No More Learning

First give us peace ! Give, dearest, for thou canst : Thou art Lord and Master !
The Sphinx, who not on Thebes, but on all Greece Swoops to gloat and pasture ;
The iEtolian, he who sits upon his rock, Like that old disaster ;
He feeds upon our flesh and blood, and we Can no longer labor ;
For it was ever thus the jEtolian thief Preyed upon his neighbor ;
Him punish thou, or if not thou, then send (Edipus to harm him,
Who'll cast this Sphinx down from his cliff of pride, Or to stone will charm him.
266 CHARACTERS OF MEN.
CHARACTERS OF MEN. By THEOPHRASTU8.
(Translated by R. C. Jebb. )
[Theophbastcs, the successor of Aristotle at the head of the Lyceum (born in Lesbos, b. o. 874), was like him a naturalist as well as philosopher, and wrote works on botany. But his vital work was a little pamphlet containing thirty brief sketches of types of masculine character as exhibited in social relations, the model of the many such characterizations attempted since. He died b. c. 287. ]
The Surly Man.
Surliness is discourtesy in words.
The Surly man is one who, when asked where so and so will say, " Don't bother me " or, when spoken to, will not re ply. If he has anything for sale, instead of informing the buyers at what price he prepared to sell it, he will ask them what he to get for it. Those who send him presents with their compliments at feast-tide are told that he " will not touch " their offerings. He cannot forgive person who has be smirched him by accident, or pushed him, or trodden upon his foot. Then friend asks him for subscription, he will say that he cannot give one; but will come with by and by, and remark that he losing this money also. When he stumbles in the street he apt to swear at the stone. He will not en dure to wait long for any one nor will he consent to sing, or to recite, or to dance. He apt also not to pray to the gods.
The Arrogant Man.
Arrogance certain scorn for all the world beside one self.
The Arrogant man one who will say to person who in hurry, that he will see him after dinner when he taking his walk. He will profess to recollect benefits which he has conferred. As he saunters in the street, he will decide cases for those who have made him their referee. When he nomi nated to public offices he will protest his inability to accept them, alleging that he too busy. He will not permit himself to give any man the first greeting. He apt to order persons
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CHARACTERS OF MEN. 267
who have anything to sell, or who wish to hire anything from him, to come to him at daybreak. When he walks in the streets he will not speak to those whom he meets, keeping his head bent down, or at other times, when so it pleases him, erect. If he entertains his friends, he will not dine with them himself, but will appoint a subordinate to preside. As soon as he sets out on a journey, he will send some one forward to say that he is coming. He is not likely to admit a visitor when he is anointing himself, or bathing, or at table. It is quite in his manner, too, when he is reckoning with any one, to bid his slave push the counters apart, set down the total, and charge"it to the other's account. In writing a letter, he will not say I should be much obliged," but " I wish it to be thus and thus ; " or"Ihave sent to youfor"thisorthat; or"Youwillattendto this strictly;" or " Without a moment's delay. "
The Mas of Petty Ambition.
Petty Ambition would seem to be a mean craving for dis tinction.
The man of Petty Ambition is one who, when asked to dinner, will be anxious to be placed next to the host at table. He will take his son away to Delphi to have his hair cut. He will be careful, too, that his attendant shall be an Ethiopian ; and when he pays a mina he will cause the slave to pay it with a new coin. Also he will have his hair cut very frequently, and will keep his teeth white ; he will change his clothes, too, while still good ; and will anoint himself with unguent. In the market place he will frequent the bankers' tables; in the gymnasia he will haunt those places where the young men take exercise ; in the theater, when there is a representation, he will sit near the generals. For himself he will buy nothing, but will make purchases on commission for foreign friends — pickled olives to go to Byzantium, Laconian hounds for Cyzicus, Hymettian honey for Rhodes ; and will talk thereof to people at Athens. Also he is very much the person to keep a mon key ; to get a satyr ape, Sicilian doves, deerhorn dice, Thurian vases of the approved rotundity, walking sticks with the true Laconian curve, and a curtain with Persians embroidered upon it. He will have a little court provided with an arena for wrestling and a ball alley, and will go about lending it to phi losophers, sophists, drill sergeants, musicians, for their displays ;
