Just some short poems and aphorisms from pre-Christian era Greece. Nothing heavy here.
Fox knows many
Hedgehog one
Solid trick.
-- Archilochus --
trans. Guy Davenport
I suppose I've missed the whole point here, but I like the fox better than the hedgehog. I've known humans who are like foxes--active, mobile, inventive--and I've know humans who are like hedgehogs--solid, immovable, imperturbable--and I like the foxes for things happen when they are around. In a situation controlled by hedgehogs, little if anything new happens, and what little energy is expended is spent on maintaining the status quo.
Mercenary
I don't give a damn if some Thracian ape strut
Proud of that first-rate shield the bushes got.
Leaving it was hell, but in a tricky spot
I kept my hide intact. Good shield can be bought.
-- Archilochus --
trans. Stuart Silverman
He's definitely not a Spartan or a poor Spartan at best, for their motto was to come home carrying their shields or on it.
Thermopylae
Go tell the Spartans, thou that passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
-- Simonides --
trans. by William Lyle Bowles
True Spartans here.
Because of these men's courage, no smoke rose
Skyward from Tegea's burning. They chose
To leave their children the broad land's township green
With freedom, while in the front line they went down.
-- Simonides --
trans. by Peter Jay
Perhaps not Spartans, but certainly closer in behavior than to the mercenary mentioned earlier.
The poet Hipponax lies here.
In justice, this is only fair.
His lines were never dark or deep.
Now he enjoys (like his readers) sleep.
-- Theocritus --
trans. by Fred Chappell
Hipponax doesn't seem to have been loved by all.
I've never feared the setting of the Pleiades
or the hidden reefs beneath the waves
or even the lightning at sea
like I dread friends who drink with me
and remember what we say.
-- Antipater of Thessalonica --
trans. by Sam Hamill
Dangerous friends to have.
All poems are from World Poetry: The Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time.
edited by Katherine Washburn and John S. Major, with Clifton Fadiman as General Editor
If I were a trickster, I'd much rather be like the fox and have more than one trick. Not boring either.
ReplyDeleteSounds like they're saying that Hipponax's writing put his readers to sleep. Ouch! Of course I'm one of those people that can't read in bed at night without falling asleep. Probably in my entire life, there have been less than half a dozen books which kept me reading and reading into the night until finished.
Ha, ha. I like the drunk friends one too.
madamevauquer,
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely the fox.
It appears as though Hipponax's poetry is a sure cure for insomnia. And since he's dead, he can't answer back. Poor H!
Friends with good memories--one must be careful around them.
That reminds me of another saying--"I can protect myself from my enemies, but only God can save me from my friends."
Or myself!
Deletemadamevauquer,
DeleteChuckle. . . I know what you mean, (sigh).
I think oneself is included among the "friends."
Oh so that is where it came from- the fox/ hedgehog division? There's an essay about writers, I think Tolstoy's the fox and Dostoyevsky's the hedgehog.
ReplyDeleteDi,
ReplyDeleteI can't see either of them as hedgehogs. Who's the author?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox
DeleteDi,
DeleteIsaiah Berlin? I've never really ever looked into him. I should do so, OOTD.
Thanks.
Your offering reminds why I do not drink anymore. Too many people remembered what I said and did in those days. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteAnd did Greeks really have contact with apes? Hmmm.
I think I'd rather trust a hedgehog rather than a fox. That probably confirms my singularity.
R.T.,
ReplyDeleteBut, memories fade. . .
The Greeks were seafaring people who had considerable contact with people all along the Mediterranean shores and no doubt did encounter apes.
Hedgehogs may be more predictable, but foxes are more versatile, to me anyway.