Title: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
Author: Hesiod
Language: English
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Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica

by Homer and Hesiod

Contents

 PREPARER’S NOTE
 PREFACE

 INTRODUCTION
 General
 The Boeotian School
 Life of Hesiod
 The Hesiodic Poems
 I. _The Works and Days_
 II. The Genealogical Poems
 Date of the Hesiodic Poems
 Literary Value of Homer
 The Ionic School
 The Trojan Cycle
 The Homeric Hymns
 The Epigrams of Homer
 The Burlesque Poems
 The Contest of Homer and Hesiod

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 HESIOD
 HESIOD’S WORKS AND DAYS
 THE DIVINATION BY BIRDS
 THE ASTRONOMY
 THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON
 THE GREAT WORKS
 THE IDAEAN DACTYLS
 THE THEOGONY
 THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE
 THE SHIELD OF HERACLES
 THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX
 THE GREAT EOIAE
 THE MELAMPODIA
 THE AEGIMIUS
 FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION
 DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS

 THE HOMERIC HYMNS
 I. TO DIONYSUS
 II. TO DEMETER
 III. TO APOLLO
 IV. TO HERMES
 V. TO APHRODITE
 VI. TO APHRODITE
 VII. TO DIONYSUS
 VIII. TO ARES
 IX. TO ARTEMIS
 X. TO APHRODITE
 XI. TO ATHENA
 XII. TO HERA
 XIII. TO DEMETER
 XIV. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS
 XV. TO HERACLES THE LION-HEARTED
 XVI. TO ASCLEPIUS
 XVII. TO THE DIOSCURI
 XVIII. TO HERMES
 XIX. TO PAN
 XX. TO HEPHAESTUS
 XXI. TO APOLLO
 XXII. TO POSEIDON
 XXIII. TO THE SON OF CRONOS, MOST HIGH
 XXIV. TO HESTIA
 XXV. TO THE MUSES AND APOLLO
 XXVI. TO DIONYSUS
 XXVII. TO ARTEMIS
 XXVIII. TO ATHENA
 XXIX. TO HESTIA
 XXX. TO EARTH THE MOTHER OF ALL
 XXXI. TO HELIOS
 XXXII. TO SELENE
 XXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI

 THE EPIGRAMS OF HOMER

 THE EPIC CYCLE
 THE WAR OF THE TITANS
 THE STORY OF OEDIPUS
 THE THEBAID
 THE EPIGONI
 THE CYPRIA
 THE AETHIOPIS
 THE LITTLE ILIAD
 THE SACK OF ILIUM
 THE RETURNS
 THE TELEGONY

 HOMERICA
 THE EXPEDITION OF AMPHIARAUS
 THE TAKING OF OECHALIA
 THE PHOCAIS
 THE MARGITES
 THE CERCOPES
 THE BATTLE OF FROGS AND MICE

 THE CONTEST OF HOMER AND HESIOD

 ENDNOTES



This file contains translations of the following works: Hesiod: _Works
and Days_, _The Theogony_, fragments of _The Catalogues of Women and
the Eoiae_, _The Shield of Heracles_ (attributed to Hesiod), and
fragments of various works attributed to Hesiod.
 Homer: _The Homeric Hymns_, _The Epigrams of Homer_ (both attributed
 to Homer).

 Various: Fragments of the Epic Cycle (parts of which are sometimes
 attributed to Homer), fragments of other epic poems attributed to
 Homer, _The Battle of Frogs and Mice_, and _The Contest of Homer and
 Hesiod_.

 This file contains only that portion of the book in English; Greek
 texts are excluded. Where Greek characters appear in the original
 English text, transcription in CAPITALS is substituted.


LibraryBlog Editor’s Note: 262 footnotes notes previously
scattered through the text have been moved to the end of the file and
each given an unique number. There are links to and from each footnote.



PREPARER’S NOTE


In order to make this file more accessible to the average computer
user, the preparer has found it necessary to re-arrange some of the
material. The preparer takes full responsibility for his choice of
arrangement.

A few endnotes have been added by the preparer, and some additions have
been supplied to the original endnotes of Mr. Evelyn-White’s. Where
this occurs I have noted the addition with my initials “DBK”. Some
endnotes, particularly those concerning textual variations in the
ancient Greek text, are here omitted.



PREFACE


This volume contains practically all that remains of the post-Homeric
and pre-academic epic poetry.

I have for the most part formed my own text. In the case of Hesiod I
have been able to use independent collations of several MSS. by Dr.
W.H.D. Rouse; otherwise I have depended on the _apparatus criticus_ of
the several editions, especially that of Rzach (1902). The arrangement
adopted in this edition, by which the complete and fragmentary poems
are restored to the order in which they would probably have appeared
had the Hesiodic corpus survived intact, is unusual, but should not
need apology; the true place for the _Catalogues_ (for example),
fragmentary as they are, is certainly after the _Theogony_.

In preparing the text of the _Homeric Hymns_ my chief debt—and it is a
heavy one—is to the edition of Allen and Sikes (1904) and to the series
of articles in the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ (vols. xv. _sqq_.) by
T.W. Allen. To the same scholar and to the Delegates of the Clarendon
Press I am greatly indebted for permission to use the restorations of
the _Hymn to Demeter_, lines 387-401 and 462-470, printed in the Oxford
Text of 1912.

Of the fragments of the Epic Cycle I have given only such as seemed to
possess distinct importance or interest, and in doing so have relied
mostly upon Kinkel’s collection and on the fifth volume of the Oxford
Homer (1912).

The texts of the _Batrachomyomachia_ and of the _Contest of Homer and
Hesiod_ are those of Baumeister and Flach respectively: where I have
diverged from these, the fact has been noted.

Owing to the circumstances of the present time I have been prevented
from giving to the _Introduction_ that full revision which I should
have desired.

Hugh G. Evelyn-White,
Rampton, NR. Cambridge.
_Sept_. 9_th_, 1914.



INTRODUCTION

General

The early Greek epic—that is, poetry as a natural and popular, and not
(as it became later) an artificial and academic literary form—passed
through the usual three phases, of development, of maturity, and of
decline.

No fragments which can be identified as belonging to the first period
survive to give us even a general idea of the history of the earliest
epic, and we are therefore thrown back upon the evidence of analogy
from other forms of literature and of inference from the two great
epics which have come down to us. So reconstructed, the earliest period
appears to us as a time of slow development in which the characteristic
epic metre, diction, and structure grew up slowly from crude elements
and were improved until the verge of maturity was reached.

The second period, which produced the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_, needs
no description here: but it is very important to observe the effect of
these poems on the course of post-Homeric epic. As the supreme
perfection and universality of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ cast into
oblivion whatever pre-Homeric poets had essayed, so these same
qualities exercised a paralysing influence over the successors of
Homer. If they continued to sing like their great predecessor of
romantic themes, they were drawn as by a kind of magnetic attraction
into the Homeric style and manner of treatment, and became mere echoes
of the Homeric voice: in a word, Homer had so completely exhausted the
epic _genre_, that after him further efforts were doomed to be merely
conventional. Only the rare and exceptional genius of Vergil and Milton
could use the Homeric medium without loss of individuality: and this
quality none of the later epic poets seem to have possessed. Freedom
from the domination of the great tradition could only be found by
seeking new subjects, and such freedom was really only illusionary,
since romantic subjects alone are suitable for epic treatment.

In its third period, therefore, epic poetry shows two divergent
tendencies. In Ionia and the islands the epic poets followed the
Homeric tradition, singing of romantic subjects in the now stereotyped
heroic style, and showing originality only in their choice of legends
hitherto neglected or summarily and imperfectly treated. In continental
Greece 1101, on the other hand, but especially in Boeotia, a new form
of epic sprang up, which for the romance and PATHOS of the Ionian
School substituted the practical and matter-of-fact. It dealt in moral
and practical maxims, in information on technical subjects which are of
service in daily life—agriculture, astronomy, augury, and the
calendar—in matters of religion and in tracing the genealogies of men.
Its attitude is summed up in the words of the Muses to the writer of
the _Theogony_: ‘We can tell many a feigned tale to look like truth,
but we can, when we will, utter the truth’ (_Theogony_ 26-27). Such a
poetry could not be permanently successful, because the subjects of
which it treats—if susceptible of poetic treatment at all—were
certainly not suited for epic treatment, where unity of action which
will sustain interest, and to which each part should contribute, is
absolutely necessary. While, therefore, an epic like the _Odyssey_ is
an organism and dramatic in structure, a work such as the _Theogony_ is
a merely artificial collocation of facts, and, at best, a pageant. It
is not surprising, therefore, to find that from the first the Boeotian
school is forced to season its matter with romantic episodes, and that
later it tends more and more to revert (as in the _Shield of Heracles_)
to the Homeric tradition.

The Boeotian School

How did the continental school of epic poetry arise? There is little
definite material for an answer to this question, but the probability
is that there were at least three contributory causes. First, it is
likely that before the rise of the Ionian epos there existed in Boeotia
a purely popular and indigenous poetry of a crude form: it comprised,
we may suppose, versified proverbs and precepts relating to life in
general, agricultural maxims, weather-lore, and the like. In this sense
the Boeotian poetry may be taken to have its germ in maxims similar to
our English

“Till May be out, ne’er cast a clout,”


or

“A rainbow in the morning
Is the Shepherd’s warning.”


Secondly and thirdly we may ascribe the rise of the new epic to the
nature of the Boeotian people and, as already remarked, to a spirit of
revolt against the old epic. The Boeotians, people of the class of
which Hesiod represents himself to be the type, were essentially
unromantic; their daily needs marked the general limit of their ideals,
and, as a class, they cared little for works of fancy, for pathos, or
for fine thought as such. To a people of this nature the Homeric epos
would be inacceptable, and the post-Homeric epic, with its conventional
atmosphere, its trite and hackneyed diction, and its insincere
sentiment, would be anathema. We can imagine, therefore, that among
such folk a settler, of Aeolic origin like Hesiod, who clearly was well
acquainted with the Ionian epos, would naturally see that the only
outlet for his gifts lay in applying epic poetry to new themes
acceptable to his hearers.

Though the poems of the Boeotian school 1102 were unanimously assigned
to Hesiod down to the age of Alexandrian criticism, they were clearly
neither the work of one man nor even of one period: some, doubtless,
were fraudulently fathered on him in order to gain currency; but it is
probable that most came to be regarded as his partly because of their
general character, and partly because the names of their real authors
were lost. One fact in this attribution is remarkable—the veneration
paid to Hesiod.

Life of Hesiod

Our information respecting Hesiod is derived in the main from notices
and allusions in the works attributed to him, and to these must be
added traditions concerning his death and burial gathered from later
writers.

Hesiod’s father (whose name, by a perversion of _Works and Days_, 299
PERSE DION GENOS to PERSE, DION GENOS, was thought to have been Dius)
was a native of Cyme in Aeolis, where he was a seafaring trader and,
perhaps, also a farmer. He was forced by poverty to leave his native
place, and returned to continental Greece, where he settled at Ascra
near Thespiae in Boeotia (_Works and Days_, 636 ff.). Either in Cyme or
Ascra, two sons, Hesiod and Perses, were born to the settler, and
these, after his death, divided the farm between them. Perses, however,
who is represented as an idler and spendthrift, obtained and kept the
larger share by bribing the corrupt “lords” who ruled from Thespiae
(_Works and Days_, 37-39). While his brother wasted his patrimony and
ultimately came to want (_Works and Days_, 34 ff.), Hesiod lived a
farmer’s life until, according to the very early tradition preserved by
the author of the _Theogony_ (22-23), the Muses met him as he was
tending sheep on Mt. Helicon and “taught him a glorious song”—doubtless
the _Works and Days_. The only other personal reference is to his
victory in a poetical contest at the funeral games of Amphidamas at
Chalcis in Euboea, where he won the prize, a tripod, which he dedicated
to the Muses of Helicon (_Works and Days_, 651-9).

Before we go on to the story of Hesiod’s death, it will be well to
inquire how far the “autobiographical” notices can be treated as
historical, especially as many critics treat some, or all of them, as
spurious. In the first place attempts have been made to show that
“Hesiod” is a significant name and therefore fictitious: it is only
necessary to mention Goettling’s derivation from IEMI to ODOS (which
would make ‘Hesiod’ mean the ‘guide’ in virtues and technical arts),
and to refer to the pitiful attempts in the _Etymologicum Magnu_
(_s.v._ {H}ESIODUS), to show how prejudiced and lacking even in
plausibility such efforts are. It seems certain that “Hesiod” stands as
a proper name in the fullest sense. Secondly, Hesiod claims that his
father—if not he himself—came from Aeolis and settled in Boeotia. There
is fairly definite evidence to warrant our acceptance of this: the
dialect of the _Works and Days_ is shown by Rzach 1103 to contain
distinct Aeolisms apart from those which formed part of the general
stock of epic poetry. And that this Aeolic speaking poet was a Boeotian
of Ascra seems even more certain, since the tradition is never once
disputed, insignificant though the place was, even before its
destruction by the Thespians.

Again, Hesiod’s story of his relations with his brother Perses have
been treated with scepticism (_see_ Murray, _Anc. Gk. Literature_, pp.
53-54): Perses, it is urged, is clearly a mere dummy, set up to be the
target for the poet’s exhortations. On such a matter precise evidence
is naturally not forthcoming; but all probability is against the
sceptical view. For 1) if the quarrel between the brothers were a
fiction, we should expect it to be detailed at length and not noticed
allusively and rather obscurely—as we find it; 2) as MM. Croiset
remark, if the poet needed a lay-figure the ordinary practice was to
introduce some mythological person—as, in fact, is done in the
_Precepts of Chiron_. In a word, there is no more solid ground for
treating Perses and his quarrel with Hesiod as fictitious than there
would be for treating Cyrnus, the friend of Theognis, as mythical.

Thirdly, there is the passage in the _Theogony_ relating to Hesiod and
the Muses. It is surely an error to suppose that lines 22-35 all refer
to Hesiod: rather, the author of the _Theogony_ tells the story of his
own inspiration by the same Muses who _once_ taught Hesiod glorious
song. The lines 22-3 are therefore a very early piece of tradition
about Hesiod, and though the appearance of Muses must be treated as a
graceful fiction, we find that a writer, later than the _Works and
Days_ by perhaps no more than three-quarters of a century, believed in
the actuality of Hesiod and in his life as a farmer or shepherd.

Lastly, there is the famous story of the contest in song at Chalcis. In
later times the modest version in the _Works and Days_ was elaborated,
first by making Homer the opponent whom Hesiod conquered, while a later
period exercised its ingenuity in working up the story of the contest
into the elaborate form in which it still survives. Finally the
contest, in which the two poets contended with hymns to Apollo 1104,
was transferred to Delos. These developments certainly need no
consideration: are we to say the same of the passage in the _Works and
Days?_ Critics from Plutarch downwards have almost unanimously rejected
the lines 654-662, on the ground that Hesiod’s Amphidamas is the hero
of the Lelantine Wars between Chalcis and Eretria, whose death may be
placed _circa_ 705 B.C.—a date which is obviously too low for the
genuine Hesiod. Nevertheless, there is much to be said in defence of
the passage. Hesiod’s claim in the _Works and Days_ is modest, since he
neither pretends to have met Homer, nor to have sung in any but an
impromptu, local festival, so that the supposed interpolation lacks a
sufficient motive. And there is nothing in the context to show that
Hesiod’s Amphidamas is to be identified with that Amphidamas whom
Plutarch alone connects with the Lelantine War: the name may have been
borne by an earlier Chalcidian, an ancestor, perhaps, of the person to
whom Plutarch refers.

The story of the end of Hesiod may be told in outline. After the
contest at Chalcis, Hesiod went to Delphi and there was warned that the
‘issue of death should overtake him in the fair grove of Nemean Zeus.’
Avoiding therefore Nemea on the Isthmus of Corinth, to which he
supposed the oracle to refer, Hesiod retired to Oenoe in Locris where
he was entertained by Amphiphanes and Ganyetor, sons of a certain
Phegeus. This place, however, was also sacred to Nemean Zeus, and the
poet, suspected by his hosts of having seduced their sister 1105, was
murdered there. His body, cast into the sea, was brought to shore by
dolphins and buried at Oenoe (or, according to Plutarch, at Ascra): at
a later time his bones were removed to Orchomenus. The whole story is
full of miraculous elements, and the various authorities disagree on
numerous points of detail. The tradition seems, however, to be constant
in declaring that Hesiod was murdered and buried at Oenoe, and in this
respect it is at least as old as the time of Thucydides. In conclusion
it may be worth while to add the graceful epigram of Alcaeus of Messene
(_Palatine Anthology_, vii 55).

“When in the shady Locrian grove Hesiod lay dead, the Nymphs washed his
body with water from their own springs, and heaped high his grave; and
thereon the goat-herds sprinkled offerings of milk mingled with
yellow-honey: such was the utterance of the nine Muses that he breathed
forth, that old man who had tasted of their pure springs.”

The Hesiodic Poems

The Hesiodic poems fall into two groups according as they are didactic
(technical or gnomic) or genealogical: the first group centres round
the _Works and Days_, the second round the _Theogony_.

I. “The Works and Days”

The poem consists of four main sections. (_a_) After the prelude, which
Pausanias failed to find in the ancient copy engraved on lead seen by
him on Mt. Helicon, comes a general exhortation to industry. It begins
with the allegory of the two Strifes, who stand for wholesome Emulation
and Quarrelsomeness respectively. Then by means of the Myth of Pandora
the poet shows how evil and the need for work first arose, and goes on
to describe the Five Ages of the World, tracing the gradual increase in
evil, and emphasizing the present miserable condition of the world, a
condition in which struggle is inevitable. Next, after the Fable of the
Hawk and Nightingale, which serves as a condemnation of violence and
injustice, the poet passes on to contrast the blessing which
Righteousness brings to a nation, and the punishment which Heaven sends
down upon the violent, and the section concludes with a series of
precepts on industry and prudent conduct generally. (_b_) The second
section shows how a man may escape want and misery by industry and care
both in agriculture and in trading by sea. Neither subject, it should
be carefully noted, is treated in any way comprehensively. (_c_) The
third part is occupied with miscellaneous precepts relating mostly to
actions of domestic and everyday life and conduct which have little or
no connection with one another. (_d_) The final section is taken up
with a series of notices on the days of the month which are favourable
or unfavourable for agricultural and other operations.

It is from the second and fourth sections that the poem takes its name.
At first sight such a work seems to be a miscellany of myths, technical
advice, moral precepts, and folklore maxims without any unifying
principle; and critics have readily taken the view that the whole is a
canto of fragments or short poems worked up by a redactor. Very
probably Hesiod used much material of a far older date, just as
Shakespeare used the _Gesta Romanorum_, old chronicles, and old plays;
but close inspection will show that the _Works and Days_ has a real
unity and that the picturesque title is somewhat misleading. The poem
has properly no technical object at all, but is moral: its real aim is
to show men how best to live in a difficult world. So viewed the four
seemingly independent sections will be found to be linked together in a
real bond of unity. Such a connection between the first and second
sections is easily seen, but the links between these and the third and
fourth are no less real: to make life go tolerably smoothly it is most
important to be just and to know how to win a livelihood; but happiness
also largely depends on prudence and care both in social and home life
as well, and not least on avoidance of actions which offend
supernatural powers and bring ill-luck. And finally, if your industry
is to be fruitful, you must know what days are suitable for various
kinds of work. This moral aim—as opposed to the currently accepted
technical aim of the poem—explains the otherwise puzzling
incompleteness of the instructions on farming and seafaring.

Of the Hesiodic poems similar in character to the _Works and Days_,
only the scantiest fragments survive. One at least of these, the
_Divination by Birds_, was, as we know from Proclus, attached to the
end of the _Works_ until it was rejected by Apollonius Rhodius:
doubtless it continued the same theme of how to live, showing how man
can avoid disasters by attending to the omens to be drawn from birds.
It is possible that the _Astronomy_ or _Astrology_ (as Plutarch calls
it) was in turn appended to the _Divination_. It certainly gave some
account of the principal constellations, their dates of rising and
setting, and the legends connected with them, and probably showed how
these influenced human affairs or might be used as guides. The
_Precepts of Chiron_ was a didactic poem made up of moral and practical
precepts, resembling the gnomic sections of the _Works and Days_,
addressed by the Centaur Chiron to his pupil Achilles. Even less is
known of the poem called the _Great Works_: the title implies that it
was similar in subject to the second section of the _Works and Days_,
but longer. Possible references in Roman writers 1106 indicate that
among the subjects dealt with were the cultivation of the vine and
olive and various herbs. The inclusion of the judgment of Rhadamanthys
(frag. 1): “If a man sow evil, he shall reap evil,” indicates a gnomic
element, and the note by Proclus 1107 on _Works and Days_ 126 makes it
likely that metals also were dealt with. It is therefore possible that
another lost poem, the _Idaean Dactyls_, which dealt with the discovery
of metals and their working, was appended to, or even was a part of the
_Great Works_, just as the _Divination by Birds_ was appended to the
_Works and Days_.

II. The Genealogical Poems

The only complete poem of the genealogical group is the _Theogony_,
which traces from the beginning of things the descent and vicissitudes
of the families of the gods. Like the _Works and Days_ this poem has no
dramatic plot; but its unifying principle is clear and simple. The gods
are classified chronologically: as soon as one generation is
catalogued, the poet goes on to detail the offspring of each member of
that generation. Exceptions are only made in special cases, as the Sons
of Iapetus (ll. 507-616) whose place is accounted for by their
treatment by Zeus. The chief landmarks in the poem are as follows:
after the first 103 lines, which contain at least three distinct
preludes, three primeval beings are introduced, Chaos, Earth, and
Eros—here an indefinite reproductive influence. Of these three, Earth
produces Heaven to whom she bears the Titans, the Cyclopes and the
hundred-handed giants. The Titans, oppressed by their father, revolt at
the instigation of Earth, under the leadership of Cronos, and as a
result Heaven and Earth are separated, and Cronos reigns over the
universe. Cronos knowing that he is destined to be overcome by one of
his children, swallows each one of them as they are born, until Zeus,
saved by Rhea, grows up and overcomes Cronos in some struggle which is
not described. Cronos is forced to vomit up the children he had
swallowed, and these with Zeus divide the universe between them, like a
human estate. Two events mark the early reign of Zeus, the war with the
Titans and the overthrow of Typhoeus, and as Zeus is still reigning the
poet can only go on to give a list of gods born to Zeus by various
goddesses. After this he formally bids farewell to the cosmic and
Olympian deities and enumerates the sons born of goddess to mortals.
The poem closes with an invocation of the Muses to sing of the “tribe
of women”.

This conclusion served to link the _Theogony_ to what must have been a
distinct poem, the _Catalogues of Women_. This work was divided into
four (Suidas says five) books, the last one (or two) of which was known
as the _Eoiae_ and may have been again a distinct poem: the curious
title will be explained presently. The _Catalogues_ proper were a
series of genealogies which traced the Hellenic race (or its more
important peoples and families) from a common ancestor. The reason why
women are so prominent is obvious: since most families and tribes
claimed to be descended from a god, the only safe clue to their origin
was through a mortal woman beloved by that god; and it has also been
pointed out that _mutterrecht_ still left its traces in northern Greece
in historical times.

The following analysis (after Marckscheffel) 1108 will show the
principle of its composition. From Prometheus and Pronoia sprang
Deucalion and Pyrrha, the only survivors of the deluge, who had a son
Hellen (frag. 1), the reputed ancestor of the whole Hellenic race. From
the daughters of Deucalion sprang Magnes and Macedon, ancestors of the
Magnesians and Macedonians, who are thus represented as cousins to the
true Hellenic stock. Hellen had three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus,
parents of the Dorian, Ionic and Aeolian races, and the offspring of
these was then detailed. In one instance a considerable and
characteristic section can be traced from extant fragments and notices:
Salmoneus, son of Aeolus, had a daughter Tyro who bore to Poseidon two
sons, Pelias and Neleus; the latter of these, king of Pylos, refused
Heracles purification for the murder of Iphitus, whereupon Heracles
attacked and sacked Pylos, killing amongst the other sons of Neleus
Periclymenus, who had the power of changing himself into all manner of
shapes. From this slaughter Neleus alone escaped (frags. 13, and
10-12). This summary shows the general principle of arrangement of the
_Catalogues_: each line seems to have been dealt with in turn, and the
monotony was relieved as far as possible by a brief relation of famous
adventures connected with any of the personages—as in the case of
Atalanta and Hippomenes (frag. 14). Similarly the story of the
Argonauts appears from the fragments (37-42) to have been told in some
detail.

This tendency to introduce romantic episodes led to an important
development. Several poems are ascribed to Hesiod, such as the
_Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis_, the _Descent of Theseus into
Hades_, or the _Circuit of the Earth_ (which must have been connected
with the story of Phineus and the Harpies, and so with the
Argonaut-legend), which yet seem to have belonged to the _Catalogues_.
It is highly probable that these poems were interpolations into the
_Catalogues_ expanded by later poets from more summary notices in the
genuine Hesiodic work and subsequently detached from their contexts and
treated as independent. This is definitely known to be true of the
_Shield of Heracles_, the first 53 lines of which belong to the fourth
book of the _Catalogues_, and almost certainly applies to other
episodes, such as the _Suitors of Helen_ 1109, the _Daughters of
Leucippus_, and the _Marriage of Ceyx_, which last Plutarch mentions as
“interpolated in the works of Hesiod.”

To the _Catalogues_, as we have said, was appended another work, the
_Eoiae_. The title seems to have arisen in the following way 1110: the
_Catalogues_ probably ended (ep. _Theogony_ 963 ff.) with some such
passage as this: “But now, ye Muses, sing of the tribes of women with
whom the Sons of Heaven were joined in love, women pre-eminent above
their fellows in beauty, such as was Niobe (?).” Each succeeding
heroine was then introduced by the formula “Or such as was...” (cp.
frags. 88, 92, etc.). A large fragment of the _Eoiae_ is extant at the
beginning of the _Shield of Heracles_, which may be mentioned here. The
“supplement” (ll. 57-480) is nominally Heracles and Cycnus, but the
greater part is taken up with an inferior description of the shield of
Heracles, in imitation of the Homeric shield of Achilles (_Iliad_
xviii. 478 ff.). Nothing shows more clearly the collapse of the
principles of the Hesiodic school than this ultimate servile dependence
upon Homeric models.

At the close of the _Shield_ Heracles goes on to Trachis to the house
of Ceyx, and this warning suggests that the _Marriage of Ceyx_ may have
come immediately after the ‘Or such as was’ of Alcmena in the _Eoiae_:
possibly Halcyone, the wife of Ceyx, was one of the heroines sung in
the poem, and the original section was “developed” into the _Marriage_,
although what form the poem took is unknown.

Next to the _Eoiae_ and the poems which seemed to have been developed
from it, it is natural to place the _Great Eoiae_. This, again, as we
know from fragments, was a list of heroines who bare children to the
gods: from the title we must suppose it to have been much longer that
the simple _Eoiae_, but its extent is unknown. Lehmann, remarking that
the heroines are all Boeotian and Thessalian (while the heroines of the
_Catalogues_ belong to all parts of the Greek world), believes the
author to have been either a Boeotian or Thessalian.

Two other poems are ascribed to Hesiod. Of these the _Aegimius_ (also
ascribed by Athenaeus to Cercops of Miletus), is thought by Valckenaer
to deal with the war of Aegimus against the Lapithae and the aid
furnished to him by Heracles, and with the history of Aegimius and his
sons. Otto Muller suggests that the introduction of Thetis and of
Phrixus (frags. 1-2) is to be connected with notices of the allies of
the Lapithae from Phthiotis and Iolchus, and that the story of Io was
incidental to a narrative of Heracles’ expedition against Euboea. The
remaining poem, the _Melampodia_, was a work in three books, whose plan
it is impossible to recover. Its subject, however, seems to have been
the histories of famous seers like Mopsus, Calchas, and Teiresias, and
it probably took its name from Melampus, the most famous of them all.

Date of the Hesiodic Poems

There is no doubt that the _Works and Days_ is the oldest, as it is the
most original, of the Hesiodic poems. It seems to be distinctly earlier
than the _Theogony_, which refers to it, apparently, as a poem already
renowned. Two considerations help us to fix a relative date for the
_Works_. (1) In diction, dialect and style it is obviously dependent
upon Homer, and is therefore considerably later than the _Iliad_ and
_Odyssey_: moreover, as we have seen, it is in revolt against the
romantic school, already grown decadent, and while the digamma is still
living, it is obviously growing weak, and is by no means uniformly
effective.

(2) On the other hand while tradition steadily puts the Cyclic poets at
various dates from 776 B.C. downwards, it is equally consistent in
regarding Homer and Hesiod as “prehistoric”. Herodotus indeed puts both
poets 400 years before his own time; that is, at about 830-820 B.C.,
and the evidence stated above points to the middle of the ninth century
as the probable date for the _Works and Days_. The _Theogony_ might be
tentatively placed a century later; and the _Catalogues_ and _Eoiae_
are again later, but not greatly later, than the _Theogony_: the
_Shield of Heracles_ may be ascribed to the later half of the seventh
century, but there is not evidence enough to show whether the other
“developed” poems are to be regarded as of a date so low as this.

Literary Value of Homer

Quintillian’s 1111 judgment on Hesiod that ‘he rarely rises to great
heights... and to him is given the palm in the middle-class of speech’
is just, but is liable to give a wrong impression. Hesiod has nothing
that remotely approaches such scenes as that between Priam and
Achilles, or the pathos of Andromache’s preparations for Hector’s
return, even as he was falling before the walls of Troy; but in matters
that come within the range of ordinary experience, he rarely fails to
rise to the appropriate level. Take, for instance, the description of
the Iron Age (_Works and Days_, 182 ff.) with its catalogue of
wrongdoings and violence ever increasing until Aidos and Nemesis are
forced to leave mankind who thenceforward shall have ‘no remedy against
evil’. Such occasions, however, rarely occur and are perhaps not
characteristic of Hesiod’s genius: if we would see Hesiod at his best,
in his most natural vein, we must turn to such a passage as that which
he himself—according to the compiler of the _Contest of Hesiod and
Homer_—selected as best in all his work, ‘When the Pleiades, Atlas’
daughters, begin to rise...’ (_Works and Days_, 383 ff.). The value of
such a passage cannot be analysed: it can only be said that given such
a subject, this alone is the right method of treatment.

Hesiod’s diction is in the main Homeric, but one of his charms is the
use of quaint allusive phrases derived, perhaps, from a pre-Hesiodic
peasant poetry: thus the season when Boreas blows is the time when ‘the
Boneless One gnaws his foot by his fireless hearth in his cheerless
house’; to cut one’s nails is ‘to sever the withered from the quick
upon that which has five branches’; similarly the burglar is the
‘day-sleeper’, and the serpent is the ‘hairless one’. Very similar is
his reference to seasons through what happens or is done in that
season: ‘when the House-carrier, fleeing the Pleiades, climbs up the
plants from the earth’, is the season for harvesting; or ‘when the
artichoke flowers and the clicking grass-hopper, seated in a tree,
pours down his shrill song’, is the time for rest.

Hesiod’s charm lies in his child-like and sincere naivete, in his
unaffected interest in and picturesque view of nature and all that
happens in nature. These qualities, it is true, are those pre-eminently
of the _Works and Days_: the literary values of the _Theogony_ are of a
more technical character, skill in ordering and disposing long lists of
names, sure judgment in seasoning a monotonous subject with marvellous
incidents or episodes, and no mean imagination in depicting the awful,
as is shown in the description of Tartarus (ll. 736-745). Yet it
remains true that Hesiod’s distinctive title to a high place in Greek
literature lies in the very fact of his freedom from classic form, and
his grave, and yet child-like, outlook upon his world.

The Ionic School

The Ionic School of Epic poetry was, as we have seen, dominated by the
Homeric tradition, and while the style and method of treatment are
Homeric, it is natural that the Ionic poets refrained from cultivating
the ground tilled by Homer, and chose for treatment legends which lay
beyond the range of the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_. Equally natural it is
that they should have particularly selected various phases of the tale
of Troy which preceded or followed the action of the _Iliad_ or
_Odyssey_. In this way, without any preconceived intention, a body of
epic poetry was built up by various writers which covered the whole
Trojan story. But the entire range of heroic legend was open to these
poets, and other clusters of epics grew up dealing particularly with
the famous story of Thebes, while others dealt with the beginnings of
the world and the wars of heaven. In the end there existed a kind of
epic history of the world, as known to the Greeks, down to the death of
Odysseus, when the heroic age ended. In the Alexandrian Age these poems
were arranged in chronological order, apparently by Zenodotus of
Ephesus, at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. At a later time the
term _Cycle_, “round” or “course”, was given to this collection.

Of all this mass of epic poetry only the scantiest fragments survive;
but happily Photius has preserved to us an abridgment of the synopsis
made of each poem of the “Trojan Cycle” by Proclus, _i.e._ Eutychius
Proclus of Sicca.

The pre-Trojan poems of the Cycle may be noticed first. The
_Titanomachy_, ascribed both to Eumelus of Corinth and to Arctinus of
Miletus, began with a kind of Theogony which told of the union of
Heaven and Earth and of their offspring the Cyclopes and the
Hundred-handed Giants. How the poem proceeded we have no means of
knowing, but we may suppose that in character it was not unlike the
short account of the Titan War found in the Hesiodic _Theogony_ (617
ff.).

What links bound the _Titanomachy_ to the Theben Cycle is not clear.
This latter group was formed of three poems, the _Story of Oedipus_,
the _Thebais_, and the _Epigoni_. Of the _Oedipodea_ practically
nothing is known, though on the assurance of Athenaeus (vii. 277 E)
that Sophocles followed the Epic Cycle closely in the plots of his
plays, we may suppose that in outline the story corresponded closely to
the history of Oedipus as it is found in the _Oedipus Tyrannus_. The
_Thebais_ seems to have begun with the origin of the fatal quarrel
between Eteocles and Polyneices in the curse called down upon them by
their father in his misery. The story was thence carried down to the
end of the expedition under Polyneices, Adrastus and Amphiarus against
Thebes. The _Epigoni_ (ascribed to Antimachus of Teos) recounted the
expedition of the “After-Born” against Thebes, and the sack of the
city.

The Trojan Cycle

Six epics with the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ made up the Trojan
Cycle—The _Cyprian Lays_, the _Iliad_, the _Aethiopis_, the _Little
Iliad_, the _Sack of Troy_, the _Returns_, the _Odyssey_, and the
_Telegony_.

It has been assumed in the foregoing pages that the poems of the Trojan
Cycle are later than the Homeric poems; but, as the opposite view has
been held, the reasons for this assumption must now be given. (1)
Tradition puts Homer and the Homeric poems proper back in the ages
before chronological history began, and at the same time assigns the
purely Cyclic poems to definite authors who are dated from the first
Olympiad (776 B.C.) downwards. This tradition cannot be purely
arbitrary. (2) The Cyclic poets (as we can see from the abstract of
Proclus) were careful not to trespass upon ground already occupied by
Homer. Thus, when we find that in the _Returns_ all the prominent Greek
heroes except Odysseus are accounted for, we are forced to believe that
the author of this poem knew the _Odyssey_ and judged it unnecessary to
deal in full with that hero’s adventures. 1112 In a word, the Cyclic
poems are “written round” the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_. (3) The
general structure of these epics is clearly imitative. As M.M. Croiset
remark, the abusive Thersites in the _Aethiopis_ is clearly copied from
the Thersites of the _Iliad_; in the same poem Antilochus, slain by
Memnon and avenged by Achilles, is obviously modelled on Patroclus. (4)
The geographical knowledge of a poem like the _Returns_ is far wider
and more precise than that of the _Odyssey_. (5) Moreover, in the
Cyclic poems epic is clearly degenerating morally—if the expression may
be used. The chief greatness of the _Iliad_ is in the character of the
heroes Achilles and Hector rather than in the actual events which take
place: in the Cyclic writers facts rather than character are the
objects of interest, and events are so packed together as to leave no
space for any exhibition of the play of moral forces. All these reasons
justify the view that the poems with which we now have to deal were
later than the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_, and if we must recognize the
possibility of some conventionality in the received dating, we may feel
confident that it is at least approximately just.

The earliest of the post-Homeric epics of Troy are apparently the
_Aethiopis_ and the _Sack of Ilium_, both ascribed to Arctinus of
Miletus who is said to have flourished in the first Olympiad (776
B.C.). He set himself to finish the tale of Troy, which, so far as
events were concerned, had been left half-told by Homer, by tracing the
course of events after the close of the _Iliad_. The _Aethiopis_ thus
included the coming of the Amazon Penthesilea to help the Trojans after
the fall of Hector and her death, the similar arrival and fall of the
Aethiopian Memnon, the death of Achilles under the arrow of Paris, and
the dispute between Odysseus and Aias for the arms of Achilles. The
_Sack of Ilium_ 1113 as analysed by Proclus was very similar to
Vergil’s version in _Aeneid_ ii, comprising the episodes of the wooden
horse, of Laocoon, of Sinon, the return of the Achaeans from Tenedos,
the actual Sack of Troy, the division of spoils and the burning of the
city.

Lesches or Lescheos (as Pausanias calls him) of Pyrrha or Mitylene is
dated at about 660 B.C. In his _Little Iliad_ he undertook to elaborate
the _Sack_ as related by Arctinus. His work included the adjudgment of
the arms of Achilles to Odysseus, the madness of Aias, the bringing of
Philoctetes from Lemnos and his cure, the coming to the war of
Neoptolemus who slays Eurypylus, son of Telephus, the making of the
wooden horse, the spying of Odysseus and his theft, along with
Diomedes, of the Palladium: the analysis concludes with the admission
of the wooden horse into Troy by the Trojans. It is known, however
(Aristotle, _Poetics_, xxiii; Pausanias, x, 25-27), that the _Little
Iliad_ also contained a description of the _Sack of Troy_. It is
probable that this and other superfluous incidents disappeared after
the Alexandrian arrangement of the poems in the Cycle, either as the
result of some later recension, or merely through disuse. Or Proclus
may have thought it unnecessary to give the accounts by Lesches and
Arctinus of the same incident.

The _Cyprian Lays_, ascribed to Stasinus of Cyprus 1114 (but also to
Hegesinus of Salamis) was designed to do for the events preceding the
action of the _Iliad_ what Arctinus had done for the later phases of
the Trojan War. The _Cypria_ begins with the first causes of the war,
the purpose of Zeus to relieve the overburdened earth, the apple of
discord, the rape of Helen. Then follow the incidents connected with
the gathering of the Achaeans and their ultimate landing in Troy; and
the story of the war is detailed up to the quarrel between Achilles and
Agamemnon with which the _Iliad_ begins.

These four poems rounded off the story of the _Iliad_, and it only
remained to connect this enlarged version with the _Odyssey_. This was
done by means of the _Returns_, a poem in five books ascribed to Agias
or Hegias of Troezen, which begins where the _Sack of Troy_ ends. It
told of the dispute between Agamemnon and Menelaus, the departure from
Troy of Menelaus, the fortunes of the lesser heroes, the return and
tragic death of Agamemnon, and the vengeance of Orestes on Aegisthus.
The story ends with the return home of Menelaus, which brings the
general narrative up to the beginning of the _Odyssey_.

But the _Odyssey_ itself left much untold: what, for example, happened
in Ithaca after the slaying of the suitors, and what was the ultimate
fate of Odysseus? The answer to these questions was supplied by the
_Telegony_, a poem in two books by Eugammon of Cyrene (_fl_. 568 B.C.).
It told of the adventures of Odysseus in Thesprotis after the killing
of the Suitors, of his return to Ithaca, and his death at the hands of
Telegonus, his son by Circe. The epic ended by disposing of the
surviving personages in a double marriage, Telemachus wedding Circe,
and Telegonus Penelope.

The end of the Cycle marks also the end of the Heroic Age.

The Homeric Hymns

The collection of thirty-three Hymns, ascribed to Homer, is the last
considerable work of the Epic School, and seems, on the whole, to be
later than the Cyclic poems. It cannot be definitely assigned either to
the Ionian or Continental schools, for while the romantic element is
very strong, there is a distinct genealogical interest; and in matters
of diction and style the influences of both Hesiod and Homer are
well-marked. The date of the formation of the collection as such is
unknown. Diodorus Siculus (_temp_. Augustus) is the first to mention
such a body of poetry, and it is likely enough that this is, at least
substantially, the one which has come down to us. Thucydides quotes the
Delian _Hymn to Apollo_, and it is possible that the Homeric corpus of
his day also contained other of the more important hymns. Conceivably
the collection was arranged in the Alexandrine period.

Thucydides, in quoting the _Hymn to Apollo_, calls it PROOIMION, which
ordinarily means a “prelude” chanted by a rhapsode before recitation of
a lay from Homer, and such hymns as Nos. vi, xxxi, xxxii, are clearly
preludes in the strict sense; in No. xxxi, for example, after
celebrating Helios, the poet declares he will next sing of the “race of
mortal men, the demi-gods”. But it may fairly be doubted whether such
Hymns as those to _Demeter_ (ii), _Apollo_ (iii), _Hermes_ (iv),
_Aphrodite_ (v), can have been real preludes, in spite of the closing
formula “and now I will pass on to another hymn”. The view taken by
Allen and Sikes, amongst other scholars, is doubtless right, that these
longer hymns are only technically preludes and show to what
disproportionate lengths a simple literacy form can be developed.

The Hymns to _Pan_ (xix), to _Dionysus_ (xxvi), to _Hestia and Hermes_
(xxix), seem to have been designed for use at definite religious
festivals, apart from recitations. With the exception perhaps of the
_Hymn to Ares_ (viii), no item in the collection can be regarded as
either devotional or liturgical.

The Hymn is doubtless a very ancient form; but if no example of extreme
antiquity survive this must be put down to the fact that until the age
of literary consciousness, such things are not preserved.

First, apparently, in the collection stood the _Hymn to Dionysus_, of
which only two fragments now survive. While it appears to have been a
hymn of the longer type 1115, we have no evidence to show either its
scope or date.

The _Hymn to Demeter_, extant only in the MS. discovered by Matthiae at
Moscow, describes the seizure of Persephone by Hades, the grief of
Demeter, her stay at Eleusis, and her vengeance on gods and men by
causing famine. In the end Zeus is forced to bring Persephone back from
the lower world; but the goddess, by the contriving of Hades, still
remains partly a deity of the lower world. In memory of her sorrows
Demeter establishes the Eleusinian mysteries (which, however, were
purely agrarian in origin).

This hymn, as a literary work, is one of the finest in the collection.
It is surely Attic or Eleusinian in origin. Can we in any way fix its
date? Firstly, it is certainly not later than the beginning of the
sixth century, for it makes no mention of Iacchus, and the Dionysiac
element was introduced at Eleusis at about that period. Further, the
insignificance of Triptolemus and Eumolpus point to considerable
antiquity, and the digamma is still active. All these considerations
point to the seventh century as the probable date of the hymn.

The _Hymn to Apollo_ consists of two parts, which beyond any doubt were
originally distinct, a Delian hymn and a Pythian hymn. The Delian hymn
describes how Leto, in travail with Apollo, sought out a place in which
to bear her son, and how Apollo, born in Delos, at once claimed for
himself the lyre, the bow, and prophecy. This part of the existing hymn
ends with an encomium of the Delian festival of Apollo and of the
Delian choirs. The second part celebrates the founding of Pytho
(Delphi) as the oracular seat of Apollo. After various wanderings the
god comes to Telphus, near Haliartus, but is dissuaded by the nymph of
the place from settling there and urged to go on to Pytho where, after
slaying the she-dragon who nursed Typhaon, he builds his temple. After
the punishment of Telphusa for her deceit in giving him no warning of
the dragoness at Pytho, Apollo, in the form of a dolphin, brings
certain Cretan shipmen to Delphi to be his priests; and the hymn ends
with a charge to these men to behave orderly and righteously.

The Delian part is exclusively Ionian and insular both in style and
sympathy; Delos and no other is Apollo’s chosen seat: but the second
part is as definitely continental; Delos is ignored and Delphi alone is
the important centre of Apollo’s worship. From this it is clear that
the two parts need not be of one date—The first, indeed, is ascribed
(Scholiast on Pindar _Nem_. ii, 2) to Cynaethus of Chios (_fl_. 504
B.C.), a date which is obviously far too low; general considerations
point rather to the eighth century. The second part is not later than
600 B.C.; for (1) the chariot-races at Pytho, which commenced in 586
B.C., are unknown to the writer of the hymn, (2) the temple built by
Trophonius and Agamedes for Apollo (ll. 294-299) seems to have been
still standing when the hymn was written, and this temple was burned in
548. We may at least be sure that the first part is a Chian work, and
that the second was composed by a continental poet familiar with
Delphi.

The _Hymn to Hermes_ differs from others in its burlesque, quasi-comic
character, and it is also the best-known of the Hymns to English
readers in consequence of Shelley’s translation.

After a brief narrative of the birth of Hermes, the author goes on to
show how he won a place among the gods. First the new-born child found
a tortoise and from its shell contrived the lyre; next, with much
cunning circumstance, he stole Apollo’s cattle and, when charged with
the theft by Apollo, forced that god to appear in undignified guise
before the tribunal of Zeus. Zeus seeks to reconcile the pair, and
Hermes by the gift of the lyre wins Apollo’s friendship and purchases
various prerogatives, a share in divination, the lordship of herds and
animals, and the office of messenger from the gods to Hades.

The Hymn is hard to date. Hermes’ lyre has seven strings and the
invention of the seven-stringed lyre is ascribed to Terpander (_flor_.
676 B.C.). The hymn must therefore be later than that date, though
Terpander, according to Weir Smyth 1116, may have only modified the
scale of the lyre; yet while the burlesque character precludes an early
date, this feature is far removed, as Allen and Sikes remark, from the
silliness of the _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, so that a date in the
earlier part of the sixth century is most probable.

The _Hymn to Aphrodite_ is not the least remarkable, from a literary
point of view, of the whole collection, exhibiting as it does in a
masterly manner a divine being as the unwilling victim of an
irresistible force. It tells how all creatures, and even the gods
themselves, are subject to the will of Aphrodite, saving only Artemis,
Athena, and Hestia; how Zeus to humble her pride of power caused her to
love a mortal, Anchises; and how the goddess visited the hero upon Mt.
Ida. A comparison of this work with the Lay of Demodocus (_Odyssey_
viii, 266 ff.), which is superficially similar, will show how far
superior is the former in which the goddess is but a victim to forces
stronger than herself. The lines (247-255) in which Aphrodite tells of
her humiliation and grief are specially noteworthy.

There are only general indications of date. The influence of Hesiod is
clear, and the hymn has almost certainly been used by the author of the
_Hymn to Demeter_, so that the date must lie between these two periods,
and the seventh century seems to be the latest date possible.

The _Hymn to Dionysus_ relates how the god was seized by pirates and
how with many manifestations of power he avenged himself on them by
turning them into dolphins. The date is widely disputed, for while
Ludwich believes it to be a work of the fourth or third century, Allen
and Sikes consider a sixth or seventh century date to be possible. The
story is figured in a different form on the reliefs from the choragic
monument of Lysicrates, now in the British Museum 1117.

Very different in character is the _Hymn to Ares_, which is Orphic in
character. The writer, after lauding the god by detailing his
attributes, prays to be delivered from feebleness and weakness of soul,
as also from impulses to wanton and brutal violence.

The only other considerable hymn is that to _Pan_, which describes how
he roams hunting among the mountains and thickets and streams, how he
makes music at dusk while returning from the chase, and how he joins in
dancing with the nymphs who sing the story of his birth. This, beyond
most works of Greek literature, is remarkable for its fresh and
spontaneous love of wild natural scenes.

The remaining hymns are mostly of the briefest compass, merely hailing
the god to be celebrated and mentioning his chief attributes. The Hymns
to _Hermes_ (xviii), to the _Dioscuri_ (xvii), and to _Demeter_ (xiii)
are mere abstracts of the longer hymns iv, xxxiii, and ii.

The Epigrams of Homer

The _Epigrams of Homer_ are derived from the pseudo-Herodotean _Life of
Homer_, but many of them occur in other documents such as the _Contest
of Homer and Hesiod_, or are quoted by various ancient authors. These
poetic fragments clearly antedate the “Life” itself, which seems to
have been so written round them as to supply appropriate occasions for
their composition. Epigram iii on Midas of Larissa was otherwise
attributed to Cleobulus of Lindus, one of the Seven Sages; the address
to Glaucus (xi) is purely Hesiodic; xiii, according to MM. Croiset, is
a fragment from a gnomic poem. Epigram xiv is a curious poem attributed
on no very obvious grounds to Hesiod by Julius Pollox. In it the poet
invokes Athena to protect certain potters and their craft, if they
will, according to promise, give him a reward for his song; if they
prove false, malignant gnomes are invoked to wreck the kiln and hurt
the potters.

The Burlesque Poems

To Homer were popularly ascribed certain burlesque poems in which
Aristotle (_Poetics_ iv) saw the germ of comedy. Most interesting of
these, were it extant, would be the _Margites_. The hero of the epic is
at once sciolist and simpleton, “knowing many things, but knowing them
all badly”. It is unfortunately impossible to trace the plan of the
poem, which presumably detailed the adventures of this unheroic
character: the metre used was a curious mixture of hexametric and
iambic lines. The date of such a work cannot be high: Croiset thinks it
may belong to the period of Archilochus (c. 650 B.C.), but it may well
be somewhat later.

Another poem, of which we know even less, is the _Cercopes_. These
Cercopes (‘Monkey-Men’) were a pair of malignant dwarfs who went about
the world mischief-making. Their punishment by Heracles is represented
on one of the earlier metopes from Selinus. It would be idle to
speculate as to the date of this work.

Finally there is the _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_. Here is told the
story of the quarrel which arose between the two tribes, and how they
fought, until Zeus sent crabs to break up the battle. It is a parody of
the warlike epic, but has little in it that is really comic or of
literary merit, except perhaps the list of quaint arms assumed by the
warriors. The text of the poem is in a chaotic condition, and there are
many interpolations, some of Byzantine date.

Though popularly ascribed to Homer, its real author is said by Suidas
to have been Pigres, a Carian, brother of Artemisia, ‘wife of
Mausolus’, who distinguished herself at the battle of Salamis.

Suidas is confusing the two Artemisias, but he may be right in
attributing the poem to about 480 B.C.

The Contest of Homer and Hesiod

This curious work dates in its present form from the lifetime or
shortly after the death of Hadrian, but seems to be based in part on an
earlier version by the sophist Alcidamas (c. 400 B.C.). Plutarch
(_Conviv. Sept. Sap._, 40) uses an earlier (or at least a shorter)
version than that which we possess 1118. The extant _Contest_, however,
has clearly combined with the original document much other ill-digested
matter on the life and descent of Homer, probably drawing on the same
general sources as does the Herodotean _Life of Homer_. Its scope is as
follows: (1) the descent (as variously reported) and relative dates of
Homer and Hesiod; (2) their poetical contest at Chalcis; (3) the death
of Hesiod; (4) the wanderings and fortunes of Homer, with brief notices
of the circumstances under which his reputed works were composed, down
to the time of his death.

The whole tract is, of course, mere romance; its only values are (1)
the insight it give into ancient speculations about Homer; (2) a
certain amount of definite information about the Cyclic poems; and (3)
the epic fragments included in the stichomythia of the _Contest_
proper, many of which—did we possess the clue—would have to be referred
to poems of the Epic Cycle.



BIBLIOGRAPHY


HESIOD.—The classification and numerations of MSS. here followed is
that of Rzach (1913). It is only necessary to add that on the whole the
recovery of Hesiodic papyri goes to confirm the authority of the
mediaeval MSS. At the same time these fragments have produced much that
is interesting and valuable, such as the new lines, _Works and Days_
169 a-d, and the improved readings _ib_. 278, _Theogony_ 91, 93. Our
chief gains from papyri are the numerous and excellent fragments of the
Catalogues which have been recovered.

_Works and Days:_—

S    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1090.

A    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).

B    Geneva, Naville Papyri Pap. 94 (6th cent.).

C    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2771 (11th cent.).

D    Florence, Laur. xxxi 39 (12th cent.).

E    Messina, Univ. Lib. Preexistens 11 (12th-13th cent.).

F    Rome, Vatican 38 (14th cent.).

G    Venice, Marc. ix 6 (14th cent.).

H    Florence, Laur. xxxi 37 (14th cent.).

I    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).

K    Florence, Laur. xxxii 2 (14th cent.).

L    Milan, Ambros. G 32 sup. (14th cent.).

M    Florence, Bibl. Riccardiana 71 (15th cent.).

N    Milan, Ambros. J 15 sup. (15th cent.).

O    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2773 (14th cent.).

P    Cambridge, Trinity College (Gale MS.), O.9.27 (13th-14th cent.).

Q    Rome, Vatican 1332 (14th cent.).

These MSS. are divided by Rzach into the following families, issuing
from a common original:—

Ωa = C

Ωb = F, G, H

Ψa = D

Ψb = I ,K, L, M

Φa = E

Φb = N, O, P, Q

_Theogony:_—

N    Manchester, Rylands GK. Papyri No. 54 (1st cent. B.C.—1st cent.
A.D.).

O    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 873 (3rd cent.).

A    Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. (papyrus) 1099 (4th-5th cent.).

B    London, British Museam clix (4th cent.).

R    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).

C    Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).

D    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).

E    Florence, Laur., Conv. suppr. 158 (14th cent.).

F    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833 (15th cent.).

G    Rome, Vatican 915 (14th cent.).

H    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2772 (14th cent.).

I    Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).

K    Venice, Marc. ix 6 (15th cent.).

L    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2708 (15th cent.).

These MSS. are divided into two families:

Ωa = C,D

Ωb = E, F

Ωc = G, H, I

Ψ = K, L

_Shield of Heracles:_—

P    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 689 (2nd cent.).

A    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-29 (4th cent.).

Q    Berlin Papyri, 9774 (1st cent.).

B    Paris, Bibl. Nat., Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).

C    Paris, Bibl. Nat., Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).

D    Milan, Ambros. C 222 (13th cent.).

E    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).

F    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2773 (14th cent.).

G    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2772 (14th cent.).

H    Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).

I    London, British Museam Harleianus (14th cent.).

K    Rome, Bibl. Casanat. 356 (14th cent.)

L    Florence, Laur. Conv. suppr. 158 (14th cent.).

M    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833 (15th cent.).

These MSS. belong to two families:

Ωa = B, C, D, F

Ωb = G, H, I

Ψa = E

Ψb = K, L, M

To these must be added two MSS. of mixed family:

N    Venice, Marc. ix 6 (14th cent.).

O    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2708 (15th cent.).

_Editions of Hesiod:_—

Demetrius Chalcondyles, Milan (?) 1493 (?) (_editio princeps_,
containing, however, only the _Works and Days_).

Aldus Manutius (Aldine edition), Venice, 1495 (complete works).

Juntine Editions, 1515 and 1540.

Trincavelli, Venice, 1537 (with scholia).

Of modern editions, the following may be noticed:—

Gaisford, Oxford, 1814-1820; Leipzig, 1823 (with scholia: in Poett.
Graec. Minn II).

Goettling, Gotha, 1831 (3rd edition. Leipzig, 1878).

Didot Edition, Paris, 1840.

Schömann, 1869.

Koechly and Kinkel, Leipzig, 1870.

Flach, Leipzig, 1874-8.

Rzach, Leipzig, 1902 (larger edition), 1913 (smaller edition).

On the Hesiodic poems generally the ordinary Histories of Greek
Literature may be consulted, but especially the _Hist. de la
Littérature Grecque_ I pp. 459 ff. of MM. Croiset. The summary account
in Prof. Murray’s _Anc. Gk. Lit._ is written with a strong sceptical
bias. Very valuable is the appendix to Mair’s translation (Oxford,
1908) on _The Farmer’s Year in Hesiod_. Recent work on the Hesiodic
poems is reviewed in full by Rzach in Bursian’s _Jahresberichte_ vols.
100 (1899) and 152 (1911).

For the _Fragments_ of Hesiodic poems the work of Markscheffel,
_Hesiodi Fragmenta_ (Leipzig, 1840), is most valuable: important also
is Kinkel’s _Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta_ I (Leipzig, 1877) and the
editions of Rzach noticed above. For recently discovered papyrus
fragments see Wilamowitz, _Neue Bruchstücke d. Hesiod Katalog_
(Sitzungsb. der k. preuss. Akad. fur Wissenschaft, 1900, pp. 839-851).
A list of papyri belonging to lost Hesiodic works may here be added:
all are the _Catalogues_.

