Ἀλαφροΐσκιωτος - Ἄγγελος Σικελιανός (1909) ModGrk

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Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Ἀλαφροΐσκιωτος - Ἄγγελος Σικελιανός (1909) ModGrk

Post by Stephen Hughes »

In response to a request for further Modern Greek in a PM, here is the essence of a PM conversation that I had with Carl Conrad about my short-lived some-time-ago signature. He was able to help me realise what Koine / Classical Greek students are comfortable with, and what they find unfamiliar. The notes (below) are about a 25:75 mixture of his words and mine, and responsibility for errors in reformulating that dialogue as notes is of course 100% mine.

This is the first section of a rather long poem the Ἀλαφροΐσκιωτος, the full text is visible here.

The basic meaning of this opening stanza is the same claim to have / appeal for inspiration that we read in Homers opening lines ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα,

K᾿ ἦταν ὁ λόγος τοῦ Ὀδυσσέα
στοῦ τραγῳδοῦ τὸ νοῦ,
ποὺ τρίσβαθα
τοῦ ραψῳδοῦ τοῦ ἐμίλει ἡ ἁρμονία
μπρὸς στὸ γιγάντειο πόνο τοῦ Αἴαντα
καὶ τὴν ἱερὴ μανία.
(Ἄγγελος Σικελιανός - Ἀλαφροΐσκιωτος -1909)

Notes:
  • The final nu is often lost from the end of the accusative.
  • Ἀλαφροΐσκιωτος - moonstruck or etymologically "lightly shadowed". The accent indicates that the κι is pronounced as a palatalised "k" /kj/, not /ki/.
  • ἦταν - although you might have thought that ἦταν was plural and ἦτο singular, but the conjugation is irregular and defective. ἦταν serves for both singular and plural.
  • στοῦ - his compounded form ordinarily is σ΄ + acc. (σ΄ = εἰς), and the σ΄ = εἰς actually goes with the τὸ(ν) νοῦ(ν), but it is possible for the genitive that we would expect to go after the accusative to go before it, and that makes it look like it is with the σ'.
  • ποὺ - indeclinable relative pronoun
  • τρίσβαθα - the addition of thrice on the front of words makes them stronger
    τοῦ - genitive for dative (that we are used to), the form is shortened from αὐτῷ. The word-order of putting the pronoun before the verb is normal in Modern Greek.
  • ἐμίλει - a 3d sg. augmented impf. of μιλώ (from ὁμιλέω). The initial short vowels on many words are said to have been lost in the early Byzantine period. The "correct" (katharevousa) form is ὡμίλει. The conjugation for the Demotic form of it is available in Wiki.
  • μπρὸς στὸ = ἔμπροσθεν (but the reference direction has shifted from ἔμπροσθεν's etymological direction).
  • γιγάντειο - adj. gigantic
  • Αἴαντα - acc. of Ajax
I welcome questions about points of the language, but rather than enter into a translation exchange, here is my rough translation of this stanza:

And the speech of Ulysses was
in the mind of the singer
which the deepest depths
of the song-stitcher, harmony spoke to him
confronted with the gigantic pain of Ajax
and the sacred fury.
(Angelos Sikelianos - The lightly shadowed - 1909 @ Salamis)
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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