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

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.

  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 2 ᾗδιν Ἀπόλλων

βοσκομένῃσ᾽ ὀφθαλμὸν ἐπήγαγεν: οὐδ᾽ ἀγάλακτες

οἴιες οὐδ᾽ ἄκυθοι, πᾶσαι δέ κεν εἶεν ὕπαρνοι,

ἡ δέ κε μουνοτόκος διδυμητόκος αἶψα γένοιτο.

--Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo, 47 – 54; translated into Latin by Jo. Augustus Ernest

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 wooly kids;

The livestock under the watchful eye of Apollo

Were neither sterile nor barren;

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

CALLIMACHUS / Καλλίμαχος

MAP:

Name:  Callimachus

Date:  305 – 240 BCE

Works:  Aitia (Causes)

              Hymns

             Pinakes (Table of Contents)

REGION  3 / 4

BIO:

Timeline:

 Callimachus 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 fragments that remain are a testament to both his talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.

HELLENISTIC AGE