt seems to have been done before he made the laws. After this came his increasing of weights and measures and appreciation of the currency.” Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“When the system above described was established, his fellow-citizens began so to annoy him with their importunities, complaining of this and enquiring about that, that to avoid both the making of changes and the unpopularity which would come if he waited for it, he went away to Egypt on a visit that should combine business with the seeing of sights, declaring that he would not return for ten years; what was wanted was not that he should be there to expound the law, but that every Athenian should abide by it.” Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“Aelian: —One evening over the wine, Execestides the nephew of Solon the Athenian sang a song of the poetess Sappho's which his uncle liked so well that he bade the boy teach it him; and when one of the company asked in surprise ‘What for?’ he replied ‘I want to learn it and die.’” Stobaeus Anthology

“Solon, Thales, and Pittacus, who were of the so-called Seven Sages, lived each a hundred years （cf. fr. 27. 17）.” Lucian Longevity

“ Besides, of course, the laws, he wrote Speeches to the People and Exhortations to Himself in elegiacs, and the poems on Salamis and The Athenian Constitution , in all 5000 lines, as well as Iambi and Epodes . His statue is thus inscribed: “Solon the lawgiver is this, Son of yon holy Salamis That made the pride of Media cease.
”⁸⁹ He flourished, according to Sosicrates, in the 46th Olympiad, in the 3rd year of which （594 B.C.） he was archon at Athens; it was then that he enacted his laws. He died in Cyprus at the age of eighty, leaving instructions to his kinsfolk that his bones should be carried to Salamis and there burnt to ashes and scattered over the soil. And this is why Cratinus in the Cheirons makes him say: “My home's an island, and my dust men tell Is scattered o'er the towns of Ajax' land.
”
”
Diogenes Laertius Life of Solon

“According to Heracleides of Pontus, Solon survived the beginning of the reign of Peisistratus by some considerable time, according to Phanias of Eresus, by less than two years. Peisistratus' reign began in the archonship of Comias （561 B.C.） and Phanias declares that Solon died in that of the next archon Hegestratus. The absurdity of the scattering of his ashes over the island of Salamis would seem to make it entirely improbable and mythical, and yet it is attested by reputable authorities including the philosopher Aristotle.” Plutarch Life of Solon

“If I am not mistaken, hardly anybody in this city could point to two Athenian houses which would have united to produce so true a nobleman as the two from which you spring. The fame of your father's family, the house of Critias son of Dropides, has come down to us crowned with the praises accorded it by Anacreon, Solon, and many other poets, for the beauty, the virtue, and the prosperity as it is called, of those who have belonged to it; the same is true of your mother's ....” Plato Charmides

“As he stood there upon the pyre, Croesus, it is said, remembered, for all he was in such evil case, how truly inspired was the saying of Solon that no man living is happy.⁹⁰” Herodotus Histories

“ But the Megarians nevertheless persevering （in the war for Salamis）, the Athenians, who both suffered and inflicted much hardship in the war, appointed Sparta to arbitrate between them and their enemies. Most authorities declare Solon's case found support in the reputation of Homer, for that he foisted a line into the Catalogue of Ships and read it at the hearing, making it: “And Ajax twelve sail led from Salamis And leading set them next the Athenian hosts.
” But the Athenians themselves consider this an idle tale, and maintain that Solon proved to the court that Philaeus and Eurysaces, sons of Ajax, gave Athens the island on receiving Athenian citizenship, and settled the one at Melita （which is a part of Athens） and the other at Brauron in Attica; and they have a deme or parish Philaidae, named after Philaeus, to which Peisistratus belonged. And they add that in order to make his case still stronger Solon insisted that the Salaminians did not bury their dead after the Megarian manner, but after the Athenian, etc.
”
Plutarch Life of Solon

“After beginning on a large scale his history or fable of Atlantis, a fable which the learned men of Sais related to him as one that concerned the Athenians, he gave it up, not as Plato says for lack of time, but rather because he was grown old and feared the task would be too great.” Plutarch Life of Solon

Solon

Book i Elegies

Salamis

“⁹¹Having waged a long and grievous war against Megara for the possession of the isle of Salamis, the Athenians of the city at last made an end of it and passed a law that none should prefer Athens' claim to Salamis in either speech or writing on pain of death. Scarcely able to bear the shame of this decision, and observing that many of the younger generation were desirous of a pretext⁹² for renewing the war but durst not take the first step themselves because of the new law, Solon feigned that he had lost his wits, word was put about from his house that he was beside himself, and after he had secretly written some elegiac verses and conned them till he could say them without book, he went quickly and suddenly out into the marketplace with a little cap upon his head.⁹³ A great crowd swarming about him, he now mounted the herald's stone and recited⁹⁴ the Elegy which begins:
A herald am I from lovely Salamis, and have made me instead of a speech⁹⁵ a song that is an ornament of words.
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This poem is entitled Salamis and contains a hundred lines; it is a very fine piece of work. When it ended, Solon's friends began to praise him, and not least Peisistratus, who pressed his fellow-countrymen so urgently to take the speaker's advice, that they repealed the law and renewed the struggle, putting Solon in command.
”
Plutarch Life of Solon

“... Solon feigned madness and rushed garlanded into the marketplace, where he had a herald read the bracing elegiac verses on Salamis, and so roused them that they renewed the war against Megara, and thanks to Solon were victorious. The lines which particularly inflamed the Athenians were these:⁹⁶
Then may I change my country and be a man of Pholegandros or Sicinus⁹⁷ instead of an Athenian, for full soon would this be the report among men: This is an Athenian of the tribe of Salaminaphetae or Letters-go of Salamis.
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And again:⁹⁸

Let us to Salamis, to fight for a lovely isle and put away from us dishonour hard to bear.
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”
Diogenes Laertius Life of Solon

Other

“⁹⁹Now take and recite, pray, these elegiac lines of Solon, that the jury may know that Solon, like us, hated such men as the defendant. The point is, Aeschines, not that you should keep your hand in your cloak when you play the orator, but that you should do so when you play the ambassador; instead of which you held it out and opened it wide in Macedonia and brought your colleagues to disgrace; and now you hold forth here, and you just con and mouth some miserable rigmaroles, and then think, I suppose, that you will escape the penalty of a long list of heinous crimes if you merely don a little cap¹⁰⁰ and walk abroad and abuse me. Now, Sir, recite.

But Athens, albeit she will never perish by the destiny of Zeus or the will of the happy Gods immortal —for of such power is the great-hearted Guardian, Daughter of a Mighty Sire, that holdeth Her hands over us —, Her own people, for lucre's sake, are fain to make ruin of this great city by their folly. Unrighteous is the mind of the leaders of the commons, and their pride goeth before a fall; for they know not how to hold them from excess nor to direct in peace the jollity of their present feasting ... but grow rich through the suasion of unrighteous deeds ...¹⁰¹ and steal right and left with no respect for possessions sacred or profane, nor have heed of the awful foundations of Justice, who is so well aware in her silence of what is and what hath been, and soon or late cometh alway to avenge. This is a wound that cometh inevitable and forthwith to every city, and she falleth quickly into an evil servitude, which arouseth discord and waketh slumbering War that destroyeth the lovely prime of so many men. For in gatherings¹⁰² dear to the unrighteous a delightful city is quickly brought low at the hands of them that are her enemies. Such are the evils which then are rife among the common folk, and many of the poor go slaves into a foreign land, bound with unseemly fetters, there to bear perforce the evil works of servitude.¹⁰³ So cometh the common evil into every house, and the street-doors will no longer keep it out; it leapeth the high hedge and surely findeth a man, for all he may go hide himself in his chamber. This it is that my heart biddeth me tell the Athenians, and how that even as ill-government giveth a city much trouble, so good rule maketh all things orderly and perfect, and often putteth fetters upon the unrighteous; aye, she maketh the rough smooth, checketh excess, confuseth outrage; she withereth the springing weeds of ruin, she straighteneth crooked judgments, she mollifieth proud deeds; she stoppeth the works of faction, she stilleth the wrath of baneful strife; and of her all is made wise and perfect in the world of men.
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” Demosthenes On the Embassy

“¹⁰⁴To support what I say there is not only the unanimous testimony of all other authorities, but Solon's own mention of this in these lines:
For I gave the common folk such privilege as is sufficient for them, neither adding nor taking away; and such as had power and were admired for their riches, I provided that they too should not suffer undue wrong. Nay, I stood with a strong shield thrown before the both sorts, and would have neither to prevail unrighteously over the other.
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And again he sets forth how the commons should be treated:¹⁰⁵

So best will the people follow their leaders, neither too little restrained nor yet perforce; for excess breedeth outrage when much prosperity followeth those whose mind is not perfect.¹⁰⁶
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”
Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“Wishing to escape the ill-feeling and fault-finding of his fellow-citizens, for, as he says himself,
In great matters it is hard to please all,
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he obtained ten years' leave-of-absence of his fellow-countrymen and went abroad.
”
Plutarch Life of Solon

“For the land knows how to bear all the offspring of the seasons for its inhabitants, being all of it sloping or low-lying and in Solon's phrase
a shining nurse of youth,
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and the sea, etc.—
”
Choricius Declamations

“¹⁰⁷Solon is said to have warned his fellow-countrymen of the coming despotism in elegiac verse:
The strength of snow and of hail is from a cloud, and thunder cometh of the bright lightning; a city is destroyed of great men, and the common folk fall into bondage unto a despot because of ignorance. For him that putteth out too far from land 'tis not easy to make haven afterward; all such things as these should be thought of ere it be too late.
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Later, when Peisistratus' despotism was established, he said:

If ye suffer bitterly through your own fault, blame ye not the Gods for it; for yourselves have ye exalted these men by giving them guards,¹⁰⁸ and therefore it is that ye enjoy foul servitude. Each one of you walketh with the steps of a fox, the mind of all of you is vain; for ye look to a man's tongue and shifty speech, and never to the deed he doeth.
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”
Diodorus of Sicily Historical Library

“¹⁰⁹Thereafter the people gave him their ears, and would gladly have suffered him even to rule them; but he would not have it, nay, according to Sosicrates, when he got wind of the designs of his kinsman Peisistratus he did all he could to hinder them. For he rushed one day into the assembly armed with spear and shield, warned them of Peisistratus' coming attempt, and even declared his willingness to aid them against him, saying: ‘Men of Athens, I am wiser than some of you, and braver than others; wiser than those who are fooled by Peisistratus, and braver than those who are not fooled yet hold their tongues because they are afraid.’ And the Council, who were Peisistratids, said he was mad; which made him say:

The truth will out, and a little time will show my fellow-citizens, sure enough, whether I be mad or no.
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” Diogenes Laertius Life of Solon

“In physical philosophy he is very naive and old-fashioned; compare ‘The strength of snow,’ etc. （fr. 9. ll. 1-2） <and this>:

The sea is stirred by the winds; it if be not stirred 'tis the quietest¹¹⁰ of all things.
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” Plutarch Life of Solon

“¹¹¹Solon: —

Splendid children of Memory and Olympian Zeus, give ear, Pierian Muses, unto my prayer. Grant me prosperity at the hands of the Blessed Gods, and good fame ever at the hands of men; make me, I pray You, sweet to my friends and sour unto my foes, to these a man reverend to behold, to those a man terrible. Wealth I desire to possess, but would not have it unrighteously;¹¹² retribution cometh alway afterward; the riches that be given of the Gods come to a man for to last, from the bottom even to the top, whereas they which be sought by wanton violence come not orderly, but persuaded against their will by unrighteous works —and quickly is Ruin mingled with them; whose beginning is with a little thing as of fire, slight at the first, but in the end a mischief; for the works of man's wanton violence endure not for long, but Zeus surveyeth the end of every matter, and suddenly, even as the clouds in Spring are quickly scattered by a wind that stirreth the depths of the billowy unharvested sea, layeth waste the fair fields o'er the wheat-bearing land, and reaching even to the high heaven where the Gods sit, maketh the sky clear again to view, till the strength of the Sun shineth fair over the fat land, and no cloud is to be seen any more, —even such is the vengeance of Zeus; He is not quick to wrath, like us, over each and every thing, yet of him that hath a wicked heart is He aware alway unceasing, and such an one surely cometh out plain at the last. Aye, one payeth to-day, another to-morrow; and those who themselves flee and escape the pursuing destiny of Heaven, to them vengeance cometh alway again, for the price of their deeds is paid by their innocent children or else by their seed after them.
We mortal men, alike good and bad, are minded thus: —each of us keepeth the opinion he hath ever had¹¹³ till he suffer ill, and then forthwith he grieveth; albeit ere that, we rejoice open-mouthed in vain expectations, and whosoever be oppressed with sore disease bethinketh himself he will be whole; another that is a coward thinketh he be a brave man; or he that hath no comeliness seemeth to himself goodly to look upon; and if one be needy, and constrained by the works of Penury, he reckoneth alway to win much wealth. Each hath his own quest; one, for to bring home gain, rangeth the fishy deep a-shipboard, tossed by grievous winds, sparing his life no whit, another serveth them whose business lieth with the curvad ploughshare, ploughing the well-planted land for them throughout the year¹¹⁴; one getteth his living by the skill of his hands in the works of Athena and the master of many crafts, Hephaestus, another through his learning in the gifts of the Olympian Muses, cunning in the measure of lovely art; others again as physicians, having the task of the Master of Medicines, the Healer —for these men too there's no end of their labours, for often cometh great pain of little and a man cannot assuage it by soothing medicines, albeit at other times him that is confounded by evil and grievous maladies maketh he quickly whole by the laying on of hands; another again the Far-Shooting Lord Apollo maketh a seer, and the mischief that cometh on a man from afar is known to him that hath the Gods with him, for no augury nor offering will ever ward off what is destined to be.
Aye, surely Fate it is that bringeth mankind both good and ill, and the gifts immortal Gods offer must needs be accepted; surely too there's danger in every sort of business¹¹⁵; nor know we at the beginning of a matter how it is to end¹¹⁶; nay, sometimes he that striveth to do a good thing falleth unawares into ruin great and sore, whereas God giveth good hap in all things to one that doeth ill, to be his deliverance from folly. And as for wealth, there's no end set clearly down¹¹⁷; for such as have to-day the greatest riches among us, these have twice the eagerness that others have, and who can satisfy all?¹¹⁸ 'Tis sure the Gods give us men possessions, yet a ruin is revealed thereout, which one man hath now and another then, whensoever Zeus sendeth it in retribution.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on righteousness]

“Solon: —

Nor is any mortal happy, but all men are unfortunate that the Sun can see.¹¹⁹
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” Stobaeus Anthology [that life is short, of little account, and full of cares]

“¹²⁰That he reckoned himself among the poor rather than the rich, is shown by these lines:

Many bad men are rich, many good men poor; but we, we will not exchange virtue for these men's wealth; for the one endureth whereas the other belongeth now to this man and now to that.
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” Plutarch Life of Solon

“¹²¹Now Solon has well said of God:

'Tis very hard to tell the unseen measure of sound judgment, which yet alone hath the ends of all things.¹²²
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” Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies

“¹²³Well may Solon the Athenian say, after Hesiod, in his Elegies:

The mind of the Immortals is all unseen to man.
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” Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies

“¹²⁴Compare Solon: —

But as I grow old I learn many things.
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” [Plato] Lovers

To Philocyprus

“¹²⁵... the king of the Solians, Aristocyprus the son of Philocyprus. This is the Philocyprus whom Solon the Athenian on his visit to Cyprus praised in verse above all other despots.

But as it is, I pray that you and yours may long dwell in this city as lords of the Solians, that I may be sped unharmed a-shipboard from this famous isle by Cypris of the Violet Crown, and that the same may grant me favour and good fame after this sojourn, and safe return unto my native land.
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” Herodotus Histories “Then （after visiting Egypt） he went to Cyprus, where he made great friends with a king of those parts called Philocyprus... So Solon persuaded him, by changing its site to a fair plain that lay beneath it, to make the city greater and more pleasant to live in. And he stayed there and took charge of the gathering of the people into the city, and helped him to arrange it in the best way for the convenience and safety of its inhabitants, insomuch that settlers flocked to him, and the other kings came to envy him. For this he paid Solon the honour of changing the city's name from Aepeia to Soli, after him. Solon himself mentions the gathering together of the people, addressing Philocyprus in his Elegies thus:” Plutarch Life of Solon

To Mimnermus

“¹²⁶It is said that when Mimnermus wrote （Mimn. fr. 11） that he hoped he might die at the age of sixty, he found fault with him, saying:

But if thou with listen to me so late in the day, blot this out, Ligyastades, and bearing me no ill-will because I give thee better counsel, change thy song, and sing that thou art fain the fate of Death might overtake thee at fourscore.
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” Diogenes Laertius Life of Solon

“Furthermore, by the envoy of the answer he made Mimnermus about length of days,
Nor may death come to me without a tear; rather would I have my decease make sorrow and lamentation for my friends,
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he argues Publicola a happy man. For his death filled, not only his friends and kinsfolk, but a whole city of tens of thousands, with tears and regret and downcast looks.
”
Plutarch Lives of Solon and Publicola

To Critias

“¹²⁷Critias: —Now he was connected with my family and a great friend of Dropides my great-grandfather, as he often says in his poetry.

Tell flaxen-haired Critias to listen to his father; for if so, he will have a guide of no erring judgment.
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” Plato Timaeus [on Solon] “The history of Solon's descendants and Plato's connexion with him is this: Solon and Dropides were the sons of Execestides, and Dropides was the father of Critias, who is mentioned by Solon in his poetry thus :” Proclus on the passage

“¹²⁸People then are not lovers of horses, it would seem, unless their horses love them in return, nor in like manner of quails nor yet of dogs, nor of wine, nor of gymnastics, nor of wisdom, unless wisdom loves them in return; or does each sort love each of these without the object of their friendship being their friend, thus proving the poet wrong who says:

Happy he who hath dear children,¹²⁹ whole-hooved¹³⁰ steeds, hunting hounds, and a friend in foreign parts.
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” Plato Lysis

“¹³¹He had no admiration for wealth; indeed he declares :

Surely equal is the wealth of him that hath much silver and gold and fields of wheatland and horses and mules, to that of him that hath but this —comfort in belly and sides and feet.¹³² This is abundance unto men, seeing that no man taketh with him the many things he hath above this when he goeth below, nor shall he for a price escape death nor yet sore disease nor the evil approach of Age.
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” Plutarch Life of Solon

“Protegenes was willing and eager to say still more, but Daphnaeus stopped him, exclaiming ‘I am very glad you mentioned Solon; he shall be our criterion of the “erotic” man’¹³³:
till in the flower of youth he love a lad with the desire of things and sweet lips;
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And that surely is why Solon wrote what I have just quoted when he was full of youth and vigour, as Plato says, and when he was old the following lines:

Dear to me now are the works of the Cyprus-born and of Dionysus and of the Muses, works which make good cheer for man,
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as though after the storm and stress of less worthy loves he had found haven for his life in a calm of marriage and philosophy.¹³⁴
”
Plutarch Amatorius

“¹³⁵These Ages of Life are given by Solon the Athenian lawgiver in the following elegiac lines:

In seven years the half-grown boy casteth the first teeth he cut as a child; when God hath accomplished him seven years more he showeth signs that his youthful prime is nigh; in the third seven, when his limbs are still a-waxing, his chin groweth downy with the bloom of changing skin; in the fourth every man is at his best in the strength which men bear for a token of virtue and valour¹³⁶; in the fifth 'tis time for a man to bethink him of marriage and to seek offspring to come after him; in the sixth a man's mind is trained in all things, and he wisheth not so much now for what may not be done; in seven sevens and in eight he is at his best in mind and tongue, to wit fourteen years of both; in the ninth age he is still an able man, but his tongue and his lore have less might unto great virtue¹³⁷; and if a man come to the full measure of the tenth, he will not meet the fate of Death untimely.
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” Philo Creation of the World

“When such was the condition of the body politic and the many were slaves of the few, the commons rose against the men of note. The struggle was bitter and the mutual opposition long, but finally they agreed upon an arbitrator and ruler in the person of Solon, putting the reins of government into his hands on his composing the Elegy which begins:
I know, and pain lieth in my heart as I see it, that the oldest land of Ionia is being slain.¹³⁸
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In this poem he champions either party alternately and then exhorts both together to make up their quarrel. Now Solon belonged to the highest rank in character and reputation, and to the middle sort in estate and business, as is agreed on other grounds and as he himself attests in these lines, wherein he exhorts the rich not to be covetous:

But do ye who have had more than your fill of many good things, calm the strong heart that is in your breast, and be moderate in your aspirations¹³⁹; and so neither shall we be needy¹⁴⁰ nor ye possess what ye now have without decrease;
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and speaking generally he ascribes the discord to the rich; and that is why at the beginning of the same Elegy he says that he fears

both pride and the love of pelf,
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considering those to be the cause of the enmity.
”
Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“Well says the proverb:¹⁴¹

Poets tell many lies.
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” [Plato] On Justice “... used of those who say what is not true for profit or to entertain their hearers ... This saying occurs ... in Solon's Elegies .” Scholiast on the passage

“He first visited Egypt, and spent some time, as he says himself,
at Nile's outpourings nigh the Canopic strand,
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and for a while shared the studies of the most erudite of the priests, Psenopis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais, from whom it was, as Plato tells us, that he learnt the history of Atlantis, which he began to make known to the Greeks by means of a poem he did not finish.
”
Plutarch Life of Solon

Epic Poems

“Some writers declare that he also made a beginning of putting his laws into Epic verse and thus publishing them to the world, and they record the opening lines as follows:

First let us pray to King Zeus Son of Cronus, that he bestow good fortune and honour upon these ordinances.
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” Plutarch Life of Solon

Book 2 Tetrameters

To Phocus

“He is said to have observed to his friends that despotism is a fine position from which there's no way of retreat,¹⁴² and in his poems, he writes to Phocus:
If I have spared my country and not put my hand forth unto despotism and relentless violence, befouling and disgracing my good name, I am not ashamed of it; for thus methinks I shall the rather surpass the world.
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From which it is quite clear that he stood in high repute even before his legislation. And with regard to the ridicule heaped upon him for shirking supreme power, he writes as follows:

Solon is no wiseacre nor sage, for he hath of his own free will refused good hap when Heaven offered it. Though he hath his quarry in the trammels he is too amazed to draw the great net to, as one that hath lost both will and wit. Now had I the power, I had been only too glad to be flayed for a wineskin and my posterity wiped out, if only I might first have wealth abundant and rule Athens for a single day.
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Thus he makes the baser sort speak of him. All the same, though he refused the supreme power, he did not govern in the mildest possible way, nor show in his legislation any lack of courage or any bending to the powerful or pandering to his electors, but rather where it was tolerable to leave things alone he applied no remedy and made no change, lest he

throw the city into so utter confusion as to be too weak afterwards to re-establish her and make her at unity¹⁴³
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with what is best.
”
Plutarch Life of Solon

“And in another place, too, he says of the persons who wished to re-distribute the land:

But they that came for plunder had rich hopes, reckoning every man that he would find himself great prosperity, and that for all my smooth words I should show a hard heart. Vain were their imaginings then, and now they are angered with me and all eye me askance as if I were an enemy —wrongly, for with the Gods' help I have done what I said, and what I said not, that did I not do without due thought, nor did it please me to do aught by force of the supreme power,¹⁴⁴ nor yet that the bad should have equal share of their fat fatherland with the good.¹⁴⁵
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” Aristotle Constitution of Athens [on Solon]

“And it is proved that he lied ... and you who know Solon are not unaware whom you should blame instead of us.

You are not unaware of whom you should blame instead of us.
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” Libanius Letters

Book 3 Iambi

“¹⁴⁶And again Solon speaks of the cancelling of debt, and of the citizens that were set free from slavery by the ‘Disburdening’:
But as for me, why did I stay me ere I had won that for which I gathered the commons?¹⁴⁷ Right good witness shall I have in the court of Time,¹⁴⁸ to wit the Great Mother of the Olympian Gods, dark Earth,¹⁴⁹ whose so many fixed landmarks¹⁵⁰ I once removed, and have made her free that was once a slave. Aye, many brought I back to their God-built birthplace,¹⁵¹ many that had been sold, some justly, some unjustly, and others that had been exiled through urgent penury, men that no longer spake the Attic speech because they had wandered so far and wide; and those that suffered shameful servitude at home, trembling before the whims of their owners, these made I free men. By fitting close together right and might¹⁵² I made these things prevail, and accomplished them even as I said I would. And ordinances I wrote, that made straight justice for each man, good and bad¹⁵³ alike. Had another than I taken the goad in hand, a foolish man and a covetous, he had not restrained the people; for had I been willing to do now what pleased this party and now what pleased the other, this city had been bereft of many men. Wherefore mingling myself strength from all quarters I turned at bay like a wolf among many hounds.
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And again he upbraids both sides for the complaints they made afterwards:

As for the commons, if 'tis right to upbraid them openly, I say that what they have now they never would have dreamt of ... And the greater men and stronger might well praise me and be friends with me; for had another than I won such honour,¹⁵⁴ he had not restrained nor checked the commons till his churning were done and the richness taken from the milk,¹⁵⁵ whereas I, I stood as a mark in the midway betwixt the two hosts of them.¹⁵⁶
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”
Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“He made the upper council overseering-general and guardian of the law, believing, etc.

[And I believed] that anchored to two councils the city¹⁵⁷ could the better ride out a storm and keep her people in the greater quiet.
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” Plutarch Life of Solon

“That γοῦρος was a kind of cake is shown by Solon, who says in his Iambi:

They drink, and some of them eat the while sesame-cakes and others bread, and yet others guri mingled with lentils. There, too, wants not any sort of pastry, and whatsoever the dark earth brings forth for man, they have it all in profusion.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Solon calls the mortar ἴγδις in his Iambi, where he says:

And some fetch a mortar and others silphium and others again vinegar.
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” Pollux Onomasticon

“And ordinary people are right in calling the pomegranate-seed κόκκων to this day; for Solon uses the word thus in his poems:

One brought pomegranate-seeds, and another sesame.
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” Phrynichus Introduction to Learning

“From the Elegiacs of Solon; hortatory:

Obey the lawful authorities, whether thou deem them right or no.
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” Diogenian Proverbs

Three Unclassifiable Fragments

“
sumach
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the seasoning; Solon.
”
Photius Lexicon

“Solon believed that boxers and runners and other athletes contribute nothing worth speaking of to the preservation of a state, but only men conspicuous for wit and virtue can keep their country safe in time of danger.¹⁵⁸” Diodorus of Sicily Historical Library

“It were better therefore, since we know that the prime of youth is like the Spring flowers and its pleasures transitory, to approve the words of the Lesbian dame, ‘He that is fair, is fair to outward show; He that is good will soon be fair also’; and to agree with Solon when he gives the same counsel.¹⁵⁹” Galen Exhortation to Learning

Cleobulus

“These were Thales of Miletus, Pittacus of Mytilene, Bias of Priene, our own Solon, Cleobulus of Lindus, Myson of Chen, and the Spartans made the seventh Chilon.¹⁶⁰” Plato Protagoras [the Seven Sages]

“... Cleobulus the despot of Lindus.” Plutarch The E at Delphi

“Cleobulus declared that we ought to give our daughters to their husbands maidens in years but women in wits.” Stobaeus Anthology [on wooing]

“According to Cleobulus, the best home is that whose master has more that love him than fear him.” Stobaeus The Seven Sages [on domestic economy]

“It is proper to virtue to hate unrighteousness and cherish piety; Cleobulus.” Apostolius Proverbs

Epitaph and Riddle

“Cleobulus son of Euagoras, of Lindus; according to Duris a Carian; some writers make his lineage go back to Heracles, and say that he was of remarkable strength and beauty, and acquainted with the learning of Egypt. He had a daughter Cleobulina, a poetess who wrote riddles in hexameter verse and is mentioned by Cratinus in the play which bears her name in the plural number. He is also said to have rebuilt the temple of Athena founded by Danaus. He wrote Songs and Riddles amounting to 3000 lines. Some authorities ascribe to him the Epitaph on Midas:¹⁶².
A maiden of brass am I and I lie on the tomb of Midas. So long as water shall flow and tall trees grow green, Sun rise and shine and Moon give light, rivers run and sea wash shore, ever shall I abide upon this sore-lamented tomb and tell the passers--by that this is the grave of Midas.
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And they find evidence for this in a poem of Simonides¹⁶³ where he says: ‘Who that hath understanding would praise Cleobulus the man of Lindus for his pitting of the might of a grave-stone against the ever-running rivers and the flowers of the Spring, against the flame of Sun and of golden Moon, and against the eddies of the ocean-wave? All these are subject to the Gods; but a stone, even mortal hands may break it. This is the rede of a fool.’ For they deny that the epitaph is Homer's, who lived, say they, many years before Midas.
Pamphila's Notes preserve the following Riddle of his:¹⁶⁴

The father is one, the sons twelve, and each of these has twice thirty daughters of features twain; some are white and others are black, and though they be immortal they all perish.
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The answer is ‘the year.’ ... He died an old man, seventy years of age, and his epitaph was: ‘This his birthplace Lindus, whose pride is the sea, mourns for a wise man, Cleobulus.’
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

Cleobulina

“The pearls of this rich woman and the silks of that foreign dame cannot be had or put on unless she that desires them buy them at a great price, whereas the adornments of Theano, Cleobulina, Gorgo wife of Leonidas, Timocleia sister of Theagenes, the elder Claudia, Cornelia daugther of Scipio, and all the admired and famous ladies of history, these a woman may bedeck herself with for nothing, and live her days in honour and happiness.” Plutarch Conjugal Precepts

“¹⁶⁵Anacharsis was seated in the porch, and there stood before him parting his hair for him a young girl, who ran up to Thales with a most ingenuous air. He kissed her and cried, laughing, ‘Pray make our host look his best; we would not have him appear to his guests a whit less gentle and refined than he is.’ When I asked him who the little maid was, he exclaimed ‘Why, don't you know the learned and much-talked-of Eumetis as her father names her, but called by the world, after him, Cleobulina?’ ‘You must be referring’ said Neiloxenus, ‘to the wit and skill she shows in the riddles she propounds, some of which have spread as far as Egypt.’ ‘Not I’ rejoined Thales; ‘these are but the astragals or playdice which she flings just to divert herself with any that may be her company. No, no; there's more in it than that. She has an admirable judgment, a political mind, and a sweet disposition, and her father's rule is the lighter for it.’ ‘Say no more,’ cried Neiloxenus; ‘one has only to look at her simple and unstudied behaviour. But why this affectionate tendance of Anacharsis? ‘For the reason’ he replied ‘that he is so wise a man and so learned, and has given her such full and generous knowledge of the regimen, the way of purification, which the Scythians use upon the sick. And as she treats him with all this tenderness, I make no doubt she is meanwhile learning something by disputation with him.’” Plutarch The Seven Sages

“If we may believe Herodotus, Duris, and Democritus, Thales' father was Examyas and his mother Cleobulina.” Diogenes Laertius Life of Thales

“But we will first enquire what is the definition of the term riddle, and what were the questions propounded by Cleobulina of Lindus.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on riddles]

“... Alexis in his comedy The Cleobulinas.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on riddles]

“The word paroywnei=n ‘to buy an additional relish’ is used by Cratinus in The Cleobulinas.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on riddles]

riddles

“Many riddles are of the following kind:
I saw one man welding bronze to another man with fire, so tightly as to make them common blood.
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The answer to this is ‘the applying of a cupping-glass.’¹⁶⁶
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“I will turn to the arts and poetry. In the writing of tragedy and in painting, whoever is most deceptive in making things like the truth is the best. I propose to cite some poems too of the more ancient authorities: Cleobulina: —

I saw a man steal and cheat perforce, and to do this perforce was most righteous.¹⁶⁷
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” Anonymous Writer in Diels' Vorsokratiker [on right and wrong]

“‘Quite so’ replied Anacharsis; ‘and because they understand human speech and are not like the Greeks who think that they converse so much better than the Scythians and yet believe that the Gods listen with greater pleasure to bones and sticks.’ ‘May I inform you,’ exclaimed Aesop, ‘that the flutemakers of the present day have discarded the leg-bones of fawns for those of asses, and declare that they thereby improve the sound?’ And that is why Cleobulina made the following Riddle on the Phrygian flute:
A dead ass boxed my ear with his horned shin-bone;
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to make us wonder that a beast otherwise so stupid and unmusical as the ass should furnish the finest and most musical of all bones.
”
Plutarch Seven Sages [the Scythians]

Demodocus

None

Elegiacs

“Now it is clear that lack of self-control is not a vice —though in a way perhaps it is, for it may or may not be deliberate; all the same the result is similar, as in the line of Demodocus on the Milesians:¹⁶⁸
<Thus also spake Demodocus —> The Milesians are not dolts, but they behave like dolts;
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in the same way, the uncontrolled may not be knaves, but they behave like knaves.
”
Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics

“Demodocus: —

Thus also spake Demodocus —The Chians are bad men, not one bad and another not, but all save Procles, and Procles is a Chian.¹⁶⁹
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” Palatine Anthology

Tetrameters

“¹⁷⁰He is said to have had a remarkable talent for pleading a cause, but he used the full strength of his oratory to a good end, and so it is this that Demodocus of Leros means in the line:

If ever thou go to law, prosecute thy case after the manner of Priene.¹⁷¹
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” Diogenes Laertius Life of Bias

Phocylides

“Phocylides: —Of Miletus, a philosopher, contemporary with Theognis. Both flourished 1047 years after the Trojan War, their date being the 59th Olympiad （544-1 B.C.）.¹⁷² Phocylides wrote epic and elegiac verse, counsels or maxims, entitled by some authorities Heads or Chapters . They are taken from the Sibylline Books.” Suidas Lexicon

“Archilochus may be blamed for his subject-matter, Parmenides for his versification, Phocylides for his poverty of expression, Euripides for his discursiveness, Sophocles for his inequality of style.... Yet each is praised for the peculiar power nature has given him to rouse and lead his hearers.” Plutarch On Listening

“The familiarity of the ancients with music is at once clear from Homer, who, because all his poetry was for music, gives many lines that are ‘headless’ （with a short syllable for a long at the beginning）, ‘weak’ （in the middle）, and even ‘curtal’ （in the last or second last foot）, without minding in the least; whereas Xenophanes, Solon, Theognis, and Phocylides, and also Periander the elegy-writer of Corinth, and indeed all of the others who do not put music to their poetry, always make their lines in strict accordance with the number and arrangement of the metrical units, and take care to avoid all lines of the above sorts.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“I have seen Pompey here. He talked much of politics —of course, to judge by what he said （we must always say that of him ）, with self-depreciation; running down Syria, turning up his nose at Spain —here again we must add to judge by what he said , and so, I think, we must whenever we speak of him, like a sort of ‘Thus also spake Phocylides.’” Cicero Letters to Atticus

“Perhaps some of the work of the other poets might be called ‘popular,’¹⁷³ giving counsel and exhortation to the generality of men, for instance, I take it, the poems of Phocylides and Theognis . . . whereas the poetry of Homer, etc.” Dio Chrysostom Orations

“In proof of this we might adduce the poetry of Hesiod, Theognis, and Phocylides, whom they declare to have been the best counsellors in human life ever known, and yet choose to concern themselves rather with one another's follies than with these poets' exhortations.” Isocrates To Nicocles

Elegiac Poems

“Another of the Sporades is the island o Leros . . .¹⁷⁴
Thus also spake Phocylides —The Lerians are bad men, not one bad and another not, but all save Procles, and Procles is a Lerian.¹⁷⁵
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It seems that the natives of this island were under the reproach of ill-nature.
”
Strabo Geography

Epic Poems

“¹⁷⁶Aristophanes means by χρῆσται ‘creditors’ ... Phocylides in his poems uses χρήστης in the ordinary sense, thus:

<:Thus also spake Phocylides —>: Be not the debtor of a bad man, or he will annoy thee with asking to be paid before his time.
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” Scholiast on Aristophanes Clouds

“Phocylides: —

Thus also spake Phocylides —The tribes of women come of these four, the bitch, the bee, the savage-looking¹⁷⁷ sow, and the long-maned mare; the mare's daughter sprightly, quick, gadabout, and very comely, the savage-looking sow's neither bad, belike, nor good, the bitch's tetchy and ill-mannered; and the bee's a good huswife who knows her work —and 'tis she, my friend, thou shouldst pray thou mayst get thee in delectable wedlock.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [censure of women, and also on marriage]

“Phocylides: —

Thus also spake Phocylides —Of what advantage is high birth to such as have no grace either in words or in counsel?
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” Stobaeus Anthology [that high-born and worthy fathers do not always get children like themselves]

“¹⁷⁸In the same way, said I, you can take a brief example from the poetry of Phocylides, who is not one of those stringers-together of some long and continuous piece of versification like your friend who takes more than five thousand lines to recount a single battle, but writes pieces extending first and last to but two or three lines; indeed he prefixes¹⁷⁹ his name to each sentiment he expresses, as believing it of serious import and great value —unlike Homer, who never names himself. You agree, do you not, that he had every right to prefix Phocylides to such a maxim or pronouncement as this:

Thus also spake Phocylides —A little state living orderly in a high place is stronger than a blockheaded Nineveh.¹⁸⁰
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” Dio Chrysostom Orations

“ Muttering and to mutter : —These words are not to be rejected, but are Ionic. They are used, I know, by a very ancient writer, Phocylides of Miletus:

Thus also spake Phocylides —Comrade should consider with comrade what their fellow-townsmen mutter in their ears.
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” Phrynichus Introduction to Learning

“Phocylides: —

If thou desirest riches, see that thou hast a fertile farm; for a farm, they say, is a horn of Amalthea.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [that husbandry is a good thing]

“¹⁸¹From Phocylides: —

Take thy counsel at night; at night a man's wits are sharper; quiet is good for one that seeketh virtue.¹⁸²
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” Orion of Thebes Anthology

“Phocylides: —

Many that are of little wit seem to be wise if their walk be orderly.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on being and seeming-to-be, and that we should not judge a man by what he says but what he is, because speech is superfluous when there is no action]

“¹⁸³The life of a philosopher is better than that of a man of affairs, but to the man who lacks the necessaries of existence it is not preferable.

Seek a living, and when thou hast a living, virtue.‘virtue’ included other excellence than moral
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” Aristotle Commonplaces “... for as Phocylides says:” Scholiast on the passage

“And Phocylides says: —

When the cups go round at a drinking-bout we should quaff our wine quietly amid pleasant talk.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“¹⁸⁴It is these which are securest in a state; neither are they themselves covetous of other men's goods like the poor, nor are others covetous of theirs as poor men's are of rich men's; and they run no risks, because they are neither the objects nor the authors of conspiracy. And this is why we may approve the wish of Phocylides:

Much advantage is theirs who are midmost, and midmost in a city would I be.
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” Aristotle Politics [on the middle-class]

“¹⁸⁵The poet Phocylides appears to me to give excellent advice when he says:

We should learn noble deeds when we are yet children.
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” Plutarch Education

“¹⁸⁶Let us then put up with the ridicule of the seeming-clever ... for not only must we, as Phocylides says:
Make many mistakes¹⁸⁷ in seeking to be good;
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but also be much laughed at and despised . . .
”
Plutarch On Listening

“¹⁸⁸Moreover Phocylides, who calls the angels daimones or spirits, represents some of them as good and others as bad ...:

But there must be spirits in the world, now these and now those, some <wont> to save men from coming ill ...¹⁸⁹
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” Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies

“And that is why justice or righteousness so often appears to be the best of the virtues ... and we have the saying:

Righteousness containeth the sum of all virtues.
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” Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics “This is by Theognis and runs thus （Theogn. 145-7）, but it ranks as a proverb and is quoted as such by Theophrastus in Book I of his treatise On Characters , though in the first Book of his Ethics he quotes it as occurring in Phocylides, and it may well have been used by him; or else by both Phocylides and Theognis.” Scholiast on the passage:

Xenophanes

“Xenophanes was the son of Dexius, or according to Apollodorus, of Orthomenes, and was of Colophon. He is mentioned by Timon, who says: “Xenophanes, the faintly-modest trouncer that hath trod Old Homer underfoot and lo! forged an inhuman God, Round, motionless, sans hurt or harm, more brainy than the brain . . .¹⁹⁰
” Banished from his birthplace <he lived> at Zancle in Sicily, <took part in the settlement of Elea by a colony from that city, and taught there;> but he also taught at Catana. He was no man's pupil according to some writers, according to others a pupil of Boton of Athens,¹⁹¹ according to others again, of Archelaus. Sotion makes him contemporary with Anaximander.¹⁹² Of his works some are in the epic metre, and some are elegies and iambi attacking Hesiod and Homer and denouncing what they say about the Gods. He used moreover to give public recitations of his poems. He is said to have opposed the views of Thales and Pythagoras and even assailed Epimenides.¹⁹³ He lived to a very great age, as indeed he says himself （fr. 7）.¹⁹⁴
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“The famous Colophonians are these: Mimnermus ..., and the physical philosopher Xenophanes, who wrote the Lampoons in verse.¹⁹⁵” Strabo Geography

“According to the 3rd Book of Aristotle's Poetics , Socrates was attacked by Antilochus of Lemnos ... just as Homer in his lifetime by Syagrus and after his death by Xenophanes of Colophon; so too Hesiod in his lifetime by Cercops, and after his death by the same Xenophanes.” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“We did not despair of philosophy and give it up for lost because philosophers, instead of putting forth what they have to teach or tell in verse, like Orpheus, Hesiod, Parmenides, Xenophanes, Empedocles, and Thales, came later to abandon the use of metre, and still —with one exception, yourself —avoid it.¹⁹⁶” Plutarch The Oracles of the Delphian Priestess

“When some one told Xenophanes that he had seen eels alive in hot water, he said ‘If so, we shall be able to boil them in cold.’” Plutarch Common Notions against the Stoics

“Again, suppose a fellow-guest invite you to dice with him over the wine, be not put out of countenance for fear of the gibes of the company, but like Xenophanes when Lasus of Hermiona called him a coward for refusing a like invitation, confess yourself a craven and a coward indeed when it comes to doing ill.” Plutarch Bashfulness

“Eleatic Stranger. Our own Eleatics, from Xenophanes' day and even earlier, have told their tales on the assumption that what we call all is one.¹⁹⁷” Plato The Sophist

“Compare Xenophanes' remark that it is just as impious to say that the Gods were born as to say that they died, either statement implying their non-existence at some time or other.” Aristotle Rhetoric

Aristotle Rhetoric

“Compare what Xenophanes replied to his fellow-citizens of Elea when they asked him whether or no they should make sacrifice and sing dirges for Leucothea, ‘If you believe her immortal sing no dirges, if mortal make no sacrifice.’¹⁹⁸
”
Aristotle Rhetoric

“According to Xenophanes the volcano in Lipara was inactive once for sixteen years and then broke out again.” Aristotle On Wonders [lava-streams]

“Xenophanes maintains that the moon is inhabited and that it is a land of many cities and mountains.” Cicero Prior Academics

“You think Empedocles mad, but to me his sound is full worthy of his sense. . . . Parmenides and Xenophanes, though their verse is not so good, use it like angry men to chide what they believe to be the arrogance of those who have the face to say they know when nothing can be known.” Cicero Prior Academics

“You Xenophaneses, Diagorases, Hippons, Epicuruses, and the rest of that God-forsaken catalogue, I bid you all go hang!” Aelian

“Xenophanes, son of Dexinous and a pupil of Archelaus the physical philosopher, lived to be ninety-one.¹⁹⁹” Lucian Longevity:

“Heracleitus was the most lofty-minded of men and haughty too, witness the book in which he says ‘Much learning teacheth not understanding, or it would have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras, or again Xenophanes and Hecataeus,’ for wisdom was one thing, namely to understand thought, which guided all things everywhere.” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“Xenophanes declares that there are four elements, and worlds innumerable but not contiguous.²⁰⁰ Clouds are made when the vapour from the sun is carried upwards and lifts them into ‘that which encompasses.’ The substance of God is spherical, in no way resembling man. He is all eye and all ear, but does not breathe. He is the totality of mind and thought, and is eternal. Xenophanes was the first to declare that everything which comes into existence is destructible, and that the soul is breath.²⁰¹” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“Xenophanes wrote a poem too, called The Founding of Colophon , and another called The Colonising of Elea in Italy , 2000 lines in all. He flourished in the 60th Olympiad （540-37 B.C.）.²⁰² According to Demetrius of Phaleron in his Old Age and Panaetius the Stoic in his Cheerfulness , he buried his sons with his own hands, like Anaxagoras. He seems to have been sold into slavery by ... <and set free by> the Pythagoreans Parmeniscus and Orestades, if we may believe Favorinus in the 1st Book of his Memorials .
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

Elegiac Poems

“²⁰³Since, then, I see your banquet, as Xenophanes of Colophon says, ‘full of all kinds of pleasure.’²⁰⁴

For now the floor is clean, and the hands of every guest, and the cups; one lad puts woven wreaths about our heads, another brings round a jug of fragrant perfume; the mixing-bowl stands full of good cheer, and other wine, which vows it will never play false,²⁰⁵ is ready in the jar, mild to the taste and sweet to smell. In the midst frankincense gives forth its sacred odour and water stands cool and sweet and clear. Before us lie yellow loaves and a noble trayful of cheese and rich honey. The altar between is decked all about with flowers, and the house is filled with song²⁰⁶ and feasting. Now first must merry men hymn the God in holy story and pure word; then when they have made libation and prayed for power to do what is right —and that is their first duty ²⁰⁷— there's no wrong in drinking just so much as will bring any but the very aged home without a servant. And I praise the man who when he hath drunken showeth that he hath a good memory, and hath striven well in pursuit of virtue; he marshals not battles of Titans nor of Giants nor yet of Centaurs, fables²⁰⁸ of them of old, nay nor of vehement discords;²⁰⁹ these things are of no worth; what is good, is ever to have respect unto the Gods.²¹⁰
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“There is nothing surprising in the gluttony of these men. All competitors in the Games are taught to eat heavily as well as to practise; and that is why Euripides says in his first Autolycus ²¹¹ ‘Of all the evil things that Greece is heir to| There's none so great as he that strives in games’ etc. —sentiments which are taken from the Elegiacs of Xenophanes of Colophon, who says:

But if 't were in swiftness of foot that a man should win the day, in the close of Zeus by Pisa's stream at Olympia, or if 't were in the five-events or the wrestling, or if he should hold his own in the painful boxing-bout, or the dire contest that they call Pancratium —whatever it were, he would be more honoured of the eyes of his fellow-townsmen; he would win the prominent right of sitting at the front in the games and contests, there would be food for him from the city's store and a gift to make him an heirloom. Or if again his victory were with horses, then too all this would fall to him —yet it would not be deserved as 't would be were it mine, for the poet's skill is better than the strength of men and horses. 'Tis very unconsidered, the custom of man in this matter; it is not right that strength should be judged worthier than most holy²¹² skill. For not though a city had a good boxer, nor a five-event-man, nor a good wrestler, nor yet a good runner —which of all the deeds of man's strength hath the greatest honour in the Games —never for that would she be the better ordered; and but little is the joy a town would get in a man's victory beside the banks of Pisa, for a city's treasure-houses are not fattened so.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“According to Phylarchus, the Colophonians, who, originally a people of rough and uncouth manners, ran on the rocks of luxury when they became the friends and allies of the Lydians, walked abroad with their hair adorned with an ornament of gold, in the words of Xenophanes:
But they learnt useless luxuries of the Lydians while they were free of hateful despotism, and went into the marketplace clad in all-purple robes, went not less than a thousand in all,²¹³ proudly rejoicing in gold-adorned²¹⁴ hair and bedewing their odour with studied anointings;
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and so demoralised were they by untimely drunkenness that some of them never saw sun rise or set.²¹⁵
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“It was the custom to pour water into the cup first and then wine; compare Xenophanes:

Nor would a man pour wine first into the cup when he mingled it, but water and thereafter the liquor.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“They use the forms κωλῆνα and κωλῆν , ‘hindquarter’ ... compare Aristophanes in the second Plutus （1. 1128）: ‘Alas for the hindquarter I ate ...' and Xenophanes of Colophon in the Elegiacs :

Though you gave but the hindquarter of a kid, you received the rich leg of a fat bull,²¹⁶ a precious thing to fall to a man's lot, a gift whose fame will spread throughout Greece nor ever die so long as the Grecian sort of song shall be.²¹⁷
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“²¹⁸To the inconsistency of his ways we have additional testimony in Xenophanes, who in the Elegy which begins:
And now I will pass to another tale, and show another way;
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tells us this of him:

And 'tis said that one day as he was passing by when they beat a dog, he took pity on him and said ‘Stop! beat him not, for verily ‘tis the soul of a friend whose voice I know when I hear it.’
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So far Xenophanes.
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [Pythagoras]

“²¹⁹He lived to a very great age, as indeed he himself tells us:

Seven and sixty years have now been wafting my meditations²²⁰ about the land of Greece, and ere that there were five-and-twenty years from my birth, if I know how to tell the truth in these things.²²¹
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” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [Xenophanes]

“²²² γῆρας ‘old age’: The participle γηρείς ‘aged’ ... genitive γηρέντος like τιθέντος ; compare Xenophanes:

far feebler than an aged man
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” Old Etymologicum Magnum

“Whether the first to strike a coinage was Pheidon of Argos ..., or the Lydians, as Xenophanes declares.” Pollux Onomasticon

Lampoons

“²²³ ²²⁴ ²²⁵ The poets however often give these forms （third persons plural of the perfect active） the short α ; compare Xenophanes:
Since all have learnt in Homer in the beginning²²⁶
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and again: （fr. 36）.
”
Herodian On ‘Doubtful’ Syllables

“Hence Xenophanes' refutation of Homer and Hesiod:

Homer and Hesiod have ascribed unto the Gods all that is reproach and blame in the world of men, stealing and adultery and deceit.²²⁷
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” Sextus Empiricus Against the Mathematicians

“Compare Xenophanes of Colophon, speaking of Homer and Hesiod:

who spake of manifold wickednesses of the Gods, stealing and adultery and deceit.
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” Sextus Empiricus Against the Mathematicians

“Some make Homer senior to Hesiod, for instance Philochorus and Xenophanes, others junior.” Aulus Gellius Attic Nights

“²²⁸And again:—
But mortals seem to have begotten Gods to have their own garb and voice and form.²²⁹
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And again:

Now if horses or oxen lions had hands or power to paint and make the works of art that men make, then would horses give their Gods horse-like forms in painting or sculpture, and oxen ox-like forms, even each after its own kind.
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”
Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies

“²³⁰The Greeks give their Gods human passions as well as human shape; and even as each race of men depict their forms like their own —in the words of Xenophanes:
The Aethiop saith that his Gods are snub-nosed and black, the Thracian that his have blue eyes and red hair —
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even so they represent their souls and imagine them possessed by the same emotions.
”
Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies

“ Bacchus was the name given not only to Dionysus but to all the participators in his rites, and even to the branches carried by the votaries. Compare Xenophanes in the Lampoons :

Bacchi of pine stand all around the firm-built house.
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” Scholiast on Aristophanes

“²³¹Xenophanes: —

The Gods vouchsafed not unto man knowledge of all things from the beginning, but he seeketh and in course of time inventeth what is better.
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” Stobaeus Physical Selections [on the nature of Time and its parts, and of how much it is the cause]

“According to some writers Thales was the first to study astronomy and to foretell the eclipses of the sun and fix the solstices. ... Which is the reason why he is so wonderful to Xenophanes and Herodotus.” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“Returning home, Epimenides shortly after passed away, at the age, according to Phlegon, of a hundred and fifty-seven ... Xenophanes of Colophon, speaking as he says from hearsay, makes it a hundred and fifty-four.” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“Simonides was accused of miserliness ... Aristophanes very wittily ridicules them both in the same sentence ...²³² and records that he was niggardly; hence Xenophanes calls him a

skinflint
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” Scholiast on Aristophanes [‘Sophocles is changing into Simonides’]

“... and in Xenophanes in the 4th Book of the Lampoons :

Then would a young man come to desire a young serving-maid.
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” Herodian On Peculiarities

“The form
Erycus
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or Eryx is found in the 5th Book of Xenophanes' Lampoons.
”
Scholiast on Homer

“Compare Xenophanes of Colophon in the Parodies :²³³

Such things should be said beside the fire in winter-time when a man reclines full-fed on a soft couch drinking the sweet wine and munching chick-pease, —such things as Who and whence art thou?²³⁴ and how old art thou, good sir? of what age wast thou when the Mede²³⁵ came?
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on chick-pease]

On Nature

“²³⁶Well says Xenophanes of Colophon when he teaches that God is one, and without body:

There's one God greatest among Gods and men, who is like to mortals neither in form nor mind.²³⁷
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” Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies

“²³⁸For if the divine exists it is a living thing, and if it is a living thing it sees with all of itself:

is all eye, all mind, all ear.
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” Sextus Empiricus Against the Mathematicians

“And Xenophanes declares that it perceives everything, in these words:

but without toil it perceiveth and agitateth all things with its mind.
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” Simplicius on Aristotle Physics [on the All]

“So that when Xenophanes says that the All stays in the same place and does not move —
It ever abideth in one place and never moveth, nor doth it beseem it to go now this way and now that;
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—he does not mean, etc.
”
Simplicius on Aristotle Physics [on the All]

“²³⁹Xenophanes declares that everything comes of earth, for this is what he himself says:

For all things come of earth and in earth all things end.
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” Aetius in Theodoret On Matter and the Universe

“Xenophanes does not believe that the earth is suspended in space, but holds that it extends downwards to infinity:

This end of the earth we see above at our feet where it approacheth the air; the lower goeth to the unending.
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” Achilles Introduction to Aratus Phaenomena

“²⁴⁰Porphyrius however declares that Xenophanes held that dryness and witness, by which I mean earth and water, were ‘elements’ or first principles, and quotes this line of his to prove it:

Whatever becomes and grows, it is all earth and water.
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” Philoponus on Aristotle Physics

“²⁴¹Xenophanes in the poem On Nature :

The sea is the source of water and the source of wind; for without the great ocean there would be no wind nor flowing rivers nor the rainwater of the sky; may the great ocean is the father of clouds and winds and rivers.
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” Scholiast on the Iliad [from Crates of Mallus]

“We must consider the sun as Hyperion , that is ‘who ever goeth over’ the earth, as I think is said by Xenophanes of Colophon:

and the Sun that goeth over and warmeth the earth
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” Heracleitus Homeric Allegories

“[‘snakes . . . like rainbows’]: in curve or colour; compare Xenophanes:

She whom they call Iris,²⁴² she too²⁴³ is a cloud, purple and red and yellow to view.
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” Scholiast on the Iliad

“²⁴⁴According to some writers Xenophanes of Colophon appears to agree with Homer, for he says:

We all came from earth and water.
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” Sextus Empiricus Against the Mathematicians

“²⁴⁵Thus the Pythagoreans; Xenophanes, according to those who interpret him so differently when he says:
And in truth no man hath been or ever will be that knoweth about the Gods and all that I speak of; for even though he chance to say the fullest truth, yet he knoweth it not in himself; there's fancy in all things;²⁴⁶
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seems to abolish, not perhaps all ‘apprehension,’ but science and infallibility, etc.
”
Sextus Empiricus Against the Mathematicians

“Ammonius here quoted, as was his wont, the words of Xenophanes:

Let this now be held as resembling the truth.
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” Plutarch Dinner-table Problems:

“²⁴⁷And again:

as many as have ever appeared to the sight of men²⁴⁸
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” Herodian On ‘Doubtful’ Syllables [after fr. 10]

“And Xenophanes says:

In certain caverns pure water drips; for the singular σπέας does not occur.
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” Herodian On Peculiarities

“²⁴⁹No comparative in -ων has υ in the penultimate syllable; the form γλύσσων ‘sweeter,’ therefore, used by Xenophanes, is remarkable:

Had not God made honey yellow,²⁵⁰ they had said that figs were far sweeter.
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” Herodian On ‘Doubtful’ Syllables [after fr. 10]

“Mulberries: —These are called μόρα by Aeschylus, who gives the name of συκάμινα to the wild variety, the fruit of the bramble. They might also perhaps be called κεράσια , for we find the tree κερασός
cherry-tree
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in Xenophanes On Nature.²⁵¹
”
Pollux Onomasticon

“ βρόταχος
frog
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Ionic for βάτραχος ..; compare Xenophanes.
”
Old Etymologicum Magnum:

“[rule of the nouns in -ρος ; σιρός , ‘silo’ or pit for storing corn]: One of the ‘Sillographers’ or writers of lampoons writes the first syllable long, maybe lengthening it, methinks because of the ρ . The Sillographers are Xenophanes, Timon, and some others.” Tzetzes on Dionysius Periegetes

“ βληστρισμός — a tossing or throwing about ... compare Xenophanes of Colophon:
But as for me I went tossing myself from city to city;
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ἐβλήστριζον for ἐρριπταζόμην. ²⁵²
”
Erotian Glossary to Hippocrates

“And Xenophanes aptly says:
This challenge to an oath from impious to pious is not fair;
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but as though a strong man should beat a weak or challenge him to a beating.
”
Aristotle Rhetoric [on oaths]

Theognis

“Theognis:—（11） A Megarian of Megara in Sicily; flourished in the 59th Olympiad （544-1 B.C.）²⁵³; he wrote an Elegy on the Syracusans saved in the Siege, Maxims in 2800 elegiac verses, and to his bosom-friend Cyrnus a Gnomology or collection of maxims in elegiacs²⁵⁴ and other exhortations, all in the Epic dialect. Theognis wrote exhortations, but, scattered throughout these, foul and paederastic love-poems and other pieces repulsive to the virtuous life.²⁵⁵ （2） A very frigid writer of Tragedy, one of the Thirty Tyrants, nicknamed Chion or Snow . There is also a poet Theognis who was of Megara.²⁵⁶” Suidas Lexicon

“We too have a poet-witness, namely Theognis, a citizen of the Sicilian Megara, who says ‘In a sore dissension, Cyrnus, a trusty man is to be reckoned against gold and silver.’” Plato Laws

“There was much controversy in ancient times about Theognis and this statement about him. Some authorities aver that he was of the Attic Megara. This is the view of Didymus, who attacks Plato for misrepresenting the facts. Others make him a Megarian of Sicily. But even if he were not of Sicily, the present passage does him no wrong, but the reverse; for the speaker shows no bias, Athenian as he is, on behalf of an Athenian, but although his object is to compare him with an Athenian, namely Tyrtaeus, he has kept to the truth in deciding between them, and preferred Theognis though a foreigner. And why should not Theognis have been of this Megara and then have gone to Sicily as this statement implies and become a citizen-by-law of the Sicilian Megara, just as Tyrtaeus became a Spartan?” Scholiast on the passage

“Megara:—A city in the Isthmus, between the Peloponnese on the one side and Attica and Boeotia on the other. ... Thence came Theognis the writer of the Exhortations .²⁵⁷” Stephanus of Byzantium Lexicon

“I do not think that every kind of poetry is suitable for a king any more than every kind of clothing. For my part I should choose him other poems —drinking-songs, love-songs, eulogies of winning athletes and horses, dirges for the dead, and jests or lampoons like those of the comedy-writers and Archilochus; and perhaps some of them might be called demotic or popular songs, those which give counsel and exhortation to the common sort of men, like those of Phocylides, say, or Theognis.” Dio Chrysostom Orations

“Soc. And do you know, not only you and others who are politicians sometimes believe that virtue is teachable and sometimes not, but the poet Theognis is just as inconsistent? —Men. Why, in what passage? —Soc. In the Elegiacs,²⁵⁸ where he says: （ contrasts ）²⁵⁹ Theognis 33-6 with 435, 434, 436-8）.” Plato Meno

“Proof of this might be had from the poetry of Hesiod, Theognis, and Phocylides, whom they declare to have been the best possible counsellors upon human life and yet choose to concern themselves rather with one another's follies than with their exhortations. Moreover, if one were to pick out from the really outstanding poets the maxims, as they are called, to which they give their highest praise, they would treat them with the same neglect; for they would sooner listen to a third-rate comedy than to these high products of literary art.” Isocrates To Nicocles

“From Xenophon's treatise On Theognis :²⁶⁰—‘These are the lines of Theognis of Megara’: This poet's theme is simply the virtues and vices of mankind, and the poem²⁶¹ is a work on man just like the treatise on horsemanship which might be written by a horseman. The beginning²⁶² of it therefore seems to me to be quite as it should be: the author begins with²⁶³ the question of breeding or good birth, believing, no doubt, that nothing can be good of its kind, whether man or any other creature, unless its progenitors are good. And that is why he chose to do with men as he would with the other animals, which we do not keep without consideration, but give each kind the particular skilled attention which will produce the finest strain. This is proved by the following lines: （183-90）. The meaning of these verses is that men do not know how to produce their kind properly, and the result is that the human race is not so good as it might be because the good is always mingled with the bad. But the generality of men take these lines as proving²⁶⁴ that the poet accuses his fellowmen of busying themselves in vain matters, and of knowing²⁶⁵ how to make money compensate for low-birth and viciousness. My own view is that the poet is accusing them of ignorance of the nature of their own lives.²⁶⁶
”
Stobaeus Anthology

“Now if words were sufficient to make a man a capable citizen —to quote Theognis —‘they would receive,’ quite rightly, ‘much and great wages’ and it would be necessary to furnish oneself with a supply of them. . . .” Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics

“The man who declared his own opinion before the God at Delos, recorded it upon the entrance of the temple of Leto, separating things which all belong together, the good and the beautiful （ or honourable） and the sweet, writing: “The fairest thing's uprightness, health the best, To have our heart's desire the pleasantest
”.
”
Aristotle Eudemian Ethics

“And we have the proverb ‘Righteousness containeth the sum of all virtue.’²⁶⁷” Aristotle Nichomachean Ethics

“The Epic verse of Empedocles and Parmenides, the Venomous Bites of Nicander and the Gnomologies of Theognis are works which borrow from poetry its metre and dignity as it might be a carriage, in order to avoid the necessity of going afoot.²⁶⁸
”
Plutarch How the Young should listen to Poetry

“Witty too is the rejoinder of Bion to Theognis when he said ‘Your victim of Penury can neither say nor do aught of any account, and his tongue is tied.' ‘How then’ asked Bion ‘can a poor man like you bore us to death with such a flow of nonsense?’” Plutarch How the Young should listen to Poetry

“Hermes and Plutus （Wealth）: —H. I know quite a number of them who were so lovesick for you that they took and threw themselves ‘into the abysmal sea or over sheer precipices’ because they thought you disdained them, though really you had never seen them at all.” Lucian Timon

“ His writings are current in ten volumes . . the 2nd volume containing . . On Righteousness and Courage ; a hortative work in three Books, and Concerning Theognis , making a fourth and fifth.
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [Antisthenes]

“Far worse is he who says that it were a good thing ‘never to have been born; failing this, to pass as soon as one may the gates of Death.’ For if he believes this, why does he not depart this life?” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [Epicurus]

“But nowadays people make a pretence of sacrificing to the Gods, and gathering their friends and intimates for the sacrifice, proceed to curse their children, abuse their wives, make their servants weep, and threaten all and sundry —you might almost say that they cried with Homer ‘Now hie ye to your meal that we may battle join,’ taking to heart the words of the >author of the Cheiron, Pherecrates, Nicomachus the metrician, or whoever it was: “Nor you, when you invite a friend to dine, Be wroth when in he comes: that is ill-bred. Rather be glad and make glad at your ease.
” Nowadays they do not remember the whole passage, but learn by heart the lines which follow and which are all a parody of the Great Eoiai ascribed to Hesiod: “But if we sacrifice and call in friends We are angered if one comes, neglect him there And wish him further. Somehow advised of this, He dons his shoes; whereat another guest Cries ‘Off already? do drink just a drop; Take off his shoes again’; and then the host, Wroth at the interruption, quotes the lines ‘Stay none, Simonides, that will not bide, ‘Nor wake the slumbering.’²⁶⁹ Are not we too prone To say such things when a friend's come to dine?
”
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Xenophanes, Solon, Theognis, Phocylides, and indeed Periander the elegy-writer of Corinth, and all the other poets who do not put music to their poems, make their lines complete in the number and arrangement of the metrical units and take care that none shall be ‘headless’ or ‘weak’ or ‘curtal.’²⁷⁰” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“. . . worn by the difficulties of dreaded Poverty, for fear of which the wise old poet Theognis advises us to cast ourselves into the sea.” Ammianus Marcellinus History

“What I mean is, that we have great numbers of writers of poems in hexameters, triameters, and all the rest of the -meters as they call them, some of whom are out for a serious object and others to raise a laugh. Now an enormous majority of people declare that properly educated children must be brought up on these writers and stuffed full of them, becoming well-read and deeply-learned by getting whole poets by heart. Some people, on the other hand, make summaries and collect certain passages complete in themselves and claim that these must be committed to memory by any child of ours that is to get virtue and wisdom from width of experience and depth of knowledge.” Plato Lans

The Elegiac Poems of Theognis

Book I²⁷¹

1-4

O Lord Thou Son of Leto, Offspring of Zeus, neither beginning will I forget Thee ever nor ending, but sing Thee alway both first and last and in between; and Thou give ear unto me and grant me good.²⁷²

5-10

5Great Phoebus, when Our Lady Leto with her slender arms about the palm-tree brought Thee forth beside the Round Water to be fairest of the Immortals, round Delos was all filled with odour ambrosial, the huge Earth laughed, and the deep waters of the hoary brine rejoiced.

