There one reclined apart I saw, within the moon's pale light, With bosom through her parted robe appearing snowy white : Another danced, and floating free her garments in the breeze,
She seemed as buoyant as the waves that leap o'er summer seas ; While dusky shadows all around shrunk backward from the place, Chased by the beaming splendor shed like sunshine from her face.
She seemed as buoyant as the waves that leap o'er summer seas ; While dusky shadows all around shrunk backward from the place, Chased by the beaming splendor shed like sunshine from her face.
Universal Anthology - v04
]
What revel-rout is this ? What noise is here ? What barbarian discord strikes my ear ?
What jarring sounds are these that rage
Unholy on the Bacchic stage ? —
'Tis mine to sing in Bromius' praise
'Tis mine to laud the god in dithyrambic lays
—
As o'er the mountain height,
The woodland Nymphs among,
I wing my rapid flight,
And tune my varied song,
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
Sweet as the melody of swans, that lave
Their nestling pinions in the silver wave ;
Of the harmonious lay the Muse is sovereign still ; Then let the minstrel follow if he will —
But not precede : whose stricter care should be, And more appropriate aim,
To fan the lawless flame
Of fiery youths, and lead them on To deeds of drunkenness alone,
The minister of revelry —
When doors, with many a sturdy stroke,
Fly from their bolts, to shivers broke,
And captive beauty yields, but is not won.
Down with the Phrygian pipe's discordant sound !
Crackle, ye flames ! and burn the monster foul To very ashes — in whose notes are found
Naught but what's harsh and flat — no music for the soul, The work of some vile handicraft. To thee,
Great Dithyrambus ! ivy-tressed king !
I stretch my hand, — 'tis here — and rapidly
My feet in airy mazes fling.
Listen my Doric lay: to thee, to thee I sing.
Akistias.
[Fifth century b. o. Contemporary of Sophocles. ] The Glutton.
That feaster is a boatman or a tramp,
A parasite of hell, with bottomless belly.
Aristarchus.
[Flourished about b. c. 454. ]
"
About it and about. " — Omar Khayyam.
Faib speech in such things, and no speech, are one ; Study and ignorance have equal value;
For wise men know no more than simple fools
In these dark matters ; and if one by speaking Conquer another, mere words win the day.
Love Laughs at Locksmiths.
That man who hath not tried of love the might Knows not the strong rule of necessity,
Bound and constrained, whereby this road I travel ;
great argument
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 279
Yea, our lord Love strengthens the strengthless, teaches The craftless how to find both craft and cunning.
Neophron.
[Exhibited 431 b. c]
Medea Decides to Kill her Children.
Well, well : what wilt thou do, my soul ? Think much Before this sin be sinned, before thy dearest
Thou turn to deadliest foes. Whither art bounding ? Restrain thy force, thy god-detested fury.
And yet, why grieve I thus, seeing my life
Laid desolate, despitefully abandoned,
By those who least should leave me ? Soft, forsooth, Shall I be in the midst of wrongs like these ?
Nay, heart of mine, be not thy own betrayer !
Ah me ! 'Tis settled. Children, from my sight
Get you away ! for now bloodthirsty madness
Sinks in my soul and swells it. Oh, hands, hands, Unto what deed are we accoutred ? Woe !
Undone by my own daring ! In one minute
I
go to blast the fruit of my long toil.
Achjsus.
[Flourished about b. c. 484-448. He and Ion were ranked next after JEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, as making up the five great tragic drama
tists of Athens. ]
The Athletes in the Games.
Naked above, their radiant arms displaying,
In lustihood of ruffling youth, and bloom
Of beauty bright on stalwart breasts, they fare ;
Their shoulders and their feet in floods of oil
Are bathed, like men whose homes abound in plenty. . . . Ambassadors or athletes do you mean ?
Great feeders are they, like most men in training.
Of what race are the strangers, then ? — Boeotians.
The Cock and the Pearls.
To hungry men a barley cake is more Than gold and ivory in an ample store.
The Scythians Angry at the Watered Wine.
Was the whole Achelous in this wine ?
But even then this race would not cease drinking, For this is all a Scythian's happiness.
280
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC FOETS.
Ion.
[Exhibited about b. c. 424. ]
" Know thou thyself — " that saw is trivial stuff : Not even a god but Zeus has power enough.
The town of Sparta is not walled with words ; But when young Ares falls upon her men, Then reason rules and the hand does the deed.
The Crippled, Blinded, and Caged Bird.
His body maimed, his sight no more, Still he recalls his strength of yore: Helpless he cries, and gladly would Exchange for death his servitude.
Agathon.
[About b. c. 477-430. ]
One thing not God himself can do, I ween, —
To make what's done as though it ne'er had been.
Skill is true friend of chance, and chance of skill. Worsted by suffering, cowards dote on death.
Some things we mortals can effect by skill ; Some fall on us as fate and fortune will.
We work on superfluities as if a need were nigh, And dawdle on our real work as superfluity.
Abiston.
[Son of Sophocles ; middle of the fifth century b. c. This citation is on the authority of Theophilus, bishop of Antioch in the latter part of the second century a. d. ; but the Greek verse is unclassically poor, and it is quite possible Theophilus wrote it himself. ]
Providence.
A. Cheer up : the god is wont to succor all Deserving of it — chiefly just this sort.
If the front rank be not assigned to them, Why should men practice rigid piety ?
B. That may be so ; and yet Ioften see Those who conduct their business piously Bearing strange evils ; on the other hand,
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 281
Those out for profit and themselves alone Holding a far more honored place among us.
A. For the present, yes ; but one should look ahead And wait the final closing up of all.
By not so doing, some have let prevail
The notion, vile and profitless to life,
That each man's course is automatic, each Guided by chance ; and so the mob decide Each for himself to hug his provender.
And yet the crowns are for the virtuous lives, And to the wicked comes their penalty ;
For naught takes place apart from Providence.
Chcebilus.
[Flourished latter part of fifth century B. C. ] "Some Banquet Hall Deserted. "
Here in my hands I hold a wretched piece Of earthen goblet, broken all around,
Sad relic of a band of merry feasters ;
And often the fierce gale of wanton Bacchus Dashes such wrecks with insult on the shore.
Critias.
[The leader and the worst of the Thirty Tyrants, b. o. 404, and slain fighting for them against Thrasybulus the same year. He was a pupil of Socrates, friend and supporter of Alcibiades, and a democrat till banished by the people ; re turning, headed the oligarchic revolution with the vindictive rancor of a rene gade, put his colleague Theramenes to death for counseling caution, and threatened Socrates. He was a forcible speaker, and a dabbler in various kinds of literature. The opening lines of this poem are curious when compared with his final venture in public life. ]
Theoretic Evolution of Law and Religion.
