{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_348/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_348","id":"gutenberg_348","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/348","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Classical Antiquity","Epic poetry, Greek","Epic poetry, Greek -- Translations into English","Gods, Greek -- Poetry","Hesiod -- Translations into English","Hymns, Greek (Classical) -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and David Widger\n\n[Illustration] \n\n\n\n\nHesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica\n\nby Homer and Hesiod\n\nContents\n\n PREPARER\u2019S NOTE\n PREFACE\n\n INTRODUCTION\n General\n The Boeotian School\n Life of Hesiod\n The Hesiodic Poems\n I. _The Works and Days_\n II. The Genealogical Poems\n Date of the Hesiodic Poems\n Literary Value of Homer\n The Ionic School\n The Trojan Cycle\n The Homeric Hymns\n The Epigrams of Homer\n The Burlesque Poems\n The Contest of Homer and Hesiod\n\n BIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n HESIOD\n HESIOD\u2019S WORKS AND DAYS\n THE DIVINATION BY BIRDS\n THE ASTRONOMY\n THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON\n THE GREAT WORKS\n THE IDAEAN DACTYLS\n THE THEOGONY\n THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE\n THE SHIELD OF HERACLES\n THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX\n THE GREAT EOIAE\n THE MELAMPODIA\n THE AEGIMIUS\n FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION\n DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS\n\n THE HOMERIC HYMNS\n I. TO DIONYSUS\n II. TO DEMETER\n III. TO APOLLO\n IV. TO HERMES\n V. TO APHRODITE\n VI. TO APHRODITE\n VII. TO DIONYSUS\n VIII. TO ARES\n IX. TO ARTEMIS\n X. TO APHRODITE\n XI. TO ATHENA\n XII. TO HERA\n XIII. TO DEMETER\n XIV. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS\n XV. TO HERACLES THE LION-HEARTED\n XVI. TO ASCLEPIUS\n XVII. TO THE DIOSCURI\n XVIII. TO HERMES\n XIX. TO PAN\n XX. TO HEPHAESTUS\n XXI. TO APOLLO\n XXII. TO POSEIDON\n XXIII. TO THE SON OF CRONOS, MOST HIGH\n XXIV. TO HESTIA\n XXV. TO THE MUSES AND APOLLO\n XXVI. TO DIONYSUS\n XXVII. TO ARTEMIS\n XXVIII. TO ATHENA\n XXIX. TO HESTIA\n XXX. TO EARTH THE MOTHER OF ALL\n XXXI. TO HELIOS\n XXXII. TO SELENE\n XXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI\n\n THE EPIGRAMS OF HOMER\n\n THE EPIC CYCLE\n THE WAR OF THE TITANS\n THE STORY OF OEDIPUS\n THE THEBAID\n THE EPIGONI\n THE CYPRIA\n THE AETHIOPIS\n THE LITTLE ILIAD\n THE SACK OF ILIUM\n THE RETURNS\n THE TELEGONY\n\n HOMERICA\n THE EXPEDITION OF AMPHIARAUS\n THE TAKING OF OECHALIA\n THE PHOCAIS\n THE MARGITES\n THE CERCOPES\n THE BATTLE OF FROGS AND MICE\n\n THE CONTEST OF HOMER AND HESIOD\n\n ENDNOTES\n\n\n\n\nThis file contains translations of the following works: Hesiod: _Works\nand Days_, _The Theogony_, fragments of _The Catalogues of Women and\nthe Eoiae_, _The Shield of Heracles_ (attributed to Hesiod), and\nfragments of various works attributed to Hesiod.\n Homer: _The Homeric Hymns_, _The Epigrams of Homer_ (both attributed\n to Homer).\n\n Various: Fragments of the Epic Cycle (parts of which are sometimes\n attributed to Homer), fragments of other epic poems attributed to\n Homer, _The Battle of Frogs and Mice_, and _The Contest of Homer and\n Hesiod_.\n\n This file contains only that portion of the book in English; Greek\n texts are excluded. Where Greek characters appear in the original\n English text, transcription in CAPITALS is substituted.\n\n\nProject Gutenberg Editor\u2019s Note: 262 footnotes notes previously\nscattered through the text have been moved to the end of the file and\neach given an unique number. There are links to and from each footnote.\n\n\n\n\nPREPARER\u2019S NOTE\n\n\nIn order to make this file more accessible to the average computer\nuser, the preparer has found it necessary to re-arrange some of the\nmaterial. The preparer takes full responsibility for his choice of\narrangement.\n\nA few endnotes have been added by the preparer, and some additions have\nbeen supplied to the original endnotes of Mr. Evelyn-White\u2019s. Where\nthis occurs I have noted the addition with my initials \u201cDBK\u201d. Some\nendnotes, particularly those concerning textual variations in the\nancient Greek text, are here omitted.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThis volume contains practically all that remains of the post-Homeric\nand pre-academic epic poetry.\n\nI have for the most part formed my own text. In the case of Hesiod I\nhave been able to use independent collations of several MSS. by Dr.\nW.H.D. Rouse; otherwise I have depended on the _apparatus criticus_ of\nthe several editions, especially that of Rzach (1902). The arrangement\nadopted in this edition, by which the complete and fragmentary poems\nare restored to the order in which they would probably have appeared\nhad the Hesiodic corpus survived intact, is unusual, but should not\nneed apology; the true place for the _Catalogues_ (for example),\nfragmentary as they are, is certainly after the _Theogony_.\n\nIn preparing the text of the _Homeric Hymns_ my chief debt\u2014and it is a\nheavy one\u2014is to the edition of Allen and Sikes (1904) and to the series\nof articles in the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ (vols. xv. _sqq_.) by\nT.W. Allen. To the same scholar and to the Delegates of the Clarendon\nPress I am greatly indebted for permission to use the restorations of\nthe _Hymn to Demeter_, lines 387-401 and 462-470, printed in the Oxford\nText of 1912.\n\nOf the fragments of the Epic Cycle I have given only such as seemed to\npossess distinct importance or interest, and in doing so have relied\nmostly upon Kinkel\u2019s collection and on the fifth volume of the Oxford\nHomer (1912).\n\nThe texts of the _Batrachomyomachia_ and of the _Contest of Homer and\nHesiod_ are those of Baumeister and Flach respectively: where I have\ndiverged from these, the fact has been noted.\n\nOwing to the circumstances of the present time I have been prevented\nfrom giving to the _Introduction_ that full revision which I should\nhave desired.\n\nHugh G. Evelyn-White,\nRampton, NR. Cambridge.\n_Sept_. 9_th_, 1914.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nGeneral\n\nThe early Greek epic\u2014that is, poetry as a natural and popular, and not\n(as it became later) an artificial and academic literary form\u2014passed\nthrough the usual three phases, of development, of maturity, and of\ndecline.\n\nNo fragments which can be identified as belonging to the first period\nsurvive to give us even a general idea of the history of the earliest\nepic, and we are therefore thrown back upon the evidence of analogy\nfrom other forms of literature and of inference from the two great\nepics which have come down to us. So reconstructed, the earliest period\nappears to us as a time of slow development in which the characteristic\nepic metre, diction, and structure grew up slowly from crude elements\nand were improved until the verge of maturity was reached.\n\nThe second period, which produced the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_, needs\nno description here: but it is very important to observe the effect of\nthese poems on the course of post-Homeric epic. As the supreme\nperfection and universality of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ cast into\noblivion whatever pre-Homeric poets had essayed, so these same\nqualities exercised a paralysing influence over the successors of\nHomer. If they continued to sing like their great predecessor of\nromantic themes, they were drawn as by a kind of magnetic attraction\ninto the Homeric style and manner of treatment, and became mere echoes\nof the Homeric voice: in a word, Homer had so completely exhausted the\nepic _genre_, that after him further efforts were doomed to be merely\nconventional. Only the rare and exceptional genius of Vergil and Milton\ncould use the Homeric medium without loss of individuality: and this\nquality none of the later epic poets seem to have possessed. Freedom\nfrom the domination of the great tradition could only be found by\nseeking new subjects, and such freedom was really only illusionary,\nsince romantic subjects alone are suitable for epic treatment.\n\nIn its third period, therefore, epic poetry shows two divergent\ntendencies. In Ionia and the islands the epic poets followed the\nHomeric tradition, singing of romantic subjects in the now stereotyped\nheroic style, and showing originality only in their choice of legends\nhitherto neglected or summarily and imperfectly treated. In continental\nGreece 1101, on the other hand, but especially in Boeotia, a new form\nof epic sprang up, which for the romance and PATHOS of the Ionian\nSchool substituted the practical and matter-of-fact. It dealt in moral\nand practical maxims, in information on technical subjects which are of\nservice in daily life\u2014agriculture, astronomy, augury, and the\ncalendar\u2014in matters of religion and in tracing the genealogies of men.\nIts attitude is summed up in the words of the Muses to the writer of\nthe _Theogony_: \u2018We can tell many a feigned tale to look like truth,\nbut we can, when we will, utter the truth\u2019 (_Theogony_ 26-27). Such a\npoetry could not be permanently successful, because the subjects of\nwhich it treats\u2014if susceptible of poetic treatment at all\u2014were\ncertainly not suited for epic treatment, where unity of action which\nwill sustain interest, and to which each part should contribute, is\nabsolutely necessary. While, therefore, an epic like the _Odyssey_ is\nan organism and dramatic in structure, a work such as the _Theogony_ is\na merely artificial collocation of facts, and, at best, a pageant. It\nis not surprising, therefore, to find that from the first the Boeotian\nschool is forced to season its matter with romantic episodes, and that\nlater it tends more and more to revert (as in the _Shield of Heracles_)\nto the Homeric tradition.\n\nThe Boeotian School\n\nHow did the continental school of epic poetry arise? There is little\ndefinite material for an answer to this question, but the probability\nis that there were at least three contributory causes. First, it is\nlikely that before the rise of the Ionian epos there existed in Boeotia\na purely popular and indigenous poetry of a crude form: it comprised,\nwe may suppose, versified proverbs and precepts relating to life in\ngeneral, agricultural maxims, weather-lore, and the like. In this sense\nthe Boeotian poetry may be taken to have its germ in maxims similar to\nour English\n\n\u201cTill May be out, ne\u2019er cast a clout,\u201d\n\n\nor\n\n\u201cA rainbow in the morning\nIs the Shepherd\u2019s warning.\u201d\n\n\nSecondly and thirdly we may ascribe the rise of the new epic to the\nnature of the Boeotian people and, as already remarked, to a spirit of\nrevolt against the old epic. The Boeotians, people of the class of\nwhich Hesiod represents himself to be the type, were essentially\nunromantic; their daily needs marked the general limit of their ideals,\nand, as a class, they cared little for works of fancy, for pathos, or\nfor fine thought as such. To a people of this nature the Homeric epos\nwould be inacceptable, and the post-Homeric epic, with its conventional\natmosphere, its trite and hackneyed diction, and its insincere\nsentiment, would be anathema. We can imagine, therefore, that among\nsuch folk a settler, of Aeolic origin like Hesiod, who clearly was well\nacquainted with the Ionian epos, would naturally see that the only\noutlet for his gifts lay in applying epic poetry to new themes\nacceptable to his hearers.\n\nThough the poems of the Boeotian school 1102 were unanimously assigned\nto Hesiod down to the age of Alexandrian criticism, they were clearly\nneither the work of one man nor even of one period: some, doubtless,\nwere fraudulently fathered on him in order to gain currency; but it is\nprobable that most came to be regarded as his partly because of their\ngeneral character, and partly because the names of their real authors\nwere lost. One fact in this attribution is remarkable\u2014the veneration\npaid to Hesiod.\n\nLife of Hesiod\n\nOur information respecting Hesiod is derived in the main from notices\nand allusions in the works attributed to him, and to these must be\nadded traditions concerning his death and burial gathered from later\nwriters.\n\nHesiod\u2019s father (whose name, by a perversion of _Works and Days_, 299\nPERSE DION GENOS to PERSE, DION GENOS, was thought to have been Dius)\nwas a native of Cyme in Aeolis, where he was a seafaring trader and,\nperhaps, also a farmer. He was forced by poverty to leave his native\nplace, and returned to continental Greece, where he settled at Ascra\nnear Thespiae in Boeotia (_Works and Days_, 636 ff.). Either in Cyme or\nAscra, two sons, Hesiod and Perses, were born to the settler, and\nthese, after his death, divided the farm between them. Perses, however,\nwho is represented as an idler and spendthrift, obtained and kept the\nlarger share by bribing the corrupt \u201clords\u201d who ruled from Thespiae\n(_Works and Days_, 37-39). While his brother wasted his patrimony and\nultimately came to want (_Works and Days_, 34 ff.), Hesiod lived a\nfarmer\u2019s life until, according to the very early tradition preserved by\nthe author of the _Theogony_ (22-23), the Muses met him as he was\ntending sheep on Mt. Helicon and \u201ctaught him a glorious song\u201d\u2014doubtless\nthe _Works and Days_. The only other personal reference is to his\nvictory in a poetical contest at the funeral games of Amphidamas at\nChalcis in Euboea, where he won the prize, a tripod, which he dedicated\nto the Muses of Helicon (_Works and Days_, 651-9).\n\nBefore we go on to the story of Hesiod\u2019s death, it will be well to\ninquire how far the \u201cautobiographical\u201d notices can be treated as\nhistorical, especially as many critics treat some, or all of them, as\nspurious. In the first place attempts have been made to show that\n\u201cHesiod\u201d is a significant name and therefore fictitious: it is only\nnecessary to mention Goettling\u2019s derivation from IEMI to ODOS (which\nwould make \u2018Hesiod\u2019 mean the \u2018guide\u2019 in virtues and technical arts),\nand to refer to the pitiful attempts in the _Etymologicum Magnu_\n(_s.v._ {H}ESIODUS), to show how prejudiced and lacking even in\nplausibility such efforts are. It seems certain that \u201cHesiod\u201d stands as\na proper name in the fullest sense. Secondly, Hesiod claims that his\nfather\u2014if not he himself\u2014came from Aeolis and settled in Boeotia. There\nis fairly definite evidence to warrant our acceptance of this: the\ndialect of the _Works and Days_ is shown by Rzach 1103 to contain\ndistinct Aeolisms apart from those which formed part of the general\nstock of epic poetry. And that this Aeolic speaking poet was a Boeotian\nof Ascra seems even more certain, since the tradition is never once\ndisputed, insignificant though the place was, even before its\ndestruction by the Thespians.\n\nAgain, Hesiod\u2019s story of his relations with his brother Perses have\nbeen treated with scepticism (_see_ Murray, _Anc. Gk. Literature_, pp.\n53-54): Perses, it is urged, is clearly a mere dummy, set up to be the\ntarget for the poet\u2019s exhortations. On such a matter precise evidence\nis naturally not forthcoming; but all probability is against the\nsceptical view. For 1) if the quarrel between the brothers were a\nfiction, we should expect it to be detailed at length and not noticed\nallusively and rather obscurely\u2014as we find it; 2) as MM. Croiset\nremark, if the poet needed a lay-figure the ordinary practice was to\nintroduce some mythological person\u2014as, in fact, is done in the\n_Precepts of Chiron_. In a word, there is no more solid ground for\ntreating Perses and his quarrel with Hesiod as fictitious than there\nwould be for treating Cyrnus, the friend of Theognis, as mythical.\n\nThirdly, there is the passage in the _Theogony_ relating to Hesiod and\nthe Muses. It is surely an error to suppose that lines 22-35 all refer\nto Hesiod: rather, the author of the _Theogony_ tells the story of his\nown inspiration by the same Muses who _once_ taught Hesiod glorious\nsong. The lines 22-3 are therefore a very early piece of tradition\nabout Hesiod, and though the appearance of Muses must be treated as a\ngraceful fiction, we find that a writer, later than the _Works and\nDays_ by perhaps no more than three-quarters of a century, believed in\nthe actuality of Hesiod and in his life as a farmer or shepherd.\n\nLastly, there is the famous story of the contest in song at Chalcis. In\nlater times the modest version in the _Works and Days_ was elaborated,\nfirst by making Homer the opponent whom Hesiod conquered, while a later\nperiod exercised its ingenuity in working up the story of the contest\ninto the elaborate form in which it still survives. Finally the\ncontest, in which the two poets contended with hymns to Apollo 1104,\nwas transferred to Delos. These developments certainly need no\nconsideration: are we to say the same of the passage in the _Works and\nDays?_ Critics from Plutarch downwards have almost unanimously rejected\nthe lines 654-662, on the ground that Hesiod\u2019s Amphidamas is the hero\nof the Lelantine Wars between Chalcis and Eretria, whose death may be\nplaced _circa_ 705 B.C.\u2014a date which is obviously too low for the\ngenuine Hesiod. Nevertheless, there is much to be said in defence of\nthe passage. Hesiod\u2019s claim in the _Works and Days_ is modest, since he\nneither pretends to have met Homer, nor to have sung in any but an\nimpromptu, local festival, so that the supposed interpolation lacks a\nsufficient motive. And there is nothing in the context to show that\nHesiod\u2019s Amphidamas is to be identified with that Amphidamas whom\nPlutarch alone connects with the Lelantine War: the name may have been\nborne by an earlier Chalcidian, an ancestor, perhaps, of the person to\nwhom Plutarch refers.\n\nThe story of the end of Hesiod may be told in outline. After the\ncontest at Chalcis, Hesiod went to Delphi and there was warned that the\n\u2018issue of death should overtake him in the fair grove of Nemean Zeus.\u2019\nAvoiding therefore Nemea on the Isthmus of Corinth, to which he\nsupposed the oracle to refer, Hesiod retired to Oenoe in Locris where\nhe was entertained by Amphiphanes and Ganyetor, sons of a certain\nPhegeus. This place, however, was also sacred to Nemean Zeus, and the\npoet, suspected by his hosts of having seduced their sister 1105, was\nmurdered there. His body, cast into the sea, was brought to shore by\ndolphins and buried at Oenoe (or, according to Plutarch, at Ascra): at\na later time his bones were removed to Orchomenus. The whole story is\nfull of miraculous elements, and the various authorities disagree on\nnumerous points of detail. The tradition seems, however, to be constant\nin declaring that Hesiod was murdered and buried at Oenoe, and in this\nrespect it is at least as old as the time of Thucydides. In conclusion\nit may be worth while to add the graceful epigram of Alcaeus of Messene\n(_Palatine Anthology_, vii 55).\n\n\u201cWhen in the shady Locrian grove Hesiod lay dead, the Nymphs washed his\nbody with water from their own springs, and heaped high his grave; and\nthereon the goat-herds sprinkled offerings of milk mingled with\nyellow-honey: such was the utterance of the nine Muses that he breathed\nforth, that old man who had tasted of their pure springs.\u201d\n\nThe Hesiodic Poems\n\nThe Hesiodic poems fall into two groups according as they are didactic\n(technical or gnomic) or genealogical: the first group centres round\nthe _Works and Days_, the second round the _Theogony_.\n\nI. \u201cThe Works and Days\u201d\n\nThe poem consists of four main sections. (_a_) After the prelude, which\nPausanias failed to find in the ancient copy engraved on lead seen by\nhim on Mt. Helicon, comes a general exhortation to industry. It begins\nwith the allegory of the two Strifes, who stand for wholesome Emulation\nand Quarrelsomeness respectively. Then by means of the Myth of Pandora\nthe poet shows how evil and the need for work first arose, and goes on\nto describe the Five Ages of the World, tracing the gradual increase in\nevil, and emphasizing the present miserable condition of the world, a\ncondition in which struggle is inevitable. Next, after the Fable of the\nHawk and Nightingale, which serves as a condemnation of violence and\ninjustice, the poet passes on to contrast the blessing which\nRighteousness brings to a nation, and the punishment which Heaven sends\ndown upon the violent, and the section concludes with a series of\nprecepts on industry and prudent conduct generally. (_b_) The second\nsection shows how a man may escape want and misery by industry and care\nboth in agriculture and in trading by sea. Neither subject, it should\nbe carefully noted, is treated in any way comprehensively. (_c_) The\nthird part is occupied with miscellaneous precepts relating mostly to\nactions of domestic and everyday life and conduct which have little or\nno connection with one another. (_d_) The final section is taken up\nwith a series of notices on the days of the month which are favourable\nor unfavourable for agricultural and other operations.\n\nIt is from the second and fourth sections that the poem takes its name.\nAt first sight such a work seems to be a miscellany of myths, technical\nadvice, moral precepts, and folklore maxims without any unifying\nprinciple; and critics have readily taken the view that the whole is a\ncanto of fragments or short poems worked up by a redactor. Very\nprobably Hesiod used much material of a far older date, just as\nShakespeare used the _Gesta Romanorum_, old chronicles, and old plays;\nbut close inspection will show that the _Works and Days_ has a real\nunity and that the picturesque title is somewhat misleading. The poem\nhas properly no technical object at all, but is moral: its real aim is\nto show men how best to live in a difficult world. So viewed the four\nseemingly independent sections will be found to be linked together in a\nreal bond of unity. Such a connection between the first and second\nsections is easily seen, but the links between these and the third and\nfourth are no less real: to make life go tolerably smoothly it is most\nimportant to be just and to know how to win a livelihood; but happiness\nalso largely depends on prudence and care both in social and home life\nas well, and not least on avoidance of actions which offend\nsupernatural powers and bring ill-luck. And finally, if your industry\nis to be fruitful, you must know what days are suitable for various\nkinds of work. This moral aim\u2014as opposed to the currently accepted\ntechnical aim of the poem\u2014explains the otherwise puzzling\nincompleteness of the instructions on farming and seafaring.\n\nOf the Hesiodic poems similar in character to the _Works and Days_,\nonly the scantiest fragments survive. One at least of these, the\n_Divination by Birds_, was, as we know from Proclus, attached to the\nend of the _Works_ until it was rejected by Apollonius Rhodius:\ndoubtless it continued the same theme of how to live, showing how man\ncan avoid disasters by attending to the omens to be drawn from birds.\nIt is possible that the _Astronomy_ or _Astrology_ (as Plutarch calls\nit) was in turn appended to the _Divination_. It certainly gave some\naccount of the principal constellations, their dates of rising and\nsetting, and the legends connected with them, and probably showed how\nthese influenced human affairs or might be used as guides. The\n_Precepts of Chiron_ was a didactic poem made up of moral and practical\nprecepts, resembling the gnomic sections of the _Works and Days_,\naddressed by the Centaur Chiron to his pupil Achilles. Even less is\nknown of the poem called the _Great Works_: the title implies that it\nwas similar in subject to the second section of the _Works and Days_,\nbut longer. Possible references in Roman writers 1106 indicate that\namong the subjects dealt with were the cultivation of the vine and\nolive and various herbs. The inclusion of the judgment of Rhadamanthys\n(frag. 1): \u201cIf a man sow evil, he shall reap evil,\u201d indicates a gnomic\nelement, and the note by Proclus 1107 on _Works and Days_ 126 makes it\nlikely that metals also were dealt with. It is therefore possible that\nanother lost poem, the _Idaean Dactyls_, which dealt with the discovery\nof metals and their working, was appended to, or even was a part of the\n_Great Works_, just as the _Divination by Birds_ was appended to the\n_Works and Days_.\n\nII. The Genealogical Poems\n\nThe only complete poem of the genealogical group is the _Theogony_,\nwhich traces from the beginning of things the descent and vicissitudes\nof the families of the gods. Like the _Works and Days_ this poem has no\ndramatic plot; but its unifying principle is clear and simple. The gods\nare classified chronologically: as soon as one generation is\ncatalogued, the poet goes on to detail the offspring of each member of\nthat generation. Exceptions are only made in special cases, as the Sons\nof Iapetus (ll. 507-616) whose place is accounted for by their\ntreatment by Zeus. The chief landmarks in the poem are as follows:\nafter the first 103 lines, which contain at least three distinct\npreludes, three primeval beings are introduced, Chaos, Earth, and\nEros\u2014here an indefinite reproductive influence. Of these three, Earth\nproduces Heaven to whom she bears the Titans, the Cyclopes and the\nhundred-handed giants. The Titans, oppressed by their father, revolt at\nthe instigation of Earth, under the leadership of Cronos, and as a\nresult Heaven and Earth are separated, and Cronos reigns over the\nuniverse. Cronos knowing that he is destined to be overcome by one of\nhis children, swallows each one of them as they are born, until Zeus,\nsaved by Rhea, grows up and overcomes Cronos in some struggle which is\nnot described. Cronos is forced to vomit up the children he had\nswallowed, and these with Zeus divide the universe between them, like a\nhuman estate. Two events mark the early reign of Zeus, the war with the\nTitans and the overthrow of Typhoeus, and as Zeus is still reigning the\npoet can only go on to give a list of gods born to Zeus by various\ngoddesses. After this he formally bids farewell to the cosmic and\nOlympian deities and enumerates the sons born of goddess to mortals.\nThe poem closes with an invocation of the Muses to sing of the \u201ctribe\nof women\u201d.\n\nThis conclusion served to link the _Theogony_ to what must have been a\ndistinct poem, the _Catalogues of Women_. This work was divided into\nfour (Suidas says five) books, the last one (or two) of which was known\nas the _Eoiae_ and may have been again a distinct poem: the curious\ntitle will be explained presently. The _Catalogues_ proper were a\nseries of genealogies which traced the Hellenic race (or its more\nimportant peoples and families) from a common ancestor. The reason why\nwomen are so prominent is obvious: since most families and tribes\nclaimed to be descended from a god, the only safe clue to their origin\nwas through a mortal woman beloved by that god; and it has also been\npointed out that _mutterrecht_ still left its traces in northern Greece\nin historical times.\n\nThe following analysis (after Marckscheffel) 1108 will show the\nprinciple of its composition. From Prometheus and Pronoia sprang\nDeucalion and Pyrrha, the only survivors of the deluge, who had a son\nHellen (frag. 1), the reputed ancestor of the whole Hellenic race. From\nthe daughters of Deucalion sprang Magnes and Macedon, ancestors of the\nMagnesians and Macedonians, who are thus represented as cousins to the\ntrue Hellenic stock. Hellen had three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus,\nparents of the Dorian, Ionic and Aeolian races, and the offspring of\nthese was then detailed. In one instance a considerable and\ncharacteristic section can be traced from extant fragments and notices:\nSalmoneus, son of Aeolus, had a daughter Tyro who bore to Poseidon two\nsons, Pelias and Neleus; the latter of these, king of Pylos, refused\nHeracles purification for the murder of Iphitus, whereupon Heracles\nattacked and sacked Pylos, killing amongst the other sons of Neleus\nPericlymenus, who had the power of changing himself into all manner of\nshapes. From this slaughter Neleus alone escaped (frags. 13, and\n10-12). This summary shows the general principle of arrangement of the\n_Catalogues_: each line seems to have been dealt with in turn, and the\nmonotony was relieved as far as possible by a brief relation of famous\nadventures connected with any of the personages\u2014as in the case of\nAtalanta and Hippomenes (frag. 14). Similarly the story of the\nArgonauts appears from the fragments (37-42) to have been told in some\ndetail.\n\nThis tendency to introduce romantic episodes led to an important\ndevelopment. Several poems are ascribed to Hesiod, such as the\n_Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis_, the _Descent of Theseus into\nHades_, or the _Circuit of the Earth_ (which must have been connected\nwith the story of Phineus and the Harpies, and so with the\nArgonaut-legend), which yet seem to have belonged to the _Catalogues_.\nIt is highly probable that these poems were interpolations into the\n_Catalogues_ expanded by later poets from more summary notices in the\ngenuine Hesiodic work and subsequently detached from their contexts and\ntreated as independent. This is definitely known to be true of the\n_Shield of Heracles_, the first 53 lines of which belong to the fourth\nbook of the _Catalogues_, and almost certainly applies to other\nepisodes, such as the _Suitors of Helen_ 1109, the _Daughters of\nLeucippus_, and the _Marriage of Ceyx_, which last Plutarch mentions as\n\u201cinterpolated in the works of Hesiod.\u201d\n\nTo the _Catalogues_, as we have said, was appended another work, the\n_Eoiae_. The title seems to have arisen in the following way 1110: the\n_Catalogues_ probably ended (ep. _Theogony_ 963 ff.) with some such\npassage as this: \u201cBut now, ye Muses, sing of the tribes of women with\nwhom the Sons of Heaven were joined in love, women pre-eminent above\ntheir fellows in beauty, such as was Niobe (?).\u201d Each succeeding\nheroine was then introduced by the formula \u201cOr such as was...\u201d (cp.\nfrags. 88, 92, etc.). A large fragment of the _Eoiae_ is extant at the\nbeginning of the _Shield of Heracles_, which may be mentioned here. The\n\u201csupplement\u201d (ll. 57-480) is nominally Heracles and Cycnus, but the\ngreater part is taken up with an inferior description of the shield of\nHeracles, in imitation of the Homeric shield of Achilles (_Iliad_\nxviii. 478 ff.). Nothing shows more clearly the collapse of the\nprinciples of the Hesiodic school than this ultimate servile dependence\nupon Homeric models.\n\nAt the close of the _Shield_ Heracles goes on to Trachis to the house\nof Ceyx, and this warning suggests that the _Marriage of Ceyx_ may have\ncome immediately after the \u2018Or such as was\u2019 of Alcmena in the _Eoiae_:\npossibly Halcyone, the wife of Ceyx, was one of the heroines sung in\nthe poem, and the original section was \u201cdeveloped\u201d into the _Marriage_,\nalthough what form the poem took is unknown.\n\nNext to the _Eoiae_ and the poems which seemed to have been developed\nfrom it, it is natural to place the _Great Eoiae_. This, again, as we\nknow from fragments, was a list of heroines who bare children to the\ngods: from the title we must suppose it to have been much longer that\nthe simple _Eoiae_, but its extent is unknown. Lehmann, remarking that\nthe heroines are all Boeotian and Thessalian (while the heroines of the\n_Catalogues_ belong to all parts of the Greek world), believes the\nauthor to have been either a Boeotian or Thessalian.\n\nTwo other poems are ascribed to Hesiod. Of these the _Aegimius_ (also\nascribed by Athenaeus to Cercops of Miletus), is thought by Valckenaer\nto deal with the war of Aegimus against the Lapithae and the aid\nfurnished to him by Heracles, and with the history of Aegimius and his\nsons. Otto Muller suggests that the introduction of Thetis and of\nPhrixus (frags. 1-2) is to be connected with notices of the allies of\nthe Lapithae from Phthiotis and Iolchus, and that the story of Io was\nincidental to a narrative of Heracles\u2019 expedition against Euboea. The\nremaining poem, the _Melampodia_, was a work in three books, whose plan\nit is impossible to recover. Its subject, however, seems to have been\nthe histories of famous seers like Mopsus, Calchas, and Teiresias, and\nit probably took its name from Melampus, the most famous of them all.\n\nDate of the Hesiodic Poems\n\nThere is no doubt that the _Works and Days_ is the oldest, as it is the\nmost original, of the Hesiodic poems. It seems to be distinctly earlier\nthan the _Theogony_, which refers to it, apparently, as a poem already\nrenowned. Two considerations help us to fix a relative date for the\n_Works_. (1) In diction, dialect and style it is obviously dependent\nupon Homer, and is therefore considerably later than the _Iliad_ and\n_Odyssey_: moreover, as we have seen, it is in revolt against the\nromantic school, already grown decadent, and while the digamma is still\nliving, it is obviously growing weak, and is by no means uniformly\neffective.\n\n(2) On the other hand while tradition steadily puts the Cyclic poets at\nvarious dates from 776 B.C. downwards, it is equally consistent in\nregarding Homer and Hesiod as \u201cprehistoric\u201d. Herodotus indeed puts both\npoets 400 years before his own time; that is, at about 830-820 B.C.,\nand the evidence stated above points to the middle of the ninth century\nas the probable date for the _Works and Days_. The _Theogony_ might be\ntentatively placed a century later; and the _Catalogues_ and _Eoiae_\nare again later, but not greatly later, than the _Theogony_: the\n_Shield of Heracles_ may be ascribed to the later half of the seventh\ncentury, but there is not evidence enough to show whether the other\n\u201cdeveloped\u201d poems are to be regarded as of a date so low as this.\n\nLiterary Value of Homer\n\nQuintillian\u2019s 1111 judgment on Hesiod that \u2018he rarely rises to great\nheights... and to him is given the palm in the middle-class of speech\u2019\nis just, but is liable to give a wrong impression. Hesiod has nothing\nthat remotely approaches such scenes as that between Priam and\nAchilles, or the pathos of Andromache\u2019s preparations for Hector\u2019s\nreturn, even as he was falling before the walls of Troy; but in matters\nthat come within the range of ordinary experience, he rarely fails to\nrise to the appropriate level. Take, for instance, the description of\nthe Iron Age (_Works and Days_, 182 ff.) with its catalogue of\nwrongdoings and violence ever increasing until Aidos and Nemesis are\nforced to leave mankind who thenceforward shall have \u2018no remedy against\nevil\u2019. Such occasions, however, rarely occur and are perhaps not\ncharacteristic of Hesiod\u2019s genius: if we would see Hesiod at his best,\nin his most natural vein, we must turn to such a passage as that which\nhe himself\u2014according to the compiler of the _Contest of Hesiod and\nHomer_\u2014selected as best in all his work, \u2018When the Pleiades, Atlas\u2019\ndaughters, begin to rise...\u2019 (_Works and Days_, 383 ff.). The value of\nsuch a passage cannot be analysed: it can only be said that given such\na subject, this alone is the right method of treatment.\n\nHesiod\u2019s diction is in the main Homeric, but one of his charms is the\nuse of quaint allusive phrases derived, perhaps, from a pre-Hesiodic\npeasant poetry: thus the season when Boreas blows is the time when \u2018the\nBoneless One gnaws his foot by his fireless hearth in his cheerless\nhouse\u2019; to cut one\u2019s nails is \u2018to sever the withered from the quick\nupon that which has five branches\u2019; similarly the burglar is the\n\u2018day-sleeper\u2019, and the serpent is the \u2018hairless one\u2019. Very similar is\nhis reference to seasons through what happens or is done in that\nseason: \u2018when the House-carrier, fleeing the Pleiades, climbs up the\nplants from the earth\u2019, is the season for harvesting; or \u2018when the\nartichoke flowers and the clicking grass-hopper, seated in a tree,\npours down his shrill song\u2019, is the time for rest.\n\nHesiod\u2019s charm lies in his child-like and sincere naivete, in his\nunaffected interest in and picturesque view of nature and all that\nhappens in nature. These qualities, it is true, are those pre-eminently\nof the _Works and Days_: the literary values of the _Theogony_ are of a\nmore technical character, skill in ordering and disposing long lists of\nnames, sure judgment in seasoning a monotonous subject with marvellous\nincidents or episodes, and no mean imagination in depicting the awful,\nas is shown in the description of Tartarus (ll. 736-745). Yet it\nremains true that Hesiod\u2019s distinctive title to a high place in Greek\nliterature lies in the very fact of his freedom from classic form, and\nhis grave, and yet child-like, outlook upon his world.\n\nThe Ionic School\n\nThe Ionic School of Epic poetry was, as we have seen, dominated by the\nHomeric tradition, and while the style and method of treatment are\nHomeric, it is natural that the Ionic poets refrained from cultivating\nthe ground tilled by Homer, and chose for treatment legends which lay\nbeyond the range of the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_. Equally natural it is\nthat they should have particularly selected various phases of the tale\nof Troy which preceded or followed the action of the _Iliad_ or\n_Odyssey_. In this way, without any preconceived intention, a body of\nepic poetry was built up by various writers which covered the whole\nTrojan story. But the entire range of heroic legend was open to these\npoets, and other clusters of epics grew up dealing particularly with\nthe famous story of Thebes, while others dealt with the beginnings of\nthe world and the wars of heaven. In the end there existed a kind of\nepic history of the world, as known to the Greeks, down to the death of\nOdysseus, when the heroic age ended. In the Alexandrian Age these poems\nwere arranged in chronological order, apparently by Zenodotus of\nEphesus, at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. At a later time the\nterm _Cycle_, \u201cround\u201d or \u201ccourse\u201d, was given to this collection.\n\nOf all this mass of epic poetry only the scantiest fragments survive;\nbut happily Photius has preserved to us an abridgment of the synopsis\nmade of each poem of the \u201cTrojan Cycle\u201d by Proclus, _i.e._ Eutychius\nProclus of Sicca.\n\nThe pre-Trojan poems of the Cycle may be noticed first. The\n_Titanomachy_, ascribed both to Eumelus of Corinth and to Arctinus of\nMiletus, began with a kind of Theogony which told of the union of\nHeaven and Earth and of their offspring the Cyclopes and the\nHundred-handed Giants. How the poem proceeded we have no means of\nknowing, but we may suppose that in character it was not unlike the\nshort account of the Titan War found in the Hesiodic _Theogony_ (617\nff.).\n\nWhat links bound the _Titanomachy_ to the Theben Cycle is not clear.\nThis latter group was formed of three poems, the _Story of Oedipus_,\nthe _Thebais_, and the _Epigoni_. Of the _Oedipodea_ practically\nnothing is known, though on the assurance of Athenaeus (vii. 277 E)\nthat Sophocles followed the Epic Cycle closely in the plots of his\nplays, we may suppose that in outline the story corresponded closely to\nthe history of Oedipus as it is found in the _Oedipus Tyrannus_. The\n_Thebais_ seems to have begun with the origin of the fatal quarrel\nbetween Eteocles and Polyneices in the curse called down upon them by\ntheir father in his misery. The story was thence carried down to the\nend of the expedition under Polyneices, Adrastus and Amphiarus against\nThebes. The _Epigoni_ (ascribed to Antimachus of Teos) recounted the\nexpedition of the \u201cAfter-Born\u201d against Thebes, and the sack of the\ncity.\n\nThe Trojan Cycle\n\nSix epics with the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ made up the Trojan\nCycle\u2014The _Cyprian Lays_, the _Iliad_, the _Aethiopis_, the _Little\nIliad_, the _Sack of Troy_, the _Returns_, the _Odyssey_, and the\n_Telegony_.\n\nIt has been assumed in the foregoing pages that the poems of the Trojan\nCycle are later than the Homeric poems; but, as the opposite view has\nbeen held, the reasons for this assumption must now be given. (1)\nTradition puts Homer and the Homeric poems proper back in the ages\nbefore chronological history began, and at the same time assigns the\npurely Cyclic poems to definite authors who are dated from the first\nOlympiad (776 B.C.) downwards. This tradition cannot be purely\narbitrary. (2) The Cyclic poets (as we can see from the abstract of\nProclus) were careful not to trespass upon ground already occupied by\nHomer. Thus, when we find that in the _Returns_ all the prominent Greek\nheroes except Odysseus are accounted for, we are forced to believe that\nthe author of this poem knew the _Odyssey_ and judged it unnecessary to\ndeal in full with that hero\u2019s adventures. 1112 In a word, the Cyclic\npoems are \u201cwritten round\u201d the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_. (3) The\ngeneral structure of these epics is clearly imitative. As M.M. Croiset\nremark, the abusive Thersites in the _Aethiopis_ is clearly copied from\nthe Thersites of the _Iliad_; in the same poem Antilochus, slain by\nMemnon and avenged by Achilles, is obviously modelled on Patroclus. (4)\nThe geographical knowledge of a poem like the _Returns_ is far wider\nand more precise than that of the _Odyssey_. (5) Moreover, in the\nCyclic poems epic is clearly degenerating morally\u2014if the expression may\nbe used. The chief greatness of the _Iliad_ is in the character of the\nheroes Achilles and Hector rather than in the actual events which take\nplace: in the Cyclic writers facts rather than character are the\nobjects of interest, and events are so packed together as to leave no\nspace for any exhibition of the play of moral forces. All these reasons\njustify the view that the poems with which we now have to deal were\nlater than the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_, and if we must recognize the\npossibility of some conventionality in the received dating, we may feel\nconfident that it is at least approximately just.\n\nThe earliest of the post-Homeric epics of Troy are apparently the\n_Aethiopis_ and the _Sack of Ilium_, both ascribed to Arctinus of\nMiletus who is said to have flourished in the first Olympiad (776\nB.C.). He set himself to finish the tale of Troy, which, so far as\nevents were concerned, had been left half-told by Homer, by tracing the\ncourse of events after the close of the _Iliad_. The _Aethiopis_ thus\nincluded the coming of the Amazon Penthesilea to help the Trojans after\nthe fall of Hector and her death, the similar arrival and fall of the\nAethiopian Memnon, the death of Achilles under the arrow of Paris, and\nthe dispute between Odysseus and Aias for the arms of Achilles. The\n_Sack of Ilium_ 1113 as analysed by Proclus was very similar to\nVergil\u2019s version in _Aeneid_ ii, comprising the episodes of the wooden\nhorse, of Laocoon, of Sinon, the return of the Achaeans from Tenedos,\nthe actual Sack of Troy, the division of spoils and the burning of the\ncity.\n\nLesches or Lescheos (as Pausanias calls him) of Pyrrha or Mitylene is\ndated at about 660 B.C. In his _Little Iliad_ he undertook to elaborate\nthe _Sack_ as related by Arctinus. His work included the adjudgment of\nthe arms of Achilles to Odysseus, the madness of Aias, the bringing of\nPhiloctetes from Lemnos and his cure, the coming to the war of\nNeoptolemus who slays Eurypylus, son of Telephus, the making of the\nwooden horse, the spying of Odysseus and his theft, along with\nDiomedes, of the Palladium: the analysis concludes with the admission\nof the wooden horse into Troy by the Trojans. It is known, however\n(Aristotle, _Poetics_, xxiii; Pausanias, x, 25-27), that the _Little\nIliad_ also contained a description of the _Sack of Troy_. It is\nprobable that this and other superfluous incidents disappeared after\nthe Alexandrian arrangement of the poems in the Cycle, either as the\nresult of some later recension, or merely through disuse. Or Proclus\nmay have thought it unnecessary to give the accounts by Lesches and\nArctinus of the same incident.\n\nThe _Cyprian Lays_, ascribed to Stasinus of Cyprus 1114 (but also to\nHegesinus of Salamis) was designed to do for the events preceding the\naction of the _Iliad_ what Arctinus had done for the later phases of\nthe Trojan War. The _Cypria_ begins with the first causes of the war,\nthe purpose of Zeus to relieve the overburdened earth, the apple of\ndiscord, the rape of Helen. Then follow the incidents connected with\nthe gathering of the Achaeans and their ultimate landing in Troy; and\nthe story of the war is detailed up to the quarrel between Achilles and\nAgamemnon with which the _Iliad_ begins.\n\nThese four poems rounded off the story of the _Iliad_, and it only\nremained to connect this enlarged version with the _Odyssey_. This was\ndone by means of the _Returns_, a poem in five books ascribed to Agias\nor Hegias of Troezen, which begins where the _Sack of Troy_ ends. It\ntold of the dispute between Agamemnon and Menelaus, the departure from\nTroy of Menelaus, the fortunes of the lesser heroes, the return and\ntragic death of Agamemnon, and the vengeance of Orestes on Aegisthus.\nThe story ends with the return home of Menelaus, which brings the\ngeneral narrative up to the beginning of the _Odyssey_.\n\nBut the _Odyssey_ itself left much untold: what, for example, happened\nin Ithaca after the slaying of the suitors, and what was the ultimate\nfate of Odysseus? The answer to these questions was supplied by the\n_Telegony_, a poem in two books by Eugammon of Cyrene (_fl_. 568 B.C.).\nIt told of the adventures of Odysseus in Thesprotis after the killing\nof the Suitors, of his return to Ithaca, and his death at the hands of\nTelegonus, his son by Circe. The epic ended by disposing of the\nsurviving personages in a double marriage, Telemachus wedding Circe,\nand Telegonus Penelope.\n\nThe end of the Cycle marks also the end of the Heroic Age.\n\nThe Homeric Hymns\n\nThe collection of thirty-three Hymns, ascribed to Homer, is the last\nconsiderable work of the Epic School, and seems, on the whole, to be\nlater than the Cyclic poems. It cannot be definitely assigned either to\nthe Ionian or Continental schools, for while the romantic element is\nvery strong, there is a distinct genealogical interest; and in matters\nof diction and style the influences of both Hesiod and Homer are\nwell-marked. The date of the formation of the collection as such is\nunknown. Diodorus Siculus (_temp_. Augustus) is the first to mention\nsuch a body of poetry, and it is likely enough that this is, at least\nsubstantially, the one which has come down to us. Thucydides quotes the\nDelian _Hymn to Apollo_, and it is possible that the Homeric corpus of\nhis day also contained other of the more important hymns. Conceivably\nthe collection was arranged in the Alexandrine period.\n\nThucydides, in quoting the _Hymn to Apollo_, calls it PROOIMION, which\nordinarily means a \u201cprelude\u201d chanted by a rhapsode before recitation of\na lay from Homer, and such hymns as Nos. vi, xxxi, xxxii, are clearly\npreludes in the strict sense; in No. xxxi, for example, after\ncelebrating Helios, the poet declares he will next sing of the \u201crace of\nmortal men, the demi-gods\u201d. But it may fairly be doubted whether such\nHymns as those to _Demeter_ (ii), _Apollo_ (iii), _Hermes_ (iv),\n_Aphrodite_ (v), can have been real preludes, in spite of the closing\nformula \u201cand now I will pass on to another hymn\u201d. The view taken by\nAllen and Sikes, amongst other scholars, is doubtless right, that these\nlonger hymns are only technically preludes and show to what\ndisproportionate lengths a simple literacy form can be developed.\n\nThe Hymns to _Pan_ (xix), to _Dionysus_ (xxvi), to _Hestia and Hermes_\n(xxix), seem to have been designed for use at definite religious\nfestivals, apart from recitations. With the exception perhaps of the\n_Hymn to Ares_ (viii), no item in the collection can be regarded as\neither devotional or liturgical.\n\nThe Hymn is doubtless a very ancient form; but if no example of extreme\nantiquity survive this must be put down to the fact that until the age\nof literary consciousness, such things are not preserved.\n\nFirst, apparently, in the collection stood the _Hymn to Dionysus_, of\nwhich only two fragments now survive. While it appears to have been a\nhymn of the longer type 1115, we have no evidence to show either its\nscope or date.\n\nThe _Hymn to Demeter_, extant only in the MS. discovered by Matthiae at\nMoscow, describes the seizure of Persephone by Hades, the grief of\nDemeter, her stay at Eleusis, and her vengeance on gods and men by\ncausing famine. In the end Zeus is forced to bring Persephone back from\nthe lower world; but the goddess, by the contriving of Hades, still\nremains partly a deity of the lower world. In memory of her sorrows\nDemeter establishes the Eleusinian mysteries (which, however, were\npurely agrarian in origin).\n\nThis hymn, as a literary work, is one of the finest in the collection.\nIt is surely Attic or Eleusinian in origin. Can we in any way fix its\ndate? Firstly, it is certainly not later than the beginning of the\nsixth century, for it makes no mention of Iacchus, and the Dionysiac\nelement was introduced at Eleusis at about that period. Further, the\ninsignificance of Triptolemus and Eumolpus point to considerable\nantiquity, and the digamma is still active. All these considerations\npoint to the seventh century as the probable date of the hymn.\n\nThe _Hymn to Apollo_ consists of two parts, which beyond any doubt were\noriginally distinct, a Delian hymn and a Pythian hymn. The Delian hymn\ndescribes how Leto, in travail with Apollo, sought out a place in which\nto bear her son, and how Apollo, born in Delos, at once claimed for\nhimself the lyre, the bow, and prophecy. This part of the existing hymn\nends with an encomium of the Delian festival of Apollo and of the\nDelian choirs. The second part celebrates the founding of Pytho\n(Delphi) as the oracular seat of Apollo. After various wanderings the\ngod comes to Telphus, near Haliartus, but is dissuaded by the nymph of\nthe place from settling there and urged to go on to Pytho where, after\nslaying the she-dragon who nursed Typhaon, he builds his temple. After\nthe punishment of Telphusa for her deceit in giving him no warning of\nthe dragoness at Pytho, Apollo, in the form of a dolphin, brings\ncertain Cretan shipmen to Delphi to be his priests; and the hymn ends\nwith a charge to these men to behave orderly and righteously.\n\nThe Delian part is exclusively Ionian and insular both in style and\nsympathy; Delos and no other is Apollo\u2019s chosen seat: but the second\npart is as definitely continental; Delos is ignored and Delphi alone is\nthe important centre of Apollo\u2019s worship. From this it is clear that\nthe two parts need not be of one date\u2014The first, indeed, is ascribed\n(Scholiast on Pindar _Nem_. ii, 2) to Cynaethus of Chios (_fl_. 504\nB.C.), a date which is obviously far too low; general considerations\npoint rather to the eighth century. The second part is not later than\n600 B.C.; for (1) the chariot-races at Pytho, which commenced in 586\nB.C., are unknown to the writer of the hymn, (2) the temple built by\nTrophonius and Agamedes for Apollo (ll. 294-299) seems to have been\nstill standing when the hymn was written, and this temple was burned in\n548. We may at least be sure that the first part is a Chian work, and\nthat the second was composed by a continental poet familiar with\nDelphi.\n\nThe _Hymn to Hermes_ differs from others in its burlesque, quasi-comic\ncharacter, and it is also the best-known of the Hymns to English\nreaders in consequence of Shelley\u2019s translation.\n\nAfter a brief narrative of the birth of Hermes, the author goes on to\nshow how he won a place among the gods. First the new-born child found\na tortoise and from its shell contrived the lyre; next, with much\ncunning circumstance, he stole Apollo\u2019s cattle and, when charged with\nthe theft by Apollo, forced that god to appear in undignified guise\nbefore the tribunal of Zeus. Zeus seeks to reconcile the pair, and\nHermes by the gift of the lyre wins Apollo\u2019s friendship and purchases\nvarious prerogatives, a share in divination, the lordship of herds and\nanimals, and the office of messenger from the gods to Hades.\n\nThe Hymn is hard to date. Hermes\u2019 lyre has seven strings and the\ninvention of the seven-stringed lyre is ascribed to Terpander (_flor_.\n676 B.C.). The hymn must therefore be later than that date, though\nTerpander, according to Weir Smyth 1116, may have only modified the\nscale of the lyre; yet while the burlesque character precludes an early\ndate, this feature is far removed, as Allen and Sikes remark, from the\nsilliness of the _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, so that a date in the\nearlier part of the sixth century is most probable.\n\nThe _Hymn to Aphrodite_ is not the least remarkable, from a literary\npoint of view, of the whole collection, exhibiting as it does in a\nmasterly manner a divine being as the unwilling victim of an\nirresistible force. It tells how all creatures, and even the gods\nthemselves, are subject to the will of Aphrodite, saving only Artemis,\nAthena, and Hestia; how Zeus to humble her pride of power caused her to\nlove a mortal, Anchises; and how the goddess visited the hero upon Mt.\nIda. A comparison of this work with the Lay of Demodocus (_Odyssey_\nviii, 266 ff.), which is superficially similar, will show how far\nsuperior is the former in which the goddess is but a victim to forces\nstronger than herself. The lines (247-255) in which Aphrodite tells of\nher humiliation and grief are specially noteworthy.\n\nThere are only general indications of date. The influence of Hesiod is\nclear, and the hymn has almost certainly been used by the author of the\n_Hymn to Demeter_, so that the date must lie between these two periods,\nand the seventh century seems to be the latest date possible.\n\nThe _Hymn to Dionysus_ relates how the god was seized by pirates and\nhow with many manifestations of power he avenged himself on them by\nturning them into dolphins. The date is widely disputed, for while\nLudwich believes it to be a work of the fourth or third century, Allen\nand Sikes consider a sixth or seventh century date to be possible. The\nstory is figured in a different form on the reliefs from the choragic\nmonument of Lysicrates, now in the British Museum 1117.\n\nVery different in character is the _Hymn to Ares_, which is Orphic in\ncharacter. The writer, after lauding the god by detailing his\nattributes, prays to be delivered from feebleness and weakness of soul,\nas also from impulses to wanton and brutal violence.\n\nThe only other considerable hymn is that to _Pan_, which describes how\nhe roams hunting among the mountains and thickets and streams, how he\nmakes music at dusk while returning from the chase, and how he joins in\ndancing with the nymphs who sing the story of his birth. This, beyond\nmost works of Greek literature, is remarkable for its fresh and\nspontaneous love of wild natural scenes.\n\nThe remaining hymns are mostly of the briefest compass, merely hailing\nthe god to be celebrated and mentioning his chief attributes. The Hymns\nto _Hermes_ (xviii), to the _Dioscuri_ (xvii), and to _Demeter_ (xiii)\nare mere abstracts of the longer hymns iv, xxxiii, and ii.\n\nThe Epigrams of Homer\n\nThe _Epigrams of Homer_ are derived from the pseudo-Herodotean _Life of\nHomer_, but many of them occur in other documents such as the _Contest\nof Homer and Hesiod_, or are quoted by various ancient authors. These\npoetic fragments clearly antedate the \u201cLife\u201d itself, which seems to\nhave been so written round them as to supply appropriate occasions for\ntheir composition. Epigram iii on Midas of Larissa was otherwise\nattributed to Cleobulus of Lindus, one of the Seven Sages; the address\nto Glaucus (xi) is purely Hesiodic; xiii, according to MM. Croiset, is\na fragment from a gnomic poem. Epigram xiv is a curious poem attributed\non no very obvious grounds to Hesiod by Julius Pollox. In it the poet\ninvokes Athena to protect certain potters and their craft, if they\nwill, according to promise, give him a reward for his song; if they\nprove false, malignant gnomes are invoked to wreck the kiln and hurt\nthe potters.\n\nThe Burlesque Poems\n\nTo Homer were popularly ascribed certain burlesque poems in which\nAristotle (_Poetics_ iv) saw the germ of comedy. Most interesting of\nthese, were it extant, would be the _Margites_. The hero of the epic is\nat once sciolist and simpleton, \u201cknowing many things, but knowing them\nall badly\u201d. It is unfortunately impossible to trace the plan of the\npoem, which presumably detailed the adventures of this unheroic\ncharacter: the metre used was a curious mixture of hexametric and\niambic lines. The date of such a work cannot be high: Croiset thinks it\nmay belong to the period of Archilochus (c. 650 B.C.), but it may well\nbe somewhat later.\n\nAnother poem, of which we know even less, is the _Cercopes_. These\nCercopes (\u2018Monkey-Men\u2019) were a pair of malignant dwarfs who went about\nthe world mischief-making. Their punishment by Heracles is represented\non one of the earlier metopes from Selinus. It would be idle to\nspeculate as to the date of this work.\n\nFinally there is the _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_. Here is told the\nstory of the quarrel which arose between the two tribes, and how they\nfought, until Zeus sent crabs to break up the battle. It is a parody of\nthe warlike epic, but has little in it that is really comic or of\nliterary merit, except perhaps the list of quaint arms assumed by the\nwarriors. The text of the poem is in a chaotic condition, and there are\nmany interpolations, some of Byzantine date.\n\nThough popularly ascribed to Homer, its real author is said by Suidas\nto have been Pigres, a Carian, brother of Artemisia, \u2018wife of\nMausolus\u2019, who distinguished herself at the battle of Salamis.\n\nSuidas is confusing the two Artemisias, but he may be right in\nattributing the poem to about 480 B.C.\n\nThe Contest of Homer and Hesiod\n\nThis curious work dates in its present form from the lifetime or\nshortly after the death of Hadrian, but seems to be based in part on an\nearlier version by the sophist Alcidamas (c. 400 B.C.). Plutarch\n(_Conviv. Sept. Sap._, 40) uses an earlier (or at least a shorter)\nversion than that which we possess 1118. The extant _Contest_, however,\nhas clearly combined with the original document much other ill-digested\nmatter on the life and descent of Homer, probably drawing on the same\ngeneral sources as does the Herodotean _Life of Homer_. Its scope is as\nfollows: (1) the descent (as variously reported) and relative dates of\nHomer and Hesiod; (2) their poetical contest at Chalcis; (3) the death\nof Hesiod; (4) the wanderings and fortunes of Homer, with brief notices\nof the circumstances under which his reputed works were composed, down\nto the time of his death.\n\nThe whole tract is, of course, mere romance; its only values are (1)\nthe insight it give into ancient speculations about Homer; (2) a\ncertain amount of definite information about the Cyclic poems; and (3)\nthe epic fragments included in the stichomythia of the _Contest_\nproper, many of which\u2014did we possess the clue\u2014would have to be referred\nto poems of the Epic Cycle.\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n\nHESIOD.\u2014The classification and numerations of MSS. here followed is\nthat of Rzach (1913). It is only necessary to add that on the whole the\nrecovery of Hesiodic papyri goes to confirm the authority of the\nmediaeval MSS. At the same time these fragments have produced much that\nis interesting and valuable, such as the new lines, _Works and Days_\n169 a-d, and the improved readings _ib_. 278, _Theogony_ 91, 93. Our\nchief gains from papyri are the numerous and excellent fragments of the\nCatalogues which have been recovered.\n\n_Works and Days:_\u2014\n\nS    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1090.\n\nA    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).\n\nB    Geneva, Naville Papyri Pap. 94 (6th cent.).\n\nC    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2771 (11th cent.).\n\nD    Florence, Laur. xxxi 39 (12th cent.).\n\nE    Messina, Univ. Lib. Preexistens 11 (12th-13th cent.).\n\nF    Rome, Vatican 38 (14th cent.).\n\nG    Venice, Marc. ix 6 (14th cent.).\n\nH    Florence, Laur. xxxi 37 (14th cent.).\n\nI    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).\n\nK    Florence, Laur. xxxii 2 (14th cent.).\n\nL    Milan, Ambros. G 32 sup. (14th cent.).\n\nM    Florence, Bibl. Riccardiana 71 (15th cent.).\n\nN    Milan, Ambros. J 15 sup. (15th cent.).\n\nO    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2773 (14th cent.).\n\nP    Cambridge, Trinity College (Gale MS.), O.9.27 (13th-14th cent.).\n\nQ    Rome, Vatican 1332 (14th cent.).\n\nThese MSS. are divided by Rzach into the following families, issuing\nfrom a common original:\u2014\n\n\u03a9a = C\n\n\u03a9b = F, G, H\n\n\u03a8a = D\n\n\u03a8b = I ,K, L, M\n\n\u03a6a = E\n\n\u03a6b = N, O, P, Q\n\n_Theogony:_\u2014\n\nN    Manchester, Rylands GK. Papyri No. 54 (1st cent. B.C.\u20141st cent.\nA.D.).\n\nO    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 873 (3rd cent.).\n\nA    Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. (papyrus) 1099 (4th-5th cent.).\n\nB    London, British Museam clix (4th cent.).\n\nR    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).\n\nC    Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).\n\nD    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).\n\nE    Florence, Laur., Conv. suppr. 158 (14th cent.).\n\nF    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833 (15th cent.).\n\nG    Rome, Vatican 915 (14th cent.).\n\nH    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2772 (14th cent.).\n\nI    Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).\n\nK    Venice, Marc. ix 6 (15th cent.).\n\nL    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2708 (15th cent.).\n\nThese MSS. are divided into two families:\n\n\u03a9a = C,D\n\n\u03a9b = E, F\n\n\u03a9c = G, H, I\n\n\u03a8 = K, L\n\n_Shield of Heracles:_\u2014\n\nP    Oxyrhynchus Papyri 689 (2nd cent.).\n\nA    Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-29 (4th cent.).\n\nQ    Berlin Papyri, 9774 (1st cent.).\n\nB    Paris, Bibl. Nat., Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).\n\nC    Paris, Bibl. Nat., Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).\n\nD    Milan, Ambros. C 222 (13th cent.).\n\nE    Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).\n\nF    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2773 (14th cent.).\n\nG    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2772 (14th cent.).\n\nH    Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).\n\nI    London, British Museam Harleianus (14th cent.).\n\nK    Rome, Bibl. Casanat. 356 (14th cent.)\n\nL    Florence, Laur. Conv. suppr. 158 (14th cent.).\n\nM    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833 (15th cent.).\n\nThese MSS. belong to two families:\n\n\u03a9a = B, C, D, F\n\n\u03a9b = G, H, I\n\n\u03a8a = E\n\n\u03a8b = K, L, M\n\nTo these must be added two MSS. of mixed family:\n\nN    Venice, Marc. ix 6 (14th cent.).\n\nO    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2708 (15th cent.).\n\n_Editions of Hesiod:_\u2014\n\nDemetrius Chalcondyles, Milan (?) 1493 (?) (_editio princeps_,\ncontaining, however, only the _Works and Days_).\n\nAldus Manutius (Aldine edition), Venice, 1495 (complete works).\n\nJuntine Editions, 1515 and 1540.\n\nTrincavelli, Venice, 1537 (with scholia).\n\nOf modern editions, the following may be noticed:\u2014\n\nGaisford, Oxford, 1814-1820; Leipzig, 1823 (with scholia: in Poett.\nGraec. Minn II).\n\nGoettling, Gotha, 1831 (3rd edition. Leipzig, 1878).\n\nDidot Edition, Paris, 1840.\n\nSch\u00f6mann, 1869.\n\nKoechly and Kinkel, Leipzig, 1870.\n\nFlach, Leipzig, 1874-8.\n\nRzach, Leipzig, 1902 (larger edition), 1913 (smaller edition).\n\nOn the Hesiodic poems generally the ordinary Histories of Greek\nLiterature may be consulted, but especially the _Hist. de la\nLitt\u00e9rature Grecque_ I pp. 459 ff. of MM. Croiset. The summary account\nin Prof. Murray\u2019s _Anc. Gk. Lit._ is written with a strong sceptical\nbias. Very valuable is the appendix to Mair\u2019s translation (Oxford,\n1908) on _The Farmer\u2019s Year in Hesiod_. Recent work on the Hesiodic\npoems is reviewed in full by Rzach in Bursian\u2019s _Jahresberichte_ vols.\n100 (1899) and 152 (1911).\n\nFor the _Fragments_ of Hesiodic poems the work of Markscheffel,\n_Hesiodi Fragmenta_ (Leipzig, 1840), is most valuable: important also\nis Kinkel\u2019s _Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta_ I (Leipzig, 1877) and the\neditions of Rzach noticed above. For recently discovered papyrus\nfragments see Wilamowitz, _Neue Bruchst\u00fccke d. Hesiod Katalog_\n(Sitzungsb. der k. preuss. Akad. fur Wissenschaft, 1900, pp. 839-851).\nA list of papyri belonging to lost Hesiodic works may here be added:\nall are the _Catalogues_.\n\n1) Berlin Papyri 7497 1201 (2nd cent.).\u2014Frag. 7.\n\n2) _Oxyrhynchus Papyri_ 421 (2nd cent.).\u2014Frag. 7.\n\n3) _Petrie Papyri_ iii 3.\u2014Frag. 14.\n\n4) _Papiri greci e latine_, No. 130 (2nd-3rd cent.).\u2014Frag. 14.\n\n5) Strassburg Papyri, 55 (2nd cent.).\u2014Frag. 58.\n\n6) Berlin Papyri 9739 (2nd cent.).\u2014Frag. 58.\n\n7) Berlin Papyri 10560 (3rd cent.).\u2014Frag. 58.\n\n8) Berlin Papyri 9777 (4th cent.).\u2014Frag. 98.\n\n9) _Papiri greci e latine_, No. 131 (2nd-3rd cent.).\u2014Frag. 99.\n\n10) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358-9.\n\n_The Homeric Hymns:_\u2014The text of the Homeric hymns is distinctly bad in\ncondition, a fact which may be attributed to the general neglect under\nwhich they seem to have laboured at all periods previously to the\nRevival of Learning. Very many defects have been corrected by the\nvarious editions of the Hymns, but a considerable number still defy all\nefforts; and especially an abnormal number of undoubted lacuna\ndisfigure the text. Unfortunately no papyrus fragment of the Hymns has\nyet emerged, though one such fragment (_Berl. Klassikertexte_ v.1. pp.\n7 ff.) contains a paraphrase of a poem very closely parallel to the\n_Hymn to Demeter_.\n\nThe mediaeval MSS. 1202 are thus enumerated by Dr. T.W. Allen:\u2014\n\nA    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2763.