Ὦ κατὰ θνητῶν στυγεραί τε νόσοι.
τί σ ̓ ἐγὼ δράσω; τί δὲ μὴ δράσω;
τόδε σοι φέγγος, λαμπρὸς ὅδ ̓ αἰθήρ
ἔξω δὲ δόμων ἥδῃ νοσερᾶς
δέμνια κοίτης·

δεῦρο γὰρ ἐλθεῖν πᾶν ἔπος ἦν σοι.

Τάχα δ' εἰς θαλάμους σπεύσεις τὸ πάλιν,
ταχὺ γὰρ σφάλλει κοὐδενὶ χαίρεις.
οὐδέ σ ̓ ἀρέσκει τὸ παρόν· τὸ δ ̓ ἀπὸν
φίλτερον ἡγεῖ,

κρείσσον δὲ νοσεῖν ἢ θεραπεύειν.

Τὸ μὲν ἔστιν ἁπλοῦν, τῷ δὲ συνάπτει
λύπη τε φρενών, χερσίν τε πόνος,
πᾶς δ ̓ ὀδυνηρός βίος ἀνθρώπων·
κοὐκ ἔστι πόνων ἀνάπαυσις
̓Αλλ' ὅ τι τοῦ ζῆν φίλτερον ἄλλο
σκότος ἀμπίσχων κρύπτει νεφέλαις.
δυσέρωτες δὴ φαινόμεθ ̓ ὄντες
τοῦ δ ̓ ὅτι τοῦτο στίλβει κατὰ γῆν
δι' ἀπειροσύνην ἄλλου βιότου

κοὐκ ἀπόδειξιν τῶν ὑπὸ γαίας

μύθοις δ' ἄλλως φερόμεσθα.

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Hipp. 177.

O scourges and sorrowful plights of humanity!

What shall I do for Thee? What shall I not?
Thine is the splendor bright;

Thine is the radiant light;

And pleased may Thou be with the poor cot's equipments
Outside of those structures-

Since all of my speech to Thee was to come hither.
Soon to thy mansions Thou'lt speed back, for quickly
Thou fallest and no special one makest happy:

Nor does the mere present content Thee; Thou pointest
A future that's dearer,

And that it is better to suffer than serve.

Thine is the all that is simple; and with it

Is manual labor joined, sorrow of mind,

The all that is onerous in man's existence;

And rest there is none from those sufferings sore!
But whatso the other more loved part of Life is,
The darkness set round Him conceals in the clouds:
Still, we who are His, his adorers, are striving
To show that it spreads its refulgence on earth;
And 'tis through another life's misunderstanding,
And not through the teachings of those passed away,
That we are interpreted wrongly in words.

CHAPTER IX.

SELECTIONS (GREEK).

Hesiod. Works and Days. 1-201.

The selection consists of two parts, one pointed (which is now discussed), the other unpointed, and the subject matter of the former is illustrated by the ΑΟΙΔΕΣΙ ΚΛΕ of the first verse. Scheme: After a magnificent exordium, he utilizes “Eris” to unfold a portion of the picture (ΔΕΣΙ) in which he graves the Name, and then enlarges it to ΑΟΙΔΕΣΙ ΚΛΕ in order to grave the same name in different ways.

Having indulged in some caustic pleasantry at the expense of the pagan crowd whose eyes are blinded to the cipher, and whose understanding is dulled to poetic intent, he proceeds to hoodwink it further by making an anagram that (to Christian intelligence) naturally leads up to the story of Adam and Eve, their sin, and the dire consequences thereof to succeeding generations.

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ΤΟ

Μοῦσαι Πιερίηθεν, ἀοιδῇσι κλείουσαι,

δευτε, Δι' ἐννέπετε σφέτερον πατέρ ̓ ὑμνείουσαι,
ὄντα διὰ βροτοὶ ἄνδρες ὁμῶς ἄρατοί τε φατοί τε,
ῥητοί τ' ἄρρητοί τε Διὸς μεγάλοιο ἔκητι·
δέα μὲν γὰρ βριάει, δέα δὲ βριάοντα χαλέπτει,
ῥεῖα δ ̓ ἀρίζηλον μινύθει καὶ ἄδηλον ἀέξει,
δεία δέ τ' ἰθύνει σχολιὸν καὶ ἀγήνορα κάρφει
Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης, ὃς ὑπέρτατα δώματα ναίει.

Κλύθι ἰδὼν ἀΐων τε, δίκῃ δ ̓ ἐθύνε θέμιστας
τύνη· ἐγὼ δέ κε, Πέρση, ετήτυμα μυθησαίμην.

Pierian Muses, hailed in song sublime,
Come, chant in words of praise our Father, God,
Through whom exist, by grace of the Most High,
Our brother men, the low, great, quick and dull;
Since 'tis no task for Life magniloquent,

Who dwells in home of furthest distances,

To make man strong, and sap the strong man's strength, To fell the mighty, elevate the low,

Chastise th' unrighteous one, and blast the proud.

Oh! hear me thou that sight and judgment hast,

And rectify my themes with good intent:
Then, Perses, I may haply speak the truth.

Οὐκ ἄρα μοῦνον ἔην Ερίδων γένος, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπὶ γαῖαν εἰσὶ δύω. τὴν μέν κεν ἐπαινέσσειε νοήσας,

ἡ δ ̓ ἐπιμωμητή. διὰ δ ̓ ἄνδιχα θυμὸν ἔχουσ ν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ πόλεμον τε κακὸν καὶ δῆριν ὀφέλλει, 15 σχετλίε ̇ οὔτις τήν γε φιλεῖ βροτός, ἀλλ ̓ ὑπ ̓ ἀνάγκῃ ἀθανάτων βουλῇσιν Ἔριν τιμῶσι βαρείαν.

τὴν δ ̓ ἑτέρην προτέρην μὲν ἐγείνατο Νὺξ ἐρεβεννή, θῆκε δέ μιν Κρονίδης ὑψίζυγος, αἰθέρι ναίων, γαίης τ ̓ ἐν ῥίζῃσι καὶ ἀνδράσι πολλὸν ἀμείνω. 20 ἥ τε καὶ ἀπάλαμον περ ὁμῶς ἐπὶ ἔργον ἐγείρει· εἰς ἕτερον γάρ τίς τε ἰδὼν ἔργοιο χατίζων πλούσιον, ὁ σπεύδει μὲν ἀρώμεναι ἠδὲ φυτεύειν οἶκον τ ̓ εὖ θέσθαι· ζηλοῖ δέ τε γείτονα γείτων εἰς ἄφενον σπεύδοντ'· ἀγαθὴ δ ̓ Ἔρις ἥδε βροτοῖσι.

25 καὶ κεραμεὺς κεραμεί κοτέει, καὶ τέκτονι τέκτων, καὶ πτωχὸς πτωχῷ φθονέει, καὶ ἀοιδὸς ἀοιδῷ.

Ὦ Πέρση, σὺ δὲ ταῦτα τεῷ ἐνικάτθεο θυμῷ, μηδὲ σ' Ἔρις κακόχαρτος ἀπ ̓ ἔργου θυμὸν ἐρύκοι νείκε ̓ ἐπιπτεύοντ ̓ ἀγορῆς ἐπακουὸν ἐόντα. 30 ὥρη γὰρ τ ̓ ὀλίγη πέλεται νεικέων τ ̓ ἀγορέων τε,

The issue of our strifes was not alone;
But on the surface two of them there are.
The reasoning mind will surely praise the one;
The other is deserving of reproach:
And in two ways they occupy the thought.
For one, the ill-disposed, assistance gives
To warring tactics, breaking up of ties;
And while no brother soul with eyes of love

Esteems it, still, through fixed designs of gods,

This rough strife they perforce respect. 'Twas raised
Before the other by archaic night;

And time's all-guiding, ether-dwelling son

Has placed the same in earth's roots and in men.
Rough though the work, this eggs it on far more:
For whosoever craves such work, and sees
That other filled with fortune's gifts, he hastes
To delve and plant and build him well a home;
And neighbor vies with neighbor racing on
Το wealth: for brethren, strife like this is good.
And potter vies with potter, wright with wright,
Beggar with beggar, and the bard with bard.

O Perses, take those words to heart : let not
That treacherous strife debar from work your mind
When watching close the strivings of discourse.

For whom (though brief the space of strifes and words),

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