Archilochus

Archilochus (714-676 B.C.) was a celebrated Greek elegiac and lyric poet of ancient Greece, credited with the invention of iambic metre. His verses are noted for a satiric and often bitter vein. The rhetorician Quintilian said, "We find in him the greatest force of expression, sententious statements that are not only vigorous but also terse and vibrant, and a great abundance of vitality and energy, to the extent that in the view of some his inferiority to anyone results from a defect of subject matter rather than poetic genius."

Wisdom & Quotes

• The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one great thing.

-fragment

• We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.
• Nothing in the world can surprise me now. Nothing

is impossible or too wonderful, for Zeus, father
of the Olympians, has turned midday into black night
by shielding light from the blossoming sun,
and now dark terror hangs over mankind.
Anything may happen, so do not be amazed if beasts
on dry land seek pasture with dolphins in
the ocean, and those beasts who loved sunny hills
love crashing seawaves more than the warm mainland.

• My Soul, my Soul, all disturbed by sorrows inconsolable,

Bear up, hold out, meet front-on the many foes that rush on you
Now from this side and now that, enduring all such strife up close,
Never wavering; and should you win, don't openly exult,
Nor, defeated, throw yourself lamenting in a heap at home,
But delight in things that are delightful and, in hard times, grieve
Not too much – appreciate the rhythm that controls men's lives.

• Let the gods take care of everything. Many times

they resurrect a man whom disaster left lying
face down on the black earth. Many times they topple
a man and pin him, back to the soil, though he
was solid on his feet. A multitude of evils
batters him as he wanders hungry and mad.


Kuan Chung

Nearby pages
Archimago, Archimandrite, Archimedean screw, Archimedes, Archimedes Screw