Canantur curae tuae gracilis mihi.
puella veni, sede Hebraea.
recipiam illas, sed egeo tui
crinis dulcis odoranti corporis vitae

In lecto sede, amabo te
bella remane, dice
desideras calescere? Pota
implebo intus te

Lodix teget et ego tango.
miscebis in amore cubilique?
autem, dum nues, you start, I stop

small secrets you give me
half-awake semi-neces
chin on your chest, soft candles
nunc somnus, cognito de te
omnia est.

Greek: Υποτασσομενοι αλληλοις εν φοβω Χριστου, αι γυναικες τοις ιδιοις ανδρασιν ως τωι κυριωι, οτι ανηρ εστιν κεφαλη της γυναικος ως και ο Χριστος κεφαλη της εκκλησιας, αυτος σωτηρ του σωματος.  αλλα ως η εκκλησια υποτασσεται τωι Χριστωι, ουτως και αι γυναικες τοις ανδρασιν εν παντι.  Οι ανδρες αγαπατε τας γυναικας, καθως και ο Χριστος ηγαπησεν την εκκλησιαν και εαυτον παρεδωκεν υπερ αυτης,

KJV: Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

My translation: Be marshalled [ordered, drawn up] under each other in fear of Christ, wives, be ordered under/to your own husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife as even Christ is the head of the Church, He the saviour of the body: but as the Chruch is marshalled by/to Christ, thus even wives be marshalled by/to your husbands in all things.  Men, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her.

At first blush, the subordination of women to men in this passage seems abundantly clear, but there are a few features in the Greek text that ought to give us pause.  The first is the use of Υποτασσομενοι at the beginning of verse 21.  Υποτασσω is a blatantly militaristic word, used often in Greek literature to refer to the marshalling of soldiers or the ordering of armies (hence my translation).  Paul would have been aware of this usage, and meant it, rather than the other verb used for obedience generally, πειθομαι.   The second thing that should catch our eye is how the emphasis of the translations are not true to the original.  Consider the line: Υποτασσομενοι αλληλοις εν φοβω Χριστου, αι γυναικες τοις ιδιοις ανδρασιν ως τωι κυριωι.  The verb translated traditionally as “to submit” (υποτασσω) occurs only once, and yet must be translated twice, since English isn’t as able to be elliptical as Greek is.

As a consequence in isolation, the phrase translated as “women be submissive to your husbands as to the lord” would simply be (lit): “women be to your men as to the lord.”  The meaning of the initial participle carries through, and so the translation “women be marshalled under your men as to the lord” is appropriate, but the emphasis is not on the submission of women to men, but the mutual submission of both under the Lord.  Paul could have reiterated the participle in the feminine, instead he let it go.  This structure is paralleled later in the only other usage of the verb “to submit, be marshalled” in the text cited: αλλα ως η εκκλησια υποτασσεται τωι Χριστωι, ουτως και αι γυναικες τοις ανδρασιν εν παντι. But as the Church is marshalled by Christ, thus even women [be marshalled] to your husbands in all.  Again, here, the emphasis is on the submission of both men and women (i.e. the Church) to Christ, where the submission or ordering of women to men is deemphasized by the ellipsis of the feminine participle and inclusion of the “semantically distributive” masculine.

Another thing ought to cue us that there is more going on here, and that is the imprecision of Paul’s comparison.  If men and woman are to be ordered to/under each other in fear of Christ, what is the absolute and correct relation of woman to man?  The man might be the head of the woman (according to Paul) as Christ is the head of the Church, but if this is the case, why should there be an initially stated equality in submission between husband and wife?  Why is the submission of the wife not emphasized while mutual submission of husband and wife in fear of Christ is?  A more full analysis of the passage is required to actually engage these questions, and that, with translation, probably out to the end of the chapter is forthcoming in the next few days.  Next Post: Gender Equality in Ephesians.

Credo ut Intellegam

JS

Greek Text: Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου. 10 καὶ εὐθὺς ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν καταβαῖνον εἰς αὐτόν· 11 καὶ φωνὴ [ἐγένετο] ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν· σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα.

KJV Translation: And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.  And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, [saying], Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

My Translation: And in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of the Galilieans and was  baptized in the Jordan by John.  10 And as he emerged upright from the water, he saw the skies splitting and the Spirit as a dove descended to him: and a voice came from the heavens: “You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased.”

