An invective distich addressed to Alexander G Bell from Ambrose Bierce.
ὠ φίλε, σοῦ δε κακός κερδῶν δόλος ἄττα καθαῖρει
ὥς ἅ κατεῖκον ἐκεῖ τους αδίκους φλέδονας.
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Ecphrasis
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Ok, I'm stumped. What is κατεῖκον?
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/ — http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;
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Sorry about the terseness of yesterday's post - hastily scribbled before heading off to London for a luncheon, it was after 11pm before I returned by which time I was neither of a mind nor state to respond properly, so here goes...
A literal translation of mine,
My friend, your evil contrivance takes away some of the advantages which regularly used to keep obstinate* babblers at bay.
The 'ho:s' starting the first hemiepes, I'm afraid, is little more than a filler.
*any of the 'adikos' defs are suitable here.
and Ambrose Bierce's original from his The Devil's Dictionary
Telephone: An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.
Hope that clears up muddy waters.
A literal translation of mine,
My friend, your evil contrivance takes away some of the advantages which regularly used to keep obstinate* babblers at bay.
The 'ho:s' starting the first hemiepes, I'm afraid, is little more than a filler.
*any of the 'adikos' defs are suitable here.
and Ambrose Bierce's original from his The Devil's Dictionary
Telephone: An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.
Hope that clears up muddy waters.
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That's an interesting typo in the distich. You use the reconstructed pronunciation?auctor wrote:κατ‐εχω[/size]
This isn't really ecphrasis. If you were to desribe the appearance, sound, use, etc. of the device, then it would be. It's kind of a strange genre.
Hmm. Bierce is like Theophrastus in the small. Other definitions might make for fun translations.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/ — http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;