Chapter 4

ὦ θάνατε παιὰν μή μ' ἀτιμάσῃς μολεῖν·μόνος γὰρ εἶ σὺ τῶν ἀνηκέστων κακῶνἰατρός· ἄλγος δ' οὐδὲν ἅπτεται νεκροῦ.[17]

Another passage on Death, remarkable for the stately grandeur of its style, may be quoted from theNiobe:

μόνος θεῶν γὰρ θάνατος οὐ δώρων ἐρᾷ,οὔτ' ἄν τι θύων οὔτ' ἐπισπένδων ἄνοις,οὐ βωμός ἐστιν οὐδὲ παιωνίζεται.μόνου δὲ πειθὼ δαιμόνων ἀποστατεῖ.[18]

The sublime speech of Aphrodite in theDanaides, imitated more than once by subsequent poets, must not be omitted:

ἐρᾷ μὲν ἁγνὸς οὐρανὸς τρῶσαι χθόνα,ἔρως δὲ γαῖαν λαμβάνει γάμου τυχεῖν·ὄμβρος δ' ἀπ' εὐνάεντος οὐρανοῦ πεσὼνἔκυσε γαῖαν· ἡ δὲ τίκτεται βροτοῖςμήλων τε βοσκὰς καὶ βίον Δημήτριον·δενδρῶτις ὥρα δ' ἐκ νοτίζοντος γάμουτέλειός ἐστι· τῶν δ' ἐγὼ παραίτιος.[19]

Nor, lastly, the mystic couplet ascribed to both Æschylus and his son Euphorion:

Ζεύς ἐστιν αἰθήρ, Ζεὺς δὲ γῆ, Ζεὺς δ' οὐρανός,Ζεύς τοι τὰ πάντα, χὤ τι τῶνδ' ὑπέρτερον.[20]

The fragments of Sophocles are, perhaps, in even a stricter sense than those of Æschylus, a bare anthology, and the best way of dealing with them is to select those which illustrate the beauty of his style or the ripeness of his wisdom. Few, indeed, are full enough to afford materials for reconstructing the plot of a lost play. What, for instance, can be more tantalizing to the student of Greek manners and sentiments than to know that Sophocles wrote a drama with the titleLovers of Achilles, and yet to have no means of judging of its fable better than is given in this pretty simile?

νόσημ' ἔρωτος τοῦτ' ἐφίμερον κακόν·ἔχοιμ' ἂν αὐτὸ μὴ κακῶς ἀπεικάσαι,ὅταν πάγου φανέντος αἰθρίου χεροῖνκρύσταλλον ἁρπάσωσι παῖδες ἀσταγῆ.τὰ πρῶτ' ἔχουσιν ἡδονὰς ποταινίους,τέλος δ' ὁ χυμὸς οὔθ' ὅπως ἀφῇ θέλειοὔτ' ἐν χεροῖν τὸ κτῆμα σύμφορον μένειν.οὕτω γε τοὺς ἐρῶντας αὑτὸς ἵμεροςδρᾶν καὶ τὸ μὴ δρᾶν πολλάκις προΐεται.[21]

A whole series of plays were written by Sophocles on the tale of Helen, and all of them have passed, "like shapes of clouds we form, to nothing." There was, again, a drama of theEpigoni, which might, perhaps, have carried the tale of Thebes still further than the climax reached in theAntigone. Yet Stobæus has only thought fit to treat us to two excerpts from it, whereof the following, spoken by Alcmæon to Eriphyle, is the fullest:

ὦ πᾶν σὺ τολμήσασα καὶ πέρα γύναι·κάκιον ἄλλ' οὐκ ἔστιν οὔδ' ἔσται ποτὲγυναικὸς εἴ τι πῆμα γίγνεται βροτοῖς.[22]

The sententiousphilosophy of life that endeared Euripides to the compilers of commonplace-books was expressed by Sophocles also, with sufficient independence of the context to make his speeches valuable as quarries for quotation. To this accident of his art is probably due the large number of fragments we possess upon general topics of morality and conduct. In the following fine passage the poet discusses the apparent injustice in the apportionment of good and evil fortune to virtuous and vicious men:

