Salve Regina in Greek

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Background: I teach catechism to Grade 6 kids. Part of what I’m teaching is a number of formulaic prayers used in the Catholic Church. Now, my class is quite culturally diverse and so some of the kids requested to learn the prayers in this or that language. It turns out, one of my kids is a baptized Orthodox (his dad is Catholic). Therefore, I do my best to use the version of a prayer that Byzantine Catholics use as “the Greek translation” on my prayer list. With all that in mind…

I hope you can understand why I’m having a hard time finding a faithful translation (or any translation) of Salve Regina in Greek. At this point, I’m not even expecting or hoping for a version that Byzantine Catholics would use. I just want to find a Greek translation. Now, I understand that this prayer in particular is deeply steeped in the Latin tradition and so it wouldn’t necessarily transfer over to the other Rites. However, I’m turning to this forum because I’m hoping that someone here speaks Greek fluently enough to make a faithful translation of the prayer. If possible, using both the Greek alphabet as well as a transliteration.

Again, please don’t take this as a Latin Catholic imposing anything on the Eastern Churches or anything of that sort. That is definitely not my intent. I just really need help. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
 
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I don’t know about the Salve Regina prayer but
From the Orthodoxwiki:
The Hail Mary prayer of the Orthodox Christian Church and Eastern Catholic Churches is in the following form: Θεοτόκε Παρθένε, χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη Μαρία, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξί, καὶ εὐλογημένος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου, ὅτι Σωτήρα ἔτεκες τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν.

Theotokos Virgin, rejoice, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with You. Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have borne the Savior of our souls.
 
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OmegaPraetor said:
Now, I understand that this prayer in particular is deeply steeped in the Latin tradition
Click to expand...
Therein I think lies the root of your problem.

Have you considered the following alternative as a learning exercise for your student? Presumably this student can speak English. Perhaps the student could have a go at translating it. You could also use Google Translate. I am fully aware that it is not an excellent translator but it is a starting point.
 
I know this isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, but in a pinch, there’s a hymn that expresses the same sentiment as the Salve Regina and very well known (part of Divine Liturgy). It’s called “Axion Estin”. If you type it into YouTube you can find it chanted:

English:
It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos
Ever-blessed and most pure and the mother of our God
More honorable than the Cherubim
And more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim
Without corruption you gave birth to God the Word
True Theotokos we magnify you!

Greek:
Ἄξιόν ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς,
μακαρίζειν σε τὴν Θεοτόκον,
τὴν ἀειμακάριστον καὶ παναμώμητον
καὶ μητέρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
Τὴν τιμιωτέραν τῶν Χερουβεὶμ
καὶ ἐνδοξοτέραν ἀσυγκρίτως τῶν Σεραφείμ,
τὴν ἀδιαφθόρως Θεὸν Λόγον τεκοῦσαν,
τὴν ὄντως Θεοτόκον,
σὲ μεγαλύνομεν.

Greek transliterated:
Axion estin os alithos
makarizein se tin theotokon,
tin aimakariston kai panamomiton
kai metera tou theou imon.
Tin timioteran ton heruvim
kai endhoxoteran asikritos ton serafim.
Tin adhiafthoros theon logon tekoussan
tin ontos theotokon
se megalinomen.
 
I would direct you to the Sub tuum praesidium hymn instead as it was originally written in Greek. A copy has been found written around the years 250-300 AD. It is the earliest hymn where Mary as the Theotokos is mentioned.

Greek text:
Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν,
καταφεύγομεν, Θεοτόκε.
Τὰς ἡμῶν ἱκεσίας,
μὴ παρίδῃς ἐν περιστάσει,
ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ κινδύνων λύτρωσαι ἡμᾶς,
μόνη Ἁγνή, μόνη εὐλογημένη.

English from that is:
Beneath your compassion,
We take refuge, O Mother of God:
do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:
but rescue us from dangers,
only pure, only blessed one.

Latin text:
Sub tuum praesidium confugimus,
sancta Dei Genitrix:
nostras deprecationes
ne despicias in necessitatibus:
sed a periculis cunctis
libera nos semper,
Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.
 
Thank you for your response. I had used this version of the Hail Mary for the Greek translation when I had sent out a document dealing with the Hail Mary.
 
The student himself speaks English, but he’s interested in getting in touch with his Greek heritage. He could, in theory, approach his mom to translate it but I don’t think that would go over well.
 
This might be a good avenue to go down in case I can’t find a direct Greek translation. If anything, it would be a teachable moment and something he might encounter if he ever goes to a Byzantine Divine Liturgy (for some reason, his mother brings him to the Roman Mass despite being technically Orthodox). In any case, thank you for forwarding this to me and providing the three versions!
 
Thank you for forwarding this resource! I’ll check them out.
 
This is the translation that I obtained the website of Catholic Church’s episcopacy in Greece (kantam.gr):

Χαίρε, Δέσποινα,
Μητέρα πολυεύσπλαχνη, ζωή, χαρά και
ελπίδα μας, χαίρε.
Εσένα ικετεύουμε εμείς τα εξόριστα
τέκνα της Εύας.
Σ΄ εσένα καταφεύγουμε, θρηνώντας
και κλαίγοντας σ΄ αυτήν την κοιλάδα
των δακρύων.
Εσύ, λοιπόν, Συνήγορέ μας, στρέψε
προς εμάς το βλέμμα σου το
ευσπλαχνικό.
Και μετά από αυτή την εξορία, δείξε
μας τον Ιησού, τον ευλογημένο καρπό
της κοιλίας σου.
Εσύ που είσαι ευσπλαχνική και
φιλόστοργη, γλυκιά Παρθένε Μαρία

Chaire, Despoina,
Metera polueusplangne, zoe, chara kai
elpida mas, chaire.
Esena iketeuoume emeis ta eksorista
tekna tes Euas.
S’ esena katapheugoume, Threnontas
kai klaigontas s’ auten ten koilada
ton dakruon.
Esu, loipon, Sunegore mas, strepse
pros emas to blemma sou to
eusplangniko.
Kai meta apo aute ten eksoria, deikse
mas ton Iesou, ton eulogemeno karpo
tes kolias sou.
Esu pou eisai eusplangnike kai philostorge, glukia Parthene Maria.

Note that this is a literal transliteration without consideration of all the phonological rules (e.g. Δέσποινα despoina is more pronounced like thespina).
 
Not at all uncommon. I have great empathy for students in this situation who are caught between two cultures. If he does not want to know the Salve regina in Greek I would say it is better to spend your energies on a thousand and one other things you probably need to do,.
 
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