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Quote by Xenophanes

“Everything comes from the earth, and everything ends in the earth.”

Author

Xenophanes, a Greek philosopher born around 570 BC in the Greek colony of Colophon and died around 476 BC, is considered one of the pioneers of Western philosophy. He is known for his profound thoughts on nature and the universe. Xenophanes emphasized the unity and infinity of the universe and proposed unique views on the nature of gods and humans. more

“Only great peace brings wealth to men and a flowering of honey-throated song, and to the gods ox-thighs burning and long-haired sheep flaming yellow on the sculpted altars, and to the young a love of wrestling and the flute and Bakchic dance. In the iron-covered shield the brown spider hangs his web. The sharpened spear and double-edge sword are flaked with rust. The noise of the brass trumpet is dead, and the honey of our dawnsleep is not dried from our eyelids. Streets clamor with happy outdoor banquets, and the lovely hymns sung by children spring like fire up into the bright air.”

Willis Barnstone Bakchylides

Author:Bakchylides

“Under cover a coward will strike from any side. I warn you, friend: watch out for his sting. Under every rock is a lurking scorpion.”

Willis Barnstone Praxilla

Author:Praxilla

“Goatherd, when you turn the corner by the oaks you'll see a freshly carved statue in fig wood. The bark is not peeled off. It is legless, earless, but strongly equipped with a dynamic phallus to perform the labor of Aphrodite. A holy hedge runs around the precinct where a perennial brook spills down from upper rocks and feeds a luxuriance of bay, myrtle and fragrant cypress trees. A grape vine pours its tendrils along a branch, and spring blackbirds echo in pure transparency of sound to high nightingales who echo back with pungent honey. Come, sit down, and beg Priapos to end my love for Daphnis. Butcher a young goat in sacrifice. If he will not, I make three vows: I will slay a young cow, a shaggy goat and a darling lamb I am raising. May God hear you and assent.”

Willis Barnstone Theokritos

Author:Theokritos

“Many poplars and many elms shook overhead, and close by, holy water swashed down noisily from a cave of the nymphs. Brown grasshoppers whistled busily through the dark foliage. Far treetoads gobbled in the heavy thornbrake. Larks and goldfinch sang, turtledoves were moaning, and bumblebees whizzed over the plashing brook. The earth smelled of rich summer and autumn fruit: we were ankle-deep in pears, and apples rolled all about our toes. With dark damson plums the young sapling branches trailed on the ground.”

Willis Barnstone Theokritos

Author:Theokritos