δεινόν γε τοὺς μὲν δυσσεβεῖς κακῶν τ' ἄποβλάστοντας, εἶτα τούσδε μὲν πράσσειν καλῶς,τοὺς δ' ὄντας ἐσθλοὺς ἔκ τε γενναίων ἅμαγεγῶτας εἶτα δυστυχεῖς πεφυκέναι.οὐ χρῆν τάδ' οὕτω δαίμονας θνητῶν πέριπράσσειν· ἐχρῆν γὰρ τοὺς μὲν εὐσεβεῖς βροτῶνἔχειν τι κέρδος ἐμφανὲς θεῶν πάρα,τοὺς δ' ὄντας ἀδίκους τοῖσδε τὴν ἐναντίανδίκην κακῶν τιμωρὸν ἐμφανῆ τίνειν.κοὐδεὶς ἂν οὕτως εὐτύχει κακὸς γεγώς.[23]

The same play furnished Stobæus with an excellent observation on garrulity:

ἀνὴρ γὰρ ὅστις ἥδεται λέγων ἀεὶλέληθεν αὑτὸν τοῖς ξυνοῦσιν ὢν βαρύς.[24]

Also with a good remark upon the value of sound common-sense:

ψυχὴ γὰρ εὔνους καὶ φρονοῦσα τοὔνδικονκρείσσων σοφιστοῦ παντός ἐστιν εὑρέτις.[25]

TheAleadæsupplied this pungent diatribe upon the contrast between poverty and wealth:

τὰ χρήματ' ἀνθρώποισιν εὑρίσκει φίλους,αὖθις δὲ τιμὰς εἶτα τῆς ὑπερτάτηςτυραννίδος θακοῦσιν αἰσχίστην ἕδραν.ἔπειτα δ' οὐδεὶς ἐχθρὸς οὔτε φύεταιπρὸς χρήμαθ' οἵ τε φύντες ἀρνοῦνται στυγεῖν.δεινὸς γὰρ ἕρπειν πλοῦτος ἔς τε τἄβατακαὶ πρὸς βέβηλα, χὠπόθεν πένης ἀνὴρμήδ' ἐντυχὼν δύναιτ' ἂν ὧν ἐρᾷ τυχεῖν.καὶ γὰρ δυσειδὲς σῶμα καὶ δυσώνυμον,γλώσσῃ σοφὸν τίθησιν εὔμορφόν τ' ἰδεῖν.μόνῳ δὲ χαίρειν καὶ νοσεῖν ἐξουσίαπάρεστιν αὐτῷ κἀπικρύψασθαι κακά.[26]

In theLocrian Ajaxwe find two single lines worth preservation:

σοφοὶ τύραννοι τῶν σοφῶν ξυνουσίᾳ·[27]

and

ἄνθρωπός ἐστι πνεῦμα καὶ σκιὰ μόνον.[28]

This charming description comes from theÆgeus, recalling Athens, where the poplars grow so large and leafy:

ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν φύλλοισιν αἰγείρου μακρᾶς,κἂν ἄλλο μηδέν, ἀλλὰ τοὐκείνης κάρααὔρα κραδαίνει κἀνακουφίζει πτέρον.[29]

Some scattered utterances upon women and love may be collected from thePhædra, in which play Sophocles broke the ground trodden by Euripides:

ἔρως γὰρ ἄνδρας οὐ μόνους ἐπέρχεταιοὐδ' αὖ γυναῖκας ἀλλὰ καὶ θεῶν ἄνωψυχὰς χαράσσει κἀπὶ πόντον ἔρχεται.καὶ τόνδ' ἀπείργειν οὐδ' ὁ παγκρατὴς σθένειΖεὺς ἀλλ' ὑπείκει καὶ θέλων ἐγκλίνεται.οὕτω γυναικὸς οὐδὲν ἂν μεῖζον κακὸνκακῆς ἀνὴρ κτήσαιτ' ἂν οὐδὲ σώφρονοςκρεῖσσον· παθὼν δ' ἕκαστος ὧν τύχῃ λέγει.[30]

οὕτω γυναικὸς οὐδὲν ἂν μεῖζον κακὸνκακῆς ἀνὴρ κτήσαιτ' ἂν οὐδὲ σώφρονοςκρεῖσσον· παθὼν δ' ἕκαστος ὧν τύχῃ λέγει.[30]

The next fragment, extracted possibly from theColchian Women, deserves to be compared with similar Euripidean passages, though in point of workmanship it is finer, and in profound suggestion more intense, than is the usual manner of Euripides:

