Humanitext Reader

Theocritus · Epigrams §2.1-2.4

Daphnis' Dedication of Rustic Instruments to Pan

Passage 2 of 25 · Greek

Summary

The fair-skinned shepherd Daphnis, a skilled piper, dedicates his rustic implements of hunting and music—reeds, staff, javelin, fawn-skin, and pouch—to the god Pan.

§2.1Δάφνις ὁ λευκόχρως, ὁ καλᾷ σύριγγι μελίσδων §2.2βουκολικοὺς ὕμνους, ἄνθετο Πανὶ τάδε, §2.3τοὺς τρητοὺς δόνακας, τὸ λαγωβόλον, ὀξὺν ἄκοντα, §2.4νεβρίδα, τὰν πήραν, ᾇ ποκʼ ἐμαλοφόρει.
Daphnis of the white skin, he who plays on his beautiful pipe pastoral songs, dedicated these things to Pan: his jointed reeds, his rabbit-staff, his sharp javelin, his fawn-skin, and the pouch in which he once used to carry apples.

Notes

  1. §2.2ἄνθετο — A poetical form of ἀνέθετο (strong aorist middle third-person singular of ἀνατίθημι, "to dedicate"), showing apocope of the prefix ἀνά- and omission of the syllabic augment ἐ-.
  2. §2.4ᾇ — Doric spelling for the relative pronoun ᾗ (dative feminine singular). It refers back to the antecedent τὴν πήραν (the pouch), indicating means or location ("with which" or "in which").
  3. §2.4ἐμαλοφόρει — Imperfect active third-person singular of the Doric compound verb μαλοφορέω ("to carry apples", Attic μηλοφορέω), composed of μᾶλον ("apple", Attic μῆλον) and φέρω ("to carry").

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Epigrams §2.1-2.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:2.1-2.4

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