“Older poets found these subjects
To be an elevated highway;
I follow it even though I have concern–
The wave that is always turning
Right into the front of the ship
Is said to cause everyone’s heart
The most trouble.”
On the internal surface, around the rim, four ships. Cemetery of Ancient Thera. 3rd quarter of the 6th cent. BC Archaeological Museum of Thera. [Wikimedia Commons]
“Muse, send a glorifying wind right at that home–
For songs and stories safeguard noble deeds
When men have passed on.
And these things are not scarce for the Bassidae.
This ancient-famed family
Has a private store of victory songs to fill ships,
Capable of inspiring many a Pieriean plowman
With hymns thanks to their glorious deeds.”
“Older poets found these things
To be an elevated roadway;
I follow it even though I have concern–
The wave that is always turning
Right into the front of the ship
Is said to cause everyone’s heart
The most trouble.”
On the internal surface, around the rim, four ships. Cemetery of Ancient Thera. 3rd quarter of the 6th cent. BC Archaeological Museum of Thera. [Wikimedia Commons]
“A celebration is the best medicine
For labors completed well, and yet
Songs, those wise daughters of the Muses,
Bewitch our minds when they touch them.
Not even hot water makes the limbs as supple
As praise can when it’s partnered with a lyre.
For the word lives a longer life than deeds,
At least the one the tongue lures from the depths of thought
With the Graces’ good fortune.”
“Strength works through deed
But thought works through the plans
Of those who have the innate skill to anticipate what will be.
Child of Hagesidamos, thanks to your nature
There are uses for both domains.
I don’t lust to keep
Great wealth hidden in my home
But rather to do well as things are and
To be praised for helping friends.
The hopes of hard-working people
Roll on in common.”
“Strength works through deed”: bravery ix exhibited and demonstrates itself through deeds, while thoughts do the same through counsels. This riffs on the Homeric line “war’s goal comes through the hands, words end in counsel”.
“People who know praise that man.
I will tell you what is said.
He wields a mind
Stronger than his age
And his tongue too. His courage is like
A fine-winged eagle among the other birds
He flies among the Muses thanks to his dear mother
And has proved to be a wise charioteer.
He has dared to travel
Every approach their is
To his homeland’s excellence.”
“If someone stumbles into good fortune without hard work,
Then many think he is a wise man among fools,
And that he has outfitted his life with well-planned schemes.
But these things aren’t up to men: god controls them.
Sometimes he raises one person up and then brings another down.”
“Wisdom to others”: This is about that wisdom from earlier, speaking concisely, and becoming and exemplar to others, which means a teacher. What he’s saying is I am showing many others about concision, how to explain things concisely.”
“I’ll be small for minor matters but big for big ones
and I will cultivate in my thoughts
The fate that comes to me, serving it by my own design.
So if god allows me wealth’s luxury
I have hope of finding fame’s height as well.
We know about Nestor and Lykian Sarpedon–
People’s legends, from famous songs which
The wise craftsmen assembled. And excellence blooms
In famous songs for all time. But it is easy for only a few to earn.”
Hypnos and Thanatos carrying the body of Sarpedon from the battlefield of Troy. Detail from an Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. 440 BC. British Museum D56
