Or to describe to his pupil upon his lyre the heroes of old time.
Aut monstrare lyra veteres heroas alumno.
Original text (Latin)
More quotes by Statius
Pleasant is it to the unhappy to speak, and to recall the sorrows of old time.
It was forbidden to man to know what to-morrow's day would bring.
And bold Stesichorus and rash Sappho, who feared not Leucas but took the manly leap.
Attribution
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Statius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.