3b
λυσιμελεῖ τε πόσῳ, τακερώτερα
δ' ὕπνω καὶ σανάτω ποτιδέρκεται·
οὐδέ τι μαψιδίως γλυκ..ήνα·
Ἀ[σ]τυμέλοισα δέ μ' οὐδὲν ἀμείβεται
ἀλλὰ τὸ]ν πυλεῶν' ἔχοισα
[ὥ] τις αἰγλά[ε]ντος ἀστήρ
ὠρανῶ διαιπετής
ἢ χρύσιον ἔρνος ἢ ἁπαλὸ[ν ψίλ]ον
26
οὔ μ' ἔτι, παρσενικαὶ μελιγάρυες ἱαρόφωνοι,
γυῖα φέρην δύναται∙ βάλε δὴ βάλε κηρύλος εἴην,
ὅς τ᾽ ἐπὶ κύματος ἄνθος ἅμ᾽ ἀλκυόνεσσι ποτήται
νηλεὲς ἦτορ ἔχων, ἁλιπόρφυρος ἱαρὸς ὄρνις.
3b & 26
Ἀλκμάν
Listen to '3b' read in the Ancient Greek by M. Pfaff:
The poems of Alcman exist in varying states of decay: the few that are nearly complete, or complete enough to get a sufficient sense of the original poem or some significant portion of it; complete stanzas, not enough to get a sense of the whole poem, but a stanza complete in itself, often quoted in an external ancient source; longer fragmentary pieces, often from preserved papyrus manuscripts; shorter fragments; a single line or word. The fragmentary nature of the remnants poses peculiar challenges and offers up peculiar joys to the translator.
Alcman is one of the earliest recorded representatives of the Greek lyric poets. Tradition holds that he was a Spartan slave, freed because of his skill in composing choral poems.
M. Pfaff is a doctoral candidate in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan. He is currently dissertating on the presence and function of Greek and Latin in American experimental poetry.
