“I advise the citizens to revere
Neither anarchy nor despotism
And never to cast fear out of the city completely.”
τὸ μήτ’ ἄναρχον μήτε δεσποτούμενον
ἀστοῖς περιστέλλουσι βουλεύω σέβειν,
καὶ μὴ τὸ δεινὸν πᾶν πόλεως ἔξω βαλεῖν.
Tag: Athena
Aeschylus, Eumenides: Some Highlights on Man, Mortality and Law
368-371
“Mankind’s delusions so sacred under the sky
Shrink as they melt on the earth without honor.”
— δόξαι δ’ ἀνδρῶν καὶ μάλ’ ὑπ’ αἰθέρι σεμναὶ
τακόμεναι κατὰ γᾶς μινύθουσιν ἄτιμοι
470-471
“This affair is greater than anyone who is mortal can judge”
Αθ. τὸ πρᾶγμα μεῖζον ἤ τις οἴεται τόδε
βροτοῖς δικάζειν·
526-9
“Choose neither the anarchic life nor one of despotism.
God gives strength to the middle in all things.”
μήτ’ ἄναρκτον βίον
μήτε δεσποτούμενον
αἰνέσῃς.
παντὶ μέσῳ τὸ κράτος θεὸς ὤπασεν
644-651: Apollo on Mortal Life
“After the dust has soaked up the blood
Of a dying man, there is no resurrection.
My father can’t cast a spell on this
But all other things he can turn back and forth
Without losing his breath at all.”
ἀνδρὸς δ’ ἐπειδὰν αἷμ’ ἀνασπάσῃ κόνις
ἅπαξ θανόντος, οὔτις ἔστ’ ἀνάστασις.
τούτων ἐπῳδὰς οὐκ ἐποίησεν πατὴρ
οὑμός, τὰ δ’ ἄλλα πάντ’ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω
στρέφων τίθησιν οὐδὲν ἀσθμαίνων μένει.
696-7: Athena on the right government
“I counsel the citizens here to revere
Neither anarchy nor despotism
And never to cast fear out of this city.”
τὸ μήτ’ ἄναρχον μήτε δεσποτούμενον
ἀστοῖς περιστέλλουσι βουλεύω σέβειν,
καὶ μὴ τὸ δεινὸν πᾶν πόλεως ἔξω βαλεῖν.
704-706: Athena on the establishment of Trial by Jury
“This court must be established free of personal gain,
Revered, sharp-hearted, a wakeful guard I set over the land
For the sleeping people.”
κερδῶν ἄθικτον τοῦτο βουλευτήριον,
αἰδοῖον, ὀξύθυμον, εὑδόντων ὕπερ
ἐγρηγορὸς φρούρημα γῆς καθίσταμαι.
Homer Odyssey, 13.248-249
“Just so, Stranger, the name of Ithaca has traveled to Troy,
that place they say is far from our Achaean soil.”
τῷ τοι, ξεῖν᾽, Ἰθάκης γε καὶ ἐς Τροίην ὄνομ᾽ ἵκει,
τήν περ τηλοῦ φασὶν Ἀχαιΐδος ἔμμεναι αἴης.
This oft-overlooked passage ends Athena’s speech to the bewildered Odysseus in book 13 of the Odyssey when he has awoken, believing the Phaeacians left him somewhere other than home. The lines nicely invert the refrain of the Trojan War–the events of which have been broadcast all over the world, according to the conversations of books 1-12–and instead extend the locus of the second half of this epic outward. The poetic effect is to reframe epic fame: from this point on it is the story of Ithaca and not the story of Troy that will be known.
Don’t believe it? Here’s the full text.
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.