Hesiod, "Shield of Heracles" lines 1-38
Sep. 17th, 2016 12:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hawkwing_lbShield of Heracles
Or she of such a kind who, forsaking the house and land of her fathers,
Went to Thebes after Ares-devoted Amphitryon:
Alkmene, the daughter of nation-stirring Elektryon.
She who among women surpassed the female tribe
In form and in stature: and no one of those who
Mortals bore, after lying with mortals, matched her in wit.
And from her head and from her blue-black eyes
Such stuff wafted as that which [comes] from gold-rich Aphrodite.
And she also paid honour to her husband according to her own spirit
That no one among mortal women paid yet.
Now he killed her brave father by violence, overpowering [him],
For he was angry on account of the oxen: and leaving the land of his fathers
For Thebes, he approached the shield-bearing Kadmeians as a supplicant.
There he dwelled in a house together with his spouse – who deserves reverence –
Very far apart from delightful love: nor was it [permitted] for him
To mount upon the bed of the beautiful-ankled daughter of Elektryon until
He should revenge the murder of his spouse’s great-spirited siblings,
And [until] he should burn up in raging fire the unwalled villages
Of those hero-men, the Taphians and the Teleboans.
So it was ordered for him, and the gods were witnesses upon it:
And he regarded their wrath with awe and dread, and he was driven on
To swiftly bring to completion the great deed, which was a decree for him from Zeus.
With him, longing for the battle-din of war, followed
Horse-driving Boiotians who draw breath for the sake of [their] shields,
Lokrians who fight closely hand-to-hand, and great-spirited Phokaians:
The noble child of Alkaios went with these,
Bearing himself proudly among the army. But the father of men and gods
Wove between his breasts another plan, to beget for gods
And for labouring men, a defender against ruin.
He arose from Olympos, brooding over cunning in his breasts,
Desiring the love of a well-girdled woman
In the night: And quickly he went to Typhaonion. From there
Counselor Zeus ascended to highest Phikion.
Sitting there, he plotted a god-wrought deed:
That night he would bed the wife of Elektryon – with her tapered ankles –
And join with her in desire, and accomplish his wish.
In that same night, nation-stirring Amphitryon, shining hero,
Having fulfilled his great deed, arrived at his own house.
Or she of such a kind who, forsaking the house and land of her fathers,
Went to Thebes after Ares-devoted Amphitryon:
Alkmene, the daughter of nation-stirring Elektryon.
She who among women surpassed the female tribe
In form and in stature: and no one of those who
Mortals bore, after lying with mortals, matched her in wit.
And from her head and from her blue-black eyes
Such stuff wafted as that which [comes] from gold-rich Aphrodite.
And she also paid honour to her husband according to her own spirit
That no one among mortal women paid yet.
Now he killed her brave father by violence, overpowering [him],
For he was angry on account of the oxen: and leaving the land of his fathers
For Thebes, he approached the shield-bearing Kadmeians as a supplicant.
There he dwelled in a house together with his spouse – who deserves reverence –
Very far apart from delightful love: nor was it [permitted] for him
To mount upon the bed of the beautiful-ankled daughter of Elektryon until
He should revenge the murder of his spouse’s great-spirited siblings,
And [until] he should burn up in raging fire the unwalled villages
Of those hero-men, the Taphians and the Teleboans.
So it was ordered for him, and the gods were witnesses upon it:
And he regarded their wrath with awe and dread, and he was driven on
To swiftly bring to completion the great deed, which was a decree for him from Zeus.
With him, longing for the battle-din of war, followed
Horse-driving Boiotians who draw breath for the sake of [their] shields,
Lokrians who fight closely hand-to-hand, and great-spirited Phokaians:
The noble child of Alkaios went with these,
Bearing himself proudly among the army. But the father of men and gods
Wove between his breasts another plan, to beget for gods
And for labouring men, a defender against ruin.
He arose from Olympos, brooding over cunning in his breasts,
Desiring the love of a well-girdled woman
In the night: And quickly he went to Typhaonion. From there
Counselor Zeus ascended to highest Phikion.
Sitting there, he plotted a god-wrought deed:
That night he would bed the wife of Elektryon – with her tapered ankles –
And join with her in desire, and accomplish his wish.
In that same night, nation-stirring Amphitryon, shining hero,
Having fulfilled his great deed, arrived at his own house.
