“Broken Horses” in Ancient Greek
Translation:
“οἱ θραυστοί ἵπποι“
μου οἰνωθέντος αἱ βοαἱ
ἐνίοτε παύσονται
μόνως δακρύω, ἡ νάρκη
ἡ μόνη λύσις ἐστίν
τινές στρατιώται λέξουσιν
μάχην τὸν Τάρταρον εἶναι
ἡμεῖς ἀλάστορες ἀνιώμεθα
ὐπό τῶν ἀδικομενῶν
καὶ θραυστῶν ἵππῶν τῶν κατήγορῶν
θραυστῶν ἵππῶν ὁμοῖων οἷς ἐφονεύσα
θραυστῶν ἵππῶν τῶν με καθιππευοντῶν
θραυστῶν ἵππῶν
θραυστοί ἵπποι
“ἤ, ἡ παροινική ᾽Υλύσσης οὐ μόνον ἡ στρατευτικἠ ᾽Υλύσσης, ἀλλά καὶ τοῦ ἀξίοματος ποτέ ἦν. οὗτως διά τῆς ἀγριάς τοῦ Ἰλιοῦ πολιορκίας τοῖς εἴκοσι πρότερον ἔτεσιν ἐνηγωνίζετο. ὁ ἀγριός πόλεμος ἐπί τῇ τῆς Πόλεως κωμῇ φράσσομενωτατῃ ἦν. καὶ ἡ στρατευτικἠ ᾽Υλύσσης τὸν πόλεμον νικᾶν ἐβουλεύσεν.”
τὰ τῆς Ἰλιᾶς ἔρυματα
δεκα ἔτη γ`ἤνεγκεν
ὠμός καὶ δόλιος καὶ μηχανορράφος
τὴν νίκην ἐκτησάμην
ἡμεῖς σπενδόμενοι καὶ ἰόντες
τοὺς πολεμιούς ἐτίμησαμεν
τὸ ἄγαλμα ὅ ἐτετόκη
κήρυγμα ἐλπίδος ἐπεμψεν
καὶ θραυστῶν ἱππῶν, μόνως τέτευχα
θραυστούς ἵππους, μιαιφόνος
θραυστούς ἵππους, οὐ ὑπερθήσω
τοὺς θραυστούς ἵππους
θραυστοί ἵπποι
“ἡ ᾽Υλύσσης λύσιν ἐσήγαγεν. τὸ Ἴλιον τε τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ τὴν αὐτονομίαν τῶν Ὀλυμπιῶν χωρίς ἔχειν οἷον τ`ἦν. αἱ συμβάσεῖς συνεγράφησαν, αἱ σπονδαί ἐγράφησαν καὶ συσσημάνθησαν, καὶ ὤς τοῦτο τὸν καιρόν τὸν δίαφορον μνημονεύσον, τὸ μεγίστον ἄγαλμα τὸ τὸ τῆς χωμῆς ἀξίωμα τίμησον ἐτέχθη, οἱ γὰρ τοῦ Ἰλιοῦ ἱπποτρόφοι εὔδοξοι ἦσαν, ὁπότε τὰ τοῖα ζῷα ἔτι ἔζη. τὸ ἀγαλμα κατά βιοσόπλα ἐσκοπήθη, κατά καταρρήγνεῖα ἐσκοπήθη, κατά στρατιώτους κρυπτούς ἐσκοπήθη. οὐδέν ηὗρον. καἰ τὸ δῶρον ἐδέχθη, καὶ πᾶντες εὐφραναν.
“τὸ δῶρον μέντοι οὐκ ἐσκοπήθη κατά τὸ λεπτόν, ὀλίγου τὸ οὐκ ἀκουστόν νεῦμα τὸ διαπέμπομενον, ὐπὸ τῆς ᾽Υλυσσέως τικτομενον ὤς τὸν ἀκροατόν ἐκστήσον. τῶν ἕπτα ἡμερῶν, ἐν τῷ Ἰλιῷ αἱματηρῶς διεφέρετο καὶ κατερρήγνυτο καὶ διεσπαράσσετο. τοῦ στρατοῦ τὰς πύλας τέλος ἤνοιξαντος, οὐδένες ζῶντες εἰάθησαν. ὁ πόλεμος τέλειος ἦν.”
ἐνίοτε ἀμνηστέω
τὴς Πόλιν οὐ πάλαι παρειναι
τὰ ζῷα τὰ νὖν φθείροντα
ἀφοβοι πάλαι οἰχνοντες
οἱ Ἴλιοι τὴν ἱππήν ἐκλήθησαν
τὸ παρελθόν ἐτίμησαν
ἀγαλματα μονώς μένουσιν
οἱ γὰρ ἱππῆς πεπτώκασιν
ἀπό θραυστῶν ἱππῶν, ἀψόφητῶν
θραυστῶν ἱππῶν, ὁμοῖων ὀστέᾳ σαθρᾴ
θραυστῶν ἱππῶν, εἵνεκα μοῦ
θραυστῶν ἱππῶν
θραυστοί ἵπποι
θραυστοί
.
