The Complete Works of

HESIOD

(c.750-c.650 BC)

Contents

The Translations

THE THEOGONY

WORKS AND DAYS

THE SHIELD OF HERACLES

FRAGMENTS

The Greek Texts

LIST OF GREEK TEXTS

The Biographies

INTRODUCTION TO HESIOD by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

THE CONTEST OF HOMER AND HESIOD

© Delphi Classics 2013

Version 1

The Complete Works of

HESIOD

By Delphi Classics, 2013

The Translations

Mount Helicon, upon which the town of Ascra was located.  Hesiod’s father came from Cyme in Aeolis, Asia Minor, and crossed the sea to settle at Ascra, a hamlet, near Thespiae in Boeotia, which the poet described as “a cursed place, cruel in winter, hard in summer, never pleasant”.

THE THEOGONY

Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

Composed circa 700 BC in the epic dialect of Homeric Greek, The Theogony (‘the birth of the gods’) describes the origins and genealogies of classical gods and goddesses.  It provides an important synthesis of a vast variety of local traditions concerning the gods, organised as a narrative that tells how they came to be and how they established permanent control over the cosmos. Interestingly, The Theogony of Hesiod is unique for establishing no historical royal line, instead choosing to affirm the kingship of Zeus over all the other gods and the cosmos.

Hesiod was probably influenced by Near-Eastern traditions, such as the Babylonian Dynasty of Dunnum, which were mixed with local traditions, with lingering traces from Mycenaean traditions. Following the invocation to the muses in the opening, Hesiod declares that he has received their blessings and thanks them for the gift of inspiration. Hesiod commences to explain that the initial state of the universe, or the origin (arche) is Chaos, a gaping void (abyss) considered as a divine primordial condition, from which appeared everything that exists. Then came Gaia (Earth), Tartarus (the cave-like space under the earth; the later-born Erebus is the darkness in this space), and Eros (Sexual Desire), who serves an important role in sexual reproduction, before which children had to be produced asexually. From Chaos came Erebus (place of darkness between the earth and the underworld) and Nyx (Night). Erebus and Nyx reproduced to make Aether (the outer atmosphere where the gods breathed) and Hemera (Day). From Gaia came Uranus (Sky), the Ourea (Mountains), and Pontus (Sea).

Hesiod then explains how Uranus mated with Gaia to create twelve Titans: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetos, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys and Cronus; three cyclopes: Brontes, Steropes and Arges; and three Hecatonchires: Kottos, Briareos, and Gyges. Disgusted with his own children, Uranus hid the Hecatonchires somewhere in Gaia. Angered by this, Gaia asked her children the Titans to punish their father. Only Cronus was willing to do so and castrated his father with a sickle from Gaia. The blood from Uranus splattered onto the earth producing Erinyes (the Furies), Giants, and Meliai. Cronus threw the severed testicles into the Sea (Thalassa), around which foam developed and transformed into the goddess of Love, Aphrodite. The myths then progress on to the war of the Titans and Zeus’ eventual rise and defeat of his own father, establishing the pantheon of gods and goddesses of ancient Greek mythology.

Gaia by Anselm Feuerbach, 1875

‘The mutilation of Uranus by Cronus’ by Giorgio Vasari

‘The Birth of Venus’ by Sandro Botticelli, 1485

THE THEOGONY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(929a-929t)  But Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her mate. And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who holds the aegis a glorious son, Hephaestus, who excelled all the sons of Heaven in crafts. But Zeus lay with the fair-cheeked daughter of Ocean and Tethys apart from Hera....

. . . Lacuna . . .

....deceiving Metis (Thought) although she was full wise. But he seized her with his hands and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway conceived Pallas Athene: and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained hidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena’s mother, worker of righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men. There the goddess (Athena) received that  whereby she excelled in strength all the deathless ones who dwell in Olympus, she who made the host-scaring weapon of Athena. And with it (Zeus) gave her birth, arrayed in arms of war.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WORKS AND DAYS

Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

The Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι is a didactic poem of approximately 800 lines, composed around 700 BC. Works and Days is fundamentally a guide to agriculture, in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in farming techniques and traditions, as well as extensive advice on how he should live his life. It is believed the work was written during an agrarian crisis suffered in mainland Greece during seventh century BC, inspiring a wave of colonial expeditions in search of new land. The work is also notable for first introducing the concept that toil and pain define the human condition and for telling the story of Prometheus and Pandora.

Works and Days begins with a hymnic invocation to the Muses, asking them to sing of their father Zeus and his control of the fates of mankind. Hesiod then appeals to Zeus to guide his undertaking.  In the poem, Hesiod describes himself as the heir of a farm bequeathed to him and his brother. However, Perses apparently squandered his wealth and came back for what is owned by Hesiod, and so went to law and bribed the lords to judge in his favour. The poem contains a sharp attack against unjust judges, like those that decided in favour of the poet’s brother.  Hesiod seems to have thought that instead of giving him money or property which he will spend quickly, it is better to teach him the virtues of work and to impart his wisdom which can be used to generate an income.

The most famous portion of the poem comprises a series of mythological examples and gnomic statements outlining Hesiod’s conception of justice and the necessity of work with the ostensible goal of persuading Perses to follow a proper path in life. The first lesson is why the immortals keep an easy livelihood hidden from mankind: the story of Prometheus and Pandora forms the answer.

‘Hesiod and the Muse’ by Gustave Moreau

An Attic pyxis depicting the Pandora myth related in ‘Works and Days’, 440–430 BC

Works and Days

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE SHIELD OF HERACLES

Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

This short epic poem was attributed to Hesiod during antiquity and concerns the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cycnus, the son of Ares, who challenged Heracles to combat. The poem’s title refers to the extended description of the shield of Achilles in homer’s Iliad Book XVIII, from which the poem borrows directly, with only a single word altered. The shield is described as:

Upon it Strife, upon it Uproar rushed, upon it baneful Death,

holding one freshly wounded, another unwounded,

another she dragged dead through the battle by the foot:

she wore around her shoulders a garment red with the gore of men.

This detailed description led to the poem’s popularity throughout the Greek world, as testified by the large number of Attic vase-paintings, detailing the shield, that have been found, dating between 565 and 480 BC.

The Farnese Heracles, based on an original statue by Lysippos

THE SHIELD OF HERACLES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FRAGMENTS

Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

CONTENTS

THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE

THE DIVINATION BY BIRDS

THE ASTRONOMY

THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON

THE GREAT WORKS

THE IDAEAN DACTYLS

THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX

THE GREAT EOIAE

THE MELAMPODIA

AEGIMIUS

FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION

DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS

THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE

Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

....And Magnes again (begot) Dictys and godlike Polydectes.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

Nestor alone escaped in flowery Gerenon.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fragment 39 — Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in the “Great Eoiae” says that Phineus was blinded because he revealed to Phrixus the road; but in the third “Catalogue”, because he preferred long life to sight.

Hesiod says he had two sons, Thynus and Mariandynus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 14: Some say (Asclepius) was the son of Arsinoe, others of Coronis. But Asclepiades says that Arsinoe was the daughter of Leucippus, Perieres’ son, and that to her and Apollo Asclepius and a daughter, Eriopis, were born: ‘And she bare in the palace Asclepius, leader of men, and Eriopis with the lovely hair, being subject in love to Phoebus.’

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

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

((LACUNA — Thirteen lines lost.))

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

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

II.

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

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

((LACUNA — Two lines missing.))

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fragment 71 — Pausanias, i. 43. 1: I know that Hesiod in the “Catalogue of Women” represented that Iphigeneia was not killed but, by the will of Artemis, became Hecate .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

Fragment 100 — Argument to the Shield of Heracles, i: The beginning of the “Shield” as far as the 56th verse is current in the fourth “Catalogue”.

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

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

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

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

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

. . . Lacuna . . .

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

THE DIVINATION BY BIRDS

Proclus on Works and Days, 828: Some make the “Divination by Birds”, which Apollonius of Rhodes rejects as spurious, follow this verse (“Works and Days”, 828).

THE ASTRONOMY

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

Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 16: The Pleiades.... whose stars are these:— ‘Lovely Teygata, and dark-faced Electra, and Alcyone, and bright Asterope, and Celaeno, and Maia, and Merope, whom glorious Atlas begot....’

. . . Lacuna . . .

‘In the mountains of Cyllene she (Maia) bare Hermes, the herald of the gods.’

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

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

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

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

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

THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON

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

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

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

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

THE GREAT WORKS

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

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

THE IDAEAN DACTYLS

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

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

THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX

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

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

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

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

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

THE GREAT EOIAE

Fragment 1 — Pausanius, ii. 26. 3: Epidaurus. According to the opinion of the Argives and the epic poem, the “Great Eoiae”, Argos the son of Zeus was father of Epidaurus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fragment 8 — Pausanias, ii. 2. 3: But in the “Great Eoiae” Peirene is represented to be the daughter of Oebalius.

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

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

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

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

Fragment 13 — Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 828: In the “Great Eoiae” Scylla is the daughter of Phoebus and Hecate.

Fragment 14 — Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in the “Great Eoiae” says that Phineus was blinded because he told Phrixus the way .

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

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

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

THE MELAMPODIA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEGIMIUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Greek Texts

The coastline at Chalcis, Euboea. Unlike his father, Hesiod was averse to sea travel, though he once crossed the narrow strait between the Greek mainland and Euboea to participate in funeral celebrations for Athamas of Chalcis, where the poet won a tripod in a singing competition.

LIST OF GREEK TEXTS

In this section of the eBook, readers can view the original Greek texts of Hesiod’s works. You may wish to Bookmark this page for future reference.

CONTENTS

ΕΡΓΑ ΚΑΙ ΗΜΕΡΑΙ (WORKS AND DAYS)

ΘΕΟΓΟΝΙΑ (THE THEOGONY)

ΑΣΠΙΣ (THE SHIELD OF HERACLES)

ΕΡΓΑ ΚΑΙ ΗΜΕΡΑΙ (WORKS AND DAYS)

Μοῦσαι Πιερίηθεν ἀοιδῇσι κλείουσαι,

δεῦτε Δί’ ἐννέπετε, σφέτερον πατέρ’ ὑμνείουσαι.

ὅν τε διὰ βροτοὶ ἄνδρες ὁμῶς ἄφατοί τε φατοί τε,

ῥητοί τ’ ἄρρητοί τε Διὸς μεγάλοιο ἕκητι.

5  ῥέα μὲν γὰρ βριάει, ῥέα δὲ βριάοντα χαλέπτει,

ῥεῖα δ’ ἀρίζηλον μινύθει καὶ ἄδηλον ἀέξει,

ῥεῖα δέ τ’ ἰθύνει σκολιὸν καὶ ἀγήνορα κάρφει

Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης, ὃς ὑπέρτατα δώματα ναίει.

κλῦθι ἰδὼν ἀίων τε, δίκῃ δ’ ἴθυνε θέμιστας

10  τύνη· ἐγὼ δέ κε Πέρσῃ ἐτήτυμα μυθησαίμην.

Οὐκ ἄρα μοῦνον ἔην Ἐρίδων γένος, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν

εἰσὶ δύω· τὴν μέν κεν ἐπαινήσειε νοήσας,

ἣ δ’ ἐπιμωμητή· διὰ δ’ ἄνδιχα θυμὸν ἔχουσιν.

ἣ μὲν γὰρ πόλεμόν τε κακὸν καὶ δῆριν ὀφέλλει,

15  σχετλίη· οὔ τις τήν γε φιλεῖ βροτός, ἀλλ’ ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης

ἀθανάτων βουλῇσιν Ἔριν τιμῶσι βαρεῖαν.

τὴν δ’ ἑτέρην προτέρην μὲν ἐγείνατο Νὺξ ἐρεβεννή,

θῆκε δέ μιν Κρονίδης ὑψίζυγος, αἰθέρι ναίων,

γαίης [τ’] ἐν ῥίζῃσι καὶ ἀνδράσι πολλὸν ἀμείνω·

20  ἥ τε καὶ ἀπάλαμόν περ ὁμῶς ἐπὶ ἔργον ἐγείρει·

εἰς ἕτερον γάρ τίς τε ἴδεν ἔργοιο χατίζων

πλούσιον, ὃς σπεύδει μὲν ἀρόμεναι ἠδὲ φυτεύειν

οἶκόν τ’ εὖ θέσθαι· ζηλοῖ δέ τε γείτονα γείτων

εἰς ἄφενος σπεύδοντ’· ἀγαθὴ δ’ Ἔρις ἥδε βροτοῖσιν.

25  καὶ κεραμεὺς κεραμεῖ κοτέει καὶ τέκτονι τέκτων,

καὶ πτωχὸς πτωχῷ φθονέει καὶ ἀοιδὸς ἀοιδῷ.

Ὦ Πέρση, σὺ δὲ ταῦτα τεῷ ἐνικάτθεο θυμῷ,

μηδέ σ’ Ἔρις κακόχαρτος ἀπ’ ἔργου θυμὸν ἐρύκοι

νείκε’ ὀπιπεύοντ’ ἀγορῆς ἐπακουὸν ἐόντα.

30  ὤρη γάρ τ’ ὀλίγη πέλεται νεικέων τ’ ἀγορέων τε

ᾧτινι μὴ βίος ἔνδον ἐπηετανὸς κατάκειται

ὡραῖος, τὸν γαῖα φέρει, Δημήτερος ἀκτήν.

τοῦ κε κορεσσάμενος νείκεα καὶ δῆριν ὀφέλλοις

κτήμασ’ ἐπ’ ἀλλοτρίοις. σοὶ δ’ οὐκέτι δεύτερον ἔσται

35  ὧδ’ ἔρδειν· ἀλλ’ αὖθι διακρινώμεθα νεῖκος

ἰθείῃσι δίκῃς, αἵ τ’ ἐκ Διός εἰσιν ἄρισται.

ἤδη μὲν γὰρ κλῆρον ἐδασσάμεθ’, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ

ἁρπάζων ἐφόρεις μέγα κυδαίνων βασιλῆας

δωροφάγους, οἳ τήνδε δίκην ἐθέλουσι δικάσσαι.

40  νήπιοι, οὐδὲ ἴσασιν ὅσῳ πλέον ἥμισυ παντὸς

οὐδ’ ὅσον ἐν μαλάχῃ τε καὶ ἀσφοδέλῳ μέγ’ ὄνειαρ.

Κρύψαντες γὰρ ἔχουσι θεοὶ βίον ἀνθρώποισιν.

ῥηιδίως γάρ κεν καὶ ἐπ’ ἤματι ἐργάσσαιο,

ὥστε σε κεἰς ἐνιαυτὸν ἔχειν καὶ ἀεργὸν ἐόντα·

45  αἶψά κε πηδάλιον μὲν ὑπὲρ καπνοῦ καταθεῖο,

ἔργα βοῶν δ’ ἀπόλοιτο καὶ ἡμιόνων ταλαεργῶν.

ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς ἔκρυψε χολωσάμενος φρεσὶ ᾗσιν,

ὅττι μιν ἐξαπάτησε Προμηθεὺς ἀγκυλομήτης·

τοὔνεκ’ ἄρ’ ἀνθρώποισιν ἐμήσατο κήδεα λυγρά,

50  κρύψε δὲ πῦρ· τὸ μὲν αὖτις ἐὺς πάις Ἰαπετοῖο

ἔκλεψ’ ἀνθρώποισι Διὸς παρὰ μητιόεντος

ἐν κοίλῳ νάρθηκι, λαθὼν Δία τερπικέραυνον.

τὸν δὲ χολωσάμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

“Ἰαπετιονίδη, πάντων πέρι μήδεα εἰδώς,

55  χαίρεις πῦρ κλέψας καὶ ἐμὰς φρένας ἠπεροπεύσας,

σοί τ’ αὐτῷ μέγα πῆμα καὶ ἀνδράσιν ἐσσομένοισιν.

τοῖς δ’ ἐγὼ ἀντὶ πυρὸς δώσω κακόν, ᾧ κεν ἅπαντες

τέρπωνται κατὰ θυμὸν ἑὸν κακὸν ἀμφαγαπῶντες.”

Ὣς ἔφατ’, ἐκ δ’ ἐγέλασσε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

60  Ἥφαιστον δ’ ἐκέλευσε περικλυτὸν ὅττι τάχιστα

γαῖαν ὕδει φύρειν, ἐν δ’ ἀνθρώπου θέμεν αὐδὴν

καὶ σθένος, ἀθανάτῃς δὲ θεῇς εἰς ὦπα ἐίσκειν

παρθενικῆς καλὸν εἶδος ἐπήρατον· αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνην

ἔργα διδασκῆσαι, πολυδαίδαλον ἱστὸν ὑφαίνειν·

65  καὶ χάριν ἀμφιχέαι κεφαλῇ χρυσέην Ἀφροδίτην

καὶ πόθον ἀργαλέον καὶ γυιοβόρους μελεδώνας·

ἐν δὲ θέμεν κύνεόν τε νόον καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος

Ἑρμείην ἤνωγε, διάκτορον Ἀργεϊφόντην.

Ὣς ἔφαθ’, οἳ δ’ ἐπίθοντο Διὶ Κρονίωνι ἄνακτι ...

70  [αὐτίκα δ’ ἐκ γαίης πλάσσε κλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις

παρθένῳ αἰδοίῃ ἴκελον Κρονίδεω διὰ βουλάς·

ζῶσε δὲ καὶ κόσμησε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ Χάριτές τε θεαὶ καὶ πότνια Πειθὼ

ὅρμους χρυσείους ἔθεσαν χροΐ· ἀμφὶ δὲ τήν γε

75  Ὧραι καλλίκομοι στέφον ἄνθεσι εἰαρινοῖσιν·

πάντα δέ οἱ χροῒ κόσμον ἐφήρμοσε Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη·]

ἐν δ’ ἄρα οἱ στήθεσσι διάκτορος Ἀργεϊφόντης

ψεύδεά θ’ αἱμυλίους τε λόγους καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος

τεῦξε Διὸς βουλῇσι βαρυκτύπου· ἐν δ’ ἄρα φωνὴν

80  θῆκε θεῶν κῆρυξ, ὀνόμηνε δὲ τήνδε γυναῖκα

Πανδώρην, ὅτι πάντες Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχοντες

δῶρον ἐδώρησαν, πῆμ’ ἀνδράσιν ἀλφηστῇσιν.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δόλον αἰπὺν ἀμήχανον ἐξετέλεσσεν,

εἰς Ἐπιμηθέα πέμπε πατὴρ κλυτὸν Ἀργεϊφόντην

85  δῶρον ἄγοντα, θεῶν ταχὺν ἄγγελον· οὐδ’ Ἐπιμηθεὺς

ἐφράσαθ’ ὥς οἱ ἔειπε Προμηθεὺς μή ποτε δῶρον

δέξασθαι πὰρ Ζηνὸς Ὀλυμπίου, ἀλλ’ ἀποπέμπειν

ἐξοπίσω, μή πού τι κακὸν θνητοῖσι γένηται·

αὐτὰρ ὃ δεξάμενος, ὅτε δὴ κακὸν εἶχ’, ἐνόησε.

90  Πρὶν μὲν γὰρ ζώεσκον ἐπὶ χθονὶ φῦλ’ ἀνθρώπων

νόσφιν ἄτερ τε κακῶν καὶ ἄτερ χαλεποῖο πόνοιο

νούσων τ’ ἀργαλέων, αἵ τ’ ἀνδράσι κῆρας ἔδωκαν.

[αἶψα γὰρ ἐν κακότητι βροτοὶ καταγηράσκουσιν.]

ἀλλὰ γυνὴ χείρεσσι πίθου μέγα πῶμ’ ἀφελοῦσα

95  ἐσκέδασ’, ἀνθρώποισι δ’ ἐμήσατο κήδεα λυγρά.

μούνη δ’ αὐτόθι Ἐλπὶς ἐν ἀρρήκτοισι δόμοισιν

ἔνδον ἔμεινε πίθου ὑπὸ χείλεσιν οὐδὲ θύραζε

ἐξέπτη· πρόσθεν γὰρ ἐπέμβαλε πῶμα πίθοιο

[αἰγιόχου βουλῇσι Διὸς νεφεληγερέταο].

100  ἄλλα δὲ μυρία λυγρὰ κατ’ ἀνθρώπους ἀλάληται·

πλείη μὲν γὰρ γαῖα κακῶν, πλείη δὲ θάλασσα·

νοῦσοι δ’ ἀνθρώποισιν ἐφ’ ἡμέρῃ, αἳ δ’ ἐπὶ νυκτὶ

αὐτόματοι φοιτῶσι κακὰ θνητοῖσι φέρουσαι

σιγῇ, ἐπεὶ φωνὴν ἐξείλετο μητίετα Ζεύς.

105  οὕτως οὔ τί πη ἔστι Διὸς νόον ἐξαλέασθαι.

Εἰ δ’ ἐθέλεις, ἕτερόν τοι ἐγὼ λόγον ἐκκορυφώσω

εὖ καὶ ἐπισταμένως· σὺ δ’ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ βάλλεο σῇσιν

[ὡς ὁμόθεν γεγάασι θεοὶ θνητοί τ’ ἄνθρωποι].

Χρύσεον μὲν πρώτιστα γένος μερόπων ἀνθρώπων

110  ἀθάνατοι ποίησαν Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχοντες.

οἳ μὲν ἐπὶ Κρόνου ἦσαν, ὅτ’ οὐρανῷ ἐμβασίλευεν·

ὥστε θεοὶ δ’ ἔζωον ἀκηδέα θυμὸν ἔχοντες

νόσφιν ἄτερ τε πόνων καὶ ὀιζύος, οὐδέ τι δειλὸν

γῆρας ἐπῆν, αἰεὶ δὲ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ὁμοῖοι

115  τέρποντ’ ἐν θαλίῃσι, κακῶν ἔκτοσθεν ἁπάντων·

θνῇσκον δ’ ὥσθ’ ὕπνῳ δεδμημένοι· ἐσθλὰ δὲ πάντα

τοῖσιν ἔην· καρπὸν δ’ ἔφερε ζείδωρος ἄρουρα

αὐτομάτη πολλόν τε καὶ ἄφθονον· οἳ δ’ ἐθελημοὶ

ἥσυχοι ἔργ’ ἐνέμοντο σὺν ἐσθλοῖσιν πολέεσσιν.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ τοῦτο γένος κατὰ γαῖα κάλυψε,

τοὶ μὲν δαίμονες ἁγνοὶ ἐπιχθόνιοι τελέθουσιν

ἐσθλοί, ἀλεξίκακοι, φύλακες θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων,

[οἵ ῥα φυλάσσουσίν τε δίκας καὶ σχέτλια ἔργα

125  ἠέρα ἑσσάμενοι πάντη φοιτῶντες ἐπ’ αἶαν,]

πλουτοδόται· καὶ τοῦτο γέρας βασιλήιον ἔσχον.

Δεύτερον αὖτε γένος πολὺ χειρότερον μετόπισθεν

ἀργύρεον ποίησαν Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχοντες,

χρυσέῳ οὔτε φυὴν ἐναλίγκιον οὔτε νόημα·

130  ἀλλ’ ἑκατὸν μὲν παῖς ἔτεα παρὰ μητέρι κεδνῇ

ἐτρέφετ’ ἀτάλλων, μέγα νήπιος, ᾧ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ·

ἀλλ’ ὅτ’ ἄρ’ ἡβήσαι τε καὶ ἥβης μέτρον ἵκοιτο,

παυρίδιον ζώεσκον ἐπὶ χρόνον, ἄλγε’ ἔχοντες

ἀφραδίῃς· ὕβριν γὰρ ἀτάσθαλον οὐκ ἐδύναντο

135  ἀλλήλων ἀπέχειν, οὐδ’ ἀθανάτους θεραπεύειν

ἤθελον οὐδ’ ἔρδειν μακάρων ἱεροῖς ἐπὶ βωμοῖς,

ᾗ θέμις ἀνθρώποις κατὰ ἤθεα. τοὺς μὲν ἔπειτα

Ζεὺς Κρονίδης ἔκρυψε χολούμενος, οὕνεκα τιμὰς

οὐκ ἔδιδον μακάρεσσι θεοῖς οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν.

140  αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο γένος κατὰ γαῖα κάλυψε,

τοὶ μὲν ὑποχθόνιοι μάκαρες θνητοὶ καλέονται,

δεύτεροι, ἀλλ’ ἔμπης τιμὴ καὶ τοῖσιν ὀπηδεῖ.

Ζεὺς δὲ πατὴρ τρίτον ἄλλο γένος μερόπων ἀνθρώπων

χάλκειον ποίησ’, οὐκ ἀργυρέῳ οὐδὲν ὁμοῖον,

145  ἐκ μελιᾶν, δεινόν τε καὶ ὄβριμον· οἷσιν Ἄρηος

ἔργ’ ἔμελε στονόεντα καὶ ὕβριες, οὐδέ τι σῖτον

ἤσθιον, ἀλλ’ ἀδάμαντος ἔχον κρατερόφρονα θυμόν.

[ἄπλαστοι· μεγάλη δὲ βίη καὶ χεῖρες ἄαπτοι

ἐξ ὤμων ἐπέφυκον ἐπὶ στιβαροῖσι μέλεσσι.]

150  τῶν δ’ ἦν χάλκεα μὲν τεύχεα, χάλκεοι δέ τε οἶκοι,

χαλκῷ δ’ εἰργάζοντο· μέλας δ’ οὐκ ἔσκε σίδηρος.

καὶ τοὶ μὲν χείρεσσιν ὑπὸ σφετέρῃσι δαμέντες

βῆσαν ἐς εὐρώεντα δόμον κρυεροῦ Ἀίδαο,

νώνυμνοι· θάνατος δὲ καὶ ἐκπάγλους περ ἐόντας

155  εἷλε μέλας, λαμπρὸν δ’ ἔλιπον φάος ἠελίοιο.

Αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο γένος κατὰ γαῖα κάλυψεν,

αὖτις ἔτ’ ἄλλο τέταρτον ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ

Ζεὺς Κρονίδης ποίησε, δικαιότερον καὶ ἄρειον,

ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων θεῖον γένος, οἳ καλέονται

160  ἡμίθεοι, προτέρη γενεὴ κατ’ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν.

καὶ τοὺς μὲν πόλεμός τε κακὸς καὶ φύλοπις αἰνὴ

τοὺς μὲν ὑφ’ ἑπταπύλῳ Θήβῃ, Καδμηίδι γαίῃ,

ὤλεσε μαρναμένους μήλων ἕνεκ’ Οἰδιπόδαο,

τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἐν νήεσσιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης

165  ἐς Τροίην ἀγαγὼν Ἑλένης ἕνεκ’ ἠυκόμοιο.

[ἔνθ’ ἦ τοι τοὺς μὲν θανάτου τέλος ἀμφεκάλυψε]

τοῖς δὲ δίχ’ ἀνθρώπων βίοτον καὶ ἤθε’ ὀπάσσας

Ζεὺς Κρονίδης κατένασσε πατὴρ ἐς πείρατα γαίης.

170  καὶ τοὶ μὲν ναίουσιν ἀκηδέα θυμὸν ἔχοντες

ἐν μακάρων νήσοισι παρ’ Ὠκεανὸν βαθυδίνην,

ὄλβιοι ἥρωες, τοῖσιν μελιηδέα καρπὸν

τρὶς ἔτεος θάλλοντα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα.

Μηκέτ’ ἔπειτ’ ὤφελλον ἐγὼ πέμπτοισι μετεῖναι

175  ἀνδράσιν, ἀλλ’ ἢ πρόσθε θανεῖν ἢ ἔπειτα γενέσθαι.

νῦν γὰρ δὴ γένος ἐστὶ σιδήρεον· οὐδέ ποτ’ ἦμαρ

παύσονται καμάτου καὶ ὀιζύος οὐδέ τι νύκτωρ

φθειρόμενοι· χαλεπὰς δὲ θεοὶ δώσουσι μερίμνας.

ἀλλ’ ἔμπης καὶ τοῖσι μεμείξεται ἐσθλὰ κακοῖσιν.

180  Ζεὺς δ’ ὀλέσει καὶ τοῦτο γένος μερόπων ἀνθρώπων,

εὖτ’ ἂν γεινόμενοι πολιοκρόταφοι τελέθωσιν.

οὐδὲ πατὴρ παίδεσσιν ὁμοίιος οὐδέ τι παῖδες

οὐδὲ ξεῖνος ξεινοδόκῳ καὶ ἑταῖρος ἑταίρῳ,

οὐδὲ κασίγνητος φίλος ἔσσεται, ὡς τὸ πάρος περ.

185  αἶψα δὲ γηράσκοντας ἀτιμήσουσι τοκῆας·

μέμψονται δ’ ἄρα τοὺς χαλεποῖς βάζοντες ἔπεσσι,

σχέτλιοι, οὐδὲ θεῶν ὄπιν εἰδότες· οὐδέ κεν οἵ γε

γηράντεσσι τοκεῦσιν ἀπὸ θρεπτήρια δοῖεν·

[χειροδίκαι· ἕτερος δ’ ἑτέρου πόλιν ἐξαλαπάξει·]

190  οὐδέ τις εὐόρκου χάρις ἔσσεται οὐδὲ δικαίου

οὐδ’ ἀγαθοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ κακῶν ῥεκτῆρα καὶ ὕβριν

ἀνέρα τιμήσουσι· δίκη δ’ ἐν χερσί· καὶ αἰδὼς

οὐκ ἔσται, βλάψει δ’ ὁ κακὸς τὸν ἀρείονα φῶτα

μύθοισι σκολιοῖς ἐνέπων, ἐπὶ δ’ ὅρκον ὀμεῖται.

195  ζῆλος δ’ ἀνθρώποισιν ὀιζυροῖσιν ἅπασι

δυσκέλαδος κακόχαρτος ὁμαρτήσει στυγερώπης.

καὶ τότε δὴ πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης

λευκοῖσιν φάρεσσι καλυψαμένω χρόα καλὸν

ἀθανάτων μετὰ φῦλον ἴτον προλιπόντ’ ἀνθρώπους

200  Αἰδὼς καὶ Νέμεσις· τὰ δὲ λείψεται ἄλγεα λυγρὰ

θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποισι· κακοῦ δ’ οὐκ ἔσσεται ἀλκή.

Νῦν δ’ αἶνον βασιλεῦσιν ἐρέω φρονέουσι καὶ αὐτοῖς·

ὧδ’ ἴρηξ προσέειπεν ἀηδόνα ποικιλόδειρον

ὕψι μάλ’ ἐν νεφέεσσι φέρων ὀνύχεσσι μεμαρπώς·

205  ἣ δ’ ἐλεόν, γναμπτοῖσι πεπαρμένη ἀμφ’ ὀνύχεσσι,

μύρετο· τὴν ὅ γ’ ἐπικρατέως πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·

“δαιμονίη, τί λέληκας; ἔχει νύ σε πολλὸν ἀρείων·

τῇ δ’ εἶς ᾗ σ’ ἂν ἐγώ περ ἄγω καὶ ἀοιδὸν ἐοῦσαν·

δεῖπνον δ’, αἴ κ’ ἐθέλω, ποιήσομαι ἠὲ μεθήσω.

210  ἄφρων δ’, ὅς κ’ ἐθέλῃ πρὸς κρείσσονας ἀντιφερίζειν·

νίκης τε στέρεται πρός τ’ αἴσχεσιν ἄλγεα πάσχει.”

ὣς ἔφατ’ ὠκυπέτης ἴρηξ, τανυσίπτερος ὄρνις.

Ὦ Πέρση, σὺ δ’ ἄκουε δίκης μηδ’ ὕβριν ὄφελλε·

ὕβρις γάρ τε κακὴ δειλῷ βροτῷ, οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλὸς

215  ῥηιδίως φερέμεν δύναται, βαρύθει δέ θ’ ὑπ’ αὐτῆς

ἐγκύρσας ἄτῃσιν· ὁδὸς δ’ ἑτέρηφι παρελθεῖν

κρείσσων ἐς τὰ δίκαια· δίκη δ’ ὑπὲρ ὕβριος ἴσχει

ἐς τέλος ἐξελθοῦσα· παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω.

αὐτίκα γὰρ τρέχει Ὅρκος ἅμα σκολιῇσι δίκῃσιν·

220  τῆς δὲ Δίκης ῥόθος ἑλκομένης ᾗ κ’ ἄνδρες ἄγωσι

δωροφάγοι, σκολιῇς δὲ δίκῃς κρίνωσι θέμιστας·

ἣ δ’ ἕπεται κλαίουσα πόλιν καὶ ἤθεα λαῶν,

ἠέρα ἑσσαμένη, κακὸν ἀνθρώποισι φέρουσα,

οἵ τέ μιν ἐξελάσωσι καὶ οὐκ ἰθεῖαν ἔνειμαν.

225  οἳ δὲ δίκας ξείνοισι καὶ ἐνδήμοισι διδοῦσιν

ἰθείας καὶ μή τι παρεκβαίνουσι δικαίου,

τοῖσι τέθηλε πόλις, λαοὶ δ’ ἀνθεῦσιν ἐν αὐτῇ·

εἰρήνη δ’ ἀνὰ γῆν κουροτρόφος, οὐδέ ποτ’ αὐτοῖς

ἀργαλέον πόλεμον τεκμαίρεται εὐρύοπα Ζεύς·

230  οὐδέ ποτ’ ἰθυδίκῃσι μετ’ ἀνδράσι λιμὸς ὀπηδεῖ

οὐδ’ ἄτη, θαλίῃς δὲ μεμηλότα ἔργα νέμονται.

τοῖσι φέρει μὲν γαῖα πολὺν βίον, οὔρεσι δὲ δρῦς

ἄκρη μέν τε φέρει βαλάνους, μέσση δὲ μελίσσας·

εἰροπόκοι δ’ ὄιες μαλλοῖς καταβεβρίθασι·

235  τίκτουσιν δὲ γυναῖκες ἐοικότα τέκνα γονεῦσι·

θάλλουσιν δ’ ἀγαθοῖσι διαμπερές· οὐδ’ ἐπὶ νηῶν

νίσονται, καρπὸν δὲ φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα.