This is an interesting slice of text to translate.  The reasons for this are the several participles in verse 10, which can be taken either as straight participles (equivalents leyendo or reading), or as temporal circumstantial participles.  I find it difficult, without throwing grace completely to the wolves, to translate present circumstantial participles well because the normal idiomatic way to translate an English temporal (as) statement is to put the verb (emerged) into what is formally equivalent to a past tense.  The translation of αναβαινων as a circumstantial rather than a normal participle is one of the ways that my translation differs from the KJV.  Several things led to this translation: for one the participle has no accompanying article, for another αναβαινων strictly speaking lacks tense but contains aspect. and as such informs us as to the relation of the action denoted by the participle to the verb.  The present participle denotes action that is “coincident” with the main verb — here ειδεν is an aorist, which gives the entire passage a kind of frozen in time, snapshot feel.  The participle occurs at the same time as the aorist main verb, and the aorist here, not ingressive, denotes a simple past completed action.  At the end of the day though, the choice to use an English temporal clause (me) rather than an English participle (KJV), is a stylistic choice, where I prefer making the simultaneity of the participle with ειδεν explicit with “as” rather than suffixing an “-ing” to “emerge.”

What really caused me, though, to take this chunk of Greek and comment on it, rather than a larger chunk, is the final part of verse 11: σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα.  The KJV translates this: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  While I take no issue with the first clause, the second clause we cannot grammatically allow.  The text reads εν σοι = super literally: “in you.”  In reality, εν may only exist to strengthen the dative force (with you) of σοι.  This may seem a quibbling point — except that it shapes the perspective and tone of the passage.  To take it as the KJV does makes the last part of the verse outward looking, and awkward besides.  It seems to speak of Christ (and therefore be demonstrative to the world) rather than to him.  The actual force of the Greek makes the speech a direct address to Christ.  It is not a statement about him, as the KJV would have it, but a loving statement to Him.  The KJV misses that point.  Apologetically, to read the Greek as it actually is, rather than as the KJV wants it to be is also more effective.  Part of why the text of the Gospel is compelling is because it does unexpected things in unexpected places.  We would expect a direct heavenly endorsement — afterall, if Christ is God, he knows that the Spririt is well pleased with him.  Christ knows already; we need to.  Instead you get the Spirit affirming to Christ the love he has for Him.  To be sure, this functions as an effective public endorsement but it comes in a way that is other than that which we might expect.  Incidentally, it also makes the text seem more like a first hand account, and less like a document fashioned after the fact for a specific purpose.  If the latter is true (and it, doubtless to some extent, is), it is interesting that it retains the qualities of the former, and interesting that the KJV translates it as what a modern man might it expect it to be, rather than what it, textually, is.

As a final note, this is a really rich passage, and a full analysis of all the different and very worthy poetic material here goes well beyond the scope of this blog.

Credo Ut Intellegam
JS

Greek Text:

Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησου Χριστοῦ
2 Καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ·
ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελον μου πρὸ προσώπου σου·
ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὅδον σου,
3 φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ·
ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὅδον κυρίου,
εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ,

ἐγένετο Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν. 5 καὶ ἐξεπορεύετο πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶσα ἡ Ἰουδαία χώρα καὶ οἱ Ἱεροσολυμῖται πάντες, καὶ ἐβαπτίζοντο ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ ποταμῷ ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν. 6 καὶ ἦν ὁ Ἰωάννης ἐνδεδυμένος τρίχας καμήλου καὶ ζώνην δερματίνην περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐσθίων ἀκρίδας καὶ μέλι ἄγριον. 7 Καὶ ἐκήρυσσεν λέγων· ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερος μου ὀπίσω [μου], οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ. 8 ἐγὼ ἐβάπτισα ὑμᾶς ὕδατι, αὐτὸς δὲ βαπτίσει ὑμᾶς πνεύματι ἁγίῳ.

My Translation:

A beginning of the Good Message of Jesus Christ
Thus it has been written in the prophet Isaiah:

“Behold, I send a my messenger before your face:
Who will prepare your way,
A voice howling in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the lord,
You all, make straight his paths

John came baptizing in the wilderness proclaiming the baptism of the change of mind to the forgiveness of turning aways (wrong doings). And to him was conveyed the whole land of Judaia and all the Jerusalemites and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River repenting their sins. John was dressed in camel hair and wore a leather belt around his genitals, eating grasshoppers and wild honey. And speaking, he proclaimed: “There is one coming mightier than I after me, of him I am not sufficient stooping down to loose the straps of his sandals. I baptized you all with water, he though, will baptize you with the holy spirit.

