The Proemium of the Iliad (in Greek)

This is a recitation of the proemium or first five lines of Homer's Iliad, in the original language. It was recorded in the theater of Priene, a Hellenistic-age city just north of Miletus in southwestern Turkey.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• homer
• iliad
• ancient
• greek
• priene
• theater
• winterstein

[bolxes91]

That's an awful pronunciation... I mean, we don't exactly know who did the ancient greek pronounced, but he could have respected the accents. And it is "oionoisi te pasi" instead of what he says...

[novissimus]

@bolxes91:

Although 'pasi' is indeed what is found in the manuscripts, 'daita' has its support as a variant reading dating quite far back. I prefer it simply because it produces the more vivid image and it alliterates nicely with the rest of the line. :) I'll admit I flattened the accents into oblivion, but this was a spur-of-the-moment recording and I was shouting to make sure my camera's mini-microphone would pick up the sound.

[novissimus]

Yup -- I learned my Homer from Pharr, Pharr has daita, and thus daita is what is in my memory. Plus, it alliterates with Dios and makes for a more interesting mental image than the colorless pasi! ;)

[nixter888]

WHY DID YOU TAKE ONE OF MY COMMENTS out?..perhaps you realize that i was right about what i wrote?..and you did not like that?

[novissimus]

No, I just thought I'd cut our conversation down to something brief. The pronunciation of Homeric Greek is better studied in the scholarly literature than on a YouTube page.

What is historically accurate is separate from what pleases anyone's ear. The one is a linguistic matter, the other aesthetic. Regarding linguistics, I'll simply ask whether you've read Vox Graeca yet. As for the aesthetics, de gustibus non disputandum est.

[novissimus]

Furthermore:

I relish the sound of modern Greek. I also am interested in recovering what the ancient speech might have sounded like.  I chose the latter for this recording.

FYI, I will likely delete these new comments of yours and mine soon unless they add something essential.

Eirene soi!

[VilleB123]

what an excellent language, i wish i could read ancient greek. the finest civilisation in all the glory of the world.

[polychronistheo]

kala milame porwsh ! ki egw to idio thelw edw kai kairo.. alla h pio trellh mou fantasiwsh einai na brethei enas papuros h ena xeirografo kai na xanabroume me thn mia 5-5 tragwdies tou Aisxulou h opoiodhpote allo keimeno..Oneira..alla pou xereis

[NENDOSIA]

Good job on remembering those lines and your love for Homer. I liked the set up the recitation in Ancient Greek but the pronounciation sounded like German or something.

[Nassieful]

@VOLKO1:Iliada:(w)ilios is a another name for troja(taruisa and wilusa) and sun(h-ilios in greek; in ancient time wilios).Homer means with the iliada the willpower of achilles like the sun(heuliau in cymraeg).The story of the iliad was the angry of achilles.

[Nassieful]

Homer and herodot(name of my video) tell us the truth about the trojan-war..!

[VOLKO1]

What is the meaning ov the word "Iliada" in greek?

[shie5175]

Fantastic! I appreciate the difference in pronunciation. Not only do I find it more attractive, but I agree that the language has significantly evolved.

[samanthajanepink]

That's beautiful! I tried reading Homer out loud but I never knew if I should let the longer syllables create their own stress or if I should give them extra emphasis. As a "bar-bar-ian" I couldn't figure out if I should read it like a line of iambic pentameter in English with its five stresses or if the longer and shorter syllables of the Greek hexameter should play off of-- as a kind of counter-music-- the acutes, graves and circumflexes, with a raising and lowering of the voice.

[firezdog]

I see he reads "oionoisi te daita" instead of "oionoisi te pasi"