ὦ παῖδες ἥ τοι Κύπρις οὐ Κύπρις μόνονἀλλ' ἐστὶ πολλῶν ὀνομάτων ἐπώνυμος.ἔστιν μὲν Ἅιδης ἔστι δ' ἄφθιτος βίαἔστιν δὲ λύσσα μαινὰς ἐστὶ δ' ἵμεροςἄκρατος ἔστ' οἰμωγμός. ἐν κείνῃ τὸ πᾶνσπουδαῖον ἡσυχαῖον ἐς βίαν ἄγον.ἐντήκεται γὰρ πνευμόνων ὅσοις ἔνιψυχή. τίς οὐχὶ τῆσδε τῆς θεοῦ βορά;εἰσέρχεται μὲν ἰχθύων πλωτῷ γένειἔνεστι δ' ἐν χέρσου τετρασκελεῖ γονῇ·νωμᾷ δ' ἐν οἰωνοῖσι τοὐκείνης πτερὸνἐν θηρσὶν ἐν βροτοῖσιν ἐν θεοῖς ἄνω.τίν' οὐ παλαίουσ' ἐς τρὶς ἐκβάλλει θεῶν;εἴ μοι θέμις, θέμις δὲ τἀληθῆ λέγειν,Διὸς τυραννεῖ πνευμόνων· ἄνευ δορὸςἄνευ σιδήρου πάντα τοι συντέμνεταιΚύπρις τὰ θνητῶν καὶ θεῶν βουλεύματα.[31]

While upon this topic of love and women, I may quote a considerable fragment of theTereus, marked by more sympathy for women in the troubles of their married lives than the Greek poets commonly express:

νῦν δ' οὐδέν εἰμι χωρίς, ἀλλὰ πολλάκιςἔβλεψα ταύτῃ τὴν γυναικείαν φύσιν,ὡς οὐδέν ἐσμεν· αἳ νέαι μὲν ἐν πατρὸςἥδιστον οἶμαι ζῶμεν ἀνθρώπων βίον·τερπνῶς γὰρ ἀεὶ πάντας ἁνοία τρέφει.ὅταν δ' ἐς ἥβην ἐξικώμεθ' εὔφρονες,ὠθούμεθ' ἔξω καὶ διεμπολώμεθαθεῶν πατρῴων τῶν τε φυσάντων ἄπο,αἱ μὲν ξένους πρὸς ἄνδρας, αἱ δὲ βαρβάρους,αἱ δ' εἰς ἀήθη δώμαθ', αἱ δ' ἐπίρροθα,καὶ ταῦτ' ἐπειδὰν εὐφρόνη ζεύξῃ μίαχρεὼν ἐπαινεῖν καὶ δοκεῖν καλῶς ἔχειν.[32]

The same play contains a fine choric passage upon the equality of human souls at birth, their after inequality through fortune:

ἓν φῦλον ἀνθρώπων μί' ἔδειξε πατρὸς καὶ ματρὸς ἡμᾶςἁμέρα τοὺς πάντας· οὐδεὶς ἔξοχος ἄλλος ἔβλαστεν ἄλλου.βόσκει δὲ τοὺς μὲν μοῖρα δυσαμερίας τοὺς δ' ὄλβος ἡμῶντοὺς δὲ δουλείας ζυγὸν ἔσχεν ἀνάγκας.[33]

Among the fragments that deal with the commonplaces of Greek tragedy, the following, from theTyndareus, may be cited as a brilliant expression of the Solonian proverb:

οὐ χρή ποτ' εὖ πράσσοντος ὀλβίσαι τύχαςἀνδρὸς πρὶν αὐτῷ παντελῶς ἤδη βίοςδιεκπερανθῇ καὶ τελευτήσῃ βίον.ἐν γὰρ βραχεῖ καθεῖλε κὠλίγῳ χρόνῳπάμπλουτον ὄλβον δαίμονος κακοῦ δόσις,ὅταν μεταστῇ καὶ θεοῖς δοκῇ τάδε.[34]

A play called theScyrian Womenfurnishes two excellent apothegmatic passages upon the misery of old age and the inutility of mourning:

οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλγος οἷον ἡ πολλὴ ζόη.πάντ' ἐμπέφυκε τῷ μακρῷ γήρᾳ κακά,νοῦς φροῦδος ἔργ' ἀχρεῖα φροντίδες κεναί.ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν ἦν κλαίουσιν ἰᾶσθαι κακὰκαὶ τὸν θανόντα δακρύοις ἀνιστάναι,ὁ χρυσὸς ἧσσον κτῆμα τοῦ κλαίειν ἂν ἦν.νῦν δ' ὦ γεραιὲ ταῦτ' ἀνηνύτως ἔχειτὸν μὲν τάφῳ κρυφθέντα πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἄγειν·κἀμοὶ γὰρ ἂν πατήρ γε δακρύων χάρινἀνῆκτ' ἂν εἰς φῶς.[35]

οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλγος οἷον ἡ πολλὴ ζόη.πάντ' ἐμπέφυκε τῷ μακρῷ γήρᾳ κακά,νοῦς φροῦδος ἔργ' ἀχρεῖα φροντίδες κεναί.

ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν ἦν κλαίουσιν ἰᾶσθαι κακὰκαὶ τὸν θανόντα δακρύοις ἀνιστάναι,ὁ χρυσὸς ἧσσον κτῆμα τοῦ κλαίειν ἂν ἦν.νῦν δ' ὦ γεραιὲ ταῦτ' ἀνηνύτως ἔχειτὸν μὲν τάφῳ κρυφθέντα πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἄγειν·κἀμοὶ γὰρ ἂν πατήρ γε δακρύων χάρινἀνῆκτ' ἂν εἰς φῶς.[35]

Two lines from a lost play on the tale of Odysseus illustrate the celebrated pun of Ajax on his own name:

ἀρθῶς δ' Ὀδυσσεύς εἰμ' ἐπώνυμος κακοῖς·πολλοὶ γὰρ ὠδύσαντο δυσσεβεῖς ἐμοί.[36]

In conclusion, a few single lines or couplets may be strung together for their proverbial pithiness and verbal delicacy:

ἔνεστι γάρ τις καὶ λόγοισιν ἡδονὴλήθην ὅταν ποιῶσι τῶν ὄντων κακῶν.τὸ μὴ γὰρ εἶναι κρεῖσσον ἢ τὸ ζῆν κακῶς.πόνου μεταλλαχθέντος οἱ πόνοι γλυκεῖς.εἰ σῶμα δοῦλον ἀλλ' ὁ νοῦς ἐλεύθερος.ὅρκους ἐγὼ γυναικὸς εἰς ὕδωρ γράφω.ὦ θνητὸν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ταλαίπωρον γένος·ὡς οὐδέν ἐσμεν, πλὴν σκιαῖς ἐοικότες,βάρος περισσὸν γῆς ἀναστρωφώμενοι.θάρσει, γύναι· τὰ πολλὰ τῶν δεινῶν ὄναρπνεύσαντα νυκτὸς ἡμέρας μαλάσσεται.τὰ μὲν διδακτὰ μανθάνω, τὰ δ' εὑρετὰζητῶ, τὰ δ' εὐκτὰ παρὰ θεῶν ᾐτησάμην.[37]

ἔνεστι γάρ τις καὶ λόγοισιν ἡδονὴλήθην ὅταν ποιῶσι τῶν ὄντων κακῶν.

τὸ μὴ γὰρ εἶναι κρεῖσσον ἢ τὸ ζῆν κακῶς.

πόνου μεταλλαχθέντος οἱ πόνοι γλυκεῖς.

εἰ σῶμα δοῦλον ἀλλ' ὁ νοῦς ἐλεύθερος.

ὅρκους ἐγὼ γυναικὸς εἰς ὕδωρ γράφω.

ὦ θνητὸν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ταλαίπωρον γένος·ὡς οὐδέν ἐσμεν, πλὴν σκιαῖς ἐοικότες,βάρος περισσὸν γῆς ἀναστρωφώμενοι.

θάρσει, γύναι· τὰ πολλὰ τῶν δεινῶν ὄναρπνεύσαντα νυκτὸς ἡμέρας μαλάσσεται.

τὰ μὲν διδακτὰ μανθάνω, τὰ δ' εὑρετὰζητῶ, τὰ δ' εὐκτὰ παρὰ θεῶν ᾐτησάμην.[37]