οἷς δ’ ὕβρις τε μέμηλε κακὴ καὶ σχέτλια ἔργα,

τοῖς δὲ δίκην Κρονίδης τεκμαίρεται εὐρύοπα Ζεύς.

240  πολλάκι καὶ ξύμπασα πόλις κακοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀπηύρα,

ὅστις ἀλιτραίνῃ καὶ ἀτάσθαλα μηχανάαται.

τοῖσιν δ’ οὐρανόθεν μέγ’ ἐπήγαγε πῆμα Κρονίων,

λιμὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ λοιμόν, ἀποφθινύθουσι δὲ λαοί·

[οὐδὲ γυναῖκες τίκτουσιν, μινύθουσι δὲ οἶκοι

245  Ζηνὸς φραδμοσύνῃσιν Ὀλυμπίου· ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖτε]

ἢ τῶν γε στρατὸν εὐρὺν ἀπώλεσεν ἢ ὅ γε τεῖχος

ἢ νέας ἐν πόντῳ Κρονίδης ἀποτείνυται αὐτῶν.

Ὦ βασιλῆς, ὑμεῖς δὲ καταφράζεσθε καὶ αὐτοὶ

τήνδε δίκην· ἐγγὺς γὰρ ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἐόντες

250  ἀθάνατοι φράζονται ὅσοι σκολιῇσι δίκῃσιν

ἀλλήλους τρίβουσι θεῶν ὄπιν οὐκ ἀλέγοντες.

τρὶς γὰρ μύριοί εἰσιν ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ

ἀθάνατοι Ζηνὸς φύλακες θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων,

οἵ ῥα φυλάσσουσίν τε δίκας καὶ σχέτλια ἔργα

255  ἠέρα ἑσσάμενοι, πάντη φοιτῶντες ἐπ’ αἶαν.

ἡ δέ τε παρθένος ἐστὶ Δίκη, Διὸς ἐκγεγαυῖα,

κυδρή τ’ αἰδοίη τε θεοῖς οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν,

καί ῥ’ ὁπότ’ ἄν τίς μιν βλάπτῃ σκολιῶς ὀνοτάζων,

αὐτίκα πὰρ Διὶ πατρὶ καθεζομένη Κρονίωνι

260  γηρύετ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀδίκων νόον, ὄφρ’ ἀποτείσῃ

δῆμος ἀτασθαλίας βασιλέων οἳ λυγρὰ νοεῦντες

ἄλλῃ παρκλίνωσι δίκας σκολιῶς ἐνέποντες.

ταῦτα φυλασσόμενοι, βασιλῆς, ἰθύνετε μύθους,

δωροφάγοι, σκολιέων δὲ δικέων ἐπὶ πάγχυ λάθεσθε.

265  οἷ αὐτῷ κακὰ τεύχει ἀνὴρ ἄλλῳ κακὰ τεύχων,

ἡ δὲ κακὴ βουλὴ τῷ βουλεύσαντι κακίστη.

πάντα ἰδὼν Διὸς ὀφθαλμὸς καὶ πάντα νοήσας

καί νυ τάδ’, αἴ κ’ ἐθέλῃσ’, ἐπιδέρκεται, οὐδέ ἑ λήθει

οἵην δὴ καὶ τήνδε δίκην πόλις ἐντὸς ἐέργει.

270  νῦν δὴ ἐγὼ μήτ’ αὐτὸς ἐν ἀνθρώποισι δίκαιος

εἴην μήτ’ ἐμὸς υἱός, ἐπεὶ κακὸν ἄνδρα δίκαιον

ἔμμεναι, εἰ μείζω γε δίκην ἀδικώτερος ἕξει.

ἀλλὰ τά γ’ οὔπω ἔολπα τελεῖν Δία μητιόεντα.

Ὦ Πέρση, σὺ δὲ ταῦτα μετὰ φρεσὶ βάλλεο σῇσι

275  καί νυ δίκης ἐπάκουε, βίης δ’ ἐπιλήθεο πάμπαν.

τόνδε γὰρ ἀνθρώποισι νόμον διέταξε Κρονίων,

ἰχθύσι μὲν καὶ θηρσὶ καὶ οἰωνοῖς πετεηνοῖς

ἔσθειν ἀλλήλους, ἐπεὶ οὐ δίκη ἐστὶ μετ’ αὐτοῖς·

ἀνθρώποισι δ’ ἔδωκε δίκην, ἣ πολλὸν ἀρίστη

280  γίνεται· εἰ γάρ τίς κ’ ἐθέλῃ τὰ δίκαι’ ἀγορεῦσαι

γινώσκων, τῷ μέν τ’ ὄλβον διδοῖ εὐρύοπα Ζεύς·

ὃς δέ κε μαρτυρίῃσιν ἑκὼν ἐπίορκον ὀμόσσας

ψεύσεται, ἐν δὲ δίκην βλάψας νήκεστον ἀασθῇ,

τοῦ δέ τ’ ἀμαυροτέρη γενεὴ μετόπισθε λέλειπται·

285  ἀνδρὸς δ’ εὐόρκου γενεὴ μετόπισθεν ἀμείνων.

Σοὶ δ’ ἐγὼ ἐσθλὰ νοέων ἐρέω, μέγα νήπιε Πέρση·

τὴν μέν τοι κακότητα καὶ ἰλαδὸν ἔστιν ἑλέσθαι

ῥηιδίως· λείη μὲν ὁδός, μάλα δ’ ἐγγύθι ναίει·

τῆς δ’ ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν

290  ἀθάνατοι· μακρὸς δὲ καὶ ὄρθιος οἶμος ἐς αὐτὴν

καὶ τρηχὺς τὸ πρῶτον· ἐπὴν δ’ εἰς ἄκρον ἵκηται,

ῥηιδίη δὴ ἔπειτα πέλει, χαλεπή περ ἐοῦσα.

Οὗτος μὲν πανάριστος, ὃς αὐτῷ πάντα νοήσει

[φρασσάμενος τά κ’ ἔπειτα καὶ ἐς τέλος ᾖσιν ἀμείνω]·

295  ἐσθλὸς δ’ αὖ κἀκεῖνος ὃς εὖ εἰπόντι πίθηται·

ὃς δέ κε μήτ’ αὐτῷ νοέῃ μήτ’ ἄλλου ἀκούων

ἐν θυμῷ βάλληται, ὃ δ’ αὖτ’ ἀχρήιος ἀνήρ.

ἀλλὰ σύ γ’ ἡμετέρης μεμνημένος αἰὲν ἐφετμῆς

ἐργάζευ, Πέρση, δῖον γένος, ὄφρα σε Λιμὸς

300  ἐχθαίρῃ, φιλέῃ δέ σ’ ἐυστέφανος Δημήτηρ

αἰδοίη, βιότου δὲ τεὴν πιμπλῇσι καλιήν·

Λιμὸς γάρ τοι πάμπαν ἀεργῷ σύμφορος ἀνδρί·

τῷ δὲ θεοὶ νεμεσῶσι καὶ ἀνέρες ὅς κεν ἀεργὸς

ζώῃ, κηφήνεσσι κοθούροις εἴκελος ὀργήν,

305  οἵ τε μελισσάων κάματον τρύχουσιν ἀεργοὶ

ἔσθοντες· σοὶ δ’ ἔργα φίλ’ ἔστω μέτρια κοσμεῖν,

ὥς κέ τοι ὡραίου βιότου πλήθωσι καλιαί.

ἐξ ἔργων δ’ ἄνδρες πολύμηλοί τ’ ἀφνειοί τε,

καί τ’ ἐργαζόμενος πολὺ φίλτερος ἀθανάτοισιν

310  [ἔσσεαι ἠδὲ βροτοῖς· μάλα γὰρ στυγέουσιν ἀεργούς].

ἔργον δ’ οὐδὲν ὄνειδος, ἀεργίη δέ τ’ ὄνειδος.

εἰ δέ κεν ἐργάζῃ, τάχα σε ζηλώσει ἀεργὸς

πλουτεῦντα· πλούτῳ δ’ ἀρετὴ καὶ κῦδος ὀπηδεῖ.

δαίμονι δ’ οἷος ἔησθα, τὸ ἐργάζεσθαι ἄμεινον,

315  εἴ κεν ἀπ’ ἀλλοτρίων κτεάνων ἀεσίφρονα θυμὸν

ἐς ἔργον τρέψας μελετᾷς βίου, ὥς σε κελεύω.

αἰδὼς δ’ οὐκ ἀγαθὴ κεχρημένον ἄνδρα κομίζει,

αἰδώς, ἥ τ’ ἄνδρας μέγα σίνεται ἠδ’ ὀνίνησιν·

αἰδώς τοι πρὸς ἀνολβίῃ, θάρσος δὲ πρὸς ὄλβῳ.

320  χρήματα δ’ οὐχ ἁρπακτά, θεόσδοτα πολλὸν ἀμείνω·

εἰ γάρ τις καὶ χερσὶ βίῃ μέγαν ὄλβον ἕληται,

ἢ ὅ γ’ ἀπὸ γλώσσης ληίσσεται, οἷά τε πολλὰ

γίνεται, εὖτ’ ἂν δὴ κέρδος νόον ἐξαπατήσῃ

ἀνθρώπων, αἰδῶ δέ τ’ ἀναιδείη κατοπάζῃ,

325  ῥεῖα δέ μιν μαυροῦσι θεοί, μινύθουσι δὲ οἶκον

ἀνέρι τῷ, παῦρον δέ τ’ ἐπὶ χρόνον ὄλβος ὀπηδεῖ.

Ἶσον δ’ ὅς θ’ ἱκέτην ὅς τε ξεῖνον κακὸν ἔρξει,

ὅς τε κασιγνήτοιο ἑοῦ ἀνὰ δέμνια βαίνῃ

[κρυπταδίῃς εὐνῇς ἀλόχου, παρακαίρια ῥέζων],

330  ὅς τέ τευ ἀφραδίῃς ἀλιταίνητ’ ὀρφανὰ τέκνα,

ὅς τε γονῆα γέροντα κακῷ ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ

νεικείῃ χαλεποῖσι καθαπτόμενος ἐπέεσσι·

τῷ δ’ ἦ τοι Ζεὺς αὐτὸς ἀγαίεται, ἐς δὲ τελευτὴν

ἔργων ἀντ’ ἀδίκων χαλεπὴν ἐπέθηκεν ἀμοιβήν.

335  ἀλλὰ σὺ τῶν μὲν πάμπαν ἔεργ’ ἀεσίφρονα θυμόν.

Κὰδ δύναμιν δ’ ἔρδειν ἱέρ’ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν

ἁγνῶς καὶ καθαρῶς, ἐπὶ δ’ ἀγλαὰ μηρία καίειν·

ἄλλοτε δὲ σπονδῇσι θύεσσί τε ἱλάσκεσθαι,

ἠμὲν ὅτ’ εὐνάζῃ καὶ ὅτ’ ἂν φάος ἱερὸν ἔλθῃ,

340  ὥς κέ τοι ἵλαον κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἔχωσιν,

ὄφρ’ ἄλλων ὠνῇ κλῆρον, μὴ τὸν τεὸν ἄλλος.

Τὸν φιλέοντ’ ἐπὶ δαῖτα καλεῖν, τὸν δ’ ἐχθρὸν ἐᾶσαι·

τὸν δὲ μάλιστα καλεῖν ὅστις σέθεν ἐγγύθι ναίει·

εἰ γάρ τοι καὶ χρῆμ’ ἐγκώμιον ἄλλο γένηται,

345  γείτονες ἄζωστοι ἔκιον, ζώσαντο δὲ πηοί.

πῆμα κακὸς γείτων, ὅσσον τ’ ἀγαθὸς μέγ’ ὄνειαρ·

ἔμμορέ τοι τιμῆς ὅς τ’ ἔμμορε γείτονος ἐσθλοῦ·

οὐδ’ ἂν βοῦς ἀπόλοιτ’, εἰ μὴ γείτων κακὸς εἴη.

εὖ μὲν μετρεῖσθαι παρὰ γείτονος, εὖ δ’ ἀποδοῦναι,

350  αὐτῷ τῷ μέτρῳ, καὶ λώιον αἴ κε δύνηαι,

ὡς ἂν χρηίζων καὶ ἐς ὕστερον ἄρκιον εὕρῃς.

μὴ κακὰ κερδαίνειν· κακὰ κέρδεα ἶσ’ ἄτῃσι.

τὸν φιλέοντα φιλεῖν, καὶ τῷ προσιόντι προσεῖναι.

καὶ δόμεν ὅς κεν δῷ καὶ μὴ δόμεν ὅς κεν μὴ δῷ·

355  δώτῃ μέν τις ἔδωκεν, ἀδώτῃ δ’ οὔ τις ἔδωκεν·

δὼς ἀγαθή, ἅρπαξ δὲ κακή, θανάτοιο δότειρα·

ὃς μὲν γάρ κεν ἀνὴρ ἐθέλων, ὅ γε καὶ μέγα, δώῃ,

χαίρει τῷ δώρῳ καὶ τέρπεται ὃν κατὰ θυμόν·

ὃς δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕληται ἀναιδείηφι πιθήσας,

360  καί τε σμικρὸν ἐόν, τό γ’ ἐπάχνωσεν φίλον ἦτορ.

εἰ γάρ κεν καὶ σμικρὸν ἐπὶ σμικρῷ καταθεῖο

καὶ θαμὰ τοῦτ’ ἔρδοις, τάχα κεν μέγα καὶ τὸ γένοιτο·

ὃς δ’ ἐπ’ ἐόντι φέρει, ὃ δ’ ἀλέξεται αἴθοπα λιμόν.

οὐδὲ τό γ’ εἰν οἴκῳ κατακείμενον ἀνέρα κήδει·

365  οἴκοι βέλτερον εἶναι, ἐπεὶ βλαβερὸν τὸ θύρηφιν.

ἐσθλὸν μὲν παρεόντος ἑλέσθαι, πῆμα δὲ θυμῷ

χρηίζειν ἀπεόντος· ἅ σε φράζεσθαι ἄνωγα.

Ἀρχομένου δὲ πίθου καὶ λήγοντος κορέσασθαι,

μεσσόθι φείδεσθαι· δειλὴ δ’ ἐν πυθμένι φειδώ.

370  [μισθὸς δ’ ἀνδρὶ φίλῳ εἰρημένος ἄρκιος ἔστω·

καί τε κασιγνήτῳ γελάσας ἐπὶ μάρτυρα θέσθαι·

†πίστεις δ’ ἄρα †ὁμῶς καὶ ἀπιστίαι ὤλεσαν ἄνδρας.]

μηδὲ γυνή σε νόον πυγοστόλος ἐξαπατάτω

αἱμύλα κωτίλλουσα, τεὴν διφῶσα καλιήν·

375  ὃς δὲ γυναικὶ πέποιθε, πέποιθ’ ὅ γε φιλήτῃσιν.

μουνογενὴς δὲ πάις εἴη πατρώιον οἶκον

φερβέμεν· ὣς γὰρ πλοῦτος ἀέξεται ἐν μεγάροισιν·

γηραιὸς δὲ θάνοι ἕτερον παῖδ’ ἐγκαταλείπων.

ῥεῖα δέ κεν πλεόνεσσι πόροι Ζεὺς ἄσπετον ὄλβον·

380  πλείων μὲν πλεόνων μελέτη, μείζων δ’ ἐπιθήκη.

σοὶ δ’ εἰ πλούτου θυμὸς ἐέλδεται ἐν φρεσὶ σῇσιν,

ὧδ’ ἔρδειν, καὶ ἔργον ἐπ’ ἔργῳ ἐργάζεσθαι.

Πληιάδων Ἀτλαγενέων ἐπιτελλομενάων

ἄρχεσθ’ ἀμήτου, ἀρότοιο δὲ δυσομενάων.

385  αἳ δή τοι νύκτας τε καὶ ἤματα τεσσαράκοντα

κεκρύφαται, αὖτις δὲ περιπλομένου ἐνιαυτοῦ

φαίνονται τὰ πρῶτα χαρασσομένοιο σιδήρου.

οὗτός τοι πεδίων πέλεται νόμος οἵ τε θαλάσσης

ἐγγύθι ναιετάουσ’ οἵ τ’ ἄγκεα βησσήεντα

390  πόντου κυμαίνοντος ἀπόπροθι, πίονα χῶρον,

ναίουσιν· γυμνὸν σπείρειν, γυμνὸν δὲ βοωτεῖν,

γυμνὸν δ’ ἀμάειν, εἴ χ’ ὥρια πάντ’ ἐθέλῃσθα

ἔργα κομίζεσθαι Δημήτερος, ὥς τοι ἕκαστα

ὥρι’ ἀέξηται, μή πως τὰ μέταζε χατίζων

395  πτώσσῃς ἀλλοτρίους οἴκους καὶ μηδὲν ἀνύσσῃς.

ὡς καὶ νῦν ἐπ’ ἔμ’ ἦλθες· ἐγὼ δέ τοι οὐκ ἐπιδώσω

οὐδ’ ἐπιμετρήσω· ἐργάζευ, νήπιε Πέρση,

ἔργα τά τ’ ἀνθρώποισι θεοὶ διετεκμήραντο,

μή ποτε σὺν παίδεσσι γυναικί τε θυμὸν ἀχεύων

400  ζητεύῃς βίοτον κατὰ γείτονας, οἳ δ’ ἀμελῶσιν.

δὶς μὲν γὰρ καὶ τρὶς τάχα τεύξεαι· ἢν δ’ ἔτι λυπῇς,

χρῆμα μὲν οὐ πρήξεις, σὺ δ’ ἐτώσια πόλλ’ ἀγορεύσεις,

ἀχρεῖος δ’ ἔσται ἐπέων νομός. ἀλλά σ’ ἄνωγα

φράζεσθαι χρειῶν τε λύσιν λιμοῦ τ’ ἀλεωρήν.

405  Οἶκον μὲν πρώτιστα γυναῖκά τε βοῦν τ’ ἀροτῆρα,

[κτητήν, οὐ γαμετήν, ἥτις καὶ βουσὶν ἕποιτο,]

χρήματα δ’ εἰν οἴκῳ πάντ’ ἄρμενα ποιήσασθαι,

μὴ σὺ μὲν αἰτῇς ἄλλον, ὃ δ’ ἀρνῆται, σὺ δὲ τητᾷ,

ἡ δ’ ὥρη παραμείβηται, μινύθῃ δέ τοι ἔργον.

410  μηδ’ ἀναβάλλεσθαι ἔς τ’ αὔριον ἔς τε ἔνηφι·

οὐ γὰρ ἐτωσιοεργὸς ἀνὴρ πίμπλησι καλιὴν

οὐδ’ ἀναβαλλόμενος· μελέτη δέ τοι ἔργον ὀφέλλει·

αἰεὶ δ’ ἀμβολιεργὸς ἀνὴρ ἄτῃσι παλαίει.

Ἦμος δὴ λήγει μένος ὀξέος ἠελίοιο

415  καύματος ἰδαλίμου, μετοπωρινὸν ὀμβρήσαντος

Ζηνὸς ἐρισθενέος, μετὰ δὲ τρέπεται βρότεος χρὼς

πολλὸν ἐλαφρότερος· δὴ γὰρ τότε Σείριος ἀστὴρ

βαιὸν ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς κηριτρεφέων ἀνθρώπων

ἔρχεται ἠμάτιος, πλεῖον δέ τε νυκτὸς ἐπαυρεῖ·

420  τῆμος ἀδηκτοτάτη πέλεται τμηθεῖσα σιδήρῳ

ὕλη, φύλλα δ’ ἔραζε χέει, πτόρθοιό τε λήγει·

τῆμος ἄρ’ ὑλοτομεῖν μεμνημένος ὥρια ἔργα·

ὄλμον μὲν τριπόδην τάμνειν, ὕπερον δὲ τρίπηχυν,

ἄξονα δ’ ἑπταπόδην· μάλα γάρ νύ τοι ἄρμενον οὕτω·

425  εἰ δέ κεν ὀκταπόδην, ἀπὸ καὶ σφῦράν κε τάμοιο.

τρισπίθαμον δ’ ἅψιν τάμνειν δεκαδώρῳ ἀμάξῃ,

πόλλ’ ἐπικαμπύλα κᾶλα· φέρειν δὲ γύην, ὅτ’ ἂν εὕρῃς,

εἰς οἶκον, κατ’ ὄρος διζήμενος ἢ κατ’ ἄρουραν,

πρίνινον· ὃς γὰρ βουσὶν ἀροῦν ὀχυρώτατός ἐστιν,

430  εὖτ’ ἂν Ἀθηναίης δμῶος ἐν ἐλύματι πήξας

γόμφοισιν πελάσας προσαρήρεται ἱστοβοῆι.

δοιὰ δὲ θέσθαι ἄροτρα, πονησάμενος κατὰ οἶκον,

αὐτόγυον καὶ πηκτόν, ἐπεὶ πολὺ λώιον οὕτω·

εἴ χ’ ἕτερον [γ’] ἄξαις, ἕτερόν κ’ ἐπὶ βουσὶ βάλοιο.

435  δάφνης δ’ ἢ πτελέης ἀκιώτατοι ἱστοβοῆες.

δρυὸς ἔλυμα, πρίνου δὲ γύην. βόε δ’ ἐνναετήρω

ἄρσενε κεκτῆσθαι· [τῶν γὰρ σθένος οὐκ ἀλαπαδνόν·

ἥβης μέτρον ἔχοντε·] τὼ ἐργάζεσθαι ἀρίστω.

οὐκ ἂν τώ γ’ ἐρίσαντε ἐν αὔλακι κὰμ μὲν ἄροτρον

440  ἄξειαν, τὸ δὲ ἔργον ἐτώσιον αὖθι λίποιεν.

τοῖς δ’ ἅμα τεσσαρακονταετὴς αἰζηὸς ἕποιτο

ἄρτον δειπνήσας τετράτρυφον, ὀκτάβλωμον,

ὅς κ’ ἔργου μελετῶν ἰθείην αὔλακ’ ἐλαύνοι,

μηκέτι παπταίνων μεθ’ ὁμήλικας, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ἔργῳ

445  θυμὸν ἔχων· τοῦ δ’ οὔ τι νεώτερος ἄλλος ἀμείνων

σπέρματα δάσσασθαι καὶ ἐπισπορίην ἀλέασθαι·

κουρότερος γὰρ ἀνὴρ μεθ’ ὁμήλικας ἐπτοίηται.

Φράζεσθαι δ’, εὖτ’ ἂν γεράνου φωνὴν ἐπακούσῃς

ὑψόθεν ἐκ νεφέων ἐνιαύσια κεκληγυίης,

450  ἥ τ’ ἀρότοιό τε σῆμα φέρει καὶ χείματος ὥρην

δεικνύει ὀμβρηροῦ, κραδίην δ’ ἔδακ’ ἀνδρὸς ἀβούτεω·

δὴ τότε χορτάζειν ἕλικας βόας ἔνδον ἐόντας·

ῥηίδιον γὰρ ἔπος εἰπεῖν· “βόε δὸς καὶ ἄμαξαν·”

ῥηίδιον δ’ ἀπανήνασθαι· “πάρα [δ’] ἔργα βόεσσιν.”

455  φησὶ δ’ ἀνὴρ φρένας ἀφνειὸς πήξασθαι ἄμαξαν·

νήπιος, οὐδὲ τὸ οἶδ’· ἑκατὸν δέ τε δούρατ’ ἀμάξης,

τῶν πρόσθεν μελέτην ἐχέμεν οἰκήια θέσθαι.

Εὖτ’ ἂν δὴ πρώτιστ’ ἄροτος θνητοῖσι φανήῃ,

δὴ τότ’ ἐφορμηθῆναι, ὁμῶς δμῶές τε καὶ αὐτός,

460  αὔην καὶ διερὴν ἀρόων ἀρότοιο καθ’ ὥρην,

πρωὶ μάλα σπεύδων, ἵνα τοι πλήθωσιν ἄρουραι.

ἔαρι πολεῖν· θέρεος δὲ νεωμένη οὔ σ’ ἀπατήσει·

νειὸν δὲ σπείρειν ἔτι κουφίζουσαν ἄρουραν.

νειὸς ἀλεξιάρη παίδων εὐκηλήτειρα.

465  Εὔχεσθαι δὲ Διὶ χθονίῳ Δημήτερί θ’ ἁγνῇ

ἐκτελέα βρίθειν Δημήτερος ἱερὸν ἀκτήν,

ἀρχόμενος τὰ πρῶτ’ ἀρότου, ὅτ’ ἂν ἄκρον ἐχέτλης

χειρὶ λαβὼν ὅρπηκι βοῶν ἐπὶ νῶτον ἵκηαι

ἔνδρυον ἑλκόντων μεσάβων. ὁ δὲ τυτθὸς ὄπισθε

470  δμῶος ἔχων μακέλην πόνον ὀρνίθεσσι τιθείη

σπέρμα κατακρύπτων· εὐθημοσύνη γὰρ ἀρίστη

θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις, κακοθημοσύνη δὲ κακίστη.

ὧδέ κεν ἁδροσύνῃ στάχυες νεύοιεν ἔραζε,

εἰ τέλος αὐτὸς ὄπισθεν Ὀλύμπιος ἐσθλὸν ὀπάζοι,

475  ἐκ δ’ ἀγγέων ἐλάσειας ἀράχνια, καί σε ἔολπα

γηθήσειν βιότου αἰρεύμενον ἔνδον ἐόντος.

εὐοχθέων δ’ ἵξεαι πολιὸν ἔαρ οὐδὲ πρὸς ἄλλους

αὐγάσεαι· σέο δ’ ἄλλος ἀνὴρ κεχρημένος ἔσται.

Εἰ δέ κεν ἠελίοιο τροπῇς ἀρόῳς χθόνα δῖαν,

480  ἥμενος ἀμήσεις ὀλίγον περὶ χειρὸς ἐέργων,

ἀντία δεσμεύων κεκονιμένος, οὐ μάλα χαίρων,

οἴσεις δ’ ἐν φορμῷ· παῦροι δέ σε θηήσονται.

ἄλλοτε δ’ ἀλλοῖος Ζηνὸς νόος αἰγιόχοιο,

ἀργαλέος δ’ ἄνδρεσσι καταθνητοῖσι νοῆσαι.

485  εἰ δή κ’ ὄψ’ ἀρόσῃς, τόδε κέν τοι φάρμακον εἴη·

ἦμος κόκκυξ κοκκύζει δρυὸς ἐν πετάλοισι

τὸ πρῶτον, τέρπει δὲ βροτοὺς ἐπ’ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν,

τῆμος Ζεὺς ὕοι τρίτῳ ἤματι μηδ’ ἀπολήγοι,

μήτ’ ἄρ’ ὑπερβάλλων βοὸς ὁπλὴν μήτ’ ἀπολείπων·

490  οὕτω κ’ ὀψαρότης πρωιηρότῃ ἰσοφαρίζοι.

ἐν θυμῷ δ’ εὖ πάντα φυλάσσεο· μηδέ σε λήθοι

μήτ’ ἔαρ γινόμενον πολιὸν μήθ’ ὥριος ὄμβρος.

Πὰρ δ’ ἴθι χάλκειον θῶκον καὶ ἐπαλέα λέσχην

ὥρῃ χειμερίῃ, ὁπότε κρύος ἀνέρα ἔργων

495  ἰσχάνει, ἔνθα κ’ ἄοκνος ἀνὴρ μέγα οἶκον ὀφέλλοι,

μή σε κακοῦ χειμῶνος ἀμηχανίη καταμάρψῃ

σὺν πενίῃ, λεπτῇ δὲ παχὺν πόδα χειρὶ πιέζῃς.

πολλὰ δ’ ἀεργὸς ἀνήρ, κενεὴν ἐπὶ ἐλπίδα μίμνων,

χρηίζων βιότοιο, κακὰ προσελέξατο θυμῷ.

500  ἐλπὶς δ’ οὐκ ἀγαθὴ κεχρημένον ἄνδρα κομίζει,

ἥμενον ἐν λέσχῃ, τῷ μὴ βίος ἄρκιος εἴη.

δείκνυε δὲ δμώεσσι θέρευς ἔτι μέσσου ἐόντος·

“οὐκ αἰεὶ θέρος ἐσσεῖται, ποιεῖσθε καλιάς.”

Μῆνα δὲ Ληναιῶνα, κάκ’ ἤματα, βουδόρα πάντα,

505  τοῦτον ἀλεύασθαι καὶ πηγάδας, αἵ τ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν

πνεύσαντος Βορέαο δυσηλεγέες τελέθουσιν,

ὅς τε διὰ Θρῄκης ἱπποτρόφου εὐρέι πόντῳ

ἐμπνεύσας ὤρινε, μέμυκε δὲ γαῖα καὶ ὕλη·

πολλὰς δὲ δρῦς ὑψικόμους ἐλάτας τε παχείας

510  οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃς πιλνᾷ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ

ἐμπίπτων, καὶ πᾶσα βοᾷ τότε νήριτος ὕλη·

θῆρες δὲ φρίσσουσ’, οὐρὰς δ’ ὑπὸ μέζε’ ἔθεντο·

τῶν καὶ λάχνῃ δέρμα κατάσκιον· ἀλλά νυ καὶ τῶν

ψυχρὸς ἐὼν διάησι δασυστέρνων περ ἐόντων·

515  καί τε διὰ ῥινοῦ βοὸς ἔρχεται οὐδέ μιν ἴσχει,

καί τε δι’ αἶγα ἄησι τανύτριχα· πώεα δ’ οὔτι,

οὕνεκ’ ἐπηεταναὶ τρίχες αὐτῶν, οὐ διάησι

ἲς ἀνέμου Βορέω· τροχαλὸν δὲ γέροντα τίθησιν

καὶ διὰ παρθενικῆς ἁπαλόχροος οὐ διάησιν,

520  ἥ τε δόμων ἔντοσθε φίλῃ παρὰ μητέρι μίμνει,

οὔπω ἔργα ἰδυῖα πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης,

εὖ τε λοεσσαμένη τέρενα χρόα καὶ λίπ’ ἐλαίῳ

χρισαμένη μυχίη καταλέξεται ἔνδοθι οἴκου,

ἤματι χειμερίῳ, ὅτ’ ἀνόστεος ὃν πόδα τένδει

525  ἔν τ’ ἀπύρῳ οἴκῳ καὶ ἤθεσι λευγαλέοισιν·

οὐ γάρ οἱ ἠέλιος δείκνυ νομὸν ὁρμηθῆναι,

ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ κυανέων ἀνδρῶν δῆμόν τε πόλιν τε

στρωφᾶται, βράδιον δὲ Πανελλήνεσσι φαείνει.

καὶ τότε δὴ κεραοὶ καὶ νήκεροι ὑληκοῖται

530  λυγρὸν μυλιόωντες ἀνὰ δρία βησσήεντα,

φεύγουσιν, καὶ πᾶσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ τοῦτο μέμηλεν,

οἷ σκέπα μαιόμενοι πυκινοὺς κευθμῶνας ἔχουσι

κὰκ γλάφυ πετρῆεν· τότε δὴ τρίποδι βροτοὶ ἶσοι,

οὗ τ’ ἐπὶ νῶτα ἔαγε, κάρη δ’ εἰς οὖδας ὁρᾶται·

535  τῷ ἴκελοι φοιτῶσιν, ἀλευόμενοι νίφα λευκήν.

Καὶ τότε ἕσσασθαι ἔρυμα χροός, ὥς σε κελεύω,

χλαῖνάν τε μαλακὴν καὶ τερμιόεντα χιτῶνα·

στήμονι δ’ ἐν παύρῳ πολλὴν κρόκα μηρύσασθαι·

τὴν περιέσσασθαι, ἵνα τοι τρίχες ἀτρεμέωσι

540  μηδ’ ὀρθαὶ φρίσσωσιν ἀειρόμεναι κατὰ σῶμα·

ἀμφὶ δὲ ποσσὶ πέδιλα βοὸς ἶφι κταμένοιο

ἄρμενα δήσασθαι, πίλοις ἔντοσθε πυκάσσας·

πρωτογόνων δ’ ἐρίφων, ὁπότ’ ἂν κρύος ὥριον ἔλθῃ,

δέρματα συρράπτειν νεύρῳ βοός, ὄφρ’ ἐπὶ νώτῳ

545  ὑετοῦ ἀμφιβάλῃ ἀλέην· κεφαλῆφι δ’ ὕπερθεν

πῖλον ἔχειν ἀσκητόν, ἵν’ οὔατα μὴ καταδεύῃ.

ψυχρὴ γάρ τ’ ἠὼς πέλεται Βορέαο πεσόντος,

ἠῷος δ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος

ἀὴρ πυροφόροις τέταται μακάρων ἐπὶ ἔργοις,

550  ὅς τε ἀρυσσάμενος ποταμῶν ἀπὸ αἰεναόντων,

ὑψοῦ ὑπὲρ γαίης ἀρθεὶς ἀνέμοιο θυέλλῃ,

ἄλλοτε μέν θ’ ὕει ποτὶ ἕσπερον, ἄλλοτ’ ἄησι,

πυκνὰ Θρηικίου Βορέω νέφεα κλονέοντος.

τὸν φθάμενος ἔργον τελέσας οἶκόνδε νέεσθαι,

555  μή ποτέ σ’ οὐρανόθεν σκοτόεν νέφος ἀμφικαλύψῃ,

χρῶτα δὲ μυδαλέον θήῃ κατά θ’ εἵματα δεύσῃ·

ἀλλ’ ὑπαλεύασθαι· μεὶς γὰρ χαλεπώτατος οὗτος,

χειμέριος, χαλεπὸς προβάτοις, χαλεπὸς δ’ ἀνθρώποις.

