Solon

You made your rulers mighty, gave them guards, so now you groan 'neath slavery's heavy rod.

I grow old ever learning many things.

Solon (Greek: Σόλων, Sólōn; c. 638 – c. 558 BCE) was an Athenian statesman, lawgiver and poet. He is numbered among the Seven Sages of Greece.

Quotes

Greek text cited from M. L. West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci, vol. II (Oxford, 1992), whose numbering is also followed.

•   οὐδὲ φυλάσσονται σεμνὰ Δίκης θέμεθλα,
  ἣ σιγῶσα σύνοιδε τὰ γιγνόμενα πρό τ᾿ ἐόντα,
    τῷ δὲ χρόνῳ πάντως ἦλθ᾿ ἀποτεισομένη.
  • Nothing they reck of Justice' holy shrine,
    Who silent watches all that comes to pass,
    And in due time will mete out due reward.
  • Frg. 4.14–16 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• οὕτω δημόσιον κακὸν ἔρχεται οἴκαδ᾿ ἑκάστῳ.
  • Thus do the evils of the state come home to every citizen.
  • Frg. 4.26 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• ἔργμασιν ἐν μεγάλοις πᾶσιν ἁδεῖν χαλεπόν.
  • In great affairs, it is difficult to please all.
  • Frg. 7 IEG (tr. B. Perrin, 1914)

• εἰ δὲ πεπόνθατε λυγρὰ δι᾿ ὑμετέρην κακότητα,
    μὴ θεοῖσιν τούτων μοῖραν ἐπαμφέρετε·
  αὐτοὶ γὰρ τούτους ηὐξήσατε ῥύματα δόντες,
    καὶ διὰ ταῦτα κακὴν ἔσχετε δουλοσύνην.
  • If through your vices you afflicted are,
    Lay not the blame of your distress on God;
    You made your rulers mighty, gave them guards,
    So now you groan 'neath slavery's heavy rod.
  • Frg. 11.1–4 IEG (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1853)

• χρήματα δ᾿ ἱμείρω μὲν ἔχειν, ἀδίκως δὲ πεπᾶσθαι
    οὐκ ἐθέλω· πάντως ὕστερον ἦλθε δίκη.
  • Wealth I desire to have; but wrongfully to get it,
    I do not wish. Justice, even if slow, is sure.
  • Frg 13.7–8 IEG (tr. B. Perrin, 1914)

• πλοῦτον δ᾿ ὃν μὲν δῶσι θεοί, παραγίγνεται ἀνδρὶ
    ἔμπεδος ἐκ νεάτου πυθμένος ἐς κορυφήν.
  • But wealth God-given doth become to man
    A column firm, from base to capital.
  • Frg. 13.9–10 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1906)

• πολλάκι δ᾿ ἐξ ὀλίγης ὀδύνης μέγα γίγνεται ἄλγος.
  • Oft from small trouble groweth mighty woe.
  • Frg. 13.59 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• πλούτου δ᾿ οὐδὲν τέρμα πεφασμένον ἀνδράσι κεῖται·
    οἳ γὰρ νῦν ἡμέων πλεῖστον ἔχουσι βίον,
  διπλάσιον σπεύδουσι.
  • Man sets no limit to the lust for wealth;
    For those of us who have the largest means
    Strive hard to double them.
  • Frg. 13.71–73 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• οὐδὲ μάκαρ οὐδεὶς πέλεται βροτός, ἀλλὰ πονηροὶ
    πάντες ὅσους θνητοὺς ἠέλιος καθορᾷ.
  • No mortal is born happy, but they all
    Are wretched upon whom the sun looks down.
  • Frg. 14 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• πολλοὶ γὰρ πλουτέουσι κακοί, ἀγαθοὶ δὲ πένονται·
    ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς τούτοις οὐ διαμειψόμεθα
  τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν πλοῦτον, ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν ἔμπεδον αἰεί,
    χρήματα δ᾿ ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλος ἔχει.
  • For often evil men are rich, and good men poor;
    But we will not exchange with them
    Our virtue for their wealth since one abides always,
    While riches change their owners every day.
  • Frg. 15 IEG (tr. B. Perrin, 1914)

• γνωμοσύνης δ᾿ ἀφανὲς χαλεπώτατόν ἐστι νοῆσαι
    μέτρον, ὃ δὴ πάντων πείρατα μοῦνον ἔχει.
  • 'Tis hard to find the hidden mean of prudence,
    Which nought can show us but experience.
  • Frg. 16 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• πάντῃ δ᾿ ἀθανάτων ἀφανὴς νόος ἀνθρώποισιν.
  • On every side the immortal mind from men is hidden.
  • Frg. 17 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• γηράσκω δ᾿ αἰεὶ πολλὰ διδασκόμενος.
  • But I grow old ever learning many things.
  • Frg. 18 IEG (tr. B. Perrin, 1914)
  • Alternate translation: As I grow older, I constantly learn more.

