The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice/Epigrams

by Homer

EPIGRAMS.^[1]

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I. TO THE CUMÆANS.

Respect one who is in want of hospitable gifts and a home, ye who inhabit the lofty city Cyme, beauteous maid,^[2] the extreme foot of high-foliaged Sardene, drinking the ambrosial water of the divine river of eddying Hermus, whom immortal Jove begat.

II. ON RETURNING TO CUMA.

Swiftly may my feet bear me to the city of merciful men, for their mind is willing and their prudence excellent.

III. ON MIDE.^[3]

I am a brazen virgin, and am placed upon the sepulchre of Midas. And as long as water flows, and the lofty trees flourish, and the rising sun gives light, and the shining moon, †and the rivers overflow, and the sea inundates,†^[4] remaining here upon the mournful tomb, I will inform the passers-by, that Midas is buried here.

IV. HE LAMENTS HIS BLINDNESS TO THE CUMÆANS.

To what a fate did the father Jove give me to become a sport, when he nurtured me an infant upon the knees of my revered mother! [The city]^[5] which the people of Phricon once fortified at the advice of Ægis-bearing Jove, the valiant mounters of swift steeds, contending in the contest of savage fire, Æolian Smyrna, neighbouring on the sea, lashed by the waves,^[6] and through which the clear water of sacred Meles passes—hence setting out, the daughters of Jove, glorious children, wished to celebrate the divine earth and city of men. But they rejected the divine voice, the song, I say, through folly. Of whom some one having had experience,^[7] will, hereafter, bethink him, because he has brought a rebuke for ever upon them through my fate.^[8] †But I will endure the fate, which the god gave to me at my birth, bearing * * *^[9] with resolute mind. Nor do my limbs desire to remain in the sacred streets of Cumæ, but my mighty mind urges me, although weak, to go to another people.

V. BEGINNING OF THE LITTLE ILIAD.

I sing Ilium and Dardania renowned for steeds, on account of which the Greeks, the servants of Mars, suffered much.

VI. TO THE SON OF THESTOR.

Son of Thestor, although there are many things obscure to mortals, yet nothing is more obscure to men than [their own] mind.

VII. TO NEPTUNE.

Hear, O Neptune, of mighty strength, Earth-Shaker, ruling over wide and yellow^[10] Helicon, and grant a favourable breeze, and to obtain a safe journey, to the sailors, who are the guides and pilots of the ship. And grant that I, coming to the foot of lofty-cragged Mimas, may meet with merciful and holy mortals.^[11] And may I be avenged on the man, who having deceived my mind, injured hospitable Jove and the guests' table.

VIII. TO THE CITY ERYTHRÆA.

Hallowed earth, giver of all, giver of agreeable wealth, how fruitful indeed hast thou proved to some men! but to some, with whom thou wast wrathful, how disagreeable and hard a soil!

IX. TO SAILORS.

Sea-traversing sailors, like^[12] unto hateful fate, having a life that unhappily emulates the timid coots, reverence the deity of hospitable Jove who rules on high, for dreadful is the after-vengeance of hospitable Jove [upon] whoever offends.^[13]

X. TO A PINE.

Another tree sends forth better fruit than thou, O Pine, on the heights of many-recessed, wind-swept Ida. There shall the sword of Mars fall upon earthly men, when the Cebrionian men possess it.

XI. TO GLAUCUS.

Glaucus, overseer of herds, what word shall^[14] I suggest to thy mind? First indeed give the supper to thy dogs before the gates of the hall; for thus it is better, since the dog first perceives when a man is coming, or a beast entering the enclosure.^[15]

XII. ON THE SAMIAN PRIESTESS.

Hear me praying. O Apollo,^[16] and grant that this woman may reject the love and nuptials of the youths, but let her be delighted with hoary-headed sages, whose vigour indeed is blunted, but [whose] mind is eager.^[17]

XIII. TO THE HOUSE OF THE PHRATRIES.

Children indeed are the glory of a man, but fortifications, of a city; and houses are the glory of the plain, but ships, of the sea. And money increases a house, but august kings, when they sit in the council, are a glory to each other^[18] to behold. But a house is much more honourable to behold than blazing fire, in the winter-time, when the son of Saturn snows.

XIV. THE FURNACE, OR THE POT.^[19]

If ye will give payment, I will sing, O potters. Come hither, Minerva, and uplift thy hand in defence of the furnace. But may the cups blacken well,^[20] and all the vessels be well baked, and fetch a good price, many being sold in the marketplace, and many in the streets, and may they gain much, †but we are friendly to them.†^[21] But if, turning to shamelessness, ye tell falsehoods,^[22] I will then call together the destroyers of the pot, Syntrips,^[23] and Smaragus, and Asbetus, and Sabactes, and Omodamus, who bring many ills upon this art. Destroy the furnace^[24] and the dwelling, and let the whole furnace be thrown into confusion, while the pots shriek loudly. As the horse's cheek snorts, so may the furnace snort, making all the vessels ashes within it. Hither also, daughter of the Sun, Circe of many spells, bring cruel drugs, and injure them and their works. And hither also let Chiron lead his many centaurs, both those who escaped the hands of Hercules, and who perished. Let them be evilly beaten for these works, and let the furnace fall, and themselves wailing behold the evil deeds. But I will rejoice, beholding their unhappy art. But whoever shall look too closely, may all his face be scorched with fire, that all may learn to do what is right.