τῆμος τὤμισυ βουσίν, ἐπ’ ἀνέρι δὲ πλέον εἴη

560  ἁρμαλιῆς· μακραὶ γὰρ ἐπίρροθοι εὐφρόναι εἰσίν.

[ταῦτα φυλασσόμενος τετελεσμένον εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν

ἰσοῦσθαι νύκτας τε καὶ ἤματα, εἰς ὅ κεν αὖτις

γῆ πάντων μήτηρ καρπὸν σύμμικτον ἐνείκῃ.]

Εὖτ’ ἂν δ’ ἑξήκοντα μετὰ τροπὰς ἠελίοιο

565  χειμέρι’ ἐκτελέσῃ Ζεὺς ἤματα, δή ῥα τότ’ ἀστὴρ

Ἀρκτοῦρος προλιπὼν ἱερὸν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο

πρῶτον παμφαίνων ἐπιτέλλεται ἀκροκνέφαιος.

τὸν δὲ μέτ’ ὀρθογόη Πανδιονὶς ὦρτο χελιδὼν

ἐς φάος ἀνθρώποις ἔαρος νέον ἱσταμένοιο·

570  τὴν φθάμενος οἴνας περιταμνέμεν· ὣς γὰρ ἄμεινον.

Ἀλλ’ ὁπότ’ ἂν φερέοικος ἀπὸ χθονὸς ἂμ φυτὰ βαίνῃ

Πληιάδας φεύγων, τότε δὴ σκάφος οὐκέτι οἰνέων,

ἀλλ’ ἅρπας τε χαρασσέμεναι καὶ δμῶας ἐγείρειν·

φεύγειν δὲ σκιεροὺς θώκους καὶ ἐπ’ ἠόα κοῖτον

575  ὥρῃ ἐν ἀμήτου, ὅτε τ’ ἠέλιος χρόα κάρφει·

τημοῦτος σπεύδειν καὶ οἴκαδε καρπὸν ἀγινεῖν

ὄρθρου ἀνιστάμενος, ἵνα τοι βίος ἄρκιος εἴη.

ἠὼς γὰρ [τ’] ἔργοιο τρίτην ἀπομείρεται αἶσαν,

ἠώς τοι προφέρει μὲν ὁδοῦ, προφέρει δὲ καὶ ἔργου,

580  ἠώς, ἥ τε φανεῖσα πολέας ἐπέβησε κελεύθου

ἀνθρώπους πολλοῖσί τ’ ἐπὶ ζυγὰ βουσὶ τίθησιν.

Ἦμος δὲ σκόλυμός τ’ ἀνθεῖ καὶ ἠχέτα τέττιξ

δενδρέῳ ἐφεζόμενος λιγυρὴν καταχεύετ’ ἀοιδὴν

πυκνὸν ὑπὸ πτερύγων, θέρεος καματώδεος ὥρῃ,

585  τῆμος πιόταταί τ’ αἶγες, καὶ οἶνος ἄριστος,

μαχλόταται δὲ γυναῖκες, ἀφαυρότατοι δέ τοι ἄνδρες

εἰσίν, ἐπεὶ κεφαλὴν καὶ γούνατα Σείριος ἄζει,

αὐαλέος δέ τε χρὼς ὑπὸ καύματος· ἀλλὰ τότ’ ἤδη

εἴη πετραίη τε σκιὴ καὶ βίβλινος οἶνος

590  μάζα τ’ ἀμολγαίη γάλα τ’ αἰγῶν σβεννυμενάων

καὶ βοὸς ὑλοφάγοιο κρέας μή πω τετοκυίης

πρωτογόνων τ’ ἐρίφων· ἐπὶ δ’ αἴθοπα πινέμεν οἶνον,

ἐν σκιῇ ἑζόμενον, κεκορημένον ἦτορ ἐδωδῆς,

ἀντίον ἀκραέος Ζεφύρου τρέψαντα πρόσωπα·

595  κρήνης δ’ ἀενάου καὶ ἀπορρύτου ἥ τ’ ἀθόλωτος

τρὶς ὕδατος προχέειν, τὸ δὲ τέτρατον ἱέμεν οἴνου.

Δμωσὶ δ’ ἐποτρύνειν Δημήτερος ἱερὸν ἀκτὴν

δινέμεν, εὖτ’ ἂν πρῶτα φανῇ σθένος Ὠρίωνος,

χώρῳ ἐν εὐαεῖ καὶ ἐυτροχάλῳ ἐν ἀλωῇ.

600  μέτρῳ δ’ εὖ κομίσασθαι ἐν ἄγγεσιν· αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν δὴ

πάντα βίον κατάθηαι ἐπάρμενον ἔνδοθι οἴκου,

θῆτά τ’ ἄοικον ποιεῖσθαι καὶ ἄτεκνον ἔριθον

δίζησθαι κέλομαι· χαλεπὴ δ’ ὑπόπορτις ἔριθος·

καὶ κύνα καρχαρόδοντα κομεῖν, μὴ φείδεο σίτου,

605  μή ποτέ σ’ ἡμερόκοιτος ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ χρήμαθ’ ἕληται.

χόρτον δ’ ἐσκομίσαι καὶ συρφετόν, ὄφρα τοι εἴη

βουσὶ καὶ ἡμιόνοισιν ἐπηετανόν. αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

δμῶας ἀναψῦξαι φίλα γούνατα καὶ βόε λῦσαι.

Εὖτ’ ἂν δ’ Ὠρίων καὶ Σείριος ἐς μέσον ἔλθῃ

610  οὐρανόν, Ἀρκτοῦρον δὲ ἴδῃ ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

ὦ Πέρση, τότε πάντας ἀποδρέπεν οἴκαδε βότρυς,

δεῖξαι δ’ ἠελίῳ δέκα τ’ ἤματα καὶ δέκα νύκτας,

πέντε δὲ συσκιάσαι, ἕκτῳ δ’ εἰς ἄγγε’ ἀφύσσαι

δῶρα Διωνύσου πολυγηθέος. αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν δὴ

615  Πληιάδες θ’ Ὑάδες τε τό τε σθένος Ὠρίωνος

δύνωσιν, τότ’ ἔπειτ’ ἀρότου μεμνημένος εἶναι

ὡραίου· πλειὼν δὲ κατὰ χθονὸς ἄρμενος εἴη.

Εἰ δέ σε ναυτιλίης δυσπεμφέλου ἵμερος αἱρεῖ·

εὖτ’ ἂν Πληιάδες σθένος ὄβριμον Ὠρίωνος

620  φεύγουσαι πίπτωσιν ἐς ἠεροειδέα πόντον,

δὴ τότε παντοίων ἀνέμων θυίουσιν ἀῆται·

καὶ τότε μηκέτι νῆα ἔχειν ἐνὶ οἴνοπι πόντῳ,

γῆν δ’ ἐργάζεσθαι μεμνημένος ὥς σε κελεύω·

νῆα δ’ ἐπ’ ἠπείρου ἐρύσαι πυκάσαι τε λίθοισι

625  πάντοθεν, ὄφρ’ ἴσχωσ’ ἀνέμων μένος ὑγρὸν ἀέντων,

χείμαρον ἐξερύσας, ἵνα μὴ πύθῃ Διὸς ὄμβρος.

ὅπλα δ’ ἐπάρμενα πάντα τεῷ ἐγκάτθεο οἴκῳ,

εὐκόσμως στολίσας νηὸς πτερὰ ποντοπόροιο·

πηδάλιον δ’ εὐεργὲς ὑπὲρ καπνοῦ κρεμάσασθαι.

630  αὐτὸς δ’ ὡραῖον μίμνειν πλόον εἰς ὅ κεν ἔλθῃ·

καὶ τότε νῆα θοὴν ἅλαδ’ ἑλκέμεν, ἐν δέ τε φόρτον

ἄρμενον ἐντύνασθαι, ἵν’ οἴκαδε κέρδος ἄρηαι,

ὥς περ ἐμός τε πατὴρ καὶ σός, μέγα νήπιε Πέρση,

πλωίζεσκ’ ἐν νηυσί, βίου κεχρημένος ἐσθλοῦ·

635  ὅς ποτε καὶ τεῖδ’ ἦλθε πολὺν διὰ πόντον ἀνύσσας,

Κύμην Αἰολίδα προλιπὼν ἐν νηὶ μελαίνῃ,

οὐκ ἄφενος φεύγων οὐδὲ πλοῦτόν τε καὶ ὄλβον,

ἀλλὰ κακὴν πενίην, τὴν Ζεὺς ἄνδρεσσι δίδωσιν.

νάσσατο δ’ ἄγχ’ Ἑλικῶνος ὀιζυρῇ ἐνὶ κώμῃ,

640  Ἄσκρῃ, χεῖμα κακῇ, θέρει ἀργαλέῃ, οὐδέ ποτ’ ἐσθλῇ.

τύνη δ’, ὦ Πέρση, ἔργων μεμνημένος εἶναι

ὡραίων πάντων, περὶ ναυτιλίης δὲ μάλιστα.

νῆ’ ὀλίγην αἰνεῖν, μεγάλῃ δ’ ἐνὶ φορτία θέσθαι·

μείζων μὲν φόρτος, μεῖζον δ’ ἐπὶ κέρδεϊ κέρδος

645  ἔσσεται, εἴ κ’ ἄνεμοί γε κακὰς ἀπέχωσιν ἀήτας.

Εὖτ’ ἂν ἐπ’ ἐμπορίην τρέψας ἀεσίφρονα θυμὸν

βούληαι [δὲ] χρέα τε προφυγεῖν καὶ λιμὸν ἀτερπέα,

δείξω δή τοι μέτρα πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης,

οὔτε τι ναυτιλίης σεσοφισμένος οὔτε τι νηῶν.

650  οὐ γάρ πώ ποτε νηὶ [γ’] ἐπέπλων εὐρέα πόντον,

εἰ μὴ ἐς Εὔβοιαν ἐξ Αὐλίδος, ᾗ ποτ’ Ἀχαιοὶ

μείναντες χειμῶνα πολὺν σὺν λαὸν ἄγειραν

Ἑλλάδος ἐξ ἱερῆς Τροίην ἐς καλλιγύναικα.

ἔνθα δ’ ἐγὼν ἐπ’ ἄεθλα δαΐφρονος Ἀμφιδάμαντος

655  Χαλκίδα [τ’] εἰσεπέρησα· τὰ δὲ προπεφραδμένα πολλὰ

ἄεθλ’ ἔθεσαν παῖδες μεγαλήτορες· ἔνθα μέ φημι

ὕμνῳ νικήσαντα φέρειν τρίποδ’ ὠτώεντα.

τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ Μούσῃσ’ Ἑλικωνιάδεσσ’ ἀνέθηκα

ἔνθα με τὸ πρῶτον λιγυρῆς ἐπέβησαν ἀοιδῆς.

660  τόσσον τοι νηῶν γε πεπείρημαι πολυγόμφων·

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς ἐρέω Ζηνὸς νόον αἰγιόχοιο·

Μοῦσαι γάρ μ’ ἐδίδαξαν ἀθέσφατον ὕμνον ἀείδειν.

Ἤματα πεντήκοντα μετὰ τροπὰς ἠελίοιο,

ἐς τέλος ἐλθόντος θέρεος, καματώδεος ὥρης,

665  ὡραῖος πέλεται θνητοῖς πλόος· οὔτε κε νῆα

καυάξαις οὔτ’ ἄνδρας ἀποφθείσειε θάλασσα,

εἰ δὴ μὴ πρόφρων γε Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων

ἢ Ζεὺς ἀθανάτων βασιλεὺς ἐθέλῃσιν ὀλέσσαι·

ἐν τοῖς γὰρ τέλος ἐστὶν ὁμῶς ἀγαθῶν τε κακῶν τε.

670  τῆμος δ’ εὐκρινέες τ’ αὖραι καὶ πόντος ἀπήμων·

εὔκηλος τότε νῆα θοὴν ἀνέμοισι πιθήσας

ἑλκέμεν ἐς πόντον φόρτον τ’ ἐς πάντα τίθεσθαι·

σπεύδειν δ’ ὅττι τάχιστα πάλιν οἶκόνδε νέεσθαι

μηδὲ μένειν οἶνόν τε νέον καὶ ὀπωρινὸν ὄμβρον

675  καὶ χειμῶν’ ἐπιόντα Νότοιό τε δεινὰς ἀήτας,

ὅς τ’ ὤρινε θάλασσαν ὁμαρτήσας Διὸς ὄμβρῳ

πολλῷ ὀπωρινῷ, χαλεπὸν δέ τε πόντον ἔθηκεν.

ἄλλος δ’ εἰαρινὸς πέλεται πλόος ἀνθρώποισιν·

ἦμος δὴ τὸ πρῶτον, ὅσον τ’ ἐπιβᾶσα κορώνη

680  ἴχνος ἐποίησεν, τόσσον πέταλ’ ἀνδρὶ φανήῃ

ἐν κράδῃ ἀκροτάτῃ, τότε δ’ ἄμβατός ἐστι θάλασσα·

εἰαρινὸς δ’ οὗτος πέλεται πλόος· οὔ μιν ἔγωγε

αἴνημ’, οὐ γὰρ ἐμῷ θυμῷ κεχαρισμένος ἐστίν·

ἁρπακτός· χαλεπῶς κε φύγοις κακόν· ἀλλά νυ καὶ τὰ

685  ἄνθρωποι ῥέζουσιν ἀιδρείῃσι νόοιο·

χρήματα γὰρ ψυχὴ πέλεται δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν.

δεινὸν δ’ ἐστὶ θανεῖν μετὰ κύμασιν· ἀλλά σ’ ἄνωγα

φράζεσθαι τάδε πάντα μετὰ φρεσὶν ὡς ἀγορεύω.

μηδ’ ἐν νηυσὶν ἅπαντα βίον κοίλῃσι τίθεσθαι,

690  ἀλλὰ πλέω λείπειν, τὰ δὲ μείονα φορτίζεσθαι·

δεινὸν γὰρ πόντου μετὰ κύμασι πήματι κύρσαι·

δεινὸν δ’ εἴ κ’ ἐπ’ ἄμαξαν ὑπέρβιον ἄχθος ἀείρας

ἄξονα καυάξαις καὶ φορτία μαυρωθείη.

μέτρα φυλάσσεσθαι· καιρὸς δ’ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἄριστος.

695  Ὡραῖος δὲ γυναῖκα τεὸν ποτὶ οἶκον ἄγεσθαι,

μήτε τριηκόντων ἐτέων μάλα πόλλ’ ἀπολείπων

μήτ’ ἐπιθεὶς μάλα πολλά· γάμος δέ τοι ὥριος οὗτος·

ἡ δὲ γυνὴ τέτορ’ ἡβώοι, πέμπτῳ δὲ γαμοῖτο.

παρθενικὴν δὲ γαμεῖν, ὥς κ’ ἤθεα κεδνὰ διδάξῃς,

700  [τὴν δὲ μάλιστα γαμεῖν, ἥτις σέθεν ἐγγύθι ναίει]

πάντα μάλ’ ἀμφὶς ἰδών, μὴ γείτοσι χάρματα γήμῃς.

οὐ μὲν γάρ τι γυναικὸς ἀνὴρ ληίζετ’ ἄμεινον

τῆς ἀγαθῆς, τῆς δ’ αὖτε κακῆς οὐ ῥίγιον ἄλλο,

δειπνολόχης, ἥ τ’ ἄνδρα καὶ ἴφθιμόν περ ἐόντα

705  εὕει ἄτερ δαλοῖο καὶ ὠμῷ γήραϊ δῶκεν.

[εὖ δ’ ὄπιν ἀθανάτων μακάρων πεφυλαγμένος εἶναι.]

μὴ δὲ κασιγνήτῳ ἶσον ποιεῖσθαι ἑταῖρον·

εἰ δέ κε ποιήσῃς, μή μιν πρότερος κακὸν ἔρξαι

μηδὲ ψεύδεσθαι γλώσσης χάριν· εἰ δέ σέ γ’ ἄρχῃ

710  ἤ τι ἔπος εἰπὼν ἀποθύμιον ἠὲ καὶ ἔρξας,

δὶς τόσα τείνυσθαι μεμνημένος· εἰ δέ κεν αὖτις

ἡγῆτ’ ἐς φιλότητα, δίκην δ’ ἐθέλῃσι παρασχεῖν,

δέξασθαι· δειλός τοι ἀνὴρ φίλον ἄλλοτε ἄλλον

ποιεῖται· σὲ δὲ μή τι νόος κατελεγχέτω εἶδος.

715  μηδὲ πολύξεινον μηδ’ ἄξεινον καλέεσθαι,

μηδὲ κακῶν ἕταρον μηδ’ ἐσθλῶν νεικεστῆρα.

μηδέ ποτ’ οὐλομένην πενίην θυμοφθόρον ἀνδρὶ

τέτλαθ’ ὀνειδίζειν, μακάρων δόσιν αἰὲν ἐόντων.

γλώσσης τοι θησαυρὸς ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἄριστος

720  φειδωλῆς, πλείστη δὲ χάρις κατὰ μέτρον ἰούσης·

εἰ δὲ κακὸν εἴποις, τάχα κ’ αὐτὸς μεῖζον ἀκούσαις.

μηδὲ πολυξείνου δαιτὸς δυσπέμφελος εἶναι·

ἐκ κοινοῦ πλείστη τε χάρις δαπάνη τ’ ὀλιγίστη.

[μηδέ ποτ’ ἐξ ἠοῦς Διὶ λείβειν αἴθοπα οἶνον

725  χερσὶν ἀνίπτοισιν μηδ’ ἄλλοις ἀθανάτοισιν·

οὐ γὰρ τοί γε κλύουσιν, ἀποπτύουσι δέ τ’ ἀράς.

μηδ’ ἄντ’ ἠελίου τετραμμένος ὀρθὸς ὀμιχεῖν,

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί κε δύῃ, μεμνημένος, ἔς τ’ ἀνιόντα,

730  μὴ δ’ ἀπογυμνωθείς· μακάρων τοι νύκτες ἔασιν.

μήτ’ ἐν ὁδῷ μήτ’ ἐκτὸς ὁδοῦ προβάδην οὐρήσῃς·

ἑζόμενος δ’ ὅ γε θεῖος ἀνήρ, πεπνυμένα εἰδώς,

ἢ ὅ γε πρὸς τοῖχον πελάσας εὐερκέος αὐλῆς.

μηδ’ αἰδοῖα γονῇ πεπαλαγμένος ἔνδοθι οἴκου

ἱστίῃ ἐμπελαδὸν παραφαινέμεν, ἀλλ’ ἀλέασθαι.

735  μηδ’ ἀπὸ δυσφήμοιο τάφου ἀπονοστήσαντα

σπερμαίνειν γενεήν, ἀλλ’ ἀθανάτων ἀπὸ δαιτός.

μηδ’ ἐπὶ κρηνάων οὐρεῖν, μάλα δ’ ἐξαλέασθαι.

μηδέ ποτ’ ἀενάων ποταμῶν καλλίρροον ὕδωρ

ποσσὶ περᾶν πρίν γ’ εὔξῃ ἰδὼν ἐς καλὰ ῥέεθρα

χεῖρας νιψάμενος πολυηράτῳ ὕδατι λευκῷ.

740  ὃς ποταμὸν διαβῇ κακότητ’ ἰδὲ χεῖρας ἄνιπτος,

τῷ δὲ θεοὶ νεμεσῶσι καὶ ἄλγεα δῶκαν ὀπίσσω.

μηδ’ ἀπὸ πεντόζοιο θεῶν ἐν δαιτὶ θαλείῃ

αὖον ἀπὸ χλωροῦ τάμνειν αἴθωνι σιδήρῳ.

μηδέ ποτ’ οἰνοχόην τιθέμεν κρητῆρος ὕπερθεν

745  πινόντων· ὀλοὴ γὰρ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ μοῖρα τέτυκται.

μηδὲ δόμον ποιῶν ἀνεπίξεστον καταλείπειν,

μή τοι ἐφεζομένη κρώξῃ λακέρυζα κορώνη.

μηδ’ ἀπὸ χυτροπόδων ἀνεπιρρέκτων ἀνελόντα

ἔσθειν μηδὲ λόεσθαι· ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῖς ἔπι ποινή.

750  μηδ’ ἐπ’ ἀκινήτοισι καθίζειν, οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον,

παῖδα δυωδεκαταῖον, ὅ τ’ ἀνέρ’ ἀνήνορα ποιεῖ,

μηδὲ δυωδεκάμηνον· ἴσον καὶ τοῦτο τέτυκται.

μηδὲ γυναικείῳ λουτρῷ χρόα φαιδρύνεσθαι

ἀνέρα· λευγαλέη γὰρ ἐπὶ χρόνον ἔστ’ ἐπὶ καὶ τῷ

755  ποινή. μηδ’ ἱεροῖσιν ἐπ’ αἰθομένοισι κυρήσας

μωμεύειν ἀίδηλα· θεός νύ τι καὶ τὰ νεμεσσᾷ.

μηδέ ποτ’ ἐν προχοῇς ποταμῶν ἅλαδε προρεόντων

μηδ’ ἐπὶ κρηνάων οὐρεῖν, μάλα δ’ ἐξαλέασθαι·

μηδ’ ἐναποψύχειν· τὸ γὰρ οὔ τοι λώιόν ἐστιν.]

760  ὧδ’ ἔρδειν· δεινὴν δὲ βροτῶν ὑπαλεύεο φήμην·

φήμη γάρ τε κακὴ πέλεται κούφη μὲν ἀεῖραι

ῥεῖα μάλ’, ἀργαλέη δὲ φέρειν, χαλεπὴ δ’ ἀποθέσθαι.

φήμη δ’ οὔ τις πάμπαν ἀπόλλυται, ἥντινα πολλοὶ

λαοὶ φημίξουσι· θεός νύ τίς ἐστι καὶ αὐτή.

765  [Ἤματα δ’ ἐκ Διόθεν πεφυλαγμένος εὖ κατὰ μοῖραν

πεφραδέμεν δμώεσσι τριηκάδα μηνὸς ἀρίστην

ἔργα τ’ ἐποπτεύειν ἠδ’ ἁρμαλιὴν δατέασθαι.

Αἵδε γὰρ ἡμέραι εἰσὶ Διὸς παρὰ μητιόεντος,

εὖτ’ ἂν ἀληθείην λαοὶ κρίνοντες ἄγωσιν·

770  πρῶτον ἔνη τετράς τε καὶ ἑβδόμη ἱερὸν ἦμαρ·

τῇ γὰρ Ἀπόλλωνα χρυσάορα γείνατο Λητώ·

ὀγδοάτη δ’ ἐνάτη τε δύω γε μὲν ἤματα μηνὸς

ἔξοχ’ ἀεξομένοιο βροτήσια ἔργα πένεσθαι·

ἑνδεκάτη δὲ δυωδεκάτη τ’ ἄμφω γε μὲν ἐσθλαὶ

775  ἠμὲν ὄις πείκειν ἠδ’ εὔφρονα καρπὸν ἀμᾶσθαι·

ἡ δὲ δυωδεκάτη τῆς ἑνδεκάτης μέγ’ ἀμείνων·

τῇ γάρ τοι νεῖ νήματ’ ἀερσιπότητος ἀράχνης

ἤματος ἐκ πλείου, ὅτε τ’ ἴδρις σωρὸν ἀμᾶται·

τῇ δ’ ἱστὸν στήσαιτο γυνὴ προβάλοιτό τε ἔργον.

780  Μηνὸς δ’ ἱσταμένου τρεισκαιδεκάτην ἀλέασθαι

σπέρματος ἄρξασθαι· φυτὰ δ’ ἐνθρέψασθαι ἀρίστη.

ἕκτη δ’ ἡ μέσση μάλ’ ἀσύμφορός ἐστι φυτοῖσιν,

ἀνδρογόνος δ’ ἀγαθή· κούρῃ δ’ οὐ σύμφορός ἐστιν

οὔτε γενέσθαι πρῶτ’ οὔτ’ ἂρ γάμου ἀντιβολῆσαι.

785  οὐδὲ μὲν ἡ πρώτη ἕκτη κούρῃ γε γενέσθαι

ἄρμενος, ἀλλ’ ἐρίφους τάμνειν καὶ πώεα μήλων,

σηκόν τ’ ἀμφιβαλεῖν ποιμνήιον ἤπιον ἦμαρ·

ἐσθλὴ δ’ ἀνδρογόνος· φιλέοι δ’ ὅ γε κέρτομα βάζειν

ψεύδεά θ’ αἱμυλίους τε λόγους κρυφίους τ’ ὀαρισμούς.

790  Μηνὸς δ’ ὀγδοάτῃ κάπρον καὶ βοῦν ἐρίμυκον

ταμνέμεν, οὐρῆας δὲ δυωδεκάτῃ ταλαεργούς.

Εἰκάδι δ’ ἐν μεγάλῃ, πλέῳ ἤματι, ἵστορα φῶτα

γείνασθαι· μάλα γάρ τε νόον πεπυκασμένος ἔσται.

Ἐσθλὴ δ’ ἀνδρογόνος δεκάτη, κούρῃ δέ τε τετρὰς

795  μέσση· τῇ δέ τε μῆλα καὶ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς

καὶ κύνα καρχαρόδοντα καὶ οὐρῆας ταλαεργοὺς

πρηΰνειν ἐπὶ χεῖρα τιθείς· πεφύλαξο δὲ θυμῷ

[τετράδ’ ἀλεύασθαι φθίνοντός θ’ ἱσταμένου τε]

ἄλγεα· θυμοβορεῖν μάλα τοι τετελεσμένον ἦμαρ.

800  Ἐν δὲ τετάρτῃ μηνὸς ἄγεσθ’ εἰς οἶκον ἄκοιτιν

οἰωνοὺς κρίνας οἳ ἐπ’ ἔργματι τούτῳ ἄριστοι.

Πέμπτας δ’ ἐξαλέασθαι, ἐπεὶ χαλεπαί τε καὶ αἰναί·

ἐν πέμπτῃ γάρ φασιν Ἐρινύας ἀμφιπολεύειν

Ὅρκον γεινόμενον, τὸν Ἔρις τέκε πῆμ’ ἐπιόρκοις.

805  Μέσσῃ δ’ ἑβδομάτῃ Δημήτερος ἱερὸν ἀκτὴν

εὖ μάλ’ ὀπιπεύοντα ἐυτροχάλῳ ἐν ἀλωῇ

βάλλειν, ὑλοτόμον τε ταμεῖν θαλαμήια δοῦρα

νήιά τε ξύλα πολλά, τά τ’ ἄρμενα νηυσὶ πέλονται.

τετράδι δ’ ἄρχεσθαι νῆας πήγνυσθαι ἀραιάς.

810  Εἰνὰς δ’ ἡ μέσση ἐπὶ δείελα λώιον ἦμαρ·

πρωτίστη δ’ εἰνὰς παναπήμων ἀνθρώποισιν·

ἐσθλὴ μὲν γάρ θ’ ἥ γε φυτευέμεν ἠδὲ γενέσθαι

ἀνέρι τ’ ἠδὲ γυναικί, καὶ οὔποτε πάγκακον ἦμαρ.

Παῦροι δ’ αὖτε ἴσασι τρισεινάδα μηνὸς ἀρίστην

815  [ἄρξασθαί τε πίθου καὶ ἐπὶ ζυγὸν αὐχένι θεῖναι

βουσὶ καὶ ἡμιόνοισι καὶ ἵπποις ὠκυπόδεσσι],

νῆα πολυκλήιδα θοὴν εἰς οἴνοπα πόντον

εἰρύμεναι· παῦροι δέ τ’ ἀληθέα κικλήσκουσιν.

Τετράδι δ’ οἶγε πίθον· περὶ πάντων ἱερὸν ἦμαρ

820  μέσση· παῦροι δ’ αὖτε μετ’ εἰκάδα μηνὸς ἀρίστην

ἠοῦς γεινομένης· ἐπὶ δείελα δ’ ἐστὶ χερείων.

Αἵδε μὲν ἡμέραι εἰσὶν ἐπιχθονίοις μέγ’ ὄνειαρ·

αἱ δ’ ἄλλαι μετάδουποι, ἀκήριοι, οὔ τι φέρουσαι.

ἄλλος δ’ ἀλλοίην αἰνεῖ, παῦροι δὲ ἴσασιν.

825  ἄλλοτε μητρυιὴ πέλει ἡμέρη, ἄλλοτε μήτηρ.

τάων εὐδαίμων τε καὶ ὄλβιος ὃς τάδε πάντα

εἰδὼς ἐργάζηται ἀναίτιος ἀθανάτοισιν,

ὄρνιθας κρίνων καὶ ὑπερβασίας ἀλεείνων.

ΘΕΟΓΟΝΙΑ (THE THEOGONY)

Μουσάων Ἑλικωνιάδων ἀρχώμεθ’ ἀείδειν,

αἵ θ’ Ἑλικῶνος ἔχουσιν ὄρος μέγα τε ζάθεόν τε,

καί τε περὶ κρήνην ἰοειδέα πόσσ’ ἁπαλοῖσιν

ὀρχεῦνται καὶ βωμὸν ἐρισθενέος Κρονίωνος·

5  καί τε λοεσσάμεναι τέρενα χρόα Περμησσοῖο

ἠ’ Ἵππου κρήνης ἠ’ Ὀλμειοῦ ζαθέοιο

ἀκροτάτῳ Ἑλικῶνι χοροὺς ἐνεποιήσαντο,

καλοὺς ἱμερόεντας, ἐπερρώσαντο δὲ ποσσίν.

ἔνθεν ἀπορνύμεναι κεκαλυμμέναι ἠέρι πολλῷ

10  ἐννύχιαι στεῖχον περικαλλέα ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι,

ὑμνεῦσαι Δία τ’ αἰγίοχον καὶ πότνιαν Ἥρην

Ἀργείην, χρυσέοισι πεδίλοις ἐμβεβαυῖαν,

κούρην τ’ αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς γλαυκῶπιν Ἀθήνην

Φοῖβόν τ’ Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ Ἄρτεμιν ἰοχέαιραν

15  ἠδὲ Ποσειδάωνα γαιήοχον ἐννοσίγαιον

καὶ Θέμιν αἰδοίην ἑλικοβλέφαρόν τ’ Ἀφροδίτην

Ἥβην τε χρυσοστέφανον καλήν τε Διώνην

Λητώ τ’ Ἰαπετόν τε ἰδὲ Κρόνον ἀγκυλομήτην

Ἠῶ τ’ Ἠέλιόν τε μέγαν λαμπράν τε Σελήνην

20  Γαῖάν τ’ Ὠκεανόν τε μέγαν καὶ Νύκτα μέλαιναν

ἄλλων τ’ ἀθανάτων ἱερὸν γένος αἰὲν ἐόντων.

αἵ νύ ποθ’ Ἡσίοδον καλὴν ἐδίδαξαν ἀοιδήν,

ἄρνας ποιμαίνονθ’ Ἑλικῶνος ὕπο ζαθέοιο.

τόνδε δέ με πρώτιστα θεαὶ πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπον,

25  Μοῦσαι Ὀλυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο·

“ποιμένες ἄγραυλοι, κάκ’ ἐλέγχεα, γαστέρες οἶον,

ἴδμεν ψεύδεα πολλὰ λέγειν ἐτύμοισιν ὁμοῖα,

ἴδμεν δ’ εὖτ’ ἐθέλωμεν ἀληθέα γηρύσασθαι.”

ὣς ἔφασαν κοῦραι μεγάλου Διὸς ἀρτιέπειαι,

30  καί μοι σκῆπτρον ἔδον δάφνης ἐριθηλέος ὄζον

δρέψασαι, θηητόν· ἐνέπνευσαν δέ μοι αὐδὴν

θέσπιν, ἵνα κλείοιμι τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ’ ἐόντα,

καί μ’ ἐκέλονθ’ ὑμνεῖν μακάρων γένος αἰὲν ἐόντων,

σφᾶς δ’ αὐτὰς πρῶτόν τε καὶ ὕστατον αἰὲν ἀείδειν.

35  ἀλλὰ τίη μοι ταῦτα περὶ δρῦν ἢ περὶ πέτρην;

τύνη, Μουσάων ἀρχώμεθα, ταὶ Διὶ πατρὶ

ὑμνεῦσαι τέρπουσι μέγαν νόον ἐντὸς Ὀλύμπου,

εἴρουσαι τά τ’ ἐόντα τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ’ ἐόντα,

φωνῇ ὁμηρεῦσαι, τῶν δ’ ἀκάματος ῥέει αὐδὴ

40  ἐκ στομάτων ἡδεῖα· γελᾷ δέ τε δώματα πατρὸς

Ζηνὸς ἐριγδούποιο θεᾶν ὀπὶ λειριοέσσῃ

σκιδναμένῃ, ἠχεῖ δὲ κάρη νιφόεντος Ὀλύμπου

δώματά τ’ ἀθανάτων· αἱ δ’ ἄμβροτον ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι

θεῶν γένος αἰδοῖον πρῶτον κλείουσιν ἀοιδῇ

45  ἐξ ἀρχῆς, οὓς Γαῖα καὶ Οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ἔτικτεν,

οἵ τ’ ἐκ τῶν ἐγένοντο, θεοὶ δωτῆρες ἐάων·

δεύτερον αὖτε Ζῆνα θεῶν πατέρ’ ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν,

[ἀρχόμεναί θ’ ὑμνεῦσι θεαὶ †λήγουσαί τ’ ἀοιδῆς,]

ὅσσον φέρτατός ἐστι θεῶν κάρτει τε μέγιστος·

50  αὖτις δ’ ἀνθρώπων τε γένος κρατερῶν τε Γιγάντων

ὑμνεῦσαι τέρπουσι Διὸς νόον ἐντὸς Ὀλύμπου

Μοῦσαι Ὀλυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.

