Humanitext Reader

Theocritus · Epigrams §17.1-17.6

The Statue of the Poet Anacreon in Teos

Passage 17 of 25 · Greek

Summary

The poet urges a traveler to gaze upon the statue of the lyric poet Anacreon in Teos and to report back home that he was an exceptional poet who delighted in the youth.

§17.1θᾶσαι τὸν ἀνδριάντα τοῦτον ὦ ξένε §17.2σπουδᾷ, καὶ λέγʼ ἐπὴν ἐς οἶκον ἔνθῃς· §17.3Ἀνακρέοντος εἰκόνʼ εἶδον ἐν Τέῳ §17.4τῶν πρόσθʼ εἴ τι περισσὸν ᾠδοποιοῦ. §17.5προσθεὶς δὲ χὥτι τοῖς νέοισιν ἅδετο, §17.6ἐρεῖς ἀτρεκέως ὅλον τὸν ἄνδρα.
Gaze upon this statue, stranger, attentively; and say, when you return home: "I saw the statue of Anacreon in Teos, a song-maker exceptional, if ever there was one, among those of old." And if you add also that he delighted in the young, you will speak accurately of the whole man.

Notes

  1. §17.1θᾶσαι — The Doric form of θεάσαι, the second-person singular aorist middle imperative of θεάομαι ("to gaze upon, look at").
  2. §17.4τῶν πρόσθʼ εἴ τι περισσὸν ᾠδοποιοῦ — ᾠδοποιοῦ (genitive singular of ᾠδοποιός) is in apposition to Ἀνακρέοντος. τῶν πρόσθε ("of those of former times") functions as a genitive of comparison/range, implying an omitted plural noun ᾠδοποιῶν. The phrase εἴ τι περισσὸν ("if anything exceptional") acts as a qualifying conditional expression, emphasizing the poet's supreme preeminence ("exceptional, if anyone was").
  3. §17.5χὥτι — Krasis of καὶ ὅτι. The conjunction ὅτι introduces a noun clause ("that...") serving as the direct object of the participle προσθεὶς ("having added").
  4. §17.5ἅδετο — A dialectal form of ἥδετο, the imperfect of ἥδομαι ("to take pleasure in, delight in"), taking the dative τοῖς νέοισιν. Alternatively, it could be the imperfect middle of ἁνδάνω ("to please"), meaning "he was pleasing to the young," but interpreting it as "he delighted in the young" best suits Anacreon's poetic reputation.

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Epigrams §17.1-17.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:17.1-17.6

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.