Neither fire, nor iron, nor bronze
can keep them from marching to dinner.
οὐ πῦρ οὐδε σίδηρος
οὐδὲ χαλκὸς ἀπείργει
μὴ φοιτᾶν ἐπὶ δεῖπνον
Tag: Eupolis
Eupolis, Fr. 240
I don’t even own a pot to shit in.
ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστ᾿ οὐδὲ λάσαν᾿ ὅπου χέσω
Eupolis was an ancient comic author. These lines are funny, unless they are true.
Eupolis, fr. 133 (Photius, 267.18)
Eupolis fr. 129 (Athenaeaus 408c)
If someone chances to hit first, he gets a trophy;
but for a man is a good and dutiful citizen,
even if he conquers everyone in honesty,
there is no trophy
κἄν τις τύχῃ πρῶτος, εἴληφε χειρόνιπτρον,
ἀνὴρ δ᾿ ὅταν τις ἀγαθὸς ᾖ καὶ χρήσιμος πολίτης,
νικᾷ τε πάντας χρηστὸς ὤν, οὔκ ἔστι
χειρόνιπτρον
I cheated a bit on χειρόνιπτρον, but I thought that “trophy” would make more sense in English…
Eupolis, fr. 356
“I hate Socrates too,
that prattling panhandler
who figured out everything
except where he can get someting to eat.”
μισῶ δὲ καὶ Σωκράτην
τὸν πτωχὸν ἀδολέσχην,
ὃς τἆλλα μὲν πεφρόντικεν,
ὁπόθεν δὲ καταφαγεῖν ἔχοι
τούτου κατημέληκεν
Eupolis? I guess he lost the battle with Socrates.