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Theocritus · Epigrams §10.1-10.4

Xenocles' Dedication of a Statue to the Muses

Passage 10 of 25 · Greek

Summary

Xenocles, a musician, dedicates a marble statue to the nine Muses in gratitude for his artistic skill and the praise he received from them.

§10.1Ὑμῖν τοῦτο θεαὶ κεχαρισμένον ἐννέα πάσαις §10.2τὤγαλμα Ξενοκλῆς θῆκε τὸ μαρμάρινον, §10.3μουσικός· οὐχ ἑτέρως τις ἐρεῖ.
To you, goddesses, all nine, as a pleasing offering, Xenocles dedicated this marble statue, a musician; no one will say otherwise.
σοφίῃ δʼ ἐπὶ τῇδε §10.4αἶνον ἔχων Μουσέων οὐκ ἐπιλανθάνεται.
And having praise from the Muses for this skill, he does not forget them.

Notes

  1. §10.1θεαὶ — Placed between the datives `Ὑμῖν` and `πάσαις`, the form `θεαὶ` is nominative/vocative. It is interpreted either as a vocative parenthetically inserted ("goddesses!"), or as a poetic variant for the dative `θεαῖς`. Syntactically, it functions in apposition to the dative plural "to you."
  2. §10.2τὤγαλμα — A crasis of the article `τὸ` and the noun `ἄγαλμα`. It functions as the direct object of the verb `θῆκε` (dedicated).
  3. §10.4Μουσέων — The genitive `Μουσέων` (of the Muses) modifies the preceding noun `αἶνον` (praise), meaning "praise from the Muses," while simultaneously functioning as the genitive object of the subsequent verb `οὐκ ἐπιλανθάνεται` (does not forget [the Muses]).

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Epigrams §10.1-10.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:10.1-10.4

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