An Epigram on Marcus Aurelius' Meditations

Anthologia Palatina XV.23, author unknown

If you wish to master grief, Open up this blessed book And come to it attentively-- Through it, you may easily see The richest way of thinking about What's to come, what is now, And what is past--how joy and pain Are no whit mightier than smoke.

εἰ λύπης κρατέειν ἐθέλεις, τήνδε μάκαιραν ἀναπτύσσων βίβλον ἐπέρχεο ἐνδυκέως, ἧς ὕπο γνώμην ὀλβίστην ῥεῖά κεν ὄψεαι ἐσσομένων, ὄντων ἠδὲ παροιχομένων, τερπωλὴν τ᾽ ἀνίην τε καπνοῦ μηδὲν ἀρειοτέρην.

“Magical practices were common in workshops of sculptors of deities, as these sculptors needed them, in order to enable the deity to dwell in his or her statue, as it is possible to argue especially from Callistratus, and as P. Moreno has explained with reference to Lysippus: ‘Praxiteles the sculptor wrought a statue of Love in Parian marble, fashioning the son of Cypris. But now Love, the most beautiful of the gods, making his own image, hath moulded Praxiteles, a living statue, so that the one amid mortals and the other in heaven may be the dispenser of lovecharms, and aLove may wield the sceptre on earth as among the immortals, etc.’ (Anthologia Graeca, XII, 56).”

-Antonio Corso, Love as suffering: the Eros of Thespiae of Praxiteles, Institute of Classical Studies,1998

The Anthologia Graeca is online with manuscript, Greek, English, other languages

The Anthologia Graeca is online with manuscript, Greek, English, other languages

I’ve just discovered https://anthologiagraeca.org/.  This is rather fabulous!

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In the Proem to The Garland, a lost anthology of ancient poets, Meleager describes the then extant poems of Sappho as “few, but all roses”. H.D. explores this choice of words in her essay.

Taken from the Anthologia Graeca, Book IV.1

三性

文法学者の娘が男と添寝したら / 男性、女性、中性の子が生まれたそうな。

パッラダース、沓掛良彦訳。 Πάλλαδας. 4c. [Anthologia Graeca. IX, 489.]

Moerbeke Archimedes is Now Online

My friend Pieter Beullens discovered and made known today that the Archimedes Codex of William of Moerbeke at the Vatican Library is online at last. Although this Latin book is probably their most historic digital publication of 2018, the coders at Digita Vaticana have somehow botched the release, lodging the manuscript in the wrong area of the portal, where no one would ever look for it.

Only three witnesses in the original Greek of the works of Archimedes -- A, B, and C -- are known to have survived the Byzantine period. C is the privately owned Archimedes Palimpsest (images) which is the famous subject of the book The Archimedes Codex by Reviel Netz and William Noel (2007). B, not recorded since 1311.  A was last seen in 1564, but was copied several times, foremost by Poliziano, whose apograph, imitating the writing and mise en page of the antigraph, is in Florence and online (ms. Plut.28.4) William of Moerbeke, who was a Dominican, generally taken to be Flemish, used A and B to compile a Latin version of Archimedes in or about 1269. William is a giant in the medieval transmission of the classics (see Pieter Beullens' tweets for a feeling). In 1881, it was realized that codex Ott.lat.1850 at the Vatican is the draft/original/autograph of the Archimedes part of his work. You can now page through Ott.lat.1850. The Moerbeke pages are bound together with two extraneous parts, one of them printed Latin text.When this posting went up, the URL was https://digi.vatlib.it/view/Ott.lat.1850, which wrongly places it among the incunables and in fact should attach to Cardinal Ottoboni's own copy of the Anthologia Graeca Planudea (ia00765000). Why is the Moerbeke codex historic? Firstly, it was the only witness of the text of Floating Bodies until the beginning of the 20th century and the discovery of C above. Secondly it is our only means of accessing B. Thirdly, it can guide us to what copyists of A may have overlooked. And fourthly, with Moerbeke's own marginal notes, it is itself a major artefact in the history of science.

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Μῆνις Ἀχιλλῆος καὶ ἐμοὶ πρόφασις γεγένηται   οὐλομένης πενίης γραμματικευσαμένῳ. εἴθε δὲ σὺν Δαναοῖς με κατέκτανε μῆνις ἐκείνη,  πρὶν χαλεπὸς λιμὸς γραμματικῆς ὀλέσει. ἀλλ’ ἵν’ ἀφαρπάξῃ Βρισηίδα πρὶν Ἀγαμέμνων,   τὴν Ἑλένην δ’ ὁ Πάρις, πτωχὸς ἐγὼ γενόμην.

