On the Nature of Art and WisdomἈποσπάσματα
Simylus the Elegiac Poet On the Nature of Art and Wisdom PDF
The elegiac work On the Nature of Art and Wisdom, attributed to the poet Simylus, is a fragmentary collection of philosophical verse. It survives only through three quoted passages preserved by later authors, a common transmission path for lost Greek poetry. The title indicates its likely focus on the concepts of art or craft and wisdom. Based on this title and its elegiac form, the fragments presumably address the nature and value of artistic skill, the definition and pursuit of wisdom, and offer gnomic reflection on practical and philosophical knowledge. This aligns with the instructional tradition of elegy exemplified by poets such as Theognis. The work possesses no independent manuscript tradition and is known exclusively from these later citations, being collected in modern editions of Greek poetic fragments. While its ancient influence is untraceable due to its fragmentary state, it remains a minor but notable datum within the study of Greek elegiac poetry, particularly regarding its application to didactic and philosophical subjects.
| book xiii | Οὔτε φύσις ἱκανὴ γίνεται τέχνης ἄτερ πρὸς οὐδὲν ἐπιτήδευμα παράπαν οὐδενί, οὔτε πάλι τέχνη μὴ φύσιν κεκτημένη. τούτων ὁμοίως τοῖν δυοῖν συνηγμένων εἰς ταὐτὸν ἔτι δεῖ προσλαβεῖν χορηγίαν, ἔρωτα, μελέτην, καιρὸν εὐφυῆ, χρόνον, κριτὴν τὸ ῥηθὲν δυνάμενον συναρπάσαι. ἐν ᾧ γὰρ ἂν τούτων τις ἀπολειφθεὶς τύχῃ, οὐκ ἔρχετ’ ἐπὶ τὸ τέρμα τοῦ προκειμένου. φύσις θέλησις ἐπιμέλει’ εὐταξία σοφοὺς τίθησι κἀγαθούς, ἐτῶν δέ τοι ἀριθμὸς οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν γῆρας ποιεῖ. |
| book xiv | Πέντ’ εἰσὶν ἃς ἄνθρωπος αἰσθήσεις ἔχει, ἁφὴν ὅρασιν ἀκοὴν γεῦσιν ὄσφρησιν· μία τούτων ἁπασῶν ἐστι κυριωτάτη ἀκοή· φαγὼν γὰρ οὐδὲ εἷς ἐστιν σοφός, οὐδ’ ἁψάμενος οὐδ’ εἰσιδὼν τὸ λυσιτελές· ἐκ τοῦ δ’ ἀκούειν μανθάνειν τε τἀγαθά πολλοὶ φρόνιμοι γεγόνασι· ταύτην γὰρ μίαν ὁ νοῦς ἑαυτῷ κατέλιπεν διδάσκαλον, ὥσπερ δικαστὴν ἢ κριτὴν ἢ κύριον. |
| book xv | Κοινῶς ποιητὰς πάντας ἔθος ἐστὶν καλεῖν καὶ τοὺς περιττοὺς τῇ φύσει καὶ τοὺς κακούς· ἔδει δὲ κρίνειν. Ἡ δ’ ἀγχοῦ Ταρπηία παραὶ Καπετώλιον αἶπος [para]ναίουσα Ῥώμης ἔπλετο τειχολέτις, Κελτῶν ἣ στέρξασα γαμήλια λέκτρα γενέσθαι [para]σκηπτούχῳ, πατέρων οὐκ ἐφύλαξε δόμους. τὴν δ’ οὐτἂρ Βόϊοί τε καὶ ἔθνεα μυρία Κελτῶν [para]κειράμενοι ῥείθρων ἐκτὸς ἔθεντο Πάδου, ὅπλα δ’ ἐπιπροβαλόντες ἀρειμανέων ἀπὸ χειρῶν κούρῃ ἐπὶ στυγερῇ κόσμον ἔθεντο φόνου. |