Homer — "The gods do not give all men all gifts."

"Very like leaves upon this earth are the generations of men -- old leaves, cast on the ground by wind, young leaves the greening forest bears when spring comes in. So mortals pass; one generation flow…"

"The gods are always with us."

"And empty words are evil."

"So please go home and tend to your own tasks, / the distaff and the loom, and keep the women / working hard as well."

"And nature is of mortals once deceased. For they nor muscle have, nor flesh, nor bone; All those (the spirit from the body once. Divorced) the violence of fire consumes, And, like a dream, the soul fl…"