|1 You with pattern-woven flowers, immortal Aphrodite, |2 child of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I implore you, |3 do not devastate with aches and sorrows,|4 Mistress, my heart! |5 But come here [tuide], if ever at any other time |6 hearing my voice from afar, |7 you heeded me, and leaving the palace of your father, |8 golden, you came, |9 having harnessed the chariot; and you were carried along by beautiful |10 swift sparrows over the dark earth |11 swirling with their dense plumage from the sky through the |12 midst of the aether, |13 and straightaway they arrived. But you, O holy one, |14 smiling with your immortal looks, |15 kept asking what is it once again this time [dēute] that has happened to me and for what reason |16 once again this time [dēute] do I invoke you, |17 and what is it that I want more than anything to happen |18 to my frenzied [mainolās] heart [thūmos]? “Whom am I once again this time [dēute] to persuade, |19 setting out to bring her to your love? Who is doing you, |20 Sappho, wrong? |21 For if she is fleeing now, soon she will give chase. |22 If she is not taking gifts, soon she will be giving them. |23 If she does not love, soon she will love |24 even against her will.” |25 Come to me even now, and free me from harsh |26 anxieties, and however many things |27 my heart [thūmos] yearns to get done, you do for me. You |28 become my ally in war.
Song 1 of Sappho = Prayer to Aphrodite [19]
(trans. Gregory Nagy, Hour 5 Text F, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours)
|1 ποικιλόθρον’ ἀθανάτἈφρόδιτα, |2 παῖ Δίος δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σε, |3 μή μ’ ἄσαισι μηδ’ ὀνίαισι δάμνα, |4 πότν]ια, θῦμον, |5 ἀλλὰ τυίδ’ ἔλθ’, αἴ ποτα κἀτέρωτα |6 τὰς ἔμας αὔδας ἀίοισα πήλοι |7 ἔκλυες, πάτρος δὲ δόμον λίποισα |8 χρύσιον ἦλθες |9 ἄρμ’ ὐπασδεύξαισα· κάλοι δέ σ’ ἆγον |10 ὤκεες στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶς μελαίνας |11 πύκνα δίννεντες πτέρ’ ἀπ’ ὠράνωἴθε|12ρος διὰ μέσσω· |13 αἶψα δ’ ἐξίκοντο· σὺ δ’, ὦ μάκαιρα, |14 μειδιαί[σαισ’ ἀθανάτωι προσώπωι |15 ἤρε’ ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττι |16 δηὖτε κάλημμι |17 κὤττι μοι μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαι |18 μαινόλαι θύμωι· τίνα δηὖτε πείθω |19 βαῖσ᾿ ἄγην ἐς σὰν φιλότατα; τίς σ’, ὦ |20 Ψάπφ’, ἀδικήει; |21 καὶ γὰρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέως διώξει, |22 αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ’, ἀλλὰ δώσει, |23 αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει, ταχέως φιλήσει [ back ] |24 κωὐκ ἐθέλοισα. |25 ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλέπαν δὲ λῦσον |26 ἐκ μερίμναν, ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαι |27 θῦμος ἰμέρρει, τέλεσον, σὺ δ’ αὔτα |28 σύμμαχος ἔσσο. On the reading βαῖσ᾿ ἄγην at line 19, see PP 98n34.
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