Saturday, January 12, 2019
A Deficit of Sympathy
Pindar, Nemean Odes 1.53-54 (tr. Richmond Lattimore):
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That which is close to home afflicts all alike,Theognis 655-656 (tr. Douglas E. Gerber):
but a heart soon goes free of grief
over a stranger's unhappiness.
τὸ γὰρ οἰκεῖον πιέζει πάνθ᾿ ὁμῶς·
εὐθὺς δ᾿ ἀπήμων κραδία
κᾶδος ἀμφ᾿ ἀλλότριον.
We all share your pain, Cyrnus, in your misfortune,
but grief for another is short-lived.
σύν τοι, Κύρνε, παθόντι κακῶς ἀνιώμεθα πάντες·
ἀλλά τοι ἀλλότριον κῆδος ἐφημέριον.
