Greek Anthology Book 7

ToposText · Greek Anthology · 753 sections

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§ 7.1 BOOK VII, SEPULCHRAL EPIGRAMS ALCAEUS OF MESSENE On Homer In Ios the boys, weaving a riddle at the bidding of the Muses, vexed to death Homer the singer of the heroes. And the Nereids of the sea anointed him with nectar and laid him dead under the rock on the shore; because he glorified Thetis and her son and the battle-din of the other heroes and the deeds of Odysseus of Ithaca. Blessed among the islands in the sea is Ios, for small though she be, she covers the star of the Muses and Graces. O STRANGER, it is granted to me, this island rock of Ios, to hold Maeonides, the Persuader of men, the mighty-voiced, who sang even as the Muses. For in no other island but in me did he leave, when he died, the holy breath with which he told of the almighty nod of Zeus, and of Olympus, and of the strength of Ajax fighting for the ships, and of Hector his flesh stripped from his bones by the Thessalian horses of Achilles that dragged him over the plain of Troy. If thou marvellest that I who am so small cover so great a man, know that the spouse of Thetis likewise lies in Ikos that hath but a few clods of earth.
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§ 7.2 Anonymous on the same Wayfarer, though the tomb be small, pass me not by, but pour on me a libation, and venerate me as thou dost the gods. For I hold divine Homer the poet of the epic, honoured exceedingly by the Pierian Muses.
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§ 7.3 ANONYMOUS on the same Here the earth covereth the sacred man, divine Homer, the marshaller of the heroes.
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§ 7.4 PAULUS SILENTIARIUS on the same Here the famous tomb on the rock by the sea holdeth divine Homer, the skilled mouth by which the Muses spoke. Wonder not, O stranger, as thou lookest, if so little an island can contain so great a man. For my sister Delos, while she wandered yet on the waves, received Apollo from his mother’s womb.
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§ 7.5 UNCERTAIN, BY SOME ATTRIBUTED TO ALCAEUS, on the same No, not even if ye set me, Homer, up all of beaten gold in the burning lightning of Zeus, I am not and will not be a Salaminian, I the son of Meles will not be the son of Dmesagoras; let not Greece look on that. Tempt some other poet, but it is thou, Chios, who with the Muses shalt sing my verses to the sons of Hellas.
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§ 7.6 ANTIPATER OF SIDON on the same O stranger, the sea-beat earth covers Homer, the herald of the heroes’ valour, the spokesman of the gods, a second sun to the life of the Greeks, the light of the Muses, the mouth that groweth not old of the whole world.
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§ 7.7 ANONYMOUS on the same Here is divine Homer, who sang of all Hellas, born in Thebes of the hundred gates.
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§ 7.8 ANTIPATER OF SIDON On the poet Orpheus, son of Oeagrus and Calliope No more, Orpheus, shalt thou lead the charmed oaks and rocks and the shepherdless herds of wild beasts. No more shalt thou lull to sleep the howling winds and the hail, and the drifting snow, and the roaring sea. For dead thou art; and the daughters of Mnemosyne bewailed thee much, and before all thy mother Calliope. Why sigh we for our dead sons, when not even the gods have power to protect their children from death?
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§ 7.9 DAMAGETUS on the same The tomb on the Thracian skirts of Olympus holds Orpheus, son of the Muse Calliope; whom the trees disobeyed not and the lifeless rocks followed, and the herds of the forest beasts; who discovered the mystic rites of Bacchus, and first linked verse in heroic feet; who charmed with his lyre even the heavy sense of the implacable Lord of Hell, and his unyielding wrath.
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§ 7.10 ANONYMOUS on the same The fair-haired daughters of Bistonia shed a thousand tears for Orpheus dead, the son of Calliope and Oeagrus; they stained their tattooed arms with blood, and dyed their Thracian locks with black ashes. The very Muses of Pieria, with Apollo, the master of the lute, burst into tears mourning for the singer, and the rocks moaned, and the trees, that erst he charmed with his lovely lyre.
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§ 7.11 ASCLEPIADES On Erinna (inscribed on a Volume of her Poems) This is the sweet work of Erinna, not great indeed in volume, as being that of a maiden of nineteen, but greater in power than that of many others. If Death had not come early to me, who would have had such a name?