\n\nAt   Athos, Vatopedi 587.\n\nB    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2765.\n\nC    Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833.\n\n\u0393   Brussels, Bibl. Royale 11377-11380 (16th cent.).\n\nD    Milan, Amrbos. B 98 sup.\n\nE    Modena, Estense iii E 11.\n\nG    Rome, Vatican, Regina 91 (16th cent.).\n\nH    London, British Mus. Harley 1752.\n\nJ    Modena, Estense, ii B 14.\n\nK    Florence, Laur. 31, 32.\n\nL    Florence, Laur. 32, 45.\n\nL2   Florence, Laur. 70, 35.\n\nL3   Florence, Laur. 32, 4.\n\nM    Leyden (the Moscow MS.) 33 H (14th cent.).\n\nMon. Munich, Royal Lib. 333 c.\n\nN    Leyden, 74 c.\n\nO    Milan, Ambros. C 10 inf.\n\nP    Rome, Vatican Pal. graec. 179.\n\n\u03a0    Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. graec. 1095.\n\nQ    Milan, Ambros. S 31 sup.\n\nR1   Florence, Bibl. Riccard. 53 K ii 13.\n\nR2   Florence, Bibl. Riccard. 52 K ii 14.\n\nS    Rome, Vatican, Vaticani graec. 1880.\n\nT    Madrid, Public Library 24.\n\nV    Venice, Marc. 456.\n\nThe same scholar has traced all the MSS. back to a common parent from\nwhich three main families are derived (M had a separate descent and is\nnot included in any family):\u2014\n\nx1 = E, T\n\nx2 = L, \u03a0,(and more remotely) At, D, S, H, J, K.\n\ny = E, L, \u03a0, T (marginal readings).\n\np = A, B, C, \u0393, G, L2, L3, N, O, P, Q, R1, R2, V, Mon.\n\n_Editions of the Homeric Hymns_, &c.\n\nDemetrius Chalcondyles, Florence, 1488 (with the _Epigrams_ and the\n_Battle of the Frogs and Mice_ in the _ed. pr._ of Homer).\n\nAldine Edition, Venice, 1504.\n\nJuntine Edition, 1537.\n\nStephanus, Paris, 1566 and 1588.\n\nMore modern editions or critical works of value are:\n\nMartin (Variarum Lectionum libb. iv), Paris, 1605.\n\nBarnes, Cambridge, 1711.\n\nRuhnken, Leyden, 1782 (Epist. Crit. and _Hymn to Demeter_).\n\nIlgen, Halle, 1796 (with _Epigrams_ and the _Battle of the Frogs and\nMice_).\n\nMatthiae, Leipzig, 1806 (with the _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_).\n\nHermann, Berling, 1806 (with _Epigrams_).\n\nFranke, Leipzig, 1828 (with _Epigrams_ and the _Battle of the Frogs and\nMice_).\n\nDindorff (Didot edition), Paris, 1837.\n\nBaumeister (_Battle of the Frogs and Mice_), G\u00f6ttingen, 1852.\n\nBaumeister (_Hymns_), Leipzig, 1860.\n\nGemoll, Leipzig, 1886.\n\nGoodwin, Oxford, 1893.\n\nLudwich (_Battle of the Frogs and Mice_), 1896.\n\nAllen and Sikes, London, 1904.\n\nAllen (Homeri Opera v), Oxford, 1912.\n\nOf these editions that of Messrs Allen and Sikes is by far the best:\nnot only is the text purged of the load of conjectures for which the\nfrequent obscurities of the Hymns offer a special opening, but the\nIntroduction and the Notes throughout are of the highest value. For a\nfull discussion of the MSS. and textual problems, reference must be\nmade to this edition, as also to Dr. T.W. Allen\u2019s series of articles in\nthe _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ vols. xv ff. Among translations those\nof J. Edgar (Edinburgh), 1891) and of Andrew Lang (London, 1899) may be\nmentioned.\n\n_The Epic Cycle_.\n\nThe fragments of the Epic Cycle, being drawn from a variety of authors,\nno list of MSS. can be given. The following collections and editions\nmay be mentioned:\u2014\n\nMuller, Leipzig, 1829.\n\nDindorff (Didot edition of Homer), Paris, 1837-56.\n\nKinkel (Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta i), Leipzig, 1877.\n\nAllen (Homeri Opera v), Oxford, 1912.\n\nThe fullest discussion of the problems and fragments of the epic cycle\nis F.G. Welcker\u2019s _der epische Cyclus_ (Bonn, vol. i, 1835: vol. ii,\n1849: vol. i, 2nd edition, 1865). The Appendix to Monro\u2019s _Homer\u2019s\nOdyssey_ xii-xxiv (pp. 340 ff.) deals with the Cyclic poets in relation\nto Homer, and a clear and reasonable discussion of the subject is to be\nfound in Croiset\u2019s _Hist. de la Litt\u00e9rature Grecque_, vol. i.\n\nOn Hesiod, the Hesiodic poems and the problems which these offer see\nRzach\u2019s most important article \u201cHesiodos\u201d in Pauly-Wissowa,\n_Real-Encyclop\u00e4die_ xv (1912).\n\nA discussion of the evidence for the date of Hesiod is to be found in\n_Journ. Hell. Stud._ xxxv, 85 ff. (T.W. Allen).\n\nOf translations of Hesiod the following may be noticed:\u2014_The Georgicks\nof Hesiod_, by George Chapman, London, 1618; _The Works of Hesiod\ntranslated from the Greek_, by Thomas Coocke, London, 1728; _The\nRemains of Hesiod translated from the Greek into English Verse_, by\nCharles Abraham Elton; _The Works of Hesiod, Callimachus, and\nTheognis_, by the Rev. J. Banks, M.A.; \u201cHesiod\u201d, by Prof. James Mair,\nOxford, 19081203.\n\n\n\n\nHESIOD\n\nHESIOD\u2019S WORKS AND DAYS\n\n(ll. 1-10) Muses of Pieria who give glory through song, come hither,\ntell of Zeus your father and chant his praise. Through him mortal men\nare famed or un-famed, sung or unsung alike, as great Zeus wills. For\neasily he makes strong, and easily he brings the strong man low; easily\nhe humbles the proud and raises the obscure, and easily he straightens\nthe crooked and blasts the proud,\u2014Zeus who thunders aloft and has his\ndwelling most high.\n\nAttend thou with eye and ear, and make judgements straight with\nrighteousness. And I, Perses, would tell of true things.\n\n(ll. 11-24) So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but\nall over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise\nher when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and\nthey are wholly different in nature. For one fosters evil war and\nbattle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will\nof the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honour due. But the\nother is the elder daughter of dark Night, and the son of Cronos who\nsits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth:\nand she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil;\nfor a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich\nman who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order;\nand neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. This\nStrife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and\ncraftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel\nof minstrel.\n\n(ll. 25-41) Perses, lay up these things in your heart, and do not let\nthat Strife who delights in mischief hold your heart back from work,\nwhile you peep and peer and listen to the wrangles of the court-house.\nLittle concern has he with quarrels and courts who has not a year\u2019s\nvictuals laid up betimes, even that which the earth bears, Demeter\u2019s\ngrain. When you have got plenty of that, you can raise disputes and\nstrive to get another\u2019s goods. But you shall have no second chance to\ndeal so again: nay, let us settle our dispute here with true judgement\ndivided our inheritance, but you seized the greater share and carried\nit off, greatly swelling the glory of our bribe-swallowing lords who\nlove to judge such a cause as this. Fools! They know not how much more\nthe half is than the whole, nor what great advantage there is in mallow\nand asphodel 1301.\n\n(ll. 42-53) For the gods keep hidden from men the means of life. Else\nyou would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year\neven without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the\nsmoke, and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste.\nBut Zeus in the anger of his heart hid it, because Prometheus the\ncrafty deceived him; therefore he planned sorrow and mischief against\nmen. He hid fire; but that the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men\nfrom Zeus the counsellor in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who\ndelights in thunder did not see it. But afterwards Zeus who gathers the\nclouds said to him in anger:\n\n(ll. 54-59) \u2018Son of Iapetus, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad\nthat you have outwitted me and stolen fire\u2014a great plague to you\nyourself and to men that shall be. But I will give men as the price for\nfire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they\nembrace their own destruction.\u2019\n\n(ll. 60-68) So said the father of men and gods, and laughed aloud. And\nhe bade famous Hephaestus make haste and mix earth with water and to\nput in it the voice and strength of human kind, and fashion a sweet,\nlovely maiden-shape, like to the immortal goddesses in face; and Athene\nto teach her needlework and the weaving of the varied web; and golden\nAphrodite to shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that\nweary the limbs. And he charged Hermes the guide, the Slayer of Argus,\nto put in her a shameless mind and a deceitful nature.\n\n(ll. 69-82) So he ordered. And they obeyed the lord Zeus the son of\nCronos. Forthwith the famous Lame God moulded clay in the likeness of a\nmodest maid, as the son of Cronos purposed. And the goddess bright-eyed\nAthene girded and clothed her, and the divine Graces and queenly\nPersuasion put necklaces of gold upon her, and the rich-haired Hours\ncrowned her head with spring flowers. And Pallas Athene bedecked her\nform with all manners of finery. Also the Guide, the Slayer of Argus,\ncontrived within her lies and crafty words and a deceitful nature at\nthe will of loud thundering Zeus, and the Herald of the gods put speech\nin her. And he called this woman Pandora 1302, because all they who\ndwelt on Olympus gave each a gift, a plague to men who eat bread.\n\n(ll. 83-89) But when he had finished the sheer, hopeless snare, the\nFather sent glorious Argos-Slayer, the swift messenger of the gods, to\ntake it to Epimetheus as a gift. And Epimetheus did not think on what\nPrometheus had said to him, bidding him never take a gift of Olympian\nZeus, but to send it back for fear it might prove to be something\nharmful to men. But he took the gift, and afterwards, when the evil\nthing was already his, he understood.\n\n(ll. 90-105) For ere this the tribes of men lived on earth remote and\nfree from ills and hard toil and heavy sickness which bring the Fates\nupon men; for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman took off\nthe great lid of the jar 1303 with her hands and scattered all these\nand her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men. Only Hope remained\nthere in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and\ndid not fly out at the door; for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped\nher, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus who gathers the clouds. But the\nrest, countless plagues, wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils\nand the sea is full. Of themselves diseases come upon men continually\nby day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise\nZeus took away speech from them. So is there no way to escape the will\nof Zeus.\n\n(ll. 106-108) Or if you will, I will sum you up another tale well and\nskilfully\u2014and do you lay it up in your heart,\u2014how the gods and mortal\nmen sprang from one source.\n\n(ll. 109-120) First of all the deathless gods who dwell on Olympus made\na golden race of mortal men who lived in the time of Cronos when he was\nreigning in heaven. And they lived like gods without sorrow of heart,\nremote and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them;\nbut with legs and arms never failing they made merry with feasting\nbeyond the reach of all evils. When they died, it was as though they\nwere overcome with sleep, and they had all good things; for the\nfruitful earth unforced bare them fruit abundantly and without stint.\nThey dwelt in ease and peace upon their lands with many good things,\nrich in flocks and loved by the blessed gods.\n\n(ll. 121-139) But after earth had covered this generation\u2014they are\ncalled pure spirits dwelling on the earth, and are kindly, delivering\nfrom harm, and guardians of mortal men; for they roam everywhere over\nthe earth, clothed in mist and keep watch on judgements and cruel\ndeeds, givers of wealth; for this royal right also they received;\u2014then\nthey who dwell on Olympus made a second generation which was of silver\nand less noble by far. It was like the golden race neither in body nor\nin spirit. A child was brought up at his good mother\u2019s side an hundred\nyears, an utter simpleton, playing childishly in his own home. But when\nthey were full grown and were come to the full measure of their prime,\nthey lived only a little time in sorrow because of their foolishness,\nfor they could not keep from sinning and from wronging one another, nor\nwould they serve the immortals, nor sacrifice on the holy altars of the\nblessed ones as it is right for men to do wherever they dwell. Then\nZeus the son of Cronos was angry and put them away, because they would\nnot give honour to the blessed gods who live on Olympus.\n\n(ll. 140-155) But when earth had covered this generation also\u2014they are\ncalled blessed spirits of the underworld by men, and, though they are\nof second order, yet honour attends them also\u2014Zeus the Father made a\nthird generation of mortal men, a brazen race, sprung from ash-trees\n1304; and it was in no way equal to the silver age, but was terrible\nand strong. They loved the lamentable works of Ares and deeds of\nviolence; they ate no bread, but were hard of heart like adamant,\nfearful men. Great was their strength and unconquerable the arms which\ngrew from their shoulders on their strong limbs. Their armour was of\nbronze, and their houses of bronze, and of bronze were their\nimplements: there was no black iron. These were destroyed by their own\nhands and passed to the dank house of chill Hades, and left no name:\nterrible though they were, black Death seized them, and they left the\nbright light of the sun.\n\n(ll. 156-169b) But when earth had covered this generation also, Zeus\nthe son of Cronos made yet another, the fourth, upon the fruitful\nearth, which was nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of hero-men\nwho are called demi-gods, the race before our own, throughout the\nboundless earth. Grim war and dread battle destroyed a part of them,\nsome in the land of Cadmus at seven-gated Thebe when they fought for\nthe flocks of Oedipus, and some, when it had brought them in ships over\nthe great sea gulf to Troy for rich-haired Helen\u2019s sake: there death\u2019s\nend enshrouded a part of them. But to the others father Zeus the son of\nCronos gave a living and an abode apart from men, and made them dwell\nat the ends of earth. And they live untouched by sorrow in the islands\nof the blessed along the shore of deep swirling Ocean, happy heroes for\nwhom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice\na year, far from the deathless gods, and Cronos rules over them 1305;\nfor the father of men and gods released him from his bonds. And these\nlast equally have honour and glory.\n\n(ll. 169c-169d) And again far-seeing Zeus made yet another generation,\nthe fifth, of men who are upon the bounteous earth.\n\n(ll. 170-201) Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the\nfifth generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards.\nFor now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and\nsorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore\ntrouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some\ngood mingled with their evils. And Zeus will destroy this race of\nmortal men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at\ntheir birth 1306. The father will not agree with his children, nor the\nchildren with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with\ncomrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime. Men will\ndishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at\nthem, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing\nthe fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost\ntheir nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack\nanother\u2019s city. There will be no favour for the man who keeps his oath\nor for the just or for the good; but rather men will praise the\nevil-doer and his violent dealing. Strength will be right and reverence\nwill cease to be; and the wicked will hurt the worthy man, speaking\nfalse words against him, and will swear an oath upon them. Envy,\nfoul-mouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face, will go along\nwith wretched men one and all. And then Aidos and Nemesis 1307, with\ntheir sweet forms wrapped in white robes, will go from the wide-pathed\nearth and forsake mankind to join the company of the deathless gods:\nand bitter sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no\nhelp against evil.\n\n(ll. 202-211) And now I will tell a fable for princes who themselves\nunderstand. Thus said the hawk to the nightingale with speckled neck,\nwhile he carried her high up among the clouds, gripped fast in his\ntalons, and she, pierced by his crooked talons, cried pitifully. To her\nhe spoke disdainfully: \u2018Miserable thing, why do you cry out? One far\nstronger than you now holds you fast, and you must go wherever I take\nyou, songstress as you are. And if I please I will make my meal of you,\nor let you go. He is a fool who tries to withstand the stronger, for he\ndoes not get the mastery and suffers pain besides his shame.\u2019 So said\nthe swiftly flying hawk, the long-winged bird.\n\n(ll. 212-224) But you, Perses, listen to right and do not foster\nviolence; for violence is bad for a poor man. Even the prosperous\ncannot easily bear its burden, but is weighed down under it when he has\nfallen into delusion. The better path is to go by on the other side\ntowards justice; for Justice beats Outrage when she comes at length to\nthe end of the race. But only when he has suffered does the fool learn\nthis. For Oath keeps pace with wrong judgements. There is a noise when\nJustice is being dragged in the way where those who devour bribes and\ngive sentence with crooked judgements, take her. And she, wrapped in\nmist, follows to the city and haunts of the people, weeping, and\nbringing mischief to men, even to such as have driven her forth in that\nthey did not deal straightly with her.\n\n(ll. 225-237) But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to\nthe men of the land, and go not aside from what is just, their city\nflourishes, and the people prosper in it: Peace, the nurse of children,\nis abroad in their land, and all-seeing Zeus never decrees cruel war\nagainst them. Neither famine nor disaster ever haunt men who do true\njustice; but light-heartedly they tend the fields which are all their\ncare. The earth bears them victual in plenty, and on the mountains the\noak bears acorns upon the top and bees in the midst. Their woolly sheep\nare laden with fleeces; their women bear children like their parents.\nThey flourish continually with good things, and do not travel on ships,\nfor the grain-giving earth bears them fruit.\n\n(ll. 238-247) But for those who practise violence and cruel deeds\nfar-seeing Zeus, the son of Cronos, ordains a punishment. Often even a\nwhole city suffers for a bad man who sins and devises presumptuous\ndeeds, and the son of Cronos lays great trouble upon the people, famine\nand plague together, so that the men perish away, and their women do\nnot bear children, and their houses become few, through the contriving\nof Olympian Zeus. And again, at another time, the son of Cronos either\ndestroys their wide army, or their walls, or else makes an end of their\nships on the sea.\n\n(ll. 248-264) You princes, mark well this punishment you also; for the\ndeathless gods are near among men and mark all those who oppress their\nfellows with crooked judgements, and reck not the anger of the gods.\nFor upon the bounteous earth Zeus has thrice ten thousand spirits,\nwatchers of mortal men, and these keep watch on judgements and deeds of\nwrong as they roam, clothed in mist, all over the earth. And there is\nvirgin Justice, the daughter of Zeus, who is honoured and reverenced\namong the gods who dwell on Olympus, and whenever anyone hurts her with\nlying slander, she sits beside her father, Zeus the son of Cronos, and\ntells him of men\u2019s wicked heart, until the people pay for the mad folly\nof their princes who, evilly minded, pervert judgement and give\nsentence crookedly. Keep watch against this, you princes, and make\nstraight your judgements, you who devour bribes; put crooked judgements\naltogether from your thoughts.\n\n(ll. 265-266) He does mischief to himself who does mischief to another,\nand evil planned harms the plotter most.\n\n(ll. 267-273) The eye of Zeus, seeing all and understanding all,\nbeholds these things too, if so he will, and fails not to mark what\nsort of justice is this that the city keeps within it. Now, therefore,\nmay neither I myself be righteous among men, nor my son\u2014for then it is\na bad thing to be righteous\u2014if indeed the unrighteous shall have the\ngreater right. But I think that all-wise Zeus will not yet bring that\nto pass.\n\n(ll. 274-285) But you, Perses, lay up these things within your heart\nand listen now to right, ceasing altogether to think of violence. For\nthe son of Cronos has ordained this law for men, that fishes and beasts\nand winged fowls should devour one another, for right is not in them;\nbut to mankind he gave right which proves far the best. For whoever\nknows the right and is ready to speak it, far-seeing Zeus gives him\nprosperity; but whoever deliberately lies in his witness and forswears\nhimself, and so hurts Justice and sins beyond repair, that man\u2019s\ngeneration is left obscure thereafter. But the generation of the man\nwho swears truly is better thenceforward.\n\n(ll. 286-292) To you, foolish Perses, I will speak good sense. Badness\ncan be got easily and in shoals: the road to her is smooth, and she\nlives very near us. But between us and Goodness the gods have placed\nthe sweat of our brows: long and steep is the path that leads to her,\nand it is rough at the first; but when a man has reached the top, then\nis she easy to reach, though before that she was hard.\n\n(ll. 293-319) That man is altogether best who considers all things\nhimself and marks what will be better afterwards and at the end; and\nhe, again, is good who listens to a good adviser; but whoever neither\nthinks for himself nor keeps in mind what another tells him, he is an\nunprofitable man. But do you at any rate, always remembering my charge,\nwork, high-born Perses, that Hunger may hate you, and venerable Demeter\nrichly crowned may love you and fill your barn with food; for Hunger is\naltogether a meet comrade for the sluggard. Both gods and men are angry\nwith a man who lives idle, for in nature he is like the stingless\ndrones who waste the labour of the bees, eating without working; but\nlet it be your care to order your work properly, that in the right\nseason your barns may be full of victual. Through work men grow rich in\nflocks and substance, and working they are much better loved by the\nimmortals 1308. Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a\ndisgrace. But if you work, the idle will soon envy you as you grow\nrich, for fame and renown attend on wealth. And whatever be your lot,\nwork is best for you, if you turn your misguided mind away from other\nmen\u2019s property to your work and attend to your livelihood as I bid you.\nAn evil shame is the needy man\u2019s companion, shame which both greatly\nharms and prospers men: shame is with poverty, but confidence with\nwealth.\n\n(ll. 320-341) Wealth should not be seized: god-given wealth is much\nbetter; for if a man take great wealth violently and perforce, or if he\nsteal it through his tongue, as often happens when gain deceives men\u2019s\nsense and dishonour tramples down honour, the gods soon blot him out\nand make that man\u2019s house low, and wealth attends him only for a little\ntime. Alike with him who does wrong to a suppliant or a guest, or who\ngoes up to his brother\u2019s bed and commits unnatural sin in lying with\nhis wife, or who infatuately offends against fatherless children, or\nwho abuses his old father at the cheerless threshold of old age and\nattacks him with harsh words, truly Zeus himself is angry, and at the\nlast lays on him a heavy requittal for his evil doing. But do you turn\nyour foolish heart altogether away from these things, and, as far as\nyou are able, sacrifice to the deathless gods purely and cleanly, and\nburn rich meats also, and at other times propitiate them with libations\nand incense, both when you go to bed and when the holy light has come\nback, that they may be gracious to you in heart and spirit, and so you\nmay buy another\u2019s holding and not another yours.\n\n(ll. 342-351) Call your friend to a feast; but leave your enemy alone;\nand especially call him who lives near you: for if any mischief happen\nin the place, neighbours come ungirt, but kinsmen stay to gird\nthemselves 1309. A bad neighbour is as great a plague as a good one is\na great blessing; he who enjoys a good neighbour has a precious\npossession. Not even an ox would die but for a bad neighbour. Take fair\nmeasure from your neighbour and pay him back fairly with the same\nmeasure, or better, if you can; so that if you are in need afterwards,\nyou may find him sure.\n\n(ll. 352-369) Do not get base gain: base gain is as bad as ruin. Be\nfriends with the friendly, and visit him who visits you. Give to one\nwho gives, but do not give to one who does not give. A man gives to the\nfree-handed, but no one gives to the close-fisted. Give is a good girl,\nbut Take is bad and she brings death. For the man who gives willingly,\neven though he gives a great thing, rejoices in his gift and is glad in\nheart; but whoever gives way to shamelessness and takes something\nhimself, even though it be a small thing, it freezes his heart. He who\nadds to what he has, will keep off bright-eyed hunger; for if you add\nonly a little to a little and do this often, soon that little will\nbecome great. What a man has by him at home does not trouble him: it is\nbetter to have your stuff at home, for whatever is abroad may mean\nloss. It is a good thing to draw on what you have; but it grieves your\nheart to need something and not to have it, and I bid you mark this.\nTake your fill when the cask is first opened and when it is nearly\nspent, but midways be sparing: it is poor saving when you come to the\nlees.\n\n(ll. 370-372) Let the wage promised to a friend be fixed; even with\nyour brother smile\u2014and get a witness; for trust and mistrust, alike\nruin men.\n\n(ll. 373-375) Do not let a flaunting woman coax and cozen and deceive\nyou: she is after your barn. The man who trusts womankind trusts\ndeceivers.\n\n(ll. 376-380) There should be an only son, to feed his father\u2019s house,\nfor so wealth will increase in the home; but if you leave a second son\nyou should die old. Yet Zeus can easily give great wealth to a greater\nnumber. More hands mean more work and more increase.\n\n(ll. 381-382) If your heart within you desires wealth, do these things\nand work with work upon work.\n\n(ll. 383-404) When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising 1310,\nbegin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set 1311.\nForty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year\nmoves round, when first you sharpen your sickle. This is the law of the\nplains, and of those who live near the sea, and who inhabit rich\ncountry, the glens and dingles far from the tossing sea,\u2014strip to sow\nand strip to plough and strip to reap, if you wish to get in all\nDemeter\u2019s fruits in due season, and that each kind may grow in its\nseason. Else, afterwards, you may chance to be in want, and go begging\nto other men\u2019s houses, but without avail; as you have already come to\nme. But I will give you no more nor give you further measure. Foolish\nPerses! Work the work which the gods ordained for men, lest in bitter\nanguish of spirit you with your wife and children seek your livelihood\namongst your neighbours, and they do not heed you. Two or three times,\nmay be, you will succeed, but if you trouble them further, it will not\navail you, and all your talk will be in vain, and your word-play\nunprofitable. Nay, I bid you find a way to pay your debts and avoid\nhunger.\n\n(ll. 405-413) First of all, get a house, and a woman and an ox for the\nplough\u2014a slave woman and not a wife, to follow the oxen as well\u2014and\nmake everything ready at home, so that you may not have to ask of\nanother, and he refuses you, and so, because you are in lack, the\nseason pass by and your work come to nothing. Do not put your work off\ntill to-morrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill\nhis barn, nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well,\nbut a man who puts off work is always at hand-grips with ruin.\n\n(ll. 414-447) When the piercing power and sultry heat of the sun abate,\nand almighty Zeus sends the autumn rains 1312, and men\u2019s flesh comes to\nfeel far easier,\u2014for then the star Sirius passes over the heads of men,\nwho are born to misery, only a little while by day and takes greater\nshare of night,\u2014then, when it showers its leaves to the ground and\nstops sprouting, the wood you cut with your axe is least liable to\nworm. Then remember to hew your timber: it is the season for that work.\nCut a mortar 1313 three feet wide and a pestle three cubits long, and\nan axle of seven feet, for it will do very well so; but if you make it\neight feet long, you can cut a beetle 1314 from it as well. Cut a\nfelloe three spans across for a waggon of ten palms\u2019 width. Hew also\nmany bent timbers, and bring home a plough-tree when you have found it,\nand look out on the mountain or in the field for one of holm-oak; for\nthis is the strongest for oxen to plough with when one of Athena\u2019s\nhandmen has fixed in the share-beam and fastened it to the pole with\ndowels. Get two ploughs ready work on them at home, one all of a piece,\nand the other jointed. It is far better to do this, for if you should\nbreak one of them, you can put the oxen to the other. Poles of laurel\nor elm are most free from worms, and a share-beam of oak and a\nplough-tree of holm-oak. Get two oxen, bulls of nine years; for their\nstrength is unspent and they are in the prime of their age: they are\nbest for work. They will not fight in the furrow and break the plough\nand then leave the work undone. Let a brisk fellow of forty years\nfollow them, with a loaf of four quarters 1315 and eight slices 1316\nfor his dinner, one who will attend to his work and drive a straight\nfurrow and is past the age for gaping after his fellows, but will keep\nhis mind on his work. No younger man will be better than he at\nscattering the seed and avoiding double-sowing; for a man less staid\ngets disturbed, hankering after his fellows.\n\n(ll. 448-457) Mark, when you hear the voice of the crane 1317 who cries\nyear by year from the clouds above, for she give the signal for\nploughing and shows the season of rainy winter; but she vexes the heart\nof the man who has no oxen. Then is the time to feed up your horned\noxen in the byre; for it is easy to say: \u2018Give me a yoke of oxen and a\nwaggon,\u2019 and it is easy to refuse: \u2018I have work for my oxen.\u2019 The man\nwho is rich in fancy thinks his waggon as good as built already\u2014the\nfool! He does not know that there are a hundred timbers to a waggon.\nTake care to lay these up beforehand at home.\n\n(ll. 458-464) So soon as the time for ploughing is proclaimed to men,\nthen make haste, you and your slaves alike, in wet and in dry, to\nplough in the season for ploughing, and bestir yourself early in the\nmorning so that your fields may be full. Plough in the spring; but\nfallow broken up in the summer will not belie your hopes. Sow fallow\nland when the soil is still getting light: fallow land is a defender\nfrom harm and a soother of children.\n\n(ll. 465-478) Pray to Zeus of the Earth and to pure Demeter to make\nDemeter\u2019s holy grain sound and heavy, when first you begin ploughing,\nwhen you hold in your hand the end of the plough-tail and bring down\nyour stick on the backs of the oxen as they draw on the pole-bar by the\nyoke-straps. Let a slave follow a little behind with a mattock and make\ntrouble for the birds by hiding the seed; for good management is the\nbest for mortal men as bad management is the worst. In this way your\ncorn-ears will bow to the ground with fullness if the Olympian himself\ngives a good result at the last, and you will sweep the cobwebs from\nyour bins and you will be glad, I ween, as you take of your garnered\nsubstance. And so you will have plenty till you come to grey 1318\nspringtime, and will not look wistfully to others, but another shall be\nin need of your help.\n\n(ll. 479-492) But if you plough the good ground at the solstice 1319,\nyou will reap sitting, grasping a thin crop in your hand, binding the\nsheaves awry, dust-covered, not glad at all; so you will bring all home\nin a basket and not many will admire you. Yet the will of Zeus who\nholds the aegis is different at different times; and it is hard for\nmortal men to tell it; for if you should plough late, you may find this\nremedy\u2014when the cuckoo first calls 1320 in the leaves of the oak and\nmakes men glad all over the boundless earth, if Zeus should send rain\non the third day and not cease until it rises neither above an ox\u2019s\nhoof nor falls short of it, then the late-plougher will vie with the\nearly. Keep all this well in mind, and fail not to mark grey spring as\nit comes and the season of rain.\n\n(ll 493-501) Pass by the smithy and its crowded lounge in winter time\nwhen the cold keeps men from field work,\u2014for then an industrious man\ncan greatly prosper his house\u2014lest bitter winter catch you helpless and\npoor and you chafe a swollen foot with a shrunk hand. The idle man who\nwaits on empty hope, lacking a livelihood, lays to heart\nmischief-making; it is not an wholesome hope that accompanies a need\nman who lolls at ease while he has no sure livelihood.\n\n(ll. 502-503) While it is yet midsummer command your slaves: \u2018It will\nnot always be summer, build barns.\u2019\n\n(ll. 504-535) Avoid the month Lenaeon 1321, wretched days, all of them\nfit to skin an ox, and the frosts which are cruel when Boreas blows\nover the earth. He blows across horse-breeding Thrace upon the wide sea\nand stirs it up, while earth and the forest howl. On many a high-leafed\noak and thick pine he falls and brings them to the bounteous earth in\nmountain glens: then all the immense wood roars and the beasts shudder\nand put their tails between their legs, even those whose hide is\ncovered with fur; for with his bitter blast he blows even through them\nalthough they are shaggy-breasted. He goes even through an ox\u2019s hide;\nit does not stop him. Also he blows through the goat\u2019s fine hair. But\nthrough the fleeces of sheep, because their wool is abundant, the keen\nwind Boreas pierces not at all; but it makes the old man curved as a\nwheel. And it does not blow through the tender maiden who stays indoors\nwith her dear mother, unlearned as yet in the works of golden\nAphrodite, and who washes her soft body and anoints herself with oil\nand lies down in an inner room within the house, on a winter\u2019s day when\nthe Boneless One 1322 gnaws his foot in his fireless house and wretched\nhome; for the sun shows him no pastures to make for, but goes to and\nfro over the land and city of dusky men 1323, and shines more\nsluggishly upon the whole race of the Hellenes. Then the horned and\nunhorned denizens of the wood, with teeth chattering pitifully, flee\nthrough the copses and glades, and all, as they seek shelter, have this\none care, to gain thick coverts or some hollow rock. Then, like the\nThree-legged One 1324 whose back is broken and whose head looks down\nupon the ground, like him, I say, they wander to escape the white snow.\n\n(ll. 536-563) Then put on, as I bid you, a soft coat and a tunic to the\nfeet to shield your body,\u2014and you should weave thick woof on thin warp.\nIn this clothe yourself so that your hair may keep still and not\nbristle and stand upon end all over your body.\n\nLace on your feet close-fitting boots of the hide of a slaughtered ox,\nthickly lined with felt inside. And when the season of frost comes on,\nstitch together skins of firstling kids with ox-sinew, to put over your\nback and to keep off the rain. On your head above wear a shaped cap of\nfelt to keep your ears from getting wet, for the dawn is chill when\nBoreas has once made his onslaught, and at dawn a fruitful mist is\nspread over the earth from starry heaven upon the fields of blessed\nmen: it is drawn from the ever flowing rivers and is raised high above\nthe earth by windstorm, and sometimes it turns to rain towards evening,\nand sometimes to wind when Thracian Boreas huddles the thick clouds.\nFinish your work and return home ahead of him, and do not let the dark\ncloud from heaven wrap round you and make your body clammy and soak\nyour clothes. Avoid it; for this is the hardest month, wintry, hard for\nsheep and hard for men. In this season let your oxen have half their\nusual food, but let your man have more; for the helpful nights are\nlong. Observe all this until the year is ended and you have nights and\ndays of equal length, and Earth, the mother of all, bears again her\nvarious fruit.\n\n(ll. 564-570) When Zeus has finished sixty wintry days after the\nsolstice, then the star Arcturus 1325 leaves the holy stream of Ocean\nand first rises brilliant at dusk. After him the shrilly wailing\ndaughter of Pandion, the swallow, appears to men when spring is just\nbeginning. Before she comes, prune the vines, for it is best so.\n\n(ll. 571-581) But when the House-carrier 1326 climbs up the plants from\nthe earth to escape the Pleiades, then it is no longer the season for\ndigging vineyards, but to whet your sickles and rouse up your slaves.\nAvoid shady seats and sleeping until dawn in the harvest season, when\nthe sun scorches the body. Then be busy, and bring home your fruits,\ngetting up early to make your livelihood sure. For dawn takes away a\nthird part of your work, dawn advances a man on his journey and\nadvances him in his work,\u2014dawn which appears and sets many men on their\nroad, and puts yokes on many oxen.\n\n(ll. 582-596) But when the artichoke flowers 1327, and the chirping\ngrass-hopper sits in a tree and pours down his shrill song continually\nfrom under his wings in the season of wearisome heat, then goats are\nplumpest and wine sweetest; women are most wanton, but men are\nfeeblest, because Sirius parches head and knees and the skin is dry\nthrough heat. But at that time let me have a shady rock and wine of\nBiblis, a clot of curds and milk of drained goats with the flesh of an\nheifer fed in the woods, that has never calved, and of firstling kids;\nthen also let me drink bright wine, sitting in the shade, when my heart\nis satisfied with food, and so, turning my head to face the fresh\nZephyr, from the everflowing spring which pours down unfouled thrice\npour an offering of water, but make a fourth libation of wine.\n\n(ll. 597-608) Set your slaves to winnow Demeter\u2019s holy grain, when\nstrong Orion 1328 first appears, on a smooth threshing-floor in an airy\nplace. Then measure it and store it in jars. And so soon as you have\nsafely stored all your stuff indoors, I bid you put your bondman out of\ndoors and look out for a servant-girl with no children;\u2014for a servant\nwith a child to nurse is troublesome. And look after the dog with\njagged teeth; do not grudge him his food, or some time the Day-sleeper\n1329 may take your stuff. Bring in fodder and litter so as to have\nenough for your oxen and mules. After that, let your men rest their\npoor knees and unyoke your pair of oxen.\n\n(ll. 609-617) But when Orion and Sirius are come into mid-heaven, and\nrosy-fingered Dawn sees Arcturus 1330, then cut off all the\ngrape-clusters, Perses, and bring them home. Show them to the sun ten\ndays and ten nights: then cover them over for five, and on the sixth\nday draw off into vessels the gifts of joyful Dionysus. But when the\nPleiades and Hyades and strong Orion begin to set 1331, then remember\nto plough in season: and so the completed year 1332 will fitly pass\nbeneath the earth.\n\n(ll. 618-640) But if desire for uncomfortable sea-faring seize you;\nwhen the Pleiades plunge into the misty sea 1333 to escape Orion\u2019s rude\nstrength, then truly gales of all kinds rage. Then keep ships no longer\non the sparkling sea, but bethink you to till the land as I bid you.\nHaul up your ship upon the land and pack it closely with stones all\nround to keep off the power of the winds which blow damply, and draw\nout the bilge-plug so that the rain of heaven may not rot it. Put away\nall the tackle and fittings in your house, and stow the wings of the\nsea-going ship neatly, and hang up the well-shaped rudder over the\nsmoke. You yourself wait until the season for sailing is come, and then\nhaul your swift ship down to the sea and stow a convenient cargo in it,\nso that you may bring home profit, even as your father and mine,\nfoolish Perses, used to sail on shipboard because he lacked sufficient\nlivelihood. And one day he came to this very place crossing over a\ngreat stretch of sea; he left Aeolian Cyme and fled, not from riches\nand substance, but from wretched poverty which Zeus lays upon men, and\nhe settled near Helicon in a miserable hamlet, Ascra, which is bad in\nwinter, sultry in summer, and good at no time.\n\n(ll. 641-645) But you, Perses, remember all works in their season but\nsailing especially. Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a\nlarge one; for the greater the lading, the greater will be your piled\ngain, if only the winds will keep back their harmful gales.\n\n(ll. 646-662) If ever you turn your misguided heart to trading and with\nto escape from debt and joyless hunger, I will show you the measures of\nthe loud-roaring sea, though I have no skill in sea-faring nor in\nships; for never yet have I sailed by ship over the wide sea, but only\nto Euboea from Aulis where the Achaeans once stayed through much storm\nwhen they had gathered a great host from divine Hellas for Troy, the\nland of fair women. Then I crossed over to Chalcis, to the games of\nwise Amphidamas where the sons of the great-hearted hero proclaimed and\nappointed prizes. And there I boast that I gained the victory with a\nsong and carried off an handled tripod which I dedicated to the Muses\nof Helicon, in the place where they first set me in the way of clear\nsong. Such is all my experience of many-pegged ships; nevertheless I\nwill tell you the will of Zeus who holds the aegis; for the Muses have\ntaught me to sing in marvellous song.\n\n(ll. 663-677) Fifty days after the solstice 1334, when the season of\nwearisome heat is come to an end, is the right time for me to go\nsailing. Then you will not wreck your ship, nor will the sea destroy\nthe sailors, unless Poseidon the Earth-Shaker be set upon it, or Zeus,\nthe king of the deathless gods, wish to slay them; for the issues of\ngood and evil alike are with them. At that time the winds are steady,\nand the sea is harmless. Then trust in the winds without care, and haul\nyour swift ship down to the sea and put all the freight on board; but\nmake all haste you can to return home again and do not wait till the\ntime of the new wine and autumn rain and oncoming storms with the\nfierce gales of Notus who accompanies the heavy autumn rain of Zeus and\nstirs up the sea and makes the deep dangerous.\n\n(ll. 678-694) Another time for men to go sailing is in spring when a\nman first sees leaves on the topmost shoot of a fig-tree as large as\nthe foot-print that a cow makes; then the sea is passable, and this is\nthe spring sailing time. For my part I do not praise it, for my heart\ndoes not like it. Such a sailing is snatched, and you will hardly avoid\nmischief. Yet in their ignorance men do even this, for wealth means\nlife to poor mortals; but it is fearful to die among the waves. But I\nbid you consider all these things in your heart as I say. Do not put\nall your goods in hallow ships; leave the greater part behind, and put\nthe lesser part on board; for it is a bad business to meet with\ndisaster among the waves of the sea, as it is bad if you put too great\na load on your waggon and break the axle, and your goods are spoiled.\nObserve due measure: and proportion is best in all things.\n\n(ll. 695-705) Bring home a wife to your house when you are of the right\nage, while you are not far short of thirty years nor much above; this\nis the right age for marriage. Let your wife have been grown up four\nyears, and marry her in the fifth. Marry a maiden, so that you can\nteach her careful ways, and especially marry one who lives near you,\nbut look well about you and see that your marriage will not be a joke\nto your neighbours. For a man wins nothing better than a good wife,\nand, again, nothing worse than a bad one, a greedy soul who roasts her\nman without fire, strong though he may be, and brings him to a raw 1335\nold age.\n\n(ll. 706-714) Be careful to avoid the anger of the deathless gods. Do\nnot make a friend equal to a brother; but if you do, do not wrong him\nfirst, and do not lie to please the tongue. But if he wrongs you first,\noffending either in word or in deed, remember to repay him double; but\nif he ask you to be his friend again and be ready to give you\nsatisfaction, welcome him. He is a worthless man who makes now one and\nnow another his friend; but as for you, do not let your face put your\nheart to shame 1336.\n\n(ll. 715-716) Do not get a name either as lavish or as churlish; as a\nfriend of rogues or as a slanderer of good men.\n\n(ll. 717-721) Never dare to taunt a man with deadly poverty which eats\nout the heart; it is sent by the deathless gods. The best treasure a\nman can have is a sparing tongue, and the greatest pleasure, one that\nmoves orderly; for if you speak evil, you yourself will soon be worse\nspoken of.\n\n(ll. 722-723) Do not be boorish at a common feast where there are many\nguests; the pleasure is greatest and the expense is least 1337.\n\n(ll. 724-726) Never pour a libation of sparkling wine to Zeus after\ndawn with unwashen hands, nor to others of the deathless gods; else\nthey do not hear your prayers but spit them back.\n\n(ll. 727-732) Do not stand upright facing the sun when you make water,\nbut remember to do this when he has set towards his rising. And do not\nmake water as you go, whether on the road or off the road, and do not\nuncover yourself: the nights belong to the blessed gods. A scrupulous\nman who has a wise heart sits down or goes to the wall of an enclosed\ncourt.\n\n(ll. 733-736) Do not expose yourself befouled by the fireside in your\nhouse, but avoid this. Do not beget children when you are come back\nfrom ill-omened burial, but after a festival of the gods.\n\n(ll. 737-741) Never cross the sweet-flowing water of ever-rolling\nrivers afoot until you have prayed, gazing into the soft flood, and\nwashed your hands in the clear, lovely water. Whoever crosses a river\nwith hands unwashed of wickedness, the gods are angry with him and\nbring trouble upon him afterwards.\n\n(ll. 742-743) At a cheerful festival of the gods do not cut the\nwithered from the quick upon that which has five branches 1338 with\nbright steel.\n\n(ll. 744-745) Never put the ladle upon the mixing-bowl at a wine party,\nfor malignant ill-luck is attached to that.\n\n(ll. 746-747) When you are building a house, do not leave it\nrough-hewn, or a cawing crow may settle on it and croak.\n\n(ll. 748-749) Take nothing to eat or to wash with from uncharmed pots,\nfor in them there is mischief.\n\n(ll. 750-759) Do not let a boy of twelve years sit on things which may\nnot be moved 1339, for that is bad, and makes a man unmanly; nor yet a\nchild of twelve months, for that has the same effect. A man should not\nclean his body with water in which a woman has washed, for there is\nbitter mischief in that also for a time. When you come upon a burning\nsacrifice, do not make a mock of mysteries, for Heaven is angry at this\nalso. Never make water in the mouths of rivers which flow to the sea,\nnor yet in springs; but be careful to avoid this. And do not ease\nyourself in them: it is not well to do this.\n\n(ll. 760-763) So do: and avoid the talk of men. For Talk is\nmischievous, light, and easily raised, but hard to bear and difficult\nto be rid of. Talk never wholly dies away when many people voice her:\neven Talk is in some ways divine.\n\n(ll. 765-767) Mark the days which come from Zeus, duly telling your\nslaves of them, and that the thirtieth day of the month is best for one\nto look over the work and to deal out supplies.\n\n(ll. 769-768) 1340 For these are days which come from Zeus the\nall-wise, when men discern aright.\n\n(ll. 770-779) To begin with, the first, the fourth, and the seventh\u2014on\nwhich Leto bare Apollo with the blade of gold\u2014each is a holy day. The\neighth and the ninth, two days at least of the waxing month 1341, are\nspecially good for the works of man. Also the eleventh and twelfth are\nboth excellent, alike for shearing sheep and for reaping the kindly\nfruits; but the twelfth is much better than the eleventh, for on it the\nairy-swinging spider spins its web in full day, and then the Wise One\n1342, gathers her pile. On that day woman should set up her loom and\nget forward with her work.\n\n(ll. 780-781) Avoid the thirteenth of the waxing month for beginning to\nsow: yet it is the best day for setting plants.\n\n(ll. 782-789) The sixth of the mid-month is very unfavourable for\nplants, but is good for the birth of males, though unfavourable for a\ngirl either to be born at all or to be married. Nor is the first sixth\na fit day for a girl to be born, but a kindly for gelding kids and\nsheep and for fencing in a sheep-cote. It is favourable for the birth\nof a boy, but such will be fond of sharp speech, lies, and cunning\nwords, and stealthy converse.\n\n(ll. 790-791) On the eighth of the month geld the boar and\nloud-bellowing bull, but hard-working mules on the twelfth.\n\n(ll. 792-799) On the great twentieth, in full day, a wise man should be\nborn. Such an one is very sound-witted. The tenth is favourable for a\nmale to be born; but, for a girl, the fourth day of the mid-month. On\nthat day tame sheep and shambling, horned oxen, and the sharp-fanged\ndog and hardy mules to the touch of the hand. But take care to avoid\ntroubles which eat out the heart on the fourth of the beginning and\nending of the month; it is a day very fraught with fate.\n\n(ll. 800-801) On the fourth of the month bring home your bride, but\nchoose the omens which are best for this business.\n\n(ll. 802-804) Avoid fifth days: they are unkindly and terrible. On a\nfifth day, they say, the Erinyes assisted at the birth of Horcus (Oath)\nwhom Eris (Strife) bare to trouble the forsworn. {[0-9]} (ll. 805-809)\nLook about you very carefully and throw out Demeter\u2019s holy grain upon\nthe well-rolled 1343 threshing floor on the seventh of the mid-month.\nLet the woodman cut beams for house building and plenty of ships\u2019\ntimbers, such as are suitable for ships. On the fourth day begin to\nbuild narrow ships.\n\n(ll. 810-813) The ninth of the mid-month improves towards evening; but\nthe first ninth of all is quite harmless for men. It is a good day on\nwhich to beget or to be born both for a male and a female: it is never\nan wholly evil day.\n\n(ll. 814-818) Again, few know that the twenty-seventh of the month is\nbest for opening a wine-jar, and putting yokes on the necks of oxen and\nmules and swift-footed horses, and for hauling a swift ship of many\nthwarts down to the sparkling sea; few call it by its right name.\n\n(ll. 819-821) On the fourth day open a jar. The fourth of the mid-month\nis a day holy above all. And again, few men know that the fourth day\nafter the twentieth is best while it is morning: towards evening it is\nless good.\n\n(ll. 822-828) These days are a great blessing to men on earth; but the\nrest are changeable, luckless, and bring nothing. Everyone praises a\ndifferent day but few know their nature. Sometimes a day is a\nstepmother, sometimes a mother. That man is happy and lucky in them who\nknows all these things and does his work without offending the\ndeathless gods, who discerns the omens of birds and avoids\ntransgressions.\n\nTHE DIVINATION BY BIRDS\n\nProclus on Works and Days, 828: Some make the _Divination by Birds_,\nwhich Apollonius of Rhodes rejects as spurious, follow this verse\n(_Works and Days_, 828).\n\nTHE ASTRONOMY\n\nFragment #1\u2014Athenaeus xi, p. 491 d: And the author of \u201cThe Astronomy\u201d,\nwhich is attributed forsooth to Hesiod, always calls them (the\nPleiades) Peleiades: \u2018but mortals call them Peleiades\u2019; and again, \u2018the\nstormy Peleiades go down\u2019; and again, \u2018then the Peleiades hide\naway....\u2019\n\nScholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 16: The Pleiades.... whose stars are\nthese:\u2014\u2018Lovely Teygata, and dark-faced Electra, and Alcyone, and bright\nAsterope, and Celaeno, and Maia, and Merope, whom glorious Atlas\nbegot....\u2019 ((LACUNA)) \u2018In the mountains of Cyllene she (Maia) bare\nHermes, the herald of the gods.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Scholiast on Aratus 254: But Zeus made them (the sisters of\nHyas) into the stars which are called Hyades. Hesiod in his Book about\nStars tells us their names as follows: \u2018Nymphs like the Graces 1401,\nPhaesyle and Coronis and rich-crowned Cleeia and lovely Phaco and\nlong-robed Eudora, whom the tribes of men upon the earth call Hyades.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Pseudo-Eratosthenes Catast. frag. 1: 1402 The Great\nBear.]\u2014Hesiod says she (Callisto) was the daughter of Lycaon and lived\nin Arcadia. She chose to occupy herself with wild-beasts in the\nmountains together with Artemis, and, when she was seduced by Zeus,\ncontinued some time undetected by the goddess, but afterwards, when she\nwas already with child, was seen by her bathing and so discovered. Upon\nthis, the goddess was enraged and changed her into a beast. Thus she\nbecame a bear and gave birth to a son called Arcas. But while she was\nin the mountains, she was hunted by some goat-herds and given up with\nher babe to Lycaon. Some while after, she thought fit to go into the\nforbidden precinct of Zeus, not knowing the law, and being pursued by\nher own son and the Arcadians, was about to be killed because of the\nsaid law; but Zeus delivered her because of her connection with him and\nput her among the stars, giving her the name Bear because of the\nmisfortune which had befallen her.\n\nComm. Supplem. on Aratus, p. 547 M. 8: Of Bootes, also called the\nBear-warden. The story goes that he is Arcas the son of Callisto and\nZeus, and he lived in the country about Lycaeum. After Zeus had seduced\nCallisto, Lycaon, pretending not to know of the matter, entertained\nZeus, as Hesiod says, and set before him on the table the babe which he\nhad cut up.\n\nFragment #4\u2014Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catast. fr. xxxii: Orion.]\u2014Hesiod says\nthat he was the son of Euryale, the daughter of Minos, and of Poseidon,\nand that there was given him as a gift the power of walking upon the\nwaves as though upon land. When he was come to Chios, he outraged\nMerope, the daughter of Oenopion, being drunken; but Oenopion when he\nlearned of it was greatly vexed at the outrage and blinded him and cast\nhim out of the country. Then he came to Lemnos as a beggar and there\nmet Hephaestus who took pity on him and gave him Cedalion his own\nservant to guide him. So Orion took Cedalion upon his shoulders and\nused to carry him about while he pointed out the roads. Then he came to\nthe east and appears to have met Helius (the Sun) and to have been\nhealed, and so returned back again to Oenopion to punish him; but\nOenopion was hidden away by his people underground. Being disappointed,\nthen, in his search for the king, Orion went away to Crete and spent\nhis time hunting in company with Artemis and Leto. It seems that he\nthreatened to kill every beast there was on earth; whereupon, in her\nanger, Earth sent up against him a scorpion of very great size by which\nhe was stung and so perished. After this Zeus, at one prayer of Artemis\nand Leto, put him among the stars, because of his manliness, and the\nscorpion also as a memorial of him and of what had occurred.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Diodorus iv. 85: Some say that great earthquakes occurred,\nwhich broke through the neck of land and formed the straits 1403, the\nsea parting the mainland from the island. But Hesiod, the poet, says\njust the opposite: that the sea was open, but Orion piled up the\npromontory by Peloris, and founded the close of Poseidon which is\nespecially esteemed by the people thereabouts. When he had finished\nthis, he went away to Euboea and settled there, and because of his\nrenown was taken into the number of the stars in heaven, and won\nundying remembrance.\n\nTHE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON\n\nFragment #1\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. vi. 19: \u2018And now, pray, mark all\nthese things well in a wise heart. First, whenever you come to your\nhouse, offer good sacrifices to the eternal gods.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Plutarch Mor. 1034 E: \u2018Decide no suit until you have heard\nboth sides speak.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Plutarch de Orac. defectu ii. 415 C: \u2018A chattering crow\nlives out nine generations of aged men, but a stag\u2019s life is four times\na crow\u2019s, and a raven\u2019s life makes three stags old, while the phoenix\noutlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus\nthe aegis-holder, outlive ten phoenixes.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Quintilian, i. 15: Some consider that children under the\nage of seven should not receive a literary education... That Hesiod was\nof this opinion very many writers affirm who were earlier than the\ncritic Aristophanes; for he was the first to reject the _Precepts_, in\nwhich book this maxim occurs, as a work of that poet.\n\nTHE GREAT WORKS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Comm. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. v. 8: The verse,\nhowever (the slaying of Rhadamanthys), is in Hesiod in the _Great\nWorks_ and is as follows: \u2018If a man sow evil, he shall reap evil\nincrease; if men do to him as he has done, it will be true justice.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Proclus on Hesiod, Works and Days, 126: Some believe that\nthe Silver Race (is to be attributed to) the earth, declaring that in\nthe _Great Works_ Hesiod makes silver to be of the family of Earth.\n\n\n\n\nTHE IDAEAN DACTYLS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Pliny, Natural History vii. 56, 197: Hesiod says that those\nwho are called the Idaean Dactyls taught the smelting and tempering of\niron in Crete.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Clement, Stromateis i. 16. 75: Celmis, again, and\nDamnameneus, the first of the Idaean Dactyls, discovered iron in\nCyprus; but bronze smelting was discovered by Delas, another Idaean,\nthough Hesiod calls him Scythes 1501.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEOGONY\n\n(ll. 1-25) From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the\ngreat and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the\ndeep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when\nthey have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse\u2019s\nSpring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon\nand move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night,\nveiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising\nZeus the aegis-holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden\nsandals and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athene,\nand Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon\nthe earth-holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and\nquick-glancing 1601 Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and\nfair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and\ngreat Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark\nNight, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for\never. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was\nshepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the\ngoddesses said to me\u2014the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds\nthe aegis:\n\n(ll. 26-28) \u2018Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame,\nmere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they\nwere true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.\u2019\n\n(ll. 29-35) So said the ready-voiced daughters of great Zeus, and they\nplucked and gave me a rod, a shoot of sturdy laurel, a marvellous\nthing, and breathed into me a divine voice to celebrate things that\nshall be and things there were aforetime; and they bade me sing of the\nrace of the blessed gods that are eternally, but ever to sing of\nthemselves both first and last. But why all this about oak or stone?\n1602\n\n(ll. 36-52) Come thou, let us begin with the Muses who gladden the\ngreat spirit of their father Zeus in Olympus with their songs, telling\nof things that are and that shall be and that were aforetime with\nconsenting voice. Unwearying flows the sweet sound from their lips, and\nthe house of their father Zeus the loud-thunderer is glad at the\nlily-like voice of the goddesses as it spread abroad, and the peaks of\nsnowy Olympus resound, and the homes of the immortals. And they\nuttering their immortal voice, celebrate in song first of all the\nreverend race of the gods from the beginning, those whom Earth and wide\nHeaven begot, and the gods sprung of these, givers of good things.\nThen, next, the goddesses sing of Zeus, the father of gods and men, as\nthey begin and end their strain, how much he is the most excellent\namong the gods and supreme in power. And again, they chant the race of\nmen and strong giants, and gladden the heart of Zeus within\nOlympus,\u2014the Olympian Muses, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder.\n\n(ll. 53-74) Them in Pieria did Mnemosyne (Memory), who reigns over the\nhills of Eleuther, bear of union with the father, the son of Cronos, a\nforgetting of ills and a rest from sorrow. For nine nights did wise\nZeus lie with her, entering her holy bed remote from the immortals. And\nwhen a year was passed and the seasons came round as the months waned,\nand many days were accomplished, she bare nine daughters, all of one\nmind, whose hearts are set upon song and their spirit free from care, a\nlittle way from the topmost peak of snowy Olympus. There are their\nbright dancing-places and beautiful homes, and beside them the Graces\nand Himerus (Desire) live in delight. And they, uttering through their\nlips a lovely voice, sing the laws of all and the goodly ways of the\nimmortals, uttering their lovely voice. Then went they to Olympus,\ndelighting in their sweet voice, with heavenly song, and the dark earth\nresounded about them as they chanted, and a lovely sound rose up\nbeneath their feet as they went to their father. And he was reigning in\nheaven, himself holding the lightning and glowing thunderbolt, when he\nhad overcome by might his father Cronos; and he distributed fairly to\nthe immortals their portions and declared their privileges.\n\n(ll. 75-103) These things, then, the Muses sang who dwell on Olympus,\nnine daughters begotten by great Zeus, Cleio and Euterpe, Thaleia,\nMelpomene and Terpsichore, and Erato and Polyhymnia and Urania and\nCalliope 1603, who is the chiefest of them all, for she attends on\nworshipful princes: whomsoever of heaven-nourished princes the\ndaughters of great Zeus honour, and behold him at his birth, they pour\nsweet dew upon his tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words. All\nthe people look towards him while he settles causes with true\njudgements: and he, speaking surely, would soon make wise end even of a\ngreat quarrel; for therefore are there princes wise in heart, because\nwhen the people are being misguided in their assembly, they set right\nthe matter again with ease, persuading them with gentle words. And when\nhe passes through a gathering, they greet him as a god with gentle\nreverence, and he is conspicuous amongst the assembled: such is the\nholy gift of the Muses to men. For it is through the Muses and\nfar-shooting Apollo that there are singers and harpers upon the earth;\nbut princes are of Zeus, and happy is he whom the Muses love: sweet\nflows speech from his mouth. For though a man have sorrow and grief in\nhis newly-troubled soul and live in dread because his heart is\ndistressed, yet, when a singer, the servant of the Muses, chants the\nglorious deeds of men of old and the blessed gods who inhabit Olympus,\nat once he forgets his heaviness and remembers not his sorrows at all;\nbut the gifts of the goddesses soon turn him away from these.\n\n(ll. 104-115) Hail, children of Zeus! Grant lovely song and celebrate\nthe holy race of the deathless gods who are for ever, those that were\nborn of Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy Night and them that briny\nSea did rear. Tell how at the first gods and earth came to be, and\nrivers, and the boundless sea with its raging swell, and the gleaming\nstars, and the wide heaven above, and the gods who were born of them,\ngivers of good things, and how they divided their wealth, and how they\nshared their honours amongst them, and also how at the first they took\nmany-folded Olympus. These things declare to me from the beginning, ye\nMuses who dwell in the house of Olympus, and tell me which of them\nfirst came to be.\n\n(ll. 116-138) Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next\nwide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all 1604 the deathless\nones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth\nof the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless\ngods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels\nof all gods and all men within them. From Chaos came forth Erebus and\nblack Night; but of Night were born Aether 1605 and Day, whom she\nconceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first bare\nstarry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be\nan ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth\nlong Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess-Nymphs who dwell amongst the\nglens of the hills. She bare also the fruitless deep with his raging\nswell, Pontus, without sweet union of love. But afterwards she lay with\nHeaven and bare deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and\nIapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe\nand lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos the wily, youngest and\nmost terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty sire.