Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC) is the great Greek Tragedian of Classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed 95 plays to him but, according to the Suda, it was 92 at most. Of these, 18 or 19 have survived more or less complete and there are also fragments, some substantial, of most of the other plays.
These are the Top Ten Quotes from Euripides.
10. “The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate.” – Ægeus, Frag. 7
9. “Cleverness is not wisdom. And not to think mortal thoughts is to see few days.” – Bacchæ l. 395
8. “Events will take their course, it is no good of being angry at them; he is happiest who wisely turns them to the best account.” – Bellerophon, (Fragment 298)
7. “A bad beginning makes a bad ending.” – Melanippe the Wise (fragment)
6. “It is said that gifts persuade even the gods.” – Medea, Line 964
5. “Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.” – Phœnix Frag. 809
4. “[T]his is slavery, not to speak one’s thought.” – Line 392 (Jocasta); translated by Elizabeth Wyckoff; as found in Euripides IV: Helen, The Phoenician Women, Orestes, ed. Griffith, Most, Grene & Lattimore
3. “The credit we get for wisdom is measured by our success.” – Hippolytus l. 701, translated by Edward P. Coleridge
2. “Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.” – Helen (412 BC), as translated by Richmond Lattimore
1. “Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.” – Orestes l. 298, as translated by William Arrowsmith
No comments yet. You should be kind and add one!
Our apologies, you must be logged in to post a comment.