Epigrams are witty, often paradoxical statements that make a clever point. They tend to be more literary and satirical.

Aphorisms are more straightforward wisdom statements, often about how to live or work. They’re practical principles condensed into memorable form.

#aphorisms #epigrams

playground comebacks of the 18th century

#epigrams #poetry #alexanderpope #quote #quotes #quotation

Armand D'Angour's recent posting of a lyric of Anacreon (https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:c2i5hfc7ezyxfuhjt2a27f4y/post/3ltfcqpn2zc27) reminded me of reading a sepulchral epigram of Callimachus when I was a schoolboy:

Δωδεκέτη τὸν παῖδα πατὴρ ἀπέθηκε Φίλιππος ἐνθάδε, τὴν πολλὴν ἐλπίδα, Νικοτέλην

Here's a computer generated phonemic transcription:

dɔː.de.ké.tɛː tòn pâi̯.da pa.tɛ̀ːr a.pé.tʰɛː.ke pʰí.lip.pos en.tʰá.de, tɛ̀ːn pol.lɛ̀ːn el.pí.da ni.ko.té.lɛːn

Translation:

Here Philippos, a father, laid his twelve year old son, his great hope, Nikoteles.

As a teenager, I was struck by the elegant simplicity and pathos of these lines.

Decades later, as a parent, the pathos of the lines strikes me so much more deeply. I also feel a bond both with Philippos, separated as we are by oceans and millennia, and with my younger self, sensitive in adolescent way to the pathos, yet then unacquainted with the paternal emotions stirring that father's grief and disappointment. A triad of sensibility....

"Um, actually," I hear some reply guy ask, "are you sure that Philippos and his son even existed and that they're not just fictions created by Callimachus?"

I'm not sure, because I don't know enough about this literature, but I'm also not sure if anybody, even amongst classical scholars, knows for sure whether these two people had any material existence. I am sure, however, that their material existence or otherwise doesn't matter to me, because as characters, fictional or not, they are real to me; my triad of sensibility endures. But now we're wading into philosophy...

If you can't read the Greek, try your best with the phonemic transcription, so that you can hear the alliteration and repetition of the sound /p/ and that heartbreaking conclusion with the sound of the boy's name.

#Literature #Callimachus #GreekLiterature #Epigrams #Greek #Parenting #Fathers

Whatever is placed on the table, you sweep left and right...

You hide these things in your greasy napkin and give them to your slave to carry home.

The rest of us recline at the table, relaxed and inattentive.

If you have any feeling of shame, Caecilianus, return the dinner to the table.

It is not for tomorrow that I invited you to dine! (mar) #Epigrams

Happiness is a Hot Potato, best passed on quickly without responsibility.

#ModernWisdom #Epigrams #ShitpostingForBeginners

i prefer to think in -ishes, but never wishes, for more than everything comes partial, while nothingish comes whole.

#poem #poetry #microPoem #microPoetry #epigram #epigrams