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Athenian Epitaphs

Athenian Epitaphs

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell?
Only the sea gulls
in their high, lonely circuits may tell. 
—Michael R. Burch, after Glaucus

Passerby, 
Tell the Spartans we lie
Lifeless at Thermopylae: 
Dead at their word,
Obedient to their command.
Have they heard? 
Do they understand?
—Michael R. Burch, after Simonides

Here I lie with sea-enclosed Cyzicus shrouding my bones.
Faretheewell, O my adoptive land that reared and suckled me;
Once again I take rest at your breast.
—Michael R. Burch, after Erycius

These men earned a crown of imperishable glory,
nor did the maelstrom of death obscure their story.
—Michael R. Burch, after Simonides

Here he lies in state tonight: great is his Monument!
Yet Ares cares not, neither does War relent. 
—Michael R. Burch, after Anacreon

They observed our fearful fetters,
marched to confront the surrounding darkness;
now we extol their excellence.
Bravely, they died for us.
—Michael R. Burch, after Mnasalcas

Be ashamed, O mountains and seas,
that these valorous men lack breath.
Assume, like pale chattels, an ashen silence at death.
—Michael R. Burch, after Parmenio 

Stripped of her stripling, if asked, she’d confess:
“I am now less than nothingness.”
—Michael R. Burch, after Diotimus

Blame not the gale, nor the inhospitable sea-gulf, nor friends’ tardiness,
mariner! Just man’s foolhardiness.
—Michael R. Burch, after Leonidas of Tarentum

Stranger, flee!
But may Fortune grant you all the prosperity
she denied me. 
—Michael R. Burch, after Leonidas of Tarentum

I am loyal to you, master, even in the grave:
just as you now are death’s slave.
—Michael R. Burch, after Dioscorides

We left the thunderous Aegean
to sleep peacefully here on the plains of Ecbatan.
Farewell, renowned Eretria, our homeland!
Farewell, Athens, Euboea's neighbor!
Farewell, dear Sea!
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

This poet was pleasing to foreigners
and even more delightful to his countrymen:
Pindar, beloved of the melodious Muses.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Some say the Muses are nine.
Foolish critics, count again!
Sappho of Lesbos makes ten.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Even as you once shone, the Star of Morning, above our heads,
even so you now shine, the Star of Evening, eclipsing the dead.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Having never earned a penny
nor seen a bridal gown address the floor, 
still I lie here with the love of many, 
to be the love of yet one more.
—Michael R. Burch, after an unknown poet

Little I knew—a child of five—
of what it means to be alive
and all life's little thrills; 
but little also—I was glad not to know—
of life's great ills.
—Michael R. Burch, after Lucian

I lie by stark Icarian rocks
and only speak when the sea talks.
Please tell my dear father I gave up the ghost
on the Aegean coast.
—Michael R. Burch, after Theatetus

Everywhere the sea is the sea, the dead are the dead. 
What difference to me—where I rest my head? 
The sea knows I'm buried.
—Michael R. Burch, after Antipater of Sidon

Pity this boy who was beautiful, but died.
Pity his monument, overlooking this hillside.
Pity the world that bore him, then foolishly survived. 
—Michael R. Burch, after an unknown Greek poet

Insatiable Death! I was only a child! 
Why did you snatch me away, in my infancy, 
from those who would love me? 
—Michael R. Burch, after an unknown Greek poet

Tell Nicagoras that Strymonias
at the setting of the Kids
lost his.
—Michael R. Burch, after Nicaenetus

Aeschylus, graybeard, son of Euphorion, 
died far away in wheat-bearing Gela; 
still, the groves of Marathon may murmur of his valor
and the black-haired Mede, with his mournful clarion.
—Michael R. Burch, after Aeschylus

Not Rocky Trachis,
nor the thirsty herbage of Dryophis, 
nor this albescent stone 
with its dark blue lettering shielding your white bones, 
nor the wild Icarian sea dashing against the steep shingles
of Doliche and Dracanon, 
nor the empty earth, 
nor anything essential of me since birth, 
nor anything now mingles 
here with the perplexing absence of you, 
with what death forces us to abandon...
—Michael R. Burch, after Euphorion

Though they were steadfast among spears, dark Fate destroyed them
as they defended their native land, rich in sheep; 
now Ossa's dust seems all the more woeful, where they now sleep. 
—Michael R. Burch, after Aeschylus

Sail on, mariner, 
for when we were perishing, 
greater ships sailed on.
—Michael R. Burch, after Theodorides

All this vast sea is his Monument.
Where does he lie—whether heaven, or hell? 
Well friend, perhaps when the gulls repent—
they may tell. 
—Michael R. Burch, after Glaucus

His white bones lie shining on some inhospitable shore: 
a son lost to his father, his tomb empty; the poor-
est beggars have happier mothers! 
—Michael R. Burch, after Damegtus

Once sweetest of the workfellows, 
shy teller of tall tales
—fleet Crethis! —who excelled
at every childhood game...
now you sleep among long shadows 
where everyone's the same...
—Michael R. Burch, after Callimachus

The Seikilos Epitaph
by Seikilos of Euterpes
translation by Michael R. Burch

Shine, while you live; 
blaze beyond grief, 
for life is brief 
and time is a thief. 

This is the oldest surviving complete musical composition with musical notation.



Elegy for a little girl, lost
by Michael R. Burch

for my mother, Christine Ena Burch

...qui laetificat juventutem meam...
She was the joy of my youth,
and now she is gone.
...requiescat in pace...
May she rest in peace.
...amen...
Amen.



I was touched by this Latin prayer, which I discovered in a novel I read around age 16 or 17. 

Greek epitaphs were originally inscriptions on ancient Greek steles (tombstones and other monuments). Tags: epigrams, epitaphs, elegy, elegies, Ancient Greek, Aegean, Plato, Sappho, Lesbos, Pindar, Athens, Sparta, Spartans, mariner, sea, death, grave

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