Living
Maxims of Theognis: A faithful man is worthy
Translated by Rev. J. Banks (Bohn, 1856) · From Hesiod, Callimachus and Theognis (Bohn, 1856)
A faithful man is worthy to-be-prized-equally with gold and silver, O Cyrnus, in vexatious doubt. Few men, son of Polypas, will you find, as comrades, proving themselves faithful in difficult circumstances, who would have the courage, possessing a like-minded spirit, to share alike good fortunes and bad. And of these you will not find, by seeking even among all men, such a number in all as one ship would not carry: upon whose tongue as well as eyes a-sense-of-shame is set, nor does gain lead them to a base dealing.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Codex Note
Literal prose translation by the Rev. J. Banks (Bohn, 1856), printed as prose: the plain-sense companion to Frere’s verse version. Banks’s hyphenated compounds are his own.
Cite this poem
MLA
Megara, Theognis of. “Maxims of Theognis: A faithful man is worthy.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/121/.
Chicago
Megara, Theognis of. “Maxims of Theognis: A faithful man is worthy.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/121/.
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