“ Ungenerous were the man, and base of heart, Who takes the kind, and pays the ungrateful part: Chiefly the man, in foreign realms confined, Base to his friend, to his own interest blind: All, all your heroes I this day defy; Give me a man that we our might may try. ”
Homer, Odyssey (c. 850 BC). copy citation
| Author | Homer |
|---|---|
| Source | Odyssey |
| Topic | interest heart |
| 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
“Stand forth, ye wrestlers, who these pastimes grace! I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race. In such heroic games I yield to none, Or yield to brave Laodamas alone: Shall I with brave Laodamas contend? A friend is sacred, and I style him friend. Ungenerous were the man, and base of heart, Who takes the kind, and pays the ungrateful part: Chiefly the man, in foreign realms confined, Base to his friend, to his own interest blind: All, all your heroes I this day defy; Give me a man that we our might may try. Expert in every art, I boast the skill To give the feather’d arrow wings to kill; Should a whole host at once discharge the bow, My well-aim’d shaft with death prevents the foe: Alone superior in the field of Troy, Great Philoctetes taught the shaft to fly.”
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