1) Berlin Papyri 7497 1201 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 7.

2) _Oxyrhynchus Papyri_ 421 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 7.

3) _Petrie Papyri_ iii 3.—Frag. 14.

4) _Papiri greci e latine_, No. 130 (2nd-3rd cent.).—Frag. 14.

5) Strassburg Papyri, 55 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 58.

6) Berlin Papyri 9739 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 58.

7) Berlin Papyri 10560 (3rd cent.).—Frag. 58.

8) Berlin Papyri 9777 (4th cent.).—Frag. 98.

9) _Papiri greci e latine_, No. 131 (2nd-3rd cent.).—Frag. 99.

10) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358-9.

_The Homeric Hymns:_—The text of the Homeric hymns is distinctly bad in
condition, a fact which may be attributed to the general neglect under
which they seem to have laboured at all periods previously to the
Revival of Learning. Very many defects have been corrected by the
various editions of the Hymns, but a considerable number still defy all
efforts; and especially an abnormal number of undoubted lacuna
disfigure the text. Unfortunately no papyrus fragment of the Hymns has
yet emerged, though one such fragment (_Berl. Klassikertexte_ v.1. pp.
7 ff.) contains a paraphrase of a poem very closely parallel to the
_Hymn to Demeter_.

The mediaeval MSS. 1202 are thus enumerated by Dr. T.W. Allen:—

A    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2763.

At   Athos, Vatopedi 587.

B    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2765.

C    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833.

Γ   Brussels, Bibl. Royale 11377-11380 (16th cent.).

D    Milan, Amrbos. B 98 sup.

E    Modena, Estense iii E 11.

G    Rome, Vatican, Regina 91 (16th cent.).

H    London, British Mus. Harley 1752.

J    Modena, Estense, ii B 14.

K    Florence, Laur. 31, 32.

L    Florence, Laur. 32, 45.

L2   Florence, Laur. 70, 35.

L3   Florence, Laur. 32, 4.

M    Leyden (the Moscow MS.) 33 H (14th cent.).

Mon. Munich, Royal Lib. 333 c.

N    Leyden, 74 c.

O    Milan, Ambros. C 10 inf.

P    Rome, Vatican Pal. graec. 179.

Π    Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. graec. 1095.

Q    Milan, Ambros. S 31 sup.

R1   Florence, Bibl. Riccard. 53 K ii 13.

R2   Florence, Bibl. Riccard. 52 K ii 14.

S    Rome, Vatican, Vaticani graec. 1880.

T    Madrid, Public Library 24.

V    Venice, Marc. 456.

The same scholar has traced all the MSS. back to a common parent from
which three main families are derived (M had a separate descent and is
not included in any family):—

x1 = E, T

x2 = L, Π,(and more remotely) At, D, S, H, J, K.

y = E, L, Π, T (marginal readings).

p = A, B, C, Γ, G, L2, L3, N, O, P, Q, R1, R2, V, Mon.

_Editions of the Homeric Hymns_, &c.

Demetrius Chalcondyles, Florence, 1488 (with the _Epigrams_ and the
_Battle of the Frogs and Mice_ in the _ed. pr._ of Homer).

Aldine Edition, Venice, 1504.

Juntine Edition, 1537.

Stephanus, Paris, 1566 and 1588.

More modern editions or critical works of value are:

Martin (Variarum Lectionum libb. iv), Paris, 1605.

Barnes, Cambridge, 1711.

Ruhnken, Leyden, 1782 (Epist. Crit. and _Hymn to Demeter_).

Ilgen, Halle, 1796 (with _Epigrams_ and the _Battle of the Frogs and
Mice_).

Matthiae, Leipzig, 1806 (with the _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_).

Hermann, Berling, 1806 (with _Epigrams_).

Franke, Leipzig, 1828 (with _Epigrams_ and the _Battle of the Frogs and
Mice_).

Dindorff (Didot edition), Paris, 1837.

Baumeister (_Battle of the Frogs and Mice_), Göttingen, 1852.

Baumeister (_Hymns_), Leipzig, 1860.

Gemoll, Leipzig, 1886.

Goodwin, Oxford, 1893.

Ludwich (_Battle of the Frogs and Mice_), 1896.

Allen and Sikes, London, 1904.

Allen (Homeri Opera v), Oxford, 1912.

Of these editions that of Messrs Allen and Sikes is by far the best:
not only is the text purged of the load of conjectures for which the
frequent obscurities of the Hymns offer a special opening, but the
Introduction and the Notes throughout are of the highest value. For a
full discussion of the MSS. and textual problems, reference must be
made to this edition, as also to Dr. T.W. Allen’s series of articles in
the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ vols. xv ff. Among translations those
of J. Edgar (Edinburgh), 1891) and of Andrew Lang (London, 1899) may be
mentioned.

_The Epic Cycle_.

The fragments of the Epic Cycle, being drawn from a variety of authors,
no list of MSS. can be given. The following collections and editions
may be mentioned:—

Muller, Leipzig, 1829.

Dindorff (Didot edition of Homer), Paris, 1837-56.

Kinkel (Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta i), Leipzig, 1877.

Allen (Homeri Opera v), Oxford, 1912.

The fullest discussion of the problems and fragments of the epic cycle
is F.G. Welcker’s _der epische Cyclus_ (Bonn, vol. i, 1835: vol. ii,
1849: vol. i, 2nd edition, 1865). The Appendix to Monro’s _Homer’s
Odyssey_ xii-xxiv (pp. 340 ff.) deals with the Cyclic poets in relation
to Homer, and a clear and reasonable discussion of the subject is to be
found in Croiset’s _Hist. de la Littérature Grecque_, vol. i.

On Hesiod, the Hesiodic poems and the problems which these offer see
Rzach’s most important article “Hesiodos” in Pauly-Wissowa,
_Real-Encyclopädie_ xv (1912).

A discussion of the evidence for the date of Hesiod is to be found in
_Journ. Hell. Stud._ xxxv, 85 ff. (T.W. Allen).

Of translations of Hesiod the following may be noticed:—_The Georgicks
of Hesiod_, by George Chapman, London, 1618; _The Works of Hesiod
translated from the Greek_, by Thomas Coocke, London, 1728; _The
Remains of Hesiod translated from the Greek into English Verse_, by
Charles Abraham Elton; _The Works of Hesiod, Callimachus, and
Theognis_, by the Rev. J. Banks, M.A.; “Hesiod”, by Prof. James Mair,
Oxford, 19081203.



HESIOD

HESIOD’S WORKS AND DAYS

(ll. 1-10) Muses of Pieria who give glory through song, come hither,
tell of Zeus your father and chant his praise. Through him mortal men
are famed or un-famed, sung or unsung alike, as great Zeus wills. For
easily he makes strong, and easily he brings the strong man low; easily
he humbles the proud and raises the obscure, and easily he straightens
the crooked and blasts the proud,—Zeus who thunders aloft and has his
dwelling most high.

Attend thou with eye and ear, and make judgements straight with
righteousness. And I, Perses, would tell of true things.

(ll. 11-24) So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but
all over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise
her when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and
they are wholly different in nature. For one fosters evil war and
battle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will
of the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honour due. But the
other is the elder daughter of dark Night, and the son of Cronos who
sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth:
and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil;
for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich
man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order;
and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This
Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and
craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel
of minstrel.

(ll. 25-41) Perses, lay up these things in your heart, and do not let
that Strife who delights in mischief hold your heart back from work,
while you peep and peer and listen to the wrangles of the court-house.
Little concern has he with quarrels and courts who has not a year’s
victuals laid up betimes, even that which the earth bears, Demeter’s
grain. When you have got plenty of that, you can raise disputes and
strive to get another’s goods. But you shall have no second chance to
deal so again: nay, let us settle our dispute here with true judgement
divided our inheritance, but you seized the greater share and carried
it off, greatly swelling the glory of our bribe-swallowing lords who
love to judge such a cause as this. Fools! They know not how much more
the half is than the whole, nor what great advantage there is in mallow
and asphodel 1301.

(ll. 42-53) For the gods keep hidden from men the means of life. Else
you would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year
even without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the
smoke, and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste.
But Zeus in the anger of his heart hid it, because Prometheus the
crafty deceived him; therefore he planned sorrow and mischief against
men. He hid fire; but that the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men
from Zeus the counsellor in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who
delights in thunder did not see it. But afterwards Zeus who gathers the
clouds said to him in anger:

(ll. 54-59) ‘Son of Iapetus, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad
that you have outwitted me and stolen fire—a great plague to you
yourself and to men that shall be. But I will give men as the price for
fire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they
embrace their own destruction.’

(ll. 60-68) So said the father of men and gods, and laughed aloud. And
he bade famous Hephaestus make haste and mix earth with water and to
put in it the voice and strength of human kind, and fashion a sweet,
lovely maiden-shape, like to the immortal goddesses in face; and Athene
to teach her needlework and the weaving of the varied web; and golden
Aphrodite to shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that
weary the limbs. And he charged Hermes the guide, the Slayer of Argus,
to put in her a shameless mind and a deceitful nature.

(ll. 69-82) So he ordered. And they obeyed the lord Zeus the son of
Cronos. Forthwith the famous Lame God moulded clay in the likeness of a
modest maid, as the son of Cronos purposed. And the goddess bright-eyed
Athene girded and clothed her, and the divine Graces and queenly
Persuasion put necklaces of gold upon her, and the rich-haired Hours
crowned her head with spring flowers. And Pallas Athene bedecked her
form with all manners of finery. Also the Guide, the Slayer of Argus,
contrived within her lies and crafty words and a deceitful nature at
the will of loud thundering Zeus, and the Herald of the gods put speech
in her. And he called this woman Pandora 1302, because all they who
dwelt on Olympus gave each a gift, a plague to men who eat bread.

(ll. 83-89) But when he had finished the sheer, hopeless snare, the
Father sent glorious Argos-Slayer, the swift messenger of the gods, to
take it to Epimetheus as a gift. And Epimetheus did not think on what
Prometheus had said to him, bidding him never take a gift of Olympian
Zeus, but to send it back for fear it might prove to be something
harmful to men. But he took the gift, and afterwards, when the evil
thing was already his, he understood.

(ll. 90-105) For ere this the tribes of men lived on earth remote and
free from ills and hard toil and heavy sickness which bring the Fates
upon men; for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman took off
the great lid of the jar 1303 with her hands and scattered all these
and her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men. Only Hope remained
there in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and
did not fly out at the door; for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped
her, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus who gathers the clouds. But the
rest, countless plagues, wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils
and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases come upon men continually
by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise
Zeus took away speech from them. So is there no way to escape the will
of Zeus.

(ll. 106-108) Or if you will, I will sum you up another tale well and
skilfully—and do you lay it up in your heart,—how the gods and mortal
men sprang from one source.

(ll. 109-120) First of all the deathless gods who dwell on Olympus made
a golden race of mortal men who lived in the time of Cronos when he was
reigning in heaven. And they lived like gods without sorrow of heart,
remote and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them;
but with legs and arms never failing they made merry with feasting
beyond the reach of all evils. When they died, it was as though they
were overcome with sleep, and they had all good things; for the
fruitful earth unforced bare them fruit abundantly and without stint.
They dwelt in ease and peace upon their lands with many good things,
rich in flocks and loved by the blessed gods.

(ll. 121-139) But after earth had covered this generation—they are
called pure spirits dwelling on the earth, and are kindly, delivering
from harm, and guardians of mortal men; for they roam everywhere over
the earth, clothed in mist and keep watch on judgements and cruel
deeds, givers of wealth; for this royal right also they received;—then
they who dwell on Olympus made a second generation which was of silver
and less noble by far. It was like the golden race neither in body nor
in spirit. A child was brought up at his good mother’s side an hundred
years, an utter simpleton, playing childishly in his own home. But when
they were full grown and were come to the full measure of their prime,
they lived only a little time in sorrow because of their foolishness,
for they could not keep from sinning and from wronging one another, nor
would they serve the immortals, nor sacrifice on the holy altars of the
blessed ones as it is right for men to do wherever they dwell. Then
Zeus the son of Cronos was angry and put them away, because they would
not give honour to the blessed gods who live on Olympus.

(ll. 140-155) But when earth had covered this generation also—they are
called blessed spirits of the underworld by men, and, though they are
of second order, yet honour attends them also—Zeus the Father made a
third generation of mortal men, a brazen race, sprung from ash-trees
1304; and it was in no way equal to the silver age, but was terrible
and strong. They loved the lamentable works of Ares and deeds of
violence; they ate no bread, but were hard of heart like adamant,
fearful men. Great was their strength and unconquerable the arms which
grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs. Their armour was of
bronze, and their houses of bronze, and of bronze were their
implements: there was no black iron. These were destroyed by their own
hands and passed to the dank house of chill Hades, and left no name:
terrible though they were, black Death seized them, and they left the
bright light of the sun.

(ll. 156-169b) But when earth had covered this generation also, Zeus
the son of Cronos made yet another, the fourth, upon the fruitful
earth, which was nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of hero-men
who are called demi-gods, the race before our own, throughout the
boundless earth. Grim war and dread battle destroyed a part of them,
some in the land of Cadmus at seven-gated Thebe when they fought for
the flocks of Oedipus, and some, when it had brought them in ships over
the great sea gulf to Troy for rich-haired Helen’s sake: there death’s
end enshrouded a part of them. But to the others father Zeus the son of
Cronos gave a living and an abode apart from men, and made them dwell
at the ends of earth. And they live untouched by sorrow in the islands
of the blessed along the shore of deep swirling Ocean, happy heroes for
whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice
a year, far from the deathless gods, and Cronos rules over them 1305;
for the father of men and gods released him from his bonds. And these
last equally have honour and glory.

(ll. 169c-169d) And again far-seeing Zeus made yet another generation,
the fifth, of men who are upon the bounteous earth.

(ll. 170-201) Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the
fifth generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards.
For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and
sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore
trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some
good mingled with their evils. And Zeus will destroy this race of
mortal men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at
their birth 1306. The father will not agree with his children, nor the
children with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with
comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime. Men will
dishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at
them, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing
the fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost
their nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack
another’s city. There will be no favour for the man who keeps his oath
or for the just or for the good; but rather men will praise the
evil-doer and his violent dealing. Strength will be right and reverence
will cease to be; and the wicked will hurt the worthy man, speaking
false words against him, and will swear an oath upon them. Envy,
foul-mouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face, will go along
with wretched men one and all. And then Aidos and Nemesis 1307, with
their sweet forms wrapped in white robes, will go from the wide-pathed
earth and forsake mankind to join the company of the deathless gods:
and bitter sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no
help against evil.

(ll. 202-211) And now I will tell a fable for princes who themselves
understand. Thus said the hawk to the nightingale with speckled neck,
while he carried her high up among the clouds, gripped fast in his
talons, and she, pierced by his crooked talons, cried pitifully. To her
he spoke disdainfully: ‘Miserable thing, why do you cry out? One far
stronger than you now holds you fast, and you must go wherever I take
you, songstress as you are. And if I please I will make my meal of you,
or let you go. He is a fool who tries to withstand the stronger, for he
does not get the mastery and suffers pain besides his shame.’ So said
the swiftly flying hawk, the long-winged bird.

(ll. 212-224) But you, Perses, listen to right and do not foster
violence; for violence is bad for a poor man. Even the prosperous
cannot easily bear its burden, but is weighed down under it when he has
fallen into delusion. The better path is to go by on the other side
towards justice; for Justice beats Outrage when she comes at length to
the end of the race. But only when he has suffered does the fool learn
this. For Oath keeps pace with wrong judgements. There is a noise when
Justice is being dragged in the way where those who devour bribes and
give sentence with crooked judgements, take her. And she, wrapped in
mist, follows to the city and haunts of the people, weeping, and
bringing mischief to men, even to such as have driven her forth in that
they did not deal straightly with her.

(ll. 225-237) But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to
the men of the land, and go not aside from what is just, their city
flourishes, and the people prosper in it: Peace, the nurse of children,
is abroad in their land, and all-seeing Zeus never decrees cruel war
against them. Neither famine nor disaster ever haunt men who do true
justice; but light-heartedly they tend the fields which are all their
care. The earth bears them victual in plenty, and on the mountains the
oak bears acorns upon the top and bees in the midst. Their woolly sheep
are laden with fleeces; their women bear children like their parents.
They flourish continually with good things, and do not travel on ships,
for the grain-giving earth bears them fruit.

(ll. 238-247) But for those who practise violence and cruel deeds
far-seeing Zeus, the son of Cronos, ordains a punishment. Often even a
whole city suffers for a bad man who sins and devises presumptuous
deeds, and the son of Cronos lays great trouble upon the people, famine
and plague together, so that the men perish away, and their women do
not bear children, and their houses become few, through the contriving
of Olympian Zeus. And again, at another time, the son of Cronos either
destroys their wide army, or their walls, or else makes an end of their
ships on the sea.

(ll. 248-264) You princes, mark well this punishment you also; for the
deathless gods are near among men and mark all those who oppress their
fellows with crooked judgements, and reck not the anger of the gods.
For upon the bounteous earth Zeus has thrice ten thousand spirits,
watchers of mortal men, and these keep watch on judgements and deeds of
wrong as they roam, clothed in mist, all over the earth. And there is
virgin Justice, the daughter of Zeus, who is honoured and reverenced
among the gods who dwell on Olympus, and whenever anyone hurts her with
lying slander, she sits beside her father, Zeus the son of Cronos, and
tells him of men’s wicked heart, until the people pay for the mad folly
of their princes who, evilly minded, pervert judgement and give
sentence crookedly. Keep watch against this, you princes, and make
straight your judgements, you who devour bribes; put crooked judgements
altogether from your thoughts.

(ll. 265-266) He does mischief to himself who does mischief to another,
and evil planned harms the plotter most.

(ll. 267-273) The eye of Zeus, seeing all and understanding all,
beholds these things too, if so he will, and fails not to mark what
sort of justice is this that the city keeps within it. Now, therefore,
may neither I myself be righteous among men, nor my son—for then it is
a bad thing to be righteous—if indeed the unrighteous shall have the
greater right. But I think that all-wise Zeus will not yet bring that
to pass.

(ll. 274-285) But you, Perses, lay up these things within your heart
and listen now to right, ceasing altogether to think of violence. For
the son of Cronos has ordained this law for men, that fishes and beasts
and winged fowls should devour one another, for right is not in them;
but to mankind he gave right which proves far the best. For whoever
knows the right and is ready to speak it, far-seeing Zeus gives him
prosperity; but whoever deliberately lies in his witness and forswears
himself, and so hurts Justice and sins beyond repair, that man’s
generation is left obscure thereafter. But the generation of the man
who swears truly is better thenceforward.

(ll. 286-292) To you, foolish Perses, I will speak good sense. Badness
can be got easily and in shoals: the road to her is smooth, and she
lives very near us. But between us and Goodness the gods have placed
the sweat of our brows: long and steep is the path that leads to her,
and it is rough at the first; but when a man has reached the top, then
is she easy to reach, though before that she was hard.

(ll. 293-319) That man is altogether best who considers all things
himself and marks what will be better afterwards and at the end; and
he, again, is good who listens to a good adviser; but whoever neither
thinks for himself nor keeps in mind what another tells him, he is an
unprofitable man. But do you at any rate, always remembering my charge,
work, high-born Perses, that Hunger may hate you, and venerable Demeter
richly crowned may love you and fill your barn with food; for Hunger is
altogether a meet comrade for the sluggard. Both gods and men are angry
with a man who lives idle, for in nature he is like the stingless
drones who waste the labour of the bees, eating without working; but
let it be your care to order your work properly, that in the right
season your barns may be full of victual. Through work men grow rich in
flocks and substance, and working they are much better loved by the
immortals 1308. Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a
disgrace. But if you work, the idle will soon envy you as you grow
rich, for fame and renown attend on wealth. And whatever be your lot,
work is best for you, if you turn your misguided mind away from other
men’s property to your work and attend to your livelihood as I bid you.
An evil shame is the needy man’s companion, shame which both greatly
harms and prospers men: shame is with poverty, but confidence with
wealth.

(ll. 320-341) Wealth should not be seized: god-given wealth is much
better; for if a man take great wealth violently and perforce, or if he
steal it through his tongue, as often happens when gain deceives men’s
sense and dishonour tramples down honour, the gods soon blot him out
and make that man’s house low, and wealth attends him only for a little
time. Alike with him who does wrong to a suppliant or a guest, or who
goes up to his brother’s bed and commits unnatural sin in lying with
his wife, or who infatuately offends against fatherless children, or
who abuses his old father at the cheerless threshold of old age and
attacks him with harsh words, truly Zeus himself is angry, and at the
last lays on him a heavy requittal for his evil doing. But do you turn
your foolish heart altogether away from these things, and, as far as
you are able, sacrifice to the deathless gods purely and cleanly, and
burn rich meats also, and at other times propitiate them with libations
and incense, both when you go to bed and when the holy light has come
back, that they may be gracious to you in heart and spirit, and so you
may buy another’s holding and not another yours.

(ll. 342-351) Call your friend to a feast; but leave your enemy alone;
and especially call him who lives near you: for if any mischief happen
in the place, neighbours come ungirt, but kinsmen stay to gird
themselves 1309. A bad neighbour is as great a plague as a good one is
a great blessing; he who enjoys a good neighbour has a precious
possession. Not even an ox would die but for a bad neighbour. Take fair
measure from your neighbour and pay him back fairly with the same
measure, or better, if you can; so that if you are in need afterwards,
you may find him sure.

(ll. 352-369) Do not get base gain: base gain is as bad as ruin. Be
friends with the friendly, and visit him who visits you. Give to one
who gives, but do not give to one who does not give. A man gives to the
free-handed, but no one gives to the close-fisted. Give is a good girl,
but Take is bad and she brings death. For the man who gives willingly,
even though he gives a great thing, rejoices in his gift and is glad in
heart; but whoever gives way to shamelessness and takes something
himself, even though it be a small thing, it freezes his heart. He who
adds to what he has, will keep off bright-eyed hunger; for if you add
only a little to a little and do this often, soon that little will
become great. What a man has by him at home does not trouble him: it is
better to have your stuff at home, for whatever is abroad may mean
loss. It is a good thing to draw on what you have; but it grieves your
heart to need something and not to have it, and I bid you mark this.
Take your fill when the cask is first opened and when it is nearly
spent, but midways be sparing: it is poor saving when you come to the
lees.

(ll. 370-372) Let the wage promised to a friend be fixed; even with
your brother smile—and get a witness; for trust and mistrust, alike
ruin men.

(ll. 373-375) Do not let a flaunting woman coax and cozen and deceive
you: she is after your barn. The man who trusts womankind trusts
deceivers.

(ll. 376-380) There should be an only son, to feed his father’s house,
for so wealth will increase in the home; but if you leave a second son
you should die old. Yet Zeus can easily give great wealth to a greater
number. More hands mean more work and more increase.

(ll. 381-382) If your heart within you desires wealth, do these things
and work with work upon work.

(ll. 383-404) When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising 1310,
begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set 1311.
Forty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year
moves round, when first you sharpen your sickle. This is the law of the
plains, and of those who live near the sea, and who inhabit rich
country, the glens and dingles far from the tossing sea,—strip to sow
and strip to plough and strip to reap, if you wish to get in all
Demeter’s fruits in due season, and that each kind may grow in its
season. Else, afterwards, you may chance to be in want, and go begging
to other men’s houses, but without avail; as you have already come to
me. But I will give you no more nor give you further measure. Foolish
Perses! Work the work which the gods ordained for men, lest in bitter
anguish of spirit you with your wife and children seek your livelihood
amongst your neighbours, and they do not heed you. Two or three times,
may be, you will succeed, but if you trouble them further, it will not
avail you, and all your talk will be in vain, and your word-play
unprofitable. Nay, I bid you find a way to pay your debts and avoid
hunger.

(ll. 405-413) First of all, get a house, and a woman and an ox for the
plough—a slave woman and not a wife, to follow the oxen as well—and
make everything ready at home, so that you may not have to ask of
another, and he refuses you, and so, because you are in lack, the
season pass by and your work come to nothing. Do not put your work off
till to-morrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill
his barn, nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well,
but a man who puts off work is always at hand-grips with ruin.

(ll. 414-447) When the piercing power and sultry heat of the sun abate,
and almighty Zeus sends the autumn rains 1312, and men’s flesh comes to
feel far easier,—for then the star Sirius passes over the heads of men,
who are born to misery, only a little while by day and takes greater
share of night,—then, when it showers its leaves to the ground and
stops sprouting, the wood you cut with your axe is least liable to
worm. Then remember to hew your timber: it is the season for that work.
Cut a mortar 1313 three feet wide and a pestle three cubits long, and
an axle of seven feet, for it will do very well so; but if you make it
eight feet long, you can cut a beetle 1314 from it as well. Cut a
felloe three spans across for a waggon of ten palms’ width. Hew also
many bent timbers, and bring home a plough-tree when you have found it,
and look out on the mountain or in the field for one of holm-oak; for
this is the strongest for oxen to plough with when one of Athena’s
handmen has fixed in the share-beam and fastened it to the pole with
dowels. Get two ploughs ready work on them at home, one all of a piece,
and the other jointed. It is far better to do this, for if you should
break one of them, you can put the oxen to the other. Poles of laurel
or elm are most free from worms, and a share-beam of oak and a
plough-tree of holm-oak. Get two oxen, bulls of nine years; for their
strength is unspent and they are in the prime of their age: they are
best for work. They will not fight in the furrow and break the plough
and then leave the work undone. Let a brisk fellow of forty years
follow them, with a loaf of four quarters 1315 and eight slices 1316
for his dinner, one who will attend to his work and drive a straight
furrow and is past the age for gaping after his fellows, but will keep
his mind on his work. No younger man will be better than he at
scattering the seed and avoiding double-sowing; for a man less staid
gets disturbed, hankering after his fellows.

(ll. 448-457) Mark, when you hear the voice of the crane 1317 who cries
year by year from the clouds above, for she give the signal for
ploughing and shows the season of rainy winter; but she vexes the heart
of the man who has no oxen. Then is the time to feed up your horned
oxen in the byre; for it is easy to say: ‘Give me a yoke of oxen and a
waggon,’ and it is easy to refuse: ‘I have work for my oxen.’ The man
who is rich in fancy thinks his waggon as good as built already—the
fool! He does not know that there are a hundred timbers to a waggon.
Take care to lay these up beforehand at home.

(ll. 458-464) So soon as the time for ploughing is proclaimed to men,
then make haste, you and your slaves alike, in wet and in dry, to
plough in the season for ploughing, and bestir yourself early in the
morning so that your fields may be full. Plough in the spring; but
fallow broken up in the summer will not belie your hopes. Sow fallow
land when the soil is still getting light: fallow land is a defender
from harm and a soother of children.

(ll. 465-478) Pray to Zeus of the Earth and to pure Demeter to make
Demeter’s holy grain sound and heavy, when first you begin ploughing,
when you hold in your hand the end of the plough-tail and bring down
your stick on the backs of the oxen as they draw on the pole-bar by the
yoke-straps. Let a slave follow a little behind with a mattock and make
trouble for the birds by hiding the seed; for good management is the
best for mortal men as bad management is the worst. In this way your
corn-ears will bow to the ground with fullness if the Olympian himself
gives a good result at the last, and you will sweep the cobwebs from
your bins and you will be glad, I ween, as you take of your garnered
substance. And so you will have plenty till you come to grey 1318
springtime, and will not look wistfully to others, but another shall be
in need of your help.

(ll. 479-492) But if you plough the good ground at the solstice 1319,
you will reap sitting, grasping a thin crop in your hand, binding the
sheaves awry, dust-covered, not glad at all; so you will bring all home
in a basket and not many will admire you. Yet the will of Zeus who
holds the aegis is different at different times; and it is hard for
mortal men to tell it; for if you should plough late, you may find this
remedy—when the cuckoo first calls 1320 in the leaves of the oak and
makes men glad all over the boundless earth, if Zeus should send rain
on the third day and not cease until it rises neither above an ox’s
hoof nor falls short of it, then the late-plougher will vie with the
early. Keep all this well in mind, and fail not to mark grey spring as
it comes and the season of rain.

(ll 493-501) Pass by the smithy and its crowded lounge in winter time
when the cold keeps men from field work,—for then an industrious man
can greatly prosper his house—lest bitter winter catch you helpless and
poor and you chafe a swollen foot with a shrunk hand. The idle man who
waits on empty hope, lacking a livelihood, lays to heart
mischief-making; it is not an wholesome hope that accompanies a need
man who lolls at ease while he has no sure livelihood.

(ll. 502-503) While it is yet midsummer command your slaves: ‘It will
not always be summer, build barns.’

(ll. 504-535) Avoid the month Lenaeon 1321, wretched days, all of them
fit to skin an ox, and the frosts which are cruel when Boreas blows
over the earth. He blows across horse-breeding Thrace upon the wide sea
and stirs it up, while earth and the forest howl. On many a high-leafed
oak and thick pine he falls and brings them to the bounteous earth in
mountain glens: then all the immense wood roars and the beasts shudder
and put their tails between their legs, even those whose hide is
covered with fur; for with his bitter blast he blows even through them
although they are shaggy-breasted. He goes even through an ox’s hide;
it does not stop him. Also he blows through the goat’s fine hair. But
through the fleeces of sheep, because their wool is abundant, the keen
wind Boreas pierces not at all; but it makes the old man curved as a
wheel. And it does not blow through the tender maiden who stays indoors
with her dear mother, unlearned as yet in the works of golden
Aphrodite, and who washes her soft body and anoints herself with oil
and lies down in an inner room within the house, on a winter’s day when
the Boneless One 1322 gnaws his foot in his fireless house and wretched
home; for the sun shows him no pastures to make for, but goes to and
fro over the land and city of dusky men 1323, and shines more
sluggishly upon the whole race of the Hellenes. Then the horned and
unhorned denizens of the wood, with teeth chattering pitifully, flee
through the copses and glades, and all, as they seek shelter, have this
one care, to gain thick coverts or some hollow rock. Then, like the
Three-legged One 1324 whose back is broken and whose head looks down
upon the ground, like him, I say, they wander to escape the white snow.

(ll. 536-563) Then put on, as I bid you, a soft coat and a tunic to the
feet to shield your body,—and you should weave thick woof on thin warp.
In this clothe yourself so that your hair may keep still and not
bristle and stand upon end all over your body.

Lace on your feet close-fitting boots of the hide of a slaughtered ox,
thickly lined with felt inside. And when the season of frost comes on,
stitch together skins of firstling kids with ox-sinew, to put over your
back and to keep off the rain. On your head above wear a shaped cap of
felt to keep your ears from getting wet, for the dawn is chill when
Boreas has once made his onslaught, and at dawn a fruitful mist is
spread over the earth from starry heaven upon the fields of blessed
men: it is drawn from the ever flowing rivers and is raised high above
the earth by windstorm, and sometimes it turns to rain towards evening,
and sometimes to wind when Thracian Boreas huddles the thick clouds.
Finish your work and return home ahead of him, and do not let the dark
cloud from heaven wrap round you and make your body clammy and soak
your clothes. Avoid it; for this is the hardest month, wintry, hard for
sheep and hard for men. In this season let your oxen have half their
usual food, but let your man have more; for the helpful nights are
long. Observe all this until the year is ended and you have nights and
days of equal length, and Earth, the mother of all, bears again her
various fruit.

(ll. 564-570) When Zeus has finished sixty wintry days after the
solstice, then the star Arcturus 1325 leaves the holy stream of Ocean
and first rises brilliant at dusk. After him the shrilly wailing
daughter of Pandion, the swallow, appears to men when spring is just
beginning. Before she comes, prune the vines, for it is best so.

(ll. 571-581) But when the House-carrier 1326 climbs up the plants from
the earth to escape the Pleiades, then it is no longer the season for
digging vineyards, but to whet your sickles and rouse up your slaves.
Avoid shady seats and sleeping until dawn in the harvest season, when
the sun scorches the body. Then be busy, and bring home your fruits,
getting up early to make your livelihood sure. For dawn takes away a
third part of your work, dawn advances a man on his journey and
advances him in his work,—dawn which appears and sets many men on their
road, and puts yokes on many oxen.

(ll. 582-596) But when the artichoke flowers 1327, and the chirping
grass-hopper sits in a tree and pours down his shrill song continually
from under his wings in the season of wearisome heat, then goats are
plumpest and wine sweetest; women are most wanton, but men are
feeblest, because Sirius parches head and knees and the skin is dry
through heat. But at that time let me have a shady rock and wine of
Biblis, a clot of curds and milk of drained goats with the flesh of an
heifer fed in the woods, that has never calved, and of firstling kids;
then also let me drink bright wine, sitting in the shade, when my heart
is satisfied with food, and so, turning my head to face the fresh
Zephyr, from the everflowing spring which pours down unfouled thrice
pour an offering of water, but make a fourth libation of wine.

(ll. 597-608) Set your slaves to winnow Demeter’s holy grain, when
strong Orion 1328 first appears, on a smooth threshing-floor in an airy
place. Then measure it and store it in jars. And so soon as you have
safely stored all your stuff indoors, I bid you put your bondman out of
doors and look out for a servant-girl with no children;—for a servant
with a child to nurse is troublesome. And look after the dog with
jagged teeth; do not grudge him his food, or some time the Day-sleeper
1329 may take your stuff. Bring in fodder and litter so as to have
enough for your oxen and mules. After that, let your men rest their
poor knees and unyoke your pair of oxen.

(ll. 609-617) But when Orion and Sirius are come into mid-heaven, and
rosy-fingered Dawn sees Arcturus 1330, then cut off all the
grape-clusters, Perses, and bring them home. Show them to the sun ten
days and ten nights: then cover them over for five, and on the sixth
day draw off into vessels the gifts of joyful Dionysus. But when the
Pleiades and Hyades and strong Orion begin to set 1331, then remember
to plough in season: and so the completed year 1332 will fitly pass
beneath the earth.

(ll. 618-640) But if desire for uncomfortable sea-faring seize you;
when the Pleiades plunge into the misty sea 1333 to escape Orion’s rude
strength, then truly gales of all kinds rage. Then keep ships no longer
on the sparkling sea, but bethink you to till the land as I bid you.
Haul up your ship upon the land and pack it closely with stones all
round to keep off the power of the winds which blow damply, and draw
out the bilge-plug so that the rain of heaven may not rot it. Put away
all the tackle and fittings in your house, and stow the wings of the
sea-going ship neatly, and hang up the well-shaped rudder over the
smoke. You yourself wait until the season for sailing is come, and then
haul your swift ship down to the sea and stow a convenient cargo in it,
so that you may bring home profit, even as your father and mine,
foolish Perses, used to sail on shipboard because he lacked sufficient
livelihood. And one day he came to this very place crossing over a
great stretch of sea; he left Aeolian Cyme and fled, not from riches
and substance, but from wretched poverty which Zeus lays upon men, and
he settled near Helicon in a miserable hamlet, Ascra, which is bad in
winter, sultry in summer, and good at no time.

(ll. 641-645) But you, Perses, remember all works in their season but
sailing especially. Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a
large one; for the greater the lading, the greater will be your piled
gain, if only the winds will keep back their harmful gales.

(ll. 646-662) If ever you turn your misguided heart to trading and with
to escape from debt and joyless hunger, I will show you the measures of
the loud-roaring sea, though I have no skill in sea-faring nor in
ships; for never yet have I sailed by ship over the wide sea, but only
to Euboea from Aulis where the Achaeans once stayed through much storm
when they had gathered a great host from divine Hellas for Troy, the
land of fair women. Then I crossed over to Chalcis, to the games of
wise Amphidamas where the sons of the great-hearted hero proclaimed and
appointed prizes. And there I boast that I gained the victory with a
song and carried off an handled tripod which I dedicated to the Muses
of Helicon, in the place where they first set me in the way of clear
song. Such is all my experience of many-pegged ships; nevertheless I
will tell you the will of Zeus who holds the aegis; for the Muses have
taught me to sing in marvellous song.

(ll. 663-677) Fifty days after the solstice 1334, when the season of
wearisome heat is come to an end, is the right time for me to go
sailing. Then you will not wreck your ship, nor will the sea destroy
the sailors, unless Poseidon the Earth-Shaker be set upon it, or Zeus,
the king of the deathless gods, wish to slay them; for the issues of
good and evil alike are with them. At that time the winds are steady,
and the sea is harmless. Then trust in the winds without care, and haul
your swift ship down to the sea and put all the freight on board; but
make all haste you can to return home again and do not wait till the
time of the new wine and autumn rain and oncoming storms with the
fierce gales of Notus who accompanies the heavy autumn rain of Zeus and
stirs up the sea and makes the deep dangerous.

(ll. 678-694) Another time for men to go sailing is in spring when a
man first sees leaves on the topmost shoot of a fig-tree as large as
the foot-print that a cow makes; then the sea is passable, and this is
the spring sailing time. For my part I do not praise it, for my heart
does not like it. Such a sailing is snatched, and you will hardly avoid
mischief. Yet in their ignorance men do even this, for wealth means
life to poor mortals; but it is fearful to die among the waves. But I
bid you consider all these things in your heart as I say. Do not put
all your goods in hallow ships; leave the greater part behind, and put
the lesser part on board; for it is a bad business to meet with
disaster among the waves of the sea, as it is bad if you put too great
a load on your waggon and break the axle, and your goods are spoiled.
Observe due measure: and proportion is best in all things.

(ll. 695-705) Bring home a wife to your house when you are of the right
age, while you are not far short of thirty years nor much above; this
is the right age for marriage. Let your wife have been grown up four
years, and marry her in the fifth. Marry a maiden, so that you can
teach her careful ways, and especially marry one who lives near you,
but look well about you and see that your marriage will not be a joke
to your neighbours. For a man wins nothing better than a good wife,
and, again, nothing worse than a bad one, a greedy soul who roasts her
man without fire, strong though he may be, and brings him to a raw 1335
old age.

(ll. 706-714) Be careful to avoid the anger of the deathless gods. Do
not make a friend equal to a brother; but if you do, do not wrong him
first, and do not lie to please the tongue. But if he wrongs you first,
offending either in word or in deed, remember to repay him double; but
if he ask you to be his friend again and be ready to give you
satisfaction, welcome him. He is a worthless man who makes now one and
now another his friend; but as for you, do not let your face put your
heart to shame 1336.

(ll. 715-716) Do not get a name either as lavish or as churlish; as a
friend of rogues or as a slanderer of good men.

(ll. 717-721) Never dare to taunt a man with deadly poverty which eats
out the heart; it is sent by the deathless gods. The best treasure a
man can have is a sparing tongue, and the greatest pleasure, one that
moves orderly; for if you speak evil, you yourself will soon be worse
spoken of.

(ll. 722-723) Do not be boorish at a common feast where there are many
guests; the pleasure is greatest and the expense is least 1337.

(ll. 724-726) Never pour a libation of sparkling wine to Zeus after
dawn with unwashen hands, nor to others of the deathless gods; else
they do not hear your prayers but spit them back.

(ll. 727-732) Do not stand upright facing the sun when you make water,
but remember to do this when he has set towards his rising. And do not
make water as you go, whether on the road or off the road, and do not
uncover yourself: the nights belong to the blessed gods. A scrupulous
man who has a wise heart sits down or goes to the wall of an enclosed
court.

(ll. 733-736) Do not expose yourself befouled by the fireside in your
house, but avoid this. Do not beget children when you are come back
from ill-omened burial, but after a festival of the gods.

(ll. 737-741) Never cross the sweet-flowing water of ever-rolling
rivers afoot until you have prayed, gazing into the soft flood, and
washed your hands in the clear, lovely water. Whoever crosses a river
with hands unwashed of wickedness, the gods are angry with him and
bring trouble upon him afterwards.

(ll. 742-743) At a cheerful festival of the gods do not cut the
withered from the quick upon that which has five branches 1338 with
bright steel.

(ll. 744-745) Never put the ladle upon the mixing-bowl at a wine party,
for malignant ill-luck is attached to that.

(ll. 746-747) When you are building a house, do not leave it
rough-hewn, or a cawing crow may settle on it and croak.

(ll. 748-749) Take nothing to eat or to wash with from uncharmed pots,
for in them there is mischief.

(ll. 750-759) Do not let a boy of twelve years sit on things which may
not be moved 1339, for that is bad, and makes a man unmanly; nor yet a
child of twelve months, for that has the same effect. A man should not
clean his body with water in which a woman has washed, for there is
bitter mischief in that also for a time. When you come upon a burning
sacrifice, do not make a mock of mysteries, for Heaven is angry at this
also. Never make water in the mouths of rivers which flow to the sea,
nor yet in springs; but be careful to avoid this. And do not ease
yourself in them: it is not well to do this.

(ll. 760-763) So do: and avoid the talk of men. For Talk is
mischievous, light, and easily raised, but hard to bear and difficult
to be rid of. Talk never wholly dies away when many people voice her:
even Talk is in some ways divine.

(ll. 765-767) Mark the days which come from Zeus, duly telling your
slaves of them, and that the thirtieth day of the month is best for one
to look over the work and to deal out supplies.

(ll. 769-768) 1340 For these are days which come from Zeus the
all-wise, when men discern aright.

(ll. 770-779) To begin with, the first, the fourth, and the seventh—on
which Leto bare Apollo with the blade of gold—each is a holy day. The
eighth and the ninth, two days at least of the waxing month 1341, are
specially good for the works of man. Also the eleventh and twelfth are
both excellent, alike for shearing sheep and for reaping the kindly
fruits; but the twelfth is much better than the eleventh, for on it the
airy-swinging spider spins its web in full day, and then the Wise One
1342, gathers her pile. On that day woman should set up her loom and
get forward with her work.

(ll. 780-781) Avoid the thirteenth of the waxing month for beginning to
sow: yet it is the best day for setting plants.

(ll. 782-789) The sixth of the mid-month is very unfavourable for
plants, but is good for the birth of males, though unfavourable for a
girl either to be born at all or to be married. Nor is the first sixth
a fit day for a girl to be born, but a kindly for gelding kids and
sheep and for fencing in a sheep-cote. It is favourable for the birth
of a boy, but such will be fond of sharp speech, lies, and cunning
words, and stealthy converse.

(ll. 790-791) On the eighth of the month geld the boar and
loud-bellowing bull, but hard-working mules on the twelfth.

(ll. 792-799) On the great twentieth, in full day, a wise man should be
born. Such an one is very sound-witted. The tenth is favourable for a
male to be born; but, for a girl, the fourth day of the mid-month. On
that day tame sheep and shambling, horned oxen, and the sharp-fanged
dog and hardy mules to the touch of the hand. But take care to avoid
troubles which eat out the heart on the fourth of the beginning and
ending of the month; it is a day very fraught with fate.

(ll. 800-801) On the fourth of the month bring home your bride, but
choose the omens which are best for this business.

(ll. 802-804) Avoid fifth days: they are unkindly and terrible. On a
fifth day, they say, the Erinyes assisted at the birth of Horcus (Oath)
whom Eris (Strife) bare to trouble the forsworn. {[0-9]} (ll. 805-809)
Look about you very carefully and throw out Demeter’s holy grain upon
the well-rolled 1343 threshing floor on the seventh of the mid-month.
Let the woodman cut beams for house building and plenty of ships’
timbers, such as are suitable for ships. On the fourth day begin to
build narrow ships.

(ll. 810-813) The ninth of the mid-month improves towards evening; but
the first ninth of all is quite harmless for men. It is a good day on
which to beget or to be born both for a male and a female: it is never
an wholly evil day.

(ll. 814-818) Again, few know that the twenty-seventh of the month is
best for opening a wine-jar, and putting yokes on the necks of oxen and
mules and swift-footed horses, and for hauling a swift ship of many
thwarts down to the sparkling sea; few call it by its right name.

(ll. 819-821) On the fourth day open a jar. The fourth of the mid-month
is a day holy above all. And again, few men know that the fourth day
after the twentieth is best while it is morning: towards evening it is
less good.

(ll. 822-828) These days are a great blessing to men on earth; but the
rest are changeable, luckless, and bring nothing. Everyone praises a
different day but few know their nature. Sometimes a day is a
stepmother, sometimes a mother. That man is happy and lucky in them who
knows all these things and does his work without offending the
deathless gods, who discerns the omens of birds and avoids
transgressions.

THE DIVINATION BY BIRDS

Proclus on Works and Days, 828: Some make the _Divination by Birds_,
which Apollonius of Rhodes rejects as spurious, follow this verse
(_Works and Days_, 828).

THE ASTRONOMY

Fragment #1—Athenaeus xi, p. 491 d: And the author of “The Astronomy”,
which is attributed forsooth to Hesiod, always calls them (the
Pleiades) Peleiades: ‘but mortals call them Peleiades’; and again, ‘the
stormy Peleiades go down’; and again, ‘then the Peleiades hide
away....’

Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 16: The Pleiades.... whose stars are
these:—‘Lovely Teygata, and dark-faced Electra, and Alcyone, and bright
Asterope, and Celaeno, and Maia, and Merope, whom glorious Atlas
begot....’ ((LACUNA)) ‘In the mountains of Cyllene she (Maia) bare
Hermes, the herald of the gods.’

Fragment #2—Scholiast on Aratus 254: But Zeus made them (the sisters of
Hyas) into the stars which are called Hyades. Hesiod in his Book about
Stars tells us their names as follows: ‘Nymphs like the Graces 1401,
Phaesyle and Coronis and rich-crowned Cleeia and lovely Phaco and
long-robed Eudora, whom the tribes of men upon the earth call Hyades.’

Fragment #3—Pseudo-Eratosthenes Catast. frag. 1: 1402 The Great
Bear.]—Hesiod says she (Callisto) was the daughter of Lycaon and lived
in Arcadia. She chose to occupy herself with wild-beasts in the
mountains together with Artemis, and, when she was seduced by Zeus,
continued some time undetected by the goddess, but afterwards, when she
was already with child, was seen by her bathing and so discovered. Upon
this, the goddess was enraged and changed her into a beast. Thus she
became a bear and gave birth to a son called Arcas. But while she was
in the mountains, she was hunted by some goat-herds and given up with
her babe to Lycaon. Some while after, she thought fit to go into the
forbidden precinct of Zeus, not knowing the law, and being pursued by
her own son and the Arcadians, was about to be killed because of the
said law; but Zeus delivered her because of her connection with him and
put her among the stars, giving her the name Bear because of the
misfortune which had befallen her.

Comm. Supplem. on Aratus, p. 547 M. 8: Of Bootes, also called the
Bear-warden. The story goes that he is Arcas the son of Callisto and
Zeus, and he lived in the country about Lycaeum. After Zeus had seduced
Callisto, Lycaon, pretending not to know of the matter, entertained
Zeus, as Hesiod says, and set before him on the table the babe which he
had cut up.

Fragment #4—Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catast. fr. xxxii: Orion.]—Hesiod says
that he was the son of Euryale, the daughter of Minos, and of Poseidon,
and that there was given him as a gift the power of walking upon the
waves as though upon land. When he was come to Chios, he outraged
Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, being drunken; but Oenopion when he
learned of it was greatly vexed at the outrage and blinded him and cast
him out of the country. Then he came to Lemnos as a beggar and there
met Hephaestus who took pity on him and gave him Cedalion his own
servant to guide him. So Orion took Cedalion upon his shoulders and
used to carry him about while he pointed out the roads. Then he came to
the east and appears to have met Helius (the Sun) and to have been
healed, and so returned back again to Oenopion to punish him; but
Oenopion was hidden away by his people underground. Being disappointed,
then, in his search for the king, Orion went away to Crete and spent
his time hunting in company with Artemis and Leto. It seems that he
threatened to kill every beast there was on earth; whereupon, in her
anger, Earth sent up against him a scorpion of very great size by which
he was stung and so perished. After this Zeus, at one prayer of Artemis
and Leto, put him among the stars, because of his manliness, and the
scorpion also as a memorial of him and of what had occurred.

Fragment #5—Diodorus iv. 85: Some say that great earthquakes occurred,
which broke through the neck of land and formed the straits 1403, the
sea parting the mainland from the island. But Hesiod, the poet, says
just the opposite: that the sea was open, but Orion piled up the
promontory by Peloris, and founded the close of Poseidon which is
especially esteemed by the people thereabouts. When he had finished
this, he went away to Euboea and settled there, and because of his
renown was taken into the number of the stars in heaven, and won
undying remembrance.

THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON

Fragment #1—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. vi. 19: ‘And now, pray, mark all
these things well in a wise heart. First, whenever you come to your
house, offer good sacrifices to the eternal gods.’

Fragment #2—Plutarch Mor. 1034 E: ‘Decide no suit until you have heard
both sides speak.’

Fragment #3—Plutarch de Orac. defectu ii. 415 C: ‘A chattering crow
lives out nine generations of aged men, but a stag’s life is four times
a crow’s, and a raven’s life makes three stags old, while the phoenix
outlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus
the aegis-holder, outlive ten phoenixes.’

Fragment #4—Quintilian, i. 15: Some consider that children under the
age of seven should not receive a literary education... That Hesiod was
of this opinion very many writers affirm who were earlier than the
critic Aristophanes; for he was the first to reject the _Precepts_, in
which book this maxim occurs, as a work of that poet.

THE GREAT WORKS

Fragment #1—Comm. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. v. 8: The verse,
however (the slaying of Rhadamanthys), is in Hesiod in the _Great
Works_ and is as follows: ‘If a man sow evil, he shall reap evil
increase; if men do to him as he has done, it will be true justice.’

Fragment #2—Proclus on Hesiod, Works and Days, 126: Some believe that
the Silver Race (is to be attributed to) the earth, declaring that in
the _Great Works_ Hesiod makes silver to be of the family of Earth.



THE IDAEAN DACTYLS

Fragment #1—Pliny, Natural History vii. 56, 197: Hesiod says that those
who are called the Idaean Dactyls taught the smelting and tempering of
iron in Crete.

Fragment #2—Clement, Stromateis i. 16. 75: Celmis, again, and
Damnameneus, the first of the Idaean Dactyls, discovered iron in
Cyprus; but bronze smelting was discovered by Delas, another Idaean,
though Hesiod calls him Scythes 1501.



THE THEOGONY

(ll. 1-25) From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the
great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the
deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when
they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse’s
Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon
and move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night,
veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising
Zeus the aegis-holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden
sandals and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athene,
and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon
the earth-holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and
quick-glancing 1601 Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and
fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and
great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark
Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for
ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was
shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the
goddesses said to me—the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds
the aegis:

(ll. 26-28) ‘Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame,
mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they
were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.’

(ll. 29-35) So said the ready-voiced daughters of great Zeus, and they
plucked and gave me a rod, a shoot of sturdy laurel, a marvellous
thing, and breathed into me a divine voice to celebrate things that
shall be and things there were aforetime; and they bade me sing of the
race of the blessed gods that are eternally, but ever to sing of
themselves both first and last. But why all this about oak or stone?
1602

(ll. 36-52) Come thou, let us begin with the Muses who gladden the
great spirit of their father Zeus in Olympus with their songs, telling
of things that are and that shall be and that were aforetime with
consenting voice. Unwearying flows the sweet sound from their lips, and
the house of their father Zeus the loud-thunderer is glad at the
lily-like voice of the goddesses as it spread abroad, and the peaks of
snowy Olympus resound, and the homes of the immortals. And they
uttering their immortal voice, celebrate in song first of all the
reverend race of the gods from the beginning, those whom Earth and wide
Heaven begot, and the gods sprung of these, givers of good things.
Then, next, the goddesses sing of Zeus, the father of gods and men, as
they begin and end their strain, how much he is the most excellent
among the gods and supreme in power. And again, they chant the race of
men and strong giants, and gladden the heart of Zeus within
Olympus,—the Olympian Muses, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder.

(ll. 53-74) Them in Pieria did Mnemosyne (Memory), who reigns over the
hills of Eleuther, bear of union with the father, the son of Cronos, a
forgetting of ills and a rest from sorrow. For nine nights did wise
Zeus lie with her, entering her holy bed remote from the immortals. And
when a year was passed and the seasons came round as the months waned,
and many days were accomplished, she bare nine daughters, all of one
mind, whose hearts are set upon song and their spirit free from care, a
little way from the topmost peak of snowy Olympus. There are their
bright dancing-places and beautiful homes, and beside them the Graces
and Himerus (Desire) live in delight. And they, uttering through their
lips a lovely voice, sing the laws of all and the goodly ways of the
immortals, uttering their lovely voice. Then went they to Olympus,
delighting in their sweet voice, with heavenly song, and the dark earth
resounded about them as they chanted, and a lovely sound rose up
beneath their feet as they went to their father. And he was reigning in
heaven, himself holding the lightning and glowing thunderbolt, when he
had overcome by might his father Cronos; and he distributed fairly to
the immortals their portions and declared their privileges.

(ll. 75-103) These things, then, the Muses sang who dwell on Olympus,
nine daughters begotten by great Zeus, Cleio and Euterpe, Thaleia,
Melpomene and Terpsichore, and Erato and Polyhymnia and Urania and
Calliope 1603, who is the chiefest of them all, for she attends on
worshipful princes: whomsoever of heaven-nourished princes the
daughters of great Zeus honour, and behold him at his birth, they pour
sweet dew upon his tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words. All
the people look towards him while he settles causes with true
judgements: and he, speaking surely, would soon make wise end even of a
great quarrel; for therefore are there princes wise in heart, because
when the people are being misguided in their assembly, they set right
the matter again with ease, persuading them with gentle words. And when
he passes through a gathering, they greet him as a god with gentle
reverence, and he is conspicuous amongst the assembled: such is the
holy gift of the Muses to men. For it is through the Muses and
far-shooting Apollo that there are singers and harpers upon the earth;
but princes are of Zeus, and happy is he whom the Muses love: sweet
flows speech from his mouth. For though a man have sorrow and grief in
his newly-troubled soul and live in dread because his heart is
distressed, yet, when a singer, the servant of the Muses, chants the
glorious deeds of men of old and the blessed gods who inhabit Olympus,
at once he forgets his heaviness and remembers not his sorrows at all;
but the gifts of the goddesses soon turn him away from these.

(ll. 104-115) Hail, children of Zeus! Grant lovely song and celebrate
the holy race of the deathless gods who are for ever, those that were
born of Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy Night and them that briny
Sea did rear. Tell how at the first gods and earth came to be, and
rivers, and the boundless sea with its raging swell, and the gleaming
stars, and the wide heaven above, and the gods who were born of them,
givers of good things, and how they divided their wealth, and how they
shared their honours amongst them, and also how at the first they took
many-folded Olympus. These things declare to me from the beginning, ye
Muses who dwell in the house of Olympus, and tell me which of them
first came to be.

(ll. 116-138) Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next
wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all 1604 the deathless
ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth
of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless
gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels
of all gods and all men within them. From Chaos came forth Erebus and
black Night; but of Night were born Aether 1605 and Day, whom she
conceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first bare
starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be
an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth
long Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess-Nymphs who dwell amongst the
glens of the hills. She bare also the fruitless deep with his raging
swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love. But afterwards she lay with
Heaven and bare deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and
Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe
and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos the wily, youngest and
most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty sire.

(ll. 139-146) And again, she bare the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit,
Brontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges 1606, who gave Zeus
the thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the
gods, but one eye only was set in the midst of their fore-heads. And
they were surnamed Cyclopes (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in
their foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works.

(ll. 147-163) And again, three other sons were born of Earth and
Heaven, great and doughty beyond telling, Cottus and Briareos and Gyes,
presumptuous children. From their shoulders sprang an hundred arms, not
to be approached, and each had fifty heads upon his shoulders on their
strong limbs, and irresistible was the stubborn strength that was in
their great forms. For of all the children that were born of Earth and
Heaven, these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own
father from the first.

And he used to hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as
each was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and
Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing. But vast Earth groaned within, being
straitened, and she made the element of grey flint and shaped a great
sickle, and told her plan to her dear sons. And she spoke, cheering
them, while she was vexed in her dear heart:

(ll. 164-166) ‘My children, gotten of a sinful father, if you will obey
me, we should punish the vile outrage of your father; for he first
thought of doing shameful things.’

(ll. 167-169) So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them
uttered a word. But great Cronos the wily took courage and answered his
dear mother:

(ll. 170-172) ‘Mother, I will undertake to do this deed, for I
reverence not our father of evil name, for he first thought of doing
shameful things.’

