Hello all —
I was flipping through Mullach’s Fragmenta when I came across this saying:
- Ὥσπερ ὁ ἰὸς σίδηρον, οὕτως ὁ φθόνος τὴν ἔχουσαν αὐτὸν ψυχὴν ἐξαναψήχει.
My Greek is rusty (cough), so I’m not certain what “τὴν ἔχουσαν αὐτὸν” is doing for “ψυχὴν.” I assumed it was redundant, something like “the soul of the possessor [of envy].” Thus, my loose translation:
- Like rust to iron, so envy corrodes the envious soul.
I found a different translation from Ed Sanders:
- As rust attaches to iron, so phthonos does to the possessing soul itself.
Are these translations more or less equivalent? Sorry to bug y’all with such a small question; I just need an experienced pair of eyes.
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Bonus round!
- ‘’Oσῳ γὰρ ἂν φθονῇς, τοσούτῳ μειζόνων γίνῃ πρόξενος ἀγαθῶν τῷ φθονουμένῳ.
For such a laconic bunch, this maxim seems rather clunky. I did my best:
- The greater your envy, the more you shall become a guarantor of greater goods for those you envy.
Any mistakes or thoughts on tidying it up? (I’m translating the first subjunctive rather freely, I know.)
Thanks in advance!