I don’t have a
roof, or a house, or a homeland
Instead the whole
world, both city & countryside
are available to
me as a home.
--Hipparchia, published in Mulierum Graecarum (1735) p. 68, Translated into Latin by Christian Wolff
Ουχ εις πάτρας
μοι πύργος ου μία λέγη
Πάσης δὲ χέρσε καὶ πόλισμα καὶ δόμος
Ἕτοιμος
ἡμῖν ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι πάρα.
Non turris una,
nec casa una patriae
mihi est, sed
universae arces terrae,& domus
parata nobis mansio & caenacula.
|
Name: Antye Date: 3rd
century BCE Region: Tegea [modern Greece] Citation: Greek Anthology 7.490 |
|
|
I mourn for the maiden Antibia. Because
of her beauty and wisdom Many
suitors flocked to her father’s home for her, But
cursed Fate keeps all hope at bay. |
|
|
παρθένον Ἀντιβίαν κατοδύρομαι, ἇς ἐπὶ πολλοὶ νυμφίοι ἱέμενοι πατρὸς ἵκοντο δόμον, κάλλευς καὶ πινυτᾶτος ἀνὰ κλέος: ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ πάντων ἐλπίδας οὐλομένα Μοῖρ᾽ ἐκύλισε πρόσω. |
Virginem Antibiam deploro, quam propter
multi Sponsi
desiderantes, ad patris venerunt domum, Ob
pulchritudinem & prudentiam inclytam; sed omnium Spem
damnosa mors subverti prius. Translated
into Latin by Christian Wolf [1735] |
Antye [4th century BCE, Modern Greece] was one of
the famous “earthly Muses,” a group of nine women poets revered by classical
Greek and Roman authors. Little is known about her, but it generally agreed
that she was from Tegea [modern Greece] and lived during the 3rd
century BCE. Numerous poems of hers were preserved in the Greek Anthology.
|
Name: Bion Date: c. 2nd – 1st century BCE Region: Smyrna [modern Turkey] Citation: Fragment 8 |
Blessed are those who are in love,
Especially when it is reciprocated!
Theseus was happy with Pirithous by
his side,
Even when he descended into the
inescapable halls of Hades.
Orestes was blessed even in the harsh
land of his enemies
As long as Pylades was traveling by
his side.
Achilles was blessed for as long as
his companion Patroclus lived;
And once he died, Achilles returned to
his blessed state,
For
he used his death to avenge his lover’s.
|
Ὄλβιοι οἱ φιλέοντες, ἐπὴν ἴσον ἀντεράωνται. ὄλβιος ἦν Θησεὺς τῶ Πειριθόω παρεόντος, εἰ καὶ ἀμειλίκτοιο κατήλυθεν εἰς Ἀΐδαο. ὄλβιος ἦν χαλεποῖσιν ἐν Ἀξείνοισιν Ὀρέστας, ὥνεκά οἱ ξυνὰς Πυλάδας ᾄρητο κελεύθως. ἦν μάκαρ Αἰακίδας ἑτάρω ζώοντος Ἀχιλλεύς: ὄλβιος ἦν θνᾴσκων, ὅτι οἱ μόρον αἰνὸν ἄμυνεν. |
Beati sunt qui amant, quum pariter redamantur. Beatus erat Theseus, quum Pirithous adesset, etsi descendit in implacabilis Plutonis domum. Beatus erat inter asperos barbaros Orestes, quoties cum eo communia Pylades susceperat itinerat. Erat felix Aeacides socio vivente Achilles beatus erat moriens, quod ei mortem infelicem ulciscebatur. Translated into Latin by Franz Siegfried Lehrs |
Bion of Smyrna [c. 2nd to 1st century BCE; modern
Turkey] was a Greek poet from Smyrna [modern Turkey]. Little is known about his
life, and only fragments remain of his poetry, but he was considered to be one
of the best and most influential bucolic poets of ancient Greek and Roman
literature.
|
Name: Callimachus Date: 305 – 240 BCE Region: Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation: Hymn to Delos 291-299 |
Artemis, the first to [worship] you
from golden Thule
Were the daughters of Boreas,
Upis and Loxo, and happy-in-life
Hecaerge,
Along with the best [unmarried] men.
They never returned home,
But they got their
happily-ever-afters,
And are never forgotten in memory.
For whenever sweet-singing Hymenaeos [1]
Terrifies the hearts of maidens
Before their wedding day,
Young women offer a lock of their hair
to these immortal maidens,
And young men offer their first
sprouts of facial hair
To
these immortal youths.
[1] Hymenaeos was the personification
of weddings and marriage.
|
πρῶταί τοι τάδ᾽ ἔνεικαν ἀπὸ ξανθῶν Ἀριμασπῶν Οὖπίς τε Λοξώ τε καὶ εὐαίων Ἑκαέργη, θυγατέρες Βορέαο, καὶ ἄρσενες οἱ τότ᾽ ἄριστοι ἠιθέων: οὐδ᾽ οἵ γε παλιμπετὲς οἴκαδ᾽ ἵκοντο, εὔμοιροι δ᾽ ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἀκλέες οὔποτ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι. ἦ τοι Δηλιάδες μέν, ὅτ᾽ εὐήχης ὑμέναιος ἤθεα κουράων μορμύσσεται, ἥλικα χαίτην παρθενικαῖς, παῖδες δὲ θέρος τὸ πρῶτον ἰούλων ἄρσενες ἠιθέοισιν ἀπαρχόμενοι φορέουσιν. |
Primae hos tibi tulerunt fulvis ab Arimaspis Upis & Loxo, felix aevi Hecaerge, filiae Boreae, & mares, qui tum optimi iuvenum: neque illo retro domum rediere. Beati autem facti, nec unquam illi inglorii futuri
sunt. Nam Deliades quidem, cum sonorus Hymenaeus Thalamos puellarum terret, aequaevam comam virgines; pueri aute primam lanuginis messem iuvenibus primitias ferunt.
Translated
into Latin by Johann August Ernesti |
Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one
of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he
spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he
used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his
poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his
talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.
|
Name: Callimachus Date: 305 – 240 BCE Region: Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation: Greek Anthology 7.728 |
The following is an epitaph of a
priestess who served many goddesses throughout her life, including Cybele. As a
priestess of Cybele, she was a protector and mentor of the goddess’ galli worshippers.
I was once the sacred priestess of
Demeter, then the Cabeiri,
O traveler, and then I served Cybele.
I was a momma bear for many young ladies.
Then I became an old woman, and now
I’m ashes;
And the locks of golden hair that used to adorn my shoulders.
I had two sons, and I closed my eyes a
final time in their arms.
Go on your merry way.
|
Ἱερέη Δήμητρος ἐγώ ποτε, καὶ πάλιν Καβείρων, ὦνερ, καὶ μετέπειτα Δινδυμήνης, ἡ γρηῢς γενόμην, ἡ νῦν κόνις, ἡνο ... πολλῶν προστασίη νέων γυναικῶν. καί μοι τέκν᾽ ἐγένοντο δύ᾽ ἄρσενα, κἠπέμυς᾽ ἐκείνων εὐγήρως ἐνὶ χερσίν. ἕρπε χαίρων. |
Virgo sacerdos Cereris ego olim, et rursus Cabirorum, o homo, et deinde Dindymenae, anus fui, quae nunc sum cinis [a diis nacta] multarum patrocinium iuvenum mulierum. Et mihi pueri fuerunt duo mares, et oculos clausi
illorum grandaeva in manibus. Repta gaudens. Translated
into Latin by Hugo Grotius |
Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one
of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he
spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he
used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his
poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his
talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.
|
Name: Asclepiades Date: 3rd century BCE Region: Samos [modern Greece] Citation: Greek Anthology 12.163 |
Love has discovered the joy in mixing something beautiful with beautiful,
Not an emerald mixed with gold,
(Which neither blooms nor stands as equal)
Nor can ebony mixed with ivory,
Nor the colors black and white together,
can compare to Cleander & Eubiotus,
darling flowers of Persuasion and Friendship.
