[Μοῦσαι Ολυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο·] 27. ετύμοισι Μ. 30. ἔδων ΚΜ, Ald. 27, 28. Είδμεν 29. ἀρτιξέπειαι 28. αὐτἂν ἐθέλωμεν Μ. 29. Διὸς μεγάλου Μ. 26. ποιμένες. We cannot doubt that this is the vocative, though Goettling thinks it may be the nominative, and conceives an improbable antithesis in ἡμεῖς δὲ Μοῦσαι ἴδμεν in the next verse. A class of persons is addressed, instead of the mere individual who represents them. The general sense is, Shepherds! indolent and homeless race that you are, and averse from mental exertion, know that we Muses are not such as perchance you suppose; if we are accused of inventing lies, we know also how to speak the truth. The inference intended to be drawn is, 'And we can teach you to do the like.’ἄγραυλοι, ἀνέστιοι, εἰκῆ καταδαρθάνοντες. κάκ' ἐλέγχεα, base-born poltroons ; an Homeric expression, Il. ii. 235, ὦ πέπονες, κάκ' ἐλέγχει, ̓Αχαιίδες, οὐκέτ ̓ ̓Αχαιοί.— γαστέρες οἷον, ‘mere bellies, i.e. who merely eat, like your own focks, and have no more mind than they. Hesych. Γαστέρες οἷον· τροφῆς μόνης ἐπιμελούμενοι, ὡς Ἡσίοδος ἐν τῇ Θεογονίᾳ. Schol. περὶ τὴν γαστέρα μόνην ἀσχολούμενοι, καὶ μόνα τὰ τῆς γαστρὸς φρονοῦντες. Similarly the verse of Epimenides quoted by St. Paul, Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψευσται, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί. 28. In the contrast of ἀληθέα with ψεύδεα, didactic poetry is meant, as opposed to Epic. Κ. Ο. Müller (Lit. Gr. p. 80) thinks that there is an implied censure of other poems which were of a more imaginative cast. Goettling and others compare Od. xix. 203, ἴσκεν ψεύδεα πολλὰ λέγων ἐτύμοισιν ὁμοῖα, and Theognis, v. 713, οὐδ' εἰ ψεύδεα μὲν ποιοῖς ἐτύμοισιν ὁμοῖα.—For μυθήσασθαι, the Schol. records a variant γηρύσασθαι, which Graevius prefers, comparing Opp. ν. 260, γηρύετ ̓ ἀνθρώπων ἄδικον νόον. Το also Flach and Schoemann. 29. ἀρτιέπειαι, plain-speaking, a word ἅπαξ λεγόμενον as the feminine of ἀρτιεπής. Cf. Il. xxii. 281, ἀλλά τις ἀρτιεπὴς καὶ ἐπίκλοπος ἔπλεο μύθων. Schol. αἱ απηρτισμένα καὶ τέλεια καὶ ὑγιῆ λέγουσαι, ἢ ἀρτίοις ἔπεσι χρώμεναι. 30. ἔδον, the common reading, for ἔδοσαν, cannot be defended, since the last syllable of the shortened forms of the plural ἔβαν, ἔσταν, ἔφυν, like ἦν for oav inf. 321, is metrically long. It is more probable that ἔδων, formed by the omission of the - and by contracting oα, is the true reading; and this is given in the Aldine and some MSS, as well as by Hesych. in v. So the Codex Galeanus has ἐδίδων for ἐδίδοσαν, Opp. v. 139, where others give ἐδίδουν.