Aeschylus Quotes & Sayings

Necessity is stronger far than art. — Aeschylus

Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word - every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus. — Aeschylus

For a single path leads to the house of Hades. — Aeschylus

Time, as it grows old, teaches all things. — Aeschylus

The so-called mother of the child isn't the child's begetter, but only a sort of nursing soil for the new-sown seed. The man, the one on top, is the true parent, while she, a stranger, foster's a stranger's sprout. — Aeschylus

The air is Zeus, Zeus earth, and Zeus the heaven, Zeus all that is, and what transcends them all. — Aeschylus

The power that holds the sky's majesty wins our worship. — Aeschylus

Whoever is new to power is always harsh. — Aeschylus

What atonement is there for blood spilt upon the earth? — Aeschylus

Take courage; pain's extremity soon ends. — Aeschylus

By the sword you did your work, and by the sword you die. — Aeschylus

For know that no one is free, except Zeus. — Aeschylus

The cure is in the house, not brought by other hands from distant places, but by its own, in agony and blood. — Aeschylus

A world of wealth is trash if men are wanting; men who have no wealth never find fortune smiling as their strength deserves. — Aeschylus

Sweet is a grief well ended. — Aeschylus

The high strength of men knows no content with limitation. — Aeschylus

Long tarries destiny, But comes to those who pray. — Aeschylus

The gods at will can shape a gladder strain, and from the lamentations at the graveside, a song of triumph may arise. — Aeschylus

If you will take me as your teacher, you will not kick against the pricks. — Aeschylus

When we sleep the soul is lit up ... by many eyes, and with them, we can see everything that we cannot see in the daytime. — Aeschylus

For the mighty, even to give away is grace. — Aeschylus

ATHENA: There are two sides to this dispute. I've heard only one half the argument. ( ... ) So you two parties, summon your witnesses, set out your proofs, with sworn evidence to back your stories. Once I've picked the finest men in Athens, I'll return. They'll rule fairly in this case, bound by a sworn oath to act with justice. — Aeschylus

Many among men are they who set high the show of honor, yet break justice. — Aeschylus

Ah, lives of men! When prosperous they glitter - Like a fair picture; when misfortune comes - A wet sponge at one blow has blurred the painting. — Aeschylus

As long as there are men the bulwark is safe. — Aeschylus

But to speak ill of people at hand who give no cause for blame, is to assume a right far distinct from justice. — Aeschylus

PROMETHEUS: 'Oh, it is easy for the one who stands outside the prison-wall of pain to exhort and teach the one who suffers — Aeschylus

Know yourself and fit yourself to new fashions. For there is a new ruler among the gods. — Aeschylus

Still to the sufferer comes, as due from God, a glory that to suffering owes its birth. — Aeschylus

Only when a man's life comes to its end in prosperity dare we pronounce him happy. — Aeschylus

Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times. — Aeschylus

Misfortune wandering the same track lights now upon one and now upon another. — Aeschylus

Obedience, you know, is Good Luck's mother, wedded to Salvation, they say. — Aeschylus

Suffering brings experience. — Aeschylus

Words are doctors for the diseased temper. — Aeschylus

Self-will in the man who does not reckon wisely is by itself the weakest of all things. — Aeschylus

Simple is the speech of truth. — Aeschylus

Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. — Aeschylus

For mortal kind taketh thought only for the day, and hath no more surety than the shadow of smoke. — Aeschylus

Nought is there in wealth That serves as bulwark 'gainst the subtle stealth Of Destiny and Doom. — Aeschylus

There is no disgrace in an enemy suffering ill at an enemy's hand, when you hate mutually. — Aeschylus

The man whose authority is recent is always stern. — Aeschylus

When a tongue fails to send forth appropriate shafts, there might be a word to act as healer of these. — Aeschylus

Unjustly men hate death, which is the greatest defence against their many ills. — Aeschylus

And though all streams flow from a single course to cleanse the blood from polluted hand, they hasten on their course in vain. — Aeschylus

The field of doom bears death as its harvest. — Aeschylus

The man who does ill, ill must suffer too. — Aeschylus

Whenever a man makes haste, God too hastens with him. — Aeschylus

Unions in wedlock are perverted by the victory of shameless passion that masters the female among men and beasts. — Aeschylus

In the lack of judgment great harm arises, but one vote cast can set right a house. — Aeschylus

Don't you know this, that words are doctors to a diseased temperment? — Aeschylus

For children preserve the fame of a man after his death. — Aeschylus

Old men are always young enough to learn with profit. — Aeschylus

Alas, poor men, their destiny. When all goes well a shadow will overthrow it. If it be unkind one stroke of a wet sponge wipes all the picture out; and that is far the most unhappy thing of all.
-Cassandra — Aeschylus

For in the voyage of the heart, there is a freight of hatred, and the wind of wrath blows shrill. — Aeschylus

