ΕΥΔΟΞΑ ΑΓΝΩΣΤΑ ΚΑΤΑΓΕΛΑΣΤΑ
This great host you see are the unfortunate and unburied; that is the ferryman Charon; and those, whom the wave carries, the inhumed. Nor is it permitted to cross the horrific shores and raucous flows before one’s bones have rested in their place”
haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est;
portitor ille Charon; hi, quos uehit unda, sepulti.
nec ripas datur horrendas et rauca fluenta
transportare prius quam sedibus ossa quierunt.
“Many super-wealthy people are unhappy while many who have less are fortunate in the end.”
πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ζάπλουτοι ἀνθρώπων ἀνόλβιοι εἰσί, πολλοὶ δὲ μετρίως ἔχοντες βίου εὐτυχέες.
(I know, I know. I added a bit to the end to echo the rest of the passage. And students love to debate the varied meanings of bios in Herodotus.)
Judge it for yourself, here: The Full Text.
“Why should I fear any of my mistakes, when I can say: ‘See that you no longer act in this way. Now I forgive you.'”
quare enim quicquam ex erroribus meis timeam, cum possim dicere: “vide ne istud amplius facias, nunc tibi ignosco.”
“As in peace, the wise man will have prepared the right things for war”
in pace ut sapiens aptarit idonea bello
“I wish you were as thoughtful a man as you are swift to act.”
εἴθ᾽ ἦσθ᾽ ἀνὴρ εὔβουλος ὡς δρᾶσαι χερί.
The Rhesus is only ‘attributed’ to Euripides
“Once it sweeps away daily abundance, war is a violent teacher: it makes the passions of most men equal to present need.”
ὁ δὲ πόλεμος ὑφελὼν τὴν εὐπορίαν τοῦ καθ’ ἡμέραν βίαιος διδάσκαλος καὶ πρὸς τὰ
παρόντα τὰς ὀργὰς τῶν πολλῶν ὁμοιοῖ.
So Thucydides says in recording the civil strife at Corcyra in 427 BCE.