Transliteration:
“hoi thraustoi hippoi”
ta tēs Ilias erymata
deka etē t’ēnegken
ōmos kai dolios kai mēkhanorraphos
tēn nikēn ektēsamēn
hēmeis speisomenoi kai iontes
tous polemious etimēsamen
to agalma ho etetokē
kērygmo elpidos epempsen
kai skhistōn hippōn, monōs teteukha
thraustous hippous, miaiphonos
thraustous hippous, ou hyperthēsō
tous thraustous hippous
thraustoi hippoi
“hē Ylyssēs lysin esēgagen. to Ilion te tēn eirēnēn kai tēn autonomian tōn Olympiōn khōris ekhein hoion t’ēn. hai symbaseis synegraphēsan, hai spondai egraphēsan kai syssēmanthēsan, kai ōs touto ton kairon ton diaphoron mnēmoneuson, to megiston agalma to to tēs khōmēs axiōma timēson etekhthē, hoi gar tou Iliou hippotrophoi eudoxoi ēsan, hopote ta toia zōa eti ezē. to agalma kata biosopla eskopēthē, kata katarrēgneia eskopēthē, kata stratiōtous kryptous eskopēthē. ouden hēuren. kai to dōron edekhthē, kai pantes euphranan.
“to dōron mentoi ouk eskopēthē kata to lepton, oligou to ouk akouston neuma to diapempomenon, ypo tēs Ylysseōs tiktomenon ōs ton akroaton ekstēson. tōn hepta hēmerōn, en tō Iliō haimatērōs deiphereto kai katerrēgnyto kai deisparasseto. tou stratou tas pylas telos ēnoixantos, oudenes zōntes eiathēsan. ho polemos teleios ēn.”
eniote amnēsteō
tēs Polin ou palai pareinai
ta zōa ta nyn phtheironta
aphoboi palai oikhnontes
hoi Ilioi tēn hippēn eklēthēsan
to parelthon etimēsan
agalmata monōs menousin
apo thraustōn hippōn apsophētōn
thraustōn hippōn, homoiōn ostea sathra
thraustōn hippōn, eineka mou
thraustōn hippōn
thraustoi hippoi
thraustoi
.
Back translation:
“The Broken Horses”
When I am drunk on wine the screams
Will sometimes cease
I cry alone, the numbness
Is the only release
Some soldiers will say
A battle is Tartarus
We tormenters are tortured
By our victims
And by broken horses, the accusers
Broken horses like those whom I killed
Broken horses riding me down
Broken horses
Βroken horses
“See, the drunk Ulysses was once not only the soldierly Ulysses, but of high rank. So there was a brutal twenty-year siege of Ilium. The brutal war was against the best-defended district of the City. The soldierly Ulysses resolved to win the war.”
The defences of Ilium
Endured for ten years
Heartless and cunning and scheming
I secured the victory
Making peace and leaving
We honored the enemy
The statue which I had built
Was sending a message of hope
And of broken horses, I have only built
Broken horses, blood-guilty
Broken horses, I will not outrun
The broken horses
Broken horses
“Ulysses put forth a solution. Ilium could have both peace and freedom from the hands of the Olympians. The agreements were written, the treaties were signed and sealed, and to commemorate this distinctive occasion, the greatest statue was built in order to honor the fame of the district, for the people of Ilium were famous horse breeders, when such animals still lived. The statue was searched for bioweapons, searched for explosives, searched for hidden soldiers. Nothing was found. And the gift was accepted, and all rejoiced.
“It was, however, not scanned for a faint, nearly inaudible signal which was being broadcast, created by Ulysses in order to drive the listener mad. Within seven days, all in Ilium was being bloodily ripped and torn and rent asunder. When the army finally opened the gates, none were left living. The war was finished.”
Sometimes I forget
The City was not present long ago
The animals which are now destroyed
Once roaming fearless
The Ilians were called equestrians
They honored their past
Only statues remain
For the riders have fallen
From broken horses, silent
Broken horses, like cracked bone
Broken horses, because of me
Broken horses
Broken horses
Broken
.
Translator’s notes:
Line 1: Ancient Greek is rich in words relating to grape-based alcohol and poor in words relating to any other kind, so I have tragically had to replace all references to whiskey, bourbon, etc. with wine.
Line 6–8: Here we come up against differing cultural ideas of “hell.” As far as I know, Ancient Greek only refers to hell in the capital-H sense—here “Tartarus.” The bit about the devils and the nightmares and all that also suffers from being phrased in a difficult-to-translate way, with the conditional clause (“if”) and the idea of “getting nightmares.” I’ve had to be rather more explicit about Ulysses comparing themself to beings which torture and drop the dream metaphor.
Line 9: I’ve been liberal here. “Staring and still” is too long to fit into a Greek line of equivalent length. I’d imagine, though, that a stare leveled by someone still could be considered “accusatory.”
Line 13/26/39: Greek is a language with grammatical cases, so its nouns change form depending on their function in a sentence (think English pronouns). In all these lines, Ulysses switches from saying “broken horses” in the case suiting the last pre-chorus line (as if to add another descriptor) to the vocative case (as if addressing the horses directly).
Narration 1: The grammatical gender of “Ulysses” changes from masculine to feminine. It will alternate between masculine verse and feminine prose for the rest of the song.
What happened to “one of the best-defended districts”? It was too hard to translate. I’d welcome suggestions.
Line 21: “Blood-guilty” came in partly because “shattered by guilt” was too long and partly because I just thought that it was a cool vocabulary word. It literally means “stained by murder” (μιαίνω + φόνος) and is an epithet of Ares. By its nominative case, here the word describes Ulysses, not the horses.
Narration 2: I love the imagery of the City itself being a living thing which catches smaller settlements, but Ancient Greek isn’t big on personification, so the City is replaced here by its rulers, the Olympians.
“Bioweapons”: βίος (life) + ὅπλα (weapons); “explosives”: “things which burst.”
.
Questions and suggestions welcome.
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