Author Topic: Love is to enjoy a lot and later to cry a lot more -> γλυκὺς μὲν Ἔρως, πικρὸν δ' αὐτοῦ καὶ πολυδάκρυτον τὸ βέλος  (Read 485 times)

Ace

  • Semi-Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Trying to translate this into Ancient Greek. I have northern greek roots, and will be burning this on a leather bracer along with the likeness of Anteros. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
« Last Edit: 20 Mar, 2012, 15:43:19 by billberg23 »


Ace

  • Semi-Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Love is to enjoy a lot and later to cry a lot more
« Reply #1 on: 19 Mar, 2012, 10:48:43 »
of course, any variations due to lexicon disagreements would be fine. perhaps much instead of a lot? I heard it from a friend in spanish and this would be the literal translation.

billberg23

  • Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3891
  • Gender: Male
  • Words ail me.
Re: Love is to enjoy a lot and later to cry a lot more
« Reply #2 on: 19 Mar, 2012, 16:58:43 »
The ancient Greeks were all toο familiar with this sentiment.  They liked to sum it up in a single adjective, γλυκύπικρος ("bittersweet"), attributed to the brat-god they called Eros.  So γλυκύπικρος ὁ Ἔρως ("bittersweet is love") is the thought in its briefest form.  If you need more words, however, I could suggest
γλυκὺς μὲν Ἔρως, πικρὸν δ' αὐτοῦ καὶ πολυδάκρυτον τὸ βέλος
— "Sweet is love, but bitter and much-wept is his arrow."  I'd advise waiting a bit to see if someone else has a better suggestion.
 
Τί δέ τις; Τί δ' οὔ τις; Σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος. — Πίνδαρος