Οὐκ οἶδ᾽, οὐδἐπέοικεν μὴ μάθομες πονέεσθαι.
εἴ μοι καλὰ πέλει τὰ μελύδρια, καὶ τάδε μῶνα
κῦδος ἐμοὶ θήσοντι, τά μοι πάρος ὤπασε Μοῖρα·
εἰ δοὐχ ἁδέα ταῦτα, τί μοι ποτὶ πλείονα μοχθεῖν;
5 εἰ μὲν γὰρ βιότω διπλόον χρόνον ἄμμιν ἔδωκεν
Κρονίδας Μοῖρα πολύτροπος, ὥστἀνύεσθαι
τὸν μὲν ἐς εὐφροσύναν καὶ χάρματα, τὸν δἐπὶ μόχθῳ,
ἦν τάχα μοχθήσαντί ποθὕστερον ἐσθλὰ δέχεσθαι.
εἰ δὲ θεοὶ κατένευσαν ἕνα χρόνον ἐς βίον ἐλθεῖν
10 ἀνθρώποις, καὶ τόνδε βραχὺν καὶ μείονα πάντων,
ἐς πόσον δειλοὶ καμάτως κεἰς ἔργα πονεῦμες,
ψυχὰν δἄχρι τίνος ποτὶ κέρδεα καὶ ποτὶ τέχνας
βάλλομες, ἱμείροντες ἀεὶ πολὺ πλείονος ὄλβω;
λαθόμεθ ἄρα πάντες, ὅτι θνατοὶ γενόμεσθα,
15 χὠς βραχὺν ἐκ Μοίρας λάχομες χρόνον;
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Edmonds 1916
Loeb
Edmonds (eclectic), 1916 · 1916
The Editor

John Maxwell Edmonds (1875–1958) was a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, who produced the Loeb Classical Library editions of the Greek lyric poets, iambic and elegiac poets, and other fragmentary Greek poetry. A prolific but sometimes controversial editor, Edmonds was known for his willingness to supplement and restore fragmentary texts — an approach that drew criticism from more cautious scholars but made otherwise inaccessible fragments available to a wider audience.

About This Edition

Edmonds's Loeb editions present fragmentary Greek poetry with facing English translations. Following Loeb convention, the text is based on existing critical editions supplemented by Edmonds's own supplements and restorations. For fragmentary poetry, more reliable editions are now provided by later collections (e.g. D. L. Page, M. L. West, and the multi-volume Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum), but Edmonds's Loebs remain useful for their translations and accessibility.

Translator

J. M. Edmonds (Loeb Classical Library)

Text Basis

Edmonds's own eclectic text for the Loeb Classical Library.

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