τὰς ἐν Πιερίῃ Κρονίδῃ τέκε πατρὶ μιγεῖσα

Μνημοσύνη, γουνοῖσιν Ἐλευθῆρος μεδέουσα,

55  λησμοσύνην τε κακῶν ἄμπαυμά τε μερμηράων.

ἐννέα γάρ οἱ νύκτας ἐμίσγετο μητίετα Ζεὺς

νόσφιν ἀπ’ ἀθανάτων ἱερὸν λέχος εἰσαναβαίνων·

ἀλλ’ ὅτε δή ῥ’ ἐνιαυτὸς ἔην, περὶ δ’ ἔτραπον ὧραι

μηνῶν φθινόντων, περὶ δ’ ἤματα πόλλ’ ἐτελέσθη,

60  ἡ δ’ ἔτεκ’ ἐννέα κούρας, ὁμόφρονας, ᾗσιν ἀοιδὴ

μέμβλεται ἐν στήθεσσιν, ἀκηδέα θυμὸν ἐχούσαις,

τυτθὸν ἀπ’ ἀκροτάτης κορυφῆς νιφόεντος Ὀλύμπου·

ἔνθά σφιν λιπαροί τε χοροὶ καὶ δώματα καλά,

πὰρ δ’ αὐτῇς Χάριτές τε καὶ Ἵμερος οἰκί’ ἔχουσιν

65  ἐν θαλίῃς· ἐρατὴν δὲ διὰ στόμα ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι

μέλπονται, πάντων τε νόμους καὶ ἤθεα κεδνὰ

ἀθανάτων κλείουσιν, ἐπήρατον ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι.

αἳ τότ’ ἴσαν πρὸς Ὄλυμπον, ἀγαλλόμεναι ὀπὶ καλῇ,

ἀμβροσίῃ μολπῇ· περὶ δ’ ἴαχε γαῖα μέλαινα

70  ὑμνεύσαις, ἐρατὸς δὲ ποδῶν ὕπο δοῦπος ὀρώρει

νισομένων πατέρ’ εἰς ὅν· ὁ δ’ οὐρανῷ ἐμβασιλεύει,

αὐτὸς ἔχων βροντὴν ἠδ’ αἰθαλόεντα κεραυνόν,

κάρτει νικήσας πατέρα Κρόνον· εὖ δὲ ἕκαστα

ἀθανάτοις διέταξε νόμους καὶ ἐπέφραδε τιμάς.

75  ταῦτ’ ἄρα Μοῦσαι ἄειδον Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχουσαι,

ἐννέα θυγατέρες μεγάλου Διὸς ἐκγεγαυῖαι,

Κλειώ τ’ Εὐτέρπη τε Θάλειά τε Μελπομένη τε

Τερψιχόρη τ’ Ἐρατώ τε Πολύμνιά τ’ Οὐρανίη τε

Καλλιόπη θ’· ἡ δὲ προφερεστάτη ἐστὶν ἁπασέων.

80  ἡ γὰρ καὶ βασιλεῦσιν ἅμ’ αἰδοίοισιν ὀπηδεῖ.

ὅντινα τιμήσουσι Διὸς κοῦραι μεγάλοιο

γεινόμενόν τε ἴδωσι διοτρεφέων βασιλήων,

τῷ μὲν ἐπὶ γλώσσῃ γλυκερὴν χείουσιν ἐέρσην,

τοῦ δ’ ἔπε’ ἐκ στόματος ῥεῖ μείλιχα· οἱ δέ νυ λαοὶ

85  πάντες ἐς αὐτὸν ὁρῶσι διακρίνοντα θέμιστας

ἰθείῃσι δίκῃσιν· ὁ δ’ ἀσφαλέως ἀγορεύων

αἶψά τι καὶ μέγα νεῖκος ἐπισταμένως κατέπαυσε·

τούνεκα γὰρ βασιλῆες ἐχέφρονες, οὕνεκα λαοῖς

βλαπτομένοις ἀγορῆφι μετάτροπα ἔργα τελεῦσι

90  ῥηιδίως, μαλακοῖσι παραιφάμενοι ἐπέεσσιν·

ἐρχόμενον δ’ ἀν’ ἀγῶνα θεὸν ὣς ἱλάσκονται

αἰδοῖ μειλιχίῃ, μετὰ δὲ πρέπει ἀγρομένοισι.

τοίη Μουσάων ἱερὴ δόσις ἀνθρώποισιν.

ἐκ γάρ τοι Μουσέων καὶ ἑκηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος

95  ἄνδρες ἀοιδοὶ ἔασιν ἐπὶ χθόνα καὶ κιθαρισταί,

ἐκ δὲ Διὸς βασιλῆες· ὁ δ’ ὄλβιος, ὅντινα Μοῦσαι

φίλωνται· γλυκερή οἱ ἀπὸ στόματος ῥέει αὐδή.

εἰ γάρ τις καὶ πένθος ἔχων νεοκηδέι θυμῷ

ἄζηται κραδίην ἀκαχήμενος, αὐτὰρ ἀοιδὸς

100  Μουσάων θεράπων κλεῖα προτέρων ἀνθρώπων

ὑμνήσει μάκαράς τε θεοὺς οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν,

αἶψ’ ὅ γε δυσφροσυνέων ἐπιλήθεται οὐδέ τι κηδέων

μέμνηται· ταχέως δὲ παρέτραπε δῶρα θεάων.

χαίρετε τέκνα Διός, δότε δ’ ἱμερόεσσαν ἀοιδήν·

105  κλείετε δ’ ἀθανάτων ἱερὸν γένος αἰὲν ἐόντων,

οἳ Γῆς ἐξεγένοντο καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος,

Νυκτός τε δνοφερῆς, οὕς θ’ ἁλμυρὸς ἔτρεφε Πόντος.

εἴπατε δ’ ὡς τὰ πρῶτα θεοὶ καὶ γαῖα γένοντο

καὶ ποταμοὶ καὶ πόντος ἀπείριτος οἴδματι θυίων

110  ἄστρά τε λαμπετόωντα καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθεν·

[οἵ τ’ ἐκ τῶν ἐγένοντο, θεοὶ δωτῆρες ἐάων·]

ὥς τ’ ἄφενος δάσσαντο καὶ ὡς τιμὰς διέλοντο,

ἠδὲ καὶ ὡς τὰ πρῶτα πολύπτυχον ἔσχον Ὄλυμπον.

ταῦτά μοι ἔσπετε Μοῦσαι Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχουσαι

115  ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καὶ εἴπαθ’, ὅτι πρῶτον γένετ’ αὐτῶν.

ἤτοι μὲν πρώτιστα Χάος γένετ’· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

Γαῖ’ εὐρύστερνος, πάντων ἕδος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεὶ

ἀθανάτων οἳ ἔχουσι κάρη νιφόεντος Ὀλύμπου,

Τάρταρά τ’ ἠερόεντα μυχῷ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης,

120  ἠδ’ Ἔρος, ὃς κάλλιστος ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι,

λυσιμελής, πάντων τε θεῶν πάντων τ’ ἀνθρώπων

δάμναται ἐν στήθεσσι νόον καὶ ἐπίφρονα βουλήν.

ἐκ Χάεος δ’ Ἔρεβός τε μέλαινά τε Νὺξ ἐγένοντο·

Νυκτὸς δ’ αὖτ’ Αἰθήρ τε καὶ Ἡμέρη ἐξεγένοντο,

125  οὓς τέκε κυσαμένη Ἐρέβει φιλότητι μιγεῖσα.

Γαῖα δέ τοι πρῶτον μὲν ἐγείνατο ἶσον ἑωυτῇ

Οὐρανὸν ἀστερόενθ’, ἵνα μιν περὶ πάντα καλύπτοι,

ὄφρ’ εἴη μακάρεσσι θεοῖς ἕδος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεί,

γείνατο δ’ οὔρεα μακρά, θεᾶν χαρίεντας ἐναύλους

130  Νυμφέων, αἳ ναίουσιν ἀν’ οὔρεα βησσήεντα,

ἠδὲ καὶ ἀτρύγετον πέλαγος τέκεν οἴδματι θυῖον,

Πόντον, ἄτερ φιλότητος ἐφιμέρου· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

Οὐρανῷ εὐνηθεῖσα τέκ’ Ὠκεανὸν βαθυδίνην

Κοῖόν τε Κρεῖόν θ’ Ὑπερίονά τ’ Ἰαπετόν τε

135  Θείαν τε Ῥείαν τε Θέμιν τε Μνημοσύνην τε

Φοίβην τε χρυσοστέφανον Τηθύν τ’ ἐρατεινήν.

τοὺς δὲ μέθ’ ὁπλότατος γένετο Κρόνος ἀγκυλομήτης,

δεινότατος παίδων, θαλερὸν δ’ ἤχθηρε τοκῆα.

γείνατο δ’ αὖ Κύκλωπας ὑπέρβιον ἦτορ ἔχοντας,

140  Βρόντην τε Στερόπην τε καὶ Ἄργην ὀβριμόθυμον,

οἳ Ζηνὶ βροντήν τ’ ἔδοσαν τεῦξάν τε κεραυνόν.

οἱ δ’ ἤτοι τὰ μὲν ἄλλα θεοῖς ἐναλίγκιοι ἦσαν,

μοῦνος δ’ ὀφθαλμὸς μέσσῳ ἐνέκειτο μετώπῳ·

Κύκλωπες δ’ ὄνομ’ ἦσαν ἐπώνυμον, οὕνεκ’ ἄρά σφεων

145  κυκλοτερὴς ὀφθαλμὸς ἕεις ἐνέκειτο μετώπῳ·

ἰσχὺς δ’ ἠδὲ βίη καὶ μηχαναὶ ἦσαν ἐπ’ ἔργοις.

ἄλλοι δ’ αὖ Γαίης τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἐξεγένοντο

τρεῖς παῖδες μεγάλοι ‹τε› καὶ ὄβριμοι, οὐκ ὀνομαστοί,

Κόττος τε Βριάρεώς τε Γύγης θ’, ὑπερήφανα τέκνα.

150  τῶν ἑκατὸν μὲν χεῖρες ἀπ’ ὤμων ἀίσσοντο,

ἄπλαστοι, κεφαλαὶ δὲ ἑκάστῳ πεντήκοντα

ἐξ ὤμων ἐπέφυκον ἐπὶ στιβαροῖσι μέλεσσιν·

ἰσχὺς δ’ ἄπλητος κρατερὴ μεγάλῳ ἐπὶ εἴδει.

ὅσσοι γὰρ Γαίης τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἐξεγένοντο,

155  δεινότατοι παίδων, σφετέρῳ δ’ ἤχθοντο τοκῆι

ἐξ ἀρχῆς· καὶ τῶν μὲν ὅπως τις πρῶτα γένοιτο,

πάντας ἀποκρύπτασκε καὶ ἐς φάος οὐκ ἀνίεσκε

Γαίης ἐν κευθμῶνι, κακῷ δ’ ἐπετέρπετο ἔργῳ,

Οὐρανός· ἡ δ’ ἐντὸς στοναχίζετο Γαῖα πελώρη

160  στεινομένη, δολίην δὲ κακὴν ἐπεφράσσατο τέχνην.

αἶψα δὲ ποιήσασα γένος πολιοῦ ἀδάμαντος

τεῦξε μέγα δρέπανον καὶ ἐπέφραδε παισὶ φίλοισιν·

εἶπε δὲ θαρσύνουσα, φίλον τετιημένη ἦτορ·

“παῖδες ἐμοὶ καὶ πατρὸς ἀτασθάλου, αἴ κ’ ἐθέλητε

165  πείθεσθαι· πατρός κε κακὴν τεισαίμεθα λώβην

ὑμετέρου· πρότερος γὰρ ἀεικέα μήσατο ἔργα.”

ὣς φάτο· τοὺς δ’ ἄρα πάντας ἕλεν δέος, οὐδέ τις αὐτῶν

φθέγξατο. θαρσήσας δὲ μέγας Κρόνος ἀγκυλομήτης

αἶψ’ αὖτις μύθοισι προσηύδα μητέρα κεδνήν·

170  “μῆτερ, ἐγώ κεν τοῦτό γ’ ὑποσχόμενος τελέσαιμι

ἔργον, ἐπεὶ πατρός γε δυσωνύμου οὐκ ἀλεγίζω

ἡμετέρου· πρότερος γὰρ ἀεικέα μήσατο ἔργα.”

ὣς φάτο· γήθησεν δὲ μέγα φρεσὶ Γαῖα πελώρη·

εἷσε δέ μιν κρύψασα λόχῳ, ἐνέθηκε δὲ χερσὶν

175  ἅρπην καρχαρόδοντα, δόλον δ’ ὑπεθήκατο πάντα.

ἦλθε δὲ νύκτ’ ἐπάγων μέγας Οὐρανός, ἀμφὶ δὲ Γαίῃ

ἱμείρων φιλότητος ἐπέσχετο, καί ῥ’ ἐτανύσθη

πάντῃ· ὁ δ’ ἐκ λοχέοιο πάις ὠρέξατο χειρὶ

σκαιῇ, δεξιτερῇ δὲ πελώριον ἔλλαβεν ἅρπην,

180  μακρὴν καρχαρόδοντα, φίλου δ’ ἀπὸ μήδεα πατρὸς

ἐσσυμένως ἤμησε, πάλιν δ’ ἔρριψε φέρεσθαι

ἐξοπίσω. τὰ μὲν οὔ τι ἐτώσια ἔκφυγε χειρός·

ὅσσαι γὰρ ῥαθάμιγγες ἀπέσσυθεν αἱματόεσσαι,

πάσας δέξατο Γαῖα· περιπλομένων δ’ ἐνιαυτῶν

185  γείνατ’ Ἐρινῦς τε κρατερὰς μεγάλους τε Γίγαντας,

τεύχεσι λαμπομένους, δολίχ’ ἔγχεα χερσὶν ἔχοντας,

Νύμφας θ’ ἃς Μελίας καλέουσ’ ἐπ’ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν.

μήδεα δ’ ὡς τὸ πρῶτον ἀποτμήξας ἀδάμαντι

κάββαλ’ ἀπ’ ἠπείροιο πολυκλύστῳ ἐνὶ πόντῳ,

190  ὣς φέρετ’ ἂμ πέλαγος πουλὺν χρόνον, ἀμφὶ δὲ λευκὸς

ἀφρὸς ἀπ’ ἀθανάτου χροὸς ὤρνυτο· τῷ δ’ ἔνι κούρη

ἐθρέφθη· πρῶτον δὲ Κυθήροισι ζαθέοισιν

ἔπλητ’, ἔνθεν ἔπειτα περίρρυτον ἵκετο Κύπρον.

ἐκ δ’ ἔβη αἰδοίη καλὴ θεός, ἀμφὶ δὲ ποίη

195  ποσσὶν ὕπο ῥαδινοῖσιν ἀέξετο· τὴν δ’ Ἀφροδίτην

[ἀφρογενέα τε θεὰν καὶ ἐυστέφανον Κυθέρειαν]

κικλήσκουσι θεοί τε καὶ ἀνέρες, οὕνεκ’ ἐν ἀφρῷ

θρέφθη· ἀτὰρ Κυθέρειαν, ὅτι προσέκυρσε Κυθήροις·

Κυπρογενέα δ’, ὅτι γέντο περικλύστῳ ἐνὶ Κύπρῳ·

200  ἠδὲ φιλομμειδέα, ὅτι μηδέων ἐξεφαάνθη.

τῇ δ’ Ἔρος ὡμάρτησε καὶ Ἵμερος ἔσπετο καλὸς

γεινομένῃ τὰ πρῶτα θεῶν τ’ ἐς φῦλον ἰούσῃ·

ταύτην δ’ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τιμὴν ἔχει ἠδὲ λέλογχε

μοῖραν ἐν ἀνθρώποισι καὶ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι,

205  παρθενίους τ’ ὀάρους μειδήματά τ’ ἐξαπάτας τε

τέρψίν τε γλυκερὴν φιλότητά τε μειλιχίην τε.

τοὺς δὲ πατὴρ Τιτῆνας ἐπίκλησιν καλέεσκε

παῖδας νεικείων μέγας Οὐρανός, οὓς τέκεν αὐτός·

φάσκε δὲ τιταίνοντας ἀτασθαλίῃ μέγα ῥέξαι

210  ἔργον, τοῖο δ’ ἔπειτα τίσιν μετόπισθεν ἔσεσθαι.

Νὺξ δ’ ἔτεκε στυγερόν τε Μόρον καὶ Κῆρα μέλαιναν

καὶ Θάνατον, τέκε δ’ Ὕπνον, ἔτικτε δὲ φῦλον Ὀνείρων.

δεύτερον αὖ Μῶμον καὶ Ὀιζὺν ἀλγινόεσσαν

οὔ τινι κοιμηθεῖσα θεῶν τέκε Νὺξ ἐρεβεννή,

215  Ἑσπερίδας θ’, αἷς μῆλα πέρην κλυτοῦ Ὠκεανοῖο

χρύσεα καλὰ μέλουσι φέροντά τε δένδρεα καρπόν·

καὶ Μοίρας καὶ Κῆρας ἐγείνατο νηλεοποίνους,

[Κλωθώ τε Λάχεσίν τε καὶ Ἄτροπον, αἵ τε βροτοῖσι

γεινομένοισι διδοῦσιν ἔχειν ἀγαθόν τε κακόν τε,]

220  αἵ τ’ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε παραιβασίας ἐφέπουσιν,

οὐδέ ποτε λήγουσι θεαὶ δεινοῖο χόλοιο,

πρίν γ’ ἀπὸ τῷ δώωσι κακὴν ὄπιν, ὅστις ἁμάρτῃ.

τίκτε δὲ καὶ Νέμεσιν πῆμα θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσι

Νὺξ ὀλοή· μετὰ τὴν δ’ Ἀπάτην τέκε καὶ Φιλότητα

225  Γῆράς τ’ οὐλόμενον, καὶ Ἔριν τέκε καρτερόθυμον.

αὐτὰρ Ἔρις στυγερὴ τέκε μὲν Πόνον ἀλγινόεντα

Λήθην τε Λιμόν τε καὶ Ἄλγεα δακρυόεντα

Ὑσμίνας τε Μάχας τε Φόνους τ’ Ἀνδροκτασίας τε

Νείκεά τε Ψεύδεά τε Λόγους τ’ Ἀμφιλλογίας τε

230  Δυσνομίην τ’ Ἄτην τε, συνήθεας ἀλλήλῃσιν,

Ὅρκόν θ’, ὃς δὴ πλεῖστον ἐπιχθονίους ἀνθρώπους

πημαίνει, ὅτε κέν τις ἑκὼν ἐπίορκον ὀμόσσῃ·

Νηρέα δ’ ἀψευδέα καὶ ἀληθέα γείνατο Πόντος

πρεσβύτατον παίδων· αὐτὰρ καλέουσι γέροντα,

235  οὕνεκα νημερτής τε καὶ ἤπιος, οὐδὲ θεμίστων

λήθεται, ἀλλὰ δίκαια καὶ ἤπια δήνεα οἶδεν·

αὖτις δ’ αὖ Θαύμαντα μέγαν καὶ ἀγήνορα Φόρκυν

Γαίῃ μισγόμενος καὶ Κητὼ καλλιπάρηον

Εὐρυβίην τ’ ἀδάμαντος ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θυμὸν ἔχουσαν.

240  Νηρῆος δ’ ἐγένοντο μεγήριτα τέκνα θεάων

πόντῳ ἐν ἀτρυγέτῳ καὶ Δωρίδος ἠυκόμοιο,

κούρης Ὠκεανοῖο τελήεντος ποταμοῖο,

Πρωθώ τ’ Εὐκράντη τε Σαώ τ’ Ἀμφιτρίτη τε

Εὐδώρη τε Θέτις τε Γαλήνη τε Γλαύκη τε,

245  Κυμοθόη Σπειώ τε θοὴ Θαλίη τ’ ἐρόεσσα

Πασιθέη τ’ Ἐρατώ τε καὶ Εὐνίκη ῥοδόπηχυς

καὶ Μελίτη χαρίεσσα καὶ Εὐλιμένη καὶ Ἀγαυὴ

Δωτώ τε Πρωτώ τε Φέρουσά τε Δυναμένη τε

Νησαίη τε καὶ Ἀκταίη καὶ Πρωτομέδεια,

250  Δωρὶς καὶ Πανόπη καὶ εὐειδὴς Γαλάτεια

Ἱπποθόη τ’ ἐρόεσσα καὶ Ἱππονόη ῥοδόπηχυς

Κυμοδόκη θ’, ἣ κύματ’ ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ

πνοιάς τε ζαέων ἀνέμων σὺν Κυματολήγῃ

ῥεῖα πρηΰνει καὶ ἐυσφύρῳ Ἀμφιτρίτῃ,

255  Κυμώ τ’ Ἠιόνη τε ἐυστέφανός θ’ Ἁλιμήδη

Γλαυκονόμη τε φιλομμειδὴς καὶ Ποντοπόρεια

Λειαγόρη τε καὶ Εὐαγόρη καὶ Λαομέδεια

Πουλυνόη τε καὶ Αὐτονόη καὶ Λυσιάνασσα

Εὐάρνη τε φυὴν ἐρατὴ καὶ εἶδος ἄμωμος

260  καὶ Ψαμάθη χαρίεσσα δέμας δίη τε Μενίππη

Νησώ τ’ Εὐπόμπη τε Θεμιστώ τε Προνόη τε

Νημερτής θ’, ἣ πατρὸς ἔχει νόον ἀθανάτοιο.

αὗται μὲν Νηρῆος ἀμύμονος ἐξεγένοντο

κοῦραι πεντήκοντα, ἀμύμονα ἔργ’ εἰδυῖαι·

265  Θαύμας δ’ Ὠκεανοῖο βαθυρρείταο θύγατρα

ἠγάγετ’ Ἠλέκτρην· ἡ δ’ ὠκεῖαν τέκεν Ἶριν

ἠυκόμους θ’ Ἁρπυίας, Ἀελλώ τ’ Ὠκυπέτην τε,

αἵ ῥ’ ἀνέμων πνοιῇσι καὶ οἰωνοῖς ἅμ’ ἕπονται

ὠκείῃς πτερύγεσσι· μεταχρόνιαι γὰρ ἴαλλον.

270  Φόρκυι δ’ αὖ Κητὼ γραίας τέκε καλλιπαρήους

ἐκ γενετῆς πολιάς, τὰς δὴ Γραίας καλέουσιν

ἀθάνατοί τε θεοὶ χαμαὶ ἐρχόμενοί τ’ ἄνθρωποι,

Πεμφρηδώ τ’ εὔπεπλον Ἐνυώ τε κροκόπεπλον,

Γοργούς θ’, αἳ ναίουσι πέρην κλυτοῦ Ὠκεανοῖο

275  ἐσχατιῇ πρὸς νυκτός, ἵν’ Ἑσπερίδες λιγύφωνοι,

Σθεννώ τ’ Εὐρυάλη τε Μέδουσά τε λυγρὰ παθοῦσα·

ἡ μὲν ἔην θνητή, αἱ δ’ ἀθάνατοι καὶ ἀγήρῳ,

αἱ δύο· τῇ δὲ μιῇ παρελέξατο Κυανοχαίτης

ἐν μαλακῷ λειμῶνι καὶ ἄνθεσιν εἰαρινοῖσι.

280  τῆς ὅτε δὴ Περσεὺς κεφαλὴν ἀπεδειροτόμησεν,

ἐξέθορε Χρυσάωρ τε μέγας καὶ Πήγασος ἵππος.

τῷ μὲν ἐπώνυμον ἦν, ὅτ’ ἄρ’ Ὠκεανοῦ παρὰ πηγὰς

γένθ’, ὁ δ’ ἄορ χρύσειον ἔχων μετὰ χερσὶ φίλῃσι.

χὠ μὲν ἀποπτάμενος, προλιπὼν χθόνα μητέρα μήλων,

285  ἵκετ’ ἐς ἀθανάτους· Ζηνὸς δ’ ἐν δώμασι ναίει

βροντήν τε στεροπήν τε φέρων Διὶ μητιόεντι·

Χρυσάωρ δ’ ἔτεκε τρικέφαλον Γηρυονῆα

μιχθεὶς Καλλιρόῃ κούρῃ κλυτοῦ Ὠκεανοῖο·

τὸν μὲν ἄρ’ ἐξενάριξε βίη Ἡρακληείη

290  βουσὶ πάρ’ εἰλιπόδεσσι περιρρύτῳ εἰν Ἐρυθείῃ

ἤματι τῷ, ὅτε περ βοῦς ἤλασεν εὐρυμετώπους

Τίρυνθ’ εἰς ἱερήν, διαβὰς πόρον Ὠκεανοῖο,

Ὄρθόν τε κτείνας καὶ βουκόλον Εὐρυτίωνα

σταθμῷ ἐν ἠερόεντι πέρην κλυτοῦ Ὠκεανοῖο.

295  ἡ δ’ ἔτεκ’ ἄλλο πέλωρον ἀμήχανον, οὐδὲν ἐοικὸς

θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὐδ’ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι,

σπῆι ἔνι γλαφυρῷ, θείην κρατερόφρον’ Ἔχιδναν,

ἥμισυ μὲν νύμφην ἑλικώπιδα καλλιπάρηον,

ἥμισυ δ’ αὖτε πέλωρον ὄφιν δεινόν τε μέγαν τε

300  αἰόλον ὠμηστήν, ζαθέης ὑπὸ κεύθεσι γαίης.

ἔνθα δέ οἱ σπέος ἐστὶ κάτω κοίλῃ ὑπὸ πέτρῃ

τηλοῦ ἀπ’ ἀθανάτων τε θεῶν θνητῶν τ’ ἀνθρώπων,

ἔνθ’ ἄρα οἱ δάσσαντο θεοὶ κλυτὰ δώματα ναίειν.

ἡ δ’ ἔρυτ’ εἰν Ἀρίμοισιν ὑπὸ χθόνα λυγρὴ Ἔχιδνα,

305  ἀθάνατος νύμφη καὶ ἀγήραος ἤματα πάντα.

τῇ δὲ Τυφάονά φασι μιγήμεναι ἐν φιλότητι

δεινόν θ’ ὑβριστήν τ’ ἄνομόν θ’ ἑλικώπιδι κούρῃ·

ἡ δ’ ὑποκυσαμένη τέκετο κρατερόφρονα τέκνα.

Ὄρθον μὲν πρῶτον κύνα γείνατο Γηρυονῆι·

310  δεύτερον αὖτις ἔτικτεν ἀμήχανον, οὔ τι φατειόν,

Κέρβερον ὠμηστήν, Ἀίδεω κύνα χαλκεόφωνον,

πεντηκοντακέφαλον, ἀναιδέα τε κρατερόν τε·

τὸ τρίτον Ὕδρην αὖτις ἐγείνατο λύγρ’ εἰδυῖαν

Λερναίην, ἣν θρέψε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη

315  ἄπλητον κοτέουσα βίῃ Ἡρακληείῃ.

καὶ τὴν μὲν Διὸς υἱὸς ἐνήρατο νηλέι χαλκῷ

Ἀμφιτρυωνιάδης σὺν ἀρηιφίλῳ Ἰολάῳ

Ἡρακλέης βουλῇσιν Ἀθηναίης ἀγελείης·

ἡ δὲ Χίμαιραν ἔτικτε πνέουσαν ἀμαιμάκετον πῦρ,

320  δεινήν τε μεγάλην τε ποδώκεά τε κρατερήν τε.

τῆς ἦν τρεῖς κεφαλαί· μία μὲν χαροποῖο λέοντος,

ἡ δὲ χιμαίρης, ἡ δ’ ὄφιος κρατεροῖο δράκοντος.

[πρόσθε λέων, ὄπιθεν δὲ δράκων, μέσση δὲ χίμαιρα,

δεινὸν ἀποπνείουσα πυρὸς μένος αἰθομένοιο.]

325  τὴν μὲν Πήγασος εἷλε καὶ ἐσθλὸς Βελλεροφόντης·

ἡ δ’ ἄρα Φῖκ’ ὀλοὴν τέκε Καδμείοισιν ὄλεθρον,

Ὄρθῳ ὑποδμηθεῖσα, Νεμειαῖόν τε λέοντα,

τόν ῥ’ Ἥρη θρέψασα Διὸς κυδρὴ παράκοιτις

γουνοῖσιν κατένασσε Νεμείης, πῆμ’ ἀνθρώποις.

330  ἔνθ’ ἄρ’ ὅ γ’ οἰκείων ἐλεφαίρετο φῦλ’ ἀνθρώπων,

κοιρανέων Τρητοῖο Νεμείης ἠδ’ Ἀπέσαντος·

ἀλλά ἑ ἲς ἐδάμασσε βίης Ἡρακληείης.

Κητὼ δ’ ὁπλότατον Φόρκυι φιλότητι μιγεῖσα

γείνατο δεινὸν ὄφιν, ὃς ἐρεμνῆς κεύθεσι γαίης

335  πείρασιν ἐν μεγάλοις παγχρύσεα μῆλα φυλάσσει.

τοῦτο μὲν ἐκ Κητοῦς καὶ Φόρκυνος γένος ἐστί.

Τηθὺς δ’ Ὠκεανῷ ποταμοὺς τέκε δινήεντας,

Νεῖλόν τ’ Ἀλφειόν τε καὶ Ἠριδανὸν βαθυδίνην,

Στρυμόνα Μαίανδρόν τε καὶ Ἴστρον καλλιρέεθρον

340  Φᾶσίν τε Ῥῆσόν τ’ Ἀχελῷόν τ’ ἀργυροδίνην

Νέσσόν τε Ῥοδίον θ’ Ἁλιάκμονά θ’ Ἑπτάπορόν τε

Γρήνικόν τε καὶ Αἴσηπον θεῖόν τε Σιμοῦντα

Πηνειόν τε καὶ Ἕρμον ἐυρρείτην τε Κάικον

Σαγγάριόν τε μέγαν Λάδωνά τε Παρθένιόν τε

345  Εὔηνόν τε καὶ Ἀλδῆσκον θεῖόν τε Σκάμανδρον·

τίκτε δὲ Κουράων ἱερὸν γένος, αἳ κατὰ γαῖαν

ἄνδρας κουρίζουσι σὺν Ἀπόλλωνι ἄνακτι

καὶ ποταμοῖς, ταύτην δὲ Διὸς πάρα μοῖραν ἔχουσι,

Πειθώ τ’ Ἀδμήτη τε Ἰάνθη τ’ Ἠλέκτρη τε

350  Δωρίς τε Πρυμνώ τε καὶ Οὐρανίη θεοειδὴς

Ἱππώ τε Κλυμένη τε Ῥόδειά τε Καλλιρόη τε

Ζευξώ τε Κλυτίη τε Ἰδυῖά τε Πασιθόη τε

Πληξαύρη τε Γαλαξαύρη τ’ ἐρατή τε Διώνη

Μηλόβοσίς τε Θόη τε καὶ εὐειδὴς Πολυδώρη

355  Κερκηίς τε φυὴν ἐρατὴ Πλουτώ τε βοῶπις

Περσηίς τ’ Ἰάνειρά τ’ Ἀκάστη τε Ξάνθη τε

Πετραίη τ’ ἐρόεσσα Μενεσθώ τ’ Εὐρώπη τε

Μῆτίς τ’ Εὐρυνόμη τε Τελεστώ τε κροκόπεπλος

Χρυσηίς τ’ Ἀσίη τε καὶ ἱμερόεσσα Καλυψὼ

360  Εὐδώρη τε Τύχη τε καὶ Ἀμφιρὼ Ὠκυρόη τε

καὶ Στύξ, ἣ δή σφεων προφερεστάτη ἐστὶν ἁπασέων.

αὗται ἄρ’ Ὠκεανοῦ καὶ Τηθύος ἐξεγένοντο

πρεσβύταται κοῦραι· πολλαί γε μέν εἰσι καὶ ἄλλαι·

τρὶς γὰρ χίλιαί εἰσι τανίσφυροι Ὠκεανῖναι,

365  αἵ ῥα πολυσπερέες γαῖαν καὶ βένθεα λίμνης

πάντῃ ὁμῶς ἐφέπουσι, θεάων ἀγλαὰ τέκνα.

τόσσοι δ’ αὖθ’ ἕτεροι ποταμοὶ καναχηδὰ ῥέοντες,

υἱέες Ὠκεανοῦ, τοὺς γείνατο πότνια Τηθύς·

τῶν ὄνομ’ ἀργαλέον πάντων βροτὸν ἄνδρα ἐνισπεῖν,

370  οἱ δὲ ἕκαστοι ἴσασιν, ὅσοι περιναιετάουσι.

Θεία δ’ Ἠέλιόν τε μέγαν λαμπράν τε Σελήνην

Ἠῶ θ’, ἣ πάντεσσιν ἐπιχθονίοισι φαείνει

ἀθανάτοις τε θεοῖσι τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσι,

γείναθ’ ὑποδμηθεῖσ’ Ὑπερίονος ἐν φιλότητι.

375  Κρείῳ δ’ Εὐρυβίη τέκεν ἐν φιλότητι μιγεῖσα

Ἀστραῖόν τε μέγαν Πάλλαντά τε δῖα θεάων

Πέρσην θ’, ὃς καὶ πᾶσι μετέπρεπεν ἰδμοσύνῃσιν.

Ἀστραίῳ δ’ Ἠὼς ἀνέμους τέκε καρτεροθύμους,

ἀργεστὴν Ζέφυρον Βορέην τ’ αἰψηροκέλευθον

380  καὶ Νότον, ἐν φιλότητι θεὰ θεῷ εὐνηθεῖσα.

τοὺς δὲ μέτ’ ἀστέρα τίκτεν Ἑωσφόρον Ἠριγένεια

ἄστρά τε λαμπετόωντα, τά τ’ οὐρανὸς ἐστεφάνωται.

Στὺξ δ’ ἔτεκ’ Ὠκεανοῦ θυγάτηρ Πάλλαντι μιγεῖσα

Ζῆλον καὶ Νίκην καλλίσφυρον ἐν μεγάροισι

385  καὶ Κράτος ἠδὲ Βίην ἀριδείκετα γείνατο τέκνα.