(ll. 173-175) So he said: and vast Earth rejoiced greatly in spirit,
and set and hid him in an ambush, and put in his hands a jagged sickle,
and revealed to him the whole plot.

(ll. 176-206) And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love,
and he lay about Earth spreading himself full upon her 1607.

Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his
right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped
off his own father’s members and cast them away to fall behind him. And
not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that
gushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare
the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding
long spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae 1608
all over the boundless earth. And so soon as he had cut off the members
with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were
swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around
them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she
drew near holy Cythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to
sea-girt Cyprus, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass
grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call
Aphrodite, and the foam-born goddess and rich-crowned Cytherea, because
she grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera, and
Cyprogenes because she was born in billowy Cyprus, and Philommedes 1609
because sprang from the members. And with her went Eros, and comely
Desire followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the
assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this
is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying gods,—the
whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and
love and graciousness.

(ll. 207-210) But these sons whom he begot himself great Heaven used to
call Titans (Strainers) in reproach, for he said that they strained and
did presumptuously a fearful deed, and that vengeance for it would come
afterwards.

(ll. 211-225) And Night bare hateful Doom and black Fate and Death, and
she bare Sleep and the tribe of Dreams. And again the goddess murky
Night, though she lay with none, bare Blame and painful Woe, and the
Hesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing
fruit beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bare the Destinies and ruthless
avenging Fates, Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos 1610, who give men at
their birth both evil and good to have, and they pursue the
transgressions of men and of gods: and these goddesses never cease from
their dread anger until they punish the sinner with a sore penalty.
Also deadly Night bare Nemesis (Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and
after her, Deceit and Friendship and hateful Age and hard-hearted
Strife.

(ll. 226-232) But abhorred Strife bare painful Toil and Forgetfulness
and Famine and tearful Sorrows, Fightings also, Battles, Murders,
Manslaughters, Quarrels, Lying Words, Disputes, Lawlessness and Ruin,
all of one nature, and Oath who most troubles men upon earth when
anyone wilfully swears a false oath.

(ll. 233-239) And Sea begat Nereus, the eldest of his children, who is
true and lies not: and men call him the Old Man because he is trusty
and gentle and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks
just and kindly thoughts. And yet again he got great Thaumas and proud
Phorcys, being mated with Earth, and fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who
has a heart of flint within her.

(ll. 240-264) And of Nereus and rich-haired Doris, daughter of Ocean
the perfect river, were born children 1611, passing lovely amongst
goddesses, Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and
Thetis, Galene and Glauce, Cymothoe, Speo, Thoe and lovely Halie, and
Pasithea, and Erato, and rosy-armed Eunice, and gracious Melite, and
Eulimene, and Agaue, Doto, Proto, Pherusa, and Dynamene, and Nisaea,
and Actaea, and Protomedea, Doris, Panopea, and comely Galatea, and
lovely Hippothoe, and rosy-armed Hipponoe, and Cymodoce who with
Cymatolege 1612 and Amphitrite easily calms the waves upon the misty
sea and the blasts of raging winds, and Cymo, and Eione, and
rich-crowned Alimede, and Glauconome, fond of laughter, and Pontoporea,
Leagore, Euagore, and Laomedea, and Polynoe, and Autonoe, and
Lysianassa, and Euarne, lovely of shape and without blemish of form,
and Psamathe of charming figure and divine Menippe, Neso, Eupompe,
Themisto, Pronoe, and Nemertes 1613 who has the nature of her deathless
father. These fifty daughters sprang from blameless Nereus, skilled in
excellent crafts.

(ll. 265-269) And Thaumas wedded Electra the daughter of deep-flowing
Ocean, and she bare him swift Iris and the long-haired Harpies, Aello
(Storm-swift) and Ocypetes (Swift-flier) who on their swift wings keep
pace with the blasts of the winds and the birds; for quick as time they
dart along.

(ll 270-294) And again, Ceto bare to Phorcys the fair-cheeked Graiae,
sisters grey from their birth: and both deathless gods and men who walk
on earth call them Graiae, Pemphredo well-clad, and saffron-robed Enyo,
and the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land
towards Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and
Euryale, and Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but the
two were undying and grew not old. With her lay the Dark-haired One
1614 in a soft meadow amid spring flowers. And when Perseus cut off her
head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so
called because he was born near the springs (_pegae_) of Ocean; and
that other, because he held a golden blade (_aor_) in his hands. Now
Pegasus flew away and left the earth, the mother of flocks, and came to
the deathless gods: and he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings to
wise Zeus the thunder and lightning. But Chrysaor was joined in love to
Callirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean, and begot three-headed
Geryones. Him mighty Heracles slew in sea-girt Erythea by his shambling
oxen on that day when he drove the wide-browed oxen to holy Tiryns, and
had crossed the ford of Ocean and killed Orthus and Eurytion the
herdsman in the dim stead out beyond glorious Ocean.

(ll. 295-305) And in a hollow cave she bare another monster,
irresistible, in no wise like either to mortal men or to the undying
gods, even the goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing
eyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful,
with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the
holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far
from the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods
appoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima
beneath the earth, grim Echidna, a nymph who dies not nor grows old all
her days.

(ll. 306-332) Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and
lawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she
conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the
hound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to
be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh,
the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong.
And again she bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the
goddess, white-armed Hera nourished, being angry beyond measure with
the mighty Heracles. And her Heracles, the son of Zeus, of the house of
Amphitryon, together with warlike Iolaus, destroyed with the unpitying
sword through the plans of Athene the spoil-driver. She was the mother
of Chimaera who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great,
swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion;
in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth
a fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did Pegasus and noble Bellerophon
slay; but Echidna was subject in love to Orthus and brought forth the
deadly Sphinx which destroyed the Cadmeans, and the Nemean lion, which
Hera, the good wife of Zeus, brought up and made to haunt the hills of
Nemea, a plague to men. There he preyed upon the tribes of her own
people and had power over Tretus of Nemea and Apesas: yet the strength
of stout Heracles overcame him.

(ll. 333-336) And Ceto was joined in love to Phorcys and bare her
youngest, the awful snake who guards the apples all of gold in the
secret places of the dark earth at its great bounds. This is the
offspring of Ceto and Phorcys.

(ll. 334-345) And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and
Alpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair
stream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of
Achelous, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and
Aesepus, and holy Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus fair
stream, and great Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, Euenus, Ardescus, and
divine Scamander.

(ll. 346-370) Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters 1615
who with the lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping—to
this charge Zeus appointed them—Peitho, and Admete, and Ianthe, and
Electra, and Doris, and Prymno, and Urania divine in form, Hippo,
Clymene, Rhodea, and Callirrhoe, Zeuxo and Clytie, and Idyia, and
Pasithoe, Plexaura, and Galaxaura, and lovely Dione, Melobosis and Thoe
and handsome Polydora, Cerceis lovely of form, and soft eyed Pluto,
Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea the fair, Menestho, and
Europa, Metis, and Eurynome, and Telesto saffron-clad, Chryseis and
Asia and charming Calypso, Eudora, and Tyche, Amphirho, and Ocyrrhoe,
and Styx who is the chiefest of them all. These are the eldest
daughters that sprang from Ocean and Tethys; but there are many
besides. For there are three thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean
who are dispersed far and wide, and in every place alike serve the
earth and the deep waters, children who are glorious among goddesses.
And as many other rivers are there, babbling as they flow, sons of
Ocean, whom queenly Tethys bare, but their names it is hard for a
mortal man to tell, but people know those by which they severally
dwell.

(ll. 371-374) And Theia was subject in love to Hyperion and bare great
Helius (Sun) and clear Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn) who shines upon all
that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide
heaven.

(ll. 375-377) And Eurybia, bright goddess, was joined in love to Crius
and bare great Astraeus, and Pallas, and Perses who also was eminent
among all men in wisdom.

(ll. 378-382) And Eos bare to Astraeus the strong-hearted winds,
brightening Zephyrus, and Boreas, headlong in his course, and Notus,—a
goddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigenia 1616 bare
the star Eosphorus (Dawn-bringer), and the gleaming stars with which
heaven is crowned.

(ll. 383-403) And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and
bare Zelus (Emulation) and trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house.
Also she brought forth Cratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful
children. These have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor
path except that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with
Zeus the loud-thunderer. For so did Styx the deathless daughter of
Ocean plan on that day when the Olympian Lightener called all the
deathless gods to great Olympus, and said that whosoever of the gods
would fight with him against the Titans, he would not cast him out from
his rights, but each should have the office which he had before amongst
the deathless gods. And he declared that he who was without office and
rights under Cronos, should be raised to both office and rights as is
just. So deathless Styx came first to Olympus with her children through
the wit of her dear father. And Zeus honoured her, and gave her very
great gifts, for her he appointed to be the great oath of the gods, and
her children to live with him always. And as he promised, so he
performed fully unto them all. But he himself mightily reigns and
rules.

(ll. 404-452) Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.

Then the goddess through the love of the god conceived and brought
forth dark-gowned Leto, always mild, kind to men and to the deathless
gods, mild from the beginning, gentlest in all Olympus. Also she bare
Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be
called his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the
son of Cronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a
share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in
starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods. For
to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices
and prays for favour according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great
honour comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives
favourably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is
with her. For as many as were born of Earth and Ocean amongst all these
she has her due portion. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took
anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods:
but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning,
privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea. Also, because she
is an only child, the goddess receives not less honour, but much more
still, for Zeus honours her. Whom she will she greatly aids and
advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in the
assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people. And when men
arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at
hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is
she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is
with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the
victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his
parents. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to
those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to
Hecate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess
gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so
she will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock.
The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep,
if she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. So,
then. albeit her mother’s only child 1617, she is honoured amongst all
the deathless gods. And the son of Cronos made her a nurse of the young
who after that day saw with their eyes the light of all-seeing Dawn. So
from the beginning she is a nurse of the young, and these are her
honours.

(ll. 453-491) But Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bare splendid
children, Hestia 1618, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades,
pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth, and the loud-crashing
Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, by whose thunder
the wide earth is shaken. These great Cronos swallowed as each came
forth from the womb to his mother’s knees with this intent, that no
other of the proud sons of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst
the deathless gods. For he learned from Earth and starry Heaven that he
was destined to be overcome by his own son, strong though he was,
through the contriving of great Zeus 1619. Therefore he kept no blind
outlook, but watched and swallowed down his children: and unceasing
grief seized Rhea. But when she was about to bear Zeus, the father of
gods and men, then she besought her own dear parents, Earth and starry
Heaven, to devise some plan with her that the birth of her dear child
might be concealed, and that retribution might overtake great, crafty
Cronos for his own father and also for the children whom he had
swallowed down. And they readily heard and obeyed their dear daughter,
and told her all that was destined to happen touching Cronos the king
and his stout-hearted son. So they sent her to Lyetus, to the rich land
of Crete, when she was ready to bear great Zeus, the youngest of her
children. Him did vast Earth receive from Rhea in wide Crete to nourish
and to bring up. Thither came Earth carrying him swiftly through the
black night to Lyctus first, and took him in her arms and hid him in a
remote cave beneath the secret places of the holy earth on thick-wooded
Mount Aegeum; but to the mightily ruling son of Heaven, the earlier
king of the gods, she gave a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Then he took it in his hands and thrust it down into his belly: wretch!
he knew not in his heart that in place of the stone his son was left
behind, unconquered and untroubled, and that he was soon to overcome
him by force and might and drive him from his honours, himself to reign
over the deathless gods.

(ll. 492-506) After that, the strength and glorious limbs of the prince
increased quickly, and as the years rolled on, great Cronos the wily
was beguiled by the deep suggestions of Earth, and brought up again his
offspring, vanquished by the arts and might of his own son, and he
vomited up first the stone which he had swallowed last. And Zeus set it
fast in the wide-pathed earth at goodly Pytho under the glens of
Parnassus, to be a sign thenceforth and a marvel to mortal men 1620.
And he set free from their deadly bonds the brothers of his father,
sons of Heaven whom his father in his foolishness had bound. And they
remembered to be grateful to him for his kindness, and gave him thunder
and the glowing thunderbolt and lightening: for before that, huge Earth
had hidden these. In them he trusts and rules over mortals and
immortals.

(ll. 507-543) Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled mad Clymene,
daughter of Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him
a stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bare very glorious Menoetius and
clever Prometheus, full of various wiles, and scatter-brained
Epimetheus who from the first was a mischief to men who eat bread; for
it was he who first took of Zeus the woman, the maiden whom he had
formed. But Menoetius was outrageous, and far-seeing Zeus struck him
with a lurid thunderbolt and sent him down to Erebus because of his mad
presumption and exceeding pride. And Atlas through hard constraint
upholds the wide heaven with unwearying head and arms, standing at the
borders of the earth before the clear-voiced Hesperides; for this lot
wise Zeus assigned to him. And ready-witted Prometheus he bound with
inextricable bonds, cruel chains, and drove a shaft through his middle,
and set on him a long-winged eagle, which used to eat his immortal
liver; but by night the liver grew as much again everyway as the
long-winged bird devoured in the whole day. That bird Heracles, the
valiant son of shapely-ankled Alcmene, slew; and delivered the son of
Iapetus from the cruel plague, and released him from his affliction—not
without the will of Olympian Zeus who reigns on high, that the glory of
Heracles the Theban-born might be yet greater than it was before over
the plenteous earth. This, then, he regarded, and honoured his famous
son; though he was angry, he ceased from the wrath which he had before
because Prometheus matched himself in wit with the almighty son of
Cronos. For when the gods and mortal men had a dispute at Mecone, even
then Prometheus was forward to cut up a great ox and set portions
before them, trying to befool the mind of Zeus. Before the rest he set
flesh and inner parts thick with fat upon the hide, covering them with
an ox paunch; but for Zeus he put the white bones dressed up with
cunning art and covered with shining fat. Then the father of men and of
gods said to him:

(ll. 543-544) ‘Son of Iapetus, most glorious of all lords, good sir,
how unfairly you have divided the portions!’

(ll. 545-547) So said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him.
But wily Prometheus answered him, smiling softly and not forgetting his
cunning trick:

(ll. 548-558) ‘Zeus, most glorious and greatest of the eternal gods,
take which ever of these portions your heart within you bids.’ So he
said, thinking trickery. But Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, saw and
failed not to perceive the trick, and in his heart he thought mischief
against mortal men which also was to be fulfilled. With both hands he
took up the white fat and was angry at heart, and wrath came to his
spirit when he saw the white ox-bones craftily tricked out: and because
of this the tribes of men upon earth burn white bones to the deathless
gods upon fragrant altars. But Zeus who drives the clouds was greatly
vexed and said to him:

(ll. 559-560) ‘Son of Iapetus, clever above all! So, sir, you have not
yet forgotten your cunning arts!’

(ll. 561-584) So spake Zeus in anger, whose wisdom is everlasting; and
from that time he was always mindful of the trick, and would not give
the power of unwearying fire to the Melian 1621 race of mortal men who
live on the earth. But the noble son of Iapetus outwitted him and stole
the far-seen gleam of unwearying fire in a hollow fennel stalk. And
Zeus who thunders on high was stung in spirit, and his dear heart was
angered when he saw amongst men the far-seen ray of fire. Forthwith he
made an evil thing for men as the price of fire; for the very famous
Limping God formed of earth the likeness of a shy maiden as the son of
Cronos willed. And the goddess bright-eyed Athene girded and clothed
her with silvery raiment, and down from her head she spread with her
hands a broidered veil, a wonder to see; and she, Pallas Athene, put
about her head lovely garlands, flowers of new-grown herbs. Also she
put upon her head a crown of gold which the very famous Limping God
made himself and worked with his own hands as a favour to Zeus his
father. On it was much curious work, wonderful to see; for of the many
creatures which the land and sea rear up, he put most upon it,
wonderful things, like living beings with voices: and great beauty
shone out from it.

(ll. 585-589) But when he had made the beautiful evil to be the price
for the blessing, he brought her out, delighting in the finery which
the bright-eyed daughter of a mighty father had given her, to the place
where the other gods and men were. And wonder took hold of the
deathless gods and mortal men when they saw that which was sheer guile,
not to be withstood by men.

(ll. 590-612) For from her is the race of women and female kind: of her
is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to
their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in
wealth. And as in thatched hives bees feed the drones whose nature is
to do mischief—by day and throughout the day until the sun goes down
the bees are busy and lay the white combs, while the drones stay at
home in the covered skeps and reap the toil of others into their own
bellies—even so Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to
mortal men, with a nature to do evil. And he gave them a second evil to
be the price for the good they had: whoever avoids marriage and the
sorrows that women cause, and will not wed, reaches deadly old age
without anyone to tend his years, and though he at least has no lack of
livelihood while he lives, yet, when he is dead, his kinsfolk divide
his possessions amongst them. And as for the man who chooses the lot of
marriage and takes a good wife suited to his mind, evil continually
contends with good; for whoever happens to have mischievous children,
lives always with unceasing grief in his spirit and heart within him;
and this evil cannot be healed.

(ll. 613-616) So it is not possible to deceive or go beyond the will of
Zeus; for not even the son of Iapetus, kindly Prometheus, escaped his
heavy anger, but of necessity strong bands confined him, although he
knew many a wile.

(ll. 617-643) But when first their father was vexed in his heart with
Obriareus and Cottus and Gyes, he bound them in cruel bonds, because he
was jealous of their exceeding manhood and comeliness and great size:
and he made them live beneath the wide-pathed earth, where they were
afflicted, being set to dwell under the ground, at the end of the
earth, at its great borders, in bitter anguish for a long time and with
great grief at heart. But the son of Cronos and the other deathless
gods whom rich-haired Rhea bare from union with Cronos, brought them up
again to the light at Earth’s advising. For she herself recounted all
things to the gods fully, how that with these they would gain victory
and a glorious cause to vaunt themselves. For the Titan gods and as
many as sprang from Cronos had long been fighting together in stubborn
war with heart-grieving toil, the lordly Titans from high Othyrs, but
the gods, givers of good, whom rich-haired Rhea bare in union with
Cronos, from Olympus. So they, with bitter wrath, were fighting
continually with one another at that time for ten full years, and the
hard strife had no close or end for either side, and the issue of the
war hung evenly balanced. But when he had provided those three with all
things fitting, nectar and ambrosia which the gods themselves eat, and
when their proud spirit revived within them all after they had fed on
nectar and delicious ambrosia, then it was that the father of men and
gods spoke amongst them:

(ll. 644-653) ‘Hear me, bright children of Earth and Heaven, that I may
say what my heart within me bids. A long while now have we, who are
sprung from Cronos and the Titan gods, fought with each other every day
to get victory and to prevail. But do you show your great might and
unconquerable strength, and face the Titans in bitter strife; for
remember our friendly kindness, and from what sufferings you are come
back to the light from your cruel bondage under misty gloom through our
counsels.’

(ll. 654-663) So he said. And blameless Cottus answered him again:
‘Divine one, you speak that which we know well: nay, even of ourselves
we know that your wisdom and understanding is exceeding, and that you
became a defender of the deathless ones from chill doom. And through
your devising we are come back again from the murky gloom and from our
merciless bonds, enjoying what we looked not for, O lord, son of
Cronos. And so now with fixed purpose and deliberate counsel we will
aid your power in dreadful strife and will fight against the Titans in
hard battle.’

(ll. 664-686) So he said: and the gods, givers of good things,
applauded when they heard his word, and their spirit longed for war
even more than before, and they all, both male and female, stirred up
hated battle that day, the Titan gods, and all that were born of Cronos
together with those dread, mighty ones of overwhelming strength whom
Zeus brought up to the light from Erebus beneath the earth. An hundred
arms sprang from the shoulders of all alike, and each had fifty heads
growing upon his shoulders upon stout limbs. These, then, stood against
the Titans in grim strife, holding huge rocks in their strong hands.
And on the other part the Titans eagerly strengthened their ranks, and
both sides at one time showed the work of their hands and their might.
The boundless sea rang terribly around, and the earth crashed loudly:
wide Heaven was shaken and groaned, and high Olympus reeled from its
foundation under the charge of the undying gods, and a heavy quaking
reached dim Tartarus and the deep sound of their feet in the fearful
onset and of their hard missiles. So, then, they launched their
grievous shafts upon one another, and the cry of both armies as they
shouted reached to starry heaven; and they met together with a great
battle-cry.

(ll. 687-712) Then Zeus no longer held back his might; but straight his
heart was filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From
Heaven and from Olympus he came forthwith, hurling his lightning: the
bolts flew thick and fast from his strong hand together with thunder
and lightning, whirling an awesome flame. The life-giving earth crashed
around in burning, and the vast wood crackled loud with fire all about.
All the land seethed, and Ocean’s streams and the unfruitful sea. The
hot vapour lapped round the earthborn Titans: flame unspeakable rose to
the bright upper air: the flashing glare of the thunder-stone and
lightning blinded their eyes for all that there were strong. Astounding
heat seized Chaos: and to see with eyes and to hear the sound with ears
it seemed even as if Earth and wide Heaven above came together; for
such a mighty crash would have arisen if Earth were being hurled to
ruin, and Heaven from on high were hurling her down; so great a crash
was there while the gods were meeting together in strife. Also the
winds brought rumbling earthquake and duststorm, thunder and lightning
and the lurid thunderbolt, which are the shafts of great Zeus, and
carried the clangour and the warcry into the midst of the two hosts. An
horrible uproar of terrible strife arose: mighty deeds were shown and
the battle inclined. But until then, they kept at one another and
fought continually in cruel war.

(ll. 713-735) And amongst the foremost Cottus and Briareos and Gyes
insatiate for war raised fierce fighting: three hundred rocks, one upon
another, they launched from their strong hands and overshadowed the
Titans with their missiles, and buried them beneath the wide-pathed
earth, and bound them in bitter chains when they had conquered them by
their strength for all their great spirit, as far beneath the earth to
Tartarus. For a brazen anvil falling down from heaven nine nights and
days would reach the earth upon the tenth: and again, a brazen anvil
falling from earth nine nights and days would reach Tartarus upon the
tenth. Round it runs a fence of bronze, and night spreads in triple
line all about it like a neck-circlet, while above grow the roots of
the earth and unfruitful sea. There by the counsel of Zeus who drives
the clouds the Titan gods are hidden under misty gloom, in a dank place
where are the ends of the huge earth. And they may not go out; for
Poseidon fixed gates of bronze upon it, and a wall runs all round it on
every side. There Gyes and Cottus and great-souled Obriareus live,
trusty warders of Zeus who holds the aegis.

(ll. 736-744) And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends
of gloomy earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry
heaven, loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.

It is a great gulf, and if once a man were within the gates, he would
not reach the floor until a whole year had reached its end, but cruel
blast upon blast would carry him this way and that. And this marvel is
awful even to the deathless gods.

(ll. 744-757) There stands the awful home of murky Night wrapped in
dark clouds. In front of it the son of Iapetus 1622 stands immovably
upholding the wide heaven upon his head and unwearying hands, where
Night and Day draw near and greet one another as they pass the great
threshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the
house, the other comes out at the door.

And the house never holds them both within; but always one is without
the house passing over the earth, while the other stays at home and
waits until the time for her journeying come; and the one holds
all-seeing light for them on earth, but the other holds in her arms
Sleep the brother of Death, even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous
cloud.

(ll. 758-766) And there the children of dark Night have their
dwellings, Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks
upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he
comes down from heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully over
the earth and the sea’s broad back and is kindly to men; but the other
has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze:
whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful
even to the deathless gods.

(ll. 767-774) There, in front, stand the echoing halls of the god of
the lower-world, strong Hades, and of awful Persephone. A fearful hound
guards the house in front, pitiless, and he has a cruel trick. On those
who go in he fawns with his tail and both his ears, but suffers them
not to go out back again, but keeps watch and devours whomsoever he
catches going out of the gates of strong Hades and awful Persephone.

(ll. 775-806) And there dwells the goddess loathed by the deathless
gods, terrible Styx, eldest daughter of back-flowing 1623 Ocean. She
lives apart from the gods in her glorious house vaulted over with great
rocks and propped up to heaven all round with silver pillars. Rarely
does the daughter of Thaumas, swift-footed Iris, come to her with a
message over the sea’s wide back.

But when strife and quarrel arise among the deathless gods, and when
any of them who live in the house of Olympus lies, then Zeus sends Iris
to bring in a golden jug the great oath of the gods from far away, the
famous cold water which trickles down from a high and beetling rock.
Far under the wide-pathed earth a branch of Oceanus flows through the
dark night out of the holy stream, and a tenth part of his water is
allotted to her. With nine silver-swirling streams he winds about the
earth and the sea’s wide back, and then falls into the main 1624; but
the tenth flows out from a rock, a sore trouble to the gods. For
whoever of the deathless gods that hold the peaks of snowy Olympus
pours a libation of her water is forsworn, lies breathless until a full
year is completed, and never comes near to taste ambrosia and nectar,
but lies spiritless and voiceless on a strewn bed: and a heavy trance
overshadows him. But when he has spent a long year in his sickness,
another penance and an harder follows after the first. For nine years
he is cut off from the eternal gods and never joins their councils of
their feasts, nine full years. But in the tenth year he comes again to
join the assemblies of the deathless gods who live in the house of
Olympus. Such an oath, then, did the gods appoint the eternal and
primaeval water of Styx to be: and it spouts through a rugged place.

(ll. 807-819) And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends
of the dark earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry
heaven, loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.

And there are shining gates and an immoveable threshold of bronze
having unending roots and it is grown of itself 1625. And beyond, away
from all the gods, live the Titans, beyond gloomy Chaos. But the
glorious allies of loud-crashing Zeus have their dwelling upon Ocean’s
foundations, even Cottus and Gyes; but Briareos, being goodly, the
deep-roaring Earth-Shaker made his son-in-law, giving him Cymopolea his
daughter to wed.

(ll. 820-868) But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge
Earth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the
aid of golden Aphrodite. Strength was with his hands in all that he did
and the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew
an hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering
tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads
flashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he glared. And there
were voices in all his dreadful heads which uttered every kind of sound
unspeakable; for at one time they made sounds such that the gods
understood, but at another, the noise of a bull bellowing aloud in
proud ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a lion,
relentless of heart; and at another, sounds like whelps, wonderful to
hear; and again, at another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains
re-echoed. And truly a thing past help would have happened on that day,
and he would have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the
father of men and gods been quick to perceive it. But he thundered hard
and mightily: and the earth around resounded terribly and the wide
heaven above, and the sea and Ocean’s streams and the nether parts of
the earth. Great Olympus reeled beneath the divine feet of the king as
he arose and earth groaned thereat. And through the two of them heat
took hold on the dark-blue sea, through the thunder and lightning, and
through the fire from the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing
thunderbolt. The whole earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the long
waves raged along the beaches round and about, at the rush of the
deathless gods: and there arose an endless shaking. Hades trembled
where he rules over the dead below, and the Titans under Tartarus who
live with Cronos, because of the unending clamour and the fearful
strife. So when Zeus had raised up his might and seized his arms,
thunder and lightning and lurid thunderbolt, he leaped from Olympus and
struck him, and burned all the marvellous heads of the monster about
him. But when Zeus had conquered him and lashed him with strokes,
Typhoeus was hurled down, a maimed wreck, so that the huge earth
groaned. And flame shot forth from the thunder-stricken lord in the dim
rugged glens of the mount 1626, when he was smitten. A great part of
huge earth was scorched by the terrible vapour and melted as tin melts
when heated by men’s art in channelled 1627 crucibles; or as iron,
which is hardest of all things, is softened by glowing fire in mountain
glens and melts in the divine earth through the strength of Hephaestus
1628. Even so, then, the earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire.
And in the bitterness of his anger Zeus cast him into wide Tartarus.

(ll. 869-880) And from Typhoeus come boisterous winds which blow
damply, except Notus and Boreas and clear Zephyr. These are a god-sent
kind, and a great blessing to men; but the others blow fitfully upon
the seas. Some rush upon the misty sea and work great havoc among men
with their evil, raging blasts; for varying with the season they blow,
scattering ships and destroying sailors. And men who meet these upon
the sea have no help against the mischief. Others again over the
boundless, flowering earth spoil the fair fields of men who dwell
below, filling them with dust and cruel uproar.

(ll. 881-885) But when the blessed gods had finished their toil, and
settled by force their struggle for honours with the Titans, they
pressed far-seeing Olympian Zeus to reign and to rule over them, by
Earth’s prompting. So he divided their dignities amongst them.

(ll. 886-900) Now Zeus, king of the gods, made Metis his wife first,
and she was wisest among gods and mortal men. But when she was about to
bring forth the goddess bright-eyed Athene, Zeus craftily deceived her
with cunning words and put her in his own belly, as Earth and starry
Heaven advised. For they advised him so, to the end that no other
should hold royal sway over the eternal gods in place of Zeus; for very
wise children were destined to be born of her, first the maiden
bright-eyed Tritogeneia, equal to her father in strength and in wise
understanding; but afterwards she was to bear a son of overbearing
spirit, king of gods and men. But Zeus put her into his own belly
first, that the goddess might devise for him both good and evil.

(ll. 901-906) Next he married bright Themis who bare the Horae (Hours),
and Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming Eirene (Peace), who
mind the works of mortal men, and the Moerae (Fates) to whom wise Zeus
gave the greatest honour, Clotho, and Lachesis, and Atropos who give
mortal men evil and good to have.

(ll. 907-911) And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form,
bare him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne,
and lovely Thaleia, from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that
unnerves the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows.

(ll. 912-914) Also he came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, and
she bare white-armed Persephone whom Aidoneus carried off from her
mother; but wise Zeus gave her to him.

(ll. 915-917) And again, he loved Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair:
and of her the nine gold-crowned Muses were born who delight in feasts
and the pleasures of song.

(ll. 918-920) And Leto was joined in love with Zeus who holds the
aegis, and bare Apollo and Artemis delighting in arrows, children
lovely above all the sons of Heaven.

(ll. 921-923) Lastly, he made Hera his blooming wife: and she was
joined in love with the king of gods and men, and brought forth Hebe
and Ares and Eileithyia.

(ll. 924-929) But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to
bright-eyed Tritogeneia 1629, the awful, the strife-stirring, the
host-leader, the unwearying, the queen, who delights in tumults and
wars and battles. But Hera without union with Zeus—for she was very
angry and quarrelled with her mate—bare famous Hephaestus, who is
skilled in crafts more than all the sons of Heaven.

(ll. 929a-929t) 1630 But Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her
mate. And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who
holds the aegis a glorious son, Hephaestus, who excelled all the sons
of Heaven in crafts. But Zeus lay with the fair-cheeked daughter of
Ocean and Tethys apart from Hera.... ((LACUNA)) ....deceiving Metis
(Thought) although she was full wise. But he seized her with his hands
and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something
stronger than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and
dwells in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway
conceived Pallas Athene: and the father of men and gods gave her birth
by way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained
hidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena’s mother,
worker of righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men. There
the goddess (Athena) received that 1631 whereby she excelled in
strength all the deathless ones who dwell in Olympus, she who made the
host-scaring weapon of Athena. And with it (Zeus) gave her birth,
arrayed in arms of war.

(ll. 930-933) And of Amphitrite and the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was
born great, wide-ruling Triton, and he owns the depths of the sea,
living with his dear mother and the lord his father in their golden
house, an awful god.

(ll. 933-937) Also Cytherea bare to Ares the shield-piercer Panic and
Fear, terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in
numbing war, with the help of Ares, sacker of towns: and Harmonia whom
high-spirited Cadmus made his wife.

(ll. 938-939) And Maia, the daughter of Atlas, bare to Zeus glorious
Hermes, the herald of the deathless gods, for she went up into his holy
bed.

(ll. 940-942) And Semele, daughter of Cadmus was joined with him in
love and bare him a splendid son, joyous Dionysus,—a mortal woman an
immortal son. And now they both are gods.

(ll. 943-944) And Alcmena was joined in love with Zeus who drives the
clouds and bare mighty Heracles.

(ll. 945-946) And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea,
youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife.

(ll. 947-949) And golden-haired Dionysus made brown-haired Ariadne, the
daughter of Minos, his buxom wife: and the son of Cronos made her
deathless and unageing for him.

(ll. 950-955) And mighty Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled
Alcmena, when he had finished his grievous toils, made Hebe the child
of great Zeus and gold-shod Hera his shy wife in snowy Olympus. Happy
he! For he has finished his great works and lives amongst the undying
gods, untroubled and unageing all his days.

(ll. 956-962) And Perseis, the daughter of Ocean, bare to unwearying
Helios Circe and Aeetes the king. And Aeetes, the son of Helios who
shows light to men, took to wife fair-cheeked Idyia, daughter of Ocean
the perfect stream, by the will of the gods: and she was subject to him
in love through golden Aphrodite and bare him neat-ankled Medea.

(ll. 963-968) And now farewell, you dwellers on Olympus and you islands
and continents and thou briny sea within. Now sing the company of
goddesses, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughter of Zeus who holds
the aegis,—even those deathless one who lay with mortal men and bare
children like unto gods.

(ll. 969-974) Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet love with
the hero Iasion in a thrice-ploughed fallow in the rich land of Crete,
and bare Plutus, a kindly god who goes everywhere over land and the
sea’s wide back, and him who finds him and into whose hands he comes he
makes rich, bestowing great wealth upon him.

(ll. 975-978) And Harmonia, the daughter of golden Aphrodite, bare to
Cadmus Ino and Semele and fair-cheeked Agave and Autonoe whom long
haired Aristaeus wedded, and Polydorus also in rich-crowned Thebe.

(ll. 979-983) And the daughter of Ocean, Callirrhoe was joined in the
love of rich Aphrodite with stout hearted Chrysaor and bare a son who
was the strongest of all men, Geryones, whom mighty Heracles killed in
sea-girt Erythea for the sake of his shambling oxen.

(ll. 984-991) And Eos bare to Tithonus brazen-crested Memnon, king of
the Ethiopians, and the Lord Emathion. And to Cephalus she bare a
splendid son, strong Phaethon, a man like the gods, whom, when he was a
young boy in the tender flower of glorious youth with childish
thoughts, laughter-loving Aphrodite seized and caught up and made a
keeper of her shrine by night, a divine spirit.

(ll. 993-1002) And the son of Aeson by the will of the gods led away
from Aeetes the daughter of Aeetes the heaven-nurtured king, when he
had finished the many grievous labours which the great king, over
bearing Pelias, that outrageous and presumptuous doer of violence, put
upon him. But when the son of Aeson had finished them, he came to
Iolcus after long toil bringing the coy-eyed girl with him on his swift
ship, and made her his buxom wife. And she was subject to Iason,
shepherd of the people, and bare a son Medeus whom Cheiron the son of
Philyra brought up in the mountains. And the will of great Zeus was
fulfilled.

(ll. 1003-1007) But of the daughters of Nereus, the Old man of the Sea,
Psamathe the fair goddess, was loved by Aeacus through golden Aphrodite
and bare Phocus. And the silver-shod goddess Thetis was subject to
Peleus and brought forth lion-hearted Achilles, the destroyer of men.

(ll. 1008-1010) And Cytherea with the beautiful crown was joined in
sweet love with the hero Anchises and bare Aeneas on the peaks of Ida
with its many wooded glens.

(ll. 1011-1016) And Circe the daughter of Helius, Hyperion’s son, loved
steadfast Odysseus and bare Agrius and Latinus who was faultless and
strong: also she brought forth Telegonus by the will of golden
Aphrodite. And they ruled over the famous Tyrenians, very far off in a
recess of the holy islands.

(ll. 1017-1018) And the bright goddess Calypso was joined to Odysseus
in sweet love, and bare him Nausithous and Nausinous.

(ll. 1019-1020) These are the immortal goddesses who lay with mortal
men and bare them children like unto gods.

(ll. 1021-1022) But now, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughters of
Zeus who holds the aegis, sing of the company of women.

THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE1701

Fragment #1—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 1086: That
Deucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, Hesiod states in the
first _Catalogue_, as also that Hellen was the son of Deucalion and
Pyrrha.

Fragment #2—Ioannes Lydus 1702, de Mens. i. 13: They came to call those
who followed local manners Latins, but those who followed Hellenic
customs Greeks, after the brothers Latinus and Graecus; as Hesiod says:
‘And in the palace Pandora the daughter of noble Deucalion was joined
in love with father Zeus, leader of all the gods, and bare Graecus,
staunch in battle.’

Fragment #3—Constantinus Porphyrogenitus 1703, de Them. 2 p. 48B: The
district Macedonia took its name from Macedon the son of Zeus and
Thyia, Deucalion’s daughter, as Hesiod says: ‘And she conceived and
bare to Zeus who delights in the thunderbolt two sons, Magnes and
Macedon, rejoicing in horses, who dwell round about Pieria and
Olympus.... ((LACUNA)) ....And Magnes again (begot) Dictys and godlike
Polydectes.’

Fragment #4—Plutarch, Mor. p. 747; Schol. on Pindar Pyth. iv. 263: ‘And
from Hellen the war-loving king sprang Dorus and Xuthus and Aeolus
delighting in horses. And the sons of Aeolus, kings dealing justice,
were Cretheus, and Athamas, and clever Sisyphus, and wicked Salmoneus
and overbold Perieres.’

Fragment #5—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 266: Those who
were descended from Deucalion used to rule over Thessaly as Hecataeus
and Hesiod say.

Fragment #6—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 482: Aloiadae.
Hesiod said that they were sons of Aloeus,—called so after him,—and of
Iphimedea, but in reality sons of Poseidon and Iphimedea, and that Alus
a city of Aetolia was founded by their father.

Fragment #7—Berlin Papyri, No. 7497; Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 421 1704: (ll.
1-24) ‘....Eurynome the daughter of Nisus, Pandion’s son, to whom
Pallas Athene taught all her art, both wit and wisdom too; for she was
as wise as the gods. A marvellous scent rose from her silvern raiment
as she moved, and beauty was wafted from her eyes. Her, then, Glaucus
sought to win by Athena’s advising, and he drove oxen 1705 for her. But
he knew not at all the intent of Zeus who holds the aegis. So Glaucus
came seeking her to wife with gifts; but cloud-driving Zeus, king of
the deathless gods, bent his head in oath that the.... son of Sisyphus
should never have children born of one father 1706. So she lay in the
arms of Poseidon and bare in the house of Glaucus blameless
Bellerophon, surpassing all men in.... over the boundless sea. And when
he began to roam, his father gave him Pegasus who would bear him most
swiftly on his wings, and flew unwearying everywhere over the earth,
for like the gales he would course along. With him Bellerophon caught
and slew the fire-breathing Chimera. And he wedded the dear child of
the great-hearted Iobates, the worshipful king.... lord (of).... and
she bare....’

Fragment #8—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodes, Arg. iv. 57: Hesiod says
that Endymion was the son of Aethlius the son of Zeus and Calyee, and
received the gift from Zeus: ‘(To be) keeper of death for his own self
when he was ready to die.’

Fragment #9—Scholiast Ven. on Homer, Il. xi. 750: The two sons of Actor
and Molione... Hesiod has given their descent by calling them after
Actor and Molione; but their father was Poseidon.

Porphyrius 1707, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pert., 265: But Aristarchus is
informed that they were twins, not.... such as were the Dioscuri, but,
on Hesiod’s testimony, double in form and with two bodies and joined to
one another.

Fragment #10—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 156: But Hesiod
says that he changed himself in one of his wonted shapes and perched on
the yoke-boss of Heracles’ horses, meaning to fight with the hero; but
that Heracles, secretly instructed by Athena, wounded him mortally with
an arrow. And he says as follows: ‘...and lordly Periclymenus. Happy
he! For earth-shaking Poseidon gave him all manner of gifts. At one
time he would appear among birds, an eagle; and again at another he
would be an ant, a marvel to see; and then a shining swarm of bees; and
again at another time a dread relentless snake. And he possessed all
manner of gifts which cannot be told, and these then ensnared him
through the devising of Athene.’

Fragment #11—Stephanus of Byzantium 1708, s.v.: ‘(Heracles) slew the
noble sons of steadfast Neleus, eleven of them; but the twelfth, the
horsemen Gerenian Nestor chanced to be staying with the horse-taming
Gerenians. ((LACUNA)) Nestor alone escaped in flowery Gerenon.’

Fragment #12—Eustathius 1709, Hom. 1796.39: ‘So well-girded Polycaste,
the youngest daughter of Nestor, Neleus’ son, was joined in love with
Telemachus through golden Aphrodite and bare Persepolis.’

Fragment #13—Scholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 69: Tyro the daughter of
Salmoneus, having two sons by Poseidon, Neleus and Pelias, married
Cretheus, and had by him three sons, Aeson, Pheres and Amythaon. And of
Aeson and Polymede, according to Hesiod, Iason was born: ‘Aeson, who
begot a son Iason, shepherd of the people, whom Chiron brought up in
woody Pelion.’

Fragment #14—Petrie Papyri (ed. Mahaffy), Pl. III. 3: ‘....of the
glorious lord ....fair Atalanta, swift of foot, the daughter of
Schoeneus, who had the beaming eyes of the Graces, though she was ripe
for wedlock rejected the company of her equals and sought to avoid
marriage with men who eat bread.’

Scholiast on Homer, Iliad xxiii. 683: Hesiod is therefore later in date
than Homer since he represents Hippomenes as stripped when contending
with Atalanta 1710.

Papiri greci e latini, ii. No. 130 (2nd-3rd century) 1711: (ll. 1-7)
‘Then straightway there rose up against him the trim-ankled maiden
(Atalanta), peerless in beauty: a great throng stood round about her as
she gazed fiercely, and wonder held all men as they looked upon her. As
she moved, the breath of the west wind stirred the shining garment
about her tender bosom; but Hippomenes stood where he was: and much
people was gathered together. All these kept silence; but Schoeneus
cried and said:

(ll. 8-20) ‘“Hear me all, both young and old, while I speak as my
spirit within my breast bids me. Hippomenes seeks my coy-eyed daughter
to wife; but let him now hear my wholesome speech. He shall not win her
without contest; yet, if he be victorious and escape death, and if the
deathless gods who dwell on Olympus grant him to win renown, verily he
shall return to his dear native land, and I will give him my dear child
and strong, swift-footed horses besides which he shall lead home to be
cherished possessions; and may he rejoice in heart possessing these,
and ever remember with gladness the painful contest. May the father of
men and of gods (grant that splendid children may be born to him)’ 1712

((LACUNA))

(ll. 21-27) ‘on the right.... and he, rushing upon her,.... drawing
back slightly towards the left. And on them was laid an unenviable
struggle: for she, even fair, swift-footed Atalanta, ran scorning the
gifts of golden Aphrodite; but with him the race was for his life,
either to find his doom, or to escape it. Therefore with thoughts of
guile he said to her:

(ll. 28-29) ‘“O daughter of Schoeneus, pitiless in heart, receive these
glorious gifts of the goddess, golden Aphrodite...’

((LACUNA))

(ll. 30-36) ‘But he, following lightly on his feet, cast the first
apple 1713: and, swiftly as a Harpy, she turned back and snatched it.
Then he cast the second to the ground with his hand. And now fair,
swift-footed Atalanta had two apples and was near the goal; but
Hippomenes cast the third apple to the ground, and therewith escaped
death and black fate. And he stood panting and...’

Fragment #15—Strabo 1714, i. p. 42: ‘And the daughter of Arabus, whom
worthy Hermaon begat with Thronia, daughter of the lord Belus.’

Fragment #16—Eustathius, Hom. 461. 2: ‘Argos which was waterless Danaus
made well-watered.’

Fragment #17—Hecataeus 1715 in Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes, 872:
Aegyptus himself did not go to Argos, but sent his sons, fifty in
number, as Hesiod represented.

Fragment #18—1716 Strabo, viii. p. 370: And Apollodorus says that
Hesiod already knew that the whole people were called both Hellenes and
Panhellenes, as when he says of the daughters of Proetus that the
Panhellenes sought them in marriage.

Apollodorus, ii. 2.1.4: Acrisius was king of Argos and Proetus of
Tiryns. And Acrisius had by Eurydice the daughter of Lacedemon, Danae;
and Proetus by Stheneboea ‘Lysippe and Iphinoe and Iphianassa’. And
these fell mad, as Hesiod states, because they would not receive the
rites of Dionysus.

Probus 1717 on Vergil, Eclogue vi. 48: These (the daughters of
Proetus), because they had scorned the divinity of Juno, were overcome
with madness, such that they believed they had been turned into cows,
and left Argos their own country. Afterwards they were cured by
Melampus, the son of Amythaon.

Suidas, s.v.: 1718 ‘Because of their hideous wantonness they lost their
tender beauty....’

Eustathius, Hom. 1746.7: ‘....For he shed upon their heads a fearful
itch: and leprosy covered all their flesh, and their hair dropped from
their heads, and their fair scalps were made bare.’

Fragment #19A—1719 Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 1 (3rd cent. A.D.): 1720
(ll. 1-32) ‘....So she (Europa) crossed the briny water from afar to
Crete, beguiled by the wiles of Zeus. Secretly did the Father snatch
her away and gave her a gift, the golden necklace, the toy which
Hephaestus the famed craftsman once made by his cunning skill and
brought and gave it to his father for a possession. And Zeus received
the gift, and gave it in turn to the daughter of proud Phoenix. But
when the Father of men and of gods had mated so far off with
trim-ankled Europa, then he departed back again from the rich-haired
girl. So she bare sons to the almighty Son of Cronos, glorious leaders
of wealthy men—Minos the ruler, and just Rhadamanthys and noble
Sarpedon the blameless and strong. To these did wise Zeus give each a
share of his honour. Verily Sarpedon reigned mightily over wide Lycia
and ruled very many cities filled with people, wielding the sceptre of
Zeus: and great honour followed him, which his father gave him, the
great-hearted shepherd of the people. For wise Zeus ordained that he
should live for three generations of mortal men and not waste away with
old age. He sent him to Troy; and Sarpedon gathered a great host, men
chosen out of Lycia to be allies to the Trojans. These men did Sarpedon
lead, skilled in bitter war. And Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting,
sent him forth from heaven a star, showing tokens for the return of his
dear son........for well he (Sarpedon) knew in his heart that the sign
was indeed from Zeus. Very greatly did he excel in war together with
man-slaying Hector and brake down the wall, bringing woes upon the
Danaans. But so soon as Patroclus had inspired the Argives with hard
courage....’

Fragment #19—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xii. 292: Zeus saw Europa the
daughter of Phoenix gathering flowers in a meadow with some nymphs and
fell in love with her. So he came down and changed himself into a bull
and breathed from his mouth a crocus 1721. In this way he deceived
Europa, carried her off and crossed the sea to Crete where he had
intercourse with her. Then in this condition he made her live with
Asterion the king of the Cretans. There she conceived and bore three
sons, Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys. The tale is in Hesiod and
Bacchylides.

Fragment #20—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 178: But
according to Hesiod (Phineus) was the son of Phoenix, Agenor’s son and
Cassiopea.

Fragment #21—Apollodorus 1722, iii. 14.4.1: But Hesiod says that he
(Adonis) was the son of Phoenix and Alphesiboea.

Fragment #22—Porphyrius, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pert. p. 189: As it is
said in Hesiod in the _Catalogue of Women_ concerning Demodoce the
daughter of Agenor: ‘Demodoce whom very many of men on earth, mighty
princes, wooed, promising splendid gifts, because of her exceeding
beauty.’

Fragment #23—Apollodorus, iii. 5.6.2: Hesiod says that (the children of
Amphion and Niobe) were ten sons and ten daughters.

Aelian 1723, Var. Hist. xii. 36: But Hesiod says they were nine boys
and ten girls;—unless after all the verses are not Hesiod but are
falsely ascribed to him as are many others.

Fragment #24—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiii. 679: And Hesiod says that
when Oedipus had died at Thebes, Argea the daughter of Adrastus came
with others to the funeral of Oedipus.

Fragment #25—Herodian 1724 in Etymologicum Magnum, p. 60, 40: Tityos
the son of Elara.

Fragment #26—1725 Argument: Pindar, Ol. xiv: Cephisus is a river in
Orchomenus where also the Graces are worshipped. Eteoclus the son of
the river Cephisus first sacrificed to them, as Hesiod says.

Scholiast on Homer, Il. ii. 522: ‘which from Lilaea spouts forth its
sweet flowing water....’

Strabo, ix. 424: ‘....And which flows on by Panopeus and through fenced
Glechon and through Orchomenus, winding like a snake.’

Fragment #27—Scholiast on Homer, Il. vii. 9: For the father of
Menesthius, Areithous was a Boeotian living at Arnae; and this is in
Boeotia, as also Hesiod says.

Fragment #28—Stephanus of Byzantium: Onchestus: a grove 1726. It is
situate in the country of Haliartus and was founded by Onchestus the
Boeotian, as Hesiod says.

Fragment #29—Stephanus of Byzantium: There is also a plain of Aega
bordering on Cirrha, according to Hesiod.

Fragment #30—Apollodorus, ii. 1.1.5: But Hesiod says that Pelasgus was
autochthonous.

Fragment #31—Strabo, v. p. 221: That this tribe (the Pelasgi) were from
Arcadia, Ephorus states on the authority of Hesiod; for he says: ‘Sons
were born to god-like Lycaon whom Pelasgus once begot.’

Fragment #32—Stephanus of Byzantium: Pallantium. A city of Arcadia, so
named after Pallas, one of Lycaon’s sons, according to Hesiod.

Fragment #33—(Unknown): ‘Famous Meliboea bare Phellus the good
spear-man.’

Fragment #34—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction, p. 18: In Hesiod in the
second Catalogue: ‘Who once hid the torch 1727 within.’

Fragment #35—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction, p. 42: Hesiod in the third
Catalogue writes: ‘And a resounding thud of feet rose up.’

Fragment #36—Apollonius Dyscolus 1728, On the Pronoun, p. 125: ‘And a
great trouble to themselves.’

Fragment #37—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 45: Neither Homer
nor Hesiod speak of Iphiclus as amongst the Argonauts.

Fragment #38—‘Eratosthenes’ 1729, Catast. xix. p. 124: The Ram.]—This
it was that transported Phrixus and Helle. It was immortal and was
given them by their mother Nephele, and had a golden fleece, as Hesiod
and Pherecydes say.

Fragment #39—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in
the _Great Eoiae_ says that Phineus was blinded because he revealed to
Phrixus the road; but in the third _Catalogue_, because he preferred
long life to sight.

Hesiod says he had two sons, Thynus and Mariandynus.

Ephorus 1730 in Strabo, vii. 302: Hesiod, in the so-called Journey
round the Earth, says that Phineus was brought by the Harpies ‘to the
land of milk-feeders 1731 who have waggons for houses.’

Fragment #40A—(Cp. Fr. 43 and 44) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 2 (3rd
cent. A.D.): 1732 ((LACUNA—Slight remains of 7 lines))

(ll. 8-35) ‘(The Sons of Boreas pursued the Harpies) to the lands of
the Massagetae and of the proud Half-Dog men, of the Underground-folk
and of the feeble Pygmies; and to the tribes of the boundless
Black-skins and the Libyans. Huge Earth bare these to
Epaphus—soothsaying people, knowing seercraft by the will of Zeus the
lord of oracles, but deceivers, to the end that men whose thought
passes their utterance 1733 might be subject to the gods and suffer
harm—Aethiopians and Libyans and mare-milking Scythians. For verily
Epaphus was the child of the almighty Son of Cronos, and from him
sprang the dark Libyans, and high-souled Aethiopians, and the
Underground-folk and feeble Pygmies. All these are the offspring of the
lord, the Loud-thunderer. Round about all these (the Sons of Boreas)
sped in darting flight.... ....of the well-horsed Hyperboreans—whom
Earth the all-nourishing bare far off by the tumbling streams of
deep-flowing Eridanus........of amber, feeding her wide-scattered
offspring—and about the steep Fawn mountain and rugged Etna to the isle
Ortygia and the people sprung from Laestrygon who was the son of
wide-reigning Poseidon. Twice ranged the Sons of Boreas along this
coast and wheeled round and about yearning to catch the Harpies, while
they strove to escape and avoid them. And they sped to the tribe of the
haughty Cephallenians, the people of patient-souled Odysseus whom in
aftertime Calypso the queenly nymph detained for Poseidon. Then they
came to the land of the lord the son of Ares........they heard. Yet
still (the Sons of Boreas) ever pursued them with instant feet. So they
(the Harpies) sped over the sea and through the fruitless air...’

Fragment #40—Strabo, vii. p. 300: ‘The Aethiopians and Ligurians and
mare-milking Scythians.’

Fragment #41—Apollodorus, i. 9.21.6: As they were being pursued, one of
the Harpies fell into the river Tigris, in Peloponnesus which is now
called Harpys after her. Some call this one Nicothoe, and others
Aellopus. The other who was called Ocypete, or as some say Ocythoe
(though Hesiod calls her Ocypus), fled down the Propontis and reached
as far as to the Echinades islands which are now called because of her,
Strophades (Turning Islands).

Fragment #42—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 297: Hesiod also
says that those with Zetes 1734 turned and prayed to Zeus: ‘There they
prayed to the lord of Aenos who reigns on high.’

Apollonius indeed says it was Iris who made Zetes and his following
turn away, but Hesiod says Hermes.

Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 296: Others say (the islands)
were called Strophades, because they turned there and prayed Zeus to
seize the Harpies. But according to Hesiod... they were not killed.

Fragment #43—Philodemus 1735, On Piety, 10: Nor let anyone mock at
Hesiod who mentions.... or even the Troglodytes and the Pygmies.

Fragment #44—Strabo, i. p. 43: No one would accuse Hesiod of ignorance
though he speaks of the Half-dog people and the Great-Headed people and
the Pygmies.

Fragment #45—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 284: But Hesiod
says they (the Argonauts) had sailed in through the Phasis.

Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 259: But Hesiod (says)....
they came through the Ocean to Libya, and so, carrying the Argo,
reached our sea.

Fragment #46—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 311:
Apollonius, following Hesiod, says that Circe came to the island over
against Tyrrhenia on the chariot of the Sun. And he called it
Hesperian, because it lies toward the west.

Fragment #47—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 892: He
(Apollonius) followed Hesiod who thus names the island of the Sirens:
‘To the island Anthemoessa (Flowery) which the son of Cronos gave
them.’

And their names are Thelxiope or Thelxinoe, Molpe and Aglaophonus 1736.

Scholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 168: Hence Hesiod said that they charmed
even the winds.

Fragment #48—Scholiast on Homer, Od. i. 85: Hesiod says that Ogygia is
within towards the west, but Ogygia lies over against Crete: ‘...the
Ogygian sea and......the island Ogygia.’

Fragment #49—Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 54: Hesiod regarded Arete as
the sister of Alcinous.

Fragment #50—Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 46: Her Hippostratus (did
wed), a scion of Ares, the splendid son of Phyetes, of the line of
Amarynces, leader of the Epeians.

Fragment #51—Apollodorus, i. 8.4.1: When Althea was dead, Oeneus
married Periboea, the daughter of Hipponous. Hesiod says that she was
seduced by Hippostratus the son of Amarynces and that her father
Hipponous sent her from Olenus in Achaea to Oeneus because he was far
away from Hellas, bidding him kill her.

‘She used to dwell on the cliff of Olenus by the banks of wide Peirus.’

Fragment #52—Diodorus 1737 v. 81: Macareus was a son of Crinacus the
son of Zeus as Hesiod says... and dwelt in Olenus in the country then
called Ionian, but now Achaean.

Fragment #53—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 21: Concerning the Myrmidons
Hesiod speaks thus: ‘And she conceived and bare Aeacus, delighting in
horses. Now when he came to the full measure of desired youth, he
chafed at being alone. And the father of men and gods made all the ants
that were in the lovely isle into men and wide-girdled women. These
were the first who fitted with thwarts ships with curved sides, and the
first who used sails, the wings of a sea-going ship.’

Fragment #54—Polybius, v. 2: ‘The sons of Aeacus who rejoiced in battle
as though a feast.’

Fragment #55—Porphyrius, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pertin. p. 93: He has
indicated the shameful deed briefly by the phrase ‘to lie with her
against her will’, and not like Hesiod who recounts at length the story
of Peleus and the wife of Acastus.