Time was, when lawless was the life of men,
Like to wild beasts, in thrall to mere brute force, When to the good resulted no reward,
When to the wicked fell no chastisement. Thereafter, men I think established laws
To quell the unruly, so that justice might
Put down the tyrants, check the outrages,
And punish whoso broke the social rule.
Then, when the laws forbade the evil sort
To work their will by force and openly,
Yet still they did their mischief underhand, —
I fancy then some subtle sage conceived
282
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
What mortals needed was to find out how
Fear might be laid on evil-doers, if aught
They do or speak or think in secret wise :
That then he introduced the Being Divine,
As spirit blooming in perpetual life,
Hearing and seeing and thinking with the mind, Forever keeping watch on those misdeeds,
And as a god, with power to see and hear Whate'er was done or said among mankind ; Even if in silence you frame evil wishes,
You shall not hide it from the gods, for thought Is the gods' essence.
Speaking in such words, He must have introduced grand moral teachings,
Concealing truth with mask of lying phrase ; Asserted that the gods dwelt here on earth,
To strike dismay to men and lead them on.
He noted too that fears came on them thence, Adding new hardships to their wretched life : The motions of the sky, that brought about
The lightning's glare, the fearful thunder crash, The starry host — resplendent broidery
Of Time, sage artificer ; thence beside
The dazzling meteor shot the heavenly way,
The laden storm-cloud moved along the land.
These all about them pierced their souls with fear ; Thereby his speech gained credit, when a place
He chose as fit to build the god a home,
And crushed the headstrong by the laws he made. Thus first, methinks, men must have been persuaded By some man to obey the spirit's law.
Moschioit.
[Flourished about b. c. 380. He is also ranked as a writer of the Middle Comedy, which shows the absurdity of the artificial classification of tragic and comic. But the remains belong to the serious Muse. ]
De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum.
'Tis vain to offer outrage to thin shades : God-fearers strike the living, not the dead.
What gain we by insulting mere dead men ? What profit were taunts cast at voiceless clay ? For when the sense that can discern things sweet And things offensive is corrupt and fled,
The body takes the rank of mere deaf stone.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 283
Quality Counts, not Quantity.
In far mountain vales
See how a single ax fells countless firs ; So a few men can curb a myriad lances.
AsTYDAMAS JuNIOB.
[Grandson of JEechylus' sister. Flourished middle of fourth century B. C. ] The Dramatic Craft.
A wise playwright should act like the man who gives a magnificent feast:
He should seek to delight the spectators, that each on departing may feel
He has eaten and drunk just the things he would chiefly have chosen himself :
Not set but one dish for all palates, one writing for all sorts of tastes.
Virtue will Always be Honored.
The people's praise is sure to fall, Their fullest honor to be shown,
To him who makes the right his all, Whose ways are loftiest : such a one
They will term noble. Search the land :
In every hundred, one like this
Can there be found ? The quest will miss,
E'en though ten thousand join the band.
Cakcinus Junior,
[Flourished about b. o. 380. ]
O Zeus, what need for one to waste one's words
In speaking ill of women ? for what worse
Is there to add, when one has called them women ?
Virtue is for the individual's care ; Fortune to ask for of the gods in prayer :
Whoever has the power to yoke the two, Rightly a good and happy name shall bear.
For most of human ills, the sovereign healing Is silence, which at least is prudent dealing.
[To a slave :]
Seeing you full of hate, I am rejoiced :
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
Knowing that hatred works one piece of justice
On those it strikes, — the slave abhors his masters.
O wealth, though oft enough a luckless fate, Thou forcest men to fiercely emulate.
This is a thing that men should hold in dread — To vaunt one's self above the mighty dead.
Wine should not turn you ; for if you have been Admonished by your nature fixed within, Occasion ne'er will tempt you into sin.
Diogenes GSnomaus. [Began to exhibit b. c. 404. ] Music in Asiatic Worship.
And now I hear the turban-bearing women,
The votaries of Asian Cybele,
The wealthy Phrygians' daughters, loudly sounding, With drums, and rhombs, and brazen-clashing cymbals, Their hands in concert striking on each other,
Pour forth a wise and healing hymn to the gods. Likewise the Syrian and the Bactrian maids
Who dwell beside the Halys, loudly worship
The Tmolian goddess Artemis, who loves
The laurel shade of the thick leafy grove,
Striking the clear three-cornered pectis, and
Raising responsive airs upon the magadis,
While flutes in Persian manner neatly joined Accompany the chorus.
Dionysius.
[Tyrant of Syracuse b. o. 405-867. ]
Ie then you think no pain to your condition Will come, you have a happy disposition : Of gods' life, not of mortals', is your vision.
[Solon's saw versified :]
Let no man think another mortal blest Until he sees his life close undistrest : To praise the dead alone is safe and best.
As from a tranquil face looks out God's eye, And gazes o'er all things eternally.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 285
[This is the original, or at least the theme, of verse 45, canto 3, of "Childe Harold. " The repetitions and assonances closely follow the Greek. ]
Knowest thou naught of this fact of fate's — Those who are naught, not any one hates ? Ever the great is what rouses hate ;
All power tall grown is fated for hatred.
If humbly born, hate not the rich : Envy tunes some to slander's pitch.
Theodbctes.
[A great rhetorician of the school of Isocrates : lived about b. o. 875-835. ] Mirages.
Old age and marriage are twin happenings : We long to have them both befall ourselves, But when befallen, we deplore too late.
The One Immortal Thing.
All human things are born to die And reach their ending by-and-by, Save shamelessness, apparently Let the race wax howe'er it may, This waxes with it day by day.
Hope Deferred.
One can but oft
Be weary of the quest for fame and praise.
Our indolence, the present sweetness grasped,
Wails, with fond dreams what future time will bring.
The Mills of God.
[This is the exact theme of Walter Bagehot's " The Ignorance of Man. "]
Mortal, whoe'er thou art, who blamest God Because not swiftly but with long delay He strikes the wicked, listen to the cause : Were retribution visited forthwith,
Many through fear and not through piety Would worship God; but retribution now Being far off, each acts his nature out. But when detected, known as evil men, They pay the penalty in later times.
s
286 FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
The bridegroom when he brings his housemate home Not merely takes a wife, 'tis evident :
Along with that he takes a spirit in,
For blessing or malignance, as may be.
CH2EBEMON.
[Flourished probably about b. c. 380. ] A Garden of Girls.
