Thursday, March 04, 2010
Spatio Brevi Spem Longam Reseces
Euripides, Bacchae 397-399 (tr. David Kovacs):
Newer› ‹Older
Our life is short: this being so a man who pursues great things may miss what lies at hand.Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.21-23 (tr. William H. Race):
βραχὺς αἰών· ἐπὶ τούτῳ
δέ τις ἂν μεγάλα διώκων
τὰ παρόντ᾽ οὐχὶ φέροι.
For there is among mankind a very foolish kind of person, who scorns what is at hand and peers at things far away, chasing the impossible with hopes unfulfilled.
ἔστι δὲ φῦλον ἐν ἀνθρώποισι ματαιότατον,
ὅστις αἰσχύνων ἐπιχώρια παπταίνει τὰ πόρσω,
μεταμώνια θηρεύων ἀκράντοις ἐλπίσιν.