11-14

Artemis, Slayer of Wild Beasts, Daughter of Zeus, whose image was set up²⁷³ of Agamemnon when he sailed on swift shipboard for Troy, give Thou ear unto my prayer, and ward off the Spirits of Ill, a thing small, O Goddess, for Thee, but great for me.²⁷⁴

15-18

15Muses and Graces, Daughters of Zeus, who came of yore to the wedding of Cadmus and sang so fair a song, ‘What is fair is dear, and not dear what is not fair,’ —such was the song that passed your immortal lips.²⁷⁵

19-38

Let the seal of the wise man, Cyrnus, be set²⁷⁶ upon these lines, and they shall never be filched from him, nor shall evil ever be changed with their good, but every man shall say ‘These are the lines of Theognis of Megara, famous throughout the world,’²⁷⁷ albeit I have not yet been able to please all my fellow-towns-men²⁷⁸ —nor is that to be marvelled at, thou son of Polypaus, seeing that Zeus himself pleaseth not every man neither in the sending of the rain nor in the withholding of it. But 'tis with good intent to thee, Cyrnus,²⁷⁹ that I shall give thee the counsels which I learnt from good men in my own childhood. Be thou wise and draw to thyself neither honours nor virtues²⁸⁰ nor substance on account of dishonourable or unrighteous deeds. This then I would have thee to know, nor to consort with the bad but ever to cleave unto the good, and at their tables to eat and to drink, and with them to sit,²⁸¹ and them to please, for their power is great.²⁸² Of good men shalt thou learn good, but if thou mingle with the bad, thou shalt e'en lose the wit thou hast already. Consort therefore with the good, and someday thou'lt say that I counsel my friends aright.²⁸³

39-42

Cyrnus, this city is in travail, and I fear she may²⁸⁴ give birth to a corrector of our evil pride²⁸⁵; for though these her citizens are still discreet, their guides are heading for much mischief.²⁸⁶

43-52

Never yet, Cyrnus, have good men ruined a city; but when it pleases the bad to do the works of pride and corrupt the common folk and give judgment for the unrighteous for the sake of private gain and power, then expect not that city to be long quiet, for all she be now in great tranquillity, ay, then when these things become dear to the bad —to wit, gains that bring with them public ill. For of such come discords and internecine slaughter, and of such come tyrants; which things I pray may never please this city.

53-60

Cyrnus, this city is a city still, but lo! her people are other men, who of old knew neither judgments nor laws, but wore goatskins to pieces about their sides, and had their pasture like deer without this city; and now they be good men, O son of Polypaus, and they that were high be now of low estate.²⁸⁷ Who can bear to behold such things? Yet they deceive one another even while they smile at one another, knowing the marks neither of the bad nor of the good.²⁸⁸

61-68

Make not friends, son of Polypaus, with any of these thy townsmen from the heart and not for need²⁸⁹; but let thy tongue give all men to think thou art their friend, while in act thou mingle with no man any sober business whatsoever: for thou shalt know the minds of the miserable sort, and that there's no trusting them in what they do, but they have come to love wiles and deceits and cozenings like men no longer sure of life.²⁹⁰

69-72

Never take confident counsel, Cyrnus, with a bad man when thou wouldst accomplish a grave matter, but seek the counsel of the good, Cyrnus, even if it mean much labour and a long journey.²⁹¹

73-74

Share not thy device wholly with all thy friends; few among many, for sure, have a mind that may be trusted.²⁹²

75-76

75Make but few privy to it when thou takest in hand great matters, or else, Cyrnus, thou mayest well find trouble without cure.

77-78

In a sore dissension, Cyrnus, a trusty man is to be reckoned against gold and silver.²⁹³

79-82

Few comrades, son of Polypaus, wilt thou find worthy thy trust in difficulties, such, to wit, as would be of one mind with thee and suffer to share evenpoise in thy good fortune and thy bad.²⁹⁴

83-86

Thou shalt not find, nay, not in all the world, more than one ship's company of such as be modest of tongue and eye, and are not led by lucre to do what is vile.

87-92

If thou lovest me and the heart within thee is loyal, be not my friend but in word, with heart and mind turned contrary; either love me with a whole heart, or disown me and hate me in open quarrel.²⁹⁵ Whosoever is in two minds with one tongue, he, Cyrnus, is a dangerous comrade, better as foe than friend.

93-100

If one praise thee so long as he see thee, and speak ill of thee behind thy back, such a comrade, for sure, is no very good friend —the man, to wit, whose tongue speaks fair and his mind thinks ill. But I would be friends with him that seeketh to know his comrade's temper and beareth with him like a brother. And thou, friend, consider this well, and someday hereafter thou'lt remember me.²⁹⁶

101-104

May no mortal man persuade thee, Cyrnus, to love a bad man; what advantage is a friend from among the baser sort? He would neither save thee from sore trouble and ruin, nor wish to share with thee any good thing he had.

105-112

105He that doeth good to the baser sort getteth him little thanks; as well might he sow the waters of the hoary brine. Thou wouldst no more receive good again if thou didst good unto the bad, than reap long straw if thou sowedst the waters. For the mind of the bad is insatiable; make thou but one mistake,²⁹⁷ and the friendship is poured out and lost from all the past. But the good are fain to blot out²⁹⁸ the worst of wrongs when they suffer it, whereas they keep remembrance²⁹⁹ afterward of good that is done them and abide grateful for it.³⁰⁰

113-114

Never make thou the bad thy friend, but flee him ever like an evil anchorage.

115-116

115Many, for sure, are cup-and-trencher friends, but few a man's comrades in a grave matter.³⁰¹

117-118

Nothing is harder to know, Cyrnus, than a counterfeit man, nor is aught worth more heed.

119-128

The loss of counterfeit gold or silver, Cyrnus, is easily endured, nor hard is it for a man of skill to find them out; but if the mind of a friend be false within him³⁰² unbeknown, and the heart in his breast deceitful, this hath God made most counterfeit for mankind, this is most grievous hard of all things to discover; for mind of man nor yet of woman shalt thou know till thou hast made trial of it like a beast of burden, nor shalt thou ever guess it as when thou comest to buy,³⁰³ because outward shapes do so often cheat the understanding.³⁰⁴

129-130

Pray not for exceeding virtue³⁰⁵ nor wealth, son of Polypaus; all a man can get him is fortune.

131-132

There's nothing better in the world, Cyrnus, than a father and mother who care for holy Right.³⁰⁶

133-142

No man is himself the cause of loss and gain, Cyrnus; the Gods are the givers of them both: nor doth any that laboureth know in his heart whether he moveth to a good end or a bad. For often when he thinketh he will make bad he maketh good, and maketh bad when he thinketh he will make good. Nor doth any man get what he wisheth; for his desires hold the ends of sore perplexity.³⁰⁷ We men practise vain things, knowing nought, while the Gods accomplish all to their mind.

143-144

No mortal man, son of Polypaus, ever deceived a stranger or suppliant unbeknown to the Gods.

145-148

145Choose rather to dwell with little wealth a pious man, than to be rich with possessions ill-gotten. Righteousness containeth the sum of all virtue; and every righteous man, Cyrnus, is good.³⁰⁸

149-150

Possessions doth Heaven give even to the wicked, Cyrnus, but the gift of virtue³⁰⁹ cometh to but few.

151-152

To an evil man whose place he is about to remove, Cyrnus, God first giveth Pride.³¹⁰

153-154

Surfeit, for sure, begets pride³¹¹ when prosperity cometh to a bad man whose mind is not perfect.³¹²

155-158

155When thou art wroth with a man, never, I pray thee, reproach him with heartbreaking Penury nor deadly Need; for surely 'tis Zeus poiseth the scale at one time on this side and another on that, now to be rich and now again to have nothing.³¹³

159-160

Never boast thou, Cyrnus, in assembly; for no man living knoweth what a night and a day have to accomplish for us.³¹⁴

161-164

Many, for sure, have vile wits and a good fortune,³¹⁵ and to these that which seemeth evil turneth to good; and some there be that labour under good counsel and vile fortune, and the end cometh not to what they do.³¹⁶

165-166

165No man living is rich or poor, bad or good, without fortune.³¹⁷

167-168

One man hath this ill, another that, and not one of all that the Sun beholdeth is happy in the strict truth of the word.³¹⁸

169-170

He whom the Gods honour hath the praise even of him that blameth him³¹⁹; but the zeal of a man counteth for nought.

171-172

Pray to the Gods; with the Gods is power; 'tis certain that without the Gods man getteth neither good nor ill.

173-178

Penury subdueth a good man more than all else, more than hoary Age, Cyrnus, or ague³²⁰; to avoid Penury he should cast himself into the abysmal sea, or over a sheer precipice. For your victim of Penury can neither say nor do aught of any account, and his tongue, it is tied.³²¹

179-180

Upon land and eke upon the broad back of the sea, Cyrnus, shouldest thou seek deliverance from grievous Penury.

181-182

To the needy, dear Cyrnus, death is better than a life oppressed with grievous Penury.

183-192

In rams and asses and horses, Cyrnus, we seek the thoroughbred, and a man is concerned therein to get him offspring of good stock; yet in marriage a good man thinketh not twice of wedding the bad daughter of a bad sire if the father give him many possessions, nor doth a woman disdain the bed of a bad man if he be wealthy, but is fain rather to be rich than to be good. For 'tis possessions they prize; and a good man weddeth of bad stock and a bad man of good; race is confounded of riches. In like manner, son of Polypaus, marvel thou not that the race of thy townsmen is made obscure; 'tis because bad things are mingled with good.³²²

193-196

Even he that knoweth her to be such, weddeth a low-born woman for pelf, albeit he be of good repute and she of ill; for he is urged by strong Necessity, who giveth a man hardihood.

197-208

A possession³²³ that cometh from Zeus, and of right and in seemly wise, abideth evermore; but if one shall win it unrighteously and unduly with a covetous heart, or by unrighteous seizure upon an oath, at the first him seemeth to get him gain, but in the end it becometh bad likewise, and the mind of the Gods overcometh him. But these things deceive man's understanding, seeing that the Blessed Ones requite not wrongdoing at the moment; nay, albeit this man may pay his evil debt himself and not make ruin to overhang his dear children after him, that other man Retribution overtaketh not, because too soon did unconscionable Death settle upon his eyelids fraught with his Doom.

209-210

Surely no man is friend and faithful comrade unto one that is in exile; and this is more grievous than the exile itself.³²⁴

211-212

Surely to drink much wine is an ill; yet if one drink it with knowledge, wine is not bad but good.³²⁵

213-218

Turn, my heart, towards all friends a changeful habit, mingling thy disposition to be like unto each.³²⁶ Be thy disposition that of the convolvad polyp, which taketh the semblance of the rock he hath converse with; now be guided this way,³²⁷ and now be of different hue. Surely skill is better than unchangeableness.³²⁸

219-220

When thy fellow-townsmen are confounded, Cyrnus, be not thou too much vexed at aught they do, but walk the road, like me, in the middle.

221-226

†Surely he that thinketh his neighbour knoweth nought and he alone hath subtle arts, he is a fool and his good wits attainted; truth to tell, we all alike have our wiles, but one is loath to follow base gain, while another taketh pleasure rather in false cozenings.³²⁹

227-232

As for wealth, there's no end³³⁰ set clear for man; for such as have to-day the greatest riches among us, these have twice the eagerness that others have³³¹; and who can satisfy all? 'Tis sure our possessions turn to folly, and a ruin is revealed thereout, which one man hath now and another then, whenever it be that Zeus send it him in his misery.³³²

233-234

A good man that is tower and citadel, Cyrnus, unto an empty-minded people, Fate giveth him little honour.

235-236

235Nothing beseems us any more as men sure of life, Cyrnus, but as a city that will assuredly be taken.

237-254

I have given thee wings to fly with ease aloft the boundless sea and all the land. No meal or feast but thou'lt be there, couched 'twixt the lips of many a guest,³³³ and lovely youths shall sing thee clear and well in orderly wise to the clear-voiced flute. And when thou comest to go down to the lamentable house of Hades in the depths of the gloomy earth, never, albeit thou be dead, shalt thou lose thy fame, but men will think of thee as one of immortal name, Cyrnus, who rangeth the land of Greece and the isles thereof —crossing the fishy unharvestable deep not upon horseback mounted³³⁴ but sped of the glorious gifts of the violet-crownad Muses unto all that care to receive thee; and living as they thou shalt be a song unto posterity so long as Earth and Sun abide. Yet as for me, thou hast no respect for me, great or small, but deceivest me with words as if I were a little child.³³⁵

255-256

255The fairest thing is the most righteous, the best thing health, and the sweetest to have our heart's desire.³³⁶

257-260

I am a fair and champion steed, but my rider's a knave, and this grieveth me much; often have I almost taken the bit between my teeth,³³⁷ cast my evil rider, and run away.³³⁸

261-266

'Tis not wine that's drunk to me, now that a man not near so good as I prevaileth with³³⁹ a tender lass; her parents drink to me in cold water before her, so that the pitcher wearies her, and she weeps for me as she carries it thither where I did put my arm about her waist and kiss her neck, and her lips murmured so soft and sweet.³⁴⁰

267-278

'Tis sure that Penury is easily known even though she be not of ours, coming into neither marketplace nor lawcourt; for hers is everywhere the lesser part, scoffed at is she everywhere, and everywhere hated, wheresoever she be.

271-278

'Tis sure that the Gods have given mortal man fair share of all else, given them both Youth and baleful Age; but the worst of all their gifts, worse than death and any disease, is when thou hast brought up children and supplied all their need, and with much labour and trouble laid up possessions for them, and they hate their father and curse him, loathe him as they might a beggarman that came among them.

279-282

'Tis but likely that the bad man should think ill of what is right, and have no respect for any retribution to come; for easy is it for any miserable mortal to take up many wicked things from before his feet and think that he maketh all things fair.

283-292

If thou be'st honest,³⁴¹ go not a step to meet any of these thy fellow-townsmen, in reliance neither on oath nor friendliness, not though, willing to grant thee security, he give thee the Great King of the Immortals for his surety. A fault-finding city liketh nothing so well as that which shall make many men live more unhappily,³⁴² and now the ills of the good become the joys of the bad, who rule with strange laws; for Honour is perished, and Shamelessness and Pride have conquered Right and prevail in the land.

293-294

Not even a lion hath always flesh to his supper; for all his might he is sometimes at a loss to get him meat.

295-298

295To a talkative man silence is a sore burden, and his speech a weariness to his company; all hate him, and the mingling of such a man in a carousal cometh only of necessity.³⁴³

299-300

Nobody's lief to be a man's friend when evil befals him, nay, Cyrnus, not though he be born of the same womb.

301-302

Be thou bitter and sweet, kind and harsh, to hireling and to slave and to the neighbour at thy gate.

303-304

The good life should not be kept ever on the wag, but quiet rather; the evil life shouldest thou stir till thou drive it into safety.³⁴⁴

305-308

305The bad are not all bad from the womb, but have learnt base works and unholy words and wanton outrage from friendship with the bad because they thought all they said was true.

309-312

Your wise man seemeth to be one of his company and yet all they say or do seemeth to escape him as if he were not there; he contributes his jests and is outwardly patient, seeking to know³⁴⁵ the temper of each guest.

313-314

Among the frenzied³⁴⁶ I am right frenzied, and among the righteous the most righteous man alive.

315-318

315Many bad men, for sure, are rich, and many good men poor; yet will we not change our virtue for these men's wealth, seeing that virtue endureth but possessions belong now to this man and now to that.³⁴⁷

319-322

A good man, Cyrnus, hath an understanding that abideth,³⁴⁸ and he beareth his hap well, be it good or ill; but if God bestow a living and wealth upon one that is bad, he is not wise enough to restrain his badness.³⁴⁹

323-324

Be not persuaded by evil slander, Cyrnus, to bring a friend to ruin upon a slight pretext.

325-328

325If a man grow always angry with a friend's offence, they will never be friends and at peace: for offences against men are natural³⁵⁰ to mortals, Cyrnus; 'tis the Gods that will not bear offences.

329-330

Even the slow, if he be well advised, overtaketh the swift, Cyrnus, with aid of the straight judgment of the Immortal Gods.

331-332

Walk gently, as I, in the midst of the way, Cyrnus, and never give one man's goods to another.³⁵¹

332A-332B

There's no friend and faithful comrade to one in exile, and this is exile's most grievous part.³⁵²

333-334

Never make friends with a man in exile, Cyrnus, with an eye to the future, for when he is come home he becometh quite another man.

335-336

335Be not over-eager in any matter —midst is best in everything —and thus shalt thou have virtue,³⁵³ Cyrnus, which is a thing hard to come by.

337-340

Zeus grant me to repay the friends that love me,³⁵⁴ and mine enemies that have proved stronger than I; then shall I seem a God among men, if the destiny of death overtake me with all paid.

341-350

Fulfill my prayer, O Olympian Zeus, and grant me good hap instead of ill. May I die if I find no surcease of evil cares in the giving of pain for pain. For this wise is my due; yet no vengeance appeareth unto me upon the men that took my possessions by force and have them still, while I am the dog that crossed the water but lost all in the torrent stream.³⁵⁵ Whose red blood be it mine to drink, and may a good Spirit arise³⁵⁶ to accomplish this as I would have it done.

351-354

O thou miserable Penury, why delayest thou to leave me for some other man? I prithee love me not against my will, but away and begone to another house, and share not evermore this wretched life with me.

355-360

355Bear up, Cyrnus, in ill fortune, because once thou rejoicedst in good when Fate enjoined that thou shouldest share in that; and even as thou didst receive evil of good men, so again strive thou rather to be quit thereof by prayer unto the Gods, than bring it too much into the light; the displaying of misfortune, Cyrnus, meaneth few comforters in misery.

361-362

'Tis certain the heart of a man shrinketh small in great trouble, Cyrnus, and thereafter increaseth when he taketh requital of it.

363-364

Speak thy enemy fair; but when thou hast him in thy power be avenged without pretext.

365-366

365Be firm in thy mind, but let gentleness be ever upon thy tongue; 'tis sure the heart of the baser sort is quicker to wrath.

367-370

I cannot read the disposition of my fellow-townsmen, for I please them no more by any good I do them than by any harm.³⁵⁷ Many find fault with me, as well bad men as good, but none of the unlearned can imitate me.³⁵⁸

371-372

Drive me not, with overmuch goading, under the yoke against my will, Cyrnus, by drawing me into friendship perforce.

373-392

†Dear Zeus! I marvel at Thee. Thou art lord of all, alone having honour and great power; well knowest Thou the heart and mind of every man alive; and Thy might, O King, is above all things. How then is it, Son of Cronus, that Thy mind can bear to hold the wicked and the righteous³⁵⁹ in the same esteem, whether a man's mind be turned to temperateness, or, unrighteous works persuading, to wanton outrage? Nor is aught fixed for us men by Fortune, nor the way a man must go to please the Immortals. Yet the wicked³⁶⁰ enjoy untroubled prosperity, whereas such as keep their hearts from base deeds, nevertheless, for all they may love what is righteous, receive Penury the mother of perplexity, Penury that misleadeth a man's heart to evil-doing, corrupting his wits³⁶¹ by strong necessity, till perforce he endureth much shame and yieldeth to Want who teacheth all evil, both lies and deceits and baleful contentions, even to him that will not and to whom no ill is fitting³⁶²; for hard is the perplexity that cometh of her.³⁶³

393-398

In Penury both the man of the baser sort and he that is much better are shown for what they are when Want restraineth. For the mind of him in whose breast ever springeth straight judgment thinketh righteous thoughts; the other's mind accepteth neither good hap nor ill, whereas your good man should bear a diverse lot with hardihood.

399-400

Give heed that thou honour and respect thy friends and shun oaths that destroy men,³⁶⁴ avoiding the wrath of the Immortals.

401-406

Be not over-eager in any matter; due measure's best in all human works; and often a man is eager of virtue³⁶⁵ in his pursuit of gain, only to be misled into great wrong-doing by a favouring Spirit,³⁶⁶ which so easily maketh what is evil seem to him good, and what is good seem evil.

407-408

Thou'rt wrong to be so dear to me; yet 'tis not my fault, 'tis rather that thou thyself hast misjudged.

409-410

No better treasure shalt thou lay by for thy children, Cyrnus, than the respect which followeth³⁶⁷ good men.³⁶⁸

411-412

Better comrade than all besides, Cyrnus, seemeth he that is endowed with judgment or with power.

413-414

Yet not so far shall I go in my cups, nor shall wine so far carry me away, as that I shall complain of thee.

415-418

415Seek as I will, I can find no man like myself that is a true comrade free of guile³⁶⁹; and when I am put to the test and tried even as gold is tried beside lead³⁷⁰ the mark of pre-eminence is upon me.³⁷¹

419-420

Many things pass by me that I nevertheless perceive; I am silent of necessity, knowing my own power.

421-424

The doors of many a man's lips do not meet, and many men are concerned with much that should not be spoken; for often that which is evil is better within, and that which is good was better before it came out.³⁷²

425-428

425The best lot of all for man is never to have been born nor seen the beams of the burning Sun; this failing, to pass the gates of Hades as soon as one may, and lie under a goodly heap of earth.³⁷³

429-438

†To beget and breed a man is easier than to put into him good wits; none hath ever devised means whereby he hath made a fool wise and a bad man good.³⁷⁴ If God had given the Children of Asclepius the art of healing a man's evil nature and infatuate wit, they would receive wages much and great; and if thought could be made and put into us, the son of a good father would never become bad, because he would be persuaded by good counsel. But by teaching never shalt thou make the bad man good.³⁷⁵

439-440

Foolish the man that hath my mind in keeping yet payeth no regard to his own things.

441-446

Nobody is all-happy in all things; rather doth the good endure to have evil albeit men know it not, whereas the bad man knoweth not how to abide and restrain his heart either in³⁷⁶ good hap or in bad; of all sorts are the gifts that come of the Gods to man, yet must we endure to keep the gifts they send, of whatsoever sort they be.³⁷⁷

447-452

If thou wilt fain wash me, the water will ever flow unsullied from my head; thou wilt find me in all matters as it were refined gold, red to the view when I be rubbed with the touchstone; the surface of me is untainted of black mould or rust, its bloom ever pure and clean.³⁷⁸

453-456

†If thou hadst thy portion of judgment, man, as of folly, and wert as wise as thou art witless, thou wouldst seem to many of these thy fellow-townsmen as much to be envied as now thou art to be despised.

457-460

A young wife is not proper to an old husband; she is a boat that answereth not the helm, nor do her anchors hold, but she slippeth her moorings often overnight to make another haven.³⁷⁹

461-462

Never give thou thy mind to the impracticable, nor desire things whereof there cometh no accomplishment.

463-464

'Tis certain the Gods bestow neither a good thing nor a bad thing easily; fame belongeth to a deed that is hard.³⁸⁰

465-466

465Busy thyself with virtue and set thy affection upon what is right, nor let thyself be overcome by gain that is dishonourable.

467-496

Stay none of our company, Simonides, that is unwilling to abide with us, nor bid to the door any that would not go, nay, nor wake thou any that gentle Sleep hath o'ertaken in his cups, nor yet bid the waking slumber if he would not; for all that is forced is painful.³⁸¹ Him that would drink, let the lad stand by and pour him a cupful. Good cheer cometh not every night. But as for me, I keep to my measure of honey-sweet Wine, and so I shall go home ere I bethink me of care-easing Sleep³⁸²; I shall have reached the top of wine's pleasure,³⁸³ seeing that I shall go neither sober nor over-drunken; whereas he that overpasseth the due measure of drinking is no longer master either of his tongue or his mind, but telleth reckless things disgraceful to sober ears, and hath no shame in what he doeth in his cups, a wise man once, but now a fool. Knowing this, drink not thou to excess, but either arise thou and go out privily before thou be drunken —let not thy belly constrain thee as if thou wert a bad day-labourer —or else abide and drink not. But nay, this vain Pour me a cup is thy continual chatter; therefore thou art drunken. For there's one cup cometh for friendship, another for a wager, another for libation, and another's kept in hand; and thou knowest not how to say no. He surely is invincible³⁸⁴ who shall say no vain thing when he hath drunken deep. But speak ye wisely albeit ye abide beside the bowl, withholding yourselves far³⁸⁵ from mutual strife, and speaking, whether ye address one or all, that any may hear; in this wise is a carousal a right pleasant thing.³⁸⁶

497-498

Wine maketh light the mind of wise and foolish alike, when they drink beyond their measure.³⁸⁷

499-502

†Cunning men know gold and silver in the fire; and the mind of a man, e'en though he be very knowing, is shown by wine which he taketh, at a carousal, beyond his measure, so that it putteth to shame even one that was wise before.³⁸⁸

503-508

My head is heavy with drink, Onomacritus, and wine constraineth me; I am no longer the dispenser of my own judgment, and the room runneth round. Come, let me rise and try if haply wine possess my feet as well as my wits.³⁸⁹ I fear I may do some vain thing in my cups and have great reproach to bear.³⁹⁰

509-510

The drinking of much wine is an ill; but if one drink it with knowledge, it is not an ill but a good.³⁹¹

511-522

†Thou hast accomplished, Clearistus, thy journey o'er the deep, and come, my poor friend, penniless hither unto one that is without a penny. We will put 'neath the sides of thy beached ship, Clearistus, such props as we have and the Gods do give; I will neither withhold aught that is in the house, nor fetch from without any finer fare for the sake of thy friendship; we will furnish thee with the best of what we have. And if any friend of thine come, tell him plain what great friends we are; and if it be asked thee of my living, say that for a good living 'tis bad and for a bad good, so that, whereas I need not fail one friend of my father's, I cannot entertain more.

523-524

With good reason, O Wealth, doth man honour thee above all, for how easily dost thou tolerate badness!³⁹²

525-526

525'Tis sure that it becometh the good to have riches, and 'tis proper to a bad man to suffer penury.³⁹³

527-528

Alas for Youth and alas for baleful Age! the one that it goeth and the other that it cometh.³⁹⁴

529-530

Never have I betrayed a dear and loyal comrade, nor is there aught of the slavish in my soul.

531-532

My heart is ever warmed within me when I hear the delightful voice of the babbling flute.

533-534

I rejoice to drink deep and sing to the pipes, I rejoice to have in hand the tuneful lyre.

535-538

535Never is slavery straight of head, but ever crooked and keepeth her neck askew; for the child of a bondwoman is never free in spirit, any more than a rose or hyacinth groweth upon a squill.³⁹⁵

539-540

This man,³⁹⁶ dear Cyrnus, forgeth himself fetters, if the Gods beguile not my judgment.

541-542

I fear me, son of Polypaus, lest this city be destroyed by pride like the Centaurs that devoured raw flesh.

543-546

I must decide this suit by ruddle and square, Cyrnus, and be fair to both parties, [on the one side ...] and on the other prophets and omens and burnt-offerings, or else I shall bear the foul reproach of wrong-doing.

547-548

Force no man ever by badness; to the righteous there's nothing better than the doing of good.

549-554

The voiceless messenger³⁹⁷ shineth from the farseen watching-place and rouseth lamentable War, Cyrnus. Bridle the swift-foot horses; methinks they will meet a foe; not far will they go ere they reach him, if the Gods beguile not my judgment.³⁹⁸

555-556

555He that lieth in sore trouble must be patient and ask deliverance of the Immortal Gods.³⁹⁹

557-560

Beware; the chances, for sure, are balanced very fine⁴⁰⁰; one day thou shalt have much and another little⁴⁰¹; it behoveth thee, then, neither to become too rich nor to ride into great want.

561-562

Be it mine to possess some of my enemies' goods myself and to give thereof much also to my friends to possess.

563-566

'Tis well to be guest at a feast and sit beside a good man⁴⁰² that knoweth all learning; him thou shouldst mark when he saith any wit, so that thou mayst learn and go home with so much gained.

567-570

I play rejoicing in Youth; for long's the time I shall lie underground without life like a dumb stone and leave the pleasant light of the Sun; and for all I be a good man, shall see nothing any more.

571-572

Repute is a great ill, trial is best; many have repute for good, that have never been tried.⁴⁰³

573-574

Be well done by because thou doest good; why send another to tell thy tale? tidings of well-doing spread easily.⁴⁰⁴

575-576

575My friends it is that betray me; for mine enemy can I shun as the steersman the rock upstanding from the sea.

577-578

'Tis easier to make bad of good than good of bad; teach me not, for in sooth I am too old to learn.

579-584

She. I hate a bad man and veil my face as I pass him, keeping my heart light as a little bird's. He. And I hate both a gadabout woman and a lustful man that chooseth to plough another's land. Both. But what's done cannot be undone: 'tis the future that needs watch and ward.

585-590

585Surely there's risk in every sort of business, nor know we at the beginning of a matter where we shall come to shore; nay, sometimes he that striveth to be of good repute falleth unawares into ruin great and sore, whereas for the doer of good God maketh good hap in all things, to be his deliverance from folly.⁴⁰⁵

591-592

We ought to put up with that which the Gods give to man, and bear in patience either lot.

593-594

Neither make thy heart too sick with evil things nor too quickly glad of good, ere thou see the final end.

595-602

595Let us be comrades apart, man; of all save riches there's apt to be too much: we have long been friends, I know,⁴⁰⁶ but seek thou now the company of others, who know thy mind better than I. I know well enough thou wast a-coming and a-going by the road it seems thou hadst trod before,⁴⁰⁷ cheating my friendship. Go with a curse, hated of God and untrustworthy for man, thou chill and wily snake that I cherished in my bosom.

603-604

Such deeds, such pride, destroyed the Magnesians, as now prevail in this sacred city.

605-606

605'Tis sure that of all that ever wished to overreach their destiny, surfeit hath slain many more than hunger.⁴⁰⁸

607-610

At the beginning of a lie there's but little pleasure, and at the end the gain becometh both dishonourable and bad; nor is there ought honourable for him that is attended of a lie, when once it hath passed his lips.⁴⁰⁹

611-614

'Tis not hard to blame thy neighbour nor yet to praise thyself; such things are the care of the baser sort; the bad will not hold their tongues concerning bad things where men resort for talk, but the good know how to keep due measure in every matter.

615-616

615Of the men of our time the Sun beholdeth⁴¹⁰ none that is altogether good and reasonable.

617-618

By no means all is accomplished to man's liking; Immortals are much stronger than mortals.⁴¹¹

619-620

Troubled in heart I roll in the trough amid perplexities; for we have not surmounted the crest⁴¹² of the wave of Penury.⁴¹³

621-622

Every man honoureth a rich man and despiseth a poor; the mind that is in all men is the same.⁴¹⁴

623-624

In man there are badnesses of every sort, and virtues⁴¹⁵ and means-to-living of every kind.

625-626

625'Tis painful for a wise man to say much among fools, or yet to hold his peace, for silent he cannot be.⁴¹⁶

627-628

Assuredly 'tis a disgrace to be drunken among the sober, but disgraceful is it also to abide sober among the drunken.⁴¹⁷

629-630

Youth and vigour make light a man's head,⁴¹⁸ and urge the heart of many a man to wrong-doing.⁴¹⁹

631-632

He whose head is not stronger than his heart, Cyrnus, lieth ever in miseries and in great perplexities.

633-634

Take counsel twice and thrice concerning aught that cometh into thy mind to do; for 'tis sure a headstrong man becometh infatuate.

635-636

635Judgment and respect for right are the portion of the good, and of such there are now but few, truth to tell, among many.⁴²⁰

637-638

Hope and Risk⁴²¹ in the world are alike; they are both Spirits difficult to do with.⁴²²

639-640

Often it cometh about that men's works flow fair and full, contrary to belief and expectation, whereas their devices come not to accomplishment.⁴²³

641-642

'Tis sure thou shalt not know either friend or foe unless thou encounter him in a grave matter.

643-644

Many become comrades dear beside the bowl, but few in a grave matter.

645-646

645When thy heart lieth in great perplexity, thou'lt find few of thy kin true comrades.

647-648

Now is Respect for Right perished among men, whereas Shamelessness walketh to and fro upon the earth.⁴²⁴

649-652

Fie, miserable Penury, why liest thou upon my shoulders and puttest both my body and mind to shame, and teachest me perforce things dishonourable and mean, albeit I know what is good and honourable among men?⁴²⁵

653-654

May I be happy and beloved of the Immortal Gods, Cyrnus; that is the only achievement I desire.⁴²⁶

655-656

655We all feel sorry, Cyrnus, for thy trouble, yet remember thou that pain for another is pain for a day.

657-658

Never be thou too sick at heart in ill fortune nor rejoice overmuch in good, for it becometh a good man to bear all things.

