Related voices Athenians
Athenian prayer for rain
Meditations 5.7
Historical translation
George Long, 1862
A prayer of the Athenians: Rain, rain, O dear Zeus, down on the ploughed fields of the Athenians and on the plains.—In truth we ought not to pray at all, or we ought to pray in this simple and noble fashion.
Text matched to linked transcription; typography normalized.
Greek
The ancient words
Εὐχὴ Ἀθηναίων· ὗσον, ὗσον, ὦ φίλε Ζεῦ, κατὰ τῆς ἀρούρας τῆς Ἀθηναίων καὶ τῶν πεδίων. ἤτοι οὐ δεῖ εὔχεσθαι ἢ οὕτως ἁπλῶς καὶ ἐλευθέρως.
Literal English
Editorial draft · developed with AI assistance
Prayer of the Athenians: “Rain, rain, dear Zeus, on the Athenians’ plowed land and on their plains.” Either one should not pray, or one should pray so simply and freely.
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Sources & notes
Historical editions may include surrounding context or use different phrasing. Parallel columns compare passages; their lines are not word-for-word alignments.