‘δᾶϝερ ἐμεῖο κυνὸς κακομηχάνου ὀκρυοέσσης,
ὥς μ᾽ ὄφελ᾽ ἤματι τῷ ὅτε με πρῶτον τέκε μήτηρ
οἴχεσθαι προφέρουσα κακὴ ἀνέμοιο θύελλα
εἰς ὄρος ἢ εἰς κῦμα πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης,
ἔνθά με κῦμ᾽ ἀπόϝερσε πάρος τάδε ϝἔργα γενέσθαι.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τάδε γ᾽ ὧδε θεοὶ κακὰ τεκμήραντο,
ἀνδρὸς ἔπειτ᾽ ὤφελλον ἀμείνονος εἶναι ἄκοιτις,
ὃς ϝᾔδη νέμεσίν τε καὶ αἴσχεα πόλλ᾽ ἀνθρώπων.
τούτῳ δ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἂρ νῦν φρένες ἔμπεδοι οὔτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὀπίσσω
ἔσσονται: τὼ καί μιν ἐπαυρήσεσθαι ὀΐω.
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε νῦν εἴσελθε καὶ ἕζεο τῷδ᾽ ἐπὶ δίφρῳ
δᾶϝερ, ἐπεί σε μάλιστα πόνος φρένας ἀμφιβέβηκεν
εἵνεκ᾽ ἐμεῖο κυνὸς καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἕνεκ᾽ ἄτης,
οἷσιν ἐπὶ Ζεὺς θῆκε κακὸν μόρον, ὡς καὶ ὀπίσσω
ἀνθρώποισι πελώμεθ᾽ ἀϝοίδιμοι ἐσσομένοισι.’ (Iliad VI.344-58)
‘Oh brother mine, of me the bitch-dog, the evil-contriver, a woman abhorrent,
If only on that day when first my mother bore me
There had come and carried me off an evil blast of storm wind
Into a mountain or a wave of the thunderous crashing sea
Where a wave had swept me away before these deeds came to pass.
But since the gods have thus ordained these things—
If only I had been a better man's wife,
A man who was sensible of the indignation and the many revilings of people.
But this man’s mind is not now stable, nor indeed will be
In future; so I suppose he shall reap the fruit of it.
But come now—enter in—and sit upon this chair,
Brother dear, since it is you most of all whose mind is beset with trouble,
Because of me, the bitch, and because of Alexander’s folly—
We upon whom Zeus has placed an evil fate, so that even in the hereafter
Of humanity we be sung about—songs for men yet to be.’
Recording and Lecture © A. P. David 2022
The Wine Bowl of Freedom, Pt. 2 of 3