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Title: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica

Author: Hesiod

Translator: Hugh G. Evelyn-White

Release date: July 5, 2008 [eBook #348]
Most recently updated: January 12, 2020

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/348

Credits: Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and David Widger

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HESIOD, THE
HOMERIC HYMNS, AND HOMERICA ***

Hesiod, The Homeric
Hymns, and Homerica

by Homer and Hesiod

Contents

PREPARER’S NOTE
PREFACE

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

BIBLIOGRAPHY

HESIOD
HESIOD’S WORKS AND DAYS
THE DIVINATION BY BIRDS
THE ASTRONOMY
THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON

THE GREAT WORKS
THE IDAEAN DACTYLS
THE THEOGONY
THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE
THE SHIELD OF HERACLES
THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX
THE GREAT EOIAE
THE MELAMPODIA
THE AEGIMIUS
FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION
DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS

THE HOMERIC HYMNS
I. TO DIONYSUS
II. TO DEMETER
III. TO APOLLO
IV. TO HERMES
V. TO APHRODITE
VI. TO APHRODITE
VII. TO DIONYSUS
VIII. TO ARES
IX. TO ARTEMIS
X. TO APHRODITE
XI. TO ATHENA
XII. TO HERA
XIII. TO DEMETER
XIV. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS
XV. TO HERACLES THE LION-HEARTED
XVI. TO ASCLEPIUS
XVII. TO THE DIOSCURI
XVIII. TO HERMES
XIX. TO PAN

XX. TO HEPHAESTUS
XXI. TO APOLLO
XXII. TO POSEIDON
XXIII. TO THE SON OF CRONOS, MOST HIGH
XXIV. TO HESTIA
XXV. TO THE MUSES AND APOLLO
XXVI. TO DIONYSUS
XXVII. TO ARTEMIS
XXVIII. TO ATHENA
XXIX. TO HESTIA
XXX. TO EARTH THE MOTHER OF ALL
XXXI. TO HELIOS
XXXII. TO SELENE
XXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI

THE EPIGRAMS OF HOMER

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

HOMERICA
THE EXPEDITION OF AMPHIARAUS
THE TAKING OF OECHALIA

THE PHOCAIS
THE MARGITES
THE CERCOPES
THE BATTLE OF FROGS AND MICE

THE CONTEST OF HOMER AND HESIOD

ENDNOTES

This file contains translations of the following works:
Hesiod: Works and Days, The Theogony, fragments of The
Catalogues of Women and the Eoiae, The Shield of Heracles
(attributed to Hesiod), and fragments of various works
attributed to Hesiod.

Homer: The Homeric Hymns, The Epigrams of Homer (both
attributed to Homer).

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

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

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

PREPARER’S NOTE

In order to make this file more accessible to the average computer user,
the preparer has found it necessary to re-arrange some of the material. The
preparer takes full responsibility for his choice of arrangement.
A few endnotes have been added by the preparer, and some additions
have been supplied to the original endnotes of Mr. Evelyn-White’s. Where
this occurs I have noted the addition with my initials “DBK”. Some
endnotes, particularly those concerning textual variations in the ancient
Greek text, are here omitted.

PREFACE

This volume contains practically all that remains of the post-Homeric and
pre-academic epic poetry.
I have for the most part formed my own text. In the case of Hesiod I have
been able to use independent collations of several MSS. by Dr. W.H.D.
Rouse; otherwise I have depended on the apparatus criticus of the several
editions, especially that of Rzach (1902). The arrangement adopted in this
edition, by which the complete and fragmentary poems are restored to the
order in which they would probably have appeared had the Hesiodic corpus
survived intact, is unusual, but should not need apology; the true place for
the Catalogues (for example), fragmentary as they are, is certainly after the
Theogony.
In preparing the text of the Homeric Hymns my chief debt—and it is a
heavy one—is to the edition of Allen and Sikes (1904) and to the series of
articles in the Journal of Hellenic Studies (vols. xv. sqq.) by T.W. Allen. To
the same scholar and to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press I am greatly
indebted for permission to use the restorations of the Hymn to Demeter,
lines 387-401 and 462-470, printed in the Oxford Text of 1912.
Of the fragments of the Epic Cycle I have given only such as seemed to
possess distinct importance or interest, and in doing so have relied mostly
upon Kinkel’s collection and on the fifth volume of the Oxford Homer
(1912).
The texts of the Batrachomyomachia and of the Contest of Homer and
Hesiod are those of Baumeister and Flach respectively: where I have
diverged from these, the fact has been noted.
Owing to the circumstances of the present time I have been prevented
from giving to the Introduction that full revision which I should have
desired.

Hugh G. Evelyn-White,
Rampton, NR. Cambridge.
Sept. 9th, 1914.

INTRODUCTION

General
The early Greek epic—that is, poetry as a natural and popular, and not (as
it became later) an artificial and academic literary form—passed through
the usual three phases, of development, of maturity, and of decline.
No fragments which can be identified as belonging to the first period
survive to give us even a general idea of the history of the earliest epic, and
we are therefore thrown back upon the evidence of analogy from other
forms of literature and of inference from the two great epics which have
come down to us. So reconstructed, the earliest period appears to us as a
time of slow development in which the characteristic epic metre, diction,
and structure grew up slowly from crude elements and were improved until
the verge of maturity was reached.
The second period, which produced the Iliad and the Odyssey, needs no
description here: but it is very important to observe the effect of these
poems on the course of post-Homeric epic. As the supreme perfection and
universality of the Iliad and the Odyssey cast into oblivion whatever pre-
Homeric poets had essayed, so these same qualities exercised a paralysing
influence over the successors of Homer. If they continued to sing like their
great predecessor of romantic themes, they were drawn as by a kind of
magnetic attraction into the Homeric style and manner of treatment, and
became mere echoes of the Homeric voice: in a word, Homer had so
completely exhausted the epic genre, that after him further efforts were
doomed to be merely conventional. Only the rare and exceptional genius of
Vergil and Milton could use the Homeric medium without loss of
individuality: and this quality none of the later epic poets seem to have
possessed. Freedom from the domination of the great tradition could only
be found by seeking new subjects, and such freedom was really only
illusionary, since romantic subjects alone are suitable for epic treatment.

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

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

or

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

Secondly and thirdly we may ascribe the rise of the new epic to the
nature of the Boeotian people and, as already remarked, to a spirit of revolt
against the old epic. The Boeotians, people of the class of which Hesiod
represents himself to be the type, were essentially unromantic; their daily
needs marked the general limit of their ideals, and, as a class, they cared
little for works of fancy, for pathos, or for fine thought as such. To a people
of this nature the Homeric epos would be inacceptable, and the post-
Homeric epic, with its conventional atmosphere, its trite and hackneyed
diction, and its insincere sentiment, would be anathema. We can imagine,
therefore, that among such folk a settler, of Aeolic origin like Hesiod, who
clearly was well acquainted with the Ionian epos, would naturally see that
the only outlet for his gifts lay in applying epic poetry to new themes
acceptable to his hearers.
Though the poems of the Boeotian school 1102 were unanimously
assigned to Hesiod down to the age of Alexandrian criticism, they were
clearly neither the work of one man nor even of one period: some,
doubtless, were fraudulently fathered on him in order to gain currency; but
it is probable that most came to be regarded as his partly because of their
general character, and partly because the names of their real authors were
lost. One fact in this attribution is remarkable—the veneration paid to
Hesiod.

Life of Hesiod
Our information respecting Hesiod is derived in the main from notices
and allusions in the works attributed to him, and to these must be added
traditions concerning his death and burial gathered from later writers.
Hesiod’s father (whose name, by a perversion of Works and Days, 299
PERSE DION GENOS to PERSE, DION GENOS, was thought to have
been Dius) was a native of Cyme in Aeolis, where he was a seafaring trader
and, perhaps, also a farmer. He was forced by poverty to leave his native
place, and returned to continental Greece, where he settled at Ascra near
Thespiae in Boeotia (Works and Days, 636 ff.). Either in Cyme or Ascra,
two sons, Hesiod and Perses, were born to the settler, and these, after his
death, divided the farm between them. Perses, however, who is represented

as an idler and spendthrift, obtained and kept the larger share by bribing the
corrupt “lords” who ruled from Thespiae (Works and Days, 37-39). While
his brother wasted his patrimony and ultimately came to want (Works and
Days, 34 ff.), Hesiod lived a farmer’s life until, according to the very early
tradition preserved by the author of the Theogony (22-23), the Muses met
him as he was tending sheep on Mt. Helicon and “taught him a glorious
song”—doubtless the Works and Days. The only other personal reference is
to his victory in a poetical contest at the funeral games of Amphidamas at
Chalcis in Euboea, where he won the prize, a tripod, which he dedicated to
the Muses of Helicon (Works and Days, 651-9).
Before we go on to the story of Hesiod’s death, it will be well to inquire
how far the “autobiographical” notices can be treated as historical,
especially as many critics treat some, or all of them, as spurious. In the first
place attempts have been made to show that “Hesiod” is a significant name
and therefore fictitious: it is only necessary to mention Goettling’s
derivation from IEMI to ODOS (which would make ‘Hesiod’ mean the
‘guide’ in virtues and technical arts), and to refer to the pitiful attempts in
the Etymologicum Magnu (s.v. {H}ESIODUS), to show how prejudiced and
lacking even in plausibility such efforts are. It seems certain that “Hesiod”
stands as a proper name in the fullest sense. Secondly, Hesiod claims that
his father—if not he himself—came from Aeolis and settled in Boeotia.
There is fairly definite evidence to warrant our acceptance of this: the
dialect of the Works and Days is shown by Rzach 1103 to contain distinct
Aeolisms apart from those which formed part of the general stock of epic
poetry. And that this Aeolic speaking poet was a Boeotian of Ascra seems
even more certain, since the tradition is never once disputed, insignificant
though the place was, even before its destruction by the Thespians.
Again, Hesiod’s story of his relations with his brother Perses have been
treated with scepticism (see Murray, Anc. Gk. Literature, pp. 53-54): Perses,
it is urged, is clearly a mere dummy, set up to be the target for the poet’s
exhortations. On such a matter precise evidence is naturally not
forthcoming; but all probability is against the sceptical view. For 1) if the
quarrel between the brothers were a fiction, we should expect it to be
detailed at length and not noticed allusively and rather obscurely—as we
find it; 2) as MM. Croiset remark, if the poet needed a lay-figure the
ordinary practice was to introduce some mythological person—as, in fact, is
done in the Precepts of Chiron. In a word, there is no more solid ground for

treating Perses and his quarrel with Hesiod as fictitious than there would be
for treating Cyrnus, the friend of Theognis, as mythical.
Thirdly, there is the passage in the Theogony relating to Hesiod and the
Muses. It is surely an error to suppose that lines 22-35 all refer to Hesiod:
rather, the author of the Theogony tells the story of his own inspiration by
the same Muses who once taught Hesiod glorious song. The lines 22-3 are
therefore a very early piece of tradition about Hesiod, and though the
appearance of Muses must be treated as a graceful fiction, we find that a
writer, later than the Works and Days by perhaps no more than three-
quarters of a century, believed in the actuality of Hesiod and in his life as a
farmer or shepherd.
Lastly, there is the famous story of the contest in song at Chalcis. In later
times the modest version in the Works and Days was elaborated, first by
making Homer the opponent whom Hesiod conquered, while a later period
exercised its ingenuity in working up the story of the contest into the
elaborate form in which it still survives. Finally the contest, in which the
two poets contended with hymns to Apollo 1104, was transferred to Delos.
These developments certainly need no consideration: are we to say the same
of the passage in the Works and Days? Critics from Plutarch downwards
have almost unanimously rejected the lines 654-662, on the ground that
Hesiod’s Amphidamas is the hero of the Lelantine Wars between Chalcis
and Eretria, whose death may be placed circa 705 B.C.—a date which is
obviously too low for the genuine Hesiod. Nevertheless, there is much to be
said in defence of the passage. Hesiod’s claim in the Works and Days is
modest, since he neither pretends to have met Homer, nor to have sung in
any but an impromptu, local festival, so that the supposed interpolation
lacks a sufficient motive. And there is nothing in the context to show that
Hesiod’s Amphidamas is to be identified with that Amphidamas whom
Plutarch alone connects with the Lelantine War: the name may have been
borne by an earlier Chalcidian, an ancestor, perhaps, of the person to whom
Plutarch refers.
The story of the end of Hesiod may be told in outline. After the contest at
Chalcis, Hesiod went to Delphi and there was warned that the ‘issue of
death should overtake him in the fair grove of Nemean Zeus.’ Avoiding
therefore Nemea on the Isthmus of Corinth, to which he supposed the oracle
to refer, Hesiod retired to Oenoe in Locris where he was entertained by

Amphiphanes and Ganyetor, sons of a certain Phegeus. This place,
however, was also sacred to Nemean Zeus, and the poet, suspected by his
hosts of having seduced their sister 1105, was murdered there. His body, cast
into the sea, was brought to shore by dolphins and buried at Oenoe (or,
according to Plutarch, at Ascra): at a later time his bones were removed to
Orchomenus. The whole story is full of miraculous elements, and the
various authorities disagree on numerous points of detail. The tradition
seems, however, to be constant in declaring that Hesiod was murdered and
buried at Oenoe, and in this respect it is at least as old as the time of
Thucydides. In conclusion it may be worth while to add the graceful
epigram of Alcaeus of Messene (Palatine Anthology, vii 55).

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

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

I. “The Works and Days”
The poem consists of four main sections. (a) After the prelude, which
Pausanias failed to find in the ancient copy engraved on lead seen by him
on Mt. Helicon, comes a general exhortation to industry. It begins with the
allegory of the two Strifes, who stand for wholesome Emulation and
Quarrelsomeness respectively. Then by means of the Myth of Pandora the
poet shows how evil and the need for work first arose, and goes on to
describe the Five Ages of the World, tracing the gradual increase in evil,
and emphasizing the present miserable condition of the world, a condition
in which struggle is inevitable. Next, after the Fable of the Hawk and

Nightingale, which serves as a condemnation of violence and injustice, the
poet passes on to contrast the blessing which Righteousness brings to a
nation, and the punishment which Heaven sends down upon the violent, and
the section concludes with a series of precepts on industry and prudent
conduct generally. (b) The second section shows how a man may escape
want and misery by industry and care both in agriculture and in trading by
sea. Neither subject, it should be carefully noted, is treated in any way
comprehensively. (c) The third part is occupied with miscellaneous precepts
relating mostly to actions of domestic and everyday life and conduct which
have little or no connection with one another. (d) The final section is taken
up with a series of notices on the days of the month which are favourable or
unfavourable for agricultural and other operations.
It is from the second and fourth sections that the poem takes its name. At
first sight such a work seems to be a miscellany of myths, technical advice,
moral precepts, and folklore maxims without any unifying principle; and
critics have readily taken the view that the whole is a canto of fragments or
short poems worked up by a redactor. Very probably Hesiod used much
material of a far older date, just as Shakespeare used the Gesta Romanorum,
old chronicles, and old plays; but close inspection will show that the Works
and Days has a real unity and that the picturesque title is somewhat
misleading. The poem has properly no technical object at all, but is moral:
its real aim is to show men how best to live in a difficult world. So viewed
the four seemingly independent sections will be found to be linked together
in a real bond of unity. Such a connection between the first and second
sections is easily seen, but the links between these and the third and fourth
are no less real: to make life go tolerably smoothly it is most important to
be just and to know how to win a livelihood; but happiness also largely
depends on prudence and care both in social and home life as well, and not
least on avoidance of actions which offend supernatural powers and bring
ill-luck. And finally, if your industry is to be fruitful, you must know what
days are suitable for various kinds of work. This moral aim—as opposed to
the currently accepted technical aim of the poem—explains the otherwise
puzzling incompleteness of the instructions on farming and seafaring.
Of the Hesiodic poems similar in character to the Works and Days, only
the scantiest fragments survive. One at least of these, the Divination by
Birds, was, as we know from Proclus, attached to the end of the Works until
it was rejected by Apollonius Rhodius: doubtless it continued the same

theme of how to live, showing how man can avoid disasters by attending to
the omens to be drawn from birds. It is possible that the Astronomy or
Astrology (as Plutarch calls it) was in turn appended to the Divination. It
certainly gave some account of the principal constellations, their dates of
rising and setting, and the legends connected with them, and probably
showed how these influenced human affairs or might be used as guides. The
Precepts of Chiron was a didactic poem made up of moral and practical
precepts, resembling the gnomic sections of the Works and Days, addressed
by the Centaur Chiron to his pupil Achilles. Even less is known of the poem
called the Great Works: the title implies that it was similar in subject to the
second section of the Works and Days, but longer. Possible references in
Roman writers 1106 indicate that among the subjects dealt with were the
cultivation of the vine and olive and various herbs. The inclusion of the
judgment of Rhadamanthys (frag. 1): “If a man sow evil, he shall reap evil,”
indicates a gnomic element, and the note by Proclus 1107 on Works and
Days 126 makes it likely that metals also were dealt with. It is therefore
possible that another lost poem, the Idaean Dactyls, which dealt with the
discovery of metals and their working, was appended to, or even was a part
of the Great Works, just as the Divination by Birds was appended to the
Works and Days.

II. The Genealogical Poems
The only complete poem of the genealogical group is the Theogony,
which traces from the beginning of things the descent and vicissitudes of
the families of the gods. Like the Works and Days this poem has no
dramatic plot; but its unifying principle is clear and simple. The gods are
classified chronologically: as soon as one generation is catalogued, the poet
goes on to detail the offspring of each member of that generation.
Exceptions are only made in special cases, as the Sons of Iapetus (ll. 507-
616) whose place is accounted for by their treatment by Zeus. The chief
landmarks in the poem are as follows: after the first 103 lines, which
contain at least three distinct preludes, three primeval beings are introduced,
Chaos, Earth, and Eros—here an indefinite reproductive influence. Of these
three, Earth produces Heaven to whom she bears the Titans, the Cyclopes
and the hundred-handed giants. The Titans, oppressed by their father, revolt
at the instigation of Earth, under the leadership of Cronos, and as a result

Heaven and Earth are separated, and Cronos reigns over the universe.
Cronos knowing that he is destined to be overcome by one of his children,
swallows each one of them as they are born, until Zeus, saved by Rhea,
grows up and overcomes Cronos in some struggle which is not described.
Cronos is forced to vomit up the children he had swallowed, and these with
Zeus divide the universe between them, like a human estate. Two events
mark the early reign of Zeus, the war with the Titans and the overthrow of
Typhoeus, and as Zeus is still reigning the poet can only go on to give a list
of gods born to Zeus by various goddesses. After this he formally bids
farewell to the cosmic and Olympian deities and enumerates the sons born
of goddess to mortals. The poem closes with an invocation of the Muses to
sing of the “tribe of women”.
This conclusion served to link the Theogony to what must have been a
distinct poem, the Catalogues of Women. This work was divided into four
(Suidas says five) books, the last one (or two) of which was known as the
Eoiae and may have been again a distinct poem: the curious title will be
explained presently. The Catalogues proper were a series of genealogies
which traced the Hellenic race (or its more important peoples and families)
from a common ancestor. The reason why women are so prominent is
obvious: since most families and tribes claimed to be descended from a god,
the only safe clue to their origin was through a mortal woman beloved by
that god; and it has also been pointed out that mutterrecht still left its traces
in northern Greece in historical times.
The following analysis (after Marckscheffel) 1108 will show the principle
of its composition. From Prometheus and Pronoia sprang Deucalion and
Pyrrha, the only survivors of the deluge, who had a son Hellen (frag. 1), the
reputed ancestor of the whole Hellenic race. From the daughters of
Deucalion sprang Magnes and Macedon, ancestors of the Magnesians and
Macedonians, who are thus represented as cousins to the true Hellenic
stock. Hellen had three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, parents of the
Dorian, Ionic and Aeolian races, and the offspring of these was then
detailed. In one instance a considerable and characteristic section can be
traced from extant fragments and notices: Salmoneus, son of Aeolus, had a
daughter Tyro who bore to Poseidon two sons, Pelias and Neleus; the latter
of these, king of Pylos, refused Heracles purification for the murder of
Iphitus, whereupon Heracles attacked and sacked Pylos, killing amongst the
other sons of Neleus Periclymenus, who had the power of changing himself

into all manner of shapes. From this slaughter Neleus alone escaped (frags.
13, and 10-12). This summary shows the general principle of arrangement
of the Catalogues: each line seems to have been dealt with in turn, and the
monotony was relieved as far as possible by a brief relation of famous
adventures connected with any of the personages—as in the case of
Atalanta and Hippomenes (frag. 14). Similarly the story of the Argonauts
appears from the fragments (37-42) to have been told in some detail.
This tendency to introduce romantic episodes led to an important
development. Several poems are ascribed to Hesiod, such as the
Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis, the Descent of Theseus into Hades, or
the Circuit of the Earth (which must have been connected with the story of
Phineus and the Harpies, and so with the Argonaut-legend), which yet seem
to have belonged to the Catalogues. It is highly probable that these poems
were interpolations into the Catalogues expanded by later poets from more
summary notices in the genuine Hesiodic work and subsequently detached
from their contexts and treated as independent. This is definitely known to
be true of the Shield of Heracles, the first 53 lines of which belong to the
fourth book of the Catalogues, and almost certainly applies to other
episodes, such as the Suitors of Helen 1109, the Daughters of Leucippus, and
the Marriage of Ceyx, which last Plutarch mentions as “interpolated in the
works of Hesiod.”
To the Catalogues, as we have said, was appended another work, the
Eoiae. The title seems to have arisen in the following way 1110: the
Catalogues probably ended (ep. Theogony 963 ff.) with some such passage
as this: “But now, ye Muses, sing of the tribes of women with whom the
Sons of Heaven were joined in love, women pre-eminent above their
fellows in beauty, such as was Niobe (?).” Each succeeding heroine was
then introduced by the formula “Or such as was...” (cp. frags. 88, 92, etc.).
A large fragment of the Eoiae is extant at the beginning of the Shield of
Heracles, which may be mentioned here. The “supplement” (ll. 57-480) is
nominally Heracles and Cycnus, but the greater part is taken up with an
inferior description of the shield of Heracles, in imitation of the Homeric
shield of Achilles (Iliad xviii. 478 ff.). Nothing shows more clearly the
collapse of the principles of the Hesiodic school than this ultimate servile
dependence upon Homeric models.

At the close of the Shield Heracles goes on to Trachis to the house of
Ceyx, and this warning suggests that the Marriage of Ceyx may have come
immediately after the ‘Or such as was’ of Alcmena in the Eoiae: possibly
Halcyone, the wife of Ceyx, was one of the heroines sung in the poem, and
the original section was “developed” into the Marriage, although what form
the poem took is unknown.
Next to the Eoiae and the poems which seemed to have been developed
from it, it is natural to place the Great Eoiae. This, again, as we know from
fragments, was a list of heroines who bare children to the gods: from the
title we must suppose it to have been much longer that the simple Eoiae, but
its extent is unknown. Lehmann, remarking that the heroines are all
Boeotian and Thessalian (while the heroines of the Catalogues belong to all
parts of the Greek world), believes the author to have been either a
Boeotian or Thessalian.
Two other poems are ascribed to Hesiod. Of these the Aegimius (also
ascribed by Athenaeus to Cercops of Miletus), is thought by Valckenaer to
deal with the war of Aegimus against the Lapithae and the aid furnished to
him by Heracles, and with the history of Aegimius and his sons. Otto
Muller suggests that the introduction of Thetis and of Phrixus (frags. 1-2) is
to be connected with notices of the allies of the Lapithae from Phthiotis and
Iolchus, and that the story of Io was incidental to a narrative of Heracles’
expedition against Euboea. The remaining poem, the Melampodia, was a
work in three books, whose plan it is impossible to recover. Its subject,
however, seems to have been the histories of famous seers like Mopsus,
Calchas, and Teiresias, and it probably took its name from Melampus, the
most famous of them all.

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

the digamma is still living, it is obviously growing weak, and is by no
means uniformly effective.
(2) On the other hand while tradition steadily puts the Cyclic poets at
various dates from 776 B.C. downwards, it is equally consistent in
regarding Homer and Hesiod as “prehistoric”. Herodotus indeed puts both
poets 400 years before his own time; that is, at about 830-820 B.C., and the
evidence stated above points to the middle of the ninth century as the
probable date for the Works and Days. The Theogony might be tentatively
placed a century later; and the Catalogues and Eoiae are again later, but not
greatly later, than the Theogony: the Shield of Heracles may be ascribed to
the later half of the seventh century, but there is not evidence enough to
show whether the other “developed” poems are to be regarded as of a date
so low as this.

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

One gnaws his foot by his fireless hearth in his cheerless house’; to cut
one’s nails is ‘to sever the withered from the quick upon that which has five
branches’; similarly the burglar is the ‘day-sleeper’, and the serpent is the
‘hairless one’. Very similar is his reference to seasons through what happens
or is done in that season: ‘when the House-carrier, fleeing the Pleiades,
climbs up the plants from the earth’, is the season for harvesting; or ‘when
the artichoke flowers and the clicking grass-hopper, seated in a tree, pours
down his shrill song’, is the time for rest.
Hesiod’s charm lies in his child-like and sincere naivete, in his unaffected
interest in and picturesque view of nature and all that happens in nature.
These qualities, it is true, are those pre-eminently of the Works and Days:
the literary values of the Theogony are of a more technical character, skill in
ordering and disposing long lists of names, sure judgment in seasoning a
monotonous subject with marvellous incidents or episodes, and no mean
imagination in depicting the awful, as is shown in the description of
Tartarus (ll. 736-745). Yet it remains true that Hesiod’s distinctive title to a
high place in Greek literature lies in the very fact of his freedom from
classic form, and his grave, and yet child-like, outlook upon his world.

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

Ephesus, at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. At a later time the term
Cycle, “round” or “course”, was given to this collection.
Of all this mass of epic poetry only the scantiest fragments survive; but
happily Photius has preserved to us an abridgment of the synopsis made of
each poem of the “Trojan Cycle” by Proclus, i.e. Eutychius Proclus of
Sicca.
The pre-Trojan poems of the Cycle may be noticed first. The
Titanomachy, ascribed both to Eumelus of Corinth and to Arctinus of
Miletus, began with a kind of Theogony which told of the union of Heaven
and Earth and of their offspring the Cyclopes and the Hundred-handed
Giants. How the poem proceeded we have no means of knowing, but we
may suppose that in character it was not unlike the short account of the
Titan War found in the Hesiodic Theogony (617 ff.).
What links bound the Titanomachy to the Theben Cycle is not clear. This
latter group was formed of three poems, the Story of Oedipus, the Thebais,
and the Epigoni. Of the Oedipodea practically nothing is known, though on
the assurance of Athenaeus (vii. 277 E) that Sophocles followed the Epic
Cycle closely in the plots of his plays, we may suppose that in outline the
story corresponded closely to the history of Oedipus as it is found in the
Oedipus Tyrannus. The Thebais seems to have begun with the origin of the
fatal quarrel between Eteocles and Polyneices in the curse called down
upon them by their father in his misery. The story was thence carried down
to the end of the expedition under Polyneices, Adrastus and Amphiarus
against Thebes. The Epigoni (ascribed to Antimachus of Teos) recounted
the expedition of the “After-Born” against Thebes, and the sack of the city.

The Trojan Cycle
Six epics with the Iliad and the Odyssey made up the Trojan Cycle—The
Cyprian Lays, the Iliad, the Aethiopis, the Little Iliad, the Sack of Troy, the
Returns, the Odyssey, and the Telegony.
It has been assumed in the foregoing pages that the poems of the Trojan
Cycle are later than the Homeric poems; but, as the opposite view has been
held, the reasons for this assumption must now be given. (1) Tradition puts
Homer and the Homeric poems proper back in the ages before
chronological history began, and at the same time assigns the purely Cyclic

poems to definite authors who are dated from the first Olympiad (776 B.C.)
downwards. This tradition cannot be purely arbitrary. (2) The Cyclic poets
(as we can see from the abstract of Proclus) were careful not to trespass
upon ground already occupied by Homer. Thus, when we find that in the
Returns all the prominent Greek heroes except Odysseus are accounted for,
we are forced to believe that the author of this poem knew the Odyssey and
judged it unnecessary to deal in full with that hero’s adventures. 1112 In a
word, the Cyclic poems are “written round” the Iliad and the Odyssey. (3)
The general structure of these epics is clearly imitative. As M.M. Croiset
remark, the abusive Thersites in the Aethiopis is clearly copied from the
Thersites of the Iliad; in the same poem Antilochus, slain by Memnon and
avenged by Achilles, is obviously modelled on Patroclus. (4) The
geographical knowledge of a poem like the Returns is far wider and more
precise than that of the Odyssey. (5) Moreover, in the Cyclic poems epic is
clearly degenerating morally—if the expression may be used. The chief
greatness of the Iliad is in the character of the heroes Achilles and Hector
rather than in the actual events which take place: in the Cyclic writers facts
rather than character are the objects of interest, and events are so packed
together as to leave no space for any exhibition of the play of moral forces.
All these reasons justify the view that the poems with which we now have
to deal were later than the Iliad and Odyssey, and if we must recognize the
possibility of some conventionality in the received dating, we may feel
confident that it is at least approximately just.
The earliest of the post-Homeric epics of Troy are apparently the
Aethiopis and the Sack of Ilium, both ascribed to Arctinus of Miletus who is
said to have flourished in the first Olympiad (776 B.C.). He set himself to
finish the tale of Troy, which, so far as events were concerned, had been left
half-told by Homer, by tracing the course of events after the close of the
Iliad. The Aethiopis thus included the coming of the Amazon Penthesilea to
help the Trojans after the fall of Hector and her death, the similar arrival
and fall of the Aethiopian Memnon, the death of Achilles under the arrow of
Paris, and the dispute between Odysseus and Aias for the arms of Achilles.
The Sack of Ilium 1113 as analysed by Proclus was very similar to Vergil’s
version in Aeneid ii, comprising the episodes of the wooden horse, of
Laocoon, of Sinon, the return of the Achaeans from Tenedos, the actual
Sack of Troy, the division of spoils and the burning of the city.

Lesches or Lescheos (as Pausanias calls him) of Pyrrha or Mitylene is
dated at about 660 B.C. In his Little Iliad he undertook to elaborate the Sack
as related by Arctinus. His work included the adjudgment of the arms of
Achilles to Odysseus, the madness of Aias, the bringing of Philoctetes from
Lemnos and his cure, the coming to the war of Neoptolemus who slays
Eurypylus, son of Telephus, the making of the wooden horse, the spying of
Odysseus and his theft, along with Diomedes, of the Palladium: the analysis
concludes with the admission of the wooden horse into Troy by the Trojans.
It is known, however (Aristotle, Poetics, xxiii; Pausanias, x, 25-27), that the
Little Iliad also contained a description of the Sack of Troy. It is probable
that this and other superfluous incidents disappeared after the Alexandrian
arrangement of the poems in the Cycle, either as the result of some later
recension, or merely through disuse. Or Proclus may have thought it
unnecessary to give the accounts by Lesches and Arctinus of the same
incident.
The Cyprian Lays, ascribed to Stasinus of Cyprus 1114 (but also to
Hegesinus of Salamis) was designed to do for the events preceding the
action of the Iliad what Arctinus had done for the later phases of the Trojan
War. The Cypria begins with the first causes of the war, the purpose of Zeus
to relieve the overburdened earth, the apple of discord, the rape of Helen.
Then follow the incidents connected with the gathering of the Achaeans and
their ultimate landing in Troy; and the story of the war is detailed up to the
quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon with which the Iliad begins.
These four poems rounded off the story of the Iliad, and it only remained
to connect this enlarged version with the Odyssey. This was done by means
of the Returns, a poem in five books ascribed to Agias or Hegias of
Troezen, which begins where the Sack of Troy ends. It told of the dispute
between Agamemnon and Menelaus, the departure from Troy of Menelaus,
the fortunes of the lesser heroes, the return and tragic death of Agamemnon,
and the vengeance of Orestes on Aegisthus. The story ends with the return
home of Menelaus, which brings the general narrative up to the beginning
of the Odyssey.
But the Odyssey itself left much untold: what, for example, happened in
Ithaca after the slaying of the suitors, and what was the ultimate fate of
Odysseus? The answer to these questions was supplied by the Telegony, a
poem in two books by Eugammon of Cyrene (fl. 568 B.C.). It told of the

adventures of Odysseus in Thesprotis after the killing of the Suitors, of his
return to Ithaca, and his death at the hands of Telegonus, his son by Circe.
The epic ended by disposing of the surviving personages in a double
marriage, Telemachus wedding Circe, and Telegonus Penelope.
The end of the Cycle marks also the end of the Heroic Age.

The Homeric Hymns
The collection of thirty-three Hymns, ascribed to Homer, is the last
considerable work of the Epic School, and seems, on the whole, to be later
than the Cyclic poems. It cannot be definitely assigned either to the Ionian
or Continental schools, for while the romantic element is very strong, there
is a distinct genealogical interest; and in matters of diction and style the
influences of both Hesiod and Homer are well-marked. The date of the
formation of the collection as such is unknown. Diodorus Siculus (temp.
Augustus) is the first to mention such a body of poetry, and it is likely
enough that this is, at least substantially, the one which has come down to
us. Thucydides quotes the Delian Hymn to Apollo, and it is possible that the
Homeric corpus of his day also contained other of the more important
hymns. Conceivably the collection was arranged in the Alexandrine period.
Thucydides, in quoting the Hymn to Apollo, calls it PROOIMION, which
ordinarily means a “prelude” chanted by a rhapsode before recitation of a
lay from Homer, and such hymns as Nos. vi, xxxi, xxxii, are clearly
preludes in the strict sense; in No. xxxi, for example, after celebrating
Helios, the poet declares he will next sing of the “race of mortal men, the
demi-gods”. But it may fairly be doubted whether such Hymns as those to
Demeter (ii), Apollo (iii), Hermes (iv), Aphrodite (v), can have been real
preludes, in spite of the closing formula “and now I will pass on to another
hymn”. The view taken by Allen and Sikes, amongst other scholars, is
doubtless right, that these longer hymns are only technically preludes and
show to what disproportionate lengths a simple literacy form can be
developed.
The Hymns to Pan (xix), to Dionysus (xxvi), to Hestia and Hermes
(xxix), seem to have been designed for use at definite religious festivals,
apart from recitations. With the exception perhaps of the Hymn to Ares

(viii), no item in the collection can be regarded as either devotional or
liturgical.
The Hymn is doubtless a very ancient form; but if no example of extreme
antiquity survive this must be put down to the fact that until the age of
literary consciousness, such things are not preserved.
First, apparently, in the collection stood the Hymn to Dionysus, of which
only two fragments now survive. While it appears to have been a hymn of
the longer type 1115, we have no evidence to show either its scope or date.
The Hymn to Demeter, extant only in the MS. discovered by Matthiae at
Moscow, describes the seizure of Persephone by Hades, the grief of
Demeter, her stay at Eleusis, and her vengeance on gods and men by
causing famine. In the end Zeus is forced to bring Persephone back from
the lower world; but the goddess, by the contriving of Hades, still remains
partly a deity of the lower world. In memory of her sorrows Demeter
establishes the Eleusinian mysteries (which, however, were purely agrarian
in origin).
This hymn, as a literary work, is one of the finest in the collection. It is
surely Attic or Eleusinian in origin. Can we in any way fix its date? Firstly,
it is certainly not later than the beginning of the sixth century, for it makes
no mention of Iacchus, and the Dionysiac element was introduced at Eleusis
at about that period. Further, the insignificance of Triptolemus and
Eumolpus point to considerable antiquity, and the digamma is still active.
All these considerations point to the seventh century as the probable date of
the hymn.
The Hymn to Apollo consists of two parts, which beyond any doubt were
originally distinct, a Delian hymn and a Pythian hymn. The Delian hymn
describes how Leto, in travail with Apollo, sought out a place in which to
bear her son, and how Apollo, born in Delos, at once claimed for himself
the lyre, the bow, and prophecy. This part of the existing hymn ends with an
encomium of the Delian festival of Apollo and of the Delian choirs. The
second part celebrates the founding of Pytho (Delphi) as the oracular seat of
Apollo. After various wanderings the god comes to Telphus, near Haliartus,
but is dissuaded by the nymph of the place from settling there and urged to
go on to Pytho where, after slaying the she-dragon who nursed Typhaon, he
builds his temple. After the punishment of Telphusa for her deceit in giving
him no warning of the dragoness at Pytho, Apollo, in the form of a dolphin,

brings certain Cretan shipmen to Delphi to be his priests; and the hymn
ends with a charge to these men to behave orderly and righteously.
The Delian part is exclusively Ionian and insular both in style and
sympathy; Delos and no other is Apollo’s chosen seat: but the second part is
as definitely continental; Delos is ignored and Delphi alone is the important
centre of Apollo’s worship. From this it is clear that the two parts need not
be of one date—The first, indeed, is ascribed (Scholiast on Pindar Nem. ii,
2) to Cynaethus of Chios (fl. 504 B.C.), a date which is obviously far too
low; general considerations point rather to the eighth century. The second
part is not later than 600 B.C.; for (1) the chariot-races at Pytho, which
commenced in 586 B.C., are unknown to the writer of the hymn, (2) the
temple built by Trophonius and Agamedes for Apollo (ll. 294-299) seems to
have been still standing when the hymn was written, and this temple was
burned in 548. We may at least be sure that the first part is a Chian work,
and that the second was composed by a continental poet familiar with
Delphi.
The Hymn to Hermes differs from others in its burlesque, quasi-comic
character, and it is also the best-known of the Hymns to English readers in
consequence of Shelley’s translation.
After a brief narrative of the birth of Hermes, the author goes on to show
how he won a place among the gods. First the new-born child found a
tortoise and from its shell contrived the lyre; next, with much cunning
circumstance, he stole Apollo’s cattle and, when charged with the theft by
Apollo, forced that god to appear in undignified guise before the tribunal of
Zeus. Zeus seeks to reconcile the pair, and Hermes by the gift of the lyre
wins Apollo’s friendship and purchases various prerogatives, a share in
divination, the lordship of herds and animals, and the office of messenger
from the gods to Hades.
The Hymn is hard to date. Hermes’ lyre has seven strings and the
invention of the seven-stringed lyre is ascribed to Terpander (flor. 676
B.C.). The hymn must therefore be later than that date, though Terpander,
according to Weir Smyth 1116, may have only modified the scale of the lyre;
yet while the burlesque character precludes an early date, this feature is far
removed, as Allen and Sikes remark, from the silliness of the Battle of the
Frogs and Mice, so that a date in the earlier part of the sixth century is most
probable.

The Hymn to Aphrodite is not the least remarkable, from a literary point
of view, of the whole collection, exhibiting as it does in a masterly manner
a divine being as the unwilling victim of an irresistible force. It tells how all
creatures, and even the gods themselves, are subject to the will of
Aphrodite, saving only Artemis, Athena, and Hestia; how Zeus to humble
her pride of power caused her to love a mortal, Anchises; and how the
goddess visited the hero upon Mt. Ida. A comparison of this work with the
Lay of Demodocus (Odyssey viii, 266 ff.), which is superficially similar,
will show how far superior is the former in which the goddess is but a
victim to forces stronger than herself. The lines (247-255) in which
Aphrodite tells of her humiliation and grief are specially noteworthy.
There are only general indications of date. The influence of Hesiod is
clear, and the hymn has almost certainly been used by the author of the
Hymn to Demeter, so that the date must lie between these two periods, and
the seventh century seems to be the latest date possible.
The Hymn to Dionysus relates how the god was seized by pirates and
how with many manifestations of power he avenged himself on them by
turning them into dolphins. The date is widely disputed, for while Ludwich
believes it to be a work of the fourth or third century, Allen and Sikes
consider a sixth or seventh century date to be possible. The story is figured
in a different form on the reliefs from the choragic monument of Lysicrates,
now in the British Museum 1117.
Very different in character is the Hymn to Ares, which is Orphic in
character. The writer, after lauding the god by detailing his attributes, prays
to be delivered from feebleness and weakness of soul, as also from impulses
to wanton and brutal violence.
The only other considerable hymn is that to Pan, which describes how he
roams hunting among the mountains and thickets and streams, how he
makes music at dusk while returning from the chase, and how he joins in
dancing with the nymphs who sing the story of his birth. This, beyond most
works of Greek literature, is remarkable for its fresh and spontaneous love
of wild natural scenes.
The remaining hymns are mostly of the briefest compass, merely hailing
the god to be celebrated and mentioning his chief attributes. The Hymns to
Hermes (xviii), to the Dioscuri (xvii), and to Demeter (xiii) are mere
abstracts of the longer hymns iv, xxxiii, and ii.

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

The Burlesque Poems
To Homer were popularly ascribed certain burlesque poems in which
Aristotle (Poetics iv) saw the germ of comedy. Most interesting of these,
were it extant, would be the Margites. The hero of the epic is at once
sciolist and simpleton, “knowing many things, but knowing them all badly”.
It is unfortunately impossible to trace the plan of the poem, which
presumably detailed the adventures of this unheroic character: the metre
used was a curious mixture of hexametric and iambic lines. The date of
such a work cannot be high: Croiset thinks it may belong to the period of
Archilochus (c. 650 B.C.), but it may well be somewhat later.
Another poem, of which we know even less, is the Cercopes. These
Cercopes (‘Monkey-Men’) were a pair of malignant dwarfs who went about
the world mischief-making. Their punishment by Heracles is represented on
one of the earlier metopes from Selinus. It would be idle to speculate as to
the date of this work.
Finally there is the Battle of the Frogs and Mice. Here is told the story of
the quarrel which arose between the two tribes, and how they fought, until
Zeus sent crabs to break up the battle. It is a parody of the warlike epic, but
has little in it that is really comic or of literary merit, except perhaps the list

of quaint arms assumed by the warriors. The text of the poem is in a chaotic
condition, and there are many interpolations, some of Byzantine date.
Though popularly ascribed to Homer, its real author is said by Suidas to
have been Pigres, a Carian, brother of Artemisia, ‘wife of Mausolus’, who
distinguished herself at the battle of Salamis.
Suidas is confusing the two Artemisias, but he may be right in attributing
the poem to about 480 B.C.

The Contest of Homer and Hesiod
This curious work dates in its present form from the lifetime or shortly
after the death of Hadrian, but seems to be based in part on an earlier
version by the sophist Alcidamas (c. 400 B.C.). Plutarch (Conviv. Sept.
Sap., 40) uses an earlier (or at least a shorter) version than that which we
possess 1118. The extant Contest, however, has clearly combined with the
original document much other ill-digested matter on the life and descent of
Homer, probably drawing on the same general sources as does the
Herodotean Life of Homer. Its scope is as follows: (1) the descent (as
variously reported) and relative dates of Homer and Hesiod; (2) their
poetical contest at Chalcis; (3) the death of Hesiod; (4) the wanderings and
fortunes of Homer, with brief notices of the circumstances under which his
reputed works were composed, down to the time of his death.
The whole tract is, of course, mere romance; its only values are (1) the
insight it give into ancient speculations about Homer; (2) a certain amount
of definite information about the Cyclic poems; and (3) the epic fragments
included in the stichomythia of the Contest proper, many of which—did we
possess the clue—would have to be referred to poems of the Epic Cycle.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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

Works and Days:—
S Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1090.
A Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).
B Geneva, Naville Papyri Pap. 94 (6th cent.).
C Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2771 (11th cent.).
D Florence, Laur. xxxi 39 (12th cent.).
E Messina, Univ. Lib. Preexistens 11 (12th-13th cent.).
F Rome, Vatican 38 (14th cent.).
G Venice, Marc. ix 6 (14th cent.).
H Florence, Laur. xxxi 37 (14th cent.).
I Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).
K Florence, Laur. xxxii 2 (14th cent.).
L Milan, Ambros. G 32 sup. (14th cent.).
M Florence, Bibl. Riccardiana 71 (15th cent.).
N Milan, Ambros. J 15 sup. (15th cent.).
O Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2773 (14th cent.).

P Cambridge, Trinity College (Gale MS.), O.9.27 (13th-14th cent.).
Q Rome, Vatican 1332 (14th cent.).
These MSS. are divided by Rzach into the following families, issuing
from a common original:—
Ωa = C
Ωb = F, G, H
Ψa = D
Ψb = I ,K, L, M
Φa = E
Φb = N, O, P, Q

Theogony:—
N Manchester, Rylands GK. Papyri No. 54 (1st cent. B.C.—1st cent.
A.D.).
O Oxyrhynchus Papyri 873 (3rd cent.).
A Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. (papyrus) 1099 (4th-5th cent.).
B London, British Museam clix (4th cent.).
R Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-9 (4th cent.).
C Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).
D Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).
E Florence, Laur., Conv. suppr. 158 (14th cent.).
F Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833 (15th cent.).
G Rome, Vatican 915 (14th cent.).
H Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2772 (14th cent.).
I Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).
K Venice, Marc. ix 6 (15th cent.).
L Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2708 (15th cent.).
These MSS. are divided into two families:
Ωa = C,D
Ωb = E, F
Ωc = G, H, I

Ψ = K, L

Shield of Heracles:—
P Oxyrhynchus Papyri 689 (2nd cent.).
A Vienna, Rainer Papyri L.P. 21-29 (4th cent.).
Q Berlin Papyri, 9774 (1st cent.).
B Paris, Bibl. Nat., Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).
C Paris, Bibl. Nat., Suppl. Graec. 663 (12th cent.).
D Milan, Ambros. C 222 (13th cent.).
E Florence, Laur. xxxii 16 (13th cent.).
F Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2773 (14th cent.).
G Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2772 (14th cent.).
H Florence, Laur. xxxi 32 (15th cent.).
I London, British Museam Harleianus (14th cent.).
K Rome, Bibl. Casanat. 356 (14th cent.)
L Florence, Laur. Conv. suppr. 158 (14th cent.).
M Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833 (15th cent.).
These MSS. belong to two families:
Ωa = B, C, D, F
Ωb = G, H, I
Ψa = E
Ψb = K, L, M
To these must be added two MSS. of mixed family:
N Venice, Marc. ix 6 (14th cent.).
O Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2708 (15th cent.).

Editions of Hesiod:—
Demetrius Chalcondyles, Milan (?) 1493 (?) (editio princeps, containing,
however, only the Works and Days).
Aldus Manutius (Aldine edition), Venice, 1495 (complete works).

Juntine Editions, 1515 and 1540.
Trincavelli, Venice, 1537 (with scholia).
Of modern editions, the following may be noticed:—
Gaisford, Oxford, 1814-1820; Leipzig, 1823 (with scholia: in Poett.
Graec. Minn II).
Goettling, Gotha, 1831 (3rd edition. Leipzig, 1878).
Didot Edition, Paris, 1840.
Schömann, 1869.
Koechly and Kinkel, Leipzig, 1870.
Flach, Leipzig, 1874-8.
Rzach, Leipzig, 1902 (larger edition), 1913 (smaller edition).
On the Hesiodic poems generally the ordinary Histories of Greek
Literature may be consulted, but especially the Hist. de la Littérature
Grecque I pp. 459 ff. of MM. Croiset. The summary account in Prof.
Murray’s Anc. Gk. Lit. is written with a strong sceptical bias. Very valuable
is the appendix to Mair’s translation (Oxford, 1908) on The Farmer’s Year
in Hesiod. Recent work on the Hesiodic poems is reviewed in full by Rzach
in Bursian’s Jahresberichte vols. 100 (1899) and 152 (1911).
For the Fragments of Hesiodic poems the work of Markscheffel, Hesiodi
Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1840), is most valuable: important also is Kinkel’s
Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta I (Leipzig, 1877) and the editions of
Rzach noticed above. For recently discovered papyrus fragments see
Wilamowitz, Neue Bruchstücke d. Hesiod Katalog (Sitzungsb. der k.
preuss. Akad. fur Wissenschaft, 1900, pp. 839-851). A list of papyri
belonging to lost Hesiodic works may here be added: all are the Catalogues.
1) Berlin Papyri 7497 1201 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 7.
2) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 421 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 7.
3) Petrie Papyri iii 3.—Frag. 14.
4) Papiri greci e latine, No. 130 (2nd-3rd cent.).—Frag. 14.
5) Strassburg Papyri, 55 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 58.
6) Berlin Papyri 9739 (2nd cent.).—Frag. 58.
7) Berlin Papyri 10560 (3rd cent.).—Frag. 58.
8) Berlin Papyri 9777 (4th cent.).—Frag. 98.

9) Papiri greci e latine, No. 131 (2nd-3rd cent.).—Frag. 99.
10) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358-9.

The Homeric Hymns:—The text of the Homeric hymns is distinctly bad
in condition, a fact which may be attributed to the general neglect under
which they seem to have laboured at all periods previously to the Revival of
Learning. Very many defects have been corrected by the various editions of
the Hymns, but a considerable number still defy all efforts; and especially
an abnormal number of undoubted lacuna disfigure the text. Unfortunately
no papyrus fragment of the Hymns has yet emerged, though one such
fragment (Berl. Klassikertexte v.1. pp. 7 ff.) contains a paraphrase of a
poem very closely parallel to the Hymn to Demeter.
The mediaeval MSS. 1202 are thus enumerated by Dr. T.W. Allen:—
A Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2763.
At Athos, Vatopedi 587.
B Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2765.
C Paris, Bibl. Nat. 2833.
Γ Brussels, Bibl. Royale 11377-11380 (16th cent.).
D Milan, Amrbos. B 98 sup.
E Modena, Estense iii E 11.
G Rome, Vatican, Regina 91 (16th cent.).
H London, British Mus. Harley 1752.
J Modena, Estense, ii B 14.
K Florence, Laur. 31, 32.
L Florence, Laur. 32, 45.
L2 Florence, Laur. 70, 35.
L3 Florence, Laur. 32, 4.
M Leyden (the Moscow MS.) 33 H (14th cent.).
Mon. Munich, Royal Lib. 333 c.
N Leyden, 74 c.
O Milan, Ambros. C 10 inf.
P Rome, Vatican Pal. graec. 179.

Π Paris, Bibl. Nat. Suppl. graec. 1095.
Q Milan, Ambros. S 31 sup.
R1 Florence, Bibl. Riccard. 53 K ii 13.
R2 Florence, Bibl. Riccard. 52 K ii 14.
S Rome, Vatican, Vaticani graec. 1880.
T Madrid, Public Library 24.
V Venice, Marc. 456.
The same scholar has traced all the MSS. back to a common parent from
which three main families are derived (M had a separate descent and is not
included in any family):—
x1 = E, T
x2 = L, Π,(and more remotely) At, D, S, H, J, K.
y = E, L, Π, T (marginal readings).
p = A, B, C, Γ, G, L2, L3, N, O, P, Q, R1, R2, V, Mon.

Editions of the Homeric Hymns, &c.
Demetrius Chalcondyles, Florence, 1488 (with the Epigrams and the
Battle of the Frogs and Mice in the ed. pr. of Homer).
Aldine Edition, Venice, 1504.
Juntine Edition, 1537.
Stephanus, Paris, 1566 and 1588.
More modern editions or critical works of value are:
Martin (Variarum Lectionum libb. iv), Paris, 1605.
Barnes, Cambridge, 1711.
Ruhnken, Leyden, 1782 (Epist. Crit. and Hymn to Demeter).
Ilgen, Halle, 1796 (with Epigrams and the Battle of the Frogs and Mice).
Matthiae, Leipzig, 1806 (with the Battle of the Frogs and Mice).
Hermann, Berling, 1806 (with Epigrams).
Franke, Leipzig, 1828 (with Epigrams and the Battle of the Frogs and
Mice).
Dindorff (Didot edition), Paris, 1837.