\n\n(ll. 139-146) And again, she bare the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit,\nBrontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges 1606, who gave Zeus\nthe thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the\ngods, but one eye only was set in the midst of their fore-heads. And\nthey were surnamed Cyclopes (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in\ntheir foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works.\n\n(ll. 147-163) And again, three other sons were born of Earth and\nHeaven, great and doughty beyond telling, Cottus and Briareos and Gyes,\npresumptuous children. From their shoulders sprang an hundred arms, not\nto be approached, and each had fifty heads upon his shoulders on their\nstrong limbs, and irresistible was the stubborn strength that was in\ntheir great forms. For of all the children that were born of Earth and\nHeaven, these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own\nfather from the first.\n\nAnd he used to hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as\neach was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and\nHeaven rejoiced in his evil doing. But vast Earth groaned within, being\nstraitened, and she made the element of grey flint and shaped a great\nsickle, and told her plan to her dear sons. And she spoke, cheering\nthem, while she was vexed in her dear heart:\n\n(ll. 164-166) \u2018My children, gotten of a sinful father, if you will obey\nme, we should punish the vile outrage of your father; for he first\nthought of doing shameful things.\u2019\n\n(ll. 167-169) So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them\nuttered a word. But great Cronos the wily took courage and answered his\ndear mother:\n\n(ll. 170-172) \u2018Mother, I will undertake to do this deed, for I\nreverence not our father of evil name, for he first thought of doing\nshameful things.\u2019\n\n(ll. 173-175) So he said: and vast Earth rejoiced greatly in spirit,\nand set and hid him in an ambush, and put in his hands a jagged sickle,\nand revealed to him the whole plot.\n\n(ll. 176-206) And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love,\nand he lay about Earth spreading himself full upon her 1607.\n\nThen the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his\nright took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped\noff his own father\u2019s members and cast them away to fall behind him. And\nnot vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that\ngushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare\nthe strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding\nlong spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae 1608\nall over the boundless earth. And so soon as he had cut off the members\nwith flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were\nswept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around\nthem from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she\ndrew near holy Cythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to\nsea-girt Cyprus, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass\ngrew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call\nAphrodite, and the foam-born goddess and rich-crowned Cytherea, because\nshe grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera, and\nCyprogenes because she was born in billowy Cyprus, and Philommedes 1609\nbecause sprang from the members. And with her went Eros, and comely\nDesire followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the\nassembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this\nis the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying gods,\u2014the\nwhisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and\nlove and graciousness.\n\n(ll. 207-210) But these sons whom he begot himself great Heaven used to\ncall Titans (Strainers) in reproach, for he said that they strained and\ndid presumptuously a fearful deed, and that vengeance for it would come\nafterwards.\n\n(ll. 211-225) And Night bare hateful Doom and black Fate and Death, and\nshe bare Sleep and the tribe of Dreams. And again the goddess murky\nNight, though she lay with none, bare Blame and painful Woe, and the\nHesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing\nfruit beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bare the Destinies and ruthless\navenging Fates, Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos 1610, who give men at\ntheir birth both evil and good to have, and they pursue the\ntransgressions of men and of gods: and these goddesses never cease from\ntheir dread anger until they punish the sinner with a sore penalty.\nAlso deadly Night bare Nemesis (Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and\nafter her, Deceit and Friendship and hateful Age and hard-hearted\nStrife.\n\n(ll. 226-232) But abhorred Strife bare painful Toil and Forgetfulness\nand Famine and tearful Sorrows, Fightings also, Battles, Murders,\nManslaughters, Quarrels, Lying Words, Disputes, Lawlessness and Ruin,\nall of one nature, and Oath who most troubles men upon earth when\nanyone wilfully swears a false oath.\n\n(ll. 233-239) And Sea begat Nereus, the eldest of his children, who is\ntrue and lies not: and men call him the Old Man because he is trusty\nand gentle and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks\njust and kindly thoughts. And yet again he got great Thaumas and proud\nPhorcys, being mated with Earth, and fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who\nhas a heart of flint within her.\n\n(ll. 240-264) And of Nereus and rich-haired Doris, daughter of Ocean\nthe perfect river, were born children 1611, passing lovely amongst\ngoddesses, Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and\nThetis, Galene and Glauce, Cymothoe, Speo, Thoe and lovely Halie, and\nPasithea, and Erato, and rosy-armed Eunice, and gracious Melite, and\nEulimene, and Agaue, Doto, Proto, Pherusa, and Dynamene, and Nisaea,\nand Actaea, and Protomedea, Doris, Panopea, and comely Galatea, and\nlovely Hippothoe, and rosy-armed Hipponoe, and Cymodoce who with\nCymatolege 1612 and Amphitrite easily calms the waves upon the misty\nsea and the blasts of raging winds, and Cymo, and Eione, and\nrich-crowned Alimede, and Glauconome, fond of laughter, and Pontoporea,\nLeagore, Euagore, and Laomedea, and Polynoe, and Autonoe, and\nLysianassa, and Euarne, lovely of shape and without blemish of form,\nand Psamathe of charming figure and divine Menippe, Neso, Eupompe,\nThemisto, Pronoe, and Nemertes 1613 who has the nature of her deathless\nfather. These fifty daughters sprang from blameless Nereus, skilled in\nexcellent crafts.\n\n(ll. 265-269) And Thaumas wedded Electra the daughter of deep-flowing\nOcean, and she bare him swift Iris and the long-haired Harpies, Aello\n(Storm-swift) and Ocypetes (Swift-flier) who on their swift wings keep\npace with the blasts of the winds and the birds; for quick as time they\ndart along.\n\n(ll 270-294) And again, Ceto bare to Phorcys the fair-cheeked Graiae,\nsisters grey from their birth: and both deathless gods and men who walk\non earth call them Graiae, Pemphredo well-clad, and saffron-robed Enyo,\nand the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land\ntowards Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and\nEuryale, and Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but the\ntwo were undying and grew not old. With her lay the Dark-haired One\n1614 in a soft meadow amid spring flowers. And when Perseus cut off her\nhead, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so\ncalled because he was born near the springs (_pegae_) of Ocean; and\nthat other, because he held a golden blade (_aor_) in his hands. Now\nPegasus flew away and left the earth, the mother of flocks, and came to\nthe deathless gods: and he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings to\nwise Zeus the thunder and lightning. But Chrysaor was joined in love to\nCallirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean, and begot three-headed\nGeryones. Him mighty Heracles slew in sea-girt Erythea by his shambling\noxen on that day when he drove the wide-browed oxen to holy Tiryns, and\nhad crossed the ford of Ocean and killed Orthus and Eurytion the\nherdsman in the dim stead out beyond glorious Ocean.\n\n(ll. 295-305) And in a hollow cave she bare another monster,\nirresistible, in no wise like either to mortal men or to the undying\ngods, even the goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing\neyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful,\nwith speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the\nholy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far\nfrom the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods\nappoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima\nbeneath the earth, grim Echidna, a nymph who dies not nor grows old all\nher days.\n\n(ll. 306-332) Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and\nlawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she\nconceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the\nhound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to\nbe overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh,\nthe brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong.\nAnd again she bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the\ngoddess, white-armed Hera nourished, being angry beyond measure with\nthe mighty Heracles. And her Heracles, the son of Zeus, of the house of\nAmphitryon, together with warlike Iolaus, destroyed with the unpitying\nsword through the plans of Athene the spoil-driver. She was the mother\nof Chimaera who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great,\nswift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion;\nin her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth\na fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did Pegasus and noble Bellerophon\nslay; but Echidna was subject in love to Orthus and brought forth the\ndeadly Sphinx which destroyed the Cadmeans, and the Nemean lion, which\nHera, the good wife of Zeus, brought up and made to haunt the hills of\nNemea, a plague to men. There he preyed upon the tribes of her own\npeople and had power over Tretus of Nemea and Apesas: yet the strength\nof stout Heracles overcame him.\n\n(ll. 333-336) And Ceto was joined in love to Phorcys and bare her\nyoungest, the awful snake who guards the apples all of gold in the\nsecret places of the dark earth at its great bounds. This is the\noffspring of Ceto and Phorcys.\n\n(ll. 334-345) And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and\nAlpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair\nstream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of\nAchelous, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and\nAesepus, and holy Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus fair\nstream, and great Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, Euenus, Ardescus, and\ndivine Scamander.\n\n(ll. 346-370) Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters 1615\nwho with the lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping\u2014to\nthis charge Zeus appointed them\u2014Peitho, and Admete, and Ianthe, and\nElectra, and Doris, and Prymno, and Urania divine in form, Hippo,\nClymene, Rhodea, and Callirrhoe, Zeuxo and Clytie, and Idyia, and\nPasithoe, Plexaura, and Galaxaura, and lovely Dione, Melobosis and Thoe\nand handsome Polydora, Cerceis lovely of form, and soft eyed Pluto,\nPerseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea the fair, Menestho, and\nEuropa, Metis, and Eurynome, and Telesto saffron-clad, Chryseis and\nAsia and charming Calypso, Eudora, and Tyche, Amphirho, and Ocyrrhoe,\nand Styx who is the chiefest of them all. These are the eldest\ndaughters that sprang from Ocean and Tethys; but there are many\nbesides. For there are three thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean\nwho are dispersed far and wide, and in every place alike serve the\nearth and the deep waters, children who are glorious among goddesses.\nAnd as many other rivers are there, babbling as they flow, sons of\nOcean, whom queenly Tethys bare, but their names it is hard for a\nmortal man to tell, but people know those by which they severally\ndwell.\n\n(ll. 371-374) And Theia was subject in love to Hyperion and bare great\nHelius (Sun) and clear Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn) who shines upon all\nthat are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide\nheaven.\n\n(ll. 375-377) And Eurybia, bright goddess, was joined in love to Crius\nand bare great Astraeus, and Pallas, and Perses who also was eminent\namong all men in wisdom.\n\n(ll. 378-382) And Eos bare to Astraeus the strong-hearted winds,\nbrightening Zephyrus, and Boreas, headlong in his course, and Notus,\u2014a\ngoddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigenia 1616 bare\nthe star Eosphorus (Dawn-bringer), and the gleaming stars with which\nheaven is crowned.\n\n(ll. 383-403) And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and\nbare Zelus (Emulation) and trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house.\nAlso she brought forth Cratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful\nchildren. These have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor\npath except that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with\nZeus the loud-thunderer. For so did Styx the deathless daughter of\nOcean plan on that day when the Olympian Lightener called all the\ndeathless gods to great Olympus, and said that whosoever of the gods\nwould fight with him against the Titans, he would not cast him out from\nhis rights, but each should have the office which he had before amongst\nthe deathless gods. And he declared that he who was without office and\nrights under Cronos, should be raised to both office and rights as is\njust. So deathless Styx came first to Olympus with her children through\nthe wit of her dear father. And Zeus honoured her, and gave her very\ngreat gifts, for her he appointed to be the great oath of the gods, and\nher children to live with him always. And as he promised, so he\nperformed fully unto them all. But he himself mightily reigns and\nrules.\n\n(ll. 404-452) Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.\n\nThen the goddess through the love of the god conceived and brought\nforth dark-gowned Leto, always mild, kind to men and to the deathless\ngods, mild from the beginning, gentlest in all Olympus. Also she bare\nAsteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be\ncalled his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the\nson of Cronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a\nshare of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in\nstarry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods. For\nto this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices\nand prays for favour according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great\nhonour comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives\nfavourably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is\nwith her. For as many as were born of Earth and Ocean amongst all these\nshe has her due portion. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took\nanything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods:\nbut she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning,\nprivilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea. Also, because she\nis an only child, the goddess receives not less honour, but much more\nstill, for Zeus honours her. Whom she will she greatly aids and\nadvances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in the\nassembly whom she will is distinguished among the people. And when men\narm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at\nhand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is\nshe also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is\nwith them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the\nvictory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his\nparents. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to\nthose whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to\nHecate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess\ngives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so\nshe will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock.\nThe droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep,\nif she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. So,\nthen. albeit her mother\u2019s only child 1617, she is honoured amongst all\nthe deathless gods. And the son of Cronos made her a nurse of the young\nwho after that day saw with their eyes the light of all-seeing Dawn. So\nfrom the beginning she is a nurse of the young, and these are her\nhonours.\n\n(ll. 453-491) But Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bare splendid\nchildren, Hestia 1618, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades,\npitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth, and the loud-crashing\nEarth-Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, by whose thunder\nthe wide earth is shaken. These great Cronos swallowed as each came\nforth from the womb to his mother\u2019s knees with this intent, that no\nother of the proud sons of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst\nthe deathless gods. For he learned from Earth and starry Heaven that he\nwas destined to be overcome by his own son, strong though he was,\nthrough the contriving of great Zeus 1619. Therefore he kept no blind\noutlook, but watched and swallowed down his children: and unceasing\ngrief seized Rhea. But when she was about to bear Zeus, the father of\ngods and men, then she besought her own dear parents, Earth and starry\nHeaven, to devise some plan with her that the birth of her dear child\nmight be concealed, and that retribution might overtake great, crafty\nCronos for his own father and also for the children whom he had\nswallowed down. And they readily heard and obeyed their dear daughter,\nand told her all that was destined to happen touching Cronos the king\nand his stout-hearted son. So they sent her to Lyetus, to the rich land\nof Crete, when she was ready to bear great Zeus, the youngest of her\nchildren. Him did vast Earth receive from Rhea in wide Crete to nourish\nand to bring up. Thither came Earth carrying him swiftly through the\nblack night to Lyctus first, and took him in her arms and hid him in a\nremote cave beneath the secret places of the holy earth on thick-wooded\nMount Aegeum; but to the mightily ruling son of Heaven, the earlier\nking of the gods, she gave a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes.\nThen he took it in his hands and thrust it down into his belly: wretch!\nhe knew not in his heart that in place of the stone his son was left\nbehind, unconquered and untroubled, and that he was soon to overcome\nhim by force and might and drive him from his honours, himself to reign\nover the deathless gods.\n\n(ll. 492-506) After that, the strength and glorious limbs of the prince\nincreased quickly, and as the years rolled on, great Cronos the wily\nwas beguiled by the deep suggestions of Earth, and brought up again his\noffspring, vanquished by the arts and might of his own son, and he\nvomited up first the stone which he had swallowed last. And Zeus set it\nfast in the wide-pathed earth at goodly Pytho under the glens of\nParnassus, to be a sign thenceforth and a marvel to mortal men 1620.\nAnd he set free from their deadly bonds the brothers of his father,\nsons of Heaven whom his father in his foolishness had bound. And they\nremembered to be grateful to him for his kindness, and gave him thunder\nand the glowing thunderbolt and lightening: for before that, huge Earth\nhad hidden these. In them he trusts and rules over mortals and\nimmortals.\n\n(ll. 507-543) Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled mad Clymene,\ndaughter of Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him\na stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bare very glorious Menoetius and\nclever Prometheus, full of various wiles, and scatter-brained\nEpimetheus who from the first was a mischief to men who eat bread; for\nit was he who first took of Zeus the woman, the maiden whom he had\nformed. But Menoetius was outrageous, and far-seeing Zeus struck him\nwith a lurid thunderbolt and sent him down to Erebus because of his mad\npresumption and exceeding pride. And Atlas through hard constraint\nupholds the wide heaven with unwearying head and arms, standing at the\nborders of the earth before the clear-voiced Hesperides; for this lot\nwise Zeus assigned to him. And ready-witted Prometheus he bound with\ninextricable bonds, cruel chains, and drove a shaft through his middle,\nand set on him a long-winged eagle, which used to eat his immortal\nliver; but by night the liver grew as much again everyway as the\nlong-winged bird devoured in the whole day. That bird Heracles, the\nvaliant son of shapely-ankled Alcmene, slew; and delivered the son of\nIapetus from the cruel plague, and released him from his affliction\u2014not\nwithout the will of Olympian Zeus who reigns on high, that the glory of\nHeracles the Theban-born might be yet greater than it was before over\nthe plenteous earth. This, then, he regarded, and honoured his famous\nson; though he was angry, he ceased from the wrath which he had before\nbecause Prometheus matched himself in wit with the almighty son of\nCronos. For when the gods and mortal men had a dispute at Mecone, even\nthen Prometheus was forward to cut up a great ox and set portions\nbefore them, trying to befool the mind of Zeus. Before the rest he set\nflesh and inner parts thick with fat upon the hide, covering them with\nan ox paunch; but for Zeus he put the white bones dressed up with\ncunning art and covered with shining fat. Then the father of men and of\ngods said to him:\n\n(ll. 543-544) \u2018Son of Iapetus, most glorious of all lords, good sir,\nhow unfairly you have divided the portions!\u2019\n\n(ll. 545-547) So said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him.\nBut wily Prometheus answered him, smiling softly and not forgetting his\ncunning trick:\n\n(ll. 548-558) \u2018Zeus, most glorious and greatest of the eternal gods,\ntake which ever of these portions your heart within you bids.\u2019 So he\nsaid, thinking trickery. But Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, saw and\nfailed not to perceive the trick, and in his heart he thought mischief\nagainst mortal men which also was to be fulfilled. With both hands he\ntook up the white fat and was angry at heart, and wrath came to his\nspirit when he saw the white ox-bones craftily tricked out: and because\nof this the tribes of men upon earth burn white bones to the deathless\ngods upon fragrant altars. But Zeus who drives the clouds was greatly\nvexed and said to him:\n\n(ll. 559-560) \u2018Son of Iapetus, clever above all! So, sir, you have not\nyet forgotten your cunning arts!\u2019\n\n(ll. 561-584) So spake Zeus in anger, whose wisdom is everlasting; and\nfrom that time he was always mindful of the trick, and would not give\nthe power of unwearying fire to the Melian 1621 race of mortal men who\nlive on the earth. But the noble son of Iapetus outwitted him and stole\nthe far-seen gleam of unwearying fire in a hollow fennel stalk. And\nZeus who thunders on high was stung in spirit, and his dear heart was\nangered when he saw amongst men the far-seen ray of fire. Forthwith he\nmade an evil thing for men as the price of fire; for the very famous\nLimping God formed of earth the likeness of a shy maiden as the son of\nCronos willed. And the goddess bright-eyed Athene girded and clothed\nher with silvery raiment, and down from her head she spread with her\nhands a broidered veil, a wonder to see; and she, Pallas Athene, put\nabout her head lovely garlands, flowers of new-grown herbs. Also she\nput upon her head a crown of gold which the very famous Limping God\nmade himself and worked with his own hands as a favour to Zeus his\nfather. On it was much curious work, wonderful to see; for of the many\ncreatures which the land and sea rear up, he put most upon it,\nwonderful things, like living beings with voices: and great beauty\nshone out from it.\n\n(ll. 585-589) But when he had made the beautiful evil to be the price\nfor the blessing, he brought her out, delighting in the finery which\nthe bright-eyed daughter of a mighty father had given her, to the place\nwhere the other gods and men were. And wonder took hold of the\ndeathless gods and mortal men when they saw that which was sheer guile,\nnot to be withstood by men.\n\n(ll. 590-612) For from her is the race of women and female kind: of her\nis the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to\ntheir great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in\nwealth. And as in thatched hives bees feed the drones whose nature is\nto do mischief\u2014by day and throughout the day until the sun goes down\nthe bees are busy and lay the white combs, while the drones stay at\nhome in the covered skeps and reap the toil of others into their own\nbellies\u2014even so Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to\nmortal men, with a nature to do evil. And he gave them a second evil to\nbe the price for the good they had: whoever avoids marriage and the\nsorrows that women cause, and will not wed, reaches deadly old age\nwithout anyone to tend his years, and though he at least has no lack of\nlivelihood while he lives, yet, when he is dead, his kinsfolk divide\nhis possessions amongst them. And as for the man who chooses the lot of\nmarriage and takes a good wife suited to his mind, evil continually\ncontends with good; for whoever happens to have mischievous children,\nlives always with unceasing grief in his spirit and heart within him;\nand this evil cannot be healed.\n\n(ll. 613-616) So it is not possible to deceive or go beyond the will of\nZeus; for not even the son of Iapetus, kindly Prometheus, escaped his\nheavy anger, but of necessity strong bands confined him, although he\nknew many a wile.\n\n(ll. 617-643) But when first their father was vexed in his heart with\nObriareus and Cottus and Gyes, he bound them in cruel bonds, because he\nwas jealous of their exceeding manhood and comeliness and great size:\nand he made them live beneath the wide-pathed earth, where they were\nafflicted, being set to dwell under the ground, at the end of the\nearth, at its great borders, in bitter anguish for a long time and with\ngreat grief at heart. But the son of Cronos and the other deathless\ngods whom rich-haired Rhea bare from union with Cronos, brought them up\nagain to the light at Earth\u2019s advising. For she herself recounted all\nthings to the gods fully, how that with these they would gain victory\nand a glorious cause to vaunt themselves. For the Titan gods and as\nmany as sprang from Cronos had long been fighting together in stubborn\nwar with heart-grieving toil, the lordly Titans from high Othyrs, but\nthe gods, givers of good, whom rich-haired Rhea bare in union with\nCronos, from Olympus. So they, with bitter wrath, were fighting\ncontinually with one another at that time for ten full years, and the\nhard strife had no close or end for either side, and the issue of the\nwar hung evenly balanced. But when he had provided those three with all\nthings fitting, nectar and ambrosia which the gods themselves eat, and\nwhen their proud spirit revived within them all after they had fed on\nnectar and delicious ambrosia, then it was that the father of men and\ngods spoke amongst them:\n\n(ll. 644-653) \u2018Hear me, bright children of Earth and Heaven, that I may\nsay what my heart within me bids. A long while now have we, who are\nsprung from Cronos and the Titan gods, fought with each other every day\nto get victory and to prevail. But do you show your great might and\nunconquerable strength, and face the Titans in bitter strife; for\nremember our friendly kindness, and from what sufferings you are come\nback to the light from your cruel bondage under misty gloom through our\ncounsels.\u2019\n\n(ll. 654-663) So he said. And blameless Cottus answered him again:\n\u2018Divine one, you speak that which we know well: nay, even of ourselves\nwe know that your wisdom and understanding is exceeding, and that you\nbecame a defender of the deathless ones from chill doom. And through\nyour devising we are come back again from the murky gloom and from our\nmerciless bonds, enjoying what we looked not for, O lord, son of\nCronos. And so now with fixed purpose and deliberate counsel we will\naid your power in dreadful strife and will fight against the Titans in\nhard battle.\u2019\n\n(ll. 664-686) So he said: and the gods, givers of good things,\napplauded when they heard his word, and their spirit longed for war\neven more than before, and they all, both male and female, stirred up\nhated battle that day, the Titan gods, and all that were born of Cronos\ntogether with those dread, mighty ones of overwhelming strength whom\nZeus brought up to the light from Erebus beneath the earth. An hundred\narms sprang from the shoulders of all alike, and each had fifty heads\ngrowing upon his shoulders upon stout limbs. These, then, stood against\nthe Titans in grim strife, holding huge rocks in their strong hands.\nAnd on the other part the Titans eagerly strengthened their ranks, and\nboth sides at one time showed the work of their hands and their might.\nThe boundless sea rang terribly around, and the earth crashed loudly:\nwide Heaven was shaken and groaned, and high Olympus reeled from its\nfoundation under the charge of the undying gods, and a heavy quaking\nreached dim Tartarus and the deep sound of their feet in the fearful\nonset and of their hard missiles. So, then, they launched their\ngrievous shafts upon one another, and the cry of both armies as they\nshouted reached to starry heaven; and they met together with a great\nbattle-cry.\n\n(ll. 687-712) Then Zeus no longer held back his might; but straight his\nheart was filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From\nHeaven and from Olympus he came forthwith, hurling his lightning: the\nbolts flew thick and fast from his strong hand together with thunder\nand lightning, whirling an awesome flame. The life-giving earth crashed\naround in burning, and the vast wood crackled loud with fire all about.\nAll the land seethed, and Ocean\u2019s streams and the unfruitful sea. The\nhot vapour lapped round the earthborn Titans: flame unspeakable rose to\nthe bright upper air: the flashing glare of the thunder-stone and\nlightning blinded their eyes for all that there were strong. Astounding\nheat seized Chaos: and to see with eyes and to hear the sound with ears\nit seemed even as if Earth and wide Heaven above came together; for\nsuch a mighty crash would have arisen if Earth were being hurled to\nruin, and Heaven from on high were hurling her down; so great a crash\nwas there while the gods were meeting together in strife. Also the\nwinds brought rumbling earthquake and duststorm, thunder and lightning\nand the lurid thunderbolt, which are the shafts of great Zeus, and\ncarried the clangour and the warcry into the midst of the two hosts. An\nhorrible uproar of terrible strife arose: mighty deeds were shown and\nthe battle inclined. But until then, they kept at one another and\nfought continually in cruel war.\n\n(ll. 713-735) And amongst the foremost Cottus and Briareos and Gyes\ninsatiate for war raised fierce fighting: three hundred rocks, one upon\nanother, they launched from their strong hands and overshadowed the\nTitans with their missiles, and buried them beneath the wide-pathed\nearth, and bound them in bitter chains when they had conquered them by\ntheir strength for all their great spirit, as far beneath the earth to\nTartarus. For a brazen anvil falling down from heaven nine nights and\ndays would reach the earth upon the tenth: and again, a brazen anvil\nfalling from earth nine nights and days would reach Tartarus upon the\ntenth. Round it runs a fence of bronze, and night spreads in triple\nline all about it like a neck-circlet, while above grow the roots of\nthe earth and unfruitful sea. There by the counsel of Zeus who drives\nthe clouds the Titan gods are hidden under misty gloom, in a dank place\nwhere are the ends of the huge earth. And they may not go out; for\nPoseidon fixed gates of bronze upon it, and a wall runs all round it on\nevery side. There Gyes and Cottus and great-souled Obriareus live,\ntrusty warders of Zeus who holds the aegis.\n\n(ll. 736-744) And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends\nof gloomy earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry\nheaven, loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.\n\nIt is a great gulf, and if once a man were within the gates, he would\nnot reach the floor until a whole year had reached its end, but cruel\nblast upon blast would carry him this way and that. And this marvel is\nawful even to the deathless gods.\n\n(ll. 744-757) There stands the awful home of murky Night wrapped in\ndark clouds. In front of it the son of Iapetus 1622 stands immovably\nupholding the wide heaven upon his head and unwearying hands, where\nNight and Day draw near and greet one another as they pass the great\nthreshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the\nhouse, the other comes out at the door.\n\nAnd the house never holds them both within; but always one is without\nthe house passing over the earth, while the other stays at home and\nwaits until the time for her journeying come; and the one holds\nall-seeing light for them on earth, but the other holds in her arms\nSleep the brother of Death, even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous\ncloud.\n\n(ll. 758-766) And there the children of dark Night have their\ndwellings, Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks\nupon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he\ncomes down from heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully over\nthe earth and the sea\u2019s broad back and is kindly to men; but the other\nhas a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze:\nwhomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful\neven to the deathless gods.\n\n(ll. 767-774) There, in front, stand the echoing halls of the god of\nthe lower-world, strong Hades, and of awful Persephone. A fearful hound\nguards the house in front, pitiless, and he has a cruel trick. On those\nwho go in he fawns with his tail and both his ears, but suffers them\nnot to go out back again, but keeps watch and devours whomsoever he\ncatches going out of the gates of strong Hades and awful Persephone.\n\n(ll. 775-806) And there dwells the goddess loathed by the deathless\ngods, terrible Styx, eldest daughter of back-flowing 1623 Ocean. She\nlives apart from the gods in her glorious house vaulted over with great\nrocks and propped up to heaven all round with silver pillars. Rarely\ndoes the daughter of Thaumas, swift-footed Iris, come to her with a\nmessage over the sea\u2019s wide back.\n\nBut when strife and quarrel arise among the deathless gods, and when\nany of them who live in the house of Olympus lies, then Zeus sends Iris\nto bring in a golden jug the great oath of the gods from far away, the\nfamous cold water which trickles down from a high and beetling rock.\nFar under the wide-pathed earth a branch of Oceanus flows through the\ndark night out of the holy stream, and a tenth part of his water is\nallotted to her. With nine silver-swirling streams he winds about the\nearth and the sea\u2019s wide back, and then falls into the main 1624; but\nthe tenth flows out from a rock, a sore trouble to the gods. For\nwhoever of the deathless gods that hold the peaks of snowy Olympus\npours a libation of her water is forsworn, lies breathless until a full\nyear is completed, and never comes near to taste ambrosia and nectar,\nbut lies spiritless and voiceless on a strewn bed: and a heavy trance\novershadows him. But when he has spent a long year in his sickness,\nanother penance and an harder follows after the first. For nine years\nhe is cut off from the eternal gods and never joins their councils of\ntheir feasts, nine full years. But in the tenth year he comes again to\njoin the assemblies of the deathless gods who live in the house of\nOlympus. Such an oath, then, did the gods appoint the eternal and\nprimaeval water of Styx to be: and it spouts through a rugged place.\n\n(ll. 807-819) And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends\nof the dark earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry\nheaven, loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.\n\nAnd there are shining gates and an immoveable threshold of bronze\nhaving unending roots and it is grown of itself 1625. And beyond, away\nfrom all the gods, live the Titans, beyond gloomy Chaos. But the\nglorious allies of loud-crashing Zeus have their dwelling upon Ocean\u2019s\nfoundations, even Cottus and Gyes; but Briareos, being goodly, the\ndeep-roaring Earth-Shaker made his son-in-law, giving him Cymopolea his\ndaughter to wed.\n\n(ll. 820-868) But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge\nEarth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the\naid of golden Aphrodite. Strength was with his hands in all that he did\nand the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew\nan hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering\ntongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads\nflashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he glared. And there\nwere voices in all his dreadful heads which uttered every kind of sound\nunspeakable; for at one time they made sounds such that the gods\nunderstood, but at another, the noise of a bull bellowing aloud in\nproud ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a lion,\nrelentless of heart; and at another, sounds like whelps, wonderful to\nhear; and again, at another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains\nre-echoed. And truly a thing past help would have happened on that day,\nand he would have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the\nfather of men and gods been quick to perceive it. But he thundered hard\nand mightily: and the earth around resounded terribly and the wide\nheaven above, and the sea and Ocean\u2019s streams and the nether parts of\nthe earth. Great Olympus reeled beneath the divine feet of the king as\nhe arose and earth groaned thereat. And through the two of them heat\ntook hold on the dark-blue sea, through the thunder and lightning, and\nthrough the fire from the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing\nthunderbolt. The whole earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the long\nwaves raged along the beaches round and about, at the rush of the\ndeathless gods: and there arose an endless shaking. Hades trembled\nwhere he rules over the dead below, and the Titans under Tartarus who\nlive with Cronos, because of the unending clamour and the fearful\nstrife. So when Zeus had raised up his might and seized his arms,\nthunder and lightning and lurid thunderbolt, he leaped from Olympus and\nstruck him, and burned all the marvellous heads of the monster about\nhim. But when Zeus had conquered him and lashed him with strokes,\nTyphoeus was hurled down, a maimed wreck, so that the huge earth\ngroaned. And flame shot forth from the thunder-stricken lord in the dim\nrugged glens of the mount 1626, when he was smitten. A great part of\nhuge earth was scorched by the terrible vapour and melted as tin melts\nwhen heated by men\u2019s art in channelled 1627 crucibles; or as iron,\nwhich is hardest of all things, is softened by glowing fire in mountain\nglens and melts in the divine earth through the strength of Hephaestus\n1628. Even so, then, the earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire.\nAnd in the bitterness of his anger Zeus cast him into wide Tartarus.\n\n(ll. 869-880) And from Typhoeus come boisterous winds which blow\ndamply, except Notus and Boreas and clear Zephyr. These are a god-sent\nkind, and a great blessing to men; but the others blow fitfully upon\nthe seas. Some rush upon the misty sea and work great havoc among men\nwith their evil, raging blasts; for varying with the season they blow,\nscattering ships and destroying sailors. And men who meet these upon\nthe sea have no help against the mischief. Others again over the\nboundless, flowering earth spoil the fair fields of men who dwell\nbelow, filling them with dust and cruel uproar.\n\n(ll. 881-885) But when the blessed gods had finished their toil, and\nsettled by force their struggle for honours with the Titans, they\npressed far-seeing Olympian Zeus to reign and to rule over them, by\nEarth\u2019s prompting. So he divided their dignities amongst them.\n\n(ll. 886-900) Now Zeus, king of the gods, made Metis his wife first,\nand she was wisest among gods and mortal men. But when she was about to\nbring forth the goddess bright-eyed Athene, Zeus craftily deceived her\nwith cunning words and put her in his own belly, as Earth and starry\nHeaven advised. For they advised him so, to the end that no other\nshould hold royal sway over the eternal gods in place of Zeus; for very\nwise children were destined to be born of her, first the maiden\nbright-eyed Tritogeneia, equal to her father in strength and in wise\nunderstanding; but afterwards she was to bear a son of overbearing\nspirit, king of gods and men. But Zeus put her into his own belly\nfirst, that the goddess might devise for him both good and evil.\n\n(ll. 901-906) Next he married bright Themis who bare the Horae (Hours),\nand Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming Eirene (Peace), who\nmind the works of mortal men, and the Moerae (Fates) to whom wise Zeus\ngave the greatest honour, Clotho, and Lachesis, and Atropos who give\nmortal men evil and good to have.\n\n(ll. 907-911) And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form,\nbare him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne,\nand lovely Thaleia, from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that\nunnerves the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows.\n\n(ll. 912-914) Also he came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, and\nshe bare white-armed Persephone whom Aidoneus carried off from her\nmother; but wise Zeus gave her to him.\n\n(ll. 915-917) And again, he loved Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair:\nand of her the nine gold-crowned Muses were born who delight in feasts\nand the pleasures of song.\n\n(ll. 918-920) And Leto was joined in love with Zeus who holds the\naegis, and bare Apollo and Artemis delighting in arrows, children\nlovely above all the sons of Heaven.\n\n(ll. 921-923) Lastly, he made Hera his blooming wife: and she was\njoined in love with the king of gods and men, and brought forth Hebe\nand Ares and Eileithyia.\n\n(ll. 924-929) But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to\nbright-eyed Tritogeneia 1629, the awful, the strife-stirring, the\nhost-leader, the unwearying, the queen, who delights in tumults and\nwars and battles. But Hera without union with Zeus\u2014for she was very\nangry and quarrelled with her mate\u2014bare famous Hephaestus, who is\nskilled in crafts more than all the sons of Heaven.\n\n(ll. 929a-929t) 1630 But Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her\nmate. And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who\nholds the aegis a glorious son, Hephaestus, who excelled all the sons\nof Heaven in crafts. But Zeus lay with the fair-cheeked daughter of\nOcean and Tethys apart from Hera.... ((LACUNA)) ....deceiving Metis\n(Thought) although she was full wise. But he seized her with his hands\nand put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something\nstronger than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and\ndwells in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway\nconceived Pallas Athene: and the father of men and gods gave her birth\nby way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained\nhidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena\u2019s mother,\nworker of righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men. There\nthe goddess (Athena) received that 1631 whereby she excelled in\nstrength all the deathless ones who dwell in Olympus, she who made the\nhost-scaring weapon of Athena. And with it (Zeus) gave her birth,\narrayed in arms of war.\n\n(ll. 930-933) And of Amphitrite and the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was\nborn great, wide-ruling Triton, and he owns the depths of the sea,\nliving with his dear mother and the lord his father in their golden\nhouse, an awful god.\n\n(ll. 933-937) Also Cytherea bare to Ares the shield-piercer Panic and\nFear, terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in\nnumbing war, with the help of Ares, sacker of towns: and Harmonia whom\nhigh-spirited Cadmus made his wife.\n\n(ll. 938-939) And Maia, the daughter of Atlas, bare to Zeus glorious\nHermes, the herald of the deathless gods, for she went up into his holy\nbed.\n\n(ll. 940-942) And Semele, daughter of Cadmus was joined with him in\nlove and bare him a splendid son, joyous Dionysus,\u2014a mortal woman an\nimmortal son. And now they both are gods.\n\n(ll. 943-944) And Alcmena was joined in love with Zeus who drives the\nclouds and bare mighty Heracles.\n\n(ll. 945-946) And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea,\nyoungest of the Graces, his buxom wife.\n\n(ll. 947-949) And golden-haired Dionysus made brown-haired Ariadne, the\ndaughter of Minos, his buxom wife: and the son of Cronos made her\ndeathless and unageing for him.\n\n(ll. 950-955) And mighty Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled\nAlcmena, when he had finished his grievous toils, made Hebe the child\nof great Zeus and gold-shod Hera his shy wife in snowy Olympus. Happy\nhe! For he has finished his great works and lives amongst the undying\ngods, untroubled and unageing all his days.\n\n(ll. 956-962) And Perseis, the daughter of Ocean, bare to unwearying\nHelios Circe and Aeetes the king. And Aeetes, the son of Helios who\nshows light to men, took to wife fair-cheeked Idyia, daughter of Ocean\nthe perfect stream, by the will of the gods: and she was subject to him\nin love through golden Aphrodite and bare him neat-ankled Medea.\n\n(ll. 963-968) And now farewell, you dwellers on Olympus and you islands\nand continents and thou briny sea within. Now sing the company of\ngoddesses, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughter of Zeus who holds\nthe aegis,\u2014even those deathless one who lay with mortal men and bare\nchildren like unto gods.\n\n(ll. 969-974) Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet love with\nthe hero Iasion in a thrice-ploughed fallow in the rich land of Crete,\nand bare Plutus, a kindly god who goes everywhere over land and the\nsea\u2019s wide back, and him who finds him and into whose hands he comes he\nmakes rich, bestowing great wealth upon him.\n\n(ll. 975-978) And Harmonia, the daughter of golden Aphrodite, bare to\nCadmus Ino and Semele and fair-cheeked Agave and Autonoe whom long\nhaired Aristaeus wedded, and Polydorus also in rich-crowned Thebe.\n\n(ll. 979-983) And the daughter of Ocean, Callirrhoe was joined in the\nlove of rich Aphrodite with stout hearted Chrysaor and bare a son who\nwas the strongest of all men, Geryones, whom mighty Heracles killed in\nsea-girt Erythea for the sake of his shambling oxen.\n\n(ll. 984-991) And Eos bare to Tithonus brazen-crested Memnon, king of\nthe Ethiopians, and the Lord Emathion. And to Cephalus she bare a\nsplendid son, strong Phaethon, a man like the gods, whom, when he was a\nyoung boy in the tender flower of glorious youth with childish\nthoughts, laughter-loving Aphrodite seized and caught up and made a\nkeeper of her shrine by night, a divine spirit.\n\n(ll. 993-1002) And the son of Aeson by the will of the gods led away\nfrom Aeetes the daughter of Aeetes the heaven-nurtured king, when he\nhad finished the many grievous labours which the great king, over\nbearing Pelias, that outrageous and presumptuous doer of violence, put\nupon him. But when the son of Aeson had finished them, he came to\nIolcus after long toil bringing the coy-eyed girl with him on his swift\nship, and made her his buxom wife. And she was subject to Iason,\nshepherd of the people, and bare a son Medeus whom Cheiron the son of\nPhilyra brought up in the mountains. And the will of great Zeus was\nfulfilled.\n\n(ll. 1003-1007) But of the daughters of Nereus, the Old man of the Sea,\nPsamathe the fair goddess, was loved by Aeacus through golden Aphrodite\nand bare Phocus. And the silver-shod goddess Thetis was subject to\nPeleus and brought forth lion-hearted Achilles, the destroyer of men.\n\n(ll. 1008-1010) And Cytherea with the beautiful crown was joined in\nsweet love with the hero Anchises and bare Aeneas on the peaks of Ida\nwith its many wooded glens.\n\n(ll. 1011-1016) And Circe the daughter of Helius, Hyperion\u2019s son, loved\nsteadfast Odysseus and bare Agrius and Latinus who was faultless and\nstrong: also she brought forth Telegonus by the will of golden\nAphrodite. And they ruled over the famous Tyrenians, very far off in a\nrecess of the holy islands.\n\n(ll. 1017-1018) And the bright goddess Calypso was joined to Odysseus\nin sweet love, and bare him Nausithous and Nausinous.\n\n(ll. 1019-1020) These are the immortal goddesses who lay with mortal\nmen and bare them children like unto gods.\n\n(ll. 1021-1022) But now, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughters of\nZeus who holds the aegis, sing of the company of women.\n\nTHE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE1701\n\nFragment #1\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 1086: That\nDeucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, Hesiod states in the\nfirst _Catalogue_, as also that Hellen was the son of Deucalion and\nPyrrha.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Ioannes Lydus 1702, de Mens. i. 13: They came to call those\nwho followed local manners Latins, but those who followed Hellenic\ncustoms Greeks, after the brothers Latinus and Graecus; as Hesiod says:\n\u2018And in the palace Pandora the daughter of noble Deucalion was joined\nin love with father Zeus, leader of all the gods, and bare Graecus,\nstaunch in battle.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Constantinus Porphyrogenitus 1703, de Them. 2 p. 48B: The\ndistrict Macedonia took its name from Macedon the son of Zeus and\nThyia, Deucalion\u2019s daughter, as Hesiod says: \u2018And she conceived and\nbare to Zeus who delights in the thunderbolt two sons, Magnes and\nMacedon, rejoicing in horses, who dwell round about Pieria and\nOlympus.... ((LACUNA)) ....And Magnes again (begot) Dictys and godlike\nPolydectes.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Plutarch, Mor. p. 747; Schol. on Pindar Pyth. iv. 263: \u2018And\nfrom Hellen the war-loving king sprang Dorus and Xuthus and Aeolus\ndelighting in horses. And the sons of Aeolus, kings dealing justice,\nwere Cretheus, and Athamas, and clever Sisyphus, and wicked Salmoneus\nand overbold Perieres.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 266: Those who\nwere descended from Deucalion used to rule over Thessaly as Hecataeus\nand Hesiod say.\n\nFragment #6\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 482: Aloiadae.\nHesiod said that they were sons of Aloeus,\u2014called so after him,\u2014and of\nIphimedea, but in reality sons of Poseidon and Iphimedea, and that Alus\na city of Aetolia was founded by their father.\n\nFragment #7\u2014Berlin Papyri, No. 7497; Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 421 1704: (ll.\n1-24) \u2018....Eurynome the daughter of Nisus, Pandion\u2019s son, to whom\nPallas Athene taught all her art, both wit and wisdom too; for she was\nas wise as the gods. A marvellous scent rose from her silvern raiment\nas she moved, and beauty was wafted from her eyes. Her, then, Glaucus\nsought to win by Athena\u2019s advising, and he drove oxen 1705 for her. But\nhe knew not at all the intent of Zeus who holds the aegis. So Glaucus\ncame seeking her to wife with gifts; but cloud-driving Zeus, king of\nthe deathless gods, bent his head in oath that the.... son of Sisyphus\nshould never have children born of one father 1706. So she lay in the\narms of Poseidon and bare in the house of Glaucus blameless\nBellerophon, surpassing all men in.... over the boundless sea. And when\nhe began to roam, his father gave him Pegasus who would bear him most\nswiftly on his wings, and flew unwearying everywhere over the earth,\nfor like the gales he would course along. With him Bellerophon caught\nand slew the fire-breathing Chimera. And he wedded the dear child of\nthe great-hearted Iobates, the worshipful king.... lord (of).... and\nshe bare....\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodes, Arg. iv. 57: Hesiod says\nthat Endymion was the son of Aethlius the son of Zeus and Calyee, and\nreceived the gift from Zeus: \u2018(To be) keeper of death for his own self\nwhen he was ready to die.\u2019\n\nFragment #9\u2014Scholiast Ven. on Homer, Il. xi. 750: The two sons of Actor\nand Molione... Hesiod has given their descent by calling them after\nActor and Molione; but their father was Poseidon.\n\nPorphyrius 1707, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pert., 265: But Aristarchus is\ninformed that they were twins, not.... such as were the Dioscuri, but,\non Hesiod\u2019s testimony, double in form and with two bodies and joined to\none another.\n\nFragment #10\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 156: But Hesiod\nsays that he changed himself in one of his wonted shapes and perched on\nthe yoke-boss of Heracles\u2019 horses, meaning to fight with the hero; but\nthat Heracles, secretly instructed by Athena, wounded him mortally with\nan arrow. And he says as follows: \u2018...and lordly Periclymenus. Happy\nhe! For earth-shaking Poseidon gave him all manner of gifts. At one\ntime he would appear among birds, an eagle; and again at another he\nwould be an ant, a marvel to see; and then a shining swarm of bees; and\nagain at another time a dread relentless snake. And he possessed all\nmanner of gifts which cannot be told, and these then ensnared him\nthrough the devising of Athene.\u2019\n\nFragment #11\u2014Stephanus of Byzantium 1708, s.v.: \u2018(Heracles) slew the\nnoble sons of steadfast Neleus, eleven of them; but the twelfth, the\nhorsemen Gerenian Nestor chanced to be staying with the horse-taming\nGerenians. ((LACUNA)) Nestor alone escaped in flowery Gerenon.\u2019\n\nFragment #12\u2014Eustathius 1709, Hom. 1796.39: \u2018So well-girded Polycaste,\nthe youngest daughter of Nestor, Neleus\u2019 son, was joined in love with\nTelemachus through golden Aphrodite and bare Persepolis.\u2019\n\nFragment #13\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 69: Tyro the daughter of\nSalmoneus, having two sons by Poseidon, Neleus and Pelias, married\nCretheus, and had by him three sons, Aeson, Pheres and Amythaon. And of\nAeson and Polymede, according to Hesiod, Iason was born: \u2018Aeson, who\nbegot a son Iason, shepherd of the people, whom Chiron brought up in\nwoody Pelion.\u2019\n\nFragment #14\u2014Petrie Papyri (ed. Mahaffy), Pl. III. 3: \u2018....of the\nglorious lord ....fair Atalanta, swift of foot, the daughter of\nSchoeneus, who had the beaming eyes of the Graces, though she was ripe\nfor wedlock rejected the company of her equals and sought to avoid\nmarriage with men who eat bread.\u2019\n\nScholiast on Homer, Iliad xxiii. 683: Hesiod is therefore later in date\nthan Homer since he represents Hippomenes as stripped when contending\nwith Atalanta 1710.\n\nPapiri greci e latini, ii. No. 130 (2nd-3rd century) 1711: (ll. 1-7)\n\u2018Then straightway there rose up against him the trim-ankled maiden\n(Atalanta), peerless in beauty: a great throng stood round about her as\nshe gazed fiercely, and wonder held all men as they looked upon her. As\nshe moved, the breath of the west wind stirred the shining garment\nabout her tender bosom; but Hippomenes stood where he was: and much\npeople was gathered together. All these kept silence; but Schoeneus\ncried and said:\n\n(ll. 8-20) \u2018\u201cHear me all, both young and old, while I speak as my\nspirit within my breast bids me. Hippomenes seeks my coy-eyed daughter\nto wife; but let him now hear my wholesome speech. He shall not win her\nwithout contest; yet, if he be victorious and escape death, and if the\ndeathless gods who dwell on Olympus grant him to win renown, verily he\nshall return to his dear native land, and I will give him my dear child\nand strong, swift-footed horses besides which he shall lead home to be\ncherished possessions; and may he rejoice in heart possessing these,\nand ever remember with gladness the painful contest. May the father of\nmen and of gods (grant that splendid children may be born to him)\u2019 1712\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 21-27) \u2018on the right.... and he, rushing upon her,.... drawing\nback slightly towards the left. And on them was laid an unenviable\nstruggle: for she, even fair, swift-footed Atalanta, ran scorning the\ngifts of golden Aphrodite; but with him the race was for his life,\neither to find his doom, or to escape it. Therefore with thoughts of\nguile he said to her:\n\n(ll. 28-29) \u2018\u201cO daughter of Schoeneus, pitiless in heart, receive these\nglorious gifts of the goddess, golden Aphrodite...\u2019\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 30-36) \u2018But he, following lightly on his feet, cast the first\napple 1713: and, swiftly as a Harpy, she turned back and snatched it.\nThen he cast the second to the ground with his hand. And now fair,\nswift-footed Atalanta had two apples and was near the goal; but\nHippomenes cast the third apple to the ground, and therewith escaped\ndeath and black fate. And he stood panting and...\u2019\n\nFragment #15\u2014Strabo 1714, i. p. 42: \u2018And the daughter of Arabus, whom\nworthy Hermaon begat with Thronia, daughter of the lord Belus.\u2019\n\nFragment #16\u2014Eustathius, Hom. 461. 2: \u2018Argos which was waterless Danaus\nmade well-watered.\u2019\n\nFragment #17\u2014Hecataeus 1715 in Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes, 872:\nAegyptus himself did not go to Argos, but sent his sons, fifty in\nnumber, as Hesiod represented.\n\nFragment #18\u20141716 Strabo, viii. p. 370: And Apollodorus says that\nHesiod already knew that the whole people were called both Hellenes and\nPanhellenes, as when he says of the daughters of Proetus that the\nPanhellenes sought them in marriage.\n\nApollodorus, ii. 2.1.4: Acrisius was king of Argos and Proetus of\nTiryns. And Acrisius had by Eurydice the daughter of Lacedemon, Danae;\nand Proetus by Stheneboea \u2018Lysippe and Iphinoe and Iphianassa\u2019. And\nthese fell mad, as Hesiod states, because they would not receive the\nrites of Dionysus.\n\nProbus 1717 on Vergil, Eclogue vi. 48: These (the daughters of\nProetus), because they had scorned the divinity of Juno, were overcome\nwith madness, such that they believed they had been turned into cows,\nand left Argos their own country. Afterwards they were cured by\nMelampus, the son of Amythaon.\n\nSuidas, s.v.: 1718 \u2018Because of their hideous wantonness they lost their\ntender beauty....\u2019\n\nEustathius, Hom. 1746.7: \u2018....For he shed upon their heads a fearful\nitch: and leprosy covered all their flesh, and their hair dropped from\ntheir heads, and their fair scalps were made bare.\u2019\n\nFragment #19A\u20141719 Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 1 (3rd cent. A.D.): 1720\n(ll. 1-32) \u2018....So she (Europa) crossed the briny water from afar to\nCrete, beguiled by the wiles of Zeus. Secretly did the Father snatch\nher away and gave her a gift, the golden necklace, the toy which\nHephaestus the famed craftsman once made by his cunning skill and\nbrought and gave it to his father for a possession. And Zeus received\nthe gift, and gave it in turn to the daughter of proud Phoenix. But\nwhen the Father of men and of gods had mated so far off with\ntrim-ankled Europa, then he departed back again from the rich-haired\ngirl. So she bare sons to the almighty Son of Cronos, glorious leaders\nof wealthy men\u2014Minos the ruler, and just Rhadamanthys and noble\nSarpedon the blameless and strong. To these did wise Zeus give each a\nshare of his honour. Verily Sarpedon reigned mightily over wide Lycia\nand ruled very many cities filled with people, wielding the sceptre of\nZeus: and great honour followed him, which his father gave him, the\ngreat-hearted shepherd of the people. For wise Zeus ordained that he\nshould live for three generations of mortal men and not waste away with\nold age. He sent him to Troy; and Sarpedon gathered a great host, men\nchosen out of Lycia to be allies to the Trojans. These men did Sarpedon\nlead, skilled in bitter war. And Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting,\nsent him forth from heaven a star, showing tokens for the return of his\ndear son........for well he (Sarpedon) knew in his heart that the sign\nwas indeed from Zeus. Very greatly did he excel in war together with\nman-slaying Hector and brake down the wall, bringing woes upon the\nDanaans. But so soon as Patroclus had inspired the Argives with hard\ncourage....\u2019\n\nFragment #19\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xii. 292: Zeus saw Europa the\ndaughter of Phoenix gathering flowers in a meadow with some nymphs and\nfell in love with her. So he came down and changed himself into a bull\nand breathed from his mouth a crocus 1721. In this way he deceived\nEuropa, carried her off and crossed the sea to Crete where he had\nintercourse with her. Then in this condition he made her live with\nAsterion the king of the Cretans. There she conceived and bore three\nsons, Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys. The tale is in Hesiod and\nBacchylides.\n\nFragment #20\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 178: But\naccording to Hesiod (Phineus) was the son of Phoenix, Agenor\u2019s son and\nCassiopea.\n\nFragment #21\u2014Apollodorus 1722, iii. 14.4.1: But Hesiod says that he\n(Adonis) was the son of Phoenix and Alphesiboea.\n\nFragment #22\u2014Porphyrius, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pert. p. 189: As it is\nsaid in Hesiod in the _Catalogue of Women_ concerning Demodoce the\ndaughter of Agenor: \u2018Demodoce whom very many of men on earth, mighty\nprinces, wooed, promising splendid gifts, because of her exceeding\nbeauty.\u2019\n\nFragment #23\u2014Apollodorus, iii. 5.6.2: Hesiod says that (the children of\nAmphion and Niobe) were ten sons and ten daughters.\n\nAelian 1723, Var. Hist. xii. 36: But Hesiod says they were nine boys\nand ten girls;\u2014unless after all the verses are not Hesiod but are\nfalsely ascribed to him as are many others.\n\nFragment #24\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiii. 679: And Hesiod says that\nwhen Oedipus had died at Thebes, Argea the daughter of Adrastus came\nwith others to the funeral of Oedipus.\n\nFragment #25\u2014Herodian 1724 in Etymologicum Magnum, p. 60, 40: Tityos\nthe son of Elara.\n\nFragment #26\u20141725 Argument: Pindar, Ol. xiv: Cephisus is a river in\nOrchomenus where also the Graces are worshipped. Eteoclus the son of\nthe river Cephisus first sacrificed to them, as Hesiod says.\n\nScholiast on Homer, Il. ii. 522: \u2018which from Lilaea spouts forth its\nsweet flowing water....\u2019\n\nStrabo, ix. 424: \u2018....And which flows on by Panopeus and through fenced\nGlechon and through Orchomenus, winding like a snake.\u2019\n\nFragment #27\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. vii. 9: For the father of\nMenesthius, Areithous was a Boeotian living at Arnae; and this is in\nBoeotia, as also Hesiod says.\n\nFragment #28\u2014Stephanus of Byzantium: Onchestus: a grove 1726. It is\nsituate in the country of Haliartus and was founded by Onchestus the\nBoeotian, as Hesiod says.\n\nFragment #29\u2014Stephanus of Byzantium: There is also a plain of Aega\nbordering on Cirrha, according to Hesiod.\n\nFragment #30\u2014Apollodorus, ii. 1.1.5: But Hesiod says that Pelasgus was\nautochthonous.\n\nFragment #31\u2014Strabo, v. p. 221: That this tribe (the Pelasgi) were from\nArcadia, Ephorus states on the authority of Hesiod; for he says: \u2018Sons\nwere born to god-like Lycaon whom Pelasgus once begot.\u2019\n\nFragment #32\u2014Stephanus of Byzantium: Pallantium. A city of Arcadia, so\nnamed after Pallas, one of Lycaon\u2019s sons, according to Hesiod.\n\nFragment #33\u2014(Unknown): \u2018Famous Meliboea bare Phellus the good\nspear-man.\u2019\n\nFragment #34\u2014Herodian, On Peculiar Diction, p. 18: In Hesiod in the\nsecond Catalogue: \u2018Who once hid the torch 1727 within.\u2019\n\nFragment #35\u2014Herodian, On Peculiar Diction, p. 42: Hesiod in the third\nCatalogue writes: \u2018And a resounding thud of feet rose up.\u2019\n\nFragment #36\u2014Apollonius Dyscolus 1728, On the Pronoun, p. 125: \u2018And a\ngreat trouble to themselves.\u2019\n\nFragment #37\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 45: Neither Homer\nnor Hesiod speak of Iphiclus as amongst the Argonauts.\n\nFragment #38\u2014\u2018Eratosthenes\u2019 1729, Catast. xix. p. 124: The Ram.]\u2014This\nit was that transported Phrixus and Helle. It was immortal and was\ngiven them by their mother Nephele, and had a golden fleece, as Hesiod\nand Pherecydes say.\n\nFragment #39\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in\nthe _Great Eoiae_ says that Phineus was blinded because he revealed to\nPhrixus the road; but in the third _Catalogue_, because he preferred\nlong life to sight.\n\nHesiod says he had two sons, Thynus and Mariandynus.\n\nEphorus 1730 in Strabo, vii. 302: Hesiod, in the so-called Journey\nround the Earth, says that Phineus was brought by the Harpies \u2018to the\nland of milk-feeders 1731 who have waggons for houses.