Altho' by nature form'd
Without a genius apt for virtuous deeds.
We women are in mischiefs most expert.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Nature form'd our sex to good
Of slight capacity, but to revenge
Of ready and inventive subtlety.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

We women too art born
Most profitless indeed to noble works,
But cunningest devisers of all harms.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

We women, though by nature little apt for virtuous deeds, are most expert to fashion any mischief.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Besides also we women are, by nature, to good actions of the least capacity, but the most cunning inventors of every ill.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

Yea, our woman-nature 'tis --
Say they -- to be most helpless for all good,
But fashioners most cunning of all ill.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

And God hath made thee woman, things most vain
For help, but wondrous in the paths of pain.
[tr. Murray (1906)]

And women, though most helpless in doing good deeds,
Are of every evil the cleverest of contrivers.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

We were born women -- useless for honest purposes,
But in all kinds of evil skilled practitioners.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

And what is more,
We're women, quite unable to manage good
But none more skilled when it comes to doing harm.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

And furthermore we are women, unable to perform great deeds of valor, but most skillful architects of every evil.
[tr. Kovacs (Perseus)]

What's more, we are women, quite helpless in doing good but surpassing any master craftsman in working evil.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

We women might be awful at doing something good but we are very competent when we’re doing something evil. No one is better than us.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

And besides we are
women, most helpless for the good,
but skilled craftsmen of all that is evil.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

Besides, we possess a woman’s nature --
powerless to perform fine noble deeds,
but very skilled in every form of evil.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

Also we were born as women, very helpless when it comes to doing good, but very wise creators of all kinds of harm.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

And more than this, we are women, naturally most helpless [amēkhanai], when it comes to noble deeds [esthla], but for all evils [kaka] we are most skilled [sophai] contrivers.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Thus a woman ought
With friendly aid to share a woman's cares.
[tr. Potter (1783), l. 370ff]

For 'tis a woman's duty to exert
Her utmost efforts in a woman's cause.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

For it is meet that a woman should with a woman labor.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

For, truly, women ought to help each other.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

That woman woman's burden share, is meet.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]

Women in woman's need must sympathise.
[tr. Sheppard (1925)]

For women ought to give each other helping hands.
[tr. Warner (1951)]

Women ought to help each other.
[tr. Vellacott (1954)]

We are all women;
and it is right for us to shoulder one another's burdens.
[tr. Meagher (1986)]

Women should support one another.
[tr. Davie (2002)]

For 'tis a woman's bounden duty to share a sister's trouble.
[tr. Athenian Society (2006)]

Women should stick together, and help each other out.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]

We women must help one another.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]

For woman must with woman toil.
[tr. Ambrose et al. (2018)]

For, truly, women ought to help each other.
[tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]

AGAMΕΜΝΟΝ. How shall weak women; over men prevail?
HECUBA. Numbers are strong; add stratagem, resistless.
[tr. Potter (1781)]

AGAMEMNON:How can the female sex
O'er men obtain a conquest?
HECUBA:Numbers strike
A foe with terror, and the wiles of women
Are hard to be withstood.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

AGAMEMNON: And how shall the victory over men be to women?
HECUBA: Numbers are powerful, with stratagem invincible.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]

AGAMEMNON: How? -- women gain the mastery over men?
HECUBA: Mighty are numbers: joined with craft, resistless.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

AGAMEMNON: How are women to master men?
HECUBA: Numbers are a fearful thing, and joined to craft a desperate foe.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]

AGAMEMNON: How can women win against men?
HECUBA: Who can stand against a tribe
A wild tribe of wise women?
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]

AGAMEMNON: How can you women overpower a man?
HECUBA: Enough of them would scare you soon enough and with cunning they're a force hard to resist.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]

AGAMEMNON: But how will the women be able to overcome the strength of men?
HEKABE: Numbers, when joined with treachery, can cause great terror.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

AGAMEMNON:But how?
You are women. How will women defeat men?
HECUBA: There is unnerving strength in numbers, especially when
you add deceit.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]

But sure among all those
Who have with breath and reason been endued.
We women are the most unhappy race,
First with abundant gold are we constrain'd
To buy a husband, and in him receive
A haughty master. Still doth there remain
One mischief than this mischief yet more grievous.
The hazard whether we. procure a mate
Worthless or virtuous.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Thus is it, of all beings, that have life
And sense, we women are most wretched; first
With all our dearest treasures we must buy
A husband, and in him receive a lord:
And hardship this: a greater hardship yet
Awaits us; here's the question, if this lord
Prove gentle, or a tyrant.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

