Hesiod was the first or second poet in the world that
remains yet extant (if Homer, as some think, preceded him, but I
rather believe they were contemporaries), and he is the first
writer, too, of the art of husbandry. He has contributed, says
Columella, not a little to our profession; I suppose he means not a
little honour, for the matter of his instructions is not very
important. His great antiquity is visible through the gravity and
simplicity of his style. The most acute of all his sayings concerns
our purpose very much, and is couched in the reverend obscurity of
an oracle. [Greek text which cannot be reproduced]. The half is
more than the whole. The occasion of the speech is this: his
brother Perses had by corrupting some great men ([Greek text which
cannot be reproduced], great bribe-eaters he calls them) gotten from
him the half of his estate. It is no matter, says he, they have not
done me so much prejudice as they imagine.
[Greek text which cannot be reproduced--translation below]
Unhappy they to whom God has not revealed
By a strong light which must their sense control,
That half a great estate's more than the whole.
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