Ptolemy's Epigram

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adz000
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Ptolemy's Epigram

Post by adz000 »

The astronomer's intimations of immortality:

οἶδ’ ὅτι θνατὸς ἐγὼ καὶ ἐφάμερος· ἀλλ’ ὅταν ἄστρων    μαστεύω πυκινὰς ἀμφιδρόμους ἕλικας οὐκέτ’ ἐπιψαύω γαίης ποσίν, ἀλλὰ παρ’ αὐτῶι    Ζανὶ θεοτρεφέος πίμπλαμαι ἀμβροσίης.

2 μαστεύω  PPl:  ἰχνεύω Synesius     4 θεοτρεφέος  Dindorf, Page:  θεοτροφίης P,  
διοτρεφέος  Pl,  διοτροφέος  Synesius

AP 9.577
In Page's Further Greek Epigrams, pp. 112-13.

The identification of the author with Claudius Ptolemaeus (c. 120-50 AD) is ultimately unproveable.

Skylax
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Re: Ptolemy's Epigram

Post by Skylax »

adz000 wrote: οὐκέτ’ ἐπιψαύω γαίης ποσίν, ἀλλὰ παρ’ αὐτῶι    ζανὶ θεοτρεφέος πίμπλαμαι ἀμβροσίης.
Gosh ! It is exactly what I feel when I am busy with ancient texts !

Thanks to adz000 and maybe to you too, dear Ptolemy !

annis
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Post by annis »

My thanks, too. That's a nice poem.

This is the second epigram I've seen recently with Doric touches.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

mingshey
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Post by mingshey »

(I'll take anything that's Greek and that's posted here as an excercise. :D)

I know that I am mortal and and of a day's life: but whenever I
observe the close(, compact, or solid) encompassing orbits of stars
No longer do I touch the ground with my feet, but beside them,
creatures of Zeus, I'm filled full of ambrosia.

During the word search I got a useful expression:
μὴ ψαύειν

... when Nausikaa is going to touch anything dangerous or something brittle. :)

annis
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Post by annis »

mingshey wrote:(I'll take anything that's Greek and that's posted here as an excercise. :D)
:)
I know that I am mortal and and of a day's life: but whenever I
observe the close(, compact, or solid) encompassing orbits of stars
No longer do I touch the ground with my feet, but beside them,
creatures of Zeus, I'm filled full of ambrosia.
I'd take the last two lines something more like this:

No longer do I touch the ground with my feet, but beside Zeus
Himself I am filled with the ambrosia that nourishes the gods.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

mingshey
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Post by mingshey »

Aye, thanks!
I had to make a rough guess about θεοτρεφέος. Is there a comment about making a new word out of a couple of words already there, in Smyth or any grammar book?

Skylax
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Post by Skylax »

Hello, Mingshey !

Here what can be found in Smyth's Grammar :
Compound words : para 869 onwards, i.e. page 247 of the book, 262 of the PDF document;
Meaning of compounds : para 895, page 252 [267].

Hope this helps.
Skylax

annis
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Post by annis »

mingshey wrote:I had to make a rough guess about θεοτρεφέος.
This is an Ionic (i.e., Epic) genitive of θεοτρεφής. The big L&S at Perseus cites this poem and Nonnus for usage. :)
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

adz000
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Post by adz000 »

You're quite sharp to catch the Doric coloring! Page comments:

[size=150]θνατός[/size]: the mixture of dialects may be original. The Doric form in Planudes is not likely to be conjectural, for he seldom introduces such forms and makes no attempt to do so in the sequel. Without any manuscript authority it is unsafe to alter [size=150]γαίης and αμβροσίης.

mingshey
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Post by mingshey »

Skylax: Thanks so much! From the article, it sounds like it's a good reason to study comedies some day. And works on natural philosophy, perhaps.

William:Thanks, again. I was tracking in the direction of τρέφος rather than τρέφω and then led to θρέμμα, "creature"-stuff. :lol:

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