Empedocles Fr. 129
There was a man among them of unusual knowledge,
Who indeed possessed the greatest wealth of mind,
And was, most of all, master of all kinds of skillful works.
For whenever he exerted all of his mind,
He readily saw all that there is to see
In ten or twenty human lifetimes.
ἦν δέ τις ἐν κείνοισιν ἀνὴρ περιώσια εἰδώς,
ὃς δὴ μήκιστον πραπίδων ἐκτήσατο πλοῦτον
παντοίων τε μάλιστα σοφῶν ἐπιήρανος ἔργων·
ὁππότε γὰρ πάσῃσιν ὀρέξαιτο πραπίδεσσιν,
ῥεῖά γε τῶν ὄντων πάντων λεύσσεσκεν ἕκαστα
καί τε δέκ’ ἀνθρώπων καί τ’ εἴκοσιν αἰώνεσσιν.
Larry Benn has a B.A. in English Literature from Harvard College, an M.Phil in English Literature from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Making amends for a working life misspent in finance, he’s now a hobbyist in ancient languages and blogs at featsofgreek.blogspot.com.
