EROS PRIMORDIAL

#eros #myth #aristophanes #hesiod

EROS was originally depicted as a young man or a teenager.
The depictions of Eros as a child or baby start appearing in the Hellenistic era.

The myth about his origins seems to have changed sometime in the Classical or Hellenistic era.

People writing about him in Greek and Latin started describing him as the Child of Aphrodite and Ares but in older texts he is a PRIMORDIAL being predating the Olympians.

Hesiod Lines 116 Theogony describes Chaos as being the first being and then Earth line 120-22 Tartaros and EROS "most beautiful among the immortal gods"

One fragment of Parmenides writings also refers to EROS as the first born

Aristophanes uses a variant of  this older myth to support the idea the Birds are the oldest of beings .

Lines 696 >> Eros is the first being to be born from an egg with golden wings and Line 703 hence the Birds are the children of love since they fly ...


Aristophanes version came form the Orphic mysteries but all these writers Hesiod, Parmenides and Aristophanes and the Orphics agree EROS is something primordial and ever young.

Aristophanes - The Hoopoe Serenade Part Two

#aristophanes #greekcomedy #hoopoe #song

In the previous post I gave you the Greek text and a transliteration into English so non Greek readers had some idea of how the song may have sounded

This time first a word for word paraphrase with notes then a cleaned up version.

Most of the lines in the serenade are 11 syllables long and in a meter that's not really suitable for English verse and then there's the poetic syntax problem

I've tried to keep as close as possible to the original line breaks but sometimes ...

Line One Age is an imperative given the rest of the line Awaken is acceptable

sunnome means mate consort partner moi to for me pausai future infinitive however its  NEAR future event so cease and sleep hupnou is genitive from sleep

Line 2 luson release free loosen and nomous herds laws normally the idea seems to be multiple lines of song hence strains of song in many translations I'm going to add soon justifying it by the future infinitive in the first line

line 3 hous dia theiou stomatos threeneis which by/ thru divine lips mouth you lament

Dative tois sois for for mine (own) and yrs much wept for Itys (their son)

elelizomenee is often translated as trills but she is literallly quivering trembling with song liquid fresh  dierois song melesin

Yes theres no up in original but its bird song rising up see next stanza

Proceeding or advancing thru leafy curls  and i have moved up smilakos and moved down kathara

Dios equals Zeus though divine could also be used

hina so that the goldhaird Phoibos = apollo hearing
ack one long sentence with verb stuck in middle !

yes elegy is a greek word antiphalloon to play a stringed instrument as a response or accompaniment
it being Apollos phormigga or lyre with ivory inlay

i had to merge and shift two lines next

histeesi should be causes to stand up (to sing) but that just does not work in english

Xumphonos is probably used here cos the attic dialect form fits the metre better or for euphony with khoorei  or both

there are 2 genitives in greek  but of harmony of unison in english .... no

ololugee can be cries of both sorrow and joy ?  if i use both it echoes the original metre ?


Awaken Consort for me Cease from Sleep

And Loosen Soon Odes of sacred song

Which through your divine mouth you make lament

For mine and your son much wept for Itys

Trembling with liquid song

Up From your tawny throat

Proceeding thru leafy curls of woodbine

A pure sound echoing towards Zeus' seat

So that golden haired Phoibos  listening

to your elegies responds (then) with song

 ivory inlaid lyre stirring  godly choirs

and thru immortal lips comes a harmony

of sound divine blessed cries of sorrow and joy


I have tried to balance echoes of the original structure and metre with the need to reflect the actual meaning and the need to have a loose but poetic translation that could perhaps actually be set to music in English and I hope  hasn't become BAD free verse?

If you can figure out a way to get this into an English friendly metric scheme that even rhymes do share or comment please?

Aristophanes - The Hoopoe Serenade Part One

#aristophanes #greekcomedy #song #hoopoe

This post has 2 parts first the Greek Text with a transliterations into
and then next part translation and notes
The transliteration is there to give non Greek readers a rough idea of how it sounds!
Bear in mind that th kh and ph are aspiratd t k and p not fricatives!
 Meter in Greek mean the lines do not have to have an equal length of syllables, and vowel length and pitch are factors too!

