“ If thou the stranger’s righteous cause decline His is the sufferance, but the shame is thine. ”
Homer, Odyssey (c. 850 BC). copy citation
| Author | Homer |
|---|---|
| Source | Odyssey |
| Topic | shame strangers |
| Date | c. 850 BC |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Alexander Pope |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3160/3160-h/3160-h.htm |
Context
“Thy well-knit frame unprofitably strong, Speaks thee a hero, from a hero sprung: But the just gods in vain those gifts bestow, O wise alone in form, and grave in show! Heavens! could a stranger feel oppression’s hand Beneath thy roof, and couldst thou tamely stand! If thou the stranger’s righteous cause decline His is the sufferance, but the shame is thine.”
To whom, with filial awe, the prince returns: “That generous soul with just resentment burns; Yet, taught by time, my heart has learn’d to glow For others’ good, and melt at others’ woe; But, impotent those riots to repel, I bear their outrage, though my soul rebel;”
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