There one reclined apart I saw, within the moon's pale light, With bosom through her parted robe appearing snowy white : Another danced, and floating free her garments in the breeze,
She seemed as buoyant as the waves that leap o'er summer seas ; While dusky shadows all around shrunk backward from the place, Chased by the beaming splendor shed like sunshine from her face. Beside this living picture stood a maiden passing fair,
With soft round arms exposed. A fourth, with free and graceful air, Like Dian when the bounding hart she tracks through morning dew, Bared through the opening of her robes her lovely limbs to view ; And oh ! the image of her charms, as clouds in heaven above, Mirrored by streams, left on my soul the stamp of hopeless love. And slumbering near them others lay, on beds of sweetest flowers, The dusky-petaled violet, the rose of Raphian bowers,
The inula and saffron flower, which on their garments cast
And veils, such hues as deck the sky when day is ebbing fast ; While far and near tall marjoram bedecked the fairy ground, Loading with sweets the vagrant winds that frolicked all around.
Cbates.
[Cynic philosopher: flourished about b. c. 328. ]
No single fortress, no one single house, Is fatherland to me ; but all throughout Each city and each dwelling in the land Will find me ready there to make a home.
Hunger will quell your love ; if not, then time ; If neither of these things will quench the flame, The one cure left's a rope to hang yourself.
FRAGMENTS OF GftEEK TBAGIC POETS. 287
Sositheus.
[Flourished about b. c. 280. One of the so-called " Pleiad " — seven poets of the Alexandrian court, in the third century b. c, ranked as the chief Grecian tragic poets after tht great Five (^Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Ion, Achaeus), they were — Homer, Sositheus, Lycophron (see his "Cassandra" under sepa rate head), Alexander, Fhiliacus, Sosiphanes, Dionysiades. The first two were considered greatest. ]
The Myth of Lityerses.
This is Celaenae, fatherland, old city
Of aged Midas, who with asses' ears
And stupid human mind, here held his reign.
This is his bastard son, with spurious father,
But of what mother, she who bore him knows :
He eats in sooth three pack-ass loads of bread
Three times in one short day, and what he calls
A measure of wine is a ten-amphora jar ; [three barrels] But for his food supply he labors nimbly,
Mowing the swathes ; yet on a given day
He mingles Dionysus with his victual.
And when a stranger came or passed along,
He gave him to eat, — indeed, he fed him fat, —
And freely proffered drink, as wont in summer —
One hesitates to grudge those doomed to death.
Viewing the fields along Maeander's channels
Watered for herbage with abundant streams,
The man-tall corn he cuts with sharpened sickle ;
Then sheaf and stranger mingled into one
He leaves without a head, and laughs to think
How foolishly the reaper breakfasted. *******
A. Slain, he was pitched by the feet into Maeander, Just like a quoit ; and who the quoitsman was —
B. Who?
A. You shall hear. Who else but Hercules ?
Philiscus.
[See above. ]
0 fool, the idlers find it hard To earn the laborer's reward.
Among both men and gods, the right alone Forever deathless holds their judgments' throne.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
(Translations by various hands; in part made for this work by Forrest Morgan. )
"OLD COMEDY. "
SuSARION.
[Father of Greek comedy; flourished about b. c. 570. ]
Hear, folk ! Susarion has this to say, Philinus' son, native of Megara :
Women are evils : just the same, my friends, Without those evils all home-building ends. To marry or not, alike to evil tends.
Chionides.
I have known many a youth of not your breed In rough night watch or sleeping on mat of reed.
Meseems, by Heaven, no difference from me hath A willow sprung amid the torrent's path.
Epioharmus.
[About b. c. 540-450. Born in Cos, but spent most of his life at the court of Hiero in Syracuse. A famous Pythagorean philosopher ; as a poet said to have lifted comedy from low buffoonery to art. ]
"A Man's a Man for a' That. "
Good gossip, if you love me, prate no more : What are your genealogies to me ?
Away to those who have more need of them ! Let the degenerate wretches, if they can,
Dig up dead honor from their fathers' tombs,
And boast it for their own — vain, empty boast ! When every common fellow that they meet,
If accident hath not cut off the scroll,
Can show a list of ancestry as long.
You call the Scythians barbarous, and despise them : Yet Anacharsis was a Scythian born ;
And every man of a like noble nature,
Though he were molded from an Ethiop's loins,
Is nobler than your pedigrees can make him.
[Fifth century b. c]
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS. 289
Marriage.
Marriage is like to casting dice. If chance Bring you a virtuous and good-tempered wife, Your lot is happy. If you gain instead
A gadding, gossiping, and thriftless quean, No wife is yours, but everlasting plague
In woman's garb ; the habitable globe Holds not so dire a torment anywhere.
I feel it to my sorrow : better luck
Is that man's portion who has never tried.
It needs the strength of a lion to subdue the weakness of love.
Be sober in thought, be slow to belief : these are the sinews of wis
dom.
'Tis a wise man's part to judge rightly before the course is begun • So shall he not repent him after the action is done.
Waste not your anger on trifles ! let reason, not rage, be your guide.
Mankind owe more to labor than to talent : The gods set up their favors at a price, And industry alone can furnish it.
If you lack merit, you will not be envied ; But who would win exemption at the cost ?
PHRTNICHU8.
[Exhibited from b. o. 429 till after 405. ] The Men Proud of Insolent Wit.
The hardest task that our fortune sends To-day is to ward them off, in sooth ;
For they have a sting at their finger-ends — The malice of blooming and insolent youth.
They're forever at hand in the market-place,
And honey us all with their compliments blithe ;
Then they stand on the seats and scratch face after face, And deride us in concert at seeing us writhe.
'Tis sweet to do grilling
And not spend a shilling. VOL. IV. — 19
290
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
Epitaph on Sophocles.
Blest Sophocles ! who, wonted age o'erpast, Died fortunate and skilful to the last. Many and fair the tragic scenes he drew ; His end as fair, and ills he never knew.
Magnes.
[Flourished about b. c. 430. See Parabasis to Aristophanes' "Knights," end of Vol. 8. ]
Have you not heard the hot loaves from the pan Hissing when honey you have poured thereon ?
Teleclides.
[See Crates for a companion picture. Several other poets of the period have left similar skits, but these two are sufficient]
The Golden Age.
[Zeus speaks. ]
I will tell you, then, what the life was that at first I made ready for
mortals.
To begin with, peace was for all, just like water for washing the
hands.