Whenever we compare Euripides with his predecessors, we are led to remark that he disintegrated the drama by destroying its artistic unity and revealing themodus operandiof the scientific analyst. All the elements of a great poem were given as it were in their totality by Æschylus. Sophocles, while conscious of the effect to be gained by resolving the drama into its component parts, was careful to recombine them by his art. It is difficult with either Æschylus or Sophocles to separate a passage from its context without injuring the whole, or to understand the drift of a sentence without considering both circumstance and person. With Euripides the case is somewhat different. Though he composed dramas supremely good in the aggregate impression left uponour mind, we feel that he employed his genius with delight in perfecting each separate part regarded by itself alone. So much of time and talent might be spent on the elaboration of the plot, so much on the accentuation of the characters, so much on lyric poetry, so much on moral maxims, so much on description, and so much on artificial argument. There is something over-strained in this crude statement; yet it serves to indicate the analytic method noticeable in Euripides. It consequently happened that his plays lent themselves admirably to the scissors and paste-box method of the compilers. He was a master of gnomes and sentences, and his tragedies were ready-made repertories of quotations. The good cause and the better were pleaded in his dialogues with impartial skill, because it was the poet's aim to set forth what might be said rhetorically—because he took a lively interest in casuistry for its own sake. These qualities, combined with so much that is attractive in his fables, radiant in his fancy, tender in his human sympathy, and romantic in his conduct of a play, endeared him to the Greeks of all succeeding ages. What they wanted in dramatic poetry he supplied better than any other playwright, except perhaps Menander, who, for similar reasons, shared a similar exceptionally lucky fate. The result is that, besides possessing at least eighteen of the plays of Euripides, as against seven of Sophocles and seven of Æschylus, our anthologyof Euripidean excerpts is voluminous in the same ratio. The majority of these we owe to the industry of Stobæus, who always found something to his purpose in a drama of Euripides, while collecting wise precepts and descriptive passages to illustrate the nature of a vice or virtue. We must be careful, amid the medley of sentiments expressed with equal force and equal ease, to remember that they are not the poet's own, but put into the mouth of his dramatic personages. What is peculiar is the impartiality of rhetorical treatment they display—a quality which, though it may not justify, accounts for, the Aristophanic hostility to the Euripidean school of talkers on all subjects.

In addition to fragments, there remain detached portions of thePhaëthon, theErechtheus, and theAntiope, sufficient, if nothing else had been preserved of the Euripidean drama, to suggest a better notion of this poet and his style than of Ion or Achæus, his lost compeers in the Alexandrian Canon. From the catastrophe of thePhaëthon, for example, it appears that Euripides contrived a truly striking contrast between the reception of the dead youth's corpse into the palace by his mother, and the advent, immediately following, of his father with a Chorus chanting bridal hymns. Lycurgus the orator, quoting theErechtheus, has transmitted a characteristic speech by Praxithea, who deserves to beadded to the list of courageous women painted with the virtues of εὐψυχία by Euripides. She maintains that, just as she would gladly send forth sons in the face of death to fight for their country, so, when the State requires of her the sacrifice of a daughter, she would be ashamed to refuse this much and far more. The outlines of theAntiopeare more blurred; yet enough survives of a dialectical contention between Zethus and Amphion, the one arguing for a life of study and culture, the other for a life of arms and action, to illustrate this phase of the master's manner. With regard to thePhaëthon, it should be mentioned that Goethe attempted its restitution. His essay may be studied with interest by those who seek to understand the German poet's method of approaching the antique. The reverence with which he handles the precious relics may possibly astonish scholars, who, through fastidiousness of taste, have depreciated a dramatist they imperfectly comprehend.[38]English literature, since the beginning of this year, can boast its ownErechtheus, restored by Swinburne on the model of Æschylus rather than Euripides. While referring to the mutilated dramas of Euripides, the opening to theDanaërequires a passing word of comment. It consists of a prologue in the mouth of Hermes, a chorus, and a couple of lines spoken by Acrisius. The whole, however, is pretty clearly the work of some mediæval forger, and has, so far as it goes, the same kind of interest as the Χριστὸς πάσχων, because it illustrates the ascendency of Euripides during the later ages of Greek culture.

Irksome as it may be to both writer and reader, I know no better method of dealing with the fragments of Euripides than that already adopted with regard to those of Sophocles. The fragments themselves are precious, and deserve to be presented to the modern student with loving and reverential care. Yet there is no way of centralizing the interest of their miscellaneous topics; and to treat them as an anthology of quotations, selecting the most characteristic and translating these as far as possible into equivalent lines, is all that I can do.

A peculiarly interesting fragment in its bearing on Greek life shall be chosen for the first quotation. It comes from the satyric drama ofAutolycus, and expresses the contempt felt by cultivated Athenians for young men who devoted all their energies to gymnastics. It is not easy to connect the idea of vulgarity with that of the Greek athletes whose portraits in marble, no less resplendent than the immortal Apoxyomenos of the Vatican, adorned the peristyles of Altis. Yet there can be little doubt from thefollowing fragment, taken in connection with certain hints in Plato, that these muscular heroes of an hour, for whom wreaths were woven and breaches broken in the city walls, struck some green-eyed philosophers as the incarnation of rowdyism. Euripides, if we may trust his biographers, had been educated by his father as an athlete; and it is not improbable that his early distaste for an eminently uncongenial occupation, no less than his familiarity with the manners of its professors, embittered his style in this sarcastic passage. Such splendid beings as the Autolycus, before whom the distinguished guests in Xenophon's Symposium were silenced, seemed to our poet at best but sculptor's models, walking statues, πόλεως ἀγάλματα, and at worst mere slaves of jaws and belly, περισσαὶ σαρκές. Early in Greek literature the same relentless light of moral science, like the gaze of Apollonius undoing Lamia's charm, had been cast upon the athletes by Xenophanes of Colophon. While listening to Euripides, we can fancy that the Adikos Logos from theCloudsof Aristophanes is speaking through his lips to an Athenian audience, composed of would-be orators and assiduous dikasts:

