Archilochus of Paros Quotes

Now, I have no desire for poetry or joy,
yet I will make nothing better by crying,
nor worse by seeking good foods and pleasure.

These golden matters
Of Gyges and his treasuries
Are no concern of mine.
Jealousy has no power over me,
Nor do I envy a god his work,
And I do not burn to rule.
Such things have no
Fascination for my eyes.

Her breasts and her dark hair were perfume
and even an old man would desire her.

His penis is swollen
like a donkey from Priene
taking his fill of barley.

Take the joy and bear the sorrow, looking past your hopes and fears: learn to recognize the measured
dance that orders all our years.

Listen to me cuss.

:translated by Guy Davenport, Carmina Archilochi: The Fragments of Archilochus (1964)

ὦ Ζεῦ͵ πάτερ Ζεῦ͵ σὸν μὲν οὐρανοῦ κράτος͵ σὺ δ΄ ἔργ΄ ἐπ΄ ἀνθρώπων ὁρᾶις λεωργὰ καὶ θεμιστά͵ σοὶ δὲ θηρίων ὕβρις τε καὶ δίκη μέλει.

I have a high art; I hurt with cruelty those who would damage me.

When dead no man finds respect or glory from men
of his town. Rather, we hope while alive for some
favor from the living. The dead are always scorned.

No man, Aisimides, who bows to the mud-slinging
mob has ever been capable of profound pleasures.

: Quotations for Martial Artists : Hundreds of Inspirational Quotes to Motivate and Enlighten the Modern Warrior (2003) edited by John D. Moore

All, O all the calamities of all the Hellenes
are set loose on this battleground in Thasos.

Her sprig of myrtle clothed her beautiful rose
That her hands were happily playing with,
And her hair fell
As darkness on her back and shoulders.
Someone
Right in the middle of the myrtle.

Be bold! That's one way
Of getting through life.
So I turn upon her
And point out that,
Faced with the wickedness
Of things, she does not shiver. I know how to love those
Who love me, how to hate. You whom the soldiers beat,
You who are all but dead,
How the gods love you
And I, alone in the dark,
I was promised the light.