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Lyrics

by Philodemus of Gadara (circa 1st century BC)
translated from Greek by Joseph S. Salemi

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V.13

Charito is past sixty, and yet still
Her lustrous black hair falls in thick cascades;
Still those ungirdled breasts stand firm and white
As marble cones upon her naked chest;
Still that flawless skin of hers breathes forth
Ambrosial inducements, and ten thousand charms.
Lovers who do not flinch from passion’s flame,
Go to her, and forget about her years.

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Greek Original

V.13

Ἑξήκοντα τελεῖ Χαριτὼ λυκαβαντίδας ὥρας,
ἀλλ’ ἔτι κυανέων σύρμα μένει πλοκάμων,
κἠν στέρνοις ἔτι κεῖνα τὰ λύγδινα κώνια μαστῶν
ἕστηκεν, μίτρης γυμνὰ περιδρομάδος,
καὶ χρὼς ἀρρυτίδωτος ἔτ’ ἀμβροσίην, ἔτι πειθὼ
πᾶσαν, ἔτι στάζει μυριάδας χαρίτων.
ἀλλά πόθους ὀργῶντας ὅσοι μὴ ϕεύγετ’ ἐρασταί,
δεῦρ’ ἴτε, τῆς ἐτέων ληθόμενοι δεκάδος.

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V.46

Hello there, honey.  And hello to you.
What do they call you?  I’ll ask you that too.
Please—no probing questions.  Fine with me.
Got a date yet?  No, I’m fancy-free.
Come on back to my place?  Sure, you bet.
Fine—what will this cost me?  Don’t pay yet.
That’s a new one!  Once we’ve hit the hay,
Pay me what you think I’m worth.  OK!
Where do you live? I’ll call.  Here’s my address.
When can you come and see me?  Take a guess:
Available all hours, night and day.
I want you right now, honey.  Lead the way.

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Greek Original

V.46

Χαῖρε σύ.  καὶ σύ γε χαῖρε.  τί δεῖ σε καλεῖν;  σὲ δέ;  μή πω
τοῦτο φιλόσπουδος.  μηδὲ σύ.  μή τιν’ ἔχεις;
ἀεὶ τὸν φιλέοντα.  θέλεις ἃμα σήμερον ἡμιν
δειπνεῖν;  εἰ σὺ θέλεις.  εὖγε: πόσου παρέσῃ;
μηδέν μοι προδίδου.  τοῦτο ξένον.  ἀλλ’ ὅσον ἄν σοι
κοιμηθέντι δοκῇ, τοῦτο δός.  οὐκ ἀδικεῖς.
ποῦ γίνῃ;  πέμψω.  Καταμάνθανε.  Πηνίκα δ’ ἥξεις;
ἥν σὺ θέλεις ὥρην.  εὐθὺ θέλω.  Πρόαγε.

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Additional Notes on Philodemus

Philodemus of Gadara was a polymathic figure who wrote on dozens of subjects: ethics, rhetoric, politics, music, literature, theology, vices and virtues, and commentary on past and contemporary philosophers. Everything seems to have interested him, and he certainly suffered from what Juvenal called cacoethes scribendi (the maddened impulse to write).

Poetry for an energetic intellectual like Philodemus seems to have been more of a relaxation from serious research, or a temporary amusement. As would be expected of an Epicurean philosopher, his main poetic subjects are the pleasures of eating, drinking, conversation, love-making, and female beauty. Much of it is conventional, just as much Renaissance sonnetry is often predictable and clichéd. There’s nothing wrong with that, since poets have always worked with inherited modes and styles that have proven useful in the hands of their predecessors, and repetition is no bar to excellence.

When I choose a poem for translation, my choice is determined by two things: first, can the poem be put into elegant English idiom without doing severe violence to its meaning; and second, will I be able to maintain the tone and mood of the original, rather than bending those precious things into some cacophonous modernization? But in these two poems, a third issue came to mind. I chose these two poems of Philodemus to translate and place together because they look at sexual desire from two different angles, and reveal something about the poet’s attitudes. Let me explain.

The first poem here, about the older woman Charito, refers to an elderly hetaira who, despite her years, is still sexually voluptuous. Philodemus the Epicurean was not a simple-minded sensualist who looked only for immediate gratification with a youthful female, but someone who knew that pleasure could be found in many places and many objects. A rational, calm and self-possessed Epicurean could satisfy himself in a multiplicity of ways, unlike the hotheaded and lust-driven young man whose bestial needs would drive him blindly. Charito is living proof that sexual desire and allure can be vibrantly alive in a person of any age.

The second poem is markedly different. Like the first piece it is written in elegiac couplets, but the poem is a recorded dialogue between a man and a prostitute meeting in some public area. She is not a high-class courtesan, but a simple streetwalker. This poem was difficult to translate because it had to be cast in the form of a dialogue, and the words of the two speakers sometimes jump the boundaries of a line. My translation is in iambic pentameter rhyming couplets, but it was necessary to add line spaces, italics, and HE and SHE markers, to indicate the conversation.

In this poem we see a strongly aroused man accosting an attractive prostitute who is well aware that she holds the winning hand in this encounter. The man wants her badly. She banters flirtatiously with him for a bit, but it is clear he will do anything to purchase her company, and her rather cavalier attitude about the price is in itself meant to inflame his lust (he will probably shell out quite a lot for her favors). Unlike the first poem, this one serves as an illustration of an unthinking Epicureanism—one without the calmness, the rationality, or the ataraxia that we saw in the speaker of the first poem.

We have no idea if Philodemus intended to pair these pieces, since the Greek Anthology was gathered and put together by the hands of editors that came centuries later. In fact, it is a good bet that each poem was composed separately by the writer, with no other intention except to express his ideas of the moment in lucid Attic Greek. He may have composed these two poems years apart. But like any competent philosopher, Philodemus could see the same subject from different angles. These two pieces suggest that even within a hedonistic philosophy such as Epicureanism, there were higher and lower levels of sophistication.

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Joseph S. Salemi has published five books of poetry, and his poems, translations and scholarly articles have appeared in over one hundred publications world-wide.  He is the editor of the literary magazine TRINACRIA and writes for Expansive Poetry On-line. He teaches in the Department of Humanities at New York University and in the Department of Classical Languages at Hunter College.

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20 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Dr. Salemi, thank you for your impressive commentary that perfectly amplified the times and predilections of Philodemus of Gadara. I always look forward to your teaching points as much as the poems you write or translate. Your translation of the second poem was particularly superb with how you handled the dialogue and made it rhyme.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Thank you, LTC Peterson. It’s always difficult to translate a poem (from any language) when you have the restrictions of English rhyme and meter to deal with. Sometimes it is just a matter of luck that one is able to use rhyme and meter while remaining true to the original meaning of the text.

      Reply
  2. Carey Jobe

    These are excellent and engaging translations. And I say that as one who knows Ancient Greek. Just the right blend–they preserve the meaning and capture the spirit of the originals. And the smooth meter and rhyme is like icing on the cake! The notes were helpful too as I was unfamiliar with Philodemus. There are lots of underappreciated jewels in the Greek Anthology. Thanks, Dr. Salemi, for bringing these two to light!

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Thank you, Carey. I think the word “underappreciated’ is correct when one speaks of Philodemus and his poems. I love their elegance and precision, and am happy if I can bring some of those qualities into my English renderings.

      Reply
  3. Brian Yapko

    Thank you very much, Joe, for these entertaining as well as educational translations of two gently ribald poems. Your decision to pair them together as something of a “compare and contrast” was, I think, a sensitive one. Although I have no Greek, I trust fully in the fidelity to spirit of your translations. And in discussing their spirit, I am struck by the fact that both of these poems are respectful and considerate of the sexual subject matter and, in particular, the female objects of desire. Given the subject matter, they are notable for their respectability — their determined absence of excessive or illicit lust, There’s no orgiastic sensationalizing, no finger-wagging. They are just an honest slice of life.

