DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0300
246
the cnossian chorus.
[chap.
of the Cnossian chorus of three thousand years ago8. As
songs are now sung by the peasants on these occasions,
so, in ancient times, there was a hyporchem, or ballad,
with which the Cretans, more than all other Greeks, de-
lighted to accompany their motions in the dance9.
The little songs thus sung, at the present day, are
called Madhinadhas10 by the Cretans: I collected many
of them during my stay in the island. The commonest
of all such songs of the Cretan peasant is " a woeful
ballad, made to his mistress'' eyebrow." The following-
are specimens.
O thou, my much-beloved maid,
Branch of a lofty tree,
With thee what mind can converse hold ?
Who can dispute with thee11 ?
8 Homer, II. xviii. 590.
'Ei/ oe yopov TroiKiWe TrepiKXvTO's A^uc^uyi/tjeis
tw lkcXov, otov ttot' 62/i Ki/io<rcr<j> evpein
AaiSaXos rjaKrjae KaXXLirXoKa/iu) Apictfii/jj.
evda pev ?ji8eoi Kai irapdevoL dXcpetrifioiai
00p^evvT dXXi]Xwv e7rI Kapirw ^elpas t;i(oi/T6s.
9 athenaeus, v. p. 181. KjO>jTi/ca KaXoucri -rd uTropxnpaTa. Pro-
clus, in Phot. p. 345. (or p. 384. ed. Gaisf.) 'Y7ro'px}/ma ^ T& f-e-r' 6pxn-
treajs d&opevov peXos eXeyeTo. See also Lucian, on dancing, §. lfi. Tom. ii.
p. 277. Hemst. Plutarch, on music, p. 1134. c. and Spanheim, on Cal-
limachus, Hymn to Delos, v. 312. where the origin of the cyclic dance is
described :
TloTVLa, tjov irepi j3w/xov eyeipopevov KidapLapov
kukXiov topyyaravTO' x°P°" & ijyfoaTO Bijaeui.
On the hyporchem may be consulted Ilgen, disquis. de scolior. poesi,
p. xxxiv. Hoeck, Kreta, Vol. 111. p. 349. and foil. Ulrici, Geschichte
der Hellenischen Dichtkunst, Vol. 11. pp. 36-37. Fauriel, Chants popu-
lates de la Grece moderne, Discours preliminaire, p. cvu. On the canzone
a ballo of the Italians, see Ritson's Historical Essay on National Song,
p. xvi.
10 The word pa&ivaca seems to be derived from bpdci, and thus peculiarly
to denote the stanzas sung on the occasion of such festive assemblies.
11 to ttoXv dyairrjuevr] /xov
,\^r]Xov devopov KXovdpt,
■noios e^e< vow vd <tou fxiXr)
kcu vd <rov po^ovdpr];
the cnossian chorus.
[chap.
of the Cnossian chorus of three thousand years ago8. As
songs are now sung by the peasants on these occasions,
so, in ancient times, there was a hyporchem, or ballad,
with which the Cretans, more than all other Greeks, de-
lighted to accompany their motions in the dance9.
The little songs thus sung, at the present day, are
called Madhinadhas10 by the Cretans: I collected many
of them during my stay in the island. The commonest
of all such songs of the Cretan peasant is " a woeful
ballad, made to his mistress'' eyebrow." The following-
are specimens.
O thou, my much-beloved maid,
Branch of a lofty tree,
With thee what mind can converse hold ?
Who can dispute with thee11 ?
8 Homer, II. xviii. 590.
'Ei/ oe yopov TroiKiWe TrepiKXvTO's A^uc^uyi/tjeis
tw lkcXov, otov ttot' 62/i Ki/io<rcr<j> evpein
AaiSaXos rjaKrjae KaXXLirXoKa/iu) Apictfii/jj.
evda pev ?ji8eoi Kai irapdevoL dXcpetrifioiai
00p^evvT dXXi]Xwv e7rI Kapirw ^elpas t;i(oi/T6s.
9 athenaeus, v. p. 181. KjO>jTi/ca KaXoucri -rd uTropxnpaTa. Pro-
clus, in Phot. p. 345. (or p. 384. ed. Gaisf.) 'Y7ro'px}/ma ^ T& f-e-r' 6pxn-
treajs d&opevov peXos eXeyeTo. See also Lucian, on dancing, §. lfi. Tom. ii.
p. 277. Hemst. Plutarch, on music, p. 1134. c. and Spanheim, on Cal-
limachus, Hymn to Delos, v. 312. where the origin of the cyclic dance is
described :
TloTVLa, tjov irepi j3w/xov eyeipopevov KidapLapov
kukXiov topyyaravTO' x°P°" & ijyfoaTO Bijaeui.
On the hyporchem may be consulted Ilgen, disquis. de scolior. poesi,
p. xxxiv. Hoeck, Kreta, Vol. 111. p. 349. and foil. Ulrici, Geschichte
der Hellenischen Dichtkunst, Vol. 11. pp. 36-37. Fauriel, Chants popu-
lates de la Grece moderne, Discours preliminaire, p. cvu. On the canzone
a ballo of the Italians, see Ritson's Historical Essay on National Song,
p. xvi.
10 The word pa&ivaca seems to be derived from bpdci, and thus peculiarly
to denote the stanzas sung on the occasion of such festive assemblies.
11 to ttoXv dyairrjuevr] /xov
,\^r]Xov devopov KXovdpt,
■noios e^e< vow vd <tou fxiXr)
kcu vd <rov po^ovdpr];