Ἀνύπαρκτον
non-existent
Translated by Jennifer Benedict12 Nov 2000Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] that which does not exist.
Compare the Pindaric [phrase]: "What is anyone? What is he not? Man is a dream of a shadow."1 Meaning more non-existent than the non-existent. But here2 this word is nearer the truth than the Pindaric [phrase is]. For Pindar made the exaggeration amongst things incapable of subsistence, whereas [Sophocles did so] amongst things which appear and seem but in truth do not exist.
And Homer in one [verse] has demonstrated this sufficiently: "earth nourishes nothing weaker than man."3
Compare the Pindaric [phrase]: "What is anyone? What is he not? Man is a dream of a shadow."1 Meaning more non-existent than the non-existent. But here2 this word is nearer the truth than the Pindaric [phrase is]. For Pindar made the exaggeration amongst things incapable of subsistence, whereas [Sophocles did so] amongst things which appear and seem but in truth do not exist.
And Homer in one [verse] has demonstrated this sufficiently: "earth nourishes nothing weaker than man."3