This week we’re looking at another two-line epigram in elegiacs from Book 1 of the Greek Anthology. The titulus tells us it is about “the shepherds and the angels” praising Christ’s Nativity, though “shepherds” are not mentioned by name in the epigram itself.

Below I give the Greek text from the Loeb, the Loeb translation, and my translation in rhymed iambic pentameters. After the texts, I have a few more remarks to make.

The Greek text:

Εἰς τοὺς ποιμένας καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους

Εἷς χορός, ἓν μέλος ἀνθρώποισι καὶ ἀγγελιώταις,

     οὕνεκεν ἄνθρωπος καὶ θεὸς ἓν γέγονεν.

The Loeb translation:

One choir, one song for men and angels, for man and god have become one.

Trans. W.R. Paton, rev. by Michael A. Tueller

My translation:

On the Shepherds and the Angels

One choir, one song of angels and of men,

For God and man are one—Amen, Amen.

Now, take another look at the Greek text, which turns on forms of the word “one”: there is one choir, one song–because God and man have become one. It is plausible to suggest that the author is reinforcing this “oneness” through embedding ἕν, the neuter form of the word for “one,” in various other word-forms, like so:

Εἰς τοὺς ποιμένας καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους

Εἷς χορός, ἓν μέλος ἀνθρώποισι καὶ ἀγγελιώταις,

     οὕνεκεν ἄνθρωπος καὶ θεὸς ἓν γέγονεν.

One might suggest secondary echoes in ἀνθρώποισι, οὕνεκεν, and ἄνθρωπος. A bit far-fetched? Perhaps. Less far-fetched is the suggestion that the threefold repetition of the word “one” is a subtle reminder of the Trinity.

In my translation, I’ve attempted to reflect both of these things (threefold repetition of “one” and embedding the Greek word for “one” in other words, the latter through cross-lingual wordplay).

One choir, one song of angels and of men,

For God and man are one—Amen, Amen.