KJV Translation:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

I have no great quarrel with the KJV here. It’s an admirable rendering of the Greek on the whole.  Just a few things. In Homer there is an opposition between φθογγος and φωνη. The first is used to describe voice exclusively, whereas the second is used of voice as well as of inarticulate sound, animal howls and such. I don’t know how well this opposition stands up in Koine, but I do like the more primal quality of a kind of “wild roar” (a thought allowed by the use of φωνη and encouraged by the wild garb and diet of John the Baptist) in the wilderness, rather than a clear-voiced call.

Another small point — the KJV translates εξεπορευετο as an active with a collective subject in πασα η Ιουδαια χωρα και οι Ιερουσολυμπιται. Since active forms of that verb exist — and the form given is medio-passive — it is right to think that the choice of form is motivated by some nuance: it is more appropriate then, to translate it as I have, passively. Πορευω also has a sense of “to convey,” and “to supply,” that runs near the surface.

The passage is meant to highlight the preparation of Jerusalem for the coming of the Christ — to translate that the men and women of Judaia were conveyed by something to John the Baptist, strengthens that feeling of mysterious preparation integral to the passage (some external and unnamed object did the conveying), brings out the peculiarity of the verb used (the sense of supplying or conveyance), and explains the form of the verb.  To translate it actively does none of these things, but most critically, fails to explain the form the evangelist gives the verb.

Note also the periphrastic perfect in verse 6 — the functional equivalent to the Spanish estaba vestido.

Credo Ut Intellegam

JS

Καὶ ἔλεγεν· οὕτως ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς ἄνθρωπος βάλῃ τὸν σπόρον ἐπὶ τὴς γῆς 27 καὶ καθεύδῃ καὶ ἐγείρηται νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, καὶ ὁ σπόρος βλαστᾷ καὶ μηκύνηται ὡς οὐκ οἶδεν αὐτός.

KJV: And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

My Translation: And he said: thus is the kingdom of God, as though man should throw a seed upon the earth and he sleeps and rises through night and day, and the seed grows when he himself does not know.

The theme of this blog is a criticism of the King James translation of the bible.  Implicit in this criticism is a criticism of the way that Biblical literalists (so often fond of the KJV) interpret the bible.  Of course, if anyone reading this happens to be of the opinion that the KJV is the only permissible translation of the bible — while I’m quite willing to have the discussion — I can only assume that this will not be of much use to you.  If, however, you are interested in reading about what the original Greek text says as opposed to what various translators say it says, then by all means please, keep visiting this blog where I’ll try to make my translations say what the Greek text is, more or less gracefully depending on the particular lines of text.  Since translation is inevitably interpretation, I try to provide a rationale for my translation — which, insofar as it is different than the KJV translation, doubles (and often takes the form of) as criticism of the same.  So much for the long reintroduction after the hiatus of Homer.  One word of caution — I am assuming that the KJV translation is working off of an edition substantially the same as the one that I’m working from — if this is not the case, then this blog may also function as a correction of the Greek text which lies behind the KJV.

There is one respect in which I’m forced to disagree with the KJV translation, and this disagreement occasions a second, less severe criticism.  The KJV translates επι της γης as, into the ground.  The intention here is to evoke the idea of sowing seeds (σπορον), an action which would put something into the ground.  As a result of this, the KJV gets to translate the final part of the verse (ως ουκ οιδεν αυτος) as “he knoweth not how,” (which is not unreasonable, nor grammatically impossible) which in turn evokes a very kindly agricultural image of the farmer not knowing how his crops grow but being amazed that they rise nonetheless because he “cast his seed into the ground.”  Unfortunately — this image isn’t quite born out by the text. “Into the ground” is a poor read for επι της γης since the primary defintion for επι is “upon.”  It is true that the επι is probably the most versatile preposition in the Greek language but it is paired not with the accusative case (which might validate the translation), but with the genitive which is never used to denote penetration, but almost always either static position on top of x, or motion over x.  The primary defintion of επι and the use of the genitive rather than the accusative disallows the translation “into the ground.”  This leaves the translations I’ve given: “throws or casts a seed upon the earth,” and with that also disappears the convenient and familiar image of the farmer sowing seeds.  It was the false association in the passage with the farmer and his seeds that permits the translation of the final few lines: “he knoweth not how.”  If we translate ως as a temporal “when” you have a translation that is much more in accordance with the casual nature of the first part of verse 26.