Fragment #56—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. iv. 95: ‘And this seemed to him
(Acastus) in his mind the best plan; to keep back himself, but to hide
beyond guessing the beautiful knife which the very famous Lame One had
made for him, that in seeking it alone over steep Pelion, he (Peleus)
might be slain forthwith by the mountain-bred Centaurs.’

Fragment #57—Voll. Herculan. (Papyri from Herculaneum), 2nd Collection,
viii. 105: The author of the _Cypria_ 1738 says that Thetis avoided
wedlock with Zeus to please Hera; but that Zeus was angry and swore
that she should mate with a mortal. Hesiod also has the like account.

Fragment #58—Strassburg Greek Papyri 55 (2nd century A.D.): (ll. 1-13)
‘Peleus the son of Aeacus, dear to the deathless gods, came to Phthia
the mother of flocks, bringing great possessions from spacious Iolcus.
And all the people envied him in their hearts seeing how he had sacked
the well-built city, and accomplished his joyous marriage; and they all
spake this word: “Thrice, yea, four times blessed son of Aeacus, happy
Peleus! For far-seeing Olympian Zeus has given you a wife with many
gifts and the blessed gods have brought your marriage fully to pass,
and in these halls you go up to the holy bed of a daughter of Nereus.
Truly the father, the son of Cronos, made you very pre-eminent among
heroes and honoured above other men who eat bread and consume the fruit
of the ground.”’

Fragment #59—1739 Origen, Against Celsus, iv. 79: ‘For in common then
were the banquets, and in common the seats of deathless gods and mortal
men.’

Fragment #60—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvi. 175: ...whereas Hesiod and
the rest call her (Peleus’ daughter) Polydora.

Fragment #61—Eustathius, Hom. 112. 44 sq: It should be observed that
the ancient narrative hands down the account that Patroclus was even a
kinsman of Achilles; for Hesiod says that Menoethius the father of
Patroclus, was a brother of Peleus, so that in that case they were
first cousins.

Fragment #62—Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 83: Some write ‘Serus the son
of Halirrhothius’, whom Hesiod mentions: ‘He (begot) Serus and
Alazygus, goodly sons.’ And Serus was the son of Halirrhothius
Perieres’ son, and of Alcyone.

Fragment #63—Pausanias 1740, ii. 26. 7: This oracle most clearly proves
that Asclepius was not the son of Arsinoe, but that Hesiod or one of
Hesiod’s interpolators composed the verses to please the Messenians.

Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 14: Some say (Asclepius) was the son of
Arsinoe, others of Coronis. But Asclepiades says that Arsinoe was the
daughter of Leucippus, Perieres’ son, and that to her and Apollo
Asclepius and a daughter, Eriopis, were born:

‘And she bare in the palace Asclepius, leader of men, and Eriopis with
the lovely hair, being subject in love to Phoebus.’

And of Arsinoe likewise:

‘And Arsinoe was joined with the son of Zeus and Leto and bare a son
Asclepius, blameless and strong.’ 1741

Fragment #64—For how does he say that the same persons (the Cyclopes)
were like the gods, and yet represent them as being destroyed by Apollo
in the _Catalogue of the Daughters of Leucippus_?

Fragment #65—“Echemus made Timandra his buxom wife.”

Fragment #66—Hesiod in giving their descent makes them (Castor and
Polydeuces) both sons of Zeus.

Hesiod, however, makes Helen the child neither of Leda nor Nemesis, but
daughter of Ocean and Zeus.

Fragment #67—Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 249: Steischorus says that
while sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot Aphrodite and that the
goddess was angry and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and
deserters of their husbands.... And Hesiod also says:

(ll. 1-7) ‘And laughter-loving Aphrodite felt jealous when she looked
on them and cast them into evil report. Then Timandra deserted Echemus
and went and came to Phyleus, dear to the deathless gods; and even so
Clytaemnestra deserted god-like Agamemnon and lay with Aegisthus and
chose a worse mate; and even so Helen dishonoured the couch of
golden-haired Menelaus.’

Fragment #68—1742 Berlin Papyri, No. 9739: (ll. 1-10) ‘....Philoctetes
sought her, a leader of spearmen, .... most famous of all men at
shooting from afar and with the sharp spear. And he came to Tyndareus’
bright city for the sake of the Argive maid who had the beauty of
golden Aphrodite, and the sparkling eyes of the Graces; and the
dark-faced daughter of Ocean, very lovely of form, bare her when she
had shared the embraces of Zeus and the king Tyndareus in the bright
palace.... (And.... sought her to wife offering as gifts)

((LACUNA))

(ll. 11-15)....and as many women skilled in blameless arts, each
holding a golden bowl in her hands. And truly Castor and strong
Polydeuces would have made him 1743 their brother perforce, but
Agamemnon, being son-in-law to Tyndareus, wooed her for his brother
Menelaus.

(ll. 16-19) And the two sons of Amphiaraus the lord, Oecleus’ son,
sought her to wife from Argos very near at hand; yet.... fear of the
blessed gods and the indignation of men caused them also to fail.

((LACUNA))

(l. 20)...but there was no deceitful dealing in the sons of Tyndareus.

(ll. 21-27) And from Ithaca the sacred might of Odysseus, Laertes son,
who knew many-fashioned wiles, sought her to wife. He never sent gifts
for the sake of the neat-ankled maid, for he knew in his heart that
golden-haired Menelaus would win, since he was greatest of the Achaeans
in possessions and was ever sending messages 1744 to horse-taming
Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces.

(ll. 28-30) And....on’s son sought her to wife (and brought)
....bridal-gifts.... ....cauldrons....

((LACUNA))

(ll. 31-33)...to horse-taming Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces,
desiring to be the husband of rich-haired Helen, though he had never
seen her beauty, but because he heard the report of others.

(ll. 34-41) And from Phylace two men of exceeding worth sought her to
wife, Podarces son of Iphiclus, Phylacus’ son, and Actor’s noble son,
overbearing Protesilaus. Both of them kept sending messages to
Lacedaemon, to the house of wise Tyndareus, Oebalus’ son, and they
offered many bridal-gifts, for great was the girl’s renown, brazen....
....golden....

((LACUNA))

(l. 42)...(desiring) to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.

(ll. 43-49) From Athens the son of Peteous, Menestheus, sought her to
wife, and offered many bridal-gifts; for he possessed very many stored
treasures, gold and cauldrons and tripods, fine things which lay hid in
the house of the lord Peteous, and with them his heart urged him to win
his bride by giving more gifts than any other; for he thought that no
one of all the heroes would surpass him in possessions and gifts.

(ll. 50-51) There came also by ship from Crete to the house of the son
of Oebalus strong Lycomedes for rich-haired Helen’s sake.

Berlin Papyri, No. 10560: (ll. 52-54)...sought her to wife. And after
golden-haired Menelaus he offered the greatest gifts of all the
suitors, and very much he desired in his heart to be the husband of
Argive Helen with the rich hair.

(ll. 55-62) And from Salamis Aias, blameless warrior, sought her to
wife, and offered fitting gifts, even wonderful deeds; for he said that
he would drive together and give the shambling oxen and strong sheep of
all those who lived in Troezen and Epidaurus near the sea, and in the
island of Aegina and in Mases, sons of the Achaeans, and shadowy Megara
and frowning Corinthus, and Hermione and Asine which lie along the sea;
for he was famous with the long spear.

(ll. 63-66) But from Euboea Elephenor, leader of men, the son of
Chalcodon, prince of the bold Abantes, sought her to wife. And he
offered very many gifts, and greatly he desired in his heart to be the
husband of rich-haired Helen.

(ll. 67-74) And from Crete the mighty Idomeneus sought her to wife,
Deucalion’s son, offspring of renowned Minos. He sent no one to woo her
in his place, but came himself in his black ship of many thwarts over
the Ogygian sea across the dark wave to the home of wise Tyndareus, to
see Argive Helen and that no one else should bring back for him the
girl whose renown spread all over the holy earth.

(l. 75) And at the prompting of Zeus the all-wise came.

((LACUNA—Thirteen lines lost.))

(ll. 89-100) But of all who came for the maid’s sake, the lord
Tyndareus sent none away, nor yet received the gift of any, but asked
of all the suitors sure oaths, and bade them swear and vow with unmixed
libations that no one else henceforth should do aught apart from him as
touching the marriage of the maid with shapely arms; but if any man
should cast off fear and reverence and take her by force, he bade all
the others together follow after and make him pay the penalty. And
they, each of them hoping to accomplish his marriage, obeyed him
without wavering. But warlike Menelaus, the son of Atreus, prevailed
against them all together, because he gave the greatest gifts.

(ll. 100-106) But Chiron was tending the son of Peleus, swift-footed
Achilles, pre-eminent among men, on woody Pelion; for he was still a
boy. For neither warlike Menelaus nor any other of men on earth would
have prevailed in suit for Helen, if fleet Achilles had found her
unwed. But, as it was, warlike Menelaus won her before.

II. 1745

(ll. 1-2) And she (Helen) bare neat-ankled Hermione in the palace, a
child unlooked for.

(ll. 2-13) Now all the gods were divided through strife; for at that
very time Zeus who thunders on high was meditating marvellous deeds,
even to mingle storm and tempest over the boundless earth, and already
he was hastening to make an utter end of the race of mortal men,
declaring that he would destroy the lives of the demi-gods, that the
children of the gods should not mate with wretched mortals, seeing
their fate with their own eyes; but that the blessed gods henceforth
even as aforetime should have their living and their habitations apart
from men. But on those who were born of immortals and of mankind verily
Zeus laid toil and sorrow upon sorrow.

((LACUNA—Two lines missing.))

(ll. 16-30)....nor any one of men.... ....should go upon black
ships.... ....to be strongest in the might of his hands.... ....of
mortal men declaring to all those things that were, and those that are,
and those that shall be, he brings to pass and glorifies the counsels
of his father Zeus who drives the clouds. For no one, either of the
blessed gods or of mortal men, knew surely that he would contrive
through the sword to send to Hades full many a one of heroes fallen in
strife. But at that time he knew not as yet the intent of his father’s
mind, and how men delight in protecting their children from doom. And
he delighted in the desire of his mighty father’s heart who rules
powerfully over men.

(ll. 31-43) From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance
fluttering down to the ground, and the fruit fell to the ground because
Boreas blew very fiercely at the behest of Zeus; the deep seethed and
all things trembled at his blast: the strength of mankind consumed away
and the fruit failed in the season of spring, at that time when the
Hairless One 1746 in a secret place in the mountains gets three young
every three years. In spring he dwells upon the mountain among tangled
thickets and brushwood, keeping afar from and hating the path of men,
in the glens and wooded glades. But when winter comes on, he lies in a
close cave beneath the earth and covers himself with piles of luxuriant
leaves, a dread serpent whose back is speckled with awful spots.

(ll. 44-50) But when he becomes violent and fierce unspeakably, the
arrows of Zeus lay him low.... Only his soul is left on the holy earth,
and that fits gibbering about a small unformed den. And it comes
enfeebled to sacrifices beneath the broad-pathed earth.... and it
lies....’

((LACUNA—Traces of 37 following lines.))

Fragment #69—Tzetzes 1747, Exeg. Iliad. 68. 19H: Agamemnon and Menelaus
likewise according to Hesiod and Aeschylus are regarded as the sons of
Pleisthenes, Atreus’ son. And according to Hesiod, Pleisthenes was a
son of Atreus and Aerope, and Agamemnon, Menelaus and Anaxibia were the
children of Pleisthenes and Cleolla the daughter of Dias.

Fragment #70—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles’ Electra, 539: ‘And she
(Helen) bare to Menelaus, famous with the spear, Hermione and her
youngest-born, Nicostratus, a scion of Ares.’

Fragment #71—Pausanias, i. 43. 1: I know that Hesiod in the _Catalogue
of Women_ represented that Iphigeneia was not killed but, by the will
of Artemis, became Hecate 1748.

Fragment #72—Eustathius, Hom. 13. 44. sq: Butes, it is said, was a son
of Poseidon: so Hesiod in the _Catalogue_.

Fragment #73—Pausanias, ii. 6. 5: Hesiod represented Sicyon as the son
of Erechtheus.

Fragment #74—Plato, Minos, p. 320. D: ‘(Minos) who was most kingly of
mortal kings and reigned over very many people dwelling round about,
holding the sceptre of Zeus wherewith he ruled many.’

Fragment #75—Hesychius 1749: The athletic contest in memory of Eurygyes
Melesagorus says that Androgeos the son of Minos was called Eurygyes,
and that a contest in his honour is held near his tomb at Athens in the
Ceramicus. And Hesiod writes: ‘And Eurygyes 1750, while yet a lad in
holy Athens...’

Fragment #76—Plutarch, Theseus 20: There are many tales.... about
Ariadne...., how that she was deserted by Theseua for love of another
woman: ‘For strong love for Aegle the daughter of Panopeus overpowered
him.’ For Hereas of Megara says that Peisistratus removed this verse
from the works of Hesiod.

Athenaeus 1751, xiii. 557 A: But Hesiod says that Theseus wedded both
Hippe and Aegle lawfully.

Fragment #77—Strabo, ix. p. 393: The snake of Cychreus: Hesiod says
that it was brought up by Cychreus, and was driven out by Eurylochus as
defiling the island, but that Demeter received it into Eleusis, and
that it became her attendant.

Fragment #78—Argument I. to the Shield of Heracles: But Apollonius of
Rhodes says that it (the _Shield of Heracles_) is Hesiod’s both from
the general character of the work and from the fact that in the
_Catalogue_ we again find Iolaus as charioteer of Heracles.

Fragment #79—Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 266: (ll. 1-6) ‘And
fair-girdled Stratonica conceived and bare in the palace Eurytus her
well-loved son. Of him sprang sons, Didaeon and Clytius and god-like
Toxeus and Iphitus, a scion of Ares. And after these Antiope the queen,
daughter of the aged son of Nauboius, bare her youngest child,
golden-haired Iolea.’

Fragment #80—Herodian in Etymologicum Magnum: ‘Who bare Autolycus and
Philammon, famous in speech.... All things that he (Autolyeus) took in
his hands, he made to disappear.’

Fragment #81—Apollonius, Hom. Lexicon: ‘Aepytus again, begot Tlesenor
and Peirithous.’

Fragment #82—Strabo, vii. p. 322: ‘For Locrus truly was leader of the
Lelegian people, whom Zeus the Son of Cronos, whose wisdom is
unfailing, gave to Deucalion, stones gathered out of the earth. So out
of stones mortal men were made, and they were called people.’ 1752

Fragment #83—Tzetzes, Schol. in Exeg. Iliad. 126: ‘...Ileus whom the
lord Apollo, son of Zeus, loved. And he named him by his name, because
he found a nymph complaisant 1753 and was joined with her in sweet
love, on that day when Poseidon and Apollo raised high the wall of the
well-built city.’

Fragment #84—Scholiast on Homer, Od. xi. 326: Clymene the daughter of
Minyas the son of Poseidon and of Euryanassa, Hyperphas’ daughter, was
wedded to Phylacus the son of Deion, and bare Iphiclus, a boy fleet of
foot. It is said of him that through his power of running he could race
the winds and could move along upon the ears of corn 1754.... The tale
is in Hesiod: ‘He would run over the fruit of the asphodel and not
break it; nay, he would run with his feet upon wheaten ears and not
hurt the fruit.’

Fragment #85—Choeroboscus 1755, i. 123, 22H: ‘And she bare a son
Thoas.’

Fragment #86—Eustathius, Hom. 1623. 44: Maro 1756, whose father, it is
said, Hesiod relates to have been Euanthes the son of Oenopion, the son
of Dionysus.

Fragment #87—Athenaeus, x. 428 B, C: ‘Such gifts as Dionysus gave to
men, a joy and a sorrow both. Who ever drinks to fullness, in him wine
becomes violent and binds together his hands and feet, his tongue also
and his wits with fetters unspeakable: and soft sleep embraces him.’

Fragment #88—Strabo, ix. p. 442: ‘Or like her (Coronis) who lived by
the holy Twin Hills in the plain of Dotium over against Amyrus rich in
grapes, and washed her feet in the Boebian lake, a maid unwed.’

Fragment #89—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 48: ‘To him, then, there
came a messenger from the sacred feast to goodly Pytho, a crow 1757,
and he told unshorn Phoebus of secret deeds, that Ischys son of Elatus
had wedded Coronis the daughter of Phlegyas of birth divine.

Fragment #90—Athenagoras 1758, Petition for the Christians, 29:
Concerning Asclepius Hesiod says: ‘And the father of men and gods was
wrath, and from Olympus he smote the son of Leto with a lurid
thunderbolt and killed him, arousing the anger of Phoebus.’

Fragment #91—Philodemus, On Piety, 34: But Hesiod (says that Apollo)
would have been cast by Zeus into Tartarus 1759; but Leto interceded
for him, and he became bondman to a mortal.

Fragment #92—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. ix. 6: ‘Or like her, beautiful
Cyrene, who dwelt in Phthia by the water of Peneus and had the beauty
of the Graces.’

Fragment #93—Servius on Vergil, Georg. i. 14: He invoked Aristaeus,
that is, the son of Apollo and Cyrene, whom Hesiod calls ‘the shepherd
Apollo.’ 1760

Fragment #94—Scholiast on Vergil, Georg. iv. 361: ‘But the water stood
all round him, bowed into the semblance of a mountain.’ This verse he
has taken over from Hesiod’s _Catalogue of Women_.

Fragment #95—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad ii. 469: ‘Or like her (Antiope)
whom Boeotian Hyria nurtured as a maid.’

Fragment #96—Palaephatus 1761, c. 42: Of Zethus and Amphion. Hesiod and
some others relate that they built the walls of Thebes by playing on
the lyre.

Fragment #97—Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 1167: (ll. 1-11) ‘There is a
land Ellopia with much glebe and rich meadows, and rich in flocks and
shambling kine. There dwell men who have many sheep and many oxen, and
they are in number past telling, tribes of mortal men. And there upon
its border is built a city, Dodona 1762; and Zeus loved it and
(appointed) it to be his oracle, reverenced by men........And they (the
doves) lived in the hollow of an oak. From them men of earth carry away
all kinds of prophecy,—whosoever fares to that spot and questions the
deathless god, and comes bringing gifts with good omens.’

Fragment #98—Berlin Papyri, No. 9777: 1763 (ll. 1-22) ‘....strife....
Of mortals who would have dared to fight him with the spear and charge
against him, save only Heracles, the great-hearted offspring of
Alcaeus? Such an one was (?) strong Meleager loved of Ares, the
golden-haired, dear son of Oeneus and Althaea. From his fierce eyes
there shone forth portentous fire: and once in high Calydon he slew the
destroying beast, the fierce wild boar with gleaming tusks. In war and
in dread strife no man of the heroes dared to face him and to approach
and fight with him when he appeared in the forefront. But he was slain
by the hands and arrows of Apollo 1764, while he was fighting with the
Curetes for pleasant Calydon. And these others (Althaea) bare to
Oeneus, Porthaon’s son; horse-taming Pheres, and Agelaus surpassing all
others, Toxeus and Clymenus and godlike Periphas, and rich-haired Gorga
and wise Deianeira, who was subject in love to mighty Heracles and bare
him Hyllus and Glenus and Ctesippus and Odites. These she bare and in
ignorance she did a fearful thing: when (she had received).... the
poisoned robe that held black doom....’

Fragment #99A—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad. xxiii. 679: And yet Hesiod
says that after he had died in Thebes, Argeia the daughter of Adrastus
together with others (cp. frag. 99) came to the lamentation over
Oedipus.

Fragment #99—1765 Papyri greci e latine, No. 131 (2nd-3rd century):
1766 (ll. 1-10) ‘And (Eriphyle) bare in the palace Alcmaon 1767,
shepherd of the people, to Amphiaraus. Him (Amphiaraus) did the Cadmean
(Theban) women with trailing robes admire when they saw face to face
his eyes and well-grown frame, as he was busied about the burying of
Oedipus, the man of many woes. ....Once the Danai, servants of Ares,
followed him to Thebes, to win renown........for Polynices. But, though
well he knew from Zeus all things ordained, the earth yawned and
swallowed him up with his horses and jointed chariot, far from
deep-eddying Alpheus.

(ll. 11-20) But Electyron married the all-beauteous daughter of Pelops
and, going up into one bed with her, the son of Perses begat........and
Phylonomus and Celaeneus and Amphimachus and........and Eurybius and
famous.... All these the Taphians, famous shipmen, slew in fight for
oxen with shambling hoofs,.... ....in ships across the sea’s wide back.
So Alcmena alone was left to delight her parents........and the
daughter of Electryon....

((LACUNA))

(l. 21)....who was subject in love to the dark-clouded son of Cronos
and bare (famous Heracles).’

Fragment #100—Argument to the Shield of Heracles, i: The beginning of
the _Shield_ as far as the 56th verse is current in the fourth
_Catalogue_

Fragment #101 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)—Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 1 (early
3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA—Slight remains of 3 lines))

(ll. 4-17) ‘...if indeed he (Teuthras) delayed, and if he feared to
obey the word of the immortals who then appeared plainly to them. But
her (Auge) he received and brought up well, and cherished in the
palace, honouring her even as his own daughters.

And Auge bare Telephus of the stock of Areas, king of the Mysians,
being joined in love with the mighty Heracles when he was journeying in
quest of the horses of proud Laomedon—horses the fleetest of foot that
the Asian land nourished,—and destroyed in battle the tribe of the
dauntless Amazons and drove them forth from all that land. But Telephus
routed the spearmen of the bronze-clad Achaeans and made them embark
upon their black ships. Yet when he had brought down many to the ground
which nourishes men, his own might and deadliness were brought low....’

Fragment #102 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)—Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 2 (early
3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA—Remains of 4 lines))

(ll. 5-16) ‘....Electra.... was subject to the dark-clouded Son of
Cronos and bare Dardanus.... and Eetion.... who once greatly loved
rich-haired Demeter. And cloud-gathering Zeus was wroth and smote him,
Eetion, and laid him low with a flaming thunderbolt, because he sought
to lay hands upon rich-haired Demeter. But Dardanus came to the coast
of the mainland—from him Erichthonius and thereafter Tros were sprung,
and Ilus, and Assaracus, and godlike Ganymede,—when he had left holy
Samothrace in his many-benched ship.

((LACUNA))

Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 3 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): (ll. 17-24)
1768....Cleopatra ....the daughter of.... ....But an eagle caught up
Ganymede for Zeus because he vied with the immortals in
beauty........rich-tressed Diomede; and she bare Hyacinthus, the
blameless one and strong........whom, on a time Phoebus himself slew
unwittingly with a ruthless disk....



THE SHIELD OF HERACLES

(ll. 1-27) Or like her who left home and country and came to Thebes,
following warlike Amphitryon,—even Alcmena, the daughter of Electyron,
gatherer of the people. She surpassed the tribe of womankind in beauty
and in height; and in wisdom none vied with her of those whom mortal
women bare of union with mortal men. Her face and her dark eyes wafted
such charm as comes from golden Aphrodite. And she so honoured her
husband in her heart as none of womankind did before her. Verily he had
slain her noble father violently when he was angry about oxen; so he
left his own country and came to Thebes and was suppliant to the
shield-carrying men of Cadmus. There he dwelt with his modest wife
without the joys of love, nor might he go in unto the neat-ankled
daughter of Electyron until he had avenged the death of his wife’s
great-hearted brothers and utterly burned with blazing fire the
villages of the heroes, the Taphians and Teleboans; for this thing was
laid upon him, and the gods were witnesses to it. And he feared their
anger, and hastened to perform the great task to which Zeus had bound
him. With him went the horse-driving Boeotians, breathing above their
shields, and the Locrians who fight hand to hand, and the gallant
Phocians eager for war and battle. And the noble son of Alcaeus led
them, rejoicing in his host.

(ll. 27-55) But the father of men and gods was forming another scheme
in his heart, to beget one to defend against destruction gods and men
who eat bread. So he arose from Olympus by night pondering guile in the
deep of his heart, and yearned for the love of the well-girded woman.
Quickly he came to Typhaonium, and from there again wise Zeus went on
and trod the highest peak of Phicium 1801: there he sat and planned
marvellous things in his heart. So in one night Zeus shared the bed and
love of the neat-ankled daughter of Electyron and fulfilled his desire;
and in the same night Amphitryon, gatherer of the people, the glorious
hero, came to his house when he had ended his great task. He hastened
not to go to his bondmen and shepherds afield, but first went in unto
his wife: such desire took hold on the shepherd of the people. And as a
man who has escaped joyfully from misery, whether of sore disease or
cruel bondage, so then did Amphitryon, when he had wound up all his
heavy task, come glad and welcome to his home. And all night long he
lay with his modest wife, delighting in the gifts of golden Aphrodite.
And she, being subject in love to a god and to a man exceeding goodly,
brought forth twin sons in seven-gated Thebe. Though they were
brothers, these were not of one spirit; for one was weaker but the
other a far better man, one terrible and strong, the mighty Heracles.
Him she bare through the embrace of the son of Cronos lord of dark
clouds and the other, Iphiclus, of Amphitryon the
spear-wielder—offspring distinct, this one of union with a mortal man,
but that other of union with Zeus, leader of all the gods.

(ll. 57-77) And he slew Cycnus, the gallant son of Ares. For he found
him in the close of far-shooting Apollo, him and his father Ares, never
sated with war. Their armour shone like a flame of blazing fire as they
two stood in their car: their swift horses struck the earth and pawed
it with their hoofs, and the dust rose like smoke about them, pounded
by the chariot wheels and the horses’ hoofs, while the well-made
chariot and its rails rattled around them as the horses plunged. And
blameless Cycnus was glad, for he looked to slay the warlike son of
Zeus and his charioteer with the sword, and to strip off their splendid
armour. But Phoebus Apollo would not listen to his vaunts, for he
himself had stirred up mighty Heracles against him. And all the grove
and altar of Pagasaean Apollo flamed because of the dread god and
because of his arms; for his eyes flashed as with fire. What mortal men
would have dared to meet him face to face save Heracles and glorious
Iolaus? For great was their strength and unconquerable were the arms
which grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs. Then Heracles
spake to his charioteer strong Iolaus:

(ll. 78-94) ‘O hero Iolaus, best beloved of all men, truly Amphitryon
sinned deeply against the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus when he
came to sweet-crowned Thebe and left Tiryns, the well-built citadel,
because he slew Electryon for the sake of his wide-browned oxen. Then
he came to Creon and long-robed Eniocha, who received him kindly and
gave him all fitting things, as is due to suppliants, and honoured him
in their hearts even more. And he lived joyfully with his wife the
neat-ankled daughter of Electyron: and presently, while the years
rolled on, we were born, unlike in body as in mind, even your father
and I. From him Zeus took away sense, so that he left his home and his
parents and went to do honour to the wicked Eurystheus—unhappy man!
Deeply indeed did he grieve afterwards in bearing the burden of his own
mad folly; but that cannot be taken back. But on me fate laid heavy
tasks.

(ll. 95-101) ‘Yet, come, friend, quickly take the red-dyed reins of the
swift horses and raise high courage in your heart and guide the swift
chariot and strong fleet-footed horses straight on. Have no secret fear
at the noise of man-slaying Ares who now rages shouting about the holy
grove of Phoebus Apollo, the lord who shoots form afar. Surely, strong
though he be, he shall have enough of war.’

(ll. 102-114) And blameless Iolaus answered him again: ‘Good friend,
truly the father of men and gods greatly honours your head and the
bull-like Earth-Shaker also, who keeps Thebe’s veil of walls and guards
the city,—so great and strong is this fellow they bring into your hands
that you may win great glory. But come, put on your arms of war that
with all speed we may bring the car of Ares and our own together and
fight; for he shall not frighten the dauntless son of Zeus, nor yet the
son of Iphiclus: rather, I think he will flee before the two sons of
blameless Alcides who are near him and eager to raise the war cry for
battle; for this they love better than a feast.’

(ll. 115-117) So he said. And mighty Heracles was glad in heart and
smiled, for the other’s words pleased him well, and he answered him
with winged words:

(ll. 118-121) ‘O hero Iolaus, heaven-sprung, now is rough battle hard
at hand. But, as you have shown your skill at other-times, so now also
wheel the great black-maned horse Arion about every way, and help me as
you may be able.’

(ll. 122-138) So he said, and put upon his legs greaves of shining
bronze, the splendid gift of Hephaestus. Next he fastened about his
breast a fine golden breast-plate, curiously wrought, which Pallas
Athene the daughter of Zeus had given him when first he was about to
set out upon his grievous labours. Over his shoulders the fierce
warrior put the steel that saves men from doom, and across his breast
he slung behind him a hollow quiver. Within it were many chilling
arrows, dealers of death which makes speech forgotten: in front they
had death, and trickled with tears; their shafts were smooth and very
long; and their butts were covered with feathers of a brown eagle. And
he took his strong spear, pointed with shining bronze, and on his
valiant head set a well-made helm of adamant, cunningly wrought, which
fitted closely on the temples; and that guarded the head of god-like
Heracles.

(ll. 139-153) In his hands he took his shield, all glittering: no one
ever broke it with a blow or crushed it. And a wonder it was to see;
for its whole orb was a-shimmer with enamel and white ivory and
electrum, and it glowed with shining gold; and there were zones of
cyanus 1802 drawn upon it. In the centre was Fear worked in adamant,
unspeakable, staring backwards with eyes that glowed with fire. His
mouth was full of teeth in a white row, fearful and daunting, and upon
his grim brow hovered frightful Strife who arrays the throng of men:
pitiless she, for she took away the mind and senses of poor wretches
who made war against the son of Zeus. Their souls passed beneath the
earth and went down into the house of Hades; but their bones, when the
skin is rotted about them, crumble away on the dark earth under
parching Sirius.

(ll. 154-160) Upon the shield Pursuit and Flight were wrought, and
Tumult, and Panic, and Slaughter. Strife also, and Uproar were hurrying
about, and deadly Fate was there holding one man newly wounded, and
another unwounded; and one, who was dead, she was dragging by the feet
through the tumult. She had on her shoulders a garment red with the
blood of men, and terribly she glared and gnashed her teeth.

(ll. 160-167) And there were heads of snakes unspeakably frightful,
twelve of them; and they used to frighten the tribes of men on earth
whosoever made war against the son of Zeus; for they would clash their
teeth when Amphitryon’s son was fighting: and brightly shone these
wonderful works. And it was as though there were spots upon the
frightful snakes: and their backs were dark blue and their jaws were
black.

(ll. 168-177) Also there were upon the shield droves of boars and lions
who glared at each other, being furious and eager: the rows of them
moved on together, and neither side trembled but both bristled up their
manes. For already a great lion lay between them and two boars, one on
either side, bereft of life, and their dark blood was dripping down
upon the ground; they lay dead with necks outstretched beneath the grim
lions. And both sides were roused still more to fight because they were
angry, the fierce boars and the bright-eyed lions.

(ll. 178-190) And there was the strife of the Lapith spearmen gathered
round the prince Caeneus and Dryas and Peirithous, with Hopleus,
Exadius, Phalereus, and Prolochus, Mopsus the son of Ampyce of
Titaresia, a scion of Ares, and Theseus, the son of Aegeus, like unto
the deathless gods. These were of silver, and had armour of gold upon
their bodies. And the Centaurs were gathered against them on the other
side with Petraeus and Asbolus the diviner, Arctus, and Ureus, and
black-haired Mimas, and the two sons of silver, and they had pinetrees
of gold in their hands, and they were rushing together as though they
were alive and striking at one another hand to hand with spears and
with pines.

(ll. 191-196) And on the shield stood the fleet-footed horses of grim
Ares made gold, and deadly Ares the spoil-winner himself. He held a
spear in his hands and was urging on the footmen: he was red with blood
as if he were slaying living men, and he stood in his chariot. Beside
him stood Fear and Flight, eager to plunge amidst the fighting men.

(ll. 197-200) There, too, was the daughter of Zeus, Tritogeneia who
drives the spoil 1803. She was like as if she would array a battle,
with a spear in her hand, and a golden helmet, and the aegis about her
shoulders. And she was going towards the awful strife.

(ll. 201-206) And there was the holy company of the deathless gods: and
in the midst the son of Zeus and Leto played sweetly on a golden lyre.
There also was the abode of the gods, pure Olympus, and their assembly,
and infinite riches were spread around in the gathering, the Muses of
Pieria were beginning a song like clear-voiced singers.

(ll. 207-215) And on the shield was a harbour with a safe haven from
the irresistible sea, made of refined tin wrought in a circle, and it
seemed to heave with waves. In the middle of it were many dolphins
rushing this way and that, fishing: and they seemed to be swimming. Two
dolphins of silver were spouting and devouring the mute fishes. And
beneath them fishes of bronze were trembling. And on the shore sat a
fisherman watching: in his hands he held a casting net for fish, and
seemed as if about to cast it forth.

(ll. 216-237) There, too, was the son of rich-haired Danae, the
horseman Perseus: his feet did not touch the shield and yet were not
far from it—very marvellous to remark, since he was not supported
anywhere; for so did the famous Lame One fashion him of gold with his
hands. On his feet he had winged sandals, and his black-sheathed sword
was slung across his shoulders by a cross-belt of bronze. He was flying
swift as thought. The head of a dreadful monster, the Gorgon, covered
the broad of his back, and a bag of silver—a marvel to see—contained
it: and from the bag bright tassels of gold hung down. Upon the head of
the hero lay the dread cap 1804 of Hades which had the awful gloom of
night. Perseus himself, the son of Danae, was at full stretch, like one
who hurries and shudders with horror. And after him rushed the Gorgons,
unapproachable and unspeakable, longing to seize him: as they trod upon
the pale adamant, the shield rang sharp and clear with a loud clanging.
Two serpents hung down at their girdles with heads curved forward:
their tongues were flickering, and their teeth gnashing with fury, and
their eyes glaring fiercely. And upon the awful heads of the Gorgons
great Fear was quaking.

(ll. 237-270) And beyond these there were men fighting in warlike
harness, some defending their own town and parents from destruction,
and others eager to sack it; many lay dead, but the greater number
still strove and fought. The women on well-built towers of bronze were
crying shrilly and tearing their cheeks like living beings—the work of
famous Hephaestus. And the men who were elders and on whom age had laid
hold were all together outside the gates, and were holding up their
hands to the blessed gods, fearing for their own sons. But these again
were engaged in battle: and behind them the dusky Fates, gnashing their
white fangs, lowering, grim, bloody, and unapproachable, struggled for
those who were falling, for they all were longing to drink dark blood.
So soon as they caught a man overthrown or falling newly wounded, one
of them would clasp her great claws about him, and his soul would go
down to Hades to chilly Tartarus. And when they had satisfied their
souls with human blood, they would cast that one behind them, and rush
back again into the tumult and the fray. Clotho and Lachesis were over
them and Atropos less tall than they, a goddess of no great frame, yet
superior to the others and the eldest of them. And they all made a
fierce fight over one poor wretch, glaring evilly at one another with
furious eyes and fighting equally with claws and hands. By them stood
Darkness of Death, mournful and fearful, pale, shrivelled, shrunk with
hunger, swollen-kneed. Long nails tipped her hands, and she dribbled at
the nose, and from her cheeks blood dripped down to the ground. She
stood leering hideously, and much dust sodden with tears lay upon her
shoulders.

(ll. 270-285) Next, there was a city of men with goodly towers; and
seven gates of gold, fitted to the lintels, guarded it. The men were
making merry with festivities and dances; some were bringing home a
bride to her husband on a well-wheeled car, while the bridal-song
swelled high, and the glow of blazing torches held by handmaidens
rolled in waves afar. And these maidens went before, delighting in the
festival; and after them came frolicsome choirs, the youths singing
soft-mouthed to the sound of shrill pipes, while the echo was shivered
around them, and the girls led on the lovely dance to the sound of
lyres. Then again on the other side was a rout of young men revelling,
with flutes playing; some frolicking with dance and song, and others
were going forward in time with a flute player and laughing. The whole
town was filled with mirth and dance and festivity.

(ll. 285-304) Others again were mounted on horseback and galloping
before the town. And there were ploughmen breaking up the good soil,
clothed in tunics girt up. Also there was a wide cornland and some men
were reaping with sharp hooks the stalks which bended with the weight
of the cars—as if they were reaping Demeter’s grain: others were
binding the sheaves with bands and were spreading the threshing floor.
And some held reaping hooks and were gathering the vintage, while
others were taking from the reapers into baskets white and black
clusters from the long rows of vines which were heavy with leaves and
tendrils of silver. Others again were gathering them into baskets.
Beside them was a row of vines in gold, the splendid work of cunning
Hephaestus: it had shivering leaves and stakes of silver and was laden
with grapes which turned black 1805. And there were men treading out
the grapes and others drawing off liquor. Also there were men boxing
and wrestling, and huntsmen chasing swift hares with a leash of
sharp-toothed dogs before them, they eager to catch the hares, and the
hares eager to escape.

(ll 305-313) Next to them were horsemen hard set, and they contended
and laboured for a prize. The charioteers standing on their well-woven
cars, urged on their swift horses with loose rein; the jointed cars
flew along clattering and the naves of the wheels shrieked loudly. So
they were engaged in an unending toil, and the end with victory came
never to them, and the contest was ever unwon. And there was set out
for them within the course a great tripod of gold, the splendid work of
cunning Hephaestus.

(ll. 314-317) And round the rim Ocean was flowing, with a full stream
as it seemed, and enclosed all the cunning work of the shield. Over it
swans were soaring and calling loudly, and many others were swimming
upon the surface of the water; and near them were shoals of fish.

(ll. 318-326) A wonderful thing the great strong shield was to see—even
for Zeus the loud-thunderer, by whose will Hephaestus made it and
fitted it with his hands. This shield the valiant son of Zeus wielded
masterly, and leaped upon his horse-chariot like the lightning of his
father Zeus who holds the aegis, moving lithely. And his charioteer,
strong Iolaus, standing upon the car, guided the curved chariot.

(ll. 327-337) Then the goddess grey-eyed Athene came near them and
spoke winged words, encouraging them: ‘Hail, offspring of far-famed
Lynceus! Even now Zeus who reigns over the blessed gods gives you power
to slay Cycnus and to strip off his splendid armour. Yet I will tell
you something besides, mightiest of the people. When you have robbed
Cycnus of sweet life, then leave him there and his armour also, and you
yourself watch man-slaying Ares narrowly as he attacks, and wherever
you shall see him uncovered below his cunningly-wrought shield, there
wound him with your sharp spear. Then draw back; for it is not ordained
that you should take his horses or his splendid armour.’

(ll. 338-349) So said the bright-eyed goddess and swiftly got up into
the car with victory and renown in her hands. Then heaven-nurtured
Iolaus called terribly to the horses, and at his cry they swiftly
whirled the fleet chariot along, raising dust from the plain; for the
goddess bright-eyed Athene put mettle into them by shaking her aegis.
And the earth groaned all round them.

And they, horse-taming Cycnus and Ares, insatiable in war, came on
together like fire or whirlwind. Then their horses neighed shrilly,
face to face; and the echo was shivered all round them. And mighty
Heracles spoke first and said to that other:

(ll. 350-367) ‘Cycnus, good sir! Why, pray, do you set your swift
horses at us, men who are tried in labour and pain? Nay, guide your
fleet car aside and yield and go out of the path. It is to Trachis I am
driving on, to Ceyx the king, who is the first in Trachis for power and
for honour, and that you yourself know well, for you have his daughter
dark-eyed Themistinoe to wife. Fool! For Ares shall not deliver you
from the end of death, if we two meet together in battle. Another time
ere this I declare he has made trial of my spear, when he defended
sandy Pylos and stood against me, fiercely longing for fight. Thrice
was he stricken by my spear and dashed to earth, and his shield was
pierced; but the fourth time I struck his thigh, laying on with all my
strength, and tare deep into his flesh. And he fell headlong in the
dust upon the ground through the force of my spear-thrust; then truly
he would have been disgraced among the deathless gods, if by my hands
he had left behind his bloody spoils.’

(ll. 368-385) So said he. But Cycnus the stout spearman cared not to
obey him and to pull up the horses that drew his chariot. Then it was
that from their well-woven cars they both leaped straight to the
ground, the son of Zeus and the son of the Lord of War. The charioteers
drove near by their horses with beautiful manes, and the wide earth
rang with the beat of their hoofs as they rushed along. As when rocks
leap forth from the high peak of a great mountain, and fall on one
another, and many towering oaks and pines and long-rooted poplars are
broken by them as they whirl swiftly down until they reach the plain;
so did they fall on one another with a great shout: and all the town of
the Myrmidons, and famous Iolcus, and Arne, and Helice, and grassy
Anthea echoed loudly at the voice of the two. With an awful cry they
closed: and wise Zeus thundered loudly and rained down drops of blood,
giving the signal for battle to his dauntless son.

(ll. 386-401) As a tusked boar, that is fearful for a man to see before
him in the glens of a mountain, resolves to fight with the huntsmen and
white tusks, turning sideways, while foam flows all round his mouth as
he gnashes, and his eyes are like glowing fire, and he bristles the
hair on his mane and around his neck—like him the son of Zeus leaped
from his horse-chariot. And when the dark-winged whirring grasshopper,
perched on a green shoot, begins to sing of summer to men—his food and
drink is the dainty dew—and all day long from dawn pours forth his
voice in the deadliest heat, when Sirius scorches the flesh (then the
beard grows upon the millet which men sow in summer), when the crude
grapes which Dionysus gave to men—a joy and a sorrow both—begin to
colour, in that season they fought and loud rose the clamour.

(ll. 402-412) As two lions 1806 on either side of a slain deer spring
at one another in fury, and there is a fearful snarling and a clashing
also of teeth—like vultures with crooked talons and hooked beak that
fight and scream aloud on a high rock over a mountain goat or fat
wild-deer which some active man has shot with an arrow from the string,
and himself has wandered away elsewhere, not knowing the place; but
they quickly mark it and vehemently do keen battle about it—like these
they two rushed upon one another with a shout.

(ll. 413-423) Then Cycnus, eager to kill the son of almighty Zeus,
struck upon his shield with a brazen spear, but did not break the
bronze; and the gift of the god saved his foe. But the son of
Amphitryon, mighty Heracles, with his long spear struck Cycnus
violently in the neck beneath the chin, where it was unguarded between
helm and shield. And the deadly spear cut through the two sinews; for
the hero’s full strength lighted on his foe. And Cycnus fell as an oak
falls or a lofty pine that is stricken by the lurid thunderbolt of
Zeus; even so he fell, and his armour adorned with bronze clashed about
him.

(ll. 424-442) Then the stout hearted son of Zeus let him be, and
himself watched for the onset of manslaying Ares: fiercely he stared,
like a lion who has come upon a body and full eagerly rips the hide
with his strong claws and takes away the sweet life with all speed: his
dark heart is filled with rage and his eyes glare fiercely, while he
tears up the earth with his paws and lashes his flanks and shoulders
with his tail so that no one dares to face him and go near to give
battle. Even so, the son of Amphitryon, unsated of battle, stood
eagerly face to face with Ares, nursing courage in his heart. And Ares
drew near him with grief in his heart; and they both sprang at one
another with a cry. As it is when a rock shoots out from a great cliff
and whirls down with long bounds, careering eagerly with a roar, and a
high crag clashes with it and keeps it there where they strike
together; with no less clamour did deadly Ares, the chariot-borne, rush
shouting at Heracles. And he quickly received the attack.

(ll. 443-449) But Athene the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus came to
meet Ares, wearing the dark aegis, and she looked at him with an angry
frown and spoke winged words to him. ‘Ares, check your fierce anger and
matchless hands; for it is not ordained that you should kill Heracles,
the bold-hearted son of Zeus, and strip off his rich armour. Come,
then, cease fighting and do not withstand me.’

(ll. 450-466) So said she, but did not move the courageous spirit of
Ares. But he uttered a great shout and waving his spears like fire, he
rushed headlong at strong Heracles, longing to kill him, and hurled a
brazen spear upon the great shield, for he was furiously angry because
of his dead son; but bright-eyed Athene reached out from the car and
turned aside the force of the spear.

Then bitter grief seized Ares and he drew his keen sword and leaped
upon bold-hearted Heracles. But as he came on, the son of Amphitryon,
unsated of fierce battle, shrewdly wounded his thigh where it was
exposed under his richly-wrought shield, and tare deep into his flesh
with the spear-thrust and cast him flat upon the ground. And Panic and
Dread quickly drove his smooth-wheeled chariot and horses near him and
lifted him from the wide-pathed earth into his richly-wrought car, and
then straight lashed the horses and came to high Olympus.

(ll. 467-471) But the son of Alcmena and glorious Iolaus stripped the
fine armour off Cycnus’ shoulders and went, and their swift horses
carried them straight to the city of Trachis. And bright-eyed Athene
went thence to great Olympus and her father’s house.

(ll. 472-480) As for Cycnus, Ceyx buried him and the countless people
who lived near the city of the glorious king, in Anthe and the city of
the Myrmidons, and famous Iolcus, and Arne, and Helice: and much people
were gathered doing honour to Ceyx, the friend of the blessed gods. But
Anaurus, swelled by a rain-storm, blotted out the grave and memorial of
Cycnus; for so Apollo, Leto’s son, commanded him, because he used to
watch for and violently despoil the rich hecatombs that any might bring
to Pytho.



THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX

Fragment #1—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 128: Hesiod in the
“Marriage of Ceyx” says that he (Heracles) landed (from the Argo) to
look for water and was left behind in Magnesia near the place called
Aphetae because of his desertion there.

Fragment #2—Zenobius 1901, ii. 19: Hesiod used the proverb in the
following way: Heracles is represented as having constantly visited the
house of Ceyx of Trachis and spoken thus: ‘Of their own selves the good
make for the feasts of good.’

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xiv. 119: ‘And horse-driving Ceyx
beholding...’

Fragment #4—Athenaeus, ii. p. 49b: Hesiod in the “Marriage of Ceyx”—for
though grammar-school boys alienate it from the poet, yet I consider
the poem ancient—calls the tables tripods.

Fragment #5—Gregory of Corinth, On Forms of Speech (Rhett. Gr. vii.
776): ‘But when they had done with desire for the equal-shared feast,
even then they brought from the forest the mother of a mother (sc.
wood), dry and parched, to be slain by her own children’ (sc. to be
burnt in the flames).



THE GREAT EOIAE

Fragment #1—Pausanius, ii. 26. 3: Epidaurus. According to the opinion
of the Argives and the epic poem, the _Great Eoiae_, Argos the son of
Zeus was father of Epidaurus.

Fragment #2—Anonymous Comment. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, iii.
7: And, they say, Hesiod is sufficient to prove that the word PONEROS
(bad) has the same sense as ‘laborious’ or ‘ill-fated’; for in the
_Great Eoiae_ he represents Alcmene as saying to Heracles: ‘My son,
truly Zeus your father begot you to be the most toilful as the most
excellent...’; and again: ‘The Fates (made) you the most toilful and
the most excellent...’

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. v. 53: The story has been taken
from the _Great Eoiae_; for there we find Heracles entertained by
Telamon, standing dressed in his lion-skin and praying, and there also
we find the eagle sent by Zeus, from which Aias took his name 2001.

Fragment #4—Pausanias, iv. 2. 1: But I know that the so-called _Great
Eoiae_ say that Polycaon the son of Butes married Euaechme, daughter of
Hyllus, Heracles’ son.

Fragment #5—Pausanias, ix. 40. 6: ‘And Phylas wedded Leipephile the
daughter of famous Iolaus: and she was like the Olympians in beauty.
She bare him a son Hippotades in the palace, and comely Thero who was
like the beams of the moon. And Thero lay in the embrace of Apollo and
bare horse-taming Chaeron of hardy strength.’

Fragment #6—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iv. 35: ‘Or like her in Hyria,
careful-minded Mecionice, who was joined in the love of golden
Aphrodite with the Earth-holder and Earth-Shaker, and bare Euphemus.’

Fragment #7—Pausanias, ix. 36. 7: ‘And Hyettus killed Molurus the dear
son of Aristas in his house because he lay with his wife. Then he left
his home and fled from horse-rearing Argos and came to Minyan
Orchomenus. And the hero received him and gave him a portion of his
goods, as was fitting.’

Fragment #8—Pausanias, ii. 2. 3: But in the _Great Eoiae_ Peirene is
represented to be the daughter of Oebalius.

Fragment #9—Pausanias, ii. 16. 4: The epic poem, which the Greek call
the _Great Eoiae_, says that she (Mycene) was the daughter of Inachus
and wife of Arestor: from her, then, it is said, the city received its
name.

Fragment #10—Pausanias, vi. 21. 10: According to the poem the _Great
Eoiae_, these were killed by Oenomaus 2002: Alcathous the son of
Porthaon next after Marmax, and after Alcathous, Euryalus, Eurymachus
and Crotalus. The man killed next after them, Aerias, we should judge
to have been a Lacedemonian and founder of Aeria. And after Acrias,
they say, Capetus was done to death by Oenomaus, and Lycurgus, Lasius,
Chalcodon and Tricolonus.... And after Tricolonus fate overtook
Aristomachus and Prias on the course, as also Pelagon and Aeolius and
Cronius.

Fragment #11—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 57: In the
_Great Eoiae_ it is said that Endymion was transported by Zeus into
heaven, but when he fell in love with Hera, was befooled with a shape
of cloud, and was cast out and went down into Hades.

Fragment #12—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 118: In the
_Great Eoiae_ it is related that Melampus, who was very dear to Apollo,
went abroad and stayed with Polyphantes. But when the king had
sacrificed an ox, a serpent crept up to the sacrifice and destroyed his
servants. At this the king was angry and killed the serpent, but
Melampus took and buried it. And its offspring, brought up by him, used
to lick his ears and inspire him with prophecy. And so, when he was
caught while trying to steal the cows of Iphiclus and taken bound to
the city of Aegina, and when the house, in which Iphiclus was, was
about to fall, he told an old woman, one of the servants of Iphiclus,
and in return was released.

Fragment #13—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 828: In the
_Great Eoiae_ Scylla is the daughter of Phoebus and Hecate.

Fragment #14—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in
the _Great Eoiae_ says that Phineus was blinded because he told Phrixus
the way 2003.

Fragment #15—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 1122: Argus.
This is one of the children of Phrixus. These.... ....Hesiod in the
_Great Eoiae_ says were born of Iophossa the daughter of Aeetes. And he
says there were four of them, Argus, Phrontis, Melas, and Cytisorus.

Fragment #16—Antoninus Liberalis, xxiii: Battus. Hesiod tells the story
in the _Great Eoiae_.... ....Magnes was the son of Argus, the son of
Phrixus and Perimele, Admetus’ daughter, and lived in the region of
Thessaly, in the land which men called after him Magnesia. He had a son
of remarkable beauty, Hymenaeus. And when Apollo saw the boy, he was
seized with love for him, and would not leave the house of Magnes. Then
Hermes made designs on Apollo’s herd of cattle which were grazing in
the same place as the cattle of Admetus. First he cast upon the dogs
which were guarding them a stupor and strangles, so that the dogs
forgot the cows and lost the power of barking. Then he drove away
twelve heifers and a hundred cows never yoked, and the bull who mounted
the cows, fastening to the tail of each one brushwood to wipe out the
footmarks of the cows.

He drove them through the country of the Pelasgi, and Achaea in the
land of Phthia, and through Locris, and Boeotia and Megaris, and thence
into Peloponnesus by way of Corinth and Larissa, until he brought them
to Tegea. From there he went on by the Lycaean mountains, and past
Maenalus and what are called the watch-posts of Battus. Now this Battus
used to live on the top of the rock and when he heard the voice of the
heifers as they were being driven past, he came out from his own place,
and knew that the cattle were stolen. So he asked for a reward to tell
no one about them. Hermes promised to give it him on these terms, and
Battus swore to say nothing to anyone about the cattle. But when Hermes
had hidden them in the cliff by Coryphasium, and had driven them into a
cave facing towards Italy and Sicily, he changed himself and came again
to Battus and tried whether he would be true to him as he had vowed.
So, offering him a robe as a reward, he asked of him whether he had
noticed stolen cattle being driven past. And Battus took the robe and
told him about the cattle. But Hermes was angry because he was
double-tongued, and struck him with his staff and changed him into a
rock. And either frost or heat never leaves him 2004.



THE MELAMPODIA

Fragment #1—Strabo, xiv. p. 642: It is said that Calchis the seer
returned from Troy with Amphilochus the son of Amphiaraus and came on
foot to this place 2101. But happening to find near Clarus a seer
greater than himself, Mopsus, the son of Manto, Teiresias’ daughter, he
died of vexation. Hesiod, indeed, works up the story in some form as
this: Calchas set Mopsus the following problem:

‘I am filled with wonder at the quantity of figs this wild fig-tree
bears though it is so small. Can you tell their number?’

And Mopsus answered: ‘Ten thousand is their number, and their measure
is a bushel: one fig is left over, which you would not be able to put
into the measure.’

So said he; and they found the reckoning of the measure true. Then did
the end of death shroud Calchas.

Fragment #2—Tzetzes on Lycophron, 682: But now he is speaking of
Teiresias, since it is said that he lived seven generations—though
others say nine. He lived from the times of Cadmus down to those of
Eteocles and Polyneices, as the author of “Melampodia” also says: for
he introduces Teiresias speaking thus:

‘Father Zeus, would that you had given me a shorter span of life to be
mine and wisdom of heart like that of mortal men! But now you have
honoured me not even a little, though you ordained me to have a long
span of life, and to live through seven generations of mortal kind.’

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, x. 494: They say that
Teiresias saw two snakes mating on Cithaeron and that, when he killed
the female, he was changed into a woman, and again, when he killed the
male, took again his own nature. This same Teiresias was chosen by Zeus
and Hera to decide the question whether the male or the female has most
pleasure in intercourse. And he said:

‘Of ten parts a man enjoys only one; but a woman’s sense enjoys all ten
in full.’

For this Hera was angry and blinded him, but Zeus gave him the seer’s
power.

Fragment #4—2102 Athenaeus, ii. p. 40: ‘For pleasant it is at a feast
and rich banquet to tell delightful tales, when men have had enough of
feasting;...’

Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vi. 2 26: ‘...and pleasant also it is
to know a clear token of ill or good amid all the signs that the
deathless ones have given to mortal men.’

Fragment #5—Athenaeus, xi. 498. A: ‘And Mares, swift messenger, came to
him through the house and brought a silver goblet which he had filled,
and gave it to the lord.’

Fragment #6—Athenaeus, xi. 498. B: ‘And then Mantes took in his hands
the ox’s halter and Iphiclus lashed him upon the back. And behind him,
with a cup in one hand and a raised sceptre in the other, walked
Phylacus and spake amongst the bondmen.’

Fragment #7—Athenaeus, xiii. p. 609 e: Hesiod in the third book of the
“Melampodia” called Chalcis in Euboea ‘the land of fair women’.

Fragment #8—Strabo, xiv. p. 676: But Hesiod says that Amphilochus was
killed by Apollo at Soli.

Fragment #9—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, v. p. 259: ‘And now
there is no seer among mortal men such as would know the mind of Zeus
who holds the aegis.’



AEGIMIUS

Fragment #1—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 587: But the
author of the “Aegimius” says that he (Phrixus) was received without
intermediary because of the fleece 2201. He says that after the
sacrifice he purified the fleece and so: ‘Holding the fleece he walked
into the halls of Aeetes.’

Fragment #2—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 816: The author
of the “Aegimius” says in the second book that Thetis used to throw the
children she had by Peleus into a cauldron of water, because she wished
to learn where they were mortal.... ....And that after many had
perished Peleus was annoyed, and prevented her from throwing Achilles
into the cauldron.

Fragment #3—Apollodorus, ii. 1.3.1: Hesiod and Acusilaus say that she
(Io) was the daughter of Peiren. While she was holding the office of
priestess of Hera, Zeus seduced her, and being discovered by Hera,
touched the girl and changed her into a white cow, while he swore that
he had no intercourse with her. And so Hesiod says that oaths touching
the matter of love do not draw down anger from the gods: ‘And
thereafter he ordained that an oath concerning the secret deeds of the
Cyprian should be without penalty for men.’

Fragment #4—Herodian in Stephanus of Byzantium: ‘(Zeus changed Io) in
the fair island Abantis, which the gods, who are eternally, used to
call Abantis aforetime, but Zeus then called it Euboea after the cow.’
2202

Fragment #5—Scholiast on Euripides, Phoen. 1116: ‘And (Hera) set a
watcher upon her (Io), great and strong Argus, who with four eyes looks
every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep
never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.’

