The Gospel of Hellas - Research Institute for Waldorf Education

the gospel of hellas
First group (asking): Pou moi ta roda, pou moi ta ia, pou moi ta kala selina?
Where are my roses, where are my violets, where is my
beautiful ivy?
Second group (answering): Tadi ta roda, tadi ta ia, tadi ta kala selina!
Here are the roses, here are the violets, here is the
beautiful ivy!
One notices the sevenfold structure of the meter, the simplicity of the words
in the interplay of questioning and answering. The dark pou moi as shadow, the
answering tadi as gesture of light, the passing of the main vowels from omicron
in roda over iota in ia to alpha in kala selina. It provides the perfect vowel
harmony for expressing the dance gestures of taking and giving.
Another example is the Miller’s Song of Eresos on Lesbos:
Alei myla, alei
Kai gar Pittakos alei megalas
Mytilenas basileuon.
Grind, miller, grind,
for also Pittakos grinds,
many of the Mytilenes ruling.
The verses are full of humor; their brevity and spontaneity are like a bit of
nature; their rhythms work like muscles and sinews; there is nothing too much
or too little. This tiny symphony of vowels sways between the A (alpha) of light
and strength and the Y (ypsilon) of shadow.
The images of such verses were full of naïve perceptions which, however,
disclose a higher symbolic meaning. One of the most charming examples of
pictures which were humorously given as a chain of metamorphoses is the
Drinking Song, an anonymous poem in the Anacreontic style.
The black earth drinks
The trees drink it
The ocean drinks the streams
The sun drinks the ocean,