Fragment 1 (Ode to Aphrodite)
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure. Ancient Greek source edition on el.wikisource.org
Ancient Greek
Ποικιλόθρον’ ἀθάνατ’ Ἀφρόδιτα,παῖ Διός, δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σεμή μ’ ἄσαισι μηδ’ ὀνίαισι δάμνα,πότνια, θῦμον·
ἀλλά τυῖδ’ ἔλθ’, αἴ ποτα κἀτέρωτατᾶς ἔμας αὔδως ἀίοισα πήλυιἔκλυες, πάτρος δὲ δόμον λίποισαχρύσιον ἦλθες
ἄρμ’ ὐπαζεύξαισα, κάλοι δέ σ’ ἆγονὤκεες στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶς μελαίναςπύκνα δίννεντες πτέρ’ ἀπ’ ὠράνω αἴθεροςδιὰ μέσσω.
αἶψα δ’ ἐξίκοντο, τὺ δ’, ὦ μάκαιρα,μειδιάσαισ’ ἀθανάτῳ προσώπῳ,ἤρε’ ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττιδηὖτε κάλημι,
κὤττι ἔμῳ μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαιμαινόλᾳ θύμῳ· τίνα δηὖτε πείθωμαῖς ἄγην ἐς σὰν φιλότατα; τίς σ’, ὦΨάπφ’, ἀδικήει;
καὶ γὰρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέως διώξει,αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ’, ἀλλὰ δώσει,αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει, ταχέως φιλήσεικωὐκ ἐθέλοισα.
ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλέπαν δὲ λῦσονἐκ μερίμναν, ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαιθῦμος ἰμμέρρει, τέλεσον· σὺ δ’ αὔτασύμμαχος ἔσσο.
English · Musean translation · Mouseia
Rich-throned, deathless Aphrodite,child of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I beg you:do not crush my heart with grief and anguish,Lady;
but come here, if ever at another time,hearing my voice from far away,you listened, and, leaving your father’sgolden house, came,
yoking your chariot; lovely, swiftsparrows bore you over the black earth,whirling their close-beating wings down from heaven,through midair.
Swiftly they arrived; and you, blessed goddess,smiling with your deathless face,asked what I had suffered now, and whyI called you now,
and what, above all, I wished to happenin my maddened heart: “Whom now shall I persuadeto lead into your love? Who, OSappho, wrongs you?
For if she flees, soon she will pursue;if she does not accept gifts, she will give them;if she does not love, soon she will love,even against her will.”
Come to me now as well; release me fromharrowing care, and all my heartyearns to see fulfilled, fulfill; and you yourselfbe my ally.