M/M: Heaven Is A Place on Earth: Greek Anthology 12.177

   Last night, when we said good night,

Moeris embraced me;

I’m not sure if it really happened, or if it were a dream;

I know all the rest, what he said to me and such,

But if it’s true, and if he kissed me, then

how can I have been made a god

And still walk upon the earth?

Vespertina Maeris me, qua nobis valedicimus hora,

nescio utrum vere, an in somnis, amplexus est.

Iam enim cetera quidem valde aperte sensi,

et quidquid mihi dixit, et quidquid sciscitatus est:

an vero me et osculatus sit, signum quaero: si enim verum est,

quomodo divus factus erro his in terris?

--Strato, Greek Anthology XII.177; Translated into Latin by Hugo Grotius

ἑσπερίην Μοῖρίς με, καθ᾽ ἣν ὑγιαίνομεν ὥρην,

οὐκ οἶδ᾽ εἴτε σαφῶς, εἴτ᾽ ὄναρ, ἠσπάσατο.

ἤδη γὰρ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα μάλ᾽ ἀτρεκέως ἐνόησα,

χὠκόσα μοι προσέφη, χὠκός ἐπυνθάνετο

εἰ δέ με καὶ πεφίληκε τεκμαίρομαι: εἰ γὰρ ἀληθές,

πῶς ἀποθειωθεὶς πλάζομ᾽ ἐπιχθόνιος;

--Strato, Greek Anthology XII.177; Translated into Latin by Hugo Grotius

 

   The Greek Anthology is a modern collection of Greek lyric poetry compiled from various sources over the course of Greco-Roman literature. The current collection was created from two major sources, one from the 10^th century CE and one from the 14^th century CE. The anthology contains authors spanning the entirety of Greek literature, from archaic poets to Byzantine Christian poets.