If you read the text as I have here — the verse and the feeling behind it is very different.  The kingdom of heaven becomes something not so much mysterious (one doesn’t know how it happens) as unexpected one doesn’t know when it happens, because one doesn’t know where it is).  More in this vein and perhaps on this verse.  But it should be clear that a lot depends on the interpretation of that final ως.

Credo Ut Intellegam
JS

βῆ δ’ ἀκέων παρὰ θῖνα πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης·
1.35πολλὰ δ’ ἔπειτ’ ἀπάνευθε κιὼν ἠρᾶθ’ ὃ γεραιὸς
Ἀπόλλωνι ἄνακτι, τὸν ἠΰκομος τέκε Λητώ·
κλῦθί μευ ἀργυρότοξ’, ὃς Χρύσην ἀμφιβέβηκας
Κίλλάν τε ζαθέην Τενέδοιό τε ἶφι ἀνάσσεις,
Σμινθεῦ εἴ ποτέ τοι χαρίεντ’ ἐπὶ νηὸν ἔρεψα,
1.40ἢ εἰ δή ποτέ τοι κατὰ πίονα μηρί’ ἔκηα
ταύρων ἠδ’ αἰγῶν, τὸ δέ μοι κρήηνον ἐέλδωρ·
τίσειαν Δαναοὶ ἐμὰ δάκρυα σοῖσι βέλεσσιν.

ὣς ἔφατ’ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δ’ ἔκλυε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,
βῆ δὲ κατ’ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων χωόμενος κῆρ,
1.45τόξ’ ὤμοισιν ἔχων ἀμφηρεφέα τε φαρέτρην·
ἔκλαγξαν δ’ ἄρ’ ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ’ ὤμων χωομένοιο,
αὐτοῦ κινηθέντος· ὃ δ’ ἤϊε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.
ἕζετ’ ἔπειτ’ ἀπάνευθε νεῶν, μετὰ δ’ ἰὸν ἕηκε·
δεινὴ δὲ κλαγγὴ γένετ’ ἀργυρέοιο βιοῖο·
1.50οὐρῆας μὲν πρῶτον ἐπῴχετο καὶ κύνας ἀργούς,
αὐτὰρ ἔπειτ’ αὐτοῖσι βέλος ἐχεπευκὲς ἐφιεὶς
βάλλ’· αἰεὶ δὲ πυραὶ νεκύων καίοντο θαμειαί.

ἐννῆμαρ μὲν ἀνὰ στρατὸν ᾤχετο κῆλα θεοῖο,
τῇ δεκάτῃ δ’ ἀγορὴν δὲ καλέσσατο λαὸν Ἀχιλλεύς·
1.55τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη·
κήδετο γὰρ Δαναῶν, ὅτι ῥα θνήσκοντας ὁρᾶτο.
οἳ δ’ ἐπεὶ οὖν ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τε γένοντο,
τοῖσι δ’ ἀνιστάμενος μετέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·
Ἀτρεΐδη νῦν ἄμμε παλιμπλαγχθέντας ὀΐω
1.60ἂψ ἀπονοστήσειν, εἴ κεν θάνατόν γε φύγοιμεν,
εἰ δὴ ὁμοῦ πόλεμός τε δαμᾷ καὶ λοιμὸς Ἀχαιούς·
ἀλλ’ ἄγε δή τινα μάντιν ἐρείομεν ἢ ἱερῆα
ἢ καὶ ὀνειροπόλον, καὶ γάρ τ’ ὄναρ ἐκ Διός ἐστιν,
ὅς κ’ εἴποι ὅ τι τόσσον ἐχώσατο Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,
1.65εἴτ’ ἄρ’ ὅ γ’ εὐχωλῆς ἐπιμέμφεται ἠδ’ ἑκατόμβης,
αἴ κέν πως ἀρνῶν κνίσης αἰγῶν τε τελείων
βούλεται ἀντιάσας ἡμῖν ἀπὸ λοιγὸν ἀμῦναι.

