Agathon

Agathon (Greek: Ἀγάθων, Agáthōn; c. 448 – 400 BCE) was an Athenian tragic poet and friend of Euripides. Quotes Greek text cited from B. Snell, R. Kannicht, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, vol. I (Göttingen, 1986). μόνου γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ θεὸς στερίσκεται,ἀγένητα ποιεῖν ἅσσ᾿ ἂν ᾖ πεπραγμένα. This only is denied even to God,The power to make what has been done undone. Frg. 5 TrGF (tr. H. Rackham, 1926) Alternative translation: Not even the gods can change the past. τέχνη τύχην ἔστερξε καὶ τύχη τέχνην. Art loves chance, and chance loves art. Frg. 6 TrGF (tr. R. W. Browne, 1850) φαῦλοι βροτῶν γὰρ τοῦ πονεῖν ἡσσώμενοιθανεῖν ἐρῶσιν. Small men, by toil o'ercome, desire to die. Frg. 7 TrGF (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897) τάχ᾿ ἄν τις εἰκὸς αὐτὸ τοῦτ᾿ εἶναι λέγοι,βροτοῖσι πολλὰ τυγχάνειν οὐκ εἰκότα. One might perhaps say that this very thing is probable,that many things happen to men that are not probable. Frg. 9 TrGF (tr. J. H. Freese, G. Striker, 2020) ἰδίας ὁδοὺς ζητοῦσι φιλόπονοι φύσεις. Toil-loving natures their own paths pursue. Frg. 21 TrGF (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897) Attributed Ἀγάθων ἔφη· τὸν ἄρχοντα τριῶν δεῖ μεμνῆσθαι· πρῶτον ὅτι ἀνθρώπων ἄρχει, δεύτερον ὅτι νόμοις ἄρχει, τρίτον ὅτι οὐκ ἀεὶ ἄρχει. Every ruler must remember three things. Firstly, that he rules man; secondly, that he rules according to law, and thirdly, that he does not rule for ever. T 26 TrGF; reported by Stobaeus, Anthology, IV.5.24 External links Agathon Category:Playwrights from Greece Category:BCE births Category:BCE deaths Category:LGBT people