293 292
293
ARCH.223
_τέττιγος ἐδράξω πτεροῦ
Luc. Pseudolog.1
_ τὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἀρχιλόχου ἐκεῖνο ἤδη σοι λέγω, ὅτι τέττιγα τοῦ πτεροῦ
συνείληφας, εἴπερ τινὰποιητὴν ἰάμβων ἀκούεις Ἀρχίλοχον, Πάριον
τὸ γένος, ἄνδρα κομιδῇ ἐλεύθερον καὶ παρρησίᾳ συνόντα, μηδὲν
ὀκνοῦντα ὀνειδίζειν...τῇ χολῇ τῶν ἰάμβων αὐτοῦ. ἐκεῖνος τοίνυν
πρός τινος τῶν τοιούτων ἀκούσας κακῶς τέττιγα ἔφη τὸν ἄνδρα
εἰληφέναι τοῦ πτεροῦ, εἰκάζων ἑαυτὸν τῷ τέττιγι ὁ Ἀρχίλοχος
φύσει μὲν λάλῳ ὄντι καὶ ἄνευ τινὸς ἀνάγκης, ὁπόταν δὲ καὶ τοῦ
πτεροῦ ληφθῇ, γεγωνότερον βοῶντι.
_You grabbed the Cicada by the wing
_I amnow telling youwhat Archilochus has said, that you grabbed
the cicada by the wing – in case you’ve heard of this Archilochus
– from Paros – a man thoroughly free and courageous of speech
who never tired of teasing, even at the cost of excessively vexing
those implicated in the gall of his iambic verse. When [he] heard
someone maligning him, he said to that man that he had caught
the Cicada (Tettix) by the wing, with Archilochus assuming the
form of the cicada which is by nature and without any special
cause quite voluble, and when it’s caught by the wing, it calls out
all the louder.
ARCH.224 πτώσσουσοιν ὣστε πέρδικα: shrinking like a partridge.
OF HIDEOUS APPEARANCE, TELLING OF ILL, ILL-OMENED,
STAINING,
TAUNTING,
SPEAKING
UNSPOKEN
WORDS,
INSULTING, OBSCENE WORDS SEATED IN THE MOUTH
LIKE WASPS IN A GRAVE THAT LAY BITTER POISON
Τ I Τ Τ I X
Τ Ο Υ : * Τ Ι Τ Τ Ι Ξ
ΤΖΕΤΖΕΣ, CHILIADES, 9,3 01. THE EVER SO
VOLUBLE LANGUAGE OF CICADAS
Cicadas happen to be insects ever so voluble
Singing all the more in the heat wave of
summer
And if someone grabs their wing to make
them go silent
all the more bothersome and noisy do they
become.
So to those who speak overly much, the
proverb is told:
You think you’ll grab the Tettix by the wing.
And that cicadas chirp is a fact known to all
just as everyone knows this about Athenians
while Laconians are known for their tight lip.
Cicadas II-winged words
from the drums inside the loins
a cicada is calling out
a gathering-together song
modulated by the weather changes
and the dance of the other males
the song of a nuptial ceremony
a chant of irritability
a caw of protest at being captive
as when grabbing a cicada by the wing
in the summer my brother
ate a cicada
it thrummed
and squeaked
a foreign voice from within the barricade
the fence of the teeth
once his mouth opened
the cicada
escaped and flew away
they call you cicada
you continuously stare at the sea
Εἰµὶ δ’ἐγὼ θεράπων µὲν Ἐνυαλίοιο ἄνακτος,
καὶ Μουσέων ἐρατὸν δῶρον ἐπιστάµενος
I am a follower of the god Aries
and possess the delectable
gift of the Muses
πτώσσω: shrink from, shrink, of birds or oth-
er animals, skulk, slink, cringe like a beggar,
go begging (cf. πτωχός, beggar)
Hesiod, Works and Days, 25-26:
And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman
with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beg-
gar, and minstrel of minstrel.
ARCH.1.
PINDAR, PYTH. ΙΙ, 54-56
Only god brings to completion what he chooses
god who has within his reach the winged eagle
who is speedier than the porpus in the sea,
among mortals he cast low one with great
aspirations while to others he has delivered
immortal glory.
As for me, I ought to avoid casting aspersions
with my song.
-ΕΙΔΟΝ ΓΑΡ ΨΟΓΕΡΟΝ ΑΡΧΙΛΟΧΟΝ ΕΚΑΣ ΕΩΝ
ΤΑ ΠΟΛΛ’ ΕΝ ΑΜΑΧΑΝΙᾼ ΒΑΡΥΛΟΓΟΙΣ
ΕΧΘΕΣΙΝ ΠΙΑΙΝΟΜΕΝΟΝ
-FOR I HAVE SEEN THE FAULT-FINDING (JUDGEMENTAL,
POISON-TONGUED, SARCASTIC, CRITICAL) ARCHILOCHUS IN THE PAST
STUCK AND ROTTING IN THE EMNITY OF HIS HEAVY UTTERANCES.
GRAB