Baumeister (Battle of the Frogs and Mice), Göttingen, 1852.
Baumeister (Hymns), Leipzig, 1860.
Gemoll, Leipzig, 1886.
Goodwin, Oxford, 1893.
Ludwich (Battle of the Frogs and Mice), 1896.
Allen and Sikes, London, 1904.
Allen (Homeri Opera v), Oxford, 1912.
Of these editions that of Messrs Allen and Sikes is by far the best: not
only is the text purged of the load of conjectures for which the frequent
obscurities of the Hymns offer a special opening, but the Introduction and
the Notes throughout are of the highest value. For a full discussion of the
MSS. and textual problems, reference must be made to this edition, as also
to Dr. T.W. Allen’s series of articles in the Journal of Hellenic Studies vols.
xv ff. Among translations those of J. Edgar (Edinburgh), 1891) and of
Andrew Lang (London, 1899) may be mentioned.

The Epic Cycle.
The fragments of the Epic Cycle, being drawn from a variety of authors,
no list of MSS. can be given. The following collections and editions may be
mentioned:—
Muller, Leipzig, 1829.
Dindorff (Didot edition of Homer), Paris, 1837-56.
Kinkel (Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta i), Leipzig, 1877.
Allen (Homeri Opera v), Oxford, 1912.
The fullest discussion of the problems and fragments of the epic cycle is
F.G. Welcker’s der epische Cyclus (Bonn, vol. i, 1835: vol. ii, 1849: vol. i,
2nd edition, 1865). The Appendix to Monro’s Homer’s Odyssey xii-xxiv
(pp. 340 ff.) deals with the Cyclic poets in relation to Homer, and a clear
and reasonable discussion of the subject is to be found in Croiset’s Hist. de
la Littérature Grecque, vol. i.
On Hesiod, the Hesiodic poems and the problems which these offer see
Rzach’s most important article “Hesiodos” in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-
Encyclopädie xv (1912).

A discussion of the evidence for the date of Hesiod is to be found in
Journ. Hell. Stud. xxxv, 85 ff. (T.W. Allen).
Of translations of Hesiod the following may be noticed:—The Georgicks
of Hesiod, by George Chapman, London, 1618; The Works of Hesiod
translated from the Greek, by Thomas Coocke, London, 1728; The Remains
of Hesiod translated from the Greek into English Verse, by Charles
Abraham Elton; The Works of Hesiod, Callimachus, and Theognis, by the
Rev. J. Banks, M.A.; “Hesiod”, by Prof. James Mair, Oxford, 19081203.

HESIOD

HESIOD’S WORKS AND DAYS
(ll. 1-10) Muses of Pieria who give glory through song, come hither, tell
of Zeus your father and chant his praise. Through him mortal men are
famed or un-famed, sung or unsung alike, as great Zeus wills. For easily he
makes strong, and easily he brings the strong man low; easily he humbles
the proud and raises the obscure, and easily he straightens the crooked and
blasts the proud,—Zeus who thunders aloft and has his dwelling most high.
Attend thou with eye and ear, and make judgements straight with
righteousness. And I, Perses, would tell of true things.
(ll. 11-24) So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over
the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise her when he
came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and they are wholly
different in nature. For one fosters evil war and battle, being cruel: her no
man loves; but perforce, through the will of the deathless gods, men pay
harsh Strife her honour due. But the other is the elder daughter of dark
Night, and the son of Cronos who sits above and dwells in the aether, set
her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even
the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his
neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in
good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after
wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter,
and craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel
of minstrel.
(ll. 25-41) Perses, lay up these things in your heart, and do not let that
Strife who delights in mischief hold your heart back from work, while you
peep and peer and listen to the wrangles of the court-house. Little concern
has he with quarrels and courts who has not a year’s victuals laid up
betimes, even that which the earth bears, Demeter’s grain. When you have

got plenty of that, you can raise disputes and strive to get another’s goods.
But you shall have no second chance to deal so again: nay, let us settle our
dispute here with true judgement divided our inheritance, but you seized the
greater share and carried it off, greatly swelling the glory of our bribe-
swallowing lords who love to judge such a cause as this. Fools! They know
not how much more the half is than the whole, nor what great advantage
there is in mallow and asphodel 1301.
(ll. 42-53) For the gods keep hidden from men the means of life. Else you
would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year even
without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the smoke,
and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste. But Zeus
in the anger of his heart hid it, because Prometheus the crafty deceived him;
therefore he planned sorrow and mischief against men. He hid fire; but that
the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men from Zeus the counsellor in a
hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who delights in thunder did not see it. But
afterwards Zeus who gathers the clouds said to him in anger:
(ll. 54-59) ‘Son of Iapetus, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad that
you have outwitted me and stolen fire—a great plague to you yourself and
to men that shall be. But I will give men as the price for fire an evil thing in
which they may all be glad of heart while they embrace their own
destruction.’
(ll. 60-68) So said the father of men and gods, and laughed aloud. And he
bade famous Hephaestus make haste and mix earth with water and to put in
it the voice and strength of human kind, and fashion a sweet, lovely
maiden-shape, like to the immortal goddesses in face; and Athene to teach
her needlework and the weaving of the varied web; and golden Aphrodite to
shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that weary the limbs.
And he charged Hermes the guide, the Slayer of Argus, to put in her a
shameless mind and a deceitful nature.
(ll. 69-82) So he ordered. And they obeyed the lord Zeus the son of
Cronos. Forthwith the famous Lame God moulded clay in the likeness of a
modest maid, as the son of Cronos purposed. And the goddess bright-eyed
Athene girded and clothed her, and the divine Graces and queenly
Persuasion put necklaces of gold upon her, and the rich-haired Hours
crowned her head with spring flowers. And Pallas Athene bedecked her
form with all manners of finery. Also the Guide, the Slayer of Argus,

contrived within her lies and crafty words and a deceitful nature at the will
of loud thundering Zeus, and the Herald of the gods put speech in her. And
he called this woman Pandora 1302, because all they who dwelt on Olympus
gave each a gift, a plague to men who eat bread.
(ll. 83-89) But when he had finished the sheer, hopeless snare, the Father
sent glorious Argos-Slayer, the swift messenger of the gods, to take it to
Epimetheus as a gift. And Epimetheus did not think on what Prometheus
had said to him, bidding him never take a gift of Olympian Zeus, but to
send it back for fear it might prove to be something harmful to men. But he
took the gift, and afterwards, when the evil thing was already his, he
understood.
(ll. 90-105) For ere this the tribes of men lived on earth remote and free
from ills and hard toil and heavy sickness which bring the Fates upon men;
for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman took off the great lid of
the jar 1303 with her hands and scattered all these and her thought caused
sorrow and mischief to men. Only Hope remained there in an unbreakable
home within under the rim of the great jar, and did not fly out at the door;
for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped her, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus
who gathers the clouds. But the rest, countless plagues, wander amongst
men; for earth is full of evils and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases
come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to
mortals silently; for wise Zeus took away speech from them. So is there no
way to escape the will of Zeus.
(ll. 106-108) Or if you will, I will sum you up another tale well and
skilfully—and do you lay it up in your heart,—how the gods and mortal
men sprang from one source.
(ll. 109-120) First of all the deathless gods who dwell on Olympus made
a golden race of mortal men who lived in the time of Cronos when he was
reigning in heaven. And they lived like gods without sorrow of heart,
remote and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them; but
with legs and arms never failing they made merry with feasting beyond the
reach of all evils. When they died, it was as though they were overcome
with sleep, and they had all good things; for the fruitful earth unforced bare
them fruit abundantly and without stint. They dwelt in ease and peace upon
their lands with many good things, rich in flocks and loved by the blessed
gods.

(ll. 121-139) But after earth had covered this generation—they are called
pure spirits dwelling on the earth, and are kindly, delivering from harm, and
guardians of mortal men; for they roam everywhere over the earth, clothed
in mist and keep watch on judgements and cruel deeds, givers of wealth; for
this royal right also they received;—then they who dwell on Olympus made
a second generation which was of silver and less noble by far. It was like
the golden race neither in body nor in spirit. A child was brought up at his
good mother’s side an hundred years, an utter simpleton, playing childishly
in his own home. But when they were full grown and were come to the full
measure of their prime, they lived only a little time in sorrow because of
their foolishness, for they could not keep from sinning and from wronging
one another, nor would they serve the immortals, nor sacrifice on the holy
altars of the blessed ones as it is right for men to do wherever they dwell.
Then Zeus the son of Cronos was angry and put them away, because they
would not give honour to the blessed gods who live on Olympus.
(ll. 140-155) But when earth had covered this generation also—they are
called blessed spirits of the underworld by men, and, though they are of
second order, yet honour attends them also—Zeus the Father made a third
generation of mortal men, a brazen race, sprung from ash-trees 1304; and it
was in no way equal to the silver age, but was terrible and strong. They
loved the lamentable works of Ares and deeds of violence; they ate no
bread, but were hard of heart like adamant, fearful men. Great was their
strength and unconquerable the arms which grew from their shoulders on
their strong limbs. Their armour was of bronze, and their houses of bronze,
and of bronze were their implements: there was no black iron. These were
destroyed by their own hands and passed to the dank house of chill Hades,
and left no name: terrible though they were, black Death seized them, and
they left the bright light of the sun.
(ll. 156-169b) But when earth had covered this generation also, Zeus the
son of Cronos made yet another, the fourth, upon the fruitful earth, which
was nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of hero-men who are called
demi-gods, the race before our own, throughout the boundless earth. Grim
war and dread battle destroyed a part of them, some in the land of Cadmus
at seven-gated Thebe when they fought for the flocks of Oedipus, and some,
when it had brought them in ships over the great sea gulf to Troy for rich-
haired Helen’s sake: there death’s end enshrouded a part of them. But to the
others father Zeus the son of Cronos gave a living and an abode apart from

men, and made them dwell at the ends of earth. And they live untouched by
sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep swirling Ocean,
happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit
flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods, and Cronos rules over
them 1305; for the father of men and gods released him from his bonds. And
these last equally have honour and glory.
(ll. 169c-169d) And again far-seeing Zeus made yet another generation,
the fifth, of men who are upon the bounteous earth.
(ll. 170-201) Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the fifth
generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards. For now
truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and sorrow by day,
and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon them.
But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with their
evils. And Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men also when they come to
have grey hair on the temples at their birth 1306. The father will not agree
with his children, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his host,
nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime.
Men will dishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at
them, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing the
fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost their
nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack another’s city.
There will be no favour for the man who keeps his oath or for the just or for
the good; but rather men will praise the evil-doer and his violent dealing.
Strength will be right and reverence will cease to be; and the wicked will
hurt the worthy man, speaking false words against him, and will swear an
oath upon them. Envy, foul-mouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face,
will go along with wretched men one and all. And then Aidos and Nemesis
1307, with their sweet forms wrapped in white robes, will go from the wide-
pathed earth and forsake mankind to join the company of the deathless
gods: and bitter sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no
help against evil.
(ll. 202-211) And now I will tell a fable for princes who themselves
understand. Thus said the hawk to the nightingale with speckled neck, while
he carried her high up among the clouds, gripped fast in his talons, and she,
pierced by his crooked talons, cried pitifully. To her he spoke disdainfully:
‘Miserable thing, why do you cry out? One far stronger than you now holds

you fast, and you must go wherever I take you, songstress as you are. And if
I please I will make my meal of you, or let you go. He is a fool who tries to
withstand the stronger, for he does not get the mastery and suffers pain
besides his shame.’ So said the swiftly flying hawk, the long-winged bird.
(ll. 212-224) But you, Perses, listen to right and do not foster violence;
for violence is bad for a poor man. Even the prosperous cannot easily bear
its burden, but is weighed down under it when he has fallen into delusion.
The better path is to go by on the other side towards justice; for Justice
beats Outrage when she comes at length to the end of the race. But only
when he has suffered does the fool learn this. For Oath keeps pace with
wrong judgements. There is a noise when Justice is being dragged in the
way where those who devour bribes and give sentence with crooked
judgements, take her. And she, wrapped in mist, follows to the city and
haunts of the people, weeping, and bringing mischief to men, even to such
as have driven her forth in that they did not deal straightly with her.
(ll. 225-237) But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to
the men of the land, and go not aside from what is just, their city flourishes,
and the people prosper in it: Peace, the nurse of children, is abroad in their
land, and all-seeing Zeus never decrees cruel war against them. Neither
famine nor disaster ever haunt men who do true justice; but light-heartedly
they tend the fields which are all their care. The earth bears them victual in
plenty, and on the mountains the oak bears acorns upon the top and bees in
the midst. Their woolly sheep are laden with fleeces; their women bear
children like their parents. They flourish continually with good things, and
do not travel on ships, for the grain-giving earth bears them fruit.
(ll. 238-247) But for those who practise violence and cruel deeds far-
seeing Zeus, the son of Cronos, ordains a punishment. Often even a whole
city suffers for a bad man who sins and devises presumptuous deeds, and
the son of Cronos lays great trouble upon the people, famine and plague
together, so that the men perish away, and their women do not bear
children, and their houses become few, through the contriving of Olympian
Zeus. And again, at another time, the son of Cronos either destroys their
wide army, or their walls, or else makes an end of their ships on the sea.
(ll. 248-264) You princes, mark well this punishment you also; for the
deathless gods are near among men and mark all those who oppress their
fellows with crooked judgements, and reck not the anger of the gods. For

upon the bounteous earth Zeus has thrice ten thousand spirits, watchers of
mortal men, and these keep watch on judgements and deeds of wrong as
they roam, clothed in mist, all over the earth. And there is virgin Justice, the
daughter of Zeus, who is honoured and reverenced among the gods who
dwell on Olympus, and whenever anyone hurts her with lying slander, she
sits beside her father, Zeus the son of Cronos, and tells him of men’s wicked
heart, until the people pay for the mad folly of their princes who, evilly
minded, pervert judgement and give sentence crookedly. Keep watch
against this, you princes, and make straight your judgements, you who
devour bribes; put crooked judgements altogether from your thoughts.
(ll. 265-266) He does mischief to himself who does mischief to another,
and evil planned harms the plotter most.
(ll. 267-273) The eye of Zeus, seeing all and understanding all, beholds
these things too, if so he will, and fails not to mark what sort of justice is
this that the city keeps within it. Now, therefore, may neither I myself be
righteous among men, nor my son—for then it is a bad thing to be righteous
—if indeed the unrighteous shall have the greater right. But I think that all-
wise Zeus will not yet bring that to pass.
(ll. 274-285) But you, Perses, lay up these things within your heart and
listen now to right, ceasing altogether to think of violence. For the son of
Cronos has ordained this law for men, that fishes and beasts and winged
fowls should devour one another, for right is not in them; but to mankind he
gave right which proves far the best. For whoever knows the right and is
ready to speak it, far-seeing Zeus gives him prosperity; but whoever
deliberately lies in his witness and forswears himself, and so hurts Justice
and sins beyond repair, that man’s generation is left obscure thereafter. But
the generation of the man who swears truly is better thenceforward.
(ll. 286-292) To you, foolish Perses, I will speak good sense. Badness can
be got easily and in shoals: the road to her is smooth, and she lives very
near us. But between us and Goodness the gods have placed the sweat of
our brows: long and steep is the path that leads to her, and it is rough at the
first; but when a man has reached the top, then is she easy to reach, though
before that she was hard.
(ll. 293-319) That man is altogether best who considers all things himself
and marks what will be better afterwards and at the end; and he, again, is
good who listens to a good adviser; but whoever neither thinks for himself

nor keeps in mind what another tells him, he is an unprofitable man. But do
you at any rate, always remembering my charge, work, high-born Perses,
that Hunger may hate you, and venerable Demeter richly crowned may love
you and fill your barn with food; for Hunger is altogether a meet comrade
for the sluggard. Both gods and men are angry with a man who lives idle,
for in nature he is like the stingless drones who waste the labour of the bees,
eating without working; but let it be your care to order your work properly,
that in the right season your barns may be full of victual. Through work
men grow rich in flocks and substance, and working they are much better
loved by the immortals 1308. Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a
disgrace. But if you work, the idle will soon envy you as you grow rich, for
fame and renown attend on wealth. And whatever be your lot, work is best
for you, if you turn your misguided mind away from other men’s property
to your work and attend to your livelihood as I bid you. An evil shame is the
needy man’s companion, shame which both greatly harms and prospers
men: shame is with poverty, but confidence with wealth.
(ll. 320-341) Wealth should not be seized: god-given wealth is much
better; for if a man take great wealth violently and perforce, or if he steal it
through his tongue, as often happens when gain deceives men’s sense and
dishonour tramples down honour, the gods soon blot him out and make that
man’s house low, and wealth attends him only for a little time. Alike with
him who does wrong to a suppliant or a guest, or who goes up to his
brother’s bed and commits unnatural sin in lying with his wife, or who
infatuately offends against fatherless children, or who abuses his old father
at the cheerless threshold of old age and attacks him with harsh words, truly
Zeus himself is angry, and at the last lays on him a heavy requittal for his
evil doing. But do you turn your foolish heart altogether away from these
things, and, as far as you are able, sacrifice to the deathless gods purely and
cleanly, and burn rich meats also, and at other times propitiate them with
libations and incense, both when you go to bed and when the holy light has
come back, that they may be gracious to you in heart and spirit, and so you
may buy another’s holding and not another yours.
(ll. 342-351) Call your friend to a feast; but leave your enemy alone; and
especially call him who lives near you: for if any mischief happen in the
place, neighbours come ungirt, but kinsmen stay to gird themselves 1309. A
bad neighbour is as great a plague as a good one is a great blessing; he who
enjoys a good neighbour has a precious possession. Not even an ox would

die but for a bad neighbour. Take fair measure from your neighbour and pay
him back fairly with the same measure, or better, if you can; so that if you
are in need afterwards, you may find him sure.
(ll. 352-369) Do not get base gain: base gain is as bad as ruin. Be friends
with the friendly, and visit him who visits you. Give to one who gives, but
do not give to one who does not give. A man gives to the free-handed, but
no one gives to the close-fisted. Give is a good girl, but Take is bad and she
brings death. For the man who gives willingly, even though he gives a great
thing, rejoices in his gift and is glad in heart; but whoever gives way to
shamelessness and takes something himself, even though it be a small thing,
it freezes his heart. He who adds to what he has, will keep off bright-eyed
hunger; for if you add only a little to a little and do this often, soon that
little will become great. What a man has by him at home does not trouble
him: it is better to have your stuff at home, for whatever is abroad may
mean loss. It is a good thing to draw on what you have; but it grieves your
heart to need something and not to have it, and I bid you mark this. Take
your fill when the cask is first opened and when it is nearly spent, but
midways be sparing: it is poor saving when you come to the lees.
(ll. 370-372) Let the wage promised to a friend be fixed; even with your
brother smile—and get a witness; for trust and mistrust, alike ruin men.
(ll. 373-375) Do not let a flaunting woman coax and cozen and deceive
you: she is after your barn. The man who trusts womankind trusts deceivers.
(ll. 376-380) There should be an only son, to feed his father’s house, for
so wealth will increase in the home; but if you leave a second son you
should die old. Yet Zeus can easily give great wealth to a greater number.
More hands mean more work and more increase.
(ll. 381-382) If your heart within you desires wealth, do these things and
work with work upon work.
(ll. 383-404) When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising 1310, begin
your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set 1311. Forty
nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year moves round,
when first you sharpen your sickle. This is the law of the plains, and of
those who live near the sea, and who inhabit rich country, the glens and
dingles far from the tossing sea,—strip to sow and strip to plough and strip
to reap, if you wish to get in all Demeter’s fruits in due season, and that
each kind may grow in its season. Else, afterwards, you may chance to be in

want, and go begging to other men’s houses, but without avail; as you have
already come to me. But I will give you no more nor give you further
measure. Foolish Perses! Work the work which the gods ordained for men,
lest in bitter anguish of spirit you with your wife and children seek your
livelihood amongst your neighbours, and they do not heed you. Two or
three times, may be, you will succeed, but if you trouble them further, it
will not avail you, and all your talk will be in vain, and your word-play
unprofitable. Nay, I bid you find a way to pay your debts and avoid hunger.
(ll. 405-413) First of all, get a house, and a woman and an ox for the
plough—a slave woman and not a wife, to follow the oxen as well—and
make everything ready at home, so that you may not have to ask of another,
and he refuses you, and so, because you are in lack, the season pass by and
your work come to nothing. Do not put your work off till to-morrow and the
day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn, nor one who puts off
his work: industry makes work go well, but a man who puts off work is
always at hand-grips with ruin.
(ll. 414-447) When the piercing power and sultry heat of the sun abate,
and almighty Zeus sends the autumn rains 1312, and men’s flesh comes to
feel far easier,—for then the star Sirius passes over the heads of men, who
are born to misery, only a little while by day and takes greater share of
night,—then, when it showers its leaves to the ground and stops sprouting,
the wood you cut with your axe is least liable to worm. Then remember to
hew your timber: it is the season for that work. Cut a mortar 1313 three feet
wide and a pestle three cubits long, and an axle of seven feet, for it will do
very well so; but if you make it eight feet long, you can cut a beetle 1314
from it as well. Cut a felloe three spans across for a waggon of ten palms’
width. Hew also many bent timbers, and bring home a plough-tree when
you have found it, and look out on the mountain or in the field for one of
holm-oak; for this is the strongest for oxen to plough with when one of
Athena’s handmen has fixed in the share-beam and fastened it to the pole
with dowels. Get two ploughs ready work on them at home, one all of a
piece, and the other jointed. It is far better to do this, for if you should break
one of them, you can put the oxen to the other. Poles of laurel or elm are
most free from worms, and a share-beam of oak and a plough-tree of holm-
oak. Get two oxen, bulls of nine years; for their strength is unspent and they
are in the prime of their age: they are best for work. They will not fight in
the furrow and break the plough and then leave the work undone. Let a

brisk fellow of forty years follow them, with a loaf of four quarters 1315 and
eight slices 1316 for his dinner, one who will attend to his work and drive a
straight furrow and is past the age for gaping after his fellows, but will keep
his mind on his work. No younger man will be better than he at scattering
the seed and avoiding double-sowing; for a man less staid gets disturbed,
hankering after his fellows.
(ll. 448-457) Mark, when you hear the voice of the crane 1317 who cries
year by year from the clouds above, for she give the signal for ploughing
and shows the season of rainy winter; but she vexes the heart of the man
who has no oxen. Then is the time to feed up your horned oxen in the byre;
for it is easy to say: ‘Give me a yoke of oxen and a waggon,’ and it is easy
to refuse: ‘I have work for my oxen.’ The man who is rich in fancy thinks
his waggon as good as built already—the fool! He does not know that there
are a hundred timbers to a waggon. Take care to lay these up beforehand at
home.
(ll. 458-464) So soon as the time for ploughing is proclaimed to men,
then make haste, you and your slaves alike, in wet and in dry, to plough in
the season for ploughing, and bestir yourself early in the morning so that
your fields may be full. Plough in the spring; but fallow broken up in the
summer will not belie your hopes. Sow fallow land when the soil is still
getting light: fallow land is a defender from harm and a soother of children.
(ll. 465-478) Pray to Zeus of the Earth and to pure Demeter to make
Demeter’s holy grain sound and heavy, when first you begin ploughing,
when you hold in your hand the end of the plough-tail and bring down your
stick on the backs of the oxen as they draw on the pole-bar by the yoke-
straps. Let a slave follow a little behind with a mattock and make trouble
for the birds by hiding the seed; for good management is the best for mortal
men as bad management is the worst. In this way your corn-ears will bow to
the ground with fullness if the Olympian himself gives a good result at the
last, and you will sweep the cobwebs from your bins and you will be glad, I
ween, as you take of your garnered substance. And so you will have plenty
till you come to grey 1318 springtime, and will not look wistfully to others,
but another shall be in need of your help.
(ll. 479-492) But if you plough the good ground at the solstice 1319, you
will reap sitting, grasping a thin crop in your hand, binding the sheaves
awry, dust-covered, not glad at all; so you will bring all home in a basket

and not many will admire you. Yet the will of Zeus who holds the aegis is
different at different times; and it is hard for mortal men to tell it; for if you
should plough late, you may find this remedy—when the cuckoo first calls
1320 in the leaves of the oak and makes men glad all over the boundless
earth, if Zeus should send rain on the third day and not cease until it rises
neither above an ox’s hoof nor falls short of it, then the late-plougher will
vie with the early. Keep all this well in mind, and fail not to mark grey
spring as it comes and the season of rain.
(ll 493-501) Pass by the smithy and its crowded lounge in winter time
when the cold keeps men from field work,—for then an industrious man
can greatly prosper his house—lest bitter winter catch you helpless and
poor and you chafe a swollen foot with a shrunk hand. The idle man who
waits on empty hope, lacking a livelihood, lays to heart mischief-making; it
is not an wholesome hope that accompanies a need man who lolls at ease
while he has no sure livelihood.
(ll. 502-503) While it is yet midsummer command your slaves: ‘It will
not always be summer, build barns.’
(ll. 504-535) Avoid the month Lenaeon 1321, wretched days, all of them
fit to skin an ox, and the frosts which are cruel when Boreas blows over the
earth. He blows across horse-breeding Thrace upon the wide sea and stirs it
up, while earth and the forest howl. On many a high-leafed oak and thick
pine he falls and brings them to the bounteous earth in mountain glens: then
all the immense wood roars and the beasts shudder and put their tails
between their legs, even those whose hide is covered with fur; for with his
bitter blast he blows even through them although they are shaggy-breasted.
He goes even through an ox’s hide; it does not stop him. Also he blows
through the goat’s fine hair. But through the fleeces of sheep, because their
wool is abundant, the keen wind Boreas pierces not at all; but it makes the
old man curved as a wheel. And it does not blow through the tender maiden
who stays indoors with her dear mother, unlearned as yet in the works of
golden Aphrodite, and who washes her soft body and anoints herself with
oil and lies down in an inner room within the house, on a winter’s day when
the Boneless One 1322 gnaws his foot in his fireless house and wretched
home; for the sun shows him no pastures to make for, but goes to and fro
over the land and city of dusky men 1323, and shines more sluggishly upon
the whole race of the Hellenes. Then the horned and unhorned denizens of

the wood, with teeth chattering pitifully, flee through the copses and glades,
and all, as they seek shelter, have this one care, to gain thick coverts or
some hollow rock. Then, like the Three-legged One 1324 whose back is
broken and whose head looks down upon the ground, like him, I say, they
wander to escape the white snow.
(ll. 536-563) Then put on, as I bid you, a soft coat and a tunic to the feet
to shield your body,—and you should weave thick woof on thin warp. In
this clothe yourself so that your hair may keep still and not bristle and stand
upon end all over your body.
Lace on your feet close-fitting boots of the hide of a slaughtered ox,
thickly lined with felt inside. And when the season of frost comes on, stitch
together skins of firstling kids with ox-sinew, to put over your back and to
keep off the rain. On your head above wear a shaped cap of felt to keep
your ears from getting wet, for the dawn is chill when Boreas has once
made his onslaught, and at dawn a fruitful mist is spread over the earth from
starry heaven upon the fields of blessed men: it is drawn from the ever
flowing rivers and is raised high above the earth by windstorm, and
sometimes it turns to rain towards evening, and sometimes to wind when
Thracian Boreas huddles the thick clouds. Finish your work and return
home ahead of him, and do not let the dark cloud from heaven wrap round
you and make your body clammy and soak your clothes. Avoid it; for this is
the hardest month, wintry, hard for sheep and hard for men. In this season
let your oxen have half their usual food, but let your man have more; for the
helpful nights are long. Observe all this until the year is ended and you have
nights and days of equal length, and Earth, the mother of all, bears again her
various fruit.
(ll. 564-570) When Zeus has finished sixty wintry days after the solstice,
then the star Arcturus 1325 leaves the holy stream of Ocean and first rises
brilliant at dusk. After him the shrilly wailing daughter of Pandion, the
swallow, appears to men when spring is just beginning. Before she comes,
prune the vines, for it is best so.
(ll. 571-581) But when the House-carrier 1326 climbs up the plants from
the earth to escape the Pleiades, then it is no longer the season for digging
vineyards, but to whet your sickles and rouse up your slaves. Avoid shady
seats and sleeping until dawn in the harvest season, when the sun scorches
the body. Then be busy, and bring home your fruits, getting up early to

make your livelihood sure. For dawn takes away a third part of your work,
dawn advances a man on his journey and advances him in his work,—dawn
which appears and sets many men on their road, and puts yokes on many
oxen.
(ll. 582-596) But when the artichoke flowers 1327, and the chirping grass-
hopper sits in a tree and pours down his shrill song continually from under
his wings in the season of wearisome heat, then goats are plumpest and
wine sweetest; women are most wanton, but men are feeblest, because
Sirius parches head and knees and the skin is dry through heat. But at that
time let me have a shady rock and wine of Biblis, a clot of curds and milk
of drained goats with the flesh of an heifer fed in the woods, that has never
calved, and of firstling kids; then also let me drink bright wine, sitting in the
shade, when my heart is satisfied with food, and so, turning my head to face
the fresh Zephyr, from the everflowing spring which pours down unfouled
thrice pour an offering of water, but make a fourth libation of wine.
(ll. 597-608) Set your slaves to winnow Demeter’s holy grain, when
strong Orion 1328 first appears, on a smooth threshing-floor in an airy place.
Then measure it and store it in jars. And so soon as you have safely stored
all your stuff indoors, I bid you put your bondman out of doors and look out
for a servant-girl with no children;—for a servant with a child to nurse is
troublesome. And look after the dog with jagged teeth; do not grudge him
his food, or some time the Day-sleeper 1329 may take your stuff. Bring in
fodder and litter so as to have enough for your oxen and mules. After that,
let your men rest their poor knees and unyoke your pair of oxen.
(ll. 609-617) But when Orion and Sirius are come into mid-heaven, and
rosy-fingered Dawn sees Arcturus 1330, then cut off all the grape-clusters,
Perses, and bring them home. Show them to the sun ten days and ten nights:
then cover them over for five, and on the sixth day draw off into vessels the
gifts of joyful Dionysus. But when the Pleiades and Hyades and strong
Orion begin to set 1331, then remember to plough in season: and so the
completed year 1332 will fitly pass beneath the earth.
(ll. 618-640) But if desire for uncomfortable sea-faring seize you; when
the Pleiades plunge into the misty sea 1333 to escape Orion’s rude strength,
then truly gales of all kinds rage. Then keep ships no longer on the
sparkling sea, but bethink you to till the land as I bid you. Haul up your ship
upon the land and pack it closely with stones all round to keep off the

power of the winds which blow damply, and draw out the bilge-plug so that
the rain of heaven may not rot it. Put away all the tackle and fittings in your
house, and stow the wings of the sea-going ship neatly, and hang up the
well-shaped rudder over the smoke. You yourself wait until the season for
sailing is come, and then haul your swift ship down to the sea and stow a
convenient cargo in it, so that you may bring home profit, even as your
father and mine, foolish Perses, used to sail on shipboard because he lacked
sufficient livelihood. And one day he came to this very place crossing over
a great stretch of sea; he left Aeolian Cyme and fled, not from riches and
substance, but from wretched poverty which Zeus lays upon men, and he
settled near Helicon in a miserable hamlet, Ascra, which is bad in winter,
sultry in summer, and good at no time.
(ll. 641-645) But you, Perses, remember all works in their season but
sailing especially. Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one;
for the greater the lading, the greater will be your piled gain, if only the
winds will keep back their harmful gales.
(ll. 646-662) If ever you turn your misguided heart to trading and with to
escape from debt and joyless hunger, I will show you the measures of the
loud-roaring sea, though I have no skill in sea-faring nor in ships; for never
yet have I sailed by ship over the wide sea, but only to Euboea from Aulis
where the Achaeans once stayed through much storm when they had
gathered a great host from divine Hellas for Troy, the land of fair women.
Then I crossed over to Chalcis, to the games of wise Amphidamas where
the sons of the great-hearted hero proclaimed and appointed prizes. And
there I boast that I gained the victory with a song and carried off an handled
tripod which I dedicated to the Muses of Helicon, in the place where they
first set me in the way of clear song. Such is all my experience of many-
pegged ships; nevertheless I will tell you the will of Zeus who holds the
aegis; for the Muses have taught me to sing in marvellous song.
(ll. 663-677) Fifty days after the solstice 1334, when the season of
wearisome heat is come to an end, is the right time for me to go sailing.
Then you will not wreck your ship, nor will the sea destroy the sailors,
unless Poseidon the Earth-Shaker be set upon it, or Zeus, the king of the
deathless gods, wish to slay them; for the issues of good and evil alike are
with them. At that time the winds are steady, and the sea is harmless. Then
trust in the winds without care, and haul your swift ship down to the sea and

put all the freight on board; but make all haste you can to return home again
and do not wait till the time of the new wine and autumn rain and oncoming
storms with the fierce gales of Notus who accompanies the heavy autumn
rain of Zeus and stirs up the sea and makes the deep dangerous.
(ll. 678-694) Another time for men to go sailing is in spring when a man
first sees leaves on the topmost shoot of a fig-tree as large as the foot-print
that a cow makes; then the sea is passable, and this is the spring sailing
time. For my part I do not praise it, for my heart does not like it. Such a
sailing is snatched, and you will hardly avoid mischief. Yet in their
ignorance men do even this, for wealth means life to poor mortals; but it is
fearful to die among the waves. But I bid you consider all these things in
your heart as I say. Do not put all your goods in hallow ships; leave the
greater part behind, and put the lesser part on board; for it is a bad business
to meet with disaster among the waves of the sea, as it is bad if you put too
great a load on your waggon and break the axle, and your goods are spoiled.
Observe due measure: and proportion is best in all things.
(ll. 695-705) Bring home a wife to your house when you are of the right
age, while you are not far short of thirty years nor much above; this is the
right age for marriage. Let your wife have been grown up four years, and
marry her in the fifth. Marry a maiden, so that you can teach her careful
ways, and especially marry one who lives near you, but look well about you
and see that your marriage will not be a joke to your neighbours. For a man
wins nothing better than a good wife, and, again, nothing worse than a bad
one, a greedy soul who roasts her man without fire, strong though he may
be, and brings him to a raw 1335 old age.
(ll. 706-714) Be careful to avoid the anger of the deathless gods. Do not
make a friend equal to a brother; but if you do, do not wrong him first, and
do not lie to please the tongue. But if he wrongs you first, offending either
in word or in deed, remember to repay him double; but if he ask you to be
his friend again and be ready to give you satisfaction, welcome him. He is a
worthless man who makes now one and now another his friend; but as for
you, do not let your face put your heart to shame 1336.
(ll. 715-716) Do not get a name either as lavish or as churlish; as a friend
of rogues or as a slanderer of good men.
(ll. 717-721) Never dare to taunt a man with deadly poverty which eats
out the heart; it is sent by the deathless gods. The best treasure a man can

have is a sparing tongue, and the greatest pleasure, one that moves orderly;
for if you speak evil, you yourself will soon be worse spoken of.
(ll. 722-723) Do not be boorish at a common feast where there are many
guests; the pleasure is greatest and the expense is least 1337.
(ll. 724-726) Never pour a libation of sparkling wine to Zeus after dawn
with unwashen hands, nor to others of the deathless gods; else they do not
hear your prayers but spit them back.
(ll. 727-732) Do not stand upright facing the sun when you make water,
but remember to do this when he has set towards his rising. And do not
make water as you go, whether on the road or off the road, and do not
uncover yourself: the nights belong to the blessed gods. A scrupulous man
who has a wise heart sits down or goes to the wall of an enclosed court.
(ll. 733-736) Do not expose yourself befouled by the fireside in your
house, but avoid this. Do not beget children when you are come back from
ill-omened burial, but after a festival of the gods.
(ll. 737-741) Never cross the sweet-flowing water of ever-rolling rivers
afoot until you have prayed, gazing into the soft flood, and washed your
hands in the clear, lovely water. Whoever crosses a river with hands
unwashed of wickedness, the gods are angry with him and bring trouble
upon him afterwards.
(ll. 742-743) At a cheerful festival of the gods do not cut the withered
from the quick upon that which has five branches 1338 with bright steel.
(ll. 744-745) Never put the ladle upon the mixing-bowl at a wine party,
for malignant ill-luck is attached to that.
(ll. 746-747) When you are building a house, do not leave it rough-hewn,
or a cawing crow may settle on it and croak.
(ll. 748-749) Take nothing to eat or to wash with from uncharmed pots,
for in them there is mischief.
(ll. 750-759) Do not let a boy of twelve years sit on things which may not
be moved 1339, for that is bad, and makes a man unmanly; nor yet a child of
twelve months, for that has the same effect. A man should not clean his
body with water in which a woman has washed, for there is bitter mischief
in that also for a time. When you come upon a burning sacrifice, do not
make a mock of mysteries, for Heaven is angry at this also. Never make
water in the mouths of rivers which flow to the sea, nor yet in springs; but

be careful to avoid this. And do not ease yourself in them: it is not well to
do this.
(ll. 760-763) So do: and avoid the talk of men. For Talk is mischievous,
light, and easily raised, but hard to bear and difficult to be rid of. Talk never
wholly dies away when many people voice her: even Talk is in some ways
divine.
(ll. 765-767) Mark the days which come from Zeus, duly telling your
slaves of them, and that the thirtieth day of the month is best for one to look
over the work and to deal out supplies.
(ll. 769-768) 1340 For these are days which come from Zeus the all-wise,
when men discern aright.
(ll. 770-779) To begin with, the first, the fourth, and the seventh—on
which Leto bare Apollo with the blade of gold—each is a holy day. The
eighth and the ninth, two days at least of the waxing month 1341, are
specially good for the works of man. Also the eleventh and twelfth are both
excellent, alike for shearing sheep and for reaping the kindly fruits; but the
twelfth is much better than the eleventh, for on it the airy-swinging spider
spins its web in full day, and then the Wise One 1342, gathers her pile. On
that day woman should set up her loom and get forward with her work.
(ll. 780-781) Avoid the thirteenth of the waxing month for beginning to
sow: yet it is the best day for setting plants.
(ll. 782-789) The sixth of the mid-month is very unfavourable for plants,
but is good for the birth of males, though unfavourable for a girl either to be
born at all or to be married. Nor is the first sixth a fit day for a girl to be
born, but a kindly for gelding kids and sheep and for fencing in a sheep-
cote. It is favourable for the birth of a boy, but such will be fond of sharp
speech, lies, and cunning words, and stealthy converse.
(ll. 790-791) On the eighth of the month geld the boar and loud-
bellowing bull, but hard-working mules on the twelfth.
(ll. 792-799) On the great twentieth, in full day, a wise man should be
born. Such an one is very sound-witted. The tenth is favourable for a male
to be born; but, for a girl, the fourth day of the mid-month. On that day
tame sheep and shambling, horned oxen, and the sharp-fanged dog and
hardy mules to the touch of the hand. But take care to avoid troubles which

eat out the heart on the fourth of the beginning and ending of the month; it
is a day very fraught with fate.
(ll. 800-801) On the fourth of the month bring home your bride, but
choose the omens which are best for this business.
(ll. 802-804) Avoid fifth days: they are unkindly and terrible. On a fifth
day, they say, the Erinyes assisted at the birth of Horcus (Oath) whom Eris
(Strife) bare to trouble the forsworn. {[0-9]} (ll. 805-809) Look about you
very carefully and throw out Demeter’s holy grain upon the well-rolled 1343
threshing floor on the seventh of the mid-month. Let the woodman cut
beams for house building and plenty of ships’ timbers, such as are suitable
for ships. On the fourth day begin to build narrow ships.
(ll. 810-813) The ninth of the mid-month improves towards evening; but
the first ninth of all is quite harmless for men. It is a good day on which to
beget or to be born both for a male and a female: it is never an wholly evil
day.
(ll. 814-818) Again, few know that the twenty-seventh of the month is
best for opening a wine-jar, and putting yokes on the necks of oxen and
mules and swift-footed horses, and for hauling a swift ship of many thwarts
down to the sparkling sea; few call it by its right name.
(ll. 819-821) On the fourth day open a jar. The fourth of the mid-month is
a day holy above all. And again, few men know that the fourth day after the
twentieth is best while it is morning: towards evening it is less good.
(ll. 822-828) These days are a great blessing to men on earth; but the rest
are changeable, luckless, and bring nothing. Everyone praises a different
day but few know their nature. Sometimes a day is a stepmother, sometimes
a mother. That man is happy and lucky in them who knows all these things
and does his work without offending the deathless gods, who discerns the
omens of birds and avoids transgressions.

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

THE ASTRONOMY
Fragment #1—Athenaeus xi, p. 491 d: And the author of “The
Astronomy”, which is attributed forsooth to Hesiod, always calls them (the
Pleiades) Peleiades: ‘but mortals call them Peleiades’; and again, ‘the
stormy Peleiades go down’; and again, ‘then the Peleiades hide away....’
Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 16: The Pleiades.... whose stars are these:
—‘Lovely Teygata, and dark-faced Electra, and Alcyone, and bright
Asterope, and Celaeno, and Maia, and Merope, whom glorious Atlas
begot....’ ((LACUNA)) ‘In the mountains of Cyllene she (Maia) bare
Hermes, the herald of the gods.’
Fragment #2—Scholiast on Aratus 254: But Zeus made them (the sisters
of Hyas) into the stars which are called Hyades. Hesiod in his Book about
Stars tells us their names as follows: ‘Nymphs like the Graces 1401,
Phaesyle and Coronis and rich-crowned Cleeia and lovely Phaco and long-
robed Eudora, whom the tribes of men upon the earth call Hyades.’
Fragment #3—Pseudo-Eratosthenes Catast. frag. 1: 1402 The Great Bear.]
—Hesiod says she (Callisto) was the daughter of Lycaon and lived in
Arcadia. She chose to occupy herself with wild-beasts in the mountains
together with Artemis, and, when she was seduced by Zeus, continued some
time undetected by the goddess, but afterwards, when she was already with
child, was seen by her bathing and so discovered. Upon this, the goddess
was enraged and changed her into a beast. Thus she became a bear and gave
birth to a son called Arcas. But while she was in the mountains, she was
hunted by some goat-herds and given up with her babe to Lycaon. Some
while after, she thought fit to go into the forbidden precinct of Zeus, not
knowing the law, and being pursued by her own son and the Arcadians, was
about to be killed because of the said law; but Zeus delivered her because of
her connection with him and put her among the stars, giving her the name
Bear because of the misfortune which had befallen her.
Comm. Supplem. on Aratus, p. 547 M. 8: Of Bootes, also called the
Bear-warden. The story goes that he is Arcas the son of Callisto and Zeus,
and he lived in the country about Lycaeum. After Zeus had seduced
Callisto, Lycaon, pretending not to know of the matter, entertained Zeus, as
Hesiod says, and set before him on the table the babe which he had cut up.

Fragment #4—Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catast. fr. xxxii: Orion.]—Hesiod
says that he was the son of Euryale, the daughter of Minos, and of
Poseidon, and that there was given him as a gift the power of walking upon
the waves as though upon land. When he was come to Chios, he outraged
Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, being drunken; but Oenopion when he
learned of it was greatly vexed at the outrage and blinded him and cast him
out of the country. Then he came to Lemnos as a beggar and there met
Hephaestus who took pity on him and gave him Cedalion his own servant to
guide him. So Orion took Cedalion upon his shoulders and used to carry
him about while he pointed out the roads. Then he came to the east and
appears to have met Helius (the Sun) and to have been healed, and so
returned back again to Oenopion to punish him; but Oenopion was hidden
away by his people underground. Being disappointed, then, in his search for
the king, Orion went away to Crete and spent his time hunting in company
with Artemis and Leto. It seems that he threatened to kill every beast there
was on earth; whereupon, in her anger, Earth sent up against him a scorpion
of very great size by which he was stung and so perished. After this Zeus, at
one prayer of Artemis and Leto, put him among the stars, because of his
manliness, and the scorpion also as a memorial of him and of what had
occurred.
Fragment #5—Diodorus iv. 85: Some say that great earthquakes
occurred, which broke through the neck of land and formed the straits 1403,
the sea parting the mainland from the island. But Hesiod, the poet, says just
the opposite: that the sea was open, but Orion piled up the promontory by
Peloris, and founded the close of Poseidon which is especially esteemed by
the people thereabouts. When he had finished this, he went away to Euboea
and settled there, and because of his renown was taken into the number of
the stars in heaven, and won undying remembrance.

THE PRECEPTS OF CHIRON
Fragment #1—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. vi. 19: ‘And now, pray, mark all
these things well in a wise heart. First, whenever you come to your house,
offer good sacrifices to the eternal gods.’
Fragment #2—Plutarch Mor. 1034 E: ‘Decide no suit until you have
heard both sides speak.’

Fragment #3—Plutarch de Orac. defectu ii. 415 C: ‘A chattering crow
lives out nine generations of aged men, but a stag’s life is four times a
crow’s, and a raven’s life makes three stags old, while the phoenix outlives
nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus the aegis-
holder, outlive ten phoenixes.’
Fragment #4—Quintilian, i. 15: Some consider that children under the
age of seven should not receive a literary education... That Hesiod was of
this opinion very many writers affirm who were earlier than the critic
Aristophanes; for he was the first to reject the Precepts, in which book this
maxim occurs, as a work of that poet.

THE GREAT WORKS
Fragment #1—Comm. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. v. 8: The verse,
however (the slaying of Rhadamanthys), is in Hesiod in the Great Works
and is as follows: ‘If a man sow evil, he shall reap evil increase; if men do
to him as he has done, it will be true justice.’
Fragment #2—Proclus on Hesiod, Works and Days, 126: Some believe
that the Silver Race (is to be attributed to) the earth, declaring that in the
Great Works Hesiod makes silver to be of the family of Earth.

THE IDAEAN DACTYLS
Fragment #1—Pliny, Natural History vii. 56, 197: Hesiod says that those
who are called the Idaean Dactyls taught the smelting and tempering of iron
in Crete.
Fragment #2—Clement, Stromateis i. 16. 75: Celmis, again, and
Damnameneus, the first of the Idaean Dactyls, discovered iron in Cyprus;
but bronze smelting was discovered by Delas, another Idaean, though
Hesiod calls him Scythes 1501.

THE THEOGONY
(ll. 1-25) From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the
great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue
spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when they have
washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse’s Spring or
Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move
with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night, veiled in thick
mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis-holder
and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals and the daughter
of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athene, and Phoebus Apollo, and
Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon the earth-holder who shakes
the earth, and reverend Themis and quick-glancing 1601 Aphrodite, and
Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the
crafty counsellor, Eos and great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and
great Oceanus, and dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless
ones that are for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while
he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the
goddesses said to me—the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who
holds the aegis:
(ll. 26-28) ‘Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere
bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true;
but we know, when we will, to utter true things.’
(ll. 29-35) So said the ready-voiced daughters of great Zeus, and they
plucked and gave me a rod, a shoot of sturdy laurel, a marvellous thing, and
breathed into me a divine voice to celebrate things that shall be and things
there were aforetime; and they bade me sing of the race of the blessed gods
that are eternally, but ever to sing of themselves both first and last. But why
all this about oak or stone? 1602
(ll. 36-52) Come thou, let us begin with the Muses who gladden the great
spirit of their father Zeus in Olympus with their songs, telling of things that
are and that shall be and that were aforetime with consenting voice.
Unwearying flows the sweet sound from their lips, and the house of their

father Zeus the loud-thunderer is glad at the lily-like voice of the goddesses
as it spread abroad, and the peaks of snowy Olympus resound, and the
homes of the immortals. And they uttering their immortal voice, celebrate in
song first of all the reverend race of the gods from the beginning, those
whom Earth and wide Heaven begot, and the gods sprung of these, givers of
good things. Then, next, the goddesses sing of Zeus, the father of gods and
men, as they begin and end their strain, how much he is the most excellent
among the gods and supreme in power. And again, they chant the race of
men and strong giants, and gladden the heart of Zeus within Olympus,—the
Olympian Muses, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder.
(ll. 53-74) Them in Pieria did Mnemosyne (Memory), who reigns over
the hills of Eleuther, bear of union with the father, the son of Cronos, a
forgetting of ills and a rest from sorrow. For nine nights did wise Zeus lie
with her, entering her holy bed remote from the immortals. And when a year
was passed and the seasons came round as the months waned, and many
days were accomplished, she bare nine daughters, all of one mind, whose
hearts are set upon song and their spirit free from care, a little way from the
topmost peak of snowy Olympus. There are their bright dancing-places and
beautiful homes, and beside them the Graces and Himerus (Desire) live in
delight. And they, uttering through their lips a lovely voice, sing the laws of
all and the goodly ways of the immortals, uttering their lovely voice. Then
went they to Olympus, delighting in their sweet voice, with heavenly song,
and the dark earth resounded about them as they chanted, and a lovely
sound rose up beneath their feet as they went to their father. And he was
reigning in heaven, himself holding the lightning and glowing thunderbolt,
when he had overcome by might his father Cronos; and he distributed fairly
to the immortals their portions and declared their privileges.
(ll. 75-103) These things, then, the Muses sang who dwell on Olympus,
nine daughters begotten by great Zeus, Cleio and Euterpe, Thaleia,
Melpomene and Terpsichore, and Erato and Polyhymnia and Urania and
Calliope 1603, who is the chiefest of them all, for she attends on worshipful
princes: whomsoever of heaven-nourished princes the daughters of great
Zeus honour, and behold him at his birth, they pour sweet dew upon his
tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words. All the people look towards
him while he settles causes with true judgements: and he, speaking surely,
would soon make wise end even of a great quarrel; for therefore are there
princes wise in heart, because when the people are being misguided in their

assembly, they set right the matter again with ease, persuading them with
gentle words. And when he passes through a gathering, they greet him as a
god with gentle reverence, and he is conspicuous amongst the assembled:
such is the holy gift of the Muses to men. For it is through the Muses and
far-shooting Apollo that there are singers and harpers upon the earth; but
princes are of Zeus, and happy is he whom the Muses love: sweet flows
speech from his mouth. For though a man have sorrow and grief in his
newly-troubled soul and live in dread because his heart is distressed, yet,
when a singer, the servant of the Muses, chants the glorious deeds of men of
old and the blessed gods who inhabit Olympus, at once he forgets his
heaviness and remembers not his sorrows at all; but the gifts of the
goddesses soon turn him away from these.
(ll. 104-115) Hail, children of Zeus! Grant lovely song and celebrate the
holy race of the deathless gods who are for ever, those that were born of
Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy Night and them that briny Sea did rear.
Tell how at the first gods and earth came to be, and rivers, and the
boundless sea with its raging swell, and the gleaming stars, and the wide
heaven above, and the gods who were born of them, givers of good things,
and how they divided their wealth, and how they shared their honours
amongst them, and also how at the first they took many-folded Olympus.
These things declare to me from the beginning, ye Muses who dwell in the
house of Olympus, and tell me which of them first came to be.
(ll. 116-138) Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed
Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all 1604 the deathless ones who hold the
peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed
Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the
limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men
within them. From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night
were born Aether 1605 and Day, whom she conceived and bare from union
in love with Erebus. And Earth first bare starry Heaven, equal to herself, to
cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed
gods. And she brought forth long Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess-
Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills. She bare also the
fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love.
But afterwards she lay with Heaven and bare deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus
and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and
Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was

born Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he
hated his lusty sire.
(ll. 139-146) And again, she bare the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit,
Brontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges 1606, who gave Zeus the
thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the gods, but
one eye only was set in the midst of their fore-heads. And they were
surnamed Cyclopes (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in their
foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works.
(ll. 147-163) And again, three other sons were born of Earth and Heaven,
great and doughty beyond telling, Cottus and Briareos and Gyes,
presumptuous children. From their shoulders sprang an hundred arms, not
to be approached, and each had fifty heads upon his shoulders on their
strong limbs, and irresistible was the stubborn strength that was in their
great forms. For of all the children that were born of Earth and Heaven,
these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own father from
the first.
And he used to hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as
each was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and
Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing. But vast Earth groaned within, being
straitened, and she made the element of grey flint and shaped a great sickle,
and told her plan to her dear sons. And she spoke, cheering them, while she
was vexed in her dear heart:
(ll. 164-166) ‘My children, gotten of a sinful father, if you will obey me,
we should punish the vile outrage of your father; for he first thought of
doing shameful things.’
(ll. 167-169) So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them
uttered a word. But great Cronos the wily took courage and answered his
dear mother:
(ll. 170-172) ‘Mother, I will undertake to do this deed, for I reverence not
our father of evil name, for he first thought of doing shameful things.’
(ll. 173-175) So he said: and vast Earth rejoiced greatly in spirit, and set
and hid him in an ambush, and put in his hands a jagged sickle, and
revealed to him the whole plot.
(ll. 176-206) And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love,
and he lay about Earth spreading himself full upon her 1607.

Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his
right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his
own father’s members and cast them away to fall behind him. And not
vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that gushed forth
Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare the strong Erinyes
and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long spears in their
hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae 1608 all over the boundless
earth. And so soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them
from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a
long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh,
and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near holy Cythera, and from
there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Cyprus, and came forth an awful and
lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her
gods and men call Aphrodite, and the foam-born goddess and rich-crowned
Cytherea, because she grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she
reached Cythera, and Cyprogenes because she was born in billowy Cyprus,
and Philommedes 1609 because sprang from the members. And with her
went Eros, and comely Desire followed her at her birth at the first and as
she went into the assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the
beginning, and this is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying
gods,—the whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet
delight and love and graciousness.
(ll. 207-210) But these sons whom he begot himself great Heaven used to
call Titans (Strainers) in reproach, for he said that they strained and did
presumptuously a fearful deed, and that vengeance for it would come
afterwards.
(ll. 211-225) And Night bare hateful Doom and black Fate and Death,
and she bare Sleep and the tribe of Dreams. And again the goddess murky
Night, though she lay with none, bare Blame and painful Woe, and the
Hesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing fruit
beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bare the Destinies and ruthless avenging
Fates, Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos 1610, who give men at their birth
both evil and good to have, and they pursue the transgressions of men and
of gods: and these goddesses never cease from their dread anger until they
punish the sinner with a sore penalty. Also deadly Night bare Nemesis
(Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit and Friendship and
hateful Age and hard-hearted Strife.

(ll. 226-232) But abhorred Strife bare painful Toil and Forgetfulness and
Famine and tearful Sorrows, Fightings also, Battles, Murders,
Manslaughters, Quarrels, Lying Words, Disputes, Lawlessness and Ruin, all
of one nature, and Oath who most troubles men upon earth when anyone
wilfully swears a false oath.
(ll. 233-239) And Sea begat Nereus, the eldest of his children, who is true
and lies not: and men call him the Old Man because he is trusty and gentle
and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks just and kindly
thoughts. And yet again he got great Thaumas and proud Phorcys, being
mated with Earth, and fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who has a heart of
flint within her.
(ll. 240-264) And of Nereus and rich-haired Doris, daughter of Ocean the
perfect river, were born children 1611, passing lovely amongst goddesses,
Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and Thetis, Galene and
Glauce, Cymothoe, Speo, Thoe and lovely Halie, and Pasithea, and Erato,
and rosy-armed Eunice, and gracious Melite, and Eulimene, and Agaue,
Doto, Proto, Pherusa, and Dynamene, and Nisaea, and Actaea, and
Protomedea, Doris, Panopea, and comely Galatea, and lovely Hippothoe,
and rosy-armed Hipponoe, and Cymodoce who with Cymatolege 1612 and
Amphitrite easily calms the waves upon the misty sea and the blasts of
raging winds, and Cymo, and Eione, and rich-crowned Alimede, and
Glauconome, fond of laughter, and Pontoporea, Leagore, Euagore, and
Laomedea, and Polynoe, and Autonoe, and Lysianassa, and Euarne, lovely
of shape and without blemish of form, and Psamathe of charming figure and
divine Menippe, Neso, Eupompe, Themisto, Pronoe, and Nemertes 1613 who
has the nature of her deathless father. These fifty daughters sprang from
blameless Nereus, skilled in excellent crafts.
(ll. 265-269) And Thaumas wedded Electra the daughter of deep-flowing
Ocean, and she bare him swift Iris and the long-haired Harpies, Aello
(Storm-swift) and Ocypetes (Swift-flier) who on their swift wings keep
pace with the blasts of the winds and the birds; for quick as time they dart
along.
(ll 270-294) And again, Ceto bare to Phorcys the fair-cheeked Graiae,
sisters grey from their birth: and both deathless gods and men who walk on
earth call them Graiae, Pemphredo well-clad, and saffron-robed Enyo, and
the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land towards

Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and Euryale, and
Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but the two were
undying and grew not old. With her lay the Dark-haired One 1614 in a soft
meadow amid spring flowers. And when Perseus cut off her head, there
sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so called because
he was born near the springs (pegae) of Ocean; and that other, because he
held a golden blade (aor) in his hands. Now Pegasus flew away and left the
earth, the mother of flocks, and came to the deathless gods: and he dwells in
the house of Zeus and brings to wise Zeus the thunder and lightning. But
Chrysaor was joined in love to Callirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean,
and begot three-headed Geryones. Him mighty Heracles slew in sea-girt
Erythea by his shambling oxen on that day when he drove the wide-browed
oxen to holy Tiryns, and had crossed the ford of Ocean and killed Orthus
and Eurytion the herdsman in the dim stead out beyond glorious Ocean.
(ll. 295-305) And in a hollow cave she bare another monster, irresistible,
in no wise like either to mortal men or to the undying gods, even the
goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair
cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin,
eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. And there she has
a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and
mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious house to dwell
in: and she keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth, grim Echidna, a nymph
who dies not nor grows old all her days.
(ll. 306-332) Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless,
was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she conceived
and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the hound of
Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome
and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-
voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong. And again she
bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the goddess, white-
armed Hera nourished, being angry beyond measure with the mighty
Heracles. And her Heracles, the son of Zeus, of the house of Amphitryon,
together with warlike Iolaus, destroyed with the unpitying sword through
the plans of Athene the spoil-driver. She was the mother of Chimaera who
breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who
had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in
her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did

Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slay; but Echidna was subject in love to
Orthus and brought forth the deadly Sphinx which destroyed the Cadmeans,
and the Nemean lion, which Hera, the good wife of Zeus, brought up and
made to haunt the hills of Nemea, a plague to men. There he preyed upon
the tribes of her own people and had power over Tretus of Nemea and
Apesas: yet the strength of stout Heracles overcame him.
(ll. 333-336) And Ceto was joined in love to Phorcys and bare her
youngest, the awful snake who guards the apples all of gold in the secret
places of the dark earth at its great bounds. This is the offspring of Ceto and
Phorcys.
(ll. 334-345) And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and
Alpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair
stream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of Achelous,
Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and Aesepus,
and holy Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus fair stream, and
great Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, Euenus, Ardescus, and divine
Scamander.
(ll. 346-370) Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters 1615
who with the lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping—to
this charge Zeus appointed them—Peitho, and Admete, and Ianthe, and
Electra, and Doris, and Prymno, and Urania divine in form, Hippo,
Clymene, Rhodea, and Callirrhoe, Zeuxo and Clytie, and Idyia, and
Pasithoe, Plexaura, and Galaxaura, and lovely Dione, Melobosis and Thoe
and handsome Polydora, Cerceis lovely of form, and soft eyed Pluto,
Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea the fair, Menestho, and Europa,
Metis, and Eurynome, and Telesto saffron-clad, Chryseis and Asia and
charming Calypso, Eudora, and Tyche, Amphirho, and Ocyrrhoe, and Styx
who is the chiefest of them all. These are the eldest daughters that sprang
from Ocean and Tethys; but there are many besides. For there are three
thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean who are dispersed far and wide,
and in every place alike serve the earth and the deep waters, children who
are glorious among goddesses. And as many other rivers are there, babbling
as they flow, sons of Ocean, whom queenly Tethys bare, but their names it
is hard for a mortal man to tell, but people know those by which they
severally dwell.

(ll. 371-374) And Theia was subject in love to Hyperion and bare great
Helius (Sun) and clear Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn) who shines upon all
that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven.
(ll. 375-377) And Eurybia, bright goddess, was joined in love to Crius
and bare great Astraeus, and Pallas, and Perses who also was eminent
among all men in wisdom.
(ll. 378-382) And Eos bare to Astraeus the strong-hearted winds,
brightening Zephyrus, and Boreas, headlong in his course, and Notus,—a
goddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigenia 1616 bare the
star Eosphorus (Dawn-bringer), and the gleaming stars with which heaven
is crowned.
(ll. 383-403) And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and
bare Zelus (Emulation) and trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house. Also
she brought forth Cratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful children.
These have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that
wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus the loud-
thunderer. For so did Styx the deathless daughter of Ocean plan on that day
when the Olympian Lightener called all the deathless gods to great
Olympus, and said that whosoever of the gods would fight with him against
the Titans, he would not cast him out from his rights, but each should have
the office which he had before amongst the deathless gods. And he declared
that he who was without office and rights under Cronos, should be raised to
both office and rights as is just. So deathless Styx came first to Olympus
with her children through the wit of her dear father. And Zeus honoured her,
and gave her very great gifts, for her he appointed to be the great oath of the
gods, and her children to live with him always. And as he promised, so he
performed fully unto them all. But he himself mightily reigns and rules.
(ll. 404-452) Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.
Then the goddess through the love of the god conceived and brought
forth dark-gowned Leto, always mild, kind to men and to the deathless
gods, mild from the beginning, gentlest in all Olympus. Also she bare
Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be
called his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the
son of Cronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a
share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry
heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods. For to this day,

whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for
favour according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great honour comes full
easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favourably, and she
bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her. For as many as
were born of Earth and Ocean amongst all these she has her due portion.
The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was
her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was
at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in
sea. Also, because she is an only child, the goddess receives not less
honour, but much more still, for Zeus honours her. Whom she will she
greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in
the assembly whom she will is distinguished among the people. And when
men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at
hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is she
also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them
and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins
the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And she is
good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is
in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud-
crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and
easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. She is good in the
byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds
of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or
makes many to be less. So, then. albeit her mother’s only child 1617, she is
honoured amongst all the deathless gods. And the son of Cronos made her a
nurse of the young who after that day saw with their eyes the light of all-
seeing Dawn. So from the beginning she is a nurse of the young, and these
are her honours.
(ll. 453-491) But Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bare splendid
children, Hestia 1618, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades,
pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth, and the loud-crashing Earth-
Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, by whose thunder the wide
earth is shaken. These great Cronos swallowed as each came forth from the
womb to his mother’s knees with this intent, that no other of the proud sons
of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst the deathless gods. For he
learned from Earth and starry Heaven that he was destined to be overcome
by his own son, strong though he was, through the contriving of great Zeus

1619. Therefore he kept no blind outlook, but watched and swallowed down
his children: and unceasing grief seized Rhea. But when she was about to
bear Zeus, the father of gods and men, then she besought her own dear
parents, Earth and starry Heaven, to devise some plan with her that the birth
of her dear child might be concealed, and that retribution might overtake
great, crafty Cronos for his own father and also for the children whom he
had swallowed down. And they readily heard and obeyed their dear
daughter, and told her all that was destined to happen touching Cronos the
king and his stout-hearted son. So they sent her to Lyetus, to the rich land of
Crete, when she was ready to bear great Zeus, the youngest of her children.
Him did vast Earth receive from Rhea in wide Crete to nourish and to bring
up. Thither came Earth carrying him swiftly through the black night to
Lyctus first, and took him in her arms and hid him in a remote cave beneath
the secret places of the holy earth on thick-wooded Mount Aegeum; but to
the mightily ruling son of Heaven, the earlier king of the gods, she gave a
great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then he took it in his hands and
thrust it down into his belly: wretch! he knew not in his heart that in place
of the stone his son was left behind, unconquered and untroubled, and that
he was soon to overcome him by force and might and drive him from his
honours, himself to reign over the deathless gods.
(ll. 492-506) After that, the strength and glorious limbs of the prince
increased quickly, and as the years rolled on, great Cronos the wily was
beguiled by the deep suggestions of Earth, and brought up again his
offspring, vanquished by the arts and might of his own son, and he vomited
up first the stone which he had swallowed last. And Zeus set it fast in the
wide-pathed earth at goodly Pytho under the glens of Parnassus, to be a sign
thenceforth and a marvel to mortal men 1620. And he set free from their
deadly bonds the brothers of his father, sons of Heaven whom his father in
his foolishness had bound. And they remembered to be grateful to him for
his kindness, and gave him thunder and the glowing thunderbolt and
lightening: for before that, huge Earth had hidden these. In them he trusts
and rules over mortals and immortals.
(ll. 507-543) Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled mad Clymene,
daughter of Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him a
stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bare very glorious Menoetius and clever
Prometheus, full of various wiles, and scatter-brained Epimetheus who from
the first was a mischief to men who eat bread; for it was he who first took

of Zeus the woman, the maiden whom he had formed. But Menoetius was
outrageous, and far-seeing Zeus struck him with a lurid thunderbolt and sent
him down to Erebus because of his mad presumption and exceeding pride.
And Atlas through hard constraint upholds the wide heaven with
unwearying head and arms, standing at the borders of the earth before the
clear-voiced Hesperides; for this lot wise Zeus assigned to him. And ready-
witted Prometheus he bound with inextricable bonds, cruel chains, and
drove a shaft through his middle, and set on him a long-winged eagle,
which used to eat his immortal liver; but by night the liver grew as much
again everyway as the long-winged bird devoured in the whole day. That
bird Heracles, the valiant son of shapely-ankled Alcmene, slew; and
delivered the son of Iapetus from the cruel plague, and released him from
his affliction—not without the will of Olympian Zeus who reigns on high,
that the glory of Heracles the Theban-born might be yet greater than it was
before over the plenteous earth. This, then, he regarded, and honoured his
famous son; though he was angry, he ceased from the wrath which he had
before because Prometheus matched himself in wit with the almighty son of
Cronos. For when the gods and mortal men had a dispute at Mecone, even
then Prometheus was forward to cut up a great ox and set portions before
them, trying to befool the mind of Zeus. Before the rest he set flesh and
inner parts thick with fat upon the hide, covering them with an ox paunch;
but for Zeus he put the white bones dressed up with cunning art and
covered with shining fat. Then the father of men and of gods said to him:
(ll. 543-544) ‘Son of Iapetus, most glorious of all lords, good sir, how
unfairly you have divided the portions!’
(ll. 545-547) So said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him.
But wily Prometheus answered him, smiling softly and not forgetting his
cunning trick:
(ll. 548-558) ‘Zeus, most glorious and greatest of the eternal gods, take
which ever of these portions your heart within you bids.’ So he said,
thinking trickery. But Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, saw and failed
not to perceive the trick, and in his heart he thought mischief against mortal
men which also was to be fulfilled. With both hands he took up the white
fat and was angry at heart, and wrath came to his spirit when he saw the
white ox-bones craftily tricked out: and because of this the tribes of men

upon earth burn white bones to the deathless gods upon fragrant altars. But
Zeus who drives the clouds was greatly vexed and said to him:
(ll. 559-560) ‘Son of Iapetus, clever above all! So, sir, you have not yet
forgotten your cunning arts!’
(ll. 561-584) So spake Zeus in anger, whose wisdom is everlasting; and
from that time he was always mindful of the trick, and would not give the
power of unwearying fire to the Melian 1621 race of mortal men who live on
the earth. But the noble son of Iapetus outwitted him and stole the far-seen
gleam of unwearying fire in a hollow fennel stalk. And Zeus who thunders
on high was stung in spirit, and his dear heart was angered when he saw
amongst men the far-seen ray of fire. Forthwith he made an evil thing for
men as the price of fire; for the very famous Limping God formed of earth
the likeness of a shy maiden as the son of Cronos willed. And the goddess
bright-eyed Athene girded and clothed her with silvery raiment, and down
from her head she spread with her hands a broidered veil, a wonder to see;
and she, Pallas Athene, put about her head lovely garlands, flowers of new-
grown herbs. Also she put upon her head a crown of gold which the very
famous Limping God made himself and worked with his own hands as a
favour to Zeus his father. On it was much curious work, wonderful to see;
for of the many creatures which the land and sea rear up, he put most upon
it, wonderful things, like living beings with voices: and great beauty shone
out from it.
(ll. 585-589) But when he had made the beautiful evil to be the price for
the blessing, he brought her out, delighting in the finery which the bright-
eyed daughter of a mighty father had given her, to the place where the other
gods and men were. And wonder took hold of the deathless gods and mortal
men when they saw that which was sheer guile, not to be withstood by men.
(ll. 590-612) For from her is the race of women and female kind: of her is
the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their
great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in wealth. And as in
thatched hives bees feed the drones whose nature is to do mischief—by day
and throughout the day until the sun goes down the bees are busy and lay
the white combs, while the drones stay at home in the covered skeps and
reap the toil of others into their own bellies—even so Zeus who thunders on
high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil. And
he gave them a second evil to be the price for the good they had: whoever

avoids marriage and the sorrows that women cause, and will not wed,
reaches deadly old age without anyone to tend his years, and though he at
least has no lack of livelihood while he lives, yet, when he is dead, his
kinsfolk divide his possessions amongst them. And as for the man who
chooses the lot of marriage and takes a good wife suited to his mind, evil
continually contends with good; for whoever happens to have mischievous
children, lives always with unceasing grief in his spirit and heart within
him; and this evil cannot be healed.
(ll. 613-616) So it is not possible to deceive or go beyond the will of
Zeus; for not even the son of Iapetus, kindly Prometheus, escaped his heavy
anger, but of necessity strong bands confined him, although he knew many
a wile.
(ll. 617-643) But when first their father was vexed in his heart with
Obriareus and Cottus and Gyes, he bound them in cruel bonds, because he
was jealous of their exceeding manhood and comeliness and great size: and
he made them live beneath the wide-pathed earth, where they were
afflicted, being set to dwell under the ground, at the end of the earth, at its
great borders, in bitter anguish for a long time and with great grief at heart.
But the son of Cronos and the other deathless gods whom rich-haired Rhea
bare from union with Cronos, brought them up again to the light at Earth’s
advising. For she herself recounted all things to the gods fully, how that
with these they would gain victory and a glorious cause to vaunt
themselves. For the Titan gods and as many as sprang from Cronos had
long been fighting together in stubborn war with heart-grieving toil, the
lordly Titans from high Othyrs, but the gods, givers of good, whom rich-
haired Rhea bare in union with Cronos, from Olympus. So they, with bitter
wrath, were fighting continually with one another at that time for ten full
years, and the hard strife had no close or end for either side, and the issue of
the war hung evenly balanced. But when he had provided those three with
all things fitting, nectar and ambrosia which the gods themselves eat, and
when their proud spirit revived within them all after they had fed on nectar
and delicious ambrosia, then it was that the father of men and gods spoke
amongst them:
(ll. 644-653) ‘Hear me, bright children of Earth and Heaven, that I may
say what my heart within me bids. A long while now have we, who are
sprung from Cronos and the Titan gods, fought with each other every day to

get victory and to prevail. But do you show your great might and
unconquerable strength, and face the Titans in bitter strife; for remember
our friendly kindness, and from what sufferings you are come back to the
light from your cruel bondage under misty gloom through our counsels.’
(ll. 654-663) So he said. And blameless Cottus answered him again:
‘Divine one, you speak that which we know well: nay, even of ourselves we
know that your wisdom and understanding is exceeding, and that you
became a defender of the deathless ones from chill doom. And through your
devising we are come back again from the murky gloom and from our
merciless bonds, enjoying what we looked not for, O lord, son of Cronos.
And so now with fixed purpose and deliberate counsel we will aid your
power in dreadful strife and will fight against the Titans in hard battle.’
(ll. 664-686) So he said: and the gods, givers of good things, applauded
when they heard his word, and their spirit longed for war even more than
before, and they all, both male and female, stirred up hated battle that day,
the Titan gods, and all that were born of Cronos together with those dread,
mighty ones of overwhelming strength whom Zeus brought up to the light
from Erebus beneath the earth. An hundred arms sprang from the shoulders
of all alike, and each had fifty heads growing upon his shoulders upon stout
limbs. These, then, stood against the Titans in grim strife, holding huge
rocks in their strong hands. And on the other part the Titans eagerly
strengthened their ranks, and both sides at one time showed the work of
their hands and their might. The boundless sea rang terribly around, and the
earth crashed loudly: wide Heaven was shaken and groaned, and high
Olympus reeled from its foundation under the charge of the undying gods,
and a heavy quaking reached dim Tartarus and the deep sound of their feet
in the fearful onset and of their hard missiles. So, then, they launched their
grievous shafts upon one another, and the cry of both armies as they
shouted reached to starry heaven; and they met together with a great battle-
cry.
(ll. 687-712) Then Zeus no longer held back his might; but straight his
heart was filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From
Heaven and from Olympus he came forthwith, hurling his lightning: the
bolts flew thick and fast from his strong hand together with thunder and
lightning, whirling an awesome flame. The life-giving earth crashed around
in burning, and the vast wood crackled loud with fire all about. All the land

seethed, and Ocean’s streams and the unfruitful sea. The hot vapour lapped
round the earthborn Titans: flame unspeakable rose to the bright upper air:
the flashing glare of the thunder-stone and lightning blinded their eyes for
all that there were strong. Astounding heat seized Chaos: and to see with
eyes and to hear the sound with ears it seemed even as if Earth and wide
Heaven above came together; for such a mighty crash would have arisen if
Earth were being hurled to ruin, and Heaven from on high were hurling her
down; so great a crash was there while the gods were meeting together in
strife. Also the winds brought rumbling earthquake and duststorm, thunder
and lightning and the lurid thunderbolt, which are the shafts of great Zeus,
and carried the clangour and the warcry into the midst of the two hosts. An
horrible uproar of terrible strife arose: mighty deeds were shown and the
battle inclined. But until then, they kept at one another and fought
continually in cruel war.
(ll. 713-735) And amongst the foremost Cottus and Briareos and Gyes
insatiate for war raised fierce fighting: three hundred rocks, one upon
another, they launched from their strong hands and overshadowed the
Titans with their missiles, and buried them beneath the wide-pathed earth,
and bound them in bitter chains when they had conquered them by their
strength for all their great spirit, as far beneath the earth to Tartarus. For a
brazen anvil falling down from heaven nine nights and days would reach
the earth upon the tenth: and again, a brazen anvil falling from earth nine
nights and days would reach Tartarus upon the tenth. Round it runs a fence
of bronze, and night spreads in triple line all about it like a neck-circlet,
while above grow the roots of the earth and unfruitful sea. There by the
counsel of Zeus who drives the clouds the Titan gods are hidden under
misty gloom, in a dank place where are the ends of the huge earth. And they
may not go out; for Poseidon fixed gates of bronze upon it, and a wall runs
all round it on every side. There Gyes and Cottus and great-souled
Obriareus live, trusty warders of Zeus who holds the aegis.
(ll. 736-744) And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends of
gloomy earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry heaven,
loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.
It is a great gulf, and if once a man were within the gates, he would not
reach the floor until a whole year had reached its end, but cruel blast upon

blast would carry him this way and that. And this marvel is awful even to
the deathless gods.
(ll. 744-757) There stands the awful home of murky Night wrapped in
dark clouds. In front of it the son of Iapetus 1622 stands immovably
upholding the wide heaven upon his head and unwearying hands, where
Night and Day draw near and greet one another as they pass the great
threshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the house,
the other comes out at the door.
And the house never holds them both within; but always one is without
the house passing over the earth, while the other stays at home and waits
until the time for her journeying come; and the one holds all-seeing light for
them on earth, but the other holds in her arms Sleep the brother of Death,
even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous cloud.
(ll. 758-766) And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings,
Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with
his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he comes down from
heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully over the earth and the
sea’s broad back and is kindly to men; but the other has a heart of iron, and
his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once
seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the deathless gods.
(ll. 767-774) There, in front, stand the echoing halls of the god of the
lower-world, strong Hades, and of awful Persephone. A fearful hound
guards the house in front, pitiless, and he has a cruel trick. On those who go
in he fawns with his tail and both his ears, but suffers them not to go out
back again, but keeps watch and devours whomsoever he catches going out
of the gates of strong Hades and awful Persephone.
(ll. 775-806) And there dwells the goddess loathed by the deathless gods,
terrible Styx, eldest daughter of back-flowing 1623 Ocean. She lives apart
from the gods in her glorious house vaulted over with great rocks and
propped up to heaven all round with silver pillars. Rarely does the daughter
of Thaumas, swift-footed Iris, come to her with a message over the sea’s
wide back.
But when strife and quarrel arise among the deathless gods, and when
any of them who live in the house of Olympus lies, then Zeus sends Iris to
bring in a golden jug the great oath of the gods from far away, the famous
cold water which trickles down from a high and beetling rock. Far under the

wide-pathed earth a branch of Oceanus flows through the dark night out of
the holy stream, and a tenth part of his water is allotted to her. With nine
silver-swirling streams he winds about the earth and the sea’s wide back,
and then falls into the main 1624; but the tenth flows out from a rock, a sore
trouble to the gods. For whoever of the deathless gods that hold the peaks of
snowy Olympus pours a libation of her water is forsworn, lies breathless
until a full year is completed, and never comes near to taste ambrosia and
nectar, but lies spiritless and voiceless on a strewn bed: and a heavy trance
overshadows him. But when he has spent a long year in his sickness,
another penance and an harder follows after the first. For nine years he is
cut off from the eternal gods and never joins their councils of their feasts,
nine full years. But in the tenth year he comes again to join the assemblies
of the deathless gods who live in the house of Olympus. Such an oath, then,
did the gods appoint the eternal and primaeval water of Styx to be: and it
spouts through a rugged place.
(ll. 807-819) And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends of the
dark earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry heaven,
loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.
And there are shining gates and an immoveable threshold of bronze
having unending roots and it is grown of itself 1625. And beyond, away from
all the gods, live the Titans, beyond gloomy Chaos. But the glorious allies
of loud-crashing Zeus have their dwelling upon Ocean’s foundations, even
Cottus and Gyes; but Briareos, being goodly, the deep-roaring Earth-Shaker
made his son-in-law, giving him Cymopolea his daughter to wed.
(ll. 820-868) But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge
Earth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the aid of
golden Aphrodite. Strength was with his hands in all that he did and the feet
of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew an hundred heads
of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering tongues, and from under
the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads flashed fire, and fire burned
from his heads as he glared. And there were voices in all his dreadful heads
which uttered every kind of sound unspeakable; for at one time they made
sounds such that the gods understood, but at another, the noise of a bull
bellowing aloud in proud ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a
lion, relentless of heart; and at another, sounds like whelps, wonderful to
hear; and again, at another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains re-

echoed. And truly a thing past help would have happened on that day, and
he would have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the father
of men and gods been quick to perceive it. But he thundered hard and
mightily: and the earth around resounded terribly and the wide heaven
above, and the sea and Ocean’s streams and the nether parts of the earth.
Great Olympus reeled beneath the divine feet of the king as he arose and
earth groaned thereat. And through the two of them heat took hold on the
dark-blue sea, through the thunder and lightning, and through the fire from
the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing thunderbolt. The whole
earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the long waves raged along the beaches
round and about, at the rush of the deathless gods: and there arose an
endless shaking. Hades trembled where he rules over the dead below, and
the Titans under Tartarus who live with Cronos, because of the unending
clamour and the fearful strife. So when Zeus had raised up his might and
seized his arms, thunder and lightning and lurid thunderbolt, he leaped from
Olympus and struck him, and burned all the marvellous heads of the
monster about him. But when Zeus had conquered him and lashed him with
strokes, Typhoeus was hurled down, a maimed wreck, so that the huge earth
groaned. And flame shot forth from the thunder-stricken lord in the dim
rugged glens of the mount 1626, when he was smitten. A great part of huge
earth was scorched by the terrible vapour and melted as tin melts when
heated by men’s art in channelled 1627 crucibles; or as iron, which is hardest
of all things, is softened by glowing fire in mountain glens and melts in the
divine earth through the strength of Hephaestus 1628. Even so, then, the
earth melted in the glow of the blazing fire. And in the bitterness of his
anger Zeus cast him into wide Tartarus.
(ll. 869-880) And from Typhoeus come boisterous winds which blow
damply, except Notus and Boreas and clear Zephyr. These are a god-sent
kind, and a great blessing to men; but the others blow fitfully upon the seas.
Some rush upon the misty sea and work great havoc among men with their
evil, raging blasts; for varying with the season they blow, scattering ships
and destroying sailors. And men who meet these upon the sea have no help
against the mischief. Others again over the boundless, flowering earth spoil
the fair fields of men who dwell below, filling them with dust and cruel
uproar.
(ll. 881-885) But when the blessed gods had finished their toil, and
settled by force their struggle for honours with the Titans, they pressed far-

seeing Olympian Zeus to reign and to rule over them, by Earth’s prompting.
So he divided their dignities amongst them.
(ll. 886-900) Now Zeus, king of the gods, made Metis his wife first, and
she was wisest among gods and mortal men. But when she was about to
bring forth the goddess bright-eyed Athene, Zeus craftily deceived her with
cunning words and put her in his own belly, as Earth and starry Heaven
advised. For they advised him so, to the end that no other should hold royal
sway over the eternal gods in place of Zeus; for very wise children were
destined to be born of her, first the maiden bright-eyed Tritogeneia, equal to
her father in strength and in wise understanding; but afterwards she was to
bear a son of overbearing spirit, king of gods and men. But Zeus put her
into his own belly first, that the goddess might devise for him both good
and evil.
(ll. 901-906) Next he married bright Themis who bare the Horae (Hours),
and Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming Eirene (Peace), who
mind the works of mortal men, and the Moerae (Fates) to whom wise Zeus
gave the greatest honour, Clotho, and Lachesis, and Atropos who give
mortal men evil and good to have.
(ll. 907-911) And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form,
bare him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne, and
lovely Thaleia, from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that unnerves
the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows.
(ll. 912-914) Also he came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, and she
bare white-armed Persephone whom Aidoneus carried off from her mother;
but wise Zeus gave her to him.
(ll. 915-917) And again, he loved Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair:
and of her the nine gold-crowned Muses were born who delight in feasts
and the pleasures of song.
(ll. 918-920) And Leto was joined in love with Zeus who holds the aegis,
and bare Apollo and Artemis delighting in arrows, children lovely above all
the sons of Heaven.
(ll. 921-923) Lastly, he made Hera his blooming wife: and she was joined
in love with the king of gods and men, and brought forth Hebe and Ares and
Eileithyia.

(ll. 924-929) But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to bright-
eyed Tritogeneia 1629, the awful, the strife-stirring, the host-leader, the
unwearying, the queen, who delights in tumults and wars and battles. But
Hera without union with Zeus—for she was very angry and quarrelled with
her mate—bare famous Hephaestus, who is skilled in crafts more than all
the sons of Heaven.
(ll. 929a-929t) 1630 But Hera was very angry and quarrelled with her
mate. And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who
holds the aegis a glorious son, Hephaestus, who excelled all the sons of
Heaven in crafts. But Zeus lay with the fair-cheeked daughter of Ocean and
Tethys apart from Hera.... ((LACUNA)) ....deceiving Metis (Thought)
although she was full wise. But he seized her with his hands and put her in
his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his
thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells in the aether,
swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway conceived Pallas Athene:
and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way of his head on the
banks of the river Trito. And she remained hidden beneath the inward parts
of Zeus, even Metis, Athena’s mother, worker of righteousness, who was
wiser than gods and mortal men. There the goddess (Athena) received that
1631 whereby she excelled in strength all the deathless ones who dwell in
Olympus, she who made the host-scaring weapon of Athena. And with it
(Zeus) gave her birth, arrayed in arms of war.
(ll. 930-933) And of Amphitrite and the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was
born great, wide-ruling Triton, and he owns the depths of the sea, living
with his dear mother and the lord his father in their golden house, an awful
god.
(ll. 933-937) Also Cytherea bare to Ares the shield-piercer Panic and
Fear, terrible gods who drive in disorder the close ranks of men in numbing
war, with the help of Ares, sacker of towns: and Harmonia whom high-
spirited Cadmus made his wife.
(ll. 938-939) And Maia, the daughter of Atlas, bare to Zeus glorious
Hermes, the herald of the deathless gods, for she went up into his holy bed.
(ll. 940-942) And Semele, daughter of Cadmus was joined with him in
love and bare him a splendid son, joyous Dionysus,—a mortal woman an
immortal son. And now they both are gods.

(ll. 943-944) And Alcmena was joined in love with Zeus who drives the
clouds and bare mighty Heracles.
(ll. 945-946) And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea,
youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife.
(ll. 947-949) And golden-haired Dionysus made brown-haired Ariadne,
the daughter of Minos, his buxom wife: and the son of Cronos made her
deathless and unageing for him.
(ll. 950-955) And mighty Heracles, the valiant son of neat-ankled
Alcmena, when he had finished his grievous toils, made Hebe the child of
great Zeus and gold-shod Hera his shy wife in snowy Olympus. Happy he!
For he has finished his great works and lives amongst the undying gods,
untroubled and unageing all his days.
(ll. 956-962) And Perseis, the daughter of Ocean, bare to unwearying
Helios Circe and Aeetes the king. And Aeetes, the son of Helios who shows
light to men, took to wife fair-cheeked Idyia, daughter of Ocean the perfect
stream, by the will of the gods: and she was subject to him in love through
golden Aphrodite and bare him neat-ankled Medea.
(ll. 963-968) And now farewell, you dwellers on Olympus and you
islands and continents and thou briny sea within. Now sing the company of
goddesses, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughter of Zeus who holds
the aegis,—even those deathless one who lay with mortal men and bare
children like unto gods.
(ll. 969-974) Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet love with the
hero Iasion in a thrice-ploughed fallow in the rich land of Crete, and bare
Plutus, a kindly god who goes everywhere over land and the sea’s wide
back, and him who finds him and into whose hands he comes he makes
rich, bestowing great wealth upon him.
(ll. 975-978) And Harmonia, the daughter of golden Aphrodite, bare to
Cadmus Ino and Semele and fair-cheeked Agave and Autonoe whom long
haired Aristaeus wedded, and Polydorus also in rich-crowned Thebe.
(ll. 979-983) And the daughter of Ocean, Callirrhoe was joined in the
love of rich Aphrodite with stout hearted Chrysaor and bare a son who was
the strongest of all men, Geryones, whom mighty Heracles killed in sea-girt
Erythea for the sake of his shambling oxen.

(ll. 984-991) And Eos bare to Tithonus brazen-crested Memnon, king of
the Ethiopians, and the Lord Emathion. And to Cephalus she bare a
splendid son, strong Phaethon, a man like the gods, whom, when he was a
young boy in the tender flower of glorious youth with childish thoughts,
laughter-loving Aphrodite seized and caught up and made a keeper of her
shrine by night, a divine spirit.
(ll. 993-1002) And the son of Aeson by the will of the gods led away
from Aeetes the daughter of Aeetes the heaven-nurtured king, when he had
finished the many grievous labours which the great king, over bearing
Pelias, that outrageous and presumptuous doer of violence, put upon him.
But when the son of Aeson had finished them, he came to Iolcus after long
toil bringing the coy-eyed girl with him on his swift ship, and made her his
buxom wife. And she was subject to Iason, shepherd of the people, and bare
a son Medeus whom Cheiron the son of Philyra brought up in the
mountains. And the will of great Zeus was fulfilled.
(ll. 1003-1007) But of the daughters of Nereus, the Old man of the Sea,
Psamathe the fair goddess, was loved by Aeacus through golden Aphrodite
and bare Phocus. And the silver-shod goddess Thetis was subject to Peleus
and brought forth lion-hearted Achilles, the destroyer of men.
(ll. 1008-1010) And Cytherea with the beautiful crown was joined in
sweet love with the hero Anchises and bare Aeneas on the peaks of Ida with
its many wooded glens.
(ll. 1011-1016) And Circe the daughter of Helius, Hyperion’s son, loved
steadfast Odysseus and bare Agrius and Latinus who was faultless and
strong: also she brought forth Telegonus by the will of golden Aphrodite.
And they ruled over the famous Tyrenians, very far off in a recess of the
holy islands.
(ll. 1017-1018) And the bright goddess Calypso was joined to Odysseus
in sweet love, and bare him Nausithous and Nausinous.
(ll. 1019-1020) These are the immortal goddesses who lay with mortal
men and bare them children like unto gods.
(ll. 1021-1022) But now, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughters of
Zeus who holds the aegis, sing of the company of women.

THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE1701

Fragment #1—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 1086: That
Deucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, Hesiod states in the first
Catalogue, as also that Hellen was the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
Fragment #2—Ioannes Lydus 1702, de Mens. i. 13: They came to call
those who followed local manners Latins, but those who followed Hellenic
customs Greeks, after the brothers Latinus and Graecus; as Hesiod says:
‘And in the palace Pandora the daughter of noble Deucalion was joined in
love with father Zeus, leader of all the gods, and bare Graecus, staunch in
battle.’
Fragment #3—Constantinus Porphyrogenitus 1703, de Them. 2 p. 48B:
The district Macedonia took its name from Macedon the son of Zeus and
Thyia, Deucalion’s daughter, as Hesiod says: ‘And she conceived and bare
to Zeus who delights in the thunderbolt two sons, Magnes and Macedon,
rejoicing in horses, who dwell round about Pieria and Olympus....
((LACUNA)) ....And Magnes again (begot) Dictys and godlike Polydectes.’
Fragment #4—Plutarch, Mor. p. 747; Schol. on Pindar Pyth. iv. 263:
‘And from Hellen the war-loving king sprang Dorus and Xuthus and Aeolus
delighting in horses. And the sons of Aeolus, kings dealing justice, were
Cretheus, and Athamas, and clever Sisyphus, and wicked Salmoneus and
overbold Perieres.’
Fragment #5—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 266: Those who
were descended from Deucalion used to rule over Thessaly as Hecataeus
and Hesiod say.
Fragment #6—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 482: Aloiadae.
Hesiod said that they were sons of Aloeus,—called so after him,—and of
Iphimedea, but in reality sons of Poseidon and Iphimedea, and that Alus a
city of Aetolia was founded by their father.
Fragment #7—Berlin Papyri, No. 7497; Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 421 1704:
(ll. 1-24) ‘....Eurynome the daughter of Nisus, Pandion’s son, to whom
Pallas Athene taught all her art, both wit and wisdom too; for she was as
wise as the gods. A marvellous scent rose from her silvern raiment as she
moved, and beauty was wafted from her eyes. Her, then, Glaucus sought to
win by Athena’s advising, and he drove oxen 1705 for her. But he knew not
at all the intent of Zeus who holds the aegis. So Glaucus came seeking her
to wife with gifts; but cloud-driving Zeus, king of the deathless gods, bent
his head in oath that the.... son of Sisyphus should never have children born

of one father 1706. So she lay in the arms of Poseidon and bare in the house
of Glaucus blameless Bellerophon, surpassing all men in.... over the
boundless sea. And when he began to roam, his father gave him Pegasus
who would bear him most swiftly on his wings, and flew unwearying
everywhere over the earth, for like the gales he would course along. With
him Bellerophon caught and slew the fire-breathing Chimera. And he
wedded the dear child of the great-hearted Iobates, the worshipful king....
lord (of).... and she bare....’
Fragment #8—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodes, Arg. iv. 57: Hesiod says
that Endymion was the son of Aethlius the son of Zeus and Calyee, and
received the gift from Zeus: ‘(To be) keeper of death for his own self when
he was ready to die.’
Fragment #9—Scholiast Ven. on Homer, Il. xi. 750: The two sons of
Actor and Molione... Hesiod has given their descent by calling them after
Actor and Molione; but their father was Poseidon.
Porphyrius 1707, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pert., 265: But Aristarchus is
informed that they were twins, not.... such as were the Dioscuri, but, on
Hesiod’s testimony, double in form and with two bodies and joined to one
another.
Fragment #10—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 156: But
Hesiod says that he changed himself in one of his wonted shapes and
perched on the yoke-boss of Heracles’ horses, meaning to fight with the
hero; but that Heracles, secretly instructed by Athena, wounded him
mortally with an arrow. And he says as follows: ‘...and lordly Periclymenus.
Happy he! For earth-shaking Poseidon gave him all manner of gifts. At one
time he would appear among birds, an eagle; and again at another he would
be an ant, a marvel to see; and then a shining swarm of bees; and again at
another time a dread relentless snake. And he possessed all manner of gifts
which cannot be told, and these then ensnared him through the devising of
Athene.’
Fragment #11—Stephanus of Byzantium 1708, s.v.: ‘(Heracles) slew the
noble sons of steadfast Neleus, eleven of them; but the twelfth, the
horsemen Gerenian Nestor chanced to be staying with the horse-taming
Gerenians. ((LACUNA)) Nestor alone escaped in flowery Gerenon.’
Fragment #12—Eustathius 1709, Hom. 1796.39: ‘So well-girded
Polycaste, the youngest daughter of Nestor, Neleus’ son, was joined in love

with Telemachus through golden Aphrodite and bare Persepolis.’
Fragment #13—Scholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 69: Tyro the daughter of
Salmoneus, having two sons by Poseidon, Neleus and Pelias, married
Cretheus, and had by him three sons, Aeson, Pheres and Amythaon. And of
Aeson and Polymede, according to Hesiod, Iason was born: ‘Aeson, who
begot a son Iason, shepherd of the people, whom Chiron brought up in
woody Pelion.’
Fragment #14—Petrie Papyri (ed. Mahaffy), Pl. III. 3: ‘....of the glorious
lord ....fair Atalanta, swift of foot, the daughter of Schoeneus, who had the
beaming eyes of the Graces, though she was ripe for wedlock rejected the
company of her equals and sought to avoid marriage with men who eat
bread.’
Scholiast on Homer, Iliad xxiii. 683: Hesiod is therefore later in date than
Homer since he represents Hippomenes as stripped when contending with
Atalanta 1710.
Papiri greci e latini, ii. No. 130 (2nd-3rd century) 1711: (ll. 1-7) ‘Then
straightway there rose up against him the trim-ankled maiden (Atalanta),
peerless in beauty: a great throng stood round about her as she gazed
fiercely, and wonder held all men as they looked upon her. As she moved,
the breath of the west wind stirred the shining garment about her tender
bosom; but Hippomenes stood where he was: and much people was
gathered together. All these kept silence; but Schoeneus cried and said:
(ll. 8-20) ‘“Hear me all, both young and old, while I speak as my spirit
within my breast bids me. Hippomenes seeks my coy-eyed daughter to
wife; but let him now hear my wholesome speech. He shall not win her
without contest; yet, if he be victorious and escape death, and if the
deathless gods who dwell on Olympus grant him to win renown, verily he
shall return to his dear native land, and I will give him my dear child and
strong, swift-footed horses besides which he shall lead home to be
cherished possessions; and may he rejoice in heart possessing these, and
ever remember with gladness the painful contest. May the father of men and
of gods (grant that splendid children may be born to him)’ 1712
((LACUNA))
(ll. 21-27) ‘on the right.... and he, rushing upon her,.... drawing back
slightly towards the left. And on them was laid an unenviable struggle: for
she, even fair, swift-footed Atalanta, ran scorning the gifts of golden

Aphrodite; but with him the race was for his life, either to find his doom, or
to escape it. Therefore with thoughts of guile he said to her:
(ll. 28-29) ‘“O daughter of Schoeneus, pitiless in heart, receive these
glorious gifts of the goddess, golden Aphrodite...’
((LACUNA))
(ll. 30-36) ‘But he, following lightly on his feet, cast the first apple 1713:
and, swiftly as a Harpy, she turned back and snatched it. Then he cast the
second to the ground with his hand. And now fair, swift-footed Atalanta had
two apples and was near the goal; but Hippomenes cast the third apple to
the ground, and therewith escaped death and black fate. And he stood
panting and...’
Fragment #15—Strabo 1714, i. p. 42: ‘And the daughter of Arabus, whom
worthy Hermaon begat with Thronia, daughter of the lord Belus.’
Fragment #16—Eustathius, Hom. 461. 2: ‘Argos which was waterless
Danaus made well-watered.’
Fragment #17—Hecataeus 1715 in Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes, 872:
Aegyptus himself did not go to Argos, but sent his sons, fifty in number, as
Hesiod represented.
Fragment #18—1716 Strabo, viii. p. 370: And Apollodorus says that
Hesiod already knew that the whole people were called both Hellenes and
Panhellenes, as when he says of the daughters of Proetus that the
Panhellenes sought them in marriage.
Apollodorus, ii. 2.1.4: Acrisius was king of Argos and Proetus of Tiryns.
And Acrisius had by Eurydice the daughter of Lacedemon, Danae; and
Proetus by Stheneboea ‘Lysippe and Iphinoe and Iphianassa’. And these fell
mad, as Hesiod states, because they would not receive the rites of Dionysus.
Probus 1717 on Vergil, Eclogue vi. 48: These (the daughters of Proetus),
because they had scorned the divinity of Juno, were overcome with
madness, such that they believed they had been turned into cows, and left
Argos their own country. Afterwards they were cured by Melampus, the son
of Amythaon.
Suidas, s.v.: 1718 ‘Because of their hideous wantonness they lost their
tender beauty....’
Eustathius, Hom. 1746.7: ‘....For he shed upon their heads a fearful itch:
and leprosy covered all their flesh, and their hair dropped from their heads,

and their fair scalps were made bare.’
Fragment #19A—1719 Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 1 (3rd cent. A.D.):
1720 (ll. 1-32) ‘....So she (Europa) crossed the briny water from afar to
Crete, beguiled by the wiles of Zeus. Secretly did the Father snatch her
away and gave her a gift, the golden necklace, the toy which Hephaestus the
famed craftsman once made by his cunning skill and brought and gave it to
his father for a possession. And Zeus received the gift, and gave it in turn to
the daughter of proud Phoenix. But when the Father of men and of gods had
mated so far off with trim-ankled Europa, then he departed back again from
the rich-haired girl. So she bare sons to the almighty Son of Cronos,
glorious leaders of wealthy men—Minos the ruler, and just Rhadamanthys
and noble Sarpedon the blameless and strong. To these did wise Zeus give
each a share of his honour. Verily Sarpedon reigned mightily over wide
Lycia and ruled very many cities filled with people, wielding the sceptre of
Zeus: and great honour followed him, which his father gave him, the great-
hearted shepherd of the people. For wise Zeus ordained that he should live
for three generations of mortal men and not waste away with old age. He
sent him to Troy; and Sarpedon gathered a great host, men chosen out of
Lycia to be allies to the Trojans. These men did Sarpedon lead, skilled in
bitter war. And Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, sent him forth from
heaven a star, showing tokens for the return of his dear son........for well he
(Sarpedon) knew in his heart that the sign was indeed from Zeus. Very
greatly did he excel in war together with man-slaying Hector and brake
down the wall, bringing woes upon the Danaans. But so soon as Patroclus
had inspired the Argives with hard courage....’
Fragment #19—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xii. 292: Zeus saw Europa the
daughter of Phoenix gathering flowers in a meadow with some nymphs and
fell in love with her. So he came down and changed himself into a bull and
breathed from his mouth a crocus 1721. In this way he deceived Europa,
carried her off and crossed the sea to Crete where he had intercourse with
her. Then in this condition he made her live with Asterion the king of the
Cretans. There she conceived and bore three sons, Minos, Sarpedon and
Rhadamanthys. The tale is in Hesiod and Bacchylides.
Fragment #20—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 178: But
according to Hesiod (Phineus) was the son of Phoenix, Agenor’s son and
Cassiopea.

Fragment #21—Apollodorus 1722, iii. 14.4.1: But Hesiod says that he
(Adonis) was the son of Phoenix and Alphesiboea.
Fragment #22—Porphyrius, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pert. p. 189: As it is
said in Hesiod in the Catalogue of Women concerning Demodoce the
daughter of Agenor: ‘Demodoce whom very many of men on earth, mighty
princes, wooed, promising splendid gifts, because of her exceeding beauty.’
Fragment #23—Apollodorus, iii. 5.6.2: Hesiod says that (the children of
Amphion and Niobe) were ten sons and ten daughters.
Aelian 1723, Var. Hist. xii. 36: But Hesiod says they were nine boys and
ten girls;—unless after all the verses are not Hesiod but are falsely ascribed
to him as are many others.
Fragment #24—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiii. 679: And Hesiod says that
when Oedipus had died at Thebes, Argea the daughter of Adrastus came
with others to the funeral of Oedipus.
Fragment #25—Herodian 1724 in Etymologicum Magnum, p. 60, 40:
Tityos the son of Elara.
Fragment #26—1725 Argument: Pindar, Ol. xiv: Cephisus is a river in
Orchomenus where also the Graces are worshipped. Eteoclus the son of the
river Cephisus first sacrificed to them, as Hesiod says.
Scholiast on Homer, Il. ii. 522: ‘which from Lilaea spouts forth its sweet
flowing water....’
Strabo, ix. 424: ‘....And which flows on by Panopeus and through fenced
Glechon and through Orchomenus, winding like a snake.’
Fragment #27—Scholiast on Homer, Il. vii. 9: For the father of
Menesthius, Areithous was a Boeotian living at Arnae; and this is in
Boeotia, as also Hesiod says.
Fragment #28—Stephanus of Byzantium: Onchestus: a grove 1726. It is
situate in the country of Haliartus and was founded by Onchestus the
Boeotian, as Hesiod says.
Fragment #29—Stephanus of Byzantium: There is also a plain of Aega
bordering on Cirrha, according to Hesiod.
Fragment #30—Apollodorus, ii. 1.1.5: But Hesiod says that Pelasgus was
autochthonous.

