Meleager's Cicada Poem

#poem  #meleager #Greekanthology #cicada #greekpoetry 

Meleager's Cicada Poem

Written in the frist Century BCE

ἀχηεις τέττιξ, δροσεραῖς σταγόνεσσι μεθυσθείς,

ἀγρονόμαν μέλπεις μοῦσαν ἐρημολάλον.

ἄκρα δ᾿ ἐφεζόμενος πετάλοις, πριονώδεσι κώλοις.

αἰθίοπι κλάζεις χρωτὶ μέλισμαλύρας.

ἀλλά, φίλος, θθέγγου τι νέον δενδρώδεσι

παίγνιον, ἀντῳδὸν Πανὶ κρέκων κέλαδον,

ὄφρα φυγὼν τὸν Ἔρωτα, μεσηβρινὸν ὕπνον

ἐνθάδ᾿ ὑπὸ σκιερᾷ κεκλιμένος πλατάνῷ

Clear sounding Cicada drunken with dewy drops

Rural music you sing chattering in the wilderness

and sitting upon on the edge of leaves with saw shaped limbs

with your sunburnt body you shriek lyre like melody

but friend speak some new song for the woodland spirits

a response to pan's striking noise

that fleeing Eros noon tide sleep I will catch 

here under the shade of the elm lying down.

As well as being a lovely poem there is a beautiful variety of dative forms from all declensions in this poem and note that it is also a request for the Cicada to sing so that the woodland spirits will protect him from Pan .

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DEAD THINKERS

R. Le #Gallienne was a minor poet mostly forgotten but I happen to have an anthology that includes a few of his poems

I think you may enjoy the irony in this one?
The spacing and italics are as close as I can get to the typesetting in the book.
I have no idea why the typesetter put a space before questions marks!

#ballade #greekphilosophers #atoms

Ballade of Dead Thinkers

R. Le Gallienne

Where's Heraclitus and his Flux

Of Sense that never maketh stay ?

Or Thales, with whom water sucks

Into itself both Clod and Clay ?

Or he, who in an evil Day

Νόμος and φύσις first employ'd ;

And of the Sum of Things doth say,

They all are Atoms in the Void ?

Where's grave Parmenides ? Death plucks

His Beard : and by the Velian Bay

Sleeps Zeno ; Plato's pen their Crux

Of One and Many doth portray.

Empedocles too, well-away,

His taste for climbing, unalloy'd

By prudence, led him far astray ;

They all are Atoms in the Void.

Where's Socrates himself, who chucks

Up Physics, makes of Sophists hay,

Into Induction briskly tucks,

And Definitions frames always ?

The good Athenians him did slay,

His Dialectic them annoy'd ;

And his Disciples, where are they ?

They all are Atoms in the Void.

Envoy.

Prince, tho' with these old names and grey

Our peace of mind be half destroyed,

Take comfort ; say they what they may,

They all are Atoms in the Void.

Kronos and Zeus The old and the New

Kronos  and Zeus

A quote from Timotheus of Miletus preserved by Athenaeus in Deiphnosophists 3.122 d page 69 vol 2 in the loeb edition.

Οὐκ ἀείδω τὰ παλαιά. Καινὰ γὰρ μάλα κρείσσω.

Νέος ὁ Ζεὺς βασιλεύει. Τὸ πάλαι δ̓ ἦν

Κρόνος ἄρχων. Ἀπίτω μοῦσα παλαιά.

Literally

Not I sing (of) the ancient things new / recent for rather (is) greater /better.

New (is) the Zeus reigning the ancient but was Kronos ruling go away muse ancient

CRATES on Simplicity

Crates the Philosopher on Simplicity

Greek Anthology book 10 104

Χαῖρε θεὰ δέσποιν̕, ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀγάπημα,

Εὐτελίη, κλεινῆς ἔγγονε Σωφροσύνης.

Σὴν ἀρετὴν τιμῶσιν ὅσοι τὰ δίκαἰ ἀσκοῦσιν.

Rough Translation.

Hail goddess or divine mistress of good men beloved / admired 

Simplicity of glorious begotten / born Sophrosune 

(the word order has been changed to match the metre )

Sophrosune is Moderation or Temperance.

Your virtue /excellence they honor justice /righteousness practising

Simplicity is honored /valued by those who practise righteous actions.

ANACREON I care not for ...

A Poem By ANACREON
From the Greek Anthology book 11 47

Οὔ μοι μέλει τὰ Γύγεω,

τοῦ Σαρδίων ἄνακτος,

οὔθ̓ αἱρέει με χρυσός,

οὐκ αἰνέω τυράννους.

Ἐμοὶ μέλει μύροισι

καταβρέχειν ὑπήνην.

Ἐμοὶ μέλει ῥόδοισι

καταστέφειν κάρηνα.

Τὸ σήμερον μέλει μοι.

τὸ δ̓ αὔριον τίς οἶδεν; 

A Literal translation you can tidy up.  

Notice  the use of dative with melei 

Not to me  is a concern or care (so I care not reads better in English)  for the  ta = things = wealth of Gyges

 of Sardis (wealthy city in Asia Minor)  the anax or ruler 

nor does take (captive) me GOLD

  not  I praise tyrants.

 I care to drench my beard with scent

 I care to garland / crown my head with roses.  

Garland is often translated as crown because a "Crown" for many ancient rulers was a band of flowers or metal on the head.

  I care for today 

and tomorrow who knows?