Laudator Temporis Acti

                              ELECTRA
And is this a righteous thing for me to ask of Heaven?
                              CHORUS
How not? To requite an enemy evil for evil?

                              ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ
καὶ ταῦτά μοὔστιν εὐσεβῆ θεῶν πάρα;
                              ΧΟΡΟΣ
πῶς δ᾿ οὔ, τὸν ἐχθρόν γ᾿ ἀνταμείβεσθαι κακοῖς;

You know, dearly beloved, on what advice people greedy for money act, when they see they have accumulated an amount of coins. What do they say? "The thing's round, it rolls, it vanishes; it must be tied up with some purchase of real estate." And they want to tie their money up by buying a country house. And hey, presto, they've bought a house in the country, they will have a house in the country. Will the country house, though, always have them? But neither will they have it always, seeing that after a short while they will move on without any deferment. You can't tie up your soul to the place where you've tied up your money. The time will come, you see, when your soul will be required of you; what you have bought, whose will it be then?" So you won't have the country house, and the house in the country won't have you, except perhaps as regards your body, if you're buried there when you're dead. Why, then indeed somehing wonderful happens; it will have you, you won't have it.

Nostis, carissimi, quo consilio agant cupidi pecuniae quando vident se aliquid nummorum habere. Quid dicunt? "Rotunda est res, volvitur, perit, aliqua possessionis emptione liganda est". Et volunt ligare pecuniam suam emendo villam. Et ecce emerunt villam, habebunt villam. Numquid eos semper habebit villa? Sed nec ipsi habebunt unde post modicum tempus sine dilatione migrabunt. Ubi ligasti pecuniam tuam, ligare ibi non potes animam tuam. Veniet enim tempus quando reposcetur a te anima tua. Quod emisti, cuius erit? Ergo nec villam habebis, nec villa te habebit, nisi forte secundum corpus ibi fueris mortuus sepultus. Fit enim tunc mirum aliquid: ipsa te habebit, tu illam non habebis.

But if the Roman people asked me why
I walk where they do, but do not think like them,
and do not share their tastes or their aversions,
I should reply like the canny fox in the fable
to the sick lion: "Those foot-prints frighten me;
all of them point towards you, and none back."

quod si me populus Romanus forte roget, cur        70
non ut porticibus sic iudiciis fruar isdem,
nec sequar aut fugiam quae diligit ipse vel odit,
olim quod volpes aegroto cauta leoni
respondit, referam: "quia me vestigia terrent,
omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum."        75

A lion who was getting old and could no longer obtain his food by force decided that he must resort to trickery instead. So he retired to a cave and lay down pretending to be ill. Thus, whenever any animals came to his cave to visit him, he ate them all as they appeared. When many animals had disappeared, a fox figured out what was happening. He went to see the lion but stood at a safe distance outside the cave and asked him how he was. 'Oh, not very well,' said the lion. 'But why don't you come in?' But the fox said: 'I would come inside if I hadn't seen that a lot of footprints are pointing inwards towards your cave but none are pointing out.'

Wise men note the indications of dangers and thus avoid them.

λέων γηράσας καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος δι᾽ ἀλκῆς ἑαυτῷ τροφὴν πορίζειν ἔγνω δεῖν δι᾽ ἐπινοίας τοῦτο πρᾶξαι. καὶ δὴ παραγενόμενος εἴς τι σπήλαιον καὶ ἐνταῦθα κατακλιθεὶς προσεποιεῖτο τὸν νοσοῦντα καὶ οὕτω τὰ παραγενόμενα πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν ζῷα συλλαμβάνων κατήσθιε. πολλῶν δὲ θηρίων καταναλωθέντων ἀλώπηξ τὸ τέχνασμα αὐτοῦ συνεῖσα παρεγένετο καὶ στᾶσα ἄπωθεν τοῦ σπηλαίου ἐπυνθάνετο αὐτοῦ, πῶς ἔχοι. τοῦ δὲ εἰπόντος· «κακῶς» καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐρομένου, δι᾽ ἣν οὐκ εἴσεισιν, ἔφη· "ἀλλ᾽ ἔγωγε εἰσῆλθον ἄν, εἰ μὴ ἑώρων πολλῶν εἰσιόντων ἴχνη, ἐξιόντος δὲ οὐδενός".

