Author: Hesiod
Written: ~700 BCE
(Translated by Evelyn-White, Hugh G.)
From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold
the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the
deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when
they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's
Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon
and move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night,
veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising
Zeus the aegis-holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden
sandals and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athene,
and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon
the earth-holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and
quick-glancing Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and
fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and
great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark
Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are
for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was
shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the
goddesses said to me--the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds
the aegis:
'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.'
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?
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.
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.
These things, then, the Muses sang who dwell on Olympus,
nine daughters begotten by great Zeus, Cleio and Euterpe, Thaleia,
Melpomene and Terpsichore, and Erato and Polyhymnia and Urania and
Calliope, who is the chiefest of them all, for she attends on
worshipful princes: whomsoever of heaven-nourished princes the daughters
of great Zeus honour, and behold him at his birth, they pour sweet dew
upon his tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words. All the people
look towards him while he settles causes with true judgements: and he,
speaking surely, would soon make wise end even of a great quarrel; for
therefore are there princes wise in heart, because when the people are
being misguided in their assembly, they set right the matter again with
ease, persuading them with gentle words. And when he passes through
a gathering, they greet him as a god with gentle reverence, and he is
conspicuous amongst the assembled: such is the holy gift of the Muses to
men. For it is through the Muses and far-shooting Apollo that there are
singers and harpers upon the earth; but princes are of Zeus, and happy
is he whom the Muses love: sweet flows speech from his mouth. For though
a man have sorrow and grief in his newly-troubled soul and live in dread
because his heart is distressed, yet, when a singer, the servant of the
Muses, chants the glorious deeds of men of old and the blessed gods who
inhabit Olympus, at once he forgets his heaviness and remembers not his
sorrows at all; but the gifts of the goddesses soon turn him away from
these.
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.
Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next
wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all the
deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in
the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the
deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise
counsels of all gods and all men within them. From Chaos came forth
Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Day,
whom she conceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And Earth
first bare starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side,
and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she
brought forth long Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess-Nymphs who
dwell amongst the glens of the hills. She bare also the fruitless
deep with his raging swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love. But
afterwards she lay with Heaven and bare deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and
Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and
gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos the
wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty
sire.
And again, she bare the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit,
Brontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges, who gave Zeus
the thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the
gods, but one eye only was set in the midst of their fore-heads. And
they were surnamed Cyclopes (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in
their foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works.
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:
'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.'
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:
'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.'
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.
And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love,
and he lay about Earth spreading himself full upon her.
Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his
right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped
off his own father's members and cast them away to fall behind him. And
not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that
gushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare the
strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long
spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae all
over the boundless earth. And so soon as he had cut off the members with
flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept
away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from
the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near
holy Cythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Cyprus,
and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about
her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite, and the
foam-born goddess and rich-crowned Cytherea, because she grew amid the
foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera, and Cyprogenes because
she was born in billowy Cyprus, and Philommedes because sprang
from the members. And with her went Eros, and comely Desire followed her
at her birth at the first and as she went into the assembly of the gods.
This honour she has from the beginning, and this is the portion allotted
to her amongst men and undying gods,--the whisperings of maidens and
smiles and deceits with sweet delight and love and graciousness.
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.
And Night bare hateful Doom and black Fate and Death,
and she bare Sleep and the tribe of Dreams. And again the goddess murky
Night, though she lay with none, bare Blame and painful Woe, and the
Hesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing fruit
beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bare the Destinies and ruthless avenging
Fates, Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos, who give men at their
birth both evil and good to have, and they pursue the transgressions of
men and of gods: and these goddesses never cease from their dread anger
until they punish the sinner with a sore penalty. Also deadly Night bare
Nemesis (Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit and
Friendship and hateful Age and hard-hearted Strife.
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.
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.
And of Nereus and rich-haired Doris, daughter of Ocean
the perfect river, were born children, passing lovely amongst
goddesses, Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and Thetis,
Galene and Glauce, Cymothoe, Speo, Thoe and lovely Halie, and Pasithea,
and Erato, and rosy-armed Eunice, and gracious Melite, and Eulimene, and
Agaue, Doto, Proto, Pherusa, and Dynamene, and Nisaea, and Actaea, and
Protomedea, Doris, Panopea, and comely Galatea, and lovely Hippothoe,
and rosy-armed Hipponoe, and Cymodoce who with Cymatolege and
Amphitrite easily calms the waves upon the misty sea and the blasts
of raging winds, and Cymo, and Eione, and rich-crowned Alimede, and
Glauconome, fond of laughter, and Pontoporea, Leagore, Euagore, and
Laomedea, and Polynoe, and Autonoe, and Lysianassa, and Euarne, lovely
of shape and without blemish of form, and Psamathe of charming figure
and divine Menippe, Neso, Eupompe, Themisto, Pronoe, and Nemertes
who has the nature of her deathless father. These fifty daughters sprang
from blameless Nereus, skilled in excellent crafts.
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.
And again, Ceto bare to Phorcys the fair-cheeked Graiae,
sisters grey from their birth: and both deathless gods and men who walk
on earth call them Graiae, Pemphredo well-clad, and saffron-robed Enyo,
and the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land
towards Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and
Euryale, and Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but
the two were undying and grew not old. With her lay the Dark-haired One
in a soft meadow amid spring flowers. And when Perseus cut off
her head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who
is so called because he was born near the springs (pegae) of Ocean;
and that other, because he held a golden blade (aor) in his hands. Now
Pegasus flew away and left the earth, the mother of flocks, and came
to the deathless gods: and he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings to
wise Zeus the thunder and lightning. But Chrysaor was joined in love
to Callirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean, and begot three-headed
Geryones. Him mighty Heracles slew in sea-girt Erythea by his shambling
oxen on that day when he drove the wide-browed oxen to holy Tiryns,
and had crossed the ford of Ocean and killed Orthus and Eurytion the
herdsman in the dim stead out beyond glorious Ocean.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters
who with the lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping--to
this charge Zeus appointed them--Peitho, and Admete, and Ianthe, and
Electra, and Doris, and Prymno, and Urania divine in form, Hippo,
Clymene, Rhodea, and Callirrhoe, Zeuxo and Clytie, and Idyia, and
Pasithoe, Plexaura, and Galaxaura, and lovely Dione, Melobosis and Thoe
and handsome Polydora, Cerceis lovely of form, and soft eyed Pluto,
Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea the fair, Menestho, and
Europa, Metis, and Eurynome, and Telesto saffron-clad, Chryseis and Asia
and charming Calypso, Eudora, and Tyche, Amphirho, and Ocyrrhoe, and
Styx who is the chiefest of them all. These are the eldest daughters
that sprang from Ocean and Tethys; but there are many besides. For there
are three thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean who are dispersed far
and wide, and in every place alike serve the earth and the deep waters,
children who are glorious among goddesses. And as many other rivers are
there, babbling as they flow, sons of Ocean, whom queenly Tethys bare,
but their names it is hard for a mortal man to tell, but people know
those by which they severally dwell.
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.
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.
And Eos bare to Astraeus the strong-hearted winds,
brightening Zephyrus, and Boreas, headlong in his course, and Notus,--a
goddess mating in love with a god. And after these Erigenia bare
the star Eosphorus (Dawn-bringer), and the gleaming stars with which
heaven is crowned.
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 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.
Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.
Then the goddess through the love of the god conceived and brought forth
dark-gowned Leto, always mild, kind to men and to the deathless gods,
mild from the beginning, gentlest in all Olympus. Also she bare Asteria
of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be called his
dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos
honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the
earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry heaven,
and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods. For to this day,
whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for
favour according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great honour comes
full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favourably, and
she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her. For as
many as were born of Earth and Ocean amongst all these she has her due
portion. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of
all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds,
as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in
earth, and in heaven, and in sea. Also, because she is an only child,
the goddess receives not less honour, but much more still, for Zeus
honours her. Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by
worshipful kings in judgement, and in the assembly whom she will is
distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the
battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory
and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is she also when men
contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits
them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich
prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And she is good
to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is
in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the
loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great
catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will.
She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves
of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will,
she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. So, then. albeit her
mother's only child, she is honoured amongst all the deathless
gods. And the son of Cronos made her a nurse of the young who after
that day saw with their eyes the light of all-seeing Dawn. So from the
beginning she is a nurse of the young, and these are her honours.
But Rhea was subject in love to Cronos and bare splendid
children, Hestia, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades,
pitiless in heart, who dwells under the earth, and the loud-crashing
Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, by whose thunder
the wide earth is shaken. These great Cronos swallowed as each came
forth from the womb to his mother's knees with this intent, that no
other of the proud sons of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst
the deathless gods. For he learned from Earth and starry Heaven that
he was destined to be overcome by his own son, strong though he was,
through the contriving of great Zeus. Therefore he kept no blind
outlook, but watched and swallowed down his children: and unceasing
grief seized Rhea. But when she was about to bear Zeus, the father of
gods and men, then she besought her own dear parents, Earth and starry
Heaven, to devise some plan with her that the birth of her dear child
might be concealed, and that retribution might overtake great, crafty
Cronos for his own father and also for the children whom he had
swallowed down. And they readily heard and obeyed their dear daughter,
and told her all that was destined to happen touching Cronos the king
and his stout-hearted son. So they sent her to Lyetus, to the rich land
of Crete, when she was ready to bear great Zeus, the youngest of her
children. Him did vast Earth receive from Rhea in wide Crete to nourish
and to bring up. Thither came Earth carrying him swiftly through the
black night to Lyctus first, and took him in her arms and hid him in a
remote cave beneath the secret places of the holy earth on thick-wooded
Mount Aegeum; but to the mightily ruling son of Heaven, the earlier king
of the gods, she gave a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then
he took it in his hands and thrust it down into his belly: wretch!
he knew not in his heart that in place of the stone his son was left
behind, unconquered and untroubled, and that he was soon to overcome him
by force and might and drive him from his honours, himself to reign over
the deathless gods.
After that, the strength and glorious limbs of the prince
increased quickly, and as the years rolled on, great Cronos the wily
was beguiled by the deep suggestions of Earth, and brought up again
his offspring, vanquished by the arts and might of his own son, and he
vomited up first the stone which he had swallowed last. And Zeus set
it fast in the wide-pathed earth at goodly Pytho under the glens of
Parnassus, to be a sign thenceforth and a marvel to mortal men.
And he set free from their deadly bonds the brothers of his father,
sons of Heaven whom his father in his foolishness had bound. And they
remembered to be grateful to him for his kindness, and gave him thunder
and the glowing thunderbolt and lightening: for before that, huge
Earth had hidden these. In them he trusts and rules over mortals and
immortals.
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:
'Son of Iapetus, most glorious of all lords, good sir, how
unfairly you have divided the portions!'
So said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him.
But wily Prometheus answered him, smiling softly and not forgetting his
cunning trick:
'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:
'Son of Iapetus, clever above all! So, sir, you have not
yet forgotten your cunning arts!'
So spake Zeus in anger, whose wisdom is everlasting; and
from that time he was always mindful of the trick, and would not give
the power of unwearying fire to the Melian race of mortal men who
live on the earth. But the noble son of Iapetus outwitted him and stole
the far-seen gleam of unwearying fire in a hollow fennel stalk. And Zeus
who thunders on high was stung in spirit, and his dear heart was angered
when he saw amongst men the far-seen ray of fire. Forthwith he made an
evil thing for men as the price of fire; for the very famous Limping
God formed of earth the likeness of a shy maiden as the son of Cronos
willed. And the goddess bright-eyed Athene girded and clothed her with
silvery raiment, and down from her head she spread with her hands a
broidered veil, a wonder to see; and she, Pallas Athene, put about her
head lovely garlands, flowers of new-grown herbs. Also she put upon her
head a crown of gold which the very famous Limping God made himself and
worked with his own hands as a favour to Zeus his father. On it was much
curious work, wonderful to see; for of the many creatures which the
land and sea rear up, he put most upon it, wonderful things, like living
beings with voices: and great beauty shone out from it.
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.
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.
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.
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:
'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.'
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.'
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.
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.
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.
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.
There stands the awful home of murky Night wrapped in
dark clouds. In front of it the son of Iapetus stands immovably
upholding the wide heaven upon his head and unwearying hands, where
Night and Day draw near and greet one another as they pass the great
threshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the
house, the other comes out at the door.
And the house never holds them both within; but always one is without
the house passing over the earth, while the other stays at home
and waits until the time for her journeying come; and the one holds
all-seeing light for them on earth, but the other holds in her arms
Sleep the brother of Death, even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous
cloud.
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.
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.
And there dwells the goddess loathed by the deathless
gods, terrible Styx, eldest daughter of back-flowing Ocean. She
lives apart from the gods in her glorious house vaulted over with great
rocks and propped up to heaven all round with silver pillars. Rarely
does the daughter of Thaumas, swift-footed Iris, come to her with a
message over the sea's wide back.
