Theognetus

Theognetus (Greek: Θεόγνητος) was an Ancient Greek comic poet of the 3rd century BC.

Quotes

• Ἄνθρωπ’, ἀπολεῖς με. τῶν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ποικίλης
  στοᾶς λογαρίων ἀναπεπλησμένος νοσεῖς·
  "ἀλλότριόν ἐσθ’ ὁ πλοῦτος ἀνθρώπῳ, πάχνη·
  σοφία δ’ ἴδιον, κρύσταλλος. οὐθεὶς πώποτε
  ταύτην λαβὼν ἀπώλεσ’.’ ὦ τάλας ἐγώ,
  οἵῳ μ’ ὁ δαίμων φιλοσόφῳ συνῴκισεν.
  ἐπαρίστερ’ ἔμαθες, ὦ πόνηρε, γράμματα·
  ἀντέστροφέν σου τὸν βίον τὰ βιβλία·
  πεφιλοσόφηκας γῇ τε κοὐρανῷ λαλῶν,
  οἷς οὐθέν ἐστιν ἐπιμελὲς τῶν λόγων."
  • My man, you will destroy me in this way;
    For you are ill and surfeited with all
    The divers arguments of all the Stoics.
    "Gold is no part of man, mere passing rime.
    Wisdom's his real wealth, solid like ice;
    No one who has it ever loses it."
    Oh! wretched that I am; what cruel fate
    Has lodged me here with this philosopher?
    Wretch, you have learnt a most perverted learning;
    Your books have turn'd your whole life upside down;
    Buried in deep philosophy you talk
    Of earth and heaven, both of which care little
    For you and all your arguments.
  • Φάσμα ἢ Φιλάργυρος (The Ghost or The Miser), in Athenaeus, bk. 3, sec. 63 · 104b–d (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1854)

• Ὁ Πανταλέων μὲν αὐτὸς αὐτοὺς τοὺς ξένους
  τούς τ᾿ ἀγνοοῦντας αὐτὸν ἐπλάνα, καὶ σχεδὸν
  ἀπεκραιπάλα τὰ πλεῖστα τοῦ γελάσαι χάριν,
  ἰδίαν τιν᾿ αὑτῷ θέμενος ἀδολεσχίαν.
  • Pantaleon himself did none deceive
    Save only foreigners, and those, too, such
    As ne'er had heard of him: and often he,
    After a drunken revel, would pour forth
    All sorts of jokes, striving to raise a laugh
    By his unceasing chattering.
  • Φιλοδέσποτος (The One Who Loves His Master), in Athenaeus, bk. 14, sec. 5 (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1854)

• Ἐπαρίστερ´ ἔμαθες, ὦ πόνηρε, γράμματα·
  ἀνέστροφέν σου τὸν βίον τὰ βιβλία·
  πεφιλοσόφηκας γῇ τε κοὐρανῷ λαλῶν,
  οἷς οὐθέν ἐστιν ἐπιμελὲς τῶν σῶν λόγων.
  • You wretched man, you've learnt left-handed letters,
    Your reading has perverted your whole life;
    Philosophising thus with earth and heaven,
    Though neither care a bit for all your speeches.
  • Φάσμα (The Ghost), in Athenaeus, bk. 15, sec. 11 (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1854)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Theognetus on Wikipedia