ἤτοι ὅ γ’ ὣς εἰπὼν κατ’ ἄρ’ ἕζετο· τοῖσι δ’ ἀνέστη
Κάλχας Θεστορίδης οἰωνοπόλων ὄχ’ ἄριστος,
1.70ὃς ᾔδη τά τ’ ἐόντα τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ’ ἐόντα,
καὶ νήεσσ’ ἡγήσατ’ Ἀχαιῶν Ἴλιον εἴσω
ἣν διὰ μαντοσύνην, τήν οἱ πόρε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων·
ὅ σφιν ἐὺ φρονέων ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·
ὦ Ἀχιλεῦ κέλεαί με Διῒ φίλε μυθήσασθαι
1.75μῆνιν Ἀπόλλωνος ἑκατηβελέταο ἄνακτος·
τοὶ γὰρ ἐγὼν ἐρέω· σὺ δὲ σύνθεο καί μοι ὄμοσσον
ἦ μέν μοι πρόφρων ἔπεσιν καὶ χερσὶν ἀρήξειν·
ἦ γὰρ ὀΐομαι ἄνδρα χολωσέμεν, ὃς μέγα πάντων
Ἀργείων κρατέει καί οἱ πείθονται Ἀχαιοί·
1.80κρείσσων γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὅτε χώσεται ἀνδρὶ χέρηϊ·
εἴ περ γάρ τε χόλον γε καὶ αὐτῆμαρ καταπέψῃ,
ἀλλά τε καὶ μετόπισθεν ἔχει κότον, ὄφρα τελέσσῃ,
ἐν στήθεσσιν ἑοῖσι· σὺ δὲ φράσαι εἴ με σαώσεις.

τὸν δ’ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·
1.85θαρσήσας μάλα εἰπὲ θεοπρόπιον ὅ τι οἶσθα·
οὐ μὰ γὰρ Ἀπόλλωνα Διῒ φίλον, ᾧ τε σὺ Κάλχαν
εὐχόμενος Δαναοῖσι θεοπροπίας ἀναφαίνεις,
οὔ τις ἐμεῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐπὶ χθονὶ δερκομένοιο
σοὶ κοίλῃς παρὰ νηυσί βαρείας χεῖρας ἐποίσει
1.90συμπάντων Δαναῶν, οὐδ’ ἢν Ἀγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς,

He walked unwilling on the shore of the loud-voiced sea
Going far away, greatly the old man prayed
To Lord Apollo: it was Leto that His father layed:
“Hear me Silverbow, who stalks ’round both Chryses and
Holy Killas, with force you rule with strength over Tenedos

And Smynthus, if ever according to your pleasure I roofed a temple
Or if ever for you I burned fatty thigh bones with the meat clinging on
Of bulls and goats grant that this, my wish, be done:

May the Danaans buy my tears with your arrows.”

So he spoke praying, and Phoibos Apollo heard him.
He strode from the highest parts of Olympus, wroth in his heart
Having on his shoulders the quiver full of the deadly darts;
The quiver clashed upon the shoulders of the raging God,

There he moved. There in the likeness of a king
He sat far away from the ships, and loosed an arrow
Anda terrible clang came from the silver-gilded bow.
First assailed were the donkeys and the Argive dogs.

And then in turn the sharp arrow flying
He launched at the men; constantly the close-set corpse fires burned all ’round
For nine days among the army the God’s missiles felled men to the ground
On the tenth Achilles called the people to the agora.

For Hera the white armed goddess put it in his mind.
He was troubled for the Achaians, because he saw the dead
Therefore then he called and all-together they were lead
And standing swift-footed Achilles spoke with them.

Atreide, I think now, that we have been foiled
That we ought to return if we would death escape
Since now the common war and plague us will break
But come now, let us consult a seer or sacrifice

Or a dream interpreter (for a dream is from Zeus),
Who might say why Phoibos Apollo is so angry with the host
[Who can say] whether He finds fault with a sacrifice or a boast
If the fat of undefiled goats and calves

He desires by accepting to ward off from us hateful fate.
When thus he spoke, he sat down and to the assembly rose
Kalchas Thestorides, by far the best of the bird augurs
Who knows what is andwhat will be before what will be is.

