Theseus: It has been said that life
Holds more of worse conditions than of better;
But I oppose that doctrine. I believe
That good outweighs the bad in human life.
If it did not the light would not be ours.
I praise the god who set our life in order,
Lifting it out of savagery and confusion.
First he put wits in us, and then gave language,
Envoy of words, to understand the voice;
And fruits of earth to eat, and for this food
Watery drops from heaven, to quench our thirst
And nourish the yield of the land; providing also
The fortress of winter, against the sun-god's fire,
And commerce over sea, that by exchange
A country may obtain the goods it lacks.
Things without mark, not clearly visible,
Are brought to light by seers who study fire,
The folds of entrails, and the flight of birds.
Now, if all this is not enough for us --
So well equipped for living, by God's gift --
Are we not pettish? But intelligence
Wants more than heavenly power; our minds grow proud,
Until we think we are wiser than the gods.
Holds more of worse conditions than of better;
But I oppose that doctrine. I believe
That good outweighs the bad in human life.
If it did not the light would not be ours.
I praise the god who set our life in order,
Lifting it out of savagery and confusion.
First he put wits in us, and then gave language,
Envoy of words, to understand the voice;
And fruits of earth to eat, and for this food
Watery drops from heaven, to quench our thirst
And nourish the yield of the land; providing also
The fortress of winter, against the sun-god's fire,
And commerce over sea, that by exchange
A country may obtain the goods it lacks.
Things without mark, not clearly visible,
Are brought to light by seers who study fire,
The folds of entrails, and the flight of birds.
Now, if all this is not enough for us --
So well equipped for living, by God's gift --
Are we not pettish? But intelligence
Wants more than heavenly power; our minds grow proud,
Until we think we are wiser than the gods.
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