Aye, of all living and of reasoning things
Are woman the most miserable race:
Who first needs buy a husband at great price,
To take him then for owner of our lives:
For this ill is more keen than common ills.
And of essays most perilous is this,
Whether one good or evil do we take.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

Of all things that have life and sense we women are the most hapless creatures; first must we buy a husband at an exorbitant price, and o'er ourselves a tyrant set which is an evil worse than the first; and herein lies the most important issue, whether our choice be good or bad.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

But of all things as many as have life and intellect, we women are the most wretched race. Who indeed first must purchase a husband with excess of money, and receive him a lord of our persons; for this is a still greater ill than the former. And in this is the greatest risk, whether we receive a bad one or a good one.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

Surely, of creatures that have life and wit,
We women are of all things wretchedest,
Who, first, must needs, as buys the highest bidder,
Thus buy a husband, and our body's master
So win—for deeper depth of ill is this.
Nay, risk is dire herein, -- or shall we gain
An evil lord or good?
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

Oh,
Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow,
A herb most bruised is woman. We must pay
Our store of gold, hoarded for that one day,
To buy us some man's love; and lo, they bring
A master of our flesh! There comes the sting
Of the whole shame. And then the jeopardy,
For good or ill, what shall that master be.
[tr. Murray (1906)]

We women are the most unfortunate creatures.
Firstly, with an excess of wealth it is required
For us to buy a husband and take for our bodies
A master; for not to take one is even worse.
And now the question is serious whether we take
A good or bad one.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women
Are the most wretched. When, for an extravagant sum,
We have bought a husband, we must then accept him as
Possessor of our body. This is to aggravate
Wrong with worse wrong. Then the great question: will the man
We get be bad or good?
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

Of all creatures that live and have understanding
We women are the wretchedest breed alive;
First, we must use excessive amounts of cash
To buy our husbands, and what we get are masters
Of our bodies. This is the worst pain of all.
In fact, this is no small struggle, whether he’ll be
A good or bad one.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

Of all creatures that have breath and sensation, we women are the most unfortunate. First at an exorbitant price we must buy a husband and master of our bodies. [This misfortune is more painful than misfortune.] And the outcome of our life's striving hangs on this, whether we take a bad or a good husband.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]

Of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the most miserable of specimens! In the first place, at great expense we must buy a husband, taking a master to play tyrant with our bodies (this is an injustice that crowns the other one). And here lies the crucial issue for us, whether we get a good man or a bad.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

Of all the living things, of all those things that have a soul and a sense, we, yes we, the women, are the most pathetic!
Imagine!
We need to spend a fortune to buy us a man who -- what will he do? He will become the master of our bodies! And, it’s obvious, that this dangerous thing we do, becomes even more dangerous when we don’t find the right husband. Is he a good husband? Or is he a bad one? By the time you find that out it’s already too late.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

Of all creatures that have life and reason
we women are the sorriest lot:
first we must at a great expenditure of money
buy a husband and even take on a master
over our body: this evil is more galling than the first.
Here is the most challenging contest, whether we will get a bad man
or a good one.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

Of all things with life and understanding,
we women are the most unfortunate.
First, we need a husband, someone we get
for an excessive price. He then becomes
the ruler of our bodies. And this misfortune
adds still more troubles to the grief we have.
Then comes the crucial struggle: this husband
we have selected, is he good or bad?
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

Of every creature that’s alive and capable of thought
We women are most wretched.
First we must buy a husband with a massive dowry,
then subject our bodies to his mastery --
and that's the worse of the two evils.
In this the stakes are very high -- whether we get
a bad man or a good one.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

Of all things that have psūkhē and intelligence, we women are the most wretched creatures: first we must buy a husband at too high a price, and then acquire a master of our bodies—an evil thing [kakon] yet more evil [kakon].But in this lies the most important ordeal [agōn], whether our choice is good or bad [kakon].
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Of all things that have life and sense, we women are most wretched. For we are compelled to buy with gold a husband who is also -- worst of all -- the master of our person. And on his character, good or bad, our whole fate rests.
[Source]

Oddly enough, the first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity, in a young woman, boldness. This is surprising, and yet nothing is more natural. It is the two sexes tending to unite, and each acquiring the qualities of the other.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Strange it is, the first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity; in a girl it is boldness. This will surprise, and yet nothing is more simple; the two sexes have a tendency to approach, and each assumes the qualities of the other.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

