Type 1895
(formerly typ/23)

Δαυῒδ μελῳδέοντι τῆς ἐκκλησίας
τὸ καινὸν ᾆσμα ποῖος ἕψεται νόος
ὃς τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκπλαγεὶς τραγῳδίῃ
Ὀρφῆα τοῦτον οὐ τὸν ἔξω προσφράσει,
ζῴων φύσεις θέλγοντα ποῦ καὶ δενδρέων
ὡς οἷα τοῖς μύθοισιν ἐξυφασμένα,
ἀλλʹ Ὀρφέα κρούοντα θείην πυκτίδα,
ἧς τοῖς μέλεσιν ἕσπετʹ ἐθνέων γένη,
Θεὸν σέβοντα δʹ ὃν πάροιθεν ἠγνόουν;
Title(s) Ἐπίγραμμα εἰς τὸ ψαλτήριον
Text source R. Meesters, R. Praet, F. Bernard, K. Demoen 2016, Makarios' cycle of epigrams on the Psalms. Bodleian Baroccianus 194, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 109(2), 837-860: 851-854
Text status Text completely known
Editorial status Critical text
Genre(s) Author-related epigram
Metre(s) Dodecasyllable
Subject(s)
Tag(s)
Critical Notes Cf. Follieri (1964: 466). In this v. 7 has πηκτίδα, which must be a printing error.
Translation(s) What mind will follow David,
who sings the new song of the church?
A mind that, astonished by his song,
will call him Orpheus, not the heathen one
who enchants the natures of animals and trees,
(O what concoctions from myth!),
but an Orpheus who plays a divine lyre.
The gentiles will follow the songs of this lyre
and they will worship God, whom they formerly did not know.
Language
English
Source(s)
R. Meesters, R. Praet, F. Bernard, K. Demoen 2016, Makarios' cycle of epigrams on the Psalms. Bodleian Baroccianus 194, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 109(2), 837-860: 851-852
Comment In all mss now preserving the poem, the order of verses is completely wrong, see Follieri (1964: 464-467). The codd. have this order: 1.3.5.7.9.2.4.6.8. Very probably, in the original codex (now lost) the epigram was written in two columns, but was copied top-down instead of from the left to the right.
Follieri also concludes that the epigram was written in an earlier period (9-10th centuries).

The scribe of Bodl. Barocc. 194 (f. 48r) added the following dodecasyllable as the first line of the poem: 'Ἄθρει μελουργῶ οἵω καὶ μόνω φίλε'. See Meesters et al. (2016: 852) pointing out that the verse 'is obviously added to make the poem fit within the acrostic. It is probably not a coincidence that it is the only verse with a grammatical anomaly (ἀθρέω with the dative case), a hiatus and an overt prosodical error (οἵῳ). By contrast, the nine ‘original’ verses show impeccable prosody'.
Bibliography
Number of verses 9
Occurrence(s)
Related type(s)
Acknowledgements

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Identification Vassis ICB 2011, 208: "In psalterium"
Permalink https://www.dbbe.ugent.be/types/1895
Last modified: 2021-09-08.