Not like the houses reared on every side
Stands that wherein Alcinous doth abide,
But easy to be known.
Stands that wherein Alcinous doth abide,
But easy to be known.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v13 - Her to Hux
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Me glory summons to the martial scene,—
The field of combat is the sphere for men;
Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim,
The first in danger as the first in fame. "
Thus having said, the glorious chief resumes
His towery helmet, black with shading plumes.
His princess parts with a prophetic sigh;
Unwilling parts, and oft reverts her eye,
That streamed at every look; then moving slow,
Sought her own palace and indulged er woe.
Pope's Translation.
ACHILLES REFUSES TO AID THE GREEKS
From the Iliad, ix. 307-347
WHO
HOм answered thus Achilles, swift of foot:-
"Heaven-born Ulysses, sage in council, son
Of great Laertes, I must frankly speak
My mind at once, my fixed resolve declare:
That from henceforth I may not by the Greeks,
By this man and by that, be importuned.
Him as the gates of hell my soul abhors,
Whose outward words his inmost thoughts conceal.
Hear then what seems to me the wisest course.
On me nor Agamemnon, Atreus's son,
Nor others shall prevail, since naught is gained
By toil unceasing in the battle-field.
Who nobly fight, but share with those who skulk;
Like honors gain the coward and the brave;
Alike the idlers and the active die:
And naught it profits me, though day by day
In constant toil I set my life at stake;
But as a bird, though ill she fare herself,
Brings to her callow brood the food she takes,
So I through many a sleepless night have lain,
And many a bloody day have labored through,
Engaged in battle on your wives' behalf.
Twelve cities have I taken with my ships:
Eleven more by land on Trojan soil.
From all of these abundant stores of wealth
I took, and all to Agamemnon gave;
He, safe on board his ships, my spoils received,
A few divided, but the most retained.
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To other chiefs and kings he meted out
Their sev'ral portions, and they hold them still;
From me, from me alone of all the Greeks,
He bore away, and keeps, my cherished wife.
But say then, why do Greeks with Trojans fight?
Why hath Atrides brought this mighty host
To Troy, if not in fair-haired Helen's cause?
Of mortals are there none that love their wives,
Save Atreus's sons alone? or do not all,
Who boast the praise of sense and virtue, love
And cherish each his own? as her I loved
Ev'n from my soul, though captive of my spear.
Now, since he once hath robbed me, and deceived,
Let him not seek my aid; I know him now,
And am not to be won; let him devise,
With thee, Ulysses, and the other kings,
How best from hostile fires to save his ships. "
Translation of Edward, Earl of Derby.
HECTOR PURSUED BY ACHILLES AROUND TROY
From the Iliad, xxii. 136-185
ECTOR beheld and trembled: naught he dared
Η
To wait, but left the gates, and shuddering flew.
Achilleus with swift feet behind him fared.
As mountain hawk, most fleet of feathered crew,
A trembling dove doth easily pursue;
Swerving she flutters; he, intent to seize,
With savage scream close hounds her through the blue;-
So keenly he swept onward; Hector flees
Beneath his own Troy wall, and plies his limber knees.
All past the watch-tower and the fig-tree tall
Along the chariot road at speed they fare,
Still swerving outward from the city's wall;
Then reach the two fair-flowing streamlets, where
Scamander's twofold source breaks forth to air.
One flows in a warm tide, and steam doth go
Up from it, as a blazing fire were there;
But the other runs in summer's midmost glow
Cold as the frozen hail, or ice, or chilly snow.
Thereby great troughs and meet for washing stand,
Beautiful, stony, where their robes of pride
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Troy's wives and daughters washed, ere to the land
The foeman came, in happy peaceful tide.
Flying and following, these they ran beside,
He good that flies, he better that pursues;
For no fat victim 'twas, nor bullock's hide,
Such meed as men for conquering runners choose,
But Hector's life the prize they ran to win or lose.
Look how prize-bearing horses, hard of hoof,
Circle about the goal with eager bound,
And a great guerdon stands, not far aloof,
Tripod or woman, at the funeral mound
Of some dead chief; so thrice they circled round
King Priam's town, their swift feet winged for flight:
While all the gods Olympus's summit crowned,
Looking from high to see the wondrous sight;
And thus the almighty Sire their counsel did invite:
"Alas! I see a loved one with mine eyes
Chased round the city: and my heart doth bleed
For Hector, for that many an ox's thighs
He burnt, where Ida overlooks the mead,
Or in the topmost tower; now with fell speed
Achilleus hunts him round King Priam's town.
But come, ye gods, take counsel and arede,
Or shall we save him now, or strike him down
Under Achilleus's spear, despite his fair renown. "
To him stern-eyed Athene answered so:
"Dread Thunderer in dark cloud, what words are these?
What, a mere mortal, fated long ago,
Wouldst thou set free from death's severe decrees?
Do it; but us gods thy doing shall not please. "
And cloud-compelling Zeus in turn rejoined:
"Take heart, dear child, and set thy soul at ease;
I meant it not, but would to thee be kind:
Now do it, nor delay, whate'er is in thy mind. "
Translation of John Conington.
-:
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HECTOR'S FUNERAL RITES
Close of the Iliad-xxiv. 777-804
THE
HESE words made even the commons mourn, to whom the king
said: "Friends,
Now fetch wood for our funeral fire, nor fear the foe intends
Ambush, or any violence: Achilles gave his word,
At my dismission, that twelve days he would keep sheathed his
sword,
And all men's else. " Thus oxen, mules, in chariots straight they put,
Went forth, and an unmeasured pile of sylvan matter cut,
Nine days employed in carriage, but when the tenth morn shined
On wretched mortals, then they brought the fit-to-be-divined
Forth to be burned. Troy swum in tears. Upon the pile's most
height
They laid the person, and gave fire. All day it burned, all night.
But when the eleventh morn let on earth her rosy fingers shine,
The people flocked about the pile, and first with blackish wine
Quenched all the flames. His brothers then, and friends, the snowy
bones
Gathered into an urn of gold, still pouring on their moans.
Then wrapt they in soft purple veils the rich urn, digged a pit,
Graved it, rammed up the grave with stones, and quickly built to it
A sepulchre. But while that work and all the funeral rites
Were in performance, guards were held at all parts, days and nights,
For fear of false surprise before they had imposed the crown
To these solemnities. The tomb advanced once, all the town
In Jove-nursed Priam's court partook a passing sumptuous feast:
And so horse-taming Hector's rites gave up his soul to rest.
Translation of George Chapman.
THE EPISODE OF NAUSICAA
FROM THE ODYSSEY
I. — Book vi. , 1–84.
Translation of George H. Palmer. Copyright 1884, by G.
H. Palmer. Reprinted by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , pub-
lishers, Boston.
HUS long-tried royal Odysseus slumbered here, heavy with
sleep and toil; but Athene went to the land and town of
the Phæacians. This people once in ancient times lived in
the open highlands, near that rude folk the Cyclops, who often.
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plundered them, being in strength more powerful than they.
Moving them thence, godlike Nausithous, their leader, established
them at Scheria, far from toiling men. He ran a wall around
the town, built houses there, made temples for the gods, and laid
out farms; but Nausithous had met his doom and gone to the
house of Hades, and Alcinous now was reigning, trained in wis-
dom by the gods. To this man's dwelling came the goddess,
clear-eyed Athene, planning a safe return for brave Odysseus.
She hastened to a chamber, richly wrought, in which a maid
was sleeping, of form and beauty like the immortals, Nausicaa,
daughter of generous Alcinous. Near by, two damsels, dowered
with beauty by the Graces, slept by the threshold, one on either
hand. The shining doors were shut; but Athene, like a breath
of air, moved to the maid's couch, stood by her head, and thus
addressed her,-taking the likeness of the daughter of Dymas,
the famous seaman, a maiden just Nausicaa's age, dear to her
heart. Taking her guise, thus spoke clear-eyed Athene:—
"Nausicaa, how did your mother bear a child so heedless?
Your gay clothes lie uncared for, though the wedding-time is
near, when you must wear fine clothes yourself and furnish them
to those that may attend you. From things like these a good
repute arises, and father and honored mother are made glad.
Then let us go a-washing at the dawn of day, and I will go to
help, that you may soon be ready; for really not much longer
will you be a maid. Already you have for suitors the chief
ones of the land throughout Phæacia, where you too were born.
Come, then, beg your good father early in the morning to har-
ness the mules and cart, so as to carry the men's clothes, gowns,
and bright-hued rugs. Yes, and for you yourself it is more
decent so than setting forth on foot: the pools are far from the
town. "
Saying this, clear-eyed Athene passed away, off to Olympus,
where they say the dwelling of the gods stands fast forever.
Never with winds is it disturbed, nor by the rain made wet, nor
does the snow come near; but everywhere the upper air spreads
cloudless, and a bright radiance plays over all: and there the
blessed gods are happy all their days. Thither now came the
clear-eyed one, when she had spoken with the maid.
Soon bright-throned morning came, and waked fair-robed Nau-
sicaa. She marveled at the dream, and hastened through the house
to tell it to her parents, her dear father and her mother. She
XIII-474
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found them still indoors: her mother sat by the hearth among
the waiting-women, spinning sea-purple yarn; she met her father
at the door, just going forth to join the famous princes at the
council, to which the high Phæacians summoned him. So, stand-
ing close beside him, she said to her dear father:—
"Papa dear, could you not have the wagon harnessed for me,
-the high one, with good wheels,- to take my nice clothes to
the river to be washed, which now are lying dirty? Surely for
you yourself it is but proper, when you are with the first men
holding councils, that you should wear clean clothing. Five good
sons too are here at home,-two married, and three merry young
men still, and they are always wanting to go to the dance
wearing fresh clothes. And this is all a trouble on my mind. "
Such were her words, for she was shy of naming the glad
marriage to her father; but he understood it all, and answered
thus:
―
"I do not grudge the mules, my child, nor anything beside.
Go! Quickly shall the servant harness the wagon for you,—the
high one, with good wheels, fitted with rack above. "
Saying this he called to the servants, who gave heed. Out
in the court they made the easy mule cart ready; they brought
the mules, and yoked them to the wagon. The maid took from
her room her pretty clothing, and stowed it in the polished
wagon; her mother put in a chest, food the maid liked, of every
kind, put dainties in, and poured some wine into a goatskin
bottle, the maid, meanwhile, had got into the wagon,—and
gave her in a golden flask some liquid oil, that she might bathe
and anoint herself, she and the waiting-women. Nausicaa took
the whip and the bright reins, and cracked the whip to start.
There was a clatter of the mules, and steadily they pulled, drawing
the clothing and the maid,-yet not alone; beside her went the
waiting-women too.
C
II. — Book vi. , 85-197. Translation of Butcher and Lang
NOW WHEN they were come to the beautiful stream of the
river, where truly were the unfailing cisterns, and bright water
welled up free from beneath, and flowed past, enough to wash
the foulest garments clean, there the girls unharnessed the mules.
from under the chariot, and turning them loose they drove them
along the banks of the eddying river to graze on the sweet
clover. Then they took the garments from the wain, in their
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hands, and bore them to the black water, and briskly trod them
down in the trenches, in busy rivalry. Now when they had
washed and cleansed all the stains, they spread all out in order
along the shore of the deep, even where the sea, in beating on
the coast, washed the pebbles clean. Then having bathed and
anointed them well with olive oil, they took their midday meal
on the river's banks, waiting till the clothes should dry in the
brightness of the sun. Anon, when they were satisfied with.
food, the maidens and the princess, they fell to playing at ball,
casting away their tires, and among them Nausicaa of the white
arms began the song. And even as Artemis the archer moveth
down the mountain, either along the ridges of lofty Taygetus
or Erymanthus, taking her pastime in the chase of boars and
swift deer, and with her the wild wood-nymphs disport them, the
daughters of Zeus, lord of the ægis, and Leto is glad at heart,
while high over all she rears her head and brows, and easily may
she be known, but all are fair; even so the girl unwed out-
shone her maiden company.
But when now she was about going homewards, after yoking
the mules and folding up the goodly raiment, then gray-eyed
Athene turned to other thoughts, that so Odysseus might awake,
and see the lovely maiden who should be his guide to the city
of the Phæacian men. So then the princess threw the ball at
one of her company; she missed the girl, and cast the ball into
the deep eddying current, whereat they all raised a piercing cry.
Then the goodly Odysseus awoke and sat up, pondering in his
heart and spirit:-
"Woe is me! to what men's land am I come now? say, are
they froward and wild, and. unjust, or are they hospitable and
of God-fearing mind? How shrill a cry of maidens rings round
me, of the nymphs that hold the steep hill-tops, and the river
springs, and the grassy water meadows. It must be, methinks,
that I am
near men of human speech. Go to; I myself will
make trial and see. "
Therewith the goodly Odysseus crept out from under the
coppice, having broken with his strong hand a leafy bough from
the thick wood, to hold athwart his body, that it might hide his
nakedness withal. And forth he sallied like a lion of the hills,
trusting in his strength, who fares out under wind and rain, and
his eyes are all on fire. And he goes amid the kine or the sheep
or in the track of the wild deer; yea, his belly bids him to make
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assay upon the flocks, even within a close-penned fold. Even so
Odysseus was fain to draw nigh to the fair-dressed maidens, all
naked as he was, such need had come upon him. But he was
terrible in their eyes, all marred as he was with the salt foam,
and they fled cowering here and there about the jutting spits
of shore. And the daughter of Alcinous alone stood firm, for
Athene gave her courage of heart, and took all trembling from
her limbs. So she halted and stood over against him, and Odys-
seus considered whether he should clasp the knees of the lovely
maiden, and so make his prayer, or should stand as he was, apart,
and beseech her with smooth words, if haply she might show him
the town and give him raiment. And as he thought within him-
self, it seemed better to stand apart, and beseech her with smooth
words, lest the maiden should be angered with him if he touched
her knees; so straightway he spoke a sweet and cunning word:
"I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art some goddess or a
mortal! If indeed thou art a goddess of them that keep the wide
heaven, to Artemis, then, the daughter of great Zeus, I mainly
liken thee, for beauty and stature and shapeliness. But if thou
art one of the daughters of men who dwell on earth, thrice
blessed are thy father and thy lady mother, and thrice blessed
thy brethren. Surely their hearts ever glow with gladness for
thy sake, each time they see thee entering the dance, so fair a
flower of maidens. But he is of heart the most blessed beyond
all other who shall prevail with gifts of wooing, and lead thee
to his home. Never have mine eyes beheld such an one among
mortals, neither man nor woman; great awe comes upon me as
I look on thee. Yet in Delos once I saw as goodly a thing: a
young sapling of a palm-tree springing by the altar of Apollo.
For thither too I went, and much people with me, on that path
where my sore troubles were to be. Yea, and when I looked
thereupon, long time, I marveled in spirit,- for never grew there
yet so goodly a shoot from ground,- even in such wise as I won-
der at thee, lady, and am astonied and do greatly fear to touch
thy knees, though grievous sorrow is upon me. Yesterday, on
the twentieth day, I escaped from the wine-dark deep, but all
that time continually the wave bore me, and the vehement winds
drave, from the isle Ogygia. And now some god has cast me on
this shore, and here too, methinks, some evil may betide me: for
I trow not that evil will cease; the gods ere that time will yet
bring many a thing to pass. But, queen, have pity on me, for
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>>>>
after many trials and sore, to thee first of all I come; and of the
other folk, who hold this city and land, I know no man. Nay,
show me the town, give me an old garment to cast about me, if
thou hadst, when thou camest here, any wrap for the linen. And
may the gods grant thee all thy heart's desire: a husband and a
home, and a mind at one with his may they give-a good gift;
for there is nothing mightier and nobler than when man and
wife are of one heart and mind in a house, a grief to their foes,
and to their friends great joy, but their own hearts know it best.
Then Nausicaa of the white arms answered him, and said:
"Stranger, forasmuch as thou seemest no evil man nor foolish —
and it is Olympian Zeus himself that giveth weal to men, to
the good and to the evil to each one as he will, and this thy
lot doubtless is of him, and so thou must in anywise endure
it; - and now, since thou hast come to our city and our land,
thou shalt not lack raiment, nor aught else that is the due of
a hapless suppliant when he has met them who can befriend
him. And I will show thee the town, and name the name of the
people. The Phæacians hold this city and land, and I am the
daughter of Alcinous, great of heart, on whom all the might and
force of the Phæacians depend. "
-
III. -Book vi. , 198-254. Translation of William Cullen Bryant. Copyright
1871, by James R. Osgood. Reprinted by permission of the publishers,
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , Boston.
So SPAKE the damsel, and commanded thus
Her fair-haired maids: "Stay! whither do ye flee,
My handmaids, when a man appears in sight?
Ye think, perhaps, he is some enemy.
Nay, there is no man living now, nor yet
Will live, to enter, bringing war, the land
Of the Phæacians. Very dear are they
To the great gods. We dwell apart, afar
Within the unmeasured deep, amid its waves
The most remote of men; no other race
Hath commerce with us. This man comes to us
A wanderer and unhappy, and to him
Our cares are due. The stranger and the poor
Are sent by Jove, and slight regards to them
Are grateful. Maidens, give the stranger food
And drink, and take him to the river-side
To bathe where there is shelter from the wind. "
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So spake the mistress; and they stayed their flight
And bade each other stand, and led the chief
Under a shelter as the royal maid,
Daughter of stout Alcinous, gave command,
And laid a cloak and tunic near the spot
To be his raiment, and a golden cruse
Of limpid oil. Then, as they bade him bathe
In the fresh stream, the noble chieftain said:-
"Withdraw, ye maidens, hence, while I prepare
To cleanse my shoulders from the bitter brine,
And to anoint them; long have these my limbs
Been unfreshed by oil. I will not bathe
Before you. I should be ashamed to stand
Unclothed in presence of these bright-haired maids. "
He spake; they hearkened and withdrew, and told
The damsel what he said. Ulysses then
Washed the salt spray of ocean from his back
And his broad shoulders in the flowing stream,
And wiped away the sea froth from his brows.
And when the bath was over, and his limbs
Had been anointed, and he had put on
The garments sent him by the spotless maid,
Jove's daughter, Pallas, caused him to appear
Of statelier size and more majestic mien,
And bade the locks that crowned his head flow down,
Curling like blossoms of the hyacinth.
As when some skillful workman trained and taught
By Vulcan and Minerva in his art
Binds the bright silver with a verge of gold,
And graceful in his handiwork, such grace
Did Pallas shed upon the hero's brow
And shoulders, as he passed along the beach,
And, glorious in his beauty and the pride
Of noble bearing, sat aloof. The maid
Admired, and to her bright-haired women spake:-
"Listen to me, my maidens, while I speak.
This man comes not among the godlike sons
Of the Phæacian stock against the will
Of all the gods of heaven. I thought him late
Of an unseemly aspect; now he bears
A likeness to the immortal ones whose home
Is the broad heaven. I would that I might call
A man like him my husband, dwelling here.
And here content to dwell. Now hasten, maids,
And set before the stranger food and wine. "
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She spake; they heard and cheerfully obeyed,
And set before Ulysses food and wine.
The patient chief Ulysses ate and drank
Full eagerly, for he had fasted long.
White-armed Nausicaa then had other cares.
She placed the smoothly folded robes within
The sumptuous chariot, yoked the firm-hoofed mules,
And mounted to her place, and from the seat
Spake kindly, counseling Ulysses thus:-
IV. - Book vi. , 255-331. Translation of Philip Worsley
"STRANGER, bestir thyself to seek the town,
That to my father's mansion I may lead
Thee following, there to meet the flower and crown
Of the Phæacian people. But take heed
(Not senseless dost thou seem in word or deed),
While 'mid the fields and works of men we go,
After the mules, in the wain's track, to speed,
Girt with this virgin company, and lo!
I will myself drive first, and all the road will show.
"When we the city reach - a castled crown
Of wall encircles it from end to end,
And a fair haven, on each side the town,
Framed with fine entrance, doth our barks defend,
Which, where the terrace by the shore doth wend,
Line the long coast; to all and each large space,
Docks, and deep shelter, doth that haven lend;
There, paved with marble, our great market-place
Doth with its arms Poseidon's beauteous fane embrace.
"All instruments marine they fashion there,
Cordage and canvas and the tapering oar;
Since not for bow nor quiver do they care,
But masts and well-poised ships and naval store,
Wherewith the foam-white ocean they explore
Rejoicing. There I fear for my good name,
For in the land dwell babblers evermore,
Proud, supercilious, who might work me shame
Hereafter with sharp tongues of cavil and quick blame.
"Haply would ask some losel, meeting me,
'Where did she find this stranger tall and brave
Who is it? He then will her husband be-
Perchance some far-off foreigner - whom the wave
(For none dwell near us) on our island drave.
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Or have her long prayers made a god come down,
Whom all her life she shall for husband have?
Wisely she sought him, for she spurns our town,
Though wooed by many a chief of high worth and renown. '
"So will they speak this slander to my shame;
Yea, if another made the like display,
Her I myself should be the first to blame,
If in the public streets she should essay
To mix with men before her marriage day,
Against her father's and her mother's will.
Now, stranger, well remember what I say,
So mayst thou haply in good haste fulfill
Thy journey, with safe-conduct, by my father's will:-
"Hard by the roadside an illustrious grove,
Athene's, all of poplar, thou shalt find.
Through it a streaming rivulet doth rove,
And the rich meadow-lands around it wind.
There the estate lies to my sire assigned,
There his fat vineyards-from the town so far
As a man's shout may travel. There reclined
Tarry such while, and thy approach debar,
Till we belike within my father's mansion are.
"Then to the town Phæacian, and inquire
(Plain is the house, a child might be thy guide)
Where dwells Alcinous my large-hearted sire.
Not like the houses reared on every side
Stands that wherein Alcinous doth abide,
But easy to be known. But when the wall
And court inclose thee, with an eager stride
Move through the noble spaces of the hall,
And with firm eye seek out my mother first of all.
"She in the firelight near the hearth doth twine,
Sitting, the purpled yarn; her maids are seen
Behind her; there my sire, enthroned, his wine
Quaffs like a god; both on the pillar lean.
Him passing urge thy supplication keen,
My mother's knees enclasping. If but she
Think kindness in her heart, good hope, I ween,
Remains, however far thy bourne may be,
That country, friends, and home thou yet shalt live to
see. "
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She ended, and the mules with glittering lash
Plied, who soon leave the river in their rear.
Onward continuously their swift feet flash.
She like an understanding charioteer
Scourged them with judgment, and their course did steer
So to precede Odysseus and the rest.
And the sun fell and they the grove came near.
There on the earth sat down with anxious breast
Odysseus, and in prayer the child of Zeus addressed:
«<
"Virgin, whose eyelids slumber not nor sleep,
Hear, child of Zeus! who in the time forepast
Heardest me not, when in the ruinous deep
Poseidon whirled me with his angry blast.
Let me find pity in this land at last! »
So prayed he, and Athene heard: but she
Not yet revealed herself in form; so vast
Loomed in her eyes her uncle's fierce decree
Against divine Odysseus, ere his land he see.
There the much-toiled divine Odysseus prayed.
She onward passed to the Phæacian town,
Drawn by the mules. But when the royal maid
Came to her father's halls of high renown,
-
She by the porch drew rein. Thither came down
Her brothers, circling her, a lucid ring;
They of Phæacian youth the flower and crown,
Like gods to look at. Soon unharnessing
The mules, into the house the raiment clean they bring.
V. - Book vii. , 1-13. Same Translation
SHE to her chamber straight ascended. There
Eurymedusa old, the chamber dame,
Kindled the fire- who o'er the ocean mere
Borne in swift ships from land Apeira came,
Thenceforth assigned by right of regal claim
To King Alcinous, like a god revered
In his own land, the first in name and fame.
She in the halls white-armed Nausicaa reared,
And now the fire lit well, and sweet repast prepared.
7577
## p. 7578 (#388) ###########################################
7578
HOMER
[A final glimpse of Nausicaa is accorded to Odysseus, and to us, at night-
fall of the following day. ]
VI. - Book viii. , 454–468. Same Translation
HIM then the maidens bathe and rub with oil,
And in rich robe and tunic clothe with care.
He from the bath, cleansed from the dust of toil,
Passed to the drinkers; and Nausicaa there
Stood, molded by the gods exceeding fair.
She, on the roof-tree pillar leaning, heard
Odysseus; turning she beheld him near.
Deep in her breast admiring wonder stirred,
And in a low sweet voice she spake this winged word:-
"Hail, stranger guest! when fatherland and wife
Thou shalt revisit, then remember me,
Since to me first thou owest the price of life. "
And to the royal virgin answered he:-
"Child of a generous sire, if willed it be
By Thunderer Zeus, who all dominion hath,
That I my home and dear return yet see,
There at thy shrine will I devote my breath,
There worship thee, dear maid, my savior from dark death. "
## p. 7579 (#389) ###########################################
7579
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
J
UST as "Esop" was credited with almost any popular fable
which ascribed human reasoning to animals, even so nearly
every archaic or mock-archaic hexameter poem floating
about unclaimed was assigned by the Greeks of historical times to
"Homer. " As to the ignoble riddles and bits of autobiographical
invention, they may be at once relegated to a late date, and to an
obscure corner of the anthology. The fragmentary Strife of Frogs
and Mice' (Batrachomyomachia) is a rather spirited Homeric parody.
The names of the chief combatants, in particular, with their sires',
are comically appropriate on the one hand, and on the other amus-
ingly like Homer's "Achilles, offspring of Peleus," or "the son of
knightly Tydeus, Diomedes. " That the origin of the skit is relatively
late, need hardly be added. Farther back than the fifth century B. C.
its defenders rarely attempt to set it.
The didactic epic of Hesiod's school may be regarded as also
Homeric; that is, as an offshoot inspired by the great Ionic epics.
In metre, in dialect, and even by open mention of Homer's name,
the early philosophers who use the dactylic metre betray the same
filial relation. Empedocles here offers the best illustration. Aside
from the learned revival of the Homeric dialect and style in Alexan-
drian epic by Apollonius Rhodius and his school, there are still two
important masses of verse best discussed as "Homeric. "
Of the Cyclic epics, indeed, very little remains. These were, in
part at least, written expressly to piece out the story which the Iliad
and Odyssey left half told. They were probably not based upon any
well-settled folk legend current among the Greeks. Rather we get
the impression that each poet draws some hints from Homer, and
more from his own ingenious fancy.
Perhaps the most famous of all the lost epics is the 'Cypria,' or
lay of Aphrodite, planned to give a statelier approach and adequate
explanation leading up to the Trojan tragedy. To this poet, rather
than to the author of the Iliad, we probably owe the tale of the
strife over the prize of beauty, the judgment of Paris, etc. The
opening lines of this epic are preserved:-
"Once on a time was Earth by the races of men made weary,
Who were wandering numberless over the breadth of her bosom.
## p. 7580 (#390) ###########################################
7580
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Zeus with pity beheld it, and took in his wise heart counsel
How to relieve of her burden the Earth, life-giver to all things,
Fanning to flame that terrible struggle, the war upon Troia.
So should the burden by death be removed; - and they in the Troad
Perished: the heroes: the counsel of Zeus was brought to fulfillment. "
Many famous legends-for instance, Iphigenia's sacrifice, Philocte-
tes's desertion in Lemnos, etc. —seem to have been first told in the
'Cypria,' and thence borrowed by later dramatist, lyric poet, and
chronicler. It is perhaps from the same source that the Catalogue of
Ships was transferred to our Iliad. The poem was said to have been
Homer's wedding gift to his son-in-law Stasinus of Cyprus, who was
evidently to sing it as his own; a tale which looks like an awkward
compromise between two theories of authorship.
Again, there were continuations of the Iliad, one of which was so
widely accepted that the quiet closing verse of the elder poem was
mutilated to prepare the way for it. Instead of
"So they made ready the grave for Hector the tamer of horses,»
some read
"So they made ready the grave for Hector: the Amazon straightway
Came, who was daughter to Ares, the haughty destroyer of heroes. "
Similarly in works of art, the mourning Andromache, Hector's
widow, with her funeral urn, stands in the group which welcomes
the arrival of the Amazon queen. To this feeling that the Iliad is
incomplete we also owe the finest book, the second, of Virgil's
Eneid, Goethe's fragmentary 'Achilleis,' and perhaps many an Attic
tragedy, as well as more recent poems like Lang's 'Helen of Troy. '
It is remarkable how much more near and familiar this old Greek
myth has become to ourselves, than any legend of Northern heroism
or of Teutonic divinities. These Cyclic epics probably took shape in
the ninth and eighth centuries B. C. A prose summary of their con-
tents, and a few score of verses in brief extracts, alone survive.
The Homeric Hymns are really akin in dialect and metre to the
Ionic epic. Some are of venerable age. Thucydides (400 B. C. ) quotes
the hymn to Delian Apollo unquestioningly as Homeric. Some are
as late as the Attic period, if not far more recent. They have little
relation to the tale of Iliad or Odyssey. Nearly all have the form of
preludes, in which the rhapsode greets the divinity at whose shrine
or festival he is about to recite from the heroic epics. In some cases
the invocation may have been composed to suit the character of the
following recitation. Most of these poems are extremely brief, and
formal in tone. Others contain a single mythical allusion, or short
## p. 7581 (#391) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7581
tale, perhaps sufficient to justify the independent existence of the
poem. The most notable in this group is the Hymn to Dionysus,
given in full below. As the whole development of drama. in Athens
sprang up about the Dionysus cult, such tales as this about the wine
god probably formed the earliest plots for the mimic scene. More-
over, the transformation of the pirates into dolphins is represented
on the frieze of the only surviving monument which was set up as
the memorial of a victory gained in the Dionysiac theatre,-"the cho-
ragic monument of Lysicrates. "
There are five or six of these Hymns, finally, each several hundred
lines in length, which can hardly have been used as mere preludes
at all. The hymns to Apollo and to Hermes are composite in charac-
ter; and in their present (perhaps interpolated) form, each looks like
a corpus of the chief early myths concerning the divinity in question.
The Aphrodite hymn, like that to Demeter, details with epic breadth
one notable adventure of the goddess. These poems borrow lines and
half-lines very freely from "Homer" and from each other. The text
has many gaps and corruptions. Still, these hymns are the earliest
source for many, if not most, of the notable legends concerning the
Greek gods. It is most surprising, therefore, that they are passed
over in the two best brief popular treatises on Greek poetry, those
by Professor Jebb and the late J. A. Symonds. Professor Mahaffy
gives them moderate space in his larger history of Hellenic literature.
There is a tolerable prose version in the Bohn Library, by Buckley,
bound with the Odyssey; and a far better one, little known, published
by Thynne in Edinburgh. Some of Shelley's delightful paraphrases
in rhymed verse are given below. George Chapman rendered all
save the hymn to Demeter. Upon the whole, however, these hymns
have not received adequate attention. Paley's edition of the Greek
text with English notes is entirely inferior to Göttling's, annotated
in Latin. Göttling includes also the numerous fragments from lost
Hesiodic works.
ORIGIN OF THE LYRE
From the Hymn to Mercury
THE
HE babe was born at the first peep of day;
He began playing on the lyre at noon,
And the same evening did he steal away
Apollo's herds; - the fourth day of the moon
On which him bore the venerable May,
From her immortal limbs he leaped full soon,
Nor long could in the sacred cradle keep,
But out to seek Apollo's herds would creep.
## p. 7582 (#392) ###########################################
7582
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Out of the lofty cavern wandering
He found a tortoise, and cried out—“A treasure! "
(For Mercury first made the tortoise sing. )
The beast before the portal at his leisure
The flowery herbage was depasturing,
Moving his feet in a deliberate measure
Over the turf. Jove's profitable son
Eyeing him laught, and laughing thus begun:-
"A useful godsend are you to me now,
King of the dance, companion of the feast,
Lovely in all your nature! Welcome, you
Excellent plaything! Where, sweet mountain beast,
Got you that speckled shell? Thus much I know,-
You must come home with me and be my guest;
You will give joy to me, and I will do
All that is in my power to honor you.
"Better to be at home than out of door;-
So come with me, and though it has been said
That you alive defend from magic power,
I know you will sing sweetly when you're dead. "
Thus having spoken, the quaint infant bore,
Lifting it from the grass on which it fed,
And grasping it in his delighted hold,
His treasured prize into the cavern old.
