Pilēsin

Ἰστέον δέ, ὅτι ὁ μὲν Ἀριστοτέλης αἴτιον λέγει τῆς εἰς ὕδωρ μεταβολῆς τὴν ψύξιν μόνον· Θεόφραστος δὲ οὐ μόνον τὴν ψύξιν αἰτίαν φησὶ τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος γενέσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν πίλησιν. ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ μὴ οὔσης ψύξεως ὅμως ὑετὸς κατάγεται διὰ τὴν πίλησιν· φησὶ γὰρ ὄρη εἶναι ἐκεῖσε ὑψηλότατα, εἰς ἃ τὰ νέφη προσπταίουσι, καὶ εἶθ’ οὕτως καταρρήγνυται διὰ τὴν γινομένην πίλησιν. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λεβήτων ὑγρότης, φησίν, ἀντικαταρρεῖ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θόλων τῶν λουτρῶν μὴ παρούσης ψύξεως, διὰ τὴν πίλησιν δηλονότι τούτου γινομένου.
(Olympiodorus, In Aristotelis Meteorologica 1.9 346b30 (CAG t.12.2 p.80.30-81.1 Stüve)

One should know that Aristotle says that the cause of the change to water is the cooling only; but Theophrastus says that not only cooling is the cause of the coming-to-be of the water, but also compression. For consider; there is no cooling in Ethiopia, but nevertheless rain falls because of compression. For he says that there are very high mountains there, against which the clouds strike, and then in this way rain bursts out because of the compression that takes place. Moreover, in the case of cauldrons too moisture, he says, runs down again, and also in the case of the domed rooms in baths, where there is no cooling, this clearly coming about because of the compression. (tr. William W. Fortenbaugh, Pamela M. Huby and/or Robert W. Sharples)

Theatos

alter_med_ajax_selvmord_1

[ΧΟΡΟΣ. ΤΕΚΜΗΣΣΑ]

ΧΟΡ. Πᾷ πᾷ
κεῖται ὁ δυστράπελος
δυσώνυμος Αἴας;
ΤΕΚ. οὔτοι θεατός· ἀλλά νιν περιπτυχεῖ
φάρει καλύψω τῷδε παμπήδην, ἐπεὶ
οὐδεὶς ἂν ὅστις καὶ φίλος τλαίη βλέπειν
φυσῶντ’ ἄνω πρὸς ῥῖνας ἔκ τε φοινίας
πληγῆς μελανθὲν αἷμ’ ἀπ’ οἰείας σφαγῆς.

(Sophocles, Ajax 913-919)

[CHORUS. TECMESSA]

CHO. Where, where lies the unmanageable Ajax of ill-omened name?
TEC. He must not be looked upon! I shall cover him completely with this cloak folded about him, since none that was a friend could bear to look upon him spurting blood upwards to his nostrils, and the black gore from the deadly wound inflicted by self-slaughter.
(tr. Hugh Lloyd-Jones)

Meant

2_gray-wolves-in-snow-beautiful-kewl1

Procedunt, gemini ceu foedere iuncto
hiberna sub nocte lupi: licet et sua pulset
natorumque fames, penitus rabiemque minasque
dissimulant humilesque meant, ne nuntiet hostes
cura canum et trepidos moneat vigilare magistros.
(Statius, Ach. 1.704-708)

They go forward like two wolves in league on a winter’s night; though hunger, their own and their cubs’, pushes them, they quite dissemble their ravening threats and move meekly, lest watchdogs announce the enemy and warn the fearful shepherds to keep vigil. (tr. David Roy Shackleton Bailey)

Vector

Theodor_von_Holst_Hero_and_Leander
Theodor von Holst, Hero and Leander

[Leander Heroni]

Invideo Phrixo, quem per freta tristia tutum
aurea lanigero vellere vexit ovis;
nec tamen officium pecoris navisve requiro,
dummodo, quas findam corpore, dentur aquae.
parte egeo nulla; fiat modo copia nandi,
idem navigium, navita, vector ero!
(Ovid, Her. 18.143-148)

[Leander to Hero]

I envy Phrixus, whom the ram with gold in its woolly fleece bore safely over the stormy seas; yet I ask not the office of ram or ship, if only I may have the waters to cleave with my body. There is nothing I lack; if only I may swim, I will be at once ship, seaman, passenger! (tr. Grant Showerman, revised by George Patrick Goold)