τῶν οὐκ ἔστ’ ἀπάνευθε Διὸς δόμος, οὐδέ τις ἕδρη,

οὐδ’ ὁδός, ὅππῃ μὴ κείνοις θεὸς ἡγεμονεύει,

ἀλλ’ αἰεὶ πὰρ Ζηνὶ βαρυκτύπῳ ἑδριόωνται.

ὣς γὰρ ἐβούλευσε Στὺξ ἄφθιτος Ὠκεανίνη

390  ἤματι τῷ, ὅτε πάντας Ὀλύμπιος ἀστεροπητὴς

ἀθανάτους ἐκάλεσσε θεοὺς ἐς μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον,

εἶπε δ’, ὃς ἂν μετὰ εἷο θεῶν Τιτῆσι μάχοιτο,

μή τιν’ ἀπορραίσειν γεράων, τιμὴν δὲ ἕκαστον

ἑξέμεν ἣν τὸ πάρος γε μετ’ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι.

395  τὸν δ’ ἔφαθ’, ὅστις ἄτιμος ὑπὸ Κρόνου ἠδ’ ἀγέραστος,

τιμῆς καὶ γεράων ἐπιβησέμεν, ἣ θέμις ἐστίν.

ἦλθε δ’ ἄρα πρώτη Στὺξ ἄφθιτος Οὔλυμπόνδε

σὺν σφοῖσιν παίδεσσι φίλου διὰ μήδεα πατρός·

τὴν δὲ Ζεὺς τίμησε, περισσὰ δὲ δῶρα ἔδωκεν.

400  αὐτὴν μὲν γὰρ ἔθηκε θεῶν μέγαν ἔμμεναι ὅρκον,

παῖδας δ’ ἤματα πάντα ἑοῦ μεταναιέτας εἶναι.

ὣς δ’ αὔτως πάντεσσι διαμπερές, ὥς περ ὑπέστη,

ἐξετέλεσσ’· αὐτὸς δὲ μέγα κρατεῖ ἠδὲ ἀνάσσει.

Φοίβη δ’ αὖ Κοίου πολυήρατον ἦλθεν ἐς εὐνήν·

405  κυσαμένη δἤπειτα θεὰ θεοῦ ἐν φιλότητι

Λητὼ κυανόπεπλον ἐγείνατο, μείλιχον αἰεί,

ἤπιον ἀνθρώποισι καὶ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι,

μείλιχον ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἀγανώτατον ἐντὸς Ὀλύμπου.

γείνατο δ’ Ἀστερίην εὐώνυμον, ἥν ποτε Πέρσης

410  ἠγάγετ’ ἐς μέγα δῶμα φίλην κεκλῆσθαι ἄκοιτιν.

ἡ δ’ ὑποκυσαμένη Ἑκάτην τέκε, τὴν περὶ πάντων

Ζεὺς Κρονίδης τίμησε· πόρεν δέ οἱ ἀγλαὰ δῶρα,

μοῖραν ἔχειν γαίης τε καὶ ἀτρυγέτοιο θαλάσσης.

ἡ δὲ καὶ ἀστερόεντος ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ ἔμμορε τιμῆς,

415  ἀθανάτοις τε θεοῖσι τετιμένη ἐστὶ μάλιστα.

καὶ γὰρ νῦν, ὅτε πού τις ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων

ἔρδων ἱερὰ καλὰ κατὰ νόμον ἱλάσκηται,

κικλήσκει Ἑκάτην· πολλή τέ οἱ ἔσπετο τιμὴ

ῥεῖα μάλ’, ᾧ πρόφρων γε θεὰ ὑποδέξεται εὐχάς,

420  καί τέ οἱ ὄλβον ὀπάζει, ἐπεὶ δύναμίς γε πάρεστιν.

ὅσσοι γὰρ Γαίης τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἐξεγένοντο

καὶ τιμὴν ἔλαχον, τούτων ἔχει αἶσαν ἁπάντων·

οὐδέ τί μιν Κρονίδης ἐβιήσατο οὐδέ τ’ ἀπηύρα,

ὅσσ’ ἔλαχεν Τιτῆσι μέτα προτέροισι θεοῖσιν,

425  ἀλλ’ ἔχει, ὡς τὸ πρῶτον ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ἔπλετο δασμός.

οὐδ’, ὅτι μουνογενής, ἧσσον θεὰ ἔμμορε τιμῆς

καὶ γεράων γαίῃ τε καὶ οὐρανῷ ἠδὲ θαλάσσῃ,

ἀλλ’ ἔτι καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον, ἐπεὶ Ζεὺς τίεται αὐτήν.

ᾧ δ’ ἐθέλῃ, μεγάλως παραγίνεται ἠδ’ ὀνίνησιν·

ἔν τε δίκῃ βασιλεῦσι παρ’ αἰδοίοισι καθίζει,

430  ἔν τ’ ἀγορῇ λαοῖσι μεταπρέπει, ὅν κ’ ἐθέλῃσιν·

ἠδ’ ὁπότ’ ἐς πόλεμον φθισήνορα θωρήσσωνται

ἀνέρες, ἔνθα θεὰ παραγίνεται, οἷς κ’ ἐθέλῃσι

νίκην προφρονέως ὀπάσαι καὶ κῦδος ὀρέξαι.

ἐσθλὴ δ’ ἱππήεσσι παρεστάμεν, οἷς κ’ ἐθέλῃσιν·

435  ἐσθλὴ δ’ αὖθ’ ὁπότ’ ἄνδρες ἀεθλεύωσ’ ἐν ἀγῶνι·

ἔνθα θεὰ καὶ τοῖς παραγίνεται ἠδ’ ὀνίνησι·

νικήσας δὲ βίῃ καὶ κάρτει, καλὸν ἄεθλον

ῥεῖα φέρει χαίρων τε, τοκεῦσι δὲ κῦδος ὀπάζει.

440  καὶ τοῖς, οἳ γλαυκὴν δυσπέμφελον ἐργάζονται,

εὔχονται δ’ Ἑκάτῃ καὶ ἐρικτύπῳ Ἐννοσιγαίῳ,

ῥηιδίως ἄγρην κυδρὴ θεὸς ὤπασε πολλήν,

ῥεῖα δ’ ἀφείλετο φαινομένην, ἐθέλουσά γε θυμῷ.

ἐσθλὴ δ’ ἐν σταθμοῖσι σὺν Ἑρμῇ ληίδ’ ἀέξειν·

445  βουκολίας δὲ βοῶν τε καὶ αἰπόλια πλατέ’ αἰγῶν

ποίμνας τ’ εἰροπόκων ὀίων, θυμῷ γ’ ἐθέλουσα,

ἐξ ὀλίγων βριάει κἀκ πολλῶν μείονα θῆκεν.

οὕτω τοι καὶ μουνογενὴς ἐκ μητρὸς ἐοῦσα

πᾶσι μετ’ ἀθανάτοισι τετίμηται γεράεσσι.

450  θῆκε δέ μιν Κρονίδης κουροτρόφον, οἳ μετ’ ἐκείνην

ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἴδοντο φάος πολυδερκέος Ἠοῦς.

οὕτως ἐξ ἀρχῆς κουροτρόφος, αἳ δέ τε τιμαί.

Ῥείη δὲ δμηθεῖσα Κρόνῳ τέκε φαίδιμα τέκνα,

Ἱστίην Δήμητρα καὶ Ἥρην χρυσοπέδιλον,

455  ἴφθιμόν τ’ Ἀίδην, ὃς ὑπὸ χθονὶ δώματα ναίει

νηλεὲς ἦτορ ἔχων, καὶ ἐρίκτυπον Ἐννοσίγαιον,

Ζῆνά τε μητιόεντα, θεῶν πατέρ’ ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν,

τοῦ καὶ ὑπὸ βροντῆς πελεμίζεται εὐρεῖα χθών.

καὶ τοὺς μὲν κατέπινε μέγας Κρόνος, ὥς τις ἕκαστος

460  νηδύος ἐξ ἱερῆς μητρὸς πρὸς γούναθ’ ἵκοιτο,

τὰ φρονέων, ἵνα μή τις ἀγαυῶν Οὐρανιώνων

ἄλλος ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ἔχοι βασιληίδα τιμήν.

πεύθετο γὰρ Γαίης τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος

οὕνεκά οἱ πέπρωτο ἑῷ ὑπὸ παιδὶ δαμῆναι,

465  καὶ κρατερῷ περ ἐόντι, Διὸς μεγάλου διὰ βουλάς.

τῷ ὅ γ’ ἄρ’ οὐκ ἀλαοσκοπιὴν ἔχεν, ἀλλὰ δοκεύων

παῖδας ἑοὺς κατέπινε· Ῥέην δ’ ἔχε πένθος ἄλαστον.

ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ Δί’ ἔμελλε θεῶν πατέρ’ ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν

τέξεσθαι, τότ’ ἔπειτα φίλους λιτάνευε τοκῆας

470  τοὺς αὐτῆς, Γαῖάν τε καὶ Οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα,

μῆτιν συμφράσσασθαι, ὅπως λελάθοιτο τεκοῦσα

παῖδα φίλον, τείσαιτο δ’ ἐρινῦς πατρὸς ἑοῖο

παίδων ‹θ’› οὓς κατέπινε μέγας Κρόνος ἀγκυλομήτης.

οἱ δὲ θυγατρὶ φίλῃ μάλα μὲν κλύον ἠδ’ ἐπίθοντο,

475  καί οἱ πεφραδέτην, ὅσα περ πέπρωτο γενέσθαι

ἀμφὶ Κρόνῳ βασιλῆι καὶ υἱέι καρτεροθύμῳ·

πέμψαν δ’ ἐς Λύκτον, Κρήτης ἐς πίονα δῆμον,

ὁππότ’ ἄρ’ ὁπλότατον παίδων ἤμελλε τεκέσθαι,

Ζῆνα μέγαν· τὸν μέν οἱ ἐδέξατο Γαῖα πελώρη

480  Κρήτῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ τρεφέμεν ἀτιταλλέμεναί τε.

ἔνθά μιν ἷκτο φέρουσα θοὴν διὰ νύκτα μέλαιναν,

πρώτην ἐς Λύκτον· κρύψεν δέ ἑ χερσὶ λαβοῦσα

ἄντρῳ ἐν ἠλιβάτῳ, ζαθέης ὑπὸ κεύθεσι γαίης,

Αἰγαίῳ ἐν ὄρει πεπυκασμένῳ ὑλήεντι.

485  τῷ δὲ σπαργανίσασα μέγαν λίθον ἐγγυάλιξεν

Οὐρανίδῃ μέγ’ ἄνακτι, θεῶν προτέρων βασιλῆι.

τὸν τόθ’ ἑλὼν χείρεσσιν ἑὴν ἐσκάτθετο νηδύν,

σχέτλιος, οὐδ’ ἐνόησε μετὰ φρεσίν, ὥς οἱ ὀπίσσω

ἀντὶ λίθου ἑὸς υἱὸς ἀνίκητος καὶ ἀκηδὴς

490  λείπεθ’, ὅ μιν τάχ’ ἔμελλε βίῃ καὶ χερσὶ δαμάσσας

τιμῆς ἐξελάαν, ὁ δ’ ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ἀνάξειν.

καρπαλίμως δ’ ἄρ’ ἔπειτα μένος καὶ φαίδιμα γυῖα

ηὔξετο τοῖο ἄνακτος· ἐπιπλομένου δ’ ἐνιαυτοῦ,

Γαίης ἐννεσίῃσι πολυφραδέεσσι δολωθείς,

495  ὃν γόνον ἂψ ἀνέηκε μέγας Κρόνος ἀγκυλομήτης,

νικηθεὶς τέχνῃσι βίηφί τε παιδὸς ἑοῖο.

πρῶτον δ’ ἐξήμησε λίθον, πύματον καταπίνων·

τὸν μὲν Ζεὺς στήριξε κατὰ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης

Πυθοῖ ἐν ἠγαθέῃ, γυάλοις ὕπο Παρνησσοῖο,

500  σῆμ’ ἔμεν ἐξοπίσω, θαῦμα θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσι.

λῦσε δὲ πατροκασιγνήτους ὀλοῶν ὑπὸ δεσμῶν,

Οὐρανίδας, οὓς δῆσε πατὴρ ἀεσιφροσύνῃσιν·

οἵ οἱ ἀπεμνήσαντο χάριν εὐεργεσιάων,

δῶκαν δὲ βροντὴν ἠδ’ αἰθαλόεντα κεραυνὸν

505  καὶ στεροπήν· τὸ πρὶν δὲ πελώρη Γαῖα κεκεύθει·

τοῖς πίσυνος θνητοῖσι καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀνάσσει.

κούρην δ’ Ἰαπετὸς καλλίσφυρον Ὠκεανίνην

ἠγάγετο Κλυμένην καὶ ὁμὸν λέχος εἰσανέβαινεν.

ἡ δέ οἱ Ἄτλαντα κρατερόφρονα γείνατο παῖδα,

510  τίκτε δ’ ὑπερκύδαντα Μενοίτιον ἠδὲ Προμηθέα,

ποικίλον αἰολόμητιν, ἁμαρτίνοόν τ’ Ἐπιμηθέα·

ὃς κακὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γένετ’ ἀνδράσιν ἀλφηστῇσι·

πρῶτος γάρ ῥα Διὸς πλαστὴν ὑπέδεκτο γυναῖκα

παρθένον. ὑβριστὴν δὲ Μενοίτιον εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς

515  εἰς ἔρεβος κατέπεμψε βαλὼν ψολόεντι κεραυνῷ

εἵνεκ’ ἀτασθαλίης τε καὶ ἠνορέης ὑπερόπλου.

Ἄτλας δ’ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχει κρατερῆς ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης,

πείρασιν ἐν γαίης πρόπαρ’ Ἑσπερίδων λιγυφώνων

ἑστηώς, κεφαλῇ τε καὶ ἀκαμάτῃσι χέρεσσι·

520  ταύτην γάρ οἱ μοῖραν ἐδάσσατο μητίετα Ζεύς.

δῆσε δ’ ἀλυκτοπέδῃσι Προμηθέα ποικιλόβουλον,

δεσμοῖς ἀργαλέοισι, μέσον διὰ κίον’ ἐλάσσας·

καί οἱ ἐπ’ αἰετὸν ὦρσε τανύπτερον· αὐτὰρ ὅ γ’ ἧπαρ

ἤσθιεν ἀθάνατον, τὸ δ’ ἀέξετο ἶσον ἁπάντῃ

525  νυκτός, ὅσον πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἔδοι τανυσίπτερος ὄρνις.

τὸν μὲν ἄρ’ Ἀλκμήνης καλλισφύρου ἄλκιμος υἱὸς

Ἡρακλέης ἔκτεινε, κακὴν δ’ ἀπὸ νοῦσον ἄλαλκεν

Ἰαπετιονίδῃ καὶ ἐλύσατο δυσφροσυνάων,

οὐκ ἀέκητι Ζηνὸς Ὀλυμπίου ὕψι μέδοντος,

530  ὄφρ’ Ἡρακλῆος Θηβαγενέος κλέος εἴη

πλεῖον ἔτ’ ἢ τὸ πάροιθεν ἐπὶ χθόνα πουλυβότειραν.

ταῦτ’ ἄρα ἁζόμενος τίμα ἀριδείκετον υἱόν·

καί περ χωόμενος παύθη χόλου, ὃν πρὶν ἔχεσκεν,

οὕνεκ’ ἐρίζετο βουλὰς ὑπερμενέι Κρονίωνι.

535  καὶ γὰρ ὅτ’ ἐκρίνοντο θεοὶ θνητοί τ’ ἄνθρωποι

Μηκώνῃ, τότ’ ἔπειτα μέγαν βοῦν πρόφρονι θυμῷ

δασσάμενος προύθηκε, Διὸς νόον ἐξαπαφίσκων.

τῷ μὲν γὰρ σάρκάς τε καὶ ἔγκατα πίονα δημῷ

ἐν ῥινῷ κατέθηκε, καλύψας γαστρὶ βοείῃ,

540  τοῖς δ’ αὖτ’ ὀστέα λευκὰ βοὸς δολίῃ ἐπὶ τέχνῃ

εὐθετίσας κατέθηκε, καλύψας ἀργέτι δημῷ.

δὴ τότε μιν προσέειπε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

“Ἰαπετιονίδη, πάντων ἀριδείκετ’ ἀνάκτων,

ὦ πέπον, ὡς ἑτεροζήλως διεδάσσαο μοίρας.”

545  ὣς φάτο κερτομέων Ζεὺς ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδώς·

τὸν δ’ αὖτε προσέειπε Προμηθεὺς ἀγκυλομήτης,

ἦκ’ ἐπιμειδήσας, δολίης δ’ οὐ λήθετο τέχνης·

“Ζεῦ κύδιστε μέγιστε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων,

τῶν δ’ ἕλευ ὁπποτέρην σε ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θυμὸς ἀνώγει.”

550  φῆ ῥα δολοφρονέων· Ζεὺς δ’ ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδὼς

γνῶ ῥ’ οὐδ’ ἠγνοίησε δόλον· κακὰ δ’ ὄσσετο θυμῷ

θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποισι, τὰ καὶ τελέεσθαι ἔμελλε.

χερσὶ δ’ ὅ γ’ ἀμφοτέρῃσιν ἀνείλετο λευκὸν ἄλειφαρ,

χώσατο δὲ φρένας ἀμφί, χόλος δέ μιν ἵκετο θυμόν,

555  ὡς ἴδεν ὀστέα λευκὰ βοὸς δολίῃ ἐπὶ τέχῃ.

ἐκ τοῦ δ’ ἀθανάτοισιν ἐπὶ χθονὶ φῦλ’ ἀνθρώπων

καίουσ’ ὀστέα λευκὰ θυηέντων ἐπὶ βωμῶν.

τὸν δὲ μέγ’ ὀχθήσας προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

“Ἰαπετιονίδη, πάντων πέρι μήδεα εἰδώς,

560  ὦ πέπον, οὐκ ἄρα πω δολίης ἐπελήθεο τέχνης.”

ὣς φάτο χωόμενος Ζεὺς ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδώς.

ἐκ τούτου δἤπειτα χόλου μεμνημένος αἰεὶ

οὐκ ἐδίδου μελίῃσι πυρὸς μένος ἀκαμάτοιο

θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις οἳ ἐπὶ χθονὶ ναιετάουσιν·

565  ἀλλά μιν ἐξαπάτησεν ἐὺς πάις Ἰαπετοῖο

κλέψας ἀκαμάτοιο πυρὸς τηλέσκοπον αὐγὴν

ἐν κοίλῳ νάρθηκι· δάκεν δ’ ἄρα νειόθι θυμὸν

Ζῆν’ ὑψιβρεμέτην, ἐχόλωσε δέ μιν φίλον ἦτορ,

ὡς ἴδ’ ἐν ἀνθρώποισι πυρὸς τηλέσκοπον αὐγήν.

570  αὐτίκα δ’ ἀντὶ πυρὸς τεῦξεν κακὸν ἀνθρώποισι·

γαίης γὰρ σύμπλασσε περικλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις

παρθένῳ αἰδοίῃ ἴκελον Κρονίδεω διὰ βουλάς·

ζῶσε δὲ καὶ κόσμησε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη

ἀργυφέῃ ἐσθῆτι· κατὰ κρῆθεν δὲ καλύπτρην

575  δαιδαλέην χείρεσσι κατέσχεθε, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι·

[ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ στεφάνους νεοθηλέας, ἄνθεα ποίης,

ἱμερτοὺς περίθηκε καρήατι Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη·]

ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ στεφάνην χρυσέην κεφαλῆφιν ἔθηκε,

τὴν αὐτὸς ποίησε περικλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις

580  ἀσκήσας παλάμῃσι, χαριζόμενος Διὶ πατρί.

τῇ δ’ ἔνι δαίδαλα πολλὰ τετεύχατο, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι,

κνώδαλ’ ὅσ’ ἤπειρος δεινὰ τρέφει ἠδὲ θάλασσα·

τῶν ὅ γε πόλλ’ ἐνέθηκε, χάρις δ’ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἄητο,

θαυμάσια, ζωοῖσιν ἐοικότα φωνήεσσιν.

585  αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ τεῦξε καλὸν κακὸν ἀντ’ ἀγαθοῖο,

ἐξάγαγ’ ἔνθά περ ἄλλοι ἔσαν θεοὶ ἠδ’ ἄνθρωποι,

κόσμῳ ἀγαλλομένην γλαυκώπιδος Ὀβριμοπάτρης·

θαῦμα δ’ ἔχ’ ἀθανάτους τε θεοὺς θνητούς τ’ ἀνθρώπους,

ὡς εἶδον δόλον αἰπύν, ἀμήχανον ἀνθρώποισιν.

590  ἐκ τῆς γὰρ γένος ἐστὶ γυναικῶν θηλυτεράων,

[τῆς γὰρ ὀλοίιόν ἐστι γένος καὶ φῦλα γυναικῶν,]

πῆμα μέγα θνητοῖσι, σὺν ἀνδράσι ναιετάουσαι,

οὐλομένης Πενίης οὐ σύμφοροι, ἀλλὰ Κόροιο.

ὡς δ’ ὁπότ’ ἐν σμήνεσσι κατηρεφέεσσι μέλισσαι

595  κηφῆνας βόσκωσι, κακῶν ξυνήονας ἔργων·

αἱ μέν τε πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα

†ἠμάτιαι σπεύδουσι τιθεῖσί τε κηρία λευκά,

οἱ δ’ ἔντοσθε μένοντες ἐπηρεφέας κατὰ σίμβλους

ἀλλότριον κάματον σφετέρην ἐς γαστέρ’ ἀμῶνται·

600  ὣς δ’ αὔτως ἄνδρεσσι κακὸν θνητοῖσι γυναῖκας

Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης θῆκε, ξυνήονας ἔργων

ἀργαλέων. ἕτερον δὲ πόρεν κακὸν ἀντ’ ἀγαθοῖο,

ὅς κε γάμον φεύγων καὶ μέρμερα ἔργα γυναικῶν

μὴ γῆμαι ἐθέλῃ, ὀλοὸν δ’ ἐπὶ γῆρας ἵκηται

605  χήτει γηροκόμοιο· ὁ δ’ οὐ βιότου γ’ ἐπιδευὴς

ζώει, ἀποφθιμένου δὲ διὰ ζωὴν δατέονται

χηρωσταί. ᾧ δ’ αὖτε γάμου μετὰ μοῖρα γένηται,

κεδνὴν δ’ ἔσχεν ἄκοιτιν, ἀρηρυῖαν πραπίδεσσι,

τῷ δέ τ’ ἀπ’ αἰῶνος κακὸν ἐσθλῷ ἀντιφερίζει

610  ἐμμενές· ὃς δέ κε τέτμῃ ἀταρτηροῖο γενέθλης,

ζώει ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἔχων ἀλίαστον ἀνίην

θυμῷ καὶ κραδίῃ, καὶ ἀνήκεστον κακόν ἐστιν.

ὣς οὐκ ἔστι Διὸς κλέψαι νόον οὐδὲ παρελθεῖν.

οὐδὲ γὰρ Ἰαπετιονίδης ἀκάκητα Προμηθεὺς

615  τοῖό γ’ ὑπεξήλυξε βαρὺν χόλον, ἀλλ’ ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης

καὶ πολύιδριν ἐόντα μέγας κατὰ δεσμὸς ἐρύκει.

Ὀβριάρεῳ δ’ ὡς πρῶτα πατὴρ ὠδύσσατο θυμῷ

Κόττῳ τ’ ἠδὲ Γύγῃ, δῆσε κρατερῷ ἐνὶ δεσμῷ,

ἠνορέην ὑπέροπλον ἀγώμενος ἠδὲ καὶ εἶδος

620  καὶ μέγεθος· κατένασσε δ’ ὑπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης.

ἔνθ’ οἵ γ’ ἄλγε’ ἔχοντες ὑπὸ χθονὶ ναιετάοντες

εἵατ’ ἐπ’ ἐσχατιῇ μεγάλης ἐν πείρασι γαίης

δηθὰ μάλ’ ἀχνύμενοι, κραδίῃ μέγα πένθος ἔχοντες.

ἀλλά σφεας Κρονίδης τε καὶ ἀθάνατοι θεοὶ ἄλλοι

625  οὓς τέκεν ἠύκομος Ῥείη Κρόνου ἐν φιλότητι

Γαίης φραδμοσύνῃσιν ἀνήγαγον ἐς φάος αὖτις·

αὐτὴ γάρ σφιν ἅπαντα διηνεκέως κατέλεξε,

σὺν κείνοις νίκην τε καὶ ἀγλαὸν εὖχος ἀρέσθαι.

δηρὸν γὰρ μάρναντο πόνον θυμαλγέ’ ἔχοντες

ἀντίον ἀλλήλοισι διὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας

630  Τιτῆνές τε θεοὶ καὶ ὅσοι Κρόνου ἐξεγένοντο,

οἱ μὲν ἀφ’ ὑψηλῆς Ὄθρυος Τιτῆνες ἀγαυοί,

οἱ δ’ ἄρ’ ἀπ’ Οὐλύμποιο θεοὶ δωτῆρες ἐάων

οὓς τέκεν ἠύκομος Ῥείη Κρόνῳ εὐνηθεῖσα.

635  οἵ ῥα τότ’ ἀλλήλοισι †μάχην θυμαλγέ’ ἔχοντες

συνεχέως ἐμάχοντο δέκα πλείους ἐνιαυτούς·

οὐδέ τις ἦν ἔριδος χαλεπῆς λύσις οὐδὲ τελευτὴ

οὐδετέροις, ἶσον δὲ τέλος τέτατο πτολέμοιο.

ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ κείνοισι παρέσχεθεν ἄρμενα πάντα,

640  νέκταρ τ’ ἀμβροσίην τε, τά περ θεοὶ αὐτοὶ ἔδουσι,

πάντων ‹τ’› ἐν στήθεσσιν ἀέξετο θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ,

[ὡς νέκταρ τ’ ἐπάσαντο καὶ ἀμβροσίην ἐρατεινήν,]

δὴ τότε τοῖς μετέειπε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

“κέκλυτέ μευ Γαίης τε καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀγλαὰ τέκνα,

645  ὄφρ’ εἴπω τά με θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι κελεύει.

ἤδη γὰρ μάλα δηρὸν ἐναντίοι ἀλλήλοισι

νίκης καὶ κάρτευς πέρι μαρνάμεθ’ ἤματα πάντα,

Τιτῆνές τε θεοὶ καὶ ὅσοι Κρόνου ἐκγενόμεσθα.

ὑμεῖς δὲ μεγάλην τε βίην καὶ χεῖρας ἀάπτους

650  φαίνετε Τιτήνεσσιν ἐναντίον ἐν δαῒ λυγρῇ,

μνησάμενοι φιλότητος ἐνηέος, ὅσσα παθόντες

ἐς φάος ἂψ ἀφίκεσθε δυσηλεγέος ὑπὸ δεσμοῦ

ἡμετέρας διὰ βουλὰς ὑπὸ ζόφου ἠερόεντος.”

ὣς φάτο· τὸν δ’ αἶψ’ αὖτις ἀμείβετο Κόττος ἀμύμων·

655  “δαιμόνι’, οὐκ ἀδάητα πιφαύσκεαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ

ἴδμεν ὅ τοι περὶ μὲν πραπίδες, περὶ δ’ ἐστὶ νόημα,

ἀλκτὴρ δ’ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀρῆς γένεο κρυεροῖο,

σῇσι δ’ ἐπιφροσύνῃσιν ὑπὸ ζόφου ἠερόεντος

ἄψορρον ἐξαῦτις ἀμειλίκτων ὑπὸ δεσμῶν

660  ἠλύθομεν, Κρόνου υἱὲ ἄναξ, ἀνάελπτα παθόντες.

τῷ καὶ νῦν ἀτενεῖ τε νόῳ καὶ πρόφρονι θυμῷ

ῥυσόμεθα κράτος ὑμὸν ἐν αἰνῇ δηιοτῆτι,

μαρνάμενοι Τιτῆσιν ἀνὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας.”

ὣς φάτ’· ἐπῄνησαν δὲ θεοὶ δωτῆρες ἐάων

665  μῦθον ἀκούσαντες· πολέμου δ’ ἐλιλαίετο θυμὸς

μᾶλλον ἔτ’ ἢ τὸ πάροιθε· μάχην δ’ ἀμέγαρτον ἔγειραν

πάντες, θήλειαί τε καὶ ἄρσενες, ἤματι κείνῳ,

Τιτῆνές τε θεοὶ καὶ ὅσοι Κρόνου ἐξεγένοντο,

οὕς τε Ζεὺς ἐρέβεσφιν ὑπὸ χθονὸς ἧκε φόωσδε,

670  δεινοί τε κρατεροί τε, βίην ὑπέροπλον ἔχοντες.

τῶν ἑκατὸν μὲν χεῖρες ἀπ’ ὤμων ἀίσσοντο

πᾶσιν ὁμῶς, κεφαλαὶ δὲ ἑκάστῳ πεντήκοντα

ἐξ ὤμων ἐπέφυκον ἐπὶ στιβαροῖσι μέλεσσιν.

οἳ τότε Τιτήνεσσι κατέσταθεν ἐν δαῒ λυγρῇ

675  πέτρας ἠλιβάτους στιβαρῇς ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες·

Τιτῆνες δ’ ἑτέρωθεν ἐκαρτύναντο φάλαγγας

προφρονέως· χειρῶν τε βίης θ’ ἅμα ἔργον ἔφαινον

ἀμφότεροι, δεινὸν δὲ περίαχε πόντος ἀπείρων,

γῆ δὲ μέγ’ ἐσμαράγησεν, ἐπέστενε δ’ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς

680  σειόμενος, πεδόθεν δὲ τινάσσετο μακρὸς Ὄλυμπος

ῥιπῇ ὕπ’ ἀθανάτων, ἔνοσις δ’ ἵκανε βαρεῖα

τάρταρον ἠερόεντα ποδῶν, αἰπεῖά τ’ ἰωὴ

ἀσπέτου ἰωχμοῖο βολάων τε κρατεράων.

ὣς ἄρ’ ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοις ἵεσαν βέλεα στονόεντα·

685  φωνὴ δ’ ἀμφοτέρων ἵκετ’ οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα

κεκλομένων· οἱ δὲ ξύνισαν μεγάλῳ ἀλαλητῷ.

οὐδ’ ἄρ’ ἔτι Ζεὺς ἴσχεν ἑὸν μένος, ἀλλά νυ τοῦ γε

εἶθαρ μὲν μένεος πλῆντο φρένες, ἐκ δέ τε πᾶσαν

φαῖνε βίην· ἄμυδις δ’ ἄρ’ ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ ἠδ’ ἀπ’ Ὀλύμπου

690  ἀστράπτων ἔστειχε συνωχαδόν, οἱ δὲ κεραυνοὶ

ἴκταρ ἅμα βροντῇ τε καὶ ἀστεροπῇ ποτέοντο

χειρὸς ἄπο στιβαρῆς, ἱερὴν φλόγα εἰλυφόωντες,

ταρφέες· ἀμφὶ δὲ γαῖα φερέσβιος ἐσμαράγιζε

καιομένη, λάκε δ’ ἀμφὶ περὶ μεγάλ’ ἄσπετος ὕλη·

695  ἔζεε δὲ χθὼν πᾶσα καὶ Ὠκεανοῖο ῥέεθρα

πόντός τ’ ἀτρύγετος· τοὺς δ’ ἄμφεπε θερμὸς ἀυτμὴ

Τιτῆνας χθονίους, φλὸξ δ’ αἰθέρα δῖαν ἵκανεν

ἄσπετος, ὄσσε δ’ ἄμερδε καὶ ἰφθίμων περ ἐόντων

αὐγὴ μαρμαίρουσα κεραυνοῦ τε στεροπῆς τε.

700  καῦμα δὲ θεσπέσιον κάτεχεν χάος· εἴσατο δ’ ἄντα

ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδεῖν ἠδ’ οὔασιν ὄσσαν ἀκοῦσαι

αὔτως, ὡς ὅτε γαῖα καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθε

πίλνατο· τοῖος γάρ κε μέγας ὑπὸ δοῦπος ὀρώρει,

τῆς μὲν ἐρειπομένης, τοῦ δ’ ὑψόθεν ἐξεριπόντος·

705  τόσσος δοῦπος ἔγεντο θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνιόντων.

σὺν δ’ ἄνεμοι ἔνοσίν τε κονίην τ’ ἐσφαράγιζον

βροντήν τε στεροπήν τε καὶ αἰθαλόεντα κεραυνόν,

κῆλα Διὸς μεγάλοιο, φέρον δ’ ἰαχήν τ’ ἐνοπήν τε

ἐς μέσον ἀμφοτέρων· ὄτοβος δ’ ἄπλητος ὀρώρει

710  σμερδαλέης ἔριδος, κάρτευς δ’ ἀνεφαίνετο ἔργον.

ἐκλίνθη δὲ μάχη· πρὶν δ’ ἀλλήλοις ἐπέχοντες

ἐμμενέως ἐμάχοντο διὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας.

οἱ δ’ ἄρ’ ἐνὶ πρώτοισι μάχην δριμεῖαν ἔγειραν,

Κόττος τε Βριάρεώς τε Γύγης τ’ ἄατος πολέμοιο·

715  οἵ ῥα τριηκοσίας πέτρας στιβαρέων ἀπὸ χειρῶν

πέμπον ἐπασσυτέρας, κατὰ δ’ ἐσκίασαν βελέεσσι

Τιτῆνας· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ὑπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης

πέμψαν καὶ δεσμοῖσιν ἐν ἀργαλέοισιν ἔδησαν,

νικήσαντες χερσὶν ὑπερθύμους περ ἐόντας,

720  τόσσον ἔνερθ’ ὑπὸ γῆς ὅσον οὐρανός ἐστ’ ἀπὸ γαίης·

τόσσον γάρ τ’ ἀπὸ γῆς ἐς τάρταρον ἠερόεντα.

