A Drinking Song For New Year’s Eve: Carmen Convivialia 890

December 31, 2014 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

“The best thing for a mortal man is to be healthy
And second, to be pretty.
Third, is to be wealthy without deceit.
And, fourth, is to be young with friends.”

ὑγιαίνειν μὲν ἄριστον ἀνδρὶ θνητῷ,
δεύτερον δὲ φυὰν καλὸν γενέσθαι,
τὸ δὲ τρίτον πλουτεῖν ἀδόλως,
τέταρτον δὲ ἡβᾶν μετὰ τῶν φίλων.

This appears in the Scholia to Plato’s Gorgias where it is attributed to either Simonides or Epikharmos.

(1) τὸ σκολιὸν τοῦτο οἱ μὲν Σιμωνίδου (Scolia Anonyma 7 Diehl)
φασίν, οἱ δὲ ᾿Επιχάρμου (fr. 262 Kaibel). ἔστι δὲ τοιοῦτον•
ὑγιαίνειν μὲν ἄριστον ἀνδρὶ θνητῷ,
δεύτερον δὲ φυὰν καλὸν γενέσθαι,
τὸ δὲ τρίτον πλουτεῖν ἀδόλως,
τέταρτον δὲ ἡβᾶν μετὰ τῶν φίλων.
τοῦτο δὲ τὸ τελευταῖον παραλέλειπται ὡς μὴ πρὸς ὃ βούλεται Πλάτων
χρήσιμον ὄν.

Happy New Year to all of our friends!

Plato, Apology 30b: Socrates’ Words on Virtue and Wealth

December 10, 2014 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

“Virtue doesn’t come from money, but money and all other good things come from virtue to men both in private and in public.”

‘Οὐκ ἐκ χρημάτων ἀρετὴ γίγνεται, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἀρετῆς χρήματα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀγαθὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἅπαντα καὶ ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ.’

Socrates says that this is one of the things he went around saying, which made him annoying to people and resulted in his capitol charges. Unfortunately, this seems to be one area in which Socrates assertion runs against our current reality (certainly, virtue still doesn’t come from money, but that doesn’t mean the converse is true…)

Xenophon, Oeconomicus 1.8: Even Huge Tracts of Land Can Be Worse than Worthless

October 15, 2014 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

“Land is certainly not an asset if it creates poverty instead of revenue.”

Οὐδὲ ἡ γῆ μέντοι χρήματά ἐστιν, εἴπερ ἀντὶ τοῦ τρέφειν πεινῆν παρασκευάζει.

Where would Xenophon fit in this conversation (he certainly has a lot to say about marriage…)?

Euripides, fr. 54 (Alexander): On the Educational Merits of Poverty?

October 1, 2014October 1, 2014 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 4 Comments

Earlier in the week we posted a passage from Xenophon’s Memorabilia about the rich and the poor (focusing more on having or not having…)

Here’s a fragment from Euripides:

“Wealth and too much luxury

Are the wrong lessons for manly men.

Poverty is wretched but at least it raises up

Children better at working and getting things done.”

κακόν τι παίδευμ’ ἦν ἄρ’ εἰς εὐανδρίαν

ὁ πλοῦτος ἀνθρώποισιν αἵ τ’ ἄγαν τρυφαί·

πενία δὲ δύστηνον μέν, ἀλλ’ ὅμως τρέφει

μοχθεῖν τ’ ἀμείνω τέκνα καὶ δραστήρια.

This is from a play named Alexander, probably about how Paris (of Trojan War fame) grew up outside his household. I guess that the argument made here is that such an upbringing is better for “manliness” (εἰς εὐανδρίαν). But I am not sure Hektor would agree…