Hello everyone! Hope things are fine with you. :)
Recently a friend wrote me, asking if I could translate the Serenity Prayer (the short version) into Ancient Greek. I tried at first, but thought it didn't look good (I'm being optimistic - it was a disaster), so I decided to come here and ask if anyone would like to give it a shot! I know, it may sound somehow "fake", but don't worry - she says it's no problem. I guess she just wants to post it on her wall or something.
The Prayer goes as follows:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
If you could translate that into modern Greek, I'd be thankful too, actually. Though that one would be for myself. :-) I made an attempt, on my own, and perhaps you could just correct it? Though you can start from scratch, I don't wanna influence anyone in a bad way. :-p
Here it goes:
Είθε ο Θεός να μου παρέχει την γαλήνη να αποδέχομαι όσα που δεν μπορώ να αλλάξω,
την ανδρεία να αλλάξω όσα που μπορό,
και την σοφία να μάθω την διαφορά.
A few comments:
1. "Είθε ο Θεός" would be "may God" (grant me...), which is not what it says in the original version. Didn't find another way to make it look as high and neat as in the English version.
2. I decided to use "αποδέχομαι" instead of "δέχομαι". I think my choice of words was good, but better to ask!
3. Also, I used "ανδρεία" instead of (for example) "θάρρος" or "ευψυχία". I suppose it was a good choice, too? I generally think of "andreia" as the courage that pulls you forward amidst misfortune, suffering or challenge (as in war, for example). But maybe that's too Ancient, and it's different in Modern Greek?
4. Should I say really "να μάθω" or "να ξέρω"? In this particular context, what's the difference between these two terms?
Last but not least: I browsed a little on the net, looking for the origin of the Serenity Prayer, and even
Wikipedia grants its authorship to the American professor Reinhold Niebuhr (1926 or 1932). However, I vaguely recall reading somewhere that Epictetus had already said, if not the exactly same, something extremely similar to that Prayer. Does anyone know anything about this? I always thought it came from Ancient Greece, not from Modern America. :)
Hugs all!
PS: Almost forgot! Should I have created separate topics for this? (One for Ancient Greek and one for Modern Greek)? If so, I apologize. I actually came here only to ask for an Ancient Greek translation and, on the spur of the moment, I decided to ask about a possible Modern Greek version for it too. And I tried doing it myself, all very spontaneously. Just thought it might save time to have them both in one place, instead of spread across two sections of the same forum.