—For δρέψασθαι two MSS. (ap. Goettl.) give δρέψασαι, which affords an easier sense, although δρέπεσθαι is properly a deponent, and the poet could as easily have written δρεψάμεναι. There is sufficient authority for dpéπew in post-epic times, e.g. Herod. ii. 92. If we admit δρέψασ θαι, it may depend either on θηητὸν, 'wondrous to pluck,' or as Goettling and Van Lennep prefer, and as seems more probable, on ἔδων μοι, ' they offered me a beautiful staff to cut from the tree.' It would be a more graphic description to make the Muses hand to Hesiod the staff which they had themselves gathered for him, as a badge or symbol of the poetic function. If δρέψασαι be the genuine reading (and it is adopted by †δρέψασθαι θηητόν· ἐνέπνευσαν δέ μοι αὐλὴν 31. θα ητόν 35 32. θείην, ἵνα κλείσιμο Κ, 33. καί μ ̓ ἐθέλονθ' Μ. 34. πρῶτον 31. δρέψασθαι θειητὸν ΚΜ, Ald. Ald. θείαν ἵνα κλείοιμι Μ. καὶ ὕστερον Μ. rious, and made up of v. 38; but the false reading κλύοιμι would also account for the MSS. readings ὥστε and 33. In this verse μὲν should be supplied, to sing of the immortals, but always to commence and end with an invocation or eulogy of themselves. This condition they imposed as a tribute for the prerogative they had just conferred. Weise reads σφᾶς τ ̓ αὐτὰς, apparently against the MSS.-For voτερον Wolf and others would read ὕστ Schoemann), it would naturally have 31. Hesych. θηητόν· θαυμαστὸν, καλόν, περικαλλές. For the digamma see Curtius, Gr. Et. 253. The reading θειητὸν (another way of representing the F) is recognised by Hesych. in v. 32. κλείοιμι, - that I might celebrate in lays.' See Opp. v. 1. As most copies give ἵνα κλείοιμι, others ὥστε or ὄφρα κλύοιμι, Goettling concludes that the old reading was not deíny, but either διαν οι θέσπιν. Schoemann and Flach also read θέσπιν. The reading of Barocc. 60 (M), Deîav, iva K.T.A., is not lightly to be rejected; it has been adopted by Van Lennep. Compare τέλεια in Aesch. Theb. 692. H. Stephens restored on conjecture ὡς κλείοιμι, which is adopted by Gaisford and Goettling. Perhaps the verse is spu τατον. This may be right; for ὕστερον should rather mean 'hereafter,' in posterum. But, as two MSS. omit the τε, we should perhaps read πρῶτον καὶ ἐς ὕστερον. Cf. Opp. 351, ὡς ἂν χρηΐζων καὶ ἐς ὕστερον ἄρκιον εὕρῃς. 35. τίη, a lengthened form of τί, as in Il. xxiii. 409, τίη λείπεσθε, φέριστοι ; and elsewhere. Compare τύνη, v. seq., and Opp. 10. Goettling needlessly renders it by quianam. περὶ δρῦν κ.τ.λ., a proverb of great antiquity, the meaning of which has been variously explained. According to the Scholiast, it was applied to those who rambled off from the subject before them into irrelevant topics; as if the poet meant to say, 'But why should I relate what the Muses said and did, when my purpose is to sing of the birth of the gods? K. O. Müller (Hist. Greek Lit. p. 82) says, "The oak and the rock represent the simple country life of the Greek autochthones, who thought they had sprung from their mountains and woods, and whose thoughts dwelt only upon these ideas, in primitive inno Τύνη, Μουσάων ἀρχώμεθα, ταὶ Διὶ πατρὶ ὑμνεῦσαι τέρπουσι μέγαν νόον ἐντὸς Ολύμπου, †είρεῦσαι τά τ' ἐόντα τά τ ̓ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ' ἐόντα, φωνῇ ὁμηρεῦσαι· τῶν δ ̓ ἀκάματος ῥέει αὐδὴ 36. Διὶ 38. Γειρεῦσαι (ἐρεῦσαι) 39. φωνῆς Μ. cence and familiarity." Thus the meaning would be, But why should I say more about myself, a humble