Available translations: English
τὸν δὲ γυναικείων μελέων πλέξαντά ποτ’ ὠιδὰς ἡδὺν Ἀνακρείοντα Τέως εἰς Ἑλλάδ’ ἀνῆγεν, συμποσίων ἐρέθισμα, γυναικῶν ἠπερόπευμα, αὐλῶν ἀντίπαλον, φιλοβάρβιτον, ἡδύν, ἄλυπον. οὔ ποτέ σου φιλότης γηράσεται οὔτε θανεῖται, ἔστ’ ἂν ὕδωρ οἴνωι συμμειγνύμενον κυλίκεσσιν παῖς διαπομπεύηι, προπόσεις ἐπὶ δεξιὰ νωμῶν, παννυχίδας θ’ ἱερὰς θήλεις χοροὶ ἀμφιέπωσιν, πλάστιγξ θ’ ἡ χαλκοῦ θυγάτηρ ἐπ’ ἄκραισι καθίζηι κοττάβου ὑψηλαῖς κορυφαῖς Βρομίου ψακάδεσσιν.
Teos brought forth, a source of pride to Greece,
The sweet Anacreon, who with sweet notes twined
A wreath of tuneful song in woman's praise,
The choicest ornament of revelling feasts,
The most seductive charm; a match for flutes'
Or pipes' shrill aid, or softly moving lyre:
O Teian bard, your fame shall never die;
Age shall not touch it; while the willing slave
Mingles the wine and water in the bowl,
And fills the welcome goblet for the guests;
While female hands, with many twinkling feet,
Lead their glad nightly dance; while many drops,
Daughters of these glad cups, great Bacchus' juice,
Fall with good omen on the cottabus dish.
How this fragment survives
- Athenaeus
The Learned Banqueters · XIII p. 600 E
Citation in a linked historical source record.
These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.
Original-text edition
Original text from the linked source, with the quotation boundaries recorded in the notes
Open the historical edition ↗
Notes & source
Exact historical English excerpt, checked against the corresponding Greek quotation. Complete historical verse rendering of the ten-line elegiac quotation. Yonge’s verse is free, particularly its rendering of the final cottabus image; no modern literal wording has been substituted
Published passage: Athenaeus XIII.600e–f, pp. 957–958
Original text from the linked source, with the quotation boundaries recorded in the notes View original source ↗
English: C. D. Yonge · The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned, of Athenæus, volume 3 (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854) Published translation ↗
Additional original-language witness
ATH. XIII p. 600 E [Eros] ὃν ὁ σοφὸς ὑμνῶν αἰεί ποτε Ἀνακρέων πᾶσίν ἐστιν διὰ στόματος. λέγει οὖν περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ κράτιστος Κ. τάδε· τὸν δὲ γυναικείων μελέων πλέξαντά ποτ’ ὠιδὰς ἡδὺν Ἀνακρείοντα Τέως εἰς Ἑλλάδ’ ἀνῆγεν, συμποσίων ἐρέθισμα, γυναικῶν ἠπερόπευμα, αὐλῶν ἀντίπαλον, φιλοβάρβιτον, ἡδύν, ἄλυπον. οὔ ποτέ σου φιλότης γηράσεται οὔτε θανεῖται, ἔστ’ ἂν ὕδωρ οἴνωι συμμειγνύμενον κυλίκεσσιν παῖς διαπομπεύηι, προπόσεις ἐπὶ δεξιὰ νωμῶν, παννυχίδας θ’ ἱερὰς θήλεις χοροὶ ἀμφιέπωσιν, πλάστιγξ θ’ ἡ χαλκοῦ θυγάτηρ ἐπ’ ἄκραισι καθίζηι κοττάβου ὑψηλαῖς κορυφαῖς Βρομίου ψακάδεσσιν.
English translation: Public domain