Τῶν τριῶν κακῶν ἕν
one of the three evils
Translated by Catharine Roth24 Feb 2014Vetting: high2 revisions
Translation
It is a certain saying. And Menander setting forth two, as if proverbially adds on jokingly, "for [he] has one evil of these three."1 But they say that these are the three penalties which Theramenes prescribed. Polyzelus in Demotyndareus [writes]: "so it was altogether necessary for him to choose [one] of the three evils, to drag a timber or to drink hemlock or after betraying the ship to be relieved of evils as quickly as possible. These are Theramenes' three, which you must avoid."2 Aristophanes in Triphales [writes]: "for I fear these three from Theramenes."3
Greek original · Adler’s text
Τῶν τριῶν κακῶν ἕν· λεγόμενόν τί ἐστι. καὶ Μένανδρος δύο προθείς, ὡς παροιμιῶδες ἐπιλέγει παίζων τό, ἓν γάρ τι τούτων τῶν τριῶν ἔχει κακόν. ταῦτα δὲ εἶναι λέγουσιν, ἃ Θηραμένης ὥρισε προστίματα. Πολύζηλος Δημοτυνδάρεῳ· τριῶν κακῶν γοῦν ἦν ἑλέσθαι αὐτῷ τι πᾶσ' ἀνάγκη, ξύλον ἐφέλκειν ἢ πιεῖν κώνειον ἢ προδόντα τὴν ναῦν ὅπως τάχιστα τῶν κακῶν ἀπαλλαγῆναι. ταῦτ' ἔστι τρία Θηραμένους, ἅ σοι φυλακτέ' ἐστίν. Ἀριστοφάνης Τριφάλητι· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἀπὸ Θηραμένους δέδοικα τὰ τρία ταυτί.
Betacode
*tw=n triw=n kakw=n e(/n: lego/meno/n ti/ e)sti. kai\ *me/nandros du/o proqei/s, w(s paroimiw=des e)pile/gei pai/zwn to/, e(\n ga/r ti tou/twn tw=n triw=n e)/xei kako/n. tau=ta de\ ei)=nai le/gousin, a(\ *qhrame/nhs w(/rise prosti/mata. *polu/zhlos *dhmotunda/rew|: triw=n kakw=n gou=n h)=n e(le/sqai au)tw=| ti pa=s' a)na/gkh, cu/lon e)fe/lkein h)\ piei=n kw/neion h)\ prodo/nta th\n nau=n o(/pws ta/xista tw=n kakw=n a)pallagh=nai. tau=t' e)/sti tri/a *qhrame/nous, a(/ soi fulakte/' e)sti/n. *)aristofa/nhs *trifa/lhti: e)gw\ ga\r a)po\ *qhrame/nous de/doika ta\ tri/a tauti/.
Notes (3)
- Likewise Photius' Lexicon (tau602 Theodoridis), taken to come from Pausanias the Atticist (tau57); similarly already in Hesychius (tau1332, tau 1754) and a scholion to Aristophanes, Frogs 540.
On Theramenes see generally theta 342, theta 343, theta 344, theta 345. - 1Menander fr. 826 Kock, 579 K.-A. ↩
- 2Polyzelus fr. 3 Kock (and K.-A.). ↩
- 3Aristophanes fr. 549 Kock, 563 K.-A. (See also tau 1031.) ↩
Linked from1 entry
Neighbouring entries
τ869Τῶν ἵππων Εὐμήλου πολὺ μᾶλλον ἀλλήλοις ἐοικότα κατασκευάσαντες τὴν συνωρίδα τῶν βαλαντίωνhaving prepared a pair of bags much more alike than the horses of Eumelosτ870Τῶν ὤτων ἀναρτηθεὶς εἰς ὀργὴν ἐκπίπτειafter listening intently he erupts into angerτ871Τῶν τριῶν κακῶν ἕνone of the three evilsτ872Τῷ νῦν λόγῳby what word now?τ873Τῶν ὑπό οἱ τεταγμένωνof those stationed under him
Revision history2 revisions · last 29 May 2016
- coding — David Whitehead
- augmented notes and keywords — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth