Anonyma from Epigrammata Graeca

Greek Homeric Greek and Early Greek Poetry
1

I flipped through Page’s Epigrammata Graeca OCT this morning, looking for poets that I wouldn’t need a dictionary for, and settled on this Anonyma guy.

οὐκέτ᾽ ἐρῶ. πεπάλαικα πόθοις τρισίν· εἷς μὲν ἑταίρης,
εἷς δέ με παρθενικῆς, εἷς δέ μ᾽ ἔκαυσε νέου,
καὶ κατὰ πᾶν ἤλγηκα. γεγύμνασμαι μὲν ἑταίρης
πείθων τὰς ἐχθρὰς οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας·
ἔστρωμαι δὲ κόρης ἐπὶ παστάδος αἰὲν ἄυπνος,
ἕν τι ποθεινότατον παιδὶ φίλημα διδούς·
οἴμοι, πῶς εἴπω πῦρ τὸ τρίτον; ἐκ γὰρ ἐκείνου
βλέμματα καὶ κενεὰς ἐλπίδας οἶδα μόνον.

I no longer speak. I’ve been overthrown by passions three. One for a whore,
one for a nun, and one that inflames me after a lad.
And by them all I am pricked. I’ve stripped for the whore,
persuaded by a passion with no guarded entrances.
I’ve been spread out by the maiden on my bed always sleepless,
having given the child a single most passionate kiss.
Oh dear, how shall I speak of the third fire? For from that one
I only know glances and empty hopes.

πεπάλαικα - overthrown? Wrestling related verb? Or just “struck”?
τὰς ἐχθρὰς θύρας - “guarded entrances”? I thought that ἐχθρά was a noun? “Having no doors that are enemies”?
παστάδος - something one is ἔστρωμαι on. A bed? From παστάρ? I can’t think of any -αδος words that I know
φίλημα - Is “kiss” over-specifying? Any mark of affection?
διδούς - Active participle? I would have expected a passive
βλέμματα - From βλέμμα. Is this a glance or a wink? I only have a vague sense of it having to do with the eye.

EDIT: Fixed ἐκείου → ἐκείνου, noticed by Paul below

2

There are a few things I don’t understand about the poem myself, but I think you got it wrong in quiet a few places…

ἐρῶ = ἐραω desire
πεπάλαικα “I have wrestled”
πόθος “longing” (not quite the same I think as “passion”)
ἤλγηκα “I have suffered”
γεγύμνασμαι “I am excercised in” γυμνάζω means “to train, to exercise”, the connection with nudity has been lost.
πείθων is active, so “I” is the subject
παιδὶ not a “child” here I suppose?
βλέμμα is a glance

I don’t know what τὰς ἐχθρὰς οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας or ἐκείου mean.

3

Ok, I think I got it: γεγύμνασμαι μὲν ἑταίρης /πείθων τὰς ἐχθρὰς οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας “I’m experienced at trying to convince a hetaira’s doors which are hostile to one who has nothing”.

4

παστάς is a porch. So I guess ἔστρωμαι δὲ κόρης ἐπὶ παστάδος αἰὲν ἄυπνος “I’m lying on the a girl’s porch, always sleepless”.

5

Thank you. Also, I missed the μέν/δέ between the ἑταίρης and the κόρης

Ok, I think I got it: γεγύμνασμαι μὲν ἑταίρης /πείθων τὰς ἐχθρὰς οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας “I’m experienced at trying to convince a hetaira’s doors which are hostile to one who has nothing”.

This makes more sense, but are you sure that γεγύμνασμαι can’t go with ἑταίρης? This would help the μέν/δέ too. “I’m practiced (worn out?) of a hetaira, persuading the doors hostile to one who has nothing, but…”

6

The opposition is between what he’s experienced at the hetaira’s door and what he’s lived through on the girl’s porch.

Let me try my hand at this:

No longer do I desire. I’ve wrestled with three cravings that have burnt me: one for a prostitute,
one for a virgin, one for a lad.
And I’ve suffered in every way. I’ve worn out myself
trying to persuade the prostitute’s doors to open, so hostile to a penniless man;
and I make the girl’s porch my bed, never sleeping,
offering the lass one kiss so full of desire
But oh how could I speak about the third one, out of which
I know only glances and empty hopes.

