Θησαυρός (fr. 18)

103

That one who devised the song, whoever he was,
rightly listed being healthy first, on the ground
that it is best. But that to be beautiful is second,
and to be wealthy third, in this, you see, he was crazy.
5 For after health, being wealthy is best;
a handsome man, if hungry, is an ugly beast

Ath. 15.694e
άσθέντος δέ τούτου [PMG 890 et 651] καί πάντων ήσθέντων έπ’ αύτω καί μνημονευ-
σάντων ότι καί ό καλός Πλάτων αυτού μέμνηται ώς άριστα είρημένου (Grg. 451e), ό
Μυρτίλος έφη Άναξανδρίδην αύτό διακεχλευακέναι τον κωμωδιοποιόν έν Θησαυρω
λέγοντα ούτως--
And when this [PMG 890 and 651] was sung and everyone enjoyed it and recalled that
the noble Plato had mentioned it as very well spoken (Grg. 451e), Myrtilos said that the
comic poet Anaxandrides had mocked it in his Thesauros as follows:-

Metre lambic trimeter.

5

Discussion Canter 1566.181; Grotius 1626. 638-9, 979; Meineke 1840 III.169-
70; 1847. 578; Bothe 1855. 421; Meineke 1857 V.clxxvii, 80; Kock 1884 11.142;
Blaydes 1890a. 81; Paley 1889.52-3; Herwerden 1893. 157; Blaydes 1896. 122;
Pickard-Cambridge 1900. 53; Herwerden 1903. 97; Richards 1907. 160 (= 1909.
79); Edmonds 1959 11.52—3; Garton 1972. 76; Kassel-Austin 1991 11.246—7;
Mathiesen 1999. 146; Sanchis Llopis et al. 2007. 248
Citation Context In the course of discussing skolia (15.693e-6a), traditional
songs often sung at symposia (see in general Reitzenstein 1893. 13-24 [24-44
for their appearance in comedy]; Kugelmeier 1996. 44-73; for extant examples,
PMG 884-916; Ar. V. 1222; Antiph. fr. 85), Athenaeus provides a catalogue of
examples including PMG 890, occasionally attributed to Simonides (cf. PMG
651 for testimonia), ύγιαίνειν μέν άριστον άνδρι θνητω, / δεύτερον δέ καλόν
φυάν γενέσθαι, / τό τρίτον δέ πλουτεϊν άδολώς, / και τό τέταρτον ήβάν μετά
των φίλων. This in turn leads to a reference to Plato’s mention of the passage
(Grg. 451e; cf. Stallbaum 1861 ad loc. for further instances) and Anaxandrides’
mocking of it.