Time, which flies irresistibly and perpetually, sweeps up and carries away with it everything that has seen the light of day and plunges it into utter darkness, whether deeds of no significance or those that are mighty and worthy of commemoration; as the playwright (Sophocles) says, it brings to light that which had been obscure and shrouds from us what had been visible. Nevertheless, the science of History is a great bulwark against this stream of Time; in a way it checks this irresistible flood, it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface and will not allow it to slip away into the depths of oblivion.

–

Anna Komnene in the prologue to her history of her father, the (Byzantine) Roman Emperor Alexios I, The Alexiad. (c. 1148)

(Quoted from the 2009 Penguin Classics ed.) 

(via ottomanwhale)

7 years ago · 159 notes