The earth bore no fear nor diseases, all the needfuls were there of
themselves :
For each mountain stream flowed with wine, and the loaves had a
strife with the biscuits
To enter the mouths of the people, and begged to be taken and
eaten
If any one loved utter whiteness; the fishes came into the houses, And broiling themselves, placed their bodies for viands upon the
tables ;
Beside every couch ran a river of soup with hot meat floating
through it ;
And streamlets of salads were there for all who might chance to
desire them,
So that the tender mouthful was lavishly watered to swallow. Cakelets thrown into dishlets were ready and sprinkled with sauce-
lets ;
And one could see thrushes with toastlets flying into men's gullets ; From the pancakes jostling each other at mouths came a cry as of
battle,
And boys along with their mothers played dice with the tidbits and
cutlets.
Men were all corpulent then, and a huge aggregation of giants.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS. 291
Cratinus.
[Flourished from about 480 to 423 b. c. The originator of political comedy. See, for a magnificent tribute to him, the Parabasis to Aristophanes' "Knights," end of Vol. 3. He won nine first prizes, one over Aristophanes himself after the latter had counted him out of the field, and when near death. ]
The Cyclops to Ulysses and his Company.
Fob all these services, my dear companions, When I have taken you and roasted you,
Boiled you, and broiled you on a charcoal fire, Salted you down and dipped you into pickle, — Warm vinegar and salt, or salt and garlic, — Him that seems cooked most perfectly of all I'll gnaw his bones myself, in soldier fashion.
The men who lived in times of yore, When Kronos was their king,
They gambled with the loaves of bread, And often used to fling
The ripe iEgina barley cakes
Down in the wrestling ring ; —
And they plumed themselves upon their lands When Kronos was the king.
Have you seen that Thasian pickle, how he does the big bow-wow ? How well and swiftly he pays back his grudges, here and now !
It's not " a blind man talking to a deaf one," you'll allow.
A. How can one break this man, how can one, pray, Break him from drink, from drinking much too much ?
B. I know : I'll smash his gallon jars for him, And burn his casks to ashes like the lightning, And all the other vessels for his liquor,
Till not a wine cup shall be his to own.
It takes more than the eating of one brook trout To make one an epicure out and out.
[Lampon was a soothsayer, whose gluttony and covetousness were constant butts of Aristophanes. ]
There's Lampon, whom never a law men could make
Would keep from his friends when a spread was at stake ; . . .
Now he's belching again ;
He eats all that's in sight — for a mullet he'd fight.
292
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POET*
Leda's Egg.
Leda, this is your work : now it is your duty Dignifiedly, like a hen, — there's no other wise, — To sit on and hatch us out perfect little beauty,
A bird so wonderful that one must praise to the skies.
[On the luxury of old times
By their ears stood the soft thyme, the lily, or the rose Sceptre-globe and staff held, market loungers those.
[On the Lacedaemonian feast called the Kopis compare Irving's " Knick erbocker," and the lump of sugar hung by string
Is true, as they say, that each stranger among The arrivals banqueted high at that feast
In the clubrooms are sausages skewered and hung For the elders to bite pieces off with their teeth
[On the youth
The land has trained and fed them free
At public cost to man's degree, That they may its defenders be.
[The woman speaks
Let us return to what we were discussing
Whether this man, who has another woman
In his heart, slandering me to her think His trouble part old age, and partly liquor For nothing comes before his drink to him.
Good Lord, don't know letters, they're no reliance of mine But I'll tell you the story with my tongue, for remember fine.
[On himself see Parabasis as above:]
Lord Apollo, what flood of words
The torrents roar twelve springs are in that mouth, Ilissus in that throat What shall tell you
For unless some one plugs that mouth of yours, Everything here will be o'erflowed with songs.
Time was that with only rag to your loin You cheerfully threw in your lot with mine, And drank the lees of the poorest wine.
Far from the lyre the asses sit.
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FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS. 293
Every spectator will take his chances to sleep, if he's wise, To be rid of the spell of stupidity cast by the poets' eyes.
Splendid things are waiting for you, you'll be glad to hit on ; Gracious beaming girls, that and maple stools to sit on.
The Cottabus.
It death to drink wine that water's come near
But she mixed half and half of two lots that were sheer,
And drank six quarts from curving cup, Then named the Corinthian pet she held dear,
And threw the last drops for what fate would show up.
Crates.
[Flourished about b. c. 440. For his literary character, see Parabasis to the "Knights," as above. ]
Old Age.
These shriveled sinews and this bending frame
The workmanship of Time's strong hand proclaim Skilled to reverse whate'er the gods create,
And make that crooked which they fashion straight. Hard choice for man — to die, or else to be
That tottering, wretched, wrinkled thing you see, Yet age we all prefer for age we pray,
And travel on to life's last lingering day
Then sinking slowly down from worse to worse, Find Heaven's extorted boon our greatest curse. . You've cursed to me as mighty ill,
Yet borne not, death the price — greater still We covet, yet reject when arrived —
So thanklessly our nature contrived.
The blossoming of bosoms that are maiden's dower
Is like
rosy apple or arbutus in flower.
Megabyzus feeds the hind Shivering at his door He will get dole of food
For wages — nothing more.
The Golden Age.
[See also Teleclides. ]
A. Then none shall own slave of either sex. B. But shall an old man have to serve himself
?
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294 FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
A. Oh no : I will make all these things come straight.
B. And how will it better them ?
A.
Why, all utensils
Will come of their own accord when called. " Here, table,
Come up and set yourself ! You bread-trough, knead ! — Pitcher, pour wine ! Where's the cup ? wash yourself ! — The dinner-pot had best give forth some beets ! —
March, fish ! " — " But I'm not cooked on the other side. " — " Turn over, then, and salt yourself, you fool ! "
B. Well, listen, tit for tat : contrariwise
I'll bring the hot baths to my friends' abodes,
On columns such as through the hospital
By the seaside, so that they shall flow to each
Into his bath : he speaks, the water stops.
And then an alabaster box of unguent
Shall come of its own accord, and sponge, and slippers.
Swarms and swarms of lovers come here,
We've so many young pigs and lambs for their cheer.
Python.
[Of Catana. Flourished in the time of Alexander the Great. For HarpalnB ("Pallides"), the subject of these sarcastic lines, see note under Dinarchus,
in the selections from the Ten Attic Orators. The courtesan referred to was his mistress Pythionica. ]
Where grew this reed, a lofty crag aspires, Beyond the reach of birds ; and on its left A harlot's famous temple, which Pallides Building, condemned himself to exile for. Then some of the Barbarians' magi, noting His sorry plight, persuaded him their spells Could raise the soul of Pythionica.