    The portrait of Charito (V13) is a highly affectionate one which describes a certain sensuality which can come only with experience. Moreover, although it is couched in the language of lust there is a sense that this woman is so special that desire — and respect — is a foregone conclusion. There is nothing smutty or disillusioned or judgmental about this character description.

    Similarly, although the encounter with the prostitute in V46 is far less personal, it also is both knowing (in a kind way) and nonjudgmental. The use of dialogue here is highly entertaining and turns this encounter into something of an improbably charming duet.

    I think, Joe, that the two poems open up a window into an age when sexual matters were frank but not exhibitionist, a normal part of life without dominating it. I don’t believe you intended for these poems as comments on modern society, but I can’t help noticing the difference in attitudes. Sex for Philodemus is worth writing about and enjoying without being either condemned or narcissistically exalted as it tends to be in our own time. In some ways, ancient Epicureanism seems somewhat account to modern Libertarianism.

    Your evocative translations inspired me to do some very cursory research about Philodemus. Two things leapt out at me: 1) his name means “love of the people”; and 2) except for his poetry, much of his work had been lost for almost 2000 years until manuscripts of his prose writings were found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Who knows what other treasures remain to be discovered in the ruins?

    Reply
  4. Paul Freeman

    Great work, Joseph.

    The use of italics in the second poem for the second speaker made it clear who was talking. It read like the type of exchange a prostitute and a regular client might have nowadays, over the phone.

    The first poem reminded me of the fascination the media and reality shows have with so-called ‘cougars’. It seems that sexually active active older women were less stigmatised then than now.

    Thanks for the two contrasting reads, both in content and format.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Thank you, Paul. Yes, sex in those times wasn’t hedged about with endless terrors and legal restrictions and ideological rules and politicized gender obsessions. Prostitution was considered somewhat disgraceful for a woman, but it was still a perfectly legal (and lucrative) profession. If you were a cougar like the emperor’s wife Messalina, you could get away with a lot of wild sex. As I mention below in my reply to Brian Yapko’s post, our problem today is the inescapable hangover of Puritanism.

      Reply
  5. Joseph S. Salemi

    Brian, you always cut right to the heart of the matter! I think it must be your legal training and lawyerly experience.

    You put your finger on a crucial point: sex in the Graeco-Roman world had some taboos and social restrictions, but sex itself was considered something both natural and divine. The gods of sex (Aphrodite and Eros and Priapus) were the guardians of not just carnal pleasure but also infatuation, erotic longing, fecundity, and all the experiences (both enjoyable and troublesome) that persons encounter in their sexual nature. The modern world differs from this because we have long been infected by Puritanism, and the triumph of bourgeois “propriety.” The ghost of Anthony Comstock still haunts us.

    New techniques have been developed for unrolling and reading those charred papyrus rolls that were found in Herculaneum. So far, the texts have been philosophical rather than poetic. But surely whoever put together that huge library of the writings of Philodemus must have had a scroll of the man’s poetry! Maybe we’ll get lucky.

    Reply
  6. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Joe, I love it when I come across translations that intrigue me. My initial response to these poems, after a quick read with no attention to the notes or the comments, was how wonderfully accessible they are. In the first poem, I felt a glorious celebration of age that is not evident in today’s society – it would appear both men and women often become invisible and irrelevant at around 50. The age of Charito seems to add to her “ten thousand charms” which transcend time for those who “do not flinch from passion’s flame.” – your word choice is glorious and made me smile. This poem contrasts beautifully with the second in all its lustful impatience. The second poem has such an immediacy about it and such a modern-day feel, it’s hard to believe the age of the piece. For me, these translations speak of the human condition and how lust transcends time with a message that will irk and elate in equal measure, I am sure.

