Aeschylus, Agamemnon 176-183
“[Zeus] puts mortals on
The journey of comprehension.
And made this the powerful law:
We learn by suffering.
Pain-recalling trouble trickles
Through the heart in sleep—
And wisdom comes just so
To the unwilling.
The gods seated on their sacred seats
Bestow a hard grace I think.”
Ζῆνα δέ τις προφρόνως ἐπινίκια κλάζων
τεύξεται φρενῶν τὸ πᾶν,
τὸν φρονεῖν βροτοὺς ὁδώ-
σαντα, τὸν πάθει μάθος
θέντα κυρίως ἔχειν.
στάζει δ’ ἀνθ’ ὕπνου πρὸ καρδίας
μνησιπήμων πόνος· καὶ παρ’ ἄ-
κοντας ἦλθε σωφρονεῖν.
δαιμόνων δέ που χάρις βίαιος
σέλμα σεμνὸν ἡμένων.
Robert F. Kennedy used a version of this passage in discussing the death of Rev. Martin Luther King.
μνησιπήμων πόνος is pulchre bene recte and all of that, a clear example of how much sentiment Aeschylus could cram into a small space. That fool Euripides can take a hike!
With you on this!
I know this is an old entry, but I wanted to make a small contribution.
I didn’t know I would enjoy my reading of The Oresteia so much. I am so grateful that I came across The Browning version film (1951), that’s what made me get interested in the whole story. Here, an Agamemnon translation serves as a theme to which the main story develops. There’s a 1990s remake, also interesting, I loved how the actor portrays the protagonist.
So I had to read it. I found out it was a trilogy… While reading the first part, I found this entry —btw, I loved that reply about Euripides taking a hike… I’m not into classical literature so I don’t really know the “who’s who” and all the gossip around… but I kind of sensed what was going on.
I even wrote an entry on The Oresteia, where I focus on some expressions (my blog’s in Spanish; I had a great time and I found out surprising facts). It’s amazing what he could do with language and concepts so absolutely close to what being a human being implies.
But that is just one part of his genius… Drama as we know it nowadays, politics, social issues and mythology intertwined… There had been some humans connected to the so-called-divine, and I think Aeschylus was one of them.