Inancient days Athens of glorious nameWas first to spread abroad corn-bearing cropsAmong unhappy mortals, and to frameTheir lives in a new mould and give them laws.She also first bestowed a kindly solaceFor life, when she gave birth to one endowedWith so great intellect, that man who oncePoured forth all wisdom from truth-telling lips;Whose glory, even when his light was quenched,Because of his divine discoveriesUndimmed by time was noised abroad, and nowIs lifted high as heaven. For when he sawThat well nigh all those things which need demandsFor man’s subsistence had been now provided,And that so far as it seemed possibleLife was established in security,That men through wealth and honours and renownHad attained power and affluence, and grown proudIn their children’s good name, yet that not oneAt home possessed a heart the less care-stricken,But ceaselessly despite his wiser mindTormenting all his days, could not refrainFrom petulant rage and wearisome complaint;Then did he understand it was the vesselItself that was the cause of imperfection,And by its imperfection all those thingsThat came within it, gathered from outside,Though ne’er so excellent, were spoiled therein;In part because he saw that there were holesThrough which it leaked, so that by no means everMight it be filled full; partly that he perceivedHow as with a foul savour it defiledAll things within it which had entered there.And so with truthful words he purged men’s hearts,And fixed a limit to desire and fear;Then setting forth what was the highest goodWhich we all strive to attain, he pointed outThe path along which by a slender trackWe might in a straight course arrive at it;Likewise he showed what evils there must beIn mortal affairs on every side, arisingAnd flying this way and that, whether it wereBy natural chance or force, since it was NatureWhich has ordained it so; and by what gatesTo meet each evil men must sally forth:Also he proved how mostly without causeMankind set darkly tossing in their heartsThe sad billows of care. For just as childrenIn the blind darkness tremble and are afraidOf all things, so we sometimes in the lightFear things that are no whit more to be dreadedThan those which children shudder at in the dark,Imagining that they will come to pass.This terror then and darkness of the mindMust needs be scattered not by the sun’s beamsAnd day’s bright arrows, but by contemplationOf Nature’s aspect and her inward laws.And now that I have shown you how the sky’sMansions are mortal, and that heaven is formedOf a body that had birth, and since of allThat takes place and must needs take place thereinI have unravelled most, give further heedTo what remains. Since once I have made boldTo mount the glorious chariot of the Muses,[I]I will now tell how in the upper airTempests of wind arise; how all sinks downTo rest once more: the turmoil that has beenVanishes, when its fury is appeased.And I will explain all else that mortals seeComing to pass on earth and in the sky,Such sights as often hold them in terrifiedSuspense of mind, humiliating themselvesWith fear of gods, and bow them grovellingDown to the ground, because they are compelledThrough ignorance of the causes to assignAll such things to the empire of the gods,Acknowledging their power to be supreme.For those who have learnt rightly that the godsLead a life free from care, if yet they wonderBy what means all things can be carried on,Such above all as are perceived to happenIn the ethereal regions overhead,They are borne back again into their oldReligious fears, and adopt pitiless lords,Whom in their misery they believe to beAlmighty; for they are ignorant of what canAnd what cannot exist; in fine they know notUpon what principle each thing has its powersLimited, and its deep-set boundary stone.And therefore all the more they are led astrayBy blind reasoning. So that if you cannotFling from your mind and banish far awayAll such belief in falsehoods that degradeThe deities, and consist not with their peace,Then, thus by you disparaged and profaned,Oft will their holy godheads do you hurt;Not that their sovereign power can be impaired,So that in anger they should stoop to exactFierce penalties, but because you yourselfWill fancy that those placid beings thronedIn serene peace, can verily be tossedBy great billows of wrath: nor will you enterWith a calm breast the temples of the gods,Nor yet will you be able to receiveIn tranquil peace of spirit those imagesWhich from their holy bodies, heraldingTheir divine beauty, float into men’s minds.And to what kind of life these errors leadMay be imagined. Such credulityThe most veracious reasoning aloneCan drive far from us. And though to that endI have set forth much already, yet more stillRemains for me to adorn in polished verses.The inward law and aspect of the heavensMust now be grasped: tempests and vivid lightnings,Their action and what cause sets them in motion,Must be described; lest, when you have mapped the skyInto augural divisions, you should thenQuake in dismay, beholding from what quarterThe flash sped in its flight, or on which sideIt vanished; in what manner it pierced throughInto walled places, and how, having playedThe tyrant there, it leapt forth and was gone.Yet of these operations by no meansCan men perceive the causes, and so fancyThat they must come to pass by power divine.O Muse of knowledge, solace of mankindAnd the delight of gods, Calliope,Point the track out before me as I speedTowards the white line of my final goal,That so with thee to guide me I may winThe glorious crown of victory and its praise.
