Monday, February 12, 2018
Dear Zeus
Theognis 373-380 (tr. Douglas E. Gerber):
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Dear Zeus, I'm surprised at you. You are lord over all, you alone have great power and prestige, you know well the mind and heart of every man, and your rule, king, is the highest of all. How then, son of Cronus, does your mind bear to hold sinners and the just man in the same esteem, whether the mind of men is disposed to prudent discretion or to wanton outrage, when they yield to unjust acts?
Ζεῦ φίλε, θαυμάζω σε· σὺ γὰρ πάντεσσιν ἀνάσσεις
τιμὴν αὐτὸς ἔχων καὶ μεγάλην δύναμιν,
ἀνθρώπων δ᾿ εὖ οἶσθα νόον καὶ θυμὸν ἑκάστου, 375
σὸν δὲ κράτος πάντων ἔσθ᾿ ὕπατον, βασιλεῦ·
πῶς δή σευ, Κρονίδη, τολμᾷ νόος ἄνδρας ἀλιτροὺς
ἐν ταὐτῇ μοίρῃ τόν τε δίκαιον ἔχειν,
ἤν τ᾿ ἐπὶ σωφροσύνην τρεφθῇ νόος ἤν τε πρὸς ὕβριν
ἀνθρώπων, ἀδίκοις ἔργμασι πειθομένων; 380