ἐννέα γὰρ νύκτας τε καὶ ἤματα χάλκεος ἄκμων

οὐρανόθεν κατιών, δεκάτῃ κ’ ἐς γαῖαν ἵκοιτο·

[ἶσον δ’ αὖτ’ ἀπὸ γῆς ἐς τάρταρον ἠερόεντα·]

ἐννέα δ’ αὖ νύκτας τε καὶ ἤματα χάλκεος ἄκμων

725  ἐκ γαίης κατιών, δεκάτῃ κ’ ἐς τάρταρον ἵκοι.

τὸν πέρι χάλκεον ἕρκος ἐλήλαται· ἀμφὶ δέ μιν νὺξ

τριστοιχὶ κέχυται περὶ δειρήν· αὐτὰρ ὕπερθε

γῆς ῥίζαι πεφύασι καὶ ἀτρυγέτοιο θαλάσσης.

ἔνθα θεοὶ Τιτῆνες ὑπὸ ζόφῳ ἠερόεντι

730  κεκρύφαται βουλῇσι Διὸς νεφεληγερέταο,

χώρῳ ἐν εὐρώεντι, πελώρης ἔσχατα γαίης.

τοῖς οὐκ ἐξιτόν ἐστι, θύρας δ’ ἐπέθηκε Ποσειδέων

χαλκείας, τεῖχος δ’ ἐπελήλαται ἀμφοτέρωθεν.

[ἔνθα Γύγης Κόττος τε καὶ Ὀβριάρεως μεγάθυμος

735  ναίουσιν, φύλακες πιστοὶ Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.

ἔνθα δὲ γῆς δνοφερῆς καὶ ταρτάρου ἠερόεντος

πόντου τ’ ἀτρυγέτοιο καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος

ἑξείης πάντων πηγαὶ καὶ πείρατ’ ἔασιν,

ἀργαλέ’ εὐρώεντα, τά τε στυγέουσι θεοί περ·

740  χάσμα μέγ’, οὐδέ κε πάντα τελεσφόρον εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν

οὖδας ἵκοιτ’, εἰ πρῶτα πυλέων ἔντοσθε γένοιτο,

ἀλλά κεν ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα φέροι πρὸ θύελλα θυέλλης

ἀργαλέη· δεινὸν δὲ καὶ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι.]

[τοῦτο τέρας· καὶ Νυκτὸς ἐρεμνῆς οἰκία δεινὰ

745  ἕστηκεν νεφέλῃς κεκαλυμμένα κυανέῃσι.]

τῶν πρόσθ’ Ἰαπετοῖο πάις ἔχει οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν

ἑστηὼς κεφαλῇ τε καὶ ἀκαμάτῃσι χέρεσσιν

ἀστεμφέως, ὅθι Νύξ τε καὶ Ἡμέρη ἆσσον ἰοῦσαι

ἀλλήλας προσέειπον ἀμειβόμεναι μέγαν οὐδὸν

750  χάλκεον· ἡ μὲν ἔσω καταβήσεται, ἡ δὲ θύραζε

ἔρχεται, οὐδέ ποτ’ ἀμφοτέρας δόμος ἐντὸς ἐέργει,

ἀλλ’ αἰεὶ ἑτέρη γε δόμων ἔκτοσθεν ἐοῦσα

γαῖαν ἐπιστρέφεται, ἡ δ’ αὖ δόμου ἐντὸς ἐοῦσα

μίμνει τὴν αὐτῆς ὥρην ὁδοῦ, ἔστ’ ἂν ἵκηται·

755  ἡ μὲν ἐπιχθονίοισι φάος πολυδερκὲς ἔχουσα,

ἡ δ’ Ὕπνον μετὰ χερσί, κασίγνητον Θανάτοιο,

Νὺξ ὀλοή, νεφέλῃ κεκαλυμμένη ἠεροειδεῖ.

ἔνθα δὲ Νυκτὸς παῖδες ἐρεμνῆς οἰκί’ ἔχουσιν,

Ὕπνος καὶ Θάνατος, δεινοὶ θεοί· οὐδέ ποτ’ αὐτοὺς

760  Ἠέλιος φαέθων ἐπιδέρκεται ἀκτίνεσσιν

οὐρανὸν εἰσανιὼν οὐδ’ οὐρανόθεν καταβαίνων.

τῶν ἕτερος μὲν γῆν τε καὶ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης

ἥσυχος ἀνστρέφεται καὶ μείλιχος ἀνθρώποισι,

τοῦ δὲ σιδηρέη μὲν κραδίη, χάλκεον δέ οἱ ἦτορ

765  νηλεὲς ἐν στήθεσσιν· ἔχει δ’ ὃν πρῶτα λάβῃσιν

ἀνθρώπων· ἐχθρὸς δὲ καὶ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν.

ἔνθα θεοῦ χθονίου πρόσθεν δόμοι ἠχήεντες

[ἰφθίμου τ’ Ἀίδεω καὶ ἐπαινῆς Περσεφονείης]

ἑστᾶσιν, δεινὸς δὲ κύων προπάροιθε φυλάσσει,

770  νηλειής, τέχνην δὲ κακὴν ἔχει· ἐς μὲν ἰόντας

σαίνει ὁμῶς οὐρῇ τε καὶ οὔασιν ἀμφοτέροισιν,

ἐξελθεῖν δ’ οὐκ αὖτις ἐᾷ πάλιν, ἀλλὰ δοκεύων

ἐσθίει, ὅν κε λάβῃσι πυλέων ἔκτοσθεν ἰόντα.

[ἰφθίμου τ’ Ἀίδεω καὶ ἐπαινῆς Περσεφονείης.]

775  ἔνθα δὲ ναιετάει στυγερὴ θεὸς ἀθανάτοισι,

δεινὴ Στύξ, θυγάτηρ ἀψορρόου Ὠκεανοῖο

πρεσβυτάτη· νόσφιν δὲ θεῶν κλυτὰ δώματα ναίει

μακρῇσιν πέτρῃσι κατηρεφέ’· ἀμφὶ δὲ πάντῃ

κίοσιν ἀργυρέοισι πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἐστήρικται.

780  παῦρα δὲ Θαύμαντος θυγάτηρ πόδας ὠκέα Ἶρις

†ἀγγελίη πωλεῖται ἐπ’ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης.

ὁππότ’ ἔρις καὶ νεῖκος ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ὄρηται,

καί ῥ’ ὅστις ψεύδηται Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἐχόντων,

Ζεὺς δέ τε Ἶριν ἔπεμψε θεῶν μέγαν ὅρκον ἐνεῖκαι

785  τηλόθεν ἐν χρυσέῃ προχόῳ πολυώνυμον ὕδωρ,

ψυχρόν, ὅ τ’ ἐκ πέτρης καταλείβεται ἠλιβάτοιο

ὑψηλῆς· πολλὸν δὲ ὑπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης

ἐξ ἱεροῦ ποταμοῖο ῥέει διὰ νύκτα μέλαιναν·

Ὠκεανοῖο κέρας, δεκάτη δ’ ἐπὶ μοῖρα δέδασται·

790  ἐννέα μὲν περὶ γῆν τε καὶ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης

δίνῃς ἀργυρέῃς εἱλιγμένος εἰς ἅλα πίπτει,

ἡ δὲ μί’ ἐκ πέτρης προρέει, μέγα πῆμα θεοῖσιν.

ὅς κεν τὴν ἐπίορκον ἀπολλείψας ἐπομόσσῃ

ἀθανάτων οἳ ἔχουσι κάρη νιφόεντος Ὀλύμπου,

795  κεῖται νήυτμος τετελεσμένον εἰς ἐνιαυτόν·

οὐδέ ποτ’ ἀμβροσίης καὶ νέκταρος ἔρχεται ἆσσον

βρώσιος, ἀλλά τε κεῖται ἀνάπνευστος καὶ ἄναυδος

στρωτοῖς ἐν λεχέεσσι, κακὸν δ’ ἐπὶ κῶμα καλύπτει.

αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν νοῦσον τελέσει μέγαν εἰς ἐνιαυτόν,

800  ἄλλος δ’ ἐξ ἄλλου δέχεται χαλεπώτερος ἆθλος·

εἰνάετες δὲ θεῶν ἀπαμείρεται αἰὲν ἐόντων,

οὐδέ ποτ’ ἐς βουλὴν ἐπιμίσγεται οὐδ’ ἐπὶ δαῖτας

ἐννέα πάντ’ ἔτεα· δεκάτῳ δ’ ἐπιμίσγεται αὖτις

†εἰρέας ἀθανάτων οἳ Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχουσι.

805  τοῖον ἄρ’ ὅρκον ἔθεντο θεοὶ Στυγὸς ἄφθιτον ὕδωρ,

ὠγύγιον· τὸ δ’ ἵησι καταστυφέλου διὰ χώρου.

ἔνθα δὲ γῆς δνοφερῆς καὶ ταρτάρου ἠερόεντος

πόντου τ’ ἀτρυγέτοιο καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος

ἑξείης πάντων πηγαὶ καὶ πείρατ’ ἔασιν,

810  ἀργαλέ’ εὐρώεντα, τά τε στυγέουσι θεοί περ.

ἔνθα δὲ μαρμάρεαί τε πύλαι καὶ χάλκεος οὐδός,

ἀστεμφὲς ῥίζῃσι διηνεκέεσσιν ἀρηρώς,

αὐτοφυής· πρόσθεν δὲ θεῶν ἔκτοσθεν ἁπάντων

Τιτῆνες ναίουσι, πέρην χάεος ζοφεροῖο.

815  αὐτὰρ ἐρισμαράγοιο Διὸς κλειτοὶ ἐπίκουροι

δώματα ναιετάουσιν ἐπ’ Ὠκεανοῖο θεμέθλοις,

Κόττος τ’ ἠδὲ Γύγης· Βριάρεών γε μὲν ἠὺν ἐόντα

γαμβρὸν ἑὸν ποίησε βαρύκτυπος Ἐννοσίγαιος,

δῶκε δὲ Κυμοπόλειαν ὀπυίειν, θυγατέρα ἥν.

820  αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ Τιτῆνας ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ ἐξέλασε Ζεύς,

ὁπλότατον τέκε παῖδα Τυφωέα Γαῖα πελώρη

Ταρτάρου ἐν φιλότητι διὰ χρυσῆν Ἀφροδίτην·

οὗ χεῖρες †μὲν ἔασιν ἐπ’ ἰσχύι ἔργματ’ ἔχουσαι, †

καὶ πόδες ἀκάματοι κρατεροῦ θεοῦ· ἐκ δέ οἱ ὤμων

825  ἦν ἑκατὸν κεφαλαὶ ὄφιος δεινοῖο δράκοντος,

γλώσσῃσι δνοφερῇσι λελιχμότες· ἐν δέ οἱ ὄσσε

θεσπεσίῃς κεφαλῇσιν ὑπ’ ὀφρύσι πῦρ ἀμάρυσσεν·

[πασέων δ’ ἐκ κεφαλέων πῦρ καίετο δερκομένοιο·]

φωναὶ δ’ ἐν πάσῃσιν ἔσαν δεινῇς κεφαλῇσι,

830  παντοίην ὄπ’ ἰεῖσαι ἀθέσφατον· ἄλλοτε μὲν γὰρ

φθέγγονθ’ ὥς τε θεοῖσι συνιέμεν, ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖτε

ταύρου ἐριβρύχεω μένος ἀσχέτου ὄσσαν ἀγαύρου,

ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖτε λέοντος ἀναιδέα θυμὸν ἔχοντος,

ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖ σκυλάκεσσιν ἐοικότα, θαύματ’ ἀκοῦσαι,

835  ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖ ῥοίζεσχ’, ὑπὸ δ’ ἤχεεν οὔρεα μακρά.

καί νύ κεν ἔπλετο ἔργον ἀμήχανον ἤματι κείνῳ,

καί κεν ὅ γε θνητοῖσι καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἄναξεν,

εἰ μὴ ἄρ’ ὀξὺ νόησε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε·

σκληρὸν δ’ ἐβρόντησε καὶ ὄβριμον, ἀμφὶ δὲ γαῖα

840  σμερδαλέον κονάβησε καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθε

πόντός τ’ Ὠκεανοῦ τε ῥοαὶ καὶ τάρταρα γαίης.

ποσσὶ δ’ ὕπ’ ἀθανάτοισι μέγας πελεμίζετ’ Ὄλυμπος

ὀρνυμένοιο ἄνακτος· ἐπεστονάχιζε δὲ γαῖα.

καῦμα δ’ ὑπ’ ἀμφοτέρων κάτεχεν ἰοειδέα πόντον

845  βροντῆς τε στεροπῆς τε πυρός τ’ ἀπὸ τοῖο πελώρου

πρηστήρων ἀνέμων τε κεραυνοῦ τε φλεγέθοντος·

ἔζεε δὲ χθὼν πᾶσα καὶ οὐρανὸς ἠδὲ θάλασσα·

θυῖε δ’ ἄρ’ ἀμφ’ ἀκτὰς περί τ’ ἀμφί τε κύματα μακρὰ

ῥιπῇ ὕπ’ ἀθανάτων, ἔνοσις δ’ ἄσβεστος ὀρώρει·

850  τρέε δ’ Ἀίδης ἐνέροισι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσων

Τιτῆνές θ’ ὑποταρτάριοι Κρόνον ἀμφὶς ἐόντες

ἀσβέστου κελάδοιο καὶ αἰνῆς δηιοτῆτος.

Ζεὺς δ’ ἐπεὶ οὖν κόρθυνεν ἑὸν μένος, εἵλετο δ’ ὅπλα,

βροντήν τε στεροπήν τε καὶ αἰθαλόεντα κεραυνόν,

855  πλῆξεν ἀπ’ Οὐλύμποιο ἐπάλμενος· ἀμφὶ δὲ πάσας

ἔπρεσε θεσπεσίας κεφαλὰς δεινοῖο πελώρου.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δή μιν δάμασε πληγῇσιν ἱμάσσας,

ἤριπε γυιωθείς, στονάχιζε δὲ γαῖα πελώρη·

φλὸξ δὲ κεραυνωθέντος ἀπέσσυτο τοῖο ἄνακτος

860  οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃσιν †ἀιδνῆς παιπαλοέσσης

πληγέντος, πολλὴ δὲ πελώρη καίετο γαῖα

αὐτμῇ θεσπεσίῃ, καὶ ἐτήκετο κασσίτερος ὣς

τέχνῃ ὑπ’ αἰζηῶν ἐν ἐυτρήτοις χοάνοισι

θαλφθείς, ἠὲ σίδηρος, ὅ περ κρατερώτατός ἐστιν,

865  οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃσι δαμαζόμενος πυρὶ κηλέῳ

τήκεται ἐν χθονὶ δίῃ ὑφ’ Ἡφαίστου παλάμῃσιν·

ὣς ἄρα τήκετο γαῖα σέλαι πυρὸς αἰθομένοιο.

ῥῖψε δέ μιν θυμῷ ἀκαχὼν ἐς τάρταρον εὐρύν.

ἐκ δὲ Τυφωέος ἔστ’ ἀνέμων μένος ὑγρὸν ἀέντων,

870  νόσφι Νότου Βορέω τε καὶ ἀργεστέω Ζεφύροιο·

οἵ γε μὲν ἐκ θεόφιν γενεήν, θνητοῖς μέγ’ ὄνειαρ.

αἱ δ’ ἄλλαι μὰψ αὖραι ἐπιπνείουσι θάλασσαν·

αἳ δή τοι πίπτουσαι ἐς ἠεροειδέα πόντον,

πῆμα μέγα θνητοῖσι, κακῇ θυίουσιν ἀέλλῃ·

875  ἄλλοτε δ’ ἄλλαι ἄεισι διασκιδνᾶσί τε νῆας

ναύτας τε φθείρουσι· κακοῦ δ’ οὐ γίνεται ἀλκὴ

ἀνδράσιν, οἳ κείνῃσι συνάντωνται κατὰ πόντον.

αἱ δ’ αὖ καὶ κατὰ γαῖαν ἀπείριτον ἀνθεμόεσσαν

ἔργ’ ἐρατὰ φθείρουσι χαμαιγενέων ἀνθρώπων,

880  πιμπλεῖσαι κόνιός τε καὶ ἀργαλέου κολοσυρτοῦ.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥα πόνον μάκαρες θεοὶ ἐξετέλεσσαν,

Τιτήνεσσι δὲ τιμάων κρίναντο βίηφι,

δή ῥα τότ’ ὤτρυνον βασιλευέμεν ἠδὲ ἀνάσσειν

Γαίης φραδμοσύνῃσιν Ὀλύμπιον εὐρύοπα Ζῆν

885  ἀθανάτων· ὁ δὲ τοῖσιν ἐὺ διεδάσσατο τιμάς.

Ζεὺς δὲ θεῶν βασιλεὺς πρώτην ἄλοχον θέτο Μῆτιν,

πλεῖστα θεῶν εἰδυῖαν ἰδὲ θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων.

ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ ἄρ’ ἔμελλε θεὰν γλαυκῶπιν Ἀθήνην

τέξεσθαι, τότ’ ἔπειτα δόλῳ φρένας ἐξαπατήσας

890  αἱμυλίοισι λόγοισιν ἑὴν ἐσκάτθετο νηδύν,

Γαίης φραδμοσύνῃσι καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος·

τὼς γάρ οἱ φρασάτην, ἵνα μὴ βασιληίδα τιμὴν

ἄλλος ἔχοι Διὸς ἀντὶ θεῶν αἰειγενετάων.

ἐκ γὰρ τῆς εἵμαρτο περίφρονα τέκνα γενέσθαι·

895  πρώτην μὲν κούρην γλαυκώπιδα Τριτογένειαν,

ἶσον ἔχουσαν πατρὶ μένος καὶ ἐπίφρονα βουλήν,

αὐτὰρ ἔπειτ’ ἄρα παῖδα θεῶν βασιλῆα καὶ ἀνδρῶν

ἤμελλεν τέξεσθαι, ὑπέρβιον ἦτορ ἔχοντα·

ἀλλ’ ἄρα μιν Ζεὺς πρόσθεν ἑὴν ἐσκάτθετο νηδύν,

900  ὥς οἱ συμφράσσαιτο θεὰ ἀγαθόν τε κακόν τε.

- - -

δεύτερον ἠγάγετο λιπαρὴν Θέμιν, ἣ τέκεν Ὥρας,

Εὐνομίην τε Δίκην τε καὶ Εἰρήνην τεθαλυῖαν,

αἵ τ’ ἔργ’ ὠρεύουσι καταθνητοῖσι βροτοῖσι,

Μοίρας θ’, ᾗς πλείστην τιμὴν πόρε μητίετα Ζεύς,

905  Κλωθώ τε Λάχεσίν τε καὶ Ἄτροπον, αἵ τε διδοῦσι

θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποισιν ἔχειν ἀγαθόν τε κακόν τε.

τρεῖς δέ οἱ Εὐρυνόμη Χάριτας τέκε καλλιπαρήους,

Ὠκεανοῦ κούρη πολυήρατον εἶδος ἔχουσα,

Ἀγλαΐην τε καὶ Εὐφροσύνην Θαλίην τ’ ἐρατεινήν·

910  τῶν καὶ ἀπὸ βλεφάρων ἔρος εἴβετο δερκομενάων

λυσιμελής· καλὸν δέ θ’ ὑπ’ ὀφρύσι δερκιόωνται.

αὐτὰρ ὁ Δήμητρος πολυφόρβης ἐς λέχος ἦλθεν·

ἣ τέκε Περσεφόνην λευκώλενον, ἣν Ἀιδωνεὺς

ἥρπασεν ἧς παρὰ μητρός, ἔδωκε δὲ μητίετα Ζεύς.

915  Μνημοσύνης δ’ ἐξαῦτις ἐράσσατο καλλικόμοιο,

ἐξ ἧς οἱ Μοῦσαι χρυσάμπυκες ἐξεγένοντο

ἐννέα, τῇσιν ἅδον θαλίαι καὶ τέρψις ἀοιδῆς.

Λητὼ δ’ Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ Ἄρτεμιν ἰοχέαιραν

ἱμερόεντα γόνον περὶ πάντων Οὐρανιώνων

920  γείνατ’ ἄρ’ αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς φιλότητι μιγεῖσα.

λοισθοτάτην δ’ Ἥρην θαλερὴν ποιήσατ’ ἄκοιτιν·

ἡ δ’ Ἥβην καὶ Ἄρηα καὶ Εἰλείθυιαν ἔτικτε

μιχθεῖσ’ ἐν φιλότητι θεῶν βασιλῆι καὶ ἀνδρῶν.

αὐτὸς δ’ ἐκ κεφαλῆς γλαυκώπιδα γείνατ’ Ἀθήνην,

925  δεινὴν ἐγρεκύδοιμον ἀγέστρατον ἀτρυτώνην,

πότνιαν, ᾗ κέλαδοί τε ἅδον πόλεμοί τε μάχαι τε·

Ἥρη δ’ Ἥφαιστον κλυτὸν οὐ φιλότητι μιγεῖσα

γείνατο, καὶ ζαμένησε καὶ ἤρισεν ᾧ παρακοίτῃ,

ἐκ πάντων τέχνῃσι κεκασμένον Οὐρανιώνων.

930  ἐκ δ’ Ἀμφιτρίτης καὶ ἐρικτύπου Ἐννοσιγαίου

Τρίτων εὐρυβίης γένετο μέγας, ὅς τε θαλάσσης

πυθμέν’ ἔχων παρὰ μητρὶ φίλῃ καὶ πατρὶ ἄνακτι

ναίει χρύσεα δῶ, δεινὸς θεός. αὐτὰρ Ἄρηι

ῥινοτόρῳ Κυθέρεια Φόβον καὶ Δεῖμον ἔτικτε,

935  δεινούς, οἵ τ’ ἀνδρῶν πυκινὰς κλονέουσι φάλαγγας

ἐν πολέμῳ κρυόεντι σὺν Ἄρηι πτολιπόρθῳ,

Ἁρμονίην θ’, ἣν Κάδμος ὑπέρθυμος θέτ’ ἄκοιτιν.

Ζηνὶ δ’ ἄρ’ Ἀτλαντὶς Μαίη τέκε κύδιμον Ἑρμῆν,

κήρυκ’ ἀθανάτων, ἱερὸν λέχος εἰσαναβᾶσα.

940  Καδμηὶς δ’ ἄρα οἱ Σεμέλη τέκε φαίδιμον υἱὸν

μιχθεῖσ’ ἐν φιλότητι, Διώνυσον πολυγηθέα,

ἀθάνατον θνητή· νῦν δ’ ἀμφότεροι θεοί εἰσιν.

Ἀλκμήνη δ’ ἄρ’ ἔτικτε βίην Ἡρακληείην

μιχθεῖσ’ ἐν φιλότητι Διὸς νεφεληγερέταο.

945  Ἀγλαΐην δ’ Ἥφαιστος ἀγακλυτὸς ἀμφιγυήεις

ὁπλοτάτην Χαρίτων θαλερὴν ποιήσατ’ ἄκοιτιν.

χρυσοκόμης δὲ Διώνυσος ξανθὴν Ἀριάδνην,

κούρην Μίνωος, θαλερὴν ποιήσατ’ ἄκοιτιν·

τὴν δέ οἱ ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀγήρων θῆκε Κρονίων.

950  Ἥβην δ’ Ἀλκμήνης καλλισφύρου ἄλκιμος υἱός,

ἲς Ἡρακλῆος, τελέσας στονόεντας ἀέθλους,

παῖδα Διὸς μεγάλοιο καὶ Ἥρης χρυσοπεδίλου,

αἰδοίην θέτ’ ἄκοιτιν ἐν Οὐλύμπῳ νιφόεντι·

ὄλβιος, ὃς μέγα ἔργον ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ἀνύσσας

955  ναίει ἀπήμαντος καὶ ἀγήραος ἤματα πάντα.

Ἠελίῳ δ’ ἀκάμαντι τέκε κλυτὸς Ὠκεανίνη

Περσηὶς Κίρκην τε καὶ Αἰήτην βασιλῆα.

Αἰήτης δ’ υἱὸς φαεσιμβρότου Ἠελίοιο

κούρην Ὠκεανοῖο τελήεντος ποταμοῖο

960  γῆμε θεῶν βουλῇσιν, Ἰδυῖαν καλλιπάρηον·

ἣ δή οἱ Μήδειαν ἐύσφυρον ἐν φιλότητι

γείναθ’ ὑποδμηθεῖσα διὰ χρυσῆν Ἀφροδίτην.

ὑμεῖς μὲν νῦν χαίρετ’, Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχοντες,

νῆσοί τ’ ἤπειροί τε καὶ ἁλμυρὸς ἔνδοθι πόντος·

965  νῦν δὲ θεάων φῦλον ἀείσατε, ἡδυέπειαι

Μοῦσαι Ὀλυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο,

ὅσσαι δὴ θνητοῖσι παρ’ ἀνδράσιν εὐνηθεῖσαι

ἀθάναται γείναντο θεοῖς ἐπιείκελα τέκνα.

Δημήτηρ μὲν Πλοῦτον ἐγείνατο δῖα θεάων,

970  Ἰασίῳ ἥρωι μιγεῖσ’ ἐρατῇ φιλότητι

νειῷ ἔνι τριπόλῳ, Κρήτης ἐν πίονι δήμῳ,

ἐσθλόν, ὃς εἶσ’ ἐπὶ γῆν τε καὶ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης

πᾶσαν· τῷ δὲ τυχόντι καὶ οὗ κ’ ἐς χεῖρας ἵκηται,

τὸν δὴ ἀφνειὸν ἔθηκε, πολὺν δέ οἱ ὤπασεν ὄλβον.

975  Κάδμῳ δ’ Ἁρμονίη, θυγάτηρ χρυσῆς Ἀφροδίτης,

Ἰνὼ καὶ Σεμέλην καὶ Ἀγαυὴν καλλιπάρηον

Αὐτονόην θ’, ἣν γῆμεν Ἀρισταῖος βαθυχαίτης,

γείνατο καὶ Πολύδωρον ἐυστεφάνῳ ἐνὶ Θήβῃ.

κούρη δ’ Ὠκεανοῦ Χρυσάορι καρτεροθύμῳ

980  μιχθεῖσ’ ἐν φιλότητι πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης

Καλλιρόη τέκε παῖδα βροτῶν κάρτιστον ἁπάντων,

Γηρυονέα, τὸν κτεῖνε βίη Ἡρακληείη

βοῶν ἕνεκ’ εἰλιπόδων ἀμφιρρύτῳ εἰν Ἐρυθείῃ.

Τιθωνῷ δ’ Ἠὼς τέκε Μέμνονα χαλκοκορυστήν,

985  Αἰθιόπων βασιλῆα, καὶ Ἠμαθίωνα ἄνακτα.

αὐτάρ τοι Κεφάλῳ φιτύσατο φαίδιμον υἱόν,

ἴφθιμον Φαέθοντα, θεοῖς ἐπιείκελον ἄνδρα·

τόν ῥα νέον τέρεν ἄνθος ἔχοντ’ ἐρικυδέος ἥβης

παῖδ’ ἀταλὰ φρονέοντα φιλομμειδὴς Ἀφροδίτη

990  ὦρτ’ ἀνερειψαμένη, καί μιν ζαθέοις ἐνὶ νηοῖς

νηοπόλον μύχιον ποιήσατο, δαίμονα δῖον.

κούρην δ’ Αἰήταο διοτρεφέος βασιλῆος

Αἰσονίδης βουλῇσι θεῶν αἰειγενετάων

ἦγε παρ’ Αἰήτεω, τελέσας στονόεντας ἀέθλους,

995  τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπέτελλε μέγας βασιλεὺς ὑπερήνωρ,

ὑβριστὴς Πελίης καὶ ἀτάσθαλος ὀβριμοεργός·

τοὺς τελέσας ἐς Ἰωλκὸν ἀφίκετο πολλὰ μογήσας

ὠκείης ἐπὶ νηὸς ἄγων ἑλικώπιδα κούρην

Αἰσονίδης, καί μιν θαλερὴν ποιήσατ’ ἄκοιτιν.

1000  καί ῥ’ ἥ γε δμηθεῖσ’ ὑπ’ Ἰήσονι ποιμένι λαῶν

Μήδειον τέκε παῖδα, τὸν οὔρεσιν ἔτρεφε Χείρων

Φιλλυρίδης· μεγάλου δὲ Διὸς νόος ἐξετελεῖτο.

αὐτὰρ Νηρῆος κοῦραι ἁλίοιο γέροντος,

ἤτοι μὲν Φῶκον Ψαμάθη τέκε δῖα θεάων

1005  Αἰακοῦ ἐν φιλότητι διὰ χρυσῆν Ἀφροδίτην·

Πηλεῖ δὲ δμηθεῖσα θεὰ Θέτις ἀργυρόπεζα

γείνατ’ Ἀχιλλῆα ῥηξήνορα θυμολέοντα.

Αἰνείαν δ’ ἄρ’ ἔτικτεν ἐυστέφανος Κυθέρεια,

Ἀγχίσῃ ἥρωι μιγεῖσ’ ἐρατῇ φιλότητι

1010  Ἴδης ἐν κορυφῇσι πολυπτύχου ἠνεμοέσσης.

Κίρκη δ’ Ἠελίου θυγάτηρ Ὑπεριονίδαο

γείνατ’ Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος ἐν φιλότητι

Ἄγριον ἠδὲ Λατῖνον ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε·

[Τηλέγονον δὲ ἔτικτε διὰ χρυσῆν Ἀφροδίτην·]

1015  οἳ δή τοι μάλα τῆλε μυχῷ νήσων ἱεράων

πᾶσιν Τυρσηνοῖσιν ἀγακλειτοῖσιν ἄνασσον.

Ναυσίθοον δ’ Ὀδυσῆι Καλυψὼ δῖα θεάων

γείνατο Ναυσίνοόν τε μιγεῖσ’ ἐρατῇ φιλότητι.

αὗται μὲν θνητοῖσι παρ’ ἀνδράσιν εὐνηθεῖσαι

1020  ἀθάναται γείναντο θεοῖς ἐπιείκελα τέκνα.

[νῦν δὲ γυναικῶν φῦλον ἀείσατε, ἡδυέπειαι

Μοῦσαι Ὀλυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.]

ΑΣΠΙΣ (THE SHIELD OF HERACLES)

... Ἢ οἵη προλιποῦσα δόμους καὶ πατρίδα γαῖαν

ἤλυθεν ἐς Θήβας μετ’ ἀρήιον Ἀμφιτρύωνα

Ἀλκμήνη, θυγάτηρ λαοσσόου Ἠλεκτρύωνος·

ἥ ῥα γυναικῶν φῦλον ἐκαίνυτο θηλυτεράων

5  εἴδεΐ τε μεγέθει τε· νόον γε μὲν οὔ τις ἔριζε

τάων ἃς θνηταὶ θνητοῖς τέκον εὐνηθεῖσαι.

τῆς καὶ ἀπὸ κρῆθεν βλεφάρων τ’ ἄπο κυανεάων

τοῖον ἄηθ’ οἷόν τε πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης.

ἣ δὲ καὶ ὣς κατὰ θυμὸν ἑὸν τίεσκεν ἀκοίτην,

10  ὡς οὔ πώ τις ἔτισε γυναικῶν θηλυτεράων·

ἦ μέν οἱ πατέρ’ ἐσθλὸν ἀπέκτανε ἶφι δαμάσσας,

χωσάμενος περὶ βουσί· λιπὼν δ’ ὅ γε πατρίδα γαῖαν

ἐς Θήβας ἱκέτευσε φερεσσακέας Καδμείους.

ἔνθ’ ὅ γε δώματ’ ἔναιε σὺν αἰδοίῃ παρακοίτι

15  νόσφιν ἄτερ φιλότητος ἐφιμέρου, οὐδέ οἱ ἦεν

πρὶν λεχέων ἐπιβῆναι ἐυσφύρου Ἠλεκτρυώνης

πρίν γε φόνον τείσαιτο κασιγνήτων μεγαθύμων

ἧς ἀλόχου, μαλερῷ δὲ καταφλέξαι πυρὶ κώμας

ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων Ταφίων ἰδὲ Τηλεβοάων.

20  τὼς γάρ οἱ διέκειτο, θεοὶ δ’ ἐπὶ μάρτυροι ἦσαν·

τῶν ὅ γ’ ὀπίζετο μῆνιν, ἐπείγετο δ’ ὅττι τάχιστα

ἐκτελέσαι μέγα ἔργον, ὅ οἱ Διόθεν θέμις ἦεν.

τῷ δ’ ἅμα ἱέμενοι πολέμοιό τε φυλόπιδός τε

Βοιωτοὶ πλήξιπποι, ὑπὲρ σακέων πνείοντες,

25  Λοκροί τ’ ἀγχέμαχοι καὶ Φωκῆες μεγάθυμοι

ἕσποντ’· ἦρχε δὲ τοῖσιν ἐὺς πάις Ἀλκαίοιο

κυδιόων λαοῖσι. πατὴρ δ’ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε

ἄλλην μῆτιν ὕφαινε μετὰ φρεσίν, ὥς ῥα θεοῖσιν

ἀνδράσι τ’ ἀλφηστῇσιν ἀρῆς ἀλκτῆρα φυτεύσαι.

30  ὦρτο δ’ ἀπ’ Οὐλύμποιο δόλον φρεσὶ βυσσοδομεύων,

ἱμείρων φιλότητος ἐυζώνοιο γυναικός,

ἐννύχιος· τάχα δ’ ἷξε Τυφαόνιον· τόθεν αὖτις

Φίκιον ἀκρότατον προσεβήσατο μητίετα Ζεύς.

