The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice/Hymns/Hymn 28

by Homer

XXVIII. TO [EARTH],^[1]* THE MOTHER OF ALL.

I will sing Earth, the mother of all, with well-laid foundations, most ancient, who feeds all things,^[2] as many as are upon the earth, and as many as traverse the boundless earth, and as many as [inhabit] the sea, and as many as fly, these are fed out of thy riches. And from thee, hallowed one, are [men] rich in children and fruitful, and on thee it depends to bestow life, and take it away from mortal men. But blest is he, whom thou indeed shalt willingly honour in thy mind, and to him are all things in abundance. To him^[3]* the life-- bearing harvest grows heavy, and in the fields he is rich in beasts of burden, and his house is filled with good things. And they themselves rule under good laws through the city of fair dames, and much prosperity and riches follows [them], and their children exult in juvenile joy, and their virgins with joyous mind leap sportingly^[4] in the flowery circle o'er the soft blossoms of the grass, they whom thou, forsooth, dost honour, unstinting^[5] goddess! Hail! mother of the gods, wife of the starry heaven, and willingly award me a pleasant life in reward for my song: but I will be mindful of thee and of another song.

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1. γὴν is added in edd. Flor. Aldd.
2. Cf. Æsch. Sept. c. Th. 16, γῇ τε μητρὶ, φιλτάτῃ τρόφῃ ἡ γὰρ νέους ἕρποντας εὐμενεῖ πέδῳ Ἅπαντα πανδοκοῦσα παιδείας ὄτλον, Ἔθρέψατ'.
3. σφιν is here the singular number. The enallage of number commences with αὐτοὶ δ'εὐν, in vs. 11.
4. I read παίζουσαι σπαίρουσι with Ruhnken, and εὐανθέσιν with Hermann. By χοροῖς the latter scholar rightly understands "locos, in quibus choreæ ducuntur."
5. Matthiæ would read ἄφιτε. Ruhnken condemns this line, but Hermann defends it.