Unrequited love
Hail, dread Hecate, daughter of the Titans,?You who rise from the entrails of the earth,?Companion of spell-bound witches?In their cunning works.?Make my charms all-powerful,?Like those of Circe,?So they may swiftly enchant sweet-tongued Rhodian,?Before the chariot of the sun ascends.
To you, all-wise goddess,?I will unfold my pain:?How Eros’ arrow pierced me?Within the house of Lamachus.?At the Pannychia we were invited guests,?Adorned in simple chitons?And radiant jewels, well-matched,?To dazzle the crowd.
When I appeared at the festive revel,?I beheld Sostratos with a cup in hand;?A wreath of myrtle crowned his head,?A mantle cloaked his massive frame.?I saw him and went mad — my heart ignited;?My face grew pale, my beauty faded.?I sensed nothing of that banquet then,?Nor know, wretched one, how I returned home that night.
Long did I lie upon my bed,?Sick with desire,?With ashen gaze and clinging skin,?Brooding on the god-like sailor.?Yet fate smiled broadly upon me,?And my handmaid whispered softly:?That one was seeking the courtesan?He had madly desired at the feast.
His god-burdened steps resounded;?He stood upon my threshold,?And with honeyed words he bewitched me,?Pouring himself into my ocean-wide embrace.?Many nights he kept vigil on my couch,?Lying left and right beside me,?Bringing precious gifts,?Entangling my mind with such words:
“Honor me and heed my call.?Leave this rugged land,?Which offers you nothing,?And board my swift caique,?Sailing to blooming Rhodes.?Become the wife of a noble, mighty house;?You shall be lady of my land,?Where days overflow with pleasures?Fit only for the gods.”
I believed him — hapless, without hesitation.?The future gazed at me with longing;?In dreams I danced within this utopia,?Which lavished all upon me generously.
Until my slave approached me in fear?And spoke these choking words:?“My lady, beautiful and fate-wronged,?I saw Sostratos at the harbor,?As I wandered there.?A wreath of myrtle crowned his head,?And with joyful step he sang of his wedding —?To one of a wealthy house.”
When I learned this,?Crimson flames ignited in my heart;?With sighs and burning tears?I began to curse the house of Sostratos.?To you alone I now pray,?Offering these rich sacrifices:?Make him forget his bride,?As Theseus forgot Ariadne, the goddess.
But when her prayer did not become living dream,?And her heart was ruled by dreadful desire,?She ended her youth without hesitation?And met death from a rocky cliff.
Hail, dread Hecate, daughter of the Titans,?You who rise from the entrails of the earth,?Companion of spell-bound witches?In their cunning works.?Make my charms all-powerful,?Like those of Circe,?So they may swiftly enchant sweet-tongued Rhodian,?Before the chariot of the sun ascends.
To you, all-wise goddess,?I will unfold my pain:?How Eros’ arrow pierced me?Within the house of Lamachus.?At the Pannychia we were invited guests,?Adorned in simple chitons?And radiant jewels, well-matched,?To dazzle the crowd.
When I appeared at the festive revel,?I beheld Sostratos with a cup in hand;?A wreath of myrtle crowned his head,?A mantle cloaked his massive frame.?I saw him and went mad — my heart ignited;?My face grew pale, my beauty faded.?I sensed nothing of that banquet then,?Nor know, wretched one, how I returned home that night.
Long did I lie upon my bed,?Sick with desire,?With ashen gaze and clinging skin,?Brooding on the god-like sailor.?Yet fate smiled broadly upon me,?And my handmaid whispered softly:?That one was seeking the courtesan?He had madly desired at the feast.
His god-burdened steps resounded;?He stood upon my threshold,?And with honeyed words he bewitched me,?Pouring himself into my ocean-wide embrace.?Many nights he kept vigil on my couch,?Lying left and right beside me,?Bringing precious gifts,?Entangling my mind with such words:
“Honor me and heed my call.?Leave this rugged land,?Which offers you nothing,?And board my swift caique,?Sailing to blooming Rhodes.?Become the wife of a noble, mighty house;?You shall be lady of my land,?Where days overflow with pleasures?Fit only for the gods.”
I believed him — hapless, without hesitation.?The future gazed at me with longing;?In dreams I danced within this utopia,?Which lavished all upon me generously.
Until my slave approached me in fear?And spoke these choking words:?“My lady, beautiful and fate-wronged,?I saw Sostratos at the harbor,?As I wandered there.?A wreath of myrtle crowned his head,?And with joyful step he sang of his wedding —?To one of a wealthy house.”
When I learned this,?Crimson flames ignited in my heart;?With sighs and burning tears?I began to curse the house of Sostratos.?To you alone I now pray,?Offering these rich sacrifices:?Make him forget his bride,?As Theseus forgot Ariadne, the goddess.
But when her prayer did not become living dream,?And her heart was ruled by dreadful desire,?She ended her youth without hesitation?And met death from a rocky cliff.
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