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§ 7.12 ANONYMOUS on the same Just as thou wast giving birth to the spring of thy honeyed hymns, and beginning to sing with thy swan-like voice, Fate, mistress of the distaff that spins the thread, bore thee over the wide lake of the dead to Acheron. But the beautiful work, Erinna, of thy verse cries aloud that thou art not dead, but joinest in the dance of the Muses.
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§ 7.13 LEONIDAS OR MELEAGER on the same As Erinna, the maiden honey- bee, the new singer in the poets’ quire, was gathering the flowers of the Muses, Hades carried her off to wed her. That was a true word, indeed, the girl spoke when she lived: “ Hades, thou art an envious god.”
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§ 7.14 ANTIPATER OF SIDON On Sappho O Aeolian land, thou coverest Sappho, who with the immortal Muses is celebrated as the mortal Muse; whom Cypris and Eros together reared, with whom Peitho wove the undying wreath of song, a joy to Hellas and a glory to thee. O ye Fates twirling the triple thread on the spindle, why spun ye not an everlasting life for the singer who devised the deathless gifts of the Muses of Helicon?
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§ 7.15 ANTIPATER on the same My name is Sappho, and I excelled all women in song as much as Maeonides excelled men.
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§ 7.16 PINYTUS on the same The tomb holds the bones and the dumb name of Sappho, but her skilled words are immortal.
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§ 7.17 TULLIUS LAUREAS on the same When thou passest, O stranger, by the Aeolian tomb, say not that I, the Lesbian poetess, am dead. This tomb was built by the hands of men, and such works of mortals are lost in swift oblivion. But if thou enquirest about me for the sake of the Muses, from each of whom I took a flower to lay beside my nine flowers of song, thou shalt find that I escaped the darkness of death, and that no sun shall dawn and set without memory of lyric Sappho.
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§ 7.18 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA On Alcman Do not judge the man by the stone. Simple is the tomb to look on, but holds the bones of a great man. Thou shalt know Alcman the supreme striker of the Laconian lyre, possessed by the nine Muses. Here resteth he, a cause of dispute to two continents, if He be a Lydian or a Spartan. Minstrels have many mothers.
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§ 7.19 LEONIDAS (OF ALEXANDRIA?) on the same Alcman the graceful, the swan-singer of wedding hymns, who made music worthy of the Muses, lieth in this tomb, a great ornament to Sparta, or perhaps at the last he threw off his burden and went to Hades.
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§ 7.20 ANONYMOUS On Sophocles Thy light is out, aged Sophocles, flower of poets, crowned with the purple clusters of Bacchus.
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§ 7.21 SIMIAS on the same O SOPHOCLES, son of Sophillus, singer of choral odes, Attic star of the tragic Muse, whose locks the curving ivy of Acharnae often crowned in the orchestra and on the stage, a tomb and a little portion of earth hold thee; but thy exquisite life shines yet in thy immortal pages.
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§ 7.22 SIMIAS on the same Gently over the tomb of Sophocles, gently creep, O ivy, flinging forth thy green curls, and all about let the petals of the rose bloom, and the vine that loves her fruit shed her pliant tendrils around, for the sake of that wise-hearted beauty of diction that the Muses and Graces in common bestowed on the sweet singer.
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§ 7.23 ANTIPATER OF SIDON On Anacreon Let the four-clustered ivy, Anacreon, flourish around thee, and the tender flowers of the purple meadows, and let fountains of white milk bubble up, and sweet-smelling wine gush from the earth, so that thy ashes and bones may have joy, if indeed any delight toucheth the dead.
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§ 7.23b ANONYMOUS on the same O beloved who didst love the clear lute, O thou who didst sail through thy whole life with song and with love.
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§ 7.24 SIMONIDES (?) on the same O vine who soothest all, nurse of wine, mother of the grape, thou who dost put forth thy web of curling tendrils, flourish green in the fine soil and climb up the pillar of the grave of Teian Anacreon; that he, the reveller heavy with wine, playing all through the night on his lad-loving lyre, may even as he lies low in earth have the glorious ripe clusters hanging from the branches over his head, and that he may be ever steeped in the dew that scented the old man's tender lips so sweetly.