アキレウスの怒りは私にとっても原因となった

呪うべき貧困の、文法教師になってしまったがために。

ダナオイ人らとともに私を殺してくれればよかったものを、あの怒りが

文法学のせいの耐え難い空腹が滅ぼす前に。

むしろ先に奪い去らんがために、ブリセイスをアガメムノンが

そしてヘレネをパリスが、乞食と私はなってしまった。

Palladas

Anthologia Graeca, 9, 169

Der Junioren ihre Nachtschränkchen heißen bei uns von jeher Schatzschränke. Erstens, weil sie dort Dinge bunkern können, von denen ich nichts wissen soll – ich darf nur unter bestimmten Bedingungen in die Schubladen schauen – und zweitens, weil es Sachen gibt, die für sie außerordentlich wertvoll sind – Schätze eben.

Es hat sich also eingebürgert, dass Nachttische oder Schubladenschränke Schatzschränkchen sind. Meiner enthält:

.

.

meint ihr im Ernst, dass ich aufzähle, was ich in einem geheimen Versteck bewahre?

Nicht wirklich, oder? Ich habe euch gezeigt, was drauf liegt. Mein SuB, der Stapel ungelesener Bücher. Reichlich hoch und das eine Buch, das ich dringend lesen sollte, liegt auch noch im Verborgenen. Es liegt unter Sibille Lewitscharoffs Pong.

Es ist ein wunderbar erschreckendes Buch mit Farbholzschnitten von Klaus Süß.

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Jede Frau ist bitter wie Galle, aber sie hat zwei gute Stunden: eine im Bett und eine im Tod! Palladas; Anthologia Graeca; XI, 381

Im Sommer werden wir die Oper Carmen in Bregenz auf der Seebühne anschauen. Dieses Buch liegt schon eine halbe Ewigkeit bei mir herum – MamS hatte es mir einmal geschenkt! Ich fand die Bilder damals sehr verstörend. Mag sein, dass es dieses Wort gar nicht gibt, aber es trifft unglaublich passend, was ich damals über die Holzschnitte dachte. Sie sind immer noch nicht schöner geworden, aber an ihrer Eindrücklichkeit ist nicht zu rütteln. Wer die Geschichte von Carmen kennt, weiß welch starke, eigenständige, eigensinnige, sinnliche Frau sich dahinter verbirgt. – Ach, hätte ich nur einen Teil ihres Mutes!

auf meinem Schatzschrank Der Junioren ihre Nachtschränkchen heißen bei uns von jeher Schatzschränke. Erstens, weil sie dort Dinge bunkern können, von denen ich nichts wissen soll - ich darf nur unter bestimmten Bedingungen in die Schubladen schauen - und zweitens, weil es Sachen gibt, die für sie außerordentlich wertvoll sind - Schätze eben.

On the Dangers of Hedonism

Anthologia Palatina 10.112 (author and date unknown) Wine and baths and vehemence in matters of love Make the road to Hades that much quicker. οἶνος καὶ τὰ λοετρὰ καὶ ἡ περὶ Κύπριν ἐρωὴ ὀξυτέρην πέμπει τὴν ὁδὸν εἰς ἀίδην.

Wine Tasting, Eduard Ritter, 1842

Daily Classics - The Best Oath To Be Sworn

(On reflection, if nothing else, you’ll make the person swearing this oath look like a bit of a twit while you’re getting them to do all this).

---

Oracular reply to Rufinus, who asked how he might take an oath from his ship’s own captain.

When Titan raises his journey over the early at dawn, Cleansing with his beams the curses of gloomy night, And the radiant Earlyborn1 shines out her new light – Only then lead him to the beach, and stand him by the salt-washed shore looking straight into the light of the bright sun. And let him put his right foot in the water, holding it in the tide; let him plant his left on the land. Lightly touching down on each side with his hands – one in the brine, the other on dry land – have him swear an oath. Let him invoke heaven and indescribable earth, the harbours of the sea And the life-giving lord of heaven’s fire. For such an oath not even the gods dare to dishonour With their mouths, the magnificent race of Ouranos.

1. i.e. the goddess Dawn↩

(Anthologia Graeca 14.72; my translation)

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Χρησμὸς ἐρωτήσαντι Ῥουφίνῳ, πῶς ἂν λάβοι ὅρκον παρὰ τοῦ ἰδίου ναυκλήρου·

