Poem In Translation: The Women of Athens

Chico Buarque is a Brazilian musician who has in recent years fallen out of favor with many Brazilians because of his unwavering support for recent socialist governments. This song, Mulheres de Atenas, or The Women of Athens, was written in the early 70s as a feminist anthem. Despite his and this song's dubious leftist credentials, I think it is a powerful examination of the lot of women in a pagan patriarchal society. Without God all life is tragic, and the tragedy of women is, in large part, the tragedy of how they relate to men.

Here is my translation of Buarque's famous song.

The Women of Athens

Behold the example of those women of Athens,
They live for their husbands, the heart and pride of Athens.
When loved, they perfume themselves,
Bathe in milk and arrange their manes.
When whipped they weep not,
But kneel, implore, and plead for
More arduous pains: chains.

Look upon the example of those women of Athens.
They suffer for their husbands, the power and strength of Athens.
When their men in a thousand ships sail for soldiers,
In a thousand quarantines
They weave long tapestry borders.
And upon their return, lusty and thirsty,
Their men tear from them caresses openly
Obscene and dirty.

Behold the example of those women of Athens.
They strip for their husbands, the brave warriors of Athens.
When gorged with wine
They seek out at evening strange embraces.
But at night's end, in pieces, nearly always return to the kisses
Of their little Hellenes.

Look upon the example of those women of Athens,
Bringing forth for their husbands the new sons of Athens.
They have no tastes nor will,
Neither defect nor quality,
But only fear.
They have no dreams, only visions:
Their men, shipwrecks, oceans,
Wine-dark sirens.

Behold the example of those women of Athens.
They fear for their husbands, heroes and lovers of Athens.
The young stained widows,
The abandoned expectant mothers,
They make no scenes.
They shrink in and dress in black,
They conform and shrink back
Into their vigils of mourning.

Look upon the example of those women of Athens,
Used up for their husbands, the pride and joy of Athens.