ELECTRA: What deceived you the most, what you misunderstood,
Is that someone cannot be strong because of money.
Money can only stay with us for a brief time.
Character is strength, not money.
Character always stands at our sides and bears our troubles.
Wealth shacks up with fools unjustly and then disappears
Leaving their houses after it bloomed for a little while.

[ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: ὃ δ᾿ ἠπάτα σε πλεῖστον οὐκ ἐγνωκότα,
ηὔχεις τις εἶναι τοῖσι χρήμασι σθένων·
τὰ δ᾿ οὐδὲν εἰ μὴ βραχὺν ὁμιλῆσαι χρόνον.
ἡ γὰρ φύσις βέβαιος, οὐ τὰ χρήματα.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ αἰεὶ παραμένουσ᾿ αἴρει κακά·
ὁ δ᾿ ὄλβος ἀδίκως καὶ μετὰ σκαιῶν ξυνὼν
ἐξέπτατ᾿ οἴκων, σμικρὸν ἀνθήσας χρόνον.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 938ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
    (Source)

Addressing the corpse of Aegisthus.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

But here lay
Thy error; thou didst deem thyself a man
Able to rule, because thou wert possess'd
Of wealth, which in itself is nought, and stays
For a short season only with its owner:
But Nature, and not Gold, is ever firm;
Nature abides with man, and can remove
Evils the most severe, while lawless Gold,
That inmate of the wicked, takes his flight
From mansions where he flourish'd but a moment
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Herein lay thy grievous error, due to ignorance; thou thoughtest thyself some one, relying on thy wealth, but this is naught save to stay with us a space. 'Tis nature that stands fast, not wealth. For it, if it abide unchanged, exalts man's horn. But riches dishonestly acquired and in the hands of fools, soon take their flight, their blossom quickly shed.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Which thing has most deceived thee, not knowing it. Thou didst boast to be somebody, relying on thy wealth; but wealth is naught, except to tarry with us for a little time. But nature is stable; not money: since the one ever remaining uplifts her head; but wealth unjust, and dwelling with the foolish, is wont to flit from the house, having flourished for a short season.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

This was thy strong delusion, blind of heart,
Through pride of wealth to boast thee some great one!
Nought wealth is, save for fleeting fellowship.
'Tis character abideth, not possessions:
This, ever-staying, lifteth up the head;
But wealth by vanity gotten, held of fools,
Takes to it wings; as a flower it fadeth soon.
[tr. Way (1896)]

And then the lie of lies that dimmed thy brow,
Vaunting that by thy gold, thy chattels, Thou
Wert Something; which themselves are nothingness,
Shadows, to clasp a moment ere they cease.
The thing thou art, and not the things thou hast,
Abideth, yea, and bindeth to the last
Thy burden on thee: while all else, ill-won
And sin-companioned, like a flower o'erblown,
Flies on the wind away.
[tr. Murray (1905)]

This deceived you the most, in your ignorance: you professed to be some one, strong in your wealth, but that is nothing, except to associate with briefly. It is nature that is secure, not wealth; for, always standing by, it takes away troubles; but prosperity, when it lives wickedly and with fools, flies out of the house, flowering for a short time.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

And you, Aigisthus, because of your lack of intelligence, fell into a big trap which is that you thought that the great wealth made you important. Yet wealth is not something you can have for long.
A man’s strength is his nature, not his wealth because that is what stays with us and that is what defeats our troubles. When the unjust joy falls into sinful ways, it blossoms in the house for a very short time before it flies away again.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]

But most of all,
you were so ignorant you were deceived
in claiming to be someone because your strength
was in your wealth. But that’s not worth a thing --
its presence is short lived. What stays secure
is not possessions but one’s nature, which stands
beside you and takes away your troubles.
But when riches live with fools unjustly,
they bloom a little while, then flee the house.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]

Now here's where you deceived yourself the most: that you had wealth, and thought it made you someone. But money's nothing: here and gone again. Trust nature, it's secure. Riches are not. Nature remains forever, helps in trouble. Prosperity that lives a while with fools briefly flowers with evil, then flies from home.
[tr. Wilson (2016)]


 
Added on 21-Jan-25 | Last updated 4-Feb-25
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