02-25-2005, 06:56 AM
Re The Greek Paian or Paean<br>
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There are a few surviving parts of Paeans in the corpus of the poet Pindar (Born 518 B.C.). The Paean itself is often a rather long poem. As its name implies, it is a sacred hym.<br>
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One part of a Paean that would be most likely sung in a battle is a simple refrain that sounds something like, "Io Paian" (Pindar Paean 2) in some instances, "ie ie, o ie Paian" (Pindar Paean 4) or, "ie iete, nun, metra paionon iete neoi" (Pindar, Paean 6, 120 - 121). It actually looks better in the Greek, my apologies to the Greek scholars for that rendering.<br>
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Translations? Shout Paian! (Paean 2) Shout shout, oh shout Paian! (Paean 4) "Shout, shout now in the Paian style, shout young men!" I think the power as a war cry would be in the alliterative shouting of the "I" sound. Imagine facing a phalanx of Greek hoplites shouting what would sound like, "I, I, I Paian" as they crfushed into you!<br>
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Kevin<br>
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Do you have a reference for the Paian from Xenophon? <p></p><i></i>
<br>
There are a few surviving parts of Paeans in the corpus of the poet Pindar (Born 518 B.C.). The Paean itself is often a rather long poem. As its name implies, it is a sacred hym.<br>
<br>
One part of a Paean that would be most likely sung in a battle is a simple refrain that sounds something like, "Io Paian" (Pindar Paean 2) in some instances, "ie ie, o ie Paian" (Pindar Paean 4) or, "ie iete, nun, metra paionon iete neoi" (Pindar, Paean 6, 120 - 121). It actually looks better in the Greek, my apologies to the Greek scholars for that rendering.<br>
<br>
Translations? Shout Paian! (Paean 2) Shout shout, oh shout Paian! (Paean 4) "Shout, shout now in the Paian style, shout young men!" I think the power as a war cry would be in the alliterative shouting of the "I" sound. Imagine facing a phalanx of Greek hoplites shouting what would sound like, "I, I, I Paian" as they crfushed into you!<br>
<br>
Kevin<br>
<br>
Do you have a reference for the Paian from Xenophon? <p></p><i></i>