ποθεινότατον I’m not sure if this is “most desirable” or “most full of desire”. To me, the second makes more sense.

7

Oh, they are real doors. And her porch. Of course. I see the door/porch contrast now.

Here is the next one, which was probably together with it because of the similar theme (all these are under a subheading “A. E CORONA MELEAGRI”):

Κύπρι, τί μοι τρισσοὺς ἐφ᾽ ἕνα σκοπὸν ἤλασας ἰούς,
ἐν δὲ μιῇ ψυχῇ τρισσὰ πέπηγε βέλη;
καὶ τῇ μὲν φλέγομαι, τῇ δ᾽ ἕλκομαι· ᾗ δ᾽ ἀπονεύσω
διστάζω, λάβρῳ δ᾽ ἐν πυρὶ πᾶς φλέγομαι.

Venus, why have you driven three darts on one look (wound?),
and in one soul stuck three arrows?
And by one I am burnt, am pulled by another, and I διστάζω the one I will ἀπονεύσω,
but in a strong fire I am entirely burning.

ἰός – an arrow?
σκοπός – I feel like I’m forgetting a meaning for some reason
φλέγομαι – passive, to be burnt?
ἀπονεύσω – curse off, send off or something? Future or present?
διστάζω – stand apart from?

8

I found a translation for the first one by Paton (https://topostext.org/work/535):
No longer do I love. I have wrestled with three passions that burn: one for a courtesan, one for a maiden, and one for a lad. And in every way I suffer pain. For I have been sore exercised, seeking to persuade the courtesan’s doors to open, the foes of him who has nothings and again ever sleepless I make my bed on the girl’s couch, giving the child but one thing and that most desirable, kisses. Alack! how shall I tell of the third flame? For from that I have gained naught but glances and empty hopes.

I’m not sure he got it quite right with “and again ever sleepless I make my bed on the girl’s couch, giving the child but one thing and that most desirable, kisses” - isn’t the point that he’s frustrated, hence my “offering” for present δίδους; also, I think it’s better here if the kiss is full of desire rather than desirable. Apparently παστάς can also mean “bridal chamber” beside “porch”, but why “couch”? Because she sleeps in the bed, while the frustrated lover sleeps on the couch?

9

σκοπός a watchman, but also the mark, the thing aimed and fired at
τῇ - τῇ - what femine nouns could these possible refer to?
For the two last words you’ll have to use the dictionary, as your guesses are wrong.

10

I think that I remember σκοπός now from the lookout in Odysseus’ ship?

τῇ - τῇ - what femine nouns could these possible refer to?

Not the women? τρισσοὺς ἰούς seems masculine. τρισσὰ βέλη seems neuter.

For the two last words you’ll have to use the dictionary, as your guesses are wrong.

Generally I’m trying to wait until I see the word again in normal reading, but I do stoop to TLG search when I can’t submerge my curiosity.

Plato:
ἡμεῖς δέ πως θᾶττον ἐκ τῶν ψιλῶν λόγων πρὸς τὴν γεωμετρίαν ἀπενεύσαμεν

Philo
καὶ σχεδὸν δύο εἰσὶν αὗται μόναι αἱ τῆς νομοθεσίας πάσης ὁδοί, μία μὲν ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἀληθὲς ἀπονεύουσα…ἑτέρα δὲ ἡ πρὸς τὰς τῶν νωθεστέρων δόξας

Iamblichus
Ἤδη τοίνυν καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς πολλοὶ διαστάζουσιν, οἳ μὲν εἰς μίαν σύνταξιν καὶ μίαν ἰδέαν τὰ εἴδη καὶ τὰ μόρια τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τὰ ἐνεργήματα συνάγοντες, ὥσπερ Πλωτῖνός τε καὶ Πορφύριος· οἳ δὲ εἰς μάχην ταῦτα κατατείνοντες, ὥσπερ Νουμήνιος·

So, another try:

καὶ τῇ μὲν φλέγομαι, τῇ δ᾽ ἕλκομαι· ᾗ δ᾽ ἀπονεύσω διστάζω
And by the one I’m burned, by the other I’m pulled, and the one I will incline to, I feud with."

