Delphi Complete Works of Hesiod (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) (13 page)

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

 . . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

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

 . . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

 . . . Lacuna . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

((LACUNA — Thirteen lines lost.))

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

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

II.

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

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

((LACUNA — Two lines missing.))

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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