Crambe Repetita

Prava

bent

[DEMIPHO. GETA.]

[DEM.] Nostrapte culpa facinus ut malis expediat esse,
dum nimium dici nos bonos studemus et benignos.
ita fugias ne praeter casam, quod aiunt. nonne id sat erat
accipere ab illo iniuriam? etiam argentumst ultro obiectum,
ut sit qui vivat dum aliud aliquid flagiti conficiat.
[GET.] planissume.
[DEM.] eis nunc praemiumst qui recta prava faciunt.
[GET.] verissume.
[DEM.] ut stultissume quidem illi rem gesserimus.
(Terence, Phormio 766-772)

[DEMIPHO. GETA.]

[DEM.] We’ve only ourselves to blame if dishonesty pays, while we’re so keen to maintain a reputation for honesty and kindness. When on the run, make for home, as the saying goes. Wasn’t it enough for us to be tricked by this fellow, without throwing him money as well to live on until his next outrageous scheme?
[GET.] Undoubtedly.
[DEM.] These days the prize goes to those who turn right into wrong.
[GET.] Exactly.
[DEM.] We’ve been absolute fools in the way we’ve handled this business.
(tr. John Barsby)

Kreasin

Vegetarian Man.jpg.653x0_q80_crop-smart

Λέγεται δὲ καὶ πρῶτος κρέασιν ἀσκῆσαι ἀθλητάς, καὶ πρῶτόν γ’ Εὐρυμένην, καθά φησι Φαβωρῖνος ἐν τρίτῳ τῶν Ἀπομνημονευμάτων, τῶν πρότερον ἰσχάσι ξηραῖς καὶ τυροῖς ὑγροῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πυροῖς σωμασκούντων αὐτούς, καθάπερ ὁ αὐτὸς Φαβωρῖνος ἐν ὀγδόῃ Παντοδαπῆς ἱστορίας φησίν. οἱ δὲ Πυθαγόραν ἀλείπτην τινὰ τοῦτον σιτίσαι τὸν τρόπον, μὴ τοῦτον. τοῦτον γὰρ καὶ τὸ φονεύειν ἀπαγορεύειν, μὴ ὅτι γε ἅπτεσθαι τῶν ζῴων κοινὸν δίκαιον ἡμῖν ἐχόντων ψυχῆς. καὶ τόδε μὲν ἦν τὸ πρόσχημα· τὸ δ’ ἀληθὲς τῶν ἐμψύχων ἀπηγόρευεν ἅπτεσθαι συνασκῶν καὶ συνεθίζων εἰς εὐκολίαν βίου τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὥστε εὐπορίστους αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὰς τροφὰς ἄπυρα προσφερομένοις καὶ λιτὸν ὕδωρ πίνουσιν· ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ καὶ σώματος ὑγίειαν καὶ ψυχῆς ὀξύτητα περιγίνεσθαι. ἀμέλει καὶ βωμὸν προσκυνῆσαι μόνον ἐν Δήλῳ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ γενέτορος, ὅς ἐστιν ὄπισθεν τοῦ Κερατίνου, διὰ τὸ πυροὺς καὶ κριθὰς καὶ πόπανα μόνα τίθεσθαι ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ ἄνευ πυρός, ἱερεῖον δὲ μηδέν, ὥς φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν Δηλίων πολιτείᾳ.
(Diogenes Laertius, Bioi kai Gnōmai 8.12-13)

He is also said to have been the first to diet athletes on meat, trying first with Eurymenes—so we learn from Favorinus in the third book of his Memorabilia—whereas in former times they had trained on dried figs, on butter, and even on wheat-meal, as we are told by the same Favorinus in the eighth book of his Miscellaneous History. Some say it was a certain trainer named Pythagoras who instituted this diet, and not our Pythagoras, who forbade even the killing, let alone the eating, of animals which share with us the privilege of having a soul. This was the excuse put forward; but his real reason for forbidding animal diet was to practise people and accustom them to simplicity of life, so that they could live on things easily procurable, spreading their tables with uncooked foods and drinking pure water only, for this was the way to a healthy body and a keen mind. Of course the only altar at which he worshipped was that of Apollo the Giver of Life, behind the Altar of Horns at Delos, for thereon were occurred flour and meal and cakes, without the use of fire, and there was no animal victim, as we are told by Aristotle in his Constitution of Delos. (tr. Robert Drew Hicks)

Aegro

Evelyn de Morgan, Medea, 1889 — Evelyn de Morgan, *Medea* (1889)

Utinam ne in nemore Pelio securibus
caesa accidisset abiegna ad terram trabes,
neve inde navis inchoandi exordium
coepisset, quae nunc nominatur nomine
Argo, quia Argivi in ea delecti viri
vecti petebant pellem inauratam arietis
Colchis imperio regis Peliae per dolum:
nam numquam era errans mea domo efferret pedem
Medea, animo aegro, amore saevo saucia.
(Ennius, Med. fr. 89)

If only the firwood timber had not fallen
to the ground in the Pelian grove, hewn by axes,
and if only the ship had not taken from there the first steps to a beginning
—the ship that is now known by the name of
Argo, since selected Argive men traveling in her
sought the Golden Fleece of the ram
from the Colchians, at the behest of king Pelias, by trickery.
For never would my mistress, Medea, going astray, set her foot outside the house,
sick in her mind, wounded by savage love.
(tr. Sander M. Goldberg & Gesine Manuwald)

Periculosior

Andrea_del_Castagno_-_Niccolò_Acciauoli — Andrea del Castagno, *fresco of Niccolò Acciaiuoli*

Vidimus te adversae fortunae magnificentissime reluctantem; iam cernimus te victorem; sed en totiens victa revertitur aspectu mitior et auratae cassidis, ut ita dixerim, fulgore suavior. vicisti adversam; prospera redit in proelium: quid putas? mutata sunt arma, non hostis, et tibi quoque novo armorum genere est opus; nolo enim extimes minus esse negotii quoniam hostis est blandior; nullum insidiosius bellum est quam ubi blanditiis credulitas oppugnatur. in arcto quidem egregie rem gessisti; qualem te in aperto exhibeas expectamus. multos in angustiis indefessos campestris pugna lassavit, multos in adversitatibus fortes viros fortuna prosperior stravit; Hanibal Cannis victor, victus est Capuae et ardorem, quem Trebia glacialis accenderat, tepor Baianus extinxit; saepe pax periculosior bello fuit, multis nocuit adversario caruisse. quorundam virtus otio latuit; quorundam vero prorsus emarcuit, locum submoti hostis occupante luxuria. nulla homini pertinacior lis quam cum animo moribusque suis; nusquam minus indutiarum; intra murum pugna est; hoc genus hostium bello languidum pace fervidum experimur et sub toga plus ausurum quam sub galea.
(Petrarca, Epist. Fam. 12.2.4-6)

We have watched you wrestling most magnificently with opposing fortune, and already behold you as victor, but see! though so often defeated, Fortune is returning milder in appearance and sweeter, so to speak, in the gleam of her gilded helmet. You conquered her in adversity, but in success she is returning to battle. What do you think? Her weapons have changed, but not the enemy, and you too need a new kind of weaponry, since I do not want you to think there is less trouble because the enemy is more beguiling: no war is more treacherous than when the credulity is attacked by compliments. In difficult straits you handled the task brilliantly, and we are now waiting to see how you handle yourself in open combat. A pitched battle has exhausted many warriors unwearied in times of hardship and a favoring fortune has laid low many men gallant in adverse circumstances: Hannibal, victor of Cannae, was overcome by Capua, and the ardor of battle which icy Trebia has kindled was extinguished by the warmth of Baiae; often peace was more dangerous than war, and it harmed many fighters to be without an adversary. Some heroes’ valor went unnoticed in idle peace, and other men’s utterly withered way, as indulgence took the place of the ousted enemy. There is no more obstinate conflict for any man than with his own character and behavior, nowhere is there less chance of armistice, for the battle is inside the fortifications; we are experiencing this kind of enemy, idle in war but passionate in peace: one who will dare more in the toga than in his helmet. (tr. Elaine Fantham)

