Το περιβόλι
Δ. Σαββόπουλος

Κάτι αλήθεια συμβαίνει εδώ κάτι μυστικό
κάτι πλούσιο και παράξενο σαν τοπίο του βυθού
Ανθισμένες κερασιές κι απόγευμα ζεστό
και πολύχρωμο χορτάρι, ναι για ν' αποκοιμηθώ

Αμαξάκια κάτασπρα φεύγουν απαλά
και μας φέρνουνε σε σένανε στα μέρη τα παλιά
Στο γαλάζιο θρόνο σου χρυσό μανδύα φοράς
και σε δυο λιοντάρια ήμερα τα πόδια σου ακουμπάς

Τόσα χρόνια πάλευα μόνη στα τυφλά
και ταξίδεψα κι αρρώστησα και πέρασα πολλά
Τώρα όμως πλάϊ σου και πάλι περπατώ
μέσ’ τα χρώματα του κήπου σου και δίπλα στο νερό

Αμαξάκια κάτασπρα φεύγουν απαλά
και μας φέρνουνε σε σένανε στα μέρη τα παλιά
Κοντά μου φωσφορίζοντας σκύβεις και με φιλάς
για την νύχτα με σκεπάζεις, ναι και με παρηγοράς

The Garden
D. Savvopoulos
translated by Johanna-Hypatia Cybeleia

Some truth occurs here, something secret
something rich and strange, like a seabed landscape
Blossoming cherry trees and warm afternoon
and many-colored grass, yes, for going to sleep

White carriages depart softly
and bring us to you in the regions of old
On your azure throne you wear a golden cloak
on two tame lions your feet rest

So many years I struggled alone in blindness
and I journeyed and fell sick and went through much
But now I'm by your side and I walk again
through the colors of your garden, beside the water

White carriages depart softly
and bring us to you in the regions of old
Shimmering near me, you bend down and kiss me
you cover me for the night, yes, and you comfort me

Your result for The Greco-Roman Mythology Test...

Demi-God

Take The Greco-Roman Mythology Test at HelloQuizzy

I'm all about Minoan Crete.

Minoan Crete! Perhaps my favorite historical period--I wish there were more movies about it!

Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Ancient languages! What a great idea! This is the perfect quiz for me. The Minoan language was most likely Indo-European, not Greek, but belonging to the Anatolian subfamily, related to Lycian. I'm glad I got Linear A, even though no one knows what it says (he was probably wrong about the accountants etc., because nobody can read it, my guess is it records recipes). I'm tickled by it because I love the Minoans.

I took the "The Nine Muses" quiz on gURL.com
		My muse is... Polyhymnia Polyhymnia is the patron goddess of sacred poetry. Her name means "She of Many Hymns" and is often depicted with a pensive look upon her face. Polyhymnia is said to bring immortal distinction to writers. Read more... Who is your muse?

Η Πολυμνία
I like her.

If anyone has noticed I've been using a lot of Greek, Arabic, and Italian mixed with English in my journal, well yeah. It all has to do with my Sicilian origin, the three main languages spoken by my ancestors (in historical times, anyway).

When I was about 13 or 14 and felt motivated to learn about my ethnic roots, I read a book with an article about Sicilian history that began with the myth of the primeval Mother Goddess, who was worshiped in the Neolithic culture there, the culture that also left better-known underground Goddess temples in Malta. When the Greeks came along much later and found this old religion in the Mediterranean, they called it chthonic, meaning worship inside the earth. My heart still answers Her call because it beats in this body made of Her earth substance that came from ancestors born from the soil of Sicily, who reproduced and then went back into the soil as it kept growing wheat, grapes, olives, almonds, lemons, sesame to nourish their descendants, and so on... Reading that myth was my first exposure to Neolithic Goddess religion, it resounded in me immediately, and hasn't stopped since. Like in the Gandhi movie, I've traveled so far . . . and all I've done is come back home.

I'm Virgo and ecofeminist, I need the earth element, my religion happens when I touch the soil, take someone's hand, plant a garden, help to heal... Wiliam Carlos Williams said "No ideas but in things." Johanna-Hypatia says no theology but in the warmth of human touch or the cycle of the seasons. I'm done with lofty skygod metaphysics, give me direct heart to heart contact with Mother Earth and Her children, this precious planet and its amazing biosphere. Let me feel your touch on my skin, let your warmth radiate to warm me.

Edit:
"Deeds not creeds."
A UU motto I just learned today while reading Margaret Atwood. I could have said my whole meaning in just 3 words.

