An acquaintance of mine was a history teacher at a private school.  He
occasionally used the following quote--or something like it, which he
attributed to the ancient Greeks: "Better a beggar on earth than a
prince in the realm of shades," meaning that compared to the
afterlife-obsessed Egyptian civilization that preceded them, the
Greeks considered earthly existence, however mean, superior to
other-worldly aspirations.  I like the quote, but I have never been
able to verify its source.  I asked him about it once, and he made
vague reference to Sophocles.

Is this a literal quote?  If so, from where?  Or is it merely a sort
of encapsulated world-view?

(I wrote "Hades" in the title because "realm of shades" would not fit.)

Dear grx,

It is a real quotation, although it is shortened and there are
numerous possible different English translations of the ancient Greek
words.

The original quotation derives from Homer's "Odyssey", Book 11. In
that part of the text, Odysseus speaks to Achilles in the underworld,
and Achilles says:

"I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above
ground than king of kings among the dead."
(Translation by Samuel Butler)

Some examples for other translations of that part are:

"I?d rather serve as another man?s labourer, as a poor peasant without
land, and be alive on Earth, than be lord of all the lifeless dead."

"I'd rather live working as a wage-labourer for hire by some other
man, one who had no land and not much in the way of livelihood than
lord it over all the wasted dead."

"Rather would I live on ground as the hireling of another, with a
landless man who had no great livelihood, than bear sway among all the
dead that be departed."


Sources:

Elpenor: Homer - The Underworld, from the Odyssey
http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/homer-odyssey-underworld.asp

Poetry in Translation: The Odyssey - Book XI
http://www.tonykline.co.uk/Browsepages/Greek/Odyssey11.htm

Ian Johnston, Malaspina University-College: Homer - The Odyssey, Book Eleven
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey11.htm

Galileo Library: Homer, The Odyssey - Book 11
http://www.galileolibrary.com/ebooks/eu02/odyssey_page_43.htm


Hope this answers your question!
Regards,
Scriptor



Search terms used:
"lieber ein bettler"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=%22lieber+ein+bettler%22&btnG=Suche&meta=
homer "than a king"
://www.google.de/search?q=homer+%22than+a+king%22&hl=de&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&start=0&sa=N
homer underworld peleus
://www.google.de/search?q=homer+underworld+peleus&hl=de&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&start=0&sa=N
odyssey "book 11" -butler
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=odyssey+%22book+11%22+-butler&btnG=Suche&meta=

Beautiful!  Thanks!  
[I notice that the German link in your Google search ("lieber ein
bettler")seems to reference some very literal translations that are
more economical word-wise.]

Sounds like the opposite of what Satan says in Milton's
_Paradise_Lost_: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."

It now occurs to me that given that Milton was one of the most
well-read people ever, he no doubt well knew that he was
reverse-echoing Homer.