Other translations of the final Chorus in Antigone
- CHORUS:
-
Of happiness the crown
And chiefest part
Is wisdom, and to hold
The gods in awe.
This is the law
That, seeing the stricken heart
Of pride brought down,
We learn when we are old.- E. F. Watling, 1947
- CHORUS:
-
Wisdom, first above all, brings the greatest
Portion of happiness. And the gods must be
Treated with reverence. For the great words of men
That are boastful are always punished
With great suffering;
They at last, in old age, teach wisdom.- Maurice Neufeld (late Cornell professor), 1952
- CHORUS:
-
The crown of happiness is to be wise
Honor the gods, and the gods' edicts prize.
They strike down boastful men and men grown bold.
Wisdom we learn at last, when we are old.- Theodore Howard Banks, 1956
- CHORUS:
-
Of happiness, far the greatest part
Is wisdom, and reverence towards the gods.
Proud words of the arrogant man, in the end,
Meet punishment, great as his pride was great,
Till at last he is schooled in wisdom.- H.D.F. Kitto, 1962
- CHORUS:
-
To be sensible and to be pious
are the first and last of happiness....For their grand schemes or bold words
the proud pay with great wounds....And great wounds before today
have taught sense even to the aged....- Richard Emil Braun, 1973
- CHORUS:
-
Wisdom is far the chief element in happiness
and, secondly, no irreverence towards the gods.
But great words of haughty men exact
in retribution blows as great
and in old age teach wisdom.- David Grene, 1991
- LEADER:
-
There is no happiness without wisdom,
And wisdom comes in submission to gods.
Boasting words reap violent harvests;
Great words teach wisdom to men of experience.- Carl Mueller and Anna Krajewska-Wieczorek, 2000
Chorus in costume and dancing
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