Living
Maxims of Theognis: At the beginning a lie
Translated by Rev. J. Banks (Bohn, 1856) · From Hesiod, Callimachus and Theognis (Bohn, 1856)
At the beginning a lie gets small thanks, but at last base lucre, in truth, and ill arise, both of them: nor is there anything noble to any man, whom a lie attends, even though it be the first that has gone forth from his mouth.
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: At the beginning a lie.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/226/.
Chicago
Megara, Theognis of. “Maxims of Theognis: At the beginning a lie.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/226/.
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