“When among madmen, it is best to act completely mad.”
μετὰ μαινομένων φάσιν χρῆναι μαίνεσθαι πάντας ὁμοίως
When in Rome? Don’t hate the players hate the game?
Callias was a poet of Old Comedy. And, if you believe Plato, he hung out with Socrates.
Tag: Old Comedy
Myrtilus, fr. 2 (Titan-pans; Scholia to Aristophanes’ Birds)
“Heroes get ornery and mean when people get too close.”
οἵ ἥρωες δὲ δυσόργητοι καὶ χαλεποὶ τοῖς ἐμπελάζουσι γίνονται
Myrtilus? Not the Mythical character but a poor old comic poet with no Wikipedia page.
Cratinus, fr. 335
Diocles, fr. 14 (Photius, a247)
“Let no one of you ever long to get old.
Think instead how to die at the right time
Still young and living life well
And how not to wear on to the toothless time of life.”
μηδείς ποθ᾿ ὑμῶν, ἄνδρες, ἐπιθυμησάτω
γέρων γένεσθαι. περινοησάτω δ᾿
ὅπως νέος ὢν ἀγαθόν τι τῆ̣ ψυχῆ̣ παθὼν
ὥρᾳ καταλύσῃ μηδ᾿ ἀγόμφιόν ποτε
αἰῶνα τρίψει
Diocles? So obscure he’s not even one of these.
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.
Pherecrates, Fr. 176 (Photius e 46)
“The gods are always screwing us.”
ἀεί ποθ᾿ ἡμῖν ἐγκιλικίζουσ᾿ οἱ θεοί
The verb ἐγκιλικίζουσ᾿ means “to be mean or treacherous like the Cilicians”. Obviously, the reference is lost on a modern audience. I went colloquial. I thought that “the gods are always messing with us” might be less abrasive, but “screwing” has a nice sense of “meanness” and the double entendre… Any other suggestions?
Who’s Pherecrates? A Comic poet, An old one. And Photius? Not as old or sexy.