Greek Author Quotes

Homer

Sophocles

Aristophanes

Aeschylus

Euripides

Aesop

Constantine P. Cavafy

In every sorrowing soul I pour'd delight, And poverty stood smiling in my sight.

Far from Italy, far from my native Tarentum I lie; and this is the worst of it—worse than death. An exile's life is no life. But the Muses loved me. For my suffering they gave me a honeyed gift: My name survives me. Thanks to the sweet Muses Leonidas will echo throughout all time.

Leonidas of Tarentum

If we really want something done, it is best to do it ourselves.

What life is there, what delight, without golden Aphrodite?

If any one a wandering Cupid see,
The little fugitive belongs to me.
And if he tell what path the rogue pursues,
My kisses shall reward him for the news:
But if he bring me back the boy I miss,
I'll give him something sweeter than a kiss.

There is no medicine to be found for a life which has fled.

I grow old, old
without you, Mother, landscape
of my heart.

It is a part of probability that many improbable things will happen.

This tale is not true: you [Helen] did not even board the well-benched ships, and you did not go to the citadel of Troy.

Not in hewn stones, nor in well-fashioned beams,
Not in the noblest of the builder's dreams,
But in courageous men of purpose great,
There is the fortress, there the living State.

Alcaeus of Mytilene

From all the offspring of the earth and heaven love is the most precious.

No man takes with him to Hades all his exceeding wealth.

Theognis of Megara

I hear the clack — who cast the dice on the bathroom tiles?

Zeus, the father of the Olympic Gods, turned mid-day into night, hiding the light of the dazzling Sun; and sore fear came upon men.

Body, remember not only how much you were loved,
not only the beds you lay on,
but also those desires glowing openly
in eyes that looked at you,
trembling for you in voices.

Constantine P. Cavafy

Thus sees the clown, or thinks he can descry
The new moon breaking through a cloudy sky.

Apollonius of Rhodes

Let the person who wins be him who says what is most desirable for the city.

But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to those of the land and do not transgress what is just, for them the city flourishes and its people prosper.

To our own sorrows serious heed we give, But for another?s we soon cease to grieve.

[...] your own are burning and your memories and you don't want to leave them. Everything will burn to the end, you suffer, but nobody is punishing you, they are just setting your soul free. Don't be afraid because while you fear death they will rend your soul like demons. Only calm down and you will see the angels who are setting you free and then you will be free.

Dimitris Lyacos

At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool.

If a man owes me money, I never seem to forget. But if I do the owing, I somehow never remember.

Neither earth nor ocean produces a creature as savage and monstrous as woman.

For in pure maidens, knowing not the marriage-bed, the glance of the eyes sinks from shame.

Look how men live, always precariously balanced between good and bad fortune.