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§ 7.25 SIMONIDES (?) on the same In this tomb of Teos, his home, was Anacreon laid, the singer whom the Muses made deathless, who set to the sweet love of lads measures breathing of the Graces, breathing of Love. Alone in Acheron he grieves not that he has left the sun and dwelleth there in the house of Lethe, but that he has left Megisteus, graceful above all the youth, and his passion for Thracian Smerdies. Yet never doth he desist from song delightful as honey, and even in Hades he hath not laid that lute to rest.
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§ 7.26 ANTIPATER OF SIDON on the same Stranger who passest by the simple tomb of Anacreon, if any profit came to thee from my books, pour on my ashes, pour some drops, that my bones may rejoice refreshed with wine, that I who delighted in the loud-voiced revels of Dionysus, I who dwelt amid such music as loveth wine, even in death may not suffer without Bacchus my sojourn in this land to which all the sons of men must come.
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§ 7.27 By the same on the same Anacreon, glory of Ionia, mayest thou among the dead be not without thy beloved revels, or without thy lyre, and still mayest thou sing with swimming eyes, shaking the entwined flowers that rest on thy essenced hair, turned towards Eurypyle, or Megisteus, or the locks of Thracian Smerdies, spouting sweet wine, thy robe drenched with the juice of the grape, wringing untempered nectar from its folds. For all thy life, O old man, was poured out as an offering to these three, the Muses, Bacchus, and Love.
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§ 7.28 ANONYMOUS on the same O stranger, who passest this tomb of Anacreon, pour a libation to me in going by, for I am a wine bibber.
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§ 7.29 ANTIPATER OF SIDON on the same Thou sleepest among the dead, Anacreon, thy good day's labour done; thy sweet lyre that talked all through the night sleepeth too. And Smerdies sleeps, the spring-tide of the Loves, to whom, striking the lyre, thou madest music like unto nectar. For thou wast the target of Love, the Love of lads, and to shoot thee alone he had a bow and subtle archer craft.
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§ 7.30 By the same on the same This is Anacreon’s tomb; here sleeps the Teian swan and the untempered madness of his passion for lads. Still singeth he some song of longing to the lyre about Bathyllus, and the white marble is perfumed with ivy. Not even death has quenched thy loves, and in the house of Acheron thou sufferest all through thee the pangs of the fever of Cypris.
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§ 7.31 DIOSCORIDES on the same O Anacreon, delight of the Muses, lord of all revels of the night, thou who wast melted to the marrow of thy bones for Thracian Smerdies, O thou who often bending o’er the cup didst shed warm tears for Bathyllus, may founts of wine bubble up for thee unbidden, and streams of ambrosial nectar from the gods; unbidden may the gardens bring thee violets, the flowers that love the evening, and myrtles grow for thee nourished by tender dew, so that even in the house of Demeter thou mayest dance delicately in thy cups, holding golden Eurypyle in thy arms.
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§ 7.32 JULIANUS, PREFECT OF EGYPT on the same Often I sung this, and I will cry it from the tomb, “Drink ere ye put on this garment of the dust.”
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§ 7.33 By the same on the same A. “You died of drinking too much, Anacreon.” B. “Yes, but I enjoyed it, and you who do not drink will come to Hades too.”
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§ 7.34 ANTIPATER OF SIDON On Pindar This earth holds Pindar, the Pierian trumpet, the heavily smiting smith of well-outlined hymns, whose melody when thou hearest thou wouldst exclaim that a swarm of bees from the Muses fashioned it in the bridal chamber of Cadmus.
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§ 7.35 LEONIDAS on the same Congenial to strangers and dear to his countrymen was this man, Pindar, the servant of the sweet-voiced Muses. It
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§ 7.36 ERYCIAS On Sophocles Ever, O divine Sophocles, may the ivy that adorns the stage dance with soft feet over thy polished monument. Ever may the tomb be encompassed by bees that bedew it, the children of the ox, and drip with honey of Hymettus, that there be ever store of wax flowing for thee to spread on thy Attic writing tablets, and that thy locks may never want a wreath.
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§ 7.37 DIOSCORIDES on the same (A statue of a Satyr is supposed to speak) A. “THIS is the tomb of Sophocles which I, his holy servant, received from the Muses as a holy trust to guard. It was he who, taking me from Phlius where I was carved of holly-oak and still trod the tribulum, wrought me into a creature of gold and clothed me in fine purple. On his death I ceased from the dance and rested my light foot here”. B. Blessed art thou, how excellent thy post! And the mask of a girl in thy hand with shaven hair as of a mourner, from what play is she?" A. “Say Antigone if thou wilt, or say Electra; in either case thou art not wrong, for both are supreme.”