Fragment #31—Strabo, v. p. 221: That this tribe (the Pelasgi) were from
Arcadia, Ephorus states on the authority of Hesiod; for he says: ‘Sons were
born to god-like Lycaon whom Pelasgus once begot.’
Fragment #32—Stephanus of Byzantium: Pallantium. A city of Arcadia,
so named after Pallas, one of Lycaon’s sons, according to Hesiod.
Fragment #33—(Unknown): ‘Famous Meliboea bare Phellus the good
spear-man.’
Fragment #34—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction, p. 18: In Hesiod in the
second Catalogue: ‘Who once hid the torch 1727 within.’
Fragment #35—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction, p. 42: Hesiod in the third
Catalogue writes: ‘And a resounding thud of feet rose up.’
Fragment #36—Apollonius Dyscolus 1728, On the Pronoun, p. 125: ‘And
a great trouble to themselves.’
Fragment #37—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 45: Neither
Homer nor Hesiod speak of Iphiclus as amongst the Argonauts.
Fragment #38—‘Eratosthenes’ 1729, Catast. xix. p. 124: The Ram.]—This
it was that transported Phrixus and Helle. It was immortal and was given
them by their mother Nephele, and had a golden fleece, as Hesiod and
Pherecydes say.
Fragment #39—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in
the Great Eoiae says that Phineus was blinded because he revealed to
Phrixus the road; but in the third Catalogue, because he preferred long life
to sight.
Hesiod says he had two sons, Thynus and Mariandynus.
Ephorus 1730 in Strabo, vii. 302: Hesiod, in the so-called Journey round
the Earth, says that Phineus was brought by the Harpies ‘to the land of
milk-feeders 1731 who have waggons for houses.’
Fragment #40A—(Cp. Fr. 43 and 44) Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 2 (3rd
cent. A.D.): 1732 ((LACUNA—Slight remains of 7 lines))
(ll. 8-35) ‘(The Sons of Boreas pursued the Harpies) to the lands of the
Massagetae and of the proud Half-Dog men, of the Underground-folk and
of the feeble Pygmies; and to the tribes of the boundless Black-skins and
the Libyans. Huge Earth bare these to Epaphus—soothsaying people,
knowing seercraft by the will of Zeus the lord of oracles, but deceivers, to

the end that men whose thought passes their utterance 1733 might be subject
to the gods and suffer harm—Aethiopians and Libyans and mare-milking
Scythians. For verily Epaphus was the child of the almighty Son of Cronos,
and from him sprang the dark Libyans, and high-souled Aethiopians, and
the Underground-folk and feeble Pygmies. All these are the offspring of the
lord, the Loud-thunderer. Round about all these (the Sons of Boreas) sped
in darting flight.... ....of the well-horsed Hyperboreans—whom Earth the
all-nourishing bare far off by the tumbling streams of deep-flowing
Eridanus........of amber, feeding her wide-scattered offspring—and about the
steep Fawn mountain and rugged Etna to the isle Ortygia and the people
sprung from Laestrygon who was the son of wide-reigning Poseidon. Twice
ranged the Sons of Boreas along this coast and wheeled round and about
yearning to catch the Harpies, while they strove to escape and avoid them.
And they sped to the tribe of the haughty Cephallenians, the people of
patient-souled Odysseus whom in aftertime Calypso the queenly nymph
detained for Poseidon. Then they came to the land of the lord the son of
Ares........they heard. Yet still (the Sons of Boreas) ever pursued them with
instant feet. So they (the Harpies) sped over the sea and through the
fruitless air...’
Fragment #40—Strabo, vii. p. 300: ‘The Aethiopians and Ligurians and
mare-milking Scythians.’
Fragment #41—Apollodorus, i. 9.21.6: As they were being pursued, one
of the Harpies fell into the river Tigris, in Peloponnesus which is now called
Harpys after her. Some call this one Nicothoe, and others Aellopus. The
other who was called Ocypete, or as some say Ocythoe (though Hesiod
calls her Ocypus), fled down the Propontis and reached as far as to the
Echinades islands which are now called because of her, Strophades
(Turning Islands).
Fragment #42—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 297: Hesiod
also says that those with Zetes 1734 turned and prayed to Zeus: ‘There they
prayed to the lord of Aenos who reigns on high.’
Apollonius indeed says it was Iris who made Zetes and his following turn
away, but Hesiod says Hermes.
Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 296: Others say (the islands)
were called Strophades, because they turned there and prayed Zeus to seize
the Harpies. But according to Hesiod... they were not killed.

Fragment #43—Philodemus 1735, On Piety, 10: Nor let anyone mock at
Hesiod who mentions.... or even the Troglodytes and the Pygmies.
Fragment #44—Strabo, i. p. 43: No one would accuse Hesiod of
ignorance though he speaks of the Half-dog people and the Great-Headed
people and the Pygmies.
Fragment #45—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 284: But
Hesiod says they (the Argonauts) had sailed in through the Phasis.
Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 259: But Hesiod (says).... they
came through the Ocean to Libya, and so, carrying the Argo, reached our
sea.
Fragment #46—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 311:
Apollonius, following Hesiod, says that Circe came to the island over
against Tyrrhenia on the chariot of the Sun. And he called it Hesperian,
because it lies toward the west.
Fragment #47—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 892: He
(Apollonius) followed Hesiod who thus names the island of the Sirens: ‘To
the island Anthemoessa (Flowery) which the son of Cronos gave them.’
And their names are Thelxiope or Thelxinoe, Molpe and Aglaophonus
1736.
Scholiast on Homer, Od. xii. 168: Hence Hesiod said that they charmed
even the winds.
Fragment #48—Scholiast on Homer, Od. i. 85: Hesiod says that Ogygia
is within towards the west, but Ogygia lies over against Crete: ‘...the
Ogygian sea and......the island Ogygia.’
Fragment #49—Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 54: Hesiod regarded Arete
as the sister of Alcinous.
Fragment #50—Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 46: Her Hippostratus (did
wed), a scion of Ares, the splendid son of Phyetes, of the line of
Amarynces, leader of the Epeians.
Fragment #51—Apollodorus, i. 8.4.1: When Althea was dead, Oeneus
married Periboea, the daughter of Hipponous. Hesiod says that she was
seduced by Hippostratus the son of Amarynces and that her father
Hipponous sent her from Olenus in Achaea to Oeneus because he was far
away from Hellas, bidding him kill her.

‘She used to dwell on the cliff of Olenus by the banks of wide Peirus.’
Fragment #52—Diodorus 1737 v. 81: Macareus was a son of Crinacus the
son of Zeus as Hesiod says... and dwelt in Olenus in the country then called
Ionian, but now Achaean.
Fragment #53—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 21: Concerning the
Myrmidons Hesiod speaks thus: ‘And she conceived and bare Aeacus,
delighting in horses. Now when he came to the full measure of desired
youth, he chafed at being alone. And the father of men and gods made all
the ants that were in the lovely isle into men and wide-girdled women.
These were the first who fitted with thwarts ships with curved sides, and the
first who used sails, the wings of a sea-going ship.’
Fragment #54—Polybius, v. 2: ‘The sons of Aeacus who rejoiced in
battle as though a feast.’
Fragment #55—Porphyrius, Quaest. Hom. ad Iliad. pertin. p. 93: He has
indicated the shameful deed briefly by the phrase ‘to lie with her against her
will’, and not like Hesiod who recounts at length the story of Peleus and the
wife of Acastus.
Fragment #56—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. iv. 95: ‘And this seemed to
him (Acastus) in his mind the best plan; to keep back himself, but to hide
beyond guessing the beautiful knife which the very famous Lame One had
made for him, that in seeking it alone over steep Pelion, he (Peleus) might
be slain forthwith by the mountain-bred Centaurs.’
Fragment #57—Voll. Herculan. (Papyri from Herculaneum), 2nd
Collection, viii. 105: The author of the Cypria 1738 says that Thetis avoided
wedlock with Zeus to please Hera; but that Zeus was angry and swore that
she should mate with a mortal. Hesiod also has the like account.
Fragment #58—Strassburg Greek Papyri 55 (2nd century A.D.): (ll. 1-13)
‘Peleus the son of Aeacus, dear to the deathless gods, came to Phthia the
mother of flocks, bringing great possessions from spacious Iolcus. And all
the people envied him in their hearts seeing how he had sacked the well-
built city, and accomplished his joyous marriage; and they all spake this
word: “Thrice, yea, four times blessed son of Aeacus, happy Peleus! For
far-seeing Olympian Zeus has given you a wife with many gifts and the
blessed gods have brought your marriage fully to pass, and in these halls
you go up to the holy bed of a daughter of Nereus. Truly the father, the son

of Cronos, made you very pre-eminent among heroes and honoured above
other men who eat bread and consume the fruit of the ground.”’
Fragment #59—1739 Origen, Against Celsus, iv. 79: ‘For in common then
were the banquets, and in common the seats of deathless gods and mortal
men.’
Fragment #60—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvi. 175: ...whereas Hesiod and
the rest call her (Peleus’ daughter) Polydora.
Fragment #61—Eustathius, Hom. 112. 44 sq: It should be observed that
the ancient narrative hands down the account that Patroclus was even a
kinsman of Achilles; for Hesiod says that Menoethius the father of
Patroclus, was a brother of Peleus, so that in that case they were first
cousins.
Fragment #62—Scholiast on Pindar, Ol. x. 83: Some write ‘Serus the son
of Halirrhothius’, whom Hesiod mentions: ‘He (begot) Serus and Alazygus,
goodly sons.’ And Serus was the son of Halirrhothius Perieres’ son, and of
Alcyone.
Fragment #63—Pausanias 1740, ii. 26. 7: This oracle most clearly proves
that Asclepius was not the son of Arsinoe, but that Hesiod or one of
Hesiod’s interpolators composed the verses to please the Messenians.
Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 14: Some say (Asclepius) was the son of
Arsinoe, others of Coronis. But Asclepiades says that Arsinoe was the
daughter of Leucippus, Perieres’ son, and that to her and Apollo Asclepius
and a daughter, Eriopis, were born:
‘And she bare in the palace Asclepius, leader of men, and Eriopis with
the lovely hair, being subject in love to Phoebus.’
And of Arsinoe likewise:
‘And Arsinoe was joined with the son of Zeus and Leto and bare a son
Asclepius, blameless and strong.’ 1741
Fragment #64—For how does he say that the same persons (the
Cyclopes) were like the gods, and yet represent them as being destroyed by
Apollo in the Catalogue of the Daughters of Leucippus?
Fragment #65—“Echemus made Timandra his buxom wife.”
Fragment #66—Hesiod in giving their descent makes them (Castor and
Polydeuces) both sons of Zeus.

Hesiod, however, makes Helen the child neither of Leda nor Nemesis,
but daughter of Ocean and Zeus.
Fragment #67—Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 249: Steischorus says
that while sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot Aphrodite and that the
goddess was angry and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and
deserters of their husbands.... And Hesiod also says:
(ll. 1-7) ‘And laughter-loving Aphrodite felt jealous when she looked on
them and cast them into evil report. Then Timandra deserted Echemus and
went and came to Phyleus, dear to the deathless gods; and even so
Clytaemnestra deserted god-like Agamemnon and lay with Aegisthus and
chose a worse mate; and even so Helen dishonoured the couch of golden-
haired Menelaus.’
Fragment #68—1742 Berlin Papyri, No. 9739: (ll. 1-10) ‘....Philoctetes
sought her, a leader of spearmen, .... most famous of all men at shooting
from afar and with the sharp spear. And he came to Tyndareus’ bright city
for the sake of the Argive maid who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite,
and the sparkling eyes of the Graces; and the dark-faced daughter of Ocean,
very lovely of form, bare her when she had shared the embraces of Zeus
and the king Tyndareus in the bright palace.... (And.... sought her to wife
offering as gifts)
((LACUNA))
(ll. 11-15)....and as many women skilled in blameless arts, each holding a
golden bowl in her hands. And truly Castor and strong Polydeuces would
have made him 1743 their brother perforce, but Agamemnon, being son-in-
law to Tyndareus, wooed her for his brother Menelaus.
(ll. 16-19) And the two sons of Amphiaraus the lord, Oecleus’ son, sought
her to wife from Argos very near at hand; yet.... fear of the blessed gods and
the indignation of men caused them also to fail.
((LACUNA))
(l. 20)...but there was no deceitful dealing in the sons of Tyndareus.
(ll. 21-27) And from Ithaca the sacred might of Odysseus, Laertes son,
who knew many-fashioned wiles, sought her to wife. He never sent gifts for
the sake of the neat-ankled maid, for he knew in his heart that golden-haired
Menelaus would win, since he was greatest of the Achaeans in possessions

and was ever sending messages 1744 to horse-taming Castor and prize-
winning Polydeuces.
(ll. 28-30) And....on’s son sought her to wife (and brought) ....bridal-
gifts.... ....cauldrons....
((LACUNA))
(ll. 31-33)...to horse-taming Castor and prize-winning Polydeuces,
desiring to be the husband of rich-haired Helen, though he had never seen
her beauty, but because he heard the report of others.
(ll. 34-41) And from Phylace two men of exceeding worth sought her to
wife, Podarces son of Iphiclus, Phylacus’ son, and Actor’s noble son,
overbearing Protesilaus. Both of them kept sending messages to
Lacedaemon, to the house of wise Tyndareus, Oebalus’ son, and they
offered many bridal-gifts, for great was the girl’s renown, brazen....
....golden....
((LACUNA))
(l. 42)...(desiring) to be the husband of rich-haired Helen.
(ll. 43-49) From Athens the son of Peteous, Menestheus, sought her to
wife, and offered many bridal-gifts; for he possessed very many stored
treasures, gold and cauldrons and tripods, fine things which lay hid in the
house of the lord Peteous, and with them his heart urged him to win his
bride by giving more gifts than any other; for he thought that no one of all
the heroes would surpass him in possessions and gifts.
(ll. 50-51) There came also by ship from Crete to the house of the son of
Oebalus strong Lycomedes for rich-haired Helen’s sake.
Berlin Papyri, No. 10560: (ll. 52-54)...sought her to wife. And after
golden-haired Menelaus he offered the greatest gifts of all the suitors, and
very much he desired in his heart to be the husband of Argive Helen with
the rich hair.
(ll. 55-62) And from Salamis Aias, blameless warrior, sought her to wife,
and offered fitting gifts, even wonderful deeds; for he said that he would
drive together and give the shambling oxen and strong sheep of all those
who lived in Troezen and Epidaurus near the sea, and in the island of
Aegina and in Mases, sons of the Achaeans, and shadowy Megara and
frowning Corinthus, and Hermione and Asine which lie along the sea; for
he was famous with the long spear.

(ll. 63-66) But from Euboea Elephenor, leader of men, the son of
Chalcodon, prince of the bold Abantes, sought her to wife. And he offered
very many gifts, and greatly he desired in his heart to be the husband of
rich-haired Helen.
(ll. 67-74) And from Crete the mighty Idomeneus sought her to wife,
Deucalion’s son, offspring of renowned Minos. He sent no one to woo her
in his place, but came himself in his black ship of many thwarts over the
Ogygian sea across the dark wave to the home of wise Tyndareus, to see
Argive Helen and that no one else should bring back for him the girl whose
renown spread all over the holy earth.
(l. 75) And at the prompting of Zeus the all-wise came.
((LACUNA—Thirteen lines lost.))
(ll. 89-100) But of all who came for the maid’s sake, the lord Tyndareus
sent none away, nor yet received the gift of any, but asked of all the suitors
sure oaths, and bade them swear and vow with unmixed libations that no
one else henceforth should do aught apart from him as touching the
marriage of the maid with shapely arms; but if any man should cast off fear
and reverence and take her by force, he bade all the others together follow
after and make him pay the penalty. And they, each of them hoping to
accomplish his marriage, obeyed him without wavering. But warlike
Menelaus, the son of Atreus, prevailed against them all together, because he
gave the greatest gifts.
(ll. 100-106) But Chiron was tending the son of Peleus, swift-footed
Achilles, pre-eminent among men, on woody Pelion; for he was still a boy.
For neither warlike Menelaus nor any other of men on earth would have
prevailed in suit for Helen, if fleet Achilles had found her unwed. But, as it
was, warlike Menelaus won her before.
II. 1745
(ll. 1-2) And she (Helen) bare neat-ankled Hermione in the palace, a child
unlooked for.
(ll. 2-13) Now all the gods were divided through strife; for at that very
time Zeus who thunders on high was meditating marvellous deeds, even to
mingle storm and tempest over the boundless earth, and already he was
hastening to make an utter end of the race of mortal men, declaring that he
would destroy the lives of the demi-gods, that the children of the gods

should not mate with wretched mortals, seeing their fate with their own
eyes; but that the blessed gods henceforth even as aforetime should have
their living and their habitations apart from men. But on those who were
born of immortals and of mankind verily Zeus laid toil and sorrow upon
sorrow.
((LACUNA—Two lines missing.))
(ll. 16-30)....nor any one of men.... ....should go upon black ships.... ....to
be strongest in the might of his hands.... ....of mortal men declaring to all
those things that were, and those that are, and those that shall be, he brings
to pass and glorifies the counsels of his father Zeus who drives the clouds.
For no one, either of the blessed gods or of mortal men, knew surely that he
would contrive through the sword to send to Hades full many a one of
heroes fallen in strife. But at that time he knew not as yet the intent of his
father’s mind, and how men delight in protecting their children from doom.
And he delighted in the desire of his mighty father’s heart who rules
powerfully over men.
(ll. 31-43) From stately trees the fair leaves fell in abundance fluttering
down to the ground, and the fruit fell to the ground because Boreas blew
very fiercely at the behest of Zeus; the deep seethed and all things trembled
at his blast: the strength of mankind consumed away and the fruit failed in
the season of spring, at that time when the Hairless One 1746 in a secret
place in the mountains gets three young every three years. In spring he
dwells upon the mountain among tangled thickets and brushwood, keeping
afar from and hating the path of men, in the glens and wooded glades. But
when winter comes on, he lies in a close cave beneath the earth and covers
himself with piles of luxuriant leaves, a dread serpent whose back is
speckled with awful spots.
(ll. 44-50) But when he becomes violent and fierce unspeakably, the
arrows of Zeus lay him low.... Only his soul is left on the holy earth, and
that fits gibbering about a small unformed den. And it comes enfeebled to
sacrifices beneath the broad-pathed earth.... and it lies....’
((LACUNA—Traces of 37 following lines.))
Fragment #69—Tzetzes 1747, Exeg. Iliad. 68. 19H: Agamemnon and
Menelaus likewise according to Hesiod and Aeschylus are regarded as the
sons of Pleisthenes, Atreus’ son. And according to Hesiod, Pleisthenes was

a son of Atreus and Aerope, and Agamemnon, Menelaus and Anaxibia were
the children of Pleisthenes and Cleolla the daughter of Dias.
Fragment #70—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles’ Electra, 539: ‘And
she (Helen) bare to Menelaus, famous with the spear, Hermione and her
youngest-born, Nicostratus, a scion of Ares.’
Fragment #71—Pausanias, i. 43. 1: I know that Hesiod in the Catalogue
of Women represented that Iphigeneia was not killed but, by the will of
Artemis, became Hecate 1748.
Fragment #72—Eustathius, Hom. 13. 44. sq: Butes, it is said, was a son
of Poseidon: so Hesiod in the Catalogue.
Fragment #73—Pausanias, ii. 6. 5: Hesiod represented Sicyon as the son
of Erechtheus.
Fragment #74—Plato, Minos, p. 320. D: ‘(Minos) who was most kingly
of mortal kings and reigned over very many people dwelling round about,
holding the sceptre of Zeus wherewith he ruled many.’
Fragment #75—Hesychius 1749: The athletic contest in memory of
Eurygyes Melesagorus says that Androgeos the son of Minos was called
Eurygyes, and that a contest in his honour is held near his tomb at Athens in
the Ceramicus. And Hesiod writes: ‘And Eurygyes 1750, while yet a lad in
holy Athens...’
Fragment #76—Plutarch, Theseus 20: There are many tales.... about
Ariadne...., how that she was deserted by Theseua for love of another
woman: ‘For strong love for Aegle the daughter of Panopeus overpowered
him.’ For Hereas of Megara says that Peisistratus removed this verse from
the works of Hesiod.
Athenaeus 1751, xiii. 557 A: But Hesiod says that Theseus wedded both
Hippe and Aegle lawfully.
Fragment #77—Strabo, ix. p. 393: The snake of Cychreus: Hesiod says
that it was brought up by Cychreus, and was driven out by Eurylochus as
defiling the island, but that Demeter received it into Eleusis, and that it
became her attendant.
Fragment #78—Argument I. to the Shield of Heracles: But Apollonius of
Rhodes says that it (the Shield of Heracles) is Hesiod’s both from the
general character of the work and from the fact that in the Catalogue we
again find Iolaus as charioteer of Heracles.

Fragment #79—Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 266: (ll. 1-6) ‘And fair-girdled
Stratonica conceived and bare in the palace Eurytus her well-loved son. Of
him sprang sons, Didaeon and Clytius and god-like Toxeus and Iphitus, a
scion of Ares. And after these Antiope the queen, daughter of the aged son
of Nauboius, bare her youngest child, golden-haired Iolea.’
Fragment #80—Herodian in Etymologicum Magnum: ‘Who bare
Autolycus and Philammon, famous in speech.... All things that he
(Autolyeus) took in his hands, he made to disappear.’
Fragment #81—Apollonius, Hom. Lexicon: ‘Aepytus again, begot
Tlesenor and Peirithous.’
Fragment #82—Strabo, vii. p. 322: ‘For Locrus truly was leader of the
Lelegian people, whom Zeus the Son of Cronos, whose wisdom is
unfailing, gave to Deucalion, stones gathered out of the earth. So out of
stones mortal men were made, and they were called people.’ 1752
Fragment #83—Tzetzes, Schol. in Exeg. Iliad. 126: ‘...Ileus whom the
lord Apollo, son of Zeus, loved. And he named him by his name, because he
found a nymph complaisant 1753 and was joined with her in sweet love, on
that day when Poseidon and Apollo raised high the wall of the well-built
city.’
Fragment #84—Scholiast on Homer, Od. xi. 326: Clymene the daughter
of Minyas the son of Poseidon and of Euryanassa, Hyperphas’ daughter,
was wedded to Phylacus the son of Deion, and bare Iphiclus, a boy fleet of
foot. It is said of him that through his power of running he could race the
winds and could move along upon the ears of corn 1754.... The tale is in
Hesiod: ‘He would run over the fruit of the asphodel and not break it; nay,
he would run with his feet upon wheaten ears and not hurt the fruit.’
Fragment #85—Choeroboscus 1755, i. 123, 22H: ‘And she bare a son
Thoas.’
Fragment #86—Eustathius, Hom. 1623. 44: Maro 1756, whose father, it is
said, Hesiod relates to have been Euanthes the son of Oenopion, the son of
Dionysus.
Fragment #87—Athenaeus, x. 428 B, C: ‘Such gifts as Dionysus gave to
men, a joy and a sorrow both. Who ever drinks to fullness, in him wine
becomes violent and binds together his hands and feet, his tongue also and
his wits with fetters unspeakable: and soft sleep embraces him.’

Fragment #88—Strabo, ix. p. 442: ‘Or like her (Coronis) who lived by
the holy Twin Hills in the plain of Dotium over against Amyrus rich in
grapes, and washed her feet in the Boebian lake, a maid unwed.’
Fragment #89—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iii. 48: ‘To him, then, there
came a messenger from the sacred feast to goodly Pytho, a crow 1757, and
he told unshorn Phoebus of secret deeds, that Ischys son of Elatus had
wedded Coronis the daughter of Phlegyas of birth divine.
Fragment #90—Athenagoras 1758, Petition for the Christians, 29:
Concerning Asclepius Hesiod says: ‘And the father of men and gods was
wrath, and from Olympus he smote the son of Leto with a lurid thunderbolt
and killed him, arousing the anger of Phoebus.’
Fragment #91—Philodemus, On Piety, 34: But Hesiod (says that Apollo)
would have been cast by Zeus into Tartarus 1759; but Leto interceded for
him, and he became bondman to a mortal.
Fragment #92—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. ix. 6: ‘Or like her, beautiful
Cyrene, who dwelt in Phthia by the water of Peneus and had the beauty of
the Graces.’
Fragment #93—Servius on Vergil, Georg. i. 14: He invoked Aristaeus,
that is, the son of Apollo and Cyrene, whom Hesiod calls ‘the shepherd
Apollo.’ 1760
Fragment #94—Scholiast on Vergil, Georg. iv. 361: ‘But the water stood
all round him, bowed into the semblance of a mountain.’ This verse he has
taken over from Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women.
Fragment #95—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad ii. 469: ‘Or like her (Antiope)
whom Boeotian Hyria nurtured as a maid.’
Fragment #96—Palaephatus 1761, c. 42: Of Zethus and Amphion. Hesiod
and some others relate that they built the walls of Thebes by playing on the
lyre.
Fragment #97—Scholiast on Soph. Trach., 1167: (ll. 1-11) ‘There is a
land Ellopia with much glebe and rich meadows, and rich in flocks and
shambling kine. There dwell men who have many sheep and many oxen,
and they are in number past telling, tribes of mortal men. And there upon its
border is built a city, Dodona 1762; and Zeus loved it and (appointed) it to be
his oracle, reverenced by men........And they (the doves) lived in the hollow
of an oak. From them men of earth carry away all kinds of prophecy,—

whosoever fares to that spot and questions the deathless god, and comes
bringing gifts with good omens.’
Fragment #98—Berlin Papyri, No. 9777: 1763 (ll. 1-22) ‘....strife.... Of
mortals who would have dared to fight him with the spear and charge
against him, save only Heracles, the great-hearted offspring of Alcaeus?
Such an one was (?) strong Meleager loved of Ares, the golden-haired, dear
son of Oeneus and Althaea. From his fierce eyes there shone forth
portentous fire: and once in high Calydon he slew the destroying beast, the
fierce wild boar with gleaming tusks. In war and in dread strife no man of
the heroes dared to face him and to approach and fight with him when he
appeared in the forefront. But he was slain by the hands and arrows of
Apollo 1764, while he was fighting with the Curetes for pleasant Calydon.
And these others (Althaea) bare to Oeneus, Porthaon’s son; horse-taming
Pheres, and Agelaus surpassing all others, Toxeus and Clymenus and
godlike Periphas, and rich-haired Gorga and wise Deianeira, who was
subject in love to mighty Heracles and bare him Hyllus and Glenus and
Ctesippus and Odites. These she bare and in ignorance she did a fearful
thing: when (she had received).... the poisoned robe that held black
doom....’
Fragment #99A—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad. xxiii. 679: And yet Hesiod
says that after he had died in Thebes, Argeia the daughter of Adrastus
together with others (cp. frag. 99) came to the lamentation over Oedipus.
Fragment #99—1765 Papyri greci e latine, No. 131 (2nd-3rd century): 1766
(ll. 1-10) ‘And (Eriphyle) bare in the palace Alcmaon 1767, shepherd of the
people, to Amphiaraus. Him (Amphiaraus) did the Cadmean (Theban)
women with trailing robes admire when they saw face to face his eyes and
well-grown frame, as he was busied about the burying of Oedipus, the man
of many woes. ....Once the Danai, servants of Ares, followed him to Thebes,
to win renown........for Polynices. But, though well he knew from Zeus all
things ordained, the earth yawned and swallowed him up with his horses
and jointed chariot, far from deep-eddying Alpheus.
(ll. 11-20) But Electyron married the all-beauteous daughter of Pelops
and, going up into one bed with her, the son of Perses begat........and
Phylonomus and Celaeneus and Amphimachus and........and Eurybius and
famous.... All these the Taphians, famous shipmen, slew in fight for oxen

with shambling hoofs,.... ....in ships across the sea’s wide back. So Alcmena
alone was left to delight her parents........and the daughter of Electryon....
((LACUNA))
(l. 21)....who was subject in love to the dark-clouded son of Cronos and
bare (famous Heracles).’
Fragment #100—Argument to the Shield of Heracles, i: The beginning of
the Shield as far as the 56th verse is current in the fourth Catalogue
Fragment #101 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)—Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359
fr. 1 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA—Slight remains of 3 lines))
(ll. 4-17) ‘...if indeed he (Teuthras) delayed, and if he feared to obey the
word of the immortals who then appeared plainly to them. But her (Auge)
he received and brought up well, and cherished in the palace, honouring her
even as his own daughters.
And Auge bare Telephus of the stock of Areas, king of the Mysians,
being joined in love with the mighty Heracles when he was journeying in
quest of the horses of proud Laomedon—horses the fleetest of foot that the
Asian land nourished,—and destroyed in battle the tribe of the dauntless
Amazons and drove them forth from all that land. But Telephus routed the
spearmen of the bronze-clad Achaeans and made them embark upon their
black ships. Yet when he had brought down many to the ground which
nourishes men, his own might and deadliness were brought low....’
Fragment #102 (UNCERTAIN POSITION)—Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359
fr. 2 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): ((LACUNA—Remains of 4 lines))
(ll. 5-16) ‘....Electra.... was subject to the dark-clouded Son of Cronos
and bare Dardanus.... and Eetion.... who once greatly loved rich-haired
Demeter. And cloud-gathering Zeus was wroth and smote him, Eetion, and
laid him low with a flaming thunderbolt, because he sought to lay hands
upon rich-haired Demeter. But Dardanus came to the coast of the mainland
—from him Erichthonius and thereafter Tros were sprung, and Ilus, and
Assaracus, and godlike Ganymede,—when he had left holy Samothrace in
his many-benched ship.
((LACUNA))
Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1359 fr. 3 (early 3rd cent. A.D.): (ll. 17-24)
1768....Cleopatra ....the daughter of.... ....But an eagle caught up Ganymede
for Zeus because he vied with the immortals in beauty........rich-tressed

Diomede; and she bare Hyacinthus, the blameless one and
strong........whom, on a time Phoebus himself slew unwittingly with a
ruthless disk....

THE SHIELD OF HERACLES
(ll. 1-27) Or like her who left home and country and came to Thebes,
following warlike Amphitryon,—even Alcmena, the daughter of Electyron,
gatherer of the people. She surpassed the tribe of womankind in beauty and
in height; and in wisdom none vied with her of those whom mortal women
bare of union with mortal men. Her face and her dark eyes wafted such
charm as comes from golden Aphrodite. And she so honoured her husband
in her heart as none of womankind did before her. Verily he had slain her
noble father violently when he was angry about oxen; so he left his own
country and came to Thebes and was suppliant to the shield-carrying men of
Cadmus. There he dwelt with his modest wife without the joys of love, nor
might he go in unto the neat-ankled daughter of Electyron until he had
avenged the death of his wife’s great-hearted brothers and utterly burned
with blazing fire the villages of the heroes, the Taphians and Teleboans; for
this thing was laid upon him, and the gods were witnesses to it. And he
feared their anger, and hastened to perform the great task to which Zeus had
bound him. With him went the horse-driving Boeotians, breathing above
their shields, and the Locrians who fight hand to hand, and the gallant
Phocians eager for war and battle. And the noble son of Alcaeus led them,
rejoicing in his host.
(ll. 27-55) But the father of men and gods was forming another scheme in
his heart, to beget one to defend against destruction gods and men who eat
bread. So he arose from Olympus by night pondering guile in the deep of
his heart, and yearned for the love of the well-girded woman. Quickly he
came to Typhaonium, and from there again wise Zeus went on and trod the
highest peak of Phicium 1801: there he sat and planned marvellous things in
his heart. So in one night Zeus shared the bed and love of the neat-ankled
daughter of Electyron and fulfilled his desire; and in the same night
Amphitryon, gatherer of the people, the glorious hero, came to his house
when he had ended his great task. He hastened not to go to his bondmen
and shepherds afield, but first went in unto his wife: such desire took hold
on the shepherd of the people. And as a man who has escaped joyfully from

misery, whether of sore disease or cruel bondage, so then did Amphitryon,
when he had wound up all his heavy task, come glad and welcome to his
home. And all night long he lay with his modest wife, delighting in the gifts
of golden Aphrodite. And she, being subject in love to a god and to a man
exceeding goodly, brought forth twin sons in seven-gated Thebe. Though
they were brothers, these were not of one spirit; for one was weaker but the
other a far better man, one terrible and strong, the mighty Heracles. Him
she bare through the embrace of the son of Cronos lord of dark clouds and
the other, Iphiclus, of Amphitryon the spear-wielder—offspring distinct,
this one of union with a mortal man, but that other of union with Zeus,
leader of all the gods.
(ll. 57-77) And he slew Cycnus, the gallant son of Ares. For he found him
in the close of far-shooting Apollo, him and his father Ares, never sated
with war. Their armour shone like a flame of blazing fire as they two stood
in their car: their swift horses struck the earth and pawed it with their hoofs,
and the dust rose like smoke about them, pounded by the chariot wheels and
the horses’ hoofs, while the well-made chariot and its rails rattled around
them as the horses plunged. And blameless Cycnus was glad, for he looked
to slay the warlike son of Zeus and his charioteer with the sword, and to
strip off their splendid armour. But Phoebus Apollo would not listen to his
vaunts, for he himself had stirred up mighty Heracles against him. And all
the grove and altar of Pagasaean Apollo flamed because of the dread god
and because of his arms; for his eyes flashed as with fire. What mortal men
would have dared to meet him face to face save Heracles and glorious
Iolaus? For great was their strength and unconquerable were the arms which
grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs. Then Heracles spake to his
charioteer strong Iolaus:
(ll. 78-94) ‘O hero Iolaus, best beloved of all men, truly Amphitryon
sinned deeply against the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus when he
came to sweet-crowned Thebe and left Tiryns, the well-built citadel,
because he slew Electryon for the sake of his wide-browned oxen. Then he
came to Creon and long-robed Eniocha, who received him kindly and gave
him all fitting things, as is due to suppliants, and honoured him in their
hearts even more. And he lived joyfully with his wife the neat-ankled
daughter of Electyron: and presently, while the years rolled on, we were
born, unlike in body as in mind, even your father and I. From him Zeus
took away sense, so that he left his home and his parents and went to do

honour to the wicked Eurystheus—unhappy man! Deeply indeed did he
grieve afterwards in bearing the burden of his own mad folly; but that
cannot be taken back. But on me fate laid heavy tasks.
(ll. 95-101) ‘Yet, come, friend, quickly take the red-dyed reins of the
swift horses and raise high courage in your heart and guide the swift chariot
and strong fleet-footed horses straight on. Have no secret fear at the noise
of man-slaying Ares who now rages shouting about the holy grove of
Phoebus Apollo, the lord who shoots form afar. Surely, strong though he be,
he shall have enough of war.’
(ll. 102-114) And blameless Iolaus answered him again: ‘Good friend,
truly the father of men and gods greatly honours your head and the bull-like
Earth-Shaker also, who keeps Thebe’s veil of walls and guards the city,—so
great and strong is this fellow they bring into your hands that you may win
great glory. But come, put on your arms of war that with all speed we may
bring the car of Ares and our own together and fight; for he shall not
frighten the dauntless son of Zeus, nor yet the son of Iphiclus: rather, I think
he will flee before the two sons of blameless Alcides who are near him and
eager to raise the war cry for battle; for this they love better than a feast.’
(ll. 115-117) So he said. And mighty Heracles was glad in heart and
smiled, for the other’s words pleased him well, and he answered him with
winged words:
(ll. 118-121) ‘O hero Iolaus, heaven-sprung, now is rough battle hard at
hand. But, as you have shown your skill at other-times, so now also wheel
the great black-maned horse Arion about every way, and help me as you
may be able.’
(ll. 122-138) So he said, and put upon his legs greaves of shining bronze,
the splendid gift of Hephaestus. Next he fastened about his breast a fine
golden breast-plate, curiously wrought, which Pallas Athene the daughter of
Zeus had given him when first he was about to set out upon his grievous
labours. Over his shoulders the fierce warrior put the steel that saves men
from doom, and across his breast he slung behind him a hollow quiver.
Within it were many chilling arrows, dealers of death which makes speech
forgotten: in front they had death, and trickled with tears; their shafts were
smooth and very long; and their butts were covered with feathers of a
brown eagle. And he took his strong spear, pointed with shining bronze, and
on his valiant head set a well-made helm of adamant, cunningly wrought,

which fitted closely on the temples; and that guarded the head of god-like
Heracles.
(ll. 139-153) In his hands he took his shield, all glittering: no one ever
broke it with a blow or crushed it. And a wonder it was to see; for its whole
orb was a-shimmer with enamel and white ivory and electrum, and it
glowed with shining gold; and there were zones of cyanus 1802 drawn upon
it. In the centre was Fear worked in adamant, unspeakable, staring
backwards with eyes that glowed with fire. His mouth was full of teeth in a
white row, fearful and daunting, and upon his grim brow hovered frightful
Strife who arrays the throng of men: pitiless she, for she took away the
mind and senses of poor wretches who made war against the son of Zeus.
Their souls passed beneath the earth and went down into the house of
Hades; but their bones, when the skin is rotted about them, crumble away
on the dark earth under parching Sirius.
(ll. 154-160) Upon the shield Pursuit and Flight were wrought, and
Tumult, and Panic, and Slaughter. Strife also, and Uproar were hurrying
about, and deadly Fate was there holding one man newly wounded, and
another unwounded; and one, who was dead, she was dragging by the feet
through the tumult. She had on her shoulders a garment red with the blood
of men, and terribly she glared and gnashed her teeth.
(ll. 160-167) And there were heads of snakes unspeakably frightful,
twelve of them; and they used to frighten the tribes of men on earth
whosoever made war against the son of Zeus; for they would clash their
teeth when Amphitryon’s son was fighting: and brightly shone these
wonderful works. And it was as though there were spots upon the frightful
snakes: and their backs were dark blue and their jaws were black.
(ll. 168-177) Also there were upon the shield droves of boars and lions
who glared at each other, being furious and eager: the rows of them moved
on together, and neither side trembled but both bristled up their manes. For
already a great lion lay between them and two boars, one on either side,
bereft of life, and their dark blood was dripping down upon the ground;
they lay dead with necks outstretched beneath the grim lions. And both
sides were roused still more to fight because they were angry, the fierce
boars and the bright-eyed lions.
(ll. 178-190) And there was the strife of the Lapith spearmen gathered
round the prince Caeneus and Dryas and Peirithous, with Hopleus, Exadius,

Phalereus, and Prolochus, Mopsus the son of Ampyce of Titaresia, a scion
of Ares, and Theseus, the son of Aegeus, like unto the deathless gods. These
were of silver, and had armour of gold upon their bodies. And the Centaurs
were gathered against them on the other side with Petraeus and Asbolus the
diviner, Arctus, and Ureus, and black-haired Mimas, and the two sons of
silver, and they had pinetrees of gold in their hands, and they were rushing
together as though they were alive and striking at one another hand to hand
with spears and with pines.
(ll. 191-196) And on the shield stood the fleet-footed horses of grim Ares
made gold, and deadly Ares the spoil-winner himself. He held a spear in his
hands and was urging on the footmen: he was red with blood as if he were
slaying living men, and he stood in his chariot. Beside him stood Fear and
Flight, eager to plunge amidst the fighting men.
(ll. 197-200) There, too, was the daughter of Zeus, Tritogeneia who
drives the spoil 1803. She was like as if she would array a battle, with a spear
in her hand, and a golden helmet, and the aegis about her shoulders. And
she was going towards the awful strife.
(ll. 201-206) And there was the holy company of the deathless gods: and
in the midst the son of Zeus and Leto played sweetly on a golden lyre.
There also was the abode of the gods, pure Olympus, and their assembly,
and infinite riches were spread around in the gathering, the Muses of Pieria
were beginning a song like clear-voiced singers.
(ll. 207-215) And on the shield was a harbour with a safe haven from the
irresistible sea, made of refined tin wrought in a circle, and it seemed to
heave with waves. In the middle of it were many dolphins rushing this way
and that, fishing: and they seemed to be swimming. Two dolphins of silver
were spouting and devouring the mute fishes. And beneath them fishes of
bronze were trembling. And on the shore sat a fisherman watching: in his
hands he held a casting net for fish, and seemed as if about to cast it forth.
(ll. 216-237) There, too, was the son of rich-haired Danae, the horseman
Perseus: his feet did not touch the shield and yet were not far from it—very
marvellous to remark, since he was not supported anywhere; for so did the
famous Lame One fashion him of gold with his hands. On his feet he had
winged sandals, and his black-sheathed sword was slung across his
shoulders by a cross-belt of bronze. He was flying swift as thought. The
head of a dreadful monster, the Gorgon, covered the broad of his back, and

a bag of silver—a marvel to see—contained it: and from the bag bright
tassels of gold hung down. Upon the head of the hero lay the dread cap 1804
of Hades which had the awful gloom of night. Perseus himself, the son of
Danae, was at full stretch, like one who hurries and shudders with horror.
And after him rushed the Gorgons, unapproachable and unspeakable,
longing to seize him: as they trod upon the pale adamant, the shield rang
sharp and clear with a loud clanging. Two serpents hung down at their
girdles with heads curved forward: their tongues were flickering, and their
teeth gnashing with fury, and their eyes glaring fiercely. And upon the awful
heads of the Gorgons great Fear was quaking.
(ll. 237-270) And beyond these there were men fighting in warlike
harness, some defending their own town and parents from destruction, and
others eager to sack it; many lay dead, but the greater number still strove
and fought. The women on well-built towers of bronze were crying shrilly
and tearing their cheeks like living beings—the work of famous
Hephaestus. And the men who were elders and on whom age had laid hold
were all together outside the gates, and were holding up their hands to the
blessed gods, fearing for their own sons. But these again were engaged in
battle: and behind them the dusky Fates, gnashing their white fangs,
lowering, grim, bloody, and unapproachable, struggled for those who were
falling, for they all were longing to drink dark blood. So soon as they
caught a man overthrown or falling newly wounded, one of them would
clasp her great claws about him, and his soul would go down to Hades to
chilly Tartarus. And when they had satisfied their souls with human blood,
they would cast that one behind them, and rush back again into the tumult
and the fray. Clotho and Lachesis were over them and Atropos less tall than
they, a goddess of no great frame, yet superior to the others and the eldest of
them. And they all made a fierce fight over one poor wretch, glaring evilly
at one another with furious eyes and fighting equally with claws and hands.
By them stood Darkness of Death, mournful and fearful, pale, shrivelled,
shrunk with hunger, swollen-kneed. Long nails tipped her hands, and she
dribbled at the nose, and from her cheeks blood dripped down to the
ground. She stood leering hideously, and much dust sodden with tears lay
upon her shoulders.
(ll. 270-285) Next, there was a city of men with goodly towers; and seven
gates of gold, fitted to the lintels, guarded it. The men were making merry
with festivities and dances; some were bringing home a bride to her

husband on a well-wheeled car, while the bridal-song swelled high, and the
glow of blazing torches held by handmaidens rolled in waves afar. And
these maidens went before, delighting in the festival; and after them came
frolicsome choirs, the youths singing soft-mouthed to the sound of shrill
pipes, while the echo was shivered around them, and the girls led on the
lovely dance to the sound of lyres. Then again on the other side was a rout
of young men revelling, with flutes playing; some frolicking with dance and
song, and others were going forward in time with a flute player and
laughing. The whole town was filled with mirth and dance and festivity.
(ll. 285-304) Others again were mounted on horseback and galloping
before the town. And there were ploughmen breaking up the good soil,
clothed in tunics girt up. Also there was a wide cornland and some men
were reaping with sharp hooks the stalks which bended with the weight of
the cars—as if they were reaping Demeter’s grain: others were binding the
sheaves with bands and were spreading the threshing floor. And some held
reaping hooks and were gathering the vintage, while others were taking
from the reapers into baskets white and black clusters from the long rows of
vines which were heavy with leaves and tendrils of silver. Others again
were gathering them into baskets. Beside them was a row of vines in gold,
the splendid work of cunning Hephaestus: it had shivering leaves and stakes
of silver and was laden with grapes which turned black 1805. And there were
men treading out the grapes and others drawing off liquor. Also there were
men boxing and wrestling, and huntsmen chasing swift hares with a leash of
sharp-toothed dogs before them, they eager to catch the hares, and the hares
eager to escape.
(ll 305-313) Next to them were horsemen hard set, and they contended
and laboured for a prize. The charioteers standing on their well-woven cars,
urged on their swift horses with loose rein; the jointed cars flew along
clattering and the naves of the wheels shrieked loudly. So they were
engaged in an unending toil, and the end with victory came never to them,
and the contest was ever unwon. And there was set out for them within the
course a great tripod of gold, the splendid work of cunning Hephaestus.
(ll. 314-317) And round the rim Ocean was flowing, with a full stream as
it seemed, and enclosed all the cunning work of the shield. Over it swans
were soaring and calling loudly, and many others were swimming upon the
surface of the water; and near them were shoals of fish.

(ll. 318-326) A wonderful thing the great strong shield was to see—even
for Zeus the loud-thunderer, by whose will Hephaestus made it and fitted it
with his hands. This shield the valiant son of Zeus wielded masterly, and
leaped upon his horse-chariot like the lightning of his father Zeus who
holds the aegis, moving lithely. And his charioteer, strong Iolaus, standing
upon the car, guided the curved chariot.
(ll. 327-337) Then the goddess grey-eyed Athene came near them and
spoke winged words, encouraging them: ‘Hail, offspring of far-famed
Lynceus! Even now Zeus who reigns over the blessed gods gives you power
to slay Cycnus and to strip off his splendid armour. Yet I will tell you
something besides, mightiest of the people. When you have robbed Cycnus
of sweet life, then leave him there and his armour also, and you yourself
watch man-slaying Ares narrowly as he attacks, and wherever you shall see
him uncovered below his cunningly-wrought shield, there wound him with
your sharp spear. Then draw back; for it is not ordained that you should take
his horses or his splendid armour.’
(ll. 338-349) So said the bright-eyed goddess and swiftly got up into the
car with victory and renown in her hands. Then heaven-nurtured Iolaus
called terribly to the horses, and at his cry they swiftly whirled the fleet
chariot along, raising dust from the plain; for the goddess bright-eyed
Athene put mettle into them by shaking her aegis. And the earth groaned all
round them.
And they, horse-taming Cycnus and Ares, insatiable in war, came on
together like fire or whirlwind. Then their horses neighed shrilly, face to
face; and the echo was shivered all round them. And mighty Heracles spoke
first and said to that other:
(ll. 350-367) ‘Cycnus, good sir! Why, pray, do you set your swift horses
at us, men who are tried in labour and pain? Nay, guide your fleet car aside
and yield and go out of the path. It is to Trachis I am driving on, to Ceyx the
king, who is the first in Trachis for power and for honour, and that you
yourself know well, for you have his daughter dark-eyed Themistinoe to
wife. Fool! For Ares shall not deliver you from the end of death, if we two
meet together in battle. Another time ere this I declare he has made trial of
my spear, when he defended sandy Pylos and stood against me, fiercely
longing for fight. Thrice was he stricken by my spear and dashed to earth,
and his shield was pierced; but the fourth time I struck his thigh, laying on

with all my strength, and tare deep into his flesh. And he fell headlong in
the dust upon the ground through the force of my spear-thrust; then truly he
would have been disgraced among the deathless gods, if by my hands he
had left behind his bloody spoils.’
(ll. 368-385) So said he. But Cycnus the stout spearman cared not to obey
him and to pull up the horses that drew his chariot. Then it was that from
their well-woven cars they both leaped straight to the ground, the son of
Zeus and the son of the Lord of War. The charioteers drove near by their
horses with beautiful manes, and the wide earth rang with the beat of their
hoofs as they rushed along. As when rocks leap forth from the high peak of
a great mountain, and fall on one another, and many towering oaks and
pines and long-rooted poplars are broken by them as they whirl swiftly
down until they reach the plain; so did they fall on one another with a great
shout: and all the town of the Myrmidons, and famous Iolcus, and Arne, and
Helice, and grassy Anthea echoed loudly at the voice of the two. With an
awful cry they closed: and wise Zeus thundered loudly and rained down
drops of blood, giving the signal for battle to his dauntless son.
(ll. 386-401) As a tusked boar, that is fearful for a man to see before him
in the glens of a mountain, resolves to fight with the huntsmen and white
tusks, turning sideways, while foam flows all round his mouth as he
gnashes, and his eyes are like glowing fire, and he bristles the hair on his
mane and around his neck—like him the son of Zeus leaped from his horse-
chariot. And when the dark-winged whirring grasshopper, perched on a
green shoot, begins to sing of summer to men—his food and drink is the
dainty dew—and all day long from dawn pours forth his voice in the
deadliest heat, when Sirius scorches the flesh (then the beard grows upon
the millet which men sow in summer), when the crude grapes which
Dionysus gave to men—a joy and a sorrow both—begin to colour, in that
season they fought and loud rose the clamour.
(ll. 402-412) As two lions 1806 on either side of a slain deer spring at one
another in fury, and there is a fearful snarling and a clashing also of teeth—
like vultures with crooked talons and hooked beak that fight and scream
aloud on a high rock over a mountain goat or fat wild-deer which some
active man has shot with an arrow from the string, and himself has
wandered away elsewhere, not knowing the place; but they quickly mark it

and vehemently do keen battle about it—like these they two rushed upon
one another with a shout.
(ll. 413-423) Then Cycnus, eager to kill the son of almighty Zeus, struck
upon his shield with a brazen spear, but did not break the bronze; and the
gift of the god saved his foe. But the son of Amphitryon, mighty Heracles,
with his long spear struck Cycnus violently in the neck beneath the chin,
where it was unguarded between helm and shield. And the deadly spear cut
through the two sinews; for the hero’s full strength lighted on his foe. And
Cycnus fell as an oak falls or a lofty pine that is stricken by the lurid
thunderbolt of Zeus; even so he fell, and his armour adorned with bronze
clashed about him.
(ll. 424-442) Then the stout hearted son of Zeus let him be, and himself
watched for the onset of manslaying Ares: fiercely he stared, like a lion who
has come upon a body and full eagerly rips the hide with his strong claws
and takes away the sweet life with all speed: his dark heart is filled with
rage and his eyes glare fiercely, while he tears up the earth with his paws
and lashes his flanks and shoulders with his tail so that no one dares to face
him and go near to give battle. Even so, the son of Amphitryon, unsated of
battle, stood eagerly face to face with Ares, nursing courage in his heart.
And Ares drew near him with grief in his heart; and they both sprang at one
another with a cry. As it is when a rock shoots out from a great cliff and
whirls down with long bounds, careering eagerly with a roar, and a high
crag clashes with it and keeps it there where they strike together; with no
less clamour did deadly Ares, the chariot-borne, rush shouting at Heracles.
And he quickly received the attack.
(ll. 443-449) But Athene the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus came to
meet Ares, wearing the dark aegis, and she looked at him with an angry
frown and spoke winged words to him. ‘Ares, check your fierce anger and
matchless hands; for it is not ordained that you should kill Heracles, the
bold-hearted son of Zeus, and strip off his rich armour. Come, then, cease
fighting and do not withstand me.’
(ll. 450-466) So said she, but did not move the courageous spirit of Ares.
But he uttered a great shout and waving his spears like fire, he rushed
headlong at strong Heracles, longing to kill him, and hurled a brazen spear
upon the great shield, for he was furiously angry because of his dead son;

but bright-eyed Athene reached out from the car and turned aside the force
of the spear.
Then bitter grief seized Ares and he drew his keen sword and leaped
upon bold-hearted Heracles. But as he came on, the son of Amphitryon,
unsated of fierce battle, shrewdly wounded his thigh where it was exposed
under his richly-wrought shield, and tare deep into his flesh with the spear-
thrust and cast him flat upon the ground. And Panic and Dread quickly
drove his smooth-wheeled chariot and horses near him and lifted him from
the wide-pathed earth into his richly-wrought car, and then straight lashed
the horses and came to high Olympus.
(ll. 467-471) But the son of Alcmena and glorious Iolaus stripped the fine
armour off Cycnus’ shoulders and went, and their swift horses carried them
straight to the city of Trachis. And bright-eyed Athene went thence to great
Olympus and her father’s house.
(ll. 472-480) As for Cycnus, Ceyx buried him and the countless people
who lived near the city of the glorious king, in Anthe and the city of the
Myrmidons, and famous Iolcus, and Arne, and Helice: and much people
were gathered doing honour to Ceyx, the friend of the blessed gods. But
Anaurus, swelled by a rain-storm, blotted out the grave and memorial of
Cycnus; for so Apollo, Leto’s son, commanded him, because he used to
watch for and violently despoil the rich hecatombs that any might bring to
Pytho.

THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX
Fragment #1—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 128: Hesiod in
the “Marriage of Ceyx” says that he (Heracles) landed (from the Argo) to
look for water and was left behind in Magnesia near the place called
Aphetae because of his desertion there.
Fragment #2—Zenobius 1901, ii. 19: Hesiod used the proverb in the
following way: Heracles is represented as having constantly visited the
house of Ceyx of Trachis and spoken thus: ‘Of their own selves the good
make for the feasts of good.’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xiv. 119: ‘And horse-driving Ceyx
beholding...’
Fragment #4—Athenaeus, ii. p. 49b: Hesiod in the “Marriage of Ceyx”—
for though grammar-school boys alienate it from the poet, yet I consider the
poem ancient—calls the tables tripods.
Fragment #5—Gregory of Corinth, On Forms of Speech (Rhett. Gr. vii.
776): ‘But when they had done with desire for the equal-shared feast, even
then they brought from the forest the mother of a mother (sc. wood), dry
and parched, to be slain by her own children’ (sc. to be burnt in the flames).

THE GREAT EOIAE
Fragment #1—Pausanius, ii. 26. 3: Epidaurus. According to the opinion
of the Argives and the epic poem, the Great Eoiae, Argos the son of Zeus
was father of Epidaurus.
Fragment #2—Anonymous Comment. on Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics,
iii. 7: And, they say, Hesiod is sufficient to prove that the word PONEROS
(bad) has the same sense as ‘laborious’ or ‘ill-fated’; for in the Great Eoiae
he represents Alcmene as saying to Heracles: ‘My son, truly Zeus your
father begot you to be the most toilful as the most excellent...’; and again:
‘The Fates (made) you the most toilful and the most excellent...’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Isthm. v. 53: The story has been taken
from the Great Eoiae; for there we find Heracles entertained by Telamon,
standing dressed in his lion-skin and praying, and there also we find the
eagle sent by Zeus, from which Aias took his name 2001.
Fragment #4—Pausanias, iv. 2. 1: But I know that the so-called Great
Eoiae say that Polycaon the son of Butes married Euaechme, daughter of
Hyllus, Heracles’ son.
Fragment #5—Pausanias, ix. 40. 6: ‘And Phylas wedded Leipephile the
daughter of famous Iolaus: and she was like the Olympians in beauty. She
bare him a son Hippotades in the palace, and comely Thero who was like
the beams of the moon. And Thero lay in the embrace of Apollo and bare
horse-taming Chaeron of hardy strength.’
Fragment #6—Scholiast on Pindar, Pyth. iv. 35: ‘Or like her in Hyria,
careful-minded Mecionice, who was joined in the love of golden Aphrodite
with the Earth-holder and Earth-Shaker, and bare Euphemus.’
Fragment #7—Pausanias, ix. 36. 7: ‘And Hyettus killed Molurus the dear
son of Aristas in his house because he lay with his wife. Then he left his
home and fled from horse-rearing Argos and came to Minyan Orchomenus.
And the hero received him and gave him a portion of his goods, as was
fitting.’

Fragment #8—Pausanias, ii. 2. 3: But in the Great Eoiae Peirene is
represented to be the daughter of Oebalius.
Fragment #9—Pausanias, ii. 16. 4: The epic poem, which the Greek call
the Great Eoiae, says that she (Mycene) was the daughter of Inachus and
wife of Arestor: from her, then, it is said, the city received its name.
Fragment #10—Pausanias, vi. 21. 10: According to the poem the Great
Eoiae, these were killed by Oenomaus 2002: Alcathous the son of Porthaon
next after Marmax, and after Alcathous, Euryalus, Eurymachus and
Crotalus. The man killed next after them, Aerias, we should judge to have
been a Lacedemonian and founder of Aeria. And after Acrias, they say,
Capetus was done to death by Oenomaus, and Lycurgus, Lasius, Chalcodon
and Tricolonus.... And after Tricolonus fate overtook Aristomachus and
Prias on the course, as also Pelagon and Aeolius and Cronius.
Fragment #11—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 57: In the
Great Eoiae it is said that Endymion was transported by Zeus into heaven,
but when he fell in love with Hera, was befooled with a shape of cloud, and
was cast out and went down into Hades.
Fragment #12—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 118: In the
Great Eoiae it is related that Melampus, who was very dear to Apollo, went
abroad and stayed with Polyphantes. But when the king had sacrificed an
ox, a serpent crept up to the sacrifice and destroyed his servants. At this the
king was angry and killed the serpent, but Melampus took and buried it.
And its offspring, brought up by him, used to lick his ears and inspire him
with prophecy. And so, when he was caught while trying to steal the cows
of Iphiclus and taken bound to the city of Aegina, and when the house, in
which Iphiclus was, was about to fall, he told an old woman, one of the
servants of Iphiclus, and in return was released.
Fragment #13—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 828: In the
Great Eoiae Scylla is the daughter of Phoebus and Hecate.
Fragment #14—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 181: Hesiod in
the Great Eoiae says that Phineus was blinded because he told Phrixus the
way 2003.
Fragment #15—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. ii. 1122: Argus.
This is one of the children of Phrixus. These.... ....Hesiod in the Great Eoiae
says were born of Iophossa the daughter of Aeetes. And he says there were
four of them, Argus, Phrontis, Melas, and Cytisorus.

Fragment #16—Antoninus Liberalis, xxiii: Battus. Hesiod tells the story
in the Great Eoiae.... ....Magnes was the son of Argus, the son of Phrixus
and Perimele, Admetus’ daughter, and lived in the region of Thessaly, in the
land which men called after him Magnesia. He had a son of remarkable
beauty, Hymenaeus. And when Apollo saw the boy, he was seized with love
for him, and would not leave the house of Magnes. Then Hermes made
designs on Apollo’s herd of cattle which were grazing in the same place as
the cattle of Admetus. First he cast upon the dogs which were guarding
them a stupor and strangles, so that the dogs forgot the cows and lost the
power of barking. Then he drove away twelve heifers and a hundred cows
never yoked, and the bull who mounted the cows, fastening to the tail of
each one brushwood to wipe out the footmarks of the cows.
He drove them through the country of the Pelasgi, and Achaea in the land
of Phthia, and through Locris, and Boeotia and Megaris, and thence into
Peloponnesus by way of Corinth and Larissa, until he brought them to
Tegea. From there he went on by the Lycaean mountains, and past
Maenalus and what are called the watch-posts of Battus. Now this Battus
used to live on the top of the rock and when he heard the voice of the
heifers as they were being driven past, he came out from his own place, and
knew that the cattle were stolen. So he asked for a reward to tell no one
about them. Hermes promised to give it him on these terms, and Battus
swore to say nothing to anyone about the cattle. But when Hermes had
hidden them in the cliff by Coryphasium, and had driven them into a cave
facing towards Italy and Sicily, he changed himself and came again to
Battus and tried whether he would be true to him as he had vowed. So,
offering him a robe as a reward, he asked of him whether he had noticed
stolen cattle being driven past. And Battus took the robe and told him about
the cattle. But Hermes was angry because he was double-tongued, and
struck him with his staff and changed him into a rock. And either frost or
heat never leaves him 2004.

THE MELAMPODIA
Fragment #1—Strabo, xiv. p. 642: It is said that Calchis the seer returned
from Troy with Amphilochus the son of Amphiaraus and came on foot to
this place 2101. But happening to find near Clarus a seer greater than
himself, Mopsus, the son of Manto, Teiresias’ daughter, he died of vexation.
Hesiod, indeed, works up the story in some form as this: Calchas set
Mopsus the following problem:
‘I am filled with wonder at the quantity of figs this wild fig-tree bears
though it is so small. Can you tell their number?’
And Mopsus answered: ‘Ten thousand is their number, and their measure
is a bushel: one fig is left over, which you would not be able to put into the
measure.’
So said he; and they found the reckoning of the measure true. Then did
the end of death shroud Calchas.
Fragment #2—Tzetzes on Lycophron, 682: But now he is speaking of
Teiresias, since it is said that he lived seven generations—though others say
nine. He lived from the times of Cadmus down to those of Eteocles and
Polyneices, as the author of “Melampodia” also says: for he introduces
Teiresias speaking thus:
‘Father Zeus, would that you had given me a shorter span of life to be
mine and wisdom of heart like that of mortal men! But now you have
honoured me not even a little, though you ordained me to have a long span
of life, and to live through seven generations of mortal kind.’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, x. 494: They say that
Teiresias saw two snakes mating on Cithaeron and that, when he killed the
female, he was changed into a woman, and again, when he killed the male,
took again his own nature. This same Teiresias was chosen by Zeus and
Hera to decide the question whether the male or the female has most
pleasure in intercourse. And he said:
‘Of ten parts a man enjoys only one; but a woman’s sense enjoys all ten
in full.’

For this Hera was angry and blinded him, but Zeus gave him the seer’s
power.
Fragment #4—2102 Athenaeus, ii. p. 40: ‘For pleasant it is at a feast and
rich banquet to tell delightful tales, when men have had enough of
feasting;...’
Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vi. 2 26: ‘...and pleasant also it is to
know a clear token of ill or good amid all the signs that the deathless ones
have given to mortal men.’
Fragment #5—Athenaeus, xi. 498. A: ‘And Mares, swift messenger,
came to him through the house and brought a silver goblet which he had
filled, and gave it to the lord.’
Fragment #6—Athenaeus, xi. 498. B: ‘And then Mantes took in his
hands the ox’s halter and Iphiclus lashed him upon the back. And behind
him, with a cup in one hand and a raised sceptre in the other, walked
Phylacus and spake amongst the bondmen.’
Fragment #7—Athenaeus, xiii. p. 609 e: Hesiod in the third book of the
“Melampodia” called Chalcis in Euboea ‘the land of fair women’.
Fragment #8—Strabo, xiv. p. 676: But Hesiod says that Amphilochus
was killed by Apollo at Soli.
Fragment #9—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, v. p. 259: ‘And now
there is no seer among mortal men such as would know the mind of Zeus
who holds the aegis.’

AEGIMIUS
Fragment #1—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iii. 587: But the
author of the “Aegimius” says that he (Phrixus) was received without
intermediary because of the fleece 2201. He says that after the sacrifice he
purified the fleece and so: ‘Holding the fleece he walked into the halls of
Aeetes.’
Fragment #2—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 816: The author
of the “Aegimius” says in the second book that Thetis used to throw the
children she had by Peleus into a cauldron of water, because she wished to
learn where they were mortal.... ....And that after many had perished Peleus
was annoyed, and prevented her from throwing Achilles into the cauldron.
Fragment #3—Apollodorus, ii. 1.3.1: Hesiod and Acusilaus say that she
(Io) was the daughter of Peiren. While she was holding the office of
priestess of Hera, Zeus seduced her, and being discovered by Hera, touched
the girl and changed her into a white cow, while he swore that he had no
intercourse with her. And so Hesiod says that oaths touching the matter of
love do not draw down anger from the gods: ‘And thereafter he ordained
that an oath concerning the secret deeds of the Cyprian should be without
penalty for men.’
Fragment #4—Herodian in Stephanus of Byzantium: ‘(Zeus changed Io)
in the fair island Abantis, which the gods, who are eternally, used to call
Abantis aforetime, but Zeus then called it Euboea after the cow.’ 2202
Fragment #5—Scholiast on Euripides, Phoen. 1116: ‘And (Hera) set a
watcher upon her (Io), great and strong Argus, who with four eyes looks
every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep never
fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.’
Fragment #6—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 24: ‘Slayer of Argus’.
According to Hesiod’s tale he (Hermes) slew (Argus) the herdsman of Io.
Fragment #7—Athenaeus, xi. p. 503: And the author of the “Aegimius”,
whether he is Hesiod or Cercops of Miletus (says): ‘There, some day, shall
be my place of refreshment, O leader of the people.’

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

FRAGMENTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION
Fragment #1—Diogenes Laertius, viii. 1. 26: 2301 ‘So Urania bare Linus,
a very lovely son: and him all men who are singers and harpers do bewail at
feasts and dances, and as they begin and as they end they call on Linus....’
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i. p. 121: ‘....who was skilled in all
manner of wisdom.’
Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Odyssey, iv. 232: ‘Unless Phoebus
Apollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the
remedies for all things.’
Fragment #3—Clement of Alexandria, Protrept, c. vii. p. 21: ‘For he
alone is king and lord of all the undying gods, and no other vies with him in
power.’
Fragment #4—Anecd. Oxon (Cramer), i. p. 148: ‘(To cause?) the gifts of
the blessed gods to come near to earth.’
Fragment #5—Clement of Alexandria, Strom. i. p. 123: ‘Of the Muses
who make a man very wise, marvellous in utterance.’
Fragment #6—Strabo, x. p. 471: ‘But of them (sc. the daughters of
Hecaterus) were born the divine mountain Nymphs and the tribe of
worthless, helpless Satyrs, and the divine Curetes, sportive dancers.’
Fragment #7—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 824: ‘Beseeching
the offspring of glorious Cleodaeus.’
Fragment #8—Suidas, s.v.: ‘For the Olympian gave might to the sons of
Aeacus, and wisdom to the sons of Amythaon, and wealth to the sons of
Atreus.’
Fragment #9—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xiii. 155: ‘For through his lack
of wood the timber of the ships rotted.’
Fragment #10—Etymologicum Magnum: ‘No longer do they walk with
delicate feet.’
Fragment #11—Scholiast on Homer, Iliad, xxiv. 624: ‘First of all they
roasted (pieces of meat), and drew them carefully off the spits.’

Fragment #12—Chrysippus, Fragg. ii. 254. 11: ‘For his spirit increased in
his dear breast.’
Fragment #13—Chrysippus, Fragg. ii. 254. 15: ‘With such heart grieving
anger in her breast.’
Fragment #14—Strabo, vii. p. 327: ‘He went to Dodona and the oak-
grove, the dwelling place of the Pelasgi.’
Fragment #15—Anecd. Oxon (Cramer), iii. p. 318. not.: ‘With the
pitiless smoke of black pitch and of cedar.’
Fragment #16—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 757: ‘But he
himself in the swelling tide of the rain-swollen river.’
Fragment #17—Stephanus of Byzantium: (The river) Parthenius,
‘Flowing as softly as a dainty maiden goes.’
Fragment #18—Scholiast on Theocritus, xi. 75: ‘Foolish the man who
leaves what he has, and follows after what he has not.’
Fragment #19—Harpocration: ‘The deeds of the young, the counsels of
the middle-aged, and the prayers of the aged.’
Fragment #20—Porphyr, On Abstinence, ii. 18. p. 134: ‘Howsoever the
city does sacrifice, the ancient custom is best.’
Fragment #21—Scholiast on Nicander, Theriaca, 452: ‘But you should be
gentle towards your father.’
Fragment #22—Plato, Epist. xi. 358: ‘And if I said this, it would seem a
poor thing and hard to understand.’
Fragment #23—Bacchylides, v. 191-3: Thus spake the Boeotian, even
Hesiod 2302, servant of the sweet Muses: ‘whomsoever the immortals
honour, the good report of mortals also followeth him.’

DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS
Fragment #1—Galen, de plac. Hipp. et Plat. i. 266: ‘And then it was Zeus
took away sense from the heart of Athamas.’
Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Od. vii. 104: ‘They grind the yellow
grain at the mill.’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. ii. 1: ‘Then first in Delos did I
and Homer, singers both, raise our strain—stitching song in new hymns—
Phoebus Apollo with the golden sword, whom Leto bare.’
Fragment #4—Julian, Misopogon, p. 369: ‘But starvation on a handful is
a cruel thing.’
Fragment #5—Servius on Vergil, Aen. iv. 484: Hesiod says that these
Hesperides........daughters of Night, guarded the golden apples beyond
Ocean: ‘Aegle and Erythea and ox-eyed Hesperethusa.’ 2401
Fragment #6—Plato, Republic, iii. 390 E: ‘Gifts move the gods, gifts
move worshipful princes.’
Fragment #7—2402 Clement of Alexandria, Strom. v. p. 256: ‘On the
seventh day again the bright light of the sun....’
Fragment #8—Apollonius, Lex. Hom.: ‘He brought pure water and
mixed it with Ocean’s streams.’
Fragment #9—Stephanus of Byzantium: ‘Aspledon and Clymenus and
god-like Amphidocus.’ (sons of Orchomenus).
Fragment #10—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. iii. 64: ‘Telemon never sated
with battle first brought light to our comrades by slaying blameless
Melanippe, destroyer of men, own sister of the golden-girdled queen.’

THE HOMERIC HYMNS

I. TO DIONYSUS 2501

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

* * * *
(ll. 10-12) ‘...and men will lay up for her 2503 many offerings in her
shrines. And as these things are three 2504, so shall mortals ever sacrifice
perfect hecatombs to you at your feasts each three years.’
(ll. 13-16) The Son of Cronos spoke and nodded with his dark brows.
And the divine locks of the king flowed forward from his immortal head,
and he made great Olympus reel. So spake wise Zeus and ordained it with a
nod.
(ll. 17-21) Be favourable, O Insewn, Inspirer of frenzied women! we
singers sing of you as we begin and as we end a strain, and none forgetting
you may call holy song to mind. And so, farewell, Dionysus, Insewn, with
your mother Semele whom men call Thyone.

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

(ll. 4-18) Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious
fruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and
gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful
violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth made to
grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a snare for
the bloom-like girl—a marvellous, radiant flower. It was a thing of awe
whether for deathless gods or mortal men to see: from its root grew a
hundred blooms, and it smelled most sweetly, so that all wide heaven above
and the whole earth and the sea’s salt swell laughed for joy. And the girl
was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy; but the
wide-pathed earth yawned there in the plain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of
Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her—the Son of Cronos,
He who has many names 2505.
(ll. 19-32) He caught her up reluctant on his golden car and bare her
away lamenting. Then she cried out shrilly with her voice, calling upon her
father, the Son of Cronos, who is most high and excellent. But no one,
either of the deathless gods or of mortal men, heard her voice, nor yet the
olive-trees bearing rich fruit: only tender-hearted Hecate, bright-coiffed, the
daughter of Persaeus, heard the girl from her cave, and the lord Helios,
Hyperion’s bright son, as she cried to her father, the Son of Cronos. But he
was sitting aloof, apart from the gods, in his temple where many pray, and
receiving sweet offerings from mortal men. So he, that Son of Cronos, of
many names, who is Ruler of Many and Host of Many, was bearing her
away by leave of Zeus on his immortal chariot—his own brother’s child and
all unwilling.
(ll. 33-39) And so long as she, the goddess, yet beheld earth and starry
heaven and the strong-flowing sea where fishes shoal, and the rays of the
sun, and still hoped to see her dear mother and the tribes of the eternal gods,
so long hope calmed her great heart for all her trouble.... ((LACUNA))
....and the heights of the mountains and the depths of the sea rang with her
immortal voice: and her queenly mother heard her.
(ll. 40-53) Bitter pain seized her heart, and she rent the covering upon her
divine hair with her dear hands: her dark cloak she cast down from both her
shoulders and sped, like a wild-bird, over the firm land and yielding sea,
seeking her child. But no one would tell her the truth, neither god nor
mortal men; and of the birds of omen none came with true news for her.

Then for nine days queenly Deo wandered over the earth with flaming
torches in her hands, so grieved that she never tasted ambrosia and the
sweet draught of nectar, nor sprinkled her body with water. But when the
tenth enlightening dawn had come, Hecate, with a torch in her hands, met
her, and spoke to her and told her news:
(ll. 54-58) ‘Queenly Demeter, bringer of seasons and giver of good gifts,
what god of heaven or what mortal man has rapt away Persephone and
pierced with sorrow your dear heart? For I heard her voice, yet saw not with
my eyes who it was. But I tell you truly and shortly all I know.’
(ll. 59-73) So, then, said Hecate. And the daughter of rich-haired Rhea
answered her not, but sped swiftly with her, holding flaming torches in her
hands. So they came to Helios, who is watchman of both gods and men, and
stood in front of his horses: and the bright goddess enquired of him:
‘Helios, do you at least regard me, goddess as I am, if ever by word or deed
of mine I have cheered your heart and spirit. Through the fruitless air I
heard the thrilling cry of my daughter whom I bare, sweet scion of my body
and lovely in form, as of one seized violently; though with my eyes I saw
nothing. But you—for with your beams you look down from the bright
upper air Over all the earth and sea—tell me truly of my dear child, if you
have seen her anywhere, what god or mortal man has violently seized her
against her will and mine, and so made off.’
(ll. 74-87) So said she. And the Son of Hyperion answered her: ‘Queen
Demeter, daughter of rich-haired Rhea, I will tell you the truth; for I greatly
reverence and pity you in your grief for your trim-ankled daughter. None
other of the deathless gods is to blame, but only cloud-gathering Zeus who
gave her to Hades, her father’s brother, to be called his buxom wife. And
Hades seized her and took her loudly crying in his chariot down to his
realm of mist and gloom. Yet, goddess, cease your loud lament and keep not
vain anger unrelentingly: Aidoneus, the Ruler of Many, is no unfitting
husband among the deathless gods for your child, being your own brother
and born of the same stock: also, for honour, he has that third share which
he received when division was made at the first, and is appointed lord of
those among whom he dwells.’
(ll. 88-89) So he spake, and called to his horses: and at his chiding they
quickly whirled the swift chariot along, like long-winged birds.

(ll. 90-112) But grief yet more terrible and savage came into the heart of
Demeter, and thereafter she was so angered with the dark-clouded Son of
Cronos that she avoided the gathering of the gods and high Olympus, and
went to the towns and rich fields of men, disfiguring her form a long while.
And no one of men or deep-bosomed women knew her when they saw her,
until she came to the house of wise Celeus who then was lord of fragrant
Eleusis. Vexed in her dear heart, she sat near the wayside by the Maiden
Well, from which the women of the place were used to draw water, in a
shady place over which grew an olive shrub. And she was like an ancient
woman who is cut off from childbearing and the gifts of garland-loving
Aphrodite, like the nurses of king’s children who deal justice, or like the
house-keepers in their echoing halls. There the daughters of Celeus, son of
Eleusis, saw her, as they were coming for easy-drawn water, to carry it in
pitchers of bronze to their dear father’s house: four were they and like
goddesses in the flower of their girlhood, Callidice and Cleisidice and
lovely Demo and Callithoe who was the eldest of them all. They knew her
not,—for the gods are not easily discerned by mortals—but standing near
by her spoke winged words:
(ll. 113-117) ‘Old mother, whence and who are you of folk born long
ago? Why are you gone away from the city and do not draw near the
houses? For there in the shady halls are women of just such age as you, and
others younger; and they would welcome you both by word and by deed.’
(ll. 118-144) Thus they said. And she, that queen among goddesses
answered them saying: ‘Hail, dear children, whosoever you are of woman-
kind. I will tell you my story; for it is not unseemly that I should tell you
truly what you ask. Doso is my name, for my stately mother gave it me.
And now I am come from Crete over the sea’s wide back,—not willingly;
but pirates brought me thence by force of strength against my liking.
Afterwards they put in with their swift craft to Thoricus, and there the
women landed on the shore in full throng and the men likewise, and they
began to make ready a meal by the stern-cables of the ship. But my heart
craved not pleasant food, and I fled secretly across the dark country and
escaped my masters, that they should not take me unpurchased across the
sea, there to win a price for me. And so I wandered and am come here: and I
know not at all what land this is or what people are in it. But may all those
who dwell on Olympus give you husbands and birth of children as parents
desire, so you take pity on me, maidens, and show me this clearly that I

may learn, dear children, to the house of what man and woman I may go, to
work for them cheerfully at such tasks as belong to a woman of my age.
Well could I nurse a new born child, holding him in my arms, or keep
house, or spread my masters’ bed in a recess of the well-built chamber, or
teach the women their work.’
(ll. 145-146) So said the goddess. And straightway the unwed maiden
Callidice, goodliest in form of the daughters of Celeus, answered her and
said:
(ll. 147-168) ‘Mother, what the gods send us, we mortals bear perforce,
although we suffer; for they are much stronger than we. But now I will
teach you clearly, telling you the names of men who have great power and
honour here and are chief among the people, guarding our city’s coif of
towers by their wisdom and true judgements: there is wise Triptolemus and
Dioclus and Polyxeinus and blameless Eumolpus and Dolichus and our own
brave father. All these have wives who manage in the house, and no one of
them, so soon as she has seen you, would dishonour you and turn you from
the house, but they will welcome you; for indeed you are godlike. But if
you will, stay here; and we will go to our father’s house and tell Metaneira,
our deep-bosomed mother, all this matter fully, that she may bid you rather
come to our home than search after the houses of others. She has an only
son, late-born, who is being nursed in our well-built house, a child of many
prayers and welcome: if you could bring him up until he reached the full
measure of youth, any one of womankind who should see you would
straightway envy you, such gifts would our mother give for his upbringing.’
(ll. 169-183) So she spake: and the goddess bowed her head in assent.
And they filled their shining vessels with water and carried them off
rejoicing. Quickly they came to their father’s great house and straightway
told their mother according as they had heard and seen. Then she bade them
go with all speed and invite the stranger to come for a measureless hire. As
hinds or heifers in spring time, when sated with pasture, bound about a
meadow, so they, holding up the folds of their lovely garments, darted down
the hollow path, and their hair like a crocus flower streamed about their
shoulders. And they found the good goddess near the wayside where they
had left her before, and led her to the house of their dear father. And she
walked behind, distressed in her dear heart, with her head veiled and
wearing a dark cloak which waved about the slender feet of the goddess.

(ll. 184-211) Soon they came to the house of heaven-nurtured Celeus and
went through the portico to where their queenly mother sat by a pillar of the
close-fitted roof, holding her son, a tender scion, in her bosom. And the
girls ran to her. But the goddess walked to the threshold: and her head
reached the roof and she filled the doorway with a heavenly radiance. Then
awe and reverence and pale fear took hold of Metaneira, and she rose up
from her couch before Demeter, and bade her be seated. But Demeter,
bringer of seasons and giver of perfect gifts, would not sit upon the bright
couch, but stayed silent with lovely eyes cast down until careful Iambe
placed a jointed seat for her and threw over it a silvery fleece. Then she sat
down and held her veil in her hands before her face. A long time she sat
upon the stool 2506 without speaking because of her sorrow, and greeted no
one by word or by sign, but rested, never smiling, and tasting neither food
nor drink, because she pined with longing for her deep-bosomed daughter,
until careful Iambe—who pleased her moods in aftertime also—moved the
holy lady with many a quip and jest to smile and laugh and cheer her heart.
Then Metaneira filled a cup with sweet wine and offered it to her; but she
refused it, for she said it was not lawful for her to drink red wine, but bade
them mix meal and water with soft mint and give her to drink. And
Metaneira mixed the draught and gave it to the goddess as she bade. So the
great queen Deo received it to observe the sacrament.... 2507
((LACUNA))
(ll. 212-223) And of them all, well-girded Metaneira first began to speak:
‘Hail, lady! For I think you are not meanly but nobly born; truly dignity and
grace are conspicuous upon your eyes as in the eyes of kings that deal
justice. Yet we mortals bear perforce what the gods send us, though we be
grieved; for a yoke is set upon our necks. But now, since you are come here,
you shall have what I can bestow: and nurse me this child whom the gods
gave me in my old age and beyond my hope, a son much prayed for. If you
should bring him up until he reach the full measure of youth, any one of
womankind that sees you will straightway envy you, so great reward would
I give for his upbringing.’
(ll. 224-230) Then rich-haired Demeter answered her: ‘And to you, also,
lady, all hail, and may the gods give you good! Gladly will I take the boy to
my breast, as you bid me, and will nurse him. Never, I ween, through any
heedlessness of his nurse shall witchcraft hurt him nor yet the Undercutter

2508: for I know a charm far stronger than the Woodcutter, and I know an
excellent safeguard against woeful witchcraft.’
(ll. 231-247) When she had so spoken, she took the child in her fragrant
bosom with her divine hands: and his mother was glad in her heart. So the
goddess nursed in the palace Demophoon, wise Celeus’ goodly son whom
well-girded Metaneira bare. And the child grew like some immortal being,
not fed with food nor nourished at the breast: for by day rich-crowned
Demeter would anoint him with ambrosia as if he were the offspring of a
god and breathe sweetly upon him as she held him in her bosom. But at
night she would hide him like a brand in the heart of the fire, unknown to
his dear parents. And it wrought great wonder in these that he grew beyond
his age; for he was like the gods face to face. And she would have made
him deathless and unageing, had not well-girded Metaneira in her
heedlessness kept watch by night from her sweet-smelling chamber and
spied. But she wailed and smote her two hips, because she feared for her
son and was greatly distraught in her heart; so she lamented and uttered
winged words:
(ll. 248-249) ‘Demophoon, my son, the strange woman buries you deep
in fire and works grief and bitter sorrow for me.’
(ll. 250-255) Thus she spoke, mourning. And the bright goddess, lovely-
crowned Demeter, heard her, and was wroth with her. So with her divine
hands she snatched from the fire the dear son whom Metaneira had born
unhoped-for in the palace, and cast him from her to the ground; for she was
terribly angry in her heart. Forthwith she said to well-girded Metaneira:
(ll. 256-274) ‘Witless are you mortals and dull to foresee your lot,
whether of good or evil, that comes upon you. For now in your heedlessness
you have wrought folly past healing; for—be witness the oath of the gods,
the relentless water of Styx—I would have made your dear son deathless
and unageing all his days and would have bestowed on him everlasting
honour, but now he can in no way escape death and the fates. Yet shall
unfailing honour always rest upon him, because he lay upon my knees and
slept in my arms. But, as the years move round and when he is in his prime,
the sons of the Eleusinians shall ever wage war and dread strife with one
another continually. Lo! I am that Demeter who has share of honour and is
the greatest help and cause of joy to the undying gods and mortal men. But
now, let all the people build me a great temple and an altar below it and

beneath the city and its sheer wall upon a rising hillock above Callichorus.
And I myself will teach my rites, that hereafter you may reverently perform
them and so win the favour of my heart.’
(ll. 275-281) When she had so said, the goddess changed her stature and
her looks, thrusting old age away from her: beauty spread round about her
and a lovely fragrance was wafted from her sweet-smelling robes, and from
the divine body of the goddess a light shone afar, while golden tresses
spread down over her shoulders, so that the strong house was filled with
brightness as with lightning. And so she went out from the palace.
(ll. 281-291) And straightway Metaneira’s knees were loosed and she
remained speechless for a long while and did not remember to take up her
late-born son from the ground. But his sisters heard his pitiful wailing and
sprang down from their well-spread beds: one of them took up the child in
her arms and laid him in her bosom, while another revived the fire, and a
third rushed with soft feet to bring their mother from her fragrant chamber.
And they gathered about the struggling child and washed him, embracing
him lovingly; but he was not comforted, because nurses and handmaids
much less skilful were holding him now.
(ll. 292-300) All night long they sought to appease the glorious goddess,
quaking with fear. But, as soon as dawn began to show, they told powerful
Celeus all things without fail, as the lovely-crowned goddess Demeter
charged them. So Celeus called the countless people to an assembly and
bade them make a goodly temple for rich-haired Demeter and an altar upon
the rising hillock. And they obeyed him right speedily and harkened to his
voice, doing as he commanded. As for the child, he grew like an immortal
being.
(ll. 301-320) Now when they had finished building and had drawn back
from their toil, they went every man to his house. But golden-haired
Demeter sat there apart from all the blessed gods and stayed, wasting with
yearning for her deep-bosomed daughter. Then she caused a most dreadful
and cruel year for mankind over the all-nourishing earth: the ground would
not make the seed sprout, for rich-crowned Demeter kept it hid. In the fields
the oxen drew many a curved plough in vain, and much white barley was
cast upon the land without avail. So she would have destroyed the whole
race of man with cruel famine and have robbed them who dwell on
Olympus of their glorious right of gifts and sacrifices, had not Zeus

perceived and marked this in his heart. First he sent golden-winged Iris to
call rich-haired Demeter, lovely in form. So he commanded. And she
obeyed the dark-clouded Son of Cronos, and sped with swift feet across the
space between. She came to the stronghold of fragrant Eleusis, and there
finding dark-cloaked Demeter in her temple, spake to her and uttered
winged words:
(ll. 321-323) ‘Demeter, father Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, calls
you to come join the tribes of the eternal gods: come therefore, and let not
the message I bring from Zeus pass unobeyed.’
(ll. 324-333) Thus said Iris imploring her. But Demeter’s heart was not
moved. Then again the father sent forth all the blessed and eternal gods
besides: and they came, one after the other, and kept calling her and
offering many very beautiful gifts and whatever right she might be pleased
to choose among the deathless gods. Yet no one was able to persuade her
mind and will, so wrath was she in her heart; but she stubbornly rejected all
their words: for she vowed that she would never set foot on fragrant
Olympus nor let fruit spring out of the ground, until she beheld with her
eyes her own fair-faced daughter.
(ll. 334-346) Now when all-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer heard this, he
sent the Slayer of Argus whose wand is of gold to Erebus, so that having
won over Hades with soft words, he might lead forth chaste Persephone to
the light from the misty gloom to join the gods, and that her mother might
see her with her eyes and cease from her anger. And Hermes obeyed, and
leaving the house of Olympus, straightway sprang down with speed to the
hidden places of the earth. And he found the lord Hades in his house seated
upon a couch, and his shy mate with him, much reluctant, because she
yearned for her mother. But she was afar off, brooding on her fell design
because of the deeds of the blessed gods. And the strong Slayer of Argus
drew near and said:
(ll. 347-356) ‘Dark-haired Hades, ruler over the departed, father Zeus
bids me bring noble Persephone forth from Erebus unto the gods, that her
mother may see her with her eyes and cease from her dread anger with the
immortals; for now she plans an awful deed, to destroy the weakly tribes of
earthborn men by keeping seed hidden beneath the earth, and so she makes
an end of the honours of the undying gods. For she keeps fearful anger and

does not consort with the gods, but sits aloof in her fragrant temple,
dwelling in the rocky hold of Eleusis.’
(ll. 357-359) So he said. And Aidoneus, ruler over the dead, smiled
grimly and obeyed the behest of Zeus the king. For he straightway urged
wise Persephone, saying:
(ll. 360-369) ‘Go now, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother, go, and
feel kindly in your heart towards me: be not so exceedingly cast down; for I
shall be no unfitting husband for you among the deathless gods, that am
own brother to father Zeus. And while you are here, you shall rule all that
lives and moves and shall have the greatest rights among the deathless
gods: those who defraud you and do not appease your power with offerings,
reverently performing rites and paying fit gifts, shall be punished for
evermore.’
(ll. 370-383) When he said this, wise Persephone was filled with joy and
hastily sprang up for gladness. But he on his part secretly gave her sweet
pomegranate seed to eat, taking care for himself that she might not remain
continually with grave, dark-robed Demeter. Then Aidoneus the Ruler of
Many openly got ready his deathless horses beneath the golden chariot. And
she mounted on the chariot, and the strong Slayer of Argos took reins and
whip in his dear hands and drove forth from the hall, the horses speeding
readily. Swiftly they traversed their long course, and neither the sea nor
river-waters nor grassy glens nor mountain-peaks checked the career of the
immortal horses, but they clave the deep air above them as they went. And
Hermes brought them to the place where rich-crowned Demeter was staying
and checked them before her fragrant temple.
(ll. 384-404) And when Demeter saw them, she rushed forth as does a
Maenad down some thick-wooded mountain, while Persephone on the other
side, when she saw her mother’s sweet eyes, left the chariot and horses, and
leaped down to run to her, and falling upon her neck, embraced her. But
while Demeter was still holding her dear child in her arms, her heart
suddenly misgave her for some snare, so that she feared greatly and ceased
fondling her daughter and asked of her at once: ‘My child, tell me, surely
you have not tasted any food while you were below? Speak out and hide
nothing, but let us both know. For if you have not, you shall come back
from loathly Hades and live with me and your father, the dark-clouded Son
of Cronos and be honoured by all the deathless gods; but if you have tasted

food, you must go back again beneath the secret places of the earth, there to
dwell a third part of the seasons every year: yet for the two parts you shall
be with me and the other deathless gods. But when the earth shall bloom
with the fragrant flowers of spring in every kind, then from the realm of
darkness and gloom thou shalt come up once more to be a wonder for gods
and mortal men. And now tell me how he rapt you away to the realm of
darkness and gloom, and by what trick did the strong Host of Many beguile
you?’
(ll. 405-433) Then beautiful Persephone answered her thus: ‘Mother, I
will tell you all without error. When luck-bringing Hermes came, swift
messenger from my father the Son of Cronos and the other Sons of Heaven,
bidding me come back from Erebus that you might see me with your eyes
and so cease from your anger and fearful wrath against the gods, I sprang
up at once for joy; but he secretly put in my mouth sweet food, a
pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will. Also I will tell
how he rapt me away by the deep plan of my father the Son of Cronos and
carried me off beneath the depths of the earth, and will relate the whole
matter as you ask. All we were playing in a lovely meadow, Leucippe 2509
and Phaeno and Electra and Ianthe, Melita also and Iache with Rhodea and
Callirhoe and Melobosis and Tyche and Ocyrhoe, fair as a flower, Chryseis,
Ianeira, Acaste and Admete and Rhodope and Pluto and charming Calypso;
Styx too was there and Urania and lovely Galaxaura with Pallas who rouses
battles and Artemis delighting in arrows: we were playing and gathering
sweet flowers in our hands, soft crocuses mingled with irises and hyacinths,
and rose-blooms and lilies, marvellous to see, and the narcissus which the
wide earth caused to grow yellow as a crocus. That I plucked in my joy; but
the earth parted beneath, and there the strong lord, the Host of Many, sprang
forth and in his golden chariot he bore me away, all unwilling, beneath the
earth: then I cried with a shrill cry. All this is true, sore though it grieves me
to tell the tale.’
(ll. 434-437) So did they turn, with hearts at one, greatly cheer each the
other’s soul and spirit with many an embrace: their heart had relief from
their griefs while each took and gave back joyousness.
(ll. 438-440) Then bright-coiffed Hecate came near to them, and often
did she embrace the daughter of holy Demeter: and from that time the lady
Hecate was minister and companion to Persephone.

(ll. 441-459) And all-seeing Zeus sent a messenger to them, rich-haired
Rhea, to bring dark-cloaked Demeter to join the families of the gods: and he
promised to give her what right she should choose among the deathless
gods and agreed that her daughter should go down for the third part of the
circling year to darkness and gloom, but for the two parts should live with
her mother and the other deathless gods. Thus he commanded. And the
goddess did not disobey the message of Zeus; swiftly she rushed down from
the peaks of Olympus and came to the plain of Rharus, rich, fertile corn-
land once, but then in nowise fruitful, for it lay idle and utterly leafless,
because the white grain was hidden by design of trim-ankled Demeter. But
afterwards, as springtime waxed, it was soon to be waving with long ears of
corn, and its rich furrows to be loaded with grain upon the ground, while
others would already be bound in sheaves. There first she landed from the
fruitless upper air: and glad were the goddesses to see each other and
cheered in heart. Then bright-coiffed Rhea said to Demeter:
(ll. 460-469) ‘Come, my daughter; for far-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer
calls you to join the families of the gods, and has promised to give you what
rights you please among the deathless gods, and has agreed that for a third
part of the circling year your daughter shall go down to darkness and
gloom, but for the two parts shall be with you and the other deathless gods:
so has he declared it shall be and has bowed his head in token. But come,
my child, obey, and be not too angry unrelentingly with the dark-clouded
Son of Cronos; but rather increase forthwith for men the fruit that gives
them life.’
(ll. 470-482) So spake Rhea. And rich-crowned Demeter did not refuse
but straightway made fruit to spring up from the rich lands, so that the
whole wide earth was laden with leaves and flowers. Then she went, and to
the kings who deal justice, Triptolemus and Diocles, the horse-driver, and to
doughty Eumolpus and Celeus, leader of the people, she showed the
conduct of her rites and taught them all her mysteries, to Triptolemus and
Polyxeinus and Diocles also,—awful mysteries which no one may in any
way transgress or pry into or utter, for deep awe of the gods checks the
voice. Happy is he among men upon earth who has seen these mysteries;
but he who is uninitiate and who has no part in them, never has lot of like
good things once he is dead, down in the darkness and gloom.

(ll. 483-489) But when the bright goddess had taught them all, they went
to Olympus to the gathering of the other gods. And there they dwell beside
Zeus who delights in thunder, awful and reverend goddesses. Right blessed
is he among men on earth whom they freely love: soon they do send Plutus
as guest to his great house, Plutus who gives wealth to mortal men.
(ll. 490-495) And now, queen of the land of sweet Eleusis and sea-girt
Paros and rocky Antron, lady, giver of good gifts, bringer of seasons, queen
Deo, be gracious, you and your daughter all beauteous Persephone, and for
my song grant me heart-cheering substance. And now I will remember you
and another song also.

III. TO DELIAN APOLLO
(ll. 1-18) I will remember and not be unmindful of Apollo who shoots
afar. As he goes through the house of Zeus, the gods tremble before him and
all spring up from their seats when he draws near, as he bends his bright
bow. But Leto alone stays by the side of Zeus who delights in thunder; and
then she unstrings his bow, and closes his quiver, and takes his archery from
his strong shoulders in her hands and hangs them on a golden peg against a
pillar of his father’s house. Then she leads him to a seat and makes him sit:
and the Father gives him nectar in a golden cup welcoming his dear son,
while the other gods make him sit down there, and queenly Leto rejoices
because she bare a mighty son and an archer. Rejoice, blessed Leto, for you
bare glorious children, the lord Apollo and Artemis who delights in arrows;
her in Ortygia, and him in rocky Delos, as you rested against the great mass
of the Cynthian hill hard by a palm-tree by the streams of Inopus.
(ll. 19-29) How, then, shall I sing of you who in all ways are a worthy
theme of song? For everywhere, O Phoebus, the whole range of song is
fallen to you, both over the mainland that rears heifers and over the isles.
All mountain-peaks and high headlands of lofty hills and rivers flowing out
to the deep and beaches sloping seawards and havens of the sea are your
delight. Shall I sing how at the first Leto bare you to be the joy of men, as
she rested against Mount Cynthus in that rocky isle, in sea-girt Delos—
while on either hand a dark wave rolled on landwards driven by shrill winds
—whence arising you rule over all mortal men?
(ll. 30-50) Among those who are in Crete, and in the township of Athens,
and in the isle of Aegina and Euboea, famous for ships, in Aegae and
Eiresiae and Peparethus near the sea, in Thracian Athos and Pelion’s
towering heights and Thracian Samos and the shady hills of Ida, in Scyros
and Phocaea and the high hill of Autocane and fair-lying Imbros and
smouldering Lemnos and rich Lesbos, home of Macar, the son of Aeolus,
and Chios, brightest of all the isles that lie in the sea, and craggy Mimas and
the heights of Corycus and gleaming Claros and the sheer hill of Aesagea
and watered Samos and the steep heights of Mycale, in Miletus and Cos, the

city of Meropian men, and steep Cnidos and windy Carpathos, in Naxos
and Paros and rocky Rhenaea—so far roamed Leto in travail with the god
who shoots afar, to see if any land would be willing to make a dwelling for
her son. But they greatly trembled and feared, and none, not even the
richest of them, dared receive Phoebus, until queenly Leto set foot on Delos
and uttered winged words and asked her:
(ll. 51-61) ‘Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son
Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple—; for no other will touch you,
as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and sheep, nor
bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you have the temple
of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you hecatombs and gather here,
and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will always arise, and you will feed
those who dwell in you from the hand of strangers; for truly your own soil
is not rich.’
(ll. 62-82) So spake Leto. And Delos rejoiced and answered and said:
‘Leto, most glorious daughter of great Coeus, joyfully would I receive your
child the far-shooting lord; for it is all too true that I am ill-spoken of
among men, whereas thus I should become very greatly honoured. But this
saying I fear, and I will not hide it from you, Leto. They say that Apollo will
be one that is very haughty and will greatly lord it among gods and men all
over the fruitful earth. Therefore, I greatly fear in heart and spirit that as
soon as he sets the light of the sun, he will scorn this island—for truly I
have but a hard, rocky soil—and overturn me and thrust me down with his
feet in the depths of the sea; then will the great ocean wash deep above my
head for ever, and he will go to another land such as will please him, there
to make his temple and wooded groves. So, many-footed creatures of the
sea will make their lairs in me and black seals their dwellings undisturbed,
because I lack people. Yet if you will but dare to sware a great oath,
goddess, that here first he will build a glorious temple to be an oracle for
men, then let him afterwards make temples and wooded groves amongst all
men; for surely he will be greatly renowned.’
(ll. 83-88) So said Delos. And Leto sware the great oath of the gods:
‘Now hear this, Earth and wide Heaven above, and dropping water of Styx
(this is the strongest and most awful oath for the blessed gods), surely
Phoebus shall have here his fragrant altar and precinct, and you he shall
honour above all.’

(ll. 89-101) Now when Leto had sworn and ended her oath, Delos was
very glad at the birth of the far-shooting lord. But Leto was racked nine
days and nine nights with pangs beyond wont. And there were with her all
the chiefest of the goddesses, Dione and Rhea and Ichnaea and Themis and
loud-moaning Amphitrite and the other deathless goddesses save white-
armed Hera, who sat in the halls of cloud-gathering Zeus. Only Eilithyia,
goddess of sore travail, had not heard of Leto’s trouble, for she sat on the
top of Olympus beneath golden clouds by white-armed Hera’s contriving,
who kept her close through envy, because Leto with the lovely tresses was
soon to bear a son faultless and strong.
(ll. 102-114) But the goddesses sent out Iris from the well-set isle to
bring Eilithyia, promising her a great necklace strung with golden threads,
nine cubits long. And they bade Iris call her aside from white-armed Hera,
lest she might afterwards turn her from coming with her words. When swift
Iris, fleet of foot as the wind, had heard all this, she set to run; and quickly
finishing all the distance she came to the home of the gods, sheer Olympus,
and forthwith called Eilithyia out from the hall to the door and spoke
winged words to her, telling her all as the goddesses who dwell on Olympus
had bidden her. So she moved the heart of Eilithyia in her dear breast; and
they went their way, like shy wild-doves in their going.
(ll. 115-122) And as soon as Eilithyia the goddess of sore travail set foot
on Delos, the pains of birth seized Leto, and she longed to bring forth; so
she cast her arms about a palm tree and kneeled on the soft meadow while
the earth laughed for joy beneath. Then the child leaped forth to the light,
and all the goddesses washed you purely and cleanly with sweet water, and
swathed you in a white garment of fine texture, new-woven, and fastened a
golden band about you.
(ll. 123-130) Now Leto did not give Apollo, bearer of the golden blade,
her breast; but Themis duly poured nectar and ambrosia with her divine
hands: and Leto was glad because she had borne a strong son and an archer.
But as soon as you had tasted that divine heavenly food, O Phoebus, you
could no longer then be held by golden cords nor confined with bands, but
all their ends were undone. Forthwith Phoebus Apollo spoke out among the
deathless goddesses:
(ll. 131-132) ‘The lyre and the curved bow shall ever be dear to me, and I
will declare to men the unfailing will of Zeus.’

(ll. 133-139) So said Phoebus, the long-haired god who shoots afar and
began to walk upon the wide-pathed earth; and all goddesses were amazed
at him. Then with gold all Delos was laden, beholding the child of Zeus and
Leto, for joy because the god chose her above the islands and shore to make
his dwelling in her: and she loved him yet more in her heart, and blossomed
as does a mountain-top with woodland flowers.
(ll. 140-164) And you, O lord Apollo, god of the silver bow, shooting
afar, now walked on craggy Cynthus, and now kept wandering about the
island and the people in them. Many are your temples and wooded groves,
and all peaks and towering bluffs of lofty mountains and rivers flowing to
the sea are dear to you, Phoebus, yet in Delos do you most delight your
heart; for there the long robed Ionians gather in your honour with their
children and shy wives: mindful, they delight you with boxing and dancing
and song, so often as they hold their gathering. A man would say that they
were deathless and unageing if he should then come upon the Ionians so
met together. For he would see the graces of them all, and would be pleased
in heart gazing at the men and well-girded women with their swift ships and
great wealth. And there is this great wonder besides—and its renown shall
never perish—the girls of Delos, hand-maidens of the Far-shooter; for when
they have praised Apollo first, and also Leto and Artemis who delights in
arrows, they sing a strain telling of men and women of past days, and charm
the tribes of men. Also they can imitate the tongues of all men and their
clattering speech: each would say that he himself were singing, so close to
truth is their sweet song.
(ll. 165-178) And now may Apollo be favourable and Artemis; and
farewell all you maidens. Remember me in after time whenever any one of
men on earth, a stranger who has seen and suffered much, comes here and
asks of you: ‘Whom think ye, girls, is the sweetest singer that comes here,
and in whom do you most delight?’ Then answer, each and all, with one
voice: ‘He is a blind man, and dwells in rocky Chios: his lays are evermore
supreme.’ As for me, I will carry your renown as far as I roam over the earth
to the well-placed this thing is true. And I will never cease to praise far-
shooting Apollo, god of the silver bow, whom rich-haired Leto bare.
TO PYTHIAN APOLLO—
(ll. 179-181) O Lord, Lycia is yours and lovely Maeonia and Miletus,
charming city by the sea, but over wave-girt Delos you greatly reign your

own self.
(ll. 182-206) Leto’s all-glorious son goes to rocky Pytho, playing upon
his hollow lyre, clad in divine, perfumed garments; and at the touch of the
golden key his lyre sings sweet. Thence, swift as thought, he speeds from
earth to Olympus, to the house of Zeus, to join the gathering of the other
gods: then straightway the undying gods think only of the lyre and song,
and all the Muses together, voice sweetly answering voice, hymn the
unending gifts the gods enjoy and the sufferings of men, all that they endure
at the hands of the deathless gods, and how they live witless and helpless
and cannot find healing for death or defence against old age. Meanwhile the
rich-tressed Graces and cheerful Seasons dance with Harmonia and Hebe
and Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, holding each other by the wrist. And
among them sings one, not mean nor puny, but tall to look upon and
enviable in mien, Artemis who delights in arrows, sister of Apollo. Among
them sport Ares and the keen-eyed Slayer of Argus, while Apollo plays his
lyre stepping high and featly and a radiance shines around him, the
gleaming of his feet and close-woven vest. And they, even gold-tressed Leto
and wise Zeus, rejoice in their great hearts as they watch their dear son
playing among the undying gods.
(ll. 207-228) How then shall I sing of you—though in all ways you are a
worthy theme for song? Shall I sing of you as wooer and in the fields of
love, how you went wooing the daughter of Azan along with god-like
Ischys the son of well-horsed Elatius, or with Phorbas sprung from Triops,
or with Ereutheus, or with Leucippus and the wife of Leucippus....
((LACUNA)) ....you on foot, he with his chariot, yet he fell not short of
Triops. Or shall I sing how at the first you went about the earth seeking a
place of oracle for men, O far-shooting Apollo? To Pieria first you went
down from Olympus and passed by sandy Lectus and Enienae and through
the land of the Perrhaebi. Soon you came to Iolcus and set foot on Cenaeum
in Euboea, famed for ships: you stood in the Lelantine plain, but it pleased
not your heart to make a temple there and wooded groves. From there you
crossed the Euripus, far-shooting Apollo, and went up the green, holy hills,
going on to Mycalessus and grassy-bedded Teumessus, and so came to the
wood-clad abode of Thebe; for as yet no man lived in holy Thebe, nor were
there tracks or ways about Thebe’s wheat-bearing plain as yet.