11

Point is, τῇ is an adverb, no feminines. ”I’m being burnt here and wounded (ελκοω) there and I hesitate which side I’m going to lean (fall?).”

12

Wouldn’t that have to be ἑλκοῦμαι? (I double checked that I didn’t make a mistake in transcription.) I was thinking ἕλκω, passive ἕλκομαι. I’ll see if I can find another one with φλέγειν.

But otherwise I get the point, “here I’m burned, there I’m pulled…”

13

Maybe yes. Anyway, I’m sorry but I really don’t see the point of not looking up in the dictionary. I think a good dictionary has always been a great help with all my language studies, not just Greek but English and others as well. A good dictionary gives you not just a definition but also examples of usage, so you get the idea of the word’s whole semantic range, as well information about the register it belongs to. I think the one mistake you can make with a dictionary is looking up too quickly, without digesting the information and making a real effort to memorize the word for good.

I recognize that you want study with some sort of language immersion method, but with time I’ve come to believe that they really work without systematic grammar and vocabulary work only in kids and teenagers; I think the language acquisition capasities of us grown-ups are fundamentally different, as our brains are fundamentally different. We are more capable of studying analytically when we grow up, but we lose the greater part of the brain’s hard wired capasity for ”automatic” language acquisition. So, to summarize: you should pay more systematic attention to the Greek you read and make sure you understand the grammatical constructions before you proceed.

On a related note, I have several real dictionaries which I have payed for installed on my iPhone. If someone can recommend an even better one for English than Merriam-Webster or Oxford English, I’d be grateful.

14

I haven’t sworn off dictionaries for good, I’ve temporarily restrained my usage of them for reading. My major standard of progress is how much makes sense to me when I pick something random to read, and how many re-reads it takes for it to start making sense. By that standard, my progress has increased significantly in the past several months. Eventually it will stall out and I’ll try something different.

In specific, I’ve noticed myself getting significantly better at noticing word formation and context, and at remembering that I’ve seen a word before from a single usage. I am paying more attention to what I read. From yesterday, though most of my reading was Plato and Euripides, I remember (patchily):

οὐκετι ἐρῶ. πεπαλαικα ποθοις…εἷς μὲν ἑταίρης
εἷς δὲ κορης, εἷς δὲ νέου. γεγύμνασμαι μὲν ἑταίρης
πείθων τὰς ἐχθρας οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας
ἐστρώμαι δἐ κορης παστάδος αἰεν ἄυπνος
ἕν τι ποθεινοτατον παιδι φιλημα δίδους.
…τί ἀν εἰπω;…
βλέμματα καὶ κενας ἐλπιδας

Κρυπι,…ἕνα σκοπὸν τρισσους ιους…
…τρισσα πεπαγεν (sic) βελη
τῇ μὲν φλέγομαι, τῇ δ᾽ ἕλκομαι, ᾗ δ᾽ ἀπονεύσω
διστάζω…πᾶς φλέγομαι

People can scroll up to see how good/bad that was. Better than where I was a few months ago if I had tried the same, at least. Would I remember any of that if I had simply gone through looking up the glosses for the words I didn’t know? I doubt it.

I can’t help you with the dictionary question. I use Google for “define:” when I need a word etymology. I never found English language dictionaries useful growing up, and don’t actually own one now. My copies of Shakespeare and Chaucer do have glosses on the sides.

15

πείθων τὰς ἐχθρὰς οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας· – this is a standard trope of Greek erotic elegy, taken over by Roman elegy, too (Propertius, and treated humorously by Ovid): spending the night outside the woman’s door, begging to be let in but denied entry. There is actually a term for this: paraclausithyron, a complaint in front of the woman’s closed door. Paul got this right: “trying to persuade”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraklausithyron

"Whore " is not an appropriate translation for ἑταίρη (note the Ionic coloring, de rigeur in this genre; also κόρης). This is a high-class courtesan who only sleeps with men wealthy enough to maintain her in luxury. She is a “kept woman”, a “companion”, not a mere πόρνη.

πεπάλαικα – “I’m no longer in love: I’ve wrestled with – and overcome – three passions”



ἔκαυσε – is aorist: “burned me”. " . . . inflames me" misses the point entirely (Patton’s translation also misses the point). He’s telling us he’s no longer in love: he was set on fire and got burned.