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§ 7.38 DIODORUS On Aristophanes Divine Aristophanes lies dead beneath me. If thou askest which, it is the comic poet who keeps the memory of the old stage alive.
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§ 7.39 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA On Aeschylus Here, far from the Attic land, making Sicily glorious by his tomb, lies Aeschylus, son of Euphorion, who first built high with massive eloquence the diction of tragedy and its beetling song.
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§ 7.40 DIODORUS on the same This tombstone says that Aeschylus the great lies here, far from his own Attica, by the white waters of Sicilian Gelas. What spiteful grudge against the good is this, alas, that ever besets the sons of Theseus?
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§ 7.41 ANONYMOUS On Callimachus Hail blessed one, even in the house of Hades, Callimachus, dearest companion of the divine Muses.
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§ 7.42 ANONYMOUS On the Aetia (Origins) of the same Ah! great and renowned dream of the skilled son of Battus, verily thou wast of horn, not of ivory; for thou didst reveal things to us touching the gods and demigods which never man knew before, then when catching him up thou didst bear him from Libya to Helicon, and didst set him down in the midst of the Muses. And there as he wove the Origins of primeval heroes they in turn wove for him the Origins also of the gods.
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§ 7.43 ION On Euripides Hail, Euripides, dwelling in the chamber of eternal night in the dark-robed valleys of Pieria! Know, though thou art under earth, that thy renown shall be everlasting, equal to the perennial charm of Homer.
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§ 7.44 By the same on the same Though a tearful fate befel thee, O Euripides, devoured by wolf - hounds, thou, the honey-voiced nightingale of the stage, the ornament of Athens, who didst mingle the grace of the Muses with wisdom, yet thou wast laid in the tomb at Pella, that the servant of the Pierian Muses should dwell near the home of his mistresses. Callimachus claimed that the Muses revealed the matter of the poem to him in a dream.
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§ 7.45 THUCYDIDES THE HISTORIAN on the same All Hellas is the monument of Euripides, but the Macedonian land holds his bones, for it sheltered the end of his life. His country was Athens, the Hellas of Hellas, and as by his verse he gave exceeding delight, so from many he receiveth praise.
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§ 7.46 ANONYMOUS on the same This is not thy monument, Euripides, but thou art the memorial of it, for by thy gloty is this monument encompassed.
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§ 7.47 ANONYMOUS on the same All Greece is thy tomb, O Euripides; so thou art not dumb, but even vocal.
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§ 7.48 ANONYMOUS on the same Thy delicate flesh encompassed by the blast of glowing fire yielded up its moisture and burnt away. In the much-wept tomb is naught but dumb bones, arid sorrow for the wayfarers who pass this way.
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§ 7.49 BIANOR OF BITHYNIA on the same Thb Macedonian dust of the tomb covers thee, Euripides, but ere thou didst put on this cloak of earth thou wast scorched by the bolts of Zeus. For thrice the heaven lightened at his word and purified thy mortal frame.
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§ 7.50 ARCHIMEDES on the same Tread not, O poet, the path of Euripides, neither essay it, for it is hard for man to walk therein. Smooth it is to look on, and well beaten, but if one sets his foot on it, it is rougher than if set with cruel stakes. Scratch but the surface of Medea } Aeetes' daughter, and thou shalt lie below forgotten. Hands off his crowns.
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§ 7.51 ADAEUS On the same Neither dogs slew thee, Euripides, nor the rage of women, thou enemy of the secrets of Cypris, but Death and old age, and under Macedonian Arethusa thou liest, honoured by the friendship of Archelaus. Yet it is not this that I account thy tomb, but the altar of Bacchus and the buskin-trodden stage.
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§ 7.52 DEMIURGUS On Hesiod I hold Hesiod of Ascra the glory of spacious Hellas and the ornament of Poesy.
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§ 7.53 ANONYMOUS On an ex-voto dedicated by Hesiod Hesiod dedicated this to the Heliconian Muses, having conquered divine Homer in the hymn contest at Chalcis.
