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Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Joy Even in Woes

Homer, Odyssey 15.398-401 (tr. A.T. Murray):
But we two will drink and feast in the hut,
and will take delight each in the other's grievous woes,
as we recall them to mind. For in after time a man finds joy even in woes,
whosoever has suffered much, and wandered much.

νῶϊ δ᾽ ἐνὶ κλισίῃ πίνοντέ τε δαινυμένω τε

κήδεσιν ἀλλήλων τερπώμεθα λευγαλέοισι,
μνωομένω· μετὰ γάρ τε καὶ ἄλγεσι τέρπεται ἀνήρ,        400
ὅς τις δὴ μάλα πολλὰ πάθῃ καὶ πόλλ᾽ ἐπαληθῇ.