κακῶν γὰρ ὄντων μυρίων καθ' Ἑλλάδα,οὐδὲν κάκιόν ἐστιν ἀθλητῶν γένους.οἱ πρῶτα μὲν ζῆν οὔτε μανθάνουσιν εὖ,οὔτ' ἂν δύναιντο· πῶς γὰρ ὅστις ἐστ' ἀνὴργνάθου τε δοῦλος νηδύος θ' ἡσσημένος,κτήσαιτ' ἂν ὄλβον εἰς ὑπερβολὴν πατρός;οὐδ' αὖ πένεσθαι καὶ ξυνηρετμεῖν τύχαιςοἷοί τ'· ἔθη γὰρ οὐκ ἐθισθέντες καλὰσκληρῶς διαλλάσσουσιν εἰς τἀμήχανα.λαμπροὶ δ' ἐν ἥβῃ καὶ πόλεως ἀγάλματαφοιτῶσ'· ὅταν δὲ προσπέσῃ γῆρας πικρὸντρίβωνες ἐκβαλόντες οἴχονται κρόκας·ἐμεμψάμην δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἑλλήνων νόμονοἳ τῶνδ' ἕκατι σύλλογον ποιούμενοιτιμῶσ' ἀχρείους ἡδονὰς δαιτὸς χάριν·τίς γὰρ παλαίσας εὖ, τίς ὠκύπους ἀνὴρἢ δίσκον ἄρας ἢ γνάθον παίσας καλῶςπόλει πατρῴᾳ στέφανον ἤρκεσεν λαβών;πότερα μαχοῦνται πολεμίοισιν ἐν χεροῖνδίσκους ἔχοντες ἢ δι' ἀσπίδων χερὶθείνοντες ἐκβαλοῦσι πολεμίους πάτρας;οὐδεὶς σιδήρου ταῦτα μωραίνει πέλαςστάς. ἄνδρας οὖν ἐχρῆν σοφούς τε κἀγαθοὺςφύλλοις στέφεσθαι, χὤστις ἡγεῖται πόλεικάλλιστα, σώφρων καὶ δίκαιος ὢν ἀνήρ,ὅστις τε μύθοις ἔργ' ἀπαλλάσσει κακὰμάχας τ' ἀφαιρῶν καὶ στάσεις· τοιαῦτα γὰρπόλει τε πάσῃ πᾶσί θ' Ἕλλησιν καλά.[39]

Passing from the athletes to a cognate subject, the following fragment from theDictysnobly expresses the ideal of friendship. The first two lines seem to need correction; I have let them stand, though inclined to propose κεἰ for καὶ, and to conjecture the loss of a line after the second:

φίλος γὰρ ἦν μοι· καί μ' ἔρως ἕλοι ποτὲοὐκ εἰς τὸ μῶρον οὐδέ μ' εἰς Κύπριν τρέπων.ἀλλ' ἔστι δή τις ἄλλος ἐν βροτοῖς ἔρως,ψυχῆς δικαίας σώφρονός τε κἀγαθῆς.καὶ χρῆν δὲ τοῖς βροτοῖσι τόνδ' εἶναι νόμον,τῶν εὐσεβούντων οἵτινές γε σώφρονεςἐρᾶν, Κύπριν δὲ τὴν Διὸς χαίρειν ἐᾶν.[40]

About Eros and Aphrodite the poet has supplied us with a good store of contradictory sentiments. In one long and very remarkable fragment (No. 839, ed. Dindorf) from an unknown play, Euripides, if he be indeed the author of the verses, has imitated Æschylus, taking almost word for word the famous vaunt of Kupris, quoted above from theDanaides. The three next pieces may be also cited among the praises of Love:

