Type 37014

Εἰ ζήσας τέκνον ἔτυχες ὁπόσον ζήσας τύχοις
αὖθις τε πάλιν ἔζησας ἄλλο τοσόνδε φεύγοι
πρός τε τοσοῦδε τῆς ζωῆς ἡμίσει χρόνου τύχῃ
σοὶ προστιθείσης ἥμισυ τοῦ μέσου τῆς ζωῆς σου
ἐν ἑκατὸν ἂν ἔτεσιν ἔπνεις σὺν ᾧδε ζῆσαι.
ἐπεὶ δ’ ἀπέθανες, εἰδὼς λογίζεσθαι ζητείτω
ὁπόσοις ἔτεσιν αὐτὸς ἐνταῦθα πνεύσας ἄρτι
ὑπὸ τῇ γῇ κεκοίμησαι κατὰ τὴν γῆν ἐκπνεύσας.
Title(s) Aenigma Vitae et Mortis
Text source F. Acerbi 2025, A Rechenbuch in Vat. gr. 1058, The Vatican Library Review, 4, 89-100: 83
Text status Text completely known
Editorial status Critical text
Genre(s)
Metre(s) Decapentasyllable
Tag(s)
Translation(s) If you could have happened to live, my child, as much as you happened to live
and again and anew you could have lived another
such a one that has fled and to half such a lifetime
your life would happen to take in addition half of its middle for you
you would have breathed and thereby lived for one hundred years.
But since you died, knowing how to compute seek
after breathing how many years here now you
finally sleep under the earth after breathing your last on the earth.
Language
English
Source(s)
F. Acerbi 2025, A Rechenbuch in Vat. gr. 1058, The Vatican Library Review, 4, 89-100: 94
Bibliography
Number of verses 8
Occurrence(s) [37013] εἰ ζήσας τέκνον ἔτυχες ὁπόσον ζήσας τύχοις [1351-1400]
VATICAN CITY - Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana - Vat. gr. 1058 [14th-15th c.] (f. 499r)
(8 verses)
Acknowledgements Information on the type courtesy of Fabio Acerbi.

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Identification
Permalink http://dbbe.ugent.be/types/37014
Last modified: 2025-10-10.