He led the ships of the Achaians to Ilion
By this gift of divination, which Phoibos Apollo to him supplied
With good intention he spoke and to the assembly he cried:
“Oh Achilles, command me, beloved to Zeus, to speak

“The wrath of Lord Apollo the far-shooting
Accordingly I beg: hearken and swear to me,
With a forward mind, to aid me with words and deeds
For I think that I will anger a man, who great,

Rules all of the Argives, and all the Achaians obey him
For a stronger king, when he is angry with a man of lesser station
Even though on that day his rage be subject to digestion
Thereafer he has a grudge, so that he would…finish the matter

In his heart. Say then, if you will save me.”
Then replying swift-footed Achilles to him did bellow:
“Take great courage and speak the oracle that you know
For Kalchas no man, by Zeus, dear Apollo’s prophecies, which you

Praying make clear to the Danaans,
No man while I am living and gaze upon the earth
Will lay heavy hands upon you by the hollow ships.
None of all the Danaans, not even if you speak of Agamemnon

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
1.5οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή,
ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε
Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

τίς τ’ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι;
Λητοῦς καὶ Διὸς υἱός· ὃ γὰρ βασιλῆϊ χολωθεὶς
1.10νοῦσον ἀνὰ στρατὸν ὄρσε κακήν, ὀλέκοντο δὲ λαοί,
οὕνεκα τὸν Χρύσην ἠτίμασεν ἀρητῆρα
Ἀτρεΐδης· ὃ γὰρ ἦλθε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν
λυσόμενός τε θύγατρα φέρων τ’ ἀπερείσι’ ἄποινα,
στέμματ’ ἔχων ἐν χερσὶν ἑκηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος
1.15χρυσέῳ ἀνὰ σκήπτρῳ, καὶ λίσσετο πάντας Ἀχαιούς,
Ἀτρεΐδα δὲ μάλιστα δύω, κοσμήτορε λαῶν·
Ἀτρεΐδαι τε καὶ ἄλλοι ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοί,
ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχοντες
ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο πόλιν, εὖ δ’ οἴκαδ’ ἱκέσθαι·
1.20παῖδα δ’ ἐμοὶ λύσαιτε φίλην, τὰ δ’ ἄποινα δέχεσθαι,
ἁζόμενοι Διὸς υἱὸν ἑκηβόλον Ἀπόλλωνα.

ἔνθ’ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες ἐπευφήμησαν Ἀχαιοὶ
αἰδεῖσθαί θ’ ἱερῆα καὶ ἀγλαὰ δέχθαι ἄποινα·
ἀλλ’ οὐκ Ἀτρεΐδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονι ἥνδανε θυμῷ,
1.25ἀλλὰ κακῶς ἀφίει, κρατερὸν δ’ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε·
μή σε γέρον κοίλῃσιν ἐγὼ παρὰ νηυσὶ κιχείω
ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ’ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα,
μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμῃ σκῆπτρον καὶ στέμμα θεοῖο·
τὴν δ’ ἐγὼ οὐ λύσω· πρίν μιν καὶ γῆρας ἔπεισιν
1.30ἡμετέρῳ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ ἐν Ἄργεϊ τηλόθι πάτρης
ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένην καὶ ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιόωσαν·
ἀλλ’ ἴθι μή μ’ ἐρέθιζε σαώτερος ὥς κε νέηαι.

ὣς ἔφατ’, ἔδεισεν δ’ ὃ γέρων καὶ ἐπείθετο μύθῳ·
Sing rage, goddess, of Achilles Peleus’ son
Destructive, which a thousand pains to the Achaians placed
And to Hades hurled many souls strong-braced
Of heroes, and made them feast for both dogs

And all birds; the will of Zeus was being accomplished
[Sing] From the first time they were set apart in strife-wrangling
Atreides King of Men and Achilleus bright-shining.
And who of the Gods then them together set in strife to fight?

Leto and the son of Zeus, For he with the King enraged
Drove evil sickness through the camp, the people were destroyed;
For Atreides son dishonored Chryses, the priest Apollo employed
And he came to the swift ships of the Achaians

To release his daughter bearing countless ransoms
Wearing his priest-robe and in hand, the gold scepter
Of efficient Apollo, and to all the Achaians he was a begger
Most of all to Atreus’ two sons, marshallers of men:

“Sons of Atreus and you other Achaeans well-greaved
Would that the Gods who have Olympian houses
Give that you sack Priam’s city, and return well to your slaves and spouses
But release to me my dear child, and receive many ransoms.”

Then all the other Achaians voiced their consent
Both to respect the priest and the shining ransoms to receive
But the heart of Agamemnon, Apollo’s priest did not appease;
Evilly Agamemnon sent him away and laid a mighty injunction upon him:

“May I not come up on you, old man, beside the hollow ships
Neither tarrying there now nor going  later in your turn
For neither the scepter nor chaplet of the God will protect you.
She I will not release, not before old age settles upon her

In our home, in Argos, far away from her father,
busying herself about the loom and busy in my bed.
Do not provoke me, but go so that you yourself home may be led.”
So he spoke; then the old man feared and obeyed the injunction.

