Tuesday, 11 June 2019

INVOCATION TO ZEUS BY ARCHILOCHUS





Ancient Greek :

Ὦ Ζεῦ͵ πάτερ Ζεῦ͵ σὸν μὲν οὐρανοῦ κράτος͵ 
σὺ δ΄ ἔργ΄ ἐπ΄ ἀνθρώπων ὁρᾶις 
λεωργὰ καὶ θεμιστά͵ σοὶ δὲ θηρίων 
ὕβρις τε καὶ δίκη μέλει!


English :


Oh Zeus, father Zeus, Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven, 

and You watch the deeds of men, both the unholy and the  honourable ones, 

and You are The One who tends to the rightful punishment

against transgressions committed by 'beasts' ( foul men ).


Archilochus (680 – c. 645 BCE) was a Greek lyric poet from the island of Paros in the Archaic period. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the earliest known Greek author to compose almost entirely on the theme of his own emotions and experiences.

Alexandrian scholars included him in their canonic list of iambic poets, along with Semonides and Hipponax,yet ancient commentators also numbered him with Tyrtaeus and Callinus as the possible inventor of the elegy.Modern critics often characterize him simply as a lyric poet. Although his work now only survives in fragments, he was revered by the ancient Greeks as one of their most brilliant authors.

SOURCES : YouTube, Wikipedia