****** A. But I would learn from you,
Since far from there I dwell — the Attic land What fortunes hap, and how its people fare.
B. When they declared they led the life of slaves, They had food in plenty ; now they solely eat
Fennel and pulse, and very little corn.
What revel-rout is this ? What noise is here ? What barbarian discord strikes my ear ?
What jarring sounds are these that rage
Unholy on the Bacchic stage ? —
'Tis mine to sing in Bromius' praise
'Tis mine to laud the god in dithyrambic lays
—
As o'er the mountain height,
The woodland Nymphs among,
I wing my rapid flight,
And tune my varied song,
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
Sweet as the melody of swans, that lave
Their nestling pinions in the silver wave ;
Of the harmonious lay the Muse is sovereign still ; Then let the minstrel follow if he will —
But not precede : whose stricter care should be, And more appropriate aim,
To fan the lawless flame
Of fiery youths, and lead them on To deeds of drunkenness alone,
The minister of revelry —
When doors, with many a sturdy stroke,
Fly from their bolts, to shivers broke,
And captive beauty yields, but is not won.
Down with the Phrygian pipe's discordant sound !
Crackle, ye flames ! and burn the monster foul To very ashes — in whose notes are found
Naught but what's harsh and flat — no music for the soul, The work of some vile handicraft. To thee,
Great Dithyrambus ! ivy-tressed king !
I stretch my hand, — 'tis here — and rapidly
My feet in airy mazes fling.
Listen my Doric lay: to thee, to thee I sing.
Akistias.
[Fifth century b. o. Contemporary of Sophocles. ] The Glutton.
That feaster is a boatman or a tramp,
A parasite of hell, with bottomless belly.
Aristarchus.
[Flourished about b. c. 454. ]
"
About it and about. " — Omar Khayyam.
Faib speech in such things, and no speech, are one ; Study and ignorance have equal value;
For wise men know no more than simple fools
In these dark matters ; and if one by speaking Conquer another, mere words win the day.
Love Laughs at Locksmiths.
That man who hath not tried of love the might Knows not the strong rule of necessity,
Bound and constrained, whereby this road I travel ;
great argument
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 279
Yea, our lord Love strengthens the strengthless, teaches The craftless how to find both craft and cunning.
Neophron.
[Exhibited 431 b. c]
Medea Decides to Kill her Children.
Well, well : what wilt thou do, my soul ? Think much Before this sin be sinned, before thy dearest
Thou turn to deadliest foes. Whither art bounding ? Restrain thy force, thy god-detested fury.
And yet, why grieve I thus, seeing my life
Laid desolate, despitefully abandoned,
By those who least should leave me ? Soft, forsooth, Shall I be in the midst of wrongs like these ?
Nay, heart of mine, be not thy own betrayer !
Ah me ! 'Tis settled. Children, from my sight
Get you away ! for now bloodthirsty madness
Sinks in my soul and swells it. Oh, hands, hands, Unto what deed are we accoutred ? Woe !
Undone by my own daring ! In one minute
I
go to blast the fruit of my long toil.
Achjsus.
[Flourished about b. c. 484-448. He and Ion were ranked next after JEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, as making up the five great tragic drama
tists of Athens. ]
The Athletes in the Games.
Naked above, their radiant arms displaying,
In lustihood of ruffling youth, and bloom
Of beauty bright on stalwart breasts, they fare ;
Their shoulders and their feet in floods of oil
Are bathed, like men whose homes abound in plenty. . . . Ambassadors or athletes do you mean ?
Great feeders are they, like most men in training.
Of what race are the strangers, then ? — Boeotians.
The Cock and the Pearls.
To hungry men a barley cake is more Than gold and ivory in an ample store.
The Scythians Angry at the Watered Wine.
Was the whole Achelous in this wine ?
But even then this race would not cease drinking, For this is all a Scythian's happiness.
280
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC FOETS.
Ion.
[Exhibited about b. c. 424. ]
" Know thou thyself — " that saw is trivial stuff : Not even a god but Zeus has power enough.
The town of Sparta is not walled with words ; But when young Ares falls upon her men, Then reason rules and the hand does the deed.
The Crippled, Blinded, and Caged Bird.
His body maimed, his sight no more, Still he recalls his strength of yore: Helpless he cries, and gladly would Exchange for death his servitude.
Agathon.
[About b. c. 477-430. ]
One thing not God himself can do, I ween, —
To make what's done as though it ne'er had been.
Skill is true friend of chance, and chance of skill. Worsted by suffering, cowards dote on death.
Some things we mortals can effect by skill ; Some fall on us as fate and fortune will.
We work on superfluities as if a need were nigh, And dawdle on our real work as superfluity.
Abiston.
[Son of Sophocles ; middle of the fifth century b. c. This citation is on the authority of Theophilus, bishop of Antioch in the latter part of the second century a. d. ; but the Greek verse is unclassically poor, and it is quite possible Theophilus wrote it himself. ]
Providence.
A. Cheer up : the god is wont to succor all Deserving of it — chiefly just this sort.
If the front rank be not assigned to them, Why should men practice rigid piety ?
B. That may be so ; and yet Ioften see Those who conduct their business piously Bearing strange evils ; on the other hand,
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 281
Those out for profit and themselves alone Holding a far more honored place among us.
A. For the present, yes ; but one should look ahead And wait the final closing up of all.
By not so doing, some have let prevail
The notion, vile and profitless to life,
That each man's course is automatic, each Guided by chance ; and so the mob decide Each for himself to hug his provender.
And yet the crowns are for the virtuous lives, And to the wicked comes their penalty ;
For naught takes place apart from Providence.
Chcebilus.
[Flourished latter part of fifth century B. C. ] "Some Banquet Hall Deserted. "
Here in my hands I hold a wretched piece Of earthen goblet, broken all around,
Sad relic of a band of merry feasters ;
And often the fierce gale of wanton Bacchus Dashes such wrecks with insult on the shore.
Critias.
[The leader and the worst of the Thirty Tyrants, b. o. 404, and slain fighting for them against Thrasybulus the same year. He was a pupil of Socrates, friend and supporter of Alcibiades, and a democrat till banished by the people ; re turning, headed the oligarchic revolution with the vindictive rancor of a rene gade, put his colleague Theramenes to death for counseling caution, and threatened Socrates. He was a forcible speaker, and a dabbler in various kinds of literature. The opening lines of this poem are curious when compared with his final venture in public life. ]
Theoretic Evolution of Law and Religion.
