Humanitext Reader

Theocritus · Epigrams §4.1-4.18

The Grove of Priapus and a Prayer for Love of Daphnis

Passage 4 of 25 · Greek

Summary

The narrator directs a goatherd to a lush, sacred grove containing a statue of Priapus, asking him to pray to the god to either relieve the narrator's unrequited love for Daphnis or grant him Daphnis's love in return.

§4.1τήναν τὰν λαύραν τάς τε δρύας αἰπόλε κάμψας §4.2σύκινον εὑρήσεις ἀρτιγλυφὲς ξόανον, §4.3τρισκελὲς αὐτόφλοιον ἀνούατον, ἀλλὰ φάλητι §4.4παιδογόνῳ δυνατὸν Κύπριδος ἔργα τελεῖν.
Having turned past that lane and those oaks, goatherd, you will find a newly-carved wooden image of fig-wood, three-legged, with its bark still on, earless, but with a child-begetting phallus able to perform the works of Cypris.
§4.5σακός οἱ ἱερὸς περιδέδρομεν, ἀέναον δὲ §4.6ῥεῖθρον ἀπὸ σπιλάδων πάντοσε τηλεθάει §4.7δάφναις καὶ μύρτοισι καὶ εὐώδει κυπαρίσσῳ.
A sacred enclosure runs around it, and an ever-flowing stream from the rocks makes everything flourish in all directions with laurels, myrtles, and sweet-smelling cypress.
§4.8ἔνθα πέριξ κέχυται βοτρυόπαις ἕλικι §4.9ἄμπελος, εἰαρινοὶ δὲ λιγυφθόγγοισιν ἀοιδαῖς §4.10κόσσυφοι ἀχεῦσιν ποικιλότραυλα μέλη.
There, all around is spread a vine bearing clusters of grapes on its tendrils, and spring blackbirds with their clear-toned songs echo their varied warbling melodies.
§4.11ξουθαὶ δʼ ἀδονίδες μινυρίσμασιν ἀνταχεῦσι §4.12μέλπουσαι στόμασιν τὰν μελίγαρυν ὄπα.
And tawny nightingales answer them with their trilling, singing with their mouths their honey-sweet voice.
§4.13ἕζεο δὴ τηνεῖ καὶ τῷ χαρίεντι Πριήπῳ §4.14εὔχεʼ ἀποστέρξαι τοὺς Δάφνιδός με πόθους, §4.15κεὐθὺς ἐπιρρέξειν χίμαρον καλόν.
Sit down indeed there, and to the gracious Priapus pray that he free me from my desire for Daphnis, and that you will immediately sacrifice a beautiful young goat.
ἢν δʼ ἀνανεύσῃ, §4.16τοῦδε τυχὼν ἐθέλω τρισσὰ θύη τελέσαι· §4.17ῥέξω γὰρ δαμάλαν, λάσιον τράγον, ἄρνα τὸν ἴσχω §4.18σακίταν.
But if he refuses, if I obtain this, I wish to offer a threefold sacrifice: for I will sacrifice a heifer, a shaggy goat, and a lamb which I keep in the fold.
ἀίοι δʼ εὐμενέως ὁ θεός.
And may the god favorably hear my prayer.

Notes

  1. §4.5οἱ — Dative of the third person pronoun (equivalent to αὐτῷ), dependent on the verb περιδέδρομεν to express relation or interest, meaning "around it (the statue)."
  2. §4.14ἀποστέρξαι ... ἐπιρρέξειν — The imperative εὔχεο (εὔχεʼ, "pray/vow") simultaneously governs two infinitives with different functions: the aorist infinitive ἀποστέρξαι, representing a prayer of petition (to rid the narrator of love), and the future infinitive ἐπιρρέξειν, representing a vow of promise (to sacrifice a kid).
  3. §4.15ἢν δʼ ἀνανεύσῃ — Literally "but if he (Priapus) refuses (shakes his head back)." The god's refusal to cure the unrequited love paradoxically implies that he will instead grant the poet's underlying wish to be loved by Daphnis, logically leading to the condition in §4.16 "if I obtain this (love)" (τοῦδε τυχών).
  4. §4.17ἄρνα τὸν ἴσχω / σακίταν — σακίταν is a Doric adjective derived from σάκος ("pen/fold", equivalent to Attic σηκίτης), modifying the noun ἄρνα ("lamb") to mean a "lamb kept in a fold" or "stall-fed lamb." It is further modified by the relative clause τὸν ἴσχω ("which I keep").

Cite this passage

Theocritus, Epigrams §4.1-4.18. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0005.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:4.1-4.18

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