659-666

†Neither shouldst thou swear that a thing⁴²⁷ can never be —for the Gods resent it and the end is theirs —albeit thou shouldst do something . Good may come of bad, and bad of good; a poor man may very quickly become rich, and he that hath very great possessions lose them all suddenly in one night; the wise may err, and fame often cometh to the fool and honour to the bad.⁴²⁸

667-682

Had I wealth, Simonides, equal to my character,⁴²⁹ I should not be so sad as I am in the company of the good. But alas! Wealth passeth by one that he knoweth,⁴³⁰ and I am speechless for want, albeit I should have seen⁴³¹ better than many of my fellow-townsmen that now, with our white sails lowered,⁴³² we are carried through the murky night from out the Melian Sea,⁴³³ and bale they will not, though the sea washeth over both gunwales; O but great is our jeopardy that they do what they do! —they have stayed the hand of a good steersman who had them in the keeping of his skill, and they seize the cargo perforce; order there is none, and fair division for all is no more⁴³⁴; the menial porters⁴³⁵ are in command, and the bad above the good; I fear me lest the ship be swallowed of the waves. Such be my riddling oracle for the good, but a bad man will understand it also, if he have wit.

683-686

Many that have riches are ignorant, and others that seek things beautiful are worn with sore penury; and for doing aught, Perplexity sitteth beside either sort,⁴³⁶ seeing that the one kind is constrained in the matter of wits, the other of possessions.⁴³⁷

687-688

'Tis not for mortals to fight Immortals, nor yet to give them judgment; this is not right for any man.

689-690

We should not make ruin where ruin should not be made,⁴³⁸ nor yet do what it is not better to do.⁴³⁹

691-692

Mayst thou safely accomplish thy journey across the great sea, and Poseidon take thee to be a delight unto thy friends.⁴⁴⁰

693-694

Surfeit, 'tis sure, destroyeth many a fool, because it is hard to know the due measure when good things are to thy hand.⁴⁴¹

695-696

695I cannot furnish thee, my soul, with all things meet for thee: be patient; thou art not the only lover of things beautiful.⁴⁴²

697-698

When I am in good plight my friends are many; if aught ill befall, there's but few whose hearts are true.

699-718

†To the more part of men this is the one virtue, to be rich; all else, it would seem, is nothing worth, not though thou hadst the wisdom of great Rhadamanthus, and wert more knowing than Aeolus' son Sisyphus, whose wheedling words persuaded Persephone who giveth men forgetfulness by doing despite to their wits, so that through his wilinesses he returned even from Hades, a thing which hath been contrived of none other, whosoever hath once been veiled in the black cloud of Death and gone to the shadowy place of the departed, passing the black portal which for all their denial of guilt prisoneth the souls of the dead; yet e'en thence, 't would seem, to the light of the Sun came hero Sisyphus back by his own great cunning; —nor yet though thou madest lies like true words with the good tongue of godlike Nestor, and wert nimbler of foot than the swift Harpies and the Children of Boreas⁴⁴³ whose feet are so forthright. Nay, every man should lay to heart this saying: What hath most power for all is wealth.⁴⁴⁴

719-728

Equal, for sure, is the wealth of him that hath much silver and gold and fields of wheatland and horses and mules, to that of him that hath what him needeth for comfort of belly and sides and feet.⁴⁴⁵ This is abundance unto men; for no man taketh all his exceeding riches with him when he goeth below, nor shall he for a price escape death, nor yet sore disease nor the evil approach of Age.⁴⁴⁶

729-730

Cares of motley plumage have their portion in mankind, wailing for life and substance.⁴⁴⁷

731-752

†Father Zeus, I would it were the Gods' pleasure that wanton outrage should delight the wicked if so they choose, but that whosoever did acts abominable and of intent, disdainfully,⁴⁴⁸ with no regard for the Gods, should thereafter pay penalty himself, and the ill-doing of the father become no misfortune unto the children after him; and that such children of an unrighteous sire as act with righteous intent, standing in awe of thy wrath, O Son of Cronus, and from the beginning have loved the right⁴⁴⁹ among their fellow-townsmen, these should not pay requital for the transgression of a parent. I say, would that this were the Gods' pleasure; but alas, the doer escapeth and another beareth the misfortune afterward. Yet how can it be rightful, O King of the Immortals, that a man that hath no part in unrighteous deeds, committing no transgression nor any perjury, but is a righteous man, should not fare aright? What other man living, or in what spirit, seeing this man, would thereafter stand in awe of the Immortals, when one unrighteous and wicked that avoideth not the wrath of God or man, indulgeth wanton outrage in the fulness of his wealth, whereas the righteous be worn and wasted with grievous Penury?

753-756

Knowing this, dear comrade, gather thyself riches by rightful ways, keeping a sober heart outside of wickedness, ever mindful of these words; and at the last thou wilt approve them, persuaded by their sober tale.⁴⁵⁰

757-768

May Zeus that dwelleth in the sky ever keep his right arm over this city for her safety's sake, and with him the other Blessed Immortals; may Apollo set straight both our tonque and our wits; and may harp and pipe sound holy music; and let us conciliate the Gods with a libation, and drink in pleasant converse one with another, fearing no whit the war of the Medes. 'Twere better thus, 'twere better to spend our days in jolly revelry, of one accord and cares apart, and to keep far away those evil Spirits, baleful Eld and the end that is Death.

769-772

A servant and messenger of the Muses, even if he know exceeding much, should not be grudging of his lore, but seek out this, illumine that, invent the other; what use can he make of this if none know it but he?

773-782

†Lord Apollo, Thou Thyself didst fence this city's heights, to please Alcathous⁴⁵¹ son of Pelops; Thou Thyself protect this city from the wanton outrage of the host of the Medes, so that in glad revelry at the coming-in of Spring the people should give Thee splendid hecatombs, rejoicing with lute and pleasant feast, with dance and cry of Paeans about Thy altar. For verily I fear me when I see the heedlessness and people-destroying discord of the Greeks. But do Thou, O Phoebus, be gracious and guard this our city.

783-788

†For I have been ere now to the land of Sicily, ere now to the vine-clad lowlands of Euboea, and to Sparta the glorious town of reedy Eurotas, and all made me welcome in right friendly wise; but not one of them came as a joy to my heart, so true is it after all that there's no place like home.⁴⁵²

789-792

I would not have any new pursuit arise for me in the stead of delightful art; rather may I have this for mine, evermore rejoicing in lyre and dance and song, and keeping my wit high in the company of the good.

793-796

Harming neither sojourner nor citizen with deeds of mischief, but living a righteous man, rejoice your own heart; of your pitiless fellow-townsmen assuredly some will speak ill of you and some good.⁴⁵³

797-798

Of the good, one man is loud in blame, another in praise; of the bad there's no mention whatsoever.

799-800

No man on earth is without blame; yet even so 'tis better not to be too much spoken of.

801-804

No man ever was or ever will be, who leaveth all men content when he goeth below, seeing that not even Cronus' Son, the Ruler of both Gods and men, can please all mankind.

805-810

805Nearer to the line⁴⁵⁴ than compasses, ruddle, or square, Cyrnus, must that enquirer be diligent to be, to whom the priestess of the God declareth her answer from the rich shrine of Pytho, because neither by adding aught canst thou find any remedy, nor in taking-away escape offence in the eyes of Heaven.

811-814

I have suffered a thing not worse, it may be, Cyrnus, than direful Death, but more painful than all else: I am betrayed by my friends. And now, brought nigh to mine enemies, of them also I shall know what wits they have.

815-816

815An ox that setteth his strong hoof upon my tongue restraineth me from blabbing albeit I know.

817-818

'Tis past all possibility, Cyrnus, to avoid what it is our lot to suffer; and what is my lot to suffer, that to suffer I fear not.

819-820

We have come into a much-desired mischief,⁴⁵⁵ Cyrnus, where best the fate of Death would take us both together.

821-822

'Tis sure there's little place, Cyrnus, for them that dishonour their aged parents.⁴⁵⁶

823-824

Neither exalt a man to be despot on expectation, yielding to gain, nor slay him when thou hast taken an oath to him by the Gods.

825-830

825How do your hearts endure to sing to the pipes, when the bounds of the land which feedeth with her fruits you that guttle at feasts and make your hair to blossom with gay chaplets, can be seen from the marketplace? Come, thou Scythian,⁴⁵⁷ shear thy locks⁴⁵⁸ and give over merrymaking, and mourn for sweet-scented⁴⁵⁹ lands that are lost to you.

831-832

I lost my possessions through honour, and through dishonour have I recovered them; of both these things the knowledge is bitter.⁴⁶⁰

833-836

All things here are among the crows and perdition, and none of the Blest Immortals, Cyrnus, is to blame; nay, the violence of men and their base gains and their pride have cast us from much good into evil.

837-840

'Tis sure there are two evil Spirits of drinking among miserable men, Thirst that looseth our limbs and grievous Drunkennes; I shall go to and fro between these twain, nor wilt thou persuade me either not to drink or to drink too much.

841-844

Wine giveth me pleasure in all things save this, when it armeth me⁴⁶¹ and leadeth me against mine enemy. But when that which is above cometh to be below, then will we give over drinking and go home.

845-846

845'Tis easy to make a city's good plight ill, but hard to make a city's ill plight good.⁴⁶²

847-850

Kick thou the empty-headed commons, prick them with a sharp goad, and put a galling yoke upon their neck; thou shalt not find among all the men that the Sun beholdeth,⁴⁶³ commons that so love their master.⁴⁶⁴

851-852

Olympian Zeus destroy the man that is willing to deceive his comrade with the babbling of soft words.

853-854

I knew before, but I know better now, that there's no gratitude in the baser sort.⁴⁶⁵

855-856

855†Often and often through the worthlessness of her leaders this city, like a ship out of her course, hath run too nigh the shore.

857-860

If any friend of mine see me in evil plight, he turneth away his head and will not so much as look at me; but if perchance he see me⁴⁶⁶ in good hap, the which is a rare thing, then have I many salutations and signs of friendship.

861-864

My friends betray me and will give me nothing when men appear⁴⁶⁷; verily of my own accord I will go out at eventide and return at dawn with the crowing of the new-awakened cocks.⁴⁶⁸

865-868

865God giveth prosperity to many useless men⁴⁶⁹ such as being of no worth are of no service to themselves nor to their friends. But the great fame of valour will never perish, for a man-at-arms saveth both soil and city.⁴⁷⁰

869-872

May the great wide brazen sky fall upon me —that dread of earthborn men —if I aid not such as love me, and become not a pain and great grief unto such as hate.

873-876

O Wine, in part I praise thee, and in part blame; never can I either hate thee or love thee altogether. Thou art both a good thing and a bad. Who would blame thee and who praise, that had due measure of wisdom?

877-878

Play and be young, my heart; there'll be other men soon, but I shall be dead and become dark earth.

879-884

†Drink the wine which came to me of the vines that were planted in the mountain dells 'neath topmost Taygetus by that friend of the Gods old Theotimus, who led cool water for them from Platanistus' spring. If thou drink of this thou'lt scatter troublous cares, and when thou hast well drunken⁴⁷¹ be greatly lightened.

885-886

885May Peace and Wealth possess the city, so that I may make merry with other men; I love not evil War.

887-888

And lend thou not too ready an ear to the loud cry of the herald; we are not fighting for our own country.⁴⁷²

889-890

But it would be dishonourable for me not to mount behind swift steeds and look lamentable War in the face.⁴⁷³

891-894

Alas for weakness! Cerinthus is destroyed, and the good vinelands of Lelantus are laid waste; the good men are banished and evil persons order the city. O that Zeus would destroy the race of the Cypselids!⁴⁷⁴

895-896

895There's nothing a man possesseth of himself better than understanding, Cyrnus, nor bitterer than lack of understanding.

897-900

If Zeus were wroth alway with mortal men, knowing as he doth the mind of each man in his breast and the deeds alike of righteous and unrighteous, great would be the woe of man.

901-902

At each and every thing one man is better and another worse; no man alive is skilled in all things.

903-930

†If a man keep a watch on the spending of his coffers according to his possessions, that is the finest virtue to them that understand. For were it possible for us to see the end of our life, and know with how much accomplished we were to pass over into Hades, 'twould be in reason that he who expected the lot of longer life should be more sparing, so that he should have wherewithal to live. But it is not so, and that it is not I am very sad and sore at heart, and am in two minds. I stand at the crossways; there are two paths before me; I consider with myself whether of the twain to take, whether to spend nothing and wear out my life in evil plight,⁴⁷⁵ or to live happily accomplishing but little. For I have seen one that was sparing and, for all his wealth, never gave his belly the sustenance of a freeman, yet went below ere he filled the measure of life,⁴⁷⁶ and whosoever it might be received his possessions, so that his labour was vain and he gave not to whom he would. And I have seen another who, to please his belly, first wasted his substance and then said I have had my fling ,⁴⁷⁷ and beggeth⁴⁷⁸ of all his friends wheresoever he may set eyes upon them. So true is it, Democles, that 'tis best of all to spend and practise⁴⁷⁹ according to our possessions. Thus wilt thou neither toil only to give another of the fruits of thy labour, nor win to servitude⁴⁸⁰ by beggary, nor yet if thou come to old age will all thy possessions be run away.⁴⁸¹ Nay, 'tis best in such a generation as ours to have possessions; for if thou be rich, thy friends are many, and if poor, they are few, and a good man is no longer what he was.

931-932

'Tis better to be sparing; for no man bewails the dead except he see possessions left behind.

933-938

Virtue⁴⁸² and beauty fall to but few; happy he that hath share of both.⁴⁸³ He is honoured of all; alike younger and elder yield him place, and the men of his age; when he groweth old he is conspicuous among his townsmen, and no man will do him harm either in honour or in right.⁴⁸⁴

939-942

I cannot sing sweet and clear like the nightingale, for last night I went to a revel; I do not make the piper⁴⁸⁵ my excuse, but 'tis that my voice, which is not without skill, hath left me.

943-944

Here will I stand nigh to the piper's right hand⁴⁸⁶ and sing, when I have made my prayer to the Immortal Gods.⁴⁸⁷

945-946

945I'll walk a path straight as a line, bending to neither side; for all my thoughts should be right and true.

947-948

I'll govern my glorious country neither turning towards the commons nor yet persuaded of unrighteous persons.⁴⁸⁸

949-954

Like a lion sure of his strength, I have drunk not the blood of the fawn my claws seized away from his dam;⁴⁸⁹ I have climbed the high walls and yet not sacked the city; I have yoked the horses and not mounted the chariot; I have done and yet not done, and achieved and yet not achieved, accomplished yet not accomplished, finished yet not finished.⁴⁹⁰

955-956

955He that doeth good to the baser sort suffereth two ills —deprivation of goods and no thanks.⁴⁹¹

957-958

If thou be not thankful for a great good I have done thee, may it be in need that thou comest next to my house.

959-962

So long as I alone drank of the black-watered⁴⁹² spring, the water thereof methought was sweet and good; but now 'tis all fouled and the water mixed with mud. I'll drink from another and a purer spring.⁴⁹³

963-970

†Never praise a man ere thou know him for certain, what he is in disposition, in feeling, and in character. Many, for sure, that are of a tricksy counterfeit turn of mind, hide it, putting into themselves a temper⁴⁹⁴ that is ordinary;⁴⁹⁵ yet Time exposeth the nature of each and all of them. I too, it seems, have gone far beyond good sense; I praised thee ere I knew all thy ways; and now I give thee a wide berth.⁴⁹⁶

971-972

What virtue is there in the winning of a tippler's prize? surely a good man often loseth it even to a bad.

973-978

†No mortal man so soon as he is covered with the earth and goeth down to the house of Persephone in Erebus is rejoiced any more with the sound either of lyre or piper or with receiving the gifts of Dionysus. Beholding this, I will make my heart merry while yet my limbs be light and I carry an unshaking head.

979-982

I would have no man my friend with lips only, but also in deed; he must serve me willingly both with hands and with possessions;⁴⁹⁷ nor must he soothe my heart with words beside the mixing-bowl, but show himself a good man by act, if so he may.⁴⁹⁸

983-988

Let us give our hearts to merriment while yet pleasant acts bring some joy. For splendid youth passeth quickly as a thought, nor swifter is the speed of the horses which carry a king so furiously to the labour of the lance, delighting in the level wheatland.⁴⁹⁹

989-990

Drink thou when drinking 's toward; and when thy heart be grown sad, drink that no man know⁵⁰⁰ of thy sorrow.

991-992

'Tis sure thou'lt be rejoiced sometimes by what thou shalt do, sometimes vexed by what thou shalt be done by; but to be able to do is now for one man and now for another.

993-996

If thou shouldst challenge me, Academus, to sing a pretty song, and a lad of fair beauty were to stand for our prize in a contest of our art, thou wouldst learn how much better mules be than asses.⁵⁰¹

997-1002

But when the high Sun's team of whole-hoovad⁵⁰² steeds shall pass beyond the mid of day, then forthwith would I that we set ourselves to as great a dinner as a man's heart shall bid, satisfying our bellies with all manner of good things, and water for the hands be brought quickly out and garlands set in place by the slender fingers of a comely Spartan lass.⁵⁰³

1003-1006

This is virtue,⁵⁰⁴ this the noblest prize and the fairest for a wise man to win among men, a common good this for his city and all her people, when a man abideth firmly in the forefront.⁵⁰⁵

1007-1012

†And a common counsel will I give to all men to enjoy their own goods while yet each hath the splendid bloom of youth⁵⁰⁶ and thinketh noble thoughts; for to be young twice cometh not of Heaven unto mortal man, nor yet deliverance from death; baleful Eld disgraceth him that is beautiful, and layeth hands upon the crown of his head.

1013-1016

Ah, blessed and happy and fortunate is he that goeth down unto the black house of Death without knowing trouble, and ere he have bent before his foes, sinned of necessity, or tested the loyalty of his friends.

1017-1022

A sudden copious sweat floweth down my flesh and I tremble, when I behold the lovely and pleasant flowering-time of my generation, for I would it were longer-lasting; but precious Youth is shortlived as a dream, and ugly baleful Eld is hanging plumb over our heads.⁵⁰⁷

1023-1024

Never will I set my neck 'neath the galling yoke of mine enemies, nay, not though Tmolus be upon my head.

1025-1026

1025'Tis sure that the mind of the baser sort is the vainer for their badness, whereas the actions of the good are ever the more forthright.

1027-1028

The doing of evil is easy, Cyrnus, among men, but the devising of a good deed hard.

1029-1036

Be patient in misfortune, my soul, for all thou art suffering the intolerable; 'tis sure the heart of the baser sort is quicker to wrath. Be not heavy, thou, with pain and anger over deeds which cannot be done, nor be thou vexed thereat, nor grieve thy friends nor glad thy foes. Not easily shall mortal man escape the destined gifts of the Gods, neither if he sink to the bottom of the purple sea, nor when he be held in murky Tartarus.⁵⁰⁸

1037-1038

'Tis sore difficult, verily, to deceive a good man, the which is a judgment long given, Cyrnus, in my mind.

1038A-1038B

I knew before, but I know far better now, that there's no gratitude in the baser sort.⁵⁰⁹

1039-1040

Fools are they and childish, that drink not wine when the Dog-Star beginneth.⁵¹⁰

1041-1042

Come thou hither with a piper; let us laugh and drink at a mourner's, rejoicing in his loss.

1043-1044

Let us sleep; the guarding of our lovely city Astyphela⁵¹¹ her guardians shall see to.

1045-1046

1045By Zeus, even though one of these be abed and asleep, he will receive our serenade right gladly.

1047-1048

Now let us rejoice over our cups, saying good things; what shall come after is for the Gods to look to.

1049-1054

†To thee will I myself give good counsel as a father to his child, and this is what I would have thee cast into thy heart and mind:—Never be in haste to do an evil thing, but commune first in the depth of thy heart with a mind that keepeth the right; for the heart and mind of the fond are ever a-fluttering, but counsel is needed to lead even a fine wit to what is good.

1055-1058

1055But we will leave this tale, and do thou pipe unto me and we will both remember the Muses; for they it is, who have given these delightful gifts for us twain to have and our neighbours to hear.

1059-1062

†'Tis hard even for a wise man, Timagoras, to find out the disposition of many if he see them from afar; for some keep badness hidden by wealth and others virtue hidden by baleful Penury.⁵¹²

1063-1068

In youth a man may sleep all night with one⁵¹³ of his age and have his fill of delights, and may sing in revels to the pipe. 'Tis certain nothing is sweeter either to man or woman. What worth to me is wealth or honour?⁵¹⁴ Gaiety and good cheer together surpass all things.

1069-1070

Fools are they and childish who lament the dead rather than the loss of the flower of youth.

1070A-1070B

Be gay, my soul; there will be other men soon, but I shall be dead and become black earth.⁵¹⁵

1071-1074

Turn to all men a changeful habit, Cyrnus, mingling thy disposition to the like of each;⁵¹⁶ now imitate this man, and now make thy disposition of another sort; surely skill is a better thing even than great virtue.⁵¹⁷

1075-1078

1075'Tis hard indeed to see how God will accomplish the end of a matter yet undone; for 'tis all dark, and the ending of perplexity is not for man to understand ere what is to be.

1079-1080

I will blame no enemy that is a good man, nor yet praise a friend that is bad.

1081-1082B

Cyrnus, this city is in travail, and I fear me she may give birth to a proud and violent man, to be leader of sore discord;⁵¹⁸ for albeit her citizens be discreet, their guides are heading for much mischief.⁵¹⁹

1082C-1082F

If thou love me and the heart within the be true, be not my friend but in word, with heart and mind contrary; either love me with a whole heart or disown me and hate me in open quarrel.⁵²⁰

1083-1084

So true is it that the good man, though he change his disposition, must for evermore keep it stedfast to his friend.

1085-1086

1085'Tis hard for thee, Demonax, to bear much trouble,⁵²¹ because thou knowest not how to do what is not to thy mind.⁵²²

1087-1090

O Castor and Polydeuces that dwell beside the fair-flowing river of Eurotas in holy Lacedaemon, if ever I give a friend ill counsel, grant I may have ill myself, and if he give the like to me, grant he may have it twice over.

1091-1094

My heart is troubled for thy friendship; I can neither hate nor love, knowing that 'tis as hard to hate one that is become our friend as to be friends with one that wills it not.

1095-1096

1095Look thou now for another; for I am under no necessity to do this thing: be thou grateful for what I have done already.⁵²³

1097-1100

Now wing I my way like a bird from the flaxen net, escaping an evil man by breaking the trammels; and as for thee, thou 'st lost my friendship and wilt learn my shrewdness too late.

1101-1104

Whosoever hath given thee counsel concerning me and bidden thee abandon our friendship and begone⁵²⁴—pride destroyed the Magnesians and Colophon and Smyrna, and assuredly, Cyrnus, will destroy thee and thine.⁵²⁵

1104A-1106

Repute is a great ill unto man, trial is best; many are reputed good that have never been tried.⁵²⁶ When thou shalt come to the test and be rubbed beside lead,⁵²⁷ it will be manifest to all men that thou art pure gold.⁵²⁸

1107-1108

O miserable me! become I am a joy to mine enemies and a vexation to my friends because of my sufferings.⁵²⁹

1109-1114

Cyrnus, they that were good are now become bad, and they that were bad good. Who can bear to behold such a thing—the good the unhonoured and the bad⁵³⁰ accorded honour? and the good seeketh marriage with the bad; deceiving one another they smile one at another,⁵³¹ knowing no remembrance either of good things or of bad.

1114A-1114B

I roll on the ground, sore troubled at heart with perplexities; for we have not outrun the beginning of Penury.⁵³²

1115-1116

1115With possessions of thy own thou upbraidest my penury; yet some things I have, and others with prayer to Heaven, I shall win.

1117-1118

Wealth, fairest and most desirable of all the Gods, with thee a man becometh good even if he be bad.

1119-1122

May I have due measure of youth, and Phoebus Apollo son of Leto love me, and Zeus the king of the Immortals, so that I may live aright beyond all misfortunes, warming my heart with youth and riches.

1123-1128

Remind me not of misfortunes; for sure, I have suffered even as Odysseus, who escaped up out of the great house of Hades, he that so gladly and pitilessly slew the suitors of his wedded wife Penelope, who had so long awaited him in patience beside his dear son till he set foot on the land....⁵³³

1129-1132

I'll drink my fill with never a thought of soul-destroying Penury, nor yet of the enemies that slander me so; but I bewail the lovely Youth that is leaving me, and lament the approach of grievous Age.⁵³⁴

1133-1134

Cyrnus, let us make cease the beginning⁵³⁵ of evil for such friends as are yet with us, and seek medicine for a sore ere it come to a head.

1135-1150

1135†Hope is the one good God yet left among mankind; the rest have forsaken us and gone to Olympus. Gone ere this was the great Goddess Honesty, gone from the world was Self-Control; and the Graces, my friend, have left the earth. No more are righteous oaths kept among men, nor hath any man awe of the Immortal Gods; the generation of the pious is perished, and no longer are laws recognised, nor orderlinesses. Nay, so long as ever a man live and see the light of the Sun, let him with reverence to the Gods worship Hope also; let him pray to the Gods with splendid meat-offerings, and also make sacrifice first and last unto Hope. Let him beware alway of the crooked speech of the unrighteous, who having no respect for the Immortal Gods do ever set their heart upon other men's goods, making dishonourable covenants for evil deeds.⁵³⁶

1151-1152

Never be thou persuaded by the words of men of the baser sort to leave the friend thou hast and seek another.⁵³⁷

1153-1154

Be it mine to live rich without evil cares, unharmed,⁵³⁸ and with no misfortune.⁵³⁹

1155-1156

1155I desire not riches, nor pray for them, but mine be it to live on a little substance with no misfortune.⁵⁴⁰

1157-1160

Riches and skill are ever the most irresistible of things to man; for thou canst not surfeit thy heart with riches, and in like manner he that is most skilled shunneth not skill,⁵⁴¹ but desireth it and cannot have his fill.⁵⁴²

1160A(i)

O young men, this generation....⁵⁴³

1160A(ii)-1160B

. . . I am under no necessity to do these things; be thou grateful for what I have done already.⁵⁴⁴

1161-1162

'Tis better to lay-by no treasure for thy children; rather give to good men, Cyrnus, when they ask it.⁵⁴⁵

1162A-1162F

Nobody is all-happy in all things; rather doth the good endure to have evil albeit men know it not, whereas the bad man knoweth not how to mingle his heart either with good hap or with bad; of all sorts are the gifts that come of the Gods to man, yet must we endure to keep the gifts They send, of whatsoever sort they be.⁵⁴⁶

1163-1164

The eyes, tongue, ears, and mind of a discreet man grow in the midst of his breast.⁵⁴⁷

1164A-1164D

Let such be thy friend as seeketh to know his comrade's temper and beareth with him like a brother. And thou, friend, consider this well, and some day hereafter thou 'lt remember me.⁵⁴⁸

1164E-1164H

Seek as I will, I can find no man like myself that is a true comrade free of guide; yet when I am put to the test and tried even as gold is tried beside lead, the mark of pre-eminence is upon me.⁵⁴⁹

1165-1166

1165Mingle with the good and never accompany the bad, when thou comest to the end of a journey on business.

1167-1168

The answer of a good man is good and his works good also, but the words of a bad man bad, and the wind carrieth them away.

1169-1170

Ill-fellowship maketh misfortunes; and well shalt thou learn it thyself, for thou hast offended the great Immortals.

1171-1176

The best thing the Gods give mortal man is judgment, Cyrnus; judgment hath the ends of everything. O happy he that hath it indeed! he is far stronger than baleful Pride and dolorous Surfeit; and these are of those mortal ills than which there 's none worse, for all evil, Cyrnus, comes from them.

1177-1178

If thou shouldst never do nor suffer dishonourable acts, Cyrnus, thou wouldst have the greatest sum⁵⁵⁰ of virtue.

1178A-1178B

He whose heart is in sore trouble must be patient and ask deliverance of the Immortal Gods.⁵⁵¹

1179-1182

Honour and fear the Gods, Cyrnus; for this it is that stayeth a man from the doing or the saying of impious things; but a despot that devoureth the people, to lay him low by what means soever it please thee, is no cause for wrath from Heaven.⁵⁵²

1183-1184

The beams of the world-illumining Sun look upon no man over whom there hangeth no reproach.

1184A-1184B

But I cannot read the disposition of my fellow-townsmen; for I please them neither by any good I do them nor by any harm.⁵⁵³

1185-1186

1185Mind is a good thing and so is speech, but they are found in few men that be stewards over them both.⁵⁵⁴

1187-1190

For a price no man can escape Death, nor yet grievous Misfortune, unless Fate put an end to it; nor yet when God sendeth the pains of Care can mortal man escape by appeasing them with gifts.

1191-1194

I desire not to be laid upon a royal couch when I be dead, but to enjoy some good thing while I live; thorns make as good lying for a corpse as carpets; the dead are comfortable, lie they hard or soft.

1195-1196

1195Swear no false oath by the Gods; for 'tis not possible to hide a debt from the Immortals.

1197-1202

I have heard the shrill voice of the bird,⁵⁵⁵ son of Polypaus, which is come to tell mankind to plough in season; and it hath smitten my heart black⁵⁵⁶ to think that others possess my flowery fields, nor for me do the mules draw the yoke of the plough, by reason of this most hateful voyage.⁵⁵⁷

1203-1206

I will not go,⁵⁵⁸nor shall a despot be mourned by me,⁵⁵⁹ nor go below ground bewailed by me at his grave, any more than if I were dead he would feel sorry or his eyelids shed hot tears.

1207-1208

We neither stay thee from our revel nor bid thee to it, O thou that art troublesome to us present and dear to us absent.

1209-1210

Aethon am I by race, but live in well-walled Thebes, forbidden my native town.⁵⁶⁰

1211-1216

Taunt me not in such teasing wise with my parentage, Argyris; for thee there hath been a day of servitude,⁵⁶¹ whereas we, madam, have suffered indeed from many other ills since we became exiles, but not from grievous slavery, nor do they put up for sale such folk as we; nay, we too have a city, and a fair city, one that bordereth on the plain of Letha.⁵⁶²

1217-1218

Never let us laugh in the joy of our good fortune, Cyrnus, when we sit beside a mourner.

1219-1220

'Tis hard in sooth for an enemy to deceive his foe, Cyrnus, but easy for a friend to deceive his friend.

“Theognis:” Stobaeus Anthology [on cowardice]

1221-1222

Fear is wont to bring many a fall to mortal man, when his judgment, Cyrnus, is confounded.

“Theognis:” Stobaeus Anthology [on anger]

1223-1224

Nothing, Cyrnus, is more unrighteous⁵⁶³ than a disposition⁵⁶⁴ which giveth misery to him that hath it by indulging his heart in what is mean and low.

“Theognis:” Stobaeus Anthology [that marriage is best]

1225-1226

1225Nothing, Cyrnus, is more delightful than a good wife; to the truth of this I am witness to thee and do thou become witness to me.⁵⁶⁵

“Such is the passage from the poet Theognis:” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on enigmatic sayings]

1229-1230

For I am e'en summoned home by a corpse from the sea which, dead though it be, speaketh with living lips.

“He means a conch.”

Book II

1231-1234

Cruel Love, Frenzies were they that took thee up and nursed thee; through thee came ruin to Ilium's stronghold, came ruin to great Theseus son of Aegeus, and ruin to noble Ajax son of Oileus, by reason of thy presumptuousness.

1235-1238

1235Curb thy wits, lad, and listen to me; I'll tell thee a tale not unpersuasive,⁵⁶⁶ nor yet unpleasing, to thy heart; try then to understand my words; thou'rt under no necessity to do what is not to thy mind.⁵⁶⁷

1238A-1240

Never be thou persuaded by the words of men of the baser sort to leave the friend thou hast and seek another;⁵⁶⁸ for 'tis certain they will often say vain things, against thee before me, and against me before thee; so turn them a deaf ear.

1241-1242

Thou wilt rejoice in the friendship which is past, and no longer be the dispenser⁵⁶⁹ of that which is passing.

1243-1244

We have been friends long enough; consort thou now with others, keeping thy⁵⁷⁰ crafty ways that are so contrary to loyalty.

1245-1246

1245We shall never be true friends one to the other any more than fire and water will mingle together.

1247-1248

Consider my hatred and violence,⁵⁷¹ and be thy heart assured I will punish thy offence to the best of my power.

1249-1252

Lad, thou'rt like unto a horse, because now that thou hast had thy fill of frolicking⁵⁷² thou art come again to my stall desiring a good rider, a fair meadow, a cool spring, and a shady grove.

1253-1254

Happy he that hath dear children, whole-hoovad steeds,⁵⁷³ hunting hounds, and friends in foreign parts.⁵⁷⁴

1255-1256

1255He that loveth not children⁵⁷⁵ and whole-hoovad steeds⁵⁷⁶ and hounds, never is his heart merry.

1257-1258

Thou hast a disposition like a gadding young wagtail's,⁵⁷⁷ lad; for thou'rt loved now by these and now by those.

1259-1262

Thou'rt fair in form, lad, but a mighty great wreath of ignorances⁵⁷⁸ is upon thy head; for the ways of thy wits are those of a darting kite, seeing that thou art persuaded by the words of other men.