Fragment #6—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 24: ‘Slayer of Argus’.
According to Hesiod’s tale he (Hermes) slew (Argus) the herdsman of Io.

Fragment #7—Athenaeus, xi. p. 503: And the author of the “Aegimius”,
whether he is Hesiod or Cercops of Miletus (says): ‘There, some day,
shall be my place of refreshment, O leader of the people.’

Fragment #8—Etym. Gen.: Hesiod (says there were so called) because they
settled in three groups: ‘And they all were called the Three-fold
people, because they divided in three the land far from their country.’
For (he says) that three Hellenic tribes settled in Crete, the Pelasgi,
Achaeans and Dorians. And these have been called Three-fold People.



FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION

Fragment #1—Diogenes Laertius, viii. 1. 26: 2301 ‘So Urania bare Linus,
a very lovely son: and him all men who are singers and harpers do
bewail at feasts and dances, and as they begin and as they end they
call on Linus....’

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i. p. 121: ‘....who was skilled in all
manner of wisdom.’

Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, iv. 232: ‘Unless Phoebus
Apollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the
remedies for all things.’

Fragment #3—Clement of Alexandria, Protrept, c. vii. p. 21: ‘For he
alone is king and lord of all the undying gods, and no other vies with
him in power.’

Fragment #4—Anecd. Oxon (Cramer), i. p. 148: ‘(To cause?) the gifts of
the blessed gods to come near to earth.’

Fragment #5—Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i. p. 123: ‘Of the Muses who
make a man very wise, marvellous in utterance.’

Fragment #6—Strabo, x. p. 471: ‘But of them (sc. the daughters of
Hecaterus) were born the divine mountain Nymphs and the tribe of
worthless, helpless Satyrs, and the divine Curetes, sportive dancers.’

Fragment #7—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 824: ‘Beseeching
the offspring of glorious Cleodaeus.’

Fragment #8—Suidas, s.v.: ‘For the Olympian gave might to the sons of
Aeacus, and wisdom to the sons of Amythaon, and wealth to the sons of
Atreus.’

Fragment #9—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xiii. 155: ‘For through his lack
of wood the timber of the ships rotted.’

Fragment #10—Etymologicum Magnum: ‘No longer do they walk with delicate
feet.’

Fragment #11—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xxiv. 624: ‘First of all they
roasted (pieces of meat), and drew them carefully off the spits.’

Fragment #12—Chrysippus, Fragg. ii. 254. 11: ‘For his spirit increased
in his dear breast.’

Fragment #13—Chrysippus, Fragg. ii. 254. 15: ‘With such heart grieving
anger in her breast.’

Fragment #14—Strabo, vii. p. 327: ‘He went to Dodona and the oak-grove,
the dwelling place of the Pelasgi.’

Fragment #15—Anecd. Oxon (Cramer), iii. p. 318. not.: ‘With the
pitiless smoke of black pitch and of cedar.’

Fragment #16—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 757: ‘But he
himself in the swelling tide of the rain-swollen river.’

Fragment #17—Stephanus of Byzantium: (The river) Parthenius, ‘Flowing
as softly as a dainty maiden goes.’

Fragment #18—Scholiast on Theocritus, xi. 75: ‘Foolish the man who
leaves what he has, and follows after what he has not.’

Fragment #19—Harpocration: ‘The deeds of the young, the counsels of the
middle-aged, and the prayers of the aged.’

Fragment #20—Porphyr, On Abstinence, ii. 18. p. 134: ‘Howsoever the
city does sacrifice, the ancient custom is best.’

Fragment #21—Scholiast on Nicander, Theriaca, 452: ‘But you should be
gentle towards your father.’

Fragment #22—Plato, Epist. xi. 358: ‘And if I said this, it would seem
a poor thing and hard to understand.’

Fragment #23—Bacchylides, v. 191-3: Thus spake the Boeotian, even
Hesiod 2302, servant of the sweet Muses: ‘whomsoever the immortals
honour, the good report of mortals also followeth him.’



DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS

Fragment #1—Galen, de plac. Hipp. et Plat. i. 266: ‘And then it was
Zeus took away sense from the heart of Athamas.’

Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 104: ‘They grind the yellow
grain at the mill.’

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 1: ‘Then first in Delos did I
and Homer, singers both, raise our strain—stitching song in new
hymns—Phoebus Apollo with the golden sword, whom Leto bare.’

Fragment #4—Julian, Misopogon, p. 369: ‘But starvation on a handful is
a cruel thing.’

Fragment #5—Servius on Vergil, Aen. iv. 484: Hesiod says that these
Hesperides........daughters of Night, guarded the golden apples beyond
Ocean: ‘Aegle and Erythea and ox-eyed Hesperethusa.’ 2401

Fragment #6—Plato, Republic, iii. 390 E: ‘Gifts move the gods, gifts
move worshipful princes.’

Fragment #7—2402 Clement of Alexandria, Strom. v. p. 256: ‘On the
seventh day again the bright light of the sun....’

Fragment #8—Apollonius, Lex. Hom.: ‘He brought pure water and mixed it
with Ocean’s streams.’

Fragment #9—Stephanus of Byzantium: ‘Aspledon and Clymenus and god-like
Amphidocus.’ (sons of Orchomenus).

Fragment #10—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. iii. 64: ‘Telemon never sated
with battle first brought light to our comrades by slaying blameless
Melanippe, destroyer of men, own sister of the golden-girdled queen.’



THE HOMERIC HYMNS



I. TO DIONYSUS 2501

*    *    *    *


(ll. 1-9) For some say, at Dracanum; and some, on windy Icarus; and
some, in Naxos, O Heaven-born, Insewn 2502; and others by the
deep-eddying river Alpheus that pregnant Semele bare you to Zeus the
thunder-lover. And others yet, lord, say you were born in Thebes; but
all these lie. The Father of men and gods gave you birth remote from
men and secretly from white-armed Hera. There is a certain Nysa, a
mountain most high and richly grown with woods, far off in Phoenice,
near the streams of Aegyptus.

*    *    *    *


(ll. 10-12) ‘...and men will lay up for her 2503 many offerings in her
shrines. And as these things are three 2504, so shall mortals ever
sacrifice perfect hecatombs to you at your feasts each three years.’

(ll. 13-16) The Son of Cronos spoke and nodded with his dark brows. And
the divine locks of the king flowed forward from his immortal head, and
he made great Olympus reel. So spake wise Zeus and ordained it with a
nod.

(ll. 17-21) Be favourable, O Insewn, Inspirer of frenzied women! we
singers sing of you as we begin and as we end a strain, and none
forgetting you may call holy song to mind. And so, farewell, Dionysus,
Insewn, with your mother Semele whom men call Thyone.

II. TO DEMETER

(ll. 1-3) I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess—of her
and her trim-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus rapt away, given to him by
all-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer.

(ll. 4-18) Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious
fruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and
gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful
violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth made
to grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a
snare for the bloom-like girl—a marvellous, radiant flower. It was a
thing of awe whether for deathless gods or mortal men to see: from its
root grew a hundred blooms, and it smelled most sweetly, so that all
wide heaven above and the whole earth and the sea’s salt swell laughed
for joy. And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to
take the lovely toy; but the wide-pathed earth yawned there in the
plain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses
sprang out upon her—the Son of Cronos, He who has many names 2505.

(ll. 19-32) He caught her up reluctant on his golden car and bare her
away lamenting. Then she cried out shrilly with her voice, calling upon
her father, the Son of Cronos, who is most high and excellent. But no
one, either of the deathless gods or of mortal men, heard her voice,
nor yet the olive-trees bearing rich fruit: only tender-hearted Hecate,
bright-coiffed, the daughter of Persaeus, heard the girl from her cave,
and the lord Helios, Hyperion’s bright son, as she cried to her father,
the Son of Cronos. But he was sitting aloof, apart from the gods, in
his temple where many pray, and receiving sweet offerings from mortal
men. So he, that Son of Cronos, of many names, who is Ruler of Many and
Host of Many, was bearing her away by leave of Zeus on his immortal
chariot—his own brother’s child and all unwilling.

(ll. 33-39) And so long as she, the goddess, yet beheld earth and
starry heaven and the strong-flowing sea where fishes shoal, and the
rays of the sun, and still hoped to see her dear mother and the tribes
of the eternal gods, so long hope calmed her great heart for all her
trouble.... ((LACUNA)) ....and the heights of the mountains and the
depths of the sea rang with her immortal voice: and her queenly mother
heard her.

(ll. 40-53) Bitter pain seized her heart, and she rent the covering
upon her divine hair with her dear hands: her dark cloak she cast down
from both her shoulders and sped, like a wild-bird, over the firm land
and yielding sea, seeking her child. But no one would tell her the
truth, neither god nor mortal men; and of the birds of omen none came
with true news for her. Then for nine days queenly Deo wandered over
the earth with flaming torches in her hands, so grieved that she never
tasted ambrosia and the sweet draught of nectar, nor sprinkled her body
with water. But when the tenth enlightening dawn had come, Hecate, with
a torch in her hands, met her, and spoke to her and told her news:

(ll. 54-58) ‘Queenly Demeter, bringer of seasons and giver of good
gifts, what god of heaven or what mortal man has rapt away Persephone
and pierced with sorrow your dear heart? For I heard her voice, yet saw
not with my eyes who it was. But I tell you truly and shortly all I
know.’

(ll. 59-73) So, then, said Hecate. And the daughter of rich-haired Rhea
answered her not, but sped swiftly with her, holding flaming torches in
her hands. So they came to Helios, who is watchman of both gods and
men, and stood in front of his horses: and the bright goddess enquired
of him: ‘Helios, do you at least regard me, goddess as I am, if ever by
word or deed of mine I have cheered your heart and spirit. Through the
fruitless air I heard the thrilling cry of my daughter whom I bare,
sweet scion of my body and lovely in form, as of one seized violently;
though with my eyes I saw nothing. But you—for with your beams you look
down from the bright upper air Over all the earth and sea—tell me truly
of my dear child, if you have seen her anywhere, what god or mortal man
has violently seized her against her will and mine, and so made off.’

(ll. 74-87) So said she. And the Son of Hyperion answered her: ‘Queen
Demeter, daughter of rich-haired Rhea, I will tell you the truth; for I
greatly reverence and pity you in your grief for your trim-ankled
daughter. None other of the deathless gods is to blame, but only
cloud-gathering Zeus who gave her to Hades, her father’s brother, to be
called his buxom wife. And Hades seized her and took her loudly crying
in his chariot down to his realm of mist and gloom. Yet, goddess, cease
your loud lament and keep not vain anger unrelentingly: Aidoneus, the
Ruler of Many, is no unfitting husband among the deathless gods for
your child, being your own brother and born of the same stock: also,
for honour, he has that third share which he received when division was
made at the first, and is appointed lord of those among whom he
dwells.’

(ll. 88-89) So he spake, and called to his horses: and at his chiding
they quickly whirled the swift chariot along, like long-winged birds.

(ll. 90-112) But grief yet more terrible and savage came into the heart
of Demeter, and thereafter she was so angered with the dark-clouded Son
of Cronos that she avoided the gathering of the gods and high Olympus,
and went to the towns and rich fields of men, disfiguring her form a
long while. And no one of men or deep-bosomed women knew her when they
saw her, until she came to the house of wise Celeus who then was lord
of fragrant Eleusis. Vexed in her dear heart, she sat near the wayside
by the Maiden Well, from which the women of the place were used to draw
water, in a shady place over which grew an olive shrub. And she was
like an ancient woman who is cut off from childbearing and the gifts of
garland-loving Aphrodite, like the nurses of king’s children who deal
justice, or like the house-keepers in their echoing halls. There the
daughters of Celeus, son of Eleusis, saw her, as they were coming for
easy-drawn water, to carry it in pitchers of bronze to their dear
father’s house: four were they and like goddesses in the flower of
their girlhood, Callidice and Cleisidice and lovely Demo and Callithoe
who was the eldest of them all. They knew her not,—for the gods are not
easily discerned by mortals—but standing near by her spoke winged
words:

(ll. 113-117) ‘Old mother, whence and who are you of folk born long
ago? Why are you gone away from the city and do not draw near the
houses? For there in the shady halls are women of just such age as you,
and others younger; and they would welcome you both by word and by
deed.’

(ll. 118-144) Thus they said. And she, that queen among goddesses
answered them saying: ‘Hail, dear children, whosoever you are of
woman-kind. I will tell you my story; for it is not unseemly that I
should tell you truly what you ask. Doso is my name, for my stately
mother gave it me. And now I am come from Crete over the sea’s wide
back,—not willingly; but pirates brought me thence by force of strength
against my liking. Afterwards they put in with their swift craft to
Thoricus, and there the women landed on the shore in full throng and
the men likewise, and they began to make ready a meal by the
stern-cables of the ship. But my heart craved not pleasant food, and I
fled secretly across the dark country and escaped my masters, that they
should not take me unpurchased across the sea, there to win a price for
me. And so I wandered and am come here: and I know not at all what land
this is or what people are in it. But may all those who dwell on
Olympus give you husbands and birth of children as parents desire, so
you take pity on me, maidens, and show me this clearly that I may
learn, dear children, to the house of what man and woman I may go, to
work for them cheerfully at such tasks as belong to a woman of my age.
Well could I nurse a new born child, holding him in my arms, or keep
house, or spread my masters’ bed in a recess of the well-built chamber,
or teach the women their work.’

(ll. 145-146) So said the goddess. And straightway the unwed maiden
Callidice, goodliest in form of the daughters of Celeus, answered her
and said:

(ll. 147-168) ‘Mother, what the gods send us, we mortals bear perforce,
although we suffer; for they are much stronger than we. But now I will
teach you clearly, telling you the names of men who have great power
and honour here and are chief among the people, guarding our city’s
coif of towers by their wisdom and true judgements: there is wise
Triptolemus and Dioclus and Polyxeinus and blameless Eumolpus and
Dolichus and our own brave father. All these have wives who manage in
the house, and no one of them, so soon as she has seen you, would
dishonour you and turn you from the house, but they will welcome you;
for indeed you are godlike. But if you will, stay here; and we will go
to our father’s house and tell Metaneira, our deep-bosomed mother, all
this matter fully, that she may bid you rather come to our home than
search after the houses of others. She has an only son, late-born, who
is being nursed in our well-built house, a child of many prayers and
welcome: if you could bring him up until he reached the full measure of
youth, any one of womankind who should see you would straightway envy
you, such gifts would our mother give for his upbringing.’

(ll. 169-183) So she spake: and the goddess bowed her head in assent.
And they filled their shining vessels with water and carried them off
rejoicing. Quickly they came to their father’s great house and
straightway told their mother according as they had heard and seen.
Then she bade them go with all speed and invite the stranger to come
for a measureless hire. As hinds or heifers in spring time, when sated
with pasture, bound about a meadow, so they, holding up the folds of
their lovely garments, darted down the hollow path, and their hair like
a crocus flower streamed about their shoulders. And they found the good
goddess near the wayside where they had left her before, and led her to
the house of their dear father. And she walked behind, distressed in
her dear heart, with her head veiled and wearing a dark cloak which
waved about the slender feet of the goddess.

(ll. 184-211) Soon they came to the house of heaven-nurtured Celeus and
went through the portico to where their queenly mother sat by a pillar
of the close-fitted roof, holding her son, a tender scion, in her
bosom. And the girls ran to her. But the goddess walked to the
threshold: and her head reached the roof and she filled the doorway
with a heavenly radiance. Then awe and reverence and pale fear took
hold of Metaneira, and she rose up from her couch before Demeter, and
bade her be seated. But Demeter, bringer of seasons and giver of
perfect gifts, would not sit upon the bright couch, but stayed silent
with lovely eyes cast down until careful Iambe placed a jointed seat
for her and threw over it a silvery fleece. Then she sat down and held
her veil in her hands before her face. A long time she sat upon the
stool 2506 without speaking because of her sorrow, and greeted no one
by word or by sign, but rested, never smiling, and tasting neither food
nor drink, because she pined with longing for her deep-bosomed
daughter, until careful Iambe—who pleased her moods in aftertime
also—moved the holy lady with many a quip and jest to smile and laugh
and cheer her heart. Then Metaneira filled a cup with sweet wine and
offered it to her; but she refused it, for she said it was not lawful
for her to drink red wine, but bade them mix meal and water with soft
mint and give her to drink. And Metaneira mixed the draught and gave it
to the goddess as she bade. So the great queen Deo received it to
observe the sacrament.... 2507

((LACUNA))

(ll. 212-223) And of them all, well-girded Metaneira first began to
speak: ‘Hail, lady! For I think you are not meanly but nobly born;
truly dignity and grace are conspicuous upon your eyes as in the eyes
of kings that deal justice. Yet we mortals bear perforce what the gods
send us, though we be grieved; for a yoke is set upon our necks. But
now, since you are come here, you shall have what I can bestow: and
nurse me this child whom the gods gave me in my old age and beyond my
hope, a son much prayed for. If you should bring him up until he reach
the full measure of youth, any one of womankind that sees you will
straightway envy you, so great reward would I give for his upbringing.’

(ll. 224-230) Then rich-haired Demeter answered her: ‘And to you, also,
lady, all hail, and may the gods give you good! Gladly will I take the
boy to my breast, as you bid me, and will nurse him. Never, I ween,
through any heedlessness of his nurse shall witchcraft hurt him nor yet
the Undercutter 2508: for I know a charm far stronger than the
Woodcutter, and I know an excellent safeguard against woeful
witchcraft.’

(ll. 231-247) When she had so spoken, she took the child in her
fragrant bosom with her divine hands: and his mother was glad in her
heart. So the goddess nursed in the palace Demophoon, wise Celeus’
goodly son whom well-girded Metaneira bare. And the child grew like
some immortal being, not fed with food nor nourished at the breast: for
by day rich-crowned Demeter would anoint him with ambrosia as if he
were the offspring of a god and breathe sweetly upon him as she held
him in her bosom. But at night she would hide him like a brand in the
heart of the fire, unknown to his dear parents. And it wrought great
wonder in these that he grew beyond his age; for he was like the gods
face to face. And she would have made him deathless and unageing, had
not well-girded Metaneira in her heedlessness kept watch by night from
her sweet-smelling chamber and spied. But she wailed and smote her two
hips, because she feared for her son and was greatly distraught in her
heart; so she lamented and uttered winged words:

(ll. 248-249) ‘Demophoon, my son, the strange woman buries you deep in
fire and works grief and bitter sorrow for me.’

(ll. 250-255) Thus she spoke, mourning. And the bright goddess,
lovely-crowned Demeter, heard her, and was wroth with her. So with her
divine hands she snatched from the fire the dear son whom Metaneira had
born unhoped-for in the palace, and cast him from her to the ground;
for she was terribly angry in her heart. Forthwith she said to
well-girded Metaneira:

(ll. 256-274) ‘Witless are you mortals and dull to foresee your lot,
whether of good or evil, that comes upon you. For now in your
heedlessness you have wrought folly past healing; for—be witness the
oath of the gods, the relentless water of Styx—I would have made your
dear son deathless and unageing all his days and would have bestowed on
him everlasting honour, but now he can in no way escape death and the
fates. Yet shall unfailing honour always rest upon him, because he lay
upon my knees and slept in my arms. But, as the years move round and
when he is in his prime, the sons of the Eleusinians shall ever wage
war and dread strife with one another continually. Lo! I am that
Demeter who has share of honour and is the greatest help and cause of
joy to the undying gods and mortal men. But now, let all the people
build me a great temple and an altar below it and beneath the city and
its sheer wall upon a rising hillock above Callichorus. And I myself
will teach my rites, that hereafter you may reverently perform them and
so win the favour of my heart.’

(ll. 275-281) When she had so said, the goddess changed her stature and
her looks, thrusting old age away from her: beauty spread round about
her and a lovely fragrance was wafted from her sweet-smelling robes,
and from the divine body of the goddess a light shone afar, while
golden tresses spread down over her shoulders, so that the strong house
was filled with brightness as with lightning. And so she went out from
the palace.

(ll. 281-291) And straightway Metaneira’s knees were loosed and she
remained speechless for a long while and did not remember to take up
her late-born son from the ground. But his sisters heard his pitiful
wailing and sprang down from their well-spread beds: one of them took
up the child in her arms and laid him in her bosom, while another
revived the fire, and a third rushed with soft feet to bring their
mother from her fragrant chamber. And they gathered about the
struggling child and washed him, embracing him lovingly; but he was not
comforted, because nurses and handmaids much less skilful were holding
him now.

(ll. 292-300) All night long they sought to appease the glorious
goddess, quaking with fear. But, as soon as dawn began to show, they
told powerful Celeus all things without fail, as the lovely-crowned
goddess Demeter charged them. So Celeus called the countless people to
an assembly and bade them make a goodly temple for rich-haired Demeter
and an altar upon the rising hillock. And they obeyed him right
speedily and harkened to his voice, doing as he commanded. As for the
child, he grew like an immortal being.

(ll. 301-320) Now when they had finished building and had drawn back
from their toil, they went every man to his house. But golden-haired
Demeter sat there apart from all the blessed gods and stayed, wasting
with yearning for her deep-bosomed daughter. Then she caused a most
dreadful and cruel year for mankind over the all-nourishing earth: the
ground would not make the seed sprout, for rich-crowned Demeter kept it
hid. In the fields the oxen drew many a curved plough in vain, and much
white barley was cast upon the land without avail. So she would have
destroyed the whole race of man with cruel famine and have robbed them
who dwell on Olympus of their glorious right of gifts and sacrifices,
had not Zeus perceived and marked this in his heart. First he sent
golden-winged Iris to call rich-haired Demeter, lovely in form. So he
commanded. And she obeyed the dark-clouded Son of Cronos, and sped with
swift feet across the space between. She came to the stronghold of
fragrant Eleusis, and there finding dark-cloaked Demeter in her temple,
spake to her and uttered winged words:

(ll. 321-323) ‘Demeter, father Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, calls
you to come join the tribes of the eternal gods: come therefore, and
let not the message I bring from Zeus pass unobeyed.’

(ll. 324-333) Thus said Iris imploring her. But Demeter’s heart was not
moved. Then again the father sent forth all the blessed and eternal
gods besides: and they came, one after the other, and kept calling her
and offering many very beautiful gifts and whatever right she might be
pleased to choose among the deathless gods. Yet no one was able to
persuade her mind and will, so wrath was she in her heart; but she
stubbornly rejected all their words: for she vowed that she would never
set foot on fragrant Olympus nor let fruit spring out of the ground,
until she beheld with her eyes her own fair-faced daughter.

(ll. 334-346) Now when all-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer heard this,
he sent the Slayer of Argus whose wand is of gold to Erebus, so that
having won over Hades with soft words, he might lead forth chaste
Persephone to the light from the misty gloom to join the gods, and that
her mother might see her with her eyes and cease from her anger. And
Hermes obeyed, and leaving the house of Olympus, straightway sprang
down with speed to the hidden places of the earth. And he found the
lord Hades in his house seated upon a couch, and his shy mate with him,
much reluctant, because she yearned for her mother. But she was afar
off, brooding on her fell design because of the deeds of the blessed
gods. And the strong Slayer of Argus drew near and said:

(ll. 347-356) ‘Dark-haired Hades, ruler over the departed, father Zeus
bids me bring noble Persephone forth from Erebus unto the gods, that
her mother may see her with her eyes and cease from her dread anger
with the immortals; for now she plans an awful deed, to destroy the
weakly tribes of earthborn men by keeping seed hidden beneath the
earth, and so she makes an end of the honours of the undying gods. For
she keeps fearful anger and does not consort with the gods, but sits
aloof in her fragrant temple, dwelling in the rocky hold of Eleusis.’

(ll. 357-359) So he said. And Aidoneus, ruler over the dead, smiled
grimly and obeyed the behest of Zeus the king. For he straightway urged
wise Persephone, saying:

(ll. 360-369) ‘Go now, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother, go, and
feel kindly in your heart towards me: be not so exceedingly cast down;
for I shall be no unfitting husband for you among the deathless gods,
that am own brother to father Zeus. And while you are here, you shall
rule all that lives and moves and shall have the greatest rights among
the deathless gods: those who defraud you and do not appease your power
with offerings, reverently performing rites and paying fit gifts, shall
be punished for evermore.’

(ll. 370-383) When he said this, wise Persephone was filled with joy
and hastily sprang up for gladness. But he on his part secretly gave
her sweet pomegranate seed to eat, taking care for himself that she
might not remain continually with grave, dark-robed Demeter. Then
Aidoneus the Ruler of Many openly got ready his deathless horses
beneath the golden chariot. And she mounted on the chariot, and the
strong Slayer of Argos took reins and whip in his dear hands and drove
forth from the hall, the horses speeding readily. Swiftly they
traversed their long course, and neither the sea nor river-waters nor
grassy glens nor mountain-peaks checked the career of the immortal
horses, but they clave the deep air above them as they went. And Hermes
brought them to the place where rich-crowned Demeter was staying and
checked them before her fragrant temple.

(ll. 384-404) And when Demeter saw them, she rushed forth as does a
Maenad down some thick-wooded mountain, while Persephone on the other
side, when she saw her mother’s sweet eyes, left the chariot and
horses, and leaped down to run to her, and falling upon her neck,
embraced her. But while Demeter was still holding her dear child in her
arms, her heart suddenly misgave her for some snare, so that she feared
greatly and ceased fondling her daughter and asked of her at once: ‘My
child, tell me, surely you have not tasted any food while you were
below? Speak out and hide nothing, but let us both know. For if you
have not, you shall come back from loathly Hades and live with me and
your father, the dark-clouded Son of Cronos and be honoured by all the
deathless gods; but if you have tasted food, you must go back again
beneath the secret places of the earth, there to dwell a third part of
the seasons every year: yet for the two parts you shall be with me and
the other deathless gods. But when the earth shall bloom with the
fragrant flowers of spring in every kind, then from the realm of
darkness and gloom thou shalt come up once more to be a wonder for gods
and mortal men. And now tell me how he rapt you away to the realm of
darkness and gloom, and by what trick did the strong Host of Many
beguile you?’

(ll. 405-433) Then beautiful Persephone answered her thus: ‘Mother, I
will tell you all without error. When luck-bringing Hermes came, swift
messenger from my father the Son of Cronos and the other Sons of
Heaven, bidding me come back from Erebus that you might see me with
your eyes and so cease from your anger and fearful wrath against the
gods, I sprang up at once for joy; but he secretly put in my mouth
sweet food, a pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will.
Also I will tell how he rapt me away by the deep plan of my father the
Son of Cronos and carried me off beneath the depths of the earth, and
will relate the whole matter as you ask. All we were playing in a
lovely meadow, Leucippe 2509 and Phaeno and Electra and Ianthe, Melita
also and Iache with Rhodea and Callirhoe and Melobosis and Tyche and
Ocyrhoe, fair as a flower, Chryseis, Ianeira, Acaste and Admete and
Rhodope and Pluto and charming Calypso; Styx too was there and Urania
and lovely Galaxaura with Pallas who rouses battles and Artemis
delighting in arrows: we were playing and gathering sweet flowers in
our hands, soft crocuses mingled with irises and hyacinths, and
rose-blooms and lilies, marvellous to see, and the narcissus which the
wide earth caused to grow yellow as a crocus. That I plucked in my joy;
but the earth parted beneath, and there the strong lord, the Host of
Many, sprang forth and in his golden chariot he bore me away, all
unwilling, beneath the earth: then I cried with a shrill cry. All this
is true, sore though it grieves me to tell the tale.’

(ll. 434-437) So did they turn, with hearts at one, greatly cheer each
the other’s soul and spirit with many an embrace: their heart had
relief from their griefs while each took and gave back joyousness.

(ll. 438-440) Then bright-coiffed Hecate came near to them, and often
did she embrace the daughter of holy Demeter: and from that time the
lady Hecate was minister and companion to Persephone.

(ll. 441-459) And all-seeing Zeus sent a messenger to them, rich-haired
Rhea, to bring dark-cloaked Demeter to join the families of the gods:
and he promised to give her what right she should choose among the
deathless gods and agreed that her daughter should go down for the
third part of the circling year to darkness and gloom, but for the two
parts should live with her mother and the other deathless gods. Thus he
commanded. And the goddess did not disobey the message of Zeus; swiftly
she rushed down from the peaks of Olympus and came to the plain of
Rharus, rich, fertile corn-land once, but then in nowise fruitful, for
it lay idle and utterly leafless, because the white grain was hidden by
design of trim-ankled Demeter. But afterwards, as springtime waxed, it
was soon to be waving with long ears of corn, and its rich furrows to
be loaded with grain upon the ground, while others would already be
bound in sheaves. There first she landed from the fruitless upper air:
and glad were the goddesses to see each other and cheered in heart.
Then bright-coiffed Rhea said to Demeter:

(ll. 460-469) ‘Come, my daughter; for far-seeing Zeus the
loud-thunderer calls you to join the families of the gods, and has
promised to give you what rights you please among the deathless gods,
and has agreed that for a third part of the circling year your daughter
shall go down to darkness and gloom, but for the two parts shall be
with you and the other deathless gods: so has he declared it shall be
and has bowed his head in token. But come, my child, obey, and be not
too angry unrelentingly with the dark-clouded Son of Cronos; but rather
increase forthwith for men the fruit that gives them life.’

(ll. 470-482) So spake Rhea. And rich-crowned Demeter did not refuse
but straightway made fruit to spring up from the rich lands, so that
the whole wide earth was laden with leaves and flowers. Then she went,
and to the kings who deal justice, Triptolemus and Diocles, the
horse-driver, and to doughty Eumolpus and Celeus, leader of the people,
she showed the conduct of her rites and taught them all her mysteries,
to Triptolemus and Polyxeinus and Diocles also,—awful mysteries which
no one may in any way transgress or pry into or utter, for deep awe of
the gods checks the voice. Happy is he among men upon earth who has
seen these mysteries; but he who is uninitiate and who has no part in
them, never has lot of like good things once he is dead, down in the
darkness and gloom.

(ll. 483-489) But when the bright goddess had taught them all, they
went to Olympus to the gathering of the other gods. And there they
dwell beside Zeus who delights in thunder, awful and reverend
goddesses. Right blessed is he among men on earth whom they freely
love: soon they do send Plutus as guest to his great house, Plutus who
gives wealth to mortal men.

(ll. 490-495) And now, queen of the land of sweet Eleusis and sea-girt
Paros and rocky Antron, lady, giver of good gifts, bringer of seasons,
queen Deo, be gracious, you and your daughter all beauteous Persephone,
and for my song grant me heart-cheering substance. And now I will
remember you and another song also.



III. TO DELIAN APOLLO

(ll. 1-18) I will remember and not be unmindful of Apollo who shoots
afar. As he goes through the house of Zeus, the gods tremble before him
and all spring up from their seats when he draws near, as he bends his
bright bow. But Leto alone stays by the side of Zeus who delights in
thunder; and then she unstrings his bow, and closes his quiver, and
takes his archery from his strong shoulders in her hands and hangs them
on a golden peg against a pillar of his father’s house. Then she leads
him to a seat and makes him sit: and the Father gives him nectar in a
golden cup welcoming his dear son, while the other gods make him sit
down there, and queenly Leto rejoices because she bare a mighty son and
an archer. Rejoice, blessed Leto, for you bare glorious children, the
lord Apollo and Artemis who delights in arrows; her in Ortygia, and him
in rocky Delos, as you rested against the great mass of the Cynthian
hill hard by a palm-tree by the streams of Inopus.

(ll. 19-29) How, then, shall I sing of you who in all ways are a worthy
theme of song? For everywhere, O Phoebus, the whole range of song is
fallen to you, both over the mainland that rears heifers and over the
isles. All mountain-peaks and high headlands of lofty hills and rivers
flowing out to the deep and beaches sloping seawards and havens of the
sea are your delight. Shall I sing how at the first Leto bare you to be
the joy of men, as she rested against Mount Cynthus in that rocky isle,
in sea-girt Delos—while on either hand a dark wave rolled on landwards
driven by shrill winds—whence arising you rule over all mortal men?

(ll. 30-50) Among those who are in Crete, and in the township of
Athens, and in the isle of Aegina and Euboea, famous for ships, in
Aegae and Eiresiae and Peparethus near the sea, in Thracian Athos and
Pelion’s towering heights and Thracian Samos and the shady hills of
Ida, in Scyros and Phocaea and the high hill of Autocane and fair-lying
Imbros and smouldering Lemnos and rich Lesbos, home of Macar, the son
of Aeolus, and Chios, brightest of all the isles that lie in the sea,
and craggy Mimas and the heights of Corycus and gleaming Claros and the
sheer hill of Aesagea and watered Samos and the steep heights of
Mycale, in Miletus and Cos, the city of Meropian men, and steep Cnidos
and windy Carpathos, in Naxos and Paros and rocky Rhenaea—so far roamed
Leto in travail with the god who shoots afar, to see if any land would
be willing to make a dwelling for her son. But they greatly trembled
and feared, and none, not even the richest of them, dared receive
Phoebus, until queenly Leto set foot on Delos and uttered winged words
and asked her:

(ll. 51-61) ‘Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son
Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple—; for no other will touch
you, as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and
sheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you
have the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you
hecatombs and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will
always arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of
strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich.’

(ll. 62-82) So spake Leto. And Delos rejoiced and answered and said:
‘Leto, most glorious daughter of great Coeus, joyfully would I receive
your child the far-shooting lord; for it is all too true that I am
ill-spoken of among men, whereas thus I should become very greatly
honoured. But this saying I fear, and I will not hide it from you,
Leto. They say that Apollo will be one that is very haughty and will
greatly lord it among gods and men all over the fruitful earth.
Therefore, I greatly fear in heart and spirit that as soon as he sets
the light of the sun, he will scorn this island—for truly I have but a
hard, rocky soil—and overturn me and thrust me down with his feet in
the depths of the sea; then will the great ocean wash deep above my
head for ever, and he will go to another land such as will please him,
there to make his temple and wooded groves. So, many-footed creatures
of the sea will make their lairs in me and black seals their dwellings
undisturbed, because I lack people. Yet if you will but dare to sware a
great oath, goddess, that here first he will build a glorious temple to
be an oracle for men, then let him afterwards make temples and wooded
groves amongst all men; for surely he will be greatly renowned.’

(ll. 83-88) So said Delos. And Leto sware the great oath of the gods:
‘Now hear this, Earth and wide Heaven above, and dropping water of Styx
(this is the strongest and most awful oath for the blessed gods),
surely Phoebus shall have here his fragrant altar and precinct, and you
he shall honour above all.’

(ll. 89-101) Now when Leto had sworn and ended her oath, Delos was very
glad at the birth of the far-shooting lord. But Leto was racked nine
days and nine nights with pangs beyond wont. And there were with her
all the chiefest of the goddesses, Dione and Rhea and Ichnaea and
Themis and loud-moaning Amphitrite and the other deathless goddesses
save white-armed Hera, who sat in the halls of cloud-gathering Zeus.
Only Eilithyia, goddess of sore travail, had not heard of Leto’s
trouble, for she sat on the top of Olympus beneath golden clouds by
white-armed Hera’s contriving, who kept her close through envy, because
Leto with the lovely tresses was soon to bear a son faultless and
strong.

(ll. 102-114) But the goddesses sent out Iris from the well-set isle to
bring Eilithyia, promising her a great necklace strung with golden
threads, nine cubits long. And they bade Iris call her aside from
white-armed Hera, lest she might afterwards turn her from coming with
her words. When swift Iris, fleet of foot as the wind, had heard all
this, she set to run; and quickly finishing all the distance she came
to the home of the gods, sheer Olympus, and forthwith called Eilithyia
out from the hall to the door and spoke winged words to her, telling
her all as the goddesses who dwell on Olympus had bidden her. So she
moved the heart of Eilithyia in her dear breast; and they went their
way, like shy wild-doves in their going.

(ll. 115-122) And as soon as Eilithyia the goddess of sore travail set
foot on Delos, the pains of birth seized Leto, and she longed to bring
forth; so she cast her arms about a palm tree and kneeled on the soft
meadow while the earth laughed for joy beneath. Then the child leaped
forth to the light, and all the goddesses washed you purely and cleanly
with sweet water, and swathed you in a white garment of fine texture,
new-woven, and fastened a golden band about you.

(ll. 123-130) Now Leto did not give Apollo, bearer of the golden blade,
her breast; but Themis duly poured nectar and ambrosia with her divine
hands: and Leto was glad because she had borne a strong son and an
archer. But as soon as you had tasted that divine heavenly food, O
Phoebus, you could no longer then be held by golden cords nor confined
with bands, but all their ends were undone. Forthwith Phoebus Apollo
spoke out among the deathless goddesses:

(ll. 131-132) ‘The lyre and the curved bow shall ever be dear to me,
and I will declare to men the unfailing will of Zeus.’

(ll. 133-139) So said Phoebus, the long-haired god who shoots afar and
began to walk upon the wide-pathed earth; and all goddesses were amazed
at him. Then with gold all Delos was laden, beholding the child of Zeus
and Leto, for joy because the god chose her above the islands and shore
to make his dwelling in her: and she loved him yet more in her heart,
and blossomed as does a mountain-top with woodland flowers.

(ll. 140-164) And you, O lord Apollo, god of the silver bow, shooting
afar, now walked on craggy Cynthus, and now kept wandering about the
island and the people in them. Many are your temples and wooded groves,
and all peaks and towering bluffs of lofty mountains and rivers flowing
to the sea are dear to you, Phoebus, yet in Delos do you most delight
your heart; for there the long robed Ionians gather in your honour with
their children and shy wives: mindful, they delight you with boxing and
dancing and song, so often as they hold their gathering. A man would
say that they were deathless and unageing if he should then come upon
the Ionians so met together. For he would see the graces of them all,
and would be pleased in heart gazing at the men and well-girded women
with their swift ships and great wealth. And there is this great wonder
besides—and its renown shall never perish—the girls of Delos,
hand-maidens of the Far-shooter; for when they have praised Apollo
first, and also Leto and Artemis who delights in arrows, they sing a
strain telling of men and women of past days, and charm the tribes of
men. Also they can imitate the tongues of all men and their clattering
speech: each would say that he himself were singing, so close to truth
is their sweet song.

(ll. 165-178) And now may Apollo be favourable and Artemis; and
farewell all you maidens. Remember me in after time whenever any one of
men on earth, a stranger who has seen and suffered much, comes here and
asks of you: ‘Whom think ye, girls, is the sweetest singer that comes
here, and in whom do you most delight?’ Then answer, each and all, with
one voice: ‘He is a blind man, and dwells in rocky Chios: his lays are
evermore supreme.’ As for me, I will carry your renown as far as I roam
over the earth to the well-placed this thing is true. And I will never
cease to praise far-shooting Apollo, god of the silver bow, whom
rich-haired Leto bare.

TO PYTHIAN APOLLO—

(ll. 179-181) O Lord, Lycia is yours and lovely Maeonia and Miletus,
charming city by the sea, but over wave-girt Delos you greatly reign
your own self.

(ll. 182-206) Leto’s all-glorious son goes to rocky Pytho, playing upon
his hollow lyre, clad in divine, perfumed garments; and at the touch of
the golden key his lyre sings sweet. Thence, swift as thought, he
speeds from earth to Olympus, to the house of Zeus, to join the
gathering of the other gods: then straightway the undying gods think
only of the lyre and song, and all the Muses together, voice sweetly
answering voice, hymn the unending gifts the gods enjoy and the
sufferings of men, all that they endure at the hands of the deathless
gods, and how they live witless and helpless and cannot find healing
for death or defence against old age. Meanwhile the rich-tressed Graces
and cheerful Seasons dance with Harmonia and Hebe and Aphrodite,
daughter of Zeus, holding each other by the wrist. And among them sings
one, not mean nor puny, but tall to look upon and enviable in mien,
Artemis who delights in arrows, sister of Apollo. Among them sport Ares
and the keen-eyed Slayer of Argus, while Apollo plays his lyre stepping
high and featly and a radiance shines around him, the gleaming of his
feet and close-woven vest. And they, even gold-tressed Leto and wise
Zeus, rejoice in their great hearts as they watch their dear son
playing among the undying gods.

(ll. 207-228) How then shall I sing of you—though in all ways you are a
worthy theme for song? Shall I sing of you as wooer and in the fields
of love, how you went wooing the daughter of Azan along with god-like
Ischys the son of well-horsed Elatius, or with Phorbas sprung from
Triops, or with Ereutheus, or with Leucippus and the wife of
Leucippus.... ((LACUNA)) ....you on foot, he with his chariot, yet he
fell not short of Triops. Or shall I sing how at the first you went
about the earth seeking a place of oracle for men, O far-shooting
Apollo? To Pieria first you went down from Olympus and passed by sandy
Lectus and Enienae and through the land of the Perrhaebi. Soon you came
to Iolcus and set foot on Cenaeum in Euboea, famed for ships: you stood
in the Lelantine plain, but it pleased not your heart to make a temple
there and wooded groves. From there you crossed the Euripus,
far-shooting Apollo, and went up the green, holy hills, going on to
Mycalessus and grassy-bedded Teumessus, and so came to the wood-clad
abode of Thebe; for as yet no man lived in holy Thebe, nor were there
tracks or ways about Thebe’s wheat-bearing plain as yet.

(ll. 229-238) And further still you went, O far-shooting Apollo, and
came to Onchestus, Poseidon’s bright grove: there the new-broken colt
distressed with drawing the trim chariot gets spirit again, and the
skilled driver springs from his car and goes on his way. Then the
horses for a while rattle the empty car, being rid of guidance; and if
they break the chariot in the woody grove, men look after the horses,
but tilt the chariot and leave it there; for this was the rite from the
very first. And the drivers pray to the lord of the shrine; but the
chariot falls to the lot of the god.

(ll. 239-243) Further yet you went, O far-shooting Apollo, and reached
next Cephissus’ sweet stream which pours forth its sweet-flowing water
from Lilaea, and crossing over it, O worker from afar, you passed
many-towered Ocalea and reached grassy Haliartus.

(ll. 244-253) Then you went towards Telphusa: and there the pleasant
place seemed fit for making a temple and wooded grove. You came very
near and spoke to her: ‘Telphusa, here I am minded to make a glorious
temple, an oracle for men, and hither they will always bring perfect
hecatombs, both those who live in rich Peloponnesus and those of Europe
and all the wave-washed isles, coming to seek oracles. And I will
deliver to them all counsel that cannot fail, giving answer in my rich
temple.’

(ll. 254-276) So said Phoebus Apollo, and laid out all the foundations
throughout, wide and very long. But when Telphusa saw this, she was
angry in heart and spoke, saying: ‘Lord Phoebus, worker from afar, I
will speak a word of counsel to your heart, since you are minded to
make here a glorious temple to be an oracle for men who will always
bring hither perfect hecatombs for you; yet I will speak out, and do
you lay up my words in your heart. The trampling of swift horses and
the sound of mules watering at my sacred springs will always irk you,
and men will like better to gaze at the well-made chariots and
stamping, swift-footed horses than at your great temple and the many
treasures that are within. But if you will be moved by me—for you,
lord, are stronger and mightier than I, and your strength is very
great—build at Crisa below the glades of Parnassus: there no bright
chariot will clash, and there will be no noise of swift-footed horses
near your well-built altar. But so the glorious tribes of men will
bring gifts to you as Iepaeon (‘Hail-Healer’), and you will receive
with delight rich sacrifices from the people dwelling round about.’ So
said Telphusa, that she alone, and not the Far-Shooter, should have
renown there; and she persuaded the Far-Shooter.

(ll. 277-286) Further yet you went, far-shooting Apollo, until you came
to the town of the presumptuous Phlegyae who dwell on this earth in a
lovely glade near the Cephisian lake, caring not for Zeus. And thence
you went speeding swiftly to the mountain ridge, and came to Crisa
beneath snowy Parnassus, a foothill turned towards the west: a cliff
hangs over it from above, and a hollow, rugged glade runs under. There
the lord Phoebus Apollo resolved to make his lovely temple, and thus he
said:

(ll. 287-293) ‘In this place I am minded to build a glorious temple to
be an oracle for men, and here they will always bring perfect
hecatombs, both they who dwell in rich Peloponnesus and the men of
Europe and from all the wave-washed isles, coming to question me. And I
will deliver to them all counsel that cannot fail, answering them in my
rich temple.’

(ll. 294-299) When he had said this, Phoebus Apollo laid out all the
foundations throughout, wide and very long; and upon these the sons of
Erginus, Trophonius and Agamedes, dear to the deathless gods, laid a
footing of stone. And the countless tribes of men built the whole
temple of wrought stones, to be sung of for ever.

(ll. 300-310) But near by was a sweet flowing spring, and there with
his strong bow the lord, the son of Zeus, killed the bloated, great
she-dragon, a fierce monster wont to do great mischief to men upon
earth, to men themselves and to their thin-shanked sheep; for she was a
very bloody plague. She it was who once received from gold-throned Hera
and brought up fell, cruel Typhaon to be a plague to men. Once on a
time Hera bare him because she was angry with father Zeus, when the Son
of Cronos bare all-glorious Athena in his head. Thereupon queenly Hera
was angry and spoke thus among the assembled gods:

(ll. 311-330) ‘Hear from me, all gods and goddesses, how
cloud-gathering Zeus begins to dishonour me wantonly, when he has made
me his true-hearted wife. See now, apart from me he has given birth to
bright-eyed Athena who is foremost among all the blessed gods. But my
son Hephaestus whom I bare was weakly among all the blessed gods and
shrivelled of foot, a shame and disgrace to me in heaven, whom I myself
took in my hands and cast out so that he fell in the great sea. But
silver-shod Thetis the daughter of Nereus took and cared for him with
her sisters: would that she had done other service to the blessed gods!
O wicked one and crafty! What else will you now devise? How dared you
by yourself give birth to bright-eyed Athena? Would not I have borne
you a child—I, who was at least called your wife among the undying gods
who hold wide heaven. Beware now lest I devise some evil thing for you
hereafter: yes, now I will contrive that a son be born me to be
foremost among the undying gods—and that without casting shame on the
holy bond of wedlock between you and me. And I will not come to your
bed, but will consort with the blessed gods far off from you.’

(ll. 331-333) When she had so spoken, she went apart from the gods,
being very angry. Then straightway large-eyed queenly Hera prayed,
striking the ground flatwise with her hand, and speaking thus:

(ll. 334-362) ‘Hear now, I pray, Earth and wide Heaven above, and you
Titan gods who dwell beneath the earth about great Tartarus, and from
whom are sprung both gods and men! Harken you now to me, one and all,
and grant that I may bear a child apart from Zeus, no wit lesser than
him in strength—nay, let him be as much stronger than Zeus as
all-seeing Zeus than Cronos.’ Thus she cried and lashed the earth with
her strong hand. Then the life-giving earth was moved: and when Hera
saw it she was glad in heart, for she thought her prayer would be
fulfilled. And thereafter she never came to the bed of wise Zeus for a
full year, not to sit in her carved chair as aforetime to plan wise
counsel for him, but stayed in her temples where many pray, and
delighted in her offerings, large-eyed queenly Hera. But when the
months and days were fulfilled and the seasons duly came on as the
earth moved round, she bare one neither like the gods nor mortal men,
fell, cruel Typhaon, to be a plague to men. Straightway large-eyed
queenly Hera took him and bringing one evil thing to another such, gave
him to the dragoness; and she received him. And this Typhaon used to
work great mischief among the famous tribes of men. Whosoever met the
dragoness, the day of doom would sweep him away, until the lord Apollo,
who deals death from afar, shot a strong arrow at her. Then she, rent
with bitter pangs, lay drawing great gasps for breath and rolling about
that place. An awful noise swelled up unspeakable as she writhed
continually this way and that amid the wood: and so she left her life,
breathing it forth in blood. Then Phoebus Apollo boasted over her:

(ll. 363-369) ‘Now rot here upon the soil that feeds man! You at least
shall live no more to be a fell bane to men who eat the fruit of the
all-nourishing earth, and who will bring hither perfect hecatombs.
Against cruel death neither Typhoeus shall avail you nor ill-famed
Chimera, but here shall the Earth and shining Hyperion make you rot.’

(ll. 370-374) Thus said Phoebus, exulting over her: and darkness
covered her eyes. And the holy strength of Helios made her rot away
there; wherefore the place is now called Pytho, and men call the lord
Apollo by another name, Pythian; because on that spot the power of
piercing Helios made the monster rot away.

(ll. 375-378) Then Phoebus Apollo saw that the sweet-flowing spring had
beguiled him, and he started out in anger against Telphusa; and soon
coming to her, he stood close by and spoke to her:

(ll. 379-381) ‘Telphusa, you were not, after all, to keep to yourself
this lovely place by deceiving my mind, and pour forth your clear
flowing water: here my renown shall also be and not yours alone?’

(ll. 382-387) Thus spoke the lord, far-working Apollo, and pushed over
upon her a crag with a shower of rocks, hiding her streams: and he made
himself an altar in a wooded grove very near the clear-flowing stream.
In that place all men pray to the great one by the name Telphusian,
because he humbled the stream of holy Telphusa.

(ll. 388-439) Then Phoebus Apollo pondered in his heart what men he
should bring in to be his ministers in sacrifice and to serve him in
rocky Pytho. And while he considered this, he became aware of a swift
ship upon the wine-like sea in which were many men and goodly, Cretans
from Cnossos 2510, the city of Minos, they who do sacrifice to the
prince and announce his decrees, whatsoever Phoebus Apollo, bearer of
the golden blade, speaks in answer from his laurel tree below the dells
of Parnassus. These men were sailing in their black ship for traffic
and for profit to sandy Pylos and to the men of Pylos. But Phoebus
Apollo met them: in the open sea he sprang upon their swift ship, like
a dolphin in shape, and lay there, a great and awesome monster, and
none of them gave heed so as to understand 2511; but they sought to
cast the dolphin overboard. But he kept shaking the black ship every
way and make the timbers quiver. So they sat silent in their craft for
fear, and did not loose the sheets throughout the black, hollow ship,
nor lowered the sail of their dark-prowed vessel, but as they had set
it first of all with oxhide ropes, so they kept sailing on; for a
rushing south wind hurried on the swift ship from behind. First they
passed by Malea, and then along the Laconian coast they came to
Taenarum, sea-garlanded town and country of Helios who gladdens men,
where the thick-fleeced sheep of the lord Helios feed continually and
occupy a glad-some country. There they wished to put their ship to
shore, and land and comprehend the great marvel and see with their eyes
whether the monster would remain upon the deck of the hollow ship, or
spring back into the briny deep where fishes shoal. But the well-built
ship would not obey the helm, but went on its way all along
Peloponnesus: and the lord, far-working Apollo, guided it easily with
the breath of the breeze. So the ship ran on its course and came to
Arena and lovely Argyphea and Thryon, the ford of Alpheus, and
well-placed Aepy and sandy Pylos and the men of Pylos; past Cruni it
went and Chalcis and past Dyme and fair Elis, where the Epei rule. And
at the time when she was making for Pherae, exulting in the breeze from
Zeus, there appeared to them below the clouds the steep mountain of
Ithaca, and Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus. But when they were
passed by all the coast of Peloponnesus, then, towards Crisa, that vast
gulf began to heave in sight which through all its length cuts off the
rich isle of Pelops. There came on them a strong, clear west-wind by
ordinance of Zeus and blew from heaven vehemently, that with all speed
the ship might finish coursing over the briny water of the sea. So they
began again to voyage back towards the dawn and the sun: and the lord
Apollo, son of Zeus, led them on until they reached far-seen Crisa,
land of vines, and into haven: there the sea-coursing ship grounded on
the sands.

(ll. 440-451) Then, like a star at noonday, the lord, far-working
Apollo, leaped from the ship: flashes of fire flew from him thick and
their brightness reached to heaven. He entered into his shrine between
priceless tripods, and there made a flame to flare up bright, showing
forth the splendour of his shafts, so that their radiance filled all
Crisa, and the wives and well-girded daughters of the Crisaeans raised
a cry at that outburst of Phoebus; for he cast great fear upon them
all. From his shrine he sprang forth again, swift as a thought, to
speed again to the ship, bearing the form of a man, brisk and sturdy,
in the prime of his youth, while his broad shoulders were covered with
his hair: and he spoke to the Cretans, uttering winged words:

(ll. 452-461) ‘Strangers, who are you? Whence come you sailing along
the paths of the sea? Are you for traffic, or do you wander at random
over the sea as pirates do who put their own lives to hazard and bring
mischief to men of foreign parts as they roam? Why rest you so and are
afraid, and do not go ashore nor stow the gear of your black ship? For
that is the custom of men who live by bread, whenever they come to land
in their dark ships from the main, spent with toil; at once desire for
sweet food catches them about the heart.’

(ll. 462-473) So speaking, he put courage in their hearts, and the
master of the Cretans answered him and said: ‘Stranger—though you are
nothing like mortal men in shape or stature, but are as the deathless
gods—hail and all happiness to you, and may the gods give you good. Now
tell me truly that I may surely know it: what country is this, and what
land, and what men live herein? As for us, with thoughts set
otherwards, we were sailing over the great sea to Pylos from Crete (for
from there we declare that we are sprung), but now are come on
shipboard to this place by no means willingly—another way and other
paths—and gladly would we return. But one of the deathless gods brought
us here against our will.’

(ll. 474-501) Then far-working Apollo answered then and said:
‘Strangers who once dwelt about wooded Cnossos but now shall return no
more each to his loved city and fair house and dear wife; here shall
you keep my rich temple that is honoured by many men. I am the son of
Zeus; Apollo is my name: but you I brought here over the wide gulf of
the sea, meaning you no hurt; nay, here you shall keep my rich temple
that is greatly honoured among men, and you shall know the plans of the
deathless gods, and by their will you shall be honoured continually for
all time. And now come, make haste and do as I say. First loose the
sheets and lower the sail, and then draw the swift ship up upon the
land. Take out your goods and the gear of the straight ship, and make
an altar upon the beach of the sea: light fire upon it and make an
offering of white meal. Next, stand side by side around the altar and
pray: and in as much as at the first on the hazy sea I sprang upon the
swift ship in the form of a dolphin, pray to me as Apollo Delphinius;
also the altar itself shall be called Delphinius and overlooking 2512
for ever. Afterwards, sup beside your dark ship and pour an offering to
the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. But when you have put away
craving for sweet food, come with me singing the hymn Ie Paean (Hail,
Healer!), until you come to the place where you shall keep my rich
temple.’

(ll. 502-523) So said Apollo. And they readily harkened to him and
obeyed him. First they unfastened the sheets and let down the sail and
lowered the mast by the forestays upon the mast-rest. Then, landing
upon the beach of the sea, they hauled up the ship from the water to
dry land and fixed long stays under it. Also they made an altar upon
the beach of the sea, and when they had lit a fire, made an offering of
white meal, and prayed standing around the altar as Apollo had bidden
them. Then they took their meal by the swift, black ship, and poured an
offering to the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. And when they had
put away craving for drink and food, they started out with the lord
Apollo, the son of Zeus, to lead them, holding a lyre in his hands, and
playing sweetly as he stepped high and featly. So the Cretans followed
him to Pytho, marching in time as they chanted the Ie Paean after the
manner of the Cretan paean-singers and of those in whose hearts the
heavenly Muse has put sweet-voiced song. With tireless feet they
approached the ridge and straightway came to Parnassus and the lovely
place where they were to dwell honoured by many men. There Apollo
brought them and showed them his most holy sanctuary and rich temple.

(ll. 524-525) But their spirit was stirred in their dear breasts, and
the master of the Cretans asked him, saying:

(ll. 526-530) ‘Lord, since you have brought us here far from our dear
ones and our fatherland,—for so it seemed good to your heart,—tell us
now how we shall live. That we would know of you. This land is not to
be desired either for vineyards or for pastures so that we can live
well thereon and also minister to men.’

(ll. 531-544) Then Apollo, the son of Zeus, smiled upon them and said:
‘Foolish mortals and poor drudges are you, that you seek cares and hard
toils and straits! Easily will I tell you a word and set it in your
hearts. Though each one of you with knife in hand should slaughter
sheep continually, yet would you always have abundant store, even all
that the glorious tribes of men bring here for me. But guard you my
temple and receive the tribes of men that gather to this place, and
especially show mortal men my will, and do you keep righteousness in
your heart. But if any shall be disobedient and pay no heed to my
warning, or if there shall be any idle word or deed and outrage as is
common among mortal men, then other men shall be your masters and with
a strong hand shall make you subject for ever. All has been told you:
do you keep it in your heart.’