Here's another spiral for my SpiralHeart peeps. I drew this in St. Louis in 1980. It was my first finished work that used the spiral/radial mandala which only this year I found out resembles Hunab Ku.



On the back I wrote a verse from the Chaldean Oracles, an ancient Greek book of magic, of Middle Eastern background, that I'd been reading at the time. I think I drew the picture first and then found a verse that seemed to go with it.

24. And thence a Fiery Whirlwind drawing down the brilliance of the flashing flame, penetrating the abysses of the Universe; for from thence downwards do all extend their wondrous rays.

– Proclus in Theologiam Platonis, 171 and 172. T.

Hymn to the Mother of the Gods

Μητερα μοι τε θεων παντων τ' ανθρωπων υμνει,
Μουσα λιγεια, Διος θυγατηρ μεγαλοιο,
η κροταλων τυμπανων τ' ιαχη συν τε βρομος αυλων
ευαδεν ηδε λυκων κλαγγη χαροπων τε λεοντων
ουρεα τ' ηχηεντα και υληεντες εναυλοι.
Και συ μεν ουτω χαιρε θεαι θ' αμα πασαι αοιδη.

Metera moi te theon panton t' anthropon hymnei,
Mousa ligeia, Dios thygater megaloio,
he krotalon tympanon t' iakhe syn te bromos aulon
euaden ede lykon klange kharopon te leonton
ourea t' ekheenta kai hyleentes enauloi.
Kai sy men houto khaire theai th' hama pasai aoide.

Sing to me, clear-toned Muse, daughter of great Zeus, of the Mother of all gods and of all human beings; she takes pleasure in the resounding of castanets and drums and the roar of flutes, the cry of wolves and bright-eyed lions, the echoing mountains and the wooded glens. And hail to you too, and all the goddesses who join in song.

—Homeric Hymns 14

From Greek gynaikeion, it means 'a place of women'. From gynaike 'pertaining to women' (from gyne 'woman'), with the suffix -eion used for making names of places.

Sappho had a place of women...



So come on over and visit my gynaeceum from time to time. Stop in if only to say hi, leave your calling cards, I like people. Stay in touch, folks.

Ποικιλόθρον' αθάνατ' Αφρόδιτα,
παί Δίος δολόπλοκα, λίσσομαί σε·
μή μ' άσαισι μηδ' ονίαισι δάμνα,
πότνια, θύμον,

Poikilothron' athanat' Aphrodita,
pai Dios doloploka, lissomai se;
mē m' asaisi mēd' oniaisi damna,
potnia, thymon,

Immortal Aphrodite on your richly crafted throne,
daughter of Zeus, weaver of snares, I beg you,
do not with sorrows and with pains subdue
my heart, O Lady,

αλλά τυίδ' έλθ', αί ποτα κατέροττα
τάς έμας αύδως αίοισα πήλυι
έκλυες, πατρος δέ δόμον λίποισα
χρύσιον ήλθες

alla tuid' elth', ai pota katerotta
tas emas audōs aioisa pēlui
eklyes, patros de domon lipoisa
khrysion ēlthes

but come to me, if ever at another time as well,
hearing my voice from far away,
you heeded it, and leaving your father's house
of gold, you came,

άρμ' υπασδεύξαισα, κάλω δέ σ' άγον
ώκεε στρούθω προτί γάν μέλαιναν
πύκνα δίννεντε πτέρ' απ' ορράνω αίθερος
διά μέσσω,

arm' ypasdeuxaisa, kalō de s' agon
ōkee strouthō proti gan melainan
pykna dinnente pter' ap' orranō aitheros
dia messō,

yoking your chariot. Graceful sparrows
brought you swiftly over the black earth,
with a thick whirring of wings, from heaven down
through the middle air.

αίψα δ' εξίκοντο· σύ δ' ώ, μάκαιρα,
μειδιάσαισ' αθανάτω προσώπω
ήρε' όττι δηύτε πέπονθα, κώττι
δηύτε κάλημι,

aipsa d' exikonto; sy d' ō, makaira,
meidiasais' athanatō prosōpō
ēre' otti dēyte pepontha, kōtti
dēyte kalēmi,

Suddenly they were here, and you, O Blessed,
with a smile on your immortal face
asked me what was wrong this time, and why
I called you this time,

κώττ' έμοι μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαι
μαινόλα θύμω· 'τίνα δηύτε πείθω
καί σ' άγην ες Fάν φιλοτατα; τίς τ' ώ
Ψάπφ', αδικήει;

kōtt' emoi malista thelō genesthai
mainola thymō; "tina dēyte peithō
kai s' agēn es wan philotata? tis t', ō
Psapph', adikēei?

and what in my maddened heart I wanted most
to happen. "Whom shall I persuade this time
to welcome you in friendship? Who is it,
Sappho, that wrongs you?