shepherd? Let me proceed to sing of other and greater subjects. Homer has ἀπὸ δρυὸς οὐδ ̓ ἀπὸ πέτρης in Il. xxii. 126, and Od. xix. 163, both of them rather obscure passages. In the former it seems to mean to talk about common - place matters. Some have fancied there is an allusion to the oaks of Dodona and the rock of Delphi; and this is in some degree favoured by the epithet παλαιφάτου attached to δρυός in Od. xix. 163. Plato, Phaedr. p. 275, B,-oi de y', & φίλε, ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Δωδωναίου ἱερῷ δρυὸς λόγους ἔφησαν μαντικούς πρώτους γενέσθαι. τοῖς μὲν οὖν τότε, ἅτε οὐκ οὖσι σοφοῖς ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς οἱ νέοι, ἀπέχρη δρυὸς καὶ πέτρας ἀκούειν ὑπ ̓ εὐηθείας, εἰ μόνον ἀληθῆ λέγοιεν. For it was the custom of foundlings and of childless persons to consult the oracles as to their parentage or prospects of progeny, as Xuthus does in the Ion of Euripides. Hence a person not from an oak or a rock would be οὐχ ὁ τυχών, not one of obscure birth. Goettling supposes the same reference to the oracles, but gives the sense thus:-" Sed quid ego res divinas profano, quid ea renuntio hominibus, quae a Musis mihi concredita erant pro silentio premenda ?” Van Lennep thinks the sense is, 'Why do I talk like rustic lovers amongst oaks and rocks?' viz. on matters concerning myself, or out of place in the present subject. But Müller's interpretation appears simpler, and suits the context at least as well. Plato (besides Apol. p. 34, D, and Phaedr. p. 275, B, cited by Goettling) alludes to this proverb in Resp. p. 544, D, οἶσθ ̓ οὖν ὅτι καὶ ἀνθρώπων εἴδη τοσαῦτα ἀνάγκη τρόπων N 39. ῥέξει? εἶναι, ὅσαπερ καὶ πολιτειῶν; ἢ οἴει ἐκ δρυός ποθεν ἢ ἐκ πέτρας τὰς πολιτείας γίγνεσθαι, ἀλλ ̓ οὐχὶ ἐκ τῶν ἠθῶν τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ; 36. τύνη, οὗτος σύ, ‘Come now, my lute, or perhaps, ὦ θυμέ, the poet addressing himself. See on Opp. v. 10. Schol. πρὸς ἑαυτόν φησι κατὰ ἀρχαϊσμόν· ἀντὶ τοῦ, σὺ ὦ Ἡσίοδε, Δωρικῶς. This verse would make a fitting introduction to the Theogony, were all the preceding part omitted. 38. εἰρεῦσαι. If the accent be right, the verb should be εἰρέω, which does not elsewhere occur. Goettling calls it “ verbum Boeoticum pro ὑμνέω.” We have however εἴρω in Od. ii. 162, μνηστῆρσιν δὲ μάλιστα πιφαυσκόμενος τάδε εἴρω, and ib. xiii. 7, ὑμέων δ ̓ ἀνδρὶ ἑκάστῳ ἐφιέμενος τάδε εἴρω. Like the future ἐρέω, it took the digamma. In Od. ix. 13, and elsewhere, we have είρεσθαι to ask. Hesych. εἰρεῦσαι· λέγουσαι. εἴρω γὰρ λέγω, οὗ ὁ μέλλων ἐρῶ. Ἡσίοδος ἐν τῇ Θεογονίᾳ. On the other hand, inf. v. 804, the substantive ειρέα is found. It is not improbable that in the present passage either v. 37 or v. 38 has been interpolated. The former verse occurs again inf. 51, and if that be here spurious, we must read either εἰρεῦσιν οι ὁμηρεῦσιν. The simi lar termination of participles in -εῦσαι in three consecutive verses is by no means pleasing. 