ancient Greek

These are translations of ancient Greek epitaphs inscribed on steles (tombstones and other monuments) by the ancient Greeks in remembrance of their dead. I use the term "after" for my translations because they are loose translations and/or interpretations rather than word-for-word translations.

The Seikilos Epitaph
by Michael R. Burch, after Seikilos of Euterpes

1.
Shine, while you live;
blaze beyond grief,
for life is brief
and Time, a thief.

These are my modern English translations of the immortal Sappho of Lesbos. 

A short revealing frock?
It's just my luck
your lips were made to mock!
—Sappho, fragment 155, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch