Wednesday, July 20, 2022

 

Advice to Cincius

Greek Anthology 11.28 (by Argentarius; tr. W.R. Paton):
Dead, five feet of earth shall be thine and thou shalt not look on the delights
of life or on the rays of the sun.
So take the cup of unmixed wine and drain it rejoicing,
Cincius, with thy arm round thy lovely wife.
But if thou deemest wisdom to be immortal, know that Cleanthes
and Zeno went to deep Hades.

πέντε θανὼν κείσῃ κατέχων πόδας, οὐδὲ τὰ τερπνὰ
   ζωῆς, οὐδ᾽ αὐγὰς ὄψεαι ἠελίου·
ὥστε λαβὼν Βάκχου ζωρὸν δέπας ἕλκε γεγηθώς,
   Κίγκιε, καλλίστην ἀγκὰς ἔχων ἄλοχον.
εἰ δέ σοι ἀθανάτου σοφίης νόος, ἴσθι Κλεάνθης        5
   καὶ Ζήνων ἀίδην τὸν βαθὺν ὡς ἔμολον.
The same, tr. J.W. Mackail:
Five feet shalt thou possess as thou liest dead, nor shalt see the pleasant things of life nor the beams of the sun; then joyfully lift and drain the unmixed cup of wine, O Cincius, holding a lovely wife in thine arm; and if philosophy say that thy mind is immortal, know that Cleanthes and Zeno went down to deep Hades.



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