(ll. 229-238) And further still you went, O far-shooting Apollo, and came
to Onchestus, Poseidon’s bright grove: there the new-broken colt distressed
with drawing the trim chariot gets spirit again, and the skilled driver springs
from his car and goes on his way. Then the horses for a while rattle the
empty car, being rid of guidance; and if they break the chariot in the woody
grove, men look after the horses, but tilt the chariot and leave it there; for
this was the rite from the very first. And the drivers pray to the lord of the
shrine; but the chariot falls to the lot of the god.
(ll. 239-243) Further yet you went, O far-shooting Apollo, and reached
next Cephissus’ sweet stream which pours forth its sweet-flowing water
from Lilaea, and crossing over it, O worker from afar, you passed many-
towered Ocalea and reached grassy Haliartus.
(ll. 244-253) Then you went towards Telphusa: and there the pleasant
place seemed fit for making a temple and wooded grove. You came very
near and spoke to her: ‘Telphusa, here I am minded to make a glorious
temple, an oracle for men, and hither they will always bring perfect
hecatombs, both those who live in rich Peloponnesus and those of Europe
and all the wave-washed isles, coming to seek oracles. And I will deliver to
them all counsel that cannot fail, giving answer in my rich temple.’
(ll. 254-276) So said Phoebus Apollo, and laid out all the foundations
throughout, wide and very long. But when Telphusa saw this, she was angry
in heart and spoke, saying: ‘Lord Phoebus, worker from afar, I will speak a
word of counsel to your heart, since you are minded to make here a glorious
temple to be an oracle for men who will always bring hither perfect
hecatombs for you; yet I will speak out, and do you lay up my words in
your heart. The trampling of swift horses and the sound of mules watering
at my sacred springs will always irk you, and men will like better to gaze at
the well-made chariots and stamping, swift-footed horses than at your great
temple and the many treasures that are within. But if you will be moved by
me—for you, lord, are stronger and mightier than I, and your strength is
very great—build at Crisa below the glades of Parnassus: there no bright
chariot will clash, and there will be no noise of swift-footed horses near
your well-built altar. But so the glorious tribes of men will bring gifts to you
as Iepaeon (‘Hail-Healer’), and you will receive with delight rich sacrifices
from the people dwelling round about.’ So said Telphusa, that she alone,

and not the Far-Shooter, should have renown there; and she persuaded the
Far-Shooter.
(ll. 277-286) Further yet you went, far-shooting Apollo, until you came to
the town of the presumptuous Phlegyae who dwell on this earth in a lovely
glade near the Cephisian lake, caring not for Zeus. And thence you went
speeding swiftly to the mountain ridge, and came to Crisa beneath snowy
Parnassus, a foothill turned towards the west: a cliff hangs over it from
above, and a hollow, rugged glade runs under. There the lord Phoebus
Apollo resolved to make his lovely temple, and thus he said:
(ll. 287-293) ‘In this place I am minded to build a glorious temple to be
an oracle for men, and here they will always bring perfect hecatombs, both
they who dwell in rich Peloponnesus and the men of Europe and from all
the wave-washed isles, coming to question me. And I will deliver to them
all counsel that cannot fail, answering them in my rich temple.’
(ll. 294-299) When he had said this, Phoebus Apollo laid out all the
foundations throughout, wide and very long; and upon these the sons of
Erginus, Trophonius and Agamedes, dear to the deathless gods, laid a
footing of stone. And the countless tribes of men built the whole temple of
wrought stones, to be sung of for ever.
(ll. 300-310) But near by was a sweet flowing spring, and there with his
strong bow the lord, the son of Zeus, killed the bloated, great she-dragon, a
fierce monster wont to do great mischief to men upon earth, to men
themselves and to their thin-shanked sheep; for she was a very bloody
plague. She it was who once received from gold-throned Hera and brought
up fell, cruel Typhaon to be a plague to men. Once on a time Hera bare him
because she was angry with father Zeus, when the Son of Cronos bare all-
glorious Athena in his head. Thereupon queenly Hera was angry and spoke
thus among the assembled gods:
(ll. 311-330) ‘Hear from me, all gods and goddesses, how cloud-
gathering Zeus begins to dishonour me wantonly, when he has made me his
true-hearted wife. See now, apart from me he has given birth to bright-eyed
Athena who is foremost among all the blessed gods. But my son
Hephaestus whom I bare was weakly among all the blessed gods and
shrivelled of foot, a shame and disgrace to me in heaven, whom I myself
took in my hands and cast out so that he fell in the great sea. But silver-shod
Thetis the daughter of Nereus took and cared for him with her sisters:

would that she had done other service to the blessed gods! O wicked one
and crafty! What else will you now devise? How dared you by yourself give
birth to bright-eyed Athena? Would not I have borne you a child—I, who
was at least called your wife among the undying gods who hold wide
heaven. Beware now lest I devise some evil thing for you hereafter: yes,
now I will contrive that a son be born me to be foremost among the undying
gods—and that without casting shame on the holy bond of wedlock
between you and me. And I will not come to your bed, but will consort with
the blessed gods far off from you.’
(ll. 331-333) When she had so spoken, she went apart from the gods,
being very angry. Then straightway large-eyed queenly Hera prayed,
striking the ground flatwise with her hand, and speaking thus:
(ll. 334-362) ‘Hear now, I pray, Earth and wide Heaven above, and you
Titan gods who dwell beneath the earth about great Tartarus, and from
whom are sprung both gods and men! Harken you now to me, one and all,
and grant that I may bear a child apart from Zeus, no wit lesser than him in
strength—nay, let him be as much stronger than Zeus as all-seeing Zeus
than Cronos.’ Thus she cried and lashed the earth with her strong hand.
Then the life-giving earth was moved: and when Hera saw it she was glad
in heart, for she thought her prayer would be fulfilled. And thereafter she
never came to the bed of wise Zeus for a full year, not to sit in her carved
chair as aforetime to plan wise counsel for him, but stayed in her temples
where many pray, and delighted in her offerings, large-eyed queenly Hera.
But when the months and days were fulfilled and the seasons duly came on
as the earth moved round, she bare one neither like the gods nor mortal
men, fell, cruel Typhaon, to be a plague to men. Straightway large-eyed
queenly Hera took him and bringing one evil thing to another such, gave
him to the dragoness; and she received him. And this Typhaon used to work
great mischief among the famous tribes of men. Whosoever met the
dragoness, the day of doom would sweep him away, until the lord Apollo,
who deals death from afar, shot a strong arrow at her. Then she, rent with
bitter pangs, lay drawing great gasps for breath and rolling about that place.
An awful noise swelled up unspeakable as she writhed continually this way
and that amid the wood: and so she left her life, breathing it forth in blood.
Then Phoebus Apollo boasted over her:

(ll. 363-369) ‘Now rot here upon the soil that feeds man! You at least
shall live no more to be a fell bane to men who eat the fruit of the all-
nourishing earth, and who will bring hither perfect hecatombs. Against
cruel death neither Typhoeus shall avail you nor ill-famed Chimera, but
here shall the Earth and shining Hyperion make you rot.’
(ll. 370-374) Thus said Phoebus, exulting over her: and darkness covered
her eyes. And the holy strength of Helios made her rot away there;
wherefore the place is now called Pytho, and men call the lord Apollo by
another name, Pythian; because on that spot the power of piercing Helios
made the monster rot away.
(ll. 375-378) Then Phoebus Apollo saw that the sweet-flowing spring had
beguiled him, and he started out in anger against Telphusa; and soon
coming to her, he stood close by and spoke to her:
(ll. 379-381) ‘Telphusa, you were not, after all, to keep to yourself this
lovely place by deceiving my mind, and pour forth your clear flowing
water: here my renown shall also be and not yours alone?’
(ll. 382-387) Thus spoke the lord, far-working Apollo, and pushed over
upon her a crag with a shower of rocks, hiding her streams: and he made
himself an altar in a wooded grove very near the clear-flowing stream. In
that place all men pray to the great one by the name Telphusian, because he
humbled the stream of holy Telphusa.
(ll. 388-439) Then Phoebus Apollo pondered in his heart what men he
should bring in to be his ministers in sacrifice and to serve him in rocky
Pytho. And while he considered this, he became aware of a swift ship upon
the wine-like sea in which were many men and goodly, Cretans from
Cnossos 2510, the city of Minos, they who do sacrifice to the prince and
announce his decrees, whatsoever Phoebus Apollo, bearer of the golden
blade, speaks in answer from his laurel tree below the dells of Parnassus.
These men were sailing in their black ship for traffic and for profit to sandy
Pylos and to the men of Pylos. But Phoebus Apollo met them: in the open
sea he sprang upon their swift ship, like a dolphin in shape, and lay there, a
great and awesome monster, and none of them gave heed so as to
understand 2511; but they sought to cast the dolphin overboard. But he kept
shaking the black ship every way and make the timbers quiver. So they sat
silent in their craft for fear, and did not loose the sheets throughout the
black, hollow ship, nor lowered the sail of their dark-prowed vessel, but as

they had set it first of all with oxhide ropes, so they kept sailing on; for a
rushing south wind hurried on the swift ship from behind. First they passed
by Malea, and then along the Laconian coast they came to Taenarum, sea-
garlanded town and country of Helios who gladdens men, where the thick-
fleeced sheep of the lord Helios feed continually and occupy a glad-some
country. There they wished to put their ship to shore, and land and
comprehend the great marvel and see with their eyes whether the monster
would remain upon the deck of the hollow ship, or spring back into the
briny deep where fishes shoal. But the well-built ship would not obey the
helm, but went on its way all along Peloponnesus: and the lord, far-working
Apollo, guided it easily with the breath of the breeze. So the ship ran on its
course and came to Arena and lovely Argyphea and Thryon, the ford of
Alpheus, and well-placed Aepy and sandy Pylos and the men of Pylos; past
Cruni it went and Chalcis and past Dyme and fair Elis, where the Epei rule.
And at the time when she was making for Pherae, exulting in the breeze
from Zeus, there appeared to them below the clouds the steep mountain of
Ithaca, and Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus. But when they
were passed by all the coast of Peloponnesus, then, towards Crisa, that vast
gulf began to heave in sight which through all its length cuts off the rich isle
of Pelops. There came on them a strong, clear west-wind by ordinance of
Zeus and blew from heaven vehemently, that with all speed the ship might
finish coursing over the briny water of the sea. So they began again to
voyage back towards the dawn and the sun: and the lord Apollo, son of
Zeus, led them on until they reached far-seen Crisa, land of vines, and into
haven: there the sea-coursing ship grounded on the sands.
(ll. 440-451) Then, like a star at noonday, the lord, far-working Apollo,
leaped from the ship: flashes of fire flew from him thick and their
brightness reached to heaven. He entered into his shrine between priceless
tripods, and there made a flame to flare up bright, showing forth the
splendour of his shafts, so that their radiance filled all Crisa, and the wives
and well-girded daughters of the Crisaeans raised a cry at that outburst of
Phoebus; for he cast great fear upon them all. From his shrine he sprang
forth again, swift as a thought, to speed again to the ship, bearing the form
of a man, brisk and sturdy, in the prime of his youth, while his broad
shoulders were covered with his hair: and he spoke to the Cretans, uttering
winged words:

(ll. 452-461) ‘Strangers, who are you? Whence come you sailing along
the paths of the sea? Are you for traffic, or do you wander at random over
the sea as pirates do who put their own lives to hazard and bring mischief to
men of foreign parts as they roam? Why rest you so and are afraid, and do
not go ashore nor stow the gear of your black ship? For that is the custom of
men who live by bread, whenever they come to land in their dark ships
from the main, spent with toil; at once desire for sweet food catches them
about the heart.’
(ll. 462-473) So speaking, he put courage in their hearts, and the master
of the Cretans answered him and said: ‘Stranger—though you are nothing
like mortal men in shape or stature, but are as the deathless gods—hail and
all happiness to you, and may the gods give you good. Now tell me truly
that I may surely know it: what country is this, and what land, and what
men live herein? As for us, with thoughts set otherwards, we were sailing
over the great sea to Pylos from Crete (for from there we declare that we are
sprung), but now are come on shipboard to this place by no means willingly
—another way and other paths—and gladly would we return. But one of the
deathless gods brought us here against our will.’
(ll. 474-501) Then far-working Apollo answered then and said: ‘Strangers
who once dwelt about wooded Cnossos but now shall return no more each
to his loved city and fair house and dear wife; here shall you keep my rich
temple that is honoured by many men. I am the son of Zeus; Apollo is my
name: but you I brought here over the wide gulf of the sea, meaning you no
hurt; nay, here you shall keep my rich temple that is greatly honoured
among men, and you shall know the plans of the deathless gods, and by
their will you shall be honoured continually for all time. And now come,
make haste and do as I say. First loose the sheets and lower the sail, and
then draw the swift ship up upon the land. Take out your goods and the gear
of the straight ship, and make an altar upon the beach of the sea: light fire
upon it and make an offering of white meal. Next, stand side by side around
the altar and pray: and in as much as at the first on the hazy sea I sprang
upon the swift ship in the form of a dolphin, pray to me as Apollo
Delphinius; also the altar itself shall be called Delphinius and overlooking
2512 for ever. Afterwards, sup beside your dark ship and pour an offering to
the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. But when you have put away
craving for sweet food, come with me singing the hymn Ie Paean (Hail,
Healer!), until you come to the place where you shall keep my rich temple.’

(ll. 502-523) So said Apollo. And they readily harkened to him and
obeyed him. First they unfastened the sheets and let down the sail and
lowered the mast by the forestays upon the mast-rest. Then, landing upon
the beach of the sea, they hauled up the ship from the water to dry land and
fixed long stays under it. Also they made an altar upon the beach of the sea,
and when they had lit a fire, made an offering of white meal, and prayed
standing around the altar as Apollo had bidden them. Then they took their
meal by the swift, black ship, and poured an offering to the blessed gods
who dwell on Olympus. And when they had put away craving for drink and
food, they started out with the lord Apollo, the son of Zeus, to lead them,
holding a lyre in his hands, and playing sweetly as he stepped high and
featly. So the Cretans followed him to Pytho, marching in time as they
chanted the Ie Paean after the manner of the Cretan paean-singers and of
those in whose hearts the heavenly Muse has put sweet-voiced song. With
tireless feet they approached the ridge and straightway came to Parnassus
and the lovely place where they were to dwell honoured by many men.
There Apollo brought them and showed them his most holy sanctuary and
rich temple.
(ll. 524-525) But their spirit was stirred in their dear breasts, and the
master of the Cretans asked him, saying:
(ll. 526-530) ‘Lord, since you have brought us here far from our dear
ones and our fatherland,—for so it seemed good to your heart,—tell us now
how we shall live. That we would know of you. This land is not to be
desired either for vineyards or for pastures so that we can live well thereon
and also minister to men.’
(ll. 531-544) Then Apollo, the son of Zeus, smiled upon them and said:
‘Foolish mortals and poor drudges are you, that you seek cares and hard
toils and straits! Easily will I tell you a word and set it in your hearts.
Though each one of you with knife in hand should slaughter sheep
continually, yet would you always have abundant store, even all that the
glorious tribes of men bring here for me. But guard you my temple and
receive the tribes of men that gather to this place, and especially show
mortal men my will, and do you keep righteousness in your heart. But if
any shall be disobedient and pay no heed to my warning, or if there shall be
any idle word or deed and outrage as is common among mortal men, then

other men shall be your masters and with a strong hand shall make you
subject for ever. All has been told you: do you keep it in your heart.’
(ll. 545-546) And so, farewell, son of Zeus and Leto; but I will remember
you and another hymn also.

IV. TO HERMES
(ll. 1-29) Muse, sing of Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, lord of
Cyllene and Arcadia rich in flocks, the luck-bringing messenger of the
immortals whom Maia bare, the rich-tressed nymph, when she was joined
in love with Zeus,—a shy goddess, for she avoided the company of the
blessed gods, and lived within a deep, shady cave. There the son of Cronos
used to lie with the rich-tressed nymph, unseen by deathless gods and
mortal men, at dead of night while sweet sleep should hold white-armed
Hera fast. And when the purpose of great Zeus was fixed in heaven, she was
delivered and a notable thing was come to pass. For then she bare a son, of
many shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams,
a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth
wonderful deeds among the deathless gods. Born with the dawning, at mid-
day he played on the lyre, and in the evening he stole the cattle of far-
shooting Apollo on the fourth day of the month; for on that day queenly
Maia bare him. So soon as he had leaped from his mother’s heavenly
womb, he lay not long waiting in his holy cradle, but he sprang up and
sought the oxen of Apollo. But as he stepped over the threshold of the high-
roofed cave, he found a tortoise there and gained endless delight. For it was
Hermes who first made the tortoise a singer. The creature fell in his way at
the courtyard gate, where it was feeding on the rich grass before the
dwelling, waddling along. When he saw it, the luck-bringing son of Zeus
laughed and said:
(ll. 30-38) ‘An omen of great luck for me so soon! I do not slight it. Hail,
comrade of the feast, lovely in shape, sounding at the dance! With joy I
meet you! Where got you that rich gaud for covering, that spangled shell—a
tortoise living in the mountains? But I will take and carry you within: you
shall help me and I will do you no disgrace, though first of all you must
profit me. It is better to be at home: harm may come out of doors. Living,
you shall be a spell against mischievous witchcraft 2513; but if you die, then
you shall make sweetest song.

(ll. 39-61) Thus speaking, he took up the tortoise in both hands and went
back into the house carrying his charming toy. Then he cut off its limbs and
scooped out the marrow of the mountain-tortoise with a scoop of grey iron.
As a swift thought darts through the heart of a man when thronging cares
haunt him, or as bright glances flash from the eye, so glorious Hermes
planned both thought and deed at once. He cut stalks of reed to measure and
fixed them, fastening their ends across the back and through the shell of the
tortoise, and then stretched ox hide all over it by his skill. Also he put in the
horns and fitted a cross-piece upon the two of them, and stretched seven
strings of sheep-gut. But when he had made it he proved each string in turn
with the key, as he held the lovely thing. At the touch of his hand it sounded
marvellously; and, as he tried it, the god sang sweet random snatches, even
as youths bandy taunts at festivals. He sang of Zeus the son of Cronos and
neat-shod Maia, the converse which they had before in the comradeship of
love, telling all the glorious tale of his own begetting. He celebrated, too,
the handmaids of the nymph, and her bright home, and the tripods all about
the house, and the abundant cauldrons.
(ll. 62-67) But while he was singing of all these, his heart was bent on
other matters. And he took the hollow lyre and laid it in his sacred cradle,
and sprang from the sweet-smelling hall to a watch-place, pondering sheer
trickery in his heart—deeds such as knavish folk pursue in the dark night-
time; for he longed to taste flesh.
(ll. 68-86) The Sun was going down beneath the earth towards Ocean
with his horses and chariot when Hermes came hurrying to the shadowy
mountains of Pieria, where the divine cattle of the blessed gods had their
steads and grazed the pleasant, unmown meadows. Of these the Son of
Maia, the sharp-eyed slayer of Argus then cut off from the herd fifty loud-
lowing kine, and drove them straggling-wise across a sandy place, turning
their hoof-prints aside. Also, he bethought him of a crafty ruse and reversed
the marks of their hoofs, making the front behind and the hind before, while
he himself walked the other way 2514. Then he wove sandals with wicker-
work by the sand of the sea, wonderful things, unthought of, unimagined;
for he mixed together tamarisk and myrtle-twigs, fastening together an
armful of their fresh, young wood, and tied them, leaves and all securely
under his feet as light sandals. The brushwood the glorious Slayer of Argus
plucked in Pieria as he was preparing for his journey, making shift 2515 as
one making haste for a long journey.

(ll. 87-89) But an old man tilling his flowering vineyard saw him as he
was hurrying down the plain through grassy Onchestus. So the Son of Maia
began and said to him:
(ll. 90-93) ‘Old man, digging about your vines with bowed shoulders,
surely you shall have much wine when all these bear fruit, if you obey me
and strictly remember not to have seen what you have seen, and not to have
heard what you have heard, and to keep silent when nothing of your own is
harmed.’
(ll. 94-114) When he had said this much, he hurried the strong cattle on
together: through many shadowy mountains and echoing gorges and
flowery plains glorious Hermes drove them. And now the divine night, his
dark ally, was mostly passed, and dawn that sets folk to work was quickly
coming on, while bright Selene, daughter of the lord Pallas, Megamedes’
son, had just climbed her watch-post, when the strong Son of Zeus drove
the wide-browed cattle of Phoebus Apollo to the river Alpheus. And they
came unwearied to the high-roofed byres and the drinking-troughs that were
before the noble meadow. Then, after he had well-fed the loud-bellowing
cattle with fodder and driven them into the byre, close-packed and chewing
lotus and began to seek the art of fire.
He chose a stout laurel branch and trimmed it with the knife....
((LACUNA)) 2516 ....held firmly in his hand: and the hot smoke rose up. For
it was Hermes who first invented fire-sticks and fire. Next he took many
dried sticks and piled them thick and plenty in a sunken trench: and flame
began to glow, spreading afar the blast of fierce-burning fire.
(ll. 115-137) And while the strength of glorious Hephaestus was
beginning to kindle the fire, he dragged out two lowing, horned cows close
to the fire; for great strength was with him. He threw them both panting
upon their backs on the ground, and rolled them on their sides, bending
their necks over 2517, and pierced their vital chord. Then he went on from
task to task: first he cut up the rich, fatted meat, and pierced it with wooden
spits, and roasted flesh and the honourable chine and the paunch full of dark
blood all together. He laid them there upon the ground, and spread out the
hides on a rugged rock: and so they are still there many ages afterwards, a
long, long time after all this, and are continually 2518. Next glad-hearted
Hermes dragged the rich meats he had prepared and put them on a smooth,
flat stone, and divided them into twelve portions distributed by lot, making

each portion wholly honourable. Then glorious Hermes longed for the
sacrificial meat, for the sweet savour wearied him, god though he was;
nevertheless his proud heart was not prevailed upon to devour the flesh,
although he greatly desired 2519. But he put away the fat and all the flesh in
the high-roofed byre, placing them high up to be a token of his youthful
theft. And after that he gathered dry sticks and utterly destroyed with fire all
the hoofs and all the heads.
(ll. 138-154) And when the god had duly finished all, he threw his
sandals into deep-eddying Alpheus, and quenched the embers, covering the
black ashes with sand, and so spent the night while Selene’s soft light shone
down. Then the god went straight back again at dawn to the bright crests of
Cyllene, and no one met him on the long journey either of the blessed gods
or mortal men, nor did any dog bark. And luck-bringing Hermes, the son of
Zeus, passed edgeways through the key-hole of the hall like the autumn
breeze, even as mist: straight through the cave he went and came to the rich
inner chamber, walking softly, and making no noise as one might upon the
floor. Then glorious Hermes went hurriedly to his cradle, wrapping his
swaddling clothes about his shoulders as though he were a feeble babe, and
lay playing with the covering about his knees; but at his left hand he kept
close his sweet lyre.
(ll. 155-161) But the god did not pass unseen by the goddess his mother;
but she said to him: ‘How now, you rogue! Whence come you back so at
night-time, you that wear shamelessness as a garment? And now I surely
believe the son of Leto will soon have you forth out of doors with
unbreakable cords about your ribs, or you will live a rogue’s life in the
glens robbing by whiles. Go to, then; your father got you to be a great
worry to mortal men and deathless gods.’
(ll. 162-181) Then Hermes answered her with crafty words: ‘Mother,
why do you seek to frighten me like a feeble child whose heart knows few
words of blame, a fearful babe that fears its mother’s scolding? Nay, but I
will try whatever plan is best, and so feed myself and you continually. We
will not be content to remain here, as you bid, alone of all the gods unfee’d
with offerings and prayers. Better to live in fellowship with the deathless
gods continually, rich, wealthy, and enjoying stories of grain, than to sit
always in a gloomy cave: and, as regards honour, I too will enter upon the
rite that Apollo has. If my father will not give it to me, I will seek—and I

am able—to be a prince of robbers. And if Leto’s most glorious son shall
seek me out, I think another and a greater loss will befall him. For I will go
to Pytho to break into his great house, and will plunder therefrom splendid
tripods, and cauldrons, and gold, and plenty of bright iron, and much
apparel; and you shall see it if you will.’
(ll. 182-189) With such words they spoke together, the son of Zeus who
holds the aegis, and the lady Maia. Now Eros the early born was rising from
deep-flowing Ocean, bringing light to men, when Apollo, as he went, came
to Onchestus, the lovely grove and sacred place of the loud-roaring Holder
of the Earth. There he found an old man grazing his beast along the
pathway from his court-yard fence, and the all-glorious Son of Leto began
and said to him.
(ll. 190-200) ‘Old man, weeder 2520 of grassy Onchestus, I am come here
from Pieria seeking cattle, cows all of them, all with curving horns, from
my herd. The black bull was grazing alone away from the rest, but fierce-
eyed hounds followed the cows, four of them, all of one mind, like men.
These were left behind, the dogs and the bull—which is great marvel; but
the cows strayed out of the soft meadow, away from the pasture when the
sun was just going down. Now tell me this, old man born long ago: have
you seen one passing along behind those cows?’
(ll. 201-211) Then the old man answered him and said: ‘My son, it is
hard to tell all that one’s eyes see; for many wayfarers pass to and fro this
way, some bent on much evil, and some on good: it is difficult to know each
one. However, I was digging about my plot of vineyard all day long until
the sun went down, and I thought, good sir, but I do not know for certain,
that I marked a child, whoever the child was, that followed long-horned
cattle—an infant who had a staff and kept walking from side to side: he was
driving them backwards way, with their heads toward him.’
(ll. 212-218) So said the old man. And when Apollo heard this report, he
went yet more quickly on his way, and presently, seeing a long-winged bird,
he knew at once by that omen that thief was the child of Zeus the son of
Cronos. So the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, hurried on to goodly Pylos seeking
his shambling oxen, and he had his broad shoulders covered with a dark
cloud. But when the Far-Shooter perceived the tracks, he cried:
(ll. 219-226) ‘Oh, oh! Truly this is a great marvel that my eyes behold!
These are indeed the tracks of straight-horned oxen, but they are turned

backwards towards the flowery meadow. But these others are not the
footprints of man or woman or grey wolves or bears or lions, nor do I think
they are the tracks of a rough-maned Centaur—whoever it be that with
swift feet makes such monstrous footprints; wonderful are the tracks on this
side of the way, but yet more wonderfully are those on that.’
(ll. 227-234) When he had so said, the lord Apollo, the Son of Zeus
hastened on and came to the forest-clad mountain of Cyllene and the deep-
shadowed cave in the rock where the divine nymph brought forth the child
of Zeus who is the son of Cronos. A sweet odour spread over the lovely hill,
and many thin-shanked sheep were grazing on the grass. Then far-shooting
Apollo himself stepped down in haste over the stone threshold into the
dusky cave.
(ll. 235-253) Now when the Son of Zeus and Maia saw Apollo in a rage
about his cattle, he snuggled down in his fragrant swaddling-clothes; and as
wood-ash covers over the deep embers of tree-stumps, so Hermes cuddled
himself up when he saw the Far-Shooter. He squeezed head and hands and
feet together in a small space, like a new born child seeking sweet sleep,
though in truth he was wide awake, and he kept his lyre under his armpit.
But the Son of Leto was aware and failed not to perceive the beautiful
mountain-nymph and her dear son, albeit a little child and swathed so
craftily. He peered in every corner of the great dwelling and, taking a bright
key, he opened three closets full of nectar and lovely ambrosia. And much
gold and silver was stored in them, and many garments of the nymph, some
purple and some silvery white, such as are kept in the sacred houses of the
blessed gods. Then, after the Son of Leto had searched out the recesses of
the great house, he spake to glorious Hermes:
(ll. 254-259) ‘Child, lying in the cradle, make haste and tell me of my
cattle, or we two will soon fall out angrily. For I will take and cast you into
dusty Tartarus and awful hopeless darkness, and neither your mother nor
your father shall free you or bring you up again to the light, but you will
wander under the earth and be the leader amongst little folk.’ 2521
(ll. 260-277) Then Hermes answered him with crafty words: ‘Son of
Leto, what harsh words are these you have spoken? And is it cattle of the
field you are come here to seek? I have not seen them: I have not heard of
them: no one has told me of them. I cannot give news of them, nor win the
reward for news. Am I like a cattle-lifter, a stalwart person? This is no task

for me: rather I care for other things: I care for sleep, and milk of my
mother’s breast, and wrappings round my shoulders, and warm baths. Let
no one hear the cause of this dispute; for this would be a great marvel
indeed among the deathless gods, that a child newly born should pass in
through the forepart of the house with cattle of the field: herein you speak
extravagantly. I was born yesterday, and my feet are soft and the ground
beneath is rough; nevertheless, if you will have it so, I will swear a great
oath by my father’s head and vow that neither am I guilty myself, neither
have I seen any other who stole your cows—whatever cows may be; for I
know them only by hearsay.’
(ll. 278-280) So, then, said Hermes, shooting quick glances from his
eyes: and he kept raising his brows and looking this way and that, whistling
long and listening to Apollo’s story as to an idle tale.
(ll. 281-292) But far-working Apollo laughed softly and said to him: ‘O
rogue, deceiver, crafty in heart, you talk so innocently that I most surely
believe that you have broken into many a well-built house and stripped
more than one poor wretch bare this night 2522, gathering his goods together
all over the house without noise. You will plague many a lonely herdsman
in mountain glades, when you come on herds and thick-fleeced sheep, and
have a hankering after flesh. But come now, if you would not sleep your
last and latest sleep, get out of your cradle, you comrade of dark night.
Surely hereafter this shall be your title amongst the deathless gods, to be
called the prince of robbers continually.’
(ll. 293-300) So said Phoebus Apollo, and took the child and began to
carry him. But at that moment the strong Slayer of Argus had his plan, and,
while Apollo held him in his hands, sent forth an omen, a hard-worked
belly-serf, a rude messenger, and sneezed directly after. And when Apollo
heard it, he dropped glorious Hermes out of his hands on the ground: then
sitting down before him, though he was eager to go on his way, he spoke
mockingly to Hermes:
(ll. 301-303) ‘Fear not, little swaddling baby, son of Zeus and Maia. I
shall find the strong cattle presently by these omens, and you shall lead the
way.’
(ll. 304-306) When Apollo had so said, Cyllenian Hermes sprang up
quickly, starting in haste. With both hands he pushed up to his ears the
covering that he had wrapped about his shoulders, and said:

(ll. 307-312) ‘Where are you carrying me, Far-Worker, hastiest of all the
gods? Is it because of your cattle that you are so angry and harass me? O
dear, would that all the sort of oxen might perish; for it is not I who stole
your cows, nor did I see another steal them—whatever cows may be, and of
that I have only heard report. Nay, give right and take it before Zeus, the
Son of Cronos.’
(ll. 313-326) So Hermes the shepherd and Leto’s glorious son kept
stubbornly disputing each article of their quarrel: Apollo, speaking truly....
((LACUNA)) ....not fairly sought to seize glorious Hermes because of the
cows; but he, the Cyllenian, tried to deceive the God of the Silver Bow with
tricks and cunning words. But when, though he had many wiles, he found
the other had as many shifts, he began to walk across the sand, himself in
front, while the Son of Zeus and Leto came behind. Soon they came, these
lovely children of Zeus, to the top of fragrant Olympus, to their father, the
Son of Cronos; for there were the scales of judgement set for them both.
There was an assembly on snowy Olympus, and the immortals who
perish not were gathering after the hour of gold-throned Dawn.
(ll. 327-329) Then Hermes and Apollo of the Silver Bow stood at the
knees of Zeus: and Zeus who thunders on high spoke to his glorious son
and asked him:
(ll. 330-332) ‘Phoebus, whence come you driving this great spoil, a child
new born that has the look of a herald? This is a weighty matter that is come
before the council of the gods.’
(ll. 333-364) Then the lord, far-working Apollo, answered him: ‘O my
father, you shall soon hear no trifling tale though you reproach me that I
alone am fond of spoil. Here is a child, a burgling robber, whom I found
after a long journey in the hills of Cyllene: for my part I have never seen
one so pert either among the gods or all men that catch folk unawares
throughout the world. He stole away my cows from their meadow and
drove them off in the evening along the shore of the loud-roaring sea,
making straight for Pylos. There were double tracks, and wonderful they
were, such as one might marvel at, the doing of a clever sprite; for as for the
cows, the dark dust kept and showed their footprints leading towards the
flowery meadow; but he himself—bewildering creature—crossed the sandy
ground outside the path, not on his feet nor yet on his hands; but, furnished
with some other means he trudged his way—wonder of wonders!—as

though one walked on slender oak-trees. Now while he followed the cattle
across sandy ground, all the tracks showed quite clearly in the dust; but
when he had finished the long way across the sand, presently the cows’
track and his own could not be traced over the hard ground. But a mortal
man noticed him as he drove the wide-browed kine straight towards Pylos.
And as soon as he had shut them up quietly, and had gone home by crafty
turns and twists, he lay down in his cradle in the gloom of a dim cave, as
still as dark night, so that not even an eagle keenly gazing would have spied
him. Much he rubbed his eyes with his hands as he prepared falsehood, and
himself straightway said roundly: “I have not seen them: I have not heard of
them: no man has told me of them. I could not tell you of them, nor win the
reward of telling.”’
(ll. 365-367) When he had so spoken, Phoebus Apollo sat down. But
Hermes on his part answered and said, pointing at the Son of Cronos, the
lord of all the gods:
(ll. 368-386) ‘Zeus, my father, indeed I will speak truth to you; for I am
truthful and I cannot tell a lie. He came to our house to-day looking for his
shambling cows, as the sun was newly rising. He brought no witnesses with
him nor any of the blessed gods who had seen the theft, but with great
violence ordered me to confess, threatening much to throw me into wide
Tartarus. For he has the rich bloom of glorious youth, while I was born but
yesterday—as he too knows—nor am I like a cattle-lifter, a sturdy fellow.
Believe my tale (for you claim to be my own father), that I did not drive his
cows to my house—so may I prosper—nor crossed the threshold: this I say
truly. I reverence Helios greatly and the other gods, and you I love and him
I dread. You yourself know that I am not guilty: and I will swear a great
oath upon it:—No! by these rich-decked porticoes of the gods. And some
day I will punish him, strong as he is, for this pitiless inquisition; but now
do you help the younger.’
(ll. 387-396) So spake the Cyllenian, the Slayer of Argus, while he kept
shooting sidelong glances and kept his swaddling-clothes upon his arm, and
did not cast them away. But Zeus laughed out loud to see his evil-plotting
child well and cunningly denying guilt about the cattle. And he bade them
both to be of one mind and search for the cattle, and guiding Hermes to lead
the way and, without mischievousness of heart, to show the place where
now he had hidden the strong cattle. Then the Son of Cronos bowed his

head: and goodly Hermes obeyed him; for the will of Zeus who holds the
aegis easily prevailed with him.
(ll. 397-404) Then the two all-glorious children of Zeus hastened both to
sandy Pylos, and reached the ford of Alpheus, and came to the fields and
the high-roofed byre where the beasts were cherished at night-time. Now
while Hermes went to the cave in the rock and began to drive out the strong
cattle, the son of Leto, looking aside, saw the cowhides on the sheer rock.
And he asked glorious Hermes at once:
(ll. 405-408) ‘How were you able, you crafty rogue, to flay two cows,
new-born and babyish as you are? For my part, I dread the strength that will
be yours: there is no need you should keep growing long, Cyllenian, son of
Maia!’
(ll. 409-414) So saying, Apollo twisted strong withes with his hands
meaning to bind Hermes with firm bands; but the bands would not hold
him, and the withes of osier fell far from him and began to grow at once
from the ground beneath their feet in that very place. And intertwining with
one another, they quickly grew and covered all the wild-roving cattle by the
will of thievish Hermes, so that Apollo was astonished as he gazed.
(ll. 414-435) Then the strong slayer of Argus looked furtively upon the
ground with eyes flashing fire.... desiring to hide.... ((LACUNA)) ....Very
easily he softened the son of all-glorious Leto as he would, stern though the
Far-shooter was. He took the lyre upon his left arm and tried each string in
turn with the key, so that it sounded awesomely at his touch. And Phoebus
Apollo laughed for joy; for the sweet throb of the marvellous music went to
his heart, and a soft longing took hold on his soul as he listened. Then the
son of Maia, harping sweetly upon his lyre, took courage and stood at the
left hand of Phoebus Apollo; and soon, while he played shrilly on his lyre,
he lifted up his voice and sang, and lovely was the sound of his voice that
followed. He sang the story of the deathless gods and of the dark earth, how
at the first they came to be, and how each one received his portion. First
among the gods he honoured Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses, in his
song; for the son of Maia was of her following. And next the goodly son of
Zeus hymned the rest of the immortals according to their order in age, and
told how each was born, mentioning all in order as he struck the lyre upon
his arm. But Apollo was seized with a longing not to be allayed, and he
opened his mouth and spoke winged words to Hermes:

(ll. 436-462) ‘Slayer of oxen, trickster, busy one, comrade of the feast,
this song of yours is worth fifty cows, and I believe that presently we shall
settle our quarrel peacefully. But come now, tell me this, resourceful son of
Maia: has this marvellous thing been with you from your birth, or did some
god or mortal man give it you—a noble gift—and teach you heavenly song?
For wonderful is this new-uttered sound I hear, the like of which I vow that
no man nor god dwelling on Olympus ever yet has known but you, O
thievish son of Maia. What skill is this? What song for desperate cares?
What way of song? For verily here are three things to hand all at once from
which to choose,—mirth, and love, and sweet sleep. And though I am a
follower of the Olympian Muses who love dances and the bright path of
song—the full-toned chant and ravishing thrill of flutes—yet I never cared
for any of those feats of skill at young men’s revels, as I do now for this: I
am filled with wonder, O son of Zeus, at your sweet playing. But now, since
you, though little, have such glorious skill, sit down, dear boy, and respect
the words of your elders. For now you shall have renown among the
deathless gods, you and your mother also. This I will declare to you exactly:
by this shaft of cornel wood I will surely make you a leader renowned
among the deathless gods, and fortunate, and will give you glorious gifts
and will not deceive you from first to last.’
(ll. 463-495) Then Hermes answered him with artful words: ‘You
question me carefully, O Far-worker; yet I am not jealous that you should
enter upon my art: this day you shall know it. For I seek to be friendly with
you both in thought and word. Now you well know all things in your heart,
since you sit foremost among the deathless gods, O son of Zeus, and are
goodly and strong. And wise Zeus loves you as all right is, and has given
you splendid gifts. And they say that from the utterance of Zeus you have
learned both the honours due to the gods, O Far-worker, and oracles from
Zeus, even all his ordinances. Of all these I myself have already learned that
you have great wealth. Now, you are free to learn whatever you please; but
since, as it seems, your heart is so strongly set on playing the lyre, chant,
and play upon it, and give yourself to merriment, taking this as a gift from
me, and do you, my friend, bestow glory on me. Sing well with this clear-
voiced companion in your hands; for you are skilled in good, well-ordered
utterance. From now on bring it confidently to the rich feast and lovely
dance and glorious revel, a joy by night and by day. Whoso with wit and
wisdom enquires of it cunningly, him it teaches through its sound all

manner of things that delight the mind, being easily played with gentle
familiarities, for it abhors toilsome drudgery; but whoso in ignorance
enquires of it violently, to him it chatters mere vanity and foolishness. But
you are able to learn whatever you please. So then, I will give you this lyre,
glorious son of Zeus, while I for my part will graze down with wild-roving
cattle the pastures on hill and horse-feeding plain: so shall the cows covered
by the bulls calve abundantly both males and females. And now there is no
need for you, bargainer though you are, to be furiously angry.’
(ll. 496-502) When Hermes had said this, he held out the lyre: and
Phoebus Apollo took it, and readily put his shining whip in Hermes’ hand,
and ordained him keeper of herds. The son of Maia received it joyfully,
while the glorious son of Leto, the lord far-working Apollo, took the lyre
upon his left arm and tried each string with the key. Awesomely it sounded
at the touch of the god, while he sang sweetly to its note.
(ll. 503-512) Afterwards they two, the all-glorious sons of Zeus turned
the cows back towards the sacred meadow, but themselves hastened back to
snowy Olympus, delighting in the lyre. Then wise Zeus was glad and made
them both friends. And Hermes loved the son of Leto continually, even as
he does now, when he had given the lyre as token to the Far-shooter, who
played it skilfully, holding it upon his arm. But for himself Hermes found
out another cunning art and made himself the pipes whose sound is heard
afar.
(ll. 513-520) Then the son of Leto said to Hermes: ‘Son of Maia, guide
and cunning one, I fear you may steal form me the lyre and my curved bow
together; for you have an office from Zeus, to establish deeds of barter
amongst men throughout the fruitful earth. Now if you would only swear
me the great oath of the gods, either by nodding your head, or by the potent
water of Styx, you would do all that can please and ease my heart.’
(ll. 521-549) Then Maia’s son nodded his head and promised that he
would never steal anything of all the Far-shooter possessed, and would
never go near his strong house; but Apollo, son of Leto, swore to be fellow
and friend to Hermes, vowing that he would love no other among the
immortals, neither god nor man sprung from Zeus, better than Hermes: and
the Father sent forth an eagle in confirmation. And Apollo sware also:
‘Verily I will make you only to be an omen for the immortals and all alike,
trusted and honoured by my heart. Moreover, I will give you a splendid

staff of riches and wealth: it is of gold, with three branches, and will keep
you scatheless, accomplishing every task, whether of words or deeds that
are good, which I claim to know through the utterance of Zeus. But as for
sooth-saying, noble, heaven-born child, of which you ask, it is not lawful
for you to learn it, nor for any other of the deathless gods: only the mind of
Zeus knows that. I am pledged and have vowed and sworn a strong oath
that no other of the eternal gods save I should know the wise-hearted
counsel of Zeus. And do not you, my brother, bearer of the golden wand,
bid me tell those decrees which all-seeing Zeus intends. As for men, I will
harm one and profit another, sorely perplexing the tribes of unenviable men.
Whosoever shall come guided by the call and flight of birds of sure omen,
that man shall have advantage through my voice, and I will not deceive
him. But whoso shall trust to idly-chattering birds and shall seek to invoke
my prophetic art contrary to my will, and to understand more than the
eternal gods, I declare that he shall come on an idle journey; yet his gifts I
would take.
(ll. 550-568) ‘But I will tell you another thing, Son of all-glorious Maia
and Zeus who holds the aegis, luck-bringing genius of the gods. There are
certain holy ones, sisters born—three virgins 2523 gifted with wings: their
heads are besprinkled with white meal, and they dwell under a ridge of
Parnassus. These are teachers of divination apart from me, the art which I
practised while yet a boy following herds, though my father paid no heed to
it. From their home they fly now here, now there, feeding on honey-comb
and bringing all things to pass. And when they are inspired through eating
yellow honey, they are willing to speak truth; but if they be deprived of the
gods’ sweet food, then they speak falsely, as they swarm in and out together.
These, then, I give you; enquire of them strictly and delight your heart: and
if you should teach any mortal so to do, often will he hear your response—
if he have good fortune. Take these, Son of Maia, and tend the wild roving,
horned oxen and horses and patient mules.’
(ll. 568a-573) So he spake. And from heaven father Zeus himself gave
confirmation to his words, and commanded that glorious Hermes should be
lord over all birds of omen and grim-eyed lions, and boars with gleaming
tusks, and over dogs and all flocks that the wide earth nourishes, and over
all sheep; also that he only should be the appointed messenger to Hades,
who, though he takes no gift, shall give him no mean prize.

(ll. 574-578) Thus the lord Apollo showed his kindness for the Son of
Maia by all manner of friendship: and the Son of Cronos gave him grace
besides. He consorts with all mortals and immortals: a little he profits, but
continually throughout the dark night he cozens the tribes of mortal men.
(ll. 579-580) And so, farewell, Son of Zeus and Maia; but I will
remember you and another song also.

V. TO APHRODITE
(ll. 1-6) Muse, tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite the Cyprian, who
stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and
birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land rears, and all
the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned Cytherea.
(ll. 7-32) Yet there are three hearts that she cannot bend nor yet ensnare.
First is the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis, bright-eyed Athene; for
she has no pleasure in the deeds of golden Aphrodite, but delights in wars
and in the work of Ares, in strifes and battles and in preparing famous
crafts. She first taught earthly craftsmen to make chariots of war and cars
variously wrought with bronze, and she, too, teaches tender maidens in the
house and puts knowledge of goodly arts in each one’s mind. Nor does
laughter-loving Aphrodite ever tame in love Artemis, the huntress with
shafts of gold; for she loves archery and the slaying of wild beasts in the
mountains, the lyre also and dancing and thrilling cries and shady woods
and the cities of upright men. Nor yet does the pure maiden Hestia love
Aphrodite’s works. She was the first-born child of wily Cronos and
youngest too 2524, by will of Zeus who holds the aegis,—a queenly maid
whom both Poseidon and Apollo sought to wed. But she was wholly
unwilling, nay, stubbornly refused; and touching the head of father Zeus
who holds the aegis, she, that fair goddess, sware a great oath which has in
truth been fulfilled, that she would be a maiden all her days. So Zeus the
Father gave her an high honour instead of marriage, and she has her place in
the midst of the house and has the richest portion. In all the temples of the
gods she has a share of honour, and among all mortal men she is chief of the
goddesses.
(ll. 33-44) Of these three Aphrodite cannot bend or ensnare the hearts.
But of all others there is nothing among the blessed gods or among mortal
men that has escaped Aphrodite. Even the heart of Zeus, who delights in
thunder, is led astray by her; though he is greatest of all and has the lot of
highest majesty, she beguiles even his wise heart whensoever she pleases,
and mates him with mortal women, unknown to Hera, his sister and his

wife, the grandest far in beauty among the deathless goddesses—most
glorious is she whom wily Cronos with her mother Rhea did beget: and
Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, made her his chaste and careful wife.
(ll. 45-52) But upon Aphrodite herself Zeus cast sweet desire to be joined
in love with a mortal man, to the end that, very soon, not even she should be
innocent of a mortal’s love; lest laughter-loving Aphrodite should one day
softly smile and say mockingly among all the gods that she had joined the
gods in love with mortal women who bare sons of death to the deathless
gods, and had mated the goddesses with mortal men.
(ll. 53-74) And so he put in her heart sweet desire for Anchises who was
tending cattle at that time among the steep hills of many-fountained Ida, and
in shape was like the immortal gods. Therefore, when laughter-loving
Aphrodite saw him, she loved him, and terribly desire seized her in her
heart. She went to Cyprus, to Paphos, where her precinct is and fragrant
altar, and passed into her sweet-smelling temple. There she went in and put
to the glittering doors, and there the Graces bathed her with heavenly oil
such as blooms upon the bodies of the eternal gods—oil divinely sweet,
which she had by her, filled with fragrance. And laughter-loving Aphrodite
put on all her rich clothes, and when she had decked herself with gold, she
left sweet-smelling Cyprus and went in haste towards Troy, swiftly
travelling high up among the clouds. So she came to many-fountained Ida,
the mother of wild creatures and went straight to the homestead across the
mountains. After her came grey wolves, fawning on her, and grim-eyed
lions, and bears, and fleet leopards, ravenous for deer: and she was glad in
heart to see them, and put desire in their breasts, so that they all mated, two
together, about the shadowy coombes.
(ll. 75-88) 2525 But she herself came to the neat-built shelters, and him
she found left quite alone in the homestead—the hero Anchises who was
comely as the gods. All the others were following the herds over the grassy
pastures, and he, left quite alone in the homestead, was roaming hither and
thither and playing thrillingly upon the lyre. And Aphrodite, the daughter of
Zeus stood before him, being like a pure maiden in height and mien, that he
should not be frightened when he took heed of her with his eyes. Now when
Anchises saw her, he marked her well and wondered at her mien and height
and shining garments. For she was clad in a robe out-shining the brightness

of fire, a splendid robe of gold, enriched with all manner of needlework,
which shimmered like the moon over her tender breasts, a marvel to see.
Also she wore twisted brooches and shining earrings in the form of
flowers; and round her soft throat were lovely necklaces.
(ll. 91-105) And Anchises was seized with love, and said to her: ‘Hail,
lady, whoever of the blessed ones you are that are come to this house,
whether Artemis, or Leto, or golden Aphrodite, or high-born Themis, or
bright-eyed Athene. Or, maybe, you are one of the Graces come hither, who
bear the gods company and are called immortal, or else one of those who
inhabit this lovely mountain and the springs of rivers and grassy meads. I
will make you an altar upon a high peak in a far seen place, and will
sacrifice rich offerings to you at all seasons. And do you feel kindly towards
me and grant that I may become a man very eminent among the Trojans,
and give me strong offspring for the time to come. As for my own self, let
me live long and happily, seeing the light of the sun, and come to the
threshold of old age, a man prosperous among the people.’
(ll. 106-142) Thereupon Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:
‘Anchises, most glorious of all men born on earth, know that I am no
goddess: why do you liken me to the deathless ones? Nay, I am but a
mortal, and a woman was the mother that bare me. Otreus of famous name
is my father, if so be you have heard of him, and he reigns over all Phrygia
rich in fortresses. But I know your speech well beside my own, for a Trojan
nurse brought me up at home: she took me from my dear mother and reared
me thenceforth when I was a little child. So comes it, then, that I well know
your tongue also. And now the Slayer of Argus with the golden wand has
caught me up from the dance of huntress Artemis, her with the golden
arrows. For there were many of us, nymphs and marriageable 2526 maidens,
playing together; and an innumerable company encircled us: from these the
Slayer of Argus with the golden wand rapt me away. He carried me over
many fields of mortal men and over much land untilled and unpossessed,
where savage wild-beasts roam through shady coombes, until I thought
never again to touch the life-giving earth with my feet. And he said that I
should be called the wedded wife of Anchises, and should bear you goodly
children. But when he had told and advised me, he, the strong Slayer of
Argos, went back to the families of the deathless gods, while I am now
come to you: for unbending necessity is upon me. But I beseech you by

Zeus and by your noble parents—for no base folk could get such a son as
you—take me now, stainless and unproved in love, and show me to your
father and careful mother and to your brothers sprung from the same stock.
I shall be no ill-liking daughter for them, but a likely. Moreover, send a
messenger quickly to the swift-horsed Phrygians, to tell my father and my
sorrowing mother; and they will send you gold in plenty and woven stuffs,
many splendid gifts; take these as bride-piece. So do, and then prepare the
sweet marriage that is honourable in the eyes of men and deathless gods.’
(ll. 143-144) When she had so spoken, the goddess put sweet desire in his
heart. And Anchises was seized with love, so that he opened his mouth and
said:
(ll. 145-154) ‘If you are a mortal and a woman was the mother who bare
you, and Otreus of famous name is your father as you say, and if you are
come here by the will of Hermes the immortal Guide, and are to be called
my wife always, then neither god nor mortal man shall here restrain me till I
have lain with you in love right now; no, not even if far-shooting Apollo
himself should launch grievous shafts from his silver bow. Willingly would
I go down into the house of Hades, O lady, beautiful as the goddesses, once
I had gone up to your bed.’
(ll. 155-167) So speaking, he caught her by the hand. And laughter-loving
Aphrodite, with face turned away and lovely eyes downcast, crept to the
well-spread couch which was already laid with soft coverings for the hero;
and upon it lay skins of bears and deep-roaring lions which he himself had
slain in the high mountains. And when they had gone up upon the well-
fitted bed, first Anchises took off her bright jewelry of pins and twisted
brooches and earrings and necklaces, and loosed her girdle and stripped off
her bright garments and laid them down upon a silver-studded seat. Then by
the will of the gods and destiny he lay with her, a mortal man with an
immortal goddess, not clearly knowing what he did.
(ll. 168-176) But at the time when the herdsmen drive their oxen and
hardy sheep back to the fold from the flowery pastures, even then Aphrodite
poured soft sleep upon Anchises, but herself put on her rich raiment. And
when the bright goddess had fully clothed herself, she stood by the couch,
and her head reached to the well-hewn roof-tree; from her cheeks shone
unearthly beauty such as belongs to rich-crowned Cytherea. Then she
aroused him from sleep and opened her mouth and said:

(ll. 177-179) ‘Up, son of Dardanus!—why sleep you so heavily?—and
consider whether I look as I did when first you saw me with your eyes.’
(ll. 180-184) So she spake. And he awoke in a moment and obeyed her.
But when he saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite, he was afraid and
turned his eyes aside another way, hiding his comely face with his cloak.
Then he uttered winged words and entreated her:
(ll. 185-190) ‘So soon as ever I saw you with my eyes, goddess, I knew
that you were divine; but you did not tell me truly. Yet by Zeus who holds
the aegis I beseech you, leave me not to lead a palsied life among men, but
have pity on me; for he who lies with a deathless goddess is no hale man
afterwards.’
(ll. 191-201) Then Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus answered him:
‘Anchises, most glorious of mortal men, take courage and be not too fearful
in your heart. You need fear no harm from me nor from the other blessed
ones, for you are dear to the gods: and you shall have a dear son who shall
reign among the Trojans, and children’s children after him, springing up
continually. His name shall be Aeneas 2527, because I felt awful grief in that
I laid me in the bed of mortal man: yet are those of your race always the
most like to gods of all mortal men in beauty and in stature 2528.
(ll. 202-217) ‘Verily wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes
because of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink for
the gods in the house of Zeus—a wonder to see—honoured by all the
immortals as he draws the red nectar from the golden bowl. But grief that
could not be soothed filled the heart of Tros; for he knew not whither the
heaven-sent whirlwind had caught up his dear son, so that he mourned him
always, unceasingly, until Zeus pitied him and gave him high-stepping
horses such as carry the immortals as recompense for his son. These he
gave him as a gift. And at the command of Zeus, the Guide, the slayer of
Argus, told him all, and how his son would be deathless and unageing, even
as the gods. So when Tros heard these tidings from Zeus, he no longer kept
mourning but rejoiced in his heart and rode joyfully with his storm-footed
horses.
(ll. 218-238) ‘So also golden-throned Eos rapt away Tithonus who was of
your race and like the deathless gods. And she went to ask the dark-clouded
Son of Cronos that he should be deathless and live eternally; and Zeus
bowed his head to her prayer and fulfilled her desire. Too simply was

queenly Eos: she thought not in her heart to ask youth for him and to strip
him of the slough of deadly age. So while he enjoyed the sweet flower of
life he lived rapturously with golden-throned Eos, the early-born, by the
streams of Ocean, at the ends of the earth; but when the first grey hairs
began to ripple from his comely head and noble chin, queenly Eos kept
away from his bed, though she cherished him in her house and nourished
him with food and ambrosia and gave him rich clothing. But when
loathsome old age pressed full upon him, and he could not move nor lift his
limbs, this seemed to her in her heart the best counsel: she laid him in a
room and put to the shining doors. There he babbles endlessly, and no more
has strength at all, such as once he had in his supple limbs.
(ll. 239-246) ‘I would not have you be deathless among the deathless
gods and live continually after such sort. Yet if you could live on such as
now you are in look and in form, and be called my husband, sorrow would
not then enfold my careful heart. But, as it is, harsh 2529 old age will soon
enshroud you—ruthless age which stands someday at the side of every man,
deadly, wearying, dreaded even by the gods.
(ll. 247-290) ‘And now because of you I shall have great shame among
the deathless gods henceforth, continually. For until now they feared my
jibes and the wiles by which, or soon or late, I mated all the immortals with
mortal women, making them all subject to my will. But now my mouth
shall no more have this power among the gods; for very great has been my
madness, my miserable and dreadful madness, and I went astray out of my
mind who have gotten a child beneath my girdle, mating with a mortal man.
As for the child, as soon as he sees the light of the sun, the deep-breasted
mountain Nymphs who inhabit this great and holy mountain shall bring him
up. They rank neither with mortals nor with immortals: long indeed do they
live, eating heavenly food and treading the lovely dance among the
immortals, and with them the Sileni and the sharp-eyed Slayer of Argus
mate in the depths of pleasant caves; but at their birth pines or high-topped
oaks spring up with them upon the fruitful earth, beautiful, flourishing trees,
towering high upon the lofty mountains (and men call them holy places of
the immortals, and never mortal lops them with the axe); but when the fate
of death is near at hand, first those lovely trees wither where they stand, and
the bark shrivels away about them, and the twigs fall down, and at last the
life of the Nymph and of the tree leave the light of the sun together. These
Nymphs shall keep my son with them and rear him, and as soon as he is

come to lovely boyhood, the goddesses will bring him here to you and show
you your child. But, that I may tell you all that I have in mind, I will come
here again towards the fifth year and bring you my son. So soon as ever you
have seen him—a scion to delight the eyes—you will rejoice in beholding
him; for he shall be most godlike: then bring him at once to windy Ilion.
And if any mortal man ask you who got your dear son beneath her girdle,
remember to tell him as I bid you: say he is the offspring of one of the
flower-like Nymphs who inhabit this forest-clad hill. But if you tell all and
foolishly boast that you lay with rich-crowned Aphrodite, Zeus will smite
you in his anger with a smoking thunderbolt. Now I have told you all. Take
heed: refrain and name me not, but have regard to the anger of the gods.’
(l. 291) When the goddess had so spoken, she soared up to windy heaven.
(ll. 292-293) Hail, goddess, queen of well-builded Cyprus! With you
have I begun; now I will turn me to another hymn.

