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| Pindar |
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Pindar was born at Thebes, the head of Boeotia — Boeotia, a canton hopelessly behind the times, a slow canton, as the nimble Attics would say, a glorious climate for eels, but a bad air for brains. He was the son of Daïphantos; and his son, in turn, after established Greek usage, bore the name Daïphantos.
It is enough for understanding Pindar that it was an ancient and an honored house, and that Pindar was in every fibre an aristocrat.”
εἰ δὲ λόγων συνέμεν κορυφάν, Ἱέρων, ὀρθὰν ἐπίστᾳ, μανθάνων οἶσθα προτέρων: “ἓν παρ᾽ ἐσλὸν πήματα σύνδυο δαίονται βροτοῖς ἀθάνατοι.” τὰ μὲν ὦν οὐ δύνανται νήπιοι κόσμῳ φέρειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθοί, τὰ καλὰ τρέψαντες ἔξω.
Pindar: Pythian 3.80-83
If you know the true peak of learning, Hieron, you have known the old saying: “along with one good, the immortals distribute two woes to mortals.” Fools are not able to endure calmly what happens, but the noble turn the good outward.
Translated by Nicholas from Nestor's Cup
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