Greece

Explore 272 quotes by people from Greece

Your great glory is not to be inferior to what God has made you, and the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticizing you.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Patriarchy Oppression of women

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Neither anarchy nor tyranny—this I counsel my citizens to support and respect, and not to drive fear wholly out of the city. For who among mortals, if he fears nothing, is righteous?

Aeschylus

The Eumenides

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Topic

Deterring crime Crime Fear Justice Human nature

Speaker

Athena

Author

Aeschylus

Source

The Eumenides

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragic play Greek theater

Statement Type

Question

Language

Greek

Time

458 BC 450s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aeschylus. The Eumenides. 458 BC, The Dionysia, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Aeschylus. "The Eumenides." The Oresteia: Agamemnon; The Libation Bearers; The Eumenides, edited and translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 1984.

When men drink, then they are rich and successful and win lawsuits and are happy and help their friends. Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.

Demosthenes

Knights

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Topic

Reasons to drink Alcohol Getting drunk

Speaker

Demosthenes

Author

Aristophanes

Source

Knights

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

424 BC 420s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristophanes. Ἱππεῖς Hippeîs [The Knights]. 424 BC, Lenaia Festival, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Aristophanes. "The Knights." The Birds and Other Plays, translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Penguin Classics, 2003.

Whom the gods love dies young.

Menander

More information about this quote

Topic

Dying young Youth Fate

Author

Menander

Medium

Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Greek

Time

290 BC 290s BC 3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Menander. "Dis Exapaton [The Double Deceiver]." Plays and Fragments. c. 290 BC.

Current Citation

Menander. "Twice a Swindler (Dis Exapaton)." Plays and Fragments, translated by Maurice Balme. Oxford University Press, 2008.

He is a fool who leaves things close at hand to follow what is out of reach.

Plutarch

Moralia

More information about this quote

Topic

Grass is always greener Seeking happiness Seeking Foolishness

Author

Plutarch

Source

On Talkativeness Moralia

Medium

Essay

Language

Greek

Time

2nd century BC

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Plutarch. "Περὶ ἀδολεσχίας [On Talkativeness]." Ἠθικά Ethika [Moralia]. c. 100 AD.

Education is an ornament for the prosperous, a refuge for the unfortunate.

Democritus

More information about this quote

Topic

Value of education Education

Speaker

Democritus

Source

Tetralogies of Thrasyllus

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Greek

Time

415 BC 410s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Democritus. Tetralogies of Thrasyllus. c. 420 BC, Fr. 180.

Current Citation

Democritus. Quoted in Ancilla to Pre-Socratic Philosophers, written and translated by Kathleen Freeman. Harvard University Press, 1983.

Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering.

Aeschylus

Agamemnon

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Topic

School of hard knocks Learning from mistakes Wisdom

Speaker

Chorus (Greek drama)

Author

Aeschylus

Source

Agamemnon

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragic play Greek theater

Language

Greek

Time

458 BC 450s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aeschylus. Agamemnon. 458 BCE, The Dionysia, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Aeschylus. "Agamemnon." The Oresteia: Agamemnon; The Libation Bearers; The Eumenides, edited and translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 1984.

Many evil men are rich, and good men poor,
But we shall not exchange with them our excellence for riches.

Solon

Quoted in Plutarch's Lives, by Plutarch

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Topic

Virtue Wealth

Speaker

Solon

Author

Plutarch

Source

Solon Plutarch's Lives

Language

Greek

Time

560 BC 560s BC 6th century BC

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Solon. Quoted in "Solon." Parallel Lives by Plutarch. c. 2nd century BC, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Solon. Quoted in "Solon." Greek Lives, written by Plutarch, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2009.

There is one thing alone
that stands the brunt of life throughout its course:
a quiet conscience.

Euripides

Hippolytus

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Topic

Conscience Inner peace

Speaker

Phaedra

Author

Euripides

Source

Hippolytus

Medium

Play

Genre

Greek tragedy Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

428 BC 420s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Euripides. Ἱππόλυτος [Hippolytus]. 428 BC, City Dionysia festival, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Euripides. "Hippolytus." Euripides I: Alcestis, Medea, The Children of Heracles, Hippolytus, edited and translated by Richard Lattimore, et. al. University of Chicago Press, 2013.

But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Bravery Courage Taking risks Going for it

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s 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.

As to diseases make a habit of two things-to help, or at least, to do no harm.

Hippocrates

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Topic

Practicing medicine Sickness and illness

Author

Hippocrates

Source

Epidemics

Statement Type

Oath

Language

Greek

Time

370 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hippocrates. Epidemics I. c. 4th century BC, second constitution, pt. 11.