\u2019\n\nFragment #40A\u2014(Cp. Fr. 43 and 44) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 2 (3rd\ncent. A.D.): 1732 ((LACUNA\u2014Slight remains of 7 lines))\n\n(ll. 8-35) \u2018(The Sons of Boreas pursued the Harpies) to the lands of\nthe Massagetae and of the proud Half-Dog men, of the Underground-folk\nand of the feeble Pygmies; and to the tribes of the boundless\nBlack-skins and the Libyans. Huge Earth bare these to\nEpaphus\u2014soothsaying people, knowing seercraft by the will of Zeus the\nlord of oracles, but deceivers, to the end that men whose thought\npasses their utterance 1733 might be subject to the gods and suffer\nharm\u2014Aethiopians and Libyans and mare-milking Scythians. For verily\nEpaphus was the child of the almighty Son of Cronos, and from him\nsprang the dark Libyans, and high-souled Aethiopians, and the\nUnderground-folk and feeble Pygmies. All these are the offspring of the\nlord, the Loud-thunderer. Round about all these (the Sons of Boreas)\nsped in darting flight.... ....of the well-horsed Hyperboreans\u2014whom\nEarth the all-nourishing bare far off by the tumbling streams of\ndeep-flowing Eridanus........of amber, feeding her wide-scattered\noffspring\u2014and about the steep Fawn mountain and rugged Etna to the isle\nOrtygia and the people sprung from Laestrygon who was the son of\nwide-reigning Poseidon. Twice ranged the Sons of Boreas along this\ncoast and wheeled round and about yearning to catch the Harpies, while\nthey strove to escape and avoid them. And they sped to the tribe of the\nhaughty Cephallenians, the people of patient-souled Odysseus whom in\naftertime Calypso the queenly nymph detained for Poseidon. Then they\ncame to the land of the lord the son of Ares........they heard. Yet\nstill (the Sons of Boreas) ever pursued them with instant feet. So they\n(the Harpies) sped over the sea and through the fruitless air...\u2019\n\nFragment #40\u2014Strabo, vii. p. 300: \u2018The Aethiopians and Ligurians and\nmare-milking Scythians.\u2019\n\nFragment #41\u2014Apollodorus, i. 9.21.6: As they were being pursued, one of\nthe Harpies fell into the river Tigris, in Peloponnesus which is now\ncalled Harpys after her. Some call this one Nicothoe, and others\nAellopus. The other who was called Ocypete, or as some say Ocythoe\n(though Hesiod calls her Ocypus), fled down the Propontis and reached\nas far as to the Echinades islands which are now called because of her,\nStrophades (Turning Islands).\n\nFragment #42\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 297: Hesiod also\nsays that those with Zetes 1734 turned and prayed to Zeus: \u2018There they\nprayed to the lord of Aenos who reigns on high.\u2019\n\nApollonius indeed says it was Iris who made Zetes and his following\nturn away, but Hesiod says Hermes.\n\nScholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 296: Others say (the islands)\nwere called Strophades, because they turned there and prayed Zeus to\nseize the Harpies. But according to Hesiod... they were not killed.\n\nFragment #43\u2014Philodemus 1735, On Piety, 10: Nor let anyone mock at\nHesiod who mentions.... or even the Troglodytes and the Pygmies.\n\nFragment #44\u2014Strabo, i. p. 43: No one would accuse Hesiod of ignorance\nthough he speaks of the Half-dog people and the Great-Headed people and\nthe Pygmies.\n\nFragment #45\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 284: But Hesiod\nsays they (the Argonauts) had sailed in through the Phasis.\n\nScholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 259: But Hesiod (says)....\nthey came through the Ocean to Libya, and so, carrying the Argo,\nreached our sea.\n\nFragment #46\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 311:\nApollonius, following Hesiod, says that Circe came to the island over\nagainst Tyrrhenia on the chariot of the Sun. And he called it\nHesperian, because it lies toward the west.\n\nFragment #47\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 892: He\n(Apollonius) followed Hesiod who thus names the island of the Sirens:\n\u2018To the island Anthemoessa (Flowery) which the son of Cronos gave\nthem.\u2019\n\nAnd their names are Thelxiope or Thelxinoe, Molpe and Aglaophonus 1736.\n\nScholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 168: Hence Hesiod said that they charmed\neven the winds.\n\nFragment #48\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Od. i. 85: Hesiod says that Ogygia is\nwithin towards the west, but Ogygia lies over against Crete: \u2018...the\nOgygian sea and......the island Ogygia.\u2019\n\nFragment #49\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 54: Hesiod regarded Arete as\nthe sister of Alcinous.\n\nFragment #50\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 46: Her Hippostratus (did\nwed), a scion of Ares, the splendid son of Phyetes, of the line of\nAmarynces, leader of the Epeians.\n\nFragment #51\u2014Apollodorus, i. 8.4.1: When Althea was dead, Oeneus\nmarried Periboea, the daughter of Hipponous. Hesiod says that she was\nseduced by Hippostratus the son of Amarynces and that her father\nHipponous sent her from Olenus in Achaea to Oeneus because he was far\naway from Hellas, bidding him kill her.\n\n\u2018She used to dwell on the cliff of Olenus by the banks of wide Peirus.\u2019\n\nFragment #52\u2014Diodorus 1737 v. 81: Macareus was a son of Crinacus the\nson of Zeus as Hesiod says... and dwelt in Olenus in the country then\ncalled Ionian, but now Achaean.\n\nFragment #53\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 21: Concerning the Myrmidons\nHesiod speaks thus: \u2018And she conceived and bare Aeacus, delighting in\nhorses. Now when he came to the full measure of desired youth, he\nchafed at being alone. And the father of men and gods made all the ants\nthat were in the lovely isle into men and wide-girdled women. These\nwere the first who fitted with thwarts ships with curved sides, and the\nfirst who used sails, the wings of a sea-going ship.\u2019\n\nFragment #54\u2014Polybius, v. 2: \u2018The sons of Aeacus who rejoiced in battle\nas though a feast.\u2019\n\nFragment #55\u2014Porphyrius, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pertin. p. 93: He has\nindicated the shameful deed briefly by the phrase \u2018to lie with her\nagainst her will\u2019, and not like Hesiod who recounts at length the story\nof Peleus and the wife of Acastus.\n\nFragment #56\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. iv. 95: \u2018And this seemed to him\n(Acastus) in his mind the best plan; to keep back himself, but to hide\nbeyond guessing the beautiful knife which the very famous Lame One had\nmade for him, that in seeking it alone over steep Pelion, he (Peleus)\nmight be slain forthwith by the mountain-bred Centaurs.\u2019\n\nFragment #57\u2014Voll. Herculan. (Papyri from Herculaneum), 2nd Collection,\nviii. 105: The author of the _Cypria_ 1738 says that Thetis avoided\nwedlock with Zeus to please Hera; but that Zeus was angry and swore\nthat she should mate with a mortal. Hesiod also has the like account.\n\nFragment #58\u2014Strassburg Greek Papyri 55 (2nd century A.D.): (ll. 1-13)\n\u2018Peleus the son of Aeacus, dear to the deathless gods, came to Phthia\nthe mother of flocks, bringing great possessions from spacious Iolcus.\nAnd all the people envied him in their hearts seeing how he had sacked\nthe well-built city, and accomplished his joyous marriage; and they all\nspake this word: \u201cThrice, yea, four times blessed son of Aeacus, happy\nPeleus! For far-seeing Olympian Zeus has given you a wife with many\ngifts and the blessed gods have brought your marriage fully to pass,\nand in these halls you go up to the holy bed of a daughter of Nereus.\nTruly the father, the son of Cronos, made you very pre-eminent among\nheroes and honoured above other men who eat bread and consume the fruit\nof the ground.\u201d\u2019\n\nFragment #59\u20141739 Origen, Against Celsus, iv. 79: \u2018For in common then\nwere the banquets, and in common the seats of deathless gods and mortal\nmen.\u2019\n\nFragment #60\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvi. 175: ...whereas Hesiod and\nthe rest call her (Peleus\u2019 daughter) Polydora.\n\nFragment #61\u2014Eustathius, Hom. 112. 44 sq: It should be observed that\nthe ancient narrative hands down the account that Patroclus was even a\nkinsman of Achilles; for Hesiod says that Menoethius the father of\nPatroclus, was a brother of Peleus, so that in that case they were\nfirst cousins.\n\nFragment #62\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 83: Some write \u2018Serus the son\nof Halirrhothius\u2019, whom Hesiod mentions: \u2018He (begot) Serus and\nAlazygus, goodly sons.\u2019 And Serus was the son of Halirrhothius\nPerieres\u2019 son, and of Alcyone.\n\nFragment #63\u2014Pausanias 1740, ii. 26. 7: This oracle most clearly proves\nthat Asclepius was not the son of Arsinoe, but that Hesiod or one of\nHesiod\u2019s interpolators composed the verses to please the Messenians.\n\nScholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 14: Some say (Asclepius) was the son of\nArsinoe, others of Coronis. But Asclepiades says that Arsinoe was the\ndaughter of Leucippus, Perieres\u2019 son, and that to her and Apollo\nAsclepius and a daughter, Eriopis, were born:\n\n\u2018And she bare in the palace Asclepius, leader of men, and Eriopis with\nthe lovely hair, being subject in love to Phoebus.\u2019\n\nAnd of Arsinoe likewise:\n\n\u2018And Arsinoe was joined with the son of Zeus and Leto and bare a son\nAsclepius, blameless and strong.\u2019 1741\n\nFragment #64\u2014For how does he say that the same persons (the Cyclopes)\nwere like the gods, and yet represent them as being destroyed by Apollo\nin the _Catalogue of the Daughters of Leucippus_?\n\nFragment #65\u2014\u201cEchemus made Timandra his buxom wife.\u201d\n\nFragment #66\u2014Hesiod in giving their descent makes them (Castor and\nPolydeuces) both sons of Zeus.\n\nHesiod, however, makes Helen the child neither of Leda nor Nemesis, but\ndaughter of Ocean and Zeus.\n\nFragment #67\u2014Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 249: Steischorus says that\nwhile sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot Aphrodite and that the\ngoddess was angry and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and\ndeserters of their husbands.... And Hesiod also says:\n\n(ll. 1-7) \u2018And laughter-loving Aphrodite felt jealous when she looked\non them and cast them into evil report. Then Timandra deserted Echemus\nand went and came to Phyleus, dear to the deathless gods; and even so\nClytaemnestra deserted god-like Agamemnon and lay with Aegisthus and\nchose a worse mate; and even so Helen dishonoured the couch of\ngolden-haired Menelaus.\u2019\n\nFragment #68\u20141742 Berlin Papyri, No. 9739: (ll. 1-10) \u2018....Philoctetes\nsought her, a leader of spearmen, .... most famous of all men at\nshooting from afar and with the sharp spear. And he came to Tyndareus\u2019\nbright city for the sake of the Argive maid who had the beauty of\ngolden Aphrodite, and the sparkling eyes of the Graces; and the\ndark-faced daughter of Ocean, very lovely of form, bare her when she\nhad shared the embraces of Zeus and the king Tyndareus in the bright\npalace.... (And.... sought her to wife offering as gifts)\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 11-15)....and as many women skilled in blameless arts, each\nholding a golden bowl in her hands. And truly Castor and strong\nPolydeuces would have made him 1743 their brother perforce, but\nAgamemnon, being son-in-law to Tyndareus, wooed her for his brother\nMenelaus.\n\n(ll. 16-19) And the two sons of Amphiaraus the lord, Oecleus\u2019 son,\nsought her to wife from Argos very near at hand; yet.... fear of the\nblessed gods and the indignation of men caused them also to fail.\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(l. 20)...but there was no deceitful dealing in the sons of Tyndareus.\n\n(ll. 21-27) And from Ithaca the sacred might of Odysseus, Laertes son,\nwho knew many-fashioned wiles, sought her to wife. He never sent gifts\nfor the sake of the neat-ankled maid, for he knew in his heart that\ngolden-haired Menelaus would win, since he was greatest of the Achaeans\nin possessions and was ever sending messages 1744 to horse-taming\nCastor and prize-winning Polydeuces.\n\n(ll. 28-30) And....on\u2019s son sought her to wife (and brought)\n....bridal-gifts.... ....cauldrons....\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 31-33)...to horse-taming Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces,\ndesiring to be the husband of rich-haired Helen, though he had never\nseen her beauty, but because he heard the report of others.\n\n(ll. 34-41) And from Phylace two men of exceeding worth sought her to\nwife, Podarces son of Iphiclus, Phylacus\u2019 son, and Actor\u2019s noble son,\noverbearing Protesilaus. Both of them kept sending messages to\nLacedaemon, to the house of wise Tyndareus, Oebalus\u2019 son, and they\noffered many bridal-gifts, for great was the girl\u2019s renown, brazen....\n....golden....\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(l. 42)...(desiring) to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.\n\n(ll. 43-49) From Athens the son of Peteous, Menestheus, sought her to\nwife, and offered many bridal-gifts; for he possessed very many stored\ntreasures, gold and cauldrons and tripods, fine things which lay hid in\nthe house of the lord Peteous, and with them his heart urged him to win\nhis bride by giving more gifts than any other; for he thought that no\none of all the heroes would surpass him in possessions and gifts.\n\n(ll. 50-51) There came also by ship from Crete to the house of the son\nof Oebalus strong Lycomedes for rich-haired Helen\u2019s sake.\n\nBerlin Papyri, No. 10560: (ll. 52-54)...sought her to wife. And after\ngolden-haired Menelaus he offered the greatest gifts of all the\nsuitors, and very much he desired in his heart to be the husband of\nArgive Helen with the rich hair.\n\n(ll. 55-62) And from Salamis Aias, blameless warrior, sought her to\nwife, and offered fitting gifts, even wonderful deeds; for he said that\nhe would drive together and give the shambling oxen and strong sheep of\nall those who lived in Troezen and Epidaurus near the sea, and in the\nisland of Aegina and in Mases, sons of the Achaeans, and shadowy Megara\nand frowning Corinthus, and Hermione and Asine which lie along the sea;\nfor he was famous with the long spear.\n\n(ll. 63-66) But from Euboea Elephenor, leader of men, the son of\nChalcodon, prince of the bold Abantes, sought her to wife. And he\noffered very many gifts, and greatly he desired in his heart to be the\nhusband of rich-haired Helen.\n\n(ll. 67-74) And from Crete the mighty Idomeneus sought her to wife,\nDeucalion\u2019s son, offspring of renowned Minos. He sent no one to woo her\nin his place, but came himself in his black ship of many thwarts over\nthe Ogygian sea across the dark wave to the home of wise Tyndareus, to\nsee Argive Helen and that no one else should bring back for him the\ngirl whose renown spread all over the holy earth.\n\n(l. 75) And at the prompting of Zeus the all-wise came.\n\n((LACUNA\u2014Thirteen lines lost.))\n\n(ll. 89-100) But of all who came for the maid\u2019s sake, the lord\nTyndareus sent none away, nor yet received the gift of any, but asked\nof all the suitors sure oaths, and bade them swear and vow with unmixed\nlibations that no one else henceforth should do aught apart from him as\ntouching the marriage of the maid with shapely arms; but if any man\nshould cast off fear and reverence and take her by force, he bade all\nthe others together follow after and make him pay the penalty. And\nthey, each of them hoping to accomplish his marriage, obeyed him\nwithout wavering. But warlike Menelaus, the son of Atreus, prevailed\nagainst them all together, because he gave the greatest gifts.\n\n(ll. 100-106) But Chiron was tending the son of Peleus, swift-footed\nAchilles, pre-eminent among men, on woody Pelion; for he was still a\nboy. For neither warlike Menelaus nor any other of men on earth would\nhave prevailed in suit for Helen, if fleet Achilles had found her\nunwed. But, as it was, warlike Menelaus won her before.\n\nII. 1745\n\n(ll. 1-2) And she (Helen) bare neat-ankled Hermione in the palace, a\nchild unlooked for.\n\n(ll. 2-13) Now all the gods were divided through strife; for at that\nvery time Zeus who thunders on high was meditating marvellous deeds,\neven to mingle storm and tempest over the boundless earth, and already\nhe was hastening to make an utter end of the race of mortal men,\ndeclaring that he would destroy the lives of the demi-gods, that the\nchildren of the gods should not mate with wretched mortals, seeing\ntheir fate with their own eyes; but that the blessed gods henceforth\neven as aforetime should have their living and their habitations apart\nfrom men. But on those who were born of immortals and of mankind verily\nZeus laid toil and sorrow upon sorrow.\n\n((LACUNA\u2014Two lines missing.))\n\n(ll. 16-30)....nor any one of men.... ....should go upon black\nships.... ....to be strongest in the might of his hands.... ....of\nmortal men declaring to all those things that were, and those that are,\nand those that shall be, he brings to pass and glorifies the counsels\nof his father Zeus who drives the clouds. For no one, either of the\nblessed gods or of mortal men, knew surely that he would contrive\nthrough the sword to send to Hades full many a one of heroes fallen in\nstrife. But at that time he knew not as yet the intent of his father\u2019s\nmind, and how men delight in protecting their children from doom. And\nhe delighted in the desire of his mighty father\u2019s heart who rules\npowerfully over men.\n\n(ll. 31-43) From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance\nfluttering down to the ground, and the fruit fell to the ground because\nBoreas blew very fiercely at the behest of Zeus; the deep seethed and\nall things trembled at his blast: the strength of mankind consumed away\nand the fruit failed in the season of spring, at that time when the\nHairless One 1746 in a secret place in the mountains gets three young\nevery three years. In spring he dwells upon the mountain among tangled\nthickets and brushwood, keeping afar from and hating the path of men,\nin the glens and wooded glades. But when winter comes on, he lies in a\nclose cave beneath the earth and covers himself with piles of luxuriant\nleaves, a dread serpent whose back is speckled with awful spots.\n\n(ll. 44-50) But when he becomes violent and fierce unspeakably, the\narrows of Zeus lay him low.... Only his soul is left on the holy earth,\nand that fits gibbering about a small unformed den. And it comes\nenfeebled to sacrifices beneath the broad-pathed earth.... and it\nlies....\u2019\n\n((LACUNA\u2014Traces of 37 following lines.))\n\nFragment #69\u2014Tzetzes 1747, Exeg. Iliad. 68. 19H: Agamemnon and Menelaus\nlikewise according to Hesiod and Aeschylus are regarded as the sons of\nPleisthenes, Atreus\u2019 son. And according to Hesiod, Pleisthenes was a\nson of Atreus and Aerope, and Agamemnon, Menelaus and Anaxibia were the\nchildren of Pleisthenes and Cleolla the daughter of Dias.\n\nFragment #70\u2014Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles\u2019 Electra, 539: \u2018And she\n(Helen) bare to Menelaus, famous with the spear, Hermione and her\nyoungest-born, Nicostratus, a scion of Ares.\u2019\n\nFragment #71\u2014Pausanias, i. 43. 1: I know that Hesiod in the _Catalogue\nof Women_ represented that Iphigeneia was not killed but, by the will\nof Artemis, became Hecate 1748.\n\nFragment #72\u2014Eustathius, Hom. 13. 44. sq: Butes, it is said, was a son\nof Poseidon: so Hesiod in the _Catalogue_.\n\nFragment #73\u2014Pausanias, ii. 6. 5: Hesiod represented Sicyon as the son\nof Erechtheus.\n\nFragment #74\u2014Plato, Minos, p. 320. D: \u2018(Minos) who was most kingly of\nmortal kings and reigned over very many people dwelling round about,\nholding the sceptre of Zeus wherewith he ruled many.\u2019\n\nFragment #75\u2014Hesychius 1749: The athletic contest in memory of Eurygyes\nMelesagorus says that Androgeos the son of Minos was called Eurygyes,\nand that a contest in his honour is held near his tomb at Athens in the\nCeramicus. And Hesiod writes: \u2018And Eurygyes 1750, while yet a lad in\nholy Athens...\u2019\n\nFragment #76\u2014Plutarch, Theseus 20: There are many tales.... about\nAriadne...., how that she was deserted by Theseua for love of another\nwoman: \u2018For strong love for Aegle the daughter of Panopeus overpowered\nhim.\u2019 For Hereas of Megara says that Peisistratus removed this verse\nfrom the works of Hesiod.\n\nAthenaeus 1751, xiii. 557 A: But Hesiod says that Theseus wedded both\nHippe and Aegle lawfully.\n\nFragment #77\u2014Strabo, ix. p. 393: The snake of Cychreus: Hesiod says\nthat it was brought up by Cychreus, and was driven out by Eurylochus as\ndefiling the island, but that Demeter received it into Eleusis, and\nthat it became her attendant.\n\nFragment #78\u2014Argument I. to the Shield of Heracles: But Apollonius of\nRhodes says that it (the _Shield of Heracles_) is Hesiod\u2019s both from\nthe general character of the work and from the fact that in the\n_Catalogue_ we again find Iolaus as charioteer of Heracles.\n\nFragment #79\u2014Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 266: (ll. 1-6) \u2018And\nfair-girdled Stratonica conceived and bare in the palace Eurytus her\nwell-loved son. Of him sprang sons, Didaeon and Clytius and god-like\nToxeus and Iphitus, a scion of Ares. And after these Antiope the queen,\ndaughter of the aged son of Nauboius, bare her youngest child,\ngolden-haired Iolea.\u2019\n\nFragment #80\u2014Herodian in Etymologicum Magnum: \u2018Who bare Autolycus and\nPhilammon, famous in speech.... All things that he (Autolyeus) took in\nhis hands, he made to disappear.\u2019\n\nFragment #81\u2014Apollonius, Hom. Lexicon: \u2018Aepytus again, begot Tlesenor\nand Peirithous.\u2019\n\nFragment #82\u2014Strabo, vii. p. 322: \u2018For Locrus truly was leader of the\nLelegian people, whom Zeus the Son of Cronos, whose wisdom is\nunfailing, gave to Deucalion, stones gathered out of the earth. So out\nof stones mortal men were made, and they were called people.\u2019 1752\n\nFragment #83\u2014Tzetzes, Schol. in Exeg. Iliad. 126: \u2018...Ileus whom the\nlord Apollo, son of Zeus, loved. And he named him by his name, because\nhe found a nymph complaisant 1753 and was joined with her in sweet\nlove, on that day when Poseidon and Apollo raised high the wall of the\nwell-built city.\u2019\n\nFragment #84\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Od. xi. 326: Clymene the daughter of\nMinyas the son of Poseidon and of Euryanassa, Hyperphas\u2019 daughter, was\nwedded to Phylacus the son of Deion, and bare Iphiclus, a boy fleet of\nfoot. It is said of him that through his power of running he could race\nthe winds and could move along upon the ears of corn 1754.... The tale\nis in Hesiod: \u2018He would run over the fruit of the asphodel and not\nbreak it; nay, he would run with his feet upon wheaten ears and not\nhurt the fruit.\u2019\n\nFragment #85\u2014Choeroboscus 1755, i. 123, 22H: \u2018And she bare a son\nThoas.\u2019\n\nFragment #86\u2014Eustathius, Hom. 1623. 44: Maro 1756, whose father, it is\nsaid, Hesiod relates to have been Euanthes the son of Oenopion, the son\nof Dionysus.\n\nFragment #87\u2014Athenaeus, x. 428 B, C: \u2018Such gifts as Dionysus gave to\nmen, a joy and a sorrow both. Who ever drinks to fullness, in him wine\nbecomes violent and binds together his hands and feet, his tongue also\nand his wits with fetters unspeakable: and soft sleep embraces him.\u2019\n\nFragment #88\u2014Strabo, ix. p. 442: \u2018Or like her (Coronis) who lived by\nthe holy Twin Hills in the plain of Dotium over against Amyrus rich in\ngrapes, and washed her feet in the Boebian lake, a maid unwed.\u2019\n\nFragment #89\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 48: \u2018To him, then, there\ncame a messenger from the sacred feast to goodly Pytho, a crow 1757,\nand he told unshorn Phoebus of secret deeds, that Ischys son of Elatus\nhad wedded Coronis the daughter of Phlegyas of birth divine.\n\nFragment #90\u2014Athenagoras 1758, Petition for the Christians, 29:\nConcerning Asclepius Hesiod says: \u2018And the father of men and gods was\nwrath, and from Olympus he smote the son of Leto with a lurid\nthunderbolt and killed him, arousing the anger of Phoebus.\u2019\n\nFragment #91\u2014Philodemus, On Piety, 34: But Hesiod (says that Apollo)\nwould have been cast by Zeus into Tartarus 1759; but Leto interceded\nfor him, and he became bondman to a mortal.\n\nFragment #92\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. ix. 6: \u2018Or like her, beautiful\nCyrene, who dwelt in Phthia by the water of Peneus and had the beauty\nof the Graces.\u2019\n\nFragment #93\u2014Servius on Vergil, Georg. i. 14: He invoked Aristaeus,\nthat is, the son of Apollo and Cyrene, whom Hesiod calls \u2018the shepherd\nApollo.\u2019 1760\n\nFragment #94\u2014Scholiast on Vergil, Georg. iv. 361: \u2018But the water stood\nall round him, bowed into the semblance of a mountain.\u2019 This verse he\nhas taken over from Hesiod\u2019s _Catalogue of Women_.\n\nFragment #95\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Iliad ii. 469: \u2018Or like her (Antiope)\nwhom Boeotian Hyria nurtured as a maid.\u2019\n\nFragment #96\u2014Palaephatus 1761, c. 42: Of Zethus and Amphion. Hesiod and\nsome others relate that they built the walls of Thebes by playing on\nthe lyre.\n\nFragment #97\u2014Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 1167: (ll. 1-11) \u2018There is a\nland Ellopia with much glebe and rich meadows, and rich in flocks and\nshambling kine. There dwell men who have many sheep and many oxen, and\nthey are in number past telling, tribes of mortal men. And there upon\nits border is built a city, Dodona 1762; and Zeus loved it and\n(appointed) it to be his oracle, reverenced by men........And they (the\ndoves) lived in the hollow of an oak. From them men of earth carry away\nall kinds of prophecy,\u2014whosoever fares to that spot and questions the\ndeathless god, and comes bringing gifts with good omens.\u2019\n\nFragment #98\u2014Berlin Papyri, No. 9777: 1763 (ll. 1-22) \u2018....strife....\nOf mortals who would have dared to fight him with the spear and charge\nagainst him, save only Heracles, the great-hearted offspring of\nAlcaeus? Such an one was (?) strong Meleager loved of Ares, the\ngolden-haired, dear son of Oeneus and Althaea. From his fierce eyes\nthere shone forth portentous fire: and once in high Calydon he slew the\ndestroying beast, the fierce wild boar with gleaming tusks. In war and\nin dread strife no man of the heroes dared to face him and to approach\nand fight with him when he appeared in the forefront. But he was slain\nby the hands and arrows of Apollo 1764, while he was fighting with the\nCuretes for pleasant Calydon. And these others (Althaea) bare to\nOeneus, Porthaon\u2019s son; horse-taming Pheres, and Agelaus surpassing all\nothers, Toxeus and Clymenus and godlike Periphas, and rich-haired Gorga\nand wise Deianeira, who was subject in love to mighty Heracles and bare\nhim Hyllus and Glenus and Ctesippus and Odites. These she bare and in\nignorance she did a fearful thing: when (she had received).... the\npoisoned robe that held black doom....\u2019\n\nFragment #99A\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Iliad. xxiii. 679: And yet Hesiod\nsays that after he had died in Thebes, Argeia the daughter of Adrastus\ntogether with others (cp. frag. 99) came to the lamentation over\nOedipus.\n\nFragment #99\u20141765 Papyri greci e latine, No. 131 (2nd-3rd century):\n1766 (ll. 1-10) \u2018And (Eriphyle) bare in the palace Alcmaon 1767,\nshepherd of the people, to Amphiaraus. Him (Amphiaraus) did the Cadmean\n(Theban) women with trailing robes admire when they saw face to face\nhis eyes and well-grown frame, as he was busied about the burying of\nOedipus, the man of many woes. ....Once the Danai, servants of Ares,\nfollowed him to Thebes, to win renown........for Polynices. But, though\nwell he knew from Zeus all things ordained, the earth yawned and\nswallowed him up with his horses and jointed chariot, far from\ndeep-eddying Alpheus.\n\n(ll. 11-20) But Electyron married the all-beauteous daughter of Pelops\nand, going up into one bed with her, the son of Perses begat........and\nPhylonomus and Celaeneus and Amphimachus and........and Eurybius and\nfamous.... All these the Taphians, famous shipmen, slew in fight for\noxen with shambling hoofs,.... ....in ships across the sea\u2019s wide back.\nSo Alcmena alone was left to delight her parents........and the\ndaughter of Electryon....\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(l. 21)....who was subject in love to the dark-clouded son of Cronos\nand bare (famous Heracles).\u2019\n\nFragment #100\u2014Argument to the Shield of Heracles, i: The beginning of\nthe _Shield_ as far as the 56th verse is current in the fourth\n_Catalogue_\n\nFragment #101 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)\u2014Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 1 (early\n3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA\u2014Slight remains of 3 lines))\n\n(ll. 4-17) \u2018...if indeed he (Teuthras) delayed, and if he feared to\nobey the word of the immortals who then appeared plainly to them. But\nher (Auge) he received and brought up well, and cherished in the\npalace, honouring her even as his own daughters.\n\nAnd Auge bare Telephus of the stock of Areas, king of the Mysians,\nbeing joined in love with the mighty Heracles when he was journeying in\nquest of the horses of proud Laomedon\u2014horses the fleetest of foot that\nthe Asian land nourished,\u2014and destroyed in battle the tribe of the\ndauntless Amazons and drove them forth from all that land. But Telephus\nrouted the spearmen of the bronze-clad Achaeans and made them embark\nupon their black ships. Yet when he had brought down many to the ground\nwhich nourishes men, his own might and deadliness were brought low....\u2019\n\nFragment #102 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)\u2014Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 2 (early\n3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA\u2014Remains of 4 lines))\n\n(ll. 5-16) \u2018....Electra.... was subject to the dark-clouded Son of\nCronos and bare Dardanus.... and Eetion.... who once greatly loved\nrich-haired Demeter. And cloud-gathering Zeus was wroth and smote him,\nEetion, and laid him low with a flaming thunderbolt, because he sought\nto lay hands upon rich-haired Demeter. But Dardanus came to the coast\nof the mainland\u2014from him Erichthonius and thereafter Tros were sprung,\nand Ilus, and Assaracus, and godlike Ganymede,\u2014when he had left holy\nSamothrace in his many-benched ship.\n\n((LACUNA))\n\nOxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 3 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): (ll. 17-24)\n1768....Cleopatra ....the daughter of.... ....But an eagle caught up\nGanymede for Zeus because he vied with the immortals in\nbeauty........rich-tressed Diomede; and she bare Hyacinthus, the\nblameless one and strong........whom, on a time Phoebus himself slew\nunwittingly with a ruthless disk....\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHIELD OF HERACLES\n\n(ll. 1-27) Or like her who left home and country and came to Thebes,\nfollowing warlike Amphitryon,\u2014even Alcmena, the daughter of Electyron,\ngatherer of the people. She surpassed the tribe of womankind in beauty\nand in height; and in wisdom none vied with her of those whom mortal\nwomen bare of union with mortal men. Her face and her dark eyes wafted\nsuch charm as comes from golden Aphrodite. And she so honoured her\nhusband in her heart as none of womankind did before her. Verily he had\nslain her noble father violently when he was angry about oxen; so he\nleft his own country and came to Thebes and was suppliant to the\nshield-carrying men of Cadmus. There he dwelt with his modest wife\nwithout the joys of love, nor might he go in unto the neat-ankled\ndaughter of Electyron until he had avenged the death of his wife\u2019s\ngreat-hearted brothers and utterly burned with blazing fire the\nvillages of the heroes, the Taphians and Teleboans; for this thing was\nlaid upon him, and the gods were witnesses to it. And he feared their\nanger, and hastened to perform the great task to which Zeus had bound\nhim. With him went the horse-driving Boeotians, breathing above their\nshields, and the Locrians who fight hand to hand, and the gallant\nPhocians eager for war and battle. And the noble son of Alcaeus led\nthem, rejoicing in his host.\n\n(ll. 27-55) But the father of men and gods was forming another scheme\nin his heart, to beget one to defend against destruction gods and men\nwho eat bread. So he arose from Olympus by night pondering guile in the\ndeep of his heart, and yearned for the love of the well-girded woman.\nQuickly he came to Typhaonium, and from there again wise Zeus went on\nand trod the highest peak of Phicium 1801: there he sat and planned\nmarvellous things in his heart. So in one night Zeus shared the bed and\nlove of the neat-ankled daughter of Electyron and fulfilled his desire;\nand in the same night Amphitryon, gatherer of the people, the glorious\nhero, came to his house when he had ended his great task. He hastened\nnot to go to his bondmen and shepherds afield, but first went in unto\nhis wife: such desire took hold on the shepherd of the people. And as a\nman who has escaped joyfully from misery, whether of sore disease or\ncruel bondage, so then did Amphitryon, when he had wound up all his\nheavy task, come glad and welcome to his home. And all night long he\nlay with his modest wife, delighting in the gifts of golden Aphrodite.\nAnd she, being subject in love to a god and to a man exceeding goodly,\nbrought forth twin sons in seven-gated Thebe. Though they were\nbrothers, these were not of one spirit; for one was weaker but the\nother a far better man, one terrible and strong, the mighty Heracles.\nHim she bare through the embrace of the son of Cronos lord of dark\nclouds and the other, Iphiclus, of Amphitryon the\nspear-wielder\u2014offspring distinct, this one of union with a mortal man,\nbut that other of union with Zeus, leader of all the gods.\n\n(ll. 57-77) And he slew Cycnus, the gallant son of Ares. For he found\nhim in the close of far-shooting Apollo, him and his father Ares, never\nsated with war. Their armour shone like a flame of blazing fire as they\ntwo stood in their car: their swift horses struck the earth and pawed\nit with their hoofs, and the dust rose like smoke about them, pounded\nby the chariot wheels and the horses\u2019 hoofs, while the well-made\nchariot and its rails rattled around them as the horses plunged. And\nblameless Cycnus was glad, for he looked to slay the warlike son of\nZeus and his charioteer with the sword, and to strip off their splendid\narmour. But Phoebus Apollo would not listen to his vaunts, for he\nhimself had stirred up mighty Heracles against him. And all the grove\nand altar of Pagasaean Apollo flamed because of the dread god and\nbecause of his arms; for his eyes flashed as with fire. What mortal men\nwould have dared to meet him face to face save Heracles and glorious\nIolaus? For great was their strength and unconquerable were the arms\nwhich grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs. Then Heracles\nspake to his charioteer strong Iolaus:\n\n(ll. 78-94) \u2018O hero Iolaus, best beloved of all men, truly Amphitryon\nsinned deeply against the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus when he\ncame to sweet-crowned Thebe and left Tiryns, the well-built citadel,\nbecause he slew Electryon for the sake of his wide-browned oxen. Then\nhe came to Creon and long-robed Eniocha, who received him kindly and\ngave him all fitting things, as is due to suppliants, and honoured him\nin their hearts even more. And he lived joyfully with his wife the\nneat-ankled daughter of Electyron: and presently, while the years\nrolled on, we were born, unlike in body as in mind, even your father\nand I. From him Zeus took away sense, so that he left his home and his\nparents and went to do honour to the wicked Eurystheus\u2014unhappy man!\nDeeply indeed did he grieve afterwards in bearing the burden of his own\nmad folly; but that cannot be taken back. But on me fate laid heavy\ntasks.\n\n(ll. 95-101) \u2018Yet, come, friend, quickly take the red-dyed reins of the\nswift horses and raise high courage in your heart and guide the swift\nchariot and strong fleet-footed horses straight on. Have no secret fear\nat the noise of man-slaying Ares who now rages shouting about the holy\ngrove of Phoebus Apollo, the lord who shoots form afar. Surely, strong\nthough he be, he shall have enough of war.\u2019\n\n(ll. 102-114) And blameless Iolaus answered him again: \u2018Good friend,\ntruly the father of men and gods greatly honours your head and the\nbull-like Earth-Shaker also, who keeps Thebe\u2019s veil of walls and guards\nthe city,\u2014so great and strong is this fellow they bring into your hands\nthat you may win great glory. But come, put on your arms of war that\nwith all speed we may bring the car of Ares and our own together and\nfight; for he shall not frighten the dauntless son of Zeus, nor yet the\nson of Iphiclus: rather, I think he will flee before the two sons of\nblameless Alcides who are near him and eager to raise the war cry for\nbattle; for this they love better than a feast.\u2019\n\n(ll. 115-117) So he said. And mighty Heracles was glad in heart and\nsmiled, for the other\u2019s words pleased him well, and he answered him\nwith winged words:\n\n(ll. 118-121) \u2018O hero Iolaus, heaven-sprung, now is rough battle hard\nat hand. But, as you have shown your skill at other-times, so now also\nwheel the great black-maned horse Arion about every way, and help me as\nyou may be able.\u2019\n\n(ll. 122-138) So he said, and put upon his legs greaves of shining\nbronze, the splendid gift of Hephaestus. Next he fastened about his\nbreast a fine golden breast-plate, curiously wrought, which Pallas\nAthene the daughter of Zeus had given him when first he was about to\nset out upon his grievous labours. Over his shoulders the fierce\nwarrior put the steel that saves men from doom, and across his breast\nhe slung behind him a hollow quiver. Within it were many chilling\narrows, dealers of death which makes speech forgotten: in front they\nhad death, and trickled with tears; their shafts were smooth and very\nlong; and their butts were covered with feathers of a brown eagle. And\nhe took his strong spear, pointed with shining bronze, and on his\nvaliant head set a well-made helm of adamant, cunningly wrought, which\nfitted closely on the temples; and that guarded the head of god-like\nHeracles.\n\n(ll. 139-153) In his hands he took his shield, all glittering: no one\never broke it with a blow or crushed it. And a wonder it was to see;\nfor its whole orb was a-shimmer with enamel and white ivory and\nelectrum, and it glowed with shining gold; and there were zones of\ncyanus 1802 drawn upon it. In the centre was Fear worked in adamant,\nunspeakable, staring backwards with eyes that glowed with fire. His\nmouth was full of teeth in a white row, fearful and daunting, and upon\nhis grim brow hovered frightful Strife who arrays the throng of men:\npitiless she, for she took away the mind and senses of poor wretches\nwho made war against the son of Zeus. Their souls passed beneath the\nearth and went down into the house of Hades; but their bones, when the\nskin is rotted about them, crumble away on the dark earth under\nparching Sirius.\n\n(ll. 154-160) Upon the shield Pursuit and Flight were wrought, and\nTumult, and Panic, and Slaughter. Strife also, and Uproar were hurrying\nabout, and deadly Fate was there holding one man newly wounded, and\nanother unwounded; and one, who was dead, she was dragging by the feet\nthrough the tumult. She had on her shoulders a garment red with the\nblood of men, and terribly she glared and gnashed her teeth.\n\n(ll. 160-167) And there were heads of snakes unspeakably frightful,\ntwelve of them; and they used to frighten the tribes of men on earth\nwhosoever made war against the son of Zeus; for they would clash their\nteeth when Amphitryon\u2019s son was fighting: and brightly shone these\nwonderful works. And it was as though there were spots upon the\nfrightful snakes: and their backs were dark blue and their jaws were\nblack.\n\n(ll. 168-177) Also there were upon the shield droves of boars and lions\nwho glared at each other, being furious and eager: the rows of them\nmoved on together, and neither side trembled but both bristled up their\nmanes. For already a great lion lay between them and two boars, one on\neither side, bereft of life, and their dark blood was dripping down\nupon the ground; they lay dead with necks outstretched beneath the grim\nlions. And both sides were roused still more to fight because they were\nangry, the fierce boars and the bright-eyed lions.\n\n(ll. 178-190) And there was the strife of the Lapith spearmen gathered\nround the prince Caeneus and Dryas and Peirithous, with Hopleus,\nExadius, Phalereus, and Prolochus, Mopsus the son of Ampyce of\nTitaresia, a scion of Ares, and Theseus, the son of Aegeus, like unto\nthe deathless gods. These were of silver, and had armour of gold upon\ntheir bodies. And the Centaurs were gathered against them on the other\nside with Petraeus and Asbolus the diviner, Arctus, and Ureus, and\nblack-haired Mimas, and the two sons of silver, and they had pinetrees\nof gold in their hands, and they were rushing together as though they\nwere alive and striking at one another hand to hand with spears and\nwith pines.\n\n(ll. 191-196) And on the shield stood the fleet-footed horses of grim\nAres made gold, and deadly Ares the spoil-winner himself. He held a\nspear in his hands and was urging on the footmen: he was red with blood\nas if he were slaying living men, and he stood in his chariot. Beside\nhim stood Fear and Flight, eager to plunge amidst the fighting men.\n\n(ll. 197-200) There, too, was the daughter of Zeus, Tritogeneia who\ndrives the spoil 1803. She was like as if she would array a battle,\nwith a spear in her hand, and a golden helmet, and the aegis about her\nshoulders. And she was going towards the awful strife.\n\n(ll. 201-206) And there was the holy company of the deathless gods: and\nin the midst the son of Zeus and Leto played sweetly on a golden lyre.\nThere also was the abode of the gods, pure Olympus, and their assembly,\nand infinite riches were spread around in the gathering, the Muses of\nPieria were beginning a song like clear-voiced singers.\n\n(ll. 207-215) And on the shield was a harbour with a safe haven from\nthe irresistible sea, made of refined tin wrought in a circle, and it\nseemed to heave with waves. In the middle of it were many dolphins\nrushing this way and that, fishing: and they seemed to be swimming. Two\ndolphins of silver were spouting and devouring the mute fishes. And\nbeneath them fishes of bronze were trembling. And on the shore sat a\nfisherman watching: in his hands he held a casting net for fish, and\nseemed as if about to cast it forth.\n\n(ll. 216-237) There, too, was the son of rich-haired Danae, the\nhorseman Perseus: his feet did not touch the shield and yet were not\nfar from it\u2014very marvellous to remark, since he was not supported\nanywhere; for so did the famous Lame One fashion him of gold with his\nhands. On his feet he had winged sandals, and his black-sheathed sword\nwas slung across his shoulders by a cross-belt of bronze. He was flying\nswift as thought. The head of a dreadful monster, the Gorgon, covered\nthe broad of his back, and a bag of silver\u2014a marvel to see\u2014contained\nit: and from the bag bright tassels of gold hung down. Upon the head of\nthe hero lay the dread cap 1804 of Hades which had the awful gloom of\nnight. Perseus himself, the son of Danae, was at full stretch, like one\nwho hurries and shudders with horror. And after him rushed the Gorgons,\nunapproachable and unspeakable, longing to seize him: as they trod upon\nthe pale adamant, the shield rang sharp and clear with a loud clanging.\nTwo serpents hung down at their girdles with heads curved forward:\ntheir tongues were flickering, and their teeth gnashing with fury, and\ntheir eyes glaring fiercely. And upon the awful heads of the Gorgons\ngreat Fear was quaking.\n\n(ll. 237-270) And beyond these there were men fighting in warlike\nharness, some defending their own town and parents from destruction,\nand others eager to sack it; many lay dead, but the greater number\nstill strove and fought. The women on well-built towers of bronze were\ncrying shrilly and tearing their cheeks like living beings\u2014the work of\nfamous Hephaestus. And the men who were elders and on whom age had laid\nhold were all together outside the gates, and were holding up their\nhands to the blessed gods, fearing for their own sons. But these again\nwere engaged in battle: and behind them the dusky Fates, gnashing their\nwhite fangs, lowering, grim, bloody, and unapproachable, struggled for\nthose who were falling, for they all were longing to drink dark blood.\nSo soon as they caught a man overthrown or falling newly wounded, one\nof them would clasp her great claws about him, and his soul would go\ndown to Hades to chilly Tartarus. And when they had satisfied their\nsouls with human blood, they would cast that one behind them, and rush\nback again into the tumult and the fray. Clotho and Lachesis were over\nthem and Atropos less tall than they, a goddess of no great frame, yet\nsuperior to the others and the eldest of them. And they all made a\nfierce fight over one poor wretch, glaring evilly at one another with\nfurious eyes and fighting equally with claws and hands. By them stood\nDarkness of Death, mournful and fearful, pale, shrivelled, shrunk with\nhunger, swollen-kneed. Long nails tipped her hands, and she dribbled at\nthe nose, and from her cheeks blood dripped down to the ground. She\nstood leering hideously, and much dust sodden with tears lay upon her\nshoulders.\n\n(ll. 270-285) Next, there was a city of men with goodly towers; and\nseven gates of gold, fitted to the lintels, guarded it. The men were\nmaking merry with festivities and dances; some were bringing home a\nbride to her husband on a well-wheeled car, while the bridal-song\nswelled high, and the glow of blazing torches held by handmaidens\nrolled in waves afar. And these maidens went before, delighting in the\nfestival; and after them came frolicsome choirs, the youths singing\nsoft-mouthed to the sound of shrill pipes, while the echo was shivered\naround them, and the girls led on the lovely dance to the sound of\nlyres. Then again on the other side was a rout of young men revelling,\nwith flutes playing; some frolicking with dance and song, and others\nwere going forward in time with a flute player and laughing. The whole\ntown was filled with mirth and dance and festivity.\n\n(ll. 285-304) Others again were mounted on horseback and galloping\nbefore the town. And there were ploughmen breaking up the good soil,\nclothed in tunics girt up. Also there was a wide cornland and some men\nwere reaping with sharp hooks the stalks which bended with the weight\nof the cars\u2014as if they were reaping Demeter\u2019s grain: others were\nbinding the sheaves with bands and were spreading the threshing floor.\nAnd some held reaping hooks and were gathering the vintage, while\nothers were taking from the reapers into baskets white and black\nclusters from the long rows of vines which were heavy with leaves and\ntendrils of silver. Others again were gathering them into baskets.\nBeside them was a row of vines in gold, the splendid work of cunning\nHephaestus: it had shivering leaves and stakes of silver and was laden\nwith grapes which turned black 1805. And there were men treading out\nthe grapes and others drawing off liquor. Also there were men boxing\nand wrestling, and huntsmen chasing swift hares with a leash of\nsharp-toothed dogs before them, they eager to catch the hares, and the\nhares eager to escape.\n\n(ll 305-313) Next to them were horsemen hard set, and they contended\nand laboured for a prize. The charioteers standing on their well-woven\ncars, urged on their swift horses with loose rein; the jointed cars\nflew along clattering and the naves of the wheels shrieked loudly. So\nthey were engaged in an unending toil, and the end with victory came\nnever to them, and the contest was ever unwon. And there was set out\nfor them within the course a great tripod of gold, the splendid work of\ncunning Hephaestus.\n\n(ll. 314-317) And round the rim Ocean was flowing, with a full stream\nas it seemed, and enclosed all the cunning work of the shield. Over it\nswans were soaring and calling loudly, and many others were swimming\nupon the surface of the water; and near them were shoals of fish.\n\n(ll. 318-326) A wonderful thing the great strong shield was to see\u2014even\nfor Zeus the loud-thunderer, by whose will Hephaestus made it and\nfitted it with his hands. This shield the valiant son of Zeus wielded\nmasterly, and leaped upon his horse-chariot like the lightning of his\nfather Zeus who holds the aegis, moving lithely. And his charioteer,\nstrong Iolaus, standing upon the car, guided the curved chariot.\n\n(ll. 327-337) Then the goddess grey-eyed Athene came near them and\nspoke winged words, encouraging them: \u2018Hail, offspring of far-famed\nLynceus! Even now Zeus who reigns over the blessed gods gives you power\nto slay Cycnus and to strip off his splendid armour. Yet I will tell\nyou something besides, mightiest of the people. When you have robbed\nCycnus of sweet life, then leave him there and his armour also, and you\nyourself watch man-slaying Ares narrowly as he attacks, and wherever\nyou shall see him uncovered below his cunningly-wrought shield, there\nwound him with your sharp spear. Then draw back; for it is not ordained\nthat you should take his horses or his splendid armour.\u2019\n\n(ll. 338-349) So said the bright-eyed goddess and swiftly got up into\nthe car with victory and renown in her hands. Then heaven-nurtured\nIolaus called terribly to the horses, and at his cry they swiftly\nwhirled the fleet chariot along, raising dust from the plain; for the\ngoddess bright-eyed Athene put mettle into them by shaking her aegis.\nAnd the earth groaned all round them.\n\nAnd they, horse-taming Cycnus and Ares, insatiable in war, came on\ntogether like fire or whirlwind. Then their horses neighed shrilly,\nface to face; and the echo was shivered all round them. And mighty\nHeracles spoke first and said to that other:\n\n(ll. 350-367) \u2018Cycnus, good sir! Why, pray, do you set your swift\nhorses at us, men who are tried in labour and pain? Nay, guide your\nfleet car aside and yield and go out of the path. It is to Trachis I am\ndriving on, to Ceyx the king, who is the first in Trachis for power and\nfor honour, and that you yourself know well, for you have his daughter\ndark-eyed Themistinoe to wife. Fool! For Ares shall not deliver you\nfrom the end of death, if we two meet together in battle. Another time\nere this I declare he has made trial of my spear, when he defended\nsandy Pylos and stood against me, fiercely longing for fight. Thrice\nwas he stricken by my spear and dashed to earth, and his shield was\npierced; but the fourth time I struck his thigh, laying on with all my\nstrength, and tare deep into his flesh. And he fell headlong in the\ndust upon the ground through the force of my spear-thrust; then truly\nhe would have been disgraced among the deathless gods, if by my hands\nhe had left behind his bloody spoils.\u2019\n\n(ll. 368-385) So said he. But Cycnus the stout spearman cared not to\nobey him and to pull up the horses that drew his chariot. Then it was\nthat from their well-woven cars they both leaped straight to the\nground, the son of Zeus and the son of the Lord of War. The charioteers\ndrove near by their horses with beautiful manes, and the wide earth\nrang with the beat of their hoofs as they rushed along. As when rocks\nleap forth from the high peak of a great mountain, and fall on one\nanother, and many towering oaks and pines and long-rooted poplars are\nbroken by them as they whirl swiftly down until they reach the plain;\nso did they fall on one another with a great shout: and all the town of\nthe Myrmidons, and famous Iolcus, and Arne, and Helice, and grassy\nAnthea echoed loudly at the voice of the two. With an awful cry they\nclosed: and wise Zeus thundered loudly and rained down drops of blood,\ngiving the signal for battle to his dauntless son.\n\n(ll. 386-401) As a tusked boar, that is fearful for a man to see before\nhim in the glens of a mountain, resolves to fight with the huntsmen and\nwhite tusks, turning sideways, while foam flows all round his mouth as\nhe gnashes, and his eyes are like glowing fire, and he bristles the\nhair on his mane and around his neck\u2014like him the son of Zeus leaped\nfrom his horse-chariot. And when the dark-winged whirring grasshopper,\nperched on a green shoot, begins to sing of summer to men\u2014his food and\ndrink is the dainty dew\u2014and all day long from dawn pours forth his\nvoice in the deadliest heat, when Sirius scorches the flesh (then the\nbeard grows upon the millet which men sow in summer), when the crude\ngrapes which Dionysus gave to men\u2014a joy and a sorrow both\u2014begin to\ncolour, in that season they fought and loud rose the clamour.\n\n(ll. 402-412) As two lions 1806 on either side of a slain deer spring\nat one another in fury, and there is a fearful snarling and a clashing\nalso of teeth\u2014like vultures with crooked talons and hooked beak that\nfight and scream aloud on a high rock over a mountain goat or fat\nwild-deer which some active man has shot with an arrow from the string,\nand himself has wandered away elsewhere, not knowing the place; but\nthey quickly mark it and vehemently do keen battle about it\u2014like these\nthey two rushed upon one another with a shout.\n\n(ll. 413-423) Then Cycnus, eager to kill the son of almighty Zeus,\nstruck upon his shield with a brazen spear, but did not break the\nbronze; and the gift of the god saved his foe. But the son of\nAmphitryon, mighty Heracles, with his long spear struck Cycnus\nviolently in the neck beneath the chin, where it was unguarded between\nhelm and shield. And the deadly spear cut through the two sinews; for\nthe hero\u2019s full strength lighted on his foe. And Cycnus fell as an oak\nfalls or a lofty pine that is stricken by the lurid thunderbolt of\nZeus; even so he fell, and his armour adorned with bronze clashed about\nhim.\n\n(ll. 424-442) Then the stout hearted son of Zeus let him be, and\nhimself watched for the onset of manslaying Ares: fiercely he stared,\nlike a lion who has come upon a body and full eagerly rips the hide\nwith his strong claws and takes away the sweet life with all speed: his\ndark heart is filled with rage and his eyes glare fiercely, while he\ntears up the earth with his paws and lashes his flanks and shoulders\nwith his tail so that no one dares to face him and go near to give\nbattle. Even so, the son of Amphitryon, unsated of battle, stood\neagerly face to face with Ares, nursing courage in his heart. And Ares\ndrew near him with grief in his heart; and they both sprang at one\nanother with a cry. As it is when a rock shoots out from a great cliff\nand whirls down with long bounds, careering eagerly with a roar, and a\nhigh crag clashes with it and keeps it there where they strike\ntogether; with no less clamour did deadly Ares, the chariot-borne, rush\nshouting at Heracles. And he quickly received the attack.\n\n(ll. 443-449) But Athene the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus came to\nmeet Ares, wearing the dark aegis, and she looked at him with an angry\nfrown and spoke winged words to him. \u2018Ares, check your fierce anger and\nmatchless hands; for it is not ordained that you should kill Heracles,\nthe bold-hearted son of Zeus, and strip off his rich armour. Come,\nthen, cease fighting and do not withstand me.\u2019\n\n(ll. 450-466) So said she, but did not move the courageous spirit of\nAres. But he uttered a great shout and waving his spears like fire, he\nrushed headlong at strong Heracles, longing to kill him, and hurled a\nbrazen spear upon the great shield, for he was furiously angry because\nof his dead son; but bright-eyed Athene reached out from the car and\nturned aside the force of the spear.\n\nThen bitter grief seized Ares and he drew his keen sword and leaped\nupon bold-hearted Heracles. But as he came on, the son of Amphitryon,\nunsated of fierce battle, shrewdly wounded his thigh where it was\nexposed under his richly-wrought shield, and tare deep into his flesh\nwith the spear-thrust and cast him flat upon the ground. And Panic and\nDread quickly drove his smooth-wheeled chariot and horses near him and\nlifted him from the wide-pathed earth into his richly-wrought car, and\nthen straight lashed the horses and came to high Olympus.\n\n(ll. 467-471) But the son of Alcmena and glorious Iolaus stripped the\nfine armour off Cycnus\u2019 shoulders and went, and their swift horses\ncarried them straight to the city of Trachis. And bright-eyed Athene\nwent thence to great Olympus and her father\u2019s house.\n\n(ll. 472-480) As for Cycnus, Ceyx buried him and the countless people\nwho lived near the city of the glorious king, in Anthe and the city of\nthe Myrmidons, and famous Iolcus, and Arne, and Helice: and much people\nwere gathered doing honour to Ceyx, the friend of the blessed gods. But\nAnaurus, swelled by a rain-storm, blotted out the grave and memorial of\nCycnus; for so Apollo, Leto\u2019s son, commanded him, because he used to\nwatch for and violently despoil the rich hecatombs that any might bring\nto Pytho.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MARRIAGE OF CEYX\n\nFragment #1\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 128: Hesiod in the\n\u201cMarriage of Ceyx\u201d says that he (Heracles) landed (from the Argo) to\nlook for water and was left behind in Magnesia near the place called\nAphetae because of his desertion there.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Zenobius 1901, ii. 19: Hesiod used the proverb in the\nfollowing way: Heracles is represented as having constantly visited the\nhouse of Ceyx of Trachis and spoken thus: \u2018Of their own selves the good\nmake for the feasts of good.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xiv. 119: \u2018And horse-driving Ceyx\nbeholding...\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Athenaeus, ii. p. 49b: Hesiod in the \u201cMarriage of Ceyx\u201d\u2014for\nthough grammar-school boys alienate it from the poet, yet I consider\nthe poem ancient\u2014calls the tables tripods.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Gregory of Corinth, On Forms of Speech (Rhett. Gr. vii.\n776): \u2018But when they had done with desire for the equal-shared feast,\neven then they brought from the forest the mother of a mother (sc.\nwood), dry and parched, to be slain by her own children\u2019 (sc. to be\nburnt in the flames).\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREAT EOIAE\n\nFragment #1\u2014Pausanius, ii. 26. 3: Epidaurus. According to the opinion\nof the Argives and the epic poem, the _Great Eoiae_, Argos the son of\nZeus was father of Epidaurus.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Anonymous Comment. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, iii.\n7: And, they say, Hesiod is sufficient to prove that the word PONEROS\n(bad) has the same sense as \u2018laborious\u2019 or \u2018ill-fated\u2019; for in the\n_Great Eoiae_ he represents Alcmene as saying to Heracles: \u2018My son,\ntruly Zeus your father begot you to be the most toilful as the most\nexcellent...\u2019; and again: \u2018The Fates (made) you the most toilful and\nthe most excellent...\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. v. 53: The story has been taken\nfrom the _Great Eoiae_; for there we find Heracles entertained by\nTelamon, standing dressed in his lion-skin and praying, and there also\nwe find the eagle sent by Zeus, from which Aias took his name 2001.\n\nFragment #4\u2014Pausanias, iv. 2. 1: But I know that the so-called _Great\nEoiae_ say that Polycaon the son of Butes married Euaechme, daughter of\nHyllus, Heracles\u2019 son.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Pausanias, ix. 40. 6: \u2018And Phylas wedded Leipephile the\ndaughter of famous Iolaus: and she was like the Olympians in beauty.\nShe bare him a son Hippotades in the palace, and comely Thero who was\nlike the beams of the moon. And Thero lay in the embrace of Apollo and\nbare horse-taming Chaeron of hardy strength.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iv. 35: \u2018Or like her in Hyria,\ncareful-minded Mecionice, who was joined in the love of golden\nAphrodite with the Earth-holder and Earth-Shaker, and bare Euphemus.\u2019\n\nFragment #7\u2014Pausanias, ix. 36. 7: \u2018And Hyettus killed Molurus the dear\nson of Aristas in his house because he lay with his wife. Then he left\nhis home and fled from horse-rearing Argos and came to Minyan\nOrchomenus. And the hero received him and gave him a portion of his\ngoods, as was fitting.\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Pausanias, ii. 2. 3: But in the _Great Eoiae_ Peirene is\nrepresented to be the daughter of Oebalius.\n\nFragment #9\u2014Pausanias, ii. 16. 4: The epic poem, which the Greek call\nthe _Great Eoiae_, says that she (Mycene) was the daughter of Inachus\nand wife of Arestor: from her, then, it is said, the city received its\nname.\n\nFragment #10\u2014Pausanias, vi. 21. 10: According to the poem the _Great\nEoiae_, these were killed by Oenomaus 2002: Alcathous the son of\nPorthaon next after Marmax, and after Alcathous, Euryalus, Eurymachus\nand Crotalus. The man killed next after them, Aerias, we should judge\nto have been a Lacedemonian and founder of Aeria. And after Acrias,\nthey say, Capetus was done to death by Oenomaus, and Lycurgus, Lasius,\nChalcodon and Tricolonus.... And after Tricolonus fate overtook\nAristomachus and Prias on the course, as also Pelagon and Aeolius and\nCronius.\n\nFragment #11\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 57: In the\n_Great Eoiae_ it is said that Endymion was transported by Zeus into\nheaven, but when he fell in love with Hera, was befooled with a shape\nof cloud, and was cast out and went down into Hades.\n\nFragment #12\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 118: In the\n_Great Eoiae_ it is related that Melampus, who was very dear to Apollo,\nwent abroad and stayed with Polyphantes. But when the king had\nsacrificed an ox, a serpent crept up to the sacrifice and destroyed his\nservants. At this the king was angry and killed the serpent, but\nMelampus took and buried it. And its offspring, brought up by him, used\nto lick his ears and inspire him with prophecy. And so, when he was\ncaught while trying to steal the cows of Iphiclus and taken bound to\nthe city of Aegina, and when the house, in which Iphiclus was, was\nabout to fall, he told an old woman, one of the servants of Iphiclus,\nand in return was released.\n\nFragment #13\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 828: In the\n_Great Eoiae_ Scylla is the daughter of Phoebus and Hecate.\n\nFragment #14\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in\nthe _Great Eoiae_ says that Phineus was blinded because he told Phrixus\nthe way 2003.\n\nFragment #15\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 1122: Argus.\nThis is one of the children of Phrixus. These.... ....Hesiod in the\n_Great Eoiae_ says were born of Iophossa the daughter of Aeetes. And he\nsays there were four of them, Argus, Phrontis, Melas, and Cytisorus.\n\nFragment #16\u2014Antoninus Liberalis, xxiii: Battus. Hesiod tells the story\nin the _Great Eoiae_.... ....Magnes was the son of Argus, the son of\nPhrixus and Perimele, Admetus\u2019 daughter, and lived in the region of\nThessaly, in the land which men called after him Magnesia. He had a son\nof remarkable beauty, Hymenaeus. And when Apollo saw the boy, he was\nseized with love for him, and would not leave the house of Magnes. Then\nHermes made designs on Apollo\u2019s herd of cattle which were grazing in\nthe same place as the cattle of Admetus. First he cast upon the dogs\nwhich were guarding them a stupor and strangles, so that the dogs\nforgot the cows and lost the power of barking. Then he drove away\ntwelve heifers and a hundred cows never yoked, and the bull who mounted\nthe cows, fastening to the tail of each one brushwood to wipe out the\nfootmarks of the cows.\n\nHe drove them through the country of the Pelasgi, and Achaea in the\nland of Phthia, and through Locris, and Boeotia and Megaris, and thence\ninto Peloponnesus by way of Corinth and Larissa, until he brought them\nto Tegea. From there he went on by the Lycaean mountains, and past\nMaenalus and what are called the watch-posts of Battus. Now this Battus\nused to live on the top of the rock and when he heard the voice of the\nheifers as they were being driven past, he came out from his own place,\nand knew that the cattle were stolen. So he asked for a reward to tell\nno one about them. Hermes promised to give it him on these terms, and\nBattus swore to say nothing to anyone about the cattle. But when Hermes\nhad hidden them in the cliff by Coryphasium, and had driven them into a\ncave facing towards Italy and Sicily, he changed himself and came again\nto Battus and tried whether he would be true to him as he had vowed.\nSo, offering him a robe as a reward, he asked of him whether he had\nnoticed stolen cattle being driven past. And Battus took the robe and\ntold him about the cattle. But Hermes was angry because he was\ndouble-tongued, and struck him with his staff and changed him into a\nrock. And either frost or heat never leaves him 2004.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MELAMPODIA\n\nFragment #1\u2014Strabo, xiv. p. 642: It is said that Calchis the seer\nreturned from Troy with Amphilochus the son of Amphiaraus and came on\nfoot to this place 2101. But happening to find near Clarus a seer\ngreater than himself, Mopsus, the son of Manto, Teiresias\u2019 daughter, he\ndied of vexation. Hesiod, indeed, works up the story in some form as\nthis: Calchas set Mopsus the following problem:\n\n\u2018I am filled with wonder at the quantity of figs this wild fig-tree\nbears though it is so small. Can you tell their number?\u2019\n\nAnd Mopsus answered: \u2018Ten thousand is their number, and their measure\nis a bushel: one fig is left over, which you would not be able to put\ninto the measure.\u2019\n\nSo said he; and they found the reckoning of the measure true. Then did\nthe end of death shroud Calchas.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Tzetzes on Lycophron, 682: But now he is speaking of\nTeiresias, since it is said that he lived seven generations\u2014though\nothers say nine. He lived from the times of Cadmus down to those of\nEteocles and Polyneices, as the author of \u201cMelampodia\u201d also says: for\nhe introduces Teiresias speaking thus:\n\n\u2018Father Zeus, would that you had given me a shorter span of life to be\nmine and wisdom of heart like that of mortal men! But now you have\nhonoured me not even a little, though you ordained me to have a long\nspan of life, and to live through seven generations of mortal kind.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, x. 494: They say that\nTeiresias saw two snakes mating on Cithaeron and that, when he killed\nthe female, he was changed into a woman, and again, when he killed the\nmale, took again his own nature. This same Teiresias was chosen by Zeus\nand Hera to decide the question whether the male or the female has most\npleasure in intercourse. And he said:\n\n\u2018Of ten parts a man enjoys only one; but a woman\u2019s sense enjoys all ten\nin full.