“The breeze will come to tattoo the sea” – Ἐλεύσεται αὔρα θάλασσαν χαράξαι
Simonides of Ceos (556 – 468 BC)
Simonides of Ceos is one of the most renowned lyric poets of ancient Greece, living between the 6th and 5th centuries BC. This was a golden age for Greek poetry, where words were imbued with mythology and nature served as an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
The image of the breeze “tattooing” the sea is not merely a symbol of nature’s constant change and its fleeting beauty, but more profoundly represents a unified and interactive system among natural elements in harmony, where every stimulus finds an appropriate response.
According to Simonides, the breeze embodies the pure essence of lightness; yet even the most imperceptible action manages to exert a significant influence on a vast expanse of water like the sea.
Over the centuries, this extraordinary poem has inspired countless interpretations, largely centered on its metaphorical and symbolic depiction of the breeze and the sea. This specific fragment is frequently cited as a prime example of how ancient poetry used natural imagery to delve into universal themes like change, transience, and nature’s impact on human existence. Water sensitivity, for example, can be viewed as a metaphor for our emotional receptivity and the capacity to be moved by life’s subtle nuances.
However, beyond metaphors and any symbolism, here we are interested in highlighting the behavior of water, so poetically described by Simonides, as it is.
Because it is in the water that we need or want to immerse ourselves, whether for practicing aquawareness or many other reasons; it is therefore essential to know it “truly”. Intimately, personally.
Giancarlo De Leo