My goodness, an "Ode to Stalin" in Homeric Greek, by Jan Kresadlo, sighted by William Blathers! [Thanks to RogueClassicism]...The Amazon page for Kresadlo's Astronautilia has a little more information (apparently an excerpt from the preface):
"I first 'met' the author of this text in 1984, when one of my colleagues sent me a hadnwritten 'Ode to Stalin' that had turned up in a book at one of the Librarries of my University. This short poem (21 lines long) was written in classical Greek, and had obviously been written by someone who was steeped in the text and dialect of the epic poet Homer. At that time I wrote to my colleague, the late professor George Thaniel, that this was a veritable tour de force; after all, not many of us are capable of composing poetry in ancient Greek, let alone poetry that sounds as thought it might have been written by the founder of western literature! In due course, Professor Thaniel published a brief article on the poem, including the text, in the Athenian periodical Tó Trám for October 1989. In it, he disclosed that the poem had been written as long ago as 1948, and that the author bore the name of Jan Køesadlo.
Now Jan Køesadlo has returned to the fray. But this time he has extended his horizons. This time he has written us an epic poem in 24 books (just like Homer's epics), over 6500 lines in all. This time, once again, he has written something that is appropriate to the age in which we live - a science-fiction story about a cosmic voyage ... The author is obviously very familiar with the language of Homer. ... it is an exciting story, well told, and generally intelligible, if you are moderately familiar with Homer. Read on, and enjoy yourself. We must all express our admiration and thanks to Jan Køesadlo." (Wallace McLeod, University of Toronto, June 24th 1995)
As for the length, WorldCat tells me that the Astronautilia is 261 pages long (and says the Greek text is reproduced "from the author's manuscript"), so not quite Homeric in scope, considering that there is a facing-page Czech translation...but impressive nonetheless! The short discussion at Wikipedia has this from an avid fan:
Fact: Astronautilia *is* an impressive Homeric Greek epic poem. It was so highly rated by the former Oxford University Regius Professor of Classics, Peter Parsons FBA, that he donated his own courtesy copy to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Finally, from Kresadlo's "official website," an extract from the preface, part of the supposed story of how he was given the Greek manuscript by a time-traveler:
And he pulled out the manuscript that you have on the desk in front of you - I opened it - it was in some strange writing.
What's this you've given me, I can't read it.
I am sorry, he said, there has been an error, but now there is no time to fix it, tomorrow night I have to leave for my own time and probably to continue my journey through space.
What happened? - well I explained to Franta - that's the translator's name by the way - that you want literary fame and that he should do a good job of it - but the idiot got a bit mixed up between your period and the renaissance - you understand, since he needs to know so many languages there is not much room for good general knowledge - he would have to be the size of an elephant for that - so he thought that to guarantee the right effect among the intellectuals it would have to be in Classical Greek - so that is what he did - I am very sorry - you know modern theroids must exercise their own initiative, one cannot direct everything they do - and this time it did not work out.
Through a devious chain of connections Křesadlo's son has kindly offered to help me get a copy of the book — and sent me a PDF of the Greek portion. I'm hoping to have the first 50 lines or so up on aoidoi.org in the "Verse Composition" section in a week or so.
Posted by: Wm Annis (blathering...) | September 20, 2006 at 07:35 AM
To Whom It May Concern,
I am the author's son, as it happens. The Ode to Stalin awaits you at http://www.kresadlo.cz/ode.gif
The Ode is central to the plot of, and therefore features in 'GraveLarks' (ISBN 80-86013-81-2) , in Chapter IV on pages 37/38, including this explanatory translation:
"Ruler Stalin, I honour you. Sitting in the white-walled Kremlin, you rule powerfully over the Russians and the Tartars and countless heads of many nations. Crawling in the dust they look up to you as to a god.You have a great army, killing mortals, which brings destruction and Black Death to the lands of foreigners. They kill men and women, they also steal watches worn by honoured men on their wrists, which is a wondrous sight. Other men forged them with knowledge, and you, having come, then take them, for you are all-powerful. Habing covered your arms with many watches, you sit beholding your indicators of time, proud in your glory. They all kiss your feet and a** in terror. For you yourself rule, and those who displease you, you send to the land of Siberia to a camp where they freeze, bound in strong chains, and die. All the men and women of the land of Russia pray to you in terror, for you are the supreme god. It is said the sun himslef is your eye and the smnouldering thunderbolt is Stalin's fart."
Posted by: vzjp | September 24, 2006 at 04:06 PM