Anacreon lived in 6th cent B.C. (see info below)
“Melos Erotiko” includes two poems of Anakreon: “Foraditsa” (Little Mare) & “Hymnontas tin” (Praising her)
The poem in Ancient Greek:
Πῶλε Θρηϊκίη, τι δή μοι λοξόν ὅμμασι (ν) βλέπουσα
νηλεῶς φεύγεις, δοκέεις δε μ᾽ ουδέν εἰδέναι σοφόν;
ἴσθι τοι, καλῶς μέν ἄν τοι τον χαλινόν ἐμβάλοιμι,
ἡνίας δ´ἔχων στρέφοιμι (σ) ἀμφί τέρματα δρόμου,
νῦν δέ λειμῶνάς τε βόσκεαι κοῦφά τε σκιρτῶσα παίζεις
δεξιόν γάρ ἱπποπείρην ούκ ἔχεις ἐπεμβάτην.
Lyrics in contemporary Greek and their English translation:
Φοραδίτσα Θρακοπούλα
τι λοξοκοιτάζοντας με
άσπλαχνα με αποφεύγεις
και θαρρείς ότι κανένα
δεν κατέχω μυστικό.
Μάθε τ΄ όμορφα πως ξέρω
να σου βάλω χαλινάρι
και να σε στριφογυρίζω
σφίγγοντας γερά τα γκέμια
απ’ τη μια στην άλλη άκρη
Τώρα όμως στα λειβάδια
βόσκεις και χαριτωμένα
παίζεις αλαφρά πηδώντας
γιατί άξιο δεν έχεις
καβαλάρη ικανό.
Little mare from Thrace,
why, squinting at me
you avoid me mercilessly,
thinking I have no secrets?
Learn that I know
the ways to put a bridle on you
and lunge you around
from one end to the other
by tightening the reins strongly.
But now in the meadows you graze
gracefully and carefree, you playfully hop
since you don’t have
a worthy and capable rider
Please note that we provide above translation of the lyrics (from contemporary Greek to English). You may also visit “links” for sources translating the ancient text to English.
Brief info about the poet and the poem:
Anacreon was born in the Ionian city of Teos around 572 BC. When the city was threatened by the Persians, the inhabitants settled in Abdira. Anacreon, already a well-known poet of monody, was also invited by Polycrates to Samos. After the assassination of the tyrant in 522 BC. he went to Athens. His poetic aura touches the surface, but with a grace of which he was rightly proud: “charienda men gar ado charienda d’ oida lexai”, he enjoys the wine “without insults”, creating the tradition that he died of suffocation as an old man, swallowing a rotten grape.
The poem begins as “Filly from Thrace…” so the song is based on a Thracian traditional rhythm. Thrace is a region of Northern Greece. Thracian traditional dances have characteristic lively rhythms.
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