(ll. 545-546) And so, farewell, son of Zeus and Leto; but I will
remember you and another hymn also.



IV. TO HERMES

(ll. 1-29) Muse, sing of Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, lord of
Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, the luck-bringing messenger of the
immortals whom Maia bare, the rich-tressed nymph, when she was joined
in love with Zeus,—a shy goddess, for she avoided the company of the
blessed gods, and lived within a deep, shady cave. There the son of
Cronos used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph, unseen by deathless
gods and mortal men, at dead of night while sweet sleep should hold
white-armed Hera fast. And when the purpose of great Zeus was fixed in
heaven, she was delivered and a notable thing was come to pass. For
then she bare a son, of many shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a
cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the
gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the
deathless gods. Born with the dawning, at mid-day he played on the
lyre, and in the evening he stole the cattle of far-shooting Apollo on
the fourth day of the month; for on that day queenly Maia bare him. So
soon as he had leaped from his mother’s heavenly womb, he lay not long
waiting in his holy cradle, but he sprang up and sought the oxen of
Apollo. But as he stepped over the threshold of the high-roofed cave,
he found a tortoise there and gained endless delight. For it was Hermes
who first made the tortoise a singer. The creature fell in his way at
the courtyard gate, where it was feeding on the rich grass before the
dwelling, waddling along. When he saw it, the luck-bringing son of Zeus
laughed and said:

(ll. 30-38) ‘An omen of great luck for me so soon! I do not slight it.
Hail, comrade of the feast, lovely in shape, sounding at the dance!
With joy I meet you! Where got you that rich gaud for covering, that
spangled shell—a tortoise living in the mountains? But I will take and
carry you within: you shall help me and I will do you no disgrace,
though first of all you must profit me. It is better to be at home:
harm may come out of doors. Living, you shall be a spell against
mischievous witchcraft 2513; but if you die, then you shall make
sweetest song.

(ll. 39-61) Thus speaking, he took up the tortoise in both hands and
went back into the house carrying his charming toy. Then he cut off its
limbs and scooped out the marrow of the mountain-tortoise with a scoop
of grey iron. As a swift thought darts through the heart of a man when
thronging cares haunt him, or as bright glances flash from the eye, so
glorious Hermes planned both thought and deed at once. He cut stalks of
reed to measure and fixed them, fastening their ends across the back
and through the shell of the tortoise, and then stretched ox hide all
over it by his skill. Also he put in the horns and fitted a cross-piece
upon the two of them, and stretched seven strings of sheep-gut. But
when he had made it he proved each string in turn with the key, as he
held the lovely thing. At the touch of his hand it sounded
marvellously; and, as he tried it, the god sang sweet random snatches,
even as youths bandy taunts at festivals. He sang of Zeus the son of
Cronos and neat-shod Maia, the converse which they had before in the
comradeship of love, telling all the glorious tale of his own
begetting. He celebrated, too, the handmaids of the nymph, and her
bright home, and the tripods all about the house, and the abundant
cauldrons.

(ll. 62-67) But while he was singing of all these, his heart was bent
on other matters. And he took the hollow lyre and laid it in his sacred
cradle, and sprang from the sweet-smelling hall to a watch-place,
pondering sheer trickery in his heart—deeds such as knavish folk pursue
in the dark night-time; for he longed to taste flesh.

(ll. 68-86) The Sun was going down beneath the earth towards Ocean with
his horses and chariot when Hermes came hurrying to the shadowy
mountains of Pieria, where the divine cattle of the blessed gods had
their steads and grazed the pleasant, unmown meadows. Of these the Son
of Maia, the sharp-eyed slayer of Argus then cut off from the herd
fifty loud-lowing kine, and drove them straggling-wise across a sandy
place, turning their hoof-prints aside. Also, he bethought him of a
crafty ruse and reversed the marks of their hoofs, making the front
behind and the hind before, while he himself walked the other way 2514.
Then he wove sandals with wicker-work by the sand of the sea, wonderful
things, unthought of, unimagined; for he mixed together tamarisk and
myrtle-twigs, fastening together an armful of their fresh, young wood,
and tied them, leaves and all securely under his feet as light sandals.
The brushwood the glorious Slayer of Argus plucked in Pieria as he was
preparing for his journey, making shift 2515 as one making haste for a
long journey.

(ll. 87-89) But an old man tilling his flowering vineyard saw him as he
was hurrying down the plain through grassy Onchestus. So the Son of
Maia began and said to him:

(ll. 90-93) ‘Old man, digging about your vines with bowed shoulders,
surely you shall have much wine when all these bear fruit, if you obey
me and strictly remember not to have seen what you have seen, and not
to have heard what you have heard, and to keep silent when nothing of
your own is harmed.’

(ll. 94-114) When he had said this much, he hurried the strong cattle
on together: through many shadowy mountains and echoing gorges and
flowery plains glorious Hermes drove them. And now the divine night,
his dark ally, was mostly passed, and dawn that sets folk to work was
quickly coming on, while bright Selene, daughter of the lord Pallas,
Megamedes’ son, had just climbed her watch-post, when the strong Son of
Zeus drove the wide-browed cattle of Phoebus Apollo to the river
Alpheus. And they came unwearied to the high-roofed byres and the
drinking-troughs that were before the noble meadow. Then, after he had
well-fed the loud-bellowing cattle with fodder and driven them into the
byre, close-packed and chewing lotus and began to seek the art of fire.

He chose a stout laurel branch and trimmed it with the knife....
((LACUNA)) 2516 ....held firmly in his hand: and the hot smoke rose up.
For it was Hermes who first invented fire-sticks and fire. Next he took
many dried sticks and piled them thick and plenty in a sunken trench:
and flame began to glow, spreading afar the blast of fierce-burning
fire.

(ll. 115-137) And while the strength of glorious Hephaestus was
beginning to kindle the fire, he dragged out two lowing, horned cows
close to the fire; for great strength was with him. He threw them both
panting upon their backs on the ground, and rolled them on their sides,
bending their necks over 2517, and pierced their vital chord. Then he
went on from task to task: first he cut up the rich, fatted meat, and
pierced it with wooden spits, and roasted flesh and the honourable
chine and the paunch full of dark blood all together. He laid them
there upon the ground, and spread out the hides on a rugged rock: and
so they are still there many ages afterwards, a long, long time after
all this, and are continually 2518. Next glad-hearted Hermes dragged
the rich meats he had prepared and put them on a smooth, flat stone,
and divided them into twelve portions distributed by lot, making each
portion wholly honourable. Then glorious Hermes longed for the
sacrificial meat, for the sweet savour wearied him, god though he was;
nevertheless his proud heart was not prevailed upon to devour the
flesh, although he greatly desired 2519. But he put away the fat and
all the flesh in the high-roofed byre, placing them high up to be a
token of his youthful theft. And after that he gathered dry sticks and
utterly destroyed with fire all the hoofs and all the heads.

(ll. 138-154) And when the god had duly finished all, he threw his
sandals into deep-eddying Alpheus, and quenched the embers, covering
the black ashes with sand, and so spent the night while Selene’s soft
light shone down. Then the god went straight back again at dawn to the
bright crests of Cyllene, and no one met him on the long journey either
of the blessed gods or mortal men, nor did any dog bark. And
luck-bringing Hermes, the son of Zeus, passed edgeways through the
key-hole of the hall like the autumn breeze, even as mist: straight
through the cave he went and came to the rich inner chamber, walking
softly, and making no noise as one might upon the floor. Then glorious
Hermes went hurriedly to his cradle, wrapping his swaddling clothes
about his shoulders as though he were a feeble babe, and lay playing
with the covering about his knees; but at his left hand he kept close
his sweet lyre.

(ll. 155-161) But the god did not pass unseen by the goddess his
mother; but she said to him: ‘How now, you rogue! Whence come you back
so at night-time, you that wear shamelessness as a garment? And now I
surely believe the son of Leto will soon have you forth out of doors
with unbreakable cords about your ribs, or you will live a rogue’s life
in the glens robbing by whiles. Go to, then; your father got you to be
a great worry to mortal men and deathless gods.’

(ll. 162-181) Then Hermes answered her with crafty words: ‘Mother, why
do you seek to frighten me like a feeble child whose heart knows few
words of blame, a fearful babe that fears its mother’s scolding? Nay,
but I will try whatever plan is best, and so feed myself and you
continually. We will not be content to remain here, as you bid, alone
of all the gods unfee’d with offerings and prayers. Better to live in
fellowship with the deathless gods continually, rich, wealthy, and
enjoying stories of grain, than to sit always in a gloomy cave: and, as
regards honour, I too will enter upon the rite that Apollo has. If my
father will not give it to me, I will seek—and I am able—to be a prince
of robbers. And if Leto’s most glorious son shall seek me out, I think
another and a greater loss will befall him. For I will go to Pytho to
break into his great house, and will plunder therefrom splendid
tripods, and cauldrons, and gold, and plenty of bright iron, and much
apparel; and you shall see it if you will.’

(ll. 182-189) With such words they spoke together, the son of Zeus who
holds the aegis, and the lady Maia. Now Eros the early born was rising
from deep-flowing Ocean, bringing light to men, when Apollo, as he
went, came to Onchestus, the lovely grove and sacred place of the
loud-roaring Holder of the Earth. There he found an old man grazing his
beast along the pathway from his court-yard fence, and the all-glorious
Son of Leto began and said to him.

(ll. 190-200) ‘Old man, weeder 2520 of grassy Onchestus, I am come here
from Pieria seeking cattle, cows all of them, all with curving horns,
from my herd. The black bull was grazing alone away from the rest, but
fierce-eyed hounds followed the cows, four of them, all of one mind,
like men. These were left behind, the dogs and the bull—which is great
marvel; but the cows strayed out of the soft meadow, away from the
pasture when the sun was just going down. Now tell me this, old man
born long ago: have you seen one passing along behind those cows?’

(ll. 201-211) Then the old man answered him and said: ‘My son, it is
hard to tell all that one’s eyes see; for many wayfarers pass to and
fro this way, some bent on much evil, and some on good: it is difficult
to know each one. However, I was digging about my plot of vineyard all
day long until the sun went down, and I thought, good sir, but I do not
know for certain, that I marked a child, whoever the child was, that
followed long-horned cattle—an infant who had a staff and kept walking
from side to side: he was driving them backwards way, with their heads
toward him.’

(ll. 212-218) So said the old man. And when Apollo heard this report,
he went yet more quickly on his way, and presently, seeing a
long-winged bird, he knew at once by that omen that thief was the child
of Zeus the son of Cronos. So the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, hurried on
to goodly Pylos seeking his shambling oxen, and he had his broad
shoulders covered with a dark cloud. But when the Far-Shooter perceived
the tracks, he cried:

(ll. 219-226) ‘Oh, oh! Truly this is a great marvel that my eyes
behold! These are indeed the tracks of straight-horned oxen, but they
are turned backwards towards the flowery meadow. But these others are
not the footprints of man or woman or grey wolves or bears or lions,
nor do I think they are the tracks of a rough-maned Centaur—whoever it
be that with swift feet makes such monstrous footprints; wonderful are
the tracks on this side of the way, but yet more wonderfully are those
on that.’

(ll. 227-234) When he had so said, the lord Apollo, the Son of Zeus
hastened on and came to the forest-clad mountain of Cyllene and the
deep-shadowed cave in the rock where the divine nymph brought forth the
child of Zeus who is the son of Cronos. A sweet odour spread over the
lovely hill, and many thin-shanked sheep were grazing on the grass.
Then far-shooting Apollo himself stepped down in haste over the stone
threshold into the dusky cave.

(ll. 235-253) Now when the Son of Zeus and Maia saw Apollo in a rage
about his cattle, he snuggled down in his fragrant swaddling-clothes;
and as wood-ash covers over the deep embers of tree-stumps, so Hermes
cuddled himself up when he saw the Far-Shooter. He squeezed head and
hands and feet together in a small space, like a new born child seeking
sweet sleep, though in truth he was wide awake, and he kept his lyre
under his armpit. But the Son of Leto was aware and failed not to
perceive the beautiful mountain-nymph and her dear son, albeit a little
child and swathed so craftily. He peered in every corner of the great
dwelling and, taking a bright key, he opened three closets full of
nectar and lovely ambrosia. And much gold and silver was stored in
them, and many garments of the nymph, some purple and some silvery
white, such as are kept in the sacred houses of the blessed gods. Then,
after the Son of Leto had searched out the recesses of the great house,
he spake to glorious Hermes:

(ll. 254-259) ‘Child, lying in the cradle, make haste and tell me of my
cattle, or we two will soon fall out angrily. For I will take and cast
you into dusty Tartarus and awful hopeless darkness, and neither your
mother nor your father shall free you or bring you up again to the
light, but you will wander under the earth and be the leader amongst
little folk.’ 2521

(ll. 260-277) Then Hermes answered him with crafty words: ‘Son of Leto,
what harsh words are these you have spoken? And is it cattle of the
field you are come here to seek? I have not seen them: I have not heard
of them: no one has told me of them. I cannot give news of them, nor
win the reward for news. Am I like a cattle-lifter, a stalwart person?
This is no task for me: rather I care for other things: I care for
sleep, and milk of my mother’s breast, and wrappings round my
shoulders, and warm baths. Let no one hear the cause of this dispute;
for this would be a great marvel indeed among the deathless gods, that
a child newly born should pass in through the forepart of the house
with cattle of the field: herein you speak extravagantly. I was born
yesterday, and my feet are soft and the ground beneath is rough;
nevertheless, if you will have it so, I will swear a great oath by my
father’s head and vow that neither am I guilty myself, neither have I
seen any other who stole your cows—whatever cows may be; for I know
them only by hearsay.’

(ll. 278-280) So, then, said Hermes, shooting quick glances from his
eyes: and he kept raising his brows and looking this way and that,
whistling long and listening to Apollo’s story as to an idle tale.

(ll. 281-292) But far-working Apollo laughed softly and said to him: ‘O
rogue, deceiver, crafty in heart, you talk so innocently that I most
surely believe that you have broken into many a well-built house and
stripped more than one poor wretch bare this night 2522, gathering his
goods together all over the house without noise. You will plague many a
lonely herdsman in mountain glades, when you come on herds and
thick-fleeced sheep, and have a hankering after flesh. But come now, if
you would not sleep your last and latest sleep, get out of your cradle,
you comrade of dark night. Surely hereafter this shall be your title
amongst the deathless gods, to be called the prince of robbers
continually.’

(ll. 293-300) So said Phoebus Apollo, and took the child and began to
carry him. But at that moment the strong Slayer of Argus had his plan,
and, while Apollo held him in his hands, sent forth an omen, a
hard-worked belly-serf, a rude messenger, and sneezed directly after.
And when Apollo heard it, he dropped glorious Hermes out of his hands
on the ground: then sitting down before him, though he was eager to go
on his way, he spoke mockingly to Hermes:

(ll. 301-303) ‘Fear not, little swaddling baby, son of Zeus and Maia. I
shall find the strong cattle presently by these omens, and you shall
lead the way.’

(ll. 304-306) When Apollo had so said, Cyllenian Hermes sprang up
quickly, starting in haste. With both hands he pushed up to his ears
the covering that he had wrapped about his shoulders, and said:

(ll. 307-312) ‘Where are you carrying me, Far-Worker, hastiest of all
the gods? Is it because of your cattle that you are so angry and harass
me? O dear, would that all the sort of oxen might perish; for it is not
I who stole your cows, nor did I see another steal them—whatever cows
may be, and of that I have only heard report. Nay, give right and take
it before Zeus, the Son of Cronos.’

(ll. 313-326) So Hermes the shepherd and Leto’s glorious son kept
stubbornly disputing each article of their quarrel: Apollo, speaking
truly.... ((LACUNA)) ....not fairly sought to seize glorious Hermes
because of the cows; but he, the Cyllenian, tried to deceive the God of
the Silver Bow with tricks and cunning words. But when, though he had
many wiles, he found the other had as many shifts, he began to walk
across the sand, himself in front, while the Son of Zeus and Leto came
behind. Soon they came, these lovely children of Zeus, to the top of
fragrant Olympus, to their father, the Son of Cronos; for there were
the scales of judgement set for them both.

There was an assembly on snowy Olympus, and the immortals who perish
not were gathering after the hour of gold-throned Dawn.

(ll. 327-329) Then Hermes and Apollo of the Silver Bow stood at the
knees of Zeus: and Zeus who thunders on high spoke to his glorious son
and asked him:

(ll. 330-332) ‘Phoebus, whence come you driving this great spoil, a
child new born that has the look of a herald? This is a weighty matter
that is come before the council of the gods.’

(ll. 333-364) Then the lord, far-working Apollo, answered him: ‘O my
father, you shall soon hear no trifling tale though you reproach me
that I alone am fond of spoil. Here is a child, a burgling robber, whom
I found after a long journey in the hills of Cyllene: for my part I
have never seen one so pert either among the gods or all men that catch
folk unawares throughout the world. He stole away my cows from their
meadow and drove them off in the evening along the shore of the
loud-roaring sea, making straight for Pylos. There were double tracks,
and wonderful they were, such as one might marvel at, the doing of a
clever sprite; for as for the cows, the dark dust kept and showed their
footprints leading towards the flowery meadow; but he
himself—bewildering creature—crossed the sandy ground outside the path,
not on his feet nor yet on his hands; but, furnished with some other
means he trudged his way—wonder of wonders!—as though one walked on
slender oak-trees. Now while he followed the cattle across sandy
ground, all the tracks showed quite clearly in the dust; but when he
had finished the long way across the sand, presently the cows’ track
and his own could not be traced over the hard ground. But a mortal man
noticed him as he drove the wide-browed kine straight towards Pylos.
And as soon as he had shut them up quietly, and had gone home by crafty
turns and twists, he lay down in his cradle in the gloom of a dim cave,
as still as dark night, so that not even an eagle keenly gazing would
have spied him. Much he rubbed his eyes with his hands as he prepared
falsehood, and himself straightway said roundly: “I have not seen them:
I have not heard of them: no man has told me of them. I could not tell
you of them, nor win the reward of telling.”’

(ll. 365-367) When he had so spoken, Phoebus Apollo sat down. But
Hermes on his part answered and said, pointing at the Son of Cronos,
the lord of all the gods:

(ll. 368-386) ‘Zeus, my father, indeed I will speak truth to you; for I
am truthful and I cannot tell a lie. He came to our house to-day
looking for his shambling cows, as the sun was newly rising. He brought
no witnesses with him nor any of the blessed gods who had seen the
theft, but with great violence ordered me to confess, threatening much
to throw me into wide Tartarus. For he has the rich bloom of glorious
youth, while I was born but yesterday—as he too knows—nor am I like a
cattle-lifter, a sturdy fellow. Believe my tale (for you claim to be my
own father), that I did not drive his cows to my house—so may I
prosper—nor crossed the threshold: this I say truly. I reverence Helios
greatly and the other gods, and you I love and him I dread. You
yourself know that I am not guilty: and I will swear a great oath upon
it:—No! by these rich-decked porticoes of the gods. And some day I will
punish him, strong as he is, for this pitiless inquisition; but now do
you help the younger.’

(ll. 387-396) So spake the Cyllenian, the Slayer of Argus, while he
kept shooting sidelong glances and kept his swaddling-clothes upon his
arm, and did not cast them away. But Zeus laughed out loud to see his
evil-plotting child well and cunningly denying guilt about the cattle.
And he bade them both to be of one mind and search for the cattle, and
guiding Hermes to lead the way and, without mischievousness of heart,
to show the place where now he had hidden the strong cattle. Then the
Son of Cronos bowed his head: and goodly Hermes obeyed him; for the
will of Zeus who holds the aegis easily prevailed with him.

(ll. 397-404) Then the two all-glorious children of Zeus hastened both
to sandy Pylos, and reached the ford of Alpheus, and came to the fields
and the high-roofed byre where the beasts were cherished at night-time.
Now while Hermes went to the cave in the rock and began to drive out
the strong cattle, the son of Leto, looking aside, saw the cowhides on
the sheer rock. And he asked glorious Hermes at once:

(ll. 405-408) ‘How were you able, you crafty rogue, to flay two cows,
new-born and babyish as you are? For my part, I dread the strength that
will be yours: there is no need you should keep growing long,
Cyllenian, son of Maia!’

(ll. 409-414) So saying, Apollo twisted strong withes with his hands
meaning to bind Hermes with firm bands; but the bands would not hold
him, and the withes of osier fell far from him and began to grow at
once from the ground beneath their feet in that very place. And
intertwining with one another, they quickly grew and covered all the
wild-roving cattle by the will of thievish Hermes, so that Apollo was
astonished as he gazed.

(ll. 414-435) Then the strong slayer of Argus looked furtively upon the
ground with eyes flashing fire.... desiring to hide.... ((LACUNA))
....Very easily he softened the son of all-glorious Leto as he would,
stern though the Far-shooter was. He took the lyre upon his left arm
and tried each string in turn with the key, so that it sounded
awesomely at his touch. And Phoebus Apollo laughed for joy; for the
sweet throb of the marvellous music went to his heart, and a soft
longing took hold on his soul as he listened. Then the son of Maia,
harping sweetly upon his lyre, took courage and stood at the left hand
of Phoebus Apollo; and soon, while he played shrilly on his lyre, he
lifted up his voice and sang, and lovely was the sound of his voice
that followed. He sang the story of the deathless gods and of the dark
earth, how at the first they came to be, and how each one received his
portion. First among the gods he honoured Mnemosyne, mother of the
Muses, in his song; for the son of Maia was of her following. And next
the goodly son of Zeus hymned the rest of the immortals according to
their order in age, and told how each was born, mentioning all in order
as he struck the lyre upon his arm. But Apollo was seized with a
longing not to be allayed, and he opened his mouth and spoke winged
words to Hermes:

(ll. 436-462) ‘Slayer of oxen, trickster, busy one, comrade of the
feast, this song of yours is worth fifty cows, and I believe that
presently we shall settle our quarrel peacefully. But come now, tell me
this, resourceful son of Maia: has this marvellous thing been with you
from your birth, or did some god or mortal man give it you—a noble
gift—and teach you heavenly song? For wonderful is this new-uttered
sound I hear, the like of which I vow that no man nor god dwelling on
Olympus ever yet has known but you, O thievish son of Maia. What skill
is this? What song for desperate cares? What way of song? For verily
here are three things to hand all at once from which to choose,—mirth,
and love, and sweet sleep. And though I am a follower of the Olympian
Muses who love dances and the bright path of song—the full-toned chant
and ravishing thrill of flutes—yet I never cared for any of those feats
of skill at young men’s revels, as I do now for this: I am filled with
wonder, O son of Zeus, at your sweet playing. But now, since you,
though little, have such glorious skill, sit down, dear boy, and
respect the words of your elders. For now you shall have renown among
the deathless gods, you and your mother also. This I will declare to
you exactly: by this shaft of cornel wood I will surely make you a
leader renowned among the deathless gods, and fortunate, and will give
you glorious gifts and will not deceive you from first to last.’

(ll. 463-495) Then Hermes answered him with artful words: ‘You question
me carefully, O Far-worker; yet I am not jealous that you should enter
upon my art: this day you shall know it. For I seek to be friendly with
you both in thought and word. Now you well know all things in your
heart, since you sit foremost among the deathless gods, O son of Zeus,
and are goodly and strong. And wise Zeus loves you as all right is, and
has given you splendid gifts. And they say that from the utterance of
Zeus you have learned both the honours due to the gods, O Far-worker,
and oracles from Zeus, even all his ordinances. Of all these I myself
have already learned that you have great wealth. Now, you are free to
learn whatever you please; but since, as it seems, your heart is so
strongly set on playing the lyre, chant, and play upon it, and give
yourself to merriment, taking this as a gift from me, and do you, my
friend, bestow glory on me. Sing well with this clear-voiced companion
in your hands; for you are skilled in good, well-ordered utterance.
From now on bring it confidently to the rich feast and lovely dance and
glorious revel, a joy by night and by day. Whoso with wit and wisdom
enquires of it cunningly, him it teaches through its sound all manner
of things that delight the mind, being easily played with gentle
familiarities, for it abhors toilsome drudgery; but whoso in ignorance
enquires of it violently, to him it chatters mere vanity and
foolishness. But you are able to learn whatever you please. So then, I
will give you this lyre, glorious son of Zeus, while I for my part will
graze down with wild-roving cattle the pastures on hill and
horse-feeding plain: so shall the cows covered by the bulls calve
abundantly both males and females. And now there is no need for you,
bargainer though you are, to be furiously angry.’

(ll. 496-502) When Hermes had said this, he held out the lyre: and
Phoebus Apollo took it, and readily put his shining whip in Hermes’
hand, and ordained him keeper of herds. The son of Maia received it
joyfully, while the glorious son of Leto, the lord far-working Apollo,
took the lyre upon his left arm and tried each string with the key.
Awesomely it sounded at the touch of the god, while he sang sweetly to
its note.

(ll. 503-512) Afterwards they two, the all-glorious sons of Zeus turned
the cows back towards the sacred meadow, but themselves hastened back
to snowy Olympus, delighting in the lyre. Then wise Zeus was glad and
made them both friends. And Hermes loved the son of Leto continually,
even as he does now, when he had given the lyre as token to the
Far-shooter, who played it skilfully, holding it upon his arm. But for
himself Hermes found out another cunning art and made himself the pipes
whose sound is heard afar.

(ll. 513-520) Then the son of Leto said to Hermes: ‘Son of Maia, guide
and cunning one, I fear you may steal form me the lyre and my curved
bow together; for you have an office from Zeus, to establish deeds of
barter amongst men throughout the fruitful earth. Now if you would only
swear me the great oath of the gods, either by nodding your head, or by
the potent water of Styx, you would do all that can please and ease my
heart.’

(ll. 521-549) Then Maia’s son nodded his head and promised that he
would never steal anything of all the Far-shooter possessed, and would
never go near his strong house; but Apollo, son of Leto, swore to be
fellow and friend to Hermes, vowing that he would love no other among
the immortals, neither god nor man sprung from Zeus, better than
Hermes: and the Father sent forth an eagle in confirmation. And Apollo
sware also: ‘Verily I will make you only to be an omen for the
immortals and all alike, trusted and honoured by my heart. Moreover, I
will give you a splendid staff of riches and wealth: it is of gold,
with three branches, and will keep you scatheless, accomplishing every
task, whether of words or deeds that are good, which I claim to know
through the utterance of Zeus. But as for sooth-saying, noble,
heaven-born child, of which you ask, it is not lawful for you to learn
it, nor for any other of the deathless gods: only the mind of Zeus
knows that. I am pledged and have vowed and sworn a strong oath that no
other of the eternal gods save I should know the wise-hearted counsel
of Zeus. And do not you, my brother, bearer of the golden wand, bid me
tell those decrees which all-seeing Zeus intends. As for men, I will
harm one and profit another, sorely perplexing the tribes of unenviable
men. Whosoever shall come guided by the call and flight of birds of
sure omen, that man shall have advantage through my voice, and I will
not deceive him. But whoso shall trust to idly-chattering birds and
shall seek to invoke my prophetic art contrary to my will, and to
understand more than the eternal gods, I declare that he shall come on
an idle journey; yet his gifts I would take.

(ll. 550-568) ‘But I will tell you another thing, Son of all-glorious
Maia and Zeus who holds the aegis, luck-bringing genius of the gods.
There are certain holy ones, sisters born—three virgins 2523 gifted
with wings: their heads are besprinkled with white meal, and they dwell
under a ridge of Parnassus. These are teachers of divination apart from
me, the art which I practised while yet a boy following herds, though
my father paid no heed to it. From their home they fly now here, now
there, feeding on honey-comb and bringing all things to pass. And when
they are inspired through eating yellow honey, they are willing to
speak truth; but if they be deprived of the gods’ sweet food, then they
speak falsely, as they swarm in and out together. These, then, I give
you; enquire of them strictly and delight your heart: and if you should
teach any mortal so to do, often will he hear your response—if he have
good fortune. Take these, Son of Maia, and tend the wild roving, horned
oxen and horses and patient mules.’

(ll. 568a-573) So he spake. And from heaven father Zeus himself gave
confirmation to his words, and commanded that glorious Hermes should be
lord over all birds of omen and grim-eyed lions, and boars with
gleaming tusks, and over dogs and all flocks that the wide earth
nourishes, and over all sheep; also that he only should be the
appointed messenger to Hades, who, though he takes no gift, shall give
him no mean prize.

(ll. 574-578) Thus the lord Apollo showed his kindness for the Son of
Maia by all manner of friendship: and the Son of Cronos gave him grace
besides. He consorts with all mortals and immortals: a little he
profits, but continually throughout the dark night he cozens the tribes
of mortal men.

(ll. 579-580) And so, farewell, Son of Zeus and Maia; but I will
remember you and another song also.



V. TO APHRODITE

(ll. 1-6) Muse, tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite the Cyprian, who
stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men
and birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land
rears, and all the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned
Cytherea.

(ll. 7-32) Yet there are three hearts that she cannot bend nor yet
ensnare. First is the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis, bright-eyed
Athene; for she has no pleasure in the deeds of golden Aphrodite, but
delights in wars and in the work of Ares, in strifes and battles and in
preparing famous crafts. She first taught earthly craftsmen to make
chariots of war and cars variously wrought with bronze, and she, too,
teaches tender maidens in the house and puts knowledge of goodly arts
in each one’s mind. Nor does laughter-loving Aphrodite ever tame in
love Artemis, the huntress with shafts of gold; for she loves archery
and the slaying of wild beasts in the mountains, the lyre also and
dancing and thrilling cries and shady woods and the cities of upright
men. Nor yet does the pure maiden Hestia love Aphrodite’s works. She
was the first-born child of wily Cronos and youngest too 2524, by will
of Zeus who holds the aegis,—a queenly maid whom both Poseidon and
Apollo sought to wed. But she was wholly unwilling, nay, stubbornly
refused; and touching the head of father Zeus who holds the aegis, she,
that fair goddess, sware a great oath which has in truth been
fulfilled, that she would be a maiden all her days. So Zeus the Father
gave her an high honour instead of marriage, and she has her place in
the midst of the house and has the richest portion. In all the temples
of the gods she has a share of honour, and among all mortal men she is
chief of the goddesses.

(ll. 33-44) Of these three Aphrodite cannot bend or ensnare the hearts.
But of all others there is nothing among the blessed gods or among
mortal men that has escaped Aphrodite. Even the heart of Zeus, who
delights in thunder, is led astray by her; though he is greatest of all
and has the lot of highest majesty, she beguiles even his wise heart
whensoever she pleases, and mates him with mortal women, unknown to
Hera, his sister and his wife, the grandest far in beauty among the
deathless goddesses—most glorious is she whom wily Cronos with her
mother Rhea did beget: and Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, made her
his chaste and careful wife.

(ll. 45-52) But upon Aphrodite herself Zeus cast sweet desire to be
joined in love with a mortal man, to the end that, very soon, not even
she should be innocent of a mortal’s love; lest laughter-loving
Aphrodite should one day softly smile and say mockingly among all the
gods that she had joined the gods in love with mortal women who bare
sons of death to the deathless gods, and had mated the goddesses with
mortal men.

(ll. 53-74) And so he put in her heart sweet desire for Anchises who
was tending cattle at that time among the steep hills of
many-fountained Ida, and in shape was like the immortal gods.
Therefore, when laughter-loving Aphrodite saw him, she loved him, and
terribly desire seized her in her heart. She went to Cyprus, to Paphos,
where her precinct is and fragrant altar, and passed into her
sweet-smelling temple. There she went in and put to the glittering
doors, and there the Graces bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms
upon the bodies of the eternal gods—oil divinely sweet, which she had
by her, filled with fragrance. And laughter-loving Aphrodite put on all
her rich clothes, and when she had decked herself with gold, she left
sweet-smelling Cyprus and went in haste towards Troy, swiftly
travelling high up among the clouds. So she came to many-fountained
Ida, the mother of wild creatures and went straight to the homestead
across the mountains. After her came grey wolves, fawning on her, and
grim-eyed lions, and bears, and fleet leopards, ravenous for deer: and
she was glad in heart to see them, and put desire in their breasts, so
that they all mated, two together, about the shadowy coombes.

(ll. 75-88) 2525 But she herself came to the neat-built shelters, and
him she found left quite alone in the homestead—the hero Anchises who
was comely as the gods. All the others were following the herds over
the grassy pastures, and he, left quite alone in the homestead, was
roaming hither and thither and playing thrillingly upon the lyre. And
Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus stood before him, being like a pure
maiden in height and mien, that he should not be frightened when he
took heed of her with his eyes. Now when Anchises saw her, he marked
her well and wondered at her mien and height and shining garments. For
she was clad in a robe out-shining the brightness of fire, a splendid
robe of gold, enriched with all manner of needlework, which shimmered
like the moon over her tender breasts, a marvel to see.

Also she wore twisted brooches and shining earrings in the form of
flowers; and round her soft throat were lovely necklaces.

(ll. 91-105) And Anchises was seized with love, and said to her: ‘Hail,
lady, whoever of the blessed ones you are that are come to this house,
whether Artemis, or Leto, or golden Aphrodite, or high-born Themis, or
bright-eyed Athene. Or, maybe, you are one of the Graces come hither,
who bear the gods company and are called immortal, or else one of those
who inhabit this lovely mountain and the springs of rivers and grassy
meads. I will make you an altar upon a high peak in a far seen place,
and will sacrifice rich offerings to you at all seasons. And do you
feel kindly towards me and grant that I may become a man very eminent
among the Trojans, and give me strong offspring for the time to come.
As for my own self, let me live long and happily, seeing the light of
the sun, and come to the threshold of old age, a man prosperous among
the people.’

(ll. 106-142) Thereupon Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:
‘Anchises, most glorious of all men born on earth, know that I am no
goddess: why do you liken me to the deathless ones? Nay, I am but a
mortal, and a woman was the mother that bare me. Otreus of famous name
is my father, if so be you have heard of him, and he reigns over all
Phrygia rich in fortresses. But I know your speech well beside my own,
for a Trojan nurse brought me up at home: she took me from my dear
mother and reared me thenceforth when I was a little child. So comes
it, then, that I well know your tongue also. And now the Slayer of
Argus with the golden wand has caught me up from the dance of huntress
Artemis, her with the golden arrows. For there were many of us, nymphs
and marriageable 2526 maidens, playing together; and an innumerable
company encircled us: from these the Slayer of Argus with the golden
wand rapt me away. He carried me over many fields of mortal men and
over much land untilled and unpossessed, where savage wild-beasts roam
through shady coombes, until I thought never again to touch the
life-giving earth with my feet. And he said that I should be called the
wedded wife of Anchises, and should bear you goodly children. But when
he had told and advised me, he, the strong Slayer of Argos, went back
to the families of the deathless gods, while I am now come to you: for
unbending necessity is upon me. But I beseech you by Zeus and by your
noble parents—for no base folk could get such a son as you—take me now,
stainless and unproved in love, and show me to your father and careful
mother and to your brothers sprung from the same stock. I shall be no
ill-liking daughter for them, but a likely. Moreover, send a messenger
quickly to the swift-horsed Phrygians, to tell my father and my
sorrowing mother; and they will send you gold in plenty and woven
stuffs, many splendid gifts; take these as bride-piece. So do, and then
prepare the sweet marriage that is honourable in the eyes of men and
deathless gods.’

(ll. 143-144) When she had so spoken, the goddess put sweet desire in
his heart. And Anchises was seized with love, so that he opened his
mouth and said:

(ll. 145-154) ‘If you are a mortal and a woman was the mother who bare
you, and Otreus of famous name is your father as you say, and if you
are come here by the will of Hermes the immortal Guide, and are to be
called my wife always, then neither god nor mortal man shall here
restrain me till I have lain with you in love right now; no, not even
if far-shooting Apollo himself should launch grievous shafts from his
silver bow. Willingly would I go down into the house of Hades, O lady,
beautiful as the goddesses, once I had gone up to your bed.’

(ll. 155-167) So speaking, he caught her by the hand. And
laughter-loving Aphrodite, with face turned away and lovely eyes
downcast, crept to the well-spread couch which was already laid with
soft coverings for the hero; and upon it lay skins of bears and
deep-roaring lions which he himself had slain in the high mountains.
And when they had gone up upon the well-fitted bed, first Anchises took
off her bright jewelry of pins and twisted brooches and earrings and
necklaces, and loosed her girdle and stripped off her bright garments
and laid them down upon a silver-studded seat. Then by the will of the
gods and destiny he lay with her, a mortal man with an immortal
goddess, not clearly knowing what he did.

(ll. 168-176) But at the time when the herdsmen drive their oxen and
hardy sheep back to the fold from the flowery pastures, even then
Aphrodite poured soft sleep upon Anchises, but herself put on her rich
raiment. And when the bright goddess had fully clothed herself, she
stood by the couch, and her head reached to the well-hewn roof-tree;
from her cheeks shone unearthly beauty such as belongs to rich-crowned
Cytherea. Then she aroused him from sleep and opened her mouth and
said:

(ll. 177-179) ‘Up, son of Dardanus!—why sleep you so heavily?—and
consider whether I look as I did when first you saw me with your eyes.’

(ll. 180-184) So she spake. And he awoke in a moment and obeyed her.
But when he saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite, he was afraid
and turned his eyes aside another way, hiding his comely face with his
cloak. Then he uttered winged words and entreated her:

(ll. 185-190) ‘So soon as ever I saw you with my eyes, goddess, I knew
that you were divine; but you did not tell me truly. Yet by Zeus who
holds the aegis I beseech you, leave me not to lead a palsied life
among men, but have pity on me; for he who lies with a deathless
goddess is no hale man afterwards.’

(ll. 191-201) Then Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:
‘Anchises, most glorious of mortal men, take courage and be not too
fearful in your heart. You need fear no harm from me nor from the other
blessed ones, for you are dear to the gods: and you shall have a dear
son who shall reign among the Trojans, and children’s children after
him, springing up continually. His name shall be Aeneas 2527, because I
felt awful grief in that I laid me in the bed of mortal man: yet are
those of your race always the most like to gods of all mortal men in
beauty and in stature 2528.

(ll. 202-217) ‘Verily wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes
because of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink
for the gods in the house of Zeus—a wonder to see—honoured by all the
immortals as he draws the red nectar from the golden bowl. But grief
that could not be soothed filled the heart of Tros; for he knew not
whither the heaven-sent whirlwind had caught up his dear son, so that
he mourned him always, unceasingly, until Zeus pitied him and gave him
high-stepping horses such as carry the immortals as recompense for his
son. These he gave him as a gift. And at the command of Zeus, the
Guide, the slayer of Argus, told him all, and how his son would be
deathless and unageing, even as the gods. So when Tros heard these
tidings from Zeus, he no longer kept mourning but rejoiced in his heart
and rode joyfully with his storm-footed horses.

(ll. 218-238) ‘So also golden-throned Eos rapt away Tithonus who was of
your race and like the deathless gods. And she went to ask the
dark-clouded Son of Cronos that he should be deathless and live
eternally; and Zeus bowed his head to her prayer and fulfilled her
desire. Too simply was queenly Eos: she thought not in her heart to ask
youth for him and to strip him of the slough of deadly age. So while he
enjoyed the sweet flower of life he lived rapturously with
golden-throned Eos, the early-born, by the streams of Ocean, at the
ends of the earth; but when the first grey hairs began to ripple from
his comely head and noble chin, queenly Eos kept away from his bed,
though she cherished him in her house and nourished him with food and
ambrosia and gave him rich clothing. But when loathsome old age pressed
full upon him, and he could not move nor lift his limbs, this seemed to
her in her heart the best counsel: she laid him in a room and put to
the shining doors. There he babbles endlessly, and no more has strength
at all, such as once he had in his supple limbs.

(ll. 239-246) ‘I would not have you be deathless among the deathless
gods and live continually after such sort. Yet if you could live on
such as now you are in look and in form, and be called my husband,
sorrow would not then enfold my careful heart. But, as it is, harsh
2529 old age will soon enshroud you—ruthless age which stands someday
at the side of every man, deadly, wearying, dreaded even by the gods.

(ll. 247-290) ‘And now because of you I shall have great shame among
the deathless gods henceforth, continually. For until now they feared
my jibes and the wiles by which, or soon or late, I mated all the
immortals with mortal women, making them all subject to my will. But
now my mouth shall no more have this power among the gods; for very
great has been my madness, my miserable and dreadful madness, and I
went astray out of my mind who have gotten a child beneath my girdle,
mating with a mortal man. As for the child, as soon as he sees the
light of the sun, the deep-breasted mountain Nymphs who inhabit this
great and holy mountain shall bring him up. They rank neither with
mortals nor with immortals: long indeed do they live, eating heavenly
food and treading the lovely dance among the immortals, and with them
the Sileni and the sharp-eyed Slayer of Argus mate in the depths of
pleasant caves; but at their birth pines or high-topped oaks spring up
with them upon the fruitful earth, beautiful, flourishing trees,
towering high upon the lofty mountains (and men call them holy places
of the immortals, and never mortal lops them with the axe); but when
the fate of death is near at hand, first those lovely trees wither
where they stand, and the bark shrivels away about them, and the twigs
fall down, and at last the life of the Nymph and of the tree leave the
light of the sun together. These Nymphs shall keep my son with them and
rear him, and as soon as he is come to lovely boyhood, the goddesses
will bring him here to you and show you your child. But, that I may
tell you all that I have in mind, I will come here again towards the
fifth year and bring you my son. So soon as ever you have seen him—a
scion to delight the eyes—you will rejoice in beholding him; for he
shall be most godlike: then bring him at once to windy Ilion. And if
any mortal man ask you who got your dear son beneath her girdle,
remember to tell him as I bid you: say he is the offspring of one of
the flower-like Nymphs who inhabit this forest-clad hill. But if you
tell all and foolishly boast that you lay with rich-crowned Aphrodite,
Zeus will smite you in his anger with a smoking thunderbolt. Now I have
told you all. Take heed: refrain and name me not, but have regard to
the anger of the gods.’

(l. 291) When the goddess had so spoken, she soared up to windy heaven.

(ll. 292-293) Hail, goddess, queen of well-builded Cyprus! With you
have I begun; now I will turn me to another hymn.



VI. TO APHRODITE

(ll. 1-18) I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and
beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus.
There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of
the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours
welcomed her joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her
head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced
ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her
with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels
which the gold-filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their
father’s house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had
fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when
they saw her, giving her their hands. Each one of them prayed that he
might lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed
at the beauty of violet-crowned Cytherea.

(ll. 19-21) Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may
gain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will
remember you and another song also.



VII. TO DIONYSUS

(ll. 1-16) I will tell of Dionysus, the son of glorious Semele, how he
appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the fruitless sea,
seeming like a stripling in the first flush of manhood: his rich, dark
hair was waving about him, and on his strong shoulders he wore a purple
robe. Presently there came swiftly over the sparkling sea Tyrsenian
2530 pirates on a well-decked ship—a miserable doom led them on. When
they saw him they made signs to one another and sprang out quickly, and
seizing him straightway, put him on board their ship exultingly; for
they thought him the son of heaven-nurtured kings. They sought to bind
him with rude bonds, but the bonds would not hold him, and the withes
fell far away from his hands and feet: and he sat with a smile in his
dark eyes. Then the helmsman understood all and cried out at once to
his fellows and said:

(ll. 17-24) ‘Madmen! What god is this whom you have taken and bind,
strong that he is? Not even the well-built ship can carry him. Surely
this is either Zeus or Apollo who has the silver bow, or Poseidon, for
he looks not like mortal men but like the gods who dwell on Olympus.
Come, then, let us set him free upon the dark shore at once: do not lay
hands on him, lest he grow angry and stir up dangerous winds and heavy
squalls.’

(ll. 25-31) So said he: but the master chid him with taunting words:
‘Madman, mark the wind and help hoist sail on the ship: catch all the
sheets. As for this fellow we men will see to him: I reckon he is bound
for Egypt or for Cyprus or to the Hyperboreans or further still. But in
the end he will speak out and tell us his friends and all his wealth
and his brothers, now that providence has thrown him in our way.’

(ll. 32-54) When he had said this, he had mast and sail hoisted on the
ship, and the wind filled the sail and the crew hauled taut the sheets
on either side. But soon strange things were seen among them. First of
all sweet, fragrant wine ran streaming throughout all the black ship
and a heavenly smell arose, so that all the seamen were seized with
amazement when they saw it. And all at once a vine spread out both ways
along the top of the sail with many clusters hanging down from it, and
a dark ivy-plant twined about the mast, blossoming with flowers, and
with rich berries growing on it; and all the thole-pins were covered
with garlands. When the pirates saw all this, then at last they bade
the helmsman to put the ship to land. But the god changed into a
dreadful lion there on the ship, in the bows, and roared loudly:
amidships also he showed his wonders and created a shaggy bear which
stood up ravening, while on the forepeak was the lion glaring fiercely
with scowling brows. And so the sailors fled into the stern and crowded
bemused about the right-minded helmsman, until suddenly the lion sprang
upon the master and seized him; and when the sailors saw it they leapt
out overboard one and all into the bright sea, escaping from a
miserable fate, and were changed into dolphins. But on the helmsman
Dionysus had mercy and held him back and made him altogether happy,
saying to him:

(ll. 55-57) ‘Take courage, good...; you have found favour with my
heart. I am loud-crying Dionysus whom Cadmus’ daughter Semele bare of
union with Zeus.’

(ll. 58-59) Hail, child of fair-faced Semele! He who forgets you can in
no wise order sweet song.



VIII. TO ARES

(ll. 1-17) Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed,
doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in
bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of
Olympus, father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of
the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness,
who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold
courses through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you
above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of
dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and
strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from
my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also
the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of
blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to
abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and
the violent fiends of death.



IX. TO ARTEMIS

(ll. 1-6) Muse, sing of Artemis, sister of the Far-shooter, the virgin
who delights in arrows, who was fostered with Apollo. She waters her
horses from Meles deep in reeds, and swiftly drives her all-golden
chariot through Smyrna to vine-clad Claros where Apollo, god of the
silver bow, sits waiting for the far-shooting goddess who delights in
arrows.

(ll. 7-9) And so hail to you, Artemis, in my song and to all goddesses
as well. Of you first I sing and with you I begin; now that I have
begun with you, I will turn to another song.



X. TO APHRODITE

(ll. 1-3) Of Cytherea, born in Cyprus, I will sing. She gives kindly
gifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the
brightness that plays over it.

(ll. 4-6) Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt
Cyprus; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and
another song also.



XI. TO ATHENA

(ll. 1-4) Of Pallas Athene, guardian of the city, I begin to sing.
Dread is she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities
and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they
go out to war and come back.

(l. 5) Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!



XII. TO HERA

(ll. 1-5) I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the
immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the
wife of loud-thundering Zeus,—the glorious one whom all the blessed
throughout high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights
in thunder.



XIII. TO DEMETER

(ll. 1-2) I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess, of her
and of her daughter lovely Persephone.

(l. 3) Hail, goddess! Keep this city safe, and govern my song.



XIV. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS

(ll. 1-5) I prithee, clear-voiced Muse, daughter of mighty Zeus, sing
of the mother of all gods and men. She is well-pleased with the sound
of rattles and of timbrels, with the voice of flutes and the outcry of
wolves and bright-eyed lions, with echoing hills and wooded coombes.

(l. 6) And so hail to you in my song and to all goddesses as well!



XV. TO HERACLES THE LION-HEARTED

(ll. 1-8) I will sing of Heracles, the son of Zeus and much the
mightiest of men on earth. Alcmena bare him in Thebes, the city of
lovely dances, when the dark-clouded Son of Cronos had lain with her.
Once he used to wander over unmeasured tracts of land and sea at the
bidding of King Eurystheus, and himself did many deeds of violence and
endured many; but now he lives happily in the glorious home of snowy
Olympus, and has neat-ankled Hebe for his wife.

(l. 9) Hail, lord, son of Zeus! Give me success and prosperity.



XVI. TO ASCLEPIUS

(ll. 1-4) I begin to sing of Asclepius, son of Apollo and healer of
sicknesses. In the Dotian plain fair Coronis, daughter of King
Phlegyas, bare him, a great joy to men, a soother of cruel pangs.

(l. 5) And so hail to you, lord: in my song I make my prayer to thee!



XVII. TO THE DIOSCURI

(ll. 1-4) Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Castor and Polydeuces, the
Tyndaridae, who sprang from Olympian Zeus. Beneath the heights of
Taygetus stately Leda bare them, when the dark-clouded Son of Cronos
had privily bent her to his will.

(l. 5) Hail, children of Tyndareus, riders upon swift horses!



XVIII. TO HERMES

(ll. 1-9) I sing of Cyllenian Hermes, the Slayer of Argus, lord of
Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing messenger of the
deathless gods. He was born of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, when she
had made with Zeus,—a shy goddess she. Ever she avoided the throng of
the blessed gods and lived in a shadowy cave, and there the Son of
Cronos used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph at dead of night, while
white-armed Hera lay bound in sweet sleep: and neither deathless god
nor mortal man knew it.

(ll. 10-11) And so hail to you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have
begun: now I will turn to another song!

(l. 12) Hail, Hermes, giver of grace, guide, and giver of good things!
2531



XIX. TO PAN

(ll. 1-26) Muse, tell me about Pan, the dear son of Hermes, with his
goat’s feet and two horns—a lover of merry noise. Through wooded glades
he wanders with dancing nymphs who foot it on some sheer cliff’s edge,
calling upon Pan, the shepherd-god, long-haired, unkempt. He has every
snowy crest and the mountain peaks and rocky crests for his domain;
hither and thither he goes through the close thickets, now lured by
soft streams, and now he presses on amongst towering crags and climbs
up to the highest peak that overlooks the flocks. Often he courses
through the glistening high mountains, and often on the shouldered
hills he speeds along slaying wild beasts, this keen-eyed god. Only at
evening, as he returns from the chase, he sounds his note, playing
sweet and low on his pipes of reed: not even she could excel him in
melody—that bird who in flower-laden spring pouring forth her lament
utters honey-voiced song amid the leaves. At that hour the clear-voiced
nymphs are with him and move with nimble feet, singing by some spring
of dark water, while Echo wails about the mountain-top, and the god on
this side or on that of the choirs, or at times sidling into the midst,
plies it nimbly with his feet. On his back he wears a spotted
lynx-pelt, and he delights in high-pitched songs in a soft meadow where
crocuses and sweet-smelling hyacinths bloom at random in the grass.

(ll. 27-47) They sing of the blessed gods and high Olympus and choose
to tell of such an one as luck-bringing Hermes above the rest, how he
is the swift messenger of all the gods, and how he came to Arcadia, the
land of many springs and mother of flocks, there where his sacred place
is as god of Cyllene. For there, though a god, he used to tend
curly-fleeced sheep in the service of a mortal man, because there fell
on him and waxed strong melting desire to wed the rich-tressed daughter
of Dryops, and there he brought about the merry marriage. And in the
house she bare Hermes a dear son who from his birth was marvellous to
look upon, with goat’s feet and two horns—a noisy, merry-laughing
child. But when the nurse saw his uncouth face and full beard, she was
afraid and sprang up and fled and left the child. Then luck-bringing
Hermes received him and took him in his arms: very glad in his heart
was the god. And he went quickly to the abodes of the deathless gods,
carrying the son wrapped in warm skins of mountain hares, and set him
down beside Zeus and showed him to the rest of the gods. Then all the
immortals were glad in heart and Bacchie Dionysus in especial; and they
called the boy Pan 2532 because he delighted all their hearts.

(ll. 48-49) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with a song.
And now I will remember you and another song also.



XX. TO HEPHAESTUS

(ll. 1-7) Sing, clear-voiced Muses, of Hephaestus famed for inventions.
With bright-eyed Athene he taught men glorious gifts throughout the
world,—men who before used to dwell in caves in the mountains like wild
beasts. But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaestus the
famed worker, easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the
whole year round.

(l. 8) Be gracious, Hephaestus, and grant me success and prosperity!



XXI. TO APOLLO

(ll. 1-4) Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the
beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river
Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched
lyre, always sings both first and last.

(l. 5) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with my song.



XXII. TO POSEIDON

(ll. 1-5) I begin to sing about Poseidon, the great god, mover of the
earth and fruitless sea, god of the deep who is also lord of Helicon
and wide Aegae. A two-fold office the gods allotted you, O Shaker of
the Earth, to be a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships!

(ll. 6-7) Hail, Poseidon, Holder of the Earth, dark-haired lord! O
blessed one, be kindly in heart and help those who voyage in ships!



XXIII. TO THE SON OF CRONOS, MOST HIGH

(ll. 1-3) I will sing of Zeus, chiefest among the gods and greatest,
all-seeing, the lord of all, the fulfiller who whispers words of wisdom
to Themis as she sits leaning towards him.

(l. 4) Be gracious, all-seeing Son of Cronos, most excellent and great!



XXIV. TO HESTIA

(ll. 1-5) Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the
Far-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your
locks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the
all-wise—draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.



XXV. TO THE MUSES AND APOLLO

(ll. 1-5) I will begin with the Muses and Apollo and Zeus. For it is
through the Muses and Apollo that there are singers upon the earth and
players upon the lyre; but kings are from Zeus. Happy is he whom the
Muses love: sweet flows speech from his lips.

(ll. 6-7) Hail, children of Zeus! Give honour to my song! And now I
will remember you and another song also.



XXVI. TO DIONYSUS

(ll. 1-9) I begin to sing of ivy-crowned Dionysus, the loud-crying god,
splendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele. The rich-haired Nymphs
received him in their bosoms from the lord his father and fostered and
nurtured him carefully in the dells of Nysa, where by the will of his
father he grew up in a sweet-smelling cave, being reckoned among the
immortals. But when the goddesses had brought him up, a god oft hymned,
then began he to wander continually through the woody coombes, thickly
wreathed with ivy and laurel. And the Nymphs followed in his train with
him for their leader; and the boundless forest was filled with their
outcry.

(ll. 10-13) And so hail to you, Dionysus, god of abundant clusters!
Grant that we may come again rejoicing to this season, and from that
season onwards for many a year.



XXVII. TO ARTEMIS

(ll. 1-20) I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on
the hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery,
own sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and
windy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends
out grievous shafts. The tops of the high mountains tremble and the
tangled wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earthquakes
and the sea also where fishes shoal. But the goddess with a bold heart
turns every way destroying the race of wild beasts: and when she is
satisfied and has cheered her heart, this huntress who delights in
arrows slackens her supple bow and goes to the great house of her dear
brother Phoebus Apollo, to the rich land of Delphi, there to order the
lovely dance of the Muses and Graces. There she hangs up her curved bow
and her arrows, and heads and leads the dances, gracefully arrayed,
while all they utter their heavenly voice, singing how neat-ankled Leto
bare children supreme among the immortals both in thought and in deed.

(ll. 21-22) Hail to you, children of Zeus and rich-haired Leto! And now
I will remember you and another song also.



XXVIII. TO ATHENA

(ll. 1-16) I begin to sing of Pallas Athene, the glorious goddess,
bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of
cities, courageous, Tritogeneia. From his awful head wise Zeus himself
bare her arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all
the gods as they gazed. But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal
head and stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear:
great Olympus began to reel horribly at the might of the bright-eyed
goddess, and earth round about cried fearfully, and the sea was moved
and tossed with dark waves, while foam burst forth suddenly: the bright
Son of Hyperion stopped his swift-footed horses a long while, until the
maiden Pallas Athene had stripped the heavenly armour from her immortal
shoulders. And wise Zeus was glad.

(ll. 17-18) And so hail to you, daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis!
Now I will remember you and another song as well.



XXIX. TO HESTIA

(ll. 1-6) Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and
men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest
honour: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you
mortals hold no banquet,—where one does not duly pour sweet wine in
offering to Hestia both first and last.

(ll. 7-10) 2533 And you, slayer of Argus, Son of Zeus and Maia,
messenger of the blessed gods, bearer of the golden rod, giver of good,
be favourable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear.
Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you
two, well knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and
their strength.

(ll. 12-13) Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also, Hermes, bearer of
the golden rod! Now I will remember you and another song also.



