Of all human ills, greatest is fortune's wayward tyranny.

τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης
οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν μεῖζον ἀνθρώποις κακόν.

Sophocles

Ajax

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More information about this quote

Topic

Bad luck Fortune The human condition

Speaker

Tecmessa

Author

Sophocles

Source

Ajax

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragic play Greek theater

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Playwright Writer

From

Greece Europe Ancient Greece

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Sophocles. Αἴας [Ajax]. c. 441 BCE, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Sophocles. "Ajax." Electra and Other Plays, translated by David Raeburn. Penguin Classics, 2008.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Sophocles about bad luck: “Of all human ills, greatest is fortune's wayward tyranny.”
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A quote by Sophocles about bad luck: “Of all human ills, greatest is fortune's wayward tyranny.”
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A quote by Sophocles about bad luck: “Of all human ills, greatest is fortune's wayward tyranny.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about The human condition

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is stuck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be.

William Hazlitt

More information about this quote
Topic
Laughter Crying The human condition

Author

William Hazlitt
Language
English
Time
1818 1810s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Hazlitt, William. "On Wit and Humour." Lectures on the English Comic Writers. c. 1818, Surrey Institution, London, England, UK.

Another quote from the 5th century BC

For the one thing even God cannot do is change the past.

Agathon

Quoted in The Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle

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More information about this quote
Topic
God's power God Changing the past The past
Speaker
Agathon

Author

Aristotle
Source
The Nicomachean Ethics
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics], written by Aristotle. c. 350 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Nicomachean Ethics, written by Aristotle, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing Company, 2019, bk. 6, ch. 2.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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More information about this quote
Topic
Astronomy The night sky
Speaker
Socrates

Author

Plato
Source
Republic
Medium
Philosophical dialogue Dialogue
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

Another quote originally in Greek

Of all the creatures that breathe and move across the earth, there is nothing feebler than man.

Homer

The Odyssey

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More information about this quote
Topic
Human frailty Nature of man

Author

Homer
Source
The Odyssey
Medium
Poem
Genre
Epic poem
Language
Greek
Time
700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 18, l. 130.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 18, l. 130.