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Theocritus · Epigrams §16.1-16.6

Epitaph for the Young Peristeris and Her Brother

Passage 16 of 25 · Greek

Summary

An epigram mourning the early death of a seven-year-old girl, Peristeris, and her twenty-month-old brother, lamenting how easily the deity inflicts the most grievous sufferings upon mortals.

§16.1Ἡ παῖς ᾤχετʼ ἄωρος ἐν ἑβδόμῳ ἥδʼ ἐνιαυτῷ §16.2εἰς Ἀίδην πολλοῖς ἡλικίης προτέρη, §16.3δειλαίη, ποθέουσα τὸν εἰκοσάμηνον ἀδελφόν, §16.4νήπιον ἀστόργου γευσάμενον θανάτου.
This child has gone, untimely in her seventh year, to Hades, far before her prime of life, unhappy one, longing for her twenty-month-old brother, the infant who had tasted merciless death.
§16.5αἰαῖ ἐλεινὰ παθοῦσα Περιστερί, ὡς ἐν ἑτοίμῳ §16.6ἀνθρώποις δαίμων θῆκε τὰ λυγρότατα.
Alas, Peristeris, who suffered pitiful things, how readily does the deity bring the most grievous woes upon mankind.

Notes

  1. §16.1ἥδʼ — The feminine nominative singular of the demonstrative pronoun ὅδε, with elision (ἥδε). It agrees with the subject Ἡ παῖς, meaning 'this child here'.
  2. §16.2πολλοῖς ἡλικίης προτέρη — ἡλικίης (age, prime of life) is a genitive of comparison governed by the comparative προτέρη (before). πολλοῖς is a dative of measure of difference (by much, by far) modifying the comparative.
  3. §16.5Περιστερί — The vocative form of the feminine proper name Περιστερίς (Peristeris). The final sigma is dropped to form the vocative, directly addressing the deceased girl.
  4. §16.5ὡς ἐν ἑτοίμῳ — ὡς is an exclamatory adverb (how). The prepositional phrase ἐν ἑτοίμῳ (in readiness) functions adverbially to mean 'readily' or 'easily'.

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Epigrams §16.1-16.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:16.1-16.6

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