And besides, although shyness is the first sign of true love in a youth, boldness is its token in a maid. This may seem strange, but nothing could be more simple. The sexes are drawing close, and in doing so each assumes the qualities of the other.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

And then, oddly enough, the first symptom of true love in a man is timidity, in a young woman, boldness. This is surprising, and yet nothing is more natural. It is the two sexes tending to unite, and each acquiring the qualities of the other.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

Hear this, and wisdom learn, ye witless fair!
Ne'er let false man with empty oaths deceive,
No protestations of the sex believe!
Is there a wish their ardent souls would gain;
they swear, they promise, and at length obtain;
The wish obtain'd, they fearless break their word,
Nor plighted faith, nor solemn vows regard.
[tr. Nott (1795), # 61; ll. 173ff.]

Henceforth let woman; never trust the oaths that man shall make,
Nor ever more his honeyed speech within her bosom take!
While yet the fire of his desire is hot within his breast,
What will he not to woman swear, to heav'n what not protest?
But let her in an evil hour resign her maiden trust,
And yield the blossom of her youth to sate his selfish lust,
Then what recks he of lavish oath, or vow, or whisper'd pray'r?
He triumphs in his perjuries, and spurns at her despair.
[tr. T. Martin (1861)]

Henceforth let never woman trust an oath than man shall swear,
Nor count the tender speeches true his lying lips declare:
For when with lusting soul he yearns some object to enjoy,
No oath, no promise then he deems too sacred to employ;
But when his soul is sated, and his burning passion dies,
He fears to break no plighted vows, cares nought for perjuries.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867)]

Let not a woman trust, since that first treason, a lover's
Desperate oath, none hope true lover's promise is earnest.
They, while fondly to win their amorous humour essayeth,
Fear no covetous oath, all false free promises heed not;
They if once lewd pleasure attain unruly possession,
Lo they fear not promise, of oath or perjury reck not.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]

Now, let woman no more trust her to man when he sweareth,
Ne'er let her hope to find or truth or faith in his pleadings,
Who when lustful thought forelooks to somewhat attaining,
Never an oath they fear, shall spare no promise to promise.
Yet no sooner they sate all lewdness and lecherous fancy,
Nothing remember of words and reck they naught of fore-swearing.
[tr. Burton (1893)]

Now, now, let no woman give credence to man's oath, let none hope for faithful vows from mankind; for while their eager desire strives for its end, nothing fear they to swear, nothing of promises forbear they: but instantly their lusting thoughts are satiate with lewdness, nothing of speech they remember, nothing of perjuries care.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]

Henceforth let no woman believe a man's oath, let none believe that a man's speeches can be trustworthy. They, while their mind desires something and longs eagerly to gain it, nothing fear to swear, nothing spare to promise; but as soon as the lust of their greedy mind is satisfied, they fear not then their words, they heed not their perjuries.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]

Hereafter let; no woman trust man's promises, or hope for faithful words; for when they wish to attain their desires, there is nothing they will not swear, no promise do they scruple to make: but once their desires have been satisfied, they fear no broken words and care nothing for their perjuries.
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]

Never let maid believe a lover's oath;
Nor hope a man be faithful to his troth;
Long as men's hearts are spurred by keen desire,
No oath they shrink from and no promise spare;
Soon as their sated lust begins to tire
No oath they heed and nought for falsehood care.
[tr. Symons-Jeune (1923)]

Henceforth, no woman trust the oath of man,
No woman dream the word of man is true:
They, whensoe'er they lust for anything,
Swear every oath and every promise make,
But, when their eager lust is satisfied,
Nor reck of oaths nor promises regard.
[tr. MacNaghten (1925)]

Henceforth let never listening maid believe
Protesting man! When their false hearts conceive
The selfish wish, to all but pleasure blind,
No words they spare, no oaths unuttered leave.
But when possession cloys their pampered mind,
No care have they for oaths, no words their honour bind.
[tr. Wright (1926)]

From this hour
may no woman believe what men say, for men (minds set upon a single end) will promise everything,
but once the shrewd mind satisfies its passion, it plunges forward (the broken promise merely words that trail behind tall bravery).
[tr. Gregory (1931)]

Let no woman ever believe any oath that a man swears,
or ever expect him to keep faith with his fine speeches!
When they want something, when they are anxious to get it,
they take oaths without fear, and pour out promises freely;
but just as soon as their hot desire is sated,
none of their lies & deceptions ever disturb them.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]

