Ἄττα

father

Translated by Catharine Roth12 Jan 2001Vetting: high7 revisions

1 note · 45 words

Form of address of a younger man to an older.¹
"Old father, a double marriage calls me. The one bride has wealth and lineage like mine, the other is superior. Which is better? Come, take counsel with me, which of the two I should marry."²

Greek original · Adler’s text

Ἄττα· προσφώνησις νεωτέρου πρὸς πρεσβύτερον. ἄττα γέρον, δοιός με καλεῖ γάμος· ἡ μία μὲν δὴ νύμφη καὶ πλούτῳ καὶ γένεϊ κατ' ἐμέ, ἡ δ' ἑτέρη προβέβηκε. τί λώϊον; εἰ δ' ἄγε σύμ μοι βούλευσον, ποτέρην εἰς ὑμέναιον ἄγω.

Betacode

*)/atta: prosfw/nhsis newte/rou pro\s presbu/teron. a)/tta ge/ron, doio/s me kalei= ga/mos: h( mi/a me\n dh\ nu/mfh kai\ plou/tw| kai\ ge/nei+ kat' e)me/, h( d' e(te/rh probe/bhke. ti/ lw/i+on; ei) d' a)/ge su/m moi bou/leuson, pote/rhn ei)s u(me/naion a)/gw.

Notes (1)

[1] Likewise or similarly in other lexica, including Apollonius' Homeric Lexicon. From a scholion on Homer, Iliad 9.603; cf. pi 255. See LSJ at web address 1 for a)/tta (B).
2Greek Anthology 7.89.3-6, a man seeks advice from the sage Pittacus; cf. Gow and Page (vol. I, 70-71), (vol. II, 205-207), and another excerpt from this anecdote at beta 236. Gow and Page note (ibid.) that an attribution of the epigram to Callimachus is found in Diogenes Laertius 1.79 and only there. They observe that although the Anthologia Palatina (AP) makes no attribution for this epigram, it is highly likely that the AP extracted the text from Diogenes, its lack of an ascription is thus of little consequence, and--in any event--nothing else would suggest that a piece of poetry so uninspiring as this should be deemed the work of Callimachus (ibid.). On Pittacus of Mytilene, one of the Seven Sages, see pi 1659.

↩

References

A.S.F. Gow and D.L. Page, eds., The Greek Anthology: Hellenistic Epigrams, vol. I, (Cambridge, 1965)
A.S.F. Gow and D.L. Page, eds., The Greek Anthology: Hellenistic Epigrams, vol. II, (Cambridge, 1965)

External resources

Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu

Linked from1 entry

β236Βέμβηξtop[Meaning] a wooden spinner. "In the wide street the children turned their swift tops by hitting them." Aristophanes [writes]: "[I] must not differ from a top." Meaning [I] must be swift-moving and swift-turning. The top…

Neighbouring entries

α4303Ἄσχολοςleisure-less α4304Ατταwhichever, some α4305Ἄτταfather α4306Ἀτταγᾶς νουμηνίῳa partridge (joins) a woodcock α4307Ἀτταγᾶςpartridge

Revision history7 revisions · last 23 Sep 2021

23 Sep 2021expanded n.2, added bibliography, added cross-references — Ronald Allen
2 Sep 2015expanded n.1 — David Whitehead
24 Dec 2013tweaked note and link, added keywords — Catharine Roth
27 Apr 2012another keyword; tweaks — David Whitehead
4 Dec 2005more keywords — David Whitehead
3 Mar 2004added cross-reference — Catharine Roth
26 Aug 2002cosmetics — David Whitehead
12 Jan 2001Translated — Catharine Roth

Greek original · Adler’s text

Betacode

*)/atta: prosfw/nhsis newte/rou pro\s presbu/teron. a)/tta ge/ron, doio/s me kalei= ga/mos: h( mi/a me\n dh\ nu/mfh kai\ plou/tw| kai\ ge/nei+ kat' e)me/, h( d' e(te/rh probe/bhke. ti/ lw/i+on; ei) d' a)/ge su/m moi bou/leuson, pote/rhn ei)s u(me/naion a)/gw.

Notes (1)

[1] Likewise or similarly in other lexica, including Apollonius' Homeric Lexicon. From a scholion on Homer, Iliad 9.603; cf. pi 255. See LSJ at web address 1 for a)/tta (B).

2Greek Anthology 7.89.3-6, a man seeks advice from the sage Pittacus; cf. Gow and Page (vol. I, 70-71), (vol. II, 205-207), and another excerpt from this anecdote at beta 236. Gow and Page note (ibid.) that an attribution of the epigram to Callimachus is found in Diogenes Laertius 1.79 and only there. They observe that although the Anthologia Palatina (AP) makes no attribution for this epigram, it is highly likely that the AP extracted the text from Diogenes, its lack of an ascription is thus of little consequence, and--in any event--nothing else would suggest that a piece of poetry so uninspiring as this should be deemed the work of Callimachus (ibid.). On Pittacus of Mytilene, one of the Seven Sages, see pi 1659.

Translation

Greek original · Adler’s text

Notes (1)

References

External resources

Linked from1 entry

Neighbouring entries

Translation

Greek original · Adler’s text

Notes (1)

References

External resources

Linked from1 entry

Neighbouring entries