Truth is always the first casualty of war. — Aeschylus

Be bold and boast, just like the cock beside the hen. — Aeschylus

Let there be wealth without tears; enough for the wise man who will ask no further. — Aeschylus

For sufferers it is sweet to know before-hand clearly the pain that still remains for them. — Aeschylus

In war, the first casualty is truth. — Aeschylus

Of all the gods only death does not desire gifts. — Aeschylus

We must pronounce him fortunate who has ended his life in fair prosperity. — Aeschylus

Since long I've held silence a remedy for harm. — Aeschylus

ATHENA: You wish to be called righteous rather than act right. [ ... ] I say, wrong must not win by technicalities. — Aeschylus

Whosoe'er shall take the sword Shall perish by the sword. — Aeschylus

Old men are children once again a dream that sways and wavers into the hard light of day. — Aeschylus

Give me an answer which is plain to understand. — Aeschylus

Pleasantest of all ties is the tie of host and guest. — Aeschylus

I pray the gods some respite from the weary task of this long year's watch that lying on the Atreidae's roof on bended arm, dog- like, I have kept, marking the conclave of all night's stars, those potentates blazing in the heavens that bring winter and summer to mortal men, the constellations, when they wane, when they rise. — Aeschylus

I warn the marauder dragging plunder, chaotic, rich beyond all rights: he'll strike his sails, harried at long last, stunned when the squalls of torment break his spars to bits. — Aeschylus

In visions of the night, like dropping rain,
Descend the many memories of pain — Aeschylus

Wisdom comes through suffering.
Trouble, with its memories of pain,
Drips in our hearts as we try to sleep,
So men against their will
Learn to practice moderation.
Favours come to us from gods. — Aeschylus

Art is far feebler than necessity. — Aeschylus

The anvil of justice is planted firm, and fate who makes the sword does the forging in advance. — Aeschylus

Man shall learn from man's lot. — Aeschylus

I would rather be ignorant than knowledgeable of evils. — Aeschylus

For the poison of hatred seated near the heart doubles the burden for the one who suffers the disease; he is burdened with his own sorrow, and groans on seeing another's happiness. — Aeschylus

It is yours women's to be silent and stay within doors. — Aeschylus

Yet though a man gets many wounds in breast, He dieth not, unless the appointed time, The limit of his life's span, coincide; Nor does the man who by the hearth at home Sits still, escape the doom that Fate decrees. — Aeschylus

By Time and Age full many things are taught. — Aeschylus

But when the dust has drunk the blood of men, no resurrection comes for one who's dead. — Aeschylus

My heart's a dance of fear. — Aeschylus

For somehow this is tyranny's disease, to trust no friends. — Aeschylus

I have learned to hate all traitors, and there is no disease that I spit on more than treachery. — Aeschylus

For the lips of Zeus do not know how to lie, but bring to fulfilment every word. — Aeschylus

She looked just like a painting dying to speak. — Aeschylus

Oh, the torment bred in the race,
the grinding scream of death
and the stroke that hits the vein,
the hemorrhage none can staunch, the grief,
the curse no man can bear.
But there is a cure in the house, and not outside it, no,
not from others but from them,
their bloody strife. We sing to you,
dark gods beneath the earth.
Now hear, you blissful powers underground
answer the call, send help.
Bless the children, give them triumph now. — Aeschylus

The reward of suffering is experience.

— Aeschylus

Sophokles is a playwright fascinated in general by people who say no, people who resist compromise, people who make stumbling blocks of themselves, like Antigone or Ajax. — Aeschylus

Ares gives his verdict without witnesses. — Aeschylus

They sent forth men to battle, But no such men return; And home, to claim their welcome, Come ashes in an urn — Aeschylus

The great and amorous sky curved over the earth, and lay upon her as a pure lover. The rain, the humid flux descending from heaven for both man and animal, for both thick and strong, germinated the wheat, swelled the furrows with fecund mud and brought forth the buds in the orchards. And it is I who empowered these moist espousals, I the great Aphrodite ... — Aeschylus

My friends, whoever has had experience of evils knows how whenever a flood of ills comes upon mortals, a man fears everything; but whenever a divine force cheers on our voyage, then we believe that the same fate will always blow fair. — Aeschylus

But time growing old teaches all things. — Aeschylus

Bronze in the mirror of the form, wine of the mind. — Aeschylus

Courage! Suffering, when it climbs highest, lasts not long. — Aeschylus

At home there tarries like a lurking snake,
Biding its time, a wrath unreconciled,
A wily watcher, passionate to slake,
In blood, resentment for a murdered child. — Aeschylus

Who apart from the gods is without pain for his whole lifetime's length? — Aeschylus

God planteth in mortal men the cause of sin whensoever he wills utterly to destroy a house. — Aeschylus

Wiles and deceit are female qualities. — Aeschylus