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§ 7.54 MNASALCAS on the same Ascra, the land of broad corn-fields, was my country, but the land of the charioteer Minyae holds my bones now I am dead. I am Hesiod, the most glorious in the eyes of the world of men who are judged by the test of wisdom.
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§ 7.55 ALCAEUS (OF MYTILENE OR MESSENE) on the same In a shady grove of Locris the Nymphs washed the body of Hesiod with water from their springs and raised a tomb to him. And on it the goat -herds poured libations of milk mixed with golden honey. For even such was the song the old man breathed who had tasted the pure fountains of the nine Muses.
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§ 7.56 ANONYMOUS On Democritus of Abdera So this was the cause of Democritus’ laughter, and perchance he will say, “Did I not say, laughing, that all is laughter? For even I, after my limitless wisdom and the long series of my works, lie beneath the tomb a laughing-stock.”
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§ 7.57 DIOGENES LAERTIUS on the same Who was ever so wise, who wrought such a deed as omniscient Democritus, who had Death for three days in his house and entertained him with the hot steam of bread?
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§ 7.58 JULIANUS, PREFECT OF EGYPT on the same Though, Persephone, thou rulest over the unsmiling dead beneath the earth, receive the shade of Democritus with his kindly laugh; for only laughter turned away from sorrow thy mother when she was sore-hearted for thy loss.
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§ 7.59 By the same on the same Receive Democritus, O blessed Pluto, so that thou, the ruler of the laughterless people, mayest have one subject who laughs.
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§ 7.60 SIMIAS On Plato Here lieth the divine Aristocles, who excelled all mortals in temperance and the ways of justice. If any one gained from all men much praise for wisdom it was he, and no envy therewith.
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§ 7.61 ANONYMOUS on the same The earth in her bosom hides here the body of Plato, but his soul has its immortal station among the blest, the soul of Ariston’s son, whom every good man, even if he dwell in a far land, honours in that he saw the divine life.
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§ 7.62 ANONYMOUS on the same A. “EAGLE, why standest thou on the tomb, and on whose, tell me, and why gazest thou at the starry home of the gods?” B. “I am the image of the soul of Plato that hath flown away to Olympus, but his earth-born body rests here in Attic earth.”
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§ 7.63 ANONYMOUS On Diogenes O FERRYMAN of the dead, receive the Dog Diogenes, who laid bare the whole pretentiousness of life.
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§ 7.64 ANONYMOUS on the same A. “TELL me, dog, who was the man on whose tomb thou standest keeping guard?” B. “The Dog.” A. “But what man was that, the Dog?” B. “ Diogenes.” A. “Of what country?” B. “Of Sinope.” A. “He who lived in a jar?” B. “Yes, and now he is dead, the stars are his home.”
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§ 7.66 ANTIPATER on the same This is the tomb of Diogenes, the wise Dog who of old, with manly spirit, endured a life of self-denial. One wallet he carried with him, one cloak, one staff, the weapons of self-sufficient sobriety. But turn aside from this tomb, all ye fools; for he of Sinope, even in Hades, hates every mean man.
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§ 7.66 HONESTUS on the same The staff, and wallet, and thick cloak, were the very light burden of wise Diogenes in life. I bring all to the ferryman, for I left nothing on earth. But you, Cerberus dog, fawn on me, the Dog.
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§ 7.67 LEONIDAS on the same Mournful minister of Hades, who dost traverse in thy dark boat this water of Acheron, receive me, Diogenes the Dog, even though thy gruesome bark is overloaded with spirits of the dead. My luggage is but a flask, and a wallet, and my old cloak, and the obol that pays the passage of the departed. All that was mine in life I bring with me to Hades, and have left nothing beneath the sun.
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§ 7.68 ARCHIAS on the same O boatman of Hades, conveyor of the dead, delighting in the tears of all, who dost ply the ferry o’er this deep water of Acheron, though thy boat be heavy beneath its load of shades, leave me not behind, Diogenes the Dog. I have with me but a flask, and a staff, and a cloak, and a wallet, and the obol thy fare. These things that 1 carry with me now 1 am dead are all I had when alive, and I left nothing in the daylight.
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§ 7.69 JULIANUS, PREFECT OF EGYPT On Archilochus Cerberus, whose bark strikes terror into the dead, there comes a terrible shade before whom even thou must tremble. Archilochus is dead. Beware the acrid iambic wrath engendered by his bitter mouth. Thou knowest the might of his words ever since one boat brought thee the two daughters of Lycambes.
