NOTHING MORE WONDERFUL AND FRIGHTENING THAN MANfrom Antigone, * Lines 332-383, * Translated by R. C. Jebb, Greek Fonts
WONDERS are many, and none is more wonderful than man; the power that crosses the white sea, driven by the stormy south-wind, making a path under surges that threaten to engulf him; and Earth, the eldest of the gods, the immortal, the unwearied, doth he wear, turning the soil with the offspring of horses, as the ploughs go to and fro from year to year. | οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει Πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ κοὐδὲν ἀνθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει· τοῦτο καὶ πολιοῦ πέραν πόντου χειμερίῳ νότῳ χωρεῖ͵ περιβρυχίοισιν περῶν ὑπ΄ οἴδμασιν͵ θεῶν τε τὰν ὑπερτάταν͵ Γᾶν ἄφθιτον͵ ἀκαμάταν͵ ἀποτρύεται͵ ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων ἔτος εἰς ἔτος͵ ἱππείῳ γένει πολεύων.
And the light-hearted race of birds, and the tribes of savage beasts, and the sea-brood of the deep, he snares in the meshes of his woven toils, he leads captive, man excellent in wit. And he masters by his arts the beast whose lair is in the wilds, who roams the hills; he tames the horse of shaggy mane, he puts the yoke upon its neck, he tames the tireless mountain bull. Κουφονόων τε φῦλον ὀρνίθων ἀμφιβαλὼν ἄγει͵ καὶ θηρῶν ἀγρίων ἔθνη πόντου τ΄ εἰναλίαν φύσιν σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις περιφραδὴς ἀνήρ· κρατεῖ δὲ μηχαναῖς ἀγραύλου θηρὸς ὀρεσσιβάτα͵ λασιαύχενά θ΄ ἵππον ὑπάξεται ἀμφίλοφον ζυγὸν οὔρειόν τ΄ ἀκμῆτα ταῦρον.
And speech, and wind-swift thought, and all the moods that mould a state, hath he taught himself; and how to flee the arrows of the frost, when 'tis hard lodging under the clear sky, and the arrows of the rushing rain; yea, he hath resource for all; without resource he meets nothing that must come: only against Death shall he call for aid in vain; but from baffling maladies he hath devised escapes.
Cunning beyond fancy's dream is the fertile skill which brings him, now to evil, now to good. When he honours the laws of the land, and that justice which he hath sworn by the gods to uphold, proudly stands his city: no city hath he who, for his rashness, dwells with sin. Never may he share my hearth, never think my thoughts, who doth these things! Καὶ φθέγμα καὶ ἀνεμόεν φρόνημα καὶ ἀστυνόμους ὀργὰς ἐδιδάξατο͵ καὶ δυσαύλων πάγων ἐναίθρεια καὶ δύσομβρα φεύγειν βέλη παντοπόρος· ἄπορος ἐπ΄ οὐδὲν ἔρχεται τὸ μέλλον· Ἅιδα μόνον φεῦξιν οὐκ ἐπάξεται͵ νόσων δ΄ ἀμηχάνων φυγὰς ξυμπέφρασται. Σοφόν τι τὸ μηχανόεν τέχνας ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδ΄ ἔχων͵ τοτὲ μὲν κακόν͵ ἄλλοτ΄ ἐπ΄ ἐσθλὸν ἕρπει͵ νόμους παρείρων χθονὸς θεῶν τ΄ ἔνορκον δίκαν ὑψίπολις· ἄπολις ὅτῳ τὸ μὴ καλὸν ξύνεστι τόλμας χάριν· μήτ΄ ἐμοὶ παρέστιος γένοιτο μήτ΄ ἴσον φρονῶν ὃς τάδ΄ ἔρδοι.
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