Then scooping with a chisel of gray steel,
He bored the life and soul out of the beast
Not swifter a swift thought of woe or weal
Darts thro' the tumult of a human breast
Which thronging cares annoy-not swifter wheel
The flashes of its torture and unrest
Out of the dizzy eyes-than Maia's son
All that he did devise hath featly done.
And thro' the tortoise's hard stony skin
At proper distances small holes he made,
And fastened the cut stems of reeds within,
And with a piece of leather overlaid
The open space and fixt the cubits in,
Fitting the bridge to both, and stretcht o'er all
Symphonious cords of sheep-gut rhythmical.
When he had wrought the lovely instrument,
He tried the chords, and made division meet
## p. 7583 (#393) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7583
Preluding with the plectrum, and there went
Up from beneath his hand a tumult sweet
Of mighty sounds, and from his lips he sent
A strain of unpremeditated wit,
Joyous and wild and wanton-such you may
Hear among revelers on a holiday.
Paraphrase by Shelley.
POWER OF APHRODITE
HYMN TO VENUS
M
USE, sing the deeds of golden Aphrodite,
Who wakens with her smile the lulled delight
Of sweet desire, taming the eternal kings
Of Heaven, and men, and all the living things
That fleet along the air, or whom the sea,
Or earth with her maternal ministry,
Nourish innumerable; thy delight
All seek. O crowned Aphrodite!
Three spirits canst thou not deceive or quell.
Minerva, child of Jove, who loves too well
Fierce war and mingling combat, and the fame
Of glorious deeds, to heed thy gentle flame.
Diana, [clear-voiced] golden-shafted queen,
Is tamed not by thy smiles; the shadows green
Of the wild woods, the bow, the
[lyre and
dance],
And piercing cries amid the swift pursuit
Of beasts among waste mountains,- such delight
Is hers, and men who know and do the right.
Nor Saturn's first-born daughter, Vesta chaste,
Whom Neptune and Apollo wooed the last,
Such was the will of ægis-bearing Jove;
But sternly she refused the ills of Love,
And by her mighty father's head she swore
An oath not unperformed, that evermore
A virgin she would live 'mid deities
Divine: her father, for such gentle ties
Renounced, gave glorious gifts; thus in his hall
She sits and feeds luxuriously. O'er all
In every fane, her honors first arise
From men- the eldest of Divinities.
## p. 7584 (#394) ###########################################
7584
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
These spirits she persuades not, nor deceives,
But none beside escape, so well she weaves
Her unseen toils; nor mortal men, nor gods
Who live secure in their unseen abodes.
Paraphrase by Shelley.
DIONYSUS AND THE PIRATES
Reprinted by permission, from Three Dramas of Euripides,' by William C.
Lawton: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , 1889.
G
LORIOUS Semele's child I will summon to mind, Dionysus;
How he appeared on the brink of the sea forever-unresting,
On a projecting crag, assuming the guise of a stripling
Blooming in youth; and in beauty his dark hair floated about him.
Purple the cloak he was wearing across his vigorous shoulders;
Presently hove in sight a band of Tyrrhenian pirates,
Borne in a well-rowed vessel along the wine-colored waters.
Hither their evil destiny guided them! When they beheld him,
Unto each other they nodded: then forth they darted, and straightway
Seized him and haled him aboard their vessel, exultant in spirit,
Since they thought him a child of kings who of Zeus are supported.
Then were they eager to bind him in fetters that could not be sun-
dered.
Yet he was held not with bonds, for off and afar did the osiers
Fall from his hands and feet, and left him sitting and smiling
Out of his dusky eyes! But when their pilot beheld it,
Straightway uplifting his voice he shouted aloud to his comrades:-
"Madmen! Who is this god ye would seize and control with your
fetters?
Mighty is he! Our well-rowed ship is unable to hold him.
Verily this is Zeus, or else the archer Apollo,
Or, it may be, Poseidon: - for nowise perishing mortals
Does he resemble, but gods who make their home on Olympus!
Bring him, I pray you, again to the darksome shore, and release him
Straightway! Lay not a finger upon him, lest in his anger
He may arouse the impetuous gusts and the furious storm-wind. "
Thus he spoke, but the captain in words of anger assailed him:---
"Fellow, look to the wind, and draw at the sail of the vessel,
Holding the cordage in hand; we men will care for the captive.
He shall come, as I think, to Egypt, or may be to Cyprus,
Or to the Hyperboreans, or farther, and surely shall tell us
Finally who are his friends, and reveal to us all his possessions,
Name us his brethren too: for a god unto us has betrayed him. "
## p. 7585 (#395) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7585
So had he spoken, and raised his mast and the sail of his vessel.
Fairly upon their sail was blowing a breeze, and the cordage
Tightened; and presently then most wondrous chances befell them!
First of all things, wine through the black impetuous vessel,
Fragrant and sweet to the taste, was trickling: the odor ambrosial
Rose in the air; and terror possessed them all to behold it.
Presently near to the top of the sail vine had extended,
Winding hither and thither, with many a cluster dependent.
Round about their mast an ivy was duskily twining,
Rich in its blossoms, and fair was the fruit that had risen upon it.
Every rowlock a garland wore.
And when they beheld this,
Instantly then to the pilot they shouted to hurry the vessel
Near to the land: but the god appeared as a lion among them,
Terrible, high on the bow, and loudly he roared; and amidships
Made he appear to their eyes a shaggy-necked bear as a portent.
Eagerly rose she erect, and high on the prow was the lion
Eying them grimly askance. To the stern they darted in terror.
There about their pilot, the man of wiser perception,
Dazed and affrighted they stood; and suddenly leaping upon them,
On their captain he seized. They, fleeing from utter destruction,
Into the sacred water plunged, as they saw it, together,
Turning to dolphins. The god, for the pilot having compassion,
Held him back, and gave him happiness, speaking as follows:-
"Have no fear, O innocent supplicant, dear to my spirit.
Semele's offspring am I, Dionysus the leader in revels,
Born of the daughter of Cadmos, to Zeus in wedlock united. "
Greeting, O child of the fair-faced Semele! Never the minstrel
Who is forgetful of thee may fashion a song that is pleasing!
CLOSE OF THE HYMN TO DELIAN APOLLO
EAR all outlooks are unto thee, and the lofty mountains'
Topmost peaks, and the rivers that down to the sea are de-
XIII-475
scending.
More than all, O Phoebus, thy heart is in Delos delighted,
Where in their trailing robes unto thee the Ionians gather,
They themselves and their modest wives as well, and the children.
There they do honor to thee with boxing, dancing, and singing.
So they take their delight, whenever the games are appointed.
One would believe them to be immortal and ageless forever,
Whoso met them, when the Ionians gather together.
Then he the charms of them all would behold, and delight in their
spirit,
## p. 7586 (#396) ###########################################
7586
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Seeing the men of the race, and the women gracefully girdled.
Fleet are the vessels they bring as well, and many the treasures.
This is a marvel, too, whose glory never may perish,-
Even the Delian maids, attendant on archer Apollo.
When they first have uttered in hymns their praise of Apollo,
Next is Leto's turn, and Artemis, hurler of arrows.
Then they remember the heroes of ancient days, and the women,
Singing their hymn; and the tribes of mortal men are enchanted.
Speech of all mankind, and even their castanets' rattle,
They can mimic, and every man would say that he heard them
Speak his speech; so fairly and well is their minstrelsy fitted.
Come, O Apollo, be thou, together with Artemis, gracious.
Greeting unto you all; and be ye of me hereafter
Mindful, when some other of men that on earth have abiding
Hither may come, an outworn stranger, and ask you the question,
"O ye maidens, and who for you is the sweetest of minstrels,
Whoso hither doth come, in whom ye most are delighted? »
Then do ye all, I pray, with one voice answer and tell him,
"Blind is the man, and in Chios abounding in crags is his dwelling;
He it is whose songs shall all be supreme in the future. »
Yet will I not cease from hymning the archer Apollo,
Lord of the silvern bow, who is offspring of fair-tressed Leto.
Translation of William C. Lawton.
HYMN TO DEMETER
F'
IRST Demeter I sing, that fair-tressed reverend goddess,
Her, and her daughter the slender-ankled, whom once Aidoneus
Stole,- for wide-eyed Zeus, who is lord of the thunder, per-
mitted.
Quite unaware was the mother, Fruitgiver, the Bringer of Springtime.
She, Persephone, played with Oceanos's deep-bosomed daughters,
Plucking the blossoms,― the beautiful violets, roses, and crocus,
Iris, and hyacinth too, that grew in the flowery meadow.
Earth, by command of Zeus, and to please All-welcoming Pluto,
Caused narcissus to grow, as a lure for the lily-faced maiden.
Wonderful was it in beauty. Amazement on all who beheld it
Fell, both mortal men and gods whose life is eternal.
Out of a single root it had grown with clusters an hundred.
All wide Heaven above was filled with delight at the fragrance;
Earth was laughing as well, and the briny swell of the waters.
She, in her wonder, to pluck that beautiful plaything extended
Both her hands; - but that moment the wide-wayed earth underneath
her
## p. 7587 (#397) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7587
Yawned, in the Nysian plain; and the monarch, Receiver of all men,
Many-named son of Kronos, arose, with his horses immortal,—
Seized her against her will, and upon his chariot golden
Bore her lamenting away;-and the hills re-echoed her outcry.
Kronos's son she invoked, most mighty and noble, her father.
None among mortal men, nor the gods whose life is eternal,
Heard her voice,-not even the fruitful Nymphs of the marshland.
Only Perses's daughter, the tender-hearted, had heard her,
Hecatè, she of the gleaming coronet, out of her cavern;
Heard her on Kronides calling, her father: he from immortals
Far was sitting aloof, in a fane where many petitions
Came to him, mingled with sacrifices abundant of mortals.
So, at the bidding of Zeus was reluctant Persephone stolen,
Forced by her father's brother, the Many-named, offspring of Kronos,
Lord and Receiver of all mankind,-with his horses immortal.
While Persephone yet could look upon star-studded heaven,
Gaze on the earth underneath, and the swarming waters unresting,
Seeing the light, so long she had hope that her glorious mother
Yet would descry her, or some from the race of the gods ever-living.
So long hope consoled her courageous spirit in trouble.
Loudly the crests of the mountains and depths of the water resounded
Unto her deathless voice; and her royal mother did hear her.
Keen was the pain at Demeter's heart, and about her ambrosial
Tresses her tender hands were rending her beautiful wimple.
Dusky the garment was that she cast upon both her shoulders.
Like to a bird she darted, and over the lands and the waters
Sped as if frenzied: but yet there was no one willing to tell her
Truthfully, neither of gods nor of human folk who are mortal;
None of the birds would come unto her as a messenger faithful.
HOMER
7565
Me glory summons to the martial scene,—
The field of combat is the sphere for men;
Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim,
The first in danger as the first in fame. "
Thus having said, the glorious chief resumes
His towery helmet, black with shading plumes.
His princess parts with a prophetic sigh;
Unwilling parts, and oft reverts her eye,
That streamed at every look; then moving slow,
Sought her own palace and indulged er woe.
Pope's Translation.
ACHILLES REFUSES TO AID THE GREEKS
From the Iliad, ix. 307-347
WHO
HOм answered thus Achilles, swift of foot:-
"Heaven-born Ulysses, sage in council, son
Of great Laertes, I must frankly speak
My mind at once, my fixed resolve declare:
That from henceforth I may not by the Greeks,
By this man and by that, be importuned.
Him as the gates of hell my soul abhors,
Whose outward words his inmost thoughts conceal.
Hear then what seems to me the wisest course.
On me nor Agamemnon, Atreus's son,
Nor others shall prevail, since naught is gained
By toil unceasing in the battle-field.
Who nobly fight, but share with those who skulk;
Like honors gain the coward and the brave;
Alike the idlers and the active die:
And naught it profits me, though day by day
In constant toil I set my life at stake;
But as a bird, though ill she fare herself,
Brings to her callow brood the food she takes,
So I through many a sleepless night have lain,
And many a bloody day have labored through,
Engaged in battle on your wives' behalf.
Twelve cities have I taken with my ships:
Eleven more by land on Trojan soil.
From all of these abundant stores of wealth
I took, and all to Agamemnon gave;
He, safe on board his ships, my spoils received,
A few divided, but the most retained.
## p. 7566 (#376) ###########################################
7566
HOMER
To other chiefs and kings he meted out
Their sev'ral portions, and they hold them still;
From me, from me alone of all the Greeks,
He bore away, and keeps, my cherished wife.
But say then, why do Greeks with Trojans fight?
Why hath Atrides brought this mighty host
To Troy, if not in fair-haired Helen's cause?
Of mortals are there none that love their wives,
Save Atreus's sons alone? or do not all,
Who boast the praise of sense and virtue, love
And cherish each his own? as her I loved
Ev'n from my soul, though captive of my spear.
Now, since he once hath robbed me, and deceived,
Let him not seek my aid; I know him now,
And am not to be won; let him devise,
With thee, Ulysses, and the other kings,
How best from hostile fires to save his ships. "
Translation of Edward, Earl of Derby.
HECTOR PURSUED BY ACHILLES AROUND TROY
From the Iliad, xxii. 136-185
ECTOR beheld and trembled: naught he dared
Η
To wait, but left the gates, and shuddering flew.
Achilleus with swift feet behind him fared.
As mountain hawk, most fleet of feathered crew,
A trembling dove doth easily pursue;
Swerving she flutters; he, intent to seize,
With savage scream close hounds her through the blue;-
So keenly he swept onward; Hector flees
Beneath his own Troy wall, and plies his limber knees.
All past the watch-tower and the fig-tree tall
Along the chariot road at speed they fare,
Still swerving outward from the city's wall;
Then reach the two fair-flowing streamlets, where
Scamander's twofold source breaks forth to air.
One flows in a warm tide, and steam doth go
Up from it, as a blazing fire were there;
But the other runs in summer's midmost glow
Cold as the frozen hail, or ice, or chilly snow.
Thereby great troughs and meet for washing stand,
Beautiful, stony, where their robes of pride
## p. 7567 (#377) ###########################################
HOMER
7567
Troy's wives and daughters washed, ere to the land
The foeman came, in happy peaceful tide.
Flying and following, these they ran beside,
He good that flies, he better that pursues;
For no fat victim 'twas, nor bullock's hide,
Such meed as men for conquering runners choose,
But Hector's life the prize they ran to win or lose.
Look how prize-bearing horses, hard of hoof,
Circle about the goal with eager bound,
And a great guerdon stands, not far aloof,
Tripod or woman, at the funeral mound
Of some dead chief; so thrice they circled round
King Priam's town, their swift feet winged for flight:
While all the gods Olympus's summit crowned,
Looking from high to see the wondrous sight;
And thus the almighty Sire their counsel did invite:
"Alas! I see a loved one with mine eyes
Chased round the city: and my heart doth bleed
For Hector, for that many an ox's thighs
He burnt, where Ida overlooks the mead,
Or in the topmost tower; now with fell speed
Achilleus hunts him round King Priam's town.
But come, ye gods, take counsel and arede,
Or shall we save him now, or strike him down
Under Achilleus's spear, despite his fair renown. "
To him stern-eyed Athene answered so:
"Dread Thunderer in dark cloud, what words are these?
What, a mere mortal, fated long ago,
Wouldst thou set free from death's severe decrees?
Do it; but us gods thy doing shall not please. "
And cloud-compelling Zeus in turn rejoined:
"Take heart, dear child, and set thy soul at ease;
I meant it not, but would to thee be kind:
Now do it, nor delay, whate'er is in thy mind. "
Translation of John Conington.
-:
## p. 7568 (#378) ###########################################
7568
HOMER
HECTOR'S FUNERAL RITES
Close of the Iliad-xxiv. 777-804
THE
HESE words made even the commons mourn, to whom the king
said: "Friends,
Now fetch wood for our funeral fire, nor fear the foe intends
Ambush, or any violence: Achilles gave his word,
At my dismission, that twelve days he would keep sheathed his
sword,
And all men's else. " Thus oxen, mules, in chariots straight they put,
Went forth, and an unmeasured pile of sylvan matter cut,
Nine days employed in carriage, but when the tenth morn shined
On wretched mortals, then they brought the fit-to-be-divined
Forth to be burned. Troy swum in tears. Upon the pile's most
height
They laid the person, and gave fire. All day it burned, all night.
But when the eleventh morn let on earth her rosy fingers shine,
The people flocked about the pile, and first with blackish wine
Quenched all the flames. His brothers then, and friends, the snowy
bones
Gathered into an urn of gold, still pouring on their moans.
Then wrapt they in soft purple veils the rich urn, digged a pit,
Graved it, rammed up the grave with stones, and quickly built to it
A sepulchre. But while that work and all the funeral rites
Were in performance, guards were held at all parts, days and nights,
For fear of false surprise before they had imposed the crown
To these solemnities. The tomb advanced once, all the town
In Jove-nursed Priam's court partook a passing sumptuous feast:
And so horse-taming Hector's rites gave up his soul to rest.
Translation of George Chapman.
THE EPISODE OF NAUSICAA
FROM THE ODYSSEY
I. — Book vi. , 1–84.
Translation of George H. Palmer. Copyright 1884, by G.
H. Palmer. Reprinted by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , pub-
lishers, Boston.
HUS long-tried royal Odysseus slumbered here, heavy with
sleep and toil; but Athene went to the land and town of
the Phæacians. This people once in ancient times lived in
the open highlands, near that rude folk the Cyclops, who often.
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plundered them, being in strength more powerful than they.
Moving them thence, godlike Nausithous, their leader, established
them at Scheria, far from toiling men. He ran a wall around
the town, built houses there, made temples for the gods, and laid
out farms; but Nausithous had met his doom and gone to the
house of Hades, and Alcinous now was reigning, trained in wis-
dom by the gods. To this man's dwelling came the goddess,
clear-eyed Athene, planning a safe return for brave Odysseus.
She hastened to a chamber, richly wrought, in which a maid
was sleeping, of form and beauty like the immortals, Nausicaa,
daughter of generous Alcinous. Near by, two damsels, dowered
with beauty by the Graces, slept by the threshold, one on either
hand. The shining doors were shut; but Athene, like a breath
of air, moved to the maid's couch, stood by her head, and thus
addressed her,-taking the likeness of the daughter of Dymas,
the famous seaman, a maiden just Nausicaa's age, dear to her
heart. Taking her guise, thus spoke clear-eyed Athene:—
"Nausicaa, how did your mother bear a child so heedless?
Your gay clothes lie uncared for, though the wedding-time is
near, when you must wear fine clothes yourself and furnish them
to those that may attend you. From things like these a good
repute arises, and father and honored mother are made glad.
Then let us go a-washing at the dawn of day, and I will go to
help, that you may soon be ready; for really not much longer
will you be a maid. Already you have for suitors the chief
ones of the land throughout Phæacia, where you too were born.
Come, then, beg your good father early in the morning to har-
ness the mules and cart, so as to carry the men's clothes, gowns,
and bright-hued rugs. Yes, and for you yourself it is more
decent so than setting forth on foot: the pools are far from the
town. "
Saying this, clear-eyed Athene passed away, off to Olympus,
where they say the dwelling of the gods stands fast forever.
Never with winds is it disturbed, nor by the rain made wet, nor
does the snow come near; but everywhere the upper air spreads
cloudless, and a bright radiance plays over all: and there the
blessed gods are happy all their days. Thither now came the
clear-eyed one, when she had spoken with the maid.
Soon bright-throned morning came, and waked fair-robed Nau-
sicaa. She marveled at the dream, and hastened through the house
to tell it to her parents, her dear father and her mother. She
XIII-474
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found them still indoors: her mother sat by the hearth among
the waiting-women, spinning sea-purple yarn; she met her father
at the door, just going forth to join the famous princes at the
council, to which the high Phæacians summoned him. So, stand-
ing close beside him, she said to her dear father:—
"Papa dear, could you not have the wagon harnessed for me,
-the high one, with good wheels,- to take my nice clothes to
the river to be washed, which now are lying dirty? Surely for
you yourself it is but proper, when you are with the first men
holding councils, that you should wear clean clothing. Five good
sons too are here at home,-two married, and three merry young
men still, and they are always wanting to go to the dance
wearing fresh clothes. And this is all a trouble on my mind. "
Such were her words, for she was shy of naming the glad
marriage to her father; but he understood it all, and answered
thus:
―
"I do not grudge the mules, my child, nor anything beside.
Go! Quickly shall the servant harness the wagon for you,—the
high one, with good wheels, fitted with rack above. "
Saying this he called to the servants, who gave heed. Out
in the court they made the easy mule cart ready; they brought
the mules, and yoked them to the wagon. The maid took from
her room her pretty clothing, and stowed it in the polished
wagon; her mother put in a chest, food the maid liked, of every
kind, put dainties in, and poured some wine into a goatskin
bottle, the maid, meanwhile, had got into the wagon,—and
gave her in a golden flask some liquid oil, that she might bathe
and anoint herself, she and the waiting-women. Nausicaa took
the whip and the bright reins, and cracked the whip to start.
There was a clatter of the mules, and steadily they pulled, drawing
the clothing and the maid,-yet not alone; beside her went the
waiting-women too.
