Οὐ χρή
one should not
Translated by Matthew Farmer26 Mar 2008Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
"One should not rear a lion's cub in the city; best not to rear a lion in the city;1 but if someone does rear it, [one should not] submit to its ways."2 Aristophanes [sc. writes this]. Aeschylus is speaking about Alcibiades:3 don't nourish a thought; but if you nourish it, don't anger it, but tame it. As a result Euripides advised not to accept any such mindset, but Aeschylus [advised] not to accept it, but if you have accepted it, to bear with its whims. Dionysus says [sc. in reply] to these things says: "I find it difficult to judge, for one has spoken wisely, the other clearly."4 [i.e.] Aeschylus [spoke] wisely, Euripides clearly.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Οὐ χρή· οὐ χρὴ λέοντος σκύμνον ἐν πόλει τρέφειν· μάλιστα μὲν λέοντα μὴ 'ν πόλει τρέφειν· ἢν δ' ἐκτραφῇ τις, τοῖς τρόποις ὑπηρετεῖν. Ἀριστοφάνης. Αἰσχύλος δὲ λέγει περὶ Ἀλκιβιάδου· μὴ ἀνατρέφειν φρόνημα· ἐὰν δὲ ἀνατρέφῃ, μὴ ἐρεθίζειν, ἀλλὰ τιθασεῦσαι. ὥστε ὁ μὲν Εὐριπίδης συμβεβούλευκε μὴ δέχεσθαι, ὁ δὲ Αἰσχύλος τοιαύτην τινὰ διάνοιαν μὴ καταδέξασθαι, ἢ καταδεξάμενον τροποφορεῖν. ὁ δὲ Διόνυσος πρὸς τάδε φησί· δυσκρίτως μέν γ' ἔχω, σοφῶς γὰρ εἶπεν, ὁ δ' ἕτερος σαφῶς. σοφῶς μὲν ὁ Αἰσχύλος, σαφῶς δὲ ὁ Εὐριπίδης.
Betacode
*ou) xrh/: ou) xrh\ le/ontos sku/mnon e)n po/lei tre/fein: ma/lista me\n le/onta mh\ 'n po/lei tre/fein: h)\n d' e)ktrafh=| tis, toi=s tro/pois u(phretei=n. *)aristofa/nhs. *ai)sxu/los de\ le/gei peri\ *)alkibia/dou: mh\ a)natre/fein fro/nhma: e)a\n de\ a)natre/fh|, mh\ e)reqi/zein, a)lla\ tiqaseu=sai. w(/ste o( me\n *eu)ripi/dhs sumbebou/leuke mh\ de/xesqai, o( de\ *ai)sxu/los toiau/thn tina\ dia/noian mh\ katade/casqai, h)\ katadeca/menon tropoforei=n. o( de\ *dio/nusos pro\s ta/de fhsi/: duskri/tws me/n g' e)/xw, sofw=s ga\r ei)=pen, o( d' e(/teros safw=s. sofw=s me\n o( *ai)sxu/los, safw=s de\ o( *eu)ripi/dhs.
Notes (4)
- The entry consists of quotations from Aristophanes, Frogs 1431-4 (web address 1), with the scholia to those lines intermingled. See also sigma 713, which quotes these lines; and the paroemiographer Macarius Chrysocephalus 6.71.
The phraseou) xrh/ , extracted as the present headword, consists of the negative particle and the impersonal verbxrh/ ("it is necessary": chi 471), which generally takes a construction with an infinitive. The negative usually exercises its semantic force on the following infinitive, as here. See Smyth 2714 at web address 2 below. - 1Aristophanes, Frogs 1431a+b in Dover's edition. The second of these lines is more usually regarded as a gloss that intruded upon the text and is printed in square brackets (to be deleted rather than secluded). ↩
- 2Aristophanes, Frogs 1432. This, together with what has preceded it (see n.1), is Aeschylus fr. 452 Radt. ↩
- 3For Alcibiades see generally alpha 1280. ↩
- 4Aristophanes, Frogs 1433-4. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 6 Mar 2021
- tweaked link — Catharine Roth
- upgraded link — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- supplemented translation; rearranged and augmented notes; x-refs; more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- modified hw, tr, notes; added links and keywords; set status — Jennifer Benedict
- Translated — Matthew Farmer