Friday, October 07, 2022
The Delian Epigram
Inscription on the gateway of the temple of Leto at Delos, the so-called Epigramma Deliacum, preserved by Aristotle, Eudemian Ethics 1214 a 5 and Nicomachean Ethics 1099 a 25 (tr. C.D.C. Reeve):
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The noblest thing is the most just; the best to be healthy;Very similar is Theognis 255-256:
Most pleasant of all, however, is to get what one loves.
κάλλιστον τὸ δικαιότατον, λῷστον δ᾽ ὑγιαίνειν,
πάντων ἥδιστον δ' οὗ τις ἐρᾷ τὸ τυχεῖν.
κάλλιστον τὸ δικαιότατον· λῶιστον δ' ὑγιαίνειν·Cf. Sophocles, fragment 356 Radt (from Creusa; tr. C.M. Bowra):
πρᾶγμα δὲ τερπνότατον, τοῦ τις ἐρᾷ, τὸ τυχεῖν.
The fairest thing of all is to be just;
The best to line without disease; most sweet
Power to win each day the heart's desire.
κάλλιστόν ἐστι τούνδικον πεφυκέναι,
λῷστον δὲ τὸ ζῆν ἄνοσον, ἥδιστον δ ̓ ὅτῳ
πάρεστι λῆψις ὧν ἐρᾷ καθ' ἡμέραν.