From now on let no woman believe a man's sworn promises.
From now on let no woman hope a man's talk is true.
So long as their desiring minds are eager to get something,
they swear to anything. No promise do they spare.
But as soon as the lust in their desirous intent is gratified,
they remember nothing they said, they care nothing for their lies.
[tr. Banks (1997)]

Now, no woman should believe a man’s pledges,
or believe there’s any truth in a man’s words:
when their minds are intent on their desire,
they have no fear of oaths, don’t spare their promises:
but as soon as the lust of their eager mind is slaked
they fear no words, they care nothing for perjury.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

Henceforth let no woman trust a man's sworn promise,
or hope that he'll ever be true to his given word,
for as long as his lustful heart is bent on possession
he'll shrink from no oath, stop short at no promises,
but the moment hte urge of his ardent mind is sated
he forgets all he's said, breaks oaths without a tremor.
[tr. Green (2005)]

Now already let no woman trust a man swearing,
let none hope that the speeches of man are faithful,
for whom while the desiring mind is eager to grasp something,
They fear to swear nothing, they spare to promise nothing.
But as soon as the lust of the desiring mind has been satisfied,
They feared the words as nothing, they care for the false oaths not at all.
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]

Frail women as we are, too oft our fears
Subdue us, but at other times our courage
By none can be exceeded.
[tr. Wodhall (1809)]

We are women, sometimes defeated by fear,
sometimes unsurpassed in courage.
[Source]

For when women
Share at their feasts the grape's bewitching juice;
From their licentious orgies, I pronounce
No good results.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

For where women have the delight of the grape-cluster at a feast, I say that none of their rites is healthy any longer.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

For where ’mong women
The grape’s sweet poison mingles with the feast,
Nought holy may we augur of such worship.
[tr. Milman (1865)]

When women drain the wine-cup at the feast,
Foul is the orgie, dangerous the disease.
[tr. Rogers (1872)]

For where the gladsome grape is found at women’s feasts, I deny that their rites have any longer good results.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

For when
In women's feasts the cluster's pride hath part,
No good, say I, comes of their revelry.
[tr. Way (1898)]

When once the gleam
Of grapes hath lit a Woman's Festival,
In all their prayers is no more health at all!
[tr. Murray (1902)]

For where women
have the sparkle of the vine in their festivities,
there, I say, nothing wholesome remains in their rituals.
[tr. Kirk (1970)]

As for women, my opinion is this: when the sparkle of sweet wine appears at their feasts, no good can be expected from their ceremonies.
[tr. Vellacott (1973)]

I tell you, when women
have the cluster’s refreshment at banquets,
there’s nothing healthy left about their orgies.
[tr. Neuburg (1988)]

Take my word,
when women are allowed to fast on wine, there is no
telling to what lengths their filthy minds will go!
[tr. Cacoyannis (1982)]

I say that feast where a woman takes
The gleaming grape is most diseased.
[tr. Blessington (1993)]

For whenever the liquid joy
of the grape comes into women's festivals, then, I assure, you,
there's nothing wholesome in their rites.
[tr. Esposito (1998)]

Because when women
get their sparkle at a feast from wine,
I say the entire ritual is corrupt.
[tr. Woodruff (1999)]

For when the women have
The bright grape-cluster gleaming at their feasts,
There’s nothing healthy in these rites, I say.
[tr. Gibbons/Segal (2000)]

Wherever women get the gleaming grape to drink in their feasts, everything about their rites is diseased.
[tr. Kovacs (2002)]

I’m telling you both, no good comes out of drunk women.
Wine wisdom and orgies are dangerous.
[tr. Theodoridis (2005)]

For whenever the pleasure of the grape's
cluster comes shimmering to women in feast, I say no-
thing is left wholesome in their orgies!
[tr. Valerie (2005)]

Whenever women at some banquet start to take pleasure in the gleaming wine, I say there's nothing healthy in their worship.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

It's always the same: as soon as you allow drink and women at a festival, everything gets sordid.
[tr. Robertson (2014)]

When women start getting into the wine, I say it’s gone too far. It’s not healthy.
[tr. Pauly (2019)]

There is no good in these festivals where shimmering wine corrupts women.
[tr. Behr/Foster (2019)]

For where women have the delight of the grape at a feast, I say that none of their rites is healthy any longer.
[tr. Buckley/Sens/Nagy (2020)]

