Logopoios

And they cannot get their fill of the din of evil war.

οὐδὲ δύνανται | φυλόπιδος κορέσασθαι ὁμοιίου πτολέμοιο.

(Hom. Il. 13.634f)

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τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ἀπόστρεψον τὴν μάχαιράν σου εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, πάντες γὰρ οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀπολοῦνται.

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Thereupon Jesus says to him, “Put back your sword in its place, for all who take the sword in hand shall be destroyed by the sword.”

(Matthew 26:52)

ἐρωτηθεὶς γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἥτις οἰκεῖται κάλλιστα τῶν πόλεων, “Ἐκείνη,” εἶπεν, “ἐν ᾗ τῶν ἀδικουμένων οὐχ ἧττον οἱ μὴ ἀδικούμενοι προβάλλονται καὶ κολάζουσι τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας.”

(Plut. Sol. 18.5)

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When asked, I suppose, which is the finest city to live in, he (i.e. Solon) said: “That city in which those who are not victims of injustice pursue and punish villains with no less vigor than the victims themselves.”

nupta, quid exspectas? non tu pollentibus herbis
nec prece nec magico carmine mater eris;
excipe fecundae patienter verbera dextrae,
iam socer optatum nomen habebit avi.
(Ov. Fast. 2.425-8)

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Wedded wife, what are you waiting for? You'll not become a mother through potent herb, nor by prayer or magic verse; bear now with fortitude the blows of a fecund hand, and forthwith your husband's father will have the longed-for name of grandfather.

A mosaic with the text "Febrarius" and an image of a Lupercus, a priest of the Lupercalia, brandishing a whip, preparing to strike a women in the presence of two others.

Dr. Ovid, fertility specialist, recommends Lupercalia:

ο]ἰ μὲν ἰππήων στρότον οἰ δὲ πέσδων
οἰ δὲ νάων φαῖσ᾿ ἐπ[ὶ] γᾶν μέλαι[ν]αν
ἔ]μμεναι κάλλιστον, ἔγω δὲ κῆν᾿ ὄτ-
τω τις ἔραται·
(Sappho fr. 16)

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Some say a force of cavalry is the finest thing on the black earth; others claim a host of infantry, and others of ships; but I say it is whatever you love.

οὐ χρῆ κάκοισι θῦμον ἐπιτρέπην,
προκόψομεν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀσάμενοι,
ὦ Βύκχι, φαρμάκων δ᾿ ἄριστον
οἶνον ἐνεικαμένοις μεθύσθην.
(Alc. 335 = Athen. 10.430b–c)

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We must not relinquish our soul to evils,
for we shall get nowhere wallowing in misery,
Bycchis: the finest cure for our ills is
to bring some wine and get drunk.

Kyrnos, this city is yet the city, but its people are manifestly different…

Κύρνε, πόλις μὲν ἔθ᾿ ἥδε πόλις, λαοὶ δὲ δὴ ἄλλοι…
(Theognis 1.53)

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Now available in student-accessible format!
gnomai.com/stories/the-...

Without friend, without law, without home is that man who loves horrid war among his own people.

ἀφρήτωρ ἀθέμιστος ἀνέστιός ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος
ὃς πολέμου ἔραται ἐπιδημίου ὀκρυόεντος.
(Hom. Il. 9.63f)

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The cold crept subtly, all the way to the very marrow and bone.

ὁ κρυμὸς δὲ εἰσεδύετο λεπτὸς μέχρι μυελῶν αὐτῶν καὶ ὀστέων.
(Alciphron 3.40.2)

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Now, there will be no contest, Quirites; they will always test your spirit, but they will not contend with your strength.

Nec nunc erit certamen, Quirites; animos vestros illi temptabunt semper, vires non experientur.

(Liv. 4.5.4)

"Οὐπώποτε ἐγὼ κατὰ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ὑπέμεινα τοιοῦτον χειμῶνα."

Μάνδρης ἔσω τις πρόβατα συλλέγων δείλης
κνηκὸν μετ᾿ αὐτῶν λύκον ἔμελλε συγκλείειν.
ὁ κύων δ᾿ ἰδὼν πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπε “πῶς σπεύδεις
τὰ πρόβατα σῶσαι, τοῦτον εἰσαγὼν ἥμιν;”
(Babrius 113)

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Someone gathering his sheep within the fold one evening
was about to shut a tawny wolf inside with them.
Seeing this, his dog said to him: “How are you serious
about keeping the sheep safe, when you’re introducing this one among us?”

The age, however, is not so deprived of virtues that it has not produced good models as well.

Non tamen adeo virtutum sterile saeculum ut non et bona exempla prodiderit.
(Tac. Hist. 1.3)

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Lament, lament, but let the good prevail
…
And yet, from within, my self-taught soul sings a Fury's lyreless dirge

αἴλινον αἴλινον εἰπέ, τό δ᾿ εὖ νικάτω
…
τὸν δ᾿ ἄνευ λύρας ὅμως ὑμνῳδεῖ θρῆνον Ἐρινύος αὐτοδίδακτος ἔσωθεν θυμός
(Aesch. Ag. 121,990ff)
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That part of life that we live is paltry. Indeed, all the rest of the span is not life, but time.

Exigua pars est vitae, qua vivimus. Ceterum quidem omne spatium non vita sed tempus est.
(Sen. Brev. Vit. 2)

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Be not overwhelmed in hating your enemies; and yet do not forget: for time is a soothing god.

μήθ᾿ οἷς ἐχθαίρεις ὑπεράχθεο μήτ᾿ ἐπιλάθου·
χρόνος γὰρ εὐμαρὴς θεός.

(Soph. El. 177f)

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itaque nulla alia in civitate, nisi in qua populi potestas summa est, ullum domicilium libertas habet; qua quidem certe nihil potest esse dulcius, et quae, si aequa non est, ne libertas quidem est.

(Cic. Rep. 31)

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In no society, except that in which the power of the people is the greatest, does liberty have a home; verily, nothing can be sweeter; and yet, if it is not shared evenly by all, it is not, in fact, liberty.

ἐτρυφήσατε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐσπαταλήσατε, ἐθρέψατε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σφαγῆς. κατεδικάσατε, ἐφονεύσατε τὸν δίκαιον. οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται ὑμῖν.

(James 5:5-6)

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You have lived in luxury upon the earth, with licentious indulgence; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just one, who stands not against you.

τῶν πολυκτόνων γὰρ οὐκ
ἄσκοποι θεοί, κελαι-
ναὶ δ᾿ Ἐρινύες χρόνῳ
τυχηρὸν ὄντ᾿ ἄνευ δίκας
παλιντυχεῖ τριβᾷ βίου
τιθεῖσ᾿ ἀμαυρόν, ἐν δ᾿ ἀΐσ-
τοις τελέθοντος οὔτις ἀλ-
κά.

(Aesch. Ag. 461-8)

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For the gods are not heedless of those who have killed many, and the black Furies in good time enfeeble the man who has been lucky in escaping justice, destroying his life as they reverse his fortune; and when he enters the house of the unseen, he has no protection.