\u2019\n\nFor this Hera was angry and blinded him, but Zeus gave him the seer\u2019s\npower.\n\nFragment #4\u20142102 Athenaeus, ii. p. 40: \u2018For pleasant it is at a feast\nand rich banquet to tell delightful tales, when men have had enough of\nfeasting;...\u2019\n\nClement of Alexandria, Stromateis vi. 2 26: \u2018...and pleasant also it is\nto know a clear token of ill or good amid all the signs that the\ndeathless ones have given to mortal men.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Athenaeus, xi. 498. A: \u2018And Mares, swift messenger, came to\nhim through the house and brought a silver goblet which he had filled,\nand gave it to the lord.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Athenaeus, xi. 498. B: \u2018And then Mantes took in his hands\nthe ox\u2019s halter and Iphiclus lashed him upon the back. And behind him,\nwith a cup in one hand and a raised sceptre in the other, walked\nPhylacus and spake amongst the bondmen.\u2019\n\nFragment #7\u2014Athenaeus, xiii. p. 609 e: Hesiod in the third book of the\n\u201cMelampodia\u201d called Chalcis in Euboea \u2018the land of fair women\u2019.\n\nFragment #8\u2014Strabo, xiv. p. 676: But Hesiod says that Amphilochus was\nkilled by Apollo at Soli.\n\nFragment #9\u2014Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, v. p. 259: \u2018And now\nthere is no seer among mortal men such as would know the mind of Zeus\nwho holds the aegis.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nAEGIMIUS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 587: But the\nauthor of the \u201cAegimius\u201d says that he (Phrixus) was received without\nintermediary because of the fleece 2201. He says that after the\nsacrifice he purified the fleece and so: \u2018Holding the fleece he walked\ninto the halls of Aeetes.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 816: The author\nof the \u201cAegimius\u201d says in the second book that Thetis used to throw the\nchildren she had by Peleus into a cauldron of water, because she wished\nto learn where they were mortal.... ....And that after many had\nperished Peleus was annoyed, and prevented her from throwing Achilles\ninto the cauldron.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Apollodorus, ii. 1.3.1: Hesiod and Acusilaus say that she\n(Io) was the daughter of Peiren. While she was holding the office of\npriestess of Hera, Zeus seduced her, and being discovered by Hera,\ntouched the girl and changed her into a white cow, while he swore that\nhe had no intercourse with her. And so Hesiod says that oaths touching\nthe matter of love do not draw down anger from the gods: \u2018And\nthereafter he ordained that an oath concerning the secret deeds of the\nCyprian should be without penalty for men.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Herodian in Stephanus of Byzantium: \u2018(Zeus changed Io) in\nthe fair island Abantis, which the gods, who are eternally, used to\ncall Abantis aforetime, but Zeus then called it Euboea after the cow.\u2019\n2202\n\nFragment #5\u2014Scholiast on Euripides, Phoen. 1116: \u2018And (Hera) set a\nwatcher upon her (Io), great and strong Argus, who with four eyes looks\nevery way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep\nnever fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 24: \u2018Slayer of Argus\u2019.\nAccording to Hesiod\u2019s tale he (Hermes) slew (Argus) the herdsman of Io.\n\nFragment #7\u2014Athenaeus, xi. p. 503: And the author of the \u201cAegimius\u201d,\nwhether he is Hesiod or Cercops of Miletus (says): \u2018There, some day,\nshall be my place of refreshment, O leader of the people.\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Etym. Gen.: Hesiod (says there were so called) because they\nsettled in three groups: \u2018And they all were called the Three-fold\npeople, because they divided in three the land far from their country.\u2019\nFor (he says) that three Hellenic tribes settled in Crete, the Pelasgi,\nAchaeans and Dorians. And these have been called Three-fold People.\n\n\n\n\nFRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION\n\nFragment #1\u2014Diogenes Laertius, viii. 1. 26: 2301 \u2018So Urania bare Linus,\na very lovely son: and him all men who are singers and harpers do\nbewail at feasts and dances, and as they begin and as they end they\ncall on Linus....\u2019\n\nClement of Alexandria, Strom. i. p. 121: \u2018....who was skilled in all\nmanner of wisdom.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, iv. 232: \u2018Unless Phoebus\nApollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the\nremedies for all things.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Clement of Alexandria, Protrept, c. vii. p. 21: \u2018For he\nalone is king and lord of all the undying gods, and no other vies with\nhim in power.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Anecd. Oxon (Cramer), i. p. 148: \u2018(To cause?) the gifts of\nthe blessed gods to come near to earth.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i. p. 123: \u2018Of the Muses who\nmake a man very wise, marvellous in utterance.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Strabo, x. p. 471: \u2018But of them (sc. the daughters of\nHecaterus) were born the divine mountain Nymphs and the tribe of\nworthless, helpless Satyrs, and the divine Curetes, sportive dancers.\u2019\n\nFragment #7\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 824: \u2018Beseeching\nthe offspring of glorious Cleodaeus.\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Suidas, s.v.: \u2018For the Olympian gave might to the sons of\nAeacus, and wisdom to the sons of Amythaon, and wealth to the sons of\nAtreus.\u2019\n\nFragment #9\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xiii. 155: \u2018For through his lack\nof wood the timber of the ships rotted.\u2019\n\nFragment #10\u2014Etymologicum Magnum: \u2018No longer do they walk with delicate\nfeet.\u2019\n\nFragment #11\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xxiv. 624: \u2018First of all they\nroasted (pieces of meat), and drew them carefully off the spits.\u2019\n\nFragment #12\u2014Chrysippus, Fragg. ii. 254. 11: \u2018For his spirit increased\nin his dear breast.\u2019\n\nFragment #13\u2014Chrysippus, Fragg. ii. 254. 15: \u2018With such heart grieving\nanger in her breast.\u2019\n\nFragment #14\u2014Strabo, vii. p. 327: \u2018He went to Dodona and the oak-grove,\nthe dwelling place of the Pelasgi.\u2019\n\nFragment #15\u2014Anecd. Oxon (Cramer), iii. p. 318. not.: \u2018With the\npitiless smoke of black pitch and of cedar.\u2019\n\nFragment #16\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 757: \u2018But he\nhimself in the swelling tide of the rain-swollen river.\u2019\n\nFragment #17\u2014Stephanus of Byzantium: (The river) Parthenius, \u2018Flowing\nas softly as a dainty maiden goes.\u2019\n\nFragment #18\u2014Scholiast on Theocritus, xi. 75: \u2018Foolish the man who\nleaves what he has, and follows after what he has not.\u2019\n\nFragment #19\u2014Harpocration: \u2018The deeds of the young, the counsels of the\nmiddle-aged, and the prayers of the aged.\u2019\n\nFragment #20\u2014Porphyr, On Abstinence, ii. 18. p. 134: \u2018Howsoever the\ncity does sacrifice, the ancient custom is best.\u2019\n\nFragment #21\u2014Scholiast on Nicander, Theriaca, 452: \u2018But you should be\ngentle towards your father.\u2019\n\nFragment #22\u2014Plato, Epist. xi. 358: \u2018And if I said this, it would seem\na poor thing and hard to understand.\u2019\n\nFragment #23\u2014Bacchylides, v. 191-3: Thus spake the Boeotian, even\nHesiod 2302, servant of the sweet Muses: \u2018whomsoever the immortals\nhonour, the good report of mortals also followeth him.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nDOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Galen, de plac. Hipp. et Plat. i. 266: \u2018And then it was\nZeus took away sense from the heart of Athamas.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 104: \u2018They grind the yellow\ngrain at the mill.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 1: \u2018Then first in Delos did I\nand Homer, singers both, raise our strain\u2014stitching song in new\nhymns\u2014Phoebus Apollo with the golden sword, whom Leto bare.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Julian, Misopogon, p. 369: \u2018But starvation on a handful is\na cruel thing.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Servius on Vergil, Aen. iv. 484: Hesiod says that these\nHesperides........daughters of Night, guarded the golden apples beyond\nOcean: \u2018Aegle and Erythea and ox-eyed Hesperethusa.\u2019 2401\n\nFragment #6\u2014Plato, Republic, iii. 390 E: \u2018Gifts move the gods, gifts\nmove worshipful princes.\u2019\n\nFragment #7\u20142402 Clement of Alexandria, Strom. v. p. 256: \u2018On the\nseventh day again the bright light of the sun....\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Apollonius, Lex. Hom.: \u2018He brought pure water and mixed it\nwith Ocean\u2019s streams.\u2019\n\nFragment #9\u2014Stephanus of Byzantium: \u2018Aspledon and Clymenus and god-like\nAmphidocus.\u2019 (sons of Orchomenus).\n\nFragment #10\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. iii. 64: \u2018Telemon never sated\nwith battle first brought light to our comrades by slaying blameless\nMelanippe, destroyer of men, own sister of the golden-girdled queen.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOMERIC HYMNS\n\n\n\n\nI. TO DIONYSUS 2501\n\n*    *    *    *\n\n\n(ll. 1-9) For some say, at Dracanum; and some, on windy Icarus; and\nsome, in Naxos, O Heaven-born, Insewn 2502; and others by the\ndeep-eddying river Alpheus that pregnant Semele bare you to Zeus the\nthunder-lover. And others yet, lord, say you were born in Thebes; but\nall these lie. The Father of men and gods gave you birth remote from\nmen and secretly from white-armed Hera. There is a certain Nysa, a\nmountain most high and richly grown with woods, far off in Phoenice,\nnear the streams of Aegyptus.\n\n*    *    *    *\n\n\n(ll. 10-12) \u2018...and men will lay up for her 2503 many offerings in her\nshrines. And as these things are three 2504, so shall mortals ever\nsacrifice perfect hecatombs to you at your feasts each three years.\u2019\n\n(ll. 13-16) The Son of Cronos spoke and nodded with his dark brows. And\nthe divine locks of the king flowed forward from his immortal head, and\nhe made great Olympus reel. So spake wise Zeus and ordained it with a\nnod.\n\n(ll. 17-21) Be favourable, O Insewn, Inspirer of frenzied women! we\nsingers sing of you as we begin and as we end a strain, and none\nforgetting you may call holy song to mind. And so, farewell, Dionysus,\nInsewn, with your mother Semele whom men call Thyone.\n\nII. TO DEMETER\n\n(ll. 1-3) I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess\u2014of her\nand her trim-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus rapt away, given to him by\nall-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer.\n\n(ll. 4-18) Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious\nfruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and\ngathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful\nviolets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth made\nto grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a\nsnare for the bloom-like girl\u2014a marvellous, radiant flower. It was a\nthing of awe whether for deathless gods or mortal men to see: from its\nroot grew a hundred blooms, and it smelled most sweetly, so that all\nwide heaven above and the whole earth and the sea\u2019s salt swell laughed\nfor joy. And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to\ntake the lovely toy; but the wide-pathed earth yawned there in the\nplain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses\nsprang out upon her\u2014the Son of Cronos, He who has many names 2505.\n\n(ll. 19-32) He caught her up reluctant on his golden car and bare her\naway lamenting. Then she cried out shrilly with her voice, calling upon\nher father, the Son of Cronos, who is most high and excellent. But no\none, either of the deathless gods or of mortal men, heard her voice,\nnor yet the olive-trees bearing rich fruit: only tender-hearted Hecate,\nbright-coiffed, the daughter of Persaeus, heard the girl from her cave,\nand the lord Helios, Hyperion\u2019s bright son, as she cried to her father,\nthe Son of Cronos. But he was sitting aloof, apart from the gods, in\nhis temple where many pray, and receiving sweet offerings from mortal\nmen. So he, that Son of Cronos, of many names, who is Ruler of Many and\nHost of Many, was bearing her away by leave of Zeus on his immortal\nchariot\u2014his own brother\u2019s child and all unwilling.\n\n(ll. 33-39) And so long as she, the goddess, yet beheld earth and\nstarry heaven and the strong-flowing sea where fishes shoal, and the\nrays of the sun, and still hoped to see her dear mother and the tribes\nof the eternal gods, so long hope calmed her great heart for all her\ntrouble.... ((LACUNA)) ....and the heights of the mountains and the\ndepths of the sea rang with her immortal voice: and her queenly mother\nheard her.\n\n(ll. 40-53) Bitter pain seized her heart, and she rent the covering\nupon her divine hair with her dear hands: her dark cloak she cast down\nfrom both her shoulders and sped, like a wild-bird, over the firm land\nand yielding sea, seeking her child. But no one would tell her the\ntruth, neither god nor mortal men; and of the birds of omen none came\nwith true news for her. Then for nine days queenly Deo wandered over\nthe earth with flaming torches in her hands, so grieved that she never\ntasted ambrosia and the sweet draught of nectar, nor sprinkled her body\nwith water. But when the tenth enlightening dawn had come, Hecate, with\na torch in her hands, met her, and spoke to her and told her news:\n\n(ll. 54-58) \u2018Queenly Demeter, bringer of seasons and giver of good\ngifts, what god of heaven or what mortal man has rapt away Persephone\nand pierced with sorrow your dear heart? For I heard her voice, yet saw\nnot with my eyes who it was. But I tell you truly and shortly all I\nknow.\u2019\n\n(ll. 59-73) So, then, said Hecate. And the daughter of rich-haired Rhea\nanswered her not, but sped swiftly with her, holding flaming torches in\nher hands. So they came to Helios, who is watchman of both gods and\nmen, and stood in front of his horses: and the bright goddess enquired\nof him: \u2018Helios, do you at least regard me, goddess as I am, if ever by\nword or deed of mine I have cheered your heart and spirit. Through the\nfruitless air I heard the thrilling cry of my daughter whom I bare,\nsweet scion of my body and lovely in form, as of one seized violently;\nthough with my eyes I saw nothing. But you\u2014for with your beams you look\ndown from the bright upper air Over all the earth and sea\u2014tell me truly\nof my dear child, if you have seen her anywhere, what god or mortal man\nhas violently seized her against her will and mine, and so made off.\u2019\n\n(ll. 74-87) So said she. And the Son of Hyperion answered her: \u2018Queen\nDemeter, daughter of rich-haired Rhea, I will tell you the truth; for I\ngreatly reverence and pity you in your grief for your trim-ankled\ndaughter. None other of the deathless gods is to blame, but only\ncloud-gathering Zeus who gave her to Hades, her father\u2019s brother, to be\ncalled his buxom wife. And Hades seized her and took her loudly crying\nin his chariot down to his realm of mist and gloom. Yet, goddess, cease\nyour loud lament and keep not vain anger unrelentingly: Aidoneus, the\nRuler of Many, is no unfitting husband among the deathless gods for\nyour child, being your own brother and born of the same stock: also,\nfor honour, he has that third share which he received when division was\nmade at the first, and is appointed lord of those among whom he\ndwells.\u2019\n\n(ll. 88-89) So he spake, and called to his horses: and at his chiding\nthey quickly whirled the swift chariot along, like long-winged birds.\n\n(ll. 90-112) But grief yet more terrible and savage came into the heart\nof Demeter, and thereafter she was so angered with the dark-clouded Son\nof Cronos that she avoided the gathering of the gods and high Olympus,\nand went to the towns and rich fields of men, disfiguring her form a\nlong while. And no one of men or deep-bosomed women knew her when they\nsaw her, until she came to the house of wise Celeus who then was lord\nof fragrant Eleusis. Vexed in her dear heart, she sat near the wayside\nby the Maiden Well, from which the women of the place were used to draw\nwater, in a shady place over which grew an olive shrub. And she was\nlike an ancient woman who is cut off from childbearing and the gifts of\ngarland-loving Aphrodite, like the nurses of king\u2019s children who deal\njustice, or like the house-keepers in their echoing halls. There the\ndaughters of Celeus, son of Eleusis, saw her, as they were coming for\neasy-drawn water, to carry it in pitchers of bronze to their dear\nfather\u2019s house: four were they and like goddesses in the flower of\ntheir girlhood, Callidice and Cleisidice and lovely Demo and Callithoe\nwho was the eldest of them all. They knew her not,\u2014for the gods are not\neasily discerned by mortals\u2014but standing near by her spoke winged\nwords:\n\n(ll. 113-117) \u2018Old mother, whence and who are you of folk born long\nago? Why are you gone away from the city and do not draw near the\nhouses? For there in the shady halls are women of just such age as you,\nand others younger; and they would welcome you both by word and by\ndeed.\u2019\n\n(ll. 118-144) Thus they said. And she, that queen among goddesses\nanswered them saying: \u2018Hail, dear children, whosoever you are of\nwoman-kind. I will tell you my story; for it is not unseemly that I\nshould tell you truly what you ask. Doso is my name, for my stately\nmother gave it me. And now I am come from Crete over the sea\u2019s wide\nback,\u2014not willingly; but pirates brought me thence by force of strength\nagainst my liking. Afterwards they put in with their swift craft to\nThoricus, and there the women landed on the shore in full throng and\nthe men likewise, and they began to make ready a meal by the\nstern-cables of the ship. But my heart craved not pleasant food, and I\nfled secretly across the dark country and escaped my masters, that they\nshould not take me unpurchased across the sea, there to win a price for\nme. And so I wandered and am come here: and I know not at all what land\nthis is or what people are in it. But may all those who dwell on\nOlympus give you husbands and birth of children as parents desire, so\nyou take pity on me, maidens, and show me this clearly that I may\nlearn, dear children, to the house of what man and woman I may go, to\nwork for them cheerfully at such tasks as belong to a woman of my age.\nWell could I nurse a new born child, holding him in my arms, or keep\nhouse, or spread my masters\u2019 bed in a recess of the well-built chamber,\nor teach the women their work.\u2019\n\n(ll. 145-146) So said the goddess. And straightway the unwed maiden\nCallidice, goodliest in form of the daughters of Celeus, answered her\nand said:\n\n(ll. 147-168) \u2018Mother, what the gods send us, we mortals bear perforce,\nalthough we suffer; for they are much stronger than we. But now I will\nteach you clearly, telling you the names of men who have great power\nand honour here and are chief among the people, guarding our city\u2019s\ncoif of towers by their wisdom and true judgements: there is wise\nTriptolemus and Dioclus and Polyxeinus and blameless Eumolpus and\nDolichus and our own brave father. All these have wives who manage in\nthe house, and no one of them, so soon as she has seen you, would\ndishonour you and turn you from the house, but they will welcome you;\nfor indeed you are godlike. But if you will, stay here; and we will go\nto our father\u2019s house and tell Metaneira, our deep-bosomed mother, all\nthis matter fully, that she may bid you rather come to our home than\nsearch after the houses of others. She has an only son, late-born, who\nis being nursed in our well-built house, a child of many prayers and\nwelcome: if you could bring him up until he reached the full measure of\nyouth, any one of womankind who should see you would straightway envy\nyou, such gifts would our mother give for his upbringing.\u2019\n\n(ll. 169-183) So she spake: and the goddess bowed her head in assent.\nAnd they filled their shining vessels with water and carried them off\nrejoicing. Quickly they came to their father\u2019s great house and\nstraightway told their mother according as they had heard and seen.\nThen she bade them go with all speed and invite the stranger to come\nfor a measureless hire. As hinds or heifers in spring time, when sated\nwith pasture, bound about a meadow, so they, holding up the folds of\ntheir lovely garments, darted down the hollow path, and their hair like\na crocus flower streamed about their shoulders. And they found the good\ngoddess near the wayside where they had left her before, and led her to\nthe house of their dear father. And she walked behind, distressed in\nher dear heart, with her head veiled and wearing a dark cloak which\nwaved about the slender feet of the goddess.\n\n(ll. 184-211) Soon they came to the house of heaven-nurtured Celeus and\nwent through the portico to where their queenly mother sat by a pillar\nof the close-fitted roof, holding her son, a tender scion, in her\nbosom. And the girls ran to her. But the goddess walked to the\nthreshold: and her head reached the roof and she filled the doorway\nwith a heavenly radiance. Then awe and reverence and pale fear took\nhold of Metaneira, and she rose up from her couch before Demeter, and\nbade her be seated. But Demeter, bringer of seasons and giver of\nperfect gifts, would not sit upon the bright couch, but stayed silent\nwith lovely eyes cast down until careful Iambe placed a jointed seat\nfor her and threw over it a silvery fleece. Then she sat down and held\nher veil in her hands before her face. A long time she sat upon the\nstool 2506 without speaking because of her sorrow, and greeted no one\nby word or by sign, but rested, never smiling, and tasting neither food\nnor drink, because she pined with longing for her deep-bosomed\ndaughter, until careful Iambe\u2014who pleased her moods in aftertime\nalso\u2014moved the holy lady with many a quip and jest to smile and laugh\nand cheer her heart. Then Metaneira filled a cup with sweet wine and\noffered it to her; but she refused it, for she said it was not lawful\nfor her to drink red wine, but bade them mix meal and water with soft\nmint and give her to drink. And Metaneira mixed the draught and gave it\nto the goddess as she bade. So the great queen Deo received it to\nobserve the sacrament.... 2507\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 212-223) And of them all, well-girded Metaneira first began to\nspeak: \u2018Hail, lady! For I think you are not meanly but nobly born;\ntruly dignity and grace are conspicuous upon your eyes as in the eyes\nof kings that deal justice. Yet we mortals bear perforce what the gods\nsend us, though we be grieved; for a yoke is set upon our necks. But\nnow, since you are come here, you shall have what I can bestow: and\nnurse me this child whom the gods gave me in my old age and beyond my\nhope, a son much prayed for. If you should bring him up until he reach\nthe full measure of youth, any one of womankind that sees you will\nstraightway envy you, so great reward would I give for his upbringing.\u2019\n\n(ll. 224-230) Then rich-haired Demeter answered her: \u2018And to you, also,\nlady, all hail, and may the gods give you good! Gladly will I take the\nboy to my breast, as you bid me, and will nurse him. Never, I ween,\nthrough any heedlessness of his nurse shall witchcraft hurt him nor yet\nthe Undercutter 2508: for I know a charm far stronger than the\nWoodcutter, and I know an excellent safeguard against woeful\nwitchcraft.\u2019\n\n(ll. 231-247) When she had so spoken, she took the child in her\nfragrant bosom with her divine hands: and his mother was glad in her\nheart. So the goddess nursed in the palace Demophoon, wise Celeus\u2019\ngoodly son whom well-girded Metaneira bare. And the child grew like\nsome immortal being, not fed with food nor nourished at the breast: for\nby day rich-crowned Demeter would anoint him with ambrosia as if he\nwere the offspring of a god and breathe sweetly upon him as she held\nhim in her bosom. But at night she would hide him like a brand in the\nheart of the fire, unknown to his dear parents. And it wrought great\nwonder in these that he grew beyond his age; for he was like the gods\nface to face. And she would have made him deathless and unageing, had\nnot well-girded Metaneira in her heedlessness kept watch by night from\nher sweet-smelling chamber and spied. But she wailed and smote her two\nhips, because she feared for her son and was greatly distraught in her\nheart; so she lamented and uttered winged words:\n\n(ll. 248-249) \u2018Demophoon, my son, the strange woman buries you deep in\nfire and works grief and bitter sorrow for me.\u2019\n\n(ll. 250-255) Thus she spoke, mourning. And the bright goddess,\nlovely-crowned Demeter, heard her, and was wroth with her. So with her\ndivine hands she snatched from the fire the dear son whom Metaneira had\nborn unhoped-for in the palace, and cast him from her to the ground;\nfor she was terribly angry in her heart. Forthwith she said to\nwell-girded Metaneira:\n\n(ll. 256-274) \u2018Witless are you mortals and dull to foresee your lot,\nwhether of good or evil, that comes upon you. For now in your\nheedlessness you have wrought folly past healing; for\u2014be witness the\noath of the gods, the relentless water of Styx\u2014I would have made your\ndear son deathless and unageing all his days and would have bestowed on\nhim everlasting honour, but now he can in no way escape death and the\nfates. Yet shall unfailing honour always rest upon him, because he lay\nupon my knees and slept in my arms. But, as the years move round and\nwhen he is in his prime, the sons of the Eleusinians shall ever wage\nwar and dread strife with one another continually. Lo! I am that\nDemeter who has share of honour and is the greatest help and cause of\njoy to the undying gods and mortal men. But now, let all the people\nbuild me a great temple and an altar below it and beneath the city and\nits sheer wall upon a rising hillock above Callichorus. And I myself\nwill teach my rites, that hereafter you may reverently perform them and\nso win the favour of my heart.\u2019\n\n(ll. 275-281) When she had so said, the goddess changed her stature and\nher looks, thrusting old age away from her: beauty spread round about\nher and a lovely fragrance was wafted from her sweet-smelling robes,\nand from the divine body of the goddess a light shone afar, while\ngolden tresses spread down over her shoulders, so that the strong house\nwas filled with brightness as with lightning. And so she went out from\nthe palace.\n\n(ll. 281-291) And straightway Metaneira\u2019s knees were loosed and she\nremained speechless for a long while and did not remember to take up\nher late-born son from the ground. But his sisters heard his pitiful\nwailing and sprang down from their well-spread beds: one of them took\nup the child in her arms and laid him in her bosom, while another\nrevived the fire, and a third rushed with soft feet to bring their\nmother from her fragrant chamber. And they gathered about the\nstruggling child and washed him, embracing him lovingly; but he was not\ncomforted, because nurses and handmaids much less skilful were holding\nhim now.\n\n(ll. 292-300) All night long they sought to appease the glorious\ngoddess, quaking with fear. But, as soon as dawn began to show, they\ntold powerful Celeus all things without fail, as the lovely-crowned\ngoddess Demeter charged them. So Celeus called the countless people to\nan assembly and bade them make a goodly temple for rich-haired Demeter\nand an altar upon the rising hillock. And they obeyed him right\nspeedily and harkened to his voice, doing as he commanded. As for the\nchild, he grew like an immortal being.\n\n(ll. 301-320) Now when they had finished building and had drawn back\nfrom their toil, they went every man to his house. But golden-haired\nDemeter sat there apart from all the blessed gods and stayed, wasting\nwith yearning for her deep-bosomed daughter. Then she caused a most\ndreadful and cruel year for mankind over the all-nourishing earth: the\nground would not make the seed sprout, for rich-crowned Demeter kept it\nhid. In the fields the oxen drew many a curved plough in vain, and much\nwhite barley was cast upon the land without avail. So she would have\ndestroyed the whole race of man with cruel famine and have robbed them\nwho dwell on Olympus of their glorious right of gifts and sacrifices,\nhad not Zeus perceived and marked this in his heart. First he sent\ngolden-winged Iris to call rich-haired Demeter, lovely in form. So he\ncommanded. And she obeyed the dark-clouded Son of Cronos, and sped with\nswift feet across the space between. She came to the stronghold of\nfragrant Eleusis, and there finding dark-cloaked Demeter in her temple,\nspake to her and uttered winged words:\n\n(ll. 321-323) \u2018Demeter, father Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, calls\nyou to come join the tribes of the eternal gods: come therefore, and\nlet not the message I bring from Zeus pass unobeyed.\u2019\n\n(ll. 324-333) Thus said Iris imploring her. But Demeter\u2019s heart was not\nmoved. Then again the father sent forth all the blessed and eternal\ngods besides: and they came, one after the other, and kept calling her\nand offering many very beautiful gifts and whatever right she might be\npleased to choose among the deathless gods. Yet no one was able to\npersuade her mind and will, so wrath was she in her heart; but she\nstubbornly rejected all their words: for she vowed that she would never\nset foot on fragrant Olympus nor let fruit spring out of the ground,\nuntil she beheld with her eyes her own fair-faced daughter.\n\n(ll. 334-346) Now when all-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer heard this,\nhe sent the Slayer of Argus whose wand is of gold to Erebus, so that\nhaving won over Hades with soft words, he might lead forth chaste\nPersephone to the light from the misty gloom to join the gods, and that\nher mother might see her with her eyes and cease from her anger. And\nHermes obeyed, and leaving the house of Olympus, straightway sprang\ndown with speed to the hidden places of the earth. And he found the\nlord Hades in his house seated upon a couch, and his shy mate with him,\nmuch reluctant, because she yearned for her mother. But she was afar\noff, brooding on her fell design because of the deeds of the blessed\ngods. And the strong Slayer of Argus drew near and said:\n\n(ll. 347-356) \u2018Dark-haired Hades, ruler over the departed, father Zeus\nbids me bring noble Persephone forth from Erebus unto the gods, that\nher mother may see her with her eyes and cease from her dread anger\nwith the immortals; for now she plans an awful deed, to destroy the\nweakly tribes of earthborn men by keeping seed hidden beneath the\nearth, and so she makes an end of the honours of the undying gods. For\nshe keeps fearful anger and does not consort with the gods, but sits\naloof in her fragrant temple, dwelling in the rocky hold of Eleusis.\u2019\n\n(ll. 357-359) So he said. And Aidoneus, ruler over the dead, smiled\ngrimly and obeyed the behest of Zeus the king. For he straightway urged\nwise Persephone, saying:\n\n(ll. 360-369) \u2018Go now, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother, go, and\nfeel kindly in your heart towards me: be not so exceedingly cast down;\nfor I shall be no unfitting husband for you among the deathless gods,\nthat am own brother to father Zeus. And while you are here, you shall\nrule all that lives and moves and shall have the greatest rights among\nthe deathless gods: those who defraud you and do not appease your power\nwith offerings, reverently performing rites and paying fit gifts, shall\nbe punished for evermore.\u2019\n\n(ll. 370-383) When he said this, wise Persephone was filled with joy\nand hastily sprang up for gladness. But he on his part secretly gave\nher sweet pomegranate seed to eat, taking care for himself that she\nmight not remain continually with grave, dark-robed Demeter. Then\nAidoneus the Ruler of Many openly got ready his deathless horses\nbeneath the golden chariot. And she mounted on the chariot, and the\nstrong Slayer of Argos took reins and whip in his dear hands and drove\nforth from the hall, the horses speeding readily. Swiftly they\ntraversed their long course, and neither the sea nor river-waters nor\ngrassy glens nor mountain-peaks checked the career of the immortal\nhorses, but they clave the deep air above them as they went. And Hermes\nbrought them to the place where rich-crowned Demeter was staying and\nchecked them before her fragrant temple.\n\n(ll. 384-404) And when Demeter saw them, she rushed forth as does a\nMaenad down some thick-wooded mountain, while Persephone on the other\nside, when she saw her mother\u2019s sweet eyes, left the chariot and\nhorses, and leaped down to run to her, and falling upon her neck,\nembraced her. But while Demeter was still holding her dear child in her\narms, her heart suddenly misgave her for some snare, so that she feared\ngreatly and ceased fondling her daughter and asked of her at once: \u2018My\nchild, tell me, surely you have not tasted any food while you were\nbelow? Speak out and hide nothing, but let us both know. For if you\nhave not, you shall come back from loathly Hades and live with me and\nyour father, the dark-clouded Son of Cronos and be honoured by all the\ndeathless gods; but if you have tasted food, you must go back again\nbeneath the secret places of the earth, there to dwell a third part of\nthe seasons every year: yet for the two parts you shall be with me and\nthe other deathless gods. But when the earth shall bloom with the\nfragrant flowers of spring in every kind, then from the realm of\ndarkness and gloom thou shalt come up once more to be a wonder for gods\nand mortal men. And now tell me how he rapt you away to the realm of\ndarkness and gloom, and by what trick did the strong Host of Many\nbeguile you?\u2019\n\n(ll. 405-433) Then beautiful Persephone answered her thus: \u2018Mother, I\nwill tell you all without error. When luck-bringing Hermes came, swift\nmessenger from my father the Son of Cronos and the other Sons of\nHeaven, bidding me come back from Erebus that you might see me with\nyour eyes and so cease from your anger and fearful wrath against the\ngods, I sprang up at once for joy; but he secretly put in my mouth\nsweet food, a pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will.\nAlso I will tell how he rapt me away by the deep plan of my father the\nSon of Cronos and carried me off beneath the depths of the earth, and\nwill relate the whole matter as you ask. All we were playing in a\nlovely meadow, Leucippe 2509 and Phaeno and Electra and Ianthe, Melita\nalso and Iache with Rhodea and Callirhoe and Melobosis and Tyche and\nOcyrhoe, fair as a flower, Chryseis, Ianeira, Acaste and Admete and\nRhodope and Pluto and charming Calypso; Styx too was there and Urania\nand lovely Galaxaura with Pallas who rouses battles and Artemis\ndelighting in arrows: we were playing and gathering sweet flowers in\nour hands, soft crocuses mingled with irises and hyacinths, and\nrose-blooms and lilies, marvellous to see, and the narcissus which the\nwide earth caused to grow yellow as a crocus. That I plucked in my joy;\nbut the earth parted beneath, and there the strong lord, the Host of\nMany, sprang forth and in his golden chariot he bore me away, all\nunwilling, beneath the earth: then I cried with a shrill cry. All this\nis true, sore though it grieves me to tell the tale.\u2019\n\n(ll. 434-437) So did they turn, with hearts at one, greatly cheer each\nthe other\u2019s soul and spirit with many an embrace: their heart had\nrelief from their griefs while each took and gave back joyousness.\n\n(ll. 438-440) Then bright-coiffed Hecate came near to them, and often\ndid she embrace the daughter of holy Demeter: and from that time the\nlady Hecate was minister and companion to Persephone.\n\n(ll. 441-459) And all-seeing Zeus sent a messenger to them, rich-haired\nRhea, to bring dark-cloaked Demeter to join the families of the gods:\nand he promised to give her what right she should choose among the\ndeathless gods and agreed that her daughter should go down for the\nthird part of the circling year to darkness and gloom, but for the two\nparts should live with her mother and the other deathless gods. Thus he\ncommanded. And the goddess did not disobey the message of Zeus; swiftly\nshe rushed down from the peaks of Olympus and came to the plain of\nRharus, rich, fertile corn-land once, but then in nowise fruitful, for\nit lay idle and utterly leafless, because the white grain was hidden by\ndesign of trim-ankled Demeter. But afterwards, as springtime waxed, it\nwas soon to be waving with long ears of corn, and its rich furrows to\nbe loaded with grain upon the ground, while others would already be\nbound in sheaves. There first she landed from the fruitless upper air:\nand glad were the goddesses to see each other and cheered in heart.\nThen bright-coiffed Rhea said to Demeter:\n\n(ll. 460-469) \u2018Come, my daughter; for far-seeing Zeus the\nloud-thunderer calls you to join the families of the gods, and has\npromised to give you what rights you please among the deathless gods,\nand has agreed that for a third part of the circling year your daughter\nshall go down to darkness and gloom, but for the two parts shall be\nwith you and the other deathless gods: so has he declared it shall be\nand has bowed his head in token. But come, my child, obey, and be not\ntoo angry unrelentingly with the dark-clouded Son of Cronos; but rather\nincrease forthwith for men the fruit that gives them life.\u2019\n\n(ll. 470-482) So spake Rhea. And rich-crowned Demeter did not refuse\nbut straightway made fruit to spring up from the rich lands, so that\nthe whole wide earth was laden with leaves and flowers. Then she went,\nand to the kings who deal justice, Triptolemus and Diocles, the\nhorse-driver, and to doughty Eumolpus and Celeus, leader of the people,\nshe showed the conduct of her rites and taught them all her mysteries,\nto Triptolemus and Polyxeinus and Diocles also,\u2014awful mysteries which\nno one may in any way transgress or pry into or utter, for deep awe of\nthe gods checks the voice. Happy is he among men upon earth who has\nseen these mysteries; but he who is uninitiate and who has no part in\nthem, never has lot of like good things once he is dead, down in the\ndarkness and gloom.\n\n(ll. 483-489) But when the bright goddess had taught them all, they\nwent to Olympus to the gathering of the other gods. And there they\ndwell beside Zeus who delights in thunder, awful and reverend\ngoddesses. Right blessed is he among men on earth whom they freely\nlove: soon they do send Plutus as guest to his great house, Plutus who\ngives wealth to mortal men.\n\n(ll. 490-495) And now, queen of the land of sweet Eleusis and sea-girt\nParos and rocky Antron, lady, giver of good gifts, bringer of seasons,\nqueen Deo, be gracious, you and your daughter all beauteous Persephone,\nand for my song grant me heart-cheering substance. And now I will\nremember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nIII. TO DELIAN APOLLO\n\n(ll. 1-18) I will remember and not be unmindful of Apollo who shoots\nafar. As he goes through the house of Zeus, the gods tremble before him\nand all spring up from their seats when he draws near, as he bends his\nbright bow. But Leto alone stays by the side of Zeus who delights in\nthunder; and then she unstrings his bow, and closes his quiver, and\ntakes his archery from his strong shoulders in her hands and hangs them\non a golden peg against a pillar of his father\u2019s house. Then she leads\nhim to a seat and makes him sit: and the Father gives him nectar in a\ngolden cup welcoming his dear son, while the other gods make him sit\ndown there, and queenly Leto rejoices because she bare a mighty son and\nan archer. Rejoice, blessed Leto, for you bare glorious children, the\nlord Apollo and Artemis who delights in arrows; her in Ortygia, and him\nin rocky Delos, as you rested against the great mass of the Cynthian\nhill hard by a palm-tree by the streams of Inopus.\n\n(ll. 19-29) How, then, shall I sing of you who in all ways are a worthy\ntheme of song? For everywhere, O Phoebus, the whole range of song is\nfallen to you, both over the mainland that rears heifers and over the\nisles. All mountain-peaks and high headlands of lofty hills and rivers\nflowing out to the deep and beaches sloping seawards and havens of the\nsea are your delight. Shall I sing how at the first Leto bare you to be\nthe joy of men, as she rested against Mount Cynthus in that rocky isle,\nin sea-girt Delos\u2014while on either hand a dark wave rolled on landwards\ndriven by shrill winds\u2014whence arising you rule over all mortal men?\n\n(ll. 30-50) Among those who are in Crete, and in the township of\nAthens, and in the isle of Aegina and Euboea, famous for ships, in\nAegae and Eiresiae and Peparethus near the sea, in Thracian Athos and\nPelion\u2019s towering heights and Thracian Samos and the shady hills of\nIda, in Scyros and Phocaea and the high hill of Autocane and fair-lying\nImbros and smouldering Lemnos and rich Lesbos, home of Macar, the son\nof Aeolus, and Chios, brightest of all the isles that lie in the sea,\nand craggy Mimas and the heights of Corycus and gleaming Claros and the\nsheer hill of Aesagea and watered Samos and the steep heights of\nMycale, in Miletus and Cos, the city of Meropian men, and steep Cnidos\nand windy Carpathos, in Naxos and Paros and rocky Rhenaea\u2014so far roamed\nLeto in travail with the god who shoots afar, to see if any land would\nbe willing to make a dwelling for her son. But they greatly trembled\nand feared, and none, not even the richest of them, dared receive\nPhoebus, until queenly Leto set foot on Delos and uttered winged words\nand asked her:\n\n(ll. 51-61) \u2018Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son\nPhoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple\u2014; for no other will touch\nyou, as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and\nsheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you\nhave the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you\nhecatombs and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will\nalways arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of\nstrangers; for truly your own soil is not rich.\u2019\n\n(ll. 62-82) So spake Leto. And Delos rejoiced and answered and said:\n\u2018Leto, most glorious daughter of great Coeus, joyfully would I receive\nyour child the far-shooting lord; for it is all too true that I am\nill-spoken of among men, whereas thus I should become very greatly\nhonoured. But this saying I fear, and I will not hide it from you,\nLeto. They say that Apollo will be one that is very haughty and will\ngreatly lord it among gods and men all over the fruitful earth.\nTherefore, I greatly fear in heart and spirit that as soon as he sets\nthe light of the sun, he will scorn this island\u2014for truly I have but a\nhard, rocky soil\u2014and overturn me and thrust me down with his feet in\nthe depths of the sea; then will the great ocean wash deep above my\nhead for ever, and he will go to another land such as will please him,\nthere to make his temple and wooded groves. So, many-footed creatures\nof the sea will make their lairs in me and black seals their dwellings\nundisturbed, because I lack people. Yet if you will but dare to sware a\ngreat oath, goddess, that here first he will build a glorious temple to\nbe an oracle for men, then let him afterwards make temples and wooded\ngroves amongst all men; for surely he will be greatly renowned.\u2019\n\n(ll. 83-88) So said Delos. And Leto sware the great oath of the gods:\n\u2018Now hear this, Earth and wide Heaven above, and dropping water of Styx\n(this is the strongest and most awful oath for the blessed gods),\nsurely Phoebus shall have here his fragrant altar and precinct, and you\nhe shall honour above all.\u2019\n\n(ll. 89-101) Now when Leto had sworn and ended her oath, Delos was very\nglad at the birth of the far-shooting lord. But Leto was racked nine\ndays and nine nights with pangs beyond wont. And there were with her\nall the chiefest of the goddesses, Dione and Rhea and Ichnaea and\nThemis and loud-moaning Amphitrite and the other deathless goddesses\nsave white-armed Hera, who sat in the halls of cloud-gathering Zeus.\nOnly Eilithyia, goddess of sore travail, had not heard of Leto\u2019s\ntrouble, for she sat on the top of Olympus beneath golden clouds by\nwhite-armed Hera\u2019s contriving, who kept her close through envy, because\nLeto with the lovely tresses was soon to bear a son faultless and\nstrong.\n\n(ll. 102-114) But the goddesses sent out Iris from the well-set isle to\nbring Eilithyia, promising her a great necklace strung with golden\nthreads, nine cubits long. And they bade Iris call her aside from\nwhite-armed Hera, lest she might afterwards turn her from coming with\nher words. When swift Iris, fleet of foot as the wind, had heard all\nthis, she set to run; and quickly finishing all the distance she came\nto the home of the gods, sheer Olympus, and forthwith called Eilithyia\nout from the hall to the door and spoke winged words to her, telling\nher all as the goddesses who dwell on Olympus had bidden her. So she\nmoved the heart of Eilithyia in her dear breast; and they went their\nway, like shy wild-doves in their going.\n\n(ll. 115-122) And as soon as Eilithyia the goddess of sore travail set\nfoot on Delos, the pains of birth seized Leto, and she longed to bring\nforth; so she cast her arms about a palm tree and kneeled on the soft\nmeadow while the earth laughed for joy beneath. Then the child leaped\nforth to the light, and all the goddesses washed you purely and cleanly\nwith sweet water, and swathed you in a white garment of fine texture,\nnew-woven, and fastened a golden band about you.\n\n(ll. 123-130) Now Leto did not give Apollo, bearer of the golden blade,\nher breast; but Themis duly poured nectar and ambrosia with her divine\nhands: and Leto was glad because she had borne a strong son and an\narcher. But as soon as you had tasted that divine heavenly food, O\nPhoebus, you could no longer then be held by golden cords nor confined\nwith bands, but all their ends were undone. Forthwith Phoebus Apollo\nspoke out among the deathless goddesses:\n\n(ll. 131-132) \u2018The lyre and the curved bow shall ever be dear to me,\nand I will declare to men the unfailing will of Zeus.\u2019\n\n(ll. 133-139) So said Phoebus, the long-haired god who shoots afar and\nbegan to walk upon the wide-pathed earth; and all goddesses were amazed\nat him. Then with gold all Delos was laden, beholding the child of Zeus\nand Leto, for joy because the god chose her above the islands and shore\nto make his dwelling in her: and she loved him yet more in her heart,\nand blossomed as does a mountain-top with woodland flowers.\n\n(ll. 140-164) And you, O lord Apollo, god of the silver bow, shooting\nafar, now walked on craggy Cynthus, and now kept wandering about the\nisland and the people in them. Many are your temples and wooded groves,\nand all peaks and towering bluffs of lofty mountains and rivers flowing\nto the sea are dear to you, Phoebus, yet in Delos do you most delight\nyour heart; for there the long robed Ionians gather in your honour with\ntheir children and shy wives: mindful, they delight you with boxing and\ndancing and song, so often as they hold their gathering. A man would\nsay that they were deathless and unageing if he should then come upon\nthe Ionians so met together. For he would see the graces of them all,\nand would be pleased in heart gazing at the men and well-girded women\nwith their swift ships and great wealth. And there is this great wonder\nbesides\u2014and its renown shall never perish\u2014the girls of Delos,\nhand-maidens of the Far-shooter; for when they have praised Apollo\nfirst, and also Leto and Artemis who delights in arrows, they sing a\nstrain telling of men and women of past days, and charm the tribes of\nmen. Also they can imitate the tongues of all men and their clattering\nspeech: each would say that he himself were singing, so close to truth\nis their sweet song.\n\n(ll. 165-178) And now may Apollo be favourable and Artemis; and\nfarewell all you maidens. Remember me in after time whenever any one of\nmen on earth, a stranger who has seen and suffered much, comes here and\nasks of you: \u2018Whom think ye, girls, is the sweetest singer that comes\nhere, and in whom do you most delight?\u2019 Then answer, each and all, with\none voice: \u2018He is a blind man, and dwells in rocky Chios: his lays are\nevermore supreme.\u2019 As for me, I will carry your renown as far as I roam\nover the earth to the well-placed this thing is true. And I will never\ncease to praise far-shooting Apollo, god of the silver bow, whom\nrich-haired Leto bare.\n\nTO PYTHIAN APOLLO\u2014\n\n(ll. 179-181) O Lord, Lycia is yours and lovely Maeonia and Miletus,\ncharming city by the sea, but over wave-girt Delos you greatly reign\nyour own self.\n\n(ll. 182-206) Leto\u2019s all-glorious son goes to rocky Pytho, playing upon\nhis hollow lyre, clad in divine, perfumed garments; and at the touch of\nthe golden key his lyre sings sweet. Thence, swift as thought, he\nspeeds from earth to Olympus, to the house of Zeus, to join the\ngathering of the other gods: then straightway the undying gods think\nonly of the lyre and song, and all the Muses together, voice sweetly\nanswering voice, hymn the unending gifts the gods enjoy and the\nsufferings of men, all that they endure at the hands of the deathless\ngods, and how they live witless and helpless and cannot find healing\nfor death or defence against old age. Meanwhile the rich-tressed Graces\nand cheerful Seasons dance with Harmonia and Hebe and Aphrodite,\ndaughter of Zeus, holding each other by the wrist. And among them sings\none, not mean nor puny, but tall to look upon and enviable in mien,\nArtemis who delights in arrows, sister of Apollo. Among them sport Ares\nand the keen-eyed Slayer of Argus, while Apollo plays his lyre stepping\nhigh and featly and a radiance shines around him, the gleaming of his\nfeet and close-woven vest. And they, even gold-tressed Leto and wise\nZeus, rejoice in their great hearts as they watch their dear son\nplaying among the undying gods.\n\n(ll. 207-228) How then shall I sing of you\u2014though in all ways you are a\nworthy theme for song? Shall I sing of you as wooer and in the fields\nof love, how you went wooing the daughter of Azan along with god-like\nIschys the son of well-horsed Elatius, or with Phorbas sprung from\nTriops, or with Ereutheus, or with Leucippus and the wife of\nLeucippus.... ((LACUNA)) ....you on foot, he with his chariot, yet he\nfell not short of Triops. Or shall I sing how at the first you went\nabout the earth seeking a place of oracle for men, O far-shooting\nApollo? To Pieria first you went down from Olympus and passed by sandy\nLectus and Enienae and through the land of the Perrhaebi. Soon you came\nto Iolcus and set foot on Cenaeum in Euboea, famed for ships: you stood\nin the Lelantine plain, but it pleased not your heart to make a temple\nthere and wooded groves. From there you crossed the Euripus,\nfar-shooting Apollo, and went up the green, holy hills, going on to\nMycalessus and grassy-bedded Teumessus, and so came to the wood-clad\nabode of Thebe; for as yet no man lived in holy Thebe, nor were there\ntracks or ways about Thebe\u2019s wheat-bearing plain as yet.\n\n(ll. 229-238) And further still you went, O far-shooting Apollo, and\ncame to Onchestus, Poseidon\u2019s bright grove: there the new-broken colt\ndistressed with drawing the trim chariot gets spirit again, and the\nskilled driver springs from his car and goes on his way. Then the\nhorses for a while rattle the empty car, being rid of guidance; and if\nthey break the chariot in the woody grove, men look after the horses,\nbut tilt the chariot and leave it there; for this was the rite from the\nvery first. And the drivers pray to the lord of the shrine; but the\nchariot falls to the lot of the god.\n\n(ll. 239-243) Further yet you went, O far-shooting Apollo, and reached\nnext Cephissus\u2019 sweet stream which pours forth its sweet-flowing water\nfrom Lilaea, and crossing over it, O worker from afar, you passed\nmany-towered Ocalea and reached grassy Haliartus.\n\n(ll. 244-253) Then you went towards Telphusa: and there the pleasant\nplace seemed fit for making a temple and wooded grove. You came very\nnear and spoke to her: \u2018Telphusa, here I am minded to make a glorious\ntemple, an oracle for men, and hither they will always bring perfect\nhecatombs, both those who live in rich Peloponnesus and those of Europe\nand all the wave-washed isles, coming to seek oracles. And I will\ndeliver to them all counsel that cannot fail, giving answer in my rich\ntemple.\u2019\n\n(ll. 254-276) So said Phoebus Apollo, and laid out all the foundations\nthroughout, wide and very long. But when Telphusa saw this, she was\nangry in heart and spoke, saying: \u2018Lord Phoebus, worker from afar, I\nwill speak a word of counsel to your heart, since you are minded to\nmake here a glorious temple to be an oracle for men who will always\nbring hither perfect hecatombs for you; yet I will speak out, and do\nyou lay up my words in your heart. The trampling of swift horses and\nthe sound of mules watering at my sacred springs will always irk you,\nand men will like better to gaze at the well-made chariots and\nstamping, swift-footed horses than at your great temple and the many\ntreasures that are within. But if you will be moved by me\u2014for you,\nlord, are stronger and mightier than I, and your strength is very\ngreat\u2014build at Crisa below the glades of Parnassus: there no bright\nchariot will clash, and there will be no noise of swift-footed horses\nnear your well-built altar. But so the glorious tribes of men will\nbring gifts to you as Iepaeon (\u2018Hail-Healer\u2019), and you will receive\nwith delight rich sacrifices from the people dwelling round about.\u2019 So\nsaid Telphusa, that she alone, and not the Far-Shooter, should have\nrenown there; and she persuaded the Far-Shooter.\n\n(ll. 277-286) Further yet you went, far-shooting Apollo, until you came\nto the town of the presumptuous Phlegyae who dwell on this earth in a\nlovely glade near the Cephisian lake, caring not for Zeus. And thence\nyou went speeding swiftly to the mountain ridge, and came to Crisa\nbeneath snowy Parnassus, a foothill turned towards the west: a cliff\nhangs over it from above, and a hollow, rugged glade runs under. There\nthe lord Phoebus Apollo resolved to make his lovely temple, and thus he\nsaid:\n\n(ll. 287-293) \u2018In this place I am minded to build a glorious temple to\nbe an oracle for men, and here they will always bring perfect\nhecatombs, both they who dwell in rich Peloponnesus and the men of\nEurope and from all the wave-washed isles, coming to question me. And I\nwill deliver to them all counsel that cannot fail, answering them in my\nrich temple.\u2019\n\n(ll. 294-299) When he had said this, Phoebus Apollo laid out all the\nfoundations throughout, wide and very long; and upon these the sons of\nErginus, Trophonius and Agamedes, dear to the deathless gods, laid a\nfooting of stone. And the countless tribes of men built the whole\ntemple of wrought stones, to be sung of for ever.\n\n(ll. 300-310) But near by was a sweet flowing spring, and there with\nhis strong bow the lord, the son of Zeus, killed the bloated, great\nshe-dragon, a fierce monster wont to do great mischief to men upon\nearth, to men themselves and to their thin-shanked sheep; for she was a\nvery bloody plague. She it was who once received from gold-throned Hera\nand brought up fell, cruel Typhaon to be a plague to men. Once on a\ntime Hera bare him because she was angry with father Zeus, when the Son\nof Cronos bare all-glorious Athena in his head. Thereupon queenly Hera\nwas angry and spoke thus among the assembled gods:\n\n(ll. 311-330) \u2018Hear from me, all gods and goddesses, how\ncloud-gathering Zeus begins to dishonour me wantonly, when he has made\nme his true-hearted wife. See now, apart from me he has given birth to\nbright-eyed Athena who is foremost among all the blessed gods. But my\nson Hephaestus whom I bare was weakly among all the blessed gods and\nshrivelled of foot, a shame and disgrace to me in heaven, whom I myself\ntook in my hands and cast out so that he fell in the great sea. But\nsilver-shod Thetis the daughter of Nereus took and cared for him with\nher sisters: would that she had done other service to the blessed gods!\nO wicked one and crafty! What else will you now devise? How dared you\nby yourself give birth to bright-eyed Athena? Would not I have borne\nyou a child\u2014I, who was at least called your wife among the undying gods\nwho hold wide heaven. Beware now lest I devise some evil thing for you\nhereafter: yes, now I will contrive that a son be born me to be\nforemost among the undying gods\u2014and that without casting shame on the\nholy bond of wedlock between you and me. And I will not come to your\nbed, but will consort with the blessed gods far off from you.\u2019\n\n(ll. 331-333) When she had so spoken, she went apart from the gods,\nbeing very angry. Then straightway large-eyed queenly Hera prayed,\nstriking the ground flatwise with her hand, and speaking thus:\n\n(ll. 334-362) \u2018Hear now, I pray, Earth and wide Heaven above, and you\nTitan gods who dwell beneath the earth about great Tartarus, and from\nwhom are sprung both gods and men! Harken you now to me, one and all,\nand grant that I may bear a child apart from Zeus, no wit lesser than\nhim in strength\u2014nay, let him be as much stronger than Zeus as\nall-seeing Zeus than Cronos.\u2019 Thus she cried and lashed the earth with\nher strong hand. Then the life-giving earth was moved: and when Hera\nsaw it she was glad in heart, for she thought her prayer would be\nfulfilled. And thereafter she never came to the bed of wise Zeus for a\nfull year, not to sit in her carved chair as aforetime to plan wise\ncounsel for him, but stayed in her temples where many pray, and\ndelighted in her offerings, large-eyed queenly Hera. But when the\nmonths and days were fulfilled and the seasons duly came on as the\nearth moved round, she bare one neither like the gods nor mortal men,\nfell, cruel Typhaon, to be a plague to men. Straightway large-eyed\nqueenly Hera took him and bringing one evil thing to another such, gave\nhim to the dragoness; and she received him. And this Typhaon used to\nwork great mischief among the famous tribes of men. Whosoever met the\ndragoness, the day of doom would sweep him away, until the lord Apollo,\nwho deals death from afar, shot a strong arrow at her. Then she, rent\nwith bitter pangs, lay drawing great gasps for breath and rolling about\nthat place. An awful noise swelled up unspeakable as she writhed\ncontinually this way and that amid the wood: and so she left her life,\nbreathing it forth in blood. Then Phoebus Apollo boasted over her:\n\n(ll. 363-369) \u2018Now rot here upon the soil that feeds man! You at least\nshall live no more to be a fell bane to men who eat the fruit of the\nall-nourishing earth, and who will bring hither perfect hecatombs.\nAgainst cruel death neither Typhoeus shall avail you nor ill-famed\nChimera, but here shall the Earth and shining Hyperion make you rot.\u2019\n\n(ll. 370-374) Thus said Phoebus, exulting over her: and darkness\ncovered her eyes. And the holy strength of Helios made her rot away\nthere; wherefore the place is now called Pytho, and men call the lord\nApollo by another name, Pythian; because on that spot the power of\npiercing Helios made the monster rot away.\n\n(ll. 375-378) Then Phoebus Apollo saw that the sweet-flowing spring had\nbeguiled him, and he started out in anger against Telphusa; and soon\ncoming to her, he stood close by and spoke to her:\n\n(ll. 379-381) \u2018Telphusa, you were not, after all, to keep to yourself\nthis lovely place by deceiving my mind, and pour forth your clear\nflowing water: here my renown shall also be and not yours alone?\u2019\n\n(ll. 382-387) Thus spoke the lord, far-working Apollo, and pushed over\nupon her a crag with a shower of rocks, hiding her streams: and he made\nhimself an altar in a wooded grove very near the clear-flowing stream.\nIn that place all men pray to the great one by the name Telphusian,\nbecause he humbled the stream of holy Telphusa.\n\n(ll. 388-439) Then Phoebus Apollo pondered in his heart what men he\nshould bring in to be his ministers in sacrifice and to serve him in\nrocky Pytho. And while he considered this, he became aware of a swift\nship upon the wine-like sea in which were many men and goodly, Cretans\nfrom Cnossos 2510, the city of Minos, they who do sacrifice to the\nprince and announce his decrees, whatsoever Phoebus Apollo, bearer of\nthe golden blade, speaks in answer from his laurel tree below the dells\nof Parnassus. These men were sailing in their black ship for traffic\nand for profit to sandy Pylos and to the men of Pylos. But Phoebus\nApollo met them: in the open sea he sprang upon their swift ship, like\na dolphin in shape, and lay there, a great and awesome monster, and\nnone of them gave heed so as to understand 2511; but they sought to\ncast the dolphin overboard. But he kept shaking the black ship every\nway and make the timbers quiver. So they sat silent in their craft for\nfear, and did not loose the sheets throughout the black, hollow ship,\nnor lowered the sail of their dark-prowed vessel, but as they had set\nit first of all with oxhide ropes, so they kept sailing on; for a\nrushing south wind hurried on the swift ship from behind. First they\npassed by Malea, and then along the Laconian coast they came to\nTaenarum, sea-garlanded town and country of Helios who gladdens men,\nwhere the thick-fleeced sheep of the lord Helios feed continually and\noccupy a glad-some country. There they wished to put their ship to\nshore, and land and comprehend the great marvel and see with their eyes\nwhether the monster would remain upon the deck of the hollow ship, or\nspring back into the briny deep where fishes shoal. But the well-built\nship would not obey the helm, but went on its way all along\nPeloponnesus: and the lord, far-working Apollo, guided it easily with\nthe breath of the breeze. So the ship ran on its course and came to\nArena and lovely Argyphea and Thryon, the ford of Alpheus, and\nwell-placed Aepy and sandy Pylos and the men of Pylos; past Cruni it\nwent and Chalcis and past Dyme and fair Elis, where the Epei rule. And\nat the time when she was making for Pherae, exulting in the breeze from\nZeus, there appeared to them below the clouds the steep mountain of\nIthaca, and Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus. But when they were\npassed by all the coast of Peloponnesus, then, towards Crisa, that vast\ngulf began to heave in sight which through all its length cuts off the\nrich isle of Pelops. There came on them a strong, clear west-wind by\nordinance of Zeus and blew from heaven vehemently, that with all speed\nthe ship might finish coursing over the briny water of the sea. So they\nbegan again to voyage back towards the dawn and the sun: and the lord\nApollo, son of Zeus, led them on until they reached far-seen Crisa,\nland of vines, and into haven: there the sea-coursing ship grounded on\nthe sands.\n\n(ll. 440-451) Then, like a star at noonday, the lord, far-working\nApollo, leaped from the ship: flashes of fire flew from him thick and\ntheir brightness reached to heaven. He entered into his shrine between\npriceless tripods, and there made a flame to flare up bright, showing\nforth the splendour of his shafts, so that their radiance filled all\nCrisa, and the wives and well-girded daughters of the Crisaeans raised\na cry at that outburst of Phoebus; for he cast great fear upon them\nall. From his shrine he sprang forth again, swift as a thought, to\nspeed again to the ship, bearing the form of a man, brisk and sturdy,\nin the prime of his youth, while his broad shoulders were covered with\nhis hair: and he spoke to the Cretans, uttering winged words:\n\n(ll. 452-461) \u2018Strangers, who are you? Whence come you sailing along\nthe paths of the sea? Are you for traffic, or do you wander at random\nover the sea as pirates do who put their own lives to hazard and bring\nmischief to men of foreign parts as they roam? Why rest you so and are\nafraid, and do not go ashore nor stow the gear of your black ship? For\nthat is the custom of men who live by bread, whenever they come to land\nin their dark ships from the main, spent with toil; at once desire for\nsweet food catches them about the heart.\u2019\n\n(ll. 462-473) So speaking, he put courage in their hearts, and the\nmaster of the Cretans answered him and said: \u2018Stranger\u2014though you are\nnothing like mortal men in shape or stature, but are as the deathless\ngods\u2014hail and all happiness to you, and may the gods give you good. Now\ntell me truly that I may surely know it: what country is this, and what\nland, and what men live herein? As for us, with thoughts set\notherwards, we were sailing over the great sea to Pylos from Crete (for\nfrom there we declare that we are sprung), but now are come on\nshipboard to this place by no means willingly\u2014another way and other\npaths\u2014and gladly would we return. But one of the deathless gods brought\nus here against our will.\u2019\n\n(ll. 474-501) Then far-working Apollo answered then and said:\n\u2018Strangers who once dwelt about wooded Cnossos but now shall return no\nmore each to his loved city and fair house and dear wife; here shall\nyou keep my rich temple that is honoured by many men. I am the son of\nZeus; Apollo is my name: but you I brought here over the wide gulf of\nthe sea, meaning you no hurt; nay, here you shall keep my rich temple\nthat is greatly honoured among men, and you shall know the plans of the\ndeathless gods, and by their will you shall be honoured continually for\nall time. And now come, make haste and do as I say. First loose the\nsheets and lower the sail, and then draw the swift ship up upon the\nland. Take out your goods and the gear of the straight ship, and make\nan altar upon the beach of the sea: light fire upon it and make an\noffering of white meal. Next, stand side by side around the altar and\npray: and in as much as at the first on the hazy sea I sprang upon the\nswift ship in the form of a dolphin, pray to me as Apollo Delphinius;\nalso the altar itself shall be called Delphinius and overlooking 2512\nfor ever. Afterwards, sup beside your dark ship and pour an offering to\nthe blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. But when you have put away\ncraving for sweet food, come with me singing the hymn Ie Paean (Hail,\nHealer!), until you come to the place where you shall keep my rich\ntemple.