- Source
- Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.8-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0004.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.3.78
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-09-29
A concise account of the comic poet and philosopher Epicharmus: his origin, life, statue inscription, works containing acrostics, and age at death.
Ἐπίχαρμος Ἡλοθαλοῦς Κῷος. καὶ οὗτος ἤκουσε Πυθαγόρου. τριμηνιαῖος δʼ ὑπάρχων ἀπηνέχθη τῆς Σικελίας εἰς Μέγαρα1, ἐντεῦθεν δʼ εἰς Συρακούσας, ὥς φησι καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασιν. καὶ αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀνδριάντος ἐπιγέγραπται τόδε· "εἴ τι παραλλάσσει φαέθων μέγας ἅλιος ἄστρων καὶ πόντος ποταμῶν μείζονʼ ἔχει δύναμιν, φαμὶ τοσοῦτον ἐγὼ σοφίᾳ προέχειν2 Ἐπίχαρμον, ὃν πατρὶς ἐστεφάνωσʼ ἅδε Συρακοσίων." οὗτος ὑπομνήματα καταλέλοιπεν ἐν οἷς φυσιολογεῖ, γνωμολογεῖ, ἰατρολογεῖ· καὶ παραστιχίδα3 γε ἐν τοῖς πλείστοις τῶν ὑπομνημάτων πεποίηκεν, οἷς διασαφεῖ ὅτι ἑαυτοῦ ἐστι τὰ συγγράμματα. βιοὺς δʼ ἔτη ἐνενήκοντα κατέστρεψεν.
Epicharmus was the son of Helothales, of Cos. He too was a hearer of Pythagoras. When he was three months old, he was carried to Megara in Sicily, and from there to Syracuse, as he himself also states in his writings. And on his statue this is inscribed: "If the great, shining sun surpasses the stars in any degree, and the sea possesses greater power than rivers, I declare that by so much does Epicharmus excel in wisdom, whom this fatherland of the Syracusans crowned." He left behind treatises in which he discourses on natural philosophy, utters maxims, and discusses medicine; and he also inserted an acrostic in most of his treatises, by which he makes clear that the writings are his own. Having lived ninety years, he passed away.
- 8.3.78τῆς Σικελίας εἰς Μέγαρα
The genitive τῆς Σικελίας is a chorographic (partitive) genitive specifying the region, distinguishing Megara Hyblaea in Sicily from the famous city of Megara on the Greek mainland.
- 8.3.78εἴ τι παραλλάσσει ... φαμὶ τοσοῦτον ... προέχειν
The phrase εἴ τι functions adverbially ("if in any way / to any degree"), correlating with the accusative adverbial τοσοῦτον ("by so much") in the main clause. παραλλάσσει takes a genitive of comparison (ἄστρων), mirrored in the main clause by προέχειν with the dative of respect (σοφίᾳ, "in wisdom").
- 8.3.78παραστιχίδα
The accusative noun παραστιχίς denotes an acrostic, a literary device where the initial letters of successive lines spell out a word or sentence (here used as an authorial seal or signature to authenticate his writings).