Τί οὐκ ἀπήγξω ἵνα Θήβῃσιν ἥρως γένῃ

why don't you hang yourself so that you may become a hero at Thebes?

Translated by Catharine Roth14 Jan 2014Vetting: high1 revision

1 note · 33 words

Plato [sc. the comic poet] uses this [expression] in Menelaos: but [it is] contrary to the history; for those at Thebes who killed themselves were not thought worthy of any honor at all.

Greek original · Adler’s text

Τί οὐκ ἀπήγξω, ἵνα Θήβῃσιν ἥρως γένῃ· κέχρηται αὐτῇ Πλάτων ἐν Μενελάῳ· παρὰ δὲ τὴν ἱστορίαν· οἱ γὰρ ἐν Θήβαις ἑαυτοὺς διαχειρισάμενοι οὐδ' ἡστινοσοῦν τιμῆς ἠξιοῦντο.

Betacode

*ti/ ou)k a)ph/gcw, i(/na *qh/bh|sin h(/rws ge/nh|: ke/xrhtai au)th=| *pla/twn e)n *menela/w|: para\ de\ th\n i(stori/an: oi( ga\r e)n *qh/bais e(autou\s diaxeirisa/menoi ou)d' h(stinosou=n timh=s h)ciou=nto.

Notes (1)

Same entry in Photius (tau317 Theodoridis), taken to come from Pausanias the Atticist (tau31); also in several of the paroemiographers. The allusion, evidently, is to a religious rite, stemming from a specific (mythological or historical) episode.
1Plato Comicus fr. 75 Kock (77 K.-A.). ↩

Neighbouring entries

τ645ΤίοςTios, Tius τ646Τί οὐ γενήσῃ ἰὼν ἐς Ἀρβέλαςwhat will you not become when you go to Arbelai?τ647Τί οὐκ ἀπήγξω ἵνα Θήβῃσιν ἥρως γένῃwhy don't you hang yourself so that you may become a hero at Thebes?τ648Τί οὖν ἔτι ζῆ τῶν κοράκων πονηρίᾳso why does he still live by the wickedness of the crows?τ649ΤίωI revere

Revision history1 revision · last 14 Jan 2014

14 Jan 2014augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics; raised status — David Whitehead
14 Jan 2014Translated — Catharine Roth

Translation

Greek original · Adler’s text

Notes (1)

Neighbouring entries

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