Song (M&F) Song (female crew) Song (female solo) Source Text (Anacreonta 21)
This song is a gift with repeated refrains. On top of that, some of the refrains are only almost the same.
Gainsford writes: "Note. Greeks in the time of the Peloponnesian War would certainly have been familiar with Anacreon, a famous melic poet of the late 500s BCE.
The poems in the Anacreontea, however, are from centuries later. They range from roughly the 1st century BCE to the 6th century CE. The title they bear in their manuscript is because they deal with themes associated with Anacreon ... Anacreon certainly did like a bit of wine.
The shanty has an erroneous repetition of δέ in its first line (= Anacr. 21.2), which cannot mean anything sensible. The error appears to originate from a version of the text that appears on the website ‘Noctes gallicanae’, which is also the origin of typos in shanties 4 and 9."
I couldn't find a working link for only the male crew. Let me know if you find one!
ἡ γὴ μέλαινα πίνει, πίνει δὲ δένδρεα δ' αὐτήν [x2]
πίνει δὲ δένδρεα [x3], δένδρεα δ' αὐτήν
πίνει δὲ δένδρεα [x3], δ' αὐτήν
τί μοι μάχεσθ’ ἑταῖροι, θέλοντι πίνειν;
τί μοι μάχεσθ’ ἑταῖροι, καὐτῷ θέλοντι πίνειν;
ἡ γὴ μέλαινα πίνει, πίνει θάλασσ’ ἀναύρους [x2]
πίνει θάλασσα [x3], θάλασσαν
πίνει θάλασσα [x3] ἀναύρους
τί μοι μάχεσθ’ ἑταῖροι, θέλοντι πίνειν;
τί μοι μάχεσθ’ ἑταῖροι, καὐτῷ θέλοντι πίνειν;
ἡ γὴ μέλαινα πίνει, ὁ δ ἥλιος θάλασσαν [x2]
ὁ δ ἥλιος θάλασσαν [x3], θάλασσαν
ὁ δ ἥλιος θάλασσαν [x3], θάλασσαν
τί μοι μάχεσθ’ ἑταῖροι, θέλοντι πίνειν;
τί μοι μάχεσθ’ ἑταῖροι, καὐτῷ θέλοντι πίνειν;
The black earth drinks,
the trees drink it,
the sea drinks the torrents,
the sun the sea,
the moon the sun.
Why fight with me, my friends,
if I too want to drink?
(Note: this is a translation of the original poem, not the song)