Anthology of Classical Myth, Exams of Voice

Download Anthology of Classical Myth and more Exams Voice in PDF only on Docsity! And sailed to Iolcos with the dancing-eyed girl And made her his wife, and in her bloom She was mastered by Jason, shepherd of his people, And bore a child, Medeios, whom the centaur Cheiron 1010 Phillyrides raised in the hills. And Zeus’ will was done. Of the daughters of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, The bright goddess Psamathe bore Phocos to Aiacos, Out of love for him through golden Aphrodite. And silver-footed Thetis was mastered by Peleus 1015 And bore Achilles, the lion-hearted killer of men. And Cythereia, beautifully crowned, bore Aineias, After mingling in sweet love with the hero Anchises On the peaks above Ida’s many wooded glens. And Circe, daughter of Hyperion’s son Helios, 1020 Loved enduring Odysseus and bore to him Agrios and Latinos, faultless and strong, And bore Telegonos through golden Aphrodite. In a far off corner of the holy islands They ruled over all the famous Tyrsenians. 1025 And the bright goddess Calypso bore to Odysseus Nausithoos and Nausinoos after making sweet love. These are the goddesses who slept with mortal men, And immortal themselves bore children like gods. Now sing of the women, Olympian Muses, 1030 Word-sweet daughters of Zeus Aegisholder. . . . FROM WORKS AND DAYS The ostensible subject of this poem is the dispute Hesiod had with his brother Perses over the unequal division of their inheritance. While Hesiod’s outward motivation is to turn his brother from a life of injustice to that of a hard-working farmer, he takes the opportu- nity to delve deeply into many aspects of the laborious way of life in rural Greece. Though the Works and Days is not primarily a mythological text, the opening section of the poem excerpted below uses myths centered on the rift that developed between humankind and gods to explore the reasons why man must toil and struggle to make ends meet. Two major myths are treated here. First is the tale of Pandora, the first mortal woman, created as punishment for Prometheus’ theft of fire, a story he tells somewhat differently in the 160 HESIOD Theogony (573–620). Second he gives the famous account of the Five Ages of Mankind, developing a theme found in several Near Eastern traditions of a decline in human life tied to a scheme of metals of declining value (gold-silver-bronze-iron). Hesiod has, how- ever, adapted this motif to a Greek context and innovated a fifth age, the Age of Heroes, to account for the great heroes who lived in the generations just preceding and during the Trojan War. Muses of the sacred spring Pieria Who give glory in song, Come sing Zeus’ praises, hymn your great Father Through whom mortals are either 5 Renowned or unknown, famous or unfamed As goes the will of great Zeus. Easy for Him to build up the strong And tear the strong down. Easy for Him to diminish the mighty 10 And magnify the obscure. Easy for Him to straighten the crooked And wither the proud, Zeus the Thunderer Whose house is most high. 15 Bend hither your mind, Hand down just judgments, O Thou! And as for me, Well, brother Perses, 20 I’d like to state a few facts. Two Kinds of Strife It looks like there’s not just one kind of Strife— That’s Eris—after all, but two on the Earth. You’d praise one of them once you got to know her, But the other’s plain blameworthy. They’ve just got 25 Completely opposite temperaments. One of them favors war and fighting. She’s a mean cuss And nobody likes her, but everybody honors her, This ornery Eris. They have to; it’s the gods’ will. The other was born first though. Ebony Night 30 Bore her, and Cronos’ son who sits high in thin air HESIOD 161 42 From pan “all” + dora “gifts.” Pandora,42 because all the Olympians donated something, And she was a real pain for human beings. When this piece of irresistible bait was finished, Zeus sent Hermes to take her to Epimetheus 105 As a present, and the speedy messenger-god did it. Epimetheus didn’t think on what Prometheus had told him, Not to accept presents from Olympian Zeus but to send any Right back, in case trouble should come of it to mortals. No, Epimetheus took it, and after he had the trouble 110 Then he thought on it. Because before that the human race Had lived off the land without any trouble, no hard work, No sickness or pain that the Fates give to men (And when men are in misery they show their age quickly). 115 But the woman took the lid off the big jar with her hands And scattered all the miseries that spell sorrow for men. Only Hope was left there in the unbreakable container, Stuck under the lip of the jar, and couldn’t fly out: The woman clamped the lid back on the jar first, 120 All by the plan of the Aegisholder, cloud-herding Zeus. But ten thousand or so other horrors spread out among men, The earth is full of evil things, and so’s the sea. Diseases wander around just as they please, by day and by night, Soundlessly, since Zeus in his wisdom deprived them of voice. 125 There’s just no way you can get around the mind of Zeus. If you want, I can sum up another tale for you, Neat as you please. The main point to remember Is that gods and humans go back a long way together. The Five Ages Golden was the first race of articulate folk 130 Created by the immortals who live on Olympos. They actually lived when Cronos was king of the sky, And they lived like gods, not a care in their hearts, Nothing to do with hard work or grief, And miserable old age didn’t exist for them. 135 From fingers to toes they never grew old, 164 HESIOD 43 The wood of this tree was used to make spears. 44 The Greek word means specifically food made from grain. The point is that the people of the Bronze Age do not practice agriculture. And the good times rolled. And when they died It was like sleep just raveled them up. They had everything good. The land bore them fruit All on its own, and plenty of it too. Cheerful folk, 140 They did their work peaceably and in prosperity, With plenty of flocks, and they were dear to the gods. And sure when Earth covered over that generation, They turned into holy spirits, powers above ground, Invisible wardens for the whole human race. 145 They roam all over the land, shrouded in mist, Tending to justice, repaying criminal acts And dispensing wealth. This is their royal honor. Later, the Olympians made a second generation, Silver this time, not nearly so fine as the first, 150 Not at all like the gold in either body or mind. A child would be reared at his mother’s side A hundred years, just a big baby, playing at home. And when they finally did grow up and come of age, They didn’t live very long, and in pain at that, 155 Because of their lack of wits. They just could not stop Hurting each other and could not bring themselves To serve the Immortals, nor sacrifice at their altars The way men ought to, wherever and whenever. So Zeus, Cronos’ son, got angry and did away with them 160 Because they weren’t giving the Blessed Gods their honors. And when Earth had covered over that generation— Blessed underground mortals is what they are called, Second in status, but still they have their honor— Father Zeus created a third generation 165 Of articulate folk, Bronze this time, not like The silver at all, made them out of ash trees,43 Kind of monstrous and heavy, and all they cared about Was fighting and war. They didn’t eat any food at all.44 They had this kind of hard, untamable spirit. 170 Shapeless hulks. Terrifically strong. Grapplehook hands Grew out of their shoulders on thick stumps of arms, HESIOD 165 And they had bronze weapons, bronze houses, And their tools were bronze. No black iron back then. Finally they killed each other off with their own hands 175 And went down into the bone-chilling halls of Hades And left no names behind. Astounding as they were, Black Death took them anyway, and they left the sun’s light. So Earth buried that generation too, And Zeus fashioned a fourth race 180 To live off the land, juster and nobler, The divine race of Heroes, also called Demigods, the race before the present one. They all died fighting in the great wars, Some at seven-gated Thebes, Cadmos’ land, 185 In the struggle for Oidipous’ cattle, And some, crossing the water in ships, Died at Troy, for the sake of beautiful Helen. And when Death’s veil had covered them over, Zeus granted them a life apart from other men, 190 Settling them at the ends of the Earth. And there they live, free from all care, In the Isles of the Blest, by Ocean’s deep stream, Blessed heroes for whom the life-giving Earth Bears sweet fruit ripening three times a year. 195 [Far from the Immortals, and Cronos is their king, For the Father of gods and men has released him And he still has among them the honor he deserves. Then the fifth generation: Broad-browed Zeus Made still another race of articulate folk 200 To people the plentiful Earth.] I wish I had nothing to do with this fifth generation, Wish I had died before or been born after, Because this is the Iron Age. 205 Not a day goes by A man doesn’t have some kind of trouble. Nights too, just wearing him down. I mean The gods send us terrible pain and vexation. Still, there’ll be some good mixed in with the evil, 210 And then Zeus will destroy this generation too, 166 HESIOD