Expert: Maria - 1/8/2008

Question
The quote : fortune favours the brave, was it originally from Virgil's Aeneid or had Alexander the great also quoted this? How would the above mentioned quote be written in ancient macedonian/greek?

Thankyou

Deric

Answer
Hello,

“Audentes Fortuna iuvat”(Fortune favours the brave/ bold )  is the original quote from Virgil’s Aeneid, Book 10, line 284, though we read a similar  maxim in Terence’s comedy named ‘Phormio’, line 203, where this Roman playwright had first written “Fortis fortuna adiuvat” meaning exactly “Fortune favours the brave/bold”.

As for the same sentence attributed to Alexander the Great (356- 323 BC), it is absolutely fit to Alexander’s character, but we have no certainty on this, because it  is not clearly established that he had pronounced such a phrase, which anyway in ancient Greek would have sound as follows:

“He tuche tois anthropois  tois andreiois charizetai” (Latin transliteration)

Η Τΰχη  τοίς   ανθρώποις   τοίς  ανδρέιοις   χαρίθεται (Ancient Greek letters)

Please note that, besides Greek alphabet I hope you can read, I wrote the letters of the Latin alphabet we use still today. The system in fact often does not allow you to read Greek text.

Best regards,
Maria
___________________________________________________
TERENCE (195-159 B.C.)great Roman comic playwright.

VIRGIL (70-19 BC)great Roman poet.

Note that:
-Fortune= FORTUNA(Latin)/ TUCHE / Η Τΰχη  
-favours= IUVAT /ADIUVAT / CHARIZETAI / χαρίθεται
-the brave/bold = AUDENTES / FORTIS/ TOIS ANTHROPOIS TOIS ANDREIOIS / τοίς   ανθρώποις   τοίς  ανδρέιοις