268 CHARACTERS OF MEN.
at which he himself will appear upon the scene rather late, in order that the spectators may say one to another, " This is the owner of the palestra. " When he has sacrificed an ox, he will nail up the skin of the forehead, wreathed with large garlands, opposite the entrance, in order that those who come in may see that he has sacrificed an ox. When he has been taking part in a procession of the knights, he will give the rest of his ac- couterments to his slave to carry home, but, after putting on his cloak, will walk about the market place in his spurs. He is apt, also, to buy a little ladder for his domestic jackdaw, and to make a little brass shield, wherewith the jackdaw shall hop upon the ladder. Or if his little Melitean dog has died, he will put up a memorial slab, with the inscription, A Scion of Melita. If he has dedicated a brass ring in the temple of Asclepius, he will wear it to a wire with daily burnishings and oilings. It is just like him, too, to obtain from the presidents of the Senate by private arrangement the privilege of report ing the sacrifice to the people ; when, having provided himself with a smart white cloak and put on a wreath, he will come forward and say : "Athenians ! we, the presidents of the Senate, have been sacrificing to the Mother of the Gods meetly and auspiciously ; receive ye her good gifts ! " Having made this announcement, he will go home to his wife and declare that he is supremely fortunate.
The Unseasonable Man.
Unseasonableness consists in a chance meeting, disagreeable to those who meet.
The Unseasonable man is one who will go up to a busy per son, and open his heart to him. He will serenade his mistress when she has a fever. He will address himself to a man who has been cast in a surety suit, and request him to become his security. He will come to give evidence when the trial is over. When he is asked to a wedding he will inveigh against womankind. He will propose a walk to those who have just come off a long journey. He has a knack, also, of bringing a higher bidder to him who has already found his market. He loves to rise and go through a long story to those who have heard it and know it by heart ; he is zealous, too, in charging
himself with offices which one would rather not have done, but
CHARACTERS OF MEN. 269
is ashamed to decline. When people are sacrificing and incur ring expense he will come to demand his interest. If he is present at the flogging of a slave, he will relate how a slave of his was beaten in the same way — and hanged himself ; or, assisting at an arbitration, he will persist in embroiling the parties when they both wish to be reconciled. And when he is minded to dance he will seize upon another person who is not yet drunk.
The Officious Man.
Officiousness would seem to be, in fact, a well-meaning pre sumption in word or deed.
The Officious man is one who will rise and promise things beyond his power ; and who, when an arrangement is admitted to be just, will oppose it, and be refuted. He will insist, too, on the slave mixing more wine than the company can finish ; he will separate combatants, even those whom he does not know ; he will undertake to show the path, and after all be unable to find his way. Also he will go up to his commanding officer, and ask when he means to give battle, and what is to be his order for the day after to-morrow. When the doctor for bids him to give wine to the invalid, he will say that he wishes to try an experiment, and will drench the sick man. Also he will inscribe upon a deceased woman's tombstone the name of her husband, of her father, and of her mother, as well as her own, with the place of her birth ; recording further that " All these were Estimable Persons. " And when he is about to take an oath he will say to the bystanders, " This is by no means the first that I have taken. "
The Stupid Man.
Stupidity may be defined as mental slowness in speech and action.
The Stupid man is one who, after doing a sum "and setting down the total, will ask the person next to him, What does it come to ? " When he is defendant in an action, and it is about to come on, he will forget it and go into the country ; when he is a spectator in the theater he will be left behind slumbering in solitude. If he has been given anything, and
270 CHARACTERS OF MEN.
has put it away himself, he will look for it and be unable to find it. When the death of a friend is announced to him in order that he may come to the house, his face will grow dark — tears will come into his eyes, and he will say, " Heaven be praised ! " He is apt, too, when he receives payment of a debt, to call witnesses ; and in winter time to quarrel with his slave for not having brought cucumbers ; and to make his children wrestle and run races until he has exhausted them. If he is cooking a leek himself in the country he will put salt into the pot twice, and make it uneatable. When it is raining he will observe, " Well, the smell from the sky is delicious (when others of course say " from the earth") ; or if he is asked, " How many corpses do you suppose have been carried out at the Sacred Gate ? " he will reply, "I only wish you or I had as many. "
The Shameless Man.
Shamelessness may be defined as neglect of reputation for the sake of base gain.
