Humanitext Reader

Theocritus · Idylls §20.1-20.45

The Cowherd's Grievance at Eunica's Rejection

Passage 28 of 44 · Greek

Summary

The cowherd narrator expresses his anger after being rejected and mocked by the city girl Eunica. He asserts his own beauty and musical talent, citing mythological examples of deities who loved cowherds to condemn her arrogance.

§20.1Εὐνείκα μʼ ἐγέλαξε θέλοντά μιν ἁδὺ φιλῆσαι, §20.2καί μʼ ἐπικερτομέοισα τάδʼ ἔννεπεν· ἔρρʼ ἀπʼ ἐμεῖο.
Eunica laughed at me when I wished to kiss her sweetly, and taunting me she spoke thus: "Go away from me!
§20.3βουκόλος ὢν ἐθέλεις με κύσαι τάλαν;
Being a cowherd, do you wish to kiss me, wretched man?
οὐ μεμάθηκα §20.4ἀγροίκως φιλέειν, ἀλλʼ ἀστικὰ χείλεα θλίβειν.
I have not learned to kiss in a rustic way, but to press lips in a city fashion.
§20.5μή τύ γέ μευ κύσσῃς τὸ καλὸν στόμα μηδʼ ἐν ὀνείροις.
May you never kiss my beautiful mouth, not even in your dreams.
§20.6οἷα βλέπεις, ὁπποῖα λαλεῖς, ὡς ἄγρια παίσδεις,
What a look you have, how you talk, how rudely you play!
§20.7ὡς τρυφέρʼ αἰκάλλεις, ὡς κωτίλα ῥήματα φράσδεις·
How delicately you flatter, how coaxing are the words you speak!
§20.8ὡς μαλακὸν τὸ γένειον ἔχεις, ὡς ἁδέα χαίταν.
How soft a beard you have, how sweet a head of hair!
§20.9χείλεά τοι νοσέοντι, χέρες δέ τοι ἐντὶ μέλαιναι, §20.10καὶ κακὸν ἐξόσδεις.
Your lips indeed are sickly, and your hands are black, and you smell bad.
ἀπʼ ἐμεῦ φύγε, μή με μολύνῃς. §20.11τοιάδε μυθίζοισα τρὶς εἰς ἑὸν ἔπτυσε κόλπον, §20.12καί μʼ ἀπὸ τᾶς κεφαλᾶς ποτὶ τὼ πόδε συνεχὲς εἶδε §20.13χείλεσι μυχθίζοισα καὶ ὄμμασι λοξὰ βλέποισα, §20.14καὶ πολὺ τᾷ μορφᾷ θηλύνετο, καί τι σεσαρὸς §20.15καὶ σοβαρόν μʼ ἐγέλαξεν.
Flee from me, lest you defile me." Speaking thus, she spat thrice into her bosom, and looked at me continuously from head to foot, sneering with her lips and looking askance with her eyes, and swaggered much in her beauty, and with a sneering and haughty grin laughed at me.
ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄφαρ ἔζεσεν αἷμα, §20.16καὶ χρόα φοινίχθην ὑπὸ τὤλγεος ὡς ῥόδον ἕρσᾳ.
And at once my blood boiled, and I was flushed in my skin because of the pain, like a rose with dew.
§20.17χἁ μὲν ἔβα με λιποῖσα· φέρω δʼ ὑποκάρδιον ὀργάν, §20.18ὅττί με τὸν χαρίεντα κακὰ μωμήσαθʼ ἑταίρα.
And she went away, leaving me; but I carry a deep anger in my heart, because that wicked woman insulted me, who am so charming.
§20.19ποιμένες, εἴπατέ μοι τὸ κρήγυον· οὐ καλὸς ἐμμί;
Shepherds, tell me the truth: am I not beautiful?
§20.20ἆρά τις ἐξαπίνας με θεὸς βροτὸν ἄλλον ἔτευξε;
Has indeed some god suddenly made me into another mortal?
§20.21καὶ γὰρ ἐμοὶ τὸ πάροιθεν ἐπάνθεεν ἁδύ τι κάλλος §20.22ὡς κισσὸς ποτὶ πρέμνον, ἐμὰν δʼ ἐπύκαζεν ὑπήναν, §20.23χαῖται δʼ οἷα σέλινα περὶ κροτάφοισι κέχυντο, §20.24καὶ λευκὸν τὸ μέτωπον ἐπʼ ὀφρύσι λάμπε μελαίναις· §20.25ὄμματά μοι γλαυκᾶς χαροπώτερα πολλὸν Ἀθάνας, §20.26καὶ στόμα δʼ αὖ πακτᾶς γλυκερώτερον, ἐκ στομάτων δὲ §20.27ἔρρεέ μοι φωνὰ γλυκερωτέρα ἢ μέλι κηρῶ.
For formerly a sweet beauty bloomed upon me like ivy on a tree trunk, and shaded my beard, and my hair lay like wild celery around my temples, and my white forehead shone above my dark eyebrows; my eyes were much brighter than those of gray-eyed Athena, and my mouth, in turn, was sweeter than cheese, and from my lips my voice flowed sweeter than honey from the comb.
§20.28ἁδὺ δέ μοι τὸ μέλισμα, καὶ ἢν σύριγγι μελίσδω, §20.29κἢν αὐλῷ δονέω, κἢν δώνακι, κἢν πλαγιαύλῳ.
Sweet is my music, whether I play on the panpipes, or pour my song through the flute, the reed-pipe, or the transverse flute.
§20.30καὶ πᾶσαι καλόν με κατʼ ὤρεα φαντὶ γυναῖκες, §20.31καὶ πᾶσαί με φιλεῦντι· τὰ δʼ ἀστικά μʼ οὐκ ἐφίλασεν, §20.32ἀλλʼ ὅτι βουκόλος ἐμμὶ παρέδραμε κοὔποτʼ ἀκούει, §20.33ὡς ὁ καλὸς Διόνυσος ἐν ἄγκεσι πόρτιν ἔλαυνεν·
And all the women on the hills call me beautiful, and all of them love me; but that city girl did not love me, but because I am a cowherd, she ran past me and never listens, how the beautiful Dionysus drove his heifer in the glades.
§20.34οὐκ ἔγνω δʼ, ὅτι Κύπρις ἐπʼ ἀνέρι μήνατο βούτᾳ §20.35καὶ Φρυγίοις ἐνόμευσεν ἐν ὤρεσι καὶ τὸν Ἄδωνιν §20.36ἐν δρυμοῖσι φίλασε καὶ ἐν δρυμοῖσιν ἔκλαυσεν.
And she did not know that Cypris went mad with love for a cowherd, and pastured herds on the Phrygian hills, and loved Adonis in the oak-woods and in the oak-woods wept for him.
§20.37Ἐνδυμίων δὲ τίς ἦν;
And who was Endymion?
οὐ βουκόλος;
Was he not a cowherd?
ὅν γε Σελάνα §20.38βουκολέοντα φίλασεν, ἀπʼ Οὐλύμπω δὲ μολοῖσα §20.39λάθριον ἀν νάπος ἦλθε καὶ εἰς ἕνα παιδὶ κάθευδε.
Yet him Selana loved as he pastured his kine, and coming down from Olympus she came secretly to the valley and slept with the youth.
§20.40καὶ τὺ Ῥέα κλαίεις τὸν βουκόλον.
And you, Rhea, weep for your cowherd.
οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ τὺ §20.41ὦ Κρονίδα διὰ παῖδα βοηνόμον ὄρνις ἐπλάγχθης;
And did you not also, O son of Cronus, wander in the shape of a bird for the sake of a cattle-herding boy?
§20.42Εὐνείκα δὲ μόνα τὸν βουκόλον οὐκ ἐφίλασεν, §20.43ἁ Κυβέλας κρέσσων καὶ Κύπριδος ἠδὲ Σελάνας.
But Eunica alone did not love the cowherd, she who is greater than Cybele, Cypris, and Selana.
§20.44μηκέτι μηδὲ σὺ Κύπρι τὸν ἁδέα μήτε κατʼ ἄστυ §20.45μήτʼ ἐν ὄρει φιλέοις, μούνη δʼ ἀνὰ νύκτα καθεύδοις.
Never again, O Cypris, may you kiss your sweet love, neither in the city nor on the mountain, but sleep alone through the night.