ἤλγηκα – “I have experienced pain/agony” (but does the perfect perhaps suggest that, contrary to his claim that he’s no longer in love, he still feels the agony?).

γεγύμνασμαι – 'I’m worn out". This is a common meaning for this word, especially in the perfect passive.

ἔστρωμαι δὲ κόρης ἐπὶ παστάδος – ἔστρωμαι is middle: “I’m stretched out”. κόρης depends on παστάδος: “on the young girl’s bed/couch”

ποθεινότατον – “desired” not “passionate”.

ἕν τι ποθεινότατον παιδὶ φίλημα διδούς – the point is that he was limited to just a kiss and never got to “go all the way”. And of course “nun” is quite wrong, and “child” isn’t quite right.

σκοπὸν – “target”

πέπηγε βέλη is intransitive: it’s the arrows that stick.

τῇ μὲν . . . , τῇ δ᾽ . . . · ᾗ δ᾽ . . . – “one way . . . , the other way . . .”

ἕλκομαι – “I am torn to pieces” (?)

ᾗ δ᾽ ἀπονεύσω διστάζω – διστάζω is “I am in doubt”, and ᾗ δ᾽ ἀπονεύσω is deliberative subjunctive, not future: “I’m in a quandary which way to turn”

λάβρῳ δ᾽ ἐν πυρὶ – “in a raging fire”

A. E CORONA MELEAGRI – “anonymous from the Garland of Meleager” – a collection of erotic elegy selected by Meleager that’s included in the “Greek Anthology”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meleager_of_Gadara

I haven’t sworn off dictionaries for good, I’ve temporarily restrained my usage of them for reading.

Personally, I think you would get more out of the Greek, and learn more Greek, by using the dictionary instead of guessing at words. And also, as Paul notes, by paying systematic attention to the Greek and making sure you understand the grammatical constructions.

16

There’s nothing wrong with doing a first run through the passage without resorting to a dictionary. Doing so can be a very beneficial exercise. But it’s like a first draft – don’t stop there, go back and check your work using the dictionary.

17

I’m sure most of your corrections are right, but wouldn’t we have aorist and not present participle in this particular case? Did he even get to give that one kiss? Hence my “offering”.

18

The final couplet not only avoid the expected δέ, it’s the epigram’s punchline, the twist in the tail: it gives the lie to the opening οὐκέτ᾽ ἐρῶ. All those perfect tenses describe how he’s been in the past but is not longer—but now we learn he’s still afflicted by his third πόθος. He’s gotten past the others but not this one. (Paton misunderstands: καὶ κατὰ πᾶν ἤλγηκα is not “And in every way I suffer pain”—it’s perfect not present. And διδούς, like πείθων, is pointedly imperfective, as Paul sees—he tried but didn’t succeed. The tenses are all-important.)

19

As usual, mwh brings it into focus and nails it.

εἷς μὲν ἑταίρης, εἷς δέ με παρθενικῆς, εἷς δέ μ᾽ ἔκαυσε νέου – I’m not sure you noticed that all three genitives are complements of ἔκαυσε – a neat tricolon. ἑταίρης, and παρθενικῆς are not dependent on πόθοις, as your translation (like Patton’s) suggests, missing the tricolon.

A couple more notes on this, from Gow and Page Hellenistic Epigrams, II:

τὰς ἐχθρὰς οὐδὲν ἔχοντι θύρας should mean “the door, which is hostile to me because I have nothing”. “hostile to a man who has nothing” would be μηδὲν ἔχοντι.

ἐπὶ παστάδος is a conjecture for the manuscript’s impossible reading ἐπιστάδος,. Gow/Page take it to mean “porch”. He was lying abjectly out on the porch trying (you’re absolutely right, Paul) to give her nothing more than just a kiss.

20

Good point; I took me a moment to understand, but I didn’t miss it. Still, I translated the verb nevertheless as if it were a perfect: “I’ve wrestled with three cravings that have burnt me: one for a prostitute, one for a virgin, one for a lad.”

What’s the final verdict for παστάς - “porch” or “couch”? To me, it doesn’t seem like much of a “paraclausithyron” if he managed to get in, even if he has to sleep on the couch (the image seems somewhat modern to me…).