T H E L O V E S O N G
S O F I B Y K O S : 2 2 F
R A G M E N T S
t r a n s l a t e d w i t h a n
i n t r o d u c t i o n b y
T E D J E N N E R
A bilingual edition. Illustrations by John Reynolds.
1997
"Born at Rhegion (now Reggio di
Calabria in Southern Italy) early in the sixth century
B.C., left the Greek West for the island of Samos in the
Aegean sea, died at Rhegion -- or was perhaps robbed and
murdered near Corinth: that is about as much as we can
derive from ancient sources about the life of the lyric
poet Ibyknos." With this beginning to his Introduction,
translator Ted Jenner mirrors the lacunae, not only in
the life of the poet, but also in the fragmentary nature
of the texts themselves as they have come down to us.
These 22 fragments, presented here in Greek with
accompanying English translations, are a selection from
a total of some 100 fragments which make up the Ibykos
oeuvre. Well-known for his
translations of other Greek poets and more recently of
Francis Ponge, Jenner's position as both poet and
scholar provides these translations with a richness and
skill that is rare in this country. Artist John Reynolds
has a long interest in ancient sources also, and his
large paintings dealing with Plato's Cave made him an
obvious choice as illustrator for this book. In
Reynolds's images, reproductions of the original papyrus
fragments (with the permission of The Egypt Exploration
Society) have been incorporated.
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