ὃ Ψυχη̃ς πέρι ... Βιβλίδιον λάβε

[Ross Caldwell]

Thanks in advance for any help.

Can someone explain how Ψυχη̃ς πέρι works syntactically in lines 4-5? It appears to be the title of the work for which Francesco Filelfo composed this dedication, but it seems to be grammatically unconnected to the main sentence, just an independent title, as we would write with italics or with quotation marks to distinguish it. Is my translation below therefore correct?

Other corrections and amplifications welcome too, of course! I apologize for the formatting (especially lines 5 and 6), I can't figure out how to change it. I have attached an image of the original page for clarity.


From Emile Legrand, Cent-dix lettres grecques de François Filelfe, Paris, 1892, p. 49.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5439025d/f6.planchecontact

ΦΡ. Ο ΦΙΛΕΛΦΟΣ ΓΕΩΡΓΙῼ Τῼ ΓΕΜΙΣΤῼ

Κοίρανε δι̃ε σοφῶν, ἀρετῆς ἔμψυχον ἄγαλμα,
ὃς λάμπεις πινυτῇ Δαναοῖς ἐν ἄπασι μαθήσει,
ὡς ἡ νυκτιπλανὴς ἄστροις εν ἐλαττοσι μήνη,
ὃ Ψυχη̃ς πέρι Φρανκίσκος μετέγραψε Φιλέλφος,
Βιβλίδιον λάβε. Λιτότατον, νὴ τὸν Δία, δῶρον ·
Κούδὲν θαῦμα, πάτερ · τὰ τύχης γὰρ πτωχὸς ὑπάρχω.

αύγούστου 16, ἔτ. 1439

FRANCESCO FILELFO TO GEORGE GEMISTOS

O Master, wise divine, living honor of virtue,
Which you radiate from understanding in all learning to the Greeks,
Like the Moon in diminishing the stars coursing at night;
Take this little book On the Soul
which Francesco Filelfo has copied. A simple gift, by Zeus,
Not a wonder, father; for I begin these things a beggar of fate.

August 16, year 1439

Legrand thinks Filelfo may have written this at the head of a copy he personally made of Aristotle’s Treatise on the Soul, which seems likely given the allusion to the title of that work, ΠερὶΨυχῆς, in the fourth line.

 

[Ceretanus]

I'm not sure about the translation of τὰ τύχης γὰρ πτωχὸς ὑπάρχω.
Maybe : "for I am a beggar regarding to the things of the fate"

 

[Bitmap]

Thanks in advance for any help.

Can someone explain how Ψυχη̃ς πέρι works syntactically in lines 4-5? It appears to be the title of the work for which Francesco Filelfo composed this dedication, but it seems to be grammatically unconnected to the main sentence, just an independent title, as we would write with italics or with quotation marks to distinguish it.

I'm not exactly sure what your problem is
πέρι is a preposition that governs the genitive, so it governs Ψυχη̃ς, which is a genitive ... the preposition comes after the word it governs here, which is a bit unusual, but I think this is due to the fact that these are hexametres; and in poetry, you take a few more liberties to fulfil the metre. I suppose πέρι Ψυχη̃ς was just dragged into the relative clause (I don't even think that's only a poetic liberty, but something you can regularly do)

The more natural word order would probably be
τόν πέρι Ψυχη̃ς Βιβλίδιον λάβε, ὃ Φρανκίσκος Φιλέλφος μετέγραψε

"Take the little book about the soul, which Francesco Filelfo copied"

In Latin it would be (for "little book", I take opus because it is neuter as well)
hoc de anima opus (or more Latinish hoc opus de anima scriptum) sume, quod Franciscus Filelfus transcripsit

I hope that answers your question somehow ...

 

[Glabrigausapes]

Can someone explain how Ψυχη̃ς πέρι works syntactically in lines 4-5?

While I think Bitmap answered your question splendidly, it's probably worth mentioning that the irregular position of the accent on περί (usually accented finally, or 'oxytonal') is called anastrophe.

 

[Ross Caldwell]

While I think Bitmap answered your question splendidly, it's probably worth mentioning that the irregular position of the accent on περί (usually accented finally, or 'oxytonal') is called anastrophe.

Thank you very much. I didn't recall the rules of anastrophe, or know that περί is the only preposition that can follow its case in prose.

 

[Ross Caldwell]

I'm not exactly sure what your problem is
πέρι is a preposition that governs the genitive, so it governs Ψυχη̃ς, which is a genitive ... the preposition comes after the word it governs here, which is a bit unusual, but I think this is due to the fact that these are hexametres; and in poetry, you take a few more liberties to fulfil the metre. I suppose πέρι Ψυχη̃ς was just dragged into the relative clause (I don't even think that's only a poetic liberty, but something you can regularly do)

The more natural word order would probably be
τόν πέρι Ψυχη̃ς Βιβλίδιον λάβε, ὃ Φρανκίσκος Φιλέλφος μετέγραψε

"Take the little book about the soul, which Francesco Filelfo copied"

In Latin it would be (for "little book", I take opus because it is neuter as well)
hoc de anima opus (or more Latinish hoc opus de anima scriptum) sume, quod Franciscus Filelfus transcripsit

I hope that answers your question somehow ...

