Friday, May 14, 2021
Confusion
Euripides, Electra 367-372 (tr. E.P. Coleridge):
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There is no exact way to test a man's worth;
for human nature has confusion in it.
I have seen before now the son of a noble father
worth nothing, and good children from evil parents;
famine in a rich man's spirit,
and a mighty soul in a poor man's body.
οὐκ ἔστ' ἀκριβὲς οὐδὲν εἰς εὐανδρίαν·
ἔχουσι γὰρ ταραγμὸν αἱ φύσεις βροτῶν.
ἤδη γὰρ εἶδον ἄνδρα γενναίου πατρὸς
τὸ μηδὲν ὄντα, χρηστά τ' ἐκ κακῶν τέκνα,
λιμόν τ' ἐν ἀνδρὸς πλουσίου φρονήματι,
γνώμην τε μεγάλην ἐν πένητι σώματι.
