Chapter 15 II.15.heading · Wachsmuth pp. 185
On seeming and being, and that a person should be judged by character rather than speech; for all speech apart from action is superfluous. 970
Astydamas, from Alcmaeon II.15.1 · Wachsmuth pp. 185
Seeming is ⟨not⟩ my concern; truth is. 971
Euripides, from Suppliants II.15.2 · Wachsmuth pp. 185-186
I shall give Tydeus great praise in brief: 972
a character rich in love of honor, with his pride
in deeds, not in words. 973
Aeschylus, from Seven against Thebes II.15.3 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
For I wish ⟨not⟩ to seem the best, but to be so, 974
reaping a harvest from a deep furrow in my mind,
from which sound counsels sprout. 975
⟨Eu⟩enus II.15.4 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
I consider it no small part of wisdom 976
to know correctly what each man is like. 977
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus II.15.5 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
For we do not strive to make our life illustrious
by words more than by the deeds we do. 978
Unknown poet II.15.6 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
Life is in need of boastfulness. 979
Epicharmus II.15.7 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
⟨But⟩ go to your neighbors wearing a splendid cloak,
and many may perhaps think you sensible ⟨though you have no sense⟩. 980
Phocylides II.15.8 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
Many men, indeed, seem to have sound judgment,
walking with decorum, though they are frivolous. 981
Euripides II.15.9 · Wachsmuth pp. 186
Everyone who expounds an art on his own is admired; 982
but when tested against others he is exposed,
clothed in counterfeit understanding. 983
Philemon, from Brothers II.15.10 · Wachsmuth pp. 187
A man is not well behaved simply because he speaks little,
nor because he goes about looking at the ground;
but one who speaks as much as his nature permits
and does nothing unseemly—that man is well behaved. 984
Euripides, from Phoenix II.15.11 · Wachsmuth pp. 187
⟨Those⟩ who have given no proof of themselves,
seeming wise rather than being so by nature. 985
Euripides, from Antiope II.15.12 · Wachsmuth pp. 187
Whoever wins by eloquence
is clever, certainly; but I always hold deeds
better than words. 986
Euripides, from Electra II.15.13 · Wachsmuth pp. 187
Will you ⟨not⟩ think sensibly, you who wander 987
full of empty notions, and judge which mortals are noble
by dealings with them and by their character? 988
For people of this sort manage cities well
and households; flesh empty of sense
is an ornament of the marketplace. For a strong arm
withstands a spear no better than a weak one;
this lies in natural character and courage. 989
Ion II.15.14 · Wachsmuth pp. 187-188
Do not judge a man wise or good from his words, Kleinophon; 990
always examine his life.
For many speak ⟨well⟩ for the sake of injustice,
while their deeds are base, and they do not think well. 991
Euripides, Palamedes II.15.15 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
When a man speaks well but the deeds he speaks about
are shameful, I never praise his cleverness. 992
Sophocles, Electra II.15.16 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
You are the one saying it, not I: for you do
the deed, and deeds find their own words. 993
Euripides, Thyestes II.15.17 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
⟨Never⟩ have I preferred words to action. 994
⟨Unknown poet⟩ II.15.18 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
In speech you handle everything well, but in action badly. 995
Menander II.15.19 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
An abundance of words does not enhance an art;
but the deeds themselves adorn the art. 996
Euripides, Peliades II.15.20 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
Be off! For you have words, though you lack the power to act. 997
Menander II.15.21 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
But what use is speaking ⟨well⟩ if one’s judgment is bad? 998
Euripides, Medea II.15.22 · Wachsmuth pp. 188
Indeed, I differ in much from many mortals. 999
For in my eyes an unjust man gifted in speech
incurs the heaviest penalty:
boasting he can neatly cloak injustice with his tongue,
he dares act the villain, but is not so very wise. 1000
970. Τρόπος is manner or character, contrasted with λόγος, speech. The final sentence is printed as part of the heading here. The apparatus notes its absence from Photius’s corresponding list and compares a possible verse formulation; the wording printed in this heading is retained.
971. The supplied negative ⟨Οὐ⟩ is decisive and remains visible as ⟨not⟩. The attribution identifies Astydamas and the play Alcmaeon; this isolated tragic verse does not identify its speaker or establish the circumstances in which it was spoken.
972. The source cites Suppliants 901 and 907–908, bringing together the announcement of Tydeus’s praise and two later verses. The intervening lines are not printed in this anthology excerpt. Adrastus praises Tydeus in the play’s memorial account of the fallen warriors.
973. Φιλότιμος means eager for honor; πλούσιος literally means rich. The compressed description is rendered here as a character rich in love of honor. The local passage ends with ἔχων, having or possessing, which governs the descriptions, rather than the parallel play’s final ἴσον.
974. The supplied negative ⟨Οὐ⟩ remains visible. In the play a messenger describes Amphiaraus, with third-person θέλει, he wishes. The anthology prints first-person θέλω, I wish, which is retained without turning the verse into a personal profession by Aeschylus. Wachsmuth cites 598–600; the consulted parallel edition numbers the corresponding lines 592–594.
975. The agricultural image joins a deep furrow in the mind with the good counsels that grow from it. Ἄλοξ is a furrow, καρπόομαι to reap or obtain a crop, and κεδνός good or sound. The image gives inward judgment a productive depth beyond outward reputation.
976. The beginning of the author’s name is supplied: ⟨Εὐ⟩ήνου, here ⟨Eu⟩enus. The source’s attribution is retained as reconstructed, without an added biographical identification.
977. Σοφίη is wisdom; γιγνώσκειν is to recognize or know. The point is accurate judgment of each person’s character. The phrase no small part preserves the Greek understatement, οὐκ ἐλάχιστον.
978. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1143–1144. Theseus speaks after restoring Oedipus’s daughters to him; his fulfilled promise supplies the context for the contrast between words and deeds.
979. The poet is unidentified; Wachsmuth’s apparatus suggests a comic source. The printed line says that life needs ἀλαζονεία, boastfulness or pretension, without a negative. Its transmission is disputed, and the apparatus considers a negative reading; that conjecture is not substituted for the printed text.
980. Both ⟨δέ⟩, but, and the final ⟨οὐδὲν φρονῶν⟩, though you have no sense, are editorial supplements. Τυχὸν ἴσως doubles the expression of uncertainty, reflected by may perhaps. The cloak creates an impression of sound judgment. The attribution names Epicharmus without identifying a play.
981. The couplet is assigned to Phocylides without a work title. The epic forms σαόφρονες and ἔμμεναι mean sound in mind and to be. Κόσμος here concerns order or decorum in one’s bearing, contrasted with ἐλαφρόνοοι, light or frivolous in mind.
982. The attribution to Euripides is retained from the printed heading. The apparatus questions it and suggests Philippides, or possibly Hermippus; the source is therefore uncertain.
983. Τεχνολογῶν describes discourse on an art or technical subject. Comparison with others tests the apparent expertise. Ὑποβολιμαῖος evokes something substituted or passed off as genuine; together with the clothing image, it characterizes sham understanding.
984. Κόσμιος means orderly or decorous in conduct. Speaking little or looking down does not by itself establish good character; the final line tests the person by what he does. The fragment is assigned to Philemon’s Brothers.
985. The supplied ⟨Οἱ⟩ means those who; the negative οὐ is already present in the transmitted verse. Πεῖραν διδόναι means to submit to a test or give proof of oneself. The surviving fragment contrasts a reputation for wisdom with wisdom established in fact. Phoenix is the lost play named in the heading.
986. Εὐγλωσσία is fluency or eloquence; σοφός here concedes the successful speaker’s cleverness. The speaker then ranks πράγματα, actual deeds or matters accomplished, above λόγοι, words. The fragment comes from Euripides’s lost Antiope; its speaker is not named in this excerpt.
987. The opening is rendered tentatively. Wachsmuth prints supplied ⟨Οὐ⟩ followed by μή and the positive φρονήσεθ’, think sensibly; the two negatives do not fit the expected exhortation cleanly. Murray’s separate edition of Electra prints ἀφρονήσεθ’, act foolishly, yielding an appeal to stop being foolish. That reading is not substituted for the local Greek; the English gives the apparent direction of the appeal while acknowledging its difficult wording.
988. Euripides, Electra 383–390. Orestes speaks after the poor farmer’s welcome has shown him the man’s worth. He urges judgment through personal dealings, ὁμιλία, and character, ἤθη, rather than the conventional signs of noble birth or status. The local anthology wording is retained where the play’s separate text differs.
989. The contrast is between bodily strength and the character or courage needed to stand firm. Μένει takes δόρυ as its object: the arm withstands a spear, rather than holds one. Κἀν contracts καὶ ἐν, and in; it is not a conditional expression.
990. The printed heading gives Ion, but the attribution is uncertain. Wachsmuth cross-references the fragment under Philemon; his apparatus discusses Philistion and a possible Moschion. The bare heading is retained without identifying a particular Ion or assigning the verses securely to another poet.
991. The adverb ⟨εὖ⟩, well, is an editorial supplement. The printed address is Κλεινοφῶν, Kleinophon; the apparatus records the more usual Κλειτοφῶν, Kleitophon. Βίος, life, directs attention to sustained conduct, with the final verse contrasting polished speech and actual deeds.
992. The heading assigns the fragment to Euripides’ Palamedes without identifying its speaker. Τὸ σοφόν is cleverness or intellectual skill here: the speaker refuses to praise eloquence associated with shameful conduct.
993. Sophocles, Electra 624–625. Electra answers her mother Clytemnestra, who has complained that her own words and deeds provoke Electra’s accusations. Electra makes conduct responsible for the language used about it; deeds are imagined finding their own verbal expression.
994. Initial ⟨οὐ⟩, not, is supplied; together with πώποτε, ever, it is rendered ⟨Never⟩. The heading assigns this statement to Euripides’ Thyestes, but the isolated line does not identify its speaker or the situation in which the preference is declared.
995. The second-person διέρχῃ addresses an unnamed person: the same matters are handled well in speech and badly in action. The author is unidentified; the attribution ⟨Unknown poet⟩ is supplied editorially.
996. The heading assigns the couplet to Menander; the apparatus reports an attribution to Hermodotus elsewhere in Stobaeus. Τὰ πράγματα, the actual facts or deeds, adorn τέχνη, art or skill. The contrast is between the work itself and the mere abundance of words about it.
997. Printed λόγους ἔχεις means you have words. The compressed τὸ δρᾶν οὐκ ἔχων contrasts this with lacking the capacity to act. The apparatus records a proposed λόγους λέγεις, you speak words; the translation retains ἔχεις, have.
998. Supplied ⟨εὖ⟩, well, makes the explicit contrast with κακῶς, badly. The line asks whether skill in speech is any use when the thought or judgment behind it is poor.
999. Euripides, Medea 579–583. Medea speaks to Jason after his defense of his new marriage. The following lines in the play explicitly turn her general condemnation against him. The judgment belongs to the dramatic speaker.
1000. Περιστελεῖν means wrap up or cover: the tongue is imagined dressing injustice attractively. The recurrence of σοφός turns on a distinction between verbal cleverness and genuine wisdom. The penalty is stated as Medea’s judgment of such a person.