\u2019\n\n(ll. 502-523) So said Apollo. And they readily harkened to him and\nobeyed him. First they unfastened the sheets and let down the sail and\nlowered the mast by the forestays upon the mast-rest. Then, landing\nupon the beach of the sea, they hauled up the ship from the water to\ndry land and fixed long stays under it. Also they made an altar upon\nthe beach of the sea, and when they had lit a fire, made an offering of\nwhite meal, and prayed standing around the altar as Apollo had bidden\nthem. Then they took their meal by the swift, black ship, and poured an\noffering to the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. And when they had\nput away craving for drink and food, they started out with the lord\nApollo, the son of Zeus, to lead them, holding a lyre in his hands, and\nplaying sweetly as he stepped high and featly. So the Cretans followed\nhim to Pytho, marching in time as they chanted the Ie Paean after the\nmanner of the Cretan paean-singers and of those in whose hearts the\nheavenly Muse has put sweet-voiced song. With tireless feet they\napproached the ridge and straightway came to Parnassus and the lovely\nplace where they were to dwell honoured by many men. There Apollo\nbrought them and showed them his most holy sanctuary and rich temple.\n\n(ll. 524-525) But their spirit was stirred in their dear breasts, and\nthe master of the Cretans asked him, saying:\n\n(ll. 526-530) \u2018Lord, since you have brought us here far from our dear\nones and our fatherland,\u2014for so it seemed good to your heart,\u2014tell us\nnow how we shall live. That we would know of you. This land is not to\nbe desired either for vineyards or for pastures so that we can live\nwell thereon and also minister to men.\u2019\n\n(ll. 531-544) Then Apollo, the son of Zeus, smiled upon them and said:\n\u2018Foolish mortals and poor drudges are you, that you seek cares and hard\ntoils and straits! Easily will I tell you a word and set it in your\nhearts. Though each one of you with knife in hand should slaughter\nsheep continually, yet would you always have abundant store, even all\nthat the glorious tribes of men bring here for me. But guard you my\ntemple and receive the tribes of men that gather to this place, and\nespecially show mortal men my will, and do you keep righteousness in\nyour heart. But if any shall be disobedient and pay no heed to my\nwarning, or if there shall be any idle word or deed and outrage as is\ncommon among mortal men, then other men shall be your masters and with\na strong hand shall make you subject for ever. All has been told you:\ndo you keep it in your heart.\u2019\n\n(ll. 545-546) And so, farewell, son of Zeus and Leto; but I will\nremember you and another hymn also.\n\n\n\n\nIV. TO HERMES\n\n(ll. 1-29) Muse, sing of Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, lord of\nCyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, the luck-bringing messenger of the\nimmortals whom Maia bare, the rich-tressed nymph, when she was joined\nin love with Zeus,\u2014a shy goddess, for she avoided the company of the\nblessed gods, and lived within a deep, shady cave. There the son of\nCronos used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph, unseen by deathless\ngods and mortal men, at dead of night while sweet sleep should hold\nwhite-armed Hera fast. And when the purpose of great Zeus was fixed in\nheaven, she was delivered and a notable thing was come to pass. For\nthen she bare a son, of many shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a\ncattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the\ngates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the\ndeathless gods. Born with the dawning, at mid-day he played on the\nlyre, and in the evening he stole the cattle of far-shooting Apollo on\nthe fourth day of the month; for on that day queenly Maia bare him. So\nsoon as he had leaped from his mother\u2019s heavenly womb, he lay not long\nwaiting in his holy cradle, but he sprang up and sought the oxen of\nApollo. But as he stepped over the threshold of the high-roofed cave,\nhe found a tortoise there and gained endless delight. For it was Hermes\nwho first made the tortoise a singer. The creature fell in his way at\nthe courtyard gate, where it was feeding on the rich grass before the\ndwelling, waddling along. When he saw it, the luck-bringing son of Zeus\nlaughed and said:\n\n(ll. 30-38) \u2018An omen of great luck for me so soon! I do not slight it.\nHail, comrade of the feast, lovely in shape, sounding at the dance!\nWith joy I meet you! Where got you that rich gaud for covering, that\nspangled shell\u2014a tortoise living in the mountains? But I will take and\ncarry you within: you shall help me and I will do you no disgrace,\nthough first of all you must profit me. It is better to be at home:\nharm may come out of doors. Living, you shall be a spell against\nmischievous witchcraft 2513; but if you die, then you shall make\nsweetest song.\n\n(ll. 39-61) Thus speaking, he took up the tortoise in both hands and\nwent back into the house carrying his charming toy. Then he cut off its\nlimbs and scooped out the marrow of the mountain-tortoise with a scoop\nof grey iron. As a swift thought darts through the heart of a man when\nthronging cares haunt him, or as bright glances flash from the eye, so\nglorious Hermes planned both thought and deed at once. He cut stalks of\nreed to measure and fixed them, fastening their ends across the back\nand through the shell of the tortoise, and then stretched ox hide all\nover it by his skill. Also he put in the horns and fitted a cross-piece\nupon the two of them, and stretched seven strings of sheep-gut. But\nwhen he had made it he proved each string in turn with the key, as he\nheld the lovely thing. At the touch of his hand it sounded\nmarvellously; and, as he tried it, the god sang sweet random snatches,\neven as youths bandy taunts at festivals. He sang of Zeus the son of\nCronos and neat-shod Maia, the converse which they had before in the\ncomradeship of love, telling all the glorious tale of his own\nbegetting. He celebrated, too, the handmaids of the nymph, and her\nbright home, and the tripods all about the house, and the abundant\ncauldrons.\n\n(ll. 62-67) But while he was singing of all these, his heart was bent\non other matters. And he took the hollow lyre and laid it in his sacred\ncradle, and sprang from the sweet-smelling hall to a watch-place,\npondering sheer trickery in his heart\u2014deeds such as knavish folk pursue\nin the dark night-time; for he longed to taste flesh.\n\n(ll. 68-86) The Sun was going down beneath the earth towards Ocean with\nhis horses and chariot when Hermes came hurrying to the shadowy\nmountains of Pieria, where the divine cattle of the blessed gods had\ntheir steads and grazed the pleasant, unmown meadows. Of these the Son\nof Maia, the sharp-eyed slayer of Argus then cut off from the herd\nfifty loud-lowing kine, and drove them straggling-wise across a sandy\nplace, turning their hoof-prints aside. Also, he bethought him of a\ncrafty ruse and reversed the marks of their hoofs, making the front\nbehind and the hind before, while he himself walked the other way 2514.\nThen he wove sandals with wicker-work by the sand of the sea, wonderful\nthings, unthought of, unimagined; for he mixed together tamarisk and\nmyrtle-twigs, fastening together an armful of their fresh, young wood,\nand tied them, leaves and all securely under his feet as light sandals.\nThe brushwood the glorious Slayer of Argus plucked in Pieria as he was\npreparing for his journey, making shift 2515 as one making haste for a\nlong journey.\n\n(ll. 87-89) But an old man tilling his flowering vineyard saw him as he\nwas hurrying down the plain through grassy Onchestus. So the Son of\nMaia began and said to him:\n\n(ll. 90-93) \u2018Old man, digging about your vines with bowed shoulders,\nsurely you shall have much wine when all these bear fruit, if you obey\nme and strictly remember not to have seen what you have seen, and not\nto have heard what you have heard, and to keep silent when nothing of\nyour own is harmed.\u2019\n\n(ll. 94-114) When he had said this much, he hurried the strong cattle\non together: through many shadowy mountains and echoing gorges and\nflowery plains glorious Hermes drove them. And now the divine night,\nhis dark ally, was mostly passed, and dawn that sets folk to work was\nquickly coming on, while bright Selene, daughter of the lord Pallas,\nMegamedes\u2019 son, had just climbed her watch-post, when the strong Son of\nZeus drove the wide-browed cattle of Phoebus Apollo to the river\nAlpheus. And they came unwearied to the high-roofed byres and the\ndrinking-troughs that were before the noble meadow. Then, after he had\nwell-fed the loud-bellowing cattle with fodder and driven them into the\nbyre, close-packed and chewing lotus and began to seek the art of fire.\n\nHe chose a stout laurel branch and trimmed it with the knife....\n((LACUNA)) 2516 ....held firmly in his hand: and the hot smoke rose up.\nFor it was Hermes who first invented fire-sticks and fire. Next he took\nmany dried sticks and piled them thick and plenty in a sunken trench:\nand flame began to glow, spreading afar the blast of fierce-burning\nfire.\n\n(ll. 115-137) And while the strength of glorious Hephaestus was\nbeginning to kindle the fire, he dragged out two lowing, horned cows\nclose to the fire; for great strength was with him. He threw them both\npanting upon their backs on the ground, and rolled them on their sides,\nbending their necks over 2517, and pierced their vital chord. Then he\nwent on from task to task: first he cut up the rich, fatted meat, and\npierced it with wooden spits, and roasted flesh and the honourable\nchine and the paunch full of dark blood all together. He laid them\nthere upon the ground, and spread out the hides on a rugged rock: and\nso they are still there many ages afterwards, a long, long time after\nall this, and are continually 2518. Next glad-hearted Hermes dragged\nthe rich meats he had prepared and put them on a smooth, flat stone,\nand divided them into twelve portions distributed by lot, making each\nportion wholly honourable. Then glorious Hermes longed for the\nsacrificial meat, for the sweet savour wearied him, god though he was;\nnevertheless his proud heart was not prevailed upon to devour the\nflesh, although he greatly desired 2519. But he put away the fat and\nall the flesh in the high-roofed byre, placing them high up to be a\ntoken of his youthful theft. And after that he gathered dry sticks and\nutterly destroyed with fire all the hoofs and all the heads.\n\n(ll. 138-154) And when the god had duly finished all, he threw his\nsandals into deep-eddying Alpheus, and quenched the embers, covering\nthe black ashes with sand, and so spent the night while Selene\u2019s soft\nlight shone down. Then the god went straight back again at dawn to the\nbright crests of Cyllene, and no one met him on the long journey either\nof the blessed gods or mortal men, nor did any dog bark. And\nluck-bringing Hermes, the son of Zeus, passed edgeways through the\nkey-hole of the hall like the autumn breeze, even as mist: straight\nthrough the cave he went and came to the rich inner chamber, walking\nsoftly, and making no noise as one might upon the floor. Then glorious\nHermes went hurriedly to his cradle, wrapping his swaddling clothes\nabout his shoulders as though he were a feeble babe, and lay playing\nwith the covering about his knees; but at his left hand he kept close\nhis sweet lyre.\n\n(ll. 155-161) But the god did not pass unseen by the goddess his\nmother; but she said to him: \u2018How now, you rogue! Whence come you back\nso at night-time, you that wear shamelessness as a garment? And now I\nsurely believe the son of Leto will soon have you forth out of doors\nwith unbreakable cords about your ribs, or you will live a rogue\u2019s life\nin the glens robbing by whiles. Go to, then; your father got you to be\na great worry to mortal men and deathless gods.\u2019\n\n(ll. 162-181) Then Hermes answered her with crafty words: \u2018Mother, why\ndo you seek to frighten me like a feeble child whose heart knows few\nwords of blame, a fearful babe that fears its mother\u2019s scolding? Nay,\nbut I will try whatever plan is best, and so feed myself and you\ncontinually. We will not be content to remain here, as you bid, alone\nof all the gods unfee\u2019d with offerings and prayers. Better to live in\nfellowship with the deathless gods continually, rich, wealthy, and\nenjoying stories of grain, than to sit always in a gloomy cave: and, as\nregards honour, I too will enter upon the rite that Apollo has. If my\nfather will not give it to me, I will seek\u2014and I am able\u2014to be a prince\nof robbers. And if Leto\u2019s most glorious son shall seek me out, I think\nanother and a greater loss will befall him. For I will go to Pytho to\nbreak into his great house, and will plunder therefrom splendid\ntripods, and cauldrons, and gold, and plenty of bright iron, and much\napparel; and you shall see it if you will.\u2019\n\n(ll. 182-189) With such words they spoke together, the son of Zeus who\nholds the aegis, and the lady Maia. Now Eros the early born was rising\nfrom deep-flowing Ocean, bringing light to men, when Apollo, as he\nwent, came to Onchestus, the lovely grove and sacred place of the\nloud-roaring Holder of the Earth. There he found an old man grazing his\nbeast along the pathway from his court-yard fence, and the all-glorious\nSon of Leto began and said to him.\n\n(ll. 190-200) \u2018Old man, weeder 2520 of grassy Onchestus, I am come here\nfrom Pieria seeking cattle, cows all of them, all with curving horns,\nfrom my herd. The black bull was grazing alone away from the rest, but\nfierce-eyed hounds followed the cows, four of them, all of one mind,\nlike men. These were left behind, the dogs and the bull\u2014which is great\nmarvel; but the cows strayed out of the soft meadow, away from the\npasture when the sun was just going down. Now tell me this, old man\nborn long ago: have you seen one passing along behind those cows?\u2019\n\n(ll. 201-211) Then the old man answered him and said: \u2018My son, it is\nhard to tell all that one\u2019s eyes see; for many wayfarers pass to and\nfro this way, some bent on much evil, and some on good: it is difficult\nto know each one. However, I was digging about my plot of vineyard all\nday long until the sun went down, and I thought, good sir, but I do not\nknow for certain, that I marked a child, whoever the child was, that\nfollowed long-horned cattle\u2014an infant who had a staff and kept walking\nfrom side to side: he was driving them backwards way, with their heads\ntoward him.\u2019\n\n(ll. 212-218) So said the old man. And when Apollo heard this report,\nhe went yet more quickly on his way, and presently, seeing a\nlong-winged bird, he knew at once by that omen that thief was the child\nof Zeus the son of Cronos. So the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, hurried on\nto goodly Pylos seeking his shambling oxen, and he had his broad\nshoulders covered with a dark cloud. But when the Far-Shooter perceived\nthe tracks, he cried:\n\n(ll. 219-226) \u2018Oh, oh! Truly this is a great marvel that my eyes\nbehold! These are indeed the tracks of straight-horned oxen, but they\nare turned backwards towards the flowery meadow. But these others are\nnot the footprints of man or woman or grey wolves or bears or lions,\nnor do I think they are the tracks of a rough-maned Centaur\u2014whoever it\nbe that with swift feet makes such monstrous footprints; wonderful are\nthe tracks on this side of the way, but yet more wonderfully are those\non that.\u2019\n\n(ll. 227-234) When he had so said, the lord Apollo, the Son of Zeus\nhastened on and came to the forest-clad mountain of Cyllene and the\ndeep-shadowed cave in the rock where the divine nymph brought forth the\nchild of Zeus who is the son of Cronos. A sweet odour spread over the\nlovely hill, and many thin-shanked sheep were grazing on the grass.\nThen far-shooting Apollo himself stepped down in haste over the stone\nthreshold into the dusky cave.\n\n(ll. 235-253) Now when the Son of Zeus and Maia saw Apollo in a rage\nabout his cattle, he snuggled down in his fragrant swaddling-clothes;\nand as wood-ash covers over the deep embers of tree-stumps, so Hermes\ncuddled himself up when he saw the Far-Shooter. He squeezed head and\nhands and feet together in a small space, like a new born child seeking\nsweet sleep, though in truth he was wide awake, and he kept his lyre\nunder his armpit. But the Son of Leto was aware and failed not to\nperceive the beautiful mountain-nymph and her dear son, albeit a little\nchild and swathed so craftily. He peered in every corner of the great\ndwelling and, taking a bright key, he opened three closets full of\nnectar and lovely ambrosia. And much gold and silver was stored in\nthem, and many garments of the nymph, some purple and some silvery\nwhite, such as are kept in the sacred houses of the blessed gods. Then,\nafter the Son of Leto had searched out the recesses of the great house,\nhe spake to glorious Hermes:\n\n(ll. 254-259) \u2018Child, lying in the cradle, make haste and tell me of my\ncattle, or we two will soon fall out angrily. For I will take and cast\nyou into dusty Tartarus and awful hopeless darkness, and neither your\nmother nor your father shall free you or bring you up again to the\nlight, but you will wander under the earth and be the leader amongst\nlittle folk.\u2019 2521\n\n(ll. 260-277) Then Hermes answered him with crafty words: \u2018Son of Leto,\nwhat harsh words are these you have spoken? And is it cattle of the\nfield you are come here to seek? I have not seen them: I have not heard\nof them: no one has told me of them. I cannot give news of them, nor\nwin the reward for news. Am I like a cattle-lifter, a stalwart person?\nThis is no task for me: rather I care for other things: I care for\nsleep, and milk of my mother\u2019s breast, and wrappings round my\nshoulders, and warm baths. Let no one hear the cause of this dispute;\nfor this would be a great marvel indeed among the deathless gods, that\na child newly born should pass in through the forepart of the house\nwith cattle of the field: herein you speak extravagantly. I was born\nyesterday, and my feet are soft and the ground beneath is rough;\nnevertheless, if you will have it so, I will swear a great oath by my\nfather\u2019s head and vow that neither am I guilty myself, neither have I\nseen any other who stole your cows\u2014whatever cows may be; for I know\nthem only by hearsay.\u2019\n\n(ll. 278-280) So, then, said Hermes, shooting quick glances from his\neyes: and he kept raising his brows and looking this way and that,\nwhistling long and listening to Apollo\u2019s story as to an idle tale.\n\n(ll. 281-292) But far-working Apollo laughed softly and said to him: \u2018O\nrogue, deceiver, crafty in heart, you talk so innocently that I most\nsurely believe that you have broken into many a well-built house and\nstripped more than one poor wretch bare this night 2522, gathering his\ngoods together all over the house without noise. You will plague many a\nlonely herdsman in mountain glades, when you come on herds and\nthick-fleeced sheep, and have a hankering after flesh. But come now, if\nyou would not sleep your last and latest sleep, get out of your cradle,\nyou comrade of dark night. Surely hereafter this shall be your title\namongst the deathless gods, to be called the prince of robbers\ncontinually.\u2019\n\n(ll. 293-300) So said Phoebus Apollo, and took the child and began to\ncarry him. But at that moment the strong Slayer of Argus had his plan,\nand, while Apollo held him in his hands, sent forth an omen, a\nhard-worked belly-serf, a rude messenger, and sneezed directly after.\nAnd when Apollo heard it, he dropped glorious Hermes out of his hands\non the ground: then sitting down before him, though he was eager to go\non his way, he spoke mockingly to Hermes:\n\n(ll. 301-303) \u2018Fear not, little swaddling baby, son of Zeus and Maia. I\nshall find the strong cattle presently by these omens, and you shall\nlead the way.\u2019\n\n(ll. 304-306) When Apollo had so said, Cyllenian Hermes sprang up\nquickly, starting in haste. With both hands he pushed up to his ears\nthe covering that he had wrapped about his shoulders, and said:\n\n(ll. 307-312) \u2018Where are you carrying me, Far-Worker, hastiest of all\nthe gods? Is it because of your cattle that you are so angry and harass\nme? O dear, would that all the sort of oxen might perish; for it is not\nI who stole your cows, nor did I see another steal them\u2014whatever cows\nmay be, and of that I have only heard report. Nay, give right and take\nit before Zeus, the Son of Cronos.\u2019\n\n(ll. 313-326) So Hermes the shepherd and Leto\u2019s glorious son kept\nstubbornly disputing each article of their quarrel: Apollo, speaking\ntruly.... ((LACUNA)) ....not fairly sought to seize glorious Hermes\nbecause of the cows; but he, the Cyllenian, tried to deceive the God of\nthe Silver Bow with tricks and cunning words. But when, though he had\nmany wiles, he found the other had as many shifts, he began to walk\nacross the sand, himself in front, while the Son of Zeus and Leto came\nbehind. Soon they came, these lovely children of Zeus, to the top of\nfragrant Olympus, to their father, the Son of Cronos; for there were\nthe scales of judgement set for them both.\n\nThere was an assembly on snowy Olympus, and the immortals who perish\nnot were gathering after the hour of gold-throned Dawn.\n\n(ll. 327-329) Then Hermes and Apollo of the Silver Bow stood at the\nknees of Zeus: and Zeus who thunders on high spoke to his glorious son\nand asked him:\n\n(ll. 330-332) \u2018Phoebus, whence come you driving this great spoil, a\nchild new born that has the look of a herald? This is a weighty matter\nthat is come before the council of the gods.\u2019\n\n(ll. 333-364) Then the lord, far-working Apollo, answered him: \u2018O my\nfather, you shall soon hear no trifling tale though you reproach me\nthat I alone am fond of spoil. Here is a child, a burgling robber, whom\nI found after a long journey in the hills of Cyllene: for my part I\nhave never seen one so pert either among the gods or all men that catch\nfolk unawares throughout the world. He stole away my cows from their\nmeadow and drove them off in the evening along the shore of the\nloud-roaring sea, making straight for Pylos. There were double tracks,\nand wonderful they were, such as one might marvel at, the doing of a\nclever sprite; for as for the cows, the dark dust kept and showed their\nfootprints leading towards the flowery meadow; but he\nhimself\u2014bewildering creature\u2014crossed the sandy ground outside the path,\nnot on his feet nor yet on his hands; but, furnished with some other\nmeans he trudged his way\u2014wonder of wonders!\u2014as though one walked on\nslender oak-trees. Now while he followed the cattle across sandy\nground, all the tracks showed quite clearly in the dust; but when he\nhad finished the long way across the sand, presently the cows\u2019 track\nand his own could not be traced over the hard ground. But a mortal man\nnoticed him as he drove the wide-browed kine straight towards Pylos.\nAnd as soon as he had shut them up quietly, and had gone home by crafty\nturns and twists, he lay down in his cradle in the gloom of a dim cave,\nas still as dark night, so that not even an eagle keenly gazing would\nhave spied him. Much he rubbed his eyes with his hands as he prepared\nfalsehood, and himself straightway said roundly: \u201cI have not seen them:\nI have not heard of them: no man has told me of them. I could not tell\nyou of them, nor win the reward of telling.\u201d\u2019\n\n(ll. 365-367) When he had so spoken, Phoebus Apollo sat down. But\nHermes on his part answered and said, pointing at the Son of Cronos,\nthe lord of all the gods:\n\n(ll. 368-386) \u2018Zeus, my father, indeed I will speak truth to you; for I\nam truthful and I cannot tell a lie. He came to our house to-day\nlooking for his shambling cows, as the sun was newly rising. He brought\nno witnesses with him nor any of the blessed gods who had seen the\ntheft, but with great violence ordered me to confess, threatening much\nto throw me into wide Tartarus. For he has the rich bloom of glorious\nyouth, while I was born but yesterday\u2014as he too knows\u2014nor am I like a\ncattle-lifter, a sturdy fellow. Believe my tale (for you claim to be my\nown father), that I did not drive his cows to my house\u2014so may I\nprosper\u2014nor crossed the threshold: this I say truly. I reverence Helios\ngreatly and the other gods, and you I love and him I dread. You\nyourself know that I am not guilty: and I will swear a great oath upon\nit:\u2014No! by these rich-decked porticoes of the gods. And some day I will\npunish him, strong as he is, for this pitiless inquisition; but now do\nyou help the younger.\u2019\n\n(ll. 387-396) So spake the Cyllenian, the Slayer of Argus, while he\nkept shooting sidelong glances and kept his swaddling-clothes upon his\narm, and did not cast them away. But Zeus laughed out loud to see his\nevil-plotting child well and cunningly denying guilt about the cattle.\nAnd he bade them both to be of one mind and search for the cattle, and\nguiding Hermes to lead the way and, without mischievousness of heart,\nto show the place where now he had hidden the strong cattle. Then the\nSon of Cronos bowed his head: and goodly Hermes obeyed him; for the\nwill of Zeus who holds the aegis easily prevailed with him.\n\n(ll. 397-404) Then the two all-glorious children of Zeus hastened both\nto sandy Pylos, and reached the ford of Alpheus, and came to the fields\nand the high-roofed byre where the beasts were cherished at night-time.\nNow while Hermes went to the cave in the rock and began to drive out\nthe strong cattle, the son of Leto, looking aside, saw the cowhides on\nthe sheer rock. And he asked glorious Hermes at once:\n\n(ll. 405-408) \u2018How were you able, you crafty rogue, to flay two cows,\nnew-born and babyish as you are? For my part, I dread the strength that\nwill be yours: there is no need you should keep growing long,\nCyllenian, son of Maia!\u2019\n\n(ll. 409-414) So saying, Apollo twisted strong withes with his hands\nmeaning to bind Hermes with firm bands; but the bands would not hold\nhim, and the withes of osier fell far from him and began to grow at\nonce from the ground beneath their feet in that very place. And\nintertwining with one another, they quickly grew and covered all the\nwild-roving cattle by the will of thievish Hermes, so that Apollo was\nastonished as he gazed.\n\n(ll. 414-435) Then the strong slayer of Argus looked furtively upon the\nground with eyes flashing fire.... desiring to hide.... ((LACUNA))\n....Very easily he softened the son of all-glorious Leto as he would,\nstern though the Far-shooter was. He took the lyre upon his left arm\nand tried each string in turn with the key, so that it sounded\nawesomely at his touch. And Phoebus Apollo laughed for joy; for the\nsweet throb of the marvellous music went to his heart, and a soft\nlonging took hold on his soul as he listened. Then the son of Maia,\nharping sweetly upon his lyre, took courage and stood at the left hand\nof Phoebus Apollo; and soon, while he played shrilly on his lyre, he\nlifted up his voice and sang, and lovely was the sound of his voice\nthat followed. He sang the story of the deathless gods and of the dark\nearth, how at the first they came to be, and how each one received his\nportion. First among the gods he honoured Mnemosyne, mother of the\nMuses, in his song; for the son of Maia was of her following. And next\nthe goodly son of Zeus hymned the rest of the immortals according to\ntheir order in age, and told how each was born, mentioning all in order\nas he struck the lyre upon his arm. But Apollo was seized with a\nlonging not to be allayed, and he opened his mouth and spoke winged\nwords to Hermes:\n\n(ll. 436-462) \u2018Slayer of oxen, trickster, busy one, comrade of the\nfeast, this song of yours is worth fifty cows, and I believe that\npresently we shall settle our quarrel peacefully. But come now, tell me\nthis, resourceful son of Maia: has this marvellous thing been with you\nfrom your birth, or did some god or mortal man give it you\u2014a noble\ngift\u2014and teach you heavenly song? For wonderful is this new-uttered\nsound I hear, the like of which I vow that no man nor god dwelling on\nOlympus ever yet has known but you, O thievish son of Maia. What skill\nis this? What song for desperate cares? What way of song? For verily\nhere are three things to hand all at once from which to choose,\u2014mirth,\nand love, and sweet sleep. And though I am a follower of the Olympian\nMuses who love dances and the bright path of song\u2014the full-toned chant\nand ravishing thrill of flutes\u2014yet I never cared for any of those feats\nof skill at young men\u2019s revels, as I do now for this: I am filled with\nwonder, O son of Zeus, at your sweet playing. But now, since you,\nthough little, have such glorious skill, sit down, dear boy, and\nrespect the words of your elders. For now you shall have renown among\nthe deathless gods, you and your mother also. This I will declare to\nyou exactly: by this shaft of cornel wood I will surely make you a\nleader renowned among the deathless gods, and fortunate, and will give\nyou glorious gifts and will not deceive you from first to last.\u2019\n\n(ll. 463-495) Then Hermes answered him with artful words: \u2018You question\nme carefully, O Far-worker; yet I am not jealous that you should enter\nupon my art: this day you shall know it. For I seek to be friendly with\nyou both in thought and word. Now you well know all things in your\nheart, since you sit foremost among the deathless gods, O son of Zeus,\nand are goodly and strong. And wise Zeus loves you as all right is, and\nhas given you splendid gifts. And they say that from the utterance of\nZeus you have learned both the honours due to the gods, O Far-worker,\nand oracles from Zeus, even all his ordinances. Of all these I myself\nhave already learned that you have great wealth. Now, you are free to\nlearn whatever you please; but since, as it seems, your heart is so\nstrongly set on playing the lyre, chant, and play upon it, and give\nyourself to merriment, taking this as a gift from me, and do you, my\nfriend, bestow glory on me. Sing well with this clear-voiced companion\nin your hands; for you are skilled in good, well-ordered utterance.\nFrom now on bring it confidently to the rich feast and lovely dance and\nglorious revel, a joy by night and by day. Whoso with wit and wisdom\nenquires of it cunningly, him it teaches through its sound all manner\nof things that delight the mind, being easily played with gentle\nfamiliarities, for it abhors toilsome drudgery; but whoso in ignorance\nenquires of it violently, to him it chatters mere vanity and\nfoolishness. But you are able to learn whatever you please. So then, I\nwill give you this lyre, glorious son of Zeus, while I for my part will\ngraze down with wild-roving cattle the pastures on hill and\nhorse-feeding plain: so shall the cows covered by the bulls calve\nabundantly both males and females. And now there is no need for you,\nbargainer though you are, to be furiously angry.\u2019\n\n(ll. 496-502) When Hermes had said this, he held out the lyre: and\nPhoebus Apollo took it, and readily put his shining whip in Hermes\u2019\nhand, and ordained him keeper of herds. The son of Maia received it\njoyfully, while the glorious son of Leto, the lord far-working Apollo,\ntook the lyre upon his left arm and tried each string with the key.\nAwesomely it sounded at the touch of the god, while he sang sweetly to\nits note.\n\n(ll. 503-512) Afterwards they two, the all-glorious sons of Zeus turned\nthe cows back towards the sacred meadow, but themselves hastened back\nto snowy Olympus, delighting in the lyre. Then wise Zeus was glad and\nmade them both friends. And Hermes loved the son of Leto continually,\neven as he does now, when he had given the lyre as token to the\nFar-shooter, who played it skilfully, holding it upon his arm. But for\nhimself Hermes found out another cunning art and made himself the pipes\nwhose sound is heard afar.\n\n(ll. 513-520) Then the son of Leto said to Hermes: \u2018Son of Maia, guide\nand cunning one, I fear you may steal form me the lyre and my curved\nbow together; for you have an office from Zeus, to establish deeds of\nbarter amongst men throughout the fruitful earth. Now if you would only\nswear me the great oath of the gods, either by nodding your head, or by\nthe potent water of Styx, you would do all that can please and ease my\nheart.\u2019\n\n(ll. 521-549) Then Maia\u2019s son nodded his head and promised that he\nwould never steal anything of all the Far-shooter possessed, and would\nnever go near his strong house; but Apollo, son of Leto, swore to be\nfellow and friend to Hermes, vowing that he would love no other among\nthe immortals, neither god nor man sprung from Zeus, better than\nHermes: and the Father sent forth an eagle in confirmation. And Apollo\nsware also: \u2018Verily I will make you only to be an omen for the\nimmortals and all alike, trusted and honoured by my heart. Moreover, I\nwill give you a splendid staff of riches and wealth: it is of gold,\nwith three branches, and will keep you scatheless, accomplishing every\ntask, whether of words or deeds that are good, which I claim to know\nthrough the utterance of Zeus. But as for sooth-saying, noble,\nheaven-born child, of which you ask, it is not lawful for you to learn\nit, nor for any other of the deathless gods: only the mind of Zeus\nknows that. I am pledged and have vowed and sworn a strong oath that no\nother of the eternal gods save I should know the wise-hearted counsel\nof Zeus. And do not you, my brother, bearer of the golden wand, bid me\ntell those decrees which all-seeing Zeus intends. As for men, I will\nharm one and profit another, sorely perplexing the tribes of unenviable\nmen. Whosoever shall come guided by the call and flight of birds of\nsure omen, that man shall have advantage through my voice, and I will\nnot deceive him. But whoso shall trust to idly-chattering birds and\nshall seek to invoke my prophetic art contrary to my will, and to\nunderstand more than the eternal gods, I declare that he shall come on\nan idle journey; yet his gifts I would take.\n\n(ll. 550-568) \u2018But I will tell you another thing, Son of all-glorious\nMaia and Zeus who holds the aegis, luck-bringing genius of the gods.\nThere are certain holy ones, sisters born\u2014three virgins 2523 gifted\nwith wings: their heads are besprinkled with white meal, and they dwell\nunder a ridge of Parnassus. These are teachers of divination apart from\nme, the art which I practised while yet a boy following herds, though\nmy father paid no heed to it. From their home they fly now here, now\nthere, feeding on honey-comb and bringing all things to pass. And when\nthey are inspired through eating yellow honey, they are willing to\nspeak truth; but if they be deprived of the gods\u2019 sweet food, then they\nspeak falsely, as they swarm in and out together. These, then, I give\nyou; enquire of them strictly and delight your heart: and if you should\nteach any mortal so to do, often will he hear your response\u2014if he have\ngood fortune. Take these, Son of Maia, and tend the wild roving, horned\noxen and horses and patient mules.\u2019\n\n(ll. 568a-573) So he spake. And from heaven father Zeus himself gave\nconfirmation to his words, and commanded that glorious Hermes should be\nlord over all birds of omen and grim-eyed lions, and boars with\ngleaming tusks, and over dogs and all flocks that the wide earth\nnourishes, and over all sheep; also that he only should be the\nappointed messenger to Hades, who, though he takes no gift, shall give\nhim no mean prize.\n\n(ll. 574-578) Thus the lord Apollo showed his kindness for the Son of\nMaia by all manner of friendship: and the Son of Cronos gave him grace\nbesides. He consorts with all mortals and immortals: a little he\nprofits, but continually throughout the dark night he cozens the tribes\nof mortal men.\n\n(ll. 579-580) And so, farewell, Son of Zeus and Maia; but I will\nremember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nV. TO APHRODITE\n\n(ll. 1-6) Muse, tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite the Cyprian, who\nstirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men\nand birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land\nrears, and all the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned\nCytherea.\n\n(ll. 7-32) Yet there are three hearts that she cannot bend nor yet\nensnare. First is the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis, bright-eyed\nAthene; for she has no pleasure in the deeds of golden Aphrodite, but\ndelights in wars and in the work of Ares, in strifes and battles and in\npreparing famous crafts. She first taught earthly craftsmen to make\nchariots of war and cars variously wrought with bronze, and she, too,\nteaches tender maidens in the house and puts knowledge of goodly arts\nin each one\u2019s mind. Nor does laughter-loving Aphrodite ever tame in\nlove Artemis, the huntress with shafts of gold; for she loves archery\nand the slaying of wild beasts in the mountains, the lyre also and\ndancing and thrilling cries and shady woods and the cities of upright\nmen. Nor yet does the pure maiden Hestia love Aphrodite\u2019s works. She\nwas the first-born child of wily Cronos and youngest too 2524, by will\nof Zeus who holds the aegis,\u2014a queenly maid whom both Poseidon and\nApollo sought to wed. But she was wholly unwilling, nay, stubbornly\nrefused; and touching the head of father Zeus who holds the aegis, she,\nthat fair goddess, sware a great oath which has in truth been\nfulfilled, that she would be a maiden all her days. So Zeus the Father\ngave her an high honour instead of marriage, and she has her place in\nthe midst of the house and has the richest portion. In all the temples\nof the gods she has a share of honour, and among all mortal men she is\nchief of the goddesses.\n\n(ll. 33-44) Of these three Aphrodite cannot bend or ensnare the hearts.\nBut of all others there is nothing among the blessed gods or among\nmortal men that has escaped Aphrodite. Even the heart of Zeus, who\ndelights in thunder, is led astray by her; though he is greatest of all\nand has the lot of highest majesty, she beguiles even his wise heart\nwhensoever she pleases, and mates him with mortal women, unknown to\nHera, his sister and his wife, the grandest far in beauty among the\ndeathless goddesses\u2014most glorious is she whom wily Cronos with her\nmother Rhea did beget: and Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, made her\nhis chaste and careful wife.\n\n(ll. 45-52) But upon Aphrodite herself Zeus cast sweet desire to be\njoined in love with a mortal man, to the end that, very soon, not even\nshe should be innocent of a mortal\u2019s love; lest laughter-loving\nAphrodite should one day softly smile and say mockingly among all the\ngods that she had joined the gods in love with mortal women who bare\nsons of death to the deathless gods, and had mated the goddesses with\nmortal men.\n\n(ll. 53-74) And so he put in her heart sweet desire for Anchises who\nwas tending cattle at that time among the steep hills of\nmany-fountained Ida, and in shape was like the immortal gods.\nTherefore, when laughter-loving Aphrodite saw him, she loved him, and\nterribly desire seized her in her heart. She went to Cyprus, to Paphos,\nwhere her precinct is and fragrant altar, and passed into her\nsweet-smelling temple. There she went in and put to the glittering\ndoors, and there the Graces bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms\nupon the bodies of the eternal gods\u2014oil divinely sweet, which she had\nby her, filled with fragrance. And laughter-loving Aphrodite put on all\nher rich clothes, and when she had decked herself with gold, she left\nsweet-smelling Cyprus and went in haste towards Troy, swiftly\ntravelling high up among the clouds. So she came to many-fountained\nIda, the mother of wild creatures and went straight to the homestead\nacross the mountains. After her came grey wolves, fawning on her, and\ngrim-eyed lions, and bears, and fleet leopards, ravenous for deer: and\nshe was glad in heart to see them, and put desire in their breasts, so\nthat they all mated, two together, about the shadowy coombes.\n\n(ll. 75-88) 2525 But she herself came to the neat-built shelters, and\nhim she found left quite alone in the homestead\u2014the hero Anchises who\nwas comely as the gods. All the others were following the herds over\nthe grassy pastures, and he, left quite alone in the homestead, was\nroaming hither and thither and playing thrillingly upon the lyre. And\nAphrodite, the daughter of Zeus stood before him, being like a pure\nmaiden in height and mien, that he should not be frightened when he\ntook heed of her with his eyes. Now when Anchises saw her, he marked\nher well and wondered at her mien and height and shining garments. For\nshe was clad in a robe out-shining the brightness of fire, a splendid\nrobe of gold, enriched with all manner of needlework, which shimmered\nlike the moon over her tender breasts, a marvel to see.\n\nAlso she wore twisted brooches and shining earrings in the form of\nflowers; and round her soft throat were lovely necklaces.\n\n(ll. 91-105) And Anchises was seized with love, and said to her: \u2018Hail,\nlady, whoever of the blessed ones you are that are come to this house,\nwhether Artemis, or Leto, or golden Aphrodite, or high-born Themis, or\nbright-eyed Athene. Or, maybe, you are one of the Graces come hither,\nwho bear the gods company and are called immortal, or else one of those\nwho inhabit this lovely mountain and the springs of rivers and grassy\nmeads. I will make you an altar upon a high peak in a far seen place,\nand will sacrifice rich offerings to you at all seasons. And do you\nfeel kindly towards me and grant that I may become a man very eminent\namong the Trojans, and give me strong offspring for the time to come.\nAs for my own self, let me live long and happily, seeing the light of\nthe sun, and come to the threshold of old age, a man prosperous among\nthe people.\u2019\n\n(ll. 106-142) Thereupon Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:\n\u2018Anchises, most glorious of all men born on earth, know that I am no\ngoddess: why do you liken me to the deathless ones? Nay, I am but a\nmortal, and a woman was the mother that bare me. Otreus of famous name\nis my father, if so be you have heard of him, and he reigns over all\nPhrygia rich in fortresses. But I know your speech well beside my own,\nfor a Trojan nurse brought me up at home: she took me from my dear\nmother and reared me thenceforth when I was a little child. So comes\nit, then, that I well know your tongue also. And now the Slayer of\nArgus with the golden wand has caught me up from the dance of huntress\nArtemis, her with the golden arrows. For there were many of us, nymphs\nand marriageable 2526 maidens, playing together; and an innumerable\ncompany encircled us: from these the Slayer of Argus with the golden\nwand rapt me away. He carried me over many fields of mortal men and\nover much land untilled and unpossessed, where savage wild-beasts roam\nthrough shady coombes, until I thought never again to touch the\nlife-giving earth with my feet. And he said that I should be called the\nwedded wife of Anchises, and should bear you goodly children. But when\nhe had told and advised me, he, the strong Slayer of Argos, went back\nto the families of the deathless gods, while I am now come to you: for\nunbending necessity is upon me. But I beseech you by Zeus and by your\nnoble parents\u2014for no base folk could get such a son as you\u2014take me now,\nstainless and unproved in love, and show me to your father and careful\nmother and to your brothers sprung from the same stock. I shall be no\nill-liking daughter for them, but a likely. Moreover, send a messenger\nquickly to the swift-horsed Phrygians, to tell my father and my\nsorrowing mother; and they will send you gold in plenty and woven\nstuffs, many splendid gifts; take these as bride-piece. So do, and then\nprepare the sweet marriage that is honourable in the eyes of men and\ndeathless gods.\u2019\n\n(ll. 143-144) When she had so spoken, the goddess put sweet desire in\nhis heart. And Anchises was seized with love, so that he opened his\nmouth and said:\n\n(ll. 145-154) \u2018If you are a mortal and a woman was the mother who bare\nyou, and Otreus of famous name is your father as you say, and if you\nare come here by the will of Hermes the immortal Guide, and are to be\ncalled my wife always, then neither god nor mortal man shall here\nrestrain me till I have lain with you in love right now; no, not even\nif far-shooting Apollo himself should launch grievous shafts from his\nsilver bow. Willingly would I go down into the house of Hades, O lady,\nbeautiful as the goddesses, once I had gone up to your bed.\u2019\n\n(ll. 155-167) So speaking, he caught her by the hand. And\nlaughter-loving Aphrodite, with face turned away and lovely eyes\ndowncast, crept to the well-spread couch which was already laid with\nsoft coverings for the hero; and upon it lay skins of bears and\ndeep-roaring lions which he himself had slain in the high mountains.\nAnd when they had gone up upon the well-fitted bed, first Anchises took\noff her bright jewelry of pins and twisted brooches and earrings and\nnecklaces, and loosed her girdle and stripped off her bright garments\nand laid them down upon a silver-studded seat. Then by the will of the\ngods and destiny he lay with her, a mortal man with an immortal\ngoddess, not clearly knowing what he did.\n\n(ll. 168-176) But at the time when the herdsmen drive their oxen and\nhardy sheep back to the fold from the flowery pastures, even then\nAphrodite poured soft sleep upon Anchises, but herself put on her rich\nraiment. And when the bright goddess had fully clothed herself, she\nstood by the couch, and her head reached to the well-hewn roof-tree;\nfrom her cheeks shone unearthly beauty such as belongs to rich-crowned\nCytherea. Then she aroused him from sleep and opened her mouth and\nsaid:\n\n(ll. 177-179) \u2018Up, son of Dardanus!\u2014why sleep you so heavily?\u2014and\nconsider whether I look as I did when first you saw me with your eyes.\u2019\n\n(ll. 180-184) So she spake. And he awoke in a moment and obeyed her.\nBut when he saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite, he was afraid\nand turned his eyes aside another way, hiding his comely face with his\ncloak. Then he uttered winged words and entreated her:\n\n(ll. 185-190) \u2018So soon as ever I saw you with my eyes, goddess, I knew\nthat you were divine; but you did not tell me truly. Yet by Zeus who\nholds the aegis I beseech you, leave me not to lead a palsied life\namong men, but have pity on me; for he who lies with a deathless\ngoddess is no hale man afterwards.\u2019\n\n(ll. 191-201) Then Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:\n\u2018Anchises, most glorious of mortal men, take courage and be not too\nfearful in your heart. You need fear no harm from me nor from the other\nblessed ones, for you are dear to the gods: and you shall have a dear\nson who shall reign among the Trojans, and children\u2019s children after\nhim, springing up continually. His name shall be Aeneas 2527, because I\nfelt awful grief in that I laid me in the bed of mortal man: yet are\nthose of your race always the most like to gods of all mortal men in\nbeauty and in stature 2528.\n\n(ll. 202-217) \u2018Verily wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes\nbecause of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink\nfor the gods in the house of Zeus\u2014a wonder to see\u2014honoured by all the\nimmortals as he draws the red nectar from the golden bowl. But grief\nthat could not be soothed filled the heart of Tros; for he knew not\nwhither the heaven-sent whirlwind had caught up his dear son, so that\nhe mourned him always, unceasingly, until Zeus pitied him and gave him\nhigh-stepping horses such as carry the immortals as recompense for his\nson. These he gave him as a gift. And at the command of Zeus, the\nGuide, the slayer of Argus, told him all, and how his son would be\ndeathless and unageing, even as the gods. So when Tros heard these\ntidings from Zeus, he no longer kept mourning but rejoiced in his heart\nand rode joyfully with his storm-footed horses.\n\n(ll. 218-238) \u2018So also golden-throned Eos rapt away Tithonus who was of\nyour race and like the deathless gods. And she went to ask the\ndark-clouded Son of Cronos that he should be deathless and live\neternally; and Zeus bowed his head to her prayer and fulfilled her\ndesire. Too simply was queenly Eos: she thought not in her heart to ask\nyouth for him and to strip him of the slough of deadly age. So while he\nenjoyed the sweet flower of life he lived rapturously with\ngolden-throned Eos, the early-born, by the streams of Ocean, at the\nends of the earth; but when the first grey hairs began to ripple from\nhis comely head and noble chin, queenly Eos kept away from his bed,\nthough she cherished him in her house and nourished him with food and\nambrosia and gave him rich clothing. But when loathsome old age pressed\nfull upon him, and he could not move nor lift his limbs, this seemed to\nher in her heart the best counsel: she laid him in a room and put to\nthe shining doors. There he babbles endlessly, and no more has strength\nat all, such as once he had in his supple limbs.\n\n(ll. 239-246) \u2018I would not have you be deathless among the deathless\ngods and live continually after such sort. Yet if you could live on\nsuch as now you are in look and in form, and be called my husband,\nsorrow would not then enfold my careful heart. But, as it is, harsh\n2529 old age will soon enshroud you\u2014ruthless age which stands someday\nat the side of every man, deadly, wearying, dreaded even by the gods.\n\n(ll. 247-290) \u2018And now because of you I shall have great shame among\nthe deathless gods henceforth, continually. For until now they feared\nmy jibes and the wiles by which, or soon or late, I mated all the\nimmortals with mortal women, making them all subject to my will. But\nnow my mouth shall no more have this power among the gods; for very\ngreat has been my madness, my miserable and dreadful madness, and I\nwent astray out of my mind who have gotten a child beneath my girdle,\nmating with a mortal man. As for the child, as soon as he sees the\nlight of the sun, the deep-breasted mountain Nymphs who inhabit this\ngreat and holy mountain shall bring him up. They rank neither with\nmortals nor with immortals: long indeed do they live, eating heavenly\nfood and treading the lovely dance among the immortals, and with them\nthe Sileni and the sharp-eyed Slayer of Argus mate in the depths of\npleasant caves; but at their birth pines or high-topped oaks spring up\nwith them upon the fruitful earth, beautiful, flourishing trees,\ntowering high upon the lofty mountains (and men call them holy places\nof the immortals, and never mortal lops them with the axe); but when\nthe fate of death is near at hand, first those lovely trees wither\nwhere they stand, and the bark shrivels away about them, and the twigs\nfall down, and at last the life of the Nymph and of the tree leave the\nlight of the sun together. These Nymphs shall keep my son with them and\nrear him, and as soon as he is come to lovely boyhood, the goddesses\nwill bring him here to you and show you your child. But, that I may\ntell you all that I have in mind, I will come here again towards the\nfifth year and bring you my son. So soon as ever you have seen him\u2014a\nscion to delight the eyes\u2014you will rejoice in beholding him; for he\nshall be most godlike: then bring him at once to windy Ilion. And if\nany mortal man ask you who got your dear son beneath her girdle,\nremember to tell him as I bid you: say he is the offspring of one of\nthe flower-like Nymphs who inhabit this forest-clad hill. But if you\ntell all and foolishly boast that you lay with rich-crowned Aphrodite,\nZeus will smite you in his anger with a smoking thunderbolt. Now I have\ntold you all. Take heed: refrain and name me not, but have regard to\nthe anger of the gods.\u2019\n\n(l. 291) When the goddess had so spoken, she soared up to windy heaven.\n\n(ll. 292-293) Hail, goddess, queen of well-builded Cyprus! With you\nhave I begun; now I will turn me to another hymn.\n\n\n\n\nVI. TO APHRODITE\n\n(ll. 1-18) I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and\nbeautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus.\nThere the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of\nthe loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours\nwelcomed her joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her\nhead they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced\nears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her\nwith golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels\nwhich the gold-filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their\nfather\u2019s house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had\nfully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when\nthey saw her, giving her their hands. Each one of them prayed that he\nmight lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed\nat the beauty of violet-crowned Cytherea.\n\n(ll. 19-21) Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may\ngain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will\nremember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nVII. TO DIONYSUS\n\n(ll. 1-16) I will tell of Dionysus, the son of glorious Semele, how he\nappeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the fruitless sea,\nseeming like a stripling in the first flush of manhood: his rich, dark\nhair was waving about him, and on his strong shoulders he wore a purple\nrobe. Presently there came swiftly over the sparkling sea Tyrsenian\n2530 pirates on a well-decked ship\u2014a miserable doom led them on. When\nthey saw him they made signs to one another and sprang out quickly, and\nseizing him straightway, put him on board their ship exultingly; for\nthey thought him the son of heaven-nurtured kings. They sought to bind\nhim with rude bonds, but the bonds would not hold him, and the withes\nfell far away from his hands and feet: and he sat with a smile in his\ndark eyes. Then the helmsman understood all and cried out at once to\nhis fellows and said:\n\n(ll. 17-24) \u2018Madmen! What god is this whom you have taken and bind,\nstrong that he is? Not even the well-built ship can carry him. Surely\nthis is either Zeus or Apollo who has the silver bow, or Poseidon, for\nhe looks not like mortal men but like the gods who dwell on Olympus.\nCome, then, let us set him free upon the dark shore at once: do not lay\nhands on him, lest he grow angry and stir up dangerous winds and heavy\nsqualls.\u2019\n\n(ll. 25-31) So said he: but the master chid him with taunting words:\n\u2018Madman, mark the wind and help hoist sail on the ship: catch all the\nsheets. As for this fellow we men will see to him: I reckon he is bound\nfor Egypt or for Cyprus or to the Hyperboreans or further still. But in\nthe end he will speak out and tell us his friends and all his wealth\nand his brothers, now that providence has thrown him in our way.\u2019\n\n(ll. 32-54) When he had said this, he had mast and sail hoisted on the\nship, and the wind filled the sail and the crew hauled taut the sheets\non either side. But soon strange things were seen among them. First of\nall sweet, fragrant wine ran streaming throughout all the black ship\nand a heavenly smell arose, so that all the seamen were seized with\namazement when they saw it. And all at once a vine spread out both ways\nalong the top of the sail with many clusters hanging down from it, and\na dark ivy-plant twined about the mast, blossoming with flowers, and\nwith rich berries growing on it; and all the thole-pins were covered\nwith garlands. When the pirates saw all this, then at last they bade\nthe helmsman to put the ship to land. But the god changed into a\ndreadful lion there on the ship, in the bows, and roared loudly:\namidships also he showed his wonders and created a shaggy bear which\nstood up ravening, while on the forepeak was the lion glaring fiercely\nwith scowling brows. And so the sailors fled into the stern and crowded\nbemused about the right-minded helmsman, until suddenly the lion sprang\nupon the master and seized him; and when the sailors saw it they leapt\nout overboard one and all into the bright sea, escaping from a\nmiserable fate, and were changed into dolphins. But on the helmsman\nDionysus had mercy and held him back and made him altogether happy,\nsaying to him:\n\n(ll. 55-57) \u2018Take courage, good...; you have found favour with my\nheart. I am loud-crying Dionysus whom Cadmus\u2019 daughter Semele bare of\nunion with Zeus.\u2019\n\n(ll. 58-59) Hail, child of fair-faced Semele! He who forgets you can in\nno wise order sweet song.\n\n\n\n\nVIII. TO ARES\n\n(ll. 1-17) Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed,\ndoughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in\nbronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of\nOlympus, father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of\nthe rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness,\nwho whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold\ncourses through the aether wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you\nabove the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of\ndauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and\nstrength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from\nmy head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also\nthe keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of\nblood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to\nabide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and\nthe violent fiends of death.\n\n\n\n\nIX. TO ARTEMIS\n\n(ll. 1-6) Muse, sing of Artemis, sister of the Far-shooter, the virgin\nwho delights in arrows, who was fostered with Apollo. She waters her\nhorses from Meles deep in reeds, and swiftly drives her all-golden\nchariot through Smyrna to vine-clad Claros where Apollo, god of the\nsilver bow, sits waiting for the far-shooting goddess who delights in\narrows.\n\n(ll. 7-9) And so hail to you, Artemis, in my song and to all goddesses\nas well. Of you first I sing and with you I begin; now that I have\nbegun with you, I will turn to another song.\n\n\n\n\nX. TO APHRODITE\n\n(ll. 1-3) Of Cytherea, born in Cyprus, I will sing. She gives kindly\ngifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the\nbrightness that plays over it.\n\n(ll. 4-6) Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt\nCyprus; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and\nanother song also.\n\n\n\n\nXI. TO ATHENA\n\n(ll. 1-4) Of Pallas Athene, guardian of the city, I begin to sing.\nDread is she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities\nand the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they\ngo out to war and come back.\n\n(l. 5) Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!\n\n\n\n\nXII. TO HERA\n\n(ll. 1-5) I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the\nimmortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the\nwife of loud-thundering Zeus,\u2014the glorious one whom all the blessed\nthroughout high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights\nin thunder.\n\n\n\n\nXIII. TO DEMETER\n\n(ll. 1-2) I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess, of her\nand of her daughter lovely Persephone.\n\n(l. 3) Hail, goddess! Keep this city safe, and govern my song.\n\n\n\n\nXIV. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS\n\n(ll. 1-5) I prithee, clear-voiced Muse, daughter of mighty Zeus, sing\nof the mother of all gods and men. She is well-pleased with the sound\nof rattles and of timbrels, with the voice of flutes and the outcry of\nwolves and bright-eyed lions, with echoing hills and wooded coombes.\n\n(l. 6) And so hail to you in my song and to all goddesses as well!\n\n\n\n\nXV. TO HERACLES THE LION-HEARTED\n\n(ll. 1-8) I will sing of Heracles, the son of Zeus and much the\nmightiest of men on earth. Alcmena bare him in Thebes, the city of\nlovely dances, when the dark-clouded Son of Cronos had lain with her.\nOnce he used to wander over unmeasured tracts of land and sea at the\nbidding of King Eurystheus, and himself did many deeds of violence and\nendured many; but now he lives happily in the glorious home of snowy\nOlympus, and has neat-ankled Hebe for his wife.\n\n(l. 9) Hail, lord, son of Zeus! Give me success and prosperity.\n\n\n\n\nXVI. TO ASCLEPIUS\n\n(ll. 1-4) I begin to sing of Asclepius, son of Apollo and healer of\nsicknesses. In the Dotian plain fair Coronis, daughter of King\nPhlegyas, bare him, a great joy to men, a soother of cruel pangs.\n\n(l. 5) And so hail to you, lord: in my song I make my prayer to thee!\n\n\n\n\nXVII. TO THE DIOSCURI\n\n(ll. 1-4) Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Castor and Polydeuces, the\nTyndaridae, who sprang from Olympian Zeus. Beneath the heights of\nTaygetus stately Leda bare them, when the dark-clouded Son of Cronos\nhad privily bent her to his will.\n\n(l. 5) Hail, children of Tyndareus, riders upon swift horses!\n\n\n\n\nXVIII. TO HERMES\n\n(ll. 1-9) I sing of Cyllenian Hermes, the Slayer of Argus, lord of\nCyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing messenger of the\ndeathless gods. He was born of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, when she\nhad made with Zeus,\u2014a shy goddess she. Ever she avoided the throng of\nthe blessed gods and lived in a shadowy cave, and there the Son of\nCronos used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph at dead of night, while\nwhite-armed Hera lay bound in sweet sleep: and neither deathless god\nnor mortal man knew it.\n\n(ll. 10-11) And so hail to you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have\nbegun: now I will turn to another song!\n\n(l. 12) Hail, Hermes, giver of grace, guide, and giver of good things!\n2531\n\n\n\n\nXIX. TO PAN\n\n(ll. 1-26) Muse, tell me about Pan, the dear son of Hermes, with his\ngoat\u2019s feet and two horns\u2014a lover of merry noise. Through wooded glades\nhe wanders with dancing nymphs who foot it on some sheer cliff\u2019s edge,\ncalling upon Pan, the shepherd-god, long-haired, unkempt. He has every\nsnowy crest and the mountain peaks and rocky crests for his domain;\nhither and thither he goes through the close thickets, now lured by\nsoft streams, and now he presses on amongst towering crags and climbs\nup to the highest peak that overlooks the flocks. Often he courses\nthrough the glistening high mountains, and often on the shouldered\nhills he speeds along slaying wild beasts, this keen-eyed god. Only at\nevening, as he returns from the chase, he sounds his note, playing\nsweet and low on his pipes of reed: not even she could excel him in\nmelody\u2014that bird who in flower-laden spring pouring forth her lament\nutters honey-voiced song amid the leaves. At that hour the clear-voiced\nnymphs are with him and move with nimble feet, singing by some spring\nof dark water, while Echo wails about the mountain-top, and the god on\nthis side or on that of the choirs, or at times sidling into the midst,\nplies it nimbly with his feet. On his back he wears a spotted\nlynx-pelt, and he delights in high-pitched songs in a soft meadow where\ncrocuses and sweet-smelling hyacinths bloom at random in the grass.\n\n(ll. 27-47) They sing of the blessed gods and high Olympus and choose\nto tell of such an one as luck-bringing Hermes above the rest, how he\nis the swift messenger of all the gods, and how he came to Arcadia, the\nland of many springs and mother of flocks, there where his sacred place\nis as god of Cyllene. For there, though a god, he used to tend\ncurly-fleeced sheep in the service of a mortal man, because there fell\non him and waxed strong melting desire to wed the rich-tressed daughter\nof Dryops, and there he brought about the merry marriage. And in the\nhouse she bare Hermes a dear son who from his birth was marvellous to\nlook upon, with goat\u2019s feet and two horns\u2014a noisy, merry-laughing\nchild. But when the nurse saw his uncouth face and full beard, she was\nafraid and sprang up and fled and left the child. Then luck-bringing\nHermes received him and took him in his arms: very glad in his heart\nwas the god. And he went quickly to the abodes of the deathless gods,\ncarrying the son wrapped in warm skins of mountain hares, and set him\ndown beside Zeus and showed him to the rest of the gods. Then all the\nimmortals were glad in heart and Bacchie Dionysus in especial; and they\ncalled the boy Pan 2532 because he delighted all their hearts.\n\n(ll. 48-49) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with a song.\nAnd now I will remember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nXX. TO HEPHAESTUS\n\n(ll. 1-7) Sing, clear-voiced Muses, of Hephaestus famed for inventions.\nWith bright-eyed Athene he taught men glorious gifts throughout the\nworld,\u2014men who before used to dwell in caves in the mountains like wild\nbeasts. But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaestus the\nfamed worker, easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the\nwhole year round.\n\n(l. 8) Be gracious, Hephaestus, and grant me success and prosperity!\n\n\n\n\nXXI. TO APOLLO\n\n(ll. 1-4) Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the\nbeating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river\nPeneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched\nlyre, always sings both first and last.\n\n(l. 5) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with my song.\n\n\n\n\nXXII. TO POSEIDON\n\n(ll. 1-5) I begin to sing about Poseidon, the great god, mover of the\nearth and fruitless sea, god of the deep who is also lord of Helicon\nand wide Aegae. A two-fold office the gods allotted you, O Shaker of\nthe Earth, to be a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships!\n\n(ll. 6-7) Hail, Poseidon, Holder of the Earth, dark-haired lord! O\nblessed one, be kindly in heart and help those who voyage in ships!