Pages

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Life

Euripides, Orestes 976-981 (tr. Edward P. Coleridge):
Oh, oh! you tribes of short-lived men, full of tears, full of suffering, see how fate runs counter to your hopes! All receive in turn their different troubles in length of time; and the whole of mortal life is uncertain.

ἰὼ ἰώ, πανδάκρυτ᾽ ἐφαμέρων
ἔθνη πολύπονα, λεύσσεθ᾽, ὡς παρ᾽ ἐλπίδας
μοῖρα βαίνει.
ἕτερα δ᾽ ἕτερος ἀμείβεται
πήματ᾽ ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ·        980
βροτῶν δ᾽ ὁ πᾶς ἀστάθμητος αἰών.