οὕτως οἱ φρόνιμοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκ τεκμηρίων προορώμενοι τοὺς κινδύνους ἐκφεύγουσι.

Adherents of monotheistic religions which treat God as omnipotent and omnipresent have difficulty in coming to terms with the handling of gods in the Greek theatre, and particularly with the readiness of a comic poet to ridicule the god of the dramatic festivals even to the extent of portraying him as defecating in fear (479-89).

We find it difficult to understand how the gods of one's faith could be subjected to Aristophanic jests. But laughter is part of the meaning, the fruitfulness, the positive side of life, and it is therefore, in the eyes of the Greeks, more godlike than the sour solemnity which we associate with piety.

The occasional fun poked at the gods in comedy is no evidence against the religious conservatism of the common man; it is when religion is sure of itself that such amusement is permitted.

Few Greeks ever took their gods wholly seriously: this is, perhaps, the Greeks' greatest gift to civilization.

The state never has any use for truth as such, but only for truth which is useful to it, more precisely for anything whatever useful to it whether it be truth, half-truth or error.

Dem Staat ist es nie an der Wahrheit gelegen, sondern immer nur an der ihm nützlichen Wahrheit, noch genauer gesagt, überhaupt an allem ihm Nützlichen, sei dies nun Wahrheit, Halbwahrheit oder Irrthum.

I consider, Socrates, that the greatest part of a man's education is to be skilled in the matter of verses; that is, to be able to apprehend, in the utterances of the poets, what has been rightly and what wrongly composed, and to know how to distinguish them and account for them when questioned.

ἡγοῦμαι, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐγὼ ἀνδρὶ παιδείας μέγιστον μέρος εἶναι περὶ ἐπῶν δεινὸν εἶναι· ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν λεγόμενα οἷόν τ᾽ εἶναι συνιέναι ἅ τε ὀρθῶς πεποίηται καὶ ἃ μή, καὶ ἐπίστασθαι διελεῖν τε καὶ ἐρωτώμενον λόγον δοῦναι.

While the sun is just now driving his solid-hoofed horses sideways through the upper air, occupying the mid-point of his daily journey, let us bring our dinner to a close whenever anyone's heart urges him to do so, favoring our bellies with good food of every sort; and let a pretty Spartan girl immediately carry the washing-water out and bring in garlands with her soft hands.

τῆμος δ᾿ ἠέλιος μὲν ἐν αἰθέρι μώνυχας ἵππους
    ἄρτι πάραντ᾿ ἐλάοι μέσσατον ἦμαρ ἔχων,
δείπνου δὲ λήγοιμεν, ὅπου τινὰ θυμὸς ἀνώγοι,
    παντοίων ἀγαθῶν γαστρὶ χαριζόμενοι,        1000
χέρνιβα δ᾿ αἶψα θύραζε φέροι, στεφανώματα δ᾿ εἴσω,
    εὐειδὴς ῥαδιναῖς χερσὶ Λάκαινα κόρη.

998 παράντ' ἐλάοι West: παραγγέλλοι codd.

What is the activity engaged in by this life, which is loved so much? To desire, to fear, to hope, to be disappointed, to toil, to get ill; real sadness, bogus cheerfulness; pouring out prayers, fearing temptations and trials. What's this life like? Who can possibly have the eloquence adequately to describe its wretchedness? We love it, all the same.

actio vitae huius, quae sic amatur, quae est? cupere, timere, sperare, falli, laborare, aegrescere: vera tristitia, falsa laetitia: fundere orationes, timere temptationes. qualis haec vita? quis eius aerumnam quavis eloquentia describere potest? amatur tamen.

Demeter, mistress of holy rites,
Come stand amidst our ranks yourself,
Safeguard this chorus that is your own,
And grant that all day long in safety
We'll celebrate in play and dance.

And may we utter many jokes
But many serious things as well,
And may we serve your festival
In a worthy spirit of playful humour
And win the ribbons of victory!

