Bacchylides of Keos (or Ceos)
Βακχυλίδης
(c450BC)
Translated by G. Theodoridis
© 2005
All Rights Reserved
———
(Ed 57)
Happiness
No mortal is happy all the time.
————
Virtue
(Ed 58)
Why? Because when Virtue is praised
She burgeons like a tree!
——————–
(Ed 2)
Ode to Hekate
Hekate!
Carrier of torches,
daughter of black-loined
Night!
————–
(Ed 25)
The test of virtue
Whilst gold is tested by the
Lydian stone,
Man’s virtue
and
Wisdom
are tested by
Truth
——-
The Toils of Men
(Ed23)
To all men the gods have given toils.
One sort of toils
to one lot
and
another sort to the other.
——-
Hollow concerns
(Ed 29?)
He whose soul is teased by hollow concerns
Is rewarded only while he lives.
But virtue!
Virtue might be a hard chore for a man
But if he serves it well
It rewards him richly even after his death
Because
He will become a most enviable symbol of
Good fame.
——-
Destiny
(Ed 48)
To us mortals, neither prosperity, nor unyielding war
nor yet the all-destructive rebellions come to us of our choosing
but Destiny, giver of all things, brings down her clouds,
now on this land and now on that.
———
Grey Temples
(Ed 49)
The mortals to whom the gods have granted joy free of troubles
For all the days until their temples turn grey
Are few.
——–
For those who disagree
(Ed 50)
For those who disagree,
well,
the road is wide!
———–
Come Victory!
(Ed 74)
Famous daughter of Pallas Athena,
Blessed goddess, Victory,
Look kindly, always, upon the lovely chorus of Carthea
And
In the contest of the Muses, crown me,
Bacchylides of Keos
With your wreaths!
