Βάρβιτον
barbitos, long-armed lyre
Translated by David Whitehead26 Jul 2001Vetting: high10 revisions
Translation
[Meaning a] psaltery, kithara. A kind of musical instrument.
"O friend, you who loved the dear barbitos".1 This is said about Anakreon.2
[sc. The barbitos features in] a saying in reference to dissimilar things.3 Aristophanes [writes]: "What [does] the dress [mean]? What the confused lifestyle? What does the barbitos prattle to the saffron-robe? What the lyre to the head-dress? What [does] the oilflask and girdle [mean]? How inappropriate! What do a mirror and a sword have in common?"4
"O friend, you who loved the dear barbitos".1 This is said about Anakreon.2
[sc. The barbitos features in] a saying in reference to dissimilar things.3 Aristophanes [writes]: "What [does] the dress [mean]? What the confused lifestyle? What does the barbitos prattle to the saffron-robe? What the lyre to the head-dress? What [does] the oilflask and girdle [mean]? How inappropriate! What do a mirror and a sword have in common?"4
Greek original · Adler’s text
Βάρβιτον· ψαλτήριον, κιθάρα. εἶδος ὀργάνου μουσικοῦ. ὦ τὸ φίλον στέρξας, φίλε, βάρβιτον. περὶ Ἀνακρέοντος ὁ λόγος. παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνομοίων. Ἀριστοφάνης· τίς ἡ στολή; τίς ἡ τάραξις τοῦ βίου; τί βάρβιτος λαλεῖ κροκωτῷ; τί δὲ λύρα κεκρυφάλῳ; τί λήκυθος καὶ στρόφιον; ὡς ἀξύμφορον. τίς δὲ κατόπτρου καὶ ξίφους κοινωνία;
Betacode
*ba/rbiton: yalth/rion, kiqa/ra. ei)=dos o)rga/nou mousikou=. w)= to\ fi/lon ste/rcas, fi/le, ba/rbiton. peri\ *)anakre/ontos o( lo/gos. paroimi/a e)pi\ tw=n a)nomoi/wn. *)aristofa/nhs: ti/s h( stolh/; ti/s h( ta/racis tou= bi/ou; ti/ ba/rbitos lalei= krokwtw=|; ti/ de\ lu/ra kekrufa/lw|; ti/ lh/kuqos kai\ stro/fion; w(s a)cu/mforon. ti/s de\ kato/ptrou kai\ ci/fous koinwni/a;
Notes (4)
- For the barbitos (the neuter form barbiton in the present entry is late) see already beta 107; and cf. mu 20.↩
- 1Greek Anthology 7.23b1. Followed by another extract from the Anthology at delta 705, this line begins a couplet that in both the Anthologia Palatina and the Anthologia Planudea was inserted--without any ascription in either text--between 7.23 (Antipater of Sidon; see alpha 3777, mu 437, tau 393, and chi 518) and 7.24 (attributed to Simonides; see gamma 192, eta 304, and lambda 126); cf. Gow and Page (43). Gow and Page note (ibid.) that the distich was appended to 7.23 by Huetius (Pierre Daniel Huet, 1630-1721, French churchman and classical scholar). However, they contend that it is incoherent there as a fourth couplet to 7.23 and endorse Joseph Justus Scaliger's (1540-1609) argument that these lines belong as the opening of another epigram otherwise lost (ibid.). Although Gow and Page allow (ibid.) that the couplet might be ascribed to the Sidonian, they do raise a doubt, gesturing to the presence here of the late neuter form
to\ ba/rbiton (see principal note). This form is first securely attested in Dionysius of Halicarnassus (fl. ca. 20 BCE) Roman Antiquities 7.72.5 (in the plural, web address 1). It then finds instances in later writers, whereas Antipater's floruit is close to 150 BCE; cf. Gow and Page (46). ↩- 2alpha 1916. ↩
- 3From the scholia on the passage of Aristophanes about to be quoted. ↩
- 4Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 136-40 (web address 2).
- 1Greek Anthology 7.23b1. Followed by another extract from the Anthology at delta 705, this line begins a couplet that in both the Anthologia Palatina and the Anthologia Planudea was inserted--without any ascription in either text--between 7.23 (Antipater of Sidon; see alpha 3777, mu 437, tau 393, and chi 518) and 7.24 (attributed to Simonides; see gamma 192, eta 304, and lambda 126); cf. Gow and Page (43). Gow and Page note (ibid.) that the distich was appended to 7.23 by Huetius (Pierre Daniel Huet, 1630-1721, French churchman and classical scholar). However, they contend that it is incoherent there as a fourth couplet to 7.23 and endorse Joseph Justus Scaliger's (1540-1609) argument that these lines belong as the opening of another epigram otherwise lost (ibid.). Although Gow and Page allow (ibid.) that the couplet might be ascribed to the Sidonian, they do raise a doubt, gesturing to the presence here of the late neuter form
References
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
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from5 entries
- α3777Ἀργινόεις ἀργινόεντοςbright-shining [and] of bright-shining[sc. The latter means] of white. "Let springs of bright-shining milk burst forth."
- β107Βάρβιτοςbarbitos, long-armed lyreA kind of musical instrument.
- δ705Διαπλώσαςhaving sailed through[The same as] diapleu/sas, [meaning] having gone through. "O [friend], you who sailed through all of life with song and with love."
- χ195ΧέλυςchelusA kithara. Also [sc. attested is] the tortoise, the shell-backed [creature].
- χ518Χρίμπτεταιcomes near; touches[Meaning he/she/it] rubs against, nears, draws nigh. "If some happiness touches those who have perished."
Neighbouring entries
Revision history10 revisions · last 22 Jun 2024
- corrected translation as noted by James McKeown — Catharine Roth
- my typo n.1 — Ronald Allen
- further expanded n.1, added link — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.1, added bibliography, added cross-references — Ronald Allen
- Revised — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- coding, upgraded link — Catharine Roth
- another keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- added keyword — David Whitehead
- cosmetics, link — Catharine Roth
- Translated — David Whitehead