    I then went on to read the educative notes and comments, which made me appreciate these works even more. Joe, thank you for constantly firing my desire for poetry past and present.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Thank you so much, Susan. I deliberately submitted those poems to Evan because I knew that you enjoyed my previous translations from Philodemus and from Bion.

      I can tell you something about the way elderly persons in America are erased from public consciousness.

      Many years ago I was helping a young female Taiwanese student with a writing assignment. It involved her getting two copies of a popular magazine –one new, and one from forty years earlier. She bought a current copy of The Ladies Home Journal, and managed to find an older copy of the same magazine from 1954.

      She asked me to help her go through both magazines, since she was not totally fluent in English. We spent a long afternoon in the school library, and I explained to her several things in both magazines that she did not understand. She was a highly intelligent student, and picked up things quickly. I pointed out that American culture had changed quite a bit since 1954, so that she might understand the differences that could be seen when comparing the The Ladies Home Journal from 1954 with the same magazine from 1995.

      Her female eye picked up something that I had completely missed. She said this: “In the older journal, there are many photographs of middle-aged and elderly women, some of whom are probably grandmothers. And there are stories concerning them, or directed to them. But in the newer magazine there are no such pictures. All the photographs are of strikingly attractive women under the age of 25. And the articles in the newer journal seem to be only about dating, sex, cosmetics, dieting, celebrity-gossip, and weight loss.”

      This student, from a traditional Chinese culture with deep respect for the elderly, had immediately seen that there was a deliberate erasure of older women from public view, at least in The Ladies Home Journal. I went back and looked through both issues page by page. And I had to admit that the student was absolutely correct. I was discomfited and shocked, because this change had occurred in my own lifetime, and yet I had not noticed it. It took a young foreign student to make me see it.

      Reply
  7. C.B. Anderson

    Dr. Salemi, you not only translated our old friend Phil; you seem to share a brain with him. Old proclivities are not wasted on the old. I’d like to know his thoughts about assessing asses. What has become of our senior citizens?! Why do their minds dwell in places that befit a sixteen-year-old? Just because…. In a sense, we are all Greek.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Kip, I haven’t found any poem by Philodemus dealing with asses or the standard of assessment used in judging them. Every male has his own criteria in that department.

      Many years ago I wrote a poem titled “Rear-Meat Rhoda” that touches on the subject. It was published in Leo Yankevich’s Pennsylvania Review on-line, and I have toyed with the idea of sending it to Evan, simply because it contains a large number of rhymes for the name “Rhoda.” But since the SCP includes a number of straitlaced religionists, I don’t think Evan would accept it.

      Reply
      • C.B. Anderson

        I remember that poem, Joseph, and the photo that came with it. Callipygian assessment is indeed a matter of personal, and even cultural, taste. We can’t define it, but we know it when we see it, something to do with the strong nuclear force.

    • Joseph S. Salemi

      To Kip Anderson: Just do a search for theformalist.org. It will bring you to a link for Leo’s The New Formalist on-line magazine. When you click on that link, it will take you to the journal, and then click my name in the “Authors” column on the left. You’ll find the poem among my stuff that Leo put there.

      Reply
  8. Maria Panayi

    Dear Professor Salemi,
    I really wish that I commented the first time you translated Philodemus but I didn’t. I am not quite sure why but I believe I was so impressed both by your work and all the knowledgeable comments that I felt out of my depth. And as a person of Greek origin that is very difficult to admit. But I give myself some credit for being the only Greek here, at least as far as I know. I would love it if some Greek professor would comment and recognise your work.But until then I thank you for your expertise, knowledge and love of classical Greek. We are blessed by your knowledge and ability.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Dear Ms. Panayi, thank you very much. I am glad you liked the poems. Please do not hesitate to comment on anything at all, at any time. The SCP is open to everyone, and we want to see many comments in the discussion threads.

