Anacreontea 35-38

Anacreontea 35. Eros and the Bee. 

Eros is stung by a bee and runs to his mother Aphrodite, who tells him that his own stings hurt others much more.


Anacreontea 36. If Gold Could Buy Life. 

If Ploutos sold life for gold, I would keep it safe; but since I am fated to die, what good is gold? Instead may I drink, hang out, and make love.


Anacreontea 37. Racing in my Dreams

At night I seemed to race with maidens, while tender boys mocked me. I wanted to kiss them, but they all ran out of my sleep; and bereft I want to sleep again.


Anacreontea 38. Let Us Drink Wine and Sing Out Bacchus.

Let's drink wine and sing out Bacchus, through whom drunkenness and grace were born and through whom pain and grief end. Let's abandon our cares and dance and play.


1) Eros' speech is 35 is pretty fun:

῾ὄλωλα κἀποθνήσκω·
ὄφις μ᾿ ἔτυψε μικρὸς
πτερωτός, ὃν καλοῦσιν
μέλιτταν οἱ γεωργοί.’

At first it seems childish that he doesn't recognize a bee ("a small winged snake"), but then he does know that farmers call it a melitta. So why doesn't he use the term? Is it too colloquial for the gods? 

2) the dream poem is confusing in a lot of its details. Why is the male narrator racing with maidens? Why are the soft boys mocking the narrator? And why are they mocking him on account of those beautiful women (διὰ τὰς καλὰς ἐκείνας, a weird phrase)? I suppose the confusion is maybe somewhat dream-like. 

3) Running a race in a dream reminds me of the simile at Il. 22.199-201:

ὡς δ᾿ ἐν ὀνείρῳ οὐ δύναται φεύγοντα διώκειν·
οὔτ᾿ ἄρ᾿ ὁ τὸν δύναται ὑποφεύγειν οὔθ᾿ ὁ διώκειν·
ὣς ὁ τὸν οὐ δύνατο μάρψαι ποσίν, οὐδ᾿ ὃς ἀλύξαι.

Apparently Aristarchus disliked these lines (in the Iliad) and athetized them (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110695823-009/html?lang=en): "inferior in their form and thought"

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