               Their homes
Our women have deserted, on pretence
That they in mystic orgies are engaged;
On the umbrageous hills they chant the praise
Of this new God, whoe'er he be, this Bacchus;
Him in their dances they revere, and place
Amid their ranks huge goblets fraught with wine:
Some fly to pathless deserts, where they meet
Their paramours, while they in outward shew
Are Mænedes by holy rites engrossed.
Yet Venus more than Bacchus they revere.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

The women have left our homes in contrived Bacchic rites, and rush about in the shadowy mountains, honoring with dances this new deity Dionysus, whoever he is. I hear that mixing-bowls stand full in the midst of their assemblies, and that they each creep off different ways into secrecy to serve the beds of men, on the pretext that they are Maenads worshipping; but they consider Aphrodite before Bacchus.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

Our women all have left their homes, to join
These fabled mysteries. On the shadowy rocks
Frequent they sit, this God of yesterday,
Dionysus, whosoe'er he be, with revels
Dishonorable honoring. In the midst
Stand the crowned goblets; and each stealing forth,
This way and that, creeps to a lawless bed;
In pretext, holy sacrificing Mænads,
But serving Aphrodite more than Bacchus.
[tr. Milman (1865)]

Our women have deserted from their homes,
Pretending Bacchic rites, and now they lurk
In the shady hill-tops reverencing forsooth
This Dionysus, this new deity.
Full bowls of wine are served out to the throng;
And scattered here and there through the glades,
The wantons hurry to licentious love.
They call themselves the priestess Mænades;
Bacchus invoke, but Aphrodite serve.
[tr. Rogers (1872), l. 200ff]

I hear that our women-folk have left their homes on pretence of Bacchic rites, and on the wooded hills rush wildly to and fro, honouring in the dance this new god Dionysus, whoe’er he is; and in the midst of each revel-rout the brimming wine-bowl stands, and one by one they steal away to lonely spots to gratify their lust, pretending forsooth that they are Mænads bent on sacrifice, though it is Aphrodite they are placing before the Bacchic god.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

How from their homes our women have gone forth
Feigning a Bacchic rapture, and rove wild
O'er wooded hills, in dances honouring
Dionysus, this new God -- whoe'er he be. ⁠
And midst each revel-rout the wine-bowls stand
Brimmed: and to lonely nooks, some here, some there,
They steal, to work with men the deed of shame,
In pretext Maenad priestesses, forsooth,
But honouring Aphroditê more than Bacchus.
[tr. Way (1898)]

               Our own
Wives, our own sisters, from their hearths are flown
To wild and secret rites; and cluster there
High on the shadowy hills, with dance and prayer
To adore this new-made God, this Dionyse,
Whate'er he be! -- And in their companies
Deep wine-jars stand, and ever and anon
Away into the loneliness now one
Steals forth, and now a second, maid or dame,
Where love lies waiting, not of God! The flame,
They say, of Bacchios wraps them. Bacchios! Nay,
'Tis more to Aphrodite that they pray.
[tr. Murray (1902)]

That our women have abandoned their homes
in fake bacchic revels, and in the deep-shaded
mountains are roaming around, honoring with dances
the new-made god Dionysus, whoever he is;
that wine-bowls are set among the sacred companies
full to the brim, and that one by one the women go crouching
into the wilderness, to serve the lechery of men --
they profess to be maenads making sacrifice,
but actually they put Aphrodite before the Bacchic god.
[tr. Kirk (1970)]

Our women, I discover, have abandoned their homes on some pretence of Bacchic worship, and go gadding about in the woods on the mountain side, dancing in honour of this upstart god Dionysus, whoever he may be. They tell me, in the midst of each group of revellers stands a bowl full of wine; and the women go creeping off this way and that to lonely places and there give themselves to lecherous men, under the excuse that they are Maenad priestesses; though in their ritual Aphrodite comes before Bacchus.
[tr. Vellacott (1973)]

They leave their home, desert their children
Follow the new fashion and join the Bacchae
Flee the hearth to mob the mountains -- those contain
Deep shadows of course, secret caves to hide
Lewd games for this new god -- Dionysos!
That's the holy spirit newly discovered.
Dionysos! Their ecstasy is flooded down
In brimming bowls of wine -- so much for piety!
Soused, with all the senses roused, they crawl
Into the bushes and there of course a man
Awaits them. All part of the service for for this
Mysterious deity. The hypocrisy? All they care about
Is getting serviced.
[tr. Soyinka (1973)]