\n\n\n\n\nXXIII. TO THE SON OF CRONOS, MOST HIGH\n\n(ll. 1-3) I will sing of Zeus, chiefest among the gods and greatest,\nall-seeing, the lord of all, the fulfiller who whispers words of wisdom\nto Themis as she sits leaning towards him.\n\n(l. 4) Be gracious, all-seeing Son of Cronos, most excellent and great!\n\n\n\n\nXXIV. TO HESTIA\n\n(ll. 1-5) Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the\nFar-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your\nlocks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the\nall-wise\u2014draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.\n\n\n\n\nXXV. TO THE MUSES AND APOLLO\n\n(ll. 1-5) I will begin with the Muses and Apollo and Zeus. For it is\nthrough the Muses and Apollo that there are singers upon the earth and\nplayers upon the lyre; but kings are from Zeus. Happy is he whom the\nMuses love: sweet flows speech from his lips.\n\n(ll. 6-7) Hail, children of Zeus! Give honour to my song! And now I\nwill remember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nXXVI. TO DIONYSUS\n\n(ll. 1-9) I begin to sing of ivy-crowned Dionysus, the loud-crying god,\nsplendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele. The rich-haired Nymphs\nreceived him in their bosoms from the lord his father and fostered and\nnurtured him carefully in the dells of Nysa, where by the will of his\nfather he grew up in a sweet-smelling cave, being reckoned among the\nimmortals. But when the goddesses had brought him up, a god oft hymned,\nthen began he to wander continually through the woody coombes, thickly\nwreathed with ivy and laurel. And the Nymphs followed in his train with\nhim for their leader; and the boundless forest was filled with their\noutcry.\n\n(ll. 10-13) And so hail to you, Dionysus, god of abundant clusters!\nGrant that we may come again rejoicing to this season, and from that\nseason onwards for many a year.\n\n\n\n\nXXVII. TO ARTEMIS\n\n(ll. 1-20) I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on\nthe hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery,\nown sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and\nwindy peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends\nout grievous shafts. The tops of the high mountains tremble and the\ntangled wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earthquakes\nand the sea also where fishes shoal. But the goddess with a bold heart\nturns every way destroying the race of wild beasts: and when she is\nsatisfied and has cheered her heart, this huntress who delights in\narrows slackens her supple bow and goes to the great house of her dear\nbrother Phoebus Apollo, to the rich land of Delphi, there to order the\nlovely dance of the Muses and Graces. There she hangs up her curved bow\nand her arrows, and heads and leads the dances, gracefully arrayed,\nwhile all they utter their heavenly voice, singing how neat-ankled Leto\nbare children supreme among the immortals both in thought and in deed.\n\n(ll. 21-22) Hail to you, children of Zeus and rich-haired Leto! And now\nI will remember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII. TO ATHENA\n\n(ll. 1-16) I begin to sing of Pallas Athene, the glorious goddess,\nbright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of\ncities, courageous, Tritogeneia. From his awful head wise Zeus himself\nbare her arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all\nthe gods as they gazed. But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal\nhead and stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear:\ngreat Olympus began to reel horribly at the might of the bright-eyed\ngoddess, and earth round about cried fearfully, and the sea was moved\nand tossed with dark waves, while foam burst forth suddenly: the bright\nSon of Hyperion stopped his swift-footed horses a long while, until the\nmaiden Pallas Athene had stripped the heavenly armour from her immortal\nshoulders. And wise Zeus was glad.\n\n(ll. 17-18) And so hail to you, daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis!\nNow I will remember you and another song as well.\n\n\n\n\nXXIX. TO HESTIA\n\n(ll. 1-6) Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and\nmen who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest\nhonour: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you\nmortals hold no banquet,\u2014where one does not duly pour sweet wine in\noffering to Hestia both first and last.\n\n(ll. 7-10) 2533 And you, slayer of Argus, Son of Zeus and Maia,\nmessenger of the blessed gods, bearer of the golden rod, giver of good,\nbe favourable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear.\nCome and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you\ntwo, well knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and\ntheir strength.\n\n(ll. 12-13) Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also, Hermes, bearer of\nthe golden rod! Now I will remember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nXXX. TO EARTH THE MOTHER OF ALL\n\n(ll. 1-16) I will sing of well-founded Earth, mother of all, eldest of\nall beings. She feeds all creatures that are in the world, all that go\nupon the goodly land, and all that are in the paths of the seas, and\nall that fly: all these are fed of her store. Through you, O queen, men\nare blessed in their children and blessed in their harvests, and to you\nit belongs to give means of life to mortal men and to take it away.\nHappy is the man whom you delight to honour! He has all things\nabundantly: his fruitful land is laden with corn, his pastures are\ncovered with cattle, and his house is filled with good things. Such men\nrule orderly in their cities of fair women: great riches and wealth\nfollow them: their sons exult with ever-fresh delight, and their\ndaughters in flower-laden bands play and skip merrily over the soft\nflowers of the field. Thus is it with those whom you honour O holy\ngoddess, bountiful spirit.\n\n(ll. 17-19) Hail, Mother of the gods, wife of starry Heaven; freely\nbestow upon me for this my song substance that cheers the heart! And\nnow I will remember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nXXXI. TO HELIOS\n\n(ll. 1-16) 2534 And now, O Muse Calliope, daughter of Zeus, begin to\nsing of glowing Helios whom mild-eyed Euryphaessa, the far-shining one,\nbare to the Son of Earth and starry Heaven. For Hyperion wedded\nglorious Euryphaessa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children,\nrosy-armed Eos and rich-tressed Selene and tireless Helios who is like\nthe deathless gods. As he rides in his chariot, he shines upon men and\ndeathless gods, and piercingly he gazes with his eyes from his golden\nhelmet. Bright rays beam dazzlingly from him, and his bright locks\nstreaming from the temples of his head gracefully enclose his far-seen\nface: a rich, fine-spun garment glows upon his body and flutters in the\nwind: and stallions carry him. Then, when he has stayed his\ngolden-yoked chariot and horses, he rests there upon the highest point\nof heaven, until he marvellously drives them down again through heaven\nto Ocean.\n\n(ll. 17-19) Hail to you, lord! Freely bestow on me substance that\ncheers the heart. And now that I have begun with you, I will celebrate\nthe race of mortal men half-divine whose deeds the Muses have showed to\nmankind.\n\n\n\n\nXXXII. TO SELENE\n\n(ll. 1-13) And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus,\nwell-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged 2535 Moon. From her\nimmortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and\ngreat is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit\nbefore, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam\nclear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the\nwaters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming, shining team, drives on\nher long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then\nher great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she\nincreases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal men.\n\n(ll. 14-16) Once the Son of Cronos was joined with her in love; and she\nconceived and bare a daughter Pandia, exceeding lovely amongst the\ndeathless gods.\n\n(ll. 17-20) Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild,\nbright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glories of\nmen half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Muses,\ncelebrate with lovely lips.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI\n\n(ll. 1-17) Bright-eyed Muses, tell of the Tyndaridae, the Sons of Zeus,\nglorious children of neat-ankled Leda, Castor the tamer of horses, and\nblameless Polydeuces. When Leda had lain with the dark-clouded Son of\nCronos, she bare them beneath the peak of the great hill\nTaygetus,\u2014children who are delivers of men on earth and of swift-going\nships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea. Then the shipmen\ncall upon the sons of great Zeus with vows of white lambs, going to the\nforepart of the prow; but the strong wind and the waves of the sea lay\nthe ship under water, until suddenly these two are seen darting through\nthe air on tawny wings. Forthwith they allay the blasts of the cruel\nwinds and still the waves upon the surface of the white sea: fair signs\nare they and deliverance from toil. And when the shipmen see them they\nare glad and have rest from their pain and labour.\n\n(ll. 18-19) Hail, Tyndaridae, riders upon swift horses! Now I will\nremember you and another song also.\n\n\n\n\nHOMER\u2019S EPIGRAMS2601\n\n\nI. (5 lines) (ll. 1-5) Have reverence for him who needs a home and\nstranger\u2019s dole, all ye who dwell in the high city of Cyme, the lovely\nmaiden, hard by the foothills of lofty Sardene, ye who drink the\nheavenly water of the divine stream, eddying Hermus, whom deathless\nZeus begot.\n\nII. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Speedily may my feet bear me to some town of\nrighteous men; for their hearts are generous and their wit is best.\n\nIII. (6 lines) (ll. 1-6) I am a maiden of bronze and am set upon the\ntomb of Midas. While the waters flow and tall trees flourish, and the\nsun rises and shines and the bright moon also; while rivers run and the\nsea breaks on the shore, ever remaining on this mournful tomb, I tell\nthe passer-by that Midas here lies buried.\n\nIV. (17 lines) (ll. 1-17) To what a fate did Zeus the Father give me a\nprey even while he made me to grow, a babe at my mother\u2019s knee! By the\nwill of Zeus who holds the aegis the people of Phricon, riders on\nwanton horses, more active than raging fire in the test of war, once\nbuilt the towers of Aeolian Smyrna, wave-shaken neighbour to the sea,\nthrough which glides the pleasant stream of sacred Meles; thence 2602\narose the daughters of Zeus, glorious children, and would fain have\nmade famous that fair country and the city of its people. But in their\nfolly those men scorned the divine voice and renown of song, and in\ntrouble shall one of them remember this hereafter\u2014he who with scornful\nwords to them 2603 contrived my fate. Yet I will endure the lot which\nheaven gave me even at my birth, bearing my disappointment with a\npatient heart. My dear limbs yearn not to stay in the sacred streets of\nCyme, but rather my great heart urges me to go unto another country,\nsmall though I am.\n\nV. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Thestorides, full many things there are that\nmortals cannot sound; but there is nothing more unfathomable than the\nheart of man.\n\nVI. (8 lines) (ll. 1-8) Hear me, Poseidon, strong shaker of the earth,\nruler of wide-spread, tawny Helicon! Give a fair wind and sight of safe\nreturn to the shipmen who speed and govern this ship. And grant that\nwhen I come to the nether slopes of towering Mimas I may find\nhonourable, god-fearing men. Also may I avenge me on the wretch who\ndeceived me and grieved Zeus the lord of guests and his own\nguest-table.\n\nVII. (3 lines) (ll. 1-3) Queen Earth, all bounteous giver of\nhoney-hearted wealth, how kindly, it seems, you are to some, and how\nintractable and rough for those with whom you are angry.\n\nVIII. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Sailors, who rove the seas and whom a hateful\nfate has made as the shy sea-fowl, living an unenviable life, observe\nthe reverence due to Zeus who rules on high, the god of strangers; for\nterrible is the vengeance of this god afterwards for whosoever has\nsinned.\n\nIX. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Strangers, a contrary wind has caught you: but\neven now take me aboard and you shall make your voyage.\n\nX. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Another sort of pine shall bear a better fruit\n2604 than you upon the heights of furrowed, windy Ida. For there shall\nmortal men get the iron that Ares loves so soon as the Cebrenians shall\nhold the land.\n\nXI. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Glaucus, watchman of flocks, a word will I put\nin your heart. First give the dogs their dinner at the courtyard gate,\nfor this is well. The dog first hears a man approaching and the\nwild-beast coming to the fence.\n\nXII. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Goddess-nurse of the young 2605, give ear to\nmy prayer, and grant that this woman may reject the love-embraces of\nyouth and dote on grey-haired old men whose powers are dulled, but\nwhose hearts still desire.\n\nXIII. (6 lines) (ll. 1-6) Children are a man\u2019s crown, towers of a city;\nhorses are the glory of a plain, and so are ships of the sea; wealth\nwill make a house great, and reverend princes seated in assembly are a\ngoodly sight for the folk to see. But a blazing fire makes a house look\nmore comely upon a winter\u2019s day, when the Son of Cronos sends down\nsnow.\n\nXIV. (23 lines) (ll. 1-23) Potters, if you will give me a reward, I\nwill sing for you. Come, then, Athena, with hand upraised 2606 over the\nkiln. Let the pots and all the dishes turn out well and be well fired:\nlet them fetch good prices and be sold in plenty in the market, and\nplenty in the streets. Grant that the potters may get great gain and\ngrant me so to sing to them. But if you turn shameless and make false\npromises, then I call together the destroyers of kilns, Shatter and\nSmash and Charr and Crash and Crudebake who can work this craft much\nmischief. Come all of you and sack the kiln-yard and the buildings: let\nthe whole kiln be shaken up to the potter\u2019s loud lament. As a horse\u2019s\njaw grinds, so let the kiln grind to powder all the pots inside. And\nyou, too, daughter of the Sun, Circe the witch, come and cast cruel\nspells; hurt both these men and their handiwork. Let Chiron also come\nand bring many Centaurs\u2014all that escaped the hands of Heracles and all\nthat were destroyed: let them make sad havoc of the pots and overthrow\nthe kiln, and let the potters see the mischief and be grieved; but I\nwill gloat as I behold their luckless craft. And if anyone of them\nstoops to peer in, let all his face be burned up, that all men may\nlearn to deal honestly.\n\nXV. (13 lines) 2607 (ll. 1-7) Let us betake us to the house of some man\nof great power,\u2014one who bears great power and is greatly prosperous\nalways. Open of yourselves, you doors, for mighty Wealth will enter in,\nand with Wealth comes jolly Mirth and gentle Peace. May all the\ncorn-bins be full and the mass of dough always overflow the\nkneading-trough. Now (set before us) cheerful barley-pottage, full of\nsesame....\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 8-10) Your son\u2019s wife, driving to this house with strong-hoofed\nmules, shall dismount from her carriage to greet you; may she be shod\nwith golden shoes as she stands weaving at the loom.\n\n(ll. 11-13) I come, and I come yearly, like the swallow that perches\nlight-footed in the fore-part of your house. But quickly bring....\n\nXVI. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) If you will give us anything (well). But if\nnot, we will not wait, for we are not come here to dwell with you.\n\nXVII. HOMER: Hunters of deep sea prey, have we caught anything?\n\nFISHERMAN: All that we caught we left behind, and all that we did not\ncatch we carry home. 2608\n\nHOMER: Ay, for of such fathers you are sprung as neither hold rich\nlands nor tend countless sheep.\n\n\n\n\nFRAGMENTS OF THE EPIC CYCLE\n\n\n\n\nTHE WAR OF THE TITANS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Photius, Epitome of the Chrestomathy of Proclus: The Epic\nCycle begins with the fabled union of Heaven and Earth, by which they\nmake three hundred-handed sons and three Cyclopes to be born to him.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Anecdota Oxon. (Cramer) i. 75: According to the writer of\nthe _War of the Titans_ Heaven was the son of Aether.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 1165: Eumelus says\nthat Aegaeon was the son of Earth and Sea and, having his dwelling in\nthe sea, was an ally of the Titans.\n\nFragment #4\u2014Athenaeus, vii. 277 D: The poet of the _War of the Titans_,\nwhether Eumelus of Corinth or Arctinus, writes thus in his second book:\n\u2018Upon the shield were dumb fish afloat, with golden faces, swimming and\nsporting through the heavenly water.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Athenaeus, i. 22 C: Eumelus somewhere introduces Zeus\ndancing: he says\u2014\u2018In the midst of them danced the Father of men and\ngods.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 554: The author of\nthe _War of the Giants_ says that Cronos took the shape of a horse and\nlay with Philyra, the daughter of Ocean. Through this cause Cheiron was\nborn a centaur: his wife was Chariclo.\n\nFragment #7\u2014Athenaeus, xi. 470 B: Theolytus says that he (Heracles)\nsailed across the sea in a cauldron 2701; but the first to give this\nstory is the author of the _War of the Titans_.\n\nFragment #8\u2014Philodemus, On Piety: The author of the _War of the Titans_\nsays that the apples (of the Hesperides) were guarded.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF OEDIPUS\n\nFragment #1\u2014C.I.G. Ital. et Sic. 1292. ii. 11: ....the _Story of\nOedipus_ by Cinaethon in six thousand six hundred verses.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Pausanias, ix. 5.10: Judging by Homer I do not believe that\nOedipus had children by Iocasta: his sons were born of Euryganeia as\nthe writer of the Epic called the _Story of Oedipus_ clearly shows.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Euripides Phoen., 1750: The authors of the\n_Story of Oedipus_ (say) of the Sphinx: \u2018But furthermore (she killed)\nnoble Haemon, the dear son of blameless Creon, the comeliest and\nloveliest of boys.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEBAID\n\nFragment #1\u2014Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Homer travelled about reciting\nhis epics, first the \u201cThebaid\u201d, in seven thousand verses, which begins:\n\u2018Sing, goddess, of parched Argos, whence lords...\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Athenaeus, xi. 465 E: \u2018Then the heaven-born hero,\ngolden-haired Polyneices, first set beside Oedipus a rich table of\nsilver which once belonged to Cadmus the divinely wise: next he filled\na fine golden cup with sweet wine. But when Oedipus perceived these\ntreasures of his father, great misery fell on his heart, and he\nstraight-way called down bitter curses there in the presence of both\nhis sons. And the avenging Fury of the gods failed not to hear him as\nhe prayed that they might never divide their father\u2019s goods in loving\nbrotherhood, but that war and fighting might be ever the portion of\nthem both.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, O.C. 1375: \u2018And when\nOedipus noticed the haunch 2801 he threw it on the ground and said:\n\u201cOh! Oh! my sons have sent this mocking me...\u201d So he prayed to Zeus the\nking and the other deathless gods that each might fall by his brother\u2019s\nhand and go down into the house of Hades.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Pausanias, viii. 25.8: Adrastus fled from Thebes \u2018wearing\nmiserable garments, and took black-maned Areion 2802 with him.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Pindar, Ol. vi. 15: 2803 \u2018But when the seven dead had\nreceived their last rites in Thebes, the Son of Talaus lamented and\nspoke thus among them: \u201cWoe is me, for I miss the bright eye of my\nhost, a good seer and a stout spearman alike.\u201d\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Apollodorus, i. 74: Oeneus married Periboea the daughter of\nHipponous. The author of the _Thebais_ says that when Olenus had been\nstormed, Oeneus received her as a prize.\n\nFragment #7\u2014Pausanias, ix. 18.6: Near the spring is the tomb of\nAsphodicus. This Asphodicus killed Parthenopaeus the son of Talaus in\nthe battle against the Argives, as the Thebans say; though that part of\nthe _Thebais_ which tells of the death of Parthenopaeus says that it\nwas Periclymenus who killed him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EPIGONI\n\nFragment #1\u2014Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Next (Homer composed) the\n_Epigoni_ in seven thousand verses, beginning, \u2018And now, Muses, let us\nbegin to sing of younger men.\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Photius, Lexicon: Teumesia. Those who have written on\nTheban affairs have given a full account of the Teumesian fox. 2901\nThey relate that the creature was sent by the gods to punish the\ndescendants of Cadmus, and that the Thebans therefore excluded those of\nthe house of Cadmus from kingship. But (they say) a certain Cephalus,\nthe son of Deion, an Athenian, who owned a hound which no beast ever\nescaped, had accidentally killed his wife Procris, and being purified\nof the homicide by the Cadmeans, hunted the fox with his hound, and\nwhen they had overtaken it both hound and fox were turned into stones\nnear Teumessus. These writers have taken the story from the Epic Cycle.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 308: The authors\nof the _Thebais_ say that Manto the daughter of Teiresias was sent to\nDelphi by the Epigoni as a first fruit of their spoil, and that in\naccordance with an oracle of Apollo she went out and met Rhacius, the\nson of Lebes, a Mycenaean by race. This man she married\u2014for the oracle\nalso contained the command that she should marry whomsoever she might\nmeet\u2014and coming to Colophon, was there much cast down and wept over the\ndestruction of her country.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CYPRIA\n\nFragment #1\u2014Proclus, Chrestomathia, i: This 3001 is continued by the\nepic called _Cypria_ which is current is eleven books. Its contents are\nas follows.\n\nZeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Strife arrives\nwhile the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a\ndispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is\nfairest. The three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to\nAlexandrus on Mount Ida for his decision, and Alexandrus, lured by his\npromised marriage with Helen, decides in favour of Aphrodite.\n\nThen Alexandrus builds his ships at Aphrodite\u2019s suggestion, and Helenus\nforetells the future to him, and Aphrodite order Aeneas to sail with\nhim, while Cassandra prophesies as to what will happen afterwards.\nAlexandrus next lands in Lacedaemon and is entertained by the sons of\nTyndareus, and afterwards by Menelaus in Sparta, where in the course of\na feast he gives gifts to Helen.\n\nAfter this, Menelaus sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the\nguests with all they require until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite\nbrings Helen and Alexandrus together, and they, after their union, put\nvery great treasures on board and sail away by night. Hera stirs up a\nstorm against them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexandrus\ntakes the city. From there he sailed to Troy and celebrated his\nmarriage with Helen.\n\nIn the meantime Castor and Polydeuces, while stealing the cattle of\nIdas and Lynceus, were caught in the act, and Castor was killed by\nIdas, and Lynceus and Idas by Polydeuces. Zeus gave them immortality\nevery other day.\n\nIris next informs Menelaus of what has happened at his home. Menelaus\nreturns and plans an expedition against Ilium with his brother, and\nthen goes on to Nestor. Nestor in a digression tells him how Epopeus\nwas utterly destroyed after seducing the daughter of Lycus, and the\nstory of Oedipus, the madness of Heracles, and the story of Theseus and\nAriadne. Then they travel over Hellas and gather the leaders, detecting\nOdysseus when he pretends to be mad, not wishing to join the\nexpedition, by seizing his son Telemachus for punishment at the\nsuggestion of Palamedes.\n\nAll the leaders then meet together at Aulis and sacrifice. The incident\nof the serpent and the sparrows 3002 takes place before them, and\nCalchas foretells what is going to befall. After this, they put out to\nsea, and reach Teuthrania and sack it, taking it for Ilium. Telephus\ncomes out to the rescue and kills Thersander and son of Polyneices, and\nis himself wounded by Achilles. As they put out from Mysia a storm\ncomes on them and scatters them, and Achilles first puts in at Scyros\nand married Deidameia, the daughter of Lycomedes, and then heals\nTelephus, who had been led by an oracle to go to Argos, so that he\nmight be their guide on the voyage to Ilium.\n\nWhen the expedition had mustered a second time at Aulis, Agamemnon,\nwhile at the chase, shot a stag and boasted that he surpassed even\nArtemis. At this the goddess was so angry that she sent stormy winds\nand prevented them from sailing. Calchas then told them of the anger of\nthe goddess and bade them sacrifice Iphigeneia to Artemis. This they\nattempt to do, sending to fetch Iphigeneia as though for marriage with\nAchilles.\n\nArtemis, however, snatched her away and transported her to the Tauri,\nmaking her immortal, and putting a stag in place of the girl upon the\naltar.\n\nNext they sail as far as Tenedos: and while they are feasting,\nPhiloctetes is bitten by a snake and is left behind in Lemnos because\nof the stench of his sore. Here, too, Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon\nbecause he is invited late. Then the Greeks tried to land at Ilium, but\nthe Trojans prevent them, and Protesilaus is killed by Hector. Achilles\nthen kills Cycnus, the son of Poseidon, and drives the Trojans back.\nThe Greeks take up their dead and send envoys to the Trojans demanding\nthe surrender of Helen and the treasure with her. The Trojans refusing,\nthey first assault the city, and then go out and lay waste the country\nand cities round about. After this, Achilles desires to see Helen, and\nAphrodite and Thetis contrive a meeting between them. The Achaeans next\ndesire to return home, but are restrained by Achilles, who afterwards\ndrives off the cattle of Aeneas, and sacks Lyrnessus and Pedasus and\nmany of the neighbouring cities, and kills Troilus. Patroclus carries\naway Lycaon to Lemnos and sells him as a slave, and out of the spoils\nAchilles receives Briseis as a prize, and Agamemnon Chryseis. Then\nfollows the death of Palamedes, the plan of Zeus to relieve the Trojans\nby detaching Achilles from the Hellenic confederacy, and a catalogue of\nthe Trojan allies.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Tzetzes, Chil. xiii. 638: Stasinus composed the _Cypria_\nwhich the more part say was Homer\u2019s work and by him given to Stasinus\nas a dowry with money besides.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. i. 5: \u2018There was a time when the\ncountless tribes of men, though wide-dispersed, oppressed the surface\nof the deep-bosomed earth, and Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise\nheart resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the\ngreat struggle of the Ilian war, that the load of death might empty the\nworld. And so the heroes were slain in Troy, and the plan of Zeus came\nto pass.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105: The author of the\n_Cypria_ says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at\nwhich he was enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvii. 140: For at the marriage of\nPeleus and Thetis, the gods gathered together on Pelion to feast and\nbrought Peleus gifts. Cheiron gave him a stout ashen shaft which he had\ncut for a spear, and Athena, it is said, polished it, and Hephaestus\nfitted it with a head. The story is given by the author of the\n_Cypria_.\n\nFragment #6\u2014Athenaeus, xv. 682 D, F: The author of the _Cypria_,\nwhether Hegesias or Stasinus, mentions flowers used for garlands. The\npoet, whoever he was, writes as follows in his first book:\n\n(ll. 1-7) \u2018She clothed herself with garments which the Graces and Hours\nhad made for her and dyed in flowers of spring\u2014such flowers as the\nSeasons wear\u2014in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the\nrose\u2019s lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the\nflowers of the narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is\nAphrodite clothed at all seasons.\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 8-12) Then laughter-loving Aphrodite and her handmaidens wove\nsweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them upon their\nheads\u2014the bright-coiffed goddesses, the Nymphs and Graces, and golden\nAphrodite too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of many-fountained\nIda.\u2019\n\nFragment #7\u2014Clement of Alexandria, Protrept ii. 30. 5: \u2018Castor was\nmortal, and the fate of death was destined for him; but Polydeuces,\nscion of Ares, was immortal.\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Athenaeus, viii. 334 B: \u2018And after them she bare a third\nchild, Helen, a marvel to men. Rich-tressed Nemesis once gave her birth\nwhen she had been joined in love with Zeus the king of the gods by\nharsh violence. For Nemesis tried to escape him and liked not to lie in\nlove with her father Zeus the Son of Cronos; for shame and indignation\nvexed her heart: therefore she fled him over the land and fruitless\ndark water. But Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her.\nNow she took the form of a fish and sped over the waves of the\nloud-roaring sea, and now over Ocean\u2019s stream and the furthest bounds\nof Earth, and now she sped over the furrowed land, always turning into\nsuch dread creatures as the dry land nurtures, that she might escape\nhim.\u2019\n\nFragment #9\u2014Scholiast on Euripides, Andr. 898: The writer 3003 of the\nCyprian histories says that (Helen\u2019s third child was) Pleisthenes and\nthat she took him with her to Cyprus, and that the child she bore\nAlexandrus was Aganus.\n\nFragment #10\u2014Herodotus, ii. 117: For it is said in the _Cypria_ that\nAlexandrus came with Helen to Ilium from Sparta in three days, enjoying\na favourable wind and calm sea.\n\nFragment #11\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. iii. 242: For Helen had been\npreviously carried off by Theseus, and it was in consequence of this\nearlier rape that Aphidna, a town in Attica, was sacked and Castor was\nwounded in the right thigh by Aphidnus who was king at that time. Then\nthe Dioscuri, failing to find Theseus, sacked Athens. The story is in\nthe Cyclic writers.\n\nPlutarch, Thes. 32: Hereas relates that Alycus was killed by Theseus\nhimself near Aphidna, and quotes the following verses in evidence: \u2018In\nspacious Aphidna Theseus slew him in battle long ago for rich-haired\nHelen\u2019s sake.\u2019 3004\n\nFragment #12\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. x. 114: (ll. 1-6) \u2018Straightway\nLynceus, trusting in his swift feet, made for Taygetus. He climbed its\nhighest peak and looked throughout the whole isle of Pelops, son of\nTantalus; and soon the glorious hero with his dread eyes saw\nhorse-taming Castor and athlete Polydeuces both hidden within a hollow\noak.\u2019\n\nPhilodemus, On Piety: (Stasinus?) writes that Castor was killed with a\nspear shot by Idas the son of Aphareus.\n\nFragment #13\u2014Athenaeus, 35 C: \u2018Menelaus, know that the gods made wine\nthe best thing for mortal man to scatter cares.\u2019\n\nFragment #14\u2014Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, Elect. 157: Either he\nfollows Homer who spoke of the three daughters of Agamemnon, or\u2014like\nthe writer of the _Cypria_\u2014he makes them four, (distinguishing)\nIphigeneia and Iphianassa.\n\nFragment #15\u20143005 Contest of Homer and Hesiod: \u2018So they feasted all day\nlong, taking nothing from their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men,\nprovided for them.\u2019\n\nFragment #16\u2014Louvre Papyrus: \u2018I never thought to enrage so terribly the\nstout heart of Achilles, for very well I loved him.\u2019\n\nFragment #17\u2014Pausanias, iv. 2. 7: The poet of the _Cypria_ says that\nthe wife of Protesilaus\u2014who, when the Hellenes reached the Trojan\nshore, first dared to land\u2014was called Polydora, and was the daughter of\nMeleager, the son of Oeneus.\n\nFragment #18\u2014Eustathius, 119. 4: Some relate that Chryseis was taken\nfrom Hypoplacian 3006 Thebes, and that she had not taken refuge there\nnor gone there to sacrifice to Artemis, as the author of the _Cypria_\nstates, but was simply a fellow townswoman of Andromache.\n\nFragment #19\u2014Pausanias, x. 31. 2: I know, because I have read it in the\nepic _Cypria_, that Palamedes was drowned when he had gone out fishing,\nand that it was Diomedes and Odysseus who caused his death.\n\nFragment #20\u2014Plato, Euthyphron, 12 A: \u2018That it is Zeus who has done\nthis, and brought all these things to pass, you do not like to say; for\nwhere fear is, there too is shame.\u2019\n\nFragment #21\u2014Herodian, On Peculiar Diction: \u2018By him she conceived and\nbare the Gorgons, fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky\nisland in deep-eddying Oceanus.\u2019\n\nFragment #22\u2014Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vii. 2. 19: Again,\nStasinus says: \u2018He is a simple man who kills the father and lets the\nchildren live.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE AETHIOPIS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: The _Cypria_, described in the\npreceding book, has its sequel in the _Iliad_ of Homer, which is\nfollowed in turn by the five books of the _Aethiopis_, the work of\nArctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows. The Amazon\nPenthesileia, the daughter of Ares and of Thracian race, comes to aid\nthe Trojans, and after showing great prowess, is killed by Achilles and\nburied by the Trojans. Achilles then slays Thersites for abusing and\nreviling him for his supposed love for Penthesileia. As a result a\ndispute arises amongst the Achaeans over the killing of Thersites, and\nAchilles sails to Lesbos and after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and\nLeto, is purified by Odysseus from bloodshed.\n\nThen Memnon, the son of Eos, wearing armour made by Hephaestus, comes\nto help the Trojans, and Thetis tells her son about Memnon.\n\nA battle takes place in which Antilochus is slain by Memnon and Memnon\nby Achilles. Eos then obtains of Zeus and bestows upon her son\nimmortality; but Achilles routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city\nwith them, is killed by Paris and Apollo. A great struggle for the body\nthen follows, Aias taking up the body and carrying it to the ships,\nwhile Odysseus drives off the Trojans behind. The Achaeans then bury\nAntilochus and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving\nwith the Muses and her sisters, bewails her son, whom she afterwards\ncatches away from the pyre and transports to the White Island. After\nthis, the Achaeans pile him a cairn and hold games in his honour.\nLastly a dispute arises between Odysseus and Aias over the arms of\nAchilles.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 804: Some read: \u2018Thus they\nperformed the burial of Hector. Then came the Amazon, the daughter of\ngreat-souled Ares the slayer of men.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Isth. iii. 53: The author of the\n_Aethiopis_ says that Aias killed himself about dawn.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE ILIAD\n\nFragment #1\u2014Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next comes the _Little Iliad_\nin four books by Lesches of Mitylene: its contents are as follows. The\nadjudging of the arms of Achilles takes place, and Odysseus, by the\ncontriving of Athena, gains them. Aias then becomes mad and destroys\nthe herd of the Achaeans and kills himself. Next Odysseus lies in wait\nand catches Helenus, who prophesies as to the taking of Troy, and\nDiomede accordingly brings Philoctetes from Lemnos. Philoctetes is\nhealed by Machaon, fights in single combat with Alexandrus and kills\nhim: the dead body is outraged by Menelaus, but the Trojans recover and\nbury it. After this Deiphobus marries Helen, Odysseus brings\nNeoptolemus from Scyros and gives him his father\u2019s arms, and the ghost\nof Achilles appears to him.\n\nEurypylus the son of Telephus arrives to aid the Trojans, shows his\nprowess and is killed by Neoptolemus. The Trojans are now closely\nbesieged, and Epeius, by Athena\u2019s instruction, builds the wooden horse.\nOdysseus disfigures himself and goes in to Ilium as a spy, and there\nbeing recognized by Helen, plots with her for the taking of the city;\nafter killing certain of the Trojans, he returns to the ships. Next he\ncarries the Palladium out of Troy with help of Diomedes. Then after\nputting their best men in the wooden horse and burning their huts, the\nmain body of the Hellenes sail to Tenedos. The Trojans, supposing their\ntroubles over, destroy a part of their city wall and take the wooden\nhorse into their city and feast as though they had conquered the\nHellenes.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: \u2018I sing of Ilium and\nDardania, the land of fine horses, wherein the Danai, followers of\nAres, suffered many things.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Aristophanes, Knights 1056 and Aristophanes\nib: The story runs as follows: Aias and Odysseus were quarrelling as to\ntheir achievements, says the poet of the _Little Iliad_, and Nestor\nadvised the Hellenes to send some of their number to go to the foot of\nthe walls and overhear what was said about the valour of the heroes\nnamed above. The eavesdroppers heard certain girls disputing, one of\nthem saying that Aias was by far a better man than Odysseus and\ncontinuing as follows:\n\n\u2018For Aias took up and carried out of the strife the hero, Peleus\u2019 son:\nthis great Odysseus cared not to do.\u2019\n\nTo this another replied by Athena\u2019s contrivance:\n\n\u2018Why, what is this you say? A thing against reason and untrue! Even a\nwoman could carry a load once a man had put it on her shoulder; but she\ncould not fight. For she would fail with fear if she should fight.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Eustathius, 285. 34: The writer of the _Little Iliad_ says\nthat Aias was not buried in the usual way 3101, but was simply buried\nin a coffin, because of the king\u2019s anger.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Eustathius on Homer, Il. 326: The author of the _Little\nIliad_ says that Achilles after putting out to sea from the country of\nTelephus came to land there: \u2018The storm carried Achilles the son of\nPeleus to Scyros, and he came into an uneasy harbour there in that same\nnight.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. vi. 85: \u2018About the spear-shaft\nwas a hoop of flashing gold, and a point was fitted to it at either\nend.\u2019\n\nFragment #7\u2014Scholiast on Euripides Troades, 822: \u2018...the vine which the\nson of Cronos gave him as a recompense for his son. It bloomed richly\nwith soft leaves of gold and grape clusters; Hephaestus wrought it and\ngave it to his father Zeus: and he bestowed it on Laomedon as a price\nfor Ganymedes.\u2019\n\nFragment #8\u2014Pausanias, iii. 26. 9: The writer of the epic _Little\nIliad_ says that Machaon was killed by Eurypylus, the son of Telephus.\n\nFragment #9\u2014Homer, Odyssey iv. 247 and Scholiast: \u2018He disguised\nhimself, and made himself like another person, a beggar, the like of\nwhom was not by the ships of the Achaeans.\u2019\n\nThe Cyclic poet uses \u2018beggar\u2019 as a substantive, and so means to say\nthat when Odysseus had changed his clothes and put on rags, there was\nno one so good for nothing at the ships as Odysseus.\n\nFragment #10\u20143102 Plutarch, Moralia, p. 153 F: And Homer put forward\nthe following verses as Lesches gives them: \u2018Muse, tell me of those\nthings which neither happened before nor shall be hereafter.\u2019\n\nAnd Hesiod answered:\n\n\u2018But when horses with rattling hoofs wreck chariots, striving for\nvictory about the tomb of Zeus.\u2019\n\nAnd it is said that, because this reply was specially admired, Hesiod\nwon the tripod (at the funeral games of Amphidamas).\n\nFragment #11\u2014Scholiast on Lycophr., 344: Sinon, as it had been arranged\nwith him, secretly showed a signal-light to the Hellenes. Thus Lesches\nwrites:\u2014\u2018It was midnight, and the clear moon was rising.\u2019\n\nFragment #12\u2014Pausanias, x. 25. 5: Meges is represented 3103 wounded in\nthe arm just as Lescheos the son of Aeschylinus of Pyrrha describes in\nhis _Sack of Ilium_ where it is said that he was wounded in the battle\nwhich the Trojans fought in the night by Admetus, son of Augeias.\nLycomedes too is in the picture with a wound in the wrist, and Lescheos\nsays he was so wounded by Agenor...\n\nPausanias, x. 26. 4: Lescheos also mentions Astynous, and here he is,\nfallen on one knee, while Neoptolemus strikes him with his sword...\n\nPausanias, x. 26. 8: The same writer says that Helicaon was wounded in\nthe night-battle, but was recognised by Odysseus and by him conducted\nalive out of the fight...\n\nPausanias, x. 27. 1: Of them 3104, Lescheos says that Eion was killed\nby Neoptolemus, and Admetus by Philoctetes... He also says that Priam\nwas not killed at the heart of Zeus Herceius, but was dragged away from\nthe altar and destroyed off hand by Neoptolemus at the doors of the\nhouse... Lescheos says that Axion was the son of Priam and was slain by\nEurypylus, the son of Euaemon. Agenor\u2014according to the same poet\u2014was\nbutchered by Neoptolemus.\n\nFragment #13\u2014Aristophanes, Lysistrata 155 and Scholiast: \u2018Menelaus at\nleast, when he caught a glimpse somehow of the breasts of Helen unclad,\ncast away his sword, methinks.\u2019 Lesches the Pyrrhaean also has the same\naccount in his _Little Iliad_.\n\nPausanias, x. 25. 8: Concerning Aethra Lesches relates that when Ilium\nwas taken she stole out of the city and came to the Hellenic camp,\nwhere she was recognised by the sons of Theseus; and that Demophon\nasked her of Agamemnon. Agamemnon wished to grant him this favour, but\nhe would not do so until Helen consented. And when he sent a herald,\nHelen granted his request.\n\nFragment #14\u2014Scholiast on Lycophr. Alex., 1268: \u2018Then the bright son of\nbold Achilles led the wife of Hector to the hollow ships; but her son\nhe snatched from the bosom of his rich-haired nurse and seized him by\nthe foot and cast him from a tower. So when he had fallen bloody death\nand hard fate seized on Astyanax. And Neoptolemus chose out Andromache,\nHector\u2019s well-girded wife, and the chiefs of all the Achaeans gave her\nto him to hold requiting him with a welcome prize. And he put\nAeneas3105, the famous son of horse-taming Anchises, on board his\nsea-faring ships, a prize surpassing those of all the Danaans.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE SACK OF ILIUM\n\nFragment #1\u2014Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next come two books of the\n_Sack of Ilium_, by Arctinus of Miletus with the following contents.\nThe Trojans were suspicious of the wooden horse and standing round it\ndebated what they ought to do. Some thought they ought to hurl it down\nfrom the rocks, others to burn it up, while others said they ought to\ndedicate it to Athena. At last this third opinion prevailed. Then they\nturned to mirth and feasting believing the war was at an end. But at\nthis very time two serpents appeared and destroyed Laocoon and one of\nhis two sons, a portent which so alarmed the followers of Aeneas that\nthey withdrew to Ida. Sinon then raised the fire-signal to the\nAchaeans, having previously got into the city by pretence. The Greeks\nthen sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden horse came out and\nfell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the city.\nNeoptolemus kills Priam who had fled to the altar of Zeus Herceius (1);\nMenelaus finds Helen and takes her to the ships, after killing\nDeiphobus; and Aias the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra\naway by force, tears away with her the image of Athena. At this the\nGreeks are so enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only\nescapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar\nof Athena. The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at\nthe tomb of Achilles: Odysseus murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes\nAndromache as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided. Demophon\nand Acamas find Aethra and take her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail\naway and Athena plans to destroy them on the high seas.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Dionysus Halicarn, Rom. Antiq. i. 68: According to\nArctinus, one Palladium was given to Dardanus by Zeus, and this was in\nIlium until the city was taken. It was hidden in a secret place, and a\ncopy was made resembling the original in all points and set up for all\nto see, in order to deceive those who might have designs against it.\nThis copy the Achaeans took as a result of their plots.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholiast on Euripedes, Andromache 10: The Cyclic poet who\ncomposed the _Sack_ says that Astyanax was also hurled from the city\nwall.\n\nFragment #4\u2014Scholiast on Euripedes, Troades 31: For the followers of\nAcamus and Demophon took no share\u2014it is said\u2014of the spoils, but only\nAethra, for whose sake, indeed, they came to Ilium with Menestheus to\nlead them. Lysimachus, however, says that the author of the _Sack_\nwrites as follows: \u2018The lord Agamemnon gave gifts to the Sons of\nTheseus and to bold Menestheus, shepherd of hosts.\u2019\n\nFragment #5\u2014Eustathius on Iliad, xiii. 515: Some say that such praise\nas this 3201 does not apply to physicians generally, but only to\nMachaon: and some say that he only practised surgery, while Podaleirius\ntreated sicknesses. Arctinus in the _Sack of Ilium_ seems to be of this\nopinion when he says:\n\n(ll. 1-8) \u2018For their father the famous Earth-Shaker gave both of them\ngifts, making each more glorious than the other. To the one he gave\nhands more light to draw or cut out missiles from the flesh and to heal\nall kinds of wounds; but in the heart of the other he put full and\nperfect knowledge to tell hidden diseases and cure desperate\nsicknesses. It was he who first noticed Aias\u2019 flashing eyes and clouded\nmind when he was enraged.\u2019\n\nFragment #6\u2014Diomedes in Gramm., Lat. i. 477: \u2018Iambus stood a little\nwhile astride with foot advanced, that so his strained limbs might get\npower and have a show of ready strength.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE RETURNS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: After the _Sack of Ilium_\nfollow the _Returns_ in five books by Agias of Troezen. Their contents\nare as follows. Athena causes a quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus\nabout the voyage from Troy. Agamemnon then stays on to appease the\nanger of Athena. Diomedes and Nestor put out to sea and get safely\nhome. After them Menelaus sets out and reaches Egypt with five ships,\nthe rest having been destroyed on the high seas. Those with Calchas,\nLeontes, and Polypoetes go by land to Colophon and bury Teiresias who\ndied there. When Agamemnon and his followers were sailing away, the\nghost of Achilles appeared and tried to prevent them by foretelling\nwhat should befall them. The storm at the rocks called Capherides is\nthen described, with the end of Locrian Aias. Neoptolemus, warned by\nThetis, journeys overland and, coming into Thrace, meets Odysseus at\nMaronea, and then finishes the rest of his journey after burying\nPhoenix who dies on the way. He himself is recognized by Peleus on\nreaching the Molossi.\n\nThen comes the murder of Agamemnon by Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra,\nfollowed by the vengeance of Orestes and Pylades. Finally, Menelaus\nreturns home.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Argument to Euripides Medea: \u2018Forthwith Medea made Aeson a\nsweet young boy and stripped his old age from him by her cunning skill,\nwhen she had made a brew of many herbs in her golden cauldrons.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Pausanias, i. 2: The story goes that Heracles was besieging\nThemiscyra on the Thermodon and could not take it; but Antiope, being\nin love with Theseus who was with Heracles on this expedition, betrayed\nthe place. Hegias gives this account in his poem.\n\nFragment #4\u2014Eustathius, 1796. 45: The Colophonian author of the\n_Returns_ says that Telemachus afterwards married Circe, while\nTelegonus the son of Circe correspondingly married Penelope.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Clement of Alex. Strom., vi. 2. 12. 8: \u2018For gifts beguile\nmen\u2019s minds and their deeds as well.\u2019 3301\n\nFragment #6\u2014Pausanias, x. 28. 7: The poetry of Homer and the\n_Returns_\u2014for here too there is an account of Hades and the terrors\nthere\u2014know of no spirit named Eurynomus.\n\nAthenaeus, 281 B: The writer of the \u201cReturn of the Atreidae\u201d 3302 says\nthat Tantalus came and lived with the gods, and was permitted to ask\nfor whatever he desired. But the man was so immoderately given to\npleasures that he asked for these and for a life like that of the gods.\nAt this Zeus was annoyed, but fulfilled his prayer because of his own\npromise; but to prevent him from enjoying any of the pleasures\nprovided, and to keep him continually harassed, he hung a stone over\nhis head which prevents him from ever reaching any of the pleasant\nthings near by.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TELEGONY\n\nFragment #1\u2014Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: After the _Returns_ comes the\n_Odyssey_ of Homer, and then the _Telegony_ in two books by Eugammon of\nCyrene, which contain the following matters. The suitors of Penelope\nare buried by their kinsmen, and Odysseus, after sacrificing to the\nNymphs, sails to Elis to inspect his herds. He is entertained there by\nPolyxenus and receives a mixing bowl as a gift; the story of Trophonius\nand Agamedes and Augeas then follows. He next sails back to Ithaca and\nperforms the sacrifices ordered by Teiresias, and then goes to\nThesprotis where he marries Callidice, queen of the Thesprotians. A war\nthen breaks out between the Thesprotians, led by Odysseus, and the\nBrygi. Ares routs the army of Odysseus and Athena engages with Ares,\nuntil Apollo separates them. After the death of Callidice Polypoetes,\nthe son of Odysseus, succeeds to the kingdom, while Odysseus himself\nreturns to Ithaca. In the meantime Telegonus, while travelling in\nsearch of his father, lands on Ithaca and ravages the island: Odysseus\ncomes out to defend his country, but is killed by his son unwittingly.\nTelegonus, on learning his mistake, transports his father\u2019s body with\nPenelope and Telemachus to his mother\u2019s island, where Circe makes them\nimmortal, and Telegonus marries Penelope, and Telemachus Circe.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Eustathias, 1796. 35: The author of the _Telegony_, a\nCyrenaean, relates that Odysseus had by Calypso a son Telegonus or\nTeledamus, and by Penelope Telemachus and Acusilaus.\n\n\n\n\nHOMERICA\n\n\n\n\nTHE EXPEDITION OF AMPHIARAUS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: Sitting there in the\ntanner\u2019s yard, Homer recited his poetry to them, the _Expedition of\nAmphiarus to Thebes_ and the _Hymns to the Gods_ composed by him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TAKING OF OECHALIA\n\nFragment #1\u2014Eustathius, 330. 41: An account has there been given of\nEurytus and his daughter Iole, for whose sake Heracles sacked Oechalia.\nHomer also seems to have written on this subject, as that historian\nshows who relates that Creophylus of Samos once had Homer for his guest\nand for a reward received the attribution of the poem which they call\nthe _Taking of Oechalia_. Some, however, assert the opposite; that\nCreophylus wrote the poem, and that Homer lent his name in return for\nhis entertainment. And so Callimachus writes: \u2018I am the work of that\nSamian who once received divine Homer in his house. I sing of Eurytus\nand all his woes and of golden-haired Ioleia, and am reputed one of\nHomer\u2019s works. Dear Heaven! how great an honour this for Creophylus!\u2019\n\nFragment #2\u2014Cramer, Anec. Oxon. i. 327: \u2018Ragged garments, even those\nwhich now you see.\u2019 This verse (_Odyssey_ xiv. 343) we shall also find\nin the _Taking of Oechalia_.\n\nFragment #3\u2014Scholaist on Sophocles Trach., 266: There is a disagreement\nas to the number of the sons of Eurytus. For Hesiod says Eurytus and\nAntioche had as many as four sons; but Creophylus says two.\n\nFragment #4\u2014Scholiast on Euripides Medea, 273: Didymus contrasts the\nfollowing account given by Creophylus, which is as follows: while Medea\nwas living in Corinth, she poisoned Creon, who was ruler of the city at\nthat time, and because she feared his friends and kinsfolk, fled to\nAthens. However, since her sons were too young to go along with her,\nshe left them at the altar of Hera Acraea, thinking that their father\nwould see to their safety. But the relatives of Creon killed them and\nspread the story that Medea had killed her own children as well as\nCreon.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PHOCAIS\n\nFragment #1\u2014Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: While living with\nThestorides, Homer composed the _Lesser Iliad_ and the _Phocais_;\nthough the Phocaeans say that he composed the latter among them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MARGITES\n\nFragment #1\u2014Suidas, s.v.: Pigres. A Carian of Halicarnassus and brother\nof Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, who distinguished herself in war...\n3401 He also wrote the _Margites_ attributed to Homer and the _Battle\nof the Frogs and Mice_.\n\nFragment #2\u2014Atilius Fortunatianus, p. 286, Keil: \u2018There came to\nColophon an old man and divine singer, a servant of the Muses and of\nfar-shooting Apollo. In his dear hands he held a sweet-toned lyre.\u2019\n\nFragment #3\u2014Plato, Alcib. ii. p. 147 A: \u2018He knew many things but knew\nall badly...\u2019\n\nAristotle, Nic. Eth. vi. 7, 1141: \u2018The gods had taught him neither to\ndig nor to plough, nor any other skill; he failed in every craft.\u2019\n\nFragment #4\u2014Scholiast on Aeschines in Ctes., sec. 160: He refers to\nMargites, a man who, though well grown up, did not know whether it was\nhis father or his mother who gave him birth, and would not lie with his\nwife, saying that he was afraid she might give a bad account of him to\nher mother.\n\nFragment #5\u2014Zenobius, v. 68: \u2018The fox knows many a wile; but the\nhedge-hog\u2019s one trick 3402 can beat them all.\u2019 3403\n\n\n\n\nTHE CERCOPES\n\nFragment #1\u2014Suidas, s.v.: Cercopes. These were two brothers living upon\nthe earth who practised every kind of knavery. They were called\nCercopes 3501 because of their cunning doings: one of them was named\nPassalus and the other Acmon. Their mother, a daughter of Memnon,\nseeing their tricks, told them to keep clear of Black-bottom, that is,\nof Heracles. These Cercopes were sons of Theia and Ocean, and are said\nto have been turned to stone for trying to deceive Zeus.\n\n\u2018Liars and cheats, skilled in deeds irremediable, accomplished knaves.\nFar over the world they roamed deceiving men as they wandered\ncontinually.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE BATTLE OF FROGS AND MICE\n\n(ll. 1-8) Here I begin: and first I pray the choir of the Muses to come\ndown from Helicon into my heart to aid the lay which I have newly\nwritten in tablets upon my knee. Fain would I sound in all men\u2019s ears\nthat awful strife, that clamorous deed of war, and tell how the Mice\nproved their valour on the Frogs and rivalled the exploits of the\nGiants, those earth-born men, as the tale was told among mortals. Thus\ndid the war begin.\n\n(ll. 9-12) One day a thirsty Mouse who had escaped the ferret,\ndangerous foe, set his soft muzzle to the lake\u2019s brink and revelled in\nthe sweet water. There a loud-voiced pond-larker spied him: and uttered\nsuch words as these.\n\n(ll. 13-23) \u2018Stranger, who are you? Whence come you to this shore, and\nwho is he who begot you? Tell me all this truly and let me not find you\nlying. For if I find you worthy to be my friend, I will take you to my\nhouse and give you many noble gifts such as men give to their guests. I\nam the king Puff-jaw, and am honoured in all the pond, being ruler of\nthe Frogs continually. The father that brought me up was Mud-man who\nmated with Waterlady by the banks of Eridanus. I see, indeed, that you\nare well-looking and stouter than the ordinary, a sceptred king and a\nwarrior in fight; but, come, make haste and tell me your descent.\u2019\n\n(ll. 24-55) Then Crumb-snatcher answered him and said: \u2018Why do you ask\nmy race, which is well-known amongst all, both men and gods and the\nbirds of heaven? Crumb-snatcher am I called, and I am the son of\nBread-nibbler\u2014he was my stout-hearted father\u2014and my mother was\nQuern-licker, the daughter of Ham-gnawer the king: she bare me in the\nmouse-hole and nourished me with food, figs and nuts and dainties of\nall kinds. But how are you to make me your friend, who am altogether\ndifferent in nature? For you get your living in the water, but I am\nused to each such foods as men have: I never miss the thrice-kneaded\nloaf in its neat, round basket, or the thin-wrapped cake full of sesame\nand cheese, or the slice of ham, or liver vested in white fat, or\ncheese just curdled from sweet milk, or delicious honey-cake which even\nthe blessed gods long for, or any of all those cates which cooks make\nfor the feasts of mortal men, larding their pots and pans with spices\nof all kinds. In battle I have never flinched from the cruel onset, but\nplunged straight into the fray and fought among the foremost. I fear\nnot man though he has a big body, but run along his bed and bite the\ntip of his toe and nibble at his heel; and the man feels no hurt and\nhis sweet sleep is not broken by my biting. But there are two things I\nfear above all else the whole world over, the hawk and the ferret\u2014for\nthese bring great grief on me\u2014and the piteous trap wherein is\ntreacherous death. Most of all I fear the ferret of the keener sort\nwhich follows you still even when you dive down your hole. 3601 I gnaw\nno radishes and cabbages and pumpkins, nor feed on green leeks and\nparsley; for these are food for you who live in the lake.\u2019\n\n(ll. 56-64) Then Puff-jaw answered him with a smile: \u2018Stranger you\nboast too much of belly-matters: we too have many marvels to be seen\nboth in the lake and on the shore. For the Son of Chronos has given us\nFrogs the power to lead a double life, dwelling at will in two separate\nelements; and so we both leap on land and plunge beneath the water. If\nyou would learn of all these things, \u2019tis easy done: just mount upon my\nback and hold me tight lest you be lost, and so you shall come\nrejoicing to my house.\u2019\n\n(ll. 65-81) So said he, and offered his back. And the Mouse mounted at\nonce, putting his paws upon the other\u2019s sleek neck and vaulting nimbly.\nNow at first, while he still saw the land near by, he was pleased, and\nwas delighted with Puff-jaw\u2019s swimming; but when dark waves began to\nwash over him, he wept loudly and blamed his unlucky change of mind: he\ntore his fur and tucked his paws in against his belly, while within him\nhis heart quaked by reason of the strangeness: and he longed to get to\nland, groaning terribly through the stress of chilling fear. He put out\nhis tail upon the water and worked it like a steering oar, and prayed\nto heaven that he might get to land. But when the dark waves washed\nover him he cried aloud and said: \u2018Not in such wise did the bull bear\non his back the beloved load, when he brought Europa across the sea to\nCrete, as this Frog carries me over the water to his house, raising his\nyellow back in the pale water.\u2019\n\n(ll. 82-92) Then suddenly a water-snake appeared, a horrid sight for\nboth alike, and held his neck upright above the water. And when he saw\nit, Puff-jaw dived at once, and never thought how helpless a friend he\nwould leave perishing; but down to the bottom of the lake he went, and\nescaped black death. But the Mouse, so deserted, at once fell on his\nback, in the water. He wrung his paws and squeaked in agony of death:\nmany times he sank beneath the water and many times he rose up again\nkicking. But he could not escape his doom, for his wet fur weighed him\ndown heavily. Then at the last, as he was dying, he uttered these\nwords.\n\n(ll. 93-98) \u2018Ah, Puff-jaw, you shall not go unpunished for this\ntreachery! You threw me, a castaway, off your body as from a rock. Vile\ncoward! On land you would not have been the better man, boxing, or\nwrestling, or running; but now you have tricked me and cast me in the\nwater. Heaven has an avenging eye, and surely the host of Mice will\npunish you and not let you escape.\u2019\n\n(ll. 99-109) With these words he breathed out his soul upon the water.\nBut Lick-platter as he sat upon the soft bank saw him die and, raising\na dreadful cry, ran and told the Mice. And when they heard of his fate,\nall the Mice were seized with fierce anger, and bade their heralds\nsummon the people to assemble towards dawn at the house of\nBread-nibbler, the father of hapless Crumb-snatcher who lay\noutstretched on the water face up, a lifeless corpse, and no longer\nnear the bank, poor wretch, but floating in the midst of the deep. And\nwhen the Mice came in haste at dawn, Bread-nibbler stood up first,\nenraged at his son\u2019s death, and thus he spoke.\n\n(ll. 110-121) \u2018Friends, even if I alone had suffered great wrong from\nthe Frogs, assuredly this is a first essay at mischief for you all. And\nnow I am pitiable, for I have lost three sons. First the abhorred\nferret seized and killed one of them, catching him outside the hole;\nthen ruthless men dragged another to his doom when by unheard-of arts\nthey had contrived a wooden snare, a destroyer of Mice, which they call\na trap. There was a third whom I and his dear mother loved well, and\nhim Puff-jaw has carried out into the deep and drowned. Come, then, and\nlet us arm ourselves and go out against them when we have arrayed\nourselves in rich-wrought arms.\u2019\n\n(ll. 122-131) With such words he persuaded them all to gird themselves.\nAnd Ares who has charge of war equipped them. First they fastened on\ngreaves and covered their shins with green bean-pods broken into two\nparts which they had gnawed out, standing over them all night. Their\nbreast plates were of skin stretched on reeds, skilfully made from a\nferret they had flayed. For shields each had the centre-piece of a\nlamp, and their spears were long needles all of bronze, the work of\nAres, and the helmets upon their temples were pea-nut shells.\n\n(ll. 132-138) So the Mice armed themselves. But when the Frogs were\naware of it, they rose up out of the water and coming together to one\nplace gathered a council of grievous war. And while they were asking\nwhence the quarrel arose, and what the cause of this anger, a herald\ndrew near bearing a wand in his paws, Pot-visitor the son of\ngreat-hearted Cheese-carver. He brought the grim message of war,\nspeaking thus:\n\n(ll. 139-143) \u2018Frogs, the Mice have sent me with their threats against\nyou, and bid you arm yourselves for war and battle; for they have seen\nCrumb-snatcher in the water whom your king Puff-jaw slew. Fight, then,\nas many of you as are warriors among the Frogs.\u2019\n\n(ll. 144-146) With these words he explained the matter. So when this\nblameless speech came to their ears, the proud Frogs were disturbed in\ntheir hearts and began to blame Puff-jaw. But he rose up and said:\n\n(ll. 147-159) \u2018Friends, I killed no Mouse, nor did I see one perishing.\nSurely he was drowned while playing by the lake and imitating the\nswimming of the Frogs, and now these wretches blame me who am\nguiltless. Come then; let us take counsel how we may utterly destroy\nthe wily Mice. Moreover, I will tell you what I think to be the best.\nLet us all gird on our armour and take our stand on the very brink of\nthe lake, where the ground breaks down sheer: then when they come out\nand charge upon us, let each seize by the crest the Mouse who attacks\nhim, and cast them with their helmets into the lake; for so we shall\ndrown these dry-hobs 3602 in the water, and merrily set up here a\ntrophy of victory over the slaughtered Mice.\u2019\n\n(ll. 160-167) By this speech he persuaded them to arm themselves.\n\nThey covered their shins with leaves of mallows, and had breastplates\nmade of fine green beet-leaves, and cabbage-leaves, skilfully\nfashioned, for shields. Each one was equipped with a long, pointed rush\nfor a spear, and smooth snail-shells to cover their heads. Then they\nstood in close-locked ranks upon the high bank, waving their spears,\nand were filled, each of them, with courage.\n\n(ll. 168-173) Now Zeus called the gods to starry heaven and showed them\nthe martial throng and the stout warriors so many and so great, all\nbearing long spears; for they were as the host of the Centaurs and the\nGiants. Then he asked with a sly smile; \u2018Who of the deathless gods will\nhelp the Frogs and who the Mice?\u2019\n\nAnd he said to Athena;\n\n(ll. 174-176) \u2018My daughter, will you go aid the Mice? For they all\nfrolic about your temple continually, delighting in the fat of\nsacrifice and in all kinds of food.