Porson vs. the Germans (With a Small Digression on Greek Epigrams)

April 23, 2018 ~ Erik ~ Leave a comment

From Facetiae Cantabrigienses (London 1825) p.39:

The epigram which Porson composed seems to be modeled after a few epigrams attributed to Demodocus, which express roughly the same sentiment (excepting, of course, the contempt for Teutonic metricians):

235

“The Chians are bad; not just this one or that one – they’re all bad, except for Procles; and Procles is a Chian.”

Χῖοι κακοί, οὐχ ὁ μέν, ὃς δ’ οὔ,
πάντες, πλὴν Προκλέους· καὶ Προκλέης δὲ Χίος.

236

“All of the Cilicians are bad men. Among them, the one good man is Kinyres; and Kinyres is a Cilician.”

Πάντες μὲν Κίλικες κακοὶ ἀνέρες· ἐν δὲ Κίλιξιν
εἷς ἀγαθὸς Κινύρης, καὶ Κινύρης δὲ Κίλιξ.

Strabo preserves an alternative version of the first epigram, which he attributed to Phocylides rather than Demodocus, and which slanders the Lerians rather than the Chians:

“And this one is from Phocylides: ‘The Lerians are bad; not just this one or that one – they’re all bad, except for Procles. And Procles is a Lerian.’

καὶ τόδε Φωκυλίδου· Λέριοι κακοί, οὐχ
„ὁ μὲν ὃς δ’ οὔ, πάντες, πλὴν Προκλέους, καὶ Προκλέης Λέριος.”

For Friday, Some Fragments from Phocylides

June 9, 2017June 8, 2017 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 3 Comments

Some fragments from Phocylides, mostly preserved in Stobaeus

3 Stob. 4.29.28

“What good is it to be noble
For those who are charmless in words and counsel?”

τί πλέον, γένος εὐγενὲς εἶναι,
οἷς οὔτ᾿ ἐν μύθοις ἕπεται χάρις οὔτ᾿ ἐνὶ βουλῇ;

Φωκυλίδου (fr. 9 B. p. 4473).

“Many men certainly seem to be sound of mind
Because they walk around in good order, even though they’re airheads”

Πολλοί τοι δοκέουσι σαόφρονες ἔμμεναι ἄνδρες,
σὺν κόσμῳ στείχοντες, ἐλαφρόνοοί περ ἐόντες.

Ps. Phoc. 113

“Everyone is equal as a corpse and god is king of the dead.
The land is common to all, both paupers and their kings.”

Πάντες ἴσον νέκυες, ψυχῶν δὲ θεὸς βασιλεύει.
κοινὸς χῶρος ἅπασι, πένησί τε καὶ βασιλεῦσιν.

Fr. 4

“A city lived in order on high ground
Though small is better than brainless Ninevah”

πόλις ἐν σκοπέλῳ κατὰ κόσμον
οἰκέουσα σμικρὴ κρέσσων Νίνου ἀφραινούσης.

Related image — Temple of Apollo at Didyma

Porson vs. the Germans (With a Small Digression on Greek Epigrams)

July 25, 2016July 25, 2016 ~ Erik ~ 5 Comments

From Facetiae Cantabrigienses (London 1825) p.39:

235

“The Chians are bad; not just this one or that one – they’re all bad, except for Procles; and Procles is a Chian.”

Χῖοι κακοί, οὐχ ὁ μέν, ὃς δ’ οὔ,
πάντες, πλὴν Προκλέους· καὶ Προκλέης δὲ Χίος.

236

“All of the Cilicians are bad men. Among them, the one good man is Kinyres; and Kinyres is a Cilician.”

Πάντες μὲν Κίλικες κακοὶ ἀνέρες· ἐν δὲ Κίλιξιν
εἷς ἀγαθὸς Κινύρης, καὶ Κινύρης δὲ Κίλιξ.

Strabo preserves an alternative version of the first epigram, which he attributed to Phocylides rather than Demodocus, and which slanders the Lerians rather than the Chians:

“And this one is from Phocylides: ‘The Lerians are bad; not just this one or that one – they’re all bad, except for Procles. And Procles is a Lerian.’

καὶ τόδε Φωκυλίδου· Λέριοι κακοί, οὐχ
„ὁ μὲν ὃς δ’ οὔ, πάντες, πλὴν Προκλέους, καὶ Προκλέης Λέριος.”

Returning to the Classroom after Leave: Some Ancient Reminders

August 27, 2014 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 2 Comments

Is teaching like riding a bicycle? Let’s see what the ancients say…

Pindar, Olympian 8.59-60

Posted on July 9, 2012 by sententiaeantiquae

“Teaching is easier for someone who knows; not learning first is stupid. “

τὸ διδάξασθαι δέ τοι εἰδότι ῥᾴτερον• ἄγνωμον δὲ τὸ μὴ προμαθεῖν•

Plato, Protagoras, 338e-339a

Posted on August 19, 2013 by sententiaeantiquae

“I consider facility with poetry the greatest part of a man’s education, that he should be able to understand what the poets have said correctly or incorrectly and to know how to analyze them and provide an explanation when questioned.”

ἡγοῦμαι, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐγὼ ἀνδρὶ παιδείας μέγιστον μέρος εἶναι περὶ ἐπῶν δεινὸν εἶναι: ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν λεγόμενα οἷόν τ᾽ εἶναι συνιέναι ἅ τε ὀρθῶς πεποίηται καὶ ἃ μή, καὶ ἐπίστασθαι διελεῖν τε καὶ ἐρωτώμενον λόγον δοῦναι.

Petronius, Satyricon 1

Posted on June 12, 2014 by palaiophron

“And therefore, I reckon that our young men are becoming total fools in our schools, because they neither hear nor see any of the things which we find useful, but rather pirates standing in shackles on the shore, and tyrants issuing decrees ordering that sons decapitate their fathers, and solutions to plagues which urge that three or even more virgins be burned, and those little honey-balls of words, and all things said or done as though sprinkled with poppy and sesame.”

Et ideo ego adulescentulos existimo in scholis stultissimos fieri, quia nihil ex his, quae in usu habemus, aut audiunt aut vident, sed piratas cum catenis in litore stantes, sed tyrannos edicta scribentes quibus imperent filiis ut patrum suorum capita praecidant, sed responsa in pestilentiam data, ut virgines tres aut plures immolentur, sed mellitos verborum globulos, et omnia dicta factaque quasi papavere et sesamo sparsa.

Aristotle, Poetics 1448b5-6

Posted on December 16, 2013 by sententiaeantiquae

“Imitation is natural in men from childhood and they differ in this from the other animals because it is the most representative and our first education comes from imitation.”

τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστὶ καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὅτι μιμητικώτατόν ἐστι καὶ τὰς μαθήσεις ποιεῖται διὰ μιμήσεως τὰς πρώτας…