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§ 7.70 By the same on the same Now, three-headed dog, better than ever with thy sleepless eyes guard the gate of thy fortress, the pit. For if the daughters of Lycambes to avoid the savage bile of Archilochus’ iambics left the light, will not every soul leave the portals of this dusky dwelling, flying from the terror of his slanderous tongue?
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§ 7.71 GAETULICUS on the same This tomb by the sea is that of Archilochus, who first made the Muse bitter dipping her in vipers’ gall, staining mild Helicon with blood. Lycambes knows it, mourning for his three daughters hanged. Pass quietly by, O way-farer, lest haply thou arouse the wasps that are settled on his tomb.
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§ 7.72 MENANDER On Epicurus and Themistoclcs Hail, ye twin-born sons of Neocles, of whom the one saved his country from slavery the other from folly.
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§ 7.73 GEMINUS On Themistocles In place of a simple tomb put Hellas, and on her put ships significant of the destroyed barbaric fleets, and round the frieze of the tomb paint the Persian host and Xerxes; thus bury Themistocles. And Salamis shall stand thereon, a pillar telling of my deeds. Why lay you so great a man in a little space?
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§ 7.74 DIODORUS on the same The people of Magnesia raised to Themistocles this monument in a land not his own, when after saving his country from the Medes, he was laid in foreign earth under a foreign stone. Verily Envy so willed, and deeds of valour have less privilege than she.
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§ 7.75 ANTIPATER (OF SIDON?) On Stesichorus Stesichorus, the vast immeasurable voice of the Muse, was buried in Catana’s fiery land, he in whose breast, as telleth the philosopher Pythagoras, Homer’s soul lodged again.
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§ 7.76 DIOSCORIDES Philocritus, his trading over and yet a novice at the plough, lay buried at Memphis in a foreign land. And there the Nile running in high flood stripped him of the scanty earth that covered him. So in his life he escaped from the salt sea, but now covered by the waves hath, poor wretch, a shipwrecked mariner’s tomb.
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§ 7.77 SIMONIDES On Simonides (?) The saviour of the Ceian Simonides is this man, who even in death requited him who lived.
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§ 7.78 DIONYSIUS OF CYZICUS On Eratosthenes A mild old age, no darkening disease, put out thy light, Eratosthenes son of Aglaus, and, thy high studies over, thou sleepest the appointed sleep. Cyrene thy mother did not receive thee into the written by Simonides on the tomb of a man whose corpse he found on the shore and buried, and whose ghost appeared and forbade him to sail in a ship which was wrecked on her voyage. tombs of thy fathers, but thou art buried on this fringe of Proteus’ shore, beloved even in a strange land.
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§ 7.79 MELEAGER On Heraclitus of Ephesus A. “Sir, I am Heraclitus, and assert that I alone discovered wisdom, and my services to my country were better than wisdom. Ay Sir; for I assailed even my own parents, evil-minded folks, with contumely.” B. “A fine return for thy bringing up!” A. “Be off!” B. “ Tanais’t be rough.” A. “Because you may soon hear something rougher than my people heard from me.” B. “Farewell.” A."And you get out of Ephesus."
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§ 7.80 CALLIMACHUS On Heraclitus of Halicarnassus, the Elegiac Poet One told me of thy death, Heraclitus, and it moved me to tears, when I remembered how often the sun set on our talking. And thou, my Halicarnassian friend, liest somewhere, gone long long ago to dust; but they live, thy Nightingales, on which Hades who seizeth all shall not lay his hand.
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§ 7.81 ANTIPATER OF SIDON On the Seven Sages Of the seven sages Lindus bore thee, O Cleobulus, and the land of Sisyphus says that Periander is hers. Mytilene bore Pittacus and fair Priene Bion, and Miletus Thales, best support of Justice, Sparta Chilon, and Attica Solon, all guardians of admirable Prudence.
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§ 7.82 Anonymous on Epicharmus I hold Sicilian Epicharmus, a man armed by the Doric Muse for the service of Bacchus and the Satyrs.
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§ 7.83 ANONYMOUS On Thales Ionian Miletus nourished and revealed this Thales, first in wisdom of all astronomers.