But when strife and quarrel arise among the deathless gods, and when any
of them who live in the house of Olympus lies, then Zeus sends Iris
to bring in a golden jug the great oath of the gods from far away, the
famous cold water which trickles down from a high and beetling rock. Far
under the wide-pathed earth a branch of Oceanus flows through the dark
night out of the holy stream, and a tenth part of his water is allotted
to her. With nine silver-swirling streams he winds about the earth and
the sea's wide back, and then falls into the main; but the tenth
flows out from a rock, a sore trouble to the gods. For whoever of the
deathless gods that hold the peaks of snowy Olympus pours a libation of
her water is forsworn, lies breathless until a full year is completed,
and never comes near to taste ambrosia and nectar, but lies spiritless
and voiceless on a strewn bed: and a heavy trance overshadows him. But
when he has spent a long year in his sickness, another penance and an
harder follows after the first. For nine years he is cut off from the
eternal gods and never joins their councils of their feasts, nine full
years. But in the tenth year he comes again to join the assemblies of
the deathless gods who live in the house of Olympus. Such an oath, then,
did the gods appoint the eternal and primaeval water of Styx to be: and
it spouts through a rugged place.
And there, all in their order, are the sources and ends
of the dark earth and misty Tartarus and the unfruitful sea and starry
heaven, loathsome and dank, which even the gods abhor.
And there are shining gates and an immoveable threshold of bronze having
unending roots and it is grown of itself. And beyond, away from
all the gods, live the Titans, beyond gloomy Chaos. But the glorious
allies of loud-crashing Zeus have their dwelling upon Ocean's
foundations, even Cottus and Gyes; but Briareos, being goodly, the
deep-roaring Earth-Shaker made his son-in-law, giving him Cymopolea his
daughter to wed.
But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge
Earth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the
aid of golden Aphrodite. Strength was with his hands in all that he did
and the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew
an hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering
tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads
flashed fire, and fire burned from his heads as he glared. And there
were voices in all his dreadful heads which uttered every kind of
sound unspeakable; for at one time they made sounds such that the gods
understood, but at another, the noise of a bull bellowing aloud in proud
ungovernable fury; and at another, the sound of a lion, relentless of
heart; and at another, sounds like whelps, wonderful to hear; and again,
at another, he would hiss, so that the high mountains re-echoed. And
truly a thing past help would have happened on that day, and he would
have come to reign over mortals and immortals, had not the father of men
and gods been quick to perceive it. But he thundered hard and mightily:
and the earth around resounded terribly and the wide heaven above, and
the sea and Ocean's streams and the nether parts of the earth. Great
Olympus reeled beneath the divine feet of the king as he arose and
earth groaned thereat. And through the two of them heat took hold on the
dark-blue sea, through the thunder and lightning, and through the fire
from the monster, and the scorching winds and blazing thunderbolt. The
whole earth seethed, and sky and sea: and the long waves raged along the
beaches round and about, at the rush of the deathless gods: and there
arose an endless shaking. Hades trembled where he rules over the dead
below, and the Titans under Tartarus who live with Cronos, because of
the unending clamour and the fearful strife. So when Zeus had raised
up his might and seized his arms, thunder and lightning and lurid
thunderbolt, he leaped from Olympus and struck him, and burned all the
marvellous heads of the monster about him. But when Zeus had conquered
him and lashed him with strokes, Typhoeus was hurled down, a maimed
wreck, so that the huge earth groaned. And flame shot forth from the
thunder-stricken lord in the dim rugged glens of the mount, when
he was smitten. A great part of huge earth was scorched by the terrible
vapour and melted as tin melts when heated by men's art in channelled
crucibles; or as iron, which is hardest of all things, is
softened by glowing fire in mountain glens and melts in the divine earth
through the strength of Hephaestus. Even so, then, the earth
melted in the glow of the blazing fire. And in the bitterness of his
anger Zeus cast him into wide Tartarus.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to
bright-eyed Tritogeneia, the awful, the strife-stirring, the
host-leader, the unwearying, the queen, who delights in tumults and wars
and battles. But Hera without union with Zeus--for she was very angry
and quarrelled with her mate--bare famous Hephaestus, who is skilled in
crafts more than all the sons of Heaven.
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.... deceiving Metis (Thought)
although she was full wise. But he seized her with his hands and put
her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger
than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells
in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway conceived
Pallas Athene: and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way
of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained hidden
beneath the inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena's mother, worker of
righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men. There the goddess
(Athena) received that whereby she excelled in strength all
the deathless ones who dwell in Olympus, she who made the host-scaring
weapon of Athena. And with it (Zeus) gave her birth, arrayed in arms of
war.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And Alcmena was joined in love with Zeus who drives the
clouds and bare mighty Heracles.
And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea, youngest
of the Graces, his buxom wife.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And the bright goddess Calypso was joined to Odysseus in
sweet love, and bare him Nausithous and Nausinous.
These are the immortal goddesses who lay with mortal men
and bare them children like unto gods.
But now, sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughters of
Zeus who holds the aegis, sing of the company of women.