Humanitext Reader

Epicharmus · Fragments §16-50

Maxims on Piety and Character, and Ennius' Reception

Passage 3 of 4 · Greek

Summary

A collection of moral and philosophical maxims on character, piety, and wisdom by Epicharmus is presented, followed by a comparison of his ethical verses with Euripides, and Latin fragments from Ennius' 'Epicharmus' regarding the elemental origin of the mind.

§16"τὰ πρὸ τοῦ δύ’ ἄνδρες ἔλεγον, εἶς ἐγὼν ἀποχρέω. " §17"ὁ τρόπος ἀνθρώποισι δαίμων ἀγαθός, οἷς δὲ καὶ κακός. " §18"ἐφόδιον θνατοῖς μέγιστόν ἐστιν εὐσεβὴς βίος. " §19"ἀνδρὶ δ’ ὑγιαίνευν ἄριστόν ἐστιν, ὥς γ’ ἐμὶν δοκεῖ. " §20"θνατὰ χρὴ τὸν θνατόν, οὐκ ἀθάνατα τὸν θνατὸν φρονεῖν. " §21"γνῶθι πῶς ἄλλωι κέχρηται. . . " §22"εὐσεβὴς νόωι πεφυκὼς οὐ πάθοις κ’ οὐδὲν κακὸν κατθανών· ἄνω τὸ πνεῦμα. διαμενεῖ κατ’ οὐρανόν. " §23ὸ μὲν Ἐπίχαρμος (Πυθαγόρειος δὲ ῆν) λέγων "οὐδὲν ἐκφεύγει τὸ θεῖον· τοῦτο γινώσκειν σε δεῖ· αὐτός ἐσθ’ ἁμῶν ἐπόπτης, ἀδυνατεῖ δ’ οὐδὲν θεός. " §24"ὡς πολὺν ζήσων χρόνον χώς ὀλίγον, οὕτως διανοοῦ. " §25"ἐγγύα 〈δ’〉 ἄτας 〈γα〉 θυγάτηρ, ἐγγύας δὲ ζαμία. " §26"καθαρὸν ἂν τὸν νοῦν ἔχηις, ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα καθαρὸς εἰ. " §27"αἴ τί κα ζατῆις σοφόν, τᾶς νυκτὸς ἐνθυμητέον. " καί· §28"πάντα τὰ σπουδαῖα νυκτὸς μᾶλλον ἐξευρίσκεται. " §29"οὐ λέγειν τύ γ’ ἐσσὶ δεινός, ἀλλὰ σιγᾶν ἀδύνατος. " §30"ἁ δὲ χεὶρ τὰν χεῖρα νίζει· δός τι καὶ λάβοις τί κα. " §31"(πρὸς τὸν ἄσωτον) οὐ φιλάνθρωπος τύ γ’ ἔσσ’· ἔχεις νόσον, χαίρεις διδούς. " §32"ποτὶ [τὸν] πονηρὸν οὐκ ᾄχρηστον ὅπλον ἁ πονηρία. " §33"ἁ δὲ μελέτα φύσιος ἀγαθᾶς πλέονα δωρεῖται, φίλοι. " §34"τίς δὲ κα λώιη γενέσθαι μὴ φθονούμενος, φίλοι;
"Previously two men were speaking, but I, one man, am sufficient." "Character is a good daemon for humans, but for some it is also a bad one." "A pious life is the greatest provision for mortals." "For a man to be healthy is the best thing, at least as it seems to me." "A mortal must think mortal thoughts, not a mortal immortal thoughts." "Know how he treats another..." "Being pious in mind, you would suffer no evil when you die; the breath is above, it will remain in heaven." Epicharmus (who was a Pythagorean) says: "Nothing escapes the divine; this you must know; he himself is our overseer, and God is powerless in nothing." "Think as if you are to live for a long time, and as if for a short time." "Sponsorship is the daughter of ruin, and after sponsorship comes loss." "If you keep your mind pure, you are pure in your whole body." "If you seek anything wise, you must ponder it by night." And: "All serious matters are found out more by night." "You are not skilled at speaking, but incapable of keeping silent." "One hand washes the other; give something and you may receive something." "(To the spendthrift) You are not a lover of humanity; you have a disease, you rejoice in giving." "Against a wicked man, wickedness is not a useless weapon." "Practice, my friends, bestows more than a good nature." "And who would wish to fare better without being envied, my friends?
δῆλον ὡς ἀνὴρ παρ’ οὐδὲν ἐσθ’ ὁ μὴ φθονούμενος· τυφλὸν ἠλέησ’ ίδών τις, ἐφθόνησε δ’ οὐδὲ εἴς. " §35"σώφρονος γυναικὸς ἀρετὰ τὸν συνόντα μὴ ἀδικεῖν [ἄνδρα]. " §36μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ Ἐ. ἐν τῶιδε· "τῶν πόνων πυλοῦσιν ἡμῖν πάντα τἀγάθ’ οἱ θεοί. " καὶ ἐν ἄλλωι δὲ τόπωι σησίν· §37"ὧ πονηρέ, μὴ τὰ μαλακὰ μῶσο, μὴ τὰ σκλήρ’ ἔχηις. " §38"πρὸς τὸς 〈οὐ〉 πέλας πορεύου λαμπρὸν ἱμάτιον ἔχων, καὶ φρονεῖν πολλοῖσι δόξεις, τυχὸν ἴσως 〈οὐδὲν φρογῶν〉. " §39"τῶι λόγωι μὲν εὗ διέρχηι πάντα, τῷι δ’ ἔργωι κακῶς. " §40"φύσιν ἔχειν ἄριστόν ἔστι, δεύτερον δὲ 〈μανθάνειν〉. " §41"οὐ μετανοεῖν ἀλλὰ προνοεῖν χρὴ τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν σοφόν. " §42"μὴ (ἐ)πὶ μικροῖς αὐτὸς αὐτὸν ὀξύθυμον δείκνυε. " §43"ἐπιπολάζειν οὔ τι χρῆ τὸν θυμόν, ἀλλὰ τὸν νόον. " §44[ "οὐδὲ εἰς οὐδὲν μετ’ ὀργῆς κατὰ τρόπον βουλεύεται. " §45a) Ἐπιχάρμου "〈ἥκιστά γ’ ὅσ〉τις δυστυχῶν βίον τ’ ἔχων 〈μηδὲν καλόν〉 τε κἀγαθὸν ψυχᾶι διδῶι, 〈ἐγὼν μὲν αὐτὸ〉ν οὔτι φασῶ μακάριον, 〈φύλακα δὲ μ〉ᾶλλον χρημάτων καλῶν 〈κακὸν〉. " b) Εὐριπίδου "εἰ δ’ εὐτυχῶν τις καὶ βίον κεκτημένος μηδὲν δόμοισι τῶν καλῶν θηράσεται, ἐγὼ μὲν αὐτὸν οὔποτ’ ὄλβιον καίω, φύλακα δὲ μᾶλλον χρημάτων δυσδαίμονα. " §46porro optime dixit Epicharmus quicunque, ait, minus delinquit optimus est vir: nemo est enim innocens, nemo reprehensionis expers. et Euripides quicunque incontinentes sunt et redundat in eis malum inimicitiae et iniustitiae, mali sunt; in quibus autem opposita praevalent, virtute praediti; in aliis vero ita, quasi aequalis sit commixtio; ita ut nulli sint qui omnia mala habeant sine ullo bono. §47## EPICHARMUS ENNI. (Aus Axiopistos’ Sammlung) at cum somniavit, ita narravit visus Homerus adesse poeta ; idemque in Epicharmo "nam videbar somniare med ego esse mortuum" §48"–⏒–⏒ terra corpus es at mentis ignis est. " §49eius principia sunt eadem, quae mundi esse Ennius scribit, aqua terra anima et sol.
It is clear that the man who is not envied is of no account; someone seeing a blind man pities him, but no one envies him." "The virtue of a prudent woman is not to wrong the man she lives with." And Epicharmus also testifies in this: "The gods sell us all good things for our labors." And in another place he says: "O rascal, do not long for soft things, lest you have hard things." "Go to those who are near wearing a bright cloak, and you will seem to many to be wise, though perhaps knowing nothing." "In speech you go through everything well, but in deed badly." "To have a good nature is best, and to learn is second." "The wise man ought not to regret after, but to think beforehand." "Do not show yourself to be quick-tempered over small matters." "It is not at all right for anger to surface, but for the mind." [ "No one deliberates properly with anger." a) Of Epicharmus "He who, being unfortunate but having a livelihood, gives nothing beautiful and good to his soul, I indeed shall not call him blessed, but rather a bad guardian of beautiful wealth." b) Of Euripides "But if someone, being fortunate and possessing a livelihood, hunts for nothing beautiful in his home, I indeed shall never call him happy, but rather a miserable guardian of wealth." Furthermore, Epicharmus spoke excellently: 'Whoever sins less, he is the best man; for no one is innocent, no one free from blame.' And Euripides: 'Whoever are incontinent, and in whom the evil of enmity and injustice abounds, are bad; but those in whom the opposites prevail, are endowed with virtue; in others indeed, it is as if there were an equal mixture; so that there are none who have all evils without any good.' EPICHARMUS OF ENNIUS. (From Axiopistos' collection) But when he dreamed, he spoke thus: 'The poet Homer seemed to be present.' And the same in his 'Epicharmus': "For I seemed to dream that I was dead" "–⏒–⏒ the body is earth, but the mind's source is fire." Its principles are the same as those which Ennius writes are the principles of the universe: water, earth, air, and the sun.
§50itáque Epicharmus dicit de mente humana.
And so Epicharmus says of the human mind.
ait: "istic est de sole sumptus ignis. "
He says: "That fire has been taken from the sun."

Notes

  1. §16ἀποχρέω — The first-person singular present active indicative form (dialectal) of `ἀποχράω` (to be sufficient). With 'I, one man' as the subject, it means 'I alone am sufficient'.
  2. §20θνατὰ χρὴ τὸν θνατόν — An accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction following the impersonal verb `χρή`. The subject of the infinitive `φρονεῖν` is `τὸν θνατόν` (a mortal, accusative), and its object is the neuter plural `θνατά` (mortal things, accusative). The second half, `οὐκ ἀθάνατα τὸν θνατὸν`, relies on a parallel structure and ellipsis to sharpen the contrast.
  3. §34λώιη — The third-person singular present optative form (`λῴη`) of the Doric verb `λῶ` (to wish/want). It expresses a rhetorical question: 'Who would wish [to fare better] without being envied?'. Although easily confused with the comparative adjective `λῴων`, it functions as a verb here.
  4. §36τῶν πόνων — A genitive of price accompanying the verb 'to sell' (`πωλοῦσιν`). It indicates that 'labors' are the cost or exchange value for which the gods offer all good things to humans.
  5. §47med ego esse mortuum — An accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction in Latin. In the infinitive phrase `med ... esse mortuum` (that I was dead) led by the verb `videbar` (I seemed), `med` is the archaic Latin first-person singular accusative pronoun (classical `me`), serving as the subject of the infinitive `esse`.

Cite this passage

Epicharmus, Fragments §16-50. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0521.tlg008.humanitext-grc1:16-50

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