C
II. — Book vi. , 85-197. Translation of Butcher and Lang
NOW WHEN they were come to the beautiful stream of the
river, where truly were the unfailing cisterns, and bright water
welled up free from beneath, and flowed past, enough to wash
the foulest garments clean, there the girls unharnessed the mules.
from under the chariot, and turning them loose they drove them
along the banks of the eddying river to graze on the sweet
clover. Then they took the garments from the wain, in their
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7571
hands, and bore them to the black water, and briskly trod them
down in the trenches, in busy rivalry. Now when they had
washed and cleansed all the stains, they spread all out in order
along the shore of the deep, even where the sea, in beating on
the coast, washed the pebbles clean. Then having bathed and
anointed them well with olive oil, they took their midday meal
on the river's banks, waiting till the clothes should dry in the
brightness of the sun. Anon, when they were satisfied with.
food, the maidens and the princess, they fell to playing at ball,
casting away their tires, and among them Nausicaa of the white
arms began the song. And even as Artemis the archer moveth
down the mountain, either along the ridges of lofty Taygetus
or Erymanthus, taking her pastime in the chase of boars and
swift deer, and with her the wild wood-nymphs disport them, the
daughters of Zeus, lord of the ægis, and Leto is glad at heart,
while high over all she rears her head and brows, and easily may
she be known, but all are fair; even so the girl unwed out-
shone her maiden company.
But when now she was about going homewards, after yoking
the mules and folding up the goodly raiment, then gray-eyed
Athene turned to other thoughts, that so Odysseus might awake,
and see the lovely maiden who should be his guide to the city
of the Phæacian men. So then the princess threw the ball at
one of her company; she missed the girl, and cast the ball into
the deep eddying current, whereat they all raised a piercing cry.
Then the goodly Odysseus awoke and sat up, pondering in his
heart and spirit:-
"Woe is me! to what men's land am I come now? say, are
they froward and wild, and. unjust, or are they hospitable and
of God-fearing mind? How shrill a cry of maidens rings round
me, of the nymphs that hold the steep hill-tops, and the river
springs, and the grassy water meadows. It must be, methinks,
that I am
near men of human speech. Go to; I myself will
make trial and see. "
Therewith the goodly Odysseus crept out from under the
coppice, having broken with his strong hand a leafy bough from
the thick wood, to hold athwart his body, that it might hide his
nakedness withal. And forth he sallied like a lion of the hills,
trusting in his strength, who fares out under wind and rain, and
his eyes are all on fire. And he goes amid the kine or the sheep
or in the track of the wild deer; yea, his belly bids him to make
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7572
assay upon the flocks, even within a close-penned fold. Even so
Odysseus was fain to draw nigh to the fair-dressed maidens, all
naked as he was, such need had come upon him. But he was
terrible in their eyes, all marred as he was with the salt foam,
and they fled cowering here and there about the jutting spits
of shore. And the daughter of Alcinous alone stood firm, for
Athene gave her courage of heart, and took all trembling from
her limbs. So she halted and stood over against him, and Odys-
seus considered whether he should clasp the knees of the lovely
maiden, and so make his prayer, or should stand as he was, apart,
and beseech her with smooth words, if haply she might show him
the town and give him raiment. And as he thought within him-
self, it seemed better to stand apart, and beseech her with smooth
words, lest the maiden should be angered with him if he touched
her knees; so straightway he spoke a sweet and cunning word:
"I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art some goddess or a
mortal! If indeed thou art a goddess of them that keep the wide
heaven, to Artemis, then, the daughter of great Zeus, I mainly
liken thee, for beauty and stature and shapeliness. But if thou
art one of the daughters of men who dwell on earth, thrice
blessed are thy father and thy lady mother, and thrice blessed
thy brethren. Surely their hearts ever glow with gladness for
thy sake, each time they see thee entering the dance, so fair a
flower of maidens. But he is of heart the most blessed beyond
all other who shall prevail with gifts of wooing, and lead thee
to his home. Never have mine eyes beheld such an one among
mortals, neither man nor woman; great awe comes upon me as
I look on thee. Yet in Delos once I saw as goodly a thing: a
young sapling of a palm-tree springing by the altar of Apollo.
For thither too I went, and much people with me, on that path
where my sore troubles were to be. Yea, and when I looked
thereupon, long time, I marveled in spirit,- for never grew there
yet so goodly a shoot from ground,- even in such wise as I won-
der at thee, lady, and am astonied and do greatly fear to touch
thy knees, though grievous sorrow is upon me. Yesterday, on
the twentieth day, I escaped from the wine-dark deep, but all
that time continually the wave bore me, and the vehement winds
drave, from the isle Ogygia. And now some god has cast me on
this shore, and here too, methinks, some evil may betide me: for
I trow not that evil will cease; the gods ere that time will yet
bring many a thing to pass. But, queen, have pity on me, for
## p. 7573 (#383) ###########################################
HOMER
7573
>>>>
after many trials and sore, to thee first of all I come; and of the
other folk, who hold this city and land, I know no man. Nay,
show me the town, give me an old garment to cast about me, if
thou hadst, when thou camest here, any wrap for the linen. And
may the gods grant thee all thy heart's desire: a husband and a
home, and a mind at one with his may they give-a good gift;
for there is nothing mightier and nobler than when man and
wife are of one heart and mind in a house, a grief to their foes,
and to their friends great joy, but their own hearts know it best.
Then Nausicaa of the white arms answered him, and said:
"Stranger, forasmuch as thou seemest no evil man nor foolish —
and it is Olympian Zeus himself that giveth weal to men, to
the good and to the evil to each one as he will, and this thy
lot doubtless is of him, and so thou must in anywise endure
it; - and now, since thou hast come to our city and our land,
thou shalt not lack raiment, nor aught else that is the due of
a hapless suppliant when he has met them who can befriend
him. And I will show thee the town, and name the name of the
people. The Phæacians hold this city and land, and I am the
daughter of Alcinous, great of heart, on whom all the might and
force of the Phæacians depend. "
-
III. -Book vi. , 198-254. Translation of William Cullen Bryant. Copyright
1871, by James R. Osgood. Reprinted by permission of the publishers,
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , Boston.
So SPAKE the damsel, and commanded thus
Her fair-haired maids: "Stay! whither do ye flee,
My handmaids, when a man appears in sight?
Ye think, perhaps, he is some enemy.
Nay, there is no man living now, nor yet
Will live, to enter, bringing war, the land
Of the Phæacians. Very dear are they
To the great gods. We dwell apart, afar
Within the unmeasured deep, amid its waves
The most remote of men; no other race
Hath commerce with us. This man comes to us
A wanderer and unhappy, and to him
Our cares are due. The stranger and the poor
Are sent by Jove, and slight regards to them
Are grateful. Maidens, give the stranger food
And drink, and take him to the river-side
To bathe where there is shelter from the wind. "
## p. 7574 (#384) ###########################################
7574
HOMER
So spake the mistress; and they stayed their flight
And bade each other stand, and led the chief
Under a shelter as the royal maid,
Daughter of stout Alcinous, gave command,
And laid a cloak and tunic near the spot
To be his raiment, and a golden cruse
Of limpid oil. Then, as they bade him bathe
In the fresh stream, the noble chieftain said:-
"Withdraw, ye maidens, hence, while I prepare
To cleanse my shoulders from the bitter brine,
And to anoint them; long have these my limbs
Been unfreshed by oil. I will not bathe
Before you. I should be ashamed to stand
Unclothed in presence of these bright-haired maids. "
He spake; they hearkened and withdrew, and told
The damsel what he said. Ulysses then
Washed the salt spray of ocean from his back
And his broad shoulders in the flowing stream,
And wiped away the sea froth from his brows.
And when the bath was over, and his limbs
Had been anointed, and he had put on
The garments sent him by the spotless maid,
Jove's daughter, Pallas, caused him to appear
Of statelier size and more majestic mien,
And bade the locks that crowned his head flow down,
Curling like blossoms of the hyacinth.
As when some skillful workman trained and taught
By Vulcan and Minerva in his art
Binds the bright silver with a verge of gold,
And graceful in his handiwork, such grace
Did Pallas shed upon the hero's brow
And shoulders, as he passed along the beach,
And, glorious in his beauty and the pride
Of noble bearing, sat aloof. The maid
Admired, and to her bright-haired women spake:-
"Listen to me, my maidens, while I speak.
This man comes not among the godlike sons
Of the Phæacian stock against the will
Of all the gods of heaven. I thought him late
Of an unseemly aspect; now he bears
A likeness to the immortal ones whose home
Is the broad heaven. I would that I might call
A man like him my husband, dwelling here.
And here content to dwell. Now hasten, maids,
And set before the stranger food and wine. "
## p. 7575 (#385) ###########################################
HOMER
She spake; they heard and cheerfully obeyed,
And set before Ulysses food and wine.
The patient chief Ulysses ate and drank
Full eagerly, for he had fasted long.
White-armed Nausicaa then had other cares.
She placed the smoothly folded robes within
The sumptuous chariot, yoked the firm-hoofed mules,
And mounted to her place, and from the seat
Spake kindly, counseling Ulysses thus:-
IV. - Book vi. , 255-331. Translation of Philip Worsley
"STRANGER, bestir thyself to seek the town,
That to my father's mansion I may lead
Thee following, there to meet the flower and crown
Of the Phæacian people. But take heed
(Not senseless dost thou seem in word or deed),
While 'mid the fields and works of men we go,
After the mules, in the wain's track, to speed,
Girt with this virgin company, and lo!
I will myself drive first, and all the road will show.
"When we the city reach - a castled crown
Of wall encircles it from end to end,
And a fair haven, on each side the town,
Framed with fine entrance, doth our barks defend,
Which, where the terrace by the shore doth wend,
Line the long coast; to all and each large space,
Docks, and deep shelter, doth that haven lend;
There, paved with marble, our great market-place
Doth with its arms Poseidon's beauteous fane embrace.
"All instruments marine they fashion there,
Cordage and canvas and the tapering oar;
Since not for bow nor quiver do they care,
But masts and well-poised ships and naval store,
Wherewith the foam-white ocean they explore
Rejoicing. There I fear for my good name,
For in the land dwell babblers evermore,
Proud, supercilious, who might work me shame
Hereafter with sharp tongues of cavil and quick blame.
"Haply would ask some losel, meeting me,
'Where did she find this stranger tall and brave
Who is it? He then will her husband be-
Perchance some far-off foreigner - whom the wave
(For none dwell near us) on our island drave.
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1
## p. 7576 (#386) ###########################################
7576
HOMER
Or have her long prayers made a god come down,
Whom all her life she shall for husband have?
Wisely she sought him, for she spurns our town,
Though wooed by many a chief of high worth and renown. '
"So will they speak this slander to my shame;
Yea, if another made the like display,
Her I myself should be the first to blame,
If in the public streets she should essay
To mix with men before her marriage day,
Against her father's and her mother's will.
Now, stranger, well remember what I say,
So mayst thou haply in good haste fulfill
Thy journey, with safe-conduct, by my father's will:-
"Hard by the roadside an illustrious grove,
Athene's, all of poplar, thou shalt find.
Through it a streaming rivulet doth rove,
And the rich meadow-lands around it wind.
There the estate lies to my sire assigned,
There his fat vineyards-from the town so far
As a man's shout may travel. There reclined
Tarry such while, and thy approach debar,
Till we belike within my father's mansion are.