ἔρωτα δ' ὅστις μὴ θεὸν κρίνει μέγανκαὶ τῶν ἁπάντων δαιμόνων ὑπέρτατον,ἢ σκαιός ἐστιν ἢ καλῶν ἄπειρος ὢνοὐκ οἶδε τὸν μέγιστον ἀνθρώποις θεόν.ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς ἔρωτα πίπτουσιν βροτῶνἐσθλῶν ὅταν τύχωσι τῶν ἐρωμένωνοὐκ ἔσθ' ὁποίας λείπεται τῆς ἡδονῆς.ἔχω δὲ τόλμης καὶ θράσους διδάσκαλον,ἐν τοῖς ἀμηχάνοισιν εὐπορώτατον,ἔρωτα πάντων δυσμαχώτατον θεῶν.[41]

ἔρωτα δ' ὅστις μὴ θεὸν κρίνει μέγανκαὶ τῶν ἁπάντων δαιμόνων ὑπέρτατον,ἢ σκαιός ἐστιν ἢ καλῶν ἄπειρος ὢνοὐκ οἶδε τὸν μέγιστον ἀνθρώποις θεόν.

ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς ἔρωτα πίπτουσιν βροτῶνἐσθλῶν ὅταν τύχωσι τῶν ἐρωμένωνοὐκ ἔσθ' ὁποίας λείπεται τῆς ἡδονῆς.

ἔχω δὲ τόλμης καὶ θράσους διδάσκαλον,ἐν τοῖς ἀμηχάνοισιν εὐπορώτατον,ἔρωτα πάντων δυσμαχώτατον θεῶν.[41]

Here, again, remembering how much the Greeks included in the term music, is a pretty compliment:

μουσικὴν δ' ἄραἔρως διδάσκει κἂν ἄμουσος ᾖ τὸ πρίν.[42]

The next is a graceful expostulation on the lover's part with the god who can make or mar his happiness in life:

σὺ δ' ὦ τύραννε θεῶν τε κἀνθρώπων ἔρωςἢ μὴ δίδασκε τὰ καλὰ φαίνεσθαι καλά,ἢ τοῖς ἐρῶσιν ὧν σὺ δημιουργὸς εἶμοχθοῦσι μόχθους εὐτυχῶς συνεκπόνει.καὶ ταῦτα μὲν δρῶν τίμιος θεοῖς ἔσει,μὴ δρῶν δ' ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ διδάσκεσθαι φιλεῖνἀφαιρεθήσει χάριτας αἷς τιμῶσί σε.[43]

Nor is this without its tincture of respect:

ἀνδρὸς δ' ὁρῶντος εἰς κύπριν νεανίουἀφύλακτος ἡ τήρησις· ἢν γὰρ φαῦλος ᾖτἄλλ' εἰς ἔρωτα πᾶς ἀνὴρ σοφώτερος.ἢν δ' αὖ προσῆται Κύπρις ἥδιστον λαβεῖν.[44]

But Euripides can turn round and rate Love for his encouragement of idleness. There is a stern perception of the facts of life in the following excerpt from theDanaë:

ἔρως γὰρ ἀργὸν κἀπὶ τοῖς ἀργοῖς ἔφυ·φιλεῖ κάτοπτρα καὶ κομῆς ξανθίσματαφεύγει δὲ μόχθους. ἓν δέ μοι τεκμήριον.οὐδεὶς προσαιτῶν βίοτον ἠράσθη βροτῶν,ἐν τοῖς δ' ἔχουσιν ἡβητὴς πέφυχ' ὅδε.[45]

Concerning women he is no less impartial. However he may have chosen to paint their possibilities of heroism, and the force of their character in hours of passion or of need, no poet has certainly abused them in stronger terms. The following is an almost laughable example:

δεινὴ μὲν ἀλκὴ κυμάτων θαλασσίωνδειναὶ δὲ ποταμοῦ καὶ πυρὸς θερμοῦ πνόαιδεινὸν δὲ πενία δεινὰ δ' ἄλλα μύρια·ἀλλ' οὐδὲν οὕτω δεινὸν ὡς γυνὴ κακὸνοὐδ' ἂν γένοιτο γράμμα τοιοῦτ' ἐν γραφῇοὐδ' ἂν λόγος δείξειεν· εἰ δέ του θεῶντόδ' ἐστι πλάσμα δημιουργὸς ὢν κακῶνμέγιστος ἴστω καὶ βροτοῖσι δυσμενής.[46]

Nor can the group which I have classed together in the followingextracts be considered as complimentary:

