1

Sappho: Fragment 58
William S. Annis
Aoidoi.org
1
July 2005
The Greek text is by M.L West, from the Times Literary Supplement. No.
5334, June 24 2005.
This text is a little more complex than usual Aoidoi.org commented texts: I
have left the text-critical notations in place. Normally I replace adscript with
subscript iota, but in this text the subscript is liable to be interpreted as an underdot
signalling an unclear reading. So I have left l.10 rwi (rJ) and l.12 crnwi
(crnJ). Note also that in the rst four lines the text to the left of the ] sign is
conjecture by West.
The meter is couplets of hag
2c
:

which, according to the Appendix on Metres of Pages Sappho and Alcaeus, puts
it in the fourth book of the Alexandrian edition of Sapphos poems.
mmej ped Mosan ]o
.
k[]l
.
pwn kla dra, padej,
spoudsdete ka t]n
.
filoidon ligran celnnan:
moi d palon prn] p
.
ot []o
.
nta cra graj dh
pllabe, lekai d g]nonto trcej k melanan:
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1
= i you pl. = with and after; with acc. also in the sense of in search,
pursuit of. = , gen.pl of , Muse. | with violet (some ower)
belt/clothing. good, noble; beautiful; neut.acc.pl. gift. ,
o,{ child; boy, girl; vocative.
2
= be hasty, busy, zealous; pursue earnestly; take this as an imperative,
not a simple present. = . fond of singing. clear, sharp,
clear-toned. = { tortoise; tortoise-shell, lyre.
3
c dat. of interest; probably best translated as possessive, my. soft, delicate.
formerly; before. = once c masc.acc.sg pres.part. of | be. ,
, , , o body; complexion. my once (formerly) delicate body old
age. now; already.
4
c = c- aor. c- seize, take, attack (among other things, used to
describe afiction by a disease). white; shining. c
become. { hair. c out of, away from. black, dark.
2
bruj d m [q]moj
.
pephtai, gna d [o] froisi, 5
t d pota layhr on rchsq sa nebroisi.
t <mn> stenacsdw qamwj: ll t ken poehn;
graon nqrwpon ont o dnaton gnesqai.
ka gr p
.
[o]t
.
a
.
Tqwnon fanto brodpacun Awn
rwi f
. ..
a
.
q
.
e
.
isan bmen ej scata gj froisa[n, 10
onta
.
[k]
.
l
.
o
.
n ka non, ll aton mwj marye
crnwi p
.

.
l
.
i
.
o
.
n
.
graj, c[o]n
.
t
.
qantan koitin.
5
i heavy; hard to bear, grievous. = , dat. of interest. c = o.
o spirit, soul, heart, mind. = , mid.pf. do, make; middle with adj.
complement become; my spirit has become heavy. knee; is Aeolic
nom./acc.pl. = .
6
take as a relative pronoun, antecedent l.5 . = once; sometimes.
swift, quick. c = , 3.sg.ipf. were (sg. verb with neut.pl. noun). c
to dance; pres.inf., complement to , were quick to dance. l equal
(to), (even) as + dat.; fawn; I assume diminutive of o, though I can nd this in
no dictionary available to me. West translates it fawn.
7
these (things). = groan, sigh; lament. often. =
modal particle . = , 1.sg.pres.opt of ; but what can (should) I do?
8
ageless, undecaying. c masc.acc.sg pres.part. of | be; agreeing with
. ( strong, able; + inf. possible. aor.inf. = become.
Prose order: o (o c . Remember the subject of inf.
is acc.
9
= once. o Tithonus, human Husband of Dawn. c 3.pl.ipf.
say, here they say as for a story. = fem.acc.sg. rosy-armed.
Aeol. acc. of ` { Dawn.
10
c o love, desire; dat. of means or cause.
. ..

.
- not enough of this word is clear
to be sure what it is. Drawing on myth: Dawn, somethinged by love, goes... go, come;
Aeol. aor.inf. Based on Hom. I would not expect -, but cf. from
. c furthest, utmost; last. = gen.sg. { earth. | c
to the ends of the earth. acc.fem.sg. pres.part. .
11
c masc.acc.sg pres.part. of | be; agreeing with ; take this participle temporally
when/while he was... young, youthful. = the same; nonetheless, still.
c seize, hold, reach.
12
o time; dat., , at last, in time. ( grey, grizzled; grey-haired.
old age. c have, c masc.acc.sg. pres.part. agreeing with .
( (initial ) immortal, deathless. { wife.