ἔνθα καθεζόμενος φρεσὶ μήδετο θέσκελα ἔργα·

35  αὐτῇ μὲν γὰρ νυκτὶ τανισφύρου Ἠλεκτρυώνης

εὐνῇ καὶ φιλότητι μίγη, τέλεσεν δ’ ἄρ’ ἐέλδωρ·

αὐτῇ δ’ Ἀμφιτρύων λαοσσόος, ἀγλαὸς ἥρως,

ἐκτελέσας μέγα ἔργον ἀφίκετο ὅνδε δόμονδε,

οὐδ’ ὅ γε πρὶν δμῶας καὶ ποιμένας ἀγροιώτας

40  ὦρτ’ ἰέναι, πρίν γ’ ἧς ἀλόχου ἐπιβήμεναι εὐνῆς·

τοῖος γὰρ κραδίην πόθος αἴνυτο ποιμένα λαῶν.

[ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀνὴρ ἀσπαστὸν ὑπεκπροφύγῃ κακότητα

νούσου ὑπ’ ἀργαλέης ἢ καὶ κρατεροῦ ὑπὸ δεσμοῦ,

ὥς ῥα τότ’ Ἀμφιτρύων χαλεπὸν πόνον ἐκτολυπεύσας

45  ἀσπασίως τε φίλως τε ἑὸν δόμον εἰσαφίκανεν.]

παννύχιος δ’ ἄρ’ ἔλεκτο σὺν αἰδοίῃ παρακοίτι

τερπόμενος δώροισι πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης.

ἣ δὲ θεῷ δμηθεῖσα καὶ ἀνέρι πολλὸν ἀρίστῳ

Θήβῃ ἐν ἑπταπύλῳ διδυμάονε γείνατο παῖδε,

50  οὐκέθ’ ὁμὰ φρονέοντε· κασιγνήτω γε μὲν ἤστην·

τὸν μὲν χειρότερον, τὸν δ’ αὖ μέγ’ ἀμείνονα φῶτα

δεινόν τε κρατερόν τε, βίην Ἡρακληείην,

τὸν μὲν ὑποδμηθεῖσα κελαινεφέι Κρονίωνι,

αὐτὰρ Ἰφικλῆα δορυσσόῳ Ἀμφιτρύωνι·

55  κεκριμένην γενεήν, τὸν μὲν βροτῷ ἀνδρὶ μιγεῖσα,

τὸν δὲ Διὶ Κρονίωνι, θεῶν σημάντορι πάντων.

Ὃς καὶ Κύκνον ἔπεφνεν, Ἀρητιάδην μεγάθυμον.

εὗρε γὰρ ἐν τεμένει ἑκατηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος

αὐτὸν καὶ πατέρα ὃν Ἄρη’, ἄατον πολέμοιο,

60  τεύχεσι λαμπομένους σέλας ὣς πυρὸς αἰθομένοιο,

ἑσταότ’ ἐν δίφρῳ· χθόνα δ’ ἔκτυπον ὠκέες ἵπποι

νύσσοντες χηλῇσι, κόνις δέ σφ’ ἀμφιδεδήει

κοπτομένη πλεκτοῖσιν ὑφ’ ἅρμασι καὶ ποσὶν ἵππων·

ἅρματα δ’ εὐποίητα καὶ ἄντυγες ἀμφαράβιζον

65  ἵππων ἱεμένων. κεχάρητο δὲ Κύκνος ἀμύμων,

ἐλπόμενος Διὸς υἱὸν ἀρήιον ἡνίοχόν τε

χαλκῷ δῃώσειν καὶ ἀπὸ κλυτὰ τεύχεα δύσειν.

ἀλλά οἱ εὐχωλέων οὐκ ἔκλυε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων·

αὐτὸς γάρ οἱ ἐπῶρσε βίην Ἡρακληείην.

70  πᾶν δ’ ἄλσος καὶ βωμὸς Ἀπόλλωνος Παγασαίου

λάμπεν ὑπαὶ δεινοῖο θεοῦ τευχέων τε καὶ αὐτοῦ,

πῦρ δ’ ὣς ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπελάμπετο. τίς κεν ἐκείνου

ἔτλη θνητὸς ἐὼν κατεναντίον ὁρμηθῆναι

πλήν γ’ Ἡρακλῆος καὶ κυδαλίμου Ἰολάου;

75  [κείνων γὰρ μεγάλη τε βίη καὶ χεῖρες ἄαπτοι

ἐξ ὤμων ἐπέφυκον ἐπὶ στιβαροῖσι μέλεσσιν.]

ὅς ῥα τόθ’ ἡνίοχον προσέφη κρατερὸν Ἰόλαον·

“Ἥρως ὦ Ἰόλαε, βροτῶν πολὺ φίλτατε πάντων,

ἦ τι μέγ’ ἀθανάτους μάκαρας, τοὶ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν,

80  ἤλιτεν Ἀμφιτρύων, ὅτ’ ἐυστέφανον ποτὶ Θήβην

ἦλθε λιπὼν Τίρυνθον, ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον,

κτείνας Ἠλεκτρύωνα βοῶν ἕνεκ’ εὐρυμετώπων·

ἵκετο δ’ ἐς Κρείοντα καὶ Ἡνιόχην τανύπεπλον,

οἵ ῥά μιν ἠσπάζοντο καὶ ἄρματα πάντα παρεῖχον,

85  ἣ δίκη ἔσθ’ ἱκέτῃσι, τίον δ’ ἄρα κηρόθι μᾶλλον.

ζῶε δ’ ἀγαλλόμενος σὺν ἐυσφύρῳ Ἠλεκτρυώνῃ,

ᾗ ἀλόχῳ· τάχα δ’ ἄμμες ἐπιπλομένων ἐνιαυτῶν

γεινόμεθ’ οὔτε φυὴν ἐναλίγκιοι οὔτε νόημα,

σός τε πατὴρ καὶ ἐγώ· τοῦ μὲν φρένας ἐξέλετο Ζεύς,

90  ὃς προλιπὼν σφέτερόν τε δόμον σφετέρους τε τοκῆας

ᾤχετο τιμήσων ἀλιτήμενον Εὐρυσθῆα,

σχέτλιος· ἦ που πολλὰ μετεστοναχίζετ’ ὀπίσσω

ἣν ἄτην ὀχέων· ἣ δ’ οὐ παλινάγρετός ἐστιν.

αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ δαίμων χαλεποὺς ἐπετέλλετ’ ἀέθλους.

95  ὦ φίλος, ἀλλὰ σὺ θᾶσσον ἔχ’ ἡνία φοινικόεντα

ἵππων ὠκυπόδων· μέγα δὲ φρεσὶ θάρσος ἀέξων

ἰθὺς ἔχειν θοὸν ἅρμα καὶ ὠκυπόδων σθένος ἵππων,

μηδὲν ὑποδδείσας κτύπον Ἄρεος ἀνδροφόνοιο,

ὃς νῦν κεκληγὼς περιμαίνεται ἱερὸν ἄλσος

100  Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος, ἑκατηβελέταο ἄνακτος·

ἦ μὴν καὶ κράτερός περ ἐὼν ἄαται πολέμοιο.”

Τὸν δ’ αὖτε προσέειπεν ἀμώμητος Ἰόλαος·

“ἠθεῖ’, ἦ μάλα δή τι πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε

τιμᾷ σὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ ταύρεος Ἐννοσίγαιος,

105  ὃς Θήβης κρήδεμνον ἔχει ῥύεταί τε πόληα,

οἷον δὴ καὶ τόνδε βροτὸν κρατερόν τε μέγαν τε

σὰς ἐς χεῖρας ἄγουσιν, ἵνα κλέος ἐσθλὸν ἄρηαι.

ἀλλ’ ἄγε δύσεο τεύχε’ ἀρήια, ὄφρα τάχιστα

δίφρους ἐμπελάσαντες Ἄρηός θ’ ἡμέτερόν τε

110  μαρνώμεσθ’, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι ἀτάρβητον Διὸς υἱὸν

οὐδ’ Ἰφικλεΐδην δειδίξεται, ἀλλά μιν οἴω

φεύξεσθαι δύο παῖδας ἀμύμονος Ἀλκεΐδαο,

οἳ δή σφι σχεδόν εἰσι, λιλαιόμενοι πολέμοιο

φυλόπιδα στήσειν, τά σφιν πολὺ φίλτερα θοίνης.”

115  Ὣς φάτο· μείδησεν δὲ βίη Ἡρακληείη

θυμῷ γηθήσας· μάλα γάρ νύ οἱ ἄρμενα εἶπεν·

καί μιν ἀμειβόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

“ἥρως ὦ Ἰόλαε, διοτρεφές, οὐκέτι τηλοῦ

ὑσμίνη τρηχεῖα· σὺ δ’ ὡς πάρος ἦσθα δαΐφρων,

120  ὣς καὶ νῦν μέγαν ἵππον Ἀρίονα κυανοχαίτην

πάντη ἀναστρωφᾶν καὶ ἀρηγέμεν ὥς κε δύνηαι.”

Ὣς εἰπὼν κνημῖδας ὀρειχάλκοιο φαεινοῦ,

Ἡφαίστου κλυτὰ δῶρα, περὶ κνήμῃσιν ἔθηκε.

δεύτερον αὖ θώρηκα περὶ στήθεσσιν ἔδυνε

125  καλὸν χρύσειον πολυδαίδαλον, ὅν οἱ ἔδωκε

Παλλὰς Ἀθηναίη, κούρη Διός, ὁππότ’ ἔμελλε

τὸ πρῶτον στονόεντας ἐφορμήσεσθαι ἀέθλους.

θήκατο δ’ ἀμφ’ ὤμοισιν ἀρῆς ἀλκτῆρα σίδηρον,

δεινὸς ἀνήρ· κοίλην δὲ περὶ στήθεσσι φαρέτρην

130  κάββαλεν ἐξόπιθεν· πολλοὶ δ’ ἔντοσθεν ὀιστοὶ

ῥιγηλοί, θανάτοιο λαθιφθόγγοιο δοτῆρες·

πρόσθεν μὲν θάνατόν τ’ εἶχον καὶ δάκρυσι μῦρον,

μέσσοι δὲ ξεστοί, περιμήκεες, αὐτὰρ ὄπισθε

μόρφνοιο φλεγύαο καλυπτόμενοι πτερύγεσσιν.

135  εἵλετο δ’ ὄβριμον ἔγχος, ἀκαχμένον αἴθοπι χαλκῷ.

κρατὶ δ’ ἐπ’ ἰφθίμῳ κυνέην ἐύτυκτον ἔθηκε,

δαιδαλέην, ἀδάμαντος, ἐπὶ κροτάφοις ἀραρυῖαν,

ἥ τ’ εἴρυτο κάρη Ἡρακλῆος θείοιο.

Χερσί γε μὴν σάκος εἷλε παναίολον, οὐδέ τις αὐτὸ

140  οὔτ’ ἔρρηξε βαλὼν οὔτ’ ἔθλασε, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι.

πᾶν μὲν γὰρ κύκλῳ τιτάνῳ λευκῷ τ’ ἐλέφαντι

ἠλέκτρῳ θ’ ὑπολαμπὲς ἔην χρυσῷ τε φαεινῷ

[λαμπόμενον, κυάνου δὲ διὰ πτύχες ἠλήλαντο].

ἐν μέσσῳ δ’ ἀδάμαντος ἔην Φόβος οὔ τι φατειός,

145  ἔμπαλιν ὄσσοισιν πυρὶ λαμπομένοισι δεδορκώς·

τοῦ καὶ ὀδόντων μὲν πλῆτο στόμα λευκαθεόντων,

δεινῶν, ἀπλήτων, ἐπὶ δὲ βλοσυροῖο μετώπου

δεινὴ Ἔρις πεπότητο κορύσσουσα κλόνον ἀνδρῶν,

σχετλίη, ἥ ῥα νόον τε καὶ ἐκ φρένας εἵλετο φωτῶν

150  οἵτινες ἀντιβίην πόλεμον Διὸς υἷι φέροιεν.

[τῶν καὶ ψυχαὶ μὲν χθόνα δύνουσ’ Ἄιδος εἴσω

αὐτῶν, ὀστέα δέ σφι περὶ ῥινοῖο σαπείσης

Σειρίου ἀζαλέοιο κελαινῇ πύθεται αἴῃ.]

Ἐν δὲ Προΐωξίς τε Παλίωξίς τε τέτυκτο,

155  ἐν δ’ Ὅμαδός τε Φόνος τ’ Ἀνδροκτασίη τε δεδήει,

[ἐν δ’ Ἔρις, ἐν δὲ Κυδοιμὸς ἐθύνεον, ἐν δ’ ὀλοὴ Κὴρ

ἄλλον ζωὸν ἔχουσα νεούτατον, ἄλλον ἄουτον,

ἄλλον τεθνηῶτα κατὰ μόθον ἕλκε ποδοῖιν·

εἷμα δ’ ἔχ’ ἀμφ’ ὤμοισι δαφοινεὸν αἵματι φωτῶν,

160  δεινὸν δερκομένη καναχῇσί τε βεβρυχυῖα.]

Ἐν δ’ ὀφίων κεφαλαὶ δεινῶν ἔσαν, οὔ τι φατειῶν,

δώδεκα, ταὶ φοβέεσκον ἐπὶ χθονὶ φῦλ’ ἀνθρώπων

[οἵτινες ἀντιβίην πόλεμον Διὸς υἷι φέροιεν].

τῶν καὶ ὀδόντων μὲν καναχὴ πέλεν, εὖτε μάχοιτο

165  Ἀμφιτρυωνιάδης· τὰ δ’ ἐδαίετο θαυματὰ ἔργα·

στίγματα δ’ ὣς ἐπέφαντο ἰδεῖν δεινοῖσι δράκουσι·

κυάνεοι κατὰ νῶτα, μελάνθησαν δὲ γένεια.

Ἐν δὲ συῶν ἀγέλαι χλούνων ἔσαν ἠδὲ λεόντων

ἐς σφέας δερκομένων, κοτεόντων θ’ ἱεμένων τε.

170  τῶν καὶ ὁμιληδὸν στίχες ἤισαν, οὐδέ νυ τώ γε

οὐδέτεροι τρεέτην, φρῖσσόν γε μὲν αὐχένας ἄμφω.

ἤδη γάρ σφιν ἔκειτο μέγας λῖς, ἀμφὶ δὲ κάπροι

δοιοί, ἀπουράμενοι ψυχάς· κατὰ δέ σφι κελαινὸν

αἷμ’ ἀπελείβετ’ ἔραζ’· οἳ δ’ αὐχένας ἐξεριπόντες

175  κείατο τεθνηῶτες ὑπὸ βλοσυροῖσι λέουσιν·

τοὶ δ’ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐγειρέσθην κοτέοντε μάχεσθαι,

ἀμφότεροι, χλοῦναί τε σύες χαροποί τε λέοντες.

Ἐν δ’ ἦν ὑσμίνη Λαπιθάων αἰχμητάων

Καινέα τ’ ἀμφὶ ἄνακτα Δρύαντά τε Πειρίθοόν τε

180  Ὁπλέα τ’ Ἐξάδιόν τε Φάληρόν τε Πρόλοχόν τε

Μόψον τ’ Ἀμπυκίδην, Τιταρήσιον, ὄζον Ἄρηος

Θησέα τ’ Αἰγεΐδην, ἐπιείκελον ἀθανάτοισιν·

ἀργύρεοι, χρύσεια περὶ χροῒ τεύχε’ ἔχοντες.

Κένταυροι δ’ ἑτέρωθεν ἐναντίοι ἠγερέθοντο

185  ἀμφὶ μέγαν Πετραῖον ἰδ’ Ἄσβολον οἰωνιστὴν

Ἄρκτον τ’ Οὔρειόν τε μελαγχαίτην τε Μίμαντα

καὶ δύο Πευκεΐδας, Περιμήδεά τε Δρύαλόν τε,

ἀργύρεοι, χρυσέας ἐλάτας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες.

καί τε συναΐγδην ὡς εἰ ζωοί περ ἐόντες

190  ἔγχεσιν ἠδ’ ἐλάτῃς αὐτοσχεδὸν ὠριγνῶντο.

Ἐν δ’ Ἄρεος βλοσυροῖο ποδώκεες ἕστασαν ἵπποι

χρύσεοι, ἐν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐναρσφόρος οὔλιος Ἄρης,

αἰχμὴν ἐν χείρεσσιν ἔχων, πρυλέεσσι κελεύων,

αἵματι φοινικόεις ὡς εἰ ζωοὺς ἐναρίζων,

195  δίφρου ἐπεμβεβαώς· παρὰ δὲ Δεῖμός τε Φόβος τε

ἕστασαν ἱέμενοι πόλεμον καταδύμεναι ἀνδρῶν.

Ἐν δὲ Διὸς θυγάτηρ ἀγελείη Τριτογένεια,

τῇ ἰκέλη ὡς εἴ τε μάχην ἐθέλουσα κορύσσειν,

ἔγχος ἔχουσ’ ἐν χειρὶ †χρυσέην τε τρυφάλειαν

200  αἰγίδα τ’ ἀμφ’ ὤμοις· ἐπὶ δ’ ᾤχετο φύλοπιν αἰνήν.

Ἐν δ’ ἦν ἀθανάτων ἱερὸς χορός· ἐν δ’ ἄρα μέσσῳ

ἱμερόεν κιθάριζε Διὸς καὶ Λητοῦς υἱὸς

χρυσείῃ φόρμιγγι· [θεῶν δ’ ἕδος ἁγνὸς Ὄλυμπος·

ἐν δ’ ἀγορή, περὶ δ’ ὄλβος ἀπείριτος ἐστεφάνωτο

205  ἀθανάτων ἐν ἀγῶνι·] θεαὶ δ’ ἐξῆρχον ἀοιδῆς

Μοῦσαι Πιερίδες, λιγὺ μελπομένῃς ἐικυῖαι.

Ἐν δὲ λιμὴν εὔορμος ἀμαιμακέτοιο θαλάσσης

κυκλοτερὴς ἐτέτυκτο πανέφθου κασσιτέροιο

κλυζομένῳ ἴκελος· [πολλοί γε μὲν ἂμ μέσον αὐτοῦ

210  δελφῖνες τῇ καὶ τῇ ἐθύνεον ἰχθυάοντες

νηχομένοις ἴκελοι·] δοιὼ δ’ ἀναφυσιόωντες

ἀργύρεοι δελφῖνες ἐφοίβεον ἔλλοπας ἰχθῦς.

τῶν δ’ ὕπο χάλκειοι τρέον ἰχθύες· αὐτὰρ ἐπ’ ἀκτῆς

ἧστο ἀνὴρ ἁλιεὺς δεδοκημένος, εἶχε δὲ χερσὶν

215  ἰχθύσιν ἀμφίβληστρον ἀπορρίψοντι ἐοικώς.

Ἐν δ’ ἦν ἠυκόμου Δανάης τέκος, ἱππότα Περσεύς,

οὔτ’ ἄρ’ ἐπιψαύων σάκεος ποσὶν οὔθ’ ἑκὰς αὐτοῦ,

θαῦμα μέγα φράσσασθ’, ἐπεὶ οὐδαμῇ ἐστήρικτο.

τὼς γάρ μιν παλάμαις τεῦξεν κλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις,

220  χρύσεον· ἀμφὶ δὲ ποσσὶν ἔχεν πτερόεντα πέδιλα·

ὤμοισιν δέ μιν ἀμφὶ μελάνδετον ἆορ ἔκειτο

χαλκέου ἐκ τελαμῶνος· ὃ δ’ ὥς τε νόημ’ ἐποτᾶτο·

πᾶν δὲ μετάφρενον εἶχε κάρη δεινοῖο πελώρου,

Γοργοῦς· ἀμφὶ δέ μιν κίβισις θέε, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι,

225  ἀργυρέη· θύσανοι δὲ κατῃωρεῦντο φαεινοὶ

χρύσειοι· δεινὴ δὲ περὶ κροτάφοισι ἄνακτος

κεῖτ’ Ἄιδος κυνέη νυκτὸς ζόφον αἰνὸν ἔχουσα.

αὐτὸς δὲ σπεύδοντι καὶ ἐρρίγοντι ἐοικὼς

Περσεὺς Δαναΐδης ἐτιταίνετο· ταὶ δὲ μετ’ αὐτὸν

230  Γοργόνες ἄπλητοί τε καὶ οὐ φαταὶ ἐρρώοντο

ἱέμεναι μαπέειν· ἐπὶ δὲ χλωροῦ ἀδάμαντος

βαινουσέων ἰάχεσκε σάκος μεγάλῳ ὀρυμαγδῷ

ὀξέα καὶ λιγέως· ἐπὶ δὲ ζώνῃσι δράκοντε

δοιὼ ἀπῃωρεῦντ’ ἐπικυρτώοντε κάρηνα·

235  λίχμαζον δ’ ἄρα τώ γε, μένει δ’ ἐχάρασσον ὀδόντας

ἄγρια δερκομένω· ἐπὶ δὲ δεινοῖσι καρήνοις

Γοργείοις ἐδονεῖτο μέγας φόβος. οἳ δ’ ὑπὲρ αὐτέων

ἄνδρες ἐμαρνάσθην πολεμήια τεύχε’ ἔχοντες,

τοὶ μὲν ὑπὲρ σφετέρης πόλιος σφετέρων τε τοκήων

240  λοιγὸν ἀμύνοντες, τοὶ δὲ πραθέειν μεμαῶτες.

πολλοὶ μὲν κέατο, πλέονες δ’ ἔτι δῆριν ἔχοντες

μάρνανθ’. αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἐυδμήτων ἐπὶ πύργων

χαλκέων ὀξὺ βόων, κατὰ δ’ ἐδρύπτοντο παρειάς,

ζωῇσιν ἴκελαι, ἔργα κλυτοῦ Ἡφαίστοιο.

245  ἄνδρες δ’ οἳ πρεσβῆες ἔσαν γῆράς τε μέμαρπεν

ἀθρόοι ἔκτοσθεν πυλέων ἔσαν, ἂν δὲ θεοῖσι

χεῖρας ἔχον μακάρεσσι, περὶ σφετέροισι τέκεσσι

δειδιότες· τοὶ δ’ αὖτε μάχην ἔχον. αἳ δὲ μετ’ αὐτοὺς

Κῆρες κυάνεαι, λευκοὺς ἀραβεῦσαι ὀδόντας,

250  δεινωποὶ βλοσυροί τε δαφοινοί τ’ ἄπλητοί τε

δῆριν ἔχον περὶ πιπτόντων· πᾶσαι δ’ ἄρ’ ἵεντο

αἷμα μέλαν πιέειν· ὃν δὲ πρῶτον μεμάποιεν

κείμενον ἢ πίπτοντα νεούτατον, ἀμφὶ μὲν αὐτῷ

βάλλ‹ον ὁμῶς› ὄνυχας μεγάλους, ψυχὴ δὲ [Ἄιδόσδε] κατῇεν

255  Τάρταρον ἐς κρυόενθ’· αἳ δὲ φρένας εὖτ’ ἀρέσαντο

αἵματος ἀνδρομέου, τὸν μὲν ῥίπτασκον ὀπίσσω,

ἂψ δ’ ὅμαδον καὶ μῶλον ἐθύνεον αὖτις ἰοῦσαι.

[Κλωθὼ καὶ Λάχεσίς σφιν ἐφέστασαν· ἣ μὲν ὑφήσσων

Ἄτροπος οὔ τι πέλεν μεγάλη θεός, ἀλλ’ ἄρα ἥ γε

260  τῶν γε μὲν ἀλλάων προφερής τ’ ἦν πρεσβυτάτη τε.

πᾶσαι δ’ ἀμφ’ ἑνὶ φωτὶ μάχην δριμεῖαν ἔθεντο·

δεινὰ δ’ ἐς ἀλλήλας δράκον ὄμμασι θυμήνασαι,

ἐν δ’ ὄνυχας χεῖράς τε θρασείας ἰσώσαντο.]

πὰρ δ’ Ἀχλὺς εἱστήκει ἐπισμυγερή τε καὶ αἰνή,

265  χλωρὴ ἀυσταλέη λιμῷ καταπεπτηυῖα,

γουνοπαχής, μακροὶ δ’ ὄνυχες χείρεσσιν ὑπῆσαν·

τῆς ἐκ μὲν ῥινῶν μύξαι ῥέον, ἐκ δὲ παρειῶν

αἷμ’ ἀπελείβετ’ ἔραζ’· ἣ δ’ ἄπλητον σεσαρυῖα

εἱστήκει, πολλὴ δὲ κόνις κατενήνοθεν ὤμους,

270  δάκρυσι μυδαλέη. παρὰ δ’ εὔπυργος πόλις ἀνδρῶν,

χρύσειαι δέ μιν εἶχον ὑπερθυρίοις ἀραρυῖαι

ἑπτὰ πύλαι· τοὶ δ’ ἄνδρες ἐν ἀγλαΐαις τε χοροῖς τε

τέρψιν ἔχον· τοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐυσσώτρου ἐπ’ ἀπήνης

ἤγοντ’ ἀνδρὶ γυναῖκα, πολὺς δ’ ὑμέναιος ὀρώρει·

275  τῆλε δ’ ἀπ’ αἰθομένων δαΐδων σέλας εἰλύφαζε

χερσὶν ἐνὶ δμῳῶν· ταὶ δ’ ἀγλαΐῃ τεθαλυῖαι

πρόσθ’ ἔκιον, τῇσιν δὲ χοροὶ παίζοντες ἕποντο·

τοὶ μὲν ὑπὸ λιγυρῶν συρίγγων ἵεσαν αὐδὴν

ἐξ ἁπαλῶν στομάτων, περὶ δέ σφισιν ἄγνυτο ἠχώ·

280  αἳ δ’ ὑπὸ φορμίγγων ἄναγον χορὸν ἱμερόεντα.

[ἔνθεν δ’ αὖθ’ ἑτέρωθε νέοι κώμαζον ὑπ’ αὐλοῦ.]

τοί γε μὲν αὖ παίζοντες ὑπ’ ὀρχηθμῷ καὶ ἀοιδῇ

[τοί γε μὲν αὖ γελόωντες ὑπ’ αὐλητῆρι ἕκαστος]

πρόσθ’ ἔκιον· πᾶσαν δὲ πόλιν θαλίαι τε χοροί τε

285  ἀγλαΐαι τ’ εἶχον. τοὶ δ’ αὖ προπάροιθε πόληος

νῶθ’ ἵππων ἐπιβάντες ἐθύνεον. οἱ δ’ ἀροτῆρες

ἤρεικον χθόνα δῖαν, ἐπιστολάδην δὲ χιτῶνας

ἐστάλατ’. αὐτὰρ ἔην βαθὺ λήιον· οἵ γε μὲν ἤμων

αἰχμῇς ὀξείῃσι κορωνιόωντα πέτηλα

290  βριθόμενα σταχύων, ὡς εἰ Δημήτερος ἀκτήν·

οἳ δ’ ἄρ’ ἐν ἐλλεδανοῖσι δέον καὶ ἔπιτνον ἀλωῇ·

οἳ δ’ ἐτρύγων οἴνας, δρεπάνας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες·

[οἳ δ’ αὖτ’ ἐς ταλάρους ἐφόρευν ὑπὸ τρυγητήρων

λευκοὺς καὶ μέλανας βότρυας μεγάλων ἀπὸ ὄρχων,

295  βριθομένων φύλλοισι καὶ ἀργυρέῃς ἑλίκεσσιν.]

οἳ δ’ αὖτ’ ἐς ταλάρους ἐφόρευν. παρὰ δέ σφισιν ὄρχος

χρύσεος ἦν, κλυτὰ ἔργα περίφρονος Ἡφαίστοιο,

[τοί γε μὲν αὖ παίζοντες ὑπ’ αὐλητῆρι ἕκαστος]

[σειόμενος φύλλοισι καὶ ἀργυρέῃσι κάμαξι,]

300  βριθόμενος σταφυλῇσι· μελάνθησάν γε μὲν αἵδε.

οἵ γε μὲν ἐτράπεον, τοὶ δ’ ἤρυον. οἳ δὲ μάχοντο

πύξ τε καὶ ἑλκηδόν· τοὶ δ’ ὠκύποδας λαγὸς ᾕρευν

ἄνδρες θηρευταί, καὶ καρχαρόδοντε κύνε πρό,

ἱέμενοι μαπέειν, οἳ δ’ ἱέμενοι ὑπαλύξαι.

305  πὰρ δ’ αὐτοῖς ἱππῆες ἔχον πόνον, ἀμφὶ δ’ ἀέθλῳ

δῆριν ἔχον καὶ μόχθον· ἐυπλεκέων δ’ ἐπὶ δίφρων

ἡνίοχοι βεβαῶτες ἐφίεσαν ὠκέας ἵππους

ῥυτὰ χαλαίνοντες, τὰ δ’ ἐπικροτέοντα πέτοντο

ἅρματα κολλήεντ’, ἐπὶ δὲ πλῆμναι μέγ’ ἀύτευν.

310  οἳ μὲν ἄρ’ ἀίδιον εἶχον πόνον, οὐδέ ποτέ σφιν

νίκη ἐπηνύσθη, ἀλλ’ ἄκριτον εἶχον ἄεθλον.

τοῖσι δὲ καὶ προύκειτο μέγας τρίπος ἐντὸς ἀγῶνος,

χρύσειος, κλυτὰ ἔργα περίφρονος Ἡφαίστοιο.

Ἀμφὶ δ’ ἴτυν ῥέεν Ὠκεανὸς πλήθοντι ἐοικώς,

315  πᾶν δὲ συνεῖχε σάκος πολυδαίδαλον· οἳ δὲ κατ’ αὐτὸν

κύκνοι ἀερσιπόται μεγάλ’ ἤπυον, οἵ ῥά τε πολλοὶ

νῆχον ἐπ’ ἄκρον ὕδωρ· παρὰ δ’ ἰχθύες ἐκλονέοντο·

θαῦμα ἰδεῖν καὶ Ζηνὶ βαρυκτύπῳ, οὗ διὰ βουλὰς

Ἥφαιστος ποίησε σάκος μέγα τε στιβαρόν τε,

320  ἀρσάμενος παλάμῃσι. τὸ μὲν Διὸς ἄλκιμος υἱὸς

πάλλεν ἐπικρατέως· ἐπὶ δ’ ἱππείου θόρε δίφρου,

εἴκελος ἀστεροπῇ πατρὸς Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο,

κοῦφα βιβάς· τῷ δ’ ἡνίοχος κρατερὸς Ἰόλαος

δίφρου ἐπεμβεβαὼς ἰθύνετο καμπύλον ἅρμα.

325  Ἀγχίμολον δέ σφ’ ἦλθε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,

καί σφεας θαρσύνουσ’ ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

“Χαίρετε, Λυγκῆος γενεὴ τηλεκλειτοῖο·

νῦν δὴ Ζεὺς κράτος ὔμμι διδοῖ μακάρεσσιν ἀνάσσων

Κύκνον τ’ ἐξεναρεῖν καὶ ἀπὸ κλυτὰ τεύχεα δῦσαι.

330  ἄλλο δέ τοί τι ἔπος ἐρέω, μέγα φέρτατε λαῶν·

εὖτ’ ἂν δὴ Κύκνον γλυκερῆς αἰῶνος ἀμέρσῃς,

τὸν μὲν ἔπειτ’ αὐτοῦ λιπέειν καὶ τεύχεα τοῖο,

αὐτὸς δὲ βροτολοιγὸν Ἄρη’ ἐπιόντα δοκεύσας,

ἔνθα κε γυμνωθέντα σάκευς ὕπο δαιδαλέοιο

335  ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἴδῃς, ἔνθ’ οὐτάμεν ὀξέι χαλκῷ·

ἂψ δ’ ἀναχάσσασθαι, ἐπεὶ οὔ νύ τοι αἴσιμόν ἐστιν

οὔθ’ ἵππους ἑλέειν οὔτε κλυτὰ τεύχεα τοῖο.”

Ὣς εἰποῦσ’ ἐς δίφρον ἐβήσατο δῖα θεάων,

νίκην ἀθανάτῃς χερσὶν καὶ κῦδος ἔχουσα,

340  ἐσσυμένως. τότε δή ῥα διόγνητος Ἰόλαος

σμερδαλέον ἵπποισιν ἐκέκλετο· τοὶ δ’ ὑπ’ ὀμοκλῆς

ῥίμφ’ ἔφερον θοὸν ἅρμα κονίοντες πεδίοιο·

ἐν γάρ σφιν μένος ἧκε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη

αἰγίδ’ ἀνασσείσασα· περιστενάχησε δὲ γαῖα.

345  τοὶ δ’ ἄμυδις προγένοντ’ ἴκελοι πυρὶ ἠὲ θυέλλῃ,

Κύκνος θ’ ἱππόδαμος καὶ Ἄρης ἀκόρητος ἀυτῆς.

τῶν δ’ ἵπποι μὲν ἔπειθ’ ὑπεναντίοι ἀλλήλοισιν

ὀξεῖα χρέμισαν, περὶ δέ σφισιν ἄγνυτο ἠχώ.

τὸν πρότερος προσέειπε βίη Ἡρακληείη·

350  “Κύκνε πέπον, τί νυ νῶιν ἐπίσχετον ὠκέας ἵππους,

ἀνδράσιν οἵ τε πόνου καὶ ὀιζύος ἴδριές εἰμεν;

ἀλλὰ παρὲξ ἔχε δίφρον ἐύξοον ἠδὲ κελεύθου

εἶκε †παρὲξ ἰέναι †· Τρηχῖνάδε τοι παρελαύνω

ἐς Κήυκα ἄνακτα· ὃ γὰρ δυνάμει τε καὶ αἰδοῖ

355  Τρηχῖνος προβέβηκε. σὺ δ’ εὖ μάλα οἶσθα καὶ αὐτός·

τοῦ γὰρ ὀπυίεις παῖδα Θεμιστονόην κυανῶπιν.