Thank you. Yes, your detailed response has helped - and thank you for the Latin translation! Maybe Filelfo composed it first in Latin in his head.

You have added the article in your natural word order example; is it suppressed in Filelfo on account of the meter?

I realize that πέρι take the genitive, but my question was also suggested by Ψυχη̃ς being capitalized, which leads to Legrand's explanation that it is to the title of Aristotle's Περὶ Ψυχῆς that Filelfo is referring. I don't have the manuscript to compare, but I suppose that it was the capitalization of the word which suggested this explanation to him.

The question is important to me because I have used Filelfo's poem as the basis for my own dedication of a work to my friend, and the title of the work is an undeclinable hapax, Κόγξ ὄμπαξ, from Hesychius' lexicon. So I want to insert the title of this work in place of πέρι Ψυχη̃ς.

So I wondered how I would place this title as such in my adaptation, or if it needed an article or preposition (apologies again for the accents in the two final lines; it's fine in my Word document). I have "translated" the meaning of his first name in the first line.

ῬΟΣΣΟΣ Ο ΚΑΛΔΟΥΕΛΛΟΣ ΓΟΥΛΙΕΛΜῼ Τῼ ΠΕΤΡΙΔῼ

Φίλε, κράνος θελήματος, συνέσεως ἔμψυχον ἄγαλμα,
ὅς λάμπεις πινυτῇ Μυσταῖς ἐν ἅπασι μαθήσει,
ὡς ἡ νυκτιπλανὴς ἄστροις ἐν ἐλάττοσι μήνη,
ὅ Κόγξ ὄμπαξ Ρόσσος συνέγραψε Κάλδουελλος,
Βιβλίδιον λάβε. Λιτότατον, νὴ τὴν Νύκτα, δω̃ρον·
Κούδὲνθαυ̃μα, ἀδέλφε· τὰ τύχης γὰρπτωχὸς ̀υπάρχω.

 

[Ross Caldwell]

I'm not sure about the translation of τὰ τύχης γὰρ πτωχὸς ὑπάρχω.
Maybe : "for I am a beggar regarding to the things of the fate"

I am taking ὑπάρχω to mean "I begin", but I'm willing to listen to arguments for other interpretations.

 

[Glabrigausapes]

There are some minor issues with your translation of the original. I'll give it a go myself:

O divine master of wise (men), living adornment of excellence,
(thou) who shinest among all Greeks with (thy) shrewd learning
even as the night-roving moon (shines) among the lesser stars.
Take thou this little book on the Soul, which Francisco Filelfo transcribed,
A most meager gift, by Jove.
And that (i.e. the book's meagerness) is no wonder: (for) I undertake these things a beggar of fortune.

Now, so long as you don't mind breaking the meter, your version is mostly fine. Only μύστης is accented thus, so you want Μύσταις. Also, voc. of ἀδελφός is on first syllable, so you want ἄδελφε. Lastly, without the περί, it would translate something like:

*Take this little book, the Koux ompax which R. transcribed.

*Incidentally, although λάβε is attested, regularly the imperative sg. of a strong aorist is oxytonal: λαβέ. But the author of the original quite obviously knew what he was about.

 

[Ross Caldwell]

Thank you very much for your better translation, and accent corrections. I am happy that my use of the book title in the fourth line is clear.

Note that I συνέγραψε, not merely μετέγραψε, the book.

Can you guess the dedicatee's name?

Since the subject of the book is about a hapax that mistakenly acquired esoteric significance, I have kept the tradition of mystery surrounding it by not supplying a translation of the dedication (except to the dedicatee himself). Just to give readers something to wonder about and make an effort towards understanding. Obviously they could come to a place like this, but I do want them to make an effort.

In order to make it more challenging, and not able to be machine-read, I've used Byzantine/Renaissance ligatures.

Originally, I tried to be even more faux-erudite and esoteric by including some effort to supply a Greek etymology of my name, which included a digamma. I was never satisfied with it, especially as this digamma has no aesthetic charm, but here it is:

 

[Glabrigausapes]

Can you guess the dedicatee's name?

William... Peters?
Edit: Peterson?

 

[Ross Caldwell]

Yes! Wow, you didn't even hedge with "Peters or Peterson".

I humbly bow to your erudition and good judgment.

Edit - ah! You put the hedge in just as I was writing...

Nevertheless, still a master.

 

[Glabrigausapes]

Nevertheless, still a master.

Jus' call me the 'hedgehog'.