Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 176ff (6.176) [The Sybil] (29-19...
No longer dream that human prayer The will of Fate can overbear. [Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando.] Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]The Aeneid [Ænē̆is],...
View ArticleVirgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 9, l. 184ff (9.184-185) [Nisus] (29-19...
Do the gods light this fire in our hearts or does each man’s mad desire become his god? [Dine hunc ardorem mentibus addunt, Euryale, an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido?] Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet...
View ArticleVirgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 10, l. 111ff (10.111-113) (29-19 BC) [tr....
How each man weaves his web will bring him to glory or to grief. King Jupiter is the king to all alike. The Fates will find the way. [Sua cuique exorsa laborem fortunamque ferent. Rex Iuppiter omnibus...
View ArticleEuripides -- Bacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 877ff, Stasimon 3 (Ode 4), Refrain...
What prayer should we call wise? What gift of Heaven should man Count a more noble prize, A prayer more prudent, than To stretch a conquering arm Over the fallen crest Of those who wished us harm? And...
View ArticleMartial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 4, epigram 44 (4.44) [tr. Wills (2007)]
Vesuvius, once latticed with vine shade, With grapes from which the richest wine was made — This is where Bacchus had his favorite haunt And Satyrs could their wildest dances vaunt. Here Venus more...
View ArticleEuripides -- Bacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 882ff (Stasimon 3 (Ode 4), Antistrophe 1)...
It is slow to stir, but nonetheless it never fails, the strength of gods. [ὁρμᾶται μόλις, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως πιστόν τι τὸ θεῖον σθένος] Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatistBacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 882ff...
View ArticleMartial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 5, epigram 64 (5.54) [tr. Hodgson...
Boy! let my cup with rosy wine o’erflow, Above the melting of the summer snow: Let my wet hair with wasteful odour shine, And loads of roses round my temples twine: Tombs of the Caesars, your sad...
View ArticleFleming, Ian -- From Russia with Love, Part 2, ch. 11 (1957)
Those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make bored. Ian Fleming (1908-1964) British writer, journalist, intelligence officerFrom Russia with Love, Part 2, ch. 11 (1957) A "curious bastard...
View ArticleEuripides -- Bacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 1388ff, final lines [Chorus/Χορός] (405 BC)...
There be many shapes of mystery. And many things God makes to be, Past hope or fear. And the end men looked for cometh not, And a path is there where no man thought. So hath it fallen here. [πολλαὶ...
View ArticleEuripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 286 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr....
And I have known small cities, who revere The Gods, made subject to unrighteous power, Vanquish’d by spears more numerous. [πόλεις τε μικρὰς οἶδα τιμώσας θεούς, αἳ μειζόνων κλύουσι δυσσεβεστέρων λόγχης...
View ArticleByron, George Gordon, Lord -- “Prometheus,” st. 1 (1816)
Titan! to whom immortal eyes The sufferings of mortality Seen in their sad reality, Were not as things that gods despise; What was thy pity’s recompense? A silent suffering, and intense; The rock, the...
View ArticleShakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 41ff (4.1.41-42)...
As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods; They kill us for their sport. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poetKing Lear, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 41ff (4.1.41-42) [Gloucester] (1606)
View ArticleEuripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 292, l. 7 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr....
If the gods do a shameful thing, they are not gods. [εἰ θεοί τι δρῶσιν αἰσχρόν, οὐκ εἰσὶν θεοί.] Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatistBellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 292, l. 7 (TGF) (c. 430...
View ArticleThe Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 61 (11.61) [Elpenor] (c. 700 BC) [tr....
An evil doom of some god was my undoing, and measureless wine. [ἆσέ με δαίμονος αἶσα κακὴ καὶ ἀθέσφατος οἶνος.] Odysseus first encounter in the Underworld is the shade of his comrade Elpenor, whose...
View ArticleVirgil -- Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 4 “Pollio,” l. 5ff...
Ours is the crowning era foretold in prophecy; Born of Time, a great new cycle of centuries Begins. Justice returns to earth, the Golden Age Returns, and its first-born comes down from heaven above....
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