Hilarion's letter to his wife, from 1 BC
This letter was found in the rubbish heaps of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Hilarion, a migrant worker in Alexandria, writes home to his pregnant wife in 1 BC. He sounds loving and worried, and one sentence in the middle has stopped readers cold ever since it was published.
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The text and translation
Ἱλαρίων Ἄλιτι τῇι ἀδελφῇι πλεῖστα χαίρειν καὶ Βεροῦτι τῇ κυρίᾳ μου καὶ Ἀπολλωνάριν.
Hilarion to Alis his sister, heartiest greetings, and to my dear Berous and Apollonarion.
Word by word
- Ἱλαρίων
- Hilarion
- Ἄλιτι
- to Alis
- τῇι
- the
- ἀδελφῇι
- sister
- πλεῖστα
- very many
- χαίρειν
- greetings
- καὶ
- and
- Βεροῦτι
- to Berous
- τῇ
- the
- κυρίᾳ
- lady
- μου
- my
- καὶ
- and
- Ἀπολλωνάριν
- Apollonarion
γίνωσκε ὡς ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἐσμέν·
Know that we are still even now in Alexandria.
Word by word
- γίνωσκε
- know
- ὡς
- that
- ἔτι
- still
- καὶ
- even
- νῦν
- now
- ἐν
- in
- Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ
- Alexandria
- ἐσμέν
- we are
μὴ ἀγωνιᾷς ἐὰν ὅλως εἰσπορεύονται, ἐγὼ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ μένω.
Do not worry if when all the others return I remain in Alexandria.
Word by word
- μὴ
- not
- ἀγωνιᾷς
- worry
- ἐὰν
- if
- ὅλως
- all
- εἰσπορεύονται
- they return
- ἐγὼ
- I
- ἐν
- in
- Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ
- Alexandria
- μένω
- remain
ἐρωτῶ σε καὶ παρακαλῶ σε ἐπιμελήθητι τῷ παιδίῳ καὶ ἐὰν εὐθὺς ὀψώνιον λάβωμεν ἀποστελῶ σε ἄνω.
I beg and beseech of you to take care of the little child, and as soon as we receive wages I will send them to you.
Word by word
- ἐρωτῶ
- I beg
- σε
- you
- καὶ
- and
- παρακαλῶ
- I beseech
- σε
- you
- ἐπιμελήθητι
- take care
- τῷ
- the
- παιδίῳ
- little child
- καὶ
- and
- ἐὰν
- if
- εὐθὺς
- at once
- ὀψώνιον
- wages
- λάβωμεν
- we receive
- ἀποστελῶ
- I will send
- σε
- to you
- ἄνω
- up
ἐὰν πολλαπολλῶν τέκῃς, ἐὰν ἦν ἄρσενον, ἄφες, ἐὰν ἦν θήλεα, ἔκβαλε.
If, good luck to you, you bear a child, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it.
Word by word
- ἐὰν
- if
- πολλαπολλῶν
- good luck [?]
- τέκῃς
- you bear a child
- ἐὰν
- if
- ἦν
- it is
- ἄρσενον
- male
- ἄφες
- let it live
- ἐὰν
- if
- ἦν
- it is
- θήλεα
- female
- ἔκβαλε
- expose it
εἴρηκας δὲ Ἀφροδισιᾶτι ὅτι μή με ἐπιλάθῃς·
You told Aphrodisias, "Do not forget me."
Word by word
- εἴρηκας
- you told
- δὲ
- and
- Ἀφροδισιᾶτι
- to Aphrodisias
- ὅτι
- that
- μή
- not
- με
- me
- ἐπιλάθῃς
- forget
πῶς δύναμαί σε ἐπιλαθεῖν;
How can I forget you?
Word by word
- πῶς
- how
- δύναμαί
- can I
- σε
- you
- ἐπιλαθεῖν
- forget
ἐρωτῶ σε οὖν ἵνα μὴ ἀγωνιάσῃς.
I beg you therefore not to worry.
Word by word
- ἐρωτῶ
- I beg
- σε
- you
- οὖν
- therefore
- ἵνα
- that
- μὴ
- not
- ἀγωνιάσῃς
- you worry
What to notice
- Ἄλιτι τῇι ἀδελφῇι means “to Alis, his sister”. “Sister” could be a term of affection for a wife, and in Roman Egypt she might also really have been his sister.
- ἐὰν ἦν θήλεα, ἔκβαλε means “if it is a girl, expose it”. Abandoning unwanted newborns was legal and common, and this is one of the bluntest pieces of evidence for it we have.
- πῶς δύναμαί σε ἐπιλαθεῖν; means “how can I forget you?” It comes just two lines after the order about the baby, which is what makes the letter so hard to read.
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Sources
P. Oxy. 744, in George Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri (Cambridge 1910), No. 12, pp. 32-33. 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.