εὗρεν Ἔρως τί καλῷ μίξει καλόν, οὐχὶ μάραγδον
χρυσῷ, ὃ μήτ᾽ ἀνθεῖ, μήτε γένοιτ᾽ ἐν ἴσῳ,
οὐδ᾽ ἐλέφαντ᾽ ἐβένῳ, λευκῷ μέλαν, ἀλλὰ Κλέανδρον
Εὐβιότῳ, πειθοῦς ἄνθεα καὶ φιλίης.
Invenit Amor
quodnam pulchro misceat pulchrum, non smaragdum,
auro, quod neque
floret neque fiat compar
neque ebur ebeno,
albo nigrum, sed Cleandrum
Eubioto, Suadae flores Amicitiae.
Translated
into Latin by Hugo Grottius
Asclepiades of Samos was a Greek lyric poet
from the 3rd century BCE. His works are preserved in the Greek
Anthology, a collection of Greek lyric poetry that spans numerous genres,
topics, and authors.
Sappho sings about beauty while using beautiful words. She is sweet, and as she sings about love and springtime and halcyon birds, she weaves together just about everything beautiful in her songs that she has composed by her own hand.
But in other poems, when she criticizes a boorish groom or his best man at the wedding, she uses more base words than poetic ones. These sort of poems should be recited, not sung; they aren’t really adequate for either a chorus or a lyre, unless the chorus uses a conversational style.
Διὸ καὶ ἡ Σαπφὼ περὶ μὲν κάλλους ᾄδουσα καλλιεπής ἐστι καὶ ἡδεῖα, καὶ περὶ ἐρώτων δὲ καὶ ἔαρος καὶ περὶ ἁλκυόνος, καὶ ἅπαν καλὸν ὄνομα ἐνύφανται αὐτῆς τῇ ποιήσει, τὰ δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ εἰργάσατο.
Ἄλλως δὲ σκώπτει τὸν ἄγροικον νυμφίον, καὶ τὸν θυρωρὸν τὸν ἐν τοῖς γάμοις, εὐτελέστατα καὶ ἐν πεζοῖς ὀνόμασι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ποιητικοῖς, ὥστε αὐτῆς μᾶλλόν ἐστι τὰ ποιήματα ταῦτα διαλέγεσθαι ἢ ᾄδειν, οὐδ̓ ἂν ἁρμόσαι πρὸς τὸν χορὸν ἢ πρὸς τὴν λύραν, εἰ μή τις εἴη χορὸς διαλεκτικός.
Quare et Sappho de pulchritudine canens, utitur verbis pulchris, et tota suavis est, & de cupidinibus utique, & de aere, & de halcyone, & omnia [fere] verba pulchra ipsius poesi inexta sunt: nonnulla autem & ipsa facricata est.
Aliter autem
irridet agrestem sponsum, & ianitorem qui versatur in nuptiis, valde
humiliter & pedestribus potius verbis quam poeticis. Quapropter haec ipsius
poemata recitationi magis quam cantui apta sunt: neque accommodari possunt ad
chorum, vel ad lyram, nisi sit chorus qui rem aliquam simpliciter enarrat.
--Demetrius of
Phaleron, Libro de Elocutione III.166-167; Translated into Latin by
Robert Faulis (1743)
Demetrius of Phaleron was an Athenian philosopher, statesman, and author who lived during the 3rd century BCE. His magnum opus, On Style [de Elocutione], is a valuable resource for preserving poetic works of authors no longer extant.
|
Name: Callimachus Date: 305 – 240 BCE Region: Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation: Hymn to Apollo, 47 – 54 |
We also call Phoebus the “Shepherd,”
From the time that he watched over
Teams of horses on the banks of the Amphrysus River
All for the love of the youth Admetus.