πλὴν τῆς τεκούσης θῆλυ πᾶν μισῶ γένος.ἔνδον μένουσαν τὴν γυναῖκ' εἶναι χρεὼνἐσθλὴν θύρασι δ' ἀξίαν τοῦ μηδενός.ἔστιν δὲ μήτηρ φιλότεκνος μᾶλλον πατρός·ἡ μὲν γὰρ αὑτῆς οἶδεν ὄνθ' ὁ δ' οἴεται.οὐκ ἔστιν οὔτε τεῖχος οὔτε χρήματα.οὔτ' ἄλλο δυσφύλακτον οὐδὲν ὡς γυνή.ἀντὶ γὰρ πυρὸςπῦρ ἄλλο μεῖζον ἠδὲ δυσμαχώτερονἔβλαστον αἱ γυναῖκες.γαμεῖτε νῦν γαμεῖτε κᾆτα θνήσκετεἢ φαρμάκοισιν ἐκ γυναικὸς ἢ δόλοις.[47]

πλὴν τῆς τεκούσης θῆλυ πᾶν μισῶ γένος.

ἔνδον μένουσαν τὴν γυναῖκ' εἶναι χρεὼνἐσθλὴν θύρασι δ' ἀξίαν τοῦ μηδενός.

ἔστιν δὲ μήτηρ φιλότεκνος μᾶλλον πατρός·ἡ μὲν γὰρ αὑτῆς οἶδεν ὄνθ' ὁ δ' οἴεται.

οὐκ ἔστιν οὔτε τεῖχος οὔτε χρήματα.οὔτ' ἄλλο δυσφύλακτον οὐδὲν ὡς γυνή.

ἀντὶ γὰρ πυρὸςπῦρ ἄλλο μεῖζον ἠδὲ δυσμαχώτερονἔβλαστον αἱ γυναῖκες.

γαμεῖτε νῦν γαμεῖτε κᾆτα θνήσκετεἢ φαρμάκοισιν ἐκ γυναικὸς ἢ δόλοις.[47]

On marriage many pithy sayings might be cited. The one I take first is eminent for practical brutality combined with sound sense:

ὅσοι γαμοῦσι δ' ἢ γένει κρείσσους γάμουςἢ πολλὰ χρήματ' οὐκ ἐπίστανται γαμεῖν.τὰ τῆς γυναῖκος γὰρ κρατοῦντ' ἐν δώμασινδουλοῖ τὸν ἄνδρα κοὐκέτ' ἐστ' ἐλεύθερος.πλοῦτος δ' ἐπακτὸς ἐκ γυναικείων γάμωνἀνόνητος· αἱ γὰρ διαλύσεις οὐ ῥᾳδίαι.[48]

To the same category belongs the following, though its worldly wisdom conceals no bitterness:

κακὸν γυναῖκα πρὸς νέαν ζεῦξαι νέον·μακρὰ γὰρ ἰσχὺς μᾶλλον ἀρσένων μένει,θήλεια δ' ἥβη θᾶσσον ἐκλείπει δέμας.[49]

It answers to our own proverb: "A young man married is a young man marred."

For the sanctities of domestic life, and for the pathetic beauty of maternal love, no poet had a deeper sense than Euripides. The following lines, spoken apparently by Danaë, makes us keenly regret the loss of the tragedy that bore her name; all the tenderness of the Simonidean elegy upon her fable seems to inspire the maiden's longing for a child to fill her arms and sport upon her knee:

τάχ' ἂν πρὸς ἀγκάλαισι καὶ στέρνοις ἐμοῖςπηδῶν ἀθύροι καὶ φιλημάτων ὄχλῳψυχὴν ἐμὴν κτήσαιτο· ταῦτα γὰρ βροτοῖςφίλτρον μέγιστον αἱ ξυνούσιαι πάτερ.[50]

And where was the charm of children ever painted with more feeling than in these verses from the same play?

γύναι, φίλον μὲν φέγγος ἡλίου τόδε,καλὸν δὲ πόντου χεῦμ' ἰδεῖν εὐήνεμον,γῆ τ' ἠρινὸν θάλλουσα πλούσιόν θ' ὕδωρ,πολλῶν τ' ἔπαινον ἐστί μοι λέξαι καλῶν.ἀλλ' οὐδὲν οὕτω λαμπρὸν οὐδ' ἰδεῖν καλὸνὡς τοῖς ἄπαισι καὶ πόθῳ δεδηγμένοιςπαίδων νεογνῶν ἐν δόμοις ἰδεῖν φάος.[51]

In the next quotation, beautiful by reason of its plainness, a young man is reminded of the sweetness of a mother's love:

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