Analysis of Temethos, Antiochian, A.D. 400

Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)



Lines written by young Temethos, madly in love.
The tile: 'Emonidis' -the favourite
of Antiochos Epiphanis; a very good-looking young man
from Samosata. But if the lines come out
ardent, full of feeling, it's because Emonidis
(belonging to another, much older time:
the 137th year of the Greek kingdom,
maybe a bit earlier) is in the poem
merely as a name -a suitable one nevertheless.
The poem gives voice to the love Temethos feels,
a beautiful kind of love, worthy of him.
We the initiated
his intimate friends- we the initiated
know about whom those lines were written.
The unsuspecting Antiochians read simply 'Emonidis'.


Scheme ABCBDEFFDDGBBHD
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111001 01101 11101011011 11110111 1011101011 01010101101 011110110 100110010010 1010101001001 0101110111 01001111011 100100 11001100100 101111010 001011101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 621
Words 106
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 496
Words per stanza (avg) 104
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
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Constantine P. Cavafy

Constantine P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant. He published 154 poems; dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poetry was written after his fortieth birthday. more…

All Constantine P. Cavafy poems | Constantine P. Cavafy Books

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