Lyra Graeca: Specimens of the Greek Lyric Poets
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Donaldson Lyra graeca LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 003 370 254 1 ' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. UXITED STATES OF AMERICA / Upra #rata: SPECIMENS OF THE GREEK LYRIC POETS, prom" CALLESiUS TO SOUTSOS. EDITED, WITH CEITICAL NOTES, AND A BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION, BY / JAMES DONALDSON, M.A., GREEK TUTOR TO THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. EDINBURGH: SUTHERLAND AND KNOX. LONDON: 8IMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO. M.DCCC.LIV. o BALLANTYNE. PRINTER, EDINBURGH. PEEFACE. The purpose of the following work is to give speci- mens of the Lyric Poets of Greece, from the earliest down to the present times. In making the selection of the pieces, I have been guided by various con- siderations. In the case of the more ancient poets, except Pindar, I have given almost all the larger fragments which were intelligible, and which could be read in a school or college without much expla- nation ; but I have made no expurgations, and con- sequently have omitted several pieces, which had something objectionable in them, such as the best of Tyrtseus's warlike addresses. Where there were large materials to select from, I have sometimes chosen a poem because of its beauty ; sometimes because of its historical interest ; sometimes because it is representative of a large class of poems ; and sometimes because it is the best, or most conveni- ent, specimen of the poet which could be obtained. I have not confined myself to any definition of the term lyric. In the present day those poems are called lyric which express the subjective mainly; and as I think people may use any word they like, IV PREFACE. provided they clearly define its meaning, there can be no objection to this definition. Another idea of lyric poetry, which prevails very widely amongst those who have not strictly defined the term, is, that it is that kind of poetry which is set to music. The contents of this work correspond more nearly to such an idea, there being only a few poems in it which were not sung ; but still I do not profess to have kept to any definition, but to have selected from those poets from which I thought most people would have expected selections in such a book. In editing the lyrics of Ancient Greece, I have been indebted principally to Gaisford, Schneidewin, and Bergk. I have sometimes examined older editions; but almost invariably found that all readings of any consequence were contained in the more recent. The Neo-Hellenic poems I have taken from Miiller's edition of Fauriel's Ballads, Firmenich, Kind, and the Neos Uapvaaaos of Chantzeris. Most of the principles which I have followed in editing, it is unnecessary to mention, as they will be seen by a glance at the text. In regard to dialect, however, I have to state that I have followed the manuscripts, even when my opinion was adverse to them, except in a very few insigni- ficant cases. I think it almost impossible now to determine how much of Doric, iEolic, or other dialects ought to be restored to Melic poems. The general statements of Suidas or grammarians afford no help here, as we may see by a modern ; PREFACE. V illustration. Every one has heard it asserted that Burns wrote his poems in the Scottish language yet, if an Ahrens of a far distant future age, find- ing such statements, were to dress up all the poems of Burns in the dialect of that age, he would fall into a great mistake. Or again, if he were to meet with such a sentence as, " Thou minds me o' de- parted joys," were to infer that the second person singular present indicative active in Scottish always ended in s, and amend the corrupt passages accord- ing to this inference, he would make a rare edition of our national bard. Exactly in the same way have editors frequently dealt with Greek poems, introducing stiff unalterable laws, where there was a beautiful diversity, and determining matters which are now indeterminable. One example of restoration, however, the reader will find. I have attempted, with the help of Ahrens, Bergk, several other scholars, and .the grammarians, to give AlcaBus and Sappho in a genuine ^Eolic dress. In reference to the metrical arrangement of the Melic Poets, I have felt great difficulty. As part of the duty of an editor, I have read over very care- fully Gaisford's Hephaestion, Hermann on Metres, Boeckh's celebrated Dissertation DeMetrisPindari, and some ancient remarks on music ; but I confess that, as yet, this region seems to me full of diffi- culties and insoluble problems. Boeckh, I think, has most clearly proved that the lines ought never to end in the middle of a word ; and where I have divided words, it was because the verse would have VI PREFACE. been too long at any rate for one printed line, and so would have in some way to be extended to another. But Boeckh has not distinctly brought out the rhythm, and made it such that it is always pleasing to the ear. I allow that there are many- passages which flow with grace or grandeur ; but there are also many that come harshly and un- harmoniously. Then the application suggested by Boeckh of the Pindaric measures to all the remains of the Melic Poets, is a point which may be very safely doubted. And, moreover, we should have to take into consideration the influence of spoken accents on the musical ones. These no doubt had an influence, as we may infer from the fact of which Quinctilian informs us, that the Ro- mans were fond of introducing Greek names into their verse, because these frequently had the accent on the last syllable. These and many other things might be mentioned, which render this subject perplexing to us. Boeckh too has, in my opinion, been too rigid in demanding exact uniformity in the strophes and antistrophes. Surely, in such a poem, liberties must have been allowed and taken, far greater than those which modern editors per- mit in their editions ; and the MSS. seem to me to bear me out in this supposition.* As to accents, my impression is that it is really unnecessary for us to trouble ourselves with them * The reader will find some excellent remarks on English versifi- cation, in Mr Dallas's Poetics, where, pp. 186, 187, there are a few observations on the division of words and the arrangement of lines in English poetry, which are suggestive of what may have been the practice in Greek. PREFACE. Vll in poetry. If we could read according to them, of course they might be retained with some show of reason ; but in poetry that is impossible. I should make the same assertion of the JEolic accents, which are identical with the Latin ; for even in Virgil the musical is different from the spoken accent, as is demonstrated in Erasmus's celebrated dialogue of The Lion and the Bear, and in Professor Blackie's Rhythmical Declamation of the Ancients. Accents should be retained only where they mark a difference ; and in Melic poetry they might be used to indicate where the Editor thought the musical accent ought to be laid. Even in prose I should be inclined to discard them, unless from elementary books, because, to those who do not pronounce according to them they are useless; and to those who do, they prevent self- dependence, and thus render more difficult the acquisition of an accurate pronunciation. The Notes are principally occupied in defending the changes made in the text, or in proposing new readings or explanations. Perhaps I have been too bold in departing from recent editions ; but un- consciously one gets so fond of his own attempts that he fails to see their weak side. At the same time, I have often restored the reading of MSS. which recent editors have changed; and endeav- oured to bring out what I conceived to be their true sense. In the Biographical Notices, I have been in- debted principally to Bernhardy, and to Colonel Mure and Mr Philip Smith. Colonel Mure's work ; 7111 PREFACE. is masterly; and Philip Smith's articles in Dr Smith's Dictionary, I deem the best on Greek sub- jects in the whole publication. The plan I took was, to read Bernhardy and examine all the sources indicated by him, in the best editions of the works I could get, to form my opinion, and then peruse Mure, Smith, Bode, Miiller, and others. I was at a loss how to condense sufficiently for my purpose and, instead of giving all the different opinions which have been formed on a subject, I have stated the result of my own inquiries, with the principal authorities both for and against me. The student should therefore be warned that throughout the whole of the Biographical Notices, he is not to accept any of my statements because they are in print, nor is he to fancy because he sees an author referred to at the end of a statement, that the author is all on my side ; but he must go to the source, and judge the evidence for himself. What I aim at is, not to make converts to any particular views, but to stir up manly, independent, and fear- less research. In conclusion, I have to return thanks to Pro- fessor Blackie for his valuable assistance, and for allowing me the free use of his collection of modern Greek books; also to Mr Giallias, of Corfu, who has suggested to me some of those translations in which I differ from Kind and other Neo-Hellenic writers.