Acclaimed classicist James Romm translates surviving pieces of timeless wisdom from the lost plays of ancient Athens.

“The truly happy man ought to stay at home.” “Hunger, and lack of coin, put a stop to love.” “Hades, alone of the gods, does not enjoy bribes.” These quotes—and hundreds of others from the great Greek dramatists, including Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Menander—were preserved in the fifth century AD, when a man named Stobaeus compiled an anthology to inspire and instruct his son. The quotes were pithy packets of wisdom expressed in eloquent verse and selected with a father’s discerning eye: some prompt “aha” moments, others offer wit or dark humor, still others give moral insight. In Since You’re Mortal . . . , James Romm is the first to translate fragments saved by Stobaeus as poetry for modern English-language readers. Vividly rendered and beautifully presented, this volume serves as an ages-old but timeless guide to living a thoughtful, virtuous life.