Paidiskēs

Macrina_the_Younger
St. Macrina the Younger

Ἡ δὲ σφοδρῶς ἤδη τῇ ἀρρωστίᾳ κατείχετο, ἀνεπαύετο δὲ οὐκ ἐπὶ κλίνης τινὸς ἢ στρωμνῆς, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους, σανίδος ὑποτεταμένης τῷ σάκκῳ καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἑτέρας πάλιν σανίδος ὑπερειδούσης, ἧς ἡ ἐργασία τοιαύτη τις ἦν, ὡς ἀντὶ προσκεφαλαίου τῇ κεφαλῇ γίνεσθαι, ἐν λοξῷ τῷ σχήματι τοὺς τένοντας ὑποβαίνουσα καὶ καταθυμίως ἀνέχουσα ἐφ’ ἑαυτῆς τὸν αὐχένα. ἐπεὶ οὖν εἶδεν ἐγγὺς τῶν θυρῶν με γενόμενον, ὀρθώσασα ἑαυτὴν ἐπ’ ἀγκῶνος προσδραμεῖν μὲν οὐχ οἵα τε ἦν, ἤδη τῷ πυρετῷ τῆς ἰσχύος ὑπολυθείσης· πήξασα δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους τὰς χεῖρας καὶ ἐφ’ ὅσον οἷόν τε ἦν ἔξω ἑαυτὴν τοῦ χαμευνίου προτείνασα τὴν τῆς ὑπαντήσεως ἐπλήρου τιμήν· κἀγὼ προσδραμὼν καὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ὑπολαβὼν χαμαὶ τὸ πρόσωπον κεκλιμένον ἀνώρθωσά τε πάλιν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀπέδωκα τῷ συνήθει τῆς κατακλίσεως σχήματι. ἡ δὲ προτείνασα τῷ θεῷ τὴν χεῖρα· “Καὶ ταύτην ἐπλήρωσάς μοι, φησί, τὴν χάριν ὁ θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἐστέρησάς με ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας μου, ὅτι ἐκίνησας τὸν σὸν οἰκέτην εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν τῆς παιδίσκης σου.” καὶ ὡς ἂν μηδεμίαν ἐπαγάγοι τῇ ἐμῇ ψυχῇ δυσθυμίαν, τὸν στεναγμὸν κατεπράϋνε καὶ τὴν συνοχὴν τοῦ ἄσθματος κρύπτειν πως ἐβιάζετο…
(Gregory of Nyssa, Vita Sanctae Macrinae 976d-978a)

I found her already terribly afflicted with weakness. She was lying not on a bed or couch, but on the floor; a sack had been spread on a board, and another board propped up her head, so contrived as to act as a pillow, supporting the sinews of the neck in slanting fashion, and holding up the neck comfortably. Now when she saw me near the door she raised herself on her elbow but could not come to meet me, her strength being already drained by fever. But by putting her hands on the floor and leaning over from the pallet as far as she could, she showed the respect due to my rank. I ran to her and embraced her prostrate form, and raising her, again restored her to her usual position. Then she lifted her hand to God and said – “This favour also Thou hast granted me, O God, and hast not deprived me of my desire, because Thou hast stirred up Thy servant to visit Thy handmaid.” Lest she should vex my soul she stilled her groans and made great efforts to hide, if possible, the difficulty of her breathing. (tr. William Kemp Lowther Clarke)

Parekrousen

Ἐν Μελιβοίῃ νεηνίσκος ἐκ πότων καὶ ἀφροδισίων πολλῶν πολὺν χρόνον θερμανθεὶς κατεκλίθη· φρικώδης δὲ καὶ ἀσώδης ἦν καὶ ἄγρυπνος καὶ ἄδιψος.
ἀπὸ δὲ κοιλίης τῇ πρώτῃ πολλὰ κόπρανα διῆλθε σὺν περιρρόῳ πολλῷ, καὶ τὰς ἑπομένας ὑδατόχλοα πολλὰ διῄει· οὖρα λεπτά, ὀλίγα, ἄχρω· πνεῦμα ἀραιόν, μέγα διὰ χρόνου· ὑποχονδρίου ἔντασις ὑπολάπαρος, παραμήκης ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων· καρδίης παλμὸς διὰ τέλεος συνεχής· οὔρησεν ἐλαιῶδες.
δεκάτῃ παρέκρουσεν ἀτρεμέως, ἦν δὲ κόσμιός τε καὶ σιγῶν· δέρμα καρφαλέον καὶ περιτεταμένον· διαχωρήματα ἢ πολλὰ καὶ λεπτὰ ἢ χολώδεα, λιπαρά. τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ πάντα παρωξύνθη, παρέκρουσεν, πολλὰ παρέλεγεν.
εἰκοστῇ ἐξεμάνη, πολὺς βληστρισμός, οὐδὲν οὔρει, σμικρὰ ποτὰ κατείχετο.
εἰκοστῇ τετάρτῃ ἀπέθανε.
(Hippocrates, Epid. 3 case 16)

In Meliboea a youth took to his bed after being for a long time heated by drunkenness and sexual indulgence. He had shivering fits, nausea, sleeplessness, but no thirst.
First day. Copious, solid stools passed in abundance of fluid, and on the following days the excreta were copious, watery and of a greenish yellow. Urine thin, scanty and of no colour; respiration rare and large with long intervals; tension, soft underneath, of the hypochondrium, extending out to either side; continual throbbing throughout of the epigastrium; urine oily.
Tenth day. Delirious but quiet, for he was orderly and silent; skin dry and tense; stools either copious and thin or bilious and greasy.
Fourteenth day. General exacerbation; delirious with much wandering talk.
Twentieth day. Wildly out of his mind; much tossing; urine suppressed; slight quantities of drink were retained.
Twenty-fourth day. Death.
(tr. W.H.S. Jones)

