THEOGONY Lines 497-529

brought his brood back up. The first he spewed out wasthe stone, the last he swallowed. Zeus fixed it in thewide-pathed earth at holy Pytho,· in the glens of Pamas­sus, to be a monument thereafter and a thing of wonderfor mortal men.

He set his father's brothers· free from their banefulbondage, the sons of Heaven whom their father in hisfolly had imprisoned; and they returned thanks for hisgoodness by giving him thunder and lightning and thesmoking.bolt, which mighty Earth had kept hidden up tothen. Wtth these to rely on he is lord of mortals andimmortals.

Iapetos married a trim-ankIed Oceanid nymph,Clymene, and went up to share one bed with her. Shebore him Atlas, a stem-hearted child, and proudMenoitios, and Prometheus, subtle, shifting-scheming,and misguided Epimetheus, who from the start tumedout a disaster to men who live by bread, since he was theoriginal one who received the moulded maiden fromZeus for a wife. The lawless Menoitios· was sent down tothe darkness by Wide-seeing Zeus with a smoking bolt,because of his wickedness and overbearing strength.A~as, .under strong constraint, holds up the broad skyWJth his head and tireless hands, standing at the ends ofthe earth, away by the dear-voiced Hesperides, for Zeusthe resourceful assigned him this lot. And he boundcrafty Pr~~etheus in inescapable fetters, grievousbonds, driVing them through the middle of a pillar. Andhe set a great winged eagle upon him, and it fed on hisi~mortalliver, which grew the same amount each way at~ght as the. great bird ate in the course of the day. It waskilled by trim-ank.Ied Alcmene's valiant son, Herades,who saved the son of Iapetos from that affliction and sethim free from his distress. Olympian Zeus who rules on

Lines 529-558 THEOGONY 19

high was not unwiJIing, intending that the fame ofHeracles, born at Thebes, should be stiJI greater thanbefore upon the Wide-pastured earth: this is why he didreverence and honour to his eminent son, and, iratethough he was, ended the anger he had before, whichwas because Prometheus pitted his wits against themighty son of Kronos. For when gods and mortal menwere coming to a settlement at Mekone, • he had carvedup a big ox and served itinsucha way as to mislead Zeus.For him he laid out meat and entrails rich with fat in thehide, covering it in the ox's stomach, while for men helaid out the ox's white bones, which he arranged care­fully for a cunning trick by covering them in glisteningfat. Then the father of gods and men said to him,

'Son of lapetos, outstanding among all the lords,my good: sir, how unfairly you have divided the portions.'

So chided Zeus, whose designs do not fail. But crooked­schemer Prometheus, smiling quietly and intent ondeceit, said to him,

'Zeus greatest and most glorious of the eternal fathers,choose then whichever of them the spirit in your

breast bids you.'

He spoke meaning trickery, but Zeus, whose designsdo not fail, recognized the trick and did not mistake it,and he boded evil in his heart for mortal men, which wasto come to pass. With both hands he took up the whitefat; and he grew angry about the lungs, and wrathreached him to the spirit, when he saw the white ox·bones set for a cunning trick. Ever since that, the peopleson earth have burned white bones for the immortals onaromatic altars. In great ire Zeus the cloud-gatherer saidto him,

So spoke Zeus in his wrath, whose designs do nol fail.And after that. with his anger ever in mind, he would notgive to the ash-trees the power of untiring fire for mortalmen who live on earth.· But the noble son of lapetosoutwitted him by stealing the far-beaconing flare ofuntiring fire in the tube of a fenneL· And it stung high­thundering Zeus deep to the spirit, and angered him inhis heart, when he saw the far-beaconing flare of fireamong mankind.

At once he made an affliction for mankind to setagainst the fire. The renowned Ambidexter* mouldedfrom earth the likeness of a modest maiden, by Kronos'son's design. The pale-eyed goddess Athene dressedand adorned. her in a gleaming white garment; downover her head she drew an embroidered veil, a wonder tobehold; and about her head she placed a golden diadem,which the renowned Ambidexter made with his ownhands to please Zeus the father. On it were many designsfashioned, a wonder to behold, all the formidablecreatures that the land and sea foster: many of themhe put in, charm breathing over them all, wonderfuldesigns, like living creatures with a voice of their own.