"Then to the town Phæacian, and inquire
(Plain is the house, a child might be thy guide)
Where dwells Alcinous my large-hearted sire.
Not like the houses reared on every side
Stands that wherein Alcinous doth abide,
But easy to be known. But when the wall
And court inclose thee, with an eager stride
Move through the noble spaces of the hall,
And with firm eye seek out my mother first of all.
"She in the firelight near the hearth doth twine,
Sitting, the purpled yarn; her maids are seen
Behind her; there my sire, enthroned, his wine
Quaffs like a god; both on the pillar lean.
Him passing urge thy supplication keen,
My mother's knees enclasping. If but she
Think kindness in her heart, good hope, I ween,
Remains, however far thy bourne may be,
That country, friends, and home thou yet shalt live to
see. "
## p. 7577 (#387) ###########################################
HOMER
She ended, and the mules with glittering lash
Plied, who soon leave the river in their rear.
Onward continuously their swift feet flash.
She like an understanding charioteer
Scourged them with judgment, and their course did steer
So to precede Odysseus and the rest.
And the sun fell and they the grove came near.
There on the earth sat down with anxious breast
Odysseus, and in prayer the child of Zeus addressed:
«<
"Virgin, whose eyelids slumber not nor sleep,
Hear, child of Zeus! who in the time forepast
Heardest me not, when in the ruinous deep
Poseidon whirled me with his angry blast.
Let me find pity in this land at last! »
So prayed he, and Athene heard: but she
Not yet revealed herself in form; so vast
Loomed in her eyes her uncle's fierce decree
Against divine Odysseus, ere his land he see.
There the much-toiled divine Odysseus prayed.
She onward passed to the Phæacian town,
Drawn by the mules. But when the royal maid
Came to her father's halls of high renown,
-
She by the porch drew rein. Thither came down
Her brothers, circling her, a lucid ring;
They of Phæacian youth the flower and crown,
Like gods to look at. Soon unharnessing
The mules, into the house the raiment clean they bring.
V. - Book vii. , 1-13. Same Translation
SHE to her chamber straight ascended. There
Eurymedusa old, the chamber dame,
Kindled the fire- who o'er the ocean mere
Borne in swift ships from land Apeira came,
Thenceforth assigned by right of regal claim
To King Alcinous, like a god revered
In his own land, the first in name and fame.
She in the halls white-armed Nausicaa reared,
And now the fire lit well, and sweet repast prepared.
7577
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7578
HOMER
[A final glimpse of Nausicaa is accorded to Odysseus, and to us, at night-
fall of the following day. ]
VI. - Book viii. , 454–468. Same Translation
HIM then the maidens bathe and rub with oil,
And in rich robe and tunic clothe with care.
He from the bath, cleansed from the dust of toil,
Passed to the drinkers; and Nausicaa there
Stood, molded by the gods exceeding fair.
She, on the roof-tree pillar leaning, heard
Odysseus; turning she beheld him near.
Deep in her breast admiring wonder stirred,
And in a low sweet voice she spake this winged word:-
"Hail, stranger guest! when fatherland and wife
Thou shalt revisit, then remember me,
Since to me first thou owest the price of life. "
And to the royal virgin answered he:-
"Child of a generous sire, if willed it be
By Thunderer Zeus, who all dominion hath,
That I my home and dear return yet see,
There at thy shrine will I devote my breath,
There worship thee, dear maid, my savior from dark death. "
## p. 7579 (#389) ###########################################
7579
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
J
UST as "Esop" was credited with almost any popular fable
which ascribed human reasoning to animals, even so nearly
every archaic or mock-archaic hexameter poem floating
about unclaimed was assigned by the Greeks of historical times to
"Homer. " As to the ignoble riddles and bits of autobiographical
invention, they may be at once relegated to a late date, and to an
obscure corner of the anthology. The fragmentary Strife of Frogs
and Mice' (Batrachomyomachia) is a rather spirited Homeric parody.
The names of the chief combatants, in particular, with their sires',
are comically appropriate on the one hand, and on the other amus-
ingly like Homer's "Achilles, offspring of Peleus," or "the son of
knightly Tydeus, Diomedes. " That the origin of the skit is relatively
late, need hardly be added. Farther back than the fifth century B. C.
its defenders rarely attempt to set it.
The didactic epic of Hesiod's school may be regarded as also
Homeric; that is, as an offshoot inspired by the great Ionic epics.
In metre, in dialect, and even by open mention of Homer's name,
the early philosophers who use the dactylic metre betray the same
filial relation. Empedocles here offers the best illustration. Aside
from the learned revival of the Homeric dialect and style in Alexan-
drian epic by Apollonius Rhodius and his school, there are still two
important masses of verse best discussed as "Homeric. "
Of the Cyclic epics, indeed, very little remains. These were, in
part at least, written expressly to piece out the story which the Iliad
and Odyssey left half told. They were probably not based upon any
well-settled folk legend current among the Greeks. Rather we get
the impression that each poet draws some hints from Homer, and
more from his own ingenious fancy.
Perhaps the most famous of all the lost epics is the 'Cypria,' or
lay of Aphrodite, planned to give a statelier approach and adequate
explanation leading up to the Trojan tragedy. To this poet, rather
than to the author of the Iliad, we probably owe the tale of the
strife over the prize of beauty, the judgment of Paris, etc. The
opening lines of this epic are preserved:-
"Once on a time was Earth by the races of men made weary,
Who were wandering numberless over the breadth of her bosom.
## p. 7580 (#390) ###########################################
7580
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Zeus with pity beheld it, and took in his wise heart counsel
How to relieve of her burden the Earth, life-giver to all things,
Fanning to flame that terrible struggle, the war upon Troia.
So should the burden by death be removed; - and they in the Troad
Perished: the heroes: the counsel of Zeus was brought to fulfillment. "
Many famous legends-for instance, Iphigenia's sacrifice, Philocte-
tes's desertion in Lemnos, etc. —seem to have been first told in the
'Cypria,' and thence borrowed by later dramatist, lyric poet, and
chronicler. It is perhaps from the same source that the Catalogue of
Ships was transferred to our Iliad. The poem was said to have been
Homer's wedding gift to his son-in-law Stasinus of Cyprus, who was
evidently to sing it as his own; a tale which looks like an awkward
compromise between two theories of authorship.
Again, there were continuations of the Iliad, one of which was so
widely accepted that the quiet closing verse of the elder poem was
mutilated to prepare the way for it. Instead of
"So they made ready the grave for Hector the tamer of horses,»
some read
"So they made ready the grave for Hector: the Amazon straightway
Came, who was daughter to Ares, the haughty destroyer of heroes. "
Similarly in works of art, the mourning Andromache, Hector's
widow, with her funeral urn, stands in the group which welcomes
the arrival of the Amazon queen. To this feeling that the Iliad is
incomplete we also owe the finest book, the second, of Virgil's
Eneid, Goethe's fragmentary 'Achilleis,' and perhaps many an Attic
tragedy, as well as more recent poems like Lang's 'Helen of Troy. '
It is remarkable how much more near and familiar this old Greek
myth has become to ourselves, than any legend of Northern heroism
or of Teutonic divinities. These Cyclic epics probably took shape in
the ninth and eighth centuries B. C. A prose summary of their con-
tents, and a few score of verses in brief extracts, alone survive.
The Homeric Hymns are really akin in dialect and metre to the
Ionic epic. Some are of venerable age. Thucydides (400 B. C. ) quotes
the hymn to Delian Apollo unquestioningly as Homeric. Some are
as late as the Attic period, if not far more recent. They have little
relation to the tale of Iliad or Odyssey. Nearly all have the form of
preludes, in which the rhapsode greets the divinity at whose shrine
or festival he is about to recite from the heroic epics. In some cases
the invocation may have been composed to suit the character of the
following recitation. Most of these poems are extremely brief, and
formal in tone. Others contain a single mythical allusion, or short
## p. 7581 (#391) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7581
tale, perhaps sufficient to justify the independent existence of the
poem. The most notable in this group is the Hymn to Dionysus,
given in full below. As the whole development of drama. in Athens
sprang up about the Dionysus cult, such tales as this about the wine
god probably formed the earliest plots for the mimic scene. More-
over, the transformation of the pirates into dolphins is represented
on the frieze of the only surviving monument which was set up as
the memorial of a victory gained in the Dionysiac theatre,-"the cho-
ragic monument of Lysicrates. "
There are five or six of these Hymns, finally, each several hundred
lines in length, which can hardly have been used as mere preludes
at all. The hymns to Apollo and to Hermes are composite in charac-
ter; and in their present (perhaps interpolated) form, each looks like
a corpus of the chief early myths concerning the divinity in question.
The Aphrodite hymn, like that to Demeter, details with epic breadth
one notable adventure of the goddess. These poems borrow lines and
half-lines very freely from "Homer" and from each other. The text
has many gaps and corruptions. Still, these hymns are the earliest
source for many, if not most, of the notable legends concerning the
Greek gods. It is most surprising, therefore, that they are passed
over in the two best brief popular treatises on Greek poetry, those
by Professor Jebb and the late J. A. Symonds. Professor Mahaffy
gives them moderate space in his larger history of Hellenic literature.
There is a tolerable prose version in the Bohn Library, by Buckley,
bound with the Odyssey; and a far better one, little known, published
by Thynne in Edinburgh. Some of Shelley's delightful paraphrases
in rhymed verse are given below. George Chapman rendered all
save the hymn to Demeter. Upon the whole, however, these hymns
have not received adequate attention. Paley's edition of the Greek
text with English notes is entirely inferior to Göttling's, annotated
in Latin. Göttling includes also the numerous fragments from lost
Hesiodic works.
ORIGIN OF THE LYRE
From the Hymn to Mercury
THE
HE babe was born at the first peep of day;
He began playing on the lyre at noon,
And the same evening did he steal away
Apollo's herds; - the fourth day of the moon
On which him bore the venerable May,
From her immortal limbs he leaped full soon,
Nor long could in the sacred cradle keep,
But out to seek Apollo's herds would creep.
## p. 7582 (#392) ###########################################
7582
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Out of the lofty cavern wandering
He found a tortoise, and cried out—“A treasure! "
(For Mercury first made the tortoise sing. )
The beast before the portal at his leisure
The flowery herbage was depasturing,
Moving his feet in a deliberate measure
Over the turf. Jove's profitable son
Eyeing him laught, and laughing thus begun:-
"A useful godsend are you to me now,
King of the dance, companion of the feast,
Lovely in all your nature! Welcome, you
Excellent plaything! Where, sweet mountain beast,
Got you that speckled shell? Thus much I know,-
You must come home with me and be my guest;
You will give joy to me, and I will do
All that is in my power to honor you.
"Better to be at home than out of door;-
So come with me, and though it has been said
That you alive defend from magic power,
I know you will sing sweetly when you're dead. "
Thus having spoken, the quaint infant bore,
Lifting it from the grass on which it fed,
And grasping it in his delighted hold,
His treasured prize into the cavern old.