Εὖτ᾿ ἂν ὑπὲρ γαίης ἀνέχῃ δρόμον ὄρθρια Τιτάν, λύσας ἀκτῖσι ζοφερῆς δηλήματα νυκτός, λάμπῃ δ᾿ αἰγλήεσσα νέον φάος Ἠριγένεια, δὴ τότ᾿ ἄγων παρὰ θῖνας, ἁλιρράντους τε παρ᾿ ἀκτὰς φῶτα στῆσον ἔναντα δεδορκότα πρὸς φάος αὐγῆς ἠελίου. καὶ τὸν μὲν ἔσω πόδα χεύματος ἐντὸς δεξιὸν ἐν δίναις ἐχέτω, λαιὸν δ᾿ ἐπὶ γαίης στηρισάτω· χείρεσσι δ᾿ ἐπιψαύων ἑκάτερθε, τῇ μὲν ἁλός, τραφερῆς δ᾿ ἑτέρῃ, πιστούμενος ὅρκον οὐρανὸν ὀμνυέτω, χθόνα τ᾿ ἄσπετον, ἠδ᾿ ἁλὸς ὅρμους, αἰθερίου τε πυρὸς βιοδώτορα ἡγεμονῆα· τοῖον γὰρ θεοὶ ὅρκον ὑπὸ στομάτεσσιν ἀτίζειν οὐδ᾿ αὐτοὶ τολμῶσιν, ἀγήνορες Οὐρανίωνες.

What I cannot see is how, From the green wave rising, Out of water, Oh Aphrodite, You bred a flame.

Meleager of Gadara, from the Anthologia Graeca (V.176.5-6), trans. Thomas McEvilley

Epitaph for a Friend

Anthologia Palatina 7.346 (author and date unknown) This is the monument, noble Sabinus – This small stone – to our great friendship. I will seek you always; and, if it is proper, Do not drink among the dead Of Lethe’s water that will make you forget me. τοῦτό τοι ἡμετέρης μνημήιον, ἐσθλὲ Σαβῖνε, ἡ λίθος ἡ μικρή, τῆς μεγάλης φιλίης. αἰεὶ ζητήσω σε: σὺ δ᾽, εἰ θέμις, ἐν φθιμένοισι τοῦ Λήθης ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ μή τι πίῃς ὕδατος.

The Banks of Lethe, F. Benedict Herzog, 1907

On a Statue of Capaneus

Anthologia Planudea 106 (author and date unknown)

Note: in Greek mythology, Capaneus was one of the seven chieftains who attacked Thebes in support of Polynices’ claim to the throne. As he was about to storm the citadel by means of a ladder, he shouted that Zeus himself would not stop him from taking the city. This earned him a swift death by lightning bolt. Dante, in the Inferno, places Capaneus in the seventh circle of Hell as a blasphemer. If such a Capaneus had raged against the towers of Thebes, Having contrived an ascent into the air with a ladder, He would have seized the citadel by force, Fate notwithstanding – For even Zeus’ bolt would have scrupled to cut down such a fighter. εἰ τοῖος Θήβης Καπανεὺς ἐπεμήνατο πύργοις, ἄμβασιν ἠερίην κλίμακι μησάμενος, εἷλεν ἂν ἄστυ βίῃ καὶ ὑπὲρ μόρον. αἴδετο γάρ ῥα καὶ σκηπτὸς Κρονίδου τοῖον ἑλεῖν πρόμαχον.

A scene from Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes: Capaneus ascends the walls of Thebes. Campanian red-figure neck-amphora, attributed to the Caivano Painter; ca. 340 BCE. Now in the Getty Villa, Malibu. Photo credit: Wolfgang Sauber.

A Hapless Victim's Epitaph

Anthologia Palatina 7.737 (author and date unknown) Here I, thrice-wretched, Was overcome by a brigand’s violence; And here I lie, With no one to bewail me. ἐνθάδ᾽ ἐγὼ λῃστῆρος ὁ τρισδείλαιος ἄρηι ἐδμή��ην κεῖμαι δ᾽ οὐδενὶ κλαιόμενος.

Graveyard, Jūlijs Feders, 1880

On the Famed Statue of Cnidian Aphrodite

Anthologia Planudea 161, attributed to Plato Note: “when being judged” = a reference to the Judgment of Paris that sparked the Trojan War. Neither did Praxiteles shape you, Nor did the iron tool; But you struck a pose in just the way You once did when being judged. οὔτε σε Πραξιτέλης τεχνάσατο, οὔθ᾽ ὁ σίδαρος: ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως ἔστης, ὥς ποτε κρινομένη.

Aphrodite of Cnidus. Roman-era marble copy after the lost 4th century BCE original of Praxiteles, extensively restored by Ippolito Buzzi (1562-1634). Now in the Palazzo Altemps, Rome.

The Making of a Bow

Anthologia Palatina 6.113 = Simmias of Rhodes (early Hellenistic period) Before, I – the twofold weapon Of the bounding goat with shaggy pelt That dwells in the wild – wore a crown Of green leaves; but now the craftsman Who polishes horn has fitted me For Nicomachus, stretching on me The mighty sinews of a spiral-horned ox. πρόσθε μὲν ἀγραύλοιο δασύτριχος ἰξάλου αἰγὸς δοιὸν ὅπλον χλωροῖς ἐστεφόμαν πετάλοις: νῦν δέ με Νικομάχῳ κεραοξόος ἥρμοσε τέκτων, ἐντανύσας ἕλικος καρτερὰ νεῦρα βοός.

Archers, Hans Thoma, 1887