Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes, son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete. These, together with fragments of some of his other plays, provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, and are used to define it...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPoet
wealth excellent
Wealth--the most excellent of all gods.
habit crabs walks
You cannot make a crab walk straight.
dream race darkness
Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail as the foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but darkness, as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream.
truth-is foe
The truth is forced upon us, very quickly, by a foe.
care salary vote
You vote yourselves salaries out of the public funds and care only for your own personal interests; hence the state limps along.
country men able
A man should be able to stand up under any disaster for his country's good.
thinking break-off trying
If you strike upon a thought that baffles you, break off from that entanglement and try another, so shall your wits be fresh to start again.
lying climbing arses
To plunder, to lie, to show your arse, are three essentials for climbing high.
teacher crabs teach
You cannot teach a crab to walk straight.
clever wine mind
Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.
stupid ignorance forever
Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.
life wise wisdom
Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life.
long people justice
Look at the orators in our republics; as long as they are poor, both state and people can only praise their uprightness; but once they are fattened on the public funds, they conceive a hatred for justice, plan intrigues against the people and attack the democracy.
no-friends ending-hunger world-hunger
Hunger knows no friend but its feeder.