Εὐσεβεῖν
to act piously
Translated by Marcelo Boeri17 Nov 2000Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
"We ought [to act piously] toward what relates to the god, since father Zeus regards all else as secondary."1
And elsewhere another [writer] says: "the only road toward happiness shown to mankind by god is the one through virtue. And the most valuable thing in it and, so to speak, the foundation of virtue as a whole is piety; for this alone adequately takes care of human affairs and becomes a good guide for humans with regard to divine matters."2
And elsewhere another [writer] says: "the only road toward happiness shown to mankind by god is the one through virtue. And the most valuable thing in it and, so to speak, the foundation of virtue as a whole is piety; for this alone adequately takes care of human affairs and becomes a good guide for humans with regard to divine matters."2
Greek original · Adler’s text
Εὐσεβεῖν δεῖ τὰ πρὸς θεόν, ὡς τἆλλα πάντα δεύτερ' ἡγεῖται πατὴρ Ζεύς. καὶ αὖθις ἕτερος λέγει· ὁδὸς ἀνθρώποις εἰς εὐδαιμονίαν ὑπὸ θεοῦ κατεδείχθη μία διὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς. τιμιώτατον δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ὥσπερ κεφάλαιον ἀρετῆς ἁπάσης εὐσέβεια· μόνη γὰρ αὕτη τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων ἱκανῶς ἐπιμελεῖται καὶ πρὸς τὰ θεῖα γίνεται ἡγεμὼν ἀνθρώποις ἀγαθή.