M/M: For the Love of Admetus, Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo, 47-54

 

Name: Callimachus Date:    305 – 240 BCE Region:   Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation:   Hymn to Apollo, 47 – 54

We also call Phoebus the “Shepherd,”

From the time that he watched over

Teams of horses on the banks of the Amphrysus River

All for the love of the youth Admetus.

The fields were full of cows,

The goats lacked no woolly kids;

The livestock under the watchful eye of Apollo

Were neither sterile nor barren;

Mother ewes suddenly birthed not just one offspring, but twins.

Φοῖβον καὶ Νόμιον κικλήσκομεν ἐξέτι κείνου, ἐξότ᾽ ἐπ᾽ Ἀμφρυσσῷ ζευγίτιδας ἔτρεφεν ἵππους ἠιθέου ὑπ᾽ ἔρωτι κεκαυμένος Ἀδμήτοιο. ῥεῖά κε βουβόσιον τελέθοι πλέον, οὐδέ κεν αἶγες δεύοιντο βρεφέων ἐπιμηλάδες ᾗδιν Ἀπόλλων βοσκομένῃσ᾽ ὀφθαλμὸν ἐπήγαγεν: οὐδ᾽ ἀγάλακτες οἴιες οὐδ᾽ ἄκυθοι, πᾶσαι δέ κεν εἶεν ὕπαρνοι, ἡ δέ κε μουνοτόκος διδυμητόκος αἶψα γένοιτο.

Phoebum etiam pastorem vocamus ex eo tempore, quo ad Amphrysum iugales pavit equas pueri Admeti ardens amore. Facile utique pascua sint plena bubus, neque caprae inerrantes lanigeris careant subole, quas Apollo pascentes respexerit: neque sine lacte oves, aut steriles fuerint, sed omnes prolem habeant, et unipara repente fiat gemellipara. Translated into Latin by Johann August Ernesti

Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.

Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.