• μηδέ μοι ἄκλαυτος θάνατος μόλοι, ἀλλὰ φίλοισι
    καλλείποιμι θανὼν ἄλγεα καὶ στοναχάς.
  • Let me not die unwept, but let my death
    Be cause of grief and mourning to my friends.
  • Frg. 21 IEG (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• πολλὰ ψεύδονται ἀοιδοί.
  • Poets tell many lies.
  • Frg. 29 IEG

Attributed

From the Apophthegms of the Seven Sages

Collection made by Demetrius of Phalerum and preserved in Stobaeus, Anthology, III.1.172.

• φύλασσε τρόπου καλοκαγαθίαν ὅρκου πιστοτέραν.
  • Preserve nobility of character, more credible than an oath.
  • Stobaeus III.1.172 β 4 (tr. A. Laks, G. W. Most, 2016)

• ἄρχεσθαι μαθών, ἄρχειν ἐπιστήσῃ.
  • If you have learned how to be ruled you will know how to rule.
  • Stobaeus III.1.172 β 10 (tr. A. Laks, G. W. Most, 2016)

• συμβούλευε μὴ τὰ ἥδιστα, ἀλλὰ τὰ βέλτιστα.
  • Do not counsel what is most pleasant, but what is best.
  • Stobaeus III.1.172 β 12 (tr. A. Laks, G. W. Most, 2016)

Various

• An unlucky rich man is more capable of satisfying his desires and of riding out disaster when it strikes, but a lucky man is better off than him…He is the one who deserves to be described as happy. But until he is dead, you had better refrain from calling him happy, and just call him fortunate.
  • Herodotus (trans. Robin Waterfield) The Histories Bk. 1, ch. 32, pp. 15-16.

• πεφυλαγμένος ἄνδρα ἕκαστον ὅρα,
  μή ⟨σε⟩ κρυπτὸν ἔγχος ἔχων κραδίῃ
  φαιδρῷ προσεννέπῃ προσώπῳ,
  γλῶσσα δέ οἱ διχόμυθος
  ἐκ μελαίνης φρενὸς γεγωνῇ.
  • Watch well each separate citizen,
    Lest having in his heart of hearts
    A secret spear, one still may come
    Saluting you with cheerful face,
    And utter with a double tongue
    The feigned good wishes of his wary mind.
  • Lobon of Argos, Supplementum Hellenisticum 522 (presented as the words of Solon). (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1853)

• idem aiebat si in unum locum cuncti mala sua contulissent, futurum ut propria deportare domum quam ex communi miseriarum acervo portionem suam ferre mallent.
  • He [Solon] also used to say that if all men took their woes to a single place, they would prefer to carry home their own rather than bear their portion from the common heap of miseries.
  • Valerius Maximus, Memorable Doings and Sayings, VII.2 (tr. D. R. Shackleton Bailey, 2000)
    • Alternate translation (T. Edwards, 1891):
    • If all men were to bring their miseries together in one place, most would be glad to take each his own home again rather than take a portion out of the common stock.

• ἐκείνην ἐν ᾗ τῶν ἀδικουμένων οὐχ ἧττον οἱ μὴ ἀδικούμενοι προβάλλονται καὶ κολάζουσι τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας.
  • That city in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrongdoers.
  • Response when asked what city was best to live in. Reported by Plutarch, Solon, 18.7 (tr. B. Perrin, 1914):
    • ἐρωτηθεὶς γὰρ ὡς ἔοικεν ἥτις οἰκεῖται κάλλιστα τῶν πόλεων, ἐκείνην εἶπεν ἐν ᾗ τῶν ἀδικουμένων οὐχ ἧττον οἱ μὴ ἀδικούμενοι προβάλλονται καὶ κολάζουσι τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας.
    • Being asked, namely, what city was best to live in, "That city," he replied, "in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrongdoers."

• Ἕλλησιν [. . .] πρός τε τἆλλα μετρίως ἔχειν ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός, καὶ σοφίας τινὸς ἀθαρσοῦς ὡς ἔοικε καὶ δημοτικῆς, οὐ βασιλικῆς οὐδὲ λαμπρᾶς, ὑπὸ μετριότητος ἡμῖν μέτεστιν, ἣ τύχαις ὁρῶσα παντοδαπαῖς χρώμενον ἀεὶ τὸν βίον, οὐκ ἐᾷ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἀγαθοῖς μέγα φρονεῖν οὐδὲ θαυμάζειν ἀνδρὸς εὐτυχίαν μεταβολῆς χρόνον ἔχουσαν.
  • As the Deity has given us Greeks all other blessings in moderation, so our moderation gives us a kind of wisdom which is timid, in all likelihood, and fit for common people, not one which is kingly and splendid. This wisdom, such as it is, observing that human life is ever subject to all sorts of vicissitudes, forbids us to be puffed up by the good things we have, or to admire a man's felicity while there is still time for it to change.
  • Supposed remark to Croesus. Reported by Plutarch, Solon, 27.8. (tr. B. Perrin, 1914)