Our women gone, abandoning their homes,
pretending to be bacchae, massing
in the bushy mountains, this latest divinity
Dionysos (whoever he is) honouring and chorusing,
filling and setting amidst the thiasus
wine-bowls, and one by one in solitude
sneaking off to cater to male bidding, --
supposedly as sacrificial maenads,
but Aphrodite ranks before their Bacchic One.
[tr. Neuburg (1988)]

Our women, I am told, have left their homes,
in a religious trance -- what travesty! --
and scamper up and down the wooded mountains, dancing
in honor of this newfangled God, Dionysus,
whoever he might be.
In the middle of each female group
of revelers, I hear,
stands a jar of wine, brimming! And that taking turns,
they steal away, one here, one there, to shady nooks,
where they satisfy the lechery of men,
pretending to be priestesses,
performing their religious duties. Ha!
That performance reeks more of Aphrodite than of Bacchus.
[tr. Cacoyannis (1982)]

Our women have abandoned our homes
And, in a jacked-up frenzy of phony inspiration,
Riot in the dark mountains,
Honoring this upstart god, Dionysos --
Whatever he is -- dancing in his chorus.
Full jugs of wine stand in their midst
And each woman slinks off
To the wilderness to serve male lust,
Pretending they are praying priestesses,
But Aphrodite leads them, not Bacchus.
[tr. Blessington (1993)]

Our women have abandoned their homes
for the sham revelries of Bacchus
frisking about on the dark-shadowed mountains
honoring with their dances the latest god, Dionysius, whoever he is.
They've set up their mixing bowls brimming with wine
amidst their cult gatherings, and each lady slinks off in a different direction
to some secluded wilderness to service the lusts of men.
They pretend to be maenads performing sacrifices
but in reality they rank Aphrodite's pleasures before Bacchus!
[tr. Esposito (1998)]

These women of ours have left their homes
and run away to the dark mountains, pretending
to be Bacchants. It's this brand-new god,
Dionysus, whoever that is; they're dancing for him!
They gather in throngs around full bowls
of wine; then one by one they sneak away
to lonely places where they sleep with men.
Priestesses they call themselves! Maenads!
It's Aphrodite they put first, not Bacchus.
[tr. Woodruff (1999)]

               Women leave
Our houses for bogus revels (“Bakkhic” indeed!),
Dashing through the dark shade of mountain forests
To honor with their dancing this new god,
Dionysos -- whoever he may be --
And right in their midst they set full bowls of wine,
And slink into the thickets to meet men there,
Saying they are maenads sacrificing
When they really rank Aphrodite first,
Over Bakkhos!
[tr. Gibbons/Segal (2000)]

The women have left our homes in fictitious ecstatic rites and flit about on the thick-shaded mountains, honoring the new god Dionysus, whoever he is, with their dancing. They set up full wine bowls in the middle of their assembles and sneak off, one here, one there, to tryst in private with men. The pretext for all of this is that they are maenads, performing their rites, but they hold Aphrodite in higher regard than the bacchic god.
[tr. Kovacs (2002)]

I hear our women have flown from their proper place in the home -- dancing about in the shadowy hills in sham ecstasy for this newfound Dionysus! And these wine-befuddled women slink into the darkness, drawn by the sirens of lust. Fine high priestesses of the new god! They seem to make more worship of Aphrodite than of Bacchus!
[tr. Rao/Wolf (2004)]

I heard that our women have left their homes and gone off to the mountains dancing the Bacchic dances! Some new, young god! Utter rubbish! There they are, placing great tubs full of wine in the centre of their group, in the middle of nowhere and off they go, one here, another there, rolling around with any man they come across and giving the excuse that they are maenads; but what are they doing? Serving Dionysos? No way! They’re serving Aphrodite!
[tr. Theodoridis (2005)]

The women have left us, abandoning their homes in
phony Bacchic worship and that they gad about on
the bushy mountaintops; that this "new" god Dio-
nysus, whoever he really is, is honoured in their dances,
and that they set the sacred wine-bowls, fill'd, in the
midst of the thiasoi, each slinking off her sep'rate
way to serve males' hot lust in the woods, pre-
tending to be Maenads sacrificing; and so
they place Aphrodite on top of Bacchus.
[tr. Valerie (2005)]

