There is more than one kind of Strife (Eris).
Look all over the Earth (Gaia), and
see there are two. Consider:
one kind of Strife is praiseworthy;
the other kind is blameworthy.
Each kind has a completely different competitive spirit.
One kind multiplies evils,
in wars and battles.
She is the cruel Strife.
No mortal loves her. Only under compulsion [15]
(the design of the immortals) do mortals honor
the heavy burden she imposes.
But dark Night (Nyx) gave birth
to the other kind of Strife first.
Zeus, the son of Cronus, enthroned on high,
dwelling in the sky, placed this Strife
in the roots of the Earth.
She is much more beneficial for men.
However helpless anyone may be,
equally does she instigate each one to work. [20]
Consider the man who is without work.
What if he looks at somebody else?
He will see the rich man. He will see a field earnestly plowed.
Then it is planted.
Look at the well-ordered household. Why did that happen?
Neighbor imitated neighbor.
As if in a race, they acquired possessions.
Yes, this kind of Strife is good for mortals.
How is the best anger fired up?
By potter against potter. By artist against artist. [25]
Who can hold the productive grudge?
Poor man against poor man. Bard against bard.
O Perses, my brother, make these, then,
the concerns for your competitive spirit.
Don’t let Strife keep your competitive spirit
from work. Don’t rejoice in evil-doing
by being a spectator to quarrels,
a partisan hearer in the public assembly.
There is little time left
for quarrels and assemblies [30]
if you worry instead about being at home,
storing up enough to live on for a year.
Timely and in season, from the goddess, Demeter,
the Earth brings us her gift, grain.
But if you haven’t earned a sufficient livelihood,
then you have no business advancing
quarrels and disputes for someone else’s possessions.
Yet such is your irrevocable attack.
You’ve done what you’ve done, haven’t you?
Well, let us settle the quarrel, right now, [35]
with frank judgments. And frank judgments,
done in the style of Zeus, are the best:
We already divided our inheritance.
But half wasn’t enough for you. Much more than that
did you steal from me. Because you flattered kings,
you took from me large amounts.
You fed them bribes, and they chose to adjudicate
with judgment in your favor.
Idiots! One plus one is two!
But they allowed you to steal more than my half from me. [40]
Next bribe required: laxatives, toilet paper.
Relief for the judge stuffed with all your crap!