Sirens of Odysseus
About
A piece born from Homer's roughly 3,000-year-old Odyssey. Epics were never plain text — they were songs, performed by bards (aoidoi) to the lyre and kithara; the Odyssey's dactylic hexameter is rhythmic from beginning to end, so music is already in the DNA of the words. The song weaves together three iconic moments of the epic: the famous opening line that invokes the Muse — the whole journey in miniature; the Nekyia (Book 11), where the souls of the dead rise from the darkness of Erebus; and the Sirens' Song (Book 12), which carries the chorus, luring sailors to their death. We chose these three because they hold the epic's most powerful frequencies: the epic opening, the ritual dark, and the hypnotic lure.
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Lyrics
Antik Yunanca — Okunuş (romanize)
Andra moi ennepe Mousa polytropon Hos mala polla planchthe Andra moi ennepe Mousa polytropon Epei Troies hieron ptoliethron epersen Psychas hypex Erebeus Nekyon katatethneoton Psychas hypex Erebeus Nekyon nekyon Deur ag ion polyain Odyseu Mega kydos Achaion Neson epi sfeteren Neson epi sfeteren Steson aga steson aga Hina noete fonen akouses Andra moi ennepe Mousa polytropon Hos mala polla planchthe Hos mala polla planchthe Mousa Erebeus Sirenes Mousa Erebeus Sirenes Deur ag ion polyain Odyseu Mega kydos Achaion Neson epi sfeteren Neson epi sfeteren Steson aga steson aga Hina noete fonen akouses Andra moi ennepe
Ἑλληνικά — Homeros'un kaynak dizeleri
Açılış — Müze'ye yakarış (1. Kitap): Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν. Nekyia — Yeraltı (11. Kitap): ψυχὰς ὑπὲξ Ἐρέβευς νεκύων κατατεθνηώτων. Sirenlerin Şarkısı — Nakarat (12. Kitap): Δεῦρ' ἄγ' ἰών, πολύαιν' Ὀδυσεῦ, μέγα κῦδος Ἀχαιῶν, νῆα κατάστησον, ἵνα νωιτέρην ὄπ' ἀκούσῃς.
Türkçe (anlam)
Açılış — Müze'ye yakarış: Anlat bana, İlham Perisi (Muse), o çok yönlü adamı — Troya'nın kutsal kalesini yıktıktan sonra nice diyar dolaşanı. Nekyia — Yeraltı: Erebos'un (karanlığın) derinliklerinden yükseldi ölüp gitmişlerin ruhları. Sirenlerin Şarkısı — Nakarat: Buraya gel, dillere destan Odysseus, Akaların büyük gururu; durdur gemini, dinle bizim sesimizi.