Ancient Greek->English translation forum (Moderators: billberg23, vbd.)

ἢ τοὺς πότους ἐρεῖς δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὰ δεῖπνα καὶ ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἀφροδίσια, καὶ δέδιας μὴ τούτων ἐνδεὴς γενόμενος ἀπόλωμαι. οὐκ ἐννοεῖς δὲ ὅτι τὸ μὴ διψῆν τοῦ πιεῖν πολὺ κάλλιον καὶ τὸ μὴ πεινῆν τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ τὸ μὴ ῥιγοῦν τοῦ ἀμπεχόνης εὐπορεῖν; -> There you'll go, talking of drinking and dining and dressing up and screwing, worrying I’ll be lost without all that. Don’t you realize how much better it is to have no thirst, than to drink? to have no hunger, than to eat? to not be cold, than to possess a wardrobe of finery? (Lucian, "On Mourning" 16)

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τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ᾽ ἐσθλὸν τῷδ᾽ ἔμμεν' ὅτῳ φρένας θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν -> evil appears as good to him whose mind the god is leading to destruction (Sophocles, Antigone 622f.)

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λέγεις, ἃ δὲ λέγεις ἕνεκα τοῦ λαβεῖν λέγεις -> you speak, but you say what you say for the sake of gain (Menander, fr. 776)

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ἑνδεκάστιχος -> consisting of eleven verses

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ἐναίρω -> kill, destroy

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Κύριε, βοήθησον τὸν δοῦλον σου Νῖλον κτλ. -> Lord, help your slave Nilos ... (mosaic inscription from 4th-cent. church in the Negev)

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Ἑκὼν σεαυτὸν τῇ Κλωθοῖ συνεπιδίδου παρέχων συννῆσαι οἷστισί ποτε πράγμασι βούλεται. Πᾶν ἐφήμερον, καὶ τὸ μνημονεῦον καὶ τὸ μνημονευόμενον -> Be willing to give yourself up to Clotho, letting her spin to whatever ends she pleases. All is ephemeral—both memory and the object of memory (Marcus Aurelius 4.34f.)

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τότ' ἦν ἐγώ σοι πάνθ', ὅτε φαύλως ἔπραττες -> At the time you were doing badly, I used to be everything for you (Menander, "Woman of Samos" 380)

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νῦν χρὴ μεθύσθην -> now's the time for drunkenness

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πατήρ ὡραῖος -> father was ripe, father was ripe for death

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αὐτὴ προσέσχε μαστὸν ἐν τὠνείρατι –> in the dream, she offered her breast

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ἐάν γάρ ἀποδιδῷ τις τί ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἑκατέρῳ τό ζῴῳ εἶναι, ἴδιον ἑκατέρου λόγον ἀποδώσει (Aristotle, Categoriae 1a) -> For if anyone gives an explanation of what it is for each of them to be an animal, he will give the same explanation of each

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και ἅμα ἐλευθέραν καὶ εὐδοξοτάτην πόλιν διὰ παντὸς νεμόμεθα και δύναται μάλιστα σωφροσύνη ἔμφρων τοῦτ᾿ εἶναι -> Just remember, we’re a people with a long-standing reputation for freedom, a people held in the highest honor. Slowness to act can be nothing more than a mark of clear-headed self-control (Spartan King Archidamus)

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πεπαίδευται -> has been educated

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Song of Seikilos (epitaph, 1st century)

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καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν πᾶν πρόσφατον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον -> and there's nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9 LXX)

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δι' ἐμοῦ βασιλεῖς βασιλεύουσιν, καὶ οἱ δυνάσται γράφουσιν δικαιοσύνην -> through me kings rule, and princes dictate justice (Proverbs 8:15, LXX version)

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ΑΙΔ ΕΙΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΙ ΘΗΣΕΩΣ Η ΠΡΙΝ ΠΟΛΙΣ –> This is Athens, once the city of Theseus

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κοινὴ γὰρ ἡ τύχη καὶ τὸ μέλλον ἀόρατον –> fortune is common to all, the future is unknown (Isocrates, "To Demonicus" 29.2)

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ΑΙΔ ΕΙΣ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΩΥΧΙ ΘΗΣΕΩΣ ΠΟΛΙΣ –> This is Hadrian’s, and not at all the city of Theseus

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