Stanley Lombardo

"We know how to tell many believable lies, But also, when we want to, how to speak the plain truth."

"Whoever escapes marriage And women's harm, comes to deadly old age Without any son to support him."

"There's no way to get around the mind of Zeus."

"Rage: Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage, Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks Incalculable pain."

"Human generations are like leaves in their seasons. The wind blows them to the ground, but the tree Sprouts new ones when spring comes again. Men too. Their generations come and go."

"It was glorious to see—if your heart were iron, And you could keep from grieving at all the pain."

"Ah, my friend, if you and I could only Get out of the war alive and then immortal and ageless all of our days, I would never again fight among the foremost Or send you into battle where men win glory. But as it is, death is everywhere In more shapes that we can count, And since no mortal is immune or can escape, Let's go forward, either to give glory To another man, or get glory from him."

"Don't try to cut any deals with me, Hector. Do lions make peace treaties with men? Do wolves and lambs agree to get along?"

"I have borne what no man Who has walked this earth has ever yet borne. I have kissed the hand of the man who killed my son."

"And for yourself, may the gods grant you Your heart's desire, a husband and a home, And the blessing of a harmonious life. For nothing is greater or finer than this, When a man and woman live together With one heart and mind, bringing joy To their friends and grief to their foes."

"Don't try to sell me on death, Odysseus. I'd rather be a hired hand back up on earth, Slaving away for some poor dirt farmer, Than lord it over all these withered dead."

"Shimmering, iridescent, deathless Aphrodite."

"Some say an army on horseback, some say on foot, and some say ships are the most beautiful things on this black earth, but I say it is whatever you love."

"The moon has set, And the Pleiades. Midnight. The hour has gone by. I sleep alone."

"Your mission, Roman, is to rule the world. These will be your arts: to establish peace, To spare the humbled, and to conquer the proud."

"The Way is calm and wide, Not easy, not difficult. But small minds get lost. Hurrying, they fall behind.Clinging, they go too far, Sure to take a wrong turn. Just let it be! In the end, Nothing goes, nothing stays."

"Through me is the way to the city of woe. Through me is the way to sorrow eternal. Through me is the way to the lost below."

"Achilles—bring back the story, Goddess, of the formidable hero descended through Aeacus from thundering Jupiter, but denied His heaven, his deeds indeed famous through Homeric song, but with much more to celebrate."

"When the defiant boy, whose heart had never trembled, saw this girl at the head of her troop of companions he stiffened, and every bone in his body absorbed liquid fire."

"The person who casts off desires, who acts free from craving and lust, indifferent to "I, my, me," that person will arrive at peace."