Notes

  1. §20.1θέλοντά μιν ἁδὺ φιλῆσαι — The accusative participle `θέλοντα` agrees with the direct object `μʼ` (＝ `με`, the narrator). The infinitive `φιλῆσαι` takes the pronoun `μιν` (her) as its direct object, and the adverbial neuter singular `ἁδύ` modifies the infinitive to mean "sweetly."
  2. §20.5μή τύ γέ μευ κύσσῃς — The negative particle `μή` followed by the second person singular aorist subjunctive `κύσσῃς` expresses a strong prohibition or negative wish. The genitive `μευ` can be interpreted either as a possessive genitive modifying `στόμα` or as directly governed by the verb `κύσσῃς`.
  3. §20.11τρὶς εἰς ἑὸν ἔπτυσε κόλπον — The act of spitting thrice into one's own bosom is a common ancient Greek apotropaic superstition, performed to ward off divine retribution for pride (nemesis) or the evil eye (envy from others).
  4. §20.14σεσαρὸς — A poetic and dialectal form of the perfect active participle neuter singular `σεσηρώς` from `σαίρω` ("to grin / show the teeth"). Here it functions adverbially as "with a sneer" or "grinning," and is coordinate with `καὶ σοβαρόν` modifying the verb `ἐγέλαξεν`.
  5. §20.25Ἀθάνας — A genitive of comparison governed by the comparative adjective `χαροπώτερα`. The phrase `γλαυκᾶς Ἀθάνας` plays on the traditional epic epithet of Athena, `γλαυκῶπις` ("bright-eyed"), contrasting the narrator's own beautiful eyes with those of the goddess.
  6. §20.31τὰ δʼ ἀστικά — The neuter plural accusative (or nominative) of the adjective `ἀστικός` ("urban / belonging to the city"), used substantively and abstractly to refer to "the city-dweller" (Eunica). Using the neuter plural instead of a feminine singular conveys the narrator's contempt and psychological distance.

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Idylls §20.1-20.45. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:20.1-20.45

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