Aristophanes' Birds

The Hoopoe's Serenade Lls 209-222

ἄγε σύννομέ μοι παῦσαι μὲν ὕπνου,

age sunnome moi pausai men hupnou

λῦσον δὲ νόμους ἱερῶν ὕμνων,

luson de nomous hieroon 

οὓς διὰ θείου στόματος θρηνεῖς,

hous dia theiou stomatos threeneis 

τὸν ἐμὸν καὶ σὸν πολύδακρυν Ἴτυν

ton emon kai son poludakrun itun 

ἐλελιζομένη διεροῖς μέλεσιν

elelisdomenee dierois melesin 

γένυος ξουθῆς.

genuos ksouthees

καθαρὰ χωρεῖ διὰ φυλλοκόμου

kathara khoorei dia phullokomou 

σμίλακος ἠχὼ πρὸς Διὸς ἕδρας,

smilakos eekhoo pros dios hedras 

ἵν̓ ὁ χρυσοκόμας Φοῖβος ἀκούων

hin ho khrusokomas phoibos akouoon 

τοῖς σοῖς ἐλέγοις ἀντιψάλλων

tois sois elegois antiphalloon

ἐλεφαντόδετον φόρμιγγα θεῶν

elephantodeton phormigga theoon 

ἵστησι χορούς. διὰ δ᾿ ἀθανάτων

histeesi khorous dia d'athanatoon 

στομάτον χωρεῖ ξύμφωνος ὁμοῦ

stomaton khoorei ksumphoonos homou 

θεία μακάρων ὀλολυγή.

theia makaroon ololugee

The Ancient scholia imply the background music to this includes at least one flute perhaps more?

Next time the translation !

Aristophanes Birds Two - Why a Hoopoe?

#aristophanes #birds #greek comedy #hoopoe

So Why is a Hoopoe one of the leading Characters in the Birds?

Personal Photo of an Old Hans Hvass illustration
Since the book its in was printed in the 1960s it may or may not be public domain?

Note the Hoopoe a bird with a large reddish crest and also the subject of a play by Sophocles no longer extant.

Note the scholia by the ancients claims Aristophanes was referring to a play by Sophocles called the Tereus.

Line 93 o heracles what kind of beast is this here? and what plumage what style of triple cresting?

then Line 100  Sophocles play is mentioned and the humans ask where are your feathers.

It looks like Sophocles actor worn a costume with crested headgear and beaked mask but no feathers elsewhere 

I suspect Aristophanes had his costumiers create an exaggerated copy of this as in line 102 Terues is asked if he's a bird or peacock and Tereus explains all his feathers apart from his crest have moulted.

I wonder if Aristophanes got a hold of some moulted peacock feathers and used them in the play as part of the triple crest?

However another reason for using a Hoopoe is the Greek myth that his wife was turned into a nightingale giving us the beautiful Serenade to the Nightingale Lines 209 >>

which will be a subject for another post.

Since we normally read ancient plays we forget the playwrights were usually also the directors and were awarded for a combination of set design lyrics dances music dialogue and costume!

Next time Median birds 

Aristophanes Birds ONE

#aristophanes #bird #rooster

Did you know Aristophanes was probably the first dramatist to mention roosters in literature?

While roosters and chickens had probably been imported into Greece for at least a century or longer judging from paintings on amphoras and other ceramics like this one from Corinth they were still seen as being some what exotic and when Aristophanes talks about the Median Bird its chickens and roosters he's referring too! His listing of actual Persian names makes me wonder if the Persians were offering visiting embassies roosters as gifts? 

The roosters would have much smaller yet more colorful being closer genetically to the ancestral Indian jungle fowl.

More on birds in Greek art and Aristophanes play next time!

THE HOOPOE !!!