39. ὁμηρεῦσαι seems to be most probably derived from δμῆ (ὁμοῦ) ῥεῖν, τo sing in concert. Hesych. ὁμοφωνοῦσαι, ὁμοῦ λέγουσαι. Cf. ῥέει αὐδὴ in the next words. In Od. xvi. 468, ὡμήρησε δέ μοι παρ' ἑταίρων ἄγγελος ὠκὺς, it means ἠντιβόλησε. The Schol. refers it to ὁμοῦ εἴρουσαι. Van Lennep to ὁμοῦ and ἄρω. ἐκ στομάτων ἡδεῖα· γελᾷ δέ τε δώματα πατρὸς Ζηνὸς ἐριγδούποιο θεᾶν ἐπὶ λειριοέσση σκιδναμένῃ· ἠχεῖ δὲ κάρη νιφόεντος Ολύμπου δώματά τ ̓ ἀθανάτων. αἱ δ ̓ ἄμβροτον ὄσσαν ἱεῖσαι θεῶν γένος αἰδοῖον πρῶτον κλείουσιν ἀοιδῇ, ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὓς Γαῖα καὶ Οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ἔτικτον, [οἵ τ ̓ ἐκ τῶν ἐγένοντο θεοὶ, δωτῆρες ἐάων.] δεύτερον αὖτε Ζῆνα, θεῶν πατέρ' ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν, [ἀρχόμεναί θ' ὑμνεῦσι θεαὶ λήγουσί τ ̓ ἀοιδῆς,] ὅσσον φέρτατός ἐστι θεῶν κράτεΐ τε μέγιστος αὖτις δ' ἀνθρώπων τε γένος κρατερῶν τε γιγάντων 40 45 50 42. κάρα Μ. 41. λειροοέσση Μ. δώματα ἀθανάτων ΚΜ. 44. αἰδοίων Μ. Ald. ἔτικτον Μ. τ' ἀοιδῆς ΚΜ. κρατέϊ τε ΚΜ. with this verse. 43. δώματ' ἀθανάτων Ald. 46. ἔγεντο Μ. δοτήρες KM, Ald. 48. λήγουσι λήγουσαί τ' ἀοιδοῖς Ald. 49. τόσσον Μ, Ald. 50. αὖθις δ' Μ, Ald. αὖτις δ' K, which leaves off 44. θεῶν is a monosyllable, as in Il. i. 18, ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ολύμπια δώματ' ἔχοντες. Goettling reads αιδοίων with one or two good copies. The omission of F in ὄσσαν should here be noticed. Inf. 65 we may easily read dià στóμa Ρόσσαν ἱεῖσαι. 45. ἐξ ἀρχῆς is rightly connected by the Scholiast with ἔτικτεν. The old punctuation, κλείουσιν ἀοιδῇ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, is retained by Gaisford, who also reads ἔτικτον. The Titans or primeval gods are meant, as contrasted with the Olympian, or δωτῆρες ἐάων. But this verse (46) is perhaps rightly rejected by Goettling, as inserted from v. 111. 48. λήγουσι, scil. ὑμνοῦσαι αὐτόν. 'Beginning they sing them, and leave off their song with them.' Though the verse itself is probably spurious (κλείουσιν being readily supplied from above), λήγουσι has been rightly restored by Goettling from two MSS. The old reading was λήγουσαί τ', which rendered it necessary to pronounce ἀοιδῆς as if ᾠδῆς, by synizesis. The termination of an heroic verse with three spondees is very uncommon. We have in Il. xviii. 255, ἄστυδε νῦν ἰέναι μὴ μίμνειν ἠῶ διαν. Od. xxii. 418, αἳ τέ μ' ἀτιμάζουσι, καὶ αἳ νηλειτεῖς εἰσίν. But the original readings may have been για and νηλειτέες. In Scut. Η. 202, Διὸς καὶ Λητοῦς υἱὸς, the true reading is perhaps Λητόος. 49. ὅσσον, καθ ̓ ὅσον, “how much. To be distinguished from ooow, by how much, which implies an apodosis τόσσῳ. 