P. Oxy. iii. 1903, no. 425, A Sailor’s Song
“Sailors who race over deep waves,
along Triton’s salty swells
Nile-runners who make their sweet way
sailing over the waters’ smile
Friends, tell us your judgment
between the sea and the fertile Nile”
ν]αῦται βυθοκυμα[τ]οδρόμοι
ἁλίων Τρίτωνες ὑδάτων
καὶ Νειλῶται γλυκυδρόμοι
τὰ γελῶντα πλέοντες ὑδάτη
τὴν σύγκρισιν εἴπατε, φίλοι,
πελάγους καὶ Νείλοῠ γονίμου.
h/t to Tim Whitmarsh for posting this
No I hadn’t — thanks! There is a (real) Greek sailors’ song preserved on a papyrus from 2nd-3rd CE:
ν]αῦται βυθοκυμα[τ]οδρόμοι
ἁλίων Τρίτωνες ὑδάτων
καὶ Νειλῶται γλυκυδρόμοι
τὰ γελῶντα πλέοντες ὑδάτη
τὴν σύγκρισιν εἴπατε, φίλοι,
πελάγους καὶ Νείλοῠ γονίμου.
— Tim Whitmarsh (@Twhittermarsh) January 15, 2021
Here’s the translation from the Loeb: “Sailors who skim deep waters, Tritons of the briny waves, and Nilots who sail in happy course upon the smiling waters, tell us, friends, the comparison of the ocean with the fruitful Nile.” (LCL 360, 428-430, Page)
See Peter Gainsford’s excellent post on Greek sea shanties in Assassin’s Creed for even better material.
The internet, to crib from “rocky horror”, don’t dream it, be it. I pledged to donate money to The Sportulafor actual ShantyToks and people made it happen
From the inestimable Ryan Baumann
@ryan_fb #AncientGreek #Shanty – from a 2nd-3rd century CE papyrus (P.Oxy. 3 425) 📜
The amazing Katie Mikos:
@ph_dummie 🚨 Ancient Greek sea shanty alert 🚨 (for charity 😅) #shantytok #seashanty #voiceeffects #SkinCare101 #ZodiacSign #ancientgreece #greek #foryoupage
This one gets extra points for costume and props
No one tell my old choir director about this she'll never forgive me. But thank you for introducing me to my new favorite thing @sentantiq may my tiktokers forgive me as well 😂 pic.twitter.com/07r84xaE2I
— Haley Patterson (@haleythelegit) January 15, 2021
Ah, but Odysseus himself might have sailed straight into the Sirens’ rocks for the singing in this one…
@earlyonemorning English version of Ancient Greek sea shanty. Original melody, pretty raw. Thoughts? #shanty #shantytok #shantytiktok #ancientgreek #historytiktok
As a native of Maine I grew up hearing sea shanties from time to time. I must have seen Schooner Fare in elementary school 3 or 4 times
