Sopholes 496 BC-406 BC John Bartlett


1
Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.
Antigone, 706.
2
Death is not the worst evil, but rather when we wish to die and cannot.
Electra, 1007.
3
There is an ancient saying, famous among men, that thou shouldst not judge fully of a man’s life before he dieth, whether it should be called blest or wretched. 1
Trachiniæ, 1.
4
In a just cause the weak o’ercome the strong. 2
Œdipus Coloneus, 880.
5
A lie never lives to be old.
Acrisius. Frag. 59.
6
Nobody loves life like an old man.
Acrisius. Frag. 63.
7
A short saying oft contains much wisdom. 3
Aletes. Frag. 99.
8
Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all.
Hipponous. Frag. 280.
9
It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced.
Peleus. Frag. 445.
10
War loves to seek its victims in the young.
Scyrii. Frag. 507.



11
If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief.
Scyrii. Frag. 510.
12
Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.
Phædra. Frag. 619.
13
The truth is always the strongest argument.
Phædra. Frag. 737.
14
The dice of Zeus fall ever luckily.
Phædra. Frag. 809.
15
Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted.
Phædra. Frag. 842.
16
No oath too binding for a lover.
Phædra. Frag. 848.
17
Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand.
Phædra. Frag. 854.
18
A wise player ought to accept his throws and score them, not bewail his luck.
Phædra. Frag. 862.
19
If I am Sophocles, I am not mad; and if I am mad, I am not Sophocles.
Vit. Anon. p. 64 (Plumptre’s Trans.).

Note 1.
The saying “Call no man happy before he dies” was ascribed to Solon Herodotus, i. 32. [back]

Note 2.
See Marlowe, Quotation 2. [back]

Note 3.
See Shakespeare, Hamlet, Quotation 78. [back]

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