Sophocles, Ajax 430-431

Ajax’ name is Aias in Greek.

αἰαῖ· τίς ἄν ποτ’ ὤεθ’ ὧδ’ ἐπώνυμον
τοὐμὸν ξυνοίσειν ὄνομα τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς;

Aiai! Who would ever have thought that my own name would be in harmony like this with my misfortunes?

Sophocles, Ajax 646-649

ἅπανθ’ ὁ μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος χρόνος
φύει τ’ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται·
κοὐκ ἔστ’ ἄελπτον οὐδέν, ἀλλ’ ἁλίσκεται
χὠ δεινὸς ὅρκος χαἰ περισκελεῖς φρένες.

Long, unmeasurable Time brings to light everything unseen and hides what has been apparent. Nothing is beyond hope; even the fearsome oath and the most stubborn will is overcome.

See too this earlier post.

Sophocles, fr. 962

εἰ δείν’ ἔδρασας, δεινὰ καὶ παθεῖν σε δεῖ.

If you have done terrible things, you must also suffer terrible things.

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 337-345

The blind exile Oedipus compares the conduct of his children to the alleged habits of the people of Egypt.

ὦ πάντ’ ἐκείνω τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ νόμοις
φύσιν κατεικασθέντε καὶ βίου τροφάς·
ἐκεῖ γὰρ οἱ μὲν ἄρσενες κατὰ στέγας
θακοῦσιν ἱστουργοῦντες, αἱ δὲ σύννομοι
τἄξω βίου τροφεῖα πορσύνουσ’ ἀεί.
σφῷν δ’, ὦ τέκν’, οὓς μὲν εἰκὸς ἦν πονεῖν τάδε,
κατ’ οἶκον οἰκουροῦσιν ὥστε παρθένοι,
σφὼ δ’ ἀντ’ ἐκείνων τἀμὰ δυστήνου κακὰ
ὑπερπονεῖτον.

Ah, in their character and way of life they imitate the customs of Egypt! For there the menfolk sit weaving at home, while their wives are always out earning a living. And in your case, my daughters, those whose task it used to be to perform these toils keep house at home, like maidens, while you two, instead of them, are enduring the woes of wretched me.

Sophocles, Acrisius fr. 63

δῆλον γάρ· ἐν δεσμοῖσι δραπέτης ἀνὴρ
κῶλον ποδισθεὶς πᾶν πρὸς ἡδονὴν λέγει.

It’s clear! A runaway who’s in chains and has fetters on his feet says everything to humour you.

Sophocles, Oedipus the King 296

ᾧ μή ’στι δρῶντι τάρβος, οὐδ’ ἔπος φοβεῖ.

A man who feels no fear at doing the deed isn’t scared by words.

Sophocles, fr. 954

χρόνος δ’ ἀμαυροῖ πάντα κεἰς λήθην ἄγει.

Time dims all things and leads them into oblivion.

Sophocles, fr. 930 (Radt)

Preserved, like the fragment from two days ago, in Stobaeus’ Anthology.

κλέπτων δ’ ὅταν τις ἐμφανῶς ἐφευρεθῇ,
σιγᾶν ἀνάγκη, κἂν λάλον φορῇ στόμα.

When someone has been caught red-handed in theft, they need to keep silent, even if they bear a talkative mouth.

Sophocles, Tereus, fr.583 (Radt)

Procne, sister of Philomela and wife of king Tereus, on the sorrows of women. This passage is the longest surviving fragment of Sophocles’ lost play.

νῦν δ’ οὐδέν εἰμι χωρίς· ἀλλὰ πολλάκις
ἔβλεψα ταύτῃ τὴν γυναικείαν φύσιν,
ὡς οὐδέν ἐσμεν. αἳ νέαι μὲν ἐν πατρὸς
ἥδιστον, οἶμαι, ζῶμεν ἀνθρώπων βίον·
τερπνῶς γὰρ ἀεὶ παῖδας ἁνοία τρέφει.
ὅταν δ’ ἐς ἥβην ἐξικώμεθ’ ἔμφρονες,
ὠθούμεθ’ ἔξω καὶ διεμπολώμεθα
θεῶν πατρῴων τῶν τε φυσάντων ἄπο,
αἱ μὲν ξένους πρὸς ἄνδρας, αἱ δὲ βαρβάρους,
αἱ δ’ εἰς ἀγηθῆ δώμαθ’, αἱ δ’ ἐπίρροθα.
καὶ ταῦτ’, ἐπειδὰν εὐφρόνη ζεύξῃ μία,
χρεὼν ἐπαινεῖν καὶ δοκεῖν καλῶς ἔχειν.

And now I am nothing on my own. But often have I seen women’s nature to be like this, since we are nothing. Young girls in their father’s house live, I think, the happiest life of all humanity. For folly always brings up children delightfully. But when we have reached the prime of life and are prudent, we are pushed out and sold, away from our ancestral gods and our parents, some of us to foreign husbands, some to barbarians, some to joyless homes, and some to abusive ones. And, when a single night has yoked us, this is what we must approve of and think of as a good life.

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 607-613

After arriving in Athens, the blinded Oedipus, former king of Thebes, talks to a sympathetic Theseus, king of Athens, and reflects on reversals of fortune.

ὦ φίλτατ’ Αἰγέως παῖ, μόνοις οὐ γίγνεται
θεοῖσι γῆρας οὐδὲ κατθανεῖν ποτε.
τὰ δ’ ἄλλα συγχεῖ πάνθ’ ὁ παγκρατὴς χρόνος.
φθίνει μὲν ἰσχὺς γῆς, φθίνει δὲ σώματος,
θνῄσκει δὲ πίστις, βλαστάνει δ’ ἀπιστία,
καὶ πνεῦμα ταὐτὸν οὔποτ’ οὔτ’ ἐν ἀνδράσιν
φίλοις βέβηκεν οὔτε πρὸς πόλιν πόλει.
τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἤδη, τοῖς δ’ ἐν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ
τὰ τερπνὰ πικρὰ γίγνεται καὖθις φίλα.

Most dear son of Aegeus, only for the gods is there no old age and no dying ever. But all-powerful Time confounds every other thing. A country’s strength wanes, the body’s strength wanes, good faith dies, distrust sprouts up, and never does the same spirit remain between friends or between one city and another, since, for some men now and for others in time to come, pleasant relationships turn to bitterness – and then turn again to friendship.