1263-1266

O lad who hast given ill return for good conferred, and hast no gratitude for kindness done thee, never yet hast thou advantaged me, and I that have so often served thee well have no respect at thy hands.⁵⁷⁹

1267-1270

Like are the minds of a lad and of a horse; the horse weepeth not because his rider is in the dust, but hath his fill of barley and carrieth another in his turn; and in like manner a lad loveth him that is present to him.

1271-1274

Thou hast lost me my good wits, lad, by reason of thy gluttonies,⁵⁸⁰ and art become a shame to our friends; but to me thou hast given a little time to refresh me, and with night at hand⁵⁸¹ I lie quiet in haven after the storm.⁵⁸²

1275-1278

1275Love himself riseth in due season, when the earth swelleth and bloweth with the flowers of Spring; ay, then cometh Love from Cyprus' beauteous isle with joy⁵⁸³ for man throughout the world.

1278A-1278B

Whoso hath given thee counsel concerning me and bidden thee abandon our friendship and begone...⁵⁸⁴

1278C-1278D

Like a lion sure of his strength I have drunk not the blood of the fawn my claws seized away from his dam.⁵⁸⁵

1279-1282

I have no wish to do thee harm, fair lad, not though I should fare better at the hands of Heaven; for I sit still under no light provocation,⁵⁸⁶ but there's no requital made the fair, howsoever they may deserve it.⁵⁸⁷

1283-1294

Wrong me not, lad （still would I fain be to thy liking）, but understand this with good shrewdness;⁵⁸⁸ [thy wiles]⁵⁸⁹ shall not circumvent me nor deceive me; thou hast won, and thine is the advantage hereafter, but yet will I wound thee as thou fliest me, even as they tell that the daughter of Iasius once fled [the young Hippomenes],⁵⁹⁰ refusing wedlock for all she was ripe to wed; ay, girded herself up and accomplished the unaccomplishable, forsaking her father's house, the fair-haired Atalanta, and was away to the high tops of the hills, flying from delightful wedlock, gift of golden Aphrodite;⁵⁹¹ yet for all her refusing, she came to know the end.

1295-1298

1295I would not have thee stir my heart in evil pains,⁵⁹² lad, nor that my friendship for thee should carry me away unto the house of Persephone; nay, have thou respect unto the wrath of God and the report of man, for thou hast thought to do foolishly.

1299-1304

How long wilt thou fly me, lad? O how hotfoot do I pursue thee! Heaven grant some end may come to thy anger.⁵⁹³ Yet thou fliest me in the greed and haughtiness of thy heart, and thy ways are the cruel ways of a kite. O stay and grant me thy favour; not for long now wilt thou possess the gift of the violet-crownad Cyprus-born.

1305-1310

1305Knowing in thy heart that the flowering-time of sweet delightful childhood is fleeter than a footrace, free me from my bonds, lest ever thou be thyself put under restraint, thou mighty among lads,⁵⁹⁴ and be confronted with the harsh works of the Cyprus-born even as I am, here and now,⁵⁹⁵ for thee. Beware then thou, lest badness overwhelm thy childish ignorance.

1311-1318

I know well enough thou didst cheat me, lad; for I can e'en see through thee. Those with whom thou art now so close and friendly, abandoning for worthless thy friendship for me, with them thou wast not friends before; whereas I, I thought to make thee of all my comrades the truest, and now thou hast another to thy friend. I that did well by thee lie neglected; I would that no man living who shall see thee may be willing to set his love on thee.

1318A-1318B

O miserable me! become I am a joy unto mine enemies and a vexation to my friends because of my sufferings.⁵⁹⁶

1319-1322

Seeing that great Cypris hath given thee so delightful grace, lad, and all the young are concerned for thy beauty, give ear to these words and cherish favour of me in thy heart, knowing how hard a thing love is for a man to bear.

1323-1326

O Cyprus-born, end Thou my woes, scatter my carking cares, turn me again unto good cheer, make cease my evil imaginings, and grant me to accomplish the works of wisdom when I have fulfilled merrily the measure of Youth.

1327-1328

My lad, so long as thy cheek be smooth I will never cease to pay my court, no, not if I have to die.

1329-1334

To thee that grantest it my suit bringeth honour, and to me that desire it no disgrace; I beseech thee, by my parents, fair lad, have respect unto me and grant me favour; or if ever thou in thy turn shalt come to another to crave the gift of the violet-crownad Cyprus-born, God grant thou meet with the same words that I meet with now.

1335-1336

1335Happy he that loveth as he taketh his practice⁵⁹⁷ and when he goeth home sleepeth the day out with a fair lad.

1337-1340

I no longer love a lad; I have shaken off sore troubles and gladly 'scaped grievous distress; I am delivered of my longing by the wreathad Cytherea, and thou, lad, hast no favour⁵⁹⁸ in my eyes.

1341-1344

Woe 's me! I love a smooth-skinned lad who exposeth me to all my friends, nor am I loath; I will bear with many things that are sore against my liking, and make it no secret; for 'tis no unhandsome lad I am seen to be taken with.

1345-1350

1345A pleasant thing hath lad's-love ever been since Ganymede was loved of the great Son of Cronus, the king of the Immortals, who seized and brought him to Olympus and made him a God,⁵⁹⁹ what time his boyhood was in its lovely flower. In like manner, Simonides, be not thou astonished that 'tis come out that I too am taken with the love of a fair lad.⁶⁰⁰

1351-1352

Lad, revel not, but give thou heed to the ancient saw:—Revelling is not proper to⁶⁰¹ a young man.

1353-1356

Bitter and sweet, kindly also and harsh, Cyrnus,⁶⁰² is love unto the young till it be fulfilled; for if a man achieve, it becometh sweet, and if he pursue and achieve not, that is of all things the most painful.

1357-1358

On the neck of the lad-lover there ever sitteth a galling⁶⁰³ yoke that is a grievous memorial of love-of-strangers.⁶⁰⁴

1359-1360

For he that is concerned with a lad for friendship's sake must surely put his hands as it were to a fire of vine-loppings.⁶⁰⁵

1361-1362

Thou hast failed to make harbour in my friendship, lad, and laying hold of a rotten hawser⁶⁰⁶ hast struck upon a rock.

1363-1364

Never will I do thee harm even in absence, nor shall any man living persuade me, as thou art fain to persuade me,⁶⁰⁷ not to love thee.

1365-1366

1365O fairest and most desirable of all lads, stand where thou art and give ear to a few words of mine.⁶⁰⁸

1367-1368

Gratitude belongeth, 'tis sure, to a lad; but a woman-comrade is never true;⁶⁰⁹ she loveth him that is present unto her.

1369-1372

Lad's love is a fine thing to have and a fine thing to put away; 'tis easier to find than to satisfy; ten thousand are the evil things and ten thousand the good that hang upon it; but there's e'en a charm in the wavering of the balance.

1373-1374

Never hast thou delayed me thy favours, but comest always at every message with all speed.⁶¹⁰

1375-1376

1375Happy is he that loving a lad knoweth not the sea nor hath concern with the night's coming upon the deep.

1377-1380

Though fair thou be, thou consortest, through the badness of thy mind, with men of the baser sort, and for this, lad, thou bearest foul reproach. And I that have failed, through no fault of my own, to win thy friendship, have the satisfaction of doing what is expected of a freeman like me.⁶¹¹

1381-1382

Those that expected thee, man, to come to bestow the gift of the golden Cyprus-born ...⁶¹²

1383-1385

... ⁶¹³the gift of the violet-crownad ... becometh a most grievous burden unto man, unless the Cyprus-born grant deliverance from trouble.

1386-1388

Cyprus-born Cytherea, weaver of wiles, Zeus hath given Thee this gift because He honoureth Thee exceeding much⁶¹⁴ —Thou overwhelmest the shrewd wits of men, nor lives the man so strong and wise that he may escape Thee.

Hipparchus

“From the time when Harmodius and Aristogeiton slew Hipparchus the successor of Peisistratus, and the Athenians expelled the Peisistratids from the Pelasgic Wall, in the archonship of Harpactides at Athens, 248 years （511 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

“The Supreme power, by reason of station and age, lay in the hands of Hippias and Hipparchus （rather than of their half-brothers）, of whom Hippias, being not only the elder but having a bent for politics and a natural shrewdness, held the reins of government. Hipparchus on the other hand lacked seriousness. He was of an amorous disposition and an aesthete. It was he who sent to fetch Anacreon and Simonides and the other poets to Athens. Thettalus, who was much younger, was a self-confident bully, and this was the cause of all their trouble. Becoming the lover of Harmodius and failing to win his friendship, he put no restraint upon his anger but gave frequent expression to his resentment, and finally when the sister of his beloved was going to carry a sacred basket in the Panathenaic Festival he prevented her doing so and called Harmodius a weakling; which incensed Harmodius and Aristogeiton and prompted them and many others with them to hatch the plot. On the day of the festival they were lying in wait in the Acropolis for Hippias, who was to receive the procession while Hipparchus was to dispatch it, when, seeing one of the conspirators in friendly converse with Hippias, they jumped to it he was revealing the plot, and in order to do at least something before they were taken, went down into the city, and starting before the others were ready, slew Hipparchus in the act of marshalling the procession before the Leocorium, thus bringing the whole plot to ruin; and were themselves killed, Harmodius by the bodyguard on the spot, and Aristogeiton when he was seized later and had undergone some hours of torture.” Aristotle Constitution of Athens

“A marvellous great light shone upon Athens when Aristogeiton and Harmodius slew Hipparchus.” Simonides Inscription for the Statues of the Tyrannicides

“The Wall of Hipparchus:—Hipparchus son of Peisistratus built a wall round the Academy at great expense to the Athenians, whom he forced to pay for it. Hence the proverb is used of costly undertakings.” Suidas Lexicon

“Three-headed:—The herm or bust of Hermes, pointing the way, so to speak, and bearing an inscription beneath it to say where this road leads and where that. It may have had a head for each direction. The three-headed herm was set up, according to Philochorus, by Procleides the lover of Hipparchus.” Suidas Lexicon

“These were four-sided posts or stones bearing a face of Hermes above, and below on the flat part the inscriptions.” Scholiast on Demosthenes [‘in the Colonnade of the Hermae’]

Inscriptions

“Now that the city-part of the Athenians were educated by him till they admired his learning and wisdom, in order to confer the same benefit on the country-folk, he set up effigies of Hermes on the roads halfway between the city and every deme or parish of Attica, and choosing what appeared to him the finest fruits of his wisdom whether learnt of others or invented by himself, put each into an elegiac line, and inscribed these verses, or, if you will, exhibitions of his wisdom, on the aforesaid effigies; with the intent that his fellow-townsmen should shift their admiration from those maxims inscribed at Delphi, Know thyself and Moderation in all things and the rest, and giving the palm for wisdom to the sayings of Hipparchus, should read them and taste his wisdom as they passed on their way to their farms or their homes, and so in the end become educated men. The inscriptions in each case are two. On the right⁶¹⁵ side of each effigy Hermes is depicted saying that he stands halfway between the city and the deme, and on the left:
This is a reminder of Hipparchus⁶¹⁶:—As thou walkest think righteous things.
CURFRAG.tlg-1433.1
There are many other fine poems of his inscribed on other effigies of Hermes, notably this, which may be read on the way to Steiria:

This is a reminder of Hipparchus:—Deceive not a friend.
CURFRAG.tlg-1433.2
”
[Plato] Hipparchus

“Glorious Hermes is halfway between Cephala and the city.” Inscriptions of Attica （in lettering of the period）

Pigres

None

elegy

“Pigres:—A Carian of Halicarnassus, brother of the Artemisia who was so famous in the wars.⁶¹⁷ He inserted an elegiac （pentameter） after each line of the Iliad, thus:
Sing thou the wrath, O Goddess, of Peleus' off-spring Achilles,
Thine are the bounds which hold, Muse, all the ends of our art.
CURFRAG.tlg-0258.1
He also wrote the Margites and the Battle of Frogs and Mice , attributed to Homer.
”
Suidas Lexicon

“In his account of the battle of Salamis he spends more words upon Artemisia than he does on the whole battle; and lastly at Plataea he says that the Greeks sat still, and knew no more of the fight till it was over than if it had been a battle of frogs and mice like that described in a burlesque poem by Artemisia's brother Pigres; for they had agreed, he says, to fight in silence lest the others should hear them; and he makes the Spartans show themselves no better than the Barbarians in valour, but win a victory over naked and unarmed men.” Plutarch The Malignity of Herodotus

Epicharmus

None

Inscription

“Epicharmus:—Son of Tityrus, or Chimarus, and Secis, of Syracuse, or of Crastus a city of the Sicanians, inventor, along with Phormus,⁶¹⁸ of comedy at Syracuse. He produced fifty-two plays... He was staging dramas at Syracuse six years before the Persian War.

I am a corpse and a corpse is dirt, and dirt earth; but if the earth is a God, a God am I and not a corpse.⁶¹⁹
For the Elegiac Poems ascribed to Bacchylides see Lyra Graeca iii p. 220.
CURFRAG.tlg-0521.1

” Suidas Lexicon “For nothing ever is, but is always becoming. And all the wise, one after another, except Parmenides, shall agree in this, Protagoras, Heracleitus, Empedocles, and the greatest poets in either kind, Epicharmus in comedy, Homer in tragedy.” Plato Theaetetus “（1） That is, in the rubbish on the ground; （2） That is, in the dung-heap; and what is more, there is an inscription attributed to Epicharmus which says:” Scholiast on the Iliad [‘He besought them all, casting himself down in the dirt’]

Phrynichus

None

Elegiac Poems

“Phrynichus:—Son of Polyphradmon or of Minyrus; of Athens, writer of tragedy, a pupil of Thespis the first to introduce that art. He was victorious in the 67th Olympiad （510-7 B.C.）. This Phrynichus was the first to bring a female character upon the stage, and invented the tetrameter.. His tragedies are these nine, etc.

The art of the dance hath given me as many different steps as a night deadly with storms maketh waves upon the sea.
CURFRAG.tlg-0303.1

” Suidas Lexicon

“
Nightingale:
Hail, motley Muse of green and glade, Jug, jug, tereu, Who, as on leafy ash I sit By hill or dale to music it, Tereu, tereu, dost lend thine aid, While through my brown beak I recite Sacred songs for Pan's delight, And to the Mountain-Mother bring High dance-music for offering, Tereu, tereu, Whence Phrynichus sipt like a bee, Ambrosial brew, A harvest of sweet melody, Jug, jug, tereu.
”
Aristophanes Birds

“Yet Phrynichus the tragedy-writer says of himself:” Plutarch Dinner-Table Problems

Aeschylus

“ The tragic poet Aeschylus was by birth an Athenian, of the deme of Eleusis, son of Euphorion and brother of Cynegeirus, by descent a Eupatrid. He began writing his tragedies young, and far surpassed his predecessors in the style of his poetry and in stage-craft, in the splendour of the staging, the dress of the actors, and the dignity of the chorus; compare Aristophanes :
O first in Greece at the building of lofty rhyme and the decking-out of tragic gibble-gabble!
Frogs 1004
He was contemporary with Pindar, his birth falling in the 63rd Olympiad （528-5 B.C.）.. He lived sixty-nine years, during which he wrote seventy dramas as well as about five satyr-plays. His victories were, in all, thirteen, and some he won after his death.
”
Life of Aeschylus

“From the time when the Athenians fought and won the battle of Marathon against the Persians under Artaphernes nephew of Darius and his general Datis, 227 years, in the archonship of the second Phaenippides at Athens; in which battle the poet Aeschylus took part at the age of thirty-five （490 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

“From the time when the poet Aeschylus first won the victory for tragedy 222 years, in the archonship of Philocrates at Athens （486 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

“From the time when the poet Aeschylus died at the age of sixty-nine at Gela in Sicily 193 years, in the archonship of the first Callias at Athens （456 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

Elegies

On Those Who Fell At Marathon

“The orator Glaucias declared that the right wing of the line of battle at Marathon was given to this tribe, on the authority of the Elegy on the Borderland ⁶²⁰ composed by Aeschylus, who distinguished himself in the battle.” Plutarch Dinner-Table Problems [on the Aeantid tribe]

“Aeschylus in his Elegies , for instance, calls Tyrrhenia a land of many drugs:

The Tyrrhene race, that people of drug-makers⁶²¹
CURFRAG.tlg-0085.1

” Theophrastus History of Plants

“New-mixed:—The bowl; compare

and pouring fresh libations of new-mixed wine⁶²²
CURFRAG.tlg-0085.2

” Scholiast on Aeschylus Choephoroe [‘the Paean in the royal chambers brings in the dear new-mixed wine’]

Inscriptions

“Aeschylus:

These staunch warriors also did dark Fate destroy while they defended their country so rich in flocks; living is the fame of these dead, who once endured to clothe themselves in the dust of Ossa.⁶²³
CURFRAG.tlg-0085.3

” Palatine Anthology (ms adds "On others of the Thessalians who fought in the front line," but this is prob. taken from 1.4)

“When he died, the people of Gela buried him sumptuously among the public monuments, and spared no expense to give him honour, inscribing upon his tomb the following lines: ‘This Monument,’ etc.

This monument covers the Athenian Aeschylus son of Euphorion, who died within wheat-bearing Gela;⁶²⁴ his valour will be told by the famous grove of Marathon and the deep-tressed Mede that knew it so well.⁶²⁵
CURFRAG.tlg-0085.4

” Life of Aeschylus “Similarly Aeschylus, who enjoyed such great fame for his poetry, nevertheless chose rather that his tomb should commemorate his valour, composing for it the following inscription:” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“But Alexander .. made it his business to excel in the art of arms, and to be, in the words of Aeschylus:

a weighty wrestler-at-arms, terrible to his rivals
CURFRAG.tlg-0085.5

” Plutarch Fortune of Alexander

Sophocles

“Sophocles:—Son of Sophillus; an Athenian of the deme of Colonus; tragic poet; born in the 73rd Olympiad （488-5 B.C.） and thus seventeen years older than Socrates. He was the first to employ three actors and the tritagonist, as he is called, and to bring in a chorus of fifteen youths instead of twelve. He was called the Bee because of his sweetness. And he himself originated the custom of making play compete with play, rather than tetralogy, or group of four plays, with tetralogy. He also wrote an Elegy and Paeans and a prose-treatise On the Chorus , competing with Thespis and Choerilus... He died later than Euripides, at the age of ninety. He produced a hundred and twenty-three plays —indeed some writers say many more —and was victorious twenty-four times.” Suidas Lexicon

“From the time when Sophocles son of Sophillus, of Colonus, won the prize for tragedy at the age of twenty-eight, 206 years, in the archonship of Apsephion at Athens （469 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

“From the time when the poet Sophocles died at the age of ninety-two, and Cyrus marched up-country⁶²⁶ [43 years,] in the archonship of the second Callias at Athens （406 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

Elegies

“In heroic verse this shortening is less frequent; indeed the name Archelaus appeared to Sophocles to suit neither Epic nor Elegiac verse, for he says:

Archeleos; for 'twas meet to the metre to say it thus.⁶²⁷
CURFRAG.tlg-0011.1

” Hephaestion Handbook of Metre [syllables of doubtful length]

“‘Rule shows the man’:—Demosthenes in his 5; but Sophocles, in his Elegies , makes it a saying of Solon, and Theophrastus in his treatise On Proverbs , and Aristotle, ascribe it to Bias.” Harpocration Lexicon to the Attic Orators

“ Χάριτες ‘Graces’ is sometimes used in the sense of
joys
CURFRAG.tlg-0011.2
as by Sophocles in an Elegy.
”
Erotian Vocabulary to Hippocrates

Epic Poems

“The tragic poet Sophocles says:

Not even to the Gods come all things of their own choice without⁶²⁸ Zeus; He it is that hath both end and beginning.
CURFRAG.tlg-0011.3

” Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies 5. 726

Inscriptions

“Hieronymus of Rhodes, too, declares in his Historical Notes that Sophocles was once robbed of his cloak in equivocal circumstances by a boy who left him his, and when the story, as was only to be expected, went the round, Euripides heard what had happened and made mock of it, saying that in like circumstances he had suffered no loss himself, whereas Sophocles was clearly despised for a profligate. When Sophocles heard this he wrote the following epigram upon him, in which he employs the Fable of the Sun and the Northwind as an allegory of his victim's dissolute character:

It was the Sun that stripped me,⁶²⁹ Euripides; but when you were after a girl your bedfellow was the Northwind; you must be a fool to hale Love into court for highway robbery when you sow another's field.
CURFRAG.tlg-0011.4

” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“This inscription （or epigram） is admittedly the work of Sophocles:

At the age of five-and-fifty Sophocles made a song for Herodotus....⁶³⁰
CURFRAG.tlg-0011.5

” Plutarch （Should Old Men Govern?）

Ion of Chios

“ Ion of Chios:—Writer of Dithyrambs, Tragedy, and Melic Poems. He also wrote Comedies, Inscriptions, Paeans, Hymns, Drinking-Songs, Eulogies, Elegies, and perhaps the prose-work called Presbeuticus , which some authorities consider spurious. Among other works ascribed to him are The Founding of Chios , a treatise On Cosmology , and Memoirs or Notes. He was a very famous man. He is said to have competed victoriously in Attica in the Dithyramb and Tragedy at the same time, and to have sent the Athenians a gift of Chian wine as a token of his regard.
”
Scholiast on Aristophanes

“Ion of Chios:—Tragic and lyric poet and philosopher, son of Orthomenes, and nicknamed son of Xuthus. He began to produce tragedies in the 82nd Olympiad （452-49 B.C.）” Suidas Lexicon

Elegiac Poems

“To quote from the Elegiac Poems of Ion of Chios:

... but to this chorus of ours 'tis thyrse-bearing Wine, high-honoured Dionysus, [that is dear].⁶³¹ This hath been the theme of manifold tales in all gatherings of United Greeks or feasts of kings, ever since the clustered vine raised her rooted stem and reached out her lush arm unto the sky, and from her bud-eyes leapt forth crowded children which have no speech till they fall one upon another,⁶³² and when their crying is done are milked of a nectar that is a rich drink all men may share, a self-grown charm to bring delight; whereof the dear children are feasts and fellowship and the dance; King Wine maketh plain the nature of the good. To whose father, to wit thee, Dionysus, Thou joy of the garlanded, Thou arbiter of the cheerful feast, I cry Hail; and do Thou grant me long life, Thou helper unto fair deeds, for to drink and play and think rightful thoughts.
CURFRAG.tlg-0308.1

” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Compare Ion of Chios:

All hail to our King and Saviour and Sire! and let the wine-bearers mingle us a bowl and pour out into the cups of silver, while the gold be filled with the wine of the hands and wash them clean on to the floor,⁶³³ and so making pure libation first unto Zeus and then unto Heracles and Alcmena, unto Procles and the children of Perseus,⁶³⁴ let us drink, let us play, let song rise into the night, and someone dance a fling, and do thou begin good fellowship with a will. And whosoever hath a fair bedfellow awaiting him, let him drink more bravely⁶³⁵ than the rest.⁶³⁶
CURFRAG.tlg-0308.2

” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“The word τόνος （ lit. a stretching） is used of sound in the epithet seven-toned applied to the lyre, for instance by Terpander and Ion. The former says: （fr. 5）,⁶³⁷ and the latter:

Eleven-stringad Lyre with thy flight of ten steps into the place where the three concordant roads of Harmonia meet,⁶³⁸ once all the Greeks raised but a meagre music, playing thee seven-toned four by four⁶³⁹ [but now ...].
CURFRAG.tlg-0308.3

” Euclid （Cleonides） Introduction to Music

“Ion of Chios says of him:

Excelling thus in manliness and modesty, dead though he be his soul yet hath a happy life, if the wise Pythagoras indeed could see and know the marks⁶⁴⁰ of men in all things.⁶⁴¹
CURFRAG.tlg-0308.4

” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [on Pherecydes]

“The masculine use of ὀρίγανος ‘marjoram’ is attested by Ion thus:

But he in haste did hide the marjoram in his hand.⁶⁴²
CURFRAG.tlg-0308.5

” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Some writers say that Theseus had two sons by Ariadne, Oenopion and Staphylus, among them Ion of Chios who speaks of his native city thus:

which was founded once by Theseus' son Oenopion
CURFRAG.tlg-0308.6

” Plutarch Life of Theseus

“And he himself admits in his Elegiac Poems that he loved the Corinthian Chrysilla daughter of Teleas, who also, according to The Hesiods of Telecleides, was the mistress of Pericles ‘the Olympian.’” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on Ion]

“The poet Ion declares⁶⁴³ that Pericles' manner was mothonic , that is to say bumptious, and that his proud airs contained more than a spice of disdain and contempt for others; Cimon on the other hand he praises for showing in society good taste, easy temper, and a cultivated mind. But we will ignore the testimony of Ion, who must needs have a man's virtues include a satyr-play like a tragic tetralogy.⁶⁴⁴” Plutarch Life of Pericles

Ion of Samos

None

Inscriptions

“Ion⁶⁴⁵ on Euripides:—

Farewell to thee, Euripides, for whom Night's eternal chamber is in the dark-leaved dells of Pieria;⁶⁴⁶ but albeit thou art underground, know that thy fame shall be everlasting even as the perennial graces of Homer.
CURFRAG.tlg-1446.1

” Palatine Anthology

“His image did Lysander set up upon this work⁶⁴⁷ when he destroyed the might of the Children of Cecrops by the victory of his swift ships, and crowned the never-ravaged Lacedaemon, citadel of Greece, his country of fair dances. These lines were made by Ion of sea-girt Samos.⁶⁴⁸” Inscription on a stone found at Delphi

Philiades

None

Inscription

“Thespeia:—A city of Boeotia.. It is also written with a long iota; it is short in Corinna, and in the Epitaph of those who were slain by the Persians; it was written by Philiades of Megara:

The men who once lived beneath the forehead of Helicon, their courage is now the boast of the spacious land of Thespiae.⁶⁴⁹
CURFRAG.tlg-1587.1

” Stephanus of Byzantium Lexicon

Melanthius

“Of the same type was Melanthius the tragedy-writer, but he also wrote Elegiac Poems . He is caricatures for his love of good living by Leucon in the Fellow-Clansmen , by Aristophanes in the Peace （1. 804）, and by Pherecrates in the Petale.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner “When the orator Gorgias read at Olympia a work on Concord , Melathius remarked ‘This fellow recommends concord to all the Greeks, though he has never made it where there's only three, himself, his wife, and the housemaid.’ It seems that Gorgias had a liking for the slave-girl, and his wife was jealous of her.” Plutarch Conjugal Precepts

Elegiac Poems

“Polygnotus was no mere mechanic. He painted the Colonnade not by contract but for love, out of pride in the city, as we may learn from the historians and as the poet Melanthius testifies thus:

For 'twas at his own expense that he adorned the temples of the Gods and the Cecropian market-place with the valorous deeds of the demigods.
CURFRAG.tlg-0254.1

” Plutarch Life of Cimon [on the Painted Colonnade]

“The mother of Cimon son of Miltiades was a Thracian named Hegesipyle, daughter of King Olorus, as we are told in the poems addressed to Cimon himself by Archelaus and Melanthius.” Plutarch Life of Cimon [on the Painted Colonnade]

“In any case it is clear that speaking generally Cimon was open to the imputation of profligacy in respect of women. The poet Melanthius makes facetiouus reference in an Elegy to his wooing of the Salaminian Asteria and also of a certain Mnestra.” Plutarch Life of Cimon [on the Painted Colonnade]

Empedocles

“Empedocles:—Son of Meton, or according to some authorities Archinomus, or as others say, Exaenetus. He was at first a pupil of Parmenides, of whom, if we may believe Porphyrius' History of the Philosphers , he was the bosom-friend. Some writers make him a pupil of Telauges the son of Pythagoras. He was of Acragas, a physical philosopher and epic poet; he flourished in the 79th Olympiad （464-1 B.C.）.. He visited the cities of Greece with a gold wreath on his head, bronze Amyclean shoes on his feet, and Delphic garlands in his hands, with the intention of establishing himself in the public mind as a God. When he became old he threw himself by night into a crater, so that his body should never be found, and thus perished, his sandal being cast up by the fire.⁶⁵⁰ A pupil of his was Gorgias the orator of leontini. He wrote two Books in epic verse On the Nature of Things —these amount to upwards of 2,000 lines⁶⁵¹ —a prosework called Medicine, and many others.” Suidas Lexicon “The Purifications of Empedocles were recited at Olympia by the rhapsode Cleomenes, according to Dicaearchus in his Olympic Oration. : .. And such as hold that all things come of four— Of fire, earth, air, and water; now of these Chief is Empedocles of Agrigent, Son of the isle of shores triangular. Which great and anywise marvellous tho' it be, Worthy the traveller's eye, rich in good things, And furnished with a host of dwellers, yet Methinks it ne'er had aught more glorious, More holy, or more wondrous, or more dear, Than him; nay, his divine heart's song So loud and clear is, telling to the world His glorious discoveries, that searce He seems to be of human lineage. Lucretius On the Nature of Things ” Suidas Lexicon

Inscriptions

“When the physician Acron asked the council for a site for a monument to his father, who had reached the top of the same profession, Empedocles came forward and defeated the proposal by a speech in which he dilated upon equality, his chief argument being to ask ‘What inscription shall we put upon it? Shall it be this?
Acron son of Acros, Acragas the eminent physician, lies beneath the most eminent heidht of his most eminent birthplace.’⁶⁵²
CURFRAG.tlg-1342.1
Other writers give as the second line:

is laid in a tomb eminent upon an eminence.
CURFRAG.tlg-1342.2
Some authorities ascribe the couplet to Simonides.
”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [Empedocles]

“Pausanias, according to Aristippus and Satyrus, was Empedocles' bosom-friend, and indeed it was he to whom he addressed his poem On Nature in the words: [fr. 1 Diels]. Moreover he wrote and epigram on him:

With good name was this Asclepiad physician Pausanias, son of Anchites, bred in his birthplace Gela; for many a wight that wasted in dire woes he turned back on his way to the chamber of Persephone.⁶⁵³
CURFRAG.tlg-1342.3

” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [Empedocles]

Archelaus

“Archelaus:— Of Athens or Miletus; his father Apollodorus or, according to some writers, Midon; pupil of Anaxagoras and teacher of Socrates.. He was called the physical philosopher, because with him the study of natural philosophy came to an end, Socrates having introduced that of ethics. It would seem that Archelaus himself studied the new subject, for he has left philosophic treatises on law and goodness and justice. Deriving the subject from him Socrates advanced it so much that he was thought to have invented it. Archelaus maintained that there are two causes of growth or ‘becoming,’ heat and cold, that living things were produced from slime, and that righteousness and its opposite are matters not of nature but of convention.” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers “Archelaus:—. . He composed a Natural Philosophy . . and there are other works of his.” Suidas Lexicon “And it is clear that he was also deeply attached to his lawful wife, Isodice daughter of Euryptolemus son of Megacles, and took her death very hardly, if we may judge by the elegies written to console him which are thought by the philosopher Panaetius to be the work of the natural philosopher Archelaus —a conjecture which is sound chronologically.” Plutarch Life of Cimon “The mother of Cimon, etc. （see Melanthius fr. 2）.” Plutarch Life of Cimon

Elegy

“”

Hippon

“Strepsiades and Pheidippides: S. D'ye see that little door and the cottage beyond? —P. Yes; what is it? Do tell me, father —S. That's the thinking-house of wise souls, where people live who try to persuade us by their talk that the sky's an oven, all round us, and we're the coals. They teach, if you pay them for it, how to win an argument whether it be right or wrong.” Aristophanes Clouds “. . This was said before by Cratinus in the All-Seers, where the takes off the philosopher Hippon.” Scholiast on the passage “>Cratinus accuses Hippon, too, of impiety.” Scholiast on Clment of Alexandria “Hippon of Rhegium declared the elements to be cold, that is water, and heat, that is fire, and held that the fire when produced by water conquered the powre of its parent and formed the world.” Hippolytus （Origen） Against the Heresies “Thus Hippon had a perfect right to immortalise his own death; for he gave instructions for the following couplet to be inscribed upon his tomb: ‘This is,’ etc.” Clement of Alexandria Protrepticus “Owing to the feeble nature of his speculations Hippon can have no claim to be included among the philosophers who hold water to be an element or first principle.” Aristotle Metaphysics

Inscription

“He （Aristotle） would say this about him （Hippon） because he was an atheist; for even the inscription upon his tomb is of this character:

This is the tomb of Hippon, whom by death Fate made equal with the Immortal Gods.⁶⁵⁴
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” Alexander of Aphrodisias on the passage

Dionysius Chalcus

“The man who more than anyone else played up to him in this pat and helped him on with his cloak of dignity and self-importance, was one named Hieron, who had been brough up in his house and given by him a thorough education in letters and music, but claimed to be a son of Dionysius called Chalcus or the Brazen, whose poems are extant and who, as leader of the colony that went out to Italy, founded Thurii.⁶⁵⁵” Plutarch Life of Nicias

