Sur lui-même | Tu chantes les guerres Thèbaines ;

possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)

Translation by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894)

Εις εαυτον

Language: Greek (Ελληνικά)

Our translations: ENG

Σὺ μὲν λέγεις τὰ Θήβης,
ὃ δ᾽ αὖ Φρυγῶν ἀυτάς,
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐμὰς ἁλώσεις.
οὐχ ἵππος ὤλεσέν με,
οὐ πεζός, οὐχὶ νῆες,
στρατὸς δὲ καινὸς ἄλλος
ἀπ᾽ ὀμμάτων με βάλλων.

Notes on the authorship, provided by Laura Prichard: Anacreontea (Ἀνακρεόντεια) is the title given to a collection of ancient Greek poems on the topics of Dionysian worship (wine, beauty, love). Although long attributed to Anacreon, they are now considered to be imitations of his style. Cf. Elegy and Iambus, being the remains of all the Greek and Iambic Poets from Callinus to Crates with The Anacreontea, London: William Heinemann, The Loeb Classical Library, numbered p. 1, but actually p. 374 of the complete collection.

Show a transliteration: DIN | ISO 843

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE), "Εις εαυτον", appears in Odes, no. 16?17 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894) , "Sur lui-même" ; composed by Albert Roussel.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Fengrui (Sophia) He) , "To Himself", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-21
Line count: 7
Word count: 30

Sur lui‑même

Language: French (Français) after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

Tu chantes les guerres Thèbaines ; 
un autre, les guerres Phrygiennes ; 
moi, je ne chante que mes défaites.
Je n'ai été vaincu ni par des cavaliers, 
ni par des fantassins, ni par des nefs ; 
mais par une nouvelle armée 
qui lance des flèches par les yeux.

Text Authorship:

by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Sur lui-même" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Albert Roussel (1869 - 1937), "Sur lui-même", op. 31 no. 1 (1926), published 1927, first performed 1927 [medium voice and piano], from Odes Anacreontiques, no. 1, Éd. Durand [ sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-08
Line count: 7
Word count: 45