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All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain a link back to DOI: http://doi.org/10.6092/UNIBO/IGCYRGVCYR and the filename (IGCyr000000 or GVCyr000), as well as the year of consultation.
First copied by J.-R. Pacho in 1825 at
Copied by J.-R. Pacho in 1825 in
Neither seen by GVCyr team nor by J.M. Reynolds for IRCyr; seems to be lost.
Marked-up according to the EpiDoc Guidelines version 8
σοῦσα
σοῦσα
La Fortune a mis pour toi un espace bref
entre la vie et la mort et entre le tombeau et la chambre nuptiale, Kapitôn,
elle a mis une seule nuit, mensongère et impitoyable, une nuit sans flûtes,
une nuit pour toi privée de voiles nuptiaux, une nuit dépourvue de festin ;
hélas, ta cendre tombant sur tes vêtements, sur tes couronnes
non encore parfumées, sur tes livres, mort que tu es avant l'heure !
Ah, Hyménée célébré par des thrènes ! Ah, les flambeaux
qui t'ont escorté vers cette couche ultime et vide !
Fortune set for you a short space
between life and death and between the tomb and the bridal-room, Kapiton,
she set one night, deceptive and pitiless, a night without flutes,
a night deprived for you of wedding curtains, a night lacking banquet;
alas, your ashes falling down onto your dress, onto your wreaths
not yet flavoured, onto your books, you dead before your time!
Ah Hymenaos celebrated with laments! Ah torches
leading you to this ultimate and empty couch!
La Sorte ha posto per te un intervallo breve
tra la vita e la morte, tra la tomba, Kapiton, e la stanza nuziale,
una sola notte, menzognera e impietosa, senza flauti,
lontana per te dalle cortine del talamo, senza banchetto;
ahimé cadono sulle tue vesti, sulle tue corone
non ancora profumate, sui tuoi libri le ceneri, tu morto anzitempo!
Oh Imeneo celebrato con lamenti! Oh, torce
che ti hanno scortato verso questo letto, estremo e vuoto!
In Pacho's volume of plates, the copy of this inscription, along with IGCyr006800, is given as from Cyrene.
In the volume of text, Letronne's notes also give Cyrene as provenance, whereas the same
The beginning of line 1 was restored in various ways, implying no gap or a gap of only one letter. We follow here a restoration suggested by Chamoux
(doctoral seminar 1980): as the copy shows a lacuna of two characters, the most plausible restoration leads to a date expressed through the
siglum for 'year' followed by a number consisting of three characters, of which the first was lost: if it was a
Kapiton died one day before his wedding; the poem thus highlights all the details of a wedding celebration transformed into a mourning celebration.
The poet proves to be a good artist, playing with variety inside repetition and using sometimes rare words: although clear in meaning and formation,
the feminine
Metrical analysis: after two lines mentioning the deceased, four regular elegiac couplets.