• καὶ συνθήκας ἄνθρωποι φυλάττουσιν ἃς οὐδετέρῳ λυσιτελές ἐστι παραβαίνειν τῶν θεμένων, καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτὸς οὕτως ἁρμόζεται τοῖς πολίταις, ὥστε πᾶσι τοῦ παρανομεῖν βέλτιον ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸ δικαιοπραγεῖν.
  • [Solon . . . answered that] men keep their agreements with each other when neither party profits by the breaking of them, and he was adapting his laws to the citizens in such a manner as to make it clear to all that the practice of justice was more advantageous than the transgression of the laws.
  • Response when Anacharsis claimed his laws would fail to deter the powerful. Reported by Plutarch, Solon, 5.5. (tr. B. Perrin, 1914)

• ἀλλ᾿ οὐδεὶς ἂν μωρὸς σιωπᾶν ἐν συμποσίῳ δύναιτο.
  • No fool can be silent at a feast.
  • Response when challenged for his silence during a symposium. Reported by Stobaeus, Anthology III.34.15 (tr. T. W. Higginson, 1865):
    • Σόλων ἐρωτηθεὶς ὑπὸ Περιάνδρου παρὰ πότον, ἐπεὶ σιωπῶν ἐτύγχανε, πότερα διὰ λόγων σπάνιν ἢ διὰ μωρίαν σιωπᾷ, 'ἀλλ᾿ οὐδεὶς ἄν' εἶπε 'μωρὸς σιωπᾶν ἐν συμποσίῳ δύναιτο.'
    • When Solon was silent at an entertainment, and was asked by Periander whether he was silent for want of words or from folly, "No fool," answered he, "can be silent at a feast."

Misattributed

• Laws are like spider's webs: If some poor weak creature comes up against them, it is caught; but a big one can break through and get away.
  • Commonly misattributed to Solon. Actually reported as said by Anacharsis to Solon. Plutarch, Solon, 5.4 (tr. B. Perrin, 1914):
    • τὸν οὖν Ἀνάχαρσιν πυθόμενον, καταγελᾶν τῆς πραγματείας τοῦ Σόλωνος, οἰομένου γράμμασιν ἐφέξειν τὰς ἀδικίας καὶ πλεονεξίας τῶν πολιτῶν, ἃ μηδὲν τῶν ἀραχνίων διαφέρειν, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἐκεῖνα τοὺς μὲν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ λεπτοὺς τῶν ἁλισκομένων καθέξειν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν δυνατῶν καὶ πλουσίων διαρραγήσεσθαι.
    • Anacharsis, accordingly, on learning what Solon was about, laughed at him for thinking that he could check the injustice and rapacity of the citizens by written laws, which were just like spiders' webs; they would hold the weak and delicate who might be caught in their meshes, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

Quotes about Solon

• Τὸ δ᾿ οὖν εὐδάπανον τῷ Σόλωνι καὶ ὑγρὸν πρὸς τὴν δίαιταν καὶ τὸ φορτικώτερον ἢ φιλοσοφώτερον ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασι διαλέγεσθαι περὶ τῶν ἡδονῶν τὸν ἐμπορικὸν οἴονται βίον προστετρῖφθαι· πολλοὺς γὰρ ἔχοντα κινδύνους καὶ μεγάλους ἀνταπαιτεῖν πάλιν εὐπαθείας τινὰς καὶ ἀπολαύσεις.
  • Solon's way of living was expensive and profuse and if in his poems, he speaks of pleasure with more freedom than becomes a philosopher, this is thought to be due to his mercantile life; he encountered many and great dangers, and sought his reward therefor in sundry luxuries and enjoyments.
  • Plutarch, Solon, 3.1

• Athens, which like other cities was distracted and oppressed by a privileged class, avoided violence and appointed Solon to revise its laws. It was the happiest choice that history records. Solon was not only the wisest man to be found in Athens, but the most profound political genius of antiquity; and the easy, bloodless, and pacific revolution by which he accomplished the deliverance of his country was the first step in a career which our age glories in pursuing, and instituted a power which has done more than anything, except revealed religion, for the regeneration of society. The upper class had possessed the right of making and administering the laws, and he left them in possession, only transferring to wealth what had been the privilege of birth. To the rich who alone had the means of sustaining the burden of public service in taxation and war, Solon gave a share of power proportioned to the demands made on their resources. The poorest classes were exempt from direct taxes, but were excluded from office. Solon gave them a voice in electing magistrates from the classes above them, and the right of calling them to account. This concession... was the beginning of a mighty change. It introduced the idea that a man ought to have a voice in selecting those to whose rectitude and wisdom he is compelled to trust his fortune, his family, and his life. And this idea completely inverted the notion of human authority, for it inaugurated the reign of moral influence... Government by consent superseded government by compulsion, and the pyramid which had stood on a point was made to stand upon its base. By making every citizen the guardian of his own interest Solon admitted the element of Democracy into the State.
  • Lord Acton, "The History of Freedom in Antiquity" (1877)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Solon on Wikipedia
• Media related to Solon on Wikimedia Commons