Living
Maxims of Theognis: It behoves, indeed, a man
Translated by Rev. J. Banks (Bohn, 1856) · From Hesiod, Callimachus and Theognis (Bohn, 1856)
It behoves, indeed, a man that goeth-to-consult-the oracle, Cyrnus, to keep more straightly than compasses, line, or rule; such a man, I mean, as he to whom the god at Pytho, having given answer to the priestess, shall have indicated a prophecy from his rich sanctuary; for neither though you add aught would you discover any remedy, nor if you have diminished aught, would you escape the punishment of offence, on the part of the gods.
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: It behoves, indeed, a man.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/269/.
Chicago
Megara, Theognis of. “Maxims of Theognis: It behoves, indeed, a man.” Translated by Rev. J. Banks. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/theognis/269/.
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