ὦ πέπον, οὐ μὲν γάρ τοι Ἄρης θανάτοιο τελευτὴν

ἀρκέσει, εἰ δὴ νῶι συνοισόμεθα πτολεμίζειν.

ἤδη μέν τέ ἕ φημι καὶ ἄλλοτε πειρηθῆναι

360  ἔγχεος ἡμετέρου, ὅθ’ ὑπὲρ Πύλου ἠμαθόεντος

ἀντίος ἔστη ἐμεῖο, μάχης ἄμοτον μενεαίνων.

τρὶς μὲν ἐμῷ ὑπὸ δουρὶ τυπεὶς ἠρείσατο γαίῃ

οὐταμένου σάκεος, τὸ δὲ τέτρατον ἤλασα μηρὸν

παντὶ μένει σπεύδων, διὰ δὲ μέγα σαρκὸς ἄραξα·

365  πρηνὴς δ’ ἐν κονίῃσι χαμαὶ πέσεν ἔγχεος ὁρμῇ.

ἔνθα κε δὴ λωβητὸς ἐν ἀθανάτοισιν ἐτύχθη

χερσὶν ὕφ’ ἡμετέρῃσι λιπὼν ἔναρα βροτόεντα ...”

Ὣς ἔφατ’· οὐδ’ ἄρα Κύκνος ἐυμμελίης ἐμενοίνα

τῷ ἐπιπειθόμενος ἐχέμεν ἐρυσάρματας ἵππους.

370  δὴ τότ’ ἀπ’ εὐπλεκέων δίφρων θόρον αἶψ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν

παῖς τε Διὸς μεγάλου καὶ Ἐνυαλίοιο ἄνακτος·

ἡνίοχοι δ’ ἔμπλην ἔλασαν καλλίτριχας ἵππους.

τῶν δ’ ὑπὸ σευομένων κανάχιζε †πόσ’ εὐρεῖα χθών †

ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀφ’ ὑψηλῆς κορυφῆς ὄρεος μεγάλοιο

375  πέτραι ἀποθρώσκωσιν, ἐπ’ ἀλλήλαις δὲ πέσωσι,

πολλαὶ δὲ δρῦς ὑψίκομοι, πολλαὶ δέ τε πεῦκαι

αἴγειροί τε τανύρριζοι ῥήγνυνται ὑπ’ αὐτέων

ῥίμφα κυλινδομένων, ἧος πεδίονδ’ ἀφίκωνται,

ὣς οἳ ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισι πέσον μέγα κεκλήγοντες.

380  πᾶσα δὲ Μυρμιδόνων τε πόλις κλειτή τ’ Ἰαωλκὸς

Ἄρνη τ’ ἠδ’ Ἑλίκη Ἄνθειά τε ποιήεσσα

φωνῇ ὑπ’ ἀμφοτέρων μεγάλ’ ἴαχον· οἳ δ’ ἀλαλητῷ

θεσπεσίῳ σύνισαν· μέγα δ’ ἔκτυπε μητίετα Ζεύς,

[κὰδ δ’ ἄρ’ ἀπ’ οὐρανόθεν ψιάδας βάλεν αἱματοέσσας,]

385  σῆμα τιθεὶς πολέμοιο ἑῷ μεγαθαρσέι παιδί.

οἷος δ’ ἐν βήσσῃς ὄρεος χαλεπὸς προϊδέσθαι

κάπρος χαυλιόδων φρονέει [δὲ] θυμῷ μαχέσασθαι

ἀνδράσι θηρευτῇς, θήγει δέ τε λευκὸν ὀδόντα

δοχμωθείς, ἀφρὸς δὲ περὶ στόμα μαστιχόωντι

390  λείβεται, ὄσσε δέ οἱ πυρὶ λαμπετόωντι ἔικτον,

ὀρθὰς δ’ ἐν λοφιῇ φρίσσει τρίχας ἀμφί τε δειρήν·

τῷ ἴκελος Διὸς υἱὸς ἀφ’ ἱππείου θόρε δίφρου.

ἦμος δὲ χλοερῷ κυανόπτερος ἠχέτα τέττιξ

ὄζῳ ἐφεζόμενος θέρος ἀνθρώποισιν ἀείδειν

395  ἄρχεται, ᾧ τε πόσις καὶ βρῶσις θῆλυς ἐέρση,

καί τε πανημέριός τε καὶ ἠῷος χέει αὐδὴν

ἴδει ἐν αἰνοτάτῳ, ὅτε τε χρόα Σείριος ἄζει,

τῆμος δὴ [κέγχροισι πέρι γλῶχες τελέθουσι

τούς τε θέρει σπείρουσιν, ὅτ’ ὄμφακες αἰόλλονται,

400  οἷα Διώνυσος δῶκ’ ἀνδράσι χάρμα καὶ ἄχθος·

τὴν ὥρην] μάρναντο, πολὺς δ’ ὀρυμαγδὸς ὀρώρει.

ὡς δὲ λέοντε δύω ἀμφὶ κταμένης ἐλάφοιο

ἀλλήλοις κοτέοντες ἐπὶ σφέας ὁρμήσωσι,

δεινὴ δέ σφ’ ἰαχὴ ἄραβός θ’ ἅμα γίνετ’ ὀδόντων ...

405  [οἳ δ’ ὥς τ’ αἰγυπιοὶ γαμψώνυχες, ἀγκυλοχῆλαι,

πέτρῃ ἐφ’ ὑψηλῇ μεγάλα κλάζοντε μάχωνται

αἰγὸς ὀρεσσινόμου ἢ ἀγροτέρης ἐλάφοιο

πίονος, ἥν τ’ ἐδάμασσε βαλὼν αἰζήιος ἀνὴρ

ἰῷ ἀπὸ νευρῆς, αὐτὸς δ’ ἀπαλήσεται ἄλλῃ

410  χώρου ἄιδρις ἐών· οἳ δ’ ὀτραλέως ἐνόησαν,

ἐσσυμένως δέ οἱ ἀμφὶ μάχην δριμεῖαν ἔθεντο·

ὣς οἳ κεκλήγοντες ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισιν ὄρουσαν.]

ἔνθ’ ἦ τοι Κύκνος μέν, ὑπερμενέος Διὸς υἱὸν

κτεινέμεναι μεμαώς, σάκει ἔμβαλε χάλκεον ἔγχος,

415  οὐδ’ ἔρρηξεν χαλκός, ἔρυτο δὲ δῶρα θεοῖο·

Ἀμφιτρυωνιάδης δέ, βίη Ἡρακληείη,

μεσσηγὺς κόρυθός τε καὶ ἀσπίδος ἔγχεϊ μακρῷ

αὐχένα γυμνωθέντα θοῶς ὑπένερθε γενείου

ἤλασ’ ἐπικρατέως, ἀπὸ δ’ ἄμφω κέρσε τένοντε

420  ἀνδροφόνος μελίη· μέγα γὰρ σθένος ἔμπεσε φωτός.

ἤριπε δ’, ὡς ὅτε τις δρῦς ἤριπεν ἢ ὅτε πεύκη

ἠλίβατος, πληγεῖσα Διὸς ψολόεντι κεραυνῷ·

ὣς ἔριπ’, ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ βράχε τεύχεα ποικίλα χαλκῷ.

Τὸν μὲν ἔπειτ’ εἴασε Διὸς ταλακάρδιος υἱός,

425  αὐτὸς δὲ βροτολοιγὸν Ἄρην προσιόντα δοκεύσας,

δεινὸν ὁρῶν ὄσσοισι, λέων ὣς σώματι κύρσας,

ὅς τε μάλ’ ἐνδυκέως ῥινὸν κρατεροῖς ὀνύχεσσι

σχίσσας ὅττι τάχιστα μελίφρονα θυμὸν ἀπηύρα·

ἐμ μένεος δ’ ἄρα τοῦ γε κελαινὸν πίμπλαται ἦτορ·

430  γλαυκιόων δ’ ὄσσοις δεινὸν πλευράς τε καὶ ὤμους

οὐρῇ μαστιόων ποσσὶν γλάφει, οὐδέ τις αὐτὸν

ἔτλη ἐς ἄντα ἰδὼν σχεδὸν ἐλθέμεν οὐδὲ μάχεσθαι·

τοῖος ἄρ’ Ἀμφιτρυωνιάδης, ἀκόρητος ἀυτῆς,

ἀντίος ἔστη Ἄρηος, ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θάρσος ἀέξων,

435  ἐσσυμένως· ὃ δέ οἱ σχεδὸν ἤλυθεν ἀχνύμενος κῆρ.

[ἀμφότεροι δ’ ἰάχοντες ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισιν ὄρουσαν.]

ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀπὸ μεγάλου πέτρη πρηῶνος ὀρούσῃ,

μακρὰ δ’ ἐπιθρώσκουσα κυλίνδεται, ἣ δέ τε ἠχῇ

ἔρχεται ἐμμεμαυῖα· πάγος δέ οἱ ἀντεβόλησεν

440  ὑψηλός, τῷ δὴ συνενείκεται, ἔνθα μιν ἴσχει·

τὼς ‹ἄρ’› ὃ μὲν ἰαχῇ βρισάρματος οὔλιος Ἄρης

κεκληγὼς ἐπόρουσεν, ὃ δ’ ἐμμαπέως ὑπέδεκτο.

αὐτὰρ Ἀθηναίη, κούρη Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο,

ἀντίη ἦλθεν Ἄρηος ἐρεμνὴν αἰγίδ’ ἔχουσα·

445  δεινὰ δ’ ὑπόδρα ἰδοῦσ’ ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

“Ἆρες, ἔπισχε μένος κρατερὸν καὶ χεῖρας ἀάπτους·

οὐ γάρ τοι θέμις ἐστὶν ἀπὸ κλυτὰ τεύχεα δῦσαι

Ἡρακλέα κτείναντα, Διὸς θρασυκάρδιον υἱόν·

ἀλλ’ ἄγε παῦε μάχης, μηδ’ ἀντίος ἵστασ’ ἐμεῖο.”

450  Ὣς ἔφατ’· ἀλλ’ οὐ πεῖθ’ Ἄρεος μεγαλήτορα θυμόν,

ἀλλὰ μέγα ἰάχων, φλογὶ εἴκελα τεύχεα πάλλων

καρπαλίμως ἐπόρουσε βίῃ Ἡρακληείῃ

κακκτάμεναι μεμαώς· καί ῥ’ ἔμβαλε χάλκεον ἔγχος,

σπερχνὸν παιδὸς ἑοῦ κοτέων περὶ τεθνηῶτος,

455  ἐν σάκεϊ μεγάλῳ. ἀπὸ δὲ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη

ἔγχεος ὁρμὴν ἔτραπ’ ὀρεξαμένη ἀπὸ δίφρου.

δριμὺ δ’ Ἄρη’ ἄχος εἷλεν· ἐρυσσάμενος δ’ ἄορ ὀξὺ

ἔσσυτ’ ἐφ’ Ἡρακλέα κρατερόφρονα· τὸν δ’ ἐπιόντα

Ἀμφιτρυωνιάδης, δεινῆς ἀκόρητος ἀυτῆς,

460  μηρὸν γυμνωθέντα σάκευς ὑπὸ δαιδαλέοιο

οὔτασ’ ἐπικρατέως· διὰ δὲ μέγα σαρκὸς ἄραξε

δούρατι νωμήσας, ἐπὶ δὲ χθονὶ κάββαλε μέσσῃ.

τῷ δὲ Φόβος καὶ Δεῖμος ἐύτροχον ἅρμα καὶ ἵππους

ἤλασαν αἶψ’ ἐγγύς, καὶ ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης

465  ἐς δίφρον θῆκαν πολυδαίδαλον· αἶψα δ’ ἔπειτα

ἵππους μαστιέτην, ἵκοντο δὲ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον.

υἱὸς δ’ Ἀλκμήνης καὶ κυδάλιμος Ἰόλαος

Κύκνον σκυλεύσαντες ἀπ’ ὤμων τεύχεα καλὰ

νίσοντ’· αἶψα δ’ ἔπειτα πόλιν Τρηχῖνος ἵκοντο

470  ἵπποις ὠκυπόδεσσιν. ἀτὰρ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη

ἐξίκετ’ Οὔλυμπόν τε μέγαν καὶ δώματα πατρός.

Κύκνον δ’ αὖ Κήυξ θάπτεν καὶ λαὸς ἀπείρων,

οἵ ῥ’ ἐγγὺς ναῖον πόλιος κλειτοῦ βασιλῆος,

[Ἄνθην Μυρμιδόνων τε πόλιν κλειτήν τ’ Ἰαωλκὸν

475  Ἄρνην τ’ ἠδ’ Ἑλίκην· πολλὸς δ’ ἠγείρετο λαός,]

τιμῶντες Κήυκα, φίλον μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν.

τοῦ δὲ τάφον καὶ σῆμ’ ἀιδὲς ποίησεν Ἄναυρος

ὄμβρῳ χειμερίῳ πλήθων· τὼς γάρ μιν Ἀπόλλων

Λητοΐδης ἤνωξ’, ὅτι ῥα κλειτὰς ἑκατόμβας

480  ὅστις ἄγοι Πυθοῖδε βίῃ σύλασκε δοκεύων.

The Biographies

Ruins at Locris.  One tradition records that the Delphic oracle warned Hesiod that he would die in Nemea, and so he fled to Locris, where he was killed at the local temple to Nemean Zeus and later buried there.

INTRODUCTION TO HESIOD by Hugh G. Evelyn-White

CONTENTS

General

The Boeotian School

The Hesiodic Poems

I. “The Works and Days”:

II. The Genealogical Poems:

Date of the Hesiodic Poems

The Contest of Homer and Hesiod

General

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

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

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

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

The Boeotian School

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

‘Till May be out, ne’er cast a clout,’

or

‘A rainbow in the morning

Is the Shepherd’s warning.’

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

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

Life of Hesiod

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“When in the shady Locrian grove Hesiod lay dead, the Nymphs

washed his body with water from their own springs, and

heaped high his grave; and thereon the goat-herds sprinkled

offerings of milk mingled with yellow-honey: such was the

utterance of the nine Muses that he breathed forth, that old

man who had tasted of their pure springs.”

The Hesiodic Poems

The Hesiodic poems fall into two groups according as they are didactic (technical or gnomic) or genealogical: the first group centres round the “Works and Days”, the second round the “Theogony”.

I. “The Works and Days”:

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

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

Of the Hesiodic poems similar in character to the “Works and Days”, only the scantiest fragments survive. One at least of these, the “Divination by Birds”, was, as we know from Proclus, attached to the end of the “Works” until it was rejected by Apollonius Rhodius: doubtless it continued the same theme of how to live, showing how man can avoid disasters by attending to the omens to be drawn from birds. It is possible that the “Astronomy” or “Astrology” (as Plutarch calls it) was in turn appended to the “Divination”. It certainly gave some account of the principal constellations, their dates of rising and setting, and the legends connected with them, and probably showed how these influenced human affairs or might be used as guides. The “Precepts of Chiron” was a didactic poem made up of moral and practical precepts, resembling the gnomic sections of the “Works and Days”, addressed by the Centaur Chiron to his pupil Achilles.

Even less is known of the poem called the “Great Works”: the title implies that it was similar in subject to the second section of the “Works and Days”, but longer. Possible references in Roman writers  indicate that among the subjects dealt with were the cultivation of the vine and olive and various herbs. The inclusion of the judgment of Rhadamanthys (frag. 1): ‘If a man sow evil, he shall reap evil,’ indicates a gnomic element, and the note by Proclus  on “Works and Days” 126 makes it likely that metals also were dealt with. It is therefore possible that another lost poem, the “Idaean Dactyls”, which dealt with the discovery of metals and their working, was appended to, or even was a part of the “Great Works”, just as the “Divination by Birds” was appended to the “Works and Days”.

II. The Genealogical Poems:

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

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

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

This tendency to introduce romantic episodes led to an important development. Several poems are ascribed to Hesiod, such as the “Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis”, the “Descent of Theseus into Hades”, or the “Circuit of the Earth” (which must have been connected with the story of Phineus and the Harpies, and so with the Argonaut-legend), which yet seem to have belonged to the “Catalogues”. It is highly probable that these poems were interpolations into the “Catalogues” expanded by later poets from more summary notices in the genuine Hesiodic work and subsequently detached from their contexts and treated as independent. This is definitely known to be true of the “Shield of Heracles”, the first 53 lines of which belong to the fourth book of the “Catalogues”, and almost certainly applies to other episodes, such as the “Suitors of Helen” , the “Daughters of Leucippus”, and the “Marriage of Ceyx”, which last Plutarch mentions as ‘interpolated in the works of Hesiod.’

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

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

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

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

Date of the Hesiodic Poems

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

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

The Contest of Homer and Hesiod

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

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

THE CONTEST OF HOMER AND HESIOD

Everyone boasts that the most divine of poets, Homer and Hesiod, are said to be his particular countrymen. Hesiod, indeed, has put a name to his native place and so prevented any rivalry, for he said that his father ‘settled near Helicon in a wretched hamlet, Ascra, which is miserable in winter, sultry in summer, and good at no season.’ But, as for Homer, you might almost say that every city with its inhabitants claims him as her son. Foremost are the men of Smyrna who say that he was the Son of Meles, the river of their town, by a nymph Cretheis, and that he was at first called Melesigenes. He was named Homer later, when he became blind, this being their usual epithet for such people. The Chians, on the other hand, bring forward evidence to show that he was their countryman, saying that there actually remain some of his descendants among them who are called Homeridae. The Colophonians even show the place where they declare that he began to compose when a schoolmaster, and say that his first work was the “Margites”.

As to his parents also, there is on all hands great disagreement.

Hellanicus and Cleanthes say his father was Maeon, but Eugaeon says Meles; Callicles is for Mnesagoras, Democritus of Troezen for Daemon, a merchant-trader. Some, again, say he was the son of Thamyras, but the Egyptians say of Menemachus, a priest-scribe, and there are even those who father him on Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. As for his mother, she is variously called Metis, Cretheis, Themista, and Eugnetho. Others say she was an Ithacan woman sold as a slave by the Phoenicians; other, Calliope the Muse; others again Polycasta, the daughter of Nestor.

Homer himself was called Meles or, according to different accounts, Melesigenes or Altes. Some authorities say he was called Homer, because his father was given as a hostage to the Persians by the men of Cyprus; others, because of his blindness; for amongst the Aeolians the blind are so called. We will set down, however, what we have heard to have been said by the Pythia concerning Homer in the time of the most sacred Emperor Hadrian. When the monarch inquired from what city Homer came, and whose son he was, the priestess delivered a response in hexameters after this fashion:

‘Do you ask me of the obscure race and country of the heavenly siren? Ithaca is his country, Telemachus his father, and Epicasta, Nestor’s daughter, the mother that bare him, a man by far the wisest of mortal kind.’ This we must most implicitly believe, the inquirer and the answerer being who they are — especially since the poet has so greatly glorified his grandfather in his works.

Now some say that he was earlier than Hesiod, others that he was younger and akin to him. They give his descent thus: Apollo and Aethusa, daughter of Poseidon, had a son Linus, to whom was born Pierus. From Pierus and the nymph Methone sprang Oeager; and from Oeager and Calliope Orpheus; from Orpheus, Dres; and from him, Eucles. The descent is continued through Iadmonides, Philoterpes, Euphemus, Epiphrades and Melanopus who had sons Dius and Apelles. Dius by Pycimede, the daughter of Apollo had two sons Hesiod and Perses; while Apelles begot Maeon who was the father of Homer by a daughter of the River Meles.

According to one account they flourished at the same time and even had a contest of skill at Chalcis in Euboea. For, they say, after Homer had composed the “Margites”, he went about from city to city as a minstrel, and coming to Delphi, inquired who he was and of what country? The Pythia answered:

‘The Isle of Ios is your mother’s country and it shall receive you dead; but beware of the riddle of the young children.’

Hearing this, it is said, he hesitated to go to Ios, and remained in the region where he was. Now about the same time Ganyctor was celebrating the funeral rites of his father Amphidamas, king of Euboea, and invited to the gathering not only all those who were famous for bodily strength and fleetness of foot, but also those who excelled in wit, promising them great rewards. And so, as the story goes, the two went to Chalcis and met by chance. The leading Chalcidians were judges together with Paneides, the brother of the dead king; and it is said that after a wonderful contest between the two poets, Hesiod won in the following manner: he came forward into the midst and put Homer one question after another, which Homer answered. Hesiod, then, began:

‘Homer, son of Meles, inspired with wisdom from heaven, come, tell me first what is best for mortal man?’

HOMER: ‘For men on earth ‘tis best never to be born at all; or being born, to pass through the gates of Hades with all speed.’

Hesiod then asked again:

‘Come, tell me now this also, godlike Homer: what think you in your heart is most delightsome to men?’

Homer answered:

‘When mirth reigns throughout the town, and feasters about the house, sitting in order, listen to a minstrel; when the tables beside them are laden with bread and meat, and a wine-bearer draws sweet drink from the mixing-bowl and fills the cups: this I think in my heart to be most delightsome.’

It is said that when Homer had recited these verses, they were so admired by the Greeks as to be called golden by them, and that even now at public sacrifices all the guests solemnly recite them before feasts and libations. Hesiod, however, was annoyed by Homer’s felicity and hurried on to pose him with hard questions. He therefore began with the following lines:

‘Come, Muse; sing not to me of things that are, or that shall be, or that were of old; but think of another song.’

Then Homer, wishing to escape from the impasse by an apt answer, replied: —

‘Never shall horses with clattering hoofs break chariots, striving for victory about the tomb of Zeus.’

Here again Homer had fairly met Hesiod, and so the latter turned to sentences of doubtful meaning : he recited many lines and required Homer to complete the sense of each appropriately. The first of the following verses is Hesiod’s and the next Homer’s: but sometimes Hesiod puts his question in two lines.

HESIOD: ‘Then they dined on the flesh of oxen and their horses’ necks— ‘

HOMER: ‘They unyoked dripping with sweat, when they had had enough of war.’

HESIOD: ‘And the Phrygians, who of all men are handiest at ships— ‘

HOMER: ‘To filch their dinner from pirates on the beach.’

HESIOD: ‘To shoot forth arrows against the tribes of cursed giants with his hands— ‘

HOMER: ‘Heracles unslung his curved bow from his shoulders.’

HESIOD: ‘This man is the son of a brave father and a weakling— ‘

HOMER: ‘Mother; for war is too stern for any woman.’

HESIOD: ‘But for you, your father and lady mother lay in love— ‘

HOMER: ‘When they begot you by the aid of golden Aphrodite.’

HESIOD: ‘But when she had been made subject in love, Artemis, who delights in arrows— ‘

HOMER: ‘Slew Callisto with a shot of her silver bow.’

HESIOD: ‘So they feasted all day long, taking nothing— ‘

HOMER: ‘From their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men, supplied them.’

HESIOD: ‘When they had feasted, they gathered among the glowing ashes the bones of the dead Zeus— ‘

HOMER: ‘Born Sarpedon, that bold and godlike man.’

HESIOD: ‘Now we have lingered thus about the plain of Simois, forth from the ships let us go our way, upon our shoulders— ‘

HOMER: ‘Having our hilted swords and long-helved spears.’

HESIOD: ‘Then the young heroes with their hands from the sea— ‘

HOMER: ‘Gladly and swiftly hauled out their fleet ship.’

HESIOD: ‘Then they came to Colchis and king Aeetes— ‘

HOMER: ‘They avoided; for they knew he was inhospitable and lawless.’

HESIOD: ‘Now when they had poured libations and deeply drunk, the surging sea— ‘

HOMER: ‘They were minded to traverse on well-built ships.’

HESIOD: ‘The Son of Atreus prayed greatly for them that they all might perish— ‘

HOMER: ‘At no time in the sea: and he opened his mouth said:’

HESIOD: ‘Eat, my guests, and drink, and may no one of you return home to his dear country— ‘

HOMER: ‘Distressed; but may you all reach home again unscathed.’

When Homer had met him fairly on every point Hesiod said:

‘Only tell me this thing that I ask: How many Achaeans went to Ilium with the sons of Atreus?’

Homer answered in a mathematical problem, thus:

‘There were fifty hearths, and at each hearth were fifty spits, and on each spit were fifty carcases, and there were thrice three hundred Achaeans to each joint.’

This is found to be an incredible number; for as there were fifty hearths, the number of spits is two thousand five hundred; and of carcasses, one hundred and twenty thousand...

Homer, then, having the advantage on every point, Hesiod was jealous and began again:

‘Homer, son of Meles, if indeed the Muses, daughters of great Zeus the most high, honour you as it is said, tell me a standard that is both best and worst for mortal-men; for I long to know it.’ Homer replied: ‘Hesiod, son of Dius, I am willing to tell you what you command, and very readily will I answer you. For each man to be a standard will I answer you. For each man to be a standard to himself is most excellent for the good, but for the bad it is the worst of all things. And now ask me whatever else your heart desires.’

HESIOD: ‘How would men best dwell in cities, and with what observances?’

HOMER: ‘By scorning to get unclean gain and if the good were honoured, but justice fell upon the unjust.’

HESIOD: ‘What is the best thing of all for a man to ask of the gods in prayer?’

HOMER: ‘That he may be always at peace with himself continually.’

HESIOD: ‘Can you tell me in briefest space what is best of all?’

HOMER: ‘A sound mind in a manly body, as I believe.’

HESIOD: ‘Of what effect are righteousness and courage?’

HOMER: ‘To advance the common good by private pains.’

HESIOD: ‘What is the mark of wisdom among men?’

HOMER: ‘To read aright the present, and to march with the occasion.’

HESIOD: ‘In what kind of matter is it right to trust in men?’

HOMER: ‘Where danger itself follows the action close.’

HESIOD: ‘What do men mean by happiness?’

HOMER: ‘Death after a life of least pain and greatest pleasure.’

After these verses had been spoken, all the Hellenes called for Homer to be crowned. But King Paneides bade each of them recite the finest passage from his own poems. Hesiod, therefore, began as follows:

‘When the Pleiads, the daughters of Atlas, begin to rise begin the harvest, and begin ploughing ere they set. For forty nights and days they are hidden, but appear again as the year wears round, when first the sickle is sharpened. This is the law of the plains and for those who dwell near the sea or live in the rich-soiled valleys, far from the wave-tossed deep: strip to sow, and strip to plough, and strip to reap when all things are in season.’

Then Homer:

‘The ranks stood firm about the two Aiantes, such that not even Ares would have scorned them had he met them, nor yet Athena who saves armies. For there the chosen best awaited the charge of the Trojans and noble Hector, making a fence of spears and serried shields. Shield closed with shield, and helm with helm, and each man with his fellow, and the peaks of their head-pieces with crests of horse-hair touched as they bent their heads: so close they stood together. The murderous battle bristled with the long, flesh-rending spears they held, and the flash of bronze from polished helms and new-burnished breast-plates and gleaming shields blinded the eyes. Very hard of heart would he have been, who could then have seen that strife with joy and felt no pang.’

Here, again, the Hellenes applauded Homer admiringly, so far did the verses exceed the ordinary level; and demanded that he should be adjudged the winner. But the king gave the crown to Hesiod, declaring that it was right that he who called upon men to follow peace and husbandry should have the prize rather than one who dwelt on war and slaughter. In this way, then, we are told, Hesiod gained the victory and received a brazen tripod which he dedicated to the Muses with this inscription:

‘Hesiod dedicated this tripod to the Muses of Helicon after he had conquered divine Homer at Chalcis in a contest of song.’

After the gathering was dispersed, Hesiod crossed to the mainland and went to Delphi to consult the oracle and to dedicate the first fruits of his victory to the god. They say that as he was approaching the temple, the prophetess became inspired and said:

‘Blessed is this man who serves my house, — Hesiod, who is honoured by the deathless Muses: surely his renown shall be as wide as the light of dawn is spread. But beware of the pleasant grove of Nemean Zeus; for there death’s end is destined to befall you.’

When Hesiod heard this oracle, he kept away from the Peloponnesus, supposing that the god meant the Nemea there; and coming to Oenoe in Locris, he stayed with Amphiphanes and Ganyetor the sons of Phegeus, thus unconsciously fulfilling the oracle; for all that region was called the sacred place of Nemean Zeus. He continued to stay a somewhat long time at Oenoe, until the young men, suspecting Hesiod of seducing their sister, killed him and cast his body into the sea which separates Achaea and Locris. On the third day, however, his body was brought to land by dolphins while some local feast of Ariadne was being held. Thereupon, all the people hurried to the shore, and recognized the body, lamented over it and buried it, and then began to look for the assassins. But these, fearing the anger of their countrymen, launched a fishing boat, and put out to sea for Crete: they had finished half their voyage when Zeus sank them with a thunderbolt, as Alcidamas states in his “Museum”. Eratosthenes, however, says in his “Hesiod” that Ctimenus and Antiphus, sons of Ganyetor, killed him for the reason already stated, and were sacrificed by Eurycles the seer to the gods of hospitality. He adds that the girl, sister of the above-named, hanged herself after she had been seduced, and that she was seduced by some stranger, Demodes by name, who was travelling with Hesiod, and who was also killed by the brothers. At a later time the men of Orchomenus removed his body as they were directed by an oracle, and buried him in their own country where they placed this inscription on his tomb:

‘Ascra with its many cornfields was his native land; but in death the land of the horse-driving Minyans holds the bones of Hesiod, whose renown is greatest among men of all who are judged by the test of wit.’

So much for Hesiod. But Homer, after losing the victory, went from place to place reciting his poems, and first of all the “Thebais” in seven thousand verses which begins: ‘Goddess, sing of parched Argos whence kings...’, and then the “Epigoni” in seven thousand verses beginning: ‘And now, Muses, let us begin to sing of men of later days’; for some say that these poems also are by Homer. Now Xanthus and Gorgus, son of Midas the king, heard his epics and invited him to compose a epitaph for the tomb of their father on which was a bronze figure of a maiden bewailing the death of Midas. He wrote the following lines: —

‘I am a maiden of bronze and sit upon the tomb of Midas. While water flows, and tall trees put forth leaves, and rivers swell, and the sea breaks on the shore; while the sun rises and shines and the bright moon also, ever remaining on this mournful tomb I tell the passer-by that Midas here lies buried.’

For these verses they gave him a silver bowl which he dedicated to Apollo at Delphi with this inscription: ‘Lord Phoebus, I, Homer, have given you a noble gift for the wisdom I have of you: do you ever grant me renown.’

After this he composed the “Odyssey” in twelve thousand verses, having previously written the “Iliad” in fifteen thousand five hundred verses . From Delphi, as we are told, he went to Athens and was entertained by Medon, king of the Athenians. And being one day in the council hall when it was cold and a fire was burning there, he drew off the following lines:

‘Children are a man’s crown, and towers of a city, horses are the ornament of a plain, and ships of the sea; and good it is to see a people seated in assembly. But with a blazing fire a house looks worthier upon a wintry day when the Son of Cronos sends down snow.’

From Athens he went on to Corinth, where he sang snatches of his poems and was received with distinction. Next he went to Argos and there recited these verses from the “Iliad”:

‘The sons of the Achaeans who held Argos and walled Tiryns, and Hermione and Asine which lie along a deep bay, and Troezen, and Eiones, and vine-clad Epidaurus, and the island of Aegina, and Mases, — these followed strong-voiced Diomedes, son of Tydeus, who had the spirit of his father the son of Oeneus, and Sthenelus, dear son of famous Capaneus. And with these two there went a third leader, Eurypylus, a godlike man, son of the lord Mecisteus, sprung of Talaus; but strong-voiced Diomedes was their chief leader. These men had eighty dark ships wherein were ranged men skilled in war, Argives with linen jerkins, very goads of war.’

This praise of their race by the most famous of all poets so exceedingly delighted the leading Argives, that they rewarded him with costly gifts and set up a brazen statue to him, decreeing that sacrifice should be offered to Homer daily, monthly, and yearly; and that another sacrifice should be sent to Chios every five years. This is the inscription they cut upon his statue:

‘This is divine Homer who by his sweet-voiced art honoured all proud Hellas, but especially the Argives who threw down the god-built walls of Troy to avenge rich-haired Helen. For this cause the people of a great city set his statue here and serve him with the honours of the deathless gods.’

After he had stayed for some time in Argos, he crossed over to Delos, to the great assembly, and there, standing on the altar of horns, he recited the “Hymn to Apollo”  which begins: ‘I will remember and not forget Apollo the far-shooter.’ When the hymn was ended, the Ionians made him a citizen of each one of their states, and the Delians wrote the poem on a whitened tablet and dedicated it in the temple of Artemis. The poet sailed to Ios, after the assembly was broken up, to join Creophylus, and stayed there some time, being now an old man. And, it is said, as he was sitting by the sea he asked some boys who were returning from fishing:

‘Sirs, hunters of deep-sea prey, have we caught anything?’

To this replied:

‘All that we caught, we left behind, and carry away all that we did not catch.’

Homer did not understand this reply and asked what they meant. They then explained that they had caught nothing in fishing, but had been catching their lice, and those of the lice which they caught, they left behind; but carried away in their clothes those which they did not catch. Hereupon Homer remembered the oracle and, perceiving that the end of his life had come composed his own epitaph. And while he was retiring from that place, he slipped in a clayey place and fell upon his side, and died, it is said, the third day after. He was buried in Ios, and this is his epitaph:

‘Here the earth covers the sacred head of divine Homer, the glorifier of hero-men.’

Orchomenus in Boeotia. Another tradition, first mentioned by Chersias of Orchomenus in the 7th century BC, claims that Hesiod lies buried at Orchomenus. According to Aristotle’s ‘Constitution of Orchomenus’, when the Thespians ravaged Ascra, the villagers sought refuge at Orchomenus, where, following the advice of an oracle, they collected the ashes of Hesiod and set them in a place of honour in their agora.