Fable of the Day (Greek): The Shepherd and The Lion

[Laura Gibbs]

Ποιμὴν καὶ λέων

Hi, everybody! I'm back after a LONG hiatus - blame it on Bolchazy-Carducci (just kidding), because I was finishing up the ms. of a book for them on Barlow's Aesop (yeah!!!). I finally finished that last week, so I'm blogging fables here again, this time with another fable from Syntipas - check out the GreekAesop wiki for more information about Syntipas and his fables! I've included the text and a segmented version here; for grammar notes and more information, please visit the wiki. You can keep up with the latest Bestiaria posts by using the RSS feed, or you can subscribe by email. And now, here is Syntipas, Fable 12.

The Shepherd and the Lion = Perry 49 (English translation: Oxford Aesop 229)

Ποιμήν τις ἀπολέσας ἓν τῶν προβάτων ἐδεήθη τοῦ θεοῦ συνθήκας ποιούμενος ὡς εἴ γε τοῦτο ἐφεύροι, ἕτερον ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ εἰς θυσίαν προσάξει. περιερχόμενος δὲ ὁρᾷ τὸ αὐτὸ πρόβατον ὑπὸ λέοντος βιβρωσκόμενον, καὶ τοῦτο ἰδὼν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔλεγεν ὡς “εἰ μόνον τὸν τοῦ θηρίου διαδράσαιμι κίνδυνον, καὶ ἕτερον πρόβατον εἰς λύτρου δῶρον προσενέγκοιμι.”

Οὗτος δηλοῖ ὡς τὴν ἰδίαν ζωὴν πάντες ἄθρωποι παντὸς κέρδους καὶ πλούτου προτιμοτέραν ἔχουσιν.

Segmented text for easier reading:

Ποιμήν τις

ἀπολέσας ἓν τῶν προβάτων

ἐδεήθη τοῦ θεοῦ

συνθήκας ποιούμενος

ὡς εἴ γε τοῦτο ἐφεύροι,

ἕτερον

ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ

εἰς θυσίαν προσάξει.

περιερχόμενος δὲ

ὁρᾷ τὸ αὐτὸ πρόβατον

ὑπὸ λέοντος βιβρωσκόμενον,

καὶ

τοῦτο ἰδὼν

ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔλεγεν ὡς

“εἰ μόνον

τὸν τοῦ θηρίου διαδράσαιμι κίνδυνον,

καὶ ἕτερον πρόβατον

εἰς λύτρου δῶρον

προσενέγκοιμι.”

Οὗτος δηλοῖ ὡς

τὴν ἰδίαν ζωὴν

πάντες ἄθρωποι

παντὸς κέρδους καὶ πλούτου

προτιμοτέραν ἔχουσιν.

[Matthew Moore]

For some reason, the accented letters aren't showing up for me -- all I get are little blocks. Is this a txt file?

[Laura Gibbs]

You need to be using a browser which is Unicode-Greek font compatible (Firefox is GREAT), and you need a Unicode font - a great free option is the Gentium font which you can find here:
Gentium font download (at SIL website) If you are using Internet Explorer, only the most recent versions are Unicode-font compatible. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like for me in Firefox, no special adjustments to the display settings of any kind:

[Laura Gibbs]

P.S. You can click on that image for a larger view. :-)

[Ana Ovando]

Great work with the wiki. Congratulations!

[Laura Gibbs]

Thanks, Ana - I was so thrilled to find out that PBwiki.com is completely compatible with Unicode Greek! (I'm in an online Greek Bible reading group and we use the wiki as a way to collaborate online, typing the Greek at TypeGreek.com (an online Greek editor one of my students wrote) and then just pasting it into the wiki. It's so easy.
When I first started publishing webpages back in 1999, doing Greek online was a nightmare. Now it is so easy!

[Ana Ovando]

TypeGreek.com is a very interesting resource too. I mark it to use with my students. We usually write in Unicode (using Platino Linotype) but we have to activate the Greek keyboard every time (that's the problem when you share the computers in the school).
You are right: Unicode is one of the best present for us!
Thank you for sharing the information.

[Laura Gibbs]

My former student who wrote that TypeGreek.com program is a GENIUS. I knew him when he was a starving young student and I could afford to hire him to build software for me. Now he makes twice as much money as I do (or probably more, now that I think about it) - he is one of the webmasters for Blockbuster! He is probably the only Blockbuster webmaster who reads Homer in Greek in his spare time for fun, ha ha. :-)