When he had made the pretty bane to set against ablessing, he led her out where the other gods and menwere, resplendent in the finery of the pale-eyed onewhose father is stern. Both immortal gods and mortalmen were seized with wonder then they saw that pre­cipitous trap, more than mankind can manage. For fromher is descended the female sex, a great affliction tomortals as they dwell with their husbands-no fitpartners for accursed Poverty, but only for Plenty. As the

'Son of lapetos, clever above all others,my good sir: then you are still intent on deceit.'

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Lines 594--628 THEOc;ONY 21

bees in their sheltered nests feed the drones, thoseconspirators in badness, and while they busy themselvesall day and every day till sundown making the whitehoneycomb, the drones stay inside in the sheltered cellsand pile the toil of others into theirown bellies, even so asa bane for mortal men has high-thundering Zeus createdwomen, conspirators in causing difficulty.

And he gave a second bane to set against a blessing forthe man who, to avoid marriage and the trouble womencause, chooses not to wed, and arrives at grim old agelacking anyone to look after him. He is not short oflivelihood while he lives, but when he dies, distantrelatives share out his living. Then again, the man whodoes partake of marriage, and gets a good wife who issound and sensible, spends his life with bad competingconstantly against good; while the man who gets theawful kind lives with unrelenting pain in heart and spirit,and it is an ill without a cure.

Thus there is no way of deceiving or evading the mindof Zeus, since not even lapetos' son, sly Prometheus,escaped the weight of his wrath, and for all his clevernessa strong fetter holds him in check.

When their father· first became hostile towardsObriareos, Kottos, and Gyges, he bound them in power­ful fetters, indignant at their overbearing strength andaspect and stature, and settled. them below th~ ~d~­

pathed earth. There they sat at the world's end, livmg mmisery below the earth, at the great world's limits, a~dfor a long time they were suffering there with great pamat heart. But the son of Krenos, and the other immortalgods whom lovely-haired Rhea bore in intimacy withKronos, brought them up again into the light, on Earth'sadvice. For she told them everything at length-that withtheir help they would win victory and their proud claim.

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a spectator of disputes, a listener at the debate. Littlebusiness has a man with disputes and debates who hasnot food for the year laid up at home in its ripeness,produce of the earth, Demeter's grain. When you havegot an abundance of that you can promote disputes andconflict over other men's property. But you will not beable to behave so another time. Instead, without moretrouble, let us settJe our dispute with straight judgments,the best that Zeus sends. For we divided our estatebefore, and you kept grabbing and taking much more,paying great tribute to the lords, those bribe-swallowers,who see fit to make this their judgment. The infants, theydo not know how much more the half is than the whole,nor how much good there is in mallow and asphodel. •For the gods keep men's food concealed: otherwise youwould easily work even in a day enough to provide youfor the whole year without working. Soon you wouldstow your rudder up in the smoke,· and the business ofoxen and toiling mules would disappear.

But Zeus concealed it, angry because Prometheus'crooked cunning had tricked him.· On that account hedevised grim cares for mankind; he concealed fire. Thenoble son of Iapetos stole it back for men from Zeus theresourceful in the tube of a fennel, eluding the eye ofZeus whose sport is thunder. In anger Zeus the cloud­gatherer spoke to him:

'Son of Iapetos, clever above all others, you are pleasedat having stolen fire and outwitted me-a great calamityboth for yourself and for men to come. To set against thefU"e I shall give them an affliction in which they will alldelight as they embrace their own misfortune.'

So saying, the father of gods and men laughed aloud;and he told renowned Hephaestus at once to mix earthwith water, to add in a human voice and strength, and to

Lines 62-<)6 WORKS AND DA YS 39

model upon the immortal goddesses' aspect the fairlovely form of a maiden. Athene he told to teach hercrafts, to weave the embroidered web, and goldenAphrodite to shower charm about her head, and painfulyearning and consuming obsession;· to put in a bitch'smind and a knavish nature, that was his instruction toHermes the go-between, the dog-killer.·

So he ordered, and they all obeyed the lord Zeus son ofKronos. At once the renowned Ambidexter mouldedfrom earth the likeness of a modest maiden by Kronos'son's design, and the pale.eyed goddess Athenedressedand adorned her. The Graces and the lady Temptationput necklaces of gold about her bo'dy, and the lovely­haired spirits of ripeness garlanded her about withspring flowers. Pallas Athene arranged aU the adorn­ment on her body. In her breast the Go-between, thedog-killer, fashioned lies and wily pretences and aknavish nature by deep-thundering Zeus' design; and heput in a voice, did the herald of the gods, and he namedthis woman Pandora, Allgift, because all the dwellers onOlympus made her their gift-a calamity for men wholive by bread.

When he had completed the precipitous, unmanage­able trap, the father sent the renowned dog-killer toEpimetheus taking the gift, swift messenger of the gods.Epimetheus gave no thought to what Prometheus hadtold hini, never to accept a gift from Olympian Zeus butto send it back lest some affliction befall mortals: heaccepted, and had the bane before he realized it.

For formerly the tribes of men on earth lived remotefrom ills, without harsh toil and the grievous sicknessesthat are deadly to men. But the woman unstopped the jarand let it all out, and brought grim cares upon mankind.Only Hope remained there· inside in her secure dwelling,

40 WORKS AND DAYS Lines 97-]}4

under the lip of the jar, and did not fly out, becausethe woman put the lid back in time by the providence ofZeus the cloud-gatherer who bears the aegis. But for therest, countless troubles roam among men: full of ills is theearth, and full the sea. Sicknesses visit men by day, ando.thers by night, uninvited, bringing ill to mortals,stlently, because Zeus the resourceful deprived them ofvoice. Thus there is no way to evade the purpose of Zeus.

If yo.u like, I w.i11 summarize another tale for you, welland skdfully-mmd you take it in-telling how gods andmortal men have come from the same starting-point.

The race of men that the immortals who dwell ont?lympus made first of aU was of gold. They were in thetime of Kronos, when he was king in heaven' and theylived like gods, with carefree heart, remote tn:m toil andmisery. Wretched old age did not affect them either butwith hands and feet ever unchanged they enjoyed them­selves in feasting.. beyond all ills, and they died as ifovercome by sleep. All good things were theirs and thegrain-giving soil bore its fruits of its own :ccord inunstinted plenty, while they at their leisure harvestedtheir fields in contentment amid abundance. Since theearth covered up that race, they have been divine spiritsby great Zeus' design, good spirits on the face of theearth~ watchers over mortal men, bestowers of wealth:such IS the kingly honour that they received.

A second race after that, much inferior, the dwellers onOl~p~s made of silver. It resembled the golden oneneIther m body nor.in disposition. For a hundred yearsa ~~ would stay in the care of his mother, playingchildishly at home; but after reaching adolescence andth~ ap~intedspan of youthful manhood, they lived buta little time, and in suffering, because of their witless­ness. For they could not restrain themselves from crimes

Unes ]}5-170 WORKS AND OAYS 41

against each other, and they would not serve theimmortals or sacrifice on the sacred altars of the blessedones, as is laid down for men in their various homelands.They were put away by Zeus son of Kronos, angrybecause they did not offer honour to the blessed godswho occupy Olympus. Since the earth covered up thisrace in its turn, they have been called the mortal blessedbelow, second in rank, but still they too have honour.·

Then Zeus the father made yet a third race of men, ofbronze, not like the silver in anything. Out of ash-treeshe made them, a terrible and fierce race, occupied withthe woeful works of Ares and with acts of violence, noeaters of corn,· their stem hearts being of adamant;unshapen hulks, with great strength and indescribablearms growing from their shoulders above their stalwartbodies. They had bronze armour, bronze houses, andwith bronze they laboured, as dark iron was not avail­able.• They were laid low by their own hands, and theywent to chill Hades' house of decay leaving no names:mighty though they were, dark death got them, .and theyleft the bright sunlight.. After the earth covered up this race too, Zeus son ofKronos made yet a fowth one upon the rich-pasturedearth, a more righteous and noble one, the godly race ofthe heroes who are called demigods,· our predecessorson the boundless earth. And as for them, ugly war andfearful fighting destroyed them, some below seven­gated Thebes, the Cadmean country, as they battled forOedipus' flocks, • and others it led in ships over the greatabyss of the sea to Troy on account of lovely-haired.Helen. There some of them were engulfed by the con­summation of death, but to some Zeus the father, son ofKronos, granted a life and home apart from men, andsettled them at the ends of the earth. These dwell with