VI. TO APHRODITE
(ll. 1-18) I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful,
whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist
breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning
sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.
They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-
wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of
orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her
soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Hours
wear themselves whenever they go to their father’s house to join the lovely
dances of the gods. And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to
the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands.
Each one of them prayed that he might lead her home to be his wedded
wife, so greatly were they amazed at the beauty of violet-crowned Cytherea.
(ll. 19-21) Hail, sweetly-winning, coy-eyed goddess! Grant that I may
gain the victory in this contest, and order you my song. And now I will
remember you and another song also.

VII. TO DIONYSUS
(ll. 1-16) I will tell of Dionysus, the son of glorious Semele, how he
appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the fruitless sea, seeming
like a stripling in the first flush of manhood: his rich, dark hair was waving
about him, and on his strong shoulders he wore a purple robe. Presently
there came swiftly over the sparkling sea Tyrsenian 2530 pirates on a well-
decked ship—a miserable doom led them on. When they saw him they
made signs to one another and sprang out quickly, and seizing him
straightway, put him on board their ship exultingly; for they thought him the
son of heaven-nurtured kings. They sought to bind him with rude bonds, but
the bonds would not hold him, and the withes fell far away from his hands
and feet: and he sat with a smile in his dark eyes. Then the helmsman
understood all and cried out at once to his fellows and said:
(ll. 17-24) ‘Madmen! What god is this whom you have taken and bind,
strong that he is? Not even the well-built ship can carry him. Surely this is
either Zeus or Apollo who has the silver bow, or Poseidon, for he looks not
like mortal men but like the gods who dwell on Olympus. Come, then, let
us set him free upon the dark shore at once: do not lay hands on him, lest he
grow angry and stir up dangerous winds and heavy squalls.’
(ll. 25-31) So said he: but the master chid him with taunting words:
‘Madman, mark the wind and help hoist sail on the ship: catch all the
sheets. As for this fellow we men will see to him: I reckon he is bound for
Egypt or for Cyprus or to the Hyperboreans or further still. But in the end
he will speak out and tell us his friends and all his wealth and his brothers,
now that providence has thrown him in our way.’
(ll. 32-54) When he had said this, he had mast and sail hoisted on the
ship, and the wind filled the sail and the crew hauled taut the sheets on
either side. But soon strange things were seen among them. First of all
sweet, fragrant wine ran streaming throughout all the black ship and a
heavenly smell arose, so that all the seamen were seized with amazement
when they saw it. And all at once a vine spread out both ways along the top
of the sail with many clusters hanging down from it, and a dark ivy-plant

twined about the mast, blossoming with flowers, and with rich berries
growing on it; and all the thole-pins were covered with garlands. When the
pirates saw all this, then at last they bade the helmsman to put the ship to
land. But the god changed into a dreadful lion there on the ship, in the
bows, and roared loudly: amidships also he showed his wonders and created
a shaggy bear which stood up ravening, while on the forepeak was the lion
glaring fiercely with scowling brows. And so the sailors fled into the stern
and crowded bemused about the right-minded helmsman, until suddenly the
lion sprang upon the master and seized him; and when the sailors saw it
they leapt out overboard one and all into the bright sea, escaping from a
miserable fate, and were changed into dolphins. But on the helmsman
Dionysus had mercy and held him back and made him altogether happy,
saying to him:
(ll. 55-57) ‘Take courage, good...; you have found favour with my heart. I
am loud-crying Dionysus whom Cadmus’ daughter Semele bare of union
with Zeus.’
(ll. 58-59) Hail, child of fair-faced Semele! He who forgets you can in no
wise order sweet song.

VIII. TO ARES
(ll. 1-17) Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed,
doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze,
strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of Olympus,
father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious,
leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery
sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether
wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of
heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a
kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able
to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful
impulses of my soul. Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which
provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed
one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace,
avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death.

IX. TO ARTEMIS
(ll. 1-6) Muse, sing of Artemis, sister of the Far-shooter, the virgin who
delights in arrows, who was fostered with Apollo. She waters her horses
from Meles deep in reeds, and swiftly drives her all-golden chariot through
Smyrna to vine-clad Claros where Apollo, god of the silver bow, sits
waiting for the far-shooting goddess who delights in arrows.
(ll. 7-9) And so hail to you, Artemis, in my song and to all goddesses as
well. Of you first I sing and with you I begin; now that I have begun with
you, I will turn to another song.

X. TO APHRODITE
(ll. 1-3) Of Cytherea, born in Cyprus, I will sing. She gives kindly gifts to
men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the brightness that
plays over it.
(ll. 4-6) Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Cyprus;
grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and another song
also.

XI. TO ATHENA
(ll. 1-4) Of Pallas Athene, guardian of the city, I begin to sing. Dread is
she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities and the
shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go out to war
and come back.
(l. 5) Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!

XII. TO HERA
(ll. 1-5) I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the
immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the wife of
loud-thundering Zeus,—the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout
high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder.

XIII. TO DEMETER
(ll. 1-2) I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess, of her and
of her daughter lovely Persephone.
(l. 3) Hail, goddess! Keep this city safe, and govern my song.

XIV. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS
(ll. 1-5) I prithee, clear-voiced Muse, daughter of mighty Zeus, sing of
the mother of all gods and men. She is well-pleased with the sound of
rattles and of timbrels, with the voice of flutes and the outcry of wolves and
bright-eyed lions, with echoing hills and wooded coombes.
(l. 6) And so hail to you in my song and to all goddesses as well!

XV. TO HERACLES THE LION-HEARTED
(ll. 1-8) I will sing of Heracles, the son of Zeus and much the mightiest of
men on earth. Alcmena bare him in Thebes, the city of lovely dances, when
the dark-clouded Son of Cronos had lain with her. Once he used to wander
over unmeasured tracts of land and sea at the bidding of King Eurystheus,
and himself did many deeds of violence and endured many; but now he
lives happily in the glorious home of snowy Olympus, and has neat-ankled
Hebe for his wife.
(l. 9) Hail, lord, son of Zeus! Give me success and prosperity.

XVI. TO ASCLEPIUS
(ll. 1-4) I begin to sing of Asclepius, son of Apollo and healer of
sicknesses. In the Dotian plain fair Coronis, daughter of King Phlegyas,
bare him, a great joy to men, a soother of cruel pangs.
(l. 5) And so hail to you, lord: in my song I make my prayer to thee!

XVII. TO THE DIOSCURI
(ll. 1-4) Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Castor and Polydeuces, the
Tyndaridae, who sprang from Olympian Zeus. Beneath the heights of
Taygetus stately Leda bare them, when the dark-clouded Son of Cronos had
privily bent her to his will.
(l. 5) Hail, children of Tyndareus, riders upon swift horses!

XVIII. TO HERMES
(ll. 1-9) I sing of Cyllenian Hermes, the Slayer of Argus, lord of Cyllene
and Arcadia rich in flocks, luck-bringing messenger of the deathless gods.
He was born of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, when she had made with Zeus,
—a shy goddess she. Ever she avoided the throng of the blessed gods and
lived in a shadowy cave, and there the Son of Cronos used to lie with the
rich-tressed nymph at dead of night, while white-armed Hera lay bound in
sweet sleep: and neither deathless god nor mortal man knew it.
(ll. 10-11) And so hail to you, Son of Zeus and Maia; with you I have
begun: now I will turn to another song!
(l. 12) Hail, Hermes, giver of grace, guide, and giver of good things! 2531

XIX. TO PAN
(ll. 1-26) Muse, tell me about Pan, the dear son of Hermes, with his
goat’s feet and two horns—a lover of merry noise. Through wooded glades
he wanders with dancing nymphs who foot it on some sheer cliff’s edge,
calling upon Pan, the shepherd-god, long-haired, unkempt. He has every
snowy crest and the mountain peaks and rocky crests for his domain; hither
and thither he goes through the close thickets, now lured by soft streams,
and now he presses on amongst towering crags and climbs up to the highest
peak that overlooks the flocks. Often he courses through the glistening high
mountains, and often on the shouldered hills he speeds along slaying wild
beasts, this keen-eyed god. Only at evening, as he returns from the chase, he
sounds his note, playing sweet and low on his pipes of reed: not even she
could excel him in melody—that bird who in flower-laden spring pouring
forth her lament utters honey-voiced song amid the leaves. At that hour the
clear-voiced nymphs are with him and move with nimble feet, singing by
some spring of dark water, while Echo wails about the mountain-top, and
the god on this side or on that of the choirs, or at times sidling into the
midst, plies it nimbly with his feet. On his back he wears a spotted lynx-
pelt, and he delights in high-pitched songs in a soft meadow where crocuses
and sweet-smelling hyacinths bloom at random in the grass.
(ll. 27-47) They sing of the blessed gods and high Olympus and choose to
tell of such an one as luck-bringing Hermes above the rest, how he is the
swift messenger of all the gods, and how he came to Arcadia, the land of
many springs and mother of flocks, there where his sacred place is as god of
Cyllene. For there, though a god, he used to tend curly-fleeced sheep in the
service of a mortal man, because there fell on him and waxed strong
melting desire to wed the rich-tressed daughter of Dryops, and there he
brought about the merry marriage. And in the house she bare Hermes a dear
son who from his birth was marvellous to look upon, with goat’s feet and
two horns—a noisy, merry-laughing child. But when the nurse saw his
uncouth face and full beard, she was afraid and sprang up and fled and left
the child. Then luck-bringing Hermes received him and took him in his

arms: very glad in his heart was the god. And he went quickly to the abodes
of the deathless gods, carrying the son wrapped in warm skins of mountain
hares, and set him down beside Zeus and showed him to the rest of the
gods. Then all the immortals were glad in heart and Bacchie Dionysus in
especial; and they called the boy Pan 2532 because he delighted all their
hearts.
(ll. 48-49) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with a song. And
now I will remember you and another song also.

XX. TO HEPHAESTUS
(ll. 1-7) Sing, clear-voiced Muses, of Hephaestus famed for inventions.
With bright-eyed Athene he taught men glorious gifts throughout the world,
—men who before used to dwell in caves in the mountains like wild beasts.
But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaestus the famed
worker, easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the whole year
round.
(l. 8) Be gracious, Hephaestus, and grant me success and prosperity!

XXI. TO APOLLO
(ll. 1-4) Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the
beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river
Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched
lyre, always sings both first and last.
(l. 5) And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favour with my song.

XXII. TO POSEIDON
(ll. 1-5) I begin to sing about Poseidon, the great god, mover of the earth
and fruitless sea, god of the deep who is also lord of Helicon and wide
Aegae. A two-fold office the gods allotted you, O Shaker of the Earth, to be
a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships!
(ll. 6-7) Hail, Poseidon, Holder of the Earth, dark-haired lord! O blessed
one, be kindly in heart and help those who voyage in ships!

XXIII. TO THE SON OF CRONOS, MOST HIGH
(ll. 1-3) I will sing of Zeus, chiefest among the gods and greatest, all-
seeing, the lord of all, the fulfiller who whispers words of wisdom to
Themis as she sits leaning towards him.
(l. 4) Be gracious, all-seeing Son of Cronos, most excellent and great!

XXIV. TO HESTIA
(ll. 1-5) Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the Far-
shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come
now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise—draw
near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.

XXV. TO THE MUSES AND APOLLO
(ll. 1-5) I will begin with the Muses and Apollo and Zeus. For it is
through the Muses and Apollo that there are singers upon the earth and
players upon the lyre; but kings are from Zeus. Happy is he whom the
Muses love: sweet flows speech from his lips.
(ll. 6-7) Hail, children of Zeus! Give honour to my song! And now I will
remember you and another song also.

XXVI. TO DIONYSUS
(ll. 1-9) I begin to sing of ivy-crowned Dionysus, the loud-crying god,
splendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele. The rich-haired Nymphs
received him in their bosoms from the lord his father and fostered and
nurtured him carefully in the dells of Nysa, where by the will of his father
he grew up in a sweet-smelling cave, being reckoned among the immortals.
But when the goddesses had brought him up, a god oft hymned, then began
he to wander continually through the woody coombes, thickly wreathed
with ivy and laurel. And the Nymphs followed in his train with him for their
leader; and the boundless forest was filled with their outcry.
(ll. 10-13) And so hail to you, Dionysus, god of abundant clusters! Grant
that we may come again rejoicing to this season, and from that season
onwards for many a year.

XXVII. TO ARTEMIS
(ll. 1-20) I sing of Artemis, whose shafts are of gold, who cheers on the
hounds, the pure maiden, shooter of stags, who delights in archery, own
sister to Apollo with the golden sword. Over the shadowy hills and windy
peaks she draws her golden bow, rejoicing in the chase, and sends out
grievous shafts. The tops of the high mountains tremble and the tangled
wood echoes awesomely with the outcry of beasts: earthquakes and the sea
also where fishes shoal. But the goddess with a bold heart turns every way
destroying the race of wild beasts: and when she is satisfied and has cheered
her heart, this huntress who delights in arrows slackens her supple bow and
goes to the great house of her dear brother Phoebus Apollo, to the rich land
of Delphi, there to order the lovely dance of the Muses and Graces. There
she hangs up her curved bow and her arrows, and heads and leads the
dances, gracefully arrayed, while all they utter their heavenly voice, singing
how neat-ankled Leto bare children supreme among the immortals both in
thought and in deed.
(ll. 21-22) Hail to you, children of Zeus and rich-haired Leto! And now I
will remember you and another song also.

XXVIII. TO ATHENA
(ll. 1-16) I begin to sing of Pallas Athene, the glorious goddess, bright-
eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities,
courageous, Tritogeneia. From his awful head wise Zeus himself bare her
arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all the gods as they
gazed. But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal head and stood before
Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear: great Olympus began to
reel horribly at the might of the bright-eyed goddess, and earth round about
cried fearfully, and the sea was moved and tossed with dark waves, while
foam burst forth suddenly: the bright Son of Hyperion stopped his swift-
footed horses a long while, until the maiden Pallas Athene had stripped the
heavenly armour from her immortal shoulders. And wise Zeus was glad.
(ll. 17-18) And so hail to you, daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis!
Now I will remember you and another song as well.

XXIX. TO HESTIA
(ll. 1-6) Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men
who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest
honour: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you mortals
hold no banquet,—where one does not duly pour sweet wine in offering to
Hestia both first and last.
(ll. 7-10) 2533 And you, slayer of Argus, Son of Zeus and Maia,
messenger of the blessed gods, bearer of the golden rod, giver of good, be
favourable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear. Come and
dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you two, well
knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and their strength.
(ll. 12-13) Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also, Hermes, bearer of the
golden rod! Now I will remember you and another song also.

XXX. TO EARTH THE MOTHER OF ALL
(ll. 1-16) I will sing of well-founded Earth, mother of all, eldest of all
beings. She feeds all creatures that are in the world, all that go upon the
goodly land, and all that are in the paths of the seas, and all that fly: all
these are fed of her store. Through you, O queen, men are blessed in their
children and blessed in their harvests, and to you it belongs to give means
of life to mortal men and to take it away. Happy is the man whom you
delight to honour! He has all things abundantly: his fruitful land is laden
with corn, his pastures are covered with cattle, and his house is filled with
good things. Such men rule orderly in their cities of fair women: great
riches and wealth follow them: their sons exult with ever-fresh delight, and
their daughters in flower-laden bands play and skip merrily over the soft
flowers of the field. Thus is it with those whom you honour O holy goddess,
bountiful spirit.
(ll. 17-19) Hail, Mother of the gods, wife of starry Heaven; freely bestow
upon me for this my song substance that cheers the heart! And now I will
remember you and another song also.

XXXI. TO HELIOS
(ll. 1-16) 2534 And now, O Muse Calliope, daughter of Zeus, begin to sing
of glowing Helios whom mild-eyed Euryphaessa, the far-shining one, bare
to the Son of Earth and starry Heaven. For Hyperion wedded glorious
Euryphaessa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children, rosy-armed Eos
and rich-tressed Selene and tireless Helios who is like the deathless gods.
As he rides in his chariot, he shines upon men and deathless gods, and
piercingly he gazes with his eyes from his golden helmet. Bright rays beam
dazzlingly from him, and his bright locks streaming from the temples of his
head gracefully enclose his far-seen face: a rich, fine-spun garment glows
upon his body and flutters in the wind: and stallions carry him. Then, when
he has stayed his golden-yoked chariot and horses, he rests there upon the
highest point of heaven, until he marvellously drives them down again
through heaven to Ocean.
(ll. 17-19) Hail to you, lord! Freely bestow on me substance that cheers
the heart. And now that I have begun with you, I will celebrate the race of
mortal men half-divine whose deeds the Muses have showed to mankind.

XXXII. TO SELENE
(ll. 1-13) And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled
in song, tell of the long-winged 2535 Moon. From her immortal head a
radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty
that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light
of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene
having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-
gleaming, shining team, drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at
eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams
shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortal
men.
(ll. 14-16) Once the Son of Cronos was joined with her in love; and she
conceived and bare a daughter Pandia, exceeding lovely amongst the
deathless gods.
(ll. 17-20) Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed
queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glories of men half-divine,
whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Muses, celebrate with lovely lips.

XXXIII. TO THE DIOSCURI
(ll. 1-17) Bright-eyed Muses, tell of the Tyndaridae, the Sons of Zeus,
glorious children of neat-ankled Leda, Castor the tamer of horses, and
blameless Polydeuces. When Leda had lain with the dark-clouded Son of
Cronos, she bare them beneath the peak of the great hill Taygetus,—
children who are delivers of men on earth and of swift-going ships when
stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea. Then the shipmen call upon the sons
of great Zeus with vows of white lambs, going to the forepart of the prow;
but the strong wind and the waves of the sea lay the ship under water, until
suddenly these two are seen darting through the air on tawny wings.
Forthwith they allay the blasts of the cruel winds and still the waves upon
the surface of the white sea: fair signs are they and deliverance from toil.
And when the shipmen see them they are glad and have rest from their pain
and labour.
(ll. 18-19) Hail, Tyndaridae, riders upon swift horses! Now I will
remember you and another song also.

HOMER’S EPIGRAMS2601

I. (5 lines) (ll. 1-5) Have reverence for him who needs a home and
stranger’s dole, all ye who dwell in the high city of Cyme, the lovely
maiden, hard by the foothills of lofty Sardene, ye who drink the heavenly
water of the divine stream, eddying Hermus, whom deathless Zeus begot.
II. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Speedily may my feet bear me to some town of
righteous men; for their hearts are generous and their wit is best.
III. (6 lines) (ll. 1-6) I am a maiden of bronze and am set upon the tomb
of Midas. While the waters flow and tall trees flourish, and the sun rises and
shines and the bright moon also; while rivers run and the sea breaks on the
shore, ever remaining on this mournful tomb, I tell the passer-by that Midas
here lies buried.
IV. (17 lines) (ll. 1-17) To what a fate did Zeus the Father give me a prey
even while he made me to grow, a babe at my mother’s knee! By the will of
Zeus who holds the aegis the people of Phricon, riders on wanton horses,
more active than raging fire in the test of war, once built the towers of
Aeolian Smyrna, wave-shaken neighbour to the sea, through which glides
the pleasant stream of sacred Meles; thence 2602 arose the daughters of
Zeus, glorious children, and would fain have made famous that fair country
and the city of its people. But in their folly those men scorned the divine
voice and renown of song, and in trouble shall one of them remember this
hereafter—he who with scornful words to them 2603 contrived my fate. Yet I
will endure the lot which heaven gave me even at my birth, bearing my
disappointment with a patient heart. My dear limbs yearn not to stay in the
sacred streets of Cyme, but rather my great heart urges me to go unto
another country, small though I am.
V. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Thestorides, full many things there are that mortals
cannot sound; but there is nothing more unfathomable than the heart of
man.

VI. (8 lines) (ll. 1-8) Hear me, Poseidon, strong shaker of the earth, ruler
of wide-spread, tawny Helicon! Give a fair wind and sight of safe return to
the shipmen who speed and govern this ship. And grant that when I come to
the nether slopes of towering Mimas I may find honourable, god-fearing
men. Also may I avenge me on the wretch who deceived me and grieved
Zeus the lord of guests and his own guest-table.
VII. (3 lines) (ll. 1-3) Queen Earth, all bounteous giver of honey-hearted
wealth, how kindly, it seems, you are to some, and how intractable and
rough for those with whom you are angry.
VIII. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Sailors, who rove the seas and whom a hateful fate
has made as the shy sea-fowl, living an unenviable life, observe the
reverence due to Zeus who rules on high, the god of strangers; for terrible is
the vengeance of this god afterwards for whosoever has sinned.
IX. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) Strangers, a contrary wind has caught you: but even
now take me aboard and you shall make your voyage.
X. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Another sort of pine shall bear a better fruit 2604 than
you upon the heights of furrowed, windy Ida. For there shall mortal men get
the iron that Ares loves so soon as the Cebrenians shall hold the land.
XI. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Glaucus, watchman of flocks, a word will I put in
your heart. First give the dogs their dinner at the courtyard gate, for this is
well. The dog first hears a man approaching and the wild-beast coming to
the fence.
XII. (4 lines) (ll. 1-4) Goddess-nurse of the young 2605, give ear to my
prayer, and grant that this woman may reject the love-embraces of youth
and dote on grey-haired old men whose powers are dulled, but whose hearts
still desire.
XIII. (6 lines) (ll. 1-6) Children are a man’s crown, towers of a city;
horses are the glory of a plain, and so are ships of the sea; wealth will make
a house great, and reverend princes seated in assembly are a goodly sight
for the folk to see. But a blazing fire makes a house look more comely upon
a winter’s day, when the Son of Cronos sends down snow.
XIV. (23 lines) (ll. 1-23) Potters, if you will give me a reward, I will sing
for you. Come, then, Athena, with hand upraised 2606 over the kiln. Let the
pots and all the dishes turn out well and be well fired: let them fetch good
prices and be sold in plenty in the market, and plenty in the streets. Grant

that the potters may get great gain and grant me so to sing to them. But if
you turn shameless and make false promises, then I call together the
destroyers of kilns, Shatter and Smash and Charr and Crash and Crudebake
who can work this craft much mischief. Come all of you and sack the kiln-
yard and the buildings: let the whole kiln be shaken up to the potter’s loud
lament. As a horse’s jaw grinds, so let the kiln grind to powder all the pots
inside. And you, too, daughter of the Sun, Circe the witch, come and cast
cruel spells; hurt both these men and their handiwork. Let Chiron also come
and bring many Centaurs—all that escaped the hands of Heracles and all
that were destroyed: let them make sad havoc of the pots and overthrow the
kiln, and let the potters see the mischief and be grieved; but I will gloat as I
behold their luckless craft. And if anyone of them stoops to peer in, let all
his face be burned up, that all men may learn to deal honestly.
XV. (13 lines) 2607 (ll. 1-7) Let us betake us to the house of some man of
great power,—one who bears great power and is greatly prosperous always.
Open of yourselves, you doors, for mighty Wealth will enter in, and with
Wealth comes jolly Mirth and gentle Peace. May all the corn-bins be full
and the mass of dough always overflow the kneading-trough. Now (set
before us) cheerful barley-pottage, full of sesame....
((LACUNA))
(ll. 8-10) Your son’s wife, driving to this house with strong-hoofed mules,
shall dismount from her carriage to greet you; may she be shod with golden
shoes as she stands weaving at the loom.
(ll. 11-13) I come, and I come yearly, like the swallow that perches light-
footed in the fore-part of your house. But quickly bring....
XVI. (2 lines) (ll. 1-2) If you will give us anything (well). But if not, we
will not wait, for we are not come here to dwell with you.
XVII. HOMER: Hunters of deep sea prey, have we caught anything?
FISHERMAN: All that we caught we left behind, and all that we did not
catch we carry home. 2608
HOMER: Ay, for of such fathers you are sprung as neither hold rich lands
nor tend countless sheep.

FRAGMENTS OF THE EPIC CYCLE

THE WAR OF THE TITANS
Fragment #1—Photius, Epitome of the Chrestomathy of Proclus: The
Epic Cycle begins with the fabled union of Heaven and Earth, by which
they make three hundred-handed sons and three Cyclopes to be born to him.
Fragment #2—Anecdota Oxon. (Cramer) i. 75: According to the writer of
the War of the Titans Heaven was the son of Aether.
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 1165: Eumelus
says that Aegaeon was the son of Earth and Sea and, having his dwelling in
the sea, was an ally of the Titans.
Fragment #4—Athenaeus, vii. 277 D: The poet of the War of the Titans,
whether Eumelus of Corinth or Arctinus, writes thus in his second book:
‘Upon the shield were dumb fish afloat, with golden faces, swimming and
sporting through the heavenly water.’
Fragment #5—Athenaeus, i. 22 C: Eumelus somewhere introduces Zeus
dancing: he says—‘In the midst of them danced the Father of men and
gods.’
Fragment #6—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 554: The author
of the War of the Giants says that Cronos took the shape of a horse and lay
with Philyra, the daughter of Ocean. Through this cause Cheiron was born a
centaur: his wife was Chariclo.
Fragment #7—Athenaeus, xi. 470 B: Theolytus says that he (Heracles)
sailed across the sea in a cauldron 2701; but the first to give this story is the
author of the War of the Titans.
Fragment #8—Philodemus, On Piety: The author of the War of the Titans
says that the apples (of the Hesperides) were guarded.

THE STORY OF OEDIPUS
Fragment #1—C.I.G. Ital. et Sic. 1292. ii. 11: ....the Story of Oedipus by
Cinaethon in six thousand six hundred verses.
Fragment #2—Pausanias, ix. 5.10: Judging by Homer I do not believe
that Oedipus had children by Iocasta: his sons were born of Euryganeia as
the writer of the Epic called the Story of Oedipus clearly shows.
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Euripides Phoen., 1750: The authors of the
Story of Oedipus (say) of the Sphinx: ‘But furthermore (she killed) noble
Haemon, the dear son of blameless Creon, the comeliest and loveliest of
boys.’

THE THEBAID
Fragment #1—Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Homer travelled about
reciting his epics, first the “Thebaid”, in seven thousand verses, which
begins: ‘Sing, goddess, of parched Argos, whence lords...’
Fragment #2—Athenaeus, xi. 465 E: ‘Then the heaven-born hero,
golden-haired Polyneices, first set beside Oedipus a rich table of silver
which once belonged to Cadmus the divinely wise: next he filled a fine
golden cup with sweet wine. But when Oedipus perceived these treasures of
his father, great misery fell on his heart, and he straight-way called down
bitter curses there in the presence of both his sons. And the avenging Fury
of the gods failed not to hear him as he prayed that they might never divide
their father’s goods in loving brotherhood, but that war and fighting might
be ever the portion of them both.’
Fragment #3—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, O.C. 1375: ‘And
when Oedipus noticed the haunch 2801 he threw it on the ground and said:
“Oh! Oh! my sons have sent this mocking me...” So he prayed to Zeus the
king and the other deathless gods that each might fall by his brother’s hand
and go down into the house of Hades.’
Fragment #4—Pausanias, viii. 25.8: Adrastus fled from Thebes ‘wearing
miserable garments, and took black-maned Areion 2802 with him.’
Fragment #5—Pindar, Ol. vi. 15: 2803 ‘But when the seven dead had
received their last rites in Thebes, the Son of Talaus lamented and spoke
thus among them: “Woe is me, for I miss the bright eye of my host, a good
seer and a stout spearman alike.”’
Fragment #6—Apollodorus, i. 74: Oeneus married Periboea the daughter
of Hipponous. The author of the Thebais says that when Olenus had been
stormed, Oeneus received her as a prize.
Fragment #7—Pausanias, ix. 18.6: Near the spring is the tomb of
Asphodicus. This Asphodicus killed Parthenopaeus the son of Talaus in the
battle against the Argives, as the Thebans say; though that part of the

Thebais which tells of the death of Parthenopaeus says that it was
Periclymenus who killed him.

THE EPIGONI
Fragment #1—Contest of Homer and Hesiod: Next (Homer composed)
the Epigoni in seven thousand verses, beginning, ‘And now, Muses, let us
begin to sing of younger men.’
Fragment #2—Photius, Lexicon: Teumesia. Those who have written on
Theban affairs have given a full account of the Teumesian fox. 2901 They
relate that the creature was sent by the gods to punish the descendants of
Cadmus, and that the Thebans therefore excluded those of the house of
Cadmus from kingship. But (they say) a certain Cephalus, the son of Deion,
an Athenian, who owned a hound which no beast ever escaped, had
accidentally killed his wife Procris, and being purified of the homicide by
the Cadmeans, hunted the fox with his hound, and when they had overtaken
it both hound and fox were turned into stones near Teumessus. These
writers have taken the story from the Epic Cycle.
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. i. 308: The authors
of the Thebais say that Manto the daughter of Teiresias was sent to Delphi
by the Epigoni as a first fruit of their spoil, and that in accordance with an
oracle of Apollo she went out and met Rhacius, the son of Lebes, a
Mycenaean by race. This man she married—for the oracle also contained
the command that she should marry whomsoever she might meet—and
coming to Colophon, was there much cast down and wept over the
destruction of her country.

THE CYPRIA
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, i: This 3001 is continued by the
epic called Cypria which is current is eleven books. Its contents are as
follows.
Zeus plans with Themis to bring about the Trojan war. Strife arrives
while the gods are feasting at the marriage of Peleus and starts a dispute
between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them is fairest. The
three are led by Hermes at the command of Zeus to Alexandrus on Mount
Ida for his decision, and Alexandrus, lured by his promised marriage with
Helen, decides in favour of Aphrodite.
Then Alexandrus builds his ships at Aphrodite’s suggestion, and Helenus
foretells the future to him, and Aphrodite order Aeneas to sail with him,
while Cassandra prophesies as to what will happen afterwards. Alexandrus
next lands in Lacedaemon and is entertained by the sons of Tyndareus, and
afterwards by Menelaus in Sparta, where in the course of a feast he gives
gifts to Helen.
After this, Menelaus sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the
guests with all they require until they depart. Meanwhile, Aphrodite brings
Helen and Alexandrus together, and they, after their union, put very great
treasures on board and sail away by night. Hera stirs up a storm against
them and they are carried to Sidon, where Alexandrus takes the city. From
there he sailed to Troy and celebrated his marriage with Helen.
In the meantime Castor and Polydeuces, while stealing the cattle of Idas
and Lynceus, were caught in the act, and Castor was killed by Idas, and
Lynceus and Idas by Polydeuces. Zeus gave them immortality every other
day.
Iris next informs Menelaus of what has happened at his home. Menelaus
returns and plans an expedition against Ilium with his brother, and then
goes on to Nestor. Nestor in a digression tells him how Epopeus was utterly
destroyed after seducing the daughter of Lycus, and the story of Oedipus,
the madness of Heracles, and the story of Theseus and Ariadne. Then they
travel over Hellas and gather the leaders, detecting Odysseus when he

pretends to be mad, not wishing to join the expedition, by seizing his son
Telemachus for punishment at the suggestion of Palamedes.
All the leaders then meet together at Aulis and sacrifice. The incident of
the serpent and the sparrows 3002 takes place before them, and Calchas
foretells what is going to befall. After this, they put out to sea, and reach
Teuthrania and sack it, taking it for Ilium. Telephus comes out to the rescue
and kills Thersander and son of Polyneices, and is himself wounded by
Achilles. As they put out from Mysia a storm comes on them and scatters
them, and Achilles first puts in at Scyros and married Deidameia, the
daughter of Lycomedes, and then heals Telephus, who had been led by an
oracle to go to Argos, so that he might be their guide on the voyage to
Ilium.
When the expedition had mustered a second time at Aulis, Agamemnon,
while at the chase, shot a stag and boasted that he surpassed even Artemis.
At this the goddess was so angry that she sent stormy winds and prevented
them from sailing. Calchas then told them of the anger of the goddess and
bade them sacrifice Iphigeneia to Artemis. This they attempt to do, sending
to fetch Iphigeneia as though for marriage with Achilles.
Artemis, however, snatched her away and transported her to the Tauri,
making her immortal, and putting a stag in place of the girl upon the altar.
Next they sail as far as Tenedos: and while they are feasting, Philoctetes
is bitten by a snake and is left behind in Lemnos because of the stench of
his sore. Here, too, Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon because he is invited
late. Then the Greeks tried to land at Ilium, but the Trojans prevent them,
and Protesilaus is killed by Hector. Achilles then kills Cycnus, the son of
Poseidon, and drives the Trojans back. The Greeks take up their dead and
send envoys to the Trojans demanding the surrender of Helen and the
treasure with her. The Trojans refusing, they first assault the city, and then
go out and lay waste the country and cities round about. After this, Achilles
desires to see Helen, and Aphrodite and Thetis contrive a meeting between
them. The Achaeans next desire to return home, but are restrained by
Achilles, who afterwards drives off the cattle of Aeneas, and sacks
Lyrnessus and Pedasus and many of the neighbouring cities, and kills
Troilus. Patroclus carries away Lycaon to Lemnos and sells him as a slave,
and out of the spoils Achilles receives Briseis as a prize, and Agamemnon
Chryseis. Then follows the death of Palamedes, the plan of Zeus to relieve

the Trojans by detaching Achilles from the Hellenic confederacy, and a
catalogue of the Trojan allies.
Fragment #2—Tzetzes, Chil. xiii. 638: Stasinus composed the Cypria
which the more part say was Homer’s work and by him given to Stasinus as
a dowry with money besides.
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Homer, Il. i. 5: ‘There was a time when the
countless tribes of men, though wide-dispersed, oppressed the surface of the
deep-bosomed earth, and Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise heart
resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the great
struggle of the Ilian war, that the load of death might empty the world. And
so the heroes were slain in Troy, and the plan of Zeus came to pass.’
Fragment #4—Volumina Herculan, II. viii. 105: The author of the Cypria
says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at which he was
enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.
Fragment #5—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvii. 140: For at the marriage of
Peleus and Thetis, the gods gathered together on Pelion to feast and brought
Peleus gifts. Cheiron gave him a stout ashen shaft which he had cut for a
spear, and Athena, it is said, polished it, and Hephaestus fitted it with a
head. The story is given by the author of the Cypria.
Fragment #6—Athenaeus, xv. 682 D, F: The author of the Cypria,
whether Hegesias or Stasinus, mentions flowers used for garlands. The
poet, whoever he was, writes as follows in his first book:
(ll. 1-7) ‘She clothed herself with garments which the Graces and Hours
had made for her and dyed in flowers of spring—such flowers as the
Seasons wear—in crocus and hyacinth and flourishing violet and the rose’s
lovely bloom, so sweet and delicious, and heavenly buds, the flowers of the
narcissus and lily. In such perfumed garments is Aphrodite clothed at all
seasons.
((LACUNA))
(ll. 8-12) Then laughter-loving Aphrodite and her handmaidens wove
sweet-smelling crowns of flowers of the earth and put them upon their
heads—the bright-coiffed goddesses, the Nymphs and Graces, and golden
Aphrodite too, while they sang sweetly on the mount of many-fountained
Ida.’

Fragment #7—Clement of Alexandria, Protrept ii. 30. 5: ‘Castor was
mortal, and the fate of death was destined for him; but Polydeuces, scion of
Ares, was immortal.’
Fragment #8—Athenaeus, viii. 334 B: ‘And after them she bare a third
child, Helen, a marvel to men. Rich-tressed Nemesis once gave her birth
when she had been joined in love with Zeus the king of the gods by harsh
violence. For Nemesis tried to escape him and liked not to lie in love with
her father Zeus the Son of Cronos; for shame and indignation vexed her
heart: therefore she fled him over the land and fruitless dark water. But
Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her. Now she took the
form of a fish and sped over the waves of the loud-roaring sea, and now
over Ocean’s stream and the furthest bounds of Earth, and now she sped
over the furrowed land, always turning into such dread creatures as the dry
land nurtures, that she might escape him.’
Fragment #9—Scholiast on Euripides, Andr. 898: The writer 3003 of the
Cyprian histories says that (Helen’s third child was) Pleisthenes and that she
took him with her to Cyprus, and that the child she bore Alexandrus was
Aganus.
Fragment #10—Herodotus, ii. 117: For it is said in the Cypria that
Alexandrus came with Helen to Ilium from Sparta in three days, enjoying a
favourable wind and calm sea.
Fragment #11—Scholiast on Homer, Il. iii. 242: For Helen had been
previously carried off by Theseus, and it was in consequence of this earlier
rape that Aphidna, a town in Attica, was sacked and Castor was wounded in
the right thigh by Aphidnus who was king at that time. Then the Dioscuri,
failing to find Theseus, sacked Athens. The story is in the Cyclic writers.
Plutarch, Thes. 32: Hereas relates that Alycus was killed by Theseus
himself near Aphidna, and quotes the following verses in evidence: ‘In
spacious Aphidna Theseus slew him in battle long ago for rich-haired
Helen’s sake.’ 3004
Fragment #12—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. x. 114: (ll. 1-6) ‘Straightway
Lynceus, trusting in his swift feet, made for Taygetus. He climbed its
highest peak and looked throughout the whole isle of Pelops, son of
Tantalus; and soon the glorious hero with his dread eyes saw horse-taming
Castor and athlete Polydeuces both hidden within a hollow oak.’

Philodemus, On Piety: (Stasinus?) writes that Castor was killed with a
spear shot by Idas the son of Aphareus.
Fragment #13—Athenaeus, 35 C: ‘Menelaus, know that the gods made
wine the best thing for mortal man to scatter cares.’
Fragment #14—Laurentian Scholiast on Sophocles, Elect. 157: Either he
follows Homer who spoke of the three daughters of Agamemnon, or—like
the writer of the Cypria—he makes them four, (distinguishing) Iphigeneia
and Iphianassa.
Fragment #15—3005 Contest of Homer and Hesiod: ‘So they feasted all
day long, taking nothing from their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of
men, provided for them.’
Fragment #16—Louvre Papyrus: ‘I never thought to enrage so terribly
the stout heart of Achilles, for very well I loved him.’
Fragment #17—Pausanias, iv. 2. 7: The poet of the Cypria says that the
wife of Protesilaus—who, when the Hellenes reached the Trojan shore, first
dared to land—was called Polydora, and was the daughter of Meleager, the
son of Oeneus.
Fragment #18—Eustathius, 119. 4: Some relate that Chryseis was taken
from Hypoplacian 3006 Thebes, and that she had not taken refuge there nor
gone there to sacrifice to Artemis, as the author of the Cypria states, but
was simply a fellow townswoman of Andromache.
Fragment #19—Pausanias, x. 31. 2: I know, because I have read it in the
epic Cypria, that Palamedes was drowned when he had gone out fishing,
and that it was Diomedes and Odysseus who caused his death.
Fragment #20—Plato, Euthyphron, 12 A: ‘That it is Zeus who has done
this, and brought all these things to pass, you do not like to say; for where
fear is, there too is shame.’
Fragment #21—Herodian, On Peculiar Diction: ‘By him she conceived
and bare the Gorgons, fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky
island in deep-eddying Oceanus.’
Fragment #22—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis vii. 2. 19: Again,
Stasinus says: ‘He is a simple man who kills the father and lets the children
live.’

THE AETHIOPIS
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: The Cypria, described in the
preceding book, has its sequel in the Iliad of Homer, which is followed in
turn by the five books of the Aethiopis, the work of Arctinus of Miletus.
Their contents are as follows. The Amazon Penthesileia, the daughter of
Ares and of Thracian race, comes to aid the Trojans, and after showing
great prowess, is killed by Achilles and buried by the Trojans. Achilles then
slays Thersites for abusing and reviling him for his supposed love for
Penthesileia. As a result a dispute arises amongst the Achaeans over the
killing of Thersites, and Achilles sails to Lesbos and after sacrificing to
Apollo, Artemis, and Leto, is purified by Odysseus from bloodshed.
Then Memnon, the son of Eos, wearing armour made by Hephaestus,
comes to help the Trojans, and Thetis tells her son about Memnon.
A battle takes place in which Antilochus is slain by Memnon and
Memnon by Achilles. Eos then obtains of Zeus and bestows upon her son
immortality; but Achilles routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city with
them, is killed by Paris and Apollo. A great struggle for the body then
follows, Aias taking up the body and carrying it to the ships, while
Odysseus drives off the Trojans behind. The Achaeans then bury Antilochus
and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving with the Muses and
her sisters, bewails her son, whom she afterwards catches away from the
pyre and transports to the White Island. After this, the Achaeans pile him a
cairn and hold games in his honour. Lastly a dispute arises between
Odysseus and Aias over the arms of Achilles.
Fragment #2—Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiv. 804: Some read: ‘Thus they
performed the burial of Hector. Then came the Amazon, the daughter of
great-souled Ares the slayer of men.’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Pindar, Isth. iii. 53: The author of the
Aethiopis says that Aias killed himself about dawn.

THE LITTLE ILIAD
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next comes the Little Iliad in
four books by Lesches of Mitylene: its contents are as follows. The
adjudging of the arms of Achilles takes place, and Odysseus, by the
contriving of Athena, gains them. Aias then becomes mad and destroys the
herd of the Achaeans and kills himself. Next Odysseus lies in wait and
catches Helenus, who prophesies as to the taking of Troy, and Diomede
accordingly brings Philoctetes from Lemnos. Philoctetes is healed by
Machaon, fights in single combat with Alexandrus and kills him: the dead
body is outraged by Menelaus, but the Trojans recover and bury it. After
this Deiphobus marries Helen, Odysseus brings Neoptolemus from Scyros
and gives him his father’s arms, and the ghost of Achilles appears to him.
Eurypylus the son of Telephus arrives to aid the Trojans, shows his
prowess and is killed by Neoptolemus. The Trojans are now closely
besieged, and Epeius, by Athena’s instruction, builds the wooden horse.
Odysseus disfigures himself and goes in to Ilium as a spy, and there being
recognized by Helen, plots with her for the taking of the city; after killing
certain of the Trojans, he returns to the ships. Next he carries the Palladium
out of Troy with help of Diomedes. Then after putting their best men in the
wooden horse and burning their huts, the main body of the Hellenes sail to
Tenedos. The Trojans, supposing their troubles over, destroy a part of their
city wall and take the wooden horse into their city and feast as though they
had conquered the Hellenes.
Fragment #2—Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: ‘I sing of Ilium and
Dardania, the land of fine horses, wherein the Danai, followers of Ares,
suffered many things.’
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Aristophanes, Knights 1056 and
Aristophanes ib: The story runs as follows: Aias and Odysseus were
quarrelling as to their achievements, says the poet of the Little Iliad, and
Nestor advised the Hellenes to send some of their number to go to the foot
of the walls and overhear what was said about the valour of the heroes
named above. The eavesdroppers heard certain girls disputing, one of them

saying that Aias was by far a better man than Odysseus and continuing as
follows:
‘For Aias took up and carried out of the strife the hero, Peleus’ son: this
great Odysseus cared not to do.’
To this another replied by Athena’s contrivance:
‘Why, what is this you say? A thing against reason and untrue! Even a
woman could carry a load once a man had put it on her shoulder; but she
could not fight. For she would fail with fear if she should fight.’
Fragment #4—Eustathius, 285. 34: The writer of the Little Iliad says that
Aias was not buried in the usual way 3101, but was simply buried in a coffin,
because of the king’s anger.
Fragment #5—Eustathius on Homer, Il. 326: The author of the Little Iliad
says that Achilles after putting out to sea from the country of Telephus came
to land there: ‘The storm carried Achilles the son of Peleus to Scyros, and
he came into an uneasy harbour there in that same night.’
Fragment #6—Scholiast on Pindar, Nem. vi. 85: ‘About the spear-shaft
was a hoop of flashing gold, and a point was fitted to it at either end.’
Fragment #7—Scholiast on Euripides Troades, 822: ‘...the vine which the
son of Cronos gave him as a recompense for his son. It bloomed richly with
soft leaves of gold and grape clusters; Hephaestus wrought it and gave it to
his father Zeus: and he bestowed it on Laomedon as a price for
Ganymedes.’
Fragment #8—Pausanias, iii. 26. 9: The writer of the epic Little Iliad says
that Machaon was killed by Eurypylus, the son of Telephus.
Fragment #9—Homer, Odyssey iv. 247 and Scholiast: ‘He disguised
himself, and made himself like another person, a beggar, the like of whom
was not by the ships of the Achaeans.’
The Cyclic poet uses ‘beggar’ as a substantive, and so means to say that
when Odysseus had changed his clothes and put on rags, there was no one
so good for nothing at the ships as Odysseus.
Fragment #10—3102 Plutarch, Moralia, p. 153 F: And Homer put forward
the following verses as Lesches gives them: ‘Muse, tell me of those things
which neither happened before nor shall be hereafter.’
And Hesiod answered:

‘But when horses with rattling hoofs wreck chariots, striving for victory
about the tomb of Zeus.’
And it is said that, because this reply was specially admired, Hesiod won
the tripod (at the funeral games of Amphidamas).
Fragment #11—Scholiast on Lycophr., 344: Sinon, as it had been
arranged with him, secretly showed a signal-light to the Hellenes. Thus
Lesches writes:—‘It was midnight, and the clear moon was rising.’
Fragment #12—Pausanias, x. 25. 5: Meges is represented 3103 wounded
in the arm just as Lescheos the son of Aeschylinus of Pyrrha describes in
his Sack of Ilium where it is said that he was wounded in the battle which
the Trojans fought in the night by Admetus, son of Augeias. Lycomedes too
is in the picture with a wound in the wrist, and Lescheos says he was so
wounded by Agenor...
Pausanias, x. 26. 4: Lescheos also mentions Astynous, and here he is,
fallen on one knee, while Neoptolemus strikes him with his sword...
Pausanias, x. 26. 8: The same writer says that Helicaon was wounded in
the night-battle, but was recognised by Odysseus and by him conducted
alive out of the fight...
Pausanias, x. 27. 1: Of them 3104, Lescheos says that Eion was killed by
Neoptolemus, and Admetus by Philoctetes... He also says that Priam was
not killed at the heart of Zeus Herceius, but was dragged away from the
altar and destroyed off hand by Neoptolemus at the doors of the house...
Lescheos says that Axion was the son of Priam and was slain by Eurypylus,
the son of Euaemon. Agenor—according to the same poet—was butchered
by Neoptolemus.
Fragment #13—Aristophanes, Lysistrata 155 and Scholiast: ‘Menelaus at
least, when he caught a glimpse somehow of the breasts of Helen unclad,
cast away his sword, methinks.’ Lesches the Pyrrhaean also has the same
account in his Little Iliad.
Pausanias, x. 25. 8: Concerning Aethra Lesches relates that when Ilium
was taken she stole out of the city and came to the Hellenic camp, where
she was recognised by the sons of Theseus; and that Demophon asked her
of Agamemnon. Agamemnon wished to grant him this favour, but he would
not do so until Helen consented. And when he sent a herald, Helen granted
his request.

