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Bacchylides · Dithyrambs §20.1-20.11

The Abduction of Marpessa by Idas

Passage 6 of 6 · Greek

Summary

The myth of Idas abducting Marpessa, the daughter of Ares' son Evenus, using swift horses gifted by Poseidon, is introduced as a song once sung by Lacedaemonian maidens in Sparta.

§20.1Σπάρτᾳ ποτʼ ἐν ε[ὐρυχόρῳ §20.2ξανθαὶ Λακεδαιμον[ίων §20.3τοιόνδε μέλος κ[όραι ὕμνευν, §20.4ὅτʼ ἄγετο καλλιπά[ρᾳον §20.5κόραν θρασυκάρ[διος Ἴδας §20.6Μάρπησσαν ἰότ[!!!! §20.7φυγὼν θανάτου τ[!!!!! §20.8ἀναξίαλος Ποσει[δὰν!!!! §20.9ἵππους τέ ϝοι ἰσαν[έμους §20.10Πλευρῶνʼ ἐς ἐϋκτ[ιμέναν §20.11χρυσάσπιδος υἱὸ[ν Ἄρηος
Once in spacious Sparta the golden-haired maidens of the Lacedaemonians were singing such a song, when bold-hearted Idas led away the fair-cheeked maiden Marpessa, by the will [of god], having escaped the doom of death, when Poseidon, ruler of the sea, [gave] him horses swift as the wind, to well-built Pleuron, [fleeing from] the son of golden-shielded Ares.

Notes

  1. §20.4ἄγετο — Third-person singular imperfect middle of ἄγω. While the active voice means 'to lead away,' the middle voice denotes 'to take to oneself as a wife' or 'to marry.'
  2. §20.6ἰότ[ατι — Dative singular of ἰότης ('will', 'desire'), an epic/lyric term. It functions as a dative of cause or manner, often accompanied by a genitive of a deity, meaning 'by the will of.'
  3. §20.9ϝοι — Dative singular of the third-person pronoun (archaic/dialectal form of οἱ), preserving the digamma (ϝ), which acts metrically as a consonant. It refers to Idas as the recipient.

Cite this passage

Bacchylides, Dithyrambs §20.1-20.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:20.1-20.11

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