“. . . the citizens sent out fo found the city of Thurium in Sicily, ten in number, including the prophet Lampon whom they called the expounder （which also means leader-out）.⁶⁵⁶” Scholiast on Aristophanes Clouds [‘Thurii-prophets’]

“Pleased by this, Apollo gave Phalaris respite from death, declaring this to be his will to any who came to consult the Pythian priestess how thye might best attack him, and giving them an oracle concerning Chariton in which the pentameter preceeded the hexameter in the manner afterwards affected in his Elegiac Poems by the Athenian Dionysius, named Chalcus.” Heracleides of Pontus in Athenaeus [on Chariton and Melanippus]

Elegiac Poems

“‘But if I too,’ said Democritus, ‘may quote the Brazen poet and orator Dionysius —called the Brazen or bronze, by the way, because he advised the Athenians to adopt a bronze coinage, and the speech in which he did so is included by Callimachus in his List of Orations —I in my turn will recite something from his Elegiac Poems :

Receive, O Theodorus,⁶⁵⁷ this toast I drink you of my poetry; to you first of the guests about the board I hand the Graces I have mingled with leaves of paper,⁶⁵⁸ and do you take this gift, and pledge me songs back, to the adornment of our feast and the enhancing of your own happiness.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Hereupon Cynulcus, always up in arms against the Syrian and never content to let their quarrel rest, cried amid the tumult which had arisen round the table, ‘What is this troop of rowdies: I too will recall and recite you some of these lines （of Dionysius）, or Ulpian will be giving himself airs for having been the only one to draw on his secret store of poems, like the Homeridae, for cottabus-lore:
Come hither and hear good news; cease the strife of cups, win sense of me, and learn what I have to say;
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and that is, something relevant to our present enquiry.’
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Mention is made both of the cottabus and the λάταγες or wine-drops thrown in that game by Dionysius called the Brazen, in his Elegiac Poems, thus:
Here we love-lorn swains add for you to the school of Bromius, to take its place as a third kind of cottabus,⁶⁵⁹ the bag; and all you guests must twist your fingers into the handles of your cups;⁶⁶⁰ and before you throw at it you should pace the air over the couch with your eye, to reckon how far the drops are to extend.
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Hereupon Ulpian asked for a drink in a great cup, adding to his request the following lines from the same Elegiacs:⁶⁶¹

... to pour out the wine of hymns in turn about the board to Thee⁶⁶² and to us; and Thy ancient and far-come friend we will dispatch with oarage of the tongue unto great praise at this our feast;⁶⁶³ Wit sendeth Phaeacian⁶⁶⁴ oarsmen to the benches of the Muses' ship.⁶⁶⁵
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”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Pontianus here remarked that all these terrors were colonists of one city, Wine, the originator of Intoxication, Frenzy, and Drunken Outrage, whose devotees Dionysius, surnamed the Brazen, not ineptly calls in his Elegiacs ‘oarsmen of cups’:

and certain sailors of the feast and oarsmen of cups, bringing wine in the rowing of Dionysus⁶⁶⁶ ... about this⁶⁶⁷; for that which is dear is not lost.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“These things, dear Timocrates, are not, in the words of Plato,⁶⁶⁸ the mere games or jests of a Socrates still young and handsome, but the serious disputations of the Doctors at Dinner; for, to quote Dionysius the Brazen,

Whether you are at the beginning or the ending, what is better than what you most desire?
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner :[ (end of the book)

“A fault may be also made in syllables, namely if they do not represent a pleasant sound, as for instance Dionysius the Brazen in his Elegiacs calls poetry
the screech of Calliope
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because both poetry and that screech are sounds;⁶⁶⁹ but the metaphor is a poor one because of the unpleasant sounds.⁶⁷⁰
”
Aristotle Rhetoric

Euripides

“The poet Euripides was the son of a shop-keeper Mnesarchus and a greengrocer Cleito, an Athenian, but born at Salamis in the archonship of Calliades （480 B.C.） in the 75th Olympiad, when the Greeks fought the Persians at sea ... He brought out his first play in the archonship of Callias （456 B.C.）. The number of his dramas amounted in all to 902, of which 78 are extant. He died according to Philochorus at over seventy years of age, according to Eratosthenes at seventy-five, and was buried in Macedonia.⁶⁷¹” Life of Euripides

Lament and Inscription

Lament for the Athenians Who Fell in Sicily

“After their defeat and destruction Euripides composed a lament or epitaph:

These men won eight victories over the Syracusans when the favour of the Gods was equal for both sides.
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” Plutarch Life of Nicias

“According to Eparchides, the poet Euripides was once staying in the isle of Icaros, when a certain woman and her children, two grown-up sons and one unmarried daughter, all died of poisonous mushrooms which they ate in the fields, whereupon he composed the following inscription:

O Sun whose path lies through the unaging vault of heaven, did thy eye ever behold so sad a thing as a mother and a maiden daughter and two sons perishing on the same destined day?⁶⁷²
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [on mushrooms]

Alcibiades

“Alcibiades:—Son of Cleinias ... an Athenian, philosopher and orator （ that is , politician）, pupil first of Sophilus, later of Socrates, of whom some say he was the bosom-friend.. He became general of the Athenians, and in his grief at losing the generalship on account of the mutilation of the Hermae, withdrew to Tissaphernes the Persian and caused war between him and Athens, afterwards becoming reconciled with his country...” Suidas Lexicon “The Sicilian Expedition found a warm supporter in Alcibiades son of Cleinias, who desired both to oppose Nicias not only because he differed from him politically but because he had slandered him, and, which was dearer to him still, to have the command and thus be instrumental, as he hoped, in conquering Sicily and Carthage, and benefit personally by his success both in wealth and reputation. Being highly thought of by his fellow-countrymen, he had a greater ambition than his income justified with respect both to the rearing of race-horses and to other expensive pursuits. And this it was which more than anything else eventually caused the downfall of Athens. For alarmed by the great unconventionality of his private life, as well as by the surpassing genius he displayed in every detail of whatever came to hand, the common people, believing him to be desirous of the supreme power, became his enemies; and thus though he was eminently successful publicly in the prosecution of the war, they each and all were incensed at his private conduct, and by intrusting their future to other hands, quickly brought ruin on their country.” Thucydides Histories “It was while these events took place⁶⁷³ that Pharnabazus the satrap of King Darius took and slew the Athenian Alcibiades to ingratiate himself with the Spartans.” Diodorus of Sicily Historical Library

Elegiac

On Eupolis

“The poets satirised citizens by name down to the time of Eupolis; but the custom was abolished by the soldier and politician Alcibiades, who, having been satirised by Eupolis, threw the poet into the sea when he was campaigning with him in Sicily, saying:

Douse me, you, among the altars,⁶⁷⁴ and I'll give you a more unpleasant and more fatal dousing in the waves of the sea.⁶⁷⁵
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” Scholiast on Aristides

Agathon

“Agathon: —A writer of tragedy ridiculed for his effeminacy by Aristophanes in the Gerytades; he was a son of Tisamenus the Athenian, and became the bosom-friend of the tragic poet Pausanias, with whom, according to the younger Marsyas, he withdrew to the court of Archelaus. He imitated the elegant style of the orator Gorgias.” Scholiast on Plato Symposium “Agathon won at the Lenaean Festival in the archonship of Euphemus （417 B.C.）.” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner “‘I should really be a forgetful man, Agathon,’ said Socrates, ‘if after seeing your courage and self-assurance when you mounted the platform with the actors and faced so large a house, ready to give your declamation, without showing the least sign of nervousness, I should now expect you to be discomposed in the presence of this little company.’” Plato Symposium

Elegiac Couplet

“Agathon: —

Would that Opportunity, which grows best in the soil of discretion, were as clear to view as it is obscure!
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” Stobaeus Physical Extracts [on the nature of time]

Euenus

“⁶⁷⁶I chanced one day to meet a man who has paid more to the sophists than all the others put together, Callias son of Hipponicus; and I asked him —it seems he has two sons —the following question. ‘.. Into whose care do you intend to give them? Who has the expert knowledge of virtue [or excellence] of the kind I have mentioned, the human and political? .. Is there anyone possessed of this virtue or not?’ ‘Certainly,’ he replied. ‘Who is he?’ asked I, ‘and of what country? and what does he charge for his teaching?’ ‘Euenus, Socrates,’ he replied, ‘of Paros, and his fee is twenty pounds.’” Plato Defence of Socrates

“Hereupon Cebes exclaimed ‘Ah, Socrates! you did well to remind me. I have been repeatedly asked —only the other day by Euenus —about the poems you have composed by versifying the tales of Aesop and about your Hymn to Apollo; they all want to know how it is that you composed them as soon as you came here though you had never before done the like. Now if you would like me to have some answer to give Euenus when he repeats his question, as I know he will, tell me what reply to make.’ ‘Very well, Cebes,’ he replied: ‘tell him the truth, that I composed these poems with no desire to compete with him or his works —for I knew how difficult that would be —but because I wanted to test the meaning of certain dreams I had, and acquit my conscience of any obligation they might lay upon me to make this literary venture. . Thus it was that I first composed a poem to the God whose festival was being held; and then,⁶⁷⁷ believing that the poet, if he is to be worth the name, should compose myth or fable and not history —and I had no expert knowledge of fiction myself, —I took the fables I had at hand and knew, namely Aesop's, and put the first I happened on into verse. Here then is your reply to Euenus, and pray bid him farewell for me, and say that if he is wise he will lose no time in coming after me. I am going, it seems, to-morrow; such are the orders of my countrymen.’” Plato Phaedo

“Phaedrus and Socrates:— S. But we must say what the thing remaining to make oratory really is. —P. There 's plenty about it surely, Socrates, in the books on the art of words .. —S. We don't adduce the excellent Euenus of Paros, who discovered subordinate explanation and incidental eulogy —and some people say that he recites incidental invective in verse to aid his memory —for he 's an accomplished fellow.” Plato Phaedrus:

“Euenus:— Hypereides in the speech Against Autocles . The list contains two elegiac poets of this name, according to Eratosthenes' work On the Annals , who makes them both Parians, but states that the younger alone was famous. One of them is mentioned by Plato.” Harpocration Lexicon to the Attic Orators

“And not even she （Aspasia） gives you （Socrates） teaching enough, but you must needs lay Diotima under contribution in learning the art of love, and Connus in music, and Euenus in poetry, and Ischomachus in agriculture, and Theodorus in geometry.” Maximus of Type Dissertations

Eusebius Chronicle （gives Euenus' floruit as 460 B.C.）.

“Philistus: —Of Naucratis or Syracuse .. He was a pupil of the elegiac poet Euenus, and wrote the first history written according to the art of rhetoric.” Suidas Lexicon

“Let us pass over another point, that grammar and music were once combined —though indeed Archytas, and Euenus too, considered grammar subordinate; and that the same taught both is proved not only by Sophron .. but by Eupolis.” Quintilian Elements of Oratory

“ The animal known as the camel bends its thighs in the middle and thus reduces the length of its legs, being quite properly called κάμηλος , that is to say κάμμηρος or bend-thigh , as we are told by Euenus in his Erotica to Eunomus .
”
Artemidorus Interpretation of Dreams

“Instead of Chrysippus and Zeno you read Aristeides and Euenus. Have you lost nothing thereby?” Arrian Dissertations of Epictetus

“ Why mention the Fescennines of Annianus, or the Love-Jests of that ancient poet Laevius? or Euenus, who was called wise by Menander himself? or all the comedy-writers, whose life is austere and their subject frivolous?” Ausonius Cento Nuptialis [on the naughtiness of his writings]

Elegiac Poems

“⁶⁷⁸Ulpian making no reply, Leonides exclaimed ‘My long silence entitles me to speak, and, to quote Euenus of Paros:

Many a man will contradict on all and every matter, and care not whether his contradiction be just. For such the old answer is enough, Be that your opinion and this mine. But a good argument will quickly persuade men of sense, for these are easy pupils.⁶⁷⁹
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Euenus⁶⁸⁰: —

The best measure of Bacchus is neither much nor very little, for he is the cause either of inspiration or of pain. He rejoiceth when he maketh four with three Nymphs;⁶⁸¹ then too is he most apt for the bedchamber. But if he blow too strong, then doth he turn aside from our loves and plungeth us in a sleep that is neighbour unto death.
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” Palatine Anthology

“[Eu]enus: —

Methinks it is by no means the least part of wisdom to read aright the nature of every man.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on seeming and being]

“Euenus: —

Daring with wisdom is of great advantage, but daring alone is harmful and bringeth badness.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on courage]

“Euenus: —

Often the anger of men unveils a hidden mind much worse than madness.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on anger]

“Neocles never saw Themistocles' Salamis, nor Miltiades Cimon's Eurymedon, nor did Xanthippus hear Pericles' orations, nor Ariston Plato's disquisitions, nor did their fathers know of the victories of Euripides and Sophocles. They heard them lisping and learning their syllables, and they saw them indulging themselves in the revels, carousals and wenchings natural to youth, so that the only line of Euenus that is praised or quoted is:
Son to father is ever either a fear or a pain.
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But for all that, fathers do not cease to rear children, and those least of all, who least require them.⁶⁸²
”
Plutarch Love of Offspring

“Of Injustice or Unrighteousness there are three kinds, impiety, covetousness, and hubris the spirit of wanton outrage .., the last being that whereby men make pleasure for themselves by bringing dishonour upon others, or in the words of Euenus:

... [Hubris], which doeth wrong albeit she profit nothing.
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” Aristotle Virtues and Vices

“For what is forced is called necessary, and therefore is painful, as Euenus says:

All that is forced giveth pain.⁶⁸³
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” Aristotle Metaphysics

Epic Poems

“It is just this that makes habit so troublesome, namely that it resembles nature; as Euenus says:

I say that practice is long, friend, aye, and in the end is nature.⁶⁸⁴
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” Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics

Iambic Poems

“Simonides makes time the wisest of things; .. Euenus combines the two in this:

Time is the wisest and the foolishest of things.⁶⁸⁵
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” Simplicius on Aristotle

“Why then, it may be asked, are not these things reckoned as part of a statement? My answer is that they partake of it merely as salt partakes of a dish of meat, or water of a cake of bread. Euenus indeed declared that fire is the finest of sauces; yet we do not call water a part of any particular cake or loaf, or fire or salt part of any particular dish we may order.” Plutarch Questions on Plato [on conjunctions, the article, and prepositions]

Critias

“But, said the accuser, the association of Critias and Alcibiades with Socrates brought manifold misfortune upon the city. For Critias was the most covetous and violent of all the oligarchs, and Alcibiades the most incontinent and wantonly wicked of all the democrats.⁶⁸⁶” Xenophon Memorials of Socrates

“It is said that in the presence of a large company including Euthydemus, Socrates once remarked that Critias was like a pig because he desired to use Euthydemus as little pigs use stones. From that time forth Critias hated Socrates, so much so that when he and Charicles became legislators for the Thirty, he bore the rebuke in mind and included in the code a law forbidding the teaching of the art of words —this by way of doing him the ill turn, when he had no means of laying hands on him, of bringing him under the general prejudice against all philosophers and thus damaging him in the eyes of the world.” Xenophon Memorials of Socrates

“In the following year （404 B.C.） .. the people decreed that thirty men should be elected to make laws by which they should conduct the government, and the following citizens were chosen: Polychares, Critias, Melobius, etc.” Xenophon Hellenica

“There perished （at Munychia, fighting against Thrasybulus and the exiles）, of the Thirty, Critias and Hippomachus.⁶⁸⁷” Xenophon Hellenica

“Well? would it not have paid the Carthaginians to take Critias or Diagoras at the outset to make their laws, and believe in neither Gods nor spirits nor offer the sacrifices they offered to Cronus?” Plutarch On Superstition

“Solon had a brother Dropides ... ancestor of Critias the member of The Thirty.⁶⁸⁸” Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

“ According to Chamaeleon of Heraclea in the book entitled Protrepticus , the Spartans and Thebans all learn to play the flute, .. and the most famous Athenians, such as Callias son of Hipponicus and Critias son of Callaeschrus.
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Socrates and Charmides: —S. The fame of your father's family, the house of Critias son of Dropides, has come down to us crowned with the praises accorded it by Anacreon, Solon, and many other poets.” Plato Charmides

“... the author of the Peirithous, whether it is Critias the Tyrant or Euripides.⁶⁸⁹” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“He too is almost as stately as Antiphon, being exalted and also frequently declaratory, but he is purer in style, and discriminates in his comparisons, so that he is not only grand but clear and well-arranged; and in many of his works, particularly in the Exordia to Public Speeches, he is at once truthful and convincing.⁶⁹⁰” Hermogenes [on Critias]

“Others, as for instance Critias, have pronounced the soul to be blood.” Aristotle On the Soul

“Drinking-customs differ in the various cities; compare Critias' Constitution of Sparta : ‘The Chian and the Thasian drink in turn out of large cups, the Athenian out of small cups, the Thessalian,’ etc.⁶⁹¹” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Critias was a well-bred fine-grown man who nevertheless moved in philosophical circles, and thus was called a layman among philosophers and a philosopher among laymen.⁶⁹²” Scholiast on Plato

Aelian Historical Miscellanies

（see Archilochus fr. 149）.⁶⁹³

“Critias became a tyrant and a murderer in the worst senses, and so both brought great trouble upon his country and died a detested man.⁶⁹⁴” Aelian Historical Miscellanies

Elegiac Poems

“Critias' catalogue of things peculiar to each city is this:

To Sicily belongs that rare fine thing the cottabus, which we set up to be the target of wine-drop arrows; Sicily's too is the wain that is best and cheapest.⁶⁹⁵ .. Of Thessaly is the chair that gives most comfort to the limbs; Miletus, and Chios, sea-girt city of Oenopion, have the best wool-coverlets of beds for our lying; Tuscany hath the pre-eminence in the gold-wrought jar, and in all bronze that adorns the house for any use; the Phoenicians invented letters, those helpers of discourse, Thebes first made the chariot, the Carian stewards of the brine light merchant-ships;⁶⁹⁶ and the offspring of wheel and clay and furnace, that useful keeper of the house, the most renowned pot, is hers that set up the fair trophy at Marathon.⁶⁹⁷
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

Constitutions in Verse

“It was not the custom of the Spartans to pledge healths at their banquets as we do at ours, or to drink from the loving-cup in doing so. This is shown by a passage from the Elegiac Poems of Critias:
This too is a custom and practice at Sparta, to drink from one and the same cup of wine, and not to give the cup when thou namest thy toast nor [to pass the cup] round the company.⁶⁹⁸ 'Twas a Lydian hand, Asian-born,⁶⁹⁹ that invented pitchers, and the offering of toasts in turn around the board with the naming beforehand of the toast to be drunk. Moreover after such drinking the tongue is loosened⁷⁰⁰ unto foul tales, and the body gropeth; a darkling mist settles on the eye, oblivion melts the memory from the wits, and the arrows of the mind go wide; the serving-men become out of hand, and ruinous expenditure befalls. But at Sparta young men drink only so much as to bring all hearts into a merry confidence, and all lips into goodfellowship and moderate laughter. Such drinking advantageth alike body, understanding, and estate; it well befitteth the works of Aphrodite and sleep that's our haven after toil, befitteth also Health the God most pleasing unto man, and Piety's neighbour Discretion.
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And immediately afterwards he says again:

For toastings beyond due measure make present delight only to bring lasting pain afterward, whereas the Spartan manner lieth evenly, namely to eat and drink proportional to keeping thy wits and the power to act; there's no day appointed⁷⁰¹ for making the body drunk with immoderate drinking.
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”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

On Alcibiades

“But it is rare in heroic verse; so that Critias in his Elegy on Alcibiades considered it impossible to get his friend's name into the metre, saying:

And now will I crown the Athenian Alcibiades son of Cleinias with a new style of eulogy; for 'twas not possible to fit his name to elegias verse, and so, to save the metre, he shall stand in an iambic line.⁷⁰²
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” Hephaestion Handbook of Metre [on synizesis]

“The decree for his recall had been ratified earlier on the proposal of Critias son of Callaeschrus, as Critias has himself recorded in his Elegies, where he reminds Alcibiades of the good turn he did him, in the following lines:

The decision that brought thee home, ‘twas I that spake it among them all, and by my own proposing did the deed; upon these words the seal of my tongue is set.⁷⁰³
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” Plutarch Life of Alcibiades

“More, according to Gorgias of Leontini Cimon made money to spend it, and spent it to win credit; and when Critias became one of the Thirty Tyrants he wished, as we may read in his Elegies , for

the wealth of the Scopads, the greatmindedness of Cimon, and the victories of Arcesilas of Sparta.⁷⁰⁴
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” Plutarch Life of Cimon

“Critias:

More men are good⁷⁰⁵ by practice than by nature.
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” Stobaeus Anthology [on industry and practice, and that hesitation is inexpedient]

“To one of the Seven Sages belongs the maxim ‘Moderation in all things’’; it is ascribed to Cheilon; compare Critias:

Wise was the Spartan Cheilon, who said ‘Moderation in all things’; all that is good belongeth unto good measure.⁷⁰⁶
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” Scholiast on Euripides

Epic Poems

“⁷⁰⁷Love is the almost constant theme of the wise Anacreon who is so familiar to us all. Compare the excellent Critias:

Teos brought thee unto Greece, thou sweet old weaver of womanish song, rouser of revels, cozener of dames, rival of the flute, lover of the lyre, the delightful, the anodyne; and never shall love of thee, Anacreon, grow old or die, so long as servinglad bears round mixed wine for cups and deals bumpers about board, so long as maiden band does holy night-long service of the dance, so long as the scale-pan that is daughter of bronze sits high upon the summit of the cottabus-pole ready for the throwing of the wine-drops.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“Critias declares that this metre was invented by Orpheus.⁷⁰⁸” Mallius Theodorus On Metres [on the dactylic hexameter]

“In Critias we find λογεύς
‘speechman’
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for ῥήτωρ ‘orator.’⁷⁰⁹
”
Pollux Onomasticon

Socrates

“Socrates: —Son of the mason Sophroniscus and the midwife Phaenarete. He began life as a mason like his father . . . later he took to philosophy after hearing Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, and attended the lectures first of Damon and then of Archelaus . . When he had grown up he took part in the military expeditions to Amphipolis and Potidaea, and fought at Delium . . . He was contemporary, as one might say, with the Peloponnesian War, being born in the 77th Olympiad （472-69 B.C.） and lived till he was seventy,⁷¹⁰ when by the folly, or rather the madness, of the Athenians he was made to drink hemlock, and died without leaving any written work, unless it were, as some writers hold, a Hymn to Apollo and an Aesopian Fable in epic verse.” Suidas Lexicon “Hereupon Cebes exclaimed ‘Ah, Socrates! you did well to remind me. I have been repeatedly asked —only the other day by Euenus —about the poems you have composed by versifying the tales of Aesop and about your Hymn to Apollo ; they all want to know how it is that you composed them as soon as you came here though you had never before done the like. Now if you would like me to have some answer to give Euenus when he repeats his question, as I know he will, tell me what reply to make.’ ‘Very well, Cebes,’ he replied: ‘tell him the truth, that I composed these poems with no desire to compete with him or his works —for I knew how difficult that would be —but because I wanted to test the meaning of certain dreams I had, and acquit my conscience of any obligation they might lay upon me to make this literary venture. . Thus it was that I first composed a poem to the God whose festival was being held; and then,⁷¹¹ believing that the poet, if he is to be worth the name, should compose myth or fable and not history —and I had no expert knowledge of fiction myself, —I took the fables I had at hand and knew, namely Aesop's, and put the first I happened on into verse. Here then is your reply to Euenus, and pray bid him farewell for me, and say that if he is wise he will lose no time in coming after me. I am going, it seems, to-morrow; such are the orders of my countrymen.’” Plato Phaedo “From the time when the Greeks who went up with Cyrus returned, and the philosopher Socrates died at the age of seventy, 137 years, in the archonship of Laches at Athens （400 B.C.）.” Parian Chronicle

Poems

“He even composed, according to some writers, a Paean beginning:
Hail, Delian Apollo, and hail, Artemis, renownad children of . . .
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But Dionysodorus declares that the Paean is not his. He also composed an Aesopean Fable, not very successfully, beginning:

Aesop once bade the dwellers in Corinth not to judge of virtue by the wisdom of a court-of-law.⁷¹²
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”
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers [on Socrates]

“The kind of dancing employed in the choruses was in those days decorous and finely done, and as it were imitative of the motions of soldiers under arms. And that is why Socrates declares in his Poems that the best dancers are the best soldiers, thus:

Those that honour the Gods best in the dance are likewise best in war.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

Antimachus

“When Antimachus of Colophon and a certain Niceratus of Heraclea were competing at the Lysandreia in poems in his honour, he gave the prize to Niceratus, and Antimachus in anger destroyed his poem. But Plato, who was then a young man and admired his poetry, tried to sweeten the bitterness of his defeat by saying that it is the ignorant who suffer by their ignorance, as the blind by their blindness.” Plutarch Life of Lysander

“Shortly after the Peace （of 404 B.C.） died Darius the King of Asia. . It is about this time that Apollodorus of Athens puts the floruit of the poet Antimachus.” Diodorus of Sicily Historical Library

“The following were the means to consolation taken by the poet Antimachus. Upon the death of his wife Lyda, to whom he was deeply attached, he wrote to assuage his grief the Elegy called by her name, and enumerating the misfortunes of the heroes, lessened his own sorrow by recounting the ills of other men.⁷¹³” Plutarch Consolation to Apollonius

“There are three kinds of answers to a question, the first that of bare necessity, the second that of kindness, the third that of redundance. . The redundant or garrulous answerer, if he happen to have read Antimachus of Colophon, will say, etc.⁷¹⁴” Plutarch Garrulity

“It would be impossible for Demosthenes to make the remark recorded of the poet Antimachus, who, when the company assembled to hear him read that great volume of his that you know so well⁷¹⁵ was finally reduced to Plato, exclaimed ‘I shall read on all the same; I count Plato as worth all the rest put together.’ And rightly so; for a recondite poem should move the approval of few, whereas a popular disquisition asks the assent of men in general.” Cicero Brutus

“Neither was Lyde so dear to the Clarian poet nor Bittis to her Coan,⁷¹⁶ as you, dear wife of my bosom, who are worthy maybe of a less miserable husband but not of a better.” Ovid Sorrows

“Antimachus: —Of Colophon, son of Hyparchus; grammarian and poet . . . pupil of Stesimbrotus; he flourished before the time of Plato.” Suidas Lexicon

“In Antimachus, on the contrary, we have to praise force, weight, and a style very far from commonplace. But though nearly all scholars agree that he should be placed second （to Hesiod）, he is deficient in feeling, sweetness, arrangement of matter, and in art generally, thus making it clear how different a second may be from a good second.” Quintilian Principles of Oratory [on Hesiod and Antimachus]

“There have been many exponents of the austere style. . . . Outstanding in the epic are Antimachus of Colophon and the natural philosopher Empedocles, in lyric Pindar, in tragedy Aeschylus, in history Thucydides, in political oratory Antiphon.” Dionysius of Halicarnassus Literary Composition

“Antimachus' study was vigour, a challenging ruggedness, and unusualness.” Dionysius of Halicarnassus Criticism of the Early Writers

“The Laconic is not, what you take it to be, the use of few syllables, but the use of few syllables about a great deal. In this way I call Homer extremely brief and Antimachus long.” Gregory of Nazianzus Epistles

“According to Heracleides of Pontus, Plato preferred the works of Antimachus to those of Choerilus which stood then in so high repute, and persuaded Heracleides himself to go to Colophon and collect Antimachus' poems.” Proclus on Plato

“For if we find technical perfection in a poet, he is sure to abound in calculated effect and bombast, employing metaphors nearly everywhere, like Antimachus.” Proclus on Plato

“ That obscurity is plainly objected to by Callimachus is seen in his Epigrams , where he ridicules the Lyde of Antimachus thus: “Lyde and writing obscure instead of clear.
”
”
Scholiast on Dionysius Periegetes

“ Asclepiades:— “Lyde am I by name and race;⁷¹⁷ but Antimachus has made me nobler than all the daughters of Codrus.⁷¹⁸ For who has not sung of me? and who has not read Lyde, the common work of the Muses and Antimachus?
”
”
Palatine Anthology

“He is an emulator of Antimachus, and therefore uses many of his phrases; which is why he sometimes uses the Doric.” Scholiast on Nicander

“For just as the poems of Antimachus and the paintings of Dionysius, both men of Colophon, possessing as they do power and vigour, give the impression of being forced and laboured, whereas the pictures of Nicomachus and the lines of Homer combine power and grace with the appearance of having been produced with deftness and ease, so, etc.” Plutarch Life of Timoleon

“The History of Agatharchides or, as some writers call him, Agatharchus, was read. He is said to have written an Epitome of the Lyde of Antimachus.” Photius Library

“Cassius Longinus: —Philosopher; . . . flourished in the reign of the emperor Aurelian （A.D. 270-5） . . wrote . . a Glossary to Antimachus .” Suidas

Elegiacs

Lyde

“Dotium: — Δωτιάς ‘Dotian’ is found, like Ι᾿λιάς ‘Iliad’ from Ι᾿λιεύς .. Antimachus in the Second Book of his Lyde :

banished beyond the Dotian land
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” Stephanus of Byzantium

“ὀργεῶνες : .. Seleucus in his treatise On Solon's Axones ⁷¹⁹ declares that this was what they called all who meet together to worship heroes or Gods; but now by a transference they call priests by this name; compare Antimachus' Lyde Book iii:

where She⁷²⁰ appointed the Cabarnians, those renownad priests.⁷²¹
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”
Photius Lexicon

“That Oedipus gave the horses to Polybus we are also told by Antimachus in the Lyde :

And he cried ‘These horses that I took from my enemy will I give to thee, Polybus, to be my foster-gift.’
CURFRAG.tlg-0239.3

” Scholiast on Euripides [‘the son slew the father, and taking the chariot and its team gave them to his foster-father Polybus’]

“Of the Sun's passage to his setting in a cup, we thus learn from Stesichorus: . . . and Antimachus says:

Then in the golden cup was the Sun convoyed by the far-famed Erytheia.
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” Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

“ ἕρκτωρ : —‘effective,’ Antimachus:

who are the doers of the great wrongs unto thee.
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” Etymologicum Magnum

“ δύπτειν ‘to vail’ is to lower, as in Callimachus . . . and earlier in Antimachus:

even as when a gannet vails her head . . in the briny deep.⁷²²
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” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes [vailing their heads]

“The places whence they came to join the Argonauts are given differently, some authorities saying with Apollonius that it was from Thrace, Herodorus from Daulis, Duris from the land of the Hyperboreans; all these are given by Antimachus.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes [Zetes and Calais]

“According to Antimachus in the Lyde , Heracles was put ashore because his weight was too much for the Argo.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes [Zetes and Calais]

“Antimachus in the Lyde makes the bulls the work of Hephaestus.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes [the bulls of Aeetes]

“Mosychlus is a mountain in Lemnos; compare Antimachus:

like the fire of Hephaestus, which the God maketh amid the loftiest peaks of Mosychlus.⁷²³
CURFRAG.tlg-0239.7

” Scholiast on Nicander

“In these and the following lines he describes how Medea, by sprinkling a juniper with the drug, sent the serpent to sleep under a spell and so carried off the Fleece, and they both went off to the ship while the beast was in this trance; here he follows Antimachus.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes

“Timaeus says that the wedding of Medea took place at Corcyra, but Dionysius of Miletus in the second Book of his Argonautics brings them together at Byzantium, and Antimachus in his Lyde near the river in Colchis.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes

“Hesiod, Pindar in the Pythian Odes , and Antimachus in the Lyde make the Argonauts come across the Ocean to Libya and carry the Argo over into our sea.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes

“The poet says that these islands are called Strophades because the Children of Boreas turned back （ στρέφω ） at that point; here he follows Antimachus, who thus mentions them in the Lyde . Others say that they are so called because they turned there （ ἐπιστρέφω ） when they prayed Zeus that they might catch the Harpies. According to Hesiod, Antimachus, and Apollonius, they were not slain.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes “The name of the islands called Plotae or ‘floating’ was changed to Strophades: they are mentioned by Antimachus in his Lyde .” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes [on the next line]

“According to Hellanicus he was the son of Agenor, but, according to Hesiod, of Phoenix son of Agenor and Cassiopeia, which is the view of Asclepiades, Antimachus, and Pherecydes.” Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes [Phineus Agenorides]

“Adonis, who was the son, according to Hesiod, of Phoenix and Alphesiboea, and according to Panyasis （?）, of Thias king of Assyria （?）, ruled over Cyprus, according to Antimachus.” Probus on Vergil

“Sesami and Erythini: —Districts of Paphlagonia; Antimachus calls them Erythini because of the redness of their colour.⁷²⁴” Old Etymologicum Magnum

“According to the Lyde of Antimachus, the reason why Bellerophon was hated by the Gods was that he slew the Solymi who were beloved by them.” Scholiast on the Iliad “A people of Cilicia; hence called Solymi from Solymus the son of Zeus and Calchedonia, as we learn from Antimachus.” Scholiast on the Odyssey [‘from the Solymi’]

“With regard to the river Euleus, to which Antimachus thus refers in the poem called the Tablets:
having come to the springs of the swirling Euleus
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Demetrius of Scepsis declares in the 16th Book of The Trojan Catalogue that it contains a peculiar sort of eel.
”
Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner

Iachine

“ ἀβολήτωρ : . . Compare Antimachus Iachine:
Aye, and they are witnesses unto him;⁷²⁵
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So Philon in his Verbs . The meaning is ‘men who have covenanted or met with.’ So in Diogenian.
”
Etymologicum Magnum

Other

“ Σοῦσα : ‘ropes’; compare Homer: （ two lines giving an otherwise unknown reading ）; Antimachus:

And the Goddess set therein a mast and all manner of cordage for linen sails, both sheets and reefingropes, and twisted braces also and all the furniture of a ship.
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” Inscription on a Potsherd, of the 3rd century B.C.