XXX. TO EARTH THE MOTHER OF ALL

(ll. 1-16) I will sing of well-founded Earth, mother of all, eldest of
all beings. She feeds all creatures that are in the world, all that go
upon the goodly land, and all that are in the paths of the seas, and
all that fly: all these are fed of her store. Through you, O queen, men
are blessed in their children and blessed in their harvests, and to you
it belongs to give means of life to mortal men and to take it away.
Happy is the man whom you delight to honour! He has all things
abundantly: his fruitful land is laden with corn, his pastures are
covered with cattle, and his house is filled with good things. Such men
rule orderly in their cities of fair women: great riches and wealth
follow them: their sons exult with ever-fresh delight, and their
daughters in flower-laden bands play and skip merrily over the soft
flowers of the field. Thus is it with those whom you honour O holy
goddess, bountiful spirit.

(ll. 17-19) Hail, Mother of the gods, wife of starry Heaven; freely
bestow upon me for this my song substance that cheers the heart! And
now I will remember you and another song also.



XXXI. TO HELIOS

(ll. 1-16) 2534 And now, O Muse Calliope, daughter of Zeus, begin to
sing of glowing Helios whom mild-eyed Euryphaessa, the far-shining one,
bare to the Son of Earth and starry Heaven. For Hyperion wedded
glorious Euryphaessa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children,
rosy-armed Eos and rich-tressed Selene and tireless Helios who is like
the deathless gods. As he rides in his chariot, he shines upon men and
deathless gods, and piercingly he gazes with his eyes from his golden
helmet. Bright rays beam dazzlingly from him, and his bright locks
streaming from the temples of his head gracefully enclose his far-seen
face: a rich, fine-spun garment glows upon his body and flutters in the
wind: and stallions carry him. Then, when he has stayed his
golden-yoked chariot and horses, he rests there upon the highest point
of heaven, until he marvellously drives them down again through heaven
to Ocean.

(ll. 17-19) Hail to you, lord! Freely bestow on me substance that
cheers the heart. And now that I have begun with you, I will celebrate
the race of mortal men half-divine whose deeds the Muses have showed to
mankind.



XXXII. TO SELENE

(ll. 1-13) And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus,
well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged 2535 Moon. From her
immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and
great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit
before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam
clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the
waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming, shining team, drives on
her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then
her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she
increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.

(ll. 14-16) Once the Son of Cronos was joined with her in love; and she
conceived and bare a daughter Pandia, exceeding lovely amongst the
deathless gods.

(ll. 17-20) Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild,
bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glories of
men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Muses,
celebrate with lovely lips.



XXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI

(ll. 1-17) Bright-eyed Muses, tell of the Tyndaridae, the Sons of Zeus,
glorious children of neat-ankled Leda, Castor the tamer of horses, and
blameless Polydeuces. When Leda had lain with the dark-clouded Son of
Cronos, she bare them beneath the peak of the great hill
Taygetus,—children who are delivers of men on earth and of swift-going
ships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea. Then the shipmen
call upon the sons of great Zeus with vows of white lambs, going to the
forepart of the prow; but the strong wind and the waves of the sea lay
the ship under water, until suddenly these two are seen darting through
the air on tawny wings. Forthwith they allay the blasts of the cruel
winds and still the waves upon the surface of the white sea: fair signs
are they and deliverance from toil. And when the shipmen see them they
are glad and have rest from their pain and labour.

(ll. 18-19) Hail, Tyndaridae, riders upon swift horses! Now I will
remember you and another song also.



HOMER’S EPIGRAMS2601


I. (5 lines) (ll. 1-5) Have reverence for him who needs a home and
stranger’s dole, all ye who dwell in the high city of Cyme, the lovely
maiden, hard by the foothills of lofty Sardene, ye who drink the
heavenly water of the divine stream, eddying Hermus, whom deathless
Zeus begot.

II. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Speedily may my feet bear me to some town of
righteous men; for their hearts are generous and their wit is best.

III. (6 lines) (ll. 1-6) I am a maiden of bronze and am set upon the
tomb of Midas. While the waters flow and tall trees flourish, and the
sun rises and shines and the bright moon also; while rivers run and the
sea breaks on the shore, ever remaining on this mournful tomb, I tell
the passer-by that Midas here lies buried.

IV. (17 lines) (ll. 1-17) To what a fate did Zeus the Father give me a
prey even while he made me to grow, a babe at my mother’s knee! By the
will of Zeus who holds the aegis the people of Phricon, riders on
wanton horses, more active than raging fire in the test of war, once
built the towers of Aeolian Smyrna, wave-shaken neighbour to the sea,
through which glides the pleasant stream of sacred Meles; thence 2602
arose the daughters of Zeus, glorious children, and would fain have
made famous that fair country and the city of its people. But in their
folly those men scorned the divine voice and renown of song, and in
trouble shall one of them remember this hereafter—he who with scornful
words to them 2603 contrived my fate. Yet I will endure the lot which
heaven gave me even at my birth, bearing my disappointment with a
patient heart. My dear limbs yearn not to stay in the sacred streets of
Cyme, but rather my great heart urges me to go unto another country,
small though I am.

V. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Thestorides, full many things there are that
mortals cannot sound; but there is nothing more unfathomable than the
heart of man.

VI. (8 lines) (ll. 1-8) Hear me, Poseidon, strong shaker of the earth,
ruler of wide-spread, tawny Helicon! Give a fair wind and sight of safe
return to the shipmen who speed and govern this ship. And grant that
when I come to the nether slopes of towering Mimas I may find
honourable, god-fearing men. Also may I avenge me on the wretch who
deceived me and grieved Zeus the lord of guests and his own
guest-table.

VII. (3 lines) (ll. 1-3) Queen Earth, all bounteous giver of
honey-hearted wealth, how kindly, it seems, you are to some, and how
intractable and rough for those with whom you are angry.

VIII. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Sailors, who rove the seas and whom a hateful
fate has made as the shy sea-fowl, living an unenviable life, observe
the reverence due to Zeus who rules on high, the god of strangers; for
terrible is the vengeance of this god afterwards for whosoever has
sinned.

IX. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Strangers, a contrary wind has caught you: but
even now take me aboard and you shall make your voyage.

X. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Another sort of pine shall bear a better fruit
2604 than you upon the heights of furrowed, windy Ida. For there shall
mortal men get the iron that Ares loves so soon as the Cebrenians shall
hold the land.

XI. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Glaucus, watchman of flocks, a word will I put
in your heart. First give the dogs their dinner at the courtyard gate,
for this is well. The dog first hears a man approaching and the
wild-beast coming to the fence.

XII. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Goddess-nurse of the young 2605, give ear to
my prayer, and grant that this woman may reject the love-embraces of
youth and dote on grey-haired old men whose powers are dulled, but
whose hearts still desire.

XIII. (6 lines) (ll. 1-6) Children are a man’s crown, towers of a city;
horses are the glory of a plain, and so are ships of the sea; wealth
will make a house great, and reverend princes seated in assembly are a
goodly sight for the folk to see. But a blazing fire makes a house look
more comely upon a winter’s day, when the Son of Cronos sends down
snow.

XIV. (23 lines) (ll. 1-23) Potters, if you will give me a reward, I
will sing for you. Come, then, Athena, with hand upraised 2606 over the
kiln. Let the pots and all the dishes turn out well and be well fired:
let them fetch good prices and be sold in plenty in the market, and
plenty in the streets. Grant that the potters may get great gain and
grant me so to sing to them. But if you turn shameless and make false
promises, then I call together the destroyers of kilns, Shatter and
Smash and Charr and Crash and Crudebake who can work this craft much
mischief. Come all of you and sack the kiln-yard and the buildings: let
the whole kiln be shaken up to the potter’s loud lament. As a horse’s
jaw grinds, so let the kiln grind to powder all the pots inside. And
you, too, daughter of the Sun, Circe the witch, come and cast cruel
spells; hurt both these men and their handiwork. Let Chiron also come
and bring many Centaurs—all that escaped the hands of Heracles and all
that were destroyed: let them make sad havoc of the pots and overthrow
the kiln, and let the potters see the mischief and be grieved; but I
will gloat as I behold their luckless craft. And if anyone of them
stoops to peer in, let all his face be burned up, that all men may
learn to deal honestly.

XV. (13 lines) 2607 (ll. 1-7) Let us betake us to the house of some man
of great power,—one who bears great power and is greatly prosperous
always. Open of yourselves, you doors, for mighty Wealth will enter in,
and with Wealth comes jolly Mirth and gentle Peace. May all the
corn-bins be full and the mass of dough always overflow the
kneading-trough. Now (set before us) cheerful barley-pottage, full of
sesame....

((LACUNA))

(ll. 8-10) Your son’s wife, driving to this house with strong-hoofed
mules, shall dismount from her carriage to greet you; may she be shod
with golden shoes as she stands weaving at the loom.

(ll. 11-13) I come, and I come yearly, like the swallow that perches
light-footed in the fore-part of your house. But quickly bring....

XVI. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) If you will give us anything (well). But if
not, we will not wait, for we are not come here to dwell with you.

XVII. HOMER: Hunters of deep sea prey, have we caught anything?

FISHERMAN: All that we caught we left behind, and all that we did not
catch we carry home. 2608

HOMER: Ay, for of such fathers you are sprung as neither hold rich
lands nor tend countless sheep.



FRAGMENTS OF THE EPIC CYCLE



THE WAR OF THE TITANS

Fragment #1—Photius, Epitome of the Chrestomathy of Proclus: The Epic
Cycle begins with the fabled union of Heaven and Earth, by which they
make three hundred-handed sons and three Cyclopes to be born to him.

Fragment #2—Anecdota Oxon. (Cramer) i. 75: According to the writer of
the _War of the Titans_ Heaven was the son of Aether.

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 1165: Eumelus says
that Aegaeon was the son of Earth and Sea and, having his dwelling in
the sea, was an ally of the Titans.

Fragment #4—Athenaeus, vii. 277 D: The poet of the _War of the Titans_,
whether Eumelus of Corinth or Arctinus, writes thus in his second book:
‘Upon the shield were dumb fish afloat, with golden faces, swimming and
sporting through the heavenly water.’

Fragment #5—Athenaeus, i. 22 C: Eumelus somewhere introduces Zeus
dancing: he says—‘In the midst of them danced the Father of men and
gods.’

Fragment #6—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 554: The author of
the _War of the Giants_ says that Cronos took the shape of a horse and
lay with Philyra, the daughter of Ocean. Through this cause Cheiron was
born a centaur: his wife was Chariclo.

Fragment #7—Athenaeus, xi. 470 B: Theolytus says that he (Heracles)
sailed across the sea in a cauldron 2701; but the first to give this
story is the author of the _War of the Titans_.

Fragment #8—Philodemus, On Piety: The author of the _War of the Titans_
says that the apples (of the Hesperides) were guarded.



THE STORY OF OEDIPUS

Fragment #1—C.I.G. Ital. et Sic. 1292. ii. 11: ....the _Story of
Oedipus_ by Cinaethon in six thousand six hundred verses.

Fragment #2—Pausanias, ix. 5.10: Judging by Homer I do not believe that
Oedipus had children by Iocasta: his sons were born of Euryganeia as
the writer of the Epic called the _Story of Oedipus_ clearly shows.

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Euripides Phoen., 1750: The authors of the
_Story of Oedipus_ (say) of the Sphinx: ‘But furthermore (she killed)
noble Haemon, the dear son of blameless Creon, the comeliest and
loveliest of boys.’



THE THEBAID

Fragment #1—Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Homer travelled about reciting
his epics, first the “Thebaid”, in seven thousand verses, which begins:
‘Sing, goddess, of parched Argos, whence lords...’

Fragment #2—Athenaeus, xi. 465 E: ‘Then the heaven-born hero,
golden-haired Polyneices, first set beside Oedipus a rich table of
silver which once belonged to Cadmus the divinely wise: next he filled
a fine golden cup with sweet wine. But when Oedipus perceived these
treasures of his father, great misery fell on his heart, and he
straight-way called down bitter curses there in the presence of both
his sons. And the avenging Fury of the gods failed not to hear him as
he prayed that they might never divide their father’s goods in loving
brotherhood, but that war and fighting might be ever the portion of
them both.’

Fragment #3—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, O.C. 1375: ‘And when
Oedipus noticed the haunch 2801 he threw it on the ground and said:
“Oh! Oh! my sons have sent this mocking me...” So he prayed to Zeus the
king and the other deathless gods that each might fall by his brother’s
hand and go down into the house of Hades.’

Fragment #4—Pausanias, viii. 25.8: Adrastus fled from Thebes ‘wearing
miserable garments, and took black-maned Areion 2802 with him.’

Fragment #5—Pindar, Ol. vi. 15: 2803 ‘But when the seven dead had
received their last rites in Thebes, the Son of Talaus lamented and
spoke thus among them: “Woe is me, for I miss the bright eye of my
host, a good seer and a stout spearman alike.”’

Fragment #6—Apollodorus, i. 74: Oeneus married Periboea the daughter of
Hipponous. The author of the _Thebais_ says that when Olenus had been
stormed, Oeneus received her as a prize.

Fragment #7—Pausanias, ix. 18.6: Near the spring is the tomb of
Asphodicus. This Asphodicus killed Parthenopaeus the son of Talaus in
the battle against the Argives, as the Thebans say; though that part of
the _Thebais_ which tells of the death of Parthenopaeus says that it
was Periclymenus who killed him.



THE EPIGONI

Fragment #1—Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Next (Homer composed) the
_Epigoni_ in seven thousand verses, beginning, ‘And now, Muses, let us
begin to sing of younger men.’

Fragment #2—Photius, Lexicon: Teumesia. Those who have written on
Theban affairs have given a full account of the Teumesian fox. 2901
They relate that the creature was sent by the gods to punish the
descendants of Cadmus, and that the Thebans therefore excluded those of
the house of Cadmus from kingship. But (they say) a certain Cephalus,
the son of Deion, an Athenian, who owned a hound which no beast ever
escaped, had accidentally killed his wife Procris, and being purified
of the homicide by the Cadmeans, hunted the fox with his hound, and
when they had overtaken it both hound and fox were turned into stones
near Teumessus. These writers have taken the story from the Epic Cycle.

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 308: The authors
of the _Thebais_ say that Manto the daughter of Teiresias was sent to
Delphi by the Epigoni as a first fruit of their spoil, and that in
accordance with an oracle of Apollo she went out and met Rhacius, the
son of Lebes, a Mycenaean by race. This man she married—for the oracle
also contained the command that she should marry whomsoever she might
meet—and coming to Colophon, was there much cast down and wept over the
destruction of her country.



THE CYPRIA

Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, i: This 3001 is continued by the
epic called _Cypria_ which is current is eleven books. Its contents are
as follows.

Zeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Strife arrives
while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a
dispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is
fairest. The three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to
Alexandrus on Mount Ida for his decision, and Alexandrus, lured by his
promised marriage with Helen, decides in favour of Aphrodite.

Then Alexandrus builds his ships at Aphrodite’s suggestion, and Helenus
foretells the future to him, and Aphrodite order Aeneas to sail with
him, while Cassandra prophesies as to what will happen afterwards.
Alexandrus next lands in Lacedaemon and is entertained by the sons of
Tyndareus, and afterwards by Menelaus in Sparta, where in the course of
a feast he gives gifts to Helen.

After this, Menelaus sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the
guests with all they require until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite
brings Helen and Alexandrus together, and they, after their union, put
very great treasures on board and sail away by night. Hera stirs up a
storm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexandrus
takes the city. From there he sailed to Troy and celebrated his
marriage with Helen.

In the meantime Castor and Polydeuces, while stealing the cattle of
Idas and Lynceus, were caught in the act, and Castor was killed by
Idas, and Lynceus and Idas by Polydeuces. Zeus gave them immortality
every other day.

Iris next informs Menelaus of what has happened at his home. Menelaus
returns and plans an expedition against Ilium with his brother, and
then goes on to Nestor. Nestor in a digression tells him how Epopeus
was utterly destroyed after seducing the daughter of Lycus, and the
story of Oedipus, the madness of Heracles, and the story of Theseus and
Ariadne. Then they travel over Hellas and gather the leaders, detecting
Odysseus when he pretends to be mad, not wishing to join the
expedition, by seizing his son Telemachus for punishment at the
suggestion of Palamedes.

All the leaders then meet together at Aulis and sacrifice. The incident
of the serpent and the sparrows 3002 takes place before them, and
Calchas foretells what is going to befall. After this, they put out to
sea, and reach Teuthrania and sack it, taking it for Ilium. Telephus
comes out to the rescue and kills Thersander and son of Polyneices, and
is himself wounded by Achilles. As they put out from Mysia a storm
comes on them and scatters them, and Achilles first puts in at Scyros
and married Deidameia, the daughter of Lycomedes, and then heals
Telephus, who had been led by an oracle to go to Argos, so that he
might be their guide on the voyage to Ilium.

When the expedition had mustered a second time at Aulis, Agamemnon,
while at the chase, shot a stag and boasted that he surpassed even
Artemis. At this the goddess was so angry that she sent stormy winds
and prevented them from sailing. Calchas then told them of the anger of
the goddess and bade them sacrifice Iphigeneia to Artemis. This they
attempt to do, sending to fetch Iphigeneia as though for marriage with
Achilles.

Artemis, however, snatched her away and transported her to the Tauri,
making her immortal, and putting a stag in place of the girl upon the
altar.

Next they sail as far as Tenedos: and while they are feasting,
Philoctetes is bitten by a snake and is left behind in Lemnos because
of the stench of his sore. Here, too, Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon
because he is invited late. Then the Greeks tried to land at Ilium, but
the Trojans prevent them, and Protesilaus is killed by Hector. Achilles
then kills Cycnus, the son of Poseidon, and drives the Trojans back.
The Greeks take up their dead and send envoys to the Trojans demanding
the surrender of Helen and the treasure with her. The Trojans refusing,
they first assault the city, and then go out and lay waste the country
and cities round about. After this, Achilles desires to see Helen, and
Aphrodite and Thetis contrive a meeting between them. The Achaeans next
desire to return home, but are restrained by Achilles, who afterwards
drives off the cattle of Aeneas, and sacks Lyrnessus and Pedasus and
many of the neighbouring cities, and kills Troilus. Patroclus carries
away Lycaon to Lemnos and sells him as a slave, and out of the spoils
Achilles receives Briseis as a prize, and Agamemnon Chryseis. Then
follows the death of Palamedes, the plan of Zeus to relieve the Trojans
by detaching Achilles from the Hellenic confederacy, and a catalogue of
the Trojan allies.

Fragment #2—Tzetzes, Chil. xiii. 638: Stasinus composed the _Cypria_
which the more part say was Homer’s work and by him given to Stasinus
as a dowry with money besides.

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Il. i. 5: ‘There was a time when the
countless tribes of men, though wide-dispersed, oppressed the surface
of the deep-bosomed earth, and Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise
heart resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the
great struggle of the Ilian war, that the load of death might empty the
world. And so the heroes were slain in Troy, and the plan of Zeus came
to pass.’

Fragment #4—Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105: The author of the
_Cypria_ says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at
which he was enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.

Fragment #5—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvii. 140: For at the marriage of
Peleus and Thetis, the gods gathered together on Pelion to feast and
brought Peleus gifts. Cheiron gave him a stout ashen shaft which he had
cut for a spear, and Athena, it is said, polished it, and Hephaestus
fitted it with a head. The story is given by the author of the
_Cypria_.

Fragment #6—Athenaeus, xv. 682 D, F: The author of the _Cypria_,
whether Hegesias or Stasinus, mentions flowers used for garlands. The
poet, whoever he was, writes as follows in his first book:

(ll. 1-7) ‘She clothed herself with garments which the Graces and Hours
had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring—such flowers as the
Seasons wear—in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the
rose’s lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the
flowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is
Aphrodite clothed at all seasons.

((LACUNA))

(ll. 8-12) Then laughter-loving Aphrodite and her handmaidens wove
sweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them upon their
heads—the bright-coiffed goddesses, the Nymphs and Graces, and golden
Aphrodite too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of many-fountained
Ida.’

Fragment #7—Clement of Alexandria, Protrept ii. 30. 5: ‘Castor was
mortal, and the fate of death was destined for him; but Polydeuces,
scion of Ares, was immortal.’

Fragment #8—Athenaeus, viii. 334 B: ‘And after them she bare a third
child, Helen, a marvel to men. Rich-tressed Nemesis once gave her birth
when she had been joined in love with Zeus the king of the gods by
harsh violence. For Nemesis tried to escape him and liked not to lie in
love with her father Zeus the Son of Cronos; for shame and indignation
vexed her heart: therefore she fled him over the land and fruitless
dark water. But Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her.
Now she took the form of a fish and sped over the waves of the
loud-roaring sea, and now over Ocean’s stream and the furthest bounds
of Earth, and now she sped over the furrowed land, always turning into
such dread creatures as the dry land nurtures, that she might escape
him.’

Fragment #9—Scholiast on Euripides, Andr. 898: The writer 3003 of the
Cyprian histories says that (Helen’s third child was) Pleisthenes and
that she took him with her to Cyprus, and that the child she bore
Alexandrus was Aganus.

Fragment #10—Herodotus, ii. 117: For it is said in the _Cypria_ that
Alexandrus came with Helen to Ilium from Sparta in three days, enjoying
a favourable wind and calm sea.

Fragment #11—Scholiast on Homer, Il. iii. 242: For Helen had been
previously carried off by Theseus, and it was in consequence of this
earlier rape that Aphidna, a town in Attica, was sacked and Castor was
wounded in the right thigh by Aphidnus who was king at that time. Then
the Dioscuri, failing to find Theseus, sacked Athens. The story is in
the Cyclic writers.

Plutarch, Thes. 32: Hereas relates that Alycus was killed by Theseus
himself near Aphidna, and quotes the following verses in evidence: ‘In
spacious Aphidna Theseus slew him in battle long ago for rich-haired
Helen’s sake.’ 3004

Fragment #12—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. x. 114: (ll. 1-6) ‘Straightway
Lynceus, trusting in his swift feet, made for Taygetus. He climbed its
highest peak and looked throughout the whole isle of Pelops, son of
Tantalus; and soon the glorious hero with his dread eyes saw
horse-taming Castor and athlete Polydeuces both hidden within a hollow
oak.’

Philodemus, On Piety: (Stasinus?) writes that Castor was killed with a
spear shot by Idas the son of Aphareus.

Fragment #13—Athenaeus, 35 C: ‘Menelaus, know that the gods made wine
the best thing for mortal man to scatter cares.’

Fragment #14—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, Elect. 157: Either he
follows Homer who spoke of the three daughters of Agamemnon, or—like
the writer of the _Cypria_—he makes them four, (distinguishing)
Iphigeneia and Iphianassa.

Fragment #15—3005 Contest of Homer and Hesiod: ‘So they feasted all day
long, taking nothing from their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men,
provided for them.’

Fragment #16—Louvre Papyrus: ‘I never thought to enrage so terribly the
stout heart of Achilles, for very well I loved him.’

Fragment #17—Pausanias, iv. 2. 7: The poet of the _Cypria_ says that
the wife of Protesilaus—who, when the Hellenes reached the Trojan
shore, first dared to land—was called Polydora, and was the daughter of
Meleager, the son of Oeneus.

Fragment #18—Eustathius, 119. 4: Some relate that Chryseis was taken
from Hypoplacian 3006 Thebes, and that she had not taken refuge there
nor gone there to sacrifice to Artemis, as the author of the _Cypria_
states, but was simply a fellow townswoman of Andromache.

Fragment #19—Pausanias, x. 31. 2: I know, because I have read it in the
epic _Cypria_, that Palamedes was drowned when he had gone out fishing,
and that it was Diomedes and Odysseus who caused his death.

Fragment #20—Plato, Euthyphron, 12 A: ‘That it is Zeus who has done
this, and brought all these things to pass, you do not like to say; for
where fear is, there too is shame.’

Fragment #21—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction: ‘By him she conceived and
bare the Gorgons, fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky
island in deep-eddying Oceanus.’

Fragment #22—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vii. 2. 19: Again,
Stasinus says: ‘He is a simple man who kills the father and lets the
children live.’



THE AETHIOPIS

Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: The _Cypria_, described in the
preceding book, has its sequel in the _Iliad_ of Homer, which is
followed in turn by the five books of the _Aethiopis_, the work of
Arctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows. The Amazon
Penthesileia, the daughter of Ares and of Thracian race, comes to aid
the Trojans, and after showing great prowess, is killed by Achilles and
buried by the Trojans. Achilles then slays Thersites for abusing and
reviling him for his supposed love for Penthesileia. As a result a
dispute arises amongst the Achaeans over the killing of Thersites, and
Achilles sails to Lesbos and after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and
Leto, is purified by Odysseus from bloodshed.

Then Memnon, the son of Eos, wearing armour made by Hephaestus, comes
to help the Trojans, and Thetis tells her son about Memnon.

A battle takes place in which Antilochus is slain by Memnon and Memnon
by Achilles. Eos then obtains of Zeus and bestows upon her son
immortality; but Achilles routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city
with them, is killed by Paris and Apollo. A great struggle for the body
then follows, Aias taking up the body and carrying it to the ships,
while Odysseus drives off the Trojans behind. The Achaeans then bury
Antilochus and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving
with the Muses and her sisters, bewails her son, whom she afterwards
catches away from the pyre and transports to the White Island. After
this, the Achaeans pile him a cairn and hold games in his honour.
Lastly a dispute arises between Odysseus and Aias over the arms of
Achilles.

Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 804: Some read: ‘Thus they
performed the burial of Hector. Then came the Amazon, the daughter of
great-souled Ares the slayer of men.’

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Isth. iii. 53: The author of the
_Aethiopis_ says that Aias killed himself about dawn.



THE LITTLE ILIAD

Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next comes the _Little Iliad_
in four books by Lesches of Mitylene: its contents are as follows. The
adjudging of the arms of Achilles takes place, and Odysseus, by the
contriving of Athena, gains them. Aias then becomes mad and destroys
the herd of the Achaeans and kills himself. Next Odysseus lies in wait
and catches Helenus, who prophesies as to the taking of Troy, and
Diomede accordingly brings Philoctetes from Lemnos. Philoctetes is
healed by Machaon, fights in single combat with Alexandrus and kills
him: the dead body is outraged by Menelaus, but the Trojans recover and
bury it. After this Deiphobus marries Helen, Odysseus brings
Neoptolemus from Scyros and gives him his father’s arms, and the ghost
of Achilles appears to him.

Eurypylus the son of Telephus arrives to aid the Trojans, shows his
prowess and is killed by Neoptolemus. The Trojans are now closely
besieged, and Epeius, by Athena’s instruction, builds the wooden horse.
Odysseus disfigures himself and goes in to Ilium as a spy, and there
being recognized by Helen, plots with her for the taking of the city;
after killing certain of the Trojans, he returns to the ships. Next he
carries the Palladium out of Troy with help of Diomedes. Then after
putting their best men in the wooden horse and burning their huts, the
main body of the Hellenes sail to Tenedos. The Trojans, supposing their
troubles over, destroy a part of their city wall and take the wooden
horse into their city and feast as though they had conquered the
Hellenes.

Fragment #2—Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: ‘I sing of Ilium and
Dardania, the land of fine horses, wherein the Danai, followers of
Ares, suffered many things.’

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Aristophanes, Knights 1056 and Aristophanes
ib: The story runs as follows: Aias and Odysseus were quarrelling as to
their achievements, says the poet of the _Little Iliad_, and Nestor
advised the Hellenes to send some of their number to go to the foot of
the walls and overhear what was said about the valour of the heroes
named above. The eavesdroppers heard certain girls disputing, one of
them saying that Aias was by far a better man than Odysseus and
continuing as follows:

‘For Aias took up and carried out of the strife the hero, Peleus’ son:
this great Odysseus cared not to do.’

To this another replied by Athena’s contrivance:

‘Why, what is this you say? A thing against reason and untrue! Even a
woman could carry a load once a man had put it on her shoulder; but she
could not fight. For she would fail with fear if she should fight.’

Fragment #4—Eustathius, 285. 34: The writer of the _Little Iliad_ says
that Aias was not buried in the usual way 3101, but was simply buried
in a coffin, because of the king’s anger.

Fragment #5—Eustathius on Homer, Il. 326: The author of the _Little
Iliad_ says that Achilles after putting out to sea from the country of
Telephus came to land there: ‘The storm carried Achilles the son of
Peleus to Scyros, and he came into an uneasy harbour there in that same
night.’

Fragment #6—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. vi. 85: ‘About the spear-shaft
was a hoop of flashing gold, and a point was fitted to it at either
end.’

Fragment #7—Scholiast on Euripides Troades, 822: ‘...the vine which the
son of Cronos gave him as a recompense for his son. It bloomed richly
with soft leaves of gold and grape clusters; Hephaestus wrought it and
gave it to his father Zeus: and he bestowed it on Laomedon as a price
for Ganymedes.’

Fragment #8—Pausanias, iii. 26. 9: The writer of the epic _Little
Iliad_ says that Machaon was killed by Eurypylus, the son of Telephus.

Fragment #9—Homer, Odyssey iv. 247 and Scholiast: ‘He disguised
himself, and made himself like another person, a beggar, the like of
whom was not by the ships of the Achaeans.’

The Cyclic poet uses ‘beggar’ as a substantive, and so means to say
that when Odysseus had changed his clothes and put on rags, there was
no one so good for nothing at the ships as Odysseus.

Fragment #10—3102 Plutarch, Moralia, p. 153 F: And Homer put forward
the following verses as Lesches gives them: ‘Muse, tell me of those
things which neither happened before nor shall be hereafter.’

And Hesiod answered:

‘But when horses with rattling hoofs wreck chariots, striving for
victory about the tomb of Zeus.’

And it is said that, because this reply was specially admired, Hesiod
won the tripod (at the funeral games of Amphidamas).

Fragment #11—Scholiast on Lycophr., 344: Sinon, as it had been arranged
with him, secretly showed a signal-light to the Hellenes. Thus Lesches
writes:—‘It was midnight, and the clear moon was rising.’

Fragment #12—Pausanias, x. 25. 5: Meges is represented 3103 wounded in
the arm just as Lescheos the son of Aeschylinus of Pyrrha describes in
his _Sack of Ilium_ where it is said that he was wounded in the battle
which the Trojans fought in the night by Admetus, son of Augeias.
Lycomedes too is in the picture with a wound in the wrist, and Lescheos
says he was so wounded by Agenor...

Pausanias, x. 26. 4: Lescheos also mentions Astynous, and here he is,
fallen on one knee, while Neoptolemus strikes him with his sword...

Pausanias, x. 26. 8: The same writer says that Helicaon was wounded in
the night-battle, but was recognised by Odysseus and by him conducted
alive out of the fight...

Pausanias, x. 27. 1: Of them 3104, Lescheos says that Eion was killed
by Neoptolemus, and Admetus by Philoctetes... He also says that Priam
was not killed at the heart of Zeus Herceius, but was dragged away from
the altar and destroyed off hand by Neoptolemus at the doors of the
house... Lescheos says that Axion was the son of Priam and was slain by
Eurypylus, the son of Euaemon. Agenor—according to the same poet—was
butchered by Neoptolemus.

Fragment #13—Aristophanes, Lysistrata 155 and Scholiast: ‘Menelaus at
least, when he caught a glimpse somehow of the breasts of Helen unclad,
cast away his sword, methinks.’ Lesches the Pyrrhaean also has the same
account in his _Little Iliad_.

Pausanias, x. 25. 8: Concerning Aethra Lesches relates that when Ilium
was taken she stole out of the city and came to the Hellenic camp,
where she was recognised by the sons of Theseus; and that Demophon
asked her of Agamemnon. Agamemnon wished to grant him this favour, but
he would not do so until Helen consented. And when he sent a herald,
Helen granted his request.

Fragment #14—Scholiast on Lycophr. Alex., 1268: ‘Then the bright son of
bold Achilles led the wife of Hector to the hollow ships; but her son
he snatched from the bosom of his rich-haired nurse and seized him by
the foot and cast him from a tower. So when he had fallen bloody death
and hard fate seized on Astyanax. And Neoptolemus chose out Andromache,
Hector’s well-girded wife, and the chiefs of all the Achaeans gave her
to him to hold requiting him with a welcome prize. And he put
Aeneas3105, the famous son of horse-taming Anchises, on board his
sea-faring ships, a prize surpassing those of all the Danaans.’



THE SACK OF ILIUM

Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next come two books of the
_Sack of Ilium_, by Arctinus of Miletus with the following contents.
The Trojans were suspicious of the wooden horse and standing round it
debated what they ought to do. Some thought they ought to hurl it down
from the rocks, others to burn it up, while others said they ought to
dedicate it to Athena. At last this third opinion prevailed. Then they
turned to mirth and feasting believing the war was at an end. But at
this very time two serpents appeared and destroyed Laocoon and one of
his two sons, a portent which so alarmed the followers of Aeneas that
they withdrew to Ida. Sinon then raised the fire-signal to the
Achaeans, having previously got into the city by pretence. The Greeks
then sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden horse came out and
fell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the city.
Neoptolemus kills Priam who had fled to the altar of Zeus Herceius (1);
Menelaus finds Helen and takes her to the ships, after killing
Deiphobus; and Aias the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra
away by force, tears away with her the image of Athena. At this the
Greeks are so enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only
escapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar
of Athena. The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at
the tomb of Achilles: Odysseus murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes
Andromache as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided. Demophon
and Acamas find Aethra and take her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail
away and Athena plans to destroy them on the high seas.

Fragment #2—Dionysus Halicarn, Rom. Antiq. i. 68: According to
Arctinus, one Palladium was given to Dardanus by Zeus, and this was in
Ilium until the city was taken. It was hidden in a secret place, and a
copy was made resembling the original in all points and set up for all
to see, in order to deceive those who might have designs against it.
This copy the Achaeans took as a result of their plots.

Fragment #3—Scholiast on Euripedes, Andromache 10: The Cyclic poet who
composed the _Sack_ says that Astyanax was also hurled from the city
wall.

Fragment #4—Scholiast on Euripedes, Troades 31: For the followers of
Acamus and Demophon took no share—it is said—of the spoils, but only
Aethra, for whose sake, indeed, they came to Ilium with Menestheus to
lead them. Lysimachus, however, says that the author of the _Sack_
writes as follows: ‘The lord Agamemnon gave gifts to the Sons of
Theseus and to bold Menestheus, shepherd of hosts.’

Fragment #5—Eustathius on Iliad, xiii. 515: Some say that such praise
as this 3201 does not apply to physicians generally, but only to
Machaon: and some say that he only practised surgery, while Podaleirius
treated sicknesses. Arctinus in the _Sack of Ilium_ seems to be of this
opinion when he says:

(ll. 1-8) ‘For their father the famous Earth-Shaker gave both of them
gifts, making each more glorious than the other. To the one he gave
hands more light to draw or cut out missiles from the flesh and to heal
all kinds of wounds; but in the heart of the other he put full and
perfect knowledge to tell hidden diseases and cure desperate
sicknesses. It was he who first noticed Aias’ flashing eyes and clouded
mind when he was enraged.’

Fragment #6—Diomedes in Gramm., Lat. i. 477: ‘Iambus stood a little
while astride with foot advanced, that so his strained limbs might get
power and have a show of ready strength.’



THE RETURNS

Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: After the _Sack of Ilium_
follow the _Returns_ in five books by Agias of Troezen. Their contents
are as follows. Athena causes a quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus
about the voyage from Troy. Agamemnon then stays on to appease the
anger of Athena. Diomedes and Nestor put out to sea and get safely
home. After them Menelaus sets out and reaches Egypt with five ships,
the rest having been destroyed on the high seas. Those with Calchas,
Leontes, and Polypoetes go by land to Colophon and bury Teiresias who
died there. When Agamemnon and his followers were sailing away, the
ghost of Achilles appeared and tried to prevent them by foretelling
what should befall them. The storm at the rocks called Capherides is
then described, with the end of Locrian Aias. Neoptolemus, warned by
Thetis, journeys overland and, coming into Thrace, meets Odysseus at
Maronea, and then finishes the rest of his journey after burying
Phoenix who dies on the way. He himself is recognized by Peleus on
reaching the Molossi.

Then comes the murder of Agamemnon by Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra,
followed by the vengeance of Orestes and Pylades. Finally, Menelaus
returns home.

Fragment #2—Argument to Euripides Medea: ‘Forthwith Medea made Aeson a
sweet young boy and stripped his old age from him by her cunning skill,
when she had made a brew of many herbs in her golden cauldrons.’

Fragment #3—Pausanias, i. 2: The story goes that Heracles was besieging
Themiscyra on the Thermodon and could not take it; but Antiope, being
in love with Theseus who was with Heracles on this expedition, betrayed
the place. Hegias gives this account in his poem.

Fragment #4—Eustathius, 1796. 45: The Colophonian author of the
_Returns_ says that Telemachus afterwards married Circe, while
Telegonus the son of Circe correspondingly married Penelope.

Fragment #5—Clement of Alex. Strom., vi. 2. 12. 8: ‘For gifts beguile
men’s minds and their deeds as well.’ 3301

Fragment #6—Pausanias, x. 28. 7: The poetry of Homer and the
_Returns_—for here too there is an account of Hades and the terrors
there—know of no spirit named Eurynomus.

Athenaeus, 281 B: The writer of the “Return of the Atreidae” 3302 says
that Tantalus came and lived with the gods, and was permitted to ask
for whatever he desired. But the man was so immoderately given to
pleasures that he asked for these and for a life like that of the gods.
At this Zeus was annoyed, but fulfilled his prayer because of his own
promise; but to prevent him from enjoying any of the pleasures
provided, and to keep him continually harassed, he hung a stone over
his head which prevents him from ever reaching any of the pleasant
things near by.



THE TELEGONY

Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: After the _Returns_ comes the
_Odyssey_ of Homer, and then the _Telegony_ in two books by Eugammon of
Cyrene, which contain the following matters. The suitors of Penelope
are buried by their kinsmen, and Odysseus, after sacrificing to the
Nymphs, sails to Elis to inspect his herds. He is entertained there by
Polyxenus and receives a mixing bowl as a gift; the story of Trophonius
and Agamedes and Augeas then follows. He next sails back to Ithaca and
performs the sacrifices ordered by Teiresias, and then goes to
Thesprotis where he marries Callidice, queen of the Thesprotians. A war
then breaks out between the Thesprotians, led by Odysseus, and the
Brygi. Ares routs the army of Odysseus and Athena engages with Ares,
until Apollo separates them. After the death of Callidice Polypoetes,
the son of Odysseus, succeeds to the kingdom, while Odysseus himself
returns to Ithaca. In the meantime Telegonus, while travelling in
search of his father, lands on Ithaca and ravages the island: Odysseus
comes out to defend his country, but is killed by his son unwittingly.
Telegonus, on learning his mistake, transports his father’s body with
Penelope and Telemachus to his mother’s island, where Circe makes them
immortal, and Telegonus marries Penelope, and Telemachus Circe.

Fragment #2—Eustathias, 1796. 35: The author of the _Telegony_, a
Cyrenaean, relates that Odysseus had by Calypso a son Telegonus or
Teledamus, and by Penelope Telemachus and Acusilaus.



HOMERICA



THE EXPEDITION OF AMPHIARAUS

Fragment #1—Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: Sitting there in the
tanner’s yard, Homer recited his poetry to them, the _Expedition of
Amphiarus to Thebes_ and the _Hymns to the Gods_ composed by him.



THE TAKING OF OECHALIA

Fragment #1—Eustathius, 330. 41: An account has there been given of
Eurytus and his daughter Iole, for whose sake Heracles sacked Oechalia.
Homer also seems to have written on this subject, as that historian
shows who relates that Creophylus of Samos once had Homer for his guest
and for a reward received the attribution of the poem which they call
the _Taking of Oechalia_. Some, however, assert the opposite; that
Creophylus wrote the poem, and that Homer lent his name in return for
his entertainment. And so Callimachus writes: ‘I am the work of that
Samian who once received divine Homer in his house. I sing of Eurytus
and all his woes and of golden-haired Ioleia, and am reputed one of
Homer’s works. Dear Heaven! how great an honour this for Creophylus!’

Fragment #2—Cramer, Anec. Oxon. i. 327: ‘Ragged garments, even those
which now you see.’ This verse (_Odyssey_ xiv. 343) we shall also find
in the _Taking of Oechalia_.

Fragment #3—Scholaist on Sophocles Trach., 266: There is a disagreement
as to the number of the sons of Eurytus. For Hesiod says Eurytus and
Antioche had as many as four sons; but Creophylus says two.

Fragment #4—Scholiast on Euripides Medea, 273: Didymus contrasts the
following account given by Creophylus, which is as follows: while Medea
was living in Corinth, she poisoned Creon, who was ruler of the city at
that time, and because she feared his friends and kinsfolk, fled to
Athens. However, since her sons were too young to go along with her,
she left them at the altar of Hera Acraea, thinking that their father
would see to their safety. But the relatives of Creon killed them and
spread the story that Medea had killed her own children as well as
Creon.



THE PHOCAIS

Fragment #1—Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: While living with
Thestorides, Homer composed the _Lesser Iliad_ and the _Phocais_;
though the Phocaeans say that he composed the latter among them.



THE MARGITES

Fragment #1—Suidas, s.v.: Pigres. A Carian of Halicarnassus and brother
of Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, who distinguished herself in war...
3401 He also wrote the _Margites_ attributed to Homer and the _Battle
of the Frogs and Mice_.

Fragment #2—Atilius Fortunatianus, p. 286, Keil: ‘There came to
Colophon an old man and divine singer, a servant of the Muses and of
far-shooting Apollo. In his dear hands he held a sweet-toned lyre.’

Fragment #3—Plato, Alcib. ii. p. 147 A: ‘He knew many things but knew
all badly...’

Aristotle, Nic. Eth. vi. 7, 1141: ‘The gods had taught him neither to
dig nor to plough, nor any other skill; he failed in every craft.’

Fragment #4—Scholiast on Aeschines in Ctes., sec. 160: He refers to
Margites, a man who, though well grown up, did not know whether it was
his father or his mother who gave him birth, and would not lie with his
wife, saying that he was afraid she might give a bad account of him to
her mother.

Fragment #5—Zenobius, v. 68: ‘The fox knows many a wile; but the
hedge-hog’s one trick 3402 can beat them all.’ 3403



THE CERCOPES

Fragment #1—Suidas, s.v.: Cercopes. These were two brothers living upon
the earth who practised every kind of knavery. They were called
Cercopes 3501 because of their cunning doings: one of them was named
Passalus and the other Acmon. Their mother, a daughter of Memnon,
seeing their tricks, told them to keep clear of Black-bottom, that is,
of Heracles. These Cercopes were sons of Theia and Ocean, and are said
to have been turned to stone for trying to deceive Zeus.

‘Liars and cheats, skilled in deeds irremediable, accomplished knaves.
Far over the world they roamed deceiving men as they wandered
continually.’



THE BATTLE OF FROGS AND MICE

(ll. 1-8) Here I begin: and first I pray the choir of the Muses to come
down from Helicon into my heart to aid the lay which I have newly
written in tablets upon my knee. Fain would I sound in all men’s ears
that awful strife, that clamorous deed of war, and tell how the Mice
proved their valour on the Frogs and rivalled the exploits of the
Giants, those earth-born men, as the tale was told among mortals. Thus
did the war begin.

(ll. 9-12) One day a thirsty Mouse who had escaped the ferret,
dangerous foe, set his soft muzzle to the lake’s brink and revelled in
the sweet water. There a loud-voiced pond-larker spied him: and uttered
such words as these.

(ll. 13-23) ‘Stranger, who are you? Whence come you to this shore, and
who is he who begot you? Tell me all this truly and let me not find you
lying. For if I find you worthy to be my friend, I will take you to my
house and give you many noble gifts such as men give to their guests. I
am the king Puff-jaw, and am honoured in all the pond, being ruler of
the Frogs continually. The father that brought me up was Mud-man who
mated with Waterlady by the banks of Eridanus. I see, indeed, that you
are well-looking and stouter than the ordinary, a sceptred king and a
warrior in fight; but, come, make haste and tell me your descent.’

(ll. 24-55) Then Crumb-snatcher answered him and said: ‘Why do you ask
my race, which is well-known amongst all, both men and gods and the
birds of heaven? Crumb-snatcher am I called, and I am the son of
Bread-nibbler—he was my stout-hearted father—and my mother was
Quern-licker, the daughter of Ham-gnawer the king: she bare me in the
mouse-hole and nourished me with food, figs and nuts and dainties of
all kinds. But how are you to make me your friend, who am altogether
different in nature? For you get your living in the water, but I am
used to each such foods as men have: I never miss the thrice-kneaded
loaf in its neat, round basket, or the thin-wrapped cake full of sesame
and cheese, or the slice of ham, or liver vested in white fat, or
cheese just curdled from sweet milk, or delicious honey-cake which even
the blessed gods long for, or any of all those cates which cooks make
for the feasts of mortal men, larding their pots and pans with spices
of all kinds. In battle I have never flinched from the cruel onset, but
plunged straight into the fray and fought among the foremost. I fear
not man though he has a big body, but run along his bed and bite the
tip of his toe and nibble at his heel; and the man feels no hurt and
his sweet sleep is not broken by my biting. But there are two things I
fear above all else the whole world over, the hawk and the ferret—for
these bring great grief on me—and the piteous trap wherein is
treacherous death. Most of all I fear the ferret of the keener sort
which follows you still even when you dive down your hole. 3601 I gnaw
no radishes and cabbages and pumpkins, nor feed on green leeks and
parsley; for these are food for you who live in the lake.’

(ll. 56-64) Then Puff-jaw answered him with a smile: ‘Stranger you
boast too much of belly-matters: we too have many marvels to be seen
both in the lake and on the shore. For the Son of Chronos has given us
Frogs the power to lead a double life, dwelling at will in two separate
elements; and so we both leap on land and plunge beneath the water. If
you would learn of all these things, ’tis easy done: just mount upon my
back and hold me tight lest you be lost, and so you shall come
rejoicing to my house.’

(ll. 65-81) So said he, and offered his back. And the Mouse mounted at
once, putting his paws upon the other’s sleek neck and vaulting nimbly.
Now at first, while he still saw the land near by, he was pleased, and
was delighted with Puff-jaw’s swimming; but when dark waves began to
wash over him, he wept loudly and blamed his unlucky change of mind: he
tore his fur and tucked his paws in against his belly, while within him
his heart quaked by reason of the strangeness: and he longed to get to
land, groaning terribly through the stress of chilling fear. He put out
his tail upon the water and worked it like a steering oar, and prayed
to heaven that he might get to land. But when the dark waves washed
over him he cried aloud and said: ‘Not in such wise did the bull bear
on his back the beloved load, when he brought Europa across the sea to
Crete, as this Frog carries me over the water to his house, raising his
yellow back in the pale water.’

(ll. 82-92) Then suddenly a water-snake appeared, a horrid sight for
both alike, and held his neck upright above the water. And when he saw
it, Puff-jaw dived at once, and never thought how helpless a friend he
would leave perishing; but down to the bottom of the lake he went, and
escaped black death. But the Mouse, so deserted, at once fell on his
back, in the water. He wrung his paws and squeaked in agony of death:
many times he sank beneath the water and many times he rose up again
kicking. But he could not escape his doom, for his wet fur weighed him
down heavily. Then at the last, as he was dying, he uttered these
words.

(ll. 93-98) ‘Ah, Puff-jaw, you shall not go unpunished for this
treachery! You threw me, a castaway, off your body as from a rock. Vile
coward! On land you would not have been the better man, boxing, or
wrestling, or running; but now you have tricked me and cast me in the
water. Heaven has an avenging eye, and surely the host of Mice will
punish you and not let you escape.’

(ll. 99-109) With these words he breathed out his soul upon the water.
But Lick-platter as he sat upon the soft bank saw him die and, raising
a dreadful cry, ran and told the Mice. And when they heard of his fate,
all the Mice were seized with fierce anger, and bade their heralds
summon the people to assemble towards dawn at the house of
Bread-nibbler, the father of hapless Crumb-snatcher who lay
outstretched on the water face up, a lifeless corpse, and no longer
near the bank, poor wretch, but floating in the midst of the deep. And
when the Mice came in haste at dawn, Bread-nibbler stood up first,
enraged at his son’s death, and thus he spoke.

(ll. 110-121) ‘Friends, even if I alone had suffered great wrong from
the Frogs, assuredly this is a first essay at mischief for you all. And
now I am pitiable, for I have lost three sons. First the abhorred
ferret seized and killed one of them, catching him outside the hole;
then ruthless men dragged another to his doom when by unheard-of arts
they had contrived a wooden snare, a destroyer of Mice, which they call
a trap. There was a third whom I and his dear mother loved well, and
him Puff-jaw has carried out into the deep and drowned. Come, then, and
let us arm ourselves and go out against them when we have arrayed
ourselves in rich-wrought arms.’

(ll. 122-131) With such words he persuaded them all to gird themselves.
And Ares who has charge of war equipped them. First they fastened on
greaves and covered their shins with green bean-pods broken into two
parts which they had gnawed out, standing over them all night. Their
breast plates were of skin stretched on reeds, skilfully made from a
ferret they had flayed. For shields each had the centre-piece of a
lamp, and their spears were long needles all of bronze, the work of
Ares, and the helmets upon their temples were pea-nut shells.

(ll. 132-138) So the Mice armed themselves. But when the Frogs were
aware of it, they rose up out of the water and coming together to one
place gathered a council of grievous war. And while they were asking
whence the quarrel arose, and what the cause of this anger, a herald
drew near bearing a wand in his paws, Pot-visitor the son of
great-hearted Cheese-carver. He brought the grim message of war,
speaking thus:

(ll. 139-143) ‘Frogs, the Mice have sent me with their threats against
you, and bid you arm yourselves for war and battle; for they have seen
Crumb-snatcher in the water whom your king Puff-jaw slew. Fight, then,
as many of you as are warriors among the Frogs.’

(ll. 144-146) With these words he explained the matter. So when this
blameless speech came to their ears, the proud Frogs were disturbed in
their hearts and began to blame Puff-jaw. But he rose up and said:

(ll. 147-159) ‘Friends, I killed no Mouse, nor did I see one perishing.
Surely he was drowned while playing by the lake and imitating the
swimming of the Frogs, and now these wretches blame me who am
guiltless. Come then; let us take counsel how we may utterly destroy
the wily Mice. Moreover, I will tell you what I think to be the best.
Let us all gird on our armour and take our stand on the very brink of
the lake, where the ground breaks down sheer: then when they come out
and charge upon us, let each seize by the crest the Mouse who attacks
him, and cast them with their helmets into the lake; for so we shall
drown these dry-hobs 3602 in the water, and merrily set up here a
trophy of victory over the slaughtered Mice.’

(ll. 160-167) By this speech he persuaded them to arm themselves.

They covered their shins with leaves of mallows, and had breastplates
made of fine green beet-leaves, and cabbage-leaves, skilfully
fashioned, for shields. Each one was equipped with a long, pointed rush
for a spear, and smooth snail-shells to cover their heads. Then they
stood in close-locked ranks upon the high bank, waving their spears,
and were filled, each of them, with courage.

(ll. 168-173) Now Zeus called the gods to starry heaven and showed them
the martial throng and the stout warriors so many and so great, all
bearing long spears; for they were as the host of the Centaurs and the
Giants. Then he asked with a sly smile; ‘Who of the deathless gods will
help the Frogs and who the Mice?’

And he said to Athena;

(ll. 174-176) ‘My daughter, will you go aid the Mice? For they all
frolic about your temple continually, delighting in the fat of
sacrifice and in all kinds of food.’

(ll. 177-196) So then said the son of Cronos. But Athena answered him:
‘I would never go to help the Mice when they are hard pressed, for they
have done me much mischief, spoiling my garlands and my lamps too, to
get the oil. And this thing that they have done vexes my heart
exceedingly: they have eaten holes in my sacred robe, which I wove
painfully spinning a fine woof on a fine warp, and made it full of
holes. And now the money-lender is at me and charges me interest which
is a bitter thing for immortals. For I borrowed to do my weaving, and
have nothing with which to repay. Yet even so I will not help the
Frogs; for they also are not considerable: once, when I was returning
early from war, I was very tired, and though I wanted to sleep, they
would not let me even doze a little for their outcry; and so I lay
sleepless with a headache until cock-crow. No, gods, let us refrain
from helping these hosts, or one of us may get wounded with a sharp
spear; for they fight hand to hand, even if a god comes against them.
Let us rather all amuse ourselves watching the fight from heaven.’

(ll. 197-198) So said Athena. And the other gods agreed with her, and
all went in a body to one place.

(ll. 199-201) Then gnats with great trumpets sounded the fell note of
war, and Zeus the son of Cronos thundered from heaven, a sign of
grievous battle.

(ll. 202-223) First Loud-croaker wounded Lickman in the belly, right
through the midriff. Down fell he on his face and soiled his soft fur
in the dust: he fell with a thud and his armour clashed about him. Next
Troglodyte shot at the son of Mudman, and drove the strong spear deep
into his breast; so he fell, and black death seized him and his spirit
flitted forth from his mouth. Then Beety struck Pot-visitor to the
heart and killed him, and Bread-nibbler hit Loud-crier in the belly, so
that he fell on his face and his spirit flitted forth from his limbs.
Now when Pond-larker saw Loud-crier perishing, he struck in quickly and
wounded Troglodyte in his soft neck with a rock like a mill-stone, so
that darkness veiled his eyes. Thereat Ocimides was seized with grief,
and struck out with his sharp reed and did not draw his spear back to
him again, but felled his enemy there and then. And Lickman shot at him
with a bright spear and hit him unerringly in the midriff. And as he
marked Cabbage-eater running away, he fell on the steep bank, yet even
so did not cease fighting but smote that other so that he fell and did
not rise again; and the lake was dyed with red blood as he lay
outstretched along the shore, pierced through the guts and shining
flanks. Also he slew Cheese-eater on the very brink....

((LACUNA))

(ll. 224-251) But Reedy took to flight when he saw Ham-nibbler, and
fled, plunging into the lake and throwing away his shield. Then
blameless Pot-visitor killed Brewer and Water-larked killed the lord
Ham-nibbler, striking him on the head with a pebble, so that his brains
flowed out at his nostrils and the earth was bespattered with blood.
Faultless Muck-coucher sprang upon Lick-platter and killed him with his
spear and brought darkness upon his eyes: and Leeky saw it, and dragged
Lick-platter by the foot, though he was dead, and choked him in the
lake. But Crumb-snatcher was fighting to avenge his dead comrades, and
hit Leeky before he reached the land; and he fell forward at the blow
and his soul went down to Hades. And seeing this, the Cabbage-climber
took a clod of mud and hurled it at the Mouse, plastering all his
forehead and nearly blinding him. Thereat Crumb-snatcher was enraged
and caught up in his strong hand a huge stone that lay upon the ground,
a heavy burden for the soil: with that he hit Cabbage-climber below the
knee and splintered his whole right shin, hurling him on his back in
the dust. But Croakperson kept him off, and rushing at the Mouse in
turn, hit him in the middle of the belly and drove the whole reed-spear
into him, and as he drew the spear back to him with his strong hand,
all his foe’s bowels gushed out upon the ground. And when Troglodyte
saw the deed, as he was limping away from the fight on the river bank,
he shrank back sorely moved, and leaped into a trench to escape sheer
death. Then Bread-nibbler hit Puff-jaw on the toes—he came up at the
last from the lake and was greatly distressed....

((LACUNA))

(ll. 252-259) And when Leeky saw him fallen forward, but still half
alive, he pressed through those who fought in front and hurled a sharp
reed at him; but the point of the spear was stayed and did not break
his shield. Then noble Rueful, like Ares himself, struck his flawless
head-piece made of four pots—he only among the Frogs showed prowess in
the throng. But when he saw the other rush at him, he did not stay to
meet the stout-hearted hero but dived down to the depths of the lake.

(ll. 260-271) Now there was one among the Mice, Slice-snatcher, who
excelled the rest, dear son of Gnawer the son of blameless
Bread-stealer. He went to his house and bade his son take part in the
war. This warrior threatened to destroy the race of Frogs utterly 3603,
and splitting a chestnut-husk into two parts along the joint, put the
two hollow pieces as armour on his paws: then straightway the Frogs
were dismayed and all rushed down to the lake, and he would have made
good his boast—for he had great strength—had not the Son of Cronos, the
Father of men and gods, been quick to mark the thing and pitied the
Frogs as they were perishing. He shook his head, and uttered this word:

(ll. 272-276) ‘Dear, dear, how fearful a deed do my eyes behold!
Slice-snatcher makes no small panic rushing to and fro among the Frogs
by the lake. Let us then make all haste and send warlike Pallas or even
Ares, for they will stop his fighting, strong though he is.’

