Callimachus: The house beheld a two-fold woe
30 November 2009
At morn we buried Melanippus; as the sun set the maiden Basilo died by
her own hand, as she could not endure to lay her brother on the pyre
and live; and the house beheld a two-fold woe, and all Cyrene bowed her
head, to see the home of happy children made desolate.
--Callimachus and Lycophron CXLII. From The Greek Anthology (1852), George Burges. A 1917 translation is here.
If you have the original Greek, could you send it in?
Thank you to Ande and the Perseus Project for the Greek.
Ἠῶιοι Μελάνιππον ἐθάπτομεν, ἠελίου δέ
δυομένου Βασιλὼ κάτθανε παρθενική
αὐτοχερί: ζώειν γὰρ ἀδελφεὸν ἐν πυρὶ θεῖσα
οὐκ ἔτλη. δίδυμον δ᾽ οἶκος ἐπεῖδε κακόν
5πατρὸς Ἀριστίπποιο, κατήφησεν δὲ Κυρήνη
πᾶσα τὸν εὔτεκνον χῆρον ἰδοῦσα δόμον.
I think you will find the original text at the Perseus Project, here:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0226%3Atext%3Depigrams%3Apoem%3D20
I don't know if the Greek characters will paste into the browser window but here's my attempt:
ιοι Μελ νιππον ἐθ πτομεν, ἠελ ου δ
δυομ νου Βασιλὼ κ τθανε παρθενικ
αὐτοχερ : ζ ειν γὰρ ἀδελφεὸν ἐν πυρὶ θε σα
οὐκ ἔτλη. δ δυμον δ ο κος ἐπε δε κακ ν
πατρὸς ριστ πποιο, κατ φησεν δὲ Κυρ νη
π σα τὸν εὔτεκνον χ ρον ἰδο σα δ μον.
Posted by: Ande | 23 December 2009 at 05:43