“⁷²⁶Antimachus, who gives neither the number nor the names of the Graces, makes them daughters of Aegla or Daylight and the Sun.” Pausanias Description of Greece

“It is neuter when it means a garment or a plough as in Alcman （fr. 1）, and also in Antimachus the copies give:

they are ever in willing need of a garment.
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” Herodian [the word φάρος ]

“It should be noted that there occur other iambic words that have not t in the nominative and yet make their genitive in ου ; they are these: .. Πύδης Πύδου ‘Pydes’ （name of a river）, as in Antimachus:
and Pydes flowing down [over]
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this word was declined inconsistantly by Antimachus, who when it is iambic declines it without increase as above, but when it is spondaic declines it with the increase as in this:

daughter of the far-famed River Pydes
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”
Choeroboscus

“
Eisconiani
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the Ephesians, as in Antimachus.
”
Hesychius Glossary

1 the three dates are prob. 652, 646, and 546 B.C.

2 7. 91

3 c. 650 B.C. （see vol. ii., Archil.）

4 see L.G. i. p. 12; Syracuse was founded in 734 B.C.

5 cf. Corinna 41 （ L.G. iii）

6 or emending the Gk. in his Nome to Zeus

7 supplied by Casaubon

8 cf. Str. 13. 627, Theogn. 113, 603

9 see p. 40

10 see p. 40

11 cf. Hes. Mil. 67

12 Lyra Graeca iii. 534

13 see vol. ii, Astydamas.

14 cf. Lyra Graeca, l.c.

15 preceded by a mutilated column containing ἀγαλλομένη rejoicing in, κροκόεντα yellow, [τερ]άεσσι Διὸς signs from Zeus

16 perh. pouches of slingstones and quivers of arrows （Diels）

17 cf. Il. 2. 469

18 cf. Il. 17. 168

19 cf. Ar. Ach. 150

20 the three Spartan ‘tribes’

21 one of the two Spartan kings

22 （7 ll. lost or much mutilated ）

23 （ col. 2 （4） of 17 ll. lost or much mutilated ）

24 （ col. 3 （5） almost entirely lost ）

25 （ col. 4 （6） much mutilated, containing wherein quivering, of the Messenians, those without ... and we in the midst, and they as from out the [hoary sea ...], waves ... like to them, of august Hera, when the children of Tyndareus）

26 Strabo seems to mistake the ‘we’ by which T. means ‘we Spartans’ （historically speaking） for ‘you and I' of this generation; but as Erineus has not been mentioned above there clearly has been loss in the mss

27 i.e. motions

28 i.e. adopt a motion whose sense they have changed

29 Plut. gives ll. 1-2 and 5-8, Diod. 3-12; every other line （i.e. the pentameters） seems to have been added by Tyrtaeus to the original oracle （B）

30 prob. means shaping their counsel into decrees which truly represent it

31 cf. Paus. 4. 15. 2（ll.4-6）, 4. 13. 6（ll. 7-8）

32 cf. Il. 9. 327

33 reading doubtful

34 or perh. emending the Gr. entrails

35 the Athenian orator, 330 B.C.

36 cf. [Plut.] Nobil. 2. 1

37 the last sentence has the air of an addition,which itself, to judge by the slightly confused syntax, may have once ended at ‘hurlstones’

38 cf. Plat. Legg. 629a, 660e, Phaedr. 269a, Clem. Al. Paed. 3. 233, Stob. Fl. 51.1

39 or persevered in sight

40 or this is the noblest virtue （supplying ἀρίστη ）;cf. Theogn. 1003

41 or this is the noblest virtue （supplying ἀρίστη ）;cf. Theogn. 1003

42 or of his spear

43 cf. Theogn. 935

44 lit. try to come to the top of

45 or quotes this from T.

46 for the Spartan March-Songs sometimes ascribed to Aleman and Tyrtaeus, see Lyra Graeca iii. p. 535

47 as a runaway slave

48 Wil : lit. hero

49 Wil. the mire of Hades, cf. Ar. Ran. 145

50 mss corrupt: perh. two Books mostly love-poems

51 i.e. mouth-band of the flute

52 perh. they put forth

53 i.e. to play host to another's guest

54 i.e. practised to the full the counsel indicated by the famous line on love, Mimn. i. 1

55 Anacreon

56 Hunt; lit. Telchines （ see index ）

57 lit. outweighs, i.e. corn is much better than acorns though they grow on a tall tree （Hunt）

58 cf. Porphyrio below

59 i.e. the Book which contains a number of short poems, not the Nanno, a poem which seems to have filled a whole Book; γυνή is for ἡ περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς βίβλος （see H. J. M. Milne C.R. 1929, 214）; ‘pieces’ will do either for poems or for women ; for another mention of M. by Callimachus cf. Ox. Pap. 1011, 341 （Crusius）

60 i.e. recapitulates the words ‘that M. is sweet’ （Milne）

61 reading doubtful; perh. Books of songs to the flute

62 cf. Plut. Virt. Mor. 6（ τίς δὲ χάρις and ἄνευ ）, Apost. 16. 61c

63 or less likely maketh even a fair man foul

64 he prob. means fore-knowledge

65 or holding the end of, a phrase generally in the plural, meaning something like ‘having the entire control of’

66 Theognis 1017 has 11. 4-6 （with 2 slight changes） preceded by 11. 1-3, which are not found in Stob. and may not belong to M.

67 or valueless

68 or when it is poured over eyes and wits

69 if the text is sound ‘voyage’ stands for ‘a ship that went a voyage’

70 not in the Greek

71 i.e. had it not been for Medea's love; prob. part of the Nanno , cf. Ap. Rh. 3. 1 （Kaib.）

72 or reading εἰσαναβᾷ and taking it as present subjunctive ‘begins to climb’

73 of the Lelegians

74 or and thence

75 reading doubtful

76 M. hints at the discreditable episode of the loss of Old Smyrna to the Aeolians by calling it Aeolian

77 to him?

78 Theognis 793 has ll. 3-4 preceded by ll. 1-2 which are not found in the Anth. and may not belong to M.

79 cf. Sch. Pind. N. 3. 16

80 i.e . ill-report of a man

81 or where there is a famous race of horses? cf. Il. 21. 155, Cram. A.P. 3. 287. 1

82 cf. Eust. Od. 1413. 23

83 the 1st citation is from Pindar （ Paean 9）, the 2nd perh. from Stesichorus （ L.G. ii. p. 19 and fr. 94）, and the 3rd, if not from Paean 9, perh. from Archilochus （cf. fr. 74）, cf. Ginzel p. 525

84 ascription doubtful （it is at any rate not part of an iambic, unless we read οἰφέει ）; cf. Diogen. 2. 2, Com. Adesp. p. 36K.

85 cf. Ath. quoted on p. 226

86 lit. Do nothing too much

87 cf. Aeschin. i. 25 Sch.

88 >remains of these were to be seen c. 80 A.D. in the Prytaneum at Athens, Plut. Sol. 25

89 the mss make ‘holy’ an epithet of ‘lawgiver’

90 see the whole story, which is too long to quote here

91 cf. Justin. 2. 7, Philod. Mus. 20 K

92 or more accurately, as we say , an opening; cf. Theophr. Char. 7. 3

93 caps were worn by the sick

94 or sang? lit. went through in song （ or recitation）; but note the absence of any mention of a fluteplayer; the so-called singing was prob. formal recitation like that of a rhapsode （cf. τῷ λέγοντι below）

95 >cf. Phot. Lex. Reitz. ἀγορά: σόλων δὲ τὸ πεξῷ λόγῳ ἀγορεύειν

96 cf. Plut. Praec. Reip. 17, Dem. F.L. 252

97 small islands

98 cf. Apost. 9. 6 b, Ars. 304, Sch. Dem. p. 94 b Sauppe, Ulp. in Dem. F.L. p. 152 Dobs., Ald. Voem.

99 cf. Ar. Eq. 1173 ff

100 as a （sham） invalid （and cf. Solon）

101 as line 11 appears sound, it is supposed that an hexameter is lost before and after it

102 perh. associations or clubs

103 this line is of doubtful ms-authority

104 cf. Plut. Sol. 18, Aristid. i. 829, ii. 360

105 Plut. Sol. et Popl. 2, Popl. 25

106 cf. Clem. Al. Str. 6. 740 （contrasts Theogn. 153）, Diogen. 8. 22, Diog. L. i. 59

107 cf. Diog. L. i. 2. 3, 50, Apost. 6. 93, Plut. Sol. 3, Diod. Sic. 19.

108 or. reading ῥύσια ,pledges

109 cf. Plut. Sol. 30, Clem. Al. Str. i. 23. 1, Diod. Exc. Vat. iii p. 24, Cratin. 127 K

110 or, keeping the Greek, justest

111 cf. Clem. Al. Str. 6. 742 ὧδε ἄρχεται , Crates 1 （vol. ii）

112 Plut. Sol. 2, Sol. et Popl. 1, Popl. 24. 7

113 reading doubtful

114 or every year?

115 cf. Theogn. 585, Stob. Fl. 111. 16

116 or where we shall come to shore

117 cf. Theogn. 227, Arist. Pol. 1256 b. 83, Plut. Div. Cup. 4, Basil Leg. Gent. 8 p. 183

118 or, emending the Gk. satisfy the insatiable

119 or looks down upon

120 cf. Theogn. 315, Stob. Fl. i. 4, Plut. Tranq. An. 13, Prof. Virt. 6, Cap. ex Inim. 11, Basil Gent. 4. 177, Theodul. Reg. Off. 146, Arist. Eth. Nic. 1179 a. 9

121 cf. Theodoret i. 14

122 cf. Mimn. 2. 6 n

123 cf. Euseb. Praec. Ev. 13. 688 c

124 cf. Plat. Lach. 188b, 189a, Rep. 536b, Plut. Sol. 2 and 31, Sch. Soph. Ant. 711, Ioan. Sic. Rh. Gr. 6. 201 W, Zen. 3. 4, Diogen. 3. 80, Ars. 161, Apost. 5. 40; Paroem. Gotting. ii. 107, Suid. γηρᾶναι , Dio. Chrys. Or. 18 init., Tatian 35, Cic. Scn. 8, Val. Max. 8. 7. 14

125 cf. Vit. Arat. 53 W （gives name as κυπράνωρ ） and Lobel on O.P. 4. 680 Bodl. Quart. 4. 96

126 cf. Liban. i. 403 （20）, Stob. 121. 3, Plut. Sol. et Popl. 1, Popl. 24. 5 （21）

127 cf. Arist. Rh. 1375 b. 32, Plat. Tim. 20 e, Charm , 157 e, Poll. 2 1, Procl. in Tim. i., 82. 2 D

128 cf. Hermias ad Pla. Phaedr. 231 e p. 78 A （ σόλων ）, Luc, Am. 48, Theogn, 1253

129 Plato, for his own purposes, understands the Gk. as ‘he to whom children are dear （ or are friends）’

130 a ‘stock-’ epithet of horses, distinguising them from animals whose hoof is cloven

131 cf. Theogn. 719, Tob. F,l. 97. 7.

132 i.e. food, clothes, and shoes; the couplet which follows, ‘of lad or lass; and when the time for these things hath come and youth is accordant （ or of lad and lass, and when youth hath come thus far, and with the right age they are fitting pleasures）,’ is a certain though early addition

133 cf. Plut. Sol. 31, Sept. Sap. 13

134 cf. Vol. Herc. coll. Alt. 11.62

135 cf. Clem. Al. Str. 6.814, 5.714, Ambros. Ep. 6.3, Cram, A.P. i.46, Apost. 14.94, Cens, Nat. 14, Macr. Somn, Scip, i. 6, Arist. Pol , 1335 b. 32, 1336 b. 40, H.A. 581 a. 13, Rh, 1390 b. 4, Diog. L. i. 54

136 one word in the Gk.; it is less moral than virtue, and includes both courage and such ideas as prowess, excellence, and manliness; it is the noun of ἀγαθός , which means ‘good at’ as well as ‘good’

137 See note 3, p. 141

138 or, emending burning （i.e. in a fever or mad）; the land is Attica

139 lit. make your mind great within limits, cf. Hes. Op. 692, Pind, I. 6. 103, or emending the Greek cut yourselves a great mind to measure?

140 πείσομαι future of πένομαι （not found elsewhere, but necessary to the sense of citation and context; without an objt. πάσχω cannot = suffer ill, nor is there any question of obidience even if we could supply to the dative） E

141 Sch. Plat. p. 123 Bek., Arist. Met. 983 a. 3, Plut. Poet. 2, Paroem , Gr. i. p. 371, ii. p. 128 （Gott.）, Apost. 14. 41

142 military metaphor

143 prob. ‘with what is best’ is Plutarch's addition

144 or do anything tyrannous perforce

145 （ll. 4-5） cf. Plut. Sol. 16. 3, （ll. 6-7） Aristid. Or. 28. 137（ καὶ ταῦτα μέν ἐστιν ε）ν τεπραμέτροις, ε）ν δὲ τοῖς ι）άμβοις ）

146 besides the London Papyrus we have Pap. Berl. 163 for ll.3-25

147 i.e. formed the democratic party

148 cf. （ll. 3-22） Aristid. l.c. 128（ ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἴαμβοις ）

149 （ll. 6-14） cf. Plut. Sol. 15. 5

150 i.e. mortgage-posts

151 cf. Aristid. Or. 46.278

152 （l. 16） cf. Plut. Sol. 15. 1

153 includes ‘high and low’

154 cf. Plut. Sol. 16.4 （line 6）

155 a)natara/cas points rather to butter than cream, though to judge by the other mentions of it the Greeks seem to have used it only medicinally; it is imported nowadays

156 in no-man's land, as we say; cf. Aristid. 2. 360

157 or a city

158 cf. Xenoph. 2; the ref, may be only to an apophthegm

159 B suggests that Theogn. 933-4 belongs to Solon, and is here referred to; see p. 339

160 cf. Str. 14. 655

161 lit. Do nothing too much

162 cf. A.P. 7. 153, Philop. in Arist. 77 b. 32 （p. 156 Wall.）

163 31 L.G.

164 cf. Suid Κλεοβουλίνη , A.P. 14. 101, Stob. Ecl. Phys. i. 8. 37

165 the scene is of course fictitious

166 cf. Plut. Pyth. Or. 14 Sept. Sap. 10, Arist. Rh. 1405a. 35, Poet. 1458 a. 26, Demetr. Eloc. 102, Rh. Gr. 6. 200, 7. 949 W

167 the answer is prob. ‘a man stealing a dagger from a madman’; cf. Arist. Eth. Nic. 1134 a. 17 ff and Sch. （ Hermes 5. 81, 82）

168 cf. Aspas. ad loc. , Plut. de Flum. 18 （?）

169 cf. Phocyl. i, which is perh. a parody in answer to D.'s attack on the Milesians （fr. 1）

170 cf. Suid. δικάζεσθαι

171 the technical terms do not correspond with Attic usage

172 Jerome gives 534, Euseb. Arm. version 540

173 i.e. rather than suitable for a king

174 cf. Eust. and Dion. Perieg. 530, Paus. 7.4.2

175 the name Procles may be wrong; perh. ‘Patrocles,’ which some mss have; cf. Demodocus 2 n

176 cf. Suid. ἀπαιτέων, χρήστης , Liban. Ep. 1073

177 orig. meaning doubtful, but cf. Βλοσυρῶπις of the Gorgon Il. 11. 36; Brugmann connects doubtfully with Βλεμεαίνω ‘to glare,’ of the lion Il. 12. 42, of Hector Il. 8. 337; we should in any case beware of the modern idea of surpassing fleshiness; Greek pigs were, and are, allowed to roam, and not fattened artificially

178 cf. Ibid. 32. 457, Themist. 24. 307 c

179 lit. adds or puts to

180 N. was destroyed in 612 B.C.

181 cf. Tz. on Ar. Ran. 962 Rhein. Mus. 6. 616

182 ‘virtue’ included other excellence than moral

183 cf. Plat. Rep. 407 a, Diogen. 4.39, Liban. Ep. 1536

184 cf. Alex. Aphr. in Top. 116 a. 13, 14, 123 b. 23

185 cf. Mai Coll. Vat. 3. 198

186 cf. Cram. A.P. i. 166, Clem. Al. Str. 5. 140. 6

187 so Clement: Plut. ‘be often deceived,’ Cramer's Ined. （emended by B） ‘suffer much unwillingly’

188 cf. Euseb. Praep. Ev. 13. 687 c

189 a third line is lost

190 the last 2 ll. occur only in Sext. Emp. Hypot. i. 224; in line 1 Diog. has the accus.

191 Diog. or his authority, perh. by a slip, seems to confuse Xenophanes with Xenophon

192 611-546 B.C

193 cf. Plut. Comm. Hes. 19, Procl. ad Hes. Op. 284, Sch. Il. 2. 212

194 cf. Ath. quoted on p. 168

195 cf. Apul. Fl. 4, Tz. ad Dion. Per. 940

196 cf. Diog. L. 9.22

197 cf. Cic. Acad. 2. 118

198 cf. Plut. Superst. 13, Amat. 18, Is. et Os. 70, Apophth. Lac. 26

199 cf. Censor. 15. 3

200 or overlapping

201 the translation closely follows R. D. Hicks

202 Jerome gives 532, Euseb. 550 and 544 （Arm. version 540）; Apollod. ap. Clem. Al. Str. i. 353 puts his birth as early as Ol. 40 （620-17 B.C.）, cf. Sext. Emp. Math. i. 257

203 cf. Eust. 1633. 53 （ll. 4-8）

204 these words are prob. an adaptation of part of the couplet preceding the citation

205 i.e. run short （H. Williams cf. Hdt. 8. 52, 7. 187）

206 prob. includes dancing, as sometimes in the Iliad , e.g. 7. 241

207 perh. corrupt

208 or emending the Gk. vapourings

209 ref. to Hesiod and Alcaeus （Diels）

210 cf. Eust. 1299. 22

211 fr. 282 N

212 reading doubtful

213 apparently, after expelling the Lydians, the free citizens fixed their number at a thousand; Diels compares Heracl. Πολ. ii. 6 （ Κυμαίων ） : χιλίοις παρέδωκε τὴν πολιτείαν ; ‘went into the marketplace clad in’ simply means ‘began going about in,’ as we should say; cf. Arist. Pol. 1290 b. 15

214 or keeping the Gk. comely

215 his sentence seems to be largely a paraphrase of Xen.

216 metaphorical; the gift was prob. a poem or book of poems by the author

217 this may be addressed to Simonides （so Diels, who compares Sch. Ar. Pac. 697）

218 cf. A.P. 7. 120 （II. 1-4）, Suid. Ξενοφάνης （1-3） and στυφελίζαι

219 cf. Apost. 8.42 r and fr. 42 below

220 i.e. his philosophic poetry

221 this is thought to mean （Diels） that he left Ionia owing to its conquest by Harpagus （c. 545 B.C., which would make the date of this poem c. 478 and his age 92）

222 cf. Cram. A.O. 4. 339

223 cf. p. 205 n. 2

224 the numeration of the remaining fragments （not given by B） is that of Diels Vors. i. 59 ff.

225 cf. Ibid. καθ. προσῳδ. Gr. Gr. 535. 30

226 Diels continues ‘that the Gods are wicked,’ cf. fr. 11

227 cf. Diog. L. 2. 46

228 cf. Euseb. Praep. Ev. 13. 13. 36, Theodoret Graec. Aff. Cur. 3. 72

229 for metre cf. fr. 42, the Margites , Hor. Epod. 16, and Diog. L. 9. 18 （Crus.）

230 cf.Theodoret Gr. Aff. C. 3. 73

231 cf. Stob. Fl. 29. 41

232 the gap contains in the mss the words ‘ b （2nd Book?） of the iambic poet,’ apparently the remains of some reference to Semonides （often called Simonides） of Amorgos, to whom however the sequel can hardly refer

233 perh. the original title of the Lampoons

234 from Homer

235 Harpagus to conquer Ionia in 545 B.C., cf. fr. 7

236 cf. Euseb. Praep. Ev. 13. 13. 36

237 Diels points out that the ref. here is to the heavens, comparing Arist. Met. 986 b. 18

238 cf. Diog. L. 9. 19 （quoted p. 188）

239 cf. Sext. Emp. Math. 10. 313, Hippol. Refut. 10. 6, Stob. Ecl. i. 10. 12（ ἐν τῷ π. φύσεως ）, Sch. Ven. Il. 7. 99

240 Simpl. in Arist. Phys. p. 188. 13（ Άναξιμένην ）

241 cf. Stob. Ecl. i. 31. 4 p. 243 W, Arist. Meteor. 354 b. 15, Aet. Doxogr. Diels 371

242 or that which they call the rainbow

243 as well as the sun （Diels）

244 cf. Hippol. Ref. 10. 7, Sch. Il. 7. 99, Plut. Vit. Hom. 2. 93, Heracl. Alleg. Hom. 22

245 cf. Sext. Emp. Math. 110. 8. 26, Pyrrh. Hypot. 2. 18 （1. 4）, 7. 50, Arist. 3. 1. vol. 8 p. 636 K （Il. 3-4）, Stob. Ecl. 2. 1. 17 （1. 4）, Procl. in Tim. i. 254. 23, Epiphan. Exp. Fid. 9. 1087 c

246 i.e. it is all opinion rather than knowledge; cf. Plat. Meno 80 d

247 cf. Choerob. Gram. Gr. 4. 2. 88. 30

248 prob. the stars （Diels）

249 cf. E. Gud. κάρρων E. M. Vet. γλύσσων , E. Flor. Miller κάρρων , E. M. 235. 3

250 less likely （with this word-order） ‘yellow honey’

251 κερασός is really the bird-cherry; mulberries and blackberries seem to have been confused

252 prob. not the same passage as fr. 7

253 cf. Euseb. Cyrill. （both 548）, Chron. Pas. （c. 552）

254 there is prob. some displacement and repetition hereabouts

255 the last sentence prob. comes from a different source

256 cf. Phot. Lex. Κύρνος, Θέογνις , Sch. Thuc. 2. 43

257 cf. Harp. Θέογνις

258 this suggests the existence of other works

259 ἐν ἄλλοις δέ γε ὀλίγον μεταβάς

260 not mentioned elsewhere, but the linguistic arguments against the authenticity of the passage, advanced e.g. by Persson （ Eranos 1915 p. 43）, are not convincing

261 ποίησις is used rather than ποίημα because the writer has a collection of poems, not a poem, in mind; Aristotle, Pol. 5. 6. 2, calls the Eunomia of Tyrtaeus, perh. a long poem in several parts, a ποίησις

262 or basis

263 or basis

264 cf. Thuc. i. 1 ἐκ τεκμηρίων . . οὐ νομίζω

265 or amending the Greek as knowing

266 cf. Plut. Nobil. 15

267 excellence generally

268 this has also the meaning of writing prose

269 The quoter means ‘any more than you would wake the slumbering,’ though that is not the meaning of the original

270 technical terms of hexameter-writing

271 Title: or Elegies （ ἐλεγειῶν ）? another name seems to have been Gnomology or Collection of Maxims ; Clement of Alexandria, Str. 7. 18. 110, ascribes to Theognis the oracle ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ὦ Μεγαρεῖς οὔτε τρίτος οὔτε τέταρτος | οὔτε δυωκέκατοι, οὔτ᾽ ε）ν λόγῳ ου）´τ᾽ ε）ν α）ριθμῷ

272 cf. Apost. 18. 56b （1-4）

273 at Megara, Paus. i. 43. 1

274 cf. Arist. Eth. Eud. 1243a

275 cf. Iriarte 191 （17-18）

276 cf. Crit. 4; or let me use the cunning device of setting my seal （see p. 8）; μέν prob. either marks the beginning of the （original） collection proper or contrasts the world-wide reputation that goes with the ‘signature’ of T. and the contempt felt for him by some of his own people, less likely contrasts the sober counsel of Bk. I with the more frivolous theme of Bk. II; note that σοφία always comes of training, never by nature

277 δέ as in the description e.g. of a woman on her tombstone ‘daughter of N. but （ δέ ） wife of M.’

278 for cynical contrast cf. 253 （ αὐτάρ ）

279 contrast with ἀστοῖς

280 ἀρετή is the noun of ἀγαθός , which means ‘good at’ as well as ‘good’; its meaning therefore includes excellence, prowess, achievement of all kinds

281 in the public lounges

282 or and to eat and drink at the house of those, and sit with those, and please those, whose power is great; note that good and bad in T. often have a political colouring, but it would be misleading to translate noble and ignoble

283 cf. Xen. ap. Stob. Fl. 88. 14 （22）; Apost. 4. 14d （24-8）; Ar. Av. 1362 （27）; Muson. ap. Stob. Fl. 56. 18, Nicostr. ibid. 74. 64 （33-6）, Xen. Mem. i. 2. 20, Symp. 2. 4, Clem. Al. Str. 5. 52. 4, Cram. A.P. i. 229, Sch. Aphth. Rh. Gr. 2. 593 W, Iriarte 448, Ar. Eth. Nic. 1170 a, 1172 a, Liban. 3. 90, Ep. 79. 1366 （35-6）

284 or emending the Greek , may not, which suits the sequel better

285 ὕβρις , inadequately rendered pride or insolence, means the spirit of wanton outrage

286 [= 1082 A-B]

287 i.e. serfs have been admitted to citizenship

288 cf. Ion of Chios fr. 4. 4

289 or with whatever need in view

290 cf. 235

291 cf. Isocr. Demon. 19. 25. 34

292 cf. Apost. 13. 86 e （74）

293 cf. Plat. Legg. 630 a, Euseb. Praep. Ev. 12. 2. 2, Theodoret Gr. Aff. i. 69, Philostr. Apoll. 2. 26 （77-8）

294 cf. Them. 22. 323 （79-80）

295 [= 1082 C-F]

296 [97-100 = 1164 A-D]

297 in your friendship with a vulgar man

298 doubtfully emended

299 μνῆμα = μνήμη , cf. 60, γνῶμαι = γνώματα

300 cf. Teles ap. Stob. Fl. 97. 31 （109）

301 cf. Ps.-Phocyl. 92 （ γὰρ ）

302 the Greek is in his bosom

303 i.e. guess the value or quantity as when marketing; cf. Theophr. Char. 30. 12 δοκοῦντος πρὸς τρόπου πωλεῖν

304 cf. Eur. Med. 516; Clem. Al. Str. 6. 18. 6 （119-124）; Arist. Eth. Eud. 1237 b, Apost. 13. 15 k （125-6）

305 see p. 233 n. 4

306 cf. Stob. Fl. 79. 1 （131-2）

307 i.e. naturally involve it

308 147 = PHOCYLIDES 16; cf. Arist. Eth. Nic. 1129b. 29 and Sch. （145-8） and see Herm. 5. 79, 356, cf. Isocr. Demon. 38

309 see p. 233 n. 4

310 see p. 235 n. 2

311 see p. 235 n. 2

312 = SOLON 6. 9-10, Clem. Al. Str. 6. 2. 8. 740, Sch. Pind. O. 13. 12, Diogen. 8. 22 （153）

313 cf. Stob. Fl. 95, 15 （adding 179-80）（155-8）; Apost. 8. 28 a （157-8）; Basil Lib. Gent. 177 d （2. p. 249 Garn.）

314 cf. Apost. 11. 88 a

315 see p. 249 n. 1

316 cf. Apost. 14. 68 a （161-2）

317 δαίμων here means a man's presiding deity, as we speak of a man's luck as something belonging to him

318 cf. Sol. 14 （168）

319 cf. Shakesp. Sonnet 95 ... ‘Cannot dispraise but in a kind of praise; | Naming thy name blesses an ill report’

320 prob. malaria

321 cf. Stob. Fl. 96. 16, Clem. Al. Str. 4. 483, Plut. Com. Not. 2, Chrys. ap. Plut. Stoic. Rep. 14, Sch. Thuc. 2. 43, Hermog. Prog. 4. 24 W, Aphth. 68, Rhet. Gr. W 2. 306, 309, Pref. 11, Theodoret 11. 153, Sch. Arist. 4. 8, 14, Cram. A.P. 4. 404. 30, Luc. Merc. Cond. 5. 10, Tim. 26, Boiss. An. Nov. 181, 394, Eust. 998. 25, Amm. Marc. 29. 1. 21, Elias Prol. Porph. 6. 15, Greg. Naz. Virt. 393 （175-6）; Stob. Fl. 96. 14 （adding 649-53, cf. Luc.）, Artem. On. i. 32, Plut. Poet. Aud. 4, Arist. Eth. Eud. 1230 a. 12, Liban. Decl. i. 88 （177-8）; Stob. Fl. 96. 15 （adding 155-8）（179-80）

322 Cf. Stob. Fl. 70.9 （183-6）; Xen. ap. Stob. 88.14, Ps.-Phocyl. 201 （183-90）; Arist. ap. Stob. 86. 25 （189）; Themist. 21. 302 D

323 or perh. wealth; cf. Poll. 9. 87

324 cf. 332 A, Clem. Al. Str. 6. 8. 1. 427

325 not he is not bad, etc.

326 lit. mingling the disposition which each has; or emending mingling it with, etc.?

327 or follow （ i.e. imitate） this rock

328 the opposite of versatility; cf. Ath. 7. 317 a, 12. 513 d, Plut. Amic. Mult. 9, Soll. An. 27, Q. Nat. 19, Diogen. i. 23, Sch. Luc. Salt. 67, Jul. Mis. 349, Philostr. Vit. Soph. i. 5 （215-6） [= 332 A-B]

329 cf. Stob. Fl. 4. 27 （221-6）

330 or goal

331 or run twice as hard as the others

332 = SOLON 13. 71-6; cf. Plut. Div. Cup. 4 （227）

333 κείμενος suggests ‘reclining at table’; the dining-couches would hold three, cf. Plat. Symp. 213 b

334 like Bellerophon; or like the horses of Pelops, cf. Cic. Tusc. 2. 27. 67, father of the Megarian hero Alcathous, cf. 774 （Crus.）

335 for the cynical contrast in the last sentence cf. 24 （ δέ ）

336 cf. Arist. Eth. Nic. 1099 a, 25 （ δηλιακὸν ἐπίγραμμα ）, Eth. Eud. i. 1, Stob. Fl. 103. 8

337 lit. broken through the halter or bridle

338 in the Greek the horse, as often without particular significance （ e.g. 988）, is feminine; the theme is not necessarily erotic; the horse may be a city ruled by a bad man

339 or is staying at the house of

340 the explanation and most of the translation （except for line 4） is Mr. Harrison's, but the custom of drinking confusion to a man in water, as he admits, seems not to be mentioned elsewhere; for the contrast, however, between wine and water cf. Ar. Lys. 233 ff.

