Hybrias

Hybrias (Greek: Ὑβρίας; fl. 6th century BC) was a Cretan mercenary and lyric poet. He was the author of a highly esteemed skolion (drinking song) called the "Spear-song", which has been preserved by Athenaeus, Eustathius of Thessalonica, and the Analecta Veterum Poetarum Graecorum. Quotes thumb|My wealth's a burly spear and brand,And a right good shield of hides untann'd,Which on my arm I buckle:With these I plough, I reap, I sow,With these I make the sweet vintage flow,And all around me truckle. thumb|But your wights that take no pride to wieldA massy spear and well-made shield,Nor joy to draw the sword:Oh, I bring those heartless, hapless drones,Down in a trice on their marrow-bones,To call me King and Lord. Ἔστι μοι πλοῦτος μέγας δόρυ καὶ ξίφοςκαὶ τὸ καλὸν λαισήιον, πρόβλημα χρωτός·τούτῳ γὰρ ἀρῶ, τούτῳ θερίζω,τούτῳ πατέω τὸν ἁδὺν οἶνον ἀπ᾿ ἀμπέλω,τούτῳ δέσποτα μνοιΐας κέκλημαι.τοὶ δὲ μὴ τολμῶντ᾽ ἔχειν δόρυ καὶ ξίφος καὶ τὸ καλὸν λαισήιον, πρόβλημα χρωτός,πάντες γονὺ πεπτηῶτες <ἀμφὶἀμὸν> κυνέοντι δεσπόταν <ἐμὲ δεσποτᾶν>καὶ μέγαν βασιλῆα φωνέοντι. My wealth's a burly spear and brand,And a right good shield of hides untann'd,  Which on my arm I buckle:With these I plough, I reap, I sow,With these I make the sweet vintage flow,  And all around me truckle.But your wights that take no pride to wieldA massy spear and well-made shield,  Nor joy to draw the sword:Oh, I bring those heartless, hapless drones,Down in a trice on their marrow-bones,  To call me King and Lord. Edited by J. M. Edmonds, Lyra Græca, vol. 3 (1927) pp. 572–3. Poetic translation by Thomas Campbell, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, vol. 2 (London: Henry Colburn and Co, 1821) "Lectures on Poetry", lecture 5, part 1, p. 438, footnote. Other translations: John Leyden, Poetical Remains, edited by James Morton (London: Strahan and Spottiswoode, 1819) p. 205 Christopher North, [John Herman] Merivale, Sir Daniel Sandford, and William Hay, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, vol. 34, no. 211 (August 1833) pp. 268–9 Gilbert Murray, quoted in Toynbee's A Study of History, vol. 2 (2nd ed. 1935) p. 87, note, and in The Oxford Book of Greek Verse in Translation (1938) p. 700, note J. Lodge, in The Classical Review, vol. 28, no. 8 (1914) p. 286 F. L. Lucas, Greek Poetry for Everyman (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1951) p. 258 Peter Jones, "Ancient and Modern: The mercenaries of IS and ancient Greece", The Spectator (16 January 2016) "Hybrias 'spear song'", faculty.fairfield.edu (14 August 2013) External links Category:Poets from Greece Category:People from Crete