Fragment #14—Scholiast on Lycophr. Alex., 1268: ‘Then the bright son
of bold Achilles led the wife of Hector to the hollow ships; but her son he
snatched from the bosom of his rich-haired nurse and seized him by the foot
and cast him from a tower. So when he had fallen bloody death and hard
fate seized on Astyanax. And Neoptolemus chose out Andromache,
Hector’s well-girded wife, and the chiefs of all the Achaeans gave her to
him to hold requiting him with a welcome prize. And he put Aeneas3105, the
famous son of horse-taming Anchises, on board his sea-faring ships, a prize
surpassing those of all the Danaans.’

THE SACK OF ILIUM
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: Next come two books of the
Sack of Ilium, by Arctinus of Miletus with the following contents. The
Trojans were suspicious of the wooden horse and standing round it debated
what they ought to do. Some thought they ought to hurl it down from the
rocks, others to burn it up, while others said they ought to dedicate it to
Athena. At last this third opinion prevailed. Then they turned to mirth and
feasting believing the war was at an end. But at this very time two serpents
appeared and destroyed Laocoon and one of his two sons, a portent which
so alarmed the followers of Aeneas that they withdrew to Ida. Sinon then
raised the fire-signal to the Achaeans, having previously got into the city by
pretence. The Greeks then sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden
horse came out and fell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the
city. Neoptolemus kills Priam who had fled to the altar of Zeus Herceius
(1); Menelaus finds Helen and takes her to the ships, after killing
Deiphobus; and Aias the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra away
by force, tears away with her the image of Athena. At this the Greeks are so
enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only escapes from the
danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar of Athena. The Greeks,
after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles: Odysseus
murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes Andromache as his prize, and the
remaining spoils are divided. Demophon and Acamas find Aethra and take
her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail away and Athena plans to destroy
them on the high seas.
Fragment #2—Dionysus Halicarn, Rom. Antiq. i. 68: According to
Arctinus, one Palladium was given to Dardanus by Zeus, and this was in
Ilium until the city was taken. It was hidden in a secret place, and a copy
was made resembling the original in all points and set up for all to see, in
order to deceive those who might have designs against it. This copy the
Achaeans took as a result of their plots.
Fragment #3—Scholiast on Euripedes, Andromache 10: The Cyclic poet
who composed the Sack says that Astyanax was also hurled from the city

wall.
Fragment #4—Scholiast on Euripedes, Troades 31: For the followers of
Acamus and Demophon took no share—it is said—of the spoils, but only
Aethra, for whose sake, indeed, they came to Ilium with Menestheus to lead
them. Lysimachus, however, says that the author of the Sack writes as
follows: ‘The lord Agamemnon gave gifts to the Sons of Theseus and to
bold Menestheus, shepherd of hosts.’
Fragment #5—Eustathius on Iliad, xiii. 515: Some say that such praise as
this 3201 does not apply to physicians generally, but only to Machaon: and
some say that he only practised surgery, while Podaleirius treated
sicknesses. Arctinus in the Sack of Ilium seems to be of this opinion when
he says:
(ll. 1-8) ‘For their father the famous Earth-Shaker gave both of them
gifts, making each more glorious than the other. To the one he gave hands
more light to draw or cut out missiles from the flesh and to heal all kinds of
wounds; but in the heart of the other he put full and perfect knowledge to
tell hidden diseases and cure desperate sicknesses. It was he who first
noticed Aias’ flashing eyes and clouded mind when he was enraged.’
Fragment #6—Diomedes in Gramm., Lat. i. 477: ‘Iambus stood a little
while astride with foot advanced, that so his strained limbs might get power
and have a show of ready strength.’

THE RETURNS
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: After the Sack of Ilium follow
the Returns in five books by Agias of Troezen. Their contents are as
follows. Athena causes a quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus about
the voyage from Troy. Agamemnon then stays on to appease the anger of
Athena. Diomedes and Nestor put out to sea and get safely home. After
them Menelaus sets out and reaches Egypt with five ships, the rest having
been destroyed on the high seas. Those with Calchas, Leontes, and
Polypoetes go by land to Colophon and bury Teiresias who died there.
When Agamemnon and his followers were sailing away, the ghost of
Achilles appeared and tried to prevent them by foretelling what should
befall them. The storm at the rocks called Capherides is then described,
with the end of Locrian Aias. Neoptolemus, warned by Thetis, journeys
overland and, coming into Thrace, meets Odysseus at Maronea, and then
finishes the rest of his journey after burying Phoenix who dies on the way.
He himself is recognized by Peleus on reaching the Molossi.
Then comes the murder of Agamemnon by Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra,
followed by the vengeance of Orestes and Pylades. Finally, Menelaus
returns home.
Fragment #2—Argument to Euripides Medea: ‘Forthwith Medea made
Aeson a sweet young boy and stripped his old age from him by her cunning
skill, when she had made a brew of many herbs in her golden cauldrons.’
Fragment #3—Pausanias, i. 2: The story goes that Heracles was
besieging Themiscyra on the Thermodon and could not take it; but Antiope,
being in love with Theseus who was with Heracles on this expedition,
betrayed the place. Hegias gives this account in his poem.
Fragment #4—Eustathius, 1796. 45: The Colophonian author of the
Returns says that Telemachus afterwards married Circe, while Telegonus
the son of Circe correspondingly married Penelope.
Fragment #5—Clement of Alex. Strom., vi. 2. 12. 8: ‘For gifts beguile
men’s minds and their deeds as well.’ 3301

Fragment #6—Pausanias, x. 28. 7: The poetry of Homer and the Returns
—for here too there is an account of Hades and the terrors there—know of
no spirit named Eurynomus.
Athenaeus, 281 B: The writer of the “Return of the Atreidae” 3302 says
that Tantalus came and lived with the gods, and was permitted to ask for
whatever he desired. But the man was so immoderately given to pleasures
that he asked for these and for a life like that of the gods. At this Zeus was
annoyed, but fulfilled his prayer because of his own promise; but to prevent
him from enjoying any of the pleasures provided, and to keep him
continually harassed, he hung a stone over his head which prevents him
from ever reaching any of the pleasant things near by.

THE TELEGONY
Fragment #1—Proclus, Chrestomathia, ii: After the Returns comes the
Odyssey of Homer, and then the Telegony in two books by Eugammon of
Cyrene, which contain the following matters. The suitors of Penelope are
buried by their kinsmen, and Odysseus, after sacrificing to the Nymphs,
sails to Elis to inspect his herds. He is entertained there by Polyxenus and
receives a mixing bowl as a gift; the story of Trophonius and Agamedes and
Augeas then follows. He next sails back to Ithaca and performs the
sacrifices ordered by Teiresias, and then goes to Thesprotis where he
marries Callidice, queen of the Thesprotians. A war then breaks out between
the Thesprotians, led by Odysseus, and the Brygi. Ares routs the army of
Odysseus and Athena engages with Ares, until Apollo separates them. After
the death of Callidice Polypoetes, the son of Odysseus, succeeds to the
kingdom, while Odysseus himself returns to Ithaca. In the meantime
Telegonus, while travelling in search of his father, lands on Ithaca and
ravages the island: Odysseus comes out to defend his country, but is killed
by his son unwittingly. Telegonus, on learning his mistake, transports his
father’s body with Penelope and Telemachus to his mother’s island, where
Circe makes them immortal, and Telegonus marries Penelope, and
Telemachus Circe.
Fragment #2—Eustathias, 1796. 35: The author of the Telegony, a
Cyrenaean, relates that Odysseus had by Calypso a son Telegonus or
Teledamus, and by Penelope Telemachus and Acusilaus.

HOMERICA

THE EXPEDITION OF AMPHIARAUS
Fragment #1—Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: Sitting there in the
tanner’s yard, Homer recited his poetry to them, the Expedition of
Amphiarus to Thebes and the Hymns to the Gods composed by him.

THE TAKING OF OECHALIA
Fragment #1—Eustathius, 330. 41: An account has there been given of
Eurytus and his daughter Iole, for whose sake Heracles sacked Oechalia.
Homer also seems to have written on this subject, as that historian shows
who relates that Creophylus of Samos once had Homer for his guest and for
a reward received the attribution of the poem which they call the Taking of
Oechalia. Some, however, assert the opposite; that Creophylus wrote the
poem, and that Homer lent his name in return for his entertainment. And so
Callimachus writes: ‘I am the work of that Samian who once received
divine Homer in his house. I sing of Eurytus and all his woes and of golden-
haired Ioleia, and am reputed one of Homer’s works. Dear Heaven! how
great an honour this for Creophylus!’
Fragment #2—Cramer, Anec. Oxon. i. 327: ‘Ragged garments, even
those which now you see.’ This verse (Odyssey xiv. 343) we shall also find
in the Taking of Oechalia.
Fragment #3—Scholaist on Sophocles Trach., 266: There is a
disagreement as to the number of the sons of Eurytus. For Hesiod says
Eurytus and Antioche had as many as four sons; but Creophylus says two.
Fragment #4—Scholiast on Euripides Medea, 273: Didymus contrasts the
following account given by Creophylus, which is as follows: while Medea
was living in Corinth, she poisoned Creon, who was ruler of the city at that
time, and because she feared his friends and kinsfolk, fled to Athens.
However, since her sons were too young to go along with her, she left them
at the altar of Hera Acraea, thinking that their father would see to their
safety. But the relatives of Creon killed them and spread the story that
Medea had killed her own children as well as Creon.

THE PHOCAIS
Fragment #1—Pseudo-Herodotus, Life of Homer: While living with
Thestorides, Homer composed the Lesser Iliad and the Phocais; though the
Phocaeans say that he composed the latter among them.

THE MARGITES
Fragment #1—Suidas, s.v.: Pigres. A Carian of Halicarnassus and brother
of Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, who distinguished herself in war... 3401 He
also wrote the Margites attributed to Homer and the Battle of the Frogs and
Mice.
Fragment #2—Atilius Fortunatianus, p. 286, Keil: ‘There came to
Colophon an old man and divine singer, a servant of the Muses and of far-
shooting Apollo. In his dear hands he held a sweet-toned lyre.’
Fragment #3—Plato, Alcib. ii. p. 147 A: ‘He knew many things but knew
all badly...’
Aristotle, Nic. Eth. vi. 7, 1141: ‘The gods had taught him neither to dig
nor to plough, nor any other skill; he failed in every craft.’
Fragment #4—Scholiast on Aeschines in Ctes., sec. 160: He refers to
Margites, a man who, though well grown up, did not know whether it was
his father or his mother who gave him birth, and would not lie with his
wife, saying that he was afraid she might give a bad account of him to her
mother.
Fragment #5—Zenobius, v. 68: ‘The fox knows many a wile; but the
hedge-hog’s one trick 3402 can beat them all.’ 3403

THE CERCOPES
Fragment #1—Suidas, s.v.: Cercopes. These were two brothers living
upon the earth who practised every kind of knavery. They were called
Cercopes 3501 because of their cunning doings: one of them was named
Passalus and the other Acmon. Their mother, a daughter of Memnon, seeing
their tricks, told them to keep clear of Black-bottom, that is, of Heracles.
These Cercopes were sons of Theia and Ocean, and are said to have been
turned to stone for trying to deceive Zeus.
‘Liars and cheats, skilled in deeds irremediable, accomplished knaves.
Far over the world they roamed deceiving men as they wandered
continually.’

THE BATTLE OF FROGS AND MICE
(ll. 1-8) Here I begin: and first I pray the choir of the Muses to come
down from Helicon into my heart to aid the lay which I have newly written
in tablets upon my knee. Fain would I sound in all men’s ears that awful
strife, that clamorous deed of war, and tell how the Mice proved their valour
on the Frogs and rivalled the exploits of the Giants, those earth-born men,
as the tale was told among mortals. Thus did the war begin.
(ll. 9-12) One day a thirsty Mouse who had escaped the ferret, dangerous
foe, set his soft muzzle to the lake’s brink and revelled in the sweet water.
There a loud-voiced pond-larker spied him: and uttered such words as
these.
(ll. 13-23) ‘Stranger, who are you? Whence come you to this shore, and
who is he who begot you? Tell me all this truly and let me not find you
lying. For if I find you worthy to be my friend, I will take you to my house
and give you many noble gifts such as men give to their guests. I am the
king Puff-jaw, and am honoured in all the pond, being ruler of the Frogs
continually. The father that brought me up was Mud-man who mated with
Waterlady by the banks of Eridanus. I see, indeed, that you are well-looking
and stouter than the ordinary, a sceptred king and a warrior in fight; but,
come, make haste and tell me your descent.’
(ll. 24-55) Then Crumb-snatcher answered him and said: ‘Why do you
ask my race, which is well-known amongst all, both men and gods and the
birds of heaven? Crumb-snatcher am I called, and I am the son of Bread-
nibbler—he was my stout-hearted father—and my mother was Quern-
licker, the daughter of Ham-gnawer the king: she bare me in the mouse-hole
and nourished me with food, figs and nuts and dainties of all kinds. But
how are you to make me your friend, who am altogether different in nature?
For you get your living in the water, but I am used to each such foods as
men have: I never miss the thrice-kneaded loaf in its neat, round basket, or
the thin-wrapped cake full of sesame and cheese, or the slice of ham, or
liver vested in white fat, or cheese just curdled from sweet milk, or
delicious honey-cake which even the blessed gods long for, or any of all

those cates which cooks make for the feasts of mortal men, larding their
pots and pans with spices of all kinds. In battle I have never flinched from
the cruel onset, but plunged straight into the fray and fought among the
foremost. I fear not man though he has a big body, but run along his bed
and bite the tip of his toe and nibble at his heel; and the man feels no hurt
and his sweet sleep is not broken by my biting. But there are two things I
fear above all else the whole world over, the hawk and the ferret—for these
bring great grief on me—and the piteous trap wherein is treacherous death.
Most of all I fear the ferret of the keener sort which follows you still even
when you dive down your hole. 3601 I gnaw no radishes and cabbages and
pumpkins, nor feed on green leeks and parsley; for these are food for you
who live in the lake.’
(ll. 56-64) Then Puff-jaw answered him with a smile: ‘Stranger you boast
too much of belly-matters: we too have many marvels to be seen both in the
lake and on the shore. For the Son of Chronos has given us Frogs the power
to lead a double life, dwelling at will in two separate elements; and so we
both leap on land and plunge beneath the water. If you would learn of all
these things, ’tis easy done: just mount upon my back and hold me tight lest
you be lost, and so you shall come rejoicing to my house.’
(ll. 65-81) So said he, and offered his back. And the Mouse mounted at
once, putting his paws upon the other’s sleek neck and vaulting nimbly.
Now at first, while he still saw the land near by, he was pleased, and was
delighted with Puff-jaw’s swimming; but when dark waves began to wash
over him, he wept loudly and blamed his unlucky change of mind: he tore
his fur and tucked his paws in against his belly, while within him his heart
quaked by reason of the strangeness: and he longed to get to land, groaning
terribly through the stress of chilling fear. He put out his tail upon the water
and worked it like a steering oar, and prayed to heaven that he might get to
land. But when the dark waves washed over him he cried aloud and said:
‘Not in such wise did the bull bear on his back the beloved load, when he
brought Europa across the sea to Crete, as this Frog carries me over the
water to his house, raising his yellow back in the pale water.’
(ll. 82-92) Then suddenly a water-snake appeared, a horrid sight for both
alike, and held his neck upright above the water. And when he saw it, Puff-
jaw dived at once, and never thought how helpless a friend he would leave
perishing; but down to the bottom of the lake he went, and escaped black

death. But the Mouse, so deserted, at once fell on his back, in the water. He
wrung his paws and squeaked in agony of death: many times he sank
beneath the water and many times he rose up again kicking. But he could
not escape his doom, for his wet fur weighed him down heavily. Then at the
last, as he was dying, he uttered these words.
(ll. 93-98) ‘Ah, Puff-jaw, you shall not go unpunished for this treachery!
You threw me, a castaway, off your body as from a rock. Vile coward! On
land you would not have been the better man, boxing, or wrestling, or
running; but now you have tricked me and cast me in the water. Heaven has
an avenging eye, and surely the host of Mice will punish you and not let
you escape.’
(ll. 99-109) With these words he breathed out his soul upon the water.
But Lick-platter as he sat upon the soft bank saw him die and, raising a
dreadful cry, ran and told the Mice. And when they heard of his fate, all the
Mice were seized with fierce anger, and bade their heralds summon the
people to assemble towards dawn at the house of Bread-nibbler, the father
of hapless Crumb-snatcher who lay outstretched on the water face up, a
lifeless corpse, and no longer near the bank, poor wretch, but floating in the
midst of the deep. And when the Mice came in haste at dawn, Bread-nibbler
stood up first, enraged at his son’s death, and thus he spoke.
(ll. 110-121) ‘Friends, even if I alone had suffered great wrong from the
Frogs, assuredly this is a first essay at mischief for you all. And now I am
pitiable, for I have lost three sons. First the abhorred ferret seized and killed
one of them, catching him outside the hole; then ruthless men dragged
another to his doom when by unheard-of arts they had contrived a wooden
snare, a destroyer of Mice, which they call a trap. There was a third whom I
and his dear mother loved well, and him Puff-jaw has carried out into the
deep and drowned. Come, then, and let us arm ourselves and go out against
them when we have arrayed ourselves in rich-wrought arms.’
(ll. 122-131) With such words he persuaded them all to gird themselves.
And Ares who has charge of war equipped them. First they fastened on
greaves and covered their shins with green bean-pods broken into two parts
which they had gnawed out, standing over them all night. Their breast
plates were of skin stretched on reeds, skilfully made from a ferret they had
flayed. For shields each had the centre-piece of a lamp, and their spears

were long needles all of bronze, the work of Ares, and the helmets upon
their temples were pea-nut shells.
(ll. 132-138) So the Mice armed themselves. But when the Frogs were
aware of it, they rose up out of the water and coming together to one place
gathered a council of grievous war. And while they were asking whence the
quarrel arose, and what the cause of this anger, a herald drew near bearing a
wand in his paws, Pot-visitor the son of great-hearted Cheese-carver. He
brought the grim message of war, speaking thus:
(ll. 139-143) ‘Frogs, the Mice have sent me with their threats against you,
and bid you arm yourselves for war and battle; for they have seen Crumb-
snatcher in the water whom your king Puff-jaw slew. Fight, then, as many
of you as are warriors among the Frogs.’
(ll. 144-146) With these words he explained the matter. So when this
blameless speech came to their ears, the proud Frogs were disturbed in their
hearts and began to blame Puff-jaw. But he rose up and said:
(ll. 147-159) ‘Friends, I killed no Mouse, nor did I see one perishing.
Surely he was drowned while playing by the lake and imitating the
swimming of the Frogs, and now these wretches blame me who am
guiltless. Come then; let us take counsel how we may utterly destroy the
wily Mice. Moreover, I will tell you what I think to be the best. Let us all
gird on our armour and take our stand on the very brink of the lake, where
the ground breaks down sheer: then when they come out and charge upon
us, let each seize by the crest the Mouse who attacks him, and cast them
with their helmets into the lake; for so we shall drown these dry-hobs 3602 in
the water, and merrily set up here a trophy of victory over the slaughtered
Mice.’
(ll. 160-167) By this speech he persuaded them to arm themselves.
They covered their shins with leaves of mallows, and had breastplates
made of fine green beet-leaves, and cabbage-leaves, skilfully fashioned, for
shields. Each one was equipped with a long, pointed rush for a spear, and
smooth snail-shells to cover their heads. Then they stood in close-locked
ranks upon the high bank, waving their spears, and were filled, each of
them, with courage.
(ll. 168-173) Now Zeus called the gods to starry heaven and showed
them the martial throng and the stout warriors so many and so great, all
bearing long spears; for they were as the host of the Centaurs and the

Giants. Then he asked with a sly smile; ‘Who of the deathless gods will
help the Frogs and who the Mice?’
And he said to Athena;
(ll. 174-176) ‘My daughter, will you go aid the Mice? For they all frolic
about your temple continually, delighting in the fat of sacrifice and in all
kinds of food.’
(ll. 177-196) So then said the son of Cronos. But Athena answered him:
‘I would never go to help the Mice when they are hard pressed, for they
have done me much mischief, spoiling my garlands and my lamps too, to
get the oil. And this thing that they have done vexes my heart exceedingly:
they have eaten holes in my sacred robe, which I wove painfully spinning a
fine woof on a fine warp, and made it full of holes. And now the money-
lender is at me and charges me interest which is a bitter thing for immortals.
For I borrowed to do my weaving, and have nothing with which to repay.
Yet even so I will not help the Frogs; for they also are not considerable:
once, when I was returning early from war, I was very tired, and though I
wanted to sleep, they would not let me even doze a little for their outcry;
and so I lay sleepless with a headache until cock-crow. No, gods, let us
refrain from helping these hosts, or one of us may get wounded with a sharp
spear; for they fight hand to hand, even if a god comes against them. Let us
rather all amuse ourselves watching the fight from heaven.’
(ll. 197-198) So said Athena. And the other gods agreed with her, and all
went in a body to one place.
(ll. 199-201) Then gnats with great trumpets sounded the fell note of war,
and Zeus the son of Cronos thundered from heaven, a sign of grievous
battle.
(ll. 202-223) First Loud-croaker wounded Lickman in the belly, right
through the midriff. Down fell he on his face and soiled his soft fur in the
dust: he fell with a thud and his armour clashed about him. Next Troglodyte
shot at the son of Mudman, and drove the strong spear deep into his breast;
so he fell, and black death seized him and his spirit flitted forth from his
mouth. Then Beety struck Pot-visitor to the heart and killed him, and Bread-
nibbler hit Loud-crier in the belly, so that he fell on his face and his spirit
flitted forth from his limbs. Now when Pond-larker saw Loud-crier
perishing, he struck in quickly and wounded Troglodyte in his soft neck
with a rock like a mill-stone, so that darkness veiled his eyes. Thereat

Ocimides was seized with grief, and struck out with his sharp reed and did
not draw his spear back to him again, but felled his enemy there and then.
And Lickman shot at him with a bright spear and hit him unerringly in the
midriff. And as he marked Cabbage-eater running away, he fell on the steep
bank, yet even so did not cease fighting but smote that other so that he fell
and did not rise again; and the lake was dyed with red blood as he lay
outstretched along the shore, pierced through the guts and shining flanks.
Also he slew Cheese-eater on the very brink....
((LACUNA))
(ll. 224-251) But Reedy took to flight when he saw Ham-nibbler, and
fled, plunging into the lake and throwing away his shield. Then blameless
Pot-visitor killed Brewer and Water-larked killed the lord Ham-nibbler,
striking him on the head with a pebble, so that his brains flowed out at his
nostrils and the earth was bespattered with blood. Faultless Muck-coucher
sprang upon Lick-platter and killed him with his spear and brought darkness
upon his eyes: and Leeky saw it, and dragged Lick-platter by the foot,
though he was dead, and choked him in the lake. But Crumb-snatcher was
fighting to avenge his dead comrades, and hit Leeky before he reached the
land; and he fell forward at the blow and his soul went down to Hades. And
seeing this, the Cabbage-climber took a clod of mud and hurled it at the
Mouse, plastering all his forehead and nearly blinding him. Thereat Crumb-
snatcher was enraged and caught up in his strong hand a huge stone that lay
upon the ground, a heavy burden for the soil: with that he hit Cabbage-
climber below the knee and splintered his whole right shin, hurling him on
his back in the dust. But Croakperson kept him off, and rushing at the
Mouse in turn, hit him in the middle of the belly and drove the whole reed-
spear into him, and as he drew the spear back to him with his strong hand,
all his foe’s bowels gushed out upon the ground. And when Troglodyte saw
the deed, as he was limping away from the fight on the river bank, he
shrank back sorely moved, and leaped into a trench to escape sheer death.
Then Bread-nibbler hit Puff-jaw on the toes—he came up at the last from
the lake and was greatly distressed....
((LACUNA))
(ll. 252-259) And when Leeky saw him fallen forward, but still half alive,
he pressed through those who fought in front and hurled a sharp reed at
him; but the point of the spear was stayed and did not break his shield. Then

noble Rueful, like Ares himself, struck his flawless head-piece made of four
pots—he only among the Frogs showed prowess in the throng. But when he
saw the other rush at him, he did not stay to meet the stout-hearted hero but
dived down to the depths of the lake.
(ll. 260-271) Now there was one among the Mice, Slice-snatcher, who
excelled the rest, dear son of Gnawer the son of blameless Bread-stealer. He
went to his house and bade his son take part in the war. This warrior
threatened to destroy the race of Frogs utterly 3603, and splitting a chestnut-
husk into two parts along the joint, put the two hollow pieces as armour on
his paws: then straightway the Frogs were dismayed and all rushed down to
the lake, and he would have made good his boast—for he had great strength
—had not the Son of Cronos, the Father of men and gods, been quick to
mark the thing and pitied the Frogs as they were perishing. He shook his
head, and uttered this word:
(ll. 272-276) ‘Dear, dear, how fearful a deed do my eyes behold! Slice-
snatcher makes no small panic rushing to and fro among the Frogs by the
lake. Let us then make all haste and send warlike Pallas or even Ares, for
they will stop his fighting, strong though he is.’
(ll. 277-284) So said the Son of Cronos; but Hera answered him: ‘Son of
Cronos, neither the might of Athena nor of Ares can avail to deliver the
Frogs from utter destruction. Rather, come and let us all go to help them, or
else let loose your weapon, the great and formidable Titan-killer with which
you killed Capaneus, that doughty man, and great Enceladus and the wild
tribes of Giants; ay, let it loose, for so the most valiant will be slain.’
(ll. 285-293) So said Hera: and the Son of Cronos cast a lurid
thunderbolt: first he thundered and made great Olympus shake, and the cast
the thunderbolt, the awful weapon of Zeus, tossing it lightly forth. Thus he
frightened them all, Frogs and Mice alike, hurling his bolt upon them. Yet
even so the army of the Mice did not relax, but hoped still more to destroy
the brood of warrior Frogs. Only, the Son of Cronos, on Olympus, pitied the
Frogs and then straightway sent them helpers.
(ll. 294-303) So there came suddenly warriors with mailed backs and
curving claws, crooked beasts that walked sideways, nut-cracker-jawed,
shell-hided: bony they were, flat-backed, with glistening shoulders and
bandy legs and stretching arms and eyes that looked behind them. They had
also eight legs and two feelers—persistent creatures who are called crabs.

These nipped off the tails and paws and feet of the Mice with their jaws,
while spears only beat on them. Of these the Mice were all afraid and no
longer stood up to them, but turned and fled. Already the sun was set, and
so came the end of the one-day war.

OF THE ORIGIN OF HOMER AND HESIOD, AND
OF THEIR CONTEST

Everyone boasts that the most divine of poets, Homer and Hesiod, are
said to be his particular countrymen. Hesiod, indeed, has put a name to his
native place and so prevented any rivalry, for he said that his father ‘settled
near Helicon in a wretched hamlet, Ascra, which is miserable in winter,
sultry in summer, and good at no season.’ But, as for Homer, you might
almost say that every city with its inhabitants claims him as her son.
Foremost are the men of Smyrna who say that he was the Son of Meles, the
river of their town, by a nymph Cretheis, and that he was at first called
Melesigenes. He was named Homer later, when he became blind, this being
their usual epithet for such people. The Chians, on the other hand, bring
forward evidence to show that he was their countryman, saying that there
actually remain some of his descendants among them who are called
Homeridae. The Colophonians even show the place where they declare that
he began to compose when a schoolmaster, and say that his first work was
the Margites.
As to his parents also, there is on all hands great disagreement.
Hellanicus and Cleanthes say his father was Maeon, but Eugaeon says
Meles; Callicles is for Mnesagoras, Democritus of Troezen for Daemon, a
merchant-trader. Some, again, say he was the son of Thamyras, but the
Egyptians say of Menemachus, a priest-scribe, and there are even those who
father him on Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. As for his mother, she is
variously called Metis, Cretheis, Themista, and Eugnetho. Others say she
was an Ithacan woman sold as a slave by the Phoenicians; other, Calliope
the Muse; others again Polycasta, the daughter of Nestor.
Homer himself was called Meles or, according to different accounts,
Melesigenes or Altes. Some authorities say he was called Homer, because
his father was given as a hostage to the Persians by the men of Cyprus;

others, because of his blindness; for amongst the Aeolians the blind are so
called. We will set down, however, what we have heard to have been said
by the Pythia concerning Homer in the time of the most sacred Emperor
Hadrian. When the monarch inquired from what city Homer came, and
whose son he was, the priestess delivered a response in hexameters after
this fashion:
‘Do you ask me of the obscure race and country of the heavenly siren?
Ithaca is his country, Telemachus his father, and Epicasta, Nestor’s
daughter, the mother that bare him, a man by far the wisest of mortal kind.’
This we must most implicitly believe, the inquirer and the answerer being
who they are—especially since the poet has so greatly glorified his
grandfather in his works.
Now some say that he was earlier than Hesiod, others that he was
younger and akin to him. They give his descent thus: Apollo and Aethusa,
daughter of Poseidon, had a son Linus, to whom was born Pierus. From
Pierus and the nymph Methone sprang Oeager; and from Oeager and
Calliope Orpheus; from Orpheus, Dres; and from him, Eucles. The descent
is continued through Iadmonides, Philoterpes, Euphemus, Epiphrades and
Melanopus who had sons Dius and Apelles. Dius by Pycimede, the daughter
of Apollo had two sons Hesiod and Perses; while Apelles begot Maeon who
was the father of Homer by a daughter of the River Meles.
According to one account they flourished at the same time and even had
a contest of skill at Chalcis in Euboea. For, they say, after Homer had
composed the Margites, he went about from city to city as a minstrel, and
coming to Delphi, inquired who he was and of what country? The Pythia
answered:
‘The Isle of Ios is your mother’s country and it shall receive you dead;
but beware of the riddle of the young children.’ 3701
Hearing this, it is said, he hesitated to go to Ios, and remained in the
region where he was. Now about the same time Ganyctor was celebrating
the funeral rites of his father Amphidamas, king of Euboea, and invited to
the gathering not only all those who were famous for bodily strength and
fleetness of foot, but also those who excelled in wit, promising them great
rewards. And so, as the story goes, the two went to Chalcis and met by
chance. The leading Chalcidians were judges together with Paneides, the
brother of the dead king; and it is said that after a wonderful contest

between the two poets, Hesiod won in the following manner: he came
forward into the midst and put Homer one question after another, which
Homer answered. Hesiod, then, began:
‘Homer, son of Meles, inspired with wisdom from heaven, come, tell me
first what is best for mortal man?’
HOMER: ‘For men on earth ’tis best never to be born at all; or being
born, to pass through the gates of Hades with all speed.’
Hesiod then asked again:
‘Come, tell me now this also, godlike Homer: what think you in your
heart is most delightsome to men?’
Homer answered:
‘When mirth reigns throughout the town, and feasters about the house,
sitting in order, listen to a minstrel; when the tables beside them are laden
with bread and meat, and a wine-bearer draws sweet drink from the mixing-
bowl and fills the cups: this I think in my heart to be most delightsome.’
It is said that when Homer had recited these verses, they were so admired
by the Greeks as to be called golden by them, and that even now at public
sacrifices all the guests solemnly recite them before feasts and libations.
Hesiod, however, was annoyed by Homer’s felicity and hurried on to pose
him with hard questions. He therefore began with the following lines:
‘Come, Muse; sing not to me of things that are, or that shall be, or that
were of old; but think of another song.’
Then Homer, wishing to escape from the impasse by an apt answer,
replied:—
‘Never shall horses with clattering hoofs break chariots, striving for
victory about the tomb of Zeus.’
Here again Homer had fairly met Hesiod, and so the latter turned to
sentences of doubtful meaning 3702: he recited many lines and required
Homer to complete the sense of each appropriately. The first of the
following verses is Hesiod’s and the next Homer’s: but sometimes Hesiod
puts his question in two lines.
HESIOD: ‘Then they dined on the flesh of oxen and their horses’ necks
—’

HOMER: ‘They unyoked dripping with sweat, when they had had
enough of war.’
HESIOD: ‘And the Phrygians, who of all men are handiest at ships—’
HOMER: ‘To filch their dinner from pirates on the beach.’
HESIOD: ‘To shoot forth arrows against the tribes of cursed giants with
his hands—’
HOMER: ‘Heracles unslung his curved bow from his shoulders.’
HESIOD: ‘This man is the son of a brave father and a weakling—’
HOMER: ‘Mother; for war is too stern for any woman.’
HESIOD: ‘But for you, your father and lady mother lay in love—’
HOMER: ‘When they begot you by the aid of golden Aphrodite.’
HESIOD: ‘But when she had been made subject in love, Artemis, who
delights in arrows—’
HOMER: ‘Slew Callisto with a shot of her silver bow.’
HESIOD: ‘So they feasted all day long, taking nothing—’
HOMER: ‘From their own houses; for Agamemnon, king of men,
supplied them.’
HESIOD: ‘When they had feasted, they gathered among the glowing
ashes the bones of the dead Zeus—’
HOMER: ‘Born Sarpedon, that bold and godlike man.’
HESIOD: ‘Now we have lingered thus about the plain of Simois, forth
from the ships let us go our way, upon our shoulders—’
HOMER: ‘Having our hilted swords and long-helved spears.’
HESIOD: ‘Then the young heroes with their hands from the sea—’
HOMER: ‘Gladly and swiftly hauled out their fleet ship.’
HESIOD: ‘Then they came to Colchis and king Aeetes—’
HOMER: ‘They avoided; for they knew he was inhospitable and
lawless.’
HESIOD: ‘Now when they had poured libations and deeply drunk, the
surging sea—’
HOMER: ‘They were minded to traverse on well-built ships.’

HESIOD: ‘The Son of Atreus prayed greatly for them that they all might
perish—’
HOMER: ‘At no time in the sea: and he opened his mouth said:’
HESIOD: ‘Eat, my guests, and drink, and may no one of you return home
to his dear country—’
HOMER: ‘Distressed; but may you all reach home again unscathed.’
When Homer had met him fairly on every point Hesiod said:
‘Only tell me this thing that I ask: How many Achaeans went to Ilium
with the sons of Atreus?’
Homer answered in a mathematical problem, thus:
‘There were fifty hearths, and at each hearth were fifty spits, and on each
spit were fifty carcases, and there were thrice three hundred Achaeans to
each joint.’
This is found to be an incredible number; for as there were fifty hearths,
the number of spits is two thousand five hundred; and of carcasses, one
hundred and twenty thousand...
Homer, then, having the advantage on every point, Hesiod was jealous
and began again:
‘Homer, son of Meles, if indeed the Muses, daughters of great Zeus the
most high, honour you as it is said, tell me a standard that is both best and
worst for mortal-men; for I long to know it.’ Homer replied: ‘Hesiod, son of
Dius, I am willing to tell you what you command, and very readily will I
answer you. For each man to be a standard will I answer you. For each man
to be a standard to himself is most excellent for the good, but for the bad it
is the worst of all things. And now ask me whatever else your heart desires.’
HESIOD: ‘How would men best dwell in cities, and with what
observances?’
HOMER: ‘By scorning to get unclean gain and if the good were
honoured, but justice fell upon the unjust.’
HESIOD: ‘What is the best thing of all for a man to ask of the gods in
prayer?’
HOMER: ‘That he may be always at peace with himself continually.’
HESIOD: ‘Can you tell me in briefest space what is best of all?’
HOMER: ‘A sound mind in a manly body, as I believe.’

HESIOD: ‘Of what effect are righteousness and courage?’
HOMER: ‘To advance the common good by private pains.’
HESIOD: ‘What is the mark of wisdom among men?’
HOMER: ‘To read aright the present, and to march with the occasion.’
HESIOD: ‘In what kind of matter is it right to trust in men?’
HOMER: ‘Where danger itself follows the action close.’
HESIOD: ‘What do men mean by happiness?’
HOMER: ‘Death after a life of least pain and greatest pleasure.’
After these verses had been spoken, all the Hellenes called for Homer to
be crowned. But King Paneides bade each of them recite the finest passage
from his own poems. Hesiod, therefore, began as follows:
‘When the Pleiads, the daughters of Atlas, begin to rise begin the harvest,
and begin ploughing ere they set. For forty nights and days they are hidden,
but appear again as the year wears round, when first the sickle is sharpened.
This is the law of the plains and for those who dwell near the sea or live in
the rich-soiled valleys, far from the wave-tossed deep: strip to sow, and
strip to plough, and strip to reap when all things are in season.’ 3703
Then Homer:
‘The ranks stood firm about the two Aiantes, such that not even Ares
would have scorned them had he met them, nor yet Athena who saves
armies. For there the chosen best awaited the charge of the Trojans and
noble Hector, making a fence of spears and serried shields. Shield closed
with shield, and helm with helm, and each man with his fellow, and the
peaks of their head-pieces with crests of horse-hair touched as they bent
their heads: so close they stood together. The murderous battle bristled with
the long, flesh-rending spears they held, and the flash of bronze from
polished helms and new-burnished breast-plates and gleaming shields
blinded the eyes. Very hard of heart would he have been, who could then
have seen that strife with joy and felt no pang.’ 3704
Here, again, the Hellenes applauded Homer admiringly, so far did the
verses exceed the ordinary level; and demanded that he should be adjudged
the winner. But the king gave the crown to Hesiod, declaring that it was
right that he who called upon men to follow peace and husbandry should
have the prize rather than one who dwelt on war and slaughter. In this way,

then, we are told, Hesiod gained the victory and received a brazen tripod
which he dedicated to the Muses with this inscription:
‘Hesiod dedicated this tripod to the Muses of Helicon after he had
conquered divine Homer at Chalcis in a contest of song.’
After the gathering was dispersed, Hesiod crossed to the mainland and
went to Delphi to consult the oracle and to dedicate the first fruits of his
victory to the god. They say that as he was approaching the temple, the
prophetess became inspired and said:
‘Blessed is this man who serves my house,—Hesiod, who is honoured by
the deathless Muses: surely his renown shall be as wide as the light of dawn
is spread. But beware of the pleasant grove of Nemean Zeus; for there
death’s end is destined to befall you.’
When Hesiod heard this oracle, he kept away from the Peloponnesus,
supposing that the god meant the Nemea there; and coming to Oenoe in
Locris, he stayed with Amphiphanes and Ganyetor the sons of Phegeus,
thus unconsciously fulfilling the oracle; for all that region was called the
sacred place of Nemean Zeus. He continued to stay a somewhat long time
at Oenoe, until the young men, suspecting Hesiod of seducing their sister,
killed him and cast his body into the sea which separates Achaea and
Locris. On the third day, however, his body was brought to land by dolphins
while some local feast of Ariadne was being held. Thereupon, all the people
hurried to the shore, and recognized the body, lamented over it and buried
it, and then began to look for the assassins. But these, fearing the anger of
their countrymen, launched a fishing boat, and put out to sea for Crete: they
had finished half their voyage when Zeus sank them with a thunderbolt, as
Alcidamas states in his “Museum”. Eratosthenes, however, says in his
“Hesiod” that Ctimenus and Antiphus, sons of Ganyetor, killed him for the
reason already stated, and were sacrificed by Eurycles the seer to the gods
of hospitality. He adds that the girl, sister of the above-named, hanged
herself after she had been seduced, and that she was seduced by some
stranger, Demodes by name, who was travelling with Hesiod, and who was
also killed by the brothers. At a later time the men of Orchomenus removed
his body as they were directed by an oracle, and buried him in their own
country where they placed this inscription on his tomb:
‘Ascra with its many cornfields was his native land; but in death the land
of the horse-driving Minyans holds the bones of Hesiod, whose renown is

greatest among men of all who are judged by the test of wit.’
So much for Hesiod. But Homer, after losing the victory, went from place
to place reciting his poems, and first of all the Thebais in seven thousand
verses which begins: ‘Goddess, sing of parched Argos whence kings...’, and
then the Epigoni in seven thousand verses beginning: ‘And now, Muses, let
us begin to sing of men of later days’; for some say that these poems also
are by Homer. Now Xanthus and Gorgus, son of Midas the king, heard his
epics and invited him to compose a epitaph for the tomb of their father on
which was a bronze figure of a maiden bewailing the death of Midas. He
wrote the following lines:—
‘I am a maiden of bronze and sit upon the tomb of Midas. While water
flows, and tall trees put forth leaves, and rivers swell, and the sea breaks on
the shore; while the sun rises and shines and the bright moon also, ever
remaining on this mournful tomb I tell the passer-by that Midas here lies
buried.’
For these verses they gave him a silver bowl which he dedicated to
Apollo at Delphi with this inscription: ‘Lord Phoebus, I, Homer, have given
you a noble gift for the wisdom I have of you: do you ever grant me
renown.’
After this he composed the Odyssey in twelve thousand verses, having
previously written the Iliad in fifteen thousand five hundred verses 3705.
From Delphi, as we are told, he went to Athens and was entertained by
Medon, king of the Athenians. And being one day in the council hall when
it was cold and a fire was burning there, he drew off the following lines:
‘Children are a man’s crown, and towers of a city, horses are the
ornament of a plain, and ships of the sea; and good it is to see a people
seated in assembly. But with a blazing fire a house looks worthier upon a
wintry day when the Son of Cronos sends down snow.’
From Athens he went on to Corinth, where he sang snatches of his poems
and was received with distinction. Next he went to Argos and there recited
these verses from the Iliad:
‘The sons of the Achaeans who held Argos and walled Tiryns, and
Hermione and Asine which lie along a deep bay, and Troezen, and Eiones,
and vine-clad Epidaurus, and the island of Aegina, and Mases,—these
followed strong-voiced Diomedes, son of Tydeus, who had the spirit of his
father the son of Oeneus, and Sthenelus, dear son of famous Capaneus. And

with these two there went a third leader, Eurypylus, a godlike man, son of
the lord Mecisteus, sprung of Talaus; but strong-voiced Diomedes was their
chief leader. These men had eighty dark ships wherein were ranged men
skilled in war, Argives with linen jerkins, very goads of war.’ 3706
This praise of their race by the most famous of all poets so exceedingly
delighted the leading Argives, that they rewarded him with costly gifts and
set up a brazen statue to him, decreeing that sacrifice should be offered to
Homer daily, monthly, and yearly; and that another sacrifice should be sent
to Chios every five years. This is the inscription they cut upon his statue:
‘This is divine Homer who by his sweet-voiced art honoured all proud
Hellas, but especially the Argives who threw down the god-built walls of
Troy to avenge rich-haired Helen. For this cause the people of a great city
set his statue here and serve him with the honours of the deathless gods.’
After he had stayed for some time in Argos, he crossed over to Delos, to
the great assembly, and there, standing on the altar of horns, he recited the
Hymn to Apollo 3707 which begins: ‘I will remember and not forget Apollo
the far-shooter.’ When the hymn was ended, the Ionians made him a citizen
of each one of their states, and the Delians wrote the poem on a whitened
tablet and dedicated it in the temple of Artemis. The poet sailed to Ios, after
the assembly was broken up, to join Creophylus, and stayed there some
time, being now an old man. And, it is said, as he was sitting by the sea he
asked some boys who were returning from fishing:
‘Sirs, hunters of deep-sea prey, have we caught anything?’
To this replied:
‘All that we caught, we left behind, and carry away all that we did not
catch.’
Homer did not understand this reply and asked what they meant. They
then explained that they had caught nothing in fishing, but had been
catching their lice, and those of the lice which they caught, they left behind;
but carried away in their clothes those which they did not catch. Hereupon
Homer remembered the oracle and, perceiving that the end of his life had
come composed his own epitaph. And while he was retiring from that place,
he slipped in a clayey place and fell upon his side, and died, it is said, the
third day after. He was buried in Ios, and this is his epitaph:

‘Here the earth covers the sacred head of divine Homer, the glorifier of
hero-men.’

ENDNOTES
1101 (return)
[ sc. in Boeotia, Locris and Thessaly: elsewhere the movement was forced and
unfruitful.]

1102 (return)
[ The extant collection of three poems, Works and Days, Theogony, and Shield of
Heracles, which alone have come down to us complete, dates at least from the
4th century A.D.: the title of the Paris Papyrus (Bibl. Nat. Suppl. Gr. 1099)
names only these three works.]

1103 (return)
[ Der Dialekt des Hesiodes, p. 464: examples are AENEMI (W. and D. 683) and
AROMENAI (ib. 22).]

1104 (return)
[ T.W. Allen suggests that the conjured Delian and Pythian hymns to Apollo
(Homeric Hymns III) may have suggested this version of the story, the Pythian
hymn showing strong continental influence.]

1105 (return)
[ She is said to have given birth to the lyrist Stesichorus.]

1106 (return)
[ See Kinkel Epic. Graec. Frag. i. 158 ff.]

1107 (return)
[ See Great Works, frag. 2.]

1108 (return)
[ Hesiodi Fragmenta, pp. 119 f.]

1109 (return)
[ Possibly the division of this poem into two books is a division belonging solely
to this ‘developed poem’, which may have included in its second part a summary
of the Tale of Troy.]

1110 (return)
[ Goettling’s explanation.]

1111 (return)
[ x. 1. 52.]

1112 (return)
[ Odysseus appears to have been mentioned once only—and that casually—in
the Returns.]

1113 (return)
[ M.M. Croiset note that the Aethiopis and the Sack were originally merely parts
of one work containing lays (the Amazoneia, Aethiopis, Persis, etc.), just as the
Iliad contained various lays such as the Diomedeia.]

1114 (return)
[ No date is assigned to him, but it seems likely that he was either contemporary
or slightly earlier than Lesches.]

1115 (return)
[ Cp. Allen and Sikes, Homeric Hymns p. xv. In the text I have followed the
arrangement of these scholars, numbering the Hymns to Dionysus and to
Demeter, I and II respectively: to place Demeter after Hermes, and the Hymn to
Dionysus at the end of the collection seems to be merely perverse.]

1116 (return)
[ Greek Melic Poets, p. 165.]

1117 (return)
[ This monument was returned to Greece in the 1980’s.— DBK.]

1118 (return)
[ Cp. Marckscheffel, Hesiodi fragmenta, p. 35. The papyrus fragment recovered
by Petrie (Petrie Papyri, ed. Mahaffy, p. 70, No. xxv.) agrees essentially with the
extant document, but differs in numerous minor textual points.]

1201 (return)
[ See Schubert, Berl. Klassikertexte v. 1.22 ff.; the other papyri may be found in
the publications whose name they bear.]

1202 (return)
[ Unless otherwise noted, all MSS. are of the 15th century.]

1203 (return)
[ To this list I would also add the following: Hesiod and Theognis, translated by
Dorothea Wender (Penguin Classics, London, 1973).—DBK.]

1301 (return)
[ That is, the poor man’s fare, like ‘bread and cheese’.]

1302 (return)
[ The All-endowed.]

1303 (return)
[ The jar or casket contained the gifts of the gods mentioned in l.82.]

1304 (return)
[ Eustathius refers to Hesiod as stating that men sprung “from oaks and stones

and ashtrees”. Proclus believed that the Nymphs called Meliae (Theogony, 187)
are intended. Goettling would render: “A race terrible because of their (ashen)
spears.”]

1305 (return)
[ Preserved only by Proclus, from whom some inferior MSS. have copied the
verse. The four following lines occur only in Geneva Papyri No. 94. For the
restoration of ll. 169b-c see “Class. Quart.” vii. 219-220. (NOTE: Mr. Evelyn-
White means that the version quoted by Proclus stops at this point, then picks up
at l. 170.—DBK).]

1306 (return)
[ i.e. the race will so degenerate that at the last even a new-born child will show
the marks of old age.]

1307 (return)
[ Aidos, as a quality, is that feeling of reverence or shame which restrains men
from wrong: Nemesis is the feeling of righteous indignation aroused especially
by the sight of the wicked in undeserved prosperity (cf. Psalms, lxxii. 1-19).]

1308 (return)
[ The alternative version is: ‘and, working, you will be much better loved both
by gods and men; for they greatly dislike the idle.’]

1309 (return)
[ i.e. neighbours come at once and without making preparations, but kinsmen by
marriage (who live at a distance) have to prepare, and so are long in coming.]

1310 (return)
[ Early in May.]

1311 (return)
[ In November.]

1312 (return)
[ In October.]

1313 (return)
[ For pounding corn.]

1314 (return)
[ A mallet for breaking clods after ploughing.]

1315 (return)
[ The loaf is a flattish cake with two intersecting lines scored on its upper surface
which divide it into four equal parts.]

1316 (return)
[ The meaning is obscure. A scholiast renders ‘giving eight mouthfulls’; but the
elder Philostratus uses the word in contrast to ‘leavened’.]

1317 (return)
[ About the middle of November.]

1318 (return)
[ Spring is so described because the buds have not yet cast their iron-grey husks.]

1319 (return)
[ In December.]

1320 (return)
[ In March.]

1321 (return)
[ The latter part of January and earlier part of February.]

1322 (return)
[ i.e. the octopus or cuttle.]

1323 (return)
[ i.e. the darker-skinned people of Africa, the Egyptians or Aethiopians.]

1324 (return)
[ i.e. an old man walking with a staff (the ‘third leg’— as in the riddle of the
Sphinx).]

1325 (return)
[ February to March.]

1326 (return)
[ i.e. the snail. The season is the middle of May.]

1327 (return)
[ In June.]

1328 (return)
[ July.]

1329 (return)
[ i.e. a robber.]

1330 (return)
[ September.]

1331 (return)
[ The end of October.]

1332 (return)
[ That is, the succession of stars which make up the full year.]

1333 (return)
[ The end of October or beginning of November.]