The fields were full of cows,
The goats lacked no woolly kids;
The livestock under the watchful eye of Apollo
Were neither sterile nor barren;
Mother ewes suddenly birthed not just one offspring, but twins.
|
Φοῖβον καὶ
Νόμιον κικλήσκομεν ἐξέτι κείνου, ἐξότ᾽ ἐπ᾽
Ἀμφρυσσῷ ζευγίτιδας ἔτρεφεν ἵππους ἠιθέου ὑπ᾽
ἔρωτι κεκαυμένος Ἀδμήτοιο. ῥεῖά κε
βουβόσιον τελέθοι πλέον, οὐδέ κεν αἶγες δεύοιντο
βρεφέων ἐπιμηλάδες ᾗδιν Ἀπόλλων βοσκομένῃσ᾽
ὀφθαλμὸν ἐπήγαγεν: οὐδ᾽ ἀγάλακτες οἴιες οὐδ᾽
ἄκυθοι, πᾶσαι δέ κεν εἶεν ὕπαρνοι, ἡ δέ κε
μουνοτόκος διδυμητόκος αἶψα γένοιτο. |
Phoebum etiam pastorem vocamus ex eo
tempore, quo ad
Amphrysum iugales pavit equas pueri Admeti
ardens amore. Facile utique
pascua sint plena bubus,
neque caprae inerrantes
lanigeris careant subole, quas Apollo pascentes
respexerit: neque sine lacte oves, aut
steriles fuerint, sed omnes prolem habeant, et unipara
repente fiat gemellipara. Translated
into Latin by Johann August Ernesti |
Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one
of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he
spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he
used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his
poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his
talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.
Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one
of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he
spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he
used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his
poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his
talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.
|
Name: Antipater of Sidon Date: 2nd – 1st century BCE Region: Sidon [modern Lebanon] Citation: Greek Anthology 7.413 |
Hipparchia was a famous Cynic philosopher who
lived during the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE. According to tradition,
Hipparchia rejected her role as an Athenian noblewoman to marry the famous
Cynic philosopher Crates, and spent the remainder of her life following the
ascetic lifestyle of a Cynic. Although she was a prolific author, only
fragments of her writing remain.
No longer dwelling in the lifestyle
of the wide-belted ladies,
I, Hipparchia, have chosen the manly life
of a Cynic.
Pretty robes and stylish shoes no
longer work for me;
Neither do pretty hair-nets.
A rugged staff is my companion, as
well as a double-layered cloak, and
The rough ground is my home.
To me, my life is better than
Atalanta’s,
Since wisdom is so much better than
jogging.
|
οὐχὶ βαθυστόλμων Ἱππαρχία ἔργα γυναικῶν, τῶν δὲ Κυνῶν ἑλόμαν ῥωμαλέον βίοτον οὐδέ μοι ἀμπεχόναι περονήτιδες, οὐ βαθύπελμος εὔμαρὶς, οὐ λιπόων εὔαδε κεκρύφαλος: οὐλὰς δὲ σκίπωνι συνέμπορος, ἅ τε συνῳδὸς δίπλαξ, καὶ κοίτας βλῆμα χαμαιλεχέος. ἄμμι δὲ Μαιναλίας κάρ’ῥων μνάμα Ἀταλάντας τόσσον, ὅσον σοφία κρέσσον ὀριδρομίας. |
Non ego feminei mores Hipparchia sexus, sed mare sum forte corde secuta canes. Non placuit pallam substringens fibula,
non pes vinctus, et unguentis oblita vitta mihi: sed baculus nudique pedes, quaeque
artubus haeret Diplois, inque locum dura cubilis humus. Maenaliae tantum potior mea vita puellae, quanto venari quam sapuisse minus. Translated into Latin by Hugo
Grotius |
Antipater of Sidon [2nd – 1st century BCE, modern Lebanon] was a Greek poet who lived under Roman rule during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Dozens of his poems were preserved in the Greek Anthology.
