Humanitext Reader

Theocritus · Epigrams §22.1-22.8

Praise and Bronze Statue for the Poet Peisandros

Passage 22 of 25 · Greek

Summary

The poem celebrates the poet Peisandros of Kamiros, who was the first to write about the labors of Heracles, and records that the people set up a bronze statue of him many years later.

§22.1τὸν τοῦ Ζανὸς ὅδʼ ὗμιν υἱὸν ὡνὴρ §22.2τὸν λεοντομάχαν, τὸν ὀξύχειρα, §22.3πρᾶτος τῶν ἐπάνωθε μουσοποιῶν §22.4Πείσανδρος συνέγραψεν ὡκ Καμίρου §22.5χὥσους ἐξεπόνασεν εἶπʼ ἀέθλους.
This man here, for you, the son of Zeus, the lion-fighter, swift of hand, first of the poets of former times, Peisandros from Kamiros, wrote of, and recounted all the labors that he accomplished.
§22.6τοῦτον δʼ αὐτὸν ὁ δᾶμος, ὡς σάφʼ εἰδῇς, §22.7ἔστασʼ ἐνθάδε χάλκεον ποιήσας §22.8πολλοῖς μησὶν ὄπισθε κἠνιαυτοῖς.
And this very man the people, that you may know clearly, set up here, having made him in bronze, many months and years later.

Notes

  1. §22.1ὡνὴρ — Crasis for ὁ ἀνήρ. Accompanied by the demonstrative ὅδε (ὅδʼ), it refers to "this man here," standing in apposition to Πείσανδρος (Peisandros) which appears later.
  2. §22.4ὡκ — Crasis for ὁ ἐκ, in the Doric dialect form. It indicates origin or belonging: "(Peisandros) from Kamiros."
  3. §22.5χὥσους ... εἶπʼ ἀέθλους — χὥσους is a crasis for καὶ ὅσους. The antecedent ἀέθλους is attracted into the relative clause (ὅσους... ἐξεπόνασεν), which functions as the direct object of εἶπε ("recounted", "related"). It means "and recounted all the labors that he (Heracles) accomplished."
  4. §22.8πολλοῖς μησὶν ὄπισθε κἠνιαυτοῖς — κἠνιαυτοῖς is a crasis for καὶ ἐνιαυτοῖς. The words πολλοῖς μησὶν ... κἠνιαυτοῖς are in the dative of measure of difference modifying the adverb ὄπισθε ("later", "afterwards"), indicating the lapse of time: "many months and years later (i.e., long after)."

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Epigrams §22.1-22.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:22.1-22.8

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