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Swallow song of Rhodes
The
"Swallow
Song
of Rhodes"
is a
famous
ancient Greek
folk song
. In a
tradition
closely resembling the modern
custom
of
trick-or-treating
, during the month of
Boedromion
, the children on the
Greek island
of
Rhodes
would
go out
dressed
as
swallows
and beg from
door to door
,
singing
the song. The song is preserved by the
ancient
Greek writer,
Athenaeus of Naucratis
, in his book,
The Deipnosophists
. On the
Attic calendar
, the month of Boedromion took place in early
autumn
. It usually began around mid-September and ended
sometime
around mid-October. On the
Rhodian calendar
, however, the month seems to have taken place in early
spring
. The tradition was
claimed
to have been started by the
Rhodian
lawgiver
Cleobulus
.
The melody to the song has not survived. All that has survived of the song are the lyrics themselves. The
full text
of the song in
Ancient Greek
and in English
translation
is as follows:
Original Greek
text