               ... women leaving home
to go to silly Bacchic rituals,
cavorting there in mountain shadows,
with dances honoring some upstart god,
this Dionysus, whoever he may be. Mixing bowls
in the middle of their meetings filled with wine,
they creep off one by one to lonsely spots
to have sex with men, claiming they're Maenads
busy worshipping. But they rank Aphrodite,
goddess of sexual desire, ahead of Bacchus.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 272ff]

Women have deserted their homes for these
fraudulent rites -- up in the woods and mountains,
dancing to celebrate some new god --
Dionysus, whoever he is.
Drink is at the bottom of it all.
Huge bowls stand in their midst, I'm told,
brimming with wine, and one by one the women
slip into the shadows to satisfy the lusts of men.
They say they are priestesses, sworn to Bacchus,
but it's clearly Aphrodite they adore.
[tr. Robertson (2014)]

     Women have forsaken their homes. It’s a front, it’s a fake, a false Bacchic rite, an excuse for them to cavort in the mountain’s shade, dancing to honor this "new god" Dionysus.
     Whoever that is. Whoever he really is.
     I hear they’ve got casks of wine up there, full to the brim, just sitting there in the midst of their frolicking. And that they sneak off into secluded corners, servicing men, excusing it as a sacred thing, a Maenad’s ritual.
     If it is a ritual, it’s to Aphrodite, not this Bacchus of theirs.
[tr. Pauly (2019)]

How our women
had run off
to celebrate
perferse rites
     in the mountains,
roaming about with this
brand new god, Dionysus --
     whoever he is.
Everywhere
     in the midst of their revels
          stand full wine bowls.
And women slink off
one by one
to copulate
with any man
     who happens by.
They pretend to be Maenads, priestesses.
It's Aphrodite,
not Bacchus,
     they worship.
[tr. Behr/Foster (2019)]

Our women have left our homes in contrived Bacchic rites, and rush about in the shadowy mountains, honoring with khoroi this new daimōn Dionysus, whoever he is. I hear that mixing-bowls stand full in the midst of their assemblies, and that each woman, flying to secrecy in different directions, yields to the embraces of men, on the pretext that they are Maenads worshipping. They consider Aphrodite of greater priority than Dionysus.
[tr. Buckley/Sens/Nagy (2020)]

• "For ’tis no world to trust a woman now." [tr. Chapman (1616)]
• "Remember still, women unfaithful are." [tr. Hobbes (1675)]
• "For since of womankind so few are just, / Think all are false, nor even the faithful trust." [tr. Pope (1725)]
• "For woman merits trust no more." [tr. Cowper (1792), l. 453]
• "No more are women to be trusted now." [tr. Worsley (1861), st. 54]
• "For that trust / Henceforth in women must never be plac'd." [tr. Musgrave (1869), l. 706ff]
• "No trust in women!" [tr. Bigge-Wither (1869), l. 455]
• "For there is no more faith in woman." [tr. Butcher/Lang (1879) and Palmer (1891)]
• "From now henceforth in women no troth or trust shall be." [tr. Morris (1887)]
• "For after all this there is no trusting women." [tr. Butler (1898)]
• "For no longer is there faith in women." [tr. Murray (1919)]
• "There is no putting faith in women." [tr. Lawrence (1932)]
• "Women, I tell you, are no longer to be trusted." [tr. Rieu (1946) and DCH Rieu (2002)]
• "There is no trusting in women." [tr. Lattimore (1965)]
• "No woman merits trust." [tr. Mandelbaum (1990)]
• "The time for trusting women's gone forever!" [tr. Fagles (1996), l. 456]
• "Women are no longer to be trusted." [tr. Verity (2016)]
• "No more is there faith in women." [tr. Green (2018)]
• "For there’s no trust / in women anymore." [tr. Johnston (2019), l. 577ff]

Grandpa Wayback rises to remark: “I never expected to live to see the day when the girls would get sunburned on the places they do now.” Won by Will B. Rogers, Atlanta, Ga

I never expected to see the day when the girls would get sunburned in the places they do now.
[Albert Shaw, ed., Review of Reviews (1935-02)]

I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do.
[P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton, Bring on the Girls: The Improbable Story of Our Life in Musical Comedy (1953)]

Few men expected to see the day when women would get sunburned in the places they do now.
[Louis T. Stanley, The London Season, "Feminine Wiles" (1956), used without attribution to Rogers]

I never expected to see the day when the girls would get sunburned in the places they do now.
[John Birch Society, American Opinion, Vol. 4 (1961)]

• "Again, the relation of male to female is naturally that of superior and inferior, ruling and ruled, and the same kind of relation must necessarily exist in the case of all men generally." [tr. Bolland (1877)]
• "So is it naturally with the male and the female; the one is superior, the other inferior; the one governs, the other is governed; and the same rule must necessarily hold good with respect to all mankind." [tr. Ellis (1912)]
• "Again, as between the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject. And the same must also necessarily apply in the case of mankind as a whole." [tr. Rackham (1932)]
• "Further, the relation of male to female is by nature a relation of superior to inferior and ruler to ruled. The same must of necessity hold in the case of human being generally." [tr. Lord (1984)]

Still inconstant is a womans minde.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

Who knows what hazards thy delay may bring?
Woman's a various and a changeful thing.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

Woman is a fickle and ever changeable creature.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

Away to sea! a woman's will
Is changeful and uncertain still.
[tr. Conington (1866)]

Woman is ever a fickle and changing thing.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

For woman's heart is shifting evermore.
[tr. Morris (1900)]

Away!
Changeful is woman's mood, and varying with the day.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 73]

A mutable and shifting thing
is woman ever.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

A fickle and changeful thing is woman ever.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

A shifty, fickle object
Is woman, always.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

Woman was ever
A veering, weathercock creature.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

An ever
uncertain and inconsistent thing is woman.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 786-87]

Woman's a thing
Forever fitful and forever changing.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]

Women are unstable creatures, always changing.
[tr. West (1990)]

Woman is ever fickle and changeable.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

A woman is a fickle and worrisome thing.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

Woman’s a thing
that’s always changing, shifting like the wind.
[tr. Fagles (2006), l. 710-11]

Females are a fickle thing, always prone to change.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

• "My lord, you know what Virgil sings -- Woman is various and most mutable."
  [Tennyson, Queen Mary, Act 3, sc. 6 (1875)]


• "La donna è mobile."
  [Verdi, Rigoletto (1851)]

To spare a long harangue.
The whole of what 'gainst woman hath been said
By those of antient times, is saying now.
Or shall be said hereafter, in few words
Will I comprise; nor ocean's waves, nor earth,
Nurture so vile a race, as he who most
Hath with the sex conversed, but knows too well.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

But that I may not extend my speech to a greater length, if any one of those of ancient times hath reviled women, or if any one doth now, or shall hereafter revile them, I will comprise the whole when I say, that such a race neither doth the sea nor the earth produce, but he who is always with them knows it best.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]

To be brief,
If any in past times with severe taunts
Have censured women, if now any vents
His obloquies, or shall hereafter vent,
In one brief sentence I comprise the whole,
It is a breed, not all th’ extended earth,
Nor the sea’s ample depths produce the like;
This truth he feels the most who knows them best.
[ed. Ramage (1864)]

Wherefore needeth many words?
Whoso ere now hath spoken ill of women,
Or speaketh now, or shall hereafter speak,
All this in one word will I close and say: --
Nor sea nor land doth nurture such a breed:
He knoweth, who hath converse with them most.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

But to spare you a lengthy speech, if any of the men of former times have spoken ill of women, if any does so now, or shall do so hereafter, I will say all this in one short sentence; for neither land or sea produces such a race, as whoever has had to do with them knows.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]

On behalf of all those dead
who learned their hatred of women long ago,
for those who hate them now, for those unborn
who shall live to hate them yet, I now declare
my firm conviction:
neither earth nor ocean
produces a creature as savage and monstrous
as woman.
This is my experience.
I know that this is true.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]

I'll say no more than this:
The old saying is true now
As ever was and will be.
They are a breed apart
On earth and on sea.
Any man in a woman's power
He knows that in his bones.
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]

Not to go on too long, if any man in the past, the present or the future said bad things about women, let me top them all and say: sea or land breeds nothing worse. Even a brief encounter proves it true.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]

But let me spare you the many words: If any of the men from olden days or if any of them now, or in the future, will utter ill words against women, let me put all those words in one short sentence: Neither land nor sea produces such a race and whoever had any dealings with them knows this very well.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

Let me tell you, if anyone in the past has spoken
ill of women, or speaks so now or will speak so
in the future, I’ll sum it up for him: Neither sea
nor land has ever produced a more monstrous
creature than woman. I say this for a fact.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]

This should, with the announcements that have preceded this one, and the ones that will follow this one, serve notice that this administration is not running a stag party.