A boy's furious letter to his father
This letter was found at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt and is catalogued as P. Oxy. 119. It is usually dated to the second or third century AD. Young Theon's father has sailed to Alexandria without him, and Theon has things to say about that. The English is George Milligan's, from 1910.
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The text and translation
Θέων Θέωνι τῷ πατρὶ χαίρειν.
Theon to Theon his father, greeting.
Word by word
- Θέων
- Theon
- Θέωνι
- to Theon
- τῷ
- the
- πατρὶ
- father
- χαίρειν
- greeting
καλῶς ἐποίησες.
You did a fine thing!
Word by word
- καλῶς
- finely
- ἐποίησες
- you did
οὐκ ἀπένηχές με μετ' ἐσοῦ εἰς πόλιν.
You have not taken me away along with you to the city!
Word by word
- οὐκ
- not
- ἀπένηχές
- you took away
- με
- me
- μετ
- with
- ἐσοῦ
- you
- εἰς
- to
- πόλιν
- the city
ἢ οὐ θέλις ἀπενέκκειν μετ' ἐσοῦ εἰς Ἀλεξανδρίαν, οὐ μὴ γράψω σε ἐπιστολήν, οὔτε λαλῶ σε, οὔτε υἱγένω σε εἶτα.
If you refuse to take me along with you to Alexandria, I won't write you a letter, or speak to you, or wish you health.
Word by word
- ἢ
- if [?]
- οὐ
- not
- θέλις
- you want
- ἀπενέκκειν
- to take away
- μετ
- with
- ἐσοῦ
- you
- εἰς
- to
- Ἀλεξανδρίαν
- Alexandria
- οὐ
- not
- μὴ
- (at all)
- γράψω
- I will write
- σε
- to you
- ἐπιστολήν
- a letter
- οὔτε
- nor
- λαλῶ
- speak
- σε
- to you
- οὔτε
- nor
- υἱγένω
- wish health
- σε
- to you
- εἶτα
- then
ἂν δὲ ἔλθῃς εἰς Ἀλεξανδρίαν, οὐ μὴ λάβω χεῖραν παρά σου, οὔτε πάλι χαίρω σε λυπόν.
And if you do go to Alexandria, I won't take your hand, or greet you again henceforth.
Word by word
- ἂν
- if
- δὲ
- and
- ἔλθῃς
- you go
- εἰς
- to
- Ἀλεξανδρίαν
- Alexandria
- οὐ
- not
- μὴ
- (at all)
- λάβω
- I will take
- χεῖραν
- a hand
- παρά
- from
- σου
- you
- οὔτε
- nor
- πάλι
- again
- χαίρω
- greet
- σε
- you
- λυπόν
- from now on
ἂμ μὴ θέλῃς ἀπενέκαι με, ταῦτα γείνετε.
If you refuse to take me, that's what's up!
Word by word
- ἂμ
- if
- μὴ
- not
- θέλῃς
- you want
- ἀπενέκαι
- to take away
- με
- me
- ταῦτα
- these things
- γείνετε
- are happening
καὶ ἡ μήτηρ μου εἶπε Ἀρχελάῳ, ὅτι ἀναστατοῖ με· ἄρρον αὐτόν.
And my mother said to Archelaus, "He upsets me: away with him!"
Word by word
- καὶ
- and
- ἡ
- the
- μήτηρ
- mother
- μου
- my
- εἶπε
- said
- Ἀρχελάῳ
- to Archelaus
- ὅτι
- that
- ἀναστατοῖ
- he upsets
- με
- me
- ἄρρον
- take away
- αὐτόν
- him
καλῶς δὲ ἐποίησες.
But you did a fine thing!
Word by word
- καλῶς
- finely
- δὲ
- but
- ἐποίησες
- you did
δῶρά μοι ἔπεμψες μεγάλα, ἀράκια.
You sent me gifts, great ones, husks!!
Word by word
- δῶρά
- gifts
- μοι
- to me
- ἔπεμψες
- you sent
- μεγάλα
- great
- ἀράκια
- husks [?]
πεπλάνηκαν ἡμῶς ἐκεῖ, τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ιβ' ὅτι ἔπλευσες.
They deceived us there, on the 12th, when you sailed.
Word by word
- πεπλάνηκαν
- they deceived
- ἡμῶς
- us
- ἐκεῖ
- there
- τῇ
- on the
- ἡμέρᾳ
- day
- ιβ
- twelfth
- ὅτι
- when
- ἔπλευσες
- you sailed
λυπὸν πέμψον εἴς με, παρακαλῶ σε.
Send for me then, I beseech you.
Word by word
- λυπὸν
- then
- πέμψον
- send
- εἴς
- for
- με
- me
- παρακαλῶ
- I beg
- σε
- you
ἂμ μὴ πέμψῃς, οὐ μὴ φάγω, οὐ μὴ πείνω.
If you do not send, I won't eat, won't drink!
Word by word
- ἂμ
- if
- μὴ
- not
- πέμψῃς
- you send
- οὐ
- not
- μὴ
- (at all)
- φάγω
- I will eat
- οὐ
- not
- μὴ
- (at all)
- πείνω
- I will drink
ταῦτα.
There now!
Word by word
- ταῦτα
- these things
ἐρῶσθέ σε εὔχομαι.
I pray for your health.
Word by word
- ἐρῶσθέ
- to be well
- σε
- you
- εὔχομαι
- I pray
What to notice
- θέλις is how Theon spells θέλεις (“you want”). The two spellings had come to sound the same, so he wrote what he heard.
- πείνω is another example: “I won't drink” should be spelled πίνω. Spelling mistakes like these are how we know what Greek sounded like by then.
- καλῶς ἐποίησες (“You did a fine thing!”) is pure sarcasm, and he uses it twice.
- ἀράκια means husks. His father's “great gifts” sound like a disappointment.
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Sources
P. Oxy. 119, in George Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri (Cambridge 1910), No. 42, pp. 102-103. Text and English public domain.
Text licence: Public domain.
Language pack licence: Text CC BY 4.0 (SBLGNT); tagging CC BY-SA 3.0 (MorphGNT); glosses CC0.
Text: The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition, Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software (CC BY 4.0). Lemmas and parsing: MorphGNT (James Tauber et al., CC BY-SA 3.0). Glosses: Dodson Greek-English Lexicon (CC0), with AI-written corrections (marked "ai"). English: World English Bible (public domain, eBible.org); it translates the Majority Text, so a verse’s English sometimes has words this Greek edition does not (e.g. the end of the Lord’s Prayer).
The introduction and notes on this page were written by Claude (AI). Word glosses are AI-assisted, and so is the English unless the source above names another translator.