Homer Quotes

What a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles, when it is their own wickedness that brings them sufferings worse than any which destiny allots them.

I didn't lie! I just created fiction with my mouth!

The Odyssey of Homer, trans. William Cowper (1791)

Well then, what shall I go through first,
what shall I save for last?

Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile

Goddess of song, teach me the story
of a hero.

Even a fool may be wise after the event.

يا كل شئ هنا.. وداعا.

Ἀλλ' αἰεί τε Διὸς κρείσσων νόος ἠέ περ ἀνδρῶν.

The gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.

Troy has perished, the great city.
Only the red flame now lives there.

The dust is rising, spreading out like a great wing of smoke and all is hidden.
We now are gone, one here, one there.
And Troy is gone forever.

Farewell, dear city.
Farewell, my country, where my children lived.
There below, the Greek ships wait.

If a man is cruel by nature, cruel in action,
the mortal world will call down curses on his head
while he is alive, and all will mock his memory after death.
But then if a man is kind by nature, kind in action,
his guests will carry his fame across the earth
and people all will praise him from the heart.

Ὡς κακοεργίης εὐεργεσίη μέγ' ἀμείνων.

Αἰδομένων δ' ἀνδρῶν πλέονες σόοι ἠὲ πέφανται·
φευγόντων δ' οὔτ' ἂρ κλέος ὄρνυται οὔτέ τις ἀλκή.

Καὶ γάρ τ' ὄναρ ἐκ Διός ἐστιν.