341 or trusting them

342 this couplet is too corrupt for certain emendation

343 i.e. we invite him as seldom as possible; for ἀναγκαῖος and ἀναγκαιότατος ‘smallest possible’ cf. Eur. Or. 230, Thuc. i. 90

344 the metaphor is perh. of the wind blowing a ship

345 or knowing

346 i.e. merry with wine

347 = SOLON 15, cf. Stob. Fl. i. 16 （315-8）

348 Williams ‘keeps his resolution unshaken’

349 cf. Stob. 37. 3 （319-22）

350 lit. are natural against, or in the case of, men; the emphatic position of θνητοῖς before the vocative helps to separate it from ἀνθρώποις

351 cf. Stob. Fl. 15. 6 （331-2）

352 cf. Clem. Al. Str. 6. 8. 1 （332 A） [= 209-10]

353 see p. 233 n. 4

354 i.e. those dear to me who love me

355 for ἀποσείω of involuntary loss cf. ἀπόλλυμι and ἀποβάλλω

356 or keep watch ὄρομαι

357 [= 1184 A-B]

358 cf. Zeuxis fr. 2

359 the Greek gives the wicked as plural and the righteous （himself?） as singular

360 the Greek is they

361 lit. the wits in their breasts

362 for the construction cf. the use of a demonstrative instead of a second relative

363 the poem has prob. suffered loss （after 382?） or interpolation （after 380?）, and there is certainly some confusion in 383-92 （‘yieldeth to Want’ comes from Tyrt. 10. 8, and 390-2 alone show ‘epic correption’）

364 or, as a general epithet, man-destroying oaths

365 see p. 233 n. 4

366 the idea is something like our ‘good luck’

367 or falls to the lot of

368 [cf. 1161]

369 or no man that is a true comrade free of guile like myself

370 i.e. beside so-called gold which is mostly lead

371 reading doubtful; the construction is irregular but possible [repeated after 1164 D; cf. also 1105-6]

372 cf. Stob. Fl. 36. 1 （421-4）

373 the Middle suggests ‘get earth heaped up for oneself’; or （with Williams, comparing Od. 5. 482） make a grave for oneself, though in Ap. Rh. i. 1305 the sense is active; cf. Sext. Emp. Hypot. 3. 175, Stob. Fl. 120. 4, Clem. Al. Str. 3. 15. 1, Theodoret 5. 71. 15, Sch. Soph. O.C. 1225, Suid. ἀρχὴν μέν , Diogen. 3. 4, Macar. 2. 45, Apost. 3. 85, Plut. Cons. Ux. 10, Crantor and Arist. ap. Plut. Cons. Ap. 27 （425 ff.）; Stob. Fl. 120. 3 （ ἐκ τοῦ Ἀλκιδάμαντος μουσείου ）, Cert. Hom. 240 Rz. （425, 427）

374 or whereby a man hath made a fool wise, etc.?

375 cf. Clearch. ap. Ath. 6. 256 c, Plut. Q. Plat. i. 3, Dio Chrys. i. 2 （432）; Arist. Eth. Nic. 1179 b. 4 （434）; Plat. Men. 95 c （434-8）

376 or （as 1162 D） how to mingle his heart either with

377 [repeated after 1162]

378 i.e. if you upbraid me or accuse me you will find me innocent of unfaithfulness

379 cf. Ath. 13. 560 a, Stob. Fl. 71. 2, Apost. 13. 39. s, Eust. 1345. 56 （457-60）; Clem. Al. Str. 6. 14. 5 （457-8）

380 the Greek is prob. corrupt; easily should in syntax belong to the giver and not to the recipient; neither Hecker's ἐπίδηλον ‘conspicuous’ nor Bergk's καλόν removes this difficulty: cf. Apost. 6. 70. 1 （447-8）; Apost. 8. 7 d （449-50）

381 = EUENUS 8, to whom the whole poem prob. belongs

382 for the present participle in the sense of the aorist with a future verb cf. 492 and e.g. Ar. Pac. 49, Lys. 610

383 lit. I shall have come （to that stage of wine） when it is pleasantest to a man to have drunk it, or rather when it （the wine） is pleasantest to a man to have been drunk

384 i.e. the true victor in the drinking-bout

385 cf. Sch. Nic. Al. 396

386 cf. Pherecr. ap. Ath. 8. 364 c （467-9）; Plut. Non Posse 21 （ κατὰ τ. Εὔηνον ）, Plat. Phaedr. 240 c （472）; Ath. 10. 428 d （477-87）; Stob. Fl. 18. 14 （479-86）

387 cf. Stob. Fl. 18. 15 （497-508）; Apost. 7. 16 m （499-503）; Ath. 2. 37 e （500）; Stob. Fl. 18. 17, Apost. 7. 16 （503-8）

388 cf. Stob. Fl. 18. 15 （497-508）; Apost. 7. 16 m （499-503）; Ath. 2. 37 e （500）; Stob. Fl. 18. 17, Apost. 7. 16 （503-8）

389 or hath both feet and wits

390 cf. Stob. Fl. 18. 15 （497-508）; Apost. 7. 16 m （499-503）; Ath. 2. 37 e （500）; Stob. Fl. 18. 17, Apost. 7. 16 （503-8）

391 cf. Gal. i. 345, Stob. Fl. 18. 12, Clem. Al. Str. 6. 11. 5, Artem. On. i. 66, Arist. Prob. i. 17 （509-10）

392 i.e. ‘badness’ is made tolerable by wealth: cf. Stob. Fl. 91. 1, Maxim. Conf. 2. 572 （523-4）

393 cf. Stob. Fl. 91. 2 （adding 699-702）（525-6）

394 cf. Stob. Fl. 116. 11, Anth. Plan. 10, Pal. 9. 118 （ βησαντίνου ）, Iriarte 106

395 cf. Stob. Fl. 62. 36, Philo 6. 43 Cohn （535）; Apost. 13. 76 （537）

396 cf. Alcaeus 50, 56 （ L.G. i）

397 i.e. a beacon

398 the first sentence is reminiscent of the Riddle; the whole poem may well be an allegory

399 [= 1178 a-b]

400 lit. jeopardy stands upon a razor's edge; the metaphor is from an even balance; Powell takes κίνδυνος as the spirit of adventure, see 637 n

401 or, emending the Greek, on one side much and on the other little

402 or to be the guest of, and to sit beside （in a public lounge）, a good man

403 [= 1104 A-B]

404 i.e. there is no need to tell of a good deed in order to get it requited

405 the contrast lies between the man who does good and the man who tries to seem good —a perversion, perh. not designed, of SOLON 13. 65 ff.: cf. Stob. Fl. 111. 16, Apost. 13. 100 d, Boiss. An. 4. 455

406 καί

407 metaphorical

408 cf. Teles ap. Stob. Fl. 95. 21 （605）; Stob. Fl. 18. 10, Maxim. Conf. 2. 613 （605-6）

409 cf. Stob. Fl. 11. 17 （607-10）

410 or can see

411 cf. Stob. Fl. 98. 55 （617-8）

412 or rounded the headland

413 cf. Stob. Fl. 97. 15 （619-22）; E.M. 758. 41, Ael. Dion. ap. Aldi Corn. i. 4 （621）

414 cf. Stob. Fl. 97. 15 （619-22）; E.M. 758. 41, Ael. Dion. ap. Aldi Corn. i. 4 （621）

415 see p. 233 n. 4

416 or man cannot be: cf. Stob. Fl. 34. 13, Diogen. 2. 90, Greg. Cypr. i. 86, Suid. ἀργαλέον （625-6）

417 cf. Stob. Fl. 18. 11 （627-8）

418 lit. mind; cf. κουφόνους

419 cf. Stob. Fl. 52. 12, Apost. 8. 41 f. （629-30）

420 cf. Stob. Fl. 37. 17 （635-6）

421 Powell ‘the spirit of adventure,’ comparing Thuc. 103. 1; cf. 557

422 cf. Stob. Fl. 110. 11, Apost. 7. 1 b （637-8）

423 cf. Stob. Fl. 111. 15

424 cf. Stob. Fl. 32. 4

425 cf. Stob. Fl. 96. 14 （adding 177-8）（649-52）

426 cf. Stob. 103. 12, Apost. 8. 6f （653-4）

427 i.e. such-and-such a thing, cf. Theophr. Char. 8. 2

428 sc. ἀνήρ from above: cf. Stob. Fl. 106. 9 （665-6）

429 i.e. according to my deserts; this poem is prob. by EUENUS, cf. 467

430 if the text is sound the subject to παρέρχεται is χρήματα , but this personification is difficult, particularly after ἔχοιμι ; read παρέρχεαι ‘thou passest by’?

431 strictly a)/n is illogical; he means he should have told （ ἄν ） what in any case he recognises, namely that, etc.

432 i.e. under bare poles

433 i.e. into the open sea S. of Melos

434 i.e. of food and drink? or of the cargo?

435 apparently stevedores or the like carried with the cargo, as opposed to sailors proper

436 as it were at table

437 cf. Stob. Fl. 92. 9 （683-6）

438 or, emending the Greek, command what should not be commanded

439 i.e. what is better left undone

440 probably sarcastic

441 cf. Stob. Fl. 4. 45

442 cf. Stob. Fl. 19. 11, Apost. 13. 77 a （695-6）; Maxim. Conf. 2. 595 （695）

443 Zetes and Calais

444 cf. Stob. Fl. 91. 2 （699-702）; Stob. Fl. 91. 10 （717-8）

445 i.e. food, clothes, and shoes; for the interpolated couplet see Solon, where for what him needeth we read but this

446 = SOLON 24, Stob. Fl. 97.7 （ θεόγνιδος ）（719-28）

447 meaning doubtful and text possibly corrupt; in line 1 mankind seem to be either the allotted dwelling （Harrison, i.e. cage, but ἀνθρώπους would be easier） or the allotted food （Williams, cf. Od. 11. 42） of the bird-like Cares; line 2 may equally well mean wailing because of, etc., and for life and substance we might read breath and life ; with emendation the wailing might be mankind's （for other suggestions see opp.）

448 the meaning of this word is uncertain

449 or, emending the Greek, things beautiful

450 originally perh. the last poem of a collection or part of a collection （T. himself would say dear Cyrnus ）

451 a great Megarian hero

452 cf. Harp. Θέογνις （783）

453 795-6 = MIMNERMUS 11, to whom the previous couplet also prob. belongs; cf. A.P. 9. 50 （ Μιμνέρμου ）（795-6）

454 the Greek is straighter; the word rendered compasses would prob. include a line with two spikes for measuring out a large circle for building or the like; the idea is ‘more accurate’

455 old age? so Platt, cf. Men. Inc. 26 M （cf. Crates 19, Antiphan. 94, 238 K）

456 cf. 152

457 i.e. Greek behaving like a barbarian, cf. Thracians Hor. C. i. 27. 2

458 a sign of mourning

459 or, emending the Greek, luxuriant

460 cf. Apost. 14. 13 b （831）

461 in the passive this word is used elsewhere in T. （884） for ‘to be drunk’

462 city is an emendation of man

463 or can see

464 i.e. the despot; the adjective was used of slaves and dogs

465 cf. Praxilla 3 （ L.G. iii） [= 1038 A-B]

466 the omission of ὁρᾷ （subjunctive） is easy after ὁρᾷ （indicative）

467 the Greek, apparently explained by the gloss ‘in the daytime,’ is not usual; some editors read ‘when the stars come out’

468 the speaker is feminine, perhaps a harlot's cat （ γαλῆ ）

469 ‘unfit for service’ （Williams）

470 for γῆν cf. Callin. i. 7; cf. Stob. Fl. 106. 10 （865-8）

471 lit. corsleted, cf. 842

472 cf. Hesych. Κήρινθος and Ληλάντου πεδίον ; Cypselus overthrew the democracy of Corinth in 655 B.C. and reigned till 625; his descendants ruled till c. 580; of their military operations in Euboea nothing is known, cf. Burn J.H.S. 1929. 34

473 connexion with previous couplet possible but doubtful

474 cf. Hesych. Κήρινθος and Ληλάντου πεδίον ; Cypselus overthrew the democracy of Corinth in 655 B.C. and reigned till 625; his descendants ruled till c. 580; of their military operations in Euboea nothing is known, cf. Burn J.H.S. 1929. 34

475 or mean estate

476 sc. βίον , cf. 905. 6

477 this use of ὑπάγω ‘I go off’ is prob. colloquial; in any case the poem is clearly later than T.

478 or, emending text, begged, and omit may

479 or, less likely, take care or pains （cf. Hes. Op. 457）

480 prob. metaphorical

481 like a slave from his master

482 i.e. achievement

483 cf. p. 155 n. 2

484 935-8 apparently adapted from TYRTAEUS 12. 37-40; cf. Flor. Monac. 118, Apost. 14. 13. 6, Ars. 501 （933-4）

485 i.e. the piper's absence

486 or nigh to the piper in my turn （around the table）

487 ἐπεύχομενος pres. part. instead of aor. with fut. indic. as often in Gk.

488 perh. belongs to the previous couplet; cf. Stob. Fl. 39. 15 （947-8）

489 [= 1278C-D]

490 meaning prob. political; some think it erotic

491 cf. App. Stob. Fl. 12. 22 （955-6）

492 cf. Mod. Gk. νερό ‘water’ （from Italian nero ‘black’）

493 our idiom differs; Gk. said ‘another, a pure one’

494 i.e. temperament; the Greek is rhythm

495 or, less likely, assumed for the day

496 Harrison; cf. Stob. Fl. 3. 28 （963-8）; Orion 8. 11, Flor. Monac. 107 （963）

497 or, emending the Greek, words

498 cf. Flor. Monac. 147 （979）

499 Crus. compares the provb. ἵππος είς πεδίον

500 not let no man know

501 cf. Ath. 7. 310b （993-6）; Eust. 1291. 64 （996）

502 cf. p. 139 n. 2

503 cf. Ath. 7. 310a （ ἦν δὲ καὶ ὁ Θ. περὶ η（δυπάθειαν ）

504 or worth or achievement

505 = TYRTAEUS 12. 13-16 with change, perh. designed, of ‘young man’ to ‘wise man’

506 lit. is young with splendid bloom

507 ll. 1020-2 = MIMNERMUS 5, to whom the 3 previous ll. may also belong

508 cf. Stob. Fl. 124. 9 （1029-34）

509 [= 853-4]

510 the time of greatest heat, the latter half of July

511 the feminine ending makes it probable that this is a name; adjectives in ἀ - are generally of two terminations; or Astypala? Sitzler sugg. Ἀστυπάλης , i.e. Astypalaea, given by Suidas as an alternative to Colophon or Smyrna for the birthplace of MIMNERMUS; if this is right the couplet is his

512 cf. Stob. Fl. 97.9 （1061-2）

513 the Greek word is of either gender

514 or right

515 [= 877-8]

516 see 214n.

517 [= 217-8]; see p. 233 n.4

518 [cf. 39-40]

519 [= 41-2]

520 [= 87-90]

521 or, emending the Greek, to bear things low and mean

522 [cf. 1238]

523 [cf. 1160A-B]

524 [= 1278A-B]

525 the joining of these two couplets is due to Harrison

526 [= 571-2]

527 i.e. alloyed gold

528 [cf. 417-8]

529 [= 1318A-B]

530 the Greek, by its idiom, has the less honoured and the worse

531 or laugh together

532 clearly a worse version of 619-20

533 the mass add and the dire recesses , which has not been successfully emended; prob. a couplet has been lost containing of the sea and left

534 this couplet is not certainly to be connected with the previous couplet, but cf. Stob. Fl. 116.10 （1129-32）

535 or rule

536 cf. Stob. Fl. 110. 12, Apost. 7. i. c （1135）

537 cf. A.P. 10. 40 （ ἄδηλον ）, Cram. A.P. 4. 374 （1151-2） [= 1238A-B]

538 or doing no harm （cf. 1121）

539 cf. Stob. Fl. 103. 14 （1153-6）; A.P. 10. 113 （ ἀδέσποτον ）, Plan. （ Θεόγνιδος ） Maxim. Conf. 2. 572, Basil Leg. Gent. 2. 183c, Sch. Lue. Merc. Cond. 12, Boiss. An. i. 67, Orac. Sib. 2. 109 （1155-6）

540 cf. Stob. Fl. 103. 14 （1153-6）; A.P. 10. 113 （ ἀδέσποτον ）, Plan. （ Θεόγνιδος ） Maxim. Conf. 2. 572, Basil Leg. Gent. 2. 183c, Sch. Lue. Merc. Cond. 12, Boiss. An. i. 67, Orac. Sib. 2. 109 （1155-6）

541 these two words include learned and learning

542 cf. Stob. Fl. 91. 26 （1157-60）

543 or O young men of this generation: in the mss this and the next passage （cf. 1095） are one

544 [= 1095-6]

545 apparently a parody of 409; we should expect μηδένα

546 [= 441-6]

547 i.e. he keeps his thoughts to himself; grow, like hair or teeth: cf. Stob. Fl. 3. 19 （1163-4）

548 a variant of 95-100

549 [= 415-8], where see notes （cf. 1104-6）

550 or, without emending the Greek, a very great test

551 [cf. 555-6]

552 cf. Orion 3. 5 （1179-80）

553 [= 367-8]

554 i.e. have command of them both

555 the crane in November

556 with anger, cf. Il. i. 103

557 reading doubtful

558 i.e. to the laying-out of the corpse, cf. Theophr. Char. 14. 7

559 at his house

560 Aethon is the name Odysseus gives himself in answering Penelope, Od. 19. 183; it is thought that this is T.'s signature, the simple enigma being solved for the reader by the title of the book （Harrison）

561 i.e. when you became a slave

562 apparently the city of Oblivion, i.e. death; cf. Ar. Ran. 186, Plat. Rep. 621a （Harrison）

563 prob. corrupt

564 Stobaeus takes this word in the meaning of ‘anger’

565 by marrying one: Il. 1227-8 （= Mimn. 8）, once wrongly printed among the Theognidea, are now omitted

566 as we say unconvincing

567 [cf. 1085-6]

568 [= 1151-2]

569 i.e. have it in your power to do as you like with it

570 or for thou hast

571 the Greek is perh. corrupt; not thy transgressions, nor can thine against me be supplied from below

572 or, keeping the Gk. barley （but this would require ‘elsewhere’）

573 see p. 139 n. 2

574 = SOLON 23

575 or lads

576 see p. 139 n. 2

577 reading doubtful

578 reading and meaning doubtful; perh. a metaphor from something of the nature of a dunce's cap

579 the Greek is prob. a confusion for εὖ ἕρξας ... τυγχάνω

580 less probably my lustfulnesses

581 or, without emendation, longing for night; connexion between the two couplets doubtful; there may be a nautical metaphor in ἀνέψυξας , which is sometimes used of letting a ship rest and dry ashore

582 or, without emendation, longing for night; connexion between the two couplets doubtful; there may be a nautical metaphor in ἀνέψυξας , which is sometimes used of letting a ship rest and dry ashore

583 the Greek has seed , doubtless an old correction in mal. part.

584 [= 1101-2], incomplete

585 [= 949-50]

586 or sit in judgment on no small misdemeanours

587 or made to fair lads nor yet to wicked

588 reading doubtful

589 reading doubtful

590 reading doubtful

591 for the pl. δῶρα Will. cf. Il. 20. 268

592 cf. Il. 24. 568: i.e. drive me to despair

593 this meaning of ὀργή is prob. later than T.

594 mock-heroic, on the analogy of ὀβριμοπάτρη （Williams）

595 lit. now as it is （but reading doubtful）

596 [= 1107-8]

597 in wrestling and the like

598 or charm

599 or spirit

600 prob. by EUENUS, cf. 467, 667, to which it is linked by the person addressed, by the use of οὕνεκα , and by metrical considerations

601 or good for

602 [cf. 301]

603 or, without emending the Gk. , fateful, but cf. 1024

604 or love-of-hospitality

605 i.e. something highly inflammable

606 καί , as often, joins two ideas conceived of as contemporary; not and then

607 by treating me thus

608 the first three words are inscribed as the words of a bearded man reclining on a couch, leaning on his left elbow with his right arm hanging down to feed a rabbit on the floor, on an Attic vase of c. 480 B.C. Mitt. d. Ath. Inst. ix. pl. i

609 i.e. a lasting friend

610 the omission of ‘from others’ is fatal to Williams' interpretation ‘You have never stayed for my sake, but you slip off at every eager message you receive from others’

611 οἷά τε = Attic οἷα , elliptic; lit. as I should （ or is natural to me） being a freeman

612 no break in the ms

613 no break in the ms

614 or （accenting τί ） as a question Why did Zeus honour Thee so exceeding much as to give Thee this gift? （in either case the 2nd couplet is explanatory of τόδε ）

615 the Greeks in such a case said left where we say right , and vice-versa

616 apparently an imitation of Phocylides

617 the mss add ‘wife of Mausolus,’ which cannot be right

618 called Phormis by Arist. Poet. 1449b. 5

619 prob. spurious

620 this title may be corrupt

621 cf. Plin. N.H. 25. 11

622 cf. E.M. 537. 46, 541. 31

623 cf. Vit. Aesch. 119. 45 W

624 for the gen. cf. Aesch. Ag. 1056, Soph. El. 900

625 cf. Eustr. and Arist. Eth. Nic. 3. 2 p. 146 H, Plut. Exil. 13, Paus. i. 14. 5

626 the Anabasis described by Xenophon

627 the Greek adjective can mean both ‘suitable' and ‘in accord with the metre’

628 or except

629 cf. Avian Fab. 4

630 if the 55 really belongs to S. the lost remainder of the line prob. contained the age of H., and since the historian would be about 40 when S. was 55 Bergk completes it with ‘at the age of twice-twenty years’ and Gomperz with ‘at the age of six-times-seven years’; but as the context （ q.v. ） clearly suggests that 55 is too low an age for S., that numeral may well be corrupt, and since we do not know that the historian is meant, emendation is useless; for Bergk's fr. 6 see L. G. iii p. 224

631 supplied by Ath. from the lost contrasted clause

632 the ref. is to the grapes bursting when trodden in the winepress

633 the ‘wine of the hands’ must be water for the customary washing of the hands between the dinner and the wine-drinking; but the reading is doubtful

634 the poem seems to have been written for a Eurypontid king of Sparta （Wil.）

635 lit. more illustriously

636 >cf. Ath. 11. 496c （2-3）

637 Lyra Graeca i. p. 32

638 i.e. with the ten musical ‘intervals’ given by the conjunction of the three tetrachords; lit. to the harmonious crossways （three-roads） of H. （metaph. from the crossways of Hecate?）

639 i.e. the combination of two tetrachords into the 7-note scale

640 cf. Theogn. 60

641 there is prob. some connexion with Pherecydes' epitaph cited by Diog. L. i. 120 and thus translated by Hicks （ Loeb Library ） ‘All knowledge that a man may have had I; | Yet tell Pythagoras, were more thereby, | That first of Greeks is he; I speak no lie.’

642 cf. E.M. ὀρίγανος

643 perh. in a prose-work

644 for the Melic Fragments of Ion see Lyra Graeca iii. 226

645 as E. seems to have outlived Ion of Chios, this is prob. the work either of Ion of Samos or of the rhapsode Ion of Ephesus, the Ion of Plato's dialogue

646 Euripides died in Macedonia

647 ref. to the large monument of which the base is 20 metres long; or, less likely , in honour of what he did

648 the ref. is to the defeat of the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 B.C.

649 prob. put up at Thermopylae after the time of Herodotus; cf. Eust. 266. 11 （ τὸ κατὰ Βοιωτοὺς ἐπίγραμμα ）, A.P. App. 94

650 this famous story is prob. untrue; the accounts of his death vary （see Diog. L. 8. 67 ff.）

651 The many extant citations from this work and from the other ‘epic’ writings of E. will be found in Diels Vorsokratiker i.p. 223 ff.

652 every word of the Gk. contains kr or tr , and akr occurs in six words out of the eleven （ e.g. ‘Here is Dick Crick laid,| Son of Rick Crick of Cricklade, | A tip-top physician | In a tip-top position'）; the father's real name was Xenon （Suid. Ἀ´κρων ）: cf. Suid. Ἀ´κρων , Tz. Sch. in Hermog. Cram. A.O. 4. 119. 13, Hesych, Mil. 21, Rh. Gr. 3. 641 W, Eust. 1634. 12

653 Pausanias is here derived from παύω ‘to make to cease’ and ἀνία ‘pain’: cf. A.P. 7. 508 （ Σιμωνίδου ）

654 i.e. non-existent: cf. Ath. 13. 610b whence a citation of Hippon the atheist’ has fallen out.

655 443 B.C.

656 Photius Lex. Θουριομάντεις mentions amongst various ‘founders’ of Sybaris （Thurii） Χαλκιδεὺς Διονύσιος , ‘Dionysius of Chalcis’ （sic）

657 Ath. adds in parenthesis, adapting his citation, ‘For this is your proper name’ （ i.e. gift of God）

658 i.e. his book of poems, as wine mingled with water before drinking; but the reading is doubtful

659 all the varieties of this after-dinner game involved the throwing of wine-drops at a mark, which, like the game itself, was called cottabus as here

660 to judge by the vase-pictures, this must be the meaning of σφαίρας ; the player about to throw the wine-drops held his cup pointing inwards so as to increase the ‘swing’; this called for a peculiar ‘hold,’ cf. Antiph. Com. 2. 180 Mein.

661 a line appears to have been lost

662 Dionysus

663 i.e. sing the praises of wine

664 i.e. expert

665 or sends to the benches the Phaeacian oarsmen of the Muses

666 meaning uncertain; perh. rowing-boat of D., cf. navigium

667 the verb is lost

668 Epistle 2. 314c

669 i.e. and is so far correct in using this metaphor

670 reading and translation doubtful

671 The Parian Chronicle gives for his birth 485, for his first victory （aged 44） 442, for his death 407

672 for examples of E.'s use of Elegy in tragedy see Eur. Andr. 103 ff. and Lyra Graeca iii. 663, and for the lyric poem to Alcibiades Ibid. 240

673 404 B.C.

674 i.e. the orchestra of the theatre

675 cf. Cic. Att. 6. 1. 18 ‘Everybody said that Eupolis the poet of the Old Comedy was thrown into the sea by Alcibiades on the voyage to Sicily; Eratosthenes disproves it by adducing the plays he brought out afterwards’; but the ducking may not have been fatal

676 or more properly Evenus

677 lit. after the God, i.e. following the ancient custom, first sacred and then secular; cf. L.G. iii. 591

678 cf. Stob. Fl. 82. 3 （1-4）; Ath. 10. 429f （4）

679 lit. are matter of easy teaching, cf. Plat. Gorg. 461a οὐκ ὀλίγης συνουσίας ἐστὶν ὥστε ἱκανῶς διασκέψασθαι

680 in the Planudean Anthology called ‘Anonymous’

681 i.e. wine is best mixed with three parts of water

682 cf. Artemid. On. i. 15, Hermias on Plat. Phaedr. 266d p. 238 （ φόβος for δέος ）

683 cf. Eth. Eud. 1223a 31, Rhet. 1370a 10; Plut. Suav. Viv. 21, Alex. Aphr. in Met. 4. 5. 1015a 20; for the whole poem of 30 ll. see THEOGNIS 467 ff.

684 lit. and in the end nature is this for men: cf. Heliod. ad. loc.

685 the ascription is doubted because there is no other evidence that E. wrote iambics

686 cf. Ibid. 13, 14, 16, 24, 29, 31, Andoc. i. 47, Dem. 58. 67

687 cf. Ibid. 3. 15, 18, 36, 4. 8, 10, 11, Lys. 12. 43

688 Plato's mother belonged to the same family

689 for the fragments of C.'s dramas see Diels Vorsokr. 2. 316 ff.

690 cf. Philostr. Vit. Soph. i. 16, 2. i. 14, Dion. Hal. Lys. 2

691 i.e. in succession round the table; cf. Ath. 12. 527b, and for C.'s other prose-works see Diels Vorsokr. 2. 322 ff.

692 cf. Plat. Tim. 20a, d, 21a

693 cf. Plut. Fort. Alex. i. 5, Ael. V.H. 2. 13, 10. 13, 17

694 cf. Sch. Aeschin. i. 39

695 one line lost

696 prob. sailing-ships as opposed to ships driven by oars

697 i.e. Athens; cf. Ath. 15. 666b （1-2）

698 at least one line lost

699 possibly corrupt; if so, perh. ‘swift-handed Asian-born,’ omitting ‘Lydian’

700 the unknown grammatical subjt. was supplied from the lost line or lines above; it can hardly be the （apparently Athenian, cf. l. 14） guests

701 apparently a colloquial phrase meaning ‘you ought not’

702 line 2 containing the name is an iambic instead of a pentameter

703 cf. Theogn. 19

704 twice in the horse-race, cf. Paus. 6.2.1; his son Lichas won it in 420, cf. Ibid. and Thuc. 5.50.4

705 including excellence other than moral

706 cf. Diog. L. i. 41 （1-2）

707 written in hexameters

708 perh. from a drama or a prose-work; for other fragments see Diels Vorsokr. 2. 316 ff.

709 perh. from a drama or a prose-work; for other fragments see Diels Vorsokr. 2. 316 ff.

710 the Gk. says eighty

711 lit. after the God, i.e. following the ancient custom, first sacred and then secular; cf. L.G. iii. 591

712 cf. Dio Chrys. 43. 10 （ παιᾶνα ）, Epictet. 2. 6. 26, 4. 4. 22, Themist. 2. 27c （ προοίμιον ἐν τόνῳ ἑξαμέτρῳ ）, Suid. Σωκράτης （ ὕμνον δι᾽ ἐπῶν ）; Plut. Aud. Poet. 2, Suid. Σωκράτης （ μῦθον Αἰσώπειον δι᾽ ἐπῶν ）, Aug. Cons. Evang. i. 7. 12

713 cf. Ath. 13. 597a, 598a （Hermesianax）

714 the context, too long to quote, implies that A, was a by-word for longwindedness

715 prob. the Thebaid

716 Philetas

717 Lyde = Lydian

718 i.e. Athenians

719 i.e. the revolving tables on which his laws were inscribed

720 Demeter at Paros

721 cf. Suid., Harp. ὀργεῶνες

722 cf. E.M. 291. 19

723 a volcano; perh. from a description of the fire breathed by Aeetes’ bulls （B）

724 cf. Sch. Ap. Rh. 2. 941, where the Erythini are called ‘ridges’; perh. ‘Antimachus’ here is a corruption of ‘Apollonius' （B）

725 cf. ἀβολέω ‘to meet’ Ap. Rh. 3. 1145 and ἀβολητύς ‘a meeting’ Antimachus （?） 108 Kinkel

726 I add here certain fragments which may belong either here or with the Epic Fragments （see p. 505）: see also A.P. 9. 321, and Wyss pp. 41-51

Elegy and Iambus. with an English Translation by. J. M. Edmonds. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1931. 1.

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Elegy and Iambus, Volume I J. M. Edmonds, Ed.

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Table of Contents:

Callinus

The Elegiac Poems of Callinus

To Zeus

Tyrtaeus

Athenaeus Doctors at Dinner [the pyrrhic dance]

See also Paus. 4. 16. 2-6, 18. 1-3, Ael. V.H. 12. 50, Plut. Ap. Lac. Paus. Cleombr. 230d, Vit. Cleom. 2, Dio Chr. Or. 36. 440, Themist. 15. 197d, Harp. Τυρταῖος, Quint. 10. 1. 56, 12. 11. 27, Hor. A.P. 401 and Sch., Just. 3. 5. 9.

The Elegiac Poems of Tyrtaeus

Orderliness

Asius

Elegiac Poem

Mimnermus

Photius Library （see Callinus p. 44）.

See also Ath. 13. 597a.

The Elegies of Mimnermus

Book i

Book ii Nanno

Solon

See also Ael. V.H. 8. 16, Diod. Sic. 9. 1 ff, Plut. Sol.

Solon

Book i Elegies

Salamis

Other

To Philocyprus

To Mimnermus

To Critias

Epic Poems

Book 2 Tetrameters

To Phocus

Book 3 Iambi

Three Unclassifiable Fragments

Cleobulus

See also Κλεοβουλίνη and Κλεόβουλος , Anth. Pal. 7. 81, 9. 366, Ael. V.H. 3. 17, Plut. Sept. Sap. , Dem. Phal. ap. Stob. Fl. 3. 79, Fl. Mon , ibid. app. 207, Dict. Sap. ibid. 3, Sch. Luc. Phal. i. 7. Ath. 10. 445 a, Themist. Or. 17 p. 215, 34 c. 3

Epitaph and Riddle

Cleobulina

See also Plut. Pyth. Orac. 14 and Cleobulus （above）.

riddles

Demodocus

None

Elegiacs

Tetrameters

Phocylides

See also Dio Chrys. 36. 440, Steph. Byz. Μίλητος , Eust. Dion. Per. 823, Sch. Nic. Al. 448, A.P. 10. 117, Cram. A. P. 4. 376. 3.

Elegiac Poems

Epic Poems

Xenophanes

Aristotle Rhetoric

Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers

See also Suid. Ξενοφάνης , Plut. Reg. Apoph. Hiero 4, Vit. Hom. 2. 93, Gal. Hist. 3, Str. 12. 550, Philo Prov. 2. 39, Ath. 14. 632 d （ quoted p. 226）, Sext. Emp. Math. i. 257, Clem. Al. Str. 353 （301 e）, Theol. Arith. 40 Ast.

Elegiac Poems

Lampoons

On Nature

Theognis

See also references to citations as they occur below, Jul. ap. Cyr. c. Jul. 7. 224 Sp., and Com. Adesp. 461K.

The Elegiac Poems of Theognis

Book I271

1-4

5-10

11-14

15-18

19-38

39-42

43-52

53-60

61-68

69-72

73-74

75-76

77-78

79-82

83-86

87-92

93-100

101-104

105-112

113-114

115-116

Elegy and Iambus, Volume I
J. M. Edmonds, Ed.

Book I²⁷¹