Hupekkaumatos

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Τοὺς δ’ ἀργοὺς ἐκείνους παρακαλῶμεν, ὅταν τὰ κεφάλαια τῇ νοήσει περιλάβωσιν, αὐτοὺς δι’ αὑτῶν τὰ λοιπὰ συντιθέναι, καὶ τῇ μνήμῃ χειραγωγεῖν τὴν εὕρεσιν, καὶ τὸν ἀλλότριον λόγον οἷον ἀρχὴν καὶ σπέρμα λαβόντας ἐκτρέφειν καὶ αὔξειν. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἀγγεῖον ὁ νοῦς ἀποπληρώσεως ἀλλ’ ὑπεκκαύματος μόνον ὥσπερ ὕλη δεῖται, ὁρμὴν ἐμποιοῦντος εὑρετικὴν καὶ ὄρεξιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ὥσπερ οὖν εἴ τις ἐκ γειτόνων πυρὸς δεόμενος, εἶτα πολὺ καὶ λαμπρὸν εὑρὼν αὐτοῦ καταμένοι διὰ τέλους θαλπόμενος, οὕτως εἴ τις ἥκων λόγου μεταλαβεῖν πρὸς ἄλλον οὐχ οἴεται δεῖν φῶς οἰκεῖον ἐξάπτειν καὶ νοῦν ἴδιον, ἀλλὰ χαίρων τῇ ἀκροάσει κάθηται θελγόμενος, οἷον ἔρευθος ἕλκει καὶ γάνωμα τὴν δόξαν ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων, τὸν δ’ ἐντὸς εὐρῶτα τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ζόφον οὐκ ἐκτεθέρμαγκεν οὐδ’ ἐξέωκε διὰ φιλοσοφίας.
(Plutarch, Peri tou akouein 48b-d)

But as for those lazy persons whom we have mentioned, let us urge them that, when their intelligence has comprehended the main points, they put the rest together by their own efforts, and use their memory as a guide in thinking for themselves, and, taking the discourse of another as a germ and seed, develop and expand it. For the mind does not require filing like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth. Imagine, then, that a man should need to get fire from a neighbour, and, upon finding a big bright fire there, should stay there continually warming himself; just so it is if a man comes to another to share the benefit of a discourse, and does not think it necessary to kindle from it some illumination for himself and some thinking of his own, but, delighting in the discourse, sit enchanted; he gets, as it were, a bright and ruddy glow in the form of opinion imparted to him by what is said, but the mouldiness and darkness of his inner mind he has not dissipated nor banished by the warm glow of philosophy. (tr. Frank Cole Babbitt)

Rhodon

rose

“Ῥόδον παρελθὼν μηκέτι ζήτει πάλιν”· ἐπὶ τῶν μεταμελουμένων περί τι καὶ μὴ δυναμένων τι ἀνύσαι.
(Diogenianus, Paroimiai 8.2)

“Never ask for a past rose”: for those who regret something that they can’t change. (tr. David Bauwens)

Praeconem

homer apotheosis

Nam si quis minorem gloriae fructum putat ex Graecis versibus percipi quam ex Latinis, vehementer errat: propterea quod Graeca leguntur in omnibus fere gentibus, Latina suis finibus, exiguis sane, continentur. qua re si res eae quas gessimus orbis terrae regionibus definiuntur, cupere debemus, quo manuum nostrarum tela pervenerint, eodem gloriam famamque penetrare: quod cum ipsis populis de quorum rebus scribitur, haec ampla sunt, tum eis certe, qui de vita gloriae causa dimicant, hoc maximum et periculorum incitamentum est et laborum. quam multos scriptores rerum suarum magnus ille Alexander secum habuisse dicitur! atque is tamen, cum in Sigeo ad Achillis tumulum astitisset: “o fortunate” inquit “adulescens, qui tuae virtutis Homerum praeconem inveneris!” Et vere. nam nisi Ilias illa exstitisset, idem tumulus, qui corpus eius contexerat, nomen etiam obruisset.
(Cicero, Pro Archia 23-24)

For if anyone thinks that the glory won by the writing of Greek verse is naturally less than that accorded to the poet who writes in Latin, he is entirely in the wrong. Greek literature is read in nearly every nation under heaven, while the vogue of Latin is confined to its own boundaries, and they are, we must grant, narrow. Seeing, therefore, that the activities of our race know no barrier save the limits of the round earth, we ought to be ambitious that whithersoever our arms have penetrated there also our fame and glory should extend; for the reason that literature exalts the nation whose high deeds it sings, and at the same time there can be no doubt that those who stake their lives to fight in honour’s cause find therein a lofty incentive to peril and endeavour. We read that Alexander the Great carried in his train numbers of epic poets and historians. And yet, standing before the tomb of Achilles at Sigeum, he exclaimed,—”Fortunate youth, to have found in Homer an herald of thy valour!” Well might he so exclaim, for had the Iliad never existed, the same mound which covered Achilles’ bones would also have overwhelmed his memory. (tr. Neville Hunter Watts)

Hamum

[LYCO. CVRCVLIO.]

