Σμήνη
hives
Translated by William Hutton8 Mar 2014Vetting: high6 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] masses of bees.1 "Having invaded the Colchians, there was nothing [else] that they marveled at. But the hives there were plentiful, and those soldiers who ate from the honeycombs all started losing their wits and vomiting and many were bedridden, and on the next day they recovered as from a dose of poison."2
"Having cut me from the hive as a sweet harvest of discordant things, the aged beekeeper Cleiton made a libation."3
"Having cut me from the hive as a sweet harvest of discordant things, the aged beekeeper Cleiton made a libation."3
Greek original · Adler’s text
Σμήνη· τὰ τῶν μελισσῶν πλήθη. ἐς Κόλχους ἐμβαλόντες οὐδὲν ὅ τι καὶ ἐθαύμασαν. τὰ δὲ σμήνη πολλὰ ἦν αὐτόθι, καὶ τῶν κηρίων ὅσοι ἔφαγον τῶν στρατιωτῶν, πάντες ἄφρονές τε ἐγένοντο καὶ ἤμουν καὶ ἔκειντο πολλοὶ καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ἀνίσταντο ὥσπερ ἐκ φαρμακοποσίας. σμήνεος ἔκ με ταμὼν γλυκερὸν θέρος ἀντινομαίων γηραιὸς Κλειτῶν σπεῖσε μελισσοπόνος.
Betacode
*smh/nh: ta\ tw=n melissw=n plh/qh. e)s *ko/lxous e)mbalo/ntes ou)de\n o(/ ti kai\ e)qau/masan. ta\ de\ smh/nh polla\ h)=n au)to/qi, kai\ tw=n khri/wn o(/soi e)/fagon tw=n stratiwtw=n, pa/ntes a)/frone/s te e)ge/nonto kai\ h)/moun kai\ e)/keinto polloi\ kai\ th=| u(sterai/a| a)ni/stanto w(/sper e)k farmakoposi/as. smh/neos e)/k me tamw\n glukero\n qe/ros a)ntinomai/wn ghraio\s *kleitw=n spei=se melissopo/nos.
Notes (3)
- The headword is plural, nominative or accusative, of the neuter noun
smh=nos ; nominative if drawn from the quotation of Xenophon provided. For a separate gloss of the singular see sigma 735. - 1For the sources of this gloss see the references at sigma 735. ↩
- 2An approximation of Xenophon, Anabasis 4.8.19-21. The toxicity of Colchian honey is also referred to by other sources, e.g. Strabo 12.3.8, and Pliny NH 21.45 (who identifies the nectar of the rhododendron as the culprit). On the toxicity of honey made from the nectar of rhododendrons see the Wikipedia entry at web address 1. ↩
- 3Greek Anthology 6.239.1-2 (Apollonides), where the poetic genitive singular of the headword
smh/neos appears. In place of the Suda's hapaxa)ntinomai/wn ('discordant'(?)), Beckby's text of the Anthology readsa)nti\ nomai/wn ('instead of usual things', or 'instead of pastoral things'). Find further extracts from this epigram at theta 6, theta 269, and tau 500. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 en.wikipedia.org
Linked from2 entries
- σ735Σμῆνοςhive[Meaning] a mass of bees. Like a swarm. In a special sense a gathering of bees is called a hive. So he is using the trope in Homeric fashion, for he says about Nestor, "And from his tongue his voice flowed sweeter than…
- τ500Τηλοπέτευςfar-flying[Meaning] flying far away. In the Epigrams: "having pressed out abundant honey from ambrosial honeycombs of spring, a gift of an untended far-flying flock."
Neighbouring entries
Revision history6 revisions · last 1 Aug 2022
- typo, added cross-references n.3 — Ronald Allen
- punctuation — David Whitehead
- augmented n. 2 — William Hutton
- tweaks and cosmetics; raised status — David Whitehead
- fixed note numbers, added link — Catharine Roth
- set status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — William Hutton