Δήμητερ, ἁγνῶν ὀργίων
    ἄνασσα, συμπαραστάτει,        385
    καὶ σῷζε τὸν σαυτῆς χορόν·
καί μ᾿ ἀσφαλῶς πανήμερον
    παῖσαί τε καὶ χορεῦσαι.

καὶ πολλὰ μὲν γέλοιά μ᾿ εἰπεῖν,
    πολλὰ δὲ σπουδαῖα, καὶ        390
    τῆς σῆς ἑορτῆς ἀξίως
παίσαντα καὶ σκώψαντα νι-
    κήσαντα ταινιοῦσθαι.

This isn't a place for idlers: depart, loiterer.

otiosis locus hic non est: discede, morator.

'The Lord has shown us that he spoke with everyone, except … there was one person that the Lord never spoke with: the Devil.'

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Among the group inscriptions two or three are found which deserve passing mention. One reads "I beg you to support A. Vettius Firmus as sedile. He deserves well of the state. I ask for your support. Ball-players, support him."¹ Other still more astonishing recommendations are found in the announcements: "All the sleepy men nominate Vatia as sedile," "the petty thieves propose Vatia for the sedileship," and "I ask your support for M. Cerrinius Vatia for the sedileship. All the late drinkers nominate him. Florus and Fructus painted this notice."² We are not surprised at the eagerness which Firmus's friend shows to win the support of the ball-players. They were held in high favor by the people. One of them in his epitaph celebrates his popularity, and records the fact that he had played ball frequently with the emperor.³ As for the "sleepy-heads," the "sneak thieves," and the "heavy drinkers," the support of such people is sought to-day by some politicians, but they are studiously kept in the background for fear of frightening away serious citizens. Shall we conclude that the Pompeians were less scrupulous or fastidious on this point than we are? The city was a wicked one, and its people were surprisingly frank in recognizing the existence of human vices and weaknesses, and scholars seem to be agreed in regarding these three recommendations as striking illustrations of Pompeian depravity or of Latin frankness in such matters. In this conclusion they find confirmation in the fact that the placard of the "heavy drinkers" was put on the wall by the professional painters Florus and Fructus, who, as we have noticed above, were working in the interest of Vatia. This hypothesis, however, seems to me to put too great a strain on our credulity. Is it possible that Vatia was the candidate of the underworld, and stood for a "wide open town"? That explanation seems improbable, because some of his supporters whose names appear in other posters were men of standing in the community. Possibly these organizations are social clubs which have taken humorous names, or have good-humoredly accepted a sobriquet given them by others, but there would seem to be no parallel to such a name in any of the other hundreds of guild and club inscriptions which have come down to us. It is much more probable that all three posters are the work of a wag or of a malicious opponent of Vatia who wished to intimate that all the bad elements in the city were rallying to his support. The announcement at the end of the third notice that Vatia's employees, "Florus and Fructus, painted it" would only show a keener sense of humor on the part of the supposed wag, or would be a more convincing proof of the authenticity of the placard in the eyes of the passer-by, if it emanates from one of Vatia's enemies. This explanation is supported by the fact that these three recommendations are all found in the same street and, therefore, may well be the work of the same person. A friend suggests that the same humorous or malicious hand was at work in painting the inscription quoted above, "To Vatia for the sedileship Verus Innoces gives his support," and that this supporter of Vatia existed only in the imagination of the composer of the notice. If we accept this conjecture we may be sure that the quick-witted Pompeian would see the point in the statement that Verus Innoces, or "the truly guileless man," was supporting Vatia in his candidacy for the office of police commissioner, especially when he read on neighboring walls the endorsements which Vatia had received from the three groups mentioned above.

¹ A. Vettium Firmum aed(ilem) o(ro) v(os) f(aciatis). Dignum rei publicae. O(ro) v(os) f(aciatis). Pilicrepi facite, 1147.

² Vatiam aed. rogant ... dormientes universi, 575; Vatiam aed. furunculi rog., 576; M. Cerrinium Vatiam aed. o. v. f. Seribibi universi rogant. Scr(ipsit) Florus cum Fructo, 581.

³ CIL. VI, 9797.

