Our own News in Greek (maybe in Latin too)

[Nikolaos_Magistros]

Χαίρετε πάντες φίλοι τῶν ἑλληνικῶν τε καὶ ῥωμαϊκῶν λόγων. The other day I was thinking about how to motivate myself to start writing in Greek, lest I grow rusty by only reading and never writing in the language; having tried a couple of Prose Composition textbooks, although no doubt useful as a teaching tool, I found the subject matter somewhat limited. So I thought to start here a thread whose purpose would be occasionally to publish small news articles (on any topic), in either Greek or Latin, after the manner of e. g. Juan Coderch΄s Akropolis World News. As long as I have the time, I will try every once in a while to post something in Greek (my Latin is not quite up to the task, though I hope this might change in the future), and I invite any and all to contribute with their compositions. (Any grammatical corrections etc. are also warmly welcome, since learning is ultimately the main goal here.) The idea is to take a current news item that caught one΄s interest, then turn it into a short Greek/Latin composition either by directly translating it or by rephrasing it more freely - personally I find the latter both more easy and rewarding, since you don΄t need to get bogged down by a turn of phrase you don΄t know how to express in the ancient tongue, you can use your own words. Any style or composition technique is welcome - personally I have my reservations about Coderch΄s method of extensively using Modern Greek as a supply of neologisms, since I find it tends to produce a rather unnatural Ancient Greek, and I prefer to "write as if I was writing about modern day issues for an ancient audience". But a case can of course be made for all techniques. If you write, please include a title with a source and the date for reference, and note the articles need not be long - even three or four lines can very well summarize an interesting article. Looking forward to all your compositions (extra respect for anything in epic hexameter!), I make a first attempt by using a story I read in the Guardian a few days ago about an abducted girl who was saved by a pack of lions.

Λέοντες κόρην Αἰθιόπισσαν ὑπὸ κακούργων ἀρπαχθεῖσαν σῴζουσιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ (25/10/2017, from the Guardian)

Ἐνίοτε μὲν ἐν τῇ Αἰθιόπων χώρα συμβαίνει ἄνδρας κακοποιοὺς νεάνιδας τινὰς ἐκ τῶν κωμῶν ἁρπάζειν, ὅπως ταύτας παρὰ μὲν τὸν νόμον, κατὰ δὲ τὸ σφῶν ἔθος, ἄνδρασί τισι γαμηθῆναι ἀναγκάσωσιν· νῦν δὲ αὐθὶς τοιούτου πάθους γενομένου ἀπροσδόηκτόν τι γεγονὸς οὐκ εἴασε τοὺς ἀλιτηρίους τούτους διαπράξασθαι, ἃ ἐβούλοντο. Ἀπαγαγόντες γὰρ τὴν κόρην ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐφύλαττον, δηλονότι τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ παραδοῦναι αὐτὴν μένοντες. Αἰφνιδίως δέ, ὥσπερ ἐκ θείας τινὸς ἐπισκήψεως, ἐγένετο ἀγέλην λεόντων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ περιπλανωμένην εἰς τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον, οὗπερ τὴν νεάνιδα εἶχον, προσελθεῖν· οἱ δὲ ἀπαγωγεῖς τῷ ἀπροσδοκήτῳ τοῦ πράγματος ἐκπλαγέντες καὶ παρ’ ἐλπίδα ἐξαίφνης ὁρῶντες τὰ δεινότατα τῶν θηρίων πλησιάζοντα, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς τρόμῳ ἁλόντες εἰς φυγὴν παραχρῆμα ἐτράπησαν. Τὰ δὲ σαρκοβόρα θηρία - ὦ τοῦ θαύματος! - τὴν κόρην οὐδαμῶς ἔβλαψαν, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα φρουροῦντες καὶ περιφυλάττοντες αὐτὴν διετέλουν, ἕως ἐλθόντες οἱ τῆς πολιτείας φύλακες καὶ λαβόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν κώμην σῷαν καὶ ἀβλαβῆ παρέδοσαν. Τίνος δ’ ἕνεκεν τοῦτο ἔπραξαν οἱ λέοντες, οὐκ ἔχουσιν εἰπεῖν οἱ τὰ περὶ τῶν ζῴων μάλιστα ἐξεπιστάμενοι, πλὴν ὅτι ἴσως κλαίουσά τε καὶ μινυρίζουσα ἡ παῖς - ἀφειδῶς γὰρ ἐτύπτετο καὶ ἐβασανίζετο ὑπὸ τῶν λῃστῶν - ὥσπερ σκύμνος ἔδοξεν εἶναι τοῖς θηρίοις.

[Markos]

Τὰ δὲ σαρκοβόρα θηρία - ὦ τοῦ θαύματος! - τὴν κόρην οὐδαμῶς ἔβλαψαν, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα φρουροῦντες καὶ περιφυλάττοντες αὐτὴν διετέλουν, ἕως ἐλθόντες οἱ τῆς πολιτείας φύλακες καὶ λαβόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν κώμην σῷαν καὶ ἀβλαβῆ παρέδοσαν.

λέγουσιν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τὸ homo homini lupus. (τοῦτ' ἐστιν τὸ «ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ λύκος.») ἐν δὲ τούτῳ τῷ διήγματι, οἱ λέοντες τῇ κόρῃ ἄνθρωποι ὑπῆρξαν.

[Nikolaos_Magistros]

καίπερ πάλαι ἀκούσας νῦν ἐπελελήσμην ταύτης τῆς παροιμίας, ἀλλ' ὄντως οὕτως ἐστὶν ὡς λέγεις

[Markos]

This story is a little old, but here is my rendering of a headline from the Harvard Crimson of 11-24-68:

τὸν Ἰῆλ ὁ Ἅρβαρδ νενίκηκε, τὸ κ'θ' κατὰ τοῦ κ'θ'.

[Markos]

A headline from the New York Daily News, 10-29-75:

τοῦτο λέγει ὁ Φόρδ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν. «σύγε, φίλη πόλι, θάνε δή.»

(Extra credit for anyone who can do "Headless Body in Topless Bar.")

[opoudjis]

(Extra credit for anyone who can do "Headless Body in Topless Bar.")

Ο­ὔ γε κεῖνται αἱ λέξεις, ἀλλά πειρῶμαι·

πτῶμ’ ἀπότμητον ἐν καπηλείῳ ἀποδύτων.

ἐλευθεριαζοντωτέρως δέ·

πτῶμ’ ἀπότμητον ἐν καπηλείῳ ἀποτίλτων.

καὶ εὐηχεστέρως·

πτῶμ’ ἀπότμητον ἐν καπηλείῳ ἀποτιμήτων.
πτῶμ’ ἀπότμητον, καπηλεῖόν τε ἀποτίμητον.

[Markos]

(Extra credit for anyone who can do "Headless Body in Topless Bar.")

πτῶμ’ ἀπότμητον, καπηλεῖόν τε ἀποτίμητον.

εὖγε, φίλτατε!

πειράσομαι νῦν ἔγωγε:

σῶμα μὲν χωρὶς κρανίου, δῶμα δὲ χωρὶς Κυρίου.

http://nypost.com/2015/06/09/new-york-p ... ies-at-74/