Theognis

Here you will find the Poem Fragments - Lines 0183 - 0192 of poet Theognis

Fragments - Lines 0183 - 0192

Among rams and asses and horses, Kyrnos, we look for those
 Of noble breeding, and a man wants them to mate
From worthy stock. Yet a noble man does not mind marrying
 A base woman of base birth if she brings him money in abundance,
Nor does a woman shrink from becoming the wife of a base man
 With wealth; she prefers a rich husband to a worthy one.
Money is what they honor; the noble weds a base man's daughter,
 The base a worthy man's: wealth mixes stock.
Thus do not be amazed, son of Polypaos, that the citizen's stock
 Is growing feeble, for what is noble is being mixed with what is base.