Ἀναγκαία τράπεζα
necessary table, needy table
Translated by Jennifer Benedict28 Mar 2001Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] a cheap and poor one.1
And Sophocles says: "O lord Ajax, there is no evil greater for men than this necessary fortune."2 He is speaking of what is "necessary" in two senses, sometimes in reference to those things which by nature have a consequence, as if we were to say "fire [is] necessarily yellow and milk white", and sometimes in reference to something which happens out of necessity, as [Sophocles] here says "than this necessary fortune" of life, that is, than this misfortune.
And Iamblichus [writes]: "I sent you this chain, for it is not necessary to us."3
And Sophocles says: "O lord Ajax, there is no evil greater for men than this necessary fortune."2 He is speaking of what is "necessary" in two senses, sometimes in reference to those things which by nature have a consequence, as if we were to say "fire [is] necessarily yellow and milk white", and sometimes in reference to something which happens out of necessity, as [Sophocles] here says "than this necessary fortune" of life, that is, than this misfortune.
And Iamblichus [writes]: "I sent you this chain, for it is not necessary to us."3