[LYC.] Sed quid Lyconem quaeris?
[CVR.] mandatum est mihi
ut has tabellas ad eum ferrem.
[LYC.] quis tu homo es?
[CVR.] libertus illius, quem omnes Summanum vocant.
[LYC.] Summane, salve. qui Summanu’s? fac sciam.
[CVR.] quia vestimenta mea, ubi obdormivi ebrius,
summano, ob eam rem me omnes Summanum vocant.
[LYC.] alibi te meliust quaerere hospitium tibi:
apud me profecto nihil est Summano loci.
sed istum quem quaeris ego sum.
[CVR.] quaeso, tune is es,
Lyco tarpezita?
[LYC.] ego sum.
[CVR.] multam me tibi
salutem iussit Therapontigonus dicere,
et has tabellas dare me iussit.
[LYC.] min?
[CVR.] ita.
cape, signum nosce. nostin?
[LYC.] quidni noverim?
clupeatus elephantum ubi machaera diligit.
[CVR.] quod isti scriptum est, id te orare iusserat
profecto ut faceres, suam si velles gratiam.
[LYC.] concede, inspiciam quid sit scriptum.
[CVR.] maxume,
tuo arbitratu, dum auferam aps te id quod peto.
[LYC.] “miles Lyconi in Epidauro hospiti
suo Therapontigonus Platagidorus plurumam
salutem dicit.”
[CVR.] meus hic est, hamum vorat.
(Plautus, Curculio 411-431)

[LYCO. CVRCVLIO.]

[LYC.] But why are you looking for Lyco?
[CVR.] I was told to bring these tablets to him.
[LYC.] Who are you?
[CVR.] His freedman, whom all men call Summanus*.
[LYC.] Hello, Summanus. How come you’re Summanus? Let me know.
[CVR.] Because whenever I’m drunk, I sure act like some anus. For that reason all men call me Summanus.
[LYC.] It’s better if you look for hospitality elsewhere: at my house there’s definitely no place for Summanus. But I am the man you’re looking for.
[CVR.] Please, is it you, the banker Lyco?
[LYC.] Yes, that’s me.
[CVR.] Therapontigonus told me to give you his best wishes, and he told me to give these tablets to you.
[LYC.] To me?
[CVR.] Yes. Take them, examine the seal. (hands them over) Do you recognize it?
[LYC.] Why shouldn’t I? Where a man with a shield is cutting an elephant in two with his sword.
[CVR.] He told me to ask you to do what’s written there if you wanted his gratitude.
[LYC.] Step aside, I’ll look at what’s written.
[CVR.] By all means, just as you like, so long as I take away from you what you seek.
[LYC.] “The soldier Therapontigonus Platagidorus gives his warmest greetings to his host in Epidaurus, Lyco.”
[CVR.] He’s mine, he’s swallowing the fishhook.

* A title of Jupiter in his function as protector of houses from lightening. The Latin pun is based on an etymologically wrong derivation from summanare “to pee on.”

(tr. Wolfgang De Melo, with his note)

Humanitas

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Sequens hiems saluberrimis consiliis absumpta. namque ut homines dispersi ac rudes eoque in bella faciles quieti et otio per voluptates assuescerent, hortari privatim, adiuvare publice, ut templa fora domos exstruerent, laudando promptos, castigando segnes: ita honoris aemulatio pro necessitate erat. iam vero principum filios liberalibus artibus erudire, et ingenia Britannorum studiis Gallorum anteferre, ut qui modo linguam Romanam abnuebant, eloquentiam concupiscerent. inde etiam habitus nostri honor et frequens toga; paulatimque discessum ad delenimenta vitiorum, porticus et balinea et conviviorum elegantiam. idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum pars servitutis esset.
(Tacitus, Agr. 21)

The following winter was taken up by measures of a most beneficial kind. His intention was, in fact, that people who lived in widely dispersed and primitive settlements and hence were naturally inclined to war should become accustomed to peace and quiet by the provision of amenities. Hence he gave encouragement to individuals and assistance to communities to build temples, market-places, and town houses. He praised those that responded promptly and censured the dilatory. As a result they began to compete with one another for his approval, instead of having to be compelled. Further, he educated the sons of the leading men in the liberal arts and he rated the natural talents of the Britons above the trained skills of the Gauls. The result was that those who just lately had been rejecting the Roman tongue now conceived a desire for eloquence. Thus even our style of dress came into favour and the toga was everywhere to be seen. Gradually, too, they went astray into the allurements of evil ways, colonnades and warm baths and elegant banquets. The Britons, who had had no experience of this, called it ‘civilization’, although it was a part of their enslavement. (tr. Anthony Richard Birley)

Phellos

fishing net with corks

Εὐανθέα δ’ ἀναβάσομαι στόλον ἀμφ’ ἀρετᾷ
κελαδέων. νεότατι μὲν ἀρήγει θράσος
δεινῶν πολέμων· ὅθεν φαμὶ καὶ σὲ τὰν ἀπείρονα δόξαν εὑρεῖν,

τὰ μὲν ἐν ἱπποσόαισιν ἄνδρεσσι μαρνάμενον,
τὰ δ’ ἐν πεζομάχαισι· βουλαὶ δὲ πρεσβύτεραι
ἀκίνδυνον ἐμοὶ ἔπος σὲ ποτὶ πάντα λόγον
ἐπαινεῖν παρέχοντι. χαῖρε. τόδε μὲν κατὰ Φοίνισσαν ἐμπολὰν
μέλος ὑπὲρ πολιᾶς ἁλὸς πέμπεται·
τὸ Καστόρειον δ’ ἐν Αἰολίδεσσι χορδαῖς θέλων
ἄθρησον χάριν ἑπτακτύπου
φόρμιγγος ἀντόμενος.
γένοι’ οἷος ἐσσὶ μαθών· καλός τοι πίθων παρὰ παισίν, αἰεὶ

καλός. ὁ δὲ Ῥαδάμανθυς εὖ πέπραγεν, ὅτι φρενῶν
ἔλαχε καρπὸν ἀμώμητον, οὐδ’ ἀπάταισι θυμὸν τέρπεται ἔνδοθεν,
οἷα ψιθύρων παλάμαις ἕπετ’ αἰεὶ βροτῷ.
ἄμαχον κακὸν ἀμφοτέροις διαβολιᾶν ὑποφάτιες,
ὀργαῖς ἀτενὲς ἀλωπέκων ἴκελοι.
κέρδει δὲ τί μάλα τοῦτο κερδαλέον τελέθει;
ἅτε γὰρ εννάλιον πόνον ἐχοίσας βαθύν
σκευᾶς ἑτέρας, ἀβάπτιστός εἰμι φελλὸς ὣς ὑπὲρ ἕρκος ἅλμας.
(Pindar, Pyth. 2.62-81)

I shall mount the wreathed ship to speak aloud
your praise. Your youth is staunch in valor to endure
stark battle; whence I say you have found glory that knows no measure

in striving against those who rode horses in battle
and the fighting footranks also. But your elder counsels
set me free to speak forth
in your praise, a word without peril
against any man’s contention. Hail, then! This melody is sent you
like Phoenician ware over the gray sea.
Be fain to behold and welcome the Kastor-chant
on Aiolian strings, by grace
of the seven-stringed lyre.
Learn what you are and be such. See, the ape to children is a pretty thing, pretty indeed.

But Rhadamanthys has done well, to reap
a blameless harvest of the mind, without joy of deception at the inward heart,
such as ever befalls a man by action of those who whisper.
To both sides the speakers of slander are an evil beyond control.
They are minded like foxes, utterly.
But what good then befalls the greedy fox of his slyness?
As when the rest of the gear founders in the sea’s
depth, I, the cork at the net, ride not drenched in the brine.
(tr. Richmond Lattimore)