Saturday, December 18, 2021

In Praise of Sappho: Greek Anthology 9.189

 Ladies of Lesbos, go to the sanctuary of cow-eyed Hera,

Twirl around with delicate footstep,

and create there a blessed dance for the goddess;

The sagacious Sappho will guide you in the dance.

As she holds a golden lyre in her hands,

O Blessed troupe of dancers,

It will seem as though Calliope herself

Is performing her honey-sweet songs.



Lesbides ite simul dominae Iunonis ad aram

Suspenso tenerae moliter ite gradu:

docta chorum vobis sacrata per atria Sappho

inchoet aurata conspicienda lyra:

hac duce gaudentes saltate. Videbitur ipsa

edere mellitos Callipoea sonos.

 

ἔλθετε πρὸς τέμενος ταυρώπιδος ἀγλαὸν Ἥρης,

Λεσβίδες, ἁβρὰ ποδῶν βήμαθ᾽ ἑλισσόμεναι,

ἔνθα καλὸν στήσασθε θεῇ χορὸν ὔμμι δ᾽ ἀπάρξει

Σαπφὼ χρυσείην χερσὶν ἔχουσα λύρην,

ὄλβιαι ὀρχηθμοῦ πολυγηθέος: ἦ γλυκὺν ὕμνον

εἰσαΐειν αὐτῆς δόξετε Καλλιόπης.


--Greek Anthology IX.189; Translated into Latin by Hugo Grottius

 

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