XV. THE OLIVE BRANCH.

We approach the house of a man who possesses great power, who has great influence, and is ever very haughty in his wealth.^[25] Ye gates, open of yourselves, for much wealth enters, and with wealth also flourishing joy, and agreeable peace. But may all the vessels, as many as there are, be full, and do thou, fire, ever approach the kneading-trough, that there may be a barley cake, of goodly appearance,^[26] mixed with sesame. But the wife of your son shall be carried in a chariot, and stamping-footed mules shall lead her to this dwelling. But may she herself, seated on amber, weave a web. I will return, I will return every year, like a swallow. I stand at the vestibule, †and if thou wilt give aught; but if not, I will not stand still, for we have not come to live here.†^[27]

XVI. TO FISHERMEN.

For from the blood of such fathers are ye descended [as are] neither rich in lands, nor feeding countless flocks.

XVII. MARGITES.^[28]

Many things he knew, but ill he knew them all.

Him the gods had made neither a digger nor a ploughman, nor otherwise wise in aught; but he failed in every art.

 

THE END.

 

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, BUNGAY.

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1. "Under the title of Epigrams are classed a few verses on different subjects, chiefly addressed to cities or private individuals." Coleridge, p. 317. Mr. Justice Talfourd rightly observes that the authenticity of these Fragments depends upon that of the pseud-Herodotean life of Homer, from which they are taken. (See Lit. of Greece, p. 38, in the Encycl. Metropol.) If so, their authenticity is as doubtful as their poetical value. I shall enter but little into the hopeless obscurity and corruption of some of them, as there is little to repay the trouble.
2. From whom the city took its name.
3. See Barnes.
4. This line may be well dispensed with, and is wanting in some copies.
5. There is an awkward hyperbaton. The construction must be taken as if it were πόλις ἐστιν ἥν ποτ . . . . . ἔνθεν, κ. τ. λ.
6. I read ποντοτίνακτον, with Pearson.
7. I read ἀφραδίῃ, with Ilgen, and ὅ σφιν ὄνειδος ἔσαιεν ἐμὸν δία μήσατο πότμον, with Hermann, who interprets it, "intelliget se popularibus suis propter meam sortem æternum peperisse opprobrium," taking ὃ for ὅτι.
8. i. e. through his neglect of me.
9. The word ἀκράαντα is unintelligible:
   "The fate which God allotted at my birth,
   With patient heart will I endure on earth."Coleridge.
   
   
10. But read ζαθέου divine, with Hermann.
11. αἰδοίων—ὁσίωντε. Hermann.
12. One would expect some other word like "exposed to," "oppressed by." But perhaps the phrase may be understood from δύσζηλον in the next line.
13. After this epigram, Hermann has elicited the following distich from the prose of the Life of Homer.
    Ὑμέας, ὦ ξεῖνοι, ἄνεμος λάβεν ἀντίος ἐλθών,
    ἀλλ' ἔπι νῦν δέξασθε, καὶ ὁ πλόος ἔσσεται ὕμιν.
    
    
14. Read ἔπος τί τοι ἐν φρεσὶ θήσω, with Hermann.
15. i. e. they will keep off all comers.
16. "Κουροτρόφος Apollo dicebatur, cui adolescentes capillos primum attondebant." Lilius Gyrald. Syntagm. 7. p. 222. It was an epithet of several of the gods. Cf. Spanh. on Callim. in Del. 2; Alberti on Hesych. t. ii. p. 334; Lindenbrog. on Censorin. de Die Nat. § 1. Chapman has utterly mistaken the meaning.
17. "Whose powers are passing coy; whose wills would fain." Chapman.
    
    
18. I prefer, however, κόσμος λαοῖσιν, with Ruhnken.
19. The poet is supposed to be called in by potters, to give them a song.
20. But see Ernesti.
21. So Ernesti. I can make nothing either of this line, or of the conjectures upon it.
22. i. e. try to cheat me of my reward.
23. These names might characteristically be rendered, "Smasher, Crasher," &c.
24. I read πυραίθουσαν. See Hermann.
25. Probably a spurious line, as Ernesti thinks.
26. See Hermann's notes.
27. This epigram is so hopelessly corrupt, that I can only refer the reader to the notes of Barnes and Hermann.
28. See Coleridge, p. 276, sq.