Inancient days Athens of glorious nameWas first to spread abroad corn-bearing cropsAmong unhappy mortals, and to frameTheir lives in a new mould and give them laws.She also first bestowed a kindly solaceFor life, when she gave birth to one endowedWith so great intellect, that man who oncePoured forth all wisdom from truth-telling lips;Whose glory, even when his light was quenched,Because of his divine discoveriesUndimmed by time was noised abroad, and nowIs lifted high as heaven. For when he sawThat well nigh all those things which need demandsFor man’s subsistence had been now provided,And that so far as it seemed possibleLife was established in security,That men through wealth and honours and renownHad attained power and affluence, and grown proudIn their children’s good name, yet that not oneAt home possessed a heart the less care-stricken,But ceaselessly despite his wiser mindTormenting all his days, could not refrainFrom petulant rage and wearisome complaint;Then did he understand it was the vesselItself that was the cause of imperfection,And by its imperfection all those thingsThat came within it, gathered from outside,Though ne’er so excellent, were spoiled therein;In part because he saw that there were holesThrough which it leaked, so that by no means everMight it be filled full; partly that he perceivedHow as with a foul savour it defiledAll things within it which had entered there.And so with truthful words he purged men’s hearts,And fixed a limit to desire and fear;Then setting forth what was the highest goodWhich we all strive to attain, he pointed outThe path along which by a slender trackWe might in a straight course arrive at it;Likewise he showed what evils there must beIn mortal affairs on every side, arisingAnd flying this way and that, whether it wereBy natural chance or force, since it was NatureWhich has ordained it so; and by what gatesTo meet each evil men must sally forth:Also he proved how mostly without causeMankind set darkly tossing in their heartsThe sad billows of care. For just as childrenIn the blind darkness tremble and are afraidOf all things, so we sometimes in the lightFear things that are no whit more to be dreadedThan those which children shudder at in the dark,Imagining that they will come to pass.This terror then and darkness of the mindMust needs be scattered not by the sun’s beamsAnd day’s bright arrows, but by contemplationOf Nature’s aspect and her inward laws.And now that I have shown you how the sky’sMansions are mortal, and that heaven is formedOf a body that had birth, and since of allThat takes place and must needs take place thereinI have unravelled most, give further heedTo what remains. Since once I have made boldTo mount the glorious chariot of the Muses,[I]I will now tell how in the upper airTempests of wind arise; how all sinks downTo rest once more: the turmoil that has beenVanishes, when its fury is appeased.And I will explain all else that mortals seeComing to pass on earth and in the sky,Such sights as often hold them in terrifiedSuspense of mind, humiliating themselvesWith fear of gods, and bow them grovellingDown to the ground, because they are compelledThrough ignorance of the causes to assignAll such things to the empire of the gods,Acknowledging their power to be supreme.For those who have learnt rightly that the godsLead a life free from care, if yet they wonderBy what means all things can be carried on,Such above all as are perceived to happenIn the ethereal regions overhead,They are borne back again into their oldReligious fears, and adopt pitiless lords,Whom in their misery they believe to beAlmighty; for they are ignorant of what canAnd what cannot exist; in fine they know notUpon what principle each thing has its powersLimited, and its deep-set boundary stone.And therefore all the more they are led astrayBy blind reasoning. So that if you cannotFling from your mind and banish far awayAll such belief in falsehoods that degradeThe deities, and consist not with their peace,Then, thus by you disparaged and profaned,Oft will their holy godheads do you hurt;Not that their sovereign power can be impaired,So that in anger they should stoop to exactFierce penalties, but because you yourselfWill fancy that those placid beings thronedIn serene peace, can verily be tossedBy great billows of wrath: nor will you enterWith a calm breast the temples of the gods,Nor yet will you be able to receiveIn tranquil peace of spirit those imagesWhich from their holy bodies, heraldingTheir divine beauty, float into men’s minds.And to what kind of life these errors leadMay be imagined. Such credulityThe most veracious reasoning aloneCan drive far from us. And though to that endI have set forth much already, yet more stillRemains for me to adorn in polished verses.The inward law and aspect of the heavensMust now be grasped: tempests and vivid lightnings,Their action and what cause sets them in motion,Must be described; lest, when you have mapped the skyInto augural divisions, you should thenQuake in dismay, beholding from what quarterThe flash sped in its flight, or on which sideIt vanished; in what manner it pierced throughInto walled places, and how, having playedThe tyrant there, it leapt forth and was gone.Yet of these operations by no meansCan men perceive the causes, and so fancyThat they must come to pass by power divine.O Muse of knowledge, solace of mankindAnd the delight of gods, Calliope,Point the track out before me as I speedTowards the white line of my final goal,That so with thee to guide me I may winThe glorious crown of victory and its praise.
Inancient days Athens of glorious nameWas first to spread abroad corn-bearing cropsAmong unhappy mortals, and to frameTheir lives in a new mould and give them laws.She also first bestowed a kindly solaceFor life, when she gave birth to one endowedWith so great intellect, that man who oncePoured forth all wisdom from truth-telling lips;Whose glory, even when his light was quenched,Because of his divine discoveriesUndimmed by time was noised abroad, and nowIs lifted high as heaven. For when he sawThat well nigh all those things which need demandsFor man’s subsistence had been now provided,And that so far as it seemed possibleLife was established in security,That men through wealth and honours and renownHad attained power and affluence, and grown proudIn their children’s good name, yet that not oneAt home possessed a heart the less care-stricken,But ceaselessly despite his wiser mindTormenting all his days, could not refrainFrom petulant rage and wearisome complaint;Then did he understand it was the vesselItself that was the cause of imperfection,And by its imperfection all those thingsThat came within it, gathered from outside,Though ne’er so excellent, were spoiled therein;In part because he saw that there were holesThrough which it leaked, so that by no means everMight it be filled full; partly that he perceivedHow as with a foul savour it defiledAll things within it which had entered there.And so with truthful words he purged men’s hearts,And fixed a limit to desire and fear;Then setting forth what was the highest goodWhich we all strive to attain, he pointed outThe path along which by a slender trackWe might in a straight course arrive at it;Likewise he showed what evils there must beIn mortal affairs on every side, arisingAnd flying this way and that, whether it wereBy natural chance or force, since it was NatureWhich has ordained it so; and by what gatesTo meet each evil men must sally forth:Also he proved how mostly without causeMankind set darkly tossing in their heartsThe sad billows of care. For just as childrenIn the blind darkness tremble and are afraidOf all things, so we sometimes in the lightFear things that are no whit more to be dreadedThan those which children shudder at in the dark,Imagining that they will come to pass.This terror then and darkness of the mindMust needs be scattered not by the sun’s beamsAnd day’s bright arrows, but by contemplationOf Nature’s aspect and her inward laws.
And now that I have shown you how the sky’sMansions are mortal, and that heaven is formedOf a body that had birth, and since of allThat takes place and must needs take place thereinI have unravelled most, give further heedTo what remains. Since once I have made boldTo mount the glorious chariot of the Muses,[I]I will now tell how in the upper airTempests of wind arise; how all sinks downTo rest once more: the turmoil that has beenVanishes, when its fury is appeased.And I will explain all else that mortals seeComing to pass on earth and in the sky,Such sights as often hold them in terrifiedSuspense of mind, humiliating themselvesWith fear of gods, and bow them grovellingDown to the ground, because they are compelledThrough ignorance of the causes to assignAll such things to the empire of the gods,Acknowledging their power to be supreme.For those who have learnt rightly that the godsLead a life free from care, if yet they wonderBy what means all things can be carried on,Such above all as are perceived to happenIn the ethereal regions overhead,They are borne back again into their oldReligious fears, and adopt pitiless lords,Whom in their misery they believe to beAlmighty; for they are ignorant of what canAnd what cannot exist; in fine they know notUpon what principle each thing has its powersLimited, and its deep-set boundary stone.And therefore all the more they are led astrayBy blind reasoning. So that if you cannotFling from your mind and banish far awayAll such belief in falsehoods that degradeThe deities, and consist not with their peace,Then, thus by you disparaged and profaned,Oft will their holy godheads do you hurt;Not that their sovereign power can be impaired,So that in anger they should stoop to exactFierce penalties, but because you yourselfWill fancy that those placid beings thronedIn serene peace, can verily be tossedBy great billows of wrath: nor will you enterWith a calm breast the temples of the gods,Nor yet will you be able to receiveIn tranquil peace of spirit those imagesWhich from their holy bodies, heraldingTheir divine beauty, float into men’s minds.And to what kind of life these errors leadMay be imagined. Such credulityThe most veracious reasoning aloneCan drive far from us. And though to that endI have set forth much already, yet more stillRemains for me to adorn in polished verses.The inward law and aspect of the heavensMust now be grasped: tempests and vivid lightnings,Their action and what cause sets them in motion,Must be described; lest, when you have mapped the skyInto augural divisions, you should thenQuake in dismay, beholding from what quarterThe flash sped in its flight, or on which sideIt vanished; in what manner it pierced throughInto walled places, and how, having playedThe tyrant there, it leapt forth and was gone.Yet of these operations by no meansCan men perceive the causes, and so fancyThat they must come to pass by power divine.O Muse of knowledge, solace of mankindAnd the delight of gods, Calliope,Point the track out before me as I speedTowards the white line of my final goal,That so with thee to guide me I may winThe glorious crown of victory and its praise.
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Translations of the Plays of EURIPIDES, ARISTOPHANES and SOPHOCLES
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FOOTNOTES:[A]A few lines seem to have been lost here.[B]Epicurus.[C]The aether.[D]Colour, sensation, etc.[E]Cupido.[F]The text is corrupt and the meaning obscure.[G]Bacchus.[H]Elephants.[I]The text is here corrupt, and several lines are probably lost.
FOOTNOTES:
[A]A few lines seem to have been lost here.
[A]A few lines seem to have been lost here.
[B]Epicurus.
[B]Epicurus.
[C]The aether.
[C]The aether.
[D]Colour, sensation, etc.
[D]Colour, sensation, etc.
[E]Cupido.
[E]Cupido.
[F]The text is corrupt and the meaning obscure.
[F]The text is corrupt and the meaning obscure.
[G]Bacchus.
[G]Bacchus.
[H]Elephants.
[H]Elephants.
[I]The text is here corrupt, and several lines are probably lost.
[I]The text is here corrupt, and several lines are probably lost.