“It is right to teach noble things to one who is still a child”
χρὴ παῖδ᾿ ἔτ᾿ ἐόντα / καλὰ διδάσκειν ἔργα
Month: November 2012
Pindar, Nemean 8. 37-38
“Some men pray for gold, others for a field with no boundary, but I pray to be pleasing to my countrymen until the earth covers my limbs.”
χρυσὸν εὔχοται, πεδίον δ’ ἕτεροι
ἀπέραντον, ἐγὼ δ’ ἀστοῖς ἁδὼν καὶ χθονὶ γυῖα καλύψαι,
And Pindar was pleasing much longer than that--even Alexander wouldn’t destroy his house!
(There may not be that much nobility in this statement: pleasing singers get meat, wine and gold!)
Juvenal, Satire 6.347-8
“Who will guard the guards themselves?”
sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
So, what’s the answer? Skepticism or conspiracy?
Thegonis, 1217-1218
Quintus Tullius Cicero, On Electioneering 6
“There are three things that will guarantee votes in an election: favors, hope, and personal attachment. The trick is giving these incentives to the right people.”
sed quoniam tribus rebus homines maxime ad benevolentiam atque haec suifragandi studia ducuntur, beneficio, spe, adiunctione animi ac voluntate, animadvertendum est quem ad modum cuique horum generi sit inserviendum.
Aristotle, Politics 1310a 11-12
Ps. Xenophon (Old Oligarch) Constitution of the Athenians, 1.9
“The people quickly fall into slavery from the good intentions of their betters.”
ἀπὸ τούτων τοίνυν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τάχιστ’ ἂν ὁ δῆμος εἰς δουλείαν καταπέσοι.
A little fast and loose again with ἀπὸ τούτων τοίνυν τῶν ἀγαθῶν–but I think the translation gets the sense of the full passage:
ἰσχύει ὁ δῆμος καὶ ἐλεύθερός ἐστιν. εἰ δ’ εὐνομίαν ζητεῖς, πρῶτα μὲν ὄψει τοὺς δεξιωτάτους αὐτοῖς τοὺς νόμους τιθέντας· ἔπειτα κολάσουσιν οἱ χρηστοὶ τοὺς πονηροὺς καὶ βουλεύσουσιν οἱ χρηστοὶ περὶ τῆς πόλεως καὶ οὐκ ἐάσουσι μαινομένους ἀνθρώπους βουλεύειν οὐδὲ λέγειν οὐδὲ ἐκκλησιάζειν. ἀπὸ τούτων τοίνυν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τάχιστ’ ἂν ὁ δῆμος εἰςδουλείαν καταπέσοι.
Homer, Odyssey 13.397-9
“Come, I will make you unknown to all mortals
I will wither the skin on your bent limbs
And ruin your head’s blond hair…”
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε σ᾽ ἄγνωστον τεύξω πάντεσσι βροτοῖσι:
κάρψω μὲν χρόα καλὸν ἐνὶ γναμπτοῖσι μέλεσσι,
ξανθὰς δ᾽ ἐκ κεφαλῆς ὀλέσω τρίχας…
Athena ‘dresses’ Odysseus up for his homecoming.
Odysseus is all trick and no treat.