\u2019\n\n(ll. 177-196) So then said the son of Cronos. But Athena answered him:\n\u2018I would never go to help the Mice when they are hard pressed, for they\nhave done me much mischief, spoiling my garlands and my lamps too, to\nget the oil. And this thing that they have done vexes my heart\nexceedingly: they have eaten holes in my sacred robe, which I wove\npainfully spinning a fine woof on a fine warp, and made it full of\nholes. And now the money-lender is at me and charges me interest which\nis a bitter thing for immortals. For I borrowed to do my weaving, and\nhave nothing with which to repay. Yet even so I will not help the\nFrogs; for they also are not considerable: once, when I was returning\nearly from war, I was very tired, and though I wanted to sleep, they\nwould not let me even doze a little for their outcry; and so I lay\nsleepless with a headache until cock-crow. No, gods, let us refrain\nfrom helping these hosts, or one of us may get wounded with a sharp\nspear; for they fight hand to hand, even if a god comes against them.\nLet us rather all amuse ourselves watching the fight from heaven.\u2019\n\n(ll. 197-198) So said Athena. And the other gods agreed with her, and\nall went in a body to one place.\n\n(ll. 199-201) Then gnats with great trumpets sounded the fell note of\nwar, and Zeus the son of Cronos thundered from heaven, a sign of\ngrievous battle.\n\n(ll. 202-223) First Loud-croaker wounded Lickman in the belly, right\nthrough the midriff. Down fell he on his face and soiled his soft fur\nin the dust: he fell with a thud and his armour clashed about him. Next\nTroglodyte shot at the son of Mudman, and drove the strong spear deep\ninto his breast; so he fell, and black death seized him and his spirit\nflitted forth from his mouth. Then Beety struck Pot-visitor to the\nheart and killed him, and Bread-nibbler hit Loud-crier in the belly, so\nthat he fell on his face and his spirit flitted forth from his limbs.\nNow when Pond-larker saw Loud-crier perishing, he struck in quickly and\nwounded Troglodyte in his soft neck with a rock like a mill-stone, so\nthat darkness veiled his eyes. Thereat Ocimides was seized with grief,\nand struck out with his sharp reed and did not draw his spear back to\nhim again, but felled his enemy there and then. And Lickman shot at him\nwith a bright spear and hit him unerringly in the midriff. And as he\nmarked Cabbage-eater running away, he fell on the steep bank, yet even\nso did not cease fighting but smote that other so that he fell and did\nnot rise again; and the lake was dyed with red blood as he lay\noutstretched along the shore, pierced through the guts and shining\nflanks. Also he slew Cheese-eater on the very brink....\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 224-251) But Reedy took to flight when he saw Ham-nibbler, and\nfled, plunging into the lake and throwing away his shield. Then\nblameless Pot-visitor killed Brewer and Water-larked killed the lord\nHam-nibbler, striking him on the head with a pebble, so that his brains\nflowed out at his nostrils and the earth was bespattered with blood.\nFaultless Muck-coucher sprang upon Lick-platter and killed him with his\nspear and brought darkness upon his eyes: and Leeky saw it, and dragged\nLick-platter by the foot, though he was dead, and choked him in the\nlake. But Crumb-snatcher was fighting to avenge his dead comrades, and\nhit Leeky before he reached the land; and he fell forward at the blow\nand his soul went down to Hades. And seeing this, the Cabbage-climber\ntook a clod of mud and hurled it at the Mouse, plastering all his\nforehead and nearly blinding him. Thereat Crumb-snatcher was enraged\nand caught up in his strong hand a huge stone that lay upon the ground,\na heavy burden for the soil: with that he hit Cabbage-climber below the\nknee and splintered his whole right shin, hurling him on his back in\nthe dust. But Croakperson kept him off, and rushing at the Mouse in\nturn, hit him in the middle of the belly and drove the whole reed-spear\ninto him, and as he drew the spear back to him with his strong hand,\nall his foe\u2019s bowels gushed out upon the ground. And when Troglodyte\nsaw the deed, as he was limping away from the fight on the river bank,\nhe shrank back sorely moved, and leaped into a trench to escape sheer\ndeath. Then Bread-nibbler hit Puff-jaw on the toes\u2014he came up at the\nlast from the lake and was greatly distressed....\n\n((LACUNA))\n\n(ll. 252-259) And when Leeky saw him fallen forward, but still half\nalive, he pressed through those who fought in front and hurled a sharp\nreed at him; but the point of the spear was stayed and did not break\nhis shield. Then noble Rueful, like Ares himself, struck his flawless\nhead-piece made of four pots\u2014he only among the Frogs showed prowess in\nthe throng. But when he saw the other rush at him, he did not stay to\nmeet the stout-hearted hero but dived down to the depths of the lake.\n\n(ll. 260-271) Now there was one among the Mice, Slice-snatcher, who\nexcelled the rest, dear son of Gnawer the son of blameless\nBread-stealer. He went to his house and bade his son take part in the\nwar. This warrior threatened to destroy the race of Frogs utterly 3603,\nand splitting a chestnut-husk into two parts along the joint, put the\ntwo hollow pieces as armour on his paws: then straightway the Frogs\nwere dismayed and all rushed down to the lake, and he would have made\ngood his boast\u2014for he had great strength\u2014had not the Son of Cronos, the\nFather of men and gods, been quick to mark the thing and pitied the\nFrogs as they were perishing. He shook his head, and uttered this word:\n\n(ll. 272-276) \u2018Dear, dear, how fearful a deed do my eyes behold!\nSlice-snatcher makes no small panic rushing to and fro among the Frogs\nby the lake. Let us then make all haste and send warlike Pallas or even\nAres, for they will stop his fighting, strong though he is.\u2019\n\n(ll. 277-284) So said the Son of Cronos; but Hera answered him: \u2018Son of\nCronos, neither the might of Athena nor of Ares can avail to deliver\nthe Frogs from utter destruction. Rather, come and let us all go to\nhelp them, or else let loose your weapon, the great and formidable\nTitan-killer with which you killed Capaneus, that doughty man, and\ngreat Enceladus and the wild tribes of Giants; ay, let it loose, for so\nthe most valiant will be slain.\u2019\n\n(ll. 285-293) So said Hera: and the Son of Cronos cast a lurid\nthunderbolt: first he thundered and made great Olympus shake, and the\ncast the thunderbolt, the awful weapon of Zeus, tossing it lightly\nforth. Thus he frightened them all, Frogs and Mice alike, hurling his\nbolt upon them. Yet even so the army of the Mice did not relax, but\nhoped still more to destroy the brood of warrior Frogs. Only, the Son\nof Cronos, on Olympus, pitied the Frogs and then straightway sent them\nhelpers.\n\n(ll. 294-303) So there came suddenly warriors with mailed backs and\ncurving claws, crooked beasts that walked sideways, nut-cracker-jawed,\nshell-hided: bony they were, flat-backed, with glistening shoulders and\nbandy legs and stretching arms and eyes that looked behind them. They\nhad also eight legs and two feelers\u2014persistent creatures who are called\ncrabs. These nipped off the tails and paws and feet of the Mice with\ntheir jaws, while spears only beat on them. Of these the Mice were all\nafraid and no longer stood up to them, but turned and fled. Already the\nsun was set, and so came the end of the one-day war.\n\n\n\n\nOF THE ORIGIN OF HOMER AND HESIOD, AND OF THEIR CONTEST\n\n\nEveryone boasts that the most divine of poets, Homer and Hesiod, are\nsaid to be his particular countrymen. Hesiod, indeed, has put a name to\nhis native place and so prevented any rivalry, for he said that his\nfather \u2018settled near Helicon in a wretched hamlet, Ascra, which is\nmiserable in winter, sultry in summer, and good at no season.\u2019 But, as\nfor Homer, you might almost say that every city with its inhabitants\nclaims him as her son. Foremost are the men of Smyrna who say that he\nwas the Son of Meles, the river of their town, by a nymph Cretheis, and\nthat he was at first called Melesigenes. He was named Homer later, when\nhe became blind, this being their usual epithet for such people. The\nChians, on the other hand, bring forward evidence to show that he was\ntheir countryman, saying that there actually remain some of his\ndescendants among them who are called Homeridae. The Colophonians even\nshow the place where they declare that he began to compose when a\nschoolmaster, and say that his first work was the _Margites_.\n\nAs to his parents also, there is on all hands great disagreement.\n\nHellanicus and Cleanthes say his father was Maeon, but Eugaeon says\nMeles; Callicles is for Mnesagoras, Democritus of Troezen for Daemon, a\nmerchant-trader. Some, again, say he was the son of Thamyras, but the\nEgyptians say of Menemachus, a priest-scribe, and there are even those\nwho father him on Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. As for his mother,\nshe is variously called Metis, Cretheis, Themista, and Eugnetho. Others\nsay she was an Ithacan woman sold as a slave by the Phoenicians; other,\nCalliope the Muse; others again Polycasta, the daughter of Nestor.\n\nHomer himself was called Meles or, according to different accounts,\nMelesigenes or Altes. Some authorities say he was called Homer, because\nhis father was given as a hostage to the Persians by the men of Cyprus;\nothers, because of his blindness; for amongst the Aeolians the blind\nare so called. We will set down, however, what we have heard to have\nbeen said by the Pythia concerning Homer in the time of the most sacred\nEmperor Hadrian. When the monarch inquired from what city Homer came,\nand whose son he was, the priestess delivered a response in hexameters\nafter this fashion:\n\n\u2018Do you ask me of the obscure race and country of the heavenly siren?\nIthaca is his country, Telemachus his father, and Epicasta, Nestor\u2019s\ndaughter, the mother that bare him, a man by far the wisest of mortal\nkind.\u2019 This we must most implicitly believe, the inquirer and the\nanswerer being who they are\u2014especially since the poet has so greatly\nglorified his grandfather in his works.\n\nNow some say that he was earlier than Hesiod, others that he was\nyounger and akin to him. They give his descent thus: Apollo and\nAethusa, daughter of Poseidon, had a son Linus, to whom was born\nPierus. From Pierus and the nymph Methone sprang Oeager; and from\nOeager and Calliope Orpheus; from Orpheus, Dres; and from him, Eucles.\nThe descent is continued through Iadmonides, Philoterpes, Euphemus,\nEpiphrades and Melanopus who had sons Dius and Apelles. Dius by\nPycimede, the daughter of Apollo had two sons Hesiod and Perses; while\nApelles begot Maeon who was the father of Homer by a daughter of the\nRiver Meles.\n\nAccording to one account they flourished at the same time and even had\na contest of skill at Chalcis in Euboea. For, they say, after Homer had\ncomposed the _Margites_, he went about from city to city as a minstrel,\nand coming to Delphi, inquired who he was and of what country? The\nPythia answered:\n\n\u2018The Isle of Ios is your mother\u2019s country and it shall receive you\ndead; but beware of the riddle of the young children.\u2019 3701\n\nHearing this, it is said, he hesitated to go to Ios, and remained in\nthe region where he was. Now about the same time Ganyctor was\ncelebrating the funeral rites of his father Amphidamas, king of Euboea,\nand invited to the gathering not only all those who were famous for\nbodily strength and fleetness of foot, but also those who excelled in\nwit, promising them great rewards. And so, as the story goes, the two\nwent to Chalcis and met by chance. The leading Chalcidians were judges\ntogether with Paneides, the brother of the dead king; and it is said\nthat after a wonderful contest between the two poets, Hesiod won in the\nfollowing manner: he came forward into the midst and put Homer one\nquestion after another, which Homer answered. Hesiod, then, began:\n\n\u2018Homer, son of Meles, inspired with wisdom from heaven, come, tell me\nfirst what is best for mortal man?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018For men on earth \u2019tis best never to be born at all; or being\nborn, to pass through the gates of Hades with all speed.\u2019\n\nHesiod then asked again:\n\n\u2018Come, tell me now this also, godlike Homer: what think you in your\nheart is most delightsome to men?\u2019\n\nHomer answered:\n\n\u2018When mirth reigns throughout the town, and feasters about the house,\nsitting in order, listen to a minstrel; when the tables beside them are\nladen with bread and meat, and a wine-bearer draws sweet drink from the\nmixing-bowl and fills the cups: this I think in my heart to be most\ndelightsome.\u2019\n\nIt is said that when Homer had recited these verses, they were so\nadmired by the Greeks as to be called golden by them, and that even now\nat public sacrifices all the guests solemnly recite them before feasts\nand libations. Hesiod, however, was annoyed by Homer\u2019s felicity and\nhurried on to pose him with hard questions. He therefore began with the\nfollowing lines:\n\n\u2018Come, Muse; sing not to me of things that are, or that shall be, or\nthat were of old; but think of another song.\u2019\n\nThen Homer, wishing to escape from the impasse by an apt answer,\nreplied:\u2014\n\n\u2018Never shall horses with clattering hoofs break chariots, striving for\nvictory about the tomb of Zeus.\u2019\n\nHere again Homer had fairly met Hesiod, and so the latter turned to\nsentences of doubtful meaning 3702: he recited many lines and required\nHomer to complete the sense of each appropriately. The first of the\nfollowing verses is Hesiod\u2019s and the next Homer\u2019s: but sometimes Hesiod\nputs his question in two lines.\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Then they dined on the flesh of oxen and their horses\u2019 necks\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018They unyoked dripping with sweat, when they had had enough of\nwar.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018And the Phrygians, who of all men are handiest at ships\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018To filch their dinner from pirates on the beach.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018To shoot forth arrows against the tribes of cursed giants with\nhis hands\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Heracles unslung his curved bow from his shoulders.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018This man is the son of a brave father and a weakling\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Mother; for war is too stern for any woman.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018But for you, your father and lady mother lay in love\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018When they begot you by the aid of golden Aphrodite.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018But when she had been made subject in love, Artemis, who\ndelights in arrows\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Slew Callisto with a shot of her silver bow.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018So they feasted all day long, taking nothing\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018From their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men, supplied\nthem.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018When they had feasted, they gathered among the glowing ashes\nthe bones of the dead Zeus\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Born Sarpedon, that bold and godlike man.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Now we have lingered thus about the plain of Simois, forth\nfrom the ships let us go our way, upon our shoulders\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Having our hilted swords and long-helved spears.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Then the young heroes with their hands from the sea\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Gladly and swiftly hauled out their fleet ship.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Then they came to Colchis and king Aeetes\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018They avoided; for they knew he was inhospitable and lawless.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Now when they had poured libations and deeply drunk, the\nsurging sea\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018They were minded to traverse on well-built ships.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018The Son of Atreus prayed greatly for them that they all might\nperish\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018At no time in the sea: and he opened his mouth said:\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Eat, my guests, and drink, and may no one of you return home\nto his dear country\u2014\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Distressed; but may you all reach home again unscathed.\u2019\n\nWhen Homer had met him fairly on every point Hesiod said:\n\n\u2018Only tell me this thing that I ask: How many Achaeans went to Ilium\nwith the sons of Atreus?\u2019\n\nHomer answered in a mathematical problem, thus:\n\n\u2018There were fifty hearths, and at each hearth were fifty spits, and on\neach spit were fifty carcases, and there were thrice three hundred\nAchaeans to each joint.\u2019\n\nThis is found to be an incredible number; for as there were fifty\nhearths, the number of spits is two thousand five hundred; and of\ncarcasses, one hundred and twenty thousand...\n\nHomer, then, having the advantage on every point, Hesiod was jealous\nand began again:\n\n\u2018Homer, son of Meles, if indeed the Muses, daughters of great Zeus the\nmost high, honour you as it is said, tell me a standard that is both\nbest and worst for mortal-men; for I long to know it.\u2019 Homer replied:\n\u2018Hesiod, son of Dius, I am willing to tell you what you command, and\nvery readily will I answer you. For each man to be a standard will I\nanswer you. For each man to be a standard to himself is most excellent\nfor the good, but for the bad it is the worst of all things. And now\nask me whatever else your heart desires.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018How would men best dwell in cities, and with what\nobservances?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018By scorning to get unclean gain and if the good were honoured,\nbut justice fell upon the unjust.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018What is the best thing of all for a man to ask of the gods in\nprayer?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018That he may be always at peace with himself continually.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Can you tell me in briefest space what is best of all?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018A sound mind in a manly body, as I believe.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018Of what effect are righteousness and courage?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018To advance the common good by private pains.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018What is the mark of wisdom among men?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018To read aright the present, and to march with the occasion.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018In what kind of matter is it right to trust in men?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Where danger itself follows the action close.\u2019\n\nHESIOD: \u2018What do men mean by happiness?\u2019\n\nHOMER: \u2018Death after a life of least pain and greatest pleasure.\u2019\n\nAfter these verses had been spoken, all the Hellenes called for Homer\nto be crowned. But King Paneides bade each of them recite the finest\npassage from his own poems. Hesiod, therefore, began as follows:\n\n\u2018When the Pleiads, the daughters of Atlas, begin to rise begin the\nharvest, and begin ploughing ere they set. For forty nights and days\nthey are hidden, but appear again as the year wears round, when first\nthe sickle is sharpened. This is the law of the plains and for those\nwho dwell near the sea or live in the rich-soiled valleys, far from the\nwave-tossed deep: strip to sow, and strip to plough, and strip to reap\nwhen all things are in season.\u2019 3703\n\nThen Homer:\n\n\u2018The ranks stood firm about the two Aiantes, such that not even Ares\nwould have scorned them had he met them, nor yet Athena who saves\narmies. For there the chosen best awaited the charge of the Trojans and\nnoble Hector, making a fence of spears and serried shields. Shield\nclosed with shield, and helm with helm, and each man with his fellow,\nand the peaks of their head-pieces with crests of horse-hair touched as\nthey bent their heads: so close they stood together. The murderous\nbattle bristled with the long, flesh-rending spears they held, and the\nflash of bronze from polished helms and new-burnished breast-plates and\ngleaming shields blinded the eyes. Very hard of heart would he have\nbeen, who could then have seen that strife with joy and felt no pang.\u2019\n3704\n\nHere, again, the Hellenes applauded Homer admiringly, so far did the\nverses exceed the ordinary level; and demanded that he should be\nadjudged the winner. But the king gave the crown to Hesiod, declaring\nthat it was right that he who called upon men to follow peace and\nhusbandry should have the prize rather than one who dwelt on war and\nslaughter. In this way, then, we are told, Hesiod gained the victory\nand received a brazen tripod which he dedicated to the Muses with this\ninscription:\n\n\u2018Hesiod dedicated this tripod to the Muses of Helicon after he had\nconquered divine Homer at Chalcis in a contest of song.\u2019\n\nAfter the gathering was dispersed, Hesiod crossed to the mainland and\nwent to Delphi to consult the oracle and to dedicate the first fruits\nof his victory to the god. They say that as he was approaching the\ntemple, the prophetess became inspired and said:\n\n\u2018Blessed is this man who serves my house,\u2014Hesiod, who is honoured by\nthe deathless Muses: surely his renown shall be as wide as the light of\ndawn is spread. But beware of the pleasant grove of Nemean Zeus; for\nthere death\u2019s end is destined to befall you.\u2019\n\nWhen Hesiod heard this oracle, he kept away from the Peloponnesus,\nsupposing that the god meant the Nemea there; and coming to Oenoe in\nLocris, he stayed with Amphiphanes and Ganyetor the sons of Phegeus,\nthus unconsciously fulfilling the oracle; for all that region was\ncalled the sacred place of Nemean Zeus. He continued to stay a somewhat\nlong time at Oenoe, until the young men, suspecting Hesiod of seducing\ntheir sister, killed him and cast his body into the sea which separates\nAchaea and Locris. On the third day, however, his body was brought to\nland by dolphins while some local feast of Ariadne was being held.\nThereupon, all the people hurried to the shore, and recognized the\nbody, lamented over it and buried it, and then began to look for the\nassassins. But these, fearing the anger of their countrymen, launched a\nfishing boat, and put out to sea for Crete: they had finished half\ntheir voyage when Zeus sank them with a thunderbolt, as Alcidamas\nstates in his \u201cMuseum\u201d. Eratosthenes, however, says in his \u201cHesiod\u201d\nthat Ctimenus and Antiphus, sons of Ganyetor, killed him for the reason\nalready stated, and were sacrificed by Eurycles the seer to the gods of\nhospitality. He adds that the girl, sister of the above-named, hanged\nherself after she had been seduced, and that she was seduced by some\nstranger, Demodes by name, who was travelling with Hesiod, and who was\nalso killed by the brothers. At a later time the men of Orchomenus\nremoved his body as they were directed by an oracle, and buried him in\ntheir own country where they placed this inscription on his tomb:\n\n\u2018Ascra with its many cornfields was his native land; but in death the\nland of the horse-driving Minyans holds the bones of Hesiod, whose\nrenown is greatest among men of all who are judged by the test of wit.\u2019\n\nSo much for Hesiod. But Homer, after losing the victory, went from\nplace to place reciting his poems, and first of all the _Thebais_ in\nseven thousand verses which begins: \u2018Goddess, sing of parched Argos\nwhence kings...\u2019, and then the _Epigoni_ in seven thousand verses\nbeginning: \u2018And now, Muses, let us begin to sing of men of later days\u2019;\nfor some say that these poems also are by Homer. Now Xanthus and\nGorgus, son of Midas the king, heard his epics and invited him to\ncompose a epitaph for the tomb of their father on which was a bronze\nfigure of a maiden bewailing the death of Midas. He wrote the following\nlines:\u2014\n\n\u2018I am a maiden of bronze and sit upon the tomb of Midas. While water\nflows, and tall trees put forth leaves, and rivers swell, and the sea\nbreaks on the shore; while the sun rises and shines and the bright moon\nalso, ever remaining on this mournful tomb I tell the passer-by that\nMidas here lies buried.\u2019\n\nFor these verses they gave him a silver bowl which he dedicated to\nApollo at Delphi with this inscription: \u2018Lord Phoebus, I, Homer, have\ngiven you a noble gift for the wisdom I have of you: do you ever grant\nme renown.\u2019\n\nAfter this he composed the _Odyssey_ in twelve thousand verses, having\npreviously written the _Iliad_ in fifteen thousand five hundred verses\n3705. From Delphi, as we are told, he went to Athens and was\nentertained by Medon, king of the Athenians. And being one day in the\ncouncil hall when it was cold and a fire was burning there, he drew off\nthe following lines:\n\n\u2018Children are a man\u2019s crown, and towers of a city, horses are the\nornament of a plain, and ships of the sea; and good it is to see a\npeople seated in assembly. But with a blazing fire a house looks\nworthier upon a wintry day when the Son of Cronos sends down snow.\u2019\n\nFrom Athens he went on to Corinth, where he sang snatches of his poems\nand was received with distinction. Next he went to Argos and there\nrecited these verses from the _Iliad_:\n\n\u2018The sons of the Achaeans who held Argos and walled Tiryns, and\nHermione and Asine which lie along a deep bay, and Troezen, and Eiones,\nand vine-clad Epidaurus, and the island of Aegina, and Mases,\u2014these\nfollowed strong-voiced Diomedes, son of Tydeus, who had the spirit of\nhis father the son of Oeneus, and Sthenelus, dear son of famous\nCapaneus. And with these two there went a third leader, Eurypylus, a\ngodlike man, son of the lord Mecisteus, sprung of Talaus; but\nstrong-voiced Diomedes was their chief leader. These men had eighty\ndark ships wherein were ranged men skilled in war, Argives with linen\njerkins, very goads of war.\u2019 3706\n\nThis praise of their race by the most famous of all poets so\nexceedingly delighted the leading Argives, that they rewarded him with\ncostly gifts and set up a brazen statue to him, decreeing that\nsacrifice should be offered to Homer daily, monthly, and yearly; and\nthat another sacrifice should be sent to Chios every five years. This\nis the inscription they cut upon his statue:\n\n\u2018This is divine Homer who by his sweet-voiced art honoured all proud\nHellas, but especially the Argives who threw down the god-built walls\nof Troy to avenge rich-haired Helen. For this cause the people of a\ngreat city set his statue here and serve him with the honours of the\ndeathless gods.\u2019\n\nAfter he had stayed for some time in Argos, he crossed over to Delos,\nto the great assembly, and there, standing on the altar of horns, he\nrecited the _Hymn to Apollo_ 3707 which begins: \u2018I will remember and\nnot forget Apollo the far-shooter.\u2019 When the hymn was ended, the\nIonians made him a citizen of each one of their states, and the Delians\nwrote the poem on a whitened tablet and dedicated it in the temple of\nArtemis. The poet sailed to Ios, after the assembly was broken up, to\njoin Creophylus, and stayed there some time, being now an old man. And,\nit is said, as he was sitting by the sea he asked some boys who were\nreturning from fishing:\n\n\u2018Sirs, hunters of deep-sea prey, have we caught anything?\u2019\n\nTo this replied:\n\n\u2018All that we caught, we left behind, and carry away all that we did not\ncatch.\u2019\n\nHomer did not understand this reply and asked what they meant. They\nthen explained that they had caught nothing in fishing, but had been\ncatching their lice, and those of the lice which they caught, they left\nbehind; but carried away in their clothes those which they did not\ncatch. Hereupon Homer remembered the oracle and, perceiving that the\nend of his life had come composed his own epitaph. And while he was\nretiring from that place, he slipped in a clayey place and fell upon\nhis side, and died, it is said, the third day after. He was buried in\nIos, and this is his epitaph:\n\n\u2018Here the earth covers the sacred head of divine Homer, the glorifier\nof hero-men.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nENDNOTES\n\n\n1101 (return) [ sc. in Boeotia, Locris and Thessaly: elsewhere the\nmovement was forced and unfruitful.]\n\n1102 (return) [ The extant collection of three poems, _Works and Days_,\n_Theogony_, and _Shield of Heracles_, which alone have come down to us\ncomplete, dates at least from the 4th century A.D.: the title of the\nParis Papyrus (Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Gr. 1099) names only these three\nworks.]\n\n1103 (return) [ _Der Dialekt des Hesiodes_, p. 464: examples are AENEMI\n(W. and D. 683) and AROMENAI (_ib_. 22).]\n\n1104 (return) [ T.W. Allen suggests that the conjured Delian and\nPythian hymns to Apollo (_Homeric Hymns_ III) may have suggested this\nversion of the story, the Pythian hymn showing strong continental\ninfluence.]\n\n1105 (return) [ She is said to have given birth to the lyrist\nStesichorus.]\n\n1106 (return) [ See Kinkel _Epic. Graec. Frag._ i. 158 ff.]\n\n1107 (return) [ See _Great Works_, frag. 2.]\n\n1108 (return) [ _Hesiodi Fragmenta_, pp. 119 f.]\n\n1109 (return) [ Possibly the division of this poem into two books is a\ndivision belonging solely to this \u2018developed poem\u2019, which may have\nincluded in its second part a summary of the Tale of Troy.]\n\n1110 (return) [ Goettling\u2019s explanation.]\n\n1111 (return) [ x. 1. 52.]\n\n1112 (return) [ Odysseus appears to have been mentioned once only\u2014and\nthat casually\u2014in the _Returns_.]\n\n1113 (return) [ M.M. Croiset note that the _Aethiopis_ and the _Sack_\nwere originally merely parts of one work containing lays (the\nAmazoneia, Aethiopis, Persis, etc.), just as the _Iliad_ contained\nvarious lays such as the Diomedeia.]\n\n1114 (return) [ No date is assigned to him, but it seems likely that he\nwas either contemporary or slightly earlier than Lesches.]\n\n1115 (return) [ Cp. Allen and Sikes, _Homeric Hymns_ p. xv. In the text\nI have followed the arrangement of these scholars, numbering the Hymns\nto Dionysus and to Demeter, I and II respectively: to place _Demeter_\nafter _Hermes_, and the Hymn to Dionysus at the end of the collection\nseems to be merely perverse.]\n\n1116 (return) [ _Greek Melic Poets_, p. 165.]\n\n1117 (return) [ This monument was returned to Greece in the 1980\u2019s.\u2014\nDBK.]\n\n1118 (return) [ Cp. Marckscheffel, _Hesiodi fragmenta_, p. 35. The\npapyrus fragment recovered by Petrie (_Petrie Papyri_, ed. Mahaffy, p.\n70, No. xxv.) agrees essentially with the extant document, but differs\nin numerous minor textual points.]\n\n1201 (return) [ See Schubert, _Berl. Klassikertexte_ v. 1.22 ff.; the\nother papyri may be found in the publications whose name they bear.]\n\n1202 (return) [ Unless otherwise noted, all MSS. are of the 15th\ncentury.]\n\n1203 (return) [ To this list I would also add the following: _Hesiod\nand Theognis_, translated by Dorothea Wender (Penguin Classics, London,\n1973).\u2014DBK.]\n\n1301 (return) [ That is, the poor man\u2019s fare, like \u2018bread and cheese\u2019.]\n\n1302 (return) [ The All-endowed.]\n\n1303 (return) [ The jar or casket contained the gifts of the gods\nmentioned in l.82.]\n\n1304 (return) [ Eustathius refers to Hesiod as stating that men sprung\n\u201cfrom oaks and stones and ashtrees\u201d. Proclus believed that the Nymphs\ncalled Meliae (_Theogony_, 187) are intended. Goettling would render:\n\u201cA race terrible because of their (ashen) spears.\u201d]\n\n1305 (return) [ Preserved only by Proclus, from whom some inferior MSS.\nhave copied the verse. The four following lines occur only in Geneva\nPapyri No. 94. For the restoration of ll. 169b-c see \u201cClass. Quart.\u201d\nvii. 219-220. (NOTE: Mr. Evelyn-White means that the version quoted by\nProclus stops at this point, then picks up at l. 170.\u2014DBK).]\n\n1306 (return) [ _i.e._ the race will so degenerate that at the last\neven a new-born child will show the marks of old age.]\n\n1307 (return) [ Aidos, as a quality, is that feeling of reverence or\nshame which restrains men from wrong: Nemesis is the feeling of\nrighteous indignation aroused especially by the sight of the wicked in\nundeserved prosperity (_cf. Psalms_, lxxii. 1-19).]\n\n1308 (return) [ The alternative version is: \u2018and, working, you will be\nmuch better loved both by gods and men; for they greatly dislike the\nidle.\u2019]\n\n1309 (return) [ _i.e._ neighbours come at once and without making\npreparations, but kinsmen by marriage (who live at a distance) have to\nprepare, and so are long in coming.]\n\n1310 (return) [ Early in May.]\n\n1311 (return) [ In November.]\n\n1312 (return) [ In October.]\n\n1313 (return) [ For pounding corn.]\n\n1314 (return) [ A mallet for breaking clods after ploughing.]\n\n1315 (return) [ The loaf is a flattish cake with two intersecting lines\nscored on its upper surface which divide it into four equal parts.]\n\n1316 (return) [ The meaning is obscure. A scholiast renders \u2018giving\neight mouthfulls\u2019; but the elder Philostratus uses the word in contrast\nto \u2018leavened\u2019.]\n\n1317 (return) [ About the middle of November.]\n\n1318 (return) [ Spring is so described because the buds have not yet\ncast their iron-grey husks.]\n\n1319 (return) [ In December.]\n\n1320 (return) [ In March.]\n\n1321 (return) [ The latter part of January and earlier part of\nFebruary.]\n\n1322 (return) [ _i.e._ the octopus or cuttle.]\n\n1323 (return) [ _i.e._ the darker-skinned people of Africa, the\nEgyptians or Aethiopians.]\n\n1324 (return) [ _i.e._ an old man walking with a staff (the \u2018third\nleg\u2019\u2014 as in the riddle of the Sphinx).]\n\n1325 (return) [ February to March.]\n\n1326 (return) [ _i.e._ the snail. The season is the middle of May.]\n\n1327 (return) [ In June.]\n\n1328 (return) [ July.]\n\n1329 (return) [ _i.e._ a robber.]\n\n1330 (return) [ September.]\n\n1331 (return) [ The end of October.]\n\n1332 (return) [ That is, the succession of stars which make up the full\nyear.]\n\n1333 (return) [ The end of October or beginning of November.]\n\n1334 (return) [ July-August.]\n\n1335 (return) [ _i.e._ untimely, premature. Juvenal similarly speaks of\n\u2018cruda senectus\u2019 (caused by gluttony).]\n\n1336 (return) [ The thought is parallel to that of \u2018O, what a goodly\noutside falsehood hath.\u2019]\n\n1337 (return) [ The \u2018common feast\u2019 is one to which all present\nsubscribe. Theognis (line 495) says that one of the chief pleasures of\na banquet is the general conversation. Hence the present passage means\nthat such a feast naturally costs little, while the many present will\nmake pleasurable conversation.]\n\n1338 (return) [ _i.e._ \u2018do not cut your finger-nails\u2019.]\n\n1339 (return) [ _i.e._ things which it would be sacrilege to disturb,\nsuch as tombs.]\n\n1340 (return) [ H.G. Evelyn-White prefers to switch ll. 768 and 769,\nreading l. 769 first then l. 768.\u2014DBK]\n\n1341 (return) [ The month is divided into three periods, the waxing,\nthe mid-month, and the waning, which answer to the phases of the moon.]\n\n1342 (return) [ _i.e._ the ant.]\n\n1343 (return) [ Such seems to be the meaning here, though the epithet\nis otherwise rendered \u2018well-rounded\u2019. Corn was threshed by means of a\nsleigh with two runners having three or four rollers between them, like\nthe modern Egyptian _nurag_.]\n\n1401 (return) [ This halt verse is added by the Scholiast on Aratus,\n172.]\n\n1402 (return) [ The \u201cCatasterismi\u201d (\u201cPlacings among the Stars\u201d) is a\ncollection of legends relating to the various constellations.]\n\n1403 (return) [ The Straits of Messina.]\n\n1501 (return) [ Or perhaps \u2018a Scythian\u2019.]\n\n1601 (return) [ The epithet probably indicates coquettishness.]\n\n1602 (return) [ A proverbial saying meaning, \u2018why enlarge on irrelevant\ntopics?\u2019]\n\n1603 (return) [ \u2018She of the noble voice\u2019: Calliope is queen of Epic\npoetry.]\n\n1604 (return) [ Earth, in the cosmology of Hesiod, is a disk surrounded\nby the river Oceanus and floating upon a waste of waters. It is called\nthe foundation of all (the qualification \u2018the deathless ones...\u2019 etc.\nis an interpolation), because not only trees, men, and animals, but\neven the hills and seas (ll. 129, 131) are supported by it.]\n\n1605 (return) [ Aether is the bright, untainted upper atmosphere, as\ndistinguished from Aer, the lower atmosphere of the earth.]\n\n1606 (return) [ Brontes is the Thunderer; Steropes, the Lightener; and\nArges, the Vivid One.]\n\n1607 (return) [ The myth accounts for the separation of Heaven and\nEarth. In Egyptian cosmology Nut (the Sky) is thrust and held apart\nfrom her brother Geb (the Earth) by their father Shu, who corresponds\nto the Greek Atlas.]\n\n1608 (return) [ Nymphs of the ash-trees, as Dryads are nymphs of the\noak-trees. Cp. note on _Works and Days_, l. 145.]\n\n1609 (return) [ \u2018Member-loving\u2019: the title is perhaps only a perversion\nof the regular PHILOMEIDES (laughter-loving).]\n\n1610 (return) [ Cletho (the Spinner) is she who spins the thread of\nman\u2019s life; Lachesis (the Disposer of Lots) assigns to each man his\ndestiny; Atropos (She who cannot be turned) is the \u2018Fury with the\nabhorred shears.\u2019]\n\n1611 (return) [ Many of the names which follow express various\nqualities or aspects of the sea: thus Galene is \u2018Calm\u2019, Cymothoe is the\n\u2018Wave-swift\u2019, Pherusa and Dynamene are \u2018She who speeds (ships)\u2019 and\n\u2018She who has power\u2019.]\n\n1612 (return) [ The \u2018Wave-receiver\u2019 and the \u2018Wave-stiller\u2019.]\n\n1613 (return) [ \u2018The Unerring\u2019 or \u2018Truthful\u2019; cp. l. 235.]\n\n1614 (return) [ _i.e._ Poseidon.]\n\n1615 (return) [ Goettling notes that some of these nymphs derive their\nnames from lands over which they preside, as Europa, Asia, Doris,\nIaneira (\u2018Lady of the Ionians\u2019), but that most are called after some\nquality which their streams possessed: thus Xanthe is the \u2018Brown\u2019 or\n\u2018Turbid\u2019, Amphirho is the \u2018Surrounding\u2019 river, Ianthe is \u2018She who\ndelights\u2019, and Ocyrrhoe is the \u2018Swift-flowing\u2019.]\n\n1616 (return) [ _i.e._ Eos, the \u2018Early-born\u2019.]\n\n1617 (return) [ Van Lennep explains that Hecate, having no brothers to\nsupport her claim, might have been slighted.]\n\n1618 (return) [ The goddess of the _hearth_ (the Roman _Vesta_), and so\nof the house. Cp. _Homeric Hymns_ v.22 ff.; xxxix.1 ff.]\n\n1619 (return) [ The variant reading \u2018of his father\u2019 (sc. Heaven) rests\non inferior MS. authority and is probably an alteration due to the\ndifficulty stated by a Scholiast: \u2018How could Zeus, being not yet\nbegotten, plot against his father?\u2019 The phrase is, however, part of the\nprophecy. The whole line may well be spurious, and is rejected by\nHeyne, Wolf, Gaisford and Guyet.]\n\n1620 (return) [ Pausanias (x. 24.6) saw near the tomb of Neoptolemus \u2018a\nstone of no great size\u2019, which the Delphians anointed every day with\noil, and which he says was supposed to be the stone given to Cronos.]\n\n1621 (return) [ A Scholiast explains: \u2018Either because they (men) sprang\nfrom the Melian nymphs (cp. l. 187); or because, when they were born\n(?), they cast themselves under the ash-trees, that is, the trees.\u2019 The\nreference may be to the origin of men from ash-trees: cp. _Works and\nDays_, l. 145 and note.]\n\n1622 (return) [ _sc_. Atlas, the Shu of Egyptian mythology: cp. note on\nline 177.]\n\n1623 (return) [ Oceanus is here regarded as a continuous stream\nenclosing the earth and the seas, and so as flowing back upon himself.]\n\n1624 (return) [ The conception of Oceanus is here different: he has\nnine streams which encircle the earth and then flow out into the \u2018main\u2019\nwhich appears to be the waste of waters on which, according to early\nGreek and Hebrew cosmology, the disk-like earth floated.]\n\n1625 (return) [ _i.e._ the threshold is of \u2018native\u2019 metal, and not\nartificial.]\n\n1626 (return) [ According to Homer Typhoeus was overwhelmed by Zeus\namongst the Arimi in Cilicia. Pindar represents him as buried under\nAetna, and Tzetzes reads Aetna in this passage.]\n\n1627 (return) [ The epithet (which means literally _well-bored_) seems\nto refer to the spout of the crucible.]\n\n1628 (return) [ The fire god. There is no reference to volcanic action:\niron was smelted on Mount Ida; cp. _Epigrams of Homer_, ix. 2-4.]\n\n1629 (return) [ _i.e._ Athena, who was born \u2018on the banks of the river\nTrito\u2019 (cp. l. 929l)]\n\n1630 (return) [ Restored by Peppmuller. The nineteen following lines\nfrom another recension of lines 889-900, 924-9 are quoted by Chrysippus\n(in Galen).]\n\n1631 (return) [ _sc_. the aegis. Line 929s is probably spurious, since\nit disagrees with l. 929q and contains a suspicious reference to\nAthens.]\n\n1701 (return) [ A catalogue of heroines each of whom was introduced\nwith the words E OIE, \u2018Or like her\u2019.]\n\n1702 (return) [ An antiquarian writer of Byzantium, c. 490-570 A.D.]\n\n1703 (return) [ Constantine VII. \u2018Born in the Porphyry Chamber\u2019,\n905-959 A.D.]\n\n1704 (return) [ \u201cBerlin Papyri\u201d, 7497 (left-hand fragment) and\n\u201cOxyrhynchus Papyri\u201d, 421 (right-hand fragment). For the restoration\nsee \u201cClass. Quart.\u201d vii. 217-8.]\n\n1705 (return) [ As the price to be given to her father for her: so in\n_Iliad_ xviii. 593 maidens are called \u2018earners of oxen\u2019. Possibly\nGlaucus, like Aias (fr. 68, ll. 55 ff.), raided the cattle of others.]\n\n1706 (return) [ _i.e._ Glaucus should father the children of others.\nThe curse of Aphrodite on the daughters of Tyndareus (fr. 67) may be\ncompared.]\n\n1707 (return) [ Porphyry, scholar, mathematician, philosopher and\nhistorian, lived 233-305 (?) A.D. He was a pupil of the neo-Platonist\nPlotinus.]\n\n1708 (return) [ Author of a geographical lexicon, produced after 400\nA.D., and abridged under Justinian.]\n\n1709 (return) [ Archbishop of Thessalonica 1175-1192 (?) A.D., author\nof commentaries on Pindar and on the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_.]\n\n1710 (return) [ In the earliest times a loin-cloth was worn by\nathletes, but was discarded after the 14th Olympiad.]\n\n1711 (return) [ Slight remains of five lines precede line 1 in the\noriginal: after line 20 an unknown number of lines have been lost, and\ntraces of a verse preceding line 21 are here omitted. Between lines 29\nand 30 are fragments of six verses which do not suggest any definite\nrestoration. (NOTE: Line enumeration is that according to Evelyn-White;\na slightly different line numbering system is adopted in the original\npublication of this fragment.\u2014DBK)]\n\n1712 (return) [ The end of Schoeneus\u2019 speech, the preparations and the\nbeginning of the race are lost.]\n\n1713 (return) [ Of the three which Aphrodite gave him to enable him to\novercome Atalanta.]\n\n1714 (return) [ The geographer; fl. c.24 B.C.]\n\n1715 (return) [ Of Miletus, flourished about 520 B.C. His work, a\nmixture of history and geography, was used by Herodotus.]\n\n1716 (return) [ The Hesiodic story of the daughters of Proetus can be\nreconstructed from these sources. They were sought in marriage by all\nthe Greeks (Pauhellenes), but having offended Dionysus (or, according\nto Servius, Juno), were afflicted with a disease which destroyed their\nbeauty (or were turned into cows). They were finally healed by\nMelampus.]\n\n1717 (return) [ Fl. 56-88 A.D.: he is best known for his work on\nVergil.]\n\n1718 (return) [ This and the following fragment segment are meant to be\nread together.\u2014DBK.]\n\n1719 (return) [ This fragment as well as fragments #40A, #101, and #102\nwere added by Mr. Evelyn-White in an appendix to the second edition\n(1919). They are here moved to the _Catalogues_ proper for easier use\nby the reader.\u2014DBK.]\n\n1720 (return) [ For the restoration of ll. 1-16 see \u201cOx. Pap.\u201d pt. xi.\npp. 46-7: the supplements of ll. 17-31 are by the Translator (cp.\n\u201cClass. Quart.\u201d x. (1916), pp. 65-67).]\n\n1721 (return) [ The crocus was to attract Europa, as in the very\nsimilar story of Persephone: cp. _Homeric Hymns_ ii. lines 8 ff.]\n\n1722 (return) [ Apollodorus of Athens (fl. 144 B.C.) was a pupil of\nAristarchus. He wrote a Handbook of Mythology, from which the extant\nwork bearing his name is derived.]\n\n1723 (return) [ Priest at Praeneste. He lived c. 170-230 A.D.]\n\n1724 (return) [ Son of Apollonius Dyscolus, lived in Rome under Marcus\nAurelius. His chief work was on accentuation.]\n\n1725 (return) [ This and the next two fragment segments are meant to be\nread together.\u2014DBK.]\n\n1726 (return) [ Sacred to Poseidon. For the custom observed there, cp.\n_Homeric Hymns_ iii. 231 ff.]\n\n1727 (return) [ The allusion is obscure.]\n\n1728 (return) [ Apollonius \u2018the Crabbed\u2019 was a grammarian of Alexandria\nunder Hadrian. He wrote largely on Grammar and Syntax.]\n\n1729 (return) [ 275-195 (?) B.C., mathematician, astronomer, scholar,\nand head of the Library of Alexandria.]\n\n1730 (return) [ Of Cyme. He wrote a universal history covering the\nperiod between the Dorian Migration and 340 B.C.]\n\n1731 (return) [ _i.e._ the nomad Scythians, who are described by\nHerodotus as feeding on mares\u2019 milk and living in caravans.]\n\n1732 (return) [ The restorations are mainly those adopted or suggested\nin \u201cOx. Pap.\u201d pt. xi. pp. 48 ff.: for those of ll. 8-14 see \u201cClass.\nQuart.\u201d x. (1916) pp. 67-69.]\n\n1733 (return) [ _i.e._ those who seek to outwit the oracle, or to ask\nof it more than they ought, will be deceived by it and be led to ruin:\ncp. _Hymn to Hermes_, 541 ff.]\n\n1734 (return) [ Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas, who were amongst the\nArgonauts, delivered Phineus from the Harpies. The Strophades (\u2018Islands\nof Turning\u2019) are here supposed to have been so called because the sons\nof Boreas were there turned back by Iris from pursuing the Harpies.]\n\n1735 (return) [ An Epicurean philosopher, fl. 50 B.C.]\n\n1736 (return) [ \u2018Charming-with-her-voice\u2019 (or \u2018Charming-the-mind\u2019),\n\u2018Song\u2019, and \u2018Lovely-sounding\u2019.]\n\n1737 (return) [ Diodorus Siculus, fl. 8 B.C., author of an universal\nhistory ending with Caesar\u2019s Gallic Wars.]\n\n1738 (return) [ The first epic in the \u201cTrojan Cycle\u201d; like all ancient\nepics it was ascribed to Homer, but also, with more probability, to\nStasinus of Cyprus.]\n\n1739 (return) [ This fragment is placed by Spohn after _Works and Days_\nl. 120.]\n\n1740 (return) [ A Greek of Asia Minor, author of the \u201cDescription of\nGreece\u201d (on which he was still engaged in 173 A.D.).]\n\n1741 (return) [ Wilamowitz thinks one or other of these citations\nbelongs to the Catalogue.]\n\n1742 (return) [ Lines 1-51 are from Berlin Papyri, 9739; lines 52-106\nwith B. 1-50 (and following fragments) are from Berlin Papyri, 10560. A\nreference by Pausanias (iii. 24. 10) to ll. 100 ff. proves that the two\nfragments together come from the _Catalogue of Women_. The second book\n(the beginning of which is indicated after l. 106) can hardly be the\nsecond book of the _Catalogues_ proper: possibly it should be assigned\nto the EOIAI, which were sometimes treated as part of the _Catalogues_,\nand sometimes separated from it. The remains of thirty-seven lines\nfollowing B. 50 in the Papyrus are too slight to admit of restoration.]\n\n1743 (return) [ sc. the Suitor whose name is lost.]\n\n1744 (return) [ Wooing was by proxy; so Agamemnon wooed Helen for his\nbrother Menelaus (ll. 14-15), and Idomeneus, who came in person and\nsent no deputy, is specially mentioned as an exception, and the reasons\nfor this\u2014if the restoration printed in the text be right\u2014is stated (ll.\n69 ff.).]\n\n1745 (return) [ The Papyrus here marks the beginning of a second book\npossibly of the _Eoiae_. The passage (ll. 2-50) probably led up to an\naccount of the Trojan (and Theban?) war, in which, according to _Works\nand Days_ ll. 161-166, the Race of Heroes perished. The opening of the\n_Cypria_ is somewhat similar. Somewhere in the fragmentary lines 13-19\na son of Zeus\u2014almost certainly Apollo\u2014was introduced, though for what\npurpose is not clear. With l. 31 the destruction of man (cp. ll. 4-5)\nby storms which spoil his crops begins: the remaining verses are\nparenthetical, describing the snake \u201cwhich bears its young in the\nspring season\u201d.]\n\n1746 (return) [ _i.e._ the snake; as in _Works and Days_ l. 524, the\n\u201cBoneless One\u201d is the cuttle-fish.]\n\n1747 (return) [ c. 1110-1180 A.D. His chief work was a poem,\n\u201cChiliades\u201d, in accentual verse of nearly 13,000 lines.]\n\n1748 (return) [ According to this account Iphigeneia was carried by\nArtemis to the Taurie Chersonnese (the Crimea). The Tauri (Herodotus\niv. 103) identified their maiden-goddess with Iphigeneia; but Euripides\n(_Iphigeneia in Tauris_) makes her merely priestess of the goddess.]\n\n1749 (return) [ Of Alexandria. He lived in the 5th century, and\ncompiled a Greek Lexicon.]\n\n1750 (return) [ For his murder Minos exacted a yearly tribute of boys\nand girls, to be devoured by the Minotaur, from the Athenians.]\n\n1751 (return) [ Of Naucratis. His \u201cDeipnosophistae\u201d (\u201cDons at Dinner\u201d)\nis an encyclopaedia of miscellaneous topics in the form of a dialogue.\nHis date is c. 230 A.D.]\n\n1752 (return) [ There is a fancied connection between LAAS (\u2018stone\u2019)\nand LAOS (\u2018people\u2019). The reference is to the stones which Deucalion and\nPyrrha transformed into men and women after the Flood.]\n\n1753 (return) [ Eustathius identifies Ileus with Oileus, father of\nAias. Here again is fanciful etymology, ILEUS being similar to ILEOS\n(complaisant, gracious).]\n\n1754 (return) [ Imitated by Vergil, \u201cAeneid\u201d vii. 808, describing\nCamilla.]\n\n1755 (return) [ c. 600 A.D., a lecturer and grammarian of\nConstantinople.]\n\n1756 (return) [ Priest of Apollo, and, according to Homer, discoverer\nof wine. Maronea in Thrace is said to have been called after him.]\n\n1757 (return) [ The crow was originally white, but was turned black by\nApollo in his anger at the news brought by the bird.]\n\n1758 (return) [ A philosopher of Athens under Hadrian and Antonius. He\nbecame a Christian and wrote a defence of the Christians addressed to\nAntoninus Pius.]\n\n1759 (return) [ Zeus slew Asclepus (fr. 90) because of his success as a\nhealer, and Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes (fr. 64). In\npunishment Apollo was forced to serve Admetus as herdsman. (Cp.\nEuripides, _Alcestis_, 1-8)]\n\n1760 (return) [ For Cyrene and Aristaeus, cp. Vergil, _Georgics_, iv.\n315 ff.]\n\n1761 (return) [ A writer on mythology of uncertain date.]\n\n1762 (return) [ In Epirus. The oracle was first consulted by Deucalion\nand Pyrrha after the Flood. Later writers say that the god responded in\nthe rustling of leaves in the oaks for which the place was famous.]\n\n1763 (return) [ The fragment is part of a leaf from a papyrus book of\nthe 4th century A.D.]\n\n1764 (return) [ According to Homer and later writers Meleager wasted\naway when his mother Althea burned the brand on which his life\ndepended, because he had slain her brothers in the dispute for the hide\nof the Calydonian boar. (Cp. Bacchylides, \u201cOde\u201d v. 136 ff.)]\n\n1765 (return) [ The fragment probably belongs to the _Catalogues_\nproper rather than to the Eoiae; but, as its position is uncertain, it\nmay conveniently be associated with Frags. 99A and the _Shield of\nHeracles_.]\n\n1766 (return) [ Most of the smaller restorations appear in the original\npublication, but the larger are new: these last are highly conjectual,\nthere being no definite clue to the general sense.]\n\n1767 (return) [ Alcmaon (who took part in the second of the two heroic\nTheban expeditions) is perhaps mentioned only incidentally as the son\nof Amphiaraus, who seems to be clearly indicated in ll. 7-8, and whose\nstory occupies ll. 5-10. At l. 11 the subject changes and Electryon is\nintroduced as father of Alcmena.]\n\n1768 (return) [ The association of ll. 1-16 with ll. 17-24 is presumed\nfrom the apparent mention of Erichthonius in l. 19. A new section must\nthen begin at l. 21. See \u201cOx. Pap.\u201d pt. xi. p. 55 (and for restoration\nof ll. 5-16, ib. p. 53). ll. 19-20 are restored by the Translator.]\n\n1801 (return) [ A mountain peak near Thebes which took its name from\nthe Sphinx (called in _Theogony_ l. 326 PHIX).]\n\n1802 (return) [ Cyanus was a glass-paste of deep blue colour: the\n\u2018zones\u2019 were concentric bands in which were the scenes described by the\npoet. The figure of Fear (l. 44) occupied the centre of the shield, and\nOceanus (l. 314) enclosed the whole.]\n\n1803 (return) [ \u2018She who drives herds,\u2019 _i.e._ \u2018The Victorious\u2019, since\nherds were the chief spoil gained by the victor in ancient warfare.]\n\n1804 (return) [ The cap of darkness which made its wearer invisible.]\n\n1805 (return) [ The existing text of the vineyard scene is a compound\nof two different versions, clumsily adapted, and eked out with some\nmakeshift additions.]\n\n1806 (return) [ The conception is similar to that of the sculptured\ngroup at Athens of Two Lions devouring a Bull (Dickens, _Cat. of the\nAcropolis Museum_, No. 3).]\n\n1901 (return) [ A Greek sophist who taught rhetoric at Rome in the time\nof Hadrian. He is the author of a collection of proverbs in three\nbooks.]\n\n2001 (return) [ When Heracles prayed that a son might be born to\nTelamon and Eriboea, Zeus sent forth an eagle in token that the prayer\nwould be granted. Heracles then bade the parents call their son Aias\nafter the eagle (_aietos_).]\n\n2002 (return) [ Oenomaus, king of Pisa in Elis, warned by an oracle\nthat he should be killed by his son-in-law, offered his daughter\nHippodamia to the man who could defeat him in a chariot race, on\ncondition that the defeated suitors should be slain by him. Ultimately\nPelops, through the treachery of the charioteer of Oenomaus, became\nvictorious.]\n\n2003 (return) [ sc. to Scythia.]\n\n2004 (return) [ In the Homeric _Hymn to Hermes_ Battus almost\ndisappears from the story, and a somewhat different account of the\nstealing of the cattle is given.]\n\n2101 (return) [ sc. Colophon. Proclus in his abstract of the _Returns_\n(sc. of the heroes from Troy) says Calchas and his party were present\nat the death of Teiresias at Colophon, perhaps indicating another\nversion of this story.]\n\n2102 (return) [ ll. 1-2 are quoted by Athenaeus, ii. p. 40; ll. 3-4 by\nClement of Alexandria, _Stromateis_ vi. 2. 26. Buttman saw that the two\nfragments should be joined. (NOTE: These two fragments should be read\ntogether.\u2014DBK)]\n\n2201 (return) [ sc. the golden fleece of the ram which carried Phrixus\nand Helle away from Athamas and Ino. When he reached Colchis Phrixus\nsacrificed the ram to Zeus.]\n\n2202 (return) [ Euboea properly means the \u2018Island of fine Cattle (or\nCows)\u2019.]\n\n2301 (return) [ This and the following fragment are meant to be read\ntogether.\u2014DBK]\n\n2302 (return) [ cp. Hesiod _Theogony_ 81 ff. But Theognis 169, \u2018Whomso\nthe god honour, even a man inclined to blame praiseth him\u2019, is much\nnearer.]\n\n2401 (return) [ Cf. Scholion on Clement, \u201cProtrept.\u201d i. p. 302.]\n\n2402 (return) [ This line may once have been read in the text of _Works\nand Days_ after l. 771.]\n\n2501 (return) [ ll. 1-9 are preserved by Diodorus Siculus iii. 66. 3;\nll. 10-21 are extant only in M.]\n\n2502 (return) [ Dionysus, after his untimely birth from Semele, was\nsewn into the thigh of Zeus.]\n\n2503 (return) [ _sc_. Semele. Zeus is here speaking.]\n\n2504 (return) [ The reference is apparently to something in the body of\nthe hymn, now lost.]\n\n2505 (return) [ The Greeks feared to name Pluto directly and mentioned\nhim by one of many descriptive titles, such as \u2018Host of Many\u2019: compare\nthe Christian use of O DIABOLOS or our \u2018Evil One\u2019.]\n\n2506 (return) [ Demeter chooses the lowlier seat, supposedly as being\nmore suitable to her assumed condition, but really because in her\nsorrow she refuses all comforts.]\n\n2507 (return) [ An act of communion\u2014the drinking of the potion here\ndescribed\u2014was one of the most important pieces of ritual in the\nEleusinian mysteries, as commemorating the sorrows of the goddess.]\n\n2508 (return) [ Undercutter and Woodcutter are probably popular names\n(after the style of Hesiod\u2019s \u2018Boneless One\u2019) for the worm thought to be\nthe cause of teething and toothache.]\n\n2509 (return) [ The list of names is taken\u2014with five additions\u2014from\nHesiod, _Theogony_ 349 ff.: for their general significance see note on\nthat passage.]\n\n2510 (return) [ Inscriptions show that there was a temple of Apollo\nDelphinius (cp. ii. 495-6) at Cnossus and a Cretan month bearing the\nsame name.]\n\n2511 (return) [ sc. that the dolphin was really Apollo.]\n\n2512 (return) [ The epithets are transferred from the god to his altar\n\u2018Overlooking\u2019 is especially an epithet of Zeus, as in Apollonius\nRhodius ii. 1124.]\n\n2513 (return) [ Pliny notices the efficacy of the flesh of a tortoise\nagainst withcraft. In _Geoponica_ i. 14. 8 the living tortoise is\nprescribed as a charm to preserve vineyards from hail.]\n\n2514 (return) [ Hermes makes the cattle walk backwards way, so that\nthey seem to be going towards the meadow instead of leaving it (cp. l.\n345); he himself walks in the normal manner, relying on his sandals as\na disguise.]\n\n2515 (return) [ Such seems to be the meaning indicated by the context,\nthough the verb is taken by Allen and Sikes to mean, \u2018to be like\noneself\u2019, and so \u2018to be original\u2019.]\n\n2516 (return) [ Kuhn points out that there is a lacuna here. In l. 109\nthe borer is described, but the friction of this upon the fireblock (to\nwhich the phrase \u2018held firmly\u2019 clearly belongs) must also have been\nmentioned.]\n\n2517 (return) [ The cows being on their sides on the ground, Hermes\nbends their heads back towards their flanks and so can reach their\nbackbones.]\n\n2518 (return) [ O. Muller thinks the \u2018hides\u2019 were a stalactite\nformation in the \u2018Cave of Nestor\u2019 near Messenian Pylos,\u2014though the cave\nof Hermes is near the Alpheus (l. 139). Others suggest that actual\nskins were shown as relics before some cave near Triphylian Pylos.]\n\n2519 (return) [ Gemoll explains that Hermes, having offered all the\nmeat as sacrifice to the Twelve Gods, remembers that he himself as one\nof them must be content with the savour instead of the substance of the\nsacrifice. Can it be that by eating he would have forfeited the\nposition he claimed as one of the Twelve Gods?]\n\n2520 (return) [ _Lit_. \u201cthorn-plucker\u201d.]\n\n2521 (return) [ Hermes is ambitious (l. 175), but if he is cast into\nHades he will have to be content with the leadership of mere babies\nlike himself, since those in Hades retain the state of growth\u2014whether\nchildhood or manhood\u2014in which they are at the moment of leaving the\nupper world.]\n\n2522 (return) [ Literally, \u2018you have made him sit on the floor\u2019, _i.e._\n\u2018you have stolen everything down to his last chair.\u2019]\n\n2523 (return) [ The Thriae, who practised divination by means of\npebbles (also called THRIAE). In this hymn they are represented as aged\nmaidens (ll. 553-4), but are closely associated with bees (ll. 559-563)\nand possibly are here conceived as having human heads and breasts with\nthe bodies and wings of bees. See the edition of Allen and Sikes,\nAppendix III.]\n\n2524 (return) [ Cronos swallowed each of his children the moment that\nthey were born, but ultimately was forced to disgorge them. Hestia,\nbeing the first to be swallowed, was the last to be disgorged, and so\nwas at once the first and latest born of the children of Cronos. Cp.\nHesiod _Theogony_, ll. 495-7.]\n\n2525 (return) [ Mr. Evelyn-White prefers a different order for lines\n#87-90 than that preserved in the MSS. This translation is based upon\nthe following sequence: ll. 89,90,87,88.\u2014DBK.]\n\n2526 (return) [ \u2018Cattle-earning\u2019, because an accepted suitor paid for\nhis bride in cattle.]\n\n2527 (return) [ The name Aeneas is here connected with the epithet\nAIEOS (awful): similarly the name Odysseus is derived (in _Odyssey_\ni.62) from ODYSSMAI (I grieve).]\n\n2528 (return) [ Aphrodite extenuates her disgrace by claiming that the\nrace of Anchises is almost divine, as is shown in the persons of\nGanymedes and Tithonus.]\n\n2529 (return) [ So Christ connecting the word with OMOS. L. and S. give\n= OMOIOS, \u2018common to all\u2019.]\n\n2530 (return) [ Probably not Etruscans, but the non-Hellenic peoples of\nThrace and (according to Thucydides) of Lemnos and Athens. Cp.\nHerodotus i. 57; Thucydides iv. 109.]\n\n2531 (return) [ This line appears to be an alternative to ll. 10-11.]\n\n2532 (return) [ The name Pan is here derived from PANTES, \u2018all\u2019. Cp.\nHesiod, _Works and Days_ ll. 80-82, _Hymn to Aphrodite_ (v) l. 198. for\nthe significance of personal names.]\n\n2533 (return) [ Mr. Evelyn-White prefers to switch l. 10 and 11,\nreading 11 first then 10.\u2014DBK.]\n\n2534 (return) [ An extra line is inserted in some MSS. after l. 15.\u2014\nDBK.]\n\n2535 (return) [ The epithet is a usual one for birds, cp. Hesiod,\n_Works and Days_, l. 210; as applied to Selene it may merely indicate\nher passage, like a bird, through the air, or mean \u2018far flying\u2019.]\n\n2601 (return) [ The _Epigrams_ are preserved in the pseudo-Herodotean\n_Life of Homer_. Nos. III, XIII, and XVII are also found in the\n_Contest of Homer and Hesiod_, and No. I is also extant at the end of\nsome MSS. of the _Homeric Hymns_.]\n\n2602 (return) [ sc. from Smyrna, Homer\u2019s reputed birth-place.]\n\n2603 (return) [ The councillors at Cyme who refused to support Homer at\nthe public expense.]\n\n2604 (return) [ The \u2018better fruit\u2019 is apparently the iron smelted out\nin fires of pine-wood.]\n\n2605 (return) [ Hecate: cp. Hesiod, _Theogony_, l. 450.]\n\n2606 (return) [ _i.e._ in protection.]\n\n2607 (return) [ This song is called by pseudo-Herodotus EIRESIONE. The\nword properly indicates a garland wound with wool which was worn at\nharvest-festivals, but came to be applied first to the harvest song and\nthen to any begging song. The present is akin the Swallow-Song\n(XELIDONISMA), sung at the beginning of spring, and answered to the\nstill surviving English May-Day songs. Cp. Athenaeus, viii. 360 B.]\n\n2608 (return) [ The lice which they caught in their clothes they left\nbehind, but carried home in their clothes those which they could not\ncatch.]\n\n2701 (return) [ See the cylix reproduced by Gerhard, _Abhandlungen_,\ntaf. 5,4. Cp. Stesichorus, Frag. 3 (Smyth).]\n\n2801 (return) [ The haunch was regarded as a dishonourable portion.]\n\n2802 (return) [ The horse of Adrastus, offspring of Poseidon and\nDemeter, who had changed herself into a mare to escape Poseidon.]\n\n2803 (return) [ Restored from Pindar Ol. vi. 15 who, according to\nAsclepiades, derives the passage from the _Thebais_.]\n\n2901 (return) [ So called from Teumessus, a hill in Boeotia. For the\nderivation of Teumessus cp. Antimachus _Thebais_ fr. 3 (Kinkel).]\n\n3001 (return) [ The preceding part of the Epic Cycle (?).]\n\n3002 (return) [ While the Greeks were sacrificing at Aulis, a serpent\nappeared and devoured eight young birds from their nest and lastly the\nmother of the brood. This was interpreted by Calchas to mean that the\nwar would swallow up nine full years. Cp. _Iliad_ ii, 299 ff.]\n\n3003 (return) [ _i.e._ Stasinus (or Hegesias: cp. fr. 6): the phrase\n\u2018Cyprian histories\u2019 is equivalent to \u201cThe Cypria\u201d.]\n\n3004 (return) [ Cp. Allen \u201cC.R.\u201d xxvii. 190.]\n\n3005 (return) [ These two lines possibly belong to the account of the\nfeast given by Agamemnon at Lemnos.]\n\n3006 (return) [ sc. the Asiatic Thebes at the foot of Mt. Placius.]\n\n3101 (return) [ sc. after cremation.]\n\n3102 (return) [ This fragment comes from a version of the _Contest of\nHomer and Hesiod_ widely different from that now extant. The words \u2018as\nLesches gives them (says)\u2019 seem to indicate that the verse and a half\nassigned to Homer came from the _Little Iliad_. It is possible they may\nhave introduced some unusually striking incident, such as the actual\nFall of Troy.]\n\n3103 (return) [ _i.e._ in the paintings by Polygnotus at Delphi.]\n\n3104 (return) [ _i.e._ the dead bodies in the picture.]\n\n3105 (return) [ According to this version Aeneas was taken to\nPharsalia. Better known are the Homeric account (according to which\nAeneas founded a new dynasty at Troy), and the legends which make him\nseek a new home in Italy.]\n\n3201 (return) [ sc. knowledge of both surgery and of drugs.]\n\n3301 (return) [ Clement attributes this line to Augias: probably Agias\nis intended.]\n\n3302 (return) [ Identical with the _Returns_, in which the Sons of\nAtreus occupy the most prominent parts.]\n\n3401 (return) [ This Artemisia, who distinguished herself at the battle\nof Salamis (Herodotus, vii. 99) is here confused with the later\nArtemisia, the wife of Mausolus, who died 350 B.C.]\n\n3402 (return) [ _i.e._ the fox knows many ways to baffle its foes,\nwhile the hedge-hog knows one only which is far more effectual.]\n\n3403 (return) [ Attributed to Homer by Zenobius, and by Bergk to the\n_Margites_.]\n\n3501 (return) [ _i.e._ \u2018monkey-men\u2019.]\n\n3601 (return) [ Lines 42-52 are intrusive; the list of vegetables which\nthe Mouse cannot eat must follow immediately after the various dishes\nof which he does eat.]\n\n3602 (return) [ lit. \u2018those unable to swim\u2019.]\n\n3603 (return) [ This may be a parody of Orion\u2019s threat in Hesiod,\n\u201cAstronomy\u201d, frag. 4.]\n\n3701 (return) [ sc. the riddle of the fisher-boys which comes at the\nend of this work.]\n\n3702 (return) [ The verses of Hesiod are called doubtful in meaning\nbecause they are, if taken alone, either incomplete or absurd.]\n\n3703 (return) [ _Works and Days_, ll. 383-392.]\n\n3704 (return) [ _Iliad_ xiii, ll. 126-133, 339-344.]\n\n3705 (return) [ The accepted text of the _Iliad_ contains 15,693\nverses; that of the _Odyssey_, 12,110.]\n\n3706 (return) [ _Iliad_ ii, ll. 559-568 (with two additional verses).]\n\n3707 (return) [ _Homeric Hymns_, iii.]","title":"Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":90815}