ELECTRA: And let no man committing wicked acts
believe that if he runs the first leg well,
he is defeating justice, not before
he moves across the finish line and ends
the last lap in his life.

[ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ:ὧδέ τις κακοῦργος ὢν
μή μοι τὸ πρῶτον βῆμ᾽ ἐὰν δράμῃ καλῶς,
955νικᾶν δοκείτω τὴν Δίκην, πρὶν ἂν πέλας
γραμμῆς ἵκηται καὶ τέλος κάμψῃ βίου.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 954ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Johnston (2009), l. 1152]
    (Source)

Speaking to the corpse of Ægisthus, who slew her father, Agamemnon.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Let no villain,
Tho' the first stage of his career he run
With prosperous Fortune, think he hath outstripp'd
Avenging Justice, till he reach the goal,
And end his life.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Let none suppose, though he have run the first stage of his course with joy, that he will get the better of Justice, till he have reached the goal and ended his career.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Let not a man, if he run the first course well, think he will win the victory, before he comes nigh the line, and turns the end of life.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

Let none dream, though at starting he run well,
That he outrunneth Justice, ere he touch
The very goal and reach the bourn of life.
[tr. Way (1896)]

O vaunt not, if one step be proudly made
In evil, that all Justice is o'ercast:
Vaunt not, ye men of sin, ere at the last
The thin-drawn marge before you glimmereth
Close, and the goal that wheels 'twixt life and death.
[tr. Murray (1905)]

So let no evildoer suppose, even if he runs the first step well, that he will get the better of Justice, until he comes to the end of the finish-line and makes the last turn in life.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

Let every criminal like him know that just because his first criminal steps went according to his wishes that he has not defeated Justice before his life’s end.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]

May every criminal
see that he'll never win the race with Justice!
He may run quick at first, but play it out:
run on, right to the finish line of life.
[tr. Wilson (2016)]


 
Added on 28-Jan-25 | Last updated 28-Jan-25
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