When
Peisistratus was in power at Athens between 561 and 527 BC after a coup, the
aristocrats complained about his strict laws, regulations and taxes. Not that
he was a bad ruler; he instituted the Panathenaic Festival and tried to produce
a standard edition of Homer – with a more prominent place for Athens than in
the original, as scholars think that some passages concerning Athens are interpolations.
Aesop
wrote a fable about the discomfort of the aristocrats, warning them that you
know what you have, but you don’t know what you will get. Phaedrus (15 BC – 50 AD),
of whom I have posted a blog before, translated this fable into Latin. But there
is something curious: Aesop lived between 620–564 BC., so he must have written
this fable either as a visionary or have sent it from Hades! As scholars don’t believe
these options, the solution is of course that it is either not a fable by Aesop
or he wrote it for another situation and it was later seen as fitting for the
reign of Peisistratus.
As
fables have a general moral, I wonder what the moral for today is, especially
regarding the upheaval in the Middle-East. Thinking about that, maybe a drama
is more applicable than a fable…
Pheadrus
book 1, fable 2. Metrum iambic senarius X _ X _ X | _ X | _ X _ X _
Ranae regem petierunt.
Athenae
cum florerent aequis legibus,
procax
libertas civitatem miscuit
frenumque
solvit pristinum licentia.
Hic
conspiratis factionum partibus
arcem
tyrannus occupat Pisistratus. 5
Cum
tristem servitutem flerent Attici,
(non
quia crudelis ille, sed quoniam gravis
omnino
insuetis), onus et coepissent queri,
Aesopus
talem tum fabellam rettulit.
Ranae
vagantes liberis paludibus 10
clamore
magno regem petiere a Iove,
qui
dissolutos mores vi compesceret.
Pater
deorum risit atque illis dedit
parvum
tigillum, missum quod subito vadi
motu
sonoque terruit pavidum genus. 15
Hoc
mersum limo cum iaceret diutius,
forte
una tacite profert e stagno caput
et
explorato rege cunctas evocat.
Illae
timore posito certatim adnatant
lignumque
supera turba petulans insilit. 20
Quod
cum inquinassent omni contumelia,
alium
rogantes regem misere ad Iovem,
inutilis
quoniam esset qui fuerat datus.
Tum misit illis hydrum, qui dente aspero
corripere
coepit singulas. Frustra necem 25
fugitant
inertes, vocem praecludit metus.
Furtim
igitur dant Mercurio mandata ad Iovem,
afflictis
ut succurrat. Tunc contra deus:
Quia
noluistis vestrum ferre, inquit, bonum,
Malum
perferte. — Vos quoque, o cives, ait, 30
hoc
sustinete, maius ne veniat malum.
rana:
frog
peto petii
(petivi) petitum; to ask
Athenae:
Greek place names are sometimes in the plural. Actually, they are no plurals at
all, but locatives `at Athens’, the locative had the same ending as the plural,
but as the locative was hardly in use, it was not recognized in place names
anymore.
aequus:
fair
procax -acis:
bold
misceo:
to stir up
frenum:
bridle, restraint
pristinus:
former
licentia
(abl!): license
hic:
as the metre shows with long i, so `here’ and not with Pisistratus.
conspiratis factionum
partibus while the (various) parties of
partisans were conspiring
Arcem:
the Acropolis
fleo:
to lament
Attici:
the Athenians
crudilis:
cruel
gravis:
grave (i.e. servitus gravis est pro insuetis)
omnino:
completely
insuetus:
unaccustomed. Adjectives and participles can be used as nouns in Latin, so: for
people who are unaccustomed)
onus, oneris
(n): burden
coepio coepi coeptum:
to begin
queror questus sum:
to bewail, lament
refero rettuli
(retuli) relatum: to tell
vago
(1): to wander
palus, paludis
(f): swamp
clamor, -oris
(m): shout
petiere
= petierunt
dissolvo solvi solutum:
dissolve
vis
(f): force. The noun is defective and
only a few cases are attested. vi is
abl.
compesco,
pescui: to restrain
rideo risi risum:
to laugh
parvus:
small
tigillum:
a small bar of wood, little beam
mitto misi missum:
to send
missum quod
= quod missum
subito:
immediately
vadum:
shallow water (vadi with pavidum genus)
motus, -us
(m): movement
sonus:
sound, noise
terreo terrui territum:
to frighten
pavidus:
timid
Hoc mersum limo cum
iaceret diutius = Cum hoc etc.
Hoc
with genus
mergo mersi mersum:
to submerge
limus:
mud
iaceo iacui iacitum:
to lie
diutius:
for a long time
forte:
by chanche
tacite
(adv.) silently
profero:
to bring out
stagnum:
swamp
explorato rege
abl. abs.
cunctus:
all together
illae ranae
timore posito:
fear having been laid down
certatim:
in rivalry
adnato
(1): to swim up/to
petulans:
petulant, wanting
lignum:
wood
supera turba:
the crowd being above
insilio insilui:
to jump up/upon
cum quod lignumque inquinassent
omni contumelia: when they had befouled that (quod
lignum) with all kind of insult.
rogo
(1): to ask
misere
(poetic form of 3 pl pf) =
miserunt. The syntax is a bit strained: they sent to Jove asking for another
king. misere has no object, but `a request’
must be understood.
inutilis:
useless
hydrus:
water-serpent (in some later versions it is a stork)
asper:
cruel
corripio –ripui –reptum:
to seize
singulus:
one by one
frustra
(adv.) in vain
nex necis:
violent death
iners, -tis:
sluggish
praecludo –clusi –clusum:
to shut off
metus –us
(m): fear
furtim
(adv.): secretly
Mercurius
is the envoy between men (or frogs) and the gods
afflictis:
again a participle used as a noun.
succuro –curri –cursum (+
dat.): to run to help
contra:
in his turn
ait:
from aio `to say’ a defective verb
with no perfect, but of course within the context a perfect in English.
quia…ferre….perferte (2
sg. imp.): because you don’t want to bear…, endure
sustineo -tinuī –tentus:
to sustain
maius ne
= ne maius (maius: greater)
This
is a link to a poetic translation, for obvious reasons not quite fitting the
original as it is in rhyme:
About
Peisistratus:
No comments:
Post a Comment