This long but heavily effaced fragment records the coherence of an historically important, divinely ordained wedding, giving maximal lyric intensity to a purely civic event. But no degree of gonzo pomp can prevent – or anticipate – the horror of what was to come for this perfect, doomed couple.
Kypris.
Crier came.
From Ida -- fast courier.
Rest of Asia -- imperishable fame.
"Hector and partners transfer the eye-turner
Thebe from the fertile and sacred place,
The gentle Man-Battle, in ships
On the salt sea; and many bangles gold-coiled,
Subdued purple, patterned playthings,
Countless cups of silver with ivory inlay."
Nimbly he leapt when he heard, King Priam, the father,
And word swept through the city of ballrooms, for the sons of Troy
To appoint well-turned, mule-drawn carriages for all
Slender-ankled maidens and ladies to ride,
And away from the crowd went Priam's daughters,
Horses were harnessed by men to chariots,
Young bachelors, who stirred great dust as they drove,
Charioteers holding the reins.
Likening to Gods
They mobilized to holy Ilion
With a sweeping as sweet as flutes and kithara
And the beating of castanets.
Piercingly the maidens sang a holy song
And it reached all the way to the ether
Echoing like a God ... down every boulevard.
Vats of wine and offering bowls ...
The resins of cassia, frankincense and myrrh
Fused the very air.
The elder women shrieked their ritual ululation;
The men aligned like a bowstring to the wail
Calling with Apollo, master of the lyre,
The one who strikes at a distance, to weave them
Into hymn, Hector and Andromache -- like Gods.
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Κυπρο̣ . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]ας̣·
κάρυξ ἦλθ̣ε θε̣[ . . . . . . . . . .]ελε̣ [ . . . ] . θεις
Ἴδαος ταδεκα . . . φ [ . . ] . . ις τάχυς ἄγγελος
⟨ ⟩
‘ τάς τ’ ἄλλας Ἀσίας . [ . ] δε . αν κλέος ἄφθιτον·
Ἔκτωρ καὶ συνέταιρ̣[ο]ι ἄ̣γ̣οισ’ ἐλικώπιδα
Θήβας ἐξ ἰέρας Πλακίας τ’ ἀ[π̣’ ἀϊ]ν⟨ν⟩άω
ἄβραν Ἀνδρομάχαν ἐνὶ ναῦσιν ἐπ’ ἄλμυρον
πόντον· πόλλα δ’ [ἐλί]γματα χρύσια κἄμματα
πορφύρ[α] καταΰτ[με]να, ποί̣κ̣ι̣λ’ ἀθύρματα,
ἀργύρα̣ τ̣’ ἀνά̣ριθ̣μα ποτήρια κἀλέφαις.’
ὢς εἶπ’· ὀτραλέως δ’ ἀνόρουσε πάτ[η]ρ̣ φίλος·
φάμα δ’ ἦλθε κατὰ πτ̣όλιν εὐρύχο̣ρ̣ο̣ν φίλοις·
αὔτικ’ Ἰλίαδαι σατίναι[ς] ὐπ’ ἐυτρόχοις
ἆγον αἰμιόνοις, ἐ̣π̣[έ]βαινε δὲ παῖς ὄχλος
γυναίκων τ’ ἄμα παρθενίκα[ν] τ . . [ . . ] . σφύρων
χῶρις δ’ αὖ Περάμοιο θυγ[α]τρες[
ἴππ[οις] δ’ ἄνδρες ὔπαγον ὐπ’ ἀρ̣[ματ-
π[ ]ες ἠίθ̣εοι, μεγάλω[ς] τι δ̣[
δ[ ] . ἀνίοχοι φ[ . . . . . ] . [
π̣[ ]ξδα .ο[
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⟨ ⟩
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⟨Probably 6 or 7 verses are missing ⟩
⟨ ⟩
⟨ ⟩
⟨ ⟩
ἴ]κελοι θέοι[ς
] ἄγνον ἀολ[λε-
ὄ̣ρ̣ματ̣α̣ι̣ [ ] νον ἐς Ἴλιο[ν,
αὖλος δ’ ἀδυ[μ]έλης̣ [κίθαρίς]1 τ’ ὀνεμίγνυ[το
καὶ ψ[ό]φο[ς κ]ροτάλ[ων, λιγέ]ως δ’ ἄρα πάρ[θενοι
ἄειδον μέλος ἄγν[ον, ἴκα]νε δ’ ἐς α̣ἴ̣θ̣[ερα
ἄχω θεσπεσία̣ γελ̣[
πάντᾳ δ’ ἦς κὰτ ὄδο[ις
κράτηρες φίαλαί τ’ ὀ[ . . .]υεδε[ . . ] . .εακ[ . ] . [
μύρρα καὶ κασία λίβανός τ’ ὀνεμείχνυτο·
γύναικες δ’ ἐλέλυσδον ὄσαι προγενέστερα[ι,
πάντες δ’ ἄνδρες ἐπήρατον ἴαχον ὄρθιον
Πάον’ ὀνκαλέοντες ἐκάβολον εὐλύραν,
ὔμνην δ’ Ἔκτορα κ’ Ἀνδρομάχαν θεο⟨ε⟩ικέλο[ις.
[From The Digital Sappho]