]]> http://credoutintellegam.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/iliad-1-30/feed/ 0 credoutintellegam http://credoutintellegam.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/update-2/ http://credoutintellegam.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/update-2/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:29:40 +0000 credoutintellegam http://credoutintellegam.wordpress.com/?p=86 ]]> While I should be heartily congratulated by all for the installation of my new shiny Linux ubuntu operating system.  There have been a few drawbacks.  Chief among these is my present lack of knowledge as to how to type correct attic Greek given the new keyboard configuration.  All the letters come out fine, as do the acutes, but all of the other various and sundry accent combinations which do so much work (occasionally) to signify meaning are presently beyond my skill to invoke in Ubuntu.  So bear with me, and know that, while the Greek that I present might not be the most accurate as far as accentuation goes, I am using, for the purposes of translation, if not representation, a fully accented (and therefore accurate) script.  This of course, only has relevance if I’m actuall typing (as opposed to cutting and pasting from Perseus or TLG).  So just know that if accents are missing, it is an unfortunate consequence of my new and not fully conquered software.  More translations of Homer should be up shortly, as my research obligations (a fellowship) will be shortly at an end.  Expect in the coming weeks, not only a increased frequency of Homeric translation, but also biblical.  It’s about time this blog got back on track as per its original intentions.
Credo Ut Intellegam

JS

“μή σε, γέρον, κοίλῃσιν ἐγὼ παρὰ νηυσὶ κιχείω
ἤ νῦν δηθύνοντ’ ἤ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα,
μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμῃ σκῆπτρον καὶ στέμμα θεοῖο’
τὴν δ’ ἐγὼ οὐ λύσω΄ πρίν μιν καὶ γῆρας ἔπεισιν

ἡμετέρῳ ἐνὶ οἰκῷ, ἐν Ἄργει, τηλόθι  πάτρης
ἱστὸν ἐπιοιχεμένην καὶ ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιόωσαν’
ἀλλ’ ἴθι, μή μ’ ἐρέθιζε, σαώτερος ὥς κε νέηαι.”
Ὥς ἔφατ’, ἔδεισεν δ’ ὁ γέρων καὶ ἐπείθετο μύθῳ

“May I not come up on you, old man, beside the hollow ships
neither tarrying there now nor going  later in your turn
For neither the scepter nor chaplet of the God will protect you.
She I will not release, not before old age settles upon her

In our home, in Argos, far away from her father,
busying herself about the loom and busy in my bed.
Do not provoke me, but go so that you yourself home may be led.”
So he spoke; then the old man feared and obeyed the injunction.

Credo Ut Intellegam

JS

These translations are personal, fun, and often enough done with specific people in mind, but while every attempt has been made to be accurate, it remains true that scholarly translations of poetry are still best left to actual scholars.  Therefore, if you want the best possible translation, I advise you to pick up Richmond Lattimore’s The Iliad of Homer. Other than that, enjoy!

Ἀτρειδαι τέ καὶ ἄλλοι ἐυκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοί,
ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ὁλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχοντες
ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο πόλιν, εὖ δ’ οἴκαδ’ ἱκέσθαι
παῖδα δ’ ἐμοὶ λύσαιτε φίλην, τὰ δ’ ἄποινα δέχεσθαι,

“Sons of Atreus and you other Achaeans well-greaved
Would that the Gods who have Olympian houses
Give that you sack Priam’s city, and return well to your slaves and spouses
But release to me my dear child, and receive many ransoms.”

ἔνθ’ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες ἐπεφήμησαν Ἀχαιοὶ
αἰδέσθαι θ’ ἱερῆα καὶ ἀγλαὰ δέχθαι ἄποινα
ἀλλ’ οὐκ Ἀτρειδῃ Ἀγαμεμνόνι ἥνδανε θῦμῳ
ἀλλὰ κακῶς ἀφίει, κρατερὸν δ’ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε.

Then all the other Achaians voiced their consent
Both to respect the priest and the shining ransoms to receive
But the heart of Agamemnon, Apollo’s priest did not appease;
Evilly Agamemnon sent him away and laid a mighty injunction upon him:

More soon.

Credo Ut Intellegam

JS