Time was, when lawless was the life of men,
Like to wild beasts, in thrall to mere brute force, When to the good resulted no reward,
When to the wicked fell no chastisement. Thereafter, men I think established laws
To quell the unruly, so that justice might
Put down the tyrants, check the outrages,
And punish whoso broke the social rule.
Then, when the laws forbade the evil sort
To work their will by force and openly,
Yet still they did their mischief underhand, —
I fancy then some subtle sage conceived
282
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
What mortals needed was to find out how
Fear might be laid on evil-doers, if aught
They do or speak or think in secret wise :
That then he introduced the Being Divine,
As spirit blooming in perpetual life,
Hearing and seeing and thinking with the mind, Forever keeping watch on those misdeeds,
And as a god, with power to see and hear Whate'er was done or said among mankind ; Even if in silence you frame evil wishes,
You shall not hide it from the gods, for thought Is the gods' essence.
Speaking in such words, He must have introduced grand moral teachings,
Concealing truth with mask of lying phrase ; Asserted that the gods dwelt here on earth,
To strike dismay to men and lead them on.
He noted too that fears came on them thence, Adding new hardships to their wretched life : The motions of the sky, that brought about
The lightning's glare, the fearful thunder crash, The starry host — resplendent broidery
Of Time, sage artificer ; thence beside
The dazzling meteor shot the heavenly way,
The laden storm-cloud moved along the land.
These all about them pierced their souls with fear ; Thereby his speech gained credit, when a place
He chose as fit to build the god a home,
And crushed the headstrong by the laws he made. Thus first, methinks, men must have been persuaded By some man to obey the spirit's law.
Moschioit.
[Flourished about b. c. 380. He is also ranked as a writer of the Middle Comedy, which shows the absurdity of the artificial classification of tragic and comic. But the remains belong to the serious Muse. ]
De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum.
'Tis vain to offer outrage to thin shades : God-fearers strike the living, not the dead.
What gain we by insulting mere dead men ? What profit were taunts cast at voiceless clay ? For when the sense that can discern things sweet And things offensive is corrupt and fled,
The body takes the rank of mere deaf stone.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 283
Quality Counts, not Quantity.
In far mountain vales
See how a single ax fells countless firs ; So a few men can curb a myriad lances.
AsTYDAMAS JuNIOB.
[Grandson of JEechylus' sister. Flourished middle of fourth century B. C. ] The Dramatic Craft.
A wise playwright should act like the man who gives a magnificent feast:
He should seek to delight the spectators, that each on departing may feel
He has eaten and drunk just the things he would chiefly have chosen himself :
Not set but one dish for all palates, one writing for all sorts of tastes.
Virtue will Always be Honored.
The people's praise is sure to fall, Their fullest honor to be shown,
To him who makes the right his all, Whose ways are loftiest : such a one
They will term noble. Search the land :
In every hundred, one like this
Can there be found ? The quest will miss,
E'en though ten thousand join the band.
Cakcinus Junior,
[Flourished about b. o. 380. ]
O Zeus, what need for one to waste one's words
In speaking ill of women ? for what worse
Is there to add, when one has called them women ?
Virtue is for the individual's care ; Fortune to ask for of the gods in prayer :
Whoever has the power to yoke the two, Rightly a good and happy name shall bear.
For most of human ills, the sovereign healing Is silence, which at least is prudent dealing.
[To a slave :]
Seeing you full of hate, I am rejoiced :
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
Knowing that hatred works one piece of justice
On those it strikes, — the slave abhors his masters.
O wealth, though oft enough a luckless fate, Thou forcest men to fiercely emulate.
This is a thing that men should hold in dread — To vaunt one's self above the mighty dead.
Wine should not turn you ; for if you have been Admonished by your nature fixed within, Occasion ne'er will tempt you into sin.
Diogenes GSnomaus. [Began to exhibit b. c. 404. ] Music in Asiatic Worship.
And now I hear the turban-bearing women,
The votaries of Asian Cybele,
The wealthy Phrygians' daughters, loudly sounding, With drums, and rhombs, and brazen-clashing cymbals, Their hands in concert striking on each other,
Pour forth a wise and healing hymn to the gods. Likewise the Syrian and the Bactrian maids
Who dwell beside the Halys, loudly worship
The Tmolian goddess Artemis, who loves
The laurel shade of the thick leafy grove,
Striking the clear three-cornered pectis, and
Raising responsive airs upon the magadis,
While flutes in Persian manner neatly joined Accompany the chorus.
Dionysius.
[Tyrant of Syracuse b. o. 405-867. ]
Ie then you think no pain to your condition Will come, you have a happy disposition : Of gods' life, not of mortals', is your vision.
[Solon's saw versified :]
Let no man think another mortal blest Until he sees his life close undistrest : To praise the dead alone is safe and best.
As from a tranquil face looks out God's eye, And gazes o'er all things eternally.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 285
[This is the original, or at least the theme, of verse 45, canto 3, of "Childe Harold. " The repetitions and assonances closely follow the Greek. ]
Knowest thou naught of this fact of fate's — Those who are naught, not any one hates ? Ever the great is what rouses hate ;
All power tall grown is fated for hatred.
If humbly born, hate not the rich : Envy tunes some to slander's pitch.
Theodbctes.
[A great rhetorician of the school of Isocrates : lived about b. o. 875-835. ] Mirages.
Old age and marriage are twin happenings : We long to have them both befall ourselves, But when befallen, we deplore too late.
The One Immortal Thing.
All human things are born to die And reach their ending by-and-by, Save shamelessness, apparently Let the race wax howe'er it may, This waxes with it day by day.
Hope Deferred.
One can but oft
Be weary of the quest for fame and praise.
Our indolence, the present sweetness grasped,
Wails, with fond dreams what future time will bring.
The Mills of God.
[This is the exact theme of Walter Bagehot's " The Ignorance of Man. "]
Mortal, whoe'er thou art, who blamest God Because not swiftly but with long delay He strikes the wicked, listen to the cause : Were retribution visited forthwith,
Many through fear and not through piety Would worship God; but retribution now Being far off, each acts his nature out. But when detected, known as evil men, They pay the penalty in later times.
s
286 FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
The bridegroom when he brings his housemate home Not merely takes a wife, 'tis evident :
Along with that he takes a spirit in,
For blessing or malignance, as may be.
CH2EBEMON.
[Flourished probably about b. c. 380. ] A Garden of Girls.