      As a speaker of modern Greek, you are specially qualified to comment on how the meanings of some Greek words have changed from ancient times to nowadays.

      All my best wishes to you.

      Reply
  9. Mary Jane Myers

    Dear Joseph

    Thank you for these two wonderful translations. Please, sir, we want some more! Keep on translating for us! An aside: It’s so exciting, isn’t it: the discovery of all those carbonized scrolls of Philodemus’s library at Herculaneum,and now all the the new scientific techniques for deciphering them.

    In my too-brief “western tradition” classes as a confused undergraduate, I received the impression that “Hellenistic” philosophers and poets, especially those under Roman rule, were inferior to “pure Classical” Athenians of many centuries prior. Not so! I read a “popular” account last year that dispels any such notion: Charles Freeman’s The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome 150 BC-400 AD.

    Scholars now speculate that Philodemus may have been the tutor of both Vergil and Horace. These two talented men (and “friendly” competitors) experimented with their own Latin language. They and their circle ushered in a “golden age” of Latin poetry. I readily can believe that Philodemus tutored them, based on the stellar quality of these two “epigrams” that you have now have translated with so much finesse.

    Of course Philodemus’s Greek is Greek to me: I have only a vague notion of the theoretical “rules” for these poems. His epigrams are written, as I understand it, in elegaic couplets: dactylic hexameter alternates with dactylic pentameter. Dactylics seem to be unsuitable for English verse (though perhaps some future poetic genius writing in English will up-end that well-established “rule” — I can only pray that this genius will not turn out to be some AI-“creature”!) But I get a sense of how versatile these dactylics must be, as is our own English iambic pentameter. The first poem is lushly evocative and “philosophical” (almost Keats-like, I would say). The second is wildly humorous, and your clever rhymed couplets contribute to the fun. I appreciate also your pairing of the two poems. I read with interest your comments about Philodemus as a sophisticated Epicurean philosopher who understood the complexity of sexual desire.

    Most sincerely

    Mary Jane

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Thank you, Mary Jane, for these very kind words and commentary. If I can manage to do a few more poems by Philodemus, I’ll definitely submit them.

      It’s true that the earlier generations of classicists were overawed by the pre-Hellenistic Greek writers, and tended to discount the work of later writers like Philodemus and his contemporaries. Attitudes have changed — we now see that the Hellenistic and Alexandrian Greek writers were brilliant masters of the language, even in those cases where the writers were not of Greek descent at all. Yes, Philodemus may very well have tutored Horace and Vergil, and his work certainly influenced Catullus and Propertius.

      You are quite correct about the elegiac couplet. One line is in hexameters, and the following line is in pentameters, with the normal substitutions. Dactylic verse is possible in English. but it isn’t our natural choice. It appears in the comic “higgledy-piggledy” poems:

      Higgledly, piggledy,
      Cornelius Vanderbilt
      Tried to discover the cause of his pain —
      Went to his doctor and asked him to diagnose
      But the Doc told him it all was in vain.

      Many years ago I composed a dactylic couplet on the maturation of a butterfly:

      Out of the curtained alembic of chrysalis
      Psyche emerged with her gold-speckled wings.

      It’s not the kind of metrical pattern that you can sustain for a very long space of lines.

      Reply
  10. Adam Sedia

    These are both very apt translations. You remain enviably faithful to the original text — which is especially remarkable with your decision to rhyme the second translation.

    But what’s more, these are engaging. I think both of these stand as models of how classical poetry (particularly love poetry – Catullus, for example) should be translated, with all the informalities and vulgarities of everyday speech. You really make both the voice and the subject come alive, giving us a real sense of the eroticism of the verse and the personality behind it. I thoroughly enjoyed these.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Thank you, Adam. I’m glad my work has pleased you.

      I have translated material from Catullus, Horace, Juvenal, and Martial, but the work of those men is sometimes much more explicit and harsher than that of Philodemus, and the translations might not be acceptable here for those reasons

      Reply

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