καί γάρ φεύγει, ταχέως διώξει,
αι δέ δώρα μή δέκετ', αλλά δώσει,
αι δέ μή φίλει, ταχέως φιλήσει
κωυκ εθέλοισα·

kai gar pheugei, takheōs diōxei,
ai de dōra mē deket', alla dōsei,
ai de mē philei, takheōs philesei
kōyk etheloisa;"

For if she flees now, soon she shall pursue;
if she refuses presents, she shall give them;
if she does not love, soon she shall love
even against her will."

έλθε μοι καί νύν, χαλέπαν δέ λύσον
εκ μερίμναν, όσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαι
θύμος ιμμέρρει, τέλεσον, σύ δ' αύτα
σύμμαχος έσσο.

elthe moi kai nyn, khalepan de lyson
ek merimnan, ossa de moi telessai
thymos immerrei, teleson, sy d' auta
symmakhos esso.

Come to me now as well; release me from
this agony; all that my heart yearns
to be achieved, achieve, and be yourself
my ally in arms.


Translation by Mary Barnard:
Prayer to My Lady of Paphos

Dapple-throned Aphrodite,
eternal daughter of God,
snare-knitter! Don't, I beg you,

cow my heart with grief!
Come, as once when you heard my far-
off cry and, listening, stepped

from your father's house to your
gold car, to yoke the pair whose
beautiful thick-feathered wings

oaring down mid-air from heaven
carried you to light swiftly
on dark earth; then, blissful one,

smiling your immortal smile
you asked, What ailed me now that
made me call you again? What

was it that my distracted
heart most wanted? "Whom has
Persuasion to bring round now

"to your love? Who, Sappho, is
unfair to you? For, let her
run, she will soon run after;

"if she won't accept gifts, she
will one day give them; and if
she won't love you—she soon will

"love, although unwillingly. . . ."
If ever—come now! Relieve
this intolerable pain!

What my heart most hopes will
happen, make happen; you your-
self join forces on my side!

My favorite work of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) is Sappho and Alcaeus.



The composition places all the women in the picture into an oval area taking up the left half of the picture. This intersects another oval which extends across the lower half of the picture, taking in both poets. Sappho, woman and poet, is placed at the intersection of both ovals.


Notice how the girl standing next to Sappho is an Archaic Greek kore statue come to life. The girl lounging in the background is shaded in the same ochre hues as statuary, reinforcing this impression for me. The kore rendered in lifelike tones is standing straight and stiff as an Archaic statue, while the naturalistically languid one is colored like a statue. Go figure. The poetry has put her into a wistful mood as she gazes into the distance; she looks lonely, thinking of her absent lover.

The two women in the upper left corner echo Sappho and her kore in their spatial placement with respect to one another. By repeating a similar composition further back and on another level, the artist sets up a visually rhythmic effect that evokes the meter of the poetry and the strumming of the kithara.

Meanwhile, the kore wears a nice Archaic Greek smile as she pets Sappho. :)

Of the women in the upper level, the one with folded hands caught my attention. At first I thought she looked bored, while her companion is absorbed in the performance. But now I can see how she's quietly looking at the woman next to her. She's watching how the other woman is absorbed in listening to what she loves, and she's imagining how it would feel to have her hands on her, I bet. Maybe she feels desire and that's why she's twisting her hands like that. I like how the artist tells a story with this picture, or rather makes it look like a story is happening and your imagination gets to fill it in. I also like how Sappho in this picture looks exactly like my cousin Antonella in Sicily.

The richness of significant details here is one of the other things I like best about Alma-Tadema. The base of her lectern includes a sculpture of winged Nike presenting the laurel wreath to a victor, suggesting what is about to happen with the real laurel wreath she has ready to award to the best poet of the day.

The violets adorning Sappho's hair allude to lines by Alcaeus:

Ίόπλοκ̓ ’άγνα μελλιχόμειδε Σάπφοι,
θέλω τι Fείπην ’αλλά με κωλύει αίδως.

Pure Sappho of the violet tresses and the gentle smile,
I would fain tell you something, did not shame prevent me.
(tr. by J. M. Edmonds, Lyra Græca)

There is no question in my mind which poem Alcaeus is singing to Sappho in that picture. Look at the expression on her face. Do you think he'll win the laurel crown?