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§ 7.84 Anonymous on the same Small is the tomb, but see how the fame of the deep thinker Thales reaches to the heavens.
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§ 7.85 DIOGENES LAERTIUS on the same Once, Zeus the Sun, didst thou carry off from the stadion, as he was viewing the games, Thales the sage. I praise thee for taking him away to be near thee, for in truth the old man could no longer see the stars from earth.
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§ 7.86 ANONYMOUS On Solon This island of Salamis which once put an end to the unrighteous insolence of the Medes, gave birth to this Solon the holy law-giver.
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§ 7.87 DIOGENES LAERTIUS on the same In a strange land, a Cyprian fire consumed the body of Solon, but Salamis holds his bones, whose dust becomes corn. But his tables of the law carried his soul at once to heaven, for by his good laws he lightened the burdens of his countrymen.
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§ 7.88 By the same On Chilon O Pollux, giver of light, I give thee thanks in that the son of Chilon gained by boxing the green olive-crown. And if his father seeing his son crowned, died of joy, why should we complain? May such a death be mine.
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§ 7.89 CALLIMACHUS On Pittacus (not Sepulchral) A guest from Atarne thus questioned Pittacus of Mytilene, the son of Hyrrha. “Daddy greybeard! a two-fold marriage invites me. The one bride is suitable to me in fortune and family, but the other is my better. Which is best? Come, advise me which to take to wife.” So spoke he and Pittacus raising his staff, the weapon of his old age, said “Look! they will tell you all you need know The boys at the broad cross-roads were whipping their swift top” Go after them," he said, and the man went and stood close to them, and they were saying, “Drive the way that suits you.” The stranger, hearing this, refrained from catching at a match with a greater home, understanding the oracle of the boys’ words. Therefore as he brought home the bride of low estate, so do thou, go and “drive her that suits you.”
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§ 7.90 ANONYMOUS On Bias This stone covers Bias the great ornament of Ionia born on the famous soil of Priene.
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§ 7.91 DIOGENES LAERTIUS on the same Here I cover Bias, whom Hermes led gently to Hades, his head white with the snows of age. He spoke for a friend in court and then sinking into the boy’s arms he continued to sleep a long sleep. Bias, after having made a speech in court on behalf of some one, was fatigued and rested his head on his nephew’s breast. His client won the case, but at its close Bias was found to be dead.
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§ 7.92 By the same On Anacharsis When Anacharsis went to Scythia after many toils he was persuading them all to live in the Greek manner. His unfinished speech was still on his lips, when a winged reed carried him off swiftly to the immortals.
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§ 7.93 ANONYMOUS On Pherecydes The end of all wisdom is in me. If aught befall me, tell my Pythagoras that he is the first of all in the land of Hellas. In speaking thus I do not lie.
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§ 7.94 Anonymous on Anaxagoras Here lies Anaxagoras who advanced furthest towards the goal of truth concerning the heavenly universe.
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§ 7.95 DIOGENES LAERTIUS on the same Anaxagoras once said that the sun was a red-hot mass, and for this was about to be killed. His friend Pericles saved him, but lie ended his own life owing to the sensitiveness of his wise mind.
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§ 7.96 By the same On Socrates Drink now, O Socrates, in the house of Zeus. Of a truth a god called thee wise and Wisdom is a goddess. From the Athenians thou didst receive simply hemlock, but they themselves drank it by thy mouth.
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§ 7.97 By the same On Xenophon Xenophon not only went up country to the Persians for Cyrus’ sake, but seeking a way up to the house of Zeus. For after showing that the affairs of Greece belonged to his education, he recorded how beautiful was the wisdom of Socrates.
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§ 7.98 By the same If the citizens of Cranaus and Cecrops condemned you, Xenophon, to exile because of your friend Cyrus, yet hospitable Corinth received you, with which you were so pleased and content, and decided to remain there.
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§ 7.99 PLATO On Dio The Fates decreed tears for Hecuba and the Trojan women even at the hour of their birth; and after thou, Dio, hadst triumphed in the accomplishment of noble deeds, the gods spilt all thy far-reaching hopes. But thou liest in thy spacious city, honoured by thy countrymen, Dio, who didst madden my soul with love.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by William Roger Paton (1857-1921). Composed ca. 900 CE. Licence: public domain. Source.