Standing—Mrs. Noe Bouchard, Mrs. Baptiste Girard, Mrs. Virginia Belanger
Sitting—Mrs. Fabien Racine, Mrs. Philip Racine, Mrs. Alphonsine Dupres, Mrs. Prudent Racine

A remarkable group picture made in this town recently, includes seven sisters, all of whom except one live in Brunswick. These ladies have all passed the fiftieth milestone, their ages ranging from 50 to 67. It is doubtful if any family in Maine could duplicate such a group. Mrs. Girard of Lisbon is the only one of the sisters to move away from Brunswick. They have one brother, who lives in Canada. Every one of these seven sisters has raised up families and their sons and daughters are well known among the young people of the town.

O feet! O legs! O thighs for which I died (and with good reason)! O buttocks, O fringe, O flanks, O shoulders, O breasts, O slender neck, O arms, O eyes that fill me with madness, O clever movement, O superlative kisses, O little cries of 'love me!' If she's Italian and her name is Flora and she does not sing Sappho—well, Perseus loved the Indian Andromeda.

ὦ ποδός, ὦ κνήμης, ὦ τῶν ἀπόλωλα δικαίως
    μηρῶν, ὦ γλουτῶν, ὦ κτενός, ὦ λαγόνων,
ὦ ὤμοιν, ὦ μαστῶν, ὦ τοῦ ῥαδινοῖο τραχήλου,
    ὦ χειρῶν, ὦ τῶν μαίνομαι ὀμματίων,
ὦ κατατεχνοτάτου κινήματος, ὦ περιάλλων        5
    γλωττισμῶν, ὦ τῶν θῦ᾽ ἐμὲ φωναρίων.
εἰ δ᾽ Ὀπικὴ καὶ Φλῶρα καὶ οὐκ ᾁδουσα τὰ Σαπφοῦς,
    καὶ Περσεὺς Ἰνδῆς ἠράσατ᾽ Ἀνδρομέδης.

Of such materials are those descendants of the Puritans composed; a mixture of good and evil; of the religion which clings to the past, in recollection rather than in feeling, mingled with a worldly-mindedness that amounts nearly to rapacity; all cloaked and rendered decent by a conventional respect for duties, and respectable and useful, by frugality, enterprise, and untiring activity.

The subject of this satire is summed up in the twenty-fourth verse: Dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt. The death of Tigellius Sardus, a man freehanded to a fault, furnishes Horace with his text, Nil medium est. Men are either too generous or too stingy, too dainty or too rude; some given to the coarser and lower forms of vice, others to high and dangerous intrigues. The latter subject occupies the greater part of the satire, from 24 ad fin., but the method Horace has selected for its treatment makes it scarcely profitable reading.

The last 110 lines of this Satire are not read.

In that year many men were prosecuted by the aediles on the charge of possessing more land than the law allowed. Hardly anybody was acquitted, and exorbitant greed was sharply curbed.

eo anno plerisque dies dicta ab aedilibus, quia plus quam quod lege finitum erat agri possiderent; nec quisquam ferme est purgatus vinculumque ingens immodicae cupiditati iniectum est.

Beware of people...

προσέχετε δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων...

be on one's guard — W. από + GEN. against someone or sthg. NT.

I know that you have a betrothed and a son from your betrothed,
that you need to marry her now, and that your mind is already elsewhere,
so that you'll treat me as an abandoned girl. But still,
think what a clever animal the little mouse is;
it never entrusts its life to a single hole
without already having chosen another shelter if one is being besieged.

scio equidem sponsam tibi esse et filium ex sponsa tua,        865
et tibi uxorem ducendam iam, esse alibi iam animum tuom,
ut <me> quasi pro derelicta sis habiturus. sed tamen
cogitato mus pusillus quam sit sapiens bestia,
aetatem qui non cubili <uni> umquam committit suam,
quin, si unum [odium] opsideatur, aliud <iam> perfugium <ele>gerit.       870

867 ut me Lambinus: et BC, e D
869 uni add. Bücheler
870 quin si Bothe: quia si B, quasi CD
odium B: om. CD, ostium Camerarius
iam perfugium elegerit Leo: perfugium gerit P

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... ἐκβληθέντος τοῦ δαιμονίου ...

... CASTING OUT THE DEMONS ...

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