Pindar, Nemean Ode 4.1-8
“The best doctor for sufferings when they’re done
Is celebration—and the Muses’ talented daughters,
Songs to distract when they touch us,
Not even warm water can make limbs as soft
As the praise that takes the lyre as its partner.
An utterance lives longer than deeds,
Any word the tongue chances upon
With the Graces, drawn from a deep mind.”
ἄριστος εὐφροσύνα πόνων κεκριμένων
ἰατρός: αἱ δὲ σοφαὶ
Μοισᾶν θύγατρες ἀοιδαὶ θέλξαν νιν ἁπτόμεναι.
οὐδὲ θερμὸν ὕδωρ τόσον γε μαλθακὰ τέγγει
5γυῖα, τόσσον εὐλογία φόρμιγγι συνάορος.
ῥῆμα δ᾽ ἑργμάτων χρονιώτερον βιοτεύει,
ὅ τι κε σὺν Χαρίτων τύχᾳ
γλῶσσα φρενὸς ἐξέλοι βαθείας.
92-93
“Different generations have different people—
But everyone hopes to claim
That the things they faced were the most exceptional.”
ἄλλοισι δ’ ἅλικες ἄλλοι· τὰ δ’ αὐτὸς ἀντιτύχῃ,
ἔλπεταί τις ἕκαστος ἐξοχώτατα φάσθαι.
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