There one reclined apart I saw, within the moon's pale light, With bosom through her parted robe appearing snowy white : Another danced, and floating free her garments in the breeze,
She seemed as buoyant as the waves that leap o'er summer seas ; While dusky shadows all around shrunk backward from the place, Chased by the beaming splendor shed like sunshine from her face. Beside this living picture stood a maiden passing fair,
With soft round arms exposed. A fourth, with free and graceful air, Like Dian when the bounding hart she tracks through morning dew, Bared through the opening of her robes her lovely limbs to view ; And oh ! the image of her charms, as clouds in heaven above, Mirrored by streams, left on my soul the stamp of hopeless love. And slumbering near them others lay, on beds of sweetest flowers, The dusky-petaled violet, the rose of Raphian bowers,
The inula and saffron flower, which on their garments cast
And veils, such hues as deck the sky when day is ebbing fast ; While far and near tall marjoram bedecked the fairy ground, Loading with sweets the vagrant winds that frolicked all around.
Cbates.
[Cynic philosopher: flourished about b. c. 328. ]
No single fortress, no one single house, Is fatherland to me ; but all throughout Each city and each dwelling in the land Will find me ready there to make a home.
Hunger will quell your love ; if not, then time ; If neither of these things will quench the flame, The one cure left's a rope to hang yourself.
FRAGMENTS OF GftEEK TBAGIC POETS. 287
Sositheus.
[Flourished about b. c. 280. One of the so-called " Pleiad " — seven poets of the Alexandrian court, in the third century b. c, ranked as the chief Grecian tragic poets after tht great Five (^Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Ion, Achaeus), they were — Homer, Sositheus, Lycophron (see his "Cassandra" under sepa rate head), Alexander, Fhiliacus, Sosiphanes, Dionysiades. The first two were considered greatest. ]
The Myth of Lityerses.
This is Celaenae, fatherland, old city
Of aged Midas, who with asses' ears
And stupid human mind, here held his reign.
This is his bastard son, with spurious father,
But of what mother, she who bore him knows :
He eats in sooth three pack-ass loads of bread
Three times in one short day, and what he calls
A measure of wine is a ten-amphora jar ; [three barrels] But for his food supply he labors nimbly,
Mowing the swathes ; yet on a given day
He mingles Dionysus with his victual.
And when a stranger came or passed along,
He gave him to eat, — indeed, he fed him fat, —
And freely proffered drink, as wont in summer —
One hesitates to grudge those doomed to death.
Viewing the fields along Maeander's channels
Watered for herbage with abundant streams,
The man-tall corn he cuts with sharpened sickle ;
Then sheaf and stranger mingled into one
He leaves without a head, and laughs to think
How foolishly the reaper breakfasted. *******
A. Slain, he was pitched by the feet into Maeander, Just like a quoit ; and who the quoitsman was —
B. Who?
A. You shall hear. Who else but Hercules ?
Philiscus.
[See above. ]
0 fool, the idlers find it hard To earn the laborer's reward.
Among both men and gods, the right alone Forever deathless holds their judgments' throne.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
(Translations by various hands; in part made for this work by Forrest Morgan. )
"OLD COMEDY. "
SuSARION.
[Father of Greek comedy; flourished about b. c. 570. ]
Hear, folk ! Susarion has this to say, Philinus' son, native of Megara :
Women are evils : just the same, my friends, Without those evils all home-building ends. To marry or not, alike to evil tends.
Chionides.
I have known many a youth of not your breed In rough night watch or sleeping on mat of reed.
Meseems, by Heaven, no difference from me hath A willow sprung amid the torrent's path.
Epioharmus.
[About b. c. 540-450. Born in Cos, but spent most of his life at the court of Hiero in Syracuse. A famous Pythagorean philosopher ; as a poet said to have lifted comedy from low buffoonery to art. ]
"A Man's a Man for a' That. "
Good gossip, if you love me, prate no more : What are your genealogies to me ?
Away to those who have more need of them ! Let the degenerate wretches, if they can,
Dig up dead honor from their fathers' tombs,
And boast it for their own — vain, empty boast ! When every common fellow that they meet,
If accident hath not cut off the scroll,
Can show a list of ancestry as long.
You call the Scythians barbarous, and despise them : Yet Anacharsis was a Scythian born ;
And every man of a like noble nature,
Though he were molded from an Ethiop's loins,
Is nobler than your pedigrees can make him.
[Fifth century b. c]
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS. 289
Marriage.
Marriage is like to casting dice. If chance Bring you a virtuous and good-tempered wife, Your lot is happy. If you gain instead
A gadding, gossiping, and thriftless quean, No wife is yours, but everlasting plague
In woman's garb ; the habitable globe Holds not so dire a torment anywhere.
I feel it to my sorrow : better luck
Is that man's portion who has never tried.
It needs the strength of a lion to subdue the weakness of love.
Be sober in thought, be slow to belief : these are the sinews of wis
dom.
'Tis a wise man's part to judge rightly before the course is begun • So shall he not repent him after the action is done.
Waste not your anger on trifles ! let reason, not rage, be your guide.
Mankind owe more to labor than to talent : The gods set up their favors at a price, And industry alone can furnish it.
If you lack merit, you will not be envied ; But who would win exemption at the cost ?
PHRTNICHU8.
[Exhibited from b. o. 429 till after 405. ] The Men Proud of Insolent Wit.
The hardest task that our fortune sends To-day is to ward them off, in sooth ;
For they have a sting at their finger-ends — The malice of blooming and insolent youth.
They're forever at hand in the market-place,
And honey us all with their compliments blithe ;
Then they stand on the seats and scratch face after face, And deride us in concert at seeing us writhe.
'Tis sweet to do grilling
And not spend a shilling. VOL. IV. — 19
290
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
Epitaph on Sophocles.
Blest Sophocles ! who, wonted age o'erpast, Died fortunate and skilful to the last. Many and fair the tragic scenes he drew ; His end as fair, and ills he never knew.
Magnes.
[Flourished about b. c. 430. See Parabasis to Aristophanes' "Knights," end of Vol. 8. ]
Have you not heard the hot loaves from the pan Hissing when honey you have poured thereon ?
Teleclides.
[See Crates for a companion picture. Several other poets of the period have left similar skits, but these two are sufficient]
The Golden Age.
[Zeus speaks. ]
I will tell you, then, what the life was that at first I made ready for
mortals.
To begin with, peace was for all, just like water for washing the
hands.