Current Citation

Hippocrates. "Epidemics I." Hippocratic Writings, translated by J. Chadwick and W. N. Mann, et al. Penguin Classics, 1984, second constitution, pt. 11.

The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

Archilochus

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Topic

Hedgehogs and foxes Nature of knowledge Knowledge

Author

Archilochus

Language

Greek

Time

600 BC 600s BC 7th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Archilocus. The Fox and the Hedgehog. c. 650, fragment 103.

Current Citation

Archilocus. Quoted in The Fox and the Hedgehog, written by Isaiah Berlin. Princeton University Press, 2013.

Our constitution is named a democracy, because it is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But our laws secure equal justice for all in their private disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sectional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we care the same spirit into our daily relations with one another... Open and friendly in our private intercourse, in our public acts we keep strictly within the control of law. We acknowledge the restraint of authority, and to the laws, more especially to those which offer protection to the oppressed and those unwritten ordinances whose transgression brings admitted shame.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Democracy Rule of law

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s 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.

Fix your eyes on the greatness of Athens as you have it before you day by day, fall in love with her, and when you feel her great, remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action... So they gave their bodies to the commonwealth and received each for his own memory, praise that will never die, and with it the grandest of all memorials, not that in which their mortal bones are laid, but a home in the minds of men, where their glory remains fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion comes fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion comes by. For the whole earth is the memorial of famous men; and their story is not graven only on stone over their native earth, but lives on far away, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men's lives.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Great men Heroes Dying for one's country

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s 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.

It is not possible with mortal mind to search out the purposes of the gods.

Pindar

More information about this quote

Topic

Inscrutability of God God's plan

Author

Pindar

Language

Greek

Time

438 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Pindar. Fragment 61. c. 418 BC.

Love, unconquerable,
Waster of rich men, keeper
Of warm lights and all-night vigil
In the soft face of a girl:
Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor!
Even the pure immortals cannot escape you,
And mortal man, in his one day's dusk,
Trembles before your glory.

Sophocles

Antigone

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Topic

Power of love Love

Speaker

Chorus

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.

To break a treaty is contempt for the gods. But to outwit an enemy is not only just and glorious-but profitable and sweet.

Plutarch

Plutarch's Lives

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Topic

Treaties Enemies

Author

Plutarch

Source

Plutarch's Lives

Genre

Biography

Language

Greek

Time

100 100s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plutarch. "Agesilaus." Βίοι Παράλληλοι [Parallel Lives]. c. 2nd century.

Current Citation

Plutarch. "Agesilaus." Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Love distills desire upon the eyes,
love brings bewitching grace into the heart
of those he would destroy.
I pray that love may never come to me
with murderous intent,
in rhythms measureless and wild.
Not fire nor stars have stronger bolts
than those of Aphrodite sent
by the hand of Eros, Zeus' child.

Euripides

Hippolytus

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Topic

Power of love Love

Speaker

Chorus

Author

Euripides

Source

Hippolytus

Medium

Play

Genre

Greek tragedy Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

428 BC 420s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Euripides. Ἱππόλυτος [Hippolytus]. 428 BC, City Dionysia festival, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Euripides. "Hippolytus." Euripides I: Alcestis, Medea, The Children of Heracles, Hippolytus, edited and translated by Richard Lattimore, et. al. University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Tuning the lyre and handling the harp are no accomplishments of mine, but rather taking in hand a city that was small and inglorious and making it glorious and great.

Themistocles

Quoted in Plutarch's Lives, by Plutarch

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Topic

Political leadership Statecraft

Speaker

Themistocles

Author

Plutarch

Source

Plutarch's Lives

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

119 110s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Themistocles. Quoted in "Themistocles." Parallel Lives by Plutarch. c. 2nd century BC, ch. 2, sect. 3.

Current Citation

Themistocles. Quoted in "Themistocles." Parallel Lives by Plutarch. Oxford University Press, 2009, ch. 2, sect. 3.

Creatures of a day. What is someone? What is no one? Man is the dream of a shadow. But when the brilliance given by Zeus comes, a shining light is on man, and a gentle lifetime.

Pindar

Pythian Odes

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Topic

Ephemeral nature of life God's favor

Author

Pindar

Source

Pythian Odes

Medium

Poem

Language

Greek

Time

446 BC 440s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pindar. Pythian Odes. c. 474, pythian 8.

Current Citation

Pindar. The Complete Odes, translated by Anthony Verity. Oxford University Press, 2008, pythian 8.