Laudator Temporis Acti

Menander, Fabula Incerta 2 (tr. W. G. Arnott):

I'm all alone, and nobody is here
To hang on any words of mine that may
Be dropped. Sirs, I was dead all through the life
I've lived till now. You must believe this claim.
To me all beauty, virtue, piety        5
Were all alike—vice, too! Such was the dark
Cloud blanketing my mind, or so it seems.
It shrouded and blacked out all this for me.
But here I've come now, like a patient on his bed
In hospital when he's been cured! I'm born again        10
To live my future life. I walk and talk
And think. This great and glorious sun I’ve now
Discovered. In today's clear light I can
See you now, gentlemen, I see blue sky,
And the Acropolis, the theatre.        15

ἐρημία μέν ἐστι, κοὐκ ἀκούσεται
οὐδεὶς παρών μου τῶν λόγων ὧν ἂν λέγω.
ἐγὼ τὸν ἄλλον, ἄνδρες, ἐτεθνήκειν βίον
ἅπανθ᾿ ὃν ἔζων· τοῦτό μοι πιστεύετε.
πᾶν ταὐτὸ τὸ καλόν, τἀγαθόν, τὸ σεμνὸν <ἦν>,        5
τὸ κακόν. τοιοῦτον ἦν τί μου πάλαι σκότος
περὶ τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς ἔοικε, κείμενον,
ὃ πάντ᾿ ἔκρυπτε ταῦτα κἠφάνιζέ μοι.
νῦν δ᾿ ἐνθάδ᾿ ἐλθών, ὥσπερ εἰς Ἀσκληπιοῦ
ἐγκατακλιθεὶς σωθείς τε, τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον        10
ἀναβεβίωκα. περιπατῶ, λαλῶ, φρονῶ.
τὸν τηλικοῦτον καὶ τοιοῦτον ἥλιον
νῦν τοῦτον εὗρον, ἄνδρες· ἐν τῇ τήμερον
ὑμᾶς ὁρῶ νῦν αἰθρίᾳ, τὸν ἀέρα,
τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, τὸ θέατρον.        15

Text, apparatus, and notes of Kassel and Austin:



See Bronwen L. Wickkiser, "A Monologue of New Comedy on the Athenian Stage (PCG VIII 1001)," Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 50 (2010) 159-173.