Then scooping with a chisel of gray steel,
He bored the life and soul out of the beast
Not swifter a swift thought of woe or weal
Darts thro' the tumult of a human breast
Which thronging cares annoy-not swifter wheel
The flashes of its torture and unrest
Out of the dizzy eyes-than Maia's son
All that he did devise hath featly done.
And thro' the tortoise's hard stony skin
At proper distances small holes he made,
And fastened the cut stems of reeds within,
And with a piece of leather overlaid
The open space and fixt the cubits in,
Fitting the bridge to both, and stretcht o'er all
Symphonious cords of sheep-gut rhythmical.
When he had wrought the lovely instrument,
He tried the chords, and made division meet
## p. 7583 (#393) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7583
Preluding with the plectrum, and there went
Up from beneath his hand a tumult sweet
Of mighty sounds, and from his lips he sent
A strain of unpremeditated wit,
Joyous and wild and wanton-such you may
Hear among revelers on a holiday.
Paraphrase by Shelley.
POWER OF APHRODITE
HYMN TO VENUS
M
USE, sing the deeds of golden Aphrodite,
Who wakens with her smile the lulled delight
Of sweet desire, taming the eternal kings
Of Heaven, and men, and all the living things
That fleet along the air, or whom the sea,
Or earth with her maternal ministry,
Nourish innumerable; thy delight
All seek. O crowned Aphrodite!
Three spirits canst thou not deceive or quell.
Minerva, child of Jove, who loves too well
Fierce war and mingling combat, and the fame
Of glorious deeds, to heed thy gentle flame.
Diana, [clear-voiced] golden-shafted queen,
Is tamed not by thy smiles; the shadows green
Of the wild woods, the bow, the
[lyre and
dance],
And piercing cries amid the swift pursuit
Of beasts among waste mountains,- such delight
Is hers, and men who know and do the right.
Nor Saturn's first-born daughter, Vesta chaste,
Whom Neptune and Apollo wooed the last,
Such was the will of ægis-bearing Jove;
But sternly she refused the ills of Love,
And by her mighty father's head she swore
An oath not unperformed, that evermore
A virgin she would live 'mid deities
Divine: her father, for such gentle ties
Renounced, gave glorious gifts; thus in his hall
She sits and feeds luxuriously. O'er all
In every fane, her honors first arise
From men- the eldest of Divinities.
## p. 7584 (#394) ###########################################
7584
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
These spirits she persuades not, nor deceives,
But none beside escape, so well she weaves
Her unseen toils; nor mortal men, nor gods
Who live secure in their unseen abodes.
Paraphrase by Shelley.
DIONYSUS AND THE PIRATES
Reprinted by permission, from Three Dramas of Euripides,' by William C.
Lawton: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , 1889.
G
LORIOUS Semele's child I will summon to mind, Dionysus;
How he appeared on the brink of the sea forever-unresting,
On a projecting crag, assuming the guise of a stripling
Blooming in youth; and in beauty his dark hair floated about him.
Purple the cloak he was wearing across his vigorous shoulders;
Presently hove in sight a band of Tyrrhenian pirates,
Borne in a well-rowed vessel along the wine-colored waters.
Hither their evil destiny guided them! When they beheld him,
Unto each other they nodded: then forth they darted, and straightway
Seized him and haled him aboard their vessel, exultant in spirit,
Since they thought him a child of kings who of Zeus are supported.
Then were they eager to bind him in fetters that could not be sun-
dered.
Yet he was held not with bonds, for off and afar did the osiers
Fall from his hands and feet, and left him sitting and smiling
Out of his dusky eyes! But when their pilot beheld it,
Straightway uplifting his voice he shouted aloud to his comrades:-
"Madmen! Who is this god ye would seize and control with your
fetters?
Mighty is he! Our well-rowed ship is unable to hold him.
Verily this is Zeus, or else the archer Apollo,
Or, it may be, Poseidon: - for nowise perishing mortals
Does he resemble, but gods who make their home on Olympus!
Bring him, I pray you, again to the darksome shore, and release him
Straightway! Lay not a finger upon him, lest in his anger
He may arouse the impetuous gusts and the furious storm-wind. "
Thus he spoke, but the captain in words of anger assailed him:---
"Fellow, look to the wind, and draw at the sail of the vessel,
Holding the cordage in hand; we men will care for the captive.
He shall come, as I think, to Egypt, or may be to Cyprus,
Or to the Hyperboreans, or farther, and surely shall tell us
Finally who are his friends, and reveal to us all his possessions,
Name us his brethren too: for a god unto us has betrayed him. "
## p. 7585 (#395) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7585
So had he spoken, and raised his mast and the sail of his vessel.
Fairly upon their sail was blowing a breeze, and the cordage
Tightened; and presently then most wondrous chances befell them!
First of all things, wine through the black impetuous vessel,
Fragrant and sweet to the taste, was trickling: the odor ambrosial
Rose in the air; and terror possessed them all to behold it.
Presently near to the top of the sail vine had extended,
Winding hither and thither, with many a cluster dependent.
Round about their mast an ivy was duskily twining,
Rich in its blossoms, and fair was the fruit that had risen upon it.
Every rowlock a garland wore.
And when they beheld this,
Instantly then to the pilot they shouted to hurry the vessel
Near to the land: but the god appeared as a lion among them,
Terrible, high on the bow, and loudly he roared; and amidships
Made he appear to their eyes a shaggy-necked bear as a portent.
Eagerly rose she erect, and high on the prow was the lion
Eying them grimly askance. To the stern they darted in terror.
There about their pilot, the man of wiser perception,
Dazed and affrighted they stood; and suddenly leaping upon them,
On their captain he seized. They, fleeing from utter destruction,
Into the sacred water plunged, as they saw it, together,
Turning to dolphins. The god, for the pilot having compassion,
Held him back, and gave him happiness, speaking as follows:-
"Have no fear, O innocent supplicant, dear to my spirit.
Semele's offspring am I, Dionysus the leader in revels,
Born of the daughter of Cadmos, to Zeus in wedlock united. "
Greeting, O child of the fair-faced Semele! Never the minstrel
Who is forgetful of thee may fashion a song that is pleasing!
CLOSE OF THE HYMN TO DELIAN APOLLO
EAR all outlooks are unto thee, and the lofty mountains'
Topmost peaks, and the rivers that down to the sea are de-
XIII-475
scending.
More than all, O Phoebus, thy heart is in Delos delighted,
Where in their trailing robes unto thee the Ionians gather,
They themselves and their modest wives as well, and the children.
There they do honor to thee with boxing, dancing, and singing.
So they take their delight, whenever the games are appointed.
One would believe them to be immortal and ageless forever,
Whoso met them, when the Ionians gather together.
Then he the charms of them all would behold, and delight in their
spirit,
## p. 7586 (#396) ###########################################
7586
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Seeing the men of the race, and the women gracefully girdled.
Fleet are the vessels they bring as well, and many the treasures.
This is a marvel, too, whose glory never may perish,-
Even the Delian maids, attendant on archer Apollo.
When they first have uttered in hymns their praise of Apollo,
Next is Leto's turn, and Artemis, hurler of arrows.
Then they remember the heroes of ancient days, and the women,
Singing their hymn; and the tribes of mortal men are enchanted.
Speech of all mankind, and even their castanets' rattle,
They can mimic, and every man would say that he heard them
Speak his speech; so fairly and well is their minstrelsy fitted.
Come, O Apollo, be thou, together with Artemis, gracious.
Greeting unto you all; and be ye of me hereafter
Mindful, when some other of men that on earth have abiding
Hither may come, an outworn stranger, and ask you the question,
"O ye maidens, and who for you is the sweetest of minstrels,
Whoso hither doth come, in whom ye most are delighted? »
Then do ye all, I pray, with one voice answer and tell him,
"Blind is the man, and in Chios abounding in crags is his dwelling;
He it is whose songs shall all be supreme in the future. »
Yet will I not cease from hymning the archer Apollo,
Lord of the silvern bow, who is offspring of fair-tressed Leto.
Translation of William C. Lawton.
HYMN TO DEMETER
F'
IRST Demeter I sing, that fair-tressed reverend goddess,
Her, and her daughter the slender-ankled, whom once Aidoneus
Stole,- for wide-eyed Zeus, who is lord of the thunder, per-
mitted.
Quite unaware was the mother, Fruitgiver, the Bringer of Springtime.
She, Persephone, played with Oceanos's deep-bosomed daughters,
Plucking the blossoms,― the beautiful violets, roses, and crocus,
Iris, and hyacinth too, that grew in the flowery meadow.
Earth, by command of Zeus, and to please All-welcoming Pluto,
Caused narcissus to grow, as a lure for the lily-faced maiden.
Wonderful was it in beauty. Amazement on all who beheld it
Fell, both mortal men and gods whose life is eternal.
Out of a single root it had grown with clusters an hundred.
All wide Heaven above was filled with delight at the fragrance;
Earth was laughing as well, and the briny swell of the waters.
She, in her wonder, to pluck that beautiful plaything extended
Both her hands; - but that moment the wide-wayed earth underneath
her
## p. 7587 (#397) ###########################################
THE HOMERIC HYMNS
7587
Yawned, in the Nysian plain; and the monarch, Receiver of all men,
Many-named son of Kronos, arose, with his horses immortal,—
Seized her against her will, and upon his chariot golden
Bore her lamenting away;-and the hills re-echoed her outcry.
Kronos's son she invoked, most mighty and noble, her father.
None among mortal men, nor the gods whose life is eternal,
Heard her voice,-not even the fruitful Nymphs of the marshland.
Only Perses's daughter, the tender-hearted, had heard her,
Hecatè, she of the gleaming coronet, out of her cavern;
Heard her on Kronides calling, her father: he from immortals
Far was sitting aloof, in a fane where many petitions
Came to him, mingled with sacrifices abundant of mortals.
So, at the bidding of Zeus was reluctant Persephone stolen,
Forced by her father's brother, the Many-named, offspring of Kronos,
Lord and Receiver of all mankind,-with his horses immortal.
While Persephone yet could look upon star-studded heaven,
Gaze on the earth underneath, and the swarming waters unresting,
Seeing the light, so long she had hope that her glorious mother
Yet would descry her, or some from the race of the gods ever-living.
So long hope consoled her courageous spirit in trouble.
Loudly the crests of the mountains and depths of the water resounded
Unto her deathless voice; and her royal mother did hear her.
Keen was the pain at Demeter's heart, and about her ambrosial
Tresses her tender hands were rending her beautiful wimple.
Dusky the garment was that she cast upon both her shoulders.
Like to a bird she darted, and over the lands and the waters
Sped as if frenzied: but yet there was no one willing to tell her
Truthfully, neither of gods nor of human folk who are mortal;
None of the birds would come unto her as a messenger faithful.