The earth bore no fear nor diseases, all the needfuls were there of
themselves :
For each mountain stream flowed with wine, and the loaves had a
strife with the biscuits
To enter the mouths of the people, and begged to be taken and
eaten
If any one loved utter whiteness; the fishes came into the houses, And broiling themselves, placed their bodies for viands upon the
tables ;
Beside every couch ran a river of soup with hot meat floating
through it ;
And streamlets of salads were there for all who might chance to
desire them,
So that the tender mouthful was lavishly watered to swallow. Cakelets thrown into dishlets were ready and sprinkled with sauce-
lets ;
And one could see thrushes with toastlets flying into men's gullets ; From the pancakes jostling each other at mouths came a cry as of
battle,
And boys along with their mothers played dice with the tidbits and
cutlets.
Men were all corpulent then, and a huge aggregation of giants.
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS. 291
Cratinus.
[Flourished from about 480 to 423 b. c. The originator of political comedy. See, for a magnificent tribute to him, the Parabasis to Aristophanes' "Knights," end of Vol. 3. He won nine first prizes, one over Aristophanes himself after the latter had counted him out of the field, and when near death. ]
The Cyclops to Ulysses and his Company.
Fob all these services, my dear companions, When I have taken you and roasted you,
Boiled you, and broiled you on a charcoal fire, Salted you down and dipped you into pickle, — Warm vinegar and salt, or salt and garlic, — Him that seems cooked most perfectly of all I'll gnaw his bones myself, in soldier fashion.
The men who lived in times of yore, When Kronos was their king,
They gambled with the loaves of bread, And often used to fling
The ripe iEgina barley cakes
Down in the wrestling ring ; —
And they plumed themselves upon their lands When Kronos was the king.
Have you seen that Thasian pickle, how he does the big bow-wow ? How well and swiftly he pays back his grudges, here and now !
It's not " a blind man talking to a deaf one," you'll allow.
A. How can one break this man, how can one, pray, Break him from drink, from drinking much too much ?
B. I know : I'll smash his gallon jars for him, And burn his casks to ashes like the lightning, And all the other vessels for his liquor,
Till not a wine cup shall be his to own.
It takes more than the eating of one brook trout To make one an epicure out and out.
[Lampon was a soothsayer, whose gluttony and covetousness were constant butts of Aristophanes. ]
There's Lampon, whom never a law men could make
Would keep from his friends when a spread was at stake ; . . .
Now he's belching again ;
He eats all that's in sight — for a mullet he'd fight.
292
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POET*
Leda's Egg.
Leda, this is your work : now it is your duty Dignifiedly, like a hen, — there's no other wise, — To sit on and hatch us out perfect little beauty,
A bird so wonderful that one must praise to the skies.
[On the luxury of old times
By their ears stood the soft thyme, the lily, or the rose Sceptre-globe and staff held, market loungers those.
[On the Lacedaemonian feast called the Kopis compare Irving's " Knick erbocker," and the lump of sugar hung by string
Is true, as they say, that each stranger among The arrivals banqueted high at that feast
In the clubrooms are sausages skewered and hung For the elders to bite pieces off with their teeth
[On the youth
The land has trained and fed them free
At public cost to man's degree, That they may its defenders be.
[The woman speaks
Let us return to what we were discussing
Whether this man, who has another woman
In his heart, slandering me to her think His trouble part old age, and partly liquor For nothing comes before his drink to him.
Good Lord, don't know letters, they're no reliance of mine But I'll tell you the story with my tongue, for remember fine.
[On himself see Parabasis as above:]
Lord Apollo, what flood of words
The torrents roar twelve springs are in that mouth, Ilissus in that throat What shall tell you
For unless some one plugs that mouth of yours, Everything here will be o'erflowed with songs.
Time was that with only rag to your loin You cheerfully threw in your lot with mine, And drank the lees of the poorest wine.
Far from the lyre the asses sit.
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FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS. 293
Every spectator will take his chances to sleep, if he's wise, To be rid of the spell of stupidity cast by the poets' eyes.
Splendid things are waiting for you, you'll be glad to hit on ; Gracious beaming girls, that and maple stools to sit on.
The Cottabus.
It death to drink wine that water's come near
But she mixed half and half of two lots that were sheer,
And drank six quarts from curving cup, Then named the Corinthian pet she held dear,
And threw the last drops for what fate would show up.
Crates.
[Flourished about b. c. 440. For his literary character, see Parabasis to the "Knights," as above. ]
Old Age.
These shriveled sinews and this bending frame
The workmanship of Time's strong hand proclaim Skilled to reverse whate'er the gods create,
And make that crooked which they fashion straight. Hard choice for man — to die, or else to be
That tottering, wretched, wrinkled thing you see, Yet age we all prefer for age we pray,
And travel on to life's last lingering day
Then sinking slowly down from worse to worse, Find Heaven's extorted boon our greatest curse. . You've cursed to me as mighty ill,
Yet borne not, death the price — greater still We covet, yet reject when arrived —
So thanklessly our nature contrived.
The blossoming of bosoms that are maiden's dower
Is like
rosy apple or arbutus in flower.
Megabyzus feeds the hind Shivering at his door He will get dole of food
For wages — nothing more.
The Golden Age.
[See also Teleclides. ]
A. Then none shall own slave of either sex. B. But shall an old man have to serve himself
?
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294 FRAGMENTS OF GREEK COMIC POETS.
A. Oh no : I will make all these things come straight.
B. And how will it better them ?
A.
Why, all utensils
Will come of their own accord when called. " Here, table,
Come up and set yourself ! You bread-trough, knead ! — Pitcher, pour wine ! Where's the cup ? wash yourself ! — The dinner-pot had best give forth some beets ! —
March, fish ! " — " But I'm not cooked on the other side. " — " Turn over, then, and salt yourself, you fool ! "
B. Well, listen, tit for tat : contrariwise
I'll bring the hot baths to my friends' abodes,
On columns such as through the hospital
By the seaside, so that they shall flow to each
Into his bath : he speaks, the water stops.
And then an alabaster box of unguent
Shall come of its own accord, and sponge, and slippers.
Swarms and swarms of lovers come here,
We've so many young pigs and lambs for their cheer.
Python.
[Of Catana. Flourished in the time of Alexander the Great. For HarpalnB ("Pallides"), the subject of these sarcastic lines, see note under Dinarchus,
in the selections from the Ten Attic Orators. The courtesan referred to was his mistress Pythionica. ]
Where grew this reed, a lofty crag aspires, Beyond the reach of birds ; and on its left A harlot's famous temple, which Pallides Building, condemned himself to exile for. Then some of the Barbarians' magi, noting His sorry plight, persuaded him their spells Could raise the soul of Pythionica.
****** A. But I would learn from you,
Since far from there I dwell — the Attic land What fortunes hap, and how its people fare.
B. When they declared they led the life of slaves, They had food in plenty ; now they solely eat
Fennel and pulse, and very little corn.