50. ἀνθρώπων. The heroes are prinarily meant; but the poet does not use ἀνδρῶν, because he intends an antithesis with θεῶν. It is doubtful if the passage following (wherein v. 51 is repeated from v. 37)), down to v. 67, originally stood in this place. The poet says indeed (ν. 36) that he will begin with the Muses, i. e. with their birth and office; but perhaps these lines were borrowed from some distinct hymn in honour of the Muses. ὑμνεῦσαι τέρπουσι Διὸς νόον ἐντὸς Ὀλύμπου Μοῦσαι Ολυμπιάδες, κοῦραι Διός αιγιόχοιο, τὰς ἐν Πιερίῃ Κρονίδῃ τέκε πατρὶ μιγείσα Μνημοσύνη, γουνοῖσιν Ελευθῆρος μεδέουσα, λησμοσύνην τε κακῶν ἄμπαυμά τε μερμηράων. ἐννέα γάρ οἱ νύκτας ἐμίσγετο μητίετα Ζεὺς νόσφιν ἀπ' ἀθανάτων ἱερὸν λέχος εἰσαναβαίνων· ἀλλ' ὅτε δή ῥ ̓ ἐνιαυτὸς ἔην, περὶ δ' ἔτραπον ὧραι, μηνῶν φθινόντων, περὶ δ ̓ ἤματα πόλλ' ἐτελέσθη, ἡ δ ̓ ἔτεκ ̓ ἐννέα κουρας ὁμόφρονας, ᾗσιν ἀοιδὴ 55 60 52. Μοῦσαι κ.τ.λ. Though this verse reads like a common-place of the rhapsodists, it stands well enough grammatically in apposition to ai dè in v. 43. 54. Nothing certain is known about Ἐλευθὴρ, which some have supposed to be identical with Eleutherae in Boeotia, but which others take to be a mountain, so called (says the Scholiast) ὅτι ἐκεῖ ὁ Διόνυσος τῆς μανίας ἐπαύσατο καὶ ἠλευ θερώθη. The connexion of this event with the worship of the goddess of Memory is evident. The daughters of this goddess, the Muses, proved first to Dionysus and then to mankind in gene ral the forgetfulness of ills and the rest from cares.—γουνοὶ, the fertile plains at the foot of the mountain. Schol. τοῖς γονιμωτάτοις τόποις. Inf. v. 329, γουνοῖσιν κατένασσε Νεμείης, πήμ' ἀνθρώποις. In these plains, according to Pausanias i. 38 (quoted by Goettling), there was an altar to Dionysus. 55. μέρμηρα, connected with the Homeric μερμηρίζειν, but not itself found in Homer, seems to have the same root μερ (μερι), implying division or hesita tion between two ways, as in μέριμνα. Hesych. μερμηραι· φροντίδες, βουλαί, μέριμναι. 59. This verse occurs three times in the Odyssey, x. 470, xix. 153, xxiv. 143; but in each place it is rejected as 59. ἐτελέσθην Ald. spurious by Bekker. In x. 469 we also have the verse which here precedes (58), and neither is likely to be genuine in this passage.It may be remarked however that the old year of ten months appears here to be indicated. Cf. Ovid, Fast. i. 33, • Quod satis est, utero matris dum prodeat infans, Hoc anno statuit temporis esse satis. 60. ἔτεκε, viz. at one birth.On the as in κούρας made short, see Opp. 675. ὁμόφρονας, cf. Scut. Η. 49, διδυμάονε γείνατο παῖδε, οὐκέθ' ὁμοφρονέοντε, κασιγ νήτω γε μὲν ἤστην.—μέμβλεται, perhaps for μεμέλεται, and that for μεμέληται, the B being inserted for euphony, as in βλάξ for μαλακ-ς, βλίττειν for μελίττειν, βροτός for μροτὸς (μορτὸς) &c. The short of the perfect has the analogy of the short e in many epic conjunetives, the H in its oldest use being, as in Latin and modern languages, the aspirate. Goettling thinks there was a present tense μέμβλομαι, because Hesychius cites μέμβλεσθαι. But this may equally have been for μεμελῆσθαι. The question is the more difficult, because the Epic poets were in the habit of forming new present tenses, at least in the active voice, from reduplicated perfects, e. g. πεφύκω, πεφράδω, κεκλήγω. (See Scut. H. 228.) A similar form is μέμβλωκα from root μολ, and μεμλόηκα |