Aeschylus,
Agamemnon 1619-1624 (Aegisthus to the chorus of old men; tr. Herbert Weir Smyth):
Old as you are, you shall learn how bitter it is
at your age to be schooled when prudence is the lesson set before you.
Bonds and the pangs of hunger are far the best doctors of the spirit when it comes to instructing the old. Do you have eyes and lack understanding? Do not kick against the goads lest you strike to your own hurt.
γνώσῃ γέρων ὢν ὡς διδάσκεσθαι βαρὺ
τῷ τηλικούτῳ, σωφρονεῖν εἰρημένον. 1620
δεσμὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ γῆρας αἵ τε νήστιδες
δύαι διδάσκειν ἐξοχώταται φρενῶν
ἰατρομάντεις. οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὁρῶν τάδε;
πρὸς κέντρα μὴ λάκτιζε, μὴ παίσας μογῇς.
1621 δεσμὸς T: δεσμὸν GF: δεσμοὶ Karsten
τὸ γῆρας τ: ῥυτῆρες Maas
1624 παίσας sch. Pind. P. 2.173 c: πήσας τ
John Dewar Denniston and Denys Page ad loc.:
Related post:
Eyes and Ears.
