Pssst, Man Near My Grave, You Probably Know Me: Callimachus, Epigram 21

“Whoever you are to put a foot near my grave, know me:
The child and the father of Kallimakhos of Cyrene.
You likely know both: One led the arms of his fatherland
And the other sang songs stronger than envy.
Don’t scoff at this: for whichever children the Muses
See at birth, they never abandon as friends when they’re old.”

῞Οστις ἐμὸν παρὰ σῆμα φέρεις πόδα, Καλλιμάχου με
ἴσθι Κυρηναίου παῖδά τε καὶ γενέτην.
εἰδείης δ’ ἄμφω κεν• ὁ μέν κοτε πατρίδος ὅπλων
ἦρξεν, ὁ δ’ ἤεισεν κρέσσονα βασκανίης.
[οὐ νέμεσις• Μοῦσαι γὰρ ὅσους ἴδον ὄμματι παῖδας
†ἄχρι βίου† πολιοὺς οὐκ ἀπέθεντο φίλους.]

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