(ll. 277-284) So said the Son of Cronos; but Hera answered him: ‘Son of
Cronos, neither the might of Athena nor of Ares can avail to deliver
the Frogs from utter destruction. Rather, come and let us all go to
help them, or else let loose your weapon, the great and formidable
Titan-killer with which you killed Capaneus, that doughty man, and
great Enceladus and the wild tribes of Giants; ay, let it loose, for so
the most valiant will be slain.’

(ll. 285-293) So said Hera: and the Son of Cronos cast a lurid
thunderbolt: first he thundered and made great Olympus shake, and the
cast the thunderbolt, the awful weapon of Zeus, tossing it lightly
forth. Thus he frightened them all, Frogs and Mice alike, hurling his
bolt upon them. Yet even so the army of the Mice did not relax, but
hoped still more to destroy the brood of warrior Frogs. Only, the Son
of Cronos, on Olympus, pitied the Frogs and then straightway sent them
helpers.

(ll. 294-303) So there came suddenly warriors with mailed backs and
curving claws, crooked beasts that walked sideways, nut-cracker-jawed,
shell-hided: bony they were, flat-backed, with glistening shoulders and
bandy legs and stretching arms and eyes that looked behind them. They
had also eight legs and two feelers—persistent creatures who are called
crabs. These nipped off the tails and paws and feet of the Mice with
their jaws, while spears only beat on them. Of these the Mice were all
afraid and no longer stood up to them, but turned and fled. Already the
sun was set, and so came the end of the one-day war.



OF THE ORIGIN OF HOMER AND HESIOD, AND OF THEIR CONTEST


Everyone boasts that the most divine of poets, Homer and Hesiod, are
said to be his particular countrymen. Hesiod, indeed, has put a name to
his native place and so prevented any rivalry, for he said that his
father ‘settled near Helicon in a wretched hamlet, Ascra, which is
miserable in winter, sultry in summer, and good at no season.’ But, as
for Homer, you might almost say that every city with its inhabitants
claims him as her son. Foremost are the men of Smyrna who say that he
was the Son of Meles, the river of their town, by a nymph Cretheis, and
that he was at first called Melesigenes. He was named Homer later, when
he became blind, this being their usual epithet for such people. The
Chians, on the other hand, bring forward evidence to show that he was
their countryman, saying that there actually remain some of his
descendants among them who are called Homeridae. The Colophonians even
show the place where they declare that he began to compose when a
schoolmaster, and say that his first work was the _Margites_.

As to his parents also, there is on all hands great disagreement.

Hellanicus and Cleanthes say his father was Maeon, but Eugaeon says
Meles; Callicles is for Mnesagoras, Democritus of Troezen for Daemon, a
merchant-trader. Some, again, say he was the son of Thamyras, but the
Egyptians say of Menemachus, a priest-scribe, and there are even those
who father him on Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. As for his mother,
she is variously called Metis, Cretheis, Themista, and Eugnetho. Others
say she was an Ithacan woman sold as a slave by the Phoenicians; other,
Calliope the Muse; others again Polycasta, the daughter of Nestor.

Homer himself was called Meles or, according to different accounts,
Melesigenes or Altes. Some authorities say he was called Homer, because
his father was given as a hostage to the Persians by the men of Cyprus;
others, because of his blindness; for amongst the Aeolians the blind
are so called. We will set down, however, what we have heard to have
been said by the Pythia concerning Homer in the time of the most sacred
Emperor Hadrian. When the monarch inquired from what city Homer came,
and whose son he was, the priestess delivered a response in hexameters
after this fashion:

‘Do you ask me of the obscure race and country of the heavenly siren?
Ithaca is his country, Telemachus his father, and Epicasta, Nestor’s
daughter, the mother that bare him, a man by far the wisest of mortal
kind.’ This we must most implicitly believe, the inquirer and the
answerer being who they are—especially since the poet has so greatly
glorified his grandfather in his works.

Now some say that he was earlier than Hesiod, others that he was
younger and akin to him. They give his descent thus: Apollo and
Aethusa, daughter of Poseidon, had a son Linus, to whom was born
Pierus. From Pierus and the nymph Methone sprang Oeager; and from
Oeager and Calliope Orpheus; from Orpheus, Dres; and from him, Eucles.
The descent is continued through Iadmonides, Philoterpes, Euphemus,
Epiphrades and Melanopus who had sons Dius and Apelles. Dius by
Pycimede, the daughter of Apollo had two sons Hesiod and Perses; while
Apelles begot Maeon who was the father of Homer by a daughter of the
River Meles.

According to one account they flourished at the same time and even had
a contest of skill at Chalcis in Euboea. For, they say, after Homer had
composed the _Margites_, he went about from city to city as a minstrel,
and coming to Delphi, inquired who he was and of what country? The
Pythia answered:

‘The Isle of Ios is your mother’s country and it shall receive you
dead; but beware of the riddle of the young children.’ 3701

Hearing this, it is said, he hesitated to go to Ios, and remained in
the region where he was. Now about the same time Ganyctor was
celebrating the funeral rites of his father Amphidamas, king of Euboea,
and invited to the gathering not only all those who were famous for
bodily strength and fleetness of foot, but also those who excelled in
wit, promising them great rewards. And so, as the story goes, the two
went to Chalcis and met by chance. The leading Chalcidians were judges
together with Paneides, the brother of the dead king; and it is said
that after a wonderful contest between the two poets, Hesiod won in the
following manner: he came forward into the midst and put Homer one
question after another, which Homer answered. Hesiod, then, began:

‘Homer, son of Meles, inspired with wisdom from heaven, come, tell me
first what is best for mortal man?’

HOMER: ‘For men on earth ’tis best never to be born at all; or being
born, to pass through the gates of Hades with all speed.’

Hesiod then asked again:

‘Come, tell me now this also, godlike Homer: what think you in your
heart is most delightsome to men?’

Homer answered:

‘When mirth reigns throughout the town, and feasters about the house,
sitting in order, listen to a minstrel; when the tables beside them are
laden with bread and meat, and a wine-bearer draws sweet drink from the
mixing-bowl and fills the cups: this I think in my heart to be most
delightsome.’

It is said that when Homer had recited these verses, they were so
admired by the Greeks as to be called golden by them, and that even now
at public sacrifices all the guests solemnly recite them before feasts
and libations. Hesiod, however, was annoyed by Homer’s felicity and
hurried on to pose him with hard questions. He therefore began with the
following lines:

‘Come, Muse; sing not to me of things that are, or that shall be, or
that were of old; but think of another song.’

Then Homer, wishing to escape from the impasse by an apt answer,
replied:—

‘Never shall horses with clattering hoofs break chariots, striving for
victory about the tomb of Zeus.’

Here again Homer had fairly met Hesiod, and so the latter turned to
sentences of doubtful meaning 3702: he recited many lines and required
Homer to complete the sense of each appropriately. The first of the
following verses is Hesiod’s and the next Homer’s: but sometimes Hesiod
puts his question in two lines.

HESIOD: ‘Then they dined on the flesh of oxen and their horses’ necks—’

HOMER: ‘They unyoked dripping with sweat, when they had had enough of
war.’

HESIOD: ‘And the Phrygians, who of all men are handiest at ships—’

HOMER: ‘To filch their dinner from pirates on the beach.’

HESIOD: ‘To shoot forth arrows against the tribes of cursed giants with
his hands—’

HOMER: ‘Heracles unslung his curved bow from his shoulders.’

HESIOD: ‘This man is the son of a brave father and a weakling—’

HOMER: ‘Mother; for war is too stern for any woman.’

HESIOD: ‘But for you, your father and lady mother lay in love—’

HOMER: ‘When they begot you by the aid of golden Aphrodite.’

HESIOD: ‘But when she had been made subject in love, Artemis, who
delights in arrows—’

HOMER: ‘Slew Callisto with a shot of her silver bow.’

HESIOD: ‘So they feasted all day long, taking nothing—’

HOMER: ‘From their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men, supplied
them.’

HESIOD: ‘When they had feasted, they gathered among the glowing ashes
the bones of the dead Zeus—’

HOMER: ‘Born Sarpedon, that bold and godlike man.’

HESIOD: ‘Now we have lingered thus about the plain of Simois, forth
from the ships let us go our way, upon our shoulders—’

HOMER: ‘Having our hilted swords and long-helved spears.’

HESIOD: ‘Then the young heroes with their hands from the sea—’

HOMER: ‘Gladly and swiftly hauled out their fleet ship.’

HESIOD: ‘Then they came to Colchis and king Aeetes—’

HOMER: ‘They avoided; for they knew he was inhospitable and lawless.’

HESIOD: ‘Now when they had poured libations and deeply drunk, the
surging sea—’

HOMER: ‘They were minded to traverse on well-built ships.’

HESIOD: ‘The Son of Atreus prayed greatly for them that they all might
perish—’

HOMER: ‘At no time in the sea: and he opened his mouth said:’

HESIOD: ‘Eat, my guests, and drink, and may no one of you return home
to his dear country—’

HOMER: ‘Distressed; but may you all reach home again unscathed.’

When Homer had met him fairly on every point Hesiod said:

‘Only tell me this thing that I ask: How many Achaeans went to Ilium
with the sons of Atreus?’

Homer answered in a mathematical problem, thus:

‘There were fifty hearths, and at each hearth were fifty spits, and on
each spit were fifty carcases, and there were thrice three hundred
Achaeans to each joint.’

This is found to be an incredible number; for as there were fifty
hearths, the number of spits is two thousand five hundred; and of
carcasses, one hundred and twenty thousand...

Homer, then, having the advantage on every point, Hesiod was jealous
and began again:

‘Homer, son of Meles, if indeed the Muses, daughters of great Zeus the
most high, honour you as it is said, tell me a standard that is both
best and worst for mortal-men; for I long to know it.’ Homer replied:
‘Hesiod, son of Dius, I am willing to tell you what you command, and
very readily will I answer you. For each man to be a standard will I
answer you. For each man to be a standard to himself is most excellent
for the good, but for the bad it is the worst of all things. And now
ask me whatever else your heart desires.’

HESIOD: ‘How would men best dwell in cities, and with what
observances?’

HOMER: ‘By scorning to get unclean gain and if the good were honoured,
but justice fell upon the unjust.’

HESIOD: ‘What is the best thing of all for a man to ask of the gods in
prayer?’

HOMER: ‘That he may be always at peace with himself continually.’

HESIOD: ‘Can you tell me in briefest space what is best of all?’

HOMER: ‘A sound mind in a manly body, as I believe.’

HESIOD: ‘Of what effect are righteousness and courage?’

HOMER: ‘To advance the common good by private pains.’

HESIOD: ‘What is the mark of wisdom among men?’

HOMER: ‘To read aright the present, and to march with the occasion.’

HESIOD: ‘In what kind of matter is it right to trust in men?’

HOMER: ‘Where danger itself follows the action close.’

HESIOD: ‘What do men mean by happiness?’

HOMER: ‘Death after a life of least pain and greatest pleasure.’

After these verses had been spoken, all the Hellenes called for Homer
to be crowned. But King Paneides bade each of them recite the finest
passage from his own poems. Hesiod, therefore, began as follows:

‘When the Pleiads, the daughters of Atlas, begin to rise begin the
harvest, and begin ploughing ere they set. For forty nights and days
they are hidden, but appear again as the year wears round, when first
the sickle is sharpened. This is the law of the plains and for those
who dwell near the sea or live in the rich-soiled valleys, far from the
wave-tossed deep: strip to sow, and strip to plough, and strip to reap
when all things are in season.’ 3703

Then Homer:

‘The ranks stood firm about the two Aiantes, such that not even Ares
would have scorned them had he met them, nor yet Athena who saves
armies. For there the chosen best awaited the charge of the Trojans and
noble Hector, making a fence of spears and serried shields. Shield
closed with shield, and helm with helm, and each man with his fellow,
and the peaks of their head-pieces with crests of horse-hair touched as
they bent their heads: so close they stood together. The murderous
battle bristled with the long, flesh-rending spears they held, and the
flash of bronze from polished helms and new-burnished breast-plates and
gleaming shields blinded the eyes. Very hard of heart would he have
been, who could then have seen that strife with joy and felt no pang.’
3704

Here, again, the Hellenes applauded Homer admiringly, so far did the
verses exceed the ordinary level; and demanded that he should be
adjudged the winner. But the king gave the crown to Hesiod, declaring
that it was right that he who called upon men to follow peace and
husbandry should have the prize rather than one who dwelt on war and
slaughter. In this way, then, we are told, Hesiod gained the victory
and received a brazen tripod which he dedicated to the Muses with this
inscription:

‘Hesiod dedicated this tripod to the Muses of Helicon after he had
conquered divine Homer at Chalcis in a contest of song.’

After the gathering was dispersed, Hesiod crossed to the mainland and
went to Delphi to consult the oracle and to dedicate the first fruits
of his victory to the god. They say that as he was approaching the
temple, the prophetess became inspired and said:

‘Blessed is this man who serves my house,—Hesiod, who is honoured by
the deathless Muses: surely his renown shall be as wide as the light of
dawn is spread. But beware of the pleasant grove of Nemean Zeus; for
there death’s end is destined to befall you.’

When Hesiod heard this oracle, he kept away from the Peloponnesus,
supposing that the god meant the Nemea there; and coming to Oenoe in
Locris, he stayed with Amphiphanes and Ganyetor the sons of Phegeus,
thus unconsciously fulfilling the oracle; for all that region was
called the sacred place of Nemean Zeus. He continued to stay a somewhat
long time at Oenoe, until the young men, suspecting Hesiod of seducing
their sister, killed him and cast his body into the sea which separates
Achaea and Locris. On the third day, however, his body was brought to
land by dolphins while some local feast of Ariadne was being held.
Thereupon, all the people hurried to the shore, and recognized the
body, lamented over it and buried it, and then began to look for the
assassins. But these, fearing the anger of their countrymen, launched a
fishing boat, and put out to sea for Crete: they had finished half
their voyage when Zeus sank them with a thunderbolt, as Alcidamas
states in his “Museum”. Eratosthenes, however, says in his “Hesiod”
that Ctimenus and Antiphus, sons of Ganyetor, killed him for the reason
already stated, and were sacrificed by Eurycles the seer to the gods of
hospitality. He adds that the girl, sister of the above-named, hanged
herself after she had been seduced, and that she was seduced by some
stranger, Demodes by name, who was travelling with Hesiod, and who was
also killed by the brothers. At a later time the men of Orchomenus
removed his body as they were directed by an oracle, and buried him in
their own country where they placed this inscription on his tomb:

‘Ascra with its many cornfields was his native land; but in death the
land of the horse-driving Minyans holds the bones of Hesiod, whose
renown is greatest among men of all who are judged by the test of wit.’

So much for Hesiod. But Homer, after losing the victory, went from
place to place reciting his poems, and first of all the _Thebais_ in
seven thousand verses which begins: ‘Goddess, sing of parched Argos
whence kings...’, and then the _Epigoni_ in seven thousand verses
beginning: ‘And now, Muses, let us begin to sing of men of later days’;
for some say that these poems also are by Homer. Now Xanthus and
Gorgus, son of Midas the king, heard his epics and invited him to
compose a epitaph for the tomb of their father on which was a bronze
figure of a maiden bewailing the death of Midas. He wrote the following
lines:—

‘I am a maiden of bronze and sit upon the tomb of Midas. While water
flows, and tall trees put forth leaves, and rivers swell, and the sea
breaks on the shore; while the sun rises and shines and the bright moon
also, ever remaining on this mournful tomb I tell the passer-by that
Midas here lies buried.’

For these verses they gave him a silver bowl which he dedicated to
Apollo at Delphi with this inscription: ‘Lord Phoebus, I, Homer, have
given you a noble gift for the wisdom I have of you: do you ever grant
me renown.’

After this he composed the _Odyssey_ in twelve thousand verses, having
previously written the _Iliad_ in fifteen thousand five hundred verses
3705. From Delphi, as we are told, he went to Athens and was
entertained by Medon, king of the Athenians. And being one day in the
council hall when it was cold and a fire was burning there, he drew off
the following lines:

‘Children are a man’s crown, and towers of a city, horses are the
ornament of a plain, and ships of the sea; and good it is to see a
people seated in assembly. But with a blazing fire a house looks
worthier upon a wintry day when the Son of Cronos sends down snow.’

From Athens he went on to Corinth, where he sang snatches of his poems
and was received with distinction. Next he went to Argos and there
recited these verses from the _Iliad_:

‘The sons of the Achaeans who held Argos and walled Tiryns, and
Hermione and Asine which lie along a deep bay, and Troezen, and Eiones,
and vine-clad Epidaurus, and the island of Aegina, and Mases,—these
followed strong-voiced Diomedes, son of Tydeus, who had the spirit of
his father the son of Oeneus, and Sthenelus, dear son of famous
Capaneus. And with these two there went a third leader, Eurypylus, a
godlike man, son of the lord Mecisteus, sprung of Talaus; but
strong-voiced Diomedes was their chief leader. These men had eighty
dark ships wherein were ranged men skilled in war, Argives with linen
jerkins, very goads of war.’ 3706

This praise of their race by the most famous of all poets so
exceedingly delighted the leading Argives, that they rewarded him with
costly gifts and set up a brazen statue to him, decreeing that
sacrifice should be offered to Homer daily, monthly, and yearly; and
that another sacrifice should be sent to Chios every five years. This
is the inscription they cut upon his statue:

‘This is divine Homer who by his sweet-voiced art honoured all proud
Hellas, but especially the Argives who threw down the god-built walls
of Troy to avenge rich-haired Helen. For this cause the people of a
great city set his statue here and serve him with the honours of the
deathless gods.’

After he had stayed for some time in Argos, he crossed over to Delos,
to the great assembly, and there, standing on the altar of horns, he
recited the _Hymn to Apollo_ 3707 which begins: ‘I will remember and
not forget Apollo the far-shooter.’ When the hymn was ended, the
Ionians made him a citizen of each one of their states, and the Delians
wrote the poem on a whitened tablet and dedicated it in the temple of
Artemis. The poet sailed to Ios, after the assembly was broken up, to
join Creophylus, and stayed there some time, being now an old man. And,
it is said, as he was sitting by the sea he asked some boys who were
returning from fishing:

‘Sirs, hunters of deep-sea prey, have we caught anything?’

To this replied:

‘All that we caught, we left behind, and carry away all that we did not
catch.’

Homer did not understand this reply and asked what they meant. They
then explained that they had caught nothing in fishing, but had been
catching their lice, and those of the lice which they caught, they left
behind; but carried away in their clothes those which they did not
catch. Hereupon Homer remembered the oracle and, perceiving that the
end of his life had come composed his own epitaph. And while he was
retiring from that place, he slipped in a clayey place and fell upon
his side, and died, it is said, the third day after. He was buried in
Ios, and this is his epitaph:

‘Here the earth covers the sacred head of divine Homer, the glorifier
of hero-men.’



ENDNOTES


1101 (return) [ sc. in Boeotia, Locris and Thessaly: elsewhere the
movement was forced and unfruitful.]

1102 (return) [ The extant collection of three poems, _Works and Days_,
_Theogony_, and _Shield of Heracles_, which alone have come down to us
complete, dates at least from the 4th century A.D.: the title of the
Paris Papyrus (Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Gr. 1099) names only these three
works.]

1103 (return) [ _Der Dialekt des Hesiodes_, p. 464: examples are AENEMI
(W. and D. 683) and AROMENAI (_ib_. 22).]

1104 (return) [ T.W. Allen suggests that the conjured Delian and
Pythian hymns to Apollo (_Homeric Hymns_ III) may have suggested this
version of the story, the Pythian hymn showing strong continental
influence.]

1105 (return) [ She is said to have given birth to the lyrist
Stesichorus.]

1106 (return) [ See Kinkel _Epic. Graec. Frag._ i. 158 ff.]

1107 (return) [ See _Great Works_, frag. 2.]

1108 (return) [ _Hesiodi Fragmenta_, pp. 119 f.]

1109 (return) [ Possibly the division of this poem into two books is a
division belonging solely to this ‘developed poem’, which may have
included in its second part a summary of the Tale of Troy.]

1110 (return) [ Goettling’s explanation.]

1111 (return) [ x. 1. 52.]

1112 (return) [ Odysseus appears to have been mentioned once only—and
that casually—in the _Returns_.]

1113 (return) [ M.M. Croiset note that the _Aethiopis_ and the _Sack_
were originally merely parts of one work containing lays (the
Amazoneia, Aethiopis, Persis, etc.), just as the _Iliad_ contained
various lays such as the Diomedeia.]

1114 (return) [ No date is assigned to him, but it seems likely that he
was either contemporary or slightly earlier than Lesches.]

1115 (return) [ Cp. Allen and Sikes, _Homeric Hymns_ p. xv. In the text
I have followed the arrangement of these scholars, numbering the Hymns
to Dionysus and to Demeter, I and II respectively: to place _Demeter_
after _Hermes_, and the Hymn to Dionysus at the end of the collection
seems to be merely perverse.]

1116 (return) [ _Greek Melic Poets_, p. 165.]

1117 (return) [ This monument was returned to Greece in the 1980’s.—
DBK.]

1118 (return) [ Cp. Marckscheffel, _Hesiodi fragmenta_, p. 35. The
papyrus fragment recovered by Petrie (_Petrie Papyri_, ed. Mahaffy, p.
70, No. xxv.) agrees essentially with the extant document, but differs
in numerous minor textual points.]

1201 (return) [ See Schubert, _Berl. Klassikertexte_ v. 1.22 ff.; the
other papyri may be found in the publications whose name they bear.]

1202 (return) [ Unless otherwise noted, all MSS. are of the 15th
century.]

1203 (return) [ To this list I would also add the following: _Hesiod
and Theognis_, translated by Dorothea Wender (Penguin Classics, London,
1973).—DBK.]

1301 (return) [ That is, the poor man’s fare, like ‘bread and cheese’.]

1302 (return) [ The All-endowed.]

1303 (return) [ The jar or casket contained the gifts of the gods
mentioned in l.82.]

1304 (return) [ Eustathius refers to Hesiod as stating that men sprung
“from oaks and stones and ashtrees”. Proclus believed that the Nymphs
called Meliae (_Theogony_, 187) are intended. Goettling would render:
“A race terrible because of their (ashen) spears.”]

1305 (return) [ Preserved only by Proclus, from whom some inferior MSS.
have copied the verse. The four following lines occur only in Geneva
Papyri No. 94. For the restoration of ll. 169b-c see “Class. Quart.”
vii. 219-220. (NOTE: Mr. Evelyn-White means that the version quoted by
Proclus stops at this point, then picks up at l. 170.—DBK).]

1306 (return) [ _i.e._ the race will so degenerate that at the last
even a new-born child will show the marks of old age.]

1307 (return) [ Aidos, as a quality, is that feeling of reverence or
shame which restrains men from wrong: Nemesis is the feeling of
righteous indignation aroused especially by the sight of the wicked in
undeserved prosperity (_cf. Psalms_, lxxii. 1-19).]

1308 (return) [ The alternative version is: ‘and, working, you will be
much better loved both by gods and men; for they greatly dislike the
idle.’]

1309 (return) [ _i.e._ neighbours come at once and without making
preparations, but kinsmen by marriage (who live at a distance) have to
prepare, and so are long in coming.]

1310 (return) [ Early in May.]

1311 (return) [ In November.]

1312 (return) [ In October.]

1313 (return) [ For pounding corn.]

1314 (return) [ A mallet for breaking clods after ploughing.]

1315 (return) [ The loaf is a flattish cake with two intersecting lines
scored on its upper surface which divide it into four equal parts.]

1316 (return) [ The meaning is obscure. A scholiast renders ‘giving
eight mouthfulls’; but the elder Philostratus uses the word in contrast
to ‘leavened’.]

1317 (return) [ About the middle of November.]

1318 (return) [ Spring is so described because the buds have not yet
cast their iron-grey husks.]

1319 (return) [ In December.]

1320 (return) [ In March.]

1321 (return) [ The latter part of January and earlier part of
February.]

1322 (return) [ _i.e._ the octopus or cuttle.]

1323 (return) [ _i.e._ the darker-skinned people of Africa, the
Egyptians or Aethiopians.]

1324 (return) [ _i.e._ an old man walking with a staff (the ‘third
leg’— as in the riddle of the Sphinx).]

1325 (return) [ February to March.]

1326 (return) [ _i.e._ the snail. The season is the middle of May.]

1327 (return) [ In June.]

1328 (return) [ July.]

1329 (return) [ _i.e._ a robber.]

1330 (return) [ September.]

1331 (return) [ The end of October.]

1332 (return) [ That is, the succession of stars which make up the full
year.]

1333 (return) [ The end of October or beginning of November.]

1334 (return) [ July-August.]

1335 (return) [ _i.e._ untimely, premature. Juvenal similarly speaks of
‘cruda senectus’ (caused by gluttony).]

1336 (return) [ The thought is parallel to that of ‘O, what a goodly
outside falsehood hath.’]

1337 (return) [ The ‘common feast’ is one to which all present
subscribe. Theognis (line 495) says that one of the chief pleasures of
a banquet is the general conversation. Hence the present passage means
that such a feast naturally costs little, while the many present will
make pleasurable conversation.]

1338 (return) [ _i.e._ ‘do not cut your finger-nails’.]

1339 (return) [ _i.e._ things which it would be sacrilege to disturb,
such as tombs.]

1340 (return) [ H.G. Evelyn-White prefers to switch ll. 768 and 769,
reading l. 769 first then l. 768.—DBK]

1341 (return) [ The month is divided into three periods, the waxing,
the mid-month, and the waning, which answer to the phases of the moon.]

1342 (return) [ _i.e._ the ant.]

1343 (return) [ Such seems to be the meaning here, though the epithet
is otherwise rendered ‘well-rounded’. Corn was threshed by means of a
sleigh with two runners having three or four rollers between them, like
the modern Egyptian _nurag_.]

1401 (return) [ This halt verse is added by the Scholiast on Aratus,
172.]

1402 (return) [ The “Catasterismi” (“Placings among the Stars”) is a
collection of legends relating to the various constellations.]

1403 (return) [ The Straits of Messina.]

1501 (return) [ Or perhaps ‘a Scythian’.]

1601 (return) [ The epithet probably indicates coquettishness.]

1602 (return) [ A proverbial saying meaning, ‘why enlarge on irrelevant
topics?’]

1603 (return) [ ‘She of the noble voice’: Calliope is queen of Epic
poetry.]

1604 (return) [ Earth, in the cosmology of Hesiod, is a disk surrounded
by the river Oceanus and floating upon a waste of waters. It is called
the foundation of all (the qualification ‘the deathless ones...’ etc.
is an interpolation), because not only trees, men, and animals, but
even the hills and seas (ll. 129, 131) are supported by it.]

1605 (return) [ Aether is the bright, untainted upper atmosphere, as
distinguished from Aer, the lower atmosphere of the earth.]

1606 (return) [ Brontes is the Thunderer; Steropes, the Lightener; and
Arges, the Vivid One.]

1607 (return) [ The myth accounts for the separation of Heaven and
Earth. In Egyptian cosmology Nut (the Sky) is thrust and held apart
from her brother Geb (the Earth) by their father Shu, who corresponds
to the Greek Atlas.]

1608 (return) [ Nymphs of the ash-trees, as Dryads are nymphs of the
oak-trees. Cp. note on _Works and Days_, l. 145.]

1609 (return) [ ‘Member-loving’: the title is perhaps only a perversion
of the regular PHILOMEIDES (laughter-loving).]

1610 (return) [ Cletho (the Spinner) is she who spins the thread of
man’s life; Lachesis (the Disposer of Lots) assigns to each man his
destiny; Atropos (She who cannot be turned) is the ‘Fury with the
abhorred shears.’]

1611 (return) [ Many of the names which follow express various
qualities or aspects of the sea: thus Galene is ‘Calm’, Cymothoe is the
‘Wave-swift’, Pherusa and Dynamene are ‘She who speeds (ships)’ and
‘She who has power’.]

1612 (return) [ The ‘Wave-receiver’ and the ‘Wave-stiller’.]

1613 (return) [ ‘The Unerring’ or ‘Truthful’; cp. l. 235.]

1614 (return) [ _i.e._ Poseidon.]

1615 (return) [ Goettling notes that some of these nymphs derive their
names from lands over which they preside, as Europa, Asia, Doris,
Ianeira (‘Lady of the Ionians’), but that most are called after some
quality which their streams possessed: thus Xanthe is the ‘Brown’ or
‘Turbid’, Amphirho is the ‘Surrounding’ river, Ianthe is ‘She who
delights’, and Ocyrrhoe is the ‘Swift-flowing’.]

1616 (return) [ _i.e._ Eos, the ‘Early-born’.]

1617 (return) [ Van Lennep explains that Hecate, having no brothers to
support her claim, might have been slighted.]

1618 (return) [ The goddess of the _hearth_ (the Roman _Vesta_), and so
of the house. Cp. _Homeric Hymns_ v.22 ff.; xxxix.1 ff.]

1619 (return) [ The variant reading ‘of his father’ (sc. Heaven) rests
on inferior MS. authority and is probably an alteration due to the
difficulty stated by a Scholiast: ‘How could Zeus, being not yet
begotten, plot against his father?’ The phrase is, however, part of the
prophecy. The whole line may well be spurious, and is rejected by
Heyne, Wolf, Gaisford and Guyet.]

1620 (return) [ Pausanias (x. 24.6) saw near the tomb of Neoptolemus ‘a
stone of no great size’, which the Delphians anointed every day with
oil, and which he says was supposed to be the stone given to Cronos.]

1621 (return) [ A Scholiast explains: ‘Either because they (men) sprang
from the Melian nymphs (cp. l. 187); or because, when they were born
(?), they cast themselves under the ash-trees, that is, the trees.’ The
reference may be to the origin of men from ash-trees: cp. _Works and
Days_, l. 145 and note.]

1622 (return) [ _sc_. Atlas, the Shu of Egyptian mythology: cp. note on
line 177.]

1623 (return) [ Oceanus is here regarded as a continuous stream
enclosing the earth and the seas, and so as flowing back upon himself.]

1624 (return) [ The conception of Oceanus is here different: he has
nine streams which encircle the earth and then flow out into the ‘main’
which appears to be the waste of waters on which, according to early
Greek and Hebrew cosmology, the disk-like earth floated.]

1625 (return) [ _i.e._ the threshold is of ‘native’ metal, and not
artificial.]

1626 (return) [ According to Homer Typhoeus was overwhelmed by Zeus
amongst the Arimi in Cilicia. Pindar represents him as buried under
Aetna, and Tzetzes reads Aetna in this passage.]

1627 (return) [ The epithet (which means literally _well-bored_) seems
to refer to the spout of the crucible.]

1628 (return) [ The fire god. There is no reference to volcanic action:
iron was smelted on Mount Ida; cp. _Epigrams of Homer_, ix. 2-4.]

1629 (return) [ _i.e._ Athena, who was born ‘on the banks of the river
Trito’ (cp. l. 929l)]

1630 (return) [ Restored by Peppmuller. The nineteen following lines
from another recension of lines 889-900, 924-9 are quoted by Chrysippus
(in Galen).]

1631 (return) [ _sc_. the aegis. Line 929s is probably spurious, since
it disagrees with l. 929q and contains a suspicious reference to
Athens.]

1701 (return) [ A catalogue of heroines each of whom was introduced
with the words E OIE, ‘Or like her’.]

1702 (return) [ An antiquarian writer of Byzantium, c. 490-570 A.D.]

1703 (return) [ Constantine VII. ‘Born in the Porphyry Chamber’,
905-959 A.D.]

1704 (return) [ “Berlin Papyri”, 7497 (left-hand fragment) and
“Oxyrhynchus Papyri”, 421 (right-hand fragment). For the restoration
see “Class. Quart.” vii. 217-8.]

1705 (return) [ As the price to be given to her father for her: so in
_Iliad_ xviii. 593 maidens are called ‘earners of oxen’. Possibly
Glaucus, like Aias (fr. 68, ll. 55 ff.), raided the cattle of others.]

1706 (return) [ _i.e._ Glaucus should father the children of others.
The curse of Aphrodite on the daughters of Tyndareus (fr. 67) may be
compared.]

1707 (return) [ Porphyry, scholar, mathematician, philosopher and
historian, lived 233-305 (?) A.D. He was a pupil of the neo-Platonist
Plotinus.]

1708 (return) [ Author of a geographical lexicon, produced after 400
A.D., and abridged under Justinian.]

1709 (return) [ Archbishop of Thessalonica 1175-1192 (?) A.D., author
of commentaries on Pindar and on the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_.]

1710 (return) [ In the earliest times a loin-cloth was worn by
athletes, but was discarded after the 14th Olympiad.]

1711 (return) [ Slight remains of five lines precede line 1 in the
original: after line 20 an unknown number of lines have been lost, and
traces of a verse preceding line 21 are here omitted. Between lines 29
and 30 are fragments of six verses which do not suggest any definite
restoration. (NOTE: Line enumeration is that according to Evelyn-White;
a slightly different line numbering system is adopted in the original
publication of this fragment.—DBK)]

1712 (return) [ The end of Schoeneus’ speech, the preparations and the
beginning of the race are lost.]

1713 (return) [ Of the three which Aphrodite gave him to enable him to
overcome Atalanta.]

1714 (return) [ The geographer; fl. c.24 B.C.]

1715 (return) [ Of Miletus, flourished about 520 B.C. His work, a
mixture of history and geography, was used by Herodotus.]

1716 (return) [ The Hesiodic story of the daughters of Proetus can be
reconstructed from these sources. They were sought in marriage by all
the Greeks (Pauhellenes), but having offended Dionysus (or, according
to Servius, Juno), were afflicted with a disease which destroyed their
beauty (or were turned into cows). They were finally healed by
Melampus.]

1717 (return) [ Fl. 56-88 A.D.: he is best known for his work on
Vergil.]

1718 (return) [ This and the following fragment segment are meant to be
read together.—DBK.]

1719 (return) [ This fragment as well as fragments #40A, #101, and #102
were added by Mr. Evelyn-White in an appendix to the second edition
(1919). They are here moved to the _Catalogues_ proper for easier use
by the reader.—DBK.]

1720 (return) [ For the restoration of ll. 1-16 see “Ox. Pap.” pt. xi.
pp. 46-7: the supplements of ll. 17-31 are by the Translator (cp.
“Class. Quart.” x. (1916), pp. 65-67).]

1721 (return) [ The crocus was to attract Europa, as in the very
similar story of Persephone: cp. _Homeric Hymns_ ii. lines 8 ff.]

1722 (return) [ Apollodorus of Athens (fl. 144 B.C.) was a pupil of
Aristarchus. He wrote a Handbook of Mythology, from which the extant
work bearing his name is derived.]

1723 (return) [ Priest at Praeneste. He lived c. 170-230 A.D.]

1724 (return) [ Son of Apollonius Dyscolus, lived in Rome under Marcus
Aurelius. His chief work was on accentuation.]

1725 (return) [ This and the next two fragment segments are meant to be
read together.—DBK.]

1726 (return) [ Sacred to Poseidon. For the custom observed there, cp.
_Homeric Hymns_ iii. 231 ff.]

1727 (return) [ The allusion is obscure.]

1728 (return) [ Apollonius ‘the Crabbed’ was a grammarian of Alexandria
under Hadrian. He wrote largely on Grammar and Syntax.]

1729 (return) [ 275-195 (?) B.C., mathematician, astronomer, scholar,
and head of the Library of Alexandria.]

1730 (return) [ Of Cyme. He wrote a universal history covering the
period between the Dorian Migration and 340 B.C.]

1731 (return) [ _i.e._ the nomad Scythians, who are described by
Herodotus as feeding on mares’ milk and living in caravans.]

1732 (return) [ The restorations are mainly those adopted or suggested
in “Ox. Pap.” pt. xi. pp. 48 ff.: for those of ll. 8-14 see “Class.
Quart.” x. (1916) pp. 67-69.]

1733 (return) [ _i.e._ those who seek to outwit the oracle, or to ask
of it more than they ought, will be deceived by it and be led to ruin:
cp. _Hymn to Hermes_, 541 ff.]

1734 (return) [ Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas, who were amongst the
Argonauts, delivered Phineus from the Harpies. The Strophades (‘Islands
of Turning’) are here supposed to have been so called because the sons
of Boreas were there turned back by Iris from pursuing the Harpies.]

1735 (return) [ An Epicurean philosopher, fl. 50 B.C.]

1736 (return) [ ‘Charming-with-her-voice’ (or ‘Charming-the-mind’),
‘Song’, and ‘Lovely-sounding’.]

1737 (return) [ Diodorus Siculus, fl. 8 B.C., author of an universal
history ending with Caesar’s Gallic Wars.]

1738 (return) [ The first epic in the “Trojan Cycle”; like all ancient
epics it was ascribed to Homer, but also, with more probability, to
Stasinus of Cyprus.]

1739 (return) [ This fragment is placed by Spohn after _Works and Days_
l. 120.]

1740 (return) [ A Greek of Asia Minor, author of the “Description of
Greece” (on which he was still engaged in 173 A.D.).]

1741 (return) [ Wilamowitz thinks one or other of these citations
belongs to the Catalogue.]

1742 (return) [ Lines 1-51 are from Berlin Papyri, 9739; lines 52-106
with B. 1-50 (and following fragments) are from Berlin Papyri, 10560. A
reference by Pausanias (iii. 24. 10) to ll. 100 ff. proves that the two
fragments together come from the _Catalogue of Women_. The second book
(the beginning of which is indicated after l. 106) can hardly be the
second book of the _Catalogues_ proper: possibly it should be assigned
to the EOIAI, which were sometimes treated as part of the _Catalogues_,
and sometimes separated from it. The remains of thirty-seven lines
following B. 50 in the Papyrus are too slight to admit of restoration.]

1743 (return) [ sc. the Suitor whose name is lost.]

1744 (return) [ Wooing was by proxy; so Agamemnon wooed Helen for his
brother Menelaus (ll. 14-15), and Idomeneus, who came in person and
sent no deputy, is specially mentioned as an exception, and the reasons
for this—if the restoration printed in the text be right—is stated (ll.
69 ff.).]

1745 (return) [ The Papyrus here marks the beginning of a second book
possibly of the _Eoiae_. The passage (ll. 2-50) probably led up to an
account of the Trojan (and Theban?) war, in which, according to _Works
and Days_ ll. 161-166, the Race of Heroes perished. The opening of the
_Cypria_ is somewhat similar. Somewhere in the fragmentary lines 13-19
a son of Zeus—almost certainly Apollo—was introduced, though for what
purpose is not clear. With l. 31 the destruction of man (cp. ll. 4-5)
by storms which spoil his crops begins: the remaining verses are
parenthetical, describing the snake “which bears its young in the
spring season”.]

1746 (return) [ _i.e._ the snake; as in _Works and Days_ l. 524, the
“Boneless One” is the cuttle-fish.]

1747 (return) [ c. 1110-1180 A.D. His chief work was a poem,
“Chiliades”, in accentual verse of nearly 13,000 lines.]

1748 (return) [ According to this account Iphigeneia was carried by
Artemis to the Taurie Chersonnese (the Crimea). The Tauri (Herodotus
iv. 103) identified their maiden-goddess with Iphigeneia; but Euripides
(_Iphigeneia in Tauris_) makes her merely priestess of the goddess.]

1749 (return) [ Of Alexandria. He lived in the 5th century, and
compiled a Greek Lexicon.]

1750 (return) [ For his murder Minos exacted a yearly tribute of boys
and girls, to be devoured by the Minotaur, from the Athenians.]

1751 (return) [ Of Naucratis. His “Deipnosophistae” (“Dons at Dinner”)
is an encyclopaedia of miscellaneous topics in the form of a dialogue.
His date is c. 230 A.D.]

1752 (return) [ There is a fancied connection between LAAS (‘stone’)
and LAOS (‘people’). The reference is to the stones which Deucalion and
Pyrrha transformed into men and women after the Flood.]

1753 (return) [ Eustathius identifies Ileus with Oileus, father of
Aias. Here again is fanciful etymology, ILEUS being similar to ILEOS
(complaisant, gracious).]

1754 (return) [ Imitated by Vergil, “Aeneid” vii. 808, describing
Camilla.]

1755 (return) [ c. 600 A.D., a lecturer and grammarian of
Constantinople.]

1756 (return) [ Priest of Apollo, and, according to Homer, discoverer
of wine. Maronea in Thrace is said to have been called after him.]

1757 (return) [ The crow was originally white, but was turned black by
Apollo in his anger at the news brought by the bird.]

1758 (return) [ A philosopher of Athens under Hadrian and Antonius. He
became a Christian and wrote a defence of the Christians addressed to
Antoninus Pius.]

1759 (return) [ Zeus slew Asclepus (fr. 90) because of his success as a
healer, and Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes (fr. 64). In
punishment Apollo was forced to serve Admetus as herdsman. (Cp.
Euripides, _Alcestis_, 1-8)]

1760 (return) [ For Cyrene and Aristaeus, cp. Vergil, _Georgics_, iv.
315 ff.]

1761 (return) [ A writer on mythology of uncertain date.]

1762 (return) [ In Epirus. The oracle was first consulted by Deucalion
and Pyrrha after the Flood. Later writers say that the god responded in
the rustling of leaves in the oaks for which the place was famous.]

1763 (return) [ The fragment is part of a leaf from a papyrus book of
the 4th century A.D.]

1764 (return) [ According to Homer and later writers Meleager wasted
away when his mother Althea burned the brand on which his life
depended, because he had slain her brothers in the dispute for the hide
of the Calydonian boar. (Cp. Bacchylides, “Ode” v. 136 ff.)]

1765 (return) [ The fragment probably belongs to the _Catalogues_
proper rather than to the Eoiae; but, as its position is uncertain, it
may conveniently be associated with Frags. 99A and the _Shield of
Heracles_.]

1766 (return) [ Most of the smaller restorations appear in the original
publication, but the larger are new: these last are highly conjectual,
there being no definite clue to the general sense.]

1767 (return) [ Alcmaon (who took part in the second of the two heroic
Theban expeditions) is perhaps mentioned only incidentally as the son
of Amphiaraus, who seems to be clearly indicated in ll. 7-8, and whose
story occupies ll. 5-10. At l. 11 the subject changes and Electryon is
introduced as father of Alcmena.]

1768 (return) [ The association of ll. 1-16 with ll. 17-24 is presumed
from the apparent mention of Erichthonius in l. 19. A new section must
then begin at l. 21. See “Ox. Pap.” pt. xi. p. 55 (and for restoration
of ll. 5-16, ib. p. 53). ll. 19-20 are restored by the Translator.]

1801 (return) [ A mountain peak near Thebes which took its name from
the Sphinx (called in _Theogony_ l. 326 PHIX).]

1802 (return) [ Cyanus was a glass-paste of deep blue colour: the
‘zones’ were concentric bands in which were the scenes described by the
poet. The figure of Fear (l. 44) occupied the centre of the shield, and
Oceanus (l. 314) enclosed the whole.]

1803 (return) [ ‘She who drives herds,’ _i.e._ ‘The Victorious’, since
herds were the chief spoil gained by the victor in ancient warfare.]

1804 (return) [ The cap of darkness which made its wearer invisible.]

1805 (return) [ The existing text of the vineyard scene is a compound
of two different versions, clumsily adapted, and eked out with some
makeshift additions.]

1806 (return) [ The conception is similar to that of the sculptured
group at Athens of Two Lions devouring a Bull (Dickens, _Cat. of the
Acropolis Museum_, No. 3).]

1901 (return) [ A Greek sophist who taught rhetoric at Rome in the time
of Hadrian. He is the author of a collection of proverbs in three
books.]

2001 (return) [ When Heracles prayed that a son might be born to
Telamon and Eriboea, Zeus sent forth an eagle in token that the prayer
would be granted. Heracles then bade the parents call their son Aias
after the eagle (_aietos_).]

2002 (return) [ Oenomaus, king of Pisa in Elis, warned by an oracle
that he should be killed by his son-in-law, offered his daughter
Hippodamia to the man who could defeat him in a chariot race, on
condition that the defeated suitors should be slain by him. Ultimately
Pelops, through the treachery of the charioteer of Oenomaus, became
victorious.]

2003 (return) [ sc. to Scythia.]

2004 (return) [ In the Homeric _Hymn to Hermes_ Battus almost
disappears from the story, and a somewhat different account of the
stealing of the cattle is given.]

2101 (return) [ sc. Colophon. Proclus in his abstract of the _Returns_
(sc. of the heroes from Troy) says Calchas and his party were present
at the death of Teiresias at Colophon, perhaps indicating another
version of this story.]

2102 (return) [ ll. 1-2 are quoted by Athenaeus, ii. p. 40; ll. 3-4 by
Clement of Alexandria, _Stromateis_ vi. 2. 26. Buttman saw that the two
fragments should be joined. (NOTE: These two fragments should be read
together.—DBK)]

2201 (return) [ sc. the golden fleece of the ram which carried Phrixus
and Helle away from Athamas and Ino. When he reached Colchis Phrixus
sacrificed the ram to Zeus.]

2202 (return) [ Euboea properly means the ‘Island of fine Cattle (or
Cows)’.]

2301 (return) [ This and the following fragment are meant to be read
together.—DBK]

2302 (return) [ cp. Hesiod _Theogony_ 81 ff. But Theognis 169, ‘Whomso
the god honour, even a man inclined to blame praiseth him’, is much
nearer.]

2401 (return) [ Cf. Scholion on Clement, “Protrept.” i. p. 302.]

2402 (return) [ This line may once have been read in the text of _Works
and Days_ after l. 771.]

2501 (return) [ ll. 1-9 are preserved by Diodorus Siculus iii. 66. 3;
ll. 10-21 are extant only in M.]

2502 (return) [ Dionysus, after his untimely birth from Semele, was
sewn into the thigh of Zeus.]

2503 (return) [ _sc_. Semele. Zeus is here speaking.]

2504 (return) [ The reference is apparently to something in the body of
the hymn, now lost.]

2505 (return) [ The Greeks feared to name Pluto directly and mentioned
him by one of many descriptive titles, such as ‘Host of Many’: compare
the Christian use of O DIABOLOS or our ‘Evil One’.]

2506 (return) [ Demeter chooses the lowlier seat, supposedly as being
more suitable to her assumed condition, but really because in her
sorrow she refuses all comforts.]

2507 (return) [ An act of communion—the drinking of the potion here
described—was one of the most important pieces of ritual in the
Eleusinian mysteries, as commemorating the sorrows of the goddess.]

2508 (return) [ Undercutter and Woodcutter are probably popular names
(after the style of Hesiod’s ‘Boneless One’) for the worm thought to be
the cause of teething and toothache.]

2509 (return) [ The list of names is taken—with five additions—from
Hesiod, _Theogony_ 349 ff.: for their general significance see note on
that passage.]

2510 (return) [ Inscriptions show that there was a temple of Apollo
Delphinius (cp. ii. 495-6) at Cnossus and a Cretan month bearing the
same name.]

2511 (return) [ sc. that the dolphin was really Apollo.]

2512 (return) [ The epithets are transferred from the god to his altar
‘Overlooking’ is especially an epithet of Zeus, as in Apollonius
Rhodius ii. 1124.]

2513 (return) [ Pliny notices the efficacy of the flesh of a tortoise
against withcraft. In _Geoponica_ i. 14. 8 the living tortoise is
prescribed as a charm to preserve vineyards from hail.]

2514 (return) [ Hermes makes the cattle walk backwards way, so that
they seem to be going towards the meadow instead of leaving it (cp. l.
345); he himself walks in the normal manner, relying on his sandals as
a disguise.]

2515 (return) [ Such seems to be the meaning indicated by the context,
though the verb is taken by Allen and Sikes to mean, ‘to be like
oneself’, and so ‘to be original’.]

2516 (return) [ Kuhn points out that there is a lacuna here. In l. 109
the borer is described, but the friction of this upon the fireblock (to
which the phrase ‘held firmly’ clearly belongs) must also have been
mentioned.]

2517 (return) [ The cows being on their sides on the ground, Hermes
bends their heads back towards their flanks and so can reach their
backbones.]

2518 (return) [ O. Muller thinks the ‘hides’ were a stalactite
formation in the ‘Cave of Nestor’ near Messenian Pylos,—though the cave
of Hermes is near the Alpheus (l. 139). Others suggest that actual
skins were shown as relics before some cave near Triphylian Pylos.]

2519 (return) [ Gemoll explains that Hermes, having offered all the
meat as sacrifice to the Twelve Gods, remembers that he himself as one
of them must be content with the savour instead of the substance of the
sacrifice. Can it be that by eating he would have forfeited the
position he claimed as one of the Twelve Gods?]

2520 (return) [ _Lit_. “thorn-plucker”.]

2521 (return) [ Hermes is ambitious (l. 175), but if he is cast into
Hades he will have to be content with the leadership of mere babies
like himself, since those in Hades retain the state of growth—whether
childhood or manhood—in which they are at the moment of leaving the
upper world.]

2522 (return) [ Literally, ‘you have made him sit on the floor’, _i.e._
‘you have stolen everything down to his last chair.’]

2523 (return) [ The Thriae, who practised divination by means of
pebbles (also called THRIAE). In this hymn they are represented as aged
maidens (ll. 553-4), but are closely associated with bees (ll. 559-563)
and possibly are here conceived as having human heads and breasts with
the bodies and wings of bees. See the edition of Allen and Sikes,
Appendix III.]

2524 (return) [ Cronos swallowed each of his children the moment that
they were born, but ultimately was forced to disgorge them. Hestia,
being the first to be swallowed, was the last to be disgorged, and so
was at once the first and latest born of the children of Cronos. Cp.
Hesiod _Theogony_, ll. 495-7.]

2525 (return) [ Mr. Evelyn-White prefers a different order for lines
#87-90 than that preserved in the MSS. This translation is based upon
the following sequence: ll. 89,90,87,88.—DBK.]

2526 (return) [ ‘Cattle-earning’, because an accepted suitor paid for
his bride in cattle.]

2527 (return) [ The name Aeneas is here connected with the epithet
AIEOS (awful): similarly the name Odysseus is derived (in _Odyssey_
i.62) from ODYSSMAI (I grieve).]

2528 (return) [ Aphrodite extenuates her disgrace by claiming that the
race of Anchises is almost divine, as is shown in the persons of
Ganymedes and Tithonus.]

2529 (return) [ So Christ connecting the word with OMOS. L. and S. give
= OMOIOS, ‘common to all’.]

2530 (return) [ Probably not Etruscans, but the non-Hellenic peoples of
Thrace and (according to Thucydides) of Lemnos and Athens. Cp.
Herodotus i. 57; Thucydides iv. 109.]

2531 (return) [ This line appears to be an alternative to ll. 10-11.]

2532 (return) [ The name Pan is here derived from PANTES, ‘all’. Cp.
Hesiod, _Works and Days_ ll. 80-82, _Hymn to Aphrodite_ (v) l. 198. for
the significance of personal names.]

2533 (return) [ Mr. Evelyn-White prefers to switch l. 10 and 11,
reading 11 first then 10.—DBK.]

2534 (return) [ An extra line is inserted in some MSS. after l. 15.—
DBK.]

2535 (return) [ The epithet is a usual one for birds, cp. Hesiod,
_Works and Days_, l. 210; as applied to Selene it may merely indicate
her passage, like a bird, through the air, or mean ‘far flying’.]

2601 (return) [ The _Epigrams_ are preserved in the pseudo-Herodotean
_Life of Homer_. Nos. III, XIII, and XVII are also found in the
_Contest of Homer and Hesiod_, and No. I is also extant at the end of
some MSS. of the _Homeric Hymns_.]

2602 (return) [ sc. from Smyrna, Homer’s reputed birth-place.]

2603 (return) [ The councillors at Cyme who refused to support Homer at
the public expense.]

2604 (return) [ The ‘better fruit’ is apparently the iron smelted out
in fires of pine-wood.]

2605 (return) [ Hecate: cp. Hesiod, _Theogony_, l. 450.]

2606 (return) [ _i.e._ in protection.]

2607 (return) [ This song is called by pseudo-Herodotus EIRESIONE. The
word properly indicates a garland wound with wool which was worn at
harvest-festivals, but came to be applied first to the harvest song and
then to any begging song. The present is akin the Swallow-Song
(XELIDONISMA), sung at the beginning of spring, and answered to the
still surviving English May-Day songs. Cp. Athenaeus, viii. 360 B.]

2608 (return) [ The lice which they caught in their clothes they left
behind, but carried home in their clothes those which they could not
catch.]

2701 (return) [ See the cylix reproduced by Gerhard, _Abhandlungen_,
taf. 5,4. Cp. Stesichorus, Frag. 3 (Smyth).]

2801 (return) [ The haunch was regarded as a dishonourable portion.]

2802 (return) [ The horse of Adrastus, offspring of Poseidon and
Demeter, who had changed herself into a mare to escape Poseidon.]

2803 (return) [ Restored from Pindar Ol. vi. 15 who, according to
Asclepiades, derives the passage from the _Thebais_.]

2901 (return) [ So called from Teumessus, a hill in Boeotia. For the
derivation of Teumessus cp. Antimachus _Thebais_ fr. 3 (Kinkel).]

3001 (return) [ The preceding part of the Epic Cycle (?).]

3002 (return) [ While the Greeks were sacrificing at Aulis, a serpent
appeared and devoured eight young birds from their nest and lastly the
mother of the brood. This was interpreted by Calchas to mean that the
war would swallow up nine full years. Cp. _Iliad_ ii, 299 ff.]

3003 (return) [ _i.e._ Stasinus (or Hegesias: cp. fr. 6): the phrase
‘Cyprian histories’ is equivalent to “The Cypria”.]

3004 (return) [ Cp. Allen “C.R.” xxvii. 190.]

3005 (return) [ These two lines possibly belong to the account of the
feast given by Agamemnon at Lemnos.]

3006 (return) [ sc. the Asiatic Thebes at the foot of Mt. Placius.]

3101 (return) [ sc. after cremation.]

3102 (return) [ This fragment comes from a version of the _Contest of
Homer and Hesiod_ widely different from that now extant. The words ‘as
Lesches gives them (says)’ seem to indicate that the verse and a half
assigned to Homer came from the _Little Iliad_. It is possible they may
have introduced some unusually striking incident, such as the actual
Fall of Troy.]

3103 (return) [ _i.e._ in the paintings by Polygnotus at Delphi.]

3104 (return) [ _i.e._ the dead bodies in the picture.]

3105 (return) [ According to this version Aeneas was taken to
Pharsalia. Better known are the Homeric account (according to which
Aeneas founded a new dynasty at Troy), and the legends which make him
seek a new home in Italy.]

3201 (return) [ sc. knowledge of both surgery and of drugs.]

3301 (return) [ Clement attributes this line to Augias: probably Agias
is intended.]

3302 (return) [ Identical with the _Returns_, in which the Sons of
Atreus occupy the most prominent parts.]

3401 (return) [ This Artemisia, who distinguished herself at the battle
of Salamis (Herodotus, vii. 99) is here confused with the later
Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, who died 350 B.C.]

3402 (return) [ _i.e._ the fox knows many ways to baffle its foes,
while the hedge-hog knows one only which is far more effectual.]

3403 (return) [ Attributed to Homer by Zenobius, and by Bergk to the
_Margites_.]

3501 (return) [ _i.e._ ‘monkey-men’.]

3601 (return) [ Lines 42-52 are intrusive; the list of vegetables which
the Mouse cannot eat must follow immediately after the various dishes
of which he does eat.]

3602 (return) [ lit. ‘those unable to swim’.]

3603 (return) [ This may be a parody of Orion’s threat in Hesiod,
“Astronomy”, frag. 4.]

3701 (return) [ sc. the riddle of the fisher-boys which comes at the
end of this work.]

3702 (return) [ The verses of Hesiod are called doubtful in meaning
because they are, if taken alone, either incomplete or absurd.]

3703 (return) [ _Works and Days_, ll. 383-392.]

3704 (return) [ _Iliad_ xiii, ll. 126-133, 339-344.]

3705 (return) [ The accepted text of the _Iliad_ contains 15,693
verses; that of the _Odyssey_, 12,110.]

3706 (return) [ _Iliad_ ii, ll. 559-568 (with two additional verses).]

3707 (return) [ _Homeric Hymns_, iii.]





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