Ancient Greece

Explore 296 quotes by people from Ancient Greece

On his tongue they pour sweet dew, and from his mouth flow gentle words.

Hesiod

Theogony

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Topic

Gift of gab

Author

Hesiod

Source

Theogony

Medium

Poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hesiod. Θεογονία [Theogony]. c. 700 BC, l. 83.

Current Citation

Hesiod. "Theogony." Theogony and Works and Days, translated by M. L. West. Oxford University Press, 2009, l. 83.

So poetry is something more philosophical and more worthy of serious attention than history, for while poetry is concerned with universal truth, history treats of particular facts.

Aristotle

Poetics

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Topic

Poetry History Truth

Author

Aristotle

Source

Poetics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

335 BC 330s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Περὶ ποιητικῆς Peri poietikês [Poetics]. c. 335 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Poetics, translated by James Hutton, edited by David Gorman and Michelle Zerba. W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.

Sons are the anchors of a mother's life.

Sophocles

Phaedra

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Topic

Mothers and sons Parents and children

Author

Sophocles

Source

Phaedra

Medium

Play

Genre

Greek tragedy Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Sophocles. Phaedra. c. 5th century BC, fragment 612.

Nobody likes the man who brings bad news.

Sophocles

Antigone

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Topic

Bearer of bad news Bad news

Speaker

Guard

Author

Sophocles

Source

Antigone

Medium

Play

Genre

Greek tragedy Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

442 BC 440s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sophocles. Ἀντιγόνη [Antigone]. c. 441 BC, Festival of Dionysus, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Sophocles. "Antigone." The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone, translated by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Mariner Books, 2002.

Everyone has the potential for self-knowledge and sound thinking.

Heraclitus

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-knowledge Human potential Personal growth

Author

Heraclitus

Medium

Presocratic fragment Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Xenophanes. Fragments. 5th century BC, F31 - DK22 B116.

Current Citation

Xenophanes. "Xenophanes of Colophon." The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists. Oxford World Classics, 2009, F31 - DK22 B116.

Great is the glory of the woman who occasions the least talk among men, whether of praise or of blame.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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Topic

Discreet women Patriarchy

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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Topic

Love stories History

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.

The man who has never been flogged has never been taught.

Menander

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Topic

Corporal punishment Learning

Author

Menander

Source

The Girl Who Gets Flogged

Medium

Fragment

Language

Greek

Time

291 BC 290s BC 3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Menander. The Girl Who Gets Flogged. c. 300 BC.

Unlike divine nature, human nature lacks sound judgments.

Heraclitus

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Topic

God and man Nature of God Human nature Judgment

Author

Heraclitus

Medium

Presocratic fragment Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Heraclitus. Fragments. 5th century BC, F2 - DK B78.

Current Citation

Heraclitus. "Heraclitus of Ephesus." The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2009, F2 - DK B78.

Old age is the harbor of all ills.

Bion of Borysthenes

Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laërtius

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Topic

Old age

Speaker

Bion of Borysthenes

Author

Diogenes Laërtius

Source

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

400 400s 3rd century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bion. Quoted in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius. c. 240 AD, bk. 4, ch. 7, sect. 47.

Current Citation

Bion. Quoted in The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, written by Diogenes Laërtius, translated by Pamela Mensch, edited by James Miller. Oxford University Press, 2018, bk. 4, ch. 7, sect. 47.

When life is so burdensome, death has become of man a sought-after refuge.

Herodotus

Histories

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Topic

Death as a blessing Over it

Speaker

Artabanus

Author

Herodotus

Source

Histories

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Herodotus. Histories. c. 430 BC, bk. 7.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 7.

Who knows but life be that which men call death, and death what men call life?

Euripides

Phrixus

More information about this quote

Topic

Life and death

Author

Euripides

Source

Phrixus

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Euripides. Phrixus. 5th century BC, fragment 830.

The great wish of some is to avenge themselves on some particular enemy, the great wish of others to save their own pocket. Slow in assembling, they devote a very small fraction of the time to the consideration of any public object, most of it to the prosecution of their own objects. Meanwhile each fancies that no harm will come of his neglect, that it is the business of somebody else to look after this or that for him; and so, by the same notion being entertained by all separately, the common cause imperceptibly decays.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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Topic

Collective action problem

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.

If anyone wishes to observe the works of nature, he should put his trust not in books of anatomy but in his own eyes.

Galen

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature Observation

Author

Galen

Source

On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body

Genre

Scientific literature

Statement Type

Advice

Language

Greek

Time

175 170s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Galen. De Usu Partium Corporis Humani [On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body]. c. 175.

Current Citation

Galen. On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body, translated by Margaret Tallmadge May. Vol. 1, Cornell University Press, 1968, p. 119.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

Herodotus

Histories

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Topic

Taking it easy Having fun Being uptight

Speaker

Amasis

Author

Herodotus

Source

Histories

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Herodotus. Ἱστορίαι [Histories]. c. 430 BC, bk. 2, ch. 173.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 2, ch. 173.

It is well to superintend the sick to make them well, to care for the healthy to keep them well, also to care for one's own self, so as to observe what it seemly.

Hippocrates

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Topic

Practicing medicine Serving others

Author

Hippocrates

Source

Precepts

Language

Greek

Time

370 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hippocrates. Precepts. c. 4th century BC, sect. 6.

Current Citation

Hippocrates. "Precepts." Hippocratic Writings, translated by J. Chadwick and W. N. Mann, et al. Penguin Classics, 1984.