Pactus

marriage

Quis est autem habens uxorem, qui eo modo utatur uxore, ut non excedat legem liberos procreandi? ad hoc enim data est: convincunt te tabulae quae scribuntur in matrimonio. pactus es quemadmodum duceres: sonat tibi scriptura pactionis: liberorum procreandorum causa. non ergo accedas, si potes, nisi liberorum procreandorum causa. si modum excesseris, contra illas tabulas facies et contra pactum. nonne manifestum est? eris mendax, et pacti violator: et quaerit in te Deus integritatem templi sui et non invenit; non quia tua usus es, sed quia immoderate usus es. nam et vinum de apotheca tua bibis, et tamen si sic bibis, ut inebrieris, non quia re tua usus es, ideo non peccasti: donum enim Dei convertisti ad corruptionem tuam.
(Augustine, Serm. 278.9)

Who is there that has a wife, and that uses his wife in such a way that he does not go beyond the law of procreation? Because that’s why she is given: the contracts which were drawn up in marriage convict you. You have agreed on the manner of your marriage, and the writing of this contract rings clear: ‘for the sake of having children.’ So you shouldn’t touch her, if you can manage it, except for the sake of having children. If you pass this limit, you’ll be acting against this agreement and against that contract. Isn’t it obvious? You’ll be a liar and a contract-breaker: God looks for the integrity of His temple in you and He cannot find it – not because you have enjoyed her, but because you have enjoyed her without moderation. You see, you also drink the wine from your store-room, and yet, if you drink so much as to become inebriated, the fact that the wine you enjoyed was yours doesn’t mean you haven’t sinned, because you have abused God’s gift for your own corruption. (tr. David Bauwens)

Noverca

evil
Cinderella (1950)

Aut si evenerit, ut de secundo marito habeas filios, domestica pugna, intestinum proelium. non licebit tibi amare liberos nec aequis aspicere oculis, quos genuisti. clam porriges cibos, invidebit mortuo, et nisi oderis filios, adhuc eorum amare videberis patrem. quodsi de priore uxore habens sobolem te domum introduxerit, etiam si clementissima fueris, omnes comoediae et mimographi et communes rhetorum loci in novercam saevissimam declamabunt. si privignus languerit et condoluerit caput, infamaberis ut venefica. si non dederis cibos, crudelis, si dederis, malefica diceris.
(Jerome, Ep. 54.15)

Or if it should happen that you have sons by your second husband, domestic warfare and intestine feuds will be the result. You will not be allowed to love your own children, or to look kindly on those to whom you gave birth. You will hand them their food secretly; for he will be jealous of your dead husband, and unless you hate your sons he will think you still in love with their father. If he, for his part, has issue by a former wife, when he brings you into his house, then, even though you have a heart of gold, you will be the cruel stepmother, against whom every comedy, every mime-writer, and every dealer in rhetorical commonplaces raises his voice. If your stepson falls sick or has a headache, you will be maligned as a poisoner. If you refuse him food, you will be cruel; if you give it, you will be said to have bewitched him. (tr. Frederick Adam Wright)

Diutius

Multas rerum natura mortis vias aperuit et multis itineribus fata decurrunt, et haec est condicio miserrima humani generis, quod nascimur uno modo, multis morimur: laqueus, gladius, praeceps locus, venenum, naufragium, mille aliae mortes insidiantur huic miserrimae animae. et hoc occidere vocatur, sed diutius.
(Seneca Maior, Contr. 7.1.9)

Nature has opened many routes to death, our fates hasten downwards along countless ways: and this is mankind’s wretched lot, that we have one way to be born – but many to die: the noose, the sword, a precipice, poison, ship-wreck and a thousand other deaths lie in wait for this wretched life. This too may be termed killing – but over a longer period. (tr. Michael Winterbottom)

Prodigiosa

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Nunc si depositum non infitietur amicus,
si reddat veterem cum tota aerugine follem,
prodigiosa fides et Tuscis digna libellis
quaeque coronata lustrari debeat agna.
egregium sanctumque virum si cerno, bimembri
honc monstrum puero et miranti sub aratro
piscibus inventis et fetae comparo mulae,
sollicitus, tamquam lapides effuderit imber
examenque apium longa consederit uva
culmine delubri, tamquam in mare fluxerit amnis
gurgitibus miris et lactis vertice torrens.
(Juvenal, Sat. 13.60-70)

But these days, if a friend does not renege upon your financial arrangement, if he returns to you your ancient purse with all its rust, it’s a stupendous act of loyalty which calls for a consultation of the Etruscan books and atonement with the sacrifice of a garlanded lamb. If I get a glimpse of an outstanding, honest man, I rank this prodigy with a mutant baby, or the discovery of fish beneath a surprised plough, or a pregnant mule. I am as alarmed as if it had rained stones, or a swarm of bees had settled in a long cluster on the roof of a shrine, or as if a river had gushed a flood of milk with amazing eddies into the sea. (tr. Susanna Morton Braund)