The Shameless man is one who, in the first place, will go and borrow from the creditor whose money he is withholding. Then, when he has been sacrificing to the gods, he will put away the salted remains, and will himself dine out ; and, call ing up his attendant, will give him bread and meat taken from the table, saying in the hearing of all, "Feast, most worshipful. " In marketing, again, he will remind the butcher of any service
which he may have rendered him ; and, standing near the scales, will throw in some meat, if he can, or else a bone for his soup : if he gets it, it is well ; if not, he will snatch up a piece of tripe from the counter, and go off laughing. Again, when he has taken places at the theater for his foreign visitors, he will see the performance without paying his own share ; and will bring
his sons, too, and their attendant, the next day. When any one secures a good bargain, he will ask to be given a part in it. He will go to another man's house and borrow barley, or sometimes bran ; and moreover will insist upon the lender delivering it at his door. He is apt, also, to go up to the coppers in the baths, — to plunge the ladle in, amid the cries of the bathman, — and
to souse himself ; saying that he has had his bath, and then, as he departs, — " No thanks to you ! "
CHARACTERS OF MEN. 271
The Newsmaker.
Newsmaking is the framing of fictitious sayings and doings at the pleasure of him who makes news.
The Newsmaker is a person who, when he meets his friend, will assume a demure air, and ask with a smile, " Where are you from, and what are your tidings ? What news have you to give about this affair ? " And then he will reiterate the question, " Is anything fresh rumored ? Well, certainly these are glorious tidings ! " Then, without allowing the other to answer, he will go on : " What say you ? You have heard
I flatter myself that I can treat you to some news ; and he has a soldier, or a slave of Asteius the fluteplayer, or Lycon the contractor, just arrived from the field of battle, from whom he says that he has heard of it. In fact, the authorities for his statements are always such that no one can possibly lay hold upon them. Quoting these, he relates how Polysperchon and the king have won the battle, and " Cassander has been taken alive ; and if any one says to him, But do you believe this ? " — " Why," he will answer, " the town rings with it ! The report grows firmer and firmer — every"one is agreed — they all give the same account of the battle : adding that the hash has been dreadful ; and that he can tell it, too, from the faces of the government — he observes that they have all changed countenance. He speaks also of having heard pri vately that the authorities have a man hid in a house who came just five days ago from Macedonia, and who knows it all. And in narrating all this — only think ! — he will be plausibly pa thetic, saying " Unlucky Cassander ! Poor fellow ! Do you see what fortune is ? Well, well, he was a strong man once . . . " : adding, " No one but you must know this " — when he has run up to everybody in town with the news.
The Evil Speaker.
The habit of Evil Speaking is a bent of the mind towards putting things in the worst light.
nothing ?
"
The Evil Speaker is one who, when asked who so-and-so is,
I will begin with his parentage. This person's father was originally called Sosias ; in the ranks he came to rank as Sosistratus, and, when he was
will reply, in the style of genealogists : "
272 CHARACTERS OF MEN.
enrolled in his deme, as Sosidemus. His mother, I may add, is a noble damsel of Thrace — at least she is called ' my life ' in the language of Corinth — and they say that such ladies are esteemed noble in their own country. Our friend himself, as might be expected from his parentage, is — a rascally scoundrel. " He is very fond, also, of saying to one : " Of course — I under stand that sort of thing ; you do not err in your way of describ ing it to our friends and me. These women snatch the passers-by out of the very street. . . . That is a house which has not the best of characters. . . . Really there is something in that prov
. . . In short, they have a trick of gos
erb about the women.
siping with men, — and they answer the hall door themselves. "
It is just like him, too, when others are speaking evil, to join in : " And I hate that man above all men. He looks a scoundrel, — it is written on his face : and his baseness — it defies description. Here is a proof: he allows his wife, who brought him six talents of dowry and has borne him a child, three farthings for the luxuries of the table ; and makes her wash with cold water on Poseidon's day. " When he is sitting with others he loves to criticise one who has just left the cir cle ; nay, if he has found an occasion, he will not abstain from abusing his own relations. Indeed he will say all manner of injurious things of his friends and relatives, and of the dead ; misnaming slander " plain speaking," " republican candor," " in dependence," and making it the chief pleasure of his life.
The Grumbler.
Grumbling is undue censure of one's portion.
The Grumbler is one who, when his friend has sent him a present from his table, will say to the bearer, " You grudged me my soup and my poor wine, or you would have asked me to dinner. " He will be annoyed with Zeus, not for not raining, but for raining too late ; and, if he finds a purse on the road, " Ah," he will say, " but I have never found a treasure. " When he has bought a slave cheap after much coaxing of the seller, " It is strange," he will remark, " if I have got a sound lot at such a bargain. " To one who brings him the good news, "A son is born to you," he will reply, " If you add that I have lost half my property, you will speak the truth. " When he has won a lawsuit by a unanimous verdict, he will find fault with the composer of his speech for having left out several of the
CHARACTERS OF MEN. 273
points in his case. If a subscription has been raised for him by his friends, and some one says to him, " Cheer up ! " — " Cheer up ? " he will answer, " when I have to refund this money to every man, and to be grateful besides, as if I had been done a service ! "
The Distrustful Man.
Distrustfulness is a presumption that all men are unjust.
The Distrustful man is one who, having sent his slave to market, will send another to ascertain what price he gave. He will carry his money himself, and sit down every two hundred yards to count it. He will ask his wife in bed if she has locked the wardrobe, and if the cupboard has been sealed, and the bolt put upon the hall door ; and if the reply is "yes," not the less will he forsake the blankets and run about shoeless to inspect all these matters, and barely thus find sleep. He will demand his interest from his creditors in the presence of witnesses, to prevent the possibility of their repudiating the debt. He is apt also to send his cloak to be cleaned, not to the best workman, but wherever he finds sterling security for the fuller. When any one comes to ask the loan of cups he will, if possible, refuse ; but if perchance it is an intimate friend or relation, he will almost assay the cups in the fire, and weigh them, and do everything but take security, before he lends them. Also he will order his slave, when he attends him, to walk in front and not behind, as a precaution against his running away in the street. To persons who have bought something of him and say, " How much is it ? Enter it in your books, for I am too busy to send the money yet," — he will reply: "Do not trouble yourself; if you are not at leisure, I will accompany you. "
The Mean Man.
Meanness is an excessive indifference to honor where expense is concerned.
The Mean man is one who, when he has gained the prize in a tragic contest, will dedicate a wooden scroll to Dionysus, having had it inscribed with his own name. When subscrip tions for the treasury are being made, he will rise in silence from his place in the Ecclesia, and go out from the midst.
VOL. IT. — 18
274 CHARACTERS OF MEN.
When he is celebrating his daughter's marriage he will sell the flesh of the animal sacrificed, except the parts due to the priest; and will hire the attendants at the marriage festival on condition that they find their own board. When he is trierarch he will spread the steersman's rugs under him on the deck, and put his own away. He is apt, also, not to send his children to school when there is a festival of the Muses, but to say that they are unwell, in order that they may not contribute. Again, when he has bought provisions, he will himself carry the meat and vegetables from the market place in the bosom of his cloak. When he has sent his cloak to be scoured he will keep the house. If a friend is raising a sub scription, and has spoken to him about it, he will turn out of the street when he descries him approaching, and will go home by a roundabout way. Then he will not buy a maid for his wife, though she brought him a dower, but will hire from the Women's Market the girl who is to attend her on the occasions when she goes out. He will wear his shoes patched with cobbler's work, and say that it is as strong as horn. He will sweep out his house when he gets up, and polish the sofas; and in sitting down he will twist aside the coarse cloak which he wears himself.
The Coward.
Cowardice would seem to be, in fact, a shrinking of the soul through fear.
The Coward is one who, on a voyage, will protest that the promontories are privateers ; and, if a high sea gets up, will ask if there is any one on board who has not been initiated. He will put up his head and ask the steersman if he is half way, and what he thinks of the face of the heavens ; remarking to the person sitting next him that a certain dream makes him feel uneasy ; and he will take off his tunic and give it to his slave ; or he will beg them to put him ashore.
On land also, when he is campaigning, he will call to him those who are going out to the rescue, and bid them come and stand by him and look about them first, saying that it is hard to make out which is the enemy. Hearing shouts and seeing men falling, he will remark to those who stand by him that he has forgotten in his haste to bring his sword, and will run to the tent, where, having sent his slave out to reconnoiter the
CHARACTERS OF MEN. 275
position of the enemy, he will hide the sword under his pillow, and then spend a long time in pretending to look for it. And seeing from the tent a wounded comrade being carried in, he will run towards him and cry " Cheer up ! " he will take him into his arms and carry him ; he will tend and sponge him ; he will sit by him and keep the flies off his wound ; in short, he will do anything rather than fight with the enemy. Again, when the trumpeter has sounded the signal for battle, he will cry as he sits in the tent, " Bother ! you will not allow" the man to get a wink of sleep with your perpetual bugling !
Then, covered with blood from the other's wound, he will meet those who are returning from the fight, and announce to them, " I have run some risk to save one of our fellows," and he will bring in the men of his parish and of his tribe to see his patient, at the same time explaining to each of them that he carried him with his own hands to the tent.
The Oligarch.
The Oligarchical temper would seem to consist in a love of authority ; covetous, not of gain, but of power.
The Oligarchical man is one who, when the people are deliberating whom they shall associate with the archon as joint directors of the procession, will come forward and express his opinion that these directors ought to have plenary powers ; and, if others propose ten, he will say that " one is sufficient," but that " he must be a man. " Of Homer's poetry he has mastered only this one line : —
No good comes of manifold rule ; let the ruler be one :
of the rest he is absolutely ignorant. It is very much in his manner to use phrases of this kind : " We must meet and discuss these matters by ourselves, and get clear of the rabble and the market place : " " we must leave off"courting office, and being slighted or graced by these fellows ; " either they or we must govern the city. " He will go out about the middle of the day with his cloak gracefully adjusted, his hair daintily trimmed, his nails delicately pared, and strut through the Odeum Street, making such remarks as these : " There is no living in Athens for the informers ; " " we are shamefully treated in the courts
"I cannot conceive what people want with meddling in public affairs ; " " how ungrateful the people are —
by the juries ; "
276 CHARACTERS OF MEN.
always the slaves of a largess or a bribe ; " and " how ashamed I am when a meager, squalid fellow sits down by me in the Ecclesia ! " " When," he will ask, " will they have done ruin ing us with these public services and trierarchies ? How de testable that set of demagogues is ! " " Theseus " (he will say) " was the beginning of the mischief to the state. It was he who reduced it from twelve cities to one, and undid the monarchy. And he was rightly served, for he was the people's first victim himself. "
And so on to foreigners and to those citizens who resemble him in their disposition and their politics.
The Patron of Rascals.
The Patronizing of Rascals is a form of the appetite for vice.
The Patron of Rascals is one who will throw himself into the company of those who have lost lawsuits and have been found guilty in criminal causes ; conceiving that, if he associ ates with such persons, he will become more a man of the world, and will inspire the greater awe. Speaking of honest men he will add " so-so," and will remark that no one"is honest, — all men are alike ; indeed, one of his sarcasms is, What an honest fellow ! " Again he will say that the rascal is " a frank man, if one will look fairly at the matter. " " Most of the things that people say" of him," he admits, " are true ; but some things," he adds, they do not know ; namely, that he is a clever fellow, and fond of his friends, and a man of tact ; " and he will contend in his behalf that he has " never met with an abler man. " He will show him favor, also, when he speaks in the Ecclesia or is at the bar of a court ; he is fond, too, of remarking to the bench, " The question is of the cause, not of the person. " "The defendant," he will say, " is the watchdog of the people, — he keeps an eye on evil-doers. We shall have nobody to take the public wrongs to heart, if we allow our
selves to lose such men. " Then he is apt to become the cham pion of worthless persons, and to form conspiracies in the law courts in bad causes ; and, when he is hearing a case, to take up the statements of the litigants in the worst sense.
In short, sympathy with rascality "is sister to rascality itself ; and true is the proverb that, Like moves towards like. "
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS. 277
FRAGMENTS OF GREEK TRAGIC POETS.
(Translations by several different hands ; the greater part made for this work by Forrest Morgan. )
Thespis.
[Lived in the middle of the sixth century b. c. The traditional founder of Greek tragedy. ]
To Pan.
Lo, unto thee I pour the creamy draught
Pressed from the nursing goats of creamy hue ; Lo, on thy holy altars I have placed,
O twi-horned Pan, cheese with red honey mixed ; Behold, I pour thee Bromius' sparkling blood.
Phryniohus.
[Flourished about b. c. 612-476. ]
The light of love burns upon crimson cheeks.
Meleager.
Yet could he not escape a horrid doom :
Swift flame consumed him from the wasting brand, Fired by his evil-working mother's will.
The Invasion of Bceotia by the Barbarians.
Once poured the host of Hyas through this land, The ancient people who had tilled the soil ;
And all the fields and meadows by the sea,
The swift flame licked up in its gluttonous jaws.
Pratinas.
[Flourished before and after b. c. 500. ]
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,
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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
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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.
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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 :
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