Apuleius, On the God of Socrates 4

parit enim conversatio contemptum, raritas conciliat admirationem.

For familiarity engenders contempt; rarity produces admiration.

Sallustius, On the Gods and the Universe 1

Despite its all-embracing title, this is a modest little summary of Greek philosophy, written in the time of Julian the Apostate in the last-ditch fightback against the growth of Christianity. The opening is decidedly uncompromising:

τοὺς περὶ θεῶν ἀκούειν ἐθέλοντας δεῖ μέν ἐκ παίδων ἦχθαι καλῶς, καὶ μὴ ἀνοήτοις συντρέφεσθαι δόξαις· δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι καὶ ἔμφρονας, ἵνα ὅμοιόν τι ἔχωσι τοῖς λόγοις· δεῖ δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς κοινὰς ἐννοίας εἰδέναι.

Those who wish to hear about the gods must have been well educated from childhood, and must not be brought up among foolish suppositions. They must also be naturally good and intelligent, so that they have something in common with the subject matter. And they must also have knowledge of the universal axioms.

Macrobius, Saturnalia 7.16.1

An age-old conundrum.

scire ex vobis volo ovumne prius exstiterit an gallina.

I want to know from you whether the egg existed first or the chicken.

Pindar, fr.110

γλυκὺ δὲ πόλεμος ἀπείροισιν, ἐμπείρων δέ τις
ταρβεῖ προσιόντα νιν καρδίᾳ περισσῶς.

A sweet thing is war to the inexperienced, but one who has experience feels a deep fear in his heart when it approaches.

Dionysius Cato, Distichs 4.49

Cato wrote a collection of distichs purveying assorted bits of wisdom. The final poem of the set explains why he chose this form:

miraris versus nudis me scribere verbis?
hoc brevitas fecit, sensu uno iungere binos.

Are you surprised that I write verses with unadorned words? It’s brevity that makes me join them, two at a time, in a single meaning.

Anacreon, Greek Anthology 11.47.9-10

τὸ σήμερον μέλει μοι,
τὸ δ’ αὔριον τίς οἶδεν;

Today is my concern; as for tomorrow – who knows?

Petronius, Satyrica 48.8

April is the cruellest month. The epigraph to TS Eliot’s The Waste Land:

nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent ‘Σίβυλλα, τί θέλεις;’ respondebat illa ‘ἀποθανεῖν θέλω’.

For with my own eyes I myself saw the Sibyl at Cumae, hanging in a flask. When the boys asked her, ‘Sibyl, what is your wish?’ she answered, ‘I wish to die.’

Trimalchio is speaking, and recounts this story for less than obvious reasons, discussed here.

Cleanthes, Hymn to Zeus 15-17

οὐδέ τι γίγνεται ἔργον ἐπὶ χθονὶ σοῦ δίχα, δαῖμον,
οὔτε κατ’ αἰθέριον θεῖον πόλον, οὔτ’ ἐνὶ πόντῳ,
πλὴν ὁπόσα ῥέζουσι κακοὶ σφετέραισιν ἀνοίαις.

And no deed happens on earth without you, god, nor in the divine vault of the sky, nor in the sea, except such things as evil men do in their own folly.

Juvenal, Satires 3.208-211

The perils of life in Rome: the block of flats where the pauper Cordus lived has just been burned down.

nil habuit Cordus, quis enim negat? et tamen illud
perdidit infelix totum nihil. ultimus autem
aerumnae cumulus, quod nudum et frusta rogantem
nemo cibo, nemo hospitio tectoque iuvabit.

Cordus had nothing – who denies it? But the poor chap has still lost all that nothing. Yet the final straw of his hardship is that no one will help him out with food, naked though he is and begging in vain, and no one will help him out with hospitality and a roof over his head.

Oppian, On Hunting with Hounds 1.81-85

The first important quality of a huntsman: not to be overweight.

πρῶτα μὲν αἰζηοὶ μή μοι μάλα πίονες ἔστων·
ἦ γάρ τοι σκοπέλοισι θορεῖν μὲν ὑπείροχον ἵππον
χρειὼ ἀναγκαίη, χρειὼ δ’ ἄρα τάφρον ἁλέσθαι.
δηθάκι δ’ ἐν δρυμοῖσιν ἀνάγκη θῆρα δίεσθαι,
ποσσὶν ἐλαφρίζοντα καὶ εὐφόρτοις μελέεσσι.

First let me have men who are vigorous but not too